Courts magic eater book.., p.1
Courts (Magic Eater Book 4), page 1
Courts
Magic Eater: Book Four
Sean Oswald
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Courts: Magic Eater Book Four
Copyright © 2026
Sean Oswald
Contents
The Story So Far
Chapter 1 - City of Doubt
Chapter 2 - Shadows in the Air
Chapter 3 - The Grand Mage’s Interest
Chapter 4 - Broken Spheres
Chapter 5 - Proof Given
Chapter 6 - No Way Back
Chapter 7 - Just a Scare
Chapter 8 - History of the Ways
Chapter 9 - A New Blessing
Interlude 1 - Setbacks
Chapter 10 - Plans
Chapter 11 - Tour
Chapter 12 - Demonstration
Chapter 13 - Another Day
Chapter 14 - More Experimenting
Chapter 15 - Into the Afternoon
Interlude 2 - Discoveries
Chapter 16 - Old Problems
Chapter 17 - Preparations
Stats 4.0
Chapter 18 - Unexpected
Chapter 19 - Blooded
Chapter 20 - Leadership
Chapter 21 - Approach
Chapter 22 - The Manor
Interlude 3 - Split Up
Chapter 23 - Assemble
Chapter 24 - That Tickles
Chapter 25 - Revelations
Chapter 26 - The Hollow Craft
Chapter 27 - Devilish Décor
Chapter 28 - Scrolls
Chapter 29 - Twin Prince Unleashed
Interlude 4 - New Plans
Chapter 30 - Rewards with Risk
Chapter 31 - A Glimpse at the Future
Chapter 32 - So That Happened
Chapter 33 - Planning Upgrades
Chapter 34 - Purpose
Chapter 35 - Summons Ignored
Chapter 36 - No Need to Reinvent the Wheel
Chapter 37 - New Accessories
Interlude 5 - More Developments
Chapter 38 - Get Off My Lawn!
Chapter 39 - The Gauntlet Has Been Dropped
Chapter 40 - Pulling Back
Chapter 41 - Harnessing Time
Chapter 42 - Upgrades
Chapter 43 - Team First (Part One)
Chapter 44 - Team First (Part Two)
Interlude 6 - Unsure
Chapter 45 - Gifts and Plans
Chapter 46 - A New Arsenal
Chapter 47 - Final Additions
Stats 4.1
Interlude 7 - More Interest
Chapter 48 - Invader
Chapter 49 - The Limits of Stats
Chapter 50 - Things Get Complicated
Chapter 51 - Upping the Ante
Chapter 52 - Dungeon Master Unleashed
Chapter 53 - Stand Off
Epilogue - Tensions at Every Level
Stats at the End of Book 4
Other Books by the Autho
r
The Story So Far
Book One: Manipulation
Meet Tad Ocean, an unassuming young man who used to spend most of his waking hours working as a shopkeeper’s assistant to Sargin, a local merchant in Basetown. His days consisted of stocking shelves in the storeroom behind the shop, and Tad was perfectly happy with that. It beat the orphanage, and it was much better than the remains of the shipwreck they had found him in as a boy. He had no memories of what came before that, but he had food in his belly, a roof over his head, and a pocket full of silver to call his own. He was content.
That all changed the day a group of adventurers entered the shop, looking to stock up for their next mission into the dungeon on Iporus Island. Normally, adventurers kept the shop going. They came from far and wide to delve into the depths of the famous dungeon in search of the loot and the levels that came with successful runs.
But these adventurers were different. There was the mighty Brit, who brought a mixture of brawn and experience to every dungeon run. Travis, the sneaky rogue, was quick to anger, and more than one person who’d crossed him had found themselves in an early grave. But they both lived in fear of their leader, Elsbeth—a cunning mage in possession of a staff with the ability to summon a demon from the depths of the Void.
When Tad entered the room with their merchandise, Elsbeth knew immediately there was something different about the boy. After some not-so-gentle convincing, she deduced that Tad could smell magic, likely making him what adventurers referred to as a sniffer. To confirm her hunch, Elsbeth had him identify the enchantments contained in some of her items. Sniffers were invaluable in dungeons—bringing one along was always sure to increase a party’s haul.
And it was true. Tad was a sniffer, but unbeknownst to the adventurers, he was also something more. Something that hadn’t been seen in ages.
They bartered with Sargin to obtain the boy’s services, but Tad had other plans and escaped into the night. Eventually, the adventurers caught up with him and forced him to follow them into the dungeon.
No sooner had they arrived than they entered a battle with a swarm of gigantic ants. When Tad killed an ant the other adventurers had left for dead, he gained a level, and all the stats that came with it, except for one—Magic. That wasn’t surprising, since his stat sheet had always read as if Magic didn’t apply to him, a big N/A showing up in place of a number.
But with the victory came something else Tad had hoped for, but never dreamed he would see—a class. Tad was now a Magic Manipulator. Not only could he sense the enchantments hidden within magical items, he could move them, change them, and even eat them to claim them as his own.
He kept this a secret from the adventurers, of course. If they found out he was capable of such feats, they would bind him into slavery, forcing him to turn out magical items for the rest of his days. The only way out of the conundrum was to gain in power, so that one day he could break free of their grasp.
His opportunity came quicker than expected when the next floor of the dungeon turned out to be an entirely new world, the lizard folk-inhabited planet of Lacerta. As outsiders, Tad and the adventurers were forced to battle in the Lacertians’ arena against some of their best mages and warriors. For the adventurers, that was fine. They’d been fighting arena battles since before Tad was born. But for Tad, any battle against an experienced opponent was most likely a death sentence.
But thanks to a combination of his wit, his newfound manipulation talents, and more than a little luck, Tad emerged victorious. The adventurers were banished from the Lacertian realm, but Tad got an invitation to train his skills under a lizard folk shaman named Majong. Tad was treated well in his care, managing to unlock new abilities with the assistance of Fara, an attendant ostracized by the rest of the lizard folk community due to her white scales.
Together, they dove into the mysteries of Tad’s class, getting hints of what he might one day be capable of. He enchanted numerous magical items, and even opened up a shop on a street corner where he could hawk his wares. The experience made him realize the future he wanted, not as a fighter, but as a shopkeeper, selling the magical items he’d create.
As a final rite of passage, the Great System opened a portal to a personal dungeon—the Inward Spiral. There, he learned of the dual nature of his heritage. He was touched by both the Void and the Summer Court, although he hadn’t a clue what either of those were. Finally outside the dungeon, Tad used an escape ticket he’d acquired to transport himself to the safety of his home world. At the last moment, Fara jumped with him, and the pair were whisked away—to the deck of a ship under siege by the Lawmakers, the militant enforcement wing of the Order.
Book Two: Growth
Tad and Fara didn’t have much time to get their bearings when they appeared on the deck of the ship, as it was under assault by the Lawkeepers. He felt an instant dislike for the gold-and-white clad ‘peacekeepers’, and had no qualms with putting them down. After freeing the sailors on the deck by dining on the enchantments used to restrain them, Tad earned the good graces of Captain Suther, captain of the Summer’s Breeze.
Fara knew if she was going to survive in this new world, she would have to adapt. A white-scaled lizard woman was more than out of place on the deck of the ship, especially since she didn’t speak a word of the language now that she wasn’t on her homeworld. She overcame these challenges by disguising herself as a human, and finally mastering the language with the help of some of Tad’s enchantments.
Tad spent the days practicing enchanting in a tiny workroom below decks, but he quickly learned the ship was harboring more than its normal cargo of rum and spices. The ship held a secret, tied to the amulet the captain wore around his neck. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out what the secret was—the ship was sapient, a sapling of the great World Tree, Yggdrasil. Her name was born of the forest and the ocean—Arbormaris.
Pursued by the Lawkeepers, they headed south for the legendary Southern Isles, where pirates rule the towns and mysterious creatures prowled the forests. Along the way, Tad and Fara put their skills to good use by hauling in a record catch of fish to feed the crew, and created some unique ways to preserve the haul. They now felt like they h ad a place among the crew, although not everyone on board was happy to have them there.
But during their forays to the bottom of the ocean, they discovered something they hadn’t expected—a dungeon on the seafloor. Tad wasn’t about to let an opportunity like this pass them by, so they found a way inside, determined to unlock the dungeon’s secrets. When they got to the heart of the mysterious deep-sea stronghold, they discovered a laboratory, manned by elemental beings that were half shark, half tornado. Once their leader was defeated, their purpose became clear.
They were guarding the entrance to a mysterious realm called the Void, one with undeniable connections to Tad’s forgotten identity. He caught glimpses of his past, but not enough to fill in the blanks. They did come away with a ton of new loot, some amazing XP, and a host of new traits and skills, likely to come in handy when they got where they were going.
When the Southern Isles were in sight, their past finally caught up with them. The Lawkeepers on their tail had a surprise in store for them, a passenger who wanted them either dead or in chains. When she finally made her appearance, Tad’s blood had run cold. It was Elsbeth, the powerful mage that had stolen him from the life he knew and forced him into dungeon servitude. Even with Fara by his side, Tad was still no match for the power Elsbeth possessed. When all felt lost, Arbormaris rose to the challenge, standing as champion in Tad’s stead. The mage soon learned the true meaning of rage, and met her death above a sparkling ocean on a beautiful summer’s day.
When they finally made landfall, they discovered an island beset by a race of mystical dark goblins called the Hobori. The inhabitants of the island had no place left to go—until now. Tad had thought Arbormaris was powerful when she was on the water, but it was no match for what she was capable of when she could sink her roots into solid ground.
She shifted form, forming the base of what would become a safe haven for the refugees, growing buildings and walls like a farmer would grow tomatoes, even manning the walls with defenses to keep the Hobori at bay. But Tad knew the best defense was a good offense, and the best place to start was the dungeon at the center of the island. After penetrating its deepest levels and defeating the Hobori shaman, Tad realized that like Arbormaris, the dungeon was more than it seemed.
Book Three: Settle
Tad and his companions successfully established a foothold in the Southern Isles. But a foothold is a far cry from a settlement, and the people of the islands needed a place where they could truly feel safe. To do that, they would need to eradicate the Hobori that infested the islands once and for all.
With the help of his elven followers, Tad accomplished this goal, but not everybody made it out unscathed. Captain Suther had already lost his first mate and a leg to their first dungeon dive. Tad could do nothing about the former, but with his newfound powers and a little bit of help from Arbormaris, he grew the captain a new leg—better than before, with unexpected powers that went far beyond the average peg leg.
But with Duke Laxon, the remaining adventurers and the Lawkeepers all still searching for him, Tad didn’t have time to rest. He needed to become even stronger, and that meant more trips into the local iteration of the Endless Dungeon. It was there that he discovered the dark elf Crynane, a powerful new ally whose curses could help turn the tide of a battle. She didn’t see eye to eye with the forest elves, but Tad made all the parties take an oath to play nicely. He wasn’t certain how long it would last.
After defeating the dungeon’s boss, a mind flayer, Tad and his companions regrouped in their walled settlement, preparing for the Lawkeepers that were bearing down on them. They dispatched the first waves with a series of cleverly placed ambushes and traps, but soon the real threat arrived.
Baron Harran Trist had found them, and along with his force of Lawkeepers was planning an assault on their settlement, which was still protected behind the walls of Arbormaris. Joining Trist were some familiar faces—Brit and Travis, two of the three adventurers who had kidnapped Tad from his home once they’d realized what he was capable of.
When all seemed hopeless, Tad fully embraced his heritage, unfurling his wings—one of Void essence and one of summer’s fire. With his true power finally unleashed, Tad and his companions easily destroyed the forces of the Order, while making sure Brit and Travis finally joined Elsbeth in the afterlife.
The settlement secure, Tad and his followers set sail for Coopertown, a port city in the north that Tad thought would be a perfect spot to open a new shop. There they met Oliver, the Grand Mage, although the verdict was still out as to whether the mage would be an ally. Though it all could be a moot point if Duke Laxon ever discovered where they’d escaped to.
Chapter 1 - City of Doubt
The shop smelled of varnish and oil, the kind of scent that clung to wood long after the surface dried. Sunlight leaked through the front window, warm and diffuse, cutting through the faint haze of sawdust that still lingered from the shelving I’d built two days prior. It fell on the rows of glass jars lining the back wall, filled with a gruesome array of salvaged monster components, polished gemstones, and scraps of dungeon metal. The counter was clean—barely—and the floorboards creaked beneath my boots when I stepped across them.
It would have been easy enough to have Spot create the shelves, but I’d learned something about myself over the past few months. It was a lesson I’d already been living at some level ever since the orphanage, but with life slowing down and no immediate threat knocking at my door, I was trying to savor the simple joys. Even when I wasn’t enchanting, there was something immensely gratifying about making something with my bare hands. It made me feel normal, nothing like a fey prince from two different courts who had enemies in and beyond this world.
A small sign out front declared Ocean’s Emporium in Fara’s elegant script, but the paint was already flaking. Somehow that felt appropriate. The discussions over a name for the shop had been long and varied, and everyone in my immediate circle had their own ideas about what it should be. Even Lexa had expressed an opinion, but it was so bad I never gave it serious consideration. I would never tell her that, of course.
Through her, I’d learned that Captain Suther was creating a company he called TMI—Tad’s Magical Inventory. He was rather proud of this little play on words, and was promising me a fifty percent stake in the company. While I was content with a simple storefront, Suther was thinking bigger—an emporium that would transport the magical goods I created all over the world. The concept was too grand to wrap my brain around, but the idea of changing the world one enchanted item at a time definitely had its allure. The wonders I was creating could do far more than turn monsters into mincemeat. They could change the lives of ordinary people.
Outside, the street stirred with the slow rhythm of a city that had learned to wake before the sun. Coopertown’s upper district was quieter than the harbor, but the air still carried salt and smoke, heavy with the scent of baking bread from the nearby taverns. Horses snorted, their hooves knocking against the cobblestones in clip-clop rhythms that set my mind at ease, combining with the metallic echo of the blacksmith’s hammer to provide the percussion for the distant cries of dockworkers. I could feel the world pressing faintly against me. There was a quiet density to the mana saturating everything. It wasn’t loud or bright, but it was present, a constant weight beneath my skin. My awareness of this pervasive force was expanding, even though there hadn’t been any notification to quantify the phenomenon.
Most people never noticed it. They lived inside it like fish in deep water, unaware of the pressure holding their world together. But to me, it was impossible to ignore. The mana here was thicker than in the Southern Isles, and my senses had sharpened since our arrival. I could taste the difference in the air, a mineral tang that coated the back of my throat. Even the wood beneath my hand pulsed faintly with that hidden strength. Mana wasn’t magic, but it was necessary to work all the wonders magic could do.
I adjusted the latch on the front door, then murmured the activation phrase for the ward woven into its hinges and fittings. The enchantments hummed to life, subtle and soundless. To anyone else, it was just a door. To me, it shone like a web of contained lightning across my mana sense. The illusion did its job admirably, masking the deeper network of enchantments that protected what lay below. My connection to Spot laid it all out before me like a carpenter’s blueprints.
