"I've only seen a couple of spells," Aibghalien said, "and those in passing. So I'm curious if the effects stack."

Not that he could ever get anyone to demonstrate. If pressed he'd classify it as arrogance, though he'd never admit that except under duress. He had a certain amount of concern over his lack of knowledge in these fields, believing, in his own freely-admitted arrogance, that magic was the second-greatest weapon they had in this fight for existence.

"What concerns me is the potential affect of metathaum against either your combat effectiveness or your Devices," he continued. "I think it would be naive to say we'll never encounter an enemy that can deploy such techniques."