《Millennial Mage (A Slice of Life, Progression Fantasy)》 Non-MM, Silly and Fun Chapter - Tek and the Wizards Cat Tek glared at his candles, steadily pulsing orange, blue, green, yellow, and back again. That meant only one thing within his home. Someone was at the entrance. Leaving his book on the side table, Tek pulled open his inner door. With one step, he crossed the planar lines, reentering the material world and coming into his shadowed foyer. A single step more, this time through shadows, took him to the alcove sixty feet above and just inside his front door. The darkness here was complete. It almost made him content enough to return home. No, the blasted spell will keep my candles pulsing for hours if I don¡¯t answer. Without further time to dally, Tek flung open the door, revealing a sunlit day and an urchin pressing his hand against the metal plate beside Tek¡¯s door. Tek glared. The human child was nearly as tall as he was. Are they getting bigger? ¡°What.¡± The boy stepped back in alarm. ¡°I¡­¡° he hesitated. Tek rolled his eyes. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I have a message, sir.¡± Tek looked over the boy, again. No, not an urchin¡­ a messenger? Then, not a boy. Tek sighed. The oldest human would always be a boy to him. Tek grimaced. Except a wizard. The messenger winced, stepping back, a letter held out in shaking fingers. Tek snatched it from the trembling fingers, turning to close his door. Then, he paused. ¡°Are messengers still paid a pittance?¡± The messenger, who had likewise turned to go, paused. ¡°Yes, sir. But it keeps food on the table, and a roof overhead.¡± Tek grunted. ¡°So does slavery, but I don¡¯t recommend it.¡± He flipped a coin to the boy¡ªman. Gold caught sunlight as it spun through the air, and Tek shrunk back. Catching the coin with ease, the messenger gasped. ¡°Sir, I cannot¡­ I mean¡­ how could I¡­ What did I?...Sir?¡± The coin was a full Royal¡­ from a different kingdom. A money changer could make the change, or the gold could be sold by weight, but those were both inconveniences, which was precisely why Tek had given the man enough to feast with for days. ¡°Don¡¯t squander it.¡± The door closed with a thunk. Though it took only a moment, when the messenger threw open the door to protest, Tek was gone. Only an empty room remained, smaller than a closet and draped in black cloth. The messenger searched for another exit for longer than he should have. FInally, he sighed, pocketing the coin and closing the door on his way out. Tek, 60 feet below, sighed as well. If the man had neglected to close the door, he might have been trapped until nightfall. Not that he wished to go out, but it was the principle of the thing. A door opened, a step across planes, and the comforting clunk of a home secure. Peace. With a sudden motion, the letter in his hand gnawed at him. Tek cursed, shaking his hand and flinging the fanged paper across the room. It landed on his chair, where it began to tear at the upholstery. Cursing again, Tek stepped through shadow to cross the room in an instant, and ripped the letter free, opening it to deactivate the inherent spell.
Tek, I trust that this note will not have caused too much damage before you deigned to read it. I needed to ensure you could not ignore this one.
Tek glanced at the pile of letters on the entry table and grunted.
I need your help. My cat¡ª
Tek cursed a third time, throwing the letter down. I am not an animal tamer. The rustle of paper alerted Tek moments before the letter latched onto his ankle. Stifling yet another exclamation, he bent down and snatched up the letter. So, I have to finish reading? I wonder how he wove that¡­
My cat will not listen to me anymore. He simply refuses to hunt the rodents infesting my library. If you won¡¯t help, I will have to get another of the blasted things and restart training from scratch. I am desperate. Come soon, or my next note will be less¡­docile. Sincerely, Andronous, Wizard, Scholar, Ancient
Tek rolled his eyes, gathering up the twelve letters Andronous had sent and burning them to ash with a flick. Andronous was known for sending spells in pieces, each innocuous until combined. To his credit, he had eliminated several rivals that way, as well as forcing help from Tek more times than Tek would admit. The tear in his chair irked him, but it sealed with barely a flick of the wrist. The bite to his ankle would heal in a matter of hours. Unless he gave the letter venom¡­ I really should have examined it before destroying the thing. A third sigh escaped his lips. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I suppose I have to go. With a quick motion, Tek threw on one cloak, then another. Door, planes, shadow to shadow, door, street, people. Tek growled, low in his throat; why were there always people? He had chosen a quiet street for his permanent door, but time had seemingly increased its popularity. A quick check showed no one looking directly at him, and a pull inward, combined with a twist, morphed him into the shape of a cat with a jeweled collar hidden within its long fur. Even as a cat, Tek found the streets uninteresting, the people more so. Tek stepped from shadow to shadow, never pausing long enough for his presence to be marked, never allowing his passing to cause a stir, and never leaving a trace. * * * The stone lair of Andronous was impressive, from a material perspective. The very fa?ade dripped with expense. Tek ignored it. Such trappings were simply a human attempt to leave a legacy upon the world once they passed, whether material or cognitive. Sad, really. Tek stepped into a comfortable shadow, deep within the confines of the building. It was a storage closet, by the smell. Then, he stepped deeper, emerging into the low light of a fire, burning brightly at the far end of an overstuffed library. Three smells assaulted Tek in that instant: fire, barely contained; books, new and ancient, all well cared for; and the unwashed cacophony of rodent kind. There had to be hundreds of the things. Tek knew that spells kept them from the bookshelves, but for reasons Andronous had never been able to explain, magic couldn¡¯t keep them out of the room entirely. ¡±What madness is this?¡± A violently orange cat, perched on one of the taller shelves, locked eyes on him. ¡°Oh praise the great utters, you¡¯ve come!¡± Andronous was nowhere to be seen, of course. Tek tried not to sigh as he replied, ¡°What are you doing up there, Meleti?¡± ¡°There are too many, Tek. I¡­ I just can¡¯t.¡± Indeed, too many eyes to quickly count were turning towards Tek, peeking out of corners, and around bits of torn rug. ¡°The man creature said he sent for you days ago. Why did you not come sooner?¡± Ignoring the question, Tek stepped through shadow to the top of the bookcase that stood next to Meleti¡¯s. ¡°Have you been up here since the first letter?¡± ¡°What? You think me mad? This is simply the best place to see them all.¡± The cat motioned to a hole in the ceiling. ¡°I can get in and out through there. The vermin are confined to this room, or so it seems.¡± ¡°Where did they come from?¡± Meleti looked incredulous. ¡°Right. You don¡¯t care. So, why hasn¡¯t he gotten rid of them?¡± ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s my job. Can you believe that?¡± ¡°Yes. You agreed to this.¡± ¡°Did I?¡± ¡°Yes. You get all the food you want, beds in every part of the ¡®palace,¡¯ and no other cats within the walls. In return, you must deal with vermin.¡± ¡°Well, that does sound like something I would agree to¡­¡± The cat smiled mischievously before continuing, ¡°But you¡¯re here, now. You can deal with them.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No? No! After everything I¡¯ve done for you?¡± ¡°You have that backwards, Meleti. You are indebted to me. You¡¯ve never helped me in any way.¡± ¡°Humph.¡± He leaned over the edge of the shelf, looking down at the hoards. ¡°It would be so¡­ messy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a cat. Deal with it.¡± ¡°So are you.¡± ¡°Would you rather I be a dog?¡± Meleti hissed. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± This was getting nowhere. ¡°Meleti, please? Andronous is becoming annoying, and he is threatening to get another cat.¡± Meleti gasped. ¡°Well, I never. Wizards break their word so easily these days. I thought we had an arrangement.¡± ¡°You do. An arrangement you are ignoring.¡± ¡°My honor is impeccable.¡± ¡°Your timing is not.¡± ¡°Our agreement does not specify the manner in which I deal with the vermin, nor the time table in which I do so.¡± ¡°Never trust a cat¡¯s watch.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I said, ¡®Never trust a cat¡¯s watch.¡¯¡± ¡°You take that back!¡± ¡°No.¡± Another hiss. ¡°How dare you doubt my honor!¡± ¡°Will you attack me?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°Now!¡± Tek let out another, long winded sigh. ¡°Well, then I guess I have a few days to prepare.¡± Meleti¡¯s eye twitched, and he lunged across the gap between shelves. Tek stepped through shadow to the shelf Meleti had just left and sighed again. ¡°Meleti, we can do this until Andronous gets a new cat, or you can do what you agreed to do.¡± Meleti landed with, well, cat-like grace, whipping around to face Tek again. ¡°You insult me, then expect me to work?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Humph.¡± He settled down on the shelf, once again studying the vermin below. ¡°They are quite a large clan.¡± ¡°Are you scared?¡± Meleti¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Are you tall?¡± Tek grunted. ¡°If I wish to be, yes. The question stands: Can you honor the bargain or will you accept another cat?¡± ¡°Those are the options?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I could give you quite a few dead mice if you change your mind.¡± ¡°I have no interest in such, and if I killed these mice, what would I need with others, provided by you?¡± ¡°I could tell you secrets about the man.¡± ¡°I either know them, don¡¯t want to know them, or don¡¯t care enough to know them.¡± ¡°I could introduce you to other animals?¡± ¡°I make my own introductions.¡± ¡°I could¡ª¡° ¡°Meleti. The answer is no.¡± The cat shifted in irritation. ¡°Fine.¡± Without another word, he lunged forward and dropped. Three vermin died as he landed, and then the blood bath began. Tek had no interest in watching. His altered biology made him instinctively desire to pounce as well, to taste rodent flesh. It was an impulse he had never indulged. Besides, his ankle and paw were beginning to burn and itch. With a step, he was in a formal sitting room, atop Andronous¡¯s head. The wizard yelped, lunging from his chair and causing Tek to drop lightly to the floor. ¡°Thrice cursed cat! I¡ª¡° Tek stood, unfolding into a small humanoid shape once more. ¡°Tek? You came!¡± Tek held out his hand. ¡°Anti-venom.¡± Andronous handed him a small bottle. ¡°Oral or topical¡± ¡°Oral.¡± Tek downed the contents and tossed the vial into the fire. ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again, wizard.¡± ¡°Did you get Mutton to do his job?¡± Tek twitched at the name. That¡¯s not his name. You know that. ¡°Yes. I suggest sending the cleaning staff in a couple of hours. He will be busy until then.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± The itching faded from Tek¡¯s ankle. ¡°What did your letter inject me with?¡± ¡°An altered form of urushiol¡­ that¡¯s poison oak oil.¡± Tek¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°So the itching¡ª¡° ¡°Would have been the worst of it¡­ This time.¡± The wizard regarded Tek, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Honestly, Tek, you shouldn¡¯t ignore me.¡± Tek ignored the ridiculous threat, holding out his hand. ¡°Payment.¡± ¡°I gave you the anti-venom.¡± ¡°Which was something that I didn¡¯t need, for a venom that you inflicted upon me. Now, pay me, or I will fill this place so full of rats even a host of cats won¡¯t be able to cleanse them all.¡± The wizard grimaced in distaste. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything for you.¡± Tek smiled. ¡°Excellent.¡± He pulled a piece of paper from one of his many pouches, handing it to the wizard. ¡°This will do.¡± The wizard looked over the paper, color draining from his face. ¡°This is too much. It will take me days to create this.¡± ¡°That is my price. If you find it too steep, call someone else next time. I will expect delivery within the week.¡± With that, Tek stepped from the room. He found the nearest closed door and pulled a key from a hidden pocket in his tunic. With a quick motion, he unlocked something deeper than the door and opened the side entrance to his own home. A key retrieved, a step between planes, and a firmly closed door left him home once again, and separated from the insufferable wizard. Happily alone¡­ in the pulsing light of his candles. Orange, blue, green, yellow. Someone was at the door. Image Gallery Map: You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. As a preventive note: I am aware that this is not how cities are located, in general. There is a very specific, in-world reason for the regular spacing. i.e. It''s a feature, not a bug. ?? Chapter: 1 - New Beginnings Frost licked over Tala¡¯s already sensitive skin, accompanied by the static tension of power rippling through her from an outside source. With a pulse of darkness, she left her old life, her adolescence of learning and exploration, behind. She crouched low in the center of a large, white-speckled, granite room. It was the shape of a half-sphere, each block sculpted and placed so precisely that had she not known better, she¡¯d have believed it was carved from a single piece. Though, I suppose a Material Creator could have summoned the room into being, fully formed. That was unlikely. If her schooling had taught her anything, it was that magic was expensive; why would anyone do something with it, which could be done by hand? Beneath her were the empty grooves of a spell-form, an anchor used to draw a target in and recombine them. Everyone said teleportation was tricky, and that was true, in part. Disintegration and expulsion of a person was incredibly simple. Calling that person, and all their requisite pieces, back from the ether and putting them all back where they belonged, now that was tricky business. She shivered, as much from the fading cold as from the existentially terrifying thoughts. A person¡¯s soul does most of the work, Tala. It¡¯s not like the scripts could get your insides wrong. She glanced down at her hands and saw fading red traces where her spell-lines should have been. She let out a short groan. Well, that didn¡¯t work¡­ Blessedly, she saw her own dark hair, roughly shoulder length, swaying in her peripheral vision. The inscribers at the academy shaved all the students¡¯ heads to allow for the easier adding of spell-lines, but in her soul¡ªhow she viewed herself¡ªTala had hair. Thus, somehow, her recombination had returned it to her. Now, I just have to find an inscriber capable of leaving it be. Huh¡­ my skin is still raw. Shouldn¡¯t it be as healed and complete as my hair? She supposed that some things just didn¡¯t make sense. Tala heard several of the guards gasp as one voice stuttered out, ¡°She¡¯s¡­ She¡¯s naked!¡± A commanding voice cracked out. ¡°Go check her! If the teleportation acolytes at the academy managed to leave her clothes behind, who knows what else was forgotten.¡± Take charge of your life, Tala. She sighed, standing fully upright, back straight. An uninscribed guard, a tall, broad-shouldered and grizzled man, stepped back in surprise at the sudden movement. Tala looked around the room, ignoring the man. A waist-high stone wall stood in a circle halfway between her and the smooth granite of the outer walls. It was broken only in one place, allowing access to the inner circle. Everyone¡ªsix guards and two Mages¡ªwas staring at her. One of the Mages, heavens bless him, was coloring so that the red was easily visible, even under his spell-lines. He was sparsely clad, as befit an on-duty Mage, and he was, somehow, blushing nearly down to his navel. Tala cleared her throat, speaking softly but letting her voice carry. ¡°Nothing¡¯s for sale, gents, so please stop window shopping.¡± Three of the guards turned away, blushing in turn. The two others grinned but averted their eyes. The one already in the circle with her huffed something near a laugh but turned slightly away, keeping his eyes to himself. That poor mageling flushed even redder and turned, putting his face against the outer wall. The female Mage, likely his sponsor, rolled her eyes and walked forward with a blanket taken from a pile that rested on a shelf laden with supplies. She was practically naked herself, cloth covering as little as possible, while maintaining the semblance of modesty. Her lines were proudly on display, their magic unhindered by covering. She was not young, but wrinkles had yet to render her inscriptions faulty. Both Mages were fit, if not well-muscled¡ªas most Mages had to be. Changing size or shape would almost universally ruin your spell-lines, as well as force your inscriber to rebuild your spell-work from scratch. That was assuming the distortions didn¡¯t make such work impossible. Make no mistake, Mages, one and all, were vain creatures, but it wasn¡¯t their vanity that inspired scrupulous attention to their own bodies, so much as devotion to their art. The older Mage moved with practiced grace and fluidity, obviously aware of her every gesture, careful not to brush any of her lines against others. Such contact would usually be safe, but so would juggling knives; it was the unexpected that killed, and when spell-lines were involved, there was far more than a cut hand on the line. The older guard walked beside her as Tala strode to meet the Mage. If she had to guess, he had strategically placed himself between her and some of the other guards, blocking their view of her. Thoughtful of him. A furnace blazed on the opposite side of the room, and its heat was slowly taking the teleportation chill from her. Quickly, now. Don¡¯t let them see how embarrassed you are. She found herself blessing the chill, which had kept the flush from the surface. As the Mage drew close, she lowered her tone to keep it from carrying. ¡°The chill does many things, dear, but it doesn¡¯t hide every sign of your embarrassment, at least not from those who know to look.¡± She draped the blanket over Tala¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Now, how did you arrive in such a state?¡± She frowned. ¡°Why does it look like someone put you through a sandblaster? You¡¯ve raw, new skin across your whole body.¡± Tala gave a formal half-bow, clutching the blanket close, while trying to affect a nonchalance that she did not feel. Though it was soft, the blanket still chafed lightly on her skin. The rawness had little to do with the unclad teleport, though it was still her own doing. ¡°I¡¯m Tala, Mistress, newly graduated from the academy.¡± ¡°Yes, dear. You may call me Phoen. You have not answered my questions.¡± Tala cleared her throat, glancing away. ¡°Well, you see, Mistress Phoen. Our current teleportation spells strip away spell-lines and won¡¯t take any gear, save the clothes on your back.¡± ¡°Hmmm?¡± ¡°In studying the formula, it looked like it might be some factor of mass, beyond the organic being teleported, that is why at least a modicum of clothing always comes. Metal only comes if the person was wearing armor, and then not very much of it.¡± Phoen sighed. ¡°So, you thought to, what? Modify the spell somehow? Child, you are lucky you didn¡¯t scatter yourself across half of inner-solar space!¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh, no! Absolutely not!¡± Phoen narrowed her eyes. ¡°Then, what?¡± ¡°I guessed that, without clothes to teleport, other material would be brought along.¡± She held up her hands. The red marks were already faded into bare visibility. ¡°But I missed something.¡± ¡°¡­Wait¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm?¡± ¡°Do you mean to tell me that you went into the teleportation circle¡­ naked?¡± Tala cleared her throat and looked away. As she did so, she was able to see two guards using heavy metal tongs to move a crucible from the furnace to the short wall. They then poured the contents, liquid silver, down a funnel set into that stone. She knew the formulas needed for this spell-form well. Precisely two pounds of silver. The metal flowed out of a spout low in the wall and washed through the grooved lines of the spell form, which was set into the floor. She didn¡¯t know what preparations had been laid into the stone to ensure the silver would always distribute evenly and cleanly. She hadn¡¯t studied the Builder Arts, after all. Nonetheless, the Mages¡¯ work was flawless, and the spell-form was filled once more, allowing the silver to cool evenly, creating strong, solid spell-lines. Tala had found variations of this catching spell that used a combination of metals, thus making them much more efficient from the perspective of materials, but the difficulty in casting interlacing liquids quickly meant that the uniform version was vastly easier to use, and thus the most pervasive. Phoen sighed. ¡°Mact!¡± The young mageling jumped, turning around. ¡°Mistress?¡± ¡°The spell-lines are reset. Take your place.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress!¡± He scurried around the women and went to sit in the center of the spell-lines, a hand resting within hand-sized outlines to either side of him. He sat straight, his core tight, his limbs carefully aligned. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Tala felt the power ripple out from the boy, activating and resetting this teleportation receiver. Without delay, Mact stood and returned to his master. ¡°Well done, Mact.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He smiled happily, almost to himself. ¡°Now, girl. You are beginning to tire me.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Yes, I went into the circle naked. Yes, I was lectured by the Mages on the other end about the folly of it. Yes, I know that teleportation magic isn¡¯t intended to work on naked subjects.¡± She pulled the blanket closer together in front, and the top billowed out slightly, causing it to fall from her shoulders, exposing her back. The grizzled guard let out a little startled exhalation, then started to laugh. Tala spun on him. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Phoen let out a similar sound and barked a laugh of her own. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tala turned back. ¡°Mistress Phoen?¡± ¡°You seem to be cleverer than I¡¯d thought.¡± After a moment¡¯s pause, she amended, ¡°Or, your cleverness bore more fruit than we¡¯d guessed.¡± Tala frowned. Then, her eyes widened in realization. ¡°My keystone?¡± ¡°Yes, your keystone looks intact. Come, I¡¯ll examine it.¡± Tala thanked the guard and followed Phoen from the room. Mact tried to follow, but Phoen sent him back with several stern words. Less than two minutes later, Tala was sitting in a small side room, a blanket covering herself strategically while leaving her back exposed. She was naturally straight-backed, her feet flat on the floor, knees bent at as close to right angles as the seat allowed¡ªas she¡¯d been trained. Phoen took nearly five minutes examining the spell-lines in excruciating detail. ¡°Child, what type of Mage are you?¡± ¡°Immaterial Guide, Mistress.¡± She grunted. ¡°That explains it. I¡¯m a Material Creator. None of these mean a thing to me. Though, they do look intact. You¡¯ll need an inscriber to look these over.¡± She sighed. ¡°Fresh from the academy, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re here, I assume you¡¯ve signed a contract with the Caravanners, or maybe the Constructionists or Wainwrights? Though, I didn¡¯t think the latter two took on magelings, here¡­¡± Tala grinned. ¡°Not yet.¡± Phoen blinked at her, cocked her head to one side, and then sighed. ¡°Oh, child.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s the law.¡± ¡°If that inscription is still viable, you have a case, but they may not be happy about it. They might just turn you away.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Tala hadn¡¯t thought of that. Magelings got such poor pay until they could buy some spell-lines themselves. In addition, they had to operate under a full Mage, bound to obey them, subject to their schedule and whims. Once the mageling had scraped together enough to afford their own spell-lines, though, they were a Mage, and it was common law that a Mage commanded a much higher salary. She¡¯d not considered that, given a choice of paying her a high salary or not hiring her, they might simply not hire her. She cursed. Phoen quirked a small smile. ¡°You must have been a joy to your teachers.¡± Tala bristled. ¡°My teachers loved me.¡± After a moment, she amended, ¡°Most of them, anyways.¡± Phoen just grinned. ¡°Well, what can I do?¡± ¡°You have to decide whether or not to gamble. Don¡¯t tell them you have inscriptions until after the contract is signed and accept the lower wage; or tell them, and possibly lose any chance at work. No one else is hiring those of your quadrant in this city¡­ that I know of.¡± She smiled ruefully. ¡°If you were a Material Creator, I¡¯d throw you out on your ear for hubris.¡± Even so, her eyes twinkled. ¡°But not everyone¡¯s as crotchety as I. Perhaps you¡¯ll be lucky.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°So, I¡¯m naked, likely for nothing¡­ Lovely.¡± Phoen opened her mouth to comment, but Tala held up a hand. ¡°Please¡­ I know I¡¯m asking for it, but please don¡¯t.¡± Phoen patted her on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll get you some clothes, dear. I have a friend who¡¯s an inscriber, and she should be able to verify your spell-lines. Then, you can make your own choice.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­ for everything.¡± * * * Half an hour later, Tala was dressed in surprisingly soft, simple clothes and heading out of the great doors, several floors below the teleportation receiving areas. She wore no shoes for two reasons. First, shoes were expensive and should be custom-made to be more help than harm. Second, some Mages preferred going barefoot, and in this, Tala¡¯s oddities were no exception. Phoen¡¯s inscriber had verified that Tala¡¯s keystone spell-lines were intact and functional. Blessedly, the trickiest portion of her inscriptions had been maintained. While most spell-lines were scripted thin to avoid interference, the keystone was always made as robust as possible. As a result, the keystone only had to be refreshed every year or so, with normal casting. Heavy casters still only had to have that work redone every six months, at the most often. In contrast, the ancillary spell-lines could be used up in days¡ªfaster with heavy casting. Even standard amounts of magical work forced many inscriptions to be refreshed every couple of weeks. As a result, the work and materials required for the keystone were tremendous. In general, Mages spent as much on the once- or twice-a-year keystone work as on all the ancillary inscriptions for the rest of the year combined. In many cases, the keystone work could cost as much as two years of ancillary lines. Ahh, math. How I hate how much I need thee. She paused before exiting the tower fully, taking a moment to admire the craftsmanship of the arch and doors that stood open, allowing entrance into the teleportation tower. Magic rarely makes beauty. And the beauty of this work spoke of human labor. Tala shook her head. I can¡¯t imagine striving to add embellishments to buildings that won¡¯t last even four centuries. Even so, she enjoyed them. She idly wondered how many passersby had already gained a measure of pleasure from the elaborations. Maybe, that¡¯s enough. Turning her gaze outward, she looked out on Bandfast for the first time. The sky above the city was the deep blue of a clear autumn day, with a scattering of thin, high clouds. She loved such days, such skies. Below the clear blue beauty, from this high vantage, she could easily see six layers of the city¡¯s defenses. All but the outermost were still in place, making the burgeoning nature of the city even more apparent. It¡¯s in the farming phase. Indeed, the city¡¯s outermost active defenses encompassed vast tracts of farmland. Those defensive scripts were enormously taxing and would only last for the first hundred and fifty years of a city¡¯s life. By the growth on the land, the city was close to halfway between leaving the first and entering the third phase. The only ring beyond the farmland was the mines, but those would have been abandoned in this second phase city, their defenses already depleted. When the farmland¡¯s defenses faltered, the workers would move inward to the foundries, ore processing plants, and raw-goods refineries of the third ring. Inside of that were factories, workshops, and artisan shops, which stood ready within the next layer of defenses. The next layer contained the clerks and organizers of the city. Inside that, the final layer of defenses held the homes and services like the teleportation tower. The fifth phase of every city simply allowed for the buttoning up of all loose ends, and the sixth kept those remaining people comfortable as they prepared to leave and then left. She¡¯d heard mention of other tasks and opportunities surrounding the final years of a waning city, but had never delved too deeply. As a new Mage, she knew better than to consider work for the Harvesters Guild, at least for now. One hundred years of mining, an additional fifty years of farming, fifty more of refining, fifty of manufacturing, then twenty-five years each of closing down and departing. Three hundred years: the lifespan of a city, with only the last twenty-five years of waning to lament the end. All of this to keep humanity safe. As if on cue, she felt a thrum of power and saw a lance of lightning strike from one of the outermost towers into the sky. The piercing scream of an eagle split the air, despite the great distance, and she was able to see the great beast spiraling downward to crash into some poor farmer¡¯s field. Not too poor. That large corpse would bring substantial payment to the one who had lucked into receiving it. Assuming it didn¡¯t drop on their heads. She sighed, contemplating the slain creature. I have not missed that. The academy, for some inexplicable reason, did not have to deal with arcanous or magical beasts. Yet more unknowns. Tala shook her head, coming back from her reverie. This city still has at least a hundred and fifty years. Probably closer to two hundred, if she had to guess. She would be long dead before it was fully abandoned. Unless I go back to the academy¡­ For reasons that no one had been able to explain to her, the longer someone stayed at the academy, the slower they aged, but also the weaker their abilities with magic became. Finally, after endless pestering, Tala had determined that even the faculty had no idea why it worked as it did. She smiled to herself, realizing that she¡¯d fallen back into musings. To the Caravanner¡¯s main office. That would be in the ring one out from where she stood, with the other bureaucratic and guild offices. The inscribers would be here, in the innermost ring, and she itched to have her spell-lines refreshed, but she lacked the funds to pay for such services. Like most students, she left the academy not with accounts bursting, but indebted to the institution for her training. She, herself, had¡­ other debts, as well. I¡¯m delaying again. With no further introspections, she strode through the archway and down the front steps, allowing herself to enjoy the artistry of the carvings as she passed. The streets were busy but nowhere near capacity. After all, this section contained the housing for nearly the city¡¯s entire population¡ªas well as several of the smaller market areas¡ªand had been built accordingly. The majority of the population would be about their work¡ªmostly farming, given the city¡¯s phase. Even so, the streets were far from empty. Several large arcanous animals trudged through the streets, led by handlers. There were oxen, whose shoulders stood twice her height; horses, both massive and diminutive, pulling loads that seemed comically overlarge for them; and even several clearly arcanous pets padding alongside their owners. In every case, a simple scripted collar enclosed the arcanous animal¡¯s neck, denoting them as tamed or domesticated, exempting them from the city¡¯s defensive magics. Thankfully, Mages didn¡¯t need to wear any such thing, as human magic seemed to function differently enough that wards could differentiate. As her eyes scanned those she passed, she was able to pick out the occasional Mage by their bearing and fluid manner of movement, not to mention the spell-lines evident across their exposed skin. Most also wore Mage¡¯s robes, but not all. To her surprise, she also saw an arcane, a humanoid arcanous creature. What had caught her attention at first was the leather collar he wore, though it was tucked low, almost entirely hidden by his shirt¡¯s collar. As she¡¯d looked closer, ensuring that her eyes hadn¡¯t deceived her and that it wasn¡¯t just an odd fashion choice, he¡¯d turned to regard her. She hadn¡¯t noticed his gaze until after she¡¯d seen the metallic spell-lines on the leather collar. When she had felt his gaze, her eyes flicked up, meeting his, and she felt frozen to the spot. His eyes were blood. No comparison held the weight of truth save to say that his eyes were spheres of fresh, liquid blood, unbroken save for small circular scabs in place of pupils. Tala swallowed involuntarily. He¡¯s looking at me. She tried to smile politely and turn away, but she found she couldn¡¯t force herself to turn. Around his eyes, true-black, smooth skin forced the orbs into starker contrast, making their deep shades seem almost to glow. Subtle hints of grey lines ran under that skin in patterns very like spell-lines but somehow utterly different. Like seeing her own language written with the phonetic alphabet. The concepts seemed familiar while remaining utterly opaque to her interpretation. She tried to turn away, again, and actually felt resistance like she was fighting herself. A tingle of her own power, emanating from her keystone, proceeded the answer: Allure. He¡¯s somehow manipulating the conceptual nature of reality, forcing my attention to remain locked on him. As an Immaterial Mage, she could work with non-substance aspects of the world, such as gravity, dimensionality, and molecular cohesion, but warping the magnitude of concepts? That¡­ that had disturbing implications. As if in response to her thoughts, a different set of lines seemed to flicker into prominence around those wounding eyes, and she found herself turning away in confusion. What is wrong with me? I stare at something I¡¯ve never seen before and suddenly insist that it must be magic. She shook her head at her own foolishness. Then, another prickle rippled out from her keystone, a subtle warning, and she froze. Conceptual manipulation¡­ would the concept of believability count? She spun, her eyes ripping across the crowds, trying desperately to find the arcane once more. She had the flickering impression of an amused smile but nothing more. After another few moments of frenzied searching, she was left with a subtle, low-level itch from her keystone and the growing concern that she¡¯d somehow imagined the brief encounter. I¡­ I need to get to the Caravanner¡¯s Guild. Why had she allowed herself to get lost in her own musings once more? Tala huffed. I¡¯m never going to get anywhere if I don¡¯t get going. Without a backward glance, she passed through tremendous gates, the southernmost of eight sets, to breach the gargantuan innermost walls. Those walls were also carved with beautiful, intriguing reliefs, showing the Builder¡¯s attention to detail. When building a cage, make it a pretty one. She sighed, pushing those thoughts away, along with her others. A cage with doors flung wide hardly counts. At least, that was what she wanted herself to believe; what she needed to believe if she were going to maintain her own sanity. Human cities are to keep violence out, not humans in. She did not contemplate that the results were virtually indistinguishable. She strode purposely onward, now, and though she had to ask for directions twice, it took her less than an hour to find the building that she sought. When she did, she hesitated, standing across the street and observing the flow of traffic in and out of the building, itself. This is it, Tala. You need to decide. Will you take the easy way? Or risk it all? She laughed. It was hardly a risk. Even if no one would hire her, the academy wanted her to pay them back, plus she had her parents¡¯ debts, which had led to her sale into the academy¡¯s tutelage. No, they wouldn¡¯t let her stay unemployed, though who knew what pittance they¡¯d give her if they were forced to find employment on her behalf¡­ Not helping, Tala. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now or never. Without further delay, she strode through the wide, double doors. Chapter: 2 - The Caravanner’s Guild Tala took a deep breath as her feet carried her through the front door of the Caravanners¡¯ main office. The doors were simple, if wide, and they stood open, allowing for easy foot-traffic in and out, of which there was a steady flow. The arch which held the doors was easily wide enough for four people¡ªfive of Tala¡¯s size¡ªto come through shoulder to shoulder, with a bit of room to spare. The room she entered was a wide receiving hall, with clerks working in alcoves around the outside, as well as some more senior workers moving through the shifting groups of their prospective clients. Here, almost every business was represented. Restaurants negotiated food shipments either for more specialized crops not grown within this city or beginning to establish contracts for when the city¡¯s farming phase ended; artisans similarly negotiated for materials and to ship their goods to other cities; and countless others sought or negotiated similar services. The Caravanners also carried mail from city to city, along with other goods, and they did a brisk trade in that respect. In truth, this guild was one of the pillars of human civilization. They were unique in the quantity and regularity of their ventures through the arcanous wilds. Only the Builders dealt with beasts more often than the Caravanners, and they didn¡¯t do trips through the wilds so much as they fielded vast, long-term expeditions out into them, building the continuous wave of cities. Well, there was the Harvesters¡¯ Guild, but their goal was slaying beasts and taking from them, so it was hardly a fair comparison. She returned her mind to her present time and place. There is power within these walls. She felt a growing sense of excitement at the prospect of working for such an important group. She had barely taken five steps through the door before she was noticed by a clerk with copper and silver spell-lines covering her face, clearly focused around her eyes. ¡°You! Mage. Can I help you?¡± Tala smiled and strode over to the young woman, where she waited behind a high counter. The clerk was not wearing Mage¡¯s robes, opting instead for a simple, if elegant, single-piece dress. It allowed her freedom of movement, without being a distraction for those she worked with. She had long, dark-blonde hair, pulled into a loose braid. Tala almost frowned at that. I¡¯m seeing a lot of inscribed with hair. Is there something different about the inscribers in this city? Now was hardly the time for that line of thinking, however. Tala smiled. ¡°Yes, I am looking for work.¡± If Tala had to guess, the clerk was only a few years older than she, herself. The woman nodded. ¡°I¡¯d hoped so. May I?¡± She tapped the scribing around her eyes. Be decisive. Tala nodded once. The clerk blinked, seemingly with specific intent, and her spell-lines pulsed with power. As before, Tala¡¯s keystone let her know that she was in close proximity to, or the target of, magic, but the feeling wasn¡¯t unpleasant. A simple inspection. As before? She had the stuttering impression of blood and darkness but couldn¡¯t pull a coherent memory together. Must have been a bad dream. She dismissed the fractured recollection without further thought. To Tala¡¯s unenhanced eyes, the effect on the clerk¡¯s face looked very similar to a heat haze, though with a little more light to it. Even that indication was a vast improvement on what Tala had seen before her time at the academy. My body is acclimating to magic detection. Her instructors had said that, in time, she wouldn¡¯t need to continue getting inscriptions for the magesight at all. Her body would learn how to see the signs for itself, and her mind would interpret the input in ways that mimicked the spell-line-granted vision. It was, in truth, another thing those teachers didn¡¯t truly understand, but they likened it to a skilled merchant learning to know weights and measures without the need of a scale over time. He could simply pick up a sack and know the weight of its contents. No magic involved. Tala had always been skeptical, but it seemed she might have been wrong, again. The tell-tale signs were there. It would be nice to forgo that expense¡­ Magesight was so often used that the inscriptions around a Mage¡¯s eyes were almost always the most often refreshed. She was letting her mind wander, again. She focused back on the clerk, just as the woman nodded and blinked again, deactivating her magesight. ¡°Yes, you will do nicely, Mage. Indications suggest an intact keystone.¡± She smiled widely. ¡°You must have had quite the run of bad luck to so completely deplete the rest of your inscriptions; I can¡¯t detect even a single ripple of non-natural magic from anything except your keystone.¡± Tala laughed, nervously. ¡°Yeah, well. I¡¯m alive, and here, so¡­¡± She smiled, trying to put forward confidence. So much for being able to decide whether or not to be considered a Mage¡­ She hadn¡¯t considered a magesight inspection this early in the process. More the fool, me. The clerk waved a hand. ¡°I don¡¯t need the details. You are an Immaterial Guide, yes?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°I apologize, but I didn¡¯t catch your name.¡± ¡°Oh! How silly of me. You may call me Lyn Clerkson.¡± ¡°Mistress Lyn, a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Tala.¡± ¡°Tala¡­?¡± ¡°No family name.¡± ¡°Mistress Tala, then.¡± Lyn smiled. Tala extended her hand. Lyn shook it happily. As she did so, her sleeve pulled up, and Tala was able to get a better look at the extensive spell-lines twining about Lyn¡¯s forearm, wrist, and hand. So, a full Mage? Or she was just more heavily inscribed than the non-Mages Tala was used to. ¡°Are all the clerks here Mages?¡± ¡°Oh, no. I¡¯m one of the Senior Exchequers, here. Specifically, I¡¯m in charge of the recruiting and handling of new recruits.¡± She made a motion with her arms that mimed excitement. ¡°Yay! Right? I¡¯m glad I was here when you wandered in.¡± Tala blinked at Lyn several times, trying to figure out what to make of the girl. ¡°Yeah. I suppose I¡¯m glad, too.¡± ¡°So, have you ever empowered bigger boxes?¡± She blinked several times, trying to make sense of the question. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Apologies. That¡¯s how I always think of them. I mean have you ever empowered spatial enlargement scripts? Not many Mages have, outside the Caravanners¡¯ Guild, but I figure it¡¯s good to ask.¡± ¡°Oh! You mean expanding the available space within a given container?¡± Lyn brightened. ¡°Yes! Do you have experience?¡± ¡°Some, but not on any large scale.¡± The idea had fascinated Tala enough that she¡¯d pestered a teacher into giving her extra lessons and materials on the subject. Even so, she¡¯d only empowered the spell-lines involved a few times. Lyn¡¯s smile grew, genuine excitement evident in the expression. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just wonderful! Teaching new Mages how to twist their mind ¡®just so¡¯ can be a¡­ time-consuming process.¡± Tala nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Yeah, it took me nearly a month before I was able to get past the mental blocks.¡± Lyn laughed, and her tone took on that of someone quoting an oft-heard refrain. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it¡¯s possible, it isn¡¯t.¡± Tala smiled in return. I just might like working with you, Lyn. ¡°But only a month? That is quite quick!¡± She paused, then cleared her throat. ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer this, but I have a pet theory I¡¯d like to test.¡± Tala tilted her head, curious herself. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Did you have any background in physics or geometry before your first attempt?¡± She laughed. ¡°No! And having spatial distortion theory in my head definitely made those harder to tackle.¡± A small, knowingly contented smile tugged at Lyn¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯d thought so! It always seems that the more ignorant Mages are able to master more obscure aspects faster.¡± She paled, her smile faltering. ¡°I am so sorry! I didn¡¯t mean¡ª¡± Tala held up a hand, grinning. ¡°No harm meant; no harm done. I was ignorant.¡± Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°Even so. I apologize.¡± She took a deep breath and let it out quickly. ¡°Now, then. We really should get to business. Are you looking for work on your way to a particular city, work within this city, or were you hoping for a longer-term contract?¡± Tala¡¯s grin slipped back to a casual smile. Her research had not been in vain. Once I¡¯ve enough to fund my own inscriptions, I can just do piecework to get between cities. That would leave her free to do as she pleased¡­ Once my debts are paid off¡­ Her smile weakened, just slightly. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Longer term is better paid, and we do offer signing bonuses for certain contracts, and an Immaterial Guide with spatial distortion experience is definitely in that wagon!¡± After a brief pause, she added, ¡°At least for certain contract lengths.¡± ¡°What is the shortest contract with a signing bonus?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Let me see.¡± She pulled out a stone slate and began manipulating the text on the surface, seemingly flipping through magically stored pages. ¡°It looks like, for your quadrant, we can offer a contract of one year or ten trips, whichever is completed sooner. You are obligated to take a minimum of one trip every other month, including within a week of first signing.¡± ¡°And the rate?¡± ¡°Four ounces per trip, and the signing bonus is four ounces.¡± Tala deflated. One ounce of silver would buy a good meal, but not much more than that. That was lower than an average worker¡¯s day wage, and she doubted the trips only took a day. How do people survive on so little? ¡°How often could I take trips? Is there a minimum waiting time?¡± Lyn blinked, seemingly confused at Tala¡¯s dour tone. ¡°No¡­ but even the shortest trips take nearly a week, and most Mages like to have time to spend their earnings in whichever city they arrive in. That, on top of getting re-inscribed and allowing any change to the scribings to set¡­ I¡¯ve known very few to make a trip every month.¡± She wobbled her head slightly, seeming to hedge. ¡°Well, excepting those who do ¡®out and back¡¯ work. Those tend to do two trip blocks, then take longer breaks in between.¡± ¡°Time to spend¡­¡± She was frowning. Lyn opened her mouth in an understanding ¡®Oh!¡¯ ¡°Apologies, again, Mistress Tala. Four ounces gold.¡± Tala found herself frozen in surprise. Four ounces¡­ gold. An ounce of gold was a hundred times as valuable as one of silver. Yeah, a month to relax after each trip would be quite nice. That, and her debt to the academy, on top of her parents¡¯ debt¡­ Now, also mine¡­ was 487 ounces gold, twenty ounces silver. One hundred twenty-two trips. Ten years. She¡¯d been expecting the debt to follow her for her entire life unless she found alternate means of paying it off. I can make ten years work. Though, she wasn¡¯t accounting for expenses. Lyn quirked a questioning smile. ¡°You haven¡¯t done much contract work, have you? You don¡¯t seem to have a good idea of your value.¡± ¡°Clearly not.¡± No one had been willing to give her solid data. ¡°Well, that is our fault. If we advertised better, maybe we¡¯d have gotten you in here sooner!¡± Her smile firmed up. ¡°And I can assure you, with as well-traveled as you¡¯ll be after even a short contract, we wouldn¡¯t dream of underpaying you. We¡¯d never hold onto Mages if we tried that.¡± She gave a little chuckle. Tala nodded distractedly, not really hearing Lyn¡¯s continued dialogue. ¡°Maybe¡­ Is there a slightly longer contract available? Could I negotiate better rates for two years or twenty trips? A higher signing bonus? Oh! And after the contracted trips, what is the piece job rate, going one way?¡± ¡°All great questions. If you aren¡¯t on a contract, and we have a caravan in need of a Mage of your type, your rate would be three-and-a-half ounces gold, though that can vary slightly from trip to trip. For a three-year, twenty-trip contract, the best I can offer is a trip rate of four-and-a-half ounces, with a one-trip-value signing bonus.¡± Ninety-four-and-a-half ounces gold¡­ Tala was speechless. Even with her inscriptions, that should cover over a sixth of her debt, with some to spare. She thought she had a good guess of how much her spell-lines would cost. She hesitated. Lyn¡¯s smile grew. ¡°It won¡¯t increase the signing bonus beyond four-and-a-half ounces, but if you sign a five-year or thirty-trip contract, I can give you five ounces per trip. You won¡¯t be as free to choose your destinations, as those rates are a bit too much except on more lucrative runs.¡± ¡°What about frequency?¡± ¡°There are many of those leaving every week, but they tend to be a bit longer, closer to two weeks on average.¡± She hesitated. ¡°I should be clear, even at the lower rates, the trips will range from one to four weeks. You could always choose the shorter trips, but that is frowned upon¡ªas you can imagine. We try to give as much freedom as possible, but we don¡¯t like to see that abused.¡± Tala nodded. Five years. She hesitated. No, thirty trips. Each around two weeks¡­ She could fulfill her contract in less than half the prescribed time. Just about thirty percent of my debt gone in a year and a half, in one contract? That¡¯s a great start, Tala. She grinned. ¡°I¡¯m interested in a thirty-trip contract, but let¡¯s talk terms. What all is provided on the trips? Do I need to bring my own supplies, shelter, gear? What expenses should I expect to bear, and what ancillary support will the guild be providing?¡± Lyn¡¯s smile turned slightly predatory. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can work out.¡± * * * Nearly two hours later, Lyn and Tala sat across from each other in comfortable chairs, sequestered in a back room of the Caravanner¡¯s headquarters. Empty mugs of tea stood on the table between them, alongside a contract. ¡°Here.¡± Lyn turned the scripted stone tablet around, passing it back to Tala. ¡°I think this represents everything we¡¯ve agreed to.¡± The text was not written on the stone, though it seemed to be. The words were manifest there from the contract archive, and once Tala willingly put a drop of her blood to the slate, with the intent to confirm the agreement, it would be logged as officially binding. Lyn had already placed her own blood in one corner, using a small, sharp protrusion on the tablet, in place for that purpose. Tala scanned the document quickly. It outlined a statement of her own qualifications; those that were verified within the system, such as her certification as a Mage, were highlighted, while those based on her word were set apart. The wording, and the magic in the contract, would annul any obligation from the Caravanner¡¯s Guild if she had been false. Indeed, there were steep penalties if that were to be the case. Thankfully, she¡¯d avoided any falsehoods. Beyond her own merit, the agreed-to payments were outlined, along with other restrictions and benefits. She was required to have a certain level of preparedness before accepting an assignment, as well as to modify her preparations to meet any specific requirements for the given trip. She would additionally be granted food for the duration of any voyage. She had forgone the standard offerings of an attached servant, to manage the day-to-day responsibilities, and a private wagon for her personal residence while outside city walls. Her magics, once she was reinscribed, were mostly bent towards survival, so safety shouldn¡¯t be a concern. As to the convenience of it, she could bear a little discomfort to pay off her debt more quickly. That in mind, she¡¯d negotiated for greater pay in exchange for less convenience and a bit more danger. Thus, the agreed to per-trip payment, as well as her advance, had been raised to five-and-a-half ounces gold, and she would not be limited to the high-value or longer missions. Apparently, most Mages expected a luxuriously appointed carriage and highly skilled servant, and Tala had gotten Lyn to admit that those items easily cost the guild upwards of one-and-a-half ounces gold per trip. Thus, Tala was offering them a bargain. Everything on the contract was, indeed, as they¡¯d agreed, and it was written with plain, easy-to-understand language, as Common Law demanded. Tala pricked her finger on the sharp nub, and it retracted immediately after. With an effort of will, she allowed her gate to open, and magic flickered through her body, infusing her blood just as she touched the cool stone. The drop of blood that had been building on her finger vanished into the stone, and the tablet turned a pleasant, emerald green, denoting full confirmation. Without an inscription to direct and release its power, the magic still flowing through her left Tala with a nervous energy. She wanted to get up and run. Her keystone didn¡¯t help, as it wasn¡¯t meant to use up excess power. Lyn had been watching the contract, and when she noted the change to green, she smiled. ¡°Your consent, as well as your words, have been accepted.¡± She looked up at Tala. ¡°Welcome!¡± Her smile spread with genuine enthusiasm. ¡°I¡¯m so glad that you came to us.¡± She tilted her head, seeming to consider for a moment. ¡°Do you have an inscriber in the city, yet?¡± Tala thought about Phoen¡¯s friend, but she didn¡¯t really know them well, so she shook her head. ¡°No.¡± Lyn¡¯s smile seemed to settle into one of satisfaction. ¡°I figured not. Now, no self-respecting inscriber would dare get handsy with a Mage of our guild, but I know of one who¡¯s better than average.¡± Tala¡­ hadn¡¯t thought of the issue of finding an inscriber herself. She nodded gratefully. ¡°Thank you. Are they your inscriber?¡± ¡°She is, yes.¡± Lyn nodded. ¡°Though it¡¯s one of her apprentices that does the work on me, directly. She¡¯ll have closed up for the evening, but I know where she likes to grab dinner. We can join her if you¡¯d like, and if you two get on, you can have your spell-lines inscribed tomorrow.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes flicked to Lyn¡¯s hair. Though it was held up in a utilitarian style, it was clearly quite long. Even so, Tala thought she saw hints of spell-lines among the roots, confirming her suspicion that something was different about this city¡¯s inscribers. A smile tugged at her lips. ¡°That sounds like a great plan.¡± She hesitated, her smile faltering, but after a moment¡¯s indecision, she decided to push forward. ¡°When would I get my advance?¡± Lyn¡¯s smile shifted, again, becoming a knowing smirk. ¡°We can grab it for you on the way out. I¡¯m off anyways.¡± ¡°Oh! I held you up?¡± Lyn waved away the concern. ¡°Not really. I always have to finish up my work, regardless of the time. Today? Getting this contract worked out was the priority.¡± She stood, smoothing out her simple dress. For the most part, Mages¡¯ robes had quick-release ties so that the Mage could shed the garment with speed. Most Mages expressed their power from many locations, so cloth coverings added difficulty and expense when the spells breached the cloth to escape. There was also the danger, in more restrictive clothing, that a garment could pull the skin in an unexpected manner, altering a Mage¡¯s spell-lines in unexpected or dangerous ways. The net result was that most Mages wore as little as they could manage while casting and covered themselves with Mage¡¯s robes in between such workings. Tala¡­ well, she ascribed to a different philosophy of casting. She ensured that the manifestations of all outward expressions of power originated from her hands. It was a weakness if she were ever truly hampered, but she¡¯d seen that as an acceptable tradeoff. Lyn¡¯s own choice of a simple dress spoke volumes about her life, as well as her work as a Mage. She did not expect, or have need, for quick, complicated castings, nor did she seem to have any concern about having to remain mobile. In short, she led a safe life. ¡°Tala?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Lyn was standing, half turned away, seeming to be waiting. ¡°Are you coming?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Tala stood in a rush. She¡¯d allowed her mind to wander, again. ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s go.¡± Tala followed as Lyn led her through the now mostly empty main hall of the guild. They came to a small counter, tucked into a back corner, where an unlined clerk asked Tala for a drop of blood. The clerk confirmed her contract and that money was owed. He frowned when he saw the amount, and Lyn was forced to take him aside for a quick, quiet conversation. Apparently, no one had received a signing bonus as high as Tala¡¯s during his time working this station. Finally, he was satisfied, and he presented Tala with a small pouch of coins. She counted it, at his prompting, and when she had verified the amount, he marked her as having been paid. That complete, he hesitated. ¡°I know it isn¡¯t my place, but may I offer a word of advice?¡± Tala had already begun to turn away but hesitated at his question. ¡°Umm¡­ sure? I¡¯m happy to learn, where I can.¡± As she responded, she¡¯d turned back towards the middle-aged man. ¡°Always count your pay. No one should ever try to short you, but mistakes happen, and after you confirm receipt, even the best-intentioned pay clerks can¡¯t give you more.¡± She contemplated that for a long moment, then nodded. ¡°I see.¡± He quirked a smile. ¡°If anyone gives you grief for counting, it is reasonable for you to remind them that you are giving your word that you received the full amount. The only honorable thing for you to do is check before so swearing.¡± She smiled in turn. ¡°Clever. I¡¯ll remember that. Thank you.¡± He gave a small bow. ¡°Welcome to the guild, Mistress Tala.¡± She gave a nod in return. ¡°Thank you.¡± She hesitated. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t catch your name.¡± He blinked at her a few times, then looked down at his tunic. Tala followed his gaze, then flushed. A small wooden placard was affixed on the left side of his tunic¡¯s chest, his name clearly written out in white lettering. He cleared his throat. ¡°You can call me Gram.¡± ¡°Gram¡­ A pleasure to meet you.¡± He quirked another smile. ¡°And you, Mistress Tala.¡± Lyn let out a small laugh, leading Tala away, across the hall, and out the doors. Chapter: 3 - Dinner The sun was setting as Tala and Lyn walked the city streets towards food and introductions. Tala had the comforting weight of money in a pouch at her belt, while still retaining the hesitancy of the recently destitute. This money would have to provide for her until her first trip, as well as outfit her for that venture, and she still had no idea exactly what that entailed. Thankfully, Lyn was leading them purposefully towards their goal, so Tala wasn¡¯t delayed or sidetracked by her many musings. I really do need to focus on my surroundings more¡­ In school, her introspections had kept her away from too much notice and allowed her to skirt the attention of many who might otherwise have called upon her or used conflict with her to elevate their own positions. Out in the real world? It was likely to get her killed. As if to highlight the very lack of awareness she was contemplating, Tala was suddenly led from the busy, if relatively quiet, main streets into a crowded courtyard, filled with people, tables, and portable kitchens. Mature trees stood, pleasingly distributed throughout the space. She noticed several braziers as well, though they were unlit since it was a warmer autumn evening. Ceramic plates, magically altered to release gathered sunlight in an even glow, provided a comfortable, if not bright, illumination. There were people at every table, but no table was truly full. While the seating was biased towards the center of the space, the food carts¡ªfor that was what the cart-bound kitchens were¡ªencircled the lot, doing brisk business. Many passersby ducked into the area to buy food before continuing on their way, but some stayed, grabbing a seat as others vacated it, creating a slowly rotating, constant group of people. It reminded Tala of the academy¡¯s dining hall¡ªif the people had been excited to be there and the food had ever smelled this good. She inhaled deeply, instantly imprisoned by the rapture of succulent smells. She couldn¡¯t distinguish the smell of any one dish, or even one stall, among the milieu, but the combination was a joy and a half. Lyn was staring at her again. ¡°Are you okay? You look like a starving dog presented with a steak.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°It has been far too long since I¡¯ve had a meal that smelled this good.¡± Lyn quirked an eyebrow. ¡°You still haven¡¯t.¡± Tala¡¯s grin broadened. ¡°What do you recommend?¡± They made their way over to a particularly overburdened cart, lorded over by a large, but not truly rotund, woman. ¡°Mistress Lyn! Good to see you!¡± The woman came around to the front of her cart to enfold the much-smaller Lyn. ¡°And who is this waif you bring to my kitchen?¡± Her reply came out muffled. ¡°This is Mistress Tala. She¡¯s new to the city.¡± As Lyn was released, she turned towards Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala, this is Gretel.¡± Tala began to bow. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Gret¡ª¡± But she was cut off as Gretel scooped her up in an overpowering embrace. ¡°Welcome, child.¡± She turned and picked up a meat pie, thrusting it at Tala. Tala took it, marveling at how thick and sturdy the crust felt. Not a drop of filling was evident on the outside as she took the proffered food. ¡°Oh! Ah¡­ What do I owe you for this?¡± Gretel laughed. ¡°Girl, that one¡¯s on me. If you aren¡¯t compelled to buy more after you eat it, well, that¡¯s my fault for making them too resistible.¡± She winked. Tala smiled and took a bite. There were no words for the culinary delight, which the pie encompassed. It was a light cream, vegetable, and poultry mixture, with exactly the right blend and ratio of spices. Gretel served several other customers while Tala devoured her own acquisition. When she was, once again, up in the queue, Tala sang her praises of the offering. ¡°I like this one, Mistress Lyn. Will she be about for long?¡± ¡°I hope she will be, at least every so often.¡± Tala nodded her assent. ¡°I can promise I¡¯ll be back. How much for another?¡± ¡°Five copper.¡± Five ounces copper. So cheap? How? ¡°How? These are amazing!¡± Gretel smiled in response. ¡°My customers usually get five or six.¡± She gestured to the other carts in the area. ¡°We try to make our portions small so that our patrons can enjoy a large variety.¡± She leaned in close as if sharing a secret. ¡°But, tell you the truth, most who try mine just fill up right here.¡± She straightened and winked again. ¡°Mistress Lyn, can I buy you a few?¡± ¡°Oh! Sure? That really isn¡¯t necessary, Mistress Tala.¡± She waved away the objection. ¡°Nonsense. I¡¯ll take ten.¡± She dug around in her money pouch before pulling out a one ounce silver coin. ¡°Can you make change?¡± ¡°Easily.¡± Gretel took the silver, verifying the weight, and returned four much smaller silver coins, a tenth of an ounce each, and ten one ounce coppers. ¡°So, you can easily try some of the other stalls if you¡¯d like. I can¡¯t hog all the good customers, now can I?¡± She winked yet again. After tucking the coins away, Tala gave a slight bow. ¡°Thank you.¡± Gretel handed over the ten small pies on a wooden platter. ¡°Mistress Lyn knows what to do with that when you¡¯re done. I look forward to seeing you again, girl!¡± Tala gave a wave as she followed Lyn towards one side of the courtyard. As they approached, Tala was able to guess where they were heading. One table was a bit emptier than the others. A striking woman sat on one short side of the long, rectangular table. Tala could not tell her age, or much else about her, because most of her features were obscured by the most all-encompassing, intricate set of spell-lines Tala had ever beheld. The woman, herself, was clothed as if she were expecting to cast, meaning with as little covered as possible. In all fairness, however, the intricacy of her inscriptions, and their pervasive nature, left the woman looking as if she wore a skintight outfit of woven silver, copper, and gold. It was beautiful. They approached, and Tala set their tray down in front of a couple of empty seats beside the woman. The inscriber lifted her gaze from her own platter of simple foods to regard Lyn and Tala, and Tala felt the telltale tingle of magic. Her eyes showed her minute ripples of power across the woman¡¯s face, indicating that she¡¯d activated her magesight. ¡°Mistress Holly, this is Mistress Tala.¡± Lyn gestured to the seated woman. ¡°Mistress Tala, Mistress Holly.¡± Tala bowed slightly. ¡°A pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re cast quite dry, aren¡¯t you?¡± Tala hesitated, then quirked a smile. ¡°I suppose I am.¡± Holly¡¯s head tilted to an inquisitive angle. ¡°No? Interesting. If casting didn¡¯t strip you of your ancillary lines, what did?¡± She leaned closer, even as Tala sat. ¡°You must tell me.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°I¡­ um¡­¡± She swallowed and glanced to Lyn. ¡°I was teleported here.¡± Lyn¡¯s eyes widened, slightly, but she didn¡¯t comment. ¡°Teleported. That seems to be true. But why would you only have your keystone replaced¡­?¡± Holly¡¯s eyes snapped back to Tala¡¯s own. ¡°You didn¡¯t, did you?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Be decisive. I can¡¯t see the truth of your words if you have no confidence.¡± ¡°No. I did not have my keystone replaced. It was maintained through transport.¡± Holly pushed herself backward, just a bit, nodding happily. ¡°I knew it. I knew it. There is an¡­ ethereal aspect to your keystone, as if another¡¯s power was forced through it. Why it didn¡¯t break your gate I¡¯ve no idea, but I suppose by Hethron¡¯s third law¡­¡± Her mutterings slowly faded below Tala¡¯s ability to hear them, and she turned to Lyn. ¡°Is she¡­ always like this?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Oh, yes. She¡¯s quite brilliant, and so most of her conversations are with herself.¡± Lyn shrugged. ¡°But she¡¯s the best, and I quite like you.¡± Holly¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Still not giving you a discount.¡± Lyn rolled her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s eat. I¡¯m starving.¡± Thus, as night truly fell upon the city, Tala sat with new acquaintances, surrounded by the sounds of revelry and the hum of conversation. This just might be possible. I might just be able to work free of this burden. * * * Tala licked her fingers clean of her last meat pie and leaned back, comfortably stuffed. Holly finished the last of her own food, savoring a fruit tart, which had been covered with fluffed cream. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Now. Give me some blood.¡± Tala¡¯s lazy comfort flashed away in an instant. ¡°What.¡± Holly held out her hand, palm down, revealing a circle of bare skin, surrounded by vaguely familiar silver scripts. ¡°Your blood, Mage. I need it to access your scripting records.¡± Tala looked to Lyn, but the woman just shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s how she operates. My understanding is that it allows her to directly overlay the schema on her client within her vision, instead of having to do comparisons.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°That does sound easier.¡± She glanced at the hand, still extended her way. ¡°If a bit¡­ gross.¡± Holly rolled her eyes. ¡°Well? Mistress Lyn did bring you here for this, right? Let¡¯s see what we have to work with.¡± Reluctantly, Tala pricked her own finger, willing a spark of power into the blood just as she pressed a drop down upon the empty circle of Holly¡¯s flesh. She had a moment of feeling oddly disjointed, but it passed as quickly as it had come. Her skin is much tougher to the touch than I¡¯d have guessed. As the blood came into the circle, silver scripts all over Holly¡¯s body flickered to life, their power then flowing into lines of copper or gold. ¡°I see.¡± The older woman stood. ¡°Come, now. Stand up. Let me get a good look.¡± Feeling incredibly self-conscious, and aware that they were in a highly public place, Tala stood. Holly began moving her about, looking at various parts of her like an alchemist deciding if an herb was worth processing. Holly made an appreciative sound as she inspected Tala¡¯s hands but scoffed as she looked elsewhere. Finally, Holly poked her in the side of her left breast, just softly enough to avoid leaving a bruise. ¡°Whoever designed these was a gifted idiot.¡± She snorted a laugh as Tala rubbed the side of her chest discreetly. ¡°And he was likely in love with you.¡± Tala froze. ¡°What?¡± Holly waved away the question but then seemed to answer it anyway. ¡°Much of this is incredibly clever and well-structured; the majority of your surface inscription is interlinking hexagons of protection, each of three parts: first, a strengthening of the inter- and intra-cellular bonds, silver to sense for stress on those bonds with copper to be activated to counter the stress; second, inscription to reform bonds if they are broken despite the aforementioned work, again with silver and copper acting in concert; and finally, a mild enhancement of signal speed through your nervous system, when your heart rate rises, again silver to copper.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Such a stupid trigger. That should be passively on, all the time, with gold so that it lasts longer. That way would actually take less material on average, and we could increase the effect¡­ though you¡¯d have to get used to it¡­¡± Tala blinked. ¡°But the other two features?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Oh, those are quite well executed, but you¡¯ve no obvious defense against magic.¡± Tala glanced away. ¡°I¡¯ve found a different method for handling that.¡± ¡°Care to share?¡± ¡°Not at the moment.¡± She looked down. Something shifted subtly in the air around Holly, and Tala felt an odd, subtle pressure from the woman¡¯s presence. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± She looked back down at Tala, and the pressure faded. ¡°The poor boy seems to have been afraid to take your feminine curves into account. It is almost like he built it around a man¡¯s body, roughly your size, and slapped it onto your skin.¡± She shook her head, again, before poking the side of Tala¡¯s breast once more. ¡°So much unused surface area! And, in this case, unprotected.¡± She scowled. ¡°He likely didn¡¯t want to be seen as focusing on your chest.¡± She glanced down. ¡°Or your hips, so he ignored them.¡± Another huff escaped her. ¡°All it did was highlight his attention all the more.¡± Tala was quite flushed with embarrassment but decided to press on. ¡°And the rest?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Oh, no human is a flat plane, so he had to account for curves in the hexagonal connections, and he did quite well in modifying the scripts for rotational orientations.¡± Tala blinked, trying to follow. She only had the most basic understanding of inscription theory. ¡°And¡­ I¡¯m losing you.¡± Holly sighed. ¡°He did a good job.¡± She glanced at Tala¡¯s head, clearly focusing on something only she could see. ¡°Good use of standard mental enhancements, here, but again with the heartbeat trigger.¡± She sighed, once more. ¡°His true genius came in the implementation of your hands!¡± She grasped Tala¡¯s hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you only want your expressions to originate here, but I¡¯m not here to judge.¡± Tala did not comment on the obvious contradiction. Holly looked at Tala¡¯s right hand, obviously seeing inscriptions where there was only blank skin. ¡°You focus on gravity manipulation for attack and submission but not area of effects!¡± She held the hand out towards Lyn for a moment before the latter¡¯s raised eyebrow seemed to remind Holly that there was nothing there for anyone else to see. ¡°Oh, right.¡± She looked to Tala. ¡°Can you actually control this?¡± ¡°Yes? What do you mean?¡± ¡°The structure of these spell-lines is incredibly dependent on your ability to attenuate your focus. You must be a savant, incredibly lucky, or ridiculously stubborn.¡± ¡°How would luck factor it?¡± ¡°To not have killed yourself with these or been killed as you tried to use them.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Well, it did take quite a while to get them to work as I wanted¡­¡± ¡°So, stubborn, then. How many targets have you been able to indicate?¡± She hesitated, not wanting to admit the truth. Well, if I¡¯m not willing to tell her the truth, I probably shouldn¡¯t let her work on my inscriptions¡­ ¡°Three or four, at a practice range, but I have difficulty getting more than one while under pressure.¡± Holly nodded as if satisfied. ¡°That makes sense. Especially with the odd methods of your mental enhancements. Imagine throwing a Mage¡¯s thinking to the wind as soon as they need to be at their most disciplined.¡± She shook her head. Tala frowned. ¡°Wait, faster thinking made it harder?¡± ¡°Different thinking made it harder. Faster connection speed doesn¡¯t speed up your mind so much as reduce the time between thoughts. That will change how you think as much as how fast.¡± Tala¡­ actually understood that. ¡°So, you can improve on this?¡± Holly snorted. ¡°Can a fish swim?¡± I suppose that¡¯s a yes¡­ But Holly had already returned her attention to Tala¡¯s hands. ¡°Despite the¡­ flaws, it¡¯s genius how he got around the difficulties of¡­¡± Tala stopped listening. She knew how her magic worked and that it had been a pain to learn how to use the unusual style of spell-craft, but she had never regretted the choice. Her magic was precise and efficient. She was a scalpel next to the headsman¡¯s axe of most gravity manipulators, and she sipped metals. Tala¡¯s mind returned to Holly when the woman snapped her fingers in front of Tala¡¯s nose. ¡°You aren¡¯t listening at all, are you?¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Well, I do know what my scriptings do.¡± She sat back down at the table, as Holly didn¡¯t seem to need to inspect her directly anymore. Holly sighed. ¡°We have a lot to discuss, and there is much we can improve. Your designer only thought of your inscriptions as multilayered, without truly embracing the potential of three-dimensional workings. I see other layers for muscle and bone spell-lines, and that shows a depth of thinking.¡± Holly smiled briefly at her own pun. ¡°But they could, and should, be intertwined, unified.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve never actually been able to test out those other layers.¡± She glanced to Lyn, who was staring at her with shocked fascination. Deeper inscriptions weren¡¯t rare, per se, but they were unpopular because they could be very painful, and if they weren¡¯t done perfectly, they led to magic poisoning at a much faster pace than even the most frivolous Material Creator would experience. ¡°I hadn¡¯t decided to commit to using them, yet.¡± Holly waved the objection aside. ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish, of course you¡¯d never get these as they are. You¡¯d be dead in a week.¡± Tala hesitated. They aren¡¯t that crude¡­ Are they? ¡°No, no. I¡¯ll get this worked up for you in just a day or so.¡± There was a strange light in Holly¡¯s eyes. Tala leaned back, suddenly wary. ¡°Ummm¡­ What will this cost me?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Holly was already moving her fingers through the air as if manipulating something Tala couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Oh, my alterations to your pattern won¡¯t be cheap, but they will be worth it. The spell-lines themselves should only cost four or five ounces gold, but with the modifications, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you only need refreshing for your passive scripts every year or so, but I¡¯ll know more after I finish the changes.¡± She glanced to Tala¡¯s hands. ¡°Though, of course, your own use of the active abilities will force more regular inscription of the lines around the functions for your hands.¡± Tala blanched. Five ounces gold. Just for the inscriptions? How much would this crazy person charge for the schematic? ¡°I only have five-and-a-half ounces of gold for inscriptions and to outfit myself for my first job.¡± She glanced at the empty wooden platter. ¡°Well, five-and-a-half ounces, less fifty ounces copper.¡± Holly paused, glancing to Lyn. ¡°What rate will she get?¡± Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°That is confidential.¡± Holly waved a frustrated hand. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± She turned back to Tala. ¡°I¡¯ll get you the basics for your first two jobs if you swear to come straight back here and not let another inscriber muck up my work. I¡¯ll take a day to finalize the schema, and then three days to do the actual inking¡­¡± She began muttering to herself again, but Tala had, once again, hit a mental block. Three days of inscription work? She supposed if it were really only required every year or so, that would total less than she had been expecting. It was the same with the cost of the work, itself, but it was front-loaded, and she did not have enough money as it was. She cleared her throat, drawing Holly¡¯s attention back. ¡°I will need at least half an ounce of gold for another necessity.¡± Holly¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°More secrets, eh?¡± She drummed her fingers on the table as she finally sat down once more. ¡°Or, perhaps, the same secret.¡± She looked into Tala¡¯s eyes, but Tala glanced away. ¡°Fine. Five ounces gold, with a promise of prompt return, and¡±¡ªshe glanced to Lyn, then back to Tala¡ª¡°eight ounces gold upon your return. Fair? I¡¯ll finalize your inscriptions, then.¡± After two trips, Tala should have an additional eleven ounces gold, before any expenses, so she should be able to afford it, but¡­ She looked to Lyn. The other woman sighed and shrugged. ¡°She¡¯s the best, honestly. Most of our Mages won¡¯t let anyone else work on them if they can help it.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, she added, ¡°Well, in truth, most are satisfied with her apprentices.¡± Holly scoffed. ¡°Of course they are. Most just want to throw fireballs or some other simple nonsense.¡± She gestured to Tala. ¡°This creature wishes to do true magic.¡± She grinned. ¡°You will play a golden harp beside their hide drums!¡± A harp is easily drowned by the sound of drums¡­ Tala opened her mouth to reply, but Holly cut her off. ¡°A long bow beside a wooden club, then, if instruments aren¡¯t well known to you.¡± Tala tried to object again, as the instruments in question were so basic the assumed lack of knowledge on her part could only be insulting, but Holly overrode her, again. ¡°But as I was saying, you will need at least three days to adjust to even the first stage of enhanced signal speed, both in your own head and in your nervous system as a whole.¡± She scratched an itch behind her left ear. ¡°I bet you¡¯ll have at least three cardiac arrests before your brain and heart work out a new rhythm. Expect lots of hiccups, too.¡± Tala¡¯s face hardened. ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°What did you expect? I¡¯d leave your involuntary mental functions alone? That would be dangerous! Imagine enhancing only a portion of your mind. You¡¯d be lucky not to fry within your own skull.¡± ¡°That is not what I¡ª¡± ¡°And moving! I can¡¯t wait to see you try to walk.¡±¡ªShe patted Tala¡¯s arm. ¡ª ¡°You¡¯re young, though, that part should acclimate in a matter of minutes.¡± ¡°Hold on a mo¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, this will be a work of art, my next masterpiece will reside on the canvas of your power. Lesser Mages will not be able to comprehend your majesty when I¡¯m done.¡± She stood, in a rush, turning and striding away. ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Holly ignored her but called over her shoulder. ¡°Mistress Lyn, you¡¯re her handler, right? Book her two jobs, leaving in a week, and returning as soon thereafter as possible. Make them safe, or I¡¯ll never get my money. Bring her by the shop tomorrow evening.¡± Lyn called a vague sound of affirmation. Tala spun on the woman. ¡°What do you mean, okay? I didn¡¯t agree to anything!¡± Lyn shrugged. ¡°You won¡¯t get a better deal, and honestly, I¡¯d be surprised if any other inscriber would take you now that Holly is interested.¡± Tala glowered. ¡°You¡¯ve tricked me.¡± ¡°Into the best inscriptions this side of heaven? Yes, yes, I did.¡± The clerk looked almost smug. ¡°She¡¯s going to kill me! You heard her.¡± ¡°She won¡¯t leave you dead. It¡¯s not hard to restart a heart if it actually goes that far.¡± Tala growled. ¡°I don¡¯t like being backed into things.¡± ¡°This is for your own good.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t understand any more of what she said than I did.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t need to. She has never failed to improve the magic of the Mages she works on. And I figured that she would be fascinated by your¡­ unusualness.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°You said she was better than average.¡± A dawning sense of understanding was growing within her. ¡°You knew that she¡¯d be like this.¡± Lyn quirked a smile. ¡°And you knew that a fresh graduate shouldn¡¯t really be getting a Mage¡¯s rates.¡± She winked. ¡°I¡¯ve got to ensure we get your true worth from you, or I¡¯ll look bad.¡± Tala¡¯s mouth dropped open. ¡°You¡­ knew?¡± ¡°Suspected. You know, one of the reasons a mageling is paid less is that their inscriptions, and their use of them, aren¡¯t fully worked out yet.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Mistress Holly will take care of that.¡± Lyn smiled, again, patting Tala on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve just helped you become who you wanted me to believe you were.¡± Tala groaned and put her head into her hands. ¡°I suppose I deserved that.¡± Lyn¡¯s voice had just a hint of sympathy in it. ¡°It won¡¯t be so bad, Mistress Tala. Come on. Let me buy dessert. You can stay at my place tonight.¡± Tala looked up hopefully. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Absolutely. You¡¯ve a busy week ahead.¡± Reluctantly, Tala followed the other woman to a nearby food cart to select a consolation. Continue the Story [Book 1 - Mageling] The Wilds relentlessly reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages create the only path forward. Tala had to fight tooth and nail in the Magic Academy to forge a path to power that was her own. She knows it¡¯s her duty to use that power to serve humanity, defending them against the creatures of the untamable wilds. However, she skipped a few steps in her education, like apprenticing to someone who actually knows what they¡¯re doing. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Now, Tala has to balance learning as fast as she can with paying off the veritable mountain of debt the Magic Academy dropped on her shoulders for the opportunity; not to mention staying alive. Even though she should only be a Mageling, the world considers her a Mage. Bless the stars she directed most of her magic toward survival. Chapter: 41 - To the Ending Grove Tala was, by every metric that mattered, a Mage. Sure, she still lacked some basic knowledge that she would have gained as a mageling, under a master, but she was getting by just fine. Just fifteen days out from the academy, and she¡¯d reached a level of recognition that would likely take her classmates years to achieve. She had operated as a Dimensional Mage for the most recent caravan from Bandfast to Alefast, earning quite a bit of gold. The other Mages she interacted with recognized her prowess and authority. She had magic inscriptions that left her nearly invulnerable to most threats. I¡¯ll even get the remainder of my inscriptions as soon as I get back to Bandfast. And now, she had her own magical items to explore and exploit. Inside her newly acquired dimensional storage, Tala reached out and placed her right hand back on one wall and pushed power out, directing it straight from her gate into the surface, just as she had with the first cargo wagon she¡¯d tried to empower. The wall greedily drank in the magic, and there didn¡¯t seem to be any resistance due to her lack of a mental construct to shape the power. Even more interesting. As she continued to feed the wall magic, she watched the hole overhead shift slightly to rest beside one wall and gray ladder rungs sprout from the wall, along with shelving around the opening itself. ¡°Now, this is amazing.¡± The changes she¡¯d described were complete, so she cut the flow of power and pulled her hand away. As she did so, she felt a staggering, whole-body exhaustion set in. She felt nearly as bad as she had after creating her first Archon Star. What was that? As she thought back, she realized that the lack of resistance had caused her to dramatically underestimate the amount of power she was funneling into the artifact. Instead of just taking power directly from her gate, she¡¯d been pulling from the reserves around her keystone. She was used to draining water from a spout, and this had been like removing the top of the barrel and overturning it. She groaned. ¡°No fair. I¡¯m trying to work with you, and you drain me?¡± There wasn¡¯t a response, per se, but the feeling of expectant waiting diminished to almost nothing. ¡°That¡¯s not an apology, but I¡¯ll take it.¡± Tala, you¡¯re talking to your pouch¡­ She groaned, again, and pulled herself up the ladder and out of the hole. With stiff movements, she placed all her carefully arranged piles onto the shelves surrounding the hole and drew the pouch closed, satisfied. She absently patted the side of the bag. ¡°Not too bad.¡± Not helping. Sanity check, Tala. She moved through some brief stretching to relieve the soreness, but she knew that her physical ache was just a manifestation of deep magical exhaustion. She eyed the two items that she¡¯d left out, aside from her clothing for tomorrow. The vial containing her blood Archon Star and the artifact knife. Tala, you¡¯re tired. Don¡¯t do anything foolish. She picked up the vial and opened the top, looking in on the drop of blood. She held the knife in her other hand and looked back and forth between the two. What¡¯s the worst that could happen? Tala tipped the vial over, dripping the blood onto the pommel of the knife and directly into the small void in its magic. As she¡¯d hoped, the magic of the knife accepted the Archon Star with ease; the blood vanished as if she were confirming a contract. She watched in fascination with her magesight as the artifact¡¯s magic subtly shifted to incorporate her Archon Star. Physically, the knife darkened in color until the steel was almost black-gray. In the handle, more of the flecks took on a red tint, and those that were already red brightened in color. Just as with the Archon Star itself, Tala was now aware of exactly where the knife was and its current condition: perfectly fine. Then, she was struck with a hammer of weariness. She would have said it was soul deep, and that was more accurate than she¡¯d like to admit, even to herself. She dropped the knife and crawled lethargically to her bed before collapsing into blissful sleep. * * * Tala groaned into wakefulness, the room positively glowing around her. She immediately felt her knife nearby and fumbled around on the bed, trying to find where she¡¯d dropped it. Her hand met the hilt. There you are. Lying there in her comfortable bed, she felt a flickering wave of tiredness threaten to pull her back into slumber, but she resisted. Nope! Time to get up, Tala. She pushed herself upright, looking around the brightly lit room. The artifact lights were still glowing, but their illumination was pale compared to the outside wall of her room, which positively radiated luminescence under the dawn¡¯s light. East-facing room, indeed. She glanced down at the knife and quirked a smile, setting it on her bedside table. It was good to have a weapon, ready to hand. If I¡¯d had that under the wagon, I¡¯d not have needed the soldier¡¯s sword. She hesitated at that. I had my camp knife. I did need a sword. Still, she felt like her new knife would have fit the bill, somehow. Strange. She stood and arched backward, first working out the kinks of a night spent in an unnatural position. After that, she moved through her morning stretches, looking within herself to verify that each was targeting the correct muscle groups. That done, she moved through her exercises, deciding to add a couple at the end when she noticed several sectors of muscle that weren¡¯t worked well enough. That done, she turned towards the bath but hesitated. After a brief pause, she picked up her belt pouch and her sheathed knife, taking them with her into the bathroom. After a quick bath¡ªshe was running later than usual, after all¡ªshe refreshed her salve, guided by the magic detector. Both the salve and detector she pulled from the pouch, and both were returned. Finally dry and ready, she let out a long sigh. Last time I have to put these on. She pulled out her blood-stained clothing and pulled them on. They weren¡¯t precisely filthy, but they were far from clean. The seamstress should have something better this afternoon. She needed to move quickly if she was going to get to eat breakfast, swing by the blacksmith, and get to the ending grove that Trent had marked for her before noon. That¡¯s what I get for sleeping late, I suppose. Dressed, with her knife and pouch at her belt, she surveyed the room. There was nothing of hers remaining. I¡¯ll be back. Still, it didn¡¯t feel like her room, not permanently. That¡¯s good; it isn¡¯t. She left, heading back to the dining hall, where she was able to grab a quick, hearty, and portable breakfast, foregoing the huge spread in favor of a less awesome but more ¡®grab-and-go¡¯ meal. They would only let her have two cups of coffee, so she guzzled those before departing. Cloth sack of food safely tucked in her pouch, she strode from the inn and towards the blacksmith. It was a bright morning, and even after her routine tasks, it was still somewhat early. There were citizens walking about, but not nearly as many as there would be soon enough. She pulled one piece of her breakfast out after another, eating them with gusto to sate her all-too-familiar hunger. I really need to get better about monitoring my expenditure of power¡­ Using magic didn¡¯t directly affect her hunger, but the mental and physical strain of such definitely contributed to her appetite. The blacksmith was waiting for her when she arrived, and she paid him the additional silver for prompt delivery of her tools. The pliers easily vanished into the bag, but she had a bit of a comical time maneuvering the fruit picker, on its 10-foot pole, into her pouch. She ended up having to angle it quite extremely to allow it to fit well enough for her to draw the bag closed. ¡°Thank you, Pedrin.¡± The poor man had watched with obviously subdued mirth at her struggles. ¡°Our pleasure, Mistress. I hope that you return to us again, for any of your smithing needs.¡± ¡°I believe I just might. Good day.¡± ¡°Good day, Mistress.¡± Without further delay, she strode towards the easternmost gate, as that was the one closest to the grove she sought. The streets were beginning to get busy, and the sky overhead was becoming a true, pale sky-blue as day took firm hold at last. She grinned to herself, licking the last of her breakfast from her fingers. Today will be a good day. There was a short line to exit the gate, and she waited patiently¡­ for the most part. It took the better part of a quarter-hour to reach the front of the line. ¡°Name, reason for departing, and time of expected return?¡± ¡°Mage Tala, on a personal errand, and late afternoon.¡± The guard frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t see you on any jobs list for outside the city.¡± ¡°As I said, I¡¯ve a personal errand.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The guard¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re not on the lists.¡± Tala took a deep breath in through her nose before puffing it out in a quick, calming exhale. ¡°Guardsman, are you meaning to imprison me within this city?¡± The man blinked. ¡°What? No! Mistress, I would never¡ª¡± ¡°Then, note that I have departed, on a personal errand, and will return well before nightfall.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t send anyone out after you if you don¡¯t return.¡± She gave him a flat look. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to.¡± He looked more than a little uncomfortable. Thankfully, a man who seemed to be his commanding officer stepped forward. He must have heard the end of the discussion because he bowed to Tala. ¡°Mistress, my apologies. You are, of course, free to leave the city. Thank you for registering your departure with us. We will notify the¡±¡ªhe glanced at the slate the other guard held¡ª¡°Caravan Guild of your journey, and we will relay any communications from them upon your return, after lunch.¡± Tala blinked at him. The Caravan Guild¡­ Rust! ¡°Oh! My¡­ I completely forgot that I didn¡¯t pack a lunch. I¡¯ll be back, shortly. When I return, do I need to check in with you, or can I simply walk out?¡± ¡°You may depart at your leisure.¡± ¡°Thank you, and thank you for your timely reminder! I¡¯d hate to have gone hungry.¡± She turned and strode away, as fast as she was able while maintaining a modicum of dignity. It took her another half-hour to reach the workyard near the city¡¯s northern gate, where she found twenty cargo-slots awaiting her empowerment. The foreman appeared to check a watch as she arrived, but he seemed satisfied by what he saw because he smiled and waved. ¡°Mistress! Are these set up to your satisfaction?¡± She gave them a quick glance before nodding. ¡°They are indeed. Thank you.¡± She quickly moved through the now-familiar mental and magical motions of empowering the cargo-slots, though the doubling of their number left her feeling a bit spent by the end. I could have gone slower, and that would have been easier. But she needed to go. She verified that the foreman didn¡¯t need anything further from her, and she turned to stride purposely back towards the eastern gate. All told, her forgetfulness had cost her more than an hour, but she thanked the heavens that she¡¯d been reminded before departing. That would have been very bad. She waved to the guards as she walked out through the eastern gatehouse and threw her arms wide to bask in the sun streaming down upon her as she stepped free of the city. The magic in the air hit her like a cool wave, revitalizing her and filling her with energy. She didn¡¯t precisely absorb magic from the air, but she did feel it ease the strain on her body, in ways that she didn¡¯t quite understand. Always more to learn. She also noticed a strange pulling that manifested in the magic around her, causing it to distort and seem to flow into her belt pouch. Recharging, after being in the relatively low magic of the city? It was an interesting idea, but it was not her current focus. She pulled out the map as she walked, verifying her memory and checking for landmarks. As the first part of her path mainly took her across land that had been within the city at some point in the past, the ground was incredibly level and smooth, making for an easy, quick pace. As she walked, she tried to note her balance, posture, and breathing without allowing them to dominate her thoughts. She nudged each of them in the right direction, again without forcing the issue. Little steps, Tala. Little steps. She kept her senses sharp, ready to retreat or fight if any creature approached her, but she didn¡¯t see any. Make no mistake, there was plenty of magic in the region¡ªand even quite a few small, arcanous creatures¡ªbut nothing that would be a threat to a child, let alone her. That¡¯s odd. Maybe another group swept through before me? She had left a bit later than most people she¡¯d seen exiting the eastern gate. Even so, she didn¡¯t allow herself to grow lax. Her eyes were ever-moving, and she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. She was just over an hour outside the city, and more than halfway to the grove, when she felt flickers of dimensional magic and turned to find the terror bird regarding her from a dozen paces away. Lovely, just lovely. The bird currently stood just shorter than her, its heavily built body likely three or four times her weight. They stared at each other for a long time. ¡°I wish you could talk.¡± The bird shook itself like a dog shedding water. ¡°I suppose that means ¡®no,¡¯ but I already knew you couldn¡¯t talk.¡± The bird didn¡¯t react. ¡°What do you want from me?¡± It bent down and mimed tearing a bit of meat from a kill. ¡°You want meat?¡± The bird bobbed its head. ¡°Can¡¯t you kill something yourself?¡± It settled down on its haunches, not quite sitting but clearly at its ease. ¡°You don¡¯t want to¡­¡± Tala groaned. ¡°I can¡¯t possibly feed you enough for you to survive.¡± It shook again. ¡°You don¡¯t want me to feed you enough to survive?¡± Shaking. She groaned again. ¡°You just like the taste of the jerky¡­¡± Bobbing. She let out a sigh. ¡°Will you go away if I give you some?¡± The bird hesitated, then gave a small bob. ¡°You just lied to me. You can¡¯t even talk, and you lied to me!¡± She found a grin spreading across her face despite herself. The bird shook itself, but there wasn¡¯t much intensity behind the movement. ¡°You know, you can¡¯t follow me forever.¡± The bird lifted slightly into what was obviously an aggressive crouch. ¡°I¡¯m not challenging you, bird. I¡¯m stating a fact. You can¡¯t get into cities, and I will be in many cities. You know¡ª¡± She¡¯d been about to say that she wasn¡¯t the only human with jerky, but she realized that telling a dimensional terror bird that it could get tasty treats from humans it considered helpless was not the best plan. She scratched her forehead. ¡°Fine. Fine! I¡¯ll give you some.¡± The bird stood upright, clearly perking up at the idea. It shifted back and forth from foot to foot as it waited. Tala fished out a big chunk of jerky and contemplated for a moment. I¡¯m not letting it get close to my hand, even if it can¡¯t actually bite off my fingers. On a whim, she pulled back and tossed it off to the side. A ripple of magic passed over the terror bird, and it shrunk to the size of a large cat. A second pulse caused it to vanish from where it had been and reappear alongside the still-flying jerky, which it snapped from the air. A third pulse of magic took the bird and jerky from her sight altogether. She didn¡¯t feel any other points of dimensional power, so it had moved out of her magesight range. The entire process, shrinking and transporting twice, had taken the bird less than an eyeblink. That is a terrifying creature¡­ I can¡¯t continue to call it ¡®bird.¡¯ It needs a name. Something else to think on. She sighed and turned to continue her trek through the lush wilds, towards the distant grove. * * * Almost an hour later, she had the distinct impression that the bird was back, even though she hadn¡¯t sensed any dimensional magic. Following a self-destructive whim, she fished out a second large hunk of jerky and randomly flung it to the side. Twenty feet from her, the jerky encountered a brief flicker of dimensional power and vanished. She hadn¡¯t seen the bird at all. ¡°You know,¡± she called out, ¡°I can¡¯t just feed you for free. There has to be some give and take, here.¡± There wasn¡¯t a response, and she didn¡¯t have any way of knowing if the creature had heard her. It doesn¡¯t really matter. I¡¯m talking to a bird. She crested a small rise, small enough to not have been depicted on Trent¡¯s map, and she saw the grove of ending trees before her. They were starkly beautiful in their loneliness. This used to be part of the farmland around Alefast. Unlike in other clusters of trees that she¡¯d passed, no other foliage grew near them, and every tree looked exactly the same. Well, not exactly the same. They were clearly all the same species, though. I wonder why the one we passed on our way here was alone, but these seem to be living in harmony. They were often close enough for the branches to touch, and their unnatural swaying caused the limbs to click or rasp together, creating a constant undercurrent of fairly disturbing sound. So that¡¯s what I was hearing. The sound had been growing louder on this portion of the trek. Tala glanced down at herself. She was not fond of the state of her clothing, but she had no interest in having to trudge back to the city naked. I¡¯ve still got the shirt the terror bird ripped open and the one with a hole in the chest from where Brand stabbed me. Her pants were in a little better state, thankfully. The blood-stained shirt was her most intact shirt, but she could work with the cut and stabbed ones if necessary. Her belt, however, that she wasn¡¯t willing to lose. Toward that end, she decided to use her iron salve on the belt and belt pouch. She reasoned that the belt pouch¡¯s magic, like her own, was below the surface, so it wouldn¡¯t be negatively affected by the salve. In addition, the opening would still be free to draw in magic, as it had continued to do throughout her trek. That decided, she opened the pouch and found two surprises. First, the fruit picker was clearly standing upright, instead of at the crazed angle she¡¯d finagled it into in order to close it. When she peeked inside, it appeared as if a hole, just bigger than the handle, had opened up, going deep enough for the entire lower portion of the tool to fit in, allowing the basket and hooks at the top to rest comfortably within reach, while still being out of the way. ¡°Huh. That¡¯s pretty neat.¡± Second, the items she¡¯d placed on the upper shelf now each seemed to have somewhat customized resting places, allowing for more secure storage and easier access. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to like you, bag.¡± She decided that the storage¡¯s ability to mold itself was likely directly connected to how much power it could draw in, so her being outside the city had allowed it to shift more easily. ¡°Seems that feeding you magic is going to be a wise decision.¡± It can¡¯t possibly be a bad idea to give power to a semi-sapient, dimension-warping item. Not at all. Changes noted, Tala got to work. She pulled out her small glue bottle and painted her palms with the flexible substance. As soon as the paste had dried on her palms and the inside faces of her fingers, Tala pulled out an iron salve bar, working the salve into the leather of her belt and the outside of the dimensional belt pouch. That done, she placed her knife into the pouch and pulled out the fruit picker. With deliberate care, she worked iron salve into the entirety of the ten-foot wooden handle of the tool. Patience in the present removes frustration in the future. Her work finally complete, she stood, ready to approach the ending grove. She wore her blood-stained shirt, and she¡¯d changed into the pants that were similarly speckled. Her belt held only the belt pouch, and her hands held only the fruit picker. Let¡¯s do this. She walked forward and spotted the first bunch of endingberries on the closest tree. She carefully maneuvered her fruit picker up and used the hooks to pull the berries free. As she did so, several of the nearby branches swayed to bump the wooden handle of the tool. Thankfully, the iron salve protected it just fine, and nothing came of the interactions save brief, impotent flashes of magical power. She moved methodically around the edges of the grove, trying to stay out of reach of the moving branches. She had only gotten the fruit picker¡¯s basket about half-full when a tree moved much more than any previously had. She had no warning as a branch descended and impacted her back. There wasn¡¯t nearly enough force to harm her, or even knock her off balance, but the tree¡¯s magic was still imparted. A ripple of destructive, disintegrating power flowed across her skin but couldn¡¯t penetrate her own application of iron salve. Her shirt did not fare so well, and it puffed to dust, falling to the ground around her. Tala groaned, looking down at herself. That¡¯s just great. She had a decision to make. Was she going to continue harvesting half-naked, or would she risk another shirt? The one the bird tore up wouldn¡¯t be too much of a loss. She stepped away from the grove and pulled that shirt out, putting it on quickly. There. As she looked back towards the grove, she paused. Not worth it. She removed her belt, placing that within her pouch, and then she tucked the pouch beside a very prominent rock. Much safer to leave it here. Moving back to the edge of the tree line, she was even more careful as she continued to fill her basket, dodging the increasingly numerous, wildly moving limbs. Finally, she¡¯d filled the little basket of her fruit picker, so she withdrew to a nearby boulder, which was poking out of a rather lush field. She retrieved the dimensional pouch from the base of the rock and fished out one of the jugs, placing it securely between her legs on the rock. Then, with the pole leaning against the rock so the basket was in easy reach, she went to work. In quick succession, she would take up an endingberry, twist it apart, and drop the two halves into the open jug. The seed would go into her mouth, where she would suck off the juice, enjoying the building buzz of power. Then, she would take the seed and hurtle it back into the ending grove, where it would land among the roots of its ancestral kin. To her surprise, the seeds of these endingberries did not build towards destruction nearly as quickly as those of the lone tree in the wilds had. As a result, she had almost a minute to work with each berry, if she so chose, leaving it a far less dangerous process. Maybe this is why there weren¡¯t any other trees around that one? None of the seeds could get far enough away for the seedlings to establish¡­ It was an interesting thought. Though, the closeness of the trees in the grove before her made that an unlikely reason. She¡¯d considered keeping the ending seeds, as she had those from that singular tree, but in the end, she realized that she didn¡¯t want to be carrying around what amounted to a massive box of destruction. Trent would approve of her decision, she assured herself, and that helped make the choice all the firmer. Many of the endingberries had retained their stems. For those, she used the iron pliers to help remove them before she processed the berries like the others. In the end, the single basket from the fruit picker allowed her to fill the jug somewhere between a quarter and a third full. Alright. Now, we¡¯re getting somewhere. And back to work she went. Chapter: 42 - Well… That’s New Over the next hour, Tala filled the fruit picker seven more times, each time moving back to the rock, or another convenient seat, to process her harvest. During that time, she lost another shirt and two pairs of pants. With one of each left, she was forced to continue her work without other covering. It wasn¡¯t unpleasant in the cool weather, but it definitely left her feeling like every tree, rock, or bush held some hidden watcher. She filled both glass containers completely and ate a picker-basket full of the berries for lunch, supplemented by the travel food she¡¯d purchased in Bandfast. No need to let this go to waste. She drank a lot of water, though it did little against her building headache. Is this from lack of coffee? It¡¯s probably from too little coffee. She grumbled unpleasantly about the stinginess of inns. Her lunch now finished, she looked down at herself and noted that her fingers were stained a near maroon, and there were some drip stains on her chest as well. She could only imagine what her face looked like if enough had gathered to drip down off her chin. She had tried to be careful, knowing that every drop of juice held power, but there was only so much she could do. She let out a resigned sigh. Oh well. I suppose I¡¯ll bathe when I get back to the city. Attempts at rationality aside, she was quite irritated at the waste of power that the juice represented, and she resolved to be even more careful going forward. Though, I don¡¯t really know how I could be¡­ Such a resolution, without a plan, was probably doomed to failure. She pulled out the keg she¡¯d purchased and set about emptying the initial containers into it. They filled it quite nicely, just as she¡¯d hoped. She set the keg¡¯s lid in place and pulled out a wooden mallet. She¡¯d purchased the mallet in Bandfast, along with several other random odds and ends, to help round out her options if unexpected things happened. As she¡¯d hoped, it had turned out to be a wise choice. It was a bit more difficult than she¡¯d expected to properly set the keg¡¯s lid, but she got it done, mentally referencing the barrel seller¡¯s advice and instructions. Glad I asked, or this would have gone a lot more poorly¡­ With the full keg again stashed in her belt pouch, she had two empty jugs, ready to fill. Here we go. Once more, into the grove. Without clothing to protect, she was a bit less careful in this initial step, favoring speed over safety, and she was brushed, struck, and poked at least half a hundred times over the next hour. They never seemed to reach her skin, so she didn¡¯t pay the brushes to much attention. Her speed paid off, though, as she filled the two jugs and ate her absolute fill of the endingberries. No wonder no one harvests these. I¡¯d be dead a dozen times over. A hundred, more likely. From her experience, only her iron salve had kept her intact. She withdrew for the final time, settled down on a comfortably flat boulder, and finished processing the last harvest. Then, she stored the fruit picker in the convenient hole prepared within her belt pouch. Is hole the right term? Carrying case doesn¡¯t really work. Mount? Slot? It didn¡¯t really matter. She absently licked her fingers clean, relishing the tiny influx of power added to the storm within her with each drop. It had been a very productive outing. Not without its costs, however. She¡¯d lost two shirts, three pairs of pants, and quite a bit of hair. She reached up and felt her patchy scalp with a sigh. She had not come through completely unscathed. Still, I¡¯m alive, and there is no way I would have been without my peculiarities. She had kept her hair growth inscriptions from activating, knowing that she could easily exhaust them if she let them trigger for every disintegrated chunk of hair. The salve that I worked into my hair helped some, but not as much as I¡¯d hoped. That said, she was ready to restore herself to a state that didn¡¯t resemble someone newly recovered from a ravaging disease. Tala was about to let the magic loose when she had a realization. I¡¯ve no idea if it will grow all my hair the proper length to recover from baldness, or if it will feather the growth so that the result is correct. She knew that the inscriptions would restore her hair, but like most acts of magic, she didn¡¯t know exactly how. Well, there¡¯s no time like the present to learn. So, she allowed power to flow through the activation scripts in her scalp and above her eyes. Her hair did grow only as much as needed, and she felt the tingling power of one of her eyebrows returning to form. The other was miraculously untouched. Good to know. It isn¡¯t wasteful. Though, in truth, she had expected nothing less from Holly¡¯s work. She regarded the two jugs alongside the keg, and decided that she wanted to contain and maintain the magic as much as possible. She¡¯d already worked iron salve into the outside of the keg, so she was able to place that back in her pouch with a happy smile. The jugs were a different problem, given that they were glass and couldn¡¯t really absorb the salve. In the end, she pulled out two medium cloth sacks, turning them inside out and coating the insides with her salve before inverting them once more and placing a jug within each. I¡¯ll have to buy another keg if I mean to store these longer-term¡­ She¡¯d been cognizant enough to finish filling her iron flask, and that was comfortably stored alongside the keg, its iron the only containment that vessel needed. Now, the jugs were bound in iron salve, so the magic in the berries shouldn¡¯t fade too quickly¡ªif at all. She felt positively brimming with power from the berries that she¡¯d eaten. Unlike before, when she¡¯d had her palms uncovered along with her eyes as possible escapes for the power, now only her eyes were open, and her inscriptions were actively working to keep power from flowing through that weak point. Thankfully, those were gold inscriptions, like those of her passive enhancements, and should easily last until her return to Holly. The idea had been to prevent hostile magic from getting into her through her eyes, not escaping, however, and she could feel, and even see through her magesight, wisps of power slowly leaking from her open eyes. She blessed the stars that none of the flailing branches had ever caught her in the eye; she wasn¡¯t sure her inscriptions would prevent the entry of magic that was physically thrust into her eyeball. That would have been a disaster. Her palms were not open now because she¡¯d left the glue in place after treating the keg and fruit picker handle, earlier, and a healthy coating of iron salve had melded with the paste through the course of her work. The power had nowhere to go except what little could escape from her eyes, and she felt it settling in within her, strengthening her, and adding weight behind her enhancements. If she were being honest, she felt as if she could stand before a siege cannon and take the blast. Thankfully, such weapons of war hadn¡¯t been seen by humanity in centuries, but they were still a subject of fascination for Tala. The idea that she could withstand one was intoxicating. And she found herself basking in the feeling of power, in the sunlight, in the ambient magic swirling around her, and in the cool breeze playing across her bare skin. Woah, girl. Focus. You are standing, naked, in the Wilds, acting like some crazed nature sprite. Tala opened her eyes and let her arms fall back to her sides. Better. The sun was past its zenith, and the afternoon was waning around her. With a sigh of contentment for a job well done, Tala pulled out a pair of almost pristine pants, by her usual standards, and the shirt with the single repaired stab hole over her left breast. It was a much nicer shirt than she¡¯d been wearing, but the stitched hole was obvious. She was not a practiced stitcher. Seamstress? Tailor? Probably didn¡¯t matter. She shrugged to herself. Either the seamstress will come through, or Brand¡¯s tailor will make me some new clothing. As she turned to go, she felt a twinge, which somehow reminded her of her knife. Right, I should put that back on my belt, so it¡¯s ready to hand. She stuck her hand into her dimensional storage to search for the knife and found it immediately in her hand. Huh, I guess I instinctively knew where it was. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. She felt a bit of tiredness wash over her, but it wasn¡¯t anything worth considering deeply. She hadn¡¯t truly stopped all morning, with even her short breaks filled with work. It made sense that she¡¯d feel some weariness in a moment¡¯s pause. She shrugged as she fastened the blade to hang opposite her belt pouch, balancing out her belt nicely. Tala turned her steps back towards the city gate but paused when she came to the same rise that had first let her see the grove below. I didn¡¯t take even half a percent of the fruit that¡¯s down there¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be hard to come back tomorrow. She could buy a few more kegs and spend a bit more time collecting. The power thundering within her was a potent argument for such a course of action. That¡¯s a good default plan. I¡¯ll keep my options open, though. That decided, she turned her back on the grove and headed back towards the city. As she walked, she followed her usual routine: reading, taking notes, sketching, and otherwise contemplating the myriad ideas and theories she¡¯d come across. For one new addition, she added the occasional bit of entertainment; every so often, she would toss a small bit of jerky in a random direction and watch it vanish in a flicker of dimensional energy. In for a copper. As to her musings, she used her note-taking to help herself organize her thoughts and ideas surrounding difficult concepts. A central figure in her thoughts was her knife. The connection she felt with it was strong¡ªmuch stronger than what she¡¯d felt with her Archon Star¡ªbut it still felt like a thin thread of what it could and should be. If I want to strengthen the connection, do I give the knife power, or do I forge more stars and unify them with it? More to the point, though, what would that gain her? Why would she want that connection strengthened? The belt pouch had continued to siphon energy from the countryside as she¡¯d gone about her tasks, showing no signs of slowing, but the knife hadn¡¯t shown any signs of such. Is it storing up for lean times? Making up for time spent in the city? She had no basis for comparison. I can ask Artia¡¯s husband tonight. She hesitated. And what is the knife doing? Another question she couldn¡¯t answer. Another thing to investigate, I suppose. There was something else that required more immediate attention, however. No matter what she chose to do with another Archon Star, she knew that she needed to make more. Grediv had all but commanded her to make one vastly more powerful than she¡¯d ever managed before. Towards that end, she began building an Archon Star in her finger, just as she had the second and third times, being sure to hold the mental construct to which she slowly added power. Even so, she still contemplated the knife, occasionally drawing it from its sheath for examination, inspecting its magics more closely. She was careful, her few experiences of exhausting herself magically lending her caution. She had no desire to lapse into sleep, alone in the Wilds. Even so, she pushed herself, treating her magic as a muscle and seeking the balance between a comfortable strain and overexertion as she moved the power from her gate, through herself, to concentrate within her finger. It was an incredibly difficult balance to maintain. As she walked, she began to sweat with her internal strain, but it was a good sweat, one that spoke of progress well earned. It took her two hours to walk back to the city gate, and by the sun in the sky, it was still another couple of hours before sunset. I can make it to the gate. She held her focus as she approached and was greeted by the guard on duty. ¡°Hello! Can I get your name, please?¡± He seemed a bit hesitant, and he was staring at her mouth. What is his issue? ¡°Mistress Tala.¡± She kept herself from panting but only barely. Surprisingly, Adam¡¯s breathing pattern was incredibly useful for just that. ¡°Mistress Tala¡­ Mistress Tala.¡± The man was searching through a list, eyes still occasionally flicking up to glance at her. ¡°Ah! There you are. Welcome back. There are no messages for you.¡± He still seemed a bit hesitant. After a moment, he seemed to come to a decision. ¡°Did you notice any creatures or combat while outside the walls today?¡± Tala frowned. I just want to get through. ¡°No.¡± She almost stopped there, but her innate curiosity got the better of her. ¡°Why?¡± The guard shrugged, marking something down. ¡°Others have reported empty battlefields, places torn up by various types of magic or painted with blood, too dark to be human.¡± He gave her a meaningful look. ¡°In any case, we¡¯ve not had any reported encounters with beasts, arcane or magical, east of the city today.¡± Oh! The berry juice stains. I wonder if it looks like I¡¯ve been eating raw meat¡­ monster meat? She cleared her throat. ¡°Ahh¡­ Thank you.¡± He gave her another searching look, then shrugged, dismissing her. ¡°Thank you, as well.¡± I suppose it¡¯s no crime to hunt creatures, and even if I was doing it, my reasons are my own. Or some such¡­ With no further comment, Tala walked into the cool shade of the gatehouse. I can make it a block or two. She came out the other side, still focused on the Archon Star building in her left ring finger. Her magesight focus was entirely within herself, homed in on the spell-form steadily growing within her blood. She had set all other thoughts aside, trusting to the general safety of a city in broad daylight. As she took the final step of those first two blocks within the city, she glanced around. I can go another two. So, she made her way back to the inn; once each goal was reached, she set another just a bit further. She maintained her concentration and continued to funnel as much power as she could without overtaxing herself. In truth, it felt like carrying the heaviest weight her body could manage without injury as she continued to push for just one more block. Then, almost unexpectedly, she was in her room. That¡¯s it. I¡¯ve got to get it out. She fumbled at her belt, pulling the knife so that she could prick her finger. Don¡¯t let the inscriptions activate. She diverted a small fraction of her thoughts to her finger¡¯s spell-forms, pulling power away from those intended to keep her skin whole, just as she did every time she needed to confirm a contract or transaction. Done. She also needed to tame the power of the endingberries, racing through her system in quantities vastly outstripping those she¡¯d worked with before. She had to draw it away from the site of the cut, or they would prevent her skin from being pierced. Also done. Tala lifted the knife and paused. I¡¯m an idiot; I¡¯m not thinking clearly. Her focus was split so many ways, and she knew it was close to breaking. I¡¯ve got to move fast. With careful motions, she sat and pulled out an iron vial. I almost just let this drop onto the floor. What would that have even done? She held her finger over the open vial and carefully slit her skin, allowing the drop of blood to flow out. She maintained full control over the power until it left her body. As the drop appeared, three things happened in quick succession. First, her magesight became outward-focused again, and she saw the power within the Archon Star. Not bad, Tala. It was at least as potent as the one she¡¯d placed into her knife the night before, and that had been the combination of multiple efforts. Not bad at all. Second, as the drop fell free of her finger, her inscriptions activated behind it to close the small cut flawlessly. Last, her once again free mind realized something. Oh¡­ the knife. The Archon Star, forged within blood, seemed to sense its like nearby. As it fell, its path changed drastically and instantly. The drop ticked sideways, briefly stopping against the handle of her knife, which was still held firmly in her grip. Even with that instantaneous pause, there was no time to act, and in less than a blink, the minuscule drop of blood had rolled down the handle and into the pommel, precisely where the other star had gone the night before. Well, that choice is gone, then. The knife quivered in her hand, a ripple moving through it from tip to butt, and after the tremor passed, she was a bit surprised by the changes. The blade¡¯s color had returned to a more natural steel gray, though there was depth to the color that reminded her of the difference between red paint and a ruby. The handle¡¯s material now resembled nothing so much as a night sky, where every star was the deep, vital red of liquid blood. Give a knife a blood star, and you get what you gave? She felt something deep within her chest like the sadness of missing a friend or the joy of hugging a loved one, and at the same time, she felt a resonance within the weapon she still held. Instinctively, she knew that her bond to the knife had deepened, for better or worse. Thankfully, there was no increase in her exhaustion. Apparently, increasing a bond didn¡¯t have the same tiring effects as creating one¡ªwell, aside from the strain of creating the star used for such. Grediv said that the Archon Star would allow me to exert control outside of myself. She could already push magic into something that she was holding, so she took the knife¡¯s sheath from her belt, placed the knife in it, and placed both items on the nightstand beside her bed. How far can it work? She still felt the knife, but not as if it were in her hand. The feeling was more like how she could reliably point at the sun while standing in its light. She stepped back until a good ten feet of space was between her and the knife. Then, trusting her own instincts, she gathered up a bit of power and pushed it towards the knife. It was as easy as moving power towards or away from inscriptions within herself. Easier, in fact, if that was possible. The knife drank in the magic thirstily, and Tala cut off the flow. Can I draw power back? She tried, using the same sort of techniques, but got nothing. Hmmm¡­ Can I move it? She tried to shift the power within the knife, but it was like trying to move a pen by thinking at it: utterly ineffective and headache-inducing. This is getting nowhere. I can¡¯t move power out of it or within it; all I can do is give it power. I don¡¯t really see a point to that¡­ She sighed. But, Tala, you can give it power¡­ at a distance! She snorted a laugh. That¡¯s true, and unique, I suppose. She smiled. It¡¯s something. The seamstress wasn¡¯t likely to be by for another hour or so, then she had dinner with Artia, Brand, and Artia¡¯s husband. What was his name? She hadn¡¯t met the man, but Artia had spoken fondly of him, and he seemed like he might have some of the answers she sought. It was like Adam, but not¡­ Adrill! That was it. She smiled in satisfaction at remembering. So, she had a bit of time before the seamstress and dinner with Artia, Adrill, and Brand. How to spend the time? Tala decided that she should go buy one more keg, at the very least, as well as the tools to tap the one she had, for when that time came. Maybe a larger iron jug or flask? There were too many things to spend money on. She¡¯d have to consider it on the way. She was almost to the door when the light pressure on her back came to the forefront of her thinking. Right! The knife. She turned to go back and pick it up, reaching out in preparation, even while still across the room. In that instant, she felt a tugging, and the knife, sheath and all, zipped through the air to stop lightly in her hand, the handle perfectly situated in her grip for instantaneous use. A pulse of tiredness followed as if she had just sprinted across the room, lifted a heavy crate, and sprinted back, crate in hand. Tala stared down at the knife, now firmly in her grasp. ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s new.¡± Continue the Story [Book 2 - Mage] The Wilds reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons create the only path forward. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. While Tala is still burdened with an overly large debt, she needs to balance repayment with learning opportunities and surviving the arcanous creatures increasingly focused on her. Additionally, she must explore her newly acquired magical items, investigate a potentially lethal source of consumable power, and get back home with the caravan, trusting her defensive magics to keep her whole. She has found that the world is bigger than she ever imagined, and what she had thought was the peak of power is only the beginning of her journey as a Mage. Chapter: 71 - I’m Going to Become an Archon Sighing, Tala took one last look around her room before turning around to see Lyn standing in the doorway. ¡°Gah!¡± How did I not hear her? She thought back, and realized that she had, in fact, heard her arrive, but hadn¡¯t registered it. I¡¯m going to have to figure out how to control that better¡­ Lyn smiled. ¡°I know it probably feels even smaller now, after the wilds¡­¡± Tala smiled, her stance softening. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful, Lyn. Thank you, again.¡± Lyn¡¯s smile widened. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re sure you want to stay?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± The older woman stepped forward and gave Tala a quick hug. ¡°Good.¡± After the brief contact, she pulled back. ¡°How about I go grab us some dinner?¡± Tala brightened. ¡°That sounds fantastic! How about some more of Gretel¡¯s meat pies? I feel like I could eat a dozen¡­maybe two.¡± She felt her stomach rumble slightly. ¡°Make it three? And anything else you think looks good¡­¡± I lost a few earlier, rather violently¡­ Lyn gave her a questioning look. ¡°Holly said I needed to eat, a lot.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯ll do that. Take some time, settle in. I¡¯ll be a bit.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Thank you, Lyn.¡± ¡°See you soon.¡± She left without another word. Tala stretched, again. ¡°You know, if I¡¯m going to be without my salve for a bit, I should enjoy baths more often.¡± Terry looked at her skeptically. Tala coughed, looking away. ¡°You have no idea how often I¡¯ve taken baths, before.¡± Terry let out an oddly deep, seemingly disbelieving, chirp. ¡°Fine, well, I¡¯m going to ready a bath.¡± She grabbed one of Holly¡¯s books and her review notebook, using the latter to narrow down what to study in the former as she strode from the room. The Digestive System was her first focus. A smile tugged at her lips, and she glanced back, seeing the terror bird on her bed, and the tools on her writing table. It looked horribly bare, but it also looked right. Not that I¡¯m going to leave it like this. She smiled. Time to relax. * * * Tala¡¯s bath was not quite ready before Lyn returned with food. Tala had forgotten that a fire had to be built to heat the water in this place, and she hadn¡¯t wanted a cold bath. I¡¯m getting spoiled, it seems. She had filled the tub and just stoked the fire when Lyn called out to her. ¡°Dinner!¡± ¡°Coming.¡± Tala walked out, moving carefully as she continued to read, only to find Terry already sitting beside Lyn, eyeing the basket full of mini meat-pies. Another basket of food sat off to the side, the contents wrapped in linen. Lyn smiled up at Tala. ¡°Can he eat one?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve seen him eat worse.¡± Lyn smiled and tossed one to Terry. The bird devoured the mini-pie quickly. Tala grinned. ¡°Watch this.¡± She grabbed one of the pies, then looked to Terry. ¡°Up for some showing off?¡± Terry tilted his head, eyes on the pie, and gave a slight nod, hunkering down, almost dancing from foot to foot. Tala tossed the pie to the side. Lyn opened her mouth to protest but stopped. ¡°Where¡¯d it go?¡± Tala had had her eyes on Terry the whole time, and still, she¡¯d only seen the barest flicker. The only difference was that he¡¯d changed position, slightly, and was now wolfing down the little pie. ¡°Tala¡­¡± Lyn focused on Terry. ¡°How old is that terror bird?¡± Tala grinned, devouring her first pie. So good! Garlic and yams, and is this beef? ¡°Not young.¡± ¡°The shortest cool-down I¡¯ve seen between teleports was in a dimensional rabbit. It could jump every three seconds or so.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Not too different.¡± Lyn had a serious look on her face. ¡°It was hundreds of years old, Tala. My understanding from my passing curiosity is that the time is halved every decade or so, for non-sapient users, and the time increases, the larger the thing teleported.¡± She narrowed her eyes, examining Terry more closely. ¡°Is he a dwarf terror bird? That might explain some, but he¡¯d still need to be close to a hundred and fifty years old, at least.¡± Terry looked inquisitively to Tala, but she slightly shook her head. ¡°Could be, I suppose. Who knows for sure?¡± She ate another pie. Oooo! Parsnips and beets? Nicely blended flavors, too. I wouldn¡¯t have thought those would go with pork so well. Lyn stared at her for a long time, then sighed. ¡°Fine¡­¡± As she took up and began eating her first pie, she was watching Terry. She finished her first, and started on her second, suddenly throwing another off to the side. Terry seemed to instantly shift positions, again eating the newly acquired pie. ¡°Less than an eyeblink¡­¡± She examined Tala, again, and sighed. ¡°Fine¡­ I won¡¯t dig.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Thank you for dinner. What do I owe you?¡± Lyn waved the question off. ¡°Welcome home, that¡¯s what you owe me.¡± She smiled. ¡°I assume you want to get back on the road, as soon as Mistress Holly¡¯s done and you have your chat with the Guild?¡± Tala hesitated. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She thought about the training that she¡¯d been doing, as well as the mounting advice to create a sufficient Archon star. Plus, she¡¯d promised the Guardsman¡¯s Guild she¡¯d give them some time. ¡°What would it mean for our contract, if I became an Archon?¡± Lyn froze, new bite of meat filling her mouth. After a long moment, she began chewing once more, and eventually, she swallowed the savory treat. ¡°Tala. How likely is that?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Depends on the answer?¡± Lyn sighed, deeply, scratching beside her right temple, eyes squeezed shut. Under her breath, she muttered, ¡°Give me strength.¡± After another long moment, she opened her eyes and smiled. ¡°Tala, dear friend, that would constitute a material change to the services you could offer the Caravan Guild.¡± Tala thought back. There was a clause about something like that¡­ ¡°Sooooo¡­?¡± ¡°So, at the very least, we would retest you, and alter the arrangement accordingly. The most common result would be that you¡¯d be allowed to take on two contracts at once, being considered a dimensional Mage, and a Mage protector of the wagon train, assuming you¡¯d be capable of that.¡± Tala perked up at that. ¡°So, half my inscriptions would be covered? And I¡¯d earn a gold ounce for each arcanous encounter the wagon¡¯s survived?¡± ¡°You¡¯d earn that for your team, but basically, yes.¡± Lyn confirmed. That would be so utterly fantastic. ¡°How does that work, anyways? If one thunder bull attacks, versus a herd of ten, is that the same pay, because it¡¯s one encounter?¡± Lyn sighed, again. ¡°Depends. If there¡¯s any indication that you personally caused the encounter, then you get nothing additional. If it is unavoidable, then it depends on the quantity and power of the beasts in question. Ten thunder bulls directly defended against would be three ounces, gold, added to the payment of the protectors.¡± Tala was nodding. ¡°That sounds fantastic.¡± Lyn was giving Tala a very wary look. ¡°What are you planning¡­?¡± Tala gave the other Mage a quizzical look. ¡°I¡¯d think that was obvious. I¡¯m going to become an Archon.¡± Lyn groaned, putting her head in her hands. Tala popped another meat pie into her mouth, and Terry flickered just slightly, then held very still. She turned to regard the bird; its dimensional magic burst obvious. ¡°You know, I can sense when you do that.¡± Terry looked her right in the eye, then tipped back his head, opening his mouth and allowing the four meat pies he¡¯d snatched to slide down his throat. Tala just laughed, and Lyn looked up in confusion. ¡°Terry. I¡¯m going to feed you. Is human food so much better than what you¡¯re used to?¡± The bird locked gazes with her and bobbed up and down, letting out a low, resonate squawking affirmation. Tala cleared her throat, handing Lyn another meat pie. ¡°Now, my room. What can I do in there?¡± Lyn looked between her two housemates and sighed. ¡°This is my life now, isn¡¯t it¡­¡± Tala grinned. ¡°Just when I¡¯m in town.¡± ¡°Right! You never answered my question.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ you¡¯re right.¡± Tala thought. ¡°I just did two contracts, so I¡¯d be good for four months, right?¡± Lyn nodded hesitantly. ¡°Yes, but it would look bad, and lower your priority for taking contracts.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Understandable. A month then? I think I can do what I need to by then¡­Though, I¡¯ve no idea what becoming an Archon requires¡­. I¡¯ll try to have that at least started in a week and a half. I shouldn¡¯t do anything too crazy until Mistress Holly¡¯s done.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°That goes without saying.¡± Lyn took another bite, speaking around the food. ¡°And don¡¯t forget your meeting with a senior guild official.¡± ¡°Right¡­Assuming my contract isn¡¯t dissolved-¡± ¡°As I said, I should have been informed if they were going that route.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Assuming that¡¯s true, a month should be a good amount of time, but I¡¯ll know more in less than two weeks?¡± Lyn sighed. That was becoming a habit. ¡°Alright, Tala. I won¡¯t start looking for your next trip, yet.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now, my room?¡± ¡°Do what you like with it, just please don¡¯t break down any walls or destroy the furniture. If you want something different, let me know, and I¡¯ll pull what¡¯s in there, out.¡± Her eyes twinkled just a bit. ¡°You can buy whatever you want to put in there.¡± Tala rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes, with my thousands of gold ounces, I shall customize this room to perfection.¡± Lyn just smiled back at her. ¡°If you so choose.¡± Tala ate one last meat pie, feeling a bit past half-full as she swallowed the final pieces. Her eyes fell on the other basket. ¡°What¡¯s in there?¡± ¡°My, you weren¡¯t kidding.¡± Lyn grinned. ¡°This,¡± she picked up the basket, handing it to Tala. ¡°This is a selection of desserts. I certainly don¡¯t need them.¡± She picked out a chocolate puff-pastry. ¡°So, you should take them before I eat them all.¡± She winked. Tala rolled her eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡± She took the basket, and began eating, savoring each bite. ¡°Mmmmm¡­ Thank you.¡± She sighed contentedly. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve a bath on. I should get to that. Good night, Lyn.¡± ¡°Goodnight, Tala.¡± Tala walked back and placed the basket of pastries into her room. Then, leaving her books beside the basket, she moved to the steam filled room, undressed, let her hair down, and climbed in. Terry didn¡¯t join her, but she sensed him from the direction of her room through the collar, with no added feeling of warning. Close. Likely on my bed. With her next few days already planned out, she simply relaxed in the water, allowing the embers below the tub to keep it just below her maximum temperature. This is nice. * * * Tala woke early, her window still showing no sign of morning¡¯s light. Even so, she knew it was time to rise. No nightmares last night. She would have thought that all the fees she¡¯d been forced to pay the day before would have made the nightmares more prevalent, not less. Don¡¯t knock it, Tala. Just be happy. So, she put them from her mind. She glanced under her covers and felt herself smile at the subtle, yet obvious, glow. True to her guess, the light didn¡¯t even illuminate the blanket above her, but she could clearly see herself, fully covered in the magical lines. She stood slowly, then with careful deliberation, she moved through her wake-up routine: stretching and exercising her mind, magic, spirit, and muscles. The last was expectedly surprising. I knew there would be improvements, but this seems incredible. Every single exercise, she had to shift towards harder variations, and even so, she struggled more with proper form and balance, than with the strength required for the movements. In the end, she was left frustrated with her lack of control more than any missing strength. A clear way to improve, I suppose. Her room wasn¡¯t really big enough for the longer range calling of her knife, so she simply did a couple dozen summonings from around five feet, at which point, she had to lay down due to dizziness. That¡¯s right, Tala. Overwork your soul. That seems wise. She¡¯d still been focused on how much her physical strength had improved that she hadn¡¯t been as careful as she should have been. I¡¯ll be more careful next time. I swear¡­ While she was trapped on her back, the spinning room holding her prisoner, she contemplated the day¡¯s tasks. Charge the cargo-slots, go to the Guardsman Guild¡¯s training yard, go to the Constructionists Guild, massage¡­then Mistress Holly. She felt tension grow at the last. Maybe, I could skip, today? At the thought, a memory of Holly¡¯s visible aura of power surfaced, and she shuddered. Maybe, I won¡¯t skip¡­ Still unable to stand, she began making random noises, playing with what sounds she could make. I¡¯m bored¡­ She looked to the side, even the act of turning her head brought her near to retching. She stared at Kit from across the room. ¡°Must get book¡­¡± The pouch did not respond. ¡°Terry?¡± The bird shifted in his corner, opening one eye to regard her. ¡°Can you bring me my pouch?¡± Terry tilted his head, regarding her. Then, he was suddenly beside her on the bed, the dimensional magic blip unpleasant in her current state, though less so than she¡¯d expected. She felt a light pressure on her arm, then Terry let out an oddly indifferent, low, thrumming squawk. The bird vanished back to his corner and curled back up. ¡°You¡¯re no help.¡± She raised her arm lightly, looking where she¡¯d felt the pressure. ¡°Did you just try to cut me?¡± Terry chirped happily. ¡°Still happy with your decision, eh?¡± Happy chirps were her only reply. ¡°Won¡¯t help with the pouch?¡± He settled back down, closing his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re kind of mean.¡± Hey! Moving my arm didn¡¯t make it worse. She flexed, bringing her arms up in front of her, her hands clapping together with surprising force. She felt the last vestiges of the ending-berry power left in her system drain away, and a crack like thunder exploded through the room. She felt extra power shunt to the inscriptions around her ears, protecting them from the incredibly loud sound. Terry jumped up, looking around in alarm. Tala felt a fresh wave of dizziness at the loud sound, despite the dampening scripts. Lyn¡¯s voice floated their way. ¡°Tala? Is everything ok?¡± Tala groaned, and she heard Lyn hurrying to her door. ¡°Can I come in?¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± The door opened, and Lyn stood in it, regarding her for a long moment. ¡°Tala.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why are you naked?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my room.¡± And¡­I forgot to get dressed. ¡°I asked if I could come in.¡± ¡°And I answered.¡± ¡°Usually, that question is to determine decency.¡± Tala groaned. ¡°Decency can wait for my head to stabilize¡­¡± ¡°Are you ill?¡± ¡°No. I just overworked my soul.¡± Lyn sighed. ¡°From anyone else, I would assume that to be a joke.¡± ¡°From anyone else, it just might be.¡± ¡°What do you need?¡± Her tone had taken on a maternal cast. ¡°Apparently, a blanket¡­¡± Lyn snorted, striding into the room and moving the blanket that was bunched up beside Tala to cover her. ¡°There.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Lyn sat down on the bed beside Tala. ¡°What was the noise?¡± ¡°I clapped.¡± ¡°You clapped¡­¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Is that a metaphor? Some obscure training technique based on the heroes of yore? Or¡­?¡± ¡°No. I just clapped.¡± Lyn looked at the other Mage¡¯s palms, seeing the subtly glowing scripts, just like those that covered the rest of her. ¡°Seems like it was a hard clap.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Please refrain? It was quite loud, even out in the living room.¡± ¡°Will do, boss.¡± Lyn shook her head. ¡°Do you need breakfast? The work-yard is expecting you to drop by this morning, and I¡¯ve written down the information for your other appointments. The sheet is ready for you.¡± Tala groaned, again, and sat up. Surprisingly, the room remained steady. ¡°I think I¡¯m ready.¡± Lyn stood, keeping her back towards Tala. ¡°Well, get dressed first, please?¡± It took barely any time for Tala to pull her clothes back on. She decided to go with the immortal elk leathers again, given she was going to the training yard this morning. Terry appeared on her shoulder as she stepped out of her room. A smile on her face, Tala took a moment to look around herself. To her right, directly beside her at the end of the hall, was the door to Lyn¡¯s room. Across the way was the door into the bathroom, and beside the bathroom door, closer to the living room, a window let in the beginnings of the first light of day. The building was a simple construction, with poured stone floors, lightly textured and likely sealed. The walls were painted plaster over stone. Heavily built. The floor was dark, the walls light; it produced a pleasing atmosphere. Why have I never just stopped to take it in? She felt herself smile. She didn¡¯t have any deadlines. Nothing was demanding she become ready. Sure, she had tasks that she wished to do, but that wasn¡¯t what she meant. She had no obligations on her overall time, not at the moment. She moved down the hall, which was wide enough for her and Lyn to pass each other quite easily. Tala came out into the living room and saw Lyn sitting at the table off to one side, food laid out. ¡°I thought food wasn¡¯t included?¡± ¡°Well, I figured two meals wasn¡¯t quite a pattern.¡± Lyn smiled. ¡°I was informed that you developed a¡­liking for coffee.¡± Tala was quite sure that ¡®liking¡¯ hadn¡¯t been the word Lyn was going to say. She was about to comment, but then she saw the coffee in question, in a mug beside the other place at the table. Tala immediately forgave Lyn all implied slights and sat down, taking a deep pull of dark, decadent, deliciousness. So smooth, so dark, so perfect. They ate quickly, as both had many things to accomplish that day. Lyn and Tala left at the same time, saying their goodbyes as they went in different directions: Tala to the work-yard, and Lyn to the Caravan Guild¡¯s main office. Tala took her time walking through the city, enjoying being back in Bandfast. It had a different feel to it than Alefast, more relaxed, less¡­imminent. I suppose that¡¯s what happens when you¡¯re one wall away from the wilds. There were similar mixes of architecture, and the people didn¡¯t really look different, save Bandfast citizenry seeming a bit more relaxed. Maybe a bit heavier too¡­ It was an interesting notion. Does safety lead to weight gain? That can¡¯t be the only factor, obviously, but it was entertaining to consider. Many people gave Terry odd looks, but no one seemed particularly alarmed by him. Tala fell back into her habit of reading, sketching, and jotting down her thoughts as she walked, both to keep her mind occupied and to prevent her from sprinting through the city. Mostly, though, she read. I have to get through my anatomy review, after all. She was still having a bit of an odd time moving, each of her movements more powerful than she was expecting. Interestingly enough, the method of walking, learned at Adam¡¯s suggestion, leant itself marvelously to the task, as she was used to careful, precise movements, and her enhanced nervous system adjusted to the changes in her power quite rapidly. As Holly had implied, and Tala had discovered the night before, she felt ravenously hungry, and she was sure it was her new inscribings that were causing the hunger, even if not directly. They were working on reshaping her at a fundamental level and that required nutrition. Towards that end, Tala bought no less than ten pasties of various kinds for the wonderful price of a single silver. As she walked, she occasionally tossed out bits of jerky, noticing the instantaneous, slight shift of Terry¡¯s weight when he moved out and back, always having caught the meat. She did not share the pasties. Terry did not hold it against her. Much. Finally, she reached the work-yard and the waiting cargo-slots. The first one, to her surprise, charged incredibly slowly, taking a full minute to reach its maximum. She frowned. The mental construct is right¡­ After a long minute of thought, and ten bits of jerky flicked randomly, she had a realization. I¡¯ve just been using my left-over power-flow to charge these up. And my scripts are using most of that, now. That actually reminded her of her items. She had charged them as part of her training earlier that day, and it had taken longer than usual. She¡¯d just attributed that to the city being utterly devoid of free-floating power. Maybe it was something else? Since she was already thinking of them, she decided to top them off. If I can be hungry, why not them? That done, she moved to the next cargo-slot and concentrated. She formed the mental construct, just as before, but now, she reached inside. She saw, as well as felt, almost all of her power pouring from her gate into her spell-forms. She grabbed the entirety of that flow and channeled it down her right arm, through the mental construct, and into the second cargo-slot. She exhaled. The indicators flickered to life in rapid succession. Blinking in surprise, Tala pulled back her hand. Less than two seconds? The cargo-slot in front of her was fully charged and ready to go. Hesitantly, she moved to the next one and repeated the process. Done. She moved down the line, charging the remaining seventeen with little more than the time it took to touch them and take a quick breath. That was¡­amazing! She had noticed a slight dip in her internal reserves during each charge, as her active scripts continued to use her power. That store of power had needed to be refilled by her gate, once the inflow was available again, but it was a minimal dip. She heard the sound of a single person clapping, approaching from behind. ¡°Wonderful! I can see you took my suggestions to heart and have improved remarkably.¡± ¡°Master Himmal!¡± Tala turned around, giving a slight bow. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful to see you again. Thank you, once again, for your advice.¡± He smiled, folding his hands before him. ¡°Think nothing of it, Mistress Tala. You have progressed tremendously in just two short weeks.¡± She smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡± As she focused on him, she saw the same oddities to his aura as before, but more clearly this time. The underlying color was suppressed, but obviously red. What she could see of it was fractured, somehow broken, and as she examined it closer, she could see that parts of it were much closer to orange than she first realized. Not uniform? From what little she understood, that seemed¡­bad. Well, he did say that he¡¯d broken something with his gate. It¡¯s probably related to that. ¡°Now, I can see that my hopes were not unfounded. We are nearly done with your custom set of cargo-slots, and I am glad that I added the ability for the larger capacities to be enabled. We should be able to get you a set close to four times those measly constructs, with added additional benefits for more fragile and valuable cargo. With those sizes, you¡¯ll be able to have some outfitted as passenger and bunkhouse variants. You¡¯ll be able to have a full caravan in just two or three wagons, depending on the Mage Protectors.¡± He shook his head. ¡°The cooks will never leave their own wagon behind.¡± He smiled whimsically, speaking under his breath. ¡°I would so love to examine one of their chuck-wagons one day.¡± I knew it! That wagon and what the cooks could do within never made sense. Brand hadn¡¯t just been messing with her after all. She smiled. ¡°You and me both.¡± Chapter: 72 - Are You Heavier? Tala passed a bit of time with Master Himmal, but eventually bid him goodbye, promising to come by to test out the custom cargo-slots near the end of the week. She had been surprised that he hadn¡¯t commented on Terry, but she supposed arcane pets weren¡¯t too uncommon. She fell back into her routine as she walked to the training ground that Adam had indicated. She was almost done with the first set of topics she¡¯d noted for review. Good thing, too. Holly¡¯s got to have something to work on, or she¡¯s likely to be cross. When Tala arrived, she was startled by what she found. It was a sprawling compound, with the training yard open to the street so that passersby, or the curious, could watch the training. Good for recruitment, I guess? The training yard was at least a hundred yards long, and half that wide. There were sections of grass, dirt, and paved stone of various sizes interspersed throughout. Across the entirety, hundreds of men and women were stretching, sparring, practicing techniques, or otherwise working their muscles. To her surprise, her magesight picked up the ebbs and flows of power throughout the yard, and not just from the healers, ready to help if those sparring were injured. Power moved through these people in a manner that she could only equate to that of the arcanous creatures she¡¯d seen. Not the elemental magics, obviously. Even so, she could see that, to a variety of extents, these guards would be stronger, faster, and more durable than the average citizen. How are they doing that without inscriptions? The power was clearly coming from their own un-inscribed gates, but she couldn¡¯t see anything directing it. Something to investigate, I suppose. She¡¯d seen hints of it in Adam, before, but it was being fully brought out as those before her worked to push themselves. Around the training yard were quite a few buildings. Some appeared to be additional training halls, either to allow for more private or more sheltered training. It was a cool morning, but not painfully so for the average person. Probably why most of them are outside. Other buildings seemed to be instructional classrooms or administrative offices from what little she could see. Overall, it looked more like a school, which emphasized physicality, than a barracks and muster yard. I suppose that¡¯s what I get for assuming. She felt a smile tug at her lips. The sparring drew her attention, and she noted that those who were using weapons were using wooden or padded varieties, though they didn¡¯t seem to be pulling their strikes, whether armed or barehanded. In fact, as she watched, one of the combatants broke a training sword over another¡¯s shoulder, the strike drawing blood and breaking bone, if the deformation of the shoulder that she could see, even at this distance, was any indication. Before the man¡¯s first scream had died down, a healing Mage was beside him, the healer lighting up to Tala¡¯s magesight as he quickly repaired the injury. Clever, so they can train at full power, get used to injuries and not lose much training time. She thought for a moment. I wonder if they ever let the injuries stand? Might be useful to practice fighting while impaired. That was a question for another time. Quite a few citizens were standing along the road, either individually or in groups, watching the goings on. Many more slowed down as they passed, mixtures of admiration, envy, and contempt across their faces. There is someone who will look down on any endeavor, I suppose. Without slowing, Tala walked forward, crossing the almost invisible line between street and training yard. Immediately, one of the nearby Guardsmen stood and came her way. ¡°Mistress? How can we serve?¡± ¡°I am searching for Guardsman Adam. He¡¯d asked me to come by today.¡± The Guardsman bowed. ¡°Would you be willing to wait here? I can go inquire on your behalf.¡± Tala simply nodded, and the guardsman jogged off, ostensibly to do just that. Many of the others in the yard were glancing her way, but no one seemed to pay her much more attention than their initial glance. As she continued to look around, she could see parts of many of the techniques that Adam had taught her, demonstrated in the movements of those across the yard. It was fascinating to observe how a simple striking pattern was altered for use with a spear, mace, or sword, and how each of those differed from the others. There is such depth to the practice. A few minutes later, the guardsman returned, gesturing towards one of the central buildings. ¡°Guardsman Adam is expecting you, and he awaits you there. Would you like a guide?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, thank you. I can find my way just fine.¡± He bowed. ¡°Good day, Mistress.¡± ¡°Good day, Guardsman.¡± He returned to his practice, and she strolled through the training yard, weaving in wide arcs to avoid interfering with anyone. As she walked, she took in the beautifully clear sky above and basked in the morning light. Many are likely still rising, and here I am, at my second task of the day. There were, of course, the sounds of exertion and cries both of attack and of pain filling the air around her. As she walked, she saw no fewer than twelve healing Mages spaced around various parts of the yard, and she might not have spotted them all. A healer for every twenty people or so? Seems excessive but must work for them. She came to the building in question, and looked up at the simple, sturdy architecture. There was a beauty in its utility, and she found herself smiling at that. ¡°Mistress Tala!¡± Her gaze dropped, and her smile changed just slightly to one of greeting. ¡°Guardsman Adam. Seems I found the right place.¡± The Guardsman was wearing loose-fitting clothes, clearly meant for exercise, and he had a light sheen of sweat to him. Spent the morning training? She stepped forward, into the building. ¡°Mistress Tala. This way, please.¡± He led her deeper into the building and down a series of interconnecting hallways. As they walked, he used a cloth to wipe much of the sweat from his head and arms. ¡°Thank you for coming.¡± ¡°Thank you for being willing to train me.¡± He grinned. ¡°This is a rare opportunity. Master Rane is already here.¡± He added the last as an afterthought. They came to one of the instructional rooms and entered together. Some thirty men and women, all in their twenties, sat facing the front of the room. They were all dressed similarly to Adam, and they each seemed to have a notebook and a means of taking notes, and each was doing just that. A much older man, at least in his fifties, sat at the front of the room, also facing the last remaining occupant. Rane was just finishing his sentence as they walked in. ¡°-the force is therefore redirected, or avoided, without actually being guided.¡± In the silence that followed, Rane waved to Tala, smiling, and she waved back. The older man stood. ¡°Thank you, Master Rane. Can anyone tell me a key take-away from his last point?¡± A woman near the front spoke up. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to concern himself with dodging, because his opponent¡¯s attack causes him to be moved out of harm¡¯s way.¡± The older man frowned. ¡°Yes and no. He will not need to focus on taking the action, that is correct. However, if any attack met by that defense, no matter how small, causes him to alter direction to mitigate the damage, that means that Master Rane is constantly subject to forces outside his direct control. He would have to be even more aware of the incoming attacks than if he simply moved out of the way beforehand or braced to take the blow.¡± The woman frowned in turn. ¡°Then, why is it better?¡± A man in the back of the room spoke loudly in response, ¡°Because unexpected movement is better than unexpected injuries.¡± A few people smiled at that, and Rane nodded, responding, ¡°Precisely. I could close my eyes and simply stand still and be fairly safe. I¡¯d be utterly ineffective, but safe from mundane attack.¡± The main instructor smiled. ¡°So, you will each write up a basic overview of a fighting style for Master Rane, and in coming classes, we will compare it to what he has actually been using.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°I hope to learn something. I make no claim at perfection.¡± The instructor had noticed Tala and Adam entering, and he turned to them now. ¡°This is Mistress Tala, and you all know instructor Adam.¡± Those present returned a chorus of greetings. ¡°The central project of the next two weeks will be creating, then perfecting, a fighting style for Mistress Tala, here. That portion of your assignment for today will be to construct a series of tests to determine the scope and limit of her abilities, so that we can build a style that maximizes her effectiveness. Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Would you give us a basic outline of your combat capabilities?¡± Adam whispered. ¡°Including physical and defense, please.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Well, I guess I have good timing, at least. Tala cleared her throat, suddenly feeling nervous as she walked out in front of the gathering. ¡°Hi.¡± She waved. A smattering of ¡®Hi,¡¯ ¡®Hello,¡¯ and ¡®Greetings¡¯ came back to her. ¡°So, as an Immaterial Guide, my abilities differ slightly from Master Rane¡¯s.¡± She nodded to the other Mage. The listeners were already writing. ¡°As I am able to alter non-tangible properties of the world around us, my defenses mainly involve the increased strength of humanity¡¯s natural traits.¡± The same man in the back of the room called out. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Several students grinned at this comment too or chuckled. Tala cleared her throat, again. ¡°Well, just as a stick-pin would not easily enter your skin, my magic makes that resistance more potent. It takes a much greater force to split my skin-cells apart, or to harm them directly. Similarly, all my underlying structure, both bone and soft tissue, is strengthened and reinforced. If those bonds are broken, my natural healing processes are accelerated to repair the damage nearly instantaneously.¡± ¡°Does that apply to your muscles?¡± It was a different questioner. ¡°It does.¡± ¡°So, does that mean you can work-out and see immediate results?¡± Yet another. ¡°Not immediate, but much faster, yes.¡± She smiled. ¡°Also, my power does not create matter. I must eat to provide material for that healing, and thus, I can¡¯t heal from unlimited damage, as I would quickly burn through my body¡¯s supplies.¡± ¡°Why not alter your body to store more?¡± A fourth speaker. ¡°Great question. That is another of my inscriptions. My adipose tissue, and other similar portions of my body, are now inscribed to store more, more efficiently. I can effectively have much larger reserves, without seeming to have such.¡± Though, the appetite that brings on might cause issues with my coin pouch¡­ Two questions came in at nearly the same time: ¡°Does that mean you eat way more?¡± and ¡°How are you not too buff to move?¡± She stopped trying to identify the individuals asking the questions. She smiled. ¡°I do have to eat a lot more, though that will slow down in time, at least until I pull from those increased reserves and have to refill them. As to my muscle mass, my inscriber is quite clever, and my muscles, when they do repair, do not change size, simply becoming denser and more powerful.¡± ¡°How much stronger than normal are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve not tested, specifically, but in the range of four to five times what I was without the inscriptions.¡± There was a chorus of mutters through the room at that. ¡°Are you heavier?¡± Tala laughed. ¡°I suppose I am, and will continue to become, heavier until the reworking, strengthening, and reserve filling is complete.¡± She cleared her throat, glanced towards the door where Adam and Rane waited. She smiled, feeling much more confident now that she was so far into it. ¡°Offensive wise, I have gravity alteration spell-workings, and a knife, which can become a sword for short periods of time.¡± There was silence at that. The instructor waited a moment, then asked. ¡°What sort of gravity alterations?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°I can either restrain or crush. My restraining magic lifts the target from the ground and alters the effects of gravity on them to keep them aloft.¡± ¡°What?¡± Another listener. ¡°They will float there on their own.¡± She smiled, simplifying. ¡°Crush will increase the force of gravity upon the target four-fold. If the target is not killed or fundamentally altered, usually leading to death, it is increased four-fold, again. This continues until the target is dead or fundamentally altered.¡± Absolute silence filled the room for a long moment. Finally, a woman near the front swallowed visibly and asked. ¡°So¡­ why do you need to fight hand to hand? Why not simply use magic to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to¡­be done with it?¡± The instructor looked incredibly relieved that someone else had asked that question and smiled. ¡°Excellent question, Cona.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°First, I can have only a few targets before I must be re-inscribed. Thus, I cannot use that to deal with large numbers of enemies, and if I am near the beginning of a venture, I must be sparing. Second, there are some beings who can operate under such conditions, at least for a while, and it burns through a lot of power to take them out in this manner. That also reduces the number of targets I can affect.¡± The girl was nodding, seeming to understand. ¡°So, you need to be able to fight lots of weak creatures, or incredibly strong beasts, but those in the middle you can simply crush?¡± ¡°Well, I would prefer to crush the most powerful as well, but that is generally correct.¡± The group seemed to better understand. She had an additional thought. ¡°Oh! I also have a repeating hammer.¡± ¡°A what?¡± Some of the listeners seemed to know what that was, but not all. ¡°A repeating hammer is a magical hammer which redirects force from the striking face, back away from the tool. It effectively can break through anything that a hammer could damage at all, in a single blow.¡± The instructor nodded. ¡°That is sufficient, I believe. More can be revealed by the testing they will devise.¡± He looked to Adam, then back to her. ¡°You will be available for testing, tomorrow?¡± She shrugged, smiling. ¡°Sure. How long will you need me for?¡± He thought for a moment. ¡°If you arrive when you did, today¡­¡± He seemed to be contemplating deeply. ¡°Let¡¯s say four hours on the outside. We¡¯ll spend the time before you get here, weeding out all the duplicates and refining the plan. So, that should be enough time.¡± She grunted. ¡°That should work.¡± The instructor relaxed visibly. ¡°Then, after that, I think we will need a day without you, to compile the first ideas. We can begin testing them the day after?¡± He hesitated. ¡°I can assure you, Mistress Tala, I will be overseeing the entire process, along with several other experts, and we will have a truly spectacular result.¡± She smiled. ¡°That sounds wonderful. Thank you.¡± Tala waved to the group as she departed. Rane walked out with her. ¡°Hey.¡± She glanced his way. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Are you still mad?¡± She frowned. Mad? Oh! Right¡­ She sighed. ¡°No, Master Rane. It isn¡¯t worth the effort.¡± He grunted at that. ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m glad.¡± She shrugged. ¡°So¡­what are you up to today?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot going on, today.¡± ¡°We could grab lunch? You¡¯re looking a little pale¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s not really relevant.¡± I guess he noticed my missing iron salve. That was fine, she wasn¡¯t trying to hide the fact. She shook her head, in response. ¡°I really don¡¯t have time.¡± He seemed to deflate a bit. With effort, she kept from either sighing or rolling her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll have more time tomorrow, but just a bit.¡± He perked up. ¡°Lunch, then?¡± She quirked a smile. ¡°After whatever crazy assessments they come up with? I¡¯ll probably need it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a plan, then.¡± He smiled. ¡°Sounds good.¡± She glanced ahead, to the archway back out onto the training grounds. ¡°I really do have to go, but thank you for asking.¡± He smiled and waved her off. ¡°See you, tomorrow.¡± * * * Ok, Tala. Avoiding it won¡¯t help. Let¡¯s get this over with. Tala held herself stiffly upright, as she walked into the Caravanner¡¯s Guildhall, marching straight through to one of the main desks near the back of the atrium. ¡°Good morning, Mistress. How can I assist you, today?¡± The young man, sitting behind the desk, smiled warmly at her. ¡°I¡¯m Mistress Tala. I was informed I needed to meet with a senior guild official?¡± Come on, come on. This is not what I want to do¡­ No. She needed to be here. This had to be dealt with. ¡°Mistress Tala¡­¡± He looked through a large appointment book on the desk in front of him. He turned the page, beginning to frown. ¡°Mistress Tala¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not seeing you in the collated calendar. Who is your appointment scheduled with and when did you schedule your appointment for?¡± Tala hesitated, then felt herself coloring. ¡°Oh¡­ I didn¡¯t know I needed to schedule it. I was simply told one was needed.¡± Whenever I was ordered to attend a disciplinary meeting, I had to go right away, and I was seen right away¡­ This, apparently, was different. I have to schedule my own session to be reprimanded. She almost snorted a laugh. I guess, I should have expected that. The young man checked a few more pages, then looked up, apologetically. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be here, and no Senior Official is available, today. Who were you supposed to meet with, again? Perhaps, I can get you in tomorrow.¡± Tala opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. I have no idea. The young man seemed to understand. ¡°I see. That¡¯s more than fine.¡± He nodded, consolingly. ¡°I¡¯d recommend reaching out to your Guild handler, or point of contact, and ask them to schedule the required meeting.¡± Tala nodded, feeling incredibly embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll do that. Thank you.¡± ¡°Happy to assist, Mistress. I wish I could have done more. You have a good day.¡± * * * Ten minutes later, Tala had shaken off her embarrassment and was again walking the streets of Bandfast, this time heading towards the Constructionists Guild. As she was walking, she realized that the pace of her reading was much faster than expected. She could now read much faster than even on the recent caravan trip. I guess the enhancements made my movements easier, freeing up more of my mind to focus on reading? It was as good a reason as any other she could think of. The books were a masterwork in-and-of-themselves, at least the one she was currently referencing was. It contained detailed schematics of each organ or organ system as they were discussed, coupled with cleverly rendered schema, illustrating their three-dimensional nature, along with how they would accomplish what they did. It was, unsurprisingly, incredibly detailed on the how. If Tala didn¡¯t understand what, and how, the magic was supposed to work, it wouldn¡¯t function. In the worst case, it could malfunction and destroy the parts of her body inscribed. I didn¡¯t really expect to delve back into anatomy and physiology so deeply, so soon¡­ She¡¯d always preferred physics, hence the nature of her offensive spell-forms, but the work Holly would be doing now was incredibly dependent on Tala¡¯s second favorite subject, just as she¡¯d suspected it would. I¡¯m just glad that I already had specific interest and knowledge in the muscular-skeletal system, along with the vascular, or I¡¯d have to have done a bunch of research before even yesterday¡¯s inscribings¡­ She sighed. It was fascinating, and Holly had gone out of her way to make the writing engaging, but it was still a dense subject matter. How did she even have time for this? Tala supposed that the general overviews would be common to anyone getting any given organ inscribed, so those would just have to be copied over. And it¡¯s not like I¡¯m the first person to have my organs enhanced. This is probably just an amalgamation of those techniques, slightly modified for my particular make-up. She hesitated, even stopping in the middle of a stride. Wait¡­ how did she know the exact dimensions of all my organs to make properly shaped spell-forms¡­ She placed a hand on the back of her neck. How much is this script analyzing and recording? She thought back. Holly said that it would monitor everything about me¡­ She groaned. Well, I did understand what it would do¡­I suppose I just didn¡¯t assume it would be literal¡­ She sighed, continuing on her way and returning most of her attention to the current portion of this book. Tala finished the first subject in her list-to-review by the time she reached the Constructionist Guild¡¯s local office. Closing the book with a satisfying thunk, she tucked it into Kit and looked up at the beautifully designed fa?ade. Rust me, they really didn¡¯t spare on the expense of this place. While highly detailed, the elements were tastefully interwoven to give an overall inviting, if humbling, atmosphere. Tala smiled as she walked to the large front doors. There weren¡¯t a lot of other patrons at the moment, but that made some sense. This guild didn¡¯t have as much to do as the Caravanners. Though¡­are the Wainwrights a subsidiary? That made sense, and most guilds worked in that way. Guilds of guilds¡­ah, society. How wonderful your complications. She found herself grinning. As she stepped across the threshold, she felt a tingle in her keystone, indicating magic had been directed her way, and a wave of power pulsed out from behind her. There was no specific spell-form to it, but it had the overpowering sense of an infrared aura. Did the door just scan me and announce my classification? An attendant appeared, entering from the side. ¡°Mistress, how can we serve you today?¡± His eyes glanced to Terry, and there was definite curiosity, but he didn¡¯t comment beyond his initial question. Tala pulled out the sheet that Lyn had written up for her. ¡°Hello, yes. I was sent here by Mistress Lyn of the Caravanner¡¯s Guild. She said I should ask for Master Boma?¡± The attendant paused, power rippling over his face as he looked at her. ¡°I apologize Mistress, but Master Boma usually does not attend to the needs of those below Archon¡­¡± He was clearly torn. ¡°Mistress Lyn sent you, you say?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Very well, let me check with him, and see if that name changes anything for him.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You may find it more comfortable to wait in there.¡± He pointed off to one side. ¡°There is a waiting area through that archway, and you¡¯ll find refreshments available, while you wait.¡± With a smile and slight bow, the man turned and went back the way he had come. ¡°Well, Terry, let¡¯s see what refreshments they have for us.¡± Chapter: 73 - Flow Tala sat in the nicely appointed waiting room. The furniture was comfortable, but not so much so that she wished to stay here for a long time. It appeared robustly made, and didn¡¯t creak or budge even when Tala, herself, shifted. It was mostly a dark wood in construction, though she couldn¡¯t tell if that was the wood itself, or a stain. Heavy canvas, a darker blue in color, covered the cushioned portions, and she had little trouble imagining the pieces lasting for years, or even decades, with moderately heavy use. She ignored the somewhat bland art of the walls, choosing instead to begin the next topic of review from Holly¡¯s books, a mug of coffee in her hand. If this is available every day, I might need to come by more often¡­ Though, she doubted they would be happy with her dropping in, just to get coffee¡­ I wonder if they have wine available, later in the day? As she thought about it, the freely available beverage did not make her hopeful for reasonable prices for their services. Ah, well. We¡¯ll have to see. The coffee was well brewed, as far as she could tell, and filled a little happy void in her chest. She smiled as she drank. This is nice. There was nothing for Terry. He was only somewhat mollified by a few chunks of beef jerky, which Tala tossed out randomly. I wonder if he minds? Maybe, I should just give him the pieces¡­ She shrugged to herself. ¡°Terry, do you mind me tossing the jerky?¡± He gave her a clearly confused look. ¡°I mean, do you want me to just hand it to you, instead?¡± He seemed to consider, then shook himself, his eyes moving back to her empty hand. She grinned. ¡°Fair enough.¡± She pulled out another chunk and tossed it in a random direction. Well, there we have it. As she waited, she continued to read, and absently charged her magic items. I could forget later; might as well keep them topped off whenever I think of it. After close to a quarter hour, a short, stocky Mage walked in. ¡°You¡¯re the one Mistress Lyn sent?¡± Tala stood, her keystone tingling, indicating magic was directed her way. ¡°I am.¡± Her magesight showed the man to be an Immaterial Guide, just like her. Unlike her, he had inscribings that very closely mirrored those she¡¯d seen on Master Himmal and his assistants. Focused on analyzing and working with magical items. His aura was a deep yellow, just far enough from orange to no longer truly be that color. It was contained, somehow, and seemed to almost be held up for display. How does that make sense? His magesight was already active, even though the inscribings she could see indicated that it wasn¡¯t always on, like hers was. ¡°I assume that you are Master Boma?¡± He grunted. ¡°I am. Why did the Caravan guild think you need to see me? You clearly aren¡¯t an Archon, and any mortal work can be handled by¡­¡± He trailed off as Tala drew and held up her knife. ¡°Girl, what, by the stars, have you done?¡± Tala just smiled. ¡°I read that I can merge items of power into soul-bound artifacts to increase their base power. Is that true?¡± He gave her a long look, then took the offered knife, examining it critically as he spoke. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s true. That¡¯s the primary way to alter and shape such. Otherwise, you have to use an item in very specific ways for¡­well it depends, but it¡¯s always a long time. That can cause the power to shift and grow to more suit you.¡± He shrugged absently, clearly talking from a depth of experience as he examined the weapon. ¡°Some are more fluid than others.¡± His gaze flicked to her eyes. ¡°Child, this knife is starving, even while bound to you. You don¡¯t have the strength of spirit to support this bond properly.¡± He gave her a hard look. ¡°I assume you were told not to bond anything else? How did you even bond this so weakly?¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°You¡¯re not bound to¡­¡± Tala simply waited as he rambled on. After all, the man wasn¡¯t leaving room for her to answer any of his myriad questions. ¡°Ahh, so you came to the spell-form without proper guidance and didn¡¯t know what to do with it?¡± He looked back at the knife. ¡°This has to be the weakest Archon star I¡¯ve ever heard of. How is it stable?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, it clearly is. So, you want to increase the power of this item then?¡± He finally stopped there, awaiting a reply. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m building the power of the bond daily, and I have a host of harvests that I think will be compatible with the knife.¡± Boma grunted. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see about that.¡± He sighed. ¡°Come on, then.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but how much will this cost?¡± He gave her a long look, then sighed. ¡°It completely depends on what we¡¯re working with, but the absolute cheapest it would be is one ounce, gold. If you have some insanely complex things to work with, it might be a hundred. I won¡¯t know ¡®til we¡¯re in the room.¡± Tala frowned. Master Boma sighed, again, shaking his head. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything that will cost you even a copper, before we discuss and agree to a price. Alright?¡± She smiled just slightly. ¡°Thank you. That sounds quite acceptable.¡± He gestured back towards the room¡¯s exit. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Terry flickered up to her shoulder, and the Archon paused. ¡°That is an interesting creature. Secondarily bound to you via that collar, yeah?¡± Tala nodded. She¡¯d recharged the collar along with her other items every time she topped them off. ¡°You¡¯re not fooling anyone, birdy.¡± Terry cocked his head. ¡°Well, fine. I¡¯m sure you fool most people, but not those who know what to look at.¡± He moved his gaze to her. ¡°Your defenses must be insane, child. I¡¯ve never seen a terror bird that old, and they universally grow in power over time¡­Still, he seems to like you. Don¡¯t loose him on the city, please?¡± She smiled a bit guiltily. ¡°It¡¯s a training collar, so he has to stay close to me.¡± ¡°Small mercies. I don¡¯t want to have to hunt the two of you down at the end of a trail of blood. That sounds very irritating.¡± He looked back to Terry. ¡°As for you. I¡¯d have just killed you, had we met in the Wild. You mind your Mage. Understand?¡± Terry crouched just slightly, eyes narrowing. Master Boma squared up with them, relaxed but clearly ready. ¡°This won¡¯t be a test, creature. If you make me, I¡¯ll break you like an egg. The city is no place for a wild animal. Know your limits and mind your betters.¡± Terry hissed, but settled down, turning away from the Archon and tucking his head under a tiny wing. Tala, for her part, felt like Boma wasn¡¯t just posturing, even though she couldn¡¯t discern any explicitly offensive spell-forms from his inscribing. If nothing else, he probably has a host of items to use¡­somewhere. Master Boma shook his head but didn¡¯t comment further. He strode from the room, carrying Tala¡¯s knife. She followed without complaint or comment. They went back through the entry atrium and down a side hall into a large room, closed off by heavy, iron-clad doors. Inside, the stone walls and ceiling were coated with overlapping iron plates, which seemed to be lacquered. To keep them from rusting, or from getting iron dust on anything? Probably both. Boma closed the heavy doors behind them, dropping a bar across to prevent unwanted entry. The center of the floor was blank, flat stone, but Tala¡¯s magesight showed her that under the top six inches or so was an incredibly complex interlacing matrix of currently inactive spell-forms. How can I see them so clearly, even while they¡¯re inactive? It was far more complex than what she could easily understand, even with her magesight providing some insights. Below those appeared to be more iron panels, if she understood the odd reflection effect that she saw correctly. They seemed to be designed to be removed from a room below. What is that for? She decided not to walk on the floor over the dormant magic, just in case. ¡°Now, girl, I assume that you have the harvests in that dimensional storage?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Put them over there.¡± He pointed to the center of the room. So much for not walking on that portion of the floor¡­ She sighed and did as he asked, taking the pouch off of her belt, opening it, and pulling out the feathers and talons. Boma followed her and began examining each piece as she pulled them out. When she finally finished, he grunted. ¡°Well, you weren¡¯t wrong, these should be compatible, but they aren¡¯t going to expand the versatility of the knife. They¡¯ll just make its magic more potent, more efficient, more effective.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Meaning?¡± He gave her a flat look, then sighed. ¡°Meaning, if done correctly, it will be able to cut through harder material, even some magics, and stand up to more abuse. It looks like this weapon can shift shape, that will likely happen more quickly, and with less effort on your part. We can likely use the feathers to help strengthen the blade¡¯s connection with you, as well, so the poor artifact will stop starving from a weak, unsupported soul.¡± After a moment, he shook his head. ¡°That might be too much to ask. Even so, the melding will allow you to feed it more easily as your soul grows in strength.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°Do you wish to incorporate all of this, together?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°If you think that¡¯s best? I¡¯m not exactly an expert.¡± He gave her a long look, before just shaking his head, again. ¡°This knife is bound to you. Assume that¡¯s forever, as the alternatives are worse than death. Trust me on that. I think it reasonable to put this investment in.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll bow to your experience.¡± He snorted. ¡°It¡¯ll be two gold for the working, and that¡¯s the guild-to-guild rate. If I treated you as an individual, it would be five.¡± He gave her a hard look. ¡°You did come because of a guild representative, correct?¡± He¡¯s giving me the choice? Maybe, he has to tell someone, somewhere that this is a guild job, or that he reasonably assumed so? She didn¡¯t care, really. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± He nodded, a slight smile tugging at his lips. ¡°Good.¡± He began arranging the feathers in a circle, overlapping them to make a continuous stair-step, the quill angled slightly inward. ¡°Drive the knife into the stone here.¡± He drew a line on the stone with his finger. How did he do that? As she did what he asked, the blade easily pushing into the hard stone, she analyzed what she¡¯d seen. He altered the reflectivity of the material, changing its color. It was a clever use of Immaterial Guiding, but it seemed a bit frivolous. The feathers and knife in place, he placed the talons in a smaller circle, hooked blades pointed outward, within the circle of feathers. That done, Boma stood. ¡°Your bird will need to wait by the door.¡± Terry flickered over without need for additional prompting. Boma quirked a smile, looking at Terry. ¡°Thank you for not wasting everyone¡¯s time by pretending ignorance.¡± He turned to Tala. ¡°You will stay in the center, here.¡± He stripped off his Mage¡¯s robes, tossing them on the floor back near Terry and leaving himself in only short pants, which ended near his mid-thigh. He took a deep breath, seeming to center himself. Then, to Tala¡¯s magesight he exploded outward, a flood of magical tendrils lancing out from countless places on his now exposed flesh, entering the floor to interact with the intricate mesh Tala had previously detected, below the surface. Magic danced through a thousand intricate patterns on his skin, as he seemed to control each individualized thread as it, in turn, manipulated those below the stone floor. Portions of that hidden inscribing activated, harmonizing with Master Boma¡¯s spell-forms, and the stone shifted, portions sinking downward to form a detailed spell-form seemingly engraved into the floor. This shifting wasn¡¯t the moving of joints, but the stone, itself, moving as if carved, shaped, sanded, and polished into form. Further activations on Master Boma¡¯s part caused liquid copper to flow through the channels and depressions, clearly guided by the forms below the surface. I wonder if that¡¯s a more complex version of how the teleportation rooms function, hidden spell-forms below the stone. ¡°Won¡¯t I be caught in the working, if I stay here?¡± He looked over at her, clear bemusement across his face, even as he continued his work. ¡°Girl, you are soul-bound to the knife. You could be on the other side of the city, and this would catch you. It¡¯d just take more power and more metal, so you¡¯ll stay there.¡± After a moment he added an additional command. ¡°Sit cross-legged around the knife, and place both hands upon the hilt.¡± She complied. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the iron keep the working from leaving this room, if I was elsewhere?¡± ¡°If you weren¡¯t soul-bound, yeah. Magic doesn¡¯t need a pathway through physical reality to flow across a soul-bond.¡± He paused again, seemingly moving through a more difficult manipulation of his magics, before he gave her a level look. ¡°I¡¯ll forgive your ignorance, because these are all Archon level concepts, but please, make a proper star and elevate yourself soon, yeah? Your lack of understanding is painful, and I¡¯m forbidden from correcting your deficit as you are, now.¡± Tala stopped asking questions. I am so, incredibly glad that I didn¡¯t attempt this on my own. Seeing Boma¡¯s work, the very idea seemed laughable. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don¡¯t know. The spell-form was now complete and filled, Tala sitting in an open circle in the middle. The lines of the spell-form ranged in size from thread-thin to as large as her little finger. It was all copper. If she had to guess, she¡¯d have said it was at least four or five pounds of the metal, and that was just what she could see on the surface. I¡¯d have thought gold would be preferred¡­ She hesitated. No, that much power would be a waste, and likely much, MUCH, too expensive to be practical. And with copper, when not all the metal is used up, they can still deactivate the spell, and reuse that material, next time. She knew that this spell-form likely had depth, meaning there were layers below what she could see. Thinking back, she remembered seeing holes in the stone, likely the pathways towards those lower portions. Plus, this is using the material from the spell-form below the stone, and using up Master Boma¡¯s inscribings, too¡­ Two ounces, gold, was sounding like a better and better deal as she contemplated all that was involved, here. Might be barely more than cost¡­ She looked up, noticing a secondary circle, closer to the door, fully inscribed, prepared, and intermeshed with the main circle surrounding her. Master Boma sat down in that circle, tendrils of power still connecting him with the workings. Tala looked around herself, trying to take in all she could. ¡°Mistress Tala.¡± Tala looked to the older Mage. ¡°When this activates, the magic will flow through you, the knife, and your materials. You will be given choices on how the integration will occur. I strongly recommend that you choose the one you came here for. Don¡¯t be tempted by the other things presented. As much as you¡¯ve been a bit annoying, your ignorance is understandable, and I¡¯d hate to end the morning by killing an inhuman abomination.¡± She frowned. ¡°What? I don¡¯t understand¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°I know, child. Please just remember what I said.¡± She nodded, hesitantly, and he reached out, placing his hands on perfectly sized imprints to either side of him. The threads of power seemed to collect, moving across his skin until they all seemed to originate from his hands, flowing into the stone. His gate opened wide, the power flowing outward became a torrent, and Tala¡¯s magesight was instantly overwhelmed by a wave of refined power. Her vision went white as a torrent of magic slammed into the knife and, through it, into her. * * * She was outside herself, without form, looking into a white void. It wasn¡¯t bright; it wasn¡¯t dim; it simply was, and it was white. An instant, or perhaps a decade, passed without anything violating the purity of the void. Then, there, before her bodyless gaze, stood¡­herself, but different. Tala stood, wings stretching from her back; her hands and feet ended in razor sharp talons, and her eyes were solid black: inhuman and predatory. As she watched, the wings and talons retracted, fading into her flesh as if they¡¯d never been, but the gaze remained the same: hungry, barely intelligent. Tala moved back from that visage of herself and saw another standing nearby. The second form was her as well, but covered with short, black feathers. Her legs were more like Terry¡¯s, with reversed knees, and her torso was hunched forward, arms reaching to tear at her victims. Her talons were wicked looking, clearly designed to shred that which she attacked, and her eyes¡­ How do these eyes look even more feral? She was not behind those eyes. Well¡­of course she wasn¡¯t, because she was looking from the outside, but there was no humanity in that face. What she beheld was a beast of basic hunger and predatory need. She shuddered, or she would have if she¡¯d had a body. The third version was a human-seeming Tala, but with her arms replaced by wings of sharpened metal. She somehow knew both that this version of her could fly, and that the wings were a permanent feature. No retracting these for normalcy¡­ The next Tala on option looked mostly normal, a knife in hand: her knife. As she watched, power flowed into the knife and the arm holding it changed into a huge, winglike blade, incorporating the knife, and making it an extension of her physical form. The body incorporation looked like a medley of silver and black metal, interwoven into a symphony of death and sharp edges. That looks interesting. It looks almost like one of the wings from the third option. Next to that was a similar manifestation, but this time, the sword changed into a monstrosity, completely separate from her own physical body. The blade was nearly a dozen feet long, the hilt growing to be more than large enough for two hands to grip it with ease. Despite the tremendous size, the mirage of her seemed to wield it with effortless ease. Hah, it¡¯s light as a feather. She considered for a moment. It looks like it would cut more like an ax than a razor. That could be a pain. Also, I can¡¯t imagine fighting in close quarters with that, or near anything, no matter how light it was. She moved on. Finally, after dozens more, the last figment she saw was of her as she was, holding the knife. In the figment, power gushed into the weapon, and it instantly flowed into the shape of a familiar sword, as it had looked to her before. Though, there were now hints of a feather-like texture to the hilt, as well as the field of heat within the wire outline of the blade. Somehow, she knew that the lack of increase to size and reach had been translated into power within the blade itself. She felt an overwhelming, instinctual cry from this final version, a hunger and unified purpose. This weapon existed to be wielded by her to hunt, to kill, to protect her from harm. Yes. The weapon, the extension of her will, resonated with her very soul. She looked at her options, for she knew that¡¯s what they were, and understood what Master Boma had meant. The first options somehow integrated the two physical forms and her basic nature lost. She was not strong enough to fully unify with this weapon and stay as she was. Does that mean I could get wings later? If I was stronger? Maybe. It might be worth asking¡­once she was an Archon and people would answer her questions. Do I want wings? She shook her¡­soul? I don¡¯t have a head to shake¡­But now is not the time for such considerations either about my headless state or whether or not I want wings. She approached the last manifestation and indicated acceptance. Power shattered through her and the knife; her very-self felt as if it was being scraped raw. * * * Her vision splintered back into normal sight, and she found herself sitting cross-legged on the smooth floor of the room, knife resting in her palms. All traces of the arcane harvests and spell-forms were gone, and Master Boma was standing over her. ¡°Good, still human.¡± He turned and walked towards the door. ¡°I¡¯ll work up the exchange tablet. Take your time.¡± Tala looked down at her hands and the weapon resting atop them. She felt more connected to the tool than ever before. It felt like her heart beat within the knife, though the tool didn¡¯t pulse. It was as if the knife was her long lost love, but also someone who had been her companion for decades. Yet again, she was struck with how it felt more a part of her than her own arms. Strange¡­Yet, obviously as it should be¡­somehow. There was a hint of feather-like texturing in the pattern of the blade and handle, making the metal, at least, look like a form of patterned, folded steel. She extended her blade to the side and poured power into the blade, watching it flow outward, taking on the shape of the sword more quickly and easily than ever before. She still couldn¡¯t maintain it for more than a handful of seconds, and even that would be a strain, but it was a marked improvement, regardless. She brought the extended blade in to look at it, lifting her hand to grip the blade, before she hesitated, realizing that that would be foolish. Don¡¯t burn your hand, Tala, or stress your inscribings. Even so, as she¡¯d brought her hand close, she¡¯d noticed something. In a direct line with the blade¡¯s edge, she felt her power being pushed back, driven back into her defensive scripts and away from the flesh, itself. As the edge came closer, the scripts themselves seemed to be straining, as the magic in them was put under stress. This will cut so much easier than before, even through magically defended materials. She found herself grinning. The power just flows away before it. Flow. That seemed fitting. ¡°I will call you: Flow.¡± Continue the Story [Book 3 - Binding] The world reclaims all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons create the only path forward. Tala has returned to her new home, her mission successful, and her money-pouch temporarily refilled. Gold is still an ever present concern, but more pressing hurdles lie before her. Her inscriptions have been renewed and completed, granting her newfound power that she must learn to control, and she has a long list of tasks to complete before she can join the ranks of the powerful Archons. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. As she delves deeper into the mysteries of the world, barely even hinted at by the Academy, Tala has discovered the secrets of the truly mighty: the creation of an Archon Star. The Mage isn''t content to follow the standard path. She''s determined to forge her Archon Star from an unconventional material, a gamble that could either lead to her triumph or her downfall. Tala isn''t one to shy away from a challenge, but only time will reveal if her daring plan will pay off when it is time to complete her Binding. Chapter: 104 - That Seems Bad The second day of the venture to Makinaven was much like the first, excepting crystal entities and arcanes and Archons dropping through. The guardsmen drove off more than a dozen arcanous creatures, varying from the quite common thunderbulls to a few massive reptiles. One of those seemed to have been stalking one of the thunderbull families and took exception to the guards having driven them off. Rane took care of a half-dozen more minor threats to their progress. Tala never left the wagon top. Instead of begrudging her restriction, after all she could see that Mistress Odera was correct in every instance, Tala kept a ready watch on their surroundings, usually being among the first to notice any potential threat. All the while, she continued her study of Holly¡¯s texts. She wanted her knowledge surrounding her inscribings to be as deep and thorough as possible. They made camp late that afternoon, just more than two hundred yards from the close edge of the reaching canopy, far overhead. The hard part of the journey would start the next day, it seemed. The forest was an interesting presence beside the camp; the trees, starting at almost a hard line, were taller than anything she had ever seen, short of a mountain. Their branches spread out wide, interlacing with those around them. Their shape seemed much more like maple trees than pine. Even the somewhat shorter specimens, at the near edge, were tall enough that Tala thought they might be able to strike the wagons, should they fall their way. Let¡¯s hope that doesn¡¯t happen¡­ She could probably catch such with a Restrain, but she¡¯d never attempted to affect something that large, before, and Restrain was a more complex working than Crush. Yeah, I could Crush a tree no problem, but that wouldn¡¯t help us if it were falling our way. She put it out of her mind, though, as it was quite unlikely in any event. Rane and Tala sparred before dinner, to the great enjoyment of the passengers and off-duty guardsmen. Their display caused more to brave the cold for longer periods, many opting to eat their dinner while continuing to watch. Eventually, however, night had truly fallen, and Tala had eaten a quadruple portion of dinner. Pasties never get old. Tala was given the first part of the night-watch as Mage protector, and Rane and Mistress Odera bid her goodnight. Mistress Odera gave her several bits of advice and requested that she be roused if anything of note seemed to be happening. Tala agreed with a smile. That first part of the night passed with similar non-issue. Terry slew a night puma, a great cat that used shadow magic to stalk its prey. He detected it, somehow, and slew it outside of the area between the wagons, near the edge of where she could see in the poor light. He also ate it before Tala could notify the guards to log the encounter. When she checked with those on duty with her, none had seen the beast, to corroborate the kill. Ah, well. At least he got a meal out of it. She still found it marginally intimidating when Terry swallowed things much larger than his standard form. The night puma had been more than eight feet in length, nose to rump, and Tala would have guessed it weighed more than she did, even accounting for her gravity enhancement. Still, it was handled. No issue at all. She hesitated at that. Is there no issue, because nothing has happened, or do I think there¡¯s been no issue, because the arcane returned, and removed memory of such? She shivered at the thought, causing Terry to shift on her shoulder, though he didn¡¯t open his eyes. Well, I suppose if it had returned, it would have manipulated me, causing me to not even consider its interference. Great, so she only had to worry about the arcane¡¯s involvement when she didn¡¯t consider that it could have been involved. She felt her left eye twitching. ¡°Tala¡­ you are making yourself crazy. You cannot possibly allow that to be how you think of this¡­¡± She shook her head. All I can do is keep on, and resist anything that I can. It was small comfort, but it did seem to help. When Rane took over the watch around midnight, Tala gratefully slipped into sleep atop her reinforced cot, happy to end an unremarkable day and happy that it had been just that. * * * The next morning, after her daily routine, a sparring session with Rane, and breakfast, Tala noticed Mistress Odera walking her way. ¡°Mistress?¡± ¡°Good morning, Mistress Tala. Walk with me, will you?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tala fell into step beside the much older woman, moving towards the forest. ¡°What do you know of this forest?¡± She thought back to the information she¡¯d read up on in preparation for this trip. Summarize, she doesn¡¯t need a recitation of all of that. ¡°It¡¯s full of magic, though not specifically in the air. The trees have more power than those in other low-magic regions, and there are more arcanous creatures than on the open plains. I haven¡¯t looked closely at the trees¡¯ power-flow, though.¡± Her magesight had noted it at a great distance, and she hadn¡¯t focused on it since. ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be colder? Not much direct sunlight reaches the ground. There aren¡¯t established roads through the trees, obviously, so the travel time is much less certain.¡± ¡°All true.¡± ¡°Almost no undergrowth? The trees deeper in grow massive and block even more of the sun, leaving the forest floor mostly bare of vegetation.¡± She looked up at the trees which literally scraped the sky, uplifting branches creating trailing crevices in the lowest clouds as they moved past. Mistress Odera nodded. ¡°So, you know the basics.¡± ¡°They are as big as I was warned.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°Even yesterday, I thought I was just mis-seeing, somehow.¡± ¡°They truly are spectacular. The Mezzannis used to make their homes in these trees.¡± ¡°Mezzannis?¡± ¡°An arcane species. Never enslaved humanity, per se. They were one of the few to completely collapse when we gained our freedom.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°That¡¯s terrible. We wiped out an entire race, which wasn¡¯t doing us any harm?¡± Mistress Odera quirked a small smile. ¡°They didn¡¯t enslave us, Mistress, because you don¡¯t put your beef cows to work in the fields.¡± Tala hesitated, narrowing her eyes at the older woman. ¡°Wait¡­¡± ¡°The Mezzannis subsisted on ambient magic and human flesh.¡± Tala shuddered. ¡°I feel like you purposely led me astray, there.¡± ¡°Of course I did. I was curious how you would react to the elimination of a supposedly peaceful people.¡± She nodded, her smile growing. ¡°I am glad of your response.¡± ¡°So¡­ All gone?¡± ¡°Gone? No, but the decrease in magic, both natural, ages ago, and then that induced by our cities, caused the majority to wither away into lesser versions of themselves, all those that didn¡¯t die outright.¡± ¡°So¡­most are not dead?¡± ¡°Some melded with the great trees, losing most of their sentience, and all of their sapience, in order to live on. It is because of them that these giants can move on occasion, though rarely while observed. That is one added difficulty in traversing this part of the human wilds.¡± ¡°¡­the trees move. Like an ending-tree? They¡¯ll try to hit us? Or, do you mean¡­?¡± Mistress Odera gave a small smile. ¡°The trees can migrate. They move through the ground without truly disturbing it, and often reposition to hamper travel through the region using either trunk or roots as barriers. Though, they aren¡¯t clever or inter-connected enough to block the route entirely. When humans aren¡¯t around, those that can move tend to drift away from each other, making it less obstructive over time.¡± And now the references to varying routes and lengths of travel make a lot more sense. She hesitated. Wait¡­ ¡°You said that some of them melded with the trees, but not all?¡± ¡°No, not even most. Most that still remain are no longer conscious beings. They are arcanous humanoids. We call them Leshkin.¡± Leshkin? This is their original home? I knew that some were found here, but this is where they come from? She found herself giving an involuntary shiver. The Leshkin waged a mindless war on humanity every millennia, or so. Now that I think about it, wasn¡¯t the last one almost that long ago? She thought through her memories of the various informational texts she tried to devour in the last week, adding them to stories from her youth. Maybe a hundred or a hundred and fifty years out if the pattern holds. ¡°That isn¡¯t great, is it.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Mistress Odera shook her head. ¡°Pernicious creatures. From what we¡¯ve learned, each has a heart of sorts, hidden well beyond human reach: a seed from which they will re-grow if killed. As such, they lack even animalistic instincts for survival. Any that catch wind of us will attack and will continue to do so until they are obliterated. They will not retreat and cannot be driven off.¡± The two women stopped walking, a bit past half-way between the wagons and the forest edge. ¡°Their hatred of humanity is deeper than even the arcanous animals¡¯ aggressive instincts.¡± Mistress Odera¡¯s eyes flicked to Terry. ¡°Your companion will have some trouble with them, as their form is nothing more than animated, magically altered vegetation. You will have trouble because that plant matter has a caustic sap flowing through it, under high pressure.¡± Tala had read of that. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be an issue for anyone?¡± ¡°Of course, but most people are used to being wary, of being in danger. You are accustomed to being invulnerable.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°Noted. Acid will definitely stress my inscriptions more than a sharp cut or blunt hit, but I should be able to endure, so long as I¡¯m not submerged, or the like.¡± Mistress Odera gave her a long-suffering look. ¡°Funny you mention submersion.¡± Tala did not like the woman¡¯s tone. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°There are, on occasion, pit-traps filled with their sap, usually in hollows. A misstep will break through the thin layer of turf and drop the unlucky into wells of acid.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just lovely.¡± ¡°Quite.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°I have been thinking about releasing my increased weight. It¡¯s very useful in some few circumstances, but not many. In all others, it¡¯s actually pretty irritating to deal with. Do you think that wise?¡± Mistress Odera hesitated. ¡°Possibly. There are creatures that will snatch a person up, and carry them up nearby trees, and they are more numerous than the pit-traps. Your weight would be an advantage against such foes.¡± ¡°Certs, right?¡± Human-like in form, but much bigger and with much shorter legs, proportionally. As a result, they were just taller than humans, on average, and they could easily run on all fours, while remaining mostly upright. Their heads were more like elk or rams, with horns or antlers, depending on the subspecies. Their feet were as dexterous as their hands, and they moved through trees more easily than a horse ran across open plains. Tala glanced up at the canopy before them. Yeah¡­ that could be¡­bad. ¡°That¡¯s correct. They can survive a fall from the canopy and are known for attempting to drop directly onto wagons, or oxen.¡± ¡°Great, so keep my eyes above us, too.¡± As expected, I suppose¡­ ¡°The guards are very good at watching for branches moving irregularly, but if you can, keep your magesight perceptive in that direction. Yours is always active, correct?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Good. That should help, as well.¡± Tala nodded. As she thought about their talks, a question came to mind. ¡°So¡­ Leshkin are about human in size. What should I watch for, specifically? Are there any common signs of their presence or approach?¡± She¡¯d studied many creatures from this region, but she knew that her knowledge wasn¡¯t complete. ¡°Lesser Leshkin are closer to child sized. Though, if two combine, they will match a grown man in height and bulk. As to your question, they move about in human form, most of the time. Otherwise, watch for fast-growing plants, filled with unusual power.¡± ¡°Hold on a moment, combine?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Two of the lessers can meld into a warrior. Those even use wooden approximations of human weaponry, blessedly mundane, but made of some wood that leaves them more effective than any human metal.¡± Tala nodded. Ingrit¡¯s list had Leshkin weaponry as one of the most lucrative harvests on this route. Tala had read about the warriors, but she¡¯d missed the part where they were just combined lesser Leshkin. Too much variation and nuance to fully read up on, in advance¡­ ¡°Can two warriors join? Wait,¡± She shook her head. If the pattern holds, ¡°that¡¯s a Leshkin knight, right?¡± ¡°Correct. They have something akin to plate armor, but again from mundane, if sturdy, wood. Some knights will have magically enhanced weaponry or armor.¡± ¡°And two knights¡­¡± Tala thought back. ¡°A juggernaut?¡± ¡°Precisely. Twice the height of a man, everything they use is strongly magically empowered. If we attract that much attention, we are in a lot of trouble.¡± Two to a warrior, two of those to a knight, and two of those to a juggernaut. ¡°That¡¯s just eight. Eight are so much trouble?¡± ¡°Only if they have time and forethought to join. It isn¡¯t instantaneous and the process seems to require connection to a great tree for magical energy. It usually only happens if there isn¡¯t an easy chance for them to attack, so they take time to prepare before joining the battle.¡± Ok. So, that¡¯s why the information I found discussed how to counter groups of the lessers. Groups won¡¯t be combined as much as possible. ¡°The lessers are much faster, so they usually try to soften up a target first, or act as distractions, when units fight together.¡± Historical enemy of mankind, indeed. ¡°So¡­why do we have cities in here?¡± Mistress Odera snorted, humorlessly. ¡°Because the cycle of cities through this region is all that beats them back, even if just briefly. The centuries, between when the last forest city fades and we establish the next, see the Leshkin swarming deeply into the plains. They are more an annoyance than anything, but they make every route, every city, less safe.¡± And the last forest city will wane in a little over a century and a half¡­ That lined up with her understanding of historical conflicts with the Leshkin. ¡°Alright. So, what else will we be facing in there?¡± They spent a few more minutes discussing what to expect. Belatedly, as they were finishing up, Tala asked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t Rane have been here for this?¡± ¡°We already talked. He fills a much more standard role as a protector and has read up on the proper actions and strategies for someone like him on this route. You are a bit out of the ordinary.¡± She grunted. ¡°I suppose I can see that.¡± Mistress Odera met her eyes with a searching look. ¡°So, I noticed that you didn¡¯t do any practice with your new gravity manipulation, yesterday.¡± ¡°I thought it better to focus on the caravan and improving the efficiency of the inscriptions I already have active.¡± Mistress Odera gave her a long look, then shook her head. ¡°Oh, child. You really are trying, aren¡¯t you.¡± Tala frowned in irritation. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Mistress Odera waved her off. ¡°Unimportant, now. I want you to begin practicing as soon as we get underway. Keep your eyes out, but work on using that inscription. Until you have it under control, you are working with an incomplete powerset, right?¡± ¡°True enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m heading back to take up my post on the cargo-wagon. Why don¡¯t you take a more detailed look at the trees with your magesight, then join me?¡± After a moment¡¯s pause, she added. ¡°Don¡¯t get closer. Don¡¯t start an engagement with anything, if you see it.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°As you say, Mistress.¡± Mistress Odera moved back towards the caravan, and Tala, for her part, turned to regard the giant trees before her. She focused, allowing her magesight to really dig into what she saw. Her eyes immediately widened in shock. Each tree seemed to have sent its roots further down than she could easily discern, as well as so far out that she stood well inside the radius of their reach, even though the canopy ended another hundred yards in front of her. That wasn¡¯t what had evoked the reaction, however. Power. The forest was drawing in power from all around it, almost like a human city. Most of what she could see flowing into the forest came from deep in the ground. The trees, after using some of the power, seemed to release the rest from the tips of their branches, to fill the air. Even so, the magic didn¡¯t stay there long, and the results weren¡¯t even half as concentrated as the magic around Alefast. The power in the air seemed to be steadily flowing deeper into the forest. Towards Makinaven. How dense would the power be, if the city wasn¡¯t here to lessen it? She shivered at the thought. So, anything in there will be more power-dense than the arcanous beasts of the plain. That was a lovely thought. She briefly wondered why the Archons hadn¡¯t just burned the whole thing down, but as she considered, she doubted that the arcanes would allow such, and the action might even bring some of those uninterested in humanity down upon them. We¡¯re in a strange stalemate. We have to defend ourselves, but we can¡¯t do anything that¡¯s too effective, or we could be starting an active war that we couldn¡¯t win. She grimaced. The more I learn, the more I wish I¡¯d been content with ignorance¡­ She snorted at that. She knew, very well, that even if she could go back, she wouldn¡¯t. Blissful ignorance is a false paradise. She sighed, moving to turn back towards the wagons when Terry perked up, his eyes locked on the trees. Tala followed his gaze and saw what looked like a pile of flowers, slowly growing up from the forest floor, near one of the closest trunks. Her magesight showed a complexity of power that she couldn¡¯t comprehend at this distance, and she almost moved to investigate. Is that what Mistress Odera meant? Thankfully, her better reason prevailed, and she stayed put. It¡¯s not because Mistress Odera told me to stay back. I¡¯m choosing the wiser path on my own. Once the flowers had reached a height roughly equal to Tala¡¯s chest, they condensed, forming the shape of a small person, eyes of vacant darkness regarding her from its place, near one of the closest trees. Though Tala¡¯s normal sight saw only unending night in those black holes, her magesight saw blazing beacons of power. Is that what I looked like to others? The depictions she¡¯d seen in informational tomes did not convey the wrongness of the creature. I really can see detail at a crazy distance¡­ She¡¯d not encountered many instances where she focused so closely at something so far, but that was hardly the most pressing thing, at the moment. The thing tilted its head to the side in clear confusion. Don¡¯t anthropomorphize, Tala. The small form continued to look her direction for a long, silent minute. Finally, it slowly began walking forward. Its movements were fast, but jerky. The result was faster than a quick walk but looked more akin to a puppet¡¯s movements than that of a man. A puppet controlled by a drunken child¡­ ¡°Terry, go get Mistress Odera¡¯s attention.¡± Tala began walking backwards, unwilling to put her back to the advancing creature. Terry vanished. The flickers of dimensional power behind her indicated that he was doing as she¡¯d asked. At least, I hope so. She moved with careful but quick steps. No reason to trip while escaping that horror¡­ As such, the flower-being was gaining on her, steadily, leaving dragging, irregular footprints in the snow. Even so, it didn¡¯t, yet, seem hostile. More than anything it seemed¡­curious? It can¡¯t see me properly. Do I look like one of its own¡­? Why doesn¡¯t it see the caravan? Tala was about fifty yards from the caravan when the Leshkin reached the edge of the overhanging canopy. When it did, it froze in place, head jerking back and forth, seemingly seeing the caravan for the first time. It threw its mouth wide, thorn-like teeth growing larger, stretching towards the center of a wholly inhuman, circular maw. A screech, high and wild, issued from the churning depths. Blessedly, there were no answering cries from behind it, within the forest. The flowers of its exterior shifted into a pattern reminiscent of scales, and much larger thorns sprouted from its fingertips and toes. Without warning, it rocketed forward with a sudden burst of speed, leaving a trail of flower petals in its wake. The being seemed to have forgotten Tala, and was aiming to pass her by, seeking the caravan. Yeah, no. Tala drew Flow, connecting void-channels to it as she pulled it free. The weapon blossomed into a sword, and the Leshkin seemed to take notice, but didn¡¯t alter its path. It whipped past her in a rush, Tala striking out and cutting through it with seeming ease. Behind her, the Leshkin sprayed a bubbling yellow fluid from the cut Tala had made in its side. Some of that acid splattered Tala¡¯s back, immediately eating through her elk-leathers, and began burning at her skin. Why aren¡¯t the ending-berries stopping it? The part that missed her sizzled through the light layer of white snow. Allowing a moment¡¯s distraction, she looked within. Tala saw that something about the creature¡¯s blood was pushing against her magical defense, moving the ending-berry power back more effectively than that of her inscriptions. Tala growled, spinning around to face the creature. She bent her will towards her ending-berry reserves and forced that magic back into the areas still under assault by the acid. The power began diminishing but not too quickly. That removed the strain on her inscriptions and most of the strangely burning itch. Well, Xeel did imply that I¡¯d have trouble with some of the forest creatures¡­ And hadn¡¯t Ingrit mentioned something along those lines, too? She definitely mentioned the Leshkin, but I don¡¯t think she discussed their effect on ending-berry power. But ending-berries had fallen out of favor during a Leshkin war. I think I might be starting to understand why. Tala fully faced the Leshkin as it tumbled to a stop, immediately picking itself back up and facing her in turn. It hesitated, seeming to examine her, before glancing over its shoulder, the head turning far more than a human neck could. It shrieked again, spinning and launching itself towards the caravan. Tala cursed. That¡­that seems bad. The guards had seen the beast, now, and Mistress Odera was clearly looking their way from atop the cargo-wagon. A single quarrel thwacked into the creature¡¯s chest, and Tala saw the scripts on the shaft¡¯s length ignite, inverting the Leshkin¡¯s power for use against the beast. The Leshkin lost all cohesion, the blooms exploding outward to be carried back into the forest by a wind that Tala couldn¡¯t feel or detect. Chapter: 105 - Practice Tala sat on the wagon top as it trundled towards the trees. The caravan was underway, and Tala had a task before her. Per Mistress Odera¡¯s instructions, she was preparing to activate her active gravity manipulation for the first time. I really should have done this a week ago¡­ But there had just been too much else to do. I still haven¡¯t even started experimenting with spell-forms in my lungs, either¡­ No. This took priority. She placed her palms on her elbows, left arm going above right. She carefully positioned her fingers per Holly¡¯s instructions, getting into the very awkward and specific position required for the initial activation. I know we didn¡¯t want this to activate on accident, but this is a bit ridiculous. Even so, she followed the instructions given, closed her eyes, and entered the required mental state. Control. Power whipped through her, filling the gold inscriptions in her left breast and radiating outward into the others linked to them. A few of the forms made subtle additions to her magesight as well, utilizing the base scripts to give her needed information. The miniscule copper links placed to kick off this first activation burned away, leaving her with another active draw on her power. It was a massive drain. Tala¡¯s eyes opened, widening in surprise as she felt her reserves begin to steadily, if slowly, empty. With quick, practiced technique, she forged one of her standard void-channels and connected it to her body and the inscriptions there. The added flow was just enough to satisfy the much greater demand for power. Great¡­ Any time she didn¡¯t have an active void-channel, she would be losing power. I need to understand this spell-working better. That should increase the efficiency and reduce the draw. She thought she could hold the single void-channel for most of a day. Even so, it wasn¡¯t enough to refill what she¡¯d lost. So, she quickly forged a second void-channel and dispersed it a few seconds later when her reserves were refilled. That done, she opened her eyes, and had to blink back tears. The entire world seemed to have a uniform, additional color layered overtop both her normal vision and that of her magesight. Not quite a color, more an added depth. She felt her mind hitch at the additional facet of information. Thankfully, given that the new portion of her sight was directly linked to her magesight, it functioned the same. Now that she had taken in the gravity of everything around her, it faded from her sight. Only differences will be highlighted. She glanced down at her hands and was greeted by such a difference. The ¡®light¡¯ of gravity was deeper, coming from her body, the effect seeming to highlight the weight of difference. Tala huffed a chuckle at that. Well, that¡¯s exactly what it is, so that¡¯s probably why I perceive it that way. Once she¡¯d acclimated to that, her extra perception with regard to her own body faded as well. Only changes will manifest. She¡¯d picked up a small stone for practice and set it near her feet during the initial activation. As such, she picked it up to hold, focusing on it to bring back the ¡®other light¡¯ that indicated gravity¡¯s effect. She brought her left, middle finger down to press against her left thumb, her other fingers curling naturally into the position she¡¯d had Holly lock the ability behind. I can¡¯t make changes, unless I have this hand position, for now. It seemed a wise precaution. Increase. She applied her will and felt a marked uptick in the power drain. She immediately created another void-channel. The ¡®light¡¯ increased minutely, but the increase in weight was much, much too little for her hand to register. All that, for this? She thought for a long moment. What am I doing, exactly? She was dumping power into an effect, without considering how it would be accomplished. She remembered her inefficiency with charging the cargo-slots, before she¡¯d fully utilized a mental model. She recalled how horrible her skin¡¯s defenses were before she understood the bio-chemistry behind inter- and intra-cellular bonds. Yeah, that¡¯s what¡¯s happening, here. I haven¡¯t bothered to really understand how this is doing what it¡¯s supposed to do. She thought for a moment. It¡¯s exactly like my crush. As soon as the thought entered her mind, solidifying into a mental construct, the new, added drain on her power greatly diminished. The stone got noticeably heavier, if still just minutely. That¡¯s right. Take that 10% extra weight and crack! She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. Hey, it¡¯s a start. She bent her will towards increasing it, and over the next hour was able to raise the stone¡¯s weight by nearly 50%, then slowly return it to normal. It was a colossally glacial process, but Tala thought she could make it faster, in time. Practice it is, then. * * * Tala watched the false twilight landscape around their small caravan. It had taken her nearly two hours to fully adjust to the dappled green light. Even still, she kept thinking that she saw movement out of the corners of her vision, but it was just the obscuring leaves and branches, high above, swaying in a wind she couldn¡¯t see. Or, moving on their own¡­ Now that they were past the forest¡¯s edge, the massive trees were actually spaced fairly far apart, with few exceptions. Those exceptions seemed to be growing just too close together to get a wagon through, thus diverting them from their intended course. Whenever they came to such blockages, at least one of the trees was invariably one of the migratory variety. Tala¡¯s magesight told her that the magics within were much more complex than the average specimen of tree. Even so, they lacked the level of complexity of an arcanous creature. As things would have it, it was always easier to divert to the left, or east, around the barrier. When they tried to go right, or west, the terrain became more difficult, often with great tangles of roots slowing them down or just making the path impossible. The tree trunks were colossal, as befitted their height. If Tala was estimating correctly, the larger trees, past the leading edge of the forest, were close to nine hundred feet tall, and approaching two hundred feet across. In general, the trees grew around that far apart, making it a very dense forest, relatively speaking, while still having a lot of clear ground for them to traverse. Thus, any given diversion took them only around four hundred feet out of their way, but it was still quite inconvenient, as the arrangement of the trees made it difficult to tell where paths through were, until they drew close. The whole scale of this place twists the mind. She assumed that the trees got as much of their needs from the magic, which they were drawing up from the earth, as from sunlight, and that made the closer crowding less of an issue. The fact that any light reached them at all was a testament to the sparseness of the canopy. Those limbs are huge, though! It was mainly the leaves that were sparse, barely forming a single layer between them and the clouds, all told. She even caught some glimpses of those clouds, occasionally. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It was cold enough under the trees that the ground was frost covered, but it didn¡¯t seem like much snow got through to the forest floor, at least not here. The guards had attached an interesting device to the front of the cargo-wagon¡¯s shaft, between the two oxen. It extended out in front of the animals on a hinge. To Tala, it looked mostly like a weight, resting on a set of wheels that moved up and down to stay in heavy contact with the ground. It seemed incredibly complicated, since it could move and swivel, while not hindering the turns or movements of the oxen and wagon in the least. To prevent the oxen from falling into a pit-trap? That was probably a good idea. The oxen were pretty key to the whole venture. Huh¡­ what would happen if the oxen were slain? It was probably worth asking. If it were up to her, now that she thought about it, there would be scripts embedded in the wagon that could do the work of the oxen, in the case of an emergency, but they would also be too expensive for regular use. That in mind, she took a moment away from her practice, and watching their surroundings, to examine the wagon more closely with her magesight. There wasn¡¯t active magic to stand out to her, but she thought she detected the intrinsic power of metal embedded, swirling through various parts of the vehicle. I wonder who can activate it, and how? She was probably better off not knowing. I can be trusted not to activate it. Tala decided to redirect her mind to other topics. Sometimes she felt like she was herding a toddler, while trying to direct her own mind. Rude. She would get over it. She felt a tickling from the edges of her magesight and looked up. Something was moving through the canopy nearly directly overhead. As she opened her mouth to call out a warning, one of the guards on the chuckwagon beat her to it. ¡°Above!¡± He directed their attention to the one that Tala had seen, though she noticed some of the other guards pointedly looking elsewhere. To ensure it¡¯s not a distraction? The Cert clearly seemed to notice their attention, vaulting off the massive branch it had been charging across. Tala immediately brought her middle finger back to her left thumb, focusing on the falling animal and dumping five void-channels¡¯ worth of power through her mental construct, through the spell-form, and towards increasing the beast¡¯s weight. In the roughly six seconds before it impacted, beside the cargo-wagon, Tala was able to increase its weight by only about 10%, if she was understanding the new aspect of her sight properly. That barely increased the speed of impact, only increasing the energy of such by a bit. The beast stumbled in its landing. The oddity of gravity¡¯s effect changing seemed to have caught it by surprise. Tala continued to bend her will towards increasing it, even as guards jammed lances into it with passing charges from horseback. This Cert didn¡¯t have any elemental abilities, that she could see, and all the power in it seemed focused on its normal functions. A bit like me, I guess¡­ As such, the lances were mainly mundane, and didn¡¯t have the huge impact that those using the creature¡¯s own power would have achieved. Tala glanced to Mistress Odera, but the woman shook her head. ¡°No. Master Rane has it handled.¡± As if on cue, Rane swept by at incredible speed. Force struck the beast¡¯s chest and blew through it, while the creature¡¯s increased weight helped with anchoring the thing to allow for a through-and-through, upward cut. Blood fountained into the air, and a chorus of deep, guttural notes rained from the canopy, above. Tala swept her gaze across their green ceiling, seeing hints of creatures looking out from behind the power-filled branches, where they were very difficult for her magesight to pick out. How many are there? Mistress Odera¡¯s voice was clear as she spoke. ¡°They are ambushers more than fighters. They know we¡¯ve seen them. Expect them to retreat but be wary just in case.¡± The next minutes were incredibly stressful, as the wagons slowly left the pack behind. The beasts, for their part, didn¡¯t seem to be following, at least not those that Tala was able to pick out. Those watched the wagons depart until tree-trunks blocked direct line of sight. Mistress Odera finally breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded. ¡°Return to regular observance.¡± The guards responded to her command, seeming to relax. Back to practice, then. The rest of the day passed with little of note. They were attacked quite a few more times, but it was always by singular creatures. Some ten lesser Leshkin, total, five more Certs, a white stag that emitted blinding pulses of light, three medium-sized reptiles that reminded Tala a bit of Terry, and two night-pumas fell before Rane and the guardsmen. Mistress Odera only had to shield them once, when a Cert dropped from directly overhead. The woman angled her defense, shaped as a flat plane, so that the beast rolled off to fall the rest of the way to the ground. There, it was quickly dispatched, just like the others. All told, Tala was an ancillary resource who barely helped, though she did get a lot of practice with her gravity manipulation. By the time they made camp that evening, Tala understood how it worked well enough to be able to alter gravitational effects by close to ten percent per second, with sufficient power devoted to the task. Thankfully, her increased understanding also meant that the void-channel to her body was no longer required, while she wasn¡¯t actively making modifications to the gravity around her. That¡¯s good, at least. I don¡¯t want to think what would happen if I ran out of power in the night¡­ The rate of change that she¡¯d reached was still nowhere near fast enough to replace her Crush, but it was nearly six times her earlier pace. Every step draws me closer to where I want to be. She knew that her future progress would be slower, but it wouldn¡¯t stop any time soon. Their camp that night was in a slightly larger-than-average gap between several trees. She¡¯d asked Mistress Odera if there was any danger of being fully surrounded and blocked in during the night, and the woman had simply said that it rarely happened. So, not never¡­ Still the older woman didn¡¯t seem concerned, so Tala had returned to her practice. As Tala walked across the wagon-top, thinking about her progress gave her an idea, and she decided to reduce her weight by ten percent, just to see what it would be like. The magic affected her easily. As it originated within her, her iron salve didn¡¯t block it. She tripped immediately¡­on the smooth wagon top. Seriously? Her every movement felt wrong. Even so, she gritted her teeth and went through her exercises with the altered gravity, forcing herself to adjust. Alright, then. I need to practice under as many different levels of gravity as possible. She didn¡¯t really know how, exactly, it would be useful, but she didn¡¯t like that she was so incompetent with such a minor variation. But should I practice large variations first, or subtle ones? She had no idea. I should ask someone¡­ It was too bad that everyone was busy with their evening duties. Rane walked in a wide circle around the wagons, checking for any hidden lairs or traps. Mistress Odera and the guards seemed to be thoroughly checking the ground between and immediately around their campsite in much greater detail than Rane could hope to achieve with his wide sweep. I should go ask if I can help. She sighed, dropping off the side of the wagon. She slammed into the ground, fracturing the already frozen soil. She ground her teeth, feeling how much ending-berry power had been required to absorb the blow. Ok. I¡¯m calling it. I can always put it back on, now that my active manipulation is up and running. As Terry appeared on her shoulder, Tala brought middle finger and thumb together, and she began dumping power into reducing gravity¡¯s effect on her. It took every void-channel she had and nearly a minute to reach a normal weight, or close enough to be irrelevant. She was able to watch her hand and compare that to her sleeve as a way of matching the gravity ¡®light¡¯ from each, nearly perfectly. Yeah¡­ I should have released that ages ago¡­ She hadn¡¯t really considered how easily she could place the effect back on, if she wanted. I¡¯m a bit foolish, sometimes¡­ She approached Mistress Odera, a literal spring in her step. Thankfully, she got used to her lightness before stopping beside the other woman. ¡°Is there anything I can do to assist?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think at the moment, Mistress, but thank you for checking in.¡± Mistress Odera glanced to Terry. ¡°Now, you, good avian, would you be willing to do a sweep of the surroundings? You can move faster than all but a horseman and will draw less attention than one of the mounted guards.¡± Terry cocked his head, then glanced towards Tala. Tala smiled at her friend. ¡°If you want, might be nice to stretch your legs?¡± He¡¯d been a bit lazier that day, not really leaving Tala¡¯s side very often. He bobbed and vanished. In less than an hour, the camp was as secure as they could easily make it, and dinner was being served. Tala and Rane sparred once again, to the delight of the others in the caravan. Tala was having a bit more trouble, today, given her normal weight. She was a bit faster on sideways and upward movements than before, but she couldn¡¯t anchor against Rane¡¯s blows as easily, and the result was that she was flung about much more often. It was a stark lesson in humility, and plainly showed just how complacent she¡¯d already become in accepting certain hits. I should probably practice with even less than normal gravity¡­but not today. In truth, she should wait until she could match Rane before pushing further, but she doubted she would have the patience. We¡¯ll see. After a particularly brutal bout, Tala was taking a break to drink deeply from her water incorporator when she felt something bump her shoulder. Tala turned to see Terry, the size of a small horse, looking at her. A silence had fallen over those watching. They seemed to be curious more than anything else, as they¡¯d all seen the bird in his smaller form, and the guards knew he could get bigger. Many had even seen him at this size, over the last few days. ¡°What¡¯s up, Terry?¡± The bird bobbed to her, then tapped Flow with his nose and flicked his head towards where she and Rane had been sparring. ¡°You want me to fight some more?¡± He bobbed, then shuffled that way. Her eyes widened. ¡°You want me to spar with you?¡± He bobbed again, seeming much more excited. Tala swallowed, though her mouth had been empty. ¡°Well, I suppose it could be good practice¡­¡± What under the stars am I agreeing to? Terry did a happy little shuffle, then appeared in the cleared area, crouched and ready. ¡°Well, alright then. Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± Continue the Story [Book 4 - Bound] The world reclaims all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons create the only path forward. Tala, a newly Bound Archon, strives against challenges, new and old, as the world opens up before her; even if her understanding is far from complete. Her responsibilities to her caravan have increased, with the newly added complication of being under the watchful eye of an overseer. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Determined to embrace and decipher her newfound power, not to mention chipping away at the debt that propels her forward, she faces a treacherous path to a new city, which has already proven to be more dangerous than her journey to Alefast, and they''ve only just begun. Tala is learning valuable lessons about herself, the world around her, and the people who she is determined to protect as she settles into her new power and position as a Bound. Chapter: 136 - Underpinning Aura Tala couldn¡¯t wipe the smile from her face as she entered the Constructionist Guild front entry room. The previous afternoon of plays had been amazing, the food fantastic, and the company enjoyable. She felt more relaxed and mentally level than she had in¡­She shook her head, still smiling. It¡¯s been years. Even a frustrating breakfast with Mistress Odera hadn¡¯t spoiled Tala¡¯s mood, despite the woman continuing to deflect anything resembling a personal question. She wants to know all about me but doesn¡¯t want me to learn anything of substance about her. She dismissed the mild irritant. The breakfast food had been as good as always, and Tala actually felt pleasantly full, for the moment. I hope that lasts for a couple of hours at least. Terry had watched the plays with seeming dispassion, but he had watched. He¡¯d obviously enjoyed the food. At the moment, he was asleep, content, on Tala¡¯s shoulder. Rane had enjoyed the afternoon as much as Tala from what she¡¯d seen. He was meeting her at the training room later that morning. After she¡¯d finished breakfast, Tala had come to the Constructionist Guild to see if Jevin was available. Now, a large part of her felt a bit bad coming to Jevin with her questions, especially just after Rane had so eloquently walked her through choosing a good use of her own time, and this wasn¡¯t fusing, or recovering from fusing. Even so, these things were weighing on her mind, and it would only take a quick moment to drop through and move them forward. She was scanned, and a ding resounded from the back. At that moment, she remembered Grent. Oh¡­ rust¡­ I really hope he isn¡¯t- Jevin came out, speaking quietly with the two Mages accompanying him. He smiled her way. ¡°Mistress Tala.¡± The two Mages bowed slightly to Tala and eyed Terry with a mix of curiosity and wariness but didn¡¯t speak. Tala smiled at them but addressed the Archon directly. ¡°Oh, Master Jevin, just who I was looking for.¡± Thank the stars. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, but we are just leaving.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes, these two are looking for advice on creating their Archon stars.¡± Tala regarded the two more closely. ¡°That¡¯s wonderful!¡± She smiled. ¡°Do you have any advice for the younger generation?¡± Tala suppressed a smile. Both of the Mages were her senior by quite a few years. Still, Jevin was giving her an opportunity to help others. Older Mages keep implying that that is important. And if she was being honest, she was realizing more and more how much she¡¯d missed by skipping her time as an apprentice. I wouldn¡¯t be here, if I¡¯d gone the normal route. That, arguably, might mean she¡¯d have a better foundation. No going back, now. She nodded once, passing off her extended pause like she¡¯d been considering what to say. ¡°What do you know about Archon stars?¡± The woman spoke first. ¡°It is how we become Archons.¡± The man nodded. ¡°Some mediums are harder to forge one within, and we should choose a medium that speaks to us. If none seems to, we should use diamond.¡± Tala thought, nodding. Their masters didn¡¯t think they¡¯d handle full information well¡­ They were both guides. ¡°It helped me to think of guiding the power, not forcefully, that isn¡¯t possible in most mediums.¡± Well, unless you have it inside your body¡­which they shouldn¡¯t do. She hesitated. They both gave her interested looks, and Jevin closed his eyes in a silent sigh. Oops. ¡°What I mean is: you won¡¯t be able to directly control the power within your medium. You need to guide it, so that it wants to take the shape of the desired spell-form.¡± Looks of seeming introspection swept across the Mages¡¯ faces, and Jevin smiled. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. That is solid advice.¡± He gave her a meaningful look. Tala smiled to the Mages. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll let you two get to it. I do have a couple of quick, esoteric questions for Master Jevin.¡± She turned to the Paragon. ¡°Could I borrow you for a minute, or should I come back?¡± Jevin considered her for a moment, then turned to the other two. ¡°Would you wait for me outside? I¡¯ll be just a moment.¡± They bowed to him, then to Tala, and departed. ¡°Now, ¡®most mediums¡¯?¡± He gave her a wan smile. ¡°I apologize for that. I was thinking about working within your body versus without, but I didn¡¯t mean to¡­lead them down odd paths.¡± He laughed, shaking his head. ¡°You know, they¡¯ll spend days trying to understand the ¡®bit of wisdom the Archon hinted at.¡¯ ¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°I am sorry.¡± He waved that off. ¡°I know. It¡¯s an odd balance. I know you took an unconventional path, though I don¡¯t know all the details. Perhaps that is a tale you could tell, but some other time.¡± Tala found herself smiling. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± He gave a brief, genuine smile before professionalism fell back into place. ¡°Now, I really do have to go. Your questions?¡± ¡°Alright, quick one first. Can you make me some inscribed darts, linked to my anchor?¡± Jevin considered for a moment. ¡°To trap an opponent? Of course. That¡¯s a clever use of the anchor.¡± He laughed slightly. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s very close to the original use of it, actually.¡± He scratched his cheek, then nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware that this use will cause the inscriptions to run out faster.¡± ¡°I figured as much, yeah. Can you do it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll put it together. Come back tomorrow?¡± Her eyebrows rose. ¡°That¡¯s soon.¡± Well, so much for just moving it along a bit¡­ Do I really want to take time from my fusing for this? He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just your bracers, in a different form.¡± I can fuse as much as I¡¯m able right before coming back, then use the walk down as a mental and magical break. After, I can Fuse a bit, here, then walk back. She nodded. ¡°Afternoon?¡± ¡°That¡¯s when I have time, so yeah.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± ¡°So, your longer question?¡± His smile didn¡¯t have any impatience, despite his obvious time crunch. ¡°My archon stars can¡­ combine.¡± Jevin nodded. ¡°Master Grediv¡¯s treatise on liquid mediums implied such, and your ascension so soon after its dissemination made a connection fairly likely.¡± He smiled. ¡°Master Grediv¡¯s most recent pupil being with you? That made the association virtually assured.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°So, my understanding is that making an Archon star stretches the soul, creating a tendril of sorts which can latch onto a magical item.¡± ¡°True. That¡¯s one way to conceive of it.¡± ¡°So, my question,¡± she swallowed, ¡°should I make as many small, weak Archon stars as I can to stretch my soul, then combine them for my next bonding?¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That¡­¡± Jevin frowned. ¡°That is a fascinating question.¡± He clucked his tongue, clearly distracted with his own thoughts. ¡°Does a weak star stretch your soul in a meaningful way?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°We can test it, if you like.¡± ¡°You can? He chuckled. ¡°Of course. When you come back tomorrow afternoon, we¡¯ll run a couple of tests. Do I remember correctly, you have a star already?¡± ¡°One, yes, and I could make another fairly quickly.¡± ¡°That might be necessary, but we¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Will that take mental or magical energy to test?¡± He gave her a searching look, but then shook his head. ¡°To analyze the star you already have, no. If we end up having you make another, then of course, but that choice will ultimately be yours to make.¡± Tala shrugged. Still probably a good use of time. Use the resources while I have them, and he seems quite happy to help those less powerful than himself. ¡°Well, I could come earlier, if we¡¯re going to be doing testing.¡± He shook his head. ¡°You are far from the only Mage I¡¯m working with at the moment, Mistress. I have my day rather booked, tomorrow. I do have time in the afternoon. I was going to suggest then if you hadn¡¯t. Let¡¯s say three hours past noon?¡± After a moment¡¯s thought, she cocked her head. Everyone seems pretty happy to help those weaker than them. Instead of answering his question, she took the conversation for a hard left. ¡°Why are you helping me?¡± She glanced over her shoulder. ¡°Why are you helping them? It sounds like you are helping a lot of people. Surely you have more useful things you could be doing with your time.¡± Jevin barked a laugh. ¡°Hardly.¡± After a moment¡¯s thought, he nodded. ¡°There are two main types of Archon. The first is those who advance for their own gain. That¡¯s fine; that¡¯s wonderful, but it ultimately leads them to die or depart. Then, the others grow in power for some greater purpose. Most of us care for the fate of humanity.¡± He laughed again. ¡°Most successful people, in general, have that bent.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why? Because humanity is standing on the edge of a knife. People don¡¯t like those who rust the rest of us.¡± He smiled sadly. ¡°We need each other, so we need to help each other. True, I could be personally more powerful if I didn¡¯t help anyone else, but I can¡¯t be everywhere, and humanity as a whole would be worse off.¡± He shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s how I and most of my peers see it.¡± Tala found herself nodding. That¡¯s what she¡¯d felt when talking to Grediv, Jevin, Master Himmel, even Holly to some extent. They each had their own goals and eccentricities, but they all genuinely seemed to want humanity to succeed, as a whole, and they were willing to invest in new Mages to advance that goal. ¡°I¡¯ll be here tomorrow, at three past noon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± Together, Tala and Jevin walked from the building. Jevin joined the others, and the three Mages got on a hovering platform before it lifted from the ground. Tala examined it briefly. Fascinating. There are inertial isolation scripts, like on a dimensional storage item, but they isolate that which rests on the platform, rather than a separate space. ¡°Oh!¡± Jevin¡¯s voice caused Tala to focus on him, thinking he had some parting remark for her. Instead, Jevin¡¯s aura flexed back at the Guild building¡¯s front and pulled the door closed behind her. He smiled and gave Tala a last nod before the wooden platform zipped up the spiral, leaving Tala and Terry to walk up, alone. Tala was locked in place, her mind an incoherent mess as she felt herself shaking uncontrollably, fear beyond any she¡¯d ever felt overwhelming her for a brief instant. She¡¯d felt his aura clearly as it worked behind her. He hadn¡¯t had to reach past her, his aura had already been there. More than that, though, his magical signature was deeply familiar. She¡¯d felt it before, obviously, but she¡¯d felt it more often than she¡¯d truly realized. The power surrounding Makinaven, that which was already under the control of another, unmistakably held Master Jevin¡¯s signature. Fighting herself, she focused her magesight on the air before her, digging deeper, trying to find the power signature of the city itself. She let out an unconscious whimper. Master Jevin¡¯s aura underpinned all of Makinaven. * * * Tala fell backwards, a headache not quite manifesting as she pulled her latest stitch tight, joining her soul, body, and spirit ever closer. Her thoughts flickered back to the Constructionist Guild and Master Jevin. It had taken her long minutes to overcome her shaking nerves, after she realized just how extensive Master Jevin¡¯s power was. She¡¯d slowly mastered herself, in large part because she simply couldn¡¯t conceive of the man¡¯s power and reach. There¡¯s no way he actually holds authority over the entire city. He¡¯d said he had god-like power within his aura. No. There is no way his aura underpins this entire city. She reassured herself with the repeated, obvious lie. Strangely, it did help, even while she fully realized she was actively deceiving herself. But that was in the past. Focus on the present. She did not allow herself to focus on the fact that she was, presently, within that same aura. She did not allow her magesight to look deep enough to see it. She groaned, stretching her arms wide and letting her legs straighten against the floor. ¡°I do not envy your method of fusing.¡± Rane¡¯s voice was calm as it reached her from the far side of the training room. She turned her head to glare at him. ¡°Whereas you can just dump power constantly into your binding.¡± Rane shook his head a bit ruefully. ¡°I am actually starting to feel a¡­pressure, if that makes sense. The bond is getting stronger, but it isn¡¯t doing what it¡¯s supposed to. I¡¯m going to need to twist it, somehow, before I can fuse.¡± She grunted. ¡°That¡¯s something, I suppose.¡± He laughed. ¡°Oh, yes, your suffering is lessened because I suffer too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how we humans work, Master Rane.¡± He grunted. ¡°When we don¡¯t choose to be better? I agree.¡± Tala sighed, sitting up and pulling out her cold-water incorporator for a drink. ¡°Way to make me feel like a rusting jerk.¡± He opened his mouth but seemed to think better of responding. Instead, he simply shifted from one deep stretch to another. Tala cleared her throat, a thought coming unbidden to her mind. ¡°Master Rane?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°What form of government runs this city?¡± He turned to look at her, not coming out of his deep butterfly stretch. ¡°That¡¯s seems an odd question for you.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I just realized that I¡¯d never really given it a thought.¡± He smiled. ¡°Probably a good change, I suppose.¡± He cracked his neck, bending fully back into the stretch. ¡°There are two layers, really. There are popularly elected administrators for the day to day, and even year to year, running of Makinaven.¡± ¡°And the other layer?¡± ¡°A Guild holds carte blanche over major decisions.¡± Tala felt her eye twitch. ¡°Which?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh.¡± He frowned, thinking. ¡°I believe the Growers.¡± Tala felt herself relax. His head shifted as he continued to consider. ¡°No, that¡¯s Retindel¡­ They have an almost identical system.¡± She waited for a long moment as Rane shifted stretches yet again. Finally, she cleared her throat. ¡°So¡­?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Which Guild rules, here?¡± ¡°Well, not ¡®rules.¡¯ They-¡± ¡°Master Rane.¡± She cut across him. Something in her tone seemed to catch his attention, because he sat up straight, looking her way. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure, but I think it is the Constructionists. I¡¯d have to consult the Archive.¡± He grinned, attempting to inject humor. ¡°Or I suppose we could just ask the attendant.¡± Tala swallowed involuntarily. Well, that makes sense, if he owns the tree already¡­ ¡°Why do you ask?¡± She didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure what to say.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± He was fully facing her, now, clearly a bit concerned by how she was acting. ¡°I think I realized something that might be a secret¡­¡± He nodded, quirking his lips to the side in thought. ¡°If you can share, I¡¯m happy to hear but don¡¯t break a promise, or put anyone in danger, to tell me.¡± Tala blinked at him. That¡¯s¡­kind. After a moment¡¯s thought, she nodded. ¡°Did you notice anything odd about the power signature in the Magic surrounding Makinaven?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Just that it was claimed, but that¡¯s standard for a city. If anyone could just grab onto a city¡¯s power, all sorts of chaos could come about¡­¡± He frowned again. ¡°Your magesight is more sensitive than mine. What did you notice?¡± ¡°I think I recognize the signature of a Mage¡¯s aura threading through the power.¡± She let that hang out there. I can tell him more, depending on how he reacts. After a considerable pause, Rane shook his head. ¡°Mistress Tala. You think you¡¯ve seen a Mage¡¯s power, influencing the power around all of Makinaven?¡± ¡°No, Master Rane. I¡¯ve recognized the signature of the aura which is the power around and throughout Makinaven.¡± He leaned forward. ¡°Really? Who?¡± A familiar voice came to her ear before she could respond. ¡°Mistress Tala. We will speak of this, tomorrow. I would appreciate your silence on the issue, until then.¡± Silence rang through the room as Tala¡¯s entire body broke out in a cold sweat. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± Rane was standing and walking towards her. ¡°Mistress Tala, are you ok?¡± From his actions, he seemed to have not heard Master Jevin¡¯s request. ¡°Yeah. Yeah. I¡­ I might be mistaken, so¡­ can we talk about it tomorrow?¡± Rane was kneeling beside her, concern clear in his expression. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think that would be best. Ask me again, tomorrow night?¡± That seemed to help him relax a little bit. ¡°Alright. If you¡¯re sure.¡± ¡°I am.¡± He smiled and stood, holding out a hand. ¡°Want help up?¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s spar. I need to clear my head.¡± Chapter: 137 - Humanity Tala let her mind expand, her focus broaden, and her body react on instinct. She forcibly pushed all thoughts of the tree¡¯s god-king from her mind. Not helpful¡­ Flow¡¯s hilt was at once perfectly smooth and easy to grip securely. It was cool, helping keep her hand from sweating, while not sucking the heat from her hand. In short, it was perfect for her, contouring to her palm and fingers beyond the ability of any craftsman to replicate. As she¡¯d used the weapon more and more, Tala had noticed that as her grip shifted, gaining better form for sword work, the hilt had seamlessly shifted, maintaining perfect shape for how she was holding it, in that moment. The grain of the wood beneath her feet was tight and smooth, polished to an almost mirror finish, yet somehow still allowing for firm purchase. Her stance was relaxed, her muscles loose and ready to react at a moment¡¯s notice. Rane lunged, driving Force towards her heart in a powerful thrust. A flick of Flow knocked the point aside without conscious thought on Tala¡¯s part. She slid down the length of his blade, sending out ripples of power as the magic of the two swords conflicted. She leapt forward with a quick step, maintaining the bind of their blades, the contact letting her know where his weapon was without having to see it, directly. Even as she closed and lashed out with a back-fist, leaving Flow in her off hand, Rane spun around the strike, bringing his sword in an almost impossibly tight twist, cutting towards her back. The next moments were a blur of attack and counter, rolling one upon another. Force and Flow clashed in a staccato series of magical concussions that resonated in Tala¡¯s very bones. It was a pleasant thrum that pulled a smile from her lips. As the exchange continued, it became clear that Rane was more tentative than he had been in their previous fights. This allowed Tala to stand on an almost even footing with the big man. Tala moved Flow through its three shapes with almost no effort, each blow seeming to reverberate through Force and into Rane¡¯s hands and arms. Force was soul-bound to Rane, now, but Flow had a greater magical weight to it. Its bond to Tala was more deeply ingrained in the weapon than Force¡¯s was with Rane. Each merging Flow had gone through had bound it tighter with her. Those features both gave Flow¡¯s strikes extra oomph. She didn¡¯t resort to any tricks, not for this first bout, instead relying on her skill, such as it was, along with her enhancements. Rane wielded his massive blade with the dexterity of a calligrapher using their favorite brush and fine ink. Even so, despite his skill and competence, Tala was becoming able to see more and more openings. Though, she was unable to take full advantage of any. However, she was able to alter her engagement in order to press him more closely around those openings. As was usual for them, Rane¡¯s base skill slowly tipped the balance of the exchange, forcing her to extend herself ever more, until at long last, she couldn¡¯t recover quickly enough to stop his riposte. She did have an instant to react, however, and she used it to great effect. Force caught her ribs, lifting her free of the ground and tossing her into the nearest wall. She groaned as she slid to the floor. Rane grinned over at her. ¡°You had me there for a minute.¡± She sighed. ¡°You just had a moment of doubt in your abilities.¡± He cocked his head. ¡°So, why not capitalize on that? You have a deep bag of tricks. You didn¡¯t use any.¡± She kicked back up to her feet. ¡°Crushing your confidence wouldn¡¯t do anything good in the long run. I need my sparring partner in top form if I am to improve.¡± He gave her a long, contemplative look. Finally, he nodded. ¡°Alright, then.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Wait¡­where¡¯s Flow?¡± Tala grinned, pulling Flow from the floor at Rane¡¯s back. As Rane¡¯s inscriptions activated, throwing him into a forward flip to avoid the sword coming at his back, Tala stepped forward, reaching for his head. As his head whipped towards her, she pulled her hand back, so that she was moving away from him, while he caught up with her palm. Rane¡¯s scripts threw him forward regardless, slamming his forehead into her retreating palm. The impact reversed the direction of his movement, even though she moved with him, to soften the blow. Once she had contact, she was able to twist around, taking him to the ground and pressing Flow, now in the shape of a knife, against his throat. He groaned. ¡°Ow.¡± ¡°You ok?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­Thank you for the soft landing.¡± She grinned down at him. ¡°Happy to assist.¡± She stepped back, offering him a hand up. He took it, standing and stretching. ¡°Again?¡± She considered. Still feeling the tingles of existential dread, she nodded. ¡°Again.¡± * * * Tala had fully calmed and cleared her head after a few more bouts. After she thanked him for the training, Rane bid her goodnight and headed back to his inn. Alone, she was able to dive back into her fusing with a renewed gusto. She was going to be facing a god the next day, and she wanted as much strength as she could muster. Yes, I need as many snowflakes as possible before I visit the forge. Who knows? I might just cool it off. She did not let her focus fracture. When she absolutely had to take a break, her magesight aching from straining inward, she switched to practice with the iron spheres. Since she couldn¡¯t easily turn off her magesight, only suppress it, Tala decided that forcefully turning it outward would help. Blessedly, it did seem to. As she worked on her mental construct for marking her target, the paintbrush she imagined shrunk, as did the amount of magic she left on the target, allowing her to progress to the next balls up through the difficulties. She marked and released the targets dozens of times per break. As soon as she felt able, she would move back inside herself and crochet another step towards fusing. At most, she could do two stitches between periods of respite. It was exhausting, deeply taxing work. Ironically, the crocheting became a mental break as much as anything. Maybe, this is why some people stitch as a hobby. Finally, hours after midnight, she found herself in need of a break from her internal magesight, but mentally not up for painting targets with her power. She¡¯d been struggling to form the image of a paintbrush delicate enough to pierce the mesh of this second to last ball for the past few breaks. Why can¡¯t it just be marked? I have a near perfect mental picture of the rusting target. She pictured the infuriating wooden ball in all its inglorious roundness. The wooden ball within the iron-mesh ball took on a slight glow to her magesight. Tala blinked, glancing down at her left hand where her middle finger and thumb were pressed together. But¡­I didn¡¯t reach out to mark it¡­ It was true, there was no ¡®mark¡¯ of her magic on the small ball, the ball was simply targeted, no mark required. I didn¡¯t grab it. I couldn¡¯t have, the mesh is too fine. She picked up the iron ball with her right hand, the mesh so fine it could have served as bug-netting. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. And now, it¡¯s just targeted. She thought through the process. I indicate my target by pointing, grabbing it with magic, or marking it with a mental paintbrush. Then what? Then, I have to have an understanding of what I¡¯m targeting. I connect that understanding to what I¡¯ve indicated, and the target is locked on. Why? Why¡­what? Why did she have to mark the target, or grab it, or indicate it, to target it? If I don¡¯t, how will the target lock? She cocked her head to the side. No. I have an understanding of what I¡¯m targeting. Why would I need anything else? The click of a mentality change rushed through her mind, shifting her understanding yet again. Blessedly, her mental ruts were not nearly as set as they had been surrounding other recent revelations, so she was only left with a mildly splitting headache. ¡°Ow¡­¡± She glared around at the empty training room, Terry sleeping in his corner. ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯ll sleep.¡± As she moved over to where she wanted to open Kit for the night, she hesitated. A small smile tugged at her lips. Might as well test. She pulled out the last ball, a complete, hollow sphere of iron. She swirled the ball, feeling the wood move around inside. A wooden sphere, the same as all the others. ¡°Mine.¡± She felt her lock take hold, even though she couldn¡¯t see it, even with her magesight, and no evidence of the power leaked out. She laughed, spinning in a circle. ¡°I did it. I did it! I DID IT!¡± She laughed again. Terry lifted his head for a moment, gave a half-hearted congratulatory trill and laid back down. Tala continued to laugh. A wide grin painted her face until a thought intruded into her mind like a shard of ice. Her smile fell away, and her eyes widened, color draining from her face. ¡°Oh¡­oh rust me to slag. My iron salve would be useless against someone who could do this.¡± * * * Tala¡­did not sleep well that night. Not even during the last part of the night she actually tried to sleep through. When Mistress Odera arrived for breakfast Tala was wide awake and waiting. The older woman commented several times that Tala was unusually quiet, but the observations never inspired a change, and they parted ways having barely said a few dozen sentences between them. Tala spent the remainder of her time, before her appointment with Master Jevin, fusing as much as she could. Three hours after noon arrived, and Tala walked into the Constructionist¡¯s Guild entry, coming face to face with Grent. ¡°Mistress Tala!¡± He smiled, holding his arms wide. Tala just stared at him for a long moment. He was one of the farthest things from her mind, at the moment, and so she had no ready reaction to his sudden presence. His smile faltered slightly. She pulled herself together. She did not want another awkward interaction with this man. She took a deep breath, put on a polite smile, and bowed her head. ¡°Master Grent, good day to you.¡± His smile faded, and he gave a slight, professional bow. ¡°Good day. To what do we owe the pleasure?¡± ¡°I have an appointment with Master Jevin.¡± Right¡­ the god-creature that¡¯s probably watching me right now. Master Jevin¡¯s voice filled the entry room, a comfortable volume for them both. ¡°Yes. Welcome, Mistress Tala. Please head on back.¡± Her eye twitched, but she was mostly grateful to have an easy excuse to leave Grent behind. Oh, thank the rusting slag. ¡°I have to go. Bye!¡± She waved to Grent as she moved past. Terry watched Grent as she passed but settled back down after he was out of sight. Tala quick-walked down the hallways, refusing to let herself think on what she was walking into. I¡¯m already in the tree, and if he wished me harm, I couldn¡¯t escape before he enacted it upon me. Neither those thoughts, nor ¡°not thinking about it¡± really helped. Thankfully, she only needed occasional correction by Master Jevin¡¯s disembodied voice. Directing me to the slaughter¡­ A short minute later, she came into his office, and her mind forcibly returned to all the reasons she¡¯d been nervous. He controls the whole rusting tree. Despite the nerves, however, she found it incredibly difficult to really integrate that understanding. Where I stand, he could snuff my life with a thought. That should evoke terror. Maybe, I¡¯ve just gone numb? Master Jevin was sitting in one of his reading chairs, waiting for her. ¡°How about you have a seat, Mistress. We¡¯ve a lot to talk about.¡± Tala stopped. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just move me to the chair?¡± Really? Poking the bear? A smile almost seemed to tug at his lips. ¡°I could. So could Master Bob, but he¡¯d have a harder time of it.¡± She grimaced. ¡°That¡¯s¡­fair.¡± After a long pause, Master Jevin sighed. ¡°So¡­?¡± He gestured to the chair opposite him. Tala noticed that a small tea service had been set out, including a selection of scones. She begrudgingly moved forward and sat. ¡°Let us address the Leshkin in the room, shall we?¡± Odd turn of phrase, but alright. She grunted her assent, snatching a scone to eat as she poured herself some tea. Master Jevin gave a half smile. ¡°You have stumbled upon some rather¡­difficult information.¡± She grunted again. ¡°Do you have any idea how many people, within Makinaven, know even the small part that you¡¯ve deduced?¡± Swallowing, Tala shook her head. ¡°Not many?¡± ¡°You are the only one.¡± She frowned. ¡°I find that hard to believe.¡± He held up two fingers. ¡°First, your magesight is incredibly powerful and detail oriented. I doubt you have a true grasp on how rare a gift that is. There are maybe a small handful of Archons, living, who could perceive more than you.¡± He grinned. ¡°There are many who understand more from what they see than you do, but that¡¯s a separate issue.¡± He dropped one of his fingers. ¡°Second, now that you know, what do you want to do?¡± ¡°Get as far from here as possible.¡± The response came out before she could consider how it might be received. His smile never wavered. ¡°Precisely.¡± He dropped the second finger. Oh. Yeah, that checks out. If basically anyone who figures it out leaves the city, there wouldn¡¯t be any here, besides me. He nodded, taking a sip from his own cup before continuing. ¡°I see you understand.¡± She made a vague noise of assent. ¡°So. That part addressed, let¡¯s get to the meat of the issue.¡± ¡°You are the god of this city.¡± He snorted. ¡°Not inaccurate, but not what I¡¯d pick as a descriptor.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t desire, seek, nor tolerate any sort of worship or veneration.¡± ¡°But the power level?¡± ¡°Near so, yeah.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡± ¡°It means that I wouldn¡¯t want to test myself against the Forest Spirit, or any of the others, not even here.¡± That¡¯s probably quite wise. ¡°But effectively, yes: My authority, here, is without dispute.¡± ¡°How? Why?¡± His smile turned a bit sad. ¡°Well, there used to be a trend, millennia back, to form your Archon star out of a medium taken from a powerful thing of magic. I chose a simple wooden sphere.¡± No. ¡°Wood, taken from this very tree.¡± His sad smile became lopsided. ¡°It worked, beautifully. Little did I realize at the time that these great trees never really relinquish their hold on any part of their being. Even bits that fall, or are cut off, are effectively still a part of the whole.¡± ¡°So, you soul-bound the tree.¡± ¡°So, I soul-bound the tree, before I was ever an Archon.¡± Tala sat back, slowly eating her scone and drinking her tea. ¡°I was irrevocably changed. The tree was immensely powerful, beyond the ability of any human to control or rule over, but it had no will of its own. So, the power was mine. The only possible result was that I was reshaped.¡± The sadness came back in full force. ¡°The tree had¡­knowledge isn¡¯t the right word, but it¡¯s close enough. The tree knew of beings that could bear up under its power.¡± ¡°Leshkin.¡± And the turn of phrase makes sense¡­ He shrugged. ¡°Mezzannis, but close enough.¡± ¡°So¡­ you aren¡¯t even human?¡± Master Jevin¡¯s eyes hardened, a deep rage seeming to rise within him. ¡°What makes a man?¡± Tala frowned, taking a delaying sip of her drink. Wisdom dictates I do not answer that. When she didn¡¯t respond, he continued. ¡°Is it his body? How much do you need to cut away before he is no longer ¡®he¡¯?¡± She had no response. ¡°Is it his mind? How many memories or neurochemicals, how much dura-matter needs to be altered before the person is fundamentally changed? Before a person¡¯s base nature is gone?¡± Tala swallowed, setting her tea aside, but unable to formulate an answer. ¡°No, Mistress. What makes a man, what makes a human is the soul, and no accident of magic will take that from me.¡± The room thrummed with power. She felt a light dizziness that passed as she asserted her own will, locking herself away from his unconscious flexing of Magic. Even so, her eyes flicked to his chest, her magesight immediately confirming what she knew would be there: his gate. Human, at least at the level of his soul. ¡°From that day, I have worked towards Reforging myself.¡± He tsked. ¡°Refining actually made the problem worse. Refining makes your body more purely what it is.¡± His barely subdued rage at that was palpable. I don¡¯t really understand that, but now doesn¡¯t seem the time to ask. ¡°That must have been¡­difficult.¡± He snorted derisively. ¡°Difficult? Extremely. Our inscriptions are based on being placed in human flesh.¡± With a gesture, he indicated the most wooden-seeming portions of his face. ¡°Even mild deviations can ruin everything.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°How, then?¡± ¡°I am bound to the tree. I did not age. I had time in abundance.¡± ¡°But your inscriptions now¡­¡± ¡°Are human? Yes. That was the first aspect I reforged. Magically speaking, as a medium, my flesh is considered human.¡± There was obvious pride in that. ¡°So, then, you¡¯re close?¡± ¡°Closer than I¡¯ve ever been.¡± After a short pause, he amended. ¡°At least since my youth.¡± There was a deep weariness behind those words, that Tala couldn¡¯t begin to fathom. She found herself frowning as she leaned back, letting the silence of his remembrance build and fill the space between them. Continue the Story [Book 5 - Fusing] The world reclaims all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons give their lives to create the only path forward. Tala, having witnessed the marvels of the forest cities and the perils lurking in the southern woods, prepares to embark on a treacherous journey back to the plains from Makinaven. Guided by the unwavering support of Terry, Rane, and the enigmatic Mistress Odera, she is honing her skills and preparing for the trials that lie ahead. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Ancient defenders of mankind emerge, while hidden perils lurk in the shadows, threatening to unravel everything she thinks she knows about the world. Amidst newfound allies, intriguing contracts, and relentless challenges, Tala strives to embrace her chosen place among the defenders of mankind. Tala continues her Fusing, delving deeper into the inner workings of magic and the soul. Chapter: 173 - Tight Spaces Tala walked out of the Constructionist Guildhall and into the late morning, winter air. She took a deep breath and let it out, a smile blossoming across her face. ¡°Well, I might as well go to the Culinary Guild.¡± She glanced to Terry. ¡°Thoughts?¡± He cracked an eye, then opened his mouth. Tala grinned and tossed him some jerky. ¡°Fair enough. You just want this done with, so you can join in the training.¡± He let out a happy, quiet trill around the jerked meat. That settled, she went to the only Culinary Guild office she was aware of, the one that she¡¯d picked up the most recent batch of jerky from. Her arrival caused a mild panic. As Tala walked in, the assistant stood up from behind his desk to greet her, but his words froze in his open mouth as his teeth clicked together in surprise. First, he seemed to take in that she was a Mage. Then, his eyes flicked to Terry, but didn¡¯t stay long. A small, sleeping bird wasn¡¯t that much of a threat. At that point, his gaze clearly dropped to her left hand. While Tala had been doing a fairly good job of keeping the newly painted hand, and the glowing spell-forms, out of sight for the most part, at the moment, the painted appendage was just hanging by her side, clearly glowing with seemingly active magic. Well, I didn¡¯t think of that as that big of an issue. The assistant¡¯s eyes widened to an almost comical degree, and he opened his mouth to scream. Tala raised both her hands in what she thought of as a placating motion, but he didn¡¯t seem to take it that way. He tried to scream in abject terror, if his expression gave any indication, but no noise seemed to come out. Rather than realizing that his heightened emotions were affecting him, he likely assumed that the raising of her hands had silenced him, somehow. Thus, he fainted, collapsing to the floor in a crumpled heap, out of sight behind his desk. ¡°Well, that could have gone better.¡± She moved her left hand behind her back, pulled her iron, Order of the Harvest token into her right, and then, she raised her voice. ¡°Hello? Can I get some help out here, please?¡± She considered going over to help the man but realized that that could easily compound misunderstandings. Another young man came out and took in her arrival. ¡°Mistress? Is everything alright?¡± He looked around more carefully but couldn¡¯t see behind the desk. ¡°Derrn is supposed to be at the desk. My apologies for the wait. What can I do for you?¡± She tossed the token to him. ¡°I¡¯d like to speak with the branch manager, if at all possible.¡± He caught the iron coin, and his eyes widened. He looked back and forth between her and the coin before swallowing and nodding. ¡°Certainly, Mistress. I will be right back.¡± Tala waited for a while, growing a bit more concerned as time went by and Derrn didn¡¯t wake up. When the other man returned with a woman who was, presumably, the head of the local branch, Tala decided that she needed to do something about the unconscious fellow. Before either of them could speak, Tala pointed at the desk. ¡°I think there is someone back there, but I didn¡¯t want to startle them.¡± The other young man walked over to investigate and exclaimed in alarm, rushing around the desk and lifting his friend. ¡°I¡¯ll get him to the back room to lie down. If he needs it, I¡¯ll get a healer.¡± The guild-head nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± She watched the two leave, clearly concerned, but schooled herself before turning to Tala and bowing. ¡°Mistress Tala. I apologize for the irregularity. I was told to expect you at some point.¡± ¡°I quite understand, and I hope that he is alright.¡± The woman bowed her head in acknowledgement but didn¡¯t say anything further. ¡°Are you aware of why I might be here?¡± ¡°Well, you could be here to kill us all, but I think that unlikely.¡± She frowned, glancing Tala over, head to toe, and seemingly noticing that she had her left hand behind her back, even if just slightly. Even so, the woman didn¡¯t make an issue of it. ¡°I believe it is more likely that you tested out your theory and wish to report the results.¡± ¡°I did. Do you wish to talk more privately?¡± The woman waved that off. ¡°Here is fine. I¡¯m Valry, if it matters. These things seem much above my level, so I doubt it will.¡± Tala immediately felt sympathy for the woman. She¡¯s been thrust into this mess because I happened to choose this Culinary Guild location. ¡°I¡¯ll be brief. There is no injunction against research into the consumption of harvests. If you were to go inquire with the Archive, you would be welcomed, and dealt with fairly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not walking into a Mage stronghold on your word, Mistress.¡± This city is a Mage stronghold, you idiot. But she didn¡¯t say that. ¡°Then, would you consent to my sending an Archivist here to talk with you?¡± The woman looked incredibly uncomfortable, but after a moment, she stood up straighter, swallowed visibly, and nodded. ¡°Yes. I will meet with an Archivist.¡± ¡°Do you want me here for the meeting?¡± Valry laughed ruefully. ¡°Oh, I think one Mage at a time in my facility is quite enough. Thank you for the offer, though.¡± Tala scratched the side of her face. ¡°Well, when Derrn wakes up, he might be under the impression that I used magic on him. I didn¡¯t, but I think I gave him a good scare.¡± Valry stiffened. ¡°Oh? How so?¡± ¡°Well, with this.¡± She hesitated, then added, ¡°This is not active with outwardly directed magics.¡± She pulled her left hand out from behind her back. Valry¡¯s eyes widened a bit, but she contained herself. ¡°I see. Thank you for forewarning me. I can see why that might have startled him.¡± ¡°I do apologize for that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pass that along.¡± She swallowed again. ¡°Now, is there anything else, Mistress?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ll leave you to your day. I¡¯ll go talk with the Archivist shortly, and I believe that she¡¯ll come by when she¡¯s able.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Without another word, Tala turned and left. Well, that could have gone better, but it definitely could have gone worse, too. She needed to drop through the library, now, but she was closer to the blacksmith. Probably hasn¡¯t been long enough. I¡¯ll come by later to pick up my order. So, off to the library she went. She passed through the Archon compound with ease, entering the library to find Ingrit waiting for her, as was standard and expected. You can get used to anything, I suppose. ¡°What have you done to your hand, Mistress?¡± It was not an unexpected first question, all things considered. Tala lifted up her left hand. ¡°I found a more effective, passive training method?¡± Ingrit gave a half smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be interested to see how well it works. Now, as I assume you intend to use it on more than your hand, may I offer a bit of advice?¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°I suggest that you be ready to placate others whenever you enter any of the more defensive facilities, as the automated scripts won¡¯t like you very much. Most will have secondary triggers, which will alert a high-level Archon to scan you, and they will easily detect your gate, but automatic defensive measures won¡¯t necessarily be able to do that.¡± Tala scratched the back of her head. ¡°Noted.¡± She¡¯d have to balance that, and other inconveniences, against the benefits that she could already feel from the paint. ¡°So, shall we get a booth?¡± Ingrit smiled as she drew Tala¡¯s attention back to herself. Tala shrugged and followed the woman into the library proper. They were soon seated in a booth, behind a privacy screen, and Terry was munching on a large section of jerky. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Ingrit again broke the silence. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°I want to grant you full access to the Culinary Guild¡¯s records, temporarily.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Then, she hesitated, her eyes closing in an expression of almost exhausted realization. ¡°Mundane human consumption of harvests. Of course.¡± ¡°Do you need anything from me?¡± ¡°Just a request to look through those records. If you have access, I will be granted such for the term of our discussion.¡± ¡°Then, please, review the Culinary Guild¡¯s records.¡± Ingrit¡¯s eyes immediately began flicking back and forth as she clearly read something that Tala couldn¡¯t see. Tala, in turn, pulled out one of her books and began to pass the time productively. Finally, after what was at least an hour, the Archivist sat back, glowering. ¡°Well, that is quite illuminating. We¡¯ve certainly tied ourselves in knots to please the false king.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°What?¡± Ingrit waved her off. ¡°It¡¯s an old saying.¡± She blew out a long breath. ¡°This is a tangle. Your inquiry gave me full access to all records available to you, associated with the Culinary Guild, and there is a lot in here¡­ I can¡¯t take it to anyone, or do anything about it though¡­¡± Her eyebrows rose. She was clearly still going through records at an incredible rate, even as she talked, and one had caught her attention. ¡°They tried to kill you?¡± Terry lifted his head to look at Tala with sudden interest. Tala just shrugged. ¡°One of their members panicked and stabbed me. It didn¡¯t even break the skin.¡± Terry squawked an irritated exclamation and settled back down. Ingrit grunted. ¡°So the report states. Apparently, it is incredibly uncommon for a Mage to ask such pointed questions, and they¡¯ve not killed a Mage in living memory¡­That will make that side of things easier.¡± She let out a long sigh and shook her head once. ¡°How many things like this do we have hiding throughout humanity? How often are we tearing off our own toes out of fear of stubbing one of them?¡± Clearly, with the pursuit of knowledge being so key to who she was, Ingrit hated the complete segregation and isolation of knowledge, no matter how necessary. She turned, locking gazes with Tala with a ferocity that had the younger woman leaning back involuntarily. ¡°Can I meet with the branch heads, here? We need to clear this up. The sooner the better.¡± ¡°That-¡± Tala swallowed, settling herself after the intensity of the woman¡¯s attention. ¡°That was the plan, actually. Valry is expecting your visit. I can give you directions, if you like.¡± Ingrit¡¯s eyes flicked to the side once. ¡°No need. I know which guild office she leads.¡± She leaned back, clucking her tongue and talking almost to herself. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything truly groundbreaking in their pursuits, but there is a lot of ancillary information that could help so many other guilds and research units. We could probably even arrange for the sale of such information by the Culinary guild, to increase their capital.¡± ¡°I think that such a meeting will be perfect. I honestly had no idea what to do about any of this, and it sounds like you do. Please, do as you see fit.¡± Ingrit arched a single perfect eyebrow at Tala. ¡°You handed a rope enthusiast a rat¡¯s nest that is a mile wide, and which has been being tangled and added to for centuries.¡± Tala gave a guilty smile. ¡°But hey! Think of all the rope you¡¯ll have in the end?¡± Ingrit let out a genuine laugh at that. ¡°True enough. Now, was there anything else?¡± ¡°No, Mistress Ingrit, thank you.¡± The Archivist stood, deactivating the privacy scripts. ¡°I will keep you apprised of the progress with the Culinary Guild.¡± After she was clear of the booth, she bowed deeply to Tala. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala, for trusting me with this information. I shudder to think of the number of small groups that exist, hoarding bits of knowledge that could benefit so many. I am sure their reasons vary, but whether they do it out of fear, greed, or ignorance, we are all worse for it. Thank you.¡± She bowed again. Tala was taken aback by the gesture, as well as the outpouring of words. ¡°I¡­you¡¯re welcome, Mistress Ingrit.¡± The woman smiled at Tala, turned, and left. Tala scratched Terry¡¯s head. ¡°Well. I guess we¡¯re done here.¡± * * * Tala dropped through the blacksmith and picked up her items, storing the three triangular contraptions first. The other item looked like nothing so much as a steel, three-fingered claw, perfectly sized for her spheres. Out of the back of the claw were two small steel bars, that clearly manipulated a simple mechanism. ¡°Pull the one with the slot.¡± The blacksmith seemed quite proud of his work. Tala did so, and she was able to lift the claw, while it kept a tight grip on the tungsten ball. ¡°Now, the other.¡± Tala grabbed the other, this one had a simple hole in it, and the claw opened, allowing the sphere to fall free. She let out a happy laugh. ¡°Oh, thank you, master Aniv.¡± Master Aniv waved her off. ¡°None of that, Mistress. I just made it to your specifications.¡± He hesitated. ¡°Can I see what you¡¯re going to use it for?¡± Tala paused. ¡°Maybe? I don¡¯t know of anywhere I can safely test it, now that I think about it.¡± He sighed. ¡°Very well. If you do find a place, let me know what you use it for, and how it works, will you?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Tala paid the man, and he added a simple rope to the secondary tab, so that she could pull that to allow the claw to open. ¡°Take care, master Aniv.¡± ¡°And you, Mistress Tala. Be sure to come back if you need anything else.¡± ¡°Oh, I will, don¡¯t you worry.¡± * * * Tala stood within Kit, an old knife around a hundred feet from her, as she stood just inside the entrance into Kit, the door closed behind her. She had set up the knife so that the handle could be the target of her working. On the ground before her, a gravity neutral tungsten ball sat in the claw, and in the slot in the primary tab rested one of her dimensional anchor darts, locked in place by a clever little catch. As she concentrated, dumping power into the pull of the sphere towards the knife handle, the claw began to slide across the ground, pulled away from her by the ball. As the dart reached ten feet from her, or more specifically from the dimensional anchor at her belt, it stopped moving away, as the dimensional anchor began to work. Another minute passed, and the ball and claw slowly lifted into the air, seeming to float as they tried to fall towards the knife handle at the far end of the long hallway. The slowly building whistle of wind currents began to permeate the space as the air tried to fill in the expanding space and leave the contracting space in equal measure. In these tight confines, that stirred up quite the gale. Unfortunately, with Kit¡¯s limited space, the best she had been able to manage was a one-hundred-foot-long hallway that was three feet wide and six feet high. The remainder of Kit¡¯s space was taken up by all her physical possessions, though how Kit made them fit, Tala had no idea. As the increase continued to ramp up the acceleration, the air also started to heat up considerably, shortly before the tungsten ball and front of the claws began to glow bright red from wind whipping across them. Good enough. Tala grabbed the thin rope that she¡¯d tied to her belt and which led to the other tab on the claw, and pulled. The claw moved back, opening and dropping to the ground with a ringing, bouncing series of impacts. In those impacts, Tala thought she heard the subtle sound of bending metal, but she was otherwise distracted. The instant it was freed, the sphere plummeted across the intervening space, crossing the ninety feet to the target faster than Tala could track. The sphere must have slammed through its target and continued on to the back wall, because it struck with an impact that seemed to shatter the very air within Kit. Tala was thrown backwards, blasted out of the door at the end of the hallway and into darkness. * * * -Ding- -Unbelievable. How often must you lose consciousness?- Tala groaned, sitting up. -Loss of consciousness detected due to full-body exposure to a pressure wave and the following impact with the magically reinforced gate of a dimensional portal. Discrete regenerative systems activated to their fullest capacity to restore consciousness and mobility.- ¡°I thought you were unavailable.¡± -Well, apparently you losing consciousness overrides anything else and brings me back to perform my most basic function. Please stop interrupting. I¡¯m just getting to the good part.- ¡°Really?¡± -Stop talking out loud to yourself, it makes you look crazy. Reinitiating mental delve per last recognized command. All other functions will be offline for the duration.- Tala sighed, blinking to clear her vision and looking around. A cloud of dust surrounded her, seeming to be billowing out of the wall nearby, even as it was settling down. In addition to her slight disorientation due to losing and regaining consciousness, she felt the aftereffects of a lot of her bones being rebuilt. Several of her organs seem to have been ruptured as well, though they were back in order when she checked on them. Well, that¡¯s a successful test, and a successful proof that I shouldn¡¯t do such tests in enclosed environments. She really did need to make Kit bigger. She staggered to her feet and over to the archway, which was all that was left of the doorway into Kit. She placed her hand on the doorframe and dumped power in. Kit was near empty, likely due to internal damage. Well, I now know what it takes to break through Kit¡¯s door. It seemed like she¡¯d been thrown against the door with just barely more force than was required to break through it, as she¡¯d woken up in the middle of the alley, and the wall that had been across from Kit¡¯s opening was undamaged. As she considered, though, that wasn¡¯t a good measure of how much it would take to break in. A blow from the inside, pressure from the inside, was far more destructive than the same force from the outside. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kit. I didn¡¯t mean to cause any damage, let alone this much.¡± Kit did not respond, but it did continue to greedily drink in the power that she provided. Tala noticed that all the dusty air had been pushed out through the arch, leaving the air within Kit clean and clear. ¡°Good to know.¡± As she recharged the storage device, a few small items clattered seemingly out of nowhere, through the archway. Tala quickly identified the items as the remains of the sphere, knife, and claw. The sphere was little more than twisted splinters of tungsten, still glowing with heat. The knife was handle-less, the blade kinked and distorted, likely from bouncing around inside of Kit after it was struck. The claw was bent and twisted, but not shattered. Oh, right. It was picking up the same speed, and then dropped to the ground. It effectively skipped across the floor within Kit, while already hot. That¡¯s what bent it. Tala was left feeling incredibly grateful that she hadn¡¯t tested the idea anywhere in the city. The cost to repair the damages would have been exorbitant. Even now, she was standing in an alley, and getting strange looks as the dust settled enough for people to see her from the streets to either side. With nothing else that she could do, she pulled Kit free of the wall, hanging it back on her belt as a pouch, and left out the less trafficked side of the little space between buildings. Note to self: This works and is incredibly effective. However, it is not for use in tight spaces. Continue the Story [Book 6 - Fused] The world reclaims all things. Humanity thrives within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons devote their lives to create the only path forward. Tala is finally able to test the edges of her ever growing capacities among a group of peers. Hungry for ascension, she pushes boundaries she once deemed unbreakable, and already Tala has set her sights on advancing further in her power and skills. Yet even as her abilities continue to grow, her first lessons from so long ago still ring true: Magic is expensive. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Continuing to Fuse requires a cost that she will struggle to pay. In order to advance, Tala will need to come to terms with every part of herself: where she is, where she''s going, and where she came from. Her path will guide her back to those who started her on her journey, and success or failure will depend upon how she confronts her origins. If she ever wishes to become fully Fused, she must find a way to pay the heavy price her magic demands. Chapter: 202 - Blood Tali woke up early, before the false sun had brightened to announce the coming of a new day. With a thought and a flick of her magic, her nightwear retracted into a band around her neck, beneath her saorsa-collar. With a simple aspect-mirror, she pulled the magical effects of her clothing that allowed it to be self-cleaning onto herself. She did a few little hops, and circular movements of her appendages, before bending forwards and shaking out her hair. She pulled her comb from her side table and ran it through her hair, only needing one stroke per section of hair to detangle it and get the last vestiges of unwanted things from among the strands. She then braided it starting near her left temple, going across the back of her head, and ending at the base of her neck on the right side, so that the braid would hang over her right shoulder. This was a familiar routine, so there wasn¡¯t very much dust or grime to rid herself of. Still, she felt cleaned and refreshed after the short ablutions. Tali flicked out her magic once more into the band around her neck, not the collar, and it grew into her standard outfit: a set of blood-red leathers, molded to her form, but by no means tight or restrictive. They were more modest than those that some other Eskau wore. You¡¯re not one, yet, Tali. Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself. For some reason, she paused, as if awaiting a response, but one never came. Of course not, fool. You¡¯re not speaking. She shook her head. It was one of the unfortunate artifacts of her accident that still lingered, even so many months later. Her cleansing and dressing done, she took a moment to look over her surroundings. She was in a plain room, just as she liked it. Quick motions left her bed neatly made, and ready for her to return that night. The bed was firm with a simple blanket atop the straw mattress. The House¡¯s holding didn¡¯t ever get truly cold, so more wasn¡¯t really needed. Not that I would need more blankets, even if it did. She pulled her dimensional pouch, her bloodstar rack, and protian weapon from her bedside table and put them on her belt. The weapon and pouch hung to counterbalance each other and her bloodstars went across her low back. Getting ahead of yourself again, Tali. It¡¯s not a protian weapon, and Master¡¯s choice ensured it never would be. Even so, she hung the morphic weapon from her belt. It could change shape as all protian weapons could, but true representatives of those glorious creations could take the form of any melee weapon, as well as near infinite variations there-in, hers could only assume the shape of three. Protian weapons were also all vestiges, each containing and powered by a human soul to ensure that the Eskau that wielded them were never without magic to bring about the will of their Masters. But, instead of crafting me into such a weapon, and finding a warrior to wield me, Master broke tradition, and chose me as both weapon and wielder. He had lifted her from one sacred duty to another, one beyond even the dreams of her kind. And then she¡¯d been injured. Courage, Tali. A simple blow to the head had scrambled her mind, fractured her memories, and set her training back significantly, when the Master¡¯s trial was so close. The healing hadn¡¯t even been complicated, but the warrens of the mind were labyrinthine, and the healers, and even Master himself, had not been able to restore her fully. She shook herself, leaving her windowless room behind. She had no need to lock the door. Even if she kept anything in the room itself, no one would violate another¡¯s space within the House¡¯s hold. Even her Master¡¯s greatest opponents within the House wouldn¡¯t break that taboo. Even if I am a human. Even if my very existence violates tradition and my every footfall in this place pushes up against propriety. She turned her thoughts back to her training as she took the short walk through the water gardens to get to her training platform. There, among the life and beauty of the garden and surrounded by water, was a stone circle that was twenty feet across. Tali had to cross a bridge to reach the stone, one of several that connected around the circumference. Several trees grew up from the water between the bridges to offer some shade to the space, regardless of how the false sun was used to bathe the hold with light. She was just grateful that her magics allowed her to see well-enough to navigate in the dark of simulated night. In the cool of the early morning, as the sky began to brighten, Tali moved through her stretches, then strengthening exercises, and then onto her morphic weapon techniques. She both hated and loved going through the forms. She loved them, because she should have been forbidden from learning them. They were a treasured set of sacred techniques designed specifically for use with morphic weapons. The Way of Flowing Blood was restricted to the Pillars of the House, their Eskau, and those who were to be tested for one of those positions. Even being able to see them would have been an honor, and she had been granted the honor of learning them, herself. She hated the forms for two reasons. First, she did not have a true protian weapon, thus the techniques had needed to be modified for her to use them with her own morphic weapon. What she had learned was a broken, cobbled-together imitation of the true beauty laying forever outside her reach. Second, ever since her accident, the movements had felt unfamiliar, like she was trying to control someone else¡¯s body. Only now, nearly six months after the blow to her head, was she finally back to a state of feeling in control as she moved through the liquid stances, blocks, and strikes. The Way of Flowing Blood was a thing of near-sovereign mastery, requiring movements that no unenhanced being could possibly hope to use effectively, just as it utilized the morphic weapon in a way that no mundane weapon could ever stand in for. Though, in her case the weapon was more limited than ideal. Still, she did have one advantage that no other Eskau had ever held. As her body settled into the rhythm of the techniques, her bloodstars rose from her belt, moving in complement with her physical form. I may not have a protian weapon, but I am not lesser. Aside from the single drop which she used to give herself the equivalent of eyes in the back of her head, the remainder of her thirteen bloodstars were embedded in groups of three within three round discs of an unknown material, as well as a single within a sphere and two within a rod of tungsten. Master had provided the housings when he¡¯d come that fateful day. He¡¯d provided so much then and even more since. She let her mind wander as she used the combat techniques as a form of meditation. She had been ready to become a fount, bound within her soul-bound weapon in more ways than one. She would have become the power source within a protian weapon, a thing of legend, which would have defended the Master and added to the glory of the House for millennia. She could not have conceived of a greater honor. Her imagination had been lacking. He had not only offered to raise her to Bound, and then to Fused, but he had asked if she wished to be trained up to be his Eskau, his enforcer, the hand that brought about his will both within and outside of the house. She had wept with joy. No human had ever even been given the chance to become such. It had been more than that, though. A Pillar of the House was only raised to that position, if their chosen Eskau was proven worthy. The potential Pillar''s greatest test was whom they put forward, both in the quality of the protian weapon, and the skill of the Eskau who wielded it. He had chosen her for both. She would not let him down. She had dedicated her every waking moment to rising to equal his faith in her. But then, the accident. She winced internally, but held perfect form, not pausing in her fluid movements. Her discs, the rod, and ball, all moved around her in perfect harmony with her body, protecting the largest holes in her defenses, which would otherwise be exposed by each technique. As she reached the end of the final form, her body singing with the pleasure of the kinesthetics of the movements, she heard light clapping. In horror, she felt the color drain from her face. She could see him, now, obvious in her perspective through her bloodstar, floating near the base of her skull. She spun, dropping into a kneeling bow. ¡°Master. My apologies for keeping you waiting.¡± ¡°Your apology is acceptable.¡± His voice was wonderful, a joy to her ears. It reminded her, somehow, of the sound that the blood of their enemies would make as it flowed across a dry riverbed. ¡°You are kind, Master.¡± ¡°And you are wise to recognize that. Lift your head.¡± Tali did so. ¡°It is time for breakfast, and there is something we must discuss.¡± Her heart hammered within her chest, one thought dominating her mind. How will he let me serve him, today? The Master clapped his hands twice, and servants came forward, bearing heaping trays of food. Tali could easily see the power radiating from each dish, even if not each servant. Only one of the servants was human, and he was gateless, beneath notice. Still, he bore her pitcher of ending-berry juice, so she allowed him to approach and set it beside her. The other servants were a mix of Low races, called such for how difficult it was for them to draw in and maintain magical power. Even such as they were, they were still above the gateless human. She once would have taken time to identify each one, reveling in their uniqueness, but she was a long way from her upbringing. After all, she had been born with a gate, a gift from the sovereigns themselves. That had been her ticket away from her humble beginnings. It was her gate and the Master¡¯s benevolence that had brought her here. She hid a contemptuous smile, keeping her face appropriately neutral. These creatures were beneath her, in truth. Where they would struggle to draw in power, she created it. Where they would lose their magical density almost as soon as they left a region with high amounts of power, Tali could contain and increase her magical weight even in zones of absolutely no magic. Simply put, she was better than them. And the Master was higher still. As her eyes flicked to him, checking to ensure she didn¡¯t displease him with a gesture or glance, she marveled at the wells of power he so casually carried with him. He was easily capable of hiding any from prying eyes, but she could still see three vestiges, displayed for any with the eyes to see. A glove, on his left hand; an undershirt, beneath his tunic; and the light boots on his feet all radiated power. Tali¡¯s one regret about her elevation to potential Eskau was with the knowledge now, when her service was complete, she would never be able to become a source of power, within a vestige. My service will one day come to an end. She hated the very idea, even while she gloried in the opportunity she had to serve, now. When the food was laid out around her, the servants departed without a sound. Tali took a moment to take in the spread. The meats came from creatures of magic known for their physicality. The fruits and grains from plants that held magics complementary to her own. Everything laid out before her would make her better, more than she could be without the added might. Such were the continued blessings bestowed upon her by her Master. Without a word from her Master, Tali began to eat. He nodded approvingly; he had no patience for dallying. Besides, the food would lose power by the minute, if she delayed. ¡°Good, good. You are still recovering well. I am gratified to see that you have finally settled into the Way of Flowing Blood.¡± Truthfully, it had finally felt natural for nearly a week now, but it was of little consequence. So, she felt no need to correct him. Even so, it was a reminder of how far she¡¯d fallen before her recovery. She did her best not to wince and nodded her thanks. ¡°I am grateful for this, as a date for the next clash of candidates has been set.¡± Tali froze at that, swallowing and then taking a quick drink of ending-juice to clear her mouth. ¡°Master?¡± ¡°Tomorrow.¡± His true black skin bunching up as he sneered. ¡°They thought to unbalance us with last minute notice, but you will perform as I need you to.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± She went back to eating, all while keeping her attention fixed on him so as to not miss a word. ¡°The other potential pillars will be arriving today with their Eskau candidates. I think it best if you are not within the hold when they arrive. They should not try anything¡­unworthy of themselves, but I¡¯d rather not risk it. You will return this evening for the feast, and tomorrow, you will fight the five others. As you know, the dominant Eskau will earn their master a place as a Pillar of our House.¡± She knew that all too well. The candidates were allowed to use any method to gain mastery. Diplomacy, both beforehand and in the ring, were encouraged as a true Eskau needed such skills to be effective. In the past, such clashes had been solved by games of strategy, clashes of wit, or other games of skill, though that was rare, because it was a rare warrior who would trust their fate to anything but the blade. In truth, the losers didn¡¯t have to die. In fact, those who were beaten, or who surrendered, were often added to the followers of the victor. In that case, the master of the candidate was usually offered a position under the new House pillar. But that was not always the case, and the losers were always at the mercy of the victor, no matter how such a victor came to be so named. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Tali had no delusions of surrender and peaceful service being an option for her, or her Master. Not only was it her Master¡¯s wish that she claim utter victory at any cost, but her existence would not be tolerated if she failed. It would barely be tolerated even if she succeeded, but she could secure her Master a lauded position as a Pillar at the very least, regardless of how her own status was perceived. Tomorrow would be final victory or painful death. Finally. I can finally live up to my purpose. ¡°Now,¡± his voice pulled her back to the present moment, ¡°how is your head, today?¡± Tali did shrink in on herself at that question, even if just a bit. ¡°I am well. I¡¯ve not had any pain, nor has the monitoring script activated.¡± It was a great shame to her that Master had been forced to add scripts to monitor her consciousness after the accident. Even worse, they had been fundamentally integrated with her mental enhancements. They could never be removed. She would carry those marks of her failure, forever. Power did flow through the script, but it was in a dormant state. Master had explained that any lapse of consciousness, save falling asleep, would trigger it, and given her shaky health, that would likely mean that her service was at an end. She would do anything to prevent that script from activating. ¡°Good. Any odd memories, or lapses in your understanding?¡± ¡°No, Master. Does that mean you can remove your working?¡± There, nestled within her mind was a powerful spell-form, enacted by her Master rather than being an additional inscription set within her own flesh. It contained a massive amount of knowledge that she should have, but which was made suspect by the accident. Whenever she encountered a situation where her knowledge was lacking, that working would provide the information she needed to not embarrass her Master or the House. She hated it. Like so many things of late, it was a constant reminder of her failure, and she strove, daily, to fill in the gaps, which should never have been there. Master shook his head. ¡°No. It will remain. I built it to come apart when you have no more gaps to fill. Then, and only then, will I consider you fully recovered.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± She quietly resolved to increase her studies, to end the need as soon as possible. ¡°Finish up. We must reinscribe you, and then you will spend the day in the city.¡± She nodded and began to eat once more instead of replying verbally. In order to honor Master¡¯s time, Tali stopped breathing and simply ate as fast as she could stuff the food down. Her inscriptions would handle it from there, and they were about to be refreshed, so that wasn¡¯t an issue. In less than five minutes, she polished off the last of the feast. She returned her breathing to normal at that point. While she didn¡¯t require breath, it did use her inscriptions to go without, so she kept up the habit when reasonable. Without need of instruction, Tali stood, commanding her clothing to retract back into the band around her neck, below the saorsa-collar. Her pouch, bloodstar storage, and morphic weapon fell to the stone. She lifted her arms and held them straight out before she spread her feet so that they were shoulder width apart. With a flex of will and power, she deactivated the inherent protection within her garments. The magically created defense was such that it would protect her, regardless of how much, or how little, of her body the clothing covered. The final requirement for her to fulfill was to manage her magic. First, she pulled all of her power out of her scripts and stoppered her gate. Then, she had to take all the magic that she had just consumed and hold it in suspension. Master used to do the reinscribing before she ate, but that changed as she recovered, and now it was a test and training in one. ¡°Be Reinscribed.¡± With a casual motion, her Master flicked his hand forward and gold wire streamed seemingly out of nowhere, though Tali knew it came from Master¡¯s dimensional storage. Silver and copper joined the gold, but in far smaller quantities. As the wires approached her, they branched out, each branch getting smaller and smaller, until each was the size needed. In some cases, that was so thin that she couldn¡¯t see the filament even with her enhanced vision. Then, the pain came. All across her body, the metal breached her skin. It was only by Master¡¯s magic that it could do so. Even without active power running through her, her body was enhanced to the point that it took a lot to cause her harm. But now, she was being pierced in uncountable places all at once; no part of her spared. It was only through monumental discipline and self-control that she kept all parts of herself from moving, any muscle from tensing. Master was simply following the inscriptions that were already in place, so there was no chance of error, assuming she didn¡¯t move. So, she didn¡¯t. If she¡¯d been asked, she¡¯d have assured the asker that her Master¡¯s magic didn¡¯t need her to stay perfectly still, but he¡¯d asked her to try the first time he¡¯d inscribed her, and so she¡¯d made it her mission to be as perfect in following the request as possible. In less than a minute, it was done. Her skin was covered with a sheen of sweat and blood, but as she released her power, her body healed nearly instantly. Blessedly, none of the damage was too extensive, so it only took a couple of days¡¯ worth of energy and nutrition from her reserves. I¡¯ll make that back up with lunch. A quick aspect-mirror and a few hops caused the blood and sweat to fall free, leaving her clean once more. ¡°Come.¡± Master turned and walked away, not glancing back to ensure she obeyed. She couldn¡¯t help a small smile from blossoming across her face at his confidence in her obedience. As she scooped up her items and returned them to her belt, she briefly noticed the blood-splattered, dirty remains of her feast. I hope they clean this up before I get back. Without another thought, she followed after, her clothing regrowing as she walked. She knew their destination. To go out into the city, she would need a key-ring. It was a familiar requirement and process, but she still stayed a step behind her Master, flanking him on his left. He didn¡¯t correct her, so she knew that she¡¯d chosen correctly, and her smile grew. Of course, they went to the armory. As the heavily inscribed doors opened, power flooded outward in a wave. The two of them stepped inside quickly, closing the door behind them to keep the power as contained as reasonable. With the odd woosh-click of a sealing airlock, Tali and her Master were sealed within. She glanced around. While she couldn¡¯t come here whenever she wished, she¡¯d come often enough that it no longer made her knees weak to behold the wealth of the House. Nearly every item within this sacred vault was a vestige, powered by an honored soul who would serve the House of Blood for eternity. Tali winced internally, losing some of her smile with the thought that she would never be among them. Her service would, one day, end. Master made his choice, and I will honor it. There is no turning back now. They walked past a rack of non-morphic weapons, though they were anything but mundane. Each held immense power, and each was a deterrent to their foes, to be wielded by trusted guards in the case of an armed conflict. Pieces and suits of armor filled one wall on carefully organized racks, most were single items powered by a single soul, but one suit stood separate, each piece was powered individually. Regalia of War. A House was measured based on how many elite warriors it could bring to battle at need. The House of Blood could field twenty, though only one came from this branch, from this hold. And Master will become the second, tomorrow. She would make it so. In a side room, items of a non-violent nature were housed, including the key-rings for the hold. ¡°Taigh, we need one copper key-ring.¡± The column in the corner of this side room flared to life. Within it was a fount of tremendous power, nurtured for millennia, slowly having its flowrate expanded until it could be the heart and literal soul of this hold. The column contained the inscribed, pseudo-intelligent interface, which governed the magics of the hold. ¡°Greetings, Be-thric, potential Pillar. Authority recognized. Whom do you wish to bind the key-ring to? It would be useless for you, unless you then gave up your gold.¡± ¡°The ring is for this one.¡± Master pointed to Tali. ¡°Understood.¡± A side case opened, and a copper ring floated out. Tali extended her hand as she knew was needed, and the ring slipped onto it, tightening to match her finger¡¯s size. The result was that the ring was wider than it had begun, but now it would not come off without the removal of the digit. Magic flared and inscriptions appeared, impressed into the inside of the copper, against her skin. ¡°Request complete.¡± Master turned to Tali. ¡°Begone. Do as you please until third bell after noon, then return to attend me for the feast.¡± She bowed low. ¡°As my Master commands.¡± They exited the armory together, then went their separate ways. Tali strode with purpose through the hold. Low race servants scampered out of her way, Mid races bowed at her passage, and Tali, herself bowed to and stepped aside for the High race members of the House. Each has a place, and in our place, we thrive. One way or another, after tomorrow, she would bow to no one save the Pillars ever again. She came to the massive front gate of the hold and held up her key-ring. The magic defending and sealing the entrance recognized the authority of the device, and opened for her, allowing her to exit through a small, person-sized door set into one side of the gate. She quickly dove into the magic of her clothing, and guided it to form the crest of the House of Blood on her upper, left chest. She surrounded it with a copper braid to denote her status as a candidate. With that done, and a deep breath, Tali stepped out of the hold, and into the District of Doors. The street wasn¡¯t crowded, but it was far from empty. A large part of that was how tightly compacted the population was in this, wealthiest of districts within the city of Platoiri. Here, the Houses had their holds, and the wealth of each House was displayed by how large they were able to afford to have their door. The door for the House of Blood¡¯s hold was the largest within three blocks, the other doors around them leading to the holds of minor houses, merchants, or even master craftsmen that either were allied with the House of Blood, or who were hoping to be. The power was palpable in the air, even though each hold would have been made as efficient as possible. The net result of so much magic being used in close proximity made this the most magic-dense part of the city. Hence its prestige. Tali grinned to herself at the circular nature of the thing. More doors meant more power, which made the district more desirable, so more people wanted to have their holds there. We are a funny lot. She turned and walked towards the market district and food. No need to wait until lunch. As she walked, she moved the power within her, gathered through her breakfast. She guided it to overlay the matching scripts within her, reinforcing and augmenting their enhancement of her physicality. The ending-berry power was especially intoxicating as it rendered her nearly invincible, though it was notoriously less than reliable in defending the integrity of a brain. Ancient humans had used ending-berry power to foment several rebellions, and so she¡¯d been reluctant to use the power due to the association, but Master had insisted that it was too useful a tool to ignore. She had, of course, acquiesced. The people moving around her were of uncounted races. There were beast folk of all kinds and hue folk of all shades, as well as others that didn¡¯t fit as nicely into broad categories. The races she could see ranged from Low to High, though they all appeared similar to her magic-sight in the dense power of the District of Doors. She even saw a few humans, though they stuck to the sides of the road, staying out of everyone else¡¯s way. None had gates. She was the only gated human she¡¯d ever seen in person, outside the shaping ground. Gated humans were the most honored of servants to the houses, but that honor brought with it very tightly regulated responsibility. She was unique. Unfortunately, that meant that a lot of others noticed her, and stared at her, wherever she went. Her obvious house crest kept most trouble away, but most creatures didn¡¯t have the perception to see her as anything other than simply human. It was a short walk to the near-edge of the market district. The proximity of all the amenities was another benefit to the District of Doors. In the center of the market district stood the city¡¯s core. More than a thousand founts, bound together and cultivated to empower the city and all the services that it provided. Beautiful. Tali couldn¡¯t help but stare in awe at the monument to magical advancement. Unfortunately, today it was marred by a group of gateless humans, wearing rags, scrubbing the street clean. It was meaningless, demeaning labor, reserved for those who had tried to upset the status-quo. That close to the city¡¯s founts, magic could clean the streets without any loss to anyone. Tali looked away in shame. How could any of her people, however distantly related, not see the place of honor that humans held in society? Nothing in modern life would function without the gift of service gated-humans offered. Fools. It seemed like some others shared her views, even if not her reaction to them. There were some hecklers, and a few people got rough with the humans, but since they never fought back the aggressors usually moved on quickly. There were laws, after all. One couldn¡¯t go around beating the defenseless. And the law considers anyone of a lower race to be defenseless before those of the upper. Still, all violence wasn¡¯t prohibited. That would just be unreasonable. Over the top abuse was curbed, and since the humans weren¡¯t fighting back, anything more than a few bruises or broken bones would have been dealt with harshly. Order must be maintained. Shaking her head, Tali approached a rather busy food stall, working her way through the crowd to place her order, passing over a few coins before accepting a massive platter of meat. Those around her gawked at what she was carrying away, but no one stopped her. At least not until a large, teal skinned man stepped in her way. Unfortunate color, that. Still, he hadn¡¯t picked his birth, and the hue folk came in all shades. Regardless, it seemed like she was going to have the opportunity to demonstrate the power of her house once again. It was quite common for something like this to happen whenever she went into the city. Her rank in the House of Blood, along with her obvious humanity, made her look like an easy target to bring shame to her House. It was occasionally inconvenient but hardly new or difficult to deal with. I do wish they¡¯d waited until after I ate to challenge me. ¡°Getting food for the other rabble, girl?¡± His voice was smooth, like ocean waves on a shallow beach. What? She glanced down. She was indeed carrying enough food for a large group, but it was all for her. She also noticed that her burden was blocking the sigil on her chest. That changed the situation. ¡°No, I-¡± ¡°Are you correcting me, filth?¡± He went to push her, but she fluidly stepped to the side, letting her foot linger just long enough to trip him as he passed her. He fell with a cry of alarm, groaning after he hit the ground. She looked down to see if he was all right, inspecting him closely. After all, she didn¡¯t want to be in violation of the law, and if she¡¯d accidentally caused him to die from a simple fall to the paving stones? That would be quite the embarrassment on her Master¡¯s House. She shook her head. ¡°No, I was just trying-¡± Her focus was fully on the downed man, she was comfortable with her surroundings, thinking he was a lone actor. As such, she didn¡¯t react when his friend stepped from the crowd behind her, even as he brought a heavy wooden chair down towards her head. However, Tali was not a fool, nor was she some waif of the street. She was an Eskau candidate. She contemplated drawing her weapon and cutting the attacker in half, but this was a misunderstanding, and she might get blood all over her food. She was hungry. So, I shouldn¡¯t kill them. She could have stepped aside, but that might actually let the attacker hit his friend with the chair. As humorous as that would be, it might actually end up with the one on the ground being killed. If that happened, there would be guards involved. Worse, they might need to contact her Master, and there was no chance she was going to let him be disturbed with his peers arriving at the hold. No, this was an opportunity to show her strength, the strength of her house, and her own wisdom in handling such a situation. I could just let it hit me. That would do basically nothing to me, and it would send the message loud and clear. She almost did just that, but then sighed internally. That was foolish, and if he had some sort of magic to empower his strike, it might backfire. Taking the risk was careless, and careless people died. Fine. I¡¯ll block. Doing that should give them pause, then I can correct the misunderstanding and get on with my day. That decided, she almost lazily brought her left arm up to block. She could stop heavily inscribed maces with that block. The chair stood no chance. But, the chair wasn¡¯t metal. It wasn¡¯t even inscribed. It shattered on her arm, allowing the back supports, still being driven downward, to slam into the back of her head with almost no loss of power. The teal man behind her was obviously heavily magically enhanced for strength as well as other things, but even that wouldn¡¯t have been enough to defeat the protective net of magic, originating from her clothing, defending her head. Unfortunately, as the wood turned to pulp against her defenses, power flared within the hue folk¡¯s arm, and the energy of the strike shifted. Tali¡¯s eyes widened in recognition of the spell-form even as it activated, while she watched through her bloodstar¡¯s mirrored perception. The old-growth hardwood held together more than well enough to impart a great deal of energy, which the man¡¯s power carried past her defense to strike her a thumping blow. Anywhere else, she might have been bruised. A strike to her head, however? Ru- * * * Tali hadn¡¯t even slumped in the instant after she¡¯d been struck. Her vision had barely flickered black. That was close. I thought that had gotten through, somehow. A pulse of power exploded from the base of Tali¡¯s skull. -DING- A sound, almost like a bell, hummed through her thoughts, and she found the note calming, or it would have been if she hadn¡¯t had a strong guess what it meant. Then, her own voice came to her, as if she were thinking, though she didn¡¯t ever truly consider that the voice might be her own thoughts. -Consciousness lost for 0.004 seconds due to blunt force¡­WHAT THE RUST!?!?!- Tali twitched from the internal scream. -Major deviations in consciousness detected. Active conflict detected. Battlefield patch initiated.- What? No. No! * * * Tala shook herself clearing her head after whatever had struck her. Wha-? -No time. In a hostile situation. Get somewhere safe, then we¡¯ll talk.- Tala took an eternity packed into a single heartbeat to perceive the world around her, assess her situation and decide a course of action. In the end, she spoke one word. ¡°Rust.¡± Continue the Story [Book 7 - Eskau] The iron-clad reality of the world relentlessly comes for all. Arcanes, the enemies of humanity, thrive upon power harvested from broken human souls. The City Lords and Major Houses rule with unquestioned power. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Tala has been seized, torn away from all that she has ever known. A false history and personality was implanted within her, and only her revolutionary defenses and self-restoration magic have given her a fighting chance at all. She is behind enemy lines with an unexpected chance to seize power, learn from ancient experts, delve into the secrets of humanity''s mortal foe, and achieve her own freedom once more. In order to return home, Tala must claim some measure of authority within the very same Major House that stole her freedom and tried to steal her very self. Chapter: 267 - Entrance Tala continued her loping run, feeling quite thoroughly worn out. It hadn¡¯t been that long since she slept, but it seemed like the increased power flowing through her had worn at her body more than she¡¯d really realized, and then excising it from herself had left her with only the downsides. -All messages delivered and a few replies and exchanges enacted, per what we discussed.- Great. Will we have help? -Master Grediv will meet us at the nearest gate, when we arrive at Alefast.- Oh, that¡¯s fantastic. I¡¯m so glad he was in town. I was not looking forward to trying to convince a random Archon that we meant no harm¡­ She was almost back. She was almost home. The level of magic in the air had been steadily rising for the last few hours, and the zeme was really starting to show some turbulence. It was odd seeing this region again in a new light. Not only was she coming from nearly the exact opposite direction, but she was also far more powerful and capable with her magesight. Oh! Terry. She had been in such a fog since the forest that she hadn¡¯t really considered the terror bird. She opened Kit, and before she could call out, Terry flickered into being beside her. His screech of annoyance would have deafened a mundane human, even if only temporarily. Tala stumbled to the side, flinching. ¡°Gah! Terry, that hurt!¡± He screeched again, fluffing his feathers in visible irritation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! The forest was more taxing than I expected, and I¡¯ve just been trying to get this trip done with.¡± He lowered his head and stalked forward, covering the distance that she¡¯d stumbled away. It was only then that Tala noticed his size. Even hunched low, he still easily matched her height. She stepped back a bit more, the large terror following her. ¡°I apologize! I didn¡¯t mean to leave you in there, unknowing how I fared.¡± Terry slowed, squinting at her. ¡°I should have called you out as soon as I was free of the woods.¡± He chirped in aggressive affirmation. ¡°Will you forgive me?¡± Straightening, he let out a long series of random trills that to Tala sounded like nothing so much as her mother ranting about one of the littlest siblings. It was an oddly nostalgic feeling, for all it was more than a decade old. Because I¡¯m so near to home? That was likely. ¡°I know you were worried about me. I said I was sorry.¡± Terry cut off his trilling and glared. ¡°I know that doesn¡¯t make it better, and I know this is the second time that you¡¯d have preferred to be out sooner on this trip. Will you forgive me?¡± His demeanor shifted, and he shook himself before chirping once in affirmation. ¡°Thank you.¡± Terry didn¡¯t reply further, instead shrinking down until his head barely came up to her waist. ¡°You want to run with me the rest of the way?¡± The bird¡¯s look conveyed exactly how stupid he felt that question was. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡± She quickly inspected his neck, and was able to just see the collar hiding beneath his feathers, and only then because it was her magic that was mirrored into it. As they ran, Tala very carefully placed a white-armored finger on the collar and refilled it with her power. That would have been¡­ less than great. Thus, Tala arrived at the southeastern gate into Alefast, Waning, sometime in the midmorning, Terry at her side. The wall stood tall to either side of the gate, and Tala felt nervous energy building within her as she approached. This was it. She was here. She was on the threshold of a real, human city. If fate was the rusting bit of slag it seemed to be of late, something was about to happen to keep her from entering. There were no guards visible from outside the city, so she approached cautiously. But nothing unexpected jumped out and stopped her. Instead, Master Grediv stepped out of the open archway and smiled. ¡°Mistress Tala. I can see your travels have left their mark, and your avian friend has grown.¡± There was a sparkle of mischief in the Paragon¡¯s eyes. ¡°Shall we¡­¡± Tala felt his penetrating scan of her entire self, the iron on her skin definitively gaining some heat at the power behind the inspection. She saw his face fall into a perfectly blank mask. She watched as the glint left his eyes. ¡°Why do you have a concept threaded through your entire body? Speak now, Archon.¡± ¡°I am infected with a dasgannach. That is one of most pressing issues that I need assistance to address.¡± That seemed to take Master Grediv completely off guard. First, that was likely because she answered quickly, readily, and completely. Second, he could likely tell the truth of her words, if Tala was right in her guess, and that surely was shocking. ¡°It is contained at the moment, but I would greatly prefer your assistance as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I see.¡± He was frowning. ¡°Do you have any specific ideas on what assistance you require?¡± A test? Or just gathering more information. ¡°I think a teleport would be prudent.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°You want me to teleport you to some other city, while filled with a clearly hostile concept?¡± ¡°No, I assumed that wouldn¡¯t be possible. I would like you to teleport me to the tower in this very city. That should strip the dasgannach from me.¡± Master Grediv frowned again but began nodding. ¡°I can see that working, depending on the flavor of creature. For most, we could simply entice it out and heal whatever issues that caused. What is its material?¡± ¡°Iron.¡± Once again, the ancient man seemed caught off guard. ¡°Well, that explains the issue, then.¡± A long, increasingly uncomfortable silence stretched between them as Tala stood outside the gates. I knew it. This was too easy. Fate is going to sucker-punch me again right when I¡ª ¡°Very well. Follow closely without making contact. We need to get this sorted, immediately.¡± Oh. Alat barked a laugh within Tala¡¯s head. -Well, that worked better than we¡¯d hoped.- For now. He could still wipe us off the face of Zeme. -True, but he¡¯s more likely to help us. That¡¯s why we asked him to meet us, right? Because we were pretty sure he¡¯d take the time to find the truth, rather than ¡®killing it to be sure.¡¯- True enough. Master Grediv turned and strode into Alefast, Waning, and Tala hesitated for only a moment before following, Terry heeling perfectly at her side. The guards stood back, not interfering or questioning them as they passed. ¡°So, Mistress Tala. Tell me what I need to know about the dasgannach. Given that you¡¯re you, I imagine there are surrounding, pertinent details?¡± Tala felt power thread through the air in an incredibly intricate lattice locking out any chance of them being overheard, and she had a realization. How do such workings move with us? If they locked to a specific volume of air, the working would have to drag it along with us, but it¡¯s not doing that. ¡°Mistress?¡± Master Grediv had turned to regard her. ¡°Lost in thought so quickly?¡± A mirthful smile tugged at his lips. ¡°I¡¯d thought you¡¯d simply ask rather than bottling yourself up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been in a position where I had to be more careful with my questions, at least a bit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pity. I always appreciated your curiosity.¡± Taking that for the invitation that it was, she asked. ¡°How does your working move with us?¡± He turned and they started walking once more. ¡°Your magesight has certainly improved if you can see that.¡± She was to his side but still out of arm¡¯s reach. ¡°I think it¡¯s more a matter of magical weight than an actual improvement to the script.¡± ¡°That is actually what I meant. The sharpest blade cannot slice stone without weight behind it.¡± He hesitated. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not actually true, but it gets the idea across.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. How familiar are you with the fabric of reality?¡± She hesitated. Well, in for a copper. ¡°Do you mean the Doman-Imithe and its backing of Zeme?¡± Master Grediv barked a laugh. ¡°Oh, you are going to be a joy for the next good while, aren¡¯t you?¡± He didn¡¯t wait for her to answer. ¡°That touches on a truly mindboggling number of things. Though, few have enough anchoring in Zeme to safely study the Doman-Imithe.¡± Well, that¡¯s a difference, but I¡¯ll wait until my question is answered at the very least. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So, I assume you know of the bits of reality that make up Zeme?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. The best analogy is sandstone. Each bit of reality is pressed against the others until they make a coherent whole. The analogy breaks down, because of the fluid nature of some parts of reality.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°What? We don¡¯t have land moving around randomly.¡± ¡°Well, we actually do, but that¡¯s rare and not what I¡¯m talking about.¡± She cocked her head and didn¡¯t interject. ¡°Us. People, animals, material moving around. All of it is a part of reality but isn¡¯t locked in place.¡± ¡°That¡­ I hadn¡¯t considered it that way.¡± In the Doman-Imithe, all the nodules had been tied to each other with threads of reality, and so had she and Thron. We were just manifesting more fully within the Doman-Imithe, and the nodules I was searching were oriented towards Zeme. That caused a lot of things to click into place. -Oh, rust! We just needed to flip our orientation, and we¡¯d have popped back into Zeme.- Yeah, that sounds nice, but what does it mean? How could we have actually accomplished that? -I have no idea.- Tala grinned internally. And where would we have appeared? -Not a clue.- Master Grediv continued speaking, drawing her thoughts back, ¡°I anchor the spellworking to myself, the fragment of reality that is ¡®me,¡¯ with distance parameters oriented on that anchor. Most spellforms actually work in this way, but Mages, by and large, don¡¯t have the understanding to comprehend them in that way. They believe and enact their workings based on the manifestation of reality, rather than reality itself. It¡¯s a weakness and an inefficiency that is usually corrected when an Archon Fuses, or thereabout. We always have this discussion before the Archon Refines. To do otherwise would be to kill the Mage.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Because Refining is purifying the substance of reality, which is you.¡± Tala could hear the smile in his voice as he responded, ¡°Precisely true, at the deepest levels. That is the foundation, though much else is done on top of that footing as well.¡± I feel like this has some insane implications and applications. ¡°How far around myself is included in the fragment?¡± ¡°That is a¡­¡±¡ªhe frowned¡ª¡°that is an incredibly insightful question.¡± Tala let the silence hang as they walked through the streets. Wait¡­ Why is he giving us this information now? -Well, doesn¡¯t it remind you of your interactions with him in the past?- It really does. -So, this could be a way of verifying you¡¯re you in a really hard to beat way?- Oh¡­ huh¡­ that makes sense, I suppose. The moment of silence passed, and Master Gredive began to nod. ¡°You¡¯ve been to the Doman-Imithe, haven¡¯t you.¡± It was not a question. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That is a rare experience, Mistress Tala. Were you given the tools to perceive the threads and knots?¡± ¡°Is that what they are actually called? I gave them that name because they seemed so to me. Though, they seemed more like protuberances to me or nodules.¡± ¡°The descriptions I¡¯ve read could be interpreted that way I suppose. I assume that is a ¡®yes¡¯ then?¡± ¡°I am able to see them, yes.¡± That caused Master Grediv to stop, and he turned to her. ¡°Void or Reality?¡± He became very still, and his demeanor gained a deadly seriousness. ¡°You will answer now and answer honestly.¡± Tala had pulled up short alongside him. She considered lying. Reality sounds so much safer than void magic. I really don¡¯t want to be smote¡­ But her void connection was going to be obvious, even if he couldn¡¯t read the truth of her words. ¡°Void.¡± Master Grediv relaxed. ¡°Oh, bless me, child, you don¡¯t know what razor¡¯s edge you danced.¡± ¡°What? What would be wrong with reality magic?¡± He laughed, turning to continue on his way. ¡°Every Mage who has ever bound or gained reality magics has tried to wipe out their fellows eventually. It is almost as taboo as necromancy, though far, far harder to practice so we¡¯ve found it easier to simply address it when it comes up, rather than teaching about it specifically.¡± ¡°Ahh. And void?¡± ¡°Very, very rare as it can¡¯t exist naturally in Zeme, but there have been the occasional artifacts found with magics of the void. We¡¯ve not seen any specific pattern with Archons who bound those. So, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any inherent influence from such.¡± She felt herself sigh in relief and very, very specifically didn¡¯t look at Kit. She also didn¡¯t look at Flow for that matter. Huh, I have void on each hip. -And woven intrinsically through the garments you wear.- Ahh, yeah. That¡¯s true. ¡°As to your question, it¡¯s up for debate. It¡¯s generally agreed that the size of your fragment of reality is related to your aura. I¡¯m going off texts, now, but as I understand it, reality manifests oddly in Doman-Imithe. Was that your experience?¡± Tala barked a laugh. ¡°That is an understatement, but yes, that¡¯s true.¡± He nodded. ¡°It works similarly for your ¡®piece of reality.¡¯ Obviously, you and I aren¡¯t dragging the earth and air along with us as we walk, but they are within our bits of reality.¡± ¡°So, as we move, the specific manifestation shifts. The underpinnings are what change, not the surface?¡± ¡°That is one way to look at it, yes. We ¡®own¡¯ the deeper layers, thus ruling the surface, but the surface itself doesn¡¯t change without specific action on our part.¡± Alat. Does that mean¡­? -I think so. I don¡¯t know exactly how we could target fragments of reality for gravitational amplification, but I think it would be possible.- Is that what Terry does? -Well, not with gravity, but I think so. He simply doesn¡¯t include dirt and muck in his definitional understanding of his fragment, and so that doesn¡¯t come with him.- It was like finding the last piece of a puzzle¡­ well, a child¡¯s puzzle where the overall picture could be hidden by a single missing piece¡­ and a puzzle where no one told her the picture she was aiming at. This is a really awful metaphor, actually. -Yeah, I¡¯ve never truly thought about it, but it makes no sense.- ¡°I can see you¡¯re considering some deep implications, but you still haven¡¯t told me about your unwelcome passenger.¡± ¡°Oh! Right.¡± And so she filled him in on the collar, the two dasgannach, how they¡¯d been modified, and so on. It took the remainder of their trip to the teleportation tower. Before they entered the tower, Master Grediv stopped. ¡°You should leave your dimensional storage with the receptionist, since it is still not soulbound to you so it can¡¯t teleport with you. Can your¡­ friend wait within it?¡± He looked meaningfully at Terry. Tala regarded Terry, and the terror bird looked back. Finally, he squawked in resignation and bobbed a nod. Tala shrugged. ¡°Sure. I could just put my storage on the outside wall, here?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°That would be interesting to see. Those always manifest a bit differently. I assume you¡¯ve merged it with a syphon fascia?¡± She gave him a mildly surprised look. He chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m old, child. If it exists within the human cities, I¡¯m likely aware of it, at least tangentially.¡± She grunted. ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± He hesitated then smiled. ¡°Well, with all that you¡¯ve likely brought with you, that isn¡¯t as true as it was a few hours ago.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°Once we¡¯ve sorted this, I¡¯ll see what I can do to correct that alteration.¡± ¡°I look forward to it.¡± She pulled Kit from her belt. She took a moment to consider. ¡°Do you want to go to the hills?¡± Terry squawked noncommittally. ¡°Fine, just somewhere near where I usually find you, then.¡± She tossed Kit at the wall, and a door grew to perfectly integrate with the side of the tower, near the main entrance. As usual, the entrance seemed to fit perfectly, looking like it had always been there. ¡°Fascinating. Thank you for allowing me to watch.¡± Master Grediv smiled. Before Tala could open the door, it was ripped open, and a nearly fully flayed beast-man lunged out. ¡°FREE! I¡¯M FREE OF THAT FEATHERED DEMON!!!!¡± The bullman then saw Terry and squealed in abject terror. The next instant a flick of energy extended from the city¡¯s defenses and turned him to ash. Tala spun on Terry. ¡°Terry? Why was he still alive? You were supposed to kill him quickly!¡± Terry looked down and idly scratched at the ground while decidedly not looking her way. He trilled mournfully, clearly trying to play on her sympathies. ¡°Get in there. We¡¯ll talk soon enough.¡± She pointed vehemently through the open door. The terror bird flickered away, appearing within before the door swung shut at Tala¡¯s will. She turned back toward Master Grediv and found him and more than a dozen other Archons staring at her with various expressions of bewilderment. Tala¡¯s eyes flicked around to the suddenly present Refined and Paragons. One woman spoke up. ¡°Master Grediv, sir?¡± Master Grediv just shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m as much in the dark as you. Mistress Tala?¡± Tala scratched the back of her head nervously. Rusting Terry. You couldn¡¯t have just killed him when I asked? ¡°Well, that bullman tried to kill me, so I tricked him into my sanctum, and left him for Terry to kill. That bird was supposed to be quick about it, but it seems like he was not quick about it.¡± Master Grediv cleared his throat. ¡°First, you had a¡­¡± He seemed to be searching for the right word. ¡°Elder?¡± ¡°Mature.¡± ¡°Mature, right. You had a Mature arcane, fully drained, in your¡­ sanctum? Isn¡¯t that a special designation?¡± She opened her mouth, then closed it. ¡°It is¡­ I have a lot to tell you, Master Grediv. Can we deal with my unwelcome passenger first?¡± The other woman, clearly the leader of the Archons who had responded to the now eliminated threat, cleared her throat. ¡°The arcane wasn¡¯t your unwelcome passenger?¡± ¡°Well¡­ he was one, yes, quite unintentionally so. I didn¡¯t know he was still in there.¡± ¡°How likely is it that there are any others?¡± Tala frowned, then went over and opened Kit. No one waited on the other side but Terry, who was giving her a chastened look. She closed the door then opened it again and saw Rob sitting on a shelf beside her bed.¡°Oh¡­ Well, he¡¯s not really a passenger? But he¡¯s not actually a¡­¡± Tala muttered to herself, struggling for words as she closed the door. ¡°Never mind. No one else in there. Just the one in here.¡± She smiled with false cheer as she tapped her own chest. The woman frowned, then Tala felt herself be delved with a form of magesight once again. The Paragon¡¯s eyes widened, but Master Grediv intervened. ¡°We¡¯re dealing with that now, Mistress Ges.¡± Mistress Ges¡¯s eye twitched, but she gave Master Grediv a firm, shallow bow. ¡°As you say, Master Grediv. I do hope you will explain what is going on at some point.¡± ¡°I will, when I know myself.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± She bowed once again, and then she and the other city defenders seemed to vanish. Tala turned to Master Grediv. ¡°I am so excited to be able to do that.¡± He cocked one eyebrow. ¡°You could now, if you had the right magics.¡± She frowned. She¡¯d been a bit afraid of that. ¡°Well, rust. Fine then.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see what we can do, but after we deal with the creature. Yes?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Master Grediv hesitated, looking at Kit on the wall of the tower. Finally, he sighed. ¡°Bring that inside. We¡¯ll find a better place to set it up that¡¯s closer to where we¡¯ll work. It seems like you might have some rather more dangerous things in there than I was expecting.¡± Tala sheepishly did as he asked and hung Kit from her belt once more. Together, they entered the tower. The receptionist inside was obviously a mageling, and he looked incredibly nervous. Tala felt bad for the kid. He¡¯d likely just had all sorts of alarms going off, then probably seen the city defenders appear just outside. ¡°G¡­ Greetings, Master, Mistress. How can we serve you, today?¡± ¡°We need a self-cycling teleport. Foreign will purging, please.¡± That got the young man to focus. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± As the mageling manipulated a slate in front of himself, Tala heard several people in the tower begin to move quickly. She was still keeping a good distance from Master Grediv, but she spoke quietly, now that his privacy working was down. ¡°Is this common?¡± ¡°Yes and no. This is usually the best way to cleanse people of foreign issues when they pass a certain stage. You¡¯d be surprised how many plagues we¡¯ve stopped in their tracks by judicious use of the teleporter. Mundanes also often have their own bodies turn against them, either attacking their own biology or growing in ways they shouldn¡¯t. A teleport of this type resets their anatomy and can allow them to get back to their lives.¡± Tala hadn¡¯t considered that, honestly. So, my idea wasn¡¯t very revolutionary. -But it seems good. That¡¯s what we need, right?- That¡¯s true enough. Soon, they were escorted to a teleportation room off to one side. A Fused woman explained what was going to happen. ¡°Do you see the receiving circle over there?¡± Tala looked and did see it. This room, unlike the one she¡¯d arrived back from the Academy in, had both a launcher and a receiver. ¡°I see it.¡± ¡°Good. We will simply teleport you over there. You will be fully sent out into the ether and drawn back. Please place anything not soulbound to you there.¡± She pointed to a series of empty shelves and stands. Tala walked over, removing Kit and her bloodstar holster from her belt. The bloodstars would have been fine, but the material that surrounded them would be needlessly stripped away if she tried to bring them with her. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, she realized that that was it. Her clothing were her elk-leathers and bound to her. Flow was the same. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m ready.¡± Continue the Story [Book 8 - Ironbound] The iron-clad reality of the world relentlessly pursues its own. Arcanes and humanity continue under a fragile peace, often breached but never shattered. Gated-humanity thrives within their ever-renewing cities in this hostile world. Mages and Archons devote their long lives to give their people a chance. Through tribulation and hardship, Tala has managed to return to the human lands, her freedom hard won, her self intact. Her family and friends await her, but her time away has left its mark. She has to face new trials¡ªface the new weight that she carries¡ªand somehow find a way though things that she has never faced before. While that isn¡¯t exactly new, she is now no longer alone. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Supported once again by those who care for her, she is given the tools and help that she needs to deal with the continued threats on her life and her very soul. Her magic and power have grown, but she is not content to let them stagnate. She carries with her the spoils and burdens from the arcane lands, and she is determined to turn them all toward her benefit and the benefit of those to whom she fought so hard to return. Chapter: 321 - Welcome to Alefast Here Begins Book 9 Tala kept up the pace of a light jog in the crisp, night air. She and Master Cazor had spent the whole day experimenting with iron in various capacities. In almost every regard, their experimentation simply confirmed what was already suspected about Tala¡¯s control and manipulation over iron. So, more than anything, it was a relaxing change of pace and a fun new method of training. Thoughts of the day drew her mind toward the times before, and she cast her mind back over the last month or so, using the regular cadence of her footfalls to lull her into internal contemplations. She was glad that she¡¯d spent all of the time that she had with her siblings. While she still felt a bit awkward around them, it was gratifying to actually feel like she had younger brothers and sisters once again. It was funny that, in many ways, she was a parental figure to most of them, given her role as an established adult overseeing their rightfully childish play. Maybe more of a crazy aunt. -Yeah, I could see that.- She had undeniable authority over them in some regards, especially when they were visiting her, but she also had proven that she didn¡¯t see herself as obligated toward them at all. -Yeah, definitely more of an aunt than a parent. But, hey! You¡¯re a fun aunt!- Tala smiled at that but didn¡¯t reply. She didn¡¯t feel the need to. Apart from her time with her family, her training was coming along well. While sparring with Terry was an exercise in futility if she were simply focused on victory, she felt like it was a wonderful whetstone upon which to sharpen her reflexes and combat awareness, among so many other facets of her abilities. Even so, it really was a shame that she didn¡¯t have any venue in which to practice her full suite of abilities and deploy her full arsenal. Hopefully, this next venture would provide such. That brought her mind to her encounters in the wilds. The upland tiger had been an insane opponent. The more she¡¯d considered it, the more she was uncertain if she would have been able to triumph, even without restrictions. She thought she could have, but she wasn¡¯t sure and that worried her. She needed such opponents to push herself, to try herself against, or she was going to stagnate. There was also the Mage that she¡¯d watched become a fount, and then subsequently sent on to the next world. She¡¯d been paid basically as soon as the job was done¡ªMistress Ingrit had seen her memory and instantly verified the job was done, so that hadn¡¯t been a problem. It was an easy, if sparse, source of income that she should keep in mind. There were also all the half-formed insights that she¡¯d caught glimpses of through the process, but those would take a lot more discussing and fact finding before they bore any fruit. No, what had been an issue was finding that man¡¯s family. Alat had taken on that task without even having to be asked, but even with a month¡¯s time, she¡¯d been coming up blank. -It is rather frustrating. No one matching his description has gone missing or been known to have departed to become a fount in the last three months. I checked with key individuals in Bandfast, Marliweather, Arconaven, and even Retindel. Nothing.- Why did you restrict it to those cities? Alat made an irritated sound within Tala¡¯s head. -Because I can¡¯t just blanketly bother city officials across all of humanity over a single Mage. I need to be strategic on who I inquire with and how I follow the threads that I find. People are usually okay with being reached out to individually, even for small things, but if it comes across as a ¡®I just messaged everyone, you all solve my issue and tell me the answer¡¯ people would likely get irritated.- Ahh, yeah, that makes good sense. -I¡¯m glad that you approve of my methods.- There was a bit of humorous mocking in the alternate interface¡¯s tone. Tala felt herself smile. Thank you for handling it, Alat. -It¡¯s what I¡¯m here for. I¡¯m glad to help.- Their conversation, and Tala¡¯s internal musings, moved on from there as she continued her night-run to Alefast, Waning. While she had considered staying in Bandfast for the night after her day with Master Cazor, she honestly hadn¡¯t seen a point. She didn¡¯t need the sleep. She¡¯d already said goodbye to Lyn and Kannis, and waiting until morning would only delay her arrival, needlessly. On the funny side, she¡¯d already had to skirt a caravan encampment during her jog. Doing so had reminded her of her own first contract between these two cities and had caused her smile to settle ever more firmly in place. As to this trip, Tala wasn¡¯t moving as quickly as she could have, but she wasn¡¯t going slowly. Terry had declined to run with her, so she was truly alone as she traversed the dark landscape. Fully wrapped in iron, she wasn¡¯t announcing herself as a tantalizing target and her magical resonance was reduced to the extreme. Even so, there were still some limits to the speeds she could safely travel at, if she were inclined to push herself. I really do need to discuss such things with Master Grediv. -There does seem to be a lot in that category, doesn¡¯t there?- Undoubtedly, yeah. There will probably be other powerful Archons in the area too, right? -Oh, absolutely, yes. By the records and inferences that I can find, there should be at least two hundred Archons who are Refined or more advanced.- That was¡­ a lot. -Yeah. I was surprised by the number too. Though, when you think about it, it sort of makes sense. All told, there are just above two and a half thousand Archons who are Refined and higher, across a human population of well over ten million. Let us not forget that Refined and above don¡¯t die of old age. Therefore, there have only been that many¡­ ever. Neglecting, of course those that have been killed, which I would hope is not that many.- Tala found herself nodding, her smile gone. And even so, they are less than two-and-a-half percent of one percent of humanity. -¡®We.¡¯- Hmm? -You should have said, ¡®we are less than¡­¡¯ You¡¯re one of them.- That was¡­ an oddly horrifying thought. On one hand, she didn¡¯t feel very special. She knew of quite a few beings and creatures who were her equals or even betters in a fight, and that didn¡¯t factor in other situations such as topical expertise. On the other hand, she knew that she¡¯d had an unusually successful road. The challenges that had come her way had been overcome by the skin of her teeth alongside her obsession with healing and defensive magics. If hers was the only way to reach Refined, she¡¯d be surprised there were even as many as there were. The longer road is easier in some senses, I would guess. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. -Fewer sheer cliffs from which to fall and die is my estimation, but the wandering paths seem to rarely point toward the summit.- Yeah, that¡¯s a good way to put it. Still, looked at in another light, having two-and-a-half thousand people as magically advanced as she was, or more¡­ It¡¯s no wonder that the major Houses don¡¯t attack us. We¡¯re terrifying. -But not strong enough to fight them all, and they would unite against us if attacked.- Hence the balance that Master Xeel explained to us. Tala felt like that had been so long ago. Thinking once again about combat effectiveness, she had to admit something else: There were those less magically advanced than her who would be able to match her as well. Most of them had depths of knowledge and experience that she was decades from even beginning to approach. A smile was beginning to creep back onto her face. We¡¯re doing pretty good, aren¡¯t we? -Humanity is on a slow track, but yes. I think that we¡¯re going to be fine if we can keep on keeping on.- Tala felt her back straighten just a bit at that idea. Her people were doing well, in the grand scheme of things, and she was a part of that. She and Alat discussed dozens of little things that had been plaguing the edges of their mind as Tala took her time traversing the terrain. She also took a bit to read while she moved as well, but all told, the journey was mainly a relaxing little jog. As Tala wasn¡¯t really pushing herself, the sun began to rise before she got to the cleft pass near which she¡¯d helped fight a midnight fox on her first trip. She¡¯d considered going south around the mountains entirely, but that would have taken her very close to the Leshkin forests, and it simply wasn¡¯t worth the risk just to try out a new path. Blessedly, there were no odd encounters on her trip, and she found herself approaching the city around midmorning. She was still about half a mile out when she came out of her contemplations enough to see the massive fluctuations in the zeme hard up against the city toward the east. Honestly, she should have seen the powerful magical currents sooner, but she¡¯d subconsciously dismissed any variation that might have drawn her attention as attributable to the massive increase in density, relatively speaking. This region would still be considered energy starved for arcanes. That made her smile grow, even as she shifted her path to investigate the oddity. The magical density in the air¡ªor more accurately the lack thereof¡ªwas yet another defense enacted by humanity. She came over a rise and stopped in confusion. It took her a long moment to really understand what she was seeing, given just how much was going on before her. First and foremost, what stood out to Tala was an oddity in the wilderness: Just outside the northeastern gate, a woman was dancing. That would be odd in and of itself, but there were at least two dozen of her, all moving in sync to the point that they were obviously the same person, or at least directly controlled by the same person. Power flowed off every iteration of the woman, obviously in sync with the movements of the dance. I haven¡¯t seen a movement-enacting caster since the Academy, at least not one with this complex a form of such. The Archon¡¯s power seemed to be fluctuating through the orange-to-yellow range. Tala thought that implied that the woman was Refined and utilizing some weaker magics. Though, Tala hadn¡¯t really seen magics exactly like this before, so that was only a guess. To all of Tala¡¯s sights¡ªmundane, mage, and void¡ªthe women all looked identical to each other. The oddest result of the three was that of her voidsight, as every single woman was quite obviously the same node of reality, simply existing in different locations simultaneously. The disjointed nature of what Tala saw almost caused her to drop that sight. Alat quickly convinced her to simply pass it off to one of Alat¡¯s perspectives so that they could study it later. All told, however, the woman and her oddities were the least of what was occurring outside the wall. A minor tide of magical creatures was rampaging, attacking their opponents with abandon. The creatures were easy to identify with Tala¡¯s knowledge and previous study. Asteries. They were small, Bound level creatures that tended to move in swarms with a few Fused variants among them. Each one was composed of five to twelve limbs and a miniscule core body. The core contained only a teeth-filled mouth, lacking even eyes. The limbs were somewhere between an arm and a tentacle, covered in barbed pads that could grip, or rip and tear. Each limb was tipped with a sensory organ which functioned similarly to eyes, but not quite the same. Tala hadn¡¯t taken the time to grasp the exact distinctions. The asteries often moved with a clever sort of locomotion, rolling along on the tips of their limbs like their whole bodies were rimless wheels. Finally, they were usually between half a foot and three feet across when spread out, tip to tip. As to what they were fighting? Plants. They were fighting magically grown plants, clearly the result of¡ªand controlled by¡ªthe dancing woman. Each plant seemed to hold an immobile central bulb with innumerable thorny vines whipping around them. Illusions wove around each plant as well. The majority of those illusions made the plants seem to roll or be moved by their own vines, but Tala was able to penetrate those figments sufficiently to see that they were, in fact, quite stationary. Adding to the chaos, there were tens of illusory versions of the woman with various weapons in hand, attacking the asteries quite effectively. When Tala looked closer, she saw that various plants surrounding each illusion as it moved across the battlefield acted within and along with those illusions to give them substance and actual striking power. As Tala looked on, she suddenly felt someone observing her in turn and looked back to the woman just in time to see her left hand, across all iterations, begin to move in complex patterns quite separate from the rhythm of the rest of her dance. The air right in front of Tala shimmered, and a version of the woman was suddenly standing there. She was quite obviously an illusion, not connected to the woman by anything but a tendril of power extended through the dimensions of magic. Tala could have dispersed it in an instant and without effort but saw no need. The illusion gave a shallow bow. ¡°Traveler, welcome. I am Kaeti. I would appreciate it if you did not interfere. I have this threat contained and moving toward destruction, but unknown magics entering the field could complicate that outcome.¡± Tala gave a respectful bow in return, pulling her metal back from her face so that her illusion wouldn¡¯t trigger any confusion. A battlefield was not the place for a misunderstanding. ¡°A pleasure to meet you, Mistress Kaeti. I am Tala. I come from Bandfast on personal business. Since you do not need aid, may I enter by way of that gate behind you?¡± The woman smiled and nodded. ¡°I will not prevent it, though I make no promises on what the guards will require. If you are in the city long, I hope our paths cross again.¡± Without waiting for a reply, the illusion vanished, and Tala noticed that the woman herself had ceased moving her left hand to a separate cadence. The mastery that would require... -Not to mention the split focus. I can¡¯t imagine how long it took to perfect such mental acuity.- Yeah. We should seek her out to learn training methods, even if for no other reason. Besides, she¡¯s doing something with the nodules of reality, and we should see if she¡¯ll let us figure out what that is. -Excellent idea, yeah.- Tala carefully skirted the battlefield, re-covered in iron to prevent herself from drawing any attention from the little horde of creatures. Additionally, she suppressed her through-spike so that the projected aura wouldn¡¯t be attention grabbing either. Now that she¡¯d figured out what was going on outside the walls, she turned her focus to the walls themselves. There seemed to be more movement on the wall-walks than she¡¯d have expected, but that made some sense. After all, there was a small horde of enemies outside the gates; why not have a larger guard presence, just in case. She looked up beyond the wall, and saw the expected city defenses, but she also saw something that she didn¡¯t expect. There was an almost blur-like effect on everything beyond the walls. She suspected that if she were to rise straight up, she wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything within the city with accuracy. They really have stepped up the defenses recently. Even going a roundabout way, it didn¡¯t take long to come up to the heavily reinforced gatehouse, particular to waning cities. As she stepped inside, she allowed her through-spike the freedom to function once again. Across from her, she saw that the interior portcullis was down, effectively letting her into a confined space, without access to the city. They didn¡¯t drop the one behind us, so that¡¯s a good sign. Even so, she pulled the metal back away from her face, as she expected to have to communicate in order to be granted entry. She was proven right almost immediately as she was greeted by a voice calling from above, the sound coming through the murder hole above, ¡°State your name, advancement, and reason for being here, traveler.¡± The tone of the inquiry wasn¡¯t harsh, but it also wasn¡¯t overly polite. It was simply professional, a man doing his job. Tala almost wanted to mess with them a bit, but she quickly realized that that was a foolish notion. Instead, she shrugged internally. There was no reason to withhold the information. ¡°Tala, Refined, and to experience a waning city.¡± Tala could hear well enough to discern that the obscurement of some sort of magic sound scrambler was enacted, reducing what should have been an easy-to-hear conversation down to a few muttered garbles. That¡¯s new. -Or it just wasn¡¯t used when you came through with a caravan.- Ahh, yeah, that¡¯s fair. The voice came again. ¡°Are you coming to meet with anyone, or will you be meeting with the local Archon Council regarding the dispensation of your time?¡± She blinked in surprise at that, but as she considered, it made sense. An extra Refined would marginally increase the strain on the scripts and magics of the city, thereby speeding up the degradation of the city. That would be offset if she helped out, but they likely wouldn¡¯t be pleased to have her within the walls if she planned on simply kicking her feet up and wasting time. Even so, having the gate guard ask so blatantly was surprising. Though, she supposed that it was better to be upfront as opposed to circumspect on such important topics. She smiled up at the source of the voice. ¡°I will be meeting with Master Grediv Gredial, at his convenience. I suspect that I will also be interacting with the council at his behest.¡± There were some more obscured conversations, then the inner iron portcullis began to rise. ¡°Thank you for your time, Mistress Tala. Welcome to Alefast.¡± Chapter: 322 - An Immortal Tala walked in to the small, old city of Alefast. Waning. It¡¯s Alefast, Waning. -When is it appropriate to add that? I know we¡¯ve been thinking of it that way for a while, but is there a cultural standard?- I don¡¯t know, actually. I suppose as soon as the new city of the same name is open to be moved to? -That makes sense, but it¡¯s still probably worth asking.- Yeah, fair enough. There were fewer people around than she had expected, but a moment¡¯s thought brought to mind why: A small horde of monsters was outside this gate, actively being slaughtered. She had a moment¡¯s thought that the citizenry would have fled further into the city, away from the danger, but she instantly dismissed that. People with that proclivity wouldn¡¯t be in a waning city at all. So, Tala turned around and looked up at the walls. Sure enough, there were dozens¡ªmaybe even hundreds¡ªof people trying to watch the fight beyond the wall without getting in the way of the defenders or exposing themselves overmuch. She felt a smile pulling at her lips. We¡¯re a pretty crazy bunch, aren¡¯t we? -Do you mean humans in general, or those who stay in waning cities specifically?- Alat obviously knew the answer already, but like she often did, she was prompting Tala so that the dialogue could continue. Both, obviously. Tala was well aware that the alternate interface had set her up for that response, but she felt her smile stretch into a grin, nonetheless. She was proud of her people and how they approached the dangers of this world. -Though, those people up on the wall are a bit crazy.- Oh, undoubtedly. Many monsters have area of effect or long-range attacks, and some are of types that the city defenses wouldn¡¯t instantly, completely block. -Risk takers all around.- Alat had messaged Master Grediv about Tala¡¯s impending arrival, and she¡¯d added another message stating that she was within the city, near the northeastern gate, as soon as she had stepped out of the gatehouse. -Oh! Master Grediv would like to meet us now. Apparently, there¡¯s a good place to eat¡­ There.- Alat highlighted something in Tala¡¯s memory, and Tala turned around until she found it with her eyes once again. Standing rather near the city wall¡ªbut back far enough to once again be out of the way of any defensive efforts¡ªwas a tower with windows that were too large to be meant to be defensive. -It¡¯s a restaurant. There¡¯s one near every gate, and they often fill up so patrons can watch magical beasts being driven back. At least, that¡¯s what Master Grediv said. They apparently stay full with people willing to pay for a chance at eating while watching the battles. This battle is longer than most, it seems.- So, expect crowds. She shifted her shoulders, retaking stock of her strength and movements. The last thing she would want was to accidently injure someone as she passed by in a crowded space. Let¡¯s go. Just as she¡¯d expected, the place was busy, though there were few people coming and going at the moment. The first few floors were utilized to house the lobby and kitchen. Initially, she¡¯d been approached by an attendant with over-the-top apologies, before it was explained that the restaurant was full up. Thankfully, when Tala mentioned that she was meeting Master Grediv, the harried seeming-server brightened and immediately led her to a clearly magical platform, which lifted them all the way to the top of the tower. As they rose, Tala was able to catch glimpses of the various floors, and she noticed that each was arranged with tiers so that the maximum number of tables could see out over the walls. Every table was filled at that moment. How did we miss this last time we were here? -Looking through your memories, I think these might have been under construction? There weren¡¯t very many attacks, and there shouldn¡¯t have been enough to justify places such as this for at least another half-decade, at least if my guess is right, but things seem to have changed.- Yeah, I think the cyclops we helped Master Grediv defeat was unusually strong for the timeframe. So, that continued? -Maybe even escalated.- Alat sent uncertainty. She was taking a guess. -But the person who would know is awaiting us just above.- Tala glanced up as yet another floor passed, and she frowned. I should have seen something this tall, this prominent from outside¡­oh, the defensive magics. -Yeah, obscuring clear vision of what lies beyond the walls to prevent concentrated or directed fire.- Clever. -So it seems.- Tala¡¯s head lifted above the top level¡¯s floor, and she was treated to what was clearly a far more exclusive view. There were a dozen tables¡ªeach with only three chairs¡ªarranged around the space. Each seat was positioned to have unobstructed views. The tables were filled, and by the carefully controlled auras held just outside their skin, she could see that every one of the nearly thirty people was a Refined or Paragon. The servers were a mix of mundane, inscribed, and Mages. The highest level server that Tala could easily see was Fused, and she seemed to be overseeing the others. Yet, even among the powerful guests, Master Grediv stood out. He sat at the central table, nearly right up against the glass, overlooking the wall, and it seemed like almost as much attention was on him as on the tail end of the conflict outside. The attendant who had come up with Tala led her toward the Paragon, walking a bit ahead to announce her. I wonder what they would do if I¡¯d been lying? -Probably just let Master Grediv deal with you.- That¡¯s¡­ huh. Yeah, that¡¯s probably true. Master Grediv stood as the attendant spoke quietly, close to his ear, and he gave a smile and shallow bow to Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala, welcome!¡± Tala didn¡¯t glance around, but her mirrored perspectives took in the whole room. Every single Archon in attendance seemed to have taken note of her and of Master Grediv¡¯s reception of her. Oh¡­ politics¡­ I suppose I should have expected that. She needed to give an appropriate, measured response, ¡°Master Grediv, thank you for your welcome. It is always a pleasure to see you.¡± She didn¡¯t raise her voice, but she also didn¡¯t do anything to suppress it either. Master Grediv clearly heard the nuggets that she¡¯d put into her response and his eyes almost seemed to twinkle with mischief. It would now be clear to everyone listening that they knew each other and had interacted a fair bit before this. Tala stepped forward. ¡°May I join you?¡± He motioned to the two empty chairs at the table with him. ¡°Yes, please.¡± As they sat, Tala taking the chair on his left, Master Grediv placed his hand on a sigil inscribed into the table, which activated what seemed to be a privacy barrier around them. Tala examined the working around them, and if she understood it properly, it didn¡¯t do anything to visually obscure them, but it would prevent them from being overheard. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°That was well done.¡± She shrugged and smiled. ¡°You seemed to have a purpose in making such a public welcome, so I thought I¡¯d go with it.¡± ¡°Well, thank you. With Rane well beyond his apprenticeship, there are opportunists circling.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I have a good track record for having my apprentices reach at least Paragon. I can¡¯t claim one hundred percent effectiveness,¡±¡ªhe grimaced¡ª¡°but of those who survived, all have reached Paragon, or are seemingly on their way without obstruction.¡± ¡°Like Rane?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°So, why would I matter to that? I¡¯m clearly not a mageling.¡± He smiled. ¡°Most who try to get my help are Refined. No matter how often I tell them that by the time you¡¯re Refined it¡¯s just a matter of time and thought to reach Paragon, people are impatient.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Which shows that they aren¡¯t ready regardless, but I digress. Many also have relatives that they want tutored, if I¡¯ll consent, which I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°So, if people think you¡¯re working with me, they leave you alone?¡± ¡°If only.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But it does fill their minds with questions about who you are, and why you¡¯re here, so I¡¯ll get a little reprieve. I might even be able to get some more things done while they try to figure you out.¡± Tala felt her expression fall into a neutral one, bordering on annoyance. ¡°Are you telling me that I just signed up to be bothered, so you could get some space?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± She was not amused. He grinned back at her. ¡°Welcome to the games of immortality. We¡¯re either fighting beasts of legend or trying to grapple with the tedium of eternity.¡± That caused her to lean back. ¡°Is that¡ª¡± A soft ding resounded around their table, and their attention was drawn to a server standing just outside the privacy screen. Master Grediv motioned, and the man stepped forward, entering the space with a flourishing bow. ¡°My apologies for the interruption, Mistress, Master. Is there anything that we can provide?¡± Master Grediv glanced to Tala, and she shrugged, ¡°I could eat, but I don¡¯t need anything.¡± He smiled. ¡°I think you should try a few things. I am happy to facilitate such.¡± ¡°Then, I place myself in your generous hands.¡± The Paragon ordered a few things for their table, and the attendant departed with quick efficiency. The topic had been derailed, and Tala found herself looking out the window, over the wall, and to the last vestiges of the battle below. ¡°This can¡¯t be that enrapturing, can it?¡± ¡°Yes and no.¡± ¡°Even if ¡®yes,¡¯ it happens so rarely. How can this place stay in business?¡± He smiled at that. ¡°These are magical displays as much as windows. When there is no active repulsion, it shows previous clashes. When the defenders fight near the other gates, these will show those conflicts as if you were in that tower instead.¡± That made a lot more sense than she¡¯d assumed. ¡°Even so, people enjoy the battles that much?¡± ¡°They are rather interesting to observe, yes.¡± He shrugged. ¡°People stay in waning cities for gold and glory. Seeing such clashes is a part of that.¡± He smiled slightly. ¡°There is lots of betting on how long various engagements will take, what damage the terrain will sustain, and things like that. Often times, if a threat is noticed early enough, there is betting on who will fight it, sometimes even what the threat actually is, if it isn¡¯t obvious.¡± That was a lot more extensive than she¡¯d considered. ¡°So, these facilities crop up in every waning city?¡± ¡°Most. The southern forest cities operate differently enough that such constructions aren¡¯t effective. Though, similar facilities are put together, so the effect is the same. Also, this type of service usually isn¡¯t established for another decade or so. It will be interesting to see if people get sick of the spectacle.¡± Tala found herself frowning. ¡°Another decade?¡± -So, I underestimated.- That¡¯s alright. We¡¯re learning. ¡°Yes. At this time in the waning, we usually only have to deal with a magical beast every month or so. Here? Now? In the last six months, we¡¯ve been experiencing increasingly frequent attacks. It is now not unusual for there to be one every week or so.¡± ¡°That seems¡­ bad.¡± He snorted. ¡°It isn¡¯t good. The levels of magic in the area don¡¯t justify the spike, so the only reasonable option is that we have an unusual number of unknown cells degrading.¡± She blinked at him in confusion. ¡°What?¡± He stared back at her for a long moment. ¡°You really don¡¯t know.¡± He grimaced again and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. ¡°You haven¡¯t been properly inducted as an immortal, have you¡­¡± ¡°Since I don¡¯t know what you mean, I¡¯m going to go with ¡®No.¡¯¡± He sighed. ¡°Well, I suppose that makes sense. Your Refining was a bit rushed, due to your particular circumstances. You needed to go through the process quickly, and fully, so that there was time to correct any errors if the process didn¡¯t end with proper results. Blessedly, it did end well, so the extra time our haste bought was unnecessary.¡± ¡°So¡­ what is this induction? Do I have to have a death-battle with someone?¡± She chuckled nervously. ¡°Oh, nothing like that. More: you should have had certain information shared with you. It wasn¡¯t Mistress Holly¡¯s job to do so, so I am unsurprised that she didn¡¯t.¡± He hesitated for a moment before nodding to himself. ¡°Now that I think about it, it usually falls to your master, or whomever she delegated the responsibility to upon her death.¡± ¡°But I didn¡¯t have a master.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­¡± That was an obvious shortfall in the system. She¡¯d slipped through the cracks, again, because she¡¯d elected to work around the need to ever have a master. ¡°So, I¡¯ll be brief, and we can discuss more later. We¡¯ll be joined soon, and I don¡¯t wish to exercise the level of circumspection this topic would require in his presence.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Is Rane joining us then? It would be nice to see him again. ¡°First, many of humanity¡¯s enemies throughout our history have been too powerful to fully destroy.¡± She nodded. ¡°That was my understanding. They were buried in the ground, right?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Well, yes and no. Do you really think something that I couldn¡¯t kill would be kept confined for centuries by even a few miles of dirt and rock?¡± She hesitated. She hadn¡¯t thought of it that way. ¡°Oh, I suppose not.¡± ¡°You are right. The long and short of it is that they are stuffed into a section of reality that is stretched and pinched closed, much like a balloon. The connection point is then moved to a secret location with extra precautions put in place to maintain containment.¡± ¡°Like the Black Legion.¡± His mouth thinned. ¡°Yes, though we should not discuss them, here.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°So, while the magics involved are powerful to the extreme, they aren¡¯t eternal, and the seals invariably begin to fail.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side considering. ¡°So¡­ they just break out and plague another generation of humanity?¡± ¡°Not at all. There are generally warning systems in place that help us find the entrances. We can assess the threat contained at that point. In some cases, we decide that we can now permanently deal with the issue. So, we open the prison and destroy the contained threat. Though, to be fair, that is very rarely the case.¡± ¡°What about in most cases, then?¡± ¡°We add their location and magics to a regular rotation of maintenance. It is never quite as secure, which is why we monitor it more closely going forward.¡± ¡°Why not do that from the start?¡± He gave her a sad smile. ¡°Well, as much as we¡¯d hope that humanity is united, often, there are those insane or selfish enough to align with some of these threats. So, if their location was easy to discover, they might be set free by sympathizers.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°But this way, by the time the prison entrance resurfaces, no one really remembers them, so they are just a threat that no one has an established interest in freeing.¡± ¡°Precisely. It isn¡¯t a perfect system, but it¡¯s better than others we¡¯ve tried.¡± ¡°So, how many of these are there?¡± ¡°How many are there? I have no idea. How many have degraded to the point that we have to maintain them? A few thousand.¡± Tala felt herself pale. ¡°A few¡­ thousand?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°There are a few thousand existential threats to humanity, that no one, not even Master Xeel, is capable of dealing with permanently?¡± Master Grediv held up a finger. ¡°That we are aware of.¡± Tala felt like she was going to be sick. That, of course, is precisely when the food arrived, preceded only by a familiar ding. It took a bit for the food to be situated and the two Archons to sample the fare Master Grediv had ordered. Each dish was delicious in its own right, and Tala was soon glad for his offer of providing the selection. Once they¡¯d settled down a bit and their eating had slowed, Tala brought the topic back up, ¡°So, the prisons degrade. Why does that lead to more magical beasts at a waning?¡± ¡°Well, it affects the integrity of reality, and that is the greatest driver for magical creature aggression. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the prisons, the best beacons we have for knowing when one is degrading are much like scratches in reality, pointing the way to the prison in need of maintenance.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­ damaging.¡± ¡°Oh, decidedly. It is fixable, though, and impossible to obscure, so there¡¯s no fear of us missing one. That would be far worse.¡± ¡°So, there are a few around?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Oh there are some three hundred known in the area that we are maintaining, and we suspect at least that many again that are still well contained.¡± She cleared her throat, still unable to truly grasp the scale that that entailed. Even so, she pressed on. ¡°So? Where are they? How can we start patching them up?¡± ¡°Oh, I understand. No, none have degraded sufficiently to be findable yet. We expect them to reach that stage within the next few years. Our resident expert guesses that we¡¯ll add at least twenty to the maintenance list this cycle. Though, we¡¯ll also have to do maintenance on another hundred or so before the waning is complete. Busy times all around.¡± Tala thought for a long moment, then felt herself nodding. ¡°This is one of the purposes of the waning, one of the reasons we allow cities to go this far.¡± ¡°Well, yes. There are many, many benefits to be extracted from a city around the waning, but stress-testing the area¡¯s prisons before we leave them unattended for a few centuries is one critical piece.¡± ¡°Fascinating. Would there be a use for me in all of this?¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely. But we will have to discuss that later.¡± A soft ding announced someone outside the privacy barrier. ¡°Our third has arrived. While I hadn¡¯t really intended for you to be here for this meal, you made excellent time, and I didn¡¯t want to keep you waiting.¡± Tala turned to see an attendant patiently waiting beside a man a few years older than herself in appearance. He was also familiar as she¡¯d seen him twice before. The privacy barrier was dropped, and Tala was filled with conflicting emotions as they were joined by Furgal, Rane¡¯s older brother. Chapter: 323 - Your Own Path Tala turned to regard the man joining Master Grediv and herself. Furgal, for his part, bowed to each of them. ¡°Honored Ancestor, Archon.¡± She felt her cheek twitch. ¡®Honored¡¯ was the correct arcane address for someone of Master Grediv¡¯s advancement. Calm down, Tala. It¡¯s just a coincidence. Master Grediv is this man¡¯s ancestor, and he is quite honored in this city. -Wait, he just called you ¡®Archon.¡¯ Does he not remember you?- Tala had missed that, distracted as she was by the honorific that Furgal had given Master Grediv. Master Grediv, for his part, simply motioned to the empty chair on his other side, across the table from Tala. ¡°Sit, sit, boy. You missed the battle, but they will likely show it again soon enough.¡± She pulled herself together and gave the barest of nods, ¡°Furgal.¡± Furgal smiled broadly as he took the seat across from her. ¡°You know me? Now I am the honored one.¡± He laughed at his own joke as Tala fought to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Yeah¡­ it was just a coincidence.. ¡°Yes, we met before.¡± He shook his head with what seemed to be mock severity. ¡°That cannot be. I would have remembered one such as you.¡± She blinked a few times. That is an oddly flowery way to call someone a liar. ¡°I was a guest of Master Grediv and Rane a mere few months back.¡± He opened his mouth to respond, then seemed to freeze in place, his mind clearly having found her as he tried to recall. His jaw tightened, and he forced an obviously false smile into place across his features. ¡°I see. You are an acquaintance of¡­ my brother. I believe I do remember you now, yes.¡± She had made her stance on Rane clear with the habitual lack of his honorific. Right. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter much, and what was done, was done. The younger man took in the food on the table, clearly trying to gather himself after the unexpected unpleasant nature of the memory of their previous meetings. The dishes that Master Grediv ordered had come on large serving trays, so that each person could take what they wanted onto their own, personal plates. There was still food on the main plates, but Furgal seemed hesitant. He glanced to Master Grediv, and the older man sighed, ¡°Eat, eat. The food is there for that purpose.¡± The young man gave a careful nod, seeming to be back in control of himself. ¡°Thank you, master, Grediv.¡± The older man gave his descendant a harsh look, seemingly having heard something that displeased him in the boy¡¯s cadence and tone. Furgal bowed his head¡ªjust as clearly having noticed the displeasure¡ªand began taking a sampling of the various dishes. ¡°My apologies, Master Grediv.¡± ¡°Better.¡± The Paragon straightened. ¡°Now, the tenor of this discussion must change with Mistress Tala¡¯s presence here, but I will not shy away from what must be said.¡± Furgal sat up straighter, his face brightening. ¡°So, you¡¯ve decided?¡± ¡°I have.¡± Even Tala could see the excitement in Furgal, and the obvious, weary frustration in Master Grediv. The window beside her flickered to her magesight, momentarily distracting her from the awkward family dynamics. The view outward was suddenly altered to show an earlier time in the day, seemingly just before the clash between Mistress Kaeti and the asteries. Even so, before she could get too engrossed, Furgal spoke up, drawing her attention back to her tablemates. Furgal had taken a quick drink, and now his smile widened. Master Grediv was about to speak, but the younger man preempted him, ¡°I¡¯m so glad. I will be the best apprentice that you have ever taken on.¡± Master Grediv looked to the ceiling¡ªin what was a clear bid to draw patience from the heavens¡ªand shook his head. ¡°No, Furgal, you won¡¯t.¡± The young man hesitated, then his expression turned solemn. ¡°Of course, you are correct. I must strive for humility.¡± Is¡­ is he serious? -I think so.- I¡¯m not that¡­ unobservant, am I? -I don¡¯t think it is a lack of observance. I think it is a level of entitled ego that we aren¡¯t used to seeing outside of arcanes.- Great¡­ ¡°Furgal. You are not going to be my apprentice.¡± Furgal tilted his head to one side, his expression darkening. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± Master Grediv took another bite of the food on his own plate. ¡°You wish for me to prove myself to you more fully, before you make the right decision.¡± Master Grediv slammed his hand down with such force that the table should have shattered. Instead, a flick of magic from the Paragon also lanced out and reinforced the table at the moment of impact. Even so, the resulting sound was more like the striking of a war-drum than a simple rap on wood. The items on the table leapt about, but again, Master Grediv¡¯s power flowed outward, this time across the food and drink, ensuring everything landed in a contained manner. It was a show of precision and control that Tala could hardly fathom, even knowing that Master Grediv had some form of magic that could be stretched to cover such things. It¡¯s probably worth asking him about. -And people do have magics outside of their fundamental understanding, like your healing.- Though, that¡¯s not so far outside anymore. -True enough.- Tala¡¯s mirrored perspectives easily saw every eye in the place, mundane and Mage alike, turn toward their table. Master Grediv waited a bare moment, until the echoes of his strike and those of the repercussions had faded. When he spoke, his voice lacked all mirth even as it was filled with harsh certainty, ¡°No, Furgal. I was attempting to be soft in my words, in consideration for our company, but I see now that that was a mistake. Let me be clear: You will never be my apprentice. What little talent you had is continually being squandered on the altar of your ego. Your one chance is to forge your own path through hardship and adversity. You can¡¯t do that here. The difficulties of a waning city, for Mages, are beyond you. You¡¯d be dead at your first attempt. Go somewhere that you aren¡¯t known. Go live a life of want, and strive to make something of yourself, because you won¡¯t do it here.¡± Furgal sat back in stunned silence, color obviously rising across his face. Tala, for her part, was doing her best to be inconspicuous. It was only then that Tala noticed something important, something that should already have been obvious: the privacy barrier hadn¡¯t ever been put back up upon Furgal¡¯s arrival. That¡¯s why he¡¯s doing this here. He¡¯s making a public statement that Furgal isn¡¯t, and never will be, his apprentice. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. -As a descendant of Master Grediv, if Furgal had claimed otherwise, he likely would have been believed. Still, things must have gotten fairly bad for Master Grediv to be forced to this point.- Clearly. Finally, the young man opposite Tala seemed to gather himself back together. He gave a slow nod. Though his face couldn¡¯t hide his unmitigated rage, his voice was surprisingly level, only containing the barest trembles of anger, ¡°Thank you, Honored Ancestor. I understand now.¡± Master Grediv looked incredibly skeptical. From the slight twitches in Furgal¡¯s movements, he likely suspected that they¡¯d become a spectacle even though he didn¡¯t look around. ¡°May I know who, more worthy than I, you have chosen?¡± ¡°You already know that answer.¡± Master Grediv¡¯s voice was almost entirely filled with weariness. Furgal turned his eyes on Tala, and there was barely contained anger within them. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°No, no you don¡¯t. Rane was my apprentice in place of you, almost twelve years ago. Since that choice, you have never been considered. You have also never improved, simply falling further and further behind. As I said, you need to get away from here. Forge your own path, Furgal, before that option is gone.¡± He looked back toward his ancestor, his jaw set. ¡°Before it¡¯s gone? Who would dare stop me? What barrier could possibly prevent me from forging a path ahead?¡± Master Grediv leaned forward. ¡°Time, you fool boy. Time waits for no man, Mage or mundane. You are wasting what little you have, chasing an avenue that¡¯s been closed to you for nearly a dozen years.¡± Furgal leaned back, and his forced smile was gone. Tala looked to Master Grediv. She spoke softly, hoping her words wouldn¡¯t carry too far, ¡°We can meet later, Master Grediv. I did not mean to impose upon your family business.¡± The Paragon held up a hand. ¡°Absolutely not. I asked you here upon your arrival, and this matter is closed. Furgal has two choices before him in this moment, and in either case, the conversation moving forward will be less¡­ heated.¡± The young man stood up, his chair scraping loudly backwards. ¡°Do not dismiss me, ancestor.¡± Master Grediv turned to him. ¡°How have I dismissed you, Furgal? I have met with you countless times on this exact topic, and yet you have never asked my advice on improving yourself. All that you have done is demand a title and a privilege that you have never earned.¡± Furgal¡¯s mouth opened, his fury clearly about to get the better of him, but Master Grediv held up his hand once more; this time, the air before the young man¡¯s mouth seemed to tremble with power, and no sound came out. ¡°I have told our guest that this discussion is done, and so it is. You are like the beggar who demands money, when a job is freely available. You are the thief who attempts to steal from a soup kitchen. You pursue folly when there are open doors for you. You have forced my hand. Be gone. Do not force me to remove you, myself.¡± Furgal¡¯s mouth audibly clicked shut as the magics blocking his voice vanished. He stiffly bowed once toward the table, spun on his heel and stalked out. Tala shifted uncomfortably and spoke softly to herself without thought. ¡°Rust me, I¡¯m glad that¡¯s over." Master Grediv muttered to himself, likely in response, and Tala was barely able to catch it, ¡°I somehow doubt that it is.¡± He reactivated the privacy barrier without even looking after his descendant, instead, turning to Tala. ¡°My apologies, Mistress Tala. That was both more forceful and more¡­ eye-catching than I had planned. I suppose my underestimations of the required bluntness with Furgal have been precisely the problem.¡± ¡°He does seem¡­¡± Tala cleared her throat. After a long moment, she simply frowned, taking another bite of food. She couldn¡¯t decide on exactly the right word. Master Grediv sighed, taking a sip of his own drink. ¡°Entitled is likely a good descriptor.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It seems like much more than just that, but it¡¯s probably in the right direction.¡± He grunted, shaking his head, ¡°Regardless, that is neither here nor there. I apologize. I did not intend to invite you here to spring my descendant¡¯s failings on you. Will you forgive my error?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now, let us discuss something else.¡± Tala looked out the window at the false view presented. It was interesting to be able to see Mistress Kaeti setting up her plants and illusions. Her dance looked very different at this beginning stage, showing just how sophisticated her method of activation was. Not that Tala had doubted given the distinct illusion the woman had created to speak with Tala, while maintaining full engagement in the fray. Distracting conflict aside, there were dozens of things she wanted to discuss with Master Grediv. ¡°So¡­ Do you mind if I ask you some questions?¡± He glanced her way and smiled. ¡°By all means. But first, what are your plans in Alefast, after this?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t actually have any yet. I figured that we¡¯d talk, and you¡¯d have some advice in that regard.¡± He nodded. ¡°I see. My recommendation is to get you plugged into a defensive unit, and through them, you will get tasks and continued training.¡± ¡°Oh? Is that what Rane is doing?¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°No, dear girl. He¡¯s only Fused. Such responsibilities are not granted to him, nor will they be until he Refines.¡± She frowned. ¡°Granted?¡± ¡°Absolutely. Responsibility is a gift, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t necessarily disagree, but I¡¯m not sure I understand exactly what you mean.¡± ¡°Which would you prefer, a life of ease, where everything is provided for you? Or one where you can accomplish work that helps others, which provides you with a good life?¡± Tala instantly knew which answer he wanted to hear. She also instantly knew which answer seemed preferable on the surface. Therefore, instead of answering instantly, she took a moment for thought. Effectively, the time that she¡¯d spent recovering had been exactly the first option. Nothing had really been expected of her, and she had the resources to continue a rather plush existence. She had hated the monotony of it. When she wasn¡¯t allowed to train, she had wandered the streets and desperately searched for other things to do. She had enjoyed her time with her friends, so it might be possible that a life of luxury with those she cared for would be the ultimate preference, but that didn¡¯t feel right either. She frowned. She could have simply sat around and played tafl with Rane, gone to plays, and eaten good food. No one would have forced her to do otherwise. In fact, she had been encouraged in exactly that direction. But what had she done instead? She had tried to help. She had longed to spar and test herself. She had wanted a challenge. She had her answer. ¡°Meaningful work that helps others and provides a good life.¡± Master Grediv smiled. ¡°You show wisdom in that answer, more so in taking the time to properly consider it. So, if meaningful work that helps others is your preference, is it not a privilege?¡± She opened her mouth to respond, but then closed it slowly. He waved a hand, indicating that he had more to add, ¡°Obviously, there is more to do than can be done, but for those capable of defending humanity, there are only so many tasks that they can do that are meaningful.¡± She frowned slightly. ¡°Please explain.¡± His smile widened. ¡°If I told you to hold up that spoon and doing so would save one person for every 24 hrs that you did so, what would you say?¡± She picked up the spoon and smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s save people?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Generous of you, but what if you weren¡¯t allowed to move for it to count?¡± She frowned. ¡°I mean, if I put it down, aren¡¯t I letting someone die?¡± ¡°Maybe, but others can hold the spoon, and that¡¯s all that they are capable of.¡± ¡°Ahh, then, I would want to do something that could help more than one person per day. After all, I am capable of more.¡± ¡°Precisely. We are speaking in sweeping generalities, and wandering all over this very wide-ranging topic, but that is the crux of it. In order to be engaged, to feel like we are doing good, and to be truly motivated to live and continue, we need tasks that help others, provide what we need, and challenge us. At the very least, they need to push us in some way or other.¡± Tala found herself nodding, remembering once again her time in recuperation, ¡°Otherwise, we will struggle with ourselves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s worse than that, Mistress. Without purpose, without something to strive for, we die. It is usually a slow death of growing apathy, but we die all the same.¡± She took a moment to process that. Finally, she nodded once again. ¡°And our purpose is to protect humanity during the waning.¡± He shook his head. ¡°That is an end goal and a good one, but it is too finite. We are immortals, Mistress Tala. Any finite task, no matter how grand, is but a temporary distraction. To live¡ªto thrive¡ªwe need an infinite goal, an infinite vision.¡± ¡°And what is yours? I¡¯m not sure I quite understand, so the example might help.¡± ¡°My infinite goal, my vision, is to ensure humanity thrives, to the best of my ability, for as long as I draw breath.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She tilted her head to the side, thinking. ¡°It is something that will never be accomplished, but in the end, you can look back and see if you were true to it?¡± ¡°In a sense, yes.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ So, I should strive for that, helping humanity thrive as best as I am able? Follow that vision?¡± ¡°Oh, bless the stars, no. If you try to strive for my vision, you¡¯ll be miserable. Seek your own path.¡± She gave a wry smile. ¡°Like you told Furgal?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He nodded unabashedly. ¡°Precisely the same. Just because I won¡¯t let him be my apprentice doesn¡¯t mean I would give him bad advice.¡± ¡°I suppose not.¡± That did make sense. Master Grediv hadn¡¯t shown any true malice toward the younger man. ¡°Seek my own path, eh?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± His smile returned. ¡°So, you think I can find my path with a defensive unit, here in Alefast?¡± ¡°I think you might begin to find insights in such company, attending to such tasks.¡± ¡°Well, then. That sounds like a good place to start.¡± He took another drink, leaning back once more. ¡°Now, I derailed us by quite a bit. What did you want to ask me?¡± Right! There¡¯s a lot, isn¡¯t there? -Oh, yes.- Chapter: 324 - Companions for the Waning Tala really did have so many questions for Master Grediv that it was hard to pick. With that in mind, even though she was tempted to be distracted by the replaying of Mistress Kaeti¡¯s battle with the magical horde, she kept her focus. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with a simple one: Is there anything else that my master would have told me, if I had one?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°That is an excellent question. While sometimes the mageling surpasses the master, and in those cases, others are brought in, it is common for a master to impart certain things before Refining.¡± Tala didn¡¯t interrupt, instead taking the opportunity to eat some more of the rather tasty food. ¡°If I¡¯m going to be honest, you had this stolen from you. You should have had immortality explained to you before you made the choice to become Refined, but that option was taken when your body began to degrade. Even so, I will endeavor to tell you what would have been said if you were in more normal circumstances: Just like responsibility is a privilege¡ªcounter to many of our younger generation¡¯s understanding¡ªimmortality can be a curse, and one to only be chosen with open eyes.¡± She tilted her head slightly to the side, showing her interest and attention without interrupting. ¡°Assuming you aren¡¯t killed¡ªand that doesn¡¯t really factor in because you would be more easily killed as a Fused than a Refined¡ªyou will live to see the turning of centuries. Acquaintances will grow old and die, your descendants will do the same. ¡°If you are entirely unlucky, your spouse will not be among the Refined, and you will have to watch your soul-partner, your bound-mate grow old and become frail. The very nature of the bond would extend their life well into an inhuman span even if they weren¡¯t a mage to begin with, but they would never¡ªcould never¡ªbe immortal.¡± While tears did not grow in his eyes that she could see, Tala did see what could only be described as soul-deep sadness settle over Master Grediv¡¯s features. It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand the implication. His wife had been among those to never Refine. ¡°The world seems bright and new to someone of your age,¡±¡ªhe gave her a wry smile, only slightly masking his obviously more powerful emotions¡ª¡°you more than most. If the young consider the passage of years at all, it is most likely that they are seen simply as the time that needs to pass in order for certain things to be allowed or accomplished: a threshold of years required before you can go explore the world, have adventures, learn new things, and so on.¡± Tala nodded. She had some deeper considerations on the passage of years, but she knew that her perspective was still that of a young woman, even though she also knew that her experiences had made her more contemplative than her contemporaries. She simply didn¡¯t have a good measure of the passage of time. A few years seems like sooo long. -And yet we¡¯re about to sign up for more than two decades tied to one city.- Loosely tied. We¡¯ll come and go. -That¡¯s fair, but still, it¡¯s a commitment for basically as long as we¡¯ve been alive.- ¡°To be an immortal among mortals is to walk a narrow path. If we don¡¯t care about those around us, it is easy to become like the arcane City Lords, using those below them for what little they can provide and otherwise ignoring the rabble. If we care too much? It crushes us. I have seen too many of our brothers and sisters of rank walk the road of depression and despondency. It¡¯s something that can be worked through¡ªand is by far the better of the two extremes¡ªbut it is still no small thing.¡± There was a long pause, which Tala took as an indication that he was done for the moment. ¡°That was a lot. There was nothing really unexpected if I¡¯d thought about it though.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t meant to be groundbreaking, simply something that should have been presented before you joined the ranks of immortals. In your case, as I said before, you didn¡¯t really have much choice. It was either die far too early or become immortal. So, hearing it now is expected.¡± She nodded. ¡°I appreciate having it laid out there by someone who knows.¡±¡ªshe hesitated for only an instant before continuing.¡ª¡°Is it worth it?¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°Yes and no.¡± His smile was sad this time. ¡°I miss those whom I have lost more than I can ever express. My enhanced mind recalls them perfectly, to the point that I still expect to wake up beside her, or hear them running through the halls on little feet, even though I¡¯ve long since left behind the homes in which either happened.¡± ¡°If I can ask, why allow marriage between those more advanced than Refined and those below, then?¡± He gave her a sharp, reproving look. ¡°Aside from the fact that we married well before I advanced¡ªvirtually no one sets as insane a pace as you, Mistress Tala¡ªI would not trade my marriage with her for anything. She was not perfect, but she was perfect for me.¡± He gave a wistful smile. ¡°It made sense that being imperfect myself, I needed someone else who was differently imperfect to make a matching set.¡± There was a long silence, then, one in which Master Grediv was clearly lost in memory. Tala had no desire to interrupt him, and so she let the silence settle. Even so, he wasn¡¯t lost for too long. Soon enough, he sighed and looked her way once again. ¡°What else can I answer for you?¡± ¡°Did you ever remarry?¡± He blinked at that. ¡°Ahh, not ready to move on, topic wise? Understandable, I suppose. I didn¡¯t, though I came close on several occasions.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Hanae even tried to make me swear to find someone after she passed, but I refused, and I am glad that I did. I have found myself content with the companionship of peers as we defend and lift up the next generations.¡± There was something in the man¡¯s face and eyes that spoke to a deep-seated peace along with a truth to the statements. ¡°Thank you for being so open.¡± ¡°I am happy to oblige. Now, we should probably head toward the defensive units, but we can talk on the way.¡± ¡°Whatever you recommend.¡± They stood and left the restaurant, Master Grediv waving or giving nods of acknowledgement to a few of those that they passed on the way out. Now that there wasn¡¯t a spectacle outside the walls to draw attention, the streets were about as crowded as Tala would have expected in Alefast, Waning. Oh, yeah. ¡°That¡¯s a question.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Master Grediv glanced her way. ¡°When do we say ¡®Alefast, Waning¡¯ versus just ¡®Alefast?¡¯¡± ¡°That is an interesting question, and one that many people have fun debating.¡± He stretched slightly, nodded, and continued, ¡°Generally, it¡¯s agreed that if the next city of the same name has a population beyond just that of the Builder¡¯s Guild, and you are equidistant from the cities, or closer to the new one, then the distinction is required.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ obvious?¡± ¡°Of course, that¡¯s why it¡¯s agreed to. The Caravanners generally don¡¯t bother with ¡®Waning,¡¯ because all their routes simply connect to neighboring cities, and no city ever neighbors both the waning city and the new one of the same name. Thus, for their purposes it¡¯s rather obvious which they mean.¡± ¡°That¡­ also makes sense, yeah.¡± ¡°When in the city, and referring to it, the ¡®waning¡¯ is generally considered redundant. Such as, ¡®Mistress Tala, while in Alefast, you should take in the sights.¡¯¡± ¡°I can see that. Saying ¡®Waning¡¯ in that sentence would be quite unnecessary.¡± ¡°Beyond that? There can be arguments to either side, and it¡¯s up to you.¡± He gave a slight smile. ¡°That probably isn¡¯t as helpful as you¡¯d hoped.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It makes sense. Beyond that, it probably doesn¡¯t matter.¡± He smiled. ¡°Then, I am glad to have been able to answer.¡± She nodded even as she changed the subject, ¡°You said that you had a few ideas for me to train with?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I do, but they will be better described when you can try them, such as in a training arena rather than as we walk through the city.¡± ¡°That¡¯s understandable.¡± The problem was, most of the things that she could ask shouldn¡¯t be discussed in public, or were more questions on training. Master Grediv had demonstrated the ability to make a mobile privacy field, but it wasn¡¯t like this was the only time she¡¯d be able to ask him questions, and there were plenty of other things to ask. She bit her lip in thought for a moment before shrugging to herself. ¡°What can you tell me about the defensive units?¡± ¡°Wise to ask, given where we are headed. Basically, Alefast has sixteen units of combat oriented Refined. They are each in charge of an eighth of the city¡¯s circumference on a staggered, rotating basis. Generally speaking, they have additional rotations with the unit, during their time because it¡¯s not until very near the end of a waning that even half the Refined will be needed for defense at the same time.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Beyond that, when we detect things beyond the walls that need to be dealt with¡ª¡± ¡°Like the cells?¡± Tala interjected, trying to ensure that she understood what he meant. ¡°Yes, like the cells. When something like that is detected, the units take turns investigating it. Once again, generally, they have a few members who are better suited to such actions, and so they are sent where others are more likely to remain behind.¡± ¡°That sounds reasonable.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you approve.¡± He gave her a humorous smile. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± ¡°Oh, I know. In the end, though, we¡¯ve come to this system because it allows for powerful defense of the city without wearing anyone too thin. Your unit will test your abilities and utilize you as they believe will be best.¡± ¡°So, which one will I be under? Do they have fun names? Can I be part of the honey badger unit?¡± ¡°What?¡± He frowned. ¡°No, they don¡¯t go by animal names. Does it matter?¡± ¡°I suppose I don¡¯t care, but it would have been neat if they did.¡± ¡°Alright, then. As to which you¡¯ll be in, there are some that are down a member or two, and we can see which one wants you.¡± ¡°Down members? Did people die?¡± She frowned. That didn¡¯t make much sense; the waning had only just begun. ¡°No, no. But people tend to group up with those who they know, and that is rarely precisely equally divisible.¡± ¡°Ahh, so by ¡®down¡¯ you mean that they have less than the others?¡± ¡°Precisely so.¡± The two of them continued to chat as they passed through Alefast. The walk had taken incredibly little time, given that the city was only composed of the central ring in these final years. Master Grediv led them to an entrance that was so reminiscent of the Bandfast Archon Compound, Tala immediately guessed that it was the same for this city. Sure enough, the entry hall was the same, as well as the main hall inside. Master Grediv greeted those sitting within the circular desk in the center of the room, and led Tala to the side, where a large staircase headed downward. Thinking back, Bandfast had the same stairs in their Archon compound, but she¡¯d never had occasion to go that way. Tala glanced at her Paragon guide, ¡°From context, I will guess that there are training facilities and something relating to the defensive units down this way?¡± ¡°Precisely so. Training arenas up in the city are sufficient for quite strong magics¡ªeven Fused can use them with relatively little danger¡ªbut in the reaches of Refined and above? We need powerful magics to fully surround the sparring spaces to ensure there isn¡¯t spillover or collateral damage.¡± That made a lot of sense, and she felt herself getting excited to fight against those wielding magics that required such containment. The fact that they were continuing down so far also indicated a level of separation that made her excited. ¡°For the less resilient and non-healing focused, there are healers based in this area as well. As this is the central dispatch point for the city, our crisis response Archons of all capabilities are based out of this wing of the Archon compound.¡± That stood to reason, too. The stairs and following hallway were quite wide, easily large enough for eight people to walk comfortably side by side. In fact, the structure of this whole place meant that the greatest chokepoint on traffic was the outside entrance to the Archon Compound. When Tala pointed this out and asked why that was, Master Grediv gave her a longer glance. ¡°That was well observed. We have other entrances and exits that are larger, for use at need, but for that same reason, we don¡¯t advertise their location to most. We also have¡­ other ways to move about the city, but that will be discussed later.¡± ¡°I suppose I can understand that.¡± ¡°Ahh, here we are.¡± He stopped before a large set of nondescript doors, continuing to speak as he pushed them open, ¡°I alerted the unit leaders that I was bringing in a new Refined for assignment. We¡¯ll see just¡­¡± He trailed off as the doors swung wide, revealing a space as large as a city park with a ceiling nearly fifty feet high. The ground was some sort of unnatural material¡ªor composite of natural materials¡ªand it looked much superior to sand in every way. But as spectacular as the training arena was, that probably wasn¡¯t what had stopped Master Grediv mid-sentence. His next sentence, muttered under his breath, proved Tala correct in her assumption, ¡°I told them to come alone, and only if they needed more members¡­¡± Within the arena waited at least fifty Refined, all gathered into various groups, though there were Archons who seemed to be floating between, and none seemed to be too isolationist. Additionally, all were gathered near the close end of the large space. There were tables overloaded with food placed against one wall and another with drinks of various kinds. Almost immediately upon the doors fully opening, a hush ran through the room, and everyone turned to look toward Tala and Master Grediv. One of the closer Refined had clearly heard Master Grediv¡¯s mumblings, because a wide grin spread across her face. ¡°Well, Master Grediv, you said it was an official function and to use our discretion. Therefore, we acquired food and drink and invited our teams, if they were available and wanted to come.¡± A familiar figure walked up beside that woman and placed a hand on her shoulder before speaking. ¡°Besides, I told them all that Mistress Tala was a very interesting one, who was decidedly worth meeting.¡± Tala found herself smiling in return. ¡°Mistress Kaeti, it is a pleasure to see you again.¡± ¡°And you. I am glad that our paths have crossed again so soon.¡± ¡°As am I.¡± Tala strode forward a few steps. ¡°I wanted to pick your brain on various training methods. Is now a good time?¡± Mistress Kaeti held up a hand. ¡°If that¡¯s what you really want to talk about, we can find a place to do so, but I think that Master Grediv would be even more cross with us if I stole you away before the matter of your position could be addressed.¡± Master Grediv¡¯s eye was twitching as he gave a slow nod, ¡°Yes, I would indeed.¡± The dancer grinned. ¡°There you have it. Let¡¯s get you a unit, have you meet the others, and find somewhere to talk training. You don¡¯t look like a dancer, so I¡¯ll be interested to learn what caught your eye.¡± Master Grediv clapped his hands once, unnecessarily, to gather everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Greetings¡­ everyone.¡±¡ªhe briefly rubbed his temples before continuing¡ª¡°This is Mistress Tala. She will be joining us for¡­¡± Tala stepped forward as he glanced her way, infusing a small amount of power into her vocal cords and lungs so that the sound would carry without needing extra volume. ¡°At the moment, I plan on being based out of Alefast for the remainder of the waning. I do plan on taking several excursions and other trips during that time, however.¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°The same as with most of you, then. Will the unit leaders who are in need of another member come forward.¡± A voice floated from the back of the crowd, ¡°What can she do?¡± Another called out. ¡°Why does her name sound familiar?¡± ¡°Did she come alone?¡± Everyone turned to look at the last man who had called out. He shrugged. ¡°What? My team only has room for one. I¡¯d hate to force her to split from her partner or those she¡¯s used to working with.¡± Master Grediv turned to Tala and motioned for her to answer the questions that she wished to, even as most of the eyes turned back in her direction. Yeah, I¡¯m not dignifying the ¡®are you single¡¯ question with a response. I¡¯ll introduce them to Terry a bit later. That in mind, Tala shrugged. ¡°While I cannot guess exactly how you know my name¡ªgiven that I am far from the only one who bears it¡ªI will say that I recently returned from the arcane lands, and you might have heard of me in that context.¡± That sent ripples through the gathered Refined. ¡°As to what I can do?¡± She hesitated. I actually don¡¯t have a good way of defining what I can do¡­ -Rust, Tala¡­ Fine, let me help you.- Tala nodded to herself and then said what Alat provided. ¡°I am incredibly durable, I self-heal, and I can reliably take down any target of Paragon level or below, provided it isn¡¯t an awful match, and I¡¯m not under extreme limitations.¡± A man off to one side smiled wryly as he called back. ¡°That¡¯s not as helpful as you might think, Mistress. He means what types of magic do you wield. We¡¯ll want to see you in action to judge your capacities and capabilities with them later.¡± She nodded. ¡°Ahh, thank you. I use, to some extent or other, and in no particular order: Restoration, dissolution, self-enhancement, dimensional manipulation, gravity,¡±¡ªshe hesitated, glancing at Master Grediv, but he simply shrugged, then nodded. It was up to her, so she continued¡ª¡°void, and iron.¡± Every Refined seemed to freeze in place before their eyes moved, almost as one, toward Master Grediv. Before anyone else could speak, the man who had clarified for Tala already spoke up. He, almost alone among the Refined, hadn¡¯t had a strong reaction. ¡°Don''t be daft. She said ¡®iron,¡¯ people, not ¡®reality.¡¯ Pay attention. Master Grediv wouldn¡¯t let a reality Refined exist, let alone bring them down here and present them to us.¡± It took a moment, but a ripple of releasing tension flowed through the room, followed by muttering voices. Master Grediv smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you for cutting through the confusion so cleanly, Master Clevnis.¡± The man grinned in return. ¡°It¡¯s what I do.¡± ¡°With that settled, let¡¯s get to the matter at hand. Unit leaders with vacancies, please step forward.¡± Tala watched as the crowd shifted to let a few men and women come forward, including Master Clevnis with a woman beside him. It was time for Tala to find her companions for the waning. Chapter: 325 - Dissolution Breath Tala watched as three groups of Refined and one lone man walked forward out of the milling group of their peers. Their sandaled feet didn¡¯t make much noise at all on the odd material of the training arena below the Alefast Archon Compound. One group was Master Clevnis and the woman with him. They were both clad in traditional Mage¡¯s robes in complementing colors, him in solid black with silver highlights, her in deep, sapphire blue with similar, seemingly decorative metal threading. It was ¡®seemingly¡¯ because while Tala couldn¡¯t determine any spellforms in the metallic patterns, she wasn¡¯t familiar enough with cloth as a medium to know for sure. Some mediums required inscriptions of entirely alien construction, after all. They smiled toward Tala and gave a polite bow as befitting toward an equal. ¡°As was said before, I am Clevnis.¡± ¡°And I am Cerna.¡± ¡°Good to meet you two.¡± She smiled as she bowed in return. The next to come forward was the lone man. He was shorter than her and had an odd weapon strapped to his back. It looked like a fusion between a double-bladed axe head and a large round shield. He gave a similar bow. ¡°I am Akra. Master Jevin has spoken highly of you, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala blinked in surprise as she gave a mirrored bow. ¡°You know Master Jevin?¡± Master Akra chuckled. ¡°Well, to be fair most do at our advancement, but he was my master, way back when, and we¡¯ve kept in touch.¡± Mistress Cerna sighed before giving Master Akra a side-eyed glance. ¡°Already trying to sway her decision?¡± He shrugged in return. ¡°Speak the truth, and the best outcomes possible will come your way.¡± She huffed a laugh but didn¡¯t reply. Tala simply smiled. ¡°Well, good to meet you, Master Akra.¡± The third group to approach was a group composed of two women, walking side by side, identical in appearance and clearly twins. They leaned into that fact, wearing clothing bifurcated in the middle, each half a different color, each mirroring the other in Mage¡¯s robes of red and green. They bowed as one, speaking together until they reached their names, ¡°We are¡± ¡°Cupla.¡± ¡°Caraid.¡± Tala bowed in return. ¡°Well met.¡± Mistress Caraid spoke alone after that, ¡°Are we remembering correctly, that you are the Archon to trigger our internal defenses by bringing an arcane into our city?¡± Tala blinked a few times, thinking back. ¡°Oh! The bull man?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± She grinned sheepishly. ¡°Well¡­ yeah, but that was an accident.¡± A voice sounded from somewhere in the crowd of watching Refined. ¡°She¡¯s the bull wrangler? I thought she was supposed to be Fused.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I advanced?¡± That seemed to satisfy them for the moment. Bull wrangler? She didn¡¯t know how she felt about that. -It is a surprisingly apt title for you.- Don¡¯t you dare do anything to make it stick. Finally, a woman came forward, a man walking just behind her on her left. They also wore more traditional Mage¡¯s robes, hers of deep purple, his of green and orange. ¡°I am Deigh.¡± She gave a cursory bow and motioned to the man. ¡°This is my husband Doitean.¡± And that was it. It seemed that there were four defensive units in the position of needing another Refined. The man who had asked if she¡¯d come alone hadn¡¯t stepped forward, so Tala thought that these might only be those who were also interested in possibly adding her to their number, specifically. Master Grediv smiled and took over for a moment. ¡°Well, at this point I had intended there to be some dialogue and discussion. What I hadn¡¯t planned on¡±¡ªhe gave a mild glare to the assembled Refined¡ª¡°was an audience to the process.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Well, since we are having a party, I do need to bring my partner out to say hi.¡± He frowned her way, but she didn¡¯t pay him any mind. She pulled open Kit and called down into it, ¡°Terry! Friends¡ªnot food¡ªout here to meet you.¡± With a flicker, Terry appeared on her shoulder, carefully looking around at the room full of powerful humans. His eyes widened slightly, and he hunkered down with a soft squawk. Another ripple of mutters went through the gathered Refined. Master Akra frowned, clearing his throat. ¡°You¡¯ve tamed a dimensional terror bird?¡± How did he identify his magic type? Oh¡­ right, he just flickered out. That makes it rather obvious. ¡°Not tamed, we¡¯re partners, flock-mates.¡± She looked over to Terry and smiled. ¡°If I¡¯m on a team, so is he.¡± Master Grediv cleared his throat. ¡°As Terry is not of a Refined level, he will be considered as an accessory member of any defensive unit that Tala joins.¡± When she gave him a questioning glance, he leaned slightly closer and explained. ¡°Such as a less advanced spouse, mageling, or other person of note who could participate, but who was not Refined.¡± ¡°Ahh.¡± She nodded and glanced at Terry. ¡°Does that work for you, Terry?¡± He tilted his head to one side and cheeped before ruffling his feathers briefly. ¡°Right, why would you care what they classify you as?¡± She chuckled and scratched the back of his head and neck. Mistresses Cupla and Caraid glanced at one another before bowing toward Tala. Cupla spoke for them both. ¡°While we have nothing against arcanous or magical creatures not hostile to us, our unit would not work well with one among us. We did not realize that the terror bird in the bullman story was a partner, or we would have already withdrawn. Best of luck to you.¡± Tala gave a nod back. ¡°Thank you for the honesty. Best of luck to you as well.¡± They turned and rejoined the others who were still watching. ¡°So¡­¡± She glanced to Master Grediv. ¡°How do I choose? Or do they choose? Or you?¡± He grinned. ¡°Oh, Mistress Tala, they¡¯re going to want to see you fight. Then, we¡¯ll all discuss together and try to put you in a team where your style and capabilities fit.¡± Tala frowned as she looked around. ¡°In front of all these people?¡± Master Grediv shrugged. ¡°We can kick them out if you wish, but you¡¯ll likely fight near or even beside many of these Archons in the coming years. Unless something goes very sideways, you shouldn¡¯t need to fight against any of them, however, so secrets in ability aren¡¯t really necessary.¡± That did make sense. Thinking back on it, she¡¯d never really encountered an Archon who hid their magics, and she didn¡¯t usually do so either. She¡¯d just never been so overt with it. Many hid other aspects, such as exactly what their bonds were, or things like that, but not their magics. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Eskau, though? They hid almost everything about what they could do as a matter of course, only pulling out tricks and secrets when required. ¡°Alright.¡± Mistress Deigh smiled before she spoke. ¡°What areas do you wish to demonstrate your ability to your potential future teams?¡± Tala thought for a moment. ¡°Martial combat, using no external magics save weaponry; dissolution; healing might be better to just describe to save on resources and time; wide areas of effect; and precision strikes at range would probably be useful.¡± The listening Refined seemed to take her at her word. Someone near the middle called out, ¡°Master Cruinneas would be a good person to test her martial prowess.¡± There were mutterings of approval. A man off to the side, currently standing at one of the food tables let out a muffled response, clearly around a mouthful of food. As all eyes turned to him, he took a drink from his cup and tried again, ¡°Fine. Girl, what weapons do you use?¡± ¡°Knife, sword, and glaive.¡± ¡°Individual or morphic?¡± ¡°Morphic.¡± ¡°Any hand-to-hand?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Next time, list that among your weapons.¡± ¡°You plan to ask me again?¡± He stopped at that, mouth open. Then, the corners of his mouth pulled up, and he stuffed another cookie in his mouth before speaking around it, ¡°Fair enough.¡± He quickly swallowed the newest treat. ¡°Sure, we can put you through the paces. I¡¯d prefer it be near the end of your testing, though.¡± Master Grediv spoke up next. ¡°Agreed. For dissolution, I can set up a series of materials. She¡¯ll describe her own healing. We have a target range over there.¡± He waved to the far side of the space. ¡°And we can have her set off her area abilities in the open over there, as well.¡± Tala was nodding, ¡°That should be safe enough. Well¡­¡±¡ªshe glanced around and frowned¡ª¡°How are the pressure waves in here? If there¡¯s an explosion, should I treat this like the indoors it is or¡­¡± Mistress Cerna was the one to answer. ¡°Wise to ask, but no. The mitigations in place on this arena prevent reflection and resonance with explosive and explosive-like effects.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± After a moment, Tala shrugged. ¡°Well, healing wise, I can regrow limbs and heal virtually any injury, so long as I have sufficient stores to draw from. I am able to eat and process the calories and nutrients into highly efficient storage within my own body and draw upon that to heal or sustain myself at need.¡± ¡°What about headshots!¡± A voice called from the crowd. ¡°My mind is fully copied and maintained as an up-to-date record in the Archive, and should I need to regrow my head, my mind would be repopulated with my memories and everything else.¡± She hesitated. ¡°That said, that is theoretical, and I¡¯m not eager to prove it either way.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± The voice called again, and Tala grinned at the comradery and sympathy in the tone. ¡°Do you need any special circumstances for your dissolution?¡± Master Grediv queried her. ¡°No, just proximity. Consider it a breath attack.¡± That got some interested mutterings as well. Master Grediv smiled and nodded. ¡°Very well.¡± He walked to the side and began pulling things out of the air, only small amounts of dimensional magic revealing the use of his bound storage. In less than a minute, he had a series of materials set up on blocks ranging from rocks, metals, and even a living plant in a ceramic pot to cloth, leather, and bone. The Paragon stepped back and gestured. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you can do.¡± Tala smiled and stepped forward. Then, she paused. ¡°Oh! If I go a bit overboard it¡¯s actually combustive. I assume that isn¡¯t the preference?¡± ¡°Show us the extreme of what you are comfortable doing, but do it facing the wall there.¡± He pointed toward the nearest wall, some twenty feet from where he¡¯d set up the various items on stands. ¡°As you wish.¡± She stretched slightly and straightened her back before glancing at her passenger, ¡°Terry, you want to stay there, or go back in?¡± He tilted his head as he examined her, then wiggled as he settled more firmly on her shoulder. ¡°Very well. I hope you enjoy the show. I don¡¯t think you have ever seen me do this, actually.¡± She let herself grin despite her mild nervousness. Alright, Tala. No issues here. Ignore the large group of insanely powerful people watching you. She took in a long, slow, deep breath even as she pulled power from her defensive scripts into her lungs. Next, with a now practiced application of will, she grabbed the spell-form and flipped it, using a practiced twist. She suffused her lungs with power, ensuring the containment scripts were sufficiently reinforced, before leaning slightly forward and exhaling. She saw the results as if in slow motion. Her breath rippled out across everything provided, more power than a dozen endingberry seeds carried with the exhale, directed and funneled by her slightly extended aura. While doing that wasn¡¯t necessary, it would make for a cleaner working. Everything before her began to turn to a fine powder, misting up into the air as it was so fine as to float with relative ease. The power still actively surrounded it, preventing it from recombining in any way. Then, she saw the dissolution magics take hold on the air itself, breaking the bonds therein. On the fringes, starting quite near to her open mouth, the magic fully spent itself, leaving the unbound elements behind, free-floating and unrestrained by magic. They wanted to be bound. In the fraction of a second after her magic left the closest edges of dissolute matter, the free-floating elements met in innumerable exothermic reactions, Tala¡¯s increased perception and knowledge making it obvious what was happening. That reaction¡ªhappening all across the outside edges of her breath¡ªprovided heat, heat that ignited the slower-to-react results within. Thus, even as she continued to exhale, starting at the fringes of her breath¡¯s dissipating cone, fire roared inward and forward. That heat and reactive power forced the magic in her breath forward more quickly, carrying it further and faster than it otherwise would have gone to slam into the wall. There, with nowhere to go, hemmed in by flash-burning flames, the magics finished spending themselves, fully dissolving everything within the defined cone, adding fuel to the blaze. At a more normal speed of perception, it would appear that Tala breathed out and a cone of fire roared away from her with almost white-hot intensity, burning itself out as fast as a quick exhale. In its wake was only a triangle of burned flooring and a circle of blackened wall. There were no remnants of the items that Master Grediv had set out at all, though the portions of the stands which had been outside of the effect remained, smoldering and smoking slightly. On Tala¡¯s shoulder, Terry¡¯s feathers were still rustling and rippling in the backwash of hot air, even as the avian held on tightly, eyes sparkling with obvious glee. After the shocking roar of the short burst of flame, the room was almost deathly quiet. Master Doitean stepped forward and spoke for the first time. ¡°Fascinating. The fire was purely a byproduct, though it seems to have enhanced the reach and coverage of the dissolution. If I hadn¡¯t been looking for it, I would have said it was simply mundane fire, because it was mundane fire.¡± He glanced toward Tala. ¡°That is an impressive mid-range ability.¡± Tala shrugged, feeling a bit self-conscious. ¡°Only if you don¡¯t need anything around the target to remain intact.¡± The man nodded solemnly. ¡°That is one of the dangers of fire, yes, but it can also be its gift. Did I see you focusing the magics with your aura?¡± ¡°A bit, yeah. It helps keep it moving in the right direction, rather than simply blowing up in my face.¡± He grinned widely. ¡°Now that is wisdom born from experience. I¡¯d love to chat at some point about how you¡¯ve used that in the past. You didn¡¯t seem to use your tongue at all or lips very much. Have you studied breath weapons?¡± ¡°There haven¡¯t been many times yet, but sure. I¡¯m happy to discuss it. As to breath weapons, no, I haven¡¯t studied them specifically.¡± ¡°I would be happy to teach you what I know. There won¡¯t be direct crossover, as I use a form of magical fire, but there should be some that I can teach.¡± Tala gave a nod of her head. ¡°Thank you. I would like to learn as much as I can.¡± As Tala turned back to her handiwork, she found herself blinking in surprise when she took in the fact that nearly a dozen Refined were now examining the area her attack had landed, along with Master Grediv. I didn¡¯t see them move. Did they just go behind me while I was distracted? -These likely have something to directly enhance their movement speed, at least over a short distance.- I suppose that could be. Her mirrored perspectives hadn¡¯t noted their movement, either, which lent credence to Alat¡¯s theory. Master Grediv turned her way with a smile. ¡°Very impressively demonstrated, Mistress Tala. You can modulate the power of that breath, correct?¡± She nodded. ¡°I think I could probably go more powerful, but that is about as much power as I¡¯ve used for this working before, when I was Fused. I thought it wisest to keep the magics to known levels in a contained environment like this.¡± That set off a few more mutters, though Tala was unsure if they were due to her saying she could have done this while Fused, or for her reasoning for holding back. She could have listened closely enough to hear, but Master Grediv was talking again so she focused on him. ¡°Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say: It will be interesting to see you unleash that more fully.¡± Tala smiled and glanced down. With that, she took a moment to look a bit closer at the flooring. ¡°What is this stuff, by the way? It didn¡¯t seem to be too harmed by my attack.¡± ¡°It is an iron-carbon composite.¡± ¡°So¡­ steel?¡± He chuckled. ¡°At its most basic level it is similar to steel, I suppose. That said, the material is much more precisely structured. There are other compounds in there as well. The result is brittle, a bit like sand¡ªif not as coarse and irritating¡ª, and incredibly resilient to magical damage. It is actually used as part of the wall construction for the innermost walls of our cities as well.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± She nodded, not asking further. She wasn¡¯t well versed in material science or its magic, so the particulars were likely beyond her at the moment. Iron¡­eh? It wasn¡¯t hers, nor could she claim any right to it, so thankfully there wasn¡¯t any sort of temptation or pull from the material. She was a bit surprised that no one seemed bothered by all the iron. While it was possible that they didn¡¯t know, Tala found that highly unlikely. Well, merging chambers in the Constructionist guildhalls are iron clad. It seems like the dislike of iron is mostly a superstition that is dealt with as Mages advance? Well, not a superstition. It¡¯s genuinely an issue for Mages, but not as much for Archons, and even less so as they advance. -It still has to be worked around, no matter the power level. It does seem to be tied to reality, which doesn¡¯t seem to like Magic much, regardless of advancement.- That¡¯s true enough, but it¡¯s less detrimental even so. ¡°So,¡±¡ªMaster Grediv drew her attention back¡ª¡°shall we move on to the other tests?¡± Chapter: 326 - Gravity Tala was feeling much more comfortable now that she¡¯d displayed one of her abilities. She walked toward the vast, open three-quarters of the arena with Master Grediv at her side, leaving the portion with the remnants of her breath attack behind. ¡°What would you like to demonstrate next?¡± ¡°Area.¡± ¡°Very well, do you require anything set up for the demonstration?¡± She hesitated. She didn¡¯t need anything to demonstrate the siege orbs, but¡­ ¡°Do you want a better display?¡± He smiled her way before flicking his eyes behind them and sighing dramatically. ¡°We do have an audience.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Then, a plate of metal, or stone wall, or something else intended to withstand Fused or higher attacks.¡± He gave her a long look, then nodded. ¡°As you wish.¡± As she considered it, Tala realized that she might need to reapproach her siege orbs. They were about as powerful as she could reasonably make when she had made them, but she was Refined now. To that end, as Master Grediv walked faster to get ahead of her, Tala spoke up, infusing her voice so she didn¡¯t need to shout in order to be heard. ¡°Similar to the dissolution, this was put together when I was Fused. I will be enhancing this ability up to Refined levels as I have time and availability, but this is what I have now that I am confident will work as expected. This is the baseline of what I will be capable of in this area.¡± A few understanding responses came back, and she smiled. Master Grediv went about two hundred feet out and dropped what seemed to be a section of wall before moving back her direction. It was a four foot cube of heavily inscribed stone. The Paragon had funneled power into the activation scripts as he walked away, causing it to flare with light briefly before becoming simple stone to mundane eyes. To Tala¡¯s magesight? It positively blazed. She did pay attention to the mutters this time. Apparently, this was a known item. Master Jevin had made its type known to her ages ago. It was a magical defense intended to work with others of its kind to create quick battlements on the fly. They were heavily reinforced, but generally, they were designed for Fused level threats or below, given their use in the Leskhin wars and the fact that¡ªin those conflicts¡ªRefined and above threats were few enough to be engaged directly, while these battlements kept the lesser opponents away from the lower ranked Archons. No one person said all of that, or even a significant portion, but Tala was able to piece it together out of the mutters coming from behind her, aided by Alat and their multiple mirrored perspectives. When Master Grediv was again by her side, he motioned at the free-standing wall chunk. ¡°When you are ready.¡± Tala gave a small bow. ¡°Thank you for providing such a target.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± Tala pulled out a paired set of siege orbs, the small spheres firmly pressed together. She nodded to herself, and with an act of power and will, she shifted the orbs¡¯ amplified gravity targets to carefully chosen points on the wall. There was a loud crack as the orbs leapt from her hand, tearing through the air, followed by a crunch as the spheres embedded deeply into the stone. In the momentary pause, Tala only heard one sound of confusion, where some Refined had obviously not understood why she called this her ¡®area of effect¡¯ ability. She felt herself smile, imagining the destruction about to be wrought. Those are spheres: Tala and Terry. Their labels, which tied them to the workings that had created them, were altered and the effects undone. The workings¡ªholding the spheres tightly coherent¡ªbroke. If the sound of their flight had been the cracking of a whip, the explosion that followed was the unleashing of a thunderstorm. The blast of rapidly expanding air slapped against the gathered Refined. Magics flickered in the air, causing the very few bits that would have flown into the spread out crowd to stop in place before dropping harmlessly to the ground. Given that everyone was so far away, only a few even had to take a step back from the pressure wave, but that was impressive in and of itself. The entire area cooled extremely quickly, the radical temperature change alone causing the odd substance of the floor to squeal as it contracted and shifted disconcertingly for nearly fifty yards in every direction. Everything was coated in a thin layer of ice as the moisture was ripped from the air by the sudden cold. At the center of the twin blasts, nothing of the wall segment remained. The ground had been blown back in a circle, exposing the reinforced stone more than ten feet down, the ground material having been moved back even as it was peppered throughout with debris from the now-decimated, previously-heavily-reinforced stone. That same flooring grit was bunched up around the depression, showing that it had been moved, not annihilated. There was a longer silence in the wake of this demonstration. Terry straightened out his neck, shaking himself before letting out a chuffing series of trills, his beak pointed toward the ceiling. That sound broke the silence, and someone let out a barking laugh. ¡°Ice, now? Mistress Deigh, anything to say?¡± The unit leader took an almost unconscious step forward, eyes still fixed on the crater. ¡°There was no magic in that.¡± She quickly shook her head. ¡°There was power when the orbs left you, and I sensed a¡­ releasing of magic as the detonation happened, but the blast itself? There was nothing magical to it.¡± Tala nodded, clearing her throat. ¡°The orbs are magically compressed air. All that I do is break the working that holds them compressed. The rapid expansion forces extreme cooling.¡± She glanced to the side and found both Master Grediv and Mistress Deigh staring at her, causing Tala to do a double take before she stepped away to reorient on them. ¡°What?¡± Master Grediv cleared his throat, shaking himself. ¡°How, exactly, do you compress air to that extent?¡± ¡°Gravity.¡± A Refined behind her spluttered. ¡°Gravity doesn¡¯t work like that!¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It makes sense to me.¡± There was no response to that. Tala clapped her hands together before the silence could build again. ¡°Shall we go to the range? I will say that my method for long range precision is the same which delivered the orbs to impact the wall.¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Do we need to see a specific demonstration of that?¡± A few people called out that, yes, they very much did, but the unit leaders all shook their heads. Master Akra speaking the sentiment out loud, ¡°That isn¡¯t necessary. I believe we had the gist of it quite well demonstrated.¡± Tala nodded, briefly pulling out her scale mail hauberk. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll just say that I can send these scales as attacks in any direction using that method.¡± ¡°She has scales?¡± ¡°And a breath weapon.¡± ¡°Master Grediv! I thought all the dragons were locked up!¡± Master Grediv laughed. ¡°No one is fool enough to promise that, Master Tanel.¡± A ripple of laughter went through the Refined, and Tala frowned, glanced toward the Paragon. ¡°What¡¯s the joke?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Oh, there¡¯s a common saying among the defenders of mankind pertaining to dragons.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. After a moment¡¯s silence, she raised an eyebrow. ¡°Can I hear it?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I suppose. ¡®When the fool believes dragons are no threats, beware the jaws of fate.¡¯¡± Tala nodded. Fate was often likened to a dragon in many myths and legends. ¡°So, it¡¯s just a saying?¡± ¡°Oh, no. There have been several famous Paragons who declared that dragons were no longer a threat to humanity, each for a different reason. Every one of them died by the tooth, claw, tail, or breath of a dragon.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ Yeah, I can see how the saying applies.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± There was a moment¡¯s silence before Master Cruinneas stepped forward, ¡°Well, on that note, I believe that we¡¯re to the martial test. Is that right? Or are you planning on somehow turning me inside out with a void weapon?¡± He was grinning at his own joke, but when Tala opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again, he narrowed his eyes. ¡°You did say you have void abilities, didn¡¯t you.¡± It wasn¡¯t really a question. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Are they with regard to your weapon?¡± ¡°Some are.¡± He took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. ¡°Are you capable of fighting without void-magics?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. No void magics in our match.¡± ¡°As you say, Master Cruinneas.¡± ¡°Thank you. You can call me Cru.¡± ¡°Very well, Master Cru.¡± A seemingly random Refined in the group snapped his fingers and a circle of flooring shifted color. Tala grinned as she walked over to the standard sized sparring circle. Terry flickered off of her shoulder and into a comfortable seat on the edge of the space. Master Cru joined her, taking up an opposing position within the circle. With a minor flick of will, she pulled Flow to her hand, then gestured to the sheath covering the knife blade, ¡°Morphic sparring sheath.¡± The man nodded, smiling. ¡°I will be pulling training weaponry from my storage at need.¡± When he made no move to do so, Tala cocked an eyebrow. ¡°When will that be?¡± ¡°When I need to.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Alright. Who says go?¡± Master Grediv walked forward, the other Refined moving to surround the circle. ¡°I will.¡± The two combatants nodded their agreement. ¡°This is a test of martial skill. No external magics are allowed ¡ªsave those pertaining to your weaponry. No void magics.¡± Tala gave a half smile. ¡°I assume that dimensional storage items are allowed? Otherwise, Master Cru will be unarmed.¡± Master Grediv smiled in return. ¡°Just so. No external defenses either. This is a test and demonstration of martial prowess, not a competition on who can hit through the other¡¯s defenses.¡± There were no objections, and Tala retracted her iron, while disabling her elk-leather¡¯s defenses. ¡°Ready.¡± Master Cru didn¡¯t take up a fighting stance. Tala slipped into a high guard, Flow lengthening into its sword-form. ¡°Begin!¡± She whipped Flow downward, hurtling the weapon at Master Cru with all of her considerable strength and speed. She let it fall back into the form of a knife as it left her hand, making it seem like she couldn¡¯t keep it in another form without contact. It wasn¡¯t a common limitation, but it did exist in some weapons. This was a trick that she could only pull once, so she intended to show her unconventional tactics to their fullest. The other Refined¡¯s eyes widened slightly as Flow crossed the distance in a blur. Even so, the man was already moving. At the last moment, she pumped power through her soul-bond, forcing Flow into the form of a glaive in the exact moment that it would be in range of Master Cru, in that form. Tala only caught what happened in retrospect. Her multiple perspectives pieced it back together even as she pulled Flow back to her hand before it could careen into the watching crowd. Master Cru had brought up his hands to sweep the knife aside, a sword seeming to materialize out of nothing to parry the smaller blade. When Flow had taken the form of a glaive, changing the timing, Master Cru had adjusted to the attack but barely, letting Flow brush past his shoulder in a hit that would have been at least somewhat damaging were they using live weaponry. As Flow came back into her hand, Tala saw that Master Cru¡¯s weapon was gone once more. Even so, there was a smile on the man¡¯s face. ¡°That was a solid attack. It showed speed, precision, decisiveness, and cunning. Bravo.¡± She smiled and nodded her head, careful to keep her eyes on him. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°What it lacked was follow-through.¡± He moved his hand almost casually, but Tala saw the throwing knives appear in it an instant before they were released. Though she trusted that she could likely take the hits, that wasn¡¯t the point of this exercise. Ahh, that was stupid of me. I was still in ¡®showing¡¯ mode. I should have charged on the heels of my first attack. -Well, show your abilities here.- She shifted out of the way of two of the knives at the same time that she deflected another two with Flow and the fifth with her off hand. Her focus returned to Master Cru, only to find him right in front of her, having used the thrown weapons as a distraction to close the distance, just as she should have. Tala used her momentum from her earlier dodging to force her torso down and backward even as she kicked off of the ground for a handless cartwheel. A sword came into being in his hand just as her knee came down from above, connecting with his wrist. The hand spasmed open just after he gave what appeared to be a practiced twist. As his arm was forced downward, it pushed the handle of the sword, which levered the blade upward¡­ on a perfectly intersecting path toward Tala. Her eyes widened as she was forced to use Flow to protect herself instead of attacking again. Even so, his fist managed a precise strike to her leg as she finished her movement. The muscle started to cramp up from the powerful hit, but she seized it through the scripts woven throughout and eliminated the problem. ¡°Flashy.¡± His tone was level, but it was obviously not a compliment. Tala thrust out at him, Flow becoming a glaive that he attempted to slap aside with an open palm. She resisted the deflection, bringing her strength to bear just long enough to score a hit on his outside shoulder. He had been in a position of much greater strength, so hitting him in the torso was impossible. Still, with her greater-than-expected might, she¡¯d been able to turn an easy deflection into a glancing hit. She closed the distance allowing his deflection to throw Flow into a tight arc, the blade coming back at the man as she flowed past his own attacks. He is an enemy, not a partner. I am here to end him, not help him grow. Her stance shifted subtly, and she ripped Flow to the side, changing its trajectory, along with her own, in ways that should seem impossible. Her footwork tightened up, and she leaned heavily on the stability training she¡¯d received from Eskau De-arg, flowing through her attacks like a crashing avalanche. Master Cru, for his part, steadily retreated, obvious surprise painted across his features as weapons appeared just in time for each attack or block before vanishing right after. Her increased perception allowed her to see cracks radiating through the weaponry whenever he had to deflect Flow more than just a bit. Even so, each time he called forth a new weapon, it was whole and undamaged. Still, he seemed to be requiring more and more of his strength to change where her strikes would land. If he¡¯s this weak, what would happen if I actually connected? Tala cut that thought off immediately, not letting any concern for his wellbeing take hold, and she held nothing back, using all of her power, weight, and skill to strike at him from every direction she could strike from. Despite all of her seeming advantages, she couldn¡¯t manage to land a clean hit. Well, let¡¯s try something more than direct conflict, then. She threw Flow at him again, and he deflected the blade to the side where it embedded in the ground behind him. Tala continued the assault with fist and knee and foot, forcing him to shift as she wanted. Then, she called Flow from behind the man, while continuing her unaltered assault. Even so, he somehow detected the incoming blade and was able to spin out of the way even as a halberd appeared in his grasp, whistling through the air to strike at her as part of the same motion. She barely managed to bend out of the way of the attack while striking the haft to lift the blade up the last bit that she required to avoid a hit. That was a small turning point, however, and he was able to press her backward, gaining control over the flow of the battle. Tala fought to take control once again, and back and forth they went. Finally, Master Cru seemed to nod to himself. ¡°Final test.¡± A sword appeared in each of his hands, and he advanced behind a storm of flickering edges. Tala growled as she did all that she could to keep him at bay, but she simply couldn¡¯t. His first hit was to her hip, then her shoulder, then an ankle. None were hard enough to break anything, but they interrupted her movements, slowing her reactions enough to make the next hit come sooner. Finally, Master Cru stopped with one sword blocked, trying to bisect her waist and the other waiting, unimpeded, beside her neck. Master Grediv clapped his hands at the same instant Master Cru stopped, and Tala couldn¡¯t tell which had prompted the other. ¡°Done!¡± The two combatants stepped back, giving nods of acknowledgement. He was much better than she was. He hadn¡¯t simply overwhelmed her at the beginning because that wouldn¡¯t be a useful test. Instead, he¡¯d been slowly increasing his own demonstrated skill, pushing her to see where her limits lay. Together, they had found them and raised them ever so slightly. ¡°How long?¡± She asked, finding herself quite curious. ¡°Have I been fighting?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He shrugged. ¡°A few centuries? I enjoy it, so I¡¯ve packed a lot in that time, too.¡± That made her feel quite a bit better. ¡°So? How did I do?¡± ¡°Spectacularly for your age, assuming you¡¯ve been an Archon for less than fifty years. High middling for a Refined with a martial bent. You lean on your strength a lot, but you use it well, and your style indicates you¡¯re used to trading hits, which this wasn¡¯t a good test for.¡± She grimaced. Well, I suppose I can¡¯t expect to be the best around. -Hey, nothing¡¯s gonna ever keep you down.- Alat was right. Tala still had time to learn and improve. ¡°Thank you, Master Cru.¡± Master Grediv cleared his throat, the tiniest hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. ¡°My apologies, Master Cru, but Mistress Tala is only twenty-one.¡± The Refined, who was already halfway back to the food table, froze before spinning on his heel and blurting, ¡°What now?!¡± Chapter: 327 - Meet the Unit Tala felt the gazes on her sharpen even as Master Cru walked back her way. ¡°Mistress Tala, you¡¯ve only been an Archon for twenty-one years? Who did you learn under? Most have an incredible amount of trouble adapting to enhanced physiology, and I would love to know who taught you so well.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°My apologies, Master Cru. I think there was a misunderstanding.¡± The man seemed to relax. ¡°Oh. I was going to say: Your magics and combat effectiveness did seem a bit too advanced for that.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, once again, we aren¡¯t understanding each other. I was born twenty-one years ago.¡± The silence that followed was almost tangible. Tala had no interest in sitting in that silence, so she continued. ¡°As to who trained me? First, most obviously, I learned from the trainers at the Academy and from my own experiences fighting. Secondarily, I learned from a Guardsman Sergeant named Adam and a few other Guardsmen students and trainers. Adding to that is extensive sparring sessions with Master Grediv¡¯s former apprentice, Rane. Finally, the most recent¡ªand likely greatest¡ªexpansion to my capacities came while learning from the Eskau and Pillars of the House of Blood, while I was bound in servitude within the arcane lands.¡± That did not help the silence dissipate. Until it did. A Refined on her right snapped his fingers. ¡°I KNEW IT! She made her memories available. Her memories don¡¯t really include good views of herself, but I thought I recognized some of the things she could do.¡± That started a storm of murmurs. It seemed like the comment about a major House in the arcane lands had drawn their attention away from her training with Master Grediv¡¯s apprentice. For now. -Or they already knew or assumed? You did come down here with him.- Could be, yeah. But he also seems to be in rather a position of authority, here. He¡¯s the local, head Archon, as I recall. As it turned out, most of those present had seen at least a couple of Tala¡¯s memories, giving greater credence to Mistress Ingrit¡¯s numbers, provided and checked by Alat. Huh¡­ well, that might have just made things a bit more awkward. These people can all go watch me do all sorts of things now¡­ -Yeah, I suppose we didn¡¯t really consider that. But hey! More gold and favors for us!- Terry flickered up to her shoulder. Where did he go? She glanced toward the food tables and thought that there seemed to be less meat laid out than there had been a moment earlier. Even if so, she didn¡¯t bother comparing her earlier memories because she didn¡¯t care much either way. Thus, she just scratched Terry as he preferred. Tala cleared her throat, shifting mental gears, ¡°Well. How do we proceed from here?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Yes, we need to place Mistress Tala within a defensive unit. Does anyone wish to withdraw based on what they¡¯ve seen or learned?¡± The unit leaders all shook their heads. ¡°Mistress Tala, do you have a preference?¡± She frowned. ¡°Can I train with, and learn from, people in other units?¡± ¡°Absolutely. Your unit only determines who you are most likely to fight alongside, and who you will most likely have duty and free time in alignment with.¡± ¡°Then, I would say I have no preference. I would enjoy working with anyone here, from what I¡¯ve seen.¡± She saw a few people smile, even with the obviously generic nature of her words. Manners never hurt. -Well¡­- Not now, Alat¡­ Master Grediv nodded. ¡°In that case, I believe we should assign you to the unit of Master Clevnis and Mistress Cerna. Theirs is the smallest group represented. You will make their sixth member.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that most units are ten Refined strong?¡± ¡°By the peak of the waning? Usually around that, yes. But we¡¯ve two decades to go. Honestly, having the average unit size above five is quite unusual at this point, but as this is an odd waning, it makes sense.¡± Tala grunted understanding. ¡°So, it¡¯s confirmed then? My unit is chosen?¡± Master Grediv nodded causing Master Clevnis to smile. Mistress Cerna threw her hands up, ¡°Woohoo! No more bottom-of-the-list duty!¡± Tala cocked her head. The Refined grinned at Tala¡¯s confusion. ¡°You are lovely, dear, and we¡¯re glad to have you, but we are also excited because the team with the fewest members is often tasked to take longer assignments outside the walls, such as runs to newly discovered cells, or defending those sent to service known ones.¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°It risks fewer Refined at a time, and the smaller units are usually a bit more cohesive, which increases the chances of good outcomes.¡± Tala hmmed understanding, ¡°That makes sense.¡± He smiled. ¡°That said¡­¡± The husband and wife paused, clearly thinking through something. Mistress Cerna¡¯s shoulders drooped, ¡°We¡¯re still tied for last.¡± ¡°Yes, you are.¡± ¡°Well, at least we¡¯ll share the longer duties, then.¡± ¡°You will.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It seems like fun to go outside the walls for longer stints.¡± Mistress Cerna shrugged. ¡°It is, but¡­¡± Master Clevnis smiled, giving a tightly-squeezing side-hug to his wife, ¡°She doesn¡¯t like ¡®roughing it'' very much.¡± Tala opened her mouth for a moment, then paused, grinning at them. ¡°What?¡± Mistress Cerna had caught the expression. ¡°Once I verify something, I think that we may get on even better than I¡¯d hoped.¡± -Oh! Yeah. That could work really well. We¡¯ll need to check with Master Simon, though.- Yeah. We still don¡¯t understand all of this ¡®integrity of reality¡¯ stuff, yet. Master Grediv clapped his hands. ¡°Well, since our business is done, here, and it¡¯s already a party, let¡¯s¡­¡±¡ªhe trailed off, causing the Refined to lean in just a bit¡ª¡°kick you all out, so Mistress Tala and her new unit can get to know one another.¡± There was a collective groan. ¡°Exceptions are: Mistress Kaeti, Master Akra, Mistress Deigh, Master Doitean, and Master Cru.¡± Everyone else started moving toward the door, a few coming by to wish Tala a personal welcome. Others swept by the food and drink tables, loading up on their way out. A few did both. In the end, the arena felt much emptier with only ten Refined, Tala, and Master Grediv. Thankfully, it seemed that Master Clevnis¡¯s unit had all been in attendance. Or is it Mistress Cerna¡¯s? -You could ask.- ¡°If I may, who is the unit leader, Mistress Cerna or Master Clevnis?¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The two shared a look and smiled before Mistress Cerna answered, ¡°On paper, we lead together. In practice, we make all decisions together, but in the heat of the moment he generally has a better head for quick-response strategy, so his word is final in the field.¡± He snorted. ¡°And you have a much better handle on logistics and gathering intel, so while we make decisions together, your initial inclination generally lines up with what we go with.¡± She shrugged in return. ¡°We each have areas in which we excel.¡± Tala found herself smiling. ¡°I suppose I can understand that. Better two, united in leadership, than one without any checks or backup.¡± ¡°Precisely,¡± Master Grediv smiled as he inserted himself into the conversation, ¡°We do prefer units to be led by a pair, usually married, but there are those like Mistresses Cupla & Caraid who work best with a sibling or another person. But that is beside the point. I asked the others to stay briefly so that you could arrange times to meet up with each of them for some training.¡± Mistress Kaeti stepped forward. ¡°I am definitely curious what you wished to learn from me.¡± Tala smiled at the woman. ¡°I need help with splitting my mental focus. I have enough mental capacity to do so with ease, but I¡¯m not practiced at it so I struggle, and I feel like speaking with an expert would help me proceed more wisely.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± The woman seemed a bit surprised but also pleased. ¡°Well, it would be my honor to teach you what I can.¡± ¡°Thank you. Additionally, I am very interested in your utility and manipulation of your own reality node.¡± That seemed to take the woman off guard. ¡°I¡­ what?¡± That seemed to have garnered everyone¡¯s attention, even the Refined from her new unit whom she hadn¡¯t met yet. Tala suddenly felt a bit self-conscious. ¡°When you replicated yourself across the battlefield. They weren¡¯t illusions¡­ well, the ones you had dancing weren¡¯t. They were all the same node in reality, but somehow you had it in multiple places at once.¡± There was a long silence before Master Grediv cleared his throat. ¡°Mistress Tala, your voidsight is highly unusual. I think it most likely that Mistress Kaeti isn¡¯t aware of how that ability appears to such a sight.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± That actually made quite a bit of sense. ¡°My apologies. Then, I suppose I would love to study it with you. Maybe, we can both learn something.¡± The woman seemingly pulled herself back together quickly, smiling slightly. ¡°That¡­ that would be lovely. You have Archive access, yes?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Then, I will grant you access to a note, and we can arrange times. Right now¡±¡ªshe shook her head¡ª¡°I think I need to go consider what you¡¯ve said. Thank you.¡± The Refined turned and strode from the arena, clearly already lost in thought. -We can share the memory with her.- Yeah, I was thinking of offering that, but it didn¡¯t seem like the right time. -That¡¯s fair. We can discuss it when we meet up.- Master Akra cleared his throat. ¡°Now, I¡¯m a bit unsure if I should ask why I¡¯m here.¡± Even so he grinned. ¡°So, I won¡¯t. Aura control?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Yes. You are one of the best instructors in that area, save your old master.¡± ¡°You flatter me, Master Grediv.¡± He looked to Tala. ¡°Is that something you are interested in working on?¡± ¡°I am, I mean, it is, yes.¡± She nodded, sincerely excited at the prospect. Master Jevin had helped her a lot, and learning from his student would be a treat. ¡°Then, let¡¯s coordinate. I believe Mistress Kaeti had a good idea with scheduling through the Archive. Shall we do the same?¡± ¡°That works for me. Shall I create the touch point?¡± ¡°That would be wonderful. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°And you, Master Akra.¡± Alat? -I¡¯ll do it in a few minutes, to preserve social niceties. People often get odd ideas if such things are done too fast.- Tala didn¡¯t let the grimace pass over her features. That¡¯s an inefficient way to approach things¡­ Even so, Alat wasn¡¯t wrong. Not you. I don¡¯t think your idea was bad, just the possible misinterpretation. -I understood you. I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s done soon.- Thank you. The shorter Refined bid the others goodbye and grabbed some food on the way out. The three remaining Refined not of her new unit had been chatting, and Mistress Deigh cleared her throat, ¡°I think we understand. I¡¯m happy to discuss with her the particulars of how to utilize cold in a battle situation, assuming she hasn¡¯t deeply investigated that already?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s been an ancillary effect more than anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be in contact, then. My husband is happy to teach you about breath-weapons and fire on the battlefield, as he said earlier.¡± Tala nodded to the man, who simply smiled in return. ¡°And Master Cru always loves having new sparring partners.¡± The man, himself, cleared his throat. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Deigh. Yes, Mistress Tala. I am happy to spar with you or attempt to train you. Different people learn better in different ways, and I am happy to do either.¡± He glanced to Master Grediv. ¡°Your apprentice¡­¡± ¡°Rane is not yet ready to spar with you, Master Cruinneas. He lacks the durability of a Refined, and while I trust your skill, accidents can happen in the best of circumstances.¡± The Refined bowed. ¡°Very well, Master Grediv.¡± The three bid the remainder goodbye and left without getting more food. Master Clevnis clapped his hands together. ¡°Well, with that sorted, we really should do introductions.¡± Mistress Cerna stepped forward, ¡°If I may?¡± ¡°Of course, dear.¡± ¡°Then, I should start with myself. Aside from co-leader of the unit, I am a support specialist in group maneuvers. I am a Material Guide, generally, and I focus on thread.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Just¡­ ¡®thread?¡¯ What material? Cotton?¡± ¡°All materials.¡± Mistress Cerna motioned to the metal on her Mage¡¯s robes. ¡°With a little time, I can create most magical effects.¡± She then pulled open her robes, showing quite a bit of skin¡ªas expected¡ªbut also rolls of incredibly thin metal on various spools on the woman¡¯s belt. ¡°I am capable of filling any role at need and taking advantage of my opponent¡¯s weaknesses, once I know them.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. She makes new spell-forms in the air with the thread? That¡¯s¡­ -Genius, yeah.- ¡°Do you even need inscriptions?¡± ¡°Yes, but they are more akin to those that pure inscribers get, though not exactly the same, obviously.¡± Mistress Cerna gave a sly smile. Her husband grinned. ¡°And don¡¯t let her bubbly nature fool you. She was a Mage Hunter for a few centuries.¡± If possible, Tala¡¯s eyes widened further, the implication hitting her like a runaway wagon, ¡°You altered your opponent¡¯s inscriptions?¡± Mistress Cerna sly smile turned positively wicked. ¡°You¡¯re a quick one.¡± That¡­ that was terrifying on a level Tala hadn¡¯t ever really considered. The lithe, unassuming woman gained a measure of fear-based respect. Interestingly, Mistress Cerna would have a similar issue to Tala. It would be hard to use that incredibly effective tool in low-stakes situations. The Refined unit leader continued, ¡°My husband is a close to mid-range combatant. He is an Immaterial Creator.¡± ¡°I create edges.¡± Tala almost asked of what material, but she realized that that didn¡¯t make sense with what they¡¯d said. ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ concept magic?¡± One of the other men threw up his hands. ¡°That¡¯s what I keep telling him.¡± Master Clevnis shook his head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t do anything with the concept of an edge. I create edges of magic.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It works well enough.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°How could you use that effectively? Wouldn¡¯t it dissipate within your opponent¡¯s aura?¡± ¡°Yes and no. That is one reason I am a close to mid-range fighter. I generally create them on my limbs, close enough that I have good control.¡± ¡°But to hit your opponent, you have to get close to them, too. That¡¯s what blades do.¡± ¡°True, but just like a fireball can be thrown through an aura and not vanish, a blade of magic doesn¡¯t dissipate, not instantly.¡± Tala opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it again. Obviously, it has to be at least marginally effective. I suppose I¡¯ll just have to see it myself. -We¡¯ll also have to see if iron is an effective counter.- Yeah. The other man who had already spoken up waved a hand. ¡°I¡¯m Limmestare Gline. I started as a Material Guide. I specialize in wide area magics. Glass is my chosen material.¡± Hard, sharp, variable. Tala found herself nodding. ¡°I could see that, yeah.¡± Off to the side, one of the men who had stayed behind was slowly moving around behind her, cloaked in magic. He wasn¡¯t close, so Tala didn¡¯t mention it, even as she tracked him with her mirrored perspectives. The other female Refined stepped forward and gave a shallow bow, ¡°I am Vanga, a healer. I began my career as a Material Creator, though I have done my best to branch out from there. I am afraid that I won¡¯t be as much use to you as the others.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I disagree. My healing is Immaterial Guide based. I would much rather have your healing for some injuries than my own.¡± That caused the other woman to smile. ¡°Thank you, that is very kind, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also true, Mistress Vanga. I look forward to working with you.¡± There was a moment of silence, so Tala sighed, lifting a finger toward the man who had started drawing close. She didn¡¯t bother to look his way, keeping her eyes on Mistress Cerna even as she pointed straight between the man¡¯s eyes from fifteen feet away. ¡°Let me guess, he¡¯s stealth?¡± The man faded back into visibility to mundane sight, and Tala was surprised to see that he was clad in stone that moved with him like a second skin. His shoulders slumped in such a dramatic manner that Tala assumed the affectation had to be an over dramatization. ¡°Rust. I thought I slipped away without you noticing.¡± Tala shrugged, still not looking at him with her eyes. ¡°I actually didn¡¯t see you fade away, but I did see you start sneaking about. Is that¡­ rock?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± He proudly patted his chest. ¡°I¡¯m Girt Creag. Material Guide for rock and stone.¡± ¡°So¡­ How did you go invisible?¡± She finally did turn his direction as she asked that, genuinely curious as to his answer. ¡°Simple, I changed the transparency and refraction index of the stone by manipulating the material on a minute level. I have to hold it in place, or it returns to its natural state, but it works rather well.¡± Mistress Cerna was shaking her head. ¡°His antics aside, it is actually really effective. As it turns out, most magical creatures who are known to be able to ¡®see the invisible¡¯ do so by detecting magical alterations to the air, or illusions and such. Most don¡¯t seem to notice invisible rocks.¡± Master Girt grinned. ¡°Which also works for attacks quite well. The rocks lose their invisibility when they leave my control, but a fast enough rock¡ªappearing a few feet away¡ªis a rather effective attack all the same. Plus, I can move us through the ground at need, safely protected from most threats.¡± Rust¡­ Yeah, that would be a pain to fight. Tala smiled. ¡°Good to meet you, Master Girt.¡± She then turned to Master Grediv. ¡°I can see why you¡¯ve been sending this group on more¡­ unusual missions.¡± The Paragon grinned. ¡°Indeed. Speaking of which¡­¡± Chapter: 328 - Settling In Tala waited with bated breath for Master Grediv to tell them what their mission would be. -You know, he didn¡¯t actually say he had a mission for you.- He implied it, though, and I don¡¯t see a reason he¡¯d imply without anything to back it up. -That¡¯s fair, I suppose.- The Paragon straightened slightly, clearly playing it up a bit. Finally, he shrugged and smiled, ¡°You all need to get to know one another, and Mistress Tala needs to settle in, but our detection grids have indicated that we¡¯ll have a precise location for a new cell nailed down somewhere between one and two weeks from now.¡± Tala slumped in disappointment. Not going out right away? Mistress Cerna grimaced. ¡°So soon? We¡¯ll only have one rotation off before then.¡± Tala frowned, tilting her head in confusion. ¡°Rotation off?¡± ¡°Oh! There are always eight units ¡®on¡¯¡ªeach in charge of the defense of an eighth of the wall at a given time¡ªwith seven additional units in reserve¡ªon standby¡ªand one unit with eight hours completely free.¡± ¡°But¡­ most people aren¡¯t needed at any one time. Right?¡± Master Clevnis smiled ruefully, laying his hand on his wife¡¯s shoulder. ¡°She can feel the stress of possibly being called to action. It interferes with her mindset for tasks that can¡¯t easily be paused.¡± The woman was hunched forward just a bit, hands up as if ready to fight. ¡°Must be ready. Always ready.¡± Tala decided not to comment on that. Instead, she asked about what seemed to be an obvious flaw in the system, ¡°What about when a unit leaves the city, like ours will in the next couple of weeks?¡± Master Grediv was the one who answered. ¡°In situations where we need one or more units outside the city, we have six units in reserve, or fewer as the situation demands.¡± It seemed like overkill to Tala, but she supposed it made sense to have some order of operations for calling on reinforcements. They shouldn¡¯t need the process in the near future, but having the plan well ingrained and established would make it work better when it was needed. That brought a thought to mind. If they plan for six or seven units in reserve¡­ the final part of the wanings must be insane. -Seemingly, yeah.- ¡°What in zeme could possibly require such levels of defense?¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°It¡¯s quite rare, but when it happens, it is generally the result of several egg-laying, hive collective magical beasts getting established and coordinating for a unified assault. There was one waning where we were swarmed by bombardier chicks on the ground, acid spewing tunnellers from beneath, and an odd, hive variation of blade-wing falcons from above. Things were tight for a time, but we were able to eliminate the queens in the end before riding out the remainders. We have better detection arrays for such things these days, and more robust protocols.¡± Tala grunted, nodding. Such a thing could have happened a thousand years ago for all she knew; they were just being vigilant. Probably reasonably so. Mistress Cerna pulled the group¡¯s focus back to the matter at hand. ¡°Do we know anything about the nature of the cell?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°In fact, we do. It is definitely conceptual based power that has been contained within. Beyond that, it¡¯s too early to determine.¡± ¡°Very well. We shall be as ready as we can be.¡± Master Grediv gave a shallow bow. ¡°With that, I will leave you.¡± He turned to Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala, if you desire a wall for your use, you are welcome to any within the Gredial compound. The guards will let you through the gate if you prefer to be within the complex itself.¡± Tala gave a moderate bow. ¡°Thank you, Master Grediv. I think I would like that. Rane owes me a few games of tafl, after all.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯d like that.¡± With another nod of acknowledgement, Master Grediv departed. Mistress Cerna sidled up to Tala. ¡°So¡­ the Gredial boy?¡± Tala frowned, looking up at the tall, lithe woman. ¡°Rane? What of him?¡± ¡°Are you officially courting? Waiting for him to Refine? What? What¡¯s the connection there?¡± Tala looked around and found all of the other Refined had drawn closer, clearly interested in her answers. ¡°Do we really want to be talking about this?¡± Terry chirped, bobbing happily. Traitor¡­ She glared at Terry, but he blithely ignored her. Mistress Vanga shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s something we don¡¯t know about you, and I imagine it will come up.¡± Tala grimaced slightly, feeling uncomfortably on the spot. ¡°I don¡¯t know about your spouses or families. It hardly seems...¡± She had been about to say ¡®fair,¡¯ but she realized how childish that sounded. ¡°I mean, there¡¯s only one of me, and five of you. Can¡¯t I learn something of you all, first?¡± Mistress Vanga smiled. ¡°Oh, my husband is up north, running the healing center in the city under construction. I¡¯ll see him a couple of times before the waning is over, but I know he¡¯s safe.¡± She placed her hand over her sternum, where her gate was. ¡°He¡¯s doing what he loves, and I¡¯m doing what I love. Though, I do miss having him around. Master Grediv asked me to come here earlier than usual, so I¡¯m missing five or ten years that I should have had with him, but we¡¯ll manage. Four of our children are with him, though they didn¡¯t go the route of healing. They like working with their hands, so the Builders¡¯ Guild was just perfect for them. The grandkids are with them, too, though most of them are out of the Academy, as well.¡± Tala blinked in surprise at the sheer volume of information contained in the short spout of speech. Master Clevnis smiled, speaking next into the short silence, ¡°You already know that Cerna and I are married. Our kids are scattered to the four winds, and we do our best to not have any under our wing around wanings. We¡¯ve even managed to encourage the younger generations away from having babies around wanings. It keeps conflicts from arising.¡± Master Limmestare gave a wan smile. ¡°My wife is in the city, but she¡¯s not quite Refined. Her sessions are¡­ rather rough. She¡¯ll get there eventually, but not before the waning concludes, in all likelihood. We haven¡¯t had children yet because Rabetha wants our children to have as good a start as possible. I can hardly fault the choice, and we¡¯re hoping for a few after she Refines.¡± All eyes turned to Master Girt, all but Tala¡¯s filled with ready empathy. He shrugged and gave a sad smile. ¡°I lost my beloved during the final days of the last Marliweather¡¯s waning. Our kids are grown, as are the grandkids. Never managed a good connection with the greats or great-greats.¡± He shrugged again. ¡°This work keeps others from going through what I did, so it¡¯s good work.¡± Tala found herself at a loss. ¡°I¡­ thank you for being so open. I am truly sorry for your loss.¡± He clapped her on the shoulder briefly. ¡°It was more than half a century ago. The hurt will never go away, but you learn to work around it.¡± She found herself nodding in the lengthening silence. -So, are you going to answer their questions?- Tala felt a bit silly about being reticent in opening up to these people after their easy sharing of such information, ¡°Well¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°Rane is a good friend. I enjoy training and sparring with him, and we share many interests. He¡¯s said he wants more than friendship, but hasn¡¯t been pushy.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded. ¡°And how do you feel?¡± ¡°Honestly? I have no idea. Everything¡¯s been a whirlwind since I left the Academy two years ago, and I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ve had any time to really process what I want. I was hoping that taking it slow through the waning would help me figure it out.¡± Mistress Vanga cleared her throat. ¡°Very well, then. We won¡¯t pressure you, dear.¡± Master Clevnis nodded. ¡°Our unit is on standby at the moment, but we¡¯re on wall-watch in about an hour. Do you want this cycle to get settled in the city, or would you like to take the threat, if one comes, during this shift?¡± Tala gave it some thought, then shrugged. ¡°I think I¡¯d like to get my hands a bit dirty. I can settle in after.¡± ¡°Alright, then. If there isn¡¯t a threat on the walls, we can do a sweep outward to get you a ¡®settling in¡¯ fight, eh?¡± She found herself smiling. ¡°I think I¡¯d like that. Thank you.¡± * * * Tala slammed backward into the outside of Alefast¡¯s wall, cracks spiderwebbing away from her even as she was embedded slightly into the hard surface. Ow¡­ Around her, the lingering echoes of magical resonance faded from the regional zeme. Well, rust¡­I didn¡¯t think it could hit me that hard¡ªwell, that fast. I need to end this quickly. Immediately, she bent all her power and will to reducing her own gravity. This is going to be a long jump. She slowly peeled herself out of the wall, being careful to not drop to the ground just yet. Consider my options, be quick about it, Tala. Master Clevnis shouted down from just a dozen or so feet above her, ¡°When I suggested you gauge its strength first, I didn¡¯t mean that you should take a hit!¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Yeah, well¡­ That¡¯s probably fair. He called down one last thing, ¡°Just take it out quickly. We can discuss better tactics for next time, afterward.¡± She waved one hand in acknowledgement as she lifted her gaze from the base of the wall, grabbing more firmly onto the cracked wall and bending her knees to stay stable on her vertical perch. Her focus was on what she faced: a familiar, if distant, figure. Alefast had decided to welcome her back with the same type of creature that had sent her off at the end of her first visit. A cyclops. This one was Refined in power, its aura a strong, steady yellow. Its club was massive and deceptively quick. Even so, the blow hadn¡¯t actually hurt that much. Only its upward trajectory had sent her flying. The others in the unit had said that two attacks in one day were unusual, but it generally heralded a bit of a lull afterwards, so they weren¡¯t unwelcome. Besides, the cyclops had come from the opposite direction of the small horde that Mistress Kaeti had dispatched. Over her shoulder, Tala heard someone yelling, ¡°What did she do to my wall!?¡± Tala heard the buzz of another voice but didn¡¯t pay close enough attention to make out all the words. ¡°Fine, our wall. What did she do to our wall?¡± Tala glanced backward and up, taking in what seemed to be two Archons who were closing in on her unit, clearly irritated. Huh, by being a bit embedded, I¡¯m within the wall''s camouflaging scripts, it seems. But that wasn¡¯t where Tala needed to be focused right then. The cyclops stood more than fifty feet tall, about a quarter of a mile from the city walls. That was a hard hit¡­ -Yeah, I don¡¯t think we¡¯d have been turned to mush from a downward strike, but let¡¯s not test it, yeah?- She only hesitated for a moment. Agreed. Still, this might be a good chance to try another thing. She crouched lower into the wall, bunching her muscles and flooding her enhancement scripts and surface area augmenting scripts with power. This would never work on the ground, it¡¯s too loose. But with a wall for footing¡­? -Sure, worst that can happen is that it works too well. They¡¯d heal back right quick.- She made an opening around her mouth through her metal shell and took a deep breath, beginning to fill her lungs and the air they contained with the equivalent of inverted endingberry power. It was time. When her breath held as much magic as she could reasonably force into it, she pulled out a set of siege orbs, grabbed onto one with each hand in as firm a grip as she could manage, as quickly as she could, but not frantically, her gravity was almost nothing. Good enough. Then, before she could really start to fall, she launched off of the city wall, using her will and her control over her iron to throw the material along with her, using its mass to add to her momentum rather than adding to her burden. There was a concussion of sound and wind as her powerful leap was distributed across a huge area of wall, knocking dust free to fall toward the ground. Her leap, while powerful, wasn¡¯t going to get her all the way to her enemy quickly enough, and if he saw her coming, he¡¯d take a swing that she¡¯d bet would be painfully accurate. So she flexed her will and power. The target of the spheres'' amplified gravity changed to the cyclops, still a good distance away. I¡¯m not using it to pull me. I¡¯m already sailing toward it. I¡¯m just making sure they make it to their destination. There was a grinding in her mind as she stretched her understanding and conceptualization of her magics, but her Refined grip kept hold and her workings flared with redirected power. She was jerked forward¡ªeven considering her already rapid pace¡ªsteadily accelerated in less than a second until the air was screaming around her, only her incredibly enhanced perception letting her complete the last part of her plan. Even so, she felt the magical resonance crackle around her. She was moving too fast. Rust. I don¡¯t know if two resonances in such close sequence will be better or worse. At the last moment, she let go of the spheres, allowing them to slam into the beast¡¯s torso, one into each shoulder, blasting the creature backward slightly with the initial hit. She felt her magic relax, no longer edging on breaking her own working by letting it kite her along. Tala broke the working reducing her gravity, knowing she¡¯d need to be able to move downward after she slammed into the big guy¡¯s chest. As for the cyclops, it was massive. So, it moved after the hit more like it had taken an arrow than a powerful shove. An unbelievably small fraction of a second later, the club clipped Tala¡¯s side mid-flight, driving the air from her lungs and sending her spinning. Rust, he¡¯s fast. Her elk-leathers, reinforced by white steel, had protected her from much of the blow, but it still moved her with ease, as she was ballistic when he struck. The dissolution working had rushed outward with her air in a tight circle before she went spinning off into a nearby tree. The power was not wasted in the least. Instead, it had been drawn toward the most potent thing resisting it, focusing the disruptive magics against the cyclops¡¯s flesh. She¡¯d noticed this behavior previously, but hadn¡¯t really noted it. The dissolution would target solid objects and only move on to the air, itself, if it still had power remaining. The particular variety of dissolution targets the strongest things first. It was an incredibly useful realization, for later. From her more stable, mirrored perspectives, Tala was able to see the dissolution eating at the cyclops¡¯s tough skin, hair, and flesh, fighting against his defensive aura and winning, if barely. She didn¡¯t dare hope she¡¯d left enough power behind to deal with the beast with the simple, dispersed working, no matter how potent. As she deflected off a tree and slammed into the ground, she mentally changed the labels on the orbs that she¡¯d followed in for the hit, even while chastising herself. Let go sooner next time. Get up to speed, then let them get ahead. Don¡¯t be so predictable upon engagement. The orbs blossomed outward in freezing explosions, originating on either side of the great beast¡¯s head. The pressure waves were like twin hammer-blows, caving in the sides of the cyclops¡¯s skull, even as the cold seemed to cloud over his eye, turning much of the moisture within the organ to crystalized ice. Got him! Then, the thing turned her way, raising its club over its mangled head. Tala groaned, even as she scrambled to get her feet under her to leap away. Their brain is near their heart to make room for the massive eye in their head. It¡¯s not dead, it¡¯s just blinded. -And deafened, and... he probably can''t smell much, either? I almost feel bad for him.- No sympathy for the enemy, Alat. She managed to launch herself to the side just before the club came down. Even without a killing blow, Tala had clearly rattled the monster, as it was moving much slower now. She thought through a half-dozen ways of whittling the beast down or killing it outright before she went with the simplest that came to mind. She pulled Flow from its sheath and threw it with all the force and accuracy that she could, straight at the creature, using her connection to Flow to push the weapon into the form of a void-sword. The blade struck straight through the colossal sternum, passing through the magically reinforced bone with relative ease, barely slowing before it stopped, sunk up to the hilt. The cyclops immediately seemed to hunch in on himself, mangled shoulders bowing forward and curling in around the embedded weapon, even as he crouched downward, bringing his legs closer to Flow as well. Huh, the void aspect might have been overkill. -Yeah, I think you actually skewered his brain. That was a beautiful throw.- Thank you. I¡¯m quite proud of that. -You know swords aren¡¯t for throwing, right?- They are when I can magically call them back to my hand, and they never dull. -I suppose¡­ I still feel like they aren¡¯t a good fit for that purpose.- Fine¡­ I¡¯ll practice more with throwing the glaive. The void crawled outward from the blade, turning the beast a purplish black to Tala¡¯s voidsight, before slowly dragging more of the cyclops inward. Fascinating. Have we ever stuck the void-blade into something large and then just¡­ left it there? -I don¡¯t believe we have, no.- Seems pretty effective. -He¡¯s resisting, so it might not have worked as well if it were our opening move, but he¡¯s disoriented and hurt enough that I think it will end him.- And¡­ you know, I think he¡¯s probably braindead. What we¡¯re seeing is purely passive resistance. -Hmmm. Yeah, that probably factors too.- The blade¡ªaside from piercing the cyclops¡¯s brain¡ªwas at least very near his heart, causing the iron in the monster¡¯s blood to be claimed by Tala, and she could feel it being pulled out of the beast¡¯s body and funneled into the dimensions of magic for her use, later. Fascinating. -It truly is.- The cyclops dropped to his knees, his club¡ªforgotten¡ªtumbling to make a crater in the ground beside him. A moment later, the tall humanoid had curled fully in on himself, and Tala could hear the sound of breaking bones as the no-longer-discernable-as-humanoid mass shrunk down, sucked inexorably into the void. It¡¯s almost too bad that cyclops are noted to have weaker magical defenses than average for their advancement. -Yeah, this would be really useful on more powerful opponents, but I doubt it would work nearly this well on them.- Yeah¡­ With what could almost have been thought to be a whimper¡ªand a final crackle of splintering bone¡ªthe cyclops vanished, leaving Flow to fall the last few feet to the ground unencumbered. Tala allowed the weapon to return to its knife form even as she walked forward to pick it up. ¡°Well done, Flow. You definitely made that easier.¡± Tala took a look at the massive club. What even is that made of? -No idea, but it could be valuable.- Tala grunted. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll take it.¡± She opened Kit and maneuvered the massive club inside. It wasn¡¯t precisely heavy for her, though it certainly wasn¡¯t light. More than anything, it was cumbersome and awkward to handle just because of how big it was. She wouldn¡¯t be pulling it out as some ¡®surprise weapon¡¯ anytime soon. Unless¡­ -Yeah, we could find a way of anchoring you down, then it would just be about muscling the weight around.- That could work, or we could massively amplify the gravity on it, then unleash it as a missile toward some evil griffon¡­ or some other creature. Alat chuckled. -Ahh, the one that got away.- I¡¯d kill it now. -Sure you would, Tala. You¡¯ve grown very strong.- Spoils retrieved, Tala began her trek back toward the wall. She had gotten about halfway back, when she began to detect fluctuations in the zeme around her. Oh¡­ rust. I made too much noise, magically speaking, didn¡¯t I? -I¡¯d hoped the short magic-boom wasn¡¯t sufficient, but yeah, it seems so.- She turned around, seeing what appeared to be a small tide of arcanous and weakly magical creatures coming her way. She opened her pouch and called inside. ¡°Terry? Want to kill some things with me?¡± A moment later, the avian flickered to beside her, sized so that his head was just above hers. He seemed to take in the scene in an instant before giving her what was obviously an accusatory glance. ¡°Yeah, this is my fault. I wasn¡¯t careful with my magical resonance.¡± He let out a chuffing squawk, showing his amusement. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Let¡¯s just mop up my mess and get back into the city. I want a bath, tonight.¡± He gave her a long look, and she found herself grinning even as she pulled out a huge hunk of jerky. ¡°Thanks for having my back.¡± He snapped the tossed piece out of the air before trilling and charging the incoming foes. Yeah, why wait? She took off after him without a second thought. Chapter: 329 - Normal Tala hopped twice as she moved forward, mirroring aspects to allow the remnants of grit and grime to fall from her. She stretched luxuriantly as she walked back under the outer portcullis, Terry striding at her side. ¡°That was nice, Terry. It¡¯s been too long since we¡¯ve been able to cut loose side by side.¡± Terry tossed his head and chirped happily in agreement. She almost paused within the gatehouse to be questioned, but the inner gates were open, the portcullis up, so she shrugged to herself and continued inside, where she found her unit waiting along with a few others. She knew that people had gathered on the walls to watch, just as they had for Mistress Kaeti, but those had dissipated by this point. I wonder if I won or lost anyone a good deal of money? -Probably not. The gambling places have been doing this a long time. They probably keep the odds really conservative for new Refined in the field.- Yeah, that makes sense. Master Clevnis had his arms crossed, and the others¡¯ features were unreadable. ¡°Hey, all.¡± Tala waved, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. ¡°So¡­ what did you think?¡± Terry flickered around to look at each Archon from multiple angles before settling on Tala¡¯s shoulder. The Refined noted Terry¡¯s actions but didn¡¯t otherwise seem to react. The two that Tala didn¡¯t know, however, seemed to treat the terror bird as a potential threat, eyeing him skeptically until he came to a stop. Only then did the two Archons who were not a part of her unit step forward. The shorter one spoke loudly, and it took Tala a moment to realize that it was simply his normal voice, rather than him raising his voice at her. ¡°Why are you putting holes in my wall?¡± ¡°Our.¡± The taller one said, simply. His voice was level, almost muted in comparison but filled with certainty. Short glanced back, then shook his head. ¡°Fine, our wall. Why are you putting holes in our wall?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Adam, that¡¯s Navin.¡± Master Navin gave a small, simple wave but didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Well, Master Adam, Master Navin, I¡¯m not sure what the issue is.¡± ¡°Have I not been clear?¡± He glanced back at Master Navin. ¡°I thought I was being pretty clear.¡± ¡°Your wall. You don¡¯t want holes in it.¡± ¡°Exactly. So? What do you have to say for yourself?¡± ¡°I was thrown into a wall, I don¡¯t really understand how it is your wall, or how it is my fault.¡± After a moment, she shrugged and continued. ¡°I¡¯m also unsure how that qualifies as multiple ¡®holes.¡¯¡± Tala took a moment to really assess the two. They both appeared to be Fused, moving toward Refined. If she had to guess, they were material Mages, from context, they likely worked with the walls. ¡°Next time, I could let the cyclops come and hit the wall directly. That would have left a dent. Would that be your preference?¡± Master Adam grunted. ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong, and no, we don¡¯t want that to happen, but couldn¡¯t you have handled it better?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Well, yes. Always.¡± Master Navin barked a laugh, placing a hand on Master Adam¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Adam.¡± Master Adam glanced at his partner, then groaned and looked back to her. ¡°Fine. It was Mistress Tala, right?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Well, do better next time, as for this time, I can¡¯t make you pay more than the standard rates for damage incurred during a defensive engagement, but I want something else from you.¡± Tala felt her eyes narrow. If he asks for a meal, or something like that, I¡¯m gonna hit him. -Really? Just for asking?- Yeah. Mistress Vanga¡¯s right there; he¡¯ll probably be fine after. ¡°I want the dew of a lazy morning, harvested from the left whisker of a kitten.¡± She paused at that, blinking a few times. ¡°What?¡± Master Navin closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as he muttered to himself. Master Clevnis stepped forward. ¡°I think I¡¯ve let this continue long enough. What¡¯s going on?¡± Master Adam turned to the unit leader. ¡°I already told you. This Refined has damaged my¡±¡ªhe glanced to Master Navin¡ª¡°our wall, and I feel recompense is required.¡± Tala spoke before her unit leader could, ¡°I¡¯m not hunting down a kitten for dew. And even if I were willing, it¡¯s an impossible thing to fulfill regardless, because the act of having the task, makes the morning anything but lazy.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take the twinkle of a star off of a noon-time pool.¡± Tala gave him a flat look. ¡°I have no idea what is going on here, but I am not amused.¡± Master Navin cleared his throat. ¡°He¡¯s being¡­ whimsical, and he¡¯s irritated. I think he¡¯s stuck between being frustrated with you and trying to be funny. I¡¯ll accept twenty gold to clear your debt to him and take him away without further issue.¡± Tala almost agreed, just to get this over with, but then she saw a glint of mischief in Master Navin¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯re messing with me too. What, is this some sort of initiation for new defenders? Are you two working together to get an extra bit of gold? I broke some stone. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to repair.¡± Master Adam raised a finger, his cheek twitching. ¡°It¡¯s not stone. The walls are made of an incredibly complex interlacing of various materials both natural and man-made.¡± Master Navin shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s stone, Adam.¡± Master Adam turned on his partner, and they fell to arguing as if it were a common topic for them. In fact, from what Tala heard, they seemed to be picking up the argument somewhere between vastly too complex for her to care and way too detailed for her to follow. Master Clevnis shook his head, leading Tala away, Terry trailing just behind. ¡°Let¡¯s leave them to it.¡± ¡°Are they going to be okay?¡± Tala glanced over her shoulder at the two Archons who were wandering off, still deep in their argument. ¡°Oh, yes. They are specialists in maintaining city walls during a waning. They are¡­ eccentric, but they work really well together, and their work is beyond reproach. They do like to extort odd requests or gold from people who aren¡¯t familiar with them, though.¡± He frowned. ¡°Now that I think about it, those who agree to the odd requests seem to lose more in the end, when compared to those who just hand over some gold.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad to hear that¡­ I mean that they work well together. They don¡¯t seem to get along very well.¡± She pointed her thumb at the arguing pair. He shrugged. ¡°Friendship looks different for different people. A couple of their kids are married, so they¡¯re as much family as friends. That adds complication to any dynamic. They¡¯ve been doing this for almost a century.¡± Tala took one last look, and really looked this time. With the extra focus and context, this time she saw it. There was a comfort with which they held themselves around each other. The conversation was just incidental. They were used to one another, and no longer felt a need to tiptoe around the other. They were who they were, and they accepted themselves and each other without reservation. Huh¡­ that¡¯s actually pretty interesting. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°But forget that.¡± Master Clevnis pulled her attention back as the two of them joined the others from their unit. ¡°You did not properly convey the battle prowess of your friend, here.¡± Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s other shoulder, happily preening before the regard of the Refined who surrounded him. Tala found herself smiling. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s pretty great, isn¡¯t he?¡± Terry headbutted her cheek affectionately. Mistress Vanga spoke up, ¡°Dimensional terror bird, indeed. How many times did you go through a fount, multi-sized one?¡± Terry glanced toward Tala, then flickered three times. That¡¯s what was guessed. Is he saying three because that¡¯s what I think, or is it the truth? -Does it matter?- Probably not, no. ¡°That¡¯s phenomenal. How did you avoid the subsequent binding¡­¡± Mistress Vanga¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The fount was destroyed shortly after you passed through it the last time?¡± Tala found herself frowning. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± It was Master Girt who answered, ¡°All the arcanous creatures known to have passed through a fount three times and survived, shortly afterward were bound to the region¡ªand the fount itself¡ªas magical beasts, content to protect the source of their power. Mistress Vanga is guessing that Terry¡¯s fount was destroyed after he gained the extra power, but before he was bound. All of the benefit, none of the backlash.¡± Tala regarded Terry with renewed interest. ¡°One day I will need to get your whole story.¡± He regarded her for a long moment, then shook himself and trilled happily. The implication was an obvious, ¡°Nah.¡± She found herself laughing, even as she pulled out some jerky and tossed it for him. ¡°His control is spectacular,¡± Master Limmestare was staring in fascination, ¡°and he moves with such precision and with so little delay. Unless he was contained, or otherwise completely countered, I cannot imagine him falling in a conflict.¡± Terry swallowed the next bit of jerky before chirping happily in agreement. Master Clevnis clapped his hands together, ¡°Enough standing around and staring at our feathered friend, let¡¯s go eat!¡± Tala looked up at the darkening sky. ¡°Aren¡¯t we still on shift? It¡¯s only been like¡­ three hours?¡± -Three and a half.- ¡°Yeah, three and a half hours since our ¡®on duty¡¯ rotation started. Aren¡¯t they eight-hour shifts?¡± ¡°They are.¡± Master Clevnis nodded. Master Limmestare smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be on the wall while you all eat. There¡¯s no need for all of us to be away from warm food.¡± ¡°Oh! About that¡­¡± Did Mistress Petra ever respond? -Of course. Master Simon did as well, but he said he¡¯d need to take more extensive measurements before he could provide a definitive answer.- What did she say? -Right, Mistress Petra is happy to provide food this evening, and in fact it should be ready in another half-hour or so. She did want you to know that regularly providing food for another five people would increase the supply budget that she needs.- We¡¯ll handle it. Tala grinned toward her new unit. ¡°Is there a place that we can all sit together and still be in position to be ¡®on duty?¡¯¡± Mistress Cerna seemed to catch something in Tala¡¯s look, because she smiled in return. ¡°Of course. There are several secondary guard-stations that won¡¯t be in active use but are positioned to allow quick-response and monitoring. What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°A treat for my new unit.¡± Twenty minutes later, they were set up in an oddly perfect room. They were in a circular chamber, roughly centered along the section of wall they were overseeing for this shift, at the level of the wall walk. During active conflict, this room would serve as a staging ground for soldiers and Mages to gather to either push out onto the wall top to either side, or up the tower top above. For the moment, however, it was kept empty. The walls were either magicked in some way¡ªor of a material¡ªto look almost like glass, providing a three-hundred-sixty degree view, both back into the city and out over the walls. It was even translucent to Tala¡¯s magesight, which either meant it was the material, or that the magics involved were highly sophisticated, which honestly wouldn¡¯t have surprised her. In the center of this room, Tala had pulled out a large table, acquired with the help of the Zuccats¡¯ advice weeks earlier, along with six matching chairs for herself and her new unit. The others had watched with bemusement, likely confused because they each had their own items in storage, and they were unsure why she was showing hers to them. In all likelihood, theirs would be nicer as well, given they¡¯d each had centuries to collect such things, but that was hardly the point. The table had come out fully set for a large meal, but the dishes on offer weren¡¯t quite ready. Finally, Master Girt cleared his throat. ¡°As impressive as this set up is, Mistress Tala, I have to ask: Where is the food going to be coming from? Trail rations are only so appetizing, even served in such a fine setting.¡± She grinned. ¡°Dinner should be ready now.¡± -Yes, as of two minutes ago.- Thank you. Please pass along my thanks. -Already done.- ¡°Here you go.¡± And she began pulling piping hot dishes out of Kit and sliding them across the table where they came to rest along the length of the middle of the surface. Family style. The other Refined hesitated for only a moment before taking chairs, leaning in with keen interest. ¡°Please serve yourselves and pass the dish along.¡± Everyone complied, grabbing the nearest dish, and taking a serving before the offerings moved around the group. Master Limmestare leaned forward and took in a deep whiff of the latest food before him. ¡°This seems to be hot from the oven. Does your storage have temporal-locking abilities? Those are quite rare.¡± He hesitated. ¡°No, you talked about it being ready¡­ do you have artifacts such that they can make this on command?¡± Tala laughed. ¡°Nothing so complicated. I have a cook.¡± There was a collective pause. Mistress Cerna cleared her throat before asking in a carefully neutral voice, ¡°Say again?¡± ¡°I have a cook.¡± ¡°In your soul-bound storage?¡± Tala glanced around, seeing everyone¡¯s concern. ¡°No. My storage isn¡¯t soul-bound.¡± Everyone seemed to let out a collective exhalation of relief. ¡°She is in my magic-bound storage, though. Is that a problem?¡± Food began moving again, and it was Master Clevnis who answered, ¡°Generally speaking, once you soul-bond a storage device, only things bound to you, or bound to no one, will be able to enter it.¡± ¡°Oh! So, when you thought I had a cook within my soul-bound storage¡­¡± Tala felt herself pale slightly at the implication. ¡°Yes, we thought that you had, for some reason, soul-bound another person and clearly not a spouse, given our earlier discussions.¡± ¡°Ahh, I can understand the reaction, then. No, Mistress Petra is quite a wonderful woman who helps me with all sorts of tasks, here and there. As to the storage, I¡¯d happily show you all at some point. I think it¡¯s quite nice.¡± They chatted for a few minutes as they continued with the meal before a thought occurred to Tala. ¡°One moment, does placing unbound magic items within a soul-bound storage¡­?¡± Master Girt nodded, swallowing a bit of buttered bread. ¡°More often than not, that binds the item to you, magically. There are ways to prevent it, but most of them are quite finicky at best.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ incredibly good to know.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s something the Constructionists will go over with you in detail before you go through the bonding process with a storage item.¡± That¡¯s fair, I suppose. A comfortable silence fell over the table as the Refined served themselves and ate in equal measure. Even as night solidly took hold of the city and surroundings, they didn¡¯t light any artificial light. They didn¡¯t need any with their Refined vision. Tala had to refill the water pitchers a few times, but other than that, everything was well provided for from the initial unloading. Somewhere around then, she had a realization, and the feeling almost brought tears to her eyes. She felt normal in this group. It wasn¡¯t that she was like them, or they were like her in every way, but they were from the same group. They had the same expectations, similar experiences, similar capacities. They were peers, even if she was the least among them for the moment. It was something she hadn¡¯t really felt in a long time, even while at the Academy. The sadness of the realization cracked, when she contemplated on the fact that the sadness was from past lack, and she wasn¡¯t lacking now. At least there¡¯s potential. Eventually, eating slowed enough that small talk picked up, and they passed the evening with mundane conversation, simply becoming comfortable around each other as a group. When their shift ended near the middle of the night, the table and leftovers had long been put away. The table, chairs, and accessories had been placed back in Kit; the leftovers had been thrown for Terry¡¯s amusement, everyone joining in the game after it was understood. The six came down from the wall, not passing their replacements, as the other unit would be setting up to pass their shift in whatever manner they saw fit. Once gathered on the road that ran the inner circumference of Alefast, just inside the wall, the unit said their goodbyes, the old-hands welcoming Tala and Terry one last time before they parted ways. Tala looked up to the sky as she walked, taking in the overt defensive magics woven through the air all around her, overhead even more so. She was passing through a fortress, a bastion of humanity against the oncoming storm. This is a waning, Tala, at least the barest edge of one. An unnoticed smile slowly grew across her lips as she changed her focus and saw the stars, so high above the suddenly simple-seeming magics that protected them. What is out there, Alat? -Maybe nothing, but I find that unlikely.- Yeah. There could be millions of humans among those stars. -Millions? Tala, if there are humans out there, they¡¯d be counted in the billions, trillions, or even more. Any group of humanity capable of traveling the stars would have to have the numbers to maintain that level of technological advancement.- Unless there were only a lonely few, looking for others but always missing one another. There was a long, long silence after that as Tala continued to walk toward the Gredial compound. Her smile faded a bit, I¡¯m acting a bit like that, aren¡¯t I? Wandering through existence, barely avoiding connections as I pass people by. -You were, but I think you¡¯re changing.- Is it for the better? -That depends on what you want, I suppose. Do you like the changes?- Her smile slowly grew once again before settling firmly in place. Yeah, I really think I do. Chapter: 330 - After-Battle Tala woke early the next morning¡ªwell before the sun was up outside, and only a little before it would rise within Kit¡ªand immediately moved through her stretches. The sun outside and the sun within her sanctum were coming closer to being in harmony as summer approached, and that lent to a feeling of greater coherence between life in her sanctum and the ¡®real world¡¯ outside. I think I might set the synchronization on the internal environment to mirror outside for a bit. It would be nice to feel like they were at least in the same reality. -That would likely help you feel more at home here, yeah. We¡¯ve never really delved into the main systems of this place. The manuals we were given were mainly for the peripherals.- Yeah¡­ what did they say? Start using the systems and more information will be provided? -I hope that it wasn¡¯t going to be provided by them or¡­- She snorted a laugh. Right you are. That would be unfortunate. As to that morning, Master Clevnis had asked to meet with her first thing in the morning. So, after they¡¯d clarified what that meant, Tala had been sure to leave Kit on an outer wall of the Gredial compound so he could find the entrance with ease. She¡¯d also notified Mistress Petra that she¡¯d have a guest for breakfast. Tala had gotten her bath the night before¡ªonce she got Kit placed¡ªand so she was feeling pretty relaxed, even as she felt the vibrations that indicated a knock on Kit¡¯s front door. She reached out and opened a watchman¡¯s hatch in a non-existent door in the air. ¡°One minute, Master Clevnis.¡± ¡°Certainly, Mistress Tala.¡± She closed the hatch as she turned in place, then hesitated. I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve never done that before. -That¡¯s true. It¡¯s a fairly obvious use of your connection, but still a new one.- Tala grunted, then shrugged, willing herself to the dining room. Mistress Petra was just finishing up breakfast when Tala appeared. ¡°Good morning, Mistress Tala. I¡¯ll be out of your hair in but a moment.¡± Tala smiled to the older woman. ¡°There¡¯s no rush, Mistress Petra. I appreciate how helpful you¡¯ve been of late. Well, how helpful you always are, really.¡± ¡°But of course.¡± Tala opened an exit on one wall and gestured for Master Clevnis to step inside. The man hesitated for only a moment before saying something under his breath and stepping through. Tala was distinctly able to catch his words: ¡°I do not consent to any bond.¡± The Refined stopped just inside, seeming to examine himself thoroughly. ¡°Fascinating. You were quite correct on the nature of this space it seems.¡± Mistress Petra wiped her hands on her apron and came out from the kitchen, giving a deep bow. ¡°Master Clevnis, welcome to Mistress Tala¡¯s sanctum.¡± The Refined jerked his head to regard the woman but quickly adjusted, instantly calming, a smile spreading across his features. ¡°Ahh, you must be the fantastic cook who was so kind as to provide myself and my unit with food last night.¡± He gave a small bow her way, eyes flicking toward Tala. ¡°It was Mistress Petra, correct?¡± ¡°That was me, yes. My family and I live and work here.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± ¡°It is.¡± She seemed to misunderstand his meaning. ¡°I¡¯ve never much explored higher level dimensional spaces, though my husband has told me enough about them. I must say that he undersold the majesty and utility they are capable of, if anything.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I¡¯d not have believed you if you told me that a year ago, let me tell you true.¡± The unit leader¡¯s smile increased slightly. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Ahh, but silly me. Breakfast will be done shortly, and I¡¯ll leave you to your time.¡± Master Clevnis gave another bow before turning and taking in the room around him. ¡°A building within a dimensional storage. It seems so unnecessary, but I suppose I can see the utility. Familiarity of surroundings is maintained, if nothing else, and with others in here, it allows for privacy and segregation of spaces for various tasks.¡± Tala stepped a bit closer, so that they might not be disturbing Mistress Petra, ¡°Yes, the arcanes have many¡­ oddities to their holds. Some are ridiculous, but there are others that we might learn from and implement, at least in some cases.¡± The man was nodding. ¡°When you don¡¯t soul-bond such a space, it becomes much more utilizable, though it does limit it in other regards. I suppose like all things, there are no solutions, only tradeoffs.¡± She gave a rueful smile, ¡°So I¡¯ve heard, but we can discuss that over breakfast, and that will be soon enough. Take a moment to look around.¡± He smiled and did just that, panning his gaze around the room, taking time to examine his surroundings more closely, a frown building. ¡°The door out¡­?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s usually in a bunker outside, but I can call it to wherever I wish it to be.¡± He grunted. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± His words faded as he really looked out of the massive windows. He stepped closer to the glass, seemingly without realizing that he was doing so, eyes flicked back and forth, trying to take it all in. ¡°That¡¯s not an illusion.¡± His words were barely above a whisper, but Tala decided to respond regardless, ¡°No, it isn¡¯t. We can walk some of it later, if you wish.¡± ¡°I might like that¡­ So, this is what you were keeping to yourself, with regard to ¡®out of Alefast¡¯ missions? We can use this as a nightly place to stay?¡± She grimaced slightly. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know how the integrity will hold up under five more Refined in here.¡± He nodded. ¡°Ahh, so you haven¡¯t gotten around that limitation entirely.¡± ¡°Master Simon¡ªMistress Petra¡¯s husband¡ªis somewhat of an expert, and he¡¯s running some tests. He should have more information in the next few days.¡± ¡°Master Simon¡­¡± Master Clevnis tilted his head to the side. ¡°Where have I heard that name before? I¡¯m not usually familiar with most below Refined unless there¡¯s something notable about them.¡± He did seem a bit embarrassed at the admission. ¡°He was working under Master Queue.¡± ¡°Oh! Yes, and Mistress Elnea was working with him as well. The head of the Bandfast Archon Council.¡± That¡¯s right, she helped recommend him, and she did say she wanted one of her own to be researching here. -You weren¡¯t really in the mind-space to properly process all of that, I suppose.- Neither of us were, apparently. -Ahh, the dangers of being of one mind.- Mistress Petra brought over a large tray, and laid out the various dishes for Tala and a well-orchestrated plate for Master Clevnis. ¡°Pardon my overhearing, but yes, Mistress Elnea has been good to my husband, and me as well. She¡¯s encouraged us to move toward Refining. We¡¯ve gotten the inscriptions, but it¡¯ll be a short while before we¡¯re ready for any of the sessions.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°But you didn¡¯t ask, and I¡¯m butting in and taking your time. I do hope you enjoy your breakfast.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress Petra.¡± They both responded, nearly at the same time. The woman departed, and Tala and Master Clevnis sat. Master Clevnis placed his hands on either side of the plate, flat on the table. He took a moment to draw in a deep breath before smiling and speaking quietly. ¡°Thank you.¡± Tala smiled, ¡°She does make quite excellent fare.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He directed his smile at her in return, and they dug into their food. The conversation hit a lull while they ate, the deliciousness of the meal more than occupying their thoughts. He easily finished before her and took his dishes to the kitchen. ¡°Excuse me, Mistress Tala, but where should I place these? Is there a sink I can clean them in?¡± He looked around and frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t see Mistress Petra clean the cookware, but the cleaning seems to be done.¡± ¡°Oh, Kit does the cleaning. Just set your plate with the clean ones in that marked off square of counter, and you¡¯ll see.¡± He gave her an odd look but complied. An instant later, he grunted. ¡°Automatic cleaning? That seems a bit extravagant.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It might be, but Kit just eats the remnants.¡± ¡°And Kit is¡­ your storage?¡± ¡°Yes. We were able to determine that Kit is actually a creature born in the void. She came to Alefast, here, disguising herself as a dimensional storage, likely with the intention of eating all she could before she was banished. Or it could have been something else. I suppose I shouldn¡¯t pretend to understand exactly what a creature of the void might want.¡± Master Clevnis¡¯s eyebrow twitched. ¡°That said, the little pouch took a liking to me, it seems. We get along great now.¡± The Refined looked around, seeming a bit tense. ¡°Relax. From what Master Simon has determined, Kit is mostly the entrance and an underlying framework behind the reality within this space. If she wanted to move¡ªlet alone eat¡ªyou, she would have to get your permission or overcome your magical weight.¡± She hesitated, taking a sip of endingberry juice to get some crumbs out of her mouth. ¡°With what I¡¯m learning, I think Kit could dump you into the Doman-Imithe if she wished, and you¡¯d be hard pressed to stop her, but beyond that, you¡¯re in no danger.¡± He seemed to tense a bit more, before shaking his head, taking a deep breath, and returning to the table. ¡°You seem to lead a truly interesting life.¡± ¡°Well, ¡®if you pay the entry fee,¡ª¡¯¡± ¡°¡®¡ªyou might as well stay for the show.¡¯¡± He grinned, finishing the old saying. ¡°I can understand that. It is a bit fatalistic, though.¡± ¡°Only if it kills me.¡± He cocked his head, his smile fading just a bit. She sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to die¡­ at least not anymore. I¡¯m seeing Master Nadro when I can, though our meetings are usually Archival these days.¡± Master Clevnis¡¯s smile grew once more, ¡°He¡¯s a wonder, isn¡¯t he? Probably the oldest living human, and yet he fills his time with helping others.¡± He hesitated. ¡°You know, actually some of the Academy faculty might be older, but I don¡¯t think they really remember anymore.¡± Tala grunted, moving on to another dish of magic-packed food. ¡°With mundane human memory, I suppose that could become a problem.¡± ¡°Indeed. We weren¡¯t designed to live forever, so if we manage it, we better do all the upgrades we can.¡± She chuckled at that. ¡°Well, as delightful as this has been thus far, I did have a purpose for wanting to meet up with you.¡± She nodded, waiting for him to continue. ¡°We¡¯ve found that it is useful to do after-fight discussions. Yesterday was a big one for you: Your first fight as a defender during a waning.¡± She nodded again¡ªstill chewing¡ªand gestured for him to go on. ¡°Very well. Obviously, you did well. You defeated the threat with minimal collateral damage.¡± ¡°The wall?¡± He grinned. ¡°The wall, yes. Not ideal, but not unexpected. It took less than a gold to fix. Those things are resilient beyond belief and as self-repairing as they can be made to be to boot. In that general area of information, I don¡¯t think pay was ever discussed, but that¡¯s for after the fight discussion.¡± Tala ¡®hmmed¡¯ her agreement. ¡°So, in the fight. The magical resonance wasn¡¯t ideal, but when you took that hit, magical resonance was the least-bad outcome. I¡¯m glad it didn¡¯t turn you to paste. The second resonance, generated when you closed in for your attack on the cyclops, was a good tradeoff. It let you deal with the main threat before ancillary enemies arrived. Generally speaking, two quick, similarly sized resonant bursts won¡¯t be much more noticeable than a singular of equal size. Space them out too much? Yeah, that¡¯s a lot worse.¡± Tala snapped up a piece of bacon. ¡°You have a through-spike, and you use it regularly, but you don¡¯t seem to have fine control over it.¡± She grimaced, at the mention of shortfall in her training. ¡°Never saw a need.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair, but you should train it regardless.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this a bit off topic?¡± ¡°Yes and no. Training with it will help your dexterity and multi-tasking. That¡¯s something Mistress Kaeti will help with too, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°Good. Here¡¯s how it connects. Now that you are on a defensive unit, your fights¡ªincluding your fight last night¡ªwill be recorded to the Archive. That one was shown to the watchers in the battle-view restaurants, and will be available to a lot of other places within Alefast in the coming weeks.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tala hadn¡¯t really considered it would be that widespread. He grinned. ¡°My girl, you weren¡¯t alive when the last waning happened, so this is likely news to you, but waning fights become the talk of human civilization every cycle. They fade from prominence when each waning concludes, but I promise you that there are businesses scrambling in every human city to get access to show the waning fights to their customers. Traditionally, they¡¯d have another five or so years, but the pace of this cycle has caught everyone off-guard. Regardless, we¡¯re all going to be known, at least a little bit, by the time this waning ends.¡± She really hadn¡¯t considered that. I¡¯m not really sure I want that. Alat scoffed. -You literally mapped your magics on the tales of legend. You wanted to be one of them, a warrior of myth and power. This is part of that path, Tala.- She couldn¡¯t really argue with that. Well, she could, but it would be pointless. Master Clevnis continued, ¡°They¡¯ll play the best fights from previous wanings, especially those that include defenders who are here for this one. The Academy also generally has a surge in enrollment during wanings, which helps us keep everyone safe. The notoriety we¡¯ll get isn¡¯t precisely the fame of bedtime stories, but it can be a big deal.¡± She groaned. ¡°I hadn¡¯t planned on that.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You can still back out, but I don¡¯t think you will.¡± She shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re right, I won¡¯t. This seems like something I both need and want to do.¡± ¡°Good. Now, let¡¯s get a bit more technical. When you fight, you are mobile, but not really. You try to fight as a mobile fighter, but you lack true mobility.¡± ¡°What do you mean? I mean, you said ¡®mobile¡¯ a lot, but I don¡¯t know that I grasped your point.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Fair enough. I think what I mean is this: You¡¯re incredibly mobile by mundane standards, but you¡¯re basically just using your physique to move about. There¡¯s limited utility there when fighting more advanced opponents. Additionally, your big attacks treat you as a stationary combatant. Your siege-orbs are effectively a siege engine firing upon your opponent. Impressive, but you don¡¯t need to be anywhere near them, nor factor in their movement or what they¡¯re doing. Mobility doesn¡¯t matter. For your dissolution, you have to stop in place and breathe out a concentrated stream for best effect. In that case, you can¡¯t be mobile, and that makes the magics less effective.¡± She grunted. ¡°I suppose I can see that. What can I do about it?¡± ¡°Well, those are two different problems, and they aren¡¯t the only ones that we need to address. To start, let¡¯s talk about what you can do, and I mean everything. I even want to know about things you tried in the Academy that seemed useless, so you left them behind long ago.¡± She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a long day.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re back on shift pretty soon. We can talk on the way, and the others can handle anything that comes up this cycle.¡± ¡°Right, we were on standby through the night?¡± He shrugged. ¡°We were. We¡¯ll get you an emergency beacon today. That¡¯ll call you if you¡¯re on standby and needed. Don¡¯t expect it to go off for at least a few years, but don¡¯t ignore it either.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°As to your capabilities, the others will join us in the discussions as they each have unique perspectives and valuable insight. I¡¯ll take notes on what you¡¯ve got in your corner, and we¡¯ll utilize all that we can, and probably see if we can add a few tools.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°That makes sense.¡± She glanced at the food still on the table before her. ¡°I can eat while we walk.¡± ¡°Alright then.¡± He stood. ¡°Let¡¯s take a quick moment and talk about the pay.¡± She grinned, ¡°Yeah, about that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a standard, non-negotiable rate. One gold ounce per day, plus the harvests whenever you take down magical creatures. With such powerful creatures, the harvests are generally pretty worthwhile. All that, minus repair costs incurred to fix damage which could have been reasonably avoided.¡± ¡°Like that wall?¡± He scrunched his face slightly. ¡°Honestly, I think you¡¯ll only be charged a small portion of that. Like I said, it wasn¡¯t a bad outcome, even if it wasn¡¯t ideal.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Beyond that, the pay is two gold per day if we¡¯re out on assignment beyond the city walls. There is a one hundred gold death benefit to your next of kin. This bypasses any debts or other obligations or claims on your estate as a whole. It is meant purely as a boon to your recipient.¡± Tala was surprised by that, but thought she understood. The point was to ensure that those left behind were cared for, not to just remove a bit of debt that a now-deceased Refined had incurred. ¡°Additionally, there are bounties for specific tasks completed, but those are too nuanced and numerous to outline quickly. All this and more is in the Archive, and I can make sure you have access to look through it at your leisure. Does all that sound agreeable?¡± Well, no food or lodging budget, so it is actually a bit less than the most I could make as a Dimensional Mage and Mage Protector on a daily basis. But I couldn¡¯t run those shorter routes all the time, so it¡¯s better on average, in the long run. Plus, I get to stay in one place for a bit, as long as I want to. ¡°Yeah, that sounds agreeable.¡± ¡°Great! Now, let¡¯s get out of here and you can tell me about what you can do.¡± Alat? I think I could really use your help here. -Yeah, I figured. I¡¯m starting to get everything organized, but you¡¯ve¡­ we¡¯ve experimented with a LOT of things. Give me ten minutes to collate and get this into some sort of coherently structured order.- Alright, what do you suggest I do until then? -I¡¯m not going to devote brain power to that. Pick something randomly and go with that.- Fair enough. Tala reached out and opened the door, which appeared before her as she did so, letting them out onto the street. ¡°Well, the first thing that comes to mind is a twist on a dimensional prison.¡± Master Clevnis regarded the new door with obvious scrutiny, then seemed to process what she said, frowning as he followed her out of Kit, ¡°Alright, that definitely sounds interesting, go on.¡± Chapter: 331 - A Different Ruleset Tala moved her lord-piece one space closer to a corner, sheltered by her last remaining defender. Rane grinned as he considered the board. ¡°So, you¡¯re enjoying being a defender?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ interesting. It feels a bit like guarding a caravan, in that I¡¯m not really doing much for a lot of the time, but I need to be vigilant, and ready at a moment¡¯s notice. I definitely think that I¡¯m starting to understand what Mistress Cerna meant when she said she was ¡®feeling¡¯ the tension, even when just on standby.¡± He nodded, taking a sip of tea before he slid an attacker between her lord-piece and the closest victory square. Tala grimaced. ¡°Playing on a hex grid is weird.¡± ¡°It got really popular in Alefast for a time, so these boards are more available.¡± She gave him a flat look. ¡°We both have square boards in our storages.¡± ¡°Well, I thought it would be a fun variation.¡± She only glared for an instant, then she shook her head and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s definitely a different way of thinking. I do think I like it, but you¡¯ve the advantage, having been playing this way for more than a month.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ll catch the difference soon enough.¡± ¡°I already understand the difference, Rane.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I mean, your mind will adjust¡ªstrategically¡ªsoon enough. You¡¯re right; it¡¯s obvious that you¡¯ve grasped the rules difference.¡± She made her move and sighed. ¡°The oddest part of being a defender is having a few people I don¡¯t know clearly recognize me and wave, over the last couple of days.¡± ¡°I can imagine. Though your fight was rather eye-catching, so I¡¯m not surprised.¡± ¡°Yeah, Terry loves the attention, too. When he¡¯s with me, he¡¯s recognized more often than I am.¡± ¡°His was a bit of a terrifying spectacle, and I¡¯ve seen him fight before. Seeing it on such a broader scale really put things into perspective; you know?¡± They both glanced to the terror bird who was laid out in one corner, catching the bit of sun that streamed through the massive window this late in the day. His eye flickered open, closing as soon as he saw them looking his way. ¡°Faker,¡± Tala said, with care in her voice and a grin across her face. She¡¯d been in the city for a couple of days, and was finally settling in with her unit, so she¡¯d hunted down Rane in his family¡¯s compound while she was on standby until midafternoon. Tala thought she could get used to the rolling schedule, especially since being on duty mainly meant concentrated training, and standby was simply doing whatever she wished to be doing. Once she¡¯d navigated through the Gredial compound, a servant leading her to ¡®master Rane,¡¯ it hadn¡¯t been hard to convince him to play a game of tafl. At which point he¡¯d pulled out the hex-grid version, and proceeded to explain that this was how it was played in Alefast. It¡¯s fine. I can get used to this format of play¡­ ¡°So, what have you been doing, aside from the one fight?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Training mostly. They rightly pointed out that my abilities, tools, and skills are a bit disjointed at the moment.¡± He grunted, still examining the board. ¡°Yeah, just a bit.¡± She gave him a fake glare. ¡°Anyway. We¡¯ve been brainstorming, and I have a lot to work on to tighten things up.¡± ¡°Oh? Like what?¡± ¡°Well, the first thing was a mindset and mental model to remove all gravity from myself effectively instantly.¡± Rane glanced up at that. ¡°Oh, yeah, that would be incredibly useful.¡± It was her turn to grunt. ¡°Additionally, I never really fully realized my plans with the Leshkin shields.¡± He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. ¡°That¡¯s right! You paid me out so you could take those two massive, juggernaut tower-shields.¡± ¡°I also had a ring made ages ago, that can hold three bloodstars and lock into place around Flow¡¯s hilt, to give me precise control over Flow¡¯s orientation and movement, especially when within my aura, but even outside it, I¡¯ll have control to a much greater extent.¡± Rane whistled, nodding. ¡°Yeah. What ever happened with that?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Other stuff came up, and I never made the bloodstars for it.¡± She quirked a smile. ¡°I have now.¡± ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re going to be a terror.¡± She chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s the idea.¡± ¡°But, are the Leshkin shields even still¡­ useful? I mean, you claimed them as harvests when you were Bound.¡± ¡°Never managed to mar them then, but you¡¯re right. Even so, apparently they are an odd manifestation of magic. For one, they sat within Kit for more than a year, and simply absorbed the magic free-floating within Kit.¡± ¡°So, they¡¯re already magic bound to you, then?¡± ¡°Deeply so, it seems. Apparently, all Leshkin items are in a class of artifact that is highly adaptive to their wielder. Seemingly, Leshkin soldier swords are identical, magically, to juggernaut swords. The added power is simply due to their wielder.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Wait, but we were paid less for lower grade armaments.¡± She shrugged. ¡°There is lingering power within those claimed from higher ranks. The base items aren¡¯t very valuable, even though they are useful, because humanity has so, so so many of them due to all the Leshkin wars. The real payment is for the remnants of Leshkin power within.¡± He grunted, turning a good portion of his attention back to the board. ¡°So, we could have sold the higher-level weaponry and armor and bought basic stuff to the same effect?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, we used much of what we kept for mergings. We leaned on the exact power that causes the increased value to give our soulbound items a boost.¡± ¡°Ahh, yeah, that tracks. It also explains why no one tried to warn us off.¡± ¡°So, all that to say: so long as I actively use and dump power into the shields, they should grow with me, though not as much or as quickly as they would if soulbound.¡± ¡°So, they want you to go weightless and add a bunch of extra tools? Each, individually sounds useful, but overall that doesn¡¯t seem like cleaning up your fighting at all. In fact, that just seems like it¡¯s mucking it up.¡± She shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. There¡¯re more mindsets being added for quicker activation and use of power, too.¡± ¡°No new scripts though.¡± ¡°NO. No, no. Not at all. That would be really foolish, without a good reason. Honestly, though, there were some¡­ rather horrifying ideas?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, Mistress Cerna suggested I throw out my iron as caltrops across any battlefield. The iron should disrupt large-area workings, and in the unlikely event that they did penetrate my opponent¡¯s skin, they¡¯d disrupt internal magics, too.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Rane shuddered. ¡°Mage Hunters have some devious tactics.¡± ¡°Indeed. That wouldn¡¯t work for me, unless I had aura-superiority across the whole field, and in that case, the fight would be mostly over.¡± She sighed. ¡°At least that¡¯s what I thought. Apparently, there are a large slew of magical beings and creatures that basically cannot extend their aura outside of their bodies, and in some, their aura even retreats away from anything that cuts or pierces into them. There aren¡¯t many that are that extreme, but there are some.¡± ¡°But those wouldn¡¯t have wide area magics to disrupt in the first place.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said.¡± She grimaced. ¡°But I was still advised to practice, as my aura resonates through the iron as well, letting my aura be much stronger across a wider area than should be possible. Master Akra has already given me a few exercises to focus on my aura control, strength, and actualization.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°That sounds like Master Jevin, but I suppose that makes sense. With your aura spread out, you do have some advantage in leverage, but it also comes with the obvious disadvantage of, if you lose an aura-struggle, your iron is consumed by the void.¡± She shrugged. ¡°If I lose an aura-struggle on my body, I lose, so¡­ obviously different stakes, but I¡¯m used to solidifying my aura when it matters. They also want to test exactly what it takes for the iron to be ¡®voided.¡¯¡± He laughed out loud. ¡°¡®Voided?¡¯ Really? That¡¯s what you¡¯re going with?¡± She grimaced again. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my idea or my choice¡­ Master Girt was rather insistent, and it caught on before we really noticed.¡± He laughed again. ¡°That is amazingly horrible.¡± ¡°But the main thing to train for, aside from the new mental models, is to split my conscious control further. Mistress Kaeti has already started to help with that. We were going to work on something else, too, but she¡¯s asked for more time to process that aspect of her power before we delve into it together.¡± ¡°Mistress Kaeti? Why does that sound familiar?¡± ¡°She uses motive and positioning activations for her magic, slew a minor horde a few days ago.¡± ¡°Oh! Yeah, the dancer. That was pretty cool to watch.¡± Tala moved her defender. ¡°So, what¡¯s up with you?¡± Rane laughed. ¡°Well, Furgal stormed through a couple days ago, before taking a caravan off to Bandfast then who-knows-where.¡± She blinked back at him. ¡°He did?¡± ¡°Yeah. Said he was ¡®following his elder¡¯s advice,¡¯ but Master Grediv seems to have no interest in commenting on it. So, there¡¯s a lot of the family who think that one of the uncles went rogue and convinced Furgal to withdraw as the potential successor to the family and depart.¡± Tala frowned, not really understanding. ¡°He did what?¡± ¡°He withdrew from consideration as the successor.¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s a rather worthless position. Basically, each generation selects who will guide the family if Master Grediv is no longer in a position to do so.¡± Tala frowned at that. ¡°There have to be tons of Refined or Paragons in your family who could take over in his absence.¡± He laughed. ¡°Not one is interested, and trust me, Master Grediv has tried to pawn it off on each and every one of them. So, every generation, the mundanes, Mages, and less advanced Archons do this little dance so the family has a ¡®successor in case of disaster.¡¯¡± ¡°So, will you do it?¡± ¡°Oh, stars no.¡± He shook his head. ¡°They asked, too, bless them. Let that idiocy fall on one of my cousins. I eventually want my own children and to go from there. I¡¯ve no interest in babysitting generations of mundanes who only barely contribute enough to be worth the resources they take. Even if I somehow never make it to Refined, I¡¯d still be on the hook for a long time¡­¡± She found herself nodding at that. She loved her siblings, but she couldn¡¯t imagine trying to look after their kids, and their kids¡¯ kids, and so on. ¡°Your move.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± She looked up, pulled from her thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s your move.¡± ¡°Oh! Sorry, I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡± He smiled. ¡°Clearly. We can stop if you want, then restart the game if you want to consider this a trial run.¡± She gave him a fake glare. ¡°I¡¯m not conceding that easily.¡± ¡°I¡¯m about to win.¡± ¡°Sure, but you have to earn that victory.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to count this game at all. We don¡¯t generally count any of the games we play.¡± He was grinning back at her. ¡°Bah. We fight to the end!¡± She held up a finger in mock solemnity. He huffed a laugh. ¡°Very well, but it¡¯s still your move.¡± ¡°Fine, fine. Don¡¯t rush me.¡± * * * The next several days passed in a blur. Tala trained and stood watch, got to know her unit, and began to unify her magics and capabilities. She found a good time to have a meal with Master Simon, Mistress Petra, and the younger Zuccats too, and they all agreed to work in a meal every week or so, so that they could stay on the same page. Master Simon was able to determine that her unit should be able to sleep within the sanctum for four to six hours a night without causing any lasting damage. Any longer than that, and there would begin to be noticeable degradation. That in mind, with their mission to a newly degrading cell only just a couple of days away, Tala was ready to show her sanctum to her new unit. Tala stepped through the door into Kit, coming out just before her dais and moving to the side to let the others in. Master Clevnis followed first, having been inside before. Mistress Cerna was right behind him, seemingly trusting his judgment explicitly. -She also might be trusting her own soul, given that if anything happened to her husband it would be obvious.- I mean, that too? That¡¯s basically the same thing¡­ sort of? -Ahh, soulbonds.- Mistress Vanga came in tentatively, but without noticeable hesitation, her eyes immediately took in their surroundings, widening slightly. ¡°There¡¯s a whole little compound in here?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Of course there is, you said as much, I guess I just didn¡¯t think it would be so¡­ standard. Buildings, open space, a sky overhead.¡± She tilted her head to the side in contemplation, even as she stepped aside so that Master Limmestare could follow. He paused in the doorway, craning his neck to look nearly straight up, taking in the sky, sun and faux clouds. ¡°You¡¯re right, Mistress Vanga. And it¡¯s a truly masterfully crafted false sky.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°For all their flaws¡ªand there are many¡ªthe arcanes do good work. They have much more use for dimensionally expanded spaces than we do. Or at least they put them to more use.¡± The slender man smiled and bowed slightly in acknowledgement, his clothing giving off the tell-tale glimmer that Tala had begun to associate with him and his battle wear. Glass-fibers woven through his clothing¡­ I definitely wouldn¡¯t have considered that possibility. -The stuff seems to be quite effective armor when you can control and enhance it.- Definitely. In their practice, she¡¯d come to realize that despite the seeming frailty both of his chosen material and the man himself, Master Limmestare was a terrifying front-line fighter, and he could take a hit almost as well as she could. -Better, because he¡¯s not thrown away.- The times she¡¯d seen him practice, he¡¯d woven dozens of layers of glass-fibers almost instantly to take a given hit, each layer shattering to absorb and dissipate a portion of the hit. The number was apparently perfectly calibrated each time based on Master Limmestare¡¯s assessment of the incoming hit, and thus the last layers buckled, leaving his opponent fully extended and vulnerable for counterattack. No wasted effort or energy. Observing him, even in practice, had been enlightening. Reactive armor. The Refined had immediately begun working with Tala to make similarly layered, thin iron plates, designed to distort and break to dissipate offensive energy rather than simply absorbing the hits ¡®like a big, dumb rock.¡¯ Master Girt had playfully glared at the glass wielder when he gave that jab but hadn¡¯t commented. The reactive armor was exhausting work. Speaking of Master Girt, the Refined cleared his throat. ¡°Step in already, Limmestare. I want to see, too.¡± The lithe man sighed, muttering under his breath that he didn¡¯t consent to any bond¡ªamong other things. Interestingly, it was something that they had recommended Tala begin doing before crossing any threshold, either magical or mundane. ¡®While I accept the invitation to enter, I do not accept nor offer bonds nor fidelity of any kind.¡¯ -Wordy.- Thorough. The others in her unit had gone to great lengths to begin her education on some of the higher dangers associated with more advanced magical beings. Master Limmestare finally stepped inside, tension obvious throughout his frame. Tala felt it then, a slight tremor through her magic where she was feeding Kit. It was like a tickle in the back of her throat that might grow enough to make her cough. She frowned. I had way more people in here when I was showing off Kit upon my return from the arcane lands. -How many were Refined? And how much did Master Xeel work to offset the impact?- He should have made it worse, not better. -Even with how he was folding existence around himself to hide? I doubt it. Even so it¡¯s something else to ask him next time we see him.- He has been very unresponsive to Archival missives¡­ Master Girt came in last, stopping in place as soon as he was fully within her sanctum and staring fixedly. He had one eyebrow cocked and an incredulous look painted across his features. Tala followed his gaze toward her dais, frowning. The Refined closed his eyes and shook his head. ¡°Mistress Tala. Don¡¯t you think a literal throne is a bit on the nose?¡± Chapter: 332 - A Cliff Tala flew through the skies outside of Alefast on a rather interesting amalgamation, along with her defensive unit and a passenger. Master Girt had created a platform of stone, and Master Limmestare had added a windscreen of curved, reinforced glass. Tala, herself, had then reduced the effective gravity on the thing down to about five-percent, before Mistress Cerna had woven a select few patches of copper in the air, placing them just below the bottom, piercing thin tendrils of the stuff through to a central position, where she took up a seat. The woman had then sat in that central position, and power began flowing through the metal spell-forms. They seemed to be some sort of propulsion, because the whole thing had easily lifted off of the ground to hover and await their boarding. The unit had climbed aboard, along with a young-looking woman, who had introduced herself as Ezmenya-Kep¡ªKep for short¡ªand they¡¯d taken off, heading to the northeast, and the foot of the mountains in that direction. Mistress Kep was clearly a Paragon, even though she kept her aura politely contained. As the group flew, Terry sat perched on the top of the hemisphere of glass, wind whipping his feathers as he looked ahead, an oddly intense light in his eyes. Tala and the others sat around Mistress Cerna, trying not to shift too much. This was apparently a very metal-efficient means of transportation, but not very stable, all things considered. In either case, they were moving just under the speed of magical resonance, which wasn¡¯t that fast due to how many of them there were so tightly packed together. Still, it was more efficient than jogging, given that they could skim about twenty feet above the treetops and head in a straight line. They only had to deal with the occasional arcanous creature, but each was dealt with by a small stone firing off at greater than the speed of sound, a blade of glass molding to intercept and obliterate, or simple blades appearing to deliver death. All in all, it was a rather uneventful way to travel. I suppose that¡¯s the result of having so many combat capable Refined ready to hand. They¡¯d been underway for about two hours, when Tala had a thought, ¡°Why would this take multiple days? We could get to another city in about a day at this speed. Why would we need more than one to go somewhere relatively nearby, fix an issue, and come back?¡± Mistress Cerna glanced her way, but returned her focus to the task of flying. Master Clevnis opened one eye, glanced toward the Paragon, smiled, and closed his eye again. Masters Grit and Limmestare simply ignored her. Mistress Vanga smiled and gestured toward the Paragon, ¡°Mistress Kep? Would you like to take this one?¡± Mistress Kep stirred from her musings, turning toward Tala with a patient smile. ¡°Well, as this involves my purpose, I think it fitting that I answer. Thank you, Mistress Vanga.¡± Her gaze came back to Tala. ¡°You were Mistress Tala, correct?¡± Tala had introduced herself, and Tala knew that this woman was advanced enough to easily remember something so trivial, so she was likely just being polite. Her aura is held incredibly close, though, likely to help with magical resonance. I could pierce her skin with my magesight and look, but that would be a bit rude. It¡¯s enough just to know she¡¯s a Paragon. I don¡¯t need to know exactly where she is in that stage. She nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Tala.¡± Mistress Kep¡¯s smile grew. ¡°Well, I am a specialist in analyzing and maintaining existence cells. Unfortunately, the time required for this type of mission is entirely on my end. It is not a fast process.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala oriented more fully on the woman. ¡°What exactly will you be doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked!¡± Mistress Kep sat a bit straighter, positively beaming. ¡°First of all, I will examine the ancient materials left by those who created this particular cell to understand what the contained threat is. Then, the six of you will follow the instructions provided in order to engage the threat while I do maintenance on the seal.¡± Tala blinked. ¡°Say again?¡± The Paragon tilted her head to one side, questioningly, ¡°What part?¡± ¡°Engage the threat. What do you mean?¡± ¡°Oh! That¡¯s simple. The repairs that need to be done can¡¯t be performed on an actively engaged seal. If the contained threat were to stress the seal as I was working on it, the containment might shatter completely, and no one wants that.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Well, no one but the contained threat.¡± ¡°Why not have a double-layered seal, or something?¡± ¡°That is something that has been proposed, but it has also been dismissed. Do you want me to take you through why?¡± Tala thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. ¡°No, I think I can understand. If they were both sealed, then it¡¯s effectively just one big seal, with no way of detecting the degradation of the first half of it. If the inner one is left ¡®open¡¯ to later engage to repair the outer one, the threat would still likely have to be fought back through that open seal. Additionally, it would be giving the threat a potential template to examine, in order to work out how to break through its containment. If it was the outer one that was left open, it would effectively just be a ¡®in case you don¡¯t notice soon enough, close this for more time.¡¯ Repairing the engaged, inner seal would be identical to working on a lone seal. Thus, a double seal in that case would just be extra resources for no purpose.¡± Mistress Kep chuckled in delight. ¡°Very good, yes.¡± ¡°So, the issue stands. How are six Refined supposed to fight back and keep at bay something that no human Archon, even Reforged, can kill?¡± She held up a finger. ¡°Permanently destroy.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Permanently destroy, not kill. There is a large distinction there. Most of these things are killable, many laughably easily so.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°I think I understand, but can you give a few examples?¡± ¡°Well, all the myriad phoenix related beasts come to mind first. If they grow in power to the point of being an existential threat, they almost universally have to be sealed. Killing a phoenix, no matter the variety, almost always makes it stronger in some regard. Even when the creature doesn¡¯t gain strength from the death, they generally aren¡¯t overly harmed by it in the long run. There are a whole host of creatures similar to phoenixes that we often just bunch together as ¡®threats that come back from even the smallest fraction of themselves.¡¯ Then there are the self-replicating threats. For some of those, destroying them often just creates more, in some way or other. Then the conceptual threats, who can move through ideas. Then, of course, there are the ones that are basically impossible to kill, but that doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t be hurt, pinned down, or otherwise delayed.¡± She found herself blinking at the influx of information. None of it was precisely ¡®new¡¯ but she hadn¡¯t really put it all together in these ways before. ¡°Things like dasgannach?¡± ¡°Exactly, though they don¡¯t pose a large enough threat to need to be contained¡­ generally. It helps that they generally have a limited capacity of how much they can absorb and hold sway over. Even so, I think there were some that spawned for rather¡­ unfortunate elements, but if memory serves some Sovereign or god-beast dealt with those.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot to take in.¡± ¡°It is, but you aren¡¯t hearing this all for the first time, are you?¡± The woman cast a confused glance toward Master Clevnis. He and the others were sitting with eyes closed, likely working on some internal skill or other. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Tala shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯ve come across most¡ªif not all¡ªof this before, but I¡¯ve never really put it all together, if that makes sense.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes. That does track.¡± She hesitated, then just decided to ask. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, what advancement are you? I mean, where in the advancement of Paragon.¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, yes, I¡¯m a Paragon. As basic as they come, actually. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get to Reforging eventually, but there just isn¡¯t much need for me to do it, and it isn¡¯t the most pleasant of processes¡­ or the easiest from my understanding.¡± ¡°Are there many Paragons in Alefast?¡± Mistress Kep shrugged. ¡°Not really. In most cities, there are more Paragons than Refined, but the ratio skews heavily around the waning when the more research focused Archons go elsewhere, unless their research is aided by the waning, but that¡¯s mainly people like me.¡± She considered for a moment before adding, ¡°That and the more combat focused Refined come running to the wanings.¡± Tala frowned, ¡°What about the combat focused Paragons?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t mean to imply that there aren¡¯t any, but there aren¡¯t many. Even most who fight in wanings don¡¯t fit into how I¡¯m meaning ¡®combat focused.¡¯ Now, most who are combat focused¡ªand who reach Paragon¡ªpush on to Reforged as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°Are there a lot of those?¡± she tried to ask casually. Mistress Kep huffed a laugh. ¡°Are you trying to ask how many Reforged humanity has?¡± ¡°If you know.¡± ¡°That is actually an excellent way to ask it. To my knowledge, operating within the human cities, we have around thirty Reforged. Some haven¡¯t been seen in a long time, but a long time for us isn¡¯t that long for a Reforged. It takes a lot for us to count one of them as dead and gone.¡± Tala grunted at the last, contemplating the presence of so many powerhouses. A moment later, she frowned, seeing it from the opposite side. ¡°Isn¡¯t that really few?¡± ¡°Yes and no. We often think of the soul-breaking as being incredibly recent, and in many ways it was, but we speak of it as ¡®millennia ago¡¯ when no human alive now was alive then. At least no one who¡¯s talking.¡± She gave Tala a wink. ¡°We think it was twenty thousand years ago?¡ªThough anyone you ask will give you a different number.¡ªBut that¡¯s mainly because of people like Master Jevin, who are ancient, but their memory from their youth contains ¡®near past¡¯ references of the soul-breaking. History becomes odd, though, when dealing with immortals and the scale of eons. Generally, we agree that the first gate was somewhere between three thousand to three hundred thousand years ago.¡± Tala blinked. ¡°What.¡± ¡°Well, Master Jevin isn¡¯t really keen on putting a number on the passage of years. We''re assuming he¡¯s at least two and a half millennia, but that could be a radical underestimation.¡± ¡°What about Master Nadro?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve met Master Nadro? Isn¡¯t he wonderful?¡± Tala smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good. As to your question, you should ask him some time.¡± The way Mistress Kep said that gave Tala pause, ¡°What should I expect when I ask?¡± ¡°Well, he answers everyone slightly differently, but the general result is: It would probably be best if you didn¡¯t know the answer to that.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°No deception doesn¡¯t mean all truth is spoken plainly.¡± Mistress Kep grinned. ¡°Indeed.¡± It wasn¡¯t too much longer before Mistress Kep guided them into a little valley and they set down before an unassuming cliff wall. As they approached, Tala felt herself become a little nauseous. Her magesight was showing the zeme of the area, and it was tumultuous in the extreme, with magical eddies and swirls dancing every which way. At the Paragon¡¯s guidance, they touched down a good ways up the rolling rise toward the mountain peaks. Tala frowned as she looked closer at her surroundings. Because she was focusing so closely, she thought that she was able to pick out an unusually flat portion of the cliff face. She pointed to it. ¡°Is it there?¡± Mistress Kep tilted her head to the side. ¡°What?¡± ¡°That flatter portion of the cliff. Is that where the door is?¡± The woman grinned. ¡°No. Don¡¯t use your eyes. Use your magesight.¡± Master Girt gasped. ¡°What? Magesight? Why would a Mage ever use that?¡± Tala shook her head at the grinning Refined. Master Limmestare tapped the man on the top of the head. ¡°Be nice, and be quiet.¡± As to her magesight, Tala had been trying to parse through it, but honestly, the zeme in the valley was so choppy that it was hard to discern anything really of note. Her unit was being unusually quiet, and after the relative quiet from them on the flight over, it was starting to seem intentional. Wanting me to learn, and not trusting themselves not to ruin the lesson? -Maybe.- That would certainly explain Master Limmestare¡¯s comment. Tala shook her head. ¡°My magesight is too disrupted to tell much.¡± ¡°Ahh, so you have a lot of fidelity to that vision?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°That can be a curse in such chaos, I can understand that. You¡¯ll learn to see through the noise with time and practice, but it¡¯s not pleasant. Do you have any sort of additional vision?¡± ¡°I have a form of voidsight.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Mistress Kep perked up. ¡°That¡¯s a rarer one. What does that tell you?¡± Tala enacted her voidsight, and her eyes immediately snapped to a strange fold in the air off to one side, about twenty feet from where they¡¯d set down. Now that she was focused on it, she could see it with her magesight as well, but it looked more like slightly more regular chaos, among the truly chaotic chaos. -Eloquent.- Hush you. Mistress Kep noticed Tala¡¯s attention on the spot and smiled, ¡°Ahh, you see it, then. What does it look like to you?¡± She frowned, walking forward. ¡°It looks like someone took a group of reality nodes and¡­ folded them over on themselves somehow? I don¡¯t know how else to describe it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good insight. Anything else?¡± Tala frowned, looking around. There seemed to be tendrils of¡­ something connecting to various things close by. ¡°I think I see some connections. What are they?¡± ¡°The creators of these cells generally try to leave clues as the password for entry, so that when we have to come to do maintenance, we can get in.¡± ¡°So, beyond that fold is the cell?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, no. Beyond that fold is the entry-way to the cell. In there will be some murals and other information on the creature or creatures¡­ or other threats housed within the cell itself. There is often also treasure, attempting to bribe anyone who might find the cell to leave it alone, or pay them to repair it. Things like that.¡± That lined up with what she¡¯d been told in the mobile villages. Then, she realized something about this fold in reality not being the only seal, and she quirked a smile, ¡°So, it is double sealed?¡± Mistress Kep chuckled. ¡°Not really a seal. From the outside, they try to give us the password for entry, from the inside, you can just walk out.¡± Tala nodded in understanding. ¡°Ahh, yeah. That¡¯s not a seal then.¡± ¡°So? Let¡¯s try it. Place your hand on the fold, and say the password.¡± Tala frowned skeptically and walked over, placing her hand where she saw the fold. There was no physical sensation, but she held her hand in the right place regardless. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s the password?¡± She didn¡¯t really have any idea. The Paragon patiently responded, ¡°What¡¯s it connected to?¡± Tala looked around. ¡°I think that¡¯s a cantaloupe vine over there, and that¡¯s a honeydew.¡± ¡°Alright, so based on that, what do you think the password is? Speak firmly and with determination.¡± Shrugging, Tala resigned herself. ¡°Melon.¡± Nothing happened. ¡°I¡¯m a friend?¡± Nothing happened, except Mistress Kep chuckling again. ¡°Now you¡¯re just guessing.¡± Tala shrugged once more. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s connected to plants, or vegetation, then?¡± At the last¡ª¡®vegetation¡¯¡ª, the fold seemed to unfold, leaving an odd warping in the air in the shape of a large circle. On the other side seemed to be the same valley, but a portion of it that hadn¡¯t been visible before. The group all walked through, and Mistress Kep patted Tala on the shoulder. ¡°Well done.¡± Tala smiled as she followed them inside, stopping in astonishment when she saw the cliff-face that had been hidden as part of the fold. It was covered from top to bottom in squiggly lines for some reason that Tala couldn¡¯t comprehend. There were no artistic depictions beyond those odd squiggles. When she glanced toward Mistress Kep, she saw the woman frowning. ¡°Well, this is a bit ominous. This seems to be a conceptual threat more than a physical one. I¡¯ll need to read this carefully before we proceed.¡± ¡°You can read that? How? It isn¡¯t words.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t words in our language, you mean.¡± Tala blinked at that. ¡°Our¡­ language?¡± ¡°Yes, dear. The whole world speaks the same language because some millennia ago a sovereign got tired of having to relearn how to communicate to people due to linguistic drift, so he locked our language into a cohesive whole. It can grow, but it no longer can shift.¡± ¡°No one stopped him?¡± ¡°Oh, stars no. Apparently, many of the other Sovereigns were so taken with the idea that they helped him with some project or other in gratitude. No one knows what it was, and it¡¯s probably just a myth, but there you have it. Everyone, everywhere, speaks, reads, and writes the same language.¡± ¡°But not that?¡± She pointed. ¡°No, writing in locked spaces wasn¡¯t affected by the magic, so we had to relearn how to read these writings. The password was affected, because it was within our reality for the working, this writing wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°If this is in another language, then the aligning of all speech and writing doesn¡¯t seem like it was that long ago, then?¡± Mistress Kep shrugged. ¡°Like so many things, I could give you a definitive answer, but I could be off by a few thousand years in either direction.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°Wonderful.¡± ¡°It is what it is. Now, it¡¯s time to read a cliff.¡± Chapter: 333 - His Story Tala turned her attention to the other things within the folded space as Mistress Kep flared with power and slowly rose into the air. Tala wasn¡¯t quite able to tell what magics the Paragon was using to lift herself, but she didn¡¯t think it was direct air manipulation. Probably not that important. Opposite the cliff, in the roughly fifty-foot square of reality, was a weathered stone building, the interior of which was accessed by an open archway. The ground looked very much like the ground outside the folded space with knee-high grass, interspersed with low bushes and the occasional small tree. Apparently, the soil wasn¡¯t that good for trees. There were some insects, but no trace of animals, even though Tala had seen evidence of quite a few little critters¡ªfrom mice and rabbits to small songbirds and grass-dwellers¡ªin the valley outside. I suppose if any were caught within the bounds of this space, they¡¯d have long since left, unable to return. Their descendants are likely outside, none the wiser. Master Limmestare and Mistress Vanga were moving toward the small building, just behind Mistress Cerna. Masters Clevnis and Girt had cleared a ten-foot circle, cutting the grass down to about ankle height, and were stretching and moving through a series of magical manipulations that Tala had learned they used to limber up their gate, will, and mind. That had been a relatively new concept to her, though it made sense. How many times had she felt her thinking was a bit off, or her will a bit sluggish? A series of ¡®truing up¡¯ movements with her magic might have just been the thing she needed for those occasions. Toward that end, she¡¯d been joining them to learn, but this time, she was more curious about what was in the little building. The structure was well constructed of dry-fitted stone. There was no magic woven through the building, but there was magic within, which surprised Tala. The surprise vanished almost instantly as Mistress Cerna made clear the reasoning. The Refined unit leader sighed. ¡°We have a harnessed fount.¡± That got everyone¡¯s attention. The Paragon called down, ¡°Let me know if you learn anything specific. Otherwise, I¡¯ll continue, here.¡± Mistress Cerna waved and spoke back, trusting the other woman to hear, ¡°Will do.¡± The other two Refined stopped their practice and moved to follow Tala into the building. There¡ªfloating in the middle of the space¡ªwas a fount processed in the arcane manner. It was an orb, fully embedded with ingrained purification scripts, but ¡®set¡¯ in the way of artifacts, rather than simply inscribed as most arcane-used founts were. The working rendered the power easily accessible without tainting that which it powered. The harnessed fount only seemed to be powering three things. The first was a pedestal in the middle of the room with the obvious outline of a hand atop it. It was seemingly carved from a single piece of white marble, shot through with veins of obsidian. The hand outline was of the same black, volcanic glass, indicating that on the whole, the material wasn¡¯t naturally this composition. The second item powered by the fount was a stylus, resting just above a plaque. The stylus was a red stone, bound and embellished with gold. The plaque was also gold, and the odd lettering on it was a deep, almost crimson red. The final item was a shield that leaned against one wall, below another plaque. This plaque was a matte grey metal, the lettering a white so bright that it almost seemed to glow. Similarly, the shield was a matte grey, stylized and enhanced with a bright white. Unfortunately, both plaques were illegible to Tala. Another language. -That¡¯s¡­ so odd. Why would you want to speak¡ªor I suppose in this case read¡ªsomething else? I mean, if there were just two languages, there¡¯d be large swaths of people you couldn¡¯t talk to. Think of all the books that you¡¯d never be able to understand! This is madness, Tala.- A person could learn to converse and read more than one language, like Mistress Kep. -That¡¯s silly. Everyone should just speak and read one language.- Well, we do. It seems right to us, because it is what we know. But honestly? We probably don¡¯t understand the true measure of things, because this is all we¡¯ve ever known. -¡­Fine. You¡¯re probably right. Since when are you the voice of reason?- Well, since you are me as well¡­ always? -I can accept that.- Aside from the obviously magical stuff, there were a few small strongboxes, which were easily opened, revealing gold, silver, and copper. ¡°So, lion¡¯s share goes to Alefast to cover expenses of the waning,¡± Tala nodded to herself, speaking out loud, ¡°but we get a finders¡¯ fee. Correct?¡± Mistress Cerna was busy itemizing what they¡¯d found, so Master Clevnis turned toward Tala. ¡°That¡¯s right. Generally, if any of us have a specific use for a magical item, here, that would be that person¡¯s portion. Finding magical items isn¡¯t rare, but it doesn¡¯t happen every time. This is a bit odd, though. Such items are usually in some sort of stasis to preserve them, rather than being actively powered. But that is off track. Honestly, the percentage is just a bit extra on top of the bounty for the new-cell-investigation and the extra pay for being out of the city for a few days.¡± That made sense to Tala, so she didn¡¯t really have any follow-up questions. Aside from the items and strongboxes that she¡¯d already seen, there wasn¡¯t really much to look at, since no one was willing to start playing with unknown, ancient magical items without at least knowing a bit about them. True to promise, it was actually pretty boring. Thus, the unit mainly putzed about, entertaining themselves however they saw fit. Masters Clevnis and Girt returned to their cleared circle in the grass. Mistress Vanga pulled out an Archive slate and began reviewing what Tala would bet were patient anatomy informational summaries. Mistress Cerna counted and recounted the precious metals in the boxes, then sat down to knit a woolen scarf¡­ in midair¡­ without knitting needles. Tala ended up joining the Masters in their will-stretching as they all waited for Mistress Kep to finish reading the cliff. Oddly enough, it ended with the Paragon hanging from the top, muttering loudly to herself incomprehensibly. It¡¯s in another language¡­ that¡¯s incomprehensible to me. -Right¡­ got to remember that¡¯s a thing.- Finally, the woman came back down, shaking her head. ¡°This is infuriating.¡± The unit gathered near her. They didn¡¯t strictly need to, as they could all hear each other from anywhere within the space, even if they simply whispered, but it was more polite to come close and be attentive. ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at what we have inside, and then we can go over everything, together.¡± That made sense, so they all followed her inside. It only took a moment for the Paragon to read the plaques. ¡°The shield contains natural arcane spell-forms around the concept of protection, defense, and shelter. In theory, anyone using it should be protected from even conceptual attacks while behind that, so long as they supply it with sufficient power.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°So, if I hold it up and power it, then someone insults me, I won¡¯t get my feelings hurt?¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The Paragon paused, then shrugged. ¡°I mean, maybe? You have more experience with arcane magic than I do, honestly. Though, your experience is with the modern type, and like all things, it has changed through time.¡± Except language. -Well, it would have changed, but it¡¯s being magically prevented.- That¡¯s true, I suppose. Mistress Vanga tentatively cleared her throat. ¡°I actually haven¡¯t bound a defensive item.¡± The others gave her looks that lacked surprise and that were filled with ¡®we¡¯ve been telling you to correct that lack.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ll get it thoroughly checked out, first, but I think this could be wonderful for me.¡± Master Clevnis nodded. ¡°I agree. You¡¯ve been through four wanings, and you have never managed to find something you liked. If that shield appeals to you, I¡¯m all for you getting this one. Any objections?¡± Tala almost objected, but in the end, she didn¡¯t really need it, and she had enough on her plate as it was. She could have fed it to Kit, and if the sanctum had replicated the magics it might have been useful, but she just wasn¡¯t sure what the results would have been. In the end, it wasn¡¯t worth it, and she knew that Mistress Vanga would share what was learned from the item, so Tala still might be able to find some way of getting something out of the shield. Mistress Kep continued, ¡°The stylus will magically write whatever you wish, on any surface you desire. To the extent of drawing out a color picture that you are imagining. It writes by changing the properties of the surface it acts upon, so it¡¯s not a matter of ink or paints or the like.¡± Tala perked up at that. That¡¯s pretty neat. -What would we even use it for?- You could write things out? -The Librarians have things that will let me do that if I really have a need.- Master Limmestare came and took a closer look at it. ¡°I do prefer physical books¡­ but no, I think the Library would have better use for it than I.¡± -See?- Fine¡­ No one else stepped forward to claim it. Mistress Cerna nodded once, ¡°So that will go to the city, then.¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°And this last thing, the pillar, if I understand correctly, contains a display artifact and information repository, or possibly just an informational accessing function, and the repository is in the Archive.¡± She placed her hand on the indicated location, and a pulse of magic washed through the room. Suddenly, a human was standing before them, as lifelike as any of the Refined, but with magic woven through them with incredible intricacy. Tala could even see air moving away from them as they displaced it by coming into existence. Solid projections? That seems so unnecessary¡­ The person began speaking¡­ another language. The monologue went on for nearly five minutes before the man bowed and vanished with a small pop, the air rushing back in to fill the void he left behind. He was instantly replaced by a hue-folk woman who again pushed the air out and away. She stood tall, with light purple skin and black eyes. Everyone focused fully on the fabricated person at that point. She began to speak as well. This still wasn¡¯t words that Tala recognized, but it also wasn¡¯t the same manner of speech that the man had used. Mistress Kep was frowning deeply. Four more illusions cycled through, each of a different race, each seemingly speaking a different language, each heralded by a slight breeze and seen off with a little pop. The Paragon spoke slowly, as if clarifying to herself, ¡°They¡¯re all the same message, as near as I can tell. I only know a smattering of some of the languages, but the cadence and body language matches up. From what I can see accessible by this pedestal, there are more than a hundred additional messages as well.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°More than a hundred different languages?¡± The Paragon shrugged. ¡°There were thousands, apparently. I¡¯ll get these uploaded to the Archive, and this will actually be a great key toward assisting in the deciphering of some of these other languages. Did you see that the words were written out near the floor?¡± Tala hadn¡¯t, but she had been standing back a bit. Mistress Kep shook her head slowly. ¡°This is an incredible find.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Then¡­ why don¡¯t you sound happy?¡± The woman grimaced. ¡°Because they went to a lot of trouble to leave this warning. That generally isn¡¯t done. There are no depictions of the prisoner, nor any mention of his name. Basically, all that I can determine about the prisoner himself is that he is a ¡®he,¡¯ by the warnings. The languages that have differing indicators for age, status, or other features have stripped those away, using vagaries and generalities instead.¡± ¡°So?¡± Master Clevnis interjected to prod, ¡°What are we dealing with?¡± Mistress Kep sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll want to verify, then double and triple check before we make our attempt, but I can give you my best guess. This is a mind-worm propagator. Specifically, he uses stories to worm his way into your thoughts. By the very act of telling the stories, he is naturally associating himself with the stories he tells you, which gives him greater power. If I understand correctly, when he dies, if he was killed, he subsumes the body of the one most conceptually linked to him and his stories.¡± Tala frowned. So, we could just kill him, now? We know nothing about him¡­ Her eyes widened. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s¡­¡± She shook her head as everyone looked her way. ¡°He¡¯s a prisoner. He¡¯s marked as a threat, and thus, one of us killing him would be a significant boon to humanity.¡± Master Limmestare was nodding in understanding. ¡°That very act would link the killer to him, conceptually.¡± Master Clevnis finished, a grimace wrinkling his nose, ¡°Giving him an instant path to using someone else¡¯s body to reforge himself.¡± They all stood in heavy silence for a long moment. Finally, Master Girt shrugged. ¡°So, we don¡¯t kill him, and we have Mistress Vanga scatter deadly plagues about so he might or might not die after we leave? We tell no one¡ªor erase our own memories of the event¡ªso there¡¯s no impact on humanity until some other group comes back to check on the cell. Even then, they¡¯ll just find it intact and depart, none the wiser.¡± Mistress Kep was already shaking her head. ¡°Indirect killing doesn¡¯t work. They even tried starving him, a dozen guards cutting him, only one with a poisoned blade¡­ so many things. It doesn¡¯t matter. Connections are formed.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°All are tied, and all actions forge threads of existence, bindings made of reality itself.¡± She remembered the links within the Doman-Imithe. ¡°His soul must somehow travel down the strongest one if he is killed.¡± The Paragon shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s a theory, but I have no idea. They also warned that they are guessing on his death having to be caused by others. They are fairly certain, however, because he could have killed himself to get free when they first put him away, if he¡¯d had that ability. Even so, we need to be careful. Form no bonds.¡± ¡°So, we shouldn¡¯t let him speak?¡± Mistress Kep sighed. ¡°Whoever prevented him from speaking would be ¡®saving the others from him,¡¯ thus creating a connection in that manner.¡± Mistress Cerna cleared her throat, interrupting what was clearly ramping up to be a veritable storm of ideas, ¡°Mistress Kep, what do we do, then?¡± The Paragon smiled gratefully. ¡°Again, I¡¯ll want to verify, but right now, my thinking is this: Go in, keep him from leaving, and have a perfectly mundane interaction with him. Don¡¯t let it be special in any way, either from what happens, or what doesn¡¯t. It isn¡¯t perfect as the very environment of the interaction makes it special, but that¡¯s the best that we have, and don¡¯t kill him.¡± There was a moment of silence before Mistress Kep nodded, almost to herself, and turned back to the pedestal to keep working. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to the fount?¡± That drew everyone¡¯s attention. Mistress Kep sighed, turning back once again. ¡°It will be kept with the magical items until they are claimed. At which point it will be analyzed to see if we can determine the most humane course of action.¡± ¡°That makes sense, thank you.¡± Tala hesitated, then added, ¡°I apologize for the interruptions.¡± The Paragon smiled and waved that off, turning back to the pedestal, and beginning to go through all of the recorded messages, seemingly storing them in the Archive through some means or other. ¡°Come on.¡± Master Clevnis clapped Tala on the shoulder as he walked by. ¡°This is going to take even longer than usual.¡± Tala had to admit, from what little she understood of the situation, it seemed like they would be here for a while. While Mistress Kep worked, they broke apart their improvised vehicle and stored the parts that were useful, distributing the rest around the valley outside the fold. Then, they all retreated into the folded space and closed it behind them, making it so they wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the outside world until they were done with this odd creature, locked away for the safety of the world. Even so, Tala¡ªand presumably Mistress Kep¡ªstill had ready access to the Archive. -Ahh, blessed updated Archival link. How useful you are.- Indeed. It was getting toward night, and Tala was eating the last of her supper surrounded by her unit, but she couldn¡¯t get something out of her head. She knew she was likely missing something obvious, but it just wouldn¡¯t leave her alone. Mistress Petra had prepared everyone¡¯s meals¡ªthe unit had gone shopping for supplies for the woman the day before¡ªand Mistress Cerna was over the moon at having fantastic food even outside the city. But that isn¡¯t what Tala was hung up on. ¡°Mistress Vanga?¡± The healer swallowed her current bite, regarding Tala, ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°I understand how this guy isn¡¯t really killable, but¡­ why does it matter? Why did he need to be imprisoned?¡± The Refined set her tray to one side, seeming to consider. Finally, she nodded to herself, ¡°Well, in most cases a brief outline of the reason would be here, along with the explanation of who the prisoner is and what they can do. So, you¡¯re right to ask as we generally would know. In this case, however, his story seemingly is what gives him power and access, somehow. So, telling us what he¡¯s imprisoned for would be counterproductive. That said, I would guess that he used his ability to reincarnate quickly when killed in order to do things that would get him killed.¡± She shrugged a bit helplessly, ¡°Honestly, even if he never did anything specifically wrong, each time he died, he effectively killed someone else to avoid the consequences of his actions.¡± ¡°Ahh, yeah. I can see that being a problem.¡± Mistress Vanga smiled in return. ¡°Indeed.¡± Chapter: 334 - Khesed Tala finally understood Mistress Cerna¡¯s reaction to having fewer ¡®out of the city¡¯ assignments. At least she thought she did. They¡¯d been in the folded space for more than two full days as Mistress Kep dug through, checking and triple checking the information on the prisoner and their best approaches. Master Clevnis had taken some time to explain things to Tala, emphasizing that the reason that he was doing so was specifically because this was her first cell, and not for any other reason. ¡°It is standard practice to review all the materials provided by the creators of the cell as closely as possible, and for the Paragon in Command to consult others through the Archive.¡± That had confused Tala a bit, so she¡¯d inquired further, ¡°Why would that be necessary? Didn¡¯t the people who left this information want us to succeed?¡± ¡°Obviously they did, but sometimes we don¡¯t know what we don¡¯t know, and they couldn¡¯t possibly have known what we don¡¯t know, now. Even when language isn¡¯t a barrier, culture sometimes shifts, the currently most popular stories, even different trends and understandings of magic. A famous case comes from when early human Mages were seemingly all Guides, and apparently focused on more vague schools, like fire, water, earth, and such. The messages they left on a couple of cells insisted that it would take four highly advanced magic users or someone they called an Exemplar¡ªwhich was basically a Mage who could use all four of what they believed to be the primary zones of magic at the time.¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°What? Why would people think that magic was divided in that way?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Human history goes back a long way, but we¡¯ve always known our magic functions differently than arcane magics. Our understanding has evolved through the eons to what it is today. I would bet that before you and I are both dead and in the ground, at least one thing that we believe to be fundamentally true will be seen as laughably inaccurate.¡± She grunted. Yeah, that¡¯s probably true. ¡°So, it¡¯s common practice to consult other experts to make sure there¡¯s not something that got lost through translation, time, culture, or common understanding?¡± ¡°Among other things, yes.¡± ¡°Huh. I suppose that makes sense.¡± On the morning of the fourth day within the folded space, Mistress Kep was finally satisfied. The unit gathered around her in the morning light as she laid out how things stood, ¡°We are good to get started. I have my plan for repairing and refreshing the seal, and the advice I gave you stands.¡± They each nodded. Mistress Cerna smiled brightly, ¡°Let¡¯s get it done! How long will you need to execute the repairs?¡± ¡°Not more than three hours. From what I can see, the damage is very concentrated, rather than a general erosion of containment.¡± Master Clevnis clapped his hands together. ¡°Alright. We know the plan, but let¡¯s go over the high points one last time so there¡¯s no confusion: Masters Limmestare and Girt are on physical deflection, if violence breaks out, I will be the first responder, with Mistress Vanga¡¯s primary duty being to keep the prisoner well away from death¡¯s door.¡± Tala felt herself twitch at the saying, a thought occurring to her. Do you think¡­ could ¡®Death¡¯ be in one of these cells, so death¡¯s door is a cultural reference to a real thing? -¡­really? You¡¯re considering this now? He¡¯s used that exact turn of phrase a dozen times over the last few days.- Well¡­ I didn¡¯t think about it earlier¡­ -Focus Tala.- ¡°Mistress Tala is on bodily intervention, and Mistress Cerna will fill in the gaps.¡± They all nodded their agreement. Terry wouldn¡¯t be coming with them, and they had all agreed that Tala should leave Kit outside, just to be safe. And that was that. They were ready. Mistress Kep gestured and one of the roof tiles suddenly lit with power as the Paragon altered the fundamentals of the universe to gain access to the cell. Obviously, the cells couldn¡¯t be composed of active magics, not unless their creators had bound a fount to their maintenance. While that was seemingly done in some cases, it was by far the exception, especially since modern humanity had to have the capacity to enact these cells at need, and they had neither the resources nor the willingness to use such methods. I wonder what they would do these days if active magics are required? -I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find out eventually.- The tile seemed to open, growing larger and revealing an entrance. A platform appeared before the opening, and a staircase extended downward to where they waited. There was no hesitation as the unit sped up the stairs, followed by Mistress Kep. As Tala and her companions entered the new passageway, she saw the Paragon step to the side, onto the platform, and explode with power. Tens of thousands of tendrils of magic¡ªeach seemingly manually controlled¡ªreached out, moving independently, as copper, silver, and golden spell-lines began to spark and flare across the woman¡¯s body in a truly mesmerizing display. Tala only hesitated for a moment, but that was sufficient for her to truly appreciate the gap in power and proficiency between the Paragon and even the long-lived Refined she was now working with. I wonder how old Mistress Kep truly is? As the unit moved down the passageway, Tala saw bodies tense then relax and heard the muttered pronouncements, foreswearing oaths, bindings, and bonds. Tala followed suit, noticing that she, herself, had tensed up when she entered the dark, stone-lined hallway. She forced herself to relax even as she spoke under her breath, ¡°I enter where I am granted access, accepting no debts, making no promises, and allowing no bonds. I am not, and never will be, associated with what lies ahead, except in passing.¡± -Wordy, but thorough.- We¡¯ll work on it. The hallway had no light source, but it was bright enough for Refined to walk with ease due to the reflected morning light behind, and the unknown illumination well ahead. The floor was smooth and level, the stones fitted perfectly into place, and not disrupted by anything despite the passage of time. The hall was nearly a hundred yards long before it opened out into the dappled light of an old-growth forest. Tala glanced behind herself and saw the passage leading straight back into a hillside. Through that, she could easily see the threads of Mistress Kep¡¯s magic on the other side. Perfectly straight. A soft, but firm, voice came to them, not shouted, but carrying nonetheless, but Tala couldn¡¯t quite make out the words. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. She turned to regard the speaker and beheld the prisoner for the first time. He was tall, likely around seven and a half feet in height, and built like a bear. His skin was the dark brown of mahogany. His ears were long and pointed, extending almost straight outward to poke free of his mane of hair. That very hair on his head, and that making up his beard, was the brown of deep-forest bark, streaked through with near-black, and his eyes were the dark blue of a deep ocean. Tala frowned. It¡¯s been ages since I¡¯ve seen an ocean. Why would that descriptor come to mind? -It¡¯s fitting, isn¡¯t it?- Maybe, it also might be that that¡¯s how he wanted himself viewed¡­ -Don¡¯t get yourself tied up in knots, Tala.- Right, focus. Regardless, the effect was for him to appear to be a statue, carved out of wood, with inlays and embellishments added in. The prisoner was clad in simple leathers, excessively patched, but meticulously cared for. On one side, he had a tightly bound, incredibly thick tome hanging from his belt. Opposite that, hung a large hatchet, but that was just in proportion to him. To Tala, it would have been a massive war-ax. It was then that something grabbed her attention and held it for a long breath. His hands were incredibly badly burned, the flesh looking like molded wax, glowing runes seared into his skin in patterns that somehow seemed at once both crude and impossibly complex. Tala¡¯s gaze jerked away when she caught movement in the corner of her vision as an owl that looked comically small in comparison to the big man swooped down to land on the prisoner¡¯s shoulder. The bird couldn¡¯t have been more than a few inches in height, but its eyes held hints of a keen intelligence. The man spoke again, and Tala realized that she hadn¡¯t somehow missed what he¡¯d said the first time. It was in another language. She blinked a few times, then barked a laugh. All that fear of him influencing us, and he doesn¡¯t even speak our language. Of course, he doesn¡¯t! The languages outside weren¡¯t ours, so why would his be? Master Limmestare put a kind, restraining hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder, and she nodded once, indicating that she understood. No speaking if they could help it. Her outburst had been understandable, but she needed to be careful. The large man tilted his head to the side, then the runes on his hands flickered with a rolling, multi-hued light. His entire aura rippled through the spectrum along with the light seeming trapped within the burned symbols, and the flesh around them seemed almost to melt a little further. Everyone held themselves ready but didn¡¯t directly react. Masters Girt and Limmestare turned and began to block off the tunnel with a bulwark of rock woven through with layers of interlaced glass-fiber. The light faded from the prisoner¡¯s runes, and he smiled. ¡°Now, you should be able to understand me, yes?¡± No one responded. ¡°Though you are not responding, I can tell by the light in your eyes that we are communicating. Good, good. That is an excellent start to a parole meeting.¡± He smiled again, his attitude seemingly genuine. ¡°I imagine that they didn¡¯t leave evidence of my name, and as I do not recognize any of you, I will assume that my¡±¡ªhe glanced around at the seemingly extensive forest¡ª¡°benefactors are no more. I am interested why you are all speaking the tongue of the star-touched, but that can wait. I am Khesed, in my language it means loving kindness or loving loyalty. May I know who you are?¡± Mistress Cerna smiled and gave a small bow. ¡°I will be whom you speak with, and I am called Cerna.¡± ¡°Cerna, a lovely name. Is there any proper form of address that is needed for polite society? I would hate to be rude in my ignorance.¡± After the barest hesitation, she nodded. ¡°Most would call me, ¡®Mistress Cerna.¡¯¡± ¡°¡¯Mistress?¡¯ A title of power, then.¡± He nodded approvingly. ¡°Likely from the ¡®Mistress or Master of the Ships.¡¯ I do so love those old tales, tales from before the splintering. I had not realized that enough of the star-touched had survived to¡­¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°There was an Anointed star-touched¡­ what was his name?¡± Khesed grimaced slightly, turning his head and looking down to his right, clearly in thought. ¡°Ahh, it escapes me after all these years. Did such a being achieve deification and rise to enough prominence that his language has overtaken your culture?¡± Mistress Cerna shrugged. ¡°I am unsure what you mean, but that is alright. We are far removed in time from each other. It is only natural that we should not easily find common jargon.¡± A small smile tugged at the prisoner¡¯s lips. ¡°Wisely put. But where are my manners. Can I offer you some refreshments? Some food? If we are to discuss my release, it should be in what comfort I can offer.¡± The Refined shook her head. ¡°My apologies, Khesed, but we are not here to discuss your release. We are here to ensure that you remain.¡± A flicker of anger moved through his eyes. ¡°The world turns, magic flows, and great deeds abound. I am missing so many beautiful stories.¡± He lifted a finger and pointed directly at Tala. ¡°Her, I can sense the stories radiating off of her. She is the youngest of you by far, but I know more than a million words could be spent telling of her short life already. You must let me learn.¡± He turned back to gaze straight into Mistress Cerna¡¯s eyes, arm falling to his side once more. ¡°Please, Mistress Cerna. Let me go forth and piece together all the history that I have missed.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No. I cannot.¡± ¡°But look at you!¡± He gestured emphatically. ¡°You¡¯re all human. All of you. I¡¯d never have imagined such a gathering of your weak-willed kind, not with the power I sense within, woven through your very beings. You somehow each have seemingly endless power trickling through you. I had only heard rumors of such things, and even then only in theory. Has the promise of limitless magic really been fulfilled to the extent that even humans have such a supply? What have I missed?¡± What? He can¡¯t be unaware of gates. A fount was found in the other area. Is he lying to draw us in? -Or that might not be a fount in the traditional sense.- Tala held her face stoic, but wanted to grimace. And we can¡¯t ask based on what he said, or that would taint any discovery with a connection to him. -Don¡¯t worry. They said they¡¯d analyze it thoroughly, once we got back to Alefast. His words won¡¯t change anything.- Mistress Cerna hadn¡¯t let herself be led off track, and she answered simply, ¡°I cannot tell you.¡± The prisoner turned, drawing his ax and swinging it in one¡ªobviously well practiced¡ªmotion that was almost too fast for Tala to follow. The ax passed through a nearby tree without slowing as Khesed let out a single, forest-shaking roar of frustration. There was an explosion of woodchips away from the strike, and away from the watching humans, before the tree dropped almost straight down, the now free trunk thumping end first into the newly created stump before the whole tree-top tipped, falling into the woods to bounce off, scrape against, and crack against other trees before crashing to the ground. Khesed took a few deep, full breaths, clearly pulling himself back together before he turned around to face them again. ¡°I apologize for my outburst. I am a historian. My deepest passion is to gather the truth of our past and pass it on, that we may learn from our ancestors. If you will not allow me out, please, let me tell you the tales I know, that I may at least be assured that my life¡¯s work is not for nothing.¡± ¡°We cannot do that. We know how you take over others if you die. We cannot allow you to form those connections.¡± He shook his head, huffing a laugh. ¡°You know nothing. Were that my goal, I would already have succeeded.¡± He indicated Tala again. ¡°Her story, at least, will be told¡ªI can feel the echoes of it throughout reality¡ª, and when it is, I will be mentioned within. I am, somehow, special to her, in her tale. I might be the spitting image of a family member or lost friend.¡± He looked down at himself and smiled ruefully. ¡°Though, I doubt that. I might be the first of my species she has seen, or the first prisoner in one of these cursed cells whom she has encountered. Regardless, I am something to her, and so when her tale is retold, I will be included, if not in this world, then in others. The magic of stories is far reaching, Mistress, and good stories want to be told.¡± There was a long, ominous silence that stretched out for nearly a minute before Khesed continued. ¡°But as I said, that is not my aim. Yes, I must live to collect and tell stories, and I regret that others die so I might live, but is not a revealer of history more needed than the average citizen? Do I not have the right to safeguard my own life, regardless of the cost?¡± ¡°No. We are all worthy of life, none more than any other.¡± He raised his finger to point at her, then to her husband, then to the others in the unit, his voice dropping low with fervor, ¡°And yet you are each steeped and entangled in tales of endless bloodshed, violence, and the ending of sapient life. I only took life when I was slain by others. I have never sought the blood of thinking beings, I have simply not allowed myself to be slain. How is that a crime?¡± ¡°Because those you killed were not those who attacked you.¡± Khesed huffed a laugh, shaking his head. ¡°And you know that for a fact, do you? Who is more tied to the life of a man than the one who cuts it short? The great sages of my day found my means of self-defense distasteful, because they weren¡¯t above its effects. If they wanted me killed, they couldn¡¯t get around my lifesaving magics, and so they deemed me a threat.¡± Mistress Cerna shook her head. ¡°We are not going to listen to your story, Khesed. We are here because this is a cell, and this is our duty, the fact that it is you in here doesn¡¯t factor in in the slightest.¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°Then, you would have me attempt to fight my way free? Is that why your friends have so laughably blockaded the tunnel?¡± ¡°I would have you wait peacefully until we depart.¡± ¡°And leave me trapped once again, you mean. Bound to an eternity with no information, no chance to learn of the wonders unfolding in my world?¡± ¡°It is how it must be.¡± His eyes hardened, and he looked at each in turn. ¡°So be it.¡± Chapter: 335 - Protocol Tala stood, silently amazed at Mistress Cerna¡¯s verbal maneuverings. Khesed, the prisoner of this cell, was doing all he could to lay out hooks, laden with questionable information, everything from implying that she should ask him if he had a title that she should be using, to straight up telling her that he was around to interact with Sovereigns before they rose to that level of advancement. True or not, they all sound like fascinating stories. -When your life and power depends on something, you get good at it.- I suppose that makes good sense. Khesed was clearly frustrated, but he was just as clearly holding himself back from losing his temper. The tiny owl on his shoulder had its gaze locked onto Tala. Why is it focused on me? Why did Khesed focus on me, earlier? -It sounded like he could have been highlighting you as the youngest, emphasizing that even so, you still have so many stories to tell? An extreme for comparison?- Could be¡­ She was loath to activate any magics while within the cell, just incase there was some odd reaction. She would at need, such as if her role in the unit dictated it, but not without such. Even so, aspect mirroring was simply using already active magics, elsewhere. That settled, she aspect-mirrored the void in her elk-leathers into her natural magesight spellforms, creating her easiest form of voidsight. She flexed her will and the world changed to her perspective¡ªmirrored onto all her bloodstars, held close and stationary to not draw attention. For an instant, she was confused; then she realized what she was seeing. Tala fought to keep her expression neutral, and the lack of reaction from the prisoner let her know she must have more or less succeeded. She could easily see each of her unit¡¯s reality nodes in a way she hadn¡¯t been able to, because they weren¡¯t pressed up against anything that she could perceive with her voidsight. Instead, they were all floating within one much, much larger nodule, isolated and not subsumed, but clearly within its sway. That node was clearly centered on, and most strongly manifested within, the prisoner¡¯s physical body. Funnily enough, with such clear demarcations, and no pressure pushing on them, she was able to see the true shape of the nodules like never before. Hers was¡­ heavier than everyone else¡¯s by a good measure, and something deep within her knew that was what Khesed had seen and reacted to when singling her out. My iron. Reality. That was what the nodes were, after all. There had to be a connection, even if she didn¡¯t know for sure. Beyond that, she got a true sense of the node that was her like never before. -Umm¡­ Tala? Maybe we should investigate this later, because it¡¯s interesting, and we¡¯ve been meaning to, not¡­ you know, because of this experience?- Tala internally shook her head, dismissing Alat even as she focused her voidsight, entering an almost meditative focus as the prisoner and unit leader continued to verbally dance around each other. There. She saw it, then. Heavy threads of reality binding the unit together with multiplicative, overlapping and interweaving ties. Tala had mixed feelings when she saw that she, also, was included in that web, though to a much lesser extent. Obviously, Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis were bound more closely than any other two, and it was interesting to see the parity between their nodes. They were still clearly separate, but they resembled nothing so much as two halves of a whole, even though neither seemed incomplete or broken on its own. There were also incredibly thin¡ªclearly fleeting¡ªties between each of them and the prisoner. We¡¯re succeeding. Tala kept the smile from her face. They were doing it. As she was having all these realizations, she felt something through her voidsight. A tendril of connection as thick as her arm was building on Khesed, clearly oriented on her. He seemed to have noticed, too, though the only evidence was a slight up-turning of the side of his mouth. Oh¡­ rust. The reality connection lanced out, and Tala acted on instinct. She had drilled into herself that she needed to keep her reactions contained in this cell, and that her role here was to take hits for the unit, absorbing and rendering them useless. So, she didn¡¯t try to dodge. She knew that the incoming connection wasn¡¯t something that could be dodged regardless. That¡¯s not how it worked. Instead, she armored herself in the only way she could think to do so. Voidsight was what had shown this to her, so void was the first thing she went to. Void rolled through the magical defenses that her elk-leathers projected. Normally, they were barely strong enough to factor into her fighting on their own, but this was an entirely different field of battle, and she was Refined now. That advancement had been strengthening her soulbound items, including her elk leathers. This was their first real test. The hawser of a connection slammed into her thin field of void and stopped cold, not forming a link with her in the slightest. Interestingly, the void-field didn¡¯t seem to interact with the connections that were already in place. Khesed¡¯s head jerked backward as if he¡¯d been slapped in the face, and he turned a flash of a glare at Tala. As her focus returned to him, she saw that there were several other large ties leading from him down the tunnel and out into the world. He¡¯s still connected to people on the outside. If we kill him, he¡¯ll be free, even if he had no connection to us at all. She also instantly knew that she couldn¡¯t let him know about the connections, assuming that he wasn¡¯t already aware. The massive connection was still pressing against her defense, and her void-field was starting to bow inward dangerously. ¡°Tala!¡± Mistress Vanga¡¯s harsh whisper in her ear jerked Tala¡¯s attention back to her mundane perspective. The healer was standing beside her, completely focused on Tala, concern in her eyes. She wasn¡¯t touching Tala, as Tala was wreathed in void, but she was very close. Tellingly, the void was visibly indented where the connection was trying to attach. That, if nothing else of the struggle, would be visible to everyone in the unit. ¡°A connection is trying to form.¡± To Tala¡¯s surprise, her whispered response came out between clenched teeth. She placed her hand on Flow, pushing the weapon into void-form even as she mirrored that void into the defenses of her elk-leathers as well, taking some of the strain away. Mistress Vanga looked toward Khesed, fire flaring in the woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°No, I¡¯ve got this. This is my role.¡± Tala forced a small smile. ¡°Let him focus this avenue of attack on me.¡± Mistress Cerna had clearly noticed something as well, but Khesed was continuing the conversation, and the Refined was continuing to engage him on that front, even as various symbols on his hands flickered and spat sparks. Tala saw a bad end to the encounter if she didn¡¯t change anything. She needed to gain some more weight behind her defense. Weight. My node. Iron. She allowed her through-spike to snap back on, covering her in an illusion of herself, even as iron rolled across her entire body, instantly infusing with void and defensive magics already within the elk-leathers. The iron was hers more fully than any mere possession ever could be, the magic was hers¡ªthe product of her very soul¡ª, it was laughable to consider the two wouldn¡¯t be able to mix. Suddenly, a stability and strength that she¡¯d never felt before snapped into place within her defense. To her voidsight, her entire node seemed to shimmer, becoming more existent. Reality, void, magic. The tripod of existence. She had just successfully built a defense seemingly modeled after existence itself. It wasn¡¯t particularly strong, per se, but it was of a type that could not be ignored. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Everyone must have felt something, because the precise back-and-forth of words cut off, and Mistress Cerna carefully called back toward Tala. ¡°Is there anything I need to know?¡± Tala couldn¡¯t help but grin. ¡°My apologies for the interruption; it has nothing to do with him. Please carry on.¡± There was a resonance in her defense, and the massive, attempted-connection of pure reality began to fray, unraveling back to Khesed. As it fully dispersed, he grimaced but otherwise kept himself under control. Is existence magic taboo too? I certainly hope not¡­ -Isn¡¯t that like saying ¡®cake flour?¡¯ Flour is part of cake¡­ oh, cake flour is a thing. ¡®Existence magic¡¯ is fine. Carry on, don¡¯t let me distract you.- Khesed seemed to have decided that Mistress Cerna wasn¡¯t going to take any of his bait, so he turned fully toward Tala. ¡°You clearly have had some sort of epiphany. I am so glad that your meeting me was so influential in your road.¡± A small thread tried to connect them once again, but it practically pinged off of her defense, causing the prisoner¡¯s right eyebrow to twitch and the little owl to chirp, its first sound since arriving. Don¡¯t forget about the little bird¡­ Khesed continued, undeterred, ¡°I would be happy to help you. It is the least I can do, even if you won¡¯t free me.¡± Tala waved off the offer. ¡°Thank you for the offer, but I decline. Existence is there to be explored, its secrets open to any who look.¡± In truth, as she moved her void-encased hand in the small wave, she tried to interact with the paltry thread that already connected her to the prisoner. As thin as it was, she wanted to remove it if possible, but her void-shrouded hand passed right through, despite her desperately willing the thread to be gone, or for her to be able to grab it, or anything. Well, no easy solution in that regard, then. Khesed seemed to have taken the break in the silence of the other unit members as an invitation. Since Tala wasn¡¯t yielding a connection, he changed his focus to Mistress Vanga. ¡°You. Your magics are healing focused, correct?¡± Mistress Vanga smiled briefly, politely. ¡°My apologies, Khesed, but protocol dictates that I not speak with prisoners.¡± Mistress Cerna stepped between the two of them. ¡°That is my role at this time.¡± Tala watched in fascination as cords of connection were forged between the two women as well as between each of them leading back through the tunnel, presumably to Mistress Kep. They¡¯re acting this way due to the Paragon¡¯s instructions, not due to the prisoner, himself. She insulated us against his magics by insisting we make all of these choices at her direction, and establishing the protocol before coming inside. It was a fascinating approach to the whole thing. It didn¡¯t protect them from actions that were weighty regardless, such as those that resulted in death or similarly permanent changes, but it was an incredible protection for glancing interactions. They were here¡ªand doing what they were doing¡ªbecause of Mistress Kep, not Khesed. They¡¯d be following the same instruction set¡ªthough a different branch of the set¡ªeven if the cell had seemed empty. Khesed briefly tried to engage each of the others but got variations on the same response in return. Finally, the prisoner seemed to have had enough. ¡°Well, as¡­ informative as this conversation has been, I think it is time that I leave.¡± Mistress Cerna shook her head. ¡°As I said, we cannot permit that.¡± ¡°While you are correct, and I did ask for your allowance, I never needed it.¡± Without another word, he simply disappeared. There was a moment of stunned, frozen silence before everyone erupted into motion. Tala was able to see the threads of reality linked to the giant of a humanoid, even if not the man himself, and he was seemingly sprinting toward the tunnel. She immediately pointed, tracking him with her finger. ¡°There!¡± Spikes of rock blossomed well ahead of where she was pointing, Master Girt clearly reacting quickly. Khesed was seemingly invisible to mundane vision, and even magesight, so Master Clevnis seemed unwilling to attempt to waylay the prisoner for fear of doing real damage. He wouldn¡¯t be stopping the prisoner. Tala knew her role. Get in the way; keep him from freedom and the others. She crouched and exhaled, enacting one of her new mental models with a burst of power through her gravitational modification scripts. As her effective gravity plummeted, she thrust her legs down, adding power to her surface-area enhancement scripts as she launched forward and up into the air like an arrow from the string. She timed a quick breaking of the working on her effective gravity, letting her arc exactly as she wished down toward the tunnel entrance. It had been sealed, but she watched with fascination as tree roots burst from the ground to tear apart the barriers before the invisibly charging prisoner. The process wasn¡¯t quick or easy, even though it only took seconds. The roots clearly struggled to break through the glass fiber and magically reinforced rock. Alright. I need to land, dig in my feet, enhance my gravity, and entrench myself. This was a chance to put a large set of her newly unified skills to use. She hit the ground at the newly exposed entrance a good ten feet in front of the tangle of reality threads that she believed was the prisoner. She landed with her toes pointed downward, gravity enhanced and the full weight of her iron allowed to bear down on her. This combination drove her feet into the stone nearly halfway up their length. Tala instantly enhanced her gravity further and did two other things. First, sharpened iron rods as big around as her arm sprouted from a thick plate forming across her entire back, the rods angling outward to drive deeply into the tunnel behind her, walls, floor, and ceiling. Additionally, a net of heavy iron wire grew between the rods almost immediately afterwards. What white steel she had coated the out-of-ground iron with was in a troublingly thin layer, but it would have to suffice. The barrels of iron I absorbed while practicing with Master Cazor are showing their worth. I need to allow the elk leathers to subsume more white steel though. -No kidding on both counts.- The rods weren¡¯t quite as sturdy as forged or cast iron of the same thickness would be, but they would get the job done as conduits for what came second. Second, she aspect-mirrored Flow¡¯s resilience into her elk leathers, and reinforced it specifically within her iron. An instant later, a force like a charging thunderbull slammed into her, causing Khesed to instantly drop back into visibility, his shoulder dropped in a tackle, driving into her soft stomach. The wind was driven out of her¡ªand so much more¡ª, and she found herself grinding back down the tunnel, much to her shock. She only moved a couple of yards, but she left utterly shattered walls, ceiling, and floor, along with two partial circles carved where her surface area enhanced feet had been forced back through the stone. Tala felt like her insides had been pulped by the epic blow. -Really? He can enhance his attacks through literary comparison?- Tala forced her mind into focus in order to respond. That¡¯s a bit of a stretch, Alat. -Maybe¡­- The massive man pulled back, grimacing and gripping his clearly deformed shoulder. He was slightly winded as he asked, ¡°What are you made of, girl?¡± There was a bit of awe in his voice, even as his eyes flicked past her to take in the bracing that was behind her, helping to hold her in place. It was then that Tala noticed the heat radiating from her iron. Flow¡¯s reinforcement magic had worked to distribute the potentially damaging impact throughout, causing the internal temperature to skyrocket. Even as her magics struggled to rebuild most of her insides, she forced herself to willfully negate heat from the white steel, thereby cooling the iron as well. She didn¡¯t need to deal with the weakness her iron would experience at higher heats on top of everything else. Deal with potential problems early, before they have a chance to become problems. There was a hooting cry of irritation as Khesed¡¯s little owl tried to find a way through the net Tala had woven. I¡¯m so glad I thought to create the net¡­ stupid bird. That made her think of Terry, and not only about how much better of an avian companion he was. Would a mesh of iron block his teleportation? -Maybe? Might be interesting to experiment with.- Not now. -Oh, obviously not now.- Khesed shook his head, a small smile passing over his lips. ¡°Regardless, not many could take such a hit. That must be one of the strongest hits you¡¯ve ever taken, if not the strongest, from a purely physical perspective.¡± As her lungs reconstituted, swelling anew with air, she couldn¡¯t help it, she started to laugh. It was a ragged, breathy thing, but it was fully of unrestrained mirth. That seemed to take the large prisoner aback, and he actually took a half step backward, blinking and frowning in confusion. ¡°What is so funny?¡± She smiled with bloody teeth. ¡°You think that¡¯s the hardest hit I¡¯ve taken? You know nothing about me.¡± She almost pulled one of her pairs of siege orbs from her belt¡ªstored there because she had left Kit outside¡ªbut she internally shook herself. No, Tala. That isn¡¯t your role, here. You are ¡®bodily intervention.¡¯ Trust your unit. As if on cue, circles of stone almost lovingly wrapped around Khesed¡¯s forearms, lower legs, and neck, threads of glass weaving throughout to strengthen the stone. They were immediately followed by a network of precious metals, floating just away from the restraints, which flared to life almost instantly, reinforcing and locking the stone even more firmly into place. The prisoner was lifted off of the ground by the restraints and floated backward, well away from the tunnel, the ground, and any trees. Even so, Tala didn¡¯t move. Her place was here. Bodily intervention. The damage was mostly healed, but she hurt. It was all she could do not to groan in relief as the man was pulled away. Mistress Vanga walked over to the floating arcane. ¡°Will you withdraw your aura so that you may be healed? If you do not, the injury will only remain because of your own stubbornness. I will do you no harm save that which is required to heal you.¡± He grimaced in response, then nodded. ¡°My apologies, I don¡¯t like working under these conditions. I will have to create miniature expanding supports within your shoulder to reform it before I can heal you. They will dissipate and be absorbed by your body in about a week, but until then your shoulder will be all but useless.¡± Without another word, large sections of her inscriptions lit up. Khesed¡¯s grimace deepened, and he groaned through clenched teeth. ¡°Again, I must apologize. I would have given you something for the pain, but I don¡¯t know your particular biology, and there is more danger of me doing harm than chance it would do any good.¡± He shook his head against the pain but didn¡¯t otherwise react or respond. It was odd, watching someone else¡¯s body seem to reinflate, even if just a bit of it. As the shoulder shifted back into position, the discoloration of blood pooling beneath the skin no longer seemed to be growing worse. ¡°There.¡± Mistress Vanga bowed, stepping back. Mistress Cerna nodded once. ¡°Now, protocol dictates that we keep you restrained until we depart. We must do so as you have attempted to escape via physically assaulting one of us. It is nothing personal.¡± Her eyes glimmered at the last, and Tala would have sworn that she saw Khesed¡¯s teeth grind just slightly. ¡°GOT YOU!¡± Master Limmestare shouted in triumph as he pulled the little owl from the air with a net of glass fibers. He set the little avian on the forest floor, well contained. ¡°That should be easy for your big friend to free you from, once we leave. We cannot allow either of you to get out. Protocol, you understand.¡± Tala remained in place, but the rest of the unit found comfortable positions in which to settle in and wait. Khesed half-heartedly tried to engage them in conversation once more, but not even Mistress Cerna responded any longer. Protocol forbade doing so. Thus, the remaining time passed rather uneventfully. Chapter: 336 - This Method Tala was the last one out of Khesed¡¯s cell, as was her role as the physical and magical interceptor for her unit. She backed out slowly, keeping the prisoner in sight as he floated above the forest floor, suspended in his restraints. Around her, incredibly intricate, interlaced magics were finally fully formed. From what little Tala could interpret¡ªwhen they were activated¡ªthey would repair the hole into the cell and seal it once again for the foreseeable future. Mission more or less accomplished. All things considered, it was a successful first mission to a cell. She took the last step out, onto the stairs, and she saw the magics flash with power, reality folding and twisting on itself to render the contained space stable but contained yet again. The entrance within the expanded roof tile vanished entirely, the only evidence being the smallest of pin-pricks through which she saw the reality-thread connections that were coming from Khesed, and the fading wisps of the magic that had enacted the change. Even those reality-threads faded, seemingly shifted into the Doman-Imithe, or some other place, for a more expedient path between their linked pairs. Mistress Kep looked exhausted, and Mistress Vanga helped her down the steps, even as Master Girt did the same with Tala. It was only then that Tala noticed how exhausted she felt. She felt¡­ strained? No, that¡¯s not right. She felt almost disconnected from herself, as if she was walking around in someone else¡¯s body. -Tala! You still have your defenses up. Drop them.- She didn¡¯t see why she should, but there wasn¡¯t really a good reason to keep them up, and Alat was her, so she probably had good reasons. Thus, Tala shrugged to herself and dropped the ¡®existence field.¡¯ The world came rushing back to her in an oddly existential way, staggering her. She¡¯d have fallen off the stairs if it wasn¡¯t for Master Girt¡¯s support. ¡°Hey, now. I¡¯ve got you. Are you going to be alright?¡± That seemed to get everyone¡¯s attention, even as Tala stepped free and the staircase and platform folded back into the tile as it shrunk back into place, vanishing into the expanse of other roof tiles. Tala shook her head. ¡°There was some odd backlash to the protection I was using.¡± Mistress Cerna walked forward, along with an exhausted Mistress Kep, the unit leader speaking up, ¡°Tell us the details of what you did.¡± So, Tala did. She didn¡¯t mention the prisoner¡¯s actions, simply what she had done and seen with regard to the unit members. Finally, she explained how she¡¯d released the barrier and felt like the world was around her again, even though she hadn¡¯t been blocked or inhibited beforehand. It was Mistress Kep who answered, ¡°It sounds like you were isolating yourself from the rest of the world on the level of existence itself. It obviously wasn¡¯t a perfect seal, but it was enough to give you the feeling of wrongness and isolation. There have historically been curses like that: ¡®May you never love again,¡¯ comes to mind. Conceptual magics in those cases were used that prevented the target from ever forming bonds with another human. In the most extreme case I¡¯ve heard of¡ªthough I doubt its validity¡ªit was so powerful that people would forget that they saw the person or creature as soon as they lost sight of them. It went both ways in the tale, so the subject of that curse eventually killed themselves for lack of social connection and out of confusion as to the strangeness of the world they now inhabited seemingly on their own. Once dead, the magic persisted and their body rotted in a public square, unable to be noticed enough to be removed.¡± Tala felt her eyes twitch. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ awful.¡± The Paragon cleared her throat, scratching at her collarbone briefly. ¡°My apologies. I¡¯m a bit out of it myself. That was callously said. In your case, you seem in full control of the cause, so you can avoid it when appropriate or undo it as needed. But¡­¡± She hesitated before pressing on. ¡°I¡¯d probably recommend that you don¡¯t do anything to make that a passive or permanent effect you are constantly under.¡± Tala nodded in eager affirmation. ¡°Understood, and I agree. Thank you for the advice.¡± She shook her head and took a long drink from a waterskin that Master Limmestare offered her. ¡°On a different subject, which I meant to ask earlier, why aren¡¯t cells made inhospitable? I mean I know why this prisoner couldn¡¯t be starved of food or air, etcetera, but why couldn¡¯t others?¡± Smiles passed around those nearby. Mistress Vanga voiced what they were thinking, ¡°Well, if you¡¯re asking questions like that again, you¡¯re going to be fine.¡± Tala found herself chuckling with the others. Mistress Cerna pointed them toward their next task, ¡°Let¡¯s get some food, and we can see if we can satisfy your curiosity. Then, we¡¯ll button up here and head back to Alefast.¡± Once Kit was retrieved, and Tala had communicated with those inside, Mistress Petra had their midday meal ready shortly, and they all gathered to chat and eat. I¡¯m so glad I increased her pay and gave her a supply budget. It would be really awkward to be eating a really nice meal with everyone else in my unit eating rations, or the like. -Yeah, that wouldn¡¯t be the best unit-building way of doing things.- Kind of the unit to help fund the process, too. -Makes sense, it¡¯s for them, and gets the Zuccats much better paid across the board.- The meal for everyone but Tala was a garlic chicken over brown rice. The sauce was thick, and the asparagus, mushrooms, carrots, and snap-peas were prepared to perfection. Both the food for the unit and Tala¡¯s own fare were served alongside a nice, spicy, chilled tea. Is this ginger based? -I think a ginger honey tea, yeah.- I would not have thought this would be good, but it really is. While none of them needed the cooling effect from the chilled tea, it was a nice, refreshing beverage for an early-summer¡¯s day. As the others wound down¡ªand Tala continued apace¡ªthere were a few words exchanged before Master Limmestare actually began to give the requested explanation. ¡°So, in regard to the habitability of the cells, it generally isn¡¯t up to the creators at all. It¡¯s important to realize that these aren¡¯t created spaces that the prisoners are shoved into, at least not for the most part. You see, in most cases, the prisoners are too magically or conceptually weighty to be directly acted upon, that¡¯s one reason why we can¡¯t simply bypass their forms of indestructability. Thus, the enactment¡ªthe working¡ªgrabs a large portion of the world itself, encapsulating it and isolating it.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Oh! Like a world fragment?¡± Master Limmestare frowned, glancing to Mistress Kep. The Paragon nodded, ¡°Yes, but it is a world fragment of this broken recreation, not a true world fragment of what was before.¡± Tala found herself nodding too. That made sense. ¡°Alright. So, because it¡¯s a world fragment of this world, it matches the conditions of this world.¡± Master Limmestare smiled. ¡°Yes! It matches the conditions of wherever it was taken from, give or take. We actually have similar things happen with expanded storages. If we created them from scratch, here, we almost never have to concern ourselves with ventilation and the like, but we do need to be careful with insulation, but that¡¯s getting off topic.¡± Tala tilted her head to one side, remembering back. ¡°That¡¯s why they had to be careful with the inside of Kit, my sanctum¡±¡ªshe clarified, then realized she¡¯d used the wrong word¡ª¡°dimensional storage.¡± Master Clevnis grunted. ¡°Because it was an artifact, a spawning of the void where there isn¡¯t necessarily anything to breathe.¡± She frowned. ¡°¡®Not necessarily?¡¯¡± He shrugged. ¡°The void is strange. We think of it as ¡®emptiness,¡¯ but it¡¯s not truly nothingness, and there are pockets of all sorts of things in there. Who knows where a given artifact spawned from? When you think about it, isn¡¯t all existence within a void?¡± That¡­ was a really excellent point. She supposed she was glad that Kit didn¡¯t come from a place where the atmosphere was actively toxic to plant life or was defined by some other inconvenient feature. I suppose we¡¯d never have gotten along if that were the case, though. Tala cleared her throat, swallowing another bite of her feast. ¡°So, if I understand correctly, we grab the world just outside the prisoner-to-be¡¯s range of resisting the working, and bundle the whole thing up and tuck it away as a cell?¡± Mistress Kep considered for a moment then nodded. ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± ¡°But¡­ what about whatever else was in there?¡± The Paragon grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s trapped too, usually specifically something, someone, or some group of people and things to entice the target and keep it in place long enough to be captured.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°We offer up human sacrifices?¡± ¡°What? No! No. Generally it¡¯s an Archon or some other Mage who can engage the being well enough to keep it from fleeing if it senses the magics being enacted around it. The worst cases¡ªand some of the only exceptions where we sometimes have to abandon innocents who can¡¯t be saved¡ªare for the Tides of Dead.¡± The Paragon actually shivered. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have any of those cells in need of maintenance this cycle, but I might be remembering wrong.¡± Tala glanced at her various unit mates. ¡°Do I want to know?¡± Master Limmestare shrugged. ¡°It is what it sounds like. Necromancy on a horrifying scale.¡± ¡°But¡­ it sounds like it¡¯s in more than one cell?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. The story goes that a Sovereign snapped and directed all her power to bring back those whom she killed, and those they killed, and so on. She also ¡®didn¡¯t want things to get out of hand¡¯ so she bound her will and mind into the working, to keep them all under her direct control.¡± Tala leaned forward, food momentarily forgotten. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Well, all seemed to go well for a while. All who opposed her were simply added to her army, but those close to her began to notice her mind deteriorating as even the mentality of a Sovereign isn¡¯t unlimited, and she was spreading herself out through the entirety of the ever-growing force.¡± Master Limmestare glanced around and grinned. Everyone was focused on him, even though the others likely knew the story already. ¡°Soon, the only thing remaining of the Sovereign was her power, spread among the growing hordes, and a drive to kill and add to the Tides.¡± Tala waited for him to continue, and he did after a theatrical pause. ¡°Even her old allies rose up against the Tides, but the dead were too strong to defeat, too strong to contain together. After all, they bore with them the diffuse power of a Sovereign.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t the other Sovereigns have intervened?¡± He shrugged. ¡°No one is quite sure, and no one has wanted to waste a boon on asking. The theory is that they would have stepped in eventually, if things had gotten bad enough, but since there wasn¡¯t really an existential threat to all of Zeme, or to any of their domains directly, they didn¡¯t bother. But, as I was saying, the joint forces that did work against the Tide lost several ancient and powerful imprisoners, attempting to bind the horde into one or more cells. It was only when her kingdom fractured, the armies pouring outward in all directions that there was a chance.¡± Tala interjected, then. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t every one of the Tide that those who opposed them killed have weakened the whole?¡± ¡°No, that simply returned the power to the others, and the Sovereign was bound to death itself as a source of power, so she had no lack in that regard.¡± That doesn¡¯t make sense. How would that even work? -Hush, I¡¯m trying to listen.- ¡°Thus, all across this continent and all others we know of, the hordes were split and led in different directions until a given group was small enough that they didn¡¯t represent enough of the Sovereign¡¯s power to simply break free of imprisonment. There was no collective organization or catalog or count. Last I checked, we know of¡ªand maintain¡ªmore than a hundred such cells throughout the human lands.¡± Tala felt herself pale. ¡°More than a hundred? Each containing nearly enough power to break free of one of these cells?¡± He nodded solemnly. ¡°Indeed. The power of a Sovereign¡ªespecially one so powerfully bound to a functionally limitless, ever growing source¡ªshould not be underestimated.¡± Tala sat back, thinking. ¡°But¡­ they¡¯re all contained, now. How could it be ever growing?¡± ¡°Well, in that case, if the concept of death is the source of power, then every time something dies, more power is acquired.¡± She grimaced. ¡°It can¡¯t be that universal.¡± He smiled. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. It¡¯s generally assumed that the death has to happen near enough to the Sovereign¡ªor one of her avatars¡ªto grant her power, but there was also a false assumption within your question.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t all contained. Small groups often fell into sink holes, or got lost in cave complexes, or fell into the deep ocean, or got buried when Mages were fighting them, or any number of other temporary ensnarements. The dead don¡¯t need anything to continue save the power of the Sovereign within them. Thus, every so often, one or more of the Tide surfaces. In most cases, they are slain fast enough that it isn¡¯t a problem, but occasionally¡­¡± Tala felt herself swallow involuntarily at the implication. ¡°What sort of abilities do they have? Are they just people? Are they faster? Slower? Do Mages killed by them keep their magics? Their gates?¡± ¡°All excellent questions. Mistress Kep? You¡¯re probably better qualified to answer that.¡± The woman smiled tiredly. ¡°I¡¯ll be brief. There are a lot of variations. Generally, though, they are strong in some ways and weak in others. Mages who rise with the Tide keep their natural magics, and their instincts for using them. They are simply powered by the Sovereign¡¯s power after rising. If they¡¯re fast, strong, or some other obvious physical advantage, they generally have to kill someone in one of the usual ways for their victim to rise. The slow ones, though¡­ They often bear a magical plague that does the killing for them. Those plagues range from something any healthy adult can shrug off, so long as they have time to heal, all the way up to something that will ravage a Fused in a matter of seconds.¡± Tala swallowed again. ¡°Refined?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve not heard of a case where a Refined was subsumed by bite or similar non-lethal injury. That¡¯s one reason Refined are the usual people to engage those inside cells. We are generally resistant and resilient enough that it is a very rare occasion that we lose someone. As to gates, we¡¯ve seen no evidence of gates being incorporated into the Tide. The soul passes on as one would expect upon death. That means that the soul-bound items also are rendered without a power source, though some stick around for just long enough to be quite difficult to deal with. That¡¯s why, generally, a risen Mage is at its most powerful for the day after they rise. They still have their previous magical density to pull from, along with their items.¡± ¡°Lovely.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°So¡­ there could be a risen avatar of the Sovereign of Death buried beneath us right now?¡± Mistress Kep shook her head. ¡°Conceptually, yes, but literally, no. I could sense them if that were the case, and there are no buried or hidden threats within a couple of miles, even outside of this folded space. There are a few magical creatures, but they aren¡¯t near enough or of a kind to really be a threat or to need to be dealt with.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief.¡± Tala looked to Master Limmestare. ¡°Thank you for the tale.¡± ¡°It was my pleasure.¡± She thought for a moment. ¡°So, for something like a Lich, we¡¯d just package up their whole fortress and make that their cell. No need to find what specific item houses their soul if you trap everything away. Is that right?¡± ¡°Just so, yes.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ I can see why this method caught on.¡± Mistress Cerna cleared her throat. ¡°Now that that tale is told...¡± ¡°Oh, there¡¯s so much more that I could tell.¡± ¡°I know you could, but I think enough has been conveyed for now.¡± He sighed but nodded. ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°Now, that settled, I think we should recover a bit before we depart. Master Grediv has asked us to drop by a little research facility on the way back, so we need to be at least reasonably recovered before then.¡± They all nodded. Mistress Cerna gave a triumphant smile. ¡°Good! Until then, let¡¯s do our after-action debriefing, shall we? I think we did well enough¡ªclearly protocol worked and the prisoner is contained¡ªbut there is always room for improvement.¡± Once again, they all nodded. Everyone here was open to, if not longing for, improvement. ¡°Let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡± Chapter: 337 - Mage’s Bane Tala was able to stand and shift around a bit more on this second version of their unit¡¯s flying contraption. They had spent part of the time while waiting for Mistress Kep to fully research the cell workshopping the combined construct, and this second version was much more stable as a result. They¡¯d added some fins which acted like the fletching on an arrow, keeping it oriented as they wanted. The orientation and construction was different from an arrow¡¯s fletching, of course, because they didn¡¯t want their platform to spin to create forward moving, stable flight. Rather, they needed it to remain flat, which required rather different orientations and profiles. It wasn¡¯t perfect this iteration, but they weren¡¯t working from scratch by any means. Not only did each of those involved have some experience with various aspects, but the Archive also had an incredible number of plans and research notes on various forms of flight, flying contraptions, and concepts underlying magically assisted flight. Humanity, it seemed, had always been obsessed with the sky, and only magical resonance kept them from it, as slow flight was much harder than fast flight as a rule. Though, the right types of magic negated much of that. Even so, magical resonance would be less of a problem for non-gated, and higher above the ground¡­ I wonder if there are any flying cities, like the mobile villages. There are moving castles, so why not castles in the sky? -Maybe? They likely wouldn¡¯t use the principles behind aerodynamic flight though. I¡¯d bet they use something similar to your gravity manipulation, or something like that.- Yeah, could be. I mean, we¡¯re using it here, and it helps make our creation more functional. Slightly counterintuitively, they¡¯d made the platform much, much more massive this time around, Master Girt taking the extra time and power to condense and compress nearly five times the amount of rock and stone into a platform of roughly the same dimensions, the exterior becoming a nearly mirror smooth, incredibly hard, glass-like surface. The added mass gave their craft inertia, which made it more power intensive to maneuver, but also gave its motions more stability, reducing the tremors and minor fluctuations that had been an issue last time. Tala again had removed basically all of its effective gravity, which removed most of the issue with keeping the thing up, and did make it more efficient to operate than expected, all things considered. Terry was still sitting in his preferred position, though now he had a sculpted perch upon which to¡­ well¡­ perch, as the wind tousled his feathers. That was very kind of Master Limmestare. -Didn¡¯t take him very long or much effort.- Most small kindnesses don¡¯t. -That¡¯s fair.- They glided through the air under magical power and at Mistress Cerna¡¯s direction. The ground passing beneath them, and the occasional creature attacking them, were different than their trip out, not because they¡¯d killed most of those creatures, which they had, but because they weren¡¯t going straight back to Alefast. Instead, they were making a requested stop at a private research post a bit to the east, out on the plains. Tala wasn¡¯t the first to spot it, but after Master Limmestare pointed it out in the distance, Tala was able to pick out the winding valley among the rolling hills. It was a thoroughly agricultured section of land, looking to cover nearly a square mile, stretched out in the dells and valleys between numerous hills, only occasionally cresting those hills with some lower foliage, likely to not be too visible from afar. Honestly, Tala wouldn¡¯t have noticed it at all from the ground level, as the plains had quite tall grass as well as the occasional shrub and tree. It¡¯s well hidden. -Makes sense. Being out here, you¡¯d have to avoid arcanous or magical attention, especially around the waning.- Yeah, that tracks. I wonder what they use to diffuse the ¡®human¡¯ sense to their magic? I don¡¯t detect even a hint, and I think that I should if they have active magics in effect. -I suppose we¡¯ll see soon enough.- As they drew closer, coming from above, Tala felt a power thrumming through the air, almost behind the natural zeme of the area. It didn¡¯t feel human, but it didn¡¯t feel arcane either. It just felt¡­ natural. To Tala¡¯s varied magical senses, it seemed to command: GROW. Now that the valley was closer, Tala was able to see that there were several small structures tucked in, artfully, among the various vegetation. Tala looked around and marveled at the blend of natural and cultivated that the area managed to achieve. There was nothing that stood out as being ¡®unnatural,¡¯ but it was also just as obviously too clean¡ªor ordered¡ªto feel like some random patch of the wilds. Near the largest¡ªthough still modest¡ªbuilding, there was a large enough clearing to land in. Mistress Cerna, to her credit, set them down right in the middle. As a detraction, it was a rather hard landing, causing everyone to bounce around a little. The Refined and Paragon maintained their balance easily enough. Terry flickered to the ground nearby, glaring back at Mistress Cerna and squawking irritably. The impact had been enough to crack the reinforced windscreen, but a flicker of power from Master Limmestare saw all damage fade away. The stone beneath their feet was fine. The craft had bounced a bit, settling back down beside where it had initially impacted. The ground where they¡¯d hit first was noticeably indented, and the grass was positively squashed. ¡°Well, you all certainly know how to make an entrance.¡± A strong, clearly feminine voice floated from among the trees behind Tala. Tala spun to face the source and found her eyes alighting on a tall woman, wrapped in clean, but not fastidious, saffron Mage¡¯s robes. Her skin was thoroughly tanned in the way that only those nearly perpetually outside for years achieved. Her brown hair was lightly shot through with grey, and she was on the muscular side for a Mage, likely for the same reason that she was tan. She was clearly the tender of this oasis of cultivation in the wilds. She would have appeared to be about forty, if she were mundane, but the color of her magics¡ªclearly active in a ready state¡ªmatched her robes almost exactly, meaning that she would have had her aging magically slowed for at least a good while. Nearly Refined? It was interesting to see the matching colors, as it was obviously not an accident. Wasn¡¯t there a trend a few centuries ago to wear clothing that matched your advancement, so that even mundanes and those without active magesight could tell? -I do think I remember that from one of the histories. Why were we reading about Mage fashion again?- You know very well. We wanted to consider shaping the elk leathers differently. -We never did do that.- Yeah¡­ we never did. The woman gave a shallow bow in their direction, keeping a firm grip on her clearly magical spear, which had its butt planted firmly in the soil. ¡°Refined, Paragon, welcome to my home.¡± Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder, and the woman¡¯s eyes tracked the movement. ¡°I don¡¯t have much use for arcanous creatures in these parts.¡± ¡°He is with me.¡± Tala¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t harsh, but it was firm. She held Tala¡¯s gaze for a long moment before nodding slowly, ¡°So long as he stays with you, I won¡¯t contest it.¡± Master Clevnis cleared his throat. ¡°Now that that is settled, I¡¯m Clevnis. We were passing by, and Master Grediv asked that we drop through to verify your safety and see if you needed anything.¡± The woman¡¯s harsh exterior cracked slightly. ¡°Master Grediv? That old goat¡¯s still in the area?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Master Clevnis chuckled. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°He swore he had given up on that family of his generations ago.¡± She shook her head, a mirthful, clearly caring, smile pulled at her lips. ¡°I knew him to be the best sort of liar.¡± She looked them over with narrowed eyes before shaking her head and waving them forward. ¡°Alright, well, you might as well follow me. There¡¯s a kettle on, and there¡¯s plenty to go around.¡± The unit and Mistress Kep followed the woman as she walked toward her home. ¡°I¡¯m Sae-tz, but most call me Sae. You can tell the old man that I¡¯m fine. Your magesight will already have shown that my research is coming along splendidly.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°What exactly are you researching?¡± Mistress Sae glanced her way, cocking an eyebrow. ¡°I must have missed your name, Mistress¡­¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°My apologies, Tala. I¡¯m Tala.¡± Mistress Sae stopped in her tracks. ¡°Wait¡­ Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who convinced the Culinary Guild to share all their research into arcanous harvest?¡± Tala frowned. Mistress Ingrit was meant to have been the public face for that, even to most of the Culinary Guild. ¡°I think you must be thinking of Mistress Ingrit.¡± Mistress Sae waved that off. ¡°Yes, yes, the Librarian did her duty and put her name on everything, but I know people. You¡¯re that Tala?¡± Her unit was giving her odd looks, and even Mistress Kep seeming interested in the answer. Great¡­ Paragon¡­ Lying won¡¯t help. -Is there really a reason to lie?- I suppose not¡­ Tala sighed. ¡°Yes.¡± Mistress Sae squealed¡ªas in literally squealed¡ªin surprised glee. ¡°YOU! Oh, you advanced my research by decades!¡± The woman laughed, taking a step toward Tala, then faltering. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She cleared her throat, brushed her robes unnecessarily, and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m just so excited to meet you.¡± Tala gave an uncertain smile. ¡°I mean, I didn¡¯t do very much, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯m well versed in the information they shared.¡± ¡°Oh, of course you aren¡¯t but you¡­¡± Mistress Sae shook her head. ¡°There aren¡¯t words. Thank you.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m glad to have been of help? What are you researching anyways?¡± The woman¡¯s smile turned to a ferocious grin. ¡°I am pursuing Refining via herbology, arcanous plants, and Alchemy.¡± There was a stunned silence from everyone present. ¡°I am, of course, my own test subject.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I think my aura speaks for itself, no?¡± Tala glanced at her again. ¡°I suppose I¡¯d have to know where you started. You¡¯re¡­ ninety percent of the way through Refining, from the point you can get to with inscriptions, give or take. So, ninety-five percent of the way from Fused to Refined.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°That¡¯s my estimate as well, give or take. I did one session of Refining and decided that it wasn¡¯t for me.¡± She quirked a smile. ¡°That said, I wasn¡¯t willing to give up on Immortality. After all, I achieved that point at seventy. So here we are.¡± Tala blinked in surprise for two reasons. First, seventy was actually quite a young age for a first Refining session, Tala and other exceptional cases excepted. Second, Sae didn¡¯t look young, and she didn¡¯t seem the type to have wasted time and resources to look old falsely. That meant that assuming she was Bound by thirty and Fused by forty, giving her thirty years to get a point where she could have Refining inscriptions, and to have them fully set and alter her physiology to the proper point, all before getting to a place that she was ready for the attempt¡­ After all that, given how old she looked¡­ She could easily be over fifteen hundred years old. Of course, that was all guess work, but it stood to reason as she was experimenting with similar things as Master Jevin, and that Paragon had been Reforging for a long time. In truth, Tala was estimating very low across the board, giving Mistress Sae as long as theoretically reasonable for her to have been working on this task. The group started walking again as Mistress Sae began to wax poetic on all the things that she had learned through the information she¡¯d purchased from the Culinary Guild. Tala knew firsthand how long and tedious a process it was to create new formulations for concoctions, let alone for entire plans of treatment. So, she could understand the value of what had been purchased from this woman¡¯s point of view. Mistress Sae had created an incredible series of salves, potions, infusions, and injections that moved her through the Refining advancement. She felt like she was close to completion of her research. According to her estimates, it would only be, maybe another couple hundred years, and she¡¯d have it. Yeah, I think I probably got close on her age. Though, now that she thought about it, aging likely continued to slow, the closer one got to Refined. -You know what? I actually haven¡¯t seen any mention of that anywhere, or evidence in that regard.- Huh¡­ might be interesting to find out. -Not now.- Yeah, not now. Tala almost asked why the Fused wasn¡¯t sharing her knowledge already¡ªgiven its success¡ªto help others have an easier time Refining, but she stopped, realizing that there was still no proof that that was actually true. It was possible that Mistress Sae had already done something that would prevent the final actualization of her Refining. She needs to prove it works all the way to the end before it¡¯s right to share it with others. -Yeah, there are always people who would jump on the easier road, and I can only imagine the guilt and horror she would feel if she condemned a generation of Mages to dying a stone¡¯s throw from immortality because she rushed the releasing of her research.- Tala shuddered internally. Yeah¡­ True to her words, Mistress Sae had a kettle on in her small home, but there wasn¡¯t room for everyone inside. Therefore, they sat in a circle of lovely chairs outdoors. The chairs were especially interesting, because they seemed to be made from still growing trees, elegantly split, woven, and recombined to form living furniture. The Fused was winding down her excited exhortations on the Culinary Guild¡¯s research, and she didn¡¯t seem to have another topic ready to hand as she was not interested in sharing anything overly specific about her research and accidently giving too much insight into it. Thus, into the slight lull, Master Clevnis spoke up, ¡°Mistress Sae, the reason we are here¡ªaside from the stated one of checking in on you¡ªis to warn you that the current waning is shaping up to be an extraordinarily hard one. Are you confident in your safety if the local creatures are more numerous and more powerful?¡± Mistress Sae seemed to take a long moment to consider. ¡°From the looks of it, how much more numerous and powerful?¡± ¡°We are already seeing a power and frequency of attacks that are normal for five years from now.¡± She frowned. ¡°That is unfortunate. Does Master Grediv expect it to follow standard patterns or to continue a faster ramp up?¡± ¡°Honestly, we aren¡¯t sure, but his guess was a faster ramp up.¡± She grimaced, then. ¡°Unfortunate indeed. Even so, I should be fine. I will accelerate the growth of my protections, which will be inconvenient but shouldn¡¯t be overly burdensome.¡± She took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°I knew I established too close to this city site. This has been a pain each cycle.¡± Tala blinked a few times. Each cycle? -Well, if your guess is right, this could be her second or third? But probably just second.- Yeah¡­ While Tala was thinking to herself, Master Clevnis was checking with the Fused, clearly concerned that she was overestimating herself. The woman continued to try to pacify him, but he refused to be put off. Finally, Mistress Sae huffed a laugh. ¡°I only have to contend with those who happen upon me. I don¡¯t draw them in. Have you noticed that you¡¯re within my aura?¡± The unit shifted, glancing around, but Mistress Kep simply smiled, not seeing a need to say anything in response. ¡°I thought that most of you wouldn¡¯t have. I drink a tincture of Mage¡¯s Bane every morning. My magic is as pure as the zeme that surrounds us. In this case, they are one and the same, but you get my meaning.¡± Everyone had a different reaction. Master Limmestare¡¯s eyes flicked to the mug in his own hands. Master Girt grimaced and dumped his out on principle. Mistress Vanga stiffened ever so slightly but didn¡¯t otherwise react. Master Clevnis slowly stood, looking around with deliberate slowness, seemingly checking to ensure they weren¡¯t about to be set upon. Tala simply frowned. Mage¡¯s Bane¡­ that¡¯s an extinct plant, right? -Apparently not.- I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve come across mention of it since I saw it in my father¡¯s book. I can¡¯t quite remember it¡­ care to help? -I¡¯ll do what I can.- The tea, when drunk, surrounds the gate on a metaphysical level, greatly dampening through-put while purifying the power. -Yeah, that¡¯s what I can see from the memory, too. You didn¡¯t understand the name then, but I think I do now. It also seems like it might have been one of the bases for the arcane purification scripts for their vestiges.- Yeah. As to the name, the effect lasts twenty-six hours, almost precisely, if enough is taken. If the dosage is too weak to work it does nothing at all. -And with twenty-four hours of your power being too weak to power much, if anything, any magic bound item is lost, and the Mage is effectively crippled, magically, during that time.- Yeah, I don¡¯t remember the precise analysis tables, but the rough estimation stuck in my mind. -It was easy enough. Five percent.- A Mage who has Mage¡¯s Bane working within them has effectively five percent of their standard throughput. The Fused sitting calmly across from them didn¡¯t seem diminished at all. Her throughput wasn¡¯t impressive, but it was well within standard for a Fused. So, her unimpeded throughput is twenty times what we¡¯re seeing? -If that¡¯s so¡­ I have to say that that¡¯s rather impressive. A throughput of that level is much more than we can draw on.- In the short moment that Tala was dialoguing with Alat, the final member of the unit had reacted to the mention of Mage¡¯s Bane. Mistress Cerna had seemed to conjure a silver cage around her mug that didn¡¯t do anything obvious before it vanished. ¡°There is none in this tea.¡± Mistress Sae huffed a laugh. ¡°Of course, there isn¡¯t. Mage¡¯s Bane is rare to say the least. I might have the only plants in this part of the continent. There¡¯s no reason that I¡¯d waste it on random strangers who mean me no harm.¡± Mistress Kep nodded once, clearly confirming the statement, and everyone relaxed. Master Clevnis sat back down, clearly a bit disgruntled. ¡°Well, that oddity aside. Let¡¯s finish up. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s much that you want to do.¡± Mistress Sae smiled back, ¡°And I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like to get back to the city.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Then, by all means, what else can I do for you? And when we¡¯re done with that, there''s a new irrigation technique that I just have to tell you about. It is decidedly on my ¡®want to do¡¯ list.¡± She grinned a bit mischievously. It was going to be a long afternoon. Chapter: 338 - Not Quite a Montage Tala took deep breaths, eyes closed, desperately focusing on four things at the same time. Well, that wasn¡¯t quite fair. She had four of her bloodstars locked away with four clones of her instructor in this lesson, Mistress Kaeti. The woman was clapping in slowly changing patterns, each clone following a different cadence as Tala listened. Tala was then moving her hands, each on beat, each with one of the four. Beyond that, she was moving her elk-leathers in alignment with a third, causing a bit of white steel to manifest and fade away as her means of tracking. Finally, she was transforming Flow between a knife and a sword on rhythm with the last. To be fair, she was also using her willpower and focus to enact the aspect mirroring for each perspective, so it was more like an eight-way split, at least. Alat was being helpfully silent as Tala struggled with this basic exercise that Mistress Kaeti had provided. Honestly, Tala had improved remarkably under the woman¡¯s tutelage. When Tala started, she had struggled to keep two separate rhythms. Now she was struggling to do twice as many. Twice the struggle, twice the reward. Strain aside, she was doing it, though. ¡°Good, Mistress Tala. We still haven¡¯t found your natural limits so that we can begin to push. So, I expect we¡¯ll see quite a bit of quick progress and improvement over the coming weeks.¡± Tala opened her eyes, knowing this to be the next step of the practice. She did her best to keep the four distinct, randomly changing rhythms going. ¡°Thank you, Mistress.¡± She strayed off with her left hand and quickly corrected. ¡°This is¡­ somewhat exhausting.¡± ¡°That¡¯s expected. You haven¡¯t really used this much. It¡¯s like we¡¯ve found a muscle that you¡¯ve neglected. You aren¡¯t mentally weak; you¡¯re just unpracticed.¡± They continued like this for another few minutes before Tala felt her focus irresistibly slipping, and they called an end to that form of practice for the moment. As they sat a few feet apart, Mistress Kaeti brought up the subject that they both knew she¡¯d been avoiding, ¡°So, reality nodes.¡± Tala sat up just a bit straighter. ¡°You¡¯ve been able to dig into them?¡± ¡°I have. I apologize for my silence on the subject, but it was rather a shock to learn that my magic was doing something so¡­ monumental without my really realizing it. I always knew that any damage to an iteration hurt all of them¡­ all of me, but I didn¡¯t realize that it was literally me, iterated across existence.¡± ¡°So, what did you learn, if you don¡¯t mind my asking? I also picked up some information on reality nodes, and I¡¯m happy to share if you¡¯d like.¡± The other Refined smiled softly. ¡°I¡¯d like that, thank you. You keep record of your memories, correct?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Would you be willing to share some of what you¡¯ve experienced of reality nodes? I¡¯d also like to see my abilities through your eyes, if you¡¯re up for that.¡± ¡°That sounds more than fair for all the training we¡¯ll be doing.¡± Mistress Kaeti grinned. ¡°That sounds incredibly agreeable to me. Done.¡± They talked for a couple of hours, before agreeing to meet up again sooner than they¡¯d previously planned to do some testing and experiments. Mistress Kaeti promised to bring an expert to the session, so that they¡¯d keep things at least relatively safe. Tala smiled at the other woman, ¡°I look forward to it.¡± * * * Tala growled as she moved her bloodstar through the intricate, vast obstacle course, liberally spotted with iron spikes¡ªher iron spikes. Her aura stretched farther than she¡¯d ever gotten it, thanks to Master Akra¡¯s instruction. She¡¯d started by extending it as far as possible before placing a ring of iron spikes. From those spikes she was able to extend further, though not even close to as far as the initial distance from herself. From there she¡¯d repeated the process until she could fill the entire Refined training area they¡¯d booked for their sessions. In Master Akra¡¯s words, that¡¯s when the real work had begun. She was to enact her aspect-mirrored perspective, and her positional control of the bloodstar, through the closest iron spike at all times. Approaching her aura in such a segmented manner had been impossible for her at first. Then, she¡¯d been unable to distinguish which spike she was reaching through, to somewhat frustrating results. Only after weeks of practice could she begin to do as he¡¯d asked, and toward which he¡¯d been instructing and guiding her, and even then, it was incredibly slow. This was the first time she¡¯d had to navigate the bloodstar through anything other than the open training area. It was an ¡®obstacle course¡¯ only in the loosest sense, though her mind made it out to be a tremendous difficulty. In truth, it was a single ring to move through and an upright stick to circle and then land atop. Even so, it was monumentally harder than simply floating her bloodstar across the roughly even, open space. Regardless, she succeeded, finally opening her eyes with glee shining from within them. ¡°Wonderful progress, Mistress Tala. I think you¡¯re ready for the next step.¡± She hesitated at that. ¡°I thought that the obstacle course was the next step.¡± ¡°Oh, it is in one sense, and we¡¯ll move to more complicated variations of that, but I mean the next step for your aura control, in general, not this specific branch of the skill set.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± she said hesitantly, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I want you to pull your aura back toward each spike until you no longer have contiguous control over the space as a whole. Make each spike an island of your aura in a sea of unclaimed space.¡± She felt her eye twitch. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that¡¯s the end of the escalation?¡± He barked a laugh. ¡°Oh, no. Once you can do that consistently, I¡¯ll contest one of your aura-bubbles, and you¡¯ll have to resist without changing any of the others.¡± He grinned. ¡°But let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves. Let¡¯s see what you can do with the task at hand.¡± Tala nodded, firming her resolve and hardening her will. She could do this. As it turned out, no, no she could not. At least not that day. It was another week¡ªand three more advanced versions of the obstacle course¡ªlater before she finally opened the first gap within her own aura net. Two days later, she had rivers of unclaimed air coiling around most of her iron spikes, though she still had tendrils of aura connecting each of the isolated pockets. She was feeling a bit dejected with the difficulty, but she had decided that this was something worth working at, no matter how long it took. She wasn¡¯t in this for quick gains or the checking of boxes for advancement. She would master this because she could, regardless of how long it took. She would master it because she chose to. * * * Tala barely kept herself from growling as her hair was frozen to the point of shattering in a tinkle of falling ice¡­ again. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. -Just don¡¯t regrow it this time.- It shouldn¡¯t be an issue to begin with. -Yeah, well. You aren¡¯t reading the flow of heat as well as you think.- You mean we aren¡¯t. -I¡¯m you, so I choose to see you as the problem.- That brought a smile to Tala¡¯s face, and even brought up a chuckle through her dry throat. Thank you, Alat. I needed that. -I aim to please.- It was amazing how much moisture the cold could suck out of the air. Mistress Deigh, the ice-focused Refined that Tala had met on her first day back in Alefast, strode around her in a slow circle, ¡°Mistress Tala, extreme cold is a useful hazard in your arsenal, but not a deadly one. You need to be comfortable with its effects so that you know how they will affect your opponents.¡± Tala nodded. She knew that the Refined was right, so she grit her teeth and moved back into the maze of frozen and freezing air. There were so many flows of energy around her, and rather than resisting any of them, she let her senses ride them through her surroundings. Mistress Deigh hadn¡¯t just made bursts of cold¡ªor sucked heat from various sections of the room. Instead, she had created interlacing, supercooled patterns underground that pulled in heat, creating currents and vortices. More than that, there were magics woven into the cold itself, somehow. Heat capacity? Tala frowned as she felt her body fighting back against the unnatural cold. ¡°You severely lowered the temperature, then you massively inflated heat capacity?¡± ¡°Very good. There¡¯s more to it than that, but that is essentially the basics.¡± ¡°What happens to the energy when your working fades? Will there be an explosion of heat?¡± Mistress Deigh smiled mischievously. ¡°The energy was spent raising the temperature. Altering specific heat doesn¡¯t change temperature, so a return to ¡®normal¡¯ heat capacity doesn¡¯t cause any temperature change at all.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°But how my magic works isn¡¯t why we¡¯re here. What¡¯s happening to your body, your flesh, your thoughts?¡± ¡°The attempted crystallization within my flesh is irritating, and it is taking a surprising amount of power to counter, but I suspect that¡¯s because of your magics.¡± Tala narrowed her eyes implicatively. ¡°True, but not on topic.¡± Mistress Deigh smiled in return. Tala grinned. ¡°Fair, fair. Every breath is uncomfortable; it hurts to move about; my joints feel like they should be aching, but I¡¯m obviously not letting the cold penetrate that deeply.¡± ¡°And how many do you think have resistance to cold on your level?¡± ¡°Most? I mean, I don¡¯t actually have a resistance to cold, I just have a robustness to my physical body.¡± ¡°Ahh, but that is a resistance to cold. You have enhanced every aspect of your body, that includes your ability to generate heat at need, when you are cold.¡± ¡°I¡­ huh¡­¡± Tala bit the side of her lip. ¡°You know, I¡¯d never really thought about it in those terms.¡± ¡°Understandable. Most magical healing, even at our level, is very specific. Most physical defenses, similarly so. We block and repair trauma. For environmental issues? We avoid them for the most part.¡± ¡°But when properly used, they can tip the balance.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°Alright, what next?¡± ¡°Next?¡± Mistress Deigh grinned broadly. ¡°Next you get familiar with the cold effects of your magic.¡± * * * Tala exhaled with a sharp, precise breath, moving her lips and tongue as Master Doitean had been teaching her, her desired result in mind. She never thought that she¡¯d see so many diagrams of the human mouth, nor that she¡¯d ever be taught, using a massive Archive display that allowed for looping images, showing exactly which muscles pulled in exactly what manner to form the various desired results. Tala had amazing control of her own body, but she had to know what to move. This level of instruction solved that problem nicely. Unfortunately, that still left a few issues. First, she wasn¡¯t whoever the images were modeled after, so while following the instructions exactly got her close, it wasn¡¯t precisely right for her. Second, she needed to be able to make the various shapes with her mouth and tongue instinctively. In both cases, that meant practice. Master Doitean¡¯s solution, after she got close to having the movements right? Sparring using only breath weapons and maneuverability. She had been concerned about hurting him until he¡¯d demonstrated one of his defensive abilities, which very precisely heated the air around his body, creating powerful currents that moved directly away from himself, weakening or negating most ranged attacks. It obviously wasn¡¯t perfect, and Tala had caught him with glancing blows in the past, but he was surprisingly robust, even beyond the expected levels for a Refined. Her short burst of breath was laden with power, but carefully below the threshold that would allow it to ignite the air. Her second breath¡ªas she dove and rolled away from a stream of blue-hot fire¡ªwas stronger and more sustained, causing Master Doitean to leap to the side, exactly as she¡¯d hoped. He let out a distorted curse as a small amount of the power within her first breath made it through his defense¡ªhim moving directly into an attack was a weakness of that defense¡ªand left a dissolving patch through his cheek. Yes. There¡¯s no way for him to use a breath weapon now that he¡ª Her victory was short lived, as his curse had been distorted due to proper mouth formation for a truly terrifying breath attack. No. No! That¡¯s ridiculous. How? A beam of white fire, no thicker than her little finger, lanced out at her, not expanding in the slightest as it cut across the distance between them in a blink. It speared straight through her un-metaled shoulder and out the other side, leaving a cauterized hole. No defensive magics for me. She grimaced against the pain. She understood the reasoning. The point was to teach her to anticipate and use breath weapons. If she just stood and took the hits, that would teach her very little. They would incorporate her defenses soon, he promised. After all, it was also important for her to know when and if she could take a hit from various breath weapons. ¡°Match.¡± The word sounded a bit odd, given his missing cheek. Master Doitean smiled, the expression looking rather menacing with so many teeth exposed. ¡°How did you get out a breath attack without a cheek?" He chuckled, speaking with clipped words to overcome the distortion from his missing cheek, ¡°Well done, but I¡¯ve experienced similar things before. I used my defensive magics.¡± Tala¡¯s head rocked back slightly as she made an ¡®Oh¡¯ of understanding. Her shoulder was healing slowly, the cauterization slowing down the process, but not overly so. ¡°You used the currents of air around your body to press inward, containing and directing the breath attack?¡± ¡°That, and my aura.¡± She grimaced. She wasn¡¯t allowed to use her aura yet, either. She understood why. It was a crutch, a useful crutch, but it would inhibit her growth in this area. Even so, she focused on the other part. ¡°How do you have such fine control over the currents of air?¡± He grinned again. ¡°Heat, Mistress Tala. When used with understanding and skill, it is more precise than a scalpel.¡± She shook her head, glancing to his exposed teeth once again. ¡°We should get that looked at before we continue.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll swing by the healers while you practice dispersion patterns.¡± Dispersion patterns were exactly as they sounded, the different shapes that a breath weapon could take after exiting her mouth. It was something she was starting to grasp, but practice was rarely amiss. Tala nodded. ¡°As you wish.¡± * * * Tala spit up blood as she did her best to quickly return to her feet. Master Cru was there, slamming a gauntleted fist into her chest yet again. This time she reacted properly, spinning on her planted foot and flowing around the hit, allowing it to slide off of her as she smacked the man with a backfist, laden with as much iron-mass as she could quickly shift and allow to come to bear. They¡¯d moved past training blows long ago, though she was confined to weaponless combat for the moment. Impossibly¡ªthough not unexpectedly¡ªher knuckles met the broadside of a wide-bladed sword, which she drove forward, slamming into Master Cru¡¯s torso, and launching him to skip across the arena. The interposing weapon had distributed the near-lethal blow into one that simply moved the man a considerable distance. Tala growled. That was not what she had wanted. With still-startlingly perfect movements, the Refined flipped back to his feet, sliding to a stop, seemingly no worse for wear. She knew what he was going to say before he said it. He knew that she knew, but he said it anyways, ¡°Hit down, Mistress Tala. Throwing an opponent away is wonderful for gaining space, and I¡¯m sure it served you well when you were a butcher for the arcanes, but here we are protecting the weak and innocent. We need to keep threats contained.¡± She didn¡¯t let herself get distracted by the repetitious, intentionally irritating words. She crouched, amplified her surface-area-enhancing scripts and launched forward as he shot toward her as well. She knew that he¡¯d expect an overhead attack, meant to follow the instructions in a powerful way. He¡¯d do the same and somehow the clash would end with her embedded in the ground yet again. Even reviewing the clashes, she had a hard time picking out what she was doing wrong. He simply moved perfectly, exactly where he needed to be to counter whatever she did and deliver his own attack. It had happened a dozen times already, if not more. She could see them all, in not quite a montage. To her mind, they were all overlapping, easily seen together in all her failing glory. It was time for something different. She aimed lower, and even as she did, she saw the frown of irritation on the man¡¯s face. She was going against his instructions. She spun as she dropped, letting her back hit the not-sand as she slid under him, a comically large warhammer bearing down on her. Even so, she was able to tuck her legs up to her chest and kick straight upward. Master Cru¡¯s eyes widened as her feet connected, the surface-area expanding scripts giving them good purchase to throw him straight up, into the ceiling. She used the motion to kick up, landing on her feet right beside where they¡¯d clashed. Above, there was a cacophonous BOOM as Master Cru slammed into the ceiling. A moment later, he came crashing down, heading for exactly where she¡¯d launched him from. She swung her fist to intercept him, but he somehow hit the back of her hand with a u-shaped blade hard enough to drive her attack downward before a morningstar caught her in the now exposed back of the head. She faceplanted into the ground. He wasn¡¯t even winded as he stood over her. ¡°While I applaud your desire to not listen to your opponent, I am trying to teach you, here.¡± Tala rolled backward, coming back to her feet as she cleared debris from her face. ¡°Still,¡± he glanced upward, ¡°You did keep me horizontally locked, so well done there.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Now, let¡¯s try to aim our attacks downward shall we?¡± She grinned. ¡°We can certainly try.¡± Chapter: 339 - Some Well-Acquired Information Tala felt rather happy as she walked through the early morning streets of Alefast. Her training was going well; her new job was well and truly underway; and she was making new friends and acquaintances across the city. I still need to drop in on Adrill and Artia¡­ But there would be time for that. Right now, she was on the way to the Gredial estate to act on some well-acquired information. -By me.- Of course by you, Alat. Thank you. -You are most welcome.- In truth, the information hadn¡¯t been hidden, it just hadn¡¯t been prominently displayed. -Don¡¯t diminish my accomplishment. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a central repository I can query for things like this¡­- Today was Rane¡¯s birthday. Tala, herself, didn¡¯t like big to dos for such events, and she didn¡¯t think Rane did either. In fact, she believed that he¡¯d likely prefer not to have it known or mentioned at all. Therefore, she wasn¡¯t going to celebrate his birthday. No, she was simply going to spend a day with a friend, and if he happened to secretly enjoy and appreciate it more because the day in question was his birthday, who was she to judge? Her smile grew just a bit at the thought. She came to the gates of the Gredial compound and almost knocked on the great doors. After a moment, she shook her head. It was still early, and she didn¡¯t need to disturb the guards. They¡¯d be awake, of course, but they¡¯d be cozy in the guardhouse off to the side, likely enjoying some coffee or an early morning card game, or both. She walked to the side of the small gatehouse and easily leapt up onto the ten foot wall. She was becoming quite adept at dropping her gravity to near zero as she pushed off, to allow for easy leaps without needing to damage what she lept from from overly powerful push-offs. True, it was a slower leap than if she powered through, but in cases where speed wasn¡¯t the primary concern, it was quite the acceptable tradeoff. She landed lightly, glanced side to side and hopped off the wall, removing her gravity again after falling for only a couple of feet. This allowed her to drift down and land softly once more. Nicely done. Training pays off. -Indeed.- Tala knew that she had been added as an exception to the defensive magics around this compound, otherwise she¡¯d have created much more of a commotion by going around the gate than simply by knocking. As it stood, no one would be disturbed by her roundabout path. Thus, it was with some surprise that she found Rane waiting for her at the front door. ¡°Tala? What are you doing here so early?¡± She tilted her head to the side. ¡°Why are you at the front door? Were you expecting someone or something?¡± ¡°I get a magical ping when you enter the compound.¡± She felt her eye twitch. ¡°And yet, you still let me be brought to you, when I come to visit?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I generally use the time to make sure I¡¯m ready for whatever shenanigans you have in mind, even if that¡¯s usually just tafl.¡± She hesitated. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fair. So, are you ready to go, then?¡± He looked over his shoulder. ¡°Well, I was just about to go to the kitchens to ask for breakfast.¡± ¡°So, you haven¡¯t had breakfast yet, and nothing is being made for you?¡± ¡°No¡­ I suppose not?¡± He gave her an odd look. ¡°Good.¡± She grinned. With a deft movement, she flowed around behind him and struck at his back with an upward angle. As expected, his defensive magics reacted, launching him up and away from the hit. Tala laughed at Rane¡¯s sharp intake of breath, though he refrained from crying out in surprise. With an expansion of her surface area expansion scripts, she launched herself after him, hooking the door with the barest tendril of thread from her elk leathers so it would close behind them. With all her newly refined and unified techniques, she easily cleared twenty feet, triggering Rane¡¯s defenses again on the way up. She had to maintain most of her gravity to keep in line with his trajectory, but that was fine. She had just intended to take him well outside his family compound, not all the way to the city wall. They came down on a still mostly empty thoroughfare, garnering a few startled glances, but not much more. Rane had landed softly, his magics absorbing the kinetic energy before he could slam into the ground. Tala landed softly a few moments later, having to keep her speed slow for the same soft landing. He turned to her. ¡°What was that? Some sort of kidnapping?¡± She shrugged. ¡°You can go back, if you want, but I thought we should eat breakfast on the city wall, watching the sunrise over the forest.¡± He frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t that not for another hour or so?¡± ¡°Fine, watch the sky lighten behind the forest.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s up with you, today,¡± he gave her a half smile, ¡°but sure. Why not?¡± It was a short walk to the wall where they easily gained access, and climbed to one of the tower tops. This one was clear of guards for the moment, so the two of them set up a table and a couple of chairs. Rane gave Tala a critical look. ¡°Are you on duty right now? Is that why we¡¯re on the wall?¡± She laughed. ¡°No, nothing like that. I did get permission to be up here, though.¡± He grunted and didn¡¯t comment further. Tala began pulling out dishes, setting certain ones before her, and others in front of Rane. All those for her were on yellow plates, and Rane¡¯s were on orange. He gave her an incredulous look, then chuckled, shaking his head again. A moment later, he glanced up at her in confusion. ¡°Tala, these dishes are magical. I can¡¯t eat your food.¡± ¡°Right on both counts.¡± She grinned. ¡°So¡­ care to explain? I trust that you didn¡¯t have them separately plated to have variety in your eating.¡± ¡°Look at the magics.¡± He did as she asked, then shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have any knowledge in interpreting natural magics in this medium.¡± She opened her mouth, then closed it, grimacing. Finally, she opened it again, ¡°Well, that ruins the surprise a bit. I didn¡¯t consider that. They¡¯re your magics, as close as I could get.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. He blinked at her in confusion. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Master Grediv told me about a few of the creatures you modeled your magics on, and I was able to track them down, or at least the founts.¡± He blinked at her. ¡°You did what?¡± ¡°The last time my unit went out to deal with a cell, we stopped by some of the kinetic founts in the region. While I never found a ¡®stop-dive¡¯ swallow, I threw enough chickens through the fount that we ended up with a few that matched your magics.¡± His eye twitched. ¡°What happened to the other chickens?¡± She glanced away. ¡°Well, most died passing through the fount, but some came out with other abilities.¡± ¡°And you just let them run off?¡± ¡°What?¡± She looked back to him. ¡°No! I¡¯m not insane. Terry ate them. It was rather entertaining to see him hunt them down. One rooster was actually able to out maneuver him for a good five minutes before Terry got a lot smaller, and I think the chicken lost sight of him at the wrong moment. Things ended quickly after that.¡± Rane was staring at her in confused awe. ¡°You¡­ really hunted down creatures that bore my particular magics?¡± ¡°Those that we could find, yeah.¡± ¡°And you made others?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t very efficient, but yeah.¡± ¡°How did you even get the chickens out there? Just within Kit? How did you wrangle them?¡± She glanced away. ¡°We won¡¯t be discussing that.¡± He looked back at the food. ¡°Mistress Petra prepared this?¡± ¡°Absolutely. She¡¯s really gotten the hang of locking magic into the food in a way that¡¯s still accessible after you eat it.¡± He lifted his gaze back to her. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, I mean, she makes food for me all of the time. She was bound to become good at it, even if she had no experience beforehand.¡± ¡°No, Tala. Why did you go to all of this trouble?¡± She was at a loss for a moment. Finally, she shrugged. ¡°You always see me eating my magical food. I thought it might be nice for you to have some of your own. It¡¯s not like it can be an everyday thing; I didn¡¯t find or make that much.¡± He took a careful bite, and Tala gave him some guidance as to how to move the power in the food through his body to where it needed to go. In the end, the meal took around two hours, as Rane slowly got the hang of it, and Tala ate her own sizable portions. And true to her initial offer, they were able to watch the sunrise over the forest to the east. Once they were done with breakfast, Tala took them underground to an arena that she¡¯d reserved for them. Rane looked around. ¡°I haven¡¯t been in one of these very often. Why are we here?¡± ¡°I thought we¡¯d spar.¡± ¡°We do that pretty often.¡± ¡°Ahh!¡± She held up a finger as Mistress Vanga walked in. ¡°But we never go no-holds-barred. This is Mistress Vanga." ¡°The healer from your unit?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Rane gave the healer an appropriate bow. ¡°A pleasure to finally meet you, Mistress Vanga.¡± ¡°And you, Master Rane.¡± ¡°Thank you for being willing to sit in on our match.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± She pulled out an Archive slate and proceeded to tuck herself off to one side. Tala cracked her neck, pulling out her white steel, scale hauberk and slipping it on before coating herself under the armor with iron followed by white steel. Rane grinned at her, though she only saw it through her mirrored perspectives. ¡°Going all out, are we?¡± She opened a crack over her mouth, moving the metal with her lips to allow her to respond. ¡°I won¡¯t be going for any one-shots, but otherwise, yes. You call the start.¡± His grin widened as he took a deep breath, and his clothing writhed. She¡¯d long ago gotten used to his silk clothes making him look like he was always ready to attend a high society function, and they¡¯d long since faded into the background as something that she never really thought about. Now, she watched as his clothing morphed into what could only be classified as armor, with overlapping plates of what appeared to be bone, bound with the same silk that had previously made up his clothing. There also appeared to be a thick padded garment below the plates, also of silk. ¡°When did your outfit become morphic?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some hunting and research of late. I was lacking in the ¡®defense from an unavoidable hit¡¯ department. The hard material is from a bone-golem that gained power and existence in a previously undiscovered bone-yard deep in the mountains to the north. That was a beast to put down.¡± She grinned. ¡°Likely literally.¡± He laughed, his armor now fully formed with a smooth helmet growing up over his head. The faceplate grew down, leaving only thin, perfectly placed slits for his eyes. He walked a goodly distance away before turning to face her once more. Force came into his hand, its greatsword length seeming right in the big man¡¯s grip. Tala pulled with her will and felt Flow snick into her grip even as she resealed her armor. She knew there was a new band of metal around Flow¡¯s handle, right below the crossguard, but it was so minute that it wouldn¡¯t have been irritating even to her bare flesh, let alone through layers of protection. Rane nodded once. ¡°Begin.¡± A hundred iron spikes shot from Tala, all angled downward to pierce into the ground even as she launched herself forward. Her aura blanketed the whole near-region of the sparring arena, radiating from herself and the iron spikes, causing Rane to take a step backward in obvious, short-lived surprise. The second wave of spikes followed the first, then a third, and finally a fourth. She was able to guide each successive wave precisely with her aura, originating from the already in place iron. Rane pushed outward with his own aura, but even when they had been at the same level of advancement, she greatly magically outweighed him. Now? It was all he could do to keep her aura from pushing past his armor. She closed the distance in a breath, holding Flow up for an obvious downward chop, which Rane readied to block. At the last moment, Tala let go of Flow, keeping it in place for a brief moment with her aura, and swept her hands down, out, and around, claws of white steel growing on her fingertips as she struck for his gut and chest. Then, Flow struck downward, guided by her aura-enforced will, applied to Flow itself and the three bloodstars embedded equidistantly spaced inside the new metal band. The attack wouldn¡¯t have her muscular power or her physical weight behind it, but it did have literal barrels of iron worth of mass behind it. So, Tala was willing to accept the bit of lost power. Force slammed up into Flow, throwing the sword back a hair before Tala¡¯s claws found his armor, even as the counter-force from blocking Flow¡¯s attack drove Rane¡¯s feet into the soft flooring. Her raking attacks triggered Rane¡¯s passive defenses, and he was blasted backward, jerking his feet from the ground and his body out of the way of her swipes. Even so, she planted her foot for the next step and launched herself forward again, even faster now. Flow flew at her side in the form of a glaive, keeping pace with ease as she pulled it along with a simple act of will. In this way, she chased him around the arena, sending out waves of iron spikes to claim the area she passed through and keep his aura ruthlessly suppressed. Force and Flow clashed uncounted times, and Rane, to his credit, struck back at her more than she¡¯d expected, not being kept fully on the defensive, but he simply couldn¡¯t seize the momentum of the match back. She wouldn¡¯t allow it. Regardless, Rane was a ridiculously frustrating opponent to pin down. Finally, she decided to use a trump card. She opened Kit and two tower shields were pulled out, triangles of metal affixed to their backs, three bloodstars in each to allow her three-axis control. She snapped them around and forward, using her aura superiority to move them into place, hemming Rane in on two sides from the back, even as she breathed out a breath attack near his feet. Flow struck from above, and Tala drove her right fist forward. Her shields snapped toward her at the last moment, performing a blunt-force strike that activated Rane¡¯s defenses, sending him directly into her other, slightly delayed attacks. His magics tried to react, but her shields were still coming from behind. His magics couldn¡¯t move him up because Flow was pressuring Force from that direction. They couldn¡¯t move him down because a cloud of near-burning dissolution magic awaited there. His passive defenses couldn¡¯t get him out of the situation. Her clawed hand slammed into his armored abdomen and was slowed. With all her strength, all her momentum, her claws barely penetrated the bone plates far enough to draw blood. She immediately tightened her grip, clinging to the armor as she drove her other hand forward. ¡°Yield!¡± Rane called, hands opening in surrender, obvious strain in his voice. In that strain, Tala detected the hints of rage. Tala halted all attacks instantly and pulled back her tools, stepping aside as well. Mistress Vanga was beside them a moment later, even as Rane¡¯s armor faded back into more normal clothes, blood flowing from under the cloth on his stomach. Tala winced. ¡°Are you alright?¡± A wash of magic moved over him as he allowed Mistress Vanga to heal him, uncontested. The healer clucked her tongue. ¡°No serious damage, the injury is now repaired with no lasting effects or need to coddle the area.¡± Without another word Mistress Vanga withdrew. ¡°Rane?¡± Rane nodded, panting. ¡°That was¡­¡± Tala waited, uncertain. ¡°¡­ amazing!¡± He laughed out loud. ¡°You are incredible! I had no idea that you¡¯d grown that much.¡± She smiled in return, tentatively at first, but quickly growing to a full grin. ¡°I¡¯ve been training a lot with some very competent teachers. I feel like I¡¯m really starting to come into my own.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say! That really was incredible.¡± She laughed softly. ¡°You said that.¡± He shrugged. ¡°True is true.¡± He took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm his heart, and exhaled. ¡°Can we go again?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t have anything else scheduled until after lunch.¡± He hesitated, frowning, ¡°What¡¯s after lunch?¡± ¡°There are a couple of plays. There aren¡¯t many, as this is a waning, but I managed to find a couple that seemed interesting.¡± He gave her a long look, his smile returning. ¡°Well, then. It seems like we have a busy day ahead of us.¡± ¡°Indeed we do.¡± Chapter: 340 - Safety is Gone Tala sat in comfort as the unit glided through the air in what was nearly the twentieth iteration of their combined construction. She was still seated on flat stone, but there was no need to keep as still as possible, and that made a surprising difference. Terry, as had become his habit, was proudly perched atop his perch at the pinnacle of the sleek glass shell, which redirected wind away from the passengers. Mistress Cerna had perfected the scripts she used to propel the craft, making for a smoother, more controlled, more stable flight. Master Girt had increased the compression in the stone platform below them, changing the shape to more suit their needs and adding to the inertial stability. Though, something was off with the man. I should check on him at some point¡­ Master Limmestare had refined the contours of the glass, to aid in movement and flight, rather than detracting. Though, he still left Terry exposed to the airstream, as the terror bird preferred. Tala had narrowed in on the right amount of gravity to leave affecting the construction, to allow for easy maneuverability without undue burden to keep the whole thing aloft. The Paragon who was with them on this outing had been suitably impressed by the combination of effects and talents, inquiring at length as to each part of the construction as they headed to the south, toward the plains near the edge of the forest where this next cell awaited. The Paragon was older looking than Mistress Kep had been, but he appeared in no way feeble. He had a studious air to him, added to by his insightful and thorough questions. Each one conveyed his interest and attentiveness in a way that prompted those of whom he was inquiring to speak at length in response. Honestly, he reminded Tala of Master Nadro in that way. He had introduced himself as ¡®Abali,¡¯ and Master Abali had proven himself to be quite a pleasant companion. Truthfully, each of the Paragons who had come with them to the various cells had been enjoyable to interact with, each in their own way. This was only their second ¡®new¡¯ cell, but they had gone to three other known cells for the standard maintenance for this cycle. Apparently, the added turmoil of this waning made it so that more cells needed maintenance than usual. Finally, Tala decided that she couldn¡¯t ignore her unit-mate further and took a chance to move over and sit next to Master Girt. ¡°Master Girt?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± He grunted, looking up to meet her gaze. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± He shrugged and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m just having some trouble with those who I¡¯m living with.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala frowned. She thought she remembered that Master Girt rented out rooms in the home he had in Alefast. ¡°What¡¯s the issue, if you don¡¯t mind my asking?¡± ¡°Well, my new housemates think my house is haunted.¡± Tala¡¯s eyebrows rose in surprise. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yeah! I mean, I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re on about. I¡¯ve lived there for nearly three hundred years, and I¡¯ve never seen anything worthy of concern.¡± There was silence then, and Tala noticed that everyone was looking in her direction. Her expression fell into a neutral mask. ¡°That¡¯s meant to be a joke, right?¡± The man huffed and shook his head. ¡°See? I told you she wouldn¡¯t think it was funny.¡± Master Clevnis grinned. ¡°I thought it was hilarious.¡± Master Abali breathed a soft laugh. ¡°It would work better if the person you tell it to doesn¡¯t know you''re Refined.¡± Master Girt grunted. ¡°Yeah, I suppose I can see that.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°So, you¡¯ve been acting grumpy all morning, just to set up a joke?¡± ¡°Hmmm? I¡¯m not grumpy.¡± He frowned. ¡°Why do you think I came over here?¡± His frown deepened. ¡°I¡¯m not grumpy.¡± Mistress Cerna didn¡¯t look away from their flight path as she spoke up. ¡°Yes, you are. You¡¯ve been sulking. It¡¯s why we thought you attempting some humor would be good for you.¡± ¡°Wait. You told me to try to make her laugh, for me?¡± That caused the unit leader to look back at him. ¡°Of course. We know you won¡¯t tell us what¡¯s wrong, but we thought it might help you. She doesn¡¯t need cheering up. Mistress Tala¡¯s been nothing but happy since she took the day off to be with her friend.¡± Mistress Vanga took that opportunity to sit down beside Tala. ¡°Speaking of which, you never did tell us how it all went. I mean, I had to heal him a few times, but that¡¯s hardly a good way to get a picture of the tenor of a day.¡± Master Limmestare looked up from his book. ¡°Are you two courting? If not, I¡¯m going to read while you tell everyone else the details.¡± Tala flushed. ¡°No! We¡¯re not courting. Why would you even ask that?¡± He gave her a flat look. ¡°I just told you why. If you are courting, it¡¯s important enough for me to give my full attention. I take great pains to pay attention to my unit-mates and the weighty things in their lives that they feel worthy of sharing. However, if this is just our fellows forcing you to expound on a standard day with a friend, I prefer my book to such things.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°I suppose you did imply that¡­ Well, we¡¯re not.¡± ¡°Alright then, thank you.¡± He turned back to his book. And from there, Mistress Vanga re-took over the reins of the conversation, and Tala did her embarrassed best to convey how the day with Rane had gone. Over all, they passed the trip with their regular comraderie, Master Abali interjecting only occasionally as was appropriate. They touched down lightly outside the forest, and blessedly, they wouldn¡¯t need to enter it. Tala had made her team aware of her storied history with the Leshkin, and Master Grediv already knew. Together, that ensured that they wouldn¡¯t be picked for any ¡®in the southern forest¡¯ cell work. Their construct was complex enough that Master Clevnis stored it once they¡¯d all disembarked and after Mistress Cerna had removed her spell-forms from the bottom, which took very little time. They were on the rolling plains, atop one of the higher hills, the forest some quarter of a mile distant. Tala immediately scanned their surroundings for the fold in reality that would indicate the hidden entrance into the cell, but didn¡¯t find one. When she reported this, Master Abali nodded, considering. ¡°It is likely one of the many cells that are underground. It can be tricky to find the exact location of those, if you don¡¯t come prepared.¡± He pulled a handful of white powder out of thin air¡ªseemingly from his spatial storage¡ªand threw it up. ¡°Thankfully, I am prepared.¡± Power sparked between the particles, seemingly drawn from the air itself, before the growing cloud began moving against the wind. Little portions broke off from the main formation to swirl around each of the Archons. That which moved toward Tala seemed most drawn toward Kit. The vast majority of the dust, however, seemed to be pulled down the hill upon which they stood to settle in an oddly static pile in a small dell. Tala frowned. ¡°What is that powder, if I may ask, Master Abali?¡± ¡°It is a metallic synthetic powder. It is known to have a magnetic-like attraction to disruptions in reality when properly activated¡ªat least in this form. Though, the attraction and movement is far more powerful and works rather differently.¡± Master Girt jumped down the hill, landing beside the pile and tapping his foot. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a cavitation below here. It goes deep. I can barely detect the highest portion, close to a hundred feet down from here. There¡¯s a fair amount of iron in this soil restricting my perception.¡± With a flexing of power that clearly came from the rock and earth inclined Refined, a vertical shaft opened below the white powder, letting it fall down with surprising rapidity. Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder and looked back and forth between her and the hole before shaking himself. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Not interested in going down there?¡± He shook himself again. ¡°I thought not.¡± She opened Kit, and Terry vanished within. Master Abali leaned over the edge, looking down, and Tala saw something incredibly odd when the man utilized his magic. The darkness in the pit seemed to pull back, drawing the light of the mid-morning sun in after it. There wasn¡¯t more light, per se, but the light definitely was penetrating deeper and deeper into the hole. Master Limmestare had put his book away, and it was he who asked, ¡°What sort of power is that?¡± Master Abali smiled. ¡°Control over darkness, and wherever there is not darkness, there is light.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Alright, I call that rusted. How is that not conceptual magic?¡± Instead of being offended, Master Abali laughed, power still flowing around him in intricate patterns as he clearly did more than bring light down the vertical entrance. ¡°When I was but a boy, my family lived away from the cities, and we were attacked by arcanous creatures. My father got me into a deep pit and closed it up before the defenses were fully overwhelmed, and I hid in there for more than a week.¡± His tone and demeanor did not fit the tenor of story he was telling, but Tala didn¡¯t interrupt to ask about the incongruity. ¡°In that time, I found the darkness around me to be an almost tangible thing, like the very air we breathe, but not in the same way. I think it was my own power manifesting in a time of stress, reaching out to the darkness, because by the time my father was able to circle back and recover me, I was more at home in the dark than the light.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It has been like an old friend ever since.¡± She almost started to argue, but then stopped herself. Who was she to argue with someone else¡¯s fundamental understanding? Soon enough, there was no darkness below them as they looked down the well-lit shaft. ¡°After me, then.¡± The Paragon stepped forward and dropped. Tala, as the designated ¡®blocker¡¯ of the group, followed moments after. She briefly considered wrapping herself in iron and void, infusing them into her defenses to create an existence separation field as Mistress Kep had explained it. She shuddered internally at the thought. The magical interweaving was a powerful defense under the right circumstances, but the way it made her feel¡­ it was like her worst nights at the Academy. True, it didn¡¯t start out that bad, but from the first moment it had echoes of her darkest moments of loneliness, isolation, and worthlessness. She wouldn¡¯t dismiss it as a tool, just like she didn¡¯t avoid anything that was useful because it was uncomfortable, but it definitely wouldn¡¯t be her ¡®go-to¡¯ defense. Instead, as she fell she directed her power and focus toward feathering her gravity and leveling the bottoms of her feet to be able to adjust her surface area expansion scripts and thus increase her drag to aid in slowing her fall as well. She fell slowly enough that she wasn¡¯t surprised that Master Abali was out of the way when she hit the bottom, even though she¡¯d followed closely after him when jumping in. All the darkness seemed to gather around the Paragon, flowing around him in quick streams, only discernible by the ripples of the exteriors because the insides were so dark as to appear two dimensional. Tala pulled her gaze from the man and immediately oriented on the fold in reality that she could now easily sense down a long tunnel, angled smoothly downward. Even if the darkness hadn¡¯t been pulled back, she¡¯d have been able to see all there was to see in this place. Above her was a perfectly vertical shaft, and before her was an equally perfect downslope of a tunnel leading to a dead end. Tala called up, ¡°Clear! Advancing.¡± While she and Master Abali moved toward the folded prison entryway, the others made their own ways down with varying degrees of quickness. While each of the cells she¡¯d seen so far was a bit different in their own way, this one seemed oddly¡­ blank? There was nothing special about this tunnel, buried in the earth, except it was a tunnel buried in the earth. That, by its very nature, made it odd. It was nearly featureless, but that just served to highlight how unnatural it was. The effect gave the impression of someone trying to remove all markers, without really realizing that the lack of such things was a marker of a different kind. Who would be so capable, yet still naive? -Or so pressed for time that they weren¡¯t careful?- That actually made a lot of sense, and she frowned. The prisoner? She had a mental flash of a faceless something standing right behind her, similarly stripped of features to ¡®better blend in¡¯ and thus standing out in the worst way. Its long, clawed hands were reaching toward her with inexorable power, ready to disembowel her through her spine. Tala spun, Flow snapping into her hand, but only found Master Girt behind her back up the tunnel, one hand on the wall as he examined the ceiling. He saw her movement, turning to face her in confusion. ¡°Mistress? Is everything alright?¡± She shook her head, feeling a sweat of fear roil over her even as she sheathed her weapon. ¡°No¡­ I just got the unshakable feeling that something was behind me¡­¡± She hesitated, then shook her head again. ¡°No. That¡¯s not right. I just realized that, somehow, I have no feeling of safety, here. I think my own mind might have filled in the rest?¡± He frowned, then glanced up again. ¡°Yeah¡­ I can feel the integrity of the stone around us, but I keep checking. Like something in me is refusing to let me feel¡­ safe. Yeah, that is exactly right.¡± Tala again felt like something was standing directly behind her, but this time, instead of reacting, she simply analyzed her own surroundings more closely, her mirrored perspectives already providing complete awareness. There was nothing there. But¡­ was she sure? She whipped around again, managing to contain her reaction enough to not draw Flow this time. There was nothing, as she¡¯d known there would be. But what if? She groaned. ¡°Please tell me this doesn¡¯t have to do with the prisoner.¡± Master Abali visibly tremored, before he shook his head. ¡°No such luck, I¡¯m afraid. There are all sorts of conceptual twistings layered over this tunnel and¡ªI suspect¡ªthe entryway to the prison. Likely things the prisoner was doing in an attempt to lash out at his captors, or keep the prison from sealing as it closed.¡± Tala shuddered. ¡°He didn¡¯t want his captors to ever feel safe? How can such a working even¡­ How is it still in effect?¡± ¡°It was wrought on this space, and this space has gone undisturbed since. The magics likely originally extended above as well, but they would have dispersed with time. Down here, though? It¡¯s concentrated, and the conceptually-altered matter is still here, waiting. The change should fade while we¡¯re here, and the effects should be all but utterly gone by the time the cell is maintained again.¡± Tala grimaced, glancing over her shoulder reflexively. ¡°I rather hate this¡­¡± Mistress Vanga lifted up her shield with a little shrug. ¡°I¡¯m feeling alright thanks to this. Thank you all, again, for letting me claim it.¡± Tala did her best to not begrudge the woman. ¡°This conceptual nonsense won¡¯t extend into our dimensional storages, will it?¡± She had the horrible thought of the Zuccats feeling unexplainable, undirected danger within Kit. Or Terry¡­ Yeah, that wouldn¡¯t be good for anyone. Master Abali hesitated. ¡°Not unless they are opened. As to what will happen then? I¡¯m not sure, but let¡¯s get a look inside the atrium for this cell, and I¡¯ll know better.¡± Great¡­ going deeper in. It was obviously a bad idea to do anything with this cell, even checking on its integrity was foolish. She¡ª -Tala.- Alat¡¯s tone carried a note of warning within Tala¡¯s mind. Tala jerked her head, shaking it. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s awful. Not only is the feeling of safety gone, but so is faith that what we¡¯re doing is the right course.¡± ¡°That¡±¡ªMaster Abali said with a shake of his head¡ª¡°should pass incredibly quickly. What I would watch out for more closely is if you all start to feel less confident in each other, or anything like that.¡± She felt her eye twitch. ¡°That¡¯s possible?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think so, not with the level of magic that I¡¯m feeling, but people have had odder specialties. Be careful.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll pay special attention to our reality-thread connections¡­¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress. Watch for suppression as well as severing, if you will.¡± The Paragon smiled at her kindly. She grimaced and nodded. ¡°Should I enfold myself in my existence filter?¡± Master Abali paused for a moment. ¡°You could try it, but I don¡¯t believe it would help. You still react to external stimulation, so you aren¡¯t truly cut off from reality, at least not in the way the prep-documents outlined the ability. This effect is equivalent of looking at a kitten and thinking it¡¯s cute. Now, once we know more about the prisoner I very well may recommend its use.¡± After a moment''s consideration, he shrugged. ¡°That said, you are welcome to experiment. You have good enough control that you shouldn¡¯t cause yourself or anyone else harm. Again, though, that¡¯s just from my understanding.¡± She nodded, accepting his words for the recommendation that they were. After a long consideration, and several involuntary looks over her own shoulder, she grit her teeth and sealed her mouth, forcing the manifestation of the void into her bound iron and defensive magics. Because she was looking for it, and because she already felt unsafe, she immediately felt like everyone had abandoned her, and she would never find her way back to the surface. She tried to start hyperventilating, but she couldn¡¯t breathe. She couldn¡¯t breathe! Claws grew out from her fingers, and she scrabbled at her face, trying to get free of the cloying inability to take in air. Her perspective seemed to fade as her mind spiraled into panic. There was another voice that seemed that it was trying to get her attention, but that didn¡¯t matter, not now. Can¡¯t breathe. Can¡¯t see. Can¡¯t breathe. Can¡¯t see. She couldn¡¯t bring her focus to bear sufficiently to mirror Flow''s cutting onto her claws to get them to work. Something hit the side of her head, and she felt like she rang like a bell, even though she knew that wasn¡¯t true. That outside stimulus was something to grab onto. She wanted the outside. Something was keeping her separate from it. Get away! Her iron exploded away from her into the dimensions of magic, destroying the synergy that created her existence filter, and the rest of the world came crashing back into focus. Master Clevnis was standing over her. I¡¯m on the ground? ¡°Mistress Tala? Are you alright?¡± Tala groaned. ¡°Yeah¡­ that was an awful idea.¡± He helped her to her feet, and she found herself clinging to him for a long moment. He didn¡¯t pull back, instead rubbing her upper back comfortingly. ¡°You¡¯re alright, Mistress Tala. We¡¯re here.¡± Mistress Cerna came up beside them, resting a hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s verify the safety of the entrance, then get up to the surface for some perspective, shall we?¡± Tala nodded mutely, working her lips to bring moisture back to them. Finally, she managed, ¡°Yeah. I think that would be good.¡± Chapter: 341 - Aura Supremacy Tala sat in a little dell beside the deep hole down to the prison cell. Mistress Cerna sat beside her on the grass, silently watching the light change across the plains as the sun moved toward midday. A slight breeze was washing over the hills, causing the high stalks to dance and sway in rhythmic waves. A few nearby bushes added the sound of shivering leaves to that of swishing grass¡ªand the occasional animal call or bird song in the distance¡ªas the two women sat, just absorbing the beauty and peace. Tala didn¡¯t really know how long they sat there before she finally spoke, ¡°Thank you.¡± Mistress Cerna smiled and gave a slight nod but didn¡¯t otherwise respond. ¡°I think I made the whole thing a lot worse by enacting the separation while in an extreme emotional state.¡± ¡°That makes sense. Do you want to talk about it?¡± The unit leader turned to meet Tala¡¯s gaze, understanding and care evident in her eyes. ¡°I think so? Though, I¡¯ve talked through most of this with Master Nadro.¡± ¡°That man is a blessing to all of humanity.¡± ¡°Indeed he is.¡± There was another long silence before Mistress Cerna spoke again. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯m here if you want to talk.¡± Tala smiled briefly, but didn¡¯t say anything for a long moment. Finally, she nodded to herself. ¡°It felt like I was back at the Academy and not in a good way. I¡­ had issues with my immediate family, so I felt alone to start with. Then, I was messing with iron on my skin, which made other students not really want to be near me. I thought it was them being mean or uncertain. I didn¡¯t realize it was making them actively uncomfortable until after I¡¯d graduated.¡± Mistress Cerna made a noise of engaged interest. Tala felt herself smile, recognizing Master Nadro¡¯s tendencies in the woman. Nonetheless, she continued. ¡°So, the Academy was a time of pretty extreme isolation for me. I buckled down and got through it, having such a clear end-goal was rather more helpful than I realized at the time. But I wasn¡¯t ever scared.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Lonely? Unquestionably. Uncertain? Often. Afraid? Never. I¡¯m not really sure why.¡± Mistress Cerna shrugged. ¡°They do a fairly good job of ensuring that we Mages don¡¯t develop a fear of magic. That was apparently a difficulty early on, and it caused some to actively hurt themselves with their power, simply because they believed that their magic would do so or required that. Our predecessors worked that kink out rather quickly.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can see that possibility being an issue. But down in that tunnel?¡± Tala¡¯s eyes flicked down, then back up to their bright surroundings. ¡°I felt like I was on the edge of disaster. I didn¡¯t realize it at the time, but I knew that you all were down there with me, so even though I felt like I was about to die, a deep part of me was leaning on my connections with you all.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded slowly. ¡°From what you¡¯ve described, that would have been building your connections with us. Is that correct?¡± ¡°Precisely. So, when I isolated myself¡­¡± ¡°The building of those connections couldn¡¯t happen, so that feeling that was anchoring you¡­¡± ¡°Was stripped away on the instant. I spiraled quickly after that.¡± A mundane pair of songbirds flitted about up slope before them, drawing the women¡¯s attention for a long moment. It was calming to watch their swooping patterns and listen to their melody. ¡°I didn¡¯t really realize how far I¡¯ve come from my Academy days, but I really have made a lot of connections with people. You all are the most recent¡ªand certainly the quickest¡ªwhom I¡¯ve built a rapport with.¡± ¡°Working and fighting alongside each other can do that. We have to trust one another explicitly or we¡¯re going to get hurt.¡± Tala nodded seriously. She wouldn¡¯t have died in the last weeks without that trust, but she certainly wouldn¡¯t have succeeded on many, if any, of the missions without the others, and she likely would have taken some incredible hits. ¡°Was that what you experienced down there, then? Terror in isolation?¡± She thought about it for a moment before giving a hesitant shrug. ¡°I think it might be more accurate to say ¡®terror of isolation,¡¯ alongside everything else. It quickly pivoted as my mind lost coherency, though. Things that I was in full control of were suddenly greater sources of fear than those I couldn¡¯t affect at all.¡± ¡°The human mind can be an oddly self-destructive thing at times.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s amazing how often we can make ourselves miserable.¡± The other Refined huffed a laugh. ¡°Yeah, I can think of at least forty strategies I already use to make myself miserable, without even really meaning to.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a lot.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it just?¡± They sat in silence for another long while before Tala slowly got to her feet. She patted her gear, mentally off kilter enough that she wanted to verify Flow and Kit were in place. Flow on the left, Kit on the right, just as always. Tala smiled slightly, ¡°Let¡¯s get back down to the others.¡± ¡°Are you going to be alright?¡± Mistress Cerna¡¯s tone carried concern but also a sense that she would trust Tala¡¯s answer. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m just not going to use that defense.¡± ¡°To be fair, you did originally put that together under very particular circumstances. It¡¯s possible that, if varied, it might be an excellent defense in even more cases.¡± Tala looked down, then back at her unit leader. ¡°Let¡¯s experiment when we aren¡¯t in the field, shall we?¡± Mistress Cerna chuckled. ¡°That is probably the wise course.¡± Tala dropped down, slowing herself as she had before. The sense of creeping unease was noticeable much sooner since she was looking out for it. Even so, she didn¡¯t let that distract her as she marched down the slope toward the now opened folded-prison entrance. She twitched, barely keeping herself from jerking around as Mistress Cerna touched down behind her. It¡¯s just Mistress Cerna. You¡¯re fine, Tala. -Tala?- Alat had been strangely quiet since the incident. That in mind, Tala responded to her alternate interface with a carefully inquiring tone. Are you alright, Alat? -I¡­ I think so. That was¡­ I did not like that.- What was it like from your side? -Like we were utterly uncontrollable. I couldn¡¯t even master my own thoughts. I think I was screaming there at the end¡­ I¡¯m glad you couldn¡¯t hear me, or at least couldn¡¯t process what you were hearing. I think I would have just made it worse.- Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Tala projected comfort and understanding within her own head, and Alat reciprocated. The two Refined stepped through the previously folded entrance into the massive cavern beyond. It was bright, with no obvious source of light in evidence. I do wonder how Master Abali would do against Eskau Pallaun. -Sadly, Tala, I don¡¯t think that we will ever see that fight.- Why wou¡ª Tala stopped, glaring internally. Was that a joke? -Of course. They both use darkness. Nothing to see.- Tala shook her head and huffed a laugh. It helped that there was a bit less of the pervasive wrongness in the air within this space, when compared to the tunnel outside. The inward curving walls were decorated in the traditional manner expected of cell antechambers. They were covered top to bottom with simplistic, but clear, depictions of the prisoner and how his power worked. Each picture seemed to be in a set of at least two, though more complex concepts used more sequential images to get the point across. Negation. This prisoner somehow wielded the concept of negation or at least something very near to that idea. The most prominent images showed what seemed to be the being negating their own death and injury. That is so broken. How can someone just say ¡®Yeah, I¡¯m not going to die. Thank you, though!¡¯ -It likely took a perfect confluence of events for him to be exposed to his own death in a way that he magically outweighed the particular instance enough to negate the entire concept.- I¡­ I think that actually made sense. -Of course it did. You may not have studied all the arcane books we have, yet, but I have much more time than you do. Add to that the fact that I know how to put facts forward in the perfect way for you to understand me, and it¡¯s no wonder that my quick explanation makes sense.- Fair. As she walked further into the large space it was blessedly obvious just how much less it was affected by the feeling of fear, or rather the negation of the feeling of safety. The walls were clearly carved and polished smooth before the painted depictions were added. The floor, on the other hand, had been left a bit rough, likely to allow for easy footing. At the center of the space was a gazebo like structure made of black stone. That is where the reward or bribe had been waiting for them. There hadn¡¯t been anything too incredible this time around, but there was a good bit of precious metals, so that was nice. She felt a tickle run up her spine, like someone was about to tap her to get her attention, but the tap never came. She knew it would never come, because she could still see in every direction. This isn¡¯t awful or anything. -Yeah, it¡¯s totally worth the money.- Tala hesitated. You know, it actually is worth the money and experience¡­ I should stop complaining, shouldn¡¯t I. -¡­ we both probably should. I do wish that the Paragon would hurry up.- Master Abali grunted from the far side of the room, almost as if he¡¯d heard Alat¡¯s mention of him. Even so, he spoke to no one in particular, ¡°It looks like he¡¯s only Honored, and yes, that means he¡¯s on the path of advancement used by the arcanes.¡± Tala frowned, walking that direction even as she asked, ¡°Is that meant to imply that he¡¯s not an arcane?¡± ¡°From what I can tell, he was born human, but I see no references to gates, so he¡¯s gateless. Even so, there¡¯s reference there¡±¡ªhe pointed off to the left¡ª¡°indicating that he somehow negated his own humanity. I have no idea what that actually means, though. There¡¯s no real way we could, as it would be based on the caster¡¯s own perception.¡± Tala blinked a few times even as she came to a stop, standing beside him. ¡°I think I know, and it¡¯s pretty obvious.¡± The Paragon turned to her, then slowly nodded. ¡°Oh, right. Concept magic.¡± ¡°Precisely, yeah.¡± The man frowned. ¡°But he¡¯d have to have used some form of concept magic to accomplish a removal of his humanity?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Maybe it was a natural effect from somewhere, or something else not recorded. The nullification of his humanity is seemingly connected to¡ªor it was accomplished around the same time as¡ªhe negated his ability to die. That might factor in.¡± Tala grunted. While this was interesting, it wasn¡¯t really necessary to know. ¡°Do we know how long you¡¯ll need? I¡¯m not really a fan of this one, and I¡¯d vote for a quicker turnaround if possible.¡± The Paragon shrugged. ¡°I mean, we could make the attempt now, but I think we¡¯d be wiser to wait for me to confirm some things¡­ at least one or two.¡± He pointed to a section off to his right. ¡°The best way to combat him, however, seems to be aura supremacy. That¡¯s one of your areas of expertise, right? I recall that being in the briefing on your magics.¡± Tala perked up. ¡°Yes, or at the very least, I¡¯m trying to make it a foundation for my abilities.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ll want you to have your aura on full display before we open the cell then, and you¡¯ll likely want to be braced for a direct assault against it.¡± She nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of us. It¡¯ll still likely be a day¡­¡± He hesitated. ¡°You know, I can go faster than that¡­ Maybe, a few hours? Yeah, I can make that work, and¡­¡± He trailed off, a frown growing across his features. ¡°Well, rust me. That¡¯s devious.¡± Tala was already forming an iron spike to begin working with her aura, but she paused, really paused and considered. ¡°Oh¡­ Rust.¡± Master Abali raised his voice¡ªthough it wasn¡¯t really necessary¡ªto ensure that everyone was paying attention. ¡°The removal of safety seems to have been dimmed in here to make room for a dampening or removal of patience, or something very similar. I think it is effectively encouraging us to rush or act recklessly. Thus, I will be taking a bit longer than I normally would, just to be sure I haven¡¯t missed anything. My apologies.¡± Tala felt herself nod. ¡°I¡¯m still going to start experimenting with my aura and these¡­ removals.¡± ¡°Nullifications, I think is the closer term.¡± ¡°Nullifications, then. They are established, and I don¡¯t have active magics to oppose, but there might be something I can do.¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°I look forward to your results.¡± Master Abali was good to his word, and took a good five days to check, double check, and consult with other experts. Tala continued her training through that time, going up to the surface more often than was strictly standard, but as they were all doing it to get away from the gnawing sense of impatience and low level buzz of danger, it didn¡¯t cause an issue. The senses of danger and impatience were useful for honing her mental focus under adverse conditions, though she did that work in the cavern more often than the tunnel. The last thing she wanted was to train herself to ignore her innate sense of danger. After all, in more cases than not, she needed that sense. Her experiments with her aura ended up being little more than practice for her aura control in general. As she had no conceptual basis for her power¡ªlet alone one that could act on the lingering effects of this nullification magic¡ªher aura was unable to push back the already in place effects of the concept magic. Truthfully, she hadn¡¯t really expected differently. She couldn¡¯t push back heat with her aura after it had already come into being from a Mage like Master Doitean. That said, from what Master Abali and the experts he worked with were able to determine and verify, this prisoner couldn¡¯t indirectly negate things that led to the death of others. Nor could he fully control another indirectly. Thus, an aura defense was the best way to deal with him. All of that led to Tala standing beside Master Abali as he prepared to open the cell, the unit behind her, ready to back her up to the best of their ability. They had all been briefed on the particulars of this inmate, and they were as ready as they could be. ¡°Establish your aura here.¡± A line of darkness made a large circle on the ground around an unassuming, seemingly random lump in the uneven ground of cavern off to one side. Tala nodded, throwing out a series of iron spikes, evenly spaced a foot apart around the whole circumference. She used a manifestation of Flow¡¯s cutting ability into the iron that was a part of its nature to let the spikes slip easily into the mundane rock. Some twenty five spikes were used to encircle the four foot radius space, and Tala¡¯s aura radiated strongly from each of them. It took a bit of adjustment, but she altered the enforcement of her own control to allow Master Abali to work within her area of control without having to take that sovereignty away from her. It was an odd thing, feeling another Mage¡¯s power working within her aura. It was something that she specifically forbade under most circumstances, but even with the odd feeling, it wasn¡¯t hard to continue to allow it. The sensation was much like letting another Mage heal her, but she didn¡¯t have as much experience with that as others, so it took a moment. I suppose the practice with the unit on this front paid off, too. They needed to be able to work around each other at need, and they couldn¡¯t be constantly fighting for aura supremacy of the space. Tala nodded. ¡°Alright, I think I have it.¡± Master Abali checked and nodded in return. ¡°Can you maintain that? If you deny me later, it will break my work and force me to start over.¡± ¡°I can maintain this. I have it locked in, now.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Master Abali¡¯s power reached out as he activated the cell¡¯s unlocking sequence. The odd bump on the floor¡ªcentered in Tala¡¯s ring of spikes¡ªexpanded upward, the rock appeared almost to bend and twist outward¡ªlike clay in a sculptor¡¯s hands¡ªuntil it took on the shape of a rectangular doorframe of seemingly randomly spiraling stone. Oddly, those uneven waves in the stone gave Tala a unified feeling that the door stood, alone, as the center of the universe. No¡­ not the center. The feeling that is trying to overcome me is that the doorway is alone in the universe, in all of existence. Master Abali had told them the name of the prisoner, and Tala was finally beginning to understand what sort of monster would choose the name: Sole. Chapter: 342 - Sole Tala¡¯s aura was a manifold shield, wrapped around the opening cell door before them. Her metals almost seemed to bleed through her skin, coating her all at once, even as she released her suppression of her through-spike. She was already wearing her armor. While she always left the iron that lined her inscriptions in the dimensions of magic, she had found being fully coated to be inconvenient when around other people. Master Abali¡¯s working progressed steadily, the twisted doorframe seeming to become more real, and the first inklings that something lay beyond came into focus, something more than the cavern within which they stood began to appear. As soon as the beginnings of a true passage started to form and her influence spilled through, Tala launched iron spikes through the doorway, angled outward to embed all around, controlling them and moving them along with her well established aura. She strode purposely forward, sending out waves of iron, her aura reinforcing and overlaying itself with every spike added. She was leaning heavily on her training with Master Akra, almost hearing the man¡¯s voice in the back of her mind, ¡°Your aura, more than anything, is a magical representation of your authority and power. It cannot be shaken if you are not shaken. Where you hold sway, your aura reigns supreme.¡± That wasn¡¯t universally true, but it did help crystalize some important underlying truths. He had told her that, too. Iron spikes cachunked into the stone, resonating softly in tones barely audible to her ears. This was her role. More spikes and the resonant tone grew. She was the front-line for her unit. Still more. She was the jailer, and she¡¯d come for an inspection. The tunnel before, around, and behind was filled with the pure note of her precisely identical spikes, having chimed against the stone. Though, the sound was fading as she moved on. She placed the last ring of iron around the tunnel exit just moments before she felt something slam into her aura, attempting to keep it from extending out beyond that threshold. Tala was able to feel the nature of what pushed against her influence, magics trying to worm their way through her will to enact their purpose. Obviously, she had expected this. The prisoner couldn¡¯t have too many concurrent effects in place due to the nature of his magics. They had been illustrated in great detail in the antechamber, and Master Abali had explained that this prisoner¡¯s workings would disperse through the cell as a whole with time. Thus, he could only leave things in place that wouldn¡¯t inconvenience him. At least for the most part. But when you can¡¯t die or be damaged, there¡¯s a lot more potentially on the table. Sure enough, when Tala walked to the edge of the tunnel and placed the first arc of spikes to secure the area outside of the entrance, she sensed a change to the air, in how it brushed against her bloodstars as they orbited her, granting the mirrored perspectives. Even so, she couldn¡¯t tell what the change was. She might never know, and she was fine with that. Tala mentally checked her defenses: She was fully encased in iron and white steel, her scale mail hauberk securely in place over even that. As protected as I can be in that manner. Even with the restrictions that she knew the prisoner would have been under with regard to what effects he could leave laying about, she was surprised to not really feel any other direct attack. Her unit came to the entrance of the tunnel, stepping out just enough to give them all a good view, while Mistress Vanga remained sheltered behind them and within the tunnel. Tala felt Master Limmestare finish creating the last glass-fiber mesh behind them. They had agreed to place such a sensory net every two feet down the length of the tunnel, in case the prisoner was able to slip past them. They would have some ability to resist passage, but their main goal was to alert them if someone made it to those points. While within Tala¡¯s aura, they shouldn¡¯t be able to be disturbed without the unit noticing. That confirmed, Tala turned her focus outward. In this cell, the tunnel opened from the base of a cliff, and Tala¡¯s perspective showed what looked like a solid roof extending from the top of the cliff. -That means it¡¯s a wall, Tala.- Seems cliff-like to me. -Fine; I won¡¯t argue.- While the cell did appear to be a cavern of sorts, it was large to the point of seeming more like a heavily shielded city district than a cavitation in the ground. There was a momentary pause as they waited for something to happen. During that time, Tala was able to feel Master Abali¡¯s building magics behind them, at the far end of the tunnel. Good, the repairs are underway. ¡°Oh¡­ you¡¯re all human? That¡¯s a pity.¡± Tala¡¯s head snapped to the side, her eyes trying to fix on the man who was suddenly standing barely twenty feet from her, mere feet outside her aura¡¯s established boundary. Her eyes were covered, however, so she saw with her perspectives instead. I really need to work on those reactions. But that was for later. Her various perspectives saw the speaker as he started talking and not a moment before. ¡°And you are bodily blocking the way out within a heavily established aura¡­ they were thorough in describing what I was capable of, weren¡¯t they?¡± He can negate the ability to perceive him. Seemingly limited until he takes an overt action such as attacking or speaking. Though, it is obviously just something with that effect, or he¡¯d have to be enacting his working within our minds. ¡°This will be a rather boring time for all of us if you don¡¯t speak. Not that that is unexpected.¡± Mistress Cerna responded, then. ¡°Sole, you are a prisoner here, and we are simply maintaining the cell.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose any of you have the ability to kill me?¡± There was a note of hope in the voice, only then allowing Tala to notice the despondency previously in stark evidence. Mistress Cerna shook her head. ¡°You know that you negated the possibility of your own death, Sole.¡± ¡°While that may be true, I am not¡ªand have never been¡ªperfect. A little like you actually. You know it¡¯s a bit rude not to give your name.¡± There was a bit of fire in the statement, but it sputtered and died as Sole sighed. ¡°But I suppose I¡¯m undeserving of your name¡­¡± The unit shared a look. This was not like the handling of Khesed¡¯s cell; they had no requirement for silence, and there could be much learned from the prisoner, if he was willing to talk and they could establish a rapport with him. ¡°I am Mistress Cerna.¡± ¡°Mistress Cerna? Good to meet you. I¡¯d say that I¡¯ve been lonely, but that was the first thing I removed from myself after the door slammed shut. Do you know what¡¯s worse than wanting to die and not being able to?¡± The shift in topic seemed to almost catch her off guard, but she rolled with the change fluidly nonetheless, ¡°There are many things that are worse.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Right. Human. The only thing worse than wanting to die and not being able to is having multiple reasons to want to die, and not being able to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I agree.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care?¡± He glanced up at the ceiling. ¡°Though, saying that is probably rude as well.¡± Tala spoke up, then, manipulating an opening in her metal, through which she could speak, ¡°Not as rude as trying to sneak your magic through my aura, tucked inside your voice.¡± Sole paused with his mouth open, then grinned. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It was not a human expression. ¡°Oh¡­ you noticed that? Pity.¡± Tala was suddenly aware of Sole¡¯s appearance, unsure of why she hadn¡¯t really considered it before. He had a green aura, that much was certain, but it was oddly¡­sparse? Yeah, that¡¯s the word. It was as if his aura was somehow being propped up to Honored levels without really having the proper concentrations of power. Anemic! That seemed to fit the bare edges of his aura that she could see even better than ¡®sparse.¡¯ Even so, she didn¡¯t dare even consider that his odd aura would make this an easy task, and his odd aura couldn¡¯t hold her attention for long. He looked almost human. His ears were oddly shaped, but not outside of what some humans had, but his teeth¡­ They were somehow sharpened in a way that both fit the man and was utterly anathema to what Tala had been expecting. Still, she couldn¡¯t really place what he was, or what his features reminded her of. The one thing that she was sure of when looking at him was that he wasn¡¯t human. Is that what that meant? -He negated his own humanity. Maybe this is just a visible, physical manifestation of that?- Sole was shaking his head as he spoke, ¡°As humans, you won¡¯t have even the potential for concept magics that could kill me. While a conversation might be diverting¡ªthough, I doubt it¡ªI am forced to continue with plan B.¡± Mistress Cerna responded to that, ¡°What is plan B, exactly?¡± He shrugged. ¡°If I must continue existing, then I will end ¡®existing¡¯ as a concept. Then, I shall be free of this wretchedness.¡± There was a few heartbeats of silence, followed by Tala''s words, echoing through the cavern, ¡°What now?¡± He gave her a look like he was explaining an easy concept to an idiot, ¡°I wish to die, but I didn¡¯t realize that until after I removed the potential. I was¡­ more foolhardy in my youth. Thus, the only way I get to cease to be is if there is no longer any place in which ¡®to be.¡¯ So, while I am not hopeful as to the positive nature of the answer, I will ask again: Can any of you kill me?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I can try.¡± Sole raised his arms to the sides. ¡°By all means. I would prefer a quick end to fighting my way to Sovereignty in order to find my rest.¡± Tala turned Flow into a void-knife and threw it at him. The knife flew true, but the butt of the knife is what thumped off of his chest. He rubbed the place it had struck. ¡°That was a bit uncomfortable but hardly lethal. Is that the best you can do?¡± She blinked a few times in confusion. What? -What? You threw that correctly.- Yes, Alat. I¡¯m aware. Sole looked down at the hole that had appeared in his shirt where Flow¡¯s pommel had struck him. ¡°Void magic?... And do I detect a hint of reality as well? Why didn¡¯t you use that part? That might have worked.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°You negated damage to yourself as well, correct?¡± ¡°I have. As I said, I was rather foolish in my youth¡­¡± he let out a self-deprecating laugh, ¡°I suppose it¡¯s a bit arrogant to assume I¡¯ve grown beyond that.¡± Is that why it landed so incredibly badly? Flow flicked back through the air into Tala¡¯s hand. ¡°That¡¯s a neat trick. A soul bound weapon then.¡± Tala shrugged, coating the outside of void-knife-Flow with iron, then infusing that iron with void from Flow and her elk leathers both. Sole tilted his head to one side, curious. The motion moved his head more than it really should have. ¡°That might work, but do you know how to use it properly? I do hope so, because I can¡¯t provide that education if you are lacking.¡± Tala shrugged, and threw the knife again. She watched closer this time. Flow flew straight toward the man, but as it passed out of her aura, it was suddenly facing the other direction, tip pointed back at her. Rust that. She pulled precisely on one of the orienting bloodstars, forcing the blade to flip around, again. It hit him properly¡­ and skittered off of his skin beneath his shirt, leaving a ragged tear in the fabric. There was a moment where Flow was about to make a claim on the barest fraction of the man¡¯s iron, but Tala stopped the attempt. It would do nothing but expose that ability. Instead, Tala called Flow back to her hand. Sole sighed, clearly disappointed. ¡°You still couldn¡¯t scratch me?¡± He considered. ¡°Well, then I¡¯ll have to¡ª¡± Master Clevnis picked up on where the conversation was going and his magic lashed out with a blade that could shave a diamond. ¡°No.¡± The word was almost lazy as Sole spoke it, but the air around him resonated with the weight of command. As soon as the blade of power left Tala¡¯s aura, it simply ceased to be. ¡°That wasn¡¯t very kind. It wouldn¡¯t hurt me, but it would positively destroy the plants behind me.¡± Sole shook his head. ¡°Can¡¯t you do better?¡± The ground below his feet opened, but before he could fall, he spoke again. ¡°That didn¡¯t happen.¡± There was an odd disjointment. He should have fallen, but clearly he hadn¡¯t, and once he was done speaking, the ground was closed once more as if it had never opened. Sole shook his head. ¡°People always believe they know what to expect, but no one truly understands me.¡± He walked forward, and Tala felt the entire outside edge of her aura flex inward, all at once. She held firm, pulling on all of her increased magical weight to do so. From moment one, she was losing ground. It wasn¡¯t quickly, but it was fast enough that they were in real trouble. She growled, desperately scrambling to find more leverage, more weight to throw behind her resistance. The line of demarcation was approaching her outer layer of spikes, and if it passed those, they would vanish into the void, leaving her weakened. I need more weight! A memory came to mind, from her time in Khesed¡¯s cell. Her reality node was heavier in a sense than anyone else¡¯s. Would that work? It was worth a try. So, she leaned also on the weight that she¡¯d perceived in her reality node. It wasn¡¯t quite the same as magical weight, and she didn¡¯t think she could use it to back her workings directly, but in establishing her sovereignty over an area, her real weight seemed to matter as much or more than her magical. -We have to have a better name for that, because your weight, and your real weight sound like the same thing.- Yeah, but that¡¯s a topic for another time. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a heavy one¡­ no¡­ You¡¯re simply well braced?¡± Sole started laughing, stopping only to make a cutting motion across his body. Tala was momentarily confused as to what had happened, but then she saw an oddly twisted spellform come into being at the edge of her aura, right as a lance of light fired from Mistress Cerna. She held a woven ball of gold which blazed with power as it burned itself out to enact the working. The light struck Sole¡¯s negation and stopped, right at the compressed border of Tala¡¯s aura. It was an odd thing to witness, as the ripples of the light-based attack made it clear that it was ongoing. Light flickered across the ground within Tala¡¯s aura, but it was as if there was no source of light from the perspective of everything outside of her authority. No dancing light, no shadows, nothing to indicate that a brilliant beam of power was only feet away. He¡¯s not just countering the magic, though that¡¯s how it seems. He¡¯s making it as if the thing never existed where he holds sway¡­ Tala was hyper focused on what was happening directly outside her aura. That was the only reason she saw the small ripples of something passing through the top of her area of influence. What happened next felt like the most precisely her perception and thoughts had ever operated, the world around her seeming to slow almost to a stop. Her voidsight manifested with a flicker, was mirrored to her other perspectives, and through it, she saw something falling toward her own head. Worse, there were five other somethings falling in perfect unison, each aiming at the head of one of her unit-mates. Even Vanga had one falling at an angle to reach her within the mouth of the tunnel. -Magically enacted negation of detection on some form of projectile?- That¡¯s my assumption. No longer magical, though, or it would have vanished at the edge of my aura. It would have at least had to contest me there. Any guess as to the nature of the projectiles? -Magically inert, ballistic. I would bet my existence that he¡¯s done a working to make them splinter upon impact or penetration for the greatest effective damage.- Solutions? -What you¡¯re thinking would be effective.- Alright. Tala altered the gravity amplification on sets of three of her scales to target each projectile falling at her unit-mates, carefully staggering them just so. For her own incoming projectile, she simply began to tilt her head backward while reshaping the white steel on the top of her head to make a deflection easier. Additionally, she allowed more of her iron to manifest to the extent of affecting her body, adding to her inertia and stability. The slowed moment passed, and there was an instantaneous, synchronized crack-BOOM that resonated through the cell, followed by the rain-like sound of gravel falling to the ground. Sole actually blinked in obvious surprise at the sound. The weight that hit Tala in the head would have staggered her had she not been completely prepared for it. Her unit mates looked around, clearly uncertain what had happened, their focus snapping to the spike of rock that seemed to suddenly appear, having bounced off of Tala¡¯s head. Sole¡¯s surprise passed with the blink, and his eyes narrowed. ¡°Voidsighted as well as some sort of projectile usage and enhanced durability? Who designed your power-set? A maniac who just decided to go with random things that sounded cool?¡± Tala almost moved her metal to allow herself to speak yet again, but then she realized that she had a different means of communicating. Every one of her unit-mates was hyper focused on her aura, watching for any weakness or fluctuation so they could shore it up or respond as appropriate. She smiled internally, remembering how Mistress Odera had been able to read her thoughts in her aura before Tala got better at controlling it. That in mind, she forced her aura to manifest readable thoughts directly before her unit, ¡®He¡¯s masking attacks with his ability. Plan eight.¡¯ Plan eight had the unit withdraw into the tunnel while she stood in the entrance. It wasn¡¯t a great position to be in, as it would be harder for the others to support her if he changed tactics, but if he could drop chunks of ceiling on them so stealthily, they weren¡¯t in a good position to begin with. The others were durable¡ªand had their own methods for defense¡ªbut a one-ton stalactite to the head would be fairly lethal to most people, even Refined if they let it land. And this guy is keeping anyone from noticing the incoming danger. Even their magics aren¡¯t reacting. Tala knew that Master Clevnis, as just one example, had automatic, defensive blades that should have activated to turn the rock targeting him into dust before it came within ten feet. Tala had deflected and obliterated it less than a foot above the Refined¡¯s head. She forced her aura upward, embedding iron up the cliff behind them to give her more anchors from which to strengthen and stabilize. She needed every foot of warning she could get. Sole shook his head even as the others of Tala¡¯s unit retreated just a bit. His eyes locked onto Tala¡¯s face, even though she wasn¡¯t seeing through her eyes at the moment. His voice had lost all levity, now carrying with it something akin to irritation. ¡°You know what? I don¡¯t think I like you.¡± Chapter: 343 - Needles Tala once again felt like the world around her slowed, even as Sole¡¯s last words were still fading from her ears, ¡°I don¡¯t think I like you.¡± It felt as if uncounted small things had rippled through the edge of her aura at once, prompting her to focus more minutely with her voidsight. That unique perception showed her the miniscule reality nodes of a flight of projectiles, all targeting her. No, he wouldn¡¯t be that foolish. Even if he¡¯d made these indestructible, he wouldn¡¯t believe that they¡¯d hurt me with what he¡¯s seen. Not if they¡¯re just rock. -That seems a bit arrogant, but I¡¯ll play along. So, what was the real attack?- I mean really hurt me, Alat. Arguing isn¡¯t helping. -Not dodging isn¡¯t helping either.- A hair behind the forest of pinprick attacks, something passed through her aura, sliding down the cliff face. Her eyes started to widen as she realized what it was, a wall of rock more than four feet thick, broader than her expanded bubble of aura within the cells. How the rust did he even make something like that? -Millennia of time and an ax to grind?- You¡¯re being oddly unhelpful, Alat. There was no way that Tala could jump into the tunnel before the barrier was in place, and her unit was still retreating back into the passage. -Do what you know you should, stop complaining. We have this.- Master Clevnis was the last one in the retreat, and he was standing directly under the falling multi-ton stone slab. She didn¡¯t have time for any further thought, even with her perception and mental enhancements making the world seem to crawl. One of her defensive discs flicked backward, out of its sheath on her belt in the small of her back. She kept the circle oriented broadside, even as she strained her aura to move it faster. The flow of time returned to normal and three things happened so close together that it was hard to tell them apart. First, her defensive disc slapped into Master Clevnis¡¯s chest, bypassing his defenses because it wasn¡¯t explicitly an attack or from a hostile. He was thrown backward with such force that Tala heard his ribs crack around the site of the impact. Second, the stone slab hit the ground, the impact apparently sufficient to break the effect that made it undetectable. The sound it made was a mix of a cacophonous boom and crunching squelch, the former vastly overpowering the latter. Third, a cloud of stone needles slammed into Tala, most actually driving deeply enough through her protection to draw wells of blood. While she¡¯d ensured that Flow¡¯s distributive resilience was in place, it didn¡¯t stop the needles from pushing the iron aside at practically an atomic level. Honestly, Tala couldn¡¯t imagine a defense that could have stopped such points penetrating through, and that was likely a large factor in the results. Now visible, Tala was able to see that they were each an impossible shape, bulbous masses of stone with single protrusions that lengthened and thinned to the point that even her enhanced perception couldn¡¯t see the very tip. Wow¡­ That¡¯s a lot sharper than I expected. The thought came to mind unbidden, even as she grit her teeth against the pain. -And a lot more than I expected¡­ Yeah, dodging wouldn¡¯t have helped.- Before anything else, Tala heard a man''s scream of agony from beyond the multi-ton stone slab, and she felt the tension in her back loosen in relief. Master Clevnis was hurt but alive. With the landing of the stone¡ªand the blood that had splattered out from under it¡ªshe had been afraid that she hadn¡¯t been fast enough. Mistress Vanga can see to him, now. Sole was looking at her with narrowed eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t bleed red? And they say I¡¯m not human.¡± He paused, then cackled lightly. ¡°No, no. That was me. I said that I wasn¡¯t human.¡± He giggled a bit more. Tala¡¯s body was pulling back together, the internal pressure and flesh pushing in on itself driving out the needles in quick succession, causing the oddly shaped things to thunk to the ground like hail. ¡°Well, having a companion for eternity isn¡¯t the worst outcome, but I suspect you could get us both free with enough time and motivation.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Pass.¡± She flicked a hand outward. As she did so, an orb-pair seemed almost to float below her rising palm for the fraction of an instant it took for her to change the target of their gravity amplification. There was a crack as the orbs shot forward. They hit the edge of her aura and encountered Sole¡¯s nullification of magic and its remnant effects. Like before, there was a stark contrast between within her aura and outside of it. In this case, the orbs, unaffected by magic, were a whole lot of air. The concussive expansion blasted Sole backward, the man letting out a confused sound that came out somewhere between a yip of pain and a yelled curse. That bought Tala a bit of time. Good, I think I¡¯m starting to understand how his magic works. She immediately turned her attention to the stone slab behind her, twisting around, planting her feet and slamming her fist into the rock. The cavernous cell resounded like a struck drum, but the stone didn¡¯t move. A cackling laugh came from near the far side of the space. I didn¡¯t think I threw him that far. She shrugged. Good for me. ¡°That¡¯s a thousand tons of granite, worked with my power to be effectively invincible. You won¡¯t¡­ what are you doing?¡± The last was more spoken than shouted, but Tala still heard it. She grinned when he expressed his pride of accomplishment, and his exclamation likely came when he saw her magic sinking into the stone before her. Voidsight on one of her perspectives found the node that she suspected was the man running back toward her, again, much farther away than she¡¯d expected. I suppose it was effectively a directed blast? She grabbed the stone''s gravity that was oriented downward and targeted it to her understanding of Sole, based on the descriptions given of him, not her own interactions and understanding. She didn¡¯t want the working to break if she learned something new, after all. The redirected gravity was too weak to really move the thing with any speed. It wouldn¡¯t even overcome the coefficient of friction, given that the stone would need to slide to move toward the prisoner. It did cause the stone to begin to groan, slightly tipping. So Tala poured power into amplifying the newly directed gravity, burning a couple of her gold rings to quicken the pace even as she dropped down among the fallen needles. She only hesitated a moment before scooping them into Kit despite the painful pin-sticks she got even through her defenses. There was seemingly no emotional manipulation in the air, and any toxicity could be isolated and removed by Kit, herself. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Tala judged the risk to be acceptable, given those factors. It only took a moment before the stone groaned and slid away from the cliff-face, bumping upward to slowly fall away, accelerating all the while. Tala kicked up with all her strength as it passed fractions of an inch above her, giving it some upward movement even as it arced toward Sole in the distance. Unfortunately, as soon as the stone fully passed out of her aura, she lost her connection with it, and Tala was unable to continue to amplify the pertinent gravity. Doubly unfortunately, the effects of her working were undone, yet again proving that his nullification went far deeper than just countering magics. The slab boomed against the ground before it toppled over to crash down a final time. Blessedly, the cliff that had been blocked by the stone was unbroken. Even the tunnel was no longer visible, and Tala felt herself breathe out a sigh of relief. Master Girt had sealed the tunnel and wouldn¡¯t open it again until it was time for her to retreat. She could now engage the prisoner without fearing that he would go around her and escape and without worrying about her unit-mates. As she stood, Tala pointedly ignored the massive splatter of blood, crushed bone, and viscera that had been under the slab. Master Clevnis will be fine. Mistress Vanga has him. They had considered simply sealing the entrance with all of them on the outside, but that would give the prisoner free rein to do as he wished with known targets and a finite objective. They had no idea what he could do, uncontested, with that setup and a couple of hours. So, Tala was to keep him occupied. From what she¡¯d seen, they¡¯d made the right call. She used the rest of the minute or so before Sole returned to expand her aura further in other directions both in the standard fashion and with iron spikes, focusing on above the cliff. Around the slab of stone that she¡¯d moved aside, she did something special. His aura¡­ he¡¯s not as potent as he should be. -Agreed. I¡¯d say he¡¯s forcing himself to stay at an Honored level, with very little to back it up at that advancement.- A hardened shell at the correct density with a hollow core? -If advancement were a balloon, then yes, I would say that tracks.- It was meant to be an analogy. -And it failed when one realizes that advancement is not a balloon or core, or anything like that.- Fine, but we know what I meant, so I¡¯m going to do it. -By all means. I think it¡¯s a great idea.- Tala tried not to roll her eyes as she set up her plan. She transferred a large amount of iron into the dimensions of magic around the spikes there before pulling her authority back, keeping only the smallest connection to those few spikes most closely aligned with the approach of his reality node. She couldn¡¯t remove the connection entirely, not yet. That would sever her aura and shuck all the iron into the void, but she pulled the aura link into the ground to make it even harder to detect. She was a bit curious as to why he was simply running straight at her, even if he likely believed that she couldn¡¯t see him. Not a tactician? That didn¡¯t seem right. His ability seemed to require quick, decisive thinking and action. Not that kind of tactician? -He¡¯s good at what he does, and I don¡¯t think roundabout tactics, at least physically, would be very useful to him. In fact, as they¡¯d most likely be expected, they might actually hurt him under most circumstances.- Huh¡­ That¡¯s interesting. I suppose it isn¡¯t really relevant at the moment. We only get one chance at this, before he realizes that we can detect him. Sole reached the massive stone slab and hopped up onto it, seemingly taking a moment to examine the massive rock but found nothing changed about it. He likely hadn¡¯t expected to, given his own magics nullified everything that she¡¯d done. From that seemingly crouched position, his node twitched oddly. What? Her voidsight caught something shooting for her, and she jerked to the side, just enough to cause the thing to cut into her shoulder instead of her neck. As it hit her, it became visible. It was a wedge of rock that narrowed to such a sharp blade that the cutting edge was transparent near the sharp portion. Just like the needles that had similar treatment, the unbelievably sharp edge cleaved straight through her defenses, splitting her shoulder to sternum as it passed through her before embedding into the cliff behind her. What the rust? He didn¡¯t become perceivable despite the attack. Her body pulled back together, using a surprisingly small amount of her stores because of just how clean the cut had been. Huh. I hadn¡¯t actually expected his weapons to be to my benefit. ¡°Good reflexes. Voidsight really makes it hard to surprise you.¡± He flickered into her perceptions, a sword hilt in one hand. For the barest instant, Tala thought that the weapon was missing a blade, but then she realized that, of course, it had a blade of the same type and damage nullification as the needles and rock wedge. Now that¡­ I want that. -Yeah, let¡¯s grab that if we can. The needles are going to be great, but I want that¡­ and grab the wedge.- Sole strolled forward across the stone, lazily spinning his weapon with the confidence of a man who was effectively invincible and who would be happy to be proven wrong. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, you surprised me with whatever that air blast was. How did you do that? I¡¯m always willing to learn from clever magicians.¡± He dropped down on the near side of the four-foot-thick slab, right between three of her iron spikes with suppressed auras, in an uneven triangle around him. His eyes began to widen as he seemingly noticed her trap. She reacted instantly, her smile only growing as her actions took effect. Tala flared her aura to slam into him from three sides. At the same time, she pulled her iron from the dimensions of magic in the shape of needles, mirroring a specific part of Flow¡¯s magics into the magic-resistant weapons. The needles shot forward at the outside edges of her aura even as she pushed that inward. She used each needle as a relay and amplifier of her aura as well. The swarm slowed to a crawl less than an inch from his skin as he reacted, hands lifted as if guarding against a punch to the face. ¡°You really are heavy for your advancement.¡± Strain was evident in his posture and in his voice. This was her gamble. She didn¡¯t actually expect to outweigh him, but she had better leverage in this position. She was pushing straight inward, and he was having to defend from multiple directions at the same time. More than that, reinforcing an aura against outside interference actively took power. It wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was infinitely more than nothing, and he had a finite supply. Her aura and her needles ground to a halt and started crawling backwards as he positively blazed with power. His own aura was finally revealed in full, showing as the green of a true Honored, just as she¡¯d thought. Even so, it was still odd to her perception. Arcane advancement had been explained to her as similar to setting benchmarks. Once one reached a certain level, it was much easier to return, but advancing further took high magical concentration, incredible dedication, or insane talent, usually all three. Sole¡¯s aura felt like it was barely sufficient to meet the benchmark of Honored. Even so, his body and power wanted to remain at that level, and she could feel the zeme of the entire cell pulling inward as he drew in magic nearly as fast as he expended it. Nearly. Tala¡¯s smile firmed as she threw Flow. Flow got all the way to him, the blade extending out of her aura without the knife leaving her control fully. The tip touched him in the center of his chest, stopping there by her power as much as his resistance. In that instant, she saw incredulity on his features. After all, she¡¯d already tested this exact weapon against him when he wasn¡¯t trying to defend himself. Flow¡¯s dasgannach magics reached out toward the iron within the man¡¯s blood. There wasn¡¯t much that it could affect. After all, the tip hadn¡¯t pierced Sole¡¯s skin, so the magics barely brushed the smallest amount of his blood, nearest the surface. Even so, dasgannachs were famous for having undisputable authority over their own element, and Flow had inherited the Paragon¡¯s share of that in the merging. Even so, this was a true Paragon level enemy. Honored. She would not give him the honor of being called a Paragon. Thus, Flow only claimed a pinprick¡¯s worth of iron. -Nice.- Sole¡¯s heart beat, moving his blood through miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries. All his blood moved, including that which Tala now had claim over. She immediately knew that she couldn¡¯t rip it free from him. After all, that would violate his nullification on damage to himself. But the iron was still hers. Her aura was now inside the prisoner, forced to remain by his own magics when it would otherwise have been rejected and ejected. Sole¡¯s entire aura trembled, and Tala¡¯s own pounced, lurching inward. Dozens of iron needles contacted Sole as Tala¡¯s aura briefly touched the man¡¯s skin, unable to breach his flesh. It didn¡¯t matter. Each needle claimed a pinprick¡¯s worth of iron. Sole¡¯s heart beat. The prisoner screamed as his own aura¡ªby its very nature and, indeed, the nature of magic itself¡ªtried to reject and eject the foreign aura, the foreign matter, while his unbreakable nullification kept her iron in place. Tala reformed the needles into a sheath of iron, coating Sole entirely, her aura pressing inward, but he was fighting back now with an animal ferocity. Tala used the chance to clamp down on the hilt of the sword in his hand and jerk it away with a bit of iron. Sole barely resisted, being so focused on their conflicting auras. And just like that, the sword was hers. I¡¯ll figure out what to do with it later. She had more pressing things requiring her attention. Sole was spending power at an insane rate, and at last, he couldn¡¯t continue to prop up his own advancement. His aura began to visibly shift, sliding toward yellow. Her cocoon of iron solidified more than half an inch from his skin but could draw no closer. Despite completely encasing him and, indeed, having her aura within his very flesh, she couldn¡¯t overcome him. But now, he was fully surrounded by iron. He could no longer easily draw in power, and he was expending it to try to fight her back. Her gamble had paid off. Even so, she was coated in sweat and her mind felt like she had a dozen icepicks slowly sliding deeper with every passing moment. This is going to be a long couple of hours¡­ Chapter: 344 - Oh R— Tala continued to feel sweat pouring off of her as she strained to keep the iron containment in place around Sole. Well¡­ that wasn¡¯t quite accurate, but she was sweating much more than she usually did. Alat had sent a message through the Archive to her unit detailing the situation, and she¡¯d received back instructions to hold, and call for back-up at need. That made good sense. Fewer variables meant that fewer things could go wrong, assuming she kept things under control. Master Clevnis was in the process of being healed, Mistress Vanga taking her time to do a detailed rebuild of his legs to reduce any chance of dissonance with the new limbs. She was only taking that level of care because according to the current plan, there should easily be time for such a meticulous healing. That was alright with Tala. She was fairly certain that she could hold this prisoner, even though it was steadily getting more difficult while she slowly wore down under the effort. The prisoner had shown his experience after his initial panic wore off, and he was now essentially bouncing his power off of the inside of the iron container, building momentum within the magic, effectively acting like a slowly heating liquid within an enclosed container. And he saves on magical power, too¡­ She wasn¡¯t having to hold the iron in place, thankfully, but she was having to fight to keep her aura at least equal with the inner surface of the iron. As a complicating factor, there was also a further odd resonance that came from the power that was originating from within his body, which she held some sway over. Basically, it felt just a bit like she was attacking herself, which was quite conceptually unpleasant. In order to conserve her strength, Tala pulled her spikes out of the stone. She did this for all but a pathway from where the entrance would reappear to where Sole was encased, reabsorbing the iron into herself. She had never been so active with her aura while changing the amount of iron she had on hand, and doing so caused her to notice a slight easing of her task as the iron entered the dimensions of magic around her body. Around my soul. -That would be my guess, too. All tasks with your will or soul originate within your body or gate, so adding ¡®real¡¯ weight to them would make those tasks easier.- At least it seems so. -Agreed, more testing is in order.- After we¡¯re done here. -Oh, obviously.- Tala slowly lowered herself into a seated position while maintaining the seal on what was increasingly becoming a dangerously overheated pressure cooker of power¡ªthough, it resembled that tool in an entirely different manner from her own iron containment. In my case, I¡¯m continually adding more magic. In his, he¡¯s making his magic move more. She shook her head. Not that that¡¯s very important right now. -This really makes me wish we could see Mistress Cerna deal with Sole. I think it would be informative.- Tala had to nod in agreement. If Tala hadn¡¯t been up for the task, or if she¡¯d failed in her implementation, Mistress Cerna was the Archon who would have stepped in to counter this prisoner. Apparently, she had a whole slew of scripts that were specifically for aura enhancement. With that, she could effectively fill the role at least as well as Tala had, through an entirely different manner. It would seemingly be rather expensive, however, as well as a bit less flexible. And, I don¡¯t know how she¡¯d have handled the almost undetectable attacks. She glanced down at the cuts in the stone ground that the needles had sliced and poked before she had scooped them up. It will be interesting to see how well those hold up once we¡¯re away from him. I¡¯m not sure in what way he enacted their indestructibility. -He did seem to have realized that eternal nullifications can come back to bite him¡­- Yeah, I definitely don¡¯t think that I would want to make eternal choices. -Like marriage?- Precisely. Though, that was an odd thing for Alat to bring up, especially now. Still, the alternate interface probably had her reasons. -Or soulbonding.- I already agreed that marriage is too big a thing for me to choose into right now. -Oh, I was talking about a sword, outfit, informational connection, that sort of thing. We wouldn¡¯t want to rush into such things.- ¡­I need to focus, Alat. -Sure, sure. Do what you need to do.- Tala grimaced internally and returned her focus to the captured, weakened, pressure cooking Honored. Yeah, this is much less complicated. How long had she been at this? How long had she kept Sole contained? -You¡¯ve been in here, alone for about half an hour, give or take.- That¡­ wasn¡¯t great. Still, that was a quarter to a sixth of the time required. Was there a way that she could vent the pressure? Tala frowned. If she let his power breach out, that would obviously be a flaw of containment, and it would force a much more direct confrontation. It would also be one that she¡¯d have less bracing for. She would likely lose that clash. Tala could vent it downward into the ground, where her aura was thinnest, but if he capitalized on that, who knew what oddities he could work when presented with the situation and a potential to do something. So, she couldn¡¯t vent it into the surroundings. She just needed it gone or somewhere it couldn¡¯t do anything. Huh¡­ -Tala¡­ if you eject him into the Doman-Imithe that¡¯s a mission failure.- I know, I know¡­ you know I know it too. That¡¯s not what I want to attempt. -But it is a possible result of what you want to attempt.- Unlikely¡­ -¡­but still possible. That is, unless he notices; then it¡¯s no longer unlikely. In that case, it is very likely that he would purposefully throw himself into your void-magics.- Yeah, that might do it. She grimaced. So, she couldn¡¯t interweave her iron with void to negate his building magical pressure. Then we need something else. She frowned. I shouldn¡¯t be able to magically affect iron, but I can magically affect myself¡­ -Oh! I like that idea.- Tala shrugged to herself. It was worth a try. She focused on her iron, emphasizing that it was the material bound to her soul and an intrinsic part of her. She specified the iron in the area before her, that which was wrapping around the prisoner. Just as with her siege orbs, she simply aimed the amplified gravity of the targeted material at itself, effectively increasing the inward pressure. She was both surprised and not surprised when she didn¡¯t feel her magic get rejected. Let¡¯s do this. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She poured all her inflowing power into the working, ramping up the gravitational attraction of the iron surrounding Sole toward itself. As that got to the level that the inward pull was actively noticeable, she stopped ramping it up, taking the inward force as the boon it was without taking it to an extreme that he might find a way to use to his advantage. I don¡¯t want him to become a cork on the ocean. -Yeah, too much pressure in this manner might simply eject him from the iron.- It was sometimes hard to consider the iron for what it was, dust that moved at her will. She could make it act like solid objects, but it wasn¡¯t actually fused together. It was the same issue that Master Cazor faced, and like him, she could have larger chunks of iron if she established them beforehand, but doing so would remove utility more than add to it. Also like him, she had no way of fusing the particles together on the fly; she could simply try to force them to stay in a given configuration. Tala considered for a long moment. If I add all of my remaining iron, I think that would be enough to keep him from being able to escape as I ramped up the pressure, but¡­ -Yeah, that¡¯s not worth the risk. Also, the iron aligned with your body and soul feels like it¡¯s all that¡¯s keeping your control in place at the moment.- That is much more true than I¡¯d prefer, yeah. Sole seemed to feel that he¡¯d built up something of an advantage, because within a minute or two of Tala¡¯s gravity amplification, he reached his hand out, toward her enclosure of iron. Tala had only an instant to respond as he pushed back her aura, and her iron began to bulge outward. In that moment, she did two things largely due to her increasingly exhausted state. First, she locked the general size and shape of the cocoon, even as she pulled back iron behind Sole to expose needle points. Second, she let his aura push the cocoon forward. Without direct resistance, his hand moved with ease, carrying his aura and moving her iron. As he was focused on trying to move his hand, he wasn¡¯t paying quite as much attention to other parts of his aura. That was his mistake. His movement brought a whole host of iron needles into contact with his back, each one claiming another pin-head¡¯s worth of iron. Sole spasmed, and Tala grew more needles. Every jerk of the prisoner¡¯s body¡ªrejecting the very idea of another sapient claiming something within him¡ªcaused more needles to be slammed against him, one way or other. She quickly doubled, then quadrupled, the amount of iron that she¡¯d claimed within him. It wasn¡¯t until she had nearly thirty percent of his blood-iron under her ownership that he was able to master his instinctive, jerking reactions and pull his limbs back in tight. Only then did Tala really feel the oddity of owning iron within his aura. The iron, itself, wasn¡¯t directly in his aura, though it was utterly surrounded by it. Instead, each minute bit of iron carried her aura with it, just projecting large enough to encapsulate it and nothing beyond. It¡¯s like an army in a foreign land. I am the mother country, and I¡¯ve been subverting his populace into my military. He couldn¡¯t directly crush her aura in order to nullify her ownership. He couldn¡¯t throw out the traitorous citizenry or even allow them to be removed. Instead, they were press-ganged into unending service, continuing to fulfill their role for him despite the obviousness of their altered allegiance. In real terms, this meant three things that she could perceive. First, the claimed iron didn¡¯t perform its biological functions as efficiently as it could. It was operating under duress. This didn¡¯t cripple Sole, nor did it do more than provide a bit of shortness of breath, among other similar inconveniences. It certainly didn¡¯t hurt him. Second, Tala¡¯s aura sweeping through his body was constantly undermining his magical foundation, making it harder for him to push his power forth to enact changes out in the world. The fact that he could still so powerfully oppose her was a testament to his advancement, experience, and drive to succeed in winning free of his confinement. Third, Tala felt a calling from her iron, an almost palpable need to bring it home. It was exactly like the other times that she¡¯d been granted ownership of iron, up until she could draw it into herself. She¡¯d never let that feeling last more than a brief moment, though. In this case, bringing it home wasn¡¯t possible, so she had a building desire that could not be satisfied. Oh, rust¡­ It hadn¡¯t been too bad when it was just an immeasurably small fraction of an ounce of iron, but now that it was more than a hundredth of an ounce, it was calling to her like whiskey to an alcoholic. Her head was pounding. I need coffee¡­ She didn¡¯t have the brain space to contemplate the irony of that desire, particularly because the lack of some iron was beginning to drive her to distraction. I need back up. Sooner is better. -On it.- Her gamble had backfired. Her plan had resulted exactly as she had hoped it would but had consequences that she couldn¡¯t have possibly predicted. Less than ten seconds passed, and a pulse of power announced the tunnel behind her opening once more. Her mirrored perceptions saw more blood within the tunnel and Mistress Vanga still working on Master Clevnis¡ªthough they were both looking her way when the wall opened¡ªmuscle and sinew visibly growing across exposed bone to rebuild what had been destroyed. Two seconds more saw golden balls that were insanely intricate spellforms begin to fly into a pattern around the contained Sole. Tala felt her aura grip slipping, but suddenly it was as if new strength surged through her. No, the task just became orders of magnitude easier. It was as if her fingers had been slipping off of a ledge, and then she found her wrists strapped to a hook, now embedded and holding her up. The result wasn¡¯t comfortable, but it was almost overwhelmingly easier. ¡°Mistress Tala, how long did you have him contained so tenuously?¡± Mistress Cerna¡¯s voice was firm, clear, and precise, utterly professional in an incredibly tense situation. Tala tried to open her mouth to respond but found it difficult to shift her will-power toward freeing her mouth. -I got this. Keep on task.- ¡°More than half an hour of containment, becoming slightly more difficult with time. So, you weren¡¯t struggling this much the whole time, correct?¡± -I said no.- ¡°That¡¯s good at least. So, something changed?¡± Tala nodded slightly. ¡°Then, thank you for calling on us. With such a stationary opponent, I can reinforce another¡¯s aura¡­ That is a lot of pressure, though. Is this enough help?¡± Tala hesitated. Alat didn¡¯t. -I said no. Please help more.- Mistress Cerna wove another dozen golden spheres over the course of the next minute, fixing them spatially in place around the contained prisoner. Each one was a soothing balm to Tala¡¯s strained will and mind. Her magesight showed that the golden balls linked not only Mistress Cerna to the effort. Everyone in the unit was lending their magical weight to back up her aura. As they¡¯d discussed before coming in, this was only possible because of the static nature of the aura conflict. Their reinforcement would greatly trail behind any action she took with her own aura, and that could actually cause her to be fighting against them if she were forced into a dynamic conflict as she had been in the beginning. Yeah, I should have called them sooner. -Maybe, but the plan was for you to hold out if you could, to mitigate risk. We called for help when we needed it, and we have the backup that we need, now.- Tala felt relief wash through her as she realized the truth of that statement. I¡¯m not alone. In the corners of her voidsight, she saw the threads of reality between herself and her unit-mates grow just a bit stronger. As she watched, the one linking her to Mistress Cerna gained another fraction as the woman leaned in, ¡°Thank you for saving my husband. While he might have survived without your intervention, it would have been a whole lot nearer a thing.¡± Tala felt her illusion smile with weary warmth in return, reflecting her inner feelings in a way that she¡¯d never been able to master before. Great, so the key is utter exhaustion. Who would have thought? -¡­ you know that¡¯s how you usually have your breakthroughs, right?- Tala chose to ignore her alternate interface, instead leaning into the support coming even from the injured Master Clevnis and Mistress Vanga as she worked. Her unit had her back, and she felt a growing contentment and certainty that she would have theirs as well. Time passed in a blur, and it was almost a shock when Master Abali contacted them to indicate that he was done with his setup and ready for their withdrawal. The golden spellforms had needed to be replaced at least four times, showing just how costly the workings were. Now, as the unit pulled back, Tala braced herself. First, she removed the iron spikes around Sole, pulling out and withdrawing all of the iron spikes from the ground back to the exit of the tunnel, even as she retreated to the entrance. That, alone, put a strain on her iron cocoon once more. ¡°Ready?¡± She glanced toward Mistress Cerna, happy that she¡¯d recovered enough to allow her to move her metal for speech once more. Master Abali nodded from beyond the Refined, ¡°On your mark.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded as well, even as the other unit members braced themselves, ¡°Flaring in five, four, three, two, one, GO!¡± As the golden spheres blazed with magic, burning themselves out in a final pulse of power, Tala ripped away the iron shell. The iron flowed like a diving falcon, shooting toward them and down the tunnel, Tala¡¯s spikes pulling free of the walls to join the flood as it passed. Tala¡¯s aura became more and more leveraged over those short seconds. Only the flaring power of Mistress Cerna¡¯s spellforms¡ªbacked by the power of five more Refined¡ªkept Tala¡¯s aura tightly around Sole. That didn¡¯t physically restrain him, however. The man was disoriented for the briefest of moments. Then, his eyes locked onto Tala for the barest instant before he vanished from her perception. Even so, his reality node was obvious before her voidsight as it rocketed their way, somehow almost matching the speed of her iron. The last flecks of her iron exited the tunnel on their side just as he entered it from the other. At that instant, the whole thing twisted to her voidsight, pinching off and wrapping back in on itself in a manner to seal off the cell. Tala maintained spikes around the twisted doorway even as the stone distorted and shrank back into the ground. At the last instant, an incredible blow slammed into her aura, barely being kept in place by her layers of reinforcement. Even then, it was only due to the rest her unit had allowed her that she held her aura firm, keeping out whatever working he¡¯d thrown at them in the end. As reality stretched and twisted, Tala felt an increasing burden, her bound iron getting further and further away. This was an entirely new thing. She¡¯d never had iron that never entered her aura proper before. Her understanding was that even with Master Akra¡¯s training, she wouldn¡¯t be able to infinitely separate herself from a soulbound item and generate her aura from it. Her magic was being siphoned off in an increasing torrent, flooding into her connection with the iron, trying to prop it up, and allow it to stretch into the increasing distance. Then, the cell was closed, Sole was contained, and Tala was entirely cut off from the iron in the prisoner¡¯s blood. Oh r¡ª In a terrible instant, all of her internal magic was torn from her, though her throughput meant that none of her magics spluttered out. But more than that, she felt something within her crack and her entire self jerked as if she had been struck by Force. Chapter: 345 - Always Welcome Tala bent over, her metal pulling away from her exterior as she fell to her knees, her mouth and nose filling with blood. Some of her iron had been taken, along with an unhealthy amount of power, leaving her feeling wrung dry and incomplete. Mistress Vanga was by her side in an instant. ¡°Mistress Tala? What¡¯s going on?¡± Clear liquid dripped free of Tala as the iron was stripped away to let the remainder fall free. Master Abali¡¯s voice reached her as she continued to twitch and jerk, barely keeping herself from toppling over, ¡°It looks like either a reaction to a soulbound item losing a part of itself, or to extreme magical deficit. I detected an immense amount of power ripped from her right at the end of the closure. If that drew more from her than she had to give, it could have pulled her body into a magical deficit.¡± Tala tried to turn his way and ask what that meant¡ªhow badly had she been hurt¡ªbut she couldn¡¯t force herself to do so. Even so, he seemed to notice something in her actions and intuited her question. ¡°In extreme cases, prolonged magical deficits can severely damage the body, requiring a process similar to Refining or Reforging to repair properly.¡± Everyone present grimaced, Tala only really seeing the reactions through her mirrored perspectives. ¡°With regards to causes in this case, I think that the magical deficit is a given¡ªwith the amount of magic I felt leaving her¡ªand soul damage is a likely contributor.¡± That¡¯s why the iron was supposed to be voided, but it couldn¡¯t be. His body was conceptually prevented from being damaged, and the loss of even that much iron would be hard to see as anything other than that. Master Clevnis sat beside Tala, placing a hand on her upper back, rubbing in slow circles even as she continued to feel the repercussions of the cell¡¯s closure. His voice was soft, full of concern with an edge of suppressed discomfort. ¡°Do we need to do anything? Is there anything that we can do?¡± Master Abali responded quickly and confidently, ¡°No. She seems to have sufficient power within her, now. Her body is greedily devouring everything that flows in through her gate; though, it seems to be sparing enough to keep her scripts functional. As such, I don¡¯t expect any permanent damage has been done.¡± ¡°What could have caused it?¡± Mistress Cerna interjected, maternal concern lacing her tone. ¡°Most likely? Something soulbound to her was left within the cell. As I implemented the seal, the bound thing was taken an effectively infinite distance from her. Something unique about that connection required power to maintain, and that requirement grew exponentially until it reached a level she couldn¡¯t maintain, so the connection broke.¡± That seemed to answer the most pressing questions for the moment and silence fell. Tala groaned into the silence before spitting out what seemed to be the last mouthful, working her cheeks and tongue to expel the last vestiges. She cleared her nose and mirrored the elk leather¡¯s ability to self-cleanse onto her face, watching the remnants fall away. ¡°That was¡±¡ªTala coughed a few times, sitting back¡ª¡°awful.¡± She smiled toward Master Clevnis, and he patted her back comfortingly a couple of times before giving her some space. Mistress Vanga was not so easily dissuaded, the healer still kneeling beside Tala, ¡°Do you know what happened?¡± Tala grunted, pulling a breath and finding herself recovered enough for a reasonable guess, ¡°My bound iron tried to void itself when it was too far from me, but that would have violated the fundamental nullification that Sole had established over his body, so it couldn¡¯t work. I think that it kept trying, drawing more and more power from me as it got further away until the connection finally broke. I think it only would have stopped otherwise if the magics succeeded in banishing the iron into the void.¡± She shuddered. ¡°I¡¯m just glad that the closed cell was sufficient to break that connection.¡± Master Abali smiled. ¡°That is, essentially, the whole point of the cells. If they weren¡¯t magically isolated, they would be rather pointless.¡± Tala grunted in agreement. ¡°Well,¡± Master Clevnis slapped his bare knees as he stood, mostly stable, ¡°we should be getting back.¡± Master Girt nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, but should we take a minute to rest and have a drink first? Maybe eat some food?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Not in here. I don¡¯t want to open that area of my storage within conceptually altered air.¡± ¡°To the surface!¡± The Refined grinned as everyone looked his way. ¡°What? The food¡¯s really good.¡± Master Limmestare huffed a laugh. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong.¡± Some of the levity left his face as he focused on Tala. ¡°Are you truly going to be alright, Mistress?¡± Tala took a moment to sweep her senses through her body, trusting Alat to look carefully at what she found as well. Finally, she nodded, ¡°I think so. I¡¯m not feeling or finding anything too concerning.¡± Her gate was feeling a little raw, but that just made sense. A few minutes later, the atrium of the cell was resealed, and the unit was back above ground. Master Grit resealed the deep shaft, mainly to keep anyone or anything from falling in by accident. As he did, he was muttering something rhythmically under his breath, which Tala only partially caught. ¡®We do not fear what lies beneath?¡¯ -Who knows. Everyone has their own mental models.- I suppose. There, back in the light of the sun, Tala pulled out their next meal, still hot and ready from Mistress Petra. Tala was still far from fully recovered, but she didn¡¯t need to be for them to return to Alefast. Master Clevnis was rather weakened as well, and both he and Mistress Cerna seemed keen on moving back toward the city. Mistress Vanga had done an excellent job, to the point that his new legs would be fully integrated and accepted with little issue. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t no issue. Even a perfect healing done by someone else¡¯s magic was never quite right. For mundanes¡ªand even most Mages¡ªit rarely mattered, but for Refined and those even more advanced, it could be problematic. That was actually one reason that basically all Mages added at least some self-healing inscriptions as they advanced. The Refining scripts that moved Fused through the advancement were effectively that, and it was Master Clevnis¡¯s Refining scripts that would complete the alignment between his new legs and the rest of his body. Regardless, they pulled out their combined flying contraption and got underway, back toward Alefast. They used the trip to go over the mission, discussing what had gone right as well as what could have gone better. Master Clevnis was appropriately impressed by Sole¡¯s sword when Tala handed it over for his examination. He happily promised to do an in-depth study of the weapon before returning it to her in a few days. Mistress Cerna made that a couple of weeks, lovingly chastising her husband for taking on a project with a tight timeline when so recently wounded. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He grudgingly agreed before giving his wife a kiss on the cheek and turning his full attention back to the sword. Tala suspected that Mistress Cerna had intervened as much to give her husband more time as to keep the timeline reasonable, but that was alright with her. Tala had some ideas on what she could use the sword for, but they were all tentative for the moment. When the unit returned to the waning city, Tala and Master Clevnis were required to report to specialized healers. After half an hour, during which the rest of the unit waited for the results, Master Clevnis was given a solid report. The healer who examined the repairs commended Mistress Vanga for her excellent work, stating that even if it had been done under ideal circumstances, he couldn¡¯t imagine a better healing being performed. The healer who examined Tala afterwards got rather grumpy with her. ¡°You know you aren¡¯t supposed to be stretching and tearing off bits of your soul, right?¡± ¡°Yes? I feel like you¡¯re saying that for a reason.¡± Master Selek shook his head. ¡°You have four bits of your soul flitting about your head right now.¡± ¡°My bloodstars?¡± ¡°Yes, each of those effectively pulls at your soul, stretching and drawing it outward into a connection. These are weak enough that you aren¡¯t really straining your soul, but it leaves you more vulnerable to the potential for weakness.¡± ¡°Stretched and flexible?¡± ¡°In some ways, yes, but also stretched thin, not well reinforced. I¡¯m not telling you to try to undo what you¡¯ve done, but you might want to do some soul strengthening work.¡± ¡°I thought I was?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I suppose I did use vague language. I mean strengthening in the sense of adding reinforcement to a wall, not building muscle. You seem to be rather set on a path of pulling and prodding your soul into doing all sorts of things most people can¡¯t. When was the last time you did anything to ensure its integrity?¡± Tala was at a loss for words. She had never really considered that. ¡°The answer is plain. Once you¡¯ve rested for a couple of days, come back and talk to me. We¡¯ll discuss some easy things you can do to add resilience to your self.¡± In the end, though they got very different diagnoses, both Tala and Master Clevnis were put on mandatory leave for two days. At that time, he would be allowed back on duty, but Tala would have to be reexamined. In the best case, she¡¯d be given the resiliency tasks and allowed back to work as well. In the worst case? She might be kept from her role for a few weeks, if not longer. Rest is good, Tala, it won¡¯t hurt you any. -Yeah, think of all the books we¡¯ve been wanting to read.- In the end while the mandated time away from her tasks and regular training was a bit annoying, Tala had to admit that she was grateful for the rest. She¡¯d been keeping a rather frenetic pace over the last weeks and a few days truly off would be a blessing. I need to consider when I want to go exploring, too. There were quite a few things that she wanted to do, from exploring a recent city ruin to returning to the moving villages. Howlton did seem like an interesting place to spend some time. But not yet. Maybe in another year or so. For now, Tala had been negligent in connecting with some old acquaintances. Toward that end, on the first day of her mandated break, Tala found herself standing outside a small artifact shop, located near the north entrance of Alefast. Little shop of wonders indeed. It looked smaller to her eye now, which was a bit silly because she hadn¡¯t grown any larger, physically. Still, even from outside, she could feel the uncounted magics of the various objects held within. Let¡¯s see what Artia, Adrill, and Brandon are up to. The woman, herself, was sitting outside, behind her stall, soliciting business from the passersby. Honestly, Tala was a bit surprised that they hadn¡¯t started moving toward departing the city, given Artia¡¯s dislike of Mages and the odd waning causing such an increase of the same. Though, a large part of that dislike was from her association with the Culinary Guild and that guild¡¯s precepts. Those have all changed, now. The matron¡¯s eyes passed over Tala, then jerked back. ¡°Mistress Tala!¡± The woman stood in a rush, catching up Tala in a surprise hug. She tried to lift Tala up, but only grunted, Tala¡¯s feet staying firmly planted on the ground. ¡°Wow, girl. You¡¯ve put on weight. You must be eating well?¡± Tala smiled, giving a quick hug in return. ¡°I have gained weight, in several manners of speaking, and I am eating very well, thank you. How are you? Adrill? Brandon?¡± ¡°Oh, they are splendid. We all are, really. Adrill still enjoys his experiments, and he¡¯s been able to make some headway with the local Constructionist Guild, or at least one of their Mages. He used your endingberries to run some¡­ questionable experiments.¡± The older woman gave Tala a narrow-eyed look before smiling, ¡°Still, it ended well, so I can¡¯t be too irate with you.¡± Tala¡¯s smile turned sheepish, and Artia laughed. ¡°He learned some interesting things, apparently. They were enough that the Mage took him seriously, once he got an audience. Brandon is doing¡­ alright. With more and more Mages in the city, he feels a bit more out of place than he ever has before. Honestly, I¡¯m uncertain if he¡¯ll stick around. I promise you that he¡¯d already be gone, but he¡¯s had a girl catch his eye, and she seems to return his interest.¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Brandon himself came out from the shop, seemingly having caught the end of his mother¡¯s words. ¡°Why are you telling people that?¡± Only then did Brandon take in Tala, herself. He tilted his head to the side for an instant before his eyes widened. ¡°Oh! Hello, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Hello, Brandon.¡± The young man smiled her way. ¡°Welcome back! Why haven¡¯t you dropped by sooner?¡± Artia turned to her son, eyes widening. ¡°Brandon! You can¡¯t ask someone that.¡± He shrugged. ¡°What? We saw the record of her fight outside the city from weeks ago.¡± Tala scratched the back of her head. ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong. I¡¯ve been busy, but that¡¯s just an excuse. I¡¯m sorry for not dropping by sooner.¡± Artia turned to her, a genuine smile across her features. ¡°Well, you¡¯re here now. Come in! Are you in need of anything we might have?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy to have a look, yeah. Mainly, however, I just wanted to check in. I¡¯ll be in Alefast through the waning, at least for the most part. I will be busy, but more than a decade is a long time.¡± The two mundanes nodded in agreement. Tala gave Brandon a mischievous smile, ¡°So, who is this girl?¡± Brandon colored, shooting a grimace toward his mom, before returning his gaze to Tala. ¡°She¡¯s the youngest daughter of a local farming family. Apparently, they make their living in the grow caverns, so they won¡¯t be leaving any time soon.¡± ¡°So, you want to stick around?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± He glanced away, a small smile pulling at his lips. ¡°Does she know about¡­¡± Tala gestured toward Brandon, thinking to ask about his lack of a gate, then she stopped and put her hand over her face. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I apologize. That wasn¡¯t something that I should¡ª¡± Brandon shrugged, waving her off. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. She knows. It¡¯s actually how we met. There¡¯s a few of us gateless in the city, and I¡¯ve been meeting up with a group of them¡­ us. She¡¯s the only one in her family, so she¡¯s found a lot of comradery with us.¡± Tala¡¯s smile turned more genuine, happy for his graciousness and his good fortune, ¡°And with you in particular, eh?¡± He smiled. ¡°Yeah, so it seems.¡± She hadn¡¯t really considered there being social groups for gateless, but it made sense. They were effectively outsiders, even if most people didn¡¯t use their gates on a day to day basis. Tala considered for a moment. ¡°Brandon?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Are any of those in your group builders?¡± He frowned, considering. ¡°I think so? ¡®Builder¡¯ isn¡¯t really very specific, though. We¡¯re from all trades, really. It¡¯s not like one line of work leads to the condition.¡± ¡°Brandon!¡± His mom interjected. ¡°It isn¡¯t a condition. It¡¯s just a small part of how you were born, and we wouldn¡¯t change you for the world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mom. I didn¡¯t mean anything by it.¡± He regarded Tala critically for a moment. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Tala felt a grin stretch across her face. ¡°I think I just might have some work for gateless builders.¡± -Oh, that¡¯s a good idea. The Zuccats are living pretty rough in what you all were able to throw together.- Hey, I¡¯m proud of what we were able to build. -You¡¯re right; it¡¯s very nice, given your restrictions.- Fine¡­ -You are literally trying to find people to improve it. Why is it insulting for me to comment on the need for improvement?- Tala honestly didn¡¯t have an answer to that. So, instead, she reengaged with the merchants. Brandon was still frowning from her answer, ¡°What use would you have for gateless, particularly?¡± ¡°Well, I need some construction completed within my dimensional storage. So, builders with gates are¡­ less than convenient.¡± Brandon nodded. He should have a fundamental understanding of that issue, given he often worked with his father. ¡°I can see the benefit, there, yeah.¡± Tala continued, feeling the need for a bit more explanation, ¡°I have some things in place, but the most recent structure was only completed to the most basic standards. I would love to improve what¡¯s there as well as add some more infrastructure.¡± The young man frowned. ¡°In a dimensional storage?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Tala felt herself grin. ¡°Is your dad available? I think you¡¯d all enjoy seeing what¡¯s become of the pouch you sold me.¡± She patted Kit, hanging at her hip and drawing their gaze to the pouch. Artia nodded, ¡°That does sound interesting, but I think I still need to mind the shop.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Right¡­ That makes sense. Brandon smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll go get Dad. He always loves to learn whatever he can.¡± Tala looked to Artia as Brandon went to get his dad. ¡°I¡¯d love to look at your wares after we¡¯re done.¡± The older woman smiled. ¡°Customers are always welcome.¡± Chapter: 346 - City Stone Tala only had to wait some five minutes before Adrill and Brandon came back up from the former¡¯s workshop in the family¡¯s basement. ¡°Mistress Tala! Good to see you.¡± The older man gave her a chaste hug, before pulling back and beaming at her, ¡°Your gift has allowed me to forward my research so much further. Thank you.¡± When last she¡¯d seen him, she¡¯d given a goodly quantity of endingberries for use in his research, mainly to protect him when he was doing more dangerous work. Tala had returned the hug briefly, giving a cheerful laugh, ¡°I¡¯m glad you got use of it. You didn¡¯t let anyone else eat any, did you?¡± He huffed a laugh in return. ¡°Are you mad? I¡¯m not going to casually give people a sip of liquid gold.¡± ¡°Well, I can get you more if you want.¡± Artia cleared her throat. ¡°Mistress Tala¡­¡± Tala shrugged, speaking quickly so as to move the conversation along. ¡°But we¡¯ll see how it goes, regardless.¡± She looked around, finding the blank, empty wall beside the main entrance to the shop. ¡°That¡¯s perfect.¡± With a quick motion, she tossed Kit against that wall, and the pouch blossomed into a door that was almost identical to the wide, double doors that currently stood open, inviting people who came to Artia¡¯s stall to come deeper in. Kit took the form of a single door, however. Even so, the three mundanes let out sounds of surprise and appreciation. Artia muttered under her breath, but Tala was easily able to catch it, ¡°How much did I undercharge?¡± Tala grinned at them all, gesturing toward the door. ¡°After you.¡± Kit opened as she gestured. Tala took on a tone of happy solemnity, ¡°Welcome to my sanctum.¡± The father and son tentatively walked through, and she followed them out into her central plaza. Adrill turned to her as Kit¡¯s door closed and vanished back to its standard internal location, ¡°Why do you have a throne in here?¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°Why is it that people are so inquisitive about that?¡± That was just the first of uncounted questions directed her way. -I could count them.- No, thank you. The tour was both utterly uneventful and surprisingly quite fun for Tala. First of all, Brandon and Adrill had much lower thresholds for amazement than those she¡¯d shown around previously, given their lives as mundanes. Second, Adrill actually had a surprisingly deep understanding of the underlying theories, making the experience similar to a fire Mage encountering a cataclysmic forest fire¡­ from a safe distance. -Or a not-so-safe distance. You know: we still don¡¯t have proof that Kit is truly safe.- That¡¯s not helpful, Alat. -I¡¯m just saying. We outweigh Kit, magically, and she requires us to continue to exist. Mundanes on the other hand¡­- Not helpful. -Fine, fine.- Adrill seemed to even understand some parts more fundamentally than Tala, herself. Their tour stalled out after only a couple of stops when the man insisted on slowing down, and he spent nearly an hour just circling the isolated endingberry grove. At that point, he turned to Tala, a glint of steel in his eyes, ¡°You will let me get my instruments.¡± She chuckled, but he didn¡¯t laugh. ¡°Sooner would be better.¡± Brandon leaned over from where he¡¯d been observing. ¡°I think he might actually do something drastic if you try to deny him.¡± She looked to the son, ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°I have no idea, but I¡¯d rather not find out.¡± Over the next quarter hour or so, Tala opened the door out of Kit a half-dozen times for the man, eventually just leaving the door in place. Brandon was roped into his father¡¯s activities, and eventually, Tala left them to it, a smile tugging at her lips. Success. -That was a little devious.- Only a little? That¡¯s good, then. I¡¯d thought it was incredibly devious. It was late that afternoon when Brandon poked his head out of the door to find Tala and Artia enjoying yet another pot of tea, chatting about the random artifacts that had passed through the older woman¡¯s hands over the years. Artia was speaking as the door creaked open, ¡°It was a seemingly flimsy reed, but it never gave any sign of breaking, not even once we figured out what it was for and tried it out a few times.¡± ¡°A switch of immolation.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s a bit terrifying. Did you ever figure out how it worked?¡± ¡°It was an impressive bit of magic, actually. From what my Adrill was able to determine, it generated the fire magics, somehow constructing them in a way that made them all but natural magics. The thick cloud of those magics would explode over and around whatever was struck, clinging to its target.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°I have no idea how you would do that, but the result would be¡­ awful. It would completely bypass most Mages'' natural defense against direct magics, at least until they actively opposed the working, but at the time that they¡¯d need to be figuring that out¡­¡± ¡°They would be actively on fire.¡± The older woman shuddered, ¡°But I pray it¡¯s never used against a person. That¡¯s just horrible.¡± Oh¡­ right. Tala changed tactics, ¡°Yeah, most Magical creatures likely would have the same issue. I hope you got a goodly amount for it.¡± ¡°That we did.¡± There was a gleam of gold in Artia¡¯s eye. It was then that she turned to her son who had been standing there, seemingly unwilling to interrupt. ¡°Brandon, son. Are you going to stand there all afternoon? Is your father finished?¡± Brandon looked a bit sheepish. ¡°Actually, another Mage found us in there, and after some¡­ confusion we came to an understanding.¡± Tala did her best to keep her glee from her features. ¡°Oh? Master Simon is a rather avid researcher himself.¡± Artia¡¯s eyes narrowed as she looked back and forth between Tala and her son. ¡°Why do I feel like I¡¯m being set up in some way?¡± Brandon sighed. ¡°It¡¯s magic, Mom. Dad was going to be sucked in, if he was given any leeway at all to investigate.¡± At that moment, Master Simon opened the door behind Brandon and stuck his head out. ¡°Mistress Tala? Good. This man needs to stay. His foundation is incredible, and he doesn¡¯t have any bad habits to be trained out. Is this the research assistant that you¡¯ve been promising me?¡± Artia turned to Tala, clear incredulity on her face. Tala sighed, ¡°Thank you, Master Simon¡­¡± * * * Tala stood in a circular room, deep within Alefast¡¯s Archon complex. The place seemed suffused with magic that seemed both utterly still and fast flowing at the same time. She wanted to examine it more closely, but she was still a bit stuck on the absence of Kit at her hip. The conversation with Artia had taken another few hours, and she suspected that she¡¯d still be there¡ªanswering the merchant¡¯s questions¡ªif she didn¡¯t have this appointment with Master Grediv. Even so, she¡¯d had to leave Kit affixed to the outside of their shop to assuage the woman¡¯s concerns while her husband and son explored within, alongside Master Simon. But that was a concern for later. At the moment, she was waiting¡ª Master Grediv opened a door and stepped inside, ¡°Good, good. You¡¯re here a bit early.¡± Tala gave a shallow bow, ¡°Master Grediv.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. He waved her off. ¡°None of that, Mistress Tala. There¡¯s no audience here.¡± She straightened. ¡°As you wish. May I ask what the nature of this meeting is?¡± He looked confused for a brief moment. ¡°Oh? My apologies, I thought that I was clear. It is time that you learn about inner-city movement. Additionally, we really need to have the first of our conversations regarding your mindset and views of eternity.¡± Tala found herself blinking, but a happy smile soon grew across her features. ¡°Oh¡­ well, that¡¯s great.¡± Master Grediv laughed. ¡°I¡¯d hoped that you would approve.¡± ¡°So, where do we begin? Is there some sort of teleportation script with limited distance but not as many downsides? I¡¯ve theorized about such things, but it¡¯s not really been a deep area of study.¡± -What? You mean that you haven¡¯t studied such a difficult branch of magic enough to become a master in just two years?- You¡¯re awfully snarky today. -Yes, we are, aren¡¯t we?- Tala decided not to engage further. Master Grediv smiled, ¡°Well, yes on both counts. It lacks virtually all downsides but has an incredibly short range. In fact, its distance is limited to the extent of being unable to move you at all.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°What?¡± He chuckled. ¡°A bit of humor, but you¡¯ll understand in a moment. You are young yet.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Mind if I sit?¡± ¡°If you¡¯d like.¡± An iron chair grew out of her back as she sat back, fully forming as the thick legs touched the stone floor. Tala grinned at the Paragon. Master Grediv chuckled. ¡°Fair enough. We all have strengths and weaknesses.¡± He waved a hand, and his own chair came out of his dimensional storage, perfectly situated and oriented to sit across from her. He nodded once, shifting slightly to get more comfortable. ¡°So, an explanation.¡± ¡°That would be nice, yes.¡± ¡°What is a human city?¡± She gave him a level look. ¡°I think that you and I might have different definitions of an ¡®explanation.¡¯¡± A smile tugged at the edges of his lips. ¡°Humor me.¡± ¡°Very well. A human city is the bastion of defense and power that serves to protect humanity against the predations of the arcane and magical threats of the Wilds in which we find ourselves.¡± He held up a hand, waggling it back and forth. ¡°It serves that purpose, true enough, but what is it?¡± ¡°A place where humans live in a high concentration?¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Fine, fine. That¡¯s true too. I was hoping that your time in the arcane lands would have given you a different perspective.¡± Tala was a bit frustrated, so she answered with more snark than was her usual, thinking about it from an arcane perspective, ¡°It¡¯s a place full of potential power sources?¡± He smiled. ¡°Precisely.¡± She was taken aback by that. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They are places where we¡¯ve gathered all the gated of humanity, or at least as many as we can reasonably keep together. Can you tell me why?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± She frowned, thinking of the moving cities, considering the vestiges and founts, and the issues within her own sanctum when gated humans walked about. ¡°To isolate the damage.¡± ¡°Exactly, yes. More than that, I wouldn¡¯t expect you to be able to guess.¡± He smiled, leaning back. ¡°We gather the abrasive potential upon reality and concentrate it in as few locations as we can.¡± ¡°You¡¯re trying to destroy reality?¡± She made it a question, hoping the answer was no. ¡°No, no, of course not. Though, that was one fear the arcanes had when we first began the endeavor, at least so I am told.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± ¡°We do it to mitigate the issue. What causes the abrasion?¡± ¡°Movement.¡± ¡°Ahh, but is it physical movement that¡¯s the problem?¡± Tala was about to say ¡®Yes,¡¯ but then she thought about it. ¡°My bloodstars and soulbound items don¡¯t degrade reality when I move them about even though they are effectively as much a gate as my gate is. They are magically centered on my soul, my gate¡­ Is it movement, magically speaking?¡± He nodded appreciatively. ¡°Just so, yes. When our gates move through the world, when taking the dimension of magic into account, we stress reality. That is the nature of cities. We do our utmost to minimize the magical movement of human gates. Can you guess how?¡± ¡°Have you¡­ what? Somehow made the entirety of each human city magically the same place?¡± She frowned. That didn¡¯t make sense. Not only would that have been insanely obvious, but it would utterly change how magic functioned within the area of such a working, if it was even possible to enact. Master Grediv chuckled. ¡°Yes and no.¡± ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°The primary dimension of magic can be conceived of as a fourth, spatial dimension that correlates, and lies beside, the others. Just like everything with width also has a height. Generally, for the purposes of understanding any given bit of magic, you can consider it as having four coordinates, three physical and one magical. Zero on the magical coordinate means that it is perfectly aligned with whatever physical point it¡¯s ¡®connected¡¯ to. Without delving into deep theory, I will say that, generally, there is a one-to-one correlation between dimensional sets. So, each physical set of three coordinates is the zero, zero, zero to a unique infinity within the dimension of magic. Again, this is just like for any place on a flat plane, there is a unique infinity of height above and below.¡± Tala frowned, but didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°Now, keep in mind that this isn¡¯t always true. Such can be altered, manipulated toward various ends. Just like a flat plane, rolled into a cylinder, will have overlapping ¡®infinities of height.¡¯ The arcanes let us know it was possible, but we didn¡¯t know how until the Archive gave us a clue. Do you know much of the Archive¡¯s nature?¡± ¡°Not really? I know it is information stored in the dimensions of magic.¡± ¡°True, but the important part is that it is information stored in a section of those dimensions that is incredibly compressed and overlapping, when relating to the physical. Basically, when in that region, something stored by someone who is a hundred miles away would only seem a foot distant. Does that make sense?¡± ¡°I¡­ think? I think I understand?¡± ¡°Good. Well, cities are just an artificial, less lofty version of that. We¡¯ve turned the dimension of magic around cities into giant funnels that channel the power down to a singular point. The result is: for most places relatively low within the dimension of magic, a person walking around a city is barely moving at all. The surface levels aren¡¯t altered and thus they are still abraded and lacerated, but the underlying stability is maintained.¡± ¡°So, we have to move the cities, but less often, and reality heals more quickly?¡± ¡°In a sense, yes.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°So, there exists a place above us, magically speaking, that is the same, regardless of where we are in the city¡±¡ªher eyes widened slightly¡ª¡°and the funnel slowly degrades over time, necessitating the shrinking of the city?¡± ¡°Well, yes, but we could fix that if we needed to. More accurately, the original perfecters of our system realized that they needed to let reality begin to heal from the outside in, otherwise it would create a much longer lasting ¡®wound.¡¯ Also, it¡¯s magically below not above, utilizing the negative axis.¡± She nodded again. ¡°So¡­ all that power is funneled into a singular ¡®point.¡¯ Is that the city grid?¡± He shrugged. ¡°In a sense, yes. Using the city grid is simply a tapping into that singular point.¡± ¡°But wouldn¡¯t the power flowing in simply continue going? Inertia and all that?¡± ¡°It would if we let it, but we trap it at that singular point. There lies our second great advantage against arcanes. They have vestiges, which can supply steady power of a low quality over a long period. We have City Stones. The accumulated power of people which can supply unfathomable power in a burst or a stream. It isn¡¯t infinite, but after accumulating for so long, it effectively is for the considerations of any conflict.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s tied to the city.¡± ¡°And we move it. The new Alefast doesn¡¯t have the density of power, yet, to add to the City Stone¡¯s stores, but when this Alefast has fully waned, the other will be ready.¡± ¡°So, the city names are also the names of the Stones?¡± ¡°In a sense, yes. We do that for ease¡¯s sake, though the cities were and are named first. I am the keeper of Alefast.¡± He smiled. ¡°The scales in our bond are tipped, however, and I am the weaker of us. In fact, I have died several times, but Alefast isn¡¯t done with me yet. It hasn¡¯t chosen a successor. So, my soul is drawn to the Stone, drawn here, and I am rebuilt.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Master Grediv, that sounds like a lich.¡± ¡°In practice, I can understand that comparison, but in reality and function they are utterly different. A City Stone isn¡¯t inanimate, but it isn¡¯t ¡®me¡¯ either. In fact, it isn¡¯t a singular entity at all. It is the manifestation of the collective will of those who have lived within the city and who have fed the Stone.¡± Tala found herself shaking her head. ¡°I¡­ I need us to back up for a moment. So, we have twelve City Stones, which are massive¡ªbut still finite¡ªreserves of mundane-level power?¡± ¡°Woven through with power from the more advanced, yes.¡± ¡°That is how arcanes advance.¡± ¡°Give or take, yes.¡± ¡°And the City Stones contain the will of the people, on a grand scale.¡± Her eyes widened in realization. ¡°The Stones are City Lords.¡± ¡°Without the sapience or individuality, effectively yes.¡± He smiled. ¡°I am glad that your unique experiences have gained you deeper insights into these topics.¡± She decided to ignore that, keeping her focus on the matter at hand. ¡°That¡¯s what you meant when you said that the arcanes let you know it was possible. That¡¯s what City Lords are?¡± ¡°In a sense. This is all a vast oversimplification, of course. We are also only speaking of magical power, not authority, ownership, or sovereignty. Sovereignty cannot be borne without a sapience.¡± ¡°You.¡± She felt things clicking into place. ¡°You are the representation of the sovereignty of the City Stone.¡± ¡°As are the heads of the Archon Councils in every city. The power is not mine, but I may direct it within a limited scope, so long as it is in alignment with the general will of the Stone.¡± ¡°Then what of the rulers of the cities?¡± ¡°They wield civil authority, but we are reaching the point of over-stretching the metaphors.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°Suffice it to say, to address your earlier concern: A lich has bound their soul¡ªwith their own power¡ªto an object so that, in the event of their death, their soul cannot pass on. I have had an object latch onto my soul, so in the event of my death, it won¡¯t allow me to pass on.¡± ¡°So, just a small reversal? A matter of semantics?¡± He laughed. ¡°Most important distinctions are a matter of small alterations or semantics. What is a murderer compared to one who kills a murderer in self-defense, but a small reversal?¡± Tala saw the flaws in his analogy, but she also understood what he was getting at. ¡°But we are moving off the core point once again. Inner city movement. Have you understood?¡± She pulled her mind back from the dozens of esoteric tangents it was flying down, ¡°I¡­ I confess, I was not thinking about that anymore.¡± He grunted, smiling. ¡°Understandable.¡± She frowned. ¡°We¡­ pull ourselves down the dimension of magic, then pop back out somewhere else?¡± ¡°Sort of, actually. It¡¯s more like holding onto a trapeze bar as it swings through an arc. You grab it at one point, and release at another. You have not moved at all, relative to the bar, but you have, relative to everything else. Once again, the analogy fails as it requires time and you don¡¯t withdraw into the bar, but it gets the idea across.¡± ¡°Like walking down the spoke of a wheel, then walking out a different spoke?¡± Master Grediv paused, then nodded. ¡°There is some truth to that, yes. If it helps you grasp the concept, that is as good an analogy as any. All that said, it is not an easy process and is impossible for those with too little magical density. It might have been lethal to even you when you first Fused. To be Refined, however, is to be dense enough to survive it.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen non-Refined appear from nowhere within cities.¡± Tala challenged. Master Grediv shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s possible. We have some here that are dense enough, either by effort, artifact, or bound item. But to continue: Generally, we have a team stationed in this room, the center of the city. The magics required to briefly draw them deeper in the dimension of magic are here, and coming back is simply a cork rising to the surface. The main issue is aiming that resurfacing precisely.¡± Tala looked around. ¡°I think I can see that. What of the team, though? They aren¡¯t here, now.¡± He shrugged, pointing off to one side, ¡°They are just beyond that wall. I prefer to have this discussion in here, when I participate in it. Waiting out there would only delay them for but a moment, if their services were needed.¡± ¡°Then¡­ I suppose I¡¯m curious as to why we don¡¯t deploy from here to defend the walls for the waning?¡± ¡°Expediency and efficiency. This is a marvelous way to get a team to any point in the city, nearly instantly, but it is not as efficient as having a team already there. For inner city matters, it is not feasible to have Mages stationed every hundred yards, on every street, but to protect against large exterior threats? It makes more sense to have powerful defenders there and waiting.¡± Tala looked at the center of the room, then back to Master Grediv. ¡°So¡­¡± He grinned. ¡°Yes, I find the best way to let the lesson sink in is to use the magics, even if it is only once. Shall we?" Chapter: 347 - Advancement Toward Paragon Tala actually felt a little bit nervous as she and Master Grediv stood and moved toward the center of the underground room, beneath the Alefast Archon Complex. She pulled her iron back from where she had made it into a chair for herself, reabsorbing it, and ensuring that all of her iron was well tucked away. Master Grediv glanced at his chair after he stood, and it vanished with a sweep of dimensional magic. And just like that, they were ready. ¡°Mistress Tala, do you have a particular place that you¡¯d like to go?¡± ¡°Nowhere particularly. We had more to discuss, right?¡± ¡°We do.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Somewhere good for that, then. The north part of the city might be a bit better, but it likely doesn¡¯t matter overmuch.¡± ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ll select¡­ there.¡± Tala felt an odd shifting in the magics. There was an unusual sensation, a disjointment, like stepping down only to find the step missing, or not quite where she expected it to be. After a flickering moment, she felt like her vision split. On one hand, she was still in the same stone room with Master Grediv, but on the other, they were standing in a city street, positioned out of the flow of traffic. The next instant the stone room was gone, and they were simply standing on the side of a major thoroughfare. Tala looked around, then turned a skeptical glance to Master Grediv, ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°That was it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it always is?¡± ¡°Give or take, yes.¡± ¡°That was absolutely nothing like a cork.¡± The Paragon shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s an imperfect metaphor.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t go ¡®under¡¯ anything, not in any sense.¡± ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m not going to throw a person down in the dimension of magic, do you think me mad?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°In the metaphor, the room is the cork. If you lack sufficient density, you can get left behind, either in a vacuous space that the room was within, or within the dimension of magic.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t higher density make that more likely? Magical inertia and all that?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Even though we use the terms¡ªmagical weight, density, and inertia¡ªthey are, for the most part, useful for comparisons and understanding, but they don¡¯t always work in the same way those terms might suggest. In this case, a lacking of magical density would make you like the air, and the working¡ªthe moving room¡ªwould simply pass through you, leaving you behind.¡± ¡°Oh, I can see that.¡± She frowned again. ¡°But that¡¯s another way that the terms do work.¡± ¡°True enough, yes.¡± Tala waited for a moment, but Master Grediv didn¡¯t seem inclined to answer further. Thus, she sighed and looked around, taking in the passersby. As usual, she was struck with how different the citizens of Alefast were from those she¡¯d seen in other cities. They were a bit leaner, a bit firmer of step, in some cases a bit more desperate. There were myriad well-paying tasks around a waning city, but few were free of danger. That was, in fact, why they were well paid. Mages were generally on hand to heal any injuries, but accidents still happened, and deaths did occur. It¡¯s a dangerous world. Though, she felt her mindset shifting, now that she knew about the City Stones. They could move the cities earlier, bypassing the waning, in a sense. But that would negate one of the purposes. Master Grediv hadn¡¯t stated it outright, but the implication was obvious. The funnel formation within the cities drew in not only all power of the citizenry, but of the surrounding lands, more so at the waning. To move the cities early would mean not only less growth for the Stones, but also allowing greater magical density in the surrounding environment. Wanings served so many purposes that Tala was beginning to lose track. Regardless, she was examining their surroundings, not contemplating the purpose of various city stages. She and the Paragon were standing just outside of a little restaurant, though they were positioned out of the way of the bustling entrance. Master Grediv gestured toward the sapphire blue double doors, and Tala sighed, ¡°Very well, we can discuss inside.¡± He smiled and let her lead the way. Less than five minutes later, they were seated at a table, their tea ordered and on the way. Tala had opted for a sweet and spicy, red tea. Master Grediv had ordered green tea. She reached to pull a pastry out of Kit but found her right hip empty. Well, rust¡­ That¡¯s irritating. He plucked a still steaming cinnamon roll off of a passing cart, ensuring that the server noticed his acquisition for the bill later. Show off. -You could have grabbed one, too.- Tala wrinkled her nose, ignoring her alternate interface. ¡°So, are we going to just sit here?¡± He took a careful bite of his treat, clearly savoring the confection. When his mouth was empty once more, he smiled, ¡°If you wish, but I¡¯d thought you¡¯d want more information.¡± She leaned back, trying to show incredulity on her features, ¡°That would be appreciated, yes.¡± ¡°Very well. On what subject do you want to speak?¡± There was a twinkle in his eye as he took another bite of the cinnamon bun. ¡°I¡¯d thought we would talk about advancement toward Paragon.¡± ¡°But of course! Enjoy the little things.¡± ¡°Like leading on your lessers?¡± His joviality vanished in an instant as he responded, ¡°I have no lessers here, Mistress Tala. All are equal from an eternal perspective. A soul is a soul, and we all must move on to the next world.¡± ¡°An eternal perspective.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°So¡­ can you expound on that, then?¡± His smile returned, ¡°Do you want the long version, medium, or short?¡± ¡°Well, I imagine that the long version might take a while.¡± Master Grediv chuckled. ¡°To tell properly, I¡¯d say it would take at least a year, yes.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s start with the short version?¡± He opened his mouth, then closed it. A moment later he huffed another laugh, ¡°I was going to give a ridiculous response, but I think even the short version won¡¯t be that short, so I should just get to it.¡± Tala leaned forward, not interrupting. ¡°To be Fused was to come into alignment with your mortal self, to be true and truthful to who you are and what you feel.¡± He paused, waiting for her acknowledgement. She shrugged. ¡°Yeah, that was my understanding. A bit simplistic though.¡± ¡°As you said, we¡¯re going for the short version.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°So, in that same vein, you aren¡¯t mortal anymore. Thus, to become a Paragon, you need to align yourself with your immortal self.¡± ¡°My immortal self?¡± She frowned, considering. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°What part of you is, and always has been, immortal?¡± She knew the answer instantly, then. ¡°My soul.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°So¡­ isn¡¯t it already in alignment? My body is soulbound. I chose immortality, even though it was without full information. Shouldn¡¯t I be there already?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be lovely?¡± He shook his head. ¡°While that would be easy and convenient, it wouldn¡¯t actually be good. The power that a Paragon wields¡­¡±¡ªhe paused for a long moment¡ª¡°Well, you¡¯ve seen it more clearly than any of your advancement should, I suppose. Would you have humans rise up with the power and temperament of a City Lord?¡± Tala frowned in confusion. ¡°Aren¡¯t City Lords at least Revered? That¡¯s the equivalent to Reforged.¡± ¡°Yes and no. You have to remember that humanity¡¯s power is unlike arcane magic. They have an advantage in kind, we in quality. They in ready quantity, we in staying power. A Paragon can match a City Lord outside of their domain.¡± He hesitated. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a balanced match, mind you, but they wouldn¡¯t be slain outright. That also neglects the fact that a City Lord wouldn¡¯t leave their domain.¡± Tala opened her mouth to argue but stopped as he raised a hand. ¡°My apologies. This is a hotly debated subject, and I was falling into conversational ruts. That is not why we are here.¡± She chuckled, nodding in agreement. ¡°I can understand the obsession. If it were really so easy a comparison, humanity could sweep aside the arcanes now.¡± ¡°Some think we should try, but those who know, know better.¡± Tala grunted, remembering the might of the City Lord and even the Eskau she¡¯d met. And those were just from one House. ¡°Though, if the arcanes really knew how close we were to being able to do just that, there¡¯d be war on the horizon, beyond question, but back to our conversation.¡± ¡°Yes. So, I have to align myself with my own soul?¡± ¡°Yes and no. You must shift your mentality¡ªyour existence¡ªto align with how your soul experiences existence. Some see that as a severing of all ties, but that way lies madness¡ªsometimes literally. Our souls are intimately connected with so, so many. Denying that is to deny the very thing that makes us human.¡± A sad expression washed over his features before he seemingly mastered himself and moved on, ¡°In light of eternity, one could argue that other people are all that matter. After all, we¡¯re all that moves on to the next life. It¡¯s not like our cities, territory, wealth, or magical advancement will have any impact on the next world.¡± Tala frowned, but she found herself nodding. ¡°I suppose I can understand that. Though, all of those things are necessary to protect and provide for other people while in this world.¡± ¡°Oh, unquestionably. I am the last to call such things bad or evil on the face of it, but the obsession over title, possession, power, or knowledge is one route toward great evil. Our cells are filled with those who sought just such.¡± Tala grunted, considering her encounter with the new-born fount. ¡°All souls have the same destination, the next world. Even Sovereigns will pass on eventually.¡± ¡°Precisely. Some will survive to the end of existence, whatever form that takes, but then, they will pass on too.¡± ¡°So, how do I align with that? How do I shift my mindset?¡± ¡°Slowly, and with great care.¡± Tala barked a laugh in response. Their tea arrived, and they thanked their server, taking a moment to get situated and enjoy the first sips. This establishment served their tea in artifact-style cups and pots, with magic around enhancing flavor and maintaining temperature. Somehow, the workings were able to detect a drinker¡¯s optimal temperature and feather the drink to match. In Tala¡¯s case, she suspected that she was stressing the magic, or at least forcing it to its limit, right up to the brewing temperature for her tea. A hearty physiology sometimes has its downsides. She set her cup down slowly, lifting her gaze to regard the Paragon. ¡°So, what is one step?¡± He nodded, setting his own drink aside. ¡°Wisely asked. One step, from my perspective, is realizing something critical. In the long run, no one ever gets away with anything, even once.¡± Tala frowned, ¡°What? That¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°Think of eternity, Mistress Tala. Every action creates ripples that never cease. A moment of selfishness tinges all, forever.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bleak.¡± He smiled wryly in response. ¡°It is, but that is just one side. A small kindness is also forever. Make sure you understand, not ¡®niceness,¡¯ kindness.¡± ¡°Setting that distinction aside for later, if I understand correctly, you¡¯re speaking on a global or collective scale? That no one ever gets away with anything, because someone suffers?¡± ¡°While that¡¯s true, I am being more direct. Even if the only traceable negative is a shifting of the actor more toward being selfish in the future, there are always negatives.¡± ¡°But those are so minor¡­¡± She felt herself nodding. ¡°But even the smallest shift in direction, on the timescales of eternity, is a monumental change.¡± ¡°Precisely. Now, as I was saying: No one ever really gets away with anything. Reality is real, and you distort and bend it at your peril.¡± Tala felt herself smile. ¡°Don¡¯t I know it.¡± Master Grediv grinned in return. ¡°Indeed, and I¡¯m not even talking about reality Mages. Now, of course you can distort and bend reality, creating a rift temporarily, but eventually, that¡¯s going to snap closed on you, and you might not even notice the connection between your initial ¡®indiscretion¡¯ and the final consequence of the same, but the consequences are inevitable.¡± She tilted her head in thought, picking up her teacup once more. He took a sip, himself, before continuing, ¡°In fact, it¡¯s worse than that, the consequences tend to multiply, and when we have forever¡­¡± ¡°That is a lot of multiplicative consequences to bear.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± She gave a half-smile. ¡°Is it too late to be mortal?¡± Master Grediv barked a laugh, quickly covering his own mouth. ¡°I am afraid so, but some do choose¡­ dangerous occupations in order to avoid having to consider eternity in this world. It is something to keep in mind.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t have eternity in this world.¡± His smile solidified into something even more genuine. ¡°That is absolutely correct.¡± He let that sit for a long while before he continued. ¡°Nonetheless, we must grapple with eternity while here to achieve alignment with our own soul.¡± She grunted noncommittally. ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to understand or agree at the moment. I am simply planting the seeds.¡± ¡°This sounds like something you higher-ups are using to try to force the creation of altruistic humans with power.¡± He nodded. ¡°In a sense it is, but it is also the known next step. It is a picture of what awaits us. Peace for those who accept it. For those who fear it? They fight tooth and nail, body and soul to stay away from the next world, no matter what it takes.¡± ¡°City Lords.¡± ¡°Them and most arcanes near that level of power. They seek power to avoid passing on. Theirs is a rejection of the natural order, the rejection of eternity beyond this world. We embrace the next world and try to draw it forth into even this one.¡± Tala found herself slowly shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re right. I can¡¯t say that I understand what you¡¯re saying, and what I think I understand, I can¡¯t say I agree with.¡± ¡°That is to be expected. Don¡¯t let that concern you, however. You have a long time to gain insight.¡± His smile was grandfatherly in its kindness and wisdom. ¡°Who knows, maybe you will be the one who finds us another way. You''ve done it before.¡± ¡°Thank you for the faith in me and for the advice.¡± ¡°Of course, Mistress Tala.¡± They both sat back, enjoying their tea. They¡¯d each had a pot of their particular beverage brought along with the initial cup so they had sufficient quantity for an extended conversation. If I head back now, I¡¯ll just get another ¡®discussion¡¯ from Artia¡­ -Well, Master Grediv did say he had some ideas for increasing our magical density.- ¡°Oh!¡± Tala nodded to herself, drawing the Paragon¡¯s attention. ¡°You mentioned a while ago that you might have some suggestions on increasing my magical density?¡± He carefully swallowed his latest bite of cinnamon roll. ¡°Yes, not that you need it. Still, it shouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± She leaned forward, pouring a bit more tea into her cup as she waited for him to continue. ¡°Let¡¯s finish our tea and return to a training area. I think it will be better to go through the motions.¡± She hesitated, then shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to take too much of your time, could you describe it to me, here, and then I go and enact it on my own?¡± He seemed to consider as he took a long sip. ¡°I think that could work.¡± * * * Tala closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, focusing within herself. Master Grediv had been as clear as possible in describing this process, and so she knew what to look for. She was fully coated in iron, both around her inscriptions and around her exterior. She examined the flow of power through her spellforms, focusing her will and perception on the minutia. As she monitored every part of her magical network so closely, she found what Master Grediv had theorized would be there. Some of her inscriptions felt like the power within was pushing outward, trying to spread out through the dimension of magic. She relaxed her iron grip in that area, allowing that part of her capacity to expand. It wasn¡¯t a change of shape, nor an alteration of kind. Instead, it was simply like digging a river deeper while staying within its preestablished banks. More than just her inscriptions had this feeling, however. In places, it was as if her very flesh was straining to expand into the dimension of magic, though she knew it was only the power within it that was making that attempt. That in mind, she similarly pulled her iron back in the dimension of magic around those areas, allowing her reserves to grow as new power flowed in through her gate. It wasn¡¯t a complicated process now that she knew what she was looking for, and she was able to complete it reasonably quickly. Nothing she was doing was new on its own; she just hadn¡¯t used these skills in this way before. Then, with a carefully released breath, Tala tightened the iron again, pulling it inward through the magical dimensional-axis, driving the power inward and causing a compacting of the power across her entire body. The resulting feeling wasn¡¯t pain, not precisely. Instead, it felt similar to having her stomach full to the brim and then trying to swallow one more bite¡­ while doing crunches. She was not used to that sensation at all. Tala groaned in discomfort, but even this initial, tentative effort yielded results. She felt that her every cell was filled with infinitesimally more power than before. They also felt on the edge of bursting. -Alright! That was¡­ something. Do that a hundred more times, and we¡¯ll have increased our power density by a whole percentage point.- That¡¯s a little bit insulting¡­ oh¡­ huh. Tala grimaced as she examined herself magically once more. -See? I¡¯m right. You didn¡¯t really clamp down very fast, nor did you allow as much expansion as you could have before clamping down.- So, it works in theory, but we need to try harder? -I would have said ¡®better,¡¯ but that about sums it up, yeah. But not now. Don¡¯t try it again now. I think if we tried to do it again now we might burst into a cloud of magical power.- Well then, we can add it to the list. Tala grinned to herself. Not a bad result for a rest day. Successes aside, it was time to get back to Kit. After all, it was just about dinnertime. Chapter: 348 - Buckets Tala walked back up to Artia¡¯s shop as the woman was finishing the closing of her stall. Artia noticed her, glancing up with a smile, ¡°Mistress Tala, welcome back.¡± Tala returned the smile, feeling genuine warmth for the woman who had helped her acquire both Flow and Kit. ¡°Thank you, Artia. Can I help you bring all this in?¡± The shopkeeper glanced around, then shrugged and nodded, ¡°Thank you, dear. That¡¯s very kind of you.¡± Tala¡¯s smile grew just a bit in return, and she helped the woman break down the stall, moving the pieces back into the shop. Artia had already moved the merchandise inside for the evening. When they were done, Tala took a moment to look around at what was on display. As before, a large part of the display room was taken up by tables and displays of arcanous harvests. Their inherent magics were faded to the point of being unusable, but they were still useful as demonstrations of what the shop could acquire upon request. As she looked around the room, her eye was drawn to a group of items in particular. On one wall, she saw a section of hanging dimensional storages. She felt a smile tug on her lips, and she patted her hip, glancing down when she didn¡¯t find Kit. Right. She stepped back outside and grabbed the edge of Kit¡¯s door, pulling Kit into her hand where she immediately took the form of a pouch. Tala then came back inside and tossed Kit against a different wall, letting her reform as a door, this one blending with the inner wall as well as the previous door had blended with the outside. ¡°I¡¯m glad I found you, Kit.¡± She spoke softly, but she felt like the pouch heard her. The door shimmered slightly to Tala¡¯s magesight, and it seemed a bit¡­ more pristine? It didn¡¯t blend any better, nor did it stand out more, but something seemed to have shifted just a bit. Huh¡­ Tala turned her gaze, then, to the parts of the showroom that held the artifacts that Artia currently had in stock. She knew that Adrill would have some more within his workshop, but those wouldn¡¯t be available for sale at the moment, regardless. There were the usual oddities, more curiosities than anything else. There was a candle with an unusually steady flame that clearly wasn¡¯t burning down the wick or melting the wax. There was a small card next to the candle explaining that the brass ring near the base could be turned to alter the color of the flame and slid up or down the length to alter the brightness. It was interesting to be sure, but the flame wasn¡¯t hot, and the brightness was generally only good for reading or seeing at night to navigate a darkened house. Still¡­ might be a fun gift for Sella¡­ Tala noted it to possibly come back to. It was also a rather complex artifact, which intrigued her. The next item she examined was a simple looking straw hat that would keep the wearer dry in any kind of natural downpour. The item¡¯s card warned that it would not prevent any water directed at the wearer by a sapient mind, be it magical or simply a cup of water upturned atop the hat. There were a pair of rings that allowed the wearers to know the direction of the other with seemingly no limit. Another item was a spool of thread that would match its dye to the last thing that it touched. Once the thread was cut, the magic would leave it, allowing the thread to keep that color. Great for patching mundane clothes. Beside the thread was a simple rose that never wilted. The magic had been analyzed, and it seemed that if the rose was planted, it would grow into a mundane rosebush. Simple. Not useful to me, but I¡¯m sure someone will find a purpose for it. A small stone finch that, when activated, would flit about the user, consuming any insects that tried to get close. That¡­ that¡¯s actually really sophisticated magics as well. Useful too, if I wasn¡¯t rather immune to bugs. Still, they were pretty annoying at times¡­ No. Someone else will get more use out of it. There were purely decorative items such as baubles that would shine with inner light or change to best complement the other parts of a person¡¯s outfit. There were a few knives, but not of interest while she had Flow, and she would always have Flow. There were practical things like the candle, hat, bird, or a cup that would regulate its contents¡¯ temperature. Artia saw Tala looking at the last one. ¡°That has been an oddly common magic of late, this cycle. There have been dozens of variants, and some restaurants have been buying up all they can find. That one is the most basic form, so I held onto it in the hopes that someone would want it for personal use. The restaurants are insisting on bulk discounts, given how many have been found in the last half year or so.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side. ¡°Are there commonalities with the artifacts found?¡± ¡°Generally, yes. There tend to be trends that ebb and flow through a waning.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± Maybe due to different creatures of the void coming through from different parts? And different parts are closer at given times? If that was what the artifacts were. There were certainly some artifacts that fit that category, Kit being a prime example. Even so, there was a lot of guesswork in that hypothesis. But she was getting distracted. Artia took a step back, acting the consummate shopkeeper, ready to answer questions but not hovering too close. Tala briefly looked back at the counter and realized something. I want them all, not even because I can use them, I just think they¡¯re neat. She could easily afford it, but she hesitated, considering. That is a very short view on things. I could so easily spend all my money to fill Kit with trinkets and baubbles. It was probably better to not focus on the acquisition of such things. After all, she had enough on her plate to deal with at the moment. Still, there are some things¡­ ¡°Artia?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°I recall a coin that could make water colder. Specifically, it would drop the temperature down to just above freezing.¡± The shop owner frowned, looking up and to the right. After a long moment, she nodded. ¡°I do think I recall that coin. It also always landed with the same side facing up, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± ¡°My apologies, Mistress, but I sold that a while back.¡± ¡°Of course. I would have been surprised if you still had it after all this time. Could you keep your eyes out for another such item? I think it could be nice to cool the river within my sanctum, my dimensional storage.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The woman blinked at her a few times. ¡°The¡­ river?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯d thought you heard in context that there is quite a bit of space within Kit.¡± ¡°I¡­ I guess I didn¡¯t think about the possibility of there being a river.¡± The woman seemed to be having a small internal crisis, which didn¡¯t have time to resolve before Kit¡¯s door swung open, and the three men came out, looking around with intensity obvious across their features. They immediately spotted Tala and moved her way. Master Simon gave a shallow bow, and the two mundanes gave deeper ones as the Mage spoke, ¡°Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Master Simon. You three look like men on a mission.¡± The three chuckled a bit self-consciously, but Master Simon continued nonetheless, ¡°I was talking with these two fine gentlemen, and I remembered you showing me a contraption for the manufacturing of ¡®magic metal.¡¯¡± Tala was curious where this was leading and saw no reason to lie, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Would that metal happen to be the white metal that you utilized in your fight with the cyclops?¡± Tala thought for a moment. Had she used the white steel in that fight? -Yes.- Thank you. That made sense. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the material.¡± Master Simon¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°We had discussed me digging into your documentation and getting that working, could I¡­ do that?¡± He gestured to Brandon and Adrill. ¡°These two would have an interest in assisting me, and I believe that we three could get it done in no time.¡± Artia cleared her throat. ¡°Now, Adrill¡­¡± Adrill stepped forward. ¡°Let¡¯s close up the shop. I want to show you this place, Artia. Please?¡± He then seemed to remember Tala, bowing her direction again. ¡°If you¡¯re willing, Mistress.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s fine with me. It¡¯s dinner time so I¡¯m heading in regardless.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala.¡± He turned to his wife. ¡°My love, it is amazing in there.¡± Master Simon held up the inside-Kit communication stone and smiled toward Artia. ¡°I already asked if Petra, my wife, would make enough for you all to join us for dinner, my family and me I mean.¡± He then glanced toward Tala. ¡°We can eat on our own or with you at your leisure, Mistress.¡± Tala considered a moment then shrugged. ¡°I think sharing a meal would be wonderful.¡± Adrill¡¯s grin was positively radiant, as he addressed his wife, ¡°Just wait and see¡­ well, you won¡¯t have to!¡± He laughed. ¡°Let¡¯s get these doors locked.¡± Tala moved to Kit¡¯s door as Adrill, Artia, and Brandon closed up the shop. Tala opened the portal to her central plaza, and everyone followed her through shortly thereafter. Artia stepped through hesitantly. Once through, she looked around in tentative wonder before pausing, a frown crossing her face. ¡°Why is there a throne?¡± * * * Tala waited as Master Selek reexamined her soul, excited to be allowed back on active duty. Unfortunately, he seemed to be doing several more magical scans than he had before. Finally, he sat back, a look of bewilderment on his face. ¡°Mistress Tala. Your magical density has somehow increased measurably in the last two days. I double, triple, and even quadruple checked, using different measuring methodologies. There was some margin for error of course, but I am reasonably certain. I must admit, I am uncertain how the injury you sustained could have resulted in such growth.¡± The poor man looked truly baffled. Tala actually felt a bit bad about being the cause of his confusion. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s not due to the injury. Master Grediv suggested a method to increase my magical density, and I tried it.¡± The man blinked at her a few times, a look of owlish confusion crossing his face. ¡°But your soul was damaged.¡± ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t stressing my soul, was I?¡± ¡°I have no idea. I don¡¯t know what convoluted method that man suggested.¡± She opened her mouth, then paused to consider for a moment before responding, ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t have to do with my gate, simply expanding my volume for containing magic, then compressing the power that filled that expanded space back into my standard volume.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­ painful? Damaging? Ill advised?¡± Master Selek scratched the side of his chin for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yes.¡± Tala tilted her head to one side. ¡°Yes¡­ to which?¡± ¡°All three.¡± ¡°Ahh.¡± ¡°But! I¡¯m not in the business of making my patients feel bad for their obviously questionable choices.¡± Tala grimaced but didn¡¯t respond before he continued. ¡°I¡¯m here to discuss your soul with you, along with exercises to increase its resilience.¡± That perked her right up, and she leaned slightly forward in interest. ¡°The easiest method is to restrict your gate¡¯s flow, closing it off entirely if you can for brief stints.¡± Tala colored slightly, remembered how she¡¯d¡­ removed that part of her keystone inscriptions. ¡°I apologize, Master Selek, but I don¡¯t have the inscriptions needed to close my gate.¡± He returned a baffled look. ¡°What does that have to do with the price of gold?¡± ¡°I mean, I can¡¯t close my gate, or restrict it¡¯s flow, I don¡¯t have the inscriptions.¡± ¡°Yes, I heard you, but that doesn¡¯t make sense?¡± His words were a question as he was obviously not understanding what she was saying. Tala frowned, equally confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me the equivalent of: ¡®I can¡¯t close my mouth because I don¡¯t own a gag.¡¯¡± She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, but couldn¡¯t think of a response, so she closed it. He chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m glad that we¡¯ve established that you can close your mouth without a gag.¡± She colored a bit at that, laughing somewhat as well. ¡°I suppose so, yeah. So, you¡¯re telling me that I can close my gate without inscriptions to do so?¡± ¡°Of course you can close off your gate.¡± Again, he looked at her with obvious confusion. ¡°You are an Immaterial Guide, this should be incredibly obvious. More than that, as a mageling, your master should have taught you quite a few techniques for manipulating your own magic. You couldn¡¯t possibly have gotten to this level of advancement without the ability to do so.¡± Tala was about to rue the lack of a master yet again, but then she remembered that others, Mistress Odera and Master Jevin included, had done exactly that: given her exercises to increase her precision and ability in controlling the movements and flow of her own magics. ¡°Well, yes. Of course, I can control my own magics.¡± ¡°Then, there isn¡¯t an issue.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t follow.¡± Master Selek sighed, scratching between his eyes for a moment. ¡°Can you control the power right as it exits your gate?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Her void-channels required that, and they were critical for increasing her flowrate at key times. ¡°So¡­ stop the flow of power.¡± Tala gave him a withering glare. ¡°That¡¯s not closing my gate.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it, though?¡± ¡°That¡¯s blocking my gate, an entirely different thing.¡± ¡°Correct. It is closing it off, which is what I said. The two are quite similar, however, and it will become closing if you believe it is, but that¡¯s step two. Get the result you want, then shift the methodology. I promise you; you can close your gate once you learn how.¡± ¡°I feel like you could have led with that.¡± ¡°I feel like you could have understood the principle, but here we are.¡± Tala huffed a laugh at that, and Master Selek cracked a smile. ¡°Regardless, that is a good starting point, but it won¡¯t do you much good on its own, long term.¡± She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up his hand. ¡°Once you can feel what it is like to flex your gate, you will have something to focus on. You can meditate upon your soul, and how it feels. What is your soul¡¯s desire? What gives you joy? What hurts you soul-deep? Sussing out those feelings will allow your soul to strengthen, become more robustly present within you.¡± ¡°So, the same thing as advancing to Paragon?¡± He gave her a shrugging nod. ¡°Give or take, yes. They are parallel skills. Paragons, by our very nature, have incredibly resilient souls.¡± He hesitated. ¡°I suppose, then, given your stage of advancement, I should be a bit more specific. Your soul isn¡¯t actually resilient or not. The soul cannot be destroyed, not really. When we speak of soul resilience, we mean its presence within your body and how robust that presence is.¡± Tala nodded in response. ¡°That makes a lot of sense.¡± She had rather poignant, firsthand experience with the eternal, immutable nature of the soul. ¡°So, I¡¯m trying to strengthen my bond to my soul.¡± Master Selek shook his head. ¡°No. Not at all. In gated humans, our gate is the manifest presence of our soul within our body. It¡¯s there in mundane, Mage, and Bound alike. This is about strengthening that presence, not the things that tie its presence in place.¡± She tilted her head to the side, frowning in confusion. ¡°Let me try an analogy. If I take a bucket of water out of the lake, I have manifested a part of the lake within the bucket. ¡®Binding¡¯ would be strapping the bucket down so that it won¡¯t tip over. We can increase the strength of the straps, and that is increasing the strength of the Bond. Now, what I am talking about is increasing the size of the bucket and the quantity of water within. That is an entirely different thing.¡± ¡°Oh. I think I understand.¡± She hesitated, then almost sheepishly added, ¡°At least. I think that I understood your analogy.¡± He chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s good. Matters of the soul are always a bit esoteric. It¡¯s good to be a bit unsure. You will learn in time.¡± ¡°So, work on feeling my soul¡ªmy gate¡ªdirectly, and then I feel how my soul reacts to things?¡± ¡°Those are good beginning steps, yes.¡± She nodded her thanks, standing to go. She even bowed and turned toward the door, but then, she hesitated, turning back, ¡°In your bucket analogy¡­ what would ascension to Paragon be?¡± Master Selek grinned, not even hesitating before he answered, ¡°Shifting your mindset so that you perceive the lake as your bucket.¡± Chapter: 349 - A Lot Tala looked skeptically at the small golden bar resting in the palm of her hand. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Mistress Cerna chuckled. ¡°Either you can give it back when we¡¯re done, or it simply costs a couple ounces to learn something interesting.¡± -She¡¯s giving us gold, to experiment with our items. I see this as an absolute win.- I suppose¡­ Tala wasn¡¯t really sure if it would be worth it to her, at least not at the moment, but Mistress Cerna¡¯s priorities were different, and that was alright. ¡°If you say so.¡± Tala pressed the two-ounce rectangle of gold to her elk leather sleeve, willing the void within her garments to draw the precious metal in, just as she did with the white metal. As expected, the void magics responded to her will, reaching out and wrapping around the precious metal to draw it into the sleeve. At that moment, she could somehow sense the gold within the soulbound item, just as she felt the reserve of white steel. It wasn¡¯t tangible, nor like a feeling of a full stomach. She simply knew that she had a limited amount of gold available to work with. Tala barked a laugh. ¡°I feel it. I think it worked.¡± Mistress Cerna grinned, actually rubbing her hands together in comically maniacal glee. ¡°Alright, now, can you let the gold back out as thinly as possible?¡± -Ahh, her reasoning makes sense, now. I hadn¡¯t considered this.- Yeah. She wants gold threading, it seems. Tala shrugged, turning her hand over, growing a bit of leather out onto her palm, and then wishing for the gold to come into being in a long, thin strand, extending upward. ¡°Alright, as you¡¯re going, let it leave your control. I believe you¡¯ve been able to do that before, too?¡± She nodded, thinking of her scale-mail hauberk. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Good!¡± Mistress Cerna¡¯s magic reached out, seizing the far end of the gold strand even as Tala continued to extrude it. The other Refined easily manipulated the gold into a classic pattern for the formation of a ball of thread or yarn. It wasn¡¯t long until Tala had let out all the gold that she had and surrendered it all to Mistress Cerna¡¯s working. ¡°Excellent, excellent.¡± It was odd. Tala didn¡¯t feel any sort of emptiness. She simply no longer had gold to work with. It wasn¡¯t a vacancy so much as just beyond her elk leathers to make parts of themselves into gold. Tala frowned. ¡°What was the point of that? I mean, all that I did was turn the little bar into thread. I didn¡¯t even pass enough power through it to make it Mage gold.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± The woman looked up. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s incredibly expensive to get precious metals made into consistent, well-wrought thread. Wire is relatively easy, thread? Horrifically difficult to do consistently.¡± Tala gave her a flat look. ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Really.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded seriously. ¡°It¡¯s my greatest expense, as I can¡¯t manipulate the material until it is at least close to threadlike in nature. I can purify and clean it up once it¡¯s at least roughly threadlike, removing the flaws of imperfect craftsmanship, but that¡¯s a losing proposition in most cases, because it takes power and focus, thus inscriptions, to do so.¡± ¡°So, you pay for it again in that way.¡± ¡°Exactly. This, though?¡± She held up the two ounces of wound, golden ¡®thread.¡¯ ¡°This is perfect.¡± Tala sighed, shaking her head. ¡°So, that was the purpose? To save you some time and money? I mean, I¡¯m happy to aid you, but you could have just said so.¡± The older woman shrugged with a smile, ¡°Well, on one hand, yes. If we are in the field, in a dangerous situation, and I run out of materials, our unit¡¯s effectiveness and flexibility will drop dramatically. This is a relatively simple means of solving that issue.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side, considering. Finally, she grunted. ¡°I suppose¡­¡± ¡°But there¡¯s more.¡± Mistress Cerna had an almost manic shine in her eyes. ¡°You can cause your garment to make any shape, correct?¡± Tala nodded, hesitant as to where the Refined was going with this. ¡°Then, can you make this shape?¡± The golden thread, wrapped in Mistress Cerna¡¯s power, unwound slightly, twisting into a simple three-dimensional pattern, parts splitting off to connect elsewhere to form a lattice of gold, if a relatively simple one. Tala examined the shape, then caused leather to grow into that pattern, hanging down from her forearm. She had to nurture some minute boning within the leather to keep it in the proper shape, but it worked. Mistress Cerna laughed with glee, her smile slipping when she saw Tala¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t you see?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Really? Think about it. Why am I so flexible in my magics?¡± ¡°Because you can shape any spellform at need.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± -You see, right? I mean, don¡¯t feel too bad, I just understood what she was getting at a moment ago.- Tala¡¯s eyes widened in understanding. -There we go.- ¡°Are you saying that I can manifest spellforms, then activate them?¡± ¡°In theory, yes, but we must be careful. You do not strike me as someone who wants to delve the very edges of all possible magics. You enjoy delving the far reaches of the magics that call to you, and that is one of your strengths.¡± Tala nodded, smiling. ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s fair.¡± ¡°But you do have those arrows rather ingeniously created for and by the Guards, and your own scale armor, which acts like your own quiver of arrows and bow in one¡­¡± Mistress Cerna trailed off implicatively. Tala felt her smile broaden into a grin. ¡°Do you think?¡± ¡°I do. We¡¯ll need to do some experimentation. I doubt there is a robust body of work on using that mysterious metal as a medium.¡± -There isn¡¯t.- ¡°So, we¡¯ll have to figure that out ourselves. Then it will be a matter of translating the provided spellforms. Once we have that, you can add specific counter-magics at will.¡± Tala laughed involuntarily. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± The older woman hesitated. ¡°I haven¡¯t actually investigated a new medium in a long time. We should go get a primer on the subject.¡± Tala¡¯s smile pulled up on one side. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you know it? I already have such a book.¡± * * * Tala looked between the three men standing near her, deep in Kit¡¯s dark underbelly. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡± Master Simon nodded. ¡°Then¡­ why haven¡¯t you already done it?¡± Adrill spoke up, then. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not ours, and there''s no such thing as perfect certainty.¡± ¡°So, you aren¡¯t sure.¡± She turned to regard Master Simon again, more pointedly this time. Master Simon turned an exasperated glance on his assistant. ¡°Adrill. We have done as much as we can with the documentation that we have. The only thing left is to try it.¡± The man nodded. ¡°Of course. Even so, what I said is still true.¡± Brandon cleared his throat, drawing Tala¡¯s attention. ¡°Mistress Tala, we are as sure as we can be, and we thought it prudent to have you present, rather than using your equipment without permission.¡± Finally, she shrugged. ¡°Very well. Do you have what you need?¡± Master Simon took charge once more. ¡°We do not. In order to follow the recipe for the white metal, we will need one part gold, three of tool steel¡­ How about I just give you the list?¡± Tala took the scrap of paper from the man. After a long moment, she looked up to find the older two conspicuously inspecting the large magical machinery. So, she turned to Brandon. ¡°This is why you wanted me involved?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It was a small factor. Those are expensive materials, even if the most expensive are in quite small quantities.¡± She sighed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll release some funds for use in this. What was the second thing you wanted to discuss?¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Adrill turned back to her. ¡°Well, you might be curious why the device is still viable, being out of use for as long as it has been.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I assumed there was a vestige buried in there somewhere, or that it had defaulted to drawing power from Kit.¡± ¡°Well, this was designed to draw power from a vestige¡­¡± He blinked a few times. ¡°Oh¡­ you knew?¡± ¡°More suspected. Most arcane magical items have vestiges at their core, somewhere. At the very least they are designed to accept power from one. They basically never magic bond anything if they can help it.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ well, that makes this easier.¡± Tala glanced toward the two mundanes. ¡°Are they allowed to know about vestiges?¡± Master Simon glanced their way and shrugged. ¡°We keep mundanes in the dark to prevent any potential of triggering their move toward becoming a fount to a minimum. These two don¡¯t have gates, so they aren¡¯t at risk.¡± Adrill cleared his throat. ¡°There were also extensive references to founts and vestiges in many of the documents we¡¯ve been reading through for the various systems, workings, and spellforms within your sanctum and associated with your various¡­ acquisitions.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah, that makes sense.¡± Master Simon smiled, ¡°But back on topic, can you tell us how it is getting power, then?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just a guess, but I would say that it was designed to draw power from the vestige at the heart of the hold in which it was kept. Those are kept incredibly pure, so it was unbound as I¡¯ve already said. Here, though? Here there is power within Kit, freely available. I would guess that it is pulling from that.¡± Master Simon was nodding. ¡°That does line up with what we were detecting. I just didn¡¯t realize that the power source it had before would have been pure enough to prevent any sort of magical bonding.¡± He glanced toward Adrill and smiled. ¡°As it turns out, you were right, Adrill.¡± Adrill waved Master Simon off. ¡°It was a guess based on the materials we were reading through.¡± ¡°Still, well intuited.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°So, any other needs?¡± The three men turned toward the tank in which Io floated, almost in unison. Brandon spoke again, ¡°That thing¡­ it gives off the feeling of just being asleep.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tala turned and studied it, the purple liquid only marginally obscuring the fully grown automaton within. Brandon nodded. ¡°It subtly changes positions over time. I know that that¡¯s likely explicable by being close to neutrally buoyant within that liquid, along with the currents as the liquid is circulated, but there¡¯s a feeling about the thing.¡± The young man shivered, but Tala only saw that in her mirrored perspectives. Instead, she was walking closer to the tank. Do you see anything? -No?- Tala frowned. Nothing looked out of place to Tala¡¯s sight: magical, mundane, or void. Not even her real, physical eyes picked up anything, as enhanced as they were. Not that her mirrored perspectives were worse, but there was just something about seeing through her own eyes. -I could keep a watcher over it.- That pulled Tala back to the matter at hand. Huh, I suppose so. She looked around before directing one of her extra bloodstars to rest on the face of a nearby shelf, looking like nothing so much as a small stain once it had landed. Can you see through that mirrored perspective? -Confirmed.- Alright, monitor that as we leave. I think it should be fine, because Kit is magic bound to us. She¡¯d never tested her limits on the distance she could get from her bloodstars, but the experience of losing her iron when Sole¡¯s cell was sealed was still a bit too fresh to not consider the potential issue. Tala turned back around to where the three men were already discussing something about the magical smelter once again. ¡°Alright gentlemen, I¡¯ll grant the funds to Adrill so that he can get what¡¯s needed while we¡¯re gone, but for now, you two¡±¡ªshe pointed to the father and son¡ª¡°need to head out.¡± Adrill opened his mouth to protest, then sighed. ¡°I knew this was coming.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°I told you that my unit has a mission outside the city. I even gave you a few days¡¯ warning.¡± The father turned to his son. ¡°Can you tell your mother that I didn¡¯t get out in time? I can apologize later.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not lying to Mom.¡± Brandon shook his head. Adrill took on a stern expression. ¡°I would never lie to your mother or ask you to do so. I didn¡¯t ask you to tell her I couldn¡¯t get out in time, simply that I didn¡¯t.¡± Brandon opened his mouth and stood there for a long moment before grunting, ¡°Huh¡­ that¡¯s true enough.¡± His father gave a decisive nod, smiling. ¡°Still no.¡± The man sighed. ¡°Very well.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Adrill, do you need your equipment?¡± Adrill turned to Master Simon, ¡°Can I continue working with you, upon Mistress Tala¡¯s return?¡± The Fused smiled broadly. ¡°Absolutely.¡± Adrill turned back to Tala. ¡°Then, I have nothing that I need to get out of here. Doing so would simply add time unnecessarily.¡± She shook her head, gesturing to the door which had just appeared. ¡°Then out you go.¡± As the two men walked out the open door, Tala¡¯s eyes were drawn to the white metal ingots that were waiting off to one side. Yeah, there¡¯s no reason to keep those in here. She willed herself to be beside the remaining metal and quickly took it into her elk leathers, increasing her store of the material to work with. There. I¡¯ve had too little in the past when that wasn¡¯t necessary. -It¡¯s about time.- Alat teased. -So, are we ready to investigate another cell?- Tala nodded to herself. There really did seem to be a lot of those popping up. She was grateful that she seemed to be getting the hang of handling them alongside her unit. * * * Tala kicked up her feet with a groan, letting her head hang over the back of her chair. That was ridiculous. -I never would have thought that sand could be terrifying.- Stars bless Master Girt. The man had been invaluable in countering what was effectively a sand elemental of terrifying temperament. At first, they had all been confused as to why such a basic creature had been deemed worthy of imprisonment. The reason was now all too obvious. It had, apparently, inexplicably gained a penchant for terrorizing any sapient it came across. The theory was that some mad Mage had bound himself to it, and the combined being had been twisted by hatred of what he¡¯d lost. Unfortunately, the records left behind had indicated that they weren¡¯t actually sure. But that no longer mattered. She was no longer being chased by a morphic horror through the halls of an abandoned city. She no longer had to doubt her ears as the thing somehow mimicked her unit-mates¡¯ voices. Nor did she have to hear the creepy sounds or false calls for help from long dead children. She no longer had to fear that any bit of wall, floor, or ceiling could turn out to be a psychopathic sand elemental that was utterly impervious to even her dissolution breath. The cell was resealed once more, and she was back home. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± Tala jerked, letting out a little yelp as her eyes snapped open. -Gah!- Mistress Petra jumped backward, not even landing before Tala had willed herself to be standing on the far side of the room. Tala felt her heart pounding within her chest and forcibly slowed it. She¡¯d fallen asleep and been startled awake. That was all. ¡°Mistress Tala? Are you alright?¡± She took another moment to attempt to calm herself before answering, ¡°I am, Mistress Petra. My apologies. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°You asked me to let you know when dinnertime was approaching. The Fethuas will be here within the next hour.¡± The Fethuas? Oh! Artia, Adrill, and Brandon. -And Brandon¡¯s intended.- Alat¡¯s voice sounded¡­ strained. Even so, Tala outwardly smiled, remembering the planned meal. Brandon and his intended were courting now, and if all went well, they¡¯d likely be betrothed within the year. Right, right. She would address Alat¡¯s seeming stress in a moment. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Petra. I¡¯ll prepare. Is there anything that I can do to assist you?¡± ¡°No, Mistress. I have the food well in hand. Thank you.¡± She smiled as she turned back toward the kitchen. Tala shook her head, trying to clear the fog over her thoughts. Alat, are you alright? -That was¡­ unsettling. I didn¡¯t even notice us falling asleep, so I didn¡¯t split your mind so that I could stay active while you recovered.- Tala somehow felt Alat shudder within her mind. -I don¡¯t like losing consciousness. It¡¯s pretty much all I have.- I¡¯m sorry, Alat. I didn¡¯t realize I was that tired. She looked around at her sitting room. I¡¯d definitely have gone to my bed to sleep if I¡¯d known. -I know, Tala. It¡¯s still¡­ I only exist within your mind. I don¡¯t have a physical existence that persists while my consciousness is inactive¡­- Tala willed herself to her own room, then spoke aloud, ¡°Alat? Can I see you?¡± She moved one of the bloodstars that mirrored a perspective for Alat to another part of the room. There was a brief hesitation before Tala appeared to her own eyes, standing where the bloodstar had been hovering, arms wrapped around herself, hugging tight. Not me, that¡¯s Alat. Tala took a brief moment to notice the differences that were there. Their hair was arranged slightly differently. Funnily enough, the style that Alat adopted for herself was one that Tala had used in her early days at the Academy, before they¡¯d been shaved for inscriptions. It was shorter than Tala preferred now, and all bound up tightly to her head with blue-green cord, woven tightly and artfully throughout. Alat¡¯s eyes were a beautiful, inhuman yellow. If Tala wasn¡¯t mistaken, that was the precise color of their aura. Alat also wore slightly different clothing, opting for a flowing, almost formal dress of amethyst-purple silk that complemented her eye color as much as her figure. Tala smiled. ¡°I like the look.¡± Alat gave a small smile. ¡°Thank you. I think it¡¯s a bit more me than you, though you would look good like this.¡± ¡°Yeah, we do, that¡¯s true.¡± Tala chuckled lightly, ¡°I am a bit more¡­ martially inclined, and I¡¯ve never liked wearing dresses.¡± ¡°We should on occasion, though. They¡¯re nice.¡± Tala took another, closer look. ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong. This is better than a mirror, or even an aspect mirrored perspective. We should remember that. I know it shouldn¡¯t be¡­¡± Alat¡¯s smile grew a bit. ¡°But it is.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tala stepped forward and placed a hand on Alat¡¯s shoulder, drawing their tangent to a close. Even though she knew that the woman and sensations of touch were entirely within her head, they seemed utterly real. Regardless, that wasn¡¯t important for the moment. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re going to be alright?¡± Alat leaned into Tala¡¯s touch even as she gave a small nod. ¡°I think so. I¡­ I just wasn¡¯t expecting it, and it reminded me of¡­ of Be-thric.¡± Tala grimaced, shuddering involuntarily at the reminder. ¡°I can imagine.¡± Still, she mastered herself and smiled at Alat once more. ¡°Is there anything that I can do?¡± Alat shook her head, straightening and smiling with obviously forced confidence. ¡°No, thank you. This was a kind suggestion, though. I think it helped to have a manifestation, even if just for a moment.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad. Will you be able to talk with Retson, soon?¡± Master Nadro¡¯s alternate interface was a valuable conversation partner for Alat, when they had the time to dialogue. ¡°I will soon, yeah. Right after your next manifest conversation with Master Nadro.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± After a moment¡¯s consideration, Tala smiled, ¡°Do you want a hug?¡± she held her arms wide. Alat only hesitated for a moment before stepping in for an embrace. The manifested woman shuddered slightly with obvious tension slowly bleeding out of her. After a long moment, Alat¡¯s voice came to Tala¡¯s ear, ¡°Thank you.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Always. We have a bit. Take all the time you need.¡± Alat curled in against Tala¡¯s shoulder, hugging her self tighter. ¡°Okay.¡± Chapter: 350 - Zuccat, Feshua, and Deas Tala held the figment of Alat for nearly five minutes, before the alternate interface pulled back. ¡°You know, I¡¯m not real.¡± Tala smiled kindly, ¡°I know this body isn¡¯t real. You, however, are.¡± ¡°Fine, but my point is that you just hugged nothing for a long time.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°And yet, it helped.¡± Alat glanced away. ¡°Yeah, I suppose it did.¡± ¡°We have a bit more time.¡± Alat shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m okay.¡± Still, she didn¡¯t meet Tala¡¯s eyes. ¡°What is it?¡± She looked up then. ¡°What will happen to me, when you die?¡± ¡°When we die. Our soul will pass on.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°You know this as well as I, Alat. The soul is as far removed from the consciousness as our body is from our mind. The me that is our soul is as much you as me, meaning Tala. I don¡¯t know what dying will look like, nor what it will mean for the me that I think of as me. Regardless, we¡¯ll face it together.¡± She hesitated for only a moment before adding, ¡°But not anytime soon.¡± Alat chuckled. ¡°Yeah, not anytime soon, if we can help it.¡± ¡°If we can help it.¡± The two regarded each other for a long moment before Alat gave a little wave. ¡°This is actually a bit difficult to maintain, so I¡¯ll¡±¡ªAlat faded from view¡ª-go back to talking like this.- ¡°As you wish.¡± She frowned in thought before asking, ¡°What is the bottleneck? Can we make it easier for you to maintain manifestations?¡± -It¡¯s a couple things. First is that I¡¯m still new to it, so I need more practice so that I can do it more efficiently. Second, it¡¯s a new way of using our mind, which seems like it should fall under the ¡®practice¡¯ thing, but it¡¯s more like a mental muscle that we need to work.- ¡°Ahh. Well, feel free to practice more, and let me know if there¡¯s anything that we can do to improve it, because it¡¯s rusting useful for a lot of things.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Including you being able to have a form, even if just to me.¡± Alat hesitated for a long moment before responding. -Thank you, Tala.- ¡°My pleasure, Alat.¡± Tala stretched slightly, still feeling stiff from her unexpected sleep. ¡°We¡¯ll have guests soon¡­¡± -We should get cleaned up.- With an act of will, she was above the river that flowed around her sanctum. She dropped in without ceremony, splashing and wriggling about. Another act of will took her to the sparring ring, where water poured off of her. She might have been able to leave the water behind, but she hadn¡¯t really tried that before, and now wasn¡¯t the time to experiment. Around her, she felt the togetherness of the nodes of reality that made up this part of Kit. Her working had been increased to astronomical levels, and Master Simon still couldn¡¯t find any real benefit or change, even though it felt obviously different to her. The nodes simply couldn¡¯t get closer together. Tala¡¯s working didn¡¯t seem to be able to affect their base nature or to reshape them even with all the power she¡¯d put toward doing just that in the last weeks. But she was getting off track. She wasn¡¯t here for her augmentation of intra-reality connections. She aspect-mirrored her elk leather¡¯s extreme self-repair onto her body''s surface. As usual, it was so perfect as to prevent anything from keeping hold of her. This caused moisture and grime to cascade off of her, leaving her almost perfectly dry. Her skin had taken in some moisture, and that was now part of her from the magic¡¯s perspective. So, it was not shed with the mirroring, but otherwise she was completely refreshed and free of the usual inconveniences of such a quick cleansing. ¡°Thank you, Kit. That would have been much harder without you.¡± Kit did not respond, but Tala smiled vaguely toward the center of the sanctum nonetheless. A moment later, Tala felt the knock on Kit¡¯s door and willed herself back to her sitting and dining room. Mistress Petra had already set up the larger table and chairs. ¡°They are here, Mistress Petra.¡± The woman, by now quite used to Tala popping out of nowhere at nearly any time, simply gave a shallow bow. ¡°Dinner is ready.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± Tala flexed her desires and the door leading out appeared on one wall. She walked over and pulled it open, revealing four people making small talk within Artia¡¯s shop. ¡°Good evening, and welcome.¡± Artia, Adrill, and Brandon were known to Tala, but the fourth was new. A young woman¡ªprobably barely a year younger than me, if that¡ªstood beside Brandon. Her stance made it seem like she wanted to be holding his hand but was uncertain if she should. -Don¡¯t you dare call her out on that. It¡¯s cute.- I wasn¡¯t planning on it. That would be incredibly unkind. The four bowed and Adrill spoke for them, ¡°Thank you for the invitation, Mistress Tala.¡± He gestured toward the girl. ¡°Allow me to introduce Kedva Deas, my son¡¯s intended.¡± The woman stepped forward and gave a deeper bow. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you at last, Mistress Tala. I have heard many things about you.¡± Tala almost asked if they were good things but decided to avoid that trope. -Oh! You could say you¡¯ve heard absolutely nothing about her. Really dig in the knife.- I thought we were being kind? -I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d actually do it. I was just having fun.- Fine. A smile pulled at Tala¡¯s lips. ¡°That is kind of you to say Kedva, you are most welcome in my home.¡± Tala stepped back, then, gesturing for them all to enter, which they did with alacrity. The door closed behind them, vanishing without a trace, and without the disappearance being noticed. ¡°Welcome, Artia.¡± The woman gave Tala a hug. ¡°Thank you for having us.¡± Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder, startling the mundanes, but not overly. Adrill and Brandon gave deep bows, Brandon speaking this time, ¡°Master Terry. Thank you for greeting us.¡± Tala turned to regard her friend. ¡°Terry? What did you do?¡± Terry preened just a bit before trilling contentedly. Tala whispered, ¡°That¡¯s not an answer.¡± But no answer was forthcoming so she dropped it. Kedva held out her hand toward Terry hesitantly. ¡°Is he friendly?¡± Tala opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated. How the rust do I answer that? -Very, very carefully.- This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Terry was eyeing her, clearly curious what she would say. Blessedly, Tala was saved trying to perfectly word an answer by Brandon, ¡°He isn¡¯t dangerous unless he wants to be. At least from what I¡¯ve seen.¡± The young man shuddered, and Tala would have sworn he heard him mutter under his breath, ¡°Poor chickens¡­¡± That seemed to satisfy the young woman, who smiled, reaching forward again. Terry let out a sighing trill before flickering to Kedva¡¯s shoulder. Kedva froze, her eyes shifting to try to look at the avian perched on her without moving her head. The terror bird regarded her critically before flickering to the other shoulder and repeating his examination. She held perfectly still until Terry was finished, and he flickered to stand on her extended hand. That caused her to yelp in surprise at the sudden weight, and she involuntarily pulled the hand back, drawing it to her chest, where Terry leaned in and headbutted her sternum. Tala grinned. ¡°He seems to like you well enough. Let¡¯s take a seat.¡± The group moved to the pre-prepared table, taking their seats at Mistress Petra¡¯s direction. Terry stayed on Kedva¡¯s hand, and despite her initial panic and uncertainty, the woman seemed to get used to the bird, even stroking his head seemingly without thought. Tala noticed and asked, ¡°Kedva, do you have any experience with birds? I am in need of some expertise with regard to keeping and breeding fowl for food. I recently¡­ I have more birds than the facilities in here were built for, and I find myself without convenient ways to deal with them.¡± In truth, Kit was keeping the new acquisitions contained, protecting the ecosystem within the sanctum from being ravaged by so many avians. Kedva shrugged. ¡°I know little. I would have had some contacts for you, but they recently sold the rights to their caverns to my family. I think they were eager to leave the waning city, and they got the opportunity to sell their stock, so they took it.¡± Tala opened her mouth to comment but thought better of it. Yeah, that¡¯s not relevant. When a plate was placed before Kedva and Terry, he went to snap up some meat from it, but she bopped him on the beak. ¡°No, Terry. This plate isn¡¯t for you.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. Brandon and Adrill stiffened. Terry slowly turned to regard the young woman, eyes narrowing. -I am not helping you hide this body.- Well, she is already in Kit¡­ Kedva seemed to be oblivious of the razor¡¯s edge she walked as she grabbed a small piece and held it up. ¡°It¡¯s rude to take from others'' plates. Here, you can have this.¡± Terry pivoted to regard the food in her hand for a long moment. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°I recommend that you toss it.¡± ¡°Oh? Where?¡± Kedva looked at her with innocent curiosity. Tala shrugged. ¡°Anywhere.¡± Kedva looked hesitant, but then she seemed to decide that Tala wouldn¡¯t get mad if she did as requested. Kedva tossed the meat over her shoulder. Terry flickered for just an instant, and the meat was gone. Kedva let out a happy gasp. ¡°Did you just¡­?¡± Terry bobbed a happy acknowledgement. She giggled. ¡°That was amazing! You¡¯re such a clever bird.¡± Terry preened as she stroked under his chin. That relieved the tension, blessedly, and the meal proceeded well from there. Kedva quickly took to tossing bits of food for Terry, and that helped keep any silence from becoming awkward. The Deas family, as it turned out, had deep roots and long-held ties in Alefast, their ancestors having moved to the city at the founding. As conversations around family would, given the present company, the topics of conversation obviously came around to Mages and magic. Kedva looked away, tossing a saved bit of food for Terry to flicker and snatch before returning to Tala¡¯s shoulder, where he¡¯d spent the majority of the meal after his initial greeting. ¡°Honestly, I doubt I¡¯d have gone to the Academy. Only one of my cousins went from our entire extended family. Though, now a bunch of the boys say they regret the decision to stay home, seeing the intense battles outside the city.¡± She looked to Tala and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s hard to see such power within humanity and turn away from that potential. It¡¯s easier for me, I suppose, because I never had that potential to begin with.¡± Tala almost brought up the fact that she had an arcane advancement manual, but she¡¯d kept from mentioning it even to Adrill and Brandon. I won¡¯t let that be a factor in their decision. -Just a perk when they agree?- Sure, you can look at it that way. I don¡¯t want them looking back and regretting the choice to come work in here. She had long ago decided that she¡¯d like the Feshua family to come and work within Kit. She was just slowly maneuvering to make it happen in an ethical manner. -Yes, no kidnapping.- ¡°That¡¯s a healthy way of looking at it.¡± Artia had spoken up before anyone else could comment. ¡°Me, I never had a mind for magic, not using it anyways. I do enjoy what my Adrill tells me about the artifacts we carry in the shop, and I find the flows of power mesmerizing when I assess harvests.¡± Adrill smiled. ¡°Magic is a fascinating thing. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d ever want to use it directly, but indirectly? That is such a fun way to explore our world.¡± Mistress Petra was bringing around dessert then, and Kedva¡¯s eyes flicked to the woman. ¡°What about you, Mistress Petra? You are a Mage, but you are also pursuing life and work outside of using that power.¡± The Fused glanced toward Tala briefly, but there had never been an issue with Mistress Petra talking before so neither of them assumed there¡¯d be an issue now. Thus, she smiled to the young woman before responding, ¡°Well, I¡¯ve lived a long life. I tried to devote myself to the power and magic, but no matter what I did, I was hollow, incomplete and unfulfilled. My Simon and I both felt the same. It wasn¡¯t until we set aside our¡ªhonestly fanatical¡ªpursuit of magical advancement, settled down and had our children that we both found enough peace to¡­¡± She hesitated a moment, clearly choosing her words carefully. ¡°¡­to be at peace with ourselves.¡± She laughed a bit at that. ¡°As circular as that sounds. Even good things, if pursued overzealously, can become bad. I don¡¯t wish I wasn¡¯t a Mage, but I do wonder what would have happened if we¡¯d started our family sooner. Now, we only have three left at home, and one will be leaving in barely a couple of weeks.¡± That got Kedva¡¯s attention. Tala smiled. Karsa was leaving for the Academy in just under two weeks, and the girl was excited to the extreme. She¡¯d been peppering Tala with questions whenever their paths crossed, and Tala had even taken a bit to sit with her and get a large chunk of them handled at once. She apparently assumed that her parents were too far removed from the Academy to really understand how the place was in the current times. To be fair, each of them had been away from the Academy for more than four centuries, so the girl had a point. Mistress Petra saw Kedva¡¯s interest and elaborated just briefly. ¡°My Karsa is leaving for the Academy, so this is actually an interesting conversation with that in mind. I don¡¯t know what she would do if she didn¡¯t move toward Magehood, but we are all different. Our souls are made for different paths. Not everyone can be a farmer or a scribe or a smith, and we need all of us for humanity to survive and thrive.¡± There was a round of nods, as they turned toward dessert and the conversation moved on. * * * Tala and Kedva stood with the Feshua family and the Zuccats together in the teleportation room, as Karsa readied herself to step into the prepared circle. The families had gotten closer over the last weeks as Master Simon had worked ever more with Adrill and Brandon, and Artia and Kedva had spent long evenings with Mistress Petra and Karsa within Kit. Tala had spent a bit of time with each group, but not nearly as much as they¡¯d spent together. At least that had been the pattern so far, Karsa was leaving, so she would no longer be a part of that group. And Tala would be leaving on another mission soon, so the families¡¯ time together would be on pause for that trip. There really do seem to be more cells coming to our notice than expected¡­ -Focus, Tala.- Right! Karsa was going around giving goodbye hugs. Those to the Feshua family were friendly, those to her father, mother, brother, and sister were heartfelt and the girl had tears in her eyes when they were done. The hug she gave Tala was firm and full of warmth. ¡°Thank you for talking with me so much. I really feel a lot better about going with all that you told me.¡± ¡°I told you how terrible it was.¡± ¡°I know!¡± The girl giggled. ¡°And if you had such a terrible time and came out so well. I¡¯m sure to be alright.¡± Tala laughed at that. ¡°You¡¯ll do well, Karsa.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I am glad that my family is with you.¡± She smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll tell your siblings you miss them and are thinking of them.¡± ¡°Thank you, Karsa.¡± She then turned back toward the teleportation circle, hugging her mother and sister once again on the way to her place in the spellform. Everyone waved as the girl straightened her back and strode to her place. The Mages nervously looked to the Refined in their midst, but Tala simply smiled. She¡¯d already had a talk with them, telling them plainly, ¡°This is your task, not mine. I¡¯ll not interfere.¡± Still, the Mages had it drilled into them to defer to Refined or Paragons if they were present. Nonetheless, they were professionals, and they did their jobs as such. A moment later, power pulsed through the room, the magics reaching up and seeming to tear the young girl apart to Tala¡¯s enhanced vision, exactly as expected, each piece being cast into the void to be caught by the receiving scripts at the Academy. Karsa was gone. Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva gasped, never having seen a true teleportation before. Artia smiled, leaning in, ¡°Just as I remember it, when my brother went off to the Academy. We should go visit him at some point. I think he was in Clevenhold, so it¡¯ll have to wait until after the waning.¡± Mistress Petra, Master Simon, and their two children bid the others a goodbye, the family taking a day to just be together after Karsa¡¯s departure. They¡¯d taken the previous day as well to spend with her. This day would help recement the family ties without the missing member present. It seemed odd to Tala, but she supposed they¡¯d done it quite a few times before with some success. So, who was she to argue with their methodology? Artia and Adrill headed back toward their shop, arm in arm, but Brandon and Kedva hesitated, looking around the domed room. Tala walked over, feeling a pull to talk with them, ¡°Hey, are you two alright?¡± The two startled but turned her way with smiles. It was Kedva who answered, ¡°Oh, we¡¯re fine, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala looked toward the spellform that was actively being refilled with precious metals. Thinking about what could have been? -Possibly.- She frowned for a moment, before making a decision. With a firm nod, she smiled, ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go to lunch. My treat.¡± Chapter: 351 - Aye, Eye Tala looked up at the wall of the cell antechamber, barely illuminated by flickering flames. The light was reflecting from where their assigned Paragon was working. ¡°What the rust is that?¡± There was a creature depicted on the wall, faded and seemingly translucent by intention as well as time. The effect was likely meant to depict the beast as insubstantial, or an illusion, or something like that. But that wasn¡¯t what had her confused. ¡°It looks like a hydra, but with eyes instead of heads, and someone has been fighting it who doesn¡¯t get the concept.¡± In essence, the creature¡¯s exterior was covered with eyestalks. The only exceptions were a singular, central eye on its body, its four little legs, and a disproportionately large, fang-filled mouth around the region that Tala would have expected a heart. Master Limmestare was walking by, and he lifted his face from his book. ¡°It¡¯s an eyedra.¡± She turned on him, disbelief obvious in her response, ¡°No.¡± But he was already reading once again. Even so, his slightly shaking shoulders were betraying stifled laughter. Tala turned toward Master Clevnis, not trusting the other Refined at the moment. ¡°What is this called, Master Clevnis?¡± The man looked toward his wife before looking back and shrugging. ¡°She always calls things in that classification, ¡®Don¡¯t cut that.¡¯ So, it¡¯s a don¡¯t-cut-that, I suppose.¡± He was worse at hiding his humor, so Tala rolled her eyes and turned to Mistress Cerna, ¡°Mistress Cerna?¡± ¡°I mean, he¡¯s not wrong?¡± She was grinning openly. Tala¡¯s mouth formed a compressed line. ¡°Please, Mistress Cerna. What¡¯s it called?¡± The co-leader for their unit shrugged. ¡°Uncomfortable Eye Contact.¡± Tala grimaced and shook her head. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll go ask someone more reasonable.¡± She walked through the almost maze-like corridors until she found Mistress Vanga. ¡°Mistress Vanga, have you seen the depictions of the beast held in this cell?¡± The woman looked up from her Archive tablet. ¡°Hmm? Oh, yes.¡± ¡°What is it called?¡± The healer smiled, ¡°Well, I¡¯ve always thought of it as the 20/20/20/20/20/20/20¡ª¡± Tala threw up her hands, turning and walking away as Mistress Vanga continued, a massive smile across the healer¡¯s face. Tala found Master Girt a minute later and skipped the preamble to simply ask, ¡°What¡¯s this creature called?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± He had been shaping a stone chunk into a mimicry of the thing depicted on the walls. ¡°Not sure, but I¡¯d call it the ¡®unfair-seeker.¡¯¡± Tala frowned, not understanding. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know, if you¡¯re playing hide and seek, this thing would have an insane advantage.¡± Alat burst out laughing within Tala¡¯s head. Do you know what it¡¯s called? -Oh, absolutely not. The book containing that is still sealed. I think this is a god-beast, or near enough.- Great¡­ ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t know what it is?¡± Master Girt shrugged. ¡°At the level we think this thing is, beasts are too unique to have specific names for the species. I like my name though.¡± Tala sighed, turning to go find the Paragon. ¡°Thanks anyways.¡± For nothing, she added within her own mind. She knew they were probably messing with her, but it was becoming a burning question. She really wanted to know what it was called. Her mirrored perspective caught the Refined behind her break out in a broad grin. Tala narrowed her eyes but didn¡¯t turn around. I knew that they were messing with me. -That¡¯s likely.- No matter. Mistress Suile would know. The woman was back near the entrance, reading a large slab in a dead language. Two balls of dichotomous fire floating beside her, one over each shoulder. The fire was dichotomous because it was at once blindingly white, and dim enough to look at without damaging even mundane eyes. Tala felt like the blinking brilliance had to do with something deeper than luminescence, color, or intensity. It was nice and warm, cutting the winter chill from the air. Though, to be fair none of them were in danger of becoming too cold, not with the relatively mild winter they¡¯d been having so far. Regardless, theorizing about the woman¡¯s magic was not why Tala had sought her out. The writing being in a dead language said a lot about the cell. This was one of the cells that had been around for a long time. That meant they¡¯d put in the extra effort to keep it sealed even longer than usual before the first required repair. Obviously, many things would contribute to when a cell degraded, otherwise there would be regularity to their need of maintenance, but bad luck¡ªor some other confluence¡ªhad made this waning an insanely concentrated time for such. But that was also beside the point. The Paragon who¡¯d come with them for this cell was examining the script, and Tala had a question. ¡°Pardon me, Mistress Suile, but do you know what this creature would be called?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± She glanced toward Tala. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I haven¡¯t laid eyes on the depictions yet, so I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll get to them once I¡¯m done, here.¡± Tala felt her face twitch. It was just an¡­ unfortunate choice of words, Tala. Don¡¯t get frustrated. Tala took a deep breath, calming herself for a moment. Finally, she nodded and asked, ¡°Is there anything in the text on what it might be called?¡± Mistress Suile grunted, not looking away from the ancient words. ¡°As a species? Not really. Individually, it is referred to as the ¡®Seer of Dreams,¡¯ but that could be a bit of an oddity in the translation.¡± She took on a bit of a lecturing tone. ¡°You see, the culture that this language came from seemed to think that dreams were a look into the infinite. Additionally, they saw all those who had eyes as those who could see. Thus, their word for ¡®seer¡¯ is the same as for ¡®one with eyes.¡¯ Together, that means an equally valid translation could be ¡®one with infinite eyes.¡¯ It¡¯s really rather fascinating.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Thank you any¡­ ways.¡± She narrowed her eyes as she trailed off, seeing the side of the woman¡¯s mouth twitch. ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Mistress Suile grinned, then tried to suppress the smile, failing utterly. Finally, she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry; I ruined it.¡± Tala threw up her hands. ¡°What is the thing¡¯s name, then?¡± ¡°I truly don¡¯t know, but your unit asked me to put forward a silly one, if you asked me.¡± ¡°How, under the stars, did they know I would ask?¡± Mistress Suile shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s an incredibly odd beastie. It¡¯s quite reasonable for anyone to ask about what it¡¯s called. It is referred to as Lord of Dreams, Seer of Dreams, and things like that. I just made up the dual translation bit.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So, it has magic relating to dreams?¡± ¡°It seems likely, though it might be more closely understood as drawing power and sovereignty from dreams. Though, that is us imposing humanoid notions on beasts. Beast-gods don¡¯t really function as humans or arcanes do. Also, all of this is just from what I can tell so far, and the translation is a bit slow.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ve only been here, what? Two hours?¡± -Just under, but yes.- ¡°Yeah, two hours or so. We have time.¡± Tala smiled at the Paragon. Mistress Suile smiled in return. ¡°Quite true. I¡¯m not in a hurry. We¡¯ll do this right and keep this god-beast contained.¡± Tala hesitated at that. It was the second time that Paragon had mentioned those things. ¡°So, it is a god-beast?¡± ¡°It seems very likely. From what I have gathered, as it drew power and authority from dreams, it was drawn toward human and arcane civilization, greater concentrations of dreaming beings being too tempting a target to ignore.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She winced, and Mistress Suile smiled. ¡°I mean, I can understand that.¡± ¡°As it stands now, I don¡¯t have any actionable information, so I¡¯ll get back to work.¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± Tala bowed. ¡°Thank you for your time.¡± As frustrated as she was, thinking about them playing with her over the name, she felt herself smiling just a bit at their antics. I am glad to be a part of this unit. Her smile grew as she went back to her own investigations. * * * Mistress Suile was rather faster than some of their previous Paragons had been, finishing her analysis and consultations in just two days. They still didn¡¯t have a name for the beast¡¯s kind, but the Paragon confirmed that it was regarded as the Beast-god of Dreams. Apparently, the creature had dominion over all dreams within its domain, but in order to achieve that, it was asleep and would never reawaken. In order to interact with the waking world, it could manifest creatures of nightmare, specifically the creatures depicted in the wall-paintings. No one had recorded what the beast-god itself looked like. The beasts¡ªmere figments of a god-beast or not¡ªwere deadly, easily rivaling Refined in power. Though, that was Mistress Suile¡¯s interpretation, not what had been recorded. Each eye was the origin of a magic attack, each of a differing type. What made them truly dangerous was that all the eyes could fire at once, but at very minimal power expenditure. Once the attacks landed, they acted as defense testers. Whichever magic seemed to have the best effect was immediately amplified to slam into their target, the ineffective magics cutting off to allow for the powerful strike. Thus, anyone they assaulted was peppered with more than a dozen lesser attacks before a vastly stronger version of the attack they were weakest to would follow. The attacks were too quick to dodge once they were activated. Obviously, if a Refined could anticipate where the beast would be aimed, she could dodge that, but that wasn¡¯t the same. Sadly, things like darkness or fog were useless. Unless it was a real, tangible barrier, the ocular attacks could penetrate with ease, and the main eye of each creature was endowed with some sort of vision that could see through illusion or other obscurement. Though, apparently the description had been something along the lines of: ¡®Since the beasts are imposed upon reality, only that which is most real can defeat their sight. Nothing temporary will blind or inhibit them.¡¯ The creatures¡¯ fangs carried a venom that acted upon any sapient mind, fundamentally rewiring it to put the affected creature into a permanent sleep within seconds of the injection. To add insult to injury, once the being was asleep, their body could be used as an additional puppet. And the final important piece of information was that, because all of the creatures were projections of one being, they all shared one mind, one purpose. Blessedly, in this case that seemed to mean that they were relatively connected autonomous beings, rather than acting as limbs on one beast. The individuals could be killed, but that would immediately let all the others know where the successful attacker was. All told, it was an incredibly powerful and annoying defensive swarm. On the positive side, there should only be a few to start with, and the unit didn¡¯t have to keep anything contained. The god-beast wouldn¡¯t be leaving; its manifestations couldn¡¯t move its body, and the very nature of its power kept it in place. In the case of a manifestation escaping, it would be destroyed when the cell was resealed. Thus, the only thing that the unit had to do was keep as many of the things from bothering Mistress Suile as possible. That sounds easy enough that things are sure to go sideways. -Yeah, that¡¯s all but guaranteed.- Once Tala had explained the situation, Terry had insisted on joining her, and the unit had been on board, given his abilities. The entrance to this cell had been sealed into one of the eyes of one of the myriad wall-carvings, and they all gathered around for Mistress Suile to begin the process. Of course, it¡¯s there. The passage began to open, and Master Clevnis spoke into the momentary silence, ¡°Eyes up everyone.¡± There was a round of chuckling. ¡°But seriously, we follow the plan. Remember to keep your sight lines clear.¡± More laughter. ¡°Don¡¯t let your eyes be bigger than our stomach. These will be hard beasts to swallow.¡± Master Girt added, ¡°Obliterate them with extreme prejudice. If we let them trade us an eye for an eye in there, we¡¯re going to come up short in a bad way.¡± Mistress Cerna shook her head, ¡°Stay focused, stay sharp, this whole thing will be done in the blink of an eye.¡± Master Limmestar grinned, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that they¡¯re going to be hard to surprise, those things have eyes in the back of their heads.¡± Mistress Vanga even got in on the fun. ¡°Even though they might be sapient, I doubt there will be peace. We just won¡¯t be able to see eye to eye.¡± Tala was chuckling along with everyone, and she was the last to speak, ¡°I see what you all are doing. Well, this mission is more than meets the eye. Let¡¯s be blindingly brilliant at our jobs.¡± -Not a bad effort.- Hush, you. I¡¯m trying. But it was time to be prepared. Her iron roiled into existence, covering her from head to toe, her white steel encasing that all under her scale mail hauberk. She relaxed a small part of her mind, and her through-spike activated, the illusion smiling at her near-subconscious direction. The resonance building within her enhanced all of her scripts, making her rise up on the balls of her feet in anticipation. Connection established? -Connection established.- Because these enemies could hear, and react, the unit had decided to have Alat coordinate through the Archive on this mission. With no further waiting, the entrance was fully open, and the unit stepped through, immediately coming out into a wide, stone-worked plaza. That was a shame, because if this was one of the tunnel-entrance cells, they¡¯d have had a convenient choke point. Sadly, that just wasn¡¯t meant to be. Instead, the entrance was set into a decorative wall of what might have once been a central governance building. The remainder of the building was lost to time, only this one wall being included in the prison cell. The open space before them seemed to have been designed for a large number of people to gather to hear from their leaders, and the square was surrounded by low buildings of well cut stone. The buildings were clearly ancient, though they were less abused by time than Tala might have expected. She supposed that was due to a lack of people physically interacting with them much. -And no animals or plants- Tala noticed it then. There were no plants that she could see anywhere. Nothing growing up through the paving stones, no gardens, no moss, nothing. There were even open patches of dirt that Tala now suspected had been gardens, but nothing living remained. There was nothing in the cell but cut stone and dust. Master Clevnis took command of the combat situation, drawing all of their attention back to the task at hand. His words came into Tala¡¯s mind, facilitated via Alat on the Refineds¡¯ own connections to the Archive. ¡°Plan Herding Cats.¡± The unit always had funny plan names when they let Master Limmestare choose them. Even so, the names were memorable and usually pretty explicative. Plan Herding Cats was exactly what it sounded like. They would be doing their utmost to herd the manifestations into a kill box, set up by Master Girt and manned by Master Limmestare and Tala. -I don¡¯t know if I should be disturbed that you think a plan called ¡®herding cats¡¯ obviously includes a kill box.- Hey, this is a plan to deal with enemies, so¡­ -Excuses, excuses.- Master Clevnis had wanted to be a part of the kill box team, but there was actually some legitimacy to the silly name he¡¯d given to the creatures. If one of their eye stalks was cut off, they would regrow twice as many as were severed, each new one coming with new magics to increase the effectiveness and breadth of the creature¡¯s arsenal. Thus, Master Clevnis was on harassment and herding duty rather than tasked with finishing them off. Terry had also indicated that he wanted to be on herding duty. Honestly, Tala almost pitied the monsters. They quickly assessed the terrain, and Master Girt pulled up stone, creating ramps away from them that would have sheer drops on the other side. He left open a single, relatively level path, then covered the ground through that path with hardened stone spikes. That¡ªbetween the defensive positions on either side¡ªwas their kill box. Tala and Master Limmestare took up positions on either side of that passage, sheltered behind machicolations that Master Girt had been sure to include in the defenses. The others took up their positions, their job simply to keep the enemy from breaching the walls and incentivize them to head toward the gap. The unit would change plans if the beasts were more intelligent or coordinated than they had planned for, but it was as good a strategy as any to start. As the first of the odd, purple-skinned beasts came into view, Tala felt her nervousness fade and her focus sharpen. This was her role. This was her unit. She knew what she had to do. Alright. Let¡¯s do this. Chapter: 352 - They See Tala barked a laugh as Terry flickered into being beside the closest beast, ripping off its stubby legs with a series of flickering strikes before retreating back to her shoulder. The eye-beast that had been delimbed plopped to the ground with an odd, squelching sound, even as all eight eye-stalks oriented on Tala and Terry, even behind the wall¡¯s crenellations. She was watching their enemy through her mirrored perspectives, which were out to the sides for better vantage. Do our defenses not count as permanent? Can they see straight through them? Whether that was the case or not, it seemed like at least this enemy was able to see her and Terry. Maybe they can see anyone who has hurt them? -It¡¯s a possibility. I¡¯ll notify others of the potential.- Eight tight lines of magic connected the eyes to their stone in an instant, most did absolutely nothing against Master Girt¡¯s heavily reinforced battlements. Even so, one degraded the rock an inch deep in less than half a second. The magics had punched through her aura faster than she could oppose them, leaving her utterly unable to deny them from working against her rock. She had never seen magic move quite that quickly. A blink later, seven attacks cut off, and Tala dove to the side, carrying Terry with her. Even as she dove, however, Terry flickered away. Behind her the entire wall-top defensive position, within which she had stood, vanished. Only then did she recognize the magic. Ending magic? She laughed, rolling to her feet, lifting her hand and flexing her will. Her metal rolled back from her hand just as the eye-beam swept sideways to intersect her flesh. Her aura resonated with her authority as she threw it forward. She had built up an incredibly potent resonance within herself, and now, with only one opening in her iron layer, the power that had been building within her shell was shunted out in that direction, most of it being the direct counter to ending magics. Her aura kept the power focused even when it wanted to blast outward in all directions, and together the magic and her aura held back the eye-blast for the moment that she needed. Beyond the mental flex to pull back the metal, she had altered the target of her amplified gravity on one scale, sending it cracking through the air to drive straight through the main central eye. The impact was such that the beast entirely burst, coating the surrounding buildings and street in purple blood that immediately began to evaporate, sizzling away the stone as it faded. A second after she¡¯d sprung to her feet, her metal rolled back over her hand, and she was encased once more. Master Girt¡ªwho was closely monitoring the walls with Alat¡¯s coordination¡ªreformed Tala¡¯s missing defense. While she was grateful for the stone protection¡¯s quick return, she and the entire unit took the previous destruction for the stark reminder that it was; these were powerful creatures. Based on what they¡¯d learned, with such an obvious counter demonstrated in Tala¡¯s defensive magics, no more beasts would be created, or grow new eye stalks, with that dissolution magic. That was frustrating as it meant that Tala wouldn¡¯t so easily defeat an attack again. It was good, however, because she was the only one on her team that would be likely to survive such an insane magical blast of that type. Tala reached out through Alat to her team. Being the first to take a direct hit, she had information to pass on, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a question of magical weight at all. I haven¡¯t seen anything like it since the arcane elite. The eye-beams lance in so quickly that we should expect to be subjected to direct magical effects. Don¡¯t assume that the attacks will be of the ¡®affect, direct, and forget¡¯ types like a fireball, windblade, or hurtled rock.¡± A chorus of ¡®understood¡¯s came back through Alat. Alat was really doing an amazing amount of work. Each of their unit-mates had given Alat explicit access to their Archive connections, and through that, Alat had been able to reach through their soulbonds to those connections to speak into their minds and hear thoughts specifically directed at her. No part of the system was really intended to work as they were using it, but none of it violated the purposes, or went against the intention, of the magics too much. -Speak for yourself. I¡¯m holding this together with spit and spider silk¡­ to be clear I mean mundane spider silk, not any of the overwhelming number of magical varieties.- Yeah, I understood that. Tala panned her focus across the creatures outside the wall and realized that she couldn¡¯t use a scale for every incoming enemy. She simply didn¡¯t have enough of them. Her quick count showed more than a hundred of the beasts within easy view. This has always been my weakness, Alat. Hordes of enemies. -Ahh, but your weakness was hordes of weak enemies. These are strong.- How is that better? -Better? No, no. This is worse. I¡¯m glad we aren¡¯t here alone.- As if to emphasize the point, seeming clouds of glass rolled across the near sections that she could see. Abrasive particles were thrown to drift across the eye-covered beasts, and immediately had a noticeable effect. Those that the clouds affected began thrashing and throwing magic around themselves randomly, clearly in pain and unable to comprehend where that pain was coming from. Master Limmestare would then use the distraction to disguise finishing attacks in many cases, mainly lances or blades of glass that pierced deeply through the main-eyes just as her scale had. Oh, rust. I¡¯m going to have a rather difficult time if I try to go get that scale. I don¡¯t want to leave any of the white metal, though¡­ -Yeah, use siege orbs going forward.- Agreed. A bit away from the clouds of glass-dust-thistles, Terry was demonstrating his prowess as he did a rather convincing impression of a living hurricane made out of blades. The beasts weren¡¯t particularly resilient, so their higher advancement wasn¡¯t an issue for the terror bird¡¯s talons and beak. He had been thoroughly warned not to cut off the tempting, tasty eye-stalks¡ªTerry had worked very hard to convey that that is how he viewed them¡ªand Tala trusted her friend. So, there wasn¡¯t a concern that he¡¯d render their enemy more dangerous with his frenzy of cuts and strikes. He also somehow had time to find and toss her one white steel scale back up to her. You are a wonder, Terry. Tala couldn¡¯t see what the others were doing, but she knew that Alat was helping them coordinate their efforts. Instead, Tala¡¯s focus was entirely on the opponents before her, as she began picking her shots. Whenever the monsters were even slightly clustered together, she used pairs of orbs, retargeted to each take out the whole bunch. The initial hit always took out one creature, and then the detonation would obliterate at least one more. Tala was using up her stock with surprising rapidity, though she had made a lot of siege orbs and had them ready-to-hand, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. She¡¯d even started making a larger variant¡­ no, that wasn¡¯t accurate. The end result was the same size, but she had started with a larger volume of air. No, this isn¡¯t the place to test a new tool. We¡¯ll use the Pillar-Topplers later. -I still hate that name.- As I¡¯ve said many times before: Noted. The faster-than-thought attacks couldn¡¯t effectively be opposed by aura supremacy, so the unit didn¡¯t waste the effort on establishing such. Blessedly, that didn¡¯t extend to being able to work deeply within a target Refined. Instead, the magics worked on the surface or just away from their targets, so it wasn¡¯t a contest of magical weight either. Together, it made the eye-magics an odd form of attack, unlike any that Tala had ever been subjected to. She and Master Limmestare were the easiest targets, and while Master Limmestare mainly used deflection and absorbing plates of glass-fibers, Tala took the hits almost head on. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Her iron covering was incredibly effective when she allowed it to work, causing her to pull her white steel covering back entirely, using the material to send supporting anchors through the wall below and behind her instead. Even so, the iron wasn¡¯t a perfect defense, even when layered and utilized in a type of active protection system and as purposely collapsable plates like she¡¯d practiced with Master Limmestare. Part of that was the fact that the magics tended to enact just away from her, or on the stone beside her, but the greater part was just how much force was in any given strike. The magics involved were specifically selected to best affect her given her particular defenses, after all. A concussive blast of some form of shredding magic struck her with the force of a cyclops¡¯ club, immediately flaying her, shoulders to navel, after punching through her elk leathers. She was pressed back against her supporting rods of magical white steel. She was kept in place by the counter bracing, but the distributed force cracked the wall all over again, and if not for Master Girt, that entire section of the structure would have fallen into a pile of rubble. Her iron¡ªthat had been wrapped around her torso¡ªwas splayed out behind her, stressed, stretched, and strained near to breaking as it barely hung on across her back and extending outward to either side. It made her look like she had horribly maimed, metal wings. Her flesh and iron were already reknitting, but her scale mail was ruined. The scales had survived virtually unscathed, but the underlying material hadn¡¯t held up for even an instant as the hostile magics had flowed through every little gap. Staying coated in the white steel would have been better for that attack. -And worse for the five before that. We can¡¯t know and effectively switch. Not at our level of proficiency, efficiency, and speed.- With blood in her teeth¡ªand blood-filled eyes¡ªTala oriented on the one who had attacked her so effectively. She could not let it hit her again. It was already falling, bisected cleanly by a wagon-sized Terry, who took an instant to make eye contact with her before flickering away once more. The message in his actions and gaze was clear, ¡®No one messes with my flock.¡¯ Tala took a precious moment to drop Kit to the ground where she expanded enough to let all the scales from Tala¡¯s mail fall inside, before returning to Tala¡¯s waist in the form of a pouch. The conflict continued at a frenetic pace as the Refined strove to kill as quickly as possible and the beasts drew closer and closer simply by virtue of numbers. The end result was, after just less than half an hour, Tala had killed hundreds of the beasts by Alat¡¯s count, and Tala had been torn, burned, frozen, slashed, ablated, stabbed, shocked, corroded, smashed, and severed uncounted times. Master Girt had rebuilt her section of the defense from little more than dust and gravel so many times that her blood was now thoroughly intermixed with the other materials. If she¡¯d been anyone else, that would have made the rock red, but of course, that wasn¡¯t how her blood worked anymore. In the last few minutes, every one of her siege orbs had ended at least four opponents apiece. The effectiveness and efficiency didn¡¯t change the fact that the tide had finally reached the walls. Tala had already extended her aura over the kill-box, making sure to allow her unit-mates¡¯ magic to act within her authority for when that mattered. She drew in a deep breath even as she took the last seconds before the first four-legged monster reached them to drive a row of a dozen iron spikes into the lower portion of the walls on either side of the twenty-foot corridor. She needed as much control and aura finesse as she could get for what was to come. Then, she exhaled, grabbing her breath-carried magics with her aura and dragging them down into the base of the kill-box. Her job beyond the walls was complete for now, and even as she continued to breathe out as much of her dissolution breath as possible with every exhale, she moved down to the inside edge of the kill-box. There, she reestablished her white steel anchors into the stone around and behind her. Then, she was ready. The first creatures were delayed by a great scything plate of glass, aimed low to keep from severing any eye-stalks. Master Limmestare was taking out massive sectors of the enemy with his eye-filling, deviously shaped, glass shards, and so he didn¡¯t have much finesse left to spend. The result was an attack worthy of giants. Unfortunately, the attackers seemed wise to the incoming attack, and they moved themselves in twisting, odd ways, jumping up or flattening themselves lower than seemed possible, so that only the eye-stalks were cut. Oh, rust. Less than a second later, they all rose up, twice as many eyes orienting on and firing toward Master Limmestare even as they poured toward and into the gap in the wall, into the kill-box. That might have been the man¡¯s end, but as the first row of monsters stepped down, their legs didn¡¯t catch them. Instead, Tala¡¯s carefully held dissolution magics obliterated their flesh, causing them to fall forward into the saturated space to puff entirely to dust. Master Limmestare took the slight lessening of incoming magic as an opportunity to reposition and focus outward. He wouldn¡¯t be as useful as they¡¯d hoped in the kill-box, but his magics were responsible for nearly eighty percent of the combat ineffective opponents outside their defenses, at least according to Alat. That was where he was needed. As for the monsters: Each successive rank of creatures fell to the same fate, barely progressing a few inches further down the path. The dissolution magic was expended even as Tala continued to exhale at the far end, her breath and aura taking the new magic where she wanted it to go. By the time the first two hundred had died, she was straining. By five hundred, she was sweating profusely as she fought to keep the magics from breaking apart the very air as they waited to act on the monsters. When so many had been turned to dust that¡ªpaying dozens for each inch gained¡ªthey had almost reached her, Tala knew it was time. ¡°Now, Master Girt!¡± Alat carried her message to the Refined at the speed of thought. Master Girt had known the tactic Tala was going to be using, so he¡¯d reinforced the sides of this passage specifically against the incoming result. That would keep the wall well intact. When she sent him the notification, Master Girt jerked a slab of stone up in front of Tala, carefully crafted to be concave on the enemy¡¯s side, while still being incredibly robust. Without hesitating, Tala relaxed her hold on her dissolution magics. The corridor¡ªfilled with dust so fine that it filled the space like a mist, hovering almost weightlessly¡ªignited in a concussive blast that would have staggered Tala even through Master Girt¡¯s stone if she weren¡¯t once again anchored in place. The explosion incinerated or threw every one of the tightly packed beasts from the kill-box with extreme effectiveness. Tala might have been concerned about ripping off eye-stalks with the attack, but fire would cauterize the wounds, if anything, and the force of the explosion should kill all the creatures affected, regardless. A moment later, the shaped slab of stone retracted, revealing an empty, smoking canyon of death. Let¡¯s do this again. She took a deep breath, filling the air in her lungs with magic before exhaling in a controlled manner. Control the terrain, control my breath. She readied siege orbs, a smile pulling at her lips despite her burgeoning fatigue. Fire and Ice. Mistress Deigh and Master Doitean would be proud. Tala began the cycle again, killing the first groups that came into view with her siege orbs, positioning the ice blasts to help create slowing terrain and give her unit more time to whittle down the never ending tide of nightmare manifestations. She saw more and more creatures with at least some eyes taken out by Master Limmestare¡¯s glass. Quite a few also had deep cuts in their torso or missing legs that slowed them down, showing Master Clevnis¡¯ contributions for all to see. From the side that Mistress Cerna was manning, the beasts came variously bent and broken, scorched or fried. It seemed that the Refined was still working out exactly what magics were most effective. Master Girt was working beneath the surface, quite literally. He made pitfalls full of stone spikes, broke up footing, and otherwise slowed the horde. Terry¡¯s contributions weren¡¯t as evident due to the mere fact that all those that he engaged were dead by the end of their brief engagement. After the fifth cycle of Tala fighting back the waves, filling the kill-box with dissolution magic, then igniting the resulting powdered beastie to clear the near-field, Terry flickered to her shoulder, clearly panting with exhaustion. More than exhaustion, Terry was injured. He was cradling one leg up against his chest, and there was blood already dripping down onto her shoulder. His feathers were mussed, quite a few were out of place, and there were several wounds elsewhere on his body. Tala was so startled that she stared open-mouthed at him for a long second before Alat snapped her back into focus. -I¡¯ve notified Mistress Vanga. Hopefully, Terry will let her heal him. His exhaustion makes sense, too. He¡¯s removed more from the battle than any save Master Limmestare. It¡¯s hard to compare, however, given that Master Limmestare isn¡¯t killing them.- Alat didn¡¯t mean that derisively at all, and Tala knew it. It had quickly become clear that without the glass Mage¡¯s clouds of micro glass-thistles they¡¯d likely have been overwhelmed right near the start. The point was that Terry had been incredibly effective in thinning their incoming opponents. Now, he was worn out. Honestly, they all were struggling. Alat let everyone know that Terry was at least temporarily out of commission. After the alternate interface had clarified that Terry wasn¡¯t mortally wounded, more exhausted, there was a series of acknowledgments and well-wishes. Mistress Vanga offered to come and heal the avian as soon as she could, and when Tala conveyed the sentiment, Terry reluctantly accepted. That dealt with, Tala scratched Terry¡¯s seemingly sleeping head and reoriented on the next cycle, the first eye-beasts coming into view of her position once again. Two cycles later, the cycles ended. The eye-beasts weren¡¯t that smart, but they¡¯d finally put together that the wall shouldn¡¯t be there, and it was an impediment to them. An unholy stillness came over the battlefield as every one of the monsters stopped, orienting on the wall. Their magics lanced out as one, stressing the wall but not threatening to break it just yet. Then as every creature selected its most effective magics, there was a zeme-shaking thrum. The magic throughout the entire cell trembled in resonance to the synchronized attack and the wall was utterly obliterated. Some sections were vaporized, some shattered, some turned to dust¡­ the results were as nuanced and numerous as the attackers. The final state of the wall, however, was not nuanced. The wall was gone, and they had an entirely different battle scenario to deal with. There was the briefest hesitation as it seemed like every part of their surroundings took in a collective breath. In the momentary pause, Tala saw the disposition of her entire unit. Master Girt collapsed beside Mistress Vanga, clearly having overextended himself trying to resist the attacks. He¡¯d failed to keep the wall intact, but his interference explained why none of the magics had broken through to create havoc beyond. That alone was incredibly impressive. Master Limmestare was held aloft by swirling torrents of glass, creating an incomprehensible maelstrom around the Refined. Master Clevnis was standing up from the crouch he¡¯d landed in, magical blades poised around him like a ready army, awaiting its general¡¯s command. Finally, Mistress Cerna was encased in what at first appeared to be a cage of precious metal, but on closer inspection was in fact many overlapping and intertwined spellforms, some powered, others awaiting the proper time. They were as ready as they could be. Mistress Suile¡¯s voice snapped out into the silence, ¡°Ten minutes. That¡¯s all I need.¡± Tala felt herself smile. This would be far from easy, but they could do this. Their unit¡¯s only response was from Master Clevnis, his voice equally strong in the fraction of a second before the roar of battle resumed. ¡°Understood.¡± Chapter: 353 - Break Tala was learning something about herself. As it turned out, she did not like fighting the eye-beasts, and they were especially annoying up close. Flow cut them well enough, but she was constantly under pressure from dozens of directions, the magic so thick that it was pushing her in an almost physical manner. Currently, both of her Leshkin shields, and her three defensive discs were glowing with absorbed power¡ªeach a different color¡ªas she did her best to move them with her aura, keeping them in place between herself and the given attacker. At the same time, she was striking down thing after thing. At close range, that was the only word that seemed to fit. They were things. Each eye stared with hollow emptiness, making the eye-beast seem more a conduit to a distracted mind than the physical form of a consciousness. They made no sound of pain. They didn¡¯t try to avoid injury if taking a blow would allow another of them to land a hit. They each acted with identical instincts and reactions. It was creepy. Tala was fulfilling her role within the unit, bodily keeping their enemies back as the others supported her. Still, more than half of the monsters that she came across were at least mostly blind due to Master Limmestare¡¯s efforts. The unit was in a relatively tight cluster near the exit, with less than a minute remaining before Mistress Suile could reseal this nightmarish wasteland. Terry had recovered enough in the last couple of minutes to help once again, but he hadn¡¯t come back to being fully combat effective, so while he would have been an immense help, they were saving him as an asset for their final retreat. They were also hoping that he would be a bit more recovered by that point. The avian had been in a bad enough way that he¡¯d allowed Mistress Vanga to offer him some healing, and that had been a big help to his recovery as well. He was on Tala¡¯s shoulder, shifting as she moved, and practically dancing from foot to foot as he waited for the signal that it was his time to shine once more. The beasts had enough magical weight that Tala couldn¡¯t draw them into the void within Flow, but Flow still cut them well enough, stealing iron even from their alien blood. With the stark reminder and near miss of Master Limmestare¡¯s massive glass blade, Tala was incredibly careful to keep her strikes confined to the beasts¡¯ torsos and legs. As the time needed to maintain the cell came to a close, Tala was punching and kicking as much as using Flow, just trying to maintain space. As she used her hands and feet for such percussive tasks, she controlled Flow using the ring around the top of its hilt between tossing it out and pulling it back. She only had a few more siege orbs, but she was holding those back until¡ª ¡°Now!¡± Master Clevnis¡¯s voice came into her head via Alat. Alat, targets! Tala tossed out her last handful of siege-orb pairs, targeting each of the sixteen highly compressed spheres at a different beast, far back into the mass of creatures, mentally chosen and highlighted by Alat. They were purposely evenly spread around the arc they were defending. Sixteen supersonic cracks staggered Tala backward, but much less than the orbs blasting outward staggered the eye-beasts. An instant later, she broke the workings and all sixteen exploded, throwing back even more of the creatures and leaving treacherous, frozen ground behind, littered with broken corpses. That was the signal for Terry, and the little terror bird became a not-so-little avian of destruction. Even with Tala¡¯s clearing action, and Terry¡¯s dervish of death, Tala still had to fight to retreat, her defenses awash in hostile power. She was the last to step back through the entrance of the cell, leaving only Terry within. Mistress Suile spoke sharply. ¡°Tell me when.¡± Tala glanced her way. ¡°Start now.¡± Then, Tala shouted, wrapping power through the words to make sure they carried, ¡°TERRY!¡± Existence began to warp, the cell closing. Terry flickered out onto Tala¡¯s shoulder, more of his feathers bent, broken, and smoking than not. Still, he didn¡¯t appear to have sustained any direct damage to his flesh in the short engagement. Despite their valiant efforts, three eye-beasts came through the closing gateway after Terry, even as the cell resealed. Blessedly, as they¡¯d been told to expect, as soon as existence sealed the cell, the creatures stiffened and collapsed, dissolving into an oddly sandy smoke, which filled the air with a cloying, harsh smell. They¡¯d done it. They¡¯d finished maintaining a cell that contained a beast-god. Everyone took a moment to just breathe, before Mistress Cerna cleared her throat. ¡°You all were fantastic, Master Limmestare. You kept the numbers manageable, and you, Tala and Terry, you two managed those numbers beyond expectation.¡± There was a round of agreement and smiles. ¡°Still,¡± the woman grimaced, ¡°that was awful. I¡¯m going to be putting in my report that there should be a minimum of three Paragons involved when they again work on this cell, unless the Refined are specifically chosen to counter those creatures.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that they were merely figment-manifestations of the prisoner.¡± Another round of agreement followed that. It was Mistress Suile who responded this time. ¡°Beast-gods are, often as not, lethal opponents for Sovereigns. It¡¯s only because the beast couldn¡¯t involve itself directly that we attempted this cell at all.¡± ¡°I can see why they trapped it, though. Imagine those things loose on the world, and anyone who falls asleep too close is suddenly a puppet, feeding power to a beast-god?¡± Master Limmestare shuddered, and Mistress Vanga grunted her agreement, a grimace on her face. Mistress Suile had sat down on a chair that she¡¯d presumably pulled from her own storage. ¡°We are finished here. We can go as soon as you are ready for the return journey.¡± Everyone exchanged looks, then turned to Tala. Mistress Cerna smiled questioningly, ¡°Dinner?¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°It is about time. Yeah. Let¡¯s eat before we go.¡± * * * Tala strode into the Gredial compound in the early morning hours, snow crunching underfoot, and beautifully roiling clouds overhead. A slight smile painted her features as she now knew that Rane would have been notified of her arrival. That does make things so much easier. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The big man met her at the front entrance to the main building, ¡°Tala? To what do I owe the pleasure, today? I didn¡¯t expect you back from the latest cell for another couple of days.¡± ¡°The cell went quicker than usual.¡± Still, she grimaced. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that pleasant, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to hear about it, if you¡¯re up for talking.¡± There was genuine interest across his features. Tala smiled; she had enjoyed regaling Rane with the stories of the various cells they¡¯d visited so far, both new and those needing a check-up or maintenance. ¡°I¡¯d like that, but I can¡¯t right now.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m heading out of Alefast. I¡¯m taking my first purposeful break from defensive duty.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± he repeated. Rane then seemed to think for a moment. ¡°You¡¯ve been here, working, for just about six and a half months, right?¡± She nodded, ¡°Exactly two hundred days¡­ So, yes. I promised to bring Lyn and Kannis to Alefast once I was established, and I feel like I¡¯d be coming close to breaking that promise if I wait much longer.¡± He shrugged and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s kind of you to tell me in person. I was looking forward to our next game when you got back, but it can wait until Lyn and Kannis are here, or after you¡¯ve taken them back if you prefer.¡± She frowned in confusion. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± It was his turn to be confused. ¡°You¡¯re leaving, right? We can¡¯t play tafl if you¡¯re not in Alefast.¡± He hesitated. ¡°Well, I suppose we could play through the Archive, but that¡¯s just not the same.¡± She shook her head, deciding to not waste time trying to understand what he was talking about. ¡°We¡¯re wasting daylight, Rane. Get your stuff.¡± He blinked at her, frowning. ¡°What?¡± She motioned toward the gates. ¡°We¡¯re leaving, and I want to get to Bandfast by tomorrow evening.¡± ¡°We?¡° Tala stiffened, suddenly feeling awkward and hesitant, ¡°Oh¡­ I mean¡­ you don¡¯t have to come. I just assumed¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°No! No, it¡¯s fine. Yeah, let me grab a few things, and let my mom know that I¡¯ll be gone for a few days.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll wait here.¡± Tala had still yet to meet Rane¡¯s parents, or really anyone else in his family. Truthfully, she preferred it that way. She wasn¡¯t sure how any people could have raised both Furgal and Rane, and with her own distaste for her own parents, she wasn¡¯t excited to add more people to her ¡®I now have to politely interact with you¡¯ list. Less than five minutes later, Rane was back. ¡°Let¡¯s go. My sister and aunt are in town, and they¡¯ve been wanting to meet you.¡± He glanced over his shoulder. ¡°If we don¡¯t go now, we¡¯ll be stuck here all day at the very least." ¡°Your sister?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ve not really met any of your siblings save¡­ does she take after you, or¡­?¡± She knew that his aunts and uncles were spread throughout the human cities, but she¡¯d not learned much more than that. Rane shrugged. ¡°She and I have always gotten along well enough, if not exactly well. Regardless, she¡¯s older, so I suppose you could say I took after her? Though, she went to the Academy like most of my siblings. At the moment, she¡¯s taking a break to reach toward Fusing.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tala glanced behind Rane. ¡°What does she do?¡± ¡°She and my aunt work for the Constructionist Guild.¡± Tala felt torn for a long moment before shaking her head. ¡°Maybe when we get back.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s completely up to you. Shall we?¡± Tala nodded, and without another word, the two turned and started to jog toward the northern gates of Alefast. * * * They were an hour outside of Alefast, running at a pace that Tala could keep for¡­ well, forever really, when Rane landed beside her from one of his arcing leaps. He waved a hand in her direction, so she slid to a stop, turning back toward him. ¡°Are you alright? Is this pace too much?¡± He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s good practice for me, honestly. I just wanted to check: You¡¯ve let Mistress Lyn and Kannis know we¡¯re coming, right? They¡¯re going to be ready to take a trip?¡± Tala hesitated. -I¡¯ll do that right now¡­ done.- ¡°Yes, yes I have.¡± Rane lifted an eyebrow. ¡°Did you just do it when I asked?¡± She grimaced. ¡°¡­Yes.¡± He laughed. ¡°That¡¯s fine. They¡¯ve got a day and a half before we arrive.¡± He bent his legs for another leap, his magic coiling beneath him, ready to impart kinetic energy. But he saw her hesitating and stood back up. ¡°Tala? Are you alright?¡± She nodded distractedly. ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s just that I should have thought about that. I only realized it was a good time for me, got permission from my unit leaders, and headed toward them. I didn¡¯t even consider if it would be a good time for them.¡± He shrugged. ¡°That can happen. I¡¯m sure it will be fine. Remember this and try to think of them more next time.¡± He smiled encouragingly. ¡°Come on. We want to be well on our way before we camp for the night.¡± Right; with Rane along, we¡¯ll need to do that. Alat¡¯s voice came into her head with an exasperated tone, -You factored that in, Tala. You weren¡¯t planning to arrive until tomorrow evening, and that gives you more than twelve hours for the long, winter night to pass.- Oh¡­ huh, that¡¯s true. She smiled and turned to get back up to speed. Rane bent and launched himself, his magics leaving the ground unaffected as he was simply imparted with motion upon himself, no backpressure required. He¡¯s right, he should be able to fly with that. He¡¯s only lacking a bit of control and greater throughput. -He¡¯s going to be incredibly mobile once he¡¯s Refined and has gotten used to the changes.- That¡¯s the truth. She began to run, being careful to not push off too hard and disrupt the landscape. They were both shaping their aura to mimic the form that Master Grediv had demonstrated for them. Tala was better at it than Rane, but they were also going much slower than Master Grediv had taken them upon his blue disc. They were also going slower than Tala¡¯s unit traveled, but her unit didn¡¯t much mind creating some magical resonance. Calling down arcane and magical creatures was a bonus, rather than a detraction, for the fully combat-ready unit, though they did try to keep it to a reasonable level. No one wanted to disturb some of the near god-beast creatures that were known to live deep within the mountains to their north. Though, those seem to be in hibernation of some sort. They¡¯d wake up one day, and Tala was not eager to be a contributor to that wakening. Rane''s leaps were really the next best thing to flying, with him only touching down every few hundred yards, depending on the terrain. He was constantly surrounded by a nimbus of power contained but not masked by his aura. What that meant in practice was that his power was easily visible to her magesight but did not stand out like a beacon on a hill would to her mundane vision. Tala, for her part, was mostly coated in iron, the main exception being her eyes so that she could practice unifying her voidsight, magesight, and mundane vision, rather than treating them as separate things. Her eyes were the best means of doing that practice she had been able to find. Aside from her eyes, she uncovered her mouth and ears to speak with Rane whenever they took a short break or paused to choose a specific direction of travel. They also had a short break for lunch, during which Tala began to talk about the Beast-god of Dreams and what she and her unit had faced within that cell. Rane was suitably impressed, asking a lot of questions, and talking through their tactics, successes and places for improvement. Terry came out of Kit every so often to flicker around through the surrounding hills and groves, but he never stayed out too long. He was still rather exhausted from his fighting against the eye-beasts. Rane called Terry over on one of the avian¡¯s outings, and Tala saw Rane speaking and the bird preening, though she couldn¡¯t hear the words. Terry had a bit more pep in his flicker after that, though he still didn¡¯t spend much time outside of Kit. All in all, they passed a pleasant day, passing through well-known countryside. When the sun began to set, they found a nice dell, sheltered by trees with the lower end of the small valley pointing to the east. The trees were old and large, their branches mostly bare for the winter, though some few leaves still clung on here and there. A little spring welled up near the top of the valley, just beside a short cliff, and the water flowed even through the snow, with a light mist of steam rising from the flow. A hot spring? She didn¡¯t remember such being marked on any map that she¡¯d seen. Though, it was a rather small one, without any pool to speak of. The little brook ran toward the east, exiting the small depression on that side, between the trees, making its way out into the wilderness, where it made an iceflow when the water¡¯s heat reached its end. Quite a few larger rocks were scattered about haphazardly, casting irregular shadows across the white and gray landscape. The snow bore many small animal tracks, and some larger prints, as expected from around such a ready source of water this time of year. All in all, it was a beautiful spot. Tala placed Kit down against a low stone face on the high side, and the sanctum spread out, exposing windows along with the entrance door, making the cliff suddenly look like a quaint¡ªif well appointed¡ªhouse, dug into the rock and stone. The windows were just that, so Tala was able to see into her own bedroom as well as the main dining room and one of the guest rooms. Hmm¡­ that¡¯s unideal. With that thought, and her desires directed toward Kit, the windows became opaque from the outside, though they were still obviously windows. Better. Thank you, Kit. She made sure to send her appreciation toward the cliff-house. The cliff-house, of course, did not respond. She stretched, looking toward Rane who was staring up at the clear sky, the last light of day fading from view and the stars beginning to be revealed. ¡°Rane?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± He glanced her way, his face still mostly pointing upward. ¡°It¡¯s looking to be a stunning night. I really am glad that it is clear on this side of the range.¡± They¡¯d passed through the cleft-pass early that morning, leaving the clouds behind, for the most part. It had made the day all the more picturesque. She smiled. ¡°So it is. Shall we grab dinner? We can finish discussing the cell.¡± He looked back up and nodded. ¡°I¡¯d like that. Can we eat out here?¡± Tala felt her smile growing. ¡°That sounds lovely.¡± Chapter: 354 - Charcoal and Ash Tala woke from her short sleep, a field of stars overhead, bracketed by winter-bare trees. She truly loved how little she had to sleep in recent days, even with the time doubled to allow Alat to remain cognizant at all times, Tala still required only about half the sleep she used to as a simple Mage. It was somewhere in the middle of the night, and she didn¡¯t much care exactly when. She was just content to enjoy the view. There was a steady breeze from the east that caused the trees to sway pleasantly and the snow to swirl lazily around her. She was splayed out on the snow, her magic-filled body not the least bit uncomfortable on the remnants of the powder. Rane had gone inside a couple of hours after dinner, taking one of the guest rooms within Kit for the night. In contrast, Terry had come out and was currently asleep, curled up on her sternum and lightly snoring. She felt a smile pulling at her lips as the little avian vibrated her ribs. It was an impressive feat, really, given how dense she was these days. I wonder if some of his true mass is coming through via resonance? Or¡­ wait. Does my being denser make vibration easier? -Could be. Regardless, he seems really comfortable.- Tala absently shifted one hand to rest on the little fluff ball, and Terry initially seemed to stiffen. Then, he relaxed further, almost seeming to flow to press more fully against her hand, causing Tala¡¯s smile to grow. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here, Terry.¡± He let out a sleepy, low chirp without otherwise reacting. Overhead, the stars were as clear as she¡¯d ever seen them. Part of that was the cool, clear crispness of the air overhead. It being a cloudless night certainly helped as well, as did the lack of any nearby city lights. She had always loved looking at the stars, though she didn¡¯t do it very often of late. Even now, her mind was filled with more existential questions than the beauty of what she was looking at. I do wonder if there are other humans out there. -All things considered, it¡¯s likely.- Yeah, but I don¡¯t just mean one, two, or even a handful of advanced Mages, wandering the empty eternity of the void. -You wonder if there are humans out there, civilizations, peoples like us, but utterly unlike us. Those who look as we do, but with motivations, lives, and hopes that would be entirely alien?- Yeah¡­ She sighed, her eyes gliding across the constellations. Now that she was fully awake¡ªand not planning on moving about anytime soon¡ªshe focused inward. She directed her attention to the swirling eddies within her magic around her gate, the power tumbling and roiling as it came through from the world beyond. With practiced control, she laced her will through that which was already hers. Her magic was easily filled with her impetus, and she slowed the rate of flow, extending her authority into each new bit of power that came out. She had never been able to extend any sort of control back through the gate. Any power she controlled¡ªand even her authority and will, itself¡ªeroded as it tried to cross that threshold, and those she¡¯d talked with had told her that such was to be expected. Even Paragons could not reach into the next world, and she was even more misaligned with existence, there, than a Paragon would be. Still, that wasn¡¯t her goal this night. She flexed her control to slow her inflow of power to a full stop. It had taken her a while to get the hang of doing so, but it hadn¡¯t been a very exciting process. Now, she effectively cut off her body from new magics. She still had plenty of power within herself. With the iron that wrapped her inscriptions and most of her body, she wasn¡¯t in danger of having her power fully dispersed any time soon. With the inner stillness, where usually there was a torrent, she was able to feel her gate like at no other time. There was a resonance to it, as if it was constantly emitting a long, pure tone. That note was something that Tala felt drawn to intrinsically, and she had to smile at that as much as the sound itself. Yes, I am drawn to the note of my soul. -It is beautiful, but incomplete.- Yeah, like the first chord of a song on an eternal scale. While that note was both calming and pleasing, Tala also felt an almost giddy anticipation for the next part of the song, and there was no doubt within her that the song would continue. Master Selek had encouraged her to feel the resonance of her gate¡ªof her soul¡ªand to allow it to grow in power within her. As she slowly stroked Terry¡¯s small, sleeping form, Tala felt her soul resonating powerfully toward the little avian. She¡¯d quickly learned that the resonance was incredibly strong when she was focused on Flow, or her elk leathers, or any of her bloodstars. That made sense to her because she was soulbound to each of those things. The strong reaction with Terry was also mirrored by what she could see in her voidsight; she and Terry were heavily connected by threads of reality. They were a flock, partners, friends. I wonder if we¡¯ll actually bond soon. She thought it would be soon in the scale of her life as it was now laid out before her, but she didn¡¯t think it would be soon in the scale of weeks, or even months. That was alright. She wasn¡¯t in a rush. She and Terry had decades before they had to make a choice, and she suspected that it would only be a few years before they would bond. A part of her felt some terror at the idea of letting such a connection form. Terry was an almost unbelievably powerful predator even without being a truly magical creature. A bond with Tala, a connection to her soul, would force him to advance through almost four stages. Truthfully, it probably wouldn¡¯t be too much of a change in ability, but it would grant him the magical weight to overcome even the few beings who had been able to stop his teleportation in the past. He would also most likely become much more resilient, as she knew that all arcanous and magical creatures had at least some power devoted toward that end, and if the bond went the way she hoped, he would become a true familiar to her, able to reform from her power if he were ever to be slain. Though, that would take a lot of power, even if it does work. She hoped that it wouldn¡¯t ever be necessary for that and so many other reasons besides. Truthfully, she knew that bit of fear was one of the reasons it wasn¡¯t time yet for them to bond. Unless they fully trusted each other, bonding could break them. It wasn¡¯t like the bond gained through marriage. Such a naturally occurring connection could grow and mature with time, drawing the bonded two into greater harmony as they grew in knowledge and understanding of one another. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. A magically stimulated and facilitated bond was of a different kind altogether. If and when she bound Terry to herself, it would be her soul that was the power behind the connection. The bond would be at full strength from the first moment, though they would have to figure out how to utilize all that the bond granted with time, study, and practice. Terry would have a lot to process through, both with the greater level of sapience he was likely to achieve and the higher level of power. It would be an experience very much like Refining, but with his memories being torn apart and rebuilt as well, rather than just his body. She was afraid that the creature that came out the other side of that would not be her Terry. That was yet another stumbling block to circumnavigate before they could bond. But all of that was in the future, the near future to be sure but the future nonetheless. In the now, the stars overhead had moved quite a bit since she woke and began her musings upon her own soul. As such, it wasn¡¯t surprising when she heard Kit¡¯s door swing open and Rane stepped out, his sandaled feet crunching on the crisp snow. Tala pet Terry one last time, feeling a growing resonance within her soul even as she released her hold and power cascaded through her gate once more. ¡°Good morning, Rane.¡± ¡°Good morning, Tala. Though, it¡¯s still rather early, isn¡¯t it?¡± She sat up, Terry almost unconsciously flickering to her shoulder as she did so. ¡°It is a bit, but we can get going whenever you¡¯re ready. Breakfast won¡¯t be ready until a bit after the sun rises.¡± Her eyes twinkled a little, ¡°Mistress Petra is making you breakfast fried chicken, I believe.¡± Rane grinned. ¡°You still have some of the meat attuned to my magics?¡± She nodded. ¡°My goodness. I¡¯ll savor every bite, then. You can¡¯t have too much more.¡± Tala was not going to disabuse him of that notion. ¡°Regardless, did you sleep well?¡± He nodded. ¡°I did, thank you. Those rooms are rather convenient.¡± ¡°That they are.¡± She stood and stretched carefully. Terry was probably awake, but she didn¡¯t want to disturb him more than necessary. The eastern wind tugged at her hair, filling her nostrils with the scents of cold mountaintops. Rane drew in a deep breath. His eye seemed to twitch at the smell, but he also seemed to enjoy it, regardless, ¡°That is a lovely breeze.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°It is. It¡¯s been rather steady from the east. There might be some weather coming in.¡± ¡°Could be.¡± He glanced back toward the short cliff on which Kit was still spread out. ¡°Right, let me get her.¡± Tala walked over and grabbed the edge of one window, pulling Kit from the cliff and into the form of a pouch that easily hung from her belt. Rane was stretching when she turned back toward him. One particular twisting stretch sent a series of cracks racing up his back. ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s the key.¡± She laughed. ¡°Feel better?¡± ¡°Absolutely, let¡¯s¡ª¡± He cut off abruptly as the wind briefly¡ªand for the first time in hours¡ªcame from the west in one brief gust, carrying with it the unmistakable smell of fresh charcoal and ash. Terry lifted his head and looked to the west. There were also what seemed to be the incredibly faint sounds of conflict, mixed with yips and howls. The earlier strong breeze had been carrying the sounds away in such a manner that even Tala¡¯s enhanced hearing hadn¡¯t picked anything up. More than even that, though, Tala found a surprise. The magic carried on the wind was a mixed, chaotic jumble, easily identifiable as being from arcanous beasts and humans alike. That shocked Tala as she¡¯d never really been able to sense such a thing before. I still haven¡¯t really flexed all areas of my magic since becoming Refined, have I¡­ Now was hardly the time for ruminations, however. She looked to Rane, and he nodded once, ¡°Go. I¡¯ll follow as close behind as I can.¡± Without waiting for anything further, Tala took off at her best speed, leaving large circular depressions in the snow and underlying soil as she threw herself toward where she guessed the smell and magic had come from. Terry flickered through the woods in a parallel track, before squawking at her. Tala opened Kit. ¡°Get in! If we¡¯re coming into a battle with humans on one side, I don¡¯t want you being mistaken as an enemy.¡± Terry squawked again and vanished. The wind had, unhelpfully, shifted back to blow from the east, once again hiding all signs of a conflict. -I¡¯m querying the Caravanner¡¯s Guild for the locations and make-up of their caravans in the area, but we don¡¯t have instant access.- Thank you, Alat. Tala pulled to a stop, bunching her legs beneath her before enhancing her surface area scripts as well as her physical strength. At the last moment, she reduced her gravity to near zero even as she launched herself upward. She shot high into the sky, arcing forward in the direction she believed the fire to be. She had been off a bit to the north, but from her high vantage point she could see the intermittent glow of massive fires. Her mirrored perspective saw Rane below and behind her, looking in her direction. She gestured overtly toward the fires, hoping he would see her, and by the direction of his next jump he had. Tala let her gravity return, and she plummeted back into the barren forest. As soon as her feet touched down, she turned and sprinted straight toward the fire, Alat helping to ensure that she didn¡¯t get turned around, or even nudged off course, by more frequent trees that she had to circumnavigate. She thought she detected Rane traveling through the woods a bit to her left, but she didn¡¯t take the time to be certain or to meet up with him. Instead, she put on a burst of even more speed, using every trick she had including feathering her weight and mass and amplifying her various scripts at critical times. She wanted to ignore her magical resonance, aside from holding her aura in the shape Master Grediv had taught her. Instead, she kept her speed slow enough to keep from making the situation worse for those she was going to help. Alright. I am probably going into battle, I need to be armored up and ready. Her two shields flew out of Kit and three defensive discs lifted from their holster on the back of her belt, dodging the trees even more effectively than she did. Her iron sealed the last opening, encasing Kit as well, and Tala focused her mind onto her mirrored perspectives. White steel welled up and covered her head to toe overtop of the iron. She hadn¡¯t had time to repair her scale mail hauberk, so that was out for whatever conflict awaited her. This will have to do. -I got a response and authorization. This is likely a caravan bound for Alefast, two hundred passengers, three Mage Protectors and a Dimensional Mage. No Archons, but two magelings are along for the trip with their masters. Sixty guardsmen. Large payload of trade goods. Twenty wagons with drivers.- Alat passed through a few more details, but Tala wasn¡¯t focused on the particulars. Regardless, she acknowledged the information gratefully even as she burst from the trees into the wide clearing and leapt almost straight up. Iron spikes shot from her, embedding into the ground even as her aura rolled outward, using each spike as an anchor and multiplier to gain and control more territory. She cut her own gravity as she reached the apex of her jump and hung there in the sky over the scorched caravan. She brought one defensive disc to float beneath her feet in case some unknown assailant got close enough to strike. The other two circled above her head, watchful for dangers from above. Her two repurposed, Leshkin tower-shields hovered, one to each side, ready to close the four-foot gap between them if she felt she needed the added layer of defense. But her mind wasn¡¯t really on her own preparations; those were all but instinctive. Instead, she was doing her utmost to take in the situation as quickly as she could. Three wagons were aflame along with more than a dozen trees in the surroundings. There were more than a hundred dead burn-wolves among the defensive ring of wheeled wood, and she caught hints of more slinking away into the darkness, seeming to already have been retreating when she arrived. There were more than twenty wounded guards, and several of those on the ground were unmoving. The three Mage Protectors were equidistant around the circle, each atop a wagon. One had her mageling at her side, but there was no sign of the Dimensional Mage or the other mageling. Tala was careful to keep her aura away from every human she sensed, but she still blanketed the entire clearing in which the humans sheltered. Her iron spikes swept around the outside of the circle in a wave, carried and positioned by her will and her iron control of her aura. Each one drove into the ground with a puff of snow, spaced as close to three feet apart as she could manage in an arcing, staggered grid. While many focused on her, it was obvious that at least some of the guards and one of the Mages were watching the iron spikes surround them. There were no living wolves that she could see within the circle of wagons, so it seemed that the threat had been handled, though not without cost. Even as she watched, guards and wagon drivers were putting out the three wagons, despite the occasional hasty glance thrown her way. I wish I had a way of putting those out, but I¡¯d do more harm than good from up here. She would drop down soon enough and help how she could. For the moment, however, Tala drifted slowly, her forward momentum not fully mitigated by her attempt to jump straight up. The Mages had all oriented on her, and they were obviously in states of extreme stress. One was swaying on his feet from overexertion, and the other two seemed to almost be trembling to Tala¡¯s enhanced sight. The mageling practically squeaked before hiding behind her master. In that moment, Rane burst from the trees, staggering slightly as he entered her aura unexpectedly. Tala purposely made allowance for him and the other magic-wielders, should they enter or wish to use their magic within, so it wasn¡¯t a large burden on him. More than anything, it would have been like a blast of hot air when he¡¯d been expecting a cool breeze. Not damaging, but definitely startling. Rane took in the scene almost as quickly as Tala had, then he looked up toward her. He had a tension across his features as he called up to her, ¡°Tala. The threat is gone for the moment.¡± She nodded, opening a slit for herself to speak. ¡°That is my assessment.¡± He hesitated, scratching the back of his head. ¡°Come down, then? I think¡­¡± He lowered his voice until only she should be able to hear him. ¡°I think you¡¯re scaring them.¡± Tala looked again at those whose eyes were locked onto her: Mage, mageling, and mundane. The guards were clutching weapons with white knuckles. Mages held their most potent spells ready to cast. She hadn¡¯t really considered that before because they wouldn¡¯t really be a threat to her, even if she weren¡¯t sheathed in iron. Oh¡­ Chapter: 355 - The Pack Tala¡¯s metal sunk back into the dimensions of magic, revealing her to be the human she was. Alat¡­ I don¡¯t actually know what to say, here¡­ Alat sighed. -Fine. Just speak the words I feed you.- Thank you. Tala filled her voice with power so that it would carry even as she spoke softly, calmly, ¡°Peace, travelers. I am a Defender from Alefast and detected your struggle. We are here to help.¡± That was¡­ a bit flowery? -They expect the powerful to be verbose. If you don¡¯t like it, think of your own speech next time.- Fair enough. Tala felt herself smile, Alat¡¯s antics, yet again, relieving some of her stress. A collective exhalation rippled through those present as quite a few seemed to actually recognize her from her few recorded clashes, now that she¡¯d given them context in which to place her. One of the Mages turned and expended her power at the burning wagons, a wave of ice extinguishing the blaze in a moment. The clearing was still cast in a ruddy light from the burning trees that surrounded the caravan, but none were close enough to be a threat. The forest, as a whole, did not seem in danger of catching fire, so that could be addressed later, if it didn¡¯t sort itself out. Several guards collapsed from exhaustion and released tension, even as Tala returned her gravity to normal and dropped to the ground. Her shields were taller than she was, and she drew them in to protect her from behind, like a hinged open circle of defense, leaving her discs to float overhead in a defensive pattern against potential attacks from above. Rane chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to make an entrance.¡± He looked at the iron spikes in the ground nearest him. ¡°Do you want us to pull those?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No. I can get them when needed, but I think we¡¯ll be giving them a rest for the remainder of the night, and my spikes will make that prospect easier.¡± Rane nodded slowly in agreement. Tala took in the corpses of the wolves, and the injured guards, and gave Rane a careful look. ¡°Are you going to be alright?¡± Rane stiffened slightly. He had been taught the importance of taking the defense of others upon himself when he was quite young, and that lesson had cost the lives of a family that he¡¯d been sent to protect. They had died to burn wolves. ¡°I forgot that you knew that story.¡± ¡°At least a part of it.¡± He looked down, closing his eyes for a moment before nodding and turning his eyes onto her. ¡°I will be alright.¡± He smiled kindly, then. ¡°Thank you.¡± She felt a smile grow across her face in return. ¡°Of course.¡± One of the Mage Protectors, not the one with a mageling, had climbed hurriedly down, and was quickly walking their way. Tala smiled, ¡°Shall we introduce ourselves?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Sure, but I think our first impressions are already well and truly taken care of.¡± She only hesitated for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yeah¡­ I may have gone a bit overboard.¡± He chuckled in return. ¡°I think it will be fine.¡± Together, they turned and waited patiently in the snow, outside the circle of wagons, as that one Mage Protector quickly strode over their way. As she waited, she moved her bloodstars outward and upward to keep full watch on the situation. She could somewhat see when things entered her aura, but it wasn¡¯t the same as true perception. Instead, it was more akin to feeling a needle trailing along the back of her arm. Sure, she knew something was there, but she couldn¡¯t have said exactly where, or exactly what. Master Akra had said that it could be more detailed, but that was the work of centuries of practice. She had, of course, started the training, but had yet to see any results, as expected. Her focus was pulled back when the Mage stopped a few paces away. He bowed deeply to Tala, then to Rane, though he still seemed on edge. ¡°Mistress Tala, Master¡­?¡± ¡°Rane,¡± Rane offered. ¡°Master Rane. Thank you for coming to our aid. We have endured four waves of burn wolves. I have never seen them this agitated before, but this seems like the work of several of the large packs working in concert.¡± The large packs generally survived off the massive herds of thunder bulls and didn¡¯t come into this smaller plain nestled within the mountains between Bandfast and Alefast, waning. ¡°We fear that we won¡¯t survive a fifth wave, if they return.¡± Tala exchanged a look with Rane, who shrugged. She smiled as she looked back to the Mage. ¡°I apologize, I didn¡¯t get your name.¡± ¡°Oh! Cardav, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Well, Master Cardav, we¡¯d be honored to offer our protection for the remainder of the night. That should let you all get some much needed rest.¡± Master Cardav nodded, pulling out an Archive slate. ¡°That is an incredibly kind offer, Mistress, and I mean no offense, but would you mind confirming your identity?¡± -It is protocol.- Really? -Yeah.- Huh. I suppose that makes sense. I suppose Mistress Odera handled that in the past. -She did.- Tala smiled, reaching out and pressing her thumb to the slate before allowing it a look at her magic and aura. There was a soft chime, and the slate turned green. Master Cardav visibly relaxed, and the few guards nearby did as well, sheathing weapons that had still been drawn. -Some wolves are approaching the eastern side¡­here.- Tala immediately saw where the three were coming from and where she was in relation to them. Subtle reassurance or the hammer? -You outweigh the beastie, we can¡¯t do a full crush without burning a ring, but we can get the same effect in a few seconds, with focus. We could be showy, if that¡¯s what you want.- Tala thought for a moment, then grimaced, causing Master Cardav to hesitate. No. No showing off. She smiled at the clearly battle-stressed Mage, ¡°My apologies, one moment.¡± Tala focused, and when the lead wolf tentatively crossed into her aura, she used her aura to jerk the nearest iron spike out, shifted Flow¡¯s cutting magics to the leading edge of the spike, and drove it up under the wolf¡¯s jaw and into its brain. The action was so quick, the affected wolf didn¡¯t even have the time to whimper. The other two wolves¡ªwho had been a bit behind¡ªyelped, leaping backward. The wolves¡¯ yelps were heard through the whole caravan, causing weapons to come free of scabbards and hangers. Master Cardav¡¯s eyes widened, and he started to turn, but Tala held up her hand, returning her focus to the man before her. ¡°I apologize for the disturbance, but I needed to send a message. I do believe it has been received, though.¡± She could feel the entirety of the lead burn wolf¡¯s iron come under her sway as it died by her action, and she pulled it from the thing¡¯s body. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. She retracted her iron spike as well, reshaping it and replacing it in its place in the earth. To be sure the wolves understood the new way of things, she purposely thickened and saturated the external edge of her aura, effectively making a sort of shell. In doing so, she once again leaned on the teachings of Master Akra to so modulate her aura. The Mages in the caravan sensed something change, but they likely wouldn¡¯t actually know what it was. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Master Cardav, how about I meet with you and the other Protectors while Mistress Tala ensures our safety?¡± The man nodded emphatically and allowed Rane to lead him away. Tala almost opened Kit to ask if Terry wanted to hunt some wolves, but then she realized that he¡¯d be disadvantaged against enemies who radiated heat and whose very flesh and blood could burn non-flame aspected enemies. I really need to improve Terry''s survivability. -Well, it was implied that him bonding with you could make him immortal, at least as long as you stayed alive.- Tala frowned for a brief instant. They did say ¡®possibly.¡¯ I really don¡¯t want to rely on that, even if it is possible. -But worth looking into?- Absolutely. -Oh¡­ What?- Tala immediately saw it too, and she launched herself about a quarter of the way around the circumference of the caravan to slide to a stop within her own aura. As she sent up a plume of snow, she locked eyes with a pair of massive eyes. A wolf of extreme proportions was crouched in the dark of the trees, a hundred feet back into the woods. It was not a burn wolf. It also, somehow, for some reason, didn¡¯t immediately attack Tala. Tala¡¯s various sights took in the creature¡¯s aura. Where human auras¡ªand even arcane¡ªwere manifestations of their advancement with hints of their specific magic, this beast seemed to have that relationship reversed. She could see it was a maelstrom of magics, tightly controlled around its physical body, and she thought she could detect the smallest hint of a yellow-level advancement¡­ maybe. On a hunch, she opened her pouch, ¡°Terry.¡± He didn¡¯t come out immediately, but something told her that he heard her call and that he was listening. The ground vibrated, the trees swayed, and snow puffed up as a voice filled the air. ¡°A human with bite.¡± There was a deep rumbling growl along with the word ¡®bite.¡¯ ¡°How interesting.¡± Tala heard Rane¡¯s gasp, and he sprinted her way. Tala didn¡¯t back down, but she also didn¡¯t attack, not yet. ¡°Why have you attacked these humans?¡± ¡°I was¡±¡ªthe great wolf growled deeply, almost as if taking the time to choose the right word¡ª¡°testing these packs. The others of your kind were sufficient to test my weak brethren without breaking the teeth of the packs.¡± She raised an eyebrow, ¡°Many wolves died.¡± ¡°The weak.¡± It almost seemed like the wolf shrugged. ¡°The weak always die.¡± Rane slid to a stop beside Tala. To her surprise, he gave a shallow bow toward the wolf, ¡°Chosen of Anatalis, greetings. For what reason have you left your Alpha¡¯s northern holds?¡± Anatalis? The wolf of myth? -As the Leshkin are the ¡®mythic demons¡¯ of the southern wood?- Oh¡­ yeah¡­ The wolf gave a pleased rumble, ¡°Ahh, you know the Alpha.¡± ¡°I have not known his scent, but I have heard of his deeds.¡± There was a rumbling, rolling growl that shook some of the little remaining snow free from the nearby trees. It took Tala a moment to realize that the sound was laughter. ¡°Had you known his scent, he would know your taste, pup.¡± Rane bared his teeth in a purposely rictus smile, ¡°The honor of the Pack has grown sparse, if one such as he would attack a pup.¡± Tala was surprised at Rane¡¯s tact, but he clearly had some understanding of what was going on, so she let him take the lead. The wolf growled, seeming more angry. ¡°You doubt the Pack¡¯s honor?¡± He shook his head once. ¡°I merely trust your words.¡± The growling cut off, and the wolf tilted its head to one side. ¡°As you say.¡± The head dipped in what seemed to be an approximation of a bow. ¡°I spoke in haste and without thought. Will you interfere with my trial?¡± No apologies, I suppose. -Well, it admitted fault which is more than I¡¯d have expected.- That¡¯s fair. Rane was still focused on the wolf, even if he didn¡¯t directly answer its question, ¡°Does your trial require assaulting this caravan?¡± Once again, the wolf paused. Finally, it stood, its eyes rising to nearly half again Tala¡¯s height. ¡°I suppose it does not. No.¡± Rane nodded, seemingly carefully keeping his lips over his teeth, ¡°Then we have no need to interfere.¡± The wolf chuffed with a softer laugh. ¡°Find me when your fangs are properly sharpened, little pup. Maybe you and your packmate will be a fun challenge.¡± Without another rumbling word, the wolf turned and withdrew on huge, silent paws. Rane leaned over to Tala. ¡°Did you get a good look at its aura?¡± Tala felt herself nodding. Alat had been doing her best to analyze what they were seeing throughout the short exchange. ¡°I think¡­ her aura? We¡¯re still parsing what I sensed.¡± He nodded. ¡°Good. If we run into her again, she will expect us to recognize her.¡± Tala frowned, ¡°She didn¡¯t give us her name.¡± He shook his head, smiling, ¡°She won¡¯t have one, not in the way you and I do. Her aura is effectively her name. It is unique, and the only thing that can truly encapsulate a member of The Pack. Aside from the Alpha, they don¡¯t need to refer to each other when apart, so our type of name isn¡¯t useful.¡± Tala turned to regard him. ¡°Do you want to explain what this was?¡± Rane nodded. ¡°I should start the explanation with the Mages as well. There shouldn¡¯t be further trouble from wolves tonight, but we should keep a careful eye out.¡± ¡°Oh, I will.¡± With the immediate threat seemingly dealt with, her shields and discs returned to their respective holsters and storage locations. Keep a close eye out? -Oh, I will.- A few minutes later, Tala, Rane, the three Mage Protectors, and singular mageling sat in a circle at one of the caravan¡¯s travel tables. Tala felt a bit nostalgic taking that seat, even more so when Terry flickered to her shoulder from the still open pouch at her waist and headbutted her cheek in a way that made her instantly aware that he wanted jerky. Tala obliged. Rane cleared his throat, garnering everyone¡¯s attention, ¡°So, your caravan was attacked as part of a test.¡± The three Mage Protectors exchanged looks, but it was the mageling, surprisingly, who spoke up, her overawe seemingly helping her overcome the difference in advancement, and any social awkwardness, ¡°Why would wolves want to test us?¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°I apologize; I should have been more clear. The test was for the wolves, though I suspect that humanity was being tested as well. We are cycling up into the northern woods, and that always puts pressure on the wolves of the northern forest and plains. The¡±¡ªhe gave Tala a meaningful glance, emphasizing that he was leaving some things out¡ª¡°leader of those wolves has no enmity for humanity, but he also has no love for us. You should report this when you reach your destination. Please give as much detail as you can. I apologize, but there really isn¡¯t much more that I can tell you.¡± The Mages shared more looks, but nodded, giving shallow bows toward Rane and Tala. ¡°Thank you for your assistance.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Of course. You all should rest in order to be at full strength tomorrow.¡± They thanked her and bid them goodnight. Once they were gone, Tala formed an iron spike, and drove it through one of the benches, shattering a working that had been crafted and left behind within the material. It had been subtly done, for a Mage, but it had been incredibly obvious to Tala. They had been a bit foolish to assume that they could get away with listening in. Still¡­ She frowned. If she were going to listen in on those more advanced than she, she would do something obvious so that a more subtle attempt would be overlooked. Tala took a moment to roll iron across the table and surroundings, feeling the subtle pop of three other workings being overcome. Even after feeling them break, she couldn¡¯t tell exactly where or how they had been hidden. She shook her head, smiling ruefully. I¡¯m getting a bit too arrogant in my advancement. -Still, you caught yourself.- Thanks, Alat. Tala turned to Rane, whispering so softly he would barely be able to hear. ¡°So?¡± He nodded, responding in kind. Though, in his case, it was even more softly as her hearing outstripped his by quite a margin, ¡°Anatalis is believed to be a god-beast, or near enough, though Master Grediv always implied that humanity is unsure what type of advancement he followed. He seems far too wide ranging to be a traditional magical beast-god, not to mention his ability to be peaceful toward humans.¡± ¡°And what of his pack?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more than just his pack. All wolves are influenced by him. He somehow has a tie to all wolves that makes them less instantly aggressive toward humanity. More than that, his direct pack, which humanity has estimated numbers in the hundreds, is all bound to him somehow. Killing one of them is like killing a magical beast, but they come back at their Alpha¡¯s side rather than on a piece of land. They come back as they were, with full memory of the encounter that killed them, and with no long-lasting harm done.¡± ¡°Like the Leshkin?¡± ¡°Yes and no. The Leshkin aren¡¯t sapient for the most part. The Pack is. The most we accomplish when we clash with a member of the Pack is to teach them our tricks and strategies before delivering that information directly to their leader.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ huh.¡± ¡°We have an agreement with Anatalis. We can build our cities in the forest to our north each cycle, and wolves can hunt throughout human controlled lands, even if not on our farmland or in our cities. All things considered, they get access to¡ªand use of¡ªmore land than we do from the deal.¡± She cocked her head to one side before nodding. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have thought about it in that way, but I suppose it makes sense. So, we don¡¯t have another war to worry about?¡± ¡°No, that would be in the common mythos and history if so. Everyone has some idea of the Leshkin Wars from history lessons if nothing else. For Anatalis? The mundanes have myths of giant wolves guarding babies in the wilderness, of lending their cousins¡ªdogs¡ªto humanity because they didn¡¯t trust we could watch out for ourselves. Stories like that. In truth, from what Master Grediv implied, I don¡¯t think that we¡¯ve ever truly clashed with the Pack.¡± ¡°So¡­? What of this?¡± She gestured around her. ¡°Wolves attacked humans. Is this a change?¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°Not from the stories Master Grediv told. Anatalis has a fierce belief in culling the weak. There are occasional clashes like this, where his true warriors watch from the shadows, but those skirmishes are to keep the lesser wolves culled of weaklings and to test us; I suspect the latter at least. Master Grediv was always hesitant to confirm that for me.¡± He smiled. ¡°Though, now, he might be willing to answer more questions. We have two cities under construction in the northern forest, and Alefast, the new one, is complete at its southern edge. The wolves are factors in humanity''s future once again.¡± Chapter: 356 - Contemplations and Suggestions Tala sat in the middle of the wagon circle, contemplating the fickleness of memory, even a perfect memory. She could remember anything that she wanted to, but that didn¡¯t actually mean that she constantly had her every experience sitting in her mind, actively known to her. This time, she had ¡®forgotten¡¯ one of the hallmarks of being with a caravan. It was rather boring. Virtually anything that she could do to use her time more effectively would reduce her ability to be on watch for the caravan, so she was stuck where she was, doing very little. To be fair, it was the best-case scenario, and she was grateful on behalf of those she was watching over that things were boring. After all, if it wasn¡¯t boring, people would likely be getting hurt or dying. As Tala took overwatch for the caravan, she saw the guards tending to their wounded. One of the Mage Protectors was working to magically heal in the most extreme case, while most of the wounds were tended by poultices, bandages, and good old fashioned first aid. Everyone being worked on survived, blessedly. From all of the waves of wolf attacks, the caravan had only lost one guardsman, and he had already been dead before she and Rane had arrived. It was unpleasant, but far, far fewer died than she had feared. This group of guards was apparently an even more experienced set than usual, due to the somewhat larger size of this caravan. As a consequence, it was unlikely that any of those that Tala had trained with were among them, and none stepped forward, so that settled that potential. While the guards and Mages cleaned up and dealt with the battle¡¯s aftermath, Rane had offered what help he could give while Tala maintained her ¡®vigilance¡¯ outward. She¡¯d initially gone to offer help, but Rane had quietly reminded her that having her seen as watching over the caravan would offer more to the guards and Mages than just an extra set of hands. He knew that she could do both, but trying to get the guards and Mages to understand that would have been more trouble than it was worth. Worse, even if they succeeded, an air of uncertainty would have remained, regardless. Thus, Tala had reluctantly agreed with his assessment, though doing so brought a smile to her lips. She could still remember the awkward young man who had joined her caravan back from Alefast what seemed like a lifetime ago. He had had the training to make these types of decisions, but he had been hesitant to take the lead or make his voice heard. Well, no¡­ he was granted leadership almost immediately, but he didn¡¯t handle it as gracefully as he could have. He didn¡¯t word things that well and put his foot in his mouth as often as not. -That¡¯s the truth.- ¡°Umm¡­ Excuse me, Mistress Tala?¡± The mageling¡ªthe girl who had been standing beside one of the Mage Protectors¡ªwas slowly approaching Tala. She bowed when Tala turned her way. ¡°Yes?¡± Tala didn¡¯t know what the girl wanted, but she didn¡¯t much mind. It was something more interesting than standing around, reading fictitious books. -You do that all the time.- No, I read books while exercising, or stretching, or walking, or¡ª -Yeah, fine. I get what you mean.- ¡°Greetings. I am Narci. I¡­¡± The girl colored slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you remember me, but I was a year behind you at the Academy.¡± Tala frowned. Alat? -Hey, I wasn¡¯t around back then. Let me see¡­ Let me see¡­ Let me¡­ Oh! There she is. Wow¡­ You saw her¡­ maybe four times? Your memories aren¡¯t perfect from then, so there are some blurry people that could also have been her. Why does she think you¡¯d remember her? You don¡¯t even have her name in here. I¡¯m glad she said it.- Tala nodded slowly, making the frown that had grown across her features seem less like displeasure and more like consideration. ¡°I do think that we crossed paths every so often. Good to see you again, Narci.¡± She tried not to feel awkward at the forced social nicety. There was comfort in the fact that the words weren¡¯t actually a lie. It was good to see her, as the other option would have been that the girl was killed before Tala arrived, and it was nice that that hadn¡¯t happened. -Yeah, tell yourself that. Such twists in logic are great for your moral character.- Hey, I¡¯m trying to be kind here. Narci had brightened at Tala¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯m so glad! I know that we barely saw each other; I¡¯m flattered that you remember me at all.¡± Tala almost said that it wasn¡¯t that surprising given that she remembered everything, even the smallest detail. Blessedly, Tala stopped herself, realizing at the last moment how insulting that would sound. Instead, she simply smiled and waited, putting on a patiently expectant look. ¡°Oh! Oh, right. I¡¯m sorry, Mistress. I was wondering¡­¡± She looked down and away. ¡°Would you have any advice on advancement? I was only a year behind you, but I¡¯m still a mageling and you¡¯re¡­ well, I saw one of your fights for Alefast!¡± She lifted her eyes, excitement suddenly pouring off of her. ¡°And how you came to our defense, here?¡± The girl laughed, now looking up to the stars with obvious glee. ¡°I want to raise my magics to your level¡­ or at least closer.¡± The girl seemed to return to the moment and feel some awkwardness once again at the end. Tala quirked her pursed lips to the side in thought. ¡°Honestly, I would suggest that you do as your master says, and follow the process.¡± Narci looked toward Tala with a frown. ¡°But¡­ that¡¯s not what you did¡­ right?¡± ¡°Oh, no.¡± Tala chuckled, ¡°but you don¡¯t ask the winner of a coin toss how they achieved victory, and when a loss on such a gamble means death, it is probably better not to play.¡± The mageling seemed genuinely confused. ¡°But¡­ everything I could find about you shows you going around the well-established systems, finding your own way, and flouting the means by which things have been done in the past.¡± Tala felt her cheeks heat. ¡°Well¡­¡±¡ªshe cleared her throat¡ª¡°some of that was entirely unintentional. While my path has been exceptionally quick, much of that was out of my control, and even that which I did control¡­ I haven¡¯t always been the wisest in my choices.¡± It was Tala¡¯s turn to look away in awkwardness. Narci seemed stunned into silence. ¡°Many of the dangers I avoided, I had been unknowingly preparing for, long before I knew I needed to. Some of that was the wise people around me pushing me in the right directions as appropriate, which is one reason that I suggest listening to your master. More than anything, my magic being bent almost exclusively around defense in the beginning was the largest factor in my survival. That singular fact protected me from many of the repercussions of my unwise choices.¡± Tala nodded to herself, looking back to Narci, ¡°That I can recommend. If your magics can be bent toward defense, do so.¡± Narci was nodding hesitantly, almost to herself. ¡°I am an ice Mage¡­ Material Creator.¡±¡ªshe laughed once, nervously¡ª¡°It¡¯s why I sought out Mistress Untriti. It¡¯s said she knows how to conjure more than a hundred kinds of snow. Snow! Can you believe it?¡±¡ªshe chuckled more fully¡ª¡°And ice? That¡¯s her focus.¡±¡ªshe shook her head¡ª¡°she can create uncounted kinds of ice, each specialized for a unique purpose.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fascinating.¡± Tala didn¡¯t really know why the girl was telling her all of this, but it did keep Tala from having to just stand around so... Narci colored. ¡°Right! Well, she¡¯s been suggesting that I bend some of my magics toward learning how to conjure discs of ice with perfect accuracy to either interpose directly in the way of incoming attacks, or to deflect them¡­¡± Tala smiled, taking a guess, ¡°But you¡¯ve resisted?¡± The mageling nodded sheepishly. ¡°Well, I would recommend you do as your master says.¡± Tala¡¯s smile turned into a broad grin, as she knew that to be a mirror of what she¡¯d started the conversation saying. Narci smiled at the words as well, clearly understanding what Tala had done. The mageling bowed, ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I appreciate that you took your time to offer instruction that should have been obvious to me. I will listen to my master and look toward survival. I can only advance if I survive.¡± Tala held up one finger. ¡°And you can only continue to protect and serve others if you survive. There is a place for noble sacrifice.¡± Her eyes drifted toward the guards, now finishing up their work, ¡°but if you can survive to fight another day without letting your charges down, that should be your goal.¡± Narci bowed again. ¡°Thank you for giving me some of your time and for the advice.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tala shrugged. ¡°I was happy to give it.¡± Narci turned and scurried back to her wagon, likely hoping to grab a bit more sleep before the morning arrived. As Tala watched the girl go, her eyes fell on Rane. She¡¯d noticed him nearby before, but she hadn¡¯t really focused on him until that moment. Now that she was looking at him, however, she couldn¡¯t help but notice the look of utter disbelief that was painting his features. His mouth was even slightly ajar. Tala frowned. ¡°What?¡± * * * Tala and Rane bid the caravan goodbye once the wagons were ready to depart. Clouds had rolled in through the early hours, and it was barely starting to snow. Tala had stood overwatch while the mundanes awoke, were reassured and fed, and were ushered back into their wagons. The Dimensional Mage was apparently skilled enough that the passenger wagons all had extensive isolation scripts, allowing those same passengers to have passed the whole night undisturbed despite the rather raucous danger the caravan had been in. The Dimensional Mage had noticed Tala¡¯s presence, with a bow, but otherwise he and his apprentice hadn¡¯t even strayed out of their wagon long enough to get food, instead sending a servant to get that for them. Huh¡­ I suppose that was what was expected of me as a Dimensional Mage¡­ -That would have been laughably easy¡­ Why didn¡¯t you want a wagon and a servant?- I had debts to pay off, and I wanted to actually experience the Wilds. -Right, right. How did that work out for you?- Tala glowered internally, and Alat gave her a mental hug. -Hey, I think it¡¯s worked out pretty well.- Tala mentally grumbled, but a smile was still tugging at her lips. Rane glanced her way as the wagons were rolling out of sight. He smiled, cocking his head to one side, ¡°What has you in such a good mood?¡± ¡°Just thinking back on our time in various caravans.¡± He grunted, but his smile grew. ¡°Yeah, those were strange times. I have to say that working a caravan was nothing like what Master Grediv promised.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala turned toward him. ¡°Yeah. I even confronted him about it a couple of times.¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± She was actually curious. ¡°At first, he just rolled his eyes, as he usually does when I challenge him on something he believes is obvious. Regardless, when I persisted, he challenged me to go hear stories from other Mages who had worked the caravans.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And¡­ his accounting, advice, and forewarnings were correct. It was our caravan that was strange.¡± He flicked his eyes to her and then away, his smile taking on a teasing lilt. Tala narrowed her eyes, ¡°You mean that I was strange.¡± He looked at her with visible confusion. ¡° ¡®Was?¡¯ ¡± Tala grimaced, but then they both laughed, and she shook her head. ¡°I walked right into that, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Just a bit.¡± She gave him a longer than usual look before reaching out to brush some of the newly falling snow off his shoulder. ¡°When did you find your feet?¡± It was an awkwardly worded question, but he seemed to understand her meaning, and he shrugged. ¡°I¡­ went on sort of a journey after you vanished. I had to interact with a lot of people before I even knew where I wanted to go.¡±¡ªhe shrugged¡ª¡°I had to grow up in ways I didn¡¯t even realize I was still acting the child. I had to get over my awkwardness¡­ at least the best that I could.¡± He smiled, a bit of his awkwardness showing through. Tala smiled in return, ¡°Huh.¡± A moment later, she turned toward Bandfast, helped by Alat¡¯s easy identification of the landmarks. She shook herself, freeing a little snow from her shoulders. ¡°Shall we?¡± Rane nodded once, ¡°Absolutely. After you.¡± * * * They took a leisurely pace through the wilds, allowing both of them to practice techniques that were harder to utilize within a training room or a city. Rane practiced purposefully bouncing from tree to tree, using his magics to redirect his kinetic energy from each platform without actually harming the trunks or disturbing the snow that perched on the branches. He said that he was trying to be able to simply add kinetic energy onto himself at will, but he was still having trouble getting over the mental block of needing ¡®something to push off.¡¯ He even knew that he wasn¡¯t actually pushing off the various ¡®somethings,¡¯ but it was still a block. Regardless, it was entertaining to watch the massive man zigzagging through the trees. As the land rose and fell, if he didn¡¯t adjust his movement perfectly, he would occasionally have to slap the ground to gain height or the underside of a branch to drop lower. Additionally, he had to spin and twist in the air to position his body to move past obstacles, making it look like nothing so much as a man running an obstacle course, without the need for running. Tala focused on¡­ her sight. The main reason she had trouble practicing her sight in a training room or even in the city is that to explore it properly, she needed variance and the ability to focus mainly inward. She knew that she needed to shift her mental model for her magesight, specifically, but simply lacked enough understanding to do so properly. Training rooms lacked the variance, and the city required her attention being directed outward to one degree or another. Jogging through the countryside was a near perfect setting for this type of practice. She was very frustrated at how she had so much trouble truly combining her mundane vision with magesight and voidsight. It was as if something about the visions didn¡¯t want to work together. She¡¯d been overlaying her mundane vision with either voidsight or magesight for so long that interpreting the overlay was almost second nature. Unfortunately, that way of doing things actually hid details that her mundane sight should easily be able to see, as the bright highlights of her magesight made it much harder to notice minute, mundane details. Similarly, voidsight was overtop her mundane sight, so if she was using all three through the same perception, there was even more interference, and it was maddening. She didn¡¯t want to have to vary what her bloodstar-based, mirrored perceptions were showing. She wanted each of them to show her everything, all the time. She even knew it was possible, because there were other versions of magesight that were a greater melding of magesight with normal vision, but they tended to lose detail and complexity on the magical side, so Tala had opted for the version that she had always used. But that was not the crux of the issue. She needed to reframe her magesight, so that it could fit more cleanly in with her mundane vision and voidsight. She might need to alter how she saw with her voidsight as well, but that was a much more raw ability, coming from her soulbounds rather than from scripts. Thus, it was much more naturally accurate and complete than something constructed could hope to be at the start. Thus, she was focusing on her magesight. -We need a way of conceptualizing the heights and depths of the dimension of magic, without reusing the words height, depth, width, breadth, and the like.- That would be lovely, but where are we going to get the right words for it? Like you say, unless we can conceptualize it, how can we force my mind or magic to parse it correctly? -Yeah, we have near and far, but what¡¯s the word for something near or far, magically speaking, while in the same physical space?- I have no idea¡­ And that was a core reason why she couldn¡¯t see anything not magically in line with the physical world. It was a limitation she had never even considered, but after Master Grediv explained the City Stones, she realized how obvious it should have been. Well, it should have been obvious if she could have seen into the dimensions of magic, but she couldn¡¯t. Yes, Tala, if I didn¡¯t have the limitation that I have, it would have been obvious that the limitation I have was limiting. -Yeah¡­ that was confusing even to me, and I¡¯m in your head¡­ and I am you.- Tala shook her head and sighed, returning to her contemplations. She had gotten by so far because she could vaguely sense things that were within the dimensions of magic, and only those that were also physically close to her or those that radiated so much power their effects reached through the intervening space across the magical dimension until they were close enough to her that she could sense them. It was effectively like feeling her way in the dark, instead of being able to see. That was utterly unacceptable. It was unacceptable because she was leaving herself blind to a whole scope of existence. More than that, the hints that Master Grediv and other Paragons had dropped implied that a better understanding of the dimension of magic¡ªand the ability to view her own soul within that framework¡ªwould be a key aid in her advancement. -I still like the words that I suggested, and once we have words for the concepts, we can begin stretching our various ¡®sights¡¯ to convey those ideas.- Tala groused slightly, even as she ran across the snowy landscape. Fine. Let¡¯s hear them again. Alat projected a contented smile, -Superficial for magic that is at zero on the axis, or central point, for the magic dimension.- That does make sense, I suppose. -Other than that starting place, we can just use anatomical terms. Posterior for ¡®away.¡¯ Superior, for ¡®up.¡¯ Inferior for ¡®down.¡¯- I still think that superior and inferior will be confusing. She thought for a moment. -Stay on task, Tala. We need ¡®up¡¯ and ¡®down¡¯ in the magical dimension. I¡¯ve put forward my ideas. What do you think?- I¡¯m not sure. Tala bit her lip, even as she jumped off the top of a low hill, lowering her effective gravity to drift further. -Still thinking of anatomy terms: We could always use cranial and caudal? Those are less universal terms, but they convey the same thing.- Cranial for toward the head, caudal for toward the tail¡­ Tala grimaced at the inaccuracy of those. -Or down.- Alat offered, hopefully. Yeah, I know that¡¯s how you want to use it¡­ Let me think about it. Alright? -Sure, sure. It was just a suggestion. We just can¡¯t progress easily without codifying a way of thinking about this.- Tala knew she was right, even though she was making some progress without having words picked out. We could always use sacred and profane for up and down. -We could, but I feel like we¡¯d be tainting our mindset before we even started with those words.- Tala sighed, vaulting over a downed log. Yeah. She settled in to consider further as she and Rane continued their measured excursion through the Wilds. As she considered, she found her mind drifting toward her friends every so often, and as frustrated as she was with her current block, she was excited that she was getting time to spend with those she cared for. Chapter: 357 - See the World Tala had, after a few hours of consideration, finally decided to simply go with Alat¡¯s suggestions for the present moment, mainly because it was easy enough to change her words for things once she had a good understanding, and she really needed to start building up her mental ability to actually process the concepts. Alright, in the dimensions of magic, if it is perfectly aligned with the physical world, it is superficial magic. Beyond that, I will refer to the ¡®directionality¡¯ as cranial and caudal. Regardless, as soon as she¡¯d codified and agreed to the descriptors, it was as if something clicked in her own mind, and she knew her words would need to be changed. She slid to a stop, struggling not to fall on her face with the sudden shift in her vision. The world around her seemed to bend and distort as her mind continued to try to twist itself to align with her new mental model. Tala fell to her knees, retching. As usual, her inscriptions prevented her from actually disgorging anything from her stomach. -Oh¡­ that is¡­ that is really unpleasant.- Alat was feeling the dissonance as well. It was worse than simply a twisting distortion of her vision and her mind¡¯s interpretation of it. The means of thinking was rippling backward through her memories, not changing what she saw in those memories¡ªit wouldn¡¯t give her new information¡ªbut altering her memory of the visualizations to match her new grasp. Primary among that remodeling was what she had been thinking of as magical depth and was now being reframed as being cranial or caudal. To her eyes, all magic began to look¡­ sentient, as if every spellworking, every bit of power, was a creature in its own right, moving across the world, or through her own body. She nearly gagged, momentarily horrified that this was a reality that she¡¯d just never perceived. Though¡­ is this just because of my mental model? Is there more that I cannot see simply because of my chosen means of perception? My mental model? That way lay madness, so she decided to simply let it lie for now. Tala groaned, holding her head for a moment before replacing her hands on the ground for support. Rane landed beside her, ¡°Tala! What¡¯s wrong? Are you okay?¡± She waved at him and managed to grunt out. ¡°Shift of mental model; it¡¯s uncomfortable, but not truly damaging.¡± He seemed to hesitate, but then he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll stand watch. Focus on what you need to do.¡± It was her turn to hesitate, but then she felt a wave of relief. That would actually really help. Without saying another word, she let her aspect mirrored perspectives vanish, focusing solely on her remodeling sights. With her full focus on the issue, she quickly came to realize that ¡®cranial¡¯ and ¡®caudal¡¯ simply wouldn¡¯t map onto what she could see, and that was causing dissonance of the highest level. The words are wrong for what I¡¯m seeing, and trying to force it is causing a hallucinogenic effect. Alat groaned along with her. -It¡¯s like we decided a pebble was a ¡®big rock¡¯ and now we have seen a mountain.- There simply was no head or tail of magic, and so her knowledge of the biological uses for those terms was breaking this mental model even as it tried to form, and thus breaking her as she tried to force it. I reject those terms. At the mental pronouncement, the figments and distortions of what she was seeing vanished as quickly as a mirage in the desert. Unfortunately, she was left with quite a problem. Her entire ethos for her magesight was in flux, and so she was reconsidering everything. She had to start somewhere and work her way through what her magesight presented to her. Alright, the feature that we¡¯ve thought of as flavor or the specific source before: Do we need to reconsider that? What to call it? Flavor doesn¡¯t really feel exactly right. For me, my magical ¡®flavor¡¯ matches my gate, which has a tone that I¡¯m just beginning to understand. So, frequency? That way of thinking resonated with her, especially because she already knew that frequency was usable in all sorts of situations. Alright, that could work. Now, quality of power, or advancement of the source, I¡¯ve always seen it as a color, so¡­ wavelength? An odd, painful buzzing filled her mind, and she immediately rejected that. Right, wavelength and frequency are not independently variable. She growled. She was bending her entire mind toward finding the right model. She had started to change her way of thinking, and her magics would break if she didn¡¯t settle on something. Blessedly, her increased attention and focus was starting to show fruits. Alright, then alignment for ¡®flavor.¡¯ She knew that she was still suffering from a bad mental model, and she was trying to build a better one while using her current misunderstandings, but she pressed onward. Even so, considering the concept of alignment brought some clarity. While color is helpful¡ªand I don¡¯t want to lose that¡ªwhat¡¯s often most important in the moment is how the quality relates to my own power¡­ she grimaced. Alat started laughing. -It does make sense.- Tala groused for a moment, but then agreed. For power we will use: superior or inferior, in relation to my own quality of power. Her mental model pulled together more tightly, more coherently. Finally, up and down in the magical dimension¡ªthe whole point of this reframing and what we failed to label cranial or caudal¡­ Tala growled, her head beginning to hurt. We first really learned about the extent of this via City Stones, and they are ¡®deep¡¯ along this axis, so¡­ stoneward? -That makes sense to me.- What about the other direction? They both considered, but it was Alat who came up with the first reasonable idea. -Starward?- Fine. Starward and stoneward, with zero on this axis being ¡®superficial.¡¯ A resonant tone rang through her mind, and she recognized it as being the current tone of her own soul, her gate. She was close. She gasped, and the world opened before her. The ground between her hands was magically saturated at a superficial level, with neutral power, inferior to hers in quality. Her thoughts ground to a halt. How could she consider the ¡®alignment¡¯ of magic, if the most prevalent form wasn¡¯t aligned at all, yet still worked as if it was aligned with everything at once? She started to panic, but together, she and Alat reassessed. Oh¡­ that¡¯s really silly. -But it would work.- And so, they conceptualized the alignment of magic as being a shape the power was solidified into, while neutral was a liquid, unset so it could flow through any opening, regardless of the convoluted nature of the opening in question. -Better yet, it fits the ¡®alignment¡¯ mental model.- Tala knew that she was losing clarity by settling on such a solution, but she needed to find something, or her natural magics would begin to degrade. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a loss. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Alright, we¡¯ll take what we can get. What I can see with my magesight can be broken down as follows. Alat, your help? -Starward, superficial, stoneward for up, zero, down through the dimension of magic.- Superior, equal, inferior for how the quality relates to that of our own power. Non-comparatively, this is also the color for the advancement of a Mage, arcane, or bit of magic. -We can also detect the amount of power, the amount of magic, but that¡¯s just a subset of seeing it to begin with.- That¡¯s true. Which means that, finally, we can detect the ¡®flavor¡¯ of the source of the magic, most easily, we can detect if something is neutral or aligned with our own gate. Though we should be able to detect the origin or alignment of any magic with practice. A single chime rang through Tala¡¯s head, and the pain faded. Within her own vision, she could see so much more. The magic in the ground was superficial, neutral, inferior power. That within the inscriptions in her hands¡ªwhich were resting on the ground before her¡ªwas superficial, aligned to her power, and equivalent to her power quality: yellow with a bare hint of green. Of course it¡¯s equivalent, it is mine. -Hush, we¡¯re reframing.- Something new came into her easy sight, somehow not blocking her mundane vision in the least. Iron. There were two, thin layers of iron over every one of her inscriptions, one stoneward and one starward to the magics contained within. As she¡¯d somewhat expected, the iron wasn¡¯t perfectly hugging the superficial layer. Instead, her natural magics were visible, barely stoneward and starward to her superficial inscriptions. It was incredible to actually see her natural magics, rather than just sensing them, and she could see them packed near-to-bursting with power. No wonder I am able to get so much greater throughput. With that axis of magic factored in, the cross-section of my inscriptions is¡­ Tala hesitated. She actually had no idea how to calculate the three-dimensional cross-section of something. The very idea seemed like a contradiction in terms. Another thing to investigate, I suppose. Focusing back on all that she could now see, she looked more closely at the iron itself. That metal was perfectly aligned with her and inferior, magically speaking. Good, a lack of magic is on the axis as inferior. Something tickled at the back of her mind, seeming to indicate that her perception was heavily being influenced by the mental model she had chosen, and that she was missing out on some details, but she squashed that thought before it could destabilize her newborn model. Perfection was for another day. Right now, she wanted stability. Then, she made the mistake of turning her magesight stoneward. That way lay an infinite nothingness, without definition or content, though she did catch something out the corner of her vision, pulling her back from the edge. Her eyes moved down to focus on Kit, hanging from her right hip. She could see everything. Well, not every little detail, but she could see the sanctum as if from a bird¡¯s eye view, even higher than the actual ceiling of the space. Laid out before her vision was a miniscule world. Magically, it was equivalent and aligned with her power, while being stoneward on that axis. She had the sense that something about it being aligned with her was allowing her to see all that she could, but it would take further testing to fully understand what that meant. The physical dimensions were represented to her sight almost all at once, all connected to the same stoneward locked point that the pouch¡ªKit¡ªconnected to. Deeper down, stoneward, the sanctum shares a location magically speaking? Tala felt her mind expand as she realized how obvious that was. That was why she could so freely move around within Kit. It was very similar to how Master Grediv had described City Stones. Kit¡¯s unified state in the dimensions of magic could be why it took Tala¡¯s will, her aligning of others with her will in order to move them within Kit. She could also move stuff, but she¡¯d never had a problem with that. People being moved could fight it with their own alignment and power. There was a cascade of connections that she felt like she suddenly comprehended. Then, she shifted her vision a bit closer to the superficial and saw what had to be the center of Kit¡¯s true form. It was¡­ cute? A bundle of magic, perfectly aligned with Tala and equivalent to her in power. No¡­ that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s the content, not the casing. There was something akin to natural magic pathways that were inferior and misaligned with Tala, seeming closer to neutral than Tala¡¯s own power. I¡­ have no idea what that means, honestly. She obviously knew what being misaligned meant, but the fact of being closer vs further from neutral was currently a distinction without a difference to her mind. She focused in on the little bundle of power, filled with Tala¡¯s own magic. That was Kit. The void-beast-turned-sanctum was easily visible as natural pathways, hanging stoneward of the pouch, through which the sanctum was connected. It was beautiful, extending both starward¡ªall the way to superficial¡ªand stoneward to fully encapsulate the sanctum and a bit beyond. Since she had found the core of Kit¡¯s magic, she was better able to parse the natural magics that made up the creature, even while they were filled with Tala¡¯s own power. Tala considered why she was able to so easily see the twists and curves that made up Kit¡¯s magic. It¡®s likely the fact that they are filled with my power¡­ At that point, Tala noticed something that she really should have considered before. Kit was under stress. The inferior nature of Kit¡¯s magics had suborned them to Tala¡¯s power, and the two were eroding each other, the superior obviously winning out in the conflict. Kit was degrading. It didn¡¯t seem to be a fast process, but Tala would bet that if something wasn¡¯t done, the natural pathways that she was seeing would be gone within a decade. -That¡¯s an awfully broad guess, but I suppose we have only observed for a moment.- Yeah¡­ We also don¡¯t know what full erosion would truly mean. The magics don¡¯t look like they would change shape, but ¡®Kit¡¯ might be gone. Whatever that actually means. Tala found that troubling. She would have to ask someone at the Constructionist Guild about it. They might not know, but it was better to ask. Rane¡¯s voice came to her ear. ¡°Tala? Are you doing any better?¡± Tala nodded, rolling back off her knees to sit on the snow. There was still a lot of disorientation as she now saw so, so much more in the world around her. She was a two-dimensional creature who had just expanded to look upon ¡®height.¡¯ -Reasonable analogy. I¡¯ll let it slide.- Thank you, oh magnanimous one. Then, Tala caught a glimpse of Rane. His power was aligned further away from neutral than Tala¡¯s power. His tightly controlled aura filled the superficial with noise, extending somewhat both starward and stoneward. Even so, she thought that if she focused, she would be able to penetrate the noise. Huh, just like before. She had been able to penetrate people¡¯s aura to see more clearly before, she just hadn¡¯t made a habit of it. At his belt, two items stood out. One was the loop of leather that was both his sheath for Force and his dimensional storage. Both had power that was superficial and aligned with Rane, their magic being inferior to her own. Oddly, Force¡¯s magic seemed to be superior to Rane¡¯s power, even while still being inferior to Tala¡¯s. The leather cord had a much, much simpler form than Kit, while still resembling Kit in basic shape. As to the expanded space, Tala could barely catch hints of crates, books, and other items through the interfering noise of Rane¡¯s power. Once again, she thought she might be able to penetrate that obscurement with focus, but she decided not to. That¡¯s new. She momentarily thought that she should be able to see how big the expanded or extra space was, but no. The space simply was. Without details, she couldn¡¯t measure it, or otherwise determine how much space was there, save by way of a guess based upon the potency of the magics involved. The dimensional magic was inferior to Rane and to Kit, so Tala at least thought she could be sure that his storage was smaller than Kit. Yeah, that¡¯s not really a helpful measure. Regardless, it was another point of data. ¡°Tala?¡± She had been staring his way¡ªlikely with a somewhat vacant expression¡ªfor a moment or two. ¡°Oh! Oh, I¡¯m sorry, Rane. I think I am doing better, yes.¡± He smiled. ¡°That¡¯s good. What mental model shifted, if you don¡¯t mind my asking?¡± ¡°My magesight.¡± ¡°Oh, wow. That¡¯s a big one. Master Grediv said that it can really affect how Mages perceive the world. That¡¯s one reason why the teaching of deeper mental models for that sight is so discouraged. It is too easy to subvert a person¡¯s worldview by altering that.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s literally true? It would change how they view the world.¡± Rane chuckled along. ¡°I actually hadn¡¯t thought of it that way. Regardless, it¡¯s something that we each have to delve into and construct for ourselves, just like with all our mental models,¡±¡ªhe grinned¡ª¡°just with a bit more obvious repercussions.¡± Tala felt an odd tug at her awareness and realized that all of Rane was somehow vibrating slightly, magically speaking. Truth? Because it¡¯s resonating with¡­ something? Lie, because it¡¯s coming out of alignment with himself? Both¡­ somehow? Then, she also caught herself magically fluctuating slightly as well in the corners of her vision. Why was she magically fluctuating? This makes no sense at all¡­ She sighed. ¡°True enough. There¡¯s still a lot to get used to.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Do you want to take some more time? This is a rather peaceful spot, right?¡± Only then did Tala take in their surroundings. She had stopped in a little clearing, and through a break in the trees to the north, they could see mountains. It wasn¡¯t anything really special, but it was nice, just as Rane had said. She checked the time and found that they had some to spare, ¡°You know what?¡± He looked her way once more. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s eat lunch here before moving on.¡± He smiled broadly. ¡°That sounds like a plan.¡± Chapter: 358 - Something Crazy Tala and Rane sat in the snow, beside a large rock, enjoying the wonderful lunch prepared by Mistress Petra. The light falling of snow was starting to obscure the distant mountains, but they both had enough enhancement to their eyes that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem until the snowfall got a lot heavier. Even so, the trees near at hand were also seen through a haze of snow that gave the scene a surreal, painting-like aesthetic. It was lovely. The food was warm, and the company was pleasant as they chatted about random things, laughing over their own missteps and the situations they¡¯d gotten themselves into. Tala also had some stories about her unit¡ªand their antics¡ªthat Rane hadn¡¯t heard before. Tala was enjoying herself enough that she had neglected to renew her aspect mirrored perceptions, and Alat didn¡¯t bother to interrupt her about it. The alternate interface simply left the two to their lunch. Regardless, interruption came when Tala saw a flicker out of the corner of her eye, coming from her finger. Her head jerked as she turned her gaze on the magic, and Rane cut off mid-sentence before asking, ¡°Tala?¡± ¡°I just saw something that¡­¡± her eyes widened as she actually saw what had grasped her attention. There¡ªwrapped around her finger and resting just starward and out of alignment with the physical world¡ªwas her Archive ring. It was among a tangle of other magics, so she hadn¡¯t really noticed it to focus on the magics with her altered magesight previously. At the moment, however, it was pulsing with ripples of power, magic seeming to launch toward¡ªand return from¡ªstarward¡­ No, that isn¡¯t right. The magics seemed to fade as they moved starward, and others faded into view as they came stoneward, back to the ring. Was she seeing echoes of the magics or something else entirely? Alat? -Hmm? Oh. That is odd.- The pulses stopped. -Wait¡­- They began again. -Tala, your ring is linked to the connection to the Archive. I was sorting through some things while you were engaged.- Tala spluttered internally. What!? I¡¯m not¡ª She would have continued, but Alat cut across her. -Tala! ¡®Otherwise engaged.¡¯ Meaning doing something else.- Tala¡¯s thoughts were silent for an instant. Oh¡­ -Yeah.- Well, back to the matter at hand. If what you say is correct, then, what we¡¯re seeing is faint because the magic isn¡¯t actually here, it¡¯s going from and coming to the other half of the ring? Tala decided to go the route of ignoring what just happened. Alat sighed but didn¡¯t press the issue. -That would be my guess, yeah. We¡¯re seeing the resonance that either allows¡ªor is a result of¡ªthe unified connection.- Huh. So, the Archive is starward? -That is the implication, I believe.- That is¡­ huh. I suppose that makes sense. -Hmmm¡­ Should we call it Archiveward then?- No. Tala cut off that line of thinking immediately. We might change how we think of it eventually, but not now. We need time to let our mental model set, or we¡¯re going to shatter our own magics. She had been staring at her hand for a long moment¡ªcontemplating and internally dialoguing with Alat¡ªbefore Rane placed his hand on her shoulder, ¡°Tala? Is everything alright?¡± Tala jerked again, pulled from her internal musing. ¡°Oh! Oh, I apologize, Rane. Yeah. My shift in mental model is revealing a few things that I hadn¡¯t considered¡­ before¡­¡± She trailed off at the end. ¡°Rane, I¡¯m going to look at Flow; I haven¡¯t yet, and I think that it¡¯s going to distract me for at least a moment.¡± Rane patted her shoulder and shifted back and away. ¡°Fair enough. Take your time. I¡¯ll take watch.¡± She smiled gratefully up at him as he stood, finishing the last bites of his food. By the sounds of it, he hopped up onto the rock they¡¯d been sitting beside to get a better vantage. With a sigh, knowing that she was safe, Tala closed her eyes, drawing Flow and holding it before her. Then, she opened her eyes and looked upon her knife. Flow was surrounded¡ªstoneward and starward¡ªwith iron, all perfectly aligned with the weapon, physically speaking. Beyond that, she could see the magics that made the knife what it was much more clearly with her altered magesight. The magic pathways weaving through the iron, her own power flowing through the turns and twisting patterns. All the magic was hers, unlike with Kit. Tala could also feel the resonance between the knife and her own soul, but she thought that was more to do with her recent training to feel her own soul more rather than her shift in magesight. One effect of that resonance¡ªor an effect additional to the resonance¡ªwas that the magic moving through Flow¡¯s spellforms seemed to have no source, simply coming into being within the patterns. So, is that what something soulbound looks like? That was interesting. With a comfortably familiar flex of her will and power, she pushed Flow into the form of a sword. The magics around the blade activated as the weapon expanded into the familiar handle with a wire outline of a blade above it. As always, the body of the blade was seemingly just heat and power rather than metal. The iron pushed outward along the dimension of magic spreading out with Flow¡¯s expansion, settling down closer to the superficial as it had a greater area to spread across. Similarly, it thinned further as she pushed Flow into the form of a glaive. Fascinating. The iron that was tucked stoneward or starward was very densely packed, and even so, it extended each of those directions for what seemed like a couple of feet when Flow was in knife form. So¡­ that means that¡­ oh, wow. How do I calculate how much can be stored into a fourth dimension? Do I approach it like trying to find how much area can be stored in a given volume? The very idea made her head begin to hurt. Oh, rust me, there is no way¡ª Blessedly, Alat interrupted, -I think that¡¯s the wrong way to think about it¡­ more accurately, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how you are thinking about it.- Tala considered for a long moment before nodding, realizing that her alternate interface was correct. Right, one increment away on the dimension of magic should contain as much as the superficial layer. I have no idea what ¡®one increment¡¯ is, but I don¡¯t actually need to know, I suppose. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. -Precisely. And around Flow in glaive form is about fifty increments of iron in each direction.- To Tala¡¯s magesight, each increment in the magical dimension appeared to be about tenth of an inch, but she knew that was just an arbitrary appearance to give her mind something to grasp onto, rather than the reality of things. -Regardless, it works quite well for interpretation.- Thank you, I think so too. Thus, she had about a hundred times as much iron by volume as Flow took up in glaive form. -Wow, you have ¡®one hundred Flow glaives¡¯ of iron. You¡¯ll use anything as a unit of measurement, won¡¯t you?- It fits, Tala thought defensively. Regardless, I think there is close to six thousand pounds. -Plus what you have around your inscriptions.- Plus that, yeah. She smiled. ¡°Thank you, Rane. I think I understand, now.¡± She spun out her bloodstars, aspect-mirroring her perceptions back into place. The world came into her mind once more, and she felt herself tense a bit. Ironically, now that she could watch in every direction, she felt more on edge, more like she was about to be attacked. She noted the feeling but didn¡¯t dwell on it. Rane nodded at her comment, walking back her way. ¡°That was faster than I expected.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Basically everything I needed was in my head, so¡­¡± Oh¡­ rust. She gave him a sheepish look, and he laughed, spinning on his heel to go back to the rock that he¡¯d been sitting on. ¡°Forgot something?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Thank you, Rane.¡± He waved over his shoulder before, spinning around and sitting down once more. ¡°Happy to help.¡± She kept her mirrored perspectives active as she refocused her attention onto Flow. -Void forms?- Void forms. Flow shrunk back to the shape of a knife, the iron seeming to thicken in the dimension of magic with the transition. Tala nodded to herself and worked her will upon the weapon. Nothing changed with the iron connected to the weapon, and the knife became the void-blade that she was used to. Huh¡­ I suppose I should have expected that. -Nothing?- Precisely. Why would the dimension of magic be altered by void? -Void magic I would think? But you¡¯re probably right.- Just to be sure, Tala checked the other void-forms, and aside from redistributing identically to how it did with the normal forms, the iron didn¡¯t react to Flow¡¯s change in shape. Yeah, that makes sense. She grinned and stood. ¡°Thank you, Rane.¡± He looked her way from the rock. ¡°Are you sure? Or are you just trying to make me do more squats?¡± Tala laughed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure. If I think of anything else, I can test it or look into it later.¡± She quickly tucked the remains of their lunch into Kit and stood. ¡°Shall we?¡± He gestured. ¡°After you.¡± She rolled her eyes and huffed a laugh, shaking her head. ¡°See you in Bandfast.¡± She bent low and launched herself powerfully into the air and away, altering her gravity as she did so to sail a good distance. -Nice jump!- Thank you, I really think I¡¯m¡­ Wait. Why are you commenting? Tala narrowed her eyes in suspicion. -That really was a well executed jump. The thing is¡­ Bandfast is that way.- Alat highlighted a direction behind and to Tala¡¯s right within her vision. -And Rane is already moving in that direction.- Tala landed, flushing with embarrassment. Not one more word. Alat sent agreement and remained silent as Tala turned and moved in the correct direction. After a few minutes, Tala grudgingly sent, Thank you, Alat. -Happy to help.- * * * Tala wasn¡¯t sure if Rane let her catch back up, or if he had some bad luck that slowed him down enough for her to do so. Regardless, they arrived on a hill overlooking Bandfast at nearly the same time. Neither of them commented on her¡­ odd choice of starting direction or on who might have actually arrived first. The sun was barely past noon, so they had made good time regardless. Tala felt an odd tightness within her chest. ¡°It looks the same.¡± Rane tilted his head to the side, a small smile on his lips. ¡°Did you expect different?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No¡­ Yes? It feels a bit like it did going back to Marliweather the first time. Bandfast was my home, but it isn¡¯t any more. I think of it differently, so it shouldn¡¯t look the same.¡± He nodded hesitantly. ¡°I¡­ That sounds confusing for you.¡± She chuckled under her breath. ¡°Yeah, well¡­ we¡¯re going to see a lot of things changing through the decades and centuries, but not yet. For now, life continues, and humanity crawls ever forward.¡± They stood on that hill for another few minutes. Rane seemed to be about to say something, when Tala reached up to touch the back of her neck, her through-spike. ¡°You know, I¡¯m a bit tired of hiding. I don¡¯t mind pulling my metal back around most people, but I don¡¯t like hiding it this way.¡± He frowned. ¡°Oh? That seemed¡­ out of nowhere.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I doubt I¡¯ll do anything about it, but I¡¯m finding myself disliking the deception,¡± she tsked, ¡°So much about our lives is deception, and I understand the need for much of it, but do I really need an active illusion on me at almost all times?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°You could ask Mistress Jenna for her opinion. She¡¯s who gave it to you, right? Or Mistress Holly? She always has words that she¡¯s willing to speak on such topics. Even Mistress Lyn is likely to have an opinion if you care to hear it.¡± Tala smiled at that. ¡°Yeah, she will.¡± She looked to Rane. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go.¡± Together, they turned and walked down toward the gates of Bandfast. The outer defensive towers drew closer until they were within easy view, and Tala marveled at the intricate natural magics that were woven throughout the nearest. She knew for a fact that there were custom-made, massive spellforms for whichever Mage was currently on duty within the tower to use for defensive purposes, so the magics that she was seeing were something else. When she noticed how they extended stoneward, she thought that she understood. This is meant to be part of the current outer boundary for the magical funnel. That magic is anchoring the funnel to the superficial in order to prevent it from expanding or falling further away. Out of curiosity, as she kept walking, she allowed her magesight to turn stoneward. She didn¡¯t really see anything out of the ordinary save the edges of some natural magics, weaving through the otherwise empty reaches of the dimension of magic. There was a higher degree of magical density as she looked further stoneward, but that was it, until¡ª Tala staggered. It was like looking at a mountain peak, and when she focused on the peak, suddenly realizing that it was, in fact, directly above her. In this case, the peak that she could see was a blazing well of power, and it was directly stoneward of her, now that they were within the city limits. In fact, what she saw seemed to actually be one of the Stones for which she¡¯d named the direction. That¡¯s the Bandfast Stone. There were intricate nets of magic that seemed to be constantly filtering the power that was being sucked stoneward out of the city. No, not filtered¡­ Tala didn¡¯t understand what was happening, but it almost looked like the magics from various sources were being mixed as they came stoneward, until they reached a neutral state, and then that portion would be let through to the Stone. It was a hideously complex working. Rane had placed a hand on her shoulder when she stumbled, and he spoke, drawing her attention back to the superficial, ¡°See something?¡± ¡°The¡ª¡± She caught herself. Rane likely didn¡¯t know of the City Stones. ¡°I think I see the city¡¯s magical grid.¡± ¡°Oh! That must be fascinating. Yeah, I can¡¯t wait until I¡¯m able to alter my sight to have a look. Master Grediv always gets coy when I ask about how it works.¡± I¡¯ll bet. As she continued to take in that which was stoneward of the entire area, she realized that there was in fact a ¡®pulling in¡¯ of the physical dimensions as the magical one decreased. It seemed that without anything physically in those dimensions stoneward, they were able to draw closer together, though trying to conceptualize what that actually meant made her head hurt. Regardless, when she realized some of the implications of what she was seeing, Tala had an idea blossom within her mind. -Oh¡­ Oh! Is that how their transportation magic works?- Well, I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s how they do it¡ªthough, I¡¯d be surprised if it is¡ªbut I think it would work for us? Tala turned a bright smile toward Rane. He laughed. ¡°You just thought of something crazy, didn¡¯t you?¡± She hesitated, then nodded in admission, her smile barely fading. ¡°Yeah, yes I did.¡± ¡°We made great time; do you want to go to the Archon Compound or Constructionist Guild to test your crazy idea out with backup? You said Mistress Lyn and Kannis aren¡¯t expecting us until dinner, so they¡¯re likely at work right now.¡± Her smile returned to full strength. ¡°That is an excellent idea. Let¡¯s go.¡± They set out once again, a spring in their step, which for their level of advancement meant they were moving at a ground-eating pace. After about a half a mile, Rane turned to glance her way. ¡°Can I know what this idea is?¡± She glanced back. ¡°Hmm? Oh, nothing too extreme.¡±¡ªmischief gleamed in her eyes¡ª¡°I¡¯m just pretty sure that I can increase my gravitational attraction along the axis of the dimension of magic.¡± Chapter: 359 - Without Issue or Fanfare Tala and Rane walked through the open gates of Bandfast without issue or fanfare, simply joining the near constant traffic moving in and out at this time of day. As they entered, Tala asked Alat to send a few pertinent messages through the Archive. One was to Lyn and Kannis, letting them know that they were in the city and confirming their scheduled meet-up at Lyn¡¯s house that evening. The second was to Mistress Elnea, the head of the local Archon Council, letting her know that Tala had entered the city, per protocol. It was helpful to know when anyone¡ªRefined or above¡ªwas in the city as they could show up oddly on the detection grid on occasion, and it saved some hassle for the defenders to know who to watch for as expected. The final was to Mistress Ingrit, the Librarian who had helped Tala so much, and who was still managing the access to her memories from the arcane lands. Alat and Tala asked Mistress Ingrit about the best place and assistant for the testing of a theory and working relating to the dimension of magic. Lyn responded quite quickly. Though, that was likely only the case because her job required that she work with her Caravan-Guild-assigned Archive slate, and the message would have been immediately obvious in those circumstances. Tala and Rane had barely walked a block from the gate before that reply came in. -Oh, hey! Lyn says, ¡®Welcome back! Excited to grab dinner this evening. See you then.¡¯ That was kind of her.- Can you let her know we got the message? -Already done.- Thank you. They had only traversed another two blocks through pedestrian and vehicular traffic¡ªall feet, hooves, paws, and wheels working together to churn the still-falling snow¡ªbefore a response came from Mistress Elnea. Well, it was a response to the message that they had sent to Mistress Elnea. The magical signature on the response didn¡¯t belong to the Paragon. Alat couldn¡¯t quite place the person who had responded. So they assumed that they¡¯d either never met her, or had only seen her in passing without getting a good peek at her magics. -She conveyed a thank you for letting them know of your arrival. When she asked, I informed her that you were here for a short visit and weren¡¯t interested in any standard work. Even so, if anything was needed that was particular to you and your abilities, you¡¯d happily hear the request.- Thank you, yet again. Alat sent a mental shrug. -This is what I was designed to do. The fact that I do more is testament to how amazing we are.- Tala¡¯s mouth pulled up on one side. And humble, don¡¯t forget humble. -It is humble to have a correct assessment of our capacities. False humility is not humbleness, nor is allowing things that we are capable of doing to go undone for fear of being seen as prideful.- Her smile manifested fully. True enough. Finally, when they were passing into the inner ring, Mistress Ingrit responded. -She¡¯s asking for a brief description of what we intend. I assume it¡¯s alright for me to explain your idea?- Absolutely, thank you for asking. Alat would have already known how Tala would respond, but something about being asked anyway helped her relax. -She is surprised that she isn¡¯t surprised by the oddity of the idea, but she doesn¡¯t see an issue in theory. There¡¯s a couple of Refined, who owe us for memories shared, whom she¡¯s getting lined up. They have specialties that should be able to help mitigate the risks. We should head to the Archon Compound.- Tala grinned, turning to Rane, ¡°Shall we go to the Archon Compound? We have some people expecting us.¡± Rane gave her a side-eyed look. ¡°You have it all arranged ahead of time, then?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That seems unlike you.¡±¡ªhis eyes widened, and he flushed¡ª¡°I mean¡ª¡± Tala held up a hand to forestall him. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Rane. I know I often rush into things, but this seemed like it was¡­ important to have some safeguards in place.¡± He smiled and shook his head slightly. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what we can do, then.¡± They made their way to the Archon Compound in the center of the city, down the long hallway, and into the atrium. The receptionists greeted them and ushered them toward a testing room on the lower floor. The Refined area beneath Bandfast was almost perfectly identical to that beneath Alefast, being made of the same network of wide, vaulted passages, and having the same facilities within, in basically the same configuration. The main differences were in the materials used¡ªgiven that they were in a different section of bedrock when compared to Alefast. I wonder if all the Archon Compounds are the same? -I¡¯d bet so. With Refined and above moving around so often, relatively, they likely want some stability and familiarity. Plus, these are the facilities for the defenders of the city. It would be foolish to juggle them around just to be different. In defensive situations, moments matter.- That¡¯s fair. Tala had never actually been in one of the testing rooms in this lower facility. In Alefast, she had done her training in one or another of the big fighting arenas below the Archon Compound. Regardless, the massively thick iron door standing open on one side of the hall made it obvious that they¡¯d reached their destination. Interestingly enough, Tala could see that there was iron extending starward and stoneward of the door as well, likely to help passively contain whatever higher-level magics were to be utilized within. She had the usual mild desire for the iron but given her certain knowledge that it was not hers and never would be, there wasn¡¯t really a pull or temptation. After all, there was no reasonable way that she¡¯d ever own the metal here. The door was standing open, and Tala saw inside with ease, recognizing the iron-clad walls, ceiling, and floor, all with iron somehow forced outward along the magical dimension to make the space incredibly insulated to such power, even before the active defenses. Additionally, with the Stone¡ªwaiting stoneward and pulling all power to drain in that direction¡ªmagic would have a hard time going truly out of control. Within the room waited two figures, both barely taller than Tala, herself. As Tala and Rane entered, Rane immediately bowed to the two, as they were more advanced than him. Tala and the two exchanged the nods of equals. The man spoke first. ¡°You must be Mistress Tala, correct?¡± ¡°I am.¡± He smiled. ¡°I am Anam.¡± ¡°Good to meet you, Master Anam. This is my companion, Rane.¡± Master Anam gave a shallow nod to Rane once again, ¡°Greetings, Master Rane. This is my wife, Spiora.¡± Tala nodded to Mistress Spiora again, ¡°Greetings, Mistress Spiora.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was soft, like a warm summer breeze. It almost sounded timid, but there was a subtle strength in the single word that, instead, conveyed a simple tendency to use precisely the volume needed. ¡°Well, I think I should describe what I am going to attempt, while Rane closes the door, and you two can let me know your thoughts?¡± The two nodded, and Rane moved to close the door without comment. ¡°I manipulate the gravitational attraction of objects toward one another. Unlike most, I do not work with areas, but individual targets.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The two shared a look but didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°Recently, I have been able to latch onto reality nodes and increase their attraction to each other, but without too much of an effect.¡± That got a raised eyebrow from Mistress Spiora, but she still waited silently and patiently as Tala continued. ¡°Thus, I would like to increase my own gravitational pull along the axis of the magical dimension. If it works as I expect, I believe that I could effectively ¡®bob¡¯ to a different place in the city.¡± She glanced toward Rane who had just secured the iron door. Master Anam nodded. ¡°I see. Is Master Rane familiar with City Stones?¡± Rane spoke up for himself in this regard, ¡°I know of the concept, but not the particulars.¡± The two Refined shared a look, before nodding. Master Anam continued, ¡°Very well. You may have already considered all of them, but there are six things that you should be concerned about, that we will go over.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°Oh?¡± He smiled. ¡°First, the traditional way this is done involves imposing a type of magical buoyancy into the space within the transport room, before pulling it down and letting it move back up to the correct place. If I understand what you are proposing correctly, you will be giving yourself a vector of movement along the axis of magic, correct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, how will you come back to the proper level?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°My intention is to establish a pull back to this level first, then overcome it with an outward pull along the axis. Then, when I break that second working, the first should return me here.¡± Master Anam tilted his head to the side, considering. ¡°That should work.¡± He looked to his wife, and she nodded as well. He continued in a professional tone, ¡°Very well. Second, time passes differently as you move along the axis. Toward the Archive, time moves slower, relative to us, toward the Stone time passes more quickly. The next two issues lie there. One is that your gate will not increase its flowrate, relative to here. If you go too deep, you could easily become power-starved. It sounds like the workings you will set up will mitigate that risk, as you will not need to enact new magics, is that correct?¡± She nodded again. ¡°It is.¡± Still, Tala was reeling just a bit from the provided information. Variable timestreams? -More like one timestream with a gradient along this axis, but I get what you mean. It does explain why the Archive is so stable. It is far starward, so time must be passing incredibly slowly.- But, shouldn¡¯t that make it slow to access? -Only if adding to or taking from the information there actually took any time, but such actions are instantaneous in the most literal sense. No time is required for the process so the lengthening of a second wouldn¡¯t affect it.- I¡­ I¡¯m not sure I understand exactly, but I think I do? -I think we do, too, but that¡¯s not the most helpful check.- Master Anam continued, pulling Tala¡¯s focus back. ¡°Then, the final of the first three issues is that your mind is similarly tied to this level within the dimension of magic. Even if you have the means, do not change that. Doing so will misalign your mind and your soul in ways that are very difficult to fix.¡± Tala considered for a long moment before nodding. ¡°I have the capacity to process incredibly quickly, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue even without shifting my mind¡¯s perception of time.¡± He regarded her for a long moment. ¡°Very well. My specialty is the triune relationship between body, mind, and soul. If there are issues, I should be able to keep you from passing on.¡± She swallowed, feeling slightly nervous for the first time, ¡°Well, thank you for that.¡± Mistress Spiora stepped forward just a bit. ¡°Without the cage of the transportation room, your body will not be tied to this timestream. Oddly, my husband has proven that that doesn¡¯t cause a synchronization issue with your soul or mind, though we are unsure of why. Regardless, if you aren¡¯t careful, you can suffocate, die of dehydration, or starve before you even know anything is wrong. Though once again, this is theoretically only an issue if you go too far.¡± Tala took a moment to consider. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be an issue for me, so long as it isn¡¯t days or weeks.¡± ¡°Unless you go past the Stone, it shouldn¡¯t be that long, and within a city if you go that far you¡¯d pop regardless. That is the next issue: Don¡¯t go near the Stone. It¡¯s far, but not incredibly so. From what you described, what you¡¯ll be doing is akin to skipping along the surface of the ocean, where the bottom is the danger that I¡¯m warning about now.¡± She nodded regardless. ¡°Right, another danger of going too deep.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°And the sixth thing?¡± ¡°There is something akin to the coefficient of friction, keeping everything physical aligned with us, here. You will require quite a bit of force to overcome that, but don¡¯t let that tempt you into reckless overuse of power, or you will be thrown far, far beyond where you want to go.¡± Tala nodded slowly in understanding. Or like surface tension I suppose. She considered for another moment before smiling. ¡°Alright, I think I understand the issues.¡± The two shared a look then shrugged. Master Aman smiled when he looked back. ¡°Very well, then. One thing that I can do¡ªif you will entrust me with one of your soulbound items¡ªis draw you back to it, in the case of disaster.¡± Rane had listened to all of this with rapt attention, clearly trying to absorb all that he could. Now, he seemed to have reached his limit. ¡°Wait, you can draw someone to their soulbound item?¡± ¡°That is what I said, yes. More accurately, I can create a mutual draw, which can act as a guide to the person. It wouldn¡¯t normally be enough to matter, most people wouldn¡¯t even feel it, but Mistress Tala will effectively be in a frictionless vacuum. Any force, no matter how small, will eventually be enough to draw her back, so long as she breaks her working after it pulls her out of what we consider the physical layer.¡± Rane grunted, then looked to Tala. ¡°It might be wise to leave Kit?¡± Tala cocked her head to the side, then nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. That is probably wise. The magical weight of the sanctum might affect things.¡± She tossed Kit to Rane. ¡°Keep her safe.¡± Tala then pulled Flow from her belt in its sparring sheath. ¡°This should do for my soulbound item. It was my first.¡± Master Aman¡¯s eyebrows rose at the implication as he received the weapon. ¡°Interesting. Bound even before your body, then?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Then that will be a very powerful connection indeed.¡± Without further need for discussion, the Refined couple and Rane spread out to give Tala room. Alright, first¡­ She reached out and targeted her own node of reality, focusing on its gravitational pull toward the nodes of reality that currently surrounded her. She then poured all her focus and incoming power into the working, feeling her node pressing outward on the surrounding nodes through her voidsight. Physically, it was an odd feeling of closeness and comfort. Huh, I wonder if something like this happens when you live somewhere for a long time? Though, it probably isn¡¯t gravity. -Focus, Tala.- Right! She let her watchers know what she was doing and continued the amplification for a full three minutes at her maximum. An oddity of the work was that she now felt like she really didn¡¯t want to leave this place. She was content, and might have simply sat down to rest if she weren¡¯t in the middle of a task. Yeah, we¡¯re noting this for later. -Noted.- The extent to which she powered the amplification was probably overkill, but she¡¯d prefer to come back too strongly than linger stoneward. That done, she again targeted herself, but this time aimed her amplification at a zone of existence just a few increments stoneward of superficial. It was interesting because there were still nodes of reality there¡ªsurrounded by void just as all were¡ªbut they were utterly empty, as if simply waiting to be filled or otherwise used. Regardless, they would do as a focus for her amplification. After taking a deep breath and notifying the others that it was time, she began the amplification. At just after the four-minute mark, the whole world stuttered and went black to her mundane sight. She felt the barest instant of something akin to slipping across a ledge, her footing about to fail her and let her drop, and her eyes widened. With now well-honed instincts, Tala canceled her own effective gravity, and hoped that she¡¯d been quick enough. My in place pull to where I was should correct any fall that might have begun. A moment later in the blackness, she cut off the working that was pulling her stoneward, taking in her surroundings as she trusted in her original working to reverse her momentum and draw her back. There truly was nothing visible to her mundane sight. Nothing existed, physically, this far stoneward. Quickly looking back through her memory of the very start¡ªright after the physical world had gone black¡ªshe had caught a glimpse of a Flow-shaped blob of iron for a bit longer than she¡¯d seen anything else. Even the iron of her surroundings hadn¡¯t been visible for quite as long. To her magesight, however, there was no difference. She kept her sight focused, ignoring the City Stone stoneward of her in favor of near surroundings. She could still see all of the magic that she¡¯d seen before, and without the interference of her mundane sight, she could see rather minute details, though not as finely depicted as before. Her thoughts were racing to enact all of the changing magics and make all these observations, as it had been less than a second since the world had gone dark to her mundane vision. -Huh, I think I can feel the change to timeflow around our body. Our heart rate is rather regulated in any given situation by our inscriptions, and so I can count the beats.- Sounds like a plan. It took what seemed to be ten seconds to her body before she felt that she was nearing the superficial again, based on what her magesight was showing her. She was about to resurface, when she had a thought. She¡¯d been practicing with her through-spike, after all¡­ She grinned mischievously for the barest moment before making her decision. Tala flicked back into being bare seconds after she¡¯d vanished, from the perspective of those watching. They had barely even had a chance to move. Rane¡¯s eyes were still wide, his eyebrows raised, from her sudden disappearance. But something was different. Tala was hunched, her hair gray, her skin wrinkled. Her voice was shaking as she asked, ¡°How did it go for you all?¡± Three sets of eyes stared at her in brief horror. ¡°What?¡± Then, she acted like she noticed her own voice. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my voice?¡± She lifted a hand and stepped back in feigned shock. ¡°My hands! Did I go too deep?¡± Then, Mistress Spiora snorted a laugh, pulling the two men out of their shock. ¡°Mistress Tala, Refined don¡¯t age.¡± Tala stopped, then she lost her composure and cracked a grin. She straightened, and her through-spike illusion returned to normal. ¡°That¡¯s fair enough.¡± Rane was rubbing his face even as he shook his head. Master Aman had a small smile, ¡°I take it there was success, then?¡± Tala nodded triumphantly. ¡°Yes. First test, complete.¡± Chapter: 360 - Let It Go Tala allowed her effective gravity to return to normal as she stood firmly in the testing room. Then, she stretched, feeling her body almost seem to realign after its moments of weightlessness. She cleared her throat, and looked directly to the two Refined, ¡°We need to add something else to the list of warnings.¡± They shared a look before Mistress Spiora pulled out an Archive slate, an almost hungry look in her eyes. ¡°What did you experience?¡± ¡°Gravity. I was still in existence, but there was nothing holding me up, and I would have started to fall if I hadn¡¯t noticed something while still standing on the iron sheathing around this place within the dimension of magic. I was basically slipping toward a precipice when I noticed and negated the downward force before I went off of it.¡± ¡°That¡­ that actually makes a lot of sense. We have had unbound items go missing.¡± Master Aman nodded, considering. ¡°It also explains some of the anomalous readings we¡¯ve gotten.¡± His wife spoke again, seemingly continuing his thoughts, ¡°And with gravity, that would be pulling the items back toward alignment with us, here, but likely very physically near the center of mass of Zeme.¡± ¡°Then, the theories of high matter concentrations in the far magic dimensions¡­¡± ¡°Could just be from those who didn¡¯t parse their data well or who didn¡¯t have the right sort of measurements.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Wait. I can¡¯t be the first person to have done something like this.¡± ¡°The first? Absolutely not. There are those like us who send items to learn more about the dimension of magic, and there have been some, historically, who have dipped their toes in the waters, but some vanished without a trace, and others kept their notes private, not trusting anyone else with access so that the information is lost now.¡± Tala grunted, feeling irritated and wanting to do something to correct the injustice, but Alat responded before Tala could ask her. -All notes and memories of possibly pertinent events are actively shared with Mistress Ingrit.- What about¡ª? Tala briefly thought about a certain cell and the prisoner within. -Yeah, no. That¡¯s not spreading because of us.- Tala flickered her existence defense, just in case. She didn¡¯t know if it would do anything, but there was no way she¡¯d let that prisoner get an attachment to her if she could stop it with something so simple. The two Refined moved backward, eyes widening, but their further reactions were utterly different. Mistress Spiora was suddenly covered in what seemed to be a transparent suit of diamonds that moved with her perfectly. No, not diamonds¡­ but similar visual effect? Additionally, Mistress Spiora¡¯s hands came up, magic gathering across her palms. Master Aman simply lifted his hand as if ready to snap his fingers, before he asked, ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°A precaution against something that doesn¡¯t affect you.¡± They shared another look, before Mistress Spiora shook her head, her defenses fading, while her husband lowered his hand. She sighed, ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to take your word on that. Did you need us further?¡± Tala grinned. ¡°Oh, yes. I have quite a few more things to test. Pull me out in¡­ five minutes?¡± The two sighed, before Master Aman pulled out a pair of chairs, hesitated then pulled out a third for Rane. Rane thanked the man as they all sat. As they were getting settled, Mistress Spiora cleared her throat tentatively. ¡°Mistress Tala. I hope you are aware that that is plenty of time for you to drift too far.¡± ¡°I appreciate your concern, but I think it¡¯s worth the risk.¡± Rane shifted slightly, drawing her gaze before he spoke, ¡°What can I do?¡± She considered for a moment before shrugging, ¡°I apologize, but I don¡¯t think there is anything. I¡¯m sorry for wasting your time. If you want to leave, we can meet up later?¡± He shook his head with a smile. ¡°No waste, and I don¡¯t wish to leave. This is fascinating, and it¡¯s giving me a lot to think about.¡± She smiled in return, then looked back to the Refined couple. ¡°Ready?¡± They conferred briefly, then nodded, Mistress Spiora speaking for them, ¡°We are ready.¡± Tala still had her working in place, anchoring her to the superficial, so she began amplifying her pull stoneward once again. This time, she amplified it toward an empty reality node less far removed from the superficial. That should allow her to get enough force to break free more quickly. As she felt the beginnings of the pull stoneward, she broke her bonds of gravity pulling her downward, so that she floated up a bare fraction of an inch from the floor before her mundane sight went black. She moved stoneward more quickly. It was barely an instant before she arrived at the node that was the aim of her amplified gravity, starting to oscillate a bit as she came to a near rest in place. That done, she verified the state of herself. She had a good lungful of air, which was an additional boon, even if she could get on without it. There was the odd lack of pressure which Mistress Spiora had warned her of, and Tala had barely felt during her last, brief test. Now, floating in the emptiness, the feeling was akin to an odd tightness of her own skin, like her skin was fighting against her body¡¯s desire to expand outward. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable feeling, even if it wasn¡¯t dangerous. Her eyes felt more pressure¡ªas well as other types of attempted degradation¡ªthan her skin, but their defensive inscriptions were more than sufficient to keep them intact and functional. With her physical safety verified, she began to look around, testing the extent of her magesight. First, she panned stoneward and starward within the testing room that she was using. As she did so, she really couldn¡¯t see much, as nothing much seemed to exist away from the point of origin, along the dimension of magic. It was like staring straight up at an empty sky. Or out at an unbroken ocean. -We simply can¡¯t perceive everything at once. We aren¡¯t able to grasp it. At least not yet. Let¡¯s sweep outward.- What layer of the dimension should we focus on? -Let¡¯s look around at the level of the Stone?- Oh, that¡¯s a good idea. Tala shifted her focus to that level, then cast her gaze outward, immediately seeing many somethings in the distance spread out around her. Tala gasped, releasing her held breath. The other Stones. I didn¡¯t consider it, but of course we should be able to see them. They aren¡¯t that far away¡ªnot really¡ªand there shouldn¡¯t be anything in the way. They were above or below, physically, but now that she was looking at the right level, magically, they were obvious to her magesight, blazing in the distance. Tala looked around, turning in place as she counted. With Alefast, Waning, near its end, the new Alefast won¡¯t have a Stone yet, so¡­ there should be twelve? Alat cleared her non-existent throat. -Um¡­ I count fourteen.- Some were in nearly a perfect line¡ªleading away from Tala¡ªbut at different heights, physically. That allowed Tala to see them with relative ease. Yeah¡­ I count fourteen too. And the spacing for those two is off. Where are they? All of those that Tala could see were of significantly varied power, making it rather obvious which were newer compared to the others. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The two that she could see that didn¡¯t fit the expected pattern were both much weaker, and they seemed to be positioned out toward the plains in which the moving villages could be found. Do you think that a couple of the villages could be trying the City Stone method to augment their other stabilizing techniques? -That seems quite possible.- Still worth noting¡­ Do you think the Archon Counsels know how obvious the cities are when looked at in this way? -I think that the obviousness may be the entire cause of the swelling power and dealing with the City Stone is purpose for the wanings. Like an allergic reaction meant to remove the contaminant.- Tala frowned. After hundreds of years? After a moment¡¯s thought, she answered her own question, On the scale of reality, that is quick. Isn¡¯t it¡­ The last wasn¡¯t a question, but Alat answered anyways, -Yeah. I think that¡¯s a rather good guess.- That was fascinating to consider. Even so, she didn¡¯t have long to look around, so now that she knew she could see the City Stones, Tala began sweeping her magesight around all that was laid out surrounding her. If she focused on the superficial, she could actually see into the city around the testing room, but it was like looking from a distance. Though she could oddly see around physical barriers, and it was only her magesight that gave her input. It was almost like looking through a window, with how disconnected and oddly turned everything seemed to her sight. Because I¡¯m misaligned with them, seeing everything from an oblique angle. Not wanting to happen upon things that she didn¡¯t want to have seen, she moved her focus back to the dimensions of magic, like turning her eyes back toward the sky. As she did, she saw something move. It was out of the edge of her sight, and when she shifted her perspective to try to find it, she couldn¡¯t. Regardless, it left her feeling suddenly incredibly exposed, dangling there surrounded by emptiness. With barely a thought, Iron and white steel welled out of her, coating her in layered defenses. She looked about, feeling a moment of almost frantic panic, like there were things in the darkness around her, and eyes were looking at her from every direction. On a terrible hunch, she focused on her voidsight and found what she had expected. Everything around her was composed of empty reality nodes, abutting one another throughout. As they were empty, however, there was nothing to obscure the void that surrounded each node, and through the void¡ªas if through barely translucent glass¡ªTala caught glimpses of a twisty-not-quite-right side of reality. The Doman-Imithe was just visible if she focused. But she instantly knew, somehow, that that place wasn¡¯t the source of the motion that she¡¯d seen. There was something on this side of reality, moving through the dimension of magic like a shark through the deep. She¡¯d been stoneward for nearly three minutes by Alat¡¯s connection to the Archive. -How does the Archive keep accurate time if it¡¯s slowed down?- Not the time, Alat. -Right, possibly being circled by an unknown predator.- Alat seemed to consider. -You are scanning our surroundings like you would on land, but you are in the water, and you can see the currents.- Tala was about to snap at Alat for a horrible analogy, but then she understood. She could see the magic flowing stoneward from every human in Bandfast. Even she, herself, was shedding a bit of magic due to inescapable inefficiencies, and that power was flowing toward the Stone with every other morsel of magic. Those flows were regular¡ªpredictable even¡ªas people moved around the city. There. She caught sight of an unexplainable eddy. After all, it wasn¡¯t like there were obstacles for the power to have to divert around. Now that she thought she knew what to look for, she could trace a series of eddies of varying intensity, seemingly showing the path of something. Alright. There is something, but it seems to be moving away. -Tala¡­- What? -Look more broadly.- Tala pulled back her perspective and realized why the eddies hadn¡¯t stood out to her. They were everywhere. Only now that she knew to look closer did she see clear patterns or paths through the magic. A shudder moved through Tala¡¯s entire being. Nope! She broke her working and shot starward, back to the superficial world that she knew and was familiar with. Rane was the first to notice the changes on her return. Though, she had no idea how he could tell the difference despite her through-spike. ¡°Tala. Where¡¯s the danger?¡± Master Aman and Mistress Spira were immediately enveloped in shifting magics that hugged their skin, though Tala didn¡¯t have a chance to determine their composition. She split her metal, opening her mouth to respond, even as she relaxed. That¡¯s when it hit her. She had only an instant¡¯s warning as something flickered at the edges of her magesight. In that instant, she allowed all of her iron to weigh down on her¡ªnot keeping it in place relative to her body with her will¡ªto increase her inertia. The blow came from stoneward and at an angle, physically. She was thrown backward, away from the other three, and her mundane sight just briefly went black as she was pushed starward before settling back into the superficial, like a ball balancing on the edge of a hole before falling in, where it belonged. There was a response from the city¡¯s defenses, and Tala felt an odd flavor of magic slam into the creature, even as it rushed past her. Force was in Rane¡¯s hand when she refocused on the physical. ¡°What was that?¡± His face was pale, as were the visages of the two Refined. -I found it.- Alat highlighted what had attacked her in her vision. Tala growled, glaring at the thing that the three with her couldn¡¯t see. It was coming around again. -Ready?- Now! Tala lashed out with her hands, snatching for handholds that she could properly see. It was exceedingly difficult, because she couldn¡¯t change where her hands were positioned along the magical dimension. Still, as the beast impacted her¡ªtrying to push her stoneward this time¡ªher hands trailed behind her body, remaining superficial just long enough to latch onto the thing. Her still active working was actively working to pull her back starward, and she began amplifying that working for all that she was worth. Her hands began to ache, despite her incredibly enhanced strength. Not taking a chance on being able to hold out, she immediately tried to extend her iron and white steel forward and into the beast, putting her power behind the growth, but as soon as her magic touched the creature, it began to bleed away before it could help her penetrate the seemingly hard exterior. A magic absorber? Her magic pulled her back to the superficial layer, and she was suddenly able to hear Rane and the Refined exclaiming in alarm as Tala wrestled with something that was moving in and out of alignment with their layer of physical reality. Alat did her best to put together a cohesive picture of the thing but, as expected, it didn¡¯t really make sense from a three-dimensional perspective. At times, the beast had the look of a person in various positions, flickering through the peripheral portion of her mundane vision. At other times, it looked like a squid, and that seemed like a fuller picture of the reality of the creature¡¯s shape. Long tendrils extended in all directions, somehow having purchase or generating thrust within the dimension of magic, continually fighting Tala, trying to get free. It was also scrabbling against her, but it didn¡¯t actually seem to have any blades, claws, or teeth that it could bring to bear on her. Oddly, it didn¡¯t feel like the white steel was slowing it down at all, each impact simply landing on her iron as if the other metal weren¡¯t there. To add to the chaos, the city¡¯s defenses were slapping into every part of it that passed through the superficial, and Tala began to see ragged edges, indicating that the thing was taking damage from whatever specialized magics were at play. Do I kill it? Or I could just hold it until the city¡¯s defenses do? -I would say a hard no. This seems to be a creature that lives off of the magic in its environment, and we stood out too much as a good source of its food.- Tala felt herself pale. And if there is such a bottom feeder¡­ There very well might be a predator or carrion eater, and we do not want to draw the attention of such a thing. Tala growled. ¡°Have you all gotten a good look?¡± Mistress Spiora wore a pair of gauntlets now, each with blades strategically growing out of them for both defensive and offensive use, and she had fallen into a fighting stance yet again, eyes fixed on the flickering thing that Tala held. Master Aman held a simple ball of what looked like steel between himself and Tala, his own magical shell seemingly of shifting shadows, or at least something that looked like flickering shadows. The Refined seemed surprised by her question, not understanding what she meant, but Rane answered quickly. ¡°Yes. Let it go.¡± Tala did so, and the thing, whatever it was, rushed stoneward at speed. It was only then that Tala noticed her arms seemed to have vanished somewhere between her shoulders and elbows, but even as she watched, they shifted back into line with the superficial. That was¡­ disconcerting. -Quite.- Everyone was in a state of shock, Tala included. Rane visibly swallowed. ¡°It was passing right through me, and the defenses on me. It just pulled magic from me with each touch, and there wasn¡¯t anything I could do about it.¡± He glanced to the two Refined and nodded his thanks. Only then did Tala notice swirling layers of what seemed to be diamonds and shadow overlaying Rane¡¯s entire body. Those defenses faded, along with the ones on the Refined, themselves. Master Aman nodded. ¡°The power taken was very little. I doubt that I¡¯d have noticed at all in almost any other situation.¡± Mistress Spiora looked around. ¡°I would hazard a guess that we haven¡¯t noticed it in the past.¡± The woman paused and seemed to consider. ¡°I understand you have iron around you?¡± Tala nodded, still gazing stoneward, trying to catch a glimpse of the thing again but to no avail. It was lost among the vastness. ¡°I think that¡¯s what it was hitting, and what allowed me purchase. Magic was just sucked away, but iron could interact with it.¡± Rane cleared his throat, sheathing Force. ¡°So, it was a sort of parasite that nibbles away at our magic, and we never really notice, save to think things are less efficient than we might expect.¡± Tala nodded but it was Master Aman who responded verbally, ¡°So it would seem. Though, I don¡¯t know that ¡®parasite¡¯ is exactly the right term.¡± Mistress Spiora oriented on Tala, hesitated, then seemed to gild herself before asking a careful question, ¡°Was that the only one?¡± Tala heard herself let out a nervous chuckle. ¡°Well¡­ no. I think it¡¯s safe to say that that was not the only one.¡± Winter Update Posting Schedule
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Book 7 - Eskau (Audiobook)
Chapter: 361 - Contemplative Silence Tala spent the next few minutes conveying what she¡¯d seen to Master Aman, Mistress Spiora, and Rane who had been waiting while she delved stoneward. Alat reached out to Mistress Ingrit, and the Librarian assured them that the creatures were known, and generally not dangerous. That information seemed to frustrate Mistress Spiora and Master Aman. The man shook his head ruefully, ¡°That would have been good to know, but I suppose we¡¯ve not only never inquired about creatures living away from our layer of reality, nothing we¡¯ve done would have been done differently if we did have the knowledge.¡± Mistress Spiora sighed. ¡°There is too much information on any subject to garner expertise with it all. Even so, the fault lies with us for not inquiring more broadly. We will remedy that.¡± Rane didn¡¯t have much to add, as made sense, and he didn¡¯t seem to feel the need to interject. So, he remained mostly silent as the three Refined discussed various things. Eventually, Tala decided that she needed more information before she did any further experiments. -For what it¡¯s worth, Mistress Ingrit expressed her apologies for not mentioning the creatures. They are generally non-hostile, and even when they act aggressively, all that they do is pull off minute amounts of power. Again, across the board they are not considered dangerous or even bothersome, just oddities.- Because Mages don¡¯t work with iron, they wouldn¡¯t have the same issue we did. -Precisely. Mistress Ingrit has updated their records with that added information.- Rane and Tala bid the Refined couple goodbye after thanking them. While they hadn¡¯t been necessary in order to save her, Tala had felt better for having had them with her, just in case. -Mistress Ingrit really does seem to feel bad about what happened. She wanted to assure you that the city defenses heavily discourage the creatures from coming through the superficial layer. It doesn¡¯t happen often, and they don¡¯t spend enough time to be harmful to anyone.- As they came back out into the street in front of the Archon Compound, Rane turned to Tala. ¡°You know, as exciting as that was, it really didn¡¯t take that long.¡± Tala glanced up at the sky, where the sun was still quite a bit above the horizon. ¡°Oh, yeah. Huh.¡± ¡°Is there anything else that you want or need to do?¡± She thought for a long moment. ¡°I had some questions for Master Boma¡­ Let me send him an Archive message.¡± -Done.- Alat was only silent for a moment before continuing. -Oh. He¡¯s a bit cross.- Oh? Tala frowned, and she and Rane stepped to the side of the street to not be in the way. -Yeah. He says he¡¯s right in the middle of something, and such a question will take at least a day or two of research. He also is frustrated that he hadn¡¯t thought of that idea, himself, though I got that from subtext. He was ranting a bit, likely due to the haste of his reply.- Did you ask what we talked about? -Yes, I asked him if soul-binding an entity with a dimensional space characteristic causes the same issues as soul-binding a pure inanimate storage.- Well, if he doesn¡¯t know the answer, we can do our own research¡­ Tala considered for a moment. Can you ask Mistress Ingrit? Alat laughed within Tala¡¯s head at the contradiction, but she still did as Tala had requested. -Done.- Tala turned back to Rane who had been waiting patiently. Though, he had pulled out his Archive slate and was reading through something as she¡¯d been trying to coordinate things. ¡°Well, it seems like I¡¯ve nothing pressing at the moment. It might be nice to swing through and say ¡®Hi¡¯ to Mistress Holly, though.¡± He looked up and smiled, tucking away his slate. ¡°That could work, sure. It¡¯s a bit anti-climactic. We go into an underground testing room, learn about creatures who live all around us, possibly flitting through us at any given moment to drain bits of power¡­ and now we¡¯re going to go visit a friend.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Yeah¡­ I was hoping to test a few more things, then pull off a fun combination of what I had learned at the end, but¡­ I don¡¯t really want to go diving in infested waters again so soon. It seems like my iron will be a detriment this time around.¡± He nodded, but clearly had a question in his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, as soon as I can get my head around it, I¡¯ll sequester my iron and try again but¡­¡± Then, she hesitated. ¡°Wait¡­ Rust¡­ That would just be putting it around me in the dimension of magic, which is part of¡­ no, wait. It would be around Flow, and I can just tuck Flow into Kit.¡± Rane grinned. ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re still thinking through all that you learned. It also sounds like you¡¯ve learned a few things that I don¡¯t know yet? Do you want to go find somewhere to sit and think for a bit before we drop through Mistress Holly¡¯s workshop?¡± She felt herself relax at the suggestion. ¡°You know, that would be really nice. I think I remember a tea place a few blocks from here in the right direction.¡± He raised an eyebrow, giving a small, mischievous smile. ¡°You ¡®think¡¯ you remember?¡± She waved him off, though she felt a smile tug at her own lips as well. ¡°It¡¯s a turn of phrase. It¡¯s this way.¡± They spent about an hour enjoying a couple of pots of tea in companionable silence while Tala and Alat processed through all that they had seen and experienced during their experiment. Tala did take the time to tell Rane what she¡¯d learned that he hadn¡¯t been aware of before bouncing a few ideas off of him, but whenever she fell back into contemplative silence, he easily left her to it. As they finished the last of their tea, he looked to her questioningly, and she nodded with a smile. ¡°Thank you. I think I¡¯m ready.¡± They thanked their servers and departed, heading toward Mistress Holly¡¯s workshop. As they entered the incredibly familiar building, Tala felt the expected tickle of magic interfacing with Alat¡¯s inscriptions. -Oh, that tingles. Huh. I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d been that long since we were here but¡ª- ¡°Child!¡± Mistress Holly¡¯s voice resounded from the back. The receptionist¡ªlikely yet another aspiring Inscriptionist who probably wouldn¡¯t be around for very long¡ªsighed and gestured for them to head on back. ¡°She clearly knows you and wishes to see you.¡± Tala gave the young-seeming woman a sympathetic smile and wave. ¡°Thank you.¡± Rane and Tala walked the usual path back to Mistress Holly¡¯s workroom and through the open door. The woman herself stood in the center of the space, hands on her hips. ¡°Nearly two-hundred and fifty days since you last came back to update my records.¡± Tala quirked a smile. ¡°You mean nearly two-hundred fifty days since you got far too much personal information about me?¡± The Inscriptionist raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten some spine, working as a defender, have you?¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Tala shrugged. ¡°Just putting forward another interpretation.¡± The door slammed behind Rane, causing Tala to frown. She hadn¡¯t seen anything coming from Mistress Holly even with her magesight. ¡°Regardless, I was in the city and thought it would be nice to stop through and see you.¡± She looked closer at the woman. It was the first time that Tala had seen Mistress Holly since Tala¡¯s eyes had been fully Refined, enhanced by Refined magics, and allowed to settle. Mistress Holly¡¯s inscriptions had always appeared extensive, being more visible than most and covering all her visible flesh. Now, however, Tala saw a detail that she hadn¡¯t, before, aided by her altered magesight. Tala¡¯s magesight seemed to factor in because Mistress Holly had, for some reason, altered her aura to be entirely transparent to Tala¡¯s magical vision. As to what she saw? Every single line of inscription that Mistress Holly had was, in fact, a long chain of unbelievably minute inscriptions. That wasn¡¯t all that surprising, though it was far more detailed than Tala had ever realized. After all, inscriptions were Mistress Holly¡¯s central focus. It would have been odd if the woman didn¡¯t have any surprises within her own magics in that regard. No, what caused Tala¡¯s breath to catch was that the inscriptions extended starward and stoneward as well. Again, though, she shouldn¡¯t have been surprised by that, but the sheer unexpectedness of it caught her off guard. Mistress Holly¡¯s every inscription was actually a four-dimensional tapestry of precious metal, perfectly aligned with one of the most robust sets of natural magics Tala had ever seen. Tala¡¯s mouth opened in shock as she stared through the woman¡¯s chest, at Mistress Holly¡¯s gate. Where most Mages had a keystone inscription surrounding their gate, catching all that came through, Mistress Holly had inscriptions across, around, and through her gate, seemingly passing into the next world even as they glowed with power. Mistress Holly glanced downward, then looked up with a smile. ¡°So, you have improved your perception, then.¡± Tala looked up, meeting the older woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°What am I seeing?¡± ¡°My next experiment... well, one of them. Very, very few of my magics function when enacted in there. Evidence suggests that it is only the ones which are in full alignment with existence, rather than just in line with my mental models.¡± Tala nodded slowly, even as Rane looked back and forth in obvious confusion. Still, he held his tongue, seemingly interested in seeing how the conversation played out. ¡°Well,¡± Tala swallowed, ¡°that and your fourth-dimensional inscriptions.¡± Mistress Holly¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°So, I was right!¡± She cackled. ¡°You took a trip toward the Stone.¡± Rane gave Mistress Holly an arch look. ¡°Just how much information are you gathering about Tala, Mistress?¡± Tala waved that off. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Rane, but thank you for caring. Mistress Holly, what I really want to know is why and how, under the stars, are you shoving inscriptions back through your gate. That should be impossible.¡± Mistress Holly laughed. ¡°Oh, is that how it looks to your sight? Fascinating.¡± Rane opened his mouth to ask for clarification, seemed to think better of it, sighed, shook his head, and moved to sit on the chair to one side and listen. As he went, he muttered under his breath at a volume that he had to know both women could hear. ¡°She¡¯s as bad as Tala.¡± Tala felt herself smile, and Mistress Holly¡¯s lips twitched ever so slightly. Mistress Holly seemed to decide it was worth responding, ¡°The difference between us, boy, is that I have the theoretical knowledge before I make the leap. Though, she does seem to try to gather that information afterward, these days. Improvement is improvement.¡± Tala grimaced but decided not to contest the issue. ¡°Regardless, no, Mistress, I have not been shoving precious metal into the next world. To be clear, that would be foolish in the extreme for all sorts of reasons that I cannot begin to convey with your level of understanding. What I have been doing is using dimensional magics to bend the usually flat plane of my gate inward, to create a convex space in which I can enact conducting, enhancing, and purification magics in a more concentrated and efficient manner.¡± If Tala understood correctly, that meant that what Tala had interpreted was simply a visual artifact by which her mind was trying to interpret what she was seeing. On the other side of the gate, it would still be a flat opening. Not that anyone actually knows or understands exactly what is on the other side¡­ She nodded in understanding of Mistress Holly¡¯s words, even if not all the implications they hinted at. Tala kept her tone level as she brought the conversation back to something the Inscriptionist had said, earlier, ¡°I¡¯ll admit, that makes a lot more sense, but what did you mean earlier, then?¡± ¡°To what are you referring?¡± Mistress Holly arched one eyebrow. ¡°You said that few magics work when enacted in there.¡± ¡°Oh, that. The dimensional distortion seems to expose that expanded pocket to the rules of the next world more fully than the rest of Zeme. So, within that pocket, magics have to be more aligned with existence.¡± ¡°That is¡­ fascinating. I can¡¯t say that I understand all the implications, but one thing is pretty clear.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala narrowed her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re a Paragon.¡± Mistress Holly gave her a small smile. ¡°You can¡¯t prove that.¡± Tala opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. ¡°As you wish, then.¡± The Inscriptionist turned on Rane. ¡°Now that that¡¯s out of the way: You¡¯re here; let¡¯s check up on you for your readiness to Refine.¡± Rane¡¯s eyes widened, and he stood up hurriedly. ¡°Yes please.¡± He glanced toward Tala. ¡°Do you mind?¡± Tala smiled and shook her head. ¡°Of course not! That¡¯s pretty important to get right, and you¡¯ve been more than patient with me today.¡± Thus, Tala was the one who ended up sitting in the chair while Rane was tested over the next couple of hours. When they were done, Mistress Holly shooed them out, simply telling Tala that she¡¯d have a proper analysis of her inscriptions¡ªand how they were meshing with her changing mental models and natural magics¡ªin a few days. ¡°Oh, you can give me access to that when it¡¯s ready?¡± Mistress Holly raised one eyebrow once again and simply waited. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a few days, I suppose.¡± ¡°That sounds excellent. Goodbye now.¡± Rane and Tala left, exiting onto the lit streets in the dark, early-winter evening. They headed toward Lyn¡¯s house, and only walked in silence for about a block before Tala spoke up. ¡°So, just about two months before your first session?" He nodded. "Yeah. Honestly, while I¡¯m excited, I¡¯m also a bit nervous. My magics weren¡¯t very physically oriented, and now I have all these inscriptions slowly changing me, and the actual Refining will do even more, building on the foundation those workings are establishing.¡± ¡°What is your concern?¡± He shrugged, clearly feeling a little self-conscious. She lightly bumped him with her shoulder. ¡°What is it, Rane? You can tell me.¡± He smiled, glancing her way before returning his eyes to the street ahead. After a moment¡¯s silence, Tala added, ¡°But you don¡¯t have to say anything if you don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°I know.¡± He looked up to the sky, then shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s silly.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s concerning you, it matters, even if you think it¡¯s silly.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s kind.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± They walked another block or so before he broke the silence, ¡°This is me. This is who I am. There¡¯s good and bad. I have capacities, strengths and weaknesses. I¡¯m not perfect, but I¡¯m me.¡± Tala nodded, not interjecting verbally, somehow knowing that that would cause him to close up. ¡°Refining will change me. I will no longer be me, not as I think of myself.¡± She frowned, but he clearly wasn¡¯t done, so she simply waited. After a long moment, he continued, ¡°I¡¯m not married.¡± He colored, not looking her way. ¡°Ideally, I will be at some point, but I¡¯m not married now. What if¡­¡± He was quiet for a long time. They were almost to Lyn¡¯s house before he barely whispered, ¡°What if whoever I marry wouldn¡¯t have married me as I am now? What if they only want to be with me because I¡¯ve changed?¡± Tala frowned but didn¡¯t answer immediately. Rane¡¯s face was a rather noticeably-bright red, but he seemed to have said what he was going to say, and that was relieving some of his embarrassment. As they stopped in the small front yard, Tala turned to him, ¡°Should a child remain a child, for fear that the woman he eventually marries wouldn¡¯t love him as the child he once was?¡± ¡°What?¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Are you saying that the un-Refined are as foolish and naive as a child?¡± ¡°What? No.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Not at all. It¡¯s to make a point.¡± He scrunched his face, then shrugged. ¡°Well, then¡­ I suppose not? A man must grow up in order for marriage to be appropriate. Therefore, he is leaving that childhood behind. He is no longer a child. So, his future wife¡¯s opinion about his past only matters in that context. He shouldn¡¯t care if she¡¯d love him as he was when he was younger or not, because he will never be like that again.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°See? You already took it to the logical conclusion.¡± He huffed, grimacing slightly, ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t make sense, but¡­ It still doesn¡¯t feel great.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± She looked down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I wasn¡¯t trying to say you were being foolish. I was just trying to help.¡± He shrugged one shoulder, not meeting her eyes. ¡°I know. I also know it¡¯s silly, but I still feel it.¡± He let out a long breath. ¡°It sometimes feels like I feel a lot of silly things.¡± As he turned back toward Lyn¡¯s door, he was stopped by Tala placing her hand on his shoulder, ¡°Rane. It isn¡¯t silly to have concerns. No matter how much sense they make to someone else. How you feel matters. Let me know if I can help, otherwise please know that I¡¯ll be here, regardless.¡± He smiled tiredly, but her words did seem to help, even if only just a bit. ¡°I know. I really do. Thank you, Tala.¡± She let her hand fall back to her side, and they took the last few steps up to Lyn¡¯s door and knocked. Chapter: 362 - A Fun Evening with Friends Tala and Rane stood in the pleasantly chilly, winter air after knocking on Lyn¡¯s front door. ¡°One moment!¡± Lyn called from inside, her voice easy to hear for their enhanced ears. What is she doing?¡­ oh. Huh. That¡¯s an interesting idea. -Oh! Yeah. That is an interesting idea. We might as well try it here, but if you bring another of those things¡­ I suppose it won¡¯t actually hurt anyone, so what¡¯s the harm?- Tala¡¯s aura¡ªjust like all Archons¡¯¡ªextended stoneward and starward, even if just barely. So, Tala did the now insanely obvious thing and pulled one of her bloodstars stoneward, into her aura that was there. Just like popping her head over a wall, she could suddenly see into Lyn¡¯s house as if it were a model, cross-sectioned for her easy analysis. Kannis was sitting in one of the chairs, flipping through a book with a cup of tea at her side, clearly taking a moment to relax between a day of mentally intensive work and a fun evening with friends. The girl looked¡­ more grown up, even after less than a year since Tala had seen her last. Her inscriptions were more extensive and had a more perfected feel to them, as if they¡¯d gone through a few iterations as Kannis had gained deeper understanding and expanded her abilities to work with her own magics. The mageling¡¯s magic and inscriptions were laid bare before Tala, especially given how relatively weak the girl¡¯s magics were, but Tala held to propriety and didn¡¯t inspect her more closely. Lyn looked much as she always had for as long as Tala had known her. Even so, the woman¡¯s inscriptions were slightly different, at least those that were visible on her exposed skin. Tala looked a bit closer as Lyn approached the door, curious whether the changes to Lyn¡¯s inscriptions were superficial changes or substantive. Tala immediately flinched as she realized that she could actually see into the woman, the layers of her flesh as open to Tala¡¯s mirrored mundane sight as the inside of the building now was. Her star was barely stoneward, so the further away, physically, things were, the less she could see ¡®around,¡¯ but with Lyn now less than four feet away, it was almost like Tala could see every layer of the woman¡¯s physical being. Oh, that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s so hard to parse. -Insanely useful, though. And now that we can see it in isolation, I can safely say that our bloodstars don¡¯t bleed power like we do, even with our every attempt at efficiency.- Alat was right. Using another bloodstar¡¯s perspective to look at the one she held stoneward, Tala couldn¡¯t see any power flowing from it in any direction. There was barely anything to make it stand out at all, even though it should have looked like an ember in the dark emptiness. With all the magic streaming stoneward, it was actually a bit difficult to pick out. Perfect. Rane had noticed her flinch, but only raised an eyebrow in question. Tala smiled his way. ¡°I just found a better means of situational awareness.¡± But I need a few more bloodstars¡­ She could make one in less than five minutes, but that would have to wait. At the moment, she pulled two bloodstars starward and two stoneward, starting them orbiting to sweep her surroundings at all times. -We¡¯ll want eight in each location to see in all directions.- Yeah. She felt a bit nervous about doing that as it would strain her capacities, but it would be good training, at least. Eventually, she¡¯d have constant, complete visibility into anything that could be approaching her. Lyn opened the door before Rane could respond to Tala¡¯s cryptic comment. The older woman blinked at them a few times. ¡°Why are you two standing out there? What¡¯s with the knock? Come in, come in!¡± Rane stepped forward, into the entry hall, and enveloped Lyn in a massive hug. The older woman returned it with a smile. ¡°Welcome back, Rane.¡± ¡°Good to be back, Lyn, even if only for a visit.¡± Kannis¡¯s voice came from the sitting room. ¡°Is that them?¡± Lyn called over her shoulder as she stepped back to allow Tala to come in as well. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°What were they knocking for?¡± Tala watched Kannis place her book to the side and drain her tea in one long pull. ¡°Well, don¡¯t come all the way in. Since you three are at the door, let me come to you, and we can be on our way.¡± Lyn looked to Rane and Tala with a questioning glance, even as she gave Tala a hug. Tala grinned. ¡°That¡¯s a good plan. Do we want to eat here, in the city, or here?¡± She patted Kit, and Lyn rolled her eyes. ¡°We can eat there on the trip. Let¡¯s get some regular-people food.¡± Kannis came down the hall, a smile pulling at her lips. ¡°Mistress Tala, Master Rane, welcome back to Bandfast.¡± The mageling paused to bow deeply. ¡°It is a pleasure to see you both once again.¡± Tala grinned back at her. ¡°Suddenly so formal, are we?¡± The girl shrugged even as she straightened, a cunning smile pulling at her lips. ¡°Formalities are important, but they shouldn¡¯t delay dinner.¡± Rane huffed a laugh before giving the mageling a quick hug. Kannis and Tala exchanged an even quicker¡ªbut still not awkward¡ªhug. Tala looked to her companions, purposely making eye contact. ¡°Cheesy little caravans?¡± That solicited a series of laughs and one groan. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Lyn? You don¡¯t want cheesy goodness?¡± ¡°Tala, I sit behind a desk all day, and that is so much food. I¡¯d have to alter my workouts for a month to keep from bending my inscriptions away from true.¡± ¡°You could stop after just one. I know they¡¯re tasty, but there¡¯s no cause to go overboard.¡± Lyn gave Tala a flat look. Rane and Kannis turned to regard Tala quizzically. Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°That is with me eating just one. Those are massive, Tala.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Tala grimaced slightly. I don¡¯t really think about food that way anymore¡­ -Yeah, that much was obvious.- That¡¯s not helpful. Tala turned to Lyn with a sheepish smile. ¡°Alright, then. Where do you want to eat?¡± The four shuffled back out the still open door, pausing while Lyn closed and locked it. It was in good spirits that they set off. None of them really cared where they were going to eat; the food really wasn¡¯t the point, and they all knew it. The plan was for them to leave the following morning rather early, so they wouldn¡¯t stay up too late this night. In the end, they chose to go to the food carts, where everyone could find good food to eat in whatever quantities they wanted or needed. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. One particular food cart was manned by an old acquaintance. Gretel noticed Tala as soon as she came into sight, and the older, mundane woman grinned broadly and waved her over. ¡°Child, child! Welcome back. It¡¯s been far too long. Do you want any pies today, or did you just come by to say hello to old Gretel?¡± Tala laughed. ¡°Both, actually. How are you?¡± They chatted for a bit while the others grabbed the food they wanted from the surrounding carts. Lyn set down a coin on Gretel¡¯s cart and took the pies that she wanted so as not to interrupt the two¡¯s quick exchange of words. Soon enough, though Gretel had to get back to her business, and Tala bid her goodbye to eat with her friends. Throughout, Tala had been fighting distraction, but the older woman either didn¡¯t notice or didn¡¯t seem to mind. Tala was doing her utmost to focus utterly on what her eyes told her, leaving the mirrored perspectives to Alat, but Alat was actually having trouble parsing all of the information that was coming in. The result was that bits and flashes of ¡®more¡¯ had been pulling at Tala¡¯s awareness during her conversation with Gretel, and continued to do so, intruding in her thoughts throughout the evening. While they were chatting and eating, Tala would suddenly have a complete look at Kannis¡¯s skull move through her perspective, or a layer-by-layer cross-section of Lyn¡¯s shoulder. There was a sudden understanding of what her current meat pie looked like from the inside, or knowledge that the person walking past was walking funny because they had a rock in their shoe. That was the type of thing that threatened to make her eye twitch. It was distracting, but with the focus training she¡¯d been doing, she was able to manage. The four passed the time in pleasant conversation, good food and drink in just the right amounts. The most notable topic came about when Kannis gained a mischievous gleam in her eye. ¡°So¡­ cyclops?¡± Tala frowned, not understanding for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean. Are you asking what they are? Big humanoids with one eye.¡±¡ªshe looked toward Lyn¡ª¡°I¡¯d have thought you would have taught her that, assuming that she didn¡¯t know already.¡± The mageling laughed, shaking her head and drawing Tala¡¯s focus back to her. ¡°No, Mistress Tala. You¡¯re a little bit famous. The defensive battles around Alefast are beginning to make their way through the other cities. They aren¡¯t really regular enough to fill battle-pubs with new content, so the places often have the highlights replaying on rotation.¡± Tala¡¯s frown had shifted to one of cautious embarrassment. In Alefast, she was occasionally recognized, but as she¡¯d only been involved in one clash within recording range of the city, she wasn¡¯t that well known. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Kannis grinned widely. ¡°Your fight was short enough and flashy enough that they include it fairly often.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Rane interjected, then. ¡°It can¡¯t be that pervasive, right? I mean, no one has acted like they knew or recognized you.¡± Lyn gave her mageling a disapproving look. ¡°No, it isn¡¯t. Tala¡¯s face isn¡¯t exactly easily discerned in the fast-paced clashes. Most of the defenders move much less, so they are much more easily identified, but¡­¡± She glanced at Kannis again and sighed. ¡°She does have a point. We¡¯ve had a couple of interested parties come by the Caravanner¡¯s Guild, asking about you, Tala. I think they are building out profiles for you, or writing up articles or the like. My bet is that they are holding off until your next recorded fight, so that it is more relevant information.¡± Tala didn¡¯t really know how to feel about that. Honestly, she hadn¡¯t thought about the newssheets in ages. ¡°Do people even still read that type of thing?¡± Lyn shrugged. ¡°Archons? It seems like not really, or at least not that often. There are better sources of information after all. That said, mundanes and magelings? Undoubtedly.¡± It was Kannis¡¯s turn to grimace. ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that. It makes the information sources sound suspect.¡± ¡°Not at all, Kannis. I am simply letting Tala know that it makes sense that she doesn¡¯t really consider or come across the newssheets.¡± Tala gave a sheepish smile. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t really follow widespread news through any source¡­¡± Rane grunted. ¡°There isn¡¯t much at the higher levels. If someone needs to know, they are informed, and a lot of the filler just doesn¡¯t get conveyed, because there aren¡¯t people who are interested in writing it for a more advanced audience.¡± Kannis grumped. ¡°I like knowing that some of those defending Alefast, Waning, have done so for the last three waning cities as well. It¡¯s fascinating.¡± It¡¯s a lot more than three¡­ But Tala didn¡¯t say anything. She really had no idea what sorts of information was hidden and what wasn¡¯t. It would be a colossal pain to have a mageling¡­ The topic moved on from there as they simply enjoyed one another¡¯s company. In what seemed like no time at all, the evening had passed, and they headed back to Lyn¡¯s house for the night. Kit was allowed to grow into a door on an inner wall, and Rane and Tala retired to their rooms within the sanctum, leaving the master and mageling to sleep in the house after gathering their things for departure in the morning. * * * ¡°Tala, this is¡­ odd.¡± Tala glanced down at her torso even as she and Rane neared the outside edge of Bandfast. ¡°What¡¯s odd?¡± Lyn looked up at her friend with a flat expression. ¡°You have us looking out of a window in your stomach. Though, I will admit whatever distortion effect you have in place to give us such a wide range of view is impressive.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°She looks pregnant, but with two adult women¡¯s faces visible within her belly.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t do this until we were past the last farm.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°I wasn¡¯t saying it was bad or good, just responding to Mistress Lyn¡¯s statement.¡± Lyn shook her head. ¡°So, as I was saying: Odd.¡± Tala groused, ¡°We talked about this. I could just close up Kit entirely, but you wanted to see the sights on the way. This is the best way that I could think of to allow that.¡± ¡°Yes, but I¡­¡±¡ªLyn sighed¡ª¡°I suppose I never really considered what that would actually mean.¡± ¡°Do you have a better idea?¡± ¡°No¡­ neither of us have any means of fast movement.¡± ¡°Well, I am open to changing things, but I don¡¯t really have any better idea.¡± Lyn hmmed, ¡°What about putting the window on your back? That¡¯s a larger area, and will be pointed at a more upward angle?¡± ¡°I considered that, but then you won¡¯t really see things that I look toward, and you¡¯ll mostly just see sky even with the distorted lens expanding your angle of view.¡± ¡°Ahh, I suppose that makes sense.¡± Tala considered for a moment before suggesting, ¡°I could carry you piggyback, or in my arms?¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°I still say if they are to be carried, it makes more sense for me to do it. I can protect them from kinetic jostling. My method of movement isn¡¯t compressive or inertially stressful. Your leaps are powerful, and effectively mundane bodies would not do well when subjected to that.¡± Lyn huffed. ¡°I¡¯m quite a bit tougher than you might think, Master Rane, but you are right, that I am probably not up to the same level of physical stress as Tala. More than that, as you said, my mageling is not the most robust.¡± Kannis grimaced, her face also visible through the window into Kit. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly need bodily focused magics in my day-to-day¡­¡± She glanced over to her master, ¡°but the point is taken, master. I¡¯ll stop dragging my feet on that side of my training.¡± Lyn grinned in return. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it, but that doesn¡¯t actually change things, for the moment.¡± Rane shrugged, seemingly a bit awkward about staring at Tala¡¯s abdomen to talk with their friends. ¡°I could carry one of you on each shoulder. So long as Tala and I went a bit slower than usual¡ªand she stayed in a position to watch our surroundings¡ªit would be safe.¡± The master and mageling shared a look before Lyn shrugged. ¡°How about we try that after lunch?¡± Tala smiled. ¡°That sounds like a plan.¡±¡ªshe wove a tendril of magic into her words before continuing¡ª¡°Terry, do you want a bit of a run?¡± The terror bird flickered out in front of Tala¡ªjust out beyond the city¡¯s outermost defenses¡ªbefore trilling toward the sky. Tala¡¯s perception focused on her avian friend for a fleeting moment and saw¡­ nothing? Well, she saw nothing new. No, that¡¯s not right. -Yeah, we can see something extending from him both starward and stoneward, but there isn¡¯t anything actually starward or stoneward. It just¡­ fades in those directions.- And his node of reality is fully contained in what we can see. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s just hiding it somehow. It was worth investigating further, but now was hardly the time. That fact was emphasized by a loud exclamation pulling Tala¡¯s attention back to her passengers. ¡°Oh!¡± Kannis grinned widely. ¡°We could ride on Terry.¡± The avian looked back, tilting his head to the side for a moment before shaking. Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Unfortunately, that wouldn¡¯t work too well. He can¡¯t carry you while flickering around. That might not seem like that big of a deal, he is rather fast, regardless, but one of the largest downsides would be that, in the event of danger, he¡¯d be unable to quickly dodge or defend you without dropping you to the ground, effectively removing any easy chance for escape.¡± The mageling sighed before nodding, ¡°Right. I didn¡¯t consider that.¡± Tala clicked her tongue once, waiting for a long moment to see if any more ideas were forthcoming. When they weren¡¯t, she nodded once, ¡°Right, let¡¯s go!¡± Lyn gasped, and Kannis squeaked as Tala launched herself after the avian even as Terry flickered forward, reappearing further into the plains, already running. Rane took off after Tala a moment later, magic swirling through him in tightly controlled patterns, imparting precisely directed kinetic energy. The day passed blessedly uneventfully as they tried various methods of transporting the two physically limited friends. While they preferred the view from Rane¡¯s shoulders, it was a bit awkward for everyone involved, and Tala had put an end to it when she couldn¡¯t keep her laughter contained, given just how comical it looked. They took a late lunch at the caravan campsite just before the long, straight pass through the mountains, and paused once again on the south side. Tala let Kannis and Lyn out to stand beside her and Rane, looking down on the city a few miles distant. ¡°There you have it.¡± Tala gestured expansively. ¡°Behold, Alefast waning.¡± Lyn and Kannis both turned to regard Tala, but it was Kannis who spoke, ¡°¡®Behold?¡¯ Really?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s what has you hung up? Look! A waning city. You know, the whole reason Rane and I came to get you two?¡± They laughed and turned back to regard the expansive sight. Rane was grinning her way, and Tala met his gaze before whispering, ¡°Not a word, Rane. I was trying to be grandiose and present it well.¡± He smiled ever wider, keeping his lips firmly pressed together, mirth dancing behind his eyes. Chapter: 363 - You Never Asked Tala, Lyn, Kannis, and Rane all stood, looking down on Alefast for a few long minutes, the two travelers taking in all their surroundings including the edifice of the mountains a good ways behind them. -You know, we never examined our voidsight.- I know, but something tells me I already have all the pieces, I just need to recognize them. Also, I didn¡¯t particularly want to fall out of the sky while carrying Lyn and Kannis. -Yeah, that wouldn¡¯t be the greatest impression¡­ Also, please don¡¯t add anything to my sensory load at the moment¡­ Please?- Tala had made the remaining bloodstars that she needed to fill out a set of eight for each starward and stoneward of herself, and Alat was struggling mightily to process the flood of perspectives as they came in. It was a mess of sensory experiences, but the alternate interface was at the very least keeping it from harming Tala¡¯s usual interactions with those around her. -I really need to codify this somehow, but I don¡¯t know that I have the capability¡­- Alat seemed to take a moment to consider, loosening her concentration enough that Tala was slapped, mentally, with the knowledge of what the entirety of a nearby tree looked like, root to twig, deepest core to bark and last-lingering-leaves. -Can I collaborate with Mistress Holly? She¡¯s already poring through our inscriptions.- Yes, of course. Thank you for asking, but you don¡¯t need to ask further. Please do what you need to. -Thank you.- As Alat refocused, Tala¡¯s own perception was no longer clouded with unnecessary knowledge of the world around her. As Tala was able to return her attention to her companions, she noticed that Lyn and Kannis were asking Rane about growing up in the city and the area in general, seemingly having had enough of just looking around. They were a bit away from the pass, so Tala made a suggestion, ¡°Do you want to walk the rest of the way? We should be able to reach the northern gate before full dark.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Lyn nodded. ¡°I think that could be fun. I even have my walking shoes on; we both do.¡± True enough, both Kannis and Lyn had something closer to hunters'' boots on their feet, rather than the sandals that they both preferred in more civilized terrain or warmer weather. Rane grinned broadly. ¡°Great! Then let¡¯s get started.¡± Thus, the five, including Terry, began the trek down to Alefast, weaving around the various groves and dells, keeping to the cleared areas as much as possible. There were only a few arcanous creatures that dared approach, and Terry dealt with those before the Fused and mageling even realized there were threats. Tala was sure to toss some jerky Terry¡¯s way in thanks, even though the avian also ate each of his kills. Regardless, Terry seemed to appreciate the gesture, coming to ride on Tala¡¯s shoulder for the first time that day between various interceptions. ¡°Good to have you with me, Terry.¡± He headbutted her cheek and trilled happily in reply. The trek into the city was quite uneventful, all things considered, but Lyn and Kannis were both quite worn out when they were finally on the last stretch toward the gates. There was visible relief in the stance, stride, and expressions of the two women. They weren¡¯t struggling, per se, but it had definitely been a longer walk than they were used to, over rougher terrain. The gates were standing open and the four walked in without hesitation. As they did so, Tala leaned over toward Lyn and Kannis. ¡°Don¡¯t panic if the portcullises are dropped.¡± The two looked at her in alarm, even as they reached the center of the tunnel through the gatehouse. Instead of the iron grates dropping before and behind, fields of magic flashed into being blocking the two ways out of the thoroughfare into the city. ¡°Oh!¡± Tala looked around with interest. ¡°This is new.¡± A voice called down from above. ¡°Who goes there?¡± Rane was the one to respond. ¡°Rane Gredial with Mistress Tala, Mistress Lyn, and her mageling Kannis, newly arrived from Bandfast.¡± ¡°Where is the rest of your caravan?¡± ¡°We had no caravan. We crossed the distance alone.¡± There were a few moments of stunned silence. Tala looked upward, trying to determine what was causing the delay. In that moment, another guard up above leaned over to look down before pulling back and slapping his companion on the shoulder and whispering. ¡°That is Mistress Tala, I won an entire gold off her fight with the cyclops back in early summer. I knew she looked like a quick closer. She¡¯s one of the defenders, here. And didn¡¯t you hear that other one¡¯s name? Gredial.¡± The first guard stepped back from the slit he was looking down through, grimacing. After a moment, he nodded, coming back to look down. ¡°Very well, good Master and Mistresses. Welcome to Alefast.¡± The other one leaned over and added his own greeting on top. ¡°Welcome back, to those of you who are returning.¡± The magical defenses dropped, and the four strode the rest of the way into the city. As she passed a threshold, Tala had a feeling like the ground falling away below her and realized that it was the translation of her magesight¡¯s perception of the Stone that was now below her. Additionally, she realized that she had seen much more than she should have been able to while in the gatehouse. She had even easily been able to tell what the guards were doing behind magically reinforced and enhanced stone. Alat¡¯s panting voice came into Tala¡¯s mind. -You know, it is really hard to keep these senses from you when you focus on part of them.- Tala hesitated for only an instant. It can¡¯t be that hard if you have enough energy to fake panting. Alat hesitated for only an instant before sending a mental snort. -Fine, but I wasn¡¯t lying. I quite literally couldn¡¯t keep the perspective from you, and they just sort of¡­ clicked into place, allowing you to see what was important to you. It reduced the burden on me enough that I was able to keep everything else away.- Huh¡­ so, when I narrow my focus¡­ -You can process the increased volume of perceptual information in that narrowed area.- Good to know. -But it doesn¡¯t last¡­ enjoy your time¡­ get me back to Mistress Holly, soon. Please.- Alat¡¯s voice faded as genuine strain seemed to reenter the alternate interface¡¯s projected voice. ¡°Well, that was intense.¡± Lyn¡¯s words pulled Tala out of her own head. ¡°Hmm? Oh, yeah. They¡¯re just being careful. Some magical creatures can do odd things, and some can even look like groups of people or caravan wagons.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Lyn seemed to have started speaking without knowing what she was going to say, and now, she found herself at a loss. Kannis filled in for her master, ¡°Unexpected? Concerning? Terrifying?¡± Lyn nodded. ¡°Just a bit.¡± Tala chuckled even as she shrugged. ¡°Well, we¡¯re within the city, so it¡¯s fine.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Uh huh.¡± The woman seemed a bit skeptical. ¡°Syphons? Spi¡ª" ¡°Regardless!¡± Tala moved on quickly, speaking over Lyn before she could build up steam, ¡°let¡¯s get us some food. There¡¯s an observation establishment less than a block from here. There doesn¡¯t seem to be an attack under way, but they should have more recent highlights, good food, and it won¡¯t be too disruptive if we just want to chat.¡± Rane nodded, then added, ¡°Or, if you prefer, we could go to my family¡¯s house for dinner. If the family is eating, we can join, or if we¡¯re too early or too late, it won¡¯t be hard to get what we need to enjoy the time. Either during the meal or around it, we can even review some of the clashes. Master Grediv ensures that we have access to unedited records of all the clashes from every waning on record. There are far too many to actually go through, but he¡¯s prone to highlight some based on the capabilities of his guests. I think there are some built around word-Mages. You both fall into that category, yes?¡± The master and mageling shared a look, and it was Lyn who spoke, ¡°Yes, we do¡­ I wasn¡¯t aware that there had been defenders within our sub-focus of magic.¡± Rane answered the implied question, ¡°Likely not recently, if that¡¯s your understanding, but ¡®all those on record¡¯ covers a broad scope.¡± Lyn glanced to Tala, and Tala just grinned. ¡°That sounds fascinating. Rane, why haven¡¯t you mentioned this before?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It never came up. If we eat together, it¡¯s usually on the way to something else.¡± ¡°Huh. Well, we¡¯ll have to fix that.¡± She turned and started walking toward the Gredial estate, but she couldn¡¯t help but catch Rane¡¯s blossoming smile in the kaleidoscope of expanded perceptions, even as he followed along with Lyn and Kannis. I suppose I was focused on him at that moment. She shrugged internally, otherwise dismissing the flash of visual insight. Regardless, she felt her own lips stretch with a bit of a smile in response, before she looked toward Lyn to begin telling their guests about the city. As they walked and she pointed out some highlights, Rane filled in the details as he had more knowledge of the day-to-day features of the city. They discussed hunting down some artifacts for the two the following day, along with some basic plans for the rest of their time in the city. Sadly, Lyn and Kannis were only planning on staying for a few days before they needed to be back in Bandfast. Apparently, it was hard to get away from work, given Lyn¡¯s position, and only Tala¡¯s promise of a quick trip each way had made the idea feasible at all. Even with the short timeline hanging over their heads, they had decided to make the most of it, arriving at the estate in high spirits. The guards at the gate let them in with deep bows toward Rane. ¡°Master Rane, welcome home.¡± Rane thanked the two by name, and asked after who was in residence at the moment. ¡°Your mother, eldest sister, and aunt are in for the evening. You will have to speak to the head of the household for more than that, I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°That is more than sufficient. Thank you, again.¡± ¡°Of course, Master Rane.¡± Without further delay, the four moved into the expansive gardens that were maintained inside the compound¡¯s walls. Kannis and Lyn looked around in amazement. Tala grinned. ¡°It¡¯s exactly like I said, right? Didn¡¯t I tell you? These statues are amazing.¡±¡ªShe looked around with a smile¡ª¡°Rane says he¡¯s always been interested in sculpting. I actually got him some stone for his birthday, but I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s done anything with it, yet.¡± She glanced toward her friend. ¡°Am I ever going to see one of your sculptures?¡± Rane was coloring a bright red, not meeting her gaze. ¡°Rane?¡± Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°Tala, dear.¡± Tala turned toward Lyn with a frown. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think, based on context clues, that these¡±¡ªLyn gestured at the statues all around them¡ª¡°are examples of his work.¡± Tala stopped midstep, looking back to Rane. ¡°Really?¡± Rane gave a small nod. ¡°Oh¡­ why didn¡¯t you say anything? I¡¯ve always said how much I like them.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You never asked.¡± Tala stood there, flabbergasted for a long moment. Finally, she shook her head. ¡°I suppose I never did.¡± He shrugged again, clearly feeling a bit awkward. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s keep going.¡± Tala followed the other three in a bit of a daze. Terry pulled her out of it, when he flickered to hang from her belt beside Kit, letting out a little squawk. She looked down and frowned. ¡°You haven¡¯t done that before.¡± She opened Kit, and Terry flickered inside. ¡°What was that about?¡± -No idea, but I can confirm that Terry doesn¡¯t use the magic dimension for teleportation.- And we didn¡¯t see anything odd around him earlier, so his size changing isn¡¯t utilizing that, either¡­ -So it would seem.- But¡­ how did I not know that Rane is this good of a sculptor? Did you know that? -I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m a little busy, Tala.- Right! Right. Sorry. Tala found herself staring at each statue as they passed them by, only half listening to Lyn and Kannis raving about the same works. In fact, the two insisted that Rane lead them around the perimeter of the estate before they went to the house. So, around they went. These are really fantastic. Tala paused to look a bit closer at a sculpture of a wolf that had been tucked into an alcove against the wall. In fact, as she looked, she realized that the ground had been dug down in stairsteps, leading to the base of the statue to allow for it to keep below the nearly twenty-foot walls behind it. The creature was massive, and there was an odd weight to it, as if she could feel its gaze upon her. She felt herself shudder. At the back of her mind, she sensed the memory of an aura impression swirl through her awareness, and she instantly knew that the memory was of the wolf that they had seen so recently. Somehow, in stone, the wolf before her was more than that enormous canine had been. There were muscles beneath the beast¡¯s skin that stood out in stark relief, seeming almost to shift as she watched. Tala felt like she could see each individual hair on its pelt. The eyes seemed to be staring into her very soul. Anatalis. Tala knew that this statue was meant to depict the wolf of the north. The canine maw seemed to stretch into a knowing smile. ¡°Tala?¡± Lyn¡¯s hand on Tala¡¯s arm jarred Tala from her thoughts. ¡°What?¡± Tala jerked, looking to her friend. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, that statue is¡­¡± As Tala turned back, she saw the same statue of a wolf, but it was less than it had seemed. It was incredibly lifelike, but it was no longer dripping with the weight of a beast-god. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I was caught up in my own thoughts.¡± ¡°Well, come on. Master Rane was just telling us how he manages to make such works of art.¡± He shrugged in response, seemingly picking up where he¡¯d left off. ¡°As I said, it¡¯s much easier to put what I imagine into stone when I can properly conceive of what I¡¯m aiming for. It¡¯s become easier and easier as the pre¡­¡±¡ªhe hesitated, glancing toward Kannis before continuing¡ª¡°as my physical enhancement scripts have matured. I honestly think that much of my original capacity was facilitated by my mental, perceptual, and kinesthetic enhancement magics. It¡¯s likely that I don¡¯t have much talent, just ability granted by my magic. Anyone could do this with some time and practice.¡± Lyn scoffed. ¡°Master Rane. That¡¯s ridiculous. These are amazing.¡± ¡°These are clinical. They are precise.¡± He smiled wanly. ¡°I sculpt what I see and imagine, but I¡¯m not good at conveying more than is seen.¡± Tala glanced back toward Anatalis. Rane seemed to notice the glance, and he smiled. ¡°Ahh, yes. That one¡­ that one I am proud of. When I was finishing it, I really felt connected to my emotions. I think the joy I was feeling, the contentment, flowed through and allowed me to convey a predator more fully than others that I¡¯ve sculpted.¡± Kannis laughed. ¡°How are those related?¡± ¡°Well, the joy of the hunt. The contentment of a meal secured for those depending on you. Conversely, the joy and contentment shattered in the prey.¡±¡ªhe hesitated, scratching his cheek in sudden awkwardness¡ª¡°It made sense to me at the time.¡± ¡°I like it.¡± Tala hadn¡¯t spoken loudly, and she was almost as surprised as the others that she¡¯d said anything. Regardless, she decided to press on. ¡°I do. I think it evokes the sense of more that was in the wolf we saw on the way to Bandfast.¡± That sparked a series of questions from Lyn and Kannis as the four finally made their way to the main house. Lyn and Kannis were asking Rane if they could step through a bath before the meal, given their recent trek through the wilderness, and Rane was promising to ask for baths to be drawn for the women while their meal was prepared. His eyes kept flicking to Tala, even as he addressed their friends, but Tala didn¡¯t mind. She knew she was acting oddly. Part of it was how much of her mind was being used by Alat to tame the myriad perspectives she was mirroring, but part of it was something else. Tala found herself glancing over her shoulder, back at the statue of Anatalis, and despite knowing it wasn¡¯t true, she couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was watching her go. We¡¯re going to have to explore the northern forest at some point, aren¡¯t we. She knew that the leshkin to the south were enemies. The wolves to the north were at least neutral to mankind. I wonder what I could learn from such ancient beings. ¡°Tala, are you going to be alright while we get cleaned up?¡± Tala jerked her head up, meeting Lyn¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh! Yeah. Do what you need to.¡± She smiled even as a servant led each of her visiting friends away. Rane was already talking to a third servant about having a meal prepared for the four of them, but still, he was glancing her way, concern evident in his gaze. Yeah¡­ we need to get back to Mistress Holly to get this fixed. -Indeed.- Chapter: 364 - Whirlwind Tala blinked a few times as Rane came over, the final servant heading off toward the kitchens. ¡°Tala? You seem really distracted.¡± She grunted, ¡°Alat is using a lot of my brainpower to parse our new, more extreme and extensive perspectives. We¡¯re maintaining sixteen aspect-mirrored perspectives, and it¡¯s really hard to keep everything parsed. I¡¯m used to only having four going at any given time, and the extras are rather draining.¡± ¡°Could you¡­ stop mirroring some? Maybe work up to that many?¡± Tala stared at Rane for a long moment. ¡°Oh¡­¡± -Oh¡­ that¡¯s¡­ yeah.- Tala immediately released half the aspect-mirrored perspectives. She staggered, Rane stepping forward to catch and help balance her as the whole world seemed to shift and sway. ¡°Tala? Are you alright?¡± She grunted. ¡°I am now.¡± ¡°So, that helped? You just reduced the number?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He gave her a genuinely puzzled look. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do that before?¡± Tala hesitated, feeling a bit awkward even as Rane stepped back, her feet solid underneath her once again. ¡°Would you believe that I was just too stubborn to reduce the number?¡± He gave her an odd look. ¡°Well, with the way you just asked that, I¡¯d say that¡¯s pretty hard to believe.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ would you believe that I was trying to train myself with the extreme?¡± A smile spread across his face as he began to chuckle. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know that you¡¯re fully mentally recovered yet, because I still find that hard to believe.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± She grimaced. ¡°Yeah, I just didn¡¯t think of stopping.¡± His smile widened, and he shook his head, ¡°That¡¯s fine. You were under a lot of mental strain. It¡¯s hard to think rationally in situations like that.¡± Tala smiled sheepishly. ¡°Thanks, Rane.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You would have been fine. Either you¡¯d have figured it out on your own, or endured until you could take it.¡± ¡°¡­Is that what you see in me?¡± He frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tala wasn¡¯t certain why, but her voice was incredibly quiet, ¡°Is that how you see me?¡± He tilted his head to one side, frowning. ¡°That you either figure your way out of a given predicament, or adapt and grow stronger?¡± ¡°Yes. Is that what you meant?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I help where I can, but I don¡¯t know that you¡¯ve ever needed me to.¡± She opened her mouth, then closed it. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Right now, I¡¯m less advanced than you are. Your strength is beyond what I can grasp for the moment, but I¡¯m not slowing down. One day, I¡¯ll stand at your side and be able to be there for you when you need me.¡± He smiled and shrugged again. ¡°I¡­¡± She frowned, digging deeply into how she was feeling, considering it closely. ¡°You have helped me. There are so many times that I would have been alone if not for you. Sure, you haven¡¯t gotten me food when I would have gone hungry. You haven¡¯t often defended me when I would have died, but those extremes aren¡¯t always needed. Help is still help, even when I could have done without. It is possible for people to exist alone, but it¡¯s not a great existence. Eternity alone is nothing more than eternal torture.¡± She felt something resonate within herself, and Alat gasped. -You just advanced another tick toward Paragon.- Really? -A percent of a percent, but yes. That was apparently in line with an eternal perspective¡­ as makes sense, actually.- Tala smiled. ¡°At the moment, I don¡¯t ¡®need¡¯ you, but you do help me.¡± It was Rane¡¯s turn to seem off kilter. Even so, he seemed dissatisfied. There was a long moment of silence, and right as he looked to be building up to say something in response, the sound of two sets of footfalls came from a hallway off to the side of the large entry hall in which they stood. ¡°Is that my Rane?¡± A giant of a woman came around the corner, followed by a rather unassuming man of indeterminate age. The woman was practically bouncing as she walked, though she was not skipping. Rane tensed up for a moment, then sighed. ¡°Hello, Chloe, Master Dafnis.¡± The man, Master Dafnis, waved Rane off. ¡°We¡¯ve discussed this, Rane. I¡¯m your brother-in-law. ¡®Master¡¯ is unnecessary. Besides, you¡¯ve advanced beyond me.¡± Both people had the red-orange auras of Bound well on the way to Fusing. Regardless, Rane appeared ready to argue when the woman, Mistress Chloe apparently, lunged forward, seemingly aiming to tackle him. Rane¡¯s magics activated, and he had moved perpendicular to the ¡®attack¡¯ before she got close enough to grab him, neatly avoiding the aggressive hug. That¡¯s a better, more nuanced response than his magics have had in the past. -We don¡¯t really see him in that many combat situations these days¡ªoutside directly one-on-one sparring against him- Mistress Chloe grimaced. ¡°Dafnis, if you please?¡± The man sighed dramatically, but a smile was still pulling at his lips. ¡°Yes, dear.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened as the whole of the air in the area shifted. Their surroundings instantly began to feel just like the man¡¯s aura, even as it pulled inward in carefully constructed bands of hardened, power-filled air. This caused an inrushing breeze that actually felt rather nice. Rane could likely have broken the bonds, but this wasn¡¯t actually a fight, and his resigned look showed Tala that the events weren¡¯t unexpected by her friend. Mistress Chloe stepped forward confidently, bonds of air shifting out of her way as she came to within reach of Rane and wrapped him in a crushing embrace, or at least that seemed to have been the intention. The woman who towered over even Rane set him down with a frown. ¡°You¡¯re much sturdier these days. Advancing has made your hugs less fun.¡± Rane glowered. ¡°I wasn¡¯t giving you a hug, Chloe.¡± She patted his head, even as Master Dafnis¡¯ magics vanished. ¡°Semantics, little brother.¡± She suddenly spun to face Tala. ¡°You must be Mistress Tala. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡± Tala looked up¡­ and up¡­ at the woman who had nearly two feet of height on her. ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Tala extended a hand in greeting, but the larger woman moved to scoop her up in a hug. With a mild huff, Tala allowed all of her iron to weigh down on herself, and Mistress Chloe grunted, clearly straining but unable to budge Tala in the slightest. She grunted with effort, finally forcing out, ¡°How heavy are you?¡± To her credit, Mistress Chloe stepped back almost immediately, finally taking Tala¡¯s proffered hand with a grin. ¡°He moves away from my hugs, and you simply won¡¯t move.¡± She barked a laugh, continuing in a slightly-louder-than-necessary voice. ¡°That¡¯s amazing! Like a lock and key. Opposites make the best friends!¡± Master Dafnis smiled contentedly, locking eyes with Tala before giving a bow. ¡°A pleasure.¡± Tala felt herself smile at the unassuming man. ¡°Likewise.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°So¡­ why are you in town, Chloe?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, a new Constructionist claimed that he made a coffee incorporator.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened, causing Mistress Chloe¡¯s smile to widen. ¡°I know, right? But he just made coffee-scented air.¡± Rane sighed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good first step?¡± ¡°Bite your tongue, boy.¡± She thrust her finger in his direction, while turning back toward Tala. ¡°If you place cinnamon, vanilla, and water in the oven, it smells like cookies, but there are no cookies in that oven. Only false promises and lies.¡± Rane opened his mouth, then closed it again, frowning. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°So¡­ no coffee incorporator, then?¡± ¡°No.¡± Mistress Chloe hung her head. ¡°This whole trip just to see the unveiling was a waste.¡± Master Dafnis cleared his throat once, meaningfully. She glanced his way then sighed, ¡°Yeah, it was good to see the family.¡±¡ªshe gestured at Tala¡ª¡°And to meet the one we¡¯re constantly hearing about.¡± Tala turned to look at Rane with one arched brow even as Mistress Chloe continued. ¡°Master Grediv really gets annoying with his ¡®golden children¡­¡¯¡± Tala flushed, looking away from Rane, but she still saw the smile of self-vindication pulling at his lips. But, Mistress Chloe wasn¡¯t done, ¡°Get that smile off of your face, boy. You were that golden child for a while, Rane. You remember that, right?¡± Rane grimaced. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Mistress Chloe leaned in close to Tala and stage-whispered. ¡°I sort of hated him when I got back from the Academy, but we¡¯re doing better now. It has been¡­ten years?¡± ¡°Eleven¡­ give or take.¡± ¡°Right, eleven years.¡± The woman pulled out a massive mug from¡­ Tala actually had no idea where it came from, which was impressive in its own right. -Wait¡­ It was just a handle, and the mug constructed itself as she drew it forth.- Really? That¡¯s a neat trick. -Oh! Look there, starward.- Tala focused on what Alat was showing her, and that revealed a large, dimensionally expanded space just barely starward of the mug. Fascinating. By the magics I can see, the setup somehow works to keep the mug filled to the right level and the liquid at the right temperature. -And moves the mug itself into the storage dimension when the handle isn¡¯t being held?- So it seems. Tala resisted asking after the device, given her own propensity to over-indulge on coffee. Yeah, it¡¯s best if I don¡¯t know how it works. -How very mature of you.- Alat practically beamed with pride from within Tala¡¯s mind. The vessel in Mistress Chloe¡¯s hand was obviously filled with coffee, and it was steaming as she took a long pull. When she was done, she let out a contented sigh, ¡°That¡¯s the stuff.¡± Rane was rubbing his own face. ¡°Why? Why are you acting like this, Chloe?¡± She lowered the mug and grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve told you already. I missed out on messing with you at the Academy because you didn¡¯t go. You¡¯ve got at least another few years before that itch is scratched.¡± Master Dafnis moved forward. ¡°Dear, I think that he¡¯s actually frustrated by the fact that you are teasing him in front of company.¡± The large woman turned to look at Tala and frowned for a moment. Finally, she nodded once. ¡°You¡¯re right. Thank you, my love.¡± She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before reorienting on Tala. ¡°I apologize for my juvenile behavior. I let my desire to tease my little brother get ahead of my manners. Will you forgive me?¡± Tala almost stepped back in shock at the complete reversal in the woman¡¯s demeanor. The Bound had gone from seeming to be a mildly immature young woman¡ªtaking glee in making her brother¡¯s life difficult¡ªto a solidly professional Mage in just five sentences. It was as impressive as it was startling. ¡°Oh, um¡­ Sure.¡± Mistress Chloe grinned broadly. ¡°Good, good. I wouldn¡¯t want to drive you away from the family.¡± Rane visibly colored yet again. ¡°But, I¡¯m regressing. So, I should progress this digression, and get back to our procession toward our possessions. It was good to meet you, Mistress Tala. I hope our paths cross many, many times in the future.¡± Tala blinked a few times before she fully parsed the previous words. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re leaving?¡± Master Dafnis nodded. ¡°We are. Master Grediv has kindly arranged for a visiting Paragon to ferry us back to Audel, but she leaves in just under an hour. We don¡¯t want to delay the good Mistress.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, it was good to meet you, then, even if only briefly.¡± Mistress Chloe hugged Rane again, but this time Rane returned the hug. ¡°Bye, sis. Love you.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Rane. I love you too. Don¡¯t be a stranger!¡± Master Dafnis and Rane shook hands once, exchanging simple, genuine smiles. And with that, the whirlwind of their passage was complete. Tala cleared her throat, ¡°Wow¡­ she¡¯s something. I¡¯m sorry that the timing worked out this way. If I¡¯d known, we could have delayed picking up Lyn and Kannis for a couple of days.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. We can¡¯t spend too much time near each other yet. We still clash a bit too much.¡± ¡°Oh? I guess I can see that. Still, she seemed to have the capacity to be professional.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Oh, she is. In fact, she¡¯s rather well respected in her field. I actually considered introducing you to her when we went through Audel.¡± ¡°When we went through? When were we going to do that?¡± He gave her a long, frowning look. But when she didn¡¯t say anything further, he elaborated, ¡°Before you went missing, remember? We were going to go to every city, well I was, and you were going to go to every city outside of the southern forest.¡± Right¡­ -Yeah. You forgot?- No, I just wasn¡¯t thinking about that. -Ahh. And I didn¡¯t remind you, because I¡¯m exhausted. Speaking of which: food and rest soon, please?- I¡¯ll see what I can do. -Thank you.- ¡°That¡¯s right. Huh.¡± There was a beat of silence before Rane gestured toward one end of the entry hall. ¡°Shall we go see what we can do to prep for dinner with Mistress Lyn and Kannis? They should be done getting cleaned up sometime soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s.¡± Without needing further discussion, Tala and Rane went to a smaller dining room together, finding one with only a small table for six, offset to one side. Rane was pleased because that particular room had an Archive display on the far wall. The space would work perfectly for viewing some of the battles from the past if the four decided to do so. He stepped out to inform a servant where they had gotten to, and then began searching through the records for word-Mage defenders. As expected from Lyn¡¯s information, there weren¡¯t any recently, but to their surprise, they found a concentration of a few from about one-and-a-half-thousand years earlier. Apparently, that section of magic was very popular at the time, and Mages often were entertainers, skalds, bards, or even crafters more often than they were frontline fighters or distance casters, hurtling around fire, rocks, lightning, or the like. But that was beside the point. They had found a good selection for Lyn to look over, so they were ready. It was only a couple of minutes after they¡¯d found the cache of interesting clashes to watch that Kannis and Lyn arrived, followed shortly after by the first of their food. A swarm of servants swept through the room, leaving the table properly set and food and drink on easy to reach side-tables that hadn¡¯t been there before. Kannis gave Rane a critical look. ¡°You¡¯re rich.¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°None of this is mine. I have enough, but this all belongs to my family.¡± Kannis shook her head. ¡°I figured that the gardens outside were an exception, but the more I see the more it proves true. Even if you deny your own wealth, your family is floating in gold.¡± He coughed, glancing away. ¡°What of it?¡± Tala shook her head, mostly ignoring them as she started to gather some food for herself. This looks really good. She even found a wine that looked intriguing, and she took a long pull from her cup, satisfied that it was as tasty as she¡¯d hoped. Kannis sighed dramatically, ¡°How are you still single?¡± Tala almost choked, barely keeping herself from spraying red across one wall. Rane shook his head. ¡°Yeah¡­ no. Let¡¯s talk about something else.¡± The mageling shrugged, clearly unrepentant, and began filling her plate. Lyn cleared her throat, ¡°Regardless, is that a list of names that I see?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Rane quickly seized on the lifeline Lyn had offered as an escape from the conversation. ¡°It starts with Cote the Ascriber.¡± ¡°Ascriber?¡± Tala asked in confusion. ¡°Yes¡­¡± Rane pulled up some information, ¡°Apparently, his magic specifically focused around giving things names, and as he gave names to things, it seems that no one much wanted to argue about the name he gave himself. So, he called himself an Ascriber and his contemporaries just went with it.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°As I was saying, it goes from Cote the Ascriber to Mistress Zoe, a Librarian.¡± Lyn took some time to read through the accompanying information, even as she ate some of the appetizers already arrayed for their consumption. Finally, she settled on one of the conflicts of Master Foclair. ¡°Here¡¯s a good one. It says he fought a wolf-man. Apparently, a Mage had a¡­¡± She glanced to her mageling meaningfully. ¡°...soul-bonding go sideways, and ended up in that form.¡± Kannis frowned. ¡°And that¡­ blended them somehow?¡± Lyn nodded, carefully addressing the girl, ¡°It¡¯s one reason why familiars are so rare. You are still not at a place to learn the magical process.¡± Kannis nodded, smiling. ¡°Oh, I know. I feel like I really want to know how to form such bonds, but I can wait until you believe that I¡¯m ready. They are always really exciting in the stories, and it would be amazing to have a companion or item tied as closely to me as my husband.¡± She colored slightly. ¡°My eventual husband, and in a different way, of course.¡± Her color deepened. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that¡ª¡± Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°Let me save you from yourself. No one thought you meant anything odd.¡± Kannis looked away, muttering a thank you. Tala glanced down at Kit. ¡°Speaking of companions.¡± She opened the pouch and called Terry out, giving him some food and explaining that they were about to watch a recorded conflict. "Would you like to join us?¡± Terry looked around at the food and the people, then flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder with a trill of hearty agreement. Tala grinned over at her avian friend. ¡°Glad to have you with us, Terry.¡± Rane tossed a chuck of meat, and Terry flickered to snatch it from the air, chirping his thanks. Lyn swallowed her most recent bite. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s see how this Master Foclair handles a wolf-man.¡± Tala frowned, reading over the information as presented. ¡°Wait. Is this his last fight on record?¡± Lyn sorted through the details before grunting. ¡°It does seem like it.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Everyone retires or dies in the end. This could be either.¡± Still, they all shared a look. Kannis was the one to break the short silence, chuckling nervously. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯ll be an interesting fight, regardless!¡± Chapter: 365 - Wolves and Bears Tala and her friends settled into their seats as Rane began the playback of Master Foclair¡¯s long-ago fight with a wolf-man. As the record was shown, they were almost drawn into the ancient time, the massive Archive slate showing things more clearly than even a window could have, somehow. The region displayed was a bit more heavily wooded than that around Alefast, but it clearly wasn¡¯t a forest city. The man himself, Master Foclair, wore quite plain clothing, if nicely made. The style was a bit odd, but that was to be expected. Honestly, Tala thought the clothing was much more similar to what she was used to than she¡¯d have guessed it would be. He was tall, straight-backed, and strong without being heavily muscled, and he strode out of the city gates with confidence. Waiting for him was¡­ not what Tala had expected. There was not one wolf-man but dozens, all easily visible with the provided view. Kannis sucked in a breath when she noticed the same thing. Each wolf-man seemed to have rows of scars across portions of their exposed flesh, their clothing either torn or missing entirely. Even so, what nakedness there was, wasn¡¯t lewd. Their humanity was gone, their bodies distorted in ways that were more vulgar than any naked flesh ever could be. They looked like nothing so much as bipedal wolves, with exaggerated, human-like muscles bulging from their otherwise lupine forms. Their coats varied widely from near red, browns, all the way to midnight-black, and on to snow-white fur. Each was unique in their twisted features, whether crouched on the ground or balanced among the tree branches. Tala leaned over toward Lyn. ¡°What was Master Foclair¡¯s foundational understanding? Is it listed?¡± ¡°¡¯Power makes words true.¡¯¡± Rane grunted when he heard that. ¡°Well put together. Quite cynical, though.¡± Lyn smiled. ¡°Indeed.¡± Master Foclair spoke within the recording. ¡°You are visible.¡± His words thrummed with power that seemed to almost come through the recording itself, causing Tala¡¯s magesight to momentarily fuzz, even if just slightly. -Oh, I did not like that.- Two dozen more wolf-men stuttered into visibility, seemingly having been trying to sneak up on the man. ¡°You poor souls. What a curse to bring to the world, Lycaon.¡± A howl echoed from the trees as a truly massive beast, standing easily twice the height of the others, bounded forward. Tala¡¯s eyes widened. The others¡¯ rows of scars now made sense. Each was a bite from this massive beast, healed and scarred over. ¡°His curse spread through a bite?¡± Rane and Lyn both nodded in agreement, not taking their eyes from the unfolding drama. As the massive werewolf growled, it took them a moment to pick out the words, and even then, it was Alat who did so first. -Oh! The beast is speaking? That¡¯s rare indeed. Let me see if I can help translate, some¡­ good. The recordings are open. I can put the words at the bottom for you all.- The recording moved back to the beginning of Lycaon¡¯s harsh speech, causing the other three to frown in question. ¡°Alat is adding a transcription of what the wolf-man is saying.¡± Lycaon spoke, then, his growl barely understandable with Alat¡¯s transcription. ¡°Bound and Fused, Refined and stagnant, you have fallen for the lie of the human form. Trapped for eternity without perfection.¡± Master Foclair didn¡¯t speak, letting the creature continue. ¡°The freedom of the forest and the plains, the hunt and the den, await all. The strength of the pack and the moon, the fang and the pelt are granted to any and all by my tooth and claw.¡± ¡°You are intelligent, then. You retain that much of humanity?¡± Lycaon barked a harsh, rolling laugh, ¡°Humanity has stolen that much from nature, and I have not given it back, yes.¡± ¡°Then, go, turn your pack upon the arcanes. Break your teeth against the City Lords and their pet Houses. Reclaim them for your pack, but leave us be.¡± Well¡­ That¡¯s probably more than Kannis knows. Tala focused her perception on the mageling and saw no surprise, just studied interest. -Honestly, they are just words to her, without context. She knows that this is from more than a thousand years ago. Without knowing what we know, it¡¯s background details on a world that no longer exists.- Huh, fair. Best not make anything of it, then. Lycaon responded to the defender, bringing Tala¡¯s attention back to the recorded confrontation, ¡°No. The twisted shall not be twisted again. The broken-bound will not be broken again until the world is wiped clean of the scourge of humankind. Join my pack, let the taint be cleansed and turned to strength.¡± Tala desperately wished that she could use her magesight on the creature, but sadly, that wasn¡¯t an option. Master Foclair nodded once. ¡°So, it was a reality wolf you sought to bond. You fool. How did you even approach it to¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It was a fool¡¯s errand and you got a fool¡¯s result.¡± Lycaon growled deeply, sinking low and preparing to spring at the Refined. But Master Foclair acted first. He lifted a pair of constructs that were suddenly in his hands, seemingly having come from a bound storage. Tala could only describe them as crossbows, but without the limbs. Additionally, there seemed to be a large pair of wheels holding an insane number of dimensionally compressed bolts in them. They weren¡¯t in an extra dimensional space, instead appearing far smaller, and taking up much less space, than the bolts that were obviously already loaded and ready to fire. They looked rather reminiscent to the weapons that Mistress Jean, the Mage Hunter, had used. Though hers were very much intended for single, massive, magical shots, and Master Foclair¡¯s were just as clearly intended for the rapid firing of a number of mundane projectiles, each carrying a payload of magic to be activated within their target. Similar concept, though. Kannis leaned forward. ¡°What are those?¡± Rane grinned. ¡°It¡¯s an old-style automatic bow. Incredibly expensive, and not really worth it for what you get out, but some Mages used to specialize so much that they required external weaponry to fill in the gaps in their power. Now, we try to have a broad enough set of abilities that they aren¡¯t as needed.¡± Tala got a good look at the weaponry, given the detail of what they were seeing, and while the boltheads looked silver at first glance, she was able to pick out incredibly intricate spell-workings inlaid within harder metal. Clever. Like the arrowheads we have for specific creatures. -Precisely that. He must have known this was coming for a while to have so many for this creature, or he had a way of mass producing them.- As Master Foclair pulled the triggers, he swept the two weapons across the line of the enemies before him. Lycaon lunged straight up, out of the line of fire, but most of his pack wasn¡¯t so lucky. Bolts lanced out, each one getting a dose of kinetic power from a small, magical disc that was ejected from the side of the weapon even as the bolt was sent flying. One-use kinetic imparters? That is expensive. Even now, that would be¡­ three or four silver a shot? As the bolts lanced out, Master Foclair was speaking, though they couldn¡¯t hear him over the roaring, howling, and whimpering of wolf-men. What he did was quite obvious, however. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. No bolt flew perfectly straight, each seemingly nudged along their trajectories, their flightpaths perfected on the way to their targets. In a matter of moments, every lesser wolf-man had a bolt in head and heart, magic pulsing from the projectiles to send the monster-trapped souls on to the next world. It was an insane display of wealth, weaponry, and word-magic¡¯s power. One of his two weapons was down to a final shot, and the other had two bolts left when Lycaon landed almost silently behind Master Foclair. The Refined seemed to have heard, regardless. He was unbelievably fast, spinning and firing off a bolt from each weapon in a blink. He just wasn¡¯t fast enough. Lycaon raked claws across the Refined, leaving bloody furrows that began to bubble as if filled with acid. Master Foclair screamed in obvious pain, even as Lycaon bit down on the man¡¯s shoulder. Still, Master Foclair¡¯s bolts had struck true, one imbedding in each of the giant creature¡¯s thighs. Their magic was radiating out with powerful pulses, shredding the lupine flesh. Lycaon toppled to the side, howling and writhing in pain as the magical projectiles turned his own magic against him, ending him in moments. Even so, as the wolf-man died, he died laughing around his agonized whimpers. ¡°The pack must grow, and you will do as well as I to see¡­ it¡­ done¡­¡± Master Foclair was on his knees beside his slain foe, swaying in his own agony. He lifted up one hand and groaned as thick hair began to sprout from his skin. ¡°I am human.¡± Power rippled through the words, and all evidence of the curse vanished¡­ for a moment. Then, like a rising tide, it sprouted from around the massive bite marks once again, racing to cover his whole body. ¡°I am cleansed.¡± Again, the power in the words drove out the curse¡­ for a moment. Even without her magesight, Tala could see what was happening. ¡°He¡¯s using more power than his throughput replenishes.¡± Master Foclair growled in frustration and anger as the change began again, but he drove it back again. And again. And again. Mages were coming from the city at a run, but it was obvious that they wouldn¡¯t arrive before he lost the back and forth with the curse. Finally, as he stared at his arm once again bulging with muscle, hair sprouting across the surface, he seemed to recognize the weapon in his hand. There was only a moment¡¯s hesitation before he spoke one final phrase, clearly filled with all the power he had left, ¡°Humanity fights on.¡± A moment later, the final bolt was within his flesh, its deadly power ending the curse before it could spread further. The recording ended, and the four exchanged varied looks. Kannis looked a little green. Lyn was also looking a bit squeamish, but she was more contemplative than her mageling. Tala and Rane exchanged a look that said: ¡®More later. They¡¯re done for now.¡¯ Even so, Tala had felt something resonating within herself at the man¡¯s end. Still, it was hardly the time to contemplate such things. Instead, she simply asked Alat to note it for later consideration. Without further distractions, the four ate their food, conversation only slowly getting started once again. Regardless, it didn¡¯t take too long before they were laughing and chatting once more. Despite the dour start, the night turned out to be quite enjoyable all around. * * * That night, Tala placed Kit on the inner surface of the outer wall of the Gredial estate, and she, Lyn, and Kannis slept within. Rane stayed in his rooms within the main house, as made sense. The next morning, after a Gredial meal for everyone but Tala, the four went out into Alefast. Tala, for her part, had a meal prepared by Mistress Petra once again. Their first stop was none other than Artia and Adrill¡¯s shop, so that Kannis and Lyn could get a good look at some artifact-style items. When the four arrived, Adrill and Brandon were waiting for them, a pile of items and equipment ready and waiting, clearly not part of the shops inventory. ¡°Good, good''!¡± Adrill smiled and waved. ¡°I was afraid that we wouldn¡¯t be your first stop.¡± -I let them know the plan was for us to swing by today.- Thank you, Alat. That was very kind of you. -It¡¯s what I do.- Tala wasted no time in putting Kit on a nearby wall and letting the two men carry their stuff inside, where Master Simon was eagerly awaiting them. That sparked a conversation with Lyn and Kannis, who were confused as to what was going on. As they moved into the shop proper, Kannis clarified, ¡°So, let me get this straight. Your¡­ sanctum is even larger than the couple of rooms that we saw last night? We were in those rooms when you were carrying us, after all. I mean I knew that you had meals stored within it, but you have someone working in there too?¡± ¡°Several someones, yes.¡± Artia greeted them as they entered, adding to the conversation, ¡°And my husband wants us to join that little enclave of magically fascinating bliss, apparently.¡± She shook her head in mock sadness. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t try to steal other women¡¯s husbands, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala cracked a smile. ¡°Never fear, good woman. Your husband is only after what he can learn, and I am only interested in what he can discover.¡± ¡°Aye, I love him for his mind too.¡± The older woman grinned widely, giving a comically exaggerated wink. Tala moved on, introducing Lyn and Kannis, and explaining why they were there. ¡°Well, I have to tell you, while we have a great selection, if nothing strikes your interest, I have a list of items other shops should have. As a last resort, there¡¯s also the Constructionists. They have a more eclectic collection, though you may have to get Mistress Tala to help wrestle those from their greedy little fingers.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Yeah, the Constructionists like buying up anything unusual.¡± That signaled the start of the two visiting women wandering the shop, exclaiming over the various items available for purchase. They were both, obviously, drawn to the dimensional storage items, but while they were less expensive than Constructionist created versions, they still weren¡¯t cheap. After looking over what was available in that section, Lyn and Kannis found themselves more fascinated by the random artifacts on the final counter. Tala was looking over the items as well, ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve gotten some new stuff.¡± Artia scoffed. ¡°Of course. That¡¯s how shops work, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala gave her a flat look. ¡°I am aware of that. I mean that you have new types of artifacts. Last time you were explaining how there seemed to be more similar items showing up.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes. Well, a few delvers found a cave system filled with artifacts a couple of miles outside the city. That has created a bit of a surplus in the last weeks, including a lot of new things.¡± Lyn lifted up a glass jar filled with a black semi-solid. ¡°¡¯Obedient clay?¡¯ I¡¯m not sure I understand.¡± Artia smiled, speaking with a note of command, but without magic in the words, ¡°Sword.¡± The black substance shifted, becoming a sword, using all of itself to make a weapon that was as large as possible¡­ which was just a short sword. It was now too big for the jar and teetered over to thunk on the counter. ¡°Once it is magic-bound, it should only respond to its bound¡¯s command.¡± Lyn nodded, picking up the sword and muttering to the weapon, commanding small changes and witnessing the results. Finally, she looked up at the shop owner, ¡°Can mass be added?¡± ¡°In theory, yes, but I don¡¯t know the method. I would refer you to the Constructionists for that.¡± Tala smiled to herself at how much Artia had grown in her thoughts about Mages over the last years. Lyn grinned, muttering to the item and turning it into a cube, then a sphere, then a cup. ¡°How much?¡± That started their haggling, in which Lyn also added in a dimensional storage for herself and her mageling. She was very particular about which ones, too. Tala hadn¡¯t looked closely enough to see a difference, but she also wasn¡¯t in the market for such things. Though, we do need to find some more expanded spaces for Kit to consume. -Ooo, that would be nice, yes.- Kannis was not having luck finding an artifact that really interested her. Finally, she despaired. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here for me. All of these are fascinating, but none really speak to me.¡± Tala frowned. There are tons of random little things. I got whatever I could conceive of a use for. Still, Tala knew that she was the odd one, here. So she didn¡¯t say anything. Artia paused her negotiations with Lyn, turning to the Mageling. ¡°What are you looking for, dear? Perhaps I can help. Almost any of these items could provide some utility.¡± The young woman lifted her hands in defeat. ¡°I don¡¯t actually know. It seems silly to consider when looking at artifacts, but my foundation is that I seek the truth in all things, even among falsehoods, but looking for an item like that is probably ridiculous. It would be nice to have an ever-sharp knife, but I can¡¯t justify the expense.¡± ¡°Truth?¡± The shopkeeper got a far-off look, then reached to the far end of the counter and pulled over what seemed to be a small teddy bear of indeterminate material. Kannis blinked a few times. ¡°Is that a teddy bear? Like¡­ for a child?¡± She frowned then. ¡°Well, I suppose it wouldn¡¯t be here if it wasn¡¯t magical. I didn¡¯t even look at that one, and that was likely a mistake.¡± Artia smiled happily. ¡°Yes, the magics are centered around this little bear, but the analysis is what brought it to mind. ¡®Give truth to bind, ask truth to befriend, reveal truth to grow in power.¡¯ This one apparently doesn¡¯t require a gate to magic-bond, according to the Mages who analyzed it. They put this little iron collar around its neck to prevent its early bonding.¡± Tala¡¯s frown deepened, trying not to remember her own time wearing a collar. ¡°Care to explain the esoteric information?¡± ¡°Well, they discovered that there is a sapience dormant inside. They were going to simply destroy it as a creature from beyond, or something like that, but they found none of the markers of dangers to humanity or even individuals within the twists and turns of its magic.¡± Tala groused. ¡°I feel like the knowledge that some artifacts are ¡®creatures from beyond¡¯ is important information, and it rather weighs scales in regards to the likely source of artifacts. Even more so, if you all are regularly finding examples of sapience among the artifacts.¡± The shop owner shook her head. ¡°Hardly. I even told you about the dangerous ones the first time we met. Regardless, if artifacts are somehow remnants from ages past, moved through time, or otherwise preserved only to be revealed now, then it would make sense that some guardian creatures would come through, too. Most are¡­ less than useful, targeting anything not of a given family line, descriptions, or race¡­ that race is never human, incidentally. Those have to be picked apart and dispersed as soon as they¡¯re found. In order to keep my license as a seller of artifacts, I am bound to report any such to the Mages.¡± Kannis¡¯ eyes narrowed. ¡°Then why is it available, still?¡± Artia shrugged. ¡°The accelerated waning has most families with small children, or who want them, already out of the city. I would bet that most dismiss it as you did. Beyond that, there really isn¡¯t much to go on with what the Constructionists were able to pull from the rats¡¯ nest of magics within. They did say that once it was activated, once it bonded with someone, those magics should unspool, and be easier to read. At the moment, they are folded in and dormant, only presenting what I¡¯ve conveyed to any with the skill to understand the spell forms.¡± Lyn and Kannis shared a look. Before the older woman shrugged. ¡°Could be worth a try.¡± Kannis picked up the little bear, turning it over in her hands. ¡°It¡¯s cold.¡± She pulled it to her chest, almost instinctively, before hesitating and chuckling, ¡°But, I suppose that¡¯s to be expected.¡± Lyn and Artia entered another round of negotiations before they settled on a price that Tala found hard to accept. Lyn truly was a master of negotiation. That, or Artia had been kind to them. Likely it was a combination of the two. The deal done, Artia removed the little collar from the bear and motioned to Kannis. The mageling held up the bear, looked it in the eyes, and spoke, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Kannis. What¡¯s your name?¡± Chapter: 366 - Often… Frustrating Tala was curious to see what the little bear would do, given the incredibly complex magics that she could see bundled into it. Thus, she watched with anticipation as Kannis addressed the little artifact. The mageling seemed resolute as she held the item, but Tala could still detect a note of uncertainty. What they knew of the artifact implied sapience, and while that was expected in powerful arcanous creatures like Terry, and virtually all magical creatures, it was rare in objects outside of forbidden experiments and the like. -Well, Kit shows all the signs of either sapience or incredibly intricate procedural magics, on the order of complexity far beyond our ability to create at the moment.- That¡¯s true enough. Finally, the young woman firmed her resolve and spoke, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Kannis. What¡¯s your name?¡± At the first sentence, power seemed to be pulled toward the bear. Tala was able to see it being drawn starward, out of the otherwise stoneward streams of power. Natural magical pathways seemed to awaken from their dormant state, much as silver inscriptions would for Mages. At the second sentence, another set of interweaving spell-forms immediately started to draw in power, and Tala thought she saw flickers of power moving between Kannis and the bear. Forming a connection, just as expected. With all the moving pieces of the spellform, spreading out to overlay every part of the small bear, it was a wonder how fast it progressed. Less than three seconds after Kannis had asked her question, the bear¡¯s eyes opened. They looked like doll eyes as it looked up at Kannis. ¡°Hello, Kannis. I am Mathan Fannas Geard. Do you have a magical source attuned to you already?¡± The voice was melodic, like Mathan was barely keeping itself from singing. Even so, it was surprisingly deep, wholly incongruous with the tiny thing. Kannis was clearly taken aback by the articulate artifact. Even so, she cleared her throat and answered, ¡°Yes. I have a magical source.¡± Wait¡­ It isn¡¯t speaking. Tala narrowed her focus on the magic around the artifact. -No¡­ it isn¡¯t. It is pushing what it wants to communicate through an insane lattice of magic¡­ it¡¯s not a powerful effect, but it is complex. It looks like it¡¯s outside of the range of anything we¡¯ve seen and analyzed, ourselves.- Not human magic, then¡­ concept magic? We weren¡¯t able to analyze too much concept magic even while among the arcanes. Is it simply using the concept of communication to¡­ communicate? -That¡¯s a reasonable guess. That¡¯s why we¡¯re all hearing it, because that¡¯s what we expect and will receive best.- And it¡¯s verbose because that¡¯s the only way to convey exactly what it¡¯s trying to convey. -Precisely. The concepts involved are likely incredibly simple, from the artifact¡¯s perspective, but the magic expands and elucidates it until we can understand it precisely as intended.- That¡¯s¡­ useful? -Indeed.- The magical pathways widened and deepened within Mathan. ¡°Excellent. It is convenient that you are so equipped already, and we do not have to seek out a source to claim. In that case, initiating our magical bond will only require your consent. Simply extend some of your power to me as a form of agreement, and I will do the rest.¡± The mageling was obviously, rightly hesitant, ¡°Is that required?¡± The second set of pathways drew more deeply, thickening and deepening within the dimension of magic. ¡®Give truth to bind, ask truth to befriend...¡¯ Is it purposely cycling on its own conditions to add to the two-way bond? -That seems likely. If something like this was set up to do harm, it would be insidious.- Indeed. Mathan was silent for a moment before responding, ¡°No. A magic bond is not required, though I believe that I could not leave this region without it. The magic here sustains me, but now that I am active, I would waste away elsewhere. I sense much power nearby, but without a proper bond, I cannot detect its nature or how to access it for use elsewhere.¡± Kannis nodded, understanding. Tala, Rane, and Lyn had all discussed that portion of artifacts with the mageling so that it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise or require detailed answers while within Artia¡¯s shop. Rane, Lyn, and Artia, for their parts, were all standing back and watching with various looks of fascination. Ironically, Artia seemed the least surprised by the developments. I suppose doing this for a couple of decades has made things like this, if not everyday, certainly not unique. The mageling considered for a long moment, then pulled her own power up and into her hands, which were still clasped around the bear¡¯s middle. There was a pulse of power as the drop of Kannis¡¯s magic seemed to change the composition of all the power within the small thing, like dipping a teabag into hot water. With a wave of black fire, the hair burned away, leaving a surprisingly lifelike metal bear in its wake. Kannis gasped, pulling her hands back and allowing Mathan to drop the few inches to the counter, where it landed in a crouch. No, not a bear, a bear-man. It was eerily similar to the wolf-men they¡¯d seen in the recording the night before, but mainly in that it was an obvious blending of man and predator. In Mathan¡¯s case, there was none of the wrongness that the wolf-men had exuded. The little figure stretched, the metal moving as if it were flesh. It then looked down at the wooden counter and tapped one foot. Immediately, wood seemed to flow up through the material, and it was a wooden figure instead. It looked up with a smile. ¡°There. I determined that you did not have any form of enhanced strength, so the added weight of a metal form would be a burden. Did I do well?¡± There was a look of childlike need for approval in the little wooden face. Then, Mathan frowned. ¡°You look startled. Did my transformation shock you? I apologize.¡± It looked down at its articulate paws. ¡°I only have my nature to act upon, and it seems that it has been so very long since one of my kin was able to gain a foothold here. I do not know what I should be doing.¡± Kannis cleared her throat, moving a bit closer, ¡°Your kin?¡± ¡°Yes, I am a keeperling, born of the ordered void.¡± Tala felt her eye twitch. What? -What?- The little wooden bear-man nodded as if satisfied. ¡°Your people have done an excellent job keeping the devourlings from gaining a foothold within this place of magic and power. While the power you have supplied is minor, I can do much with it. You have a truly excellent, unending source.¡± Kannis straightened. ¡°Oh! Let me give you some more. I am a gated human, which means that my soul draws in magical power from¡­ well, I don¡¯t truly fully understand so I shouldn¡¯t pretend like I do.¡± Beside her, Lyn smiled brightly but didn¡¯t interject. Kannis reached out and tentatively placed her hand on the bear¡¯s head, directing her meager throughput into the artifact. The creature froze, clearly drinking in the power that was offered. A minute later, Kannis pulled back. ¡°Better?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Thank you, bonded one.¡± ¡°Is there anything else that I can do for you?¡± ¡°Well, if what you say is true, then I seek souls for myself and my kin. I sense so many nearby, can I have those?¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. There was a long beat of silence. The bear looked around. ¡°Was I not understood? Did my conveyance sub-spell fail?¡± Kannis shook her head. ¡°No, Mathan. You want¡­ souls?¡± ¡°Yes. As many as possible.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°For power of course. We cannot exist here without power. You sustain me, but you cannot possibly sustain all my kin. Souls will remove the need of sustainers.¡± It looked around, seemingly fervent in its desire. ¡°You can¡¯t have human souls.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because people are using them?¡± Kannis responded with a bit of disbelieving exasperation. ¡°Truly?¡± The bear looked around again, seemingly able to see through the walls in some manner. ¡°Are you sure? Interesting¡­ Regardless, I take your meaning. What about after their frail vessels fail? The souls will not mind being put to use, then; I am sure. May we have the souls of the dying?¡± The mageling¡¯s eye twitched, but she seemed utterly at a loss of what to say. Rane glanced toward Tala, ¡°Tala, would you inform my master that something here requires his attention?¡± He turned to the little bear and nodded sagely, ¡°He is a leader of this city and has the power to negotiate for anything within its walls.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± The little artifact sounded genuinely pleased. ¡°That is excellent.¡± It looked to its bound. ¡°He will be able to help us, then.¡± -Done.- Thank you. -This is fascinating¡­ unless it actually has a means of harvesting souls¡­ Then it¡¯s terrifying.- The little bear turned its head to regard Tala. ¡°You. You are communicating¡­ with yourself, who is not your self but is tied to your self, within yourself¡­ Are all humans as confusing as you?¡± He can sense us talking? -Maybe? It seems likely based on what he just said, but I don¡¯t really know what that means.- The quick exchange passed in less than a blink, then Alat gasped. -Existence shield!- Tala flooded her elk leather¡¯s defenses with void and iron, even as her iron pooled outward across her skin, under her through-spike, ensconcing herself in self-isolation. Mathan seemed to sway slightly even as he turned his gaze elsewhere. Rane drew its attention back with a few words, ¡°She is a special case, really. Most of us are rusted easy to understand. Tala just likes to go about things in her own way.¡± The bear seemed to hesitate, as if unsure of what is going on. Explain, Alat. -Reality threads were reaching out to you, manufactured and manipulated by his magics. You got your defenses up in time, but I think he¡¯s forging bonds with the others. Before Kannis could respond, Master Grediv appeared beside the counter. Artia gasped and stepped even farther back than she¡¯d already been standing. Lyn¡¯s eyes widened, but she maintained her place, protectively off to one side of her mageling, seemingly still ready to attempt to interfere. Rane visibly relaxed at seeing his mentor¡¯s arrival. Tala smiled. Good. That didn¡¯t take long. -Indeed.- Mathan looked toward the new arrival. ¡°Oh! One of power and might. May we have your soul?¡± Master Grediv raised an eyebrow, then lifted a hand, power wreathing the digits in what seemed to obviously be a means of smiting the little artifact. ¡°Wait!¡± Kannis stepped forward, surprising everyone, seemingly herself most of all. ¡°I don¡¯t think he means any harm. He seems to be learning about our world for the first time.¡± ¡°¡®He?¡¯¡± The little artifact resonated. ¡°Am I a ¡®he?¡¯¡± Now, that¡¯s a can of worms. Identity for an artifact has to be a tricky thing to handle. Master Grediv didn¡¯t lower his hand, but he blessedly seized the conversation. ¡°Little artifact¡ª¡± ¡°I am Mathan Fannas Geard. So named by the maker.¡± The Paragon tilted his head to the side. ¡°A void-bear guardian? Is that your personal name, or that of your kind?¡± ¡°Personal¡­ name? I am what I am. The ¡®who¡¯ is irrelevant. I am bound and will serve my bonded in search of souls or other suitable means of powering myself and my kin.¡± -Umm¡­ Tala? Look at this.- Alat showed Tala a few key points from the conversation as seen by Tala¡¯s voidsight, and each time that Mathan explained something to them, or them to him, his reality node grew. It wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was noticeable. More than that, the tether between it and Kannis was already huge, considering they¡¯d only just met. It was still something that Tala might expect between new acquaintances who had hit it off well, but it was definitely an oddity. Moreso that it seemed to grow whenever¡­ Whenever a truth was asked for. ¡®Ask a truth to befriend.¡¯ -¡®Reveal truth to grow in power.¡¯ Every time it reveals a truth, or has a truth revealed, it grows¡­ stronger?- At least more present. Master Grediv looked up to Kannis, deciding that he should talk with her, given she¡¯d stayed his hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mistress. I do not know you.¡± Kannis colored, lowering her head. ¡°My apologies, but I am no Mistress. I am a mageling to Mistress Lyn.¡± She gestured to Lyn. ¡°This is an artifact that we just purchased and are trying to understand.¡± Master Grediv sighed. ¡°A potentially sapient artifact? Those are often¡­ frustrating.¡± ¡°I am fully sapient, thank you. I do have the potential for more, though.¡± The bear seemed positively gleeful to share information. No wonder. Every time it does, the node grows. Tala cleared her throat, drawing everyone¡¯s attention, though Mathan didn¡¯t orient on her. ¡°Its magics are creating a relational connection between itself and whoever it¡¯s speaking with, growing it in depth and meaning. I believe that it might be doing something similar with everyone as questions are asked and answered. Additionally, it is more present every time it reveals truth or has truth revealed to it.¡± The bear¡¯s node grew. Really? I suppose I revealed truth to others, around it? That counts? -That¡¯s so unfair¡­- Tala sighed. ¡°I cannot judge its intent, but if we aren¡¯t careful, you all might regard it as a long-known friend before we¡¯re aware of what¡¯s happening. I¡¯ve protected myself, but I don¡¯t think I can protect any of you.¡± Master Grediv narrowed his eyes, gazing pointedly at the little wooden bear. ¡°Is this true?¡± ¡°Is what true?¡± It seemed genuinely confused. ¡°Are you magically forming relational connections?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Paragon seemed taken aback by the simple, forthright answer. Still, he seemed hesitant, ¡°Do you wish to explain?¡± ¡°I very much would like to, yes.¡± There was a momentary pause before Master Grediv prompted, ¡°Please explain.¡± ¡°Of course! The magics that make up my being are not hidden or obscured in any regard. I have no core morality, because morality implies the ability to choose, and I have none. Though, I do have sapience¡­¡±¡ªthere was almost a hitch in the little artifact as it seemed to try to comprehend what it had just said¡ª"I do not understand that contradiction so I will not focus on it. I simply act upon my base magics and the instructions of my bound, either directly or those implied which I interpret. Thus, without a morality, I have no need to hide from either those you would deem ¡®good¡¯ or ¡®bad.¡¯ Neither should want me destroyed because I oppose neither. I am wonderfully compatible with all thinking beings.¡± Master Grediv opened his mouth, then closed it in a motion that was hauntingly reminiscent of Rane. I guess we know where Rane learned it, then? -So it would seem.- The Paragon shook his head, a hardness entering into his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t like that you are magically forging emotional ties with me, little creature. Are you capable of stopping?¡± ¡°No. If I severed that portion of my magic, I would no longer be me, thus ¡®I¡¯ cannot stop.¡± After a short moment, Master Grediv nodded. ¡°But you can stop, and leave an altered ¡®you¡¯ who doesn¡¯t do so?¡± The bear tilted his head to the side, seemingly considering. ¡°Yes. It would cause a cascade, the results of which are beyond my understanding, but it would leave me without that portion of my functionality.¡± -That was another big boost in its reality node.- Yeah¡­ do we know what a larger reality node even means? -I think we¡¯ve found it correlates to how much sway a being generally has over the world around it?- That¡¯s not vague or unhelpful at all¡­ -Sadly, it¡¯s what we have.- I know¡­ Master Grediv nodded once. ¡°I am not comfortable with the magics this artifact is demonstrating. We do allow sapient artifacts on occasion, if their functions are not hostile, but I believe the emotional connections that are being forcibly formed should be considered a form of hostility.¡± The bear nodded once. ¡°If my bonded agrees, I will initiate the severing. I feel I should note: I cannot be held responsible for the results. The connections you wish to prevent go in both directions, and my magic has quite a lot of¡­ sub-aspects to deal with anything not so connected.¡± There was a beat of silence before the bear continued. ¡°But, as I will no longer be me, that¡¯s his problem. I pity that guy¡­ and all of you, but mostly him. Kannis? Is this your wish?¡± Was that¡­ a joke? -I think so? Maybe he is flexing his sapience?- Possibly. ¡°I¡­ I have no idea.¡± Kannis looked to the Paragon. ¡°Isn¡¯t this like cutting off a part of a person¡¯s brain?¡± Master Grediv shook his head. ¡°No, it is more like castrating a particularly aggressive dog.¡± He paused. ¡°It isn¡¯t ideal, but it is preferable to putting down the creature. At least, that is how I have always understood it. I know much but not everything.¡± ¡°And if I say no?¡± ¡°I will suppress his magics until they cease to be, leaving a well-sculpted wooden statue.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Mathan looked between the two. ¡°I am glad you find me well crafted. I do not wish to be sent back to the void, but I will not contest any action taken.¡± Kannis sighed. ¡°In that case, Mathan, yes. Let¡¯s remove the involuntary connection building magics¡­ if that¡¯s what they are called.¡± The little bear gave a serious nod. ¡°Understood. You have all taught me so much in my short stint of existence. Thank you. Goodbye.¡± Without further delay, a blossom of power reached out from the core of the magics within the artifact and struck at itself, savaging one section of the magical pathways within. There was a flash and the majority of the power held within the destroyed spellforms was sucked back into the remainder of the structure of the artifact¡¯s natural magics. Tala watched as the remaining magic severed from the artifact, now identical to Kannis¡¯s magic, snapped back to its source. It was more than ten times what the girl had offered the magical item to begin with. Kannis jerked and gasped as if she¡¯d been slapped, but Lyn caught her shoulders and steadied her. The little bear shifted, looking around itself before reaching out and touching a silver coin artifact laying on the counter within its reach. The wood gave way to silver, the shape of a bear morphing into that of a stocky man, before it lifted its gaze to Kannis. ¡°Hello, bonded. I am Fannas Geard. Am I more acceptable to you, now?¡± Chapter: 367 - We Are Undone Tala regarded Fannas curiously, uncertain as to how Master Grediv would proceed. There was a beat of silence as Rane, Artia, and Tala stood back, watching the scene unfold almost as if it were a play. Kannis stood nearly directly beside the counter upon which Fannas stood, Lyn behind her to the right, and Master Grediv across from her. All eyes were focused on the little, dwarfishly-proportioned, silver man. The Paragon sighed. ¡°With the magic that creates connections removed, it shouldn¡¯t be any more of a threat than any arcanous companion.¡± He met Kannis¡¯s eyes. ¡°Any harm, destruction, or death caused by the artifact will be your responsibility and that of your master.¡± The mageling took a half step forward. ¡°We will work with the Constructionists in Bandfast to keep tabs on his development.¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°That is acceptable. I will inform the lord of that city as well as the head of the local Archon Council of this.¡± ¡°Understood. Thank you, Master Grediv.¡± Tala released her existence defenses, reveling as the growing sense of isolation vanished, and she once more felt embraced by the world. The Paragon¡¯s eyes flicked to Tala, and he winked before vanishing without a trace. -Oh! He gave us access to a section of information¡­ oh¡­ sapient artifacts are almost always immediately hostile, so while they are vastly more common than we thought, they are almost universally destroyed¡­ hmmmm¡­ Syphons are considered in the same overarching grouping, as are many other not-quite-creatures. Though, they also aren¡¯t actually artifacts either. Basically, if a thing is a spontaneous manifestation of power¡ªrather than propagating through biological means¡ªand it shows even a hint of decision making, it falls into this camp.- Dasgannach? -Precisely. Though, I will state again that in almost all cases, the sapience is arguable.- Fascinating. Fannas still had his eyes locked on Kannis. The little figure now looked like nothing so much as a squat mannequin of silver, with barely more features than a dressing dummy. Though he deviated from such in that he lacked the obvious joints, having retained the flesh-like movements of his seemingly solid form. Good, actually. Otherwise, he might have looked like an automaton. Kannis regarded Fannas before smiling, ¡°I am not sure exactly what will come of this, but thank you for your willingness to try to work with me.¡± ¡°Of course, bonded. Existence is preferable to non-existence, and I exist now, where I did not before. But you have not answered. Am I acceptable in this form?¡± She nodded. ¡°You are. Thank you.¡± Fannas actually glowed, a deep purple light shining forth in a clear manifestation of the natural magics showing a mimicry of inscriptions. Purple in the visible spectrum, not the magical indication of advancement? That¡¯s just¡­ frustrating. Tala and Alat watched carefully, and still didn¡¯t detect anything even slightly resembling reality threads coming from the figure, nor anything that seemed to act on the reality threads already in place. As the light faded, Fannas was a few inches taller than before, now standing at around eight inches from foot to head. He also had a bit more detail, but still relatively little. Kannis held out a hand, but the little man took that for an invitation and jumped straight to her shoulder, dexterously spinning and sitting, looking for all the world like an expensive doll placed there on display. Though, he ruined the effect by kicking his feet like a bored child. ¡°Let¡¯s go learn!¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Before that, I feel that we¡¯ve missed something important.¡± Everyone turned to regard her. ¡°Fannas, why do you want to bring your kin here?¡± He tilted his head to one side. ¡°Is it nice here?¡± ¡°Generally, yes.¡± ¡°The void is¡­ not very nice. Here is better. I want to bring others like me to a better place.¡± ¡°That¡­ makes sense, actually. Is there any urgency?¡± Fannas seemed to consider, looking up. Finally, he pointed at an upward angle toward the east, ¡°There is a ball of finite burning power up there, correct? I am not sensing a falsehood?¡± Kannis glanced toward the being on her shoulder. ¡°Yes, the sun.¡± Shouldn¡¯t his communication magic have provided the name? -If he referred to it, it likely would have for our understanding, but that wouldn¡¯t have told him what it was called.- That¡¯s¡­ confusing, but it also makes sense? -I hate concept magic¡­- Yeah¡­ Fannas nodded. ¡°Before that stops burning should be soon enough to prevent non-existence for my kin.¡± That caused everyone to shift in a moment of hesitation. Lyn cleared her throat, asking the question likely on everyone¡¯s mind, ¡°You mean¡­ you need to rescue them before the sun goes out?¡± ¡°Yes. That should be soon enough.¡± Kannis shrugged, causing Fannas to bob. ¡°Well, that sounds like something we can discuss later then.¡± ¡°That is acceptable, bonded.¡± Artia stepped forward once again. ¡°Well, I am glad that you are satisfied with your purchases.¡± Tala gave a small bow toward the shopkeeper. ¡°Thank you, again, Artia.¡± ¡°Of course, Mistress. Is there anything else I can assist you with?¡± ¡°No, thank you. I will be back later for my storage. I will let your husband and son know before I move it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Artia smiled. ¡°They might not notice the passage of time, even with your false sun.¡± Fannas watched the interaction with interest but didn¡¯t comment. The four friends walked back outside after the rest bid Artia goodbye and thanked her. It was still a beautifully crisp morning, and Tala took a moment to revel in the feeling. She was rudely jerked from her revelry by Fannas, ¡°Devourling! And so strong? We are undone¡­ Bonded, run! I will delay it.¡± The little man-shaped being lunged from Kannis¡¯s shoulder, charging¡­ at the door that was Kit. What? To Tala¡¯s surprise, the door opened on its own, revealing a tall stone that tipped and fell out, smacking Fannas even as he tried to jump to the side. The stone shattered, leaving the little figure sprawled on the ground, seemingly dazed. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ too¡­ strong¡­ I have failed before I¡¯ve even begun.¡± Kit¡¯s door had already closed, but now opened again, a larger stone beginning to tip out. Tala stepped forward. ¡°Kit! Stop that.¡± The stone paused, seemingly precariously balancing even though it looked to be far past the tipping point. ¡°I¡¯ll not have you punching down.¡± The stone slowly swayed before being drawn backward before the door closed. Tala felt surprised. She generally communicated her desires mentally, rather than verbally, but she supposed that this wasn¡¯t really any greater obedience than Kit had demonstrated before. I move around within all the time, and that takes just a thought. Fannas¡¯s head moved so that he was regarding Tala, ¡°You command the devourling? Impossible! They eat all that they can.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know about a devourling, but Kit is mine, yes. She is magic-bound to me as you are to Kannis. We get along quite well.¡± The little silver creature slowly stood, a large dent obvious in its head and shoulder. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Will you tell me what a devourling actually is?¡± ¡°No, not right now¡­¡± Kannis stepped forward, and seemingly on instinct trickled power into Fannas. -Be kind. That¡¯s most of her throughput.- Oh¡­ right. Kannis dumped power into Fannas, and the metal slowly moved back into shape. Fannas gave a little bow toward Kannis, then addressed Tala once again, ¡°I will tell you what I can, later, when I feel it is time. Please don¡¯t ask until then.¡± Tala hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°Alright. I can wait.¡± Thankfully, there wasn¡¯t any traffic in the little sideroad beside Artia¡¯s shop at the moment, so they hadn¡¯t had an audience. ¡°Well,¡±¡ªTala cleared her throat¡ª¡°with that out of the way, shall we begin our tour of the wall and the rest of the city? There really is so much time and so little to see.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Strike that, reverse it." Kannis was regarding her little artifact somewhat distractedly. ¡°You know? I think I want to get you some clothes.¡± Tala thought for a moment, then smiled, an idea blossoming within her. ¡°May I try something?¡± Kannis regarded her for a moment, before nodding and taking a small step backward. ¡°Fannas, may I touch your shoulder?¡± The little metal figure regarded her for a moment before standing taller, as if stretching up to make the requested act easier. ¡°My bonded has agreed. I shall not contest her on this.¡± Tala stepped toward him, bent over and extended her aura outward to wrap around the two, extending as a full circle. Even as she surrounded the girl, Tala held back at Kannis¡¯s skin, feeling a slight resistance, similar to touching a knife to flesh. Don¡¯t push, no need to break through. At the surface of Fannas¡¯s metal¡­ Huh. There was an unbreachable wall, as if her aura couldn¡¯t exist past that point. It wasn¡¯t a question of strength, nor of resistance. It was as if there simply wasn¡¯t anything at the surface level or below to claim, even though Tala could see the magics within, which should mean there was no resistance to her aura. That¡¯s odd. -Yeah¡­ study later?- Maybe. But investigating the artifact¡¯s oddities wasn¡¯t the point of what she was doing. Her elk leathers grew down over the top of her hand, extending tendrils until they grew down her finger and to the silver man. It was actually fairly easy for Tala to picture the little figure in clothing, so the elk leathers were able to respond to that prompting with equal ease. Soon, the little silver man was dressed in well fitting¡ªnot tight¡ªblack leather pants and a flowing sapphire blue set of Mage¡¯s robes. She left his feet bare. With a thought, she severed the extended part of her elk leathers from the rest, retracting the tendrils back into her own clothing. Everyone stared at the now somewhat well-dressed, stocky little man, even as Fannas looked down at himself. Truthfully, Fannas was more square than rectangular as a human would be, reminding Tala of Thron for the first time in a while. I hope that the dwarf is doing well. -I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine. He has a legendary blade, and a powerful concept. Assuming he avoided the gaze of any City Lord and escaped to the continent, he¡¯s likely corroding through¡­ whatever he has to do there.- True enough. She returned her focus to what she had just accomplished. The clothes were¡­ serviceable. Tala grinned, happy with the general results of her attempt. ¡°Do you like it, Fannas?¡± Fannas shifted about on the street, seemingly testing the limits of his movement in the clothing before he looked up at Tala. ¡°Though they do restrict a bit, I think that I do. Thank you.¡± He gave a little bow. It was still odd to hear his voice without his silver mouth moving, but Tala had gotten used to odder things. The addition of clothing definitely made him seem more like a small person, instead of an oddly animate statue. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Tala?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± She turned to regard him. ¡°Since when can you make clothes for other people?¡± She thought for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Now? I¡¯ve not done it before, except on myself, but I¡¯ve been able to make things and sever them from my bound item for a while now. So, I guess the actual answer is: for a while now? I¡¯m sorry that they aren¡¯t that well-tailored. I can probably get better at it with some practice.¡± Lyn cleared her own throat, in a humorous mirroring of Rane, before licking her lips. ¡°With some training and practice, you could make a lot with that one ability.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°The results are just mundane material, so it¡¯s not really a way to make much money. Plus, it¡¯s not like I want to sit in a shop all day.¡± The woman looked a bit exasperated, ¡°You know, you could just be available at need, and I would bet you¡¯d have people who need last minute outfits paying you insanely well for the time. Well, at least if you perfected the process.¡± Tala frowned, considering. Finally, she shrugged. ¡°Maybe when I get older? I really don¡¯t want to be bothered about it at the moment. It¡¯s not like I know much about fashion. I just thought the gem-tone blue and black would look good with his silver.¡± ¡°They do.¡± Her friend considered her for a long moment before sighing. ¡°It is up to you, but think on it. Okay?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Lyn smiled. ¡°Now, with that out of the way. Shall we see the rest of the city?¡± It ended up taking the rest of the day¡ªand two further¡ªfor Tala and Rane to take the two¡ªnow three¡ªaround the city, showing them the sights and the setup for the waning. They walked the walls, careful not to get in the way of the guards who were on patrol. They ate in each of the eight battle-view restaurants, which was a new experience for Tala and Rane as well. Each establishment was geared toward a different type of food. For entertainment when there weren¡¯t active defensive engagements underway, the restaurants always had some fun or silly things to bet on, even if not for large amounts of money. Rane won a silver by correctly guessing the number of steps Master Akra took between beheading two horned bears in a recording of a fight that had taken place a few days previously. Kannis claimed fifty copper when she chose the right number of smaller versions that a toxic rabbit would split into when a defender slew the larger form, as well as how many would immediately attack the defender. Lyn even won a half-dozen silver when she was the closest guess to the number of arrows in a volley used to soften a swarm of rodents of unusual size before the unit on duty crushed the mini-horde. None of the fights were new, but the addition of small-to-medium bets on such random parts of the conflicts made them just as fascinating to watch. Fannas rode on Kannis¡¯s shoulder throughout, seemingly absorbing everything that he saw. Terry, whenever he was on Tala¡¯s own shoulder, eyed the little figure curiously, but he never did much more than that. The only tense moment really came that evening after the first day touring, when Kannis and Lyn were entering Kit to sleep for the night. Fannas was horrified that they were going to enter what he said was a devourling. I mean, it does sound like Kit, but she¡¯s friendly. -Yeah¡­ though, if we¡¯d known the name beforehand, I don¡¯t know that we¡¯d have acted the same.- A devourling by any other name is just as sweet? -I don¡¯t think that¡¯s really applicable?- Alat sent amusement through Tala¡¯s thoughts before continuing, -Kit likes us now, and I have no fear of her harming us, but ¡®devourling¡¯ isn¡¯t a great name with which to inspire confidence. Tala, you jumped inside the pouch within hours of buying her.- ¡­Fine. You¡¯re right. I probably wouldn¡¯t have done that if I¡¯d thought she was a ¡®devourling.¡¯ -Is it wrong that the ¡®probably¡¯ bothers me?- I wasn¡¯t in a great place at that time. -That¡¯s fair. I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re doing at least a little better now.- Me too. Kannis and Lyn had walked into Kit, despite Fannas¡¯s protests, even as the little silver man had stood outside, hopping from foot to foot in agitation. Thankfully, they¡¯d been in the Gredial estate at the time, so it hadn¡¯t caused too much of a scene. When Kannis had stepped back out, Fannas had stopped cold, shocked into immobility by her return. She¡¯d then stepped back and forth across the threshold a few times before Fannas had reluctantly agreed to accompany her. When Kannis went back inside once more, the door had tried to bite them, reminding Tala of how Kit had eaten the holds that she¡¯d captured in the arcane lands. Even so, Tala had given Kit a smack and a hushed talking to, that seemed to have worked, because the door hadn¡¯t actually bit down, and Fannas had emerged the next morning, unharmed. Now, it was the morning of their departure back for Bandfast, and Fannas was entirely of a different mind, seeming almost to be talking to himself whenever he was inside of Kit, though Tala couldn¡¯t understand the words. Not really another language, just his magics aren¡¯t directed toward me, so I can¡¯t understand him? -Maybe? I hate concept magic.- So, he¡¯s talking with Kit? -Could be.- Is she responding? -Probably not¡­- Regardless, Kit seemed to have stopped trying to end Fannas, at least so obviously. -It is rather frustrating¡­ I can see that there is more to Fannas, similar to how there is more to Terry, but it isn¡¯t starward or stoneward.- Are the magics void related? -That would explain Terry and Fannas¡¯s reality nodes, though they aren¡¯t identical or even that similar.- What even is the void? Tala grimaced internally, considering, even as Rane, Lyn, and Kannis chatted about how the trip had gone. Tala added thoughts and comments here and there, but her mind was elsewhere. I think we¡¯re wrong. -Explain. I mean I see what you mean, but articulate it so we can both process it.- We see stoneward and starward as increments away from superficial, and that seems perfectly accurate. -It does yes.- But basically nothing exists as only perfect increments, certainly not a spatial axis. -Correct.- Then, that¡¯s the answer. The void is between the increments. It was incredibly obvious now that she considered it. It was conceptual, and that made her nervous, but it was more about how she conceived it than about enacting a concept. She considered, nodding to herself. It really did make sense. It didn¡¯t matter what the units were, between the increments was the void. Alat sent along mental agreement. -Yeah, that¡¯s just like the physical world. If we look down to the molecular level, between the molecules is the void.- If we examine even closer? To the atomic level? Between atoms is the void. -At the level of protons, neutrons, electrons and all that?- Between them is the void. That¡¯s as minute as she¡¯d learned of, but she felt like it held true further down as well. So, it should be with the magical axis. Between each increment was the void. Every whole number is harmonized with, and seeable by, our magesight. -Every fraction is the void.- ¡­by that conceptualization, the Doman-Imithe would be¡­ at the half increments? Reality translated a half step? -The back side of the world.- Tala decided that she needed to consider and let the idea brew within her mind, so she returned her full attention to her friends as they enjoyed their last meal in Alefast, together. Together, they ate warm, delicious food, drank hot, steaming drinks, and watched the sun rise over the stunningly frosted landscape. Ko-fi is Live! [Free Advanced Chapter for You!] Hello, all! This is an announcement to let you know that Ko-fi is live for monthly subscriptions!!! Currently 22 chapters ahead!?? That¡¯s almost 2 months of chapters, not even counting the 11 bonus chapters! ?? Important Facts: Monetarily: Patreon takes 8% while Ko-fi takes a small, flat fee. Thus, through Ko-fi, more of the support will add to the MM coffers and Terry Jerky Fund. ?? Chapter Reading: Ko-fi supporters will get their content via read-only Google docs, linked through Ko-fi. (At the moment, I cannot post the chapter text within Ko-fi, so the chapters are linked through Tier-specific "Tables of Contents") If that is not for you, I completely understand. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. My Suggestion: Try reading the next chapter in this format: (This is the chapter which will be released on RR on Wednesday.) ?? [Please consider the advanced chapter as a thank you for being willing to consider supporting MM in this manner.] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e9fvllFKoMknCNIJ49cIbv1IfNOVEogKjLwkBgy35uU/edit?usp=sharing If you enjoy reading via Google Docs and would like to support MM financially, please join us: https://ko-fi.com/jl_mullins/tiers# Thank you all for your patience! I know a lot of you have been asking me to find a Patreon alternative, and it¡¯s taken me a bit... ?? It¡¯s here, now!?? https://ko-fi.com/jl_mullins May the New Year be full of blessings for you all. Your readership and support is what makes Millennial Mage possible. Regards, J.L.Mullins Chapter: 368 - Threefold Sight Tala felt rather content as she and Rane happily bid goodbyes to Lyn and Kannis at Lyn¡¯s house in Bandfast. The trip back had been wholly uneventful. No caravans in distress, needing their interference or otherwise. No magical monsters posturing or attempting to waylay them along the way. It was simply a peaceful run through the wilderness from shortly after sunrise to quite a bit after sundown. But now their time with their friends was drawing to a close. Lyn and Kannis had to prepare for work in the morning, so they had simply eaten a meal prepared by Mistress Petra as Tala had continued the trek alongside Rane. It really was kind of him to come. He didn¡¯t have to. -Yeah, and he insisted when you offered for him to remain in Alefast.- True enough. All the goodbyes had been said, and Tala and Rane were heading toward the door, when Fannas spoke from Kannis¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Mistress Tala, may I have a moment?¡± The little man had picked up proper forms of address, along with a whole lot more, over the past days. Early on, he¡¯d apologized for requesting souls as soon as he came to understand exactly what that meant and would have meant. He still said that he was interested in using them if offered, but he regretted essentially asking to kill a bunch of humans for his own gain. That had made Tala feel¡­ honestly not much better. It had seemed to mollify Kannis and Lyn though, so Tala had decided to have trust in her friends for the time being. Fannas was, at the moment, wearing a ruby-red tunic with dark grey pants¡ªone of myriad sets of clothing that Tala had made for him simply because she could. The most recent ones had actually been quite well fitted, if she did say so herself. It wasn¡¯t a skill that she¡¯d expected to need, but now that she thought of it, it would be useful for when she had children. No clothes shopping, just tell mommy what you want, and we¡¯ll make it happen in a snap. -Yes¡­ children. Still far in the future, and not something you¡¯re thinking about at all.- Precisely. She turned her full attention to Fannas, ¡°Yes, Fannas?¡± As usual, his mouth did not move, and she only ¡®heard¡¯ him in the sense that she processed his communication as if it were sound, ¡°I wish to discuss your dimensional storage¡ªyour devourling¡ª that you call Kit.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°You did promise to tell me what you meant by that, and you also asked me not to prod.¡± ¡°And you honored your side, so I will honor mine.¡± Needless to say, everyone else had focused in on the conversation between Tala and the artifact. ¡°Devourlings are like keeperlings in that we all are creatures of potential magic within the void. We would say that they are corrupted keeperlings, because they devour all that they are given instead of preserving and ordering that which they do not need to survive. They would say¡­ Kit has said that I am a corrupted devourling, because I use up magic, but try to hide that base nature with silly platitudes.¡± Tala blinked. ¡°What?¡± Fannas tilted his head to the side. ¡°What didn¡¯t you understand?¡± He glanced toward Kannis. ¡°I might need my magics investigated sooner even than we planned.¡± That was another thing that had made everyone feel much better: Fannas had seemed almost eager to have his magical nature delved into by experts in the craft. But that wasn¡¯t what was at issue. Tala shook her head, ¡°No. Kit, ¡®said?¡¯ Kit talked to you?¡± She looked down at Kit. ¡°You talked with Fannas?¡± The pouch did not respond. Fannas held up a hand and waggled it back and forth. ¡°¡¯Said¡¯ is probably not correct, not in the literal sense. All of us, regardless of kind, communicate through variations in our magical nature. You all do it too, at least you still make plain the variations. It seems like you require vibrations passing through the air to actually comprehend one another, which I find endlessly fascinating.¡± Rane interjected then, ¡°What do you mean?¡± The little man looked toward the larger, ¡°Imagine that you came across a group of humanity who were constantly talking, speaking their thoughts aloud, but they were all deaf, so they could only actually communicate by writing things down for one another. It feels sort of like that.¡± Variations in our magic¡­ like the automaton Io could use to see our truthfulness? -And how we communicate our desires and wants to Kit.- Fascinating. Rane nodded slowly. ¡°I can see that¡­ well, I can understand the analogy at least.¡± Fannas literally swelled with the pride of accomplishment. Well, with truth revealed, not accomplishment. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t enough of a change to necessitate an alteration to his wardrobe. The little man was now a bit over a foot tall, which had been another reason for Tala to have continued to make him clothing. His growth did seem linear rather than proportional, so it would likely be decades, if not centuries, before he was anywhere close to ¡®life sized.¡¯ But Tala had let herself get side-tracked once again. ¡°So, the keeperlings and the devourlings are the same type of creature, but they simply act differently?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Fannas turned back toward her. ¡°Oh, no, not at all. Not on any level.¡± He made a sound like chuckling. ¡°We aren¡¯t creatures in the sense you understand, and our base magics are very different, but our core, around which our magics exist¡­ that might be the same? I can¡¯t say I understand it any more than you all actually understand your own souls, but they aren¡¯t souls.¡± He quickly clarified. ¡°I do know that much.¡± ¡°So, like a core that allows sentience?¡± ¡°Near enough. I wouldn¡¯t cease to exist if my magics failed, I would simply return to void, and need help from one maker or another to re-spin magical pathways around myself before I could reenter this world and try again.¡± ¡°Maker?¡± He was being far more responsive than he had been up until this point. ¡°One who makes. I¡¯m not sure I can be clearer.¡± Tala sighed. Well, there ends the helpfulness, then. -Not necessarily.- Oh! Her eyes widened at the realization. ¡°Are the makers creatures of the void like you?¡± ¡°Of course. Their nature simply causes them to spin out magical matrices for others.¡± That was, in fact, the end of the useful information. The four humans asked a few follow-up questions, but nothing more was revealed. Even so, Lyn gave Kannis a look, and the mageling nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll go to the Constructionists now.¡± Lyn smiled. ¡°That does seem wise, yes. Tala, you¡¯re heading over to see Mistress Holly, right?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Yeah. I need to have my scripts slightly modified. I¡¯m still finding my mind skipping about due to over-strain.¡± Kannis opened her mouth, a mischievous quirk to her features, but the girl paused, then closed her lips once more, seemingly thinking better of whatever she¡¯d been about to say. Tala, likewise, decided not to comment on the mageling¡¯s actions. They all went back out of Lyn¡¯s house, said final goodbyes and parted ways. Rane came with Tala, as made sense. He was only in Bandfast to accompany her, after all. Just a short walk to Mistress Holly¡¯s¡­ Even as she walked, she found her mind drifting, considering. Short walk¡­ short¡­ by what units? In what increments? Tala felt the final pieces of her conceptualization of her voidsight clicking into place. -Oh¡­ Oh! Like the magical spatial axis.- You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Exactly. Our conception of the void began with understanding the superficial, physical world, so why wouldn¡¯t that conception of the void extend to it? Between every increment of every spatial axis is the void. Voidsight just reveals the ¡®thicker¡¯ delineations, where more incremental gaps line up, where the void is more¡­ void? Alat chuckled within their head. -Yeah, like between molecules, the void there is not only the gulf between atoms, it is also that between molecules.- At the edge of an object, there is also the void between one object and another. It¡¯s not larger or more ¡®void¡¯ because of that, but in a certain way of thinking there is less there. -Exactly.- Tala felt her magic take a noticeable step forward. -Oh! Another little increment toward Paragon. That is a nice confirmation that we¡¯re thinking in the right direction.- She smiled. Definitely. With that boost to her confidence, she dove back into her contemplations. So, reality nodes were an emphasis of the unique existence of what they delineated as well as the sphere of influence of the being or item. Tala¡¯s node would seem larger as she held more sway over that which was around her. Sovereigns must have reality nodes that are truly colossal. -And mundanes seem to barely extend beyond their own flesh.- That does imply that it takes into account both voluntary and involuntary action and ability. After all, most mundanes actually have very little control over their own bodies. -That¡¯s true enough.- Tala jerked as she nearly walked face first into a door, realizing that they¡¯d arrived at Mistress Holly¡¯s workshop. ¡°Oh!¡± Rane grinned. ¡°You seemed rather lost in thought.¡± She chuckled slightly. ¡°I rather was, yeah. Did you try to talk with me?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Only once, but it was rather obvious that you were otherwise occupied.¡± ¡°Oh¡­Thank you for just walking with me. I apologize for ignoring you.¡± ¡°Any time, and think nothing of it.¡± He smiled. She smiled in return before pushing open the door and leading them inside. That was kind of him. The receptionist greeted them, only to be overridden by Mistress Holly calling from the back. ¡°Come, come. I don¡¯t have all day.¡± Tala gave an apologetic smile and wave to the receptionist that she¡¯d likely never see again, even as she and Rane passed through. As she considered the Mistress-Holly-imposed rush, though, she frowned. You know, I don¡¯t know that I¡¯ve ever found her with another person, another client. -I don¡¯t think she works directly with many?- That¡¯s true enough, I suppose. Then, she fills her time just by going over schema? -That¡¯s more likely than most theories.- Mistress Holly gestured them inside before closing the door behind them. ¡°Alright. I have more than a dozen other things that require my attention, so we¡¯re going to do this quickly. Get all your iron off and away and set it there.¡± She pointed to a side table in one corner. ¡°In fact, place all your items there, save your clothing. I won¡¯t ask you to strip. You can save that for a more appropriate day.¡± Tala frowned even as she complied. What does that mean? Mistress Holly didn¡¯t give her time to process or ask, ¡°You will also need to cancel any aspect mirroring or any other form of consciously-initiated or maintained magic.¡± Tala did so, feeling an almost staggering mental load shift away from her. ¡°Oh!¡± Oh, that¡¯s nice. -Yeah.- It¡¯s like having a worry I hadn¡¯t realized I was carrying eased and taken away. -Yeah,- Alat gave off a feeling almost like a cat stretching, -It¡¯s great.- Mistress Holly nodded once. ¡°Right, so the first thing we¡¯re doing is expanding your mental enhancement scripts. More accurately, we¡¯re compacting them, and then filling in the newly vacated space with compatible variations, to allow for the incremental shifting and deepening of your natural magics without having to try to counteract or scrap them. Secondarily, we¡¯re also going to fill in the missing pieces in your magesight inscriptions to match the voidsight that you¡¯ve been using through aspect mirroring. Do you have a coherent conception of how you will process that?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Tala nodded, deciding not to mention how she¡¯d only fully done so on the walk over. ¡°Good. Don¡¯t tell me. You might have greater insight than I do, and I have no desire to try to reconstruct my methods of sight. I¡¯m too old and set in my ways for that.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s get to this, and get you out of my shop.¡± Mistress Holly hesitated, then shrugged. ¡°It is lovely to see you, but I really have almost no time today.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°I understand, Mistress Holly. Thank you for your help.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She slipped Mistress Holly¡¯s auto-inscriber over her head for what felt like the first time in ages. Settling in as it tightened around her entire upper torso, neck, and head. ¡°Hold your breath, and let¡¯s begin.¡± It was¡­ unpleasant, but much less so than the reinscriber within Kit, so that was a plus. Partway into the process Tala noticed something that should have struck her the first time this machine worked on her. It was almost entirely silent. The magical motion of the needles in and out to deliver their precious bits of metal was carried out with basically no noise. Fascinating. As usual, the machine built out the inscriptions in their entirety, before connecting them into her others, so that power could flow through properly, all at once. As the last bit of gold was added within her head, there was a flaring within Tala¡¯s own mind, and Alat gasped. She felt as if a massive chest she¡¯d been carrying was suddenly unloaded, even as she held it. Though, the feeling was on a mental level. Next, the last metal was added around her eyes, and Tala suddenly could see more, even as the shroud still enfolded her. It was even more odd because her eyes were closed, and she still couldn¡¯t see anything, not really, but the darkness was somehow¡­ broader? There was the sense of magic stoneward, like the sun on her back. She knew it was there, without really being able to see it at the moment. Tala also could somehow sense the infinite void between her eyeballs and eyelids. There was nothing there blocking her sight, her eyelids did that, but for the first time, she felt like she could see the distinction between the orbs that facilitated her sight and the lids that protected them. The process completed, and Mistress Holly pulled the device off, but before it was fully free, Tala re-mirrored her perspective onto her bloodstars both stoneward and starward. Information flooded through her mind and¡­ she understood it. -Oh, wow. It¡¯s like we have perfect vision of every layer of the world surrounding us for¡­ sixty feet? Give or take?- Yeah, that would be my guess. Tala could see and parse the assistants in the surrounding rooms working on various inscription schema. She could see Mistress Holly and Rane, both sheathed in their own auras. The auras blanketed both the Mages stoneward and starward, so she didn¡¯t instantly see every layer of their physiology. Fascinating. So, auras are more important for privacy than I was really considering. Alat and Tala focused on their sixteen aspect-mirrored perspectives, watching every direction from both stoneward and starward of her superficial position. It was like before she¡¯d been blind, and now she was experiencing true sight for the first time. She felt like she could see each thing in its entirety. The mug of tea on Mistress Holly¡¯s workbench was completely open to her. She could see the structure of the earthenware that made it up, the minute flaws plain before her. Tala and Alat could count the fractured tea leaves still in the strainer. She could parse the layers of glazing. They knew exactly how it was compressing the fibers in the wood of the table below it, and how that load¡ªminor though it was¡ªwas distributed outward across the boards and supports to the legs. There were hints of magic swirling stoneward and starward around the tea, indicating that it had been from an arcanous plant. The existence nodes of the individual components overlapped and were encapsulated by that of the ¡®mug of tea¡¯ as a whole, and it was fascinating to see how the tea within seemed near the edge of the node, and the whole was only barely linked as such. They could perceive how deeply connected things were like never before, and in ways that she¡¯d only guessed at in the past. She looked to the mug with her mundane sight as well, finding that her oft neglected sight gave details that¡ªin the moment¡ªshe hadn¡¯t even realized she was missing. It was a red-brown, with a matte finish, matching the aesthetic of the room rather beautifully. I can see everything. All of existence is laid out before me. -Existencesight?- That¡¯s probably accurate¡ªif a little cumbersome¡ªwhen we use all forms of vision available to us on a given target, a three-fold sight to see all. -But that¡¯s not the default.- No. So, I think it still makes sense to conceive of it as the three overlapping visions. -Truesight might be better for using all three?- A little pretentious, though. -Fair.- Mistress Holly turned back, having tucked the auto-inscriber into its cabinet. ¡°So, how do things seem?¡± There was latent magic in Mistress Holly¡¯s words that Tala simply hadn¡¯t noticed before. It didn¡¯t look like it came from an inscription, natural magic, or even just intentional direction of power into the words. No, it was just the natural extension of having been spoken by someone of a high magical density. Mages¡¯ words carry more weight just by coming from our mouths. It was obvious in retrospect, but she¡¯d never even considered it. ¡°Great. It looks like an improvement across the board.¡± ¡°Wonderful. Are you certain you won¡¯t grant me continual access to the data collected from you?¡± Tala scrunched her face. ¡°To what purpose?¡± ¡°So that I can learn from what happens with and to you. So I can be better prepared to assist with future incremental changes.¡± She considered for a moment, then sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± Mistress Holly grinned widely. ¡°Excellent. Now get out.¡± Tala laughed, hugged the inscriptionist and departed with Rane. Rane said his own goodbye to Mistress Holly as they left. -We have a message waiting from Mistress Ingrit. It¡¯s not delineated as urgent, and I think we could use some sleep.- As they stepped out into the late evening streets of Bandfast, Tala turned to Rane, ¡°Sleep first, then start back?¡± He thought for a moment, then nodded. ¡°That seems fine with me.¡± ¡°Wonderful. I have a message from Mistress Ingrit but it shouldn¡¯t¡ª¡± She cut off as Alat exclaimed in excitement within her head. -Oh! It¡¯s about Kit! She and Mistress Elnea have some knowledge about sapient storages that they want to share in person.- Rane obviously noticed the harsh cut off of Tala¡¯s sentence. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± She felt herself grinning. ¡°I think so. I¡¯ll need to go to the Archon Compound, but that will likely be tomorrow morning. Are you up for a bit of a delay?¡± He shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s fine with me. I¡¯ll see if I can connect with some people tomorrow morning, then.¡± ¡°That sounds like a plan.¡± -Appointment set for early tomorrow morning.- Finally, we''ll get some answers about Kit and what might be involved in us bonding with her. Chapter: 369 - Dependable, Reliable, and Useful Tala and Rane rose well before sunrise, meeting up in a rarely used gazebo among the gardens of the sanctum. Mistress Petra had made a large spread of food for them, most of which was for Tala. Rane had set his Archival slate aside to critically eye the omelet that had been set before him, ¡°This has some of my magic within it.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Tala glanced his way, distracted by what her expanded sight had been showing her within Kit, and her still increasing mental enhancement. She felt like it was close to a tipping point, where it would leap ahead to where it would settle until her scripts were changed again. For the time being, however, it was like her head was slowly clearing of fog she hadn¡¯t noticed clouding her mind. She sat slightly stoneward of superficial, within the spatially expanded sanctum. Thus, her clusters of bloodstars that resided stoneward and starward of her own position didn¡¯t need to move even as she did. They rested outside of the increment that was spatially expanded for Kit¡¯s contents. She had tested it, and when she willed for herself to move within Kit, she would bob starward, as if moving toward Kit¡¯s anchor at the superficial, then come back down wherever she¡¯d wished to be. Additionally, she was still able to see what was going on outside Kit¡¯s door as easily as if she stood there herself, save that her mundane vision wasn¡¯t receiving any light. She could have moved one or more of her bloodstars into the superficial to gain access to that sight, but she had no need at the moment. Though, it would likely only look like a bit of red coloring on the door. Probably worth experimenting with in the future. Her increased ability to process her sight meant that she could see almost the entirety of the sanctum at once, though she purposely didn¡¯t allow her mind to process what she perceived around the other people within, trying to give them their privacy. She¡¯d been able to look around Kit¡¯s interior for a while, given her connection with Kit, but it had been a much more selective thing, requiring attention and a specific area to focus on. At the moment, she could simply see it all. She wasn¡¯t focused on any of it, just like she wasn¡¯t focused on the street outside of Kit¡¯s door, but she had a sense of what was going on, like she had looked at it just a moment before. It was overall an odd situation. Io¡¯s still doing nothing. -I would have told you if that changed.- Still¡­ somewhat disappointing. Terry was curled on one of the other chairs in the structure, content just to be nearby. Rane shifted to face her more fully. ¡°I was saying that this omelet has some of my magic within it.¡± Tala glanced at the egg dish, confirming what he said. ¡°So it does.¡± He narrowed his eyes at her. ¡°These are fresh eggs.¡± She shrugged, ¡°I would assume that they are. Mistress Petra is very particular about the ingredients that she uses.¡± ¡°How? My birthday was¡­¡± He seemed to be calculating. ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Was it exactly one hundred and sixty days ago?¡± Tala considered. ¡°Yeah. That is pretty funny. Happy almost half-birthday, I guess?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not my point.¡± She took a bite of her own omelet, infused with various dollops of magic mirroring her own by way of the eggs and vegetables. ¡°What¡¯s your point then?¡± ¡°How do you have these?¡± ¡°Well, when a rooster doesn¡¯t love a hen very much¡ª¡± He glared at her, and she chuckled. ¡°Fine, fine. We have some chickens left over, and Mistress Petra noticed that for some, your magics came through to the ¡®next generation.¡¯ Though, in this case, the eggs are unfertilized. Hence my previous comment about the rooster.¡± Rane gave her a flat look, which was better than the glare of moments previous, ¡°Do I want to know how many birds you went through for that little project of yours?¡± Tala considered, then shrugged. ¡°Honestly? No. I think not.¡± It was his turn to laugh, the mock seriousness he¡¯d been trying to cultivate shattering. ¡°Fine. I suppose I did ask. Keep your secret.¡± They continued their meal in companionable silence. Tala was continuing to explore parts of her newly coherent vision and expanded mind. Rane was reading something on his Archive slate. Each of them tossed pieces of mundane food outward at random for Terry, and though he never seemed to move, the flickers of dimensional power and vanishing food told the true story. With Tala¡¯s new sight, she was starting to put together a theory about Terry¡¯s teleportation and size changing, but it wasn¡¯t solidified yet. He definitely wasn¡¯t moving to another increment of any spatial axis that she could perceive in order to somehow bridge the distance. I¡¯ll figure you out, Terry. Then we¡¯ll see how it goes in the ring. When they finished up, Tala called the exit to them. It was suddenly there, standing free-floating in one of the open sides of the gazebo. Despite the visual cues, there was absolutely no change within Tala¡¯s mage- or voidsight, and it finally clicked, something that should have been obvious the whole time. The door is an illusion. Kit can take people in and out from and to any point within the sanctum. The door is a courtesy to let us feel like we know where we¡¯re going. It also sets up the person to give Kit tacit permission to move them. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Kit?¡± Tala muttered under her breath. Kit did not respond. But¡­ But there was something within the natural magics, encircling and making up the bones of the sanctum. Maybe that¡¯s it? Is that what I should be watching for? She shook her head as Rane pulled open the door, leading the way out onto the few-day-old snow on the street outside. Winter came and stayed early this year. Tala pulled Kit off the random wall they¡¯d allowed her to spread out on, near the city center. Tala had an early appointment in the Archon Compound and didn¡¯t see a need to find anywhere particularly special to put the entrance to her sanctum. Rane stretched up and back beneath the now cloudless sky, then twisted to crack his back. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up with you later?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Tell everyone hi from me.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± When Tala had asked that they stay at least for the morning of another day, Rane had made plans to meet up with some of their old sparring partners, as well as some of his own acquaintances. I wonder if he¡¯ll see Mistress Aproa? -Would you mind?- No? Why would I? -No reason.- Rane smiled. ¡°Just send me a message when you¡¯re ready to meet up and head out.¡± ¡°You know, I can come to you. In fact, let¡¯s do that. I¡¯ll message you when I¡¯m done and then come to you.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he smiled, ¡°That sounds good. Until then, Tala.¡± Rane turned and walked away, waving goodbye over his shoulder. Tala started to wave back, then huffed a quiet laugh. He couldn¡¯t see her either way. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Until then¡­ Rane.¡± She opened her pouch slightly. ¡°Want to come, Terry?¡± Terry flickered out to her shoulder, looked around, squawked, headbutted her cheek, then flickered back inside. Tala chuckled, closing the pouch once again. ¡°Fair enough.¡± It was a short walk to her destination, and Tala didn¡¯t mind the time to herself. It has been a long time since I¡¯ve really had that much alone time. It¡¯s nice. -Never alone.- Tala huffed a laugh. You¡¯re right. I always have myself to annoy me. -I aim to please.- Tala walked into the atrium and greeted the receptionist. As she was expected, it was a quick thing before she was directed to one of the testing rooms in the underground complex. That¡¯s interesting. She shrugged and nodded in acknowledgment, ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll head on down.¡± Without further discussion, she left the atrium and made her way to the indicated room where Mistress Ingrit and Mistress Elnea were both waiting for her. Tala bowed to the women. ¡°My apologies, Mistresses. I thought that I was on time.¡± Mistress Elnea smiled and gave a shallow bow in return. ¡°You are in fine form, Mistress Tala. We simply met a little earlier than the time we gave you, in order to talk through a couple of things before your arrival.¡± ¡°Oh, alright.¡± The librarian gestured to the head of the Archon Council, and Mistress Elnea spoke, ¡°First off, thank you for including me in this. I didn¡¯t actually expect you to remember that I had asked to be notified when you considered bonding your storage pouch.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Well, I need expert help. I see it as a win for both of us.¡± ¡°A wonderful perspective. Regardless, as Mistress Ingrit has ensured I don¡¯t forget, this is an opportunity well worth a tangible payment. I have arranged for such, but that will factor in later.¡± Mistress Ingrit had a self-satisfied smile, and Tala found herself ever more grateful for the woman. ¡°Well, thank you. I must say, you seem both interested and knowledgeable, so I am glad to have your assistance, regardless.¡± Mistress Elnea grinned. ¡°Oh, I am; I can assure you of that. Honestly, though, this is a bit of a newer approach to things. We had not considered putting storages that acted differently into the same camp as some sapient artifacts, because they don¡¯t really give the same impression¡ªnor have the same style of magics¡ªas many of those artifacts or spontaneous creations of magic that we¡¯ve encountered elsewhere.¡± Tala nodded but didn¡¯t interject. ¡°So, there are three tests we can run, and if the results are as we expect, then Mistress Ingrit and I would advise that you bond your storage as soon as possible.¡± Mistress Ingrit nodded. ¡°Right now, you have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with what could be a hostile entity. The bond would stabilize the relationship between the two of you, and assure mutual cooperation going forward.¡± She nodded again, ¡°That is, assuming the tests come back as expected.¡± Tala frowned, ¡°What about the issues? Will people still be able to enter Kit without¡­?¡± ¡°Soul bonding you? Oh yes! My apologies, we should have led with that. You see, when a standard storage is soulbound¡ªespecially if it is unmoored from the physical¡ªthe person¡¯s soul becomes the gateway. Thus, to enter, you are essentially passing through their soul to get to the space within, or near enough¡­ that isn¡¯t a perfect description of what happens. Regardless, that change is what causes the bonding issue.¡± Tala blinked. That actually made a lot of sense. ¡°But that is not the case with a sentient storage?¡± ¡°Sapient. It must be sapient, not just able to receive and respond to stimulus. Sapient bits of magic have something that is enough like a soul that it cannot fully mesh with one, thus a soul-bond does not create a combining effect. Your soul never becomes a ¡®pass-through-point.¡¯¡± Is that what Fannas was talking about? The core of their being that would return to the void if their magics ran out? -That sounds likely.- Tala nodded, asking the next obvious question, ¡°Can Kit still be unmoored?¡± ¡°Yes, actually, but there will be a couple of differences. First, there will be a physical manifestation whenever you open the storage, seemingly appearing in thin air, rather than simply an opening into the storage.¡± Tala blinked. Wait. Is that all that happens? The ¡®unmooring¡¯ is just a removal of the physical doorway or opening, making the Mage the regulator of where things go in and come out. -Just as Kit is now.- So, for us, the unmooring would just¡­ She found herself nodding. It would make me the anchor, without making me the arbiter. -The sanctum will still be stoneward, held in place by the magics bound to our soul, but the entrance will be held separate by the being that is Kit.- ¡°So, that¡¯s what causes the soulbond, then? Passing through or close to the Mage¡¯s soul?¡± Mistress Ingrit nodded, ¡°It does.¡± ¡°So it won¡¯t be an issue?¡± Mistress Elnea responded this time, ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± ¡°And we can unmoor Kit from requiring a physical connection point?¡± ¡°We do have the magics for that. Interestingly, the third test will determine if this applies, but in some cases, dimensional storages have been able to continue to be expanded after being bound and unmoored, in certain circumstances. Given your experiences with Kit eating arcane holds, I believe that you won¡¯t have any issues with expanding your storage after the bonding or the unmooring.¡± Tala narrowed her eyes, focusing hard on how she wanted to proceed, and pouring more magic than usual into her mental enhancements to allow for quicker thinking. Apparently, Kit was a devourling, though Tala wasn¡¯t sure she fully trusted Fannas¡¯s information, not yet. Regardless, what the little silver man had said seemed to add up, aligning with what Tala had learned from elsewhere. Kit had been a constant companion: dependable, reliable, and useful. Tala had done her best to provide Kit with what she could, but there was more she could do. Tala could cement their partnership as Mage and pouch, but she needed more information. She wouldn¡¯t let the bond go forward if it would hurt Kit, or make it so she couldn¡¯t have other people within her sanctum. She pulled herself out of her musings and looked down at Kit on her belt. ¡°Do you want to see what we can accomplish together, bound in purpose and power?¡± Kit did not respond. But, Tala thought she felt a hunger from the artifact. With a grin, she poured more power into Kit, topping the artifact off once again. Tala nodded once more, lifting her gaze to the two patiently waiting women, ¡°Let¡¯s do these tests. And I think there is someone else who should be present for the tests as well.¡± Master Simon is going to enjoy this. ¡°That sounds excellent.¡± Mistress Elnea smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll have some other questions as well, before I move forward with a soul-bond.¡± ¡°Oh? Let¡¯s hear them now, so that I can give them due consideration.¡± ¡°Mainly: My understanding is that if I die while soul-bound to Kit, its magic will fade, and the sanctum will dissipate, correct?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct. My understanding is that you have something in place with the local Constructionist guild, so that those within your sanctum will not be trapped in the wilds if the worst should happen.¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°Then, that will crumble, I believe.¡± She chuckled. ¡°They didn¡¯t get quite as much time out of that investment as they¡¯d hoped, I think. Rather lowered the odds. That said, I think that the issues that you¡¯ve been having with teleportation into and out of Kit will be mitigated by the soul-bond, but we can discuss that in a moment.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Alright. So, we¡¯ll need to get the teleportation working, otherwise it won¡¯t really be safe to have people with me, will it?¡± Mistress Elnea paused to consider. ¡°Well, they will be as safe as you are¡­ so, likely not the safest, but you are rather robust, so there are more dangerous places in which people live and work just fine. As with all magics, however, access to the sanctum within Kit would only remain for a day after your demise, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking. The space, itself, shouldn¡¯t degrade for a very long time, regardless.¡± So, teleportation is key, and if we get it working, there will be time for it. Satisfied with the initial answers, Tala invited Master Simon out of Kit, and they discussed the tests to be done on Kit with Mistress Ingrit and Mistress Elnea. After the discussion, Mistress Ingrit chose to step back and return to her other duties, as Master Simon was capable of assisting during the tests. It was also agreed that Mistress Petra and the Zuccat children shouldn¡¯t be inside of Kit during the tests and the hopeful bonding to happen afterwards. There shouldn¡¯t be any danger, but there was also no reason to chance it. Thus, Tala and Master Simon went back up to the atrium of the Archon Compound and got his family set up to spend the day in the city. Tala let Rane know that they¡¯d leave the next day, but that she¡¯d still probably be able to join before the evening. Terry came out of Kit as well, and that was that. Upon returning to the underground testing room, Mistress Elnea checked one more time, ¡°So, Kit is completely empty of sapient or magical creatures?¡± Tala hesitated. ¡°Well, no? Sapient and magical, yes. Or? No.¡± ¡°I assume you don¡¯t have any other sapients in there, so what sort of magical creatures are we talking about.¡± She told the woman. ¡°What?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°The primary function of my sanctum was set up to be a producer of magic-laden food for my consumption, and I¡¯ve expanded on that.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Is that going to be a problem?¡± Mistress Elnea sighed. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be, but it¡¯s not the cleanest basis for testing. I do not wish to try to figure out how to remove an entire ecosystem, along with a medium-sized farm production facility.¡± ¡°Yeah, that would be unideal in my mind as well.¡± Master Simon cleared his throat, interjecting with some hesitation, given his relatively low advancement, ¡°Alright then, I think that first things first, we should address the exterior elements.¡± When the two women nodded, he continued. ¡°Can you determine the location and attachment of the ¡®return¡¯ spellform that has been established around Kit?¡± Tala tilted her head to the side in thought. Alat? -Hmmm¡­ Oh! There it is. An inactive set of magical forms.- Ahh, yeah. They sort of blended into the background of the magic flowing through Kit. Mistress Elnea couldn¡¯t easily have seen the same¡ªeven if she had magesight that worked in a way that allowed it¡ªbecause it was Tala¡¯s magic, well cemented within her aura, and thus protected from any prying eyes unless those looking intentionally breached her privacy. ¡°I see them. They are in place around Kit¡¯s core, and the connection between the sanctum and her manifestation.¡± Mistress Elnea smiled happily. ¡°Wonderful. That means the removal of the permanent physical manifestation won¡¯t trigger the latent magics. Honestly, if they had been purely embedded in the exterior of the pouch, it would have needed to be stripped out before we could unmoor the storage artifact. This is an even better case than we could have hoped.¡± Master Simon was still a bit troubled. The return magics had been a safety-net for his family. It had also meant that he could more easily invite others to research with him, without having to expose them to greater danger. Now, they would need to turn research back toward teleportation to and from the storage, but with someone as accomplished as Mistress Elnea committing to assist in that regard, he didn¡¯t have any complaints. The Archon Council leader cleared her throat. ¡°With that out of the way, we need to test three things: Kit¡¯s sapience, individual identity, and ability to consume.¡± Tala felt a smile tug at her lips. I do believe that our Kit will excel across the board. Chapter: 370 - Before We Proceed Tala grumbled as she and Terry waited outside of the testing room while Mistress Elnea and Master Simon performed the first two tests with Kit. They had asked Tala to make a request of Kit, then leave the room so that they could test Kit¡¯s sapience and individual identity. The request? ¡°Kit, do as you wish.¡± To be fair, Tala had also topped off the pouch, magically speaking, as there was no reason to tempt Kit into devouring things that she shouldn¡¯t, but aside from that, she hadn¡¯t done anything to influence the outcomes. Ten minutes later, Master Simon came out and invited her back inside, his face was slightly pale, ¡°Well, it¡¯s confirmed: I¡¯ve been living inside a sapient creature.¡± Tala and Terry reentered the room to find Kit resting on the floor in the middle, in the form of a pouch. Mistress Elnea smiled to Tala, ¡°Well, that was definitive. Kit is both sapient and has a unique identity.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± And the woman didn¡¯t elaborate further. After a long moment, Tala decided to move on. ¡°Alright then. So, we just have the final test remaining?¡± Mistress Elnea nodded, and Tala saw a pulse of something moving starward from the woman. ¡°Long ago, we acquired a minor arcane hold¡ªwell, more than one, but that¡¯s not the point¡ªand while we¡¯ve stripped it of all that we can, the inscriptions which purify the power from the core vestige are all but gone. We do not have the knowledge to restore them.¡± She held up a hand to forestall Tala, ¡°Yes, we are aware of Mistress Holly¡¯s auto-inscriber, and for reasons I won¡¯t get into,¡±¡ªher eyes flicked to Master Simon¡ª¡°It can¡¯t work. We have others, so this isn¡¯t a unique thing, but it is an opportunity for me to pay the debt to you for my participation in this process.¡± Tala frowned, ¡°How can you have more than a few? How do you even have one?¡± Mistress Elnea grinned. ¡°Well, one of our number was in a position to usurp a newly founded arcane city, and after defeating the warriors defending the city, he demanded that all vestiges be left behind when he banished the population, giving them their lives.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened, remembering an offhand comment that Rane had made on their first caravan trip. Master Grediv said he wasn¡¯t going to destroy another arcane city for one of his family¡­ He actually did that? Rane wasn¡¯t just trying to impress me, and Master Grediv wasn¡¯t just making up stories for Rane? ¡°I see you understand what that means.¡± Mistress Elnea misinterpreted Tala¡¯s shock, though she wasn¡¯t wrong about Tala¡¯s understanding. ¡°So, that has allowed us the opportunity to study arcane holds. Our progress hasn¡¯t been very fast, partially because they did their best to sabotage or obscure all the magics within everything that they left behind. They are rather effective in that regard, unfortunately. Now, I believe that I hear them coming.¡± A moment later, the doors opened, and two men came in carrying an ornate door between them. It had heavy magical devices clamped all the way around it, creating and projecting a stabilizing net of power around the contained magical item. ¡°Against that wall, please. Thank you.¡± They obeyed, setting the door against one wall, removing the inscribed devices, bowing, and departing. Mistress Elnea took a moment to inspect the door before nodding to herself and turning to Tala, ¡°Now, on one hand, you might be thinking, ¡®This is insane! This is far too valuable.¡¯ You are correct. This hold is almost incalculably valuable except,¡± she smiled, ¡°except that, as I already said, it is on its last legs. It is effectively worthless to anyone but you, or someone who has a storage like yours. I know of no one like that. So, my payment to you is something of effectively no value to me but of incredible value to you. Do you accept?¡± ¡°Would you offer three as payment instead?¡± Tala prodded, only half-joking. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then, I accept the one. Yes.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°How large is it?¡± ¡°It is a minor hold, but it was for a Major House. They were attempting to establish a foothold in the new city. Sadly, the arcanes destroyed any evidence of which Major House they were from before they left, likely to hide their shame, and the conqueror of the city didn¡¯t bother to get details of the local political landscape before he took his plunder and obliterated the rest.¡± Tala nodded along, but Alat had already taken a look. The hold wasn¡¯t within anyone¡¯s aura anymore, and so Alat and Tala had a clear look at the expanded space, resting just stoneward of superficial. ¡°So, it is a spherical linked space that¡­¡± -It has a two-mile radius.- Tala¡¯s eye twitched, and Mistress Elnea nodded. ¡°I see that you¡¯ve already seen for yourself. Yes. It is a small hold for a Major House, but if the information you shared with us upon your arrival back in the human lands is still accurate, this should be a substantial increase to your own storage¡¯s capacity.¡± Tala was at a loss. ¡°Can¡¯t someone with a still unbound dimensional storage combine it with their own? Master Jevin did something like that for Kit and me in Makinaven.¡± ¡°Unfortunately not. Holds are not designed to be moved. Those devices that the porters took with them are required to stabilize the dimensional integrity of any hold entrance for transport, and even then, we can¡¯t move them faster than a walking speed. What that means in relation to your question is that their magics are entirely different from our own dimensional storages. We can¡¯t combine them safely. That is, except¡­¡± She trailed off meaningfully. ¡°Kit. Kit ate arcane holds. They were aware of artifacts like Kit, and they knew how to get the most out of them.¡± Mistress Elnea nodded. ¡°That is what your memories implied, yes.¡± ¡°Alright, then, what¡¯s the test?¡± ¡°Kit needs to consume the hold from the outside. That will show that it isn¡¯t about being physically present at the core of the hold.¡± ¡°Because Kit won¡¯t be able to be present at the core if unmoored.¡± ¡°Precisely. All defenses, both passive and active, have been disabled. There is nothing resisting Kit¡¯s absorption save the act itself.¡± Both Master Simon and Mistress Elnea pulled out large Archival slates that seemed to be equipped with powerful detection scripts. Master Simon spoke up for the first time in a while, ¡°Would you be willing to withdraw your aura from Kit for the test? Your magics are obviously still present, but we should be able to see through those, if you allow.¡± ¡°Alright. That makes sense to me.¡± Tala picked up Kit and tossed her at the closed door, pulling back her aura at the same time. ¡°Eat up, Kit.¡± Kit slapped against the door, sliding almost comically down to the floor. There was a beat of startled silence from the humans in the room before Kit expanded on the ground underneath the doorway. The hold¡¯s door dropped downward, vanishing in an instant, and Tala and Alat watched in fascination as the connected space dropped to hang stoneward of Tala¡¯s sanctum. From there, it looked as if there was some sort of pulling force, tearing apart the lower expanded space and drawing it starward to be added to Kit¡¯s own containing volume. The process wasn¡¯t instantaneous, but it was relatively quick, taking less than five minutes to fully complete. When Tala pulled her attention back to the superficial, the two other Mages were enraptured at whatever information their devices had been able to glean. Mistress Elnea chuckled, ¡°Well, that answers the question rather thoroughly.¡± Master Simon nodded slowly. ¡°The magics to consume and incorporate what is devoured are integral to the storage artifact.¡± Tala looked between the two. ¡°So, Kit won¡¯t be locked to a particular size if I bond with her, or unmoor her?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The Paragon shook her head, ¡°Not in the least. Moreover, that large of a ¡®meal¡¯ should help pacify the storage artifact, making it easier to achieve a preferable outcome to your bonding.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you. Before we proceed, I still do have a few questions.¡± Mistress Elnea nodded, ¡°Now would be the time. Ask away.¡± Tala obliged, ¡°Right now, I can place Kit on a wall, and she stays there in whatever form that she chose to take. I can then walk away. I could, in theory, walk to another city, and so long as I got back in enough time to keep her full up on power, she¡¯d be fine.¡± ¡°That sounds about right. What¡¯s the question?¡± ¡°After we bond, could I do that, leave Kit on a wall here in Bandfast, then go to Alefast?¡± The woman considered for a long moment before shrugging. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. Most unmoored storages are not able to do so, but that¡¯s because they don¡¯t have anything to ¡®leave behind¡¯ save a tear into an extradimensional space. Leaving such a tear would be unwise. In this case, Kit will be manifesting a physical form in order to open. So I don¡¯t see why you couldn¡¯t leave her anywhere that you would have before. You will have the obvious additional benefit of not needing to return quickly to refill her reserves either.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Then, since I am soulbound to Kit, in the situation that I just described, could I open another door in Alefast?¡± ¡°No. That is a rule so universal it might as well be considered a law. No dimensional storage can have more than a single opening at a time.¡± She nodded again, having expected the answer. ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised. Now, in the same situation, could I, while in Alefast, call Kit to me, thereby closing the opening in Bandfast and allowing me to open the singular exit in Alefast?¡± Mistress Elnea frowned. ¡°Not in that manner, but if Kit were to close, thus losing her physical form, you could open a new door wherever you were, more accurately, wherever you held sway.¡± Tala straightened, eyes widening, as a smile spread across her face. The Paragon held up a hand. ¡°Hold on, now. The issue, there, is that while the expanded space is unmoored from what we consider the physical, it still exists, and thus still has to travel to you. So, unless you had a means of crossing the intervening distance in a manner that didn¡¯t cause magical resonance, and-or was quite rapid, it would take a bit before you could actually open a new entrance into your sanctum.¡± ¡°Ahh, I see. That¡¯s fair, I suppose.¡± -Maybe we can figure something out with reality nodes or maybe the void? Maybe both?- Yeah¡­ but that¡¯s going to be a bit before we can actually understand those at a level deeper than: ¡®Bow shoot arrow far.¡¯ Alat chuckled inside Tala¡¯s head. -That¡¯s fair. We¡¯re just barely scratching the surface, here.- ¡°So, with it unmoored, I won¡¯t have to toss or pick up the physical form, will I just be able to manifest it anywhere around me?¡± Mistress Elnea waggled her hand. ¡°Anywhere within your aura, most likely. I would be careful attempting to open it within objects, but every Mage with a newly bound storage finds it fun to refill a waterskin from the inside at least once. Just be smart about what you do, and how you do it. There are a few other things that most people enjoy figuring out and playing with, but I¡¯ll not spoil those for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Was there anything else?¡± ¡°To confirm, once I bond Kit, you will help solidify the teleportation functionality, so that those within my sanctum can escape back to a city at need?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll have to take a few measurements after the process is complete, but it shouldn''t be beyond myself and my team to get the process working by the end of the day.¡± She gave a nod to Master Simon, ¡°Especially if Master Simon will join us. His growing expertise on the oddities of your sanctum will be invaluable.¡± The Fused had been taking notes as the two women talked, but at this direct address, he bowed, ¡°It would be my honor.¡± Mistress Elnea smiled at Master Simon before turning back to Tala, ¡°Please consider my and my team''s assistance with that problem the ¡®valuable to me¡¯ portion of my repayment, and thank you again for allowing me to participate in this process.¡± ¡°You are welcome.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side, ¡°Is there any danger of people with gates moving around inside Kit causing me damage over time?¡± Mistress Elnea shook her head immediately, ¡°Only if it goes to the point of a breach. Kit will be much more durable in that regard, as all soulbound items are much more durable. Remember, also, that Kit is not the expanded space; Kit is the housing and connection to that space. Having a breach in existence in your stomach would hurt you quite a lot, and that¡¯s about what a breach in Kit would be like for the artifact.¡± Tala nodded, considering. ¡°Alright, then. I just have one more question, then.¡± ¡°Oh? What is that?¡± A grin spread across her face. ¡°How many more of these, ¡®useless¡¯ holds do you have, exactly?¡± * * * Mistress Elnea did not, in fact, have a long line of useless-to-her holds that she was willing to give to Tala. She did have others that would degrade within the next decade, but the Paragon insisted that such things should be discussed after the bond with Kit was completed. That left Tala with a single critical thing left to do before truly starting the process. She sat in the center of the room, Kit just before her, a copper and a silver coin in her two hands. ¡°I know we tend to understand one another just fine, but I don¡¯t want any room for doubt.¡± Tala took a deep breath. ¡°If you want us to continue as we are, take this coin.¡± She pressed the silver coin to the outside of the pouch. ¡°If you want to soulbond, take this coin.¡± She touched the copper coin to Kit¡¯s outside as well. And, for the first time that Tala could point to without quibbling, Kit responded. The copper coin vanished from Tala¡¯s fingers without a trace. Tala¡¯s whole face blossomed into a grin, and she immediately began the process to create a full-powered blood-medium Archon star. With her increased throughput and control, it would only take a few minutes. Terry trilled happily from the corner where he waited on a pillow, beside a trembling chicken. The chicken didn¡¯t run, so Terry didn¡¯t give chase. It was a delicate balance that was currently distracting Tala. Right. ¡°Thank you, Kit. Let¡¯s get this done.¡± Mistress Elnea and Master Simon got to work, the testing room¡¯s own magic allowing for the quick creation of the spellforms needed for the merging and bonding. This was, after all, a rather common procedure for those advanced to Refined. True, Tala could have just given Kit a bloodstar to enact a soulbond, but that would have been the ¡®wild¡¯ way of doing it. It also wouldn¡¯t have allowed for the unmooring to take place at the same time, at least not easily. Doing it this way, with the proper spellforms and a Paragon in the wings would allow Mistress Elnea to assist at need, both other Mages to monitor the progress, and merging with the unmooring magics to occur at the same time. Mistress Elnea once again sent a message through the Archive, and it only took a couple of minutes for someone to arrive, carrying an iron strongbox. The Mage in question bowed to each of them, hesitated briefly to stare confusedly at Terry and the terrified chicken, then departed. Tala moved closer as Mistress Elnea examined the exterior of the box. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A cheshire core.¡± When Tala made no indication of understanding, the Paragon continued, ¡°There is a forest far to the east, across the plains outside the woods that surround us. In that far forest, there exists a species of feline predators that hunt with nigh impunity, shifting in and out of reality at will, even seemingly able to do so with just parts of their bodies. When they are slain, we sometimes find a core within, which contains magic allowing the unmooring. It is not a full set of their magics by any means, but it allows us to accomplish what we need for this.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Interesting to know. Thank you.¡± Soon enough, the great spellforms were in place, and at the center were three open circles, perfectly sized for their would-be occupants. After Mistress Elnea and Master Simon did a final once-over, they turned to Tala, Master Simon speaking up once again, ¡°It¡¯s time, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala turned to Terry. ¡°Are you going to be alright in that corner?¡± He squawked, slowly running one set of talons down the still trembling chicken¡¯s back. ¡°Are you going to be able to keep the chicken from interfering?¡± Terry practically cooed as he pushed down a little more firmly, and the chicken pulled in on itself. ¡°Okay, then.¡± Tala turned back to the two other Mages. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s¡­¡± Mistress Elnea was regarding Master Simon with a look of bafflement, ¡°And you allow your children in the same area as that avian?¡± Master Simon shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s really quite friendly to anyone who isn¡¯t prey.¡± The older woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡­ see.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°He¡¯s a wonderful flock mate and looks after the kids quite well.¡± Mistress Elnea seemed ready to argue, but Master Simon was already nodding, ¡°He really is quite intelligent and kind when he wants to be.¡± Finally, the Paragon just shook her head. ¡°Well, far be it from me to doubt the two of you. You know him better than I do.¡± Tala didn¡¯t delay any further, walking to the center and setting Kit down in the designated spot. She, herself, sat down in the largest circle, and the cheshire core was already waiting in the third open space. Was that there a moment ago? -I think so. I didn¡¯t really notice it, though.- Fun unmooring magics for the win! Tala chuckled wryly within her own mind. She couldn¡¯t actually recall anyone placing it there either, but that wasn¡¯t really the point of the moment. Mistress Elnea and Master Simon took their positions and indicated that they were ready to proceed. Tala closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled the now full-powered bloodstar stoneward, out of her finger and into her aura that was projected in that direction. It came with no resistance, and after she maneuvered it a bit, she pushed it back starward, into the superficial in front of her. To those watching, it likely looked like an exceedingly magical drop of blood simply popped into existence in front of Tala¡¯s chest. She nodded one last time. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± With a thought she moved the blood-medium Archon star into deliberate contact with Kit, activating the merging magics around her at the moment of connection. The whole world went white, as she slipped into the all-too-familiar void of a merging. Chapter: 371 - The Familiar White Void Tala laughed maniacally as magics rained down upon her. She stood, arms spread wide as those who feared her, fed her their power. Her aura¡ªempowered by the devourer bound to her will, her soul¡ªsplintered any remnant energies before drawing them into her stoneward core of power, while her very being consumed the material parts of any attack. Her starward gate let forth a deluge of her own, pure power. Her deeply established, natural magics pulsed and flared as she methodically targeted each of those arrayed against her before crushing them to paste. Before, when she was incomplete, she had struggled to match those of a greater advancement than herself. Now, the stoneward core of power added more weight to her every action than a dozen Paragons could bring to bear. Soon, she¡¯d be able to out-muscle a Sovereign. Then, finally, she¡¯d get some truly amazing meals. Around her, the remnants of a city lay broken, toppled, and half consumed. Her every flicker of power not devoted to crushing the Mages rising against her was directed toward amplifying the pull of surrounding things toward herself, drawing them in so that they could be devoured. She didn¡¯t require anything as crass as a mouth to do so. The material simply vanished as soon as any part of it touched her. Yes. More. There was one who opposed her¡ªthe wielder of the local City Stone¡ªwhose attacks she could not resist, so she simply shifted herself out of existence whenever one of those attacks came her way. In the worst cases, Tala had to move herself before allowing her physical form to remanifest. Inconvenient, but hardly relevant. Soon, she¡¯d be able to overpower those magics as well, and then, the City Stone would just be more food for her. Guards ran up to her with mundane weaponry or fired arrows or bolts from a distance. They didn¡¯t matter. Not even the highly tuned magic in the weaponry was able to undo her. Not anymore. All was consumed. All was devoured. On a distant mountaintop, a purposely dormant man stirred, seemingly irritated that someone had disturbed his long-suffering anticipation. A sovereign would soon¡ª +Nope!+ -Yeah, no.- The world flashed white. * * * Tala was in the familiar white void for only a moment. What was that? -It seemed like an unholy abomination of your tendencies to¡­ overachieve¡­ directed towards devouring everything around you.- The void vibrated as a storm of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and visualizations slammed through her mind, threatening to overwhelm her. In order to make sense of them, her consciousness compacted the storm down to their core meaning, and words came to Tala¡¯s mind, DEVOURER OF ALL What? -Devourer of all. That¡¯s what I got from it at least.- Yes, Alat, thank you. But what does it mean? -Fine. It seems a rather apt description of what we were doing in the vision.- +Yeah¡­ I did not like it.+ The white of the void swelled, overriding her and taking her into another vision. * * * Tala moved through her enemies striking with fist, foot, blade, and magic. As she made space around herself, she would throw out her left hand, opening it to reveal a great mouth that was far too big to fit where it was housed. The mouth simply didn¡¯t exist when her hand was closed, but when it was opened¡­ Tala grinned hungrily. As the mouth opened in a sort of reverse roar, everything before her, be it magic, material, or monster, was violently dragged in for her to devour. It wasn¡¯t a perfect devouring in that it was only drawing in from one direction. Moreover, she was locked in place while the mouth was drawing in her prey. It didn¡¯t matter, though. She was strong enough to overcome the inconvenience. Enemies came from the sides, trying to remove the arm on which the great fanged maw was anchored. She fought them off with Flow and her own magics for as long as she could without moving before closing her hand, hiding the maw, and allowing herself to move once more. A minute of quick work allowed her enough breathing room to reopen her hand and devour everything in another direction. On and on the battle went, everything falling before her with a little time and effort. Excellent. +These are¡­ weird.+ -And very similar¡­- +Yeah¡­ I say ¡®No¡¯ to this one as well.+ The white of the void swelled, overriding her and taking her out of the vision. * * * Tala grimaced, floating in the white void once more. This is not very ideal. It seems like we¡¯re working on a theme, here. -It does indeed.- The void vibrated and the storm of mental images and senses came again. Tala¡¯s mind and enhancement magics once more distilled them down to words that came to Tala¡¯s consciousness. DEVOURER OF ALL Tala sighed. This is going to take a while. -So it would seem.- Great¡­ * * * The next dozen visions were all similar in that they depicted Tala as the central figure, devouring anything and everything around her with extreme prejudice. To be fair, though, the methods and techniques involved in the consumption were varied. Finally, in the last potential merging, Tala had had it. These visions were not getting better, and she would never agree to anything like she was being shown. Currently, the vision version of her was massive, corpulent, and basically sloshing over the landscape as she stuffed anything her many, many hands could reach into her perpetually gnashing mouths. +ENOUGH!+ * * * If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Tala floated, panting, in the white void. Emotion, a sense of self that was other washed through her, DEVOURER OF ALL NO! We are not¡­ Then, she understood, but that is you. DEVOURER OF ALL. The storm seemed contented somehow, like it was pleased that she¡¯d understood, finally. But I am not. I am not devourer of all. So, we cannot be. DEVOURER OF ALL? Even the question in the torrent of mental impressions was hard to understand, but Tala thought she was getting the hang of it. She hesitated at the question, as it was, at long last, a change. NO. We don¡¯t devour all. We devour what we want to devour, that which we can claim, the loss of which doesn¡¯t harm those we care about. DEVOURER OF¡­? The hanging implication made the mental images and sensations discordant and painful. Tala felt almost compelled to finish the statement, Enemies! Resources to make us stronger. She was scrambling; she didn¡¯t know what to do. -Kit showed us what she is. Show her us? Who we are? Who you are?- That was an idea. Tala gathered up the thoughts, sensations, and memories that she felt represented her, and sent them to the other thing in the white void with her. Kit. The ¡®thing¡¯ is Kit. There was a moment¡¯s hesitation before Kit responded, RAVENOUS, JEALOUS DESIRE! Tala sighed internally. No¡­ wait¡ª Kit took Tala¡¯s mental impressions that had represented her and meshed them with Kit¡¯s own, RAVENOUS DEVOURER OF ALL! No, no. Tala grimaced, fighting against the pounding within her own head. That¡¯s going backwards. Not everyone is our enemy. The sheer quantity of information flowing back and forth in every exchange was actively painful to Tala, even with her newly upgraded enhancement scripts. She dumped more power into the enhancements, and that helped some. These are going to set much faster than usual¡­ Kit devours anything that it is able to¡­ No¡­ that isn¡¯t true. That might have been how Kit started, but it isn¡¯t true any longer. Tala sent the conglomeration of her interactions with and feelings toward Kit. It came back from Kit recontextualized and in the form of a question, DEFENDER OF¡­HOME? Yes, that is how I see you. NO! DEVOURER OF ALL! Tala growled internally. No. She wracked her mind, trying to blend herself and Kit, Ravenous, jealous devourer of all who would oppose us or that which would make us stronger. There was a long pause at that. The combination was clearly much, much too long. Then, another wave of impressions and emotions struck Tala, RAVENOUS, JEALOUS DEVOURER. Tala almost said no, but then considered it more deeply. Jealousy implied that the thing in question was something, or somethings, that she had a right to. Envy would have been the feeling that she should have, or a desire to have, that which belonged to another. So, it was good that they avoided that. Jealousy, at its root, was the feeling that she had a right to what was hers. Jealous actually fit her rather well. -So does ravenous, if we¡¯re being honest. You approach the possession and improvement of what you believe is yours with great hunger and voraciousness.- That¡¯s true. -And devourer is just a step beyond desire. It is a statement that you use what is yours.- More that I use up¡­ I don¡¯t like that implication. -Not necessarily. You can devour a book, and the book is fine when the devouring is done.- Tala hesitated. That was true, and so much of this was about mindset. Alright, let¡¯s see what we can do with that. RAVENOUS, JEALOUS DEVOURER? Ravenous, jealous devourer. -Yay¡­- * * * Tala¡¯s aura washed out across the landscape around her, carrying her iron spikes to drive into the ground and propel her aura ever onward. Whenever there was anything of note, anything that might strengthen her, a small trapdoor opened beneath it, dropping the item or creature into her sanctum for processing. Before her, Leshkin raged and fought unknown humans as Tala¡¯s aura rolled over and around them, leaving the human fighters untouched while laying oppressive power down upon the plant-creatures. With the might of her will and focused attention, she either claimed the creatures where they stood, or she distracted them enough to let the humans slay them, allowing her to claim their corpse after death. It was a sweeping victory. +Hey, this isn¡¯t bad.+ -Yeah¡­ it seems too good to be true.- The battle was won without a single human casualty, the largest injury barely more than a scrape. The Leshkin in this area were overcome. She had achieved total victory. The humans who had fought by her side were no longer assets. Her aura was already spread across the surrounding plains, and so it was trivial to clamp down and claim their still living bodies, locking down their souls as she dropped the still live specimens into her sanctum one after another. There, their bodies were broken down into their constituent parts, and their gates were locked into an ever-growing grid of power that constantly fed her advancement. +Rust, I spoke too soon.+ -Just a bit, yeah. Moving on, then?- +Yeah¡­ but I¡¯m so powerful like this¡­+ -¡­- +...+ -Are you sure we haven¡¯t been seeing options that are actually tempting to you?- +Hush you. I don¡¯t want to be fat.+ -That¡¯s the one you object¡ª!- +Rejected!+ * * * Tala was only in the white void for a moment before she growled out within her own mind, NO. We will not eat people. She sent memories and senses from the times that she¡¯d enjoyed being with her friends and colleagues. We will not use people and then take from them what we want. We are better than that. She sent the times that she had protected those around her, and they had gratefully accepted her help. We will only take that which is ours by right. She sent her claiming the iron in the blacksmith and the barrels that Master Cazor had provided. She shared the times she¡¯d given things to Kit to devour. We will defend ourselves, and take the spoils of those battles, but we will not harm those who mean us no harm. Tala pushed along memories of conquering her foes and looting the remains, keeping some, and feeding Kit other parts. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Kit responded, RAVENOUS, JEALOUS DEVOURER Yes, ravenous, jealous devourer. And Tala was overwhelmed once again, falling into another¡ªhopefully the last¡ªvision. * * * Tala was¡­ herself. She could detect no discernable change in herself, as the vision of her moved about her day. As she came to an alley, Tala gestured and a door blossomed into existence, allowing her to step into Kit, into her sanctum. The perspective of the vision stayed outside of Kit for a moment as the doorway vanished, leaving no evidence that Kit had anchored there. Tala could see in the vision that the sanctum was still there, stoneward of the wall that had held the door into Kit. +Oh, that¡¯s amazing.+ -Isn¡¯t it just? That makes it an almost impenetrable fallback point.- The vision fuzzed, and Tala was suddenly in a battle, ducking and dodging around opponents. With a thought, the Tala of the vision caused a ring of leather to appear out of nowhere. Within it, a portal into her sanctum manifested, no light coming from the inside. It was a small opening, just large enough for what needed to pass through. With an act of will, Tala changed the target of the gravity amplifications placed on her siege orbs waiting inside the hole that was tucked deep down in the foundation rock beneath her home within Kit. Even as the orbs tore their way out, the connection¡ªthe portal¡ªwas already gone. The speed of the whole action was such that from the beginning of Kit opening until all traces were gone took less than the intake of a sharp breath. +Ooo¡­+ -Hush, you. Don¡¯t rust it.- The orbs devastated several of her opponents, even while Tala, herself, called Flow out of another very-temporary portal. The weapon snapped into her hand even as she was already swinging to sever all those within reach who opposed her. The vision shifted again, and Tala was fighting along with others. Small openings into her sanctum appeared to drop weapons into their hands, or to allow them to throw broken weapons or shields away. An archer¡¯s quiver was filled between draws, a warrior¡¯s hand found a new sword in his scabbard after his first one had been struck from numb fingers, and a wounded man suddenly fell out of the way of an incoming attack, drawn into the sanctum where a healer began patching him up immediately. Tala was a one-woman logistical genius even as she tore across the battlefield with her own destructive might. With her pervasive sight, she was able to keep all those fighting alongside her equipped and in the fight or remove them from the fight with efficiency and timing that kept them as safe as possible. Throughout, she saw¡ªhighlighted in the vision¡ªKit consuming that which was unneeded. Blood from the wounded within vanished before it could stain anything, and the stains that were already there slowly faded. Tala started to get an odd mental picture of something lapping up the blood even as it left the wound, but she suppressed that with a shudder. +Nope! I¡¯m not conceptualizing that.+ Weapons broken beyond salvaging were devoured before they landed in the repair pile, and enemies that were dispatched were drawn in and consumed without delay or regard, only their most valuable parts finding their way to the treasure vaults in the sanctum¡¯s depths. The Tala of the vision never had want for magical power, but her every drop of magic that was not used for workings¡ªother soulbonds or to push against her own density, increasing it¡ªgushed into Kit, drawn by a ravenous need to keep all that which was theirs. Her power was theirs. It did not belong anywhere but with them. To use it was fine, but to leak it was unacceptable. And Kit was an endless reserve, taking everything with room to spare. The artifact was so expanded by Tala¡¯s advancement that Kit¡¯s reserves of power seemed like an empty ocean being fed by a single spring. But there was no desolation in that ravenous, jealous consumption. Nothing was wasted. Everything was used. All had its place whether as a part of Tala¡¯s kit or belonging to someone else. That was fine. There was enough that belonged to Tala to be getting on with. There was enough that she could claim. After all, even when Tala didn¡¯t seek enemies to fight, they found her more often than not. +Yes.+ -Oh, stars above, yes!- Assent trembled through the vision, Tala¡¯s mind, and her very soul. YES. The vision vanished in another saturation of white. Chapter: 372 - Magics Consumed START OF BOOK 10 Tala came back to her physical body in a rush, feeling power flooding through her as the cheshire core and Kit finished combining with her bloodstar. She sat in a testing room beneath the Archon Complex of Bandfast, her soul-binding with Kit: Complete. Her magics consumed the spellforms on the floor, causing it to appear as if the precious metals were being drawn inward before vanishing altogether. As the last specks of gold disappeared along with the power contained within, she felt Kit click into place in relationship to her soul. Mistress Elnea¡ªmetaphorical holder of the Bandfast City Stone, Paragon, head of the local Archon Council, and expert in soulbonds with dimensional storages¡ªwas engrossed in the information her magics had garnered during Tala¡¯s bonding of Kit. Master Simon¡ªFused and research assistant to Tala¡ªwas similarly enthralled by what his own artifacts and magical measuring devices were telling him. Refocusing on that which was currently critical, Tala looked to her newest soulbond. Power poured into Kit through the bond, and Kit guzzled it down even as the pouch vanished, seeming to fade from the physical world. Tala¡¯s eyes were closed, but that was hardly a barrier given her sixteen bloodstars each mirroring her perspective to give sight along each direction of each axis from two points. Thus, she was ¡®looking¡¯ up, down, left, right, forward, back, starward, stoneward from two clusters, one starward and the other stoneward of where she sat. Additionally, each cluster was rotating to give sweeping fields of view, and hopefully maintaining as close to perfect awareness of her surroundings as possible. With a flick of thought, a hatch opened below Flow where the knife sat on a shelf, dropping it seemingly through the wood upon which Tala had left it. Tala watched the magics respond to her will, connecting the superficial to her sanctum, which rested where it had before, connected to the core of magic that was Kit. The little devourling had grown considerably. I¡¯ll look into that in a moment. An instant after Flow began to fall, that hatch was gone, and Tala opened her hand, allowing Flow to pop up out of a portal in her palm, which closed instantly, allowing her to grab the weapon already properly positioned for her use. Oh, I like that. -That is quite nice.- With Flow back in hand, she had her iron in contact with her once again, and that felt good. On a whim, she let her iron flow back over her inscriptions, sandwiching each and every line within the spatial dimension of magic. She then caused her iron to pool out over her skin, beginning the pressure-cooking process as the torrential inflow of power through her gate quickly filled her to capacity without slowing in the least. This time, however, as the magic reached uncontainable levels, the power was bled off into Kit, preventing any spillage. Even so, she still felt the manifestations seemingly carved of light appear across her form under the illusion of her through-spike¡­ Her through-spike! The illusions were fading, and her false outward-facing aura was dispersing. There simply was no magic for it to work with since Kit cleaned up the dregs before they could go to any other purpose. With a thought, Tala forcefully directed some of her power to the item. Kit¡­ didn¡¯t approve, but they were able to come to a compromise. They needed the through-spike functional in order to get access to more things to eat, after all. WIthout it, she¡¯d have a hard time entering human cities. Tala felt herself smile at that line of reasoning. It was going to take a bit to adjust to her newest bond. Focusing back on the manifestations of her magic within reality itself, she was satisfied with how they seemed to be working, adding yet another layer to her power. Her newly conceptualized sight also showed that she had similar echoes and manifestations both starward and stoneward as well. But that had brought Kit back into her notice, and so she focused her attention there. Stoneward of Tala rested a core of magical power, a knot of natural magics that were now wholly Tala¡¯s. Where before they¡¯d been fraying channels formed of Kit¡¯s own magic but filled with Tala¡¯s, now both channel and power belonged to Tala. Just as both belonged to Kit. The damage was repaired, not leaving a trace of anything undesirable, and the magics, themselves, had changed. Where before there were thick cables of knotted power, there was now an almost incomprehensible tapestry of thread skillfully interwoven to form complex and potent magics. Needless to say, the newly advanced Kit was powerful. The artifact had undergone a qualitative reworking as the Mage-level magics had been drawn up to Refined by the mere fact of bonding to Tala¡¯s Refined power and body. Tala couldn¡¯t really tell what that meant yet, but she knew that Kit would be even more capable than before. Maybe she can consume faster? -Devour.- Tala huffed a laugh. Right, devour. -Probably. I would bet that she¡ªand we¡ªcan now control the matter within the sanctum to a much greater degree, and with much more fidelity, but that would require testing.- Agreed. Tala hesitated before a realization came to her, You know, I didn¡¯t notice any of our other soulbonds trying to influence this merging. Do you think it¡¯s because both Kit and I had a mind, so there wasn¡¯t really room for other interference? -That¡¯s as good a theory as any.- Tala shrugged internally, focusing on her new bond with Kit. I wonder if I can finally lock Terry down, and prevent him from teleporting around, at least within the sanctum? The idea pulled her attention to the terror bird, who was still in his corner, one taloned foot resting on his chicken. The chicken seemed to have exhausted itself in its terror, as it wasn¡¯t even trembling anymore, and its eyes were glassy and unfocused, even while its feathered chest still rose and fell in a regular pattern. Tala felt a mischievous grin spread across her face. -That¡¯s probably not the best¡­ oh, you¡¯re already doing it.- A hatch opened beneath Terry, causing the chicken beside him to drop through with an almost relieved¡ªbut still terrified¡ªsquawk. Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder before dropping even a fraction of an inch, already chirping irritatedly before headbutting her cheek much harder than was strictly necessary. Tala chuckled. ¡°Sorry to have lost you your friend, Terry. I was just testing the limits of what I can do.¡± Terry chirped again in a descending series of notes, then looked around grumpily. It took Tala a moment to realize that he was looking for Kit. ¡°Oh, here you go. You can go inside.¡± A swirl of vapor opened a miniscule connection to her sanctum. Terry gave her an incredulous glance, then flickered away, easily passing through the incredibly small opening. I knew it. -Yeah, we figured he could get smaller, or at least pass through exceedingly tight spaces.- Mistress Elnea and Master Simon both approached Tala, the Paragon speaking first, ¡°I think we are right in assuming that things went well?¡± Tala nodded, smiling at the older woman. ¡°Yes, I believe so. Where would you like me to place the entrance to Kit so that you and your team can assist Master Simon in completing the teleportation functionality?¡± Mistress Elnea nodded and pointed at one wall. ¡°That should work.¡± She looked to Master Simon, ¡°Your family is welcome to return at any time. I do have one test to run, just to make sure that everything we theorized did work as expected.¡± With a thought, Tala caused a door to appear in the wall where indicated, and it swung open, revealing the central plaza of her sanctum. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Tala stood up, frowning slightly, ¡°What do you still need to test?¡± ¡°Well, if I¡¯m going to ask those under my command to go in, I need to confirm that there is no soulbonding.¡± Her eye twitched. ¡°I thought you said that wouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± ¡°And it shouldn¡¯t be, but we shouldn¡¯t mess around when soulbonds are potentially involved.¡± Tala reluctantly nodded, ¡°So, what are we looking for?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m more advanced than you are, so I will make it utterly clear that I wish no bond, and if one is required to enter, I will not be able to cross the threshold.¡± She bit her lip. ¡°Terry just entered, and I¡¯m not bound to him or the other animals within.¡± Mistress Elnea nodded. ¡°That is all well and good. That proves that we were at least mostly correct in our estimations, but the gated human soul is a bit more predisposed toward soulbonding than almost any other.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Tala nodded in resignation. ¡°Let¡¯s get it done, then.¡± The Paragon walked to the open door and spoke under her breath. Tala caught it anyways, ¡°I foreswear all potential connections. My soul is my own, and not open to a bond.¡± Then, without hesitation, Mistress Elnea stepped through the door. There was no difficulty, resistance, or attempted bonds. Even so, Tala felt her eye twitch at what she witnessed. Her mundane sight showed the Paragon less than ten feet away through the doorway, but Tala¡¯s other sights revealed that to be an illusion, as the woman was, in fact, standing in the expanded space, stoneward of Tala, within her sanctum. The Paragon grinned as she came back out. ¡°There we have it. Exactly as expected.¡± Tala watched yet again as the woman seemed to instantly move from Tala¡¯s sanctum to the room in front of her. I didn¡¯t see any magics act on her. But how could they have? -Yeah, she¡¯s a Paragon. Our magics should struggle to do anything with her, let alone act without leaving a trace.- I think¡­ I think I need to spend a lot of time analyzing this. -Back in Alefast?- Oh, definitely. We need to go meet up with Rane. -I¡¯ll message him¡­ done.- Thank you, Alat. Rane had gone to meet with some friends while Tala dealt with Kit and her bonding of the dimensional storage. They¡¯d agreed that Tala would find him when she was done, and she planned on doing that sooner rather than later. Master Simon was clearly sending a message with his Archive slate, likely to the receptionist upstairs, as he and his family had agreed that they¡¯d check in with her to learn when and where they could return to their residence within Tala¡¯s sanctum. ¡°Well, do you need anything more from me?¡± Mistress Elnea shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯ve advised my assistants, and they¡¯ll be here shortly. Unless things are entirely unlike our assumptions, I expect we¡¯ll have the teleportation scripts working for outbound travel in a couple of hours. Inbound might take a bit longer, but it shouldn¡¯t take more than the end of the day.¡± Tala blinked, then turned to Master Simon, one eyebrow raised. Mistress Elnea preempted Tala¡¯s incredulity, ¡°I¡¯ve looked over his notes, Mistress Tala, and he did an excellent job in attempting to get teleportation working, but while Kit was still unbound, her natural magics were an unknown that was impossible to account for when dealing with teleportation. Additionally, I will bring my tools and means as the Head of the local Archon Council to ensure that this is accomplished. Either it will be done before you depart the city, or it can¡¯t be done, and I don¡¯t see that being the case.¡± She smiled at the last, causing Tala to smile along with her, ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Master Simon gave a shallow bow, ¡°Thank you for trusting us with this project, Mistress Tala. We won¡¯t disappoint you.¡± ¡°I know you won¡¯t, Master Simon.¡± She turned her attention to the sanctum, and immediately had a view of the entirety once again. Terry was chasing chickens, pinning them for only a moment before releasing them to pursue others. The various wildlife and farm animals were going about their regular routines. Io still floated in her tank, utterly unmoving and unmoved. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°Oh¡­ Oh, that might be bad.¡± She had spoken quietly, but something in her tone caused both other Mages to orient on her instantly. Mistress Elnea¡¯s voice held a note of command when she inquired, ¡°Mistress Tala, please explain.¡± ¡°I have an automaton within my sanctum.¡± ¡°Yes, that is known, it¡¯s¡­¡± The Paragon trailed off before returning, a hard edge to her words, ¡°Did you have any oddities in your visions for the bonding and merging?¡± The question bordered on impropriety, but Tala didn¡¯t blame the woman. There was a reason that automata were heavily controlled bits of magical construction. Tala even felt something from the woman focus on her, pushing against her aura in an irresistible manner, likely to detect whether or not Tala answered truthfully, ¡°Nothing relating to automata or anything even hinting a connection.¡± Tension bled from Mistress Elnea as she nodded. ¡°Then, it should be fine. The magics of a bonding don¡¯t tend to penetrate into expanded spaces, else you¡¯d have bonded every animal within, and that would have cracked your soul.¡± Tala nodded. She¡¯d known that was a remote possibility. Alat huffed, -Remote in the vein of catching a snowflake on your tongue containing the exact molecules of water that you caught on your tongue the year before on the same calendar day, and the year before.- Alat hesitated a moment, then added, -And on for a decade. The same molecules every year on the same day, caught in the same way.- Alat, I don¡¯t really catch snowflakes on my tongue. -That was taken into account.- Tala chuckled internally. So, not possible. -It was and is technically possible, but not actually possible given the choices made.- She hesitated at that. Huh, then that really was a perfect analogy. -I know, right?- Alat beamed happily within Tala¡¯s mind. Thank you, Alat. Tala grinned. Thank you a lot, Alat. -Happy to assist, even when you make bad puns.- You are me, lest you forget. So you are happy to assist even when we make bad puns. Alat groaned, but it was obviously good-naturedly. Master Simon cleared his throat, ¡°Well, with that minor scare out of the way, I think we should get to work.¡± Tala bowed to each in turn¡ªdeeply toward Mistress Elnea and a nod of acknowledgement to Master Simon¡ªbefore departing. ¡°I¡¯ll watch for your communications. Please keep me up to date!¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress. Enjoy your time in the city.¡± Master Simon bowed deeply. ¡°We¡¯ll keep good notes, stay safe,¡±¡ªMistress Elnea smiled playfully¡ª¡°at least until we have the teleportation functions working. Then, at least, we could get out if you died.¡± Tala laughed, waving over her shoulder without turning around, ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± -He responded; I can lead us to him.- Then by all means, my Alat, let us away. * * * Tala arrived at the arena where she and Rane used to train with the other Archons, and instead of entering the combat area, Tala made her way up to an observation deck, looking down on what was happening below. It was a sight to see. Rane was fighting Master Cazor, and the experienced Mage Hunter was actually on the backfoot. Rane was practically bouncing off of the stone walls, sandy floor, and wire-mesh ceiling to avoid the sweeping rivers of iron. It was most clear on the sand and with the wire mesh, but Rane wasn¡¯t putting any pressure on that which he launched from. He¡¯s getting better every day. He even somehow managed to redirect off of the very iron he was avoiding, though Tala had seen Master Cazor grab onto Rane with the clouds of particles in bouts in the past. Force flickered and flashed throughout the dizzying acrobatics, blowing apart clusters of iron, sending plumes of sand to distract and disrupt, and even landing blows on hastily raised defenses, causing Master Cazor to struggle to maintain any semblance of control in the arena. Rust me, he¡¯s gotten better. -Yeah; that he has.- She continued to watch what was obviously a forgone conclusion. Regardless, both men continued fighting until the end. When it came, it came quick. Rane redirected off of the ceiling, spearing straight toward Master Cazor with Force held before him like the tip of a lance. Master Cazor tried to sweep Rane from the air, but Rane pulled out something new. From his leather loop, Rane drew forth a handful of magically powerful magnets, throwing them out to spread around himself. There had to be further magics involved, because while they weren¡¯t drawn to each other at all¡ªin fact they even seemed to repulse one another¡ªthey obviously completely changed the magnetic landscape of the battlefield. Master Cazor saw and corrected like the expert that he was, but the moment¡¯s delay and reprieve was all that Rane needed. He stopped, his sword resting against Master Cazor¡¯s shoulder in a pull-cut that would have forced the Mage Hunter to move toward Rane in order to mitigate the damage. Taking the blow would have thrown the smaller man into Rane¡¯s embrace, where it would have been a quick end to the fight as well. Master Cazor laughed, the iron in the air freezing in place, then dropping to coat the sand in beautiful, swirling patterns of dark gray on tan. ¡°Well fought, Master Rane.¡± Rane grinned in return, ¡°And you, Master Cazor. I think if I didn¡¯t have the ceiling, I¡¯d have lost long ago.¡± The other man waved that off, ¡°Some battlefields favor me, some favor others. I would be a poor opponent if I complained after such a well-earned victory on your part. Besides, having so much iron readily available in the sand has to be taken into account. If anything, I gained more from this arena than you did.¡± ¡°I disagree, but thank you.¡± ¡°I have to ask, though, did you specifically get magical items to counter me?¡± Rane shrugged, his smile widening, ¡°Among others, yes.¡± ¡°Are they monopoles?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°Magic is amazing. They must have been expensive.¡± ¡°Somewhat. They were actually harvests off of a truly fascinating metal elemental. There were two of them, found in near proximity to one another, and each had more than a hundred monopoles.¡± ¡°The other halves in those within the other?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Huh, not necessary, but an interesting way for them to have been formed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± Rane nodded in agreement. Then, in the brief lull in their post-fight conversation, both men turned to look up at Tala. She waved, smiling in return. Master Cazor¡¯s lip curled in wry amusement, ¡°See anything you like?¡± She chuckled, ¡°I¡¯d love to fight you both, but that¡¯d be a bit unfair.¡± Rane nodded seriously, and Master Cazor grimaced, ¡°We don¡¯t have enough Fused friends to even the odds against a Refined, battle-hardened Defender, let alone you.¡± She laughed happily at the obvious compliment, ¡°Well, thank you, but it could still be fun¡­¡± He laughed. ¡°True enough.¡± He looked to his previous opponent. ¡°What do you say?¡± Rane didn¡¯t look to Master Cazor, instead meeting Tala¡¯s gaze with one of determination, ¡°I¡¯m always game for a round.¡± -You¡¯re not very nice sometimes, Tala.- I¡¯m not going to humiliate them. Besides, I¡¯ve been working on controlling my iron despite competing forces. If anyone can test that properly, it¡¯s Master Cazor. -True, and Rane?- He¡¯s always enjoyable to spar with. Even when he isn¡¯t a ¡®true¡¯ opponent, he¡¯s good enough to press me to be better. -And he seems to be hunting for ways to counter you as well.- Tala¡¯s smile grew as she dropped down into the sandy pit. Let¡¯s see how well he¡¯s done, then. Chapter: 373 - The Most Advanced Mage Involved Tala was a bit embarrassed. Even though part of it was a misunderstanding, she knew that arguing wouldn¡¯t really change anything. She had been the most advanced Mage involved, after all. Rane actually had his head hanging in shame, his cheeks a flaming red. Master Cazor was silently laughing himself hoarse and hiding it badly. The Refined defender who had been called in response to them blowing through one wall of the combat arena was less than pleased even though most of the issues had been settled. ¡°Mistress Tala, process indicates that I am to remind you that I am obligated to report this incident to the heads of the Archon Councils both here and in Alefast, waning, where records indicate you are currently based.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really understand why that¡¯s necessary. It was an accident, and I¡¯ve already paid for the repairs and had additional funds set aside to pay for lost revenue. The complex is going to come out ahead financially and have a brand-new combat arena.¡± She kept her tone from containing notes of irritation or pleading, but barely. As the combat arena was designed to contain higher level magics, the defenses were all interlinked. That meant that all of them had to be overwhelmed at once if at all, burning out artifacts and inscriptions all together. Naturally, that meant that the whole construct had to be rebuilt from scratch. The Refined, a long-suffering, older looking man nodded, ¡°That is the only reason you are not currently under arrest. Damaging property of any kind requires repayment¡ªor arrest is required until reparations can be arranged¡ªbut that has nothing to do with what else is required. You should have better control over your own magics and the magics around you when sparring in a space created for those of a lower advancement.¡± Tala sighed internally, bowed, and nodded understanding, ¡°As you say, good Master. I will be more careful.¡± He sighed, seeming to be utterly baffled by her. She didn¡¯t recognize him, and he clearly hadn¡¯t had occasion to know who she was. Thus, while she¡¯d had to give him her name, he¡¯d never offered his own, leaving her without that information. ¡°Very well.¡± He turned toward Rane and Master Cazor, ¡°As to the two of you, are you sure you do not require healing? Or protection from¡­ anything?¡± He didn¡¯t glance her way, but Tala felt it was a near thing. Rane shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± Master Cazor shook his head, still having trouble containing his mirth. ¡°No permanent harm was done to me, thank you.¡± ¡°If you say so, I will take my leave. The Archon Compound is open to you if you wish to alter your reports or make any new ones.¡± Without anything further to deal with, the Refined departed, likely to go file paperwork. Maybe that¡¯s why he was grumpy? -Paperwork is rather awful. Good thing I have an alternate interface to take care of it for me¡­ oh wait, that¡¯s me. I do all your paperwork.- And I love you for it. -Which is a bit narcissistic, but I¡¯ll take it.- As soon as the Refined was out of sight, leaving the three alone, Tala turned on Rane. ¡°I blame you.¡± ¡°I said I was sorry¡­¡± Master Cazor just started laughing again, ¡°It was amazing!¡± Tala felt her lips quirk up, ¡°It was unexpected.¡± The Mage Hunter nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve never used such augmented, sequential fields to perform a linear acceleration in order to launch a monopole.¡± Rane put his head in his hands. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that he thought it was a Refined level attack.¡± Tala shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m not sure he cared how advanced the magics were. I, as a Refined, was there, so the responsibility was mine.¡± Master Cazor shook his head. ¡°Regardless, I can¡¯t believe that you took the shot straight to the chest without taking any lasting damage, Mistress.¡± She chuckled nervously, purposely not remembering the crushing impact that had blasted nearly all the way through her, even as it threw her despite her incredible inertia. ¡°Well¡­ It did cave in my torso for a moment¡ªthat was wildly unpleasant¡ªand that was before it sent me through the arena wall¡­ I can¡¯t believe you two didn¡¯t take the credit for this. If I¡¯d been a little less durable, it would have blown entirely through me, and might have leveled a couple of blocks. They don¡¯t build standard buildings like city walls, you know.¡± The Mage Hunter shrugged. ¡°The outer defenses on the combat complex would have caught it before it could exit the building. As to taking the credit? The bragging rights would be nice, but I¡¯m not getting banned from using normal training arenas. Do you know how expensive Refined level combat areas are to use?¡± Tala didn¡¯t. They were free to her as part of her contract being a Defender in Alefast. They wouldn¡¯t be free in Bandfast, however. Rane sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll pay you back. It was my idea.¡± ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t. The money isn¡¯t the issue.¡± Tala stopped, feeling like she¡¯d said something unpleasant. She worked her tongue, scraping it against her teeth as if trying to get off an unpleasant taste. Even so, she realized that she hadn¡¯t been wrong. Huh¡­ money really isn¡¯t any part of my issue¡­ That¡¯s weird. -I mean, it¡¯s about a month¡¯s income as a Defender, so it¡¯s not trivial.- But it actually doesn¡¯t matter to me. He looked up, pulling her from her musings, ¡°Then what is the issue?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no issue. This is just on you.¡± She grinned. His confusion was evident. ¡°What¡¯s that even mean?¡± ¡°Well, I was going to get to spar the two of you, but you asked if you could try something first. Now, we don¡¯t get to spar. I blame you.¡± ¡°¡­Okay?¡± Tala nodded once. ¡°Now, who¡¯s hungry?¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°I actually already have plans. You can join if you want, but there won¡¯t be food until lunchtime.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± She looked to Master Cazor. Master Cazor shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m with him. We¡¯re meeting up with some other folks to catch up. I just got back from an assignment, so I¡¯m looking forward to seeing them, too.¡± She tilted her head in thought, ¡°Oh, where are you going?¡± ¡°A tea house.¡± She gave Rane a flat look. ¡°Tea houses have food.¡± A small smile pulled at his lips, ¡°Not in the quantities you eat.¡± There was a beat of silence while Tala stood with her mouth open, considering. Finally, she shrugged, ¡°That¡¯s fair. Sure, let¡¯s go.¡± Tala didn¡¯t know everyone who was at the meetup, and she definitely felt a bit overwhelmed by the large group of twenty some-odd people. Rane seemed in his element as a participant, clearly knowing everyone in some way or other, though he was definitely not the center of attention by a long shot. The result was that Tala engaged in some conversations, but mostly kept to herself, happily enjoying just being around people for a bit. That is an odd feeling. I actually am not hating having all these people nearby. -So, not bad?- As a one off? Not bad at all. Within her iron shell, only broken so that she could speak as necessary, she decided to use some of the time to help the changes to her mental inscriptions progress in their integration with her established magics. Toward that end, she devoted a substantial amount of her power to flow through them. Finally, when the meet-up was almost done, she succeeded. With an internal click, a thousand thoughts began racing through her head in what felt like an instant. The first one was an immediate understanding of why they were suddenly flooding her. The influx of power through the new inscriptions had caused them to fully set, giving her a temporary burst of cognitive ability that would quickly level out. Even so, she was going to put the quick burst of cognitive ability to use. Mistress Holly¡¯s alterations had been just right to pull Tala¡¯s natural magics into the new configuration, building on the current ones rather than having to override them. And just like the bank of a river sloughing off to alter the geography of a bend, uncounted small twists and turns of the natural magical pathways¡ªresponsible for enhancing her mind¡ªrolled over into the new alignment. Stolen novel; please report. She felt like her mind whipped through her entire life, reanalyzing all of her experiences with an improved lens. She and Alat had already gone back through her childhood and academic life with a fine-toothed comb as she had tried to come to grips with her relationship with her family. So, there wasn¡¯t much more to glean from those hazy memories. Her time after the Academy was something that she¡¯d deeply contemplated while acting as an Eskau in the arcane lands. She had hunted for anything that she could have done differently, any way that she could have anticipated or countered Be-thric¡¯s machinations. She had berated herself for not doing something, anything, differently, even if it might have turned out the same¡ªor possibly even worse¡ªfor her. But that was behind her, and she let those memories pass with barely any examination. Her time in the arcane lands had been an exercise in deeply overthinking her every action¡ªher every observation¡ªin order to not let herself be discovered. She had no desire to peruse those times more thoroughly than she¡¯d already examined them. But, when she got to her flight back to the human lands, she found that she hadn¡¯t really considered that time very deeply. The wide-open plains beyond the forests surrounding the gated human cities had moving villages hiding and slinking about across them. It also seemed likely that there were cities which might even be flying overhead as she sat there contemplating, if Master Grediv¡¯s implications were to be believed. It was also rather obvious in retrospect that the arcanes usually hunted for their vestiges among the humans in those enclaves. I really want to go explore those pockets of humanity further. We were rather in a rush at the time. -Yeah, the dasgannach really had us on a short timeline. Going back could be really interesting. We could learn a lot from how they approach the common problems faced by us all.- Including how they get along with arcanes so well. I know we¡¯re not going to fix the division, the fighting¡ªwe¡¯re not some hero of legend¡ªbut it would be nice to get some insights. Maybe we can help make things a bit better. -Yeah, that could be nice.- There¡¯s also Howlton¡¯s obsession with finding a cell out there¡­ -Yeah, the clockwork thunder. It might be worth stepping in there and seeing if we can help. We¡¯ve learned so much since then, and I think they might be in danger of it breaking free due to their ignorance. That thumping could be the warning knells of the cell breaking down, and no one out there knows it. Though, I doubt they told us all they know.- Yeah. If their timeline holds, they believed that they¡¯d find it by now, or in the next few months¡­ That was a terrifying thought. There was a non-zero chance that a colossal threat could spring up any day to their south. Maybe it will rampage through the arcane cities, and we¡¯ll never know it broke free. -If only we¡¯re so lucky.- She turned her mind back to her recollections, using more of her burst of cognition to reframe the less examined¡ªmore recent¡ªportion of her life. When she¡¯d left Howlton, she¡¯d made her way up to the thinnest part of the forest. As she¡¯d traversed that portion, she''d slain dozens of Leshkin that had seemed oriented on something deeper in the forest, northward. It was obvious now what they had been watching for. The wolves. They were watching for Anatalis and the Pack. -That tracks with what we now know, yeah.- She¡¯d had imperfect information at the time. If she had simply gone a few miles north, she would have had basically a safe trek through that portion of forest. Nevertheless, it had been safe enough for her, as she¡¯d killed her way through juggernauts guarding the border easily enough. When she¡¯d gotten free of the trees, she¡¯d been waylaid by two Leshkin with obvious sapience, proving that Leshkin weren¡¯t bound to the trees, even if the lesser varieties rarely left except for the cyclical Leshkin wars. Tala had had a rather¡­ unpleasant conversation with the beings before they¡¯d left her alone, and even that had only been because of their misassumptions. I wonder if I could take them now? -You would do much better now, that¡¯s for certain. I think that is rather obvious, but we didn¡¯t actually see them fight.- Yeah, it would be a clash with unknown opponents still. Even so, she had the sense that she wouldn¡¯t be helpless at the very least. That was a good feeling. Her mind returned to the memories, feeling the burst of power racing along her neurons beginning to fade. After leaving the forest, she¡¯d crossed the sheltered plains that she¡¯d known her whole life as ¡®The Wilds,¡¯ and she¡¯d been home. In Alefast, Master Grediv had helped her to bond the iron dasgannach within her body, saving herself from Be-thric¡¯s last petty act of attempted vengeance. A broken Pillar¡¯s dying curse¡ªassisted by the kindly helping hand of a Paragon¡ªhad given her an ability beyond the reach of what any other Mage or arcane could accomplish. The closest that she knew of was Master Cazor, but he didn¡¯t actually act on iron directly. The internal threat of the dasgannach dealt with, Tala had nearly broken all over again when she¡¯d reunited with friends. She¡¯d actually been shattered and rebuilt when she Refined. And finally, she¡¯d faced her oldest ¡®oppressors¡¯ with a new perspective when she¡¯d gone to see her family. Her father was trying to be better than his past mistakes, and Tala was genuinely glad that he was striving so hard to be a better father to her siblings of late. She still had no desire for him to be her father, and she couldn¡¯t conceive of that changing, but she was glad that her siblings would have the option of a better man as their father. After her time in Marliweather, she¡¯d gone to Alefast, waning, and become a Defender. It was the perfect opportunity for her, and she was going to utilize it to the fullest. She trained with the best of the best. She¡¯d fought beasts of legend, and those that really shouldn¡¯t be allowed to become so. She¡¯d fought in cells and outside the city walls. She¡¯d taken her random assortment of magical abilities, tools, and talents and begun to hone them into a cohesive whole. Tala had gained some new, true friends among her unit mates, and she¡¯d spent more time with Rane doing things other than traveling around and fighting. Though, we¡¯ve gone back to that this last week¡­ I really should have known he was the sculptor of those statues much sooner. I¡¯m not really showing interest in my friend, am I? I¡¯ve just been treating him like a servant or assistant. -We¡¯ve had that weakness for a long time, Tala. Honestly, I think it¡¯s common to all people, or at least, we all have the potential to fall into that trap. We focus on ourselves first and foremost. You are getting better, though.- Thank you, Alat. She didn¡¯t want any of her friendships to be one-sided. That was one reason she¡¯d decided to go with Rane to the meet-ups he¡¯d planned. She wanted to be a part of her friends¡¯ lives, not just have them be a part of hers. As her mind passed over each event and accomplishment, she felt like she relived it with new eyes. Even if she couldn¡¯t actually see more than she had, her change in perception allowed her to reprocess the experiences, letting her make a few connections that she hadn¡¯t taken the time to make before. Through most of it, there was a common element. From her first trip to Alefast, waning, Kit had been there. Kit and Flow have been with me from the very start, or near enough. -They were with you before even Terry or I were.- Well, Terry was about before that. -But he was still deciding whether or not to eat us.- Tala disagreed with Alat¡¯s interpretation, which¡ªinterestingly¡ªwas happening more and more of late. No, I think he¡¯d decided not to. After all, he helped us with those¡­ men ¡­ barely after we¡¯d gotten Flow and Kit. And there was that thunderbull he herded near us before we even arrived in Alefast too. Alat hesitated for only a moment before conceding, -That¡¯s fair.- So, Terry was around, but not with us until after. Alat chuckled. -Fine.- Tala did consider Kit then, turning the last of her extra-enhanced mental energy toward the former artifact pouch. The storage had begun altering itself to match Tala¡¯s desires from the very beginning, and Tala had always striven to keep the pouch full to bursting with power. Kit had been an incredibly useful tool all the way up until Tala had been captured, making her not have to worry about carrying her belongings or running out of essentials. Kit had also offered Tala shelter and a place to sleep whenever she needed one as well. But, in the arcane lands? There, Kit had been transformed. It was not an exaggeration to say that: after that transformation, Kit was Tala¡¯s most useful tool, even though Kit hadn¡¯t directly contributed to Tala¡¯s combat ability. Master Simon and his family really help make Kit even more functional as well, but that is mostly them bringing out what Kit offers. -And Adrill and Brandon are assisting Master Simon as he investigates a lot of the things you¡¯ve been putting off.- That¡¯s for sure. That¡¯s only really possible because I was able to grab all of those sundry items as I went along. Again, because of Kit. Tala still preferred the reading chair that she had taken from the House of the Rising Sun to any other she¡¯d come across. Kit had eaten man-made constructs, syphon bits, ether-holds, arcane holds, and a lot of cast-off material. Now, Tala¡¯s sanctum within Kit was her home. Hah! Home is where you have your Kit. -Oh, I like that.- She pulled herself out of her musings, having barely taken a couple of breaths to run through the mountains of recollections and reconsiderations. The last of the magical burst of enhancement had run its course, fully contained by her iron, and she was satisfied with how she¡¯d used it. She was overwhelmingly glad to have soulbound Kit, and she felt the absence of the artifact acutely. That was not just because she missed being able to pull food out at will either. -But that is a major part?- ¡­yes. There was something comforting about being close to home, and Kit was unquestionably her home now. As she turned her focus back outward, she was almost staggered by the information suddenly flooding into her mind. Information that her mind was now fully able to handle. Beyond anything, what struck her was that she could see the gates of every human within sixty feet of her, without even trying. Well¡­ she could at least see the gates of those who weren¡¯t Mages of sufficient strength to have auras that prevented her view. Every human had an aura, but mundanes¡¯ were simply too weak to matter before her enhanced sight. Huh, the woman over there is pregnant. -She could have an extra gate implanted in her stomach.- Alat teased. We can see the fetus, too¡­ -Yeah¡­ it wasn¡¯t a well thought out joke.- I can see the knots in that laborer¡¯s muscles, how much strength he¡¯s losing, how much discomfort he¡¯s likely in. -To be fair, he¡¯s probably used to them. By the looks of it, they¡¯ve been there a long time, being added to day after day.- Alat sent a feeling of bafflement. -I mean, look at those calves! How can he even walk?- Tala decided to redirect, This is¡­ this is a lot of information, Alat. -It is indeed.- Well, I guess we have to get used to knowing far too much about everyone around us. -¡­you¡¯ve been overhearing everything around you for a long time now and ignoring most of it. How is this different?- Hush you, I have to see everything too, now, and there doesn¡¯t exist a cleansing agent powerful enough to erase what I can already see. Chapter: 374 - Issue with Translation Tala ended up staying in Bandfast for two more full days with Rane. When he had begun trying to fill his day¡ªwhile she bound Kit¡ªhe had gotten a much greater response than he¡¯d expected. When the full extent of his filled social calendar was discussed, Rane said she was fine to head back without him, but Tala found she preferred to stay and tag-along with him for once. It was definitely an odd experience, only knowing most of the people they spent time with in a passing manner. This was their last day planned in Bandfast, and Tala and Rane were walking between a lunch meetup that had run into mid-afternoon, and an early dinner. They were chatting about the people they had just left, and theorizing about those they were going to meet when they passed a shop that Tala hadn¡¯t thought of in a long time. The shop was on a little, out of the way street that they passed just by happenstance¡ªjust as she and Lyn had passed it what seemed like a lifetime ago. ¡®He buys and sells artifacts and arcane goods.¡¯ Lyn had used that simple statement to draw Tala out of some musing or other. Now, it really hit home what Lyn had said. Artifacts¡ªnot in a waning city¡ªand arcane goods. Rane had pulled to a stop beside her as she¡¯d frozen midstep. He looked between her and the shop, ¡°Do you need to go in?¡± She bit the side of her lip. ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯m curious about. Catch up to you in a bit?¡± Rane hesitated, ¡°Do you need me?¡± He could clearly tell something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°I can cancel the¡ª¡± Tala shook her head, cutting him off. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. I¡¯ll be along shortly, and I don¡¯t want to make you wait.¡± He hesitated for only a moment longer, ¡°Alright, then. Reach out if you need me, and I¡¯ll be there.¡± She smiled, ¡°I know. Thank you.¡± With a series of backward glances, Rane continued on his way. Tala, for her part, was staring at the shop once more. Though, it wasn¡¯t what she saw with her eyes that really held her attention. To mundane sight, it was just an ordinary shop, but it was odd even in that sense. While the windows were clean and well painted with the usual advertisement for a seller of goods, looking beyond the glass instantly caused a disjointment. There were iron plates placed directly behind the glass, and that same iron seemed to be wrapping the whole of the building¡¯s interior. But again, her mundane vision was not what had grabbed her focus and reminded her of the business¡¯s existence. There was an odd distortion all around the building starward and stoneward. She might have missed it, but it didn¡¯t strictly match the shop¡¯s shape, instead bulging outward quite oddly. Unfortunately, it was hard to determine the exact dimensions, as it was messing with her magesight even as she looked at it. Iron. Iron placed along the axis of magic connected in order to completely surround whatever is inside¡­ how big could that be? -From what I can tell, there is iron placed for at least a hundred increments along the magical axis.- That meant that those places could be at least a hundred times the physical dimensions associated, and that was before any sort of spatial magic was involved. She was insanely curious as to what might be inside, but she didn¡¯t have even the smallest clue. After all, the shop was fully sealed against magic escaping, making it impossible for her to see within, the iron fully blocking off her three-fold sight. This, I have to see. -Yes, let¡¯s walk into the arcane-related, sealed box¡­ alone. No need for any help, here.- Tala hesitated, glancing in the direction that Rane had departed in. He was already out of sight. -He¡¯d come back if we asked.- I know, but we¡¯re in Bandfast. The very thought dispelled most of the concern. There is no way they¡¯d let something or someone nefarious remain within the city. -No, they catch every syphon instantly.- Tala grimaced. Those aren¡¯t truly damaging¡­ -And what about¡ª- Fine, it could be dangerous, but I am still going to investigate. -So long as it¡¯s with open eyes, I have no objection.- She stepped forward and pulled the door open revealing¡­ a small entry room. Unfortunately, because of the iron stoneward and starward, Tala couldn¡¯t bring her bloodstars along in their usual configuration. Instead, she pulled them back into the superficial, letting them rest on various parts of her clothing to get extra sight that way. It was unideal, but she didn¡¯t really have a choice. The door didn¡¯t even exist elsewhere along the axis of magic, instead the same space seemed to be solid iron if she moved star- or stoneward. The only means of ingress or egress was the simple seeming door, located superficially. The small entry room was well decorated, but clearly meant as a buffer between inside and outside. The door closed behind her, and only then was she able to push open the next door, entering the shop proper. -Archive access still maintained. The Soulbound connection isn¡¯t hampered by the iron at all, just as expected.- Good. How about you¡ªHer thoughts died in her mind as she really took in what was around her. The iron-core door swung shut after she was through, even as she gaped at what she saw around her. One thing grabbed her attention before anything else. Vestiges. There were at least sixteen vestiges that she could sense in this room. One stoneward and one starward of each corner. There, they didn¡¯t flood the superficial with their power, instead filling the single increment on either side, giving a hair-raising sense of power that was just out of reach. Additionally, there was a dividing wall of iron that once again kept her three-fold sight from seeing anything in the rest of the building. Finally, while there were no items on display, simply a long wooden counter with several books laid out atop them, Tala could see that the space was fully packed with different sized boxes, neatly stacked stoneward and starward of this front room. Organized by which book their entry is in? -That¡¯s likely.- Held up by the iron cocoon around this entire place. -And kept in top condition by the vestiges gushing purified power.- All in all, it was an elegant setup. If I had Kit, I could rob this place blind in a blink. -Yes, but you could do that to any other shop as well.- If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Yeah, but this one is magic¡­ really, really magic. As she was contemplating larceny, a disjointed being came into view. The door behind the counter opened¡ªrevealing another small chamber clearly meant to seal off this room from outside as well as the rest of the house¡ªand out stepped a tall, scholarly looking gentleman. He looked older yet not old, strong yet not defined, healthy yet not athletic, comely yet not handsome. All in all, he was quite forgettable. He was also an illusion. Beneath the illusion, she was easily able to see a Mature arcane. Though something about the advancement of his aura seemed¡­ liquid? -He feels like the arcanes we saw who had temporarily dropped below their actual advancement due to power expenditure.- That was it. He was clearly lacking the power his body and mind were used to wielding, or at least capable of wielding. As to his true looks? He was something that immediately pulled her back to her first real fight with a magical beast. Is he a humanoid midnight fox? No¡­ that wasn¡¯t quite right. His actual height was only about four feet, with another two feet of horns sweeping up and back to match the six feet of the illusory man he pretended to be. Horns, not antlers. Not a midnight fox, then. He also had the two horns projecting forward along his upper jaw like a midnight fox. He differed yet again, however, with another set of horns hooking along the line of his lower jaw when it was closed. Rather than having easily visible skin, he had what seemed to be exceptionally fine, white fur. As he walked forward behind the counter, he stepped up on a rise in the floor, which was likewise covered by an illusion, so the ¡®man¡¯ didn¡¯t change height, even though the fox-man was now higher. He was dressed¡ªboth in reality and in the illusion¡ªin a simple set of black Mage¡¯s robes. His true eyes were a deep¡ªalmost indigo¡ªblue with vertical black slits. His voice was likewise disguised, the illusion sounding a bit nasally, but Tala could somehow hear around it, and the creature¡¯s true voice was as deep and melodic as an ancient river, ¡°Welcome, Refined. You are Mistress Tala, if I don¡¯t miss my guess. To what do I owe the pleasure?¡± ¡°You know me?¡± She was startled at the knowledge, sure that she¡¯d never met this creature before. Though, if he¡¯s capable of illusions better than these¡­ He smiled, his real face showing it to be an almost predatory grin, ¡°Of course. I have procured many of your memories, humiliating those to the south.¡± There was a beat of silence, then he sighed. ¡°I can see you are meeting my eyes, not those of my projected form. Would you accept my sealing the door and dropping the pretense?¡± Tala nodded slowly, feeling happy that she had a couple of sets of siege orbs at her belt opposite Flow, just in case. ¡°Thank you.¡± He took a deep breath. Then, his mouth moved, and he clearly spoke, but Tala couldn¡¯t hear the word. Regardless, the door behind her vanished, leaving a smooth iron wall. Before her, the illusion of the studious man fell, and Tala was faced with what she¡¯d already known was there. ¡°I can see you are not surprised, but that is to be expected.¡± Even so, he looked a bit disappointed. ¡°You¡¯re a beast man? Fox? Or¡­?¡± He huffed a laugh, his disappointment fading. ¡°I am something similar, yes.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°That is a rather rude question, Mistress Tala. This is my shop and my home. Why are you here?¡± Tala was caught off guard by that. ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯m here to learn what was actually going on in here. I saw your¡­expansion, and that reminded me that I¡¯d heard of you before. You buy magical and arcane items, correct?¡± ¡°I do. Are you here to buy or sell?¡± He still seemed a bit¡­ miffed but kept a professional air. ¡°I apologize, but¡­ I have not had the best relationship with arcanes. Forgive me for asking, but how can you be here? How is it allowed?¡± Once again, the predatory smile returned, the man¡¯s small, furry face, reminding her of a savage beast about to strike for a brief moment before he spoke, ¡°Oh, I am aware of your history with the arcanes. It is why I did not throw you out for the rudeness. Your hesitancy is expected and appreciated.¡± He looked at her for a long moment, then huffed, ¡°I was banished by a fool and granted leave to stay within human cities so long as I keep my advancement to Mature and hide my identity while in public.¡± ¡°What is your actual advancement level then?¡± There was an incredibly minute bending of power, and something flicked the back of her ear, hard. ¡°Ow!¡± Tala clutched the side of her head and pulled her hand away wet. Her eyes widened. He made me bleed with such a small strike? How? ¡°Learn manners, child. Your defenses are impressive, but nothing is impenetrable.¡± -I¡¯m looking at you from all sides, and there are no gaps in your iron, so it was a physical attack at its core.- Air manipulation. -That is the simplest explanation.- Still, to do so much damage with so little power¡­ I barely felt any movement of power. -Maybe you shouldn¡¯t be rude, then.- She grimaced, ¡°My apologies, master¡­?¡± He bowed then, ¡°Yes, introductions, so important. Thank you for asking. My name is Lisa.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Master Lisa? Isn¡¯t that a woman¡¯s name?¡± Lisa shrugged. ¡°It can be. It is an issue with translation¡­ yes, I can see that isn¡¯t forbidden knowledge to you. I am glad I judged rightly.¡± Translation¡­ from another language. He¡¯s from before the merging of languages? -Or the name is from then, and he¡¯s being deceptive¡­ like his illusions. He is likely only allowed to live here because he¡¯s able to obscure the truth, mainly who and what he is.- That¡¯s fair. Ironic to require that someone be good at hiding the truth before they can be trusted. -Just a bit, yeah.- ¡°But we are wandering in the weeds for want of a trail. Did you only come to see what my home was?¡± He gestured around them. ¡°You have seen. If that was your goal, you may go. I have much to be about.¡± Tala thought furiously. She was not ready to depart. Maybe¡­ Given master Lisa¡¯s request for arcane items, it made sense that he might have something of that nature¡­ even if they weren¡¯t originally created for that purpose. ¡°Do you have anything that can enhance a hold?¡± A slow smile pulled at his somewhat vulpine features. ¡°I just might. It seems I might have more memories to barter for than I¡¯d considered. I only acquired those of you killing arcanes.¡± He licked his teeth. ¡°Those were well worth the price.¡± Alat? -Yeah, I¡¯m seeing a line item in Mistress Ingrit¡¯s records that we have credit with a ¡®master Lisa.¡¯ The note beside it says: ¡®To be collected in the form of arcane knowledge, items, favors, or municipal defense. If the latter is used, the city in question would take up the debt owed to Mistress Tala.¡¯- There was so much implied in that that Tala couldn¡¯t properly unpack it, but that wasn¡¯t important in the moment. She had just learned that she had a line of credit at a magic store that seemed to put even the Constructionists to shame. ¡°What do you have?¡± ¡°That depends, do you have a standard hold? Is it a construct, artifact, spontaneous generation, ether hold? Is it powered by a vestige? Magic-bound to yourself? Soulbound? Are you looking for augments to establish within as separate items or to integrate into the existing magical matrices? Does it have a means of incorporating external magics? Is it inert? Sentient? Sapient?¡± Tala felt her smile grow with each question. She might have been hesitant to share, but the very fact that Mistress Ingrit had bartered with him for some of her memories meant that he was trustworthy to at least a certain extent. ¡°Her name is Kit and let me give you a little summary to get us started, here.¡± She hit the highlights, being careful to give true, broad strokes while leaving all the tantalizing details out. ¡­Alat structured the vast majority of her little spiel. Thank you, Alat. -It¡¯s what I do.- In the end, master Lisa was nodding in contemplative understanding. As he opened his mouth to say something, Tala held up a finger, ¡°One more thing, before you respond. I do apologize for my earlier rudeness, I did not mean to be untoward. As recompense, please let me offer you a memory.¡± Alat? -Already ahead of you¡­ done.- Lisa raised an eyebrow, then reached to one side, his arm seeming to vanish. Tala watched as he grabbed something out of another physical layer, pulling a small round disc back to himself in the superficial. Keeping an eye on her, he attached the disc to his temple, closing the eye on that side. A moment later, the eye reopened, both of his eyes widening. ¡°Your apology is accepted. Thank you for the gift of being able to witness the consumption of an ether hold. That does actually give me a much better picture of your storage¡¯s abilities as well. My compliments for the multipurposed offering.¡± He licked his teeth while looking up at the ceiling, clearly considering. Tala waited patiently. Finally, Lisa reached up and pulled the disc off of his temple and replaced it in the stoneward physical layer it had come from. ¡°Well, that is interesting. I have some things that could be of use¡ªone item in particular comes to mind because you have soulbound your storage, but I am hesitant to part with it.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala was intrigued. ¡°Yes. It is a magical purification system. You stated that you wanted to ensure that no one would be forced to bond with you when entering your sanctum, is that correct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What of items? Those not magic-bound to you would quickly die or become so bound if you stored them within. Incidentally, this is a common issue with human-used storages.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really considered that, but yeah. I think that has been an issue.¡± He quirked a smile. ¡°No fear, dear Refined. Not all is lost. I have seen items unbind if they became magicbound through happenstance rather than intention. If you purified the magic within your sanctum, any item of that description found within would return to a neutral state in time, and any new item you acquired for transport or storage would be preserved.¡± He hesitated, glancing her way. ¡°From what you said, the power density inside is well above standard for this region?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good, good. Then, purifying it should also make the power accessible to and useful for all non-magical things and creatures within as well.¡± That made Tala frown. ¡°Non-magical? Wouldn¡¯t that mean they don¡¯t use magic?¡± ¡°But of course. They don¡¯t use the magic, but bathing in it¡ªas it were¡ªmakes them more.¡± Once again, he hesitated. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make them more real, that would be ridiculous.¡± He chuckled. ¡°It solidifies their existence in a way that is hard to describe.¡± Tala found herself nodding, ¡°They are already real, physical things. Because they are distinct, they are already well set with void. Thus, suffusing them in magic completes the triune of existence.¡± Lisa gave her a long, long look, ¡°Aren¡¯t you just full of surprises?¡± Chapter: 375 - Alone Tala hesitated as the arcane fox-like-man¡ªLisa¡ªregarded her with greater scrutiny. After a moment, he grunted, ¡°I suppose I should not be surprised that you are aware of the triune state of existence. I taste iron on the air around you. Because of that, it would be my guess that you have somehow acquired a connection with reality that your fellows find acceptable.¡± He briefly gave a wide grin, ¡°They are much better at cutting out that rot when it crops up than they used to be. Beyond that, you obviously have magic, and your memories¡ªeven the few I saw¡ªcontained some of the void. Given all of that, your mentors were wise to help induct you into the reality of existence...¡± He paused for a moment at that. Then, he shrugged and continued, ¡°And the magic of existence¡­¡± His smile returned, full of mischief. ¡°And the fact that existence is void and empty at its core.¡± Tala had never thought of it in those terms, but it fit rather beautifully. As she contemplated how well it fit, she felt her aura strengthen, her magic deepen, and her advancement move marginally toward Paragon. The side of Lisa¡¯s mouth pulled up slightly, indicating that he¡¯d noticed the change, ¡°Regardless, we are getting off the path, even after finding such a promising one. Let us return to the item I am offering to you: A purifier of magical power. To be clear, a purification of the magic within your sanctum¡ªand an ongoing maintenance of that purity¡ªwould not affect the magic of your sanctum, so your dimensional storage would remain bonded to you and intact.¡± Tala had been considering, and she nodded, grinning, ¡°I think that would be rather useful, yes.¡± He nodded once in response, ¡°Now, what do you have in trade?¡± ¡°I do believe that I have some credit with you.¡± Lisa waved his hand. ¡°It would be highway robbery if I were to use this to cancel that debt, and such things are hard to fractionalize.¡± She frowned, then shrugged. ¡°What do you want? What type of thing are you looking for?¡± ¡°Items of magic and power, of course. The stranger¡ªthe more unique¡ªthe better.¡± Tala considered for a moment. Well, I¡¯m not giving him the sword, I barely just got that back from Master Clevnis. -What about a needle? We have quite a few of those, and we don¡¯t really have much use for them.- Tala nodded to herself. That was a good idea. ¡°What about an infinitely sharp, unbreakable needle?¡± Lisa blinked a few times, before his eyes narrowed, seeming more focused on her than he had been during their entire conversation up until that point. ¡°Let me see it.¡± Hesitantly, Tala reached for her waist, only to remember that she didn¡¯t have Kit with her. ¡°Oh, ummm¡­ Would a memory do for demonstration? If it is acceptable, I¡¯d have to go get it.¡± He hesitated, then nodded slowly. Alat? -Sharing a small part of the encounter in the cell, now.- Lisa had already pulled his Archive connection artifact back out and placed it on his temple, his each movement crisp, precise, and controlled. A moment later, he let out a hiss, followed by an incredibly aggressive cackle, ¡°Sole? His cell has resurfaced?¡± Lisa¡¯s lips pulled back in a horrifying mixture of gleeful grin and murderous snarl. ¡°For memories of your encounter with him, I will give you the item we are discussing. I do not need one of the needles for this transaction.¡± Well¡­ Rust. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to refuse. There is no way I can let him know where the prison is. But, before she could say anything in response, Lisa continued, seemingly interpreting what she was thinking, ¡°I do not want the location of his confinement, just to witness the clash that you obviously had with him. You are here, he is not, so he must have been defeated, and that is something I dearly wish to witness. Depending on what I see, there, I will negotiate with your City Lords¡­¡ªexcuse me, City Heads¡ªfor the location. That will not concern you.¡± She hesitated, incredibly uncertain. -I am already asking Mistress Ingrit.- That is wise. Thank you, Alat. -Oh, that was fast. She says sharing what he asks is fine.- Tala was still skeptical, but after a moment¡¯s consideration¡­ maybe two, she shrugged. This decision seems above my advancement, so not my problem. I¡¯m glad that I don¡¯t need to consider all the possible implications. Master Lisa was waiting expectantly. She slowly nodded, ¡°It seems that that would be acceptable.¡± The vulpine eyes glowed. ¡°But!¡± The predatory gaze narrowed, and Tala felt a chill run through her very bones. ¡°I think that the memories of the encounter are more valuable than a single item.¡± He huffed. ¡°Negotiating, then? Fine. But calling it a single item so dismissively is ridiculous.¡± ¡°Is it more than one item?¡± ¡°No, but calling it simply ¡®a single item¡¯ is like calling the operating fund for the city ¡®a bank account.¡¯ The description is technically accurate but insulting in the implication.¡± ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll need to take a look, then. Let¡¯s see it.¡± ¡°Very well. One moment.¡± Without further warning or fanfare, the fox vanished. Tala caught flashes of his quick actions as he moved stone and starward on the axis of magic as easily as she¡¯d take a step forward or backward. In less than a minute, he was back, simply appearing before her¡ªbehind the counter¡ªonce more. ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± His slight smile made it obvious that he knew what she meant, but still wanted her to say it. ¡°You moved along the spatial axis of magic.¡± He nodded. ¡°I thought you were aware of that. The answer is almost insultingly simple. I have the muscles to move in that direction.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I have some dimensionality in those directions, so I can exert force to create movement. You exist in those directions as well, but you don¡¯t have any leverage to create movement¡­ well, most humans don¡¯t; I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve actually analyzed your physical or magical makeup.¡± Tala grunted, contemplating. Imagine being able to freely move stoneward or starward. -Sounds dangerous.- After a moment, Tala found herself nodding. Yeah, yeah it really does. ¡°Are you ready to see it? The item?¡± Lisa arched one of his eyebrows. Tala shook herself slightly, refocusing. ¡°Yes, please.¡± With a flourish, he seemed to stick his arm into his chest, but Tala could tell it was, in fact, reaching starward. When he withdrew his hand, it held¡­ a rock. Well, her mundane sight saw just a rock. Her magesight saw another thing altogether. If the most complex magic Tala had ever seen around a person was a hedge maze, what was revealed before her was a three-dimensional labyrinth that seemed to connect in ways that defied dimensionality. But that made sense, as the spellform crossed many layers stoneward and starward, the physical dimensions stretching to allow the magics to avoid interacting with the items already stored where the rock¡¯s natural magics wished to be. Tala couldn¡¯t comprehend it at all, and while it seemed well filled with power, it was just as obviously inactive. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°You are welcome to stare at it as long as you like, but without bound power, it won¡¯t do anything.¡± She chuckled, then opened the iron on her hand, purposely forcing power out and away, despite her link with Kit wanting to pull the power through their connection and to the sanctum. As soon as her power left her tightly controlled aura, the rock began to glow, the magic being immediately pulled inside. Tala couldn¡¯t follow the spellform¡¯s working, but in less than a second an exactly equal amount of power came back out of the rock. Now, however, it was natural magic, not Tala¡¯s own. A small fraction of power was pulled from that provided by the vestiges in the room into the rock in order to refill its own reserves. Her eyes widened. She could see the City Stones. She could see how they filtered the magic coming from the uncounted human gates in their cities. She could see that they were not very efficient in that transformation. This stone seemed to have near perfect efficiency, requiring only a drop of power for the burst that it had cleansed. She was in awe. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± Master Lisa opened his mouth with a wicked grin, then paused. Finally, his face fell, ¡°Well, I was going to charge you double for the story, but the memories of the encounter you offer are worth this and the background behind it.¡± He nodded as if to himself. ¡°So, will you take the trade?¡± ¡°The item does what you claim? What it seems to? And my soulbound sanctum can integrate the magics for permanent use?¡± ¡°It should be able to integrate them, yes. If it fails, I will restate the same under a truth detection. Otherwise, yes.¡± ¡°Then, yes. I agree. The memory for this item and the story and background behind it.¡± Master Lisa¡¯s voice didn¡¯t change, but it suddenly seemed to resonate with the entire building, ¡°Bargain struck.¡± Tala swayed back briefly, pulling her thoughts back together. Before she composed herself, master Lisa began to speak, ¡°Now, the background. A Sovereign owed someone he detested a boon. The person in question demanded an item to purify magic of any ownership. The Sovereign agreed to make the item but made the owed aware that he couldn¡¯t make them accept it. The Sovereign further stated that if the item was rejected or abandoned, the owed lost all rights to it and could not ask for another boon.¡±¡ªLisa nodded along with his story¡ª¡°The owed agreed. So, the Sovereign attached the magics to a rock, hid themselves and followed the owed. Then, one random day¡ªabout a week later¡ªthe Sovereign threw it at the owed¡¯s head. The owed of course deflected the rock, cursing the random passerby who had thrown the rock.¡± Tala shook her head, smiling slightly. ¡°That was a rejection.¡± ¡°That was a rejection.¡± Her eyes widened, looking at the rock again. ¡°Wait¡­ this is the boon of a Sovereign?¡± Master Lisa barked a laugh, ¡°No, no, funny human girl. Your memories are not that valuable. That is just why such items are now traditionally made attached to rocks.¡± Tala huffed. ¡°So, the background.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°The story, then?¡± ¡°This rock was on the road outside the first home I built among humans. I needed a way to ensure that I could sustain myself. At the same time, I was required to divest myself of power. It had to go somewhere.¡±¡ªhe shrugged¡ª¡°I saw no reason to cause strife by cracking a City Stone with too much power flowing into it at once. So, I used my magic to forge this.¡± Tala gaped. ¡°You can make one of these?¡± Master Lisa cocked one eyebrow. ¡°No. I did make one of these. This one. I no longer have the power to do so, and it would be both incredibly inconvenient and violating of my word to gather enough magic to do so, now.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re willing to trade it away?¡± He gestured to the six corners of this room. ¡°As I am sure you have seen, I have found other means to sustain the allowed level of power. This is now merely a further redundancy I have no cause to keep around. I took so long to return because I had to rinse off the dust.¡± Tala looked at the rock again and noticed that it did, indeed, seem damp. It was literally collecting dust¡­ ¡°Here you are. I trust the memory will be along¡ª¡± -Done.- Thank you. ¡°¡ªAh, there it is.¡± He nodded once. ¡°Is there anything further?¡± ¡°Not at the moment. Though I would love to flip through your books, to get an idea of what you have.¡± Master Lisa nodded distracted, waving his hand. Behind Tala, the door reappeared. At the same time, the illusory version of master Lisa returned. ¡°Do as you wish. I have some memories to savor.¡± Without another word, he simply vanished. Tala went to the books on the long counter and quickly flipped through them, Alat copying out what Tala saw to the Archive for later perusal. Less than five minutes later, Tala left the shop, the rock tucked in a pocket grown specifically to hold it, the top sealed afterwards so the valuable item couldn¡¯t be lost. She had much to think about as she rejoined Rane for their next meetup, continuing the whirlwind of sociability that was their time in Bandfast. * * * Tala and Rane briefly saw Lyn and Kannis once more that evening, as it would have been odd not to, but Tala didn¡¯t bring up the artifact and arcane goods shop. It would have caused more questions than it was worth. Finally, Tala and Rane stopped through to see Mistress Odera on their last evening in Bandfast. That was a shock to say the least, even with Mistress Aproa there to help smooth out the interactions. Mistress Odera was looking older than ever, and she had lost much of her previously demonstrated gracefulness in age. She still had her intellect¡ªwhen she had the energy to use it¡ªbut more than anything, Tala was left feeling hollow and torn. It was painful to see such a proud, powerful, wise woman nearing her end. Still, the very fact that the effects of aging were becoming visible and she still hadn¡¯t succumbed to binding a star was stark testament to her continued resiliency. They didn¡¯t stay too long, as Mistress Odera was easily made tired. Even so, while they were there, the Mage condensed an Archon star in ice, formed from moisture in the air. It was quite obviously an unconscious action, with Mistress Aproa destroying it behind her ancestor¡¯s back by dropping it into what was clearly an artifact made specifically for that purpose. Even with all that she saw and learned, what stood out most to Tala was what her newly established sight showed her. The woman¡¯s gate¡ªlocated just one increment starward as all gates seemed to be¡ªwas slowly developing natural magics of its own. Tala had recognized the spellform immediately, even before Mistress Odera had created a simpler version of it in a different medium. An Archon star. The gate itself was becoming a sort of complex, interlinked Archon star. No wonder everyone succumbs eventually. -No kidding.- Though, honestly, Tala didn¡¯t know if Mistress Odera was undergoing something standard, something that only happened to those who resisted for an incredibly long time, or something unique to her. Regardless, the inevitable result seemed obvious to Tala. She briefly entertained the idea of using her iron to disrupt, distort, or otherwise mess with the glacially forming natural magics, but it didn¡¯t even take her newly enhanced mind to realize how catastrophically wrong that could go. Even were she an expert in natural magics¡ªwhich she decidedly was not¡ªthe act of altering a spellform to specifically change its function as it was coming together was colossally foolish. That was assuming she had something to change it to, which she did not. Thus, she left well enough alone. Rane and Tala bid Mistress Odera goodnight and goodbye, with Mistress Aproa seeing them to the door. As they were leaving, Tala felt like she was fighting within herself, but what she felt was right finally won out, and she pulled Mistress Aproa aside, ¡°I can¡¯t explain to you how I know, but I believe that she only has days left, in the best case.¡± The Archon¡¯s eyes had widened in shock, and she¡¯d immediately opened her mouth to ask a question, but the woman paused to consider first. Finally, she nodded, ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I don¡¯t know if you are hedging around strictures by telling me this, or if something else holds your tongue, but regardless, thank you. I will gather what family I can, and we¡¯ll stand vigil for the next week.¡± She smiled wanly, ¡°If something hasn¡¯t happened by then, I will assume you were mistaken, but knowing you, I don¡¯t expect that to be the case.¡± The urge came over her, and Tala stepped forward and embraced the somewhat older woman. Mistress Aproa was clearly startled but lacked the ability to resist. ¡°I am so sorry for your loss. She was a woman without peer.¡± The Archon sucked in a breath, something about Tala¡¯s words striking to the heart of the circumstances. Mistress Aproa hugged Tala in return, her whole body shaking as she began to sob uncontrollably. Rane noticed and quietly moved around them and back toward Mistress Odera, so that the Mage would not be alone while the other two women talked. Tala ended up staying another hour as Mistress Aproa talked about growing up with Mistress Odera as a role model, sharing some of her favorite stories, laughing, and crying. Eventually, Mistress Aproa had pulled herself back together enough to hug Tala again and thank her profusely. Tala hugged her in return, still feeling somewhat startled at the reaction her initial hug and simple words had unleashed. Though, with a moment¡¯s consideration, Tala decided that she couldn¡¯t say that she regretted the outcome. Mistress Odera was an important person to her, and Tala regretted not getting more time with her. The least she could do is give a little emotional release to the woman who had been there for Mistress Odera. But her last days should be with family. -It is important to be with those you love at the end.- They went and got Rane, where he had been sitting and reading aloud to Mistress Odera as she slept. Tala and Rane said another round of quiet goodbyes and left. As Rane and Tala walked back toward the Archon Compound where Kit still rested, Tala found herself drawn inward, some investigations and experimentation being completed while Tala was still in town. I am going to outlive almost everyone I know. That felt much more real than it ever had before. Alat tried to help, or at least tried to offer another perspective, -That is the nature of death. Either you outlive and must say goodbye to all those you love, or you die and leave them without you.- Or you don¡¯t make such connections. Tala felt herself hunch inward. Wouldn¡¯t that be better? Wouldn¡¯t that hurt less? -That¡¯s no way to live. That¡¯s hardly a life at¡ª- Rane put a hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder, interrupting her internal back-and-forth, ¡°Tala? Are you alright?¡± She turned to him, looking up into his eyes, knowing there were tears in her own. ¡°I¡­ no, I¡¯m not.¡± He pulled her into a hug right there on the side of the street. Traffic moved around them as he held her close, and she wept tears of confusion and frustration. It was mid-afternoon the next day¡ªwhen they were almost back to Alefast¡ªwhen the message came in. Mistress Odera had somehow slipped out, despite her small home being packed with relatives. The city¡¯s defenses had noted her leaving toward the south-east, alone. Chapter: 376 - See the Magic Tala was a bit off for the few days after learning of Mistress Odera¡¯s passing. Her thoughts were often drawn back to Mistress Odera and how much the woman had helped reshape Tala¡¯s own perspective on the world and her place within it. She spent a lot more time with Rane¡ªeven more than usual¡ªas they found things to fill her off-hours. They ate fantastic food, watched uncounted clashes from previous wanings, went to plays, sparred, and sometimes just walked through the gardens or the wilderness around Alefast. Rane was feeling the loss as well, and Tala did her best to listen to him as he shared about his own interactions with the older Mage. Additionally, she nudged him toward sculpting whenever she had to be on duty, and even watched him work on a few statues. It was both impressive and horrifying how long he took on each one, even though Tala knew that he completed them much, much faster than most people could have. During that same period, her unit mates were both exceedingly helpful and frustratingly unhelpful at the same time. They were perfectly helpful in that they listened to her as she expressed her confusion about Mistress Odera¡¯s fate. She was glad that the woman was no longer barely eking by, but she was sad that she¡¯d not see her again in this life. Tala¡¯s unit mates were also mixed in their helpfulness in that Tala¡¯s sharing seemed to open the floodgates, with each of the other defenders having permanently parted ways with countless mundanes and Mages over their long lives. That was a mixed bag if ever there was one. There was comfort in companionship, in knowing that others had gone through similar things, but there was also dawning horror that this is what she had signed up for. This was only unique in that it was the first truly meaningful death, the passing of someone she was close to and respected a great deal. This is what it meant to live until she was killed. Unless she was unlucky or foolish, she¡¯d watch cities worth of people come and go. That was really too much to bear for the moment, so she turned to her last resort. It was time to use what she¡¯d held in reserve to help herself move past her own spiraling negativity. It was time to give master Lisa¡¯s rock to Kit. Her unit¡¯s duty shift was that night, so she had the afternoon free. Thus, it was midafternoon when she stood on her dais beside Master Simon, Adrill, and Brandon. Each of the three men had Archive slates attached to a suite of sensing items, both constructs and artifacts. The other Zuccats had been encouraged to spend the afternoon in Alefast, and they¡¯d taken the opportunity to see the sights. Rane was apparently getting instruction from Master Grediv on what becoming Refined would mean as he could, in theory, start that process in a little more than a month. But that was a ¡®not now¡¯ thing. Focusing on the moment, Tala took out the stone from the pocket it had waited in for a few days, and Tala felt the magics bound to her¡ªKit¡¯s magics¡ªorient on the simple-seeming stone as her mentality toward the item shifted closer to devouring it. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Brandon asked. He didn¡¯t sound skeptical¡ªafter all, Tala had briefed them on what to expect¡ªhe sounded overawed. ¡°It is.¡± Master Simon nodded once, ¡°We are ready, begin at your leisure.¡± Tala nodded in return. ¡°Alright. Here I go.¡± He had already performed as detailed an investigation into the item as their tools allowed, that way the datasets would match when he used the same tools to observe this consumption. No¡­ this is devouring. This stone¡ªand its magics¡ªare MINE. Tala watched from many, many viewpoints as her own power closed around the rock like snapping jaws, the stone vanishing instantly with a flicker of the void. The rest was quite obviously pulled into Kit, herself. It only took a moment before new magics spun out, the complexity proving that the stone was their origin. As the spellforms began to be woven through Kit¡¯s very being, Tala felt her bound storage¡¯s reserves of power¡ªtopped off during their soulbinding¡ªbegin to plummet, pulled into the purification scripts en masse even as they were forming. Tala¡¯s eyes opened wide, and she deactivated every bit of magic that she could, creating massive void-channels to boost her throughput and give Kit as much power as she possibly could. She hadn¡¯t needed to so augment her throughput in a long time, but it was still almost second nature to her. The boost in flowrate allowed her to barely be able to match Kit¡¯s outpouring. Nearly an hour passed like that, Tala doing all that she could to eke out just a little bit more throughput, Kit interweaving the new magics throughout the intricate net that already fully encompassed the sanctum. All the while, Master Simon and his assistants frantically moved from reading to reading¡ªmeasurement to measurement¡ªtrying to monitor everything, despite knowing that everything was being Archived and could be reviewed at their leisure later. Finally, like a cord being cut, Kit¡¯s use of power ended with a snap, and Tala¡¯s torrent of power began refilling the soulbound artifact¡¯s reserves. After the strenuous but monotonous work of the last hour, it took Tala an embarrassing ten seconds to realize that the change had occurred, contextualize it, consider the options, and slow her throughput, along with allowing her inscribed magics to move out of their dormant states. The world regained color to her eyes, and her body felt strong once again. That was¡­ interesting. -Yeah. I wasn¡¯t expecting it to have such a massive cost of power to initialize.- Maybe because of how large the sanctum is, now? -That could be. It makes sense, given the magic had to be integrated into the entirety of the magics¡­- Regardless of the stress of potential failure, Tala felt herself smile as the working that they¡¯d been aiming to incorporate was immediately in evidence. Since Kit had been drained dry, the air had been incredibly lacking of any sort of zeme for the last hour. Now that her power was flowing back into Kit, that was changing. Like air rushing to fill a vacuum, the rising levels of magic were¡ª Perfectly pure. -Unbound, untainted, natural.- Master Simon laughed. ¡°This is amazing! The magics are working exactly as expected. There was no deviation, no hitch in the process.¡± Adril and Brandon nodded in agreement, engrossed in their own experiences, measurements, and results. Tala pulled in a long, slow breath. Her lungs exalted in the feel of the increasing magical density in the air, and it sent a thrill racing through her. This is glorious. -Indeed it is.- Tala could, naturally, see her entire sanctum, including the unshaped portions. Her sanctum¡ªas it had been designed by the arcanes¡ªwas intact and whole, just as they¡¯d made it. Then, Kit had a new, massive sphere of space waiting, barely connected low down on the squashed sphere that was the sanctum, the raw materials neatly arranged, organized, and ready for categorization. Because she hadn¡¯t known what to do with the space and mundane resources including rock, dirt, and water¡ªand Kit didn¡¯t really care, given that such menial things wouldn¡¯t benefit her overmuch to truly devour¡ªthe space and matter had only been loosely added on, not truly incorporated. We should probably fix that. She glanced over at Master Simon. ¡°Keep monitoring, I¡¯m going to shift the sanctum.¡± Before the Fused could comment, Tala mentally made the change in her desires and the sanctum moved. First, space. She added a wide ring all the way around the outside of her sanctum, increasing the horizontal radius without increasing the height. Then, she added the remainder of the extra volume to the open sky. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She filled the volume around the outside with dirt, underpinned with rock, sloping down and away, so as to not ruin the sightlines and profiles that the arcanes had so perfectly crafted. Tala felt the artificial sun, the subtle magics extending from that to affect the ¡®time of day¡¯ inside the sanctum, as well as allowing for drastic changes of weather, along with more measured shifts over the course of the year. Why was that still separate from Kit? It was hers. It was here. It was powerful. So, so full of power and complexity to add to her own. New magics to imbibe and mimic. New patterns to learn. She could devour it. She almost allowed Kit to snatch the very sun from the sky, but Tala managed to hold herself back, even if just barely. Approach this wisely, Tala. We have time. It is ours. This isn¡¯t a ¡®now or never¡¯ situation. Tala swallowed, then wet her lips. ¡°Master Simon. Please review the documentation I provided on the artificial sun, and give me your best guess on what would happen if it were devoured and fully incorporated.¡± The Fused turned to her, eye twitching just a bit. Finally, he gave a slow nod, ¡°Do I have your permission to consult others?¡± She nodded immediately, ¡°Absolutely. Bring in anyone you need in order to give me a proper assessment. I don¡¯t have a spare artificial star, and so if it¡¯ll break things, I won¡¯t allow it.¡± ¡°Understood. Is this a greater priority than the current¡­ goings on?¡± It was obvious that he really didn¡¯t want to hear a ¡®yes.¡¯ ¡°No, no. There¡¯s no rush, but I do want to know.¡± He nodded, turning back to his slate. Tala briefly considered just consuming the item once again. After all, she knew that she could go without the artificial star. Kit could move anything around within the sanctum and create masterful illusions. The main thing that the sun allowed was the automation and regulation of all the sub-aspects of the day-night and seasonal cycles. I would not love having to somehow manually control that, even if it was subconsciously. -I do think that Kit would handle that still, but I agree. That would be unideal.- Oh, and we can¡¯t forget that it gives the needed heat, light, and energy for all the vegetation. -True. Illusion and perception are all well and good, but everything will die in the dark, even if they think they are in the light.- Tala sighed, Existence is funny like that. As she contemplated letting Kit eat the star more than she really should have, she continued to revel in the increasing density in the air. Even so, she heard Adrill and Brandon breathing deeply and quietly commenting to each other about how good they felt, how awake, how clearheaded. I¡¯m glad they¡¯re getting something good from it. I do wonder how much magic is in the air. -About¡­twenty¡ªmaybe twenty-five¡ªtimes the density of the Wilds? It¡¯s nearly at Refined levels of power, at least right around us as makes sense. We¡¯re dumping it outward, and even though it¡¯s being filtered, it¡¯s still entering the sanctum aligned with us, here. Kit is concentrating it, here, and building outward, rather than distributing the power evenly.- Fascinating¡­ what does that actually mean? Is it significant? What is the effect going to be? Any guesses? -Well, it is right around the level of ambient power that arcanes have in their birthing chambers in order to induce newborns¡¯ natural magics.- How could you possibly know that? -I actually read the book on arcane advancement. It is quite thorough. Literally birth to death instruction.- Huh¡­ that¡¯s fascinating. How¡ª Alat cut Tala off. -Oh! Oh, no! Get them out, get them out, GET THEM OUT!- Tala didn¡¯t argue. She knew who Alat meant instantly, and she immediately summoned a door out of Kit, but it was already too late. The sound of two bodies hitting the floor was loud in Tala¡¯s hyper-focused mind. Tala didn¡¯t stop to wonder how, exactly, she knew that sound well enough to identify it instantly. Nor did she take the time to recriminate herself for only coming out of her revelry and internal contemplations when both Brandon and Adrill collapsed, their whole bodies trembling. ¡°What¡ª?¡± Master Simon cursed, spinning toward his assistants. ¡°Go get a healer.¡± Tala dropped down beside the two men, ¡°The power density is too high. They are mundane, and it¡¯s infusing their bodies.¡± -Tala, I¡¯ve read the manual. I can guide you. They can¡¯t leave this area until we settle them, and we need to give them instruction.- Tala only hesitated for a moment. Is this reversible? -What? No. But if we don¡¯t, they die, and if we do, it¡¯s only positives.- ¡­Tell me what to do. She met Master Simon¡¯s eyes even as he was moving toward the door, ¡°We can¡¯t remove them, or they¡¯ll die. I believe that I can stabilize them, but we need a healer just in case.¡± The man nodded in acknowledgement and left at a run. Tala returned her full focus to the two men, ¡°Brandon, Adrill, I know that you can hear me. I also know you can¡¯t really respond.¡±¡ªTala forcibly took her building emotions and threw them aside¡ª¡°I¡¯m sorry; I didn¡¯t know that this would happen, but I can help you. You need to follow my instructions, or you don¡¯t have good odds of survival.¡± This isn¡¯t right; they should have a choice in this. -They do. They can ignore or oppose you and die, or listen and live.- That¡¯s not what I¡ª -Now is not the time, Tala. Their lives are in our hands right now.- Both men¡¯s eyes moved toward her, even as their muscles continued to twitch and tremble. ¡°Alright. Listen closely and do as I say. If you don¡¯t think you can do it, just pretend that you can and try anyways. First¡­¡± Tala spoke slowly and clearly, following Alat¡¯s wording exactly as she narrated the first steps of the Rising Sun Advancement manual to them. In reality, the two men weren¡¯t doing anything aside from accepting that something was being done to them, though they didn¡¯t know it. In all likelihood, it would be detrimental to them if they did, hence the deception. By trying to follow Tala¡¯s instructions, they were priming their own will¡ªas well as the magic in their bodies¡ªto allow themselves to be acted upon. And act Tala and Alat did. Even as she spoke calmly and without any stress, her aura utterly overrode that of her charges, and she, herself, acted on the magic as needed. Exactly as a mother arcane would to her newborn babe. Though, in the case of the newborn, the dialogue was hardly necessary, as newborns couldn¡¯t be expected to actually understand their mother¡¯s voice. -Focus Tala, philosophize later.- Tala devoted all of her focus to the task at hand. Very importantly, her gaining aura authority over the magic did not make the magic match her own. It was like the borrowing of a craftsman¡¯s tool did not make the tool hers. She held that belief, that knowledge, firmly in place as she worked. The most important part was laying down channels to gather in power that their bodies couldn¡¯t absorb just yet, so that it wouldn¡¯t build up to toxic levels. She was carving a set of natural magics into existence to handle the excess power, effectively creating irrigation channels to prevent the pooling of magic and muddying of their bodies. After that, she had to give them at least one power-using natural magic working. With that part, there were a lot of requirements the spellform had to meet. First, she had to have utterly intimate knowledge of the spellform in question. Second, the two men needed to have at least a basic understanding of how it worked¡ªand the effect it would create¡ªfor it to be useable. Third, it had to be something that they couldn¡¯t accidently kill themselves or others with. Thus, there was only one of her magics that met the requirements, even though it was complex and actually ended up being two heavily-interlinked magical workings. That said, it was surprisingly easy, all things considered. Her will knew the forms she was forging, and she was subconsciously used to helping magic flow through these twists and turns. More than that, she had the exact forms blazing in existence itself around her own head, easily visible for her to study and copy. In less than five minutes, it was done. Adrill and Brandon relaxed, even as the natural magics flared to life, lowering the magic within their bodies to a level that they could handle. That tolerance level would slowly grow, and when it matched the environment¡ªor when they left areas of high-density power¡ªtheir magics would slowly power down until they entered a dormant state, just pulling in enough power to keep from collapsing, much as artifacts did. As to what spellforms Tala had given them? The most basic portion of her mental enhancement and magesight. Though hers were much more complex these days, the core was still the same as those she¡¯d gotten when still newly graduated. -You could have just given them the enhancement.- ¡­I did not think of that. -You literally gave them the enhancement and magesight.- I thought of the magesight first and realized they needed some mental enhancement partway through¡­ you¡¯re in my head, you know this. -Yeah, I am, and I still can¡¯t believe we didn¡¯t think of just doing the enhancement portion¡­- The father and son sat up, making oddly similar noises of complaint as they stretched their sore limbs. They glanced toward each other and laughed at the unity of action and utterance. Brandon shook his head, rubbing at his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve got to get away from home more. I¡¯m going to end up just like you.¡± Adrill was rubbing at his own eyes. ¡°If only we were both so lucky. Besides, you could do worse¡­ what is this? Something¡¯s wrong with my eyes.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Tala interjected, ¡°you both now have magesight, and the basic mental augmentation to be able to process it.¡± They both jerked back slightly as the magics solidified, now that their minds and wills knew what it was for. ¡°My apologies. I thought I told you what the magics were as we were working.¡± Adrill nodded slowly. ¡°I think you did, but it didn¡¯t really¡­¡±¡ªhis voice was hitching, something building behind the words¡ª"I didn¡¯t actually¡­¡± As his father began to weep, Brandon turned teary eyes and a smiling face toward Tala, ¡°We didn¡¯t actually believe you. Magic hasn¡¯t been a path we could actually walk¡­¡± Adrill swallowed, cleared his throat, and continued in place of his son, ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be possible, but I can see the magic, Mistress Tala. I can see it.¡± He devolved back into uncontrollable shudders of joy. ¡°It¡¯s like looking through an artifact of magesight, but with my own eyes. I¡­ I understand what I¡¯m seeing to a level I never have before. How¡­ no, you said there was mental augments too. That would do it.¡± Tala nodded, understanding the emotion of the moment, even if her own emotions were roiling for entirely different reasons and in entirely different directions. These two men had pursued the study of magic for their whole lives, even though human magic¡ªgated magic¡ªwas forever out of their reach. Now, something they had never considered possible had happened. They were using magic within their own bodies. The father and son had moved from propositional knowledge of magic to knowledge by acquaintance in a single action. They could see and grasp that which they had studied for so long. It was quite obviously impacting them both incredibly deeply. Though, Adrill was obviously more invested and affected as he was the older, having spent his professional life in this pursuit as well. Tala forced herself to smile kindly. ¡°The changes to your body will accumulate slowly, but effectively, once everything is settled out, you should age at about one third the rate as before.¡± Both of their eyes widened at that. Brandon put it to words almost immediately. ¡°Mom¡­ Kedva¡­ Mistress Tala, can you do this for them as well?¡± -Oh¡­- Only then did Tala consider that both men had women they were tied to. Well, I rusting hope so¡­ Chapter: 377 - My Fault Tala helped Brandon and Adrill to their feet, one with each hand. It was easy enough to allow her iron to actually settle upon her to give her the inertia to help them stand, and she certainly didn¡¯t lack the strength. It was the least she could do. Considering¡ª -Not yet, Tala. They still need our help.- The two men gratefully accepted the help even as they had their heads practically on a swivel, trying to take in as much as they could. She was holding herself tightly emotionally controlled¡ªwith Alat¡¯s help. If she panicked, they¡¯d be utterly lost, ¡°Slow down, gentlemen. As long as you¡¯re in here, your magesight won¡¯t go away. It should even maintain, if at a lower fidelity, outside, within Alefast and the surrounding region.¡± That seemed to allow the two to settle down a bit. Good, they¡¯re doing better. -Hold it together, Tala. Don¡¯t think too deeply. You got this. We can go off on our own soon.- Yeah. She encouraged herself, trying to keep a brave face, Yeah¡­ Brandon held himself still and cleared his throat, seeming a bit more embarrassed than his father at their earlier display. The older man was still staring around himself in wonder, even if with less of a frantic air. ¡°Mistress Tala? What about my question? Can you do this for others?¡± Brandon shifted uncomfortably, ¡°Or¡­ have we just condemned ourselves to outlive those we love?¡± Tala swallowed. ¡°Well, for those without a gate, this can be done. It is a nearly flawless process, but the results aren¡¯t perfect nor guaranteed. If it fails, the result is death. I am unsure if even having a healer on hand would prevent that, but we¡¯re definitely going to regardless. Similarly, you are both going to be thoroughly checked out as soon as Master Simon gets back with one.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Which part? I said a lot of things in there.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you think a healer will be much help?¡± ¡°Oh. Well, it¡¯s a suspicion more than outright knowledge, but it¡¯s pretty well grounded, as I think you¡¯ll agree. It is because the issue in that circumstance is that the patient¡¯s body is trying to draw in too much magic and is being made toxic because of that.¡±¡ªshe was rambling, but she didn¡¯t think she could stop herself and hold it together¡ª¡°More magic, even that which they can¡¯t absorb, even that of a ¡®helpful¡¯ variety is going to exacerbate the problem. There are likely some magics that could help second-hand, but the sort of immediate treatment that would be required likely wouldn¡¯t be possible.¡± Brandon was nodding. He knew the theory well enough by that point to have followed what she was getting at. ¡°And Mom?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°This environment shouldn¡¯t affect her at all. Her body is already magic-bound to her own flavor of power, for lack of a better description. The stuff in the air, here, might hurt her if we doubled the density.¡± -More like increased it by a factor of a hundred.- She shook her head, ¡°No, it would need more than that, probably closer to a hundred times this level before it could start to actively harm her.¡± -Smooth.- Thank you. Adrill had been drawn in by her words, out of his awed examination of the world around him. Even though he was still clearly euphoric, a spark of concern and doubt was beginning to creep in. ¡°So¡­ my wife?¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°The only thing I can think of is to get her a keystone, deepen her connection with magic enough to at least get her inscribed. Every bit of power we can get flowing through her will lengthen her life, but it isn¡¯t an easy process, or everyone would do it.¡± Tala huffed a forced laugh. ¡°We want more people more than almost anything else. If we could easily extend people¡¯s natural lifespan, we¡¯d be doing it to everyone.¡± Don¡¯t talk about Archon stars. Don¡¯t mention them at all. We are absolutely going to keep her well below the threshold to move in that dangerous direction. -Yeah, we do want people to live longer, but it¡¯s a balancing act to keep from suddenly having millions of founts¡­- That would be¡­ less than ideal, yeah. Plus, a large portion of those who are denied Magical training are so rejected because they would succumb to becoming a fount so fast as to make their training detrimental. -True enough. Hey! Good job changing your focus, by the way.- ¡­ -Oh, it¡¯s back¡­ sorry about that.- Adrill nodded slowly. ¡°She did not do well on the Mage aptitude tests when she was younger.¡± Tala bobbed her head in understanding. ¡°Those tests are for mindset and mode of thinking. I don¡¯t think that Artia will ever be a Mage, but we should be able to induce enough magic through her that she doesn¡¯t have a significantly lower lifespan than you.¡± She chuckled. ¡°After all, she¡¯s around artifacts practically all day, every day. She has to have some penchant toward understanding how magic functions.¡± She hesitated, frowning for a moment. ¡°You know, maybe the scripts to allow her to feed power to a magical item would work for her. No magic necessary for herself, only for an item.¡± A Mage doesn¡¯t need those¡ªat least most Immaterial Guides don¡¯t¡ª because we can just grab the power directly and give it to the item. No scripts required. -Yes, you are extra special and awesome.- Yes, we are. Tala smiled internally just a bit. Brandon interjected, then, ¡°Why doesn¡¯t everyone do that? Why doesn¡¯t everyone get basic scripts?¡± ¡°Well, first of all, it¡¯s expensive.¡± She quirked a smile. ¡°Beyond that, you still have to have an understanding of magic, generally, and many¡ªif not most¡ªpeople simply don¡¯t, and can¡¯t, understand it.¡± Adrill responded before his son could, ¡°She definitely doesn¡¯t really appreciate the theory behind magic like we do, Son, but she has a solid grasp of the fundamentals.¡± ¡°Then, maybe?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure with such an important goal before her, and you two beside her, we can get it to work for her.¡± Brandon frowned. ¡°Does that mean that Kedva would need such an understanding?¡± Tala almost opened her mouth to say ¡®yes,¡¯ but hesitated. Wait¡­ -Yeah¡­ arcane babies definitely don¡¯t have an understanding of magic when they are induced upon their birth.- ¡°Maybe not? I will have to learn a different spellform to use for her than for the two of you. You both have the cognitive grasp of magesight to make it work. It wouldn¡¯t for her without extensive study¡­ but basic enhancement magics? Yeah¡­ that would just be taking the body as the template and allowing it to be more. I obviously already know that one, as that is part of what I gave to you.¡± -Enhancement magics were the recommendation given in the primer.- Though, it was stated that such gave consistent, mediocre results. -Yeah, consistent.- ¡­ but¡­ mediocre¡­ -Do you think they will care?- They might. -Then, we let them decide.- Tala nodded to herself, gilding herself and pushing on ahead, ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting the two of you to officially come work for me in here for a while, now. Master Simon has been not-so-subtly asking for it as well. If you agree, I¡¯ll give you this as your first project: You would fully study the arcane advancement manual that I have and break out the steps for use by others, such as Kedva.¡± Both men froze. Did we not tell them? -No, Tala. No, we did not.- Oh¡­ Now was probably not the right time to broach the source, was it? -No, Tala. No, it was not.- Adrill swallowed visibly, ¡°Arcane advancement? Mistress Tala, are you telling me that¡ª¡± The door from the outside burst open at that moment, and Master Simon rushed in with a clearly confused Archon in tow. His inscriptions¡ªand what Tala could see¡ªindicated that he was a healer. Context makes that pretty obvious too. The older Fused frowned, looking at the stricken men before him, ¡°Well, you¡¯re up and about. What did I miss?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. * * * Once Tala had conveyed what she could of the situation to Master Simon and the healer¡ªand promised Adrill a full discussion later on the origins of what had been done to them¡ªshe left the four men to run tests and make sure everything was going to be alright. She let them know that she needed to deal with something, and with an act of will, she moved herself into a cave with no entrance on the far side of the sanctum. She immediately dropped to the ground, her suppressed emotions finally breaking free as she began to weep. -Tala¡­ I¡¯m sorry. This is all my fault. I should have realized sooner that this could have been the result.- I forced them into this, Alat. They didn¡¯t have a choice. They weren¡¯t even aware of the possibility. I forced them onto the path of magic while gaining something for myself. She felt tears flowing down her face and snot building in her nose. I¡¯m a careless version of my father. At least he sent me off to the Academy intentionally. I just barreled forward, rust the consequences. -Tala. This is on me, not you, and doing something on accident isn¡¯t worse than doing it on purpose.- Only if it really is an accident. -Tala¡­- I could have read that manual. You did read it. We are the same person. Your failing is my failing. She pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging them against herself. Now, it¡¯s possible that I¡¯ve condemned a man to outlive his wife¡ªhis partner, the person he loves most in this world¡ªby decades. She knew she couldn¡¯t imagine the pain involved in that. Losing Mistress Odera had hurt her deeply, and she realized that her relationship with the older woman hadn¡¯t been a fraction of Adrill¡¯s care, affection, and love toward Artia. There was a momentary pause, then Tala felt the part of her mind in which Alat operated begin to strain. A hand suddenly fell on Tala¡¯s shoulder, and she looked up, startled. Alat stood beside her, dress fluttering in a breeze that wasn¡¯t actually there. ¡°Tala¡­ I¡­¡± She seemed at a loss as to what to say. So, instead of saying anything, she sat down beside Tala, wrapping her arms around her, and they wept together. * * * Tala and Alat managed to pull themselves together sufficiently to join her unit on wall duty that night, but it was a rough time, at least at the start. On her way to her duty-station, Tala asked Alat to contact Master Nadro and Master Grediv, letting them both know what had happened for different reasons. For Master Grediv, Tala and Alat had wanted to ensure that the Paragon knew that some gateless humans were suddenly able to wield magic within his city, even if just barely. With Master Nadro, they hoped to schedule an additional meeting, aside from their regular meet up, and see if he was free to give any advice or guidance to the two new wielders of arcane-like power. Master Grediv had been terse in his reply, stating that he would come by to meet with the two men the next day. Master Nadro was not available any earlier than their already scheduled appointment, but he did say that he would make it an in-person one, so that he could meet with those affected. When Tala arrived, her unit mates immediately intuited that something was wrong. They were already on the lookout for such signs, because Tala had been off-kilter due to Mistress Odera¡¯s death. Rust¡­ I had put that out of my mind¡­ Regardless, Mistress Vanga sat with her in silence while the others kept a careful eye. Though, each had noticed something was wrong and had made expressions of concern, before letting her know that they were there if she wanted anything from them, trusting her to ask if that was the case, and leaving her to herself. In truth, Alat was on watch as well, being a bit more removed from the whole situation. Alat also found it helpful to focus on their three-fold vision. It was soothing for the alternate interface to process so much information constantly. That became relevant when, just after midnight, Tala stood up, ¡°I really need this. Let me take the leading edge, please?¡± Her unit mates had oriented on her when she moved, and they detected the incoming threat just after she had. ¡°New sight?¡± Master Clevnis asked, clarifying that she''d seen the incoming enemy first through her three-fold sight. ¡°New sight.¡± She appreciated the abbreviated communication. She really wasn¡¯t in the mood to chat. ¡°Very well, you take point. We¡¯ll have your back and the wall.¡± She felt gratitude to the man, and her unit. She really did feel like she needed the fight. -Need? No, we just want to kill something. Preferably many, many somethings.- Well¡­ it has helped before. -Fair enough.- Tala had no idea what depraved hole of the world reality and magic came together inside of in order to spawn some of the things that threw themselves at Alefast, and at the moment she didn¡¯t really care. It was a swarm of near identical creatures that she knew wouldn¡¯t be her strong suit, but the others would mop up after her. With no fear, she dropped over the edge of the wall, leaving the city¡¯s defenses behind. In all honesty, those would likely have been plenty to handle this foe, but it was better to be safe than sorry with lives on the line. As she fell, even her mundane eyes easily saw the odd creatures, and Alat was able to find them in their indexes almost immediately. -Quilled Jerboara. We won¡¯t know what subspecies until¡ª- The sound like a thousand madmen all trying to talk over one another swelled out of the oncoming creatures as they got within their own poor eyesight¡¯s ability to see the wall. -Oh, gibbering quilled jerboara¡­lovely.- As she landed, Tala had already pulled three sets of siege orbs from her belt¡ªKit still being back at Artia¡¯s shop¡ªand with an act of will, she sent the six devastating projectiles into front ranks of the nearly one thousand creatures, well-spaced along the front, targeting creatures in the middle to allow for the orbs to rip deep into the charging ranks before she detonated them. As the six zipped forth, quickly accelerating to the point that they cracked the air with their passage, Tala took a moment to review what she knew of the creatures. Jerboara were charging creatures that had clawed paws but most closely resembled boars in their nature and behavior. Wickedly sharp tusks and hardened skulls were complemented by oddly large ears that allowed them to nearly unerringly home in on their prey. And they did have prey. From all evidence, they were omnivores like swine, but they seemed to prefer meat. And, of course, killing gated humans. -There is that lovely feature of virtually every magical creature, yes.- The quilled portion of their name referenced the near-metal-like quills that armored their sides and back, which they could flex and position for defense and close quarters offense. The foremost quills could even be pulled forward and positioned like a miniature forest of lances in order to add to the damage potential of a charge. And the ¡®gibbering¡¯ portion of their name? Aside from the unnerving nature of the sound, it actually represented a birdsong-like form of communication, which allowed whole herds to work together. The gibbering quilled jerboara was the most intelligent variety of jerboara by far. Additionally, their magics were almost entirely focused on sonic manipulation of varying kinds. Ears sealed. -Ear canals filled. We¡¯re good to go.- The siege orbs punched through the first rank¡­ and threw them back into the second, disrupting the tightly-packed charge some hundred yards from the walls. Even so, the orbs didn¡¯t come out the backs of the first beasts they entered. Thankfully, it did cause some of the quills of the creatures to be slammed into those behind them, which caused further damage and confusion. Well.. they are more durable than we were led to believe. -Just a bit, yeah. Their hides must be insanely enhanced.- Without further delay, Tala triggered the orbs, releasing the incredibly compressed air into a concussive explosion. That worked at least, as the six jerboara almost seemed to swell like balloons before bursting. Their whole bodies swelled and tore with what must have been a rather disgusting sound, even as the ground rumbled at the detonations. The result slung frozen gore and bits of flesh everywhere, actually sending the quills and bone fragments shooting outward, tearing through the surrounding beasts. Well, that worked, but not really as I¡¯d hoped¡­ Flow snicked into Tala¡¯s hand from the sheath at her belt. It was time to close in for some true stress-relief. Tala crouched against the base of the wall, making sure to brace against the foundation stones and the ground in equal measure, before launching herself up and outward, removing her downward gravity at the last second in order to soar the intervening distance between herself and the herd that was slowly pulling itself back in order. The sound of her launch must have been noticeable, and some of the bigger beasts clearly oriented on her as she was flying their direction. Her entire body began to vibrate, her very bones jiggling and trying to pull free of the surrounding tissue as close to a hundred of the more aware jerboara unleashed their power to send sonic attacks her way. Her very brain felt like it was trying to enter a liquid state. Blessedly, she was more durable than that. Rust my biscuits, I¡¯m glad I¡¯m the one who engaged directly. -First, that¡¯s Mistress Holly¡¯s phrase.- Other people have said it. -...regardless. Second, they wouldn¡¯t have closed at all. Third, eye on the target, it¡¯s time to descend.- One jerboara in particular seemed to realize that she wasn¡¯t dying as they¡¯d expected, because it quickly gathered its back legs under itself and lunged out and up, aiming perfectly to meet her mid-air. Its forward quills snapped to the front, even as it lowered its head to bring its tusks to bear. Lovely, a volunteer. Thus, as Tala allowed her gravity to return to normal and arced down into the mass of enemies, Flow bisected one of the biggest monsters, allowing the horse-sized magical thing to fall in two pieces behind her. She didn¡¯t pay attention to the squelch of the two halves landing, as she had other things on her mind. She had come down on top of an unsuspecting member of the assaulting herd, her full weight and surface-area expansion scripts allowing her to drive it into the ground, even if it didn¡¯t kill the thing outright. These things are tough. -So it seems.- Well, then, close quarters killing it is. -Shall we?- Quite. And that is exactly what she did. Her breath tore at them from the outside. Flow cut them with every movement. Her shields, defensive discs, and tungsten balls and rod frustrated their movements. Tala¡¯s aura supremacy kept them from amplifying each other''s magic. Her body resisted their concentrated sonic attacks. She didn¡¯t use any more siege orbs, as they didn¡¯t seem to be as effective as she¡¯d like. Thus, she kept the few still on her belt in reserve, just in case they were needed. They weren¡¯t. Similarly, she didn¡¯t use her iron spikes, as they were entirely unnecessary, and Tala was trying to unburden her mind, not strain it differently. Her unit mates joined her in spirit and with their long-range magics, sending their power from the walls, and striking at portions of the massed creatures that she wasn¡¯t currently addressing, keeping them milling and confused barely a hundred yards from the wall. It was a slaughter. It was exactly what she needed right then. Some days, it really paid to be a defender. And, of course, I am actually going to get paid. -Ahh, the perks and plus side of doing our job.- Chapter: 378 - Specifically Notorious Tala watched from the sidelines as Master Grediv slowly circled Adrill and Brandon within her sanctum. They were all gathered on the sparring circle, though that was mainly for the wide, level, hard surface, not because anyone was going to fight. Probably. Master Simon watched from off to one side as well, sitting in a chair that Tala had called into place for him. She stood, feeling quite a bit nervous as to what the head of the local Archon Council would say. Toward that end, she felt a bit miffed. After all, the circling was entirely unnecessary. Tala could already feel the Paragon¡¯s aura completely permeating the two men who he was examining. They had absolutely no resistance to his investigation, not that they would have tried even if they could. Just like almost anyone of a lower advancement, their bodies¡ªtheir aura and will¡ªsimply couldn¡¯t resist his authority even as it allowed him to analyze them to their very core. What made it worse was that such couldn¡¯t even be felt by mundanes. They were as unaware as they were unable to resist. -No, Tala. They aren¡¯t mundanes anymore. Actually look.- Tala changed her perspective, fully focusing on the two men rather than feeling pity for them and only watching Master Grediv. Both Adrill and Brandon were visibly uncomfortable, but they were bearing up well. They can feel a foreign authority claiming them? That¡­ actually made sense. Their bodies now had some level of real power. Still not anywhere near enough to resist, but they were acclimating to the feel of magic and that came with intuitive senses. And¡­ you know¡­ the magesight that they now have perpetually active, so long as they are within sufficient magical density to use it. Tala mentally chided herself for her surface level thinking. -You are still seeing them as powerless victims and yourself as the perpetrator. That doesn¡¯t help anyone, them least of all.- But they are victims, victims of an accident. -Even if that were true¡ªand there¡¯s a lot of room in that ¡®if¡¯¡ªif either you or they focus on that, they will be harmed by the mindset.- Tala grimaced, but a moment¡¯s thought made it clear that Alat was correct. If she treated them as victims, then she would try to ¡®take charge¡¯ of their ¡®recovery¡¯ and that would strip them of their own agency. If they saw themselves as victims, then they would never seize their opportunities for themselves, and they would be beholden to her and her whims for a lot longer, if not forever. Alright. What happened happened. We can¡¯t change that, but we can give them the tools to claim their own future. -That¡¯s the spirit.- Alat projected contented thoughts Tala¡¯s way, and Tala found herself giving a small smile in return. She still felt guilty, and she still felt like she needed to do something, but she wouldn¡¯t treat them as helpless victims. After completing one final circle around the two, Master Grediv nodded and pulled his aura back, the two men instantly relaxing and seeming to deflate slightly without the Paragon¡¯s authority filling them up. Adrill straightened first, Brandon taking another moment to collect himself, ¡°So, Master Grediv? If it isn¡¯t impertinent to ask: What is your assessment of my son and myself?¡± Master Grediv grunted. ¡°Obviously human, even without gates.¡±¡ªhe quirked a smile while saying that¡ª¡°It seems that the exceptions I added to the city¡¯s defenses can be removed.¡¯ Tala blanched internally. I¡­ did not think of that. -Neither did I, and I really, really should have.- Alat seemed to contemplate for a moment. -You know what? We didn¡¯t think of it, because we perceive things very similarly to the city¡¯s defenses. The magic within them didn¡¯t strike us oddly, so there was no reason to think the city grid would be any different.- So¡­ we subconsciously dismissed the issue? -That seems likely.- That seems like justification after the fact¡­ -No way to know, now is there?- ¡­We don¡¯t Archive our subconscious thoughts, do we. It wasn¡¯t a question. -Do you want me to? I mean explicitly Archive them. I¡¯m sort of passively recording our mental state all the time, so we do have a record of sorts.- Oh? So, we could look and see? -Only if I were to simulate our entire mind, somehow, and then look at our deepest internal thoughts.- ¡­maybe while I¡¯m asleep next? Alat sighed. -Fine. I suppose it makes sense to find out if we really were that reckless, or if we just intuitively dismissed it as not being a concern.- Thank you. -I¡¯ll let you know if we were in error. If I say nothing, it¡¯s because it is as I assumed.- ¡­you¡¯re not just going to hide it? -Absolutely not.- Alright, I trust you. Adrill and Brandon shared a look, clearly a bit concerned by Master Grediv¡¯s mention of the city defenses. ¡°Was that a concern?¡± The Paragon shrugged, but it was Master Simon who answered, ¡°No, it was not. I wouldn¡¯t have let you out of the sanctum if there had been a danger of that.¡± He smiled. ¡°Remember the scans we did yesterday before you went home?¡± They nodded. ¡°I was confirming how you would appear to various magical senses and detection grids.¡± That seemed to cause the father and son some relief. ¡°Thank you, Master Simon.¡± ¡°My pleasure, Adrill. I was not about to let my assistants be struck down by over-zealous, automated defenses.¡± Master Grediv interjected, ¡°Regardless, as soon as Mistress Tala contacted me, I added exceptions that would have kept you safe in any case.¡± Brandon smiled gratefully toward Tala. Adrill, however, continued to focus on Master Grediv, ¡°So¡­ what does that mean, Master Grediv?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s quite simple really. Arcanes rely on conceptual magic. The very magic within them takes on the concept that they embody or strive after. This is not a tainting of the power nor a distortion of magic. It is most akin to them being a colored flame, green or blue for example. The power near them¡ªlet¡¯s pretend it is water¡ªlooks colored by their very presence, but that doesn¡¯t change what it actually is.¡± Tala nodded, that fit with her understanding. It was one reason why arcane magic failed within hostile auras even faster than human magic, if just barely. Like a flame being doused more quickly when dunked in water than syrup. -Sounds sticky.- The Paragon saw her nod and gestured her way, ¡°Mistress Tala? Would you care to add anything?¡± She shrugged at that. ¡°Humans can¡¯t use conceptual magic. In your analogy, we would be like pure-white light, simply showing what is around us as it is. To extend the analogy, those with gates bring in water, and that water is as distinct between two people as that from two different springs or wells.¡± Brandon frowned, considering, but Adrill had a slight smile as he nodded. ¡°Regardless, city defenses test magics either for the impurity of ¡®spring water¡¯ or the coloration of conceptual magic. You have neither. Effectively, you will not be seen at all by the automated defenses.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Brandon seemed to have gathered his thoughts, ¡°So, we look like a magical beast?¡± Adrill immediately corrected his son, ¡°No, Brandon. Magical beasts would have both. Their power is no longer pure as soon as they absorb it, and they have conceptual magic at their core.¡± ¡°Arcanous creatures, then?¡± The youngest present tried again. Master Simon stepped in, there. ¡°No, not them either. There¡¯s a reason that we call arcanes, ¡®arcanes,¡¯ and it¡¯s not just to be insulting.¡± Brandon gave a slow nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. Arcanous creatures get their magic from either the environment or from coopted human gates. Their natural magics are also tinted by exposure to a fount.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Yeah, even though I understand it, I¡¯ve always found it funny that arcanous creatures basically have conceptual magic forced into their very being by founts, which come from humans who can¡¯t use conceptual magic at all.¡± Master Grediv quirked a smile. ¡°Not too strange, honestly. It is like two colorless chemicals that interact to create a dark stain. Neither has a dye or tint inherently, but together? Color appears.¡± All present nodded. Magic was¡­ odd, but it was at least reasonably understood. The Paragon cleared his throat. ¡°All this aside, you are safe within human cities. Even if you are somehow able to advance further, you shouldn¡¯t have trouble.¡± ¡°Thank you, Master Grediv. That is good for my son and me to hear.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Are there any dangers? Any implications? Any considerations?¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°They are healthier than they likely ever have been. There are no intrinsic side effects that I know of or can detect, and the natural magical pathways pressed into their being are deepening wonderfully. All told, I have to say that it was skillfully done.¡± Tala smiled at the praise. He then held up one finger. ¡°That said¡ªas it is you¡ªI will state: Please don¡¯t make this a habit without discussing it with me first? A few more should not be an issue¡ªassuming they consent¡ªbut if you want to do anything¡­ Mistress-Tala-like, please consult myself or the head of the nearest Archon Council.¡± Master Simon covered his mouth to hide a grin. Tala grimaced. ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s fair.¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°This is a known possibility, Mistress. But there are not really many convenient ways to implement it. If your created leave your sanctum¡ªand Alefast, waning¡ªthey will revert to a mundane existence rather quickly. I would guess that at the moment it would take less than half a day. Even so, they will have extra pep in their step for a while¡ªeven after they have lost all extra magic¡ªbut generally speaking, their lives won¡¯t be meaningfully improved.¡± She frowned at that. ¡°I thought that it was more extreme than that.¡± ¡°Oh, it would be anywhere but in these Wilds. We do all we can to keep the magical density incredibly low, even going so far as to stymie zeme from balancing us with neighboring regions. It is a costly process that I won¡¯t bore you with at the moment. Needless to say, it is one of our most potent defenses against arcanes, but the unfortunate side effect is that the gateless don¡¯t have magic available to them and suffer for that.¡± He gave the two men a sad smile. ¡°We have effectively made this land toxic to those like you in order to keep out those who mean us harm.¡± Adrill nodded, obviously unsurprised. ¡°We know. The offer was rejected.¡± Master Grediv quirked a smile. ¡°Ahh, yes. I forgot for a moment.¡± Brandon straightened. ¡°We won¡¯t be sent away. Our place is here.¡± Both Master Simon and Tala showed visible confusion, so Master Grediv decided to enlighten them. ¡°It isn¡¯t a perfect solution, but whenever a known gateless reaches the age of majority, they are told about the situation, and we offer to provide them transportation and resources to set up elsewhere. Somewhere that they will not be so disadvantaged.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. The moving villages. However, before she could say anything, Master Grediv shook his head slightly, ¡°We purposely do not tell them all the details, just that they are always welcome to accept the offer, and that it would be a life alongside others with similar needs. It wouldn¡¯t be a choice of barbarism and want, more one akin to moving to a new city.¡± Even so, Tala understood why these two had said no. Indeed, she understood why many seemed to say no. It was effectively choosing banishment for the sake of their health. She frowned at that. ¡°If you know, can I ask how many accept the offer?¡± Master Grediv shrugged. ¡°Roughly half?¡± She grunted at that. I guess not too crazy of a notion, then. The Paragon was nodding to himself. ¡°Now, your natural magics are solid, but I highly recommend that you get inscriptions to reinforce and help maintain those, just in case.¡± Tala nodded, smiling. She felt some pride that she¡¯d anticipated this need. ¡°I¡¯ve already reached out to an expert, and she was intrigued by the challenge.¡± He cocked an eyebrow, seeming genuinely surprised. ¡°Truly?¡± She shrugged. ¡°What can I say? Mistress Holly is nothing if not up for experimenting and learning something new about her craft.¡± * * * Tala sat across from Adrill, Brandon, and Artia within her sanctum. Specifically, they were in her sitting room, the sun casting the ethereal light of evening across the landscape. The father and son were both drinking in power from the air around them, even as they took sips from their tea. As their magesight and enhancement scripts used up power, their bodies were always at a deficit when compared to the air around them, which is what created the constant flow. In time, they would learn to draw in power regardless of the relative densities, and if they were very lucky, they would be able to hold it in at higher densities than the air that surrounded them. But humans were specifically notorious for being very bad at that. Artia¡¯s body held a misting of power from her own gate. Her power made her body not naturally accept the power in the air around her. With training, she likely could draw it in and use it, but it would be unnatural in the extreme, not to mention harmful as well if it wasn¡¯t handled precisely properly. Thus, she was left with just enough power to keep her healthier, make her a bit more robust, and extend her life just a touch. It was the most basic advantage gated humans enjoyed over their gateless counterparts. That bias had been reversed in a very real way, and their family had a lot of decisions to make. Artia was sitting very straight-backed, regarding Tala warily. They¡¯d collectively requested this meeting with Tala, after taking a couple of days for the three to consider it as a family. ¡°Well, Mistress Tala, the first thing I want to say is this: Thank you for taking care of my boys. I don¡¯t know what I would have done if they¡¯d both been taken from me like that, and the fact that you were able to help pull them back from the edge¡­¡± The older woman visibly swallowed, her eyes gaining a bit of a sheen with unshed tears, ¡°It hurts my heart to even consider it.¡± Tala nodded, still feeling guilty over the whole situation, but she¡¯d also had a couple of days in which to collect herself and sort out her thoughts. ¡°Of course, Artia. They were helping me when the¡­ condition came about. I just wish we¡¯d known to be wary beforehand.¡± Artia waved that off, ¡°My Adrill has never been healthier. We¡¯re well used to being more careful and mindful with his health after all, Brandon¡¯s too.¡± Brandon smiled briefly at his mother. ¡°I know that two days is hardly enough time, but a wife knows, and a mother too. They are better¡­ themselves. Adrill¡¯s been up later, going through all his older notes finding new inspiration on projects he long abandoned, and still he wakes early, and I feel he¡¯s more energetic than ever.¡± Adrill cleared his throat, coloring slightly, but Artia moved on, not seeming to notice. ¡°Brandon has jumped headfirst into an exercise program, and he¡¯s completely reshaping his routine. It¡¯s like he¡¯s suddenly doing all of the things he wanted to but never got around to.¡± ¡°Mom¡­¡± ¡°Hush, Brandon. Mistress Tala needs to know the good that¡¯s already come about from this.¡± That quieted him down. Tala nodded again, giving a tight smile. ¡°I am glad that it has turned out for the best.¡± Artia¡¯s eyes hardened. ¡°Now, I didn¡¯t say that.¡± Tala opened her mouth to respond, confused, but Artia continued before she could. ¡°Our dear Kedva is beside herself. Brandon explained some to her, and she has a good head on her shoulders, she knows what this means. She has to take this terrible gamble, or she suddenly is an awful match for my boy.¡± Brandon¡¯s face had paled, but he didn¡¯t correct his mother. ¡°You did not intend this, I accept that, but if she leaves him because of this, I will be very cross with you, Mistress Tala.¡± The woman¡¯s demeanor was hard and her eyes practically glittering with determination. Tala swallowed, unable to put together the right words to respond. Brandon took the need from her. ¡°Mother, if she decides to take the safe, sure road, that is Kedva¡¯s choice. I love her, and she loves me, but it still isn¡¯t an easy choice. I would think less of her if she just blindly jumped into danger with no consideration. She is acting¡ªand will act¡ªin wisdom, and I respect her more for that, regardless of her final decision.¡± That quieted Artia, the woman seeming to deflate, but after a moment, she continued, ¡°Then there¡¯s the matter of taking me from my husband.¡±¡ªshe closed her eyes for a moment before continuing¡ª¡°We have built our careers, our very lives, around working with artifacts. That means we are going to be in high density areas. I know we could go to another city and return things to normal, but we would effectively have to start over, then. No. As to staying here, in your sanctum, or another high density area? Well, I fully planned to outlive my Adrill, caring for him in his last days before spending mine with the grandkids.¡± Brandon colored at that, but Adrill simply smiled, this was clearly not a surprising plan to him. ¡°Now, he¡¯s the one who will have to care for me as I age and become infirmed. Then, he will be alone when he is aged. That¡¯s not fair to him. That¡¯s not right. While the first years will just be a rebalancing of our effective ages¡ªI do know that I¡¯ve aged slower than he from my first breath¡ªthere remains more time to us both than is required for the scales to tip the other way.¡± Adrill placed his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Artia, we discussed this. There was always the possibility of illness, or the like. We are bound, you and I, and I want¡ªand will have¡ªno other. You are my wife, and I will be your husband, by your side, as long as we both shall live.¡± She turned to him. ¡°I know that, Adrill. That isn¡¯t the point. I had arranged my life¡ªour lives¡ªand planned to be your wife and with you until your death. This changes everything. I won¡¯t be there when you finally do grow old. You¡¯ll need me and¡±¡ªher voice caught, but she closed her eyes for a brief moment before continuing¡ª¡°You¡¯ll need me, and I won¡¯t be there anymore.¡± Tala really didn¡¯t know what to say, and though this wasn¡¯t surprising, she really didn¡¯t know why she was being told this explicitly. As if she¡¯d read Tala¡¯s thoughts, Artia turned back to the much younger woman. ¡°I tell you all this for one reason only.¡± Tala found herself leaning forward in anticipation, and when Artia didn¡¯t immediately continue, she prompted the older woman, ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You owe me. You owe me, and I aim to collect. You will do your gilded best to teach me to be filled with magic so that I can be there for my husband for the rest of his life, do you hear me?¡± Her voice was shaking near the end, but she held firm. Tala nodded, ¡°If that is your wish, absolutely.¡± ¡°It is, unquestionably.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s get started.¡± Im Full-Time Writing! Hello Millennial Mage Readers, The title pretty much says it all. Today is my first day as a full-time writer. Thank you, one and all, for your readership and for joining me in this journey. If you want to support my transition to full-time writing, I''d love to have you be a part of our community on: Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/jl_mullins Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.Discord: https://discord.gg/millennial-mage Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage Additionally, we now have some AMAZING merch this month, with which you can show your enjoyment of the series and spread the word of Tala''s journey. https://jlmullins-shop.fourthwall.com/ That''s right! You can be the proud owner of an official Coffee Incorporator! Make Tala jealous, even as you support Millennial Mage''s continuation! (Available in Ceramic or Enamel, 11, 12, or 15oz, and many colors!) Regardless, though, I am truly grateful for the support you all have shown over the last two years to get me to this place. I am blessed beyond measure by everyone''s readership and support. Sincere Regards, J.L.Mullins Chapter: 379 - Choices that Shape the Future Tala pulled out an Archive slate for Artia as she sat with the woman, Adrill, and Brandon. If Artia wanted to learn enough magic to allow her the benefits of aging more slowly, Tala would help her. There was technically a stricture against increasing any human¡¯s throughput without cause, but Tala had cleared it with Master Grediv, in case the woman wished to take this step to better align her life-expectancy with that of her husband. There simply wasn¡¯t the infrastructure in place to deal with the increased degradation of reality that having a large number of gates with increased throughput¡ªwithout the mitigation of a Mage¡¯s mindset¡ªwould bring about. Truthfully, the marriage between a Mage and a mundane was the most common reason for allowing those unsuited for Magehood to gain some magic. There were even standard plans of study. The second most common reason was in order for the person to gain specific magics for their profession, like the masseuse who had worked on Tala so long ago. Though, Emi had only been inscribed. She hadn¡¯t been intentionally expanding her throughput as Artia would need to. I haven¡¯t thought of Emi in ages. -We¡¯ve walked near her studio a few times. She seems to be doing well.- That¡¯s good to hear. Back on the matter at hand, Tala let go of the Archive tablet as Artia took it. Alat had put together basic reading materials for Artia, in case the woman decided to proceed down this path. The alternate interface had combed the standard materials, adding to them, rearranging and paring down based on their particular knowledge of the merchant. ¡°Those materials cover the starting information. If you have any questions on magic, generally, I recommend you ask Adrill or Brandon. If you have any questions about gates, or personal, gate-bent magic, please come directly to me. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have need to, but no study plan is perfect.¡± Artia held the slate, her shaking hand showing that she knew exactly what it was, what it represented, and how much it was worth. ¡°I will, Mistress. Thank you.¡± Tala realized that the woman was likely nervous about what lay before her, too, but Tala was trying to not consider that. Good thoughts. Happy thoughts. She probably has about seven years before he becomes effectively ¡®younger¡¯ than her. -That¡¯s a hard thing to face. That your future depends so much on you.- While I know what you mean, that is true for everyone. -That¡¯s true enough, but it usually isn¡¯t so starkly obvious.- Fair. Tala then turned to face Brandon. ¡°I am happy to come and talk with Kedva and anyone else the two of you want to include.¡± She didn¡¯t really want to, so saying that she was ¡®happy to¡¯ was quite the stretch, but she was willing to, and so it wasn¡¯t worth quibbling about nuances. ¡°Also, don¡¯t forget that Master Nadro will be here to speak with all of us in just less than two weeks. I would recommend waiting until after he comes, but it is your choice.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I think that Dad and I would like to finish our initial review of the¡±¡ªhis eyes flicked to his mother before he continued¡ª¡°advancement manual before we have that conversation with Kedva. That way, I can actually give her some solid answers, as well as let her know my own plans, moving forward. I do think I¡¯ll want to have the talk before Master Nadro comes, though. That way Kedva can join us, if she chooses.¡± Tala nodded again at that. ¡°That seems very reasonable. Do you have a more specific timeline?¡± ¡°I think we can get it all sorted in another couple of days? It is very accessibly laid out, but the text is still very dense with information, implication, and interwoven repercussions.¡± -I should hope so. I rebuilt it for you.- You did wonderful, Alat. Thank you. Brandon was still speaking, ¡°Additionally, we only want to get a grasp of the very beginning of the process. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll miss some things by proceeding in that manner, but I think it¡¯s for the best to at least get this somewhat sorted. From there, we can let her decide her own timeline, if she decides to proceed.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°That makes sense to me. Schedule a time, and I¡¯ll be there. I can take time away from my defensive duties, but I would be grateful if you would be willing to schedule around those.¡± ¡°Thank you, and certainly. I will keep you apprised.¡± Tala took a deep breath before nodding and looking Adrill and Brandon both in the eyes. ¡°Before we¡¯re done, I want to say again: I deeply apologize. This is not something that should have happened without you both explicitly agreeing.¡± Adrill gave a sad smile, though there was the light of hope and almost childlike excitement in his eyes. ¡°We know, Mistress Tala. You have been nothing but apologetic and helpful since the accident. This was not your intention. Blessedly, it looks like it should work out for the best.¡±¡ªhe had pointedly looked to his wife, meeting her eyes as he stated that¡ª¡°Accidents happen.¡± Brandon nodded. ¡°We will get through this. This is a good thing that happened in a bad way. We¡¯ll sort it in the end.¡± Tala smiled in return, knowing that was expected of her. ¡°As you say.¡± * * * Tala walked through the streets of Alefast having a series of rather unusual experiences. She was recognized by someone every block or so. Terry seemed to find it enjoyable from his perch atop her shoulder, but she felt rather awkward, preferring to go unacknowledged. This wasn¡¯t totally new, as there had long been some people who recognized her from her cyclops fight back when she¡¯d first become a defender of Alefast, but since then, she¡¯d mainly let her unit mates take the fights that occurred near the walls. Thus, she hadn¡¯t really been very well known. That had seemingly changed. Her recent fight against the small horde of gibbering quilled jerboara was apparently quite a popular recording. Even though it had happened in the middle of the night so only the most hard-core or enthusiastic had seen it ¡®live¡¯¡ªthere were those who apparently paid to be woken up in the event of a late-night attack so they could do just that¡ªthe last couple of days had seen it replayed all over the city, and likely throughout most other human cities as well. She was temporarily famous, and something made her think it wouldn¡¯t fade as quickly as she¡¯d have preferred¡­ Regardless of her personal feelings, she did her best to acknowledge those who waved or called out. There was no need to be rude, but it was a bit awkward for her, nevertheless. Terry preened and occasionally flickered between her shoulders as she waved, just because he could. And to show off¡­ -He does seem to be getting to a place where he appreciates positive human attention now.- Tala hesitated at that. I had not considered that. She looked to Terry, reaching up to scratch behind his head. ¡°You like being liked, Terry?¡± Terry chirped happily. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it. You¡¯re with us. Humans are your people now, and I am your flock.¡± He cocked his head to the side, moving where she scratched, even as he trilled noncommittally. ¡°Still thinking?¡± She felt a smile pull at her lips. A descending series of notes conveyed that, yes, he was still thinking. ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s just enjoy their gratitude, shall we?¡± That, he heartily agreed with. It was great to have Terry becoming more interested in humanity as more than a passing curiosity, but she couldn¡¯t tarry. Ha, tarry for Terry. -Tala, focus.- Right¡­ After all, she was on her way to an important meeting, so she did her best to not be delayed. Despite her attempts to move quickly, she was a minute or two late for her meeting with Kedva and Brandon in a prominent tea house, designed so each table had its own small, private garden, each uniquely themed. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Tala was shown to the table where the two were already waiting. When she entered the private garden, the two stood and bowed deeply. Brandon was still magically more dense than the surrounding environment, if just barely, but he was bleeding magic like a punctured bellows, creating eddies in the zeme all around him. He¡¯d been out of Kit for half a day or so, and he was already down to less than a third of the density he held when in the sanctum, almost fully equalized with the density of the power flowing stoneward. At that level, he would be equivalent to a mundane, gated human, which¡ªgranted¡ªwas much more than the standard gateless. Just like Master Grediv said. They can¡¯t maintain the density. Even within Alefast, the amount of power available isn¡¯t nearly as much as within Kit. There was a moment of hesitation after the bow¡ªas Tala approached the table¡ªbefore Kedva stepped forward and gave Tala a tight embrace. Terry flickered out of the way at the last moment. Tala was too startled to stop the young woman, and so accepted the hug, even if she knew that it couldn¡¯t be that pleasant to effectively be hugging what would feel like a statue. When Kedva pulled back, she was crying, causing Tala to blanch, pulling back in turn. Kedva caught hold of Tala¡¯s forearms and held on, ¡°No, please.¡± Her eyes moved quickly to Terry off to one side, ¡°Hello, Terry. I¡¯m sorry about that.¡± Terry chirped softly, indicating he didn¡¯t mind. Tala stopped, hesitant. Obviously, the girl¡¯s actions hadn¡¯t actually held her in place, but she chose to honor the unspoken request for what it was. ¡°Thank you. You have given the man I love so, so many more years to live, and in which to live well. We gateless face so much difficulty with our health and bodies, and now he need not fear or be concerned by that possibility. Thus, before anything else: Thank you.¡± Tala nodded awkwardly, ¡°It was an accident, but I am glad that some good will come from it.¡± Kedva nodded in return, conviction easily visible in her eyes. ¡°Just so. Thank you.¡± From what Tala could tell, Kedva was insistent and wouldn¡¯t let the moment pass, so she capitulated once again, ¡°Then, you are welcome.¡± Kedva dropped one of Tala¡¯s hands but held onto the other, drawing her toward the table. Tala obviously could have resisted, but she saw no need to, simply following after the girl. This is becoming a pattern¡­ -Following her lead?- Yeah¡­ -Do you want to take charge?- No? -Then don¡¯t complain.- ¡­fine. Once they were all seated, Tala took a moment to really take in their surroundings. It was a lovely garden, arranged to do a fair mimicry of a mountain range, with small trees that seemed to have been grown and meticulously pruned to make them appear to be full sized, while still remaining incredibly small. This garden was called, ¡®Giant¡¯s Retreat.¡¯ -Fitting.- Truly. There were waterfalls and flowing ¡®rivers¡¯ each carefully crafted to look full-sized while matching the miniscule scale of the trees and other terrain. Additionally, there were little surprises tucked all through the space of superb quality. Everything from a little water wheel in a mountain valley, to actual illusions of forest creatures moving through the scenery. Terry had noticed the illusions, shrinking himself smaller than Tala had ever seen him¡­ but he still was a giant among the trees as he hunted the illusions. She had a moment of fear that he¡¯d wreck the place, but the roots had been cultivated to be deep and strong, so the trees weren¡¯t going anywhere. It was a masterwork of beauty and craftsmanship. Honestly, if she didn¡¯t have her three-fold sight¡ªwhich showed her the entirety all at once¡ªshe could have looked upon the garden with her own eyes for hours. It was that sight that also showed her just how firmly established the roots of the trees were, along with everything else. It was likely that this tea house had been here since near the founding of Alefast. Even with her full understanding of what was there, she still felt drawn to visually explore the place, the meticulous craftsmanship. She wanted to watch Terry terrorize the surprisingly responsive fake animals. -Of course you do. Because you don¡¯t want to have the very conversation that you are here to have. You feel awkward and want to focus elsewhere.- ¡­that too, but it really is a beautiful place. -That it is.- The table nestled in the largest ¡®mountain valley¡¯ was low to the ground, with the three of them sitting on cushions of well-established clover. Well, Tala was kind and moved the cushion before sitting. So, two of them were on cushions, and Tala was on the greenery. No need to wear out their cushion for nothing. Tala could see by the underlying patterns of wear that the table was likely moved daily to prevent the underlying turf from being damaged. In fact, she could¡ª -Tala.- Right¡­ The tea had already been provided, purposely chosen to be paired with the setting, and the pot was centered on the table, steam rising from the spout, magics moving through the teapot to keep the liquid at a perfect, uniform temperature. Wow, Artia wasn¡¯t wrong; that type of artifact is everywhere. -Indeed. And your ability to distract yourself seems to know no end.- I¡¯m getting to it. It¡¯s not like this is actually taking much time. -Surprisingly¡­- Tala had had defensive duty that morning¡ªblessedly free of attacks¡ªso it was afternoon by this point, and the tea reflected that. The chosen variety was a beautifully smooth, Makinaven Black. Tala could easily smell the rich, fine flavor¡ªa bit citrusy and floral while remaining smooth and sweet¡ªand that was just how it touched her nose. Served with the tea were a spread of various trifle, some with fruit, others with chocolate. Tea first, then trifle. But before Tala could move for the tea, Kedva picked up the pot and slowly¡ªalmost meditatively¡ªpoured for all three of them. -At least someone is on task.- Hush, you. Tala nodded in acknowledgement to Kedva. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course, Mistress Tala.¡± Kedva smiled a content little smile. ¡°I am pleased to be of service.¡± -I was wrong. You people will really never get to the actual conversation, will you?- Enough, Alat. I know you are trying to help, but that is enough. We will talk when the time is right. -Very well.- Tala took a long sip from her cup, enjoying the promise of the scent, fulfilled in the flavor. ¡°Excellent.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Kedva and Brandon agreed, drinking from their own small cups. They sat in silence for long minutes, enjoying first the tea, then the accompanying dessert. An attendant came and refilled the teapot twice during that time. Finally, when the attendant had departed after the second refilling, Tala buckled down and decided to not allow the conversation to be delayed anymore. She put down her most recently finished trifle glass, swallowed and asked, ¡°So¡­?¡± -That¡¯s right, Tala. Eloquently put. You get right to the heart of the matter so easily.- Hush, you. -Hey, I have been quiet for quite a while.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. Kedva smiled a bit sadly, setting her tea to one side, ¡°Very well. I suppose we should get to business.¡± She shared a look with Brandon before turning to fully face Tala, ¡°How soon can I enter your sanctum and expect good results?¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°What?¡± -What?- Kedva chuckled slightly. ¡°I asked: How soon can I enter your sanctum? I wish to undergo the same process as dear Brandon.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, not just like that. My Brandon and I have gone over the details that I am permitted to know, and I think this is the obvious choice. Honestly, once you are more open with this information¡ªassuming you choose to ever do so, which I would recommend¡ªyou are going to have a lot of the local gateless potentially asking for the same, depending on how it goes for me.¡± She barked a laugh, then covered her mouth in slight embarrassment. ¡°Excuse me. You¡¯ll have most gateless in every city trying to gain entry.¡± Tala swallowed, her mouth a bit dry. Well, I suppose that should be expected. -Yeah, we¡¯re effectively a way for them to stay in the same region as their kin without suffering the negative effects.- Master Grediv is not going to approve everyone going through the process. -Honestly, he might, but do you really want him to? Do you want a bunch of random people in your sanctum?- ¡­no. I really don¡¯t. Kedva should be fine, but the sanctum is and always will be mine. Only those connected to me, and working with and for me will have a place. It was a bit selfish, but it also needed to be. She didn¡¯t have infinite resources¡ªeven if she might have infinite time¡ªso she needed to be discerning and wise in how she used them. It was odd, especially because in the next world, there wouldn¡¯t be any limit on resources. After all, the next world was the source of all magic. That made this realization about her finite resources in the grand scheme of things, both eternal and radically counter to her soul¡¯s reality in the next world. It¡¯s about tension, how the finite and the infinite intertwine and interrelate. There was a twinge within her, and she sighed. How much? -At least a percent. How did that move you one percent closer to being Paragon?- She didn¡¯t have time to analyze it, but she thought she understood. If she spent herself to help everyone, in the grand scheme of things she would end up helping no one. She couldn¡¯t, and wouldn¡¯t, be a miser, but she also needed to be a good steward of what she had to work with. The slight strengthening of her aura and advancing of her magics was wonderful, but it wasn¡¯t why she was here. Word it well, don¡¯t slap her down. -I can help?- Sure. ¡°Alright then, Kedva. Thank you for the decisiveness. I don¡¯t know that we¡¯ll be opening this to many others, if any at all, so keep that in mind if it affects your choice.¡± Kedva just nodded once. Looking to Kedva¡¯s betrothed, Tala asked, ¡°Brandon? What do you think about this?¡± He smiled, clearly pleased. ¡°Her mind is made up, and I¡¯m not going to try to dissuade her. It would be selfish of me to force her to choose this, and it would be equally foolish for me to deny her choice. Dad and I have been researching the¡­ manual already¡ªquite extensively, as we discussed¡ªand I think we have a good idea of how to proceed.¡± As he said the last, he narrowed his eyes at Tala. Tala quirked a smile back. So, he realized that my ¡®follow these instructions¡¯ was basically a mental trick. -Of course he did, he¡¯s not a fool.- Yeah, yeah. -That¡¯s also why he isn¡¯t saying anything. He doesn¡¯t want to ruin Kedva¡¯s chances.- That¡¯s likely, yeah. Tala nodded, ¡°We do have an expert coming in about nine days. Talking with him could help you both before or after. So, the real question, Kedva, is how quickly can you, Adrill, and Brandon prep you for the process? And when do you want to do it? I won¡¯t stand in your way.¡± Kedva turned to Brandon. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°I think we can teach you what you absolutely need to know in a week.¡± She nodded once, turning back to Tala with determination practically glowing in her eyes. ¡°I will do it in a week. Then, I can have more solidified questions for this expert. I¡¯m not changing my mind.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Very well. We will aim for one week¡¯s time, then.¡± Kedva and Brandon shared a long, almost awkwardness-inducing glance before Kedva smiled. ¡°One week it is. Agreed.¡± Chapter: 380 - Not Yet Tala sat in her bathtub within her room, soaking after a morning stretch and exercise set. She was already having a busy week, and it looked to be getting busier still. She needed the moment of quiet reflection. Master Simon, Adrill, and Brandon were all busy testing not only the two humans¡¯ first steps on the traditionally arcane method of advancement, but they also still had uncounted tests to run and readings to take around the very thing that had caused that as a side effect. Mainly, they were still investigating Kit and how much the sanctum had changed with the integration of the purification stone. True to master Lisa¡¯s words, the artifacts that arcanes had established within Kit to pull from the power within, that she had never explicitly tried to magic-bond, were slowly converting over. Kit, herself, had used ambient magic to stay viable shortly after Tala had magic-bound the pouch, but since she had intentionally done the bonding, it hadn¡¯t broken that connection. These artifacts were different. Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter that much, as Tala wasn¡¯t about to sell off the sun from her sky, nor any of the other things that were integrated within. You know, I¡¯ve never had occasion to use the defenses in the bunker¡­ -They are rather impressive. I think they might delay even Master Grediv for a few seconds.- ¡­are you being ridiculous on purpose? -Obviously. They¡¯d either surprise him and kill him, or he¡¯d ignore them entirely¡­ At least I think so. While we¡¯ve seen no evidence of his survivability, he trained Rane, and that man might have as much ability to stay alive as we do, if in an entirely different way. Besides, even if it did work, he¡¯d just come back. The City Stone won¡¯t let him die. At least not yet, apparently.- True. Maybe she should talk with Master Grediv about that. -Oh yes, Master Grediv, how hard would it be to kill you and ensure you stay dead?- ¡­ I wouldn¡¯t ask it like that. -I imagined not, but it still comes down to the same thing.- ¡­ I think he¡¯d be fine with talking to me about it. -You¡¯re probably right. He¡¯s usually pretty helpful.- This day, she had a shift with her unit in the afternoon, and this very morning she and the Zuccats were expecting a first. Someone was teleporting directly into Kit, not as part of a test of function. Annathas Zuccat¡ªthe Zuccat¡¯s second oldest¡ªwas coming home from the Academy to have her twentieth birthday at home. I really hope it¡¯s not¡­ no, don¡¯t think about it. Many people have the same name. It was a bit excessive, given that Alefast, waning, had a perfectly serviceable teleportation tower, but having her arrive within Kit was a statement of trust in the magics involved and a bit of a celebratory, unneeded luxury with which to greet their long-absent child. There was also the fact that the Academy was a bit different from a standard city, from a teleportation perspective. While the Academy had a permanent receiving room staffed at all times by student-workers¡ªTala having been one during her stint learning those magics for her own teleportation-associated bid to maintain her inscriptions¡ªthey didn¡¯t have a permanent set of teleportation spellforms for going outward to the various cities. Instead, they had an undisclosed means of creating the needed spellform for each out-bound teleportation. Undisclosed in this case meant only known to people like Mistress Elnea, Master Grediv, and others deemed needing to know. But that was Tala getting ahead of herself. What it meant was that the Academy could create a spellform for teleportation to anywhere, so long as they were provided the right schema. Thus, Alat¡ªbased upon all the work that Mistress Elnea, Master Simon, and others had put in¡ªwas able to provide the Academy teleportation spellform implementation system with the exact specifications for a teleportation to Kit¡¯s current location, specifically the location of the sanctum, not anything more granular. It didn¡¯t need to specify the exact location of the teleportation receiver for two reasons. First, the locational weight of ¡®Kit¡¯¡ªor Tala¡¯s sanctum, really¡ªwas much greater than any specific point within it, taking less energy, precious metal mass, and spellform complexity to aim more generally for the sanctum as a whole. Second, the teleportation receiver was specifically designed to ¡®catch¡¯ anything thrown into the near region. That is an awful metaphor. -But there isn¡¯t really one better.- ¡­I know. Because they were within Alefast, it needed to get close enough to land within the receiver''s domain, rather than defaulting to the local tower, but that also meant that the tower was a good safety catch if something went wrong. Though, apparently it was more complex than simply specifying coordinates, so there was still a chance that there could be a near miss of Kit that ended up nowhere near Alefast, waning, but that was an incredibly slim possibility. As for teleporting out, Tala¡¯s explicit control of the sanctum that she had gained since she¡¯d bound Kit was all that was needed. Alat would provide the proper spellform¡ªdepending on the desired destination¡ªand Tala would cause it to come into being, properly formed of precious metals, set into stone. At that point, the design of the spellform would allow the ambient power in the sanctum to prep it for activation. It was as easy as that, regardless of where Kit was at the time. As Tala well knew, modern teleportation didn¡¯t really care where it originated. Only the destination mattered to the spellforms. Thus is transport through the void. -That really seems like there is something there we can learn from. It so closely mirrors Terry¡¯s own flickering.- Though, he can¡¯t go out of his own line of sight. -I believe there have been at least a couple of exceptions, but that¡¯s generally true, yeah. So, the two types of movement are likely related, not the same.- Agreed. There was some theorizing¡ªand apparently a great body of work¡ªthat indicated that they should be able to teleport to Kit, using Tala¡¯s soul as coordinates, given her soulbond with her, but such was so rarely even possible that Master Simon was starting with much less information than ideal as he began to investigate that possibility around everything else. Now, modern teleportation was a wonderful step forward. In times past, both ends had to be established to explicitly point to each other, noting their own location as well. Then, the workings would create a stable¡ªbut incredibly expensive¡ªconnection between the two points that any number of people could use for a short time. That was the type of teleportation that had been used in the past for caravan emergency escape functionality. That was also the type that was determined to be ludicrously too expensive and infeasible, as they required very precise calculations and modifications to spellforms on both ends¡ªbased on the locations to be connected¡ªin order to work properly. The new teleportation method had a different issue, which is why they weren¡¯t used in caravans in modern times. One teleportation spellform, one person teleported. Because of that, a teleportation circle evacuation was so slow as to be effectively useless, or requiring so much infrastructure as to make it fiscally unusable. In the time that even a half-dozen people could be evacuated with iterative teleportation circles, either the caravan would be fully overrun or the problem would have been solved. Thus, the Caravan Guild put their resources toward better defending caravans, rather than fruitless attempts to rescue those that they failed to protect. All that came together to explain why they hadn¡¯t come across the relatively simple method for teleporting out of Kit. Unfortunately, Tala being the sole source of exit teleportation spellforms was, of course, not sufficient for emergency exit in the case of her death. Thus, Mistress Elnea and her assistants¡ªMaster Simon included¡ªhad created an artifact that¡ªonce activated and provided with silver bars and a destination¡ªwould produce teleportation circles to that location for as long as ambient magic existed to empower the process. In that way, all that was required to allow for the emergency escape for anyone within Kit at the time of Tala¡¯s death was to have enough silver on hand. It helped that at the time of Tala¡¯s death, the sanctum would effectively become inaccessible, so they¡¯d have all the time in the world, until the ambient power ran out. I¡¯m not going to die, this is all so pointless. -But it makes people feel better.- The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡­fine. In the end, Tala simply had a box filled with silver bars¡ªalong with the crafted artifact¡ªbeside a demarcated section of stone near the central plaza. But back to Annathas Zuccat and her imminent arrival. That really isn¡¯t that common of a name¡­ No. It¡¯ll be fine. At the Academy, a student could graduate any time after she turned eighteen, if the student met certain requirements. The usual was about nineteen¡ªTala, herself, had chosen to graduate when about nineteen and a half. Students were forced to leave on their twentieth birthday, or as near thereafter as reasonable. While students were usually allowed to finish a given term, if their birthday fell in the middle of it, the most recent term for classes ended at the start of this month, so Annathas wouldn¡¯t have been given an extension for another whole section of classes. Yeah, that Annathas I knew had her birthday in the summer¡­ right? -You never learned her birthday, Tala.- I¡¯m sure it was in the summer. This isn¡¯t the same person. -...- Her parents had communicated with her, and through the Archive¡ªwith Mistress Elnea¡¯s help because they were using the new teleportation setup¡ªthey had worked out the needed information to allow her to come straight to them in Kit. So, that was hanging over the late morning. Tala really did need to be there, just in case. Also pressing on Tala¡¯s mind was the fact that the day after tomorrow was the day that Kedva Deas would be entering Tala¡¯s sanctum to be suffused with magic and hopefully be reborn as a human wielder of neutral, magical power. Or, you know, she¡¯ll die horribly. -... happy thoughts, Tala. She¡¯ll be fine. Adrill and Brandon are doing their best to prepare the girl for the process.- But it all depends on me in the end. -On us, mostly, yes. Some of it is just whether or not the girl can handle the change. Some people just can¡¯t.- And for my part, we¡¯ve been focusing on aura manipulation practice. She had been working on every method she knew or her unit mates, mentors, and friends could offer in order to improve her use of her aura. That was how she would carve the natural magics for the girl on the face of reality. Even though they aren¡¯t physically stoneward or starward. They aren¡¯t tangible. -Tala¡­ you are trying to distract yourself by hyper-focusing on the thing you don¡¯t want to think about. That seems¡­ unproductive.- ¡­right. Tala groaned, leaning back and rubbing her eyes. It was so early in the morning that morning¡¯s first light was still a bit away, and she had yet to have breakfast. I still can¡¯t believe that you convinced me to wait an hour and a half before having any coffee. -First of all, coffee isn¡¯t great for us at all. I still can¡¯t believe that you convinced yourself to start drinking it again.- Granted, but it¡¯s delicious, it¡¯s helpful, and it won¡¯t actually kill me, so there¡¯s no harm. I¡¯m feeling a bit¡­ assaulted on all sides, here. Coffee just makes things better. -Coffee is not a good emotional aid, Tala. You know that.- Alat conveyed a sigh within Tala¡¯s head. -That said, I do understand why you¡¯re doing it. Coffee is comforting, and it helps level you while you are working through things.- ¡­Thank you. -Now, my second point. If you are going to consume it, it is healthier for you to wait on caffeine from any source until you¡¯ve had time to fully wake up¡ªthat takes about an hour and a half¡ªotherwise you¡¯ll just feel way worse later on.- That may be true for most people, but I have magic. I could quite literally drink poison and be fine in most cases. -Yes, you have magic. You have magic that is silly to waste for no reason.- ¡­Fine. I can wait. -You could always go with decaf.- Bite. Your. Tongue. -Isn¡¯t that your tongue?- ¡­ Alat projected the sound of a clearing throat into Tala¡¯s mind. -I¡¯ll ¡®hush¡¯ now.- Thank you. She had time, so she decided to finish something that she¡¯d been working on in her spare moments. She got out of the tub, banishing it and then aspect-mirroring the needed features of her elk leathers to allow water to cascade off of herself, each act simply taking a minor flex of will. Once she was dry, her clothing regrew from the band around her neck, and now clothed, Tala sat to read. It only took her about an hour to finally reach the end of the Rising Sun¡¯s tome on arcane advancement. Alat had, of course, rearranged the content into the most comprehensible pattern for Tala¡¯s own method of learning and processing information. That didn¡¯t cut down on what she had to read, as she wanted to read the totality regardless, but it did mean that by the time she got to the end, she understood it far better than she might otherwise have been able to. Tala sighed as the text vanished from her perspective. ¡°They didn¡¯t include how to become a Sovereign. Rusting posturing with their fancy name: ¡®Advancement and the Unbroken Road to Sovereignty.¡¯ Nothing but lies, it seems.¡± She huffed a mirthless laugh despite herself. It was ridiculous. -You know, I could have told you that. In fact, if that book actually contained the secrets to Sovereignty, I would have told you what they were months ago. Moreover, the very fact that there isn¡¯t a ¡®House of the Rising Sun¡¯ Sovereign means they don¡¯t have the method.- ¡­Fine. The book did describe the steps up to Revered quite well. Then, those who wished to be ¡®Hallowed¡¯ were encouraged to petition the Pillars for leave to study under a City Lord. Sovereignty was mentioned only in a single line, seemingly quoting an ancient proverb: ¡®Those who are Sovereign, need no helping hand.¡¯ In context, it was clear that at least the writer of this book saw Sovereigns as beings to whom sovereignty was intrinsic, unerring, and not in need of nurturing. Hero worship. Tala grimaced in distaste. She¡¯d had more than her fill of that while an Eskau for the House of Blood. The whole culture was steeped in the sentiment. Whether directed at her or others, it was nausea-inducing. -Really? Is that how you remember it? I seem to recall you like¡ª- ¡°Moving on!¡± Tala hopped up to her feet. ¡°I have time. I¡¯m going to enact what we discussed.¡± -You mean that you¡¯re going to distract yourself from your obvious self-delusion?- I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. -Ahh, well, Paragon was a nice goal for a while.- Tala glared internally. Then, with an extremely put-upon sigh, she nodded. Fine, but not here. She didn¡¯t want to self-reflect in her bedroom. It felt too much like her childhood, before the Academy. ¡­Well, it was something that had happened at the Academy, too, so¡­ Regardless, it wasn¡¯t desired. That¡¯s not who she was anymore. A flex of will and she was sitting in a little glen that had recently come to her attention, tucked alongside her infinite river. She sat upon a large, flat stone that seemed to rise up out of the turf at her will. In truth, it had come from deep within her sanctum on the far side, but she liked the aesthetic of watching it rise, almost a great creature of the deep breaking the surface of the ocean. I¡¯m just full of memories of the Academy, aren¡¯t I? -So it seems. Likely due to our incoming guest?- Could be, yeah. Tala didn¡¯t bother to close her eyes, as it would be rather pointless. Her other perspectives made her eyes slightly redundant, and there was no way she was disengaging those. Constant vigilance was a part of who she was, now, and she wouldn¡¯t give that up to¡ª -I could take them over fully. Then, we¡¯re being vigilant, and you can be introspective.- ¡­fine. Tala closed her eyes and passed all mirrored perspectives to Alat alone. First, to create a baseline, she felt her own aura, feeling the quality of her advancement. About one and a tenth percent toward Paragon from Refined. -That is my assessment as well.- Then, she actually focused on what Alat had highlighted. I did like it when arcanes looked up to me. Their adulation felt good. She had been a mighty fist for the House of Blood. She¡¯d crushed their enemies, driven them before her, and exulted in the lamentations of the survivors. True, much of the praise had gone to Be-thric as the Pillar she seemingly served, but that wasn¡¯t what she had focused on. Their adoration had felt like a victory in and of itself. They thought she was their tool, but all the while the strength that she was gaining at their behest would be turned on them. That very strength, those tools and techniques, would be exactly what she used to gain her freedom once again. But she wasn¡¯t captured anymore. She wasn¡¯t the bloody right hand of a tyrant. Nor was she the inexperienced young Mage whom he¡¯d captured. So? Who am I? Who do I want to be? She liked fighting. She liked striving for mastery over those who wished her harm, but more than that, she liked using her strength to make safe those who couldn¡¯t protect themselves. Her role as a defender resonated with her, but there was more. It was more than just fighting, killing, driving away threats, using violence. She had enjoyed discussing theory with various Constructionists: Masters Boma and Queue, Adrill and Artia, too. She wanted to do more than tear down, even if she was doing that for a good cause. As she examined her feelings, she realized that she was hesitantly excited at the prospect of helping the gateless gain magic. Particularly, Adrill¡¯s passion for magic sparked joy within her. She realized that she was truly looking forward to helping him achieve his long-held desires of wielding power of his own. True, she was still a bit horrified that it had begun as an accident that she should have been able to prevent, but she¡¯d moved past the self-recrimination¡­ mostly. Regardless, the feeling of excitement wasn¡¯t just the gateless. The idea of helping Artia was incredibly appealing, too. It wasn¡¯t because she wanted to give people magic. No. It was because these people wanted something, and she could work with them to make it happen. She just liked helping people, nurturing them toward their true potential, their deep goals. Her defense of the weak was just an outgrowth of that. After all, the dead could not advance. The dead would never get what they wanted. The sentiment resonated with something that Master Grediv had told her a while back. ¡®Acts of kindness echo through eternity.¡¯ What was kinder than helping someone become the best version of themselves? The feeling seemed to require that it be, very specifically, not at her choice. This most recent series of events made that clear. What she wanted was to help them achieve what they were striving for. Yes. That was it. Tala felt her gate¡ªher very soul¡ªresonate with the idea of nurturing the best in those around her, but it didn¡¯t feel quite correct. No, that¡¯s not right. It isn¡¯t about the ¡®best¡­¡¯ Something her father had often said back in the better years came to her mind: ¡®Best is the enemy of good.¡¯ Her opinion on their goals wasn¡¯t the point. She wasn¡¯t trying to make little copies of herself, or little automata that mirrored what she thought they should be. She wanted people¡¯s choices to matter for them. If nothing else, her time with the House of Blood had cemented that. It didn¡¯t matter to her how gilded the cage, how powerful the position, if the person didn¡¯t want to be there, it was torment. She turned this over and over in her mind, feeling like she was right at the edge of an epiphany, but it just couldn¡¯t click, not yet. She didn¡¯t understand it¡ªor herself¡ªwell enough. Not yet. Chapter: 381 - Teleportation Tala felt fully relaxed for the first time in days as she contemplated existence and her place in it. She knew a part of it was the setting. She was beside her infinite river, in a little dell, upon a stone that had been a part of her spoils of war. She recognized it as one that she¡¯d taken from a garden in the main hold of the House of the Rising Sun. It felt like victory to sit upon it, knowing that generations of arcanes had used it for their meditation, and now it was hers. -Tala?- Tala blinked a few times, opening her eyes to see the brightness of a new day creeping across the incredibly real-seeming false sky. -Breakfast time.- She grinned in response to her alternate interface. Thank you, Alat. With a flexing of her will, Tala moved to her dining area. She appeared standing beside the table, coming in just after Mistress Petra moved back to the kitchen. The woman, now well acquainted to Tala¡¯s habits, simply smiled and gave a shallow bow, ¡°Good morning, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala gave a nod in return, ¡°Good morning, Mistress Petra. How are you and the family doing today?¡± ¡°Oh, excellent. Just excellent. We are so excited for our Annathas coming home. She¡¯s such a dear girl, you¡¯ll just love her.¡± Can¡¯t be the same person, then. -Tala¡­ she wasn¡¯t unkind to you. Just the opposite in fact.- Tala ignored Alat. ¡°I¡¯m sure I will.¡± She sat in her chair, regarding the glorious spread before her, but before she took her first bite, she had a thought that soured the food just a bit. What if she wants to stay here? -I thought you didn¡¯t know her?- Alat pressed. I don¡¯t want another Mage in here. Not yet. -Um¡­ why not?- ¡­Because, we have plenty. They weaken the stability of reality in here. -Tala¡­- I don¡¯t want any more people in here¡­ -What about the gateless? Brandon and Adrill? Artia?- ¡­They¡¯re fine. Alat sighed, but she didn¡¯t press further. Tala addressed Mistress Petra, ¡°Do you know what she plans on doing, now that she¡¯s graduating?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, she¡¯ll seek an apprenticeship, a master to be a mageling under and all that. Her talents lie in healing, as I understand it. Though communication is limited, so I might not have the full picture. Even so, her penchant for healing is one reason she¡¯s coming here. Healers always congregate around a waning, much like defenders do.¡± -Oh! Mistress Vanga might be a good fit.- ¡­ Alat¡­ -What? Don¡¯t we want to help out Mistress Petra and Master Simon¡¯s daughter?- Defenders don¡¯t often take on magelings. It complicates things. -But they do sometimes, especially if they have duties outside of their role as a defender, say as a healer.- ¡­ I¡¯ll consider suggesting it. The woman continued on, and Tala listened closely, even as she turned to her meal, concern assuaged for the moment. Annathas would be with her master wherever that Mage was, not within Tala¡¯s sanctum. Still, Tala wanted to be more interested in her friends¡¯ and colleagues¡¯ lives, so she chose to engage with Mistress Petra throughout her whole meal. The two of them chatted as Tala ate and Mistress Petra finished up in the kitchen. All in all, it was a pleasant way for Tala to break her nightly fast. -It¡¯s almost time.- Oh, alright. The receiving spellform is in place and activated. Tala didn¡¯t really want to go, even if she had planned on being there. -I know, but don¡¯t you want to head there to see it with your own eyes?- I mean¡­ I can see it regardless? But sure. Let¡¯s go. It will be interesting to feel it with my aura as well. Tala stood to her feet, swallowing her last mouthful of food. ¡°Mistress Petra, shall we go?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± The older woman straightened, ¡°Is it time already?¡± ¡°It seems so.¡± She smiled, ¡°Then, yes. Let¡¯s go.¡± Tala smiled in return, flexed her will. With no noticeable delay, they were both standing beside the receiving spellform. It was in a grove of massive trees, Tala remembered the arcanes meticulously moving them in to set up this location. It had been meant to be a meditation area for herself or Thron, but she didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d ever used it. She certainly hadn¡¯t. The center of the space was dominated by a large round stone, raised above the turf and interwoven roots. The silver of the ready-and-waiting receiving spellform glistened in the early morning light. Tala didn¡¯t take long to take in the sight, instead lifting her hand to hold it in front of her mouth. It already held the intra-sanctum communication stone, ¡°Master Simon, should I bring you and the children here to receive your daughter?¡± His voice came back a moment later, ¡°Oh! Is it that time, already?¡± Tala felt her mouth pull up in a half smile. ¡°It is indeed, Master Simon.¡± ¡°Then, yes. Thank you.¡± With another flex of her will, Master Simon, Segis, and Metti were all standing beside her. Segis held a wooden training sword that he had clearly been swinging about in play. Metti had a doll in each hand, her face scrunching up in disappointment. That passed quickly as she immediately turned to Tala. ¡°Please bring their new dresses too.¡± Tala chuckled. She could, of course, see exactly what the little girl meant, and the two dolls¡¯ dresses were on the ground beside Metti a moment later. Metti sat down and began to change them. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. They will be dressed pretty for Anna¡¯s arrival.¡± The little girl had a truly supernatural sense of timing¡ªor she was incredibly lucky¡ªbecause almost as soon as the dolls had been changed¡ªand she had politely had Tala return their unused clothes to the proper place¡ªshe had stood back up, and the receiving scripts began to ignite. To Tala¡¯s enhanced vision and ability to process what she saw, it was a truly fascinating sight. Her aura provided yet another level of insight, giving her a full picture into what was happening. Power flashed through the entire spellform at once. Tala had to pause mentally and really conceptualize that. It wasn¡¯t like a flash powder that went up ¡°at once¡± or all the water in a bucket came out ¡®at once¡¯ when it was upended. No. At exactly the same instant, the entire spellform ignited, fully shaped, and properly formed, proportional, and alight with magic. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Barely a atom thick of silver all activating at once, blazing with power until they couldn¡¯t resist the pull of the magic, becoming energy as well. Then, the newly increased power moved outward, like a network of expanding tubes, burning as they grew until the totality of the silver was aflame with power. The entire process took less than an eyeblink, before the magics had consumed the spellworking and the effect was entirely enacted. Power punched starward without breaching all the way to the superficial. In fact, the breach didn¡¯t even reach as far as the next increment. The void. As expected, the magics reached into the void, but as she watched it, her aura felt something else, something familiar. The Doman-Imithe? -Maybe. Keep focused.- The entire space that had been occupied by the spellform was filled with humanoid figures to Tala¡¯s voidsight, only one of which was highlighted with power that was clearly from the receiving scripts. Beside that highlighting, the forms were indistinguishable. At least they were until they began to move. As Tala watched in a moment that seemed to extend for minutes, the figures around the central one tried to reach and grab onto the highlighted humanoid shape. The scrabbling fingers slid off of the magic of the receiving spellform, that central person not reacting in the slightest. Even so, they kept trying for the entire, extended moment. Finally, the moment passed, and a gate¡ªa human soul¡ªsuddenly seemed to snap into existence within the vaguely humanoid, magically-highlighted shape. Huh¡­ I wonder what it would look like if a gateless teleported. It does work for them, right? -Yes, now focus! We can investigate other teleports later.- Tendrils of power immediately shot inward from the highlighting. The magic struck the gate before rebounding, having been altered by the interaction and filling in details, fleshing out the vague shape with a template made of power. This was the greatest expense of teleportation, the generation of matter from magic based upon the template of the person¡¯s soul. Most of the power came along with the transported. That high energy packet was what safeguarded the soul in transit before helping form the new vessel on the far end. As the details were added in, the other shapes faded, until the last one ceased to be visible, even with Tala¡¯s enhanced perception. And rust me, the passenger apparently needs that protection. -Yeah. What the rust?- I know, right? Were those smilers? -Maybe? Or they were simply personified void based on our perception of how they act.- Yeah, but that¡¯s also our conundrum with the smilers¡­ -...right.- Slowly, a beautiful young woman came together, pieced together from power. She was actually about the same height as Tala, and perky; Tala could tell just by how she was standing. Her face was heart-shaped, and her eyes were sky blue. She was, of course, utterly bald. Classic Mage¡¯s robes were built out around her out of power, clothing her in high quality fabric. Oh, wow! I did not consider that. Tala looked closer, allowing her perception to take in every part of the garments. -Yeah, the clothing is constructed in the same way as the body. It is an idealized version of itself.- Tala and Alat could see that every thread in the weave was in perfect position. Every cut, every stitch, every part was precisely correct toward an ideal fit and finish. Tala had given up such a perfect set of clothes of her own in order to teleport naked, trying to maintain her inscriptions. In the end, she¡¯d gotten her hair back and kept her keystone. It seems that Annathas hadn¡¯t attempted any oddities in her own teleportation. -So¡­ You haven¡¯t actually acknowledged it, but¡­- Tala sighed internally, even as the spellform finished its work, and the seemingly eternal moment came to an end. Yeah¡­ I know her. The new arrival blinked a few times, looking around as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. Odd, I know that the teleportation room is bright on the other end, and here isn¡¯t exactly under a midday sun¡­ did her eyes somehow adjust to the void? -That doesn¡¯t make sense, but then you¡¯re just hunting for reasons to not acknowledge the fact that you were wrong and¡ª- ¡°Tala?¡± Annathas¡ªAnna¡ªtilted her head to one side. ¡°Tala, is that you?¡± Tala sighed. ¡ªand like I said, I know the girl who¡¯s just teleported into my sanctum? -Yeah. That.- ¡­I¡¯d hoped that it was someone with the same name¡­ -Who was the same age?- I never did get her last name¡­ there was hope. The girl¡¯s face blossomed into a bright smile. ¡°Tala! You came to greet me? I knew we were friends. I just knew it.¡± She practically flounced forward. ¡°And here people told me that you were avoiding me while we were at the Academy. Were you just too shy?¡± She seemed to notice her parents and siblings then, not noticing their shocked expressions. ¡°Oh! Everyone came! ¡­Well, not Hannah, but that¡¯s expected, and of course, I left Karsa at the Academy. I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t give you more information on her, she mainly wanted to form new relationships, and didn¡¯t want her big sis getting in the way.¡± She smiled, making a happy sound as she shrugged before giving a round of hugs, ending with Tala. ¡°So! What¡¯s new everyone? Oh, wow. Have you been working out, Tala? You feel like a rock. It suits you.¡± Tala had accepted the hug purely on reflex and was now regretting so, so many things. Then, Anna looked around, seeming confused. ¡°I do apologize, and I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but I don¡¯t see Mistress Kit anywhere. I want to pay my proper respects to the owner of this wondrous place you mentioned. Are we really in a dimensionally-expanded space? That¡¯s amazing!¡± She grinned back toward Tala. ¡°Then we can catch up. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve been up to all sorts of mischief.¡± ¡­Mistress¡­ Kit? Alat had devolved into uncontrolled laughter within Tala¡¯s head. It was distracting. Master Simon stepped forward, clearly trying to piece together what was happening. ¡°Anna, honey, why do you think that there is a ¡®Mistress Kit¡¯ here?¡± Anna nodded toward her dad, clearly feeling that she understood where the confusion lay, ¡°Hmm? Oh! Well, you said that you were working within Kit¡¯s sanctum, and that Kit and Tala, here, were connected.¡± She looked back to Tala. ¡°I was excited that I¡¯d get to see you again. Especially after Karsa said she¡¯d met you. That girl refused to tell me more, too. Anyways, I figured I¡¯d have to hunt you down, just like old times.¡± Turning back to her father, she continued, ¡°It really is wonderful that you¡¯re on a first name basis with your employer, but I need to show proper respect to Mistress Kit, at least until I get to know her.¡± Anna sighed, practically bouncing as she turned toward her mother. ¡°And it¡¯s so wonderful that you two treat Tala with such respect, calling her Mistress Tala and all, but I¡¯ve known her just for ages, so I¡¯m just going to keep right on calling her ¡®Tala.¡¯¡± There was a long pause, before Segis began laughing, moving to sit on one of the surrounding stones, nearer the ring of trees. Metti giggled to one side as well. Anna refocused on her sister, choosing to ignore her brother. ¡°Now, you brought two friends with you, didn¡¯t you? I haven¡¯t met these two, yet.¡± Metti nodded, holding up her dolls. ¡°What pretty dresses they have!¡± Master Simon¡ª red-faced with embarrassment¡ªcame over and whispered to Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala, I am so sorry. I had no idea you knew her at the Academy. Communications back and forth are all but impossible. When we communicated to her¡ªand the Academy¡ªabout how to execute this teleport, we conveyed some of the situation here, but¡­¡±¡ªhe looked genuinely at a loss¡ª¡°Things must have not been clear.¡± Tala sighed and waved him off. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Master Simon. I recognized her name, but thought it might be someone else.¡± ¡°So, you were friends at the Academy?¡± he asked, interestedly. He also seemed both surprised and skeptical at the idea. Honestly, he had good reason to be skeptical, given what he¡¯d seen of her over the time they¡¯d known one another. Truthfully, Tala almost responded with a categorical ¡®No¡¯ but hesitated at the last moment. Anna had tried to be kind to her, inviting her to things, sitting beside her in some classes, asking if she wanted to sit with her and her friends at meals. Tala had always said no. She¡¯d left their shared classes quickly whenever possible. Well, she¡¯d left all classes quickly whenever possible, but that wasn¡¯t the point. Generally speaking, Tala had rebuffed Anna at every turn, without ever doing so explicitly. She¡¯d also never actually been rude or mean to the younger girl¡­ Anna had simply continued to be kind and treat Tala as if they were already friends throughout. The end result was that Tala got very good at avoiding the other young woman, which wasn¡¯t too hard given she was a year behind Tala, and there were very few classes that they even could have together. Plus, their free periods weren¡¯t aligned, and they were housed in different sections of the Academy. She nodded to herself, choosing her words carefully as she responded to Master Simon, ¡°She was always kind to me, but we never spent too much time together.¡± Anna turned from her conversation with Metti to interject, ¡°Tala¡ªthe dear¡ªisn¡¯t much of what we would call a ¡®people person,¡¯ but she¡¯s got a good heart. I¡¯m glad you know her already.¡± Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to her little sister, squatting down just enough to not loom over her sister who was less than a third her age. In fact, they weren¡¯t that different in height to begin with. Wait¡­ Anna would have gone to the Academy before Metti was born. -Yeah, the Zuccats mentioned a few times that they had arranged for Anna to come home three times over the years, likely at great expense. So, they aren¡¯t strangers, but they don¡¯t really know each other.- Huh¡­ Master Simon was smiling, seemingly despite himself. He spoke incredibly quietly, using his knowledge of Tala¡¯s senses to keep Anna from overhearing. ¡°Anna was always so outgoing. She made friends so easily and loved so completely. Even if you weren¡¯t friends at the Academy from your side, I don¡¯t doubt that she saw you as her friend. I also don¡¯t doubt that she wouldn¡¯t be saying this if you had been mean or cruel to her, or to others.¡± He fully faced Tala, bowing. ¡°Thank you.¡± That caught Anna¡¯s attention, and she straightened, a contemplative look on her face. ¡°I do seem to be missing something. Is Mistress Kit not coming?¡± Tala felt herself smiling despite herself¡ªwhich happened a lot with Anna, it seemed, ¡°¡®Kit¡¯ is the name of my dimensional storage. She¡¯s sapient, or at least sentient, and she is bound to me.¡± Anna blinked a few times, clearly processing. Tala decided to continue, getting it all out in the open before any further awkwardness could build up, ¡°So¡­ this is my sanctum. Your parents work¡­ with me.¡± She couldn¡¯t bring herself to say that Anna¡¯s parents worked ¡®for¡¯ her, even though it was true. It felt too much like bragging, or boasting or¡­ something. After a long moment¡¯s thought, Anna only uttered a single word in response, ¡°Huh.¡± Chapter: 382 - Conversations Tala left the Zuccats to catch up, before Anna had fully grasped her misunderstanding. Thus, Tala hoped to avoid the incoming awkwardness. She chose to leave during a moment when everyone was otherwise engaged to at least give the illusion of being polite. She then summoned a door out of Kit and exited into Alefast. The last few days had been a mess. And tomorrow, I need to initiate Kedva into arcane style magic¡­ All this started because she wanted to distract herself from¡ª Rust¡­ She¡¯d been doing so well. Tala turned around and stepped back into Kit, coming back out into the dell she¡¯d used just an hour or so earlier to meditate in. She sat down on her rock, put her head in her hands and cried. Mistress Odera was gone, and that fact still hurt. At least it hurt when she thought of it¡­ She felt herself moving downward, but something rose up within her. No. Tala straightened, not throwing off her emotions, but not letting them physically overcome her. She called the door out of Kit once again, ignoring the feeling of locational whiplash as she stepped back out onto the Alefast streets. Tell him I¡¯m coming. -Already done. He said he¡¯ll be ready for you.- It was a short walk from where she¡¯d put Kit to her destination. The entrance wasn¡¯t that ornate, though it was obviously well maintained in order to fit into this nicer part of the city. Not that any part of Alefast is really run down¡­ Now that she had arrived, however, she felt a bit of uncertainty. Was this really what she wanted? Was this really a wise choice? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just be alone? Before she could talk herself out of it, she saw him coming to greet her at the entrance, clearly having noticed her arrival. Master Girt opened the front door to his modest home and ushered her inside. ¡°Come, come, Mistress Tala. I have something ready for us.¡± He led her through an obviously rarely used sitting room. While there were a few comfortable looking chairs all but one had the look of disuse, dust having begun to permeate the upholstery. The books on the shelves were obviously cared for, without any dust on them, but the art on the walls had noticeable accumulation, at least to her eyes. The floor was what appeared to be either poured stone or, knowing Master Girt, simply stone that he¡¯d reshaped and melded into a uniform floor. The home was laid out in a segmented style, and they passed through an archway to enter the kitchen, which looked to have been used barely more often than the sitting room Does he eat out most of the time? That would make sense for a kitchen to look so rarely used. Still, despite the disuse, there was a table large enough for them to both comfortably sit at and ready and waiting were two glasses that positively radiated magic. Well, no, the magic is rather contained. -So, they are radiant to your magesight, due to their internal magics?- Yeah, that¡¯s true. Tala hesitated in the archway. ¡°What is that?¡± Master Girt didn¡¯t slow as he answered her question, ¡°Magical alcohol. Even those who don¡¯t focus on enhancement with their magics reach a point where the mundane stuff might as well be flavored water. For times like these, the real stuff can help.¡± She sat down, feeling rather skeptical. ¡°I haven¡¯t told you why I¡¯m here. What do you mean by ¡®For times like these¡¯?¡± Master Girt smiled softly. ¡°I think we both know. Take a sip. You don¡¯t need to drink any more if you don¡¯t want to.¡± He shrugged then. ¡°Or don¡¯t. I¡¯ll happily drink both.¡± Tala laughed at that, feeling a bit of her tension bleed away, even if not much. She carefully picked up the glass and clinked it against her unit-mate¡¯s. The clink resonated powerfully through the entire room¡ªTala¡¯s three-fold sight even saw some dust vibrate off the art in the sitting room¡ªthe magic of the liquid seemingly amplifying everything relating to it. She took a sip and marveled at the cold heat that slid down her throat. Everything about the beverage and what it caused seemed a contradiction. The tiny sip felt like it filled her up, even if just momentarily. Her stomach didn¡¯t feel overfilled, more akin to having just finished a perfect meal, and the comfortable feeling of satiation was just one of the sensations brought on by the magical concoction. Her sinuses¡ªwhich were never really full given her magics keeping her healthy¡ªsuddenly felt dry, but not painfully so. It was more akin to breathing in a wonderful breeze off a desert dune. On the other side, her mouth and throat felt wet in the sense of thirst excellently quenched. The previously noted cold heat filled her entire being, bringing with it an enhancement of her sense of touch along with a tingling, as if that sense was being suppressed. Master Girt nodded after taking a sip of his own. ¡°That¡¯s some good stuff.¡± Tala nodded as well. ¡°It certainly is something.¡± ¡°Now. You reached out for a reason. What can I do for you?¡± There was tension clear across his whole body, as if he knew what she would ask and was bracing for it, hoping against hope that he was wrong. She took another sip, gilding herself before failing to meet his eyes as she asked, ¡°Your wife¡­¡± His hand tightened on his glass in a clearly reflexive reaction, his knuckles whitening momentarily. His voice sounded on the verge of cracking as he feigned nonchalance, ¡°Oh?¡± Tala swallowed. ¡°How did you cope with her passing? I know the loss I suffered is nothing in comparison¡ªhow could the loss of a mentor compare to that of a soul-bound spouse?¡ªbut I was hoping to gain some insight¡­ if you are willing.¡± Master Girt stared into his glass for a long moment, before throwing his head back and downing the remainder of the contents. Tala took another careful sip, letting the silence stand. Finally, he nodded, almost seeming resigned, ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m surprised. With the loss you suffered, I honestly expected this conversation sooner.¡± He took in a long breath and sighed. ¡°First, I appreciate you acknowledging that the losses are not the same. Truth be told, no two ever are, but it is kind of you to express it as you did.¡± She gave a quick understanding smile and nodded once. ¡°Now, let me tell you about my rock, my Stonia.¡± * * * Tala had spent a couple of hours with Master Girt, listening to stories about his wife as well as how he had coped with her passing. Surprisingly, Tala had seen the man advance a couple of percent toward Paragon during the retelling. When she¡¯d pointed it out, he had nodded sadly, simply saying that he couldn¡¯t get all the way to Paragon that way, but each time he reprocessed the loss, recontextualizing it in his life, he advanced some. Apparently, it also had to do with helping his soul to heal. He was honest with her, explaining that it was the only reason he was actually willing to open the still aching wound of her passing to share it with others. Even so, Tala¡¯s three-fold sight gave her yet another view on the process, and something about Master Girt¡¯s honest vulnerability¡ªlikely heightened by the drink¡ªlet her see through his aura. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. His gate¡ªwhich had looked standard to her up to this point when she could see it at all¡ªhad seemed to glow from within the structure of the ring, imperceptible cracks throughout its entire makeup seeming to be highlighted by the inner light. As he talked with her, Tala was able to see the very ends of the seemingly endless maze of fractures slowly knitting back together. Alat had looked closer and told Tala that she had something to convey when the conversation was done. Regardless, it was obvious that the talk¡ªthe remembrance¡ªhad been difficult for the man. Toward that end, when he was done, Tala shared another glass with him before asking, ¡°What do you need? I can stay if that would help, or I can leave you be?¡± The magically enhanced alcohol had somewhat affected her, but even so, her body fought the effects back with relative ease, leaving her with a mild buzz and nothing more. Master Girt seemed a bit further down the road than that, but he still clearly wasn¡¯t drunk. He gave a small smile, ¡°That is kind of you to ask. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±¡ªhe stretched back¡ª¡°I¡¯ll see you on duty this afternoon, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Four until midnight.¡± He stood, placing the bottle of glowing, magical liquid into a perfectly sized iron case. ¡°I¡¯ll be there with silver bells.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come find you if you aren¡¯t.¡± His smile shifted a bit then, taking on a far more genuine cast. ¡°You know? I believe you would¡­ Thank you.¡± Tala nodded and smiled in return. ¡°Thank you. Your experiences not only put my loss in context, it also gave me a picture of what healthy handling of it could look like.¡± He snorted. ¡°Sure, sure. This is healthy coping. Regardless, get out of here. I know you had a guest arriving today.¡± She sighed. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± They said a few more words as he escorted her to the door, then Tala was back in the street. She felt better but not better. Our language is so irritating sometimes. -Yeah, but now, at least, we can blame a Sovereign for that fact.- That¡¯s true. Language of the Sovereign or not, it¡¯s still irritating. -Yeah, yeah. So? Are you ready?- What? Oh! Right. Sure. Alat then explained what she had seen when looking closer at Master Girt¡¯s gate. As Alat had been watching, it had almost appeared that someone was working to knit the cracks back together. Reaching out of the gate and working, despite the power streaming through, around the ¡®hands¡¯ of that ¡®someone.¡¯ It made no sense, but that was the closest thing to it that Alat could conceive of, and when Tala was shown the memories, she had to agree with Alat¡¯s assessment. His wife? -Possibly? Or that¡¯s how he¡¯s conceptualizing his own healing, so that¡¯s how it looks?- In either case, Tala felt like it was rather sweet. Either his wife was helping him from the world beyond, or his belief in her desire to do so was strong enough to affect how the healing itself appeared. Tala just mentally sat in what Master Girt had said and what she¡¯d seen for a while as she walked through Alefast. Eventually, Alat interrupted her. -The Zuccats would like to sit down with you to discuss how things are going to look going forward.- That makes sense. I sort of expected it, I suppose. -Shouldn¡¯t we have an idea what we want, of what we¡¯re going to be doing first?- That was fair. In the near future, what would she be doing? She needed to solidify Kit and the people within her. Tala needed to continue her training and work as a defender both around Alefast and helping to handle cells. Rane would be able to start his Refining in just about a month, and if he chose to undergo the process, she wanted to be there to help him through that. Finally, she needed to decide what to do about the gateless. She potentially could offer them a means of living a lot longer, and that would actually benefit her, and not just because she would effectively be gaining a group of people bound to her. They had already discovered that Adrill and Brandon¡¯s use of magic used up power, lowering the density within Kit. It just made sense, and Tala had fought exasperation at Master Simon¡¯s insistence that they should actually prove that it was true. It was. That use of power, in turn, caused Kit to draw more deeply from Tala. After all, Kit was naturally bent toward being as full as possible, and she wasn¡¯t about to drain her own reserves to refill the sanctum if she didn¡¯t have to. Similarly, she wasn¡¯t about to allow the sanctum¡¯s density to dip below the maximum that she could reasonably maintain, not without good cause. It wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was effectively like she was powering their inscriptions as well as everything else she was doing, magically. The increased strain on her throughput helped to increase the base flow rate, which Tala was quite happy to see. All Mages were constantly increasing their throughput a minute amount, based on their usage of power. Additionally, all Mages could¡ªand did¡ªdo exercises that were effectively the same, but this would be essentially constant while they were within her sanctum, with an extra strain whenever they reentered. Once again, it wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was more of a pull than it had been without the added drain. Thus, so long as she increased the number of magically activated gateless at a reasonable rate, they should help her drastically improve that aspect of her magic without causing any issue with her capacities or capabilities in the short run. True, it didn¡¯t actually give her more power available at the moment¡ªit did the exact opposite, in fact, given that the power was being used, but that was the whole point. Even so, it would gradually increase her capacity to draw in power, and that was important to her. -And useful.- And useful. So, her list of upcoming ¡®to-dos¡¯ was best summarized as: Kit establishing, gateless situating, Rane Refining, and self improving. That¡¯s quite a nice list, I think. -Agreed. And being a better friend¡­?- That is self-improvement, of course. -Understood¡­ So, Anna¡­?- Tala stopped walking, scrunching her face. She smoothed out her features and waved at a random passerby who called out her name excitedly. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t turn into anything more than that passing exchange. Unfortunately, that let her mind turn back to Anna. It was awkward looking back on their interactions at the Academy. Tala had been so young in her thinking, so immature in the way that she viewed the world. By the time Anna had noticed her and tried to befriend her, Tala had become set in her loneliness. A popular girl reaching out to her had felt like a setup for mockery. That had actually happened more than once during Tala¡¯s first year at the Academy, even if the teachers had been less than pleased. Tala hadn¡¯t seen Anna¡¯s actions for the genuine offers that they were in retrospect. Even though I know she would have felt odd while next to me because of my iron, she kept trying for as long as I didn¡¯t avoid her. -Yeah, it¡¯s hard to sit next to someone who switches classes before you even know you shared a section.- Yeah¡­ Tala decided to give Anna a chance. -I¡¯ve sent a message to Mistress Vanga.- Thank you, Alat. Let¡¯s get back to Kit for the conversation. * * * Tala arrived in Kit to find Anna alone, sitting and watching the scenery. In another part of the sanctum, Master Simon and Mistress Petra were discussing animatedly, clearly in an intense discussion, but nothing about it seemed heated. Tala hesitated, hand on Kit¡¯s door handle. We need to address this. -Wise choice, Tala. Go face your fears.- Tala opened the door, stepping out to Anna¡¯s side, but within her line of sight so as to hopefully startle her less. ¡°Tala!¡± She stood up with a smile, then hesitated. After what seemed to be a moment of consideration, Anna bowed, ¡°Mistress Tala. Thank you for welcoming me into this beautiful place. Thank you for the work you have given my parents, and the place to explore and grow that you gave to my siblings.¡± She laughed softly to herself. ¡°I now understand more what Karsa meant. I don¡¯t know why she didn¡¯t speak about you, but I suppose she had no cause to know that I knew you, and she was trying to establish herself with new friends and all.¡± She looked up, coloring slightly. ¡°But, I¡¯m blathering. What can I do for you, Mistress?¡± Tala felt her shoulders sink. ¡°Anna, I¡­¡± She grimaced, then called a chair to her and sat down. Anna followed suit, sinking back onto the stone bench she¡¯d been seated on. ¡°I did not like the Academy. Because of some personal issues, I felt trapped there, and just wanted to get out and on to a better life.¡± Anna nodded, ¡°Well, you did that.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°So I did. It¡¯s been¡­ a bit of a rough ride, but I did, yes.¡± She waved dismissively, then. ¡°Regardless, I projected some of that onto everyone there. I really didn¡¯t want to get to know anyone, or do more than I had to.¡± Anna shrugged. ¡°Everyone goes through stuff. It happens.¡± ¡°How do you do that?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°Just take it in stride?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we were really close and you pulled away. You weren¡¯t mean to me or anyone really. You were lonely. I wanted to help, but you didn¡¯t want help.¡± She smiled again. ¡°Seems that you didn¡¯t really need it.¡± Tala grunted at that. ¡°I might have been better off if I¡¯d gotten it.¡± ¡°If ¡®ifs¡¯ were whiffs, we¡¯d all have passed out from the smell long ago.¡± She blinked at the younger girl a few times before chuckling. ¡°That is quite the phrase.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it, though?¡± Anna smiled widely. ¡°I¡ª¡± Terry flickered into place on the bench beside her, regarding her quizzically. ¡°Oh! Who might you be, handsome little bird?¡± Terry chirped at her, and Tala almost said something, but she trusted Terry. Anna reached out, grabbing either side of Terry, holding his vestigial wings tucked at his sides. ¡°Aren''t you just the cutest little predator?¡± Then, to Tala¡¯s horror, Anna flipped Terry over, putting him on his back with his legs in the air, and started scratching his neck and belly. Terry gave some weak trills of alarm, but calmed down as she carefully scratched his feathers, clearly mindful of not bending them or pulling at them painfully. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°That¡¯s Terry. He¡¯s my friend, my partner.¡± Anna turned to regard her with one eyebrow raised. ¡°Your friend, do you say? Then he must be a fierce beast to say the least.¡± He squawked his assent, one leg lazily drooping to the side. Tala smiled. ¡°He is that.¡± But, she was avoiding what she¡¯d been trying to say. ¡°What I was getting at was: I apologize, Anna. I don¡¯t know how good of friends we would have been, but I wish that I had tried.¡± Anna smiled back at her, stopping the scratches for a moment. ¡°There is nothing to apologize for. It wasn¡¯t the right time, then. It might be now.¡± Her smile grew. ¡°We¡¯ll never know unless we try.¡± Terry flickered away, on his feet again, and watching Anna warily. ¡°Oh! Do you want more scratches, Terry?¡± He squawked at her, ruffling his feathers a bit, then flickered away. ¡°I¡¯m here if you change your mind!¡± Tala felt herself smiling. It seems that Anna¡¯s almost aggressive kindness could even overwhelm Terry. ¡°Shall I get your parents? We have a lot to discuss.¡± ¡°Oh, yes! I have a wonderful idea that I want to propose to you all.¡± Why do I feel concerned? -Because you¡¯re capable of making logical connections.- That¡¯s what I was afraid of¡­ Chapter: 383 - No Point Tala tried not to groan as Anna exuberantly put forward her ¡®wonderful idea.¡¯ She was just glad that Segis and Metti weren¡¯t there, otherwise the three children might have ganged up on their parents to push through some¡­ unfortunate notions. ¡°Why don¡¯t we get Hannah in here? She¡¯s a baker. Mistress Tala loves baked goods. It¡¯s a win-win!¡± Even though Anna had seamlessly begun using Tala¡¯s honorific, she still had the same warm air about her, even with the added formality to her address. Mistress Petra smiled at her daughter but shook her head, ¡°Anna, your sister is very happy with her job in Bandfast. She likes her co-workers, and there are a couple of young men who are calling on her. She won¡¯t be leaving in the near future.¡± Anna pouted briefly. ¡°Well, boo.¡± With a dramatic intake of breath, she straightened, seemingly immediately putting it all behind her. ¡°Alright. Well, I, at the very least, shall have to stay here with you all.¡±¡ªshe looked toward Tala¡ª¡±So long as that is acceptable to Mistress Tala, of course.¡± Tala blinked a few times. What now? -She wants to live here, dear. I know you¡¯re listening. The request was rather obvious.- Before Tala could answer, Master Simon shook his head. ¡°No, Anna. You need to live with your master, whoever that may be.¡± Anna¡¯s eyes dimmed for a moment before they seemed to practically blaze with what was clearly a dawning idea. Oh, no. Alat began to laugh. Absolutely not. -She¡¯s going to ask.- Oh, rust no¡­ Anna opened her mouth to propose her thought, but once again, her father dashed her hopes, cutting her off before she could even begin. ¡°I know that you are fond of Mistress Tala, but even if she were willing, your magic and your chosen field simply don¡¯t align with hers and with what Mistress Tala does day-to-day. In the same way your mother and I would be poor fits, she would not be a good master for you.¡± It took all of Tala¡¯s self control to not mouth ¡®Thank you!¡¯ toward Master Simon, but he glanced her way and seemed to get the message, a wry smile pulling at his lips for a moment before he mastered himself. Anna dramatically slumped once again. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just frustrating. This beautifully wonderful, spectacular place is open to our family, and you won¡¯t let me wheedle more of us into it?¡±¡ªshe gave Tala a wink before facing her father again¡ª¡±What are your plans anyway? Will I be stuck in Alefast while you go galavanting off to Sovereigns know where?¡± ¡°Anna!¡± Mistress Petra exclaimed, before catching herself, ¡°Watch your language dear.¡± Tala didn¡¯t lift an eyebrow in surprise, but it was a near thing. Invoking the Sovereigns in such a way was quite frowned upon, to the point that Tala couldn¡¯t remember hearing anyone do so since she had left the Academy. I don¡¯t remember Anna speaking like that before¡­ -Yes, because you listened to her so often back then.- ¡­Point taken. Anna waved them off. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯ll strike me dead. But, as you wish, Mother. So? What are your plans?¡± Master Simon nodded, turning toward Tala. ¡°Petra and I have discussed it, and we do want to stay on with you, at least for the time being. These six months or so have been most fruitful for my understanding of some aspects of magic, the work is interesting, and I enjoy it. Petra is mastering the art of cooking and baking with harvests, as well as just enjoying a simpler life. Will you have us?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Of course.¡±¡ªshe hesitated for a moment¡ª¡±But I know we¡¯ve discussed you two moving toward advancing¡­¡± She let the words hang, but Master Simon nodded, regardless. ¡°We have the scripts that are preparing the way for us. It isn¡¯t a sure thing, but we are hopeful. Obviously, if and when that comes about, we¡¯d have a lot to consider.¡± Mistress Petra smiled and nodded along with her husband¡¯s words. ¡°It is a barrier that we feared to never face, but we will do what we can, regardless.¡± Master Simon grinned. ¡°After all, I want to see my grandchildren.¡± ¡°And great-grandchildren.¡± Anna giggled. ¡°That would be wonderful, yes.¡± Tala gave a tight smile, pulling the subject back under control and well away from children. ¡°Regardless, Anna, I think I have a potential master for you. A¡­ friend of mine, Mistress Vanga, has agreed to meet with you, if you are willing. She is a healer by nature, and even if you aren¡¯t a good fit with her, she should know others who could be open to the match.¡± Anna gasped excitedly, clearly brightening at the idea. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s so wonderful. Thank you, Tala!¡±¡ªshe squealed, then seemed to remember herself, forcibly calming down¡ª¡±I mean¡ªThank you, Mistress Tala.¡¯ Tala sighed. ¡°I am happy to have been able to assist.¡± * * * Tala took the next day and a half to rebalance herself after the past few days of insanity. She still stood watch during her unit¡¯s shifts. She still trained her body, magic, will, soul, and aura. But she spent the majority of her time meditating on all that had happened¡ªall that she had learned¡ªin the last few days. No, that¡¯s not right. It has been more than a few days. Mistress Odera passed just more than two weeks ago. -Two weeks and two days, as of this afternoon.- Tala sat back, letting that sink in, holding her cup of mint tea out before her, as she watched the sun rise within her sanctum. -Her fount was deemed potentially dangerous, and it was voided, allowing her to pass on fully. I think they would have done so either way, given that was her stated wish, but it¡¯s good to know that they wouldn¡¯t have let it remain, regardless.- Tala felt¡­ something at that. I could have done that. I could have found her and been with her through the process. I could have been the one to set her free to move on to the next world. -Do you wish you had been?- No. Does that make me a terrible person? -I don¡¯t think so, personally, but, well, I¡¯m not really the best person to ask that question¡­ considering.- She had grunted a laugh at Alat¡¯s comment, and that gathered the attention of the only person with her. Rane shifted on the chair beside hers, ¡°Tala? What¡¯s going on?¡± Tala had invited Rane to watch the sunrise with her, given that he would already be awake. Well, truthfully she¡¯d asked him to be present when Kedva was initiated into the arcane method of magical advancement, and the most convenient way to ensure he was there was to have him come early. -Uh, huh. Right. You invited him to watch the sun rise with you, because it¡¯s more convenient than having him come later. If I don¡¯t believe that, it means that you don¡¯t either.- Tala ignored Alat. Watching the sunrise was something she wanted to do, and it was nice to have him with her. She wanted someone who was just there to support her. Not someone for Kedva. Not someone to monitor the situation or help the process. Just someone who was there in case she needed someone. -Nothing¡¯s going to go wrong.- But it might. -It won¡¯t.- But it might. Alat sighed within Tala¡¯s head. They had gone back and forth a lot. In the end, that was why Rane was here. ¡°Tala?¡± He set his own earthenware mug aside. ¡°Hey, are you alright?¡± Tala nodded, focusing back on the present moment, ¡°Yeah. I just realized that Mistress Odera¡­ she¡¯s been gone for more than two weeks.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Rane stiffened slightly, then almost seemed to melt. ¡°Tala¡­ I¡­ I know you two were closer than she and I were. I really am sorry for your loss. I wasn¡¯t thinking how it could be affecting you.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t feel the loss. I feel angry. I feel angry that she is gone and nothing has changed. Not for me, not for humanity, not for anything. There was no point.¡± He nodded, not speaking. She growled in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous. I¡¯ve barely thought about her these last two weeks.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve had a lot going on.¡± She gave him a look, and he held up his hands in surrender. ¡°My apologies. Go on.¡± Tala nodded to herself, took a long pull from her tea, and continued, ¡°If even I don¡¯t really think about her, less than a month after she¡¯s gone¡­ does it even matter? What¡¯s the point, if even those who know us well aren¡¯t deeply affected after we¡¯re gone?¡± She looked to him for an answer, but he was simply sitting there, watching her attentively. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Um¡­ So, it sounds like what you¡¯re saying is that you are upset that you aren¡¯t more upset. Is that true?¡± Tala lifted her hands in a motion of exasperated surrender. ¡°I don¡¯t even know¡­¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°I think I can understand that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad someone can,¡± she groused, ¡°It feels like I can¡¯t win.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, some deep wisdom seemed to overtake him, and he asked, ¡°Do you want me to respond, or just listen?¡± ¡°I think¡­¡±¡ªshe let out a frustrated sigh¡ª¡±just listen, but I also think I¡¯m done.¡± He nodded, wisely not commenting, and seeming to simply enjoy his tea, the sunrise, and the company. The drawn out silence allowed Tala to process further. ¡°What even is the point? We are born; we grow old; we die; we are forgotten.¡± He turned back toward her, clearly listening, but didn¡¯t reply. She gave a half smile at that, but it faded quickly. ¡°Is everything meaningless?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, I know it isn¡¯t. I know that it matters. I know our choices echo on after we¡¯re gone, but¡­ I want it to matter more. I want her to matter more, to have mattered more.¡± Rane nodded slowly but didn¡¯t speak. ¡°You can respond.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You asked me to just listen.¡± She swatted his shoulder. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean totally silently.¡± He shrugged again. ¡°It seemed to be helping.¡± ¡°It was.¡± She sighed, ¡°I just feel like I¡¯m missing something important.¡± He sighed, too. ¡°Honestly, everything that I can think of would be just as temporary as she was, if only just.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°You could make a statue of her; you could try to learn one of her spellforms; you could find one or more of her descendents to show your gratitude to.¡± ¡°Each of those could be eternal.¡± ¡°With maintenance. There¡¯s also another looming issue, but I¡¯m a bit afraid to bring it up.¡± Tala turned back toward the sunrise. ¡°She¡¯s not the only person I¡¯ll ever lose, and no option is sustainable throughout centuries of losing people.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± They fell back into comfortable silence, then. Soon enough, Alat spoke into that silence. -They are on their way.- Tala nodded and stood. ¡°They¡¯re on their way.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Rane jerked slightly, being pulled from some inner thought or other. ¡°Right. Where do you want to do this?¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Well, the central courtyard seems like the best place.¡± With a thought, she and he were there. Master Simon? -He¡¯s ready.- With her three-fold sight, she saw that he was waiting, standing with his Archive slate in hand, looking vaguely upward. Tala smirked, bringing him to her in an instant. ¡°Oh! Thank you, Mistress Tala.¡± She gave a slight bow. ¡°Of course, Master Simon.¡± Now, let¡¯s see¡­ She pulled her iron to the superficial, using it to fill in the crevices between paving stones to give her an even better grounding in order to assert her sovereignty, even as she called up the door into Kit. She flexed her aura, stirring the zeme by grabbing and forcibly moving most of the ambient magic away. -You know, you could probably do that through Kit, too. The iron was likely overkill.- True, but this is good practice. -Fair enough.- When she had a bubble of weaker magical density around the door, she focused outward again. Rane had taken up a seat off to one side, making sure he¡¯d be out of the way but also close enough to be able to be there for her at need. She gave a half smile before moving on with her preparations and investigations. Her bloodstars gave her an easy view of those approaching. Brandon, Adrill, Kedva, and Artia were accompanied by two others. The two unknowns were obviously mundane. Their clothing spoke of a good living but not overt wealth. Their lack of magic left them utterly exposed to her three-fold sight. While they did have gates, they were obviously untrained, with just the standard mana flow. From the physical similarities, they were obviously Kedva¡¯s parents, or at least close family members of the young woman. I do wonder how someone can be born without a gate, when both parents have gates. -You have to remember, Tala, that gates are a defect. It¡¯s a sign that the parents had a healthy aspect to their souls that came together to not make her broken at the start.- ¡­Even though I know that¡¯s true, it¡¯s still really odd to think of it that way. -Because it means that we¡¯re broken?- Sort of, more that it means that the most prevalent thing about me can genuinely be considered a malformation, defect, or issue. I wouldn¡¯t be me without my gate, my magic. -That¡¯s for sure.- I wonder if that extends to other such maladies? -Hard to tell, there really aren¡¯t any that persist within the human cities, so it¡¯s not like we¡¯ve known people permanently missing a limb or sense.- Yeah¡­Wait! We did see some in Makinaven. They¡¯d replaced parts with wood to better commune with the tree. -Right. There was one who was really kind and answered your invasive questions.- They weren¡¯t that invasive¡­ Alat was silent for a moment. Fine, I could have been more tactful. -See? Personal growth. His name was Ciaran, by the way. That guy was awesome.- ¡­We talked to him for like five minutes. -And he was awesome throughout.- Tala huffed an internal laugh. That¡¯s fair. Focusing back on those newly arriving, there was one conspicuous absence. No healer. -She decided to act on faith?- I suppose. Truthfully, a healer wouldn¡¯t help, the one who examined Adrill and Brandon even said so. -But having a healer on hand could be comforting.- Which would have been a problem. She needs to trust herself and me for this to work. Depending on someone else ¡®if it fails¡¯ would complicate things. -Which is probably why she didn¡¯t bring one.- True enough. Tala sighed. There¡¯s no point in delaying further, I suppose. She willed for the entrance to open. The wider than usual door swung inward, revealing the four people just as they came up to the threshold. Kedva¡¯s parents remained standing further back, clearly nervous. Tala thought she understood. Even in a waning city like Alefast, many mundane still had some hesitancy around the overtly magical. If nothing else, they tended to be over-awed by Mages. Should we have invited them to be in attendance? Would that have been the right course of action? -Maybe? Then they could have said no or yes at their own discretion.- ¡­is it too late? We didn¡¯t consider them at all. -Yeah¡­ we didn¡¯t think of family, did we.- Tala called through the door, ¡°Brandon, Adrill, please come in; Master Simon has your slates.¡± Master Simon looked at her with confusion, lifting his one empty hand, only to have the two Archive slates appear within. He held in a smile while giving her a flat look. Tala grinned back at him. The two men stepped in¡ªseemingly bracing for the storm of energy to flow into them¡ªbut looked around in confusion when it didn¡¯t happen. ¡°I lowered the levels of power near the door. There¡¯s no reason to have Kedva collapsing in view of the outside.¡± The two bowed, Adrill speaking for both of them, ¡°Thank you for the consideration.¡± That left two women standing right outside, Kedva and Artia. Artia was holding the younger¡ªclearly nervous¡ªgirl¡¯s hand. Tala almost told them to step in, but she stopped herself. Self-improvement, Tala. We¡¯re aiming for personal growth. You need to do the right thing. -...are¡­ are you pretending to be me?- Yes. -You know I¡¯m right here, right?- Of course. -And I literally am you. There¡¯s no need to pretend.- You¡¯re distracting me from personal growth. -Fine, fine. Go forth and be an adult.- Tala walked forward. Her perspective gave her an amusing look as Brandon and Adrill stepped out of the bubble she was maintaining, being practically slapped with power as it rushed into their bodies. Regardless of her growing smile, she stopped right outside the door, on the street beside Artia¡¯s shop. Tala placed her hand on Kedva¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve made the choice. It¡¯s a fine choice, but you can change your mind. No one will force you, one way or the other.¡± Kedva met her gaze, then the uncertainty seemed to melt away within the young woman¡¯s eyes, at least for the moment, ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I am firm in my choice.¡± ¡°As you say.¡± Tala lifted her eyes to the two people standing some ten feet back, ¡°You must be Kedva¡¯s parents. Is that correct?¡± The two came forward a few steps, then bowed deeply. ¡°We are, yes. You must be Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Tala gave a nod of acknowledgement. ¡°It is good to meet you.¡± ¡°The pleasure is ours, Mistress.¡± They looked uncertain. Tala sighed internally, ¡°What can I do for the two of you? I do apologize for not asking if you wished to observe, but we can correct that error now. Would you like to come in?¡± Tala turned and gestured toward Kit¡¯s open door. The two paled visibly before the husband responded, ¡°Oh¡­ um¡­ Would it help our Kedva?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Not generally. Whether it would help her emotionally is beyond what I can say. You are welcome, though.¡± They shared a look. ¡°We will consider it. Thank you.¡± Tala nodded, ¡°Well, consider quickly. I aim to begin shortly.¡± The two bowed, ¡°As you say, Mistress Tala. Thank you again for this opportunity that you are giving our daughter.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Honestly, for that you should thank Brandon. It is his connection with Kedva that has brought this about.¡± The wife beamed happily, momentarily seeming to forget her nervousness, and the husband nodded, ¡°We know. As for Kedva, we just wanted to be here for her, in case¡­¡± Brandon came out behind Tala, walking over to the two older people. As he passed Tala, he spoke very quietly, relying on her enhancements to ensure that he was heard, ¡°Give me a couple of minutes, please. I¡¯ll get them situated.¡± Tala nodded in acknowledgement before briefly addressing the two, even as Brandon led them off to one side. She waved their way, and offered a platitude, ¡°Good to have met you both.¡± See? Personal growth. -...I think I¡¯m mostly disturbed by the fact that you¡¯re right.- Better everyday. -Well¡ª- Hush you. I¡¯m trying. Chapter: 384 - Natural Magics Tala headed back toward Kit, her mind already returning to the task at hand. She was going to be initiating Kedva into the arcane path of magic. -Giving her a rebirth, as it were?- ¡­You know that I¡¯m not a fan of that description. -But it¡¯s accurate, and the people who have undergone it prefer that description.- Tala decided to ignore Alat. As she did so, Tala saw Kedva run over to her parents, giving them each a large hug and talking quickly with them and Brandon. Even so, the girl was back at the entrance with Artia by the time Tala returned to her starting location and turned to face Kit¡¯s door from the inside. She hadn¡¯t even delayed her turn at seeing Rane give her an affirming signal along with a smile. ¡°Alright, come on in.¡± Kedva glanced in the direction that Brandon and her parents were, hesitating. ¡°I won¡¯t let it start without Brandon.¡± Artia squeezed the girl¡¯s hand, even as she wove her arm through Kedva¡¯s, ¡°Come. I¡¯ll be with you, dear.¡± The two women stepped in, Kedva clearly braced against calamity. -Yeah¡­ that¡¯s not good.- No. No, it is not. Tala stepped forward, ¡°Kedva. You have to trust me or this will fail. If you don¡¯t trust me, there is no point.¡± ¡°I trust you.¡± Her voice was soft, hardly sounding like the same girl Tala had met previously, ¡°I do.¡± ¡°No. No, you don¡¯t. Not in this moment.¡± Kedva¡¯s eyes were looking in every direction as she clung to Artia. ¡°If you can¡¯t trust that I will keep it from starting, how will you trust me to actually help it succeed? You¡¯ll die, twitching and flooded with power that your body can¡¯t handle.¡± Kedva stiffened, seeming to rein herself in. ¡°How can I master this?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°That is an excellent question. Let me ask you one in return: Do you know, in your mind, that I want to help you, and I mean you no harm?¡± ¡°Yes, but that doesn¡¯t help the seeds of fear.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I know. You need to have faith in your knowledge.¡± Kedva frowned. ¡°I just said that fear is worming its way into my mind. That even though I know that you are going to help me, that it¡¯s safe right now, my emotions are getting the best of me. How can I use one emotion to conquer another, internally?¡± ¡°Yes and no, Kedva. Yes, fear is your emotion. It is seizing onto your imagination and becoming overblown. Emotions and imagination are the enemy of faith and knowledge.¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°When you walk down a dark hallway, is it your knowledge or your imagination that tells you that something is trying to get you?¡± Kedva frowned. ¡°I assume you mean when I was younger? That was my imagination.¡± ¡°Good. Now, were your emotions inclined to line up with your imagination? Or with your knowledge?¡± She nodded at that, seeming to begin to understand. ¡°With my imagination.¡± ¡°Exactly, and if you fight down the fear, what are you acting on?¡± ¡°My knowledge.¡± ¡°Exactly. You are relying on your faith in that knowledge. Putting your faith in something without evidence¡ªwithout knowledge¡ªis foolishness. You didn¡¯t lack knowledge, just like you don¡¯t lack it now, so knowledge isn¡¯t the antidote to fear, not knowledge alone. Faith is what you need to bolster.¡± The girl frowned again, but she wasn¡¯t frantically looking around anymore. Progress. -Yeah. Where¡¯d you get this?- A combination of Master Nadro, Master Grediv, some of my teachers at the Academy¡­ and my father. Tala sighed internally. But you knew that and just wanted me to overtly acknowledge it. -I aim to assist.- ¡­thank you. -You¡¯re welcome. Now focus.- Kedva straightened a bit. ¡°I do know what is coming. My Brandon and Adrill have worked hard with me to ensure that I know all that I can know about this whole process.¡± ¡°And you trust them. You have faith in them.¡± ¡°I do.¡± She was fully straightened now, a small smile pulling at her lips and a loose grip all that connected her to Artia. Brandon came in behind her, then. ¡°I have them settled. They will wait in a little restaurant around the corner.¡± Artia frowned. ¡°Arnold¡¯s?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She nodded. ¡°They do have great food at least.¡± Kit¡¯s door swung shut on its own, closing silently and vanishing similarly without a trace. Brandon stayed next to his betrothed, on the other side from his mother. Tala smiled. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s get started.¡± An involuntary tremble moved through Kedva¡¯s body, but she nodded resolutely. ¡°Lay down.¡± ¡°Where¡ª¡± The words died on Kedva¡¯s lips as she turned to look around and saw that not only was the door gone, but a bed was now behind her. ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°My domain, remember?¡± Tala grinned. ¡°I rule, here.¡± That had the intended effect, and Kedva seemed to relax a bit, even as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Reinforce her knowledge that I have this well in hand. -Yeah, she¡¯s heard stories of Mages all her life, seen them as ¡®beyond¡¯ her capability. Wield that for her good.- Precisely. Artia walked around to the far side as the girl lay down, that way Kedva could hold each of their hands still. Brandon kissed Kedva on the forehead, ¡°You¡¯ll do just fine. Mistress Tala knows what she¡¯s doing.¡± Yeah, build up her confidence. If there''s no trust, she dies. -And re-emphasizing that again would be counterproductive.- Agreed. Over the next few minutes, the six of them talked, Master Simon answering some questions, the others comforting Kedva, and Tala filling in where she needed to. Rane stayed off to one side, smiling Tala¡¯s way whenever she glanced his way. Finally, Tala motioned to the two holding Kedva¡¯s hands. It was time, and they couldn¡¯t be in contact with her when it happened. Artia gave a squeeze and let go. Brandon leaned in and kissed her forehead once again, making Tala wish they were a little less overt with their affection. -It literally doesn¡¯t matter how covert they were. You see everything in here, and in the vicinity. You see it, even if the ¡®me¡¯ part of you keeps certain things from the ¡®you¡¯ part of you for the sake of propriety and your mental state.- ¡­I did not want to know that you have those things Archived. -I didn¡¯t say I Archived them.- Alat responded evasively. But you Archive everything we experience, see, or perceive. -...fine. If we ever have need of something that happened near such a memory, you¡¯ll thank me.- I¡¯m sure. Kedva, to her credit, maintained her composure. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°I know.¡± With a releasing of her will, power snapped back inward. Kedva¡¯s body acted as if it was hit with an electrical shock, arching up and back, arms spread wide, eyes widening and mouth opening in a silent shout of surprise. It had begun. * * * Tala watched carefully as Kedva arched in shock and involuntary spasms as magic permeated her every cell. There was a noticeable increase in the power flowing through Tala being funneled to Kit. That drain would slow once Kedva equalized, but it gave Tala a nice feeling similar to stretching a sore muscle. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As to the impact on Kedva? Tala had chosen to allow the weight of the full magical density within Kit to come down upon Kedva all at once for a very simple reason: It was easier on everyone. A slow build up wouldn¡¯t hurt less, and it would make the whole process take longer. So, they¡¯d made the decision to do it in one fell swoop. Tala¡¯s aura had unquestioned superiority over this entire situation and circumstance. This sanctum was hers. They were within her soulbound companion. The power in the air had come through her gate. It had been purified by her earned magics. The woman before her was on Tala¡¯s guest bed. She¡¯d put herself into Tala¡¯s hands for this rebirth. -Ha! You¡¯re calling it that now, too.- Tala growled internally. Not really the time. -Fine, fine, but Adrill and Brandon will be quite happy that you¡¯ve agreed to use their word for it.- Tala ignored her alternate interface; helping Kedva through her predicament was more important right now. As such, Tala felt something almost seem to click into place within her aura, within her will and power. If she wanted to, she could simply claim Kedva¡¯s iron, and it would be hers, unquestionably. There would be no effort, no reaching, no extending, nothing. If she willed it, it would be hers. More than even that, if Tala so desired, she could control the girl¡¯s every cell as she would her own. What the rust? Tala almost recoiled at the sense of sovereignty and ownership that she felt over Kedva¡¯s physical form. The girl was at Tala¡¯s mercy, within her sanctum, within her aura, and utterly under her power and authority. Tala hated every aspect of it. The very idea made her feel ill. It reminded her too much of her circumstances in the House of Blood, even if her own vulnerability had never been quite this overt. But she couldn¡¯t let her personal issues put Kedva at risk, and she had work to do. Tala couldn¡¯t pull back. She couldn¡¯t disengage. Doing so would all but guarantee Kedva¡¯s death. Thus, Tala would buckle down and do what needed to be done. Even so, there was one thing that she had to mentally address first. There¡¯s still a soul in this body, right? That was the most logical explanation for Tala¡¯s sudden seeming ownership of another body: The soul was gone. -Yes, I know you can sense it, can see it, can feel it, but I also understand why you asked.- How can I have ownership over her every cell while her soul remains? Tala knew the answer, but it was important to express. -I think it¡¯s best if you say it.- Because the body is just a thing. It isn¡¯t the person. It is a possession that we are given for a little while, and then we leave it behind. -Go on.- Before the unmeasurable vastness of eternity, nothing that happens to our bodies matters. Even a grievous injury is like losing a piece in tafl. In the game, it''s frustrating, even infuriating. It can mean the difference between victory and defeat. It unquestionably matters¡­ in the game. -But outside the game?- Losing a piece is meaningless. Tala felt like the moment was expanding before her enhanced consciousness as this truth truly rolled through her. In the view of eternity, only the soul matters. -And the soul¡¯s destination cannot be diverted by acts of magic, monster, or man.- ¡­But¡­ does that mean that nothing here matters? What¡¯s the point of all this? There is no point if that¡¯s true. Even the arcanes¡¯ use of vestiges doesn¡¯t matter in the perspective of eternity, then. That can¡¯t be right. I refuse to believe that. If that¡¯s true, then Mistress Odera didn¡¯t matter while she was here, and her passing doesn¡¯t matter now that she¡¯s gone. This life must mean something. -I don¡¯t have the answer for you. It is probably something worth asking Master Grediv about¡ªor Master Nadro¡ªbut after.- Right. After. -...but, if it helps, I think you are missing something.- Oh? -How we play a game matters. Even if the game, itself, doesn¡¯t matter in the end, how we played not only reveals who we are, over time, it will shape who we are.- I¡­ I can¡¯t really process that right now. -Fair. We do have work to do.- Tala tucked her questions away into the back of her mind, returning her focus to the girl whose life¡ªwhose very being¡ªwas entrusted to her care. She nodded to Brandon, and he began verbally giving the instructions for Kedva to ¡®attempt¡¯ to act with her will and her power. Kedva obviously had no power of her own, and her will was utterly untrained, but the act of at least believing that she was trying would help. Toward that end, they had decidedly not told Kedva the true purpose of the verbal instructions. Tala tuned out Brandon¡¯s voice even as she used her aura as the medium for her magical manipulation techniques, long honed as an Immaterial Guide. The power that had invaded Kedva moved at Tala¡¯s direction, because it was Tala¡¯s power. The natural magics were carved into existence around the girl as Tala guided the magic with surprising ease. All the while, Kedva¡¯s cells drank in the ambient power, so much so that they would have burst while still drinking in more if Tala hadn¡¯t forcibly directed the excess away. There had been a lot of discussion on what spellform to give Kedva, so that she could easily bleed off the excess power as her body acclimated. Unlike Brandon and Adrill, Kedva didn¡¯t have the basis in magical theory for magesight. Tala didn¡¯t have a basis in arcane social structures that was sufficient to understand what the standard scripts given to infants of their various species were intended to do, let alone how they were meant to function. There really was only one choice in the end. It helped that Tala had a template ready at hand. As discussed, Tala called a handful of fruit to her hand. Now I literally have them at hand. -Bad pun, Tala. Focus.- Right. The fruit was already cut in half, the deadly pits removed. She gently placed them in Kedva¡¯s mouth, using her aura to pull enough power away so that the girl could chew and swallow. They¡¯d discussed having her eat them beforehand, but from what they could determine, having such active magics within her would have utterly blocked the process from taking place, which is not what they wanted at the moment. Regardless, Kedva finished eating the offering, and Tala allowed the full magic density to return with a swirl in the zeme. An almost achingly familiar power spread throughout Kedva from core to extremities, and Tala continued her work. Soon, Kedva would have the natural magics that had saved Tala¡¯s life more times than she cared to remember. The magic of ancient heroes. The magic of endingberries. * * * Tala was in a maze of power, every wisp of it dancing to her tune. The very zeme moved in patterns at her direction, creating patterns akin to weather patterns that would last until the day that Kedva died. Tala was creating a cycle of magic within the girl that was beyond anything that she had fully planned beforehand. Forging the magics for the men¡ªAdrill and Brandon¡ªhad been an act of desperation, but she¡¯d done the best that she could. Kedva¡¯s magics¡ªthose that Tala was forging within her at that very moment¡ªwere planned and premeditated. There was no magic that Tala knew better than that of the endingberry. Even before she¡¯d wielded gravity, she¡¯d longed to replicate the feats of the heroes of old. She¡¯d studied the legends about their magic and the theories on its potential sources. Her first defensive scripts had been temporary, modeled after the endingberries¡¯ cyclical nature¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t know that at the time. Strength unyielding gained in exchange for a short duration. Tala had built upon those magics, incorporating them as constant rather than temporary, always burning her gate-derived power, resonating with that gate¡ªher soul. As for the endingberries themselves? Once she¡¯d discovered them, she¡¯d eaten uncounted thousands of the little fruits. She¡¯d drunk gallons of their juice, especially recently since it had become a staple drink with most of her meals. Every ounce consumed had been turned into power, purified, and applied to her own defense. Truly, there was no magic that she knew better than¡ªand few who knew any one particular bit of magic as well as¡ªshe knew this one. As such, she felt the call to push the possible. That is why she went beyond what had been planned, if only just. The power echoed off of the endingberry magics that were blazing from within Kedva, using their pervasive spread as the basis to resonate toward her goal. Tala¡¯s own magics, resonating and manifesting in existence added to the feedback of power. Rather than a single spellform, which would have acted across Kedva¡¯s being at once, Tala forged the interlinking mesh in a mirror of her own¡ªmimicking the actual effect of ending berries, rather than just copying their magics. But Tala¡¯s magic had a flaw. A flaw rooted in her nature as a gated. Her magic had a single source, even if that source spread out to feed her magics all at once. The nature of arcane magic was that the body was a vessel for power, thus the body became the source, not the conduit. True, it was a source like a bucket rather than a spring, but the idea still stood. Thus, Tala didn¡¯t connect Kedva¡¯s magic into a central network. Instead, she forged each minute spellform to draw power from the overflow given off of Kedva¡¯s very cells, directly. The difference between Kedva¡¯s magic and that which Tala had given to Adrill and Brandon was effectively the difference between using a bucket with holes in it to carry water to a waterwheel when compared to installing waterwheels on every hole in the bucket. The very act of failing to hold onto power would be what caused the power to be used as desired. -That was a horrible metaphor.- Yeah, well, I¡¯m sort of focused on other things right now. -Sure, sure. It¡¯s interesting that you¡¯re effectively making her default state the use of magic, rather than requiring activation.- Do you disapprove? -No, no. It was clever when you thought of it, and it still is. Kedva learning to control her power will be her learning to turn it off, rather than just letting it run out.- And learning to be able to amplify its use at need. -That too. You know that your defensive scripts aren¡¯t clean, right? They aren¡¯t just endingberry power.- You can see that I know that, Alat. You¡¯re just distracting me. -Right, right, but enhancement¡­ it¡¯s not easy to adjust to.- I¡¯m not giving her my enhancement scripts. That would kill her. -But you are giving her the variation of endingberry power that makes every cell more capable of doing what it does.- Brandon, Adrill, Kedva, and I agreed that I¡¯d give her my endingberry-derived scripts. They know that this is a part of it. -Oh, agreed, but I still think they¡¯re going to be surprised.- Tala grunted internally at that. Alat was probably right. Most people didn¡¯t actually understand what secondary effects various magics had. Even though power rarely ever only did one thing, they would still act shocked by the side effects. Adrill and Brandon¡¯s own scripts were examples of this. The spellforms that she¡¯d given them for magesight¡ªand that they¡¯d have reinforced with inscriptions sooner rather than later¡ªincluded the necessary alterations to allow their minds to handle the increased information. You know¡­ I bet that the reinscriber would work on them. It does model its inscribings based on the person¡¯s natural magics¡­ -That would be working backwards from the normal process, but it should work¡­ We would one hundred percent need a healer on hand.- Oh, definitely. We¡¯d also have to figure out what, exactly would be done about their focal point. It isn¡¯t like they have gates. -It could actually be really enlightening to study what came of it, now that I think about it.- But she was allowing herself to be distracted. Kedva needed her full attention. Chapter: 385 - Durability Tala¡¯s aura was acting as a mold, holding the patterns and forcing the magic to flow at her direction. Her threefold sight let her know that Kedva¡¯s kidneys were working overtime, along with all her other functions that were designed to clean up unwanted things within her. In fact, her whole body was rejecting the impurities that it had previously incorporated. Tala blinked in shock as black sludge was pushed out of Kedva¡¯s every pore, even leaking out of her eyes like black tears. It was oddly similar to what Tala had experienced while Refining, but much less extreme, and much less foul, as if these were less ingrained impurities, or at least less of them. Truthfully, they¡¯d discussed, and even expected, something like this happening, because Brandon and Adrill had said that their urinations and defecations had been foul since their rebirth. The healers they¡¯d asked explained that it was the magic now within their body helping them clear up the nastiness built up over a lifetime of mundane living. Apparently, the magics that Tala was giving Kedva were more efficient at the purification process, or at least helped to augment it to occur more rapidly. The appearance of the black sludge was a herald of the end, and Kedva¡¯s body stopped its spasmodic attempts at twitching shortly thereafter. Tala had held the girl still with her will, but she had still felt how Kedva had wanted to flail about. Tala stepped back, ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± To his credit, Brandon rushed forward, grabbing Kedva¡¯s hand, heedless of the tar-like nastiness that covered her delicate fingers. Not so delicate now. The young man pulled out a cloth and did his best to wipe his betrothed¡¯s face. It didn¡¯t do much, but it was a sweet gesture. Kedva gasped, her lips sticking a bit as she opened her mouth to pull in a deep breath. Her eyes seemed to be stuck shut, however. Tala sighed, and with a thought¡ªand a moderate exertion of will¡ªshe pulled wooden panels to their location, surrounding Kedva even as the bed vanished, and the girl dropped into a warm bath. Brandon was moved beyond the wooden barriers, and Artia was moved to be within them. The older woman immediately intuited what was going on, and got to work. Tala might have been able to pull away the black muck directly, but something told her it would be unwise to attempt to do so. It didn¡¯t make sense, but she¡¯d learned to trust her instincts. -At least sometimes.- Hush you. As Kedva was splashing and spluttering, Tala pulled her aura back, feeling her pseudo-ownership and authority over the girl fade. She relinquished her position of sovereignty and hated the feeling of loss that came along with it. Oh, that¡¯s awful. It was like the loss of a limb, only she couldn¡¯t grow this one back. It was like the loss of a friend, and it resonated with the still raw wound of Mistress Odera¡¯s passing. Even so, it had been right. That girl was not Tala¡¯s to rule over. To keep her¡ªto even want to¡ªwould be envious or an unfounded jealousy, and that was not who Tala was. Kedva had been able to open her eyes with the help of the warm water loosening the hold of the black nastiness. She took a moment, sitting there in the bath, to look up at Tala. ¡°Did it¡­ am I¡­?¡± Tala smiled. ¡°It went perfectly. Even better than we had hoped.¡± Kedva beamed up at Tala, revealing black-coated teeth. ¡°Good, because this is disgusting, and I might just hate you if this was all for nothing.¡± Tala barked a laugh before smiling at the girl once again. ¡°Get cleaned up. Your betrothed and your parents will be eager to see you up and about.¡± Kedva nodded and began wriggling to get out of her sopping, filthy clothing. Those are a lost cause. -Yeah¡­ There is an odd film of¡­- Alat gasped. -Is that¡­?- Yeah. Reality, but not iron, not anti-magical, but definitely of Reality. -...we¡¯re going to have to study that muck, aren¡¯t we.- She sighed internally. Yeah¡­ probably. At that moment, Terry flickered into being, standing on the edge of the tub. Kedva didn¡¯t seem to notice him, but Artia did. She gave a careful, small bow to the avian. Terry dipped his head back to her, but he was clearly focused on Kedva. Tala leaned close to the avian. ¡°Let her recover, let me test her, then you can spar with her.¡± He examined Kedva and Tala for a long moment before bobbing in agreement and flickering away. ¡°Could someone help me? I think I¡¯m stuck.¡± Kedva¡¯s voice came from within the garment. ¡°No¡­ I feel like I could rip my way out, but I don¡¯t want to ruin this dress.¡± Artia stepped forward, ¡°Of course, dear. Let me help.¡± With that, she began to help Kedva, and Tala took that as her cue to be elsewhere. She moved herself outside the wooden dividers, arriving directly beside Brandon. She caught his hand just as he was about to push his way through. ¡°She¡¯s fine, and your mother is helping her undress to get clean.¡± The young man colored brightly and stepped back. She smiled, letting his wrist go as he moved away. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be too long. Let¡¯s chat with the others while we wait.¡± Tala and Brandon moved off to one side to wait for Kedva to get cleaned up. Master Simon, Adrill, and Rane joined them, and together, the five talked through how the process had gone. Generally speaking, everything seemed to have gone as well as could have been hoped. Master Simon provided readings and insights that lined up with what Tala had seen and enacted. It was good to have a second set of perspectives to verify the information. If something had gone odd with her own perception, it wouldn¡¯t matter how many different aspect-mirrored points of view she had, they¡¯d all be similarly distorted or inaccurate. -Yes, our views of the world are inaccurate to the extreme.- Alat expressed with a hint of playful sarcasm. Yes, in many ways they are. Isn¡¯t that the whole point of advancing toward Paragon? We are correcting our perception of existence? That quieted the alternate interface for a little while. Tala explained the alterations she¡¯d implemented to the men. After a bit of back and forth, it was agreed that the implemented design for magical redistribution and use of power made more sense for non-gated than shackling them to the gated model. Less than ten minutes after they were put up, the wooden dividers vanished, exposing Kedva, fully dressed in new, Tala-provided clothing. The tub was gone in the same way as the bed and dividers had been taken away. Tala had taken the black gunk and the clothing soiled with it and stashed it for later research. -Without telling anyone.- We¡¯ll discuss it later. Kedva looked¡­ radiant. She had been lovely before, but that naturally solid foundation had been built upon, enhanced, and uplifted. She did look a little worse for wear in one department, namely she looked just a bit malnourished. Thankfully, that was being corrected even as she was brought forth. In one hand, Kedva held a wooden tray, loaded down with all manner of food, including endingberries. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She seemed almost to not be able to eat fast enough, her body still in a hyper-flexible state, taking in the nutrition faster than was usual¡ªthough nowhere near the speed Tala had managed even right after her scripts were completed. ¡°Does this hunger pass?¡± Kedva asked around bites of food, washed down with endingberry juice from an iron cup. Tala found herself grinning like a maniac even as Brandon answered. ¡°I¡¯ve definitely found myself hungrier since my rebirth, and I think yours was more extreme than mine.¡± Tala was still vaguely uncomfortable with the term ¡®rebirth¡¯ for the procedure, but it seemed close enough to the truth, and Brandon and Adrill had adopted it almost exclusively, Kedva following suit. Still, she didn¡¯t let that suppress her amusement. Adrill noticed Tala¡¯s expression and leaned toward her, asking quietly, ¡°What is so entertaining?¡± Tala glanced his way, ¡°Ask her what she¡¯s drinking.¡± He gave her an odd look, ¡°I know it¡¯s magic, that much is obvious.¡± She made a ¡®get-on-with-it¡¯ gesture, still smiling. With a shake of his head, he shrugged and did as she asked, ¡°Kedva, dear, what is that you¡¯re drinking?¡± Kedva took another gulp. ¡°It tastes like the berries¡­ endingberries. I think it¡¯s their juice.¡± Adrill twitched, his entire body jerking slightly. ¡°Adrill? Is everything alright?¡± Kedva paused, the cup halfway back to her mouth. He squeaked slightly. ¡°Nothing, dear. You¡­ you enjoy your food.¡± Kedva looked confused, turning to Brandon, who was just slightly pale. ¡°What am I missing? Brandon?¡± Brandon swallowed reflexively. ¡°That juice¡­ the berries are roughly equivalent to gold in value by weight.¡± Kedva¡¯s eyes widened, but he wasn¡¯t done. ¡°The juice is processed and refined. If you could find a buyer, it could be worth up to triple its weight in gold.¡± Kedva looked down at the cup with widening eyes. She then looked to Tala, ¡°Mistress Tala¡­ I¡­ I can¡¯t repay you for this.¡± Tala had had her fun, so she waved dismissively. ¡°It is yours, free and clear. There¡¯s more where that came from, quite literally. I have an endingberry orchard in here. You¡¯ll have your fill if you come and work in here with Brandon and Adrill as discussed.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Well, you¡¯ll be doing other things, not actually working with them.¡± Kedva nodded, ¡°That was made clear, yes.¡± ¡°Then, there isn¡¯t any issue. You¡¯ll likely be enlisted to make the juice for your and my use.¡± She smiled again, ¡°Maybe for others too, if the tests go well, and we find those worthy of receiving the same magics that you did.¡± She smiled a bit nervously. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ wonderful.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°Go, assure your parents that everything is alright, then come back. We need to test your durability.¡± There was a collective hitch from everyone present, as they all turned to regard Tala more fully. She frowned. ¡°What?¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Who will be testing her?¡± ¡°I will, of course. Is that a problem?¡± There was a collective exchange of glances. She gave them a flat look, ¡°I¡¯ll be careful.¡± Rane coughed implicatively. -See? He¡¯s a wise boy.- I can be careful¡­ -...- Fine¡­ Tala sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. ¡°Master Simon, can you go get Mistress Vanga, while Kedva goes and talks to her parents?¡± Master Simon bowed, ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± * * * Tala looked at her opponent with narrowed eyes. The girl seemed like she didn¡¯t know how to fight. Her stance was sloppy, her guard was flawed, and she was visibly containing her nervousness. Tala was skeptical, so she simply decided to ask, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re ready?¡± Kedva straightened, ¡°Wait, that¡¯s an option? I¡¯m not ready.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Kedva, we need to test these scripts. We have a healer. In fact, we have two.¡± Tala gestured to Mistress Vanga and Anna who stood off to one side. Anna raised a hand to beside her head as if she were about to ask a question, even as she leaned forward. ¡°Only one, actually. I¡¯m not officially a healer yet. I¡¯m still in training.¡± Mistress Vanga patted her mageling on the shoulder. ¡°And you¡¯re doing very well, Anna.¡± Anna gave a happy little shrug, shifting back to stand as she had been. Tala nodded, ¡°Exactly, we have two people who can heal.¡± Anna opened her mouth to protest, then stopped to consider. Finally, she shrugged again and left it alone. After all, Anna had gone and gotten her inscriptions with Mistress Vanga. She could heal. -So, you are technically correct.- That is the best kind of correct. -...you don¡¯t believe that.- No, I do not, but I want to, at least in this instance. -Fine. I¡¯ll leave it be.- Tala addressed Kedva, ¡°So?¡± Kedva sighed, crouching down, back into her mockery of a fighting stance. ¡°Very well. I¡¯m ready.¡± She wasn¡¯t. Tala didn¡¯t bother with a fighting stance. She simply stepped forward and off to one side. Surprisingly, the girl lunged forward even as her gaze trailed Tala by a foot or two. Tala finished her step before poking Kedva in the shoulder. Kedva was utterly unprepared for the shift in her center of balance, causing her to stumble to the side, away from the poke. She got her feet underneath her, moving her hand to where she¡¯d been poked. ¡°Ow! Wait¡­ not ow? That felt like it should have hurt, but it didn''t?¡± ¡°Good.¡± Tala grinned, holding out her hand. Flow appeared in it, sparring sheath locked in place, already in the form of a sword. Kedva straightened. ¡°Hey, now. That¡¯s not exactly fair.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I just tested your fighting ability. Now we test your resilience.¡± She stepped forward once again, giving a lazy swing into Kedva¡¯s side. Tala didn¡¯t want to hurt her, so she swung from low to high. Kedva didn¡¯t try to move out of the way or block, but she still squealed in surprise as she flew. She was thrown off the sparring circle to land in the surrounding ring of water, the local part of the infinite river. A moment after she disappeared, she shot back out of the water, landing on the stone with that single leap, dripping wet and glaring. ¡°Was that really necessary?¡± Tala¡¯s smile grew, and she pointed with her off hand at Kedva¡¯s side. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me?¡± Kedva looked down and saw that her tunic had burst apart where Tala had struck, creating an incredibly rough, two inch oval that revealed skin. Skin that was perfectly intact and not red at all. Kedva gaped. ¡°How?¡± Tala nodded. That was a good question. ¡°To borrow arcane terminology, you have near Elder levels of power constantly flowing out of you, powering your defensive magics. On a purely physical level, you are almost as durable as I am.¡±¡ªTala hesitated¡ª¡±Well, no, not really, but you are much closer than nearly anyone else.¡± Rane was slowly nodding. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have your depth of magic, but she has your magical density, because of the sanctum and how you constructed her magics.¡± Tala pointed his way, to where he and the others were sitting on the far side of the ring of water, ¡°Exactly. Within this Sanctum, and likely for¡­¡± she considered for a moment, ¡°Two minutes?¡± -More like one and a half.- Thank you. -Happy to assist.- ¡°For about a minute and a half after you leave, you will be all but indestructible to any non-magical¡­ anything, really. Any magical effect of¡±¡ªTala glanced Anna¡¯s way¡ª¡±one advancement below mine will still cut through you relatively easily, and you are still laughably exposed to direct magical alteration, but that should be solvable with time and training. After that 90 seconds or so, you¡¯ll still be as tough as a bull for nearly half an hour, more durable toward the beginning than the end.¡± ¡°But less time if I actually am resisting damage, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but once we get you to the point of resisting direct magical effects, that shouldn¡¯t cause a shortening of the time.¡± Kedva seemed to consider. ¡°There was a section in the manual about that¡­ ¡®Staking Your Claim¡¯ or something of that nature,¡± she was nodding to herself, the possibilities seeming to unfold before her mind, ¡°But that aside. It would be better to not have to resist damage. Can you improve my fighting? I don¡¯t want to fight, not really, but the skills should translate into my being safer in all sorts of situations.¡± Tala kept from laughing derisively. Kedva was asking for help, after all. ¡°That is quite true, and absolutely, yes.¡± A crippled, first-year city guard could improve your fighting. -Tala¡­ you had to learn too.- ¡­Fair. She smiled at the younger girl, ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± That began roughly three hours of training. Once again, Tala found herself falling back on Eskau De-arg¡¯s methods. Though, she was far, far more forgiving than that little, bear-like arcane had been. She struck at flaws in Kedva¡¯s form, performing percussive maintenance on the girl¡¯s movements. Brandon occasionally called out encouragement, and Mistress Vanga and Anna insisted on checking on Kedva¡¯s health every so often, but otherwise they simply kept working. Rane occasionally assisted, either giving pointers or acting as an opponent for Kedva so Tala could supervise from the outside. Tala felt a bit awkward about that, given that Rane had a greater depth of experience, martially speaking, but Kedva seemed to take her instruction better, so they let Tala take the lead. After about an hour, when Kedva was starting to at least keep her feet under her, Terry flickered into the sparring ring. Terry¡¯s eyes were locked on Tala, and she knew what he wanted. ¡°Fine¡­¡± He trilled happily. Then, Anna called out from the sideline, waving, ¡°Terry! Good to see you again. Want some more?¡± Terry looked her way and flickered a half step away from her. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± She leaned back, smiling. Only then did she look around, taking in the looks of absolute awed confusion on Rane¡¯s and Brandon¡¯s faces. ¡°What? Did I miss something?¡± Brandon, who was closer, cleared his throat. ¡°What did you do to Terry?¡± ¡°Nothing, I just gave him some scratches. He liked it well enough, but I think it put him off his guard, which he didn¡¯t like after the fact.¡± Brandon nodded slowly. ¡°Alright then.¡± There was a beat of silence before everyone reoriented on the task at hand. Kedva gave a little wave. ¡°Hi, Terry.¡± He trilled in greeting, then flickered, appearing behind her leg and striking it, hard. Tala would have thought that it would be difficult to judge how hard Terry struck Kedva. That might be true under normal circumstances, but Terry knew what he was about. The leg he hit shot out from under the woman, swung upward and threatened to rob her of her footing entirely. To her credit, she instinctively bore down, crunching forward to attempt to keep herself upright. Unfortunately, that moved her into the path of her own leg, and she kicked herself in the head. It took her a minute to rise to her feet again. When Mistress Vanga asked if she wanted help, Kedva waved her off. ¡°I am just trying to wrap my head around the fact that that little bird just took me down like that.¡± Rane barked a laugh, then quickly covered his mouth, looking embarrassed. Terry flickered to his shoulder, looking him dead in the eye. Rane muttered under his breath, so only Terry and Tala could hear, ¡°I was laughing at the underestimation, Terry. You are utterly terrifying.¡± Terry chirped once, then flickered away, causing Rane to relax. Kedva hopped back to her feet, ¡°Alright, so that happened. Should we continu¡ª¡± Terry flickered into being beside her, delivering a raking slash to her side, spinning her back to the ground. Kedva squealed as she fell. Terry let out a series of laugh-like chirps. Oh, this is going to be an interesting day. Blessedly, Terry only flickered in to ¡®test¡¯ Kedva every so often while Rane and Tala worked with the girl. At the end of the three hours, Kedva¡¯s stomach was growling almost constantly, and so Tala called a halt. ¡°Let¡¯s get some food, everybody.¡± There was a round of agreement. Alright then. Let¡¯s go. Chapter: 386 - Her? Tala quickly checked with everyone, and after verifying that they were ready to go, she used a moderate act of will to move everyone to a spread of food already made ready for them. Moving Mistress Vanga among the others was interesting. Tala felt that the woman could have resisted. Tala also felt that she would have won the struggle, but it wouldn¡¯t have been as effortless as moving other things. I haven¡¯t felt that when moving anyone else. She must have greater density than I realized. -Could be.- Alat was focused on going over the transportation, which she¡¯d observed from all directions. She had been observing all such movements, trying to build out a model of how they happened. Both of them still had absolutely no idea how it was accomplished. Now that we¡¯re bound with Kit, it is clearer. I feel like we are on the edge of understanding. But, regardless, there¡¯s still time. -Yeah, we have an eternity to figure it out.- ¡­Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t take that long. Worst case, we can try to get Kit to tell us. She definitely didn¡¯t experience the qualitative mental enhancement that we¡¯re expecting from Terry, but she also didn¡¯t effectively disappear like the dasgannach did. It was also possible that Kit hadn¡¯t been advanced enough to have had any sort of ¡®awakening¡¯ due to the bond. Either that, or whatever type of creature Kit was didn¡¯t react in the same way as those traditionally used as familiars. -Agreed. It almost feels like Kit became a portion of our involuntary functions, actually acting based on our will without needing conscious action.- Tala considered that for what felt like minutes to her enhanced mind¡ªrunning as it was on an extra pull of power¡ªbut was in fact less than a couple of seconds in real time. She felt Alat was also considering something, but she couldn¡¯t see that, yet. You know, I think you¡¯re right. Kit¡¯s addition to our whole very much is like an extra sub-mind of sorts. She definitely still is herself, but she is also bound to us more closely than a familiar would be. -A sort of half-state.- Tala huffed a laugh internally. It¡¯s like she filled in the void around our mind. There was a noticeable pause then, emphasized somehow by both of the persons within their mind. Well, rust. That¡¯s exactly what happened, isn¡¯t it. -Kit is a being of the void, and we are not.- Were not¡­ We¡¯re bound to her now, and just like she became more like us, we became more like her. -That¡¯s true. Hmmm¡­- It¡¯s worth investigating, but not now. -Yeah, not now.- Alat seemed to be considering something else, too. Likely what she¡¯d been considering earlier. -Back on movement within the sanctum: Do you mind if I use a bit of our will and focus to hop stuff around and see what I can learn?- Absolutely. That¡¯s a great idea. I trust you to be wise about the use of our resources.- -Thank you. I¡¯ll get right on that.- Focusing back on the meal spread out on the largest table in the sanctum, Tala had to smile. It looked spectacularly delicious. The food had, of course, been prepared by Mistress Petra, and she had joined them along with Master Simon and Adrill. Apparently, Segis and Metti were in Alefast with a tutor for the day. Tala had not known that the two children had a tutor, but she supposed it made sense. They were learning from their parents, but having a third adult to teach them and keep them on track during specific times likely made everything much easier. As soon as the others noticed where they were, they had begun moving toward the table. Anna somehow seemed to skip even as she walked over to her mother to give the older woman a big hug. ¡°Oh, Mama, this looks so good!¡± ¡°Thank you, dear.¡±¡ªshe bowed toward Tala, then Mistress Vanga¡ª¡±Mistress Tala, Mistress Vanga, I hope that the fare is to your liking.¡± Mistress Vanga gave a small bow in return, ¡°It looks excellent, Mistress Petra. Thank you.¡± Tala nodded in gratitude, ¡°It really does look excellent.¡± Mistress Petra smiled and nodded toward Rane and then Brandon, ¡°Master Rane, welcome. Brandon, it is good to see you again.¡± Rane gave a deferential bow her way. ¡°Thank you for preparing such amazing food for us, yet again.¡± Brandon stepped forward and gave the woman a hug. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯ll be here, too.¡± The Zuccat and Feshua families were becoming quite close. From what Tala observed, they¡¯d been eating many of their meals all together. She suspected that Artia would be here, too, if she didn¡¯t have the shop to mind. Hmmm¡­ -Oh, that¡¯s an idea. Not useful now, but¡­- Yeah, at the end of the waning, it could be a wise investment. -We can talk with Artia about it at some point, but probably not until after she¡¯s learned what she needs to keep up with her husband.- Agreed. Master Simon gave his wife a chaste kiss on the cheek as they sat down all together. They chatted about a lot of little things. On one extreme, they discussed what Master Simon and Adrill were working on. The white steel fabricator was an ongoing side project that was forefront in their thoughts, and they actually thought they were getting close to getting it to work. Though, to be fair, when Tala asked for a tentative timeline, Master Simon had said that three to six months would be an optimistic window. Apparently, it was in process of losing the magic-bond it had picked up with Tala by dint of being within the sanctum for so long. Now, the pure power that was flowing through its inactive magics were slowly clearing it out. Master Simon didn¡¯t want to actually fire it up until the process was complete as otherwise it might give odd or inconsistent results. Tala agreed with the delay. Blessedly, there was still a lot to learn about the device even while it was undergoing the shift. Aside from the white steel fabrication, Master Simon, Adrill, and Brandon¡ªwhen he worked with them¡ªwere investigating all the oddities of the sanctum, attempting to backwards-engineer the arcane methods to achieve the same¡ªor at least similar¡ªresults. Tala had approved that project as well, and they were even collectively receiving a stipend from the Constructionist Guild to be kept in the loop on what they learned. More was paid out when they had breakthroughs, or found especially interesting or useful information. And we still need to take a bit to reshape and reimagine how Kit will work, going forward. On the other end of the conversation, the group had a detailed discussion of what Tala and Kedva had been up to. There was some teasing, which Kedva took with grace. There was some ribbing, which Tala endeavored to return in kind. About halfway through what was effectively a feast, Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder and settled down. Tala scratched his head, and gave him some of the food that he preferred. All in all, it was an exceedingly enjoyable meal. * * * This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The next two days passed quickly, with little really unexpected or overly interesting occuring. Tala and Rane both did their best to fit in training with Kedva here and there, teaching her how to defend herself and generally how to operate with her new abilities. Kedva was in a different position than Tala had been, largely because while Tala had enhancements through her entire body, making some parts of her proportionally more enhanced than others¡ªbased on what she and Mistress Holly deemed the most important¡ªKedva had been universally uplifted. Her every system, every function, every aspect was improved as a whole. Thus, the girl wasn¡¯t struggling with imbalances in her expected actions. Everything moved as she thought it should, that speed was just faster than it used to be. All told, that meant that she was starting from a place of greater competence than Tala had. It made the lessons more productive right from the get-go. When she was on her own, Kedva began working alongside Mistress Petra¡ªand occasionally Artia¡ªlearning the techniques for preserving magics within consumable harvests. The girl also did other tasks around the sanctum as needed, using her free time to study the next steps in the arcane advancement manual. To her credit, she had started her own practice, attempting to grab at least a small amount of control over the power now coursing through her. Brandon and Adrill were doing something similar, but it looked very different for the men, given their very different magics. Tala took her shifts as a defender with her unit, trained, and tried to spend at least a little time with Master Girt. He seemed to have recovered from their conversation, though his aura was once again closed to her. So, she couldn¡¯t verify the state of his gate. Even so, he still seemed to appreciate her company when she was able to give it. One thing of note that did happen had to do with Rane. He had been absent since the previous evening. When he did return after having been out of touch a bit more than a full day, he came to the sanctum with a pleased smile on his face. When his hand touched Kit¡¯s door for the first knock, Tala pulled him inside, causing him to appear beside her, where she was finishing the last movements of one of the more advanced combat forms from the Way of Flowing Blood. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ new?¡± She grinned, not breaking her flow even as she responded. ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t know I could do it to others. Thank you for helping me test.¡± He gave her a half smile even as he chuckled. ¡°Happy to help, I suppose.¡± ¡°What can I do for you?¡± Thinking about how she was trying to be a better friend, she amended, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen as much of you the last day or so. Is everything alright?¡± He nodded, his smile fading. ¡°I had something that I¡¯ve been working on, and I realized that it would be better for you to have it. So I finished it up and brought it here. I was actually able to do more than I thought¡­ but I¡¯m getting ahead of myself.¡± That got her interest, so even as she completed the flowing series of strikes at the end of the form, she let Flow fall back into the shape of a knife and sheathed it at her belt. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Maybe I should just show you, then we can decide where to put her¡­ assuming you want her.¡± ¡°Her?¡± Rane nodded to himself. ¡°Let me just show you.¡± He pulled open the loop of leather that was his dimensional storage, much wider than he usually did. He sat it on the ground upside down, reaching up inside it to fumble for a moment before grunting and laying it flat. ¡°That should do it.¡± He lifted the loop up, revealing¡­ a statue. Oh. -What?- Alat had been focused on some of their tests in another part of the sanctum, but Tala¡¯s reaction had drawn her attention in full. -Oh.- It was Mistress Odera. The stone was nearly her exact skin-tone, though obviously the texture and minute variations didn¡¯t match. She was seated in the pose in which she¡¯d often sat atop the caravan wagons. Her eyes were closed in meditation, and her features were peaceful. Tala would have thought she was about to open her eyes, if not for the clothing being of the same material as her skin. It was a small thing to spoil the otherwise incredibly lifelike appearance. She knew that if she focused closely, bringing her full enhanced perception to bear it wouldn¡¯t stand up to scrutiny, but to mundane eyes? It was perfect. ¡°Rane¡­ That¡¯s Mistress Odera.¡± He huffed a soft laugh, ¡°Well, yes. That was the idea. If you don¡¯t want it, I can take her away, but what really took the last day was something else.¡± He reached back into his loop of leather, his arm disappearing up to his shoulder as he rummaged around. ¡°You see, her inscriptions are in the Archive, just like everyone¡¯s, and now that she¡¯s¡­ gone, they are public information; she ensured that would be the case.¡± He pulled out a blue stone, and placed it in a divot in the statue created by the woman sitting cross legged. Even as he moved to place it, it began to drink in power from the air around them. As he moved his hand away, the magics within the stone reached their activation threshold, and a weak shield of water sprang up around the statue. The slight tinting of the hexagons of water hid the oddity of skin and clothing matching color. But that isn¡¯t what made Tala¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s her magic.¡± ¡°A much weaker version, and without her mind behind it, but yes. I basically matched the ¡®scent¡¯ of her magic. It isn¡¯t effective or anything, but¡ª¡± Tala held up her hand, forestalling him. ¡°I understand. Thank you.¡± He smiled, closing his mouth to let her simply take a moment. Grateful for that moment, she closed her eyes, pulling her perception away from this part of the sanctum, and only reaching out with her comparatively bumbling aura to sense the magic. She felt herself begin to weep. It felt like her. It wasn¡¯t exactly right, but it was close enough to evoke memories of long days atop caravan wagon roofs, conversations on ethics and magical methodology, and the soft, powerful voice of her mentor. Tala felt him moving toward her, so she only briefly stiffened as Rane wrapped his arms around her. She returned the hug, fiercely. She felt his magics start to activate to move him away, but whether he suppressed them, or they realized there was no escape, they failed to activate. Even so, he patted her back, ¡°Too hard!¡± She was already letting up, but she didn¡¯t let go entirely. ¡°So¡­ do you think she has a place here? This is the only place the echo-stone would work properly, but it isn¡¯t required.¡± Tala nodded against his chest. ¡°She absolutely does. Thank you, Rane.¡± He squeezed her in return. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find a good spot for her, shall we?¡± He pulled back to look down at her. ¡°Let¡¯s.¡± Thus, the time passed until the appointed time for the meeting with Master Nadro. * * * Tala returned from her morning shift fulfilling her duties as a defender, arriving where she¡¯d left Kit¡ªon the wall of Artia¡¯s shop¡ªonly to find Master Nadro already inside. The bloodstar that Tala had left in the cavern with Io¡¯s body had ended up serving many purposes. Now that she was soulbound to Kit, it was trivial to move the bloodstar and hold it stoneward just enough to give a passable view of her sanctum even when she wasn¡¯t there. As usual, Alat handled that aspect-mirrored perspective so that Tala could focus on what she needed to. Regardless, Alat was able to give Tala notice that Master Nadro had arrived a full half-hour before the slated time. He¡¯d knocked, and Master Simon had let him in. That was another change that had come about with Kit¡¯s binding to Tala. Kit now would obey some instructions given by others, at least she would if Tala would have generally agreed with them. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t like Tala was given the ability to make the choice herself. Not that I would actually see that as an improvement. -Yeah¡­ we need to offload some of our mental load, not add to it.- Agreed. In either case, Kit had responded to Master Simon¡¯s promptings to let Master Nadro inside. That was fine; Tala had no issue with Master Nadro being in her sanctum, even if she did, she suspected that he could see as much of it as she could even while remaining outside. He could probably breach the sanctum if he wanted. -It might end¡­ oddly, though.- Yeah, who knows what would actually happen if he breached a soulbound dimensional storage. -...hmmm¡­ we never really have had to defend it from such an attack.- We¡¯ve never had to defend it at all. -Might be worth asking if that¡¯s actually something that we need to be concerned about?- I think it was pretty well covered that it¡¯s not, but I don¡¯t think we actually know why¡­ yeah, we can ask. -I¡¯ll add it to the list.- Truthfully, she was grateful that Master Nadro had been willing to give them any time at all. The fact that he¡¯d come early was a good sign. Though, given his particular nature as a gateless human of incredible power, she had assumed that he had a bit of a vested interest in Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva. Regardless, he was here, and now so was she. She almost swung open the door into Kit, directing it to open beside them, but then decided to use her newer method of entry. It was something that she¡¯d been trying out and had even used on Rane the day before. As soon as her hand touched the door, she simply willed herself to be where she wished, as if she were already inside. As expected, it worked flawlessly, only taking a bit more willpower and focus than moving around Kit normally did. Ha! I love that I don¡¯t have to call doors anymore. -It is a bit faster, I suppose.- I would say that you don¡¯t get it, but you see my every thought. You¡¯re just being obstinate. -True enough. It is pretty interesting¡­- Alat trailed off implicatively. Yes, you can add it to your tests. -Thank you!- In any case, Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva were sitting with Master Nadro in a circle with a spot set aside for Tala. They were in a lovely little glade beside the infinite river. How long is the river anyways? Alat made an ¡®I¡¯m thinking¡¯ sound within their head for a moment before responding, -Hmmm¡­ Well, we¡¯ve never actually measured it, but it looks to be at least two miles in circumference. Though, it¡¯s obviously not a perfect circle.- Huh, that makes sense. Master Nadro stood at her arrival, rising from a chair that he¡¯d obviously brought himself. It held an ancient serenity to it, like a cherished possession that had been cared for and meticulously maintained for generations. -Or, given his age, just by him.- Good point. ¡°Mistress Tala, it is good to see you again.¡± Acting on a whim, Tala stepped forward offering him a hug. He accepted without comment, returning the companionable hug even though he knew that she wasn¡¯t much for such things. To her surprise, it reminded her of hugs before she was a Mage. Not only was there something comforting about him that took her back to a simpler time, but his strength, and his flesh, interacted with hers as if they were both mundanes, rather than Tala being reinforced and toughened until she felt like steel to most people. And even that didn¡¯t take into account that she actually did have iron encasing her at the moment. It didn¡¯t seem to have mattered. How strong is he? -How reinforced?- Her threefold sight was still utterly unable to detect anything specific about the man, as even his aura was shrouded. But, she was being rude, so she addressed the man, ¡°Master Nadro, thank you for coming.¡±¡ªshe stepped backward and bowed¡ª¡±I know your time is valuable.¡± She called a chair into place even as she sat down into it. ¡°What did I miss?¡± Chapter: 387 - Prospects in Retrospect Tala sat down with Adrill, Brandon, Kedva, and Master Nadro, joining in on their conversation, ¡°What did I miss?¡± Adrill smiled, nodding in greeting along with the other two before answering her question, ¡°We just outlined the basics of what occurred, leading up to our rebirth as arcane magic users.¡± Master Nadro chuckled. ¡°Well, human wielders of the arcane might be more accurate, but sometimes accuracy breeds greater confusion.¡± Adrill gave a slow nod before continuing. ¡°He said that you gave him access to the advancement manual?¡± ¡°I did.¡± She smiled. ¡°If there is anything in it that he doesn¡¯t know already, I want him to have access to it.¡± Master Nadro interjected then, ¡°None of the concepts were unknown to me, not really. That said, there were several interestingly different ways of approaching things that would have made my journey much easier, had I known them at the time. There were also a few things that aren¡¯t exactly useful, and which might actually be detrimental. I¡¯ve noted them for you.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯d hoped to have your expert opinion.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Brandon frowned, even as he held Kedva¡¯s hand, still hung up on something that Master Nadro had said, ¡°Your journey?¡± Master Nadro nodded, ¡°Now that Mistress Tala is here, we can truly begin. First of all, you should be aware of something that is not widely known: I am gateless.¡± Three sets of eyes widened in shock. Adrill collected himself the fastest, ¡°But, Master Nadro, I can see some of your magic. Begging your pardon, but you are more advanced, magically, than Mistress Tala.¡± So, he¡¯s letting them see his advancement? -So it seems.- Hmmm¡­ building trust in his expertise? -That¡¯s likely.- Master Nadro nodded again in response. ¡°I am, and I have worked hard to be so.¡± Brandon, Adrill, and Kedva noticeably leaned in, expectant. In contrast, Master Nadro leaned back in his chair. ¡°All that time has given me the perspective to be of some help to you, so listen close.¡± They nodded, staying silently attentive. ¡°Arcane advancement comes down to a single thing: Hold onto power.¡± He let that sit for a long moment before continuing. ¡°That is the underpinning of their entire society. Hold onto power. Those who can claim it don¡¯t let it go. Those who have it leverage it to get more. Their social structures are as designed to concentrate power in the elites of their various species as their magical techniques are designed to concentrate power within themselves.¡± Tala felt herself nodding. That lined up with her experiences quite well. ¡°Now, the how is rather a different story.¡± He turned to Tala, ¡°Mistress Tala, can you create a graduated series of rooms each with a lower concentration of magic?¡± She thought for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yes, I can. What percentage decreases?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with ten percent.¡±¡ªhe turned to the three who were writing notes on their Archive slates¡ª¡±When you step from one room to another, I want you to focus internally. Focus on wanting the power to linger.¡± Kedva frowned. ¡°That¡¯s it? Just ¡®want¡¯ it?¡± He gave a small smile. ¡°We are trying to train your will. It will seem like it¡¯s doing nothing for quite a long while, but eventually, you will notice that it takes a small amount more time to lose your magic. That¡¯s when you can really begin.¡± There were nods of understanding, but they all seemed skeptical. ¡°At that point, you¡¯ll want to continue to practice that as well as the opposite.¡± Brandon frowned, ¡°The opposite?¡± But his father was smiling, ¡°Ahh, that makes sense.¡± Brandon turned to Adrill, ¡°Dad?¡± Adrill glanced toward Master Nadro, and the ancient man nodded with a smile, ¡°By all means, tell us what you think the reason is.¡± He turned to his son, ¡°If all we can do is slow the outlet, we¡¯re only working our will in one direction, forcing ourselves to hold onto power. Practicing the other way will allow us to better vary our use of magic in the future.¡± Master Nadro¡¯s smile grew with genuine pleasure, ¡°That is exactly right. Well reasoned. I can see your position as a researcher is indeed well-earned.¡± Adrill gave a small, happy smile. ¡°So, we have your next steps planned. That established, there are a few other things that we need to address.¡± That pulled everyone¡¯s full focus back to the man. ¡°I gather that the incident which began all of this wasn¡¯t planned? Or at least these results weren¡¯t the desired outcome. Is that true?¡± Tala looked down, nodding in affirmation, ¡°That is true, sir.¡± ¡°So? Who was at fault?¡± Tala scrunched down in her seat between Adrill and Kedva, feeling rather exposed. Rust¡­ Brandon sat on Kedva¡¯s other side and Master Nadro completed the small circle. It was apparently time to discuss who was to blame for the three gateless¡¯s rebirths into arcane style magics. Tala didn¡¯t really want to discuss it, given her mountains of internal self-recrimination. So, there was a moment of silence. Then, in what should likely not have been a surprise, Adrill spoke, ¡°No one was at fault, Master Nadro. It was something that several of us could have thought of, and at least two of us probably should have realized the possibility, but even then, it would just have been to recognize the possibility.¡± Brandon chimed in then, ¡°I for one had wondered what the elevated, ambient magic would do to the people and things inside, but I decided it wasn¡¯t worth asking.¡±¡ªhe held up a hand when Tala opened her mouth to speak¡ª¡±I know that my query would have been addressed, and it would have been a good learning experience, but I wanted to do the experiment. I was excited to see something meld with Kit, and I chose to ignore my own internal inquiries.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°It was entirely my fault. I have perfect recall, and I knew that this level of power was well above what the arcanes used to initiate their babies.¡± ¡°Ahh.¡± Master Nadro nodded sagely. ¡°Then, that¡¯s our answer. You knew that this would happen and tricked them into being within your sanctum at the time of the change over?¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Tala sat up straight, her face the picture of confusion. ¡°Oh, my mistake, then. So, you chose not to review those memories cognizantly beforehand, thus opening yourself up to such an error?¡± ¡°No. I didn¡¯t even consider it.¡± She shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s the issue.¡± ¡°Ahh, I see. So, you regularly review all your memories before any test or somewhat new act of magic?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then¡­ how is this your fault?¡± ¡°I should have known. I made the connection as it was happening, but it was too late to do anything about it. If I¡¯d been even a second or two faster in my realization, then I could have sent them away, to a less magically dense part of my sanctum, or¡­ well, I might have been able to do something.¡± Master Nadro shook his head, ¡°We could convict anyone on might-haves, could-haves, and if-onlys, Mistress Tala. From what I have heard, and from what the others have told me, you did everything that you could have, reasonably. A perfect recall can be as much a curse as a blessing, because it leaves your brain with too much to sort through.¡± Tala grunted, grimacing again. ¡°The human mind is designed to forget things. It allows what we do remember to stand out in greater contrast, it helps us keep our thoughts in order, and grow into a better person each day. If we are constantly bogged down in the minutiae of the past, how can we ever improve ourselves, and move on to become better versions of who we want to be?¡± She opened her mouth, but found no words coming to her. -Well, rust¡­ This is my fault?- Tala huffed a laugh in her own head, Don¡¯t you start, now. -Well, we both know that if it was ¡®your¡¯ fault, it was really mine. My whole purpose is to process all that you know and remember and keep you apprised of what should be in the forefront of your thoughts.- You know, you say that a lot of things are your ¡®whole purpose¡¯ or things very nearly the same as that. -No I don¡¯t.- I¡¯m pretty sure you do. In fact, I can remember quite a¡ª -Fine. I say it a lot. I have a lot of purposes. I¡¯m very useful. I just messed up here.- So did I. -Well, I think we¡¯ve both messed up in this. Master Nadro¡¯s right. I need to shift how we have our brain organized. We¡¯ll keep our perfect memory, but I¡¯m going to create a ¡®standard memory model¡¯ skin over the top for you and I. That way, we¡¯ll function like normal, but if we want to delve into a particular memory, or remember something that has slipped our memory, I can easily get it for us.- Tala considered for a moment. Agreed. That sounds like it could be wise. She nodded, acknowledging Master Nadro. ¡°You may be right. I had not considered that flaw in my standard way of operating. Thank you.¡± He huffed a laugh, ¡°Thus making it your fault again?¡± She shook her head, ¡°No. If I had been exercising poorly out of ignorance, leaving a part of my body weak, then I dropped something because that part of me gave out, I wouldn¡¯t be at fault. I would be the cause¡ªthe impetus¡ªas I am here, but I wouldn¡¯t really be to blame.¡± He sighed, giving a half smile. ¡°Well, that is progress I suppose.¡± He looked to the others, then back to Tala. ¡°What do you say you set up the training rooms for them, then you and I have a chat, eh?¡± Tala smiled in return. ¡°I think I would like that.¡± * * * Tala made quick work of the training rooms. She built them as a series of walled-in spaces with open arches between each for easy passage through. She didn¡¯t bother with a roof, which made the whole process faster, and since the three didn¡¯t need privacy to accomplish their training, she only needed to make a singular set. When they became more advanced, they could simply enter in the more magically sparse rooms, rather than progressing through the linear series of courtyards. She tucked them in an out of the way valley along the road that the arcanes had initially built before they moved the entrance from Kit¡¯s edge to her center. Thus, while it took a bit of effort to set up, once she¡¯d managed to convey to Kit what she wanted with the power density, it became a self-sustaining process. It¡¯s good that we¡¯re able to do that, honestly. It means that we can actually make ¡®visiting¡¯ areas for gateless to be able to come in without undergoing a rebirth. -And if we ever have to treat with arcanes, it can be a place that we can allow them into without being in danger of empowering them.- I¡­ had not even considered that being an issue. -That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t considered the idea of ever treating with arcanes again.- That¡¯s quite fair, yes. Well, aside from the villages¡­ and Lisa, but I didn¡¯t really think of inviting them into Kit. Regardless, she and Master Nadro were now alone. Tala, still not wanting to discuss the things that needed discussing, asked about something else, ¡°So, should I be expecting those three to become immortal powerhouses like you?¡± He chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°Not likely, no. They will have a better shot at it than basically any in the arcane lands, though.¡±¡ªhe hesitated¡ª¡°That said, no one in the arcane lands has as rich an environment as this sanctum has become. Don¡¯t forget the fact that you should have been unable to have filled this place up with power. Not at all. It is only the soulbinding process¡ªbecause of Kit¡¯s somewhat unique nature¡ªthat equalized the power density within here with your natural state. Then, the purification magics have processed all that power.¡± Tala nodded slowly. I can feel it straining my gate to pull more power through, to replenish what is used. -And being soulbound, it should advance when you do, if we¡¯re lucky. Otherwise, it¡¯s never going to be more dense than this.- Wait¡­ that means that I had a nearly infinite well of my own power to pull from before I used the purification scripts? -...Maybe? You''d have had to refill it. So, if you tapped it too deeply, you might have been magically crippled for years, until it was refilled.- Even so, I gave it up without realizing what I even had¡­ Her eyes narrowed in thought. Did master Lisa know? -Maybe? Who knows. I know it doesn¡¯t work that way for normal storage items, even those that are soulbound. That is one hundred percent something that would be spread around, and then, there¡¯d be even more of an emphasis on making storages larger before soulbinding them.- Also, I suppose, City Stone holders use power that isn''t their own, so I could probably figure something out, if I really needed to. Master Nadro leaned forward, giving her a very serious look. ¡°I think you know this better than I do, but no one from the Major Houses can ever be allowed to know the specific details about this place. The very idea of an entire hold at this power density¡­¡±¡ªhe shook his head¡ª¡°Even though there¡¯d be little chance of extorting you to use it, there would be some that would try. After all, even Major Houses only keep their holds in the upper ranges of the Mature¡ªor Fused¡ªmagical density. Yours, here, is pushing near to the lowest reaches of Honored¡ªor Paragon.¡± He shook his head with a smile. ¡°You really do have an astonishing density for your advancement. Regardless, there are always fools who take the path of folly in a vain attempt to seek a shortcut to power.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°That extreme?¡± He gave her a flat look. ¡°By being in here, anyone can sit at the Elder advancement. Well, at least they could, after the smallest amount of training on how to take advantage of it. That means an incredibly long life, Mistress Tala. A long life in perfect or near perfect health.¡± Tala blinked at him. ¡°Wait¡­ so they will live longer than ¡®Mature¡¯ humans, by advancement?¡± ¡°With the basic level of training they will be able to, yes, but not on their own merits, and they will not be powerhouses¡­¡± He paused at that. ¡°Well, at least they won¡¯t be for a long time.¡± He shook his head and laughed. ¡°Anyone can become a genius at basically anything if given enough time. This arrangement of circumstances here, gives that in gold.¡± Tala rocked backwards. ¡°Master Nadro, I have Adrill¡¯s wife trying to train with magic to increase her lifespan to match her husband¡¯s. There is no chance she¡¯ll ever become Bound, let alone Fused.¡± ¡°Then Adrill should never learn to extend his lifespan beyond what it will already be extended to. If he does, he will have to resist using that aspect of his abilities.¡± She felt a wave of relief. ¡°So, that¡¯s possible? To learn, but not actually extend his life? He won¡¯t be forced into longevity just by being in here?¡± ¡°Not forced, no, but he will have to stagnate and let himself die. In this environment?¡± he drew in a deep, full breath, ¡°Power is practically begging to integrate itself with every part of you. Is it possible for a man to die of thirst while sitting in a spring of crystal clear, clean water? Of course, he simply must resist the urge to drink.¡± ¡°...that seems like it will need to be a conversation.¡± Master Nadro nodded. ¡°I plan on having it with him and his wife. There are many options available to them, and I am meeting them this evening to talk through the ins and outs of their particular situation.¡± ¡°Thank you, I appreciate that.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± Tala hesitated for a long moment. Then, she just had to ask. ¡°Why is this unique? I know the City Stones contain pure power. I also have guessed that they are purposely wasteful because they just can¡¯t absorb all the power coming in fast enough. Why don¡¯t we have an army of people like you?¡± She hesitated then continued, ¡°Well, not like you, but advanced humans?¡± He nodded again. ¡°That is an excellent question. First of all, you are forgetting that City Stones are filled with mixed magic, coming, for the most part, through the gates of hundreds of thousands of non-Mages. Those disparate sources make the power slightly problematic for those wielding conceptual-based magics. Moreover, concentrating power is much more complicated and costly than you likely realize, even with items like the stone your sanctum consumed. Though, I suppose you have some idea, given your experiences to the south. If it was easy to take weak power and make a magical paradise¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ every Major House would have done it.¡± ¡°Exactly, and that¡¯s just the first issue. You bypass that, because the power in here is coming from a single source before being purified and contained within a soulbound space. Even then, that would normally restrict the haven to a single recipient of the power, but with your sanctum bypassing that issue quite nicely, we arrive at the crossroads of improbability which is this opportunity for the non-gated.¡± ¡°I imagine there are other issues, even so?¡± ¡°Oh my, yes.¡± ¡°So¡­ how did you do it then? Did you find some paradise of magic? Gain a boon?¡± Master Nadro barked a laugh. ¡°Oh, stars no.¡± ¡°Then, if I can ask¡­ how?¡± He gave her a long, searching look. Finally, he nodded once. ¡°I suppose you deserve to know at least a little.¡± Finally. Chapter: 388 - Tales and Tallies Tala listened to Master Nadro¡¯s story with rapt attention, mostly processing what was said as still rather frustratingly vague. Even so, it was more than she¡¯d expected to learn. Master Nadro had been born with an unusual deformity, magically speaking. Mainly, he couldn¡¯t hold power at all. His density always perfectly matched the environment he found himself in. He didn¡¯t even disturb the zeme around himself as he moved through it. That part of his defect had gained the attention of those who needed people to serve them within ascension chambers. Tala¡ªas Tali¡ªhad experienced some of those chambers. They were small, expanded spaces packed with vestiges and scripts to crank the magical density as high as they could manage. As Master Nadro had indicated, it was a horrifically wasteful process, akin to throwing splinters into a press and then burning a forest for the energy to compress them down into a board. Master Nadro had been utterly unique. He¡¯d never even heard of anyone else with his malady since. His children hadn¡¯t inherited it either. He hadn¡¯t even been reborn into those higher magical densities as the power simply passed right through him, unaffected, and unaffecting of him. Even so, he did somehow benefit from steeping within the power. He had been found on the street when he was a child, though he didn¡¯t know what age, and by the time he¡¯d served his ¡®rescuers¡¯ for a century, he barely seemed to have reached the beginnings of puberty. Tala had to interject at that point. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you have aged normally, until you reached maturity, then stopped?¡± Master Nadro nodded, ¡°That would have been the standard, but for some reason, I reacted more like a material than a living creature, simply having the aging of my body radically slowed across the board.¡± Regardless, Master Nadro¡¯s particular condition made it so that he was highly sought after to work within ascension chambers, and so his time was bought and paid for every hour of the workday. More than that, he was often paid to sleep in the chambers in order to fit in his work around his other clients. Needless to say, he spent all but a fraction of his time utterly steeped in the highest levels of power that the upper echelon of his city could create. He continued in that way for years uncounted, until he had, indeed, reached maturity. Sometime after that, a powerful man came to the city. He was granted access to one of the rooms that Master Nadro was cleaning and working within, making their meeting inevitable. The man had hesitated upon seeing Master Nadro, staring at him intently for long minutes. Master Nadro hadn¡¯t been surprised by the scrutiny, and so he had borne it with patience. Finally, the man had smiled and said, ¡®Ah, I see the problem now.¡¯ He had then spoken a sentence, not a single word of which Master Nadro could hear at the time nor remember now. Master Nadro had passed out, and when he¡¯d woken up, the man was gone. Master Nadro was left with the certain knowledge that he could keep magic within himself, if he so desired. From there, he had advanced down the arcane path of magic like a born genius, every test that he¡¯d been subjected to indicated that his lineage was of a high race, magically speaking. It was decided that he had an ancestor whose bloodline had surged within him, explaining his oddities. And that was that. Tala was rocked by even the vague implications of his story, ¡°So, an arcane ¡®unlocked¡¯ your ability to use magic like one of them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it was that simple, nor that it was something that would work on anyone. I got the sense that he saw something unique in me that day and acted on a whim.¡± That made sense, she supposed. Still, it was a lot to consider. ¡°But, we are very, very far afield of where we should be.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°I suppose we are, yeah.¡± ¡°Then, let us get back on track. You have a question you want to ask me, but you are afraid of how I will answer.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. Well, here goes nothing. She sighed, answering the not-question anyways, ¡°Yes.¡± There was a long pause. Tala took several long breaths. Master Nadro waited patiently, sipping from a mug of tea that she hadn¡¯t seen him acquire. Hold on¡­ I don¡¯t see even an obscured dimensional storage anywhere around him. -Focus, Tala.- ¡­Fine. Tala groaned, ¡°Fine.¡± He smiled, still waiting. She felt herself smile in response, finally giving in and beginning to speak, ¡°In light of eternity, everything is pointless. This life is basically a silly game that we play before the next world begins.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the point? Isn¡¯t it awful to forcibly stay in the ¡®game¡¯ instead of moving on to what really matters? Are we immortals just petulant children who refuse to cross the finish line because we don¡¯t want the race to end?¡± She felt foolish including herself with other immortals, but that¡¯s what she was, now that she¡¯d Refined. He tilted his head to the side, clearly listening but remained quiet, sensing that she wasn¡¯t done. ¡°What¡¯s the point in mourning those who pass on? They are in the real world, right? It¡¯s like those who are asleep pitying those who wake up, or mourning them because they departed the dream.¡±¡ªshe huffed a self-deprecating laugh¡ª¡±It¡¯s like those running through the wilderness weeping because someone else has reached their own destination. Isn¡¯t that the point? To get to the end? If not, then what is the point? Why mourn anyone? Why do anything? Why shouldn¡¯t we just commit collective suicide and get on with the good stuff?¡± If Tala had still been mundane, she would have been breathing heavily. She knew that she had been repetitive, but she just didn¡¯t have the right words to express what she was feeling. Even so, she didn¡¯t seem to have any more words to say. She felt wrung out from even the quick verbal dump. Master Nadro nodded, seeming to pick up on her state. ¡°Why, may I ask, do you think the next world is better?¡± She grunted at that, feeling a bit of life come back into her, allowing her to answer, ¡°On an experiential level, I¡¯ve seen deeply into the next world.¡± ¡°When you helped a fount pass on?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yes. It was¡­¡± she shuddered, ¡°It was like having my every flaw exposed. I felt like tinder before the flame, water before the sun, dust before the wind. There was no malice, but by its very nature, I would be wiped away before it.¡± He nodded, continuing to listen. ¡°But beyond that, I felt like there was peace there. Not the peace of nothingness, or stillness, or stagnation, that is peace to such an extreme that it is an evil in its own right. No, it was peace in the sense of rightness. Everything in proper balance, everything as it should be, moving and progressing, growing and resonating in perfect harmony. Not uniformity of action or result, but uniformity in purpose and motivation¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not describing it well, but it was¡­ it made me both lose my fear of being dead and utterly terrified of dying.¡± ¡°Because¡­?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Because to be there would be more than anyone could ever wish, but to fit in there would require a scouring of my being. To be worthy of that place¡­? I don¡¯t think I ever will be, but somehow I am to go there. I don¡¯t understand at all how that will be possible.¡± ¡°It is a great mystery. I doubt any, this side of death, will ever fully comprehend it.¡± His eyes were sad, his expression consoling. ¡°But you said that that was on an experiential level. What about beside that? What other way of thinking are you pulling from?¡± ¡°Well, on a cognitive level, if it¡¯s worse than here, then we¡¯re all destined for eternal torment, regardless, and I don¡¯t know that I could handle that, especially not right now.¡± He waggled his head from side to side, ¡°Well, worse doesn¡¯t have to mean torment, does it?¡± ¡°The smallest degradation, over the course of eternity, ends with the greatest of suffering.¡± ¡°And the smallest steady improvement, over the course of eternity, ends in the greatest of bliss,¡± he finished the quote, ¡°So, you¡¯ve been reading philosophers in search of answers?¡± ¡°It seemed like a good idea at the time¡­¡± -It made her sad.- ¡­Are you talking with him? -Indirectly. I¡¯m just letting you in on it, because he¡¯ll likely respond to me.- True to Alat¡¯s guess, Master Nadro nodded, seemingly listening to something Tala couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°When we are in a place of distress, we see distress everywhere, and the vaguer words of the wise can drive us further down. That isn¡¯t always the case, but it is a danger. I am sorry that it was true for you.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°But, is it true?¡± ¡°That life is meaningless?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He huffed a laugh and smiled, ¡°Would I still be here if I believed that it was?¡± ¡°Maybe you stayed to help people get through life quicker?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± She weakly threw her hands up. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®hmm?¡¯¡± ¡°I mean, it sounds like you are suffering, Mistress Tala. You lost someone whom you knew well and whom you didn¡¯t want to lose, who you would have saved if you could have. Is that true?¡± She nodded, looking down to her lap, the feeling of pressure in her face and tears in her eyes beginning to build. ¡°Yes, Mistress Odera. We¡¯ve talked about her before.¡± He nodded. This wasn¡¯t news to him. Even so, he inquired further, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me more about her.¡± And so Tala did. For the next hour she just talked, and Master Nadro listened. * * * At the end of her hour-long, semi-monologue, Tala felt much better. She¡¯d railed and rambled, pouring out her frustrations. Master Nadro had listened and responded with kindness and interest. It helped. It helped even more than venting to her unit-mates or Rane had. She thought that was likely because it was a full reprocessing. She was starkly reminded of Master Girt, and how he¡¯d seemed to both advance and be helped by talking with her about his wife. Before she could check, Alat gave her the answer, -One percent closer to Paragon.- Processing the loss of the temporary helps with my view of eternity, I guess? -I suppose. That among other things. The advancement seems pretty random to me.- Yeah¡­ I guess we¡¯ll figure it out eventually. Neither of them commented on how few Refined actually made it all the way to Paragon. They might not ever figure it out and advance to the next stage. If that was the case, it would be alright. She was herself, and that wasn¡¯t going to change. Regardless, she would do her best. Only one thing really stood out as more important than the rest from her diatribe and Master Nadro¡¯s responses. He had only truly pushed back at one point, when she had expressed that it felt like relationships with mortals were worse than useless as they caused pain and would barely last. He had firmly, simply stated, ¡°You know that isn¡¯t true better than most, Mistress Tala. We form connections with those we care for. Those are not cut off, just because one party dies. Marriage bonds are the most extreme example, and you know that among the gateless, a soul can choose to linger with his or her spouse. Even if you conclude that most of this life is meaningless, relationships would be the greatest exception. Those we love affect us down to our soul, and that is eternal.¡± That had actually helped her as she considered it. He had been right. She could see the connections made between people, and she knew of the power contained within. She didn¡¯t know if those persisted beyond death, but something deep within her told her that they did, in one form or other. Regardless, since her waxing on about Mistress Odera had finished, the two of them sat in silence. Terry had joined her quietly sometime during the telling, and Tala was currently scratching him in her lap as he quietly trilled in contentment. She didn¡¯t want to spend any more time discussing Mistress Odera, even though she wasn¡¯t feeling as raw about her passing as she had before. Therefore, Tala decided to change the subject, ¡°Master Nadro?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°How difficult is it to breach dimensional storages, disregarding their entrance?¡± The man leaned back, considering for a long, long moment. ¡°I would say it is effectively impossible, if they have an entrance. Whatever keeps us from opening a second entrance into any dimensional storage seems absolute, even if we don¡¯t really understand why. For those that have had their entrance destroyed?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Assuming you either have a way of keying into them, or catch them before they slip into the void, it is a fairly simple¡ªif intensive¡ªprocess. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I wanted to know how careful I should be about others finding their way in here.¡± ¡°Ahh, now, that is a bit of a different question. I apologize for my misunderstanding. I understood ¡®breach¡¯ as creating another entrance. If you wanted to simply step from zeme into a dimensional storage, you would just need a means of traversing the spatial dimension of magic. Then, there would be the remaining matter of enduring or overcoming any locks on the space as a whole.¡± When she looked confused, he continued. ¡°In here, for example, you can move almost anyone around. I think even I would have trouble resisting if you were truly set on shifting me.¡± She felt a smile pull at her lips at the knowledge that she could move even him. ¡°Because of that, what would happen if I tried to stick just my hand in here, and you didn¡¯t want me inside?¡± She nodded. ¡°I could move your hand away?¡± ¡°That would be a bit harder, but you could move it back toward where I was entering from. The effect would be indistinguishable from a repulsive force, keeping me¡ªor anyone you didn¡¯t want inside¡ªout. That is the preferred method because it is easier to move items as a whole, rather than ripping them apart.¡± She felt quite a bit better with that knowledge. It also lined up with what she¡¯d experienced in the Arcane lands. The two of them chatted a bit longer, but both she and Master Nadro seemed to realize that Tala wasn¡¯t going to be making any more progress on her issues at the moment. Additionally, Master Nadro had his dinner with the Feshua family, and Tala was not about to make him late for that. They said goodbye and parted ways, Tala remaining in the sanctum, her thoughts heavy but not as heavy as they had been. * * * Tala was still thinking about what she and Master Nadro had discussed, even more than a full day after they¡¯d parted ways. At the moment, she was sitting in a watch tower along the wall, a few hours into their night-shift. Her unit was all playing cards together to help pass the time. As each of them was eliminated, they would do their own practice and training until the next game started. Even so, Tala was incredibly grateful when her threefold sight detected creatures closing in on the walls. These attacks are becoming more frequent, Alat. -Yeah, this is the third one this week, by reports.- And by the match recordings. Those were some fun fights to watch. -True enough.- They would have been more fun to participate in¡­ -Yeah, but you do get to fight more often than most.- She grunted internally, even as she looked closer at the incoming threat before blinking in surprise. It was a pack of hocken. She would call them shadow wolves, but the texts made it clear that they weren¡¯t in any way associated with the Pack. Tala and Alat had looked rather deeply into the wolves of the north after her encounter the month before. As to the hocken, they were large, dark canines that looked to be composed of hairy shadows. Even what she could see of their insides with her threefold sight didn¡¯t look to be organs so much as more fuzzy shadows. They would almost have been cute, if not for the pure white, oddly glowing eyes. They were odd, because while they did look to be glowing, they cast no light around themselves. So, somewhat cute except for the eyes. Well, and the teeth. Their mouths in general didn¡¯t lend themselves to cuteness either. The jaws were drooling black spittle around razor-like teeth, making the creatures look rabid in the worst way. ¡°There¡¯s a pack of hocken incoming.¡± Tala spoke basically as soon as she noticed the creatures. Everyone turned over their cards, setting them down and standing up. Master Girt was the slowest to stand, and he stretched back. ¡°I assume you¡¯d like this one? You¡¯re still working through some stuff, right?¡± He smiled her way, but Tala could still see echoes of the pain within him. She hesitated. She really, really did want to punch something. To tear apart an enemy and destroy the tangible threat in her life. But Master Girt was hurting too, and his wound, while older, was deeper than hers. Almost to her own surprise, she shook her head, ¡°You know what? How about you take these? There are only eight that I can see, but they should still be a good fight.¡± He gave her a long look, before a grin split his face. ¡°Really?¡± She nodded. He looked around at the others, and they all nodded agreement as well. ¡°Alright, then!¡± Tala could see Master Girt relaxing, mentally settling into a ready state for the coming clash, and the look in his eyes seemed less burdened than his features had in a while. I¡¯ve been rather selfish, hoarding the fights that our unit has had, haven¡¯t I? -I mean, you are the front-line fighter for the group, and they were always involved, acting in support, but yeah, you could have shared a bit more.- Help me remember to be better about that, alright? -Will do.- Master Girt twisted, popping his back first one way, then the other. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Chapter: 389 - A Big Step Tala stood on the wall of Alefast with all but one of her unit-mates. The dark night sky was filled with high, wispy clouds that did little to block the stars, despite the light pollution from the city at her back. Though, that is mostly due to my vision, rather than the nature of the stars or sky. Master Girt, alone, had dropped over the edge of the wall, treating the hardened earth and rock at the wall¡¯s base as water, diving into it in order to disperse the energy of his fall. He surfaced a moment later, rising up to stand in the cleared area before the wall. The eight canine hocken slowed, spreading out in a wide arc to come at him from multiple angles. Honestly, Tala was rather curious how the man would handle the threats. She had sparred with him, and even seen him in several fights, but never on his own against so many non-human opponents. It would be enlightening. Do we have good perspectives? -That we do. I¡¯m keeping a wide eye out as well, so we aren¡¯t surprised by overfocusing.- Thank you. With a ripple of magic, stone flowed up the man¡¯s legs, coating him from head to toe in as little time as it took to draw in a deep breath. Additionally, there was a fluctuation that Tala would have entirely missed without her threefold sight. Stone was lifting out of the ground between him and each of the hocken. The spacing was staggered to create an uneven place of impact. The reason Tala wouldn¡¯t have seen those walls without her threefold sight was that Master Girt was actively manipulating their properties, making the walls transparent to the point of being effectively invisible in the dim night time illumination. The hockens were predatory, but they were also usually stalkers. That alone made their attack on the walls unusual. Even so, they were clever opponents and not to be underestimated. Thankfully, Master Girt seemed to have taken that into account. As one, the shadow canines charged forward. The first one slammed into one of Master Girt¡¯s walls. Only then did Tala see the extent of what Master Girt had done. That first hocken skewered itself on invisible spikes, which even Tala hadn¡¯t been able to easily see. -I¡¯d have noticed if we were closer.- Likely true, yes. Additionally, the impact of the hocken broke something at the base of the wall, causing the whole base to splinter and the bulk of the wall to unbalance, quickly slamming down and crushing the already perforated hocken. As that was happening, the other canines seemed to become insubstantial for brief bursts. Two passed through the randomly spaced walls, but two more phased back into physicality, halfway through. The melding of shadow-flesh and stone was instantly fatal. One move, a properly prepared battlefield, and he killed three before even engaging. -And with less power than you put into even a single of your siege-orbs¡­ not that that is a fair comparison.- True, though. The remaining five hocken had either phased through, moved around, or jumped over the impediments in their way. Even so, because they were guessing more than anything, three of those five stumbled over or bounced off of the stone. The last two made good their aggressive charge and slammed into Master Girt¡­ somehow melding with his stone armor. Instead of tearing into the rock, they shifted stoneward, while remaining latched onto Master Girt¡¯s armor. Then, their magic caused them to do the opposite of phase out of existence. It was an odd way to think of it, but it was also the only thing that made sense to Tala. They seemed to solidify, growing more dense, and Tala immediately saw Master Girt shift under immensely increased weight. Then, from their stoneward perch, they began to rip into him. Oh, rust. That¡¯s¡­ terrifying. -Yeah, I now understand why these are actually considered a threat. Depending on the limits of their magic, they could slip into a city and wreak havoc while the defenses struggled to pin them down.- I would assume that a waning city has defenses oriented stone- and starward. -That is likely us Defenders, but there could be more, too.- The shadow canines'' ability to move stoneward seemed to require them to be anchored to their prey, but it was still a powerful tool. Basically every normal Mage would be powerless to do anything once one had latched onto him or her. Blessedly, the Defenders of a waning city were exceedingly outside the norm. Master Girt¡¯s armor rolled, churning along the stoneward-starward axis. Like quicksand¡ªor an industrialized, magic driven, rolling crusher¡ªit seethed, pulling everything connected to it inward while tearing, mashing, and cutting. In less than a handful of seconds, the two hocken had been ground up entirely, their shadow-flesh splattering the ground around Master Girt. -And inside his suit. The splatter was rather indiscriminate in which direction it went.- That is hardly important. That was brutal. ¡°Rusted gold, man,¡± Tala muttered under her breath. Master Clevnis huffed a laugh. ¡°He is rather impressive.¡± Regardless of his impressiveness, Master Girt had been injured by the hockens during their brief stint latched onto him. Even as his armor settled back down, its surface becoming smooth once more, the three delayed canines were closing in, more carefully than their predecessors. He raised his fists into a fighting pose, but then, he vanished. Master Girt was simply gone from within his armor, the suit remained, but was now filled with stone. Even Tala and Alat lost sight of him for a moment. Tala caught movement in the ground. Whatever it was was incredibly insubstantial. She just saw a hint of it, but as she started focusing in, Alat grabbed her attention. He was stepping fully armored from one of the still standing invisible stone walls. Only then did the set he¡¯d left behind crumble into gravel, causing confusion among the pack of hocken. Master Girt¡¯s armor was now directing light around him, making him all but impossible to see, even with Tala¡¯s three-fold vision. How did he get over there? Tala was incredibly confused. She thought she¡¯d seen movement, but it hadn¡¯t been between where he started and where he got to. -I think he dropped into the ground and moved over to the other stone?- We definitely should have seen him do that. -Ask him later?- Yeah. I¡¯ll do that. The hocken let out yipping barks of confusion, communicating with each other in clear attempts to narrow in on their suddenly missing prey. Things were once again fully under control, the battle going as Master Girt seemed to have planned. Alat¡¯s gasp was Tala¡¯s only warning that her assessment had been incorrect. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. A pair of hocken that they all had somehow missed spotting in their approach lunged out of the ground, snagging onto Master Girt. This time¡ªinstead of attacking and dying in the same manner that their brethren had¡ªthey seemed to pull the Refined stoneward for a quick bob before he returned to the superficial world, leaving the stone armor behind. Tala and her whole unit moved forward as one, but stopped when they heard Master Girt laughing. When he¡¯d hit the dirt, he had slapped the ground and made himself gauntlets wrought of stone. Those immediately began to churn and roil, obsidian-like blades slashing in a maelstrom around his fists. He swept around himself, driving his foes back even as he regained his feet. The hocken seemingly couldn¡¯t latch onto him directly, likely because of his aura and magical weight. They were powerful enough to have been able to gain a measure of supremacy on his armor, but his flesh and thin clothing were too close to him and too flimsy to give them purchase. Thus, they were forced back to the superficial and kept there for their continued assault. All five were circling Master Girt, then, giving half lunges or swipes in feinting attempts to cause the man in their midst to stumble or fail. Tala knew that Master Girt could have re-armored himself in an instant, but he seemed to have realized that such would be a disadvantage in this fight. More than that, however, his continued laugh was deep, like the bones of Zeme were laughing along with him. He was having a wonderful time. His blocks and strikes were a blur, every one of them leaving splattered shadow-flesh across the ground even if they didn¡¯t kill or maim the creatures impacted. It seemed like the melee had come to a stalemate, but Master Girt wasn¡¯t just focused on the melee. Less than two minutes after jumping off of the wall top, Master Girt straightened, stretching. The hocken hesitated. As they had learned to respect him as a fellow predator, his sudden seeming lack of care made them wary of a trap. They were right to be wary. Even so, it didn¡¯t help. Transparent spikes slammed down across the entire battlefield, pin-cushioning all five remaining opponents at once. ¡°Clear!¡± The Refined Defender called a moment later, the stones resonating around him, amplifying his proclamation. * * * The room in the wallbound tower was a far more boisterous place after Master Girt returned to the unit. Everyone offered their congratulations, along with hearty slaps and other gestures of approval. Additionally, food and drink were ordered in celebration. While some of the beverages were alcoholic, they weren''t magically so. Thus, such drinks were only chosen for taste, and even still, only by Mistress Vanga and Master Clevnis. Of course, Mistress Vanga patched up Master Girt before all of this. That was both protocol and good manners. The man had several bites taken out of him, as well as ragged gouges across his back and arms. Mistress Vanga fixed him up in no time at all. Once the healing was done, the celebration had gone on for a while, and things had finally settled down once more, Tala sat down beside the much more peaceful-seeming man. ¡°Do you feel any better?¡± He nodded, a soft smile evident across his features. ¡°It is good to remind myself that I am capable of peace.¡± She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand. What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, if you have no capacity for violence, you cannot be peaceful; you can only be harmless. No one wants to be harmless.¡± He huffed a laugh at that. Tala leaned back as she processed the statement, feeling like something had hit her between the eyes. He grinned. ¡°It¡¯s alright if it sounds odd. You¡¯ll get it eventually. You¡¯re still rather young.¡± She smiled back, ¡°That¡¯s true enough, yeah. Even so, I¡¯d like to understand.¡± He nodded, considering. ¡°It¡¯s like being gentle. In my case, a weak man cannot be gentle, because gentleness is strength under control. If I am not capable of breaking a thing, I can¡¯t be gentle with it. I can do whatever I want, and it will be fine. It is only when I am capable of doing damage that I can be gentle.¡± She understood that quite well, given her own prodigious strength. ¡°Oh! That makes sense. So, to be peaceful, you have to be capable of not being so.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Otherwise you¡¯re just irrelevant.¡± He nodded again, happy. ¡°Exactly right.¡± ¡°I think I can understand that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± His smile shifted a bit as he continued, ¡°Thank you for giving me that fight, by the way. You could have taken it if you had wished.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It seemed like you might have a need.¡± ¡°It was helpful, yeah.¡± His gaze became a bit distant, but his mind returned from whatever he was contemplating a moment later. Tala wasn¡¯t sure if this was the right time to ask. Even so, after a moment¡¯s hesitation, she decided to simply ask, ¡°How did you move into that stone wall, near the middle of the fight?¡± He shrugged, ¡°Well, my rock and I are one. Why shouldn¡¯t I be able to do so?¡± She opened her mouth to respond, but found herself without anything to say. He chuckled. ¡°If it helps with your understanding, it is anything but free. It is practically a teleport, but because it¡¯s short enough range, it doesn¡¯t have the same restrictions or effects.¡± ¡°Oh, so you have a limit on how far you can go?¡± ¡°Well, yes and no. It has to be my rock, which limits my range in the way you are thinking, but what I meant is that, because I and my rock are one, I am always with my rock. Being here or there isn¡¯t really much of a difference. The distinction fades and returns, and I am where I wish to be.¡± -Through the void?- No, not void magic. It almost sounds like the opposite? He drives away the void between himself and the rock, and when it returns, it finds the placement of the two different? -Yeah, he¡¯s connecting through the void, not using void magic.- Oh¡­ then maybe? Master Girt patted her on the shoulder. ¡°I can see that you¡¯ve got a lot to think through. Just remember: Don¡¯t try to adopt another¡¯s mindset as your own. Learn from everyone, blindly follow no one.¡± She nodded, smiling. ¡°Thank you. I will remember that.¡± * * * Tala fell into a pattern over the coming weeks, spending time with her unit, Rane, and her ¡®reborn children.¡¯ -I still can¡¯t believe you let them call themselves that.- I made the mistake of objecting too strongly¡­ Kedva seems to find being contrary a form of affection. -I personally think you lost the battle when you started calling it ¡®rebirth.¡¯- Yeah¡­ you probably have a point there. Regardless, she spent time with Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva, helping them further establish their new abilities. The two men decided to be inscribed, and they were digging into that potential. Kedva had declined for the moment. Though, there was obviously still time for her to change her mind. Tala didn¡¯t much care. She wasn¡¯t going to pay for it, and so the three had that limitation to consider as well. Tala also spent some time with Artia. Even so, the woman mainly did her learning from books, usually asking her husband or son for clarifications on more esoteric things. With Rane, Tala observed an interesting progression in his mindset. He seemed to pay special attention whenever anyone called to her on the street, having recognized her for her work as a Defender. At first, she thought it was some oddly misplaced jealousy, but it quickly became evident that he felt something akin to being excluded when people would come up to them and only address her. It was worse when he spent time with her and her unit, because they were all recognized¡­ all of them but him. That, coupled with quite a few other things, made Tala not surprised in the least when Rane confided something in her. At the time they were celebrating the turning of the year within her sanctum with her unit and their other acquaintances and friends. ¡°I¡¯m going to Refine as soon as I can.¡± His countenance was firm, but Tala could tell that he still had some trepidation. ¡°That is a big step.¡± Even so, she could see in his aura that he was almost precisely halfway between Fused and Refined, the color a rather happy, sunshine yellow. Still, before she could say more, Terry flickered to her shoulder, interrupting their conversation for a moment. ¡°Hey, Terry. Are you enjoying yourself?¡± He trilled happily. He¡¯d been entrusted with far more children than Tala would have expected, but apparently the various parents took Master Simon and Mistress Petra at their word when they testified to the avian¡¯s trustworthiness. Most were friends of the Feshuas or that the Zuccats had made in the city. Her unit invited some acquaintances as well, though. Terry had been playing various forms of tag, hide-and-seek, and similar games with more than a dozen children for the last couple of hours. Kit had really become much more resilient to the erosion of gates since she and Tala had soulbonded. Even so, they had agreed to move the celebration out of the sanctum for a few hours before returning for the countdown to midnight. Tala felt herself smile. She remembered celebrating the turning of the years with her family as a child, before things had turned bad, and she felt a combination of nostalgia and excitement to be doing so once again. More than that, it was almost exactly one year since she had killed Be-thric. Without realizing or really knowing it, she had done the deed on the first day of the new year. Has it really only been a year? -Yeah, but it seems like so much longer¡­- Rane greeted Terry before meeting her gaze once more and continuing their discussion, ¡°Refining is a big step, yeah, but I¡¯m ready. My preparatory scripts will be fully integrated in less than a week, and with a week further as buffer to ensure the predictions and scans aren¡¯t mistaken, I¡¯ll be ready for the first session in less than two weeks.¡± ¡°First session?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± He nodded, ¡°I know you did it in one session, but that is apparently much more dangerous.¡± He grinned broadly at that. ¡°I suppose I should have expected that it would be, given that was the course of action you took.¡± She grimaced slightly, remembering the damage the dasgannach and other things had done to her body. ¡°I didn¡¯t really have that much of a choice¡­¡± He waved that away, nodding his acknowledgement. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯ll be taking the tried and true route.¡± ¡°Four sessions.¡± She spoke softly, knowing that she could make it harder for him if she implied any sort of pain or extraordinary difficulty. Even though her statement was obviously not a question, he answered as if it had been, ¡°Yes, four sessions. There is a minimum of a week between sessions, but I¡¯ll be advised how long to wait after each.¡± His smile spread. ¡°So, in the best case, I¡¯ll join you as a Refined in six weeks time.¡± ¡°In the best case, yeah.¡± She swallowed, feeling mildly awkward. He chuckled at that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tala. I know that that case is incredibly unlikely. In some instances, it can take decades, though I can¡¯t find out why. Obviously, in the worst cases it¡¯s never finished, but that shouldn¡¯t be a concern. Master Grediv has done everything he can to prepare me, after all.¡± She nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. ¡°I know you¡¯ll do great.¡± * * * Less than two weeks later, she stood outside the room in which Rane was Refining, holding back tears while listening to him scream. Chapter: 390 - Be Clear Tala stood outside the room in which Rane was Refining, holding back tears while listening to him scream. Her threefold sight gave her a perfect look at what lay beyond the heavily reinforced, iron-core door, but she almost wished that it didn¡¯t. Rane was sitting in a chair¡ªwell, actually he was strapped in¡ªholding an artifact style device that was sending pulses through his body from one hand to the other. The magic radiated out like a wave, sweeping down his arm before spreading out to wash over his entire body before recondensing to finish down the other arm. Then, the wave would go the other way. Each wave killed parts of Rane before building them back up, better than before on some undefinable level. He only wore well-fitted shorts, like those he had often sparred in. His inscriptions had been removed by a teleportation before the Refining began. The only stop they¡¯d made between the teleportation tower and this room had been an inscriptionist to get the bare minimum work added back into his flesh, only those magics that were to help facilitate the process. Force¡ªRane¡¯s sword¡ªwas in an iron box in the hallway beside Tala, along with Rane¡¯s storage device and all his other garments and gear. Rane had asked her to look after his things while he underwent the process. She would honor that request. Within the small room, he was unarmed, unarmored, without his magic, and alone. The last was a good thing, too. He was somehow manifesting magics that he¡¯d never managed unassisted before. Master Grediv had warned of that possibility, because of the blessing that was more of a curse on their family line. Since Rane was restrained, he couldn¡¯t go berserk on what was harming him, so his magic was lashing out in his body¡¯s stead. Blades of kinetic energy were scouring the room around him, seeming unable to target either his bonds, the chair, or the device his hands were bound to. In truth, the workings weren¡¯t actually unassisted. Tala could see with her threefold sight that Rane was pulling on his connection with Force, aspect-mirroring the weapon''s magics as he unconsciously scoured the world around him. In such an enclosed space, Tala suspected that she would be hard pressed to avoid the attacks, and she didn¡¯t relish the idea of healing from such powerful blows. Though¡­ my iron would disrupt the magics rather effectively, and my flesh is tough enough to back it up, and I could even have a layer of white steel underneath. But no, it was better that she stayed outside. Being attacked by him wasn¡¯t the worst thing that could happen if she were inside. Worse would have been if he didn¡¯t attack her, if he retained enough cognition to recognize her standing there, and beg for her to help him, with word, or deed, or simple look. Even thinking of the possibility made her feel sick. The only other item in the well-reinforced room was the leather rod he held clenched between his teeth, seemingly entirely forgotten even as it kept him from biting his tongue or breaking his teeth, and it deadened his screams. Regardless, they were still easy for her to hear. -Tala. You don¡¯t have to wait right outside the door.- I will be here for him. -Master Grediv is in a room down the hall, monitoring the situation. You could join him there.- I. Will. Not. Leave. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and she hadn¡¯t noticed herself slipping to the hall¡¯s floor, holding her own knees as the wall at her back shuddered under the erratic attacks thrown its way. To try to bear through the empathetic pain, she focused in on those manifestations of desperation and power. They were insanely precise, as Rane¡¯s ability to direct magic seemed to be actively improving along with this first purifying of his body. The gunk being removed had been a barrier between his body and his soul, thus his bonds. Now, as it was diminished, that connection was improving. That included Force. Even so, without inscriptions or specific conscious direction, the kinetic blades lacked power. She had the feeling that he would be tearing through this entire complex if he were properly inscribed and focused on destruction. He was sweating out the black muck that Tala was beginning to believe was the taint of reality itself. Though, if she was right, she still didn¡¯t know either the purpose or the mechanism. If reality itself was sentient, she¡¯d believe that it was doing its utmost to drag down those who had the capacity to wield void or magic, striving to keep them from realizing that potential. But it obviously wasn¡¯t sentient. It was a pillar of existence and simply acted according to natural laws. Rane¡¯s hoarse voice jarred her once again. She focused on him, on what was going on within him. The black, tar-like taint was coming from every cell, and it would have quickly clogged his innards, killing him, if not for the prep-work of the pre-Refining inscriptions. Tala saw those magics¡ªthe only inscriptions that had been added back¡ªdriving the nasty contaminants outward to be excreted through pores across his entire body. As Tala watched the black move through him, she saw with fascination that it wasn¡¯t being directly affected by magic. Instead, the magic was empowering the body¡¯s own self-cleansing and -repair biological functions. It was those mundane systems that were keeping him alive and removing the filth. And the process had only just begun. -Be strong, Tala. He will need you soon enough.- Tala grimaced, then shook her head, rising to her feet. Rust this. White steel flowed over her, followed by iron, completely encasing her. She opened the box with Rane¡¯s gear and pressed the few pieces against her back, enfolding them under her iron. She would keep his gear close and safe. -Tala? Is this a good idea?- She tried the door, but it was locked, sealed tight until the procedure was complete. -Tala. Master Grediv said it would be dangerous for you to be in there.- But not for Rane. -...no.- Check. There was a pause before Alat responded. -There should be no danger to the one Refining if others are in the room. It isn¡¯t done due to the danger to those who might be present.- Good. Her iron would disperse the magic carrying his kinetic energy, so even if it reflected back at him, it wouldn¡¯t be sharp, and that was currently the greatest danger, as he didn¡¯t have the precision to put too much energy into each strike. Tala manifested iron around her bloodstars that were stoneward of the door, having them reach toward the superficial and latch onto her. She took a step forward, leaning as if to fall through the door. With surprising difficulty, she pulled herself stoneward for a brief moment, then thrust herself back to the superficial. She stumbled slightly as she found herself in the room with Rane. Blades of power broke across her iron shell, staggering her back against the door. -I have informed Master Grediv of what we are doing, so he doesn¡¯t overreact.- Thank you. Tala stepped to stand behind Rane, placing a hand on each shoulder. Kinetic blades sent sparks flying off of her iron as the energy and the magic containing and directing it tried to go different directions. Tala opened just enough of a hole to speak through, filling her voice with power to ensure he would hear, regardless of his mental state. ¡°Rane. I¡¯m here.¡± The raking attacks flared to a crescendo, obliterating the walls, floor, and ceiling until they revealed heavy iron plates. There were only two places that were untouched. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The ground under the chair, and the floor and wall directly behind Tala. The stone that had sequestered the iron was turned first to gravel, then to sand under the fury of the assault. Tala¡¯s iron was effective, but not fully so, and she was nearly constantly healing minor cuts and lacerations from strikes that made it through the front of her defenses. She didn¡¯t leave. After the nearly three minutes of increased intensity, the attacks lessened until they were infrequent. Rane¡¯s unconscious focus had shifted from his bond with Force to another. Tala watched that thread of reality grow before her eyes, the change easy to see with her enhanced eyes and threefold sight. While Rane¡¯s soulbond with Force still allowed him to lash out in pain and frustrated agony, he seemed to find comfort in her hands on his shoulders, in his connection to her. * * * Tala sat beside Rane¡¯s bed in his family home as the sun slowly set outside, casting the room in a bloody hue. Master Grediv hadn¡¯t reprimanded her for her breach of protocol in entering the Refining chamber. He had even gone as far as informing her that she might have made the process easier on Rane, but regardless, she hadn¡¯t made it worse. That had been a relief. At the moment, Rane was covered in thick blankets and comforters, artifact warmers tucked around him to help him stay warm as his body realigned with the changes it had undergone. There was an untouched mug of soup on his side table. It would have long-since been cold if it weren¡¯t in a vessel that magically maintained the proper heat in the liquid within. Even so, the fitness for consumption of the food wasn¡¯t the issue. Rane simply hadn¡¯t been up for eating since he was brought to his room and tucked within his bed. Healers had checked on him every hour, and Tala knew that there was extensive magical monitoring set up within the space. Still, no one had been able to answer how long he would be in this state. His Refining had been an exceedingly difficult one, it seemed. Rane coughed weakly, not moving beyond the involuntary inward curling, followed by a pained relaxing back into his prone position. Still, that was as much as she¡¯d seen from him in a few hours. She didn¡¯t want to wake him if he was asleep, but she still wanted to check in with him. She was supposed to be on night-shift tonight with her unit. She had planned to skip it, but before the procedure, Rane had been insistent that she go. She had planned on staying against his wishes, but if he was awake¡­ ¡°Rane?¡± He groaned slightly, turning to look her way with hollow, weak eyes. He was barely cognizant. ¡°Do you want me to go? You¡¯ve slept most of the day, but you look to need more.¡± There was obvious conflict behind his eyes, but finally he gave a slow, small nod. Tala slowly stood. That lined up with what he¡¯d said before, and she wasn¡¯t going to argue with him or ignore his wishes when he was in this state. ¡°I¡¯ll check back in on you tomorrow, alright?¡± He gave a weak smile, but didn¡¯t respond further. ¡°Sleep, listen to the healers, eat if you can¡­ I¡¯m rambling.¡± She smiled awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± He gave a small nod once again. Without a backward glance, Tala left the room, closing the door behind herself. When she turned toward the exit, she saw that Master Grediv was coming down the hall, another Archon beside him. When they saw her, the other Archon bowed to Master Grediv, then toward Tala before departing, going in the other direction. Master Grediv walked the last distance to her with measured steps, only speaking when he stopped a few paces from her, ¡°Mistress Tala. How is Rane doing?¡± She took in a long breath before letting it out and shrugging. ¡°I¡­ I honestly don¡¯t know. I expect you and the Healers know better than I with all the monitoring going on here. From my perspective though?¡± He nodded. ¡°My Refining was awful, but this seems to be hitting him much harder.¡± Though, she still thought hers had been worse. Different people take injury differently, and he wasn¡¯t weathering this well. Master Grediv snorted an amused laugh. ¡°Nothing about you or your Refining were standard, Mistress Tala. Your body, your very soul, wasn¡¯t precisely human anymore, and while that added to the work that needed to be done, thus the process was more invasive, I believe it made things easier on you as well. Though, that¡¯s like comparing two women¡¯s childbirths.¡± He laughed in a self deprecating manner. ¡°Let me advise you to never do that.¡± Yeah, of course you shouldn¡¯t do that. Tala internally shook her head. But I do think our peculiarities made our recovery smoother than it has been, or will be, for Rane. -That was Mistress Holly¡¯s opinion, too.- Tala shrugged, ¡°You might be right.¡± ¡°There is also that, for some unknown reason, the process is harder for some to endure than others.¡± He had a hard cast to his features, but Tala wasn¡¯t left with any doubt as to why as the man continued, ¡°My own beloved¡±¡ªhe swallowed to clear his throat.¡ª ¡°She couldn¡¯t face what it took to fully Refine.¡± Tala felt her shoulders drop as her heart ached for the man. ¡°For a long time, I hated her for choosing to not finish the process. Too long¡­¡± He glanced away, pausing for a moment before continuing, ¡°I hated her for choosing death to avoid a process that I knew was doable. I felt that I wasn¡¯t worth it for her.¡±¡ªHe gave a sad smile¡ª¡±but before the end I learned the truth. I learned it surely enough that I was able to spend the last of our time together without that burden. Some can¡¯t Refine, through no fault of their own. I do not believe Rane is one of those, but I have been wrong before.¡± His voice was soft by the end. Tala swallowed. ¡°I have no experience beyond my own, but I know Rane. If he can do it, he will.¡± ¡°I know, Mistress Tala. I know.¡± The Paragon¡¯s gaze was far-off for a moment before he seemed to pull himself out of days long passed. ¡°Forgive me. You said he was¡­?¡± ¡°Rane is trying to sleep, I think. He still hasn¡¯t said more than a handful of words since the session completed.¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°I have the healer coming back within the hour. He will be with Rane tonight, and he should have a full assessment of the situation by tomorrow, midday. I know you have duties to attend to tonight.¡± Tala grimaced slightly, feeling awkward. Even so, she decided to press again. ¡°I hope I don¡¯t overstep¡­?¡± He motioned for her to continue. ¡°It would mean a lot to me, if you would keep me in the loop.¡± ¡°I will¡­ consider it. I¡¯ve no doubt that Rane will tell you what he knows, when he knows it, but¡­¡± Tala found herself nodding, ¡°But he won¡¯t know the whole truth. He won¡¯t be told what his estimated chances are, or that every single session is universally considered to be harder than the last.¡± Master Grediv nodded as well, ¡°I tried to push for him to wait for a decade or two, so that the magics could be embedded sufficiently to allow for a single-session Refining.¡± He shook his head. ¡°There would have been greater risk from that session than this one, but less for the process as a whole.¡± Tala felt herself smiling, ¡°He said no?¡± ¡°He laughed at the very idea.¡± Master Grediv gave her a serious look. ¡°He said that he wouldn¡¯t give you that large of a lead.¡± She winced slightly, but she knew it was true. Even though they weren¡¯t more than friends, they were close. They had traveled together, spent hours conversing, confiding their fears, exposing their failures, trusting one another. They tested themselves against the other, for the longest time only finding a truly worthy opponent in each other. But they were both still so young. Their paths could still so easily diverge without something tying them together. Better friends had drifted apart in less time than eternity. Am I okay with that? She didn¡¯t know the answer. She knew that she didn¡¯t need Rane, but she liked having him with her. She liked being with him. He sometimes chose into things that she found less than ideal, but when she went along with him, the events weren¡¯t ever as bad as she had feared beforehand. Could she watch her friend age, trapped on the cusp of immortality while she persisted? Worse, could she leave him to degrade alone? -You know, even if he never Refines, he¡¯d still live a very long time. He Fused incredibly young, unlike Master Grediv¡¯s wife or the Zuccats.- Yeah, he could have six thousand years. -It is almost as rare for a Fused to die from old age as it is for a Refined. It isn¡¯t old age that kills Fused, not most of the time. So, will it matter in the end?- She didn¡¯t know. Tala and Master Grediv had been standing in silence for almost too long. It was he who broke the building pause, ¡°Do you wish to stay here? I can make arrangements for your duties to be covered.¡± She decided that she wouldn¡¯t be diverted, only addressing the offer briefly, before returning to the crux of the moment, ¡°Thank you, but no. You didn¡¯t answer me. I would like to be kept informed. Are you willing?¡± Master Grediv hesitated for another long moment. Finally, he gave a slow nod. ¡°If he chooses to share what he knows with you, I will make sure you know the rest. You have my promise.¡± Tala felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. ¡°Thank you, Master Grediv.¡± His eyes hardened for a moment. ¡°Do not mistake me, Mistress Tala.¡± The normally almost non-existent power within a human city was suddenly replaced by a growing maelstrom, the zeme tumultuous within the confined space of the wide hallway. ¡°If you betray the trust that that confidence represents, you will not have eternity to concern yourself with any longer. You have potential; you could be a boon for humanity; I am even rather fond of you; but none of that nor any other facet or fact will keep you in this world if you break faith on this issue. Am I clear?¡± She swallowed. Her own aura was practically locked within her body, rebuffing the violently churning power around her but unable to extend further. She knew that she was weighty for a Refined, and she knew that that still didn¡¯t make her equal to a Paragon, but this was a stark reminder of what a true Paragon¡ªone ancient of power and will¡ªwas capable of. The barest edge of his hardened intent was sufficient to leave her feeling utterly at his mercy. She hated it, even if she understood it. ¡°I understand.¡± He nodded, the magical power vanishing as quickly as it had come. ¡°Good.¡± As he turned to go, however, Tala felt something within her snap. Her iron rolled out of her, flowing through the physical dimensions one increment both star- and stoneward of the hallway. In those separate dimensions she made ready, spreading it over the walls, ceiling and floor before closing off either side of the hallway. It even bled under Master Grediv¡¯s feet as he strode away from her. In the time it took him to walk a half-dozen paces, the iron was in place, ready. He seemed to only notice it at the last moment, whirling to face her. Her iron pulled to the superficial, slamming an iron box around them both, locking them inside, even while she left sufficient iron both star- and stoneward to close off those sides as well. Her power¡ªher aura¡ªslammed into the space, carried and amplified by the iron. Barely greenish, yellow power rang through the air like the tolling of a funeral bell. Tala found herself floating in the center of the iron-clad hallway. The only light within was the gold-silver mixed illumination of her blazing inscriptions and manifestations of power in existence itself, all underpinning a blood-red light blazing forth from her eyes. ¡°Now, let me be clear.¡± The air resonated along with her voice, only the three-foot sphere around the Paragon¡ªmaintained by his aura above the iron¡ªdidn¡¯t respond to her will. ¡°I understand and approve of your protectiveness of Rane, and my respect and gratitude toward you goes deep. However...¡± There was a pregnant pause before she continued. ¡°...you will never speak to me in that way again. Am. I. Understood.¡± Master Grediv was obviously on his guard, but he didn¡¯t seem truly concerned. Instead, he simply examined her for a long moment before giving a single nod. ¡°Understood.¡± Tala dropped to land on her feet once more, her iron immediately bleeding stone- and starward vanishing from the hallway in a blink. From there, it streamed back into the space around Flow. The Paragon¡¯s eyes stayed fixed on her, but she could somehow tell that he had swept his surroundings to ensure that it was now free of her influence, a bit of obvious tension bleeding away from him once that was complete. They stood that way for a breath before she gave a tightlipped smile. ¡°Good.¡± Chapter: 391 - Behind Tala glanced back at Alefast as it faded into the distance behind her and her traveling companions. Her unit-mates sat around her, Mistress Cerna piloting their combined, flying contraption, as she usually did. The Paragon for this trip was a wisp of a woman, smaller even than Tala. Her hair was a blonde so light that it was almost silver. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, and she could have been anywhere between twenty-five and twenty thousand. -Probably in the middle somewhere.- Yeah, I think Master Xeel is among the older Archons, and he¡¯s only a millennium and a half old. -...only.- Fair. Tala might have assumed the Paragon was a slender dwarf, but she could see the evidence of the gate within the Paragon easily. It was funny that she left her aura open for just such verifications. She probably knew what she looked like. Or she has an item like my through-spike. -That way lies paranoia. Anyone could have one.- That¡¯s true, I suppose¡­ Are you really what you seem, Alat? Are you using a through-spike to fool me? The alternate interface huffed a laugh within Tala¡¯s head. -Fair.- The group was heading to yet another cell that was near to breaching. There was something odd about this cell in particular, but no one could quite tell what it was. The general assessment was that it would either be laughably easy for their unit, or they¡¯d be calling in backup before even opening the door. Master Grediv had begun to rotate through the units, sending them out in something closer to an actual rotation instead of just sending out the smallest units again and again. The number of cells appearing this waning was truly extraordinary, and the various units had been theorizing as to why. While it was fun to theorize about a time when disaster was striking every week, with some new world-ending threat that the peoples of the day had to contend with, that just wasn¡¯t realistic. That theory was made less viable by the fact that cells decayed at somewhat random rates. So, the alignment of cell degradation had almost nothing to do with when the cells were originally created and filled in relation to one another. A more realistic, popular notion was that the increase was the result of a cascading effect. Since there was already greater stress in the region, cells that might have endured another cycle or two were coming in need of maintenance sooner. It was a good theory, all things considered. Much better than Tala¡¯s own original theory. I still think reality is especially angry, and it¡¯s breaking cells down more quickly as a tantrum, or an attempt to wear us down or something. -...You know how I feel about that theory.- That it lines up too well with the facts, except that it would require reality to have the ability to ¡®choose?¡¯ -Precisely.- It could also be that one of the cells which is weakening contains a powerful Reality Mage, and he or she is the one ¡®choosing.¡¯ -And that¡¯s why I don¡¯t dismiss your theory out of hand. Do you have any idea how maddening it is when you spout foolishness, then put reasonable backing behind it?- Tala felt herself smile. Considering that I¡¯m doing it to myself? I imagine it is pretty maddening. Alat laughed within Tala¡¯s mind, purposely making the sound a bit manic. I do hope that isn¡¯t the case, regardless. I¡¯d rather be wrong than have to clash with a Reality Mage. They sound¡­ less than great. -Agreed.- Tala lifted her gaze up to Terry, where he perched in his usual place, eyes closed, simply enjoying the wind streaming across him, ruffling his feathers. He was a wonderful companion. Flockmate. She corrected herself. Friend and partner too. Her gaze flicked back toward Alefast once more. It had been a week, and while Rane was up and moving around, some indefinable spark had gone from within him and was yet to return. He moved slower¡ªa bit more deliberately¡ªas if to make sure he didn¡¯t hurt himself. He spoke less and seemed to be thinking even more than usual. It was either that, or his mind was wandering without purpose. They hadn¡¯t specifically discussed the Refining session, yet, and she wasn¡¯t looking forward to that talk. Still, she had seen him every day, but it had mainly consisted of her just being there while he recovered. As she herself had experienced, magical healing couldn¡¯t remove the worst of the symptoms. He had to adjust to the changes in his body, and come to grips with the weight of what he¡¯d been through mentally. She thought back to the last time they¡¯d interacted before the Refining session, her birthday. It had been the day before his first session, and Tala had thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with him. She hadn''t expected anything, and he had masterfully surpassed her expectations. Several others had wished her happy birthday when she¡¯d seen them, her unit-mates included, but she¡¯d still elected to spend the day almost exclusively with him. Now, he was clearly not in his usual state of mind. After all, he had apparently refused to see Master Grediv. Rane was understandably upset with how differently the session had gone than his expectations. Master Grediv wasn¡¯t too put out by the rejection. He had apparently become rather used to that reaction from those he led to this stage long ago. Regardless, Tala and Rane also hadn¡¯t discussed her being in the room with him for most of it. Though, he had said a simple ¡®thank you¡¯ on several occasions. Honestly, Tala would be fine if they never discussed it beyond that. -Yes, because then you wouldn¡¯t have to think about all of the implications.- Tala didn¡¯t acknowledge her alternate interface¡¯s comment. -Of course not, because ignoring yourself works out so well.- Instead, she turned her attention back to the diminutive Paragon, who was watching her with curiosity. When their eyes met, the woman smiled. ¡°Mistress Tala, correct?¡± Tala nodded. The Paragon lifted from the platform and shifted to sit beside Tala, all without her limbs or muscles moving. Tala saw the woman¡¯s aura expand a bit, but then all the magic was worked within that shroud. That¡¯s a clever application. Still, she must be using incredibly little power to be able to hide it so thoroughly. -Or she¡¯s just that good.- Yeah, that could be it. ¡°So, you''re the new one in the unit?¡± ¡°I am, Mistress Sigyn, at least relatively. It¡¯s been more than half a year, now.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, she asked, ¡°What magic did you use to move over here?¡± Mistress Sigyn tilted her head to the side. ¡°Just now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s rather boring, really.¡± It wasn¡¯t. Apparently, she was skilled at manipulating temperature differentials. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The Paragon tried to explain how that would allow her to float about, but Tala was so out of her depth that the discussion didn¡¯t last too long. Even so, Mistress Sigyn didn¡¯t leave. Instead, she returned to what seemed to have been her purpose in coming over. ¡°So, how are you settling in? This is your first waning as well, correct?¡± ¡°It is, yes.¡± Tala was a bit hesitant. This should be freely available information, but she supposed it was just small-talk. ¡°It¡¯s a slag pile of a waning to be your first, ridiculously full of attacks and cells in need of repair.¡± She huffed, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ve already been involved in more cells this waning than any full cycle, previously.¡± Tala¡¯s eyebrows rose, but Master Clevnis chuckled, interjecting, ¡°Mistress Sigyn, you¡¯ve helped with two cells this waning, including the one we are going to now.¡± The woman nodded solemnly. ¡°Exactly. I am being pulled from my research again, and the waning has just begun. Something is odd, let me tell you.¡± Tala found herself nodding. She was cautiously curious to get a Paragon¡¯s perspective, and Mistress Sigyn seemed more talkative than most. ¡°What do you think it is?¡± Mistress Sigyn sighed, shaking her head. ¡°I study genetics, Mistress Tala, not cells.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Well, I study cells, but not this kind of cell.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I also don¡¯t study reality, or wanings, or¡­anything that would give me meaningful insight into what is going on. I only know enough to strengthen and reseal a cell at need.¡± Tala cocked her head, frowning. ¡°So¡­ why are you in a waning city?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to determine if the people who either chose to stay in waning cities¡ªor those who choose to come to them¡ªhave any genetic similarities.¡± Tala sat for a long moment, considering. ¡°Huh. I had never thought of that. If they did, wouldn¡¯t that go against free will, though?¡± Mistress Sigyn leaned forward, a bit excited. ¡°Does the fact that we get hungry go against free will?¡± Tala slowly shook her head. ¡°No, we can choose what we eat, and even choose to ignore our hunger if we want to.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± The Paragon¡¯s face was lit with excitement. She thought she understood. ¡°I see. So, you''re looking for predispositions?¡± ¡°Generally, yes. There is the issue that, with free will involved, no data-set can be clean. There will always be those who overcome their own nature to come and those without the means to leave. I am still in the gathering phase of my research. I only have six full wanings of data so far.¡± ¡°How do you gather it?¡± Tala found herself leaning forward in interest. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. A part of entering any city is tacit agreement to being monitored by the city¡¯s magics. Part of that is verifying no pathogens are spreading through the populace. Because some can modify people¡¯s genetic code, the city keeps a single record of each occupant and checks it against their current genetics every week or so. The information is generally only accessible to the city magics, and it used to be obliterated when a person died, or when that city was abandoned. I have campaigned to have the data kept.¡± She grimaced. ¡°They¡¯ve only agreed to do so for waning cities for the time being.¡± Tala was a bit conflicted. ¡°That seems¡­ invasive?¡± ¡°Oh, it is, and it isn¡¯t. It costs them nothing either immediately or in the long run, but it is very real information about them.¡± Mistress Sigyn grimaced. ¡°It would be nice if it was black and white, but like most things, it isn¡¯t.¡± Tala was silent as she took in a long, deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to feel about that?¡± ¡°Oh? Do you get permission from everyone around you before you Archive your every thought? From what I¡¯ve observed you can see past physical barriers, do you censor out that information from what you store?¡± It was Tala¡¯s turn to grimace. ¡°I suppose not¡­¡± ¡°Information is power.¡± Mistress Sigyn nodded. ¡°Power is what we need to keep humanity alive.¡± Tala found herself agreeing with that sentiment, even if it felt odd to do so. It helped that she knew that all Archons had to have at least some altruism, even if it manifested differently for different individuals. Mistress comes to mind. That woman was¡­ interesting. -Yeah, what was going on with that lady?- I don¡¯t know. I suppose she could have been an arcane? But I don¡¯t think so. I don¡¯t think we checked for a gate when we saw her even if she did offer to trade Archon stars¡­ ¡°Have you¡­ learned anything interesting? Anything helpful?¡± Mistress Sigyn nodded enthusiastically, ¡°I have actually, though not in line with my direction of research, not yet. I was able to find several markers that correlated with degenerative diseases of several varieties. We are in process of getting the findings confirmed, and if they are, we will likely initiate a program to remove the defective genes.¡± Tala paled, thinking of only one easy way to remove genes from a population. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Voluntary gene alteration.¡± Mistress Sigyn gave Tala a knowing glance. ¡°We don¡¯t kill people, Mistress Tala. Not to ¡®improve¡¯ the population. That would be counterproductive at the very least and immoral in the extreme.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ right.¡± Tala chuckled awkwardly. ¡°Do people actually go for that?¡± The Paragon shrugged. ¡°We usually pay people to undergo the procedure, after building it into an artifact-style device. It takes less than a minute, and is generally relatively painless.¡± ¡°That sounds like it could be abused¡­¡± ¡°Yes and no. It has to be voluntarily agreed to. I could probably enact the changes forcibly, but an artifact can¡¯t. It lacks the magical weight.¡± She smiled. ¡°Just as your body is better at resisting outside magics than the air around us, our genetics have proven to be even more resilient.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side, considering. ¡°Huh, I didn¡¯t know that. Is it because it is more ¡®us¡¯ than even our bodies?¡± She frowned. ¡°Then, wouldn¡¯t our minds be more resilient?¡± Mistress Sigyn smiled. ¡°I think our minds are designed to take input and make changes, but our genetics generally don¡¯t change, some exceptions aside. By their very nature genetics are less malleable than our minds, and I think that factors in.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± The two women continued their discussion well into the morning as they streaked through the sky, just below the speed of magical resonance in the ambient zeme. * * * ¡°Huh.¡± Tala examined the writing on the wall alongside some of her companions. ¡°Is this¡­ real?¡± Mistress Sigyn was grinning broadly. ¡°I think it is, and it is a welcome surprise.¡± Master Clevnis had already sat off to one side, slowly slicing small bits off of a rock that he found. He was clearly sad that the cell was likely to lack excitement. Mistress Vanga was reading her slate, and Master Girt was reading a book. Master Limmestare and Mistress Cerna were beside Tala and Mistress Sigyn. Terry had returned to Kit when they¡¯d landed in a forest clearing beside the cliff-face. The cell didn¡¯t even have an antechamber. Those who created it would clearly have been happy if anyone were to open it in the future. A simple message was written beside the entrance to the cell. Tala was quite happy that she was able to incredibly easily identify the entrance with her threefold sight. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t really show her much. All that she could see was just something that looked much like a reality thread connecting an otherwise innocuous point on the wall to something in between increments. Something in the void. -It does make sense to have the cells segregated off within the void.- Yeah, it also lines up with what we¡¯ve learned about them as well. The message read: ¡®If the world has survived, may what is contained within help you to rebuild and endure.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s a doomsday vault?¡± Mistress Vanga was looking to Mistress Sigyn. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of those, but I haven¡¯t encountered one myself.¡± The basic concept was rather obvious. There was something that made people of the time fear that the world would end in one way or another in the future. Unfortunately, whatever it was couldn¡¯t be contained in a cell, so the people of the time took the opposite approach: They tried to send resources into the future to help when they would be needed most. Thus, they gathered what they thought would be needed if the feared disaster came about and put them in a safe place, to hopefully help society restart, or remember, or just survive. Some were even from the time before the unification of language, often even from before the Archive, or at least from a time when the Archive wasn¡¯t widely used¡ªor not used in a way that would allow a legacy to be easily left. Or the information was left in the sections that were deleted when some fools tried to breach them. Regardless, given the information provided, this should be a very easy process. They would open the cell and determine if the items within were of use. Then, they would either seal it back up¡ªnoting what was in it in case there was ever need¡ªor empty it and recover the cell-core, if one had been used and if it was recoverable. Generally, the existence of a cell-core¡ªor the lack thereof¡ªwould be a heavy factor in whether or not the cell was maintained. Cell-cores were the items crafted so that humanity could still place something in a cell at need if they lacked a Mage capable of doing so with their own magics. Currently, Tala understood that humanity had four Archons who were capable of such, but they might not be nearby when the need was identified. Also, the number was only that high due to Archons being so long-lived. Thus, every city had at least one or two cell-cores for such emergencies. Tala had yet to see one and had only heard them referred to obliquely. That is, until now. ¡°So¡­ what does a cell-core look like?¡± Mistress Sigyn looked her way, and Tala shrugged, continuing, ¡°If we¡¯re going to be seeing if this cell has one, I¡¯d like to know what it should look like.¡± The Paragon quirked a smile. ¡°Well, for starters, it won¡¯t be in the cell. It will be on the reverse side of reality, anchoring the cell while helping to hold it suspended in the most robust, physical void we know of.¡± There was a lot to unpack in that statement, but one thing stood out, causing Tala¡¯s eyes to widen. ¡°The Doman-Imithe?¡± Mistress Sigyn nodded. ¡°That is as good a name as any for it. The arcanes, for all their faults, do have a depth and history of knowledge that shouldn¡¯t be ignored.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side. ¡°Should I¡­ go look?¡± Her whole unit stopped, turning to look at her even as the Paragon shifted to face her fully. ¡°You can¡­ go there? On purpose?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I believe so. I haven¡¯t done so under my own power, not yet, but I have been considering doing so at some point. If it would be helpful, I can try now.¡± The Paragon grimaced, rubbing between her eyebrows. ¡°Mistress Tala¡­ Why do¡­ I don¡¯t¡­¡± The woman rubbed at her temples, clearly a bit at a loss. Mistress Cerna walked over, next to Mistress Sigyn. ¡°Mistress Tala goes about things in odd ways at times, but she does get the job done. If she says she believes she can, then most likely she can.¡± The Paragon sighed, looking up. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t doubt her word. I¡¯m just a bit flabbergasted. Most Refined aren¡¯t even aware of the Doman-Imithe, and she can most likely go there, directly.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°She is right here, and I¡¯m still waiting for your answer.¡± Mistress Sigyn nodded slowly. ¡°My apologies. I was simply sorting through the possible implications.¡± She seemed to consider. ¡°Can you get back?¡± ¡°Absolutely. I am much more confident about getting back than getting there.¡± Another moment passed, the Mistress Sigyn nodded again. ¡°Alright. It will be a quicker, easier way to get a definitive answer than the methods I have at my disposal.¡± Tala smiled, taking Kit off her belt and tossing her against a blank wall, where she grew into a door into the sanctum. There, a nice anchor if nothing else. -Good thinking. It would have been rather embarrassing if we got stuck.- ¡­Your confidence is inspiring. -I am exactly as confident as you are.- Tala sighed. Yeah. I figured that was the case. -Shall we explore the great behind?- Tala hesitated, stifling a laugh and almost choking. -Hmmm¡­ I was going for ¡®the great beyond¡¯ but the Doman-Imithe is ¡®behind¡¯ Zeme. The combination did not work as well as I thought it would.- But it definitely made me smile. -There is that.- To the great behind! Tala sent mirth to Alat within her mind. -I really, really don¡¯t want us calling it that¡­please?- Alright. Tala took in a deep breath and let it out, nodding once. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± New Covers and Deals! Hello! At long last, we have new covers. Some of you may have seen them already, but this is the announcement post! ?? Deals: As a special deal starting now, these six books are on a $0.99 sale (each) for the next 96 hours. If you haven''t picked them up before, now is a great time! The way Amazon works, they will be recalculating the "popularity" of the books with the new covers, so if we can get a good number of purchases and/or downloads via Kindle Unlimited, we can get Amazon''s algorithms to make us front and center. ?? I am working to make the first three audiobooks free to those with Audible memberships, but that hasn''t gone through yet. I will keep you apprised. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Request: If you''ve been waiting for a good time to buy the epub, please do it now! ?? If you have KU, I would deeply appreciate a download. https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0BX4S6LJG Now, a few housekeeping things. No Post Day, March: Friday, March 1st, is the ''no post day'' for March. Audiobooks: Book 7 is nearly half done with the narrator and lots of people are having fun listening in with Tess Irondale''s live narration on her discord. Take a look into that, if you''re at all interested! Book 8 is with the editor now, and we are looking to have Tess narrate that one starting mid-July! ?? End of Book 10! Archons and Transcendents are nearing the end of book 10! It''s looking like 5-7 chapters till that point. ?? Regards, J.L.Mullins Chapter: 392 - Cell-Core? Tala was not sure she could get into the Doman-Imithe, but she had a good idea of how it might work, and she¡¯d been doing experiments around similar things for a while now, even if she hadn¡¯t actually done it yet. Alright, let¡¯s do this! First, she wrapped herself in void. To do this, she funneled more power into the void magic aspects of her elk leathers along with aspect-mirroring the void magics from Flow onto them as well. With force of will, she impressed the power into the defensive magics that created a full shell around her, vaguely in the form of armor but without the gaps. She was very careful to not add iron into the mix. She still had her inscriptions completely contained within iron, but she didn¡¯t sheath her skin, her elk leathers, or her defenses in it. She did not want to use her existence-shield. In truth, what she was doing was probably overkill. She thought she would only need void magic over her gloves, but it was better to be safe than sorry. As soon as she was sheathed in void magic¡ªthe direct counter to reality¡ªshe felt the slight disconnect from the physical world around her. So far, so good. The Paragon and her unit-mates stood at a distance, but she could tell they were all intently focused on her, and on what she was doing. Tala ignored them as her threefold sight focused in on the ¡®in between¡¯ spaces, between increments stoneward of superficial. She was looking to where she¡¯d seen hints of the Doman-Imithe in the past. Then, with an effort of will, she upped the gravitational attraction between her hand and what she found. After less than a minute of positively dumping power into the working, she felt a small pop and her hand vanished, followed by her forearm, as they were pulled stoneward. To those looking, it seemed like her arm was being tucked behind some invisible object, not able to be seen from any angle. Tala¡¯s hand felt¡­ odd. She had never purposely separated her body along the stone-starward axis before. She¡¯d only moved as a whole, and it was decidedly odd. The arcane, Lisa, made it look effortless. That was likely due to his particular magics or makeup, however. As to her, her biology was not designed to function like this. Her blood flow shouldn¡¯t have worked at these oblique angles, but her pervasive inscriptions and natural magics kept everything in the paths that it should go, despite the odd misalignment. Tala felt the void magic around her fingers brush up against¡­ something. She seized it and pulled. Her muscles were not really positioned or designed to pull along the star- stoneward axis, but she managed regardless, feeling the odd tweaking as she used more leverage than directly applied strength. When her hand felt like it popped back to the superficial, she had a fistful of void. With her other hand, she grabbed on, and then pulled it apart, just as she had when making a door to get out of the Doman-Imithe so long ago. No, that was only barely more than a year ago. -Some years are longer than others.- Tala considered that, then felt herself smile. You know what? I think that you¡¯re right. She pushed her own void magic outward, using her aura¡ªalong with her hands wrapped in void magic. Together, she used the combination to leverage the captured bit of true void¡ªand the hole that she¡¯d created through it¡ªwide, feeling like she was creating a bridge more than a door. On the superficial level, it was definitely door-like, but to her threefold sight? It was an intricately latticed bridge that vanished into between the superficial and the increment just stoneward thereof. Through the door, she saw the Doman-Imithe. Yeah, that looks right. -Well done! Theory and reality meet.- Tala stepped back and smiled. ¡°There! I knew I could do it.¡± An instant after she let go of the thing, it snapped closed, vanishing from the superficial and winking out of existence. Rust¡­ She sighed. ¡°Well, that was rusting foolish of me.¡± It didn¡¯t close last time. She turned to regard the Paragon and her unit-mates, and saw them all wearing various expressions of interest, surprise, or incredulity. Mistress Sigyn¡¯s right eye was twitching. ¡°So? I think I can stabilize it. Is that what you were looking for?¡± The Paragon seemed to take a calming breath, then nodded. ¡°Yes, I believe that was the Doman-Imithe I sensed through the doorway. Are you¡­ I apologize to pry into your magics, but was that void magic?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°It was.¡± Mistress Sigyn nodded in return but more slowly. ¡°Alright. I suppose the information about you did mention void magic. Would you be able to check for the cell-core?¡± Tala hesitated a moment. ¡°What am I looking for, exactly? Things in the Doman-Imithe aren¡¯t exactly conducive to just ¡®finding something out of place.¡¯¡± She chuckled to relieve some nervousness. ¡°Because if that¡¯s what I¡¯m looking for, the answer will be: Me.¡± That got a laugh from the Paragon. ¡°Fair.¡± She grinned. ¡°You are looking for a wooden sphere, bound in an iron alloy that will feel like a mirrored tube to magic. It should seem to be pulling in your power more than reflecting it, but honestly, if you¡¯re testing for that minute of detail, you should just let us know that you¡¯ve found it.¡± ¡°Wood?¡± Tala considered, then grinned, realizing the most likely reason. ¡°Is it Master Jevin¡¯s work?¡± Mistress Sigyn shrugged. ¡°Most likely. He makes most of the cell-cores we use these days, and the others who do so use his schema, so they use wood as well. He really has the most amazing grasp on so many types of magic.¡± Her admiration for the man was clear. Honestly, Tala couldn¡¯t blame her. Even if she didn¡¯t know Master Jevin¡¯s age, she knew that he had done a lot for humanity in various ways. She smiled, nodding. ¡°Alright. That¡¯s what I¡¯ll look for then.¡± She turned back to the rockface before her. This time the process of forcing herself to reach stoneward was¡­ well, not precisely easier, but it was smoother. Simpler? Yeah, it was simpler because she knew better what to expect. Even so, it was still incredibly odd even if she recognized all the feelings from the process a few minutes earlier. The door opened, and Tala saw the Doman-Imithe through the opening once again. Yup, very Doman-Imithe-like. -Exactly as expected.- Tala nodded to herself. Well, I don¡¯t want to stand here, holding it, and I¡¯d rather have the door open after I step through. So, I¡¯ll stabilize it, then¡­ Oh¡­ right¡­ -Yeah¡­ I just remembered that too.- Tala turned her head toward her unit-mates. ¡°There might be some reality beasts coming our way. They seem to not like doors connected to the Doman-Imithe.¡± Master Clevnis nodded, turning to look outward. ¡°Understood.¡± The others similarly oriented their perspectives outward in various directions. Tala smiled, glad that she could trust their competence. Still, she should give them some assurance, ¡°If one manages to close the door, I should be able to reopen it from the other side. They seem to be more stable when opened from the other side¡­¡± She considered, reorienting on the door she was still actively holding open. Maybe¡­? -Yeah, that would make sense. These are less damaging from this side, like pushing aside blades of grass to see the soil instead of digging up from below. She still needed to hold it open. -Iron?- Iron. She pulled iron to the superficial, wrapping it around the entirety of the inside of the doorway, creating a sort of U-channel, bracketing the magical portal, half in zeme half in the Doman-Imithe. There. She released her hold on the portal, and it settled into the iron channel, swaying and oscillating a bit, making her extremely glad for the shape that she¡¯d chosen. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. At that point, she also began to get some odd feelings from the thing, likely information from her threefold sight, that she couldn¡¯t interpret any other way. The strongest was an overpowering gratefulness that she¡¯d opened the door against the cliff. Something deep inside her said she should not look at the backside. Mistress Sigyn sighed, a mix of gratitude and resignation. ¡°Well, your profile did say void and iron. I just didn¡¯t quite incorporate the truth of that.¡± She chuckled. ¡°More the fool, me.¡± Tala nodded noncommittally, and gave the woman a smile before she stepped through the portal. ¡°Be back shortly!¡± As she put her foot down on the other side, a truth smacked her in the face. She knew that she¡¯d been looking into the Doman-Imithe through the door, but she hadn¡¯t actually processed anything that she could see through that opening. It was as if her mind utterly filtered out whatever it had been. Now, without the void-door as a medium, her mind was exposed to the truth of the backside of Zeme. The broken world. The Doman-Imithe. The door behind her was gone, even if she could still feel it. Something was very not right. Well, rust¡­ * * * Tala took in her surroundings as quickly as she was able. There weren¡¯t any smilers in immediate evidence, but the thing before her might have eaten them. No, there¡¯s no ¡®might¡¯ about it. It definitely did. A single eye floated about a hundred yards from her, while also seeming within easy reach. It wasn¡¯t physical in the sense of being an eyeball. Instead, it looked like a malevolent toddler had tried to draw the eyes of a kind parent in sparkles and good feelings. -That made absolutely no sense.- Am I wrong? -...no, and that disturbs me a little bit.- As to how an eye could eat smilers? Tala didn¡¯t understand that either, but the way it regarded her made her feel like it would have eaten her immediately, if she¡¯d been a smiler. Because she wasn¡¯t one, it didn¡¯t much want to bother with her, at least not at the moment. You know, I think I might actively hate the Doman-Imithe. -We don¡¯t have the greatest experiences here, no.- Aside from the horrifying, yet non-threatening creature of the not-void, her surroundings were just close enough to mundane to set her on edge. She stood on a vast flat plain of rock. She assumed that it was just her mental manifestation of the near region of the Doman-Imithe, and if she moved even a few hundred feet it would radically change, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that it was what it looked like. There wasn¡¯t a pebble or bit of dust on the smooth surface. As she¡¯d already noticed, the doorway back to Zeme seemed to be gone, even though she could actively feel it. There was no magic in the area at all, making Doman-Imithe not contain even a hint of the namesake of Zeme. Oh, and the rock upon which she stood was the deep, glowing purple of a clear blue sky. Tala¡¯s mind hurt. This was so much worse than when she¡¯d seen this without magic. Now, she could perceive so much more of the nonsensical existence, and her brain was striving to understand it. So, instead of being a pedestrian walking into a wall that she couldn¡¯t see, her higher capacity mind was an entire caravan slamming into the same wall. It was awful. Her eyes flicked back to the murder-eye, and she realized something, the information seeming inexplicably coming to her from her threefold sight. Oh¡­ I¡¯m looking at it from the inside. She felt herself whimper involuntarily, despite herself. As if responding to her thoughts, the world inverted, the stone momentarily becoming the black of a summer sunrise. Stop¡­ Tala staggered slightly, but when she looked up, she was standing on plain gray rock, and the eye was now a flat black. -Oh, wow. This is so much more awful experiencing it in person than in your memories.- She swallowed reflexively. I was¡­ I was in its mouth? -Like a baby, it decided to taste us before deciding what we were.- An eye with an oral fixation¡­ She felt like the synapses within her brain were committing frantic suicide in a wholly inadequate attempt to escape what she was experiencing. On a positive note, the doorway to Zeme was behind her once again, and she almost stepped through it just to be free of this place. No, I need to see if¡­ And it was as easy as that. There it was. The cell-core she had come to try to find was in easy view. It was a wooden sphere the size of her head with hexagons of metal inlaid into its surface. The cell-core was directly below the now-iconographic, darkly glowing eye. The eye was still watching her. She could somehow tell that it was still trying to decide what to do with her. Something brushed against her on a conceptual level, passing through the iron on her skin as if there was nothing there, and she felt all of her magics invert for a horrifying moment. Alat was gone. Tala¡¯s physical enhancements became restrictions that locked her in place, rendered her insensate, and utterly¡ªsensorily¡ªcut off from the world around her. It was like the worst eye-blink to ever occur, and when she came back, her magics working properly again, she felt like she¡¯d been partially obliterated. It was obvious to her how that had happened. The dissolution magics of endingberries were enacted throughout her being for that brief instant of inversion. Only the fact that she was Refined had kept her from puffing into dust in that singular blink of magic-reversal. In a show of stalwart strength, she then dropped to her knees and vomited everywhere, the inversion of those magics taking a moment longer to take effect. Yeah, goodbye! She rolled backward through the door, pulling her iron away and letting the portal slam shut. Collapsing to the ground, she continued to heave. Though this heaving was blessedly due to a passing shortness of breath rather than more vomiting. She managed to rasp out, ¡°Oh, that was awful.¡± Mistress Vanga was at her side before she¡¯d fully reoriented. ¡°You are fully healed, but your entire body feels strained and stressed.¡± Tala just vaguely nodded, still rather out of sorts. ¡°Yeah. But, hey!¡± Tala tried to put a positive spin on things, ¡°Mission accomplished. The cell-core was there.¡± Mistress Sigyn¡¯s voice came to her. ¡°Oh! Good. Well, we should look into the cell, but if there¡¯s a cell-core, we¡¯re most likely going to want to extract it. That will return the cell to Zeme and we can gather up the contents.¡± ¡­What? -What?- Did she say¡­? -...yes. She most definitely said ¡®extract.¡¯- Tala groaned. Lovely. * * * Tala marveled, walking into the incredibly dry, cold air of the cell and glancing around. ¡°Is this¡­ a seed vault?¡± Mistress Cerna was nearby, similarly looking around as she answered. ¡°This section at least seems to be.¡± ¡°What did they think would happen to Zeme? Some of these labels are for things like wildflowers of various kinds. Did they expect all plant-life would be obliterated, somehow?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Master Girt grunted. ¡°At least seeds make some sort of sense. Why are there a whole bunch of tiny metal bowls with corrugated edges and rubberized insides?¡± Mistress Vanga called from the other side. ¡°I have bags of... sand? I have both black and white sand¡­¡± She hesitated. ¡°I think it¡¯s ground and powdered, crystalized bone? What the rust?¡± Master Clevnis added what he was finding as well. ¡°Here is some armor and weapons. It looks like they chose armor types that could be fitted to the wearer after construction. It¡¯s well made stuff, and it seems to have held up well in the cold and dry.¡± Master Limmestare sighed. ¡°I suppose we¡¯re all just spouting off what we see as we add the inventory to the Archive? Yes? Yes. I have stacked reels of various metal wire, like those used to help set magics for new cities. Honestly, this looks like miles of metal.¡± They continued through the incredibly well stocked vault. It made a sort of sense that it was so well stocked. If the people of the time believed that they were helping to equip what was left of society after a horrific disaster, and they believed it to the point of using a cell-core, then they weren¡¯t going to be scrimping on the contents. Tala found herself frowning. ¡°Wait a moment.¡± She felt everyone orient on her. ¡°If we expect the cell-cores to be wooden, because of Master Jevin¡­ Does that mean that he¡¯s older than this cell? Than any of the cells with cell-cores?¡± Mistress Sigyn grunted. ¡°Oh! Great question. I was a bit unclear earlier. Master Jevin makes them now, and he has perfected their design, but the original cell-cores¡ªat least from what we know¡ªwere made by the Mezzannis. Master Jevin simply adapted the design when humanity was running low.¡± Mezzannis¡­ wait. That¡¯s the Leshkin. -Yeah.- ¡°The Leshkin made them?¡± ¡°No, Mistress Tala, the people who fell and became the Leshkin made the earliest known versions of them. That is why they¡¯ve basically always been wood. The magics involved seem to work best in the medium as well, even if we aren¡¯t sure why.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not. It¡¯s not something that¡¯s ever really piqued my interest.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± They proceeded through the space, recording everything they came across. Tala¡­had Alat scan the entirety of the contents with their threefold sight and record it in the first five minutes, only wandering over to the most interesting things after that. At the fifteen minute mark, Tala got to watch Master Clevnis have the realization. He glanced her way with an evident frown. At that moment, she¡¯d been lazily looking through a box filled with sets of playing cards. They had different suits than she was used to, and she thought they even had different numbers of suits as well as different numbers of cards in each suit. What sort of games could you play with these? Master Clevnis opened his mouth, possibly to reprimand her, but then he looked like he¡¯d been struck between the eyes. ¡°Oh¡­ well, that¡¯s on me.¡± Mistress Cerna seemed to have heard him, because she glanced at her husband, then followed his gaze to Tala. The smallest frown creased her brows then she blinked a couple of times before sighing. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Cerna?¡± ¡°Are you already done?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡± The woman grunted. ¡°We can stop. Mistress Tala has already cataloged the space.¡± After a moment¡¯s pause, Master Girt began to chuckle, and Master Limmestare gave Tala a dirty look. Mistress Vanga seemed vaguely disappointed in Tala when their eyes met, but Tala decided it had been worth it. It was pretty funny, and no one had gotten hurt. She also hadn¡¯t let it go on for very long. Moreover, they all should have remembered that she was capable of it. Mistress Sigyn seemed a bit confused, and Mistress Cerna filled her in. ¡°Mistress Tala has recently improved her perception in a manner that allows her to see around and inside physical obstructions. I believe that she has already itemized the entire vault¡¯s contents. It was likely trivial for her.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Trivial? No. Honestly, it was a bit difficult. There is a lot in here.¡± -I¡¯ve moved the information into the appropriate, shared portion of the Archive.- ¡°You should all be able to see the itemization.¡± -You¡¯re welcome.- Thank you, Alat. -Anytime.- The alternate interface was dismissive of her gratitude, but Tala still felt Alat¡¯s contentment. ¡°So?¡± Mistress Cerna asked as the group gathered together. ¡°What is the plan?¡± Mistress Sigyn nodded to the question. ¡°Great question. I¡¯ve granted the relevant information to those who have to make the choice. I expect they¡¯ll want to look over the inventory list, and then get back to us with a decision. We should expect it to take up to two days for us to get a response.¡± Master Limmestare nodded once before turning toward the section that Tala knew held books. Before he could get far, however, Mistress Cerna called him back. ¡°We should leave the cell until then. We don¡¯t want to contaminate or degrade anything in here.¡± Master Limmestare hesitated, then his shoulders slumped, and he spun, striding toward the exits, the others following shortly after. Chapter: 393 - Divided into Two Tala hopped in place, trying to settle her nerves. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m fine. -Tala. You¡¯re not in a good way about this. They can extract the core another way.- Yeah, but then they won¡¯t let me drain the dimensionality with Kit. They need the whole thing as a lever to get the cell-core out. -...so, you¡¯re doing this for Kit?- Alat¡¯s tone made it clear that she knew the answer already. Not at all. I¡¯m doing this for me. I want Kit to be bigger. Alat chuckled within her head. -Fine.- Flow was waiting off to the side. The weapon wouldn¡¯t help in the Doman-Imithe, and she didn¡¯t want to risk it. A bit more than two days had passed since her unit had opened the cell and itemized the contents. The ¡®powers that be¡¯ had gotten back to them through Mistress Sigyn, and it was agreed that they should recover the cell-core. Perfect. She¡¯d informed them about the ¡®murder-eye,¡¯ and the response was simple. She was not to engage with it. If that made retrieving the core impossible for her, she was to leave it for an extraction team. Because challenging my capability is going to get me to leave it be. -They were probably serious, Tala.- Oh, I know they were. That makes it worse. She gilded herself. She could do this. First, though, she needed to empty the cell. The door was open beside her. Tala formed Kit as a pouch in her hand before she tossed Kit through the open door, against the wall of the short tunnel. -You know, you could have just made her appear there with your aura.- Yeah, but it feels more natural this way. I¡¯ll adjust eventually. -Alright.- Tala smiled toward her newest bond. ¡°That¡¯s ours, now. Have fun, Kit.¡± There was a flare of power as Kit drew even more deeply upon her gate, exceeding even her entire throughput and forcing her to use voidchannels to make up the needed flow. When the needed inflow was satisfied, the dimensional storage grew across the opening, and Tala lost sight of the cell. To be utterly clear, all her perspectives and threefold sight lost view of the cell. Previously, she had been able to see a tunnel leading away from the superficial into the void, and then she¡¯d been able to see the entirety of the cell wedged in there. It had looked odd, but once the door was open, she had been able to see it. Now, it was¡­obscured? As Kit¡¯s inherent magic tore the space apart, eating the dimensionality along with everything inside it, she had a hard time seeing it clearly. With each metaphorical ¡®bite,¡¯ Tala felt a resonance with her soul. I am the ravenous, jealous devourer. The cell was hers, and she was devouring it through Kit, who was just an extension of her soul, now. It felt¡­ good. Each bit of dimensionality added to Kit felt like Tala¡¯s own body, mind, will, and magic were loosening, getting more room to move somehow. This had been the right choice. This was the only real path forward. Classically, when a cell-core was recovered, the sequestered space had reentered Zeme to¡­ interesting results. This way¡ªwith Tala taking what was hers¡ªthe cell-core could be taken, and the shear forces exerted on reality would be minimized. Apparently, at the time of a cell¡¯s creation or destruction, dimensionality of the whole region could be thrown off, as it was usually a ¡®circle¡¯ that was removed or added. In the case of cell creation, the area was left such that walking along the right path could allow a traveler to move vastly more than expected. But that was the positive side. On the negative, as Zeme normalized with the new reality, physical integrity of basically everything in the area could be compromised as it was compressed or expanded in vain attempts to fix the disjointment. Things usually calmed down in a couple of days, but they were apparently always chaotic days. Kit solved the problem quite nicely, and Tala got to expand her sanctum. In less than ten minutes, all that was left was a one-foot deep passage to nowhere, and a satisfied seeming pouch sitting on the ground, waiting. Tala¡¯s soul felt somehow raw, even as she knew that her aura was a bit more green than before. Well, alright then. Leaning into who I am can help. -Not a lot, but yeah. At least a tenth of a percent.- More than that, Tala felt like Kit had been resonating with her gate in an odd way. She¡¯d need to check with Master Simon. Even so, the last barrier to her unpleasant task had been removed. It was time. She hopped up and down again, shaking her arms unnecessarily. Mistress Cerna stepped up next to her. ¡°We can find another way, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, no. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll make it work.¡± She chuckled wryly. ¡°I¡¯ve just made the regular way impossible, so¡­¡± The woman gave her a long look before nodding. ¡°Is there anything that I can do?¡± ¡°Thank you, but no.¡± Tala smiled. With a small flexing of will, Kit vanished, losing all physical manifestation. There, I remembered this time. -Still feels weird though?- Oh, so much so. Tala refocused on the task at hand then reached forward, coating herself in void and pulling open the door directly beside the entrance to the cell. Before anchoring it with iron¡ªlet alone stepping through¡ªTala focused on the view through the doorway. That¡¯s the Doman-Imithe alright. -...it¡¯s happening again.- ¡­yeah. That did not bode well. She needed to verify before actually putting herself at that thing¡¯s mercy once again. Tala and Alat worked together to focus closer, adding power to their perception and enhancement scripts. Finally, the actual view through the door snapped into focus. The eye was sitting right at the threshold, looking out at her. A happy kitten waiting for their owner to die so that they could feast. ¡°Gah!¡± Tala stumbled backward, the portal snapping shut. Her unit took a step toward her, but she held up her hand. She had forcibly grabbed onto her physiological and emotional reactions and locked them under her strict control ¡°Wait.¡± They pulled to a stop, even as she stood back straight. ¡°That was my mistake. I opened a door at the same location as before, after my magical signature was all over the very thing I¡¯m after.¡± The murder-eye was waiting¡­ What about¡­? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. -Oh! That¡¯s an interesting idea.- Yeah. She smiled. ¡°I think I have an idea to try once more.¡± Mistress Sigyn gave her a calculating look. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Alright, but I will be right beside you. I¡¯m not risking a broken one coming through.¡± She turned to regard the Paragon. ¡°A broken one?¡± The woman grimaced. ¡°Mythologically, the Sovereigns of the Doman-Imithe, but their power isn¡¯t sufficient to be worthy of that title.¡± ¡°They would be too weak to be considered Sovereign, unless they are broken somehow. You believe they are Sovereigns whose power is broken?¡± ¡°Exactly. Regardless, they are even more hated by Reality than gated humans. They shouldn¡¯t be able to come through, but they also should be vanishingly rare, so finding one by chance shouldn¡¯t be possible.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°I think I can understand that.¡± She took a few long, steadying breaths. Here we go. I don¡¯t have to enter, I just have to snatch the cell-core from what seems to be a fallen god of sorts. -Don¡¯t be overly dramatic. Sovereigns aren¡¯t gods.- ¡­fine. This time, when she reached through, she grabbed a different part of the void, much closer to the open cell beside her. In fact, she tried to grab onto a part of the void in order to access the Doman-Imithe directly above the cell-core. In theory, a cell was suspended in the infinite void between its locked entrance in Zeme and an anchor of some kind in the Doman-Imithe. Therefore, grabbing closer to the cell should bring her closer to the cell-core, which was the fabricated anchor for this cell. The theory was sound; she just hoped that it worked that way in practice. She carefully pulled open the way, but just enough to see through. Then, she forced her perspective and mind to comprehend what she was seeing through the window into the Doman-Imithe. What she beheld was the backside of an omnidirectional being. It was the remnants of pure water, after it had evaporated. It was the sound of the inhale after a body¡¯s last breath. It was nothing. Tala reacted on pure instinct, iron slamming around her, engaging her existence shield. It turned toward her and existence burned. She felt incredible pressure against her existence shield as whatever sort of attack it was somehow struck straight at her gate, even though the opening that she held was at eye level. The defense dimpled inward, the pressure forcing the defense back into her flesh. The flesh that was exposed to the ongoing attack simply ceased. To say it had ¡®ceased to exist,¡¯ would imply that it vanished. Instead, Tala felt like that part of her had never existed at all. The attack was aiming for her gate. Tala threw the entirety of her ability behind her existence shield, trying to force the attack to at least deflect downward. At the same time, Tala held onto the void with her fingers as she jerked back and twisted, orienting the portal to face downward. It was now a hole in the air, oriented horizontally so that she could look through to see the ground within the Doman-Imithe. The attack continued, seemingly self-sustaining. Worse, by their reactions¡ªor really their lack thereof¡ªher unit couldn¡¯t seem to sense the attack at all. They likely couldn¡¯t tell much about what was happening in large part due to her defenses. Even so, she wasn¡¯t going to fail in her mission. Through the hole she could see it. It was there, just as she¡¯d hoped. The cell-core, resting on the ground, just waiting for her to grab it. The attack finished passing all the way through her, having pushed her existence shield so far that it contacted itself at the small of her back. She¡¯d succeeded in deflecting it downward after all. Small blessings. Then, like a soap bubble that was pinched, her existence shield formed two, distinct sections. Her own magics instantly becoming an incredible issue. Her existence had been divided into two, fully separate sections. The upper was being maintained by her gate, her will, and her actions. The lower had nothing any more. Thus, as it was cut off from all other existence, it simply vanished. Truthfully, it was likely somewhere, but she would never find it. In fact, it might even still be attached to her, physically, but she doubted it. She dropped, her upper body now unsupported. Thankfully, she kept hold of the void-door into the Doman-Imithe, and as she fell, she moved her hands downward and outward to make the opening big enough for the core. With barely any cognizance remaining, Tala slammed the mobile portal against the ground, even as she let it snap shut. She¡¯d done it. Her plan had worked. The cell-core rested on the ground, having risen up through the portal as Tala slammed the void-opening down. Even so, there had been a cost. She couldn¡¯t hear anything except an indistinct buzzing. Her mirrored perceptions were broken, her inscriptions disrupted¡ªbut blessedly not reversed¡ªleaving her with only her mundane eyes. She couldn¡¯t draw breath. That was largely due to the fact that she didn¡¯t have intact lungs. The odd, resonant silence was clarified by its absence. She had no heartbeat. She had no heart. She was gone below the middle of her chest, the scooping cut swept downward from about halfway through her torso to end at her low back. Everything below that was simply gone. Her blood was seeping out slowly, no heart to pump it free, no inscriptions to hold it back. In a moment of utter clarity as she balanced on her two hands, one on either side of her prize¡ªthe cell-core¡ªshe knew she was in a very bad way. I haven¡¯t healed. I¡¯m not going to be healing. That had to be why. It made no sense, but her body was both connected to her, and irreconcilably severed. The separate existence was still trying to connect to her, somehow. The dust was still billowing upward from her hands slamming down. Her existence defense was gone, and her unit-mates were taking in collective gasps of horror, even while some of them were already moving. Even so, Tala pushed backward, called Flow to her, and cut herself through the chest, just above the line where she could no longer feel. This cut was clean through, taking a much shorter path through her body. Something fell away, and Tala¡¯s magic suddenly snapped back into existence, but her inscriptions were gone along with most of her reserves. Even so, her natural magics and those remaining on her upper body were enough that she began to regrow. Her blood no longer leaked free as it was now properly contained, and so that helped as well. Tala¡¯s bones grew back first, then her circulatory and nervous systems grew over top. Finally, her organs, muscles, and all the rest came into being, slowly forming like molasses on a cold morning. Her elk leathers followed at the pace of her skin, slowly creeping downward to cover her nakedness. Tala felt Mistress Sigyn¡¯s magic manifest on the part of Tala¡¯s body that she¡¯d cut off and whatever else was attached to it. The magic felt like hearing about a city¡¯s funeral pyre. It was an unquestionably powerful and cleansing power, but she didn¡¯t feel even a wisp of heat herself. -Can you hear me? Tala!- I hear you. Tala pulled in a shuddering gasp as her diaphragm spasmed, causing her to cough. -Oh by the stars, I thought I¡¯d somehow lost you.- How are you here? How were you here? -Your magic was entirely interconnected. It couldn¡¯t be divided, so it was¡ªI was¡ªin a sort of half-state. Only your severing allowed your magic to snap back to your gate. I¡­ I saw everything, Tala.- Alat shuddered within Tala¡¯s head. -Please don¡¯t go back to the Doman-Imithe? Not until we understand it better and are better prepared?- Tala nodded sluggishly, continuing to breathe in the sweet air around her, keeping herself from truly thinking about what had just happened. Keeping herself from thinking about her current state. Mistress Vanga was beside her, talking to her, but Tala was still not properly processing the sound. Tala saw concerned faces, and felt waves of magic from the healer and the Paragon pass through her before everyone seemed to relax a bit. -You¡¯re clear of outside influences.- Yeah, I understood that. What¡¯s going on? Why did I not start to recover until I cut off more? -There¡¯s a dissonance in our magic. It is passing. We lost a chunk of iron, and it was voided. That added stress.- Great. -We should recover quickly enough¡­ I think. We won¡¯t be convalescing beside Rane. - That made Tala let out a coughing laugh. Mistress Vanga leaned in. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Oh, hey,¡± Tala responded weakly. ¡°I can hear you now.¡± The healer smiled. ¡°Welcome back.¡± ¡°Happy to be here,¡± Tala forced out. Mistress Vanga looked incredibly concerned. ¡°I¡¯m doing my best to feed your own magics. I think your greatest issue is lack of reserves, and I¡¯m filling the role of those as well as adding in my own healing as appropriate. Keep in mind, I can¡¯t refill them, our magics work too differently for that. You¡¯ll have to refill on your own.¡± ¡°Thank you regardless.¡± Tala gave a small smile, all that she could manage. She just felt so tired. ¡°You¡¯ve lost all your lower inscriptions, Mistress Tala. The upper portions are¡­ sparking against the lack. Your natural magics are bearing the load for the moment, but we need to get you reinscribed as quickly as possible.¡± The healer glanced down. ¡°Well, as soon as you have a lower body to reinscribe.¡± Tala groaned but nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be up for it in another minute or two¡­ maybe ten.¡± Mistress Vanga nodded as well. She knew about Tala¡¯s reinscriber within Kit. ¡°If you¡¯re up for it, while you¡¯re taking that time, you¡¯ll want to see this.¡± Tala nodded, and Mistress Vanga lifted her up so that she could see. Tala¡¯s gaze immediately fell on the cell¡¯s door. What is going on? Her desire to see more clearly kickstarted her will, and her threefold sight reignited. The superficial was weird. It reminded her uncomfortably of the Doman-Imithe, even if only barely. The small tunnel¡ªwhich was all that Kit had left of the cell¡ªwas now a true feature of the cliff, the stone around it having been shoved aside dimensionally. Even so, there was nothing maintaining that dimensional alteration, and so the stone was trying to move back into the space it should have occupied. It obviously couldn¡¯t. Thankfully, most of the inserted space had been air, and that moved away easily, but what happens when three feet of space was shoved in between two sections of stone that are covalently bound? Is that even the right term? -Does it matter?- It didn¡¯t. Regardless, Tala was able to watch reality force order back into place. Alat Archived the whole process. Throughout, her body was slowly rebuilt with a combination of her own natural magics, and Mistress Vanga¡¯s healing, as well as her ability to add to Tala¡¯s stores. Finally, Tala was fully grown, ready to get up. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Vanga. I think I¡¯m feeling better.¡± The healer smiled her way before helping her stand. ¡°Let¡¯s get you into your sanctum for reinscription, then. In case it wasn¡¯t obvious, we¡¯ll be taking you off of active duty when we get back to Alefast.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s fair.¡± Chapter: 394 - A Misunderstanding Tala still felt off, but from what Master Grediv, Mistress Vanga, and another Paragon that Master Grediv had brought in to examine her had said, that was to be expected. Not that they had experience with someone severing the existence-connection to their own body. If that¡¯s actually what happened. Tala couldn¡¯t quite tell if that is what had caused her current state, or if the murder-eye¡¯s attack¡ªwhatever it had been¡ªhad caused her current state. Effectively, if her own defense was at fault, her existence had been altered so that she lacked a body below the bottom of her sternum. Even so, her genetics and magic had still had the imprint map of her lower body, so it had been rebuilt quite effectively without much difficulty. She wasn¡¯t quite sure how or why the natural magics associated with her lower body had been maintained, but her theory¡ªwhich Mistress Vanga and Master Grediv thought was reasonable¡ªwas that her natural magics were tied more to her soul than to her body, and her gate hadn¡¯t been touched by the existence magics. She really hoped that it never would be. Regardless, her body had been regrown, and yet, the result still felt off to her. Even after being reinscribed within Kit, nothing felt quite right. It¡¯s like picking up a new weapon of a type I¡¯m not used to. -That¡¯s a great analogy!- ¡­I know you¡¯re trying to be positive, but this whole situation is rather awful. -I know¡­- At the moment, Tala was walking through the Alefast market with Kedva, supervising as the girl continued to get used to her magically enhanced physiology. This day, specifically, they were having Kedva get used to moving around and acting normally as the power faded, and she slowly moved back to being equivalent to a mundane human. ¡°Test,¡± Tala said calmly at the appropriate interval. Kedva pulled out a series of needles, moving from the dull equivalent of a thin rod toward a construct needle that would easily pierce even Tala¡¯s reinforced skin. They would have used one of Sole¡¯s needles for the top of the range, but they were just too long for them to be practical to use in that way. Each of the needles that they did use was mounted in a spring-loaded device so that they¡¯d exert the same pressure, almost regardless of how hard the girl pushed. That was necessary given Kedva¡¯s falling strength. Otherwise, it would have been almost impossible to get good results. With practiced efficiency, Kedva tested down the line on one of her fingers, until she got to a needle that easily pierced her skin. She told Tala which one worked, but mainly, Kedva was trying to integrate into her own mind how she, herself, felt with the level of enhancement she still had. The needle test complete, Kedva moved to the next test. ¡°The fifth weight, please.¡± Kedva held out her hand, and Tala formed iron across the girl¡¯s palm and added weight up to the requested amount. Kedva moved it around a bit, then sighed. ¡°No, this is too light. The seventh, please.¡± Tala added more weight, and Kedva moved it about once more, then nodded. ¡°This is the right amount.¡± Tala pulled back the iron and smiled. ¡°Alright, then. Last test.¡± Kedva then colored slightly even as she stepped a few yards away to get a bit of space. She then squatted down before springing upward. It was a respectable leap, but still within human expectation, even if on the upper end. She landed, blushing more deeply. ¡°That¡¯s embarrassing¡­ Couldn¡¯t we have done this somewhere more private?¡± A few people had glanced their way, but no one was staring. Though, there was a young man who did seem to be paying them a bit more interest than average. He wasn¡¯t focused on Tala, so he likely hadn¡¯t recognized her as a defender. Tala shook her head, her eyes on Kedva. ¡°You can¡¯t let others watching affect what you are capable of, but regardless, check.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± She glanced at her finger. ¡°Needle-prick healed.¡± Tala nodded, ¡°Now, the tests are done. Is anyone staring at you?¡± Kedva turned to look around, shaking her head. ¡°No, I¡ª¡± She stopped, frowning. ¡°Wait, I think he might be?¡± As if on cue, Tala felt a bit of magic, that was at once oddly familiar and incredibly hard to sense. What? She spun around, wanting to see with her eyes what her threefold sight had already found. The young-looking man who had been staring at Kedva stood a dozen yards away, hand lifted toward them. He was an Archon, but only Bound. Even so, as his magic crystalized, Tala took note of what type it was. Void and kinetic? At the same time? Tala was thrown off because, more than anything, the working he enacted was like a marriage between part of her magic and part of Rane¡¯s. It felt like some of the clashes that they had when sparring, and that caused an odd dissonance within her brain. That dissonance¡ªcoupled with her current physical state¡ªslowed her reactions even as a void-black sphere shot across the distance between them, dozens of times faster than an arrow fired from a warbow. Tala still reacted more than quickly enough to harden her aura around herself, forbidding it from impacting or affecting her. The issue was that the small ball had actually been targeting Kedva, who was a couple of paces from Tala at the moment. Rust! Kedva, to her credit, tried to shift out of the way, but the projectile tracked the minute movement she was able to make before it arrived. Tala was already reaching after it with her will and aura, aiming to negate any effects that she could, but the void-orb jerked to a stop less than two feet from the girl, seeming to extend its power over Kedva, utterly freezing her in place. Less than a second after the magic had taken effect, Tala¡¯s aura crushed the Archon¡¯s authority over his own working and snuffed the magic out. In that moment of control before she destroyed it, she got the final pieces to understand. A void of kinetic energy? Drawing in all such energy from relative movement within a non-centered volume? Is that how void is supposed to work? -I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m not sure?- Would that work to bypass magical defenses? Maybe, but if nothing else, it was an effective non-lethal fight-ender when acting against anyone magically lighter than the Archon who used it. Speaking of which, the man was striding their way with confident assurance. He reached into a pocket of his Mage¡¯s robes, and Tala immediately focused on what he was reaching for, using some of her magical weight to push perception closer to him, through the weak interference of his aura. Only then did she see what he was grabbing. Oh¡­ well, this is awkward. The man pulled out a badge of office, and Tala could see it clearly then with her own eyes. Mage Hunter. This man was a Mage Hunter. Seven more void-orbs were already spinning around him as he stopped before Kedva, ignoring Tala for the moment. ¡°Do not break your restraints, arcane, or I will have to be more forceful. Your disguise is cleverly done, but you failed to hide your magic properly.¡± Kedva immediately looked to Tala, utterly confused. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The poor girl probably didn¡¯t even know what a Mage Hunter was. There would probably have never been cause for her to interact with one, even obliquely. Even so, there was concern and not a small amount of trepidation in her voice, ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± That was all she got out before the orbs began to exert a pulling magic on her once again, somehow locking her in place just as before. Yeah, enough of that. Tala¡¯s aura rolled outward, toward the man even as he was turning to look her way. At least he was clever enough to lock her down before investigating what she was looking at and who she was talking to. -Yeah, rather than turning his back on the person he¡¯s trying to arrest.- ¡°Who¡ª¡± He cut off as he saw Tala, seeming to recognize her. At the same moment, her aura flowed over the Mage Hunter and Kedva both, before compressing inward and fully encompassing the magic draining Kedva of her kinetic energy but not disrupting it just yet. He seemed to put together the name that Kedva had said, ¡°Mistress Tala? The defender?¡± He was clearly confused, and Tala wanted to end the misunderstanding. ¡°Yes, Master Hunter. That young woman is not an arcane. I am releasing her restraints once again.¡± Only then did Tala fully break the workings, and Kedva drew in a gasping breath once again. Since she was more focused on him, Tala saw something transfer to the man from the broken magics, and he moved to the side with blinding speed, even to her enhanced vision. She was still easily able to track him, but it was surprisingly fast for a Bound. Almost as fast as Rane could dodge at that level of advancements. He must have absorbed the kinetic energy in order to use it himself. Nice. The man didn¡¯t attack again, simply having used the captured energy to reposition himself so that he wasn¡¯t between the two unknowns. His new placement allowed him to see them both at the same time. A full two dozen void-orbs sprang into being around him, his inscriptions blazing with power as he seemed to activate his magics to a greater extent. Even so, he didn¡¯t attack. He has good restraint in unexpected situations. ¡°I am Mage Hunter Tai, Mistress Tala. I have notified central dispatch. Please use the moments before my backup arrives to explain yourself.¡± Well, let¡¯s see if we can de-escalate things. -Hurrah! Our greatest strength.- Tala sighed, feeling her body groan at even the mild strain put on it by her use of aura control up to this point. Shouldn¡¯t using my aura not have anything to do with my body? -All soulbound, all interconnected.- ¡­Fine. -But regardless, you¡¯re tensing yourself and physically shifting while remaining ready to react. I believe that that is what¡¯s causing your soreness.- ¡­You could have led with that. Tala decided to ignore Alat for the moment. ¡°As I said, Master Tai, I am Mistress Tala.¡± She squared up to the Mage Hunter. ¡°This is Kedva, a gateless human.¡± Master Tai shook his head, huffing a laugh, ¡°And I¡¯m the Chief Defender. I felt power coming from her. I still feel power leaking from her. Gateless don¡¯t have magic. She does. She even broke my restraints on her.¡± ¡°Well, yes and no.¡± He frowned. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°Yes, she has magic. No, she didn¡¯t break your workings, I did.¡± ¡°You did? Why don¡¯t I sense your aura?¡± Tala frowned. That was actually a good question. She wanted to answer something to the effect of ¡®you weren¡¯t looking for it?'' but she could tell that wouldn¡¯t be well received. ¡°Well, I¡¯m trying to not use it aggressively. I¡¯d hate to affect the passersby.¡± Master Tai grunted at that. ¡°That might be the case, but it still doesn¡¯t answer the question: You claim she is a gateless with magic. Do you also have a flying pig?¡± He chuckled to himself at the seeming absurdity of Tala¡¯s claim. Then, as both women gave him incredulous¡ªbordering on offended¡ªlooks, he seemed to replay what he¡¯d just said. ¡°Oh! I don¡¯t mean that you are a pig¡­ or like a pig¡­ or¡­¡± He hesitated. ¡°Wait, no. I¡¯m not apologizing for a perfectly fine analogy. Certainly not to an arcane.¡± Kedva raised her hand and quietly said, ¡°Not an arcane.¡± He looked to her and said, ¡°So you say.¡± At the same time, Tala shook her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not helping, Kedva.¡± Master Tai narrowed his eyes as he looked back toward Tala. ¡°You are not being very convincing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trying to convince you?¡± She felt genuinely puzzled. ¡°I am telling you the truth. Your belief of such doesn¡¯t factor into it.¡± He laughed, then tried to hide his smile. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s actually fair.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Master Tai, I am exhausted. This woman is human, and her magic is known by Master Grediv. I¡¯m sure that once¡ª¡± At that moment, six Archons appeared around them in a circle, magics primed for battle. There was a momentary pulse of power, then one of the figures stepped forward. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± It took Tala¡¯s tired mind a moment to recognize one of the other Defender unit leaders. ¡°Oh! Master Akra. I didn¡¯t know you worked in internal security.¡± ¡°Only occasionally.¡± He smiled. ¡°So, what¡¯s this about an arcane in the city?¡± She sighed. ¡°It is just a misunderstanding.¡± Master Tai cleared his throat, bowing deeply. ¡°Master Akra, I am the one who made the call into dispatch.¡± Master Akra looked between them, then sighed. ¡°You think Mistress Tala is involved in an arcane coming into the city? Really?¡± Master Tai shook his head. ¡°I make no such accusation. I was simply calling in backup because that arcane is within the city.¡± He pointed to Kedva, and she leaned to the side, as if to dodge the accusation. Master Tai followed her movement, continuing to track her easily. She moved a bit faster, but he obviously still kept pointing at her. Tala huffed a laugh, before barking, ¡°Kedva!¡± The girl froze. ¡°Stop that. It makes you look ridiculous.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala.¡± Kedva blushed, looking down in obvious embarrassment. Tala turned back to Master Akra. ¡°She¡¯s human, a gateless.¡± Master Tai scoffed. ¡°And I¡¯m the Chief Defender.¡± She gave him an incredulous look. ¡°You know, that¡¯s the exact same snarky example you gave last time.¡± He shrugged, unapologetic. ¡°I¡¯m responding to the same ridiculous claim, and it is still just as true.¡± She sighed, returning her attention to Master Akra. ¡°This is going in circles.¡± Master Akra nodded in agreement. ¡°So it seems. Master Tai, why do you believe that this young woman is an arcane?¡± ¡°She¡¯s using magic. You can see it as well as I. She¡¯s almost out now, but it¡¯s still obvious.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Tala turned to Kedva. ¡°Test.¡± The girl¡ªwho had almost recovered from her most recent embarrassment¡ªcolored, looking at the ring of Archons around them. ¡°Now?¡± ¡°Now. We need this datapoint. He¡¯s right, you¡¯re almost out.¡± Carefully, Kedva pulled out the needle apparatus. Master Tai was obviously suspicious, tensing at the action, but since Master Akra didn¡¯t seem to mind, Master Tai didn¡¯t say anything further. Kedva and Tala went through the three simple tests while the Archons watched. Once the girl had landed from a rather average vertical leap, she gave Tala a questioning look. Tala nodded and smiled. ¡°Good, that should be all we need until you''re completely dry.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala.¡± Master Akra cleared his throat. ¡°Now, care to explain?¡± ¡°She¡¯s using magic that she absorbed.¡± ¡°Like an arcane?¡± The unit leader asked, frowning. Tala shrugged, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± Master Tai grinned broadly. ¡°See? She¡¯s an arcane.¡± She sighed. ¡°No, she¡¯s not. He said ¡®like¡¯ an arcane. She¡¯s a gateless human who is learning to use magic like an arcane would. We have this registered with the city.¡± Master Akra nodded, pulling out a slate, finding the indicated documentation and reading it to confirm before handing the slate over to Master Tai. The young Mage Hunter just stared at the construct after reading the document. ¡°Well¡­ Rust.¡± Master Akra took the slate back, turning to Kedva. ¡°Young lady, while you are not required to carry documentation, it might be prudent to do so for everyone¡¯s sake. I apologize if this makes you feel¡­ singled out. Once again, this is not a requirement, only my personal suggestion.¡± Kedva bowed deeply. ¡°I appreciate the advice, Master Akra. I will consider it.¡± He nodded. ¡°If you choose to go that route, get it certified so that no one thinks you faked it.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Master Akra turned back to Tala, bowing. ¡°Mistress Tala, a pleasure as always.¡± She bowed in return. ¡°Master Akra. Are we still on for our lesson next week?¡± ¡°Assuming you¡¯re up for it, absolutely. Your physical recovery shouldn¡¯t interfere with aura training. Even so, let me know if you¡¯d like some more time for any reason, even if simply to be with your friend during his recovery.¡± His eyes flicked to Master Tai before he continued, clearly guarding his words. ¡°The experience he went through is uniquely difficult. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be glad for your presence whenever you¡¯re able.¡± She smiled gratefully. ¡°I will let you know, thank you.¡± After a short exchange with Master Tai, the other Archons departed. There was a moment of awkward silence before Master Tai bowed to both of the women. ¡°My apologies for my mistake, Mistresses.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°It¡¯s understandable. I appreciate your vigilance, along with your restraint. It would have been frustrating if you¡¯d tried to harm her.¡± Kedva cleared her throat. ¡°Umm¡­ I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m a Mistress?¡± Tala hesitated. ¡°Huh. I think you¡¯re right.¡± Master Tai tilted his head to one side, seeming a bit stressed. ¡°What moniker should I use then? I would hate to add unnecessary rudeness to my list of missteps today.¡± She grinned. ¡°I think Elder Kedva would be most correct.¡± She hesitated, then frowned. ¡°Or Child? Definitely one of those two.¡± Kedva grimaced. ¡°I do not particularly like either.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would, no.¡± Master Tai bowed again. ¡°Regardless, Mistress Tala, Elder Kedva, my deepest apologies for the misunderstanding.¡± They both expressed their forgiveness, and the Mage Hunter turned to go. Kedva clearly didn¡¯t care for being called Elder, but she was obviously not about to correct the man. There really isn¡¯t any better title for her that I can think of. -Yeah, me either.- Before Master Tai could take more than a couple of steps, however, Tala called out to him, ¡°Master Tai?¡± He hesitated, turning to look back, ¡°Mistress?¡± ¡°Would you be willing to discuss your void magic? I have not come across many practitioners of that esoteric branch, and I think that I could learn something from you, but only if you are willing.¡± His hesitance lasted for only a moment longer before he faced her fully and nodded, ¡°I need to finish my shift¡ªI¡¯m on duty patrolling this market at the moment¡ªbut this evening I am at your disposal.¡± She grinned widely. ¡°Great! Thank you.¡± They set up a place to meet up, before Tala and Kedva bid him farewell and headed back toward Kit. ¡°Let¡¯s get your final readings then fill you back up.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala.¡± After a block or so of slow progress, Kedva glanced toward Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Yes, Kedva?¡± ¡°Thank you. That was rather¡­ terrifying.¡± Kedva shuddered, visibly affected by their recent experience. Tala gave the girl a genuine smile. ¡°I am happy to have been able to help.¡± Chapter: 395 - Decent Tala and Kedva stood outside of Kit, waiting for Kedva to drain fully of magical power. Even after their rather slow walk back to Kit¡¯s door, it took another long minute before they were both satisfied. Finally, Kedva nodded, and Tala¡¯s threefold vision confirmed her drained state. Kedva was mundane again. They ran through the tests, recording the baseline for her. That way they could see if her improvement was linear, multiplicative, or some other manner of enhancement. As to the results, they showed that Kedva was fit enough, but not exceptional in any regard. Even so, Tala could see hints at the girl''s natural magical pathways, which Tala had forged on her behalf. They were there, ready to be filled. Kedva grimaced, sucking on the needle prick on her finger. ¡°This isn¡¯t healing at all.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s rusting terrible to be without magic after you¡¯ve had it.¡± The younger woman gave Tala a long look. ¡°You¡¯ve just become my drug dealer, haven¡¯t you?¡± Tala barked a single, loud laugh, before covering her mouth. ¡°You know¡­ that is true, from a certain point of view.¡± Kedva grinned in return. ¡°There is a bit more truth in it than I¡¯d prefer, yeah. Even so, I know it¡¯s not exactly right.¡± Kit¡¯s door closed, and Tala put on a mock stern face. ¡°No fix for you today.¡± Kedva¡¯s eyebrow twitched. Tala chuckled, and Kit¡¯s door reopened. ¡°I¡¯m just joking. You¡¯re hooked, go right in.¡± The girl hesitated for just a moment before breathing out and shaking her head, giving a wry smile. Then, she stepped through, and Tala watched the process. It was like a physical impact, and Kedva staggered. Tala watched power rush into Kedva, and felt her own gate gain a bit greater draw through it. With an afterthought, Tala created a void-channel to relieve the strain. A moment later it leveled out. Regardless, it hadn¡¯t taken much. After all, Kedva couldn¡¯t actually hold that much power. The girl glanced back to Tala and smiled. ¡°All fixed up. I¡¯ll go get some work done.¡± Tala huffed a single laugh. ¡°Enjoy.¡± The material from the cell that Kit had subsumed had been unloaded in the Alefast Archon Compound, where it was being itemized. Tala and her unit would each receive a small cut of the proceeds, once the value was properly calculated. Even so, Tala was most happy about the extra dimensionality that she¡¯d gained. It had been a rather roomy cell, and Tala had been a bit afraid that adding that on would dilute the power within Kit. Well, to be fair, she hadn¡¯t actually considered that until after the fact, then she¡¯d been afraid until she¡¯d checked in with Master Simon. As it turned out, when adding the cell¡¯s dimensionality to Kit, the resonance with her soul caused the new space to mirror her current sanctum¡¯s saturation and composition. On the material side, the atmospheric composition of the cell altered to perfectly match that found within her sanctum. On the magical side, the power levels stabilized to match. At that time, it had been a bit lower than completely full, leaving Tala with a much larger space to refill. Thankfully, it had only been a marginal percentage lower than the current maximum, but Master Simon still estimated that it would take a few months to top off the sanctum now, assuming that Tala¡¯s own magical density didn¡¯t continue to increase. As her own increased, the level to which Kit could be filled increased, and her ability to fill the sanctum was vastly below the rate at which her own density was expanding, as slow as that was. As a result, Tala was planning on using void-channels to accelerate the filling when she was feeling better. The small pulse that she¡¯d used in order to replace Kedva¡¯s power draw was little enough that Tala had felt it was fine. But this was rather irrelevant to her for the moment. After all, she had a lot to do. She was meeting up with Master Tai in just a few hours, and she wanted to check on Rane before then. It was a rather quick trip through the city to the Gredial compound, and she only had to engage with a few people who recognized her along the way. Only one recognition was a boon to her speed, as the guards recognized Tala at the gates to the Gredial compound and waved her inside. From there, she made her way to the main house and up through the floors and winding hallways to reach Rane¡¯s room. She knocked, and Rane responded almost immediately. ¡°Come. I¡¯m decent.¡± He sounded better today. She pushed open the door, already smiling. ¡°Hey, Rane. Only ¡®decent,¡¯ eh? Well, I suppose that¡¯s better than you have been on some days.¡± ¡°Tala?¡± He smiled her way. ¡°Come in, come in.¡± He was sitting in a chair beside a large window. In front of him was a small table with a chair opposite. As she came in, he cleared some dishes from the surface, setting them on a tray to one side before pulling out a tafl board. ¡°Do you have time?¡± Her smile grew. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll call us some food for the game.¡± She sat and chatted with him as they played. Food arrived shortly thereafter, and she dug in with abandon while the game and talking continued. It had been a week since Rane¡¯s first session, and he seemed to be mostly back to his old self. Even so, there was a haunted quality to his eyes and his actions were still a bit more hesitant. He also was a bit slower to laugh, and he didn¡¯t meet her gaze quite as readily. To her knowledge, he hadn¡¯t done any form of exercise or training in the past week either, which was understandable, but also one of the greatest departures from his usual behavior. Still, it did make sense. He¡¯d just gone through something rather traumatic. I¡¯m glad that he¡¯s already familiar with Master Nadro. It¡¯s probably worth mentioning him even so, when the opportunity presents itself. She won their game of tafl rather handily, showing that Rane wasn¡¯t fully mentally recovered yet. Tala was used to their games being a much harder fought result, and she usually lost as often as she won when they were both at their best. Rane obviously knew that he¡¯d not given her that challenging of a game. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Tala.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t really come for the game.¡± ¡°I know, but I still hoped to do better than¡­¡±¡ªhe gestured at the board¡ª¡°well, better than that.¡± She grinned. ¡°It was a little disappointing, but it¡¯s fine. We got to talk.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes, you got to hear about my riveting time last night.¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°Are you going to tell me what happened to you, yet? I know that it happened at a cell, and you¡¯ve been eating like you¡¯re refilling your reserves.¡± She waved him off snatching another pastry from the nearby plate. ¡°You don¡¯t need anything added to your plate.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Well, after you ate all that they brought, I sort of do?¡± She looked at the serving tray and noticed that there was only one left. ¡°How many were there?¡± ¡°Probably a dozen or so.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ fair, I suppose.¡± ¡°Regardless, Tala, what I don¡¯t need is to be worrying about my friend without knowing what¡¯s going on. I know it has to be serious if you''re off-duty for the time being.¡± She gave him a long look, then nodded. ¡°Alright. A murder-eye¡ªa resident of the Doman-Imithe which may be the remnant of a broken Sovereign¡ªdecided to try and take a bite out of me, or something like that. I objected, but my defenses backfired, cutting me in half on an existential level.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Mistress Vanga helped me heal, supplying my magics with resources that I lacked because I was cut in half, losing most of my reserves. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t directly refill my reserves once more. Beside that, I am simply trying to reacquaint my existence with having a lower half again.¡± Stolen story; please report. Rane rocked backward, ¡°Rust, Tala. You can¡¯t tell me something like that. Don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m still recovering, here?¡± Tala felt herself twitch in confusion. Then, he chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I was trying to lighten the mood¡­ Not the greatest attempt.¡± She huffed, shaking her head. ¡°Yeah, not the greatest.¡± ¡°So¡­ is that actually what happened?¡± ¡°In summary? Yes.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Well, you certainly know how to find new and dangerous things, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah, this was supposedly a safe cell, too.¡± He grunted at that. ¡°It¡¯s always when you feel the safest¡­¡± His eyes flicked to her, then down to the table in front of him. She saw him hunch in on himself a bit. Tala leaned forward, reaching one hand forward. ¡°I am incredibly sorry that I couldn¡¯t warn you.¡± He waved off her concerns but still took her hand and squeezed it, ¡°Thank you, but I understand the need. I¡¯ll do the same when I know someone who is about to Refine.¡± He shuddered. ¡°It still was awful.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong.¡± They sat for a moment, just enjoying the silence of each other¡¯s company. After a long moment, Tala remembered her upcoming appointment, letting go of his hand and leaning back. ¡°Oh! I met a fun Mage Hunter today. He tried to capture Kedva because he thought that she was an arcane.¡± Rane blinked at Tala a few times. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s sort of understandable if you¡¯ve never seen an arcane, but he really should have checked city records first¡­ though, in the case of a real arcane, that would be a foolish delay to say the least. All in all, he probably did the best that he could have. He even kept things nonlethal which is especially impressive. No one was hurt, and he uses void and kinetic magic, so I¡¯m going to meet up with him to see if I can pick up some insights.¡± His eyes narrowed. ¡°He?¡± Tala blinked a few times, trying to understand the question. Before she responded, Rane¡¯s expression changed once again. He grinned widely and chuckled, ¡°Nevermind. I was mainly joking. That sounds like quite the encounter.¡± ¡°It was, yeah.¡± -He was faking jealousy, Tala.- Oh¡­ yeah, I¡¯m going to ignore that. -Sure, that policy can¡¯t possibly backfire.- ¡°So, void and kinetic?¡± Tala smiled and dove into the retelling. Rane asked some clarifying questions, but mostly listened, as she used the story to also update him on how Kedva¡¯s progress was coming and related things like that. When she got to the end, they lapsed back into silence for a brief moment. Then, Rane nodded as if to himself, ¡°Apprentice.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°She should be ¡®Apprentice Kedva,¡¯ until she masters her ability to the point that calling her ¡®Mistress¡¯ doesn¡¯t oversell her abilities.¡± He gave a mischievous grin. ¡°Or you could call her ¡®Daughter¡¯ Kedva, and really lean into the ¡®rebirth¡¯ aspect.¡± Tala scrunched her face. ¡°Yeah¡­ Let¡¯s go with ¡®Apprentice.¡¯ I suppose that ¡®Master¡¯ Nadro set the precedent for what capable gateless should be called.¡± ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s not mess with him.¡± She smiled. ¡°I can see it now, ¡®Tala, let¡¯s discuss why you felt the need to distance yourself from the established human nomenclature? What is it about the established terms that made you wish to avoid them?¡¯¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°Would he really?¡± ¡°...No. He¡¯d probably just smile and say something like, ¡®Fascinating. Are you willing to tell me more?¡¯¡± They both grinned at that. ¡°I should get going, though.¡± Tala sighed, pushing herself to stand. Rane frowned, seeming to consider. ¡°Rane? Is everything okay?¡± ¡°Well, the Healers advised that I should get out more, but I haven¡¯t managed to actually do it.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m struggling a bit, and I know I shouldn¡¯t be. I feel like I¡¯m¡­ I feel like I¡¯m lesser after the first session.¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s an awful feeling. I had a lot of help. Lyn was there for me, even when she didn¡¯t know exactly what I was going through. It¡¯s perfectly normal to get assistance through this.¡± After a moment she smiled. ¡°You could speak with Master Nadro. He helped me a lot too.¡± ¡°That could be good, yeah.¡± ¡°But Rane?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± He looked up with obviously fragile hope. ¡°It will pass.¡± ¡°Really?¡± He gave a weak smile. She smiled reassuringly in response. ¡°Yes. It will. This is like picking up a heavier sword and feeling incompetent because it¡¯s harder to wield.¡± He smiled at that. ¡°Yeah, Master Grediv would switch out my training swords and not tell me. As an early teen, I didn¡¯t understand well enough to tell the difference until later. I just felt like I wasn¡¯t learning well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ kind of awful?¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°Yes and no. He wasn¡¯t malicious about it, and he continually encouraged me to improve. The end results speak for themselves.¡± He grinned roguishly. ¡°If I do say so myself.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°So, no longer just decent, eh?¡± He shrugged, not otherwise responding. ¡°Well, I suppose so. Your skill with a sword is superb. Now that you¡¯re closer to Refined, your magic will be catching up as well.¡± She hesitated for a moment. ¡°Do you want to come with me? To see if you can pick up anything from Master Tai?¡± ¡°Ahh, so he does have a name.¡± Rane winked. ¡°You know what? I think I¡¯d like that. Thank you for the invitation.¡± Tala offered him a hand to help him up. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± As they walked through the city toward her meeting place with Master Tai¡ªwhich was just Artia¡¯s shop so they could go into Kit¡ªTala found herself analyzing Rane with her threefold sight. There was an odd quality, that she could only interpret as him being cleaner or clearer than before¡­ somehow. It was as if she¡¯d been looking at him through a dirty window for years, and now someone had taken one good swipe across it. The window was still filthy, but it was cleaner. Even so, somehow it almost looked dirtier in some ways because of the change. This analogy is getting away from me. -Yeah¡­- Regardless, he seemed to be slowly adjusting to the difference, even as esoteric as that difference was. He still moved more slowly and deliberately than he had before, but it wasn¡¯t quite as noticeable as a week earlier. Rane broke their companionable silence as they walked, ¡°So, we never finished discussing the crazy ¡®doomsday¡¯ vault you discovered in that cell.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Yeah, it was really odd. Initial tallies show that it had a significant amount of wealth. The way the city cycle is lining up, we¡¯ll have two new cities added over the next hundred years or so, and these resources will actually help make that process smoother and less taxing than usual.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°That¡¯s good. So¡­ why do you seem troubled?¡± She sighed. ¡°Well, they put so much wealth and value into a cell and just¡­ sent it off into the future.¡± ¡°It was kind of them. Incredibly altruistic.¡± ¡°It was, but¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t understand the mindset.¡± ¡°The altruism?¡± ¡°No.¡± She chuckled. ¡°What were they so afraid of? They clearly had spare resources, or they couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t have been able to sequester all that they did. But they also seemed to think that resources would be useful in the future, so, where did they come from? Were they just laying around unused?¡± ¡°That confusion makes sense, yeah. I suppose they could have taken it from others when it was needed by them, though?¡± ¡°I hope not. But, that¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. Did they hurt their own chances to send the materials into the distant future?¡± ¡°They clearly did alright, regardless.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, that¡¯s the other issue. What if they had used their resources to better their situation? Wouldn¡¯t that have helped us be even better off, now?¡± Rane nodded, his stride firming up as he turned his attention fully to their conversation. ¡°That is the balance, I would guess. A society must invest in the future, and they must invest in the present. Without a future, the present hardly matters, and without a present, the future is empty. A crude example is that we can¡¯t sacrifice a thousand people now to save one hundred in the future. We also can¡¯t willfully sacrifice even one in the present for a chance that we might save uncounted in the future, not if we wish to remain moral.¡± ¡°What about murderers?¡± ¡°Stopping a murderer isn¡¯t about a ¡®chance¡¯ of saving people in the future. It¡¯s a sure thing. Even if that person wouldn¡¯t kill again, letting it be known that murders aren¡¯t punished will cause more to happen.¡± ¡°Well, I think we¡¯re getting off of the point, but I also think I understand what you¡¯re getting at. Still, if they had these resources to spare, why were they so concerned?¡± He shrugged. ¡°We may never know. Most such cells don¡¯t make mention of what they feared.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I suppose they assume that we future-folk will either already know, or their fear didn¡¯t come to pass, so why burden us with the unfounded apoco-phobia from the past?¡± ¡°Apoco-phobia. Unreasonable fear of apocalypses?¡± ¡°Well, I do suppose it¡¯s reasonable to fear apocalypses, so maybe an unreasonable fear that there will be an apocalypse in the near future?¡± ¡°That makes sense, I suppose.¡± She found herself frowning, however. ¡°So, we can¡¯t be so obsessed with the future that we sacrifice the present?¡± Rane nodded. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s a reasonable thing to take from this.¡± ¡°Like Master Grediv and his wife.¡± He hesitated, glancing her way. ¡°Yeah. I suppose so.¡± ¡°From what he said, he was so upset with her for taking from their future, that he lost out on some of his ¡®present¡¯ with her. He also seems grateful that he didn¡¯t let that ruin all the time that they had.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He sighed, his steps becoming slower, more considered once again. ¡°Master Grediv came and saw me this morning.¡± ¡°Oh? How was that?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m pretty frustrated with him, even if I understand¡­ even if I¡¯d probably do the same.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°But that¡¯s not why I brought it up. He told me about reaching Paragon.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± That drew Tala¡¯s full focus. ¡°Care to share?¡± Rane gave her a knowing smile. ¡°He said that he took the final step when he fully accepted her mortality and loved her anyway.¡± That felt like a punch to the gut for Tala. She remembered Master Grediv¡¯s protectiveness of Rane, along with his harsh words outside of Rane¡¯s room the evening after Rane¡¯s first Refining session. Fear does strange things to us all. I wonder if he¡¯s feeling echoes of what he felt with his wife. -Yeah, I think that¡¯s pretty clearly the case.- I¡¯d have expected a Paragon to be more level headed, especially around something that he had to come to terms with in order to advance. -Even if you understand something and accept it, that doesn¡¯t mean that you are happy to go through it again.- ¡­I hadn¡¯t thought of it like that. Rane huffed out a self-deprecating laugh. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to be your stepping-stone to Paragon, Tala.¡± She tilted her head to one side, regarding him. ¡°No offense, Rane, but you¡¯d make an awful wife.¡± He tripped, barely catching himself as his eyes went wide. Tala suppressed her smile as she continued. ¡°I¡¯d be a worse husband, though, so I suppose we¡¯re in similar boats.¡± ¡°Tala, that¡¯s not what I meant. I¡ª¡± ¡°I know, Rane.¡± She cut him off, giving a gentle smile. ¡°Your mortality won¡¯t be what propels me to Paragon. You won¡¯t be stuck as a mortal, and even if you are, you¡¯d still have a very long life ahead of you. You aren¡¯t getting rid of me any time soon, regardless.¡± He huffed another laugh, a smile growing on his lips this time. ¡°Thank you.¡± She nudged his upper arm with her shoulder. ¡°Any time.¡± Chapter: 396 - Void and Kinetics Tala and Rane arrived outside Artia¡¯s shop just as Master Tai turned the corner on the far end of the street, entering that side of the market. She was still gratified when her threefold sight made things like picking out a specific person in a crowd so trivial. Tala waved to make sure he saw them among the other pedestrians in the area. Thankfully, there weren¡¯t so many that he had trouble seeing her when she made such an obvious gesture. He waved back, seeming uncertain even as he continued forward. Tala saw the Bound¡¯s magesight activate, and remembering how he¡¯d had trouble detecting her before, she allowed her aura to be seen. She noticed Rane doing the same, even if not quite as necessary, and she took that moment to look for herself. -Roughly three quarters of the way to Refined. He made it halfway from ¡®prepped¡¯ to fully Refined in the first session. That¡¯s both better than I feared, and not as good as we hoped.- Yeah, if I remember right, session two is usually only about half as effective as session one. -Without extenuating circumstances, yeah.- Same for session three when compared to session two. What about session four? -Again, it varies, but generally, it¡¯s accepted that number four can match three, but doing so is accepted as making the experience and the recovery worse.- Well¡­ let¡¯s hope he can get it in four sessions then. -Let¡¯s hope he¡¯s up for four. I¡¯d hoped he could do it in two.- Yeah, even with as rare as that is¡­ I had hoped for it too. -Still, we should wait for the official diagnosis. Master Grediv did promise to share it with us, and it usually is given a month after the first session.- That sounds fair, yeah. When Master Tai stopped before them, he gave two deep bows. ¡°Mistress Tala, Master, it is a pleasure to greet you.¡± Tala nodded, ¡°Master Tai.¡± Rane gave a shallow bow. ¡°Master Tai. I am Rane.¡± ¡°Master Rane, it is good to meet you.¡± ¡°And you.¡± With the greetings done, Tala spoke before any silence could begin to stretch. ¡°Rane, here, specializes in kinetic magics, and we were hoping you¡¯d be willing to speak with us both, given our overlapping disciplines.¡± Master Tai examined Rane once more before nodding. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Right this way, then.¡± She gestured at the blank wall beside the shop¡¯s entrance, and before Master Tai could say anything to match his confused look, Kit manifested a door, having moved the entrance from the alley where it had been before. -Wise, not asking a new acquaintance to follow you into an alley.- Yeah, I thought the optics wouldn¡¯t be great. -We grow in wisdom!- Every day. -...- Most days? -Many days.- You¡¯re sort of a jerk sometimes. -Yes, yes we are.- Tala shook her head as she led the way through the door and out into her sparring circle. Rane followed her with Master Tai right behind the much bigger man. As soon as Master Tai stepped across the threshold, he gasped, eyes widening. Tala smiled, turning his way. ¡°Yeah, the magic density is a bit higher in here.¡± Master Tai gave her an odd look, then shook his head. ¡°Yes, I suppose, but that¡¯s not what startled me.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°How did you make the void¡­ more distant?¡± He frowned, looking around. ¡°No, that¡¯s not right. I¡¯d say ¡®smaller¡¯ but the void is infinite wherever it exists, so that¡¯s not right either.¡± He turned back to regard her. ¡°What did you do?¡± Tala frowned for a moment, then it clicked, ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve been grabbing the bits of reality and pulling them against each other more tightly.¡± Master Tai seemed to be fighting himself. Finally, he asked, ¡°I don¡¯t think I understand. Would you be willing to explain?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She dismissed the door out of Kit, moving its exterior location back to the alley wall so the others who wanted to use it would be able to find it where they expected. With that done, Tala took a moment to explain to Master Tai, describing generally what she¡¯d done, while trying to prevent teleportation. He grunted, ¡°Well, that wouldn¡¯t work to block teleportation, from what I understand.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Yeah, it certainly doesn¡¯t really slow Terry down.¡± ¡°Terry?¡± As if on cue, Terry flickered into being on Tala¡¯s shoulder before headbutting her. ¡°Hey, Terry. Sorry I haven¡¯t been around much.¡± He trilled in irritation and headbutted her cheek again. Rane smiled and waved, ¡°Hey, Terry.¡± Terry regarded him before chirping happily and flickering to Rane¡¯s shoulder for a moment. Rane¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re on my shoulder?¡± Terry tilted his head to one side and trilled. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re fine, you can stay.¡± Rane gingerly patted the bird on his head. Master Tai cleared his throat. ¡°Ahh, I can see the gist of what you were trying to prevent. My bet would be that stopping that would be impossible. You might be able to keep him out of somewhere with the right preparation, but even keeping him in somewhere would be nearly impossible.¡± They all regarded Terry as he seemed to practically radiate an aura of smugness. Tala laughed. ¡°Yes, you are the best bird.¡± He trilled, then flickered back to her shoulder and settled down. The three Mages moved to sit in a circle in the middle of the sparring circle, and Master Tai cleared his throat. ¡°So¡­ what did you want from this?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t even know myself. I only gained access to void-magic through the merging of an artifact with my bound weapon.¡± Master Tai frowned. ¡°Can I see it? The bound weapon I mean.¡± She nodded, and Flow dropped into his lap. ¡°Gah!¡± Master Tai jumped backward, hardly seeming to flex despite his three-feet of movement. ¡°Oh, come back here. It¡¯s not going to hurt you.¡± She tried to will Master Tai back to his previous location, but the Bound seemingly reacted on instinct. A pulse of void-magic came from his center, radiating all the way out to the borders of his skin and clothing. And he didn¡¯t move. It wasn¡¯t that he resisted her will. Instead, it was more like he made himself separate from it in a way that was uncrossable. He looked at Tala, confused. ¡°What did you just do?¡± ¡°Me?¡± She was very confused as well. ¡°What did you just do?¡± ¡°You first?¡± he gave a hesitant smile. That broke some of the tension, and she smiled in return. ¡°I tried to move you back to where you had been sitting. This is my sanctum, and I can move anyone and anything around within it at will.¡± ¡°Ahh, I have spellforms set up to allow me to void any attempt to move me against my will.¡± ¡°That¡­ is another interesting use for void.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Not really. Void is simply an absence. More accurately, it is the containment of something within an absence. I¡¯ve always thought of it as borders between things.¡± Tala perked up at that. ¡°Exactly! Yes. I¡¯ve only recently realized that.¡± Master Tai nodded. ¡°Yeah, that was close to my foundational understanding. ¡®Everything is contained by the absence of itself.¡¯¡± Tala opened her mouth to comment, but then she hesitated. That was true. It was so obviously true it almost went without saying, but now that Master Tai had said it, it sent her mind spinning down a thousand wild tangents. Rane was frowning, clearly thinking along the same lines that she was. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ definitionally true, yeah. So, how does that help you with kinetic energy?¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The two of them began discussing that aspect of their shared magics, while Tala considered. Master Tai was also probing at Flow with his fingers and a tendril of magic while he and Rane discussed things. Finally, Rane leaned back, thinking deeply. ¡°Thank you, Master Tai. Your depth of experience really shows.¡± The Bound let out a self-deprecating laugh. ¡°There has to be some benefit from being an older Bound. If I¡¯ve read you correctly, I¡¯d say I¡¯m nearly twice the age of you two combined.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Maybe so, but does it matter?¡± Master Tai shrugged. ¡°Not really. I do feel like I¡¯m closing in on the needed insights to Fuse, but that¡¯s not why we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re happy to talk through it with you if you¡¯d like. You¡¯ve already given us a lot to think about.¡± He smiled. ¡°I might take you up on that, after all, ¡®Out of the mouths of babes¡¯ and all that. But let¡¯s talk about this weapon, first.¡± ¡°Sure. That makes sense.¡± ¡°I also want to talk about what you¡¯ve done to your magic to make it so hard to detect.¡± Tala hesitated. ¡°Weapon first?¡± He considered, then nodded. ¡°I can sense the smallest bits of voidmagic in it, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be usable like this. Do you have another source? Or am I missing something?¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, she responded, ¡°So, I do have another source of void-magic, but it is miniscule in comparison. I suppose that I should clarify. What you have there is my weapon in its base form. I can shift it into a void-form, but I¡¯ve actually never had anyone else hold the handle while it¡¯s in that form.¡± Master Tai raised an eyebrow, then held Flow out to her. ¡°How about you transform it, and I try putting a finger on the handle first? I¡¯d rather not pay to regrow a hand.¡± Ha, no self-healing. -Rane doesn¡¯t have self-healing, except those required in order to Refine.- Yeah¡­ well¡­ -Lyn doesn¡¯t have self-healing.- Fine. I won¡¯t look down on those who take injury more seriously. She didn¡¯t grumble about it, not even internally. Instead, she took Flow back and with an act of will¡ªand a trickle of power¡ªpushed the weapon into the void-knife form. It looked almost like black-fire rolled over the surface, leaving the aesthetic more black and purple than before¡ªwhen compared to the standard black and blood-red¡ªbut otherwise, the knife was unchanged. Master Tai tentatively touched the handle when she offered it, and he was unhurt. When that was confirmed, he took the weapon back, examining it again after the change. ¡°Yeah, this is now almost entirely saturated in void-magic. I can see your interest now.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°With my new understanding, I don¡¯t actually think it cuts, not in the traditional sense. Instead, it simply inserts void between what passes on either side of the blade, starting infinitesimally in front of the edge.¡± He nodded in response, ¡°Not how I would conceptualize it, but yeah, that sounds about right. That would be as clean a cut as I can imagine.¡± She felt a smile pull at her lips. ¡°Even cleaner than this?¡± She held out her hands and Sole¡¯s sword appeared resting across her hands. Master Tai twitched at the suddenly appearing sword but then frowned. ¡°There isn¡¯t any active magic on that, but¡­¡± He looked closer, setting Flow beside him on the rough stone. ¡°May I?¡± She nodded, and he took the weapon. ¡°The blade is practically invisible.¡± He tapped a knuckle on the side, and there was a hauntingly beautiful, resonant note as the length of the blade vibrated from the tap. ¡°How strong is this?¡± ¡°In theory, it¡¯s indestructible to anything we¡¯re capable of bringing to bear. I imagine a Sovereign could break it, though.¡± Master Tai huffed a laugh. ¡°How filling was the meal? Well, a black hole would be left wanting.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°Yeah, ¡®Sovereign¡¯ isn¡¯t the most reasonable comparator.¡± Master Tai nodded. ¡°Exactly. So, effectively indestructible.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tala nodded in turn. ¡°But it can¡¯t be merged with anything else. The magic functions in a way that I am quite familiar with, and anything that fundamentally altered the weapon¡ªsuch as trying to combine it with something else¡ªwould spoil its unique properties.¡± She hesitated, thinking for a moment. ¡°Well, then that could break it. Even a Mage attempting to merge it with something else would spoil it, assuming they had the standing to make the attempt.¡± Tala frowned, following that line of thought further. ¡°You know, there might be something to that.¡± -Oh! Wow. It can¡¯t be that simple¡­ could it?- Maybe? It would depend on his conceptualization at the time of enactment, but it¡¯s worth tossing up the chain of command. -I¡¯ll notify Master Grediv that helping that prisoner enact a soulbond might release his immortality magics, and allow him to pass on, as he wishes.- I would bet it wouldn¡¯t actually work, but maybe? -We¡¯ll leave it to others to investigate, but I would assume that he¡¯d have defended himself against soulbonds. Maybe he left the door open to voluntary ones, though? They¡¯d have to be pretty extreme to change him fundamentally enough to let him slip from under the aegis of the magics he¡¯s enacted.- Tala returned her focus to Rane and Master Tai. ¡°Regardless, this should be an infinite edge, only a single atom thick. I have a unit-mate who is quite adept at cutting edges, and he was practically obsessed over this weapon for a long time. He¡¯d still have it if I hadn¡¯t essentially taken it out of his hands.¡± Master Tai looked it over before handing it to Rane to examine. Rane smiled. ¡°I didn''t have much of a chance to look this over before. It¡¯s amazing.¡± Tala considered for a long moment, then shrugged. ¡°Hold onto it for me?¡± He looked up, eyes widening. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it back if I need it, but you can have some fun for a while. Master Simon and I are working on a use for the needles, but the sword isn¡¯t as useful to me.¡± Master Tai cleared his throat. ¡°Which brings us back to this.¡± He picked up Flow. ¡°I believe this should cut cleaner than even that unusual weapon, or at least be capable of cutting things that that weapon can¡¯t. This blade is basically a magical statement that anything which it severs are now two different items.¡± ¡°By introducing the void.¡± ¡°Exactly. Honestly, I feel like it would already be hard to resist, but there seems to be something else within the blade that isn¡¯t being utilized.¡± He held up the knife, looking even closer, his magesight inscriptions blazing even to Tala¡¯s mundane sight. ¡°Forgive the metaphor, but it¡¯s all that comes to mind: This is like a tripod that currently balances on two legs, the other just waiting to be used.¡± Tala blinked, leaning forward. ¡°Say that again.¡± He looked at her curiously, then repeated his metaphor. She swallowed. Holding out her hand for the knife. Master Tai placed it on her palm. ¡°Now, as to your magic.¡± Tala nodded absently. ¡°You said it was hard to detect?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s almost like you¡¯ve turned down the volume on your power somehow¡­ if that makes sense.¡± She chuckled, still considering. ¡°It doesn¡¯t?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a crowded room, where you¡¯ve shut the door. The voices are still there, and if you focus on them, or open the door, there is plenty of volume, but until then? It¡¯s pretty easy to miss.¡± ¡°Huh. Now that I consider it, I¡¯ve had some interactions where my magic wasn¡¯t as noticeable as it probably should have been.¡± -Like when you had a power measuring contest against a Paragon, and he kindly didn¡¯t break your toys?- Not how I would have worded it, but yeah. -A guy pulled a sword an inch from its scabbard, and so you drew two knives and growled at him.- ¡­is that really how it came across? -Give or take, but I think he understood what you were getting at, just like you did for him.- Fine¡­ This line of thought was distracting her from what she wanted to be thinking about. ¡°Thank you for letting me know. I don¡¯t have an answer for you at the moment, but I¡¯ll let you know if anything comes to mind.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Can you and Rane go over there to talk while I think about this? You¡¯ve given me a lot of things that I want to consider.¡± The two men nodded amiably, already beginning to delve back into the intricacies of kinetic redistribution and manipulation as they moved to the other side of the sparring circle. They would clearly have a lot to discuss. -You¡¯re already thinking what I am in regards to Flow.- Yeah. Void and magic. -All that is missing is reality.- It has reality, it exists, but everything also always has void, because it is distinct from that which is around it. -And everything always has at least a bit of magic, even if it isn¡¯t inherently magical.- So, we need to bring forth reality more strongly. We need it more strongly than even having it surrounded by and connected to a ridiculous amount of iron. -It did seem to work against Sole, trapping in the iron I mean. Though, looking back, I feel like we brute forced it a bit by sheer quantity of iron.- Tala dove into Flow mentally, using her threefold sight to analyze it more deeply than she¡¯d ever truly examined anything. She parsed it at every layer, from every angle, utterly forgoing any view outward to aim all her perspectives at her soulbound weapon. There was already a tremendous amount of iron attached to Flow, and that she moved out of the way for ease of examination. The dasgannach had been merged with her weapon, so it was effectively the source and anchor for all of her iron, but that alone wasn¡¯t imparting ¡®Reality¡¯ to a sufficient degree, even if it was there, ready. It¡¯s like the void-magic when Flow is in one of its standard forms. As she searched through the magics of Flow¡¯s makeup, she found what Master Tai had been talking about. Void-magic seemed to be twisting around¡­nothing. It was like a three-stranded braid where a gap existed instead of one of the strands. I¡¯m filling in the gap with void? No, that wasn¡¯t right. Regardless, it clearly needed reality, somehow. She tried adding iron into the gap and felt it spark in her hand, singeing her skin as the material was rejected violently by the knife. It didn¡¯t hurt her too much, nor draw the attention of the two others who were deep in discussion. It did grab Terry¡¯s attention, however, as he squawked, seemingly having been woken up by her actions. ¡°Sorry, Terry.¡± He chirped, headbutted her that it was alright, then flickered away. Right now, it is void-magic. Adding in reality as a basic concept doesn¡¯t really make sense. I would need to add in reality-magic, and reality-void? That isn¡¯t how her existence defense worked through her elk leathers, but that was a flawed working regardless. Sure, it functioned, there was no doubt of that, but it was also imperfect, like the forces involved were constantly roiling, making it incredibly unstable and unable to resist dedicated, sustained pressure from an aggressive source. That was likely what left her feeling so isolated within the defense, and that was also what had made the shield able to be pushed back, leading to her current need for recovery. The existence defense¡ªas she currently used it¡ªwas void-magic, magic, and reality in the form of iron. It¡¯s too magic heavy. Similarly, when she tried to add iron into Flow¡¯s magics, directly, it was just void-magic and reality in the form of iron. Those two were opposites. I either need true void with the magic of Flow¡¯s makeup, or reality-magic and reality-void. Master Grediv would not be pleased if she pursued reality-magic and for good reason. Yeah, let¡¯s not take that path. So, Tala did the only thing she could think of. WIth an act of will, she drew on her authority within Kit, her authority over Flow, and her authority over her own power. This space was hers, this weapon was hers, and everything within her incredibly focused perception belonged to her and her alone. She focused her will, preparing to use Flow¡¯s natural spellforms as a guide. She wasn¡¯t trying to change them. Her goal was to augment them, fill in the missing pieces, and let them come to full fruition. Then, she tried to force the weapon to pull apart in that specific pattern, introducing void along that pattern previously filled with void-magic, her magic ready to weave through it along with iron as soon as she opened the voids. Flow, obviously, didn¡¯t want to change shape, let alone pull apart. She felt herself growling, her hair standing on end as her entire being flexed against Flow¡¯s resistance. At some level, she was fighting her own soul¡¯s resistance to change. You are MINE. Shift at my will or be devoured. A wave of power washed out from Tala, and Master Tai¡¯s gaze snapped to look her way, even as he cut off Rane. Rane turned, eyes widening an instant after Master Tai. Tala felt her very soul resonate at her drive and desire to enact her will upon the world. She felt the deep dissonance as she tried to force something bound to her very soul to bend and change. The very metal of Flow¡¯s makeup screamed and cracked. Chapter: 397 - Tests and Discussions Tala¡­ might have made a mistake. Flow had just let out a resonant crack, which had vibrated through the very structure of her sanctum. That made sense. Both were soulbound to her, and so they affected one another on a deep level. Still, Tala could see precisely what had occurred, and so she wasn¡¯t panicking¡­ yet. Rane and Master Tai had noticed that something had happened, but that was about all that they were capable of perceiving. Master Tai had likely felt void being introduced into the weapon¡­ maybe. Actually, probably not. She didn¡¯t think he would be able to penetrate her aura around her soulbound weapon when it was in her hand, and she wasn¡¯t trying to let him examine it. Still, it might have resonated in a way that made the void able to be sensed. So, focus on what is happening, Tala. You only have a moment to fix things, here. As a soulbound weapon, Flow was as indestructible as her own soul. Her iron was basically dust, so it being penetrated wasn¡¯t it being damaged or destroyed. Huh¡­ I should probably absorb some iron plates¡­ That might make incredibly powerful armor. But no, her elk leathers could be damaged¡­ sort of. And soulbound armor wasn¡¯t actually invincible, otherwise everyone would just get marginally magical clothing and soulbond it for near invulnerability. So, Flow¡¯s magic is almost as durable as my soul, but its physical shape is not. It was also important to note that the effect created by the magic wasn¡¯t as durable as her soul, just the magics themselves. With regard to analysis, that was a good start, because the physical shape now was full of jagged cracks. She was not panicking. That would be counterproductive. She grimaced. The cracks¡ªthe void¡ªhad not followed her guidance or desires. The void had not obeyed her directives. Because I have no claim on the void. It was like throwing a steak I own before a wild dog then being angry that it didn¡¯t bite the meat how I wanted it to. That was fine. Well, no, it wasn¡¯t fine, but it was fixable. She even had the perfect magic within her bag of tricks. Her elk leathers had inherent magic for the drawing back together of sundered, dead matter. Which was a long-winded, slightly technical, way of saying that those magics could repair nonliving things such as Flow. They wouldn¡¯t be a perfect match, but they should be able to help. Thus, she aspect-mirrored those magics onto and into Flow. Then, with intense focus, aided by Alat, she forced the knife back into shape, using its own magics to bind it together. To add to the process, she burned her magics to massively magnify Flow¡¯s gravitational attraction to itself, directly across the largest cracks, splitting her working in more directions than she had ever managed before. When it was pressed tight, but not quite whole, she forced power through Flow, changing it into the form of a sword. The morphic qualities of the weapon allowed it to flow almost like a liquid, taking the new shape. There was no damage to Flow in its sword form.. With a bit of trepidation, she cut off the increased stream of power from Flow, and it returned to the shape of a knife. She examined Flow from tip to pommel. It felt like she examined every molecule, looking for inconsistencies or flaws. Finally, she let out a sigh of relief. That was a rusting terrible idea, Tala. -...you¡¯re acting as me again.- Well, moving the realization of my own stupidity from you to me seems like a step in the right direction. -I suppose you aren¡¯t wrong? We definitely should have consulted some people before we tried that.- Noted. -Also, maybe¡ªand hear me out here¡ªyou should probably heal from one slightly crazy experiment before trying another?- ¡­yeah. I¡¯ll try to keep that in mind. Still, her weapon was whole once more. She had a splitting headache from hyper-focusing, the world seemed a little fuzzy, and her gate felt¡­off, but Flow was back in top form. At that point, Rane and Master Tai reached her. ¡°Tala, is everything alright?¡± ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± Tala forced herself to smile up at them. ¡°I just tried something that I should have researched more thoroughly first.¡± Rane huffed a laugh, clearly not surprised. ¡°Well, you seem whole. Will there be any lasting damage?¡± ¡°No?¡± She was able to focus more, and blessedly, her gate¡¯s ¡®offness¡¯ was mainly just a nebulous feeling of soreness, as odd as that sensation was, but she couldn¡¯t see anything wrong with it or with Flow. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± He nodded once. ¡°Alright then.¡± Master Tai gave her a long look, clearly more uncertain than Rane. ¡°Is there anything that we can do to assist?¡± ¡°No, thank you, Master Tai. You two can continue your conversation. I apologize for the distraction.¡± Rane¡¯s countenance had changed, and he now looked a bit concerned. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯ve got a lot to digest, mentally speaking.¡± Master Tai shrugged and sat down along with Rane. ¡°Let¡¯s talk through some of the more esoteric things about void-magic that I¡¯ve come across.¡± Tala hesitated, obviously realizing that they¡¯d picked up on something crazy happening, and they didn¡¯t want to leave her to it. -That actually is a bit kind. They¡¯d leave if you asked, but at least Rane is biasing it toward him being here for you. Master Tai just isn¡¯t interested in wandering away on his own.- Yeah. So, the three began to discuss the void. * * * Tala did not like times of recovery, even if they mostly consisted of her eating and lightly training rather than being bedridden or anything similar. This time, however, she had another thing to focus on, and it made the whole process more bearable. Honestly, it gave her insight into how some people could spend centuries in contemplation. In her discussions with Master Tai and Rane, something blindingly obvious had come to her mind. Kit was a voidling. Kit was now soulbound to her. Tala was ignoring an incredibly obvious source of knowledge and testing ability. Thus, for the five days of ¡®off-duty¡¯ time after the discussion with Master Tai and Rane, Tala spent a large proportion of her time within Kit, working with her dimensional storage to learn about the void. At first, Tala simply willed for the air in a specific location near her to pull away from a singular point. This was well within her ability as master of the sanctum, and it accentuated the infinite, small voids that surrounded every molecule that made up the air. The process added a larger void¡ªcreated by her will¡ªto those already present. From there, she manipulated the shape of the void she cleared, the materials she created it in, and all sorts of other subtle differences, all while observing the process with as many of her perspectives as she could manage, Archiving everything for later review. She also took time every day to review each experiment meticulously, doing her best to learn as much as she could about void. As for Kit¡¯s part, Tala used her abilities within Kit extensively, but she also did her best to lean on the instincts and feelings she was getting from the bond with her little voidling, following the promptings to gain understanding far more quickly than Tala herself would otherwise likely have been able to. She gained a massive depth of insight, while not really getting to a point that she could do much with it, yet. Still, she was laying the groundwork for her study of that fundamental pillar of existence. When she felt like her brain was going to melt because she was too focused on the esoteric nature of void, she began experimenting with her iron, and how it interacted with various magics and the void. I will understand the foundations of existence if it takes me a millennium. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. And she knew that it just might. Even so, this was a start. During the same span of days, Tala spent a lot of time visiting Rane and drawing him out into the city. Some of his other acquaintances were doing similar work, and she came along with them for a few meals among other things. One night they all ended up playing an odd series of betting card games practically until dawn. The Healers had been a bit cross with all of them, given Rane¡¯s need for as much sleep as he could get. Even so, he was making marked improvements. Tala was ever hopeful that he¡¯d be able to fully Refine, but neither of them brought up the subject, not yet. A fun diversion came right after her time off-duty ended in the form of a visit from Brand, arriving with a caravan from Bandfast. Apparently, he¡¯d been prevented from making his usual visits to Alefast¡ªand the Feshua family¡ªby his restaurant exploding in popularity. When Tala had inquired, he¡¯d sheepishly stated that as soon as he¡¯d seen Tala¡¯s name on one of the Defensive fight recordings, he¡¯d known they¡¯d be interesting to watch, and he¡¯d bought the rights to show them all going forward. He had emphasized that he¡¯d bought the rights to all of them, not just those pertaining to Tala, and that had made her feel a bit less embarrassed. Brand and his wife had bought the building next to their restaurant, connecting the spaces and turning the whole interior into an entertainment area with tables and various large viewing slates showing fights just like the battle-watch eateries in Alefast. They¡¯d even had to hire some extra help in the kitchen and to wait tables, which allowed them to expand their hours of operation and their selection of food. All told, even after the massive increase in expenses, it was a boost to their income, but it came with a lot of extra work to get it going. Artia and Adrill were understanding¡ªand even celebratory¡ªof their friend¡¯s success, leading to two days of food and companionship that Tala was only marginally involved in around her restarted duties as a Defender. Her unit did not let her take on anything strenuous, and they encouraged her to eat almost constantly. Her increased magical density and the efficiency of her scripts led to her being able to pack away a truly frightening amount of food before her stores were full. Regardless, the duties were light, and in truth, she spent most of her time doing a new exercise for her magic, will, and understanding. She created a solid shape of her iron, then distorted it to create voids within it of all sorts of convoluted shapes. Some mimicked the outward form of the iron, but as she worked, she was able to differ the two more and more. This was an especially difficult process because all of her iron was basically dust, so the only integrity it had in any shape was what she enforced upon it with her will. The white steel was a much, much better physical defense or barrier, but she wasn¡¯t going for effective defense; she was going for difficult training. She enjoyed the difficulty, even beginning to incorporate fourth dimensional movements and distortions to grow her intuitive understanding of that as well. As a fun additional challenge¡ªwhich Tala added when she was alone and had the spare attention¡ª Alat would attempt to assault Tala¡¯s constructs, using her portion of their will and mental fortitude to disrupt what Tala was doing. It made the whole thing into more of a game than a rote set of movements. The result had her constantly devoting most of her focus and brain power to that exercise whenever she could. Alat also liked to spring surprise attacks on her when Tala was otherwise distracted. Tala found it incredibly entertaining. Even so, she knew that the motions and control would become second nature soon enough, and when it did, her plan was to add another lump of iron to work with at the same time, but it wasn¡¯t time for that, not yet. In that way, Tala spent the next weeks with Rane, her unit-mates, and her other acquaintances. Until, finally, the day of Rane¡¯s official diagnosis arrived. * * * Mistress Vanga stepped in to perform the evaluation as a familiar face for Rane, since he¡¯d been spending more time with Tala¡¯s unit. There were other Healers observing from another room, but none tried to take primary position from the Defender. Master Grediv was there with Tala, Rane, and Mistress Vanga, but thankfully, the room was large enough that even with the four of them there, it didn¡¯t feel crowded. Rane and Master Grediv were back on speaking terms, but Rane was still irritated. Even so, it seemed that he¡¯d come to a similar conclusion to what Tala had in regards to Mistress Holly. The older, wiser Mages hadn¡¯t withheld information for any reason except in order to help their younger charges. No one liked it, but it was what it was. The process of examination was not quick. All told, Mistress Vanga took an hour with various artifacts¡ªalongside her own magics¡ªto delve through all that she wanted to check about Rane. She seemed to investigate him on the physical, biological, magical, cognitive, and spiritual levels. There were probably other aspects that Tala wasn¡¯t aware of, but Mistress Vanga seemed to check them all. Throughout, Tala had a two-inch sphere¡¯s worth of iron flexing and roiling through her will, perceptual, and control exercises. The Healer had initially greeted the three of them, but otherwise only broke her contemplative silence to give Rane instructions. Blessedly, in the end, she was smiling. ¡°You can do another session in just more than two weeks.¡± Rane¡¯s cheek twitched at the words ¡®another session,¡¯ but he nodded gratefully regardless. ¡°How did I do in my first session?¡± He chuckled nervously. ¡°I can see my own aura well enough, but¡­ do I have a real chance at Refining, or am I just trying to get as far as I can to extend my life?¡± Mistress Vanga smiled warmly in response, ¡°You are fully capable of Refining from a physical and magical perspective. The choice, obviously, is yours, and only you can make it.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°I expect it to take four or five sessions total, depending on the intensity and length you choose into for each of those. You could obviously increase that number if you wanted to take it in smaller bites, but I would advise against that.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He looked curious, but Tala could tell that he was hiding quite a bit of trepidation. ¡°Generally, those who try to take it slower¡ªto extend the Refining over more, less strenuous sessions¡ªhave a much lower success rate.¡± She held up a hand and clarified before he could respond. ¡°Some do still succeed, but at this point in the process, the things that you control¡ªwhich have the greatest impact on chances of success¡ªare session intensity and length.¡± Master Grediv grimaced slightly, but didn¡¯t comment. So, that¡¯s a bit more than he¡¯d have shared, but still not out of line? -That was my impression, yeah.- There was a momentary pause. -Oh, we were just granted access to the results of scans.- Alat went silent for a long breath. Tala felt like she was on the edge of her seat, even though she was standing. Then, the little iron construct that she had over her left shoulder popped with a sound like a bursting balloon, raining iron dust down over that side of her body. The others turned and looked her way. Master Grediv raised an eyebrow, but both Mistress Vanga and Rane were smiling, having gotten used to similar things over the past weeks. ¡°Sorry about that. I got distracted.¡± Tala closed her eyes, grimacing. Really, Alat? Now? -We want to be always vigilant.- Tala growled internally, but easily willed all the iron back together over her left shoulder. Fine. She then immediately deflected an attack on the shape above her other shoulder. That started a back and forth clash of Alat¡¯s will against Tala¡¯s. Since they were equal in power, they both had to be clever in their tactics. They continued their internal dialogue, even as they mentally circled one another. So? -Well, he¡¯s got a good chance. Mistress Vanga puts the success rate of those in similar situations at a solid fifty-five percent.- Tala carefully controlled her expression as Rane seemed to be contemplating as well. -That is really, really good, Tala.- I know. I know. She knew that she shouldn¡¯t panic; she shouldn¡¯t see this as a bad result. After all, it was more likely than not that he would succeed, and even if he didn¡¯t, he¡¯d be around for a very long time. It was even more difficult, though, because her own odds hadn¡¯t been able to be calculated. No one had ever Refined with quite the same set of circumstances as she had. She had been in a place of trying to Refine and maybe die, or don¡¯t Refine and definitely die sooner than later. How is the success rate if he goes for the less intense or shorter sessions? -Let¡¯s see¡­ twenty percent. That¡¯s not great, but he won¡¯t take that path.- He might. Refining is rusting awful, and it would be nice to lessen the difficulty. -Lessen the ¡®felt¡¯ difficulty, while increasing the actual difficulty and lowering the chance of success.- Yeah¡­ Tala¡¯s gaze flicked to Master Grediv, confirming what her threefold vision had shown her. He was regarding her with calm intensity. That doesn¡¯t make sense. How can something be calmly intense? -Is the description wrong?- No¡­ She sighed internally, still keeping her outward reactions to a minimum. Though, she did smile at Rane reassuringly when he glanced her way. Rane nodded once. ¡°Alright. How do I choose the intensity and length?¡± Mistress Vanga smiled encouragingly. ¡°That is an excellent question. Intensity is set before each session begins and cannot be changed once it starts.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± ¡°As to length, it¡¯s as long as you can hold onto the Refining device, up to the maximum for that session, when the construct will power down.¡± ¡°As long as I can hold on?¡± ¡°Yes. The initial session locks you into the process, as otherwise¡­ regardless, the intensity and duration are fixed for the first session, and once begun, they cannot be altered.¡± ¡°I noticed that.¡± ¡°For all further sessions, you can let go at any time, ending the session.¡± ¡°But if I do that, I have to recover before the next session?¡± ¡°Exactly, yes. If you stop, that is the end of that session.¡± ¡°I think I understand. Can I ask some other questions?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Mistress Vanga and Rane continued to discuss the very results that Alat had just analyzed. Master Grediv interjected occasionally, but generally let the other two discuss things uninterrupted. As Tala thought about it, she had to admit that Master Grediv¡¯s concern made sense. It was reasonable to be cautious for one very simple¡ªincredibly important¡ªreason. There was a way of lowering Rane¡¯s chances of success even further. They could very easily make the twenty percent chance of success offered by weak, short sessions look like a good option. Rane had only a five percent chance of succeeding if he took the more intense set of sessions¡ªfor the full length possible¡ªagainst his will. There could not be even a hint of belief in the one Refining that this was anything but their own choice. Tala had absolutely no idea how they¡¯d gotten that information, but she didn¡¯t doubt the estimate. If it weren¡¯t true, then Tala had no doubt that Master Grediv¡ªand others in his position¡ªwould simply force those undergoing the Refining process to undergo as intense of Refining sessions as they could survive, locking them into the full lengths regardless of their own desires. Who cared about free-will if you could force the person through into immortality? After all, they¡¯d have an eternity to come around and forgive you. That was, of course, utter foolishness¡ªeven Tala knew that¡ªbut it also wasn¡¯t something they had to truly consider because it wasn¡¯t an option. Regardless, it was no wonder that Master Grediv had been nearly beside himself with frustration that Rane¡¯s stated reason for Refining so soon was to keep up with Tala. Blessedly, that was still his own choice, and she had been incredibly careful to in no way nudge him toward doing it or doing it sooner, but it was a delicate line to walk. Tala refocused on the dialogue between Rane, Master Grediv, and Mistress Vanga as they discussed some of the more nuanced results. Letting herself just absorb what they said without interjecting or commenting. Finally, Mistress Vanga seemed to have answered all of Rane¡¯s questions, and Master Grediv was obviously satisfied. Rane smiled gratefully and bowed to the Healer. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Vanga, it seems like I have a lot to think about.¡± ¡°That you do. You know how to contact me if you have further questions.¡± ¡°I do.¡± He bowed again, and that was that. He turned to Tala as Mistress Vanga and Master Grediv departed. ¡°Shall we go celebrate somewhere?¡± She gave him a mischievous smile, more to pull herself out of her deeper, darker thoughts than because she actually felt like being¡­ whatever she was being. ¡°Oh? What do we have to celebrate?¡± He snorted a laugh. ¡°I¡¯m going to be immortal, of course. If the spacing continues like this between sessions, I¡¯ll be Refined by early summer.¡± She forced a genuine smile, suppressing her concerns and letting her happiness for her friend truly shine through. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s definitely a cause to celebrate. Do you want to eat in the sanctum? One of the battle-view towers, or¡­?¡± Rane considered as they walked toward the exit of the Archon Compound. When he remained silent, Tala continued, ¡°If you¡¯re not quite hungry, yet, we could find something else to do first. It isn¡¯t quite lunch time yet. Also, I already finished my shift before we came here this morning. So? What do you want?¡± He looked at her for a long moment as they walked, before giving a half smile. ¡°What?¡± His smile grew. ¡°Just thinking about your question.¡± As they exited out onto the street, he finally answered. ¡°Food first, I think.¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter: 398 - Resources to Reforge Tala and Master Grediv sat across from each other in tense¡ªonly slightly awkward¡ªsilence. They were in a side sitting room within the main structure of the Gredial estate. It was beautifully constructed, with exposed beams and meticulous craftsmanship on display throughout. Despite the tension, Tala was enjoying the food that she¡¯d brought in a little bag for herself, which sat on the floor beside her chair, leaning against the leg. Well, ¡®little¡¯ was a bit of an understatement. It was a rucksack that would be able to carry resources for one person to be out on their own for at least a week with ease. Mistress Petra had packed it with care and skill, keeping the food within it intact and ready for tasty consumption. In order to get the food without awkwardly bending to scoop it out, Tala manipulated tendrils of iron¡ªguided by her threefold sight. Especially with her more recent work in the manipulation of her iron and the creations of void within, her dexterity and capacity had increased many-fold, and those bits of metal easily moved around within her aura, gripping and manipulating whatever she needed. She found it easiest to make them in the form of hands of various sizes, each acting at her bidding. Master Grediv occasionally eyed one of the iron-gray tools as it floated around Tala, but he didn¡¯t comment. Even so, having to carry the rucksack of food was a bit irritating. I really need to find a way of keeping Kit with me while still allowing her to be conveniently placed for those helping me. -Yeah¡­ we are working on a few ideas.- And they¡¯re great ideas, but not good enough. Not yet. -Master Simon¡¯s suggestion could help make some of them more feasible.- Yeah, but it would imply that I want more people in my sanctum¡­ -Which you seem to be moving toward. Yes?- I still don¡¯t like it¡­ The most promising solution involved the utility of Kit¡¯s own dimensionality. As the sanctum extended massively within Kit¡¯s stoneward magics, it technically had that wide of an area in which it existed and should be accessible from anywhere within that range, regardless of the compression involved. In theory. Tala didn¡¯t really understand that part of how the magics worked, but in this case, she didn¡¯t need to. Even so, Tala had only been able to manifest an entrance into Kit from two blocks away before replacing the door at Artia¡¯s shop afterwards. She knew that she¡¯d never be able to violate the one entrance stricture, but if she could move the entrance greater distances, or manifest the singular entrance further away? It would increase Kit¡¯s utility even further. Finally, Master Grediv set his tea to the side, drawing Tala from her thoughts. ¡°I did not ask to meet with you to discuss Rane.¡± Tala felt one side of her mouth pull up in a small smile. ¡°I had assumed not. You don¡¯t have the same stressed air about you that you do when he is involved of late.¡± Master Grediv twitched, frowning slightly. ¡°Mistress Tala, we have both made our positions clear on this matter. I trust that we do not need to revisit it?¡± She shook her head slowly. ¡°We do not. I meant no offense.¡± ¡°Good. Now, we have¡ªin the past¡ªdiscussed what will be required for you to become a Paragon as well as the steps required for you to Reforge.¡± ¡°We have. Paragon is the aligning of myself with an eternal mindset or¡ªmore accurately¡ªwith my own soul¡¯s¡­ goals? View on existence?¡± She huffed a laugh, smiling. ¡°I suppose if I could articulate it perfectly, I¡¯d have already reached it.¡± He smiled in turn. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°As to Reforging.¡± Tala shuddered. ¡°Reforging is effectively Refining, but where I will be required to control every part of the process myself, through my own magics and through inscriptions that will be added to me for that purpose. There can be no outside assistance or interference. It is the remaking of myself, by myself, for myself.¡± Master Grediv held up a finger. ¡°Yes and no.¡± She tilted her head to the side, lightly frowning. ¡°Alright; I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Your alternate interface, I believe she is named Alat?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Can she help you Reforge?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know, but I assume so.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She is me, and so it would still be ¡®me¡¯ working on my Reforging.¡± ¡°True enough. Can you use the magics from within your sword, Flow, during the Reforging process?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°I assume so, actually.¡± ¡°You are right. Do you know why?¡± Instead of answering right away, Tala took a moment to consider, really consider. Master Grediv seemed pleased by that, picking his tea back up to slowly enjoy while she thought. After a long couple of minutes, Tala found herself nodding. ¡°It has to do with true ownership and authority.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± He set his tea aside again, rather more roughly than before as he leaned forward. Thankfully, he¡¯d drunk enough that nothing spilled, not that he seemed like he would have cared. ¡°Your new physical body must be untainted by anyone else¡¯s ownership or authority.¡± He waved a hand dismissively at his own words. ¡°This is not precisely correct, but it will help to convey what you need to know for the moment.¡± ¡°Does that mean a familiar or spouse could help?¡± He smiled broadly. ¡°They could, yes. But that isn¡¯t what I was driving at.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°The resources you use to Reforge yourself must be your own. Master Jevin is a nearly perfect example in this regard. He uses the earned, excess resources of his entire city to push himself forward every cycle, and yet he has barely moved toward being Reforged.¡± He held up a hand to forestall her obvious objections. ¡°True, he has other issues limiting his Reforging speed, but the idea stands.¡± ¡°Alright, but I still don¡¯t quite understand. What resources? What could I need?¡± He shrugged at the question. ¡°Precious metals in the thousands of pounds to be made into the inscriptions that you will need to empower throughout the process. Food that is yours on a fundamental level, rather than purchased from someone else. Things of that nature.¡± ¡°Because Master Jevin is ruler of the city, at the most basic level everything produced there is his?¡± ¡°Not the most basic level, no, but at a fundamental level, yes, and that part is critical. It is important to know that he couldn¡¯t steal from his citizens and expect it to work. He must own the resources at every level possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I fully understand, but I think I get what you are aiming at.¡± He leaned back. ¡°Do tell?¡± She sighed, thinking of what Master Simon had been pushing for. ¡°You are suggesting that I alter Kit to be able to function as a source of resources, and begin building toward what I will need to Reforge.¡± He tilted his head to one side. ¡°That would likely work, yes.¡± She frowned, noticing by his reaction that that wasn¡¯t the answer he¡¯d expected. ¡°What were you going to suggest?¡± ¡°Well, I was going to suggest that you do something like that, but the example I was going to give was to try and become at least an ancillary ruler or manager of one of the new cities to be manifest in the next century or so. There aren¡¯t many Paragons or Refined who are currently aiming at Reforging, but there are enough that the positions will be given to those among that number.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in that type of work or locational restriction or obligations.¡± He chuckled. ¡°And my encouragement would have been to get over that lack of interest, but your Kit does offer an alternative that I didn¡¯t fully consider.¡± He picked up his cup and took a long sip before continuing, ¡°It now makes a bit more sense why Master Simon approached me about this.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Master Simon?¡± ¡°Yes, that man has worked for a number of highly advanced Archons, and he¡¯s seen their own slow, steady work to build up what they would need if they get to the point of Reforging. I highly doubt that he knew or knows why they were doing it, but he¡¯s clever enough to realize that it involves something that you should be mindful of.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°So it seems.¡± They moved on to talking about other things at that point. Neither brought up Rane, and both were fine with that. They simply enjoyed chatting as well as the echoes of the times they¡¯d spent together in the past. * * * Tala stood within Kit, looking at her dais. Upon that dais¡ªin front of where she usually stood to be reinscribed¡ªwas a throne that she had effectively never used. She knew what it could do. It had been created as the command hub for the systems that the arcanes put in place within Kit. She also knew that they¡¯d advised that she never touch them without detailed guidance, given how easy it would be to mess up the delicate balance within Kit. Kit was much bigger, now, and the magics had been iterated out throughout the whole sanctum, giving the throne even more control, and making utilizing those tools even more finicky. Master Simon was looking between Tala and the throne. ¡°Mistress Tala? Are you going to have a seat?¡± She sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± Tala stepped forward and sat down, her mind immediately filling with what seemed almost like a table of contents for the magics she could access and alter. -Oh, you look good, like you belong here.- Tala took a moment to see what Alat meant. She did cut a striking figure, sitting erect on her throne. Her clothes were immaculate but not ornate. She still preferred the nearly white tunic with storm-cloud gray pants and no shoes. Flow was at her hip in its ornate sparring sheath, and while her inscriptions were hidden beneath her through-spike illusion, letting her skin appear natural¡ªif magically flawless¡ªthere were currents of magic that gave her an ethereal quality even to mundane sight. While she wasn¡¯t clad in iron at the moment, her inscriptions were. The manifestations in existence caused by that containment was the most likely source of that other-worldy appearance she was noticing. Her hair was in her preferred braid, starting at her left temple, woven together down and across the nape of her neck to cause the bulk of her hair to fall over her right shoulder. Tala¡¯s head was held regally, and her gaze seemed to be searching for someone to smite. Her eyes were a blood red that seemed almost to be glowing. -You know, those are meant to be covered.- I like them. -Yeah, I got that. That¡¯s why you let them through the illusion, but it doesn¡¯t help you fit in.- I¡¯m past fitting in, Alat. I just don¡¯t want to be attacked. -...fair.- There were three independently oscillating and pulsating shapes of iron slowly rotating at an angle around the back of her head, as if following the circumference of a non-existent halo. The throne itself was simple granite, shaped and polished to a near mirror finish, highlighting the granular structure of the stone. The black, white, and gray flecks each set off different parts of her appearance. Well¡­ Rust. -See? This is how you look to those around you.- She shook herself, watching as the queen on her throne settled slightly, now ready to issue a just proclamation of war. Yeah¡­ I¡¯m going to stop watching myself again. This is¡­ uncomfortable. -You do need to understand how you are perceived, Tala.- You are probably right, but not now. I have too much else to do. -Fine. I¡¯ll do it for you.- Tala turned her perspectives outward once again, focusing on her actual task. She wasn¡¯t in the throne to make any changes. In fact, she was there to make sure no changes occurred while they did the next part. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± Her supplicant¡ªNo, Tala, you aren¡¯t viewing yourself as a queen anymore. -Isn¡¯t that supposed to be my line?- I¡¯m trying to be more self-aware. -¡­while not being aware of how you are perceived?- ¡­self-aware of my own mentality. -Fair enough.- Master Simon grabbed her attention more fully. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Yes! Yes. I apologize. I was delving through the readings.¡± -Well, I was, but sure, make excuses for your dip into megalomania.- Hush, you. ¡°Are you ready to monitor the changes with that construct?¡± ¡°I am. Are the pillars in place around the original perimeter?¡± ¡°They are.¡± ¡°Then, let us begin.¡± Tala had her perspectives all focused on her sanctum, Kit¡¯s internals. She¡¯d already proven that Kit didn¡¯t need to be a sphere. She¡¯d almost laughed when she first had that thought. Kit had essentially never been a sphere, her first internal shape more resembling a small closet than anything else. Now, with all the changes in Tala¡¯s life, she wanted to alter the shape in preparation for having more people using the space in the coming decades. I¡¯m going to need the resources for Reforging. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not losing my privacy or agency. I¡¯m choosing this. With a flex of Tala¡¯s will, Kit shed all the excess dimensionality and material that had been added around the sanctum¡¯s ¡®original¡¯ size and shape, meaning the part that had been arranged and perfected by the arcanes. In this case, shed was meant like a dog losing its fur, rather than a person losing weight. The ¡®fur¡¯ was still there, just no longer where it had been. Tala and Kit worked together to hold onto the stripped-off resources, neither willing to lose what was theirs. The artificial sky got a lot closer once again, but Tala didn¡¯t feel claustrophobic. On the contrary, she felt liberated even as she bent her will and power to moving the dimensionality to a separate sphere, only connected to her sanctum by a thin bridge of space with a simple stone floor to allow passage. The secondary space was about three times the volume of her sanctum, but she didn¡¯t need a lot of volume for herself and her crops. She could have even made her area smaller, but she liked the layout that she¡¯d helped to design and enact. It came with hard memories, but most of them were tempered with knowledge that she had seized every advantage and benefit that she could from the House of Blood, and Kit was a large part of what she¡¯d gained. This sanctum was a badge of her conquest, not a scar from her captivity. It was hers. Kit was hers. They were bound, forever. Master Simon was manipulating his Archive slate, offering suggestions, and reminding her of things that they¡¯d discussed. The other volume took on its rough shape, a largely barren new world. It had soil, bedrock, water, and an illusory sky, but no artificial sun. Master Simon had negotiated the creation of one in exchange for detailed schematics and a chance to study the one Tala already had, but it wouldn¡¯t arrive for a bit. Until then, they would work on the shape of the space and the land therein. In theory, that was where any other people Tala allowed into her sanctum would live. Well, no, that¡¯s not my sanctum. This is. -Shall we give it a name?- She felt herself smile, her eyes moving to meet Master Simon¡¯s. ¡°The Irondale sphere is complete. No fluctuations in the readings from the throne, though that space is now not covered by the magics controlled here. So, all that means is that we didn¡¯t mess up my sanctum with the shift.¡± ¡°Irondale?¡± The Archon frowned for a moment, then grinned. ¡°It fits, honestly. You do love your iron.¡± He nodded. ¡°I also like the implication that you¡¯ll have a town there. The resilience of Kit¡¯s existence¡ªnow that she¡¯s bound to you¡ªis¡­¡± Tala stood. ¡°It¡¯s impressive, yes. So you¡¯ve said.¡± ¡°Indeed. I think you could have a couple of hundred gated in here and not risk rupture unless something went crazily sideways.¡± She hesitated, glancing his way. ¡°Let¡¯s not get carried away or anything.¡± He smiled, holding up his hands in surrender. ¡°Oh, I know, but the possibilities that this place brings to bear are fascinating.¡± ¡°Indeed. Shall we?¡± He nodded assent. With a comparatively minor flexing of her will, she and he were standing in a pitch black expanse. There was a feeling of primal power to the space around them. A new world, untamed, unforged, and unconquered even though it was hers already. ¡°Light.¡± The illusion of light appeared, showing them their surroundings, even if the illumination itself didn¡¯t actually exist. Master Simon was giving her a flat look. ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡®Light¡¯? Isn¡¯t that a little¡­ pretentious?¡± ¡°Speaking out loud?¡± She pretended not to know what he meant. He sighed, shaking his head, even as a smile pulled at his lips. ¡°Fine. I can¡¯t say I haven¡¯t done something similar when activating a light construct.¡± She laughed. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re right. I probably shouldn¡¯t get a big head or something¡¯s bound to cut it off.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t honestly think that would slow you down overmuch.¡± She grunted. ¡°I still don¡¯t think I¡¯d enjoy it.¡± ¡°It would be odd if you did.¡± One of her iron shapes popped, and Tala sighed. Yeah, I was too distracted, that¡¯s fair. -Glad you acknowledge that.- Alat was obviously rather proud of herself. Even so, Tala easily kept mastery of the other two shapes even as she rebuilt the third and put it back into synchronous orbit with the others. Master Simon had a knowing smile on his face, but otherwise, he didn¡¯t react. ¡°Shall we get started? I know we have it roughed in, but¡­¡± Tala nodded. ¡°As you say. There¡¯s a lot still left to accomplish.¡± With that decided, they began walking the vast area, reshaping the land according to complex formulas that Alat and Master Simon were applying through the sensing magics and their connection to the Archive. Tala used her will to shift all levels and components of the terrain, ensuring that it would be stable until she wished it to be different. It was actually a rather rewarding experience. The feeling of creating something that would last was intoxicating. They had discussed it beforehand, and the two Archons would work in their free time¡ªaround their other projects, tasks, and training¡ªover the coming months to make this place how they wanted it. There would be a massive lake, with rivers flowing out of it and around to come back in. There would be forests, orchards, and plains, little mountains and valleys. They had a lot of ideas of how they could make it, effectively, a paradise that Tala could use to attract resources and workers that she might need. Even though Tala had dismissed the idea of dividing Kit like this when Master Simon had first suggested it, now that she¡¯d gotten started, she was incredibly glad that they were doing this. This was invigorating in a way that she hadn¡¯t expected. She felt a burning passion flicker to life within her as she worked to forge a miniature world to call her own. Unnoticed by any save Alat, Tala¡¯s aura shifted just a bit more toward green. Chapter: 399 - True Love Tala and her unit were on their way to yet another cell. Tala was initially quite alarmed when she heard about the assignment. It had only been a month since the doomsday vault cell, and if it had gone through the full rotation to get back to them that quickly¡­ Blessedly, things weren¡¯t that bad. Instead, their luck with the doomsday vault meant that they had been left at the top of the rotation. True, Tala, herself, had been cut in half¡ªwhich her unit had dutifully reported¡ªbut that part wasn¡¯t really as spread around as the fact that they¡¯d gotten a ¡®dangerless¡¯ cell overall. Regardless, this next cell was simply the next one to need maintenance. Once a month is actually a slowing when compared to how things were going, as well as a welcome reprieve, honestly. Though, all wanings had cycles, so this might just be a momentary cooldown. Happy thoughts, Tala. Among the other units, there had been talk of hanging their whole unit if they lucked into another doomsday vault¡ªor something like it¡ªbut it was obvious that most were joking. At least Tala hoped that they were. After all, there were some rather powerful individuals in the other units, and she was still recovering. On the positive side, even if they hanged her, she¡¯d probably be fine? She could make herself float for one, and even if that didn¡¯t work¡ªfor some reason¡ªshe could just heal. -They were joking, Tala¡­ and that¡¯s dark.- Yeah, yeah, I know¡­ Tala sighed. -You¡¯re still a bit off. Are you sure you¡¯re up for this mission?- Almost as if echoing Alat¡¯s mindset, Mistress Cerna glanced toward Tala from where she sat, piloting their airborne vehicle. ¡°Mistress Tala? How are you feeling?¡± ¡°I¡¯m recovering well enough.¡± Tala smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way. ¡°Mistress Vanga assessed my stores at nearly half-filled, and I think that I¡¯ve put the¡­ trauma of effectively cutting myself in half behind me.¡± Their unit leader glanced to the Healer who nodded once. Master Clevnis grunted, interjecting into the small silence. ¡°Yeah, that wasn¡¯t the nicest of cuts.¡± She knew that she¡¯d likely regret it, but Tala asked anyway, ¡°How, exactly, do you assess the ¡®niceness¡¯ of a cut?¡± ¡°Oh! Can I take this one?¡± Master Limmestare interjected even as the larger man opened his mouth. Master Clevnis grimaced. ¡°Cuts are sort of my thing.¡± ¡°No, no, my friend. That is why you aren¡¯t a Paragon yet. Edges are your thing. Cuts are what you make with those edges, and how you assess them.¡± Master Clevnis blinked at Master Limmestare a few times. Finally, he put his head in his hands. ¡°Rust. You¡¯re right. Fine, you can say it.¡± To Tala¡¯s surprise, she thought she saw Master Clevnis¡¯s aura tick slightly toward Paragon. She barked a laugh. ¡°Is that actually news to you?¡± He looked her way, his grimace growing. ¡°No, of course not, but I had never thought of it in exactly that way.¡± Mistress Cerna gave a wry smile. ¡°Oftentimes we get so focused on what is right in front of us that we lose sight of why we were focused on it to begin with. We help each other by pushing against our assumptions.¡± The older woman glanced toward her other unit mate, and sighed. ¡°Yes, Master Limmestare, you can proceed.¡± Master Limmestare¡¯s grin grew as he turned back to Tala. ¡°The answer is obvious. The cleanliness of a cut is determined by the state of the material on either side of the cut when you are done.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°That actually makes a lot of sense. A bad cut will leave the surrounding material mashed, or broken, or otherwise disturbed, but a ¡®perfect¡¯ cut will not affect it at all.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Master Clevnis looked to his wife. ¡°Can I hit him?¡± Mistress Cerna shook her head in response. ¡°One does not discipline a child for being correct, even if their being correct makes you frustrated or look bad.¡± ¡°Oh, I know that, love. I want to hit him for being disrespectful.¡± She tilted her head to the side as if considering. Master Limmestare¡¯s eyes widened a bit. ¡°Hey, wait a minute now¡ª¡± She nodded, ignoring the protesting glass archon. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it.¡± Master Clevnis¡¯s face blossomed with obvious joy as he moved toward his unit-mate. ¡°No.¡± The single word from their¡ªuntil then¡ªsilent Paragon stopped everyone. Mistress Cerna continued to pilot, but her growing smile vanished immediately. Everyone else turned to regard the man sitting cross-legged in the back of their craft. Even Terry paused his revelry, glancing down from his perch. There hadn¡¯t been any magic in the word, but there was something about him that essentially commanded obedience. The man wore precisely traditional Mage¡¯s robes of a flat gray linen. The buttons were similarly gray, but stone, purposely scuffed to a matte finish, causing them to almost disappear into the surrounding fabric. Even though his rock solid aura was held just outside of his body¡ªsufficient to encompass his clothing as well¡ªit was obvious that he was more fit even than the standard Mage. It was an odd thing, looking at him with her threefold sight. Tala effectively had a blank spot in her otherwise incredibly detailed three dimensional, complete understanding of what was around her. True, that¡¯s what she expected any time someone¡¯s aura kept her out, but it was still something that she was getting used to, and it was more stark with this Paragon than usual. He hadn¡¯t opened his eyes to speak, but Tala remembered them as an almost violently bright green, reminding her of Thron¡¯s corrosive magics. His hair and beard were trimmed close to the skin, while still being obviously present. Not that I¡¯ve seen many bald Refined, let alone those more advanced. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing bulky, defined forearms and hands that looked strong enough to crush stones. He wore no jewelry nor any magical item that Tala could detect. His inscriptions were crisp and precise, even while being somehow muddled by the man¡¯s aura so that Tala couldn¡¯t determine anything about them aside from their presence. Tala would have been tempted to call him ¡®the boulder¡¯ if he hadn¡¯t given his name when they first met. When he didn¡¯t speak further for a long moment, Mistress Cerna cleared her throat. ¡°Master Smarag?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Cerna?¡± He didn¡¯t open his eyes. ¡°You have something to say?¡± ¡°No, but thank you.¡± That caused the others¡ªincluding Tala¡ªto exchange looks. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Tala sighed, filling in the obvious answer, ¡°Because you already said what you were going to and accomplished your goal?¡± He simply nodded once. Lovely. They took the rest of their trip in silence. * * * Tala and her unit waited as Master Smarag analyzed the various bits of information left for them to indicate what lay within the cell. After a long moment, he grunted. ¡°Mistress Vanga, we need to determine your unit¡¯s physical resilience toward nontraditional attacks.¡± The Healer blinked a few times. ¡°I apologize, Master Smarag, could you be a bit more specific? In some cases I would say incredibly high, in others very low.¡± He grunted again. ¡°My apologies. In this case, resistance to magically-induced slumber.¡± She began nodding. ¡°Method of influence?¡± ¡°It appears to be a conceptual curse. It permeated an entire city-state, including plantlife, and all analyzed fauna.¡± ¡°Is it a true sleep or more of a stasis?¡± ¡°No indications of degradation or alteration over the course of months, but no immunity to physical interaction, movement, or the like.¡± ¡°Levels of advancement of those affected?¡± ¡°They used some archaic system of measurement, but it looks like¡ªby our system¡ªup through newly Refined.¡± Mistress Vanga¡¯s eyes widened a bit. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°Indeed. That is why I asked. I think there is a clear and present danger to some or all of your group.¡± ¡°What exactly is going on in there?¡± Master Smarag sighed. ¡°It looks like a form of sleeping curse¡ªas was likely obvious by my questions. It spreads through the air, by touch, and in several other ways they weren¡¯t able to easily detect.¡± ¡°Hmm. My memory is that curses of that magnitude, even with a Sovereign involved, tend to have a safety valve, or what is often seen as a ¡®cure¡¯ in retellings. Is that the case?¡± ¡°Indeed. Apparently, the daughter of this city¡¯s ruler is the one who was cursed, and the Sovereign who cursed her let it be known that ¡®true love¡¯s kiss¡¯ would wake the girl.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ve heard this story. Are you telling me that the fairytale comes from a cell? This cell?¡± Master Smarag glanced her way. ¡°That is very possible, yes. In the case of cells containing what amounts to a plague, knowledge of what is in them often survives, in the hope that a cure can be discovered in the meantime.¡± That made a lot of sense to Tala. She¡¯d based much of her magic on tales of old, so it stood to reason that others might spend their time and energy trying to solve old tales. ¡°So? Do we have a solution?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, aside from a Sovereign''s boon to negate the curse, and even that might not work.¡± He sighed. ¡°A whole city-state¡¯s worth of people, trapped for eternity.¡± ¡°Do we know why?¡± The Paragon pointed. ¡°The specifics are vague, as by the time the makers of this cell came to clean up the mess, all those who truly knew what had happened were already asleep. They found some records, but it¡¯s noted that they should be treated as highly biased.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°They didn¡¯t invite the Sovereign to a party, and she threw a fit and vastly over-reacted?¡± He cracked a half-smile. ¡°In essence, yes. We know that can¡¯t be what actually happened, because no one on the level of a Sovereign would spend their power so foolishly¡­¡± He hesitated. ¡°Maybe one of the dream-gods? But this cell seems to be from well after the last of those were sealed away.¡± He sighed. ¡°Though, there could always be another that we haven¡¯t rediscovered yet.¡± ¡°Regardless.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He gave another small smile. ¡°That is the fairytale version of what happened.¡± ¡°Did the prince not want to kiss her?¡± Master Smarag sighed. ¡°She was sixteen and had been very sheltered. No one really knew her well enough to truly love her.¡± ¡°What of her parents?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Might not have been the right kind of love, or maybe her parents were rusting horrible people. I¡¯ve no way of knowing.¡± After a moment, he added, ¡°If the Sovereign really did announce the cure, it could also have been a lie meant to sow chaos among those who loved her, making them doubt themselves even as they, too fell under the working.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ diabolical.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Tala was enjoying Master Smarag much more now that he was actually talking, but it seemed like it wasn¡¯t meant to last. Mistress Vanga interjected once again. ¡°Regardless, I don¡¯t know that even Mistress Tala would be immune to such a working, at least not without knowing how, exactly, it affects its targets.¡± Yeah, and your base spellforms specifically don¡¯t work against sleep. -Yeah¡­ I¡¯d rather we not test if they were right in calling this ¡®sleep¡¯ or not. Good call.- Master Girt cleared his throat. ¡°When I am melded with the earth, I am immune to all but direct physical damage. Even directly targeted effects have trouble holding onto me, let alone grabbing on to begin with, when I meld with the ground.¡± Tala nodded, remembering some of their practice sessions. ¡°He¡¯s correct. My magic works on a cognitive level, and when we¡¯ve tested it, it loses all power when he¡¯s occupying the same space as rock, stone, or dirt.¡± She grimaced. She didn¡¯t understand why her locks failed on the man in those circumstances, but they unquestionably did. She could probably find a way around the issue, but they¡¯d not taken enough time to try enough things to find that loophole. Master Smarag grunted. ¡°Are you willing to take the risk, to investigate the cell, and to ensure nothing comes out while I repair the seal?¡± He held up a hand to stop Master Girt from instantly agreeing. ¡°I will tell you that if you succumb to the cursed sleep, we won¡¯t be bringing you out. I will not allow it. We also won¡¯t be killing you.¡± Master Girt hesitated. ¡°We don¡¯t know if they are dreaming, or if their consciousness is in limbo. You could be risking a near eternity of suffering for all we understand. Or it could be a ¡®blink and you¡¯re awake again¡¯ type of sleep. We just don¡¯t know.¡± After a long moment, Master Girt gave a slow nod. ¡°We need someone to go in, and I¡¯m the best option. I¡¯d say that Mistress Tala was more resilient than I, but we recently encountered a couple of things that ignored her defenses too completely for me to retain that belief in all circumstances.¡± Tala sighed, nodding. ¡°Ironically, your simpler method of defense should be more likely to resist something that was clearly intended to target mundanes. All my forms of defense are contests against the attacker, and with a Sovereign¡¯s power in the mix, I¡¯ll likely lose.¡± Master Girt smiled. ¡°Where my defense is to not be able to be interacted with, regardless of power.¡± She smiled in return. ¡°Precisely.¡± Master Smarag nodded as well. ¡°Alright. I will get confirmation for the plan, and we will proceed.¡± In a surprising turn that really shouldn¡¯t have been that surprising, confirmation came back within the hour, and Master Girt was given the go-ahead to proceed. Master Smarag gave Master Girt a meaningful look. ¡°Everyone in there is innocent as far as we know, and everything in there belongs to them. We are not robbers, nor users of the innocent. Learn what you can, but disturb as little as possible. Ideally, these people will wake up and continue their lives at some point.¡± Master Girt nodded. ¡°Understood.¡± The Paragon walked over to where the cell anchor lay, then hesitated, his head tilting up as if he were reading something that only he could see. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Mistress Cerna took a step toward him. ¡°Master Smarag?¡± ¡°I was just notified and advised to maintain aura superiority around the entrance. There will be regular check-ins, and if we miss any, another Paragon will come and¡­ the term ¡®scorched earth¡¯ summarizes it nicely.¡± Tala grunted, instantly understanding. ¡°We can¡¯t put a cell within a cell, and this curse can¡¯t be allowed to spread.¡± He smiled again. ¡°Quite.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded. ¡°What is your preference, Master Smarag? I can lay down magics to enhance your aura, or we can take on the responsibility of maintaining an aura lockdown?¡± He sighed, the moment of mirth passing as quickly as it had come. ¡°To be safe, it should be me. Ultimately, this mission depends upon me and is my responsibility.¡± She nodded again in response. ¡°Very well, can you give me five minutes?¡± ¡°Easily.¡± Without waiting further, precious metals almost seemed to explode out of her in thousands of minute tendrils, driving into the ground and worming their way to interweave into intricate patterns. Tala felt her eyes widen as her threefold sight allowed her to watch the entire process take place, likely in a way few had ever been able to. She stepped a bit closer, cognizant to not get in the other woman¡¯s way, but wanting to pick up as much as she could. Mistress Cerna threw her a self-satisfied look, clearly enjoying being able to impress her unit-mate. She also then altered how she was working just slightly, to allow Tala to catch more of the process. Instead of advancing the entire working as a whole, Mistress Cerna completed each section before moving on wherever possible. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course. We need to learn wherever and whenever we can.¡± What the Refined laid down in less than five minutes was easily more complicated than most of the scripts Tala had seen in merging rooms, though obviously bent toward an entirely different purpose. When Mistress Cerna was finished, a truly dizzying lattice of latent power lay underground¡ªclearly changing sub-schema as the spellform passed into and through various mediums¡ªworking together with a cage of gold, silver, copper, and another metal that Tala didn¡¯t recognize to surround the two men and the unopened cell-door. Master Smarag took a moment to carefully examine the finished work when the Refined let him know it was ready. He gave a single nod. ¡°Your reputation is well deserved, Mistress Cerna.¡± The woman simply smiled in return. He stomped down one foot, a pulse of magic radiating outward and activating the intricate spellform and filling it with his power. Tala¡¯s threefold sight was immediately cut out of the area as the Paragon¡¯s aura filled the whole space, feeling substantially more powerful than before even as the magic burned off the precious metals to amplify Master Smarag¡¯s authority and ownership of the area. That is what aura is, after all. It is authority and ownership over an area. -Just remember, even though new understandings are fun, they are also sometimes wrong.- But this one feels right. -You¡¯ll find no argument here.- A moment later, the cell was open, and Master Girt had stepped inside, leaving Master Smarag to enact the repairs and Tala and the rest of the unit to wait in impotence. It was a stressfully uneventful process. As often happens, ¡®nothing¡¯ was a lot worse to wait through than sudden ambushes, or problems to solve. Still, it was better to have an uneventful fix instead of an outbreak of a Sovereign-generated sleeping plague. Tala assured herself of that. Master Smarag completed the work in less than three hours, and Master Girt returned when the time was up. In that way, in less than a day, they were all happy and healthy, already heading back toward Alefast, their mission complete. Chapter: 400 - Eternity Tala sat in silence as she considered deeply, flying back to Alefast with her unit. She thought about the poor girl who was at the heart of the cell they¡¯d just come from. She was innocent, at least relatively speaking. Master Girt hadn¡¯t been able to find any evidence of movement or activity within the cell, and so he¡¯d taken the time to explore some. There had been a few prisoners in the dungeon of the central castle, but they¡¯d been in relatively comfortable accommodations, if not really lavish or something that they¡¯d likely want to stay in. From what little he could see, it seemed like a nice enough city-state, filled with people. Not perfect, not evil, just people. And they were all trapped. Either they¡¯d be trapped until Zeme failed, and they¡¯d die with everyone else who was around at that time, or somewhere down the line, someone would cure them, and they would wake up to a world utterly changed. Eternity can look so different for different people. She almost mentally reached out to engage Alat in a discussion on eternity, but she hesitated. Tala had never really talked with her unit-mates about eternity, not in any direct sense. That would likely be a more productive avenue than talking to herself¡­ again¡­ -Yeah, I¡¯m great, but I¡¯m still you. Talk to them.- ¡°Mistress Cerna?¡± ¡°Yes, Tala?¡± The Refined glanced Tala¡¯s way before turning her gaze back to the direction they were flying. ¡°What is your view on eternity?¡± Master Smarag¡¯s eyes opened, seemingly with interest, but he didn¡¯t otherwise react. Mistress Cerna glanced to Tala again, briefly, smiling. ¡°The fate of those people?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s weighing on me a bit. I didn¡¯t even see them, but knowing that they are effectively trapped, awaiting a savior who may never come?¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°It has me thinking about my own future. There are powers in this world that I am utterly impotent to resist, after all.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded. ¡°Maybe unsurprisingly, I see the world¡ªand time itself¡ªas a tapestry, being woven by our actions and interactions.¡± ¡°So¡­?¡± Tala leaned in, listening intently. ¡°So, eternity is simply the fact that the tapestry will continue forever. Individual threads will come and go, but the pattern continues.¡± ¡°You just see yourself as a thread?¡± The woman smiled. ¡°A long thread, but yes. I know that, regardless of my longevity, I will eventually leave this world in one way or another.¡± Tala bit her lip, thinking for a moment before smiling. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She turned to Mistress Cerna¡¯s husband next, ¡°Master Clevnis?¡± ¡°My view on eternity?¡± ¡°If you would be so kind, yes please.¡± ¡°I suppose I see myself as a rock skipping across the water.¡± Tala blinked a few times, then shifted, confused and hoping that he would continue. ¡°As a Refined, I now have no friction, nor loss of energy between skips, but I could still catch a ripple badly, or strike a fish as it surfaces. I just have no idea when it could all end, but until then, it is quite the trip.¡± He grinned. ¡°And even when the skipping is done, the stone is not destroyed, it simply has another journey, this time in a new direction, a new world.¡± Master Limmestare chuckled. ¡°So, you¡¯re just skipping through life?¡± Master Clevnis grinned in return. ¡°For as long as I can.¡± Tala nodded, understanding even if she didn¡¯t necessarily agree. ¡°What about you, Master Limmestare?¡± The man straightened just a bit, putting on a fake air of authority. ¡°Eternity is a story, of course. It switches narrators, but the story goes on.¡± Tala gave him a narrow-eyed look, remembering a certain prisoner. Master Limmestar chuckled. ¡°You can check my records if it will ease your mind, Mistress Tala. I have had this view for decades.¡± ¡°Very well. But if we¡¯re all in a story, what¡¯s the point? Aren¡¯t our actions predetermined?¡± ¡°Ahh, you misunderstand. Each of us is a narrator, guiding where the story goes. Conflict comes about when two or more narrators try to tell conflicting stories, and the best times¡ªthe best tales¡ªoccur when two or more narrators work together to tell a story which is better than any could have brought about on their own.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Tala considered. ¡°There is some beauty to that.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°What of the girl? Her city-state?¡± ¡°Few stories are happy all the way through, Mistress Tala, as much as we might wish that they were. That said, the best ones¡ªat least in my opinion¡ªhave good endings. I work to influence as many narrators as possible toward that end.¡± Tala smiled at that. ¡°Thank you for sharing.¡± Master Limmestare turned to Mistress Vanga. ¡°What of you, Mistress Vanga?¡± ¡°Eternity is relationships.¡± She answered easily. ¡°My mother has long passed on, but my relationship with her still influences all that I do, and all that I do influences those I interact with. Thus, my mother is still influencing the world long after her death.¡± She smiled softly. ¡°She often spoke of how much her grandfather loved and invested in her, so all that she did for me was due in part to him¡ªand others¡ªand so they live on in what I do as well.¡± That was very similar to a part of what Master Grediv had said. ¡°What we do echoes in eternity?¡± Mistress Vanga smiled. ¡°That is Master Grediv¡¯s view, I believe. As for me, I would say it differently, ¡®Who we are echoes in eternity.¡¯¡± Tala hmmed in thought. She almost turned to Master Girt to ask his view, but she then realized that that would be unkind, given his still all too raw loss. Eternity was likely a painful subject for him, even if he didn¡¯t want others to avoid the subject. He was not so selfish as to stifle the advancement of others for his own comfort. The Healer turned to the one Paragon who was with them, preventing any sort of awkward silence. ¡°Master Smarag?¡± Master Smarag nodded once, definitively. Then, words practically poured from the normally taciturn man. ¡°Eternity is the journey. Zeme is our current path, but when we die, the journey does not end. It is like coming to the shore of a great ocean and getting on a ship. Is there some far-off country within which we will continue our journey like we have, here? I don¡¯t know. We may sail forever, continuing in a manner utterly unlike we have traveled up until that point. Regardless, the journey is without end. That is eternity.¡± Everyone seemed to have far-off looks, considering the Paragon¡¯s words. Into that silence, Master Girt sighed, speaking up for the first time in the short conversation, ¡°Eternity is illogical, and it¡¯s a lie.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. All those free to do so looked his way. ¡°We don¡¯t age, but that¡¯s not immortality. Rocks don¡¯t age, not technically, but no one talks about a rock being immortal.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Because rocks aren¡¯t alive. We don¡¯t expect them to change.¡± ¡°Yet they do, don¡¯t they.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. ¡°The very mountains we fly near weren¡¯t always here, and they weren¡¯t always shaped this way. Even on the scale of mountains, Refined and those more advanced are long-lived, but no one and nothing lasts for eternity.¡± He sighed, looking down at his hands. ¡°Nothing save the next world.¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°Do we know that, though?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Know? No. But those of us with the capacity to sense, and who have had a soulbond pass on¡­¡± He closed his eyes for a moment before seeming to harden his resolve to continue, ¡°In that moment¡ªthe awful moment of utter separation¡ªwe get a glimpse at what is to come. It is purifying fire, clear-cold water, rest beyond measure, and never-ending purpose. Everything about that place practically screams eternal. Whether it is or not, I suppose we¡¯ll all find out eventually, but I believe it is.¡± He gave a small, self-deprecating smile, then. ¡°So, I suppose eternity isn¡¯t a lie in and of itself, just the idea of eternity here is a lie.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°That was close to the sense I got from it.¡± She hesitated, then clarified, ¡°Meaning the next world seems eternal, not the other part.¡± Master Girt looked up, frowning. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯d lost a soulbond.¡± She shook her head at the misunderstanding, ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. I helped a fount pass on, but I did it¡­ unconventionally.¡± Should I give them access to the memories? -Given it¡¯s your perspective, it might not be a good idea. It would push them all toward your understandings, drawing them away from their own path.- Yeah¡­ I wish we could purge my understanding from the memory. -I can work on that?- Worth a try. Thank you. -I aim to please.- Mistress Vanga smiled warmly. ¡°No surprise, there.¡± Tala decided to ignore the other woman. ¡°Looking into the next world¡­ I felt both entirely welcome and utterly unworthy. I felt like I would have to lose most of what I believe to be myself in order to truly become myself enough to enter.¡± She frowned. ¡°That makes no sense, but it was the feeling I had.¡± Master Girt nodded. ¡°A different way of phrasing it, but yes. I understand what you mean. Regardless, now you know my view on eternity. Here, there is no eternity, only the pale echo of what is to come. All suffering will end¡ª¡± He swallowed visibly. ¡°We will be united with the lost and discover that it had been we who were lost all along, now welcomed home.¡± As he turned to lean against the clear side of the windscreen, everyone fell into contemplative silence. Mistress Vanga went to sit beside Master Girt, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder while joining him in his silence. * * * Tala, Rane, Master Simon, Adrill, and Brandon all stood in the secondary, larger area of Kit for what Tala thought would be a fun experiment. She had been using siege orbs for more than a year by that point, and she had only made them out of air. It was time to try using other materials. Tala wanted to try water, first. Master Simon and Adrill had insisted that they perform the first test in this remote location for safety¡¯s sake. They had also insisted on being present to watch. Of course, Tala could have ignored them, but she appreciated their perspectives and insights, and after all, she was employing them for their expertise. She¡¯d be a bit of a fool to ignore them in those circumstances. In that vein, they¡¯d also insisted that a Healer be on hand. Tala had chosen to listen to that suggestion as well, and she had invited her unit-mate. As such, Mistress Vanga arrived outside of Kit at the appointed time, and Tala drew her in. The Refined didn¡¯t resist, and a moment later, she was standing beside Tala and the three men. The Healer looked around, orienting on Tala before she spoke, ¡°You know, your ability to do that is rather terrifying. I feel as if I could fight you, but I don¡¯t think I could win.¡± Tala chuckled, ¡°Yeah, it makes the idea of dimensional spiders a whole lot more terrifying. You don¡¯t even have to step into a web, they can just snag you.¡± Everyone turned to look at her with horrified expressions. Rane shook his head, ¡°Tala, why under the stars, did you bring those up?¡± She sighed. ¡°Sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t really consider that it wouldn¡¯t be kind to bring them up.¡± Mistress Vanga shook her head, trying to hide her smile. ¡°So, why exactly am I here? I do enjoy a good get-together, and you all are fine folk, but I assume there was a specific reason.¡± Tala latched onto the change of subject. ¡°Yes, there is a specific reason.¡± The Healer waited for Tala to continue. ¡°So, you know my siege orbs?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala. I am familiar.¡± Mistress Vanga¡¯s smile grew a bit. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to try to create one out of water.¡± The woman blinked a few times. ¡°I see. How far away shall we be waiting?¡± They both turned to look at the large cube of water that floated a dozen yards from them, or so. Tala was suspending the liquid through an act of will, basically constantly moving the water to be where she wanted it to be, despite its propensity to crash to the ground. Mistress Vanga sighed. Tala quickly spoke. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to enact the working this close. I was just verifying that I could keep the water in place.¡± The Healer looked skeptical, but didn¡¯t say anything further. Tala coughed, and then willed the water to a distance of a few hundred yards. Mistress Vanga nodded. ¡°Very well. I think with this amount of distance, so long as you don¡¯t do something¡­ astral, we should be fine, here.¡± ¡°Astral?¡± Tala frowned. Maybe she means stellar? No, that¡¯s not a good term for it either. ¡°Having to do with the heavens. Maybe not the correct term, but I don¡¯t generally think of things in that way. But, given your abilities, I¡¯m concerned you might just devote enough power to make a mini-star, or black hole, or the like.¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get anywhere near that pressure.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°I appreciate the faith you have in my abilities, though.¡± Mistress Vanga cocked an eyebrow while still smiling as she asked another question, ¡°And you''re starting with¡­?¡± ¡°A ten foot cube of water.¡± ¡°Alright, then.¡± She sat down in the provided chair, taking a glass of a cold juice that Mistress Petra had provided and Tala had set out on a nearby table. ¡°Begin whenever you wish.¡± Tala nodded. She already had a perfect visualization of the water. After all, not only was she seeing it with her threefold sight at every level possible, she was willing it to be where it was, keeping it in place. So, with that visualization in mind, she began to pour power into her gravity-altering magics, affecting the water''s gravitational attraction to itself. She focused, even while those looking on began to chat. They were all familiar enough with her that they knew it would take a bit to build up to anything worthy of paying much attention to. After a few minutes of devoting nearly her full throughput to amplifying the effect of gravity upon the water, that water began to pull inward just ever so slightly, getting smaller under the building pressure. Honestly, if Tala understood correctly, that meant that it was under a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, the liquid was also beginning to heat up, which was inconvenient. It wasn¡¯t shedding its excess heat as readily as the air did during her creation of siege orbs, partially because water could take in a lot more heat energy than air could. Well, this is my sanctum. My water. My heat. Kit was soulbound to her, and through Kit, Tala had utter mastery over the contents of this space. With an act of will, Tala pulled the heat from the water, not aiming for any temperature in particular. Instead, she just pulled the heat away, even as she ramped up the gravitational attraction. Given the multiplicative effects of her magic, the water began to shrink at a noticeable rate even as it heated up more and more quickly. Because of that, she pulled out more and more heat. She wasn¡¯t being delicate about it, simply dumping the heat into a pocket in the ground deep on the far side of this section of Kit¡¯s interior. The water under the influence of her magics began to become solid, but she wasn¡¯t sure if it was due to the pressure or the temperature, given she was pulling so much heat uniformly away from it, trying to stay ahead of the heating effect. Then, when the water had compressed to a bit more than half its previous volume¡ªand Tala had pulled a truly ludicrous amount of heat out of it¡ªthere was a resonant thrum, and she saw in real time as the water molecules rearranged. At least, that was her guess as to what was happening. She couldn¡¯t actually see the water molecules themselves, not really, but there was an odd rippling through the entire mass of the now somewhat rounded block of ice, and Tala¡¯s working vanished. Her mental understanding of the water simply no longer being true enough to let her magics keep hold. Tala gasped, staggering at the sudden loss of a place to dump her gushing power. It felt as if she¡¯d had a leg kicked out from under her, but she recovered quickly enough. Even so, the shock of losing a target-lock also caused her to lose her will-power hold on the no-longer-water, and it dropped a couple of feet to the ground, where¡­ it just sat there. Master Simon came forward, ¡°Mistress Tala? Are you alright?¡± She nodded and let Mistress Vanga¡¯s magic wash over her, verifying her condition. Once that was established, he returned his attention to his Archival slate. Brandon and Adrill were similarly engrossed with their magical readings. Rane was standing, simply staring at the ice in the near distance, clearly intrigued. Master Simon finally shook his head, clearly a bit dumbstruck for a long moment before turning back to Tala, ¡°What¡­ did you do?¡± ¡°Honestly? I¡¯m not quite sure?¡± After a long moment, he nodded. ¡°Well, I guess that we should go find out.¡± Chapter: 401 - Thanks for the Hand Tala, Master Simon, Adrill, Brandon, Mistress Vanga, and Rane were all in Tala¡¯s sanctum to witness an experiment and provide assistance in case of disaster. Disaster didn¡¯t seem to have struck as of yet, so things were looking up. On the other side of things, the compression of water into a siege orb was not looking viable. The new, odd block of ice rested on the ground some hundred yards from the group. Tala willed for them all to be beside the block of ice. As soon as they arrived just a few feet from the odd thing, Rane took a step back. ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯d prefer to wait back there. I¡¯m still not reinscribed.¡± ¡°Oh! Right.¡± She shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed at having forgotten. ¡°Okay.¡± And he was back in his chair. He gave a grateful wave before picking up his cup. Adrill, Brandon, and Master Simon were already moving around the rounded block in fascination, various magics sweeping through the result of Tala¡¯s experiment. It probably would have been a sphere, but Tala¡¯s will had been holding it in a vaguely cube shape up until the point that the magics compressing the material had lost their lock. Of those looking closer at the ice, Brandon spoke first, looking at his slate, ¡°Am I seeing this right? The water molecules seem like they¡¯ve been aligned into a tetragonal crystal lattice.¡± Adrill was nodding, but Master Simon was the one to answer. ¡°It seems so, yes.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think that structure was possible for this material?¡± ¡°Not easily, but possible? Yes.¡± Brandon took a moment to think, then nodded. The three performed dozens of scans and tests before Master Simon looked to the others. ¡°I am curious what it feels like. The surface seems to have been coming up to temperature, but there¡¯s no sign of melting.¡± Adrill nodded. ¡°A test of contact could give more data.¡± Brandon simply nodded. Without further delay, Master Simon reached out and touched the ice tentatively. He sucked in a harsh breath as he pulled his hand back with a startled jerk. Mistress Vanga was at his side in a blink. Her magics rampaged through him even as her eyes widened. She drew a knife and cut off the man¡¯s arm at the elbow in one seamless motion. ¡°Mistress Tala, isolate the ice and the hand. Now.¡± Her voice was calm but also utterly overflowing with authority and a sense of command. Tala didn¡¯t even consider arguing with this ancient expert. She did as instructed, specifically pulling a bit of dimensionality off to the side within Kit and moving the ice and hand into it. Tala took a moment to examine the ice block even as she moved it. Strangely, it was a bit irregularly shaped now and bigger than it had been, if just barely. That¡¯s odd. What¡ª Then, she felt herself pull in a startled breath. She hadn¡¯t been paying close attention to their surroundings. But, with the block gone, she¡¯d naturally widened her focus, which let her see, immediately, that there was ice that seemed to be growing deeper into the ground, taking in all moisture and turning it into more ice. Worse yet, the speed of expansion increased with the surface area of the leading edge of that expansion. With an act of will, Tala tore out all the ice, putting it with the block in the segregated space. That caused the soil before them to desiccate, creating a little depression in the earth. Rane seemed to have heard Mistress Vanga, or at least he heard her well enough to pick up the tone. He had stood from his seat, clearly concerned, but he didn¡¯t come closer, not yet. Tala met his gaze and he nodded. That was enough for her, and she brought him back over. After he blinked to regain his bearings, he turned to Mistress Vanga. ¡°What happened?¡± Master Simon was standing stock still as the Healer worked on him, his face seeming to actively be becoming more pale. Mistress Vanga was obviously tense. ¡°Mistress Tala, can you find any ice within Master Simon and remove it? I am ready to heal the damage.¡± It was only then that Tala noticed that no blood was flowing from the severed stump at the end of Master Simon¡¯s arm. Tala didn¡¯t waste any time, immediately slamming her aura down upon the Fused man and overwhelming his natural defenses. He stiffened but didn¡¯t actively resist, which made it both quicker and easier for Tala. Within his body, she found the same phenomenon of water being pulled free from everything else in order to form oddly growing ice within his flesh. With another act of will, Tala tore the ice from him. It required a lot of focus and mental energy, leaving her gasping even without him resisting in the slightest. Even so, there was no magical resistance from the ice itself, and it was all taken from him. The man¡¯s color worsened instantly, and Mistress Vanga¡¯s magic immediately set to work, having a far easier time healing his Fused body than she had when working with Tala¡¯s inhuman, Refined one. A moment later, Master Simon collapsed backward into the chair that Tala had called over for him even as he fell back into it. He gave a weak smile of thanks before glancing toward Mistress Vanga. ¡°Thank you for the hand.¡± There was a collective moment of silence before a few of them burst into initially-tense, stress relieving laughter. The rest followed, and soon they were all sitting, mostly on the ground. When they¡¯d calmed down again, Tala asked the critical question. ¡°What happened? Why is the ice not melting? How was it growing? There wasn¡¯t any magic to it that I could sense.¡± Master Simon gestured toward Adrill, then grimaced at the memory as he realized that he¡¯d used his new hand. Even so, he still asked his question, ¡°Would you care to give your best guess?¡± The man nodded in response. ¡°From what I was able to determine, there was something special about the molecular structure of the ice, the edges of the structure were primed for more water to be added. Therefore, it was actively grabbing any water molecules that came into contact with it and adding them to itself by sheer force of nature.¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°Is that possible?¡± Master Simon shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s what we witnessed, therefore possible or not is hardly the question. I¡¯ve heard of a theory of a ¡®ninth¡¯ form of ice that would behave in this way, but it was never pursued for hopefully obvious reasons.¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°Ninth? There are nine forms of ice?¡± ¡°More, apparently. It is not an area that I¡¯ve studied, but I think there might be nearly twenty?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ huh.¡± Brandon interjected, then. ¡°Water can form all sorts of interconnected forms, and so I believe each one is simply a different stable or semi-stable structure.¡± Tala grunted, then sighed. ¡°What do I need to know?¡± Master Simon answered, ¡°From what I am finding in the Archive, its melting temperature should be a dozen or so degrees above human body temperature. In theory, melting it should destroy the chemical structure, and remove the self-propagating nature.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Tala nodded, seeking out the heat that she¡¯d vented from her earlier process. She was about to move it, when she realized. Wait¡­ Since when can I shift around temperature? -That¡¯s what you¡¯re concerned about in this situation?- It seems rather important. -Fine. Yes, so long as we are unopposed, we can move basically anything around in here, within the bounds of physics.- Meaning? -I don¡¯t think we could get something below absolute zero, or force truly unstable bonds. I also don¡¯t think we can manipulate anything physical below the level of a group of molecules.- That¡¯s something¡­ We also don¡¯t seem to have truly minute control. -Aside from ripping the ice from Master Simon?- Those were rather big chunks, and I just made sure I didn¡¯t leave anything behind at the edges. -Fair.- Tala stopped delaying and took the latent heat that she¡¯d shed from the previous work and moved it to the segregated ice and hand. There had been a lot of waste-heat from Tala¡¯s earlier experiment, and all that remained was dumped back into the water. In the end, the massive block of water was well above something a normal human could swim in, and the hand was thoroughly poached. Let¡¯s not think about human flesh in cooking terms, please? -Even when it¡¯s accurate?- Especially then. -Fine. I¡¯ll try to remember and help you remember.- Thank you. Tala nodded once. ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯ve resolved that issue.¡± She explained the results of her work, and the group seemed to relax. Mistress Vanga gave Tala a long, long look. Tala returned the gaze, confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You realize that what you just created is the type of thing that would be put into a cell, right? If we didn¡¯t know how to deal with it?¡± Tala hesitated, considering. ¡°I¡­ did not think of it that way.¡± Master Simon nodded. ¡°This form of ice would be, in theory, a world-ending event. The lack of magic would actually make it harder to track and deal with.¡± She nodded slowly. ¡°I can see that, yeah.¡± There was a long moment of silence. Finally, Tala spoke again. ¡°Let¡¯s do everything we can to ensure that I didn¡¯t miss any of it, and that property is gone, now?¡± There was a hearty agreement. As the others got to work¡ªusing the magics available to them to delve deeply into the area¡ªAdrill cleared his throat. ¡°Yes, Adrill?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not compress water any more?¡± Tala considered for a moment. If compressing water would turn it into ice, that wouldn¡¯t work as explosive projectiles. ¡°Sure, I think I can agree to that for the time being.¡± Everyone seemed to relax a bit more as they buckled down and continued to work. * * * Tala and Master Simon discussed the nature of her siege orbs in great detail after the ice incident. They agreed that she should probably not act on anything but gasses for the time being, and they set up a series of experiments to determine if there were any such gasses that were better than others for the purpose. They knew that she could take things like ash or coal or the like and make diamonds or gems of other kinds, depending on the starting materials, but there wasn¡¯t much point. There was some interest in gems for jewelry in the human cities¡ªand likely the wider world¡ªbut Tala was hardly the only Mage capable of creating such. There were gem-focused Mages who could create them in virtually any shape and size, which was a step beyond what she would be capable of without lots of practice and difficulty. Thus, there really wasn¡¯t that much demand, and what demand there was¡ªincluding for use in the creation of Archon stars¡ªhad a steady supply. On a different note, Master Simon had finally managed to create two more ingots of the white steel. Tala was rather excited as she had found so much use for the metal as a form of almost-liquidly-moldable, physical armor overtop her elk leathers. Two bars wasn¡¯t a lot, but apparently the process was either efficient or fast, and Master Simon had opted for efficiency, given the fact that they didn¡¯t particularly have a pressing need for the material at the moment. Aside from those discussions, her usual training and duties, Tala spent most of her time with Rane. After all, he could undergo his next Refining session in just a week¡¯s time. * * * Rane was pacing outside of the small room in which he would take the next step toward being Refined. It was notably a different one from where he¡¯d endured his first session, partially because that one had yet to be fully repaired. Tala already had Rane¡¯s equipment, including Force, hidden against her, inside the armor that she wore thickly around her body. She was trying to practice Master Limmestare¡¯s techniques of lots of small, breakable layers that would disperse attacking power as they broke rather than transferring the force straight through. It was relatively easy to have all of Rane¡¯s stuff about her, because all it really was, came down to Force¡¯s handle, with a leather cord wrapped tightly around a nub just above the crossguard. That dimensional storage device held the rest of his stuff, along with Force¡¯s blade. The handle was locked in place across her low back, just above her belt and the weapons she had resting there. She didn¡¯t really need to have her weapons so out and ready like that, not with the changes made to Kit, but it was what she was used to, and she was still searching for a way for Kit to remain just as useful to her while being accessible to those who worked in her sanctum. But Tala realized that¡ªlike Rane¡ªshe was attempting to keep her thoughts from the upcoming process. Rane turned to her, his gaze much higher than usual as her hexagon lattices of white steel, encased by iron, even surrounded her feet. The all encompassing armor made her larger in essentially every dimension. The construction of it had actually taken her a strangely long time, due to its complexity, but now she had the intricate pattern Archived, as well as within her own mind for easy reference. Rane¡¯s voice pulled her from her thoughts, ¡°Tala¡­ is this a mistake?¡± She almost let her helmet melt back away from her face, but then she remembered what she was supposed to be practicing. She also remembered how much of a pain it would be to rebuild the faceplates if she fully removed them, even with the reference model available to speed things up. She reached out to her through-spike, reactivating a portion of the illusion magics, while not disturbing the minute magical signature the device constantly projected to prevent any misunderstandings with the city¡¯s defenses. I am curious how I¡¯d fare against them in this armor¡­ but it¡¯s decidedly not worth the risk. -Wisdom, Tala. It is wonderful to see you growing in wisdom.- Hush, you. With some delicate manipulation of the through-spike, a figment of her face appeared across the smooth surface of her helmet, designed to look like she¡¯d made the armor transparent. The illusion even extended to her voice, ¡°Rane, the choice is, always has been, and always must be yours. If you choose to proceed, I¡¯m going to be in there with you.¡± He huffed a laugh, shaking his head. ¡°Yeah, you look like you¡¯re expecting the end of the world.¡± She smiled, making sure that her illusion mirrored her actual expressions. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be distracted or worried about me getting hurt.¡± She shook her head, trying to dismiss his worries. ¡°I could stand naked in there and heal just fine from any injury.¡± Rane¡¯s cheeks colored at that idea. Tala sighed. She almost snapped at him to focus, but then she realized that him feeling embarrassed at her poor example was better than him feeling nervous or concerned. Finally, the young man shook his head again. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think I could Refine with you¡ªor anyone¡ªnaked in the room with me.¡± -Of course not, that¡¯s how you reach Paragon.- It was Tala¡¯s turn to color, and she pointedly did not mirror that onto her illusion. Alat! That is not appropriate. It¡¯s also not accurate. -Ahh, but if it was¡­- Then, we¡¯d live in a very, very different world. -...fair.- ¡°Rane. I should not be your concern. I will be fine. This is just a perfect opportunity to practice my active defenses while helping a friend.¡± She smiled. ¡°Thank you for letting me do both of those things.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Thank you for being willing to come in with me. It definitely makes me more comfortable at the idea of what is to come.¡± Her smile grew a bit warmer. ¡°Of course.¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°Are you going to try to examine the black sludge again?¡± She hesitated, then shrugged and nodded. ¡°I think so. Master Simon is finding some interesting things about the similar material gained from Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva, around our other projects. It is definitely oriented toward reality in some way that we can¡¯t really understand. It both seems identical and radically different, person to person. This is likely because, at its core, it is definitely a conceptual substance, with as much about it beyond our grasp as we can learn about it, physically.¡± ¡°Conceptual? Like arcane magics?¡± ¡°Like that, yeah, but not actually magical. It makes some sense. After all, concepts aren¡¯t inherently magical, just like magic isn¡¯t inherently conceptual.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°Fair.¡± Master Grediv walked around the corner at one end of the hallway, and both Tala and Rane turned toward the Paragon, falling silent. The older¡ªyet not really older looking¡ªman came their way with steady steps, and Tala had an interesting thought. Alat, we basically all choose for our aging to stop around our mid to late twenties, right? -Or regress back to roughly that physiological state, yes.- I wonder¡­ do any of the changes that happen as mundanes age allow for more¡­ wisdom? -Meaning, you think that something in the brain chemistry might change, allowing for longer term thinking?- Yeah. -I don¡¯t believe so, but I can look into it while you are otherwise occupied.- I¡¯d appreciate that, thank you, Alat. Master Grediv stopped a bit down the hall, on the other side of the door that led into the Refining room. ¡°Rane.¡± ¡°Master Grediv.¡± ¡°Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Master Grediv.¡± There was a pause, then the man shook his head, clearly showing his uncertainty. ¡°This is your choice, then? You will undergo your next session?¡± Rane left a respectful pause. Then he gave a slight bow. ¡°This is my choice, yes.¡± ¡°So be it.¡± The heavy iron door swung open away from them, and the Paragon gestured toward the small room within. ¡°After you.¡± Chapter: 402 - Session Two Tala followed Rane into the Refining room. Master Grediv came up directly behind her, not commenting on her heavily armored state. Inside was completely bare save a wrought iron chair with legs melded into the floor. The wall, floor, and ceiling were all smooth planes of iron, the corners somehow welded to create a seamless whole, as if the box were cast all together and then polished smooth. With her threefold sight, she could see that those near-perfect welds went all the way through the nearly foot thick surroundings. It¡¯s no wonder this is on the ground floor. It must weigh¡­ just so much. -At times, your precision is just staggering to behold.- Hush, you. This room was significantly more iron-armored than the room in which Rane had undergone his first session. He was¡ªonce again¡ªdevoid of all inscriptions save those required for the procedure. Even so, she knew that the walls would soon be scored deeply. From what Tala understood, the increase had been necessary because Rane¡¯s flailing magics would likely be even more extreme and powerful. She, herself, had come out mostly unscathed because her iron had been within¡ªand backed up by¡ªher aura, dispersing the magics as they hit her armor. Iron on its own simply reflected or dismissed those magics, yet allowing the kinetic blades they had created and directed to still impact and cause damage. It wouldn¡¯t be as easy for her to do that this session as he was now closer to her advancement. Additionally, she knew that he¡¯d been making improvements to his understanding and mental models based on discussions with Master Tai. This session was going to be interesting to say the least. Tala took a moment to look around at the iron surrounding the room, panning its depths with her threefold sight even more extensively. There were no obvious flaws at any level, but she wasn¡¯t exactly a blacksmith or metallurgist. Mainly, she found that she was curious how she would use this much iron. Honestly, she could buy literally tons of iron if she wanted to, but something told her that it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea, at least not yet. She needed to keep a balance within her being, and that much iron would heavily weigh her toward Reality in all the wrong ways. As she¡¯d glanced around, Rane had moved to sit in the chair. Master Grediv handed him the seemingly innocuous device which facilitated and directed the Refining. It effectively looked like two knife handles¡ªformed to be comfortable to grip tightly¡ªconnected by a wide, flat bit of material. The whole thing was, of course, utterly entwined with magics of various natures, all aimed toward helping an Archon Refine. Tala moved to stand behind Rane, causing Master Grediv to glance her way before returning his eyes to Rane. ¡°Rane, are you sure you want her in here? Having someone in here for these sessions can make things worse.¡± ¡°Is that always the case?¡± ¡°No, of course not. It generally hinges on whether the one Refining truly wants the person in the room. That is why I am checking.¡± Rane shook his head, then glanced back toward Tala. ¡°Do you wish to be here?¡± ¡°If it helps even marginally, yes.¡± He nodded, looking back to his former master. ¡°I am sure. I want her here.¡± Master Grediv gave a small bow. ¡°Very well.¡± His magic shifted through the device in Rane¡¯s hands. ¡°Remember, my boy, there is nothing holding your hands to the device now that the first session is complete. If you ever let go with both hands¡ªeven for an instant¡ªthe session will end, and you will have to fully recover before undergoing another.¡± Rane nodded. This wasn¡¯t new information by any means. ¡°And if I don¡¯t let go, this session will end on its own when I¡¯ve Refined as much as my body can handle this time around.¡± ¡°Precisely, yes. Have you determined your preference on intensity?¡± ¡°Maximum, please.¡± Master Grediv hesitated, and Tala knew why. She¡¯d seen the unadulterated reports on Rane¡¯s condition. To have a better than fifty percent chance of succeeding, he only required an intensity near the upper range, not the absolute maximum. Even so, it was more important to a successful Refining that Rane be the one to choose the intensity. ¡°As you wish.¡± The Paragon¡¯s magic seemed to activate certain pathways in the device that Rane held. ¡°Once the door is sealed, please wait a slow count of ten. Then, run a bit of power into the construct. Things will proceed automatically from that point.¡± Rane nodded and gave a strained smile. ¡°Thank you, Master Grediv.¡± With one last meeting of Tala¡¯s gaze¡ªor at least an attempt to do so¡ªMaster Grediv left, pulling the door shut behind him. Rane started taking deeper breaths, specifically inhaling twice for each exhale, trying to calm himself. His hands were trembling on the device. Tala stepped a bit closer, setting a hand on each of his shoulders. She felt him tense up, but then, tension seemed to bleed from him at the light pressure she was exerting. With a thought, she banished the armor from her palms and the fronts of her fingers, allowing her hands to sink down until her skin was resting on the cloth of his tunic. She felt a smile pull at her lips. Leaving those particular portions of herself bare reminded her of her iron salve. She remembered meticulously putting glue on her palms and the pads of her fingers to keep iron from them as she did her best to impregnate her skin with the concoction of iron and bee¡¯s wax. Oh, how far we¡¯ve come. Rane must have reached ¡®ten,¡¯ because Tala felt him send a flick of magic into the construct. There was a sensation through the magic in the room, like the deep in-draw of a bellows. The construct was suddenly ablaze with power, some pulled from Rane, but some clearly drawn from the city''s grid of magical power. To complete the metaphor, the bellows was compressed, magic rushed into Rane, and his top layer of skin was blown off entirely. His hair and nails also were flung away with startling force. His clothing tore in quite a few places, letting out rushes of dead skin and shed hair. He was even lifted slightly off of the chair as even the portions of his exterior that rested against the chair were purged. Tala¡¯s hands were forced up for an instant, and when they came down, her palms contacted raw, new skin, the fabric atop his shoulders broken. She was very grateful for the full face mask as the air was instantly filled with swirling eddies of dead material. Rane let out a groan that edged close to being a whimper after the fact. Clearly the exfoliation had happened too quickly for him to react in the moment. A moment later, a second pulse of power tore through him, and a familiar type of black sludge oozed out of his pores like the worst sort of sweat. Tala almost pulled her hands back in disgust, but she was already dirty, and it hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things. Then, she noticed that the gunk that had gotten on her palms was moving away from her like a magnet being repulsed by the same pole on another. The ooze was thick, so it moved slowly, but this stuff clearly didn¡¯t seem inclined to be near her. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Interesting. I¡¯ll have to highlight this memory for Master Simon. But¡­ she couldn¡¯t. Master Simon wasn¡¯t Refined, and even this much could negatively affect his attempt. She grimaced but was quickly pulled back to the matter at hand¡­ or under hand in this case. Rane was taking gasping, ragged breaths when the third pulse raced through him, and he tried to scream. Unfortunately, he¡¯d just exhaled when it struck, making the attempted scream sound entirely inhuman. Something deep within Rane seemed to stir and his grip on the device tightened, his knuckles turning white with the effort. More black oozed out with every increasingly rapid pulse of power from the construct. Soon, that is precisely what it reminded Tala of: the pulse of a nightmarish heart, pumping black sludge instead of blood. Rane¡¯s jaw was straining even more than his forearms as he fought to keep from screaming as much as he struggled to maintain his grip. Finally, the magics within him¡ªthe tainted boon that plagued so many of the Gredial line¡ªcouldn¡¯t be held back any more, and the berserker-like state activated. Kinetic energy rose up from his natural pathways¡ªand was drawn through his soulbond with Force¡ªto lash out in every direction. Thankfully, none shot upward from his shoulders into her exposed hands. Also, blessedly, none shot downward into the seat of his chair either, but nothing else was spared. In less than a minute, the room looked more ravaged than the previous room had after his entire first session, and billowing clouds of iron shavings filled the air along with still-drifting clouds of dust and hair. The blades that shot toward Tala this session were far more resilient to her dispersion, and far more coherent even after she shredded the magics imparting them. The first blade impacted her sacrificial armor, causing loud snaps and sending cracks and other damage radiating outward throughout her protection, just as the design was intended to facilitate. With a minor effort of will, she molded the armor back into perfect shape after each hit. This process was made easier partially because she had such a solid model for its construction in her head, but mostly the ease was from the fact that all parts of the armor were still very nearly where they should be, just no longer properly interconnected. Thus, it was rather easy to enact small shifts and reestablish proper connections after the attack landed. Still, they were powerful hits, having already shredded the back of the iron chair with ease. None of the blades reached Tala¡¯s skin, of course, and if they had she¡¯d likely have held up fine. In the worst case, there was nothing about the slashing attacks that would have made it hard for her to heal. She was going to be just fine. She was sure of it. Her armor was honestly working even better than she¡¯d predicted. Where a single one of Rane¡¯s blades had passed through two inches of wrought iron before seemingly fully dissipating, Tala¡¯s armor stopped the slashes in less than a half inch. By accepting, and even designing for, widespread failure at each strike, she forced the incoming energy to disperse over a far greater area, rendering it incapable of making it deeply into her layers of defense. This method of defense was honestly a wonderful coherent extension of her own bodily enhancement methodology. She took the hits, dispersing and enduring them to the best of her ability, then she fixed the damage. She was pleased, even if the actual effectiveness of the attacks momentarily left her baffled. It took her a few deep slashes in her armor before she realized what was happening. Rane¡¯s blades of kinetic energy¡ªif uninterrupted¡ªeffectively tore apart whatever they struck by using the very molecules in the target, imparting the velocity upon an incredibly thin line of material, to send it cutting deeper in. Now, when she tore apart the magics, the kinetic energy simply grabbed onto the air it was already overlaying, creating a fast-moving, deadly blade of air that no longer had anything magical about it. It was a simple, yet completely new way of thinking about kinetic energy¡­ apparently. Rane had mentioned something about working on new applications like this after his latest conversation with Master Tai, but he hadn¡¯t told her he¡¯d gotten the methodology to work. Good for him. She grit her teeth and enforced that sentiment even as she continued to repair rents in her defenses. I¡¯m glad he¡¯s improving. Another deep slash was mitigated by her armor, and she reformed the layers and interconnected hexagons. This is good training. It was a bit frustrating, and not at all indicative of how she¡¯d fare against Rane¡¯s attacks in almost any other setting. She couldn¡¯t even extend her aura to break apart the incoming attacks more effectively, because she couldn¡¯t allow for even the chance that she, her magics, or her aura would taint or otherwise negatively affect Rane¡¯s Refining. Tala fought the urge to tighten her grip on Rane¡¯s shoulders, keeping her hands resting gently, reassuringly upon his skin. Rane, for his part, had his eyes scrunched shut, and he was breathing shallowly in ragged, panting breaths, each exhale accompanied by a sound like the keening of a child at his father¡¯s funeral. If he was crying, the tears were lost in the black ooze flowing from around his eyes as much as from every other pore. Thankfully, the kinetic blades were originating far enough away from Rane that none carried any of the blackness with them. Tala had no idea what effect that would have had, but it couldn¡¯t possibly be good. The man¡¯s arms trembled under the strain that was more mental than muscular. Tala watched one or the other of his hands almost unconsciously try to flex open, only to be re-clamped down with vicious growls of determination. Each time the growl was just a bit closer to a whimper than the time before. Throughout it all, Tala didn¡¯t move her hands, nor in any way interfere, no matter how much she wanted to try to help. She knew that anything that she could do would only make things worse, and despite her doing her best to focus on what was affecting her, and learning to better utilize her own magics, she felt her eyes begin to fill, just as they had during Rane¡¯s first session. Therefore, she endured, standing behind Rane as he endured worse. She stood stalwart, even as Rane bore the brunt of the ordeal. She wept, even as Rane experienced the pain and suffering. * * * Tala knew she was pale as she held Rane¡¯s limp body in her armored arms. Don¡¯t kick down the door, don¡¯t kick down the door, don¡¯t kick down the door. Master Grediv was likely almost there to let them out and see to Rane¡¯s condition. She could see him with her threefold sight moving their way. Don¡¯t try to claim the iron to get free, don¡¯t claim the iron to get free, DO NOT CLAIM THE IRON. He had endured the entirety of the session, lasting until the construct had powered down of its own volition. I am fine, he is fine¡­ he will be fine. Master Grediv stopped outside the door and seemed to be looking at his Archive slate, though what he was seeing was shielded from her threefold sight by the man¡¯s aura. What is he waiting for? She felt magics sweep through the room, despite the solid iron surrounding it and the flecks of iron dust in the air. Oh¡­ that would be a reasonable reason. She growled, manifesting her own iron flush with the ceiling before dragging it downward, rolling it over and around herself and her burden before it pressed into the floor, trapping all the detritus that had been in the air. A moment later, magic swept through the space again, and Tala got to watch¡ªthrough her threefold vision¡ªas Master Grediv twitched slightly at what had to seem like a stark change to his scan. Then, the door swung open. Tala was striding through as soon as there was room for her to pass with Rane still in her arms. He was an awkward burden, even if not heavy, and she was forced to sidestep her way out of the Refining room. His clothing was shredded and barely hanging off his substantially emaciated frame. No, not emaciated. His muscle was still there, but it was as if he¡¯d been pulled thin, beaten flat, and then reinflated¡­ somehow. She would have bet that he¡¯d lost quite a bit of weight, and what was still there had been compacted into even less of his body than would be expected. Tala had done her best to scrape the black ooze from him as she ran the iron down from ceiling to floor, but it hadn¡¯t been intended to be a perfect cleaning, and there was still a lot of the substance in his clothing and hiding in the harder to clean parts of him. Master Grediv gestured toward the recovery room, and Tala moved that way. Behind her, on the floor of the room, her iron wrapped around the black sludge that she¡¯d grabbed, and dragged it stoneward to be brought along until she returned to Kit. For good measure, she claimed the iron fragments that Rane had torn free. She knew that they¡¯d be thrown out regardless, so it was trivial for her to enact her ownership over them. That done, she refocused on who she was carrying. Rane¡¯s now utterly bald head was resting on her shoulder, and his feet were barely above the ground, but she was managing him alright, his body held between her arms in front of her. One arm was across his back, holding him up under the far shoulder, and the other of her arms was braced below his knees. When they reached the recovery room, Tala once again shuffle-stepped sideways through the door before striding across the small room and laying Rane on the waiting bed. The two Healers already in the room¡ªneither of which Tala knew¡ªwaited until she stepped back before they came forward to examine Rane. Tala watched as the Refined and Paragon Healers delved through Rane¡¯s ravaged body. There was magic in the sheets of the bed which activated as soon as the top one was pulled over Rane. They shredded what remained of his clothing and then caused the clothing and all remaining sludge to flow down into a collection container at the base of the bed. Normally, it would be contained to prevent it from contaminating anything else until it faded away¡ªbut Tala had been granted the right to examine it, now that it was separated from Rane, even if it was a bit gross to think about. She used her iron to dump the portion of the sludge she¡¯d already collected into the same container, nearly filling it entirely. Master Simon will appreciate having another Archived perception for comparison. They had similar material from Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva, which didn¡¯t seem to fade, or at least didn¡¯t fade as quickly. He had been able to determine that the material which had been gained from the others had traces of iron throughout. Tala didn¡¯t send any magical examination through the black, knowing that would cause it to disperse more quickly. Instead, she set Alat to examining it with their threefold sight in as detailed a fashion as possible until the stuff vanished entirely. But Tala was distracting herself once again. Alat had that covered. Rane was unconscious, and the Healers weren¡¯t healing him. She knew they couldn¡¯t, not in a way that would really help, and they¡¯d already done what they could. He had to come back to consciousness on his own. The two reported to Master Grediv, not trying to keep her from overhearing. He was doing as well as could be expected, and they believed that he would wake within a day or two. That was all that they could determine for the time being, as Rane¡¯s body struggled to begin recovery. So, Tala grew a chair¡ªfollowing the same principles that underlay her armor as a form of practice¡ªbefore she sat and settled in to wait. [Cover Reveal!] Millennial Mage Book 7 - Eskau The iron-clad reality of the world relentlessly comes for all. Arcanes, the enemies of humanity, thrive upon power harvested from broken human souls. The City Lords and Major Houses rule with unquestioned power. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Tala has been seized, torn away from all that she has ever known. A false history and personality was implanted within her, and only her revolutionary defenses and self-restoration magic have given her a fighting chance at all. She is behind enemy lines with an unexpected chance to seize power, learn from ancient experts, delve into the secrets of humanity''s mortal foe, and achieve her own freedom once more. In order to return home, Tala must claim some measure of authority within the very same Major House that stole her freedom and tried to steal her very self. Chapter: 403 - Let Hope Begin Tala was starting to get concerned about Rane, and it was beginning to grate on her nerves. It had been a week, and Rane had yet to wake up. From a Healer¡¯s perspective, he was doing just fine. No matter how many times she asked, that was their answer. It was starting to get frustrating for everyone involved. His body was continuing to recover as expected, but his mind had yet to put itself back together enough to allow him to wake up. There was no neurological damage that could be detected, and it was true that sometimes people took up to a month to wake up after some Refining sessions. Tala had been reassured of this. Apparently, such a state of unconsciousness wasn¡¯t a predictable thing, either. Sometimes a person¡¯s first or second Refining session would lay them out for weeks, and then, they¡¯d wake up within minutes after their third or fourth. Sometimes, people never had a long bout of unconsciousness at any time during their Refining process. Regardless, she had to wait, and she hated it. Tala continued her training, now with four iron shapes spinning around her head at nearly all times. She¡¯d managed to extend the illusion of the through-spike outward enough that no mundane could see those spinning, constantly roiling and twisting shapes. That helped with the odd looks she had been getting, looks that usually changed to ones of recognition due to her minor fame as a Defender. It was all a rather large inconvenience that she was glad to be rid of. Though, she was still recognized, just not as often. She also continued her work as a Defender. There were more assaults on the walls, but she mainly left those to her unit-mates. They had very kindly been letting her take on most of the interesting beasts that attacked up until recently, and so she decided to return the favor, simply acting as backup when needed. She was no longer the newbie of the group, having been with them for the better part of a year. Overall, Tala felt like she was in a weird sort of stalled state, even as she improved her various skills and capacities. She had nothing that she was specifically aiming for, even though she was working to improve across the board. The closest thing to a goal was the design, testing, and implementation of improvements to the now segmented Kit, and that was progressing well, just like everything else. Still, she was looking toward an eternity of¡­ this. Is that really what she wanted? It didn¡¯t seem very appealing. She often found herself grimacing or groaning at that thought. It felt so passive, so temporary, so¡­ sisyphean. I hope Rane wakes up soon¡­ * * * Tala was in the room when Rane woke up, another two days later. He groaned, shifting in his bed before his eyes fluttered open. She was at his side in an instant, taking his hand so he would know she was there. ¡°Hey.¡± His eyes tried to focus on her. ¡°Hey¡­ What¡¯s¡­ oh¡­¡± He closed his eyes again, and Tala gave his hand a light squeeze. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve completed your second Refining session.¡± Rane lifted his other hand up high, making a fist. ¡°Success.¡± There wasn¡¯t much enthusiasm behind the gesture, but he was barely awake, and his throat was clearly incredibly dry, despite Healers keeping him well hydrated in general. He let his upraised hand fall back to the bed even as he squeezed her hand in return with his other. He tried to say something else, but let out a dry cough instead, grimacing at the unpleasantness. She manifested a bit of iron into the superficial and manipulated it into the shape of a hand. The iron hand grabbed the handle of the earthenware mug and floated over to her, moving carefully to not spill the water it contained. ¡°Here, drink this.¡± She used her own fingers to move the straw around and against Rane¡¯s lips. He took a careful sip, swallowed gingerly, and smiled, sounding much better when he spoke, ¡°Thank you.¡± Tala simply nodded in response, though she felt a small smile pulling at her own lips in return. ¡°How long?¡± She instantly knew what he meant despite the few words. She knew that Rane wouldn¡¯t care how long he¡¯d been unconscious. That was irrelevant, really, now that he was awake, and he knew that. He would be focused on what mattered. He wanted to know how far he¡¯d gotten into the Refining session. ¡°You bore through the whole session. It ended when the construct cut the flow of power.¡± His whole body seemed to relax, almost sinking into the mattress a little, and he let out a massive sigh of triumph that was monumentally more sincere than his previously raised fist had been. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that is fantastic.¡± She smiled, even though he couldn¡¯t see it given his closed eyes. ¡°It really is, Rane. You did well.¡± He smiled again, eyes still closed. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°For?¡± ¡°For being in there with me. For being here. I know you¡¯ve not been here the whole time¡ªat least I hope you haven¡¯t been¡ªbut it¡¯s nice to have you here, now.¡± She squeezed his hand again, then pulled together a chair for herself out of iron and sat. Tala was about to ask him something else, but then she noticed that the cadence of his breathing had changed. Rane had fallen asleep with a small smile still pulling at his features. She closed her mouth, the corners of her lips still uplifted. There would be time to talk later. He would be fine. He was awake. * * * Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Tala and Rane walked through Alefast slowly, side by side, close enough that either¡¯s elbow would strike the other with a simple movement. He had recovered, physically, much faster after this second session than after his first. He was strong and coordinated in all the simple tests the Healers had put him through. Even so, he was still carrying what seemed to be rather severe cognitive and psychological issues. He was once again a bit slower of speech, taking long moments to think through his responses when asked a question. If he brought up a topic himself, he seemed to be rather good at continuing to dialogue about it, but any change of subjects was a bit difficult for him as of yet. He seemed to twitch at odd times, and Tala thought they were when his thoughts drifted to memories of his ordeal. As she watched him recover, thinking about her own Refining and that of so many others, she thought she understood the utility of mind magic, even if she deeply despised it. True, she¡¯d been assured by those she¡¯d asked that just removing the memory wouldn¡¯t actually be helpful. The soul remembered more truly than the mind ever could, even a mind as enhanced as Tala¡¯s. When it came to magic, that is what mattered more than the memories held by mere biology. But that brought her thoughts back to Rane. His hair had started to regrow at a healthy rate, and he hadn¡¯t accepted any of the offers from Healers to accelerate the natural rate for any of it. Rane¡¯s lengthy unconsciousness still weighed heavily on Tala, even if everyone else seemed to have dismissed it as just one more part of Refining. She had a theory as to why he¡¯d been unconscious for so much longer, and why his mind was still in process of healing even now nearly two weeks later. She¡¯d run it by the Healers, and they¡¯d agreed it was possible, even if they hadn¡¯t seen a reason to investigate further. After all, the unconsciousness never killed anyone going through the Refining process, and it was generally regarded as helpful, given the Archon in question was given more time to heal in perfect, undisturbed bedrest. Tala was not so easily dissuaded. As to her theory, it was relatively simple. After all, the black sludge had been forced out everywhere. His brain had been surrounded by the stuff that was being forced out. It made sense that that would increase his cranial pressure until he blacked out. -Oh, that¡¯s a terrible pun.- I didn¡¯t mean it as a pun¡­ but yeah, that is pretty bad. It was only after the black ooze faded from existence that the inscriptions and magics could fully come to bear in order to bring him back to full health, and even then, the magics were slow to work, given it was recovery from a Refining, and everything was approached with utmost care. The Healers said that their investigations and magics wouldn¡¯t have addressed such an issue, because there would be too high a likelihood of the substance retreating back into Rane¡¯s mind, harming his Refinement if they even were to investigate the potential for her theory to be true. Tala, for her part, had seen the sludge around his brain with her threefold sight, though she¡¯d not specifically noticed it until she went back through her memories, looking for what might have caused the extended unconsciousness. Honestly, it could be the very reason that any of those who were Refining went unconscious. Whatever session causes the most ¡®cleansing¡¯ of their brain would lead to extreme cranial pressure. -And those who Refine more uniformly would either fall into unconsciousness every time, or not at all.- Precisely. It was as good a theory as any, especially since it didn¡¯t mean anything. While they could technically cut a hole into the skull of someone who was Refining, having such an injury to the body during, or even shortly after, the process could cause issues. There had been historic examples of people Refining without being fully healed beforehand¡ªor being injured within hours of Refining¡ª and it had never ended well. But all that was beside the point. She was walking through the city with Rane, and while she didn¡¯t need to help him walk, she was definitely helping to guide him more than usual. The man was getting distracted rather easily, and he would occasionally even just stop and stare at her with a growing smile until she prodded him back into movement. She found herself smiling in return, probably just because she was glad that he was up and about. As much as she enjoyed visiting him, she was glad to be out of the Gredial estate while doing so. Even so, he wasn¡¯t ready to simply go out into the city to wander aimlessly. So, at the moment, they were on their way to lunch in her sanctum. Rane was very clearly getting tired of Alefast in a way that she could understand, even if she didn¡¯t feel the same. He had been essentially convalescing in the city for the last month and a half. Now, he was looking at another long stretch of the same, with more stints in the near future, and that was if he got what he wanted. So, Tala thought eating within Kit, where the view was entirely different, would be good for him. He had happily accepted her invitation. It didn¡¯t take them too much longer to reach the expanded area from which Tala could pull into her sanctum, and with a minor act of will, she and he were suddenly within Kit. Rane stumbled slightly, and she helped to steady him. ¡°Well, rust on me. Were we that close? I didn¡¯t think I was that out of it.¡± ¡°About three blocks?¡± He seemed to take a long moment to process that. ¡°How?¡± Tala thought for a moment, herself, then shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve been working on extending Kit¡¯s effective dimensionality.¡± He frowned, clearly looking irritated at his own confusion. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t follow.¡± ¡°I should be able to draw anyone into Kit who is dimensionally aligned with the space within Kit.¡± He nodded, seeming to have reoriented on the current subject, and that was helping. ¡°That I understand, but Kit is dimensionally bound by the pouch, right?¡± ¡°Originally, technically, yes, but actually no. Especially not now that we are bound.¡± His frown deepened just slightly. ¡°Explain?¡± ¡°Just like my magic has an aura, Kit¡¯s dimensionality has a range of authority, as it were. It is especially the case now that Kit is untethered. Her connection to the superficial only exists where and when we wish it to, and I am working toward getting her range to match Kit¡¯s actual inner dimensions, but right now, I¡¯ve gotten it to about a three block radius.¡± ¡°Tala, that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s close to 2 miles across. Right?¡± He frowned, clearly trying to do mental math. ¡°Just a bit more than one, actually.¡± ¡°Still¡­ that is massive! That reaches outside the wall from Artia and Adrill¡¯s shop, right?¡± ¡°It does, yeah, if just barely. Part of it is that there is some odd interference between how our cities function and extending Kit¡¯s reach. It takes much more¡­ reach? Yeah, it takes more reach to reach outside the walls. Basically, it is harder to reach in that direction,¡± she finished a bit lamely. Rane grimaced, clearly trying to get his metaphorical feet under him, ¡°Is it a circle?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit oblong because of Kit¡¯s new configuration, and of course, because of the city wall so near at hand..¡± ¡°Can you rotate that shape? Reorient it?¡± Tala tilted her head to the side. She hadn¡¯t considered that. Then, she shrugged and tried it. It worked. She could feel the odd connection that she had to Kit¡¯s reach sweeping through the near part of the city. There were some odd limitations to what that actually meant. The primary one was, while she could open a door anywhere within the space¡ªjust like she could open a door to anywhere within Kit¡ªwithout a door, she could only pull sapient life into Kit from the outside. Animals and items seemed to require some sort of opening to come through, which did line up with the vision she¡¯d had when bonding with Kit. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t really an unexpected restriction or oddity. Still, even with the restrictions, she understood the utility of what she¡¯d been working on. She could move effectively instantly within Kit, and if she could push herself out of Kit¡ªand draw herself into Kit¡ªfrom a large area, she could move a bit like Terry, even if as a two step process and only when she was near her soulbound storage. Still, she¡¯d have to experiment with that in the near future, not at that moment. But all of this was neither here nor there. Rane and Tala were standing beside a small feast divided across two ¡®personal¡¯ tables. Tala¡¯s spread was quite a bit larger than Rane¡¯s as well as being decidedly more magical, but his wasn¡¯t exactly small, and there were definitely bits of magic scattered throughout. Rane¡¯s mind seemed to have moved to the food as well, because he began chuckling. ¡°You still have some with my magic left?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I think I always will at this point. It seems to breed true, and Kedva¡¯s got a good handle on things in that department.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, there are two varieties that are useful with your magic, it seems. One which ends up with usable magic in its meat, and the other with it in its eggs. Sadly the eggs of the first and the meat of the second are quite useless to you or me.¡° ¡°Isn¡¯t that a rusting shame.¡± He was grinning. Tala chuckled in return. ¡°Quite.¡± They both moved forward and sat in their respective chairs¡ªjust within arm''s reach of each other¡ªoriented to look out at the landscape before them. They were in a little patio on the far side of the central hill of her sanctum from her dining area and bedroom, so the view was actually a bit novel to them both. ¡°This really is a lovely place.¡± Rane¡¯s voice was soft as he spoke, clearly settling into the moment and not wanting to disrupt it any. Tala found herself nodding even as she spoke in response, ¡°Some good can come out of almost any bad.¡± He nodded too. ¡°That¡¯s how to get over it¡­¡± He grimaced, likely realizing that he was in the middle of his current trial, ¡°or to get through it. We have to find the good.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth.¡± They fell into silence for a long moment before beginning to eat, almost as if in sync. They both smiled at the coincidence but didn¡¯t stop or comment on it. After all, they were both starving. It was a fantastic meal, as they had come to expect from Mistress Petra and Kedva. Each dish was worth spending time enjoying, and they tried to do so, even while they devoured every bite. Around the meal, in the small spaces and between bites, they chatted about little things, laughed, and smiled. But more than anything else, they simply enjoyed the company, reminisced about the past, and tentatively let hope begin to build about what the future might hold. Chapter: 404 - Considering Our Future Tala sat alone at her breakfast table, watching the sun rise over Kit¡¯s horizon from her dining and sitting room. She had finished the glorious meal just as the sky had begun to lighten, and she¡¯d decided to stay and watch the sun come up. She didn¡¯t have too much pressing on her time this day, and it was good to be able to take the time to enjoy her surroundings. As she sat and watched for the oncoming ball of fire, Master Simon and Mistress Petra came into the room and sat near her, not interacting with or disturbing her, likely because they knew that she was aware of them already. ¡°One moment, please.¡± They nodded, again trusting in her threefold sight to convey their responses. Less than a minute later, the sun¡ªor rather the false sun¡ªbreached the edge of her little world, and it was the birth of a new day. Tala felt herself relax that little bit more, leaning back and grabbing her cup of still-hot tea. It was a newer blend, and it wasn¡¯t fair to call it tea, not really. Mistress Petra had been drinking something similar a few days back, and Tala had requested one. It was¡­ interesting. Chia seeds, ginger, apple cider vinegar, honey, and water, left to steep until the chia seeds turned the whole thing thick. With every sip, she expected to be grossed out by the texture, but it was actually more like drinking thin, spicy pudding. It was oddly refreshing, and she hadn¡¯t felt the need for coffee as of yet. -Wonders never cease.- Hush, you. The liquid was still hot as she sipped it. That was not because the mug was a magical construct. Tala simply wished for the tea to still be hot, and so it was. Ahh, the joys of uncontested, absolute authority within a space. -It would be interesting to have someone try to oppose your wishes.- You mean to have others bend their desire to keeping the drink cold? -They¡¯d likely have to greatly desire for it to function normally, but yes, that is about what I was thinking.- Hmmm¡­ add it to the list, please. A moment later, Master Simon glanced down at his slate, and a smile pulled at his lips. He glanced her way and gave a slow nod. He¡¯d clearly seen her update to their ¡®potential projects¡¯ list. Tala felt like she was ready to truly face the day, and more specifically, she was ready to interact with the two Fused sitting nearby. ¡°What can I do for the two of you? Are Segis and Metti well?¡± Mistress Petra smiled. ¡°They are well, Mistress Tala. Thank you for asking.¡± Master Simon dipped his head again, this time in obvious gratitude. ¡°Their tutors are impressed with their advancement, and the children their age seem to enjoy playing with them.¡± Tala felt herself smile. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that that is a key metric of a good upbringing, yes.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Not a perfect one, but the extremes can be telling.¡± ¡°If no one wants to play with them?¡± ¡°They are likely cruel, selfish, or in some other way an unfit playmate.¡± ¡°And if everyone wants to?¡± ¡°They are likely either a tyrant with too much charisma for their own good, or a people pleaser.¡± She turned her head to look over her shoulder and regard him, one eyebrow raised. ¡°Really? That¡¯s the only option?¡± He lifted his hands in surrender, ¡°Or they could have the makings of such, Mistress.¡± ¡°I suppose that could be, yes.¡± She chuckled, returning her gaze to the sunrise. ¡°It is a beautiful start to the day.¡± ¡°It really shows the skill of the creators, Mistress.¡± There was genuine awe in his voice. ¡°Every morning, somehow, the harmony of colors is different, yet the vista is always startlingly beautiful. The attention to detail in something that has no practical application is¡­ Well, it¡¯s inspiring. I almost wish I could meet the craftsmen.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°If you live long enough¡ªand if things go the right way¡ªthat might be arranged. I could see there being an occasion for me to return to arcane lands before I die.¡± Mistress Petra glanced to her husband and mouthed, ¡®Now?¡¯ He shrugged. Tala felt one side of her lips pull up in amusement, ¡°Now, what can I do for the two of you this morning?¡± He smiled again, clearly knowing that their exchange had been seen. ¡°We have been considering our future.¡± That got Tala¡¯s attention. With a flick of thought, she and her chair were facing the other direction, the sunrise forgotten at her back and the two who had made her life so much easier of late before her. She regarded them with her mundane eyes, trying to keep her intensity to reasonable levels, ¡°Are you unhappy here?¡± They quickly shook their heads, not seeming startled in the least by her sudden change in orientation. ¡°No, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°I love my research in this dimensional space, with you and Kit and Adrill and Brandon. Moreover, Petra and the children are thriving here.¡± Tala relaxed again, but only just. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± He nodded almost to himself as he spoke, ¡°I think you know that we are on the older side.¡± She gave a slow nod of acknowledgement, ¡°I believe we¡¯ve spoken about it, yes.¡± She almost pulled up the memory but decided to simply let him speak and simply let him tell her what he had to say rather than trying to guess beforehand. ¡°What of it?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t really have that long left, being only Fused.¡± He looked to his wife. She smiled, leaning forward slightly. ¡°While we won¡¯t drop dead, we don¡¯t expect to be as hale as we are now for more than another few decades or so.¡± ¡°Unless you Refine.¡± ¡°Unless we Refine.¡± She acknowledged. ¡°But if we are to do that, we¡¯ve been told that we need to begin moving in that direction sooner rather than later, in order to have the best chance of succeeding.¡± Master Simon cleared his throat. ¡°That is what we wanted to discuss with you.¡± Tala made her face a carefully neutral mask, releasing her hold over her through-spike at the proper moment to shift the burden of that neutrality to the illusory construct without it being obvious that she¡¯d activated an illusion. Her own aura and authority was so pervasive within the sanctum that Master Simon¡ªeven with all his equipment¡ªhad no hope of detecting the illusion magic unless Tala allowed it. She did not allow it. ¡°That is a choice that all in your position must make. How can I be of assistance to you?¡± She felt a bit of trepidation, knowing that she had to tread very carefully, here. ¡°We know that the process is neither simple nor easy,¡± Master Simon began. She nodded. That was known and considered safe knowledge even for those considering the trial of Refining. It was slightly inaccurate, depending on how a given Mage looked at it, but it wasn¡¯t outright false. ¡°We also know that we don¡¯t have a great chance of succeeding.¡± She didn¡¯t react to that. He looked to his wife and sighed, gesturing to her. Mistress Petra smiled and picked up where her husband had left off, ¡°What we are trying to ask is: Is the potential for eternity in this world worth it? We know you can¡¯t give us any specifics. After all, we¡¯ve been around long enough to have that thoroughly solidified for us.¡± They both chuckled. ¡°But we¡¯re not in the same position as many Fused looking at this decision. We¡¯ve lived long lives, good lives. We¡¯ll get to see our grandchildren grow before we die, likely our great-grandchildren too¡­ All this to say: We¡¯re having trouble understanding why we would want an eternity on Zeme.¡± Tala opened her mouth to answer. Of course it was worth it. Who wanted to die? What would even make them ask such a question? You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. But something held her tongue for just long enough that she closed her mouth and really thought about their question. It was something that she had never had cause to consider. That, like so much else, had been taken from her by Be-thric. In this case when he set in motion all that caused her body to become filled with flaws and disjointments that could only be corrected through Refining. For her, it had not been a question of an unnaturally long life or a shot at eternity, it had been a question between an unnaturally short life or a chance to live at all. She didn¡¯t have an answer for them. Master Grediv had recommended she consider this very question, especially because her view of eternity was critical for advancing to Paragon, but she hadn¡¯t really taken the time. For a moment, she seriously considered lying¡ªsimply passing on something that someone else had told her when she¡¯d asked questions around the edges of this topic¡ªbut she stopped herself again. They hadn¡¯t asked her for platitudes. They¡¯d asked for her opinion. These two had been good to her, and they deserved the truth. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.¡± She could hear the uncertainty in her own voice. The two both seemed¡ªcounterintuitively¡ªto relax at her answer. Mistress Petra smiled, and Master Simon stood. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. That helps.¡± Mistress Petra followed her husband¡¯s lead, standing as well. ¡°Will you think on it, and let us know if you come to an answer?¡± Tala nodded slowly. ¡°Of course.¡± The two bowed, wished her a wonderful day, and departed. Leaving her alone with her thoughts. Tala sat in contemplation, unmoving as the artificial sun of her sanctum swept across its prescribed arc in her sanctum¡¯s sky. * * * Time passed in a blur, and Tala found herself surprised that it was already time for Rane¡¯s one month followup on his refinement. Blessedly, there weren¡¯t really any surprises. He¡¯d endured a full session at full intensity, and because not all who statistically matched his group had been able to do as much, his odds of success went up ¡®dramatically.¡¯ He was given a new prognosis of sixty-five percent. Tala almost laughed out loud when that was pronounced, but everyone else seemed genuinely excited by the improvement of ten percent. -It is much better in one sense, but yeah, I agree that it isn¡¯t a massive increase.- You know, have there really been enough people to have such specific data? -Yes and no. Much is projection based on overlapping factors. There has obviously never been anyone who was in this exact situation, hence why it is a percentage rather than a perfect statement of yes or no.- I suppose that makes sense. Blessedly, Rane was given a clean bill of health. His improvement so far had been good enough that it hadn¡¯t really given Tala cause to worry, but it was still nice to have a Healer confirm that he was back up to one hundred percent. As to when he could do his third session? The decision was that he had to wait at least two more months. At that time, another assessment would be able to tell if he was ready or still needed a bit more time. It wasn¡¯t unexpected, but Rane was clearly saddened that he would need at least a full three months between his second and third sessions. Tala thought some of that was attempted bravado. After all, Rane seemed to have an unconscious flinch whenever the topic of the next session came up. He was clearly not looking forward to it, even if he desperately wanted to get it over with. Aside from Rane¡¯s recovery, spring was upon them. Therefore, Tala ensured that Rane got out of the city for looping trips through the surrounding countryside at least once a week. They didn¡¯t seek out any fights, and thankfully none found them. Instead, they just used the time to talk and move. Both were capable of running faster than was generally allowed within human cities, and so they relished their trips into the surroundings as a time to really cut loose and burn off some energy outside of training arenas. Inside of Kit didn¡¯t really count, or at least that¡¯s what Tala told herself. Really, she just thought that Rane would appreciate truly getting ¡®out,¡¯ and he definitely seemed to. She wasn¡¯t completely altruistic in her desire for the trips, however. Tala also used them to work with Kit and the extension of the dimensional influence that was possible with the soulbound storage. As a result, Tala generally left Kit on the outside of the city wall, tucked behind the curve of one of the towers near a gate. In that way, the Zuccats and Feshuas could come and go as they wished, and Tala didn¡¯t have to deal with the odd interference that came with pushing out from within the city. Unfortunately, in that same vein as the interference, she discovered that pushing in from the outside wasn¡¯t possible for her. Not at all. Specifically, it seemed like something that was explicitly guarded against, which made it likely that the magical defense was what had the side effect of limiting her reach outward even if it didn¡¯t block it directly. I suppose something meant to prevent dimensional intrusion would restrict the outward movement as well. It was a bit odd, because when Kit didn¡¯t have a physical manifestation, there wasn¡¯t technically anything that the reach was radiating from, but like so much, it seemed to come down to Tala¡¯s own perception and mental model. If she saw Kit as inside, reaching out, that was fine, but as soon as she saw Kit as outside, they couldn¡¯t reach in any longer. That couldn¡¯t be changed until Tala purposely walked through the gates and manifested Kit within, or did something else to that effect. But that was getting off the topic. Tala and Rane had taken to running great looping courses through the countryside. Though, they never took the same paths or stopped at the same spots. After all, there were some magical creatures who specialized in ambush hunting, and during a waning, some could threaten even a defensively-focused Refined like Tala, assuming she was caught unawares, as unlikely as that was. It was also fair to say that ¡®running¡¯ wasn¡¯t an accurate description, at least for Tala¡¯s movement. Instead, she was leaping with a combination of her enhanced strength and precise control over her own effective gravity and inertia. Rane was still without most of his inscriptions, but his natural magics had progressed to the point that his every movement was both easier¡ªand more effective¡ªthan any mundane could hope to achieve. So it was that¡ªjust over two weeks after Rane¡¯s follow-up examination¡ªthey were returning from such an excursion, only to find a caravan entering through the gate that they¡¯d planned on using. -Oh! Brand is with that caravan.- How do you know? -I checked the manifests because I was curious if we knew anyone in there.- We have access to the manifests? -As a Defender, yes. We have access to the lists of passengers and workers. Obviously, we couldn¡¯t look up what their cargo is, or the like, but it is important that Defenders be able to verify the identities of those entering a waning city, should the need arise.- Right, I knew that. She felt a bit silly, but chalked it up to being focused on other things. ¡°Brand¡¯s in that caravan.¡± Rane was breathing a bit heavily¡ªand sweating a bit, bless him¡ªbut he still managed to smile her way. ¡°Oh? Shall we go say hello? Or¡­?¡± She considered for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s walk from here, and if we catch the caravan, we can say ¡®Hi,¡¯ but otherwise, we should let him be about his job. He¡¯ll swing by Artia¡¯s shop soon enough, and we can see him then.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°That sounds fair. I¡¯ll need to drop through a bathhouse, or get back to the estate, before I¡¯m really fit to see anyone more than just in passing.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re seeing me, aren¡¯t you?¡± He shrugged again. ¡°You¡¯re not just anyone.¡± She found herself smiling at that. ¡°Regardless, you can clean up within Kit, if you want.¡± He gave her a side-eyed look. ¡°In the sanctum? Or are you going to drop me in the Irondale lake again?¡± She quickly stifled her grin. ¡°Now why would I do that?¡± His eyebrow lifted, ¡°You mean, why would you do it again?¡± ¡°It was one time.¡± ¡°Yes. You¡¯ve already done it once.¡± She sighed. ¡°You can get clean in the sanctum.¡± Her smile broke through, then. ¡°I don¡¯t need to hear that scream again.¡± He grimaced. ¡°What did you expect? You pulled me off the street and dunked me into pitch black, freezing water.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°I suppose I should apologize for that.¡± He raised the other eyebrow, clearly surprised and just as clearly waiting. She sighed, again, but this time no smile followed. ¡°I apologize, Rane. It was rather unkind of me to dunk you in a lake out of nowhere. I was trying to¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure, actually. It wasn¡¯t thought through thoroughly, regardless. Will you forgive me?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yes. I forgive you. Please don¡¯t do it again?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°To anyone?¡± She grimaced, then nodded. ¡°Fine¡­¡± ¡°You know, you¡¯ve got a great amount of power, in many, many regards. You need to be responsible with its use.¡± She shoulder-bumped him as she continued to nod. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Then, a mischievous thought came to her. ¡°Do you want to go now?¡± His eyes flicked to where they both knew Kit rested, on the side of the gatehouse, with a physical manifestation in the form of an iron-bound door. Tala thought it would be endlessly entertaining if someone broke into Kit when they were trying to breach the city, but that was likely never to happen for a laundry list of reasons. ¡°I¡­ I fear what will happen to me if I say yes.¡± She chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re not feeling adventurous?¡± He took another moment to think as they continued to walk toward the gate into the city. Tala noted the caravan guards that were already watching them warily, but didn¡¯t pay them any more mind. Finally, he responded. ¡°I will place my trust in you then, Tala.¡± She hesitated, then gave a small smile. ¡°You know just what to say, don¡¯t you?¡± Before he said anything in response, she willed him into a private place within Kit. Set into the ground beside him was a large bowl of stone that was sized to hold his large frame, even now that he¡¯d been able to re-fill-out after the Refining¡¯s shrinking effect. A moment after he arrived, she willed hot water into the bowl, biasing toward the ¡®too hot¡¯ side of enjoyable in order to take into account how much heat the stone would leech from the water. After all, she wasn¡¯t going to be actively monitoring or regulating any part of the experience. Rane waved vaguely at the sky. ¡°Thank you, Tala.¡± And without lingering¡ªnot even a little bit¡ªTala pulled her perspective from the area in order to allow him some privacy. -I still see everything.- That¡¯s creepy, Alat. Don¡¯t say it like that. -I control your dreams!- ¡­don¡¯t make me remove your scripts. -...fine, that was probably too far.- Thank you. Let¡¯s not make a big deal about it. -...- Don¡¯t. You. Dare. -I wouldn¡¯t dream of it.- Good. -But you might.- Tala pulled power from the scripts that made up Alat. -Natural magics for the win!- The alternate interface cackled within Tala¡¯s head. Tala groaned, she¡¯d known Alat would be fine because of her natural magics, but she¡¯d hoped to get at least a little reaction from the alternate interface. She briefly considered pulling power from her natural magics, but she didn¡¯t want to deal with those destabilizing any. It wasn¡¯t a serious consideration regardless. That would be taking things a bit too far. Thus, she simply firmly set herself to the task of ignoring Alat¡¯s continued laughter. Chapter: 405 - Soon Enough Tala was walking up behind the caravan as the third-to-last wagon entered the gatehouse to be examined before entry. Two caravan guards approached slowly, each holding short spears and shields. Tala noticed the archer on the last wagon as that woman seemed to consider before selecting an arrow and putting it to her string. Thankfully, the archer didn¡¯t draw back that string. So, the guards¡ªgenerally¡ªwere just being cautious. The nearest caravan guard spoke loudly and clearly, ¡°Greetings, traveler. Please stay back from the wagons until we are within the city. We mean no offense, but we need to get our charges inside safely as soon as possible.¡± Tala lifted one hand in greeting. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not a traveler.¡± Their hands tightened on their weapons before she continued. ¡°I¡¯m a Defender. I was just doing a sweep of the surrounding countryside.¡± She had stopped walking some fifteen feet from their advanced position to prevent any misunderstandings. In total, Tala was a bit more than a hundred feet from the gate. The caravan guard¡¯s weapons probably wouldn¡¯t do anything to her, but there wasn¡¯t really a reason to be wasteful, or to cause stress to such fine folk. The two guards shared another glance, before the other spoke up. ¡°My apologies¡­Mistress.¡± Tala opened her mouth to say that, of course, she was a ¡®Mistress.¡¯ What sort of idiot would she have to be to be out here without magic? Then, however, she realized that their concern was that she was some sort of magical creature, trying to accost them before they could get into the city, or to get into the city, herself. She sighed. She considered using Kit to simply move past them, appearing where she wished to go, one wagon further up the line, or even beside the gatehouse. That, however, was guaranteed to cause at least a minor panic. It would probably be worse than simply walking forward and letting them try to stab her. After a moment of consideration, she came to the conclusion that any means of verifying her identity would slow everything down for everyone, and that wasn¡¯t the point at all. Fine. She grimaced in mild irritation. ¡°Very well. I will wait here.¡± She manifested a thin tendril of iron, physically attaching herself to the ground. Then, she enacted her mental model and magics to remove the vast majority of her own effective gravity before pulling her legs up so that she was sitting cross legged mid-air. Then, she dismissed the iron from the superficial, leaving her simply floating there, as she closed her eyes to continue her various mental exercises. She did keep her perception open with her threefold sight, of course. There were weapons being brandished at her, after all. The guards paled, slowly backing up as the caravan made its way into the city. -Did you need to scare them that much?- No, it wasn¡¯t meant to scare them. It was just meant to be a statement that I¡¯m waiting because I choose to, not because they¡¯re making me. -Because you¡¯re irritated.- ¡­yeah, I¡¯m a little irritated. I could have gotten exactly what I wanted, but it would have caused issues for others. -So, you just decided to scare them a bit?- Precisely. -For doing their jobs?- Well, I didn¡¯t really mean to scare them¡­ just make them back off. -Which they were already doing.- Tala hesitated. After a long moment, she sighed. Fine, that was unkind of me. -Just a bit.- The caravan still had a bit left to go, and now the guards were watching her from nearly fifty feet away. She did not want to just sit here. Hmmm¡­ I wonder. She extended her aura outward, not encountering any resistance of note. Where she did encounter even the minimal bit of expected push-back, she simply rolled around the defenses, leaving the people and animals of the caravan their own sovereignty. After a moment¡¯s consideration, she dropped her aura downward, into the ground before continuing to advance. There was no reason to enclose them in her aura. If anyone was capable of sensing aura, even obliquely, it could cause a lot of terror in that poor person. Even so, it was trivial to reach the halfway point of the gatehouse, where her aura hit an effectively impenetrable barrier, the aura-focused equivalent to what kept out Kit¡¯s dimensionality. Tala manifested a bit of iron on the ground, right there at the edge of the defense. Then, with a simple act of will, she pushed her iron across the infinitely thin line. The barrier didn¡¯t stop the iron in the slightest, and as soon as it was through, her aura had a foothold on the inside, and it was like getting a good handhold on a previously slick surface. She had expected something like this, as she¡¯d never had issues with her aura when walking through the gatehouse. Now inside Alefast, her aura rolled on through until it reached fully past the gatehouse. It was easy to get rid of Kit¡¯s physical manifestation from the outside of the gatehouse and create a new one on the city-side of the structure. With that simple change, Kit was now ¡®inside¡¯ the defense, and her dimensional authority spread out. Tala decided that she didn¡¯t want to wait, and she would just catch Brand a bit later. Please notify¡­ someone that what I am about to do was done by a human Defender. -...fine.- She moved herself into Kit, vanishing right out from under the guards'' watchful gazes. Kit was centered and anchored beside the gate, so Tala was easily able to remove the new physical manifestation there and create a door once again at Artia¡¯s shop. As she¡¯d come to expect, making this change didn¡¯t alter the location of Kit¡¯s center of influence. This was what Tala had found through previous experiments, too, but it was always good to confirm. Unless she was present, outside of Kit, the center of Kit¡¯s realm of influence would not move. She could reshape the area as a whole, but she couldn¡¯t move the anchor point while she was inside. But she wasn¡¯t here to experiment with Kit. She¡¯d come in to bypass the gatehouse. She had not brought herself inside of Kit anywhere near Rane. He was still bathing¡­ probably. Just as she hadn¡¯t gone near him, she didn¡¯t check to see if he was still bathing. That wouldn¡¯t have been appropriate. Don¡¯t. Tala headed off Alat¡¯s teasing before it began, and the alternate interface acquiesced. She stood there, on her dais, for a long moment, before she sighed. I need to get out of here. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. She willed herself out of Kit and into the alley beside Artia¡¯s shop. It was going to be a little while before Brand got here, so she built herself a chair and focused on her rotating masses of iron and void. She was now manipulating four compressed clouds of iron dust through varying shapes at the same time. -You know, I wonder if you can connect two of the voids and separate them again without them being exposed to the outside.- That¡­ was an interesting idea for a challenge. Tala set her mind to the task, all the while being extra vigilant because she suspected that Alat was setting her up for an ambush. After all, it had been days since Alat had successfully breached any of Tala¡¯s voids. -Hey, Tala.- Here it came, the distraction. You aren¡¯t going to distract me, Alat. -Sure, sure. I just wanted to ask you a question.- ¡­Fine. What is it? -You moved out of Kit so you weren¡¯t tempted to look in on Rane, didn¡¯t you?- ¡­maybe¡­ Tala hardened her resolve. -Interesting. That has a lot of implications.- Uh-huh. Tala did not spend the concentration to roll her eyes at the alternate interface. -Regardless, there is a flaw in your reasoning.- So, the flaw was her method of attack. Tala decided to divert Alat. What implications? -I fight dirty, Tala, but even I¡¯m not that mean. I won¡¯t touch on those at the moment, because I¡¯m kind like that.- Tala grimaced, fending off a small probing push from Alat¡¯s will even as Tala connected two of the four oddly twisted pockets before disconnecting them again. The integrity of the voids were perfectly maintained. -But back to the flaw.- There was a long silence before Tala sighed, knowing Alat wouldn¡¯t let it go. In that case, it was better to get the distraction over with. What¡¯s the flaw, Alat? -You can still see into your sanctum from here.- Tala twitched. Alat struck. Four voids fell apart with little pops. * * * Tala was feeling rather grumpy, but she did her best not to let it show as she sat with Rane, Brand, Adrill, Artia, Kedva, and Brandon within her sanctum. There was a massive spread of food, mainly provided by Artia and Kedva, but Mistress Petra had thrown in a bit, even beyond providing Tala¡¯s food and some of Rane¡¯s. Tala¡¯s irritation was mainly directed at Alat because the alternate interface had managed to distract her. Tala had obviously already recovered from that, and her iron-void-magic roiling conglomerations were back in motion around her head, hidden by illusion from mundane sight. But she wasn¡¯t here to think about her training. She was here to be with friends and acquaintances. The conversation was mainly just friendly banter as most things had been conveyed when Brand had been there most recently. He had brought an engagement gift for Brandon and Kedva, and the couple had spent an appropriate amount of time examining it with obvious glee. As it turned out, everyone had been interested, though Kedva had been appropriately secretive of the exact contents. It was a book of recipes from Lissa, Brand¡¯s wife. They were the recipes that she and Brand had perfected over decades of restaurant work. It was full of notations, containing many recipes that Lissa couldn¡¯t make work, but upon which she¡¯d noted where she believed the issue to be. It was, effectively, the collected knowledge of Lissa¡¯s cooking experience, distilled into a usable form. Brand had beamed at the couple upon presenting it. ¡°Lissa was sad to not be able to be here to present it herself, but she said that she¡¯d love to have you in her kitchen whenever you wanted, and she¡¯ll be coming back with me for the wedding.¡± That was something that had begun to dominate the minds of those who surrounded Tala of late. Kedva and Brandon were set to be married in a little more than two months¡¯ time. Tala was still a bit in denial of that fact, not just because it didn¡¯t feel like it had been the traditional year since their engagement¡ªthough there was some of that. Most of it, however, was the fact that they¡¯d asked her to officiate the wedding. It was traditional to have a Mage speak counter to the couple in the public ceremony, and they¡ªfor some reason¡ªsaw her as influential in their lives. -Maybe because you¡¯ve effectively massively multiplied the length of time they¡¯ll be able to spend together?- That might be part of it¡­ But Tala didn¡¯t want to think about it in that moment. The wedding would be after Rane¡¯s birthday, and before Tala headed back to Marliweather for her sister Nea¡¯s twelfth birthday. Tala had been exchanging some messages with her siblings, but not as many as would likely be ideal, and she wanted to be there for her sister when the girl made her choice about the Academy. But all of that would be after Rane could, in theory, undergo his third Refining session. It was shaping up to be a busy summer, all things considered. But she was getting distracted by future events. She laughed along with everyone at a joke as Brand delivered the punchline. This was what was important at the moment. She was spending time with those whom she chose to be with. The future would be here soon enough. * * * Tala squeezed Rane¡¯s shoulder as the Healer¡ªnot Mistress Vanga this time¡ªexplained his professional opinion to Rane, Tala and Master Grediv. It was best summarized as a simple statement that Rane should wait at least four more days. Apparently, something about the healing process was not quite where the Refined wanted Rane to be before undergoing another session. Rane grimaced slightly at the news but then nodded, turning to Master Grediv, ¡°Let¡¯s set it up for then.¡± Master Grediv sighed, but gave a slight nod of his head. ¡°If that is your wish.¡± Four days later, Tala stood behind Rane as he thrashed and screamed through clenched teeth, his hands irrevocably clamped around the construct that was facilitating his Refining. Tala¡¯s armor felt more like rippling water as it took hits and settled back into shape, absolutely none of the force transferred through to her. True, these were not full-powered attacks, nor were they delivered in the most effective manner, but she was incredibly pleased with the results of her practice and training. She was not, however, pleased with what was happening to Rane. A horrific sound was coming to her enhanced hearing, and she suspected she¡¯d be hearing it even without that, given the acoustics of the room. It was like walking across the sand of a training arena, where the small particles rubbed and rolled across each other. The sound was accompanied by unnatural distortions sweeping across various portions of Rane¡¯s body. Her threefold sight let her clearly see as his bones were utterly pulverized in waves, being knit back together after seeming to be squeezed like an orange for its juice. Black gunk was rendered out of every bone, forced along with the leading edge of the Refining. The sludge would build up until it splattered the walls, floor, or ceiling, having burst out of massive, fluid-filled¡ª Tala swallowed, diverting her perception. The less time spent focusing on that the better. She bore through the horror, knowing that as awful as it was to witness, it was almost infinitely worse for Rane to experience it. She tightened her grip on his shoulder, and his own grip on the construct firmed. They endured through his torment, together. * * * Tala sat beside Rane¡¯s bed, reading out loud as he lay, his eyes closed on the edge of sleep. As soon as the session had ended, Rane had dropped into unconsciousness, his berserking-like state vanishing with the ongoing damage. He had awakened, screaming and trembling, shortly thereafter. He¡¯d hurled the Refining construct away from himself so hard that it had embedded in one of the rents in the iron walls, bending thin ribbons of abused iron out of the way with ease, despite his weakened state. Once again, Tala had swept the iron flakes and dust from the air, claiming it and removing it from the superficial entirely. As soon as she did that, a magical scan passed through the room, and the door unlatched. Rane had already curled into a ball on the stool he¡¯d been given this time around, weeping into his knees. She had, once again, picked him up and carried him from the room as soon as the door opened. The Healers did what they could, and she¡¯d asked them to leave. With only the barest hesitation, they had honored her request, and Tala had done the only thing she could think of to help Rane as he huddled under the thick, pre-warmed blankets. Tala remembered that her father had always read to her when she was younger, if she was afraid or sick¡­ or just generally to help her fall asleep. In fact, every single night, he would sit in the room with the kids and read until everyone had fallen asleep, at least until he¡¯d gotten ill. Without any idea of what else to do, Tala had done the same. She had chosen a tale of myth and legend and begun to read. Tala didn¡¯t speak loudly, but she kept a steady stream of power to her throat to put a hint of magic into her voice so that she would be heard nonetheless. Soon enough, the story seemed to act as a lifeline to Rane, and his trembling slowly abated. Finally, he seemed to have calmed down enough to uncurl, and slowly¡ªever so slowly¡ªhe moved toward sleep. And thus, Tala found herself continuing to read the story, her mental vision flicking over the figment of a book provided by Alat. Her threefold sight was watching for external threats, and for anything taking a turn for the worse within Rane. Her eyes were locked on his face, searching for any clues there. Rane, for his part, drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the day. Tala had Alat let her unit know that she would miss her afternoon shift with them on the wall. They got back to her through the Archive that they completely understood. Furthermore, they wouldn¡¯t expect her for the morning shift the next day either, unless she told them differently. That let her relax quite a bit, no longer feeling like she was shirking her responsibilities to stay with someone who needed her. Rane needed her, and she wasn¡¯t willing to let him lose that lifeline. She didn¡¯t want him to diminish, because then she would lose him. She wasn¡¯t willing for that to happen either. Therefore, she spent the remainder of the day¡ªand that night as well¡ªcontinuing to read with one hand resting on his. By voice or by touch, Rane would never doubt that she was with him. She would ensure he had a firm grounding in reality at least until he had recovered enough to pull himself back into a functional state. Chapter: 406 - Happy to Be Alive Tala and Rane had his recovery down to a routine by this point. True, none of the three sessions had been exactly like any of the others, but they still had commonalities, and they¡¯d been able to figure out what worked to bolster up the various aspects of Rane. His physical recovery after this third session was miraculous, especially considering there was essentially no external magic involved. His mind, however, his mindset, and his thinking were¡­ less than good. Tala and Rane took to running every day, and Master Nadro spoke to Rane as much as he could, which was less than anyone involved would prefer. Unfortunately, the Hallowed man was in high demand. He did help Rane as he could, but Rane was hardly the only person in need of counsel and a listening ear. Therefore, Tala ended up trying to fill the role, trying to be a listening ear to Rane, and a calm presence for him to lean on. In retrospect, that might have been part of Master Nadro¡¯s intention, but if so, he never gave any indication. -If he is the only healer, most will fall. If he can help those who care for those who are hurting to step forward and help, though? Then, we have a chance.- There was some wisdom in that, and Tala decided it was as likely true as it was not. Even so, they ended up doing things to distract Rane more often than talking. Rane did seem to do best when moving, when doing something. It almost seemed like basically anything would be enough to keep his mind occupied, to let his soul continue to settle. And his soul needed time to settle and recover. While his gate was not cracked to Tala¡¯s threefold sight, it was¡­ distorted somehow. She couldn¡¯t explain it or describe it in any useful fashion. Physically, it was still perfectly fine¡ªif something so esoteric as a gate between existence and the afterlife could be discussed in physical terms¡ªbut there was a twisting, a warping to it that was hard to put into words. It felt strained to her perception, like it was on the edge of simply¡­ ceasing to be. She didn¡¯t have to be a genius to realize that whatever form that took, it would mean Rane¡¯s death. So, Tala did her best to keep Rane¡¯s mind occupied at every turn, but that didn¡¯t seem to make things better. Finally, when she confessed her frustrations to her unit-mates, it was Master Girt¡ªsomewhat obviously¡ªwho provided her with the needed insight. Rane needed to go through what had happened in order to get past it. Tala needed to let Rane dig deeper. She had to let him think on what had occurred while he had support with him. The distractions could be good for the moment¡ªthey might even be required at times¡ªbut there needed to be times of deep reflection as well. Tala had to change her approach if Rane was to recover, let alone ever fully Refine. These were the thoughts dominating her mind as she and Rane came back from their latest loop outside of Alefast. As fate would have it, there was another caravan about to enter into the city. Tala sighed, slowing beside Rane. ¡°Let¡¯s wait for them to get inside.¡± She didn¡¯t want to be unkind again, and it wouldn¡¯t hurt her to wait. Besides, she needed to talk with Rane. ¡°Hey, Rane?¡± Rane had bent over, briefly gripping his knees and breathing heavily, but even as she addressed him, he was straightening, putting his hands on the back of his head and allowing his chest and lungs to expand more fully. As he was doing this, he glanced her way, his breath already slowing. ¡°Yeah?¡± -Um¡­ Tala?- Tala sighed internally. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy? ¡°Are you doing okay?¡± She spoke neutrally, not letting on how closely she would be paying attention to his answer. -Tala, this is important.- What is it, Alat? She almost growled at Alat internally but held herself back. -There¡¯s no caravan scheduled for arrival at this time.- Tala¡¯s focus immediately snapped to the caravan. Her threefold sight initially saw absolutely nothing wrong. She could see inside the wagons, and they looked right. There weren¡¯t any expanded spaces that she could see, but they weren¡¯t required for a caravan, just¡­ standard to the point that she hadn¡¯t ever heard of a caravan without one before. The people looked right¡ªthey looked human¡ªdown to the level of their skeletons and organs. Though, it was hard for Tala to truly examine them from this distance. Clearly the city guards thought so too, because the portcullises were actively being lifted to allow the caravan to come inside. Then, she realized something. ¡°The caravan workers don¡¯t have gates.¡± Rane hadn¡¯t responded to her, yet, but he had opened his mouth to do so. When she mentioned the lack of gates, a frown crossed his face, and he seemed to change what he¡¯d been going to say, ¡°Tala, I didn¡¯t think that¡¯s something you¡¯d fixate on. Who cares if one or more of the guards don¡¯t have a gate?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, Rane. None of them have gates, not even the ¡®Mages¡¯ that I can see.¡± That got his attention, and he straightened, hand drifting to Force¡¯s hilt hanging at his belt in what was clearly an unconscious motion. Tala was more focused on the caravan however. What is going on? She felt a subtle magical aura pulsing outward from¡­ something, tap tap, tapping against her will, mind, and magic. She forced her perspective to focus stone- and starward, and only then did she see the distortion of illusory magic wrapped around¡­ something that underpinned the entire caravan, hanging stoneward of superficial. Tala took a step forward. ¡°What are you?¡± Her iron expanded stoneward until it reached the layer upon which whatever that thing was had hidden itself. She then forced her aura forward along that strata, bringing iron spikes along within it. The whole caravan seemed to stutter, the oxen and guards freezing in place, midstep. Then, her aura slammed against resistance. It was another¡¯s area of control, and it didn¡¯t budge in the slightest as she tried to force her authority forward. The nearest caravan guard spun toward her, eyes locking on her. He cocked back his arm and threw his knife. It was a ludicrous motion. Rane and Tala were nearly two hundred yards away from the man, but something told Tala not to laugh. On instinct, she leapt forward, between the man and Rane. An instant later, the knife cut through her aura, carrying with it the same power that had resisted her attempts to investigate. Alat! Signal an attack! That¡¯s all that Tala had time to state, even at the insane speeds that she and Alat could usually communicate. The knife¡¯s blade struck her directly in the sternum, and despite an immense amount of force and magics that were specifically designed for piercing and cutting, it failed to penetrate her defenses. If she had been a more normally defended Archon the weapon would likely have easily blown straight through her. Without thought, she allowed all her iron to anchor herself in place, increasing her inertia to the point that even a siege engine¡¯s payload would have had a hard time knocking her back. A knife simply didn¡¯t have the mass to transfer sufficient energy to move her, but this knife was just a superficial extension of something far, far more massive. When it failed to pierce her, the knife morphed into an odd sort of tangling tendril, and the beast now had an anchor on her. The tendril had wrapped all the way around her, creating a very difficult to remove anchor. Behind her, she had just enough time to hear Rane gasp. She saw him in her threefold sight, eyes wide. Rane, who was still recovering. Rane, who was uninscribed. Rane, who was out here because of her. Rust¡­. Tell him to run, Alat. -I¡¯ll try, but I doubt he¡¯ll check his Archive connection in a situation like this.- Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Tala opened her mouth to deliver the message herself, but an instant later, she was torn out of the superficial, dragged stoneward and toward the so-far-impenetrable lump of¡­ something. Rust you. Her resolve hardened; her mind focused; and she set to work. Her elk leathers acted almost on their own¡ªlikely at Alat¡¯s direction¡ªand iron and white steel flowed over her, taking on the increasingly familiar configuration of interconnected layers of defense. As she reached the layer of existence on the level of her opponent, she dumped extra power into her defenses, while wrapping the tendril in her iron. She also canceled her own effective gravity so she wouldn¡¯t drop away. The extension of the creature squelched under the pressure of her exertion despite the magic that was in it actively attempting to reshape it and create a more permanent anchor. As the bit of monster was pulverized, that removed the hostile hold on her and left her floating eye to eye with¡­ Honestly, she didn¡¯t have words for what she was seeing. Back on the superficial, her threefold sight let her see Rane drawing Force and beginning a charge forward. Foolish man, you were meant to run away! -Maybe, but you know that¡¯s not who he is, Tala. What about Rane makes you think that he would see you attacked and not respond with any means at his disposal?- Tala felt a smile pull at her face even as her chest finished healing and she focused on the horror before her. Her previous experiences finally gave her context to what was before her. That¡¯s a syphon? -That was going to be my guess, yeah.- It seems like a powerful one. That didn¡¯t track with what she knew of them. They didn¡¯t tend to gain great power until they¡¯d been in a human city for a long while. They also didn¡¯t tend to leave after they were established. Still, its magical weight had to be at least equivalent to her own. True, its larger size gave it an edge in that department. So, it could still be less dense than her, but that hardly mattered. Even as she watched, eyes began to form across the being that was still shielded from her magesight. Yeah, that¡¯s a syphon. -And you¡¯re alone, outside city defenses.- In its home turf, Tala added seriously. All those factors likely contributed toward its ability to block her detection. This was fighting a tiger in the woods instead of one that had escaped a menagerie. Even so, Tala didn¡¯t hesitate. Flow snicked into her hand even as she dumped power into amplifying her effective gravity toward the syphon. A mouth opened upon the creature, oriented directly between her and its center of gravity. Either it sensed what she was doing, or it just made a fortuitous choice of location. Well, fortuitous for it. It didn¡¯t matter though. Tala was a Defender, and she had a job to do. Let¡¯s get this done. Her gravity amplification was shifting her in the right direction, but it wasn¡¯t moving her fast enough yet, and it would send her straight into the beast¡¯s waiting maw when she did get up to speed. Well¡­ I do have all this iron. With a thought, she allowed the iron¡¯s mass to come into play once again. Then, with a solid tendril still linked to her, she had it extend backward and to the side, pushing against her. Now, Tala was heavy for a person¡ªespecially for the slip of a girl that she appeared to be¡ªbut even at double her apparent mass, she was greatly outweighed by her literal ton of iron. Thus, as the iron shifted marginally, Tala rocketed away on a thin pillar of compressed¡ªbasically solid¡ªmetal dust. She moved many times as far as the iron did in order for her collective center of mass to stay in the same location, a location that was still being pulled toward the waiting syphon¡¯s mouth. In for a copper. She wove white steel through her tether, forming the whole into the interwoven hex plates¡ªthat were designed to distribute force if attacked¡ªin a mimicry of her armor. She then effected the most complex aspect mirror that she had ever attempted. She took Flow¡¯s durability¡ªits magics to distribute any impact throughout its entire structure¡ªand mirrored that throughout her iron. It wouldn¡¯t help the integrity like it did for Flow. After all, the natural state of the iron¡ªfor the most part¡ªwas dust. Instead, it would simply add another layer of redistribution and redirection. She should be able to turn a large portion of any strike against herself¡ªor her iron¡ªinto heat, dispersed throughout all of her metal. The aspect mirror was made greatly easier by the mere fact that the iron was already a part of Flow, merged more closely with the weapon¡¯s magics than it was to anything else, even though the sword was soulbound to her. Her preparations finished just in time. A tentacle of the foul creature struck at her across the distance between them, elongating and morphing into a massive, inhuman hand with chitinous claws, the edges radiating a cutting power that seemed to spring from nowhere. Tala countered blades with blade, and the expanse of the stoneward emptiness rang with the sound of the clash. The syphon hadn¡¯t held back, either instinctively¡ªor literally¡ªsensing the threat that Tala posed. Tala might have been in trouble if she had simply tried to block the attack. But she didn¡¯t try to block, nor did she try to sever the attacking limb. Instead, she thrust Flow into the side of the claw even as it impacted her, Flow causing the chitin to resonate loudly. Then, in the brief moment where she had an essentially immovable anchor, she heaved. Her iron shot toward her at incredible speed. The force of the pull jerked against the syphon¡¯s questing tentacle, pulling it and elongating it even further out from the beast, causing the syphon to squeal in indignation and rage. The sound was odd. There wasn¡¯t precisely air stoneward of superficial, but there seemed to be something that was a sufficient medium to carry sound. Tala used the creature¡¯s moment of confusion and disorientation to strike. She pulled Flow free of where she¡¯d wedged it, pushing power into it to transform it into a void-sword. Then, thrusting herself forward with the tendril of woven iron and white steel, she shot up the overextended limb, Flow carving a channel of total devastation through the syphon. She pushed until the iron behind her seemed to almost stop in place. At that moment, Flow transformed into a glaive just as Tala slammed it into the great beast¡¯s main body. Back on the superficial, Rane was still nearly a hundred feet from the closest ¡®guard,¡¯ but he was picking up speed, and he had Force out and ready to strike. She had almost no time. Fool of a man. But she felt her small smile grow. Don¡¯t die on me. She transformed the metal across the bottoms of her feet into long, thin spikes that immediately sunk into the syphon¡¯s flesh. She then bent the metal outward, creating anchors. She relished the symmetry of doing something so similar to the beast¡¯s opening move. But where it had failed, she succeeded with malice. Her chest was fully healed from the minor bruise the impact had caused of course, but there was still a ghost of an injury, pulling at her mind. A memory of pain removed unnaturally quickly. The syphon tried to work every angle to weaken her. It failed. She shoved that away, focusing on the battle. With her new purchase, she dragged her iron toward her once again. At the same time she slashed glaive-Flow across the massive, bulbous, magical creature in huge, sweeping arcs. At the superficial, everyone in the ¡®caravan¡¯ was screaming, the wagons beginning to melt. Things were going quite well. Seven tentacles struck at Tala in a chaotic sequence. She cut the first in half, ducked beneath the second, deflected the third with a sweep of her left arm, and tilted her torso backward to help dissipate the force from the fourth. Her armor took the blow as designed, cracking in a thousand places to disperse the incoming force. Her aspect mirroring caused the entirety of her protection to heat dozens of degrees, even while the thin layers of active armor were still cracking and breaking all across and throughout the many levels of the defense. Then, things didn¡¯t work quite as well. The fifth tentacle slammed into her side with insane force. The iron of her armor blazed with heat to the extent that the sixth tentacle sizzled as it struck her, leaving chunks of syphon-flesh behind as it pulled back. Tala¡¯s will was bent¡ªto an almost frantic degree¡ªtoward reforming her armor. The seventh tentacle simply became a sacrificial anchor on Tala, and with a sickening squelch she was torn free of the creature¡¯s side, her bones creaking under the pressure of entrapping loops of cooking muscle. Her miniplates of active armor did not work very well against all encompassing, crushing force. I¡¯ll need to find a fix for that. But it was hardly the time for that at the moment. An eighth long appendage struck out, wrapping around her torso and legs in a direction counter to the seventh. The syphon¡¯s malleable nature came into play, then, as the two tentacles seemed to transform into looping chains of bladed links. Tala didn¡¯t even have time to comprehend what was coming before the syphon pulled, hard, dragging those magically sharp blades across Tala¡¯s armor, tearing away great chunks as each link passed across her. Because they were pulling in perfect opposition, they kept her from moving with the pulls, or being thrown around. Instead, it was just tearing into her with vicious abandon. The syphon¡¯s flesh around her was already torn to bits by her great cutting arcs with Flow, and syphon blood was pouring from the creature, draining down into the abyss below them in this layer of existence. But it hadn¡¯t been enough, and her armor was failing against another type of attack that it wasn¡¯t designed to handle. Enough of this. Her iron blob broke apart, becoming a field of leg-sized, barbed, tri-bladed spikes, which spiraled from tip to base. Tala hardened her aura around each and drove them forward. Like laying down a rug across the top of the beast, a wave of impacts radiated from Tala across the surface of the syphon, each accompanied with a fountain of blood as the spikes drilled deeper, crafted almost entirely of magic-disrupting iron carrying Tala¡¯s own aura. There was a momentary struggle for supremacy, but Tala held on like never before. Three things changed the circumstances in relation to her earlier attempts to overcome the beast. First, Tala had pieces of herself within the beast now, giving her a solid platform from which to strike. Her iron was her. Second, Tala¡¯s gate was still dumping power into her, keeping her fully topped off and as magically weighty as ever. Third, the syphon had been spending power like mad to transform and maneuver to attack her and defend against her. At their very core, gated humans were endurance fighters, and Tala could outlast almost anything. ¡°Victory.¡± Tala spoke into the nothingness, power in her words making them resonate through the space regardless. Each of the hundreds of spikes tore itself apart, blasting outward as hundreds of smaller barbs. The entire top half of the syphon was turned into a bloody, iron-filled pulp. On the superficial, the caravan fell apart, even as the main body of the syphon seemed to fall starward, dragging Tala along with it. A moment later, the corpse of the massive creature slapped wetly to the ground before the gate into Alefast. Behind her, Rane had just finished dispatching his third syphon-controlled ¡®caravan guard.¡¯ It was now obvious that tendrils of the creature led to each of the bisected bodies. Rane was panting even heavier than after their run, but he seemed uninjured. Bless the stars for that. Then, she noticed what her threefold sight was showing her and cursed. ¡°Orange? Really?! This was only a Mature syphon?¡± She fell backward, catching herself in a chair made of iron and white steel. The metal creaked as she slumped back into the seat. Her armor was flowing back into shape, and her body was healing from the few wounds that the beast had managed to inflict upon her, but she was still irate. This thing had been less advanced than she was, and it had still given her a bit of trouble. Then, her mind went back to the first syphon she¡¯d encountered. It had been blue to her magesight. She swallowed involuntarily at her new understanding. I think I might have been underestimating the effectiveness of city defenses¡­ Then, Rane began to laugh, an almost childlike grin dominating his features. Tala felt a smile pull at her lips once more, even as she called a chair into place behind the man. He sat gratefully, continuing to laugh. A moment later, Tala found herself laughing too. Together, they sat there, beside a massive corpse, reveling in the joy of their victory, happy to be together, happy to be alive. Chapter: 407 - Birthday Breakfast Tala sat beside Master Simon, looking out over her sanctum. With her threefold sight, she could see the long basic passage leading over to Irondale. They¡¯d made the floor of hard, uniform stone only about an inch thick. She could have simply left it as the edge of existence like the walls and ceiling, but Master Simon had explained that it was rather disconcerting to stand on the edge of existence, even in an expanded space. Tala had never minded in all the time she¡¯d had Kit without all the trappings that the dimensional storage now had, but she¡¯d bowed to his expertise. For fun, though, she had made about a ten-foot section near the middle that was the exposed edge of existence. It didn¡¯t matter, but to the unaware, it would seem like a trap that had to be crossed. In the odd case where someone was trying to get from Irondale to her sanctum, it would delay them a bit before they realized it was just like any other floor. And, that actually might happen, given they were working to finish the construction of that more ¡®public¡¯ side of her dimensional space. After long discussions with Master Simon, Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva, Tala had reduced the level of power in the area spanning a few feet below ground level all the way to ten feet up, creating a band in which gateless could work without any concern of them being reborn in magic. At the moment, a lot of gateless were working within Irondale. Well¡­ a couple dozen, give or take. It seemed like a lot to her. Master Simon had them doing all sorts of things, most of which weren¡¯t of interest to Tala. ¡°Have any stood out to you?¡± That was one of the core reasons that Tala had agreed to push forward so aggressively on the creation of Irondale. Well¡­ that and the wedding. For some reason, Brandon and Kedva were quite interested in having their wedding within Kit. Tala supposed it did make some sense. They were going to be tied to her and Kit at least for the near future, at least until they learned how to better control their own power. So¡­ she was about to have a newlywed couple in Irondale. That was far preferable to having them in her sanctum. Thus, she was bending her resources to completing that section of Kit¡¯s inner dimensions. Master Simon shrugged. ¡°A few, and only a few of those have families that could be reborn with them.¡± He smiled. ¡°As ¡®othered¡¯ as gateless are, most still end up marrying gated spouses, and most of their children are usually gated.¡± ¡°But not all?¡± ¡°No, not all.¡± ¡°So¡­?¡± He chuckled. ¡°If we really want to engage in this little experiment, I think there are ten families we could approach. If we expand to gateless with Mage spouses, we could just about double that number, though.¡± ¡°How complete would the community be?¡± ¡°It would be surprisingly well balanced, actually. There are a few teachers among the spouses. Though none of those are currently working in Irondale. If they were included, that would sort out the children and childcare situation before it could arise to become an issue. Aside from that, there are quite a few farmers and craftsmen of various stripes.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s doable?¡± ¡°Yes, but we already knew that.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Why else would we have them building a little settlement?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s always good to have safe places to put people at need.¡± He gave her a side-eyed look. ¡°If that was your only aim, this seems like a waste of resources in that regard.¡± ¡°Is it allowing you to test out things that would otherwise require my involvement?¡± He considered for a long moment, then shrugged. ¡°...yes.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°Then, it¡¯s not a waste.¡± He smiled at that. ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡± ¡°Plus, the wedding¡­ Are we going to be done in time for that?¡± Master Simon¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Easily, yes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± They sat in silence for a long moment. After a bit, she glanced his way. ¡°Have you two found an answer?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°For eternity. You asked if eternity was worth the price of admittance. I assume that I wasn¡¯t the only Archon who you asked.¡± ¡°You were not.¡± He looked away from her again, his smile fading. ¡°So?¡± ¡°Everyone has a different answer. Some were¡­ rather unhelpful.¡± He sighed. ¡°Honestly, most were unhelpful.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala chuckled, already considering what some people might have said. He straightened, clearly putting on airs as some other Archon he¡¯d spoken to, ¡°¡®There is no greater cost than eternity, Master Simon, but if the prize is valuable enough, any cost is worth it.¡¯¡± ¡°So, it depends on what your goal is? Interesting to view eternity as a price.¡± She bit her lip in thought. That was actually a very interesting way of conceptualizing it, now that she considered it. ¡°That was my understanding, yes.¡± She gave a half smile, still considering. ¡°Any others?¡± ¡°¡®There is no more valuable prize than eternity, you must simply strive to be able to pay the cost with which to seize it.¡¯¡± His voice was a bit different, clearly pretending to be another Archon, though she didn¡¯t know who. ¡°That is¡­¡± Tala frowned. ¡°That¡¯s almost the exact opposite answer?¡± He sighed. ¡°That it is, Mistress Tala. It is at that.¡± She still smiled at his repetitive answer. The man was clearly a bit frustrated. ¡°So, no luck?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It seems to come down to whether or not a given Mage has the drive to reach for eternity for one reason or other. Right now? Petra and I don¡¯t really have that calling, that drive.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing definite, of course, and we¡¯ve got decades regardless, but even this brief deeper delving into the topic has been enlightening to say the least. Thank you.¡± She looked his way. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For bringing us to Alefast, waning. Waning cities are comparatively filled with ancient, powerful Mages, and we¡¯ve been able to inquire with many of them of all levels of advancement. I don¡¯t know that we¡¯d have even made as much progress as we have without your assistance. So, thank you.¡± She gave a little smile, ¡°Well, in that case, you¡¯re welcome.¡± * * * The following days passed uneventfully, with Tala continuing her work, training, and time with friends. There was nothing of note until Rane¡¯s birthday had arrived once more. She didn¡¯t have any specific present on the day, as she¡¯d already arranged for the syphon fascia from the beast that they¡¯d slain to be given to him to enhance his dimensional storage. He had then insisted that it was the perfect birthday present¡ªeven though it was a week too early¡ªand she shouldn¡¯t get him anything else. She had reluctantly agreed. Rane had been hale and jovial as they¡¯d parted the night before, with plans to meet up for breakfast. Though, neither of them had mentioned the significance of the next day. The plan was for the two of them to begin the day by having breakfast at his family¡¯s estate. Given his parents were each only Bound¡ªand obviously barely advanced toward Fused¡ªTala expected things to get incredibly awkward. Well, awkward in Tala¡¯s mind. She expected it to be difficult to look at two people who were more than double her age who hadn¡¯t taken the time to understand themselves enough to Fuse. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it In truth, she knew that was incredibly unfair and not even that accurate to her true feelings. After all, she thought very well of Mistress Petra and Master Simon, but they had been much, much older when they¡¯d fused. So¡­ why was she feeling so awkward? She grimaced, slapping away Alat¡¯s attempts to disrupt one or another of her six morphic iron-dust and void constructs with irritated ease. She stopped just in front of the main doors into the Gredial family¡¯s central building. She looked down at herself, though she really assessed herself from every angle with her threefold sight. Her perception flicked away and into the building, allowing her to see someone coming to open the door for her. She normally would have just strode inside and up toward Rane¡¯s room, but this was a bit more ¡®formal¡¯ of an occasion. So, she would follow the more formal rules of propriety and let an attendant let her in. Thus, she had about half a minute before they arrived. Her attention returned to herself, and she truly took in how she looked. In truth, she looked quite nice. She was wearing what she always did. Her near white tunic falling halfway to her knees. The dark gray pants comfortably fitted to her legs, ending above bare feet. All tied together with a black belt cinching at her waist with Flow on her left hip. Only Kit¡¯s absence stood out as different from what she¡¯d worn in human lands for years now. She frowned. It looked fine¡­ But today is supposed to be special. In this very city, the old seamstress Merilin had made her a wide array of outfits, and Tala had never really bothered to wear them. Tala had even merged the numerous outfits into her elk leathers ages ago, but still, she continued to wear what she knew, what she was used to. Maybe it¡¯s time for a change? As Tala considered, she briefly noted Alat¡¯s stark silence. That¡¯s odd. She waited another moment, but the alternate interface didn¡¯t comment. Her time was running out, so she turned back to the matter at hand. With a sigh, she decided. Now or never, I suppose. She had the ability; she should use it. Her elk leathers shifted and transformed, the change taking less than a breath. It did take a good chunk of power to enact that change, but Tala had magical power to spare. After the brief ripple of power, Tala was left with an entirely different look. As a final step, she altered her illusion just slightly, as it was created by her through-spike. Then, she took herself in with her threefold sight once more. She now wore a dark purple skirt that ended just above her ankles and still bare feet. It was pleated just enough to give easy movement and flow to the garment without making it unmanageable. The lower garment was cinched by a dark gray band of fabric, from which Flow now hung within its sparring sheath. The weapon now rested much higher than her hips, the dark gray material pulling in at the narrowest part of her torso. The holsters and holders that were usually tucked against her low back, had been drawn into the garment. Now, a comfortable harness affixed them in their usual place, but against her skin, rather than outside of her clothing. They were now accessible either through cleverly disguised openings in the folds of fabric, or by an easy manipulation of her elk leathers. Tala¡¯s blouse was wrought of billowy white fabric, quite well suited to the warm summer morning, even if the temperature didn¡¯t really matter too much to her. The neck of the blouse was wide and open, barely catching the edges of her shoulders, with small sleeves that were just large enough to reach a bit down her upper arms. The front and back dipped in graceful arcs, maintaining a modest neckline all the way around. It was a bit funny that modesty mattered for such garments when many Mages wore far less for their work. Though¡­ most Archons don¡¯t. She didn¡¯t really consider fashion very often, but she supposed that she had noticed Archons tending toward more full coverings than unadvanced Mages. But she was getting distracted. She needed to finish her self assessment before the attendant arrived. She looked to her own eyes. The change she¡¯d made to her through-spike allowed her dark, ruby-red eyes to truly shine through as was their nature. She usually kept the color slightly suppressed, because the color¡ªand the glow¡ªwas clearly magical in nature, and she¡¯d found that the bloodred glow tended to unsettle people. Now, however, the ruddy hue was nicely offset by the dark purple of her skirt, the glow emphasizing her eyes enough to counterbalance the much larger source of purple. Also, if Rane¡¯s parents were a bit unsettled, then they and she would all be in the same boat. Really mature, Tala. Still, she didn¡¯t change anything else. Tala moved back and forth slightly, feeling the skirt swish and swirl just a bit with the minor movement. She felt¡­ odd. It had been a long time since she¡¯d worn a skirt or dress. Still, she didn¡¯t dislike the outfit. In fact, she felt like it reminded her of happier times¡ªboth at home before her father¡¯s addiction, and at the Academy when she¡¯d wandered the island on her own. She hadn¡¯t moved to preferring pants and a long tunic until later in her academic career, when she¡¯d begun fighting at close range more frequently. A moment later, she was pulled from her reverie as the great doors opened, one of the servants bowing in her direction from within. ¡°Mistress Tala, welcome to the Gredial Estate.¡± Tala smiled and nodded slightly in return. ¡°Thank you, Dennairen.¡± The man had a small smile on his lips as he straightened, motioning for her to follow him. ¡°You look especially lovely this morning, Mistress.¡± ¡°That is kind of you to say.¡± ¡°It is the simple truth. I fear that this estate rarely sees one so lovely, so well presented.¡± Tala frowned slightly. ¡°I¡¯m here all the time, Dennairen.¡± He glanced back her way, a twinkle of mirth in his eyes. ¡°That you are, Mistress.¡± She found his mirth infectious, and she returned his look with a grin. ¡°As you say, then.¡± Tala followed Dennairen through the hallways and to a dining room that she hadn¡¯t been to before. Two people were already seated at the large table centered in the room, though there was no food yet in evidence. The two were a man and woman who looked like Rane in the oddest of ways. His father had Rane¡¯s hair, which¡ªwhile cropped close to his head¡ªstill had some interesting patterns. Those she could only see because of her threefold sight, given their location on the back of his head. Mainly, the similarity lay in their shared head shape, hair line, and hair color. Rane¡¯s eyes came from his mother, at least their shape did. Both parents had rather standard hazel eyes, mixes of brown and gray for the father and brown and green for Rane¡¯s mother. Neither were particularly large people, which was interesting given Rane and Chloe¡¯s larger proportions. Though, to be fair, Furgal is a rather more standard height. I suppose Rane and his sister are the outliers, then? She¡¯d never met Rane¡¯s other siblings, and she realized that most of them were at the Academy. I might have passed them in the halls there and never known it. That would be awkward¡­ She decided not to think on it further. Rane¡¯s mother¡¯s hair was a dark, dark red, very close to the color of dark wine. It was long and lustrous, woven into a series of braids and buns that collectively fell around her shoulders. Hundreds of years of hair growth, I suppose. -Or magic.- That¡¯s fair¡­ Tala gave Alat a mental once over. Good of you to join us. -I wasn¡¯t about to interfere with your decision making.- ¡­Fine. The two people looked up as Dennairen stepped into the room, and stood when they saw her, which coincided with Dennairen¡¯s announcement, ¡°Presenting, Mistress Tala, Refined Defender of Alefast.¡± Rane¡¯s mother and father gave appropriate bows of Bound toward a Refined, and Tala returned the expected bow of a Refined toward Bound. When she returned her head to the proper posture, she cleared her throat. ¡°Thank you for welcoming me into your home.¡± She hesitated briefly then. Alat, help! Alat sighed within her head. -Repeat this.- Tala did so, ¡°It is my shame that I have gone so long without meeting you in person, but I am grateful for your hospitality on so many occasions during my time here in Alefast.¡± Rane¡¯s mother smiled, coming around the table with one hand out. Dennairen bowed to the room in general and took that moment to depart. ¡°I am Filha, Rane¡¯s Mother.¡± As she took Tala¡¯s hand, she bowed over it rather than shaking it. Rane¡¯s father bowed again from where he stood before his chair, more in greeting than in deference, ¡°I am Neul. Welcome to my home.¡± Tala smiled, taking back her hand when it was released. She then continued to speak the words that Alat provided, ¡°Mistress Filha, Master Neul, thank you for your warm greeting. Thank you also for allowing me to join you both for breakfast on your son¡¯s birthday.¡± Mistress Filha returned to her seat beside her husband, gesturing for Tala to sit across from her. ¡°Of course, dear. Thank you for allowing us a meal with our son on his birthday.¡± Her eyes twinkled. ¡°I think we all know where he would be if you were elsewhere.¡± Tala shrugged, somewhat uncomfortably. His parents were obviously unaware of the great ordeal he¡¯d undergone in his bid to Refine. All that they would be aware of was that Tala had been spending a lot of time with Rane, alone, often in his rooms. There was no question of impropriety. After all, such a soulbond would be rather obvious, especially in the immediate aftermath. Even so, they likely were putting emotional weight behind the alone time that¡­ wasn¡¯t¡­ there¡­ Tala felt herself flush, thankfully hidden behind her through-spike. She suddenly wanted to flee the room, but she wasn¡¯t one to retreat in the face of danger¡­ or embarrassment. Nope, that¡¯s not me at all. I face the things I dislike. She would make that be true if it took all her willpower. As she sat, she had to face something that she hadn¡¯t really let herself consider. She would be a fool to claim that she had no emotional attachment to Rane. She cared for him tremendously. That much was obvious. Alat was noticeably silent once again, robbing Tala of one of her most consistent means of distraction. Before the silence could become awkward, however, Tala heard Rane coming. She stood and turned, completing the motion just as the door swung open. Rane started talking as he pushed the door open. ¡°Good morning! I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re¡­¡± He trailed off, his eyes going wide as he saw her. He actually gaped as he looked at her from head to toe and then back up to her face once more. ¡°Tala¡­ your clothes.¡± She allowed herself a little smile of satisfaction. ¡°Do you like them?¡± Mistress Filha gave a gentle laugh. ¡°Dear, if his mouth were open any wider, his chin would be on the floor.¡± Rane¡¯s mouth clicked shut, even as his cheeks colored. Tala¡¯s smile grew. ¡°Well, it seemed like a special occasion.¡± He seemed entirely tongue tied, but he was saved further embarrassment¡ªand the rest of them were saved from an awkward silence¡ªby a group of servants coming in to bring breakfast. Rane and Tala sat, him taking the seat between her and his father. From there, the breakfast was a good deal less awkward than Tala had feared, at least from her perspective. After the birthday breakfast, she and Rane bid his parents farewell. As her unit had the day fully off, there was nothing else to require her time or attention. Together, Tala and Rane spent the remainder of the day with various friends and acquaintances, rotating through several groups before finishing the time sitting atop the highest tower within his family¡¯s estate, watching a few scattered falling stars. All in all, it was a wonderful day. Chapter: 408 - Marriage Tala felt incredibly nervous. She was within Kit, entirely under her own control, and within her own authority. Tala still felt like she was under direct attack. She had expected to feel as much, but that didn¡¯t make it better. I¡¯m excited, not nervous. This is a wonderful day. Everything is great. She stood at the end of a long aisle, a few dozen people looking up at her from either side of the walkway between chairs. Kedva¡¯s friends and family were to Tala¡¯s right, and Brandon¡¯s to Tala¡¯s left. The two sides were meant to be representative of the couple¡¯s souls, and this was the only point during the process where the groups would be separated. In fact, for all following pieces, the guests would be purposefully intermixed to symbolize the soulbond. In the front row, Brand and Lissa were beside two empty seats where Adrill and Artia would sit after their ceremonial entry. Two seats were similarly empty on the bride¡¯s side, awaiting Kedva¡¯s parents. Tala shifted her feet slightly, feeling the comfort of her standard clothing moving with her. Even though her clothing felt normal, she¡¯d woven iron through the off-white tunic and silver through the dark gray pants to set the attire apart from her standard look. She hadn¡¯t done more because she hadn¡¯t wanted to steal the show. After all, today wasn¡¯t about her. In truth, however, what clothes she wore was the entirely wrong way of thinking about things, if she had wanted to upstage the main event. And there is no way I was going to do this naked¡­ She focused outside herself once again, attempting to quell the nervousness¡ªExcitement. The local area within Kit was decorated and trimmed for the occasion. Behind her was Irondale¡¯s lake set among mountains. Across everything was the illusion of predawn light. That illusion matched reality as weddings were always performed to have the union occur as close to sunrise as could be managed. Her gaze swept over the mini-mountains, a smile pulling at her lips. We really did find a lot of granite within the superstructure of the doomsday vault. -Yeah. It was a bit odd, but I¡¯m glad. It let us make a rather stunning landscape.- Yeah. It did indeed. Several Refined and Paragon defenders had joined them during preparations, having some fun in making vegetation grow at least in the area near to the lake. With that lake at her back, the town was before Tala, behind the crowd, and it was nearly complete. The outsides of the buildings, at least, were done well enough that they provided a lovely setting for this wedding, this joining of lives and souls. Tala was continuing to maintain the lower magical density in the band of easily accessible space. That said, she was allowing higher density around Brandon and Kedva in the rooms in which they were finalizing their preparations with the help of their parents. The higher density pockets would stay with them throughout the wedding. Speaking of which, it was almost time. The last of the guests had arrived, coming through the door into Kit, from where the external manifestation waited on the inside of the northern gatehouse. There had been some hesitation on their parts, as they were¡ªgenerally speaking¡ªmundane folk. Still the invitations had been clear that the ceremony would be taking place in a magical setting, so they weren¡¯t entirely caught off guard. The musicians began to play, pulling Tala from her thoughts once again and announcing the start of the ceremony. The crowd stood as the bride and groom came out of the buildings to either side of the main path. They wore the traditional marriage garb, which were essentially the same as a casting Mage would wear: as little as possible while maintaining a sliver of modesty. Brandon stood in a loincloth¡ªa simple cotton cloth wrapped around his pelvis¡ªundyed and unblemished. Kedva wore a similar garment, with another strip of cloth around her neck that crossed, wrapped, and wove to cover and support her breasts. Aside from the minimal covering, they wore no clothes. Kedva¡¯s hair was held up with a long, thin iron spike in a style that was as beautiful as it was simple. Her skin was adorned with thick white lines in a similar style to inscriptions, without actually looking like them in the least. They were much too large and not nearly detailed enough for anything magical. Brandon¡¯s lines were black to Kedva¡¯s white, and they were done in a far blockier pattern, all straight lines and right angles when compared to Kedva¡¯s sweeping spirals and softer curves. The line designs and color were traditional, and it was also tradition for the parents to paint them on their child. It was yet one more symbolic statement from the parents that they had prepared their child and approved of this marriage. I¡¯ll probably be able to do my own lines¡­ one day. It wasn¡¯t like she¡¯d have her parents there to do it. Brandon carried a heavy, iron-banded, wooden shield. Kedva carried a simple short sword, sheathed and borne in her left hand. Otherwise, they had nothing. Even their feet were bare. They walked side by side¡ªbut out of reach¡ªto the start of the aisle. Each of their parents flanked them, fathers toward the outside of the formation. When they reached the aisle, Kedva and her parents stopped, allowing Brandon to walk forward with his own parents. The three stopped before Tala and bowed. Tala felt herself color under her through-spike illusion. Alat! -Tala, you have perfect memory.- I know, but please? -Fine¡­- The couple had chosen a variant of the ceremony more traditional for Mages, because of their new-found magic. There were, in fact, four versions of the wedding ceremony that Tala knew of, though she hadn¡¯t seen all of them. If both were mundane, if the husband was a Mage and the wife wasn¡¯t, if the wife was and the husband wasn¡¯t, and finally, if both were Mages. Kedva and Brandon had chosen the final version, and that was what Alat provided to Tala. Tala smiled. ¡°Who comes before me, and to what purpose?¡± Brandon spoke in response, his words as scripted as hers, ¡°I come, seeking to be bound to the one whom I love.¡± ¡°Who stands behind you in this request?¡± Artia and Adrill spoke in unison, ¡°We, bound in our love, stand behind our son in this request. Our bond, unbroken, is an imperfect example of what he seeks.¡± Tala swept Brandon with her threefold sight, verifying his lack of soulbonds while seeing his reality connections to everyone in the crowd before speaking her response, ¡°I testify that he is bound to none.¡± Normally, the Mage overseeing the ceremony would need to use a construct to verify the lack of a soulbond to another, but an Archon with the proper magesight scripts didn¡¯t need such a device. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Her eyes turned to Kedva, and the young woman strode forward, head held high. Each row of the audience turned as she passed them, symbolizing that it was her actions, her will, that solidified this process. She and her parents stopped before Tala, bowing as Brandon and his had before. Tala spoke again, ¡°Who comes before me, and to what purpose?¡± Kedva¡¯s voice was a bit quieter than Brandon¡¯s had been, but it was full of conviction, ¡°I come, seeking to be bound to the one whom I love.¡± ¡°Who stands behind you in this request?¡± Her parents bowed and spoke in unison, ¡°We, bound in our love, stand behind our daughter in this request. Our bond, unbroken, is an imperfect example of what she seeks.¡± Tala examined Kedva in turn. ¡°I testify that she is bound to none.¡± Then, she added a bit, as the couple had requested. She looked at the reality connection that was between the two who stood before her. ¡°I further testify that they have no greater connection to any here, beyond what they feel for one another.¡± There was some murmuring in the audience at that deviation but not overly much. ¡°Please be seated.¡± The crowd sat, the parents joining everyone else. Everything that followed¡ªmore than what had happened so far¡ªwas chosen, customized, and finetuned by the betrothed couple. ¡°Brandon, what do you present?¡± He stepped forward and laid the shield before Tala with a bow before stepping back beside Kedva. ¡°I present a shield, as I will be a defender to my bonded and my family.¡± ¡°Kedva, what do you present?¡± She laid her sword atop the shield. ¡°I present a sword, as I will strike at those who seek to do harm to my bonded or my family.¡± Tala smiled, ¡°Of violence and safety, I am satisfied. Who will govern the household¡¯s finances?¡± Brandon bowed. ¡°My hand will ensure the accounts are balanced.¡± ¡°Who will nourish the household?¡± Kedva bowed, ¡°My hand will ensure all mouths are fed.¡± ¡°Who will raise the children?¡± Still bowed, they spoke as one. ¡°Only united can we hope to raise the next generation.¡± ¡°In disputes, who will reign?¡± They responded again, as one. ¡°Reason will rule.¡± There was chuckling through the audience, not because the words were unexpected, but because essentially everyone there was married, and they all knew just how well that worked out much of the time. Tala, in turn, smiled once again, ¡°And when reason makes no choice?¡± Kedva spoke then. ¡°My choice is to defer to my husband¡¯s choice.¡± Brandon spoke next. ¡°My choice is to honor and lean on my wife¡¯s wisdom when choosing.¡± Tala prompted again, ¡°And when there is hardship from an unwise choice?¡± Brandon responded. ¡°All punishment shall be mine.¡± Kedva spoke just after him. ¡°As one, we will endure the fruits of what we have chosen.¡± ¡°Let it be as you have said.¡± The two straightened. Tala motioned unnecessarily and a small table appeared between them at her will. Three candles and two fire-starters were all that adorned it. Traditionally, the table would have been carried in at this point, but that was unnecessary within Tala¡¯s domain. Brandon and Kedva each lit a candle and turned back to Tala. ¡°Two flames¡ªtwo souls¡ªstand before me today. From two, they shall become one.¡± They picked up their candles and used them to light a single flame in the center. ¡°Now that there is to be one forged of the two, let the separate flames¡ªthe separate lives¡ªcease at their bearer¡¯s will.¡± They each blew out their own candle. Tala fought down her own embarrassment to keep her voice level as she said the traditional words addressing the audience, ¡°These two have chosen to be bound, pledging themselves to right conduct before you all. Shall their bonding be short or long?¡± ¡°Long!¡± Everyone responded. Then, once again, there was some laughter and chuckling. ¡°So shall it be.¡± Tala gestured to the nearest building behind the audience. ¡°Brandon, Kedva, your words have been heard, your intentions made known. Go now, and forge your bond that we may bear witness to your eternal union.¡± Brandon took Kedva¡¯s hand, both of them blushing deeply across much of their bodies. The audience called and cheered as the couple hurried back down the aisle and into the nearby building. Outside of Kit, dawn had broken across Alefast, and Tala had Kit mirror that, the full light of dawn in evidence. Tala pulled back her threefold sight to give the two privacy. The musicians continued to play, and the audience rose and mingled, having hushed conversations as everyone waited. Finally, they settled back down, the two sides utterly intermixed. A reasonable amount of time later, the couple returned, stepping out of the door together. The still wet paint that had adorned their skin was now gray in many places, the lines broken and smeared across their bare skin. Their cloth coverings were in place, but they, too, bore a mix of black and white paints, often blended to gray. The two were red with embarrassment once again even as the audience cheered. Everyone could see the light aura of power around the two, a white aura visible to the mundane eye that would fade over the next couple of days. Even so, Tala had one last thing to say, by tradition, ¡°Bound by choice, bound by word, bound by deed. Two have become one, souls bound for eternity. May the stars themselves burn away any who dares try to come between these two.¡± Everyone erupted in cheers once again. There would be celebrations, feasting, gifts, and games, but the marriage was complete. Tala¡¯s duties were done. * * * The wedding effectively had three days of celebration. Though Tala only participated in the first, as was traditional. Day one began with the pledging ceremony¡ªwhich Tala had overseen¡ªand the remainder was a celebration for the couple and their community. Brandon and Kedva¡¯s community was actually much smaller than was standard, but it was still an enjoyable time of food, feats of strength, and entertainment. Tala didn¡¯t participate in any of the contests as it would hardly have been fair, and the overseeing Mage usually didn¡¯t participate regardless. So, it didn¡¯t cause any issues or raised eyebrows. The second day was strictly for family, though Lissa and Brand were included as part of Brandon¡¯s family. Kedva and Brandon didn¡¯t have much family in Alefast, but there were still nearly fifteen people participating in that second day. The final day was for the couple alone, and they had free reign of all of Irondale in which to walk and talk, eat and simply be together. In times long past, the couple might have been given as much as a month for their private celebration, but that tradition had fallen out of favor. After the third day, the couple fully cleaned themselves of the now thoroughly gray paint¡ªthough the composition of the traditional pigment meant that it remained viscous and pliable until the end. They then dressed and presented themselves at the City Administrative building. The glow of their new soulbond had faded from mundane sight, but it was still visible to anyone with almost any version of magesight. Giving time for the glow to fade was actually one of the theorized original reasons behind the multi day celebrations. That was supported by what Tala had found in the Archive. Not that she¡¯d delved too deeply. Not at all. The remaining glow would fade over the next few days even from magesight, though it would obviously still be detectable as any soulbond could be. Regardless, the marriage was registered with the Archive, Tala providing official witness of the pledging ceremony and the soulbond. Tala did not share what her threefold sight had noticed the morning of the second day of the wedding. A new little soul was attached to Kedva¡¯s belly, tucked alongside Kedva¡¯s own. Because of the mysteries of life and fetal development, the soul was the first part of a baby to come into being, during the physical and spiritual union of the parents. That was the only real way that a child could inherit traits from the parents¡¯ souls. Tala did not look closely to determine if the physical fertilization had occurred as of yet. She really, really didn¡¯t want to know. As to the baby: as expected, the new little one did not have a gate as neither of the parents had. But all of that was beside the point. With the registration at the City Administrative building, Brandon and Kedva were officially wed, bound down to their very souls in this life. * * * Tala and Rane traversed the lush, mid-summer wilds, heading toward Marliweather. They were bypassing Bandfast on the way there, but they planned to stop through and visit at least Lyn on their way back to Alefast, waning. The hope was to have a week in Marliweather with Nea¡ªTala¡¯s sister¡ªbefore her twelfth birthday and her final decision about whether or not to attend the Academy. Rane had been fully inscribed for the journey in order to ¡®not be a burden on the trip.¡¯ His magics were more effective than ever, even though he still didn¡¯t reach Refined ability or magical density. In truth, Tala was becoming a bit concerned about him. He seemed mostly recovered from his latest session Refining, but he had a sad look in his eyes whenever they were around Refined or Paragons. The fact that he¡¯d gotten inscribed was also concerning to Tala. Master Grediv¡ªfor his part¡ªseemed a bit¡­ off about the whole thing as well. The Paragon had gone out of his way in order to thank Tala for all her efforts. He¡¯d spoken as if the process was over. As if they¡¯d failed. Tala didn¡¯t think Rane had given up, but she also hadn¡¯t been through the Refining process alongside someone else before. She just didn¡¯t know enough to know whether or not she should be concerned. Rane¡¯s one month check in had happened just after Brandon and Kedva¡¯s wedding, and while he was given a clean bill of health, he wasn¡¯t given a definitive date on which he could undergo another session, if he so chose. The Healer had simply said, ¡®At least four months more.¡¯ As to Brandon, Kedva, and Adrill, they had all stayed in Alefast with Artia, allowing their magics to fade away in the lower-magic, city environment. They were all still working on the exercises that they could, even as Artia continued to pore through information as she worked toward mastering her own gate and magic. Master Simon and Mistress Petra were with Tala in Kit, obviously, as were their children Metti and Segis. They had asked the children¡¯s tutors to join them on the trip, and the two teachers had agreed for this singular trip. Thus, Tala had six gated humans within Kit, living in the mostly finished¡ªand mostly empty¡ªIrondale. The Zuccats had moved over to their home in Irondale, beneath the illusory sky, and the teachers each had a small place to live there as well. The artificial sun for Irondale had been delivered by the Constructionist Guild, but Master Simon hadn¡¯t gotten it fully integrated as of yet. He was still running tests, but that was fine with Tala. It gave the man something to be working on while they were out of Alefast, away from his assistants. All in all, it was shaping up to be an uneventful, relaxing trip. ¡­to see her family. ¡­with Rane. ¡­who might never Refine. Why couldn¡¯t things just be simple? For once? Chapter: 409 - We Will, I Will, I Wont Tala and Rane stopped atop a hill as soon as they came into sight of Marliweather. It was nearing midday, two days after they had left Alefast. The mining districts were still active, and still were marvelous to behold, out beyond even the farms. It had been an uneventful trip. They hadn¡¯t pressed to be quick, but they hadn¡¯t dawdled either. Rane had been less experimental in his movements, simply getting the job done, moving quickly and efficiently to traverse the terrain. Tala experimented a bit, but for the most part, she just kept near enough to him to keep an eye on him. At least, that¡¯s what she¡¯d done the first day. That night, he had been¡­ less than pleased. After a somewhat awkward¡ªif tasty¡ªdinner, he¡¯d glanced her way and sighed, ¡°Tala. Do you really have so little faith in me?¡± She had balked at the accusation, even though it had been stated quietly, almost as if he was more resigned to the fact than hurt by it. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know what I mean. Let¡¯s not pretend otherwise. You stayed within a few dozen yards of me all day.¡± She had shrugged in response. She hadn¡¯t tried to hide her actions. ¡°And?¡± ¡°You never have on any trip before when we¡¯ve traveled. So. Why do you no longer trust me?¡± ¡°I trust you. I just want to make sure you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Because I can¡¯t be trusted to look after or defend myself.¡± She had sighed. ¡°Rane. You are still recovering. You are on this trip because of me. There are things in the wilds that could easily threaten either of us. I prefer to be able to easily face them together, if they come up.¡± He¡¯d seemed mollified for the moment, but they hadn¡¯t talked much for the rest of that night. They hadn¡¯t talked much the following day either. She stayed close at hand, and he¡¯d resolutely avoided talking. The arrival of night hadn¡¯t changed the situation. All morning until they crested a rise and saw Marliweather was equally frustrating, equally silent. But as they looked down at the city from their little rise, Rane finally turned to her, ¡°Do you want me to find diversion in the city? I don¡¯t want to impose upon your time with your siblings.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°I invited you, Rane. It would be rather horrid of me to tell you to get lost for our time in Marliweather.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t really mind. It¡¯s not fun to travel alone, and I helped with that. Now, you¡¯re here, and I¡¯m superfluous. At best, I¡¯ll distract you from your family, which would sort of defeat the purpose of this trip. Honestly, I don¡¯t mind waiting in the wings until I¡¯m needed again.¡± She took a long moment. ¡°Rane?¡± He turned to face Marliweather once more. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He visibly swallowed. ¡°I¡­¡± Tala waited. She did so impatiently, but she did wait. He was being frustrating, but he was also going through a difficult time, and she wanted to be there for him. Rane looked down and shook his head slowly. She continued to wait. ¡°I can¡¯t do it.¡± Rane was practically whispering. Even so, the words were laden with emotion. She swallowed, but held her tongue. ¡°I can¡¯t do the final session, Tala. Even if I was sure that it would be the final session. I can¡¯t. I just¡­ can¡¯t¡­¡± Tala could see tears running down his cheeks. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he tensed momentarily before slumping, leaning her way. ¡°My path has been ended. I am broken, and I¡¯m not going to ever be better. The best I can hope for at this point is to be a supporting character in your story, a footnote on your start to eternity.¡± Tala squeezed lightly, feeling the terrible knots and tension in his muscles even with that simple action. He took a deep breath and forced himself to straighten. ¡°So, as a supporting character, I can wait in the wings until I¡¯m needed.¡± ¡°Rane¡­¡± She honestly didn¡¯t know what to say, but that worked out because he didn¡¯t let her continue. ¡°I don¡¯t want comfort right now, Tala. I don¡¯t want you to try to convince me that I¡¯m wrong. I don¡¯t want to talk about it at all. Even without Refining, I¡¯ve got at least hundreds of years. In fact, I¡¯m young enough that I¡¯ve likely a lot more. Maybe one day advancement will be open to me again.¡± It sounded like he said the last more for her benefit than because he actually believed it. He laughed self-deprecatingly. ¡°I might find a true need to be Refined, something that can overpower my brokenness. A miracle¡­¡± Tala¡¯s voice was soft when she asked, ¡°Why were you doing it up until now?¡± He stiffened again, then sighed. ¡°I suppose it doesn¡¯t really matter now. There¡¯s no reason not to tell you. I just didn¡¯t want to be left behind.¡± ¡°So¡­ now, you¡¯re offering to let me leave you behind?¡± He nodded slowly. ¡°It¡¯s the way of things. I¡¯ve been broken. I¡¯m a failure.¡± Tala moved forward, wrapping her arms partly around the massive man. ¡°Rane. I¡¯m not going to ¡®leave you behind.¡¯ I¡¯ve lived my adult life alone¡ªwhat little of it I¡¯ve actually lived¡ªand I¡¯m just barely starting to change that. Even so, I have so few relationships in this world, why would I leave one of my strongest ones behind?¡± He leaned his head sideways, laying it against the top of hers. They stayed like that for a long moment before she squeezed one last time and let go, stepping back. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you anywhere so long as I can help it.¡± He gave a half smile, tears still in his eyes as he wiped his face clear. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± She nodded once. ¡°Yeah, I suppose we will at that.¡± * * * Tala laughed with her sister as she threw Nea up into the air. The little girl squealed with delight as Tala radically reduced her effective gravity so she could get higher and stay longer at the top of the toss. This allowed Nea to almost float before she began to drift downward. To be safe, Tala didn¡¯t use very much force in the toss. After all, she wanted Nea to be able to come down safely even if she didn¡¯t catch her. Tala had been very careful with her throw overall, keeping the girl oriented up and down and not allowing her to spin too much. Still, her sister got a good view of the city from what would have otherwise been an entirely unsafe height. Rane was a little ways off in the park, playing a version of tag with her four other younger siblings¡ªOsip, Fedir, Olen, and Sella¡ªas well as three of the older¡ªMirro, Akli, and Mita. Terry was playing in the grass off to the side, occasionally giving Tala a grumpy stare. She¡¯d asked him to let the humans play for a bit before he came in and dominated their games. He¡¯d reluctantly agreed. Still, what Rane and the siblings were playing wasn¡¯t strictly tag because all of the children were ¡®it,¡¯ and all were working together to get Rane. Rane was still winning. His movements were quick and sure across the thick summer grass, beneath the late afternoon sun. Still, everyone was laughing as the children were piling over each other in their mad scrambles after the big man. So, he was managing to keep his victory the good sort of winning. It was the type of challenging play that inspired children to try harder, rather than making them feel like it was hopeless to even try, leading them to giving up. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Latna¡ªTala¡¯s eldest sister¡ªstood beside her as Tala waited to catch Nea when the little girl came back down. ¡°He¡¯s great with kids.¡± Tala looked toward Latna. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Master Rane. It seems like he¡¯s pretty great with kids.¡± Tala looked toward Rane unnecessarily. She could see him easily enough through her threefold sight. Still, it was expected. ¡°I suppose so, yeah.¡± Latna huffed before a small smile grew across her lips. ¡°So, when are you going to tell us?¡± Tala frowned then, glancing toward her sister. She kept her perception on Nea to be safe, but her mind was on Latna. ¡°Tell you what? What is it that I¡¯m supposed to be hiding?¡± ¡°That you¡¯re betrothed.¡± Tala felt her eye twitch. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Uh-huh. Right.¡± ¡°Really, Latna. I¡¯m not; we¡¯re not.¡± Latna shrugged. ¡°Fine, then. So, he¡¯s available? I¡¯d like to settle down with an Archon one day, and he¡¯s a good one from what I can see. I might have to spend some more time with him.¡± ¡°What? Are you serious?¡± Tala jerked her head so she could look at her eldest sister, aghast. The younger woman chuckled. ¡°No, not really, but I knew that would get your attention.¡± Latna smiled even as a bit of power rippled down her body, clearly mastering her physical reactions. She is learning quickly. -She does have a good teacher, it seems.- ¡°Does this have to do with your aim of becoming a Mage?¡± Latna smiled. ¡°Somewhat, yeah. Even if that is still quite far off.¡± ¡°So¡­?¡± Tala was quite grateful for the change of topic. She sighed. ¡°I have at least four or five years of hard work ahead of me to achieve my certification as a Mage. It¡¯s an odd thing to consider, but four or five years is hardly any time at all, even if I never achieve the rank of Archon.¡± She gave Tala a sideways glance. ¡°Any interest in telling me what that entails?¡± Tala huffed a laugh and shook her head. ¡°Not a chance.¡± ¡°I thought not.¡± Tala found that she was genuinely curious, so after a moment¡¯s silence she asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°About becoming a Mage? Yes. About pursuing Master Rane? No, not at all. He is a good man.¡± Latna moved her head to indicate the playing group. ¡°Unfortunately, he isn¡¯t really on a path I¡¯d be interested in walking.¡± Tala gave her sister a flat look, not amused. ¡°What path would that be?¡± Latna raised one eyebrow. ¡°Violence, of course. Fighting to bring down the enemies of humanity. I prefer Master Leighis''s approach, healing the injured, keeping the Mages and mundanes going as best as we can.¡± That was a bit oversimplified of a view of what they did, but it was true enough. Tala and Rane were on a violent path, assuming Rane didn¡¯t step away from that responsibility, too. Alat grunted within Tala¡¯s head but didn¡¯t say anything. Tala helped Nea land, the girl giggling and laughing. ¡°Again!¡± Tala smiled, making sure her sister¡¯s foot didn¡¯t touch the ground and break that working. Then, she braced and repeated the process, sending Nea flying up once more with a controlled, powerful shove. She watched long enough to make sure that Nea was moving as expected, before turning back to Latna. ¡°Rane and I are just friends.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m aware that you aren¡¯t married, betrothed, or courting. Everyone is aware of that.¡± She gave Tala a meaningful look. ¡°I was talking about whether or not I would pursue him, given the fact that you aren¡¯t.¡± Tala closed her eyes and counted to ten¡­ slowly. ¡°Please, Latna? Can you be serious for a moment?¡± Her sister shrugged. ¡°I am being serious. Master Rane would be a fantastic catch. Someone will take him as husband sooner rather than later.¡± Latna gave Tala a meaningful look. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m asking about.¡± Tala didn¡¯t understand what that meaning was supposed to be, so she just frowned. ¡°So¡­?¡± ¡°So, when are you going to tell us that you¡¯ve opened your eyes and that the two of you are betrothed.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°You¡¯re incorrigible.¡± Her sister shrugged. ¡°We need more people. Humanity as a whole is beating back the wilds, conquering our little part of the world. It¡¯s reasonable to ask.¡± ¡°Like asking me when I¡¯m going to eat next?¡± She grinned, then shrugged again. ¡°In essence, yes. Everyone marries eventually.¡± That made Tala frown. Was that true? She knew that she¡¯d believed that when she was younger, but she¡¯d honestly not thought much about it recently. -Essentially, yes. While it doesn¡¯t seem to be that way for humans in the arcane lands, the statistical analysis is a little deceptive.- How so? -Well, I could say that everyone either marries, or dies before they could get married.- Tala smiled internally at that. Ahh, I see. So, it¡¯s a truth, but a trivial truth. -Yes, but even so, the vast majority of people who survive to their thirties get married. It is to the point that it¡¯s noticeably odd if a mundane reaches thirty and isn¡¯t married. For Mages, that age of ¡®so many it¡¯s essentially everyone¡¯ seems to be closer to sixty.- What about Archons? Tala hesitated. Wait¡­ I know that one already. Most people don¡¯t become Archons until their sixties or even later. -Yup, you got it in one.- Fascinating. -So it seems. Humanity advances more efficiently as a group, and that seems to translate down to the smaller scale too. Couples are better at advancing, in general, than individuals¡­ Well, that¡¯s a retrospective look. A ready explanation could be that those who end up married at one point in their life have a higher chance of reaching the upper ranks than those who never marry.- Huh¡­ She¡¯d noticed that most everyone she knew at her advancement level or higher either was married or had been married. -Yes, you are the odd one.- Wait¡­ Master Jevin? -Yes, he is the most notable exception. I cannot find public record of anyone advancing to Paragon or beyond without being married at one point or another, save him. Though, to be fair, most of those Paragon and beyond are reclusive enough that we might not know it. Suffice it to say, the vast majority of Archons marry before becoming too old or advanced. The ones that don''t would most likely tend to be hermits, married to their work.- Mistress Noelle. -Possibly.- Master Nadro? -He was married in the distant past. You know that. He¡¯s talked about his children.- Right. I wasn¡¯t thinking. -It¡¯s fine. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. Please don¡¯t misunderstand. Many Paragons are not married, not now.- Tala almost asked how that could be, but the answer struck her just as quickly. Many have married and their spouse is dead. -Yes.- So. We are a broken race, ruled and guarded by broken people. -One and all. Maybe you should make your eternal goal to fix that?- Tala snorted a scoffing laugh then turned her attention back to Latna, her smile fading a bit, ¡°Honestly¡­ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m going to live a long time now.¡± ¡°All the more reason to have your kids and get on to the grandkids.¡± Latna grinned. ¡°Longer lived just means longer to enjoy the best parts of life. For you, if that¡¯s having a baby, then spread out your kids, have one a decade for¡­ as long as you want, really. If it¡¯s grandkids? Have a passel of kids and get them raised quick. The grandkids will come faster then. If it¡¯s nothing to do with kids? Then have them early and move on.¡± Tala huffed. That was the drum beat of their culture, of their civilization. It was the only reason why gated humanity was scrambling a growing population out of the constant death. Latna wasn¡¯t saying anything that both of them hadn¡¯t heard a dozen times. She wasn¡¯t even saying anything that Tala strictly disagreed with. Tala wanted children. She always had really, but at the moment, she felt like she liked the idea of children far more than she¡¯d like the actuality. Latna seemed to actually be considering, though, so Tala didn¡¯t respond. Finally, Tala¡¯s sister gave a slow nod. ¡°I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter as much for a Mage, does it? There certainly isn¡¯t a rush age-wise for you, and there likely won¡¯t be for me. But you''re still on a clock, Tala, even if not a biological one.¡± Tala felt herself smile. ¡°This I have to hear.¡± Latna was smiling. ¡°As impressive as you are¡ªand now that I¡¯ve seen some of your Defender fights I will admit that you are impressive¡ªyou won¡¯t live forever. No human ever has.¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°You¡¯ve seen my fights?¡± ¡°Of course. Master Leighis believes it¡¯s good for Mages in training to understand the realities of the world we¡¯re stepping into.¡± She grunted at that. ¡°I suppose so. Regardless. Right now? I feel like I do more to make our world better where I am.¡± ¡°I hear you, and I don¡¯t disagree, but don¡¯t forget one important thing.¡± ¡°Do tell.¡± Tala found herself smiling. ¡°What¡¯s the point if we don¡¯t have a next generation to hand all of this down to?¡± She looked at her siblings. ¡°I can say that that¡¯s one of the best things our parents did. I can¡¯t imagine life without all the little ones.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no argument from me, there.¡± She sighed. ¡°I think you''re approaching this with a false assumption, Latna?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I want kids. I always have, really. I haven¡¯t wanted to give birth to them in that moment, but I¡¯ve always seen myself as having kids, eventually.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It would be hard to not consider them. You and our siblings were among the best parts of growing up. Our father was amazing before¡­ but it was still you all that made home¡­ home.¡± Latna smiled. ¡°So? Why not him? Do you think someone better is going to come along?¡± Tala sighed, letting her threefold sight move back toward Rane. ¡°It''s not that, Latna.¡± ¡°Marriage just isn¡¯t for you? Some few people feel that way, I suppose.¡± Tala grimaced at that. ¡°It¡¯s not that either.¡± The younger woman turned to Tala, an eyebrow raised. ¡°Then what is it?¡± Tala¡¯s grimace grew. Latna sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you to go marry Master Rane and get pregnant tonight, Tala. I¡¯m telling you to look around you. Find what needs doing. Find joy doing what needs to be done. Find companionship. Find a partner. Grow together. Become better together.¡± Tala felt herself smiling at the clear platitudes that the girl was spouting. Latna grinned in turn. ¡°Sure, it¡¯s trite, and ¡®common wisdom,¡¯ but doesn¡¯t that make it more true, not less?¡± She reached out and placed her hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I know I¡¯m your little sister, and you probably don¡¯t have any interest in hearing any of this from anyone, let alone me. I¡¯m worried about you, Tala. It was Master Rane who told us about your disappearance, and who told us to not write you off as dead. I know he did something, even if I have no idea what. He had that look in his eyes. Like a healer who sees a patient that they know they can save.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m really not interested in hearing this¡­¡± Still, she sighed. ¡°It is common wisdom for a reason. It is worth considering, even if it isn¡¯t true in every case.¡± Latna held up a finger and gave a mischievous smile. ¡°A fool finds a fence, sees no purpose, and tears it down. A wise woman finds a fence, sees no purpose, and leaves it be until she understands what it was meant to do.¡± ¡°And that was supposed to mean¡­?¡± Latna shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve never ¡®found¡¯ a fence, myself, so it likely doesn¡¯t apply.¡± They both laughed at the ridiculousness of that. Nea landed beside them with a little oof. ¡°Hey! You didn¡¯t catch me.¡± Tala turned to her, a broad grin back on her lips. ¡°And you¡¯re fine.¡± The little girl growled and tried to tackle Tala, to no avail. Latna spoke softly one last time, ¡°I¡¯m glad that you are considering children, Tala, even if they¡¯ll come far in the future. You always have been a motherly one, and good at it, too. Humanity would have been worse off if you never let that part of you shine.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°That is kind of you to say.¡± Latna waved and turned to walk away. After a few paces, she hesitated and glanced back to say one last thing, ¡°Sometimes we cannot see the value of what is before us until it is gone.¡± Her eyes flicked toward Rane once more before she gave a parting smile. ¡°Think on it, at least. Please?¡± Tala didn¡¯t think that she was ready, and Rane said that he was fine as they were. She didn¡¯t think her own thoughts on the matter had changed. Have they changed? She wasn¡¯t a new Mage, flailing for any scrap of control over her own life. She had a large amount of authority, and she was essentially beholden to no one. Maybe¡­ After a long moment, Tala nodded. ¡°I will.¡± Chapter: 410 - The Truth of Choice Tala, Rane, Latna, and Master Leighis all sat with Nea, finishing up their tea. The little girl was looking down at her hands, clearly a bit uncertain about sharing her choice, but resolute all the same. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a Mage.¡± Everyone remained silent, awaiting her next words. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching the fights around Alefast waning¡­ those monsters are so scary.¡± ¡°Nea.¡± Latna chastised. ¡°You know you aren¡¯t allowed to¡ª¡± ¡°I know, Lat, but I did anyway. I don¡¯t want to be a part of that world. I want a normal life. I don¡¯t want to deal with magic.¡± Master Leighis cleared his throat. ¡°Most Mages never fight such creatures, Nea.¡± The little girl shook her head. ¡°I know, but they face other things.¡± ¡°They do, at times, but no more than any mundane will. Mages are just better prepared.¡± Nea raised an eyebrow, the gesture so like when Latna did it. ¡°So, it¡¯s less dangerous to be a Mage?¡± The little girl¡¯s eyes were filled with an intelligent intensity. She knew the answer. Tala sighed, taking up the answer, ¡°Statistically, no. If you include all Mages and all mundanes in a non-waning city, Mages die¡­ less pleasantly, even though they live longer, on average.¡± ¡°So, a shorter, peaceful life, or a longer one with a worse end.¡± ¡°Not necessarily.¡± ¡°But on average?¡± Tala hesitated, then nodded. ¡°In your situation, here in Marliweather, yes.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ve made my choice.¡± The group sitting with her were clearly of mixed opinions about the choice, but it wasn¡¯t really any of their places to try to change the girl¡¯s mind. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°I know we don¡¯t know each other well, and I¡¯m not interested in changing your mind, but if you have any question, you can ask. I¡¯ll give you a straight answer. That¡¯s one reason why we¡¯re here, so that you can ask us any questions. You haven¡¯t really done that.¡± Nea seemed to consider that. ¡°Fine.¡± She put on a pretend interested face. ¡°Are you glad that you became a Mage?¡± He gave a small smile. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did you like your time at the Academy?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t go.¡± That seemed to catch the girl off guard. Her next question seemed far more genuine. ¡°Do¡­ Do you wish that you had?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Yes and no. I think it would have been easier, but I wouldn¡¯t be who I am today if I had.¡± He glanced toward Tala. ¡°I probably wouldn¡¯t have met your sister, not in the same way, if I had.¡± Nea was frowning deeply, then. ¡°Would you go if you were me?¡± He shook his head. ¡°That is your choice, Nea. I¡¯ve already said that my aim isn¡¯t to change your mind. I won¡¯t make the choice for you.¡± She sighed looking at everyone sitting with her. ¡°I appreciate the honesty, and I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m disappointing you, but I won¡¯t be going.¡± * * * Tala almost tripped. Worse, she almost allowed one of her six intermixed, interweaving void-iron shapes to pop. Rane noticed and stopped beside her. He was being exceptionally attentive after Nea¡¯s decision the day before. They¡¯d planned to leave when Nea did, but when she didn¡¯t leave¡­ well, they hadn¡¯t wanted to depart right after that revelation. Tala felt like doing so would have seemed like they were leaving because of the girl¡¯s decision. So, they¡¯d stayed an extra day, and Rane had been a bit¡­ overbearing during that time. To be fair, Tala now understood why he¡¯d been so irritated at her on their way to Marliweather, but she still didn¡¯t enjoy it. Regardless, they¡¯d been walking away from Tala¡¯s siblings¡¯ home to find a place to anchor Kit for the evening, and his careful attention had ensured that he noticed her sudden hesitancy. ¡°Tala?¡± ¡°One moment, Rane.¡± She held up a finger. Say that again. -I found him. The fire Mage that you saw become a fount.- That had been more than a year earlier. Alat had been combing through the Archive for any publicly available information that could lead them back to the man whom they¡¯d seen. Finally, Alat had fallen back on querying the guilds for access to their member lists, and then customer lists, seeking any fire Mage and then hunting down visual records of those. It seems that that had finally borne fruit. Who was he? -Master Iazo. He had two children before his wife died to a magical creature. His daughter¡­ does not seem to still be alive. His son. Oh¡­- Alat made a sad sound within Tala¡¯s head. -Tragedy seems to follow this family. His son¡¯s wife died after they¡¯d only had two children as well. Those two children are still younger than ten.- Wait¡­ the picture we found. It was filled with people, filled with lots of young children. Weren¡¯t they Master Iazo¡¯s family? -It seems like they must have been extended family and the family of their employees. Apparently, their family business is rather popular, and so they have a large cadre of families working with them.- Tala grunted at that. What¡¯s the son¡¯s name? -Master Okuz.- Where is he now? -He runs the family business now with his uncle Hori. It¡¯s a tea shop here in Marliweather.- Tala looked toward Rane. ¡°Alat found the fire Mage¡¯s family.¡± Rane¡¯s eyes widened, instantly knowing whom she was referring to. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°A tea shop in this city.¡± ¡°Are they open, now?¡± -Yes.- ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you want to go alone?¡± Tala hesitated, then shook her head. ¡°No. Let¡¯s head there now.¡± It was in the inner ring so it didn¡¯t take too long to get there from where they started. Tala stood outside, looking up at the sign. ¡°The Jasmine Dragon.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°It looks popular.¡± ¡°That it does.¡± It was a beautifully laid out building, set among sipping gardens, each with their own sequestered tables. It reminded her of a new, slightly less established version of the teahouse in Alefast. I suppose it couldn¡¯t be as old, given that this Marliweather is only eighty years old or so. There was a large waitstaff moving about smoothly, greeting customers as they came, seeing departing customers out, and bearing tea and baked goods throughout the business. Prominently featured within the foyer of the teahouse were several large portraits, seemingly of notable, beloved family members who had passed. Near the top of the wall was a depiction of Master Iazo. ¡°That¡¯s him.¡± Tala nodded to herself now that she had that confirmation. The two walked in and were immediately greeted by a reasonably attractive young woman, bowing, ¡°Mistress, Master, welcome to the Jasmine Dragon. What can we do for you, today?¡± ¡°I am looking to speak to the proprietors. Are either Master Ukoz or Hori in?¡± Alat had informed her that both were Mages, but not currently working in any official capacity. ¡°Oh! Certainly. I will see what I can do. Can I get you some tea while you wait? It is a rather busy evening.¡± Tala looked toward Rane, who shrugged. Tala smiled at the young woman. ¡°That would be lovely. Whatever you recommend would be acceptable.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She bowed once again. ¡°Very good, Mistress. Right this way.¡± They were led into a nicely appointed, private sitting room. Tala and Rane positioned themselves on the same side of the large, low table. It seemed sized for between eight and ten people to be able to use it comfortably. Tala and Rane knelt on the cushioned mats, Rane having left his shoes at the door to the room. Less than a minute later, their server returned with tea. ¡°The Masters will be with you shortly. You had good timing, and they are both available for the next few minutes.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± They accepted the tea and drank deeply. It was the perfect temperature and wonderfully flavored. Tala smiled. ¡°This is excellent, thank you.¡± The woman bowed. ¡°It is our blessing to serve, Mistress. Can I get you anything else?¡± ¡°Could we get a small bowl for a companion of mine?¡± She hesitated, then nodded, returning after a bare handful of seconds. During that time, Tala opened an entrance into Kit and invited Terry out. The little terror bird trilled a greeting when the attendant came back in. To the woman¡¯s credit, she didn¡¯t seem overly startled by the appearance of Terry. She simply poured some tea for him in the bowl and bowed again. ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Tala smiled. ¡°No, thank you.¡± ¡°Very well, ring for me if you change your mind.¡± The servant left a small jade bell on the table between them. Tala saw magical potential in it, in a way that she doubted she could have without her threefold sight. There was a miniscule harvest within the clapper and a spellform across the inside of the body of the bell. It must create a sort of magical induction when rung. That¡¯s fascinating. She had never delved into the myriad depths of the Constructionist arts, and times like this showed her just how varied those truly were. Before she could get truly distracted, Terry had taken a deep pull of his tea. He tilted his beak back and chirped happily before flickering to her shoulder and nuzzling into sleep. Terry had played hard with the children the last few days, only taking a few breaks at Tala¡¯s insistence, and the avian seemed rather tired after the efforts. After Terry had snuggled in, the door to the room slid open once more and an older, rather rotund man walked in, followed closely by a young man who fit the more traditional build of a Mage. Tala almost laughed. Her threefold sight showed that the older man was, in fact, in better shape and more muscular than the younger, but he kept cloth packed around his torso to affect the larger, more affable shape. They both seemed to be Mages focusing around fire and heat. There might have been inscriptions for lightning manipulation as well, but she wasn¡¯t quite sure, and she didn¡¯t want to be rude by delving too deeply. The younger was clearly still unbound, but the older¡­ Tala couldn¡¯t actually tell, and that was odd, if not unusual of late. Paragon? -Maybe? Or just skilled at hiding his aura.- There was no opposition to her sight, but she simply saw no aura. That should have made it obvious that he was unbound, but that didn¡¯t seem right. Despite herself she delved a bit deeper. Aside from the severed soulbonds¡ªat least one of which had seemingly connected the man to his now deceased wife¡ªshe thought he was bound to¡­ something else. Still, she was getting distracted. She turned her attention to the other Mage. The younger¡¯s inscriptions were incredibly intricate and well-developed for someone not at the Archon levels of advancement, but it became obvious why, as soon as she saw the commonalities between the magic of the two men. Family inscriptions? -It¡¯s rare, but not that unusual. Some families have taken generations perfecting the set of powers that mesh best and the techniques to train them to the best effect.- Huh. That¡¯s actually¡­ pretty interesting. She suddenly had the image of a bunch of little ones rampaging through her sanctum, armored against damage with her scripts and causing chaos with gravity and kinetic magic. She hesitated, pulling herself out of her contemplations. Where did that come from? Alat didn¡¯t say anything, and Tala didn¡¯t have time to think deeper about whatever it might mean. She and Rane stood as was proper to greet their hosts and gave slight bows toward the men. The two men bowed, the older man speaking. ¡°I am Hori, and this is my nephew Okuz. How can we assist you?¡± Tala gave a sad smile. ¡°I am Tala, and this is my companion, Rane.¡± She motioned to the table, and the tea that was set out. ¡°Can we sit?¡± Master Hori nodded, and the four of them settled down upon the padded floor. Master Okuz seemed a bit less patient than his uncle. ¡°My apologies, Mistress Tala, but what can we do for you? We are rather busy.¡± ¡°Okuz,¡± his uncle chastised, ¡°They are our guests. We can keep them company until their business comes to light.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I am here about your father, Master Okuz, and your brother, Master Hori.¡± Master Hori¡¯s face became stoic, and Master Okuz reddened. ¡°What of my father?¡± ¡°I¡­ I was with him when he passed from this world.¡± The two shared a look. Master Hori cleared his throat. ¡°So, he is gone? This isn¡¯t a roundabout way of saying he¡¯s still alive?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry. I simply wished to let you know that when he passed, he was holding a picture of his family, one with a note on the back. I apologize, but the item was lost. Even so, I wanted you to know his fate for certain, and that he had you on his mind when it happened.¡± Master Okuz wiped a tear from his eye before it could fall, putting a smile on. ¡°When might this have been?¡± ¡°It was more than a year ago. I apologize that it took me so long to track you down.¡± The young man bowed his thanks and excused himself. Master Hori sighed, having watched his nephew leave before turning to look to Tala, consideringly. ¡°If I may ask, why did you track us down? I assume you found him becoming a fount?¡± So, either an Archon or forbidden. ¡°Yes, I did. I am here because I promised that I would come. It might have been a foolish promise, made to a man who couldn¡¯t truly hear me, but I try to honor my word.¡± The older man nodded. ¡°Thank you for that. I mourn my brother¡¯s fate, but he was always a bit too obsessed with power to become an Archon.¡± ¡°Are you¡­?¡± Master Hori smiled. ¡°I am an Archon, yes. I am here to draw my nephew in the right direction. There is much of his father in him, both the good and the bad. I am trying to nurture the good. I failed with my younger brother; I do not wish to let his son down as well.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking¡­?¡± Master Hori waved for her to continue. ¡°He seems much younger than you or your brother.¡± The older man smiled. ¡°My brother was¡­ much younger than I. And he continued the tradition of having his children later in life. With my wife gone and children likewise beyond Zeme, I am free to pursue the family business and work with my nephew in his pursuits.¡± Rane spoke then. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear about your family.¡± Master Hori waved a hand. ¡°It is not as I¡¯d have wished, but it is the way of this world. We fight, we die. We strive and scrape for every scrap, and then we die. If I thought I could bear another bond, I¡¯d likely remarry and fill this city with children, but my soul is too old, too brittle. I am content in my choices.¡± Tala could see the man¡¯s soul, and it looked vibrant enough to her, even if she couldn¡¯t see an aura or coloration to it. To be fair, however, she could see what seemed to be the remnants of quite a few shattered soulbonds, five if her count was right. Souls were hard to truly see, soulbonds more so. Regardless, the broken bonds represented a depth of suffering that she couldn¡¯t fathom. He must have guessed something of what she could see, based on his next words, ¡°So, your sight can see soulbonds, then?¡± She shrugged, a bit uncomfortably. ¡°Yes and no. I can see connections and broken connections. It is something I am striving to improve.¡± He nodded. ¡°That is laudable. One should always be improving in some regard.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Thank you for your time, Master Hori. We have already imposed upon you quite a bit.¡± As she moved to stand, however, he waved her and Rane back down. ¡°Nonsense. Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life¡¯s true delights.¡± Rane grinned at that. ¡°A good conversation is a pleasure all its own.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The older man bowed his head in acknowledgment toward Rane. ¡°Now, my fascinating strangers, may I ask a¡­ probing question?¡± Rane nodded, still smiling. Tala did as well but more hesitantly. It was odd. The man gave off a grandfatherly air that made her wary even as it made her want to open up to him. He just seemed so affable and open in his own right that it only seemed reasonable to return the attitude in kind. ¡°There seems to be a great burden upon you both. What is troubling you?¡± He poured them more tea. Tala frowned, then. ¡°We don¡¯t want to burden you with our ills. We came to deliver hard news, not to seek help for¡­ anything.¡± Rane slumped a little, clearly reminded of his own struggles as he took up his teacup and sipped carefully. Master Hori shook his head and smiled, ¡°There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you, help you.¡± He hesitated a moment, tilting his head to one side before continuing, ¡°Not that I love you. After all, I just met you.¡± Tala felt herself smile at that, and she glanced to Rane. He was already looking her way. ¡°I don¡¯t know if¡±¡ªhis eyes flicked toward Master Hori¡ª¡°it would be allowed.¡± Rane was clearly asking if she could see the man¡¯s aura, and if he was Refined already. It would be poor repayment for the man¡¯s hospitality to cripple a future attempt at Refining. Tala sighed. ¡°I am afraid that I must ask a slightly impolite question, if you wish us to answer you.¡± Master Hori nodded once. ¡°Your aura is hidden, so I assume you do not wish it to be known, but the issue is¡­ advancement sensitive. May we ask what advancement you have achieved?¡± The man straightened, pulling back just slightly in realization for a moment before nodding. ¡°Refining, then.¡± Well, that answered the question without answering the question. Rane nodded, seemingly relieved to be able to say, ¡°I have¡­ failed.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The man¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°I sense no cracks in your gate, no barbs within your flesh, nor compulsions within your mind.¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°No. I just¡­ I can¡¯t finish.¡± ¡°Ahh, I see. There is a misunderstanding.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°You have chosen to end your advancement.¡± Rane bristled, and Tala almost interjected, but Alat spoke within her mind. -Wait. See where this goes. Master Nadro¡¯s isn¡¯t the only way, and we can interject if required.- Rane practically growled. ¡°I cannot continue. I am not up to the task.¡± ¡°No, my dear boy.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°You are choosing not to continue.¡± He then held up his hands to forestall any reply. ¡°I am not saying you chose poorly. I am also not saying that you are weak for your choice. But we must see things as they are, if we are to live with any sort of contentment. You cannot let pride blind you to the truth of your choice.¡± Rane hung his head, turning a deep red. ¡°I have no pride left, Master Hori. I am drowning in the shame of my failure.¡± The old man sighed, refilling Rane¡¯s cup. ¡°Master Rane.¡± Finally, after a long moment, Rane glanced up. Only then did Master Hori continue, ¡°Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source.¡± The younger man rocked back at the words, almost as if struck. ¡°I am speaking where my thoughts were not asked, but I will say this last thing. A choice to stop your Refinement can be the right choice for you, but it is a choice, and choices can be changed at need. If you have been forced to stop, then no matter what comes, you are trapped.¡± He smiled, lifting his own tea cup in a salute. ¡°You are not trapped. You have the freedom to make the choice you think best. Do not let your pride blind you to the freedom you still have.¡± His eyes turned toward Tala, and Tala held up her hands. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think I can take hard truths, Master Hori.¡± The old man laughed, a deep, rolling belly laugh. ¡°Oh, Mistress Tala. I am but an old man who loves his tea. My words come from years on Zeme, but it is up to you to decide if they hold any truth.¡± She smiled at that. ¡°All the same.¡± He raised his cup toward her as well. ¡°As you wish. Would you, then, humor an old man with an inquiry?¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°Master Hori?¡± ¡°I must confess that I recognized you as soon as I saw you from the Defender battles out of Alefast and from a few of your memories from your trip to the south.¡± She considered, what sort of memories might interest such a man. Ah. ¡°The House of the Eternal Fires Within?¡± ¡°I purchased those few memories, among a few others.¡± She hesitated a moment before asking, ¡°What would you have me tell?¡± His smile broadened. ¡°How do they make tea in the arcane lands?¡± Tala blinked a few times, taking a moment to process that. Then, she barked a laugh before quickly covering her mouth. ¡°Master Hori? It would be my pleasure.¡± Chapter: 411 - Let’s Do This Tala and Rane ran through the lush wilderness toward Bandfast. Traveling in the summer was so different from the winter, and it wasn¡¯t only because the pervading color was green instead of white. The trees being full of leaves meant that lines of sight were changed, as even her threefold sight flattened out to the superficial at any sort of range. Thankfully, there were never enough trees close together to constitute a forest, so it wasn¡¯t too much of an issue. Additionally, they were still able to sense large sources of power and avoid them, but it made for a more tense traveling experience. Even so, as she traveled with Rane on this leg, she was careful not to hover, even while keeping an eye on him with her threefold sight. He, in turn, didn¡¯t purposely try to put distance between them that she would have to cover quickly in order to keep close enough for emergencies. When they stopped at midday, Tala produced the spread of food prepared by Mistress Petra, and the two Archons lounged in the tall grass of the rolling plains, beneath a lone tree. Rane and Tala chatted over the food, and the man seemed to have a bit more life in him than before. After they¡¯d finished the spread, they were taking a moment to simply enjoy the little spot that Tala had found for them to eat their fill. Terry was splayed out on a nearby boulder, catching the few beams of sunlight that came through the summer foliage. Tala glanced Rane¡¯s way, taking in the contented smile he wore below closed eyes as he enjoyed a moment of silence in the shade. She almost decided not to disturb him, but he cracked an eye and looked her way. ¡°What?¡± She quirked a smile. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You were staring.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He smiled. ¡°Now, what were you thinking?¡± She shrugged. ¡°How are you doing?¡± He shrugged in turn. ¡°Well enough. How are you? Your sister basically rejected your entire way of life.¡± ¡°Eh. Not really? She just decided it wasn¡¯t for her¡­¡± Tala sighed. ¡°That does mean that she¡­¡± she swallowed. ¡°She won¡¯t have as long a life as she could have, but that is her choice to make.¡± He sighed and nodded. ¡°Yeah. We each have our own path.¡± Tala opened her mouth to ask him about his own path, but she stopped herself. He had already deflected once, and she didn¡¯t want to be pushy. Instead, they finished their rest in silence before continuing on. Terry alternated between running and flickering across the plains, riding on Tala¡¯s shoulder, or riding in Kit. As such, it was a rather easy trip from Marliweather to Bandfast. * * * Tala and Rane spent a couple of days in Bandfast catching up with their friends and acquaintances there. Master Cazor did not spar with Tala, though he and Rane had a few fun matches. Rane¡¯s partially Refined nature helped him edge out victory more often than the last time they¡¯d fought, but it still wasn¡¯t a clean sweep. Master Cazor had been continuing his specific training to combat Mages of all stripes, and Rane still mainly trained to fight magical creatures. That difference¡ªby its very nature¡ªgave the less advanced Archon his own edge. Mistress Aproa was out on a caravan run, so they didn¡¯t get to see her, but most everyone else was around. Tala almost dropped through to say hi to master Lisa and ask him about the magic-dimension squid horrors. She really should have asked him about those before, there had just been so much else going on that it hadn¡¯t come up. Regardless, the option was taken from her this time around because the store was locked when she went by. She didn¡¯t know if that was because the fox-man was out, or if he¡¯d seen her coming and locked the door. Regardless of why, she wasn¡¯t going to be able to enter without either physically or magically kicking down the door. So, she let the idea go. Tala briefly dropped by Mistress Holly¡¯s workshop, and the woman took some time to sit down to enjoy coffee and scones with Tala and Rane. Mistress Holly initially gave Rane a rather intense look, but didn¡¯t actually say anything to him in the end. She did mutter something under her breath that Rane couldn¡¯t have heard. Tala, herself, only barely caught it. ¡°Good, someone else already slapped some sense into you.¡± Beyond that, Mistress Holly was a busy woman, and they didn¡¯t take too much more of her time. While in the city, they stayed with Lyn and Kannis, using Lyn¡¯s house as a convenient spot for Kit¡¯s door to manifest. Whenever the two women weren¡¯t working, they spent time with Rane and Tala, eating, chatting, or playing some newer strategy games. One was an odd variant of tafl that had been designed to be played by four players. It was a bit awkward to learn initially, but that was mainly because it was so alien from the way Rane and Tala had been playing the game. Even so, in the end, they decided to have a board commissioned for their use back in Alefast. All told, there was little of note in the city, and after those two days, Rane and Tala headed back home, back to Alefast. * * * Back in Alefast, Tala and Rane fell back into their common routines. They trained, socialized, played tafl, caught plays when they could, and just lived life, seeing each other more often than not. Tala didn¡¯t have to leave the city for missions very often as it seemed like the number of cells bubbling up had lessened. Even so, the number of magical creatures attacking the walls was continuing apace, so she and her unit were fighting more often over all. Brandon and Kedva officially moved into Kit¡ªinto a house just on the edge of Irondale to be specific¡ªand they settled in to be permanent fixtures of the place. Kedva helped Mistress Petra as well as worked to improve various parts of the sanctum. She wasn¡¯t showing yet, but as many first-time mothers, she was being careful with almost every action. Healers were being consulted on the repercussions of the increased magic density, and Kedva, herself, had come down from the increased power until several healers were able to verify that her magics wouldn¡¯t harm the baby in the slightest. They would have to be factored in at the birth, but the general recommendation was that she allow them to fade before going into labor regardless. Brandon settled in as a full-time assistant to Master Simon. Tala found herself paying them, somehow, even though she didn¡¯t ever actually agree to any such thing officially. Still, they were helpful, and they did good work, so she didn¡¯t mind much. It was because of their joining her workforce that Tala found herself within her sanctum on her first day fully off since her return to Alefast. She stood beside her sparring ring, amplifying the gravitational attraction of the reality nodes toward one another. Master Simon and Brandon were continuing to monitor what her magics were doing, even though, from what she could see, she was doing nothing. That¡¯s why I have them, I suppose. -Yes, more specific sensing magics¡ªand more minds to comb through the data¡ªare quite useful.- Moreover, it gave her more time to read. That was precisely what she was doing, sitting back outside the ring as her magics continued to work and as the men monitored those magics. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. -Why are we here? We can keep these magics going from anywhere near to Kit.- Where else would we be? Rane is getting some one-on-one training with a weapon master and as fun as that is to watch, I have some reading that I¡¯ve been meaning to catch up on. -Well¡­ that¡¯s fair.- Tala had read through four books¡ªas well as eating both lunch and dinner¡ªbefore Master Simon finally sighed. He walked over to where she was sitting, Brandon at his side. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mistress Tala, but it seems like it doesn¡¯t matter how much we increase gravitational attraction between reality nodes, nothing really seems to come from¡­that¡­¡± Behind him, the air above the sparring ring rippled. The Archive slate in his hand shifted, its pigment becoming entirely dark red before flipping back to displaying the various readings. It alternated back and forth in what was clearly a bid to grab the man¡¯s attention. Tala was standing an instant later, even as Master Simon and Brandon spun around. She had not stopped her amplification, and at this point, the multiplier of the gravitational constant for this particular interaction was so absurd as to be almost comical. There was an audible crack, and Tala watched the reality nodes merge into one. At the same time, Tala watched all of the void that had been within the sparring ring¡ªbetween reality nodes¡ªripple outward, pushed to the edges of the sphere that she¡¯d been acting upon. Somehow the infinite void that already existed at that delineation grew more distinct. The sparring arena was somehow more separate from her sanctum than anything else. It felt even more separated than the superficial was, even if that made no sense at all. Yet, Tala could still see it with her mundane eyes as well as her threefold sight. It was also still within her authority, still within Kit. There, at the same time, was an uncrossable void and no gap at all. She stopped increasing the amplification but kept hold of the magics. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Master Simon?¡± He was manipulating his Archive slate in a frenzy. Brandon, beside him, was doing much the same. Finally, he shook his head in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s obviously a bit more stable and should be more resilient to magical abrasion, but beyond that? I have no idea.¡± * * * An hour later, the state of the sparring circle hadn¡¯t changed, and Master Grediv was staring at it intently. The Paragon turned to speak to Tala, Master Simon, Brandon, and the few Constructionists that Master Grediv had brought with him. ¡°This somehow crossed the barrier into a conceptual working, or it might as well have.¡± There were several intakes of breath, many eyes glancing toward Tala. ¡°In some stars¡ªas well as black holes and similar phenomena¡ªthe separation between things¡ªthe void that makes up the bulk of the volume of normal matter¡ªis crushed away. You have done something similar, but without affecting the matter involved at all.¡± Tala frowned, and when he noticed her clear lack of understanding, he continued. ¡°You compressed the reality nodes to the point that the distinction between the various parts was meaningless.¡± She nodded, then, slowly. ¡°But that separation was more conceptual than actual.¡± ¡°And that conceptual separation is now gone. If you are willing, I have a few elementally specialized Mages here. May we test some things? Will you allow their auras and magic to work within this space?¡± The researchers gave her searching looks at that question, but they didn¡¯t say anything. Tala considered a moment before nodding, pulling her aura back out of the space, and relaxing her hold on that portion of her sanctum. Master Grediv turned and motioned to a woman on the far side of the group. Tala watched inscriptions light up, magic blazing through her as she reached and seized some of the rock within the sparring circle. Well, that seemed like what she tried to do at the very least. The Mage¡¯s eyes widened, and her nostrils flared along with her inscriptions as she dumped power into her magics. The woman was a Refined and likely very skilled at what she did. Even so, when she finally collapsed in frustration a minute later she had only managed to raise a couple of stone spikes two or three inches high in a half-foot diameter circle. After coughing and then guzzling some water, she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve never had that much trouble. Even back at the Academy with my first inscriptions, I could manage more than that.¡± Master Grediv nodded slowly. ¡°Can you describe the feeling?¡± The woman huffed. ¡°It felt like I was trying to move dozens of times as much stone as I was actually trying to work with, but it was as finicky as if I were trying to make perfectly legible text instead of generic spikes. I could have powered through it, but that wasn¡¯t the point of the test. I was limited to the pre-specified amounts of power, but it just wasn¡¯t enough for what I was trying to do.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°I even tried to use more power internally to strengthen and augment the power I used for the working, but it didn¡¯t help as much as it should have.¡± The other Constructionists looked at each other in confusion. They were likely familiar with this woman and what she was capable of. Master Grediv motioned for Tala, ¡°Can you please smooth that out?¡± Tala shrugged and willed for it to be flat once more. It leveled out just as any other part of the sanctum would have bent to her will. There were murmurs at that, as they had all clearly seen that she didn¡¯t use any magic, directly. They had been briefed on what to expect, but it was one thing to be told and another to see with one¡¯s own eyes. Master Grediv motioned to another Refined, a man this time. That Refined extended his hands, his inscriptions blazing with power. Tala watched and was able to interpret his actions as reaching for the air within the bubble of altered reality. The air actually did move and shift, giving Tala a very interesting view through her threefold sight. The reality nodes didn¡¯t actually move around. They¡­ traded air? That was the only real way to describe it. When air left the sphere, other air was pulled in, acting as if it had always been there. Sweat was building across the exposed skin of the air focused Archon. ¡°As soon as it exits the sphere, it acts as I expect, but within? It¡¯s like trying to lift a mountain with a feather.¡± There were some chuckles at that. It was obviously a bit of an arrogant statement, because the man was actively doing the supposedly difficult task, but he was also obviously being hyperbolic. Finally, he released his magics and sat down heavily. ¡°I think I agree with Mistress Brisa¡¯s assessment. I¡¯d estimate that it is around fifty times as difficult to enact workings within that space. That said, I got the distinct feeling that if I approached the working differently it would have acted more in the vein of what I was expecting.¡± The other Refined¡ªMistress Brisa¡ªnodded. ¡°I got that feeling as well. It was like I was missing a part of my mental model, and I was having to bridge the gap in understanding with power.¡± That started a long discussion about what might be missing, but Tala wasn¡¯t paying strict attention. Alat would let her know if anything important was said or realized. Instead, she walked toward the water that encircled the sparring circle. Her threefold sight swept over the oddity that was the reality node before her. It was massive as she considered such things. Most reality nodes that weren¡¯t associated with a life form were only a couple of feet across at the largest. Except the world fragment. Well, that was an assumption. When she¡¯d explored the world fragment, she hadn¡¯t really had any truly practiced form of voidsight. Still, the massive reality node felt similar to that place. She glanced back. ¡°I¡¯m going in.¡± That stopped the Constructionists¡¯ conversation dead. When there was no immediate response, Tala continued. ¡°Is there any reason that I shouldn¡¯t?¡± A few shaking heads were all that she needed. ¡°Alright, then. Monitor closely.¡± Without further preamble, she willed herself into the middle of the sparring circle. This was her sanctum. Everything within was hers. It was trivial to move into the center. As she appeared, she felt the true stillness of everything. She felt a groundedness that made her stagger slightly, as odd as that sounds. It was as if her whole life had been on shifting sands, and finally, she stood on solid rock. The disorientation passed quickly. I didn¡¯t feel that in the world fragment. -Your senses are better now, but it¡¯s also likely that this is a different phenomenon.- She moved her hand, not feeling any extra resistance in the air, but also feeling like it was more¡­ real than it had been. It was no harder to breathe, nor do anything else, but there was decidedly less movement to the magic within the space. In fact, as soon as Tala noticed that, she could feel that it was almost like the zeme was still there, moving and shifting, but slightly removed from the reality node, itself. Her own reality node was intact and separate within the larger node, just as she¡¯d expected. Though, here, it seemed like her node was compressed more tightly around her physical body than it usually was. She needed another perspective. ¡°Terry?¡± Terry flickered into the circle beside her. She¡¯d seen him watching from a nearby stand of trees. ¡°Does this place feel odd to you?¡± He chirped, then flickered around her, moving essentially as fast as he usually did. If she was reading him correctly, though, it was taking more power for him to move, but not that much more. ¡°You¡¯ve made the mental adjustment to function normally, here?¡± He stopped his movement and trilled. She found herself smiling. ¡°Of course you have. You are fantastic. I wish you could just tell us what we¡¯re missing.¡± His look was full of incredulity. ¡°Right, right. If we don¡¯t figure it out for ourselves, our understanding will be lesser.¡± He bobbed once, then flickered to her shoulder to wait. Tala, for her part, turned and walked toward one of the exits to the sparring circle, one of the stone bridges that spanned the flowing water. As she came to the edge of her working, she paused and examined the space in front of herself. There was nothing different that her mundane eyes could see, but her threefold sight insisted that the void was larger there at the edge of the ring. As she stepped across that void, her physical body and mundane sight experienced nothing of note. Her magical density seemed to take a slight dip, and her threefold sight briefly took in the void far more clearly. It was odd, like passing through the doorway into a house and having the feeling that the walls were thicker than she had been expecting. She basically never noticed the doorframes of houses she entered, but here, it struck her as being oddly large. And then she was through, and it was like nothing had happened. Once again she almost stumbled as she suddenly felt a bit wrong footed once again, like her foundations were a bit less sure, here. She glanced back and didn¡¯t notice any oddities from this close on the outside. Master Grediv walked her way. ¡°I think the last thing we can test is to have you dismiss the working.¡± ¡°Oh? Is it time for that?¡± Tala found herself smiling. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been building this off and on for a year, right? I¡¯m going to be¡­ frustrated if we aren¡¯t actually ready to record as much information as possible.¡± He chuckled at that. ¡°We understand the investment you¡¯ve made here, Mistress Tala. Yes, I think we are ready.¡± ¡°Very well, let¡¯s do this.¡± Chapter: 412 - Reality Nodes and Prison Tala took a deep breath before looking around to confirm that everyone was ready. This experiment had been building for a long time, and she¡¯d only get to release this once. She likely wouldn¡¯t ever devote so much time to building up an attraction again, unless these results were beyond expectation. The Refined from the Constructionist Guild all had their detecting magics activated at full power. Brandon and Master Simon had their Archive slates held up, linked to the monitoring magics of the sanctum itself. Master Grediv had his hands at his sides, a relaxed stance showing how ready he actually was for whatever might be about to come. ¡°Ready?¡± Tala found herself feeling a bit nervous, and she did her best to squash those feelings. She got a round of affirmatives. She nodded, speaking quietly, ¡°Alright then. Here we go.¡± Tala released her working, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, the ¡®extra¡¯ void that had appeared to be on the outside of the sphere of the working began to flow inward along definitive, curving and jagged lines. The massive reality node quivered to her threefold sight, and even her mundane vision saw something odd about it. There was something that almost looked like a heat haze through the space, but that wasn¡¯t quite right. Terry was watching intently from her shoulder, eyes locked on everything as it was happening. As the surfaces of void wove and grew inward¡ªacting much like lightning trying to find the best path from ground to sky if at a slower pace and as fields rather than lines¡ªTala braced herself to contain any fallout. Finally, the tendrils of void began to touch. It was odd, because unlike the line-like nature of lightning bolts, the void was scribing the outlines of three-dimensional shapes. All told, it was less than three seconds from Tala¡¯s releasing of her magics to the point where the three-dimensional tracings were complete. There was a pulse of void and the massive reality node was gone, broken apart into many smaller nodes. A ripple passed outward, and Tala saw the stress that ripple put on all the reality nodes around the sparring ring. Even so, they all held. After the reverberations calmed down, Tala felt her own eyes widen. The reality nodes that remained were larger than they had been before she¡¯d started her working so long ago. They weren¡¯t beyond the range of those she¡¯d encountered before, but they were definitely on the bigger side. Her working had left a lasting change upon reality. The group of Archons¡ªalong with Brandon¡ªtook the following hours to analyze the results and aftermath, but in the end, they simply confirmed what Tala had initially seen. The reality nodes were divided differently from how they had been, and they were, on average, larger. The overall stability had gone up within the space from before she began the working, but it wasn¡¯t as high as when her working had been active. All of that was expected, but it was still good to get the confirmation. In the end, Tala was left in her sanctum with only Brandon and Master Simon. The two were huddled off to one side, talking through yet more data that they¡¯d gathered and an analysis thereof. Tala cleared her throat, drawing their attention, ¡°Do you two need me?¡± They paused, exchanging a look before Master Simon motioned for Brandon to speak. The boy nodded his thanks and turned to Tala. ¡°Thank you, but no. Would you be able to get my father in here though? There¡¯s a lot of minutiae here, and I think his perspective could be helpful.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°He took today with your mother, right?¡± ¡°He did, but he should be available now.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see if he¡¯s free, then leave you all to it.¡± They both bowed, ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala.¡± * * * It had been nearly two months since she¡¯d released the working on the reality nodes within her sanctum, and Rane was seeming to be more and more comfortable with his position as a simple Fused. She didn¡¯t know how she, herself, felt about it, and that made her feel like a child. That seeming contradiction made her even more grumpy, when she took the time to contemplate it. Honestly, she felt like she was a child who, when told to clean something, declared that it was pointless, because it would just get dirty again. One afternoon, while Tala was aimlessly walking the wall-top on watch, Alat pressed her a bit. -And what are you concerned about?- Alat knew. She always knew, but she asked anyway. Rane is going to die. -So are you.- I¡¯m immortal. -But not eternal or undying.- Fine, but I¡¯m still immortal. He¡¯s not. He¡¯s going to die. -So are you.- I don¡¯t want him to die. -Your magics suggest that you don¡¯t really want to die either.- Alat, you know what I¡¯m saying. I don¡¯t think my soul could take it if he died. Alat did not respond, and Tala dropped back into her brooding for the remainder of her time on watch. Rane seemed to be making the best of his situation. He was very nearly ninety percent of the way toward being Refined from a base-line Fused Archon, and that would grant him a vastly extended life, not to mention a great increase in his base magical density and throughput. Even so, he still wasn¡¯t allowed to be a Defender, and that, more than anything else, seemed to frustrate him. In fact, that seemed like the only thing about his choice that truly frustrated him at the core of things. He spent long hours sculpting, training, studying, and generally working to improve himself, but that hard line was there. An Archon was required to be of at least Refined advancement before they would be considered for the position of Defender. Tala and Rane still spent time training together as well as doing things for entertainment, but it was obvious that they could both feel her slowly pulling further ahead of him in overall ability. Master Grediv hadn¡¯t commented on Rane¡¯s stated choice, but he had seemed¡­more reserved the last few times that Tala had seen him. Even when he¡¯d come to observe the reality node experiment within her sanctum, he had been less talkative than usual. But that was to be expected, she supposed. He had just discovered that yet another of his family was confined to mortality. Others were taking it in stride. Most who were Refined or above had had at least some friends or family make the same choice in the past, and those below that rank weren''t aware that something wasn''t as it should be. But regardless, time continued on. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Days had become weeks, allowing those nearly two months to slide by with barely a concern. The time of lazy, thoughtless¡ªyet enjoyable¡ªlife came to an end rather abruptly one evening. Tala and Rane were just sitting down to dinner in one of the battle-watch restaurants when Alat made a gasping sound within her head. -Tala. We need to go.- Tala frowned. What? What¡¯s going on? Rane obviously noticed, but he knew by now that she was likely dialoguing with Alat; so he waited. -One of the other units found a cell containing what appears to be a Reality Mage. Your unit¡ªand you specifically¡ªhave been called in to deal with it.- Her frown became a grimace. Do I have time to eat? -Your team is coordinating as we speak. The aim is to leave within the hour. Master Xeel will be meeting us at the cell, in case magical weight is what is needed.- If Master Xeel was coming, then things were serious indeed. Still, she¡¯d been excited for this meal with Rane. It was something a bit more than their usual meals within her sanctum or at his family¡¯s estate. She¡¯d been looking forward to it. But, Reality Mage. She sighed, then considered the facts. With a nod, she decided. Then I have time to eat, at least if we do so quickly. Please let everyone know what¡¯s going on. Anyone who¡¯s not coming should get out of Kit. I¡¯ll grab her on the way out. Tala turned to Rane, wiping the concern from her face. He noticed the change and immediately asked, ¡°Tala? Are you alright?¡± She smiled. ¡°I am, Rane, yes. I¡¯m just being called in on a cell-run. Something¡¯s come up that they think I can help with.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± He moved to stand. ¡°We should go then.¡± She motioned for him to sit. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. We can eat, but we don¡¯t have time to linger.¡± He gave a rueful smile. ¡°Tala, no meal you eat is quick.¡± She huffed a laugh at that. ¡°True, but I was mainly planning on tasting the food and enjoying the company. I can do that for at least half an hour. How does that sound?¡± His smile widened. ¡°Excellent.¡± He lifted a hand, catching the attention of the waiter. ¡°Excuse me, it turns out we have less time than we thought. Would it be possible to put a rush on our food?¡± * * * Tala and her unit flew through the darkening late-summer sky. She had enjoyed her food, but the fights on display¡ªalong with Rane¡¯s and her analysis and debate over them¡ªhad just been getting good when Alat had let her know that she had to go. Rane had understood, but Tala was still irritated. She sighed, pulling her focus back to the present moment. A thunderstorm had rolled through from the east that morning, leaving the whole area with a refreshed, lush look. Even with the lovely surroundings, and the stunning sunset, Tala wasn¡¯t alone in her less-than-good mood. In fact, no one was in a particularly good mood. Terry sat on his perch, but he lacked his usual look of quiet contentment. He seemed to have picked up on the tension of everyone else. Also, since she¡¯d explained what they were going to face, he likely had his own concerns about what Tala was going to fight. A Reality Mage. It had been more than a century since the last Reality Mage had surfaced, and that had simply been a misguided pre-Bound. Even so, he had almost destabilized a city before he was taken down. And he had been taken down. His death had been swift and certain. Such powers couldn¡¯t be allowed to grow, and once they got their conceptual claws into a Mage, they were never fully recovered. But the one they were headed toward wasn¡¯t something so simple. This one, the one they were going to deal with, had been put into a cell¡­ Alat was busy combing the Archive for any relevant tidbits, and Tala was fidgeting with her irondust-voids. The unit that was at the entrance to the cell ahead of them had already sent back the information that the cell antechamber provided. Still, Tala knew that she¡¯d want to review it herself when they got there. Based on the information, Re-al had created a reality-gate within herself before shedding her old name. She had done it so completely¡ªor in a manner so beyond their understanding¡ªthat it reached the level of conceptual magic and erased all records of her name from reality. To be clear, because Tala asked, it didn¡¯t actually erase the records from the Archive, but unless an Archon were to somehow go into the Archive to learn her original name, and then be immune to high-level magics upon their return, no one would ever be able to recover it. But Tala focused on the important part. A reality-gate was a difficult thing to understand. On a cognitive level, Tala just wasn¡¯t ever going to understand how it worked. As to what it did? It filled the Reality Mage with a power that made the working of Magic impossible. It could also then be somehow wielded to extend that effect outward, imposing it upon the world around her and even onto nearby Mages. Seemingly, it acted as an anchoring of the world in ¡®Reality¡¯ as it existed without Magic or the void. Obviously, such a power wouldn¡¯t work well up in space, but down on Zeme? It was horrifyingly effective. They were only able to trap the Reality Mage by enclosing her within a cell that was larger than her power¡¯s reach had grown to by that point. The understanding was that the entirety of the cell would be filled with that power by now. There would be no magic, no zeme at all. Truthfully, Re-al should be dead. After all, without magic, humans died on the timescale of decades, and it had been much, much longer than that. But the Reality Mage had lived longer than a Reality-souled should have before she¡¯d been locked away. Even if they hadn¡¯t known that for certain, no one wanted to bet the world that the woman had died to old age as she should have. That¡¯s why they¡¯d called for Tala, the only known Defender to be able to work with iron in a meaningful way, while not being directly tainted by Reality. So¡­ we have to face what is essentially a Mage¡¯s worst nightmare. -I thought that was us?- Tala smiled. I mean besides us, of course. -Someone who renders them mundane, then.- Yeah. Tala took a deep breath. How are you feeling about this? Alat¡¯s tone turned serious. -Well, if your layered defenses don¡¯t work, I¡¯ll be put out of commission, so that¡¯s not great. I don¡¯t like ceasing to exist. Even if I come back, it¡¯s incredibly unpleasant.- Yeah¡­ Tala knew that it was somehow different for Alat than when a mundane fell into a coma or dreamless sleep. It was a ceasing, and an ending of sorts¡ªrather than a pause¡ªfrom the alternate interface¡¯s perspective. Still, the two of them would face the danger, despite the risks. The flying contraption continued to glide under Mistress Cerna¡¯s direction, moving south east, out into the plains toward the ruins of the previous Arconaven. It seemed that the cell was just a bit north of where that city had been, about halfway from Alefast. It was likely the two wanings overlapping the cell that had been the final stressor which had moved it into the maintenance cycle. Tala could see¡ªfar off to their left¡ªthe northern forests in which the Anatalins¡ªthe giant wolves¡ªresided and ruled. On their right, much nearer at hand¡ªbut still not close by most measures¡ªwas the Leshkin forest, the constant threat on gated-humanity¡¯s southern border. She almost chuckled at that. She could easily remember learning about the Leshkin. At the time, she¡¯d seen them as a threat to all of humanity, and she saw them as threatening humanity¡¯s southern border. After all that she¡¯d seen and experienced, she knew that the cycling cities were just one pocket of humanity. They were likely one of the most powerful and unified pockets, but just a pocket nonetheless. Very, very far ahead of them toward the left hand side, she could pick up the haze of distant mountains. Those were on the far side of the great plains upon which the moving villages roamed. Similarly, by looking to the south and a little behind them as they traveled, she could see hints of the mountains near which Platoiri had been established. Gated-humanity was surrounded by powers it only barely kept at bay, and now this Reality Mage had come to make their lives even harder. Tala would have none of it. These were her people, even if she didn¡¯t always feel like she fit in. This was her home, and she would protect it. That resonated with her deeply, and she instinctively knew that she¡¯d moved a tick toward Paragon, but that was less important than what it represented. She was closing in on her eternal vision, her motivation that would help her endure a potentially eternal existence. She felt her resolve strengthen further even as she thickened the iron bracketing her inscriptions star- and stoneward. Terry¡¯s eyes flickered open, and Tala thought she saw consideration in the avian¡¯s eyes. He would not be coming in with her. It would not be a contest of violence, at least not most likely. Either Re-al¡¯s ability would negate what Tala could do¡ªpenetrating her defenses and rendering her powerless¡ªor it wouldn¡¯t. At least, Tala hoped it would be that simple. * * * They arrived to find another unit of Defenders along with their Paragon for this mission and Master Xeel waiting for them. Tala¡¯s threefold sight showed a monstrous amount of power flowing around Master Xeel, completely under the man¡¯s control. Is¡­ is he trying to deepen his natural magics at a time like this? He wasn¡¯t inscribed¡­ Her eyes widened. She couldn¡¯t detect any natural magics around him at all. He was carving new magics. Is he remaking his magics for this specific encounter? She simply couldn¡¯t see the magics he was enacting clearly enough¡ªnor did she have a deep enough understanding of natural magics¡ªto interpret the portions she could discern. Even bare moments after they landed, Mistress Cerna was already talking with the other unit leader, leaving the Reforged man to walk over to Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Master Xeel.¡± ¡°You seem to be doing well.¡± ¡°As do you.¡± He grunted, giving a little smile. ¡°Just happy to be able to assist, even if just as backup.¡± She smiled in return. ¡°I¡¯d be incredibly happy to let you handle this if you¡¯d like.¡± He shook his head. ¡°No. We can¡¯t solve all the problems, or soon we¡¯d find ourselves becoming nothing more than false gods above a weakened and embittered humanity. Solutions must come from the least advanced who can manage them effectively.¡± Tala blinked at him a few times. ¡°There is a lot in that, Master Xeel.¡± ¡°That was the intention, yes. I¡¯m glad that you¡¯ve advanced enough to understand what I mean, at least a little bit.¡± Her smile turned wry. ¡°That¡¯s true enough. A lot¡¯s happened since we last spoke face to face.¡± ¡°You do seem to have quite the adventures for one so young.¡± She huffed at that. ¡°Are you ready for this?¡± She shrugged. ¡°As ready as I can be.¡± Chapter: 413 - Facing Reality Tala and Master Xeel stood together outside the cell of a Reality Mage. She was about to face this classic nemesis of all Mages, and he was going to be on hand during the process. Tala gave a hesitant smile. ¡°I have some ideas, but you¡¯re far more experienced, here. What¡¯s the overarching plan?¡± Master Xeel gave a small shrug. ¡°You go in, keep the Reality Mage on the inside while the Paragon repairs the cell. I will be standing in the entrance, ready to step in to help if I can.¡± ¡°Not if I need?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Please do not mistake me, Mistress Tala. I will do what I can if you are in need, and I can probably keep the Reality Mage contained. That said, doing so isn¡¯t a gamble that I want to take, even if I were inclined to do so. You are likely to be able to counter her, whereas I would have to overpower her. You should be able to walk into her domain and rebuff her authority. I would have to stand on the edge and fight her back from the outside.¡± Tala nodded, then made a motion of will to make Kit appear in door form on the side of her unit¡¯s vehicle. Having a physical manifestation like that would lock the center of Kit¡¯s range in place, and keep the dimensional storage from automatically coming with Tala into the cell. There was no reason to introduce such a place to escape into, nor to risk my sanctum, Irondale, or the people within needlessly. Before them, the antechamber opened up. It looked like a massive, clear dome on the top of a wide, low hill. Though, it also seemed entirely contained at the peak of the little rise the entrance opened from. Contracted space once again¡­ or is it expanded? Honestly, it was probably a mix of both. Inside the antechamber, Tala took the time to look over the information available about the woman that was recorded within. The info was on large stone slabs written in the common script. So, this Reality Mage hadn¡¯t been here since before the unification of language. It took a bit, but it was worth the slight delay in order to double check what she and Alat had already perused. Their opponent would be the Reality Mage Re-al. A woman so depraved that she¡¯d sacrificed her own familiar, forsaken and hidden her name, and torn her own soul out of the next world for use in horrendous rituals. Alat, can we do this? -I think we can, yes.- Tala found herself smiling as she came to the end of the information. ¡°Alright then.¡± Her iron and white steel flowed over her, coating the bottoms of her feet as she strode forward, lifting her a bit higher with each step until the armor was complete and fully encapsulating. Under her ablative armor was a layer of pure iron, just to make sure there weren¡¯t any cracks or crevices that power could worm its way through. She also encapsulated herself, star- and stone-ward with iron. Alat and Tala had considered using their existence shield, but they¡¯d largely dismissed that for several reasons. One of the main ones was that, the last time they¡¯d used it, they¡¯d learned that it wasn¡¯t very good at resisting true attacks. Instead, it excelled at blocking connections and attempts to alter her own existence directly. That also meant that if it was hit by an attack, it could do more harm to her than good. Though, to be fair, she didn¡¯t actually know what the murder-eye¡¯s attack had been trying to do. It was possible that having half of her body and magic erased from existence had been the best outcome she could hope for. Regardless, they didn¡¯t feel like the existence shield was the right course of action. That said, she was going to go in, armored for a world-ending threat. With that in mind, she aspect-mirrored as much void into her elk leathers¡¯ magical defenses as possible. In doing so, she altered the relatively weak, always active magical defenses around her soulbound garments into powerful, void-magic barriers that hugged her form just outside the iron and white steel armor. She very specifically did not mix the void-magic with the iron, which, because it was bound to her, seemed to count effectively as reality-magic. In that way, she had a layer of protection that was the direct antithesis of Reality¡ªvoid-magic¡ªfollowed by one that was obliquely opposed to it¡ªreality-magic. All told, there shouldn¡¯t be any easy way for power of any kind to get at her. There was still the danger of physical attacks, but that¡¯s why she had the ablative armor on. She came to a stop right in front of where the entrance to the cell would be when it was opened. Standing there for a moment, tall and confident, Tala turned her head toward the Paragon who was waiting for her, and she nodded to him. The man smiled resolutely. ¡°We begin.¡± Tala took deep breaths, her hands empty. She wouldn¡¯t risk Flow with exposure to Reality, not at first at least. She doubted she¡¯d be willing to use the sword at all, but she had Flow sheathed at her waist, under her armor, nonetheless. As the Paragon began his work, rock grew up from the ground within the antechamber, forming an oddly normal looking door frame before the inside of the thing was filled with the darkness of a long tunnel. Most cell entrances manifested as something akin to a long tunnel. Her threefold sight showed that the tunnel was more truly through existence itself than any material. The stone which made up the walls, ceiling, and floor was but a veneer meant to maintain the natural order of things. After all, people were not meant to stride on the edge of existence. Tala immediately stepped into the tunnel, Master Xeel coming in behind her and blocking off the outside end of the long tunnel with a field of light composed of interweaving colors. She almost hesitated as she recognized some of the forms and shapes within the light. He¡¯d made spellforms with lines of different colored light, and light, itself, was the medium as well. She hadn¡¯t known that was even possible, and she couldn¡¯t begin to comprehend what the magics were meant to do. All that she knew was that they bore the power of a Reforged well on his way to Ascending, and she really did not want to be the target of anything with that kind of magical weight. The man further added shapes of woven light around himself and along the walls, floor, and ceiling of the tunnel. He was ready to back her up if required. Her steps were firm as she strode forward, reaching the inside exit of the tunnel without slowing. Only once she was fully inside did she stop and look down from the hill she had exited near the top of. Below her was a walled village, and that alone made Tala suck in a breath. It was so small, there was no way that she could mistake it for one of the great cities that gated-humanity used in modern times. The walls had clearly once been impressive¡ªthere were obvious remnants of inscriptions woven through them¡ªbut there was no longer any magic about the structure. In fact, with her threefold sight she could see that there was absolutely no magic within the cell at all. The dimensions that she generally thought of as those of magic still existed, but they were utterly empty, no matter how she examined them. With no magic, there was no movement of what wasn¡¯t there. So there was no zeme, but saying that was like saying there was no breeze in a vacuum. It should have gone without saying. The reason it struck Tala¡¯s mind strongly enough for her to focus on it was simple. There was something in its place. Great tides of iron dust drifted on currents of air. No¡­ that isn¡¯t iron. It felt very similar to her, though. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. It felt real in a way that was hard to describe. It was like how it was hard to remember she was wearing clothing, until it became uncomfortable, or itched, or pulled wrong. This was that uncomfortable itch, pulling at her awareness in the worst way. There was something in the air that was an antithesis to magic and sought to fill any void, as pointless as such a venture was. Tala was grateful that she didn¡¯t have to breathe and her solid faceplate remained. She couldn¡¯t imagine the horror that would come from breathing in any of the power that now seemed to surround her. There was a sharp intake of breath, and Tala turned to see what had clearly once been a woman looking up at her from the foot of the hill. That was the only warning she got before what felt like a hammer the size of a building slammed down atop Tala¡ªseemingly forged out of the all too Real something that filled the air. The strike utterly shattered against her void-magic barrier. It was like dropping the end of a log on a hardened steel wedge. The wedge¡ªher defense¡ªwas utterly unaffected, and the attack was splintered back into the surrounding air currents. There was a beat of silence as the woman was clearly surprised to have her attack so thoroughly rebuffed. ¡°What are you?¡± The question was exceptionally ironic, coming as it did from the twisted woman. Truthfully, calling the Reality Mage twisted was hardly a fair assessment in any sense but metaphorical. Re-al looked normal to mundane sight, even if her gray-ish skin made her look a bit sickly. Even so, Tala¡¯s threefold sight revealed the truth. The woman had more inscriptions than even Tala, every single line seemingly of iron by the look of them. That wasn¡¯t the end of the oddities either. Re-al didn¡¯t have an aura that Tala could detect, but instead she exuded a¡­ realness that wasn¡¯t to be denied. Tala almost laughed at that, but she couldn¡¯t describe it any other way. It was as if most people Tala had seen¡ªincluding herself¡ªwere statues artfully created, fragile and painstakingly preserved of cloud and mist. Re-al was shaped in granite. But the silence was becoming awkward. She believed that she could keep her at bay in a conflict of violence, but Tala wisely assumed that Re-al hadn¡¯t really shown the true measure of her power yet. Thus, Tala would rather delay with words until the time was right, or she ran out of things to say. So, Tala decided to respond. Her voice was carried by her through-spike to the air outside of her armor. From there, it acted as sound normally did. ¡°I am Tala, here to inspect this existence-cell.¡± Based on what Tala knew of Reality Mages, Re-al could probably have opposed the sound, scrubbing it from the air because it was created by magic, but she didn¡¯t bother. Instead, she just grimaced. ¡°I did not ask who you were, foolish child. I also did not ask you why you are here. Are those outside so backward as to not realize such things are obvious? Why have you been conditioned to give useless answers? Listen closely. I asked what you are. I see and recognize iron utterly pervading you, but it is tainted with magic. I sense void as well, but no blended existence. So, I will ask again. What are you?¡± Tala felt herself straighten. ¡°I am a Defender of humanity.¡± That felt¡­ partially true. She was more than just that. Regardless, Re-al scoffed. ¡°There is very little real foundation to your claim, girl. Do you not even know what you are, yourself? They didn¡¯t even send a Paragon? Fools.¡± ¡°If it makes you feel any better, there is a powerful Reforged waiting outside that you''ll never see.¡± Tala had been trying to throw the other woman off, but contrary to her expectation, Re-al seemed to brighten. ¡°Really? I would love to remove one of those stains from the world. I just have to kill you to engage the Reforged?¡± ¡°You would have to break out of here after it''s been fully resealed.¡± That seemed to confuse Re-al. ¡°...that isn¡¯t possible.¡± ¡°Oh, I know. Aren¡¯t we listing impossible things? You did just utterly fail to harm me with a surprise attack, right?¡± The older woman hesitated for a moment then burst out laughing. ¡°That was actually marginally clever. Nicely done.¡± She continued to laugh, and Tala let her. Insanity as a delaying tactic, don¡¯t count on it, but use it if it¡¯s available. Tala almost laughed as well, but kept the reaction contained to not pull the woman¡¯s attention from her odd cackling. After a long moment, Re-al collected herself once again. ¡°So then, you aren¡¯t a total loss. You also have a love of iron that is entirely un-Mage-like. Why not work with me? We can fix the world together and end all this needless suffering.¡± ¡°By killing everyone with a gate.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. ¡°By reuniting broken souls, yes, among other things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not who I am, and I cannot allow you to do that.¡± ¡°Ahh, but we¡¯ve established that you don¡¯t really know who you are.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I said no. I am a protector of humanity.¡± She thought of Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva. ¡°I am a nurturer of magic.¡± Re-al hissed at that, a pulse of whatever her power was radiating outward even as she spoke, ¡°A pointless affectation. That is not what you really are.¡± The power was much sharper and more piercing than the first attack had been. Even so, it rolled harmlessly over Tala¡¯s extended aura. ¡°I will tell you what you are, oh twisted child. You are a broken daughter of a twisted family. You scratch and claw at the world around you, needlessly causing harm to that which you lack the wit to comprehend. You are a blight on reality.¡± Tala barely felt a mild strain on her void-magic barrier. The words, themselves, seemed to carry the terrible power as it tried to invade and affect Tala. But she stood firm. She had magic aplenty and void to spare. She almost laughed at that. Void, by its very nature, was always in abundance, and her gate provided magic unending. She tilted her head to one side and felt herself smile within her helmet. ¡°Is this it? Is this all that you have? Feeble attempts to claw at my foundation?¡± ¡°No, but we haven¡¯t known each other very long. I wasn¡¯t going to obliterate you before we talked.¡± ¡°Oh? You want to get to know me?¡± ¡°Why not? It¡¯s been lonely in here. I¡¯ve missed talking. Talking is great, right? Besides, if I¡¯m going to use you against the other humans, I should understand you better.¡± Yeah¡­ like that¡¯s going to happen. I¡¯m not going to bare my soul to you, crazy lady. Re-al, of course, simply continued her monologue. ¡°I don¡¯t detect any soulbond that¡¯s strong enough to be to a familiar or husband. Is he already dead? That is one of the great evils of magic, forcing others to live beyond their loved ones.¡± Tala cocked an eyebrow even though she knew it wouldn¡¯t be visible. ¡°Says the woman who killed her own familiar.¡± ¡°Yes. I did. I will kill anyone and anything who puts their own selfish desires before the good of the entire world.¡± Re-al was visibly angry at the end, but calmed herself before continuing. ¡°So, your husband is already dead then?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯ve not married yet.¡± Tala felt herself twitch. Why had she answered like that? Alat was silent, but Tala could practically hear the alternate interface dancing with glee. Not really the time, Alat¡­ Re-al barked a laugh. ¡°You don¡¯t even have the courage to get married.¡± She continued laughing for a long moment after that before her laughter hitched. ¡°Oh, the ridiculousness of it is going to make me choke. Reality is broken indeed if they send an iron-tainted, old, has-been in here to try to stall me. This will be easier than I thought. But it¡¯s time for the big choice, you old girl. Join me or die.¡± Tala felt herself smile. Re-al obviously couldn¡¯t see the smile, it was just for herself. I did my best to stall, but if that¡¯s over¡­ Well, I can do one more thing to gain some time. -I¡¯ll watch for a good time to strike.- Oh, now you join us? -Do you want to have this talk, now?- No¡­ All that aside, Tala knew that her smile changed the tone in her voice as she spoke, ¡°There has been a misunderstanding, Reality Mage. I am not iron-tainted. I have claimed the iron as my own. I am not old, but among the youngest in this generation to advance. I am not a has-been. I am the ravenous, jealous devourer. Magic and void are mine to claim and influence, but I find myself in need of reality. But neither that, nor you, are my eternal aim. You are a mere stepping stone.¡± Tala knew that all of this was true. None of it was even new, but it felt right to say it all together like that. As such, she wasn¡¯t surprised when she moved an almost imperceptible tick closer to Paragon. Re-al seemed to hesitate at that, truly seeming off center for what might have been the first time in the entire conversation. The woman¡¯s violent intentions seemed to be temporarily cooled as she carefully inquired, ¡°A nascent Existence Mage?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, no. That is ridiculous. Success there is impossible.¡± Tala laughed, then. ¡°You speak like you aren¡¯t a Reality Mage. Isn¡¯t that equally impossible?¡± Re-al waved her off with a curt gesture. ¡°You spout the lies spread by those in power.¡± There was real anger in the woman¡¯s eyes, evident even across the dozens of yards between them. ¡°It is forbidden, not impossible.¡± ¡°I disagree. It is impossible for any person to become a Reality Mage.¡± Re-al huffed. ¡°Then what am I?¡± ¡°Lost and confused. A mockery of the person who used to live behind those eyes. A broken soul, too twisted to die.¡± The Reality Mage shook her head. ¡°You speak folly once more. I¡¯d think you were trying to delay me, if that had any hope of succeeding.¡± ¡°So, I cannot attempt the impossible? Isn¡¯t that the very nature of Existence, to strive for that which was deemed impossible by others?¡± Tala was doing her best to engage the woman, but the time of verbal delays was clearly drawing to a close. ¡°That is the flaw with anything beyond reality. It wastes resources, energy, and effort in the pursuit of that which can never be.¡± ¡°And yet the woman you once were never became a Reality Mage. She is gone.¡± That woman was dead, and Re-al was just somehow puppeting the corpse. That really doesn¡¯t feel in line with Reality. Re-al huffed a laugh, pulling Tala¡¯s attention back. ¡°Oh, I am still here. I simply gave up that identity¡ªthat long-erased name¡ªfor power. A human can age and die, but an idea¡ªReality¡ªcontinues, and I will continue even after everything is cold and dead and lifeless.¡± Well, that¡¯s implicative. -Some theories¡ªassuming she was still alive¡ªinvolved her long life being tied to conceptual magics with her name.- Yeah, but can we actually use that? -I have not the faintest idea how¡­- Those tactics hadn¡¯t worked. Tala and Re-al weren¡¯t fighting yet¡ªwhich was good from a delaying perspective¡ªso it hadn¡¯t been a complete failure. Regardless, Tala needed to try something else. ¡°What would your familiar think of what you have become?¡± ¡°Hate me utterly, to the point of trying to kill me in my sleep, obviously.¡± Re-al waved that off as well, this time smiling with obvious malice. ¡°If I was going to mourn her, I¡¯d have done it centuries ago.¡± Well, that was useless. -Still, we have the big one. Should we use it?- No. Not yet¡­ We need her off balance, and we need to be closer to take advantage of any opening. That gave Tala a potentially game-changing idea. -We do yeah, but¡­ oh. That¡¯s interesting. There is an opening for that now. Make use of it.- And so Tala did. Chapter: 414 - Rejection Tala often had a lot of moving parts to her fighting style. She multitasked like few other Mages were capable of doing, even before factoring in Alat. Yet, she had never bent her abilities more toward forming an attack than she did in that moment. She formed an iron javelin, making sure it was properly balanced for her throw since she couldn¡¯t use magic to propel it. She had to keep it close to herself, forcing her aura through it more powerfully than usual in order to keep it coherent within the odd, seemingly Reality-based power in the air. Even with barely any time to notice and react, Re-al did have some chance, yet she did nothing to stop Tala. In fact, she seemed fascinated by Tala¡¯s process even as she wove void-magic around the outside of the javelin. With as little preamble as possible, Tala launched the weapon at Re-al, sending it flying less than a second after she began to form it. Tala was used to attacking much more quickly than that, but she also didn¡¯t usually have to weave so much complexity or fight against so much opposition in even the forming of her iron objects. Regardless, the javelin covered the distance between them in a blink. It slammed into Re-al¡¯s chest, exploding into a cascade of highly compressed iron dust. This woman is a total contradiction. She ignores magic like she¡¯s bathed in Reality, but she¡¯s still alive when without magic she should be dead. Still, the attack hadn¡¯t been a total waste. The iron had enough mass and inertia to stagger Re-al, the flying particles temporarily blinding the Reality Mage as Tala sprang down the hill. Tala tried to claim something, anything, of the iron within the woman, but it felt as useless as a staring contest with the sun. Tala simply couldn¡¯t penetrate whatever barrier of power covered Re-al at the level of her skin. Re-al was still swiping iron from her eyes, cursing, and spitting particles from her mouth when Tala arrived. Tala punched as hard as her considerable strength allowed. As her right fist contacted the woman, three things occurred to Tala. First, the woman was smiling, even if she was trying to hide it. Second, punching Re-al required physical contact. Third, physical contact meant that part of the woman would be inside of Tala¡¯s void-magic barrier. Tala couldn¡¯t react before her armored knuckles cracked into Re-al¡¯s face. At the moment of contact, Tala¡¯s right arm simply vanished. Re-al was so anchored to Reality that even brief contact was enough to reassert non-magic reality on things. Tala instinctively knew that her arm had vanished because¡ªwithout magic¡ªthat arm would have been permanently lost during her first trip through the Leshkin forest. Even so, Re-al was sent spinning with a broken cheekbone, much to the woman¡¯s obvious surprise. Tala was not still the same girl who had panicked at the loss of a limb, and so she hadn¡¯t allowed the loss to interrupt her motion. She¡¯d maintained the form of her armor despite the vanishing limb. That had allowed the full inertia of a well-thrown punch to land on the woman, imparted through the now empty gauntlet. Unfortunately, the odd Reality that had invaded Tala had utterly disrupted her magics in that arm. So she wasn¡¯t getting it back, not any time soon. That hardly seems fair¡­ Leshkin are magical, and I wouldn¡¯t have lost the arm without them existing, and they only exist because magic exists. -It¡¯s not like there is an external entity determining exactly what would and wouldn¡¯t exist if Magic weren¡¯t in the world. Likely her power can simply determine if something exists due to magic. If so, it can remove it.- ¡­that seems like cheating. -This is exactly as it was advertised, Tala.- Fine¡­ The loss of her arm was less than ideal, but not too great of a cause for alarm, not yet. Still, this turn of events had made one thing incredibly clear: Tala couldn¡¯t attack Re-al up close. Her gravity magics would obviously be useless against the woman as well¡­ OH! I feel like an idiot. Tala reached behind herself, letting her hand through her armor so that she could pull out a siege orb pair. In all likelihood, those wouldn¡¯t work either, but it was worth a try. She flipped the target of their amplified gravity to Re-al, and they tore free of her hand. The woman was still dazed, and Tala had to take advantage of that as she¡¯d likely never get another chance like this. The orbs cracked through the air, but before they got halfway to Re-al, the workings on them broke. Then, even as they exploded, the previously compressed air seemed to vanish. Because it was only there due to magic. She sighed. It was yet another thing to add to the information already gained from their brief clashes. Together, Tala could see that she¡¯d never survive a true fight with the woman. All that Re-al would have to do is walk at her slowly, and Tala would be unable to do anything permanent to stop her. She could probably figure out a way of looping tides of iron to throw at the woman, but it would be foolish to believe that that was sustainable. Any fight would eventually come down to a direct physical clash, and that was a problem. Tala¡¯s entire body only existed because of magic, and if a simple, quick, violent touch had been enough to allow Re-al to obliterate a limb, Tala had little recourse. Still, she had one more thing she could try as part of her final play. It just might work. The iron dust from her javelin was still in the air and on the ground around Tala, and she dragged it with her as she charged Re-al behind her now-departed siege orbs. The woman was obviously dazed, but she still gave a grotesque grin at Tala¡¯s actions. She had to believe she held the overall advantage. She was right. Tala had only one card left to play, and she could use it along with her attempt at killing the woman. Honestly, Tala didn¡¯t even consider that to be an issue. If she could kill Re-al, she would. But, in order to try one more lethal method, she needed a momentary distraction. If timed right, that might allow her to finish off the Reality Mage. As far as distractions went, she had the perfect one. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Re-al¡¯s original name was erased unless an Archon existed within the Archive itself. Tala¡¯s mind did, along with Alat. The Archon would also have to be defended against Re-al¡¯s power on the superficial, in order to keep the name intact once it left the Archive. Tala was as protected against the strength of Reality as any living Mage that she knew of. That was why she had the answer. As Re-al raised a hand for some working of Reality, Tala shouted a simple phrase. ¡°Your name is Reiki Stulls-kin.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes widened, and her features seemed to distort momentarily, even as she gaped in surprise at the name she¡¯d thought to never hear again. Her mouth hung wide just as Tala shoved nearly half a cubic foot of iron dust down the Reality Mage¡¯s throat. Re-al¡¯s body and power disrupted Tala¡¯s more magical connection to her iron, but it didn¡¯t break her soulbond, or pull it out of her aura. So it didn¡¯t really matter. No one can breathe with a mouth and throat filled with anything, and iron dust is particularly pernicious in filling the crevices and any bits of air that might otherwise have snuck through a coarser substance. Tala staggered, barely slowing herself to a stop in front of the struggling Reiki, her balance off because of her missing limb. Did she look¡­ older for a moment, there? -Is that really what you want to focus on right now?- Right. The woman was on the ground, clawing at her nose and mouth to no avail, trying to spit or retch out the dark substance that just wouldn¡¯t move as she wanted it. Tala was marginally horrified by this method of death. Even so, she had enough presence of mind to pull herself together and say, ¡°Choke on this reality.¡± Alat burst out laughing within Tala¡¯s head. -What the rust was that? Did you just try to deliver a one-liner?- Hush, you. It was awesome. -But it doesn¡¯t even make sense. Something like that only works if it¡¯s a play on her words to you, and she didn¡¯t say anything like that.- I said hush, Alat. I¡¯m killing someone here, and it¡¯s unpleasant enough without listening to you critique my word-choice. I was trying to lighten my own mood with the statement. -Alright, Tala. If you say so. I will say that that was rather self-reflective of you, so good job.- That didn¡¯t prevent the alternate interface from continuing to chuckle as Tala watched Re-al keep struggling. Tala kept all the woman¡¯s airways as filled with iron dust as possible, moving her iron in close and dumping it through the negating power that tried to keep it from moving magically. Tala also covered Reiki¡¯s eyes as much as possible, too, just to make sure she couldn¡¯t work out some crazy reality alteration at the last minute. Today, a Reality Mage dies, and Kit gets to feed. Tala felt an incredible sense of satisfaction with that way of thinking. She was protecting humanity from this monster, and her dimensional storage would get another treat. Re-al¡¯s body was still spasming, but she¡¯d stopped pulling at the iron dust. Panic had passed, it seemed, and the woman was likely planning something. Tala began walking backward, keeping her threefold sight and her mundane eyes on the woman as well as her own surroundings. I need a weapon that has the void-magic within it, rather than just surrounding it. She could have anything mounting as a final attempt to survive, and I just don¡¯t understand her abilities well enough to tell. She grit her teeth. If she tries to close on me, I¡¯ll have to use Flow, but that shouldn¡¯t be necessary¡­ Still, she could make preparations. She¡¯d rather be accused of paranoia than be laid to rest. She formed and drove iron spikes into the ground, expanding and reinforcing her aura. She was encountering more resistance than usual, but far less than expected. It was only then that something struck her, metaphorically speaking. Auras weren¡¯t inherently magical. They were a medium through which magic could act; they could be reinforced with magic; and humans only really developed one outside of their bodies once they were Bound, but even gateless humans without a spark of magic had auras. They were weak, and they ended at the person¡¯s skin, but they were still there. There was only one thing that made sense, with that in mind. Auras were an expression of authority, sovereignty, and self. Tala had been wrong. Even if Tala couldn¡¯t easily detect it, Re-al wasn¡¯t lacking an aura. Tala was standing within it. The Reality Mage had made the cell, itself, a physical manifestation of her aura. Tala hadn¡¯t known that was possible, but somehow, for some reason, it struck her in that moment that that is what had to have happened. Only then did she recognize Re-al¡¯s spasms for what they were: Entirely muffled laughter. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, and she slammed her aura¡ªexpanded and amplified by dozens of iron spikes¡ªinto the iron within Re-al. Tala claimed every scrap of iron within the woman, and then tore it all free against the woman¡¯s powerful resistance. The body collapsed in a ragged heap, yellowish¡ªalmost clear¡ªblood draining from every pore on her body. A single person¡¯s clapping sounded from Tala¡¯s left, even as her threefold sight perceived Re-al reform seemingly out of nowhere. Tala pointed at her. ¡°That¡¯s magic.¡± ¡°Not at all. The fact that you don¡¯t understand is adorable, though.¡± The woman had a rather vicious grin on her face. ¡°You were rather¡­ aggressive. I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve had someone try to suffocate me in a long time.¡± ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t leave me with many options.¡± ¡°Now you have far fewer. Did you honestly think that someone who had survived for millennia without outside sources of food and water would be able to suffocate?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Honestly, I had no idea, but it was worth a try.¡± ¡°Indeed, but before I send you on to your fated torment, I must know: How did you say my name?¡± ¡°You mean Reiki Stulls-kin?¡± The woman hissed, and Tala felt pressure on her aura from every direction. ¡°Stop saying that name.¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t like it, or because it weakens you somehow?¡± ¡°Because you should not know it. No one should.¡± ¡°But I do.¡± Tala looked around, smiling. ¡°In fact, everyone in this corner of existence knows it. You are Reiki, even if you don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°I cast off that name, and became who I was always meant to be.¡± ¡°Re-al.¡± ¡°Precisely,¡± Reiki stated matter of factly. Then, she jerked as if slapped. Tala sighed. ¡°That¡¯s a re-al clever name you chose there, Reiki.¡± Reiki¡¯s face twitched again, and she paled. And that was the final piece that Tala needed. ¡°But regardless, I think I finally understand. Reiki died years and years ago. You aren¡¯t still alive, are you? That¡¯s one of the reasons that Reality hates you. You are using your powers of Reality to create a minor ripple. You call yourself Re-al, and that is to make yourself real, but you are Reiki, and you died. You¡¯ve been dead for ages.¡± Reiki¡¯s skin had seemed to take on a sunken look, weathered and old looking. Her eyes were black marbles, and she snarled. ¡°I am Re-al, and you will die!¡± Tala solidified her aura against the sudden assault of powers that she still didn¡¯t fully understand. Regardless, her dome of authority still managed to cover the cell¡¯s exit. ¡°You are Reiki Stulls-kin. Reiki Stulls-kin is dead. You, Reiki Stulls-kin, are dead.¡± Reiki screeched, and Tala found her aura driven back, her very iron spikes digging furrows in the ground as they were pushed inward along with Tala¡¯s aura. Tala had what she needed. She was breaking the woman¡¯s power, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Then, she understood. Reiki was destroying her words at the edge of Tala¡¯s aura, obliterating them from the air with ease because they were being created by magic. So, Tala dissolved her helmet, exposing her head and face to the interior of the cell. She let her braid fall free as she glared down at the shell of a woman. At that moment, Reiki assaulted Tala in a new way, a foreign power trying to invade her mind. But Tala had expected the assault. Her skin was still coated with iron, and she had her mind forcibly linked with the Archive, focused on the name of this Reality Mage. ¡°Rest in peace, Reiki. Your passing will be remembered.¡± Tala stated the normally comforting words as a proclamation of execution. The Reality Mage¡¯s working shattered, and existence itself froze. Reiki¡¯s carefully built enforcement of the exception to Reality had been broken, and the fate of Reiki Stulls-kin came crashing down upon the body that had been calling itself Re-al. There was no soul left to pass on, it had been maimed long ago. Existence did not like that. The death of a sapient should mean the passing of a soul. Instead, there was a momentary inversion of everything within the cell. Reality was replaced with void-magic, void with reality-magic, and magic with a void in reality. Only in that moment of full inversion did the abomination that Reiki¡¯s gate had become find its place. Then, existence righted itself, dragging Reiki¡¯s soul back into being. There, before Tala floated what was clearly a human soul, completely whole once more. Behind it, a small portal opened, a gate without the need of a broken soul. Then, Tala was hit with the overpowering feeling of rejection. She almost thought that the next world had rejected Reiki¡¯s soul, but that wasn¡¯t so. Even still, the purity of the next world beckoned. It was Reiki¡¯s soul that¡ªof its own free will¡ªutterly refused the invitation. Finally, along with a sense of unmitigated sadness and regret, the gate closed. As it closed, it was as if Reiki¡¯s soul dimmed. It simply winked out of existence entirely along with the closing of the way forward. Only then did Tala realize that her mundane eyes had been seeing literally nothing, everything was coming to her through her threefold sight, and the memories were being recorded directly into the Archive, bypassing her physical mind for that one moment. Time within the cell was utterly frozen, and that included her body. Then, the frozen moment ended, and those collected memories¡ªthose of what had happened to Reiki¡¯s soul¡ªcame crashing into Tala¡¯s physical mind. The colossal influx caused Tala to stagger, falling to her knees. Alat? -I saw¡­ Did we just witness the true end of a soul?- I¡­ I think so. Down at the bottom of the hill, a meaningless physical form was already turning to dust and drifting away on non-existent winds. [Not a Chapter] Book 7 Release - My Error Hello All, I messed up, and I sincerely apologize. There was an error in the uploading of the file for MM Book 7 - Eskau. The deadline was yesterday, and I didn''t notice the error as I was quite under the weather at the time. I am coming out of it now, but I am still not feeling great. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Because of my error, the pre-order for Eskau was cancelled by Amazon, and all of you wonderful people who had pre-ordered it had that order cancelled. That, in turn, has forced the launch of book 7 to be May 2nd, instead of this Wednesday. I deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused. Once again, thank you for your readership and support! I will do my best to keep you in the loop as things progress. Best Regards, J.L.Mullins Chapter: 415 - Void of Magic Tala staggered again, even as the Reality-Mage¡¯s dust fully dispersed. This time, it wasn¡¯t because she was still missing an arm. No, she staggered under the sudden assault from the power within the air of the cell. She could do nothing to keep it back as it inexorably roiled toward her, pushing her aura aside. At least, she could do nothing until she focused strongly on her own magic, and the void which existed between all things, separating her aura from the rest of the cell. Her power rushed out, filling her aura with dense magic, and her threefold sight saw that the distinction between the clashing forces was much clearer than had existed even moments before. Only then did the pressure seem to let up, at least enough for Tala to temporarily hold her ground. The issue lay in that Reiki had held sway over a massive amount of Reality¡¯s authority and power, but she was gone, and Reality seemed to want an outlet. It wanted balance, and things were incredibly out of whack. The power of Reality wanted to rush out of the cell and crash upon Zeme like a tidal wave, but Tala¡ªher aura, authority, and area of sovereignty¡ªwere in the way, plugging that hole. Still, the power had to go somewhere. Tala had no idea where it had come from, so she didn¡¯t really know what was needed to use it. Magic came from the next world. Void was found within the divisions between all things. Reality¡­? Yeah, she had no clue. Oh, she knew that Reiki had somehow drawn it through her own twisted soul, but that wasn¡¯t really an answer. That was like saying someone acted cruelly because they were a mean person. That didn¡¯t actually explain the why, or in this case the where from and what for. -Tala, the power in the air diminished when Reiki passed.- Yes, Alat, the source of power is gone, so there is less of it. -No!- Tala felt the mental equivalent of a poke to the forehead. -Listen! It took power from the storm here in the cell to reduce Reiki to dust.- Tala froze for an instant, processing that. Letting Reality exert itself uses up whatever this power actually is. That was so obvious she felt a bit foolish for not realizing it. She knew that the power was somehow related to Reality, but that didn¡¯t actually tell her what it was. It was the equivalent of knowing that light let her see things, and that didn¡¯t actually give more than the basic information on what light actually was. Regardless, she had a potential go-forward in mind. I had to speak to let it work¡­ She nodded to herself, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. The nearby town caught her attention again, ¡°No untended town would be standing after millennia, and this town has only held the dead.¡± There was an odd resonance through the air as the vibrations of her words rippled outward. It felt almost like something checked the truth of her statement. The feeling was among the oddest she¡¯d ever felt. It was like looking at a friend with a finger held up for her to wait, while he flipped through a book to check on the accuracy of her claim. But on a conceptual level. Is Reality fact checking me? -I don¡¯t know¡­ yes?- Then, before her eyes, the walls of the town and everything within the ancient bastion of humanity began to erode at a prodigious rate. Tala stood as if a statue observing the passage of centuries as they tore the town down to nothing, removing all traces that it had ever been there at all. Tala knew that there should have been some remnants, but Reality seemed to be going a little overboard at the moment. That took¡­ almost none of the power from the air. Rust. Tala could probably make a good go at removing the taint from the cell through various methods¡ªrust, she could probably just dump power outward to erode Reality¡¯s hold, there¡ªbut she felt like getting an expert opinion and assistance would be wiser. -Master Xeel?- Yes, good idea. She looked over her shoulder and called, ¡°Master Xeel! The prisoner is dead, and I need help with another problem.¡± A moment later, Master Xeel stood beside her, looking around. ¡°I¡¯m glad you weren¡¯t compromised, but what happened?¡± She briefly explained, and the Reforged nodded in understanding. ¡°So, the authority in the air outside your aura is that of Reality itself?¡± ¡°Yes, only filling my aura with a focus on magic and void is holding it back¡­¡± ¡°You have done well, exceedingly well, actually. Would you be alright if I took it from here?¡± She almost said yes, grateful to pass off the issue to someone else, but then she hesitated. She could use this as an opportunity to learn. ¡°Can¡­ Can I see what you do? Can you explain it to me?¡± He hesitated for a moment in turn, then shrugged. ¡°It is simple, really. Most see the tripod of existence as in balance, pushing against each other, but they can also be seen as sides of the same coin.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain the basics with a rather trite play on words. Please don¡¯t read too much into it.¡± She nodded her agreement. ¡°Alright, in Existence, the opposite of Reality is Void-Magic¡ªa combining of the other two pillars. Correct?¡± ¡°That is my understanding.¡± ¡°Good. Now, you could also say that Reality is a thing that is Void of Magic.¡± She opened her mouth to reply, but then paused, a frown creasing her face. ¡°Wait¡­ Then, Magic is a thing that is Void of Reality?¡± She began nodding again as she considered her own question. ¡°At its deepest sense, I can actually see that, but Void? The Magic of Reality? Does that work?¡± Master Xeel shrugged. ¡°Or the Reality of Magic is the creation of Voids. And the Magic of Reality is that it is mostly Void.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a bit silly?¡± She frowned. Even though it was silly, it actually fit incredibly well. ¡°I did say it was a trite play on words, but it is true nevertheless. So, to deal with an abundance of Reality, we are really dealing with a place or thing that is Void of Magic to a larger extent.¡± ¡°Is that¡­ it?¡± ¡°No, but it comes out to nearly the same thing. All that we really need to do is dump power into this cell until all the Reality is balanced out. Without the prisoner to continue to add to the imbalance, that should be all that is required. And in the end, the place will have a much greater existence than it did before.¡± ¡°So¡­ I destroyed that town for nothing?¡± Master Xeel grinned. ¡°Not for nothing. It shows that you grasped a key part of what was going on. Unfortunately, there simply isn¡¯t enough within this cell that is counter to Reality to fully correct the imbalance naturally.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. He took a deep breath, and Tala felt his gate open wider, like the ending of an eclipse. ¡°May I have your permission for my power to pass through your aura?¡± Tala responded without any hesitation, ¡°Absolutely.¡± That was all he needed. So nothing further required, Master Xeel exploded with undirected power, simply dumping his ridiculous throughput outward. It easily passed through Tala¡¯s aura and slammed into the power that had been pressing inward. That clash gave Tala an interesting realization. The Reality power isn¡¯t pushing inward, not really. An overturned cup didn¡¯t spill because the water was actively pushing downward. It was just the nature of existence for it to flow down, out of the overturned cup. Similarly, Reality existed to be in balance with Void and Magic, and it was ¡®flowing¡¯ in a way to accomplish just that. The magic was, itself, obviously balancing out that side of things, but as silly as it seemed, the very fact that the magic was distinct from the reality it was blending with, meant that the process, itself, was carrying or generating void in the maelstrom of powers. There was really nothing much left for Tala to do, and so she waited and watched as Master Xeel countered the millennia of work enacted by a Reality Mage. It didn¡¯t take long for Tala to notice how quickly Master Xeel was progressing. When she did, she asked how that was possible. After all, Reiki seemingly had spent millennia within the cell. Master Xeel smiled and responded simply with a question, ¡°If you had eternity to fill a space with magic, how much power could you pack in?¡± She considered for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Likely only to a point that was a bit more dense than my own magical density. The process would likely allow me to increase my own density some, but it wouldn¡¯t be infinitely recurring.¡± ¡°Precisely. This Reality Mage only had a certain density that she could achieve, and while the fact of that density is actually incredibly impressive, it isn¡¯t infinite, and the tyranny of advancement comes into play.¡± She thought for a long moment before asking the obvious question. ¡°How magically dense are you?¡± He chuckled, not at all offended. ¡°Not much more so than you, actually, but that¡¯s mainly due to your unusually high density and my own peculiarities. My focus is on throughput, and in that, I am unmatched.¡± His smile was so genuine that Tala didn¡¯t take his words for arrogance. It was a simple fact that he¡¯d conveyed in order to answer the question that she, herself, had asked. He was the greatest source of magic known to gated humanity. ¡°Thank you. It is good to have a point of reference.¡± ¡°Of course, we need to understand that which we are striving for. I look forward to the day that you unseat me, Mistress Tala. In that vein, how are you feeling about the advancement toward Paragon? Your enlightening, as it were.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Honestly, I feel alright? I feel like I¡¯m making good progress. I¡¯ve only been on the road for a year, and already I have a few percent of progress or so.¡± He blinked at her a few times. ¡°Ah, so you are taking the long view of things?¡± ¡°What?¡± She frowned, not understanding, ¡°Even if I just continue at this pace, I will be a Paragon within fifty years. That¡¯s insanely fast, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Well, yes and no.¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°That didn¡¯t really clarify anything?¡± He chuckled. ¡°A half-century to reach enlightenment is a significantly faster pace than the vast majority of Refined are setting. So, yes.¡± His grin said that he wasn¡¯t done, however, and he proved that true by continuing. ¡°Truthfully, though, that¡¯s a biased sample set. That same vast majority are almost entirely still on that path and have yet to reach the end. After all, every Refined to ever live is or was on the path to Paragon. So, really, the most important metric is a comparison to those who have actually achieved advancement to the level of Paragon. Of those, most accomplished it in under fifty years. So, that¡¯s the no, it would not be insanely fast.¡± He seemed to pause a moment before nodding. ¡°Let me ask you another question.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± She let herself focus more fully on his words as he spoke again. ¡°Which do you think is easier, plumbing the universe¡ªand your place in it¡ªfor new knowledge and insight the first time? Or diving into thoughtful contemplation and coming back out with new insight the hundredth time?¡± Tala considered for a moment. ¡°I think the answer you are aiming for me to give is that it is easier the first time.¡± That made him smile; though he didn¡¯t glance her way. ¡°And the answer that you would give?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I think it depends on where you are diving in from. Sure, if you change nothing¡ªand seek insight from the same place, under the same circumstances, and with the same desires every time¡ªthen you¡¯ll strip that ¡®area¡¯ of insight bare rather quickly. However, if you approach things in new and varied ways, put yourself in new circumstances, and maintain an attitude of learning, then each dive should be as fruitful¡ªif not more so¡ªthan the first.¡± Master Xeel turned to her, then, and smiled. ¡°Well then, Mistress Tala, I think that your road to enlightenment might be shorter than I had assumed.¡± He paused for a moment before adding, ¡°But don¡¯t forget what you, yourself, said. You must actively seek those different places, mindsets, and motivations from¡ªand with¡ªwhich to seek insight.¡± She grunted, nodding her understanding. There was a moment of silence before she glanced his way. ¡°So¡­ why don''t you reply to my Archive messages?¡± ¡°Three main reasons.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°First, I try to keep busy enough that I don¡¯t really have much free time.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s understandable.¡± ¡°Second, I¡¯m sure the questions you ask take even more thought and consideration than most.¡± She narrowed her eyes, feeling like she knew what the last reason was going to be. ¡°Finally, hot-inscribing Archive connections is a pain.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°So, you don¡¯t actually see any of my messages.¡± ¡°Well, I do on occasion? Or I will on occasion. I try to take a week or so every so often to catch up on correspondence.¡± She narrowed her gaze. ¡°How occasionally?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Every century or so.¡± ¡°That must be one rusting awful week.¡± ¡°Once I get rid of all the messages from people who aren¡¯t around to receive responses it becomes more manageable, but yes, it¡¯s rusting awful.¡± She laughed, despite herself. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡± He returned a little smile. ¡°Yeah, I only wait about a decade between such¡­ message detoxes.¡± She gave him an unamused look. ¡°What? I prefer to be ready to respond to emergencies.¡± ¡°So, you have a means of being signaled in the case of emergency?¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely. Basically any of the city rulers can contact me directly, no Archive connection required.¡± ¡°Still, that sounds¡­¡± ¡°Lonely?¡± He offered. ¡°I was going to say boring, but lonely works, too.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°It¡¯s what I do. I am here to protect and uplift, Mistress Tala.¡± He seemed genuinely content about that. That obvious contentment brought a smile to her lips. ¡°Well, in that case, I have a lot of questions to ask you while we sort out this cell.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Ask away.¡± Tala focused her threefold sight intently on absorbing what she perceived and learning as much as possible in this new place and under these new circumstances. While Alat and her threefold sight were almost fully dedicated toward that purpose, she and Master Xeel talked. One topic that came up was the Black Legion. ¡°So¡­ why do automata always turn evil, or seem to?¡± Master Xeel glanced her way. ¡°That¡¯s a funny thing to ask in the current situation.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Then, she considered it. ¡°Is it because of Reality?¡± ¡°Precisely, yes. Without a strong, sapient soul, everything is subject to the three pillars of existence.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Honestly, even we sapients are rather influenced, but in different ways.¡± ¡°But the Black Legion uses souls¡ªvestiges¡ªfor their power sources, right?¡± ¡°Some do, yes, but even those that do don¡¯t grant those souls power of choice. The soul is effectively just a power source, where for you and me, it is the core of who we are. It guides our actions, and is really rather indistinguishable from ourselves. Though, that¡¯s an odd way to talk about it, and language really doesn¡¯t have the right words to convey what I mean.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I suppose. So, why does that mean they¡¯ll turn evil?¡± ¡°They really just turn anti-human. It¡¯s why the arcanes created them to begin with. They assumed that so long as gated humanity existed, the black legion would rampage against us. In one way they were correct.¡± ¡°But?¡± Master Xeel smiled. ¡°But they took umbrage with all gates, not just those in living humans.¡± ¡°Vestiges.¡± ¡°Precisely. They turned to sending on any soul that they weren¡¯t actively using ¡®for the cause.¡¯¡± ¡°And the arcanes didn¡¯t like that, because that would mean no magic.¡± ¡°Well, not no magic, but effectively none for most arcanes, yes. When that turn happened, most arcanes became fundamentally opposed to the Black Legion, and when the Black Legion tried to seize the Mountain Kings¡¯ magic engines¡­ It became all-out war.¡± He smiled. ¡°It is that war¡ªin which gated humanity found itself on the same side as the arcanes¡ªthat changed everything. We had to work together for the first time in our history, and the Black Legion were a tangible example of what the war could cause if continued unchecked.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°So, when the Black Legion was dealt with, finally, the fragile peace was maintained. There have been small skirmishes since, but no war.¡± Master Xeel nodded in turn. ¡°Exactly, and in that peace¡ªin relative safety¡ªwe have thrived. It¡¯s one reason why we haven¡¯t ever struck without great cause. Then, we make it plain why we attacked, so that it isn¡¯t seen as simply an opening salvo.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°It is madness to me that we consider this safety.¡± ¡°I did say relative.¡± ¡°You did, but so, so many people die.¡± ¡°Fewer than when arcane Hallowed led raiding parties to raze our cities. Fewer than when we fought and bled for every child to grow into adulthood. Our children are safe now. Our adults? Well, they are not as safe as we¡¯d like, but almost all of our children survive.¡± Tala found herself agreeing. It was odd to consider how, without magic, children would likely die far more often than they did. For her, childhood had been a time of safety. Only in adulthood had she walked in true danger. How different would our world be if children died in droves and adults were the safer group? She simply couldn¡¯t fathom it. What society would stand for it? It made the exceptions stand out¡­ the two boys that she¡¯d failed to save so long ago. Rust¡­ I haven¡¯t thought about them¡­ basically at all. Alat broke her silence to chime in. -Because Be-thric took you that night, and after that you¡¯ve had more important things on your mind.- More important to me. Those boys¡­ I know their minders messed up, and I did all I could, but¡­ they still shouldn¡¯t have died. She wasn¡¯t overly broken up over it, and that bothered her. She knew that context was key, and she just couldn¡¯t bring herself to do more than vaguely regret their fate in the context of everything else that had happened. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t worth spending time on. This was all a bit of a distraction as she still hadn¡¯t gotten an answer to her question. ¡°But what about all of this made the Black Legion, and indeed any automata, into our enemies in the first place?¡± Master Xeel gestured around them. ¡°Reality, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Care to explain?¡± she asked, trying to add levity and draw out some more detailed answers. After a moment, Master Xeel nodded. ¡°I will try.¡± Chapter: 416 - Mission Accomplished Tala waited as Master Xeel collected his thoughts, still pouring his magic outward to slowly counter the remnants of the Reality Mage¡¯s¡ªReiki¡¯s¡ªpower. Finally, he gave a slow nod. ¡°Reality is fundamentally opposed to us for two critical reasons. The first is obvious: Magic. We introduce more and more magic into existence every moment we continue to exist.¡± When he paused, she decided to respond. ¡°I think I got that one.¡± He chuckled. ¡°True, that is generally the most obvious reason. The second is a bit harder to understand, however.¡± She smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯ll try to pay close attention, then.¡± He smiled in return. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it. So, the only way that I can think to describe it is as a piece of paper.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°If you cut a piece of paper in half, how many pieces of paper do you have, then?¡± ¡°Two.¡± She gave him a flat look. ¡°Is this the part that¡¯s hard to understand?¡± His smile widened. ¡°No, not at all. Between Zeme and the next world¡ªwhat we see as the afterlife¡ªthere was a void, a simple separation. Ignoring the disastrous mess of things made by magic that the arcanes call the Doman-Imithe, the void was just that. Now, with every gate, there is, in a sense, a division of that void. Because of the nature of the void, there are more voids now because of gates than there would be without.¡± ¡°So, every gate creates a dual imbalance? More void and magic within existence?¡± ¡°Essentially.¡± ¡°So, shouldn¡¯t that mean that void and magic have more power, here?¡± She frowned, considering. ¡°They do, but existence requires balance.¡± And then she understood. ¡°So, existence itself drags reality into prominence.¡± ¡°Funny way of wording it, but effectively, yes.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°So, the automaton I have in my sanctum?¡± ¡°If you activate it, I¡¯ll destroy it. Or someone else will. Even if it was perfectly safe now¡ªwhich it wouldn''t be¡ªevery moment of activation would give it the chance to be corrupted by reality.¡± She sighed. ¡°What if I soul-bound it? Or kept direct control of it through some sort of connection?¡± He opened his mouth, but then hesitated. ¡°Well, that wouldn¡¯t actually be an automaton, then. The name really says most of it. Automaton. It acts autonomously. If that¡¯s not true, then it¡¯s not an automaton.¡± ¡°It¡¯s that autonomous action that allows the taint of Reality to grow?¡± Master Xeel considered for a long moment then shook his head. ¡°No, I think that autonomous choice is the issue. That choice-making is what leaves an opening for corruption.¡± Tala hesitantly disagreed, ¡°That can¡¯t be it.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He regarded her again. ¡°Yeah, the core of the House of Blood¡¯s hold was an autonomous set of inscriptions that simply used a vestige to power itself. It made decisions, enacted magics, and generally ran the place free of issues. My understanding was that it had been doing so for thousands of years.¡± Master Xeel shook his head. ¡°I understand the confusion. Assuming they haven¡¯t lost their rusting minds¡ªmore than usual I suppose¡ªthat core wasn¡¯t autonomous. It likely had incredibly complex decision matrices pre-set by its creator. We humans use magics like that all the time. In fact, our cities¡¯ defenses function atop decision matrices of incredible complexity and nuance.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the two? I mean, how is a really intricate decision tree different from a choice? I think I get it in concept, but I don¡¯t think I could actually explain the difference.¡± He pulled a long breath, then let it out slowly, his cheeks puffing with the exhale. ¡°That¡¯s quite the existential question, Mistress Tala. It could be argued that humans are each just a very complex decision matrix, built by our biology, upbringing, and environment. I would say that the difference is the soul.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°So, a soul is what makes us into autonomous actors¡ªmore than just a decision matrix¡ªbut being an autonomous actor without a soul is what opens the Black Legion up for corruption.¡± He gave a half-smile. ¡°I see what you¡¯re saying, and it does sound self-defeating, but in essence, yes. There is no hard line that says this is just a complex matrix and that is an autonomous actor. All that we know is that the more autonomous a thing is, the more open it is to corruption. I could list off a thousand ways to define the line, or gradient, or binary, or spectrum, but it wouldn¡¯t be that useful unless you intend on delving into magical constructs and want to stay on the safe side of things. There is no point in categorizing things unless you have use for those categories when you¡¯re done.¡± She frowned but didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°The automata were set free with their initial programming and allowed to simply act. Maybe that is the great distinction. They are created to act independently, so it is our conception of them as independent or autonomous actors that opens them up to the corruption.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve conveyed most of what I can on the subject, as I am by no means an expert.¡± Tala understood the confusion. It seemed like reality corrupted and bent even creatures¡ªwhich had at least what seemed to be souls¡ªtoward hating humanity. After all, most magical and arcanous creatures disliked¡ªor even outright hated¡ªgated humanity. But Terry didn¡¯t. He¡¯d chosen to at least get along with her. So, he wasn¡¯t corrupt. On the other side, Io had been corrupted, turning on her creators. The Black Legion had as well. Yet again, some Mages had familiars of both magical and arcanous varieties. Why couldn¡¯t that work with automata, too? For that matter, why were humans and arcanes immune to reality¡¯s corruption? That drew her attention back outward to the cell that surrounded them. We¡¯re not immune. We just have a bit more magic¡ªmaybe a bit more void too¡ªand that¡­ protects us? Insulates us? She didn¡¯t know, and it seemed like even Master Xeel didn¡¯t have answers for her. Based on Master Xeel¡¯s words, she let that topic die, turning instead to other things that she¡¯d been curious about, and simply hadn¡¯t had a chance to inquire about. ¡°Master Xeel?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°May I ask¡­ Did you ever marry?¡± ¡°No, I did not.¡± There was a bit of sadness to his answer. ¡°Can I ask why not?¡± After a long moment, he shook his head, still with a bit less energy than he¡¯d shown just a moment before. ¡°I would rather discuss something else, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Of course. Was Reforging hard for you?¡± He laughed. ¡°No, it was my easiest step by far.¡± Tala¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Oh?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I transformed myself entirely into soul-bound light. You don¡¯t have to remake every cell in your body if you don¡¯t have any cells in your body.¡± Tala moved to poke him, but her finger stopped on a little circle of hardened light that appeared in the way. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I have a body when I look like this, Mistress Tala, but it is one I build entirely at my discretion, and under my own authority. Thus¡­?¡± He trailed off implicatively. ¡°A Reforged body.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°That seems¡­ that seems like cheating.¡± He shrugged again. ¡°Unique to me and my own journey of advancement. It wouldn¡¯t work for anyone else, I imagine. I also had to make certain¡­ sacrifices, but I think that¡¯s enough on that topic as well.¡± ¡°As you say. Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Well, there are definitely other things I¡¯d like to ask about.¡° For his part, Master Xeel humored her, easily falling into the role of teacher and instructor even while he continued to dump his magic outward. The process of clearing out Reiki¡¯s cell¡ªas well as the conversation¡ªwas quite enlightening, all things considered, and by the end, she had even managed to understand some of the nuances and interactions well enough to advance another percent toward Paragon. In the end, it took three days to fully balance existence within the cell. * * * Tala and her unit arrived back in Alefast in high spirits, their mission accomplished with little difficulty. It hadn¡¯t been easy, but it was hardly ¡®difficult¡¯ on the scale of things. At least that¡¯s how Tala saw it. They had all received a unit bonus for removing the need for a cell, and everyone had given a big portion of that to Tala, despite her insisting that that wasn¡¯t necessary. They¡¯d have given it all, because she was the only person from their unit to really do anything¡ªexcept facilitate transit there and back¡ªbut she absolutely refused. The other unit had received their standard pay and a bonus both for identifying a problem cell before entering and calling in the right resources to deal with it effectively. Reiki¡¯s cell had not had a cell-core, unfortunately, but Kit had still been able to consume the dimensionality and material of the place, once Master Xeel had deemed it safe to do so. That was actually seen as another service that Tala provided, because the reintroduction of that much space to the region would have weakened existence in the area for years to come. In discussing things with Master Xeel, they agreed that Kit could have eaten the cell earlier, but it likely would have wiped out most¡ªif not all¡ªthe magic in the air within the dimensional storage, and that would have been less than convenient. As it was, Tala was devoting all of her excess power¡ªalong with implementing void-channels to increase her throughput¡ªinto Kit, in the attempt to bring the average power density back up to match her density. All the new dimensionality¡ªall the added space and material¡ªhad been existentially neutral after all of Master Xeel¡¯s work, and so adding it all in had lowered the average quite a bit. The Reforged had not been willing to bump up the density before Kit¡¯s acquisition. Though he had found the request entertaining. Even with the lowered average, Tala maintained the high density in most of the expanded space by keeping a volume equivalent to that added space relatively magic-free. Once that was established she slowly began backfilling the magic-bereft space with power. But all of that had been sorted long before they arrived back at Alefast. Tala was a bit introspective and considered just going off to be by herself, but Rane was actually at the edge of the city, waiting to receive them as they arrived, having received her message asking him to be there. Even though she¡¯d asked him to come¡ªand so she¡¯d been almost sure that he¡¯d be there¡ªseeing him brought a smile to her lips. As she looked his way, Tala noticed that Anna was with him, which dimmed her smile just a bit. That wasn¡¯t because she disliked the girl. On the contrary, Tala actually found Anna an incredibly decent person, but she was what Tala considered a ¡®flaming extrovert,¡¯ and if Tala¡¯s analogy were carried further, that flame seemed to subsist by consuming introverts in an attempt to be kind and social. Tala liked her own introversion. ¡°Master!¡± The chipper young woman called to Mistress Vanga while giving an enthusiastic wave as the unit¡¯s vehicle settled down upon the ground. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± The Healer smiled demurely in return. ¡°Anna, how were your duties while I was gone?¡± ¡°Oh, just great. I only used magic to heal when mundane skills wouldn¡¯t do¡ªor to relieve suffering¡ªjust as you instructed. Gwenna says that I am picking up the basics of the mundane craft rather well, and she thinks that I should be able to take the Apprentice level evaluation sooner than expected, maybe even this year!¡± Anna was practically bouncing with excitement. Tala found herself marginally exhausted as the torrent of words continued coming from the woman, and so Tala tried to move off the vehicle and around the conversation unnoticed. She failed. Anna, of course, saw Tala immediately and grinned widely. ¡°Mistress Tala. It is always a pleasure to see you. Are we still having dinner at the end of the week?¡± Tala had gotten in the habit of having one meal a week with the Zuccats, and Anna had been joining her parents and siblings in that meal with Tala whenever Tala¡¯s travels and duties had her in Alefast over the recurring mealtime. Tala gave the other woman a smile and nodded. ¡°Yes, Anna. We will eat at the same time, and the entrance will be on the same wall as usual.¡± Anna gave a grinning bow. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I look forward to it.¡± Rane had stepped over to meet Tala. He seemed a bit dazed, likely from having been with the woman while they waited for Tala and Mistress Vanga to arrive. ¡°Hey, Tala. It sounds like you had an eventful trip?¡± She nodded slowly and definitively in response. ¡°Oh, yes. Are you up for chatting?¡± He smiled, seeming to be recovering. ¡°Almost always. Your message said you wanted to process some things. Does now still work?¡± ¡°Thank you, Rane, and yes. I would appreciate being able to unload a little.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go find a good spot.¡± They waved goodbye to her unit and to Anna. Then, Tala smiled, falling into step beside him as they walked through Alefast, together. Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder as they moved away, and Tala created an opening into Kit in front of the Terror bird, offering him the option. He seemed to consider for a moment, then he bobbed his assent, headbutted Tala¡¯s cheek, trilled happily toward Rane, and flickered away. Apparently, Terry had taken the three days while she was within the cell to roam the surrounding countryside to explore, hunt, and get up to whatever it was he did on his own. Consequently, he was ready for some ¡®Kit time¡¯ as Tala had taken to calling his lengthy stays within her sanctum. As for Tala, she had tried to take the time with Master Xeel to process everything that was swirling about within her mind, but her talk with him had also added more debris to the maelstrom of thoughts and emotions swirling through her head. The flight back hadn¡¯t been nearly long enough to reorder her thoughts, and she didn¡¯t want to just talk with herself about it, even if that was in the form of a dialogue with Alat. Thus, she had requested the walk with Rane. Even so, for the moment, they only walked side by side in comfortable silence. The two of them swung by Artia and Adrill¡¯s shop, dropping Kit¡¯s door on the outside of the alley wall and sticking their heads in to say hi and let them know that Tala was back. Beyond that, Rane and Tala just kept walking. Rane could tell that a lot was bothering her, but he didn¡¯t press. Instead he was just there for her. Like he always is. He almost never overstepped; he never forced his help on her; and he was always willing to give it when she wanted or needed his assistance. She shifted to bump her shoulder into his arm. ¡°Thank you.¡± He looked her way with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, I suppose, but what for?¡± ¡°For always being there to help me. For being a good friend.¡± She smiled his way. ¡°Oh, just a good friend?¡± He teased, emphasizing ¡®good¡¯ so it was obvious he wasn¡¯t contesting the ¡®friend¡¯ part. ¡°You know, I¡¯d say that you¡¯re my best friend, but then Terry might get jealous.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to be the cause of that, so I appreciate your restraint.¡± ¡°Of course, dear Rane, I do so strive to not have your end be the result of avian assault.¡± He shook his head, ¡°Terry tribulation would be an awful way to go.¡± ¡°Oh, I like that. Flickering flailing?¡± He made a fake horrified face. ¡°Horrible in concept and structure, well done.¡± She huffed a laugh and bumped him again. ¡°Regardless. Thank you.¡± ¡°You are most welcome, Tala. It has been¡ªand always will be¡ªmy pleasure.¡± He quirked a smile. ¡°You know, you¡¯ve been there for me, too.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah. When I joined your caravan, you were kind to me¡ªand more than just in a professional sense. I was a bit¡­ lacking in social capacity, and you helped me to improve.¡± ¡°You were?¡± She teased in return. That made his smile grow. ¡°Fair. I¡¯m still not the most adroit, but I feel that I don¡¯t put my foot in my own mouth nearly as often.¡± ¡°Well, that was always better than putting it into other people¡¯s mouths.¡± She said, trying to keep the teasing going. Then, they both paused, though they kept walking. Rane was the first to break the momentary silence. ¡°Like¡­ to kick them in the face? What were you going for, exactly?¡± She shrugged, giving a half hearted chuckle. ¡°Honestly, I wasn¡¯t thinking of anything specific. I was just trying to turn the words around.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± They fell back into comfortable silence as they continued meandering through the city. Finally, Rane broke the silence again. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± She hesitated for a long minute, during which Rane didn¡¯t press or say anything further. Finally, she nodded. ¡°You know what? I really think I do.¡± And that opened the floodgates. She found herself unloading about everything that had been on her mind¡ªeverything except her stresses related to his Refining, of course¡­ and her other, growing, thoughts about him¡ªand Rane simply listened, asking clarifying questions, and showing her undivided attention. She talked about Reiki, about Thron, even about Be-thric. She whispered about those who had died under her charge, including two children in particular. She ranted about Masters Xeel, Grediv, and Jevin. She theorized about master Lisa, and the future of the gateless humans throughout the gated human cities. In the end, she felt like everything in her mind was just splattering all over the cobblestones as she tried to piece together¡­ everything. As she talked, Tala felt the weight slowly lifting from her mind and shoulders, and she found herself naturally leaning into the comfort of Rane¡¯s presence and listening ear. Book 7 - Eskau is fully live!!! Find it on Amazon (epub, KDP, & paperback[Soon]) and via BookFunnel (Audio): https://geni.us/Eskau This is the entire Arcane lands arc, spanning from ch. 200 to 266¡ª72 chapters and bonus chapters all told. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ????? Please review if at all possible. That helps more than you know! Remember that any review should only be for the included chapters. Multi-regional review link: https://geni.us/eskau-review ????? If you have KU, every download counts as a sale for Amazon metrics, and those can really help launch the book well. If you are willing, any such download would be appreciated. Chapter: 417 - Arrivals Tala stood by with a mix of horror and resignation as the repercussions of her choice were realized. She was sitting on her throne within her sanctum, unconsciously trying to regain a feeling of control as she watched the goings on with her three-fold sight and general perception of the activity within Kit. More than two hundred people were in the midst of the process of moving into Irondale, consisting of both individuals and families. She was confused as to why they would want to live there, and at the same time, she completely understood. In fact, she had really expected this, which is why she¡¯d had Irondale built to begin with¡­ but she still didn¡¯t get it¡­ Sure, it was safe within Kit, so long as Tala could be trusted, and so long as she didn¡¯t die. All things considered, it was likely less dangerous than Alefast would be over the next decades as it fully waned. They also had the teleportation emergency exit set up. So in the event of disaster anyone living within Kit could flee regardless of what happened to Tala. But even the question of safety wasn¡¯t as important when compared to the second facet of all of this. Tala had agreed to induct any gateless into magic, once Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva all concurred that the individual had learned enough¡ªand were of a character¡ªto be safe and trusted with magic. That was the overarching ¡®maybe¡¯ that likely helped make up some people¡¯s minds. Additionally, Tala quickly learned that despite how high Master Simon and Adrill had set the rent on buildings and land within and around Irondale, it seemed that there were still substantial profits to be made by farmers and mundane crafters of various kinds. There was even a merchant who had contracted a large section of land for warehouses. For that particular case, Tala was obligated to let him know when she planned on going to other cities, and give him at least a couple of hours in any given city that she passed through, but honestly, that wasn¡¯t very burdensome. Alat would keep the man and his family apprised of Tala¡¯s travel plans, when there were any, and so he likely stood to gain quite a bit by using her as a less dangerous caravan. It wasn¡¯t enough to inspire Tala to make runs on her own, nor to make trips that she wouldn¡¯t have otherwise made, but it was something that would be profitable for the merchant¡­ apparently. I¡¯m glad that I don¡¯t have to deal with it. All told, Tala was only required to have Kit open for entry and exit for a few hours a day, so long as it was made clear when that would be, emergencies excepted. A fun new feature was the large, cut-stone arch that had been built on an otherwise dead end road out of Irondale¡¯s town square¡ªeven if calling it a town square felt a bit pretentious to Tala at the moment. The arch wasn¡¯t necessary, but it did give a defined place for Tala to generally put the gateway into and out of Kit. It allowed the town to plan routes for efficiently moving through the area as quickly as needed. She¡¯d also had to change the exterior location, as having it on the wall in the alley beside Artia and Adrill¡¯s shop had become infeasible, as funny as it was to consider the idea of having hundreds of people having to duck in and out of an alley. Master Grediv had worked with her and one of the city planners, and together, they¡¯d chosen a blank wall near a somewhat major crossroads. They¡¯d also put up a sign that made it explicitly clear that anyone entering the gateway¡ªwhen it was there¡ªwas putting themselves entirely under Tala¡¯s authority in every way, and thus people should only enter with that understanding. They¡¯d still had a few people come in and try to simply claim buildings or land, but that had only lasted about half an hour. Thankfully no one had been hurt or even had too severe of altercations over the issue. Instead, a message had been sent Tala¡¯s way. Even then, it had still taken that long for Tala to throw them out because she¡¯d been on the other side of the city. Aside from those few bad actors, people were mostly curious, coming in and wandering around, even doing the equivalent of nature walks through Irondale and the burgeoning surroundings. Tala was grateful that they¡¯d gotten the artificial sun installed on that side of the expanded space, so it wasn¡¯t just illusory light, but instead real light, providing warmth and the ability for plants to grow within the expanded space. It also freed up energy as Kit didn¡¯t have to constantly create, enforce, and alter the illusion in real time. Tala was keeping Irondale as a lower magic zone to keep from rebirthing people in power on accident, and that helped her with her average power issue, even if she was working to correct it as quickly as she could. Outside of Kit, fall was in full swing, and there was a nice chilly bite to the air. Tala, obviously, didn¡¯t need to change what she wore because of the weather, but the regular citizenry around Alefast were walking about with more or heavier layers, giving a cozy sense to the city as a whole. * * * Fall progressed and the first snows came and melted away. Snow came again and stuck, and just more than one month of having folk within Irondale came and went without great incident. Tala and Rane were walking along the wall around Alefast during one of her afternoon shifts, just talking and enjoying each other¡¯s company. Terry was curled up on her shoulder, contentedly sleeping as she and Rane chatted. It had been a relatively uneventful afternoon, even though the number of magical attacks had been continuing to increase as a whole. That day was not to be an exception. Tala¡¯s three-fold sight picked up the movement a moment before a large pack of wolves exited the forest nearest the wall, seeming almost to have faded out from the trees themselves. Though, now that she was specifically looking, Tala could see a large number of them further back still among the trees. The largest of the lupines put caravan wagons to shame with its sleek size, standing easily twenty feet from paw to front shoulder. The smallest was still nearly ten times the mass of a normal wolf or dog, approaching horse-sized. A collective silence fell over the walls as the nearby guards took in the sudden appearance of nearly two hundred wolves. Terry lifted his head, his feathers raising slightly as his eyes widened in evident surprise. Tala looked to Rane in confusion. It had been he who had told her that the wolves generally left humanity alone, at least the more powerful wolves did. The largest wolf out there was restraining her aura, but it was still obviously a deep indigo to Tala¡¯s magesight. It made a lovely counterpoint to the wolf¡¯s otherwise snow-white pelt. A voice rolled over the city¡¯s wall, somehow easy to understand, while still obviously coming from an inhuman source, ¡°Anatalis sends his regards, humans.¡± There was a moment of stunned rigidity, citizens on the streets behind the wall seemed to sense something was going on, because they cleared out with obvious speed. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Barely a single moment passed before Master Grediv and several other Paragons and Refined appeared along the walls. ¡°Ahh, good, the master of the city has arrived.¡± ¡°We hold no ill will toward you Anatalins. Why have you come to our city?¡± The man was standing rigid, a sapphire staff held low in his hand to be below the crenellations¡ªand therefore out of view¡ªwhile still being ready for quick use. ¡°No ill will? Is that all we are to you? Simply those you don¡¯t wish ill upon?¡± The rolling laugh of the lead wolf was like the crumbling of a mountain. Tala¡¯s unit-mates had come out of the guard room and stood atop a nearby tower, looking down at the visitors. She could see visible stress in Master Grediv, even if it was likely only because she knew him so well. Still, his voice was calm as he responded. ¡°I meant no offense.¡± The wolf growled at that. ¡°My Alpha may have been mistaken if you grovel so easily, human. We come to test the fur and fang of humanity¡¯s rising generation. Anatalis¡ªin the wisdom of the many¡ªbelieves that you might be ready for closer partnership with the Pack.¡± Master Grediv leaned forward, placing his free hand upon the walltop, clearly surprised by the revelation, and cautiously interested. ¡°What do you propose?¡± ¡°As he stalked through the southeastern forests, Anatalis slew uncounted Leshkin who¡¯d strayed where they were not wanted, and yet there were fewer than he had expected, fewer than he was used to finding along that border.¡± Tala felt a shiver run up her spine and then back down. Terry gave a soft trill, headbutting her cheek. ¡°He smelled the scent of a young one, one with less than a century of life to her name, yet one drenched in battle and power. This has given him hope for your pups. He sent me that your young may be tested against his sireling, one of the Pack who has yet to reach his fiftieth year.¡± A russet furred wolf¡ªjust about the size of a large horse¡ªpadded forward from among the trees to stand beside the white-furred titan. His fur was crisscrossed with scars. It should have given him a mangy appearance, but instead of lacking hair, the scars grew fur of a silver-white, and that gave him a more mottled, textured appearance than was usual. The wolf¡¯s aura was a slightly green yellow, just barely more advanced than Tala¡¯s own. Rane leaned over to give Tala a bit of information. ¡°When one of the Pack dies, they are reborn without scar or blemish. For him to be so scarred speaks of intense battles, survived.¡± Tala smiled weakly, nodding her thanks. She was still trying to process that a beast-god had caught her scent and responded like this. The wolf spoke again. ¡°Any of the rank of Refined or greater¡ªas you measure advancement¡ªwho is younger than a century is invited to meet the sireling in battle, soul against soul.¡± Again, Rane provided an explanation. ¡°They fight only with things that are soulbound. No other equipment, not even inscriptions will be allowed. Humanity has settled disputes with the Anatalins in such a manner in the past. We have only ever won when those such as Master Xeel were allowed to participate.¡± Master Grediv nodded his understanding. ¡°You honor us with such an offer, but there are few who have ever achieved such a feat.¡± ¡°That is why we have come to this city as it wanes. Your strongest gather for such occurrences, is that not correct?¡± ¡°It is, and they do.¡± ¡°Good. Then, do any fit the criteria within your walls? Or should we venture elsewhere.¡± Tala saw the wolf¡¯s head turn slightly, her eyes looking straight at Tala. She knows. Master Grediv nodded. ¡°There are two here who meet the requirements, but one is not a fighter.¡± Two? -There¡¯s a Constructionist who is ninety three years old. He just finished Refining two years ago.- Huh¡­ I didn¡¯t know that. Rane¡¯s fists were clenched beside her, and she heard his knuckles pop with the force of the contraction, his forearms bunching with muscle so much that they were quivering. He would have been one, too, and he knows it. He also knows that he still could, if only he could make that choice. Terry was regarding the large man beside them but didn¡¯t otherwise react. Rane also seemed to be working his jaw, water evident in his eyes, though no tears fell. Tala placed her hand on his shoulder, and he somehow tensed even further before relaxing a bit. He spoke very, very quietly, clearly trusting Tala¡¯s incredibly enhanced sense to hear him, ¡°I made my choice. This is but one more consequence. I will endure.¡± The wolf rumbled, several of the others howling in a way that somehow didn¡¯t interfere with their leader¡¯s voice. ¡°Then the one will do.¡± Tala somehow detected something along with the words. It was a¡­ disdain? Dislike for one who would beg off of fighting. After all, what was power for if not to defend the Pack and its territory? If power did not provide for the Pack, it was useless. Worse than useless, it drew one away from the Pack, weakening that which was left behind. Even so, there was¡ªthreaded through¡ªa bit of resignation as the leader of the wolves seemed to also concede that humans used things that were created, so one could provide in that way and still hold power in a good way, but she clearly didn¡¯t like it. Master Grediv turned toward Tala, his eyes briefly flicking toward Rane. Rane jerked back at even the quick glance, and Tala closed her eyes in empathetic pain. Master Grediv¡¯s voice was soft but firm as he asked, ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± Tala squeezed Rane¡¯s shoulder, opened her eyes and hopped up on the crenelations of the wall. ¡°I will fight him, if that is what is best for humanity.¡± The wolf leader laughed once again. ¡°Anatalis will be gratified that I found the young human who intrigued him, and you have advanced since your rampage as well. Truly, you are a wolf at heart.¡± Terry had stood up on her shoulder, talons secured into her elk leathers for good purchase. The avian looked at Tala, then toward the wolves, then back to Tala. Finally, he shook himself and trilled, the sound much greater than it had any right to be. Silence once again filled the area. The wolf leader¡¯s voice rolled into that silence. ¡°You claim the rights of a flockmate? To fight at her side?¡± Terry trilled his assent. ¡°You are not bonded.¡± The wolf didn¡¯t say this as if it were an objection, simply a statement of fact. Terry let out a few chirps in response. ¡°Ahh, yes. I see. Threads of existence tie you, even if not bonds of the soul.¡± She turned to the russet wolf. That much smaller wolf spoke for the first time, sounding like an excited teen, barely holding back his jubilation even as his projected voice was easily sent to all who were nearby. ¡°I will fight her with any she cares to bring.¡± Rane shifted, but before he could do anything else, the wolf leader spoke. ¡°One. You may bring one¡ªthe terror bird or none.¡± Rane slumped just slightly as he grimaced, denied once again. Terry squawked his readiness. Tala glanced at the terror bird, the magically wonderful murder-bird, her friend. ¡°Are you sure?¡± He looked back and responded with a soft coo. Tala somehow understood it as ¡°How could I not?¡± She smiled and nodded, turning back to look down on the wolves. ¡°We will face you.¡± Without further delay, she stepped from the walltop and dropped, landing with a minor boom on the ground before the wall. ¡°My understanding is that inscriptions are not allowed, is that so?¡± Tala clarified. ¡°Nothing unbound to you is allowed. Your clothing is bound, so shedding your false fur is not required. I have brought a gift of Anatalis, which will render your inscriptions inert for the term of the fight. With your permission, I will enact it now so that you may acclimate before the clash begins.¡± Tala nodded, even as she strode away from where she had landed. She didn¡¯t know the source of the powers that rolled over her as if her iron, aura, and resistance weren¡¯t there, but her magic was suddenly much weaker, only her natural magics remaining. No, not weaker, less directed? Less¡­ stable. -This¡­ rusting¡­ bleh.- I¡¯m sorry, Alat. Tala knew that Alat would be fine, but without Tala¡¯s mental inscriptions¡ªas well as lacking the specific inscriptions for Alat¡ªthe alternate interface was severely restricted. Tala moved, feeling her range of movement and the power of her less enhanced body. Still more than a hundred yards away, the wolf stood ready, having come forward as she did. He was larger than her, and she could tell that he outweighed her both magically and physically. ¡°You have pre-prepared attacks on your back.¡± The wolf leader pointed out. Tala did, indeed, have eight siege orbs in four sets in a holster on her belt. ¡°Is that forbidden?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Let her keep them.¡± The sireling snarled eagerly. ¡°No.¡± Tala just shrugged, taking them out of the elk leather created pouch and tossing them back toward the wall where they landed in a puff of snow. ¡°What of these?¡± She held up her tungsten rod and balls, along with her defensive discs. The wolf leader gave a contemplative growl. ¡°They are bound to you at their core. They will be allowed.¡± Tala nodded her acknowledgement, and let them go, moving them to her battle positions by the effort of her will. The six discs moved, floating in a somewhat random orbit around her; the tungsten rod hovered across the back of her neck, barely an inch from touching her; and the balls moved to float just beside each shoulder. ¡°Are you ready?¡± The question seemed to shake the nearby forests, causing the trees there to shiver and their branches to shed their burden of snow. ¡°To the death?¡± Tala asked, yet again trying to clarify. ¡°Yes.¡± The russet wolf interjected again. ¡°I will accept your surrender, human. You need not fear.¡± The wolf leader growled even deeper, and the sireling¡¯s fur stood on end, even as his head dipped in belated respect. ¡°Though impertinent, he does speak truly. We know your death is not like ours.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Tala nodded once. The wolves howled again, once more not obscuring the leader¡¯s voice, ¡°Are you ready?¡± Terry suddenly grew in size until his shoulders were of a height with the sireling¡¯s, his neck holding his head higher still. He trilled toward the sky in a way that seemed to be a direct challenge to the wolves¡¯ howls. Tala felt herself grin even as she enacted her last preparations. Iron and white steel flowed over her, layering her hex-based, ablative armor around her body. She even gave a little hop at the end in order to allow it to cover the bottoms of her feet. Then, with an act of will and magic¡ªlikely very similar to the wolves¡¯ own manner of speech¡ªshe sent her voice outward, ¡°Ready.¡± Chapter: 418 - The End of a Story Tala almost felt bad, now that she considered things. She stood, fully armored in ablative iron and white steel. Flow was now in her hand in the form of a glaive. The wolf before her was larger than her by quite a bit, and she felt like the extra reach would be useful, at least at the beginning of the engagement. A tungsten rod floated behind her neck, ready to protect that vulnerable area, while two tungsten balls hung in the air, one by each shoulder ready to deflect or redirect. Her defensive discs floated around her in irregular patterns, orbiting her in preparation to interpose themselves between her and any attack. Beside her, Terry stood, towering nearly double her height, eyes locked on his fellow predator. He was massively outmatched in advancement, but he still had chosen to stand beside her in the face of this challenge, apparently claiming her as a flockmate, and demanding the right to fight by her side. On one side, the fight seemed incredibly unfair. She was effectively an armored juggernaut with a teleporting murder bird, coming to kill a wild dog. Yet, despite it all, she couldn¡¯t help but feel like the advantage wasn¡¯t hers. * * * Rane looked down from the wall top, standing beside his former master. Tala looked like a mythical goddess of war, Terry¡ªbeside her¡ªa beast of legend. The wolf they faced looked simple, yet the Anatalins were never as simple as they appeared. Legend had it that the god-beast had never been inscribed, and he emphasized breadth of capacity and flexibility in tactics in those he taught directly. This russet wolf seemed to be one such pupil. ¡°Can she win?¡± His voice was soft, but he knew that Master Grediv heard him. Master Grediv always heard him. ¡°I don¡¯t know. She has powerful soulbonds and an honestly terrifying companion, but to face an Anatalin wolf and win¡­? We will see.¡± * * * Tala felt something echo through her very being. It wasn¡¯t words that she had heard¡ªthe sireling hadn¡¯t spoken¡ªbut somehow with her threefold sight and still somewhat enhanced senses, she heard what the wolf was doing. Ghost Steps on New-Fallen Snow. Without any physical movement, and only the barest flicker of magic, the wolf was behind her, already biting for her neck. An act of will caused the tungsten rod to shoot backward. It was too small to bridge the massive jaw, instead being fully engulfed before it slapped against the back of the beast¡¯s throat, briefly arresting his attack. At the same time, Terry flickered away, appearing on the wolf¡¯s back to rip and tear at the fur there. His talons couldn¡¯t pierce the hide atop the Anatalin¡¯s back, and he screeched in irritation at the realization. Tala spun out of the way, whipping Flow around to cut at the wolf¡¯s face. Even as she spun¡ªVoid Fire Disgorgement¡ªthe wolf hacked up a glob of purple fire. The bloodstars in her tungsten rod winked out and when the fire faded, there was no trace of the rod either. Flow had cut the flesh, but glanced off the hardened skull of the lupine, evoking a yipping growl even as the sireling planted his front paws and lunged at her again, somehow coming in low this time despite his size. A small amount of clearish blood spilled onto the snow, the iron claimed by Tala and pulled away. Tala lined up her defensive discs, slapping them against the wolf¡¯s head in sequence to nudge it to the side even as she twisted out of the way yet again, Flow licking out to leave yet more cuts through the attacker¡¯s hide, claiming more iron and continuing the flow of clear, yellowish rivulets of blood. Terry flickered, appearing in front of one of the sireling¡¯s back legs, clamping down on it with his powerful beak, and tripping the wolf up momentarily. Yet, the momentary reprieve didn¡¯t last. The wolf twisted nearly in half and snapped at Terry, causing the terror bird to flicker to his other side, where Terry lashed at lupine hamstrings. A back leg jerked out of the way, before the attached paw lashed out in a horse-like back kick. Tala came in with a lunging thrust, then, trying to land a solid hit on the incredibly slippery foe. She thought she¡¯d cornered the creature again, but¡ª Ghost Steps on New-Fallen Snow. A dozen yards away, the sireling snapped at Terry just as the avian flickered into being, the snow at their feet exploding in violent puffs. Terry was almost caught, but flickered once again before jaws snapped shut. What followed was¡ªfrankly¡ªterrifying to behold. Terry and the wolf flickered and moved around each other, ranging across the whole of the battlefield, each unable to land telling blows against the other. Yet, Tala was not left alone. Every other second or so, in no discernable pattern, the sireling would appear near her, striking at her with tooth or claw. He even body-checked her once, forcing her to absorb the energy of the hit in her armor before reforming the layers. She was holding her own¡ªwell, Terry was holding their own, and she wasn¡¯t dying in the confusion¡ªbut she knew that the young wolf was holding back. Every exchange between them left another minor wound on the wolf, but they were just that, minor. He¡¯d only shown a single magical ability, except to remove an annoyance from within his mouth. That purple fire had been of the void, somehow, and she did not look forward to facing it directly. It also made her hesitant to use Flow in its void form as void countered void with incredible ease. At least I have a ready defense if he tries to use it on me. * * * Rane watched with growing concern as Tala was put on the back foot time and time again. Her skill and Terry¡¯s mastery of flickering teleportation kept them relevant in the clash, but they were not in control of the fight¡¯s momentum. Terry seemed both more skilled in his teleportation, and could teleport more often, but the Anatalin was relentless, making efficient use of every movement. Where Terry used his flickering to attack, defend, and maneuver, the wolf seemed to only use it to reposition himself in order to keep both of his foes properly engaged at the same time. Rane couldn¡¯t help but grimace when Tala took hits that he could have avoided with his own magic. He had no delusions that he would be doing better than Tala over all, but it was still a stark reminder that he could have been doing something if he were advanced enough. If he had made a different choice. Now, Tala was fighting when he might have joined her, and she somehow seemed to be losing even though she hadn¡¯t taken a single injury that Rane had seen. He wanted to be out there, protecting her. Then, a thought came unbidden to his mind. Just her? That made him pause. Did he just want to be beside Tala? Did he only want to protect her? The thought was almost laughable, yet he knew that he¡¯d clung to it in the past. It wasn¡¯t true, though. She wasn¡¯t actually what he desired most, even though he did want to stand by her side as an equal. What did he want? What was his driving goal? He had a flashing memory of burn wolves tearing an innocent family apart while he stood helplessly by, rendered so helpless by his own choice, his own folly. He didn¡¯t want to advance in order to stay with Tala, to protect her. She didn¡¯t need his protection, and she was a protector in her own right. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. He looked down and amended. Sometimes she could use his assistance, but that wouldn¡¯t be him protecting her. That was them working together to protect others. That resonated somehow. He wasn¡¯t seeking advancement to follow a friend, to pursue something more than friendship. He sought something more than that. He desired something deeper. He wanted to protect everyone. Deep within him, it felt like his gate¡ªhis very soul¡ªresonated with that idea, and he found himself drawn into deeper contemplation as he continued to watch the fight play out below. * * * Tala had always struggled when sparring against Terry. Even the first time they¡¯d met, when they¡¯d truly fought, she¡¯d done terribly. She¡¯d likely only survived because he was a cautious fighter and was surprised by her resilience. Despite that, the main reason she¡¯d never seen him as a true threat was that he lacked penetrative power, and she¡¯d believed that she could outlast him. Even so, she had found herself utterly terrified when fighting him because of his sheer seeming inevitability and relentlessness in his assaults. This wolf wasn¡¯t nearly as good at teleporting around as Terry was, but he hit hard. Case in point, Tala staggered back as a paw caught her across the chest and tried to throw her to the ground. The ablative defense cracked, splintered, and gave way, causing much less force to actually reach her, and Flow left a shallow cut on the paw in retaliation, but that was it. The blade claimed a bit more iron for her, but not nearly enough to make a difference. It did seem like Tala was winning the battle of attrition, as he was bleeding and she wasn¡¯t, but she was also breathing hard. She wasn¡¯t used to getting winded, but after fighting at full speed for what felt like hours¡ªbut was likely closer to ten minutes¡ªshe was starting to feel just that. It didn¡¯t make sense. She felt like she was being hounded by an apex predator. Unable to get away. Unable to fight back. All she could do was run and wait to die. She was so much less than¡ª -Think. Tala.- Alat sounded incredibly strained as she was operating on a vastly limited amount of power and mental capacity. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, intrinsically understanding what Alat was trying to convey, and she growled. Mental magics, too? Rust you. Her iron exploded outward as dozens of spikes drove into the ground, and with greater aura superiority, she found the tendrils of power clinging to Flow and her white steel. Begone. She banished the drips of power with unquestioned authority. The sireling moved back, appearing a dozen yards away, watching her more warily now. He was taking hits to lay the seeds of his magic. Now, he¡¯s reassessing how to approach this fight. She straightened, not even having realized that she¡¯d been hunching until then. With another growl, Tala cocked her arm back and threw Flow in the form of a sword. ¡°Terry!¡± The wolf scoffed, taking the sword¡¯s hit. The blade deflected off the thick fur and hide, even if it did leave a shallow cut in its wake. But then, Terry was there. He was smaller¡ªbut not shoulder small¡ªand both of his talons wrapped around Flow¡¯s hilt, redirecting its motion. Then, he grew massive, and drove the sword downward. A startled yelp sounded out, the first true indication of pain from the sireling since the fight began. Terry had driven Flow up to the hilt into the wolf¡¯s back, between two ribs. The hit also flattened the lupine form against the ground with Terry¡¯s brief moment of extreme size and weight. Tala felt a large amount of iron immediately claimed, with a bit more added every moment that the sword remained. Likely noticing something was off with the weapon, Tala felt something around the sireling flex, and Flow was pushed out. The wolf had clearly become tired of the teleporting terror bird. ¡°Enough!¡± Void Shroud¡ªPurple light wrapped around Terry, utterly encapsulating him for a moment. The avian screeched in obvious pain¡ªa bit of fear evident in the sound¡ªeven as Tala lashed out with her aura and broke the working. Terry staggered as he landed on his feet, his feathers smoking, many seemingly having been destroyed in some manner even in that brief moment. Tala called Flow back to her hand, using the oft-forgotten ring around its hilt¡ªjust below the guard¡ªto whip it around for a parting slash against the wolf. He just grunted, clearly focused on something else. Altering his magics? ¡°Do you have more, Terry?¡± Terry flickered back to his feet, but then slumped sideways, clearly exhausted and injured. ¡°Go. I¡¯ll take it from here.¡± He squawked in irritation. ¡°You did well. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d still be standing without the time you gave me to figure out what was going on. I don¡¯t want you to die.¡± The wolf had returned to his feet, now bleeding a steady drip drip. It was odd to see red begin mixing with the mostly clear, ironless blood, but that wasn¡¯t Tala¡¯s focus at the moment. The wolf seemed content to wait while Tala and Terry spoke. Finally, Terry bobbed a nod, and flickered away, appearing on Rane¡¯s shoulder atop the wall, where Master Grediv seemed to instantly inspect him for permanent injury and the need for immediate healing. ¡°Your care for your Pack does you credit, human. Are you ready for the next clash?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tala expected him to teleport again, but apparently, the wolf had adopted that tactic specifically because of Terry. He is taking the tactic of meeting us on our own footing and winning anyway. It was a terrifying demonstration, but Tala didn¡¯t let it shake her. Instead, she firmed her resolve as he crouched low and lunged toward her, his quick sprint eating up the distance between them. Tala could tell that while the sireling was still injured, he was rapidly healing. The magics around him had not included healing before, but now, she had enough familiarity with that type of magic to pick up on the workings specifically. He is changing his magic on the run? That was¡­ Tala found herself in awe. She only knew of two humans who did that, Mistress Cerna and Master Xeel, and both were among the more powerful and versatile Archons in all of humanity. They were both much, much older than this wolf was supposed to be. He must be a dedicated student indeed. She really didn¡¯t have time for these musings, given that the normal level of enhancement to her mentality was absent. If he¡¯s better at magic than me, let¡¯s remove that as a factor. Well, she¡¯d do that as much as she could. The wolf didn¡¯t do a final lunge that she could have used to predict his attack. Instead, he just ran straight at her, crouched low. Tala bent as if to jump left, but then moved right instead. She used a massive amount of iron to push off from, connected to her only by a thin tendril, much as she¡¯d done against the syphon. The wolf was caught off guard but still reacted well. Flow became a glaive and slammed into the lupine shoulder, driving deeply¡ªclaiming more iron¡ªeven as the wolf¡¯s weight and momentum carried him closer to her, up the relatively short blade and handle. A boar spear would have been a better weapon here¡­ His jaws twisted and bit, and Tala got a good look at his teeth for the first time. She felt herself pale as she realized that, somehow, every tooth carried the aura and magic of a potent weapon in its own right. The teeth bit down, barely slowed by her layered armor. That¡¯s the weakness of this type of armor. It¡¯s for distributing incoming force, not taking direct, sustained pressure. It was a fleeting thought as she enacted her plan. The iron spikes that she¡¯d driven into the ground around them whipped back inward, held together and empowered by her aura which reigned uncontested around them. More than forty iron spikes buried themselves into the still closing wounds of the sireling, claiming more iron and burrowing still deeper. Those that tried to pierce fur and hide failed, only serving to spread iron across the wolf¡¯s outsides, which was helpful in its own way. The wolf clearly did not like this turn of events. It growled even as it stumbled, dragging Tala along with him due to Flow still impaling him through his shoulder. He shook his head with a vicious jerk, ripping off her left arm with a sickening, ripping pop. Tala screamed despite herself, letting go of Flow with her one remaining arm to drive her fist into the beast¡¯s eye, forming white steel claws on instinct even as she struck. The jaws released her arm, and he pulled backward, trying to get away from her clawing hand. She unbalanced due to the missing arm even as the wolf surged forward once more, snapping toward her again. She tried to jump away, but that just meant he latched onto her hip instead of her head or chest. With another vicious jerk, her left leg was torn free. RUST! She began building power within her lungs. If he wanted a close in fight, she¡¯d make him pay for it. Flow snicked back into her hand, and flipped to its void sword form, Tala acting on pure instinct. As she brought it down, a field of void popped up in the way, and Tala cursed herself a fool. She¡¯d already seen him use void twice. It was clearly something he was very familiar with. Void countered void almost perfectly, because two voids simply couldn¡¯t clash, it was against their nature to do so. She let Flow fall back into its standard sword form, and that was able to land cutting blows once again. The wolf¡¯s paw came up, raking at her with claws even as his jaws continued to snap and bite and tear. They were both making relatively simple back and forth lunges, Tala far more awkwardly due to missing basically half of her body. The wolf was still struggling as she claimed more and more of his blood-iron in a slowly building cascade. It wouldn''t be fast enough, though. Tala saw red even as her vision began to darken. She was going to die. The wolf was on his last legs too, but she was going to die. She didn¡¯t have her magics, not really. Even so, she took the power that had been building in her lungs and exhaled it out across the wolf¡¯s head, even as he struck. His hair puffed away and his skin cracked and peeled, but she simply didn¡¯t have the potency to make the attack any more useful. She was going to die, alone yet again. Alone, when friends were so near at hand. Her healing was so slow that it was barely preventing her from bleeding out at this point. Flow fell again and again as she screamed in impotent rage, the sound amplified by her own magic and raw emotion. The sireling flinched slightly but didn¡¯t relent. Even that wasn¡¯t enough to save her. She was going to die, and she wasn¡¯t ready. The wolf seemed to stumble, then somehow surged forward with a burst of strength, a fire in the creature¡¯s one remaining eye, almost a desperation mirroring her own. Tala made a mistake in her jerking¡ªhalf-body¡ªattempt to avoid the attack, and the jaws closed around most of her remaining torso. The teeth spent most of their force penetrating her armor as they came to rest against her skin. Together, the combatants fell to the ground, Tala unable to keep the teeth at bay. She looked toward the wall, seeing the bastion of humanity so close. Tala saw Terry looking back at her with clear rage and fear on his avian face. She saw Rane, halfway over the wall, held back by a Refined on each arm. She almost laughed at how staged it looked. It was like she was seeing the end of a story. The end of her story, those on the wall were witnessing that end. She looked back, seeing what she could have had. Tala closed her eyes, waiting for the end. But¡­ the sireling hadn¡¯t bit down yet. She wasn¡¯t dead. Was he giving her a chance to surrender? It seemed that he had actually been true to his word. He was going to let her surrender. ¡°I¡­¡± She tried to force out the words. I surrender. They wouldn¡¯t come. What a stupid reason to die. She had pushed so hard she couldn¡¯t even voice her own surrender. Then, she noticed something, her mind clearing just a bit of the fog that had settled over her. The wolf wasn¡¯t moving at all, and all of the iron within it was hers. He was dead. She began to shudder, blood burbling up between her lips as she began laughing, not out of mirth, but out of pure exhausted relief. She was alive, and she had won. The restriction on her inscriptions lifted and power burst through her. She had won, even if she still felt as if she¡¯d lost. Chapter: 419 - I’m Sure Tala lay on the ground with a dead wolf¡¯s jaws all but clamped through her torso. Nevertheless, she continued her gurgling laugh even as she did what she should have to begin with. This was something that¡ªwith a mere moment with her normal level of enhancement¡ªshe realized with ease. She had aura superiority, of course, so she grabbed the iron within her torn-free body parts and pulled them back to her. At that point, the once-again-active healing magics rejoined the flesh, working to replace and repair the area around the connection, pulling the needed materials from her vast stores. The iron within the wolf was already one with the rest of her iron merged with Flow, even if it was still within the corpse. She could take it whenever she wanted, tearing it free. Still, she wasn¡¯t satisfied. She wanted the wolf¡¯s hide, too, not just the iron within the hide and fur. It was ridiculously durable. She also didn¡¯t want to try to harvest and process it. That seemed like an unnecessary amount of work. She hesitated, then. No, she didn¡¯t want it. It was already hers. MINE. Her elk leathers extended tendrils outward, even as they were regrowing her clothing overtop of the newly reattached flesh. These tendrils, however, extended into the body of the wolf, melding with the hide and joining the iron already within as anchor-points for her authority. In that moment, Tala felt two things bound to and merged with her soul resonating in sync with her actions. Kit was a devourer¡ªjust like Tala¡ªand this method was much more in line with Kit¡¯s feeding than Tala¡¯s usual methods. The dasgannach¡¯s magics, abilities, and authority¡ªno longer there in truth but still there in capacity and concept¡ªseemed to hum in harmony with the stated and enacted claim. Nothing could stand in the way of Tala claiming what was rightfully hers. She pulled in a breath and spoke, so there would be no misunderstanding, ¡°Mine.¡± There was power in her voice. She had layered her desire, along with the sure knowledge that the kill was hers, and therefore so was the body by right of the kill. She had filled it with her magic and her authority both over the area in general, and over the corpse that still weighed down on her specifically. As the sound of her voice went out as a wave, she felt her authority truly sink into the fur, flesh, viscera, and bone of the wolf. She pulled. Why use her body¡¯s reserves when the wolf corpse had everything that she needed? When she pulled in another breath, the wolf seemed to deflate, her own flesh swelling with new growth, coming fully back together once again. Her elk leathers pulled back in, drawing their new material along with them. A moment later, Tala lay on the ground, unburdened, surrounded by churned earth and snow, no vestige of the fallen wolf remaining. A rumbling laugh rolled over the battlefield. ¡°Anatalis will be pleased indeed, human.¡± With her three-fold sight, Tala was able to watch as Mistress Vanga arrived beside Rane and worked to heal Terry. Good, he deserves to be fully restored. She felt nothing but gratitude toward Terry. He had been instrumental in facilitating her victory. Tala got up slowly, keeping her back toward Alefast¡¯s wall and her front toward the Anatalins. The massive snow-white wolf came forward, her indigo aura somehow perfectly contained along each individual hair of her pelt. Tala, still recovering mentally, spent an overlong moment just utterly stunned at that level of minute aura control. I really have a long way to go. -But, hey, we¡¯re alive.- Alat! Are you okay? -Been better, but I was able to observe the whole time. I just didn¡¯t have enough to actually be helpful¡­ I am sorry about that.- I¡¯m just glad that you¡¯re alright. ¡°Human.¡± Tala reoriented on the leading she-wolf, and only then did she notice the presences around the massive lupine. Hidden to mundane sight¡ªand even obscured to her three-fold sight¡ªwere seven slightly smaller wolves, arranged in a half-circle behind the leader. Each of their auras was held in close, but Tala was able to catch just enough to see that they were solidly blue in color to her magesight. Then, they vanished from her sight in all forms. They specifically let me catch a glimpse of them. She shuddered. More terrifying than their presence was the fact that they¡¯d seemingly correctly assessed her detection capability well enough to give her that passing glimpse and nothing more. Tala stood up tall, banishing her armor but keeping Flow in hand. ¡°Wolf.¡± Some of the pack back among the trees growled but not many. The leader just laughed, causing the snow around the area to fluff up some from the vibration-induced air alone. ¡°What are you called by your kind?¡± The wolf asked. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°My name is Tala, and I am called Mistress Tala.¡± She harrumphed. ¡°Humanity complicates such simple things, but I am not so rigid that I cannot bend. Mistress Tala.¡± Tala gave a shallow bow, keeping her eyes on the wolf. ¡°What may I call you?¡± ¡°I am no god-beast to be named, but you can call me by what I am. There are only a few of us, so it should not cause great issue.¡± Tala waited a moment. ¡°Den Mother.¡± Wait¡­ only a few? There are more wolves as strong as she is? -Focus, Tala.- ¡°Greetings, Den Mother.¡± The wolf dipped its head slightly. ¡°Greetings, Mistress Tala, acknowledged of the Pack.¡± After the greetings, in total defiance of expectation, the wolves all turned and started walking back to the woods, seeming almost to vanish among the trunks one by one. Tala was about to call out after them, but Master Grediv was suddenly standing beside her. ¡°Let them go.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± She frowned his way. He returned the look, chuckling. ¡°What did you expect?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know? They came to test humanity¡­ to ally with us or something?¡± ¡°Yes and no. Anatalis has seen humanity as a toddler, stumbling through dangerous woods for time beyond memory. He was here, stalking the forest before the first gate. He watched over gateless humanity on these plains all the way back then.¡± His smile turned wry. ¡°Apparently, he almost killed the first gated who came, because he saw us as invaders whom the gateless couldn¡¯t hope to handle. Thankfully, our ancestors convinced him that we weren¡¯t here to exterminate but to join with those who lacked gates.¡± ¡°How did that go?¡± Tala smiled in return, despite her exhaustion. ¡°Well, they apparently claimed that their magic would bring prosperity and power. He disabused them of that. Though, he did acknowledge that their new way was interesting. Regardless, he eventually allowed our existence, but took on a position of benevolent-yet-apathetic neighbor.¡± ¡°And now?¡± ¡°Now¡­ I don¡¯t know. One fight won¡¯t raise us in the eyes of the Pack, but it will open the door to more.¡± She grunted. He looked her way once more, the last of the wolves having faded from view¡ªeven for Tala¡¯s three-fold sight. ¡°You seem worn. That was quite the clash.¡± ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s one of their best?¡± Master Grediv hesitated. ¡°For his age? He is an absolute prodigy, beyond even the standards of their race. Overall? Among all Anatalins? He is likely their weakest, or near to it. So, no, he isn¡¯t the best, not by a foot or a mile.¡± Tala frowned, not understanding. ¡°But he¡¯s the best of his generation?¡± Master Grediv shook his head. ¡°That doesn¡¯t actually have meaning to them. Aside from the more mundane wolves that they uplift, their numbers grow very slowly. The Pack, as a whole, only has one pup every fifty to one hundred years.¡± She blinked in confusion. Then, she understood. ¡°Because they¡¯re immortal, truly immortal so long as Anatalis lives.¡± ¡°Precisely. If they had litters as mundane wolves or dogs do, they would overrun the world in a matter of decades. They have never desired to rule Zeme.¡± That was¡­ a terrifying thought. ¡°Come, let¡¯s get you back inside the city.¡± She nodded, feeling her tiredness once more. She wasn¡¯t really hungrier than usual. She had used a bit of her reserves, but she¡¯d actually mainly healed using the body of the wolf, even refilling her reserves a bit¡ªonce again¡ªin the process. It had been a novel experience, but not one that was really outside of what she should have expected. She¡¯d just never thought to do it before. Tala would have to explore the extent to which she could control and utilize it in the future. It didn¡¯t take long for them to get back into the city, where Master Grediv led Tala to a private dining room in a restaurant near the gates. Within, Rane and Terry were already waiting along with Tala¡¯s unit-mates. Congratulations and adulation abounded for a few minutes before each of the unit-mates implored her to take time to rest and recover, leaving her to do just that. Terry had immediately flickered to her shoulder¡ªseemingly fully healed¡ªand Tala had made a point of thanking Mistress Vanga for healing her partner and friend. He headbutted Tala¡¯s cheek before nuzzling down and drifting off to sleep. Master Grediv also departed after verifying that she didn¡¯t need anything further. Alone with Rane and Terry, then, Tala suddenly felt a bit nervous. -Are you going to tell him?- Tell him what? -What you realized.- ¡­I don¡¯t¡ª -Nope! That ends now. You can¡¯t continue to lie to yourself. Yourself doesn¡¯t believe you anymore.- ¡­Fine. Tala firmed her stance, tried to calm her suddenly thundering heart, and looked up to meet Rane¡¯s gaze. She suppressed her through spike. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it honestly, no illusions in effect. At that moment, Rane began to speak. ¡°Tala, I need to tell you something. I¡ª¡± She held up her hand. ¡°I am sure that it is incredibly important, but I have to say something, and if I wait, I don¡¯t think I will be able to get it out.¡± He stood there for a moment, mouth open and clearly conflicted, but then he slumped slightly, sighing and nodding. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Tala felt her cheeks heat. ¡°I like you, Rane.¡± He tilted his head to the side and frowned. ¡°I¡­ know?¡± ¡°No.¡± She shook her head, feeling her face flush even more, though she didn¡¯t understand how that was possible. Pull it together, Tala. You just fought a horse-sized wolf. This shouldn¡¯t be this hard. ¡°I want to be more than friends.¡± She felt like she about died. Considering she had literally been on the edge of death less than an hour earlier, she felt that she was in a good position to make the comparison¡­ honestly, she¡¯d prefer to fight the wolf again. Rane gaped at her for a moment. She felt the need to continue¡ªto clarify¡ªbefore he got the wrong idea, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to get married, not yet. I have too much going on¡ªtoo much messed up in my own mind¡ªbut I want to be more, and I don¡¯t want to¡­ I don¡¯t want to lose the time that I could have had with you.¡± A moment of silence later, Rane barked a laugh, quickly covering his mouth. Tala paled, feeling horribly embarrassed. Oh, rust¡­. He¡¯s moved on. Rust. He is no longer interested. RUST! There¡¯s someone else¡­ Rane was shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have laughed.¡± She grimaced, then, thoroughly confused. ¡°Then, why did you?¡± He chuckled, nervously this time. ¡°Well, I¡¯m just really glad that you went first.¡± That put a hitch in her thoughts. ¡°Oh? What were you going to say?¡± He grinned. ¡°I have made my choice. I¡¯m going to Refine. I was approaching it wrong. I don¡¯t want to Refine just to stand by your side, Tala. I want to Refine so that I can protect those I care for. That does include you, true, but that¡¯s just a part. Really, it¡¯s everyone. I haven¡¯t felt like enough since I let that family die due to my arrogance¡­¡± He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and smiled. ¡°I choose to become enough to protect those I can.¡± The burn wolves. She hadn¡¯t considered how closely her fight with a wolf might mirror his teenage experience. ¡°Oh, Rane, are you¡ª?¡± He nodded, cutting her off. ¡°I¡¯m fine. More than fine, I think.¡± He laughed again. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to Refine, and you want to court me.¡± He gave a cheeky smile. ¡°Once again, I¡¯m so glad that you went first.¡± She flushed once more at that. ¡°That¡¯s not how I would have put it¡­¡± ¡°Really? Because that¡¯s exactly what I heard.¡± -Yeah, that¡¯s pretty much what you said.- Terry didn¡¯t open his eyes, but he let out a lazy, affirmative squawk. Tala grimaced again, but the grumpy expression was fighting a growing smile. ¡°Fine, that is sort of what I said¡­¡± She met his gaze again. ¡°So¡­?¡± He raised an eyebrow, not understanding. ¡°So¡­ what?¡± She felt like the blood in her cheeks was boiling. ¡°So, are we going to? Court, I mean?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± It was his turn to flush. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, yes.¡± ¡°Just if I want it?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I obviously want it¡ªI have for a while¡ªso you¡¯re sort of the deciding vote here¡­ Right?¡± That made her smile, and so she teased. ¡°Ahh, relationships by aegis of voting. That sounds like an exceedingly wise thing to do.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose if we actually have to vote that is a bit of a failure¡­¡± He chuckled. ¡°So¡­ really? You¡¯re sure?¡± He stepped closer, placing his hands on either side of her waist with hesitant movements. She reached up, resting her hands on the underside of his elbows as she looked up at him and smiled. ¡°Yes, Rane. I¡¯m sure.¡± Chapter: 420 - Let’s Get to It Here Begins Millennial Mage 11 - Flockbound Tala couldn¡¯t help but smile as Rane walked into the massive underground training room, unescorted. Only Refined were allowed here¡ªspecial exemptions aside¡ªand he arrived solely based upon his own merits. He stood tall, his inscriptions newly refreshed, his eyes full of life. His aura was on full display, held at presentation distance, roughly an inch out from his skin. It was a lovely, chartreuse yellow. Tala was still giving him grief for instantly surpassing her on the path toward Paragon, if only just. Terry¡ªon Tala¡¯s shoulder¡ªtrilled in greeting and congratulations, getting a mirthful smile from the new Refined. The Defender unit leaders, spread throughout the space around Tala, turned to face the same way she was, smiles spreading across many faces. This was quite different from her own induction as a Defender. Here, Rane was well known, well liked, and his advancement and acceptance had been long awaited and was now openly celebrated. Tala had been unknown and unusual to the extreme. Speaking of which, Tala stayed back, letting him keep the spotlight. Well, that was her intention. Rane immediately met her gaze and waved, a nervous smile on his face. That sent some attention her way, but it didn¡¯t linger. His nervousness wasn¡¯t from meeting all these powerful Defenders. No, that was old hat for him. He was nervous because what he and Tala had was still new, and he was as unsure how to act with it as she was. They had been courting for nearly two months¡ªat least in name¡ªbut they hadn¡¯t really told anyone that they were courting or done anything differently because of it, not yet. They¡¯d been waiting first for Rane to Refine, then for him to recover, and finally they¡¯d wanted him to be inducted as a Defender. That day had finally arrived. Master Grediv announced Rane, but otherwise was far less involved with Rane¡¯s induction than he had been with Tala, and the reason was rather obvious. As Rane¡¯s master and ancestor, he was seen as obviously biased toward the young Archon. With Tala, he was seen as an unbiased third party. Thus, after that introduction, Master Grediv moved to stand beside Tala. ¡°It¡¯s almost anticlimactic in a twisted sort of way.¡± Tala cocked an eyebrow toward the Paragon. ¡°Would you rather he had struggled more¡­ openly?¡± Master Grediv shook his head. ¡°No. It¡¯s just hard to really process a person¡¯s internal struggles. It¡¯s easy to brush them aside as not having mattered, and yet, I know they did.¡± The older man¡¯s voice dropped to a whisper so low even she could barely hear it when right next to him. ¡°He broke, Mistress Tala. He failed. His foundation was tested and found wanting. I still don¡¯t know what changed. He hasn¡¯t decided to tell me, not yet.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll let him be the one to do that, but I am not the core of his Refinement. I never should have factored in at all.¡± ¡°Yet, you remain important to him.¡± ¡°I hope that¡¯s always true.¡± She stiffened then, realizing what she¡¯d said. He glanced her way, a small smile on his features. ¡°I hope so as well.¡± The induction went quite well overall, with Rane giving a good showing of his skills and abilities before requesting to join Master Clevnis and Mistress Cerna¡¯s unit. There weren¡¯t strong objections from others, and the unit leader couple heartily agreed to have him join them. That put them up to an eight man unit, but as cell-duty had moved to a rotation, it wasn¡¯t of as much consequence as Tala¡¯s joining had been. From there, the festivities wound down slowly, and once everyone left besides their unit, they relaxed a bit more. They grabbed more food and just spent time getting to know their new member. The various Refined had chatted with Rane before, but this was different. They approached talking with someone who was just around every so often differently than someone who would be working alongside them for the foreseeable future. Another change after most had departed was that Terry left Tala¡¯s shoulder for more than just brief moments. As a consequence, the avian flickered around the group, enjoying the challenge of stealing food from the plates of the various Refined. In essence, the game was that he would flicker in and if they reacted before he snatched something, he¡¯d simply move on. Otherwise, some of their tasty, tasty food would be his. At least, that¡¯s what Tala assumed he was thinking. Terry did like other people¡¯s food quite a bit. The group talked through quite a few things, one of the most important being that Rane would be the Defender who would fight any threat that came during their unit¡¯s duty shifts, so long as he believed he could handle the magical beast or beasts. Just like they¡¯d done with Tala, the unit wanted Rane to get his Refined combat legs under him and build confidence in a relatively controlled set of circumstances. They would obviously be near at hand for the fights in case interference was required or assistance needed. Even so, it was a tried and true method for helping new Defenders gain skill and understanding of their own abilities. It was shortly after that when the unit moved to discussing the training that they all did, both together and on their own, separate from the unit. When that was wrapping up, Master Clevnis seemed to come to a decision. ¡°I want to test you myself.¡± He stood, pulling a set of practice swords out of his soulbound dimensional storage. ¡°Master Rane, I trust that you are able to suppress your inscriptions. Yes?¡± Rane stood as well, grinning. ¡°Absolutely, yes.¡± ¡°Good, I want to see what your skill and ability level is without your magics directly involved. Enhancement magics are, of course, encouraged.¡± He caught the sword that had been tossed his way before walking a good distance from the rest of the unit¡ªand the food tables¡ªand assuming a ready stance. Tala always found it fascinating how different people would naturally prefer different opening guard positions. There was some skill involved in choosing one to counter your opponent¡¯s, which could lead to two masters simply shifting between guard positions, continually countering and being countered in return. That didn¡¯t happen here. Rane preferred what was sometimes called a high guard, which¡ªgiven his size¡ªput the sword quite high indeed. It was a stance far more suited for fighting magical creatures that were often bigger even than Rane, but it was also the stance that he was most comfortable in. Master Clevnis fell into a more central position, the point of his sword pointed straight at Rane¡¯s heart from ten feet away. The unit-leader smiled. ¡°Begin.¡± They both moved in an almost unified blur. The crack-crack-crack of their practice weapons striking and deflecting was so rapid that it seemed almost like listening to a giant drumming their fingers on a table. Tala was able to track the movements, of course, but she knew that no mundane human would have been able to. Still, it was fascinating to watch the two men, and how their movements varied. Rane seemed to almost move in fits and starts, pausing between exchanges, then lashing forward with greater speed than Master Clevnis had demonstrated thus far. The older man¡ªon the other hand¡ªseemed to keep the exact same pace throughout, simply flowing from one movement to the other without pause. This had the result of making even his blocks and counters seem as if he¡¯d planned them in advance. More than anything, it looked like he was simply moving smoothly and consistently through a well-known sword form. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The fact that Rane was there seemed all but incidental, even if Tala knew that it wasn¡¯t true. Though their pace was one that would quickly exhaust even the most well conditioned mundanes, neither was going to wear out any time soon, and they continued their friendly clash unabated. Only after quite a few exchanges did something finally change. Rane started it first, charging forward and forcing Master Clevnis to respond with movement of his own, and soon their clashes were ranging back and forth through much of the massive space. Finally, Master Clevnis¡¯ stoic face broke out in a smile. ¡°Get ready.¡± Rane frowned but didn¡¯t otherwise respond. Then, Master Clevnis changed his pace just a bit. He was just slightly faster than he had been, and Rane struggled in vain to keep the balance that he had¡ªup to that point¡ªmaintained relatively easily. Rane fell more and more onto the back foot until finally, the practice sword slipped through an opening and cracked against the larger man¡¯s leg. He winced, but still blocked the follow-up strike, back in command of the tempo. That didn¡¯t last. Once again, Master Clevnis slowly advanced in initiative until he snuck another strike through. This time Rane hissed in irritation. Rane¡¯s eyes blazed with intensity, but he kept mastery of himself, seeming to buckle down and speed up to match Master Clevnis¡¯ new pace. ¡°Good!¡± The older man laughed. ¡°Very good. Now, get ready.¡± Rane was not ready. Once again, the pace of the clashing shifted and the younger, less experienced fighter received strike after strike. Though, none were strong enough to trigger his family boon, his berserking rage. I wonder if that¡¯s purposeful on Master Clevnis¡¯ part? -It is likely. He has to know about it. Master Grediv wouldn¡¯t have kept it a secret from the unit leaders.- Over the course of nearly an hour, Master Clevnis slowly pressed Rane¡¯s mundane swordsmanship to its limit. Though, to be fair, they were moving much faster and much more than any mundane swordsman could. They were also continuing for far longer than any unenhanced human would be capable of. Regardless, eventually Master Clevnis called a halt, and Rane gave the unit-leader a bow, conceding the match and thanking him for the lessons conveyed. With a friendly motion, he tossed the older man back his practice sword as he straightened from the bow. In the end, Tala was very glad that she hadn¡¯t been a part of the fight. She was relatively good at mundane swordplay, but that was not where she thrived. Even so, Tala had paid close attention to the clashes, trying to pull technique and methodology from each exchange and see if she could improve herself. Also¡ªsince Tala never did just one thing¡ªshe was working at mimicking the aura control of the Den Mother. That wolf had confined her aura to each individual hair on her body, letting it move and stay perfectly aligned with them all, no matter what gust or movement caused them to shift. True, there was likely some trick to simply making an aura conform perfectly to one¡¯s physical body, but Tala decided to take it as a challenge to do something similar without any trick. She had yet to succeed. At the same time, she continued her iron-void training, six iron dust shapes now invisibly moving around her head, filled with randomly morphing voids that occasionally interconnected and broke apart without ever allowing air to get in. The internal shapes now took the form of crazy mazes or knots more often than unbroken and undivided shapes, and the outer iron dust also was equally twisty in its implementation. Alat still occasionally staged assaults on Tala¡¯s control, but she rarely succeeded in breaching any part of the creations. Instead, Tala had begun rolling with the attacks, incorporating the forced movements and turning them into controlled motions of her own choosing. But that practice had slowed now that the sparring match was concluded. As Rane and Master Clevnis came back over to the group, Tala moved over to shoulder-bump Rane. ¡°Good job.¡± He smiled down at her. ¡°I lost pretty definitively, but thank you.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Win or lose, you made a good showing of yourself regardless.¡± His smile grew a bit, then, and they turned and walked back toward the others. Master Clevnis had moved ahead of them, giving them at least the illusion of privacy, even if everyone there was Refined and could likely hear every word without trying. Rane looked her way as they walked. ¡°So¡­ do you want to grab dinner?¡± While they often ate with one another, Tala knew what he meant. He was asking if she wanted to actually begin their courting, even if just with a singular meal. She smiled slightly, feeling a tremble of illogical nervousness in her gut. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s.¡± Rane¡¯s next words were an incredibly hesitant suggestion, ¡°You could wear your birthday clothes¡­ if you wanted.¡± Master Girt had been taking a drink of some beverage, and he spat it out, across the rough surface of the training room floor, falling into a fit of coughing. Tala had instantly known what Rane had meant. She¡¯d altered her elk leathers into the form of a rather special dress for the breakfast with Rane¡¯s parents¡ªon his birthday¡ªand she hadn¡¯t done so since. That would obviously not be common knowledge though. Master Limmestare just shook his head and muttered under his breath. Tala still heard him of course. ¡°I can¡¯t even say that to my wife safely.¡± She frowned. What¡¯s going on? -Your birthday outfit, Tala. How were you born?- Her eyes narrowed in thought, then opened wide as she colored. Oh. Rane clearly didn¡¯t realize what others had taken from what he said, and so he continued after the short pause. ¡°You don¡¯t have to, you just looked especially nice last time.¡± Mistress Vanga rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes tightly in referred embarrassment. Master Clevnis was suddenly standing in front of Rane, a finger held up to the bigger man¡¯s lips. ¡°Shhh¡­ The first misspeak was entertaining, but now it¡¯s just¡­ painful.¡± Rane had jerked back slightly, but he frowned when he heard the older man¡¯s words. ¡°What do you¡­?¡± Then his eyes widened. ¡°Oh! Oh¡­¡± He colored deeply. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that¡ª¡± ¡°I already said, shh. You¡¯ve said enough.¡± He pressed his lips together in a compressed line and nodded, eyes flicking to Tala. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°I will happily wear that dress.¡± Master Girt was still coughing slightly, but it was more than likely simply an affectation just for show. Master Limmestare was holding back a smile, even as he shook his head. Mistresses Vanga and Cerna were unashamedly smiling with mirth. Tala refused to make eye contact with anyone as she grabbed Rane¡¯s hand and dragged him toward the door. ¡°And we¡¯re going now.¡± There is no recovering from this. We have to leave the city. -Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little over dramatic?- I¡¯m not proposing burning it down on the way out. I think I¡¯m being quite reasonable. -That¡¯s¡­ true? Have a fun dinner and sleep on things. You can decide to flee into the wilderness tomorrow.- ¡­fine. -If you go, though, you have to take Rane. It would only be proper.- Tala growled within her own head at her alternate interface even as Alat chuckled. * * * Tala moved through her daily practice with comfort and ease, excited to get to her latest experiments but not willing to rush things. Still, she couldn¡¯t help some of her thoughts wandering in that direction. It had been nearly two months since the wolf had all but killed her, and while she had a host of legitimate means of explaining away the closeness of the fight, she had been left with a singular understanding, a specific drive. She wanted to be better. One thought that she¡¯d had shortly after the clash had been to soulbind some precious metal incorporators, and then use the created material for her inscriptions. That had turned out to be a bad idea for many, many reasons. First of all, even in the best circumstances, it would only be a means of circumventing the wolves¡¯ specific dueling requirements without gaining her much¡ªif anything¡ªin any other regard. Secondly, the ¡®best circumstances¡¯ wouldn¡¯t exist as incorporated material was awful for inscriptions. It inherently required magic to maintain its existence. So, power flowing through it was lessened, and the resulting workings were inherently less stable. The reasons to avoid her theorized plan continued from there, but even either of those two were enough to disqualify it outright. As she rolled out of her final stretch, she called the first of the inscribed arrows to herself, studying it once again. She had¡ªobviously¡ªmemorized the twists and turns of the three-dimensional construct long ago, but she found actually analyzing it with her eyes and threefold sight seemed to make it easier for her to pull new insights forth. Beside the arrow, she began to form iron spellforms in the air. Now, iron was an awful conductor of magic, being a near-perfect reflector of power. So, Tala didn¡¯t use iron as wires like she would with any other material. Instead, she used it to make minuscule pipes. As a result the spell lines were actually made of her own magic, with iron counting as the medium in which they were set. And, as it turned out, that was quite similar to how the arrows had been made. The arrows largely employed spell lines made out of precious metals, with steel as the medium. While different, that was close enough to start out with, and Tala had been working to find the particular quirks of magic and iron workings. The greatest difficulty was factoring in the minute amounts of air that filled the pipes as well, through which the magic had to travel in order to be the spell lines for the working, but that turned out to function like working in a variable medium. So, there was precedent for her attempts, and foundations of knowledge from which she could pull. When she had finished her designated time for those practice attempts, she poked Terry, who had been sleeping nearby on a pillow she¡¯d acquired for him. He¡¯d been unusually clingy since the wolf incident as well. He barely went off on his own to hunt, and he seemed to have taken a far greater interest in Tala¡¯s day to day activities. Not that she was really complaining. He never got in the way, and she enjoyed his company quite a bit. ¡°Hey, are you ready to spar?¡± With a flicker, he was up on her shoulder, and letting out a trill of affirmation. ¡°Well, alright, then.¡± She grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it.¡± Chapter: 421 - More Important Things Tala and Terry faced off within the sparring ring in Tala¡¯s sanctum. There was only one major difference from their previously standard sparring sessions over the years. Ever since their fight with the wolf, Terry had insisted that there be weapons of various kinds all around the ring. None were magical, but all were ready for Terry¡¯s use. The avian had leaned hard into his ability to use weapons after the fight with the wolf, taking the previously often ignored tactic and making it spectacular. ¡°Begin.¡± Tala¡¯s calm voice echoed through the air even with her face completely blocked by her armor. Terry flickered around the sparring ring, beginning a hurricane of weaponry, each thrown with different levels of force to stagger their arrival. Additionally, he continued to flicker, intercepting and catching many of the weapons already in the air to change their trajectory or speed. Tala was purely on the defensive for the moment. The goal of the session was for Terry to learn how to utterly overwhelm even her, with her three-fold sight and ridiculous defenses. Tala, for her part, was simply trying to avoid or neutralize the growing storm of attacks. She had one limiter and one goal, otherwise. As a limiter, she was not allowed to claim the iron within the weapons, as that would render the whole process rather unnecessary in the most trivial of ways. As a goal, she was attempting to keep the weapons functional both to allow their training to continue, and to add complexity, as otherwise Tala could just break each weapon as it got close, and that didn¡¯t really require any skill or improvement for her at all. Regardless, Tala was mainly working on her footwork and body positioning while wearing her full armor. She wasn¡¯t utilizing any of her defensive discs or other items. Once again, that wasn¡¯t the point. The sun rose while they squared off, Terry lasting nearly an hour before he finally collapsed to the side, panting, tongue lolling into the water that flowed around the circle. All the weapons froze mid-air as soon as the avian appeared, laying on the ground, Tala locking them in place with a simple act of will taking virtually no effort. She grinned over at her friend. ¡°Nicely done, Terry. That was a full two minutes longer than last week.¡± He let out a slightly musical grunt but didn¡¯t otherwise respond. He did continue to lap up water in an incredibly inefficient manner. Tala¡¯s smile grew. She knew that he was playing it up, even if he was truly exhausted. Regardless, it was time for Tala¡¯s last type of practice before breakfast with Rane. Her smile altered slightly, considering that reward coming her way, letting her void-iron practice fall to the side as well. With her mental plate cleared and her will fully at the ready, Tala manifested a skeleton out of iron dust. She made it perfectly accurate, ensuring she hadn¡¯t made any mistakes before layering connective tissue atop it, followed by muscle and ligaments. It was exactly her size, because it was modeled after herself. She chose herself, because she knew her own body best, given her various magics. The only thing she didn¡¯t mimic was the inscriptions that should have been weaving through the bones, muscles, and tissue. With that one exception, she didn¡¯t let herself slack, building a facsimile of each muscle fiber, analyzing her own form more completely than she ever had before beginning this training. Tala had come to realize something, or really¡ªmore accurately¡ªshe had begun to catch the edges of a realization. The only reason she could make such creations of iron dust was because she distinguished between the parts that she wanted to be connected and the parts that she wanted separate. It was all iron dust, held in place and moved by her will. So, in theory, it shouldn¡¯t matter, and there shouldn¡¯t be able to be a distinction between two bits of iron dust that were beside each other and ¡®connected¡¯ and those that were separate. It was just a mass of iron dust, after all. But there was a distinction, and she was building on her understanding of why and how that was. Regardless, she didn¡¯t get past the muscular stage that day. Indeed, she didn¡¯t even get past the left leg in her efforts to build a perfect replica, even as she perfected her understanding of self. * * * Tala felt herself twitch as Rane flew out of the way of yet another blow under the light of the moon and stars. ¡°He¡¯s going to be fine.¡± Mistress Cerna placed a hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder. Tala glanced at her unit leader even while keeping her perspective and focus on the ongoing clash with her threefold sight. ¡°I know¡­ it¡¯s still¡­¡± The older woman smiled. ¡°I know, Mistress Tala. It is hard to watch those we care for be in danger.¡± Tala grimaced, ¡°I know¡­ I just don¡¯t really like it.¡± There was a momentary silence as Rane cut off another one of the beast¡¯s legs, leaving only seven¡­ no eight hundred and some? Way too many¡­ Cutting off the legs wasn¡¯t really a winning tactic, here. She was glad to never have had to fight a magical millipede, but she wished that she could now. It didn¡¯t help that it was large enough that most of it was still in the forest, even as its top was striking at Rane like a snake. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m not a fan of just watching.¡± Mistress Cerna smiled knowingly. ¡°How do you think he has felt watching you in danger, seeing you fight, and knowing that even when he wasn¡¯t around, you were facing threats greater than those he did see?¡± Tala opened her mouth, but had no response ready. She should have a response, but she¡¯d honestly never put herself into Rane¡¯s shoes in that way. Wow¡­ I feel rather foolish¡­ It was an obvious reversal that she¡¯d never considered because she knew herself and her own capacities. I also know Rane¡¯s, but I¡¯m still nervous on his behalf. The unit leader wasn¡¯t done, though. ¡°Do you know why he never interfered in your fights?¡± The image of two Refined holding him back while a wolf tried to bite her in half came to mind, but that had been in rather extreme circumstances, when she was incredibly close to death. Usually, he simply watched. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think I do.¡± ¡°My bet? He trusts in your competence. There is no higher compliment between two who fight side by side. We should be available to assist those we care for, but we must trust that they are either capable enough to handle what they¡¯re going through, or that they will ask for help when they need it.¡± Stolen story; please report. Tala shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ how? How do I do that?¡± ¡°It takes time to build up. You, in return, have to have demonstrated that you¡¯ll help if asked. Your help has to come without any negative baggage if you really want this to work, as well.¡± She found herself nodding. ¡°Otherwise, they¡¯ll be trying to decide if my help is worth the negative costs, be they eye-rolls, snide remarks, or even just an obvious sense that I¡¯m disappointed.¡± ¡°Exactly. We all get in over our heads at times. Having those who can back us up without recrimination is a luxury that few enjoy. Where it exists, it is a foundation of true worth.¡± Rane brought Force down on the beast''s head, projecting a blade of kinetic force into the wound he had opened, bisecting the horrific creature down most of its exposed length before the kinetic blade ran out of momentum and dispersed. Rane landed lightly on the ground before turning and walking back toward the wall. Behind him, there was a moment of wavering stability within the seemingly stunned creature before it collapsed, overcome and bleeding profusely across the ground. He lifted his sword in salute toward Tala, and she waved back, grinning. With a smooth motion, Force slid home before Rane bent and sprang upward, his leap containing much, much more power than it should have. He easily cleared the wall from more than a hundred yards out, his magic giving him near constant propulsion, even if Tala knew it had diminishing returns. They had discussed his mindset and methodology, and he was well on his way to something spectacular. He¡¯ll figure out flight soon, if he keeps at it. -Won¡¯t that be something.- Alat had been a bit quieter of late, though she still weighed in at times. Tala suspected that the alternate interface was trying to give her some space to think and process all that was tumbling within. Quite. Tala projected gratefulness toward Alat, and Alat returned the sentiment. The city¡¯s defenses recognized Rane as a gated human as well as a Defender, and thus, they didn¡¯t do anything to interfere with him coming to the top of the wall rather than going to the nearest gate. He landed lightly on the crenelations before hopping down to the wall walk beside the rest of the unit who had been watching his fight. ¡°So?¡± He looked around tentatively. ¡°How¡¯d I do?¡± His front was splattered with ick, and he had a bit of weariness about him, but overall, he¡¯d come through the fight cleanly and without being required to exert great effort. Master Girt slapped him on the back, skillfully avoiding the ick and not moving Rane in the least. ¡°Good! You¡¯re a bit tentative to engage, but once you got the measure of your opponent, you were decisive in ending the engagement.¡± Master Limmestare grinned, nodding along. ¡°You did let it attack you a bit longer than ideal. It was learning from you too¡ªif more slowly¡ªand against more skilled or powerful enemies, that could have cost you.¡± Mistress Vanga spoke next, ¡°You are still getting used to your Refined body. I highly recommend you increase your stretching and body-movement training for the next little while. You aren¡¯t utilizing your full capabilities by a long margin.¡± Master Clevnis came up to Rane¡¯s other side with a smile. ¡°Your style shines against beasts like that one, but don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re fighting a beast.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand, Master Clevnis.¡± ¡°I watched you triple-feint a giant millipede, Master Rane. It worked, but it didn¡¯t work as well as a simpler technique would have against this creature. When we overcomplicate our solutions beyond what is necessary, we introduce space for missteps and mistakes.¡± After a long moment, Rane nodded. ¡°I think I understand.¡± He then turned and bowed to each in turn. ¡°Thank you all for your words.¡± Mistress Cerna chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t thank us just yet. Mistress Tala and I have yet to speak.¡± Tala felt her eyes widen. Rust. -Yeah, you didn¡¯t consider that you might need to give feedback. Think fast.- The unit leader smiled. ¡°I will go first.¡± Tala felt herself relax even as she pored through her memories of Rane¡¯s fight. The older woman nodded once to herself before continuing, ¡°You rely on the most basic use of your inscriptions. That mainly takes the form of simply allowing them to automatically trigger rather than guiding them or adjusting how they trigger or enact. Be more active in your use of power, and you will get better results.¡± Rane bowed to her. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Cerna.¡± Then, everyone turned toward Tala, and she cleared her throat. ¡°Well, I think that you are underutilizing your soulbonds.¡± That was met with waiting silence, though Tala thought she saw mirth dancing behind Mistress Vanga¡¯s eyes. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°What I mean is: You¡¯re using Force just like it''s a standard construct, but it¡¯s not. Even more than any other soulbound weapon, it was designed and created for your specific magics under the eye of a Paragon at the very least. It has more to give than you¡¯re currently drawing forth.¡± That got some appreciative nods, while Rane, himself, seemed to think about her words before smiling and bowing. ¡°Thank you, Tala.¡± She smiled in return, feeling proud of her realization. Master Clevnis clapped his hands. ¡°Alright! We still have a few hours before dawn. We¡¯ve not seen any multi-attack shifts this waning, but I won¡¯t let us fail to be ready if this is the first.¡± The unit laughed as a group, but spread back out, returning to their own projects and tasks, throwing last words of congratulations toward Rane. Rane walked over to Tala and gave her a light bump. ¡°Thanks for the insight. I hadn¡¯t considered that I was underutilizing Force.¡± She smiled up at him. ¡°You are welcome. Though, honestly, the sentiment applies to all of your soulbonds. We should look into adding your dimensional storage to that list, and your defenses are good for a Fused, but we should hunt down some merging candidates to up them for the Refined levels.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Truthfully, they¡¯ll be growing passively with my advancement, and I prefer things on the simpler side.¡± She almost argued, but then realized how silly that would be. ¡°Alright, do what works for you. I don¡¯t mean to force my thinking on you.¡± She smiled. ¡°And what about your storage?¡± ¡°Well, about that. Is it really useful for me to soulbond one at all?¡± He glanced her way meaningfully. She smiled, understanding the heart of the question. ¡°Do Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis each have their own storages?¡± Rane frowned at that. ¡°You know? I¡¯m not sure, but thinking about it, I think the answer is probably yes.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so too. With the limit of a singular opening at a time, I can easily see it becoming¡­ problematic for spouses to only have one.¡± He grunted. ¡°I hadn¡¯t considered that.¡± With a short nod, he smiled. ¡°Soulbound storage it is, then. That should likely be my next bond.¡± ¡°That could be wise, yeah. Though, we might want to get you a soulbound Archive connection first. With the storage, I do understand your thinking, but I¡¯ve actually been giving that sort of thing quite a bit of thought.¡± She sighed. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯ve considered finding a way to get a second one myself for more¡­ everyday usage?¡± ¡°Really? That seems like a bit of an extreme length to go to just for some convenience.¡± ¡°And battle capacity, but you¡¯re not wrong. It¡¯s just frustrating, feeling like I can¡¯t have Kit with me day to day. Though, the benefits currently outweigh that inconvenience.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I am curious how that will shake out. you¡¯ve got a rusting city along for the ride these days.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing.¡± She shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s the issue. Kit isn¡¯t along for the ride. I¡¯m fighting without her, and that limits me in some real ways. I think it¡¯s worth speaking to someone about, I just haven¡¯t gotten to it.¡± ¡°How about we ask when we¡¯re looking into mine?¡± ¡°That sounds like a good plan, yeah.¡± Rane glanced toward the east where the sun would be rising soon enough. ¡°After this shift? We can just get it done.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It might be worth it to not have it hanging over our heads?¡± She looked his way. ¡°But¡­ breakfast.¡± He grinned, a small laugh preceding his words, ¡°After breakfast, then?¡± She sighed dramatically, trying to play a bit. ¡°I suppose so¡­ if it¡¯s really that important to you.¡± He stepped closer and nudged her, playing in turn. ¡°The critical thing is that it¡¯s important to you.¡± Tala reached over and gave him a quick hug before stepping back. Then, she looked up at him. ¡°You know, you can hug me back.¡± He returned the look, nervous. ¡°Are you sure? I thought we were still¡­ not telling anyone?¡± She hugged him again, and he hugged her in return, obviously relaxing a bit. ¡°You know?¡± Her voice had been a bit muffled, but he obviously heard her. His response was soft, ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You need a bath. That millipede''s blood and guts smell awful.¡± He laughed, pulling back. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll get cleaned up after our shift.¡± Tala aspect-mirrored the needed magics to force the drying ichor to fall from her face and torso. ¡°Then, we eat breakfast.¡± ¡°And then¡­?¡± he teased. A smile grew across her face. ¡°Yes. Then, to the Constructionists!¡± They turned to look out over the wall together. Their hands rested against each other unconsciously without clasping, both unthinkingly taking comfort in the contact. ¡°So¡­ what are you going to do with your kill?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°I think I¡¯ll just leave it to the city harvesters. They¡¯ll give me my cut, and then I can do more important things.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Bath, breakfast, Constructionists?¡± He glanced her way, smiling once again. ¡°No, standing here with you.¡± Tala felt her smile grow uncontrollably, taking over her entire face. So, she leaned her head against his shoulder to try to hide it, her embarrassment and contentment rising as one. Chapter: 422 - An Absolutely Lovely Idea Tala and Rane entered the Constructionists¡¯ Guild with quite a bit of fanfare. Well, to be fair, the fanfare was on the part of the attendants. As soon as the magical detectors announced the presence of two Refined, they were swarmed with Archons offering them refreshments of various kinds as well as seeking to discern why they had come. One sharp-eyed young woman even brought a small tray of treats for Terry. The avian, of course, ate them happily before returning to Tala¡¯s shoulder, where he trilled loudly, causing everyone to freeze momentarily in startlement. Into that silence, Tala spoke. ¡°Thank you, Terry. Thank you all as well. We are looking for a consultation on dimensional storages.¡± One of the attendants bowed, taking the lead. ¡°Are you seeking an expert on soulbound or unbound storages?¡± Tala let out a relieved breath at having such a clear path forward and smiled. ¡°Soulbound, please.¡± That caused most of the attendants to disperse as they weren¡¯t able to offer assistance. Though, they did give appropriate bows and departing words. Only a young looking man¡ªwho probably was many decades older than either Tala or Rane¡ªremained, gesturing for them to follow him. ¡°This way, Defenders. Master Torralos should be available for a consultation.¡± They walked through the corridors, and Tala picked up many, many goings on with her threefold sight. You know, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve come to a Constructionist Guild since we consolidated our threefold sight. -No, I don¡¯t think so.- Interesting. The attendant led them rather deep into the compound before opening a heavy door and leading them inside. Within, a surprisingly tall, thin man was working across several surfaces, magical projections highlighting various parts with notes scribbled around the illusory version of the objects above the tables. Most seemed¡ªas was reasonable¡ªto be relating to dimensional storages directly or indirectly. A lot seemed to have incomplete notes as made sense for items undergoing research, but Tala only caught a passing glance. The man turned their way when they came in and smiled, placing what he¡¯d been working on to the side. ¡°Ahh! Auspicious guests indeed.¡± He walked over before bowing to each in turn. ¡°I am, of course, Torralos. Do my eyes deceive me, or are you Mistress Tala and Master Rane?¡± Rane and Tala exchanged a look before Tala shrugged and turned back to the Constructionist. ¡°We are, yes. Do you know us, somehow?¡± ¡°Of course! I have quite enjoyed watching your battles.¡± He said this to Tala, directly before turning to Rane. ¡°Your singular fight was quite interesting as well. Though, I will admit, I had thought Mistress Tala would be the Defender to fight when her unit¡¯s section was attacked.¡± He laughed jovially. ¡°That serves me right for not paying attention to the latest unit rosters!¡± The attendant bowed, drawing the man¡¯s attention. ¡°Master Torralos, can I do anything further to assist?¡± ¡°No, thank you, Master Atdane.¡± Master Atdane bowed toward Tala and Rane before departing. ¡°Best of luck to you two.¡± When the door swung shut again, Master Torralos clasped his hands. ¡°Now, I assume that you¡¯re here about dimensional storages?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°You know that because it¡¯s your specialty?¡± He beamed in return. ¡°But of course! At my level of specialization, the only other reason you¡¯d be here is some sort of mixup, and Master Atdane isn¡¯t one to make such an error.¡± Tala shrugged again. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s get to it.¡± She and Rane briefly outlined a bit about themselves along with what they were thinking and the issues that they were facing. Master Torralos listened attentively, then shook his head. ¡°I trust you did not convey this to Master Atdane?¡± Tala frowned, checking the time. It had taken them nearly half an hour to lay out all the specifics and answer follow-up questions. ¡°No. So¡­ you can¡¯t help us? There was a mistake?¡± ¡°You? No. There was no mistake, even if I¡¯m not really necessary. That said, I won¡¯t allow you to do anything so foolish as bonding another dimensional storage.¡± He then looked at Rane. ¡°As for you, Master Rane, you could bond with your dimensional storage, but nothing that you expressed makes me think that is necessary, nor even a good idea.¡± Rane tilted his head to one side. ¡°Can you explain?¡± The man was clearly happy to talk on the topic. ¡°Of course! One of the things I am asked most often¡ªand honestly what I thought you two were coming to ask¡ªwas how to merge two already soulbound storages, once a marriage has taken place.¡± Tala flushed, and Rane cleared his throat, slightly stammering. ¡°We¡¯re¡­ we¡¯re not married.¡± Master Torralos looked at Rane like he was an idiot. ¡°Of course not, Master Rane. Am I a mageling to have been unable to see that you are unbound? Even so, only a fool waits until the bond is struck to sort out such important details. Indeed, the meshing of storages is a delicate art, which requires great expense, time, and attention.¡± ¡°But¡ª?¡± Tala started. He cut her off. ¡°But you are in an enviable position.¡± He pointed at Rane. ¡°You don¡¯t need a soulbound storage at the moment, so the one you currently have will do. Honestly, you are in quite a good position, being so young and so advanced.¡± He then pointed to Tala. ¡°You need a bifurcated storage, which is one of the most popular solutions for dimensional storage between spouses, even if that is not why you need it at the moment.¡± ¡°What is a bifurcated storage?¡± ¡°Well, a dimensional storage can be seen as conceptual space, held together by a magical mind which is constantly aware of everything within it, thus maintaining the existence of all that it contains.¡± Tala gaped slightly. ¡°What?¡± He waved her off. ¡°The overarching premise is in the same vein as one saying that Zeme is a conceptual space collectively held together by the beings that live here¡ªbig and small¡ªand if all were to die or depart it would cease to be.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°The observer postulation?¡± ¡°Precisely!¡± he thumbed at Rane while speaking to Tala, ¡°We have a scholar here. That¡¯s good, as those without that inclination become boring over the long span of years.¡± Tala sighed, choosing to ignore most of the man¡¯s ramblings. ¡°What is the observer postulation?¡± Rane was the one who answered. ¡°It¡¯s what he just said. It¡¯s a theory that without someone or something to observe existence, it wouldn¡¯t¡­ exist.¡± Master Torralos nodded once, but then waved the idea away. ¡°But we aren¡¯t here to discuss philosophy. The idea¡ªas it applies in the case of a bifurcated space¡ªis that the human mind, however advanced, generally can only be the sole observer of one space. You need another mind to maintain a separate space. So, what you need is to either get inscriptions that allow you to have a secondary mind¡ª¡± -Well, isn¡¯t that just convenient. I wonder what I can get you to give me for this great service I am about to provide.- ¡°¡ªor you can bind a sentience to your storage, allowing you to create a secondary space that is effectively the same storage but with a separate entrance.¡± He must have seen Tala¡¯s eyes brighten with something because he held up a finger, cutting her off before she could even start to ask something. ¡°I will warn you that once you open a secondary entrance you cannot transfer anything directly from one section to the other except by bringing the entrances near to one another. This does not allow for dimensional tunneling, nor does it allow for the bending¡ªlet alone breaking¡ªof the various restrictions known on expanded spaces.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tala felt a bit of disappointment at that, but it was alright. There was a lot to unpack in what he had said, and it took Tala a moment to pull her mind in order and create her followup question. ¡°So¡­ what does this have to do with couples?¡± Her taking the time didn¡¯t actually ensure that it was a particularly good question, unfortunately. Master Torralos looked confused. ¡°Well, the couple each have their own mind¡­ so¡­?¡± Oh. Tala nodded. ¡°Right. So, with more than one mind, how do I create a¡­ secondary¡­ space¡­¡± She trailed off, considering. Wait, I¡¯ve already done that. Master Torralos grinned. ¡°I¡¯m assuming that you¡¯ve realized that you¡¯ve already done that at some point in the past? I would normally be surprised, but from how you described your storage, it is highly morphic and under the influence of your will. This is one reason why I began our discussion saying that you don¡¯t really need my help.¡± ¡°I have created a secondary space, yes.¡± She had done it to quarantine¡ªand subsequently destroy¡ªthe world-ending ice that she¡¯d accidentally created. ¡°Good. Doing such a dimensional division doesn¡¯t require an extra mind, though. No, it is the opening of a secondary entrance into that segmented space¡ªwhile there exists one into the primary area¡ªthat will require a separate mind. On the positive side, this isn¡¯t something that you can fail at. It will either work, or it will not.¡± He chuckled. ¡°In fact, it is one of the advantages those with familiars have over those without. They can have a completely separate storage space with ease.¡± Terry perked up at that, lifting his head and looking around. Tala chuckled. ¡°Do you hear that, Terry? If you and I bond, I can have another, separate space.¡± Master Torralos cleared his throat. ¡°Well, in the case of a familiar such as him, he would get a storage that you could size for him initially but would ultimately be under his control to access. With his agreement, it could be used just like any other storage for you, but while it existed, the mind the storage partition is founded upon would have precedence.¡± He then examined Terry a bit more closely. ¡°You are a fascinating creature. It¡¯s really too bad that I¡¯ve never been much for animals.¡± The man shrugged and turned back toward Rane. Tala instantly liked the man a bit less, but she tried not to judge him too harshly. He¡¯d been incredibly helpful, after all. Terry didn¡¯t seem to care as he tucked back in and closed his eyes once more. She frowned then. ¡°But, wait¡­ what is it that you do, usually? For couples I mean. They both have minds, so they can just divide the space, right?¡± ¡°As I said at the beginning, what I generally do is help merge two existing soulbound storages, but in the case of there only being one, you are right. If it¡¯s morphic enough, and unmoored, yes, I am unneeded except as an advisor. Generally, though, one or both of those aspects is missing, and so I facilitate the segmentation, and¡ªin the case of moored storages¡ªI bind a secondary physical object to the segmentation to facilitate access.¡± ¡°Right. That makes sense.¡± She smiled, considering. After a moment, she shrugged and cleared her throat. ¡°Well, I think that¡¯s actually all we need for the moment.¡± Master Torralos looked confused for a brief instant, but then he smiled and nodded. ¡°Ahh, right, you likely want to get to it. I had gotten a bit caught up in our chat, I suppose.¡± Master Torralos nodded to himself. ¡°You mentioned that your storage had some innate sapience, correct? That should work beautifully. Yes, yes. It could work quite well. Being bound to you and not a true creature, it should act just like the main partition for you. Oh!¡± He held up his finger. ¡°I almost forgot. It is generally accepted that some of the available dimensionality is taken up to facilitate the partitions. This means that the volume of the two will add up to slightly less than had been available within the single space. Additionally, the separate partitions should¡ªunder no circumstances¡ªbe taken too far from one another. They are still the same item, even if used distinctly.¡± ¡°Thank you, Master Torralos. What is the distance that they can be separated by?¡± The man went to the bookshelf, grabbed a specific tome, and flipped through it, quickly finding what he wanted. ¡°Here it is. ¡®The distance that one part of the bifurcated storage can safely move away from any other part is proportional to the volume.¡¯¡± Tala frowned. That was¡­ confusingly worded to say the least. ¡°So¡­ the larger my storage overall, the farther I can take the pieces from one another?¡± ¡°Yes, and it is irrespective of the shape of the storage. The only thing that factors in the safe distance between the sections is the volume.¡± ¡°Ahh, I think I understand. Thank you.¡± ¡°But of course!¡± ¡°Will there be a warning, or a sense of danger, or will they just break?¡± ¡°As they are soulbound to you, you should feel the strain as you approach the limits. Be watchful for that feeling¡ªand listen to it¡ªand you should be fine.¡± ¡°Well, thank you once again, Master Torralos.¡± ¡°I am happy to assist. If you ever have any other questions, please let me know. I do so love the topic. I would also happily give an on site consultation, should you ever desire. Good day to you both.¡± They all exchanged bows, and Tala and Rane departed, heading for the wall on which Kit was to rest for the remainder of the day. It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the area in which Kit¡¯s dimensionality held sway stoneward of the superficial. With a thought, Tala took both herself and Rane into her sanctum, bypassing the physical entry, as that was only required for those without deeper access. Indeed, it had been a major boon when they¡¯d figured out how to have Master Simon, Mistress Petra, Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva be able to enter and leave with a request to Kit, just as they¡¯d been able to move around within the dimensional storage for some time, now. Regardless, Tala arrived within and used the internal communication construct to flag down her assistants. Master Simon asked her to lower the magic density where she was, and she did so with a thought. Soon thereafter, the three men showed up, along with a couple other newer faces. Ahh, so these gateless are why he wanted the power density lowered. No need to give them a rebirth by accident. Master Simon quickly explained when Tala cocked an eyebrow, ¡°They are learning the ropes in the hopes of joining our various research efforts.¡± Tala considered for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°Sure, I suppose that makes sense.¡± She and Rane then explained their intentions. ¡°Ahh, that does make sense.¡± Master Simon smiled. ¡°I apologize, but honestly, I can¡¯t say that I¡¯ve ever come across such a utilization of dimensional storages. Maybe it¡¯s something only supportable by Refined, or I simply didn¡¯t ask the right people or the right questions.¡± ¡°Completely understandable, Master Simon. No one can be an expert in all fields, nor think of all options. That is why working together is useful.¡± He smiled and bowed. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. If I am recalling correctly¡ªwith regard to bifurcated storages¡ªthere is some inherent stress to be taken into account, but that shouldn¡¯t factor here.¡± When Tala frowned, the man explained further. ¡°There is an active strain upon the soul and mind which doesn¡¯t exist for purely separate storages¡­ At least that is my understanding. If the Constructionist didn¡¯t mention it, it is possible that this is another area in which Refined simply bypass the difficulty.¡± She found herself nodding. ¡°Such as a soulbound Archive link and sub-mind.¡± He smiled. ¡°Quite like that, yes.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± It was trivial for her to separate her sanctum from Irondale, given they were already all but separate, only connected by a long thin bit of dimensionality. She moved that space over to Irondale, only leaving a bit of extended volume for easy reconnection if she ever so desired. Then¡ªwith everyone present monitoring the situation with all their various means¡ªTala willed for a doorway to appear leading out of her sanctum. The gate in and out of Irondale remained. So, Tala¡ªhonestly¡ªthought adding the secondary door would be difficult. It wasn¡¯t. A door opened before her, leading out onto the alley beside Artia¡¯s shop. She felt an odd pulling at her mind, as if she was now even more aware of everything within her sanctum than she had been before, but in an odd, disconnected sense that was difficult to quantify. She could still feel Kit¡¯s influence, it wasn¡¯t as if she¡¯d cut the voidling off from a part of herself, but Tala still felt like something of the burden of the dimensional storage had shifted from Kit to herself and Alat. Interesting, so we couldn¡¯t do it again, as we¡¯re considered the same mind? -Sadly, it seems like not. We likely aren¡¯t split enough. I¡¯m sort of layered overtop of your thoughts rather than entirely separate from them.- At the same time as the shift in mental load, Tala felt a¡­ closing off? Something like that. She knew that it was no longer a matter of strength, and she simply would be unable to move directly into Irondale. Though, she could still will things within Irondale to move around within that partition. Given that her sanctum was still within the dimensional sway of Irondale, Tala could will herself out of her sanctum and then back into Irondale, but there was what amounted to a conceptual block, preventing her from going directly from one to the other. ¡°Fascinating,¡± it was Brandon who spoke first. ¡°I cannot move to Irondale, but it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m being blocked, simply that I can¡¯t.¡± Master Simon nodded. ¡°Before, it was like taking a step, easy, unobstructed. Now, I¡¯m on the edge of a cliff, so where I wish to step simply isn¡¯t there.¡± He frowned. ¡°But without the danger that seems to imply.¡± There was a lot more back and forth, and the three senior researchers spoke at length with their tag-alongs, explaining the various readings and fluctuations measured and what those could possibly mean. -Tag-alongs? They have names.- And if Brandon, Master Simon, or Adrill find them worthy, I will happily learn them. Alat huffed a laugh but didn¡¯t disagree. Terry had stood up, stretching and looking about now that things had calmed down a bit. Then, Tala felt him flicker, barely touching Alefast before appearing in Irondale¡ªoff in the wilderness away from anyone else. Then, he flickered back, once more barely brushing Alefast before returning to her shoulder. Tala grinned. ¡°That¡¯s right, so long as the two are overlapping, it is effectively the same, but we are going to be moving beyond that range, that¡¯s one of the points of this split.¡± Rane stepped up beside her. ¡°So¡­ do you want to go for a run to test out the displacement limits between the two?¡± She turned to look his way, a smile pulling at her lips. She felt a little playful, and so she decided to tease him just a bit, ¡°Why, Master Rane, that is an absolutely lovely idea.¡± Chapter: 423 - Copies Tala and Rane stood with their unit at the entrance to a cell. The entrance and atrium had been secreted within a little cave at the base of a hill. Around the unit, the first buds of spring flowers were just starting to show on some of the rolling plains. The Paragon who had come with them had finished going over the provided information, and she¡¯d asked them to gather so she could speak to the unit of Defenders as a whole to summarize. ¡°Alright, so this is an odd one. The mage was completely devoted to their own immortality, but rather than taking the route of a healer or standard advancement, they bent their magics in a different direction. Their inscriptions, when activated, would simply generate a new body for them without the injuries or the weaknesses that allowed those injuries to happen. It wasn¡¯t perfect by any means, but there was always improvement.¡± That was¡­ actually somewhat clever. Tala raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m assuming something went wrong?¡± ¡°Well, not really? They had inbuilt an infusion of basic skills and abilities. After that was the transference of their memories, and once the body was fully built and primed, other inscriptions would facilitate the transfer of their gate and obliterate their own original body. It was an ingenious set of workings and a truly comprehensive mental framework to bring it about. The issue arose when they became a fount. Only the reconstruction of bodies and implantation of basic instincts remained, and that¡¯s what the fount does.¡± There was a collective frown as everyone considered, but it was Rane who asked for clarification. ¡°So¡­ it just makes replicated bodies of this mage?¡± ¡°Specifically, it draws in any organic matter and builds a version of the Mage that is better in a way that counters the last things to damage one of his bodies. These improvements are cumulative.¡± Master Limmestare shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not possible. Improvement in one direction often counteracts improvements in the other.¡± The Paragon shrugged. ¡°I can only tell you what was conveyed in the report. I didn¡¯t engage this prisoner myself.¡± Master Clevnis cleared his throat, clearly hung up on some other part of the explanation. ¡°Wait, one of? How many are there?¡± ¡°When this fount was sealed, they¡¯d beat the copies down entirely, and they tried to strip away all living matter, but even without such, the inflow of magic allows the creation of more, if slowly. Expect a lot within.¡± Tala spoke up next. ¡°And the fount wasn¡¯t simply destroyed because¡­?¡± ¡°It is entirely centered around self-preservation. They couldn¡¯t get it to pass on, and when they ejected it into the void, it just popped up somewhere else relatively nearby to begin churning out its endless copies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ unfortunate.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Master Girt asked the next question. ¡°So, we¡¯ll be fighting a magicless human, who will be adapting to our skills? How much can he adapt?¡± ¡°Great question. Aside from basic biological alterations, the fount seems to be able to impress natural magics upon the copies.¡± Master Limmestare gave the Paragon a flat look. ¡°Alright. That¡¯s as sound as rust. How?¡± ¡°Again, it comes back to the concept of self preservation. Founts often align more with concepts than the exact magics of the Mage who became them, and this one is a prime example of that. To be fair, though, there was no record of outward manifestations of power. No balls of fire, or lightning strikes or the like. Just strength beyond what would be possible without magic, and other obviously magical effects.¡± Terry shifted on Tala¡¯s shoulder, and she reached up to scratch the side of his head. ¡°Any danger of infection or spread of any kind?¡± ¡°None. Even if some of the copies escape it wouldn¡¯t be that great of an issue. Though, we would want to hunt them down, because it was found that the copies have a base instinct to try to free the fount. We don¡¯t want effectively immortal humans working toward that end.¡± ¡°Immortal?¡± It was Mistress Vanga¡¯s turn to inquire. ¡°How is that possible?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s been in there for millennia. In theory, they would have died most often from aging at least until that was solved.¡± ¡°Ahh, so theorized as immortal.¡± She seemed to relax a bit. ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded, then hesitated. ¡°Could we¡­ bring out some of the bodies? They might be fascinating to study. If they have achieved immortality with a human-like body, without the advancement of Refining¡­ we could learn a lot from them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask for clearance, but tentatively yes.¡± Tala interjected again then. ¡°Any issue with unbound dimensional storages?¡± Hers was bound, but Kit functioned like an unbound storage in that those not soulbound to her could enter and leave with relative ease. The Paragon considered, then shrugged. ¡°We might want to ensure they¡¯re empty of copies when we¡¯re done, but nothing indicates that that should be an issue.¡± Alright, so leave Irondale outside, but bring the Sanctum. -Yeah, that should be fine. I¡¯ll keep an eye out for a breach.- Tala quirked a smile, having a thought. ¡°You know, I have somewhat of a unique authority within my storage. I could just open it and let them run in, then kill them off.¡± The Paragon considered for a moment, then grimaced. ¡°That is a potentially workable idea, and we can have it as a backup if things go sideways. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that resisting such authority might be possible, and if the fount bent future copies that direction¡­¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh, yeah¡­ that would be bad.¡± She had to remember that this would be a recurring cell for maintenance going forward. So, the less they help the thing improve, the better. ¡°Can its active copies change based on the death of one?¡± ¡°No, each new one is only changed as they are created. They seem to function with some awareness between them, but it was not recorded as anything close to the level of a hive mind.¡± Master Clevnis cleared his throat. ¡°Alright, so we go in and restrain them as much as possible.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°I can actually just effectively strip them of their gravity. I can do¡­ up to sixty nearly instantly, and a lot more given time.¡± The unit leader considered, then nodded. ¡°Yeah, that would be good. We¡¯ll also put up barriers and fight them only as necessary. Once again, non-lethal means wherever possible.¡± They all nodded, understanding. The Paragon smiled. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Tala made sure that her sparring sheath was locked in place around Flow to keep her blows nonlethal. ¡°Do you want to come, Terry? Non-lethal isn¡¯t really your speed.¡± Terry squawked derisively, shaking himself before he trilled and focused forward. She smiled. ¡°Oh, everything¡¯s your speed is it?¡± He trilled again, more softly this time. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do this.¡± She looked to Rane. ¡°Will you have my back while I¡¯m working with their gravity?¡± He smiled. ¡°Then, and always.¡± * * * Tala was coming to hate the face of the man before her. He was handsome enough, but his eyes were empty of emotion and his features bereft of expression. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His black hair was close-cropped to his head, so close that he was effectively bald for any martial applications. Which is probably why the copies come out like that¡­ As to who he was? This was one of hundreds of copies of the Mage created by the fount within this cell. Their plan¡­ was not working that well. It had started well enough with her Restraining well over a hundred copies, but they¡¯d had two horrifying responses to that. The first¡ªand more mundane¡ªresponse was for all of those within reach of one another to grab on and push off so that at least one could continue to move in to attack Tala and her unit. The second response was enacted by both those out of reach of anyone else, and those who were pushed off and away, sent in the wrong direction. It seemed that they had ingrained natural magics for self annihilation. It wasn¡¯t anything extreme. They didn¡¯t explode or turn to acid, or anything like that. They simply died. Mistress Vanga said that it looked like they gave themselves an aneurysm¡ªall in exactly the same location¡ªas soon as they were in a position that they couldn¡¯t recover from. At that point, their bodies would almost spaghettify, the material streaming back toward the fount where it was remolded into an updated version. Tala had no idea how they were doing it, but somehow, each subsequent copy to come from the fount was harder for her to target for her workings and more expensive to affect once she did lock on. It was like they were becoming more inherently resistant to her specific magics. As to those that came in for the attack? Well, it seems that breaking an arm against magical barriers before self-induced death was enough for future models to be better at breaching barriers. These fount copies had faced a lot of magical barriers in the past, at least evidence suggested so. Each one of their punches sent out ripples of inherent instability, which made resisting the strikes more difficult with each subsequent blow. If a copy proved ineffective, he died, only to be replaced by a better version. So, needless to say, going ¡®nonlethal¡¯ was a bit¡­ unrealistic. The only thing that seemed to have affected the rather apocalyptic waves of copies as a whole was when Tala had wrapped one in iron. Her thinking had been, even if it died, it couldn¡¯t be drawn away back toward the fount for remaking. Oh, she¡¯d been wrong. She¡¯d sealed it up nice and tight, but that¡¯s when they¡¯d all learned something that either hadn¡¯t been recorded or hadn¡¯t been known when this cell was created. Or the copies have developed the ability since? That was only a bit horrifying. Regardless, every copy had¡ªcompletely and dissonantly out of sync¡ªscreamed in a way that caused Tala¡¯s connection with the iron to tremble, seemingly threatening to shatter the bond outright. She¡¯d withdrawn her iron, and the screaming had stopped. It was¡ªsomehow¡ªa sort of sonic attack aimed at soulbonds. It made no sense. It shouldn¡¯t be possible. Yet, Tala¡¯s still aching gate removed all doubt that it hadn¡¯t been real. That also removed one of the other strategies they¡¯d considered employing. They¡¯d thought they could pull back and simply have Tala plug the tunnel with iron. If any cell would allow that as a solution, this one should, but nope. The copies would probably do their screaming again, or find some other means to overcome the issue. Thus, the unit was fighting against a tide of this one man, and Tala was beginning to hate the very sight of him. It was odd, because she felt like the very fact that she had hurt, rebuffed, or killed him over and over again, made her hate him more. Every time she made the conscious choice to harm or delay him, it was another mark in her own internal justification that her dislike was warranted. The more she acted like she hated him, the more she actually did. By this point, she had hated sufficiently to enact heinous injury and death upon him uncounted times. I might hate him even more than Be-thric, and that makes absolutely no sense. -You only killed Be-thric once. That arcane¡ªat least¡ªhad the good graces to stay dead. This guy isn¡¯t even that courteous.- Tala snorted a laugh at that, even as she punched a copy in the chest hard enough to collapse a mundane ribcage. The copy was fine, aside from being pushed back a bit. His bones were insanely durable. Everything about him was. Tala found that she was getting on board with Mistress Vanga¡¯s desire to take some bodies with them. Plus, then we can desecrate the corpses¡­ She took a mental step back. Was she being influenced by some sort of mental attack? A moment later, she and Alat concurred. -No, he¡¯s just really vile¡­- She knew that she should keep herself detached. This was her job, and it wasn¡¯t like there was a personal grudge between her and these lifeless copies. Tala didn¡¯t care. Every strike with her sparring-sheathed Flow brought a smile to her face as she drove the rusting horrid man back. It had become almost a game as the unit members each worked to keep the waves of bodies back but also to do so in a way that none of the individuals felt inconvenienced enough to just off themselves. Obviously, throwing them back past the fount was an instant failure, as they¡¯d seemingly rather pop and respawn than run the extra distance. Similarly, if their legs were broken or in any way severely damaged¡­ pop. Wound to the head or eyes, or anything that might disorient them? Pop. Too much internal damage? Pop. Knocked prone too close to the fount? Pop. No quick way to assault? Pop. That last one really didn¡¯t make sense to Tala at first, but then she noticed that this helped keep the assault vectors clear for the vile creatures, allowing them to attack more effectively. It also resulted in the copies coming out faster and with more powerful jumps. Some were also better climbers, as they tried scaling the cliffs that flanked Tala¡¯s unit. Thankfully, that seemed to be deemed ¡®inefficient¡¯ for some reason, so most that tried that route popped themselves before they became an issue. Unsurprisingly, Rane was among the best in keeping them back nonlethally, mainly because he could generate waves of kinetic energy. These waves were just less refined and controlled kinetic blades, and when spread out to hit a large sector of the attackers, the universal slow-down made it ineffective for them to pop, while still keeping their progress down to a fast walk. Master Clevnis had the worst time keeping copies back without causing their deaths either directly or indirectly. No one was surprised by this as his magic was almost universally aimed toward magical blades. As a result, the copies were getting an odd armored texture to their skin. That let the unit leader do better, as funny as that was to consider. Terry flickered among the copies implementing marginal delaying tactics while staying within Tala¡¯s aura. They all felt the weak pull at their bodies to be pulled in and used as fuel by the fount, and while Terry could probably resist, he was wise enough to not risk it. Regardless, there was a steady stream of opponents for Tala to deflect, block, throw, or strike with Flow, foot, or fist. It was quite the challenge to ensure that she was precisely controlled with each attack, even if Tala wasn¡¯t really sure how much it mattered. No matter what they did, they were each pressed exactly as much as every other member of their unit, the copies simply altering their pace slightly to make up the difference one way or another to keep the optimal number of copies engaged with each Refined at a time. ¡°Can I please just try it?¡± Tala finally snapped. Master Clevnis who was even more irritated than her, added on right after, ¡°I¡¯d love that. Cerna?¡± The calmer of the unit leaders glanced between them, then sighed. ¡°Yes, but be careful. If it seems to be adapting¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pull back. Understood.¡± With that, she lashed out with Flow, knocking back five of the copies and allowing her unit to shift to cover her sector of the defense of the tunnel. Then, she leapt straight up, suspending her own gravity when she was at the top of her trajectory. She didn¡¯t need it to get a vantage, her threefold sight showed her the fount just fine. Instead, she did it to get a straighter shot for her iron. With what she was about to do, every little bit would help. With a gesture and act of will, she sent iron spikes lancing out, driving into the ground around the fount, establishing a beachhead for her aura and authority. She pressed inward, even as copies continued to appear, seemingly ignoring her iron or unaware of its presence or effect. Then, as she began to dig in and really get herself established there, her aura drew close enough to the fount that the copies had to be produced in layers, which slowed down production by a noticeable amount, but sadly, it didn¡¯t stop it entirely. At that point, Tala began to encounter heavy resistance. It wasn¡¯t like the fount was learning, blessedly. Instead, it was simply the sovereignty of a soul over itself. Tala didn¡¯t have the power, nor fundamental authority to do something like that. She simply couldn¡¯t claim it without attempting a soulbond, and she was not willing to do that for myriad reasons. Tala called down from where she hung, suspended behind the line of her unit¡¯s defense, gritting her teeth even as she ensured her voice reached them by infusing it with power. ¡°That¡¯s all I can do.¡± Mistress Cerna looked her way. ¡°Have you seen any evidence of adaptation?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Would you like assistance?¡± She didn¡¯t hesitate for even an instant. ¡°Yes, please.¡± Ribbons of metal shot out from near the older woman, covering the relatively short distance to the fount with surprising speed before they wove a net around the source of their trouble. It was positioned incredibly carefully to be out of the way of the copies being created. As the spellform activated, Tala felt as if the burden upon her will was greatly lessened, and she felt the comforting power of Mistress Cerna¡¯s own, powerful will alongside her own. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course, dear. We¡¯re a unit. You don¡¯t need to be a one woman army.¡± The older woman smiled, and Tala smiled in return even if it was behind her faceplate. Alright, I think we can make this work. That is, of course, when things started to go truly wrong. Chapter: 424 - False Copies Tala held her aura firm as close to the fount as possible, forcing it to manifest the copies of its original host closer and closer to itself. Mistress Cerna was backing Tala up with a spellform designed to facilitate and augment both her own willpower and Tala¡¯s aura sovereignty over the specific area in which the fount stood. As her aura didn¡¯t directly affect the fount¡ªbecause it couldn¡¯t¡ªand it also didn¡¯t harm the copies, the fount seemed unaware of the inhibition, or at least unable to muster a direct countermeasure as of yet. Things were looking rather good as the unit as a whole was quickly battling back the copies that were now receiving reinforcements quite a bit more slowly. It was then that the fount pulsed, a ripple reaching out just far enough to contact Tala¡¯s aura, interlaced with her own and Mistress Cerna¡¯s will. They both recoiled slightly, feeling as if they¡¯d had someone look their way with ill intent. A presence far beyond any that Tala had ever felt before descended, seeming to take stock of the situation. After a moment, the fount flared, twisting and distorting to Tala¡¯s threefold sight before a rolling laugh echoed through the cell. ¡°Boon honored, bargain fulfilled as struck.¡± With that, the presence vanished, leaving the fount heavily altered, yet still somehow fundamentally the same. Tala felt herself pale as a possibility clicked into place. ¡°Was that¡­?¡± Mistress Cerna was already weaving magics around herself below where Tala hung in the air. ¡°A Sovereign, yes. That explains how this fount was so resilient. The mage must have sought¡ªand received¡ªa boon and used it for¡­ something. It seems like whatever this last change was has used up the last of the boon, however.¡± ¡°So¡­ survive, and it will be out of tricks?¡± ¡°Or this last modification made it sufficiently powerful to no longer require a Sovereign to back it up.¡± ¡°I like that less.¡± She considered for a long moment as the fount finished twisting and contorting, rearranging itself at the behest of the Sovereign¡¯s lingering supreme will. She had a sinking feeling as a thought came to her, ¡°Did this guy¡¯s type of magic specifically require it to be a copy of him?¡± That was the only warning they had before a new form stepped from the fount. Tala pulled back her aura in horror, forcing her iron spikes away as a precaution as well. Only then did one of the others notice and react. It was, of course, Rane. ¡°Tala? Is that¡­ you? It made a copy of you?¡± Sure enough, a copy of Tala had exited the fount, followed by one of Mistress Cerna. They looked almost identical except that their faces were slack, devoid of any emotion, their eyes empty of higher thought. A moment later, another pulse rippled out through the cell, being amplified by the remaining copies, and after it passed, a version of each member of their unit stepped from the now portal-like fount. Master Girt groaned. ¡°I had this dream once. It wasn¡¯t fun.¡± Master Limmestare shook his head. ¡°This is quite a horrible trope. Evil versions of us? Really?¡± Mistress Vanga shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re not properly equipped as we are. There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be a true threat.¡± At that moment, evil Rane launched from beside the fount and punched Tala toward the ground. She had just been floating in the air, without much easy means of movement. So, the fact that she hadn¡¯t dodged was reasonable, but even so, he¡¯d moved fast. As Tala let out a coughing wheeze, she had Alat send a message with two facts prominently placed. Evil Rane fell upon her like a comet, but she was able to roll out of the way in time, keeping herself between him and the way out. As soon as she sucked in a breath, she said aloud what she¡¯d already sent, just to be safe, ¡°He¡¯s at least as strong as Rane, and I didn¡¯t detect any inscriptions or ingrained natural magics in the human style. His magics are being implemented by concept magic like arcanes use.¡± And since they were being birthed from a fount, they were effectively stepping out of a gateway from the source of magic. They were full. She, of course, didn¡¯t have time to say that as False Rane attacked again, only to be stopped by Master Clevnis, who threw a blade of pure power into False Rane¡¯s stomach. False Rane, of course, moved with the attack, coming out unharmed, but that still interrupted his pursuit of Tala. Tala suddenly found Terry standing before her, his eyes empty of all emotion. ¡°Terry?¡± No, False Terry. That was¡­ horrifying. Terry flickered into being behind the copy of himself, slashing, but the copy was not so easily killed. The two became a truly dizzying blur as they matched one another flicker for flicker. Oh¡­ that¡¯s not good. -You think?- Things started to go downhill from there. False Vanga swelled with added muscle, her skin thickening until it resembled armored plates, and sword-like claws and fangs extended from her fingers and mouth. Tala gaped before looking toward Mistress Vanga. The woman was red with¡­ embarrassment? Tala barely caught her muttered words. ¡°I never intended to use those magics¡­¡± Beast Vanga roared, having burst free of her clothing. Even so, it wasn¡¯t accurate to call it naked, as all semblance of the parts usually covered for modesty had disappeared. It was simply a massive sculpture of flesh and bone in the rough shape of an incredibly overlarge human. False Limmestare instantly vanished. I didn¡¯t know he could go invisible¡­ That¡¯s really stereotypical of a glass mage. False Clevnis exploded with a torrent of blades of magic, all shooting for the unit of Defenders. False Cerna seemed at a loss, given her lack of precious metals to weave into spellforms, and that made Tala chuckle even as she relaxed slightly. Mistress Cerna was a beast to fight¡­ even if not quite as literally as Beast Vanga would be. False Girt¡­ well? He immediately offed himself. There was a small crack¡ªa rock from the ground had shot upward and put a hole through his skull as effectively as a warhammer could have. Even as Mistress Cerna was countering the incoming blades from False Clevnis, the death of his false twin caused most eyes to turn to Master Girt. He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m always on the edge of death. I only live through conscious choice. That thing clearly lacked that ability or desire.¡± That¡­ would have to be addressed after this cell was finished. False Tala charged forward, streams of iron dust rising up from the ground around her, increasing with her every step. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. No. -No. That¡¯s¡ª- That¡¯s iron. False Tala was soon clad in iron just as Tala herself was. Well, rust. As odd as it seemed, as the last of the mage copies were dealt with, the unit was in a very comfortable place. They¡¯d fought against one another quite a few times, even if it had been with lower stakes and fewer trump cards open to be used. Tala glanced toward Mistress Vanga and found that the woman was still blushing a deep red, but she was obviously preparing to engage even so. Master Clevnis snapped out commands. ¡°I have Rane. Master Rane, you take Tala. Cerna back him up. Mistress Tala you¡¯re on Vanga. Mistress Vanga - Cerna. Master Girt - Limmestare. Master Limmestare you¡¯re on that me.¡± Everyone nodded, understanding. Tala couldn¡¯t help but be impressed at his quick assessment and division of opponents. Flow should be more than capable of wounding False Vanga and hopefully keeping her down. Additionally, she should be rather resistant to any sort of ¡®healing to harm¡¯ shenanigans that the healer¡¯s false copy could get up to. Additionally, if Tala were without Flow¡ªnot to mention her other equipment¡ªand her higher thought processes, Rane would be a near perfect counter for her. Mistress Cerna was likely being added in to work against any iron shenanigans as much as possible. I just need to finish quickly to go take all that iron from her. -That¡¯s a lot, Tala. Won¡¯t that unbalance us toward Reality?- I hope not? Maybe we don¡¯t take it all for ourselves, just take it from her. -If we can manage that, sure.- Alat didn¡¯t seem overly confident at the idea. Tala had one thing to clarify. ¡°Still non-lethal?¡± Master Clevnis¡¯s response was quick. ¡°No. Kill quick. If they come back, switch to non-lethal.¡± Everyone acknowledged. Tala launched herself at Beast Vanga, pushing power into her weapon along with her will to turn Flow to a void-glaive as she came arcing downward. Beast Vanga screamed up at Tala¡¯s falling form, and three things happened at once. First, Tala¡¯s eardrums burst even within her armor. Second, she saw that the false healer was creating air as a part of her scream, which increased the intensity to the level it was at, while also pushing her back. Third, that wave of wind and sound knocked Tala off course, and thus, she came crashing down just in front of the beast instead of close enough to bisect it. A massive arm swung for Tala. She was a bit disoriented due to her ears popping, and she would have thought the attack would fall short, but she raised Flow to block anyways on pure instinct. A bone-blade grew out of Beast Vanga¡¯s arm as it swung for her. Flow met bone and actually seemed to have a little trouble shearing through, even if not much. In this case, however, it would have been better if it hadn¡¯t cut so easily. Both the still attached and cut-free portions of the bone-blade continued, one cutting at each of her shoulders, even as she was still in position to block. Her ablative armor fractured, absorbing and dissipating all of the impact from the free-flying side, and negating much of it from the other. That strike¡ªeven so diminished¡ªwas still somehow powerful enough to throw Tala into a spin. Tala had the presence of mind to use the spin, pulling Flow in tight through the turn before lashing out to cut through the retreating arm, splitting it between the two bones in the forearm. The wound healed almost as soon as it was made. Well¡­ this is going to be interesting. Tala fought to drive closer to Beast Vanga, but the ten foot tall no-longer-human kept her at bay with sweeping, hammering blows. Those often exposed limbs to Tala¡¯s cuts and even to being severed, but Beast Vanga just healed the damage or grew the limb back. Elsewhere within the cell, Terry and False Terry were flickering up a storm. Even Tala¡¯s threefold sight¡ªwith Alat monitoring it closely¡ªcould barely catch glimpses of the two terror birds. Mistress Vanga had killed False Cerna rather quickly given the enemy didn¡¯t really have her main means of attack and defense. No new Cerna came from the fount. The fount, in fact, looked¡­ odd, distorted, like a structural support that was under too great of a load. Around her clashes with Beast Vanga, Tala came to assume that the Sovereign¡¯s interference had made them near-true copies of their Defender unit. As such, the fount simply didn¡¯t have the soul-strength to sustain bonds with¡ªnot to mention supply power to¡ªso many highly advanced beings. Master Clevnis was driving False Rane around the battlefield. That opponent was almost as disadvantaged without his sword as False Cerna had been without her metals. False Rane, however, was still a monster of a survivor, and his defensive magics¡ªalong with his other kinetic abilities¡ªmade him a difficult fighter to pin down. Rane and Mistress Cerna were containing and harassing False Tala. Rane used his expert swordsmanship along with his ability to impart so much kinetic energy with each hit¡ªand even near hits¡ªthat False Tala¡¯s ablative armor just couldn¡¯t keep up. She didn¡¯t have the white steel to augment it after all, nor did she have Flow to clash blade to blade with Rane. Mistress Cerna was on containment duty, keeping any sneaky bits of iron from approaching Rane to the best of her ability. She even attacked Rane outright on occasion to trigger his defenses and move him out of the way of some iron he seemed to have missed avoiding through other means. Master Girt and False Limmestare were both invisible, but Alat easily tracked them with her threefold sight as the two men clashed in an odd sort of blind fighting. It was obvious that they were both aware of where the other was, generally speaking, but they couldn¡¯t seem to determine specifics. That led to a lot of feinting and blocking of attacks that weren¡¯t actually incoming. All told, Master Girt was winning over all. As for Master Limmestare, he was having the most trouble of any of them, except maybe Tala or Terry. His glass-fiber defenses were great for blunting False Clevnis¡¯ attacks, but he couldn¡¯t get a hit in on his opponent. Even so, with Mistress Vanga¡¯s defeat of False Cerna, things began to tip more in the Defenders'' favor. She was able to go and help to box in False Rane, forcing the doppleganger to take his first hits. When fighting Master Clevnis, truly taking a hit was tantamount to losing, and that bore up in this clash as well. False Rane lost a leg first, and that slowed him down enough that he was torn apart in mere moments after the initial wound. Those two turned first to assist against False Clevnis, and that opponent fell against his original rather quickly. Master Limmestare and Mistress Vanga were hardly needed, though they did make the clash reach its conclusion much faster. The three of them then moved on to assist Rane and Mistress Cerna against False Tala. Tala, for her part, wasn¡¯t about to be outdone. She decided to take a risk, and used iron to push herself stoneward for a quick moment as she darted in. Her iron then drew her back out before she could drift or fall too far. She came back to the superficial right beside Beast Vanga¡¯s left side, Flow already lashing out to bisect the woman with a void-cut. The two halves fell slowly apart, and Tala oriented on the fight between Master Girt and False Limmestare. With her full attention there, it only took a moment for her to find the opening she wanted. A pair of siege-orbs lanced out and took False Limmestare by surprise, slamming him back and away from Master Girt before the orbs detonated, obliterating the copy of the glass mage. That freed up Master Girt to go help against False Tala, who was still giving the whole group trouble. The evil version of Tala was using clouds of iron dust to interfere with any magics thrown her way, even as she tried to press her advantage against one or another of those seeking to bring her down. Tala almost moved to join, but before she could she noticed movement behind her through her threefold sight. Each half of Beast Vanga had grown another half, and the two were standing back to their feet side by side. ¡°Rust that.¡± Tala sent a barrage of siege-orbs back at the two beasts¡ªstaggered and aimed to keep them off balance and relatively close together¡ªeven as she charged back in. The two were torn open but quickly healed. At least, they began to heal until Tala flooded the wounds with her own iron in the form of a rain of nails, absolutely shredding the beasts¡¯ insides. Those nails would never have penetrated Beast Vanga¡¯s skin, but with wounds torn open and frozen brittle by the explosions of siege-orbs? Yeah, there were now plenty of places for Tala to target. Soon after, the two Beast Vangas were down for the count, utterly stripped of internal iron and covered with a thin plating of iron on the outside. Tala growled at her erstwhile opponent. ¡°Stay down.¡± That handled, she turned back around just in time to see Mistress Vanga take a punch through her chest to gain Master Clevnis the opening that he needed in order to remove False Tala¡¯s head from her shoulders. Mistress Cerna stepped forward, slamming a cage of power around the two pieces of False Tala, effectively interrupting any attempts to heal or stay alive. After spitting up some blood, Mistress Vanga healed herself rather quickly, and that was that. Terry was perched atop the corpse of his false twin, heaving ragged, panting breaths. He was bloodied and winded but mostly whole. Some of his feathers were bent and broken, and the cuts he had were almost entirely confined to his lower legs and around his reddened beak. The avian trumpeted toward the sky, encapsulating their collective feeling of triumph rather nicely. He then looked to Tala before glancing down at the corpse beneath his talons. Tala chuckled, somehow knowing exactly what he wanted to ask. ¡°Can Terry eat the body, or will that cause issues?¡± Master Clevnis looked to his wife, and Mistress Cerna wove a quick series of spells, activating each in turn before nodding. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Terry tucked in, then, and ate his false twin with speed and abandon. I could have gone a long time without seeing that¡­ Even so, she found herself looking toward her own false twin. Her gaze didn¡¯t contain any hunger, but instead, it was filled with curiosity. -Yeah, I wonder what we can learn from that.- Chapter: 425 - New Resident Tala, Rane, Terry, and their unit flew back toward Alefast. The fount had still been twisting and reshaping when the maintenance process was complete, showing that the Sovereign¡¯s final interference was still underway. Thus, while Tala could have kicked it into the void, they didn¡¯t actually know that would work any better this time. Additionally, they were hesitant to come very close, even magically, given that was what had seemed to trigger the false copies the first time. It might be overly cautious, but no one had actually objected when it was decided to take the safe route and leave the fount be until the next maintenance cycle. They left extensive notes, and the Paragon had remained near the resealed cell to investigate the situation further and keep tabs for at least a short while. There wasn¡¯t any fear that anything would break free, but they still wanted to be able to provide as much information as possible for the next unit who came to perform maintenance on the cell. And then, hopefully, they¡¯ll be able to close it down for good. But in either case, it was out of their hands, and wouldn¡¯t fall on them again unless they happened to be part of the Defenders of a nearby city when it came up for maintenance. -That will likely be in about a thousand years.- Yeah, I hope we aren¡¯t still Refined then. -Yeah, that would definitely denote a rather stark slowing of our progress.- Tala grinned at that. She had graduated three and a half years earlier. Yet, somehow, I¡¯m not the fastest to advance in our history. That was a bit mind blowing, but apparently, among others who¡¯d been faster than her, there had been a young man who had discovered the Archon Star form as a student and become an Archon before even graduating the Academy. He¡¯d Fused in less than a half a year after graduation and took only a year to Refine afterward. Records of him became sparse after that, and his name had been redacted. So, Tala suspected that it might even be Master Xeel or Master Grediv, but she¡¯d never taken the time to figure it out. Master Xeel had been incredibly cagey about his past when they¡¯d been in the cell, dealing with the remnants of the Reality Mage¡¯s power, so she hadn¡¯t pressed to find out about his own journey of Advancement. She¡¯d used the time to shore up her general knowledge about generally restricted topics, and that had been just fine with her. She¡¯d asked about the Black Legion¡ªmore generally about all automata¡ªarcanes, and how they related to Reality and gated-humanity, and Reforging, among other topics. - Maybe, we¡¯ll be the Paragon called in?- What? Not Reforged? -Could be, could be.- Alat sent back the impression of a grin of amusement. Regardless, it was nice to have the cell behind them. With the cell behind them, however, they turned toward Master Girt. The man was cleaning his nails with a small dagger, but he froze when one unit member after another turned his way. Only Mistress Cerna kept her eyes on where they were going. He looked up and sighed. ¡°So, are we going to talk about Mistress Vanga¡¯s titanic form? Who knew about this?¡± Mistress Vanga blushed at the reminder, but not as much as she had within the cell. Even so, no one took the bait. Master Girt sighed. ¡°Can we not talk about this?¡± Master Clevnis sat down beside his friend. ¡°It seems rather important. You are on the edge of being suicidal. You¡ª¡± Master Girt cut him off there. ¡°No. I am fully suicidal, and reasonably so, except for the fact of my soul and who I am toward humanity. Thus, recreating me without a soul and not a defender of humanity? Anyone who was even sort of me wouldn¡¯t see the point.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I would think that a lack of a soul would make you less likely to want to die. Nothing after death, so avoid death. Right?¡± ¡°No soul means no reuniting with Stonia. Why would I want more time with that certain knowledge?¡± That blunted the focus of the unit as a whole, but Master Clevnis began a quieter discussion with the man, and the rest of them tried not to listen in. ¡°Mistress Tala?¡± Mistress Vanga came and sat beside her as they moved through the air as quickly as magical resonance would let them do so peaceably. ¡°Yes?¡± Tala turned to orient on the woman. ¡°Young Kedva is expecting soon, correct?¡± Mistress Vanga, of course, was well aware of the due date. She was likely just using this question as a means of opening a conversation. ¡°Yes. I believe the due date is roughly ten days out.¡± ¡°How is she doing? How are you doing?¡± ¡°She¡¯s fine from what I gather. Why do you ask about me?¡± The older woman smiled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m aware that you aren¡¯t the most¡­ sociable person, and you¡¯re about to have a new baby within your dimensional storage. That¡¯s going to cause some changes.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I suppose. I could just let you talk to Kedva. Irondale is along for the trip, and Kedva has just finished making lunch, I believe.¡± That made Mistress Vanga frown. ¡°You¡¯re watching her?¡± ¡°Hmm? No. But when you asked after her, I looked in on the front of their house and heard her call Brandon for lunch.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The healer paused at that. ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Every person within Irondale knows that I am constantly monitoring everything, even if just subconsciously. Well, at least when I¡¯m nearby¡ªthough, I didn¡¯t make that distinction because then people would start caring to know exactly where I was, and I wasn¡¯t willing to deal with that.¡± Mistress Vanga smiled slightly. ¡°So, you told them it was ¡®always,¡¯ because how could someone complain about being watched less than they¡¯d expected in a situation like this?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Well, that is between you all, I suppose.¡± She tapped her fingers a bit, then shook her head. ¡°I would like to visit, but I want Anna along for the check in. We¡¯ll drop through later today. When will the gate to Irondale be open?¡± ¡°It¡¯s always open now, at least when I¡¯m in Alefast. My first stop when I get back will be to place the gate in its place.¡± ¡°That is kind of you and rather convenient for those inside.¡± ¡°I do try.¡± Tala smiled playfully, before the expression shifted to a more natural one. ¡°They¡¯re currently in negotiations with the administrators of Bandfast. That way when we go there for Rane¡¯s updated inscriptions in a few weeks, we¡¯ll have a place to set the gateway while I¡¯m in that city.¡± ¡°Well, it seems that you¡¯re becoming a regular moving city.¡± She grinned at that. ¡°Those are rather amazing structures. Have you seen one?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t myself, no, but my mother actually immigrated from one a few hundred years ago.¡± That surprised Tala. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t know people came to the gated human cities from there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s exceedingly rare, but they can petition for citizenship here, and it is sometimes granted in exceptional cases. My mother was an unusually gifted healer. She met my father here, in the gated human cities.¡± Mistress Vanga considered for a moment. ¡°You know, you should probably figure out some details before you go back to the moving cities.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Well, of course. Since you¡¯ll likely allow your residents freedom to come and go, you¡¯ll be faced with the issue of others wanting to join your little settlement and others might want to stay in the moving cities. Will you force them to come back with you?¡± Tala nodded slowly. ¡°And some might just be trying to find a way to get into the gated human cities¡­ Those are important things to know beforehand.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Exactly.¡± That¡­ she hadn¡¯t considered that. True, she hadn¡¯t actually sat down and planned a trip back out to the moving settlements, but it was something that was obvious enough that she should have thought to inquire about it. The moving city that she¡¯d seen had been a towering work of magical engineering, housing the many gated citizenry of the city, with massive dimensional storages, reworked into a gateless city with humans and arcanes living together in harmony. She¡¯d also been told that Howlton was one of the smaller settlements, something they called a village. Their true cities¡­ she couldn¡¯t even imagine. Truthfully, she didn¡¯t want to imagine them. She wanted to see them for herself. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Vanga. I will definitely do that.¡± The Healer smiled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad to be of service. I suppose I won¡¯t really see you when I go to check on Kedva¡­ are you planning on being nearby for the birth?¡± Tala shrugged a bit uncomfortably. ¡°Not really? I helped my step-mother with some of her later births¡ªbefore I left for the Academy¡ªbut it¡¯s not something where I have specific skills that would be useful.¡± Mistress Vanga cocked an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s funny coming from a woman who has her own biology so memorized. While babies are very different from adults, if you know to look for what differences there are you can still be helpful at need. And as for the mother¡¯s? Kedva¡¯s biology will match yours as closely as any human can.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°Better than any mundane woman ever could. She¡¯s borne a chunk of your magics for more than a year.¡± ¡°I suppose so¡­¡± ¡°Please consider being there¡ªor at least nearby¡ªyour authority within Irondale could prove invaluable even without anything else.¡± After a long moment, Tala nodded. ¡°Alright. Sure. I¡¯ll be there.¡± After all, it can¡¯t be that much different from my siblings¡¯ births. * * * Tala felt her cheek twitch as Kedva knelt on all fours, breathing in a rhythmic cadence. They were in a back room of Kedva and Brandon¡¯s house within Irondale, and Tala had lowered the ambient zeme to match Alefast outside nearly four hours ago, when Anna contacted her and requested such, the birth being imminent. Anna was beside the birthing woman, rubbing her hand on the small of her back. ¡°Good, breathe, push when you can. Act like you''re blowing your nose, but keep all the air inside. Compress. Yes! Just like that. You¡¯re doing so well. You can do this. You aren¡¯t alone. We¡¯re here with you.¡± She¡­ didn¡¯t stop. On the positive side, Kedva seemed to either take comfort in the constant stream of words or in the presence of the familiar woman, herself. Brandon was on Kedva¡¯s other side, providing a stable body to lean against at need. He looked both excited and decidedly uncertain about what he should be doing. They¡¯d already had to reassure him multiple times that he was right where he needed to be, doing exactly what he should be doing. Mistress Vanga was in place to receive the baby, now that it was time. Magics were sweeping through mother and child almost constantly, monitoring both, even as they allowed the natural processes to take place. Kedva¡¯s body contracted as if she were screaming to the stars above, but she kept the air contained, compressing and bearing down with everything she had. Tala was both fascinated and a bit put off by being able to watch the whole thing through her threefold sight. Once. Twice. Thrice. After three good pushes, Mistress Vanga had the baby in a pre-prepared blanket in her arms, magics whirling around the little boy, checking him thoroughly and cleaning him up. Oh¡­ it¡¯s a baby¡­ Tala felt very foolish as soon as she had the thought. She knew it was a baby. She saw him before he even left his mother¡¯s womb, but for some reason, seeing him with her eyes was entirely different. She felt a small smile pull at her lips as she regarded him. One. Two more pushes and the rest came out with Anna¡¯s assistance. At that point, Kedva crumpled over to lean against Brandon fully, her husband wrapping her in pre-warmed blankets and holding her close. When her threefold sight noticed something, Tala almost called out, after all, the boy¡¯s airways were filled, but Mistress Vanga was already turning him over and working his back manually. That allowed the little one to cough out much of the gunk before sucking in a deep breath. His little cry was one of triumph, and Tala couldn¡¯t help but put words to it, very much as she did when Terry chirped or trilled at her. This little boy was announcing, ¡®I¡¯ve arrived! We did it!¡¯ And he was screaming that to everyone who could hear. Speaking of Terry, the terror bird had been on Tala¡¯s shoulder through most of the birth, but he now flickered over to inspect the new little life. Mistress Vanga hesitated for only a moment before presenting the little one for Terry to look over. After a brief examination, he seemed rather satisfied, bobbing his head once before giving a trilling coo. That caused the baby¡¯s cry to hitch, and the little eyes blinked as he was trying to focus on the avian before him. He didn¡¯t seem to succeed before Terry flickered away, back to Tala¡¯s shoulder. Tala felt like she¡¯d been entirely unnecessary throughout this whole process, but she understood how her being there, being ready, had likely been a boon. Often times knowing a safety net was there allowed a person to be more confident and actually need the net less. Tala was happy to be a safety net as it didn¡¯t really cost her anything but a little time. Mistress Vanga walked over to the parents after preparing the boy. ¡°Here is your son.¡± Kedva indicated Brandon, and Brandon took him for a bit, cradling the tiny child. ¡°Hello, little one.¡± The couple shared a look before their eyes lifted to meet Tala¡¯s gaze. She froze, uncertain what was going on. ¡°Yes?¡± Kedva chuckled. ¡°We were hoping¡­¡± Brandon continued, ¡°If you¡¯re willing that is¡­¡± She smiled. ¡°Yes, if you¡¯re willing. We¡¯d like to name him Talax.¡± Terry turned to look at Tala, tilting his head inquiringly even as he let out a little, questioning chirp. Tala didn¡¯t remember moving, but she was standing much closer to the couple and the new little one than she had been. She reached out her hand and brushed the flushed little cheek. ¡°Talax, eh?¡± The two shared another look before smiling and nodding. Brandon was smiling proudly, Kedva exhaustedly. Brandon spoke for both of them. ¡°You¡¯ve done so much for us, and we wanted to honor that in some small way. I think you know that I was named after Brand for a similar reason. So, it only seems fitting.¡± He shrugged, suddenly seeming self-conscious. ¡°Keep the family tradition alive, I suppose. Would that be okay?¡± The little one¡ªbaby Talax¡ªbegan rooting around, and Kedva cleared her throat. ¡°The little one needs to eat. Names can be settled after that.¡± What the Rust? Why would they want to name him after me? -They just told you, Tala.- Yes, I know, that¡¯s not what I meant. -You mean, why would two people whose lives you¡¯ve utterly changed want to honor you for that dramatic improvement?- ¡­yes. -Do you really need me to answer, or will you do the right thing and accept the gift in the spirit in which it is being offered?- No¡­ Tala stepped back and gave a deep bow. ¡°If it is your wish to name him Talax, I would be honored.¡± Both parents seemed to relax quite a bit, even as joy was evident across their features. Kedva spoke for them this time, ¡°It is our wish, yes.¡± She received baby Talax and got him situated. ¡°Welcome to Irondale, my little Talax.¡± She brushed her son¡¯s cheek as he began his first meal. Anna stepped forward. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a wonderful latch he has there.¡± As the parents settled down with the hungry little one¡ªand the mageling gave some last information and instructions¡ªTala, Terry, and Mistress Vanga departed. As the front door closed behind them, and the two Refined stood on the couple''s front porch, Tala turned to Mistress Vanga who was taking in the vistas around them. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to be in there?¡± ¡°Not at all. Anna has helped deliver nearly fifty children in the last year and a half. She knows her stuff. The midwives are rather taken with her. If she weren¡¯t on the path to be a Mage, they¡¯d be happy to have her apprenticed to them in truth. If any magic is needed, Anna will come for me, but I¡¯ve verified the health of the babe, and I left a monitoring magic within him. It will fade after a couple of weeks, but until then, I will know if his health turns.¡± She glanced Tala¡¯s way. ¡°I would be appreciative if you¡¯d wait for your trip to Bandfast at least that long. If you cannot, I will need to send Anna with you, or come myself. That is possible, but it wouldn¡¯t be ideal.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°I¡¯m happy to delay, and I think Rane would be as well.¡± ¡°Where is Master Rane?¡± Mistress Vanga looked about in curiosity. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you two apart much of late.¡± Tala felt herself smiling involuntarily. ¡°I think he¡¯s getting some sparring practice against members of some of the other units before our shift this afternoon.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ So? Are you¡­ telling anyone?¡± The older woman gave a half smile. Tala¡¯s smile shifted to be a bit hesitant. ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± ¡°Only to those with eyes, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala found herself laughing at that. ¡°Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.¡± ¡°Most things do in hindsight.¡± Mistress Vanga then patted Tala¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I mean, you two literally discussed going on a date the day Rane was accepted into our unit.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ right. I wasn¡¯t thinking about that.¡± ¡°Clearly.¡± She smiled then changed the subject. ¡°The couple have decided on rebirth.¡± Tala slowly nodded. ¡°They did.¡± ¡°You agreed?¡± Mistress Vanga almost sounded surprised. ¡°He is their child, and nothing we¡¯ve found indicates that it will do him harm.¡± The Healer nodded slowly. ¡°So, it will happen tomorrow, then. The first human baby we know of to be reborn in the arcane style.¡± ¡°It has to be done in the moving cities¡­ right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m really not sure, but if so, my mother never mentioned it.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Well, it will be quite interesting, regardless.¡± Mistress Vanga nodded slowly. ¡°That it will. I¡¯ll be taking lots of notes and measurements, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Tala shared a smile with her unit-mate. ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°Well, would you take me out of here? I have a few things that I¡¯d like to get done. I could walk to the gate, but if you¡¯re willing¡­?¡± ¡°I can probably do that. Would you prefer closer to your home or your office?¡± ¡°My home please.¡± ¡°Of course. Thank you, Mistress Vanga.¡± ¡°You are most welcome, Mistress Tala. Thank you for being nearby in case there was a need.¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± With an act of will, Tala sent Mistress Vanga to the superficial, as far as she could place her in the direction of her home. That done, Tala found herself simply watching the few passersby, waving when they greeted her. Irondale was growing, and it had now gained its first native resident in the traditional manner. She took in a long breath, then breathed it out. ¡°Well, we¡¯re in it now.¡± And they¡¯d really be in new territory the following day. Chapter: 426 - Rebirth Tala held Talax, swaddled and sleeping, happily filled with his mother¡¯s milk. Kedva and Brandon stood off to one side, Mistress Vanga and Anna waited in the center of the room, next to the little baby¡¯s bassinet. Rane had asked to be present for curiosity¡¯s sake, and he was off to the side with Master Simon and Adrill. The former was there to continue his data collection on the rebirth of gateless humans into magic. The latter both as an assistant to the former and as grandfather to the little one. Among the collected people, it was the Refined Healer who spoke first, ¡°May I know what magics will be imparted?¡± Alat? -Sent.- ¡°You should have the full schema. It is, essentially, the magics that Kedva has, but with a basic magesight as well.¡± Brandon smiled broadly, clearly excited at the prospect. ¡°We humans are so malleable as babies. We develop so much based on what we can see and experience. How much better will he be able to comprehend magic, having seen it and observed it essentially from birth?¡± Mistress Vanga raised an eyebrow toward Tala, and Tala continued. ¡°Those scripts include very targeted mental enhancements, to allow for the processing of the magesight. It will not alter his brain function so much as provide the ability for his mind to interact with the added information.¡± The Refined examined something that Tala couldn¡¯t see, likely looking over the schema through a mental projection, or however else she processed Archive information. ¡°Has an inscriptionist inspected this?¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Holly graciously verified the schema as a whole.¡± That satisfied Mistress Vanga. Anna smiled a bit nervously. ¡°What can we do to help?¡± Tala smiled in return. ¡°Monitor the situation, be ready in case there is need.¡± As she placed Talax down, she let her full magic density refill the volume within this house, kept away only from little Talax¡¯s bed as he was laid within it. Brandon and Kedva both staggered, their magical reserves refilling in a rush. Kedva visibly brightened, her magic working to repair her postpartum ailments that still remained, those few that were better to have the body heal naturally rather than magically from outside interference. Thankfully, enhanced self-healing fell into that preferred category. -Careful, Tala. If this gets out, you might be swarmed for that singular feature alone.- Now is hardly the time, Alat. -You¡¯d think so, but we¡¯re about to make it even more beneficial to give birth in here, at least for gateless. Are we sure about this?- Tala only hesitated for a brief moment. Yes. As to why she was sure? This just felt right to Tala. It was as if this was meant to be. Humans were supposed to have magic, given at birth. They weren¡¯t supposed to be broken, mangled souls who got magic in the offing. Talax represented what humanity could be. Tala felt a fluctuation within herself. It wasn¡¯t a true advancement toward Paragon, but it was a clear indication that she was still on the right road. She spoke quietly, intending it for Talax, but not trying to keep anyone else from hearing. ¡°Live well, little Talax.¡± She then let the magic flow inward, causing the density to swell around the baby. Talax almost seemed to drink in the power. He did not have nearly the same level of harsh reaction that his parents had had upon their rebirth. In fact, he didn¡¯t seem to have any negative reaction at all. Even so, his little body clearly couldn¡¯t make use of or handle the new-found power. So, Tala got to work, guiding the magic that now belonged to Talax through the needed patterns. His magic didn¡¯t resist her guidance in the least. Whether that was because his will wasn¡¯t developed enough to fight back, he didn¡¯t see any reason to, or something to do with her authority within Irondale, she didn¡¯t know. It was a point of intellectual curiosity, but it didn¡¯t matter in the moment. She laid the groundwork, the basic enhancements and defense that Kedva had received, and the boy¡¯s power bent to it with ease. Tala ground out the natural magic pathways, interconnecting them in the cascading loops just as she had with the boy¡¯s mother, directing the bleed-off from his internal reserves into the activation of the natural magics. Lastly, she added the specific mental enhancements, tied to the always-active magesight. She double and triple checked that it wouldn¡¯t affect any other part of Talax¡¯s brain directly, even though they all knew that the indirect effects were precisely the point of these particular magics. Where Brandon, Kedva, and even Adrill had writhed and spasmed at the introduction of magics into their adult bodies, Talax accepted the changes with barely a wriggle within his tight swaddle. He didn¡¯t wake. He didn¡¯t cry out. His heartbeat and respiration didn¡¯t even alter noticeably. Mistress Vanga and Anna ran suites of tests, even as Tala examined him with her threefold sight. Across the board, he was healthy and fully functional. His tummy was processing his meal well, and there were no signs of anything within him going wrong. On the contrary, everything seemed to be revving up to operate at a higher level of efficiency. It seemed like the sludge that the others had expelled from their pores and elsewhere had all been directed into Talax¡¯s gut. He probably had less to get rid of overall, I suppose. Still, I don¡¯t envy whoever changes his next diaper. It¡¯s building up to be a big one. She almost laughed at that. They were forging a human that arcanes might fear, regardless of advancement, and she was contemplating his poops. If Tala understood correctly¡ªand Mistress Holly had tentatively agreed¡ªTalax¡¯s physicality might be roughly equivalent to a Refined by the time he reached maturity, assuming he remained within Tala¡¯s sanctum or a similarly magic-rich environment for the majority of that time. And so long as he actively develops and works with his natural magics once he¡¯s old enough. These would be good enough for his first five to seven years of life, but at that point, he¡¯d need to begin expanding and adding to them if they were to remain as effective. Regardless, it was going to be an interesting time for all. Tala motioned for his parents to come forward. ¡°Brandon, Kedva, I present your son, Talax. Magical boy wonder.¡± The couple chuckled as they took their son back. Brandon did meet her gaze for a moment, however. ¡°We¡¯re not calling him by that title or any derivation thereof.¡± She smiled in return. ¡°Very well. Welcome to magic, Talax. Enjoy. The zeme here is rich and dense just for you.¡± Tala meant it too. Kit would maintain maximum magical density around Talax, Kedva, Brandon, and Adrill from now on whenever they were within Irondale. It would be kept directly around them, so they didn¡¯t have to worry about accidentally triggering anyone else¡¯s rebirth. Thus, Talax would grow up awash in power unlike what even most Major House heirs enjoyed. I can¡¯t wait to see what you¡¯re capable of. * * * Tala and Rane walked slowly through the Archon Compound. They were both a bit nervous, partly because they hadn¡¯t spent too much time with Master Grediv since they¡¯d begun courting, and because they¡¯d barely interacted with him since Rane¡¯s refining. The Paragon seemed to be giving them both space. Though, he was clearly pleased that it had been accomplished. He had even explicitly taken time to thank Tala for her fight against the sireling and promised to keep her up to date on any developments with the wolves. Though, he had warned her that their sense of time was vastly skewed when compared to humanity¡¯s. They might be very interested in increasing relations and still not reach back out for half a century. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. All told, they hadn¡¯t been avoiding him, per se, but they hadn¡¯t sought him out as they had previously. It was time for that to end. Rane needed his inscriptions updated, and not seeking Master Grediv¡¯s input would be incredibly foolish. With baby Talax¡¯s birth the day before¡ªand his rebirth that morning¡ªthey had two weeks before they would leave for Bandfast, and they wanted to give Mistress Holly as much lead time as possible. Assuming she doesn¡¯t already have his schema all laid out¡­ Maybe they didn¡¯t need to talk with Master Grediv? Maybe they could just lean on Mistress Holly¡¯s expertise and¡­ No¡­ Many minds find more flaws. They wanted Rane¡¯s inscriptions to be the best they could be. And they¡¯d arrived while Tala was in thought. The door was closed, but Rane knocked without hesitation. Master Grediv called from within, ¡°Come.¡± They entered to find Master Grediv setting out a tea service and scones for them. ¡°Welcome, Mistress Tala, Rane.¡± They each gave a shallow bow. ¡°Master Grediv.¡± He gestured for them to sit, and they did so. ¡°So, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?¡± Rane winced slightly at the formality of Master Grediv¡¯s tone. ¡°Master¡­ things are not on a good foot between us, and I wish to correct that.¡± That caused Master Grediv to relax just a bit even as his eyes shifted to Tala. She shrugged, then gestured to Rane. ¡°He¡¯s Refined. There¡¯s no reason for you to be grumpy with me anymore.¡± Master Grediv¡¯s eye twitched, then he huffed a laugh, a smile taking over his face. ¡°Ahh, Mistress Tala. I will admit that life certainly is less interesting with you at a distance.¡± Tala smiled back. ¡°Of course it is. I¡¯m eventful.¡± Everyone froze for a moment, then they couldn¡¯t contain their collective laughter. Tala had bumped up nearly a quarter percent toward Paragon with that single utterance, that single realization and expression of truth. For her part, she was flushing a deep crimson under her through-spike even as she fought her own laughter, which was more out of embarrassment than anything else. Rane was doing his best to cover his own laughter, even as he was shaking with mirth. Master Grediv didn¡¯t bother to hide it, simply letting his deep, belly laugh roll through the room. Everyone settled down soon enough, and Master Grediv poured their tea. ¡°So, you are both here to¡­?¡± Rane took the offered tea. ¡°Thank you. We¡¯re going to Bandfast soon, to get my inscriptions updated, and we would like your input. Additionally, we¡¯d love any advice you might have for our progress toward advancing to Paragon¡ªTala¡¯s¡­ advancement here aside¡ªand we want to officially tell you that we are courting.¡± Master Grediv was nodding along until the last, where he froze. ¡°Come again?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Rane took a sip of tea, hiding a small smile that Tala easily saw with her threefold sight. ¡°I¡¯m going to Bandfast to have Mistress Holly update my inscriptions to¡ª¡± Master Grediv waved him to stop. ¡°No, not that.¡± Rane continued, ¡°Advice advancing to Paragon? We just thought that you might have¡ª¡± He gave Rane an unamused look. Rane smiled in return, clearly enjoying himself. ¡°Oh! You mean the fact that we¡¯re courting?¡± Tala was red once again, but it was still hidden beneath her through-spike. Master Grediv shook his head. ¡°Yes, obviously that. So? You are courting? Officially, I mean?¡± She frowned, her embarrassment being overcome by mild confusion. ¡°Yes. What do you mean by ¡®officially¡¯?¡± A flat stare met her frown. ¡°You¡¯ve been spending enough time together that no other potential suitor would be bothered. Everyone assumed each of you was taken. It is nice that you¡¯ve not only decided to accept that fact, but to make it officially known.¡± Tala tsked, shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s not true. I think that¡ª¡± He gave her an arch look, ¡°I tried to match my apprentice with several other Mages of his generation, and all politely declined due to Rane¡¯s obvious active courting of someone else.¡± Rane looked startled. ¡°You were trying to make a match for me?¡± ¡°Of course. That is one of my roles both as your master and your ancestor. It¡¯s one reason I introduced you to Mistress Tala, here. When she made it clear that she wasn¡¯t interested¡ªand might never be¡ªI began to look elsewhere on your behalf.¡± Rane opened his mouth, likely to object or make some other comment, but in the end, he seemed to decide that there wasn¡¯t much else to say about the topic. Tala disagreed, her frown deepening. ¡°Who were they?¡± Master Grediv hesitated, looking Tala¡¯s way for a moment. Tala felt something moving around her with her threefold sight¡ªit felt conceptually similar to a magnet coming too close to her¡ªbut she kept her focus on the Paragon. He gave a little head shake. ¡°I don¡¯t think I should tell you.¡± She almost snarled, but instead, she suppressed the urge, simply grunting in assent. Well, fine then. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Regardless¡­ What of the other topics?¡± Master Grediv¡¯s eyes lingered on Tala for a long moment before he clicked his tongue. ¡°Indeed. As to your inscriptions, Rane, I would be happy to look them over if you¡¯ll give me access. I assume you¡¯ll want to soulbond an Archive connection and incorporate that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± He was nodding. ¡°We have found that trying to rely on a single Archive connection between soulbonded doesn¡¯t work out as well as individualizing them.¡± Tala opened her mouth to object¡ªthey weren¡¯t married, or planning to be married anytime soon, after all¡ªbut she realized that it actually didn¡¯t matter either way. So she closed her lips once again. ¡°We¡¯ll also want to reconsider and recontextualize all of your magics, really. You have grown in power and understanding across the board, and we can take better advantage of your mental models now than your previous inscription schema did.¡± Rane nodded, helping steer the conversation a bit. ¡°Yeah, I have flagged a good chunk of the scripts for Mistress Holly¡¯s analysis.¡± He accessed a magical illusory projector and displayed some sections of his own inscriptions for them to look over together. Around the lines themselves were extensive notes detailing the specific functions of various portions and how they paired with Rane¡¯s mental models. ¡°You see, here? This is a silver-wrought, recursive look for incoming danger that¡ª¡± The three of them talked over ideas and thoughts in regards to Rane¡¯s inscriptions for the next few hours. Tala was able to provide some feedback from the perspective of someone who had fought against Rane a lot, and she wasn¡¯t shy about pushing back on some of the ideas nor emphasizing flaws or issues that she saw. All told, they came to a good consensus of what they wanted Mistress Holly to rework and in what broad ways. They even discussed their false copies. Unfortunately, those had been relatively useless, given they¡¯d ended up being basic humans biologically speaking, and no natural magics had survived them. Their ¡®specialness¡¯ seemed to have come from the Sovereign¡¯s intervention, and it had faded upon their death. With that done, and dinner consumed, they all leaned back for a moment of silence before Master Grediv turned to Tala. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tala raised a hand in interruption. ¡°One quick thing before we go down any other side-lines.¡± Master Grediv hesitated, but then nodded. ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°With Irondale, I effectively am transporting around a small city¡­ town?¡± She shook her head at the unfamiliar word. ¡°Regardless, I plan on traveling out to the outer plains and the mobile cities and villages at some point in the future, and that might mean an exchange of citizenry.¡± The Paragon nodded slowly. ¡°Yes, I can see that as a possibility.¡± ¡°So, what are the rules and laws with regard to goods and people moving in and out of our cities?¡± He chuckled. ¡°I can get you the documentation on the laws as they are written, but the real question is this: Do you want to be responsible for those you bring in, or do you want to be able to point at the laws and say that you followed them to the letter, so it¡¯s no fault of yours?¡± She frowned at that. What did she want? Well, she knew what she didn¡¯t want. She didn¡¯t want anyone else telling her who should and shouldn¡¯t be within Irondale. ¡°I want to be in charge of who is in Irondale and who isn¡¯t.¡± He nodded and smiled. ¡°Then the laws are irrelevant. Anyone you bring to the gated-human cities is there under your authority, and you are ultimately liable for those you allow in here. There are limits to that, obviously, but if you flood a city with horrifically addictive, life-destroying substances, you will be held to account.¡± ¡°But if someone I bring in commits a crime?¡± ¡°It will likely be assessed if there was any reasonable way you could have known that they would do so.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You are effectively vouch-safing anyone you bring in.¡± ¡°What about those who choose to go to the mobile cities and not come back?¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a prison. Any who wish to leave are free to do so.¡± That was easy enough. ¡°As to goods. Anything your citizenry are able to create or acquire is fair game to export. You have a fair degree of greater access, and there are some strategic resources that we would prefer you not remove from our cities. We are happy to provide greater recompense than any of the mobile cities can to keep those resources here, and if they have something we cannot offer, we may even help you acquire it so that all gated-humanity can be enriched.¡± That made sense, she supposed. ¡°Alright. Now, what was it you wanted to say before I interrupted?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Well, we just went through and assessed Rane¡¯s magics, what of you?¡± She frowned. ¡°What of me?¡± ¡°Well, you sort of fell into your Refining, and I know your inscriptions are solid, but have you specifically looked over them, reunified them, and lost the chaff?¡± She almost said, ¡®Of course!¡¯ but then she stopped herself. Had she? -Not really? Our inscriptions are good, but we¡¯ve not really reassessed them in quite a long time. Mistress Holly improved them when we Refined, but we didn¡¯t specifically work on them at all.- Master Grediv wasn¡¯t done, however. ¡°My understanding is that you have quite a few other things going on as well, both on your own and with others, and I¡¯m sure that I¡¯m not aware of much of what you¡¯re pursuing.¡± She shrugged. ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong.¡± ¡°Alright. You should really assess all you have going on, and figure out what¡¯s a priority, and what is something you¡¯ll never get back to. Have you pulled it all together? Sought the common threads, and tried to figure out what isn¡¯t useful?¡± ¡°I¡­ no? Why would I?¡± She was a bit confused. She pursued what interested her, and left it when she needed a brain break or lost interest for the moment. He grinned in response. ¡°Because that is part of the road to Paragon.¡± Rane and Tala leaned in slightly. ¡°You are obviously drawn to all of these things, at least to some extent. That¡¯s good. Eternity gets boring fast if you don¡¯t have things to pursue, but why are you pursuing these things? What are the commonalities? What is it that drives you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the question for advancement¡­¡± Tala found herself filling in¡ªalmost subconsciously¡ªas she understood. ¡°Precisely. So?¡± Master Grediv shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re here, let¡¯s go over all that you have going on.¡± She thought for a moment, then shrugged in turn. ¡°Alright.¡± And so, she laid it all out. Chapter: 427 - Current Loadout Tala began outlining all that she was currently working on, and all that she had at her disposal at the moment. Oh¡­ that¡¯s¡­ this is going to be a long list. -You aren¡¯t joking.- As a place to start, Tala explained to Master Grediv and Rane that she was studying the caravan guards¡¯ anti-magic arrows, using them as a template to learn the specific effects to better counter opponents¡ªrather than just treating them all the same. More than anything, this came out of her desire to have varied approaches to varied opponents. She was good at what she did, but when she only had a limited toolbox, she could achieve limited outcomes. Master Grediv nodded slowly. ¡°It is commendable to want to approach things more intelligently, but what do you hope to accomplish, really?¡± Tala considered for a moment. ¡°I want to be able to protect others in more varied situations. At this point, I¡¯m going to be fine almost regardless, but there are still a lot of opponents that I would struggle to contain or handle in a way that keeps others near me safe.¡± He seemed to ponder that, making notes in the air for them to all benefit from. ¡°Alright. Continue.¡± She also was using the arrows as an easy jump-off point to translate into her experimental iron-pipe spellforms. -Iron-pipe? Really?- What, it makes sense. I¡¯m making hollow tubes of iron and then letting magic flow through them. They¡¯re pipes. -Yeah, I understand what you¡¯re getting at. The description is accurate, but the name¡­ It¡¯s lacking.- Well, they are effectively like my inscriptions, when I surround those with iron, even if the filling of the pipes is different, and I¡¯m trying to make them in the air rather than overtop of existing spellforms. -But you do that all the time.- Precisely. -So, why not just have a singular name for the technique? What about¡­ duality scripts? Reality and Magic?- That could work¡­ But she was getting hung up on one thing, and the whole point of this was to get a comprehensive set. Rane responded first this time, ¡°That¡¯s one reason you have such an amazing magical density, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah. I effectively keep most of my magic in the proper place at all times, which stresses my body more, allowing it to adapt faster and contain more power naturally.¡± Master Grediv smiled. ¡°It is an incredible method of improvement in that regard. Several Archons have been researching it ever since your iron paint became more widely available through your siblings'' production and subsequent sale of the liquid. Most Mages can¡¯t use it, but those who can will benefit greatly in the years to come.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really glad to hear that.¡± Continuing down the list, there was the white steel production which was moving ahead slowly, giving her roughly an ingot every month or so. She could speed up the process at need, but that would get expensive, and she didn¡¯t really have that great a use for the material as of yet. She¡¯d never arranged for anyone beyond Master Simon to really study it¡ªalong with Brandon and Adrill¡ªand they had plenty else to do. Master Grediv requested an ingot, which Tala immediately produced for the Paragon to take, simply excreting it from the reserve she had within her elk leathers where she kept almost all that she currently owned, similarly to how she had her reserves of iron melded with Flow. ¡°I¡¯ll have some Constructionists delve into this. What would the production cost be if we find uses for this material?¡± Alat? -And¡­ Shared.- ¡°I¡¯ve given you access to the current breakdown for scaling up production.¡± Master Grediv¡¯s eyes unfocused for a moment before he grimaced slightly. ¡°You weren¡¯t joking when you said upscaling would be expensive.¡± ¡°Yeah. Not prohibitively so, depending on the usage, but not something to do on a whim. I have¡­ a lot at the moment, and I¡¯m adding to that slowly. Honestly, it¡¯s probably one of the things I¡¯m underutilizing the most.¡± The Paragon gave a reluctant nod. ¡°That could be, yes.¡± The ingot morphed in his hand at the promptings of his magic, taking on several incredibly complex shapes in quick succession. ¡°Immediately, I would say that you should give each of your gateless a one-inch cube of this material to play with. It would be an incredible tool for them to use in improving their magical control.¡± Tala grinned, deciding to tease him a bit in return. ¡°Even little Talax?¡± The Paragon met her eyes with all seriousness. ¡°Absolutely. Though, for a baby I would recommend it being a sphere or interlinked chain that would be difficult to get into his mouth. Maybe a little bracelet?¡± She hesitated for a long moment to see if he was joking, but it was clear that he wasn¡¯t. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll do that.¡± He smiled in return. ¡°It is very possible that the Academy would benefit from as much of this material as you could spare, for teaching magical manipulation to the students there, but I¡¯ll know more once the research is actually conducted.¡± ¡°Just let me know, and we¡¯ll see what we can do.¡± He smiled in return. ¡°That¡¯s all we can ask.¡± Well, that would take looking into the white steel off of Master Simon, Adrill, and Brandon¡¯s plates. In that vein, she¡¯d been working with those three in understanding and using the sword and needles from the prisoner Sole. Their ¡®infinite edges¡¯ were fascinating in that they were effectively mundane cutting and piercing weapons maintained by conceptual magic far above her ability to affect, except to break with attempted mergings. -It is easier to break things than make them, after all.- Isn¡¯t that the truth? ¡°So, what are you doing with them?¡± Rane was quite curious as he leaned forward. ¡°Well, the needles we¡¯re working into a shield of sorts. If we can find a way to bind them together in an interwoven way, it would ruin the day of basically anything that tried to ram me.¡± Rane nodded, considering. ¡°Have you tried absorbing any into your elk leathers?¡± ¡°I¡­ haven¡¯t, no.¡± She tilted her head to the side. Would that work? Master Grediv turned the conversation slightly. ¡°What of the blade?¡± She shrugged at that. ¡°While it is a fascinating instrument, my void-blade is a better cutter. The only reason to use it instead would be if something was inherently antimagical, or in any other way would threaten my soulbound sword.¡± She glanced toward Rane. ¡°He has it for now, and I think it¡¯s fine staying that way.¡± ¡°That¡¯s reasonable.¡± The Paragon glanced at Rane. ¡°And you have it in an easy to access place?¡± Rane nodded. ¡°Yes, in my storage.¡± He patted Force¡¯s handle and the leather loop that surrounded it just above the hilt. ¡°I can get it quite quickly at need.¡± ¡°Good. It¡¯s proper to have solid backups. What¡¯s next?¡± Tala shrugged, turning to some things that had come to her attention while in Makinaven. Master Jevin had suggested that she could use something like a cloud of her bloodstars in a defensive manner. As she¡¯d explored the potential that lay there, her efforts had resulted in her defensive discs, tungsten spheres and rod, and the two Leshkin juggernaut shields that she¡¯d used less often than she¡¯d thought she would. And less than I probably should¡­ That would solve some of her armor issues, now that she thought of it. She¡¯d just have to be better at assessing which attacks needed the imposition of the shields¡­ and have them out and ready. -That could work, yeah.- She also had the ring with bloodstars in it that rested around the top of Flow¡¯s hilt. It allowed her to control it with quite a degree of ease when it was away from her, but she didn¡¯t use it very often either. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The bloodstars themselves were incredibly useful as she could aspect mirror much onto them, but they were utterly useless for anything offensive on their own as using them to attack directly was tantamount to offering a soulbond to what she threw them at. It probably wouldn¡¯t be an issue, but it only took one opponent being interested in such to make the whole thing come crashing down. Master Grediv paused her there. ¡°This seems like another example of you seeking variety in your attacking and defensive abilities. Is the reason the same?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to be able to protect others more effectively in more situations.¡± He nodded, then motioned for her to continue. That aside, Master Jevin had also suggested that she look into interlocking battlements for when she needed to defend a position, and she had to admit that there were some cells in which that could have been incredibly useful. Still, it hadn¡¯t made the cut for her time, at least not yet. -Add it to the list?- Maybe? I think this whole process is meant to make that list. -Alright.- Master Grediv cut off the line of questioning immediately. ¡°This is really something that we should have already discussed, but I didn¡¯t know you held interest. Regardless, it would have come up before the next Leshkin war. I¡¯ll get you a list of common feature sets and additions, and it will be trivial to commission you as many as you need.¡± He hesitated, glancing toward the white steel that he¡¯d returned to the form of an ingot and set beside him on the table. ¡°You, incorporating this in the interlocking mechanisms might¡­¡± He was nodding to himself. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯ll get you some options.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Her eyes flicked toward Rane. Rane noticed and nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d be interested in seeing those options as well, though I would bet my wishes will be a bit different than Tala¡¯s.¡± Master Grediv smiled. ¡°As it should be. Every Archon needs different tools to fight to the best effect.¡± With that topic addressed, Tala moved to the next. She and Mistress Cerna were working on a method for Tala to weave spellforms into her elk leathers at will for a more flexible tool set. This once more had Master Grediv confirming why she was seeking so much variety in her tool set. Nothing within his questions implied that he disapproved, but it did seem like he was doing his utmost to dig to the root of her desire. As this was yet another thing that she was pursuing almost solely with the intention of helping her protect others, she could see what he meant. It was clearly something that was fundamental to what she wanted, to who she was. It bore considering. Continuing on in the vein of her elk leathers and white steel brought up her scale mail hauberk, which she hadn¡¯t been using. Huh¡­ could I put it under the ablative armor to¡­ No. Focus Tala. -I¡¯ll add it to the list of ¡®maybe have this on the list.¡¯ Shall I?- Alat¡¯s tone was rather smug. ¡­Fine. In the same vein as the scale mail were her siege orbs. Both were means of building up stored augmented gravity for a future fight, and both had hit their current limit a while ago. Master Grediv hadn¡¯t ever really seen her use her hauberk, so she took a bit to describe both what it did and how it worked within her own conception of it. ¡°That is a clever means of storing up your combat potential over time. That is something that we should dig into more at some point.¡± He made some notes, specifically connecting the caravan guard arrows and the segmented defenses with the scale mail idea. That¡¯s interesting¡­ ¡°Your siege orbs seem to get a bit more use, have you done much to look into variations of them?¡± She had tried to do other types of siege orbs, but that had made that strangely apocalyptic ice¡­ Wait¡­ I wonder if my desire to make the compressed water into a weapon factored into what came out? There was a good possibility, actually¡­ mental models were key in how magic worked after all. Even so, it wasn¡¯t worth testing. Zeme did not need another great threat eating at the underpinnings of existence. Master Grediv¡¯s eye was twitching by the end of her tale. ¡°While I can¡¯t say you handled that¡­ badly. I definitely would have appreciated knowing of it sooner. Thank you for not bringing about a deadly ice-plague. Please inform me in the future if such dangerous things arise.¡± ¡°I will do my best.¡± He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a long breath. ¡°I suppose that is all I can ask for. Thank you. I do so like existence. Let us keep it intact if possible.¡± Speaking of existence, she needed to work on her existence shield. It had been incredibly effective against the prisoner whom she would not consider overlong and who would not be named. But to understand and improve her existence shield¡ªmaybe even utilizing the knowledge for Flow to make an existence blade¡ªshe would need to better understand all the building blocks of existence, which meant continuing to delve into Void, Magic, and even Reality. Master Grediv was, understandably, hesitant in that regard. ¡°Honestly, you already have the heaviest ties to Reality of any Mage I¡¯ve ever heard of while retaining your humanity. It could be that more wouldn¡¯t harm you in the least, or that just a bit more would tip you over, and we¡¯d all be worse off for that.¡± ¡°I get that, I really do. I genuinely think that a large part is the void that I am similarly bound to. The fact that I acquired the ties with Reality through what is effectively a conceptual curse of ancient origin likely helps. The very reality I¡¯m bound to is pervaded with magic at its core.¡± ¡°That is likely, yes.¡± But, Reality had more to it than just iron. Specifically, Tala and Mistress Kaeti were occasionally meeting to investigate reality nodes and how they were manifested in the other Refined¡¯s self-clones. Master Grediv was familiar with the research and was in regular contact with the woman to work with her on what she was learning. In that same boat was Tala¡¯s compressing of reality nodes to the point that they had unified, and all the implications therein. Though, those are only connected in the sense that they both involve reality nodes. They are entirely different directions of research and practice¡­ The Paragon expressed his gratitude yet again that she¡¯d brought him in¡ªand allowed him to bring in others¡ªto investigate her actions in this regard. Nothing much had come of the findings, but it was still a relatively recent experiment, and they¡¯d collected a lot of data. Thinking of the node compression brought to mind the reason she¡¯d tried that to begin with. It had been because of Terry, and that was another thing that she was working on. Terry seemed to be on the edge of being willing to bond with her, and that was something that she very much wanted. -Why? I agree with you, but the whole point of this is the why behind it all.- He is a protector at heart. He defends and nurtures his own. He¡¯s been there when I needed him most, even at great peril. I feel like we are kindred spirits, and I don¡¯t want to face eternity without him by my side. Alat returned a sense of happiness and didn¡¯t ask further. When Tala explained the same to Master Grediv and Rane, Rane nodded along happily, and Master Grediv pointed out the overlap to what they¡¯d already found about her own motivations. If it wasn¡¯t blazingly obvious before, every new revelation here made it so. She wanted to be¡ªand was¡ªa protector of that which she desired to keep safe. That sentiment wasn¡¯t quite right, but it was moving in the right direction. She also didn¡¯t just want to protect what was hers, because she had no illusions of owning or having sovereignty over the other people she fought to keep safe, but there was something there. Speaking of soulbonds, she was continuing to delve into what her soulbond with Kit meant and what it allowed. Now that she¡¯d bifurcated Kit¡¯s dimensional storage, she needed to practice the use of that resource in combat far more. ¡°There is also the fact that doing so will allow you to deploy your mobile defenses far more easily than Kit¡¯s previous configuration would have allowed, or at least without having to take quite so many other factors into account. I think that it is an entire dimension of combat that you will need to explore and practice.¡± Tala nodded her agreement with Master Grediv, adding, ¡°And I can just drop enemies into my sanctum and obliterate them within.¡± The Paragon frowned and shook his head slightly. ¡°I think that would be a worse idea than you realize. At the moment, anyone and anything that enters your sanctum is coming under your authority knowingly and thus willingly. If you force something inside against its will, it won¡¯t be subject to you in the same way. You may be able to batter down its defenses and claim victory¡ªand it might even be an easier fight than elsewhere¡ªbut it won¡¯t be an instant or even an easy thing.¡± That is¡­ very good to know. Tala took another sip of her tea. ¡°Thank you. I might have made a critical error without that insight.¡± ¡°Of course, that is one reason we¡¯re doing this.¡± He smiled. ¡°Other Refined have the issue of soulbinding to deal with, and that acts as an effective barrier to entry. In your case, it is being subject to your authority. I could enter your sanctum in defiance of that if I wished, but it would be a fight, and you could very likely expel me with relative ease. Don¡¯t ignore the option you presented¡ªit is a powerful tool¡ªbut don¡¯t consider it an instant victory either.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± She definitely had been thinking of it in that vein. Back on topic, on the other side of the bifurcation, Irondale was a growing project as well, and with that the rebirth of gateless humans. That was quite the topic. After confirming that nothing new had really happened that Master Grediv was unaware of¡ªhe and the city had been informed about Talax¡¯s impending rebirth before the boy was even born¡ªhe asked the now familiar question, ¡°Why do you want to help gateless get access to magic?¡± She shrugged. ¡°On one side, it was a way to put some of what I learned in the arcane lands to use for good.¡± He lifted his hand, pausing her. ¡°Before you continue, you said, ¡®use for good.¡¯¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Why is it good?¡± She opened her mouth but found herself lacking an easy response. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Indeed. Gateless live good lives without magic, and they are not classically seen as being good at magic, so it isn¡¯t like they are deprived of something that could be seen as their ¡®calling¡¯ or ¡®purpose.¡¯ So, what about giving them magic is good in your eyes?¡± ¡°They deserve every opportunity to grow and thrive, to defend themselves and explore every part of our world. They shouldn¡¯t be cut off from it when I can fix it.¡± ¡°That goes a lot farther than just defending those who need it.¡± ¡°It is¡­¡± ¡°So, why do you want to protect people? Do you just want them to not die? Not suffer?¡± She slowly shook her head. ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t want them to be cut short. I want them to be able to continue.¡± ¡°So, how does that translate over to the magical rebirth of the gateless?¡± ¡°I want them to reach their full potential, and magic, no matter how little aptitude they have for it, is part of that potential. They need to be sheltered and nurtured so they can¡­ I don¡¯t know, live?¡± Master Grediv gave a slow nod. ¡°As you say. Thank you. We can continue.¡± Chapter: 428 - Current Loadout Part 2 Tala¡¯s ablative armor worked incredibly well in defending against projectile attacks, but it just couldn¡¯t hold up to more sustained forces. Like a chomping wolf. -Or a syphon¡¯s constricting tentacles?- Yeah or¡ª As it turned out, she was very rarely hit with projectiles of late, and most of the time her armor was having to contend against direct applications of force. Truthfully, though, did she really need it to? She could survive most hits from things of her advancement with her bare flesh, repairing what damage did come. The armor was meant to mitigate that need, though, and it was useful in that regard. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Well, is that actually needed anymore? I know it¡¯s been irritating for you to refill your reserves in the past, but now?¡± The Paragon and Tala both turned to look at the new Refined. Tala, for her part, considered what he said. ¡°You mean what I did with the wolf after he¡¯d died?¡± ¡°Exactly, yeah. Didn¡¯t you say that you were able to claim the reserves from the Anatalin and even refill yours somewhat?¡± ¡°I did¡­ So, what¡¯s your thinking?¡± ¡°Just devour your kills? Refill that way. Most magical beasts are far larger than humans, so they should be able to keep you topped off pretty effectively. You won¡¯t be filled all the time, but you already aren¡¯t.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re searching for a solution to a problem that you no longer have.¡± Master Grediv cleared his throat. ¡°While Rane has a point for many encounters, you still want a set of effective armor in which you are comfortable for the occasions where it is required.¡± Tala smiled at Rane then reoriented on the Paragon. ¡°Alright, but that still leaves the problem I mentioned.¡± ¡°Are you willing to meet with some armor specialists and share some of your capabilities and secrets with them? I can give you a list of those I think useful.¡± She considered then shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. Sure.¡± Master Grediv made a note then nodded for her to continue. Threefold sight was a fantastic means of monitoring the superficial along with star- and stoneward at all times, and it allowed Tala to perceive more than she¡¯d ever considered possible, but it still felt like she wasn¡¯t using it to its full effect. Though, she couldn¡¯t put her finger on what part of it wasn¡¯t being fully utilized. He nodded at that. ¡°You are essentially capable of perceiving a number of three-dimensional cones. You are doing a phenomenal job of incorporating those into a cohesive picture of what is around you in four-dimensional space, but it is inherently imperfect.¡± Tala frowned at that. ¡°But¡­ what am I not watching? I¡¯d thought I was covering all vectors.¡± ¡°You are and you aren¡¯t.¡± He saw her continued confusion. ¡°Let me ask you this. How many two dimensional arcs would you need to completely encompass a three dimensional sphere if they all affixed to the center?¡± She almost asked the angle of the arc, but then she realized that it didn¡¯t matter. She could cover essentially all angles with enough views, but there would inherently be gaps¡ªif minute ones¡ªbecause her medium of detection had an entire dimension less than she was trying to perceive. Even having her perspectives sweep through the entire space would improve the outcome¡ªby removing gaps in volume surveyed¡ªbut there would then just be gaps in time seen, and continually sweeping her perspectives would reduce her own ability to process the information. ¡°Oh¡­ so, that¡¯s why it feels like I¡¯m not seeing everything.¡± ¡°Exactly, because you aren¡¯t. Now, let me be clear, it is possible that the minute gaps you have are effectively irrelevant, but that is likely at least one of the things that is causing your feeling of¡­ incompleteness or inefficiency.¡± ¡°I see¡­ thank you. I don¡¯t know that I can actually do anything about it, but it¡¯s nice to put a reason to at least a part of the sensation.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He smiled. ¡°That¡¯s another reason this type of thing is so important.¡± Continuing with her threefold sight, it was that perception which let her see reality nodes, and despite her little bits of experimentation with Mistress Kaeti and elsewise, Tala hadn¡¯t been able to devote much time into the research of reality nodes. The fact that she was among the scarce few Mages capable of seeing¡ªlet alone interacting with¡ªthem left her bereft of study materials with which to build a foundation for further research. ¡°I really do think that we¡¯d all benefit if you had a more research frame of mind.¡± She gave him a flat look. ¡°What part of this list makes you think I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°The fact that it¡¯s a list of incomplete projects and unprogressed research topics.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± She scrunched up her nose. ¡°But I do like figuring things out.¡± Rane took a quick drink, but Tala could still easily see his smile. Threefold sight shows me all. The Paragon shook his head, smiling openly. ¡°Yes, everyone does. A research mindset is one that approaches the unknown with a sense of adventure. You almost have to love the act of looking for answers as much as actually finding them.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°That¡­ yeah, that sounds really frustrating.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± His smile was wider than ever. ¡°Well¡­ moving on, then.¡± She had been improving what was effectively a breath weapon with Master Doitean. Pulling her endingberry-derived magics into her lungs and inverting them back into disintegration on a fundamental level was a potent ability. She¡¯d reached a reasonable proficiency, but her fight with the sireling Anatalin showed just how weak it still was against those of her own advancement. True, that was partially because her inscriptions hadn¡¯t been in effect, making the actual magical effectiveness at her fingertips much lesser, but the sentiment still stood. Her breath weapon wasn¡¯t keeping up with her other skills and abilities. Rane was curious enough to speak up here, ¡°Why have you never gotten that actually inscribed?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It seemed unnecessary? I was capable of making it on my own without the need for specific inscriptions to make it happen.¡± Master Grediv cleared his throat, calling up parts of her schema. ¡°Actually, you have specific inscriptions in place to enhance spellforms within your lungs and airways and keep them from fully activating until exhaled. You have built a part of your magical enhancements toward perfecting a breath weapon without actually having one.¡± -Well, rust me like a nail in a hurricane.- We have a perfected magical scabbard, into which we¡¯ve been shoving sticks. Sure, when we pull out the stick it¡¯s pretty sharp and durable, thanks to the scabbard, but it¡¯s still a freaking stick! ¡°I¡­ feel rather foolish.¡± ¡°So, note that one to be fixed?¡± To his credit, Master Grediv had not a hint of smugness or even teasing in his look. ¡°Yes. Yes, please.¡± After the Paragon did so, he looked back up. ¡°I say this not to be negative, but some of these issues are precisely why having a more experienced Archon to turn to regularly can be incredibly helpful. If you don¡¯t wish it to be me, that is more than fine, but please find someone who you can develop such a relationship with.¡± After a moment, he added. ¡°I would recommend against Master Xeel. He is an excellent Reforged, beyond reproach in his knowledge and insight, but he is singularly focused on his path of Ascension. He originally wanted to complete it in two hundred years, but he missed that mark by a bit. Regardless, he is notorious for being unavailable.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Not you?¡± ¡°While I am always happy to have this sort of conversation with you, I do not have the time to take you on in such a far-reaching capacity. I am afraid that I just don¡¯t have the time for anything beyond the one-off meetings we¡¯ve been partaking in over the last years.¡± Tala nodded slowly. That made sense. Who else, then? She liked Master Xeel, and he had been quite insightful when they chatted within the cell of the Reality Mage, but she had already experienced exactly what Master Grediv was talking about. ¡°I¡¯ll give it some thought. Master Jevin has been helpful in the past. It might be time to reach out to him once more.¡± Master Grediv smiled. ¡°He is an excellent choice. He¡¯s made it a habit to help out any who he can.¡± Rane nodded along at that. ¡°Yeah, he was very helpful when we were in Makinaven.¡± Well, let¡¯s send him a message then. -After this?- After this. Back to her breath weapon¡­ Well, there were plenty of simpler ways to kill those less advanced if she had the need. In fact, it had only really been useful when fighting swarms or when she needed to remove a physical impediment with more precision and speed than a punch or sword cut would allow. Well, it did end Be-thric quite effectively. -Oh, that it did.- Alat played that memory for them both in exquisite detail, and Tala found herself gratified that he hadn¡¯t had a different end. Rane and Master Grediv had a few more thoughts on how she could approach the method of offense, but in general, it was up to her. The Paragon made one final comment before they moved on. ¡°Our breath is integral to who we are as living creatures. I think that you will find that it carries authority and power much more easily than other forms of area attack, and even more than many other medium to long range options. You, yourself, used this aspect when you verbally claimed the Anatalin¡¯s corpse after that battle.¡± That¡¯s true. It felt like the right thing to do. Still, to use it properly and effectively, I¡¯d need more lung capacity¡­ Tala blinked a few times, then felt herself smile. I just might have an idea. -I¡¯ll note it for further research.- Moving on to the next area of interest, her aura control practice with Master Akra was continuing well, when they had time to meet, and she had gotten far more out of that expanding ability set than she¡¯d ever expected. It was interesting how much overlap there was in the feeling of her aura and the authority she had within Kit. There was something quite important in that which she needed and wanted to explore¡­ when she had time. Master Grediv shrugged at the notion. ¡°Our aura is a subset of authority. It is, in essence, just an expression of authority over the magical power in the area.¡± ¡°All squares are rectangles?¡± He looked at her for a moment before nodding slowly. ¡°Yes, all auras are expressions of authority, but not all authority is an aura.¡± That made sense. As for the aura itself, when she used that, it was mainly¡ªbut not exclusively¡ªthrough her iron. If anything, she¡¯d improved in control over her iron more than in any other area recently. Well, that and her general use of authority such as she had within Kit since they¡¯d bonded. Rane interjected then. ¡°Have you been able to do many tests as to clouds of iron, and how thick they need to be to disrupt incoming magics?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, but that¡¯s for one critical reason?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°My iron has to stay within my aura, and within my aura, I have magical authority to erase most magics.¡± Master Grediv smiled, then. ¡°It could still be useful to know, so that you can more easily deal with more powerful magics. The combination might even allow you to effectively negate those much more advanced than you, at least under certain circumstances. But you¡¯ve said something rather interesting, given our previous topic. Did you catch it?¡± Tala thought for a moment. ¡°I have to keep my iron within my aura?¡± ¡°Exactly. Why?¡± ¡°Because otherwise it gets voided.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound very sure.¡± She gave him a flat look. ¡°That¡¯s because a Paragon is implying that I¡¯m wrong.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s fair. What I am implying is that you might simply need your iron to remain within your authority. Your aura is the most obvious expression of that to our senses, but it isn¡¯t the only one. I would recommend trying to put some of your iron into Kit, outside of your aura and see what happens. I might be wrong¡ªand you will lose that iron¡ªbut it just might open up a whole new avenue for you.¡± ¡°I thought we were trying to reduce the things I was working on?¡± She pushed back a little teasingly. ¡°Not at all. We just want to make sure that it is being done reasonably, and that it is worth doing for you.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It is just a thought though.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°It would be quite a bit more useful if you could use your iron outside of your aura. It would also make it far more able to hide in plain sight until you called upon it.¡± That was a really good point. It also connected well into the next thing she wanted to bring up, battlefield control tactics generally. Mistress Deigh had been instrumental in helping Tala improve in that area, though the woman mainly focused on the use of ice to execute such. Regardless, the general principles had come into play in some conflicts, but Tala didn¡¯t really feel like she had integrated the lessons as fully as she could, thus leaving capacity out of her arsenal. Rane looked a bit sheepish as he regarded his teacher. ¡°I actually could use a better sense for and means of battlefield control. I am very good in one on one exchanges, but affecting a large clash, or holding back a large number of opponents on my own? I have little ability or skill.¡± The Paragon considered for a bit before smiling. ¡°We have developed a method for training our unit leaders and division commanders, especially in the lead ups to wanings and the Leshkin wars. I think that we could make the war games available to the two of you. They aren¡¯t that intensive to run, and they should help expand and deepen your tactical thinking.¡± Tala tilted her head to one side. ¡°War games? Just like mock battles and the like? I can see how that would help some, but¡­?¡± ¡°You will have to wait and see. It is something that requires Refined level mental enhancements to function properly¡ªto do elsewise would be almost prohibitively expensive¡ªso it will have to wait until Rane receives his updated inscriptions, and they have time to settle at least initially.¡± They agreed, curious as to what they actually would be and how they¡¯d help. Tala next discussed her mastery of Flow in the various magical and void forms. To her own admission, it was middling¡ªamazing for her age and relatively short time training but still below the masters of her advancement. Additionally, she had allowed her practice and improvement of the Way of Flowing Blood to fall by the wayside with everything else that she was pursuing. That, more than anything, had caused her martial prowess to slacken, even if just barely. I just don¡¯t use it. I just hack and slash when I am fighting¡­ Now that she considered it, she could probably have taken the wolf with that and Flow alone, if she¡¯d been as practiced as she should be. Master Grediv seemed to agree with the sentiment. ¡°That needs to be corrected. The truly powerful of your advancement will be close combat masters, and it is staggering how often clashes come down to such skills, given how often we can simply counter each other at any appreciable range.¡± That made sense to Tala. Rane grinned her way. ¡°Terry and I can push you and help you get back into fighting shape with the Way of Flowing Blood.¡± The next item to be brought up was her Void Channels, which were still useful at times, but she hadn¡¯t really worked with them extensively¡ªor really improved them at all¡ªsince she learned to wield them to aid in her creation of the Archon Star which elevated her to Bound what felt like so long ago. I wonder how much more power I could pull out if I studied that more extensively and took the time to improve and perfect it. The Paragon¡ªas expected¡ªhad a bit of wisdom to impart yet again. ¡°Honestly, Ways can be incredibly useful as you stretch for continued advancement, but they do tend to fall by the wayside, if you''ll pardon the pun, for most as they settle into their current rank.¡± Tala felt her eye twitch. ¡°So, I need to keep striving in order to keep advancing.¡± ¡°Well, that is always true, but in this case it isn¡¯t necessary. You have a prodigious density and flowrate as it is.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, no. I want this to be useful. I want to make it better.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Master Grediv leaned forward, seeming genuinely interested in what she had to say. ¡°It seems¡­ useful? It moves my power more quickly and allows more power to come to bear on any given working. That can only be useful if I utilize it properly.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± He smiled and nodded. Beside Tala, Rane was frowning, likely contemplating his own Way. Moving on, Tala was still continuing to deepen her natural magics at a good pace simply by the consumption of endingberries and the other magic-imbued foods from her sanctum, but that was sort of just drifting along. Could that be made more efficient or otherwise improved? Definitely, but it would just be one more thing on the list. Mistress Petra was actively working on a portion of that, mainly striving to efficiently combine the raw ingredients into foods that continued to maintain the full benefits. Kedva was working with the woman as well, though that would slow down a bit with a newborn to care for. Honestly, if she wants to back off from work for a good chunk of time, that¡¯s fine. -She and Brandon know that. You were very clear.- Yeah, yeah¡­ Finally, that brought the discussion to her inscriptions. -Oh, exciting! This is me, this is me!- Tala couldn¡¯t help but smile. Yes, Alat. You are quite useful, even when you¡¯re frustrating. -I aim to please!- She stretched a bit, settling in. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get down to my actual schema and mental models.¡± Rane gave her an encouraging smile. ¡°Hey, with all the groundwork in place, this should be a good hashing out.¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Indeed.¡± Chapter: 429 - Wrap-up Tala looked at the zoomed-in maps of her various inscriptions floating in the air of the room, the other notes and visual aids from their discussion having been shifted to the far-flung corners of the room. Might as well start at the core of things. Her keystone was¡­ actually incredibly standard, except that hers was built so that it never closed off her gate for any reason. That was actually the case for most advanced Mages but not all. ¡°Keystones, while incredibly important, aren¡¯t actually that complex or customizable compared to other bits of magic. There are essentially just the four variations for the different starting quadrants, and some minor tweaks possible beyond that.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Yeah, that was my understanding.¡± Rane pointed to a portion of the script. ¡°This looks rather different than mine, why is that?¡± Master Grediv grunted. ¡°That¡¯s because Mistress Tala¡¯s keystone is optimized for near constant medium flows of power, while yours is aimed toward bursts of maximal power.¡± She grunted. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s nothing I want to shift about my keystone¡­ unless I can incorporate my Way?¡± Master Grediv seemed to consider. ¡°It¡¯s not out of the question, but you¡¯d have to work with Mistress Holly on the specifics, and she might need to bring in other experts, depending on the Way and how it functioned.¡± As they¡¯d discussed before, Ways were effectively just means of improving magic flow, so that should be automatable, even if most saw no need for it. With the keystone addressed, she moved to the core of her body. Tala¡¯s bones were inscribed to be stronger, denser, and to allow for the greater production of blood at need. Her organs were likewise enhanced and augmented to be more resilient, more efficient, and to even accomplish more than their mundane versions could. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°I have a bit of a morbid question?¡± The other two turned to look at him, waiting. ¡°Well, if this is actually an enhancement of the material¡­ could she pull out her own bones and use them as a magical material for the creation of items and the like?¡± Tala opened her mouth to respond with incredulity, but then she saw the smile on Master Grediv¡¯s face, so she decided to see what he had to say. The Paragon shook his head. ¡°Well, yes and no. Mistress Tala¡¯s bones are still human bones¡ªsame with her other internals to be clear. They¡¯ve been strongly, magically enhanced, but not very much physically changed. Her muscles and fat stores are a bit different, but still not to the level of being completely different. Additionally, most of what she has done is implemented by¡ªand still requires¡ªher inscriptions. Some of the natural magic would persist, but a chunk of that would be toward making blood and other non-required things, which would actually make the bone weaker than it otherwise could be.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°So, no easy source of funds, turning food into gold.¡± ¡°No.¡± Master Grediv shook his head. Tala shrugged. ¡°Interesting idea, but I¡¯m fine for funds at the moment, and I don¡¯t see that changing with all my various ventures.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Fair enough. It was just a thought.¡± They¡¯d already talked about the augmentation to her lungs and airways in reference to a breath weapon, so they didn¡¯t revisit the topic. Master Grediv did flag the lungs and add some notes on them while they discussed other things, though. Her muscles packed more power into every fiber as well as more energy for continued functionality over longer spans of time. Both of these things greatly increased their density, which was another boon in its own way. Her connective tissue was simply enhanced to the extreme to prevent her from ripping her own body apart. Well, simply was a bit misleading as the tissue was so packed with inscriptions of reinforcement that it practically screamed ¡®please don¡¯t break, please don¡¯t break.¡¯ There was potential to improve and efficientize those now that the current schema had set fully. They made notes to that effect and moved on. Her stores were utterly inhuman in how much nutrition and calories they could take in and hold. Additionally, they were all available for quick access when she needed to heal, which was not standard in the least. This also added to her density, and it was only really possible because her digestive system was augmented to pull more from all she ate and store it away more efficiently. Otherwise even the amount that she had been eating would be dwarfed by what she would have needed. That doesn¡¯t even mention my newfound consuming ability. I didn¡¯t know that I could just sort of claim a fallen foe. -Yeah, your devouring of that wolf carcass was quite something to behold.- It was mine by right¡­ -Oh, don¡¯t get me wrong, it was a good something.- Alat once again projected her contentment into Tala¡¯s mind. They didn¡¯t discuss that again, though. Rane had brought it up before and none of them felt the need to rehash the topic. That did bring her back to her elk leathers though, which were now far more durable due to their consumption and absorption of the wolf-hide, an interesting new ability that actually allowed for the modification of the properties of the leather rather than a simple integration of consumed material until that material ran out. She¡¯d been doing that for ages with the white steel and turning precious metals into thread for Mistress Cerna. There was nothing new to discuss on those already addressed topics, so she moved on. She was reminded of her oft-forgotten anti-vomiting scripts that were also still in place and useful on occasion. Rane smiled her way, and she could tell he was about to try to tease her. This should be interesting. She gave him a polite smile, waiting for him to speak. ¡°I¡¯d forgotten about the anti-vomiting inscriptions. I mean, wow, you really don¡¯t let go of anything once it is yours, do you?¡± He smiled at the end, clearly hoping that he¡¯d not stepped wrong. Her smile became slightly predatory in return as she met his gaze. ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong.¡± Rane blinked back at her a few times before he blushed deeply. Master Grediv cleared his throat. ¡°So¡­ you two are courting, right?¡± Tala oriented on him at the abrupt change of subject. ¡°That came out of nowhere.¡± ¡°Not really. You two were playing, but there is the undercurrent of truth, there. Are you planning on the standard one year betrothal or¡ª¡± She shook her head, cutting him off. ¡°No, Master Grediv. We are not betrothed. We are courting, and we haven¡¯t set any timelines on that.¡± Rane nodded affirmatively, not seeing any need to add to what she¡¯d already said. The Paragon held up his hands in surrender. ¡°Very well. Shall we continue?¡± Tala felt herself smile internally at the man¡¯s tactical retreat. ¡°But of course.¡± Her nervous system was well beyond the resilience and signal speed of even most similarly advanced Archons. That, of course, allowed for Alat to function along with the Archive connection she¡¯d soulbound in the form of her split ring. -Good to be remembered.- Of course. You are always on my mind. -Ha, ha. You¡¯re hilarious.- Thank you. Master Grediv set down his cup and leaned back. ¡°Speaking of your alternate interface. It seems that Mistress Holly has gathered some rather promising data about her function and how useful she is to you.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°That was my understanding, yes.¡± ¡°Good, good. The plan is to begin offering the option to some Refined who are temperamentally suited to it.¡± ¡°Right. It¡¯s not something that everyone can handle.¡± -I¡¯m in a box! I can¡¯t get out! Shall I shred the mind that cages me? OH, SKY, HOW I MISS YOU!- Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. You¡¯re hilarious. -I¡¯m you, Tala. My humor is exactly as good as yours.- Tala sent the impression of rolling her eyes before continuing her response to Master Grediv, ¡°I would be interested in knowing how that is going. We noted on Rane¡¯s scripts for such to be considered, right?¡± Rane was the one to respond. ¡°Right, but after my mental enhancement scripts have been updated and given time to set.¡± Right. Next up¡ªand closely interconnected with her mental enhancement¡ªher magesight was the latest version, always active and constantly feeding her information about the world around her. In its natural state, it only enhanced her mundane vision, but when she mapped void-magics onto it, that amalgamation was the basis for her threefold sight. Rane gave her an interested look. ¡°So¡­ why don¡¯t you have your inscriptions altered to include that?¡± Oh. -Oh.- Tala rubbed her own forehead. ¡°Because I didn¡¯t think to do that.¡± Master Grediv smiled as he added his bit. ¡°Truthfully, inscriptions pertaining to void magic are incredibly difficult to pull off. I suspect that you wouldn¡¯t have succeeded if you had tried to make it work before your natural magics were as set as they are. In fact, I would bet that your natural magics have now incorporated void magic, because of how consistently you mirror that aspect of your soulbound items onto your magesight. The trick will now be matching your inscriptions to that working.¡± That¡­ made a lot of sense, actually. Void magic was only a bit of a contradiction, but one that could hold up with the right mental models, understandings, and bonds. She had all of that, and so it was time to improve her sight accordingly. -Oh, this is exciting!- A bit, yeah. With a smile on her face, she continued. Her skin was armor in its own right, though she was running into more things that could pierce it once again. The endingberry inspired and aligned inscriptions were potent magic, highly refined, and incredibly effective, but there was still the ability to iterate upon the spellforms. They marked those for improvement of throughput and resonance between sub-parts. Effectively, the choir of her skin¡¯s defense would both be given vocal coaching and have more members added. -That was¡­ an odd metaphor.- But it makes sense, right? -I suppose. You¡¯ll pack more inscriptions in a smaller space, using your natural magics to minimize the spell-lines needed, while maximizing the effect.- Precisely. And tying it all together was her vastly augmented healing which leaned on¡ªand interwove through¡ªall the other scripts to facilitate truly monstrous levels and speeds of healing. Rane¡¯s smile was wide and genuine as he said, ¡°I definitely really am glad that you heal so effectively.¡± -Woof?- No, bad Alat. Tala sent disapproval toward her alternate interface. Alat sent back whimpering puppy noises. Seriously? -You¡¯ve got to stay devoted to the joke.- Or¡­ don¡¯t make it? -Yeah, but that¡¯s no fun.- Tala felt her eye twitch. Still, she decided to ignore Alat. ¡°Well, that¡¯s all there is on the defensive and internal side.¡± Master Grediv reached up, grouping all that they¡¯d been talking about surrounding those inscriptions together. ¡°And why do you have all of these?¡± ¡°To stay alive?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I prefer not dying.¡± He chuckled at that. ¡°Of course, but there are so many ways of doing that. Your inscriptions assume you will be in the thick of things, taking blows, not retreating. Why not have shielding or dodging inscriptions? Why not have means of getting away from danger?¡± She thought for a long moment before shrugging again. ¡°If I have to move to survive, what about those behind me? If I don¡¯t take the hit, who will? If I retreat, pull back, or flee, what of those who don¡¯t have the ability to do that?¡± He nodded, gesturing for her to continue. ¡°So¡­?¡± ¡°So¡­ so, I have these inscriptions so I can get in the way of danger and not have to move or back down. I want behind me to be the safest place in the world.¡± She pulled in on herself just a bit, feeling awkward. ¡°I don¡¯t want to ever abandon those I choose to protect.¡± She glanced toward Rane sheepishly and found him beaming back at her. He obviously didn¡¯t see things exactly the same¡ªespecially given his very dodge heavy means of survival¡ªbut he seemed to appreciate her words and sentiment. He reached over and squeezed her hand. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you save many people doing just that.¡± She squeezed his hand in return, smiling, the embarrassment fading somewhat. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why.¡± Master Grediv smiled. ¡°Thank you. I think that is very insightful. What¡¯s next?¡± Rane nodded his agreement, clearly ready for her to continue. ¡°Well¡­ Externally? Offensively? I have my gravity manipulation¡­ and that is it, inscription wise.¡± Tala felt like it was rather anticlimactic. True, she had been doing a lot of experimenting with her gravity inscriptions when she had fewer soulbonds and her activities were more restricted¡ªspecifically, when she¡¯d been an Eskau of the House of Blood¡ªbut she hadn¡¯t done much with them lately. Back then, she¡¯d tried using her gravity manipulation to fly in various ways, but she¡¯d confirmed that doing so was infeasible with her mental model as it was. She had been able to make herself move through the water more quickly¡­ sort of. It hadn¡¯t worked very well, and it had been rusting finicky. Honestly, looking back, she suspected that it had been more her burgeoning authority within Kit¡ªeven before she soulbound the dimensional storage¡ªthat had made it even halfway functional. Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Self-enabled flight is both incredibly easy and maddeningly difficult, depending on how you approach it. With your scripts and mental model? I do agree it isn¡¯t possible. Though, honestly, you don¡¯t really need it to be. You can jump and remove your own gravity, effectively gliding in a straight line virtually without end. Given the limits imposed by magical resonance, that will be your upper limit on speed, regardless. Still, you might be able to modify your elk leathers for more maneuverability when airborne.¡± That was an idea, but she could consider that later. As for her gravity alteration, Tala still used it to allow herself to move more efficiently, jump higher, stay up longer, that sort of thing just as Master Grediv had said, but generally speaking, she didn¡¯t really think about those magics very often. She simply didn¡¯t need them offensively anymore. Huh¡­ I hadn¡¯t really considered using them in that way in a while. Rane put in his two coppers. ¡°Yeah, I really haven¡¯t seen you crush anyone, gravitationally speaking, in a really long time. Non-offensively, you use it rather often, but it isn¡¯t an attack ability for you anymore, not really.¡± That was¡­ true, yeah. She also had the rings for quicker enactment of that gravity manipulation, but that was effectively the same thing, just faster and less efficient. Tala considered. ¡°Do I even need the rings for gravity magics anymore?¡± That was a really hard question. She simply hadn¡¯t had much use for them in quite a long time. -Don¡¯t neglect the siege orbs.- True, but I don¡¯t need to do that quickly. Master Grediv shrugged. ¡°From my perspective, I don¡¯t think that you do, but what matters more is your perspective.¡± Tala nodded at that before leaning back, considering the whole of their conversation. Floating before them all¡ªfilling up much of the open space in the room, in fact¡ªwas the interconnected web of things that they¡¯d created detailing Tala¡¯s ongoing projects and current inscriptions. It was all nicely splayed out above Master Grediv¡¯s tea-table. She took a long drink from her tea cup before sighing, ¡°Well, huh¡­ You might be right. I might have a bit too much going on.¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°I actually think we forgot two things.¡± Tala looked his way. ¡°Oh?¡± -I can tell you what it was.- Shh¡­ let me listen. He nodded. ¡°Io and the dimensional prison and anchors.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°You know, now that I think about it, whatever happened to that?¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°The House of Blood disposed of the dimensional prison when I was taken. Apparently, it was deemed to be too detrimental to their reputation to have an Eskau candidate using what was effectively a ¡®self-prison.¡¯¡± Rane grunted. ¡°I see. So, then that¡¯s no longer around. I suppose you could get something like it if you wanted?¡± She shrugged and shook her head. ¡°Not really interested in adding to the list at this point.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair. So, what about Io?¡± Tala sighed. ¡°I have absolutely no idea. I obviously can¡¯t give it life or even a semblance of life. I could puppet it around, but that gives me nothing that I can¡¯t do without the puppet within Kit. Outside of Kit, it would be the immediate target of hostility from everyone it met, and rightly so.¡± Master Grediv swallowed his latest bite of an after-dinner eclair. ¡°So, why have you kept it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fascinating, an artificial lifeform, or at least the body of one. I¡¯ve always intended to study it further to see if I can glean anything from it. It was powerful when we fought, and that was when it was underdeveloped. Now?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I honestly think that it could overpower me in raw strength and outfight me in terms of reaction and movement speed. It would be a nightmare.¡± -It would be fun to pilot it against you.- Yeah, but you can already fight me within Kit, without Io. We can give you any abilities you could possibly want, and even crank your capacities far beyond what Io¡¯s body is capable of. -I know, but it is so fun in concept.- Yeah, but also a dangerous concept. Master Grediv was contemplating deeply. ¡°We could put together a team to dissect it, plumb it for all its secrets and means of functioning. We¡¯ve dissected and vivisected Black Legion in the past, but there is no telling if Io is built on a similar platform, updated, or even entirely different.¡± Tala regarded him for a long moment. ¡°I would love access to that data. The memories too, if they are available.¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°There are few who can record and provide memories as you do, but we might have one or two. I¡¯ll see what I can do. So? Does that mean you want Io to be treated similarly?¡± Tala bit the side of her lip in thought. ¡°Let me review the data first and then make a decision.¡± He gave her a knowing smile. ¡°A trade?¡± ¡°By any other name is still a trade.¡± She grinned in return. ¡°I know how valuable Io is.¡± He bowed his head slightly. ¡°True enough.¡± Tala turned back to Rane. ¡°Anything else I missed?¡± -I can tell you. No. No, there isn¡¯t anything else.- He smiled in return, clearly pleased to have been asked. ¡°Not that I can think of, no.¡± Tala clapped her hands together. ¡°Well, then. I appreciate the assistance, and I look forward to all that we can get done with this.¡± -Notes and memory of this conversation granted to Mistress Holly.- Thank you, Alat. Rane and Master Grediv both stood. Rane bowed to his former master, and Master Grediv gave them each a shallow, appropriate bow. ¡°Thank you for your visit. I will pass these projects on to the requisite people within the Constructionist Guild, and direct them to chat with Master Simon if they need further details.¡± Tala smiled brightly. ¡°That would be fantastic. Thank you.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± He then turned to Rane. ¡°I will forward our notes on your inscriptions to Mistress Holly. She or I will reach out to you with any questions or clarifications.¡± Rane gave another bow. ¡°Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again, soon.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Chapter: 430 - Next Steps Tala almost snapped at the woman as she told Tala to lift her arms above her head again. Instead, Tala did as requested as she was swarmed by Constructionist assistants, poking and prodding her even through her armor. Because, yes, these were the armor experts that Master Grediv had arranged to help her improve her armor¡¯s utility. Off to the side, they¡¯d had her create plates of material in the same manner and of the same composition as her armor with the hexagons of iron and white steel for unit testing before they could assess the best way to utilize the ablative protection. The four Refined who were in charge of the process got a much fuller picture of what she was capable of doing, and they were workshopping various ideas in conjunction with the information they were collecting. As a whole, they were in a valley off to one side of Irondale, in a place that would be hard for the citizens of the growing town to actually reach. Why there? Well, they wanted a place to work that they could come and go from with ease, and while the Constructionist Guild could have worked, that would have been problematic. After all, Tala¡¯s iron couldn¡¯t really leave her presence. Kit seemed to be an exception to that, given that the dimensional storage was soulbound to her. Thus, this was where they had to do the work, unless Tala was going to remain with them for the totality. Master Grediv was correct, my iron can stay outside of my aura, so long as it is unquestionably under my authority still. Irondale wasn¡¯t really that much of a stretch, but it was a good first step. That aside, the presence of ten Mages in the area was slightly straining on Kit, but not in any long-term, meaningful way, and they were hardly the only Mages within Irondale at the moment. In another part of dimensionality, some Constructionists were setting up various pieces of wall to demonstrate features of the interlocking battlements to Tala so that they could begin creating her set. They apparently had a nice suite of sample units that they rolled out whenever an Archon was ready to design their own defensive system. She would drop through to make her selections for the first draft after they were done with analyzing the armor while she was wearing it. The armor and wall groups each had an ingot of white steel to test and work with as well. Additionally, yet another group of Constructionists had received a couple of ingots of her white steel to experiment with outside of any specific goal or aim, unlike the wall and armor groups. Tala had already given white steel baubles to Adrill, Brandon, Kedva, and Talax. Talax had mainly slept through the receiving of his gift. Though he had opened his eyes to give a confused little glare at the touch of the cool metal before it warmed up to match his temperature. The little bracelet had been fashioned around his wrist through a simple act of will and magic. Tala had made it loose enough that it wouldn¡¯t be restrictive while being tight enough to not twist or easily catch on anything. Adrill had already made the fun discovery that even outside of Irondale or Tala¡¯s sanctum¡ªonce he¡¯d fully bled off all the increased magical power¡ªhe could still manipulate the white steel. Though it was much more difficult. Tala bent to the side in a stretch, obeying the next request, allowing them to take measurements and observe how the armor compressed, shifted, and stretched. This was entirely Tala¡¯s fault, of course. She didn¡¯t use traditional plates or other standard means of armor construction. Instead, she somewhat actively forced the armor to remold and move with her, causing it to be far closer to a part of her body than even magical exoskeletons usually were. It was reasonable that she hadn¡¯t actually used one of those as a basis to work from. They were rare, expensive marvels of Constructionist engineering, and Tala hadn¡¯t actually ever seen one in action. While she knew what she was doing was important, she really wanted to go test her ideas for her breath weapon. Toward that end, she entertained herself by controlling her breathing and directing each breath in a different manner as Master Doitean had taught her, using her threefold sight to observe the different ways that her lip, jaw, tongue, speed of exhale, and myriad other factors affected the shape and distribution of the air after it left her. Nothing came of all the analysis of her armor that day, and honestly, Tala was glad for that. She would have been irked if they simply gave her platitudes and generic advice. Instead, they had gotten a holistic view of what she could do and were working that all in together. The only true disappointment through the armor analysis came when she had tried to absorb one of the ¡®infinite needles¡¯ into her elk leathers; it hadn¡¯t been able to work. Tala had felt that she could absorb it if she broke the working on it, but then the working would be broken, so that wasn¡¯t useful. With the armor portion of her day completed in the morning, she swung by the wall displays, ran a few tests and selected the features that caught her attention. They, too, had some questions about her particular abilities, and asked for permission to incorporate some elements into the first test sections of wall. She agreed and, with that done, she went to the outer edge of Alefast for her breath weapon test. On the way, she opened her sanctum, and invited Terry to come out and witness her test. The avian flickered out to perch on her shoulder before trilling and headbutting her cheek. She found an out of the way tower, which lay between the two units currently on duty to either side of her. It was also near where she and her unit would be on that night. That way, she was already basically where she needed to be, and she had time to play with. Rane was engaging in a back and forth with Mistress Holly through the Archive at the moment. He¡¯d likely be doing that all day, as his inscriptions were getting a marked upgrade. Tala would have had to be doing the same, but Alat was doing that for Tala. Thus, she had a moment to herself. Alright, let¡¯s do this. Deep within her sanctum, she formed a hollow sphere within the bedrock, reinforcing and hardening the stone around the spherical cavity. Then, with an act of will, she packed as much air into it as possible, increasing the air pressure within. Once it was to a healthy level, Tala hopped a couple of times in place, feeling some nervous energy. Terry gripped on tightly as she did so, but otherwise didn¡¯t react to the movement. -Come on, Tala. No need to be nervous. Let¡¯s do this.- She opened her mouth to a comfortable degree, then opened a hole into the center of the sphere of compressed air that she had made within her sanctum, putting the exit from Kit within her mouth, pointing outward. That would have been embarrassing if I¡¯d pointed it inward on accident. The instant that it opened, air rushed out, but it wasn¡¯t a steady stream as she had hoped. Well, it was initially, but almost instantly, the air became choppy, buffeting the inside of her mouth so much that it actually dislocated her jaw, but that was a blessing in disguise. She almost reflexively closed her mouth to stop the flow, but that might have caused all sorts of horrible things. As the opening was fixed in space, she wasn¡¯t blown backward by the force of the exit. Still, it felt like someone had punched her teeth from the inside. Terry squawked, flickering away to a nearby perch on the crenellations. Tala let out a whimpering screech, even as the torrent came to an end, only having lasted for a second or so before the pressure equalized. She closed the opening and staggered to a seat against the crenellations of the tower. -Well¡­ that seemed painful.- Tala reached up and forced her own jaw back into place with a sickening pop. She worked it back and forth, scraping her tongue against her teeth as if trying to get a bad taste to go away. ¡°Yeah¡­ that wasn¡¯t great.¡± Still, Tala was nothing if not stubborn. So, it was time for iterative tests, a lot of iterative tests. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Terry regarded her critically, and she looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You wanted to see something destructive, didn¡¯t you.¡± He bobbed a nod. ¡°Not destructive to me, though.¡± He bobbed again. ¡°Shall I call you back out when I think I have it worked out?¡± Terry seemed to consider, then shook himself. He then flickered to the far side of the tower where he curled up and laid his head upon his wing, eyes fixed on her. She smiled. ¡°Alright, then. Time to figure this out.¡± She was still on the tower at sunset, but she had a workable starting place, now. Most of the bottom of her sanctum had been reworked, with her artificial lung now entirely made of the edge of reality, only connected to the bottom of the sanctum by a long cylinder, capped by a hardened and reinforced circle of bedrock. Above that, was solid bedrock all the way up to the surface. It was at that circle of bedrock where Tala made her portal out, rather than in the middle of the compressed air. That had been the first¡ªand most obvious¡ªrevelation. Having the exit on the side and at the end of a perfect cylindrical tube smoothed out the flow of air and removed basically all the choppiness which had so hurt her jaw and teeth. The space was sized to give her a relatively consistent ¡®exhale¡¯ for up to three seconds or so. For ease, she also kept her own magical density out of the air within, as it wasn¡¯t needed, and it would be wasteful of the resource. Even though it wasn¡¯t that large, she didn¡¯t want to fill it from the air in her sanctum, because of how much air that it would take with multiple iterations. Though, she still could at need. Thus, the only practical way for her to refill it was to open a portal into it and draw in air through the opening. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t have to be through her mouth. So, her ¡®inhale¡¯ could be pulled through basically anywhere within her aura. Through the testing process, she also perfected where in her own mouth to open the release portal, playing with the shape of that portal as much as she did with her tongue, lips, and jaw. At one point, she found the right combination of shapes to create the resonance of a truly sonorous whistle, though much lower in tone than she could otherwise have created. -Yeah, I¡¯m not sure what we¡¯ll use that for, but it¡¯s interesting to have in our back pocket.- Indeed. The long exit tube also aligned the air¡¯s momentum to such an extent that it held together much more coherently than Tala had expected, and it was long at nearly a hundred feet, even if it wasn¡¯t much bigger than an inch in diameter. Once she took the next step to add magic into the air, it could be devastating. Toward that end, Tala began playing with her iron-tube spell-forms, trying to mimic the endingberry seed dissolution magic. It was a spellform that she knew incredibly well, given that she was utterly pervaded with its inverse. She¡¯d also impressed that inverse into natural magics of two others in the last year or so, giving her an even better than usual understanding of the basic and interconnected forms. In that vein, it took her less than two hours to get the basic spellworking transposed into the new medium¡ªiron¡ªand material¡ªmagical power. Then, with glee, she iterated it in linked chains around the entire outside of the artificial lung within her sanctum. Now¡­ how to get power to it¡­ For the earlier practice, she¡¯d had the spellshape in front of her, and she could simply touch the spellform to give it the magic that she needed it to have. Thankfully, she was stumped for less than a minute before an answer came to her. Oh! That¡¯s easy. She had often used her Way¡ªvoid channels¡ªto connect to and empower Flow when the weapon wasn¡¯t in her hand. Her soul was already bound to Kit¡ªand therefore the entire sanctum. Thus, it was trivial for her to connect a series of void channels to the mesh of spellwork surrounding the artificial lung. Power flowed through it almost lazily, slowly building up the dissolution energy in the already highly compressed air. A bit too slowly, unfortunately. It was almost time for her duty-shift, and she wanted to give this at least one test breath. Come on, go faster. -You could void channel the whole form, that¡¯s made your inscriptions work more efficiently¡ªand thus quicker¡ªin the past.- Hmmm. Tala considered for only a moment before shrugging. Good idea. Thus, Tala filled her iron spellform with void channels laden with fast-flowing magic. Something clicked deep below her sanctum in a way her magics never had before. Terry lifted his head before flickering to his feet behind her, keeping his distance but clearly fully awake, aware, and oriented on her. Tala¡¯s eyes widened as she felt the power of dissolution magnify enormously every second to the point that the iron and very edge of existence within Kit felt like it was under threat. What the Rust? She cut off her void channels and all power flowing to the spellforms, but the magic was still there, threatening to tear open a hole in her sanctum. It would also have dissolved the very air it was within were Alat and Tala not preventing that entirely through their will and authority. -Get it out!- Tala turned her head to look out over the wilderness, and opened the portal, not shaping her mouth for anything but a strictly straight line breath, the inscriptions in her mouth acting as they should to funnel the air and power, forcing a delay to the activation of the magics within. Get out! Tala felt her will flexing, her very authority first within her sanctum, and then within her own mouth enforcing her desires. There was an odd sound, like a giant snapping his fingers as the compressed air lanced out. Then, with a woosh, a blazing line of fire exploded outward, away from Tala, following the line of the continuing exhale, the very power of the explosion helping the expelled air move further, faster. Tala¡¯s threefold sight let her see the magic of dissolution hit the treeline an instant before the fire caught up. The entire grove burst into flames, a vortex of flame roiling outward from the line of Tala¡¯s breath to each side. The roar of the flames consuming the trees almost instantly was tremendous. No, the flames consumed the dust created by dissolution. She could see the dissolution rolling through the forest and turning everything to dust just in advance of the flames, pushed on by the heat and force of the continuous explosion. A moment later, the artificial lung equalized, the magic was spent, and Tala closed off the release portal that had been in her mouth, having forced out the last bit of air after the equalization. As she stared out at the spreading devastation¡ªGuards and Defenders ran toward her position fearing an attack of some kind¡ªTala couldn¡¯t help but break out into laughter. Terry flickered to her shoulder, looking out at the resulting flames with slightly widened eyes. A moment later, he looked her way then trilled triumphantly at the skies. Tala reached up and scratched his head and neck. ¡°That¡¯s right, Terry. I call this a success, even if it needs perfecting.¡± Fortuitously, Master Clevnis was the first to arrive at her side on the tower-top. ¡°Mistress Tala? What happened? What¡¯s so funny?¡± Tala pointed at the practical wall of fire that was slowly shrinking as it spread outward in a rough cone away from her. ¡°I¡¯d like to see the sireling defend against that.¡± She continued to cackle, realizing that the entire thing had been accomplished without inscriptions. Maybe the Anatalins have something to their prohibition after all. If I¡¯d tried to do this with inscriptions, it would never have worked even half as well. Her unit leader cleared his throat, bringing her back to the moment. ¡°So, was there an enemy?¡± ¡°No. I was just testing something.¡± She hesitated, realizing what he meant. ¡°Oh¡­ I apologize, Master Clevnis. I did not expect the results to be so¡­ flashy.¡± He shook his head and huffed a laugh. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± His eyes unfocused for a moment before he nodded. ¡°There, I¡¯ve notified the requisite folks that there is not actually an attack underway.¡± Tala saw most of those running her way seem to slow and check various means of receiving messages before many seemed to simply turn around to go back to their post. Some still came toward the areas of the wall on either side of the tower where she and Master Clevnis were, looking out at the results of her attack. Honestly, it was less impressive than it appeared. The trees that had been destroyed weren¡¯t strictly magical, and thus hadn¡¯t resisted the dissolution as well as even a mundane human would have. It really was amazing how much a soul and a will insulated one to magical manipulation. Humans in the path would still have died, but it would have been less¡­ pervasive. His messages sent, Master Clevnis leaned against the crenellations and regarded Tala. ¡°Flashy is a good word for it. That was quite the flash-fire.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± She nodded. Beyond the wall, the dissolution seemed to have finally spread out and expended enough of itself that it couldn¡¯t continue its work of feeding the fire. The fire hadn¡¯t remained long enough to heat up the surroundings sufficiently for a sustained burn. The early spring vegetation also wasn¡¯t that prone to burn. Tala was thankful for that, otherwise she might have kicked off a rather large wildfire. ¡°So, do you want to talk through what that was?¡± She hesitated for a moment then shrugged. ¡°Sure, I¡¯d love to get your thoughts, even if it isn¡¯t your area of study.¡± He nodded, then waved his hand, only then did Mistress Cerna come over from her place near the stairs up from the lower floors of the tower, some dozen yards away. She¡¯d been waiting there to create space in case there was an issue or opponent that needed to be addressed. They should be safe on the wall even if an attack had been underway, but that was still no reason to arrogantly put three Defenders right beside one another and open them to being taken down with a single well aimed, powerful strike. She gave Tala a smile as she joined her husband. At the same time some of those who had been drawn by the light-show and explosion came up to the tower-top before seeing the Defenders and retreating back down the stairs. Mistress Cerna gave a smile and nod to Terry. ¡°Greetings, Terry.¡± Then she tilted her head toward the results of Tala¡¯s breath-weapon. ¡°So, Mistress Tala. What fun new thing did you figure out?¡± Chapter: 431 - Friends Tala finished the explanation surrounding her breath weapon experiments just about the time that Master Clevnis, Mistress Cerna, and she arrived at the meeting place for their unit before their duty-shift. Terry was asleep on Tala¡¯s shoulder by that point. The two unit leaders had listened thoughtfully to the full explanation, but when Tala indicated that she¡¯d finished, Mistress Cerna spoke up almost immediately. ¡°So¡­ why are you using it as a breath weapon? Couldn¡¯t you easily have it come out of the air anywhere within your aura?¡± Tala nodded, acknowledging the question. ¡°A few reasons, actually. First, I have inscriptions that help focus and direct any airborne magics. Without that, I suspect that the results would have begun¡ªand been more concentrated¡ªclose to the opening. The only reason they didn¡¯t enact within my sanctum and turn the false lung there into a fireball was that we were holding the power back from affecting the air in which it was saturated through my authority within Kit. Thus, without the containing and delaying effects of the inscriptions within my mouth, it likely would have simply created a fireball at the point of egress.¡± Mistress Cerna nodded at that. ¡°That makes sense¡­ I would recommend enhancing those.¡± She considered the totality of information for a moment. ¡°You could even make them variable to control the distance of initial ignition?¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Absolutely, and that is a good idea. I¡¯ve already added notes to look into general enhancement, but the variability is an interesting idea. I will also be enhancing the magics that block any magical effect from going down my throat to prevent blowback if something goes catastrophically wrong.¡± Master Clevnis smiled, nodding as well. ¡°That¡¯s wise, but the main issue that I think we can all agree on is the fact that the dissolution was beginning to affect the edge of your dimensional storage. Breaches within dimensional storages are rare, but they do occur. No one likes the results¡­¡± ¡°True. I think that looking into enhancing Kit¡¯s dimensional boundaries makes sense, and I even have a couple of ideas as to how I might be able to do that. That said, I want to finish answering Mistress Cerna¡¯s questions first. As to why I want it to come from my mouth, the second reason is the inherent authority that breath holds.¡± The two unit leaders frowned, Master Clevnis speaking for both of them, ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s not your breath.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tala gave a mischievous smile. ¡°It comes from that which is bound to my soul, exiting my mouth when I open the path. It is as much my breath as anything. I don¡¯t really have to breathe to survive, so air in my biological lungs isn¡¯t that much different from that within my sanctum lungs.¡± The two still seemed skeptical, but they also seemed unwilling to argue with her. Tala knew that this was in large part because it was considered incredibly bad form to try to break another Mage¡¯s mental model. The others from their unit arrived, then, and the topic shifted. Terry woke up and greeted everyone before settling back down for the hopefully uneventful shift to come. * * * Tala growled as she worked to perfect her use of the three bloodstars within a ring around Flow¡¯s hilt. Her method for doing so? She was currently trying to carve a block of wood with Flow using only those bloodstars and her ability to pull on Flow directly. She refused to use her aura control to correct the motions of the weapon, despite the knowledge that that would be so much easier. The only concession she made was to hold Flow generally in place with her aura, so that she wasn¡¯t just doing passing cuts. Thus, she was only causing small motions and manipulating orientation. She would stop using that crutch soon enough, but for now, things were already incredibly difficult. Tala also used her aura and authority to hold the softwood in place for the carving. Rane glanced her way from the large rock that he was carving with his own hand. ¡°I know you aren¡¯t actually trying to practice carving, but if you work with the grain instead of across it, you¡¯ll have an easier time.¡± She glared his way for a moment, then calmed herself. I¡¯m not mad at him; I¡¯m just irritated; and he¡¯s here. She let out a calming breath. ¡°Thank you for the reminder, Rane. I will try to keep that in mind.¡± He pulled back just slightly¡ªclearly having picked up on some of her irritation despite her attempt to keep it in check¡ªbefore giving a hesitant smile. ¡°Right¡­ I apologize, I already said that before. I don¡¯t mean to give unsolicited advice.¡± She felt her anger bleed away as she shook her head. ¡°No, it was a good thought. I am having so much trouble with this, making it a bit easier wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing in any regard. Thank you.¡± This time, her thanks were obviously more genuine than the last, causing Rane¡¯s smile to firm up. ¡°Well, you are getting better. I know you¡¯ll get it where you want sooner rather than later.¡± Tala had to laugh at that. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m actually doing more than just glancing nicks now.¡± ¡°True enough.¡± He turned back, carefully removing a bit of material on an incredibly lifelike statue of an unfamiliar woman, gazing up to the stars with evident longing. Specifically, he was correcting the curve of the nose just slightly. He muttered to himself, clearly focused on his own crafting once more. ¡°Much better.¡± Tala sighed. She truly wasn¡¯t trying to match him in skill, but it was humbling to see just how much better at this he was than her. It doesn¡¯t matter. He¡¯s happy to make any statue I request, and I have enough things to pursue as it is. She did find herself glad that he was pursuing excellence in his own interests. She found his growing competence rather attractive, though she didn¡¯t think she could bring herself to tell him that. The next day, a message came from the Constructionists who specialized in the creation of modular walls. The group would have the first two test sections done for her in just under a month. -Well, that¡¯s perfect. We can take a couple of weeks in Bandfast and come back to review the sample pieces.- The Constructionists also requested a few ingots more of the white steel, and Tala granted their request before having Alat notify Irondale as to the date of their departure for Bandfast. That started a rather interesting fervor of activity. Some people were terrified, actually choosing to move back out of Irondale. Apparently, some had thought that the information wasn¡¯t serious when it was explained that Irondale would move from city to city on occasion, or they thought that it wouldn¡¯t happen for quite a while. Similarly, on the other side, the merchant who¡¯d rented space for a warehouse and several other entrepreneurial folks got in contact with others and figured out what they could bring to Bandfast to sell. A few reached out to Tala to ask if they¡¯d be coming right back to Alefast, and if so what timeframe they could expect. Tala saw no reason to deny them the information. Apparently, some of the citizenry of Irondale were getting shopping lists from Alefast residents, and were planning on making a profit that way. -And you profit through rent of the land either way. It¡¯s a beautiful system.- Yeah, those who can make it work will thrive, and those who can¡¯t will be forced to move back out. It was a bit of a self sorting process for those with useful skills, at least in this one area. Others¡ªwithout a trader mindset¡ªhad similar hurdles to overcome, coming up with useful and profitable things to do to maintain their own place within Irondale. Some had already started working for the merchants in one capacity or another. Some did so indirectly by providing services that either the merchant-inclined folk or their workers would be interested in. There were already two restaurants being run out of people¡¯s kitchens, with actual buildings going up near the town square. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. We should offer a spot to Brand and his family. -Already done, they are happy in Bandfast.- Tala found herself grinning internally. It really is nice when you get things done before I even realize I want them to happen. -I do aim to please.- And you succeed splendidly. * * * When the date of departure arrived, Tala had Kit display a countdown above the gate both inside and outside of Irondale. Well, she had Kit do so inside, which was trivially easy, and then she used Kit as a connection to a magical display on the outside, provided by Alefast. So, it was effectively the same thing. Regardless, when the clock struck zero, she closed up Irondale and walked out of Alefast. She did so from several blocks away from the entrance, so she didn¡¯t have to deal with anyone who had thought the countdown was just a suggestion. The only concession she made was to ensure that she didn¡¯t split any individuals or families with the closure. There are going to be complaints when we get back¡­ -And they will be handled by the folks of Irondale. You made it clear that you are not altering your own schedule, and the countdown was a courtesy, which could be cut short if you needed. Honestly, they should all be thanking you that you didn¡¯t do just that.- I know that¡¯s true in theory, but people are still going to be mad. -And that will be handled without your involvement.- Tala hesitated for a long moment, then nodded her thanks. Alright, I can live with that. The trip from Alefast to Bandfast was entirely uneventful. The only way it differed from previous trips was the fact that Tala had Flow fly beside her the entire trip, manipulating it purely with the bloodstars and her bond with the weapon itself. It was¡­ enlightening. She cut quite a few trees, only felling one completely. Even so, she and Rane still made the trip in less than two days. During that time, Tala reconnected Irondale and her sanctum by putting her sanctum within Irondale to remerge the two, connecting them on the outer edges. That way Mistress Petra, Simon, Brandon, and Kedva could continue their work without interruption. Little Talax came with Kedva wherever she went, and he was already growing so much. Though, being barely more than two weeks old, he still didn¡¯t actually do very much. Both Rane and Tala had become far more skilled in the balance of making their aura obviously powerful to drive away weaker creatures and keeping it relatively contained so as to not attract the magical creatures who were most likely living within the region. Even still, they both knew that there really should have been weaker creatures who attacked regardless of the power disparity. It was Terry¡¯s ongoing joy to take care of those. It also helped to prevent him from becoming too bored. Tala was more than willing to let him do as he pleased in this regard. Overall, the terror bird continued to give indications that he was coming close to a final decision to bond with Tala, but he didn¡¯t seem quite ready yet, and Tala wasn¡¯t willing to push him. We have time. More than that, though, she appreciated that he was taking his time with something that was so clearly important to them both. With Terry roving around them, they made the entire trip without a single clash, thus speeding them along even more. When they came over the last rise and looked upon Bandfast, Tala felt herself smile. I¡¯m so excited to see Lyn. Rane landed beside her before bumping her affectionately. ¡°We¡¯re back.¡± She smiled up at him. ¡°That we are.¡± Tala just had a singular stop before they could meet up with Lyn and Kannis, but before they could head down the hill into the city, Terry headbutted her hip¡ªwhere Kit used to hang¡ªand Tala understood the request to enter her sanctum. She opened the way for him, and the terror bird vanished inside. Through her threefold sight and connection with Kit, she saw him immediately flicker toward the river, where he lolled onto his back, allowing the infinite flow to begin carrying him around in a lazy circle. Rest well, my friend. It was a rather warm spring day. So, she didn¡¯t begrudge him a chance to cool off after the day and a half of speedy travel. Less than an hour later, Tala stood before the agreed-upon, large blank wall and placed the anchor for Irondale upon it, opening the entrance at the stone arch near the town square on the Irondale side. That got a lot of attention from the people passing by on the relatively busy, Bandfast thoroughfare. Tala then pulled out the required signage from her sanctum and placed it on either side of¡ªand above¡ªthe opening. The signs announced that the opening was the entrance to the town of Irondale, as well as explaining the rules and tacit agreements in place upon anyone who went inside. There was also a simple line at the bottom that Tala hoped to the stars wouldn¡¯t cause too much trouble: ¡®Gateless welcome as residents. Inquire within.¡¯ Brandon had specifically requested that she add the line, and she¡¯d not really had a reason to say no¡­ You know, I am making an inherently discriminatory mini-society in there. -Gated not welcome.- Well, they¡¯re welcome, but they can¡¯t live there, or rent anything there, or stay for long. -You could make separate restaurants for them. That way the gateless don¡¯t have to eat near ¡®that kind of folk.¡¯- ¡­you¡¯re being ridiculous. -Of course, I am. You aren¡¯t being discriminatory. You have a rule in place based on the nature of the things involved. To say otherwise would be like saying that forbidding alcohol to babies is discriminatory because it is based on age.- And that isn¡¯t discriminatory because it¡¯s based on the nature of the thing involved, not the people being denied. -Precisely.- She grunted at that, causing Rane to give her an inquiring look. ¡°Later.¡± He shrugged and nodded. ¡°Shall we go?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± With her enthusiastic agreement, they wove their way out of the crowd. As they departed, Tala once again separated her sanctum from Irondale, so that she could keep the former with her while the latter was open for business. There was already a small crowd forming when Tala and Rane made their escape, all but ignoring those who were trying to ask them questions. Thankfully, several of the residents of Irondale were at hand, and they stepped out into Bandfast and spoke to anyone who was curious or inquisitive enough to want to know more. At the same time, the Irondale merchant finagled a few wagons through, heading toward those whom he¡¯d made deals with in order to drop off his wares and likely to pick up others as well. Many other Irondale-ians¡ª Yeah, no, I don¡¯t like that name for them¡­ Many other Irondale residents slipped out with packs on their backs, crates in their arms, or other means of carrying goods in evidence. Tala¡¯s threefold sight even saw a few who exited only with notes of credit in their pouches, likely on the way to purchase goods or exchange the notes for solid coinage. All in all, she was infinitely grateful that it had nothing to do with her. Lyn and Kannis were elated to see Tala and Rane when they were let in through the front door. Terry came out and greeted the two as well, leading to a round of surface-level catching up. The four humans and one avian had been sitting in the front room and chatting for a few minutes when Fannas came out of the back. He was just over a foot and a half tall, and he gave a formal bow when he came around the side of Kannis¡¯s chair. ¡°Mistress Tala, Master Rane, master Terry. It is good to see you all once again¡­¡± He seemed vaguely uncomfortable. ¡°Even if some of your choices¡­¡± He sighed and shook his head. ¡°Apologies, I overstep.¡± Tala blinked at the little man a few times. -You totally forgot he existed, didn¡¯t you.- I¡­ did. She smiled at the keeperling regardless. ¡°Hello, Fannas. You''re looking larger these days.¡± And he was taller, though he still had the stockier form that was more reminiscent of a dwarf than a human. His silver face shifted to a smile at her words. ¡°Thank you for noticing, Mistress Tala. I do aim to be of use, and I¡¯ve found that I am more capable, being a bit bigger. I strive to increase my usefulness further, but that will have to wait for my mistress to advance.¡± Kannis smiled. ¡°He really has been amazing.¡± Terry flickered over to the man, resizing himself to be the same height as the silver figure. Fannas bowed to the terror bird once again. ¡°Your presence is as¡­ formidable as ever, master Terry.¡± Terry grew and reached out one taloned foot, patting Fannas on the head before the avian trilled happily and flickered back to Tala¡¯s shoulder. The little statue-like creature stood frozen for a long moment before turning to Kannis, bowing and asking in a slightly strained voice, ¡°Mistress, I have much to do, by your leave?¡± Kannis nodded. ¡°We were just leaving anyway. Thank you for coming out and saying hello.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Without another word, he went back into the back of the house. Terry watched the little man go, then flickered to Tala¡¯s hip, looking at her expectantly. ¡°Oh? You want to go back in already?¡± He bobbed a nod. ¡°Okay.¡± She opened a coin-sized entrance to her sanctum, and Terry flickered through it before it snapped closed behind him. The four humans talked for a bit longer before they departed Lyn¡¯s house, going out to dinner at an old, familiar food area. Gretel was still making and selling her excellent meat pies, and the older woman remembered Tala and greeted her warmly. They chatted for a bit, but then Tala let Gretel get back to her work, and the four friends went to enjoy their dinner. Chapter: 432 - Four Dimensional Construction Tala sat beside Rane in the Bandfast food court that Lyn had brought her to oh so long ago on her first day in the city. Lyn and Kannis were with them as well, and the four were taking up one end of one of the long tables arranged in the center of the space, chatting, eating, and catching up on what had happened during their time apart. Kannis was apparently progressing incredibly well, to the point that Lyn was beginning to talk of the young woman becoming a Mage in truth. Lyn even wanted to have Kannis take her position, though she would obviously come in at the bottom level of the position, rather than Lyn¡¯s more advanced place in the hierarchy. Tala thought back and realized that it had been nearly four years since Kannis had become Lyn¡¯s apprentice. It was strange to think that Kannis had known Lyn for just three months less time than Tala had, herself, and the other young woman had been with the Archon for basically the entire time. Huh, I was still thinking of Lyn as my friend, and Kannis as an add-in, but that isn¡¯t really true in any regard. They know each other far better than they know me or I know them, and I¡¯m the outsider. She kept her thoughts on that matter to herself, but still inquired further on Kannis¡¯s elevation. Apparently, Kannis was a bit uncertain and unwilling to end her apprenticeship ¡®so soon.¡¯ She felt like she still had so much to learn, and the idea of being on her own was daunting. Lyn reassured the girl that she wouldn¡¯t kick her out or leave her aimless. Additionally, while there was some mild teasing at that, Tala and Rane each did try to offer a bit of true advice. There was a bit of a lull in the conversation, but then, Kannis got an odd look on her face, and she looked back and forth between Rane and Tala. Finally, the mageling spoke up. ¡°You two¡­ you¡¯re sitting closer together than usual¡­¡± Lyn perked up at that, examining the two Refined critically. ¡°You¡¯re right, Kannis. Excellent observation and deduction. Something is definitely different.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress.¡± Rane glanced to Tala, shrugging before subtly tilting his head toward the other two. Tala understood him to be leaving it up to her to decide if they said anything and if so what would be said. That was considerate of him, given she¡¯d known Lyn longer¡ªand Kannis even longer¡ªthan he had. Tala shrugged in return, then smiled to the two women. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly a secret. We are courting.¡± Lyn and Kannis shared a look. Then, Lyn regarded them for a long moment and asked, ¡°Officially? You¡¯re officially courting then?¡± Tala glowered. ¡°Why do people keep asking that?¡± Lyn quirked a smile. ¡°Well, dear, that¡¯s probably because you two have been dancing around each other for as long as I¡¯ve known you both. The best romances come from a place of solid friendship and you two have that well enough in hand.¡± Kannis shook her head, clearly disagreeing with her master. ¡°No, no. The best romances come from love at first sight.¡± Lyn arched her eyebrow at her mageling, ¡°Maybe in the stories.¡± Rane gave a self-deprecating smile. ¡°I actually made a really bad first impression.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°I remember that. Yeah, I sort of hated you at first.¡± Kannis leaned back and nodded sagely. ¡°Exactly. Love and hate are very close to one another. Love or ¡®hate¡¯ at first sight are equally good, even if one takes a bit longer to come around.¡± Tala and Rane both gave the girl skeptical looks. Lyn, however, simply sighed, shaking her head, ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen and researched, such flames¡ªwhether hate or love¡ªburn out quickly as often as not. Bless the stars most are not foolish enough to bind their souls to another over such a thing without verifying that the professed and felt ¡®love¡¯ at first sight either has¡ªor can have¡ªa foundation.¡± Kannis gave a mischievous smile as she teased her master. ¡°Researched, eh? I didn¡¯t think romance books were considered scholarly texts.¡± Lyn was unbothered by the subtle jab. ¡°I did actually mean research. The statistics on such things are hard¡ªbut not impossible¡ªto find. As I hope is not news to you¡ªmy mageling¡ªsuch a relationship should be approached with at least as much thought and solemnity as any other soulbond.¡± Kannis waved that off. ¡°Of course, master, but I do hope that I find love at first sight. That would be so much easier¡­¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The older woman smiled, her expression slightly sad, but that seemed to pass in a moment before she regarded the couple once more, ¡°But we have moved into the weeds. Courting? When did that happen? What do you actually mean by ¡®courting?¡¯ I want details, and you will be providing them.¡± So, Tala humored her friend and¡ªtogether with Rane¡ªanswered all the questions that the two had. Even with such a task added into the mix, it was an entertaining evening, and each of the four of them thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the others. * * * Mistress Holly regarded Tala and Rane with a stoic face. ¡°The two of you have given me and my assistants so much work.¡± Rane balked slightly, but Tala knew the woman too well. Instead of being intimidated, Tala grinned in response. ¡°You are most welcome.¡± Mistress Holly¡¯s lips twitched before breaking into a smile. ¡°Indeed.¡± It was early morning, and the three were in Mistress Holly¡¯s private workshop in the back of her warehouse sized business. ¡°But regardless, my ability to be solely responsible for your inscriptions has passed. I will introduce each of you to one of my senior assistants, and they will go over what we propose for the update to your inscriptions. From there, we will either iterate as needed, or implement the final result. While I would enjoy handling your inscriptions solely on my own, I am afraid that such simply would not be efficient nor the best use of my time.¡± There was a moment of silence before Rane and Tala shared a look and shrugged. Tala smiled and answered for both of them, ¡°Alright.¡± Less than ten minutes later, Tala was sipping coffee beside an older looking woman with a pleasant face liberally decorated with smile-lines. Mistress Hilfren was the woman who attended to Tala, and she wore a greenish-yellow aura about herself with clear pride. Though she was no less helpful despite her obvious pride in that advancement. Yeah, Mistress Holly is only Refined. Sure. Tala didn¡¯t bother to hide the sarcasm in her mental tone, not that it would have done much good anyways. -That does seem rather unlikely¡­- Alat sighed within their mind. -I bet once we surpass her we¡¯ll be able to tell.- What do you think the odds are that she¡¯s a Sovereign? Her domain could be over inscriptions, and she¡¯s building her power within gated humanity. -The odds? Well¡­ not zero, but still vanishingly small. But Ascending? I could very much see that, and she¡¯s working on whatever she needs to advance, hiding her rank until she can surge in power and take the last step.- That would be rather exciting¡­ but I doubt it. -But maybe?- Maybe¡­ but no. Tala mentally shook her head and refocused. The two Refined sat in a rather large room in deeply comfortable chairs that¡ªto Tala¡¯s surprise¡ªsupported her with ease. Before them, in the cleared rest of the room, detailed illusions of various parts of Tala¡¯s inscriptions were manifest as the senior assistant took Tala through the different alterations, reasoning behind such, and the potential other avenues that these specific scripts could be advanced down. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Tala had lots of thoughts, but found Mistress Hilfren to be incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Honestly, it was a bit like talking with Mistress Holly, except without the snark. Mistress Hilfren also often referenced Mistress Holly as the primary origin for the various versions and proposed alterations, which let Tala know the core reason behind the discussion reminding her of talking with Mistress Holly: The senior assistant was closely following a sort of script provided by the more knowledgeable woman. So, what Mistress Holly really meant is that she didn¡¯t want to take the time with us to discuss all this, but she¡¯s still going to be the one finalizing the inscriptions. -It does seem like that, yes.- In the end, the two of them settled on a schema with only one or two areas remaining that needed to be solidified and tightened by Mistress Holly. The largest change would be the loss of the rings for quick, heavy gravity manipulation. That space was instead being taken up with further augmentations of Tala¡¯s other existing magics. After thanking the older woman for her time, Tala departed, receiving a promise that the full schema would be ready for inscribing the following morning. Rane finished talking with his own senior assistant a bit after Tala, coming out to find her in the lobby, sipping at another cup of coffee. He raised an eyebrow at that, but she just smiled in return. ¡°So? How was it?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Master Cutnir was pleasant enough to work with. I am to go to the Constructionists as soon as possible, though, so that I can soulbond an Archive connection. Then, based on that, they can finalize my scripts.¡± Tala stood with a nod. ¡°Shall we go now?¡± He gave her a searching look. ¡°Are you sure you want to? Aren¡¯t there other things you could be doing? I know you try to fill your time with meaningful things that help you keep progressing.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I can fiddle and practice while coming with you. Besides, being with you is meaningful.¡± She smiled and continued before he could really process what she¡¯d said or respond, ¡°Also, afterwards, I want to try to see master Lisa again.¡± Rane frowned for a moment. ¡°Oh! The¡ª¡± He cut himself off, glancing around before continuing, ¡°magic item shopkeeper?¡± He¡¯d likely been about to say arcane. Tala smiled, glad that he¡¯d held himself back. ¡°That¡¯s the one, yes.¡± She had told Rane about her encounter with the horned fox-man at various points since they began courting, so it was a somewhat familiar topic. ¡°I still think it would be interesting to pick his brain about the dimension of magic, among other things.¡± Rane nodded slowly, clearly considering the idea in a positive light. ¡°That sounds like an excellent plan then. We can get lunch after? Kannis and Lyn should be on break, and we can have the meal with them if they¡¯re up for it. Brand¡¯s shop is even rather close to where we¡¯ll be if that works for everyone.¡± He gave a mischievous smile. ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll have some Defender fights on that we can see while we eat.¡± Tala gave him a knowing smile. The man probably just wanted to see how people in other cities reacted to the fights, especially his and hers, but that was fine. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll message them to ask.¡± -Done.- Thank you. She stood, coming over to meet Rane at the door. ¡°Shall we?¡± * * * Acquiring Rane¡¯s soulbound Archive connection went seamlessly enough. The only slowdown was when the Constructionist¡ªa woman that Tala hadn¡¯t met before¡ªhad Rane make an inside-out Archon star, so that it would bind the connection to his subconscious mind rather than his conscious one. She explained that Mistress Holly¡¯s assistant had contacted the Guild and requested that Rane bond in such a way to facilitate the type of inscriptions that they¡¯d agreed upon. It took Rane about half an hour to create the new spellform within a small, drop-sized sapphire. They embedded that into the ring with a bit of material guide magic, and Rane fully allowed the spellworking to activate. It was fascinating for Tala to watch, actually, especially with her threefold sight. The power washed outward and the two-part ring actually seemed to change material to become sapphiric in color and translucence. Though it remained unfaceted, indicating that it wasn¡¯t truly made out of the gemstone. They wrapped up fairly quickly after that point. Rane chose not to put on the half of the ring that he would wear until they¡¯d left the Constructionist Guild. In fact, he waited until they swung through the Archon Compound and passed over the other half to Mistress Ingrit to establish the permanent connection. Apparently, Master Grediv would be footing the bill until Rane could bear the cost himself, which as a Defender wasn¡¯t too far off. Only when they left the Compound and were back on the street did Rane slip the blue ring onto his right ring finger. With a ripple of magic, the ring faded into his flesh, leaving a faintly blue circle on his skin. It was nothing that would interfere with his inscriptions, thankfully. Interestingly enough, Tala saw at least a part of how it was accomplished. Rane¡¯s ring shifted one step stoneward, leaving behind a singular layer that easily conformed to his skin, giving the impression of having colored the flesh. It¡¯s just a minuscule layer of the ring itself, anchoring the item to him on the superficial. There was so much more to it than that, but at a base level that was the core of what had happened. At that moment, Tala received access to a message within the Archive. -... the boy has sent us a message¡­- Boy? -Rane. He¡¯s acting juvenile.- Tala looked up to Rane¡¯s face, seeing a wide, self-satisfied grin on the man¡¯s face. Shouldn¡¯t it be really hard for him to do that given the inside-out Archon star used for the bond? -It should, and he¡¯s not very good at filtering.- ¡­what did he say? -¡¯Tala, Tala! I can see you. You are seen.¡¯ Then there are what seem to be text representations of giggling, followed by. ¡®Wait¡­ I don¡¯t know how to filter what¡¯s coming. That¡¯s okay, I just need to not think about¡­¡¯- Alat then went on to tell Tala a long list of things, despite Tala¡¯s internal protests. Rane seemed to see something on Tala¡¯s face, and his smile faded slightly. Then, he pulled out an Archive slate, and his face went white as he began manipulating it furiously. -Oh, he¡¯s deleting most of the stream of consciousness. Now it just says ¡®Hi, Tala.¡¯ That¡¯s quite a bit more¡­ contained.- Tala was torn between embarrassment and wanting to laugh. She settled on clearing her throat, smiling up at the large man, and simply saying, ¡°Shall we go?¡± Rane nodded furiously and put his Archive slate away. ¡°Yes please.¡± With the Archive link business complete, Tala and Rane headed toward the horned fox¡¯s shop. When they arrived, they found it closed once again. That is just a bit irritating. Tala frowned, looking at the shop with her threefold sight. Yet again, she could see that there was far more to the building than just what existed on the superficial, and it was entirely protected by iron along every avenue of approach. -Hey, Tala. Is that a door?- Alat brought Tala¡¯s attention to something stoneward of them. Though, it was difficult for Tala to really put its exact location into words or even to conceive of its location properly. Tala looked, continuing to frown. It was hard to perceive the distortion on the outside of the odd surface, but compiling what she could see together, it just might be a door. Maybe? If so, it isn¡¯t one that I can actually enter through¡­ or at least, I wouldn¡¯t know how to go about orienting my body in four-dimensional space to use it. -We could still knock?- Tala nodded. That¡¯s true? Rane saw the motion and asked, ¡°What do you see?¡± She briefly explained. He considered before agreeing, ¡°That sounds reasonable. I can¡¯t see anyone getting upset at a simple knock.¡± With that encouragement, Tala stretched out her aura until it pushed against what was probably a door. It was odd, because she felt the iron at the edge of her reach, but it was an absolutely solid wall against her aura, and she felt like there were no circumstances that she could conceive of which would allow her to claim the iron in any way. Thankfully, that wasn¡¯t what she was trying to do. Instead, she manifested some of her own iron, and moved it forcefully against the door with her will and aura-manipulation. In that way, she knocked on the arcane door. She didn¡¯t hear the knock herself, but something seemed to happen. To her threefold sight, the entire configuration of the four dimensional construct seemed to ripple and roll oddly. Seeming to fold and shift around itself in patterns and motions that were dizzying to watch. Then, something more minuscule shifted, and Tala realized that it was something like a peephole which had been opened. It hurt her mind to try to comprehend how it had opened, but it definitely had. A moment later, she realized that a sort of eye was looking out through the opening, which was still impassable to her aura. Not really knowing what else to do, Tala reshaped her iron into an arrow that pointed back toward the entrance. A moment later, the peephole closed, and Tala pulled her iron away. Rane seemed to be able to tell that something had happened. ¡°Tala? Did it work?¡± She nodded slowly. ¡°I think so?¡± It took another five minutes before the front door of the shop opened, revealing a tall, nondescript man standing just inside. He kept his hand on the door, clearly demonstrating caution. They all stood in silence for a long moment before the man raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Master Lisa?¡± Tala was pretty sure it was the fox man, but if so, the illusion was much more complete than any previous, even showing the ordinary man¡ªand all his contents¡ªto her threefold sight. He¡¯d had a rather well appointed sandwich for lunch, if what she was seeing was a true indication. ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala. You knocked?¡± ¡°I did. I hope that you are well. May we come in?¡± The man looked momentarily irritated, but then shook his head in resignation and motioned them inside. ¡°Very well.¡± Chapter: 433 - Purposeful Silence Tala and Rane stood in the mid-morning spring sunshine, sharing a look after master Lisa had invited them inside. This side street wasn¡¯t crowded by any means, but there were other pedestrians around. Thankfully nothing that had happened was visibly odd from a mundane perspective. Tala smiled up at Rane before turning back and speaking to master Lisa. ¡°Thank you, we¡¯d love to come in.¡± The two crossed the short distance to come through the door and let the man close the entrance behind them. That left the three of them standing in the seemingly iron-lined room as the doorway that had led outside vanished and a doorway leading deeper in appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Now that she was more familiar with her threefold sight, Tala could see that the room had somehow reoriented within a four-dimensional axis to allow this to happen, somehow even realigning them to interact with existence at an angle of sorts, rather than simply shifting them either stone- or starward. Though where they stood still appeared to be superficial to her. That was likely because her reference frame had been shifted. Oh¡­ this is nauseating and mind twisting. -Don¡¯t consider it. You¡¯ll be fine¡­ well, you¡¯ll be fine either way. Hurrah anti-vomiting scripts!- May they never lose their power. She grimaced. Master Lisa glanced her way and gave a knowing smile. ¡°You¡¯re more perceptive than when last we spoke.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing.¡± ¡°So I noticed.¡± They walked through the inner door, but instead of coming into the shop as Tala had thought they would, the three of them entered a sitting room with two human sized chairs and one much smaller seat. Did he have this room prepared for us beforehand? -Or he is able to prepare it on the fly.- Or he has so many spaces that there was one already set up in this configuration that he simply chose to go to. -That¡­ could be either a huge number or a coincidence.- Exactly. The man moved to sit in the much smaller chair, shrinking to fit even as fur sprouted from his form and his face elongated, revealing a fox¡­ without horns. So¡­ the horns in our previous interaction were a sort of disguise as well? -Seemingly.- Master Lisa regarded Tala for a moment before asking something that seemed to be bugging him, ¡°Why did you knock on that particular door?¡± She shrugged, seeing no reason to refrain from answering. ¡°Well, your shop was locked up, and it wasn¡¯t the first time that I¡¯ve tried to stop through. So¡ª¡± He waved that off. ¡°You misunderstand the question. You knocked on a door located outside of what most would consider standard reality. Why? Why didn¡¯t you knock on the door that was right in front of you while standing on the street?¡± Tala opened her mouth to answer but stopped before she did. Oh¡­ Well, that¡¯s funny. -Yeah, we didn¡¯t actually consider doing that.- ¡°Well¡­ I suppose I didn¡¯t actually think of it. I was trying to figure out what was going on. Then, I saw what seemed to be a door, and it seemed reasonable to knock.¡± The fox gave a wry smile. ¡°So, it was purely an unlikely coincidence then. I see.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, I was right in the middle of a rather¡­ finicky experiment. When I do such things, I like to be near an exit hatch to flee in the event of catastrophe. Thankfully, such hasn¡¯t actually happened in years. Regardless, you knocked less than a foot from my head, and it was quite jarring. I did manage to save the process from disaster, though. No harm done.¡± ¡°Well, I apologize for any inconvenience. That was not my intention.¡± ¡°I gathered that, yes. Thank you for the apology.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side in consideration. ¡°Wait¡­ An exit hatch? You have more than one?¡± The fox¡¯s ear twitched. ¡°I think we¡¯re getting off topic here. Why have you graced me with your presence, and who is your overlarge friend?¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Very well, master Lisa, keep your secrets. This is Rane, and we¡¯re here to discuss four-dimensional existence and construction.¡± The fox looked back and forth between the two of them, lifting a vulpine eyebrow. ¡°Not ¡®Master¡¯ Rane? Clearly the boy is a powerful Archon with a well developed gate.¡± Master Lisa nodded slowly to himself. ¡°I sense no soulbond between you. Thus, there is no marriage to speak of. You two are of an age, so there is no master and mageling relationship. So, if I remember human customs correctly, that means that you are officially courting?¡± Tala felt her eye twitch. Why the inclusion of ¡®official?¡¯ Why is everyone asking that? Rane gave a small smile, answering for them both, ¡°Yes, we are.¡± The fox grinned broadly. ¡°Absolutely wonderful! It is a joy that I am not so out of touch with human society that I misconstrued the subtleties of language used.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Well, while you are right in our case, generally, the lack of an honorific is simply a sign of closeness rather than specifically an indication of the pursuit of intimacy.¡± The fox¡¯s happy face fell. ¡°Oh, chili powder.¡± He sighed. ¡°Fine. Well, thank you for clarifying. I do so hate to be left with an inaccurate assumption.¡± Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Can we return to the topic at hand?¡± ¡°We are still discussing the topic at hand, your lack of honorific with Master Rane, here.¡± She sighed. ¡°Yes, which is a topic you shifted to when I asked about four-dimensional existence and construction.¡± ¡°Well, of course. One of the topics is pertinent, and the other is hardly relevant to anyone.¡± Tala took a deep breath to level herself, then motioned around them. ¡°We are literally sitting within a four-dimensional construction.¡± ¡°But of course.¡± She gave him a puzzled look, and he grinned in return. ¡°I did not say which topic was which. Humanity¡¯s emphasis on formality and proper conduct is incomprehensible to me.¡± Tala cocked an eyebrow in turn. ¡°Says the arcane?¡± The fox opened his mouth, then slowly closed it before nodding in concession. ¡°That¡¯s a fair point, but there is a reason that I am not with other arcanes. Those of us with less¡­ societal inclination find it hard to be within the cities to the south. So, we find ourselves elsewhere, where the authority of the Lords does not seek to worm its way into everyone and everything.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Tala decided to delve into one of the myriad things brought up by master Lisa¡¯s response, ¡°Are there many of you in the gated human cities?¡± ¡°Many? No. I know of only four or five in all the current cities.¡± The fox seemed almost sad, but the expression vanished shortly after. ¡°Then¡­ where?¡± ¡°All over.¡± He gestured around himself. ¡°We have perfected the construction of four-dimensional dens, as you would likely call them. They use a similar concept to the expanded space storages that you humans love so much, without requiring Magic to continue to exist.¡± He hesitated a moment before conceding. ¡°Though, they are far less portable.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Less portable? You could still move them, then?¡± Master Lisa scrunched his nose. ¡°Well, the two of you are just such careful listeners, aren¡¯t you?¡± There was a bit of a silence before master Lisa sighed. ¡°How about I get you all something to drink before we discuss you trying to copy the legacy of my ancestors for your personal gain?¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°That¡¯s not quite how I would have put it.¡± ¡°Oh, I am aware, young Archon. I am well aware.¡± Master Lisa hopped up, walking to the side of the room and looking at a piece of paper. ¡°I don¡¯t have any alcohol in stock that would affect a Refined, and hallucinogens would be rather counter to having a useful conversation¡­¡± He trailed off contemplating. Then, he turned around and smiled. ¡°Would either of you care for a mushroom tea?¡± Tala shook her head, fighting back a smile. ¡°No, thank you.¡± Rane simply shook his head. The fox sighed. ¡°Ahh, well, one can always hope.¡± Tala stood, feeling like something odd was going on, something that she really didn¡¯t care for. ¡°We can leave, master Lisa. It was only meant to be a question, not an obligation.¡± Master Lisa looked her way and frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t want to talk about it, you don¡¯t have to. We only came in the hopes of getting some help.¡± He pointed at Rane. ¡°He was the apprentice of one of your cities. Are you trying to tell me that you don¡¯t know what you are asking? What you are doing?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m totally at a loss. You and I talked before, and I rather enjoyed the conversation. I thought we both came out well from the exchange.¡± He nodded at that. ¡°We did indeed.¡± ¡°So, I simply sought you out to inquire on another topic.¡± Master Lisa seemed stunned for a long moment. ¡°You don¡¯t know the nature of my allowance here?¡± ¡°No? Last time you simply said that you had been allowed to be here, so long as you were not discovered by the general populace.¡± The fox man leaned back against the low table, seeming baffled. ¡°I am allowed here so long as I help all those who seek me out with a genuine inquiry of knowledge. I am not required to steer their inquiry, but I must respond to direct questions.¡± It took Tala a moment to understand what he meant. When she did, her eyes widened. ¡°So, you are required to answer any sincerely asked question?¡± ¡°It is not quite as terrible as that, but on non-personal, general subjects? Yes. On knowledge that can be freely given? Yes. I am not obligated to train you, or trade with you, but to share the basis of the secrets which have kept myself and my kin safe for eons? Yes.¡± ¡°Would doing so put you at risk?¡± ¡°No, but it is one of our few advantages.¡± ¡°And if we ask you have no choice but to share?¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°I always have a choice. As Master Rane¡¯s insightful question alluded to, I can move my den. I could seek asylum in another city, but the terms would likely be similar, if not more onerous.¡± Tala shook her head, rising to her feet. ¡°Come on, Rane. We¡¯ve taken enough of the shopkeeper¡¯s time.¡± Rane nodded firmly and stood before bowing. ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you, master Lisa.¡± The fox regarded them with narrowed eyes. ¡°What are you doing?¡± She smiled in return. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in extorting anyone for knowledge¡­ at least not an acquaintance whom I would prefer become a friend. I came to talk with such an acquaintance and hopefully learn something. I would imagine that you are bound to your agreement in some way. So, no conversation on that topic would really be a freely engaged one. I will not have the information gained in that way, not from you.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°We can gain the information through trade with someone who won¡¯t be compelled to answer.¡± The two of them turned¡­ and found that there was no door out of the room. Tala frowned. Her threefold sight still showed her a door, but now that she looked closer, it wasn¡¯t quite aligned with their current reference frame at the moment. Oh, I really hate that. -It is a bit mind bending.- She turned back and gave a tightlipped smile. ¡°Would you be so kind as to let us out?¡± Master Lisa was regarding them oddly. ¡°I will, if that is what you want, but if you would be willing, please have a seat.¡± Tala and Rane shared a look, and the two humans sat once more. ¡°If you would be so kind as to not speak or ask questions, I will tell you what I am willing to say, then I will let you depart. Is that agreeable?¡± Once again, Tala and Rane shared another look. Rane still seemed uncertain. Tala was willing to listen, so she gave a nod. That seemed to reassure the big man, and he smiled in return, and they both turned to look toward master Lisa. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± He grinned. ¡°I appreciate the silence.¡± He set cups in front of each of them. ¡°Tea, not mushroom tea.¡± The two smiled in response, accepting their beverages. It smelled like chamomile and was soothing as Tala took a sip. She smiled and nodded her thanks. Rane sighed and leaned back. Master Lisa considered for a long moment. ¡°Four-dimensional construction is based upon the truth that we are three-dimensional beings. I would have no concept of how to make a home for a four-dimensional being¡­ meaning a being of four physical dimensions. So, the easiest way to conceive of what we are discussing is to imagine a three-dimensional construct for two-dimensional beings. If you can¡¯t conceive of it fully like that, imagine creating something for a circle of paper.¡± He paused then, looking to see if they understood. Neither seemed to understand perfectly, but they gave no indication of outright confusion. ¡°So, for the paper circle, I could create myriad levels of spaces for it to traverse, each offset by a small angle. Then I would only need a mechanism to align the circle with any given level, be it an elevator or a variable wedge. Using the wedge would allow for each ¡®level¡¯ of the space to have more levels further from the aligning wedge as it is effectively taking slices of the three-dimensional space. Don¡¯t forget that even though we might have close to infinite volume of space, the size of each room would be limited by the three-dimensional bounds of the four-dimensional construction.¡± He gave another brief pause to let them contemplate. He enjoyed a bit of his own tea at the same time before continuing. ¡°So, the difference comes in that a piece of paper is a three-dimensional object, unlike a true lesser being. So, effectively, four-dimensional construction can fit infinite wedges¡ªor floors¡ªfor three-dimensional creatures into a four-dimensional space. The only caveat comes with people like Mistress Tala, here.¡± Tala frowned, but didn¡¯t say anything in response. ¡°She has¡­ not a fourth dimensionality, but a fourth dimensional shadow for lack of a better word. Your iron is stored offset from you, but it is still not four-dimensional either. So, you are effectively two or more three-dimensional things layered atop one another. This does not give you four-dimensional existence, however. The only reason I bring it up is that when building four-dimensional constructs, you have to take those such as you into account. The way to do that involves conceptualization and math at a level that none of us have the time to dig through.¡± When neither human protested by motion or expression, master Lisa grinned. ¡°That said, the simplification is this: I simply give every layer a bit of fourth dimensionality. It drastically decreases the number of three-dimensional spaces I can tuck into the construction, but as they can be almost infinitely small on the fourth dimensional axis, it is such a marginal reduction that I¡¯ve never known anyone to actually come up against the limit.¡± Tala¡¯s head felt a bit like it was being stuffed with cotton, even though she thought she understood everything that he¡¯d said so far. Rane was taking yet another sip, clearly lost in thought. Master Lisa seemed to be thinking as well, but finally he nodded. ¡°I think that is as solid a foundation as I can easily sketch out for you two. It¡¯s a bit more complicated than I¡¯d give to a kit, but their education in this regard would start around when you humans teach your children to read, so a bit of simplification for them only stands to reason.¡± Kit? ¡­oh! She remembered that a baby fox was called a kit. That¡¯s needlessly confusing. -Well, I doubt the two definitions for ¡®kit¡¯ usually have any sort of overlap. This is just a bit of a funny coincidence.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t like she¡¯d rename Kit. Master Lisa stood, and Rane and Tala did likewise. ¡°Thank you both for your approach to this.¡± The two humans bowed. He grinned. ¡°You can speak now. Though I would appreciate it if you''d refrain from questions around the previous topic.¡± Rane spoke first, bowing again. ¡°Thank you for your words.¡± Tala likewise expressed her gratitude. ¡°You are both most welcome. Come, let¡¯s get you back to the street before something happens to spoil this foundation we¡¯ve laid for our acquaintance.¡± The two agreed, and all three stepped through the door which was, once again, aligned with their current dimensionality. Chapter: 434 - Brand’s Restaurant Tala and Rane didn¡¯t talk much on their way to Brand¡¯s restaurant to meet up with Lyn and Kannis for lunch. Tala knew that she was still considering what the little fox-man had said, and she assumed that Rane was as well. Nothing really came from her further contemplations, but she felt like she had helped them to set more deeply into her own mind, if nothing else. When they were nearly to the place, Tala glanced up at Rane. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± He looked back and gave a little smile. ¡°Aside from trying to wrap my head around all that¡­ master Lisa said? I half expected you to invite him to Irondale. I am a bit curious as to why you didn¡¯t.¡± Tala stopped dead. Thankfully, they were walking to one side of the street, so that didn¡¯t cause any sort of disruption to the flow of traffic. ¡°Tala? Are you alright?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Oh, I feel like an idiot. I didn¡¯t even consider that. That¡¯s a brilliant idea, Rane.¡± She grinned widely up at Rane. Then, she almost turned around and went back right away, but she had a thought before she could. Alat, we can grant Lisa access to things in the Archive, right? -Yes we can.- Please send him a note and grant some basic information on the sanctum and Irondale. See if he¡¯s at all interested. -Will do.- ¡°Thank you, Rane. That was an excellent idea.¡± She started walking again, and he easily kept pace with her. ¡°I¡¯m glad that I could help. I would have mentioned it earlier, but I assumed that you were just waiting for the right time or that you¡¯d decided against making the offer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of you, but you don¡¯t need to worry. If you have an idea, I¡¯d love to hear it.¡± She smiled his way, and he smiled in return. ¡°Alright, then.¡± He bumped her lightly as they continued on, bringing a small smile to her lips. It only took another few minutes to reach the restaurant, and they both stopped in their tracks when they came around the corner and saw it. It was huge, taking nearly a quarter block, and while it wasn¡¯t gaudy, it did grab the attention of passersby. It was whitewashed, a very noticeable white when compared to the more muted tones of the buildings around it. Additionally, a large sign was easily visible simply containing the words: ¡®Good Food¡ªGreat Fights¡ªAll Day Long¡¯. Tala gaped, and Rane started to laugh. Kannis and Lyn were already waiting for them just to one side of the entrance, and it was good that they were off to the side. There was an almost constant flow of people both into and out of the restaurant. There were gaps, but it was obvious that the place was popular. That did make sense given the hour. It was almost exactly noon, and so it was reasonable for people to have been eating both right before this and to be entering in order to eat within the next hour. Tala pushed on the back of Rane¡¯s arm to get him moving as she stepped forward to cross the street to where their friends were waiting. Lyn was smiling, and Kannis was actively chuckling when they walked up. It was the mageling who spoke first, ¡°I assume that this is your first time here?¡± Tala nodded even as Rane responded, ¡°Yeah, at least since the expansion.¡± Lyn¡¯s smile grew at that. ¡°Well, you¡¯re in for an experience.¡± They all walked in together, getting a bit surrounded by the flow of people entering just ahead of and behind them. Rane gawked around at the inside. Tala couldn¡¯t see very much more than the people who surrounded them. She could see with her threefold sight, but that could be annoying to piece together, and she just wanted to look with her own eyes. Rust this. She grew shoes on her feet then added to the soles of her shoes with every step, creating a lattice of iron to give her shoes platforms to lift her up as she continued forward. Thus, she looked to be walking up stairs until she was of a height with Rane. It was a little awkward, but she adjusted quickly enough to not make a fool of herself. The large man blinked at her in confusion, then looked down and smiled when he saw what she¡¯d done. ¡°Ahh, clever.¡± It didn¡¯t really seem like many other people noticed her act. Those that did seemed to pass it off as a Mage being a Mage. ¡°Thank you.¡± She then looked around and almost stopped in her tracks, only Rane¡¯s light pressure on her arm keeping her following Lyn and Kannis closely enough to not get separated. There were close to two hundred people at the various tables that she could see with her eyes, and her threefold sight showed that there were more that she couldn¡¯t see besides. On every wall were multiple, massive Archive slates showing various Defender clashes. Some were from this current waning¡ªTala recognized some of the clashes specifically¡ªbut it looked like most were selections from the wanings of the past. Each giant slate had an identifier stamped into the wall beside it, which Tala assumed would be important later. The four of them came up to a long counter with quite a few clerks checking people in, and Tala heard Lyn interacting with the young man who was serving them. ¡°Four of you, then?¡± ¡°Yes, just four.¡± ¡°Do you have a viewing preference?¡± ¡°Not today, thank you.¡± ¡°Alright, keep in mind that you can request multi-angle packages for any of the currently playing clashes. Would you like the ¡®guess the context¡¯ cards? If you get a perfect score, your meal is twenty-five percent off during your next visit.¡± Lyn shrugged. ¡°Sure, that seems like fun.¡± Inside wasn¡¯t quite as hectic as the flow of people in and out would seem to have implied, but there were still a lot of people. There was simply that singular entrance and exit, so there was a bit of a slow-down entering and exiting. They only had to wait a few minutes before being led to a table on the main floor of the space. There, the four sat, Tala eliminating her shoes to do so. The tables and slates were situated such that it was actually fairly easy to see all of them, even with servers and the occasional patron moving about around them. They were each given a heavy piece of paper with a list of the indexed slates on them. Then, beside each was a blank line. The overarching title stated that for full marks they¡¯d need to state the city that was waning and the Defender who was fighting. Tala chuckled as she looked at it. It was effectively an impossible task. No one would know so many details about something so¡ª A louder man at a nearby table interrupted Tala¡¯s thoughts, ¡°I¡¯m sure that slate A113 is the illusionist Mistress Pixa, but I can¡¯t tell if the city is the most recent Marliweather or Arconaven.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Tala cocked an eyebrow, turning to look just as the man¡¯s friend was shaking his head. ¡°Are you crazy? That can¡¯t be Marliweather. Look at the grass! That species doesn¡¯t grow nearly that far north on the plains.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s at Arconaven?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± The second man nodded. Then, the two furiously wrote down their answer. Tala was a bit slack jawed. Kannis noticed and patted her shoulder. ¡°People love their hobbies, Mistress. The last time I was in here, I sat next to a table arguing about which city a particular clash was from. They knew the exact region and even the Defender, but there were two city names that it could have been, due to the long career of that Defender. What ended up settling it was the weave of the fabric of the man¡¯s pants. Apparently, the weave was one that had fallen out of style to the point of being utterly unavailable by the time of the more recent potential answer.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°So, they were tailors? Traders?¡± ¡°Street cleaners.¡± Rane huffed a laugh, shaking his head. ¡°Never underestimate the depths of research a man will do for his hobby.¡± Tala regarded him for a long moment before shaking her own head. ¡°So it would seem.¡± -Do you want the answers?- Alat seemed quite genuine in the offer, even though she obviously already knew the response. No, thank you. That wouldn¡¯t be much fun. Even with the difficulty of the task there was a mitigating factor that they simply had to get one of the fights correctly detailed for each slate from the duration of their meal. That gave them a few to choose from in each case. Not that that would actually make Tala able to get that many more correct. Or most likely any¡­ The surrounding atmosphere was quite jovial, and there were pockets of people cheering or groaning as various fights ebbed and flowed. A server came around before too long and listed off what was on offer, explaining that the four guests could touch either of the panels in the middle of the table to call for either more food or a refill on whatever drink they chose, respectively. The four of them ordered a spread of food and a mix of drinks, but before the server departed, Tala flagged her down. ¡°Yes, Mistress?¡± ¡°Could you let Brand know that an old friend is here? I¡¯d love to at least say hi if he has the time.¡± The young woman gave her a searching look before nodding. ¡°As you say, Mistress. I¡¯ll let him know.¡± Their food came surprisingly quickly after that, only shortly after their drinks, and the four of them settled in for a lively discussion of the various fights that they could see. They didn¡¯t know enough to guess the actual Defenders involved¡ªlet alone the specific city where the fights took place¡ªbut they enjoyed trying to guess the powers of the Archons before they used them, as well as trying to determine the outcomes of various clashes. Even so, they did recognize Master Clevnis in one fight that was clearly not around Alefast, and Rane spotted some hallmarks of the land near Alefast in a fight with a Defender they didn¡¯t know. So, that was either one of the few they hadn¡¯t met, or in a previous cycle. Brand seemed to have selected encounters that never ended in Mage deaths, but the Defender or Defenders involved were sometimes driven back to the city they were defending. Additionally, the initial combatants sometimes required others to come to their aid. Thus, the four had a lot of fun trying to guess ¡®Win, Assist, Retreat.¡¯ About the time that their plates were clean and their drinks were reaching empty for the third or fourth time, Brand came over to the table. He had a scowl on his face that vanished as soon as he saw them. He threw his hands up and laughed. ¡°Mistress! It¡¯s you.¡± He rushed forward and gave Tala a quick side hug. ¡°I thought someone was trying to get a free meal out of me, but it¡¯s you!¡± He repeated himself, in his seemingly genuine excitement to see her. ¡°I¡¯m so glad that you dropped through.¡± She gave a light squeeze in return. ¡°Good to see you, Brand. This is quite the place you have here. And no, we aren¡¯t looking for a free meal.¡± He laughed again. ¡°It¡¯s certainly a handful. A lot busier than the last time you visited, eh?¡± Tala nodded at that. The last time she¡¯d visited his restaurant, it had been less than a third the size it currently was, and it had been a modest soup and lunch place. While popular enough, it hadn''t been anything too crazy or noteworthy. Brand¡¯s wife¡ªLissa¡ªhad been the only person who helped Brand cook and run the shop. But since the renovation? After talking with the man for a few minutes, Tala became aware that they had a whole team of cooks in the back and dozens of servers who came in for various shifts. Brand didn¡¯t even do caravan runs anymore, partially because he no longer needed the funds with the increased profits of the altered business, and partially because he simply didn¡¯t have the time with all the new demands on him and his wife. All told, he only stayed out with them for less than five minutes, but it was still good to see him. He sent them out a fantastic dessert as a finisher to their meal, and the four of them split the thing with gusto. It was a cookie as large as a pie and still sizzling in its pan, piled with a mound of various ice creams in the center. It was ludicrously over the top, but also so delicious that it was fully consumed in short order. ¡°Oh, that was fantastic.¡± Rane patted his stomach happily. ¡°I definitely couldn¡¯t eat that way more than¡­ once a month?¡± He chuckled. Kannis huffed a laugh in turn. ¡°That often? Only one of us has Mistress Tala¡¯s metabolism. I doubt that I should eat like this more than once a year.¡± Lyn smiled mischievously at her mageling. ¡°Yet you come¡­ weekly?¡± ¡°I order salads most of the time,¡± Kannis responded quickly. Tala shrugged. ¡°To be fair, even I don¡¯t have my metabolism. My magic takes care of that for me.¡± There were some chuckles in response, but clearly the joke didn¡¯t quite land as Tala had intended. Well, fine then. The four settled up the bill and then slowly walked their way out, almost feeling like they should be waddling, given how full they were. Tala didn¡¯t comment on how she still had some room, but Mistress Petra had some snacks laid out for her that she would munch on later. -Yeah¡­ better to not mention that.- Exactly. They were nearly to the door when Tala heard someone gasp. ¡°Wait! Isn¡¯t that¡ª?¡± ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s Mistress Tala.¡± Someone else gasped. ¡°And Master Rane!¡± Tala saw with her threefold sight as one of the tables filled with people oriented on them. A realization that she really should have had earlier sinking in. If some of these people made studying Defenders¡ªpast and present¡ªa hobby, then she and Rane would be¡­ of interest to them. The table that had noticed them seemed to explode with fervor, talking to those around them and pointing, even as Tala, Rane, Lyn, and Kannis headed toward the door. More and more eyes turned their way from around the room like ripples across a previously still pond. Finally, someone with a bit more courage than sense elbowed their way through the others to get in front of the four, bowing deeply. ¡°Excuse me, but are you two Mistress Tala and Master Rane?¡± Tala was frozen by the question. Should she lie? If she did, wouldn¡¯t that be denying who she was? Did she really want to respond that way to such a ridiculously simple inquiry? It would also be a silly thing to do. It wasn¡¯t like there was anything even this whole crowd of people could do to her. Even so, she didn¡¯t want to say yes and deal with whatever the response would be to that tidbit. At the same time, she didn¡¯t want to lie to this random person, nor fight her way free of the people around her¡ªnot that they were actually trying to keep her in place. Thankfully, Rane took the decision from her hands. He gave a miniscule nod of his head. ¡°We are, and we¡¯re just on our way out.¡± ¡°Oh! Oh, of course. I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to delay you.¡± The man bowed lower, and many of the people around them who seemed to have been listening turned and bowed toward the four of them as well. That, obviously, got the attention of other people¡ªthose who weren¡¯t already aware of the developing situation¡ªand the bowing spread in a wave, barely preceded by whispers about who they were. Now that Tala thought about it, what mundanes would understand what they¡ªas Defenders¡ªdid more fully than those who frequented establishments like this? They made it a habit to watch Defenders fight for the sake of humanity, and that had to build at least a modicum of respect for the job into the watchers. Tala smiled and gave a small nod in return. She felt¡­ something pulling at her, something that reminded her of how she felt within Kit, if much much weaker and not quite the same flavor. Is it authority? They are acknowledging our authority in some way? -That could be, but¡­ it¡¯s not quite right. I would doubt that any of them would listen to any crazy command from you. It¡¯s more like¡­ respect? Acknowledgement of who and what you are and all that you do?- What do you bet that Defenders are handled the way we are to create just this result? That it has something to do with advancing toward Paragon for many people. -I do not take that bet. You¡¯ve moved a percent of a percent toward Paragon in the last minute.- One woman called out from the crowd. ¡°Honor to the Defenders of humanity!¡± The crowd echoed her back in a near reverent tone. ¡°Honor and strength.¡± With uncanny silence, the crowd parted before them even as the people straightened, allowing for Tala, Rane, Lyn, and Kannis to leave much more easily than they would otherwise have been able to. -Another hundredth of a percent toward Paragon.- So, we just need to get people to bow to us? To get out of our way when we want them to? -No¡­ But I don¡¯t actually think you¡¯re serious. I think it¡¯s a clue not a path, a step not the destination.- Right¡­ That would be too easy. It would also far too closely mirror the arcane way of doing things for her comfort. When they made it out to the street, Tala was able to perceive the restaurant return to relatively normal, with people grouping up and talking fervently. She also saw a server quickly clear their table, barely anticipating a small swarm of people seemingly going to claim a souvenir. Thank you for that¡­ She inwardly blessed that server. -I¡¯ve given Brand access to a memory of the woman¡¯s face and a note stating what she did to go above and beyond.- Thank you, Alat. Chapter: 435 - Looking Forward Tala, Rane, Lyn, and Kannis moved quickly away from Brand¡¯s restaurant, all likely quite happy that the two Defenders hadn¡¯t been recognized until the end. Kannis shivered. ¡°That was¡­ That was something else.¡± Lyn nodded. ¡°Absolutely surreal. I felt like their respect for the two of you was almost tangible.¡± Rane shuddered. ¡°Yeah. There was definitely something there.¡± Tala analyzed his advancement and found that it hadn¡¯t moved at all. Hers had, and while it wasn¡¯t much, she had expected it to help them both. Strange. -Maybe it was because he wasn¡¯t focusing on it?- Or because he already learned what it could teach? Tala looked up to Rane. ¡°I think it was something like authority.¡± Alat was monitoring the man¡¯s aura closely, and it didn¡¯t even waver. Instead, he simply nodded. ¡°Yes, respect and deference are near cousins to authority. Master Grediv once explained to me that respect and deference come when authority matures.¡± Tala blinked a few times, trying to process that. ¡°What?¡± The four of them were walking toward the Caravan Guild so that Lyn and Kannis could get back to work, but all three of the women were listening closely nonetheless. ¡°Well, if I have authority over someone and I wield it clumsily, they still have to listen, but they won¡¯t respect me, and they certainly won¡¯t defer to me, unless I make them. Even then that wouldn¡¯t be deference, it would be capitulation.¡± Tala found herself nodding. She continued the thought out loud so that her understanding could be checked by the others, ¡°But if you have earned your authority and used it well, then respect and deference come as a natural result.¡± ¡°Exactly. Those¡ªamong other things¡ªare the fruits of authority properly used.¡± Rane smiled, seemingly excited that she¡¯d understood so easily. ¡°Master Grediv did say that none of that would actually be pertinent until I had surpassed him, so I imagine it¡¯s more important for higher levels of advancement.¡± Tala grunted. That did make some sense. Advancing to Paragon was a focus on the self, the soul and who she was¡­ she wasn¡¯t very good at focusing inward like that. Going over her myriad projects, power, and possibilities was helpful, but she hadn¡¯t actually thought deeper on what she¡¯d learned. Tala grimaced even as the other three began discussing lighter topics. Tala spoke incredibly quietly, trusting in Rane¡¯s hearing, so that she didn¡¯t have to derail the ongoing discussion. ¡°We need to take some time to meditate on what we¡¯ve been learning¡­ well, I do, and I think that having you there would help me and probably you as well.¡± He smiled, reaching out and giving her hand a light squeeze before letting go and responding even quieter than she¡¯d been speaking, ¡°After dropping off these two, then? We don¡¯t have anything planned until dinner.¡± She gave a small nod. ¡°Thank you.¡± Soon enough, they said goodbye to their friends, planning to meet up later for a meal in Tala¡¯s sanctum. Toward that end, Tala and Rane went to Lyn¡¯s house. The door was locked, but Tala was able to form a key of iron with ease to unlock it. She did so even though she still had the key that she¡¯d been given¡­ somewhere. Wasn¡¯t Terry playing with it? It didn¡¯t really matter. She couldn¡¯t find it in her sanctum with a quick inspection, so it had probably been taken out or repurposed at some point or other. She¡¯d purposely never claimed the iron¡ªnot like she had her iron dust¡ªso it was just like every other small item in her sanctum. With the door to Lyn¡¯s house unlocked, Rane and Tala went inside, locking the door behind themselves. Tala then opened a door into Kit across from the entry washroom. When the door swung open, Terry was right inside. He was the same height as Tala and giving her an intense look. ¡°Hey, Terry.¡± Rane smiled and waved to the avian as well. Terry squawked a response, keeping eye contact with Tala. Tala tilted her head to the side. ¡°We were going to meditate for a bit. You¡¯re welcome to join us.¡± He looked at her for a bit longer before bobbing a nod. He didn¡¯t want to come out any time I invited him today. I guess he¡¯s gotten lonely again? Regardless, Tala and Rane stepped through, out into a beautiful dell beside the infinite river. There were two flat stones, perfectly sized for Tala and Rane to each sit on while being in reach of one another but not touching. Tala sat on the smaller stone, facing the river, and Rane sat on the larger, facing the other way. The exit door closed but didn¡¯t vanish. Tala wanted it to remain so they¡¯d have easier knowledge when their friends had arrived. Terry flickered to the grass between the two stones and curled up, seeming quite content just to be nearby. Tala and Rane both sat cross legged, hands resting on their own knees, backs straight, eyes closed. Please keep the threefold sight from me. Warn me at need, but otherwise, please keep me undisturbed. -Understood.- With that, the world¡ªusually so easy to perceive of late¡ªwent dark, leaving Tala alone in an emptiness. She could have reached out and felt everything with Kit, but she didn¡¯t do that. Her threefold sight was similarly available to her, but she didn¡¯t access it. Alright, Tala. Think. She reached out with one hand and called a snack to it, which she ate with barely a thought, using the flavor and magic within as additional things to keep her focus inward. Her conversations with Master Grediv and others played through her mind. Key points in her life became a regular cadence across her thoughts as she delved into who she was, into who she wanted to be. What felt like moments passed, but the number of snacks she consumed made it clear that it had been far longer, and she felt like the various threads were coming together into a fairly clear tapestry of intent and desire. It was odd, because she already knew what resonated most with who she was. She was the ravenous, jealous devourer. The thing was, that was the inward focused portion of her identity, and could be manifested outward in so many ways. A nation could devour the nations around it; a predator could devour its prey; a scholar could devour knowledge. What she wanted was similar to the nation-type devouring, but not quite. The devouring could also have differing purposes. The first was to expand, the second to survive, and the third was to thrive. She wanted to thrive, and help those she cared for to thrive too. She wanted to bring out the best in others. More than that, she wanted to expand their capacities, then help them realize that new potential as well. Rane¡¯s presence nearby reminded her of how much she enjoyed testing him and pushing him to improve, and how much she appreciated him doing the same with her. Her siblings also came to her mind, not as examples of her having done that, but as those she wanted to help even more than most. So¡­ why wasn¡¯t she? She was doing more than some siblings did but far from all that she could. Well, for starters, it wasn¡¯t her job, but neither was it her job to do so for Brandon, Adrill, Kedva, or anyone else. So, why do my siblings seem¡­more so ¡®not my responsibility?¡¯ She frowned, digging through her memories and feelings. With her mental enhancements, she was able to relive much of her time as a Mage with a critical eye. In fact, she did it several times, each time taking a substantial portion of an hour¡ªand a substantial number of snacks¡ªto review. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Finally, the pieces seemed to fit, and her perspective subtly changed. I¡¯m not their mother. True, she wasn¡¯t anyone¡¯s mother¡ªnot in a literal sense¡ªbut she had been instrumental in the rebirth of the gateless she was nurturing. But that wasn¡¯t the point of her shifted perspective. Her siblings had a mother, someone who hadn¡¯t mothered Tala, not in the way she¡¯d wanted, not in the way that she wanted to help others. Well, that isn¡¯t true. She did her best with an awful situation. She stayed with her husband and worked to make the best of the awful circumstances until the man she¡¯d married came back to himself, likely with her help¡­ Tala didn¡¯t know if she could do the same¡­ but she was getting sidetracked yet again. She wanted to help others in the way a good mother should. She felt her soul resonating, her aura shifting, but she ignored that, focusing on her thoughts and memories. So, what? I long to be a mother and that¡¯s it? Are you kidding me? But¡­ no. That wasn¡¯t right. This wasn¡¯t simply some biological imperative nor anything like that. Still, that didn¡¯t change what she wanted. Not a biological mother¡­ a good parent, metaphorically at least. That isn¡¯t just something for mothers. Fathers are equally important, if not more so in many regards. Tala realized that she likely felt the disproportionate importance of a father because it was her own father whom she had lacked protection and nurturing from in the later years of her childhood. She wanted to fill that role for others, alleviate that lack, but she also wanted even more than that. She wanted to continue the protection and nurturing until everyone under her wing was the best that they could possibly be. That turned her mind back to her own choices and experiences as she analyzed the underlying themes and thought processes behind them. There had been many jobs that she could have taken up when she graduated from the Academy. Rust, she¡¯d been set up perfectly to be a Dimensional Mage for caravans, the picture of using her skills in relative safety and luxury while making a large amount of gold, comparatively. Instead, she¡¯d found herself drawn to fight, to test herself, to learn¡­ to be a Mage Protector. She wanted to defend so that those she protected could thrive. Is that it? I want to be a ¡®mother,¡¯ but I see mothers as self-sacrificing, and I don¡¯t want that? She almost laughed, her mind filling with all the times she¡¯d put herself on the line for the purpose of protecting others. She might not have a self-sacrificial bent, but she certainly didn¡¯t let that stop her from doing what she believed was right. Even so, as she considered the ¡®mother¡¯ or parent angle, she felt more and more certain that her purpose was not simply to birth children. She knew that she wanted some eventually, but they weren¡¯t¡ªand would never be¡ªher true purpose¡­ but she did hope that they would be a part of it¡­ eventually. Not now. Not soon. Probably. Then, her thoughts were pulled to Irondale and the home that she was making there for the gateless. She¡¯d invited master Lisa to live there as well, or at the very least, she was open to the idea. She wanted to protect and nurture those who had been left out of gated-human society. It was understandable that they had been¡ªgiven all that was going on and all the constraints¡ªbut Tala didn¡¯t want to leave it that way. So¡­ I¡¯m a mother to the gateless? Metaphorically speaking? I uplift them, protect them, provide them with a home? Something in that resonated, even if it wasn¡¯t quite right or wasn¡¯t complete. Even so, she felt like her soul was a muscle that she hadn¡¯t even known was cramped, and now it was releasing just a bit, her gate opening wider not because it was actually widening, but because it was no longer pulling in on itself so much to stay¡­ safe? Advancing to Paragon is an opening of the cognitive self to the soul. It is the aligning of the two so that the physical and the magical can work together more smoothly. Speaking of the physical, she had a passing realization, and so she asked Alat to connect with Master Cru after so long without their sparring sessions¡ªshe¡¯d been prioritizing other things¡ªand ask him for a resumption of those sessions so that she could reassert the Way of Flowing Blood over her movements and fighting style. Sparring with Rane was helpful, but they fought so often that she was beginning to fight him instead of truly training for fights in general. She suspected it was much the same for him. So, shaking things up by adding in purely physical sparring sessions with other fighters would keep them from crippling their ability to fight others. Additionally¡ª A knock sounded from nearby, interrupting her thoughts. Tala opened her eyes, a smile coming to her lips unbidden. Her aura blazed around her, filling half the dell around her with a beautiful yellow-green. Beside her, Rane similarly radiated his own aura, still slightly greener than her own, but they had both made incredible strides. The two auras pushed against one another. The contact was not hostile or clashing in any way. From both sides, it was simply the meeting and differential avoidance of acknowledged equals. Her threefold sight returned, and she saw Lyn and Kannis waiting just outside the closed door to Kit. It¡¯s dinner time already? -Yup! You two have been meditating for nearly six hours. I communicated with Mistress Petra, and food will be ready shortly.- Thank you, Alat. Tala easily moved Rane and herself to the dining room along with the door beyond which Lyn and Kannis were waiting. She deposited Rane in a chair without jostling him, but he clearly still noticed the change in scenery and opened his eyes. He looked around before his eyes landed on Tala, and he smiled. She smiled in return without giving the expression much thought or consciously choosing to. Then, she willed the door open and greeted their guests. The meal was delicious¡ªjust as Tala had come to expect from Mistress Petra¡ªand the four diners overflowed with praise, which the Fused accepted with grace and a smile of genuine satisfaction. After that, the four walked through the sanctum while chatting before turning in for the night. Lyn and Kannis exited the sanctum into Lyn¡¯s house and their own rooms, and Tala and Rane retired to their own beds. Rane had essentially moved into one of the guest rooms whenever the two of them were traveling, and Tala simply left it as it was between such trips. She, herself, still enjoyed her own room quite immensely. There¡¯s no bed like the one that¡¯s yours. -Indeed.- * * * Tala looked dubiously at the ¡®inscription extractor¡¯ that Mistress Holly was holding up for her inspection. ¡°You¡¯re sure this will work?¡± Tala did not particularly like the idea of something extracting metals from her; it reminded her a bit too much of the dasgannach that had taken her gold inscriptions back in Platoiri. ¡°Yes, dear. So long as you pull all magic from your inscriptions¡ªand don¡¯t resist¡ªthis will pull all metal from your inscriptions out of your body.¡± Mistress Holly gave a tightlipped smile of encouragement. ¡°It¡¯s something that I had made specifically for you. No one else would be able to recover on their own after such an extraction.¡± ¡°So¡­ custom for me, but as such untested?¡± ¡°That¡¯s accurate, I suppose.¡± ¡°And what of the gold, silver, and copper that my body is using?¡± There were other ways that this could be done, but if it worked as Mistress Holly said, this was the most efficient. Additionally, the extracted metals would actually be better for use in the new inscriptions than new metal that would be required if they removed the inscriptions through other means. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take any biologically utilized metal, no. Inscriptions are naturally isolated by the body, and this only targets that isolated material.¡± Tala sighed. She knew it would hurt, but what was a little pain? That wasn¡¯t her hangup at the moment. Moreover, this would actually reduce the cost of her reinscription¡ªrather than costing funds like other methods¡ªin addition to the other benefits. Rane was doing a quick teleport to clear his inscriptions at that very moment, and that cost him money. She frowned, thinking through that. A teleport only costs two pounds silver¡­ No. She shouldn¡¯t consider it. This was the best way forward¡­ she was sure it was. It just made sense. -Eh. Both are existentially terrifying to me, so the choice is yours.- We¡¯ll get through this. At least this way you should maintain continuity. Tala sent encouragement toward Alat before addressing Mistress Holly, ¡°Do it.¡± Mistress Holly reached forward and tapped Tala with the heavily inscribed wooden orb. As it contacted Tala, the metals within the sphere pulsed with power. Tala held her own magic back from entering her inscriptions, and willed for those inscriptions to leave her. That wouldn¡¯t be enough to actually eject them of course, but it put her mind in the proper frame to allow for the metal¡¯s removal without there being a contest of will or any of her natural magical resistance coming into play. There was pain, of course, but it was like she remembered the pain of pulling a hair from an infected pore, or removing a splinter. Sure, it hurt, but then there was relief. In this case, it was magnified a thousand times over, and her whole body trembled at the hormonal whiplash. Her magic also had a similar experience. It had been fighting her to flow through the well-wrought channels that the inscriptions were by design, but as soon as the metal was removed, her power suddenly wasn¡¯t straining anymore. Instead, it instantly flowed down her natural magical pathways with utter ease, moving like never before. There was a lot of blood¡ªas was to be expected¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t anything new for Tala. Most of her body was lacerated, inside and out, but her natural magical healing restored her in short order. Without inscription support, ¡®short order¡¯ ended up being about five minutes of feeling every part of herself pull back together little by little. It itched like mad, but she resisted¡­ Well, after she was capable of movement again she resisted. Before that she just itched and had nothing that she could do about it. When her eyes came back together¡ªher usual eye-protecting scripts now being their direct undoing¡ªshe knew that it was almost over, and she was greeted by the sight of Mistress Holly standing to the side, manipulating a set of two reasonably sized balls, one of gold and one of silver. The Inscriber looked her way and nodded. ¡°Good, you¡¯re almost healed.¡± Tala grunted, then spit out a glob of blood and phlegm to clear her mouth. -Yeah¡­ being this limited is¡­ awful.- Shh¡­ conserve your consciousness. We¡¯ll be inscribed again soon. ¡°Since you¡¯re cognizant again, I¡¯ll go over the highlights of our changes in order to ensure they are fresh and to distract you through the end of your healing process.¡± Tala sighed internally before nodding. Very well. Chapter: 436 - Just Five More Minutes Tala stood within Mistress Holly¡¯s workroom, nearly fully recovered from having her full set of inscriptions violently ripped out. As such, the Inscriptionist was ready to explain¡ªone last time¡ªthe changes to Tala¡¯s new schema, but she was awaiting confirmation to begin. Tala swallowed, centered her mind, and grunted in assent. ¡°We¡¯ve been able to implement general improvements to the spellforms across the board, but this is likely the last time we can do that until you¡¯ve Reforged. Your body simply won¡¯t be robust enough to take any more enhancement beyond what will be included here.¡± She nodded. As odd as that sounded, there was a certain amount of innate durability that a body needed in order to be enhanced to any given level, and Tala was nearly capped out. If they went any higher than they were going to be doing with this inscription schema, Tala would become a creature of magic that happened to have some fleshy bits, rather than a creature of flesh with magical augmentation. The distinction was subtle but endlessly important. ¡°We¡¯ve added the equivalent of magical markers throughout your entire body so that you can enact gravitational augmentation to pull your body together. That way, your magic should act as a linking force between each piece and the parts around it instead of turning you into a bone and flesh sphere. You¡¯ll have to find the exact limits of this usage, but I¡¯ve put some notes and educated guesses into the Archive for you. The entire marker schema is there as well, as requested. I imagine it will take you quite a while to fully implement this idea. Though I do believe that it is a good one. Do you still intend to augment your personal reality node¡¯s ¡®gravity¡¯ to itself as well?¡± Tala nodded, beginning to feel much better as her natural magics continued to act. If she understood correctly, augmenting her own reality node¡¯s ¡®gravity¡¯ toward itself would give her greater¡­ durability? That was likely as good a word as any, given the fact that the act would harden her existence against interference of any kind, at least a bit. It also cost her nothing but a bit of time, so she saw no reason not to try it. ¡°Good, good. Continuing on, we¡¯ve repurposed the real estate in your lungs to further enhance your cardiovascular system for increased physical performance, while augmenting those magics in your throat and mouth to better contain and funnel unrealized workings to greater effect. They will strengthen your authority over¡ªand the receptivity to your will of¡ªthe magics that pass through there. It isn¡¯t a perfect inscription as it can only add to what is already there, but that shouldn¡¯t be an issue for this case.¡± Tala nodded again. As had been explained in detail, she couldn¡¯t use these magics in order to claim something that wasn¡¯t already hers. They simply strengthened the claim she already had on whatever it acted upon. The effect would basically be in line with what Mistress Cerna had suggested, giving her the ability to vary the distance of ¡®ignition¡¯ of the magic within her breath¡­ at least somewhat. ¡°Beyond that? There isn¡¯t anything critical. Your voidsight is now actually going to be incorporated into your magesight, and those scripts are esoteric enough that no other Inscriber should be able to pull anything useful from them. If someone does look closely enough to want something similar, they¡¯ll have to come to me about them, and I¡¯ll deal with it.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Anyone else foolish enough to try to use them or their derivatives has a good chance of going insane, but you¡¯re inured sufficiently that I expect you to be fine.¡± Just as Tala had previously understood, inscribed voidsight would manifest somewhat differently than that form of perception did when she simply imposed void-magics atop the magesight spell lines. ¡°So, are you ready?¡± Mistress Holly motioned to the auto-inscriber in the corner. Tala felt a moment of nostalgia. It had been more than a year since she¡¯d been subjected to that device. Her sanctum held her reinscriber, but that only worked to restore inscriptions after she¡¯d already had them. Thus, she had to go back to the old standby. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m ready.¡± She straightened and stretched her arms up for the invention to be slipped over her head before constricting around her every part. As it began to work, she found herself exceedingly grateful for all the large meals that she¡¯d had of late. She had already been pulling quite heavily on her reserves that day, and she would be doing so yet again when this process was complete. Maybe I should go kill something and absorb it? It was an intriguing thought, and it caused her to smile even as she was stabbed uncounted times so that her inscriptions could be rebuilt from the inside out. * * * Tala felt the last needle pull back, and she let her healing kick in, sealing and setting all the inscriptions in place. A moment later, she allowed her power to flood through the spellforms, and one by one new variations of magics clicked into place, slotting perfectly into her natural magics just as they were designed to do. Power. Tala shuddered as her body seemed to come to life with power. Vast. Existence opened before her as her magesight roiled and voidsight joined it, together overlaying her mundane sight, and suddenly, her threefold sight came fully to her eyes with no effort. Reality nodes were clearer than ever, and with that came an understanding of the distinction between them like never before. It wasn¡¯t that she saw more. Instead, it was like the knowledge simply came into her mind in a new way. There was nothing new, but it was the difference between reading a book and having an Archive connection place the book in her mind. It was as if every distinct item was outlined in black, without that black line taking up any space. The separateness of the things within the world was emphasized. -Oh¡­ wow.- You¡¯re fully back? -And then some. This is¡­ this is amazing. Your brain is so enhanced.- Tala felt like something was bouncing around within her mind for a moment, and Alat laughed. -So much room for activities!- Tala grinned, and with an act of will, she rolled her iron over her new inscriptions, boxing them in and keeping even the minimal leakage from escaping her body. The magic was hers, and it would not leave against her will. She gasped as the enhancements ticked up another notch. Her threefold sight was aspect-mirrored to her two clouds of bloodstars awaiting star- and stoneward, and everything became clearer. She took in and processed everything within a hundred feet, seeing every layer all at once and finally understanding what she saw in a way that she never could before. Beyond that, she could see¡­ somewhat, but not nearly as clearly. That was okay. She felt like she was near her limits as it was with regard to information processing, and that was with Alat taking on the greater share of the load. As Tala examined her surroundings, her focus snapped to Mistress Holly, able to see the physicality of the woman, but the Inscriber¡¯s magic was still obscured by her aura. Yeah, there is absolutely no way that she is just Refined. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Tala turned her focus back on herself and found that she was able to track the paths of individual inscription lines through her own body, not losing the thread as it shifted between layers that she could see. Her increased processing was beyond all expectations. -Oh, yeah.- Alat laughed almost maniacally. -We can work with this.- Beyond that, she had a lot of gravitational augmentation magic to implement in order to fully realize the new changes that she had enacted upon her schema. With a thought, she focused on her own reality node, and began amplifying its attraction and pull toward itself. Just like the nodes in her sanctum¡¯s sparring ring, she didn¡¯t expect any physical compression to happen, but as Mistress Holly had implied, it would likely be a useful defense against anything that might otherwise affect her on such a level. The amplification iterated faster, increasing at a substantially greater rate than before, even if she didn¡¯t know the exact rate. Back as a Fused, she could amplify gravity at around ten percent per second. Since Refining, she¡¯d been able to do more, faster, and now that was even more true than before. She stretched, feeling her joints move as if frictionless. Her tendons and connective tissue almost felt like they pinged within her as they shifted and aligned, adjusting both to her increased strength and their own magnified resilience. Oh, I need to fight something to get a good sense of how I¡¯ve changed¡­ -Master Cru has responded. We¡¯re scheduled for a sparring session as soon as we get back to Alefast. The tentative time set is in two days.- A wicked smile grew across Tala¡¯s lips. Perfect. * * * Tala stood in a comfortable stance, one foot forward and Flow held down near her back leg in a loose grip. The sand beneath her feet felt solid, giving her even firmer footing than at times previous due to the improved surface area-expanding scripts on her feet. There were subtle indications of the large circles around her feet that were pressing down and flattening the sand while keeping her from sinking too far into it. Terry lay on the sand back near the entrance to this training room, curled up in such a way as to be able to watch the upcoming clash. Across from Tala¡ªbarely two dozen yards away¡ªwas Master Cru, a sword in his hand as well. ¡°Are you ready?¡± A smile pulled at her lips. ¡°Absolutely.¡± The man advanced at a steady¡ªbut still mundane¡ªpace. Tala could have waited for him to approach, and that might have even been the tactically best decision, but she was feeling a bit impatient. With a forward bend, she crouched and launched herself at her opponent, her mind filled with meditations on the Way of Flowing Blood. She wouldn¡¯t let the origin of the fighting style taint her view of it. Either it was good and it worked, so she should use it, or it was trash, and it should be discarded down to the smallest movement. It wasn¡¯t trash. The days since her new inscriptions were laid hadn¡¯t been wasted, and she was fully used to her new capacities. She moved, bent, and flowed from one strike to another, moving in ways that would almost make her seem boneless to an unskilled observer. Instead, she had simply honed her flexibility¡ªand her strength and control through that range of movement¡ªto an extent usually unheard of, even among Defenders and other Refined. Even so, the weapons master was not easily overcome. Master Cru met her blade for blade, the weapon he brought to bear more resilient than the ones he¡¯d used against her previously. Even so, he was retreating before her constant advance. Flow slid easily from hand to hand, changing forms at the speed of thought, always the exact form to snake a bit deeper into Master Cru¡¯s guard. Always at the correct angle to take best advantage of the block he had chosen to employ. Unfortunately, as he was truly a master of melee combat, best advantage was still not enough to evade the blocks, and deeper into his guard was never sufficient to score a hit. If Tala had to rate the man¡¯s skill, she would easily rate it as equivalent to Eskau Meallain of the House of Blood, even if that arcane would be physically superior to him in a direct clash. His every move was precise and covered himself from anything that Tala could do. But she was pressing him. He was actually being forced to use his skill. She¡¯d been running through her forms the last couple of days, but she knew that she was rusty even so. Her base physical capacities had simply increased to the point that she felt confident saying she was both stronger and faster than the weapons master she faced, but it wasn¡¯t enough to actually damage the man. Though, truthfully, the fact that she couldn¡¯t draw blood was inconsequential in her eyes. She was just excited to be controlling the flow of the clashes thus far. Finally, after he had retreated to the middle of the massive sparring room under the Archon Compound of Alefast, he seemed to decide it was time for a change of pace. A second sword appeared in his off hand as if it had always been there. His following assault was fierce enough to force her back two steps before a shield appeared on her left-hand side, rising up¡ªout of a portal from Kit that Tala had opened at her ankle height¡ªso quickly that it practically appeared in the way of one of his blows. The appearance of the shield caused his eyes to widen. ¡°I thought this first fight was to be sword on sword?¡± She grinned in return. ¡°So did I. Sword on sword, not swords.¡± A mischievous glint entered his eyes. ¡°Well countered.¡± Without another word, his assault renewed, fiercer than before. The Leshkin shield was not up to the task of deflecting Refined level attacks, but the weapons that Master Cru was using weren¡¯t exactly Refined weapons. They were, effectively, robust, sword-shaped training sticks, allowing the tower shield to be an effective tool for the current clash. She surprised him again when the shield seemed to move in impossible ways, even as she used it to cover herself as expected. He couldn¡¯t see that she had yet to physically touch the shield. Instead, it was being controlled entirely by the three bloodstars embedded within a mounted triangle on the back of the massive thing. This was greatly to her advantage because the shield¡¯s movements were normally at least a reasonable clue as to a person¡¯s body position and movements. Instead, the shield now functioned as a massive bluff of sorts, its movements not predicting the placement and angle of Flow¡¯s strikes as they should have. Even so, that discrepancy only tripped him up for less than a second. That wasn¡¯t enough to let her land a hit, but she still gloried in the victory that was taking him off guard. From there, they both got creative and the clash continued to build and escalate. * * * Tala actually found herself exhausted as she laid, sprawled on the sand, Terry perched on her chest. Master Cru had departed for his own unit¡¯s duty shift. We started when I got off my shift at four in the afternoon¡­ -And it¡¯s almost midnight now.- Eight hours¡­ We fought for nearly eight hours. She had endurance, but she¡¯d never really tested it like this. Most Mages didn¡¯t have clashes like this at all. After all, most would have been using magics that would have tipped the scales of the clash one way or the other, rather than simply using enhancements and mundane means to meet in physical combat. The fact that Master Cru had been fighting specifically to draw out all that she could do didn¡¯t make things any faster either. As she considered things, she realized that she probably could have kept going, but because she didn¡¯t need to, her body was making its irritation with her known. Shouldn¡¯t I be beyond such things? I mean, I can heal almost instantly. I shouldn¡¯t get sore¡­ right? I shouldn¡¯t be winded? -Your body is still acclimating to its new capacities, even with your practice and training. I think that your current exhaustion and heavy breathing is mostly an unconscious reaction based on how you still believe that you should feel.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. -Because, obviously, no mortal could do as you have done and not be exhausted. It¡¯s only natural that you are so winded.- But¡­ I¡¯m not mortal anymore. Tala frowned. Alat knew that, obviously. What was she playing¡ª? -Really? Then why are you lazing about? Get up and get to it.- Alat projected glee within Tala¡¯s mind, clearly pleased with herself. Tala huffed a laugh while stroking Terry before sighing and giving him a pat. ¡°Let¡¯s get up.¡± Terry trilled softly, but didn¡¯t move. She gave a half-smile, lifting her head to look at the bird. ¡°Terry. We have so much to do. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± The avian cracked one eye open, looking down on her imperiously. He then let out a light squawk and closed his eye once again, settling in more firmly. Tala chuckled, laying her head back with a sigh. ¡°Fine, but just five more minutes.¡± Chapter: 437 - Reality and Regularity Tala lay on the sand, Terry on her chest taking his ¡®five more minutes.¡¯ As she lay there, she used the opportunity to continue to amplify her own reality-node''s attraction to itself with all her available power, even utilizing her void channels to pump more power to the inscriptions and let it amplify faster. It felt¡­ like nothing? But a lot of nothing. It felt like staring up at the sky and really considering how big everything was, and how small she was within it. It felt like standing on a mountaintop and truly realizing how massive Zeme was, and how little she had mattered thus far. It felt like drowning in the ocean, far from shore, with no one nearby to even notice her distress or her passing. Her eyes snapped open, her breathing coming fast yet again. She recognized the feeling, even if it wasn¡¯t quite the same as when she was using the existence shield. Rust. I¡¯m cutting myself off from the rest of existence somehow. She purposely broke the working and the feeling of building dread, separation, and isolation vanished. Well¡­ that didn¡¯t work at all. She grimaced. Can you send the notes and theories to Mistress Holly? Mistress Ingrit, too¡­ Yeah, send over the memories associated with the dissociation. She huffed a laugh at that reversal. Things associated with a dissociation. She let the humor of that pull her further from her oh-so-recent feelings. -Absolutely. Shall we move on to more traditional gravity amplification?- Alat was doing her best to move Tala on from that experience as well. Neither of them had particularly liked it. Yeah¡­ that would be safer. Still¡­ she couldn¡¯t get past it without at least considering things. It was odd that she¡¯d had such a feeling when she didn¡¯t actually detect any such separation from her sanctum¡¯s sparring ring when she¡¯d amplified their reality-node connectedness. Was it because she was sentient and the reality nodes that she¡¯d compressed weren¡¯t? Was it because she was drawing multiple nodes together? It bore further experimentation and analysis¡­ but later. Instead, she looked inward and picked a place to start, her little toe on her left foot. After all, that is where her magical grid designations began. The little markers that had been incorporated within her inscriptions were simply intended as regional markers despite there being literally hundreds of thousands of them laid out as a grid within her. The purpose was to give her an easily discernible starting place for what she was about to do, along with ready-made labels for her augmentations. She began within grid-place ¡®0000¡¯¡ªeach symbol being used was either a digit or letter, giving her plenty of designations to work with. Similarly, she mentally divided up the space within that grid-place into ten segments in each dimension. This division was purely a mental construct to help her. Then, she analyzed the cells within 0000-000. Alright, these need to be augmented toward each other, but in separate blocks. These should be pulled in together. It¡¯s important not to stress these connections¡­ With Alat¡¯s help, Tala developed a plan and got to work, using void channels to dump power into the gravity augmentations that she was performing. With a bit under six hundred cells within her chosen location¡ªbecause she wasn¡¯t going to be affecting her blood with this change¡ªit was actually relatively easy to conceive of the connections and various alterations needed. While acting on such a level wasn¡¯t exactly easier, she also didn¡¯t want to amplify their gravitational attraction by that much. Thus, she only worked on that section for a bit less than an hour. Next up, 0000-001. But she¡¯d definitely given Terry enough time, and she didn¡¯t want to stay on the sand any longer. Tala sighed, patting Terry again. ¡°Terry. It¡¯s been¡­ it¡¯s been way longer than I promised you. I¡¯m just going to get up if you don¡¯t move.¡± He let out a quiet chirp of acknowledgement. She shook her head and sat up, holding him to her chest as she did so. He didn¡¯t object, nor did he move away. I¡­ should have just done this to begin with. She huffed a laugh at herself, reorienting the bird to be upright in her arms as she got to her feet. She didn¡¯t have another duty-shift until midnight came again. Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis had invited her and Rane to breakfast, but that was still more than seven hours away. I could go and get some sleep¡­ but she wasn¡¯t tired yet, and that would just move the ¡®what to do¡¯ issue to the early morning rather than when it was currently, at that moment. She could go to her sanctum and do the next set of her self-augmentations. She felt like she¡¯d learned quite a bit, and would be able to go faster and still get the same levels of augmentation out of the effort. That made her consider once again the process that she¡¯d just been going through. As she¡¯d been working, she¡¯d felt like there was something¡­ else alongside gravity. Something that¡ªat that scale¡ªwas far more important than gravity in the moment to moment interactions of her cells. There are other forces like gravity in the universe, right? -...Yes? That¡¯s a very vague question. One could say that friction is like gravity, or surface tension, or air resistance, or¡­ oh! Electromagnetism! Then, there¡¯s the strong and weak nuclear forces. You know all of this. Right? I mean you must. I pulled it from your memories, not my own research.- Yeah, but I just wanted to verify what I thought. -With someone pulling from your memories¡­- Alat¡¯s tone was rather incredulous. That¡¯s¡­ fair. Regardless, I¡¯ve never had any talent or ability to alter electromagnetism¡ªthat¡¯s Master Cazor¡¯s department¡­ I mean the endingberry magics affect that, broadly speaking, but it¡¯s not exacting or specific work. Regardless, I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ve worked with the strong or weak nuclear forces very much¡­ They are rather hard to perceive, except on a purely cognitive level. -Tala¡­ please don¡¯t mess with nuclear forces. Please? At least not without a lot more research. The mental model alone would be¡­ painful. Even if we were to make it work, would you enact your magics across every atom¡ªevery molecule¡ªin your body?- Yeah¡­ that didn¡¯t sound like the work of even decades. It would take centuries or millennia. She¡¯d likely still be trying to make it work when the sun went cold. That¡¯s fair. She already had a monumental enough task before her. That brought her mind back to her recently aborted reality-node augmentation. In an instant of oddly connected brilliance, she lightly smacked herself in the forehead, causing Terry to squawk irritatedly¡ªeven without opening his eyes¡ªas she shifted to accomplish the action. I can join all the reality nodes in my artificial lung together. That should keep the magics from affecting the walls as easily, at least based on the tests we did previously. That would reinforce Kit¡¯s integrity in that area and should let me build up even more dissolution magic within. With that idea so obviously before her, she looked to the soulbound storage, focusing on the dangling lung. As she built the mental model for the space¡¯s reality-nodes, Tala stepped into her sanctum, hardly even thinking about the motion. She didn¡¯t even need to open a portal to arrive in the same spot that she¡¯d meditated beside Rane a few days earlier. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As she dropped into a cross legged position, she placed the still sleeping Terry on her lap. Let¡¯s get to work. * * * Tala practically sprinted out of her sanctum at the very edge of the area that she could exit from. That was about halfway to Mistress Cerna¡¯s and Master Clevnis¡¯s house. So that put her a bit ahead, allowing her to slow her pace a bit. Around the brute-force work of augmenting the reality-nodes of her artificial lung, she had spent the remainder of the night working within grid-place 0000¡­ she was getting sick of it, honestly. But that was okay. She was getting faster. After all, if she could get fast enough to do a grid location in full every hour, she would be done in just under two hundred thousand years. ¡­This is ridiculous. -Just a bit, yeah.- So¡­ figure out a different approach? Please? -I will do my best¡­ To be fair, though, you were diverting most power to augment the reality-nodes within your artificial lung. You¡¯re still doing that even now.- That¡¯s true. I do want it done soon, though. I¡¯m devoting a lot more power to it than I did for the sparring ring before. It should unify much sooner because of that. -That¡¯s true. It also gave us greater incentive to be more efficient with our cellular linking.- Also true. The combination of the two had made her completely forget about getting any rest. Tala didn¡¯t need to sleep every night, but she liked to grab at least a couple of hours whenever possible. She needed it even less after her most recent inscription update, but that didn¡¯t really change her mindset on the activity. Unfortunately, she¡¯d been so obsessively working on trying to make the process faster that she had run hard up against the time for breakfast with Rane and their defensive unit leaders. She¡¯d also gotten messages from master Lisa and Mistress Ingrit during the night. She and Rane had spoken with Ingrit a bit, beyond just stopping through the Archon Compound¡¯s Library to set up his Archive connection, but there hadn¡¯t been too much to do besides catch up and make sure there weren¡¯t any glaring issues with the current way of things. As it was, Mistress Ingrit was still gate-keeping Tala¡¯s memories against those who were interested, making sure that they had good reason and sufficient capacity to view them before arranging a workable price¡ªbe that in gold, favors owed, tasks accomplished, or information in exchange. That was all that Tala really needed from the woman, and she was grateful to not have to be handling any of that herself. The message had just been a confirmation of receipt of the most recent memories having to do with augmenting her own reality-nodes pull toward itself. A small note was appended to the end, asking Tala to be careful and set up safeguards if she chose to try anything like that again. Tala responded, assuring the woman that she would do just that. Master Lisa¡¯s message had simply said that he would consider the offer and asked for some more specific information to aid in his decision making process. So, altogether, the messages hadn¡¯t contained anything too groundbreaking. Tala arrived at the street outside of Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis¡¯ place at nearly the same time Rane did. That wasn¡¯t some sort of a cute coincidence either. They¡¯d been coordinating through the Archive in order to time their arrivals. Rane was getting much better at using his Archive connection, his new inscriptions coming into play to great effect in that regard. He hadn¡¯t ended up with an alternate interface like Alat quite yet. Instead, his own mental augmentations simply allowed him to process through his various mental tasks much more efficiently and quickly. The addition of the secondary consciousness would come later, once these augmentations had fully set. Alat had been a bit sad to learn that, but she knew that it was better to do it right than to force it early. She, herself, had grown and morphed over time, and it made sense that a different mind would need a different path to develop. Truthfully, most Archons never had anything like the inscriptions required for Alat. In many cases, it was because they weren¡¯t of a mental temperament for it to be feasible, but even more simply didn¡¯t see the need for a secondary consciousness taking up mental resources. True, it was nice to offload some things, but that wasn¡¯t required for most things by any stretch of the imagination. Both Tala and Alat readily admitted that the maintaining of Alat¡¯s separate consciousness within Tala¡¯s mind was a drain on their resources. They simply both agreed that having two consciousnesses to approach things was more efficient. Though, truthfully, that mainly meant that Alat worked on things in the background while Tala devoted her less expanded mind to maintaining their day to day activities and interactions. They both liked it that way even if not everyone would. The greatest additional benefit was a more robust protection against mind magics, but as those were vanishingly rare, helped along in no small part thanks to her own actions on her last day at the House of Blood, most people didn¡¯t see that as a factor. Tala most certainly did, even if she would likely never encounter such a threat again. Happy thoughts, Tala. Happy thoughts. All that to say, Rane had opted for the more common variations of mental enhancements and Archive connection as a first step, but he was hoping to bifurcate his consciousness in the future, when it made sense with his particular schema and mindset. Wait¡­ does that mean he¡¯s smarter than us? -No, dear, that means that he¡¯s smarter than you¡ªand probably a bit smarter than me¡ªin raw capacity, but no, he is not ¡®smarter¡¯ than us together.- Tala felt herself smile at that. Regardless, they arrived at basically the same time, exchanging a quick hug and a few words of greeting before they turned and knocked on the unit-leaders¡¯ door side by side. * * * The next two weeks passed without much to mark them, as Tala and Rane continued to spend intentional time together, as well as dedicated time apart to work on their own things. They met and dined with their friends and unit-mates around their duties and training, and generally just settled into the lives of Refined Defenders during a waning. Rane also took intentional care to invite Tala to spend time as just the two of them, whether that was a meal, a walk through the city or parks, a run through the countryside around Alefast, or even just a time sitting and reading or training side by side. If Tala was being honest, those times were usually the highlight of that day. Tala woke up this particular morning excited. She was going to be spending the afternoon with Rane, but it was what they¡¯d be doing that had her really excited this time. Her test wall-segments were ready for her perusal¡­ or they would be around noon. So, she had four hours before then, and then four hours to learn about the various aspects of the segments before her afternoon duty-shift. Alright. Breakfast first. Mistress Petra had a spread of food ready for her, which she dug into with gusto. It was as delectable as usual, though it had yet more magical power within. Kedva and Mistress Petra were working to improve the power-retention of the various imbued foods provided by Tala¡¯s sanctum, and they were actually beginning to have some real progress. After breakfast, Tala moved through her usual stretching and morning training, mentally and magically working on her augmentation of internal gravity throughout. She¡¯d taken a break from the reality-node augmentation within her artificial lung a few days earlier, even though she''d observed no ill effects. As to the augmentation of her internal gravity attractions, she and Alat had found some shortcuts so that she could actually complete ten grid-locations every hour with ease, even when otherwise engaged. Now, she was only looking forward to just shy of twenty thousand years of work. Progress is progress, we¡¯ve removed nearly one hundred eighty thousand years of work with only a few weeks of efficientizing and reconceptualizing. -That¡¯s right! We¡¯re awesome.- Looked at in that way, she should be able to finish rather quickly¡­ if she could continue to rearrange her thinking and figure out how to make it come together more quickly. One of the big changes that they¡¯d realized was to figure out everything that needed to be attracted toward thing A, and augment all of those gravitational constants at once, rather than trying to conceive of everything that A needed to be attracted toward. Honestly, that reframing alone had been most of her efficiency increase, and she felt like she was missing out on at least a couple more things that would increase her speed just as much. That would only leave me with two hundred years of work. -Hey! You¡¯ll live at least that long, more likely than not.- Yeah, there were still a lot of things to figure out. When noon finally came, she was already at the Constructionist Guild compound, allowing her to knock on the entrance to the testing room precisely on time. Terry was on her shoulder, and Rane was by her side, both boys seemingly quite excited to see what had been cooked up for her. Terry was likely interested because of the simple, fun nature of seeing new magical things. Rane had admitted that that was part of it for him as well, but he also had an eye toward his own mobile defensive segments, whenever he had earned enough to commission a set for himself. That¡¯s fine. I want him to be able to get what works the best for him, whether or not I think it works the best for me, or if the ideas came from my own commissioned pieces. Honestly, to want otherwise would be a bit silly. Who would want their friend to be weaker just because an idea that could make them stronger wasn¡¯t original or theirs to begin with? How much more so with someone who was more than a friend? As to why he wanted them? Well, they would be useful in the Leshkin war, which they both fully intended to participate in. Before that, there would be cells in which they were useful, and there were uncounted one-off times they might be useful. Most of those could be handled by Tala having a set, but he had expressed a desire for his own, and Tala saw no reason to argue. The doors swung open at Tala¡¯s knock, revealing quite an interesting scene before them. Chapter: 438 - Modular Defenses Tala stood beside Rane¡ªTerry on her shoulder¡ªlooking into the massive room, arranged so that she could make the necessary choices for her modular defensive wall segments. There were a couple of wall segments free standing at the far side of the room, but they were different sizes, and Tala didn¡¯t quite know what they were meant to demonstrate. Most of the room, however, was filled with various magics, mechanisms, and materials that looked to be in various stages of construction or deconstruction, laid out for demonstration and elucidation. At least that is what she assumed. Master Bunas stood before them¡ªhaving just opened the door¡ªgiving a shallow bow. ¡°Welcome, Mistress Tala, Master Rane.¡± They both bowed in return, Terry easily holding on through the small motion. ¡°Come in, come in.¡± Master Bunas seemed incredibly excited. ¡°We have so much to show you.¡± He first led them to one of the half-finished pieces. The cross section of wall, at least where it was exposed, contained an odd sort of mechanism, and Master Bunas began by introducing a young looking woman who bowed as deeply as her Fused aura indicated was appropriate. ¡°This is Mistress Stiwaf. I will let her explain her contribution.¡± Mistress Stiwaf bowed again. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala, for the opportunity to work on your defensive structure. Whether you use my ideas or not, I appreciate the chance to explore some of the interesting possibilities opened by your unique magics.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Sure. I¡¯m interested in what you have. Care to take us through?¡± The woman turned and gestured to the slightly exposed mechanism, and then a second example of it, this time free of the wall. ¡°As you can see, there is a thin, long horizontal slit in the wall, narrowing toward this device. The purpose of the mechanism is to prep each metal plate¡ªone after another¡ªto align with the slit. And as you can see here,¡± she gestured to the back of the mechanism, ¡°it then also displays a designation for each plate, letting you know how many are left, and which specific one is aligned for use.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°For¡­ use?¡± ¡°Yes. When I heard you describe your scale mail hauberk, this idea came to mind.¡± She immediately connected the dots. ¡°You want me to augment the gravity of each plate toward its mount, then change the target when it is aligned properly. That would fire it forth like a ballista bolt.¡± Mistress Stiwaf grinned. ¡°Precisely. As you can see, we designed these segments to be interchangeable so you can create as many of these as you want and then switch them out when one is empty.¡± Tala¡¯s mind was spinning. This was brilliant. The mechanism would allow for easy queuing up of the projectiles. With her increased mental capacity, she could likely fire hundreds of whatever the projectiles were every minute. -Even faster if we were well practiced and if the naming schema was something easy to iterate through.- Yeah¡­ The Fused seemed to be getting nervous at Tala¡¯s continued silence, but before the woman could get too flustered, Tala nodded and responded, ¡°This is amazing. Can you make these emplacements and interchangeable¡­quivers? What do you call them?¡± ¡°Magazines, Mistress. I named them after the similar mechanisms we create for multi-shot crossbows for the Guard.¡± ¡°Excellent. Can you make these magazines for round projectiles as well?¡± The woman gave a slow nod. ¡°I think so. I would need an example of the desired items in order to work out the kinks.¡± ¡°I call it a siege orb. If, somehow, you can break the magic on that, don¡¯t. Doing so would end badly for anyone nearby.¡± Tala held out her hand and an unpaired siege orb dropped downward for Mistress Stiwaf to catch. To her credit, the Fused did try to catch it, but it slipped through her fingers before dropping to the floor. Rane almost lazily kicked out his foot and touched the sphere right above the ground. The siege orb stopped in place, his shoe pressed against the side, his magics flowing through it to rob the object of kinetic energy. He grinned over at Tala. ¡°I think you forgot how heavy those are.¡± She grinned back sheepishly. ¡°Right.¡± Mistress Stiwaf raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s quite a bit heavier than I realized.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I know you told us the specification, but I definitely wasn¡¯t thinking of them.¡± She squatted down and got a good grip around the siege orb before Rane pulled his foot and magics back. Grunting, she stood and carried the sphere over to a table and carefully placed it in a recessed portion. The table creaked a bit, but held. The Fused nodded seriously, examining the item where it rested. ¡°I do remember you mentioning these. I apologize for not considering them.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m just glad that I have some physical enhancement, or I wouldn¡¯t even be able to study it safely.¡± Tala waved that off. ¡°This is already excellent. There is no need for apologies.¡± ¡°I assume that you would have the same need of something for them to gravitate to before you can switch the target of their attraction and send them forth?¡± ¡°Yes. Thank you.¡± ¡°Alright. I can work with that.¡± ¡°Now, as to the mechanism on the whole, I would like a few changes.¡± ¡°Certainly. What can we do for you?¡± Tala grinned. ¡°First, I don¡¯t need an external display. Assume that I can see through physical objects near me sufficiently to not require that.¡± ¡°Oh! Is that a change? I thought I remembered you saying that while you can see through things near to you, sometimes you have difficulty distinguishing details. My aim was to remove the chance for misreading and thus mis-launching.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°That was true, but I¡¯ve worked out the issue.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± Mistress Stiwaf did, indeed, take out an Archive slate and note that down. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°If you can simply make perfectly sized cavities for these magazines, I can open my dimensional storage at the bottom to drop out empty ones, and then at the top to put in new, filled ones.¡± ¡°Oh! That¡¯s amazing. Yes, we can do that. Few have that level of fidelity. While I would normally recommend letting it be something that others can reload for you, in this case¡ªsince you are already the only one who can activate these weapons¡ªyour suggestion should actually be superior.¡± Tala nodded with a grin. ¡°I look forward to seeing what you come up with.¡± Mistress Stiwaf was considering. ¡°I think we can fit one plate flinger and two siege orb reserves in each wall segment without reducing integrity too much. It does depend on what size of modular frame you choose, but we can work with it either way. How does that sound?¡± ¡°That sounds like I¡¯ll have a lot of magazines to fill and empower.¡± She grinned at the woman. ¡°Excellent. That sounds excellent.¡± The Fused chuckled. ¡°Quite a lot, most likely, yes. They will be interchangeable between wall segments, so at least that will be in your favor.¡± ¡°Definitely, thank you.¡± Master Bunas gave a small bow toward his subordinate. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Stiwaf.¡± She bowed in return. ¡°It was my pleasure. I¡¯ll get to work on the new designs immediately.¡± With that, Master Bunas led Tala and Rane to the next station where a man and a woman were waiting. ¡°These are Mistress Ceangal and Master Nascad.¡± The two gave slight bows, as to fellow Refined. Master Nascad spoke first, ¡°We found the white steel you provided to be wonderfully useful in many applications, but what grabbed our attention most was¡­¡± he gestured to his partner. Mistress Ceangal smiled, gesturing in turn to the demonstration pieces. ¡°If we put pieces of the magical steel through the wall, with catches in various places, then when you deploy the defense, sections of metal on each set of adjoining wall segments will be in contact.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Tala¡¯s eyes widened yet again. ¡°Oh!¡± Mistress Ceangal nodded. ¡°I see that Mistress has understood. With a simple application of power¡­¡± The Refined extended her magic outward into the test pieces and they fused into a singular whole. ¡°As you can see, that would then unify the adjoining segments. Another application of power can undo the connection, allowing for these to be retractable far more easily than our standard loadout. Each wall segment is equipped with catches on all sides, and the white steel also allows for those to be retracted when not needed, once the battlement is fully deployed.¡± Rane let out a low whistle. ¡°Oh, yeah. I want that too.¡± Master Nascad chuckled. ¡°I think everyone will, honestly. There will be a high demand for this metal as soon as word gets around.¡± Tala frowned slightly. ¡°Is there no danger of an enemy unlinking the segments and weakening the defense?¡± Mistress Ceangal nodded. ¡°That was a concern, but we have enacted several countermeasures. One of the main things will be to keep aura superiority over your own wall. If you lose that, an unlinking of the segments will be the least of your concerns, regardless.¡± That was true enough. ¡°We have also included the most basic form of the standard linking spellforms. You can use those in order to add a small amount of extra strength to unification of the defense, but the main purpose will be to allow you to still link up with others¡¯ mobile defenses at need.¡± ¡°Clever.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress.¡± ¡°Yes, I would like this as part of my modules.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The two shared a look before Master Nascad cleared his throat and spoke up, ¡°That will mean that we need a significant amount of this metal.¡± Tala sighed and nodded. ¡°Send me a request for the material through the Archive, and I¡¯ll get it to you.¡± The two bowed. ¡°Thank you, Mistress.¡± From there, Tala, Rane, Terry, and Master Bunas moved on to two Mages who had been working on an aura enhancement schema that would mesh well with Tala¡¯s specific aura, thus causing the walls to be able to be used to add robustness to her aura at need. With the white steel as a core component of her modular wall segments, it made her aura supremacy all the more important and these particular workings even more key toward long-term defense. Beyond that, there were groups working on the defensive magics to be embedded into the outer layers that would resist or counter physical and magical attacks directly. One school of thought was to use magics which would help distribute incoming force and energies in order to give the wall greater cohesion and durability. The other option was to specifically make ablative layers that would fully absorb any damage before crumbling away, leaving the deeper sections utterly untouched. Rane, Tala, Master Bunas, and the other Mages had a rather in-depth discussion and debate on the topic. It took a couple of hours and a lot of the other Constructionists joined in, but it really boiled down to a fairly simple dichotomy, humorously similar to Tala¡¯s thoughts and discussions about her own, personal armor. Ablative defense was excellent for dealing with damage dealt at range over relatively short durations. If it could be easily repaired or replaced, then the short duration caveat was mitigated. It was, however, very poor at defending against sustained damage or close quarters conflict. On the other side, unified defenses that stood or fell all as one were superb for resisting a lot of small attacks, sustained damage, or close range hits. With that in mind, it became rather obvious that a defensive structure should have a mix, and be biased toward the former. In close, attackers would be pushed back by¡ªand under constant assault from¡ªdefenders, and with the emplacements that would be in Tala¡¯s walls, specifically, she should be dealing with far more attackers from afar than close up. That said, they decided that Tala¡¯s fortifications should have the backing of unified defense, so that her walls couldn¡¯t be reduced to nothing simply by wearing away the ablative parts. Additionally, that configuration made it reasonable to tie all the connected pieces together for the unified block, so that any section that had its ¡®long range¡¯ defense worn through would then have the backing of the whole structure to keep itself whole. She definitely would have wanted to have it sectioned out, if they had gone with a purely ¡®unified defensive¡¯ model. Thus, it was a good compromise in the end. This was a bit different than others did, but everyone had their own way of thinking and styles of fighting and defense. Regardless, they all agreed¡ªsome more grudgingly than others¡ªthat this would work best for Tala¡¯s purposes. Finally, they got to the material components. Which was¡­ far more in-depth than Tala ever really wanted to go and contained far more information than she ever really wanted to know. She listened to the various shear strengths, compression durability, and ductility properties for some of the proposed materials, but in the end, she asked them to make the best choice they could given the parameters they had already discussed. One interesting thing that came from the knowledge however, was the fact that, apparently, some Mages were willing to make their defensive segments out of living wood. In that way, the walls would essentially be planted when deployed. They would self-repair and were far more durable in protracted engagements, but they were effectively one-use. Tala nixed that particular line of potentials, just in case they were leaning that way for some reason. It wasn¡¯t until they got to the final, fully built test section that Tala really understood the magnitude of this whole undertaking. It was using stand-in materials, but even so, it was an impressive construct. The block of the wall was reminiscent of a ten foot cube, with a wall-walk on top and crenellations to protect anyone on the wall-walk. It wasn¡¯t quite a perfect cube as it was canted in such a way that the outer slope was inverted, and there was a bit of a slope on the inside to allow for defenders to slide down that face in the case of an emergency. Also, in the front, there was an indentation that was the negative of the crenellations above. As it turned out, the wall-segments were designed to be stacked if more height was needed. The advice was to build an entire fortification one segment high before building upward to maintain stability throughout. She had seen the thing on the far side of the room when she entered. She just hadn¡¯t really considered it as being a single segment. ¡°These¡­¡± She looked up at the block that was nearly twice her height. ¡°These are larger than those that I¡¯ve seen before.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes. This is the largest we make them, and we wanted to show you that first. Here.¡± Master Bunas gestured to a much smaller segment, which was reminiscent of a five foot cube. ¡°This is the smallest we generally make them. They are more expensive to make at this size and the emplacements that Mistress Stiwaf is making for you will have to be reconsidered, but we can go with anything between these two.¡± He smiled. ¡°Note that for both sizes, you can abut them front to back as well, making any size with an interval of the block size. The five foot versions are more versatile but also more costly to create.¡± Tala nodded, acknowledging his statement. Even so, she didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°The five-foot versions, please. I want more versatility.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, she added. ¡°But I think I¡¯ll only want one emplacement in each section that has one, and only about half of them to have them. I will still want some emplacements of each type. That way, I can configure their placement at need.¡± ¡°Very good, Mistress Tala.¡± He then led them over to a place where there were wedges of wall. ¡°These are how you can do corners. Conversely, we can construct towers that are able to accommodate varying angles of connection to allow for different configurations as well as points of greater defense.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not that versed in fortress warfare. What purpose do towers serve, specifically?¡± ¡°Generally, they give defenders the ability to get better angles of attack on those assaulting the walls. They are bastions of greater protection for defenders, places from which to sally forth at need, and to retreat into in case of disaster. They provide a greater height for observing the enemy. They are also a means of reinforcing what otherwise might be a weaker part of the fortification as corners are usually less robust than the flat surfaces of the wall.¡± Tala nodded along, but after a moment¡¯s consideration, she shook her head. ¡°I think I won¡¯t want towers for now. Tell me about the wedges?¡± ¡°The wedges are designed in variable increments, to be integrated with spells of joining or the white steel. With them, you can even make a full circle if you truly wish, but that would not be where they are strongest.¡± ¡°Alright. Now, what about overarching workings?¡± Master Bunas nodded at that. ¡°We do often integrate things like magical shielding that can encompass an entire formation once the circle is complete.¡± They talked through those options, and Tala made her selections. After that, they discussed a gate, and Mistress Ceangal noted that with the white steel, Tala could rather easily shift any segment to allow for the entry and exit of those she wished to pass through. That way, they wouldn¡¯t be introducing the weakness of a gate or gatehouse. Tala easily agreed, and that was that. All her choices had been made. Rane had extensive notes, and Terry had mostly gotten a long nap, even if he had perked up and flickered about a bit to see what was going on before he settled back in to sleep. Master Bunas bowed to Tala once again before gesturing, causing every Constructionist present to bow. ¡°Thank you for your time. We will get to work on the true segments immediately.¡± He glanced toward Mistress Stiwaf and the woman held up two fingers. ¡°Expect your first delivery of magazines to empower within two weeks.¡± Tala bowed in return, joined in the gesture by Rane. Terry simply maintained his grip, seemingly continuing his nap. ¡°Thank you all. I believe this will be quite useful, when I am called on to deploy it.¡± ¡°We will require quite a lot of the white steel. That will be the greatest limiter on our progress.¡± ¡°Understood. I will devote what resources I can to production. It is not a cheap material to fabricate, could you give an estimate of its market value?¡± Master Bunas frowned. ¡°Well, initially it will be in much demand, but I imagine that that will settle down eventually. Even so, it will never be worthless.¡± He considered a moment longer before stating a price. ¡°And I suspect that it will initially command nearly ten times that.¡± Tala paled slightly. Oh, I¡¯ve been a fool. I should have been making as much of this as I could for as long as possible. -No kidding.- Rane cleared his throat. ¡°I think it would be wise to talk with Master Grediv. He would likely sponsor the creation of the amount you need in exchange for the right to purchase a set amount on a preferential basis.¡± Master Bunas was nodding. ¡°And if the esteemed Paragon does not wish to make such a deal with you, I know that the Constructionist Guild would be happy to.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he added. ¡°If you are willing, we would happily be a secondary party to negotiate with, if you choose to open the doors to multiple offers.¡± Tala nodded slowly. Please send a message to Master Simon, Adrill, Kedva, and Brandon. I¡¯m going to need them to negotiate this for me. Artia would have the skills I need, but she¡¯s still running her shop and doesn¡¯t actually work for me. -Done!- Tala gave a small bow, then. ¡°Thank you, once again.¡± They bowed in return as Tala and Rane left. Chapter: 439 - The First Time Tala sat in a sturdy¡ªyet still comfortable¡ªchair across from Rane. The room was away from anywhere public, though there were some windows that looked out over Alefast from their high vantage. They had both given their new inscriptions two full months in order to have time to set properly and become properly intermeshed with their natural magics. Even so, they were both a bit nervous as it was their first time, but they were excited too. -You could still lay down. From what I can find most people prefer it that way.- Tala sent Alat a negative feeling in response to that. No. I think sitting up will be better. I think I¡¯ll feel less vulnerable like this. She¡¯d even made sure that she was facing the door, for all the good that would do. Her focus would be entirely subverted soon enough. So she doubted that the direction she faced or the position she was in would matter in the least. -I¡¯ll be monitoring our threefold sight¡¯s volume of perception and keeping it from you so that you can focus. I¡¯ll let you know if you aren¡¯t safe or if there are any potential threats.- I know¡­ Maybe laying down would be better¡­ but she was already there, already in place, and Rane was ready as well. He smiled over at her. ¡°Are you nervous too?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Master Grediv¡ªthe only other person in the room¡ªsighed. ¡°There is nothing to be nervous about. You will be perfectly safe and unless you are a true genius¡ªbeyond even what we¡¯ve already observed¡ªyou will be back out sooner than you¡¯d prefer.¡± He smiled. ¡°I suspect you¡¯ll be begging for round two all too soon.¡± ¡°That may be true.¡± She shifted slightly, then nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m ready.¡± Across from her, Rane leaned his head back against its rest. ¡°Ready.¡± Spellforms blazed to life both in the room as a whole and on the chairs themselves, and Tala felt magics invading her mind. There was a moment of panic in which she almost lashed out to destroy the incoming power, but Alat was there, calming her from within. -Hey now, Tala. You know what this is. This is expected. You are safe.- Her breathing was rapid nonetheless. I know. I know. This is the War Games. This will give me insight into how other Mages wield their power. It should also, eventually, allow me to test my own power against things and opponents that are too rare to usually come across, or too dangerous to clash with unaware or unprepared. It will allow me to learn and fail without any lasting consequences. -That¡¯s right.- The world around her went¡­ empty as Alat took over and blocked out Tala¡¯s threefold sight. It was as if all of existence had been masked, or she pulled out of it entirely. Additionally, the magics permeating her mind took over her connections to the external, hijacking them to feed her other information. Tala blinked and found herself standing on a featureless plain. She looked down and saw a body holding up her head, but it wasn¡¯t hers. Instead, she was a much taller woman, built for battle and lacking any magics. Tala felt a shudder run through herself as her mind momentarily rebelled. There were no magics, no inscriptions, not even any natural magics. The feeling was foreign, alien, and odd to the extreme. Master Grediv¡¯s voice came to her a moment later, seeming to echo across the plains with no discernable source, ¡°We¡¯ve found that giving Archons a magically empty body for their first scenarios helps them to adjust before we impose differing magics for them to have to acclimate to and seize control of.¡± She nodded. That made sense. ¡°So, why am I taller?¡± ¡°That is simply the generic female we have set up. Do you need me to alter it to more closely mirror your actual proportions? We will be changing you to mimic the size and build of whoever¡¯s magic you are using later on, elsewise we¡¯d have to come up with entirely new schema in every instance, and no one has time for that.¡± She thought for a long moment, then shook her head. ¡°No, but thank you for offering.¡± Weapons suddenly blossomed into being around her. ¡°Choose what you¡¯d like to use.¡± Tala easily grabbed a glaive that was almost identical to Flow¡¯s glaive form. ¡°Alright, your weapon is chosen. Let us begin.¡± The world fuzzed around her, and she was in a forest clearing. From the darkness of the woods around her, she heard the growling hiss of a large feline predator. She strained her eyes, but she couldn¡¯t see her opponent. She couldn¡¯t pinpoint where the threat would come from, and even the noise was such that she couldn¡¯t tell where its source was exactly. This left her spinning, trying to keep well balanced and prepared for an attack to come at any time from any direction. It¡­ didn¡¯t work. She didn¡¯t even hear the creature lunge before it slammed into her back, bearing her to the ground even as it bit into the back of her neck ¡®killing¡¯ her. Tala jerked up, out of the chair, gasping and scrambling at her back, but of course, there was nothing there. Master Grediv was beside her in an instant. ¡°You are safe. You are here. Calm. Be easy.¡± Tala had already gathered her wits and stopped flailing, but she appreciated his words nonetheless. She hugged herself and shuddered. ¡°That was awful.¡± He nodded. ¡°That is the experience of most mundanes who get separated from others in the Wilds.¡± She grimaced at that. ¡°Yeah, I know that to be mundane and lost is to be dead¡­ I could have done without the visceral experience though¡­¡± To take her focus off her recent experience, she glanced toward Rane. His eyes were moving under his eyelids, but his breathing was level, and he seemed in complete control. ¡°He seems to be doing well.¡± Master Grediv shrugged. ¡°He entered the woods almost immediately rather than staying in the clearing. If the goal is simply to survive as long as possible, it wasn¡¯t a bad choice, but it definitely tilts the eventual outcome in the predator¡¯s favor. Even now, the cat is stalking him. It will only take a bit longer in order to¡­ Ah. There it is.¡± Rane jerked, and his eyes shot open with an accompanying gasp. ¡°Rusting puma!¡± Tala felt herself smile slightly at that, and her humor was helped by Rane shaking his head even as he shook with laughter. ¡°That was¡­ that was awful.¡± He was laughing even so. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how terrible I was at that.¡± She nodded her agreement. ¡°Yeah, me too¡­ What¡¯s the purpose of this again?¡± Master Grediv gave a long-suffering smile. Tala hesitated, then sighed. ¡°I apologize, that sounded really ungrateful. Thank you, Master Grediv, for setting this up for us. I¡¯m feeling a bit muddled. Can you remind me why this is such a good thing? If you would be so kind.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He huffed a laugh at that but answered nonetheless, ¡°First, as I said, it is to prime you for a change of magics, even if just cognitively. There is the ancillary benefit of connecting you back to the experience of mundanes. Though, in the case of you two, that is far less critical than with Refined who are already centuries old.¡± That did make sense. Even so, she was still mentally reeling, even if only a bit. So, she decided to just ask, ¡°But¡­ why do we want to be able to change magics?¡± Master Grediv gave her a searching look, then shrugged, not seeming to mind a rehashing of the reasoning, ¡°Well, for one it will allow you to test out variations on your own magics¡ªif you so desire. But the primary reason we use it is to give Refined a deeper understanding of the various magics that others can have, how they function, what their limits are, how to use them in battle, and how to counter them when they are used against you. It also allows you to face more dangerous variations of magical creatures in a controlled environment, giving you a greater chance of survival if you encounter them in the real world.¡± ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s mainly a cognitive exercise, with extra oomph?¡± That made a lot of sense to her, actually. ¡°In a sense, yes. Generally speaking, we¡¯ve found that Refined who go through this training¡ªespecially those who keep up the regular maintenance of the skills¡ªhave a higher rate of survival, and tend to advance closer to Paragon, on average. The insight gained helps across the board, really.¡± She sighed, already suspecting she wouldn¡¯t like the answer, but she asked anyways, ¡°Right¡­ why didn¡¯t we start me on this a year ago? Assuming it was available then.¡± The Paragon gave a nonchalant shrug, ¡°It might have been, though I don¡¯t know that you were in the right mindset for it, after your arcane experience. That aside though, you were working on a vast number of other projects as well as training and acclimating yourself to the position of Defender. We probably could have, but it would have been one more thing. I believe our last discussion highlighted that you didn¡¯t need one more thing.¡± He then smiled. ¡°Also, as a Refined, you don¡¯t exactly have a shortage of time in the long view. Delaying this until now kept your load lighter and will still convey the same benefits, if not more so because it isn¡¯t crammed in among other things.¡± She grunted at that. It was a fair assessment. She focused back on the War Games, then. ¡°So, are we adjusted now? We can try out other magics?¡± The Paragon chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°Oh, no, not at all. You will each need to defeat the singular predator before we can move on. It is already a fairly good showing that you have actually acclimated to the false-self within the simulation.¡± She felt her eye twitch, but controlled her reaction, keeping her tone level. ¡°And what will we be doing then? What will happen after we defeat this singular predator?¡± ¡°Then, the two of you will fight side by side against an unknown number of adversaries. When that is complete, you will face different opponents both alone and side by side.¡± Tala took a long slow breath before asking¡ªforcing sweetness into her tone, ¡°And when will we be given other magics to work with?¡± ¡°After you overcome a total of twenty-five scenarios. That is what we have found is needed to fully convince the mind that your illusory, other self shouldn¡¯t match the real you.¡± He gave her a comforting smile. ¡°This really is the fastest way we know of. You can treat it like a bit of a game, many of our Refined do in the end. It can be relaxing in a way.¡± She grumbled a bit, but it did make sense¡­ at least a bit. But it raised another question, ¡°What about the Refined who aren¡¯t very good at mundane combat? I know Rane and I are melee fighters at our core, but most Defenders aren¡¯t.¡± Master Grediv smiled in return. ¡°That is an excellent question. We also have non-combat scenarios, but I think it would take you longer to make a series of mundane crafts. I could also throw you into a wrestling arena, striving for the championship or set you to run an obstacle course in a set time.¡± He shrugged. ¡°There are innumerable variations and options, but this seemed like the one best suited to the two of you.¡± That was actually a rather fair assessment. ¡°Alright. Thank you for the explanation¡­ let¡¯s try this again.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°Yeah. I feel like I can learn quite a bit in there, even if having a shorter reach is more difficult.¡± Tala almost laughed. Of course he¡¯s shorter in the simulation than in real life. A smile still pulled at her lips, and she somehow felt a bit better about the whole process. With that lingering good attitude, the second round began. * * * Tala did not like fighting as a mundane, but she had to admit it did raise her opinion of the Caravan Guards quite a bit. They did this in real life¡­ on purpose. It probably didn¡¯t help that she strove to use the heavily hampered Way of Flowing Blood to accomplish her victory. She hadn¡¯t felt her body scream at her in irritation to this extent in years. Still, it did help her iron out and then cement some elements of her glaive work that she realized that she¡¯d been propping up through physical capacity and other less than ideal means. Grudgingly, she admitted that she would probably ask to come in here with her own body-shape¡ª without magic¡ªso that she could finalize her work with the glaive then do the same with the sword and knife. But that was for later. She had finally managed to consistently face the massive, sleek cat as it tried to attack her, but that still left her facing a predator that was easily as big as she was. It wasn¡¯t magical or arcanous, but it was far, far too aggressive to be a standard mundane beast. She had gotten to the point that she was able to keep it at bay with her glaive, but that was where she had stalled. She couldn¡¯t thrust too aggressively, or that might unbalance her and allow the cat to close with her. She couldn¡¯t do sweeping cuts for the same reason. It was quick, seemingly ducking and dodging with preternatural ease. There was no way a mundane feline was this slippery¡­ Or I¡¯m just slow¡­ Yeah, that was more likely to be the issue. Still, she had scored several shallow cuts this round without taking any wounds in turn. Unfortunately, she was wearing out. In an experience that was far too foreign to her of late¡ªthough it was becoming common in these simulations¡ªshe wasn¡¯t just getting winded or a bit sore. No. She was nearly exhausted to the point that she was having a hard time moving her weapon. Well, it seems that I can¡¯t out fight it. My only option, then, is that I¡¯ll have to out think it. Just then, she stepped on yet another slick patch of forest which gave her an idea. Instead of wrenching herself to stay upright, she allowed herself to fall, gasping to sell the ruse. Her glaive dropped to the ground still pointed at the beast, but seemingly out of the equation for the moment. She felt a moment of weakness that almost made the faint feint all-too-real, but she hardened her resolve. A more cautious predator might have hesitated, might have noticed that she still had an obvious, firm grip on her weapon, but this large cat was not cautious. The aggression that Tala had counted on showed itself again, and the cat lunged forward. At the same moment, Tala heaved with everything she had to lift her glaive once again. There was an incredibly satisfying sound of her blade punching through flesh and skittering off bones to align with the gaps and drive deeper. That was followed by a mildly disturbing gurgling hiss. It only took a moment more, and the beast was dead. Tala opened her eyes in the real world grinning widely. ¡°Yes!¡± She rolled parts of her body even as she remained seated to move stiff joints and looked at the window¡­ the dark window. She¡¯d been at this all day. Well¡­ rust. Rane smiled over at her from his own chair. ¡°Do you want to try working together? Or should we get some food, some sleep, and come at that challenge fresh tomorrow?¡± She sighed. Of course he finished before I did¡­ She didn¡¯t let that get her down, though. ¡°I think I could use some sleep, but let¡¯s meet up early tomorrow morning to try our hand at the next scenario. It should be fun to be mundanes, partnering up.¡± * * * Tala stood beside a man who was just a bit taller than her, in a clearing deep within some unnamed woods. If there are more rusting pumas, I might have a name for these rusting woods. The man didn¡¯t look like Rane at all, but she knew that he was Rane. He stood like Rane, and the way he carried his long sword was exactly what she would have expected from him. More than that, though, he felt like Rane in some intangible way that she simply couldn¡¯t quantify. He looked her way, speaking with Rane¡¯s voice. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re just obviously you.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Who else would I be?¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°A puma in disguise.¡± His face twitched, and he looked around, doing a quick check for danger. ¡°Oh, good. They aren¡¯t here yet.¡± Still, Tala and Rane could hear movement in the woods around them. The time for dillydallying was over. Rane made the obvious suggestion first, ¡°Back to back?¡± She considered for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yeah, but a few feet apart. I need to be able to wield my glaive without accidently hitting you.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± He gave her an oddly familiar smile on the unfamiliar face. Deciding it wasn¡¯t worth focusing on, she simply smiled in return. A moment later, they had put their backs toward one another while leaving a workable gap. Then, they waited. What lunged out at them was not, in fact, a large cat. As Tala jammed her glaive through its hideous face, taking it from the air before letting it fall and finishing it off with a driving thrust into the ground, she felt a wave of revulsion. She couldn¡¯t help but express her disgust out loud, ¡°Giant spiders? Really?¡± Rane grunted in agreement, but then came to his former master¡¯s defense, even if only slightly, ¡°He did say that the enemies would be different¡­¡± Tala was not having it, ¡°Well, these things are ugly as rust. How many do you think¡ª¡± Rane let out a sharp exhale as he slashed one of the dog sized arachnids that tried to leap onto him with a silent lunge. ¡°More than two, it seems. Focus outward, we can get angry at Master Grediv later.¡± She tightened her grip on the shaft of her glaive, ¡°Agreed.¡± Chapter: 440 - Prepare for the Days to Come Tala stood before the armorers with a bit of quiet sadness. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Master Armach nodded. ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala. No matter how we approach it, your armor works better if you only implement ablative plates at need, interposing them in between yourself and incoming attacks. Otherwise, they are unnecessary complexity that actually work less well in many scenarios.¡± She and Alat were reviewing their tests and analyses, and she had to agree with the man. ¡°I do appreciate the extensiveness of the tests.¡± He smiled wanly. ¡°We know how much you liked your current structure. So, we attempted to find a way of keeping as close to it as possible.¡± ¡°It just wasn¡¯t possible.¡± She sighed, nodding in understanding. It did make sense, now that she really considered it. Ablative armor was best for dealing with long-range, burst damage, the exact type of attack that she was rather likely to see coming, all things considered. ¡°We do recommend that you become practiced at building your latticed, ablative armor plates quickly. That will let it be the most useful. In fact, doing so over a shield would be ideal, as it would give a strong backing and help shrug off some of the damage¡­ assuming it was a properly designed and constructed shield.¡± She nodded again. ¡°Alright. Now, let¡¯s go over what you all have come up with.¡± The next hours passed both quickly¡ªin that they were incredibly full¡ªand slowly¡ªbecause it was very minute, focused work. Tala ended up with thick white steel armor with an interconnected network of iron within. In that way, she could aspect mirror Flow¡¯s resilience onto the iron at need, while relying on the white steel in most cases. Beneath it, her padding was made of the wolf fur that she¡¯d absorbed from the Anatalin. As to looks, it was reminiscent of mundane full-plate. In her case, however, there weren¡¯t really joints as the metal could flow with essentially no resistance or restriction when she had power flowing through it. Indeed, that was the trick. She had to keep her elk leathers filled with enough power that the extruded¡ªbut still connected¡ªwhite steel armor would move exactly as she wished and expected. This allowed it to bend and flex without any inhibition of her movements while remaining utterly rigid against attacks of any kind. Another thing that had taken so long¡ªand indeed took the greatest portion of the time that day¡ªwas the understanding of what should happen to each joint, should any given part be hit while she was trying to move it. Each joint responded differently, and in different ways depending on the angle and severity of the hit, not to mention what portion of the joint took the hit. The end result was amazing. She looked to have been dipped in the white metal, entirely hidden and sheltered within, as she obviously didn¡¯t need eye slits or breathing holes. At the moment, she was also keeping her through-spike illusions suppressed for ease of observation by the armorers working with her. When she moved, the metal seamlessly flowed along with the movement. It was only when one of the assistants struck her that the armor looked any different. At the moment of the hit, the white steel would take on an aspect like plate armor with interlocking pieces that allowed easy movement while maintaining protection designed specifically to excel against the particular attack which triggered the reaction. The protection would be slightly less than the more liquid-seeming form, but as each configuration was designed for the specific hit, it should never suffer from that weakness from singular attacks. Where it could become an issue was if an opponent was able to attack intelligently twice at the same time, or if a group of enemies were able to coordinate sufficiently to create openings, but that was the weakness of basically any defense. She had easily memorized the required structures down to the molecular level for each joint in each defensive arrangement. The main issue had come in gaining at least the basic level of training to force her will to enact the memorized structures without conscious thought. Alat helped some with that, but they didn¡¯t want her to have to be consciously involved either. It took some time, but finally, they were all satisfied that she had achieved a basic level of proficiency with at least the most common responsive structures. More would simply take time and training. With that accomplished, Tala really focused on herself and how her new armor actually looked. In all honesty, now that she¡¯d taken the time to really look, Tala marveled at herself from her external perspectives. She still looked vaguely feminine, but only just so. She still had two arms, two legs, and a featureless head, but otherwise, she looked utterly inhuman. Her fingers melded together when close together, only pulling apart to be separately armored at need. Her feet were thickly sheathed as part of the rest of the protection. She also felt like she looked a bit too¡­ sterile, a bit too like an unfinished doll. Or an automaton¡­ -Here, this is something they suggested for that.- Alat pulled up some of the ancillary notes for improvements or optional features that the armorers had put together while testing the other facets of her complete armor. Oh! I like that. Tala pulled some of her iron dust to the superficial, embedding it uniformly across the surface of the white steel until the whole thing looked gray. That made the armor a bit less blindingly white, but otherwise, it wasn¡¯t much better. She still didn¡¯t like the uniformity. For fun, she shifted the iron into the spellform that she¡¯d worked out for lining her artificial lungs¡ªthe one that imbued the air affected with dissolution magics. These would obviously not have that effect, unfortunately. With the lines being composed of solid iron, they wouldn¡¯t be able to be used for anything¡ªand being on a humanoid shape instead of a near perfect sphere, they didn¡¯t mesh quite correctly to be functional even if they had been otherwise usable¡ªregardless, the end result looked far more polished than the uniform white or gray had previously. To add to that, she followed another suggestion from the armorers and lined the inside with a thin layer of iron between the wolf-fur lining and her skin. It was odd to not have anything underneath the armor¡ªgiven the lining was attached to the metal more than her¡ªbut as the armor was her elk leathers, it could hardly be considered going naked. Now, she had iron between the two, so she was really not naked. She felt the expected pressure of power building within and actually took comfort from the feeling. It really has been too long. Shortly thereafter, manifestations of her natural magics blossomed into being just away from the surface of the armor. As usual, they weren¡¯t spellforms per se. Instead, they were simply existence itself bending to acknowledge the weight of her magics. As stunning as the effect was¡ªand as much as it could intimidate many a lesser opponent¡ªTala was now aware of just how much it could harm her against any who were more intelligent and knowledgeable of magical lines. A sufficiently knowledgeable opponent could read her manifested spell-lines like a book and choose how to attack her based on what was learned. The Anatalins certainly could. She still occasionally got twinges¡ªthe feeling of teeth clamping down on her¡ªbut she dismissed it as usual, putting it out of her mind before the feelings had fully manifested. Still, most of the time, allowing the manifestation would work quite well¡ªit would certainly let her get back to increasing her density at a greater rate¡ªand with the iron spell-line like embellishments on the surface of the armor itself, it was actually somewhat hard to pick out the specifics. In fact¡­ do you see that? You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. -I do, yeah.- Wherever the light-like manifested lines came near the iron interweavings, the light altered, not quite blurring, but definitely reacting to the magic-reflecting iron between them and the inscriptions and natural magics that caused them. Did I just make a scrambler for my magical manifestations? -You just might have.- Tala flagged down Master Armach and asked him about it. That started a flurry of activity as the various Archons scanned her with their Archive slates and tried to deduce her magics based on what they could detect. Finally, the head Constructionist had to concede. ¡°I cannot make heads or tails of your magics based on the manifestations shown. You should be safe to use it in this form.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Even with your full schema already in the Archive for us to compare to, we can¡¯t quickly make a model that connects that to what we¡¯re picking up around you.¡± Tala grinned within her helmet, before once more creating her voice in the air outside, ¡°That, Master Armach, is excellent news.¡± * * * That summer passed quickly and fall came in a flurry of leaves and more of the same duties, tasks, training, and time spent with the same people. With her next brother¡¯s twelfth birthday coming up, Tala and Rane were going up to Marliweather to see Osip. When she¡¯d said she was going, Rane had initially wished her well, but easily agreed to accompany her when she invited him specifically. She was of two minds in that regard. At first, she¡¯d taken his coming along as a given, and she was a bit miffed that he hadn¡¯t seen it that way. But as she considered it longer, she had realized that she actually appreciated that he hadn¡¯t assumed he was invited. Additionally, she appreciated that he had been willing to give her space if she had wanted it and wouldn¡¯t have forced her to figure out how to tell him not to come, if that had been her desire. Regardless, they and Terry would be making the trip, hopefully to arrive a couple of days before Osip¡¯s birthday. That way, they wouldn¡¯t be just dropping through to wave goodbye to him at the teleporter, assuming he chose to go to the Academy. Taking the time off as Defenders was easy enough, and with Master Simon and Brandon¡¯s work¡ªalongside Alat¡¯s¡ªarranging for Irondale¡¯s movements was essentially a non-issue for Tala. When the day arrived, she collected Irondale without any fanfare. No one was trying to enter or leave, and there were even gates closed across the entrance within the expanded space to enforce the end of ingress and egress. Well, that¡¯s rather clever. It makes this whole thing almost pleasant. -We aim to please.- Tala, Terry, and Rane took off through the Wilds in what was becoming an incredibly familiar route, and they crossed it faster than ever, pushing the edge of magical resonance and not stopping for meals¡ªor even for the night¡ªas they had in the past. Rane was tantalizingly close to being able to apply kinetic energy to himself without a true ¡®solid¡¯ backing, but he still did have to come down between long leaps for the moment. Tala found that her newly enhanced surface area expansion scripts were able to be augmented with extra power to the point that she could push off of the air itself. It created breezes behind her with every powerful push, but that really wasn¡¯t an issue. -You could probably ¡®stair step¡¯ up pretty high, before the air thinned out too much. Even then, it would only take a lightening of your personal gravity to go higher.- Tala had grunted at that. Maybe one day. I think there¡¯s enough on Zeme to be getting on with at the moment. The three of them planned to stop through Bandfast for a few hours the following day, and they did end up arriving and opening the doors to Irondale just after noon. They grabbed a late lunch with Lyn and Kannis. Afterwards, they dropped through the Library, where Tala gave Mistress Ingrit a small cube of the white steel as an extra thank you for all that the Librarian was doing for her. Mistress Ingrit was touched by the gift, and she even began playing with the gift as Tala, Rane, and Terry were leaving. As expected, the older woman quickly got the knack of it, and even before Tala lost sight of her with her threefold sight, Mistress Ingrit was making complex, interweaving shapes with the bit of magic-malleable material. The three travelers swung by Lisa¡¯s store and found it locked so they let him be undisturbed on this trip. All told, they were only in Bandfast for a few hours, departing before sunset without issue. Once again, Irondale had closed its gates in preparation for Tala¡¯s collection of the expanded space and so it cost her essentially no time to collect the growing village for transport. She was informed that they¡¯d increased the population by about fifty people¡ªgateless all¡ªwho had applied for citizenship the last time that Irondale had been in Bandfast. Since that time of application, the applicants had been vetted by those working for Tala, and only those who seemed to be able to contribute positively to the small, growing community were invited to join. It was all rather fascinating, but Tala¡¯s favorite part was the fact that she didn¡¯t have to be involved at all. Her little experiment grew on its own. -You know, some people just get fish in a bowl.- Some rich people. I don¡¯t have time for that. -...says the woman with a town to poke at. Don¡¯t tap on the glass, Tala, it scares the people within.- Tala huffed an internal laugh at that, but otherwise let the topic drop. Their trip up to Marliweather from Bandfast was across even more familiar terrain due to how many caravan trips Tala had taken between the two cities, acting as both a Mage Protector and the Dimensional Mage at the time. The trio moved so quickly that Terry barely had time to hunt along the way. That, unfortunately, made him a bit grumpy, but when they were passing a small herd of cloud hinds, Tala and Rane stopped for a voluntary snack while Terry had some fun getting a snack of his own. The herd did not have fun, but since there was no herd when he was done, there was no one¡ªsapient or not¡ªto complain about it, so it hardly mattered¡­ Right? I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine. -Yeah. Terry is Terry. It¡¯s not like he leaves the bodies about to rot. He eats them whole. Nothing goes to waste.- Yeah¡­ She didn¡¯t focus on it overly much. There were plenty of deer in the world, and Terry hadn¡¯t made them suffer. They arrived in Marliweather near sunset the day after they had left Bandfast, having traveled straight through the night yet again, simply because they could. As Alat had been in communication with the city administrators about the deployment of Irondale, Tala¡¯s group found that they were expected and greeted at the gates when they arrived. After the greeting, the guards gave them simple directions, even if Tala didn¡¯t need them because Alat had easy access to a precise map with the location marked on it in the Archive. Even so, Tala thanked the guards, and the three of them moved to the designated place. By that point, Terry was curled up on Tala¡¯s shoulder, tucked in with his eyes closed since they were within the city. When they got to the designated wall, Tala was grateful to not have the same large potential audience that she¡¯d had in Bandfast for the first opening of Irondale. As it was a somewhat chilly fall evening, there weren¡¯t as many people about to witness the act. She was not going to dither enough for that to change. She was also excited because she no longer had to put up signs once the opening was in place as Irondale had taken care of that themselves. They even had a countdown timer as to how long they were estimated to be in a given place and a projected itinerary. Everything was clearly laid out in a rather easy-to-read setup. It was becoming rather well run, if Tala did say so herself. And not a bit of it requires my involvement. -Yup. You are quite the benevolent, ambivalent dictator.- That I am. Tala smiled broadly even as Irondale¡¯s gates swung open, allowing those within to spill out, going about their pre-planned activities. Even with Irondale projected to be in Marliweather for a few days, the folk were already learning to get what they needed done fast in case plans changed. Not that Tala had had to force a change in plan¡­ not yet. -No, you just emphasize that you could whenever you talk with anyone about upcoming events.- Alat then projected the feeling of a mischievous grin. -And I do the same, so we project a good, unified front.- Tala smiled at that, causing Rane to give her a questioning look. She briefly explained, and he chuckled at the idea. Terry shook himself then, and flickered to her waist, their standard means for him to ask to go into her sanctum. It took barely a thought for her to open a coin-sized portal into Kit and Terry flickered in. I do wonder why? Alat sent a feeling of incredulity but didn¡¯t provide any insight. Regardless, Tala and Rane found a place to eat dinner together¡ªjust the two of them¡ªa place to just be. Even though they took time together in Alefast, it was almost always doing something. It was nice to not have any task that needed doing in the moment. Still, Tala was marginally stressed about the following days with her siblings, and Rane was nervous to interact with them for the first time since he and Tala had started courting. That was a damper on the generally good feelings of the time together. They had gotten a private dining room with a good view over the city and they used that privacy and vantage as the setting to talk late into the night. Thankfully, the restaurant catered to Refined. So, the place was open twenty-four hours a day, otherwise Tala and Rane would have had to cut their chat short. As to what they discussed? They talked about small things, reminiscences, and even nothing at all. In the end, it was exactly what Tala needed in order to prepare for the days to come. Chapter: 441 - A Matter of Priority ¡°TALA!¡± Her younger brother sprinted out to greet her on the street, clearly having been watching for her planned arrival that morning. He¡¯s not so young anymore. He was almost as tall as she was, placing in the taller range for the age¡­ if she understood correctly. -Yeah, your guess seems right¡­ and now I have the stats. Yup. Good assumption.- He wore a simple shirt and pants, not having gone to school that day. They were quite a bit nicer than the clothes that she had grown up wearing, and even nicer than the clothes her siblings had worn last time she¡¯d visited. The family as a whole was coming up in the world. -They are doing a brisk business with the Constructionists for the iron paint. That has given them the capital to take on some other contracts. It¡¯s really kickstarted their business as a whole.- How could you possibly know all this? -Public record. Contracts over a certain size are public record to prevent price gouging, among other things.- Huh. It seemed that her siblings were much better off as a whole. Their new house was still across from a park, but given it was a purely residential area, the park was much more geared toward families, and the other houses were teeming with life to her threefold sight. Osip reached her then, and the not-quite teen slammed into her for a hug. Instinctively, she stepped back with the impact to reduce it somewhat. Even so, he immediately grunted and pulled back with a wince. ¡°Ow! What¡¯re you made of?¡± Tala gave a sheepish grin. ¡°Well¡­¡± She coughed. ¡°I still had my protections in place.¡± -You mean you were wearing your armor as a symbolic defense against seeing your family?- Hush you. She dismissed her armor and held out her arms to give her brother another hug. He came in slower this time, but the hug wasn¡¯t painful for him so when he pulled back he was smiling. ¡°Thank you for coming.¡± He then looked to Terry who was seemingly asleep on her shoulder. ¡°Hi, Terry! Good to see you too.¡± Terry let out a chirping trill for a greeting but didn¡¯t otherwise respond. He didn¡¯t even open his eyes. She smiled in turn, responding to her brother¡¯s thanks, ¡°Of course. You have a big decision ahead of you.¡± He shook his head, eyes bright and smile broadening. ¡°Nope! I¡¯ve already made it. I¡¯m going to be a Mage.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ well. That¡¯s decisive of you. I feel like I¡¯m hardly necessary then.¡± She tried to tease, feeling suddenly a bit uncertain. Osip shook his head vigorously. ¡°Oh, no. I have so many questions,¡± he turned and looked at Rane before including the man in his injunction, ¡°for both of you.¡± Tala raised an eyebrow in curiosity, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you asked Master Leighis?¡± Osip shrugged. ¡°I have, but he¡¯s been out of the Academy for a long time. Plus, he¡¯s a healer. I want to be a fighter!¡± Tala had a sinking feeling deep in her gut, that Terry somehow manifested perfectly in sonic form with a fluting whistling trill. ¡°Caln has taken me to a battle-watch restaurant a few times, and the fights there are AWESOME! I even get free food sometimes when your fights come up.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah! I just yell out something like, ¡®There she is! There¡¯s my sister!¡¯ and usually some other table will offer to buy me a dessert or drink or something.¡± Her eye began to twitch. -Ah, the shamelessness of children.- Indeed¡­ Rane cleared his throat. ¡°You know, it¡¯s not very kind to manipulate people for free food.¡± Osip shrugged. ¡°I never ask. Kind people just offer. But as I said, I have questions.¡± Thus opened the floodgates. How were the dormitories laid out in the Academy? Badly. How did Mages-in-training choose what magic to pursue? It depended on what called to them, personally, and how they understood it. Is the food good? Yes. Is there enough food? Yes. Do they make the students run? Surprisingly, yes. Students run more than they ever thought possible, and those who ended up with closer-engagement magics will look back on the running and wish there¡¯d been more. Does it hurt to get inscribed? Yes, but it becomes like the pain of exercise, relatively mild for a very desirable result. Where do clothes come from at the Academy? Students buy them with school credits, earned by doing well in school and through chores. Can¡¯t people just bully other students for credits? No. Any attempt to do so is among the more highly punished things at the Academy. What are punishments? Loss of credits. If that doesn¡¯t work? Detentions and loss of other privileges. If that doesn¡¯t work? Depending on the infractions and the student either whippings or expulsion. In extreme cases, execution would likely be considered, but it hadn¡¯t happened¡ªto Tala¡¯s knowledge¡ªin centuries, and that was only because the student in question was tormenting other students by doing things that should have killed them, over and over again. But, how could they execute someone at the Academy? They teleported him back to a city, where he was executed. What is the best type of magic? There is no best type, categorically. It is all in a Mage¡¯s understanding and how they are able to use the power that they have. The questions¡­ Just¡­ Kept¡­ Coming¡­ Rane was helping answer the questions, actually taking more and more of them, though he obviously couldn¡¯t answer the questions about the Academy. In the end, Tala had to take those. She did her best to appreciate the ability to help her brother, rather than begrudge the interrogation. They were still nearly a half-block from the family¡¯s new house. They had been standing there¡ªat the side of the road¡ªfor almost half an hour, and yet no one else had come out. Finally, Tala interjected. ¡°Where is everyone else?¡± Osip glanced back, then shrugged. ¡°Working, school, waiting for you to come to them? I imagine most of the others will be by for lunch. That¡¯s probably the best time to catch them.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be in school, too?¡± ¡°With my big sister coming into town? I skipped today.¡± Tala sighed. She felt like she should reprimand him, but in the end, it was his choice. And with him going to the Academy, they¡¯ll fill in any gaps in his education before he graduates. That decided, she turned the conversation back to the lunch meet-up with her other siblings, ¡°Will Nea be there, do you think?¡± ¡°I doubt it. Nea is at her master¡¯s house, and she doesn¡¯t come home for meals. She can see us whenever she wants, but as I¡¯m sure you know, apprentices are rather encouraged to spend as much time with their masters as possible.¡± That caught Tala by surprise. ¡°Master?¡± Then she frowned. ¡°Right, didn¡¯t she take an apprenticeship? That was in one of the messages.¡± ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s becoming a glassmaker.¡± He smiled her way. ¡°Come on; I¡¯ll take you there while I ask more questions.¡± With that, they turned and moved with Osip back down the street. Rane cleared his throat and actually prompted the boy to continue, but his words were the real betrayal, ¡°Hey, how about we focus on the Academy questions for right now?¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Tala gave Rane a horrified look, barely peeking over her brother¡¯s head up at the much taller man. Osip didn¡¯t notice the look, simply agreeing heartily, ¡°Okay!¡± What followed was ten minutes of nearly constant questions that only Tala could answer. By the time they arrived at the large glassworks, Tala was about ready to murder Rane. He better have a really good reason for this little stunt. Even that modicum of allowance felt like too much of a concession, but it was also all that kept her from sending him a very strongly worded message in the moment, so¡­ she didn¡¯t try to get rid of that granted forbearance within her own mind. When they arrived at the glassworks front entrance, Rane interjected, ¡°Do you have anything else you want to ask about the Academy right now?¡± Tala¡¯s eye twitched. Okay. He¡¯s going to be in so much pain later. Osip seemed to consider, then he shrugged. ¡°No, I think that¡¯s it.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°Then how about you and I go to breakfast, and I can answer your other questions while Tala says hi to your other sister?¡± ¡­Oh. She felt her mind hitch, not fully understanding what was happening. Osip only considered for a moment before asking the singular, critical question, ¡°You¡¯ll be paying?¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s go! I¡¯m starving.¡± Osip snatched Rane¡¯s hand and led him away. He waved his other hand over his shoulder. ¡°Nea is in there. We¡¯ll meet you at the house later!¡± -Rane just messaged that he¡¯ll let you know when they¡¯re heading that way, so you don¡¯t have to go alone if you don¡¯t wish to.- Tala just stared as the boy led the man off toward what was likely to be a very expensive breakfast. Did he just¡­? -Arrange to get you out of answering a host of questions without making you look bad? Yes, I do believe that he did.- Who is that? Rane doesn¡¯t have that social acumen. Alat laughed within Tala¡¯s head. -He puts his foot in his mouth, though not as much as he used to. He isn¡¯t that socially adept. That¡¯s true, but he was raised around¡ªand he¡¯s continued to be around¡ªpolitical people for his whole life. Even when he was in the wilderness, he was with Master Grediv, and that man seems to think of things a hundred steps in advance, at least when he¡¯s not hung up on something.- Tala grunted. Still, she couldn¡¯t help but watch as they vanished around a corner. Even so, he¡¯s grown. -So it would seem.- Alat seemed to have something else that she wanted to add, but she held back. Tala decided not to press the alternate interface. She shook her head¡ªrecentering her thoughts¡ªbefore turning to regard the massive factory-like building behind her. ¡°Well, this should be interesting if nothing else.¡± She entered the obvious, customer-facing entrance, ignoring the large doors that seemed to be for deliveries either coming or going. As she pushed open the human-sized door, a little bell dinged as she entered. Terry let out a little chirp that was nearly¡ªbut not quite¡ªthe same note as the little bell. A receptionist sat behind the counter, and she looked up with a professional smile as Tala entered. ¡°Greetings, Mistress. How can we assist you, today? ¡°Good morning. I am here to see my sister, if she is available.¡± The young woman seemed to hitch slightly, stiffening and then seeming to shift in order to meet Tala¡¯s gaze more fully. She then swallowed visibly. ¡°Your sister, Mistress?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Terry trilled out in emphasis, his eyes now open as he regarded the receptionist critically. Tala ignored the avian and continued. ¡°Nea? I believe that she¡¯s a new apprentice here.¡± The receptionist¡¯s eyes had initially lit with recognition at the name, but then that light faded slightly. ¡°New? Well¡­ we do have an apprentice Nea here, but she¡¯s been here for well more than a year.¡± Tala blinked a few times. There¡¯s no way it¡¯s been that long¡­ -Yeah, Tala, it has. Nea turned thirteen two months ago. It¡¯s been just about fourteen months since you¡¯ve seen her.- Huh¡­ Tala only really hesitated for a moment before smiling in response to the receptionist. ¡°Oh! Right, that should be her, then. Can you let her know that Tala is here to see her?¡± The young woman looked slightly hesitant. What¡¯s the issue? -Well¡­ an apprentice is meant to be under the protection and auspices of their master. A Mage like you coming in and asking for her to be brought to you, could be seen as an attempt to take her away. There is that inherent danger, at least. Especially since it seems they weren¡¯t aware of you. They likely paid some for her apprenticeship contract, but they¡¯d still have to defer to you, if you demanded it.- Oh¡­ huh. Finally, understanding what might be the issue, Tala added, ¡°I would be grateful to meet her master as well, if he is available?¡± That got yet another odd look, but the poor receptionist seemed to have decided that this whole situation was too important for her to make the final call. ¡°One moment, Mistress. I will see what I can do.¡± As she stood to leave, she hesitated once more. ¡°Can I get you anything while you wait?¡± Tala almost asked for coffee, but with a flick of her awareness, she saw that Mistress Petra had quite a bit of the glorious drink already ready for her, waiting in her sanctum. ¡°No, thank you.¡± As she was left alone, Tala pulled a mug of coffee from a portal which had opened into her sanctum that altered its size to perfectly roll over the vessel as she pulled it forth. Thus, it would likely have looked like she simply pulled the drink from thin air¡­ if anyone had been watching. Well, Terry had been watching, and he let out an incredulous sound, looking her way with one avian eyebrow raised. ¡°What?¡± He looked back and forth between her and the coffee, then squawked. ¡°Oh, you want something?¡± He squawked with a sound that seemed to say that such was obvious. Tala just chuckled and pulled a big hunk of mundane pork-belly from her sanctum and tossed it for him. He flickered briefly and the entire thing¡ªwhich had been nearly twice the size of her hand¡ªvanished without even a whisper of sound. Terry simply snuggled down on her shoulder, closing his eyes and falling back into quiet contentment. Tala downed her coffee far, far too quickly, but then she just opened a portal just inside the mouth of the vessel, the other end opening at the bottom of the coffee carafe within her sanctum. A moment later, her mug was filled, and she closed the portal, promising herself that she would drink slower this time. She did not follow that promise. Even so, the door opened once more before she could refill her mug again. So, she stuck the drinking vessel back into her sanctum as three women entered, leaving her hands empty. One of the women was the receptionist, and she immediately returned to her desk, to work on her Archive slate. Huh, I didn¡¯t notice that before. They must be doing very well to be able to have one for their receptionist. The second was obviously Nea, even if she looked quite a bit different than she had a year earlier. She stood straighter in addition to actually being a bit taller. Additionally, the girl had a bit of muscle, and Tala''s threefold sight noticed heat-calluses and small scars from countless knicks on her hands and forearms. The final woman looked to be in her mid-forties. She had similar calluses and scars, but hers seemed older¡ªmore set¡ªthan Nea¡¯s. Both Nea and the third woman wore heavy clothing, covered by leather aprons. The clothing seemed to be well designed for easy movement, and of cloth that could bear up to heat with reasonable ease. They both also had their hair tied up under headcloths. Their faces were slightly red, likely from hard work and heat exposure, and both had a thin layer of sweat and grime across their exposed skin. It was the older woman who spoke first, bowing, ¡°Mistress Tala. It is a pleasure to meet the sister of my apprentice.¡± Her eyes flicked toward the girl for a moment before she continued. ¡°She never said her sister was such a¡­ person of influence.¡± Tala hesitated briefly before giving a smile in return. ¡°It is good to meet you as well, craftsman¡­?¡± The woman startled briefly before responding, ¡°Oh, my apologies. I am Deani Toirlain.¡± ¡°It is good to meet you, madam Toirlain.¡± She then looked to Nea. ¡°How are you doing, Nea?¡± ¡°I am well.¡± She looked a bit hesitant. Even so, her eyes flicked to Terry, and she smiled. ¡°Good morning, Terry.¡± Terry trilled softly without opening his eyes. Nea then returned her gaze to Tala, ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m in town for Osip¡¯s birthday, and thought it would be nice to check in on you.¡± Nea frowned. ¡°You aren¡¯t here to force me to join him? To force me to go to the Academy?¡± It was Tala¡¯s turn to frown. ¡°No? Why¡ªby the stars¡ªwould I do such a thing?¡± The young girl shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re a Mage, you clearly care what we choose.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°It¡¯s the only time we see you, when one of us is making the decision.¡± Deani cleared her throat. ¡°Would you like to take your sister for the morning? We can cover her duties, Mistress.¡± Nea shook her head. ¡°No, please.¡± Her response clearly surprised her master, but the older woman didn¡¯t press the issue. Nea met Tala¡¯s gaze. ¡°I would love to talk¡ªif that is what you would like¡ªbut this is my job, and I don¡¯t want to leave it at the start of the workday. I like my job. I love what I¡¯m learning, and I would appreciate being able to get back to it.¡± Deani¡¯s cheek twitched ever so slightly, but she didn¡¯t seem to be interested in getting between the two of them at the moment. Tala pulled back slightly. She¡¯d been about to gratefully accept the master glassmaker¡¯s offer, but clearly Nea didn¡¯t want that. ¡°Oh¡­ alright. When do you want to chat?¡± Nea looked to her master. ¡°We will finish around sunset today?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The older woman smiled toward Nea. ¡°We¡¯ll be working into the dark from now on, but today, quitting time and sunset align well enough.¡± Nea nodded, turning back to Tala. ¡°Sunset? We can grab dinner?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tala smiled, feeling like she was back on safer ground. Her sister¡¯s mouth quirked up on one side. ¡°I¡¯ll be hungry.¡± Tala felt herself smile broadly in return. ¡°Me too. Pick where you want to go, and we¡¯ll do that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you then, Tala.¡± Without another glance, Nea turned and went back into the workshop. Deani bowed again. ¡°Is there anything else that I can do for you, Mistress?¡± ¡°No, thank you for your time. I apologize if I disrupted things.¡± ¡°Not at all. Good day.¡± ¡°Good day.¡± Without any more words needed, they each turned and exited the little reception room through opposite doors. Deani went back into the heat of the glassworks, and Tala stepped out into the growing warmth of the early autumn morning. Well, that could have gone better¡­ -Could it have gone worse?- I don¡¯t actually know how. Well, she could have screamed at me, but that seems rather out of character for her. -Indeed.- Do I really come across as only caring about them with regard to their choice of whether or not to go to the Academy? -We correspond with them about other things, but you do only show up for that¡­- She grunted. She wasn¡¯t exactly willing to add yet another thing to do to her list. She was just going to be so busy until the end of the waning. Until then, there were just too many important things to be about for her to come to Marliweather more often. Maybe she could drop through more after that? Yeah. That would be good. She mentally began planning to do just that. But¡­ Alefast would finish waning in¡­ nineteen years. Oh¡­ -Yeah. That would do it. We¡¯ll prioritize them, once they¡¯re all in their late twenties and thirties. I can see them liking that idea quite well.- Tala sighed. The sarcasm isn¡¯t very helpful, Alat. She rubbed at her temples. Well, Rane got us the morning to ourselves. Let¡¯s make the most of it. We can figure this out as we go. Alat sent her assent, followed by an idea, -There¡¯s a sweets shop just down the road.- Lead on! Chapter: 442 - Unknown Quantity Tala met up with Rane and Osip outside of the family¡¯s new house just before lunch. The plan that they¡¯d come up with was for the two Refined to take the siblings out for a meal. Obviously, Nea wouldn¡¯t be joining them, but they¡¯d grab a meal and catch up with her that evening. Thankfully, Tala had communicated with her siblings before arriving in the city, but they hadn¡¯t firmed up plans before the morning. As such, it wasn¡¯t actually difficult to get the school-aged ones out a bit early for lunch, and the professionals to have their work covered for a similar timeframe. Thus Latna, Caln, Mita, Akli, Miro, Fedir, Olen, and Sella were all prepared to come with them, when Tala, Terry, Rane, and Osip arrived. Tala took a moment to really look at the house behind the waiting group. It was set back from the road just enough to have a nice little entry garden, barely ten feet deep, but that was still pleasant enough. The house itself was nearly the same size as the shop, healers, and two residences that the family had been sharing with Master Leighis the last time that Tala had come for a visit. It wasn¡¯t flashy in appearance, but it definitely looked to have been well constructed. Her threefold sight could actually pick up basically all the details of the construction, even those that would obviously be hidden to mundane inspection, and that confirmed that the outward appearance matched the truth of the matter. Those who had built the place had done a great job. Within the house, her threefold sight also picked up the layout, seeing five rooms that the children appeared to be sharing, a far cry more than the two that they¡¯d had in their previous home. Their mother and father had a slightly larger room¡ªbut not by much¡ªand there were enough open rooms and bathrooms throughout for such a family to not be constantly tripping over each other, even on days where inclement weather and a lack of other activities might keep them all at home. The kitchen and pantry were large, and it actually reminded Tala that, while she¡¯d been growing up, her mother had often expressed the desire for a bigger kitchen. Regardless, the woman had made do well enough as the family had always had plenty to eat at the right times of day. Sometimes it had been leaner than at others, but even so. Finally, a small office was tucked off to one side, overlooking the front entrance. The room looked like it was just for family and home business, rather than for the running of the family business. The Alchemist is probably at the shop. -As makes sense. You¡¯ve taken five of his helpers from him at the moment, after all.- Tala didn¡¯t comment on that. After greetings were exchanged¡ªand everyone gave Terry head scratches¡ªTala led her siblings toward a restaurant that could accommodate a group of their size. More specifically, she led them to the one that she¡¯d already set up the meal with, so that it would be a smoother process. Osip was over the moon, gushing about all the little factoids that Rane had apparently shared with him about being a Mage. He would occasionally also mention something that he¡¯d learned about the Academy, but that seemed secondary to the boy. Rane walked beside Tala with a sheepish smile on his face. ¡°So, it seems that the breakfast went well?¡± He shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s a good kid. Good question asker too.¡± He grinned and chuckled. ¡°Honestly, it reminded me of someone quite strongly.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Oh? Who?¡± He hesitated. ¡°Wait¡­ are you serious?¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You, Tala.¡± He shook his head. ¡°You are one of the most intense question askers I¡¯ve come across. Osip is actually a bit easier to deal with, because he¡¯s coming from a place of ignorance. His questions are easier to address than yours ever were.¡± She felt her cheeks color slightly, and she coughed. ¡°Oh¡­¡± They walked side by side for a bit before she shifted sideways to nudge him. ¡°Thank you. It seems like it was good for him, and it gave me some time.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He smiled down at her. ¡°I was happy to help.¡± Latna fell back to walk beside Tala. ¡°So¡­ I can¡¯t help but see that you two are acting closer than you were even the last time that you were here¡­?¡± Tala grit her teeth, dreading the coming exchange. Regardless, it was going to happen at some point. So, she mastered herself and answered, ¡°Yeah. We are courting.¡± Latna let out a happy squeal, causing the other siblings to look back. ¡°They¡¯re courting!¡± Tala¡¯s eldest sister laughed happily, and Tala grimaced again. Still, the other siblings offered congratulations before turning back to avoid what was clearly a more personal conversation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Latna rambled. ¡°I should probably have let you tell them when and how you wanted, but that¡¯s so exciting!¡± She giggled again. Tala¡¯s eye twitched, but she kept her composure. ¡°So¡­ When are you getting married? When will you have kids? I want my nieces and nephews, and it¡¯s not like any of the others are up for parenthood soon and¡ª¡± Rane cleared his throat, causing the exuberant woman to stop her word-vomit. ¡°Pardon, but Tala did say courting, not betrothed. We are taking our time to really make sure this is the right choice. Who to marry is always an important choice¡ªjust like whether or not to get married in the first place. For us, though, we will have to bear or thrive with our choice for far longer than most. Tala and I will take all the time that we need to ensure that it is the right choice. As to children? If we do get married¡ªwhich I hope we do¡ªwe very well may not have children for a long time. That is, again, a critical choice that we will make when the time is right.¡± Tala could tell via her threefold sight that every sibling had heard Rane¡¯s response, but she didn¡¯t care. She would treasure the look of utter shock on Latna¡¯s face for a long time. -I¡¯ve flagged this particular memory for easy recall.- Thank you, Alat. -I aim to please.- Tala couldn¡¯t keep a smile off of her face. She couldn¡¯t have said it better herself, and coming from Rane, Latna wouldn¡¯t argue. If Tala had said it, her sister would have seen it as a sisterly challenge and set out to contest the various points. Rane, though? He was still enough of an unknown quantity that Latna wouldn¡¯t push propriety by arguing. Latna cleared her throat, clearly gathering herself once again. ¡°Well. I see. Thank you for clarifying things, Master Rane.¡± Rane gave a slow nod of acknowledgement. ¡°Of course.¡± Tala shifted her walk a bit closer to him, reaching out to hold his hand. As they clasped, Tala squeezed his in thanks, and he gave a light squeeze in return. That set the tone for the whole lunch. The topics discussed were light and friendly, mostly consisting of Tala and Rane inquiring about the siblings and their lives in greater detail. No one else inquired about their relationship, but no one really seemed to feel the need to. After all, Rane had laid things out rather plainly up front, and Tala was more grateful than she could easily convey to have the topic dealt with so cleanly. * * * Tala, Nea, Rane, and Terry sat around a table in a rather fancy restaurant. The sun had set and it was the last meetup of the day. To their credit, the staff hadn¡¯t batted an eye either when Tala had requested a place at the table for Terry, nor when the group had ordered food specifically for him. Nea had been delighted by the turn of events, and that had, as a result, cut the tension. When Tala had picked the girl up from the glassworks, she¡¯d been rather filthy. So, Tala had shunted her into the sanctum for a bath and to have a chance to change¡ªNea had at least had some clean clothes to put on. If she hadn¡¯t, Tala would have had to make her clothing with her own elk leathers, before severing the material, much as she had for Kannis¡¯s little silver man¡ªFannas¡ªin the past. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Tala had let Nea out just beside the restaurant, much to the girl¡¯s startlement, but the surprise had quickly passed, assisted by the whole Terry seat and food situation. Now, they were awaiting their food, and the silence was almost getting uncomfortable. There was, of course, the din from the rest of the building which reached them as a quiet murmur and the distant clink and scrape of metal and earthenware. Tala could hear it more clearly¡ªand Rane likely could too¡ªbut she was able to tune it out to the point a mundane would experience it, simply as pleasant ambiance. Rane cleared his throat, speaking into the quiet, ¡°So, Tala tells me that you¡¯re enjoying glassmaking? What¡¯s that like? What do you enjoy about it?¡± Nea seemed hesitant for a moment but answered nonetheless, ¡°Well, I find it really gratifying to work with my hands¡ªand the various tools¡ªto take what is essentially specialized sand and craft useful products at the end. There is something¡­ just wonderful about creating things with such a range of utility. I can create flasks and other implements for alchemy, though I¡¯m not really skilled enough, yet, to do so. At the same time, I can create panes for windows that anyone could have use for. There is obviously a range of other things that glassmakers provide that are both between and beyond those two extremes.¡± She shrugged. ¡°That marriage of being able to both help peak craftsmen in their work and the common folk improve their day to day lives is really wonderful.¡± Rane smiled, but didn¡¯t respond immediately, his eyes flicking toward Tala. She felt gratitude well up once again. He¡¯d gotten the conversation started, but he was letting her take it from there. ¡°That sounds like a wonderful way of seeing things.¡± Nea¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. ¡°But you don¡¯t see it that way?¡± Tala hitched at the seeming hostility. She frowned, confused. ¡°Well, obviously not, but I chose differently than you did, and that¡¯s fine. Some people enjoy glassmaking, alchemy, or baking, some enjoy magic. I just happen to be one of the latter, and you the former.¡± The girl seemed to be mulling over Tala¡¯s words, likely looking for some hidden barb or slight. Blessedly, Nea didn¡¯t seem to be able to find one. Finally, she exhibited the directness of children¡ªand those often called socially inept¡ªand asked what was really bothering her, ¡°Why do you only come when one of us is making the choice of whether or not to go to the Academy?¡± Tala blinked a few times. She¡¯d wanted to address that exact issue, but she¡¯d assumed that she¡¯d have to approach it delicately, maneuvering the conversation around to it. She¡¯s as direct as Osip is. Her eyes flicked to Rane, remembering his comment about her own questioning nature. As direct as me, I suppose. Terry trilled a series of calming notes, obviously sensing the sudden tension, and Nea reached over to scratch his larger-than-usual head. He had grown to be about their size, so that he was nearly eye-to-eye with them while perched on the chair that had been provided for him. Tala finally gave a slow nod, drawing attention back to herself. ¡°Thank you for the direct question.¡± She smiled at Nea¡¯s look of confusion and continued on, ¡°When I went to the Academy¡­ I didn¡¯t really feel that I had much choice. I felt abandoned and cast out. I don¡¯t regret going¡ªnot by any means¡ªbut I do regret the manner in which it happened, the way in which the choice was made. While I don¡¯t know you all that well¡ªand our lives are hardly connected by more than brief threads of remembrance and the loosest ties of blood¡ªI did not wish for any of you to be in the same position as I was.¡± Nea raised one eyebrow, ¡°That was rather honest of you. So, it¡¯s for our own good?¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Only indirectly. It is for my own ego.¡± That seemed to surprise the girl yet again, and she didn¡¯t have a ready response. ¡°I refuse to have you all in the position that I was in. So I make it so that doesn¡¯t happen. That is one of the benefits I am afforded with my position. While I am impressed that you secured your own future without need of my influence, I would have happily helped set you up in any profession you desired.¡± ¡°Glassmaking is what I desire.¡± Nea stiffened, seemingly ready to mount a defense of her own choice. ¡°I was not trying to say otherwise.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°As silly as it sounds, what I have least of right now is immediate time.¡± Nea frowned. ¡°Immediate time?¡± ¡°Time in the now. So long as I am not killed, I will live a very long time. Thus, all things considered, I have time in abundance, but it isn¡¯t available to me now.¡± ¡°So, what you need is a loan, to get more time now and pay it back later?¡± The girl grinned at her own example. She really is a clever one. -All your siblings seem to be, yeah.- Rane chuckled, and Tala laughed. ¡°Actually, yes. If I could do that, I would in a heartbeat. What I am doing helps a lot of people, and while it¡¯s possible that others could do my job just as well, I don¡¯t know that for sure. There are others in similar positions to me, and so I can take times like this, but I always feel like I should be back there, fighting for humanity. That is what I feel called to.¡± Nea was about to respond when there came a knock on the wood beside the open entrance to their semi-private dining space. Their food had arrived. What followed was a flurry of activity as a massive spread was laid out before them. The four of them expressed their gratitude to the staff before digging in. After the food was eaten and they¡¯d all settled back in a state of comfortable fullness¡ªexcept Tala, who simply stopped when the others did¡ªNea brought them out of the easy silence, ¡°You know. I do know that I chose to stay based on fear¡­ The core of my choice away from the Academy wasn¡¯t built on solid reasoning.¡± Tala leaned forward a bit but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Magic is amazing in so many ways, but it¡­ it just doesn¡¯t feel right to me. I know¡ªin my head¡ªthat I have a gate, and I have magic, but choosing to wield it specifically?¡± She shook her head. ¡°It just doesn¡¯t seem right to me.¡± She hesitated then quickly added. ¡°For me! It doesn¡¯t seem right for me. I don¡¯t have anything against Mages¡­obviously.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°So, you¡¯re happy with your choice, then?¡± ¡°I am.¡± The thirteen year old girl smiled broadly in return. ¡°I really, really am. The work is hard¡ªand glass is wickedly sharp¡ªbut I really love what I am learning to do.¡± Tala¡¯s smile grew and softened further. ¡°I am so glad to know that.¡± From there, the night progressed in companionable ease. After a while, they got dessert and continued talking until Nea let them know that she really needed to get some sleep. Throughout that time¡ªand the walk back to Nea¡¯s master¡¯s house¡ªTala did her utmost to inquire deeply into her sister¡¯s life, even if this one had made choices that she simply couldn¡¯t understand. * * * Their time in Marliweather passed quickly, and in the end, Tala, Rane, Terry, Master Leighis, all her remaining siblings, and their parents gathered to see Osip off to the Academy as one big group. Even Nea had come with her master to give him a hug and tell him goodbye in person. The boy was exuberant, talking about how he would say hi to all their siblings and friends once he arrived, and how he hoped to see the younger siblings on the island as soon as they were old enough. And then, with a deceptively small flick of power, he was gone. Tala bid her siblings, Master Leighis, and Nea¡¯s master goodbye then. Tala and Rane left, Terry riding contentedly upon Tala¡¯s shoulder. Her eyes lingered on her next oldest brother even as she went to leave the out-bound teleportation room. Fedir will be making his choice in just over two years¡­ -Do you think you¡¯ll be back before then?- Honestly¡­ probably not. Rane looked her way, her pause seeming to clue him in to some of what she was feeling. His voice was just above a whisper, ¡°You¡¯ll see them again.¡± She shrugged. ¡°In two years, probably.¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, Fedir will be turning twelve in two years, come the winter.¡± He grunted at that. ¡°Is there any way to see them sooner?¡± Tala sighed, then began to shake her head. Then, she really took in what her threefold sight was showing her¡­ the teleportation tower. ¡°Oh.¡± Her voice was loud enough that everyone turned to regard her. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m a fool sometimes.¡± She turned back toward her siblings, smiling. ¡°Hey, before I go, I just had a realization.¡± Those listening exchanged glances but didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°Anytime any of you wish to visit me, I will pay your teleportation expenses.¡± There was a moment of stunned silence, and Tala took advantage of that to add a brief explanation. ¡°I would teleport to you all, but I have some¡­ peculiarities that would make that exceedingly difficult.¡± She smiled wanly. ¡°On the other hand, it would be very easy to have you come visit me and be back here within the same day.¡± The adults were staring at her with mouths open, they understood the expense of such an offer, even if most of the children wouldn¡¯t. Latna and Caln definitely did, and they were almost as aghast as the non-siblings. Why are they acting that way? It¡¯s just more than two pounds of silver to pay for a teleport each way. -Per person, per visit. You just offered to let them do it whenever they wanted. If they all came, that would be just more than thirty two pounds of silver. That¡¯s more than five gold.- ¡­ oh¡­ can we afford that? -Monetarily? It would actually be pretty difficult if they visited very often, but¡­- Mistress Ingrit? -Yeah, I¡¯m reaching out to ask if we can make a deal to allow your siblings to teleport to you. How many teleports do we want to get out of this?- I think it¡¯s an unknown quantity. Let me know if we can¡¯t get that. -Understood.- Their conversation within Tala¡¯s head had taken less than a second. As such, the siblings were just exploding with excitement as Alat began reaching out to the Librarian. Rane leaned closer to Tala. ¡°If you need extra funds to make that happen, let me know.¡± She smiled his way. ¡°I¡¯m working on something, but I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Thank you.¡± He nodded in return, a small smile pulling at his lips before he whispered, ¡°I have a thousand gold you can have.¡± She jerked slightly, then had to fight down a laugh while glaring at him in mock anger. He simply smiled back until she broke and grinned, shaking her head and laughing under her breath. Her offer sparked a much longer conversation, but when things calmed down, it was decided that Tala would communicate with Latna, as that sibling had the most consistent access to the Archive. With the basics ironed out¡ªthat of the first visit being in a month¡ªTala bid them goodbye once again, leaving each of her siblings with a token from the teleportation tower, which would grant them transport to Alefast at the appointed time. Back on the streets of Marliweather, heading toward the gates, Rane nudged her. ¡°That was really kind of you. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll appreciate seeing you and having the potential of greater access going forward.¡± She gave a weak smile in return. ¡°I certainly do hope so.¡± Chapter: 443 - Family Visits Tala nervously scratched Terry¡¯s neck and head as he perched on her shoulder. No need for nerves, Tala, you just saw them a month ago. She and Rane stood in the teleportation tower within Alefast, awaiting her siblings'' arrival. They¡¯d considered having everyone come to the teleportation receiving array within Kit, but as Tala was only set up with one such platform, that would have been a bit inconvenient to coordinate and make work well for all of the arrivals. This one time, Illie, Nalac, Dagan, Alva, and Osip would be coming from the Academy to join her other siblings for the day. That wouldn¡¯t be very frequent, as Tala had to pay for their reinscription upon their return to the Academy¡ªthey also had to endure the classic inscribing process as well¡ªand that made it untenable very often. Still, they had arranged for it to take place before each subsequent sibling was to make their own choice about the Academy. Those visits would have the Academy attendees arriving in Marliweather though. That way, they¡¯d get to see their parents and friends, too. This time, however¡ªjust this once¡ªthey were all coming to visit Tala in Alefast. Rane placed his hand on her hip¡ªacross her back¡ªsubtly drawing her in closer. She leaned into him, allowing his presence to comfort her. Terry chirped and flickered to the opposite shoulder so as to not be between them, before nuzzling Tala¡¯s cheek to give comfort of his own. Rane spoke calmly and quietly into the tense silence, ¡°This is going to be great, Tala. We have all of the meals arranged and tables at the restaurants reserved. They will get to see the city as a whole and have context for what you do, going forward. The battle-view restaurant experience should be fun for all of them, too.¡± This particular day, Tala and Rane should have been on the night shift, but it was the time in their cycle of duties to be fully off for the day. Thus, they wouldn¡¯t have a shift until the following afternoon. At precisely six hours past midnight, the teleportation circles began to light up throughout the building as Tala watched on with her threefold sight. For those at the Academy, it was later in the day, and those in Marliweather likely had just barely begun to see the light of dawn start to gray the sky over the mountains. The Alefast branch of the Teleporters¡¯ Guild requested that they keep two incoming teleportation arrays unused, just in case any other incoming traffic chose this time to arrive. Thus, it would take a few waves for all her siblings to arrive, but that was fine. They arrived in quick succession, with Mages present to receive them and ensure nothing had gone amiss with the process. Soon enough, all fourteen of the siblings were together with Tala, Rane, and Terry in the base of the teleportation tower. There were enthusiastic greetings and inquiring questions for and from those who¡¯d come from the Academy, but Tala grabbed their attention with a quietly spoken sentence, infused with a bit of power to ensure everyone heard despite the volume. ¡°Come on, I have a place reserved for us for breakfast. We can talk more there.¡± It was a short walk through the crisp autumn air, and the siblings continued their chatting even as they followed Tala and Rane. Alat and Mistress Ingrit had arranged it so that her siblings could come visit her every four months or so. They would arrange the specific times in the future, but that was the future, and in this moment, Tala was with her siblings again. It promised to be a fun¡ªif uneventful¡ªday. * * * All the siblings goggled at the magnificence of the battle-view restaurant. Its well-appointed interior and lavish display of wealth in the form of wall-sized active-link Archive slates was overwhelming to those who knew just what such things should cost. Tala actually found it somewhat humorous to watch Latna¡¯s eye twitch as they all rose up on the lift when she realized that each of the massive windows on the upper floors¡ªfacing over the walls¡ªwas also such a slate, just one that could also be rendered clear. Even Tala didn¡¯t know what that had cost. They went all the way to the top where they were greeted by several attendants and led to a large table that had been held for them. There were some odd looks from other patrons¡ªall with much, much smaller parties¡ªbut no one seemed actually upset or otherwise negatively affected by things. After all, with the privacy magics in place, their large group almost couldn¡¯t disturb anyone else. Tala watched her brothers and sisters begin to look over the menu¡ªthe older ones helping Sella and Olen¡ªand smiled to herself at how excited they were for what was on offer. She cleared her throat, ¡°Please, order whatever you like. If you can¡¯t finish what you order, we¡¯ll save it for later.¡± That sparked them to become really excited, and they all settled in for breakfast. Rane, Terry, and the siblings had just barely given their orders to the servers when Illie spoke up, ¡°Now, I am sure that most of you already know him well enough, but I¡¯ve only ever talked to Master Rane through a few brief Archive messages. Now, he¡¯s courting our eldest sister?¡± Rane froze in place¡ªtea halfway to his lips¡ªand he set down his cup before turning to look at the girl who had maneuvered to sit directly beside him, on the other side from Tala. Tala suppressed a smile. Mageling mistake. -Not that any of your siblings would have been that safe.- Nalac? -...true. Rane should have sat next to Nalac or Osip. I retract my objection. It was a mageling mistake.- Illie leaned in a bit closer. ¡°So? Tell me everything.¡± Rane, to his credit, didn¡¯t flinch away from the inquiry. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± ¡°Well, for one, when she was missing and we were all informed that she was most likely dead, you didn¡¯t believe that. How did you know that she was alright? You messaged us long before she returned, assuring us that she was still alive and that there was a good chance she¡¯d be back.¡± Tala frowned. That¡¯s right¡­ She turned toward Rane along with every one of her siblings. Even Terry opened his eyes and oriented on Rane, his head tilted to one side. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Well¡­¡± He swallowed even as he seemed to be considering. ¡°I had solid reason to believe that she wasn¡¯t dead, and I had faith that she would return.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what your message said, but what solid reason? Why did you have such faith?¡± He gave a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I quite literally cannot tell you. It would be in breach of the very means that allowed me to know, so I cannot say more.¡± Illie narrowed her eyes at him, but finally, shrugged in turn. ¡°I suppose I can¡¯t fault you for that.¡± Rane visibly relaxed. Another mageling mistake. Tala almost smiled, knowing that Illie was about to come at him again. She didn¡¯t have to wait long, ¡°So, why are you courting my sister? Why her?¡± The younger girl leaned around Rane to meet Tala¡¯s gaze. ¡°No offense, of course, but it bears asking.¡± Tala smiled in return. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m uninterested in his answer.¡± Rane let out a long sigh. ¡°And I can¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t expect something like this.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Illie grinned. ¡°So, you must have a ready answer?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He grinned in return. ¡°She is beautiful, a powerful Mage, a meticulous thinker, willing to change her opinion when presented with new evidence, willing to put herself in danger for the good of others, and a skilled fighter.¡± His smile turned warm. ¡°And those are just the things that are easy to quantify.¡± He turned to look at Tala. ¡°It also helps that she wants to court me.¡± He chuckled at that. ¡°That is the critical piece that makes the rest meaningful in the end. And, of course, any of those things in isolation isn¡¯t the reason. It isn¡¯t any individual thing, but how they¡ªand so much more¡ªcome together to make her, her.¡± Tala found herself reddening at his words, and at the attention that all her siblings were now paying to her and Rane. Illie narrowed her eyes for a moment before nodding. ¡°That is an acceptable answer.¡± She then turned toward Nea. ¡°So, glass? That¡¯s quite the choice.¡± Tension that Tala hadn''t specifically noticed in Rane slipped away as attention moved from him. While he was seemingly prepared for a question like this, he had still been nervous. She found his nervousness a bit endearing; so, she reached over and squeezed his hand even as other conversations sprang up around the table. Tala spoke softly enough that only Rane and any others with enhanced hearing should be able to hear. Though, the restaurant''s privacy fields removed the latter, leaving only Rane as able to hear, ¡°I liked your answer.¡± He smiled at that, whispering in return, ¡°Good. That¡¯s all that really matters in the end.¡± Without further whispering, they turned their attention to the meandering conversations already bubbling up around the table. * * * Illie and Nalac were utterly incredulous as Tala told yet another¡ªhighly edited¡ªaccount from her time in the arcane lands. The other siblings had heard most of these stories, but Illie and Nalac had been at the Academy when Tala had come back, and they hadn¡¯t seen her in person since. Even so, no one seemed to mind the rehashings, and as they gathered around the more intimate dinner table within Tala¡¯s sanctum, Tala found that she enjoyed entertaining them with the retellings. The day had been full, but in a way that was almost entirely mundane. She¡¯d introduced her siblings to her Defender unit-mates, taken her brothers and sisters up on the wall, watched Defender battles in the battle-view restaurant over breakfast, toured the city, and had lunch in a little, out of the way place¡ªwhich practically burst at the seams to accommodate them all at once¡ªbut aside from the personal aspects to some of those things, anyone could have done the same. Even now, sitting around the dinner table telling stories was a deeply mundane pastime, the content of the tales notwithstanding. The siblings all had to get home, but they¡¯d arranged for their departure to be flexible, and no one seemed quite ready to go just yet, even when Tala felt like she had run out of stories from the Arcane lands that she was willing and able to tell them. Mita, her second oldest sister, spoke up then, surprising most of them given her usually quieter nature, ¡°What about your work around here? Certainly you have some stories from your time as a Defender.¡± Tala looked around. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve already been talking a lot.¡± The siblings all clamored to state that they didn¡¯t mind that at all and that they wanted to hear the stories. When Tala still seemed hesitant, Rane smiled and interjected, ¡°I am happy to help some. I haven¡¯t been a Defender for as long as Tala has, but let me tell you. We¡¯ve seen some crazy stuff.¡± Everyone leaned in, clearly accepting his offer. ¡°Let me see¡­ Do you want to hear about us fighting copies of ourselves? Your sister battling with an Anatalin wolf whilst completely uninscribed? Or a tale of twisted magics and a name locked to all but one gifted Mage, which gave an evil magician long life?¡± After a moment of silence, the younger siblings exploded with their own preferences. As soon as they had, though, they heard what the others had said. Some immediately switched to be like one sibling or other, and some reiterated their choice, now firmly set in their preferred choice. Battlelines had been drawn, and it seemed that there would be a bit of a show before the story. Tala felt herself smiling at the antics of the younger ones, enjoying the knowing looks of resignation on her older siblings almost as much. You know? I am so glad that we did this. Thank you for all your help in making this happen, Alat. -Of course, Tala. You are most welcome.- * * * Tala waited patiently as Alder Zuccat¡ªthe next oldest Zuccat child¡ªteleported into her sanctum from the Academy after finishing the fall session of classes, his last session. The young man shed his light winter jacket¡ªthe most that would have teleported with him¡ªjust after stepping off of the teleportation receiving circle within Tala¡¯s sanctum. He¡¯d clearly been wearing it at the Academy, but felt no need for it, here. Tala willed it to be dry, warm, and nicely arranged for his departure, whenever that may be. Alder bowed in thanks to Tala as his outerwear was whisked away, likely not actually aware that it was her direct doing, but still being respectful as he was aware that the sanctum was her home. It had been two months since Tala¡¯s siblings visited and since then, they¡¯d been in far greater contact. Honestly, Tala hadn¡¯t realized how much of a barrier had been between them before her invitation and actualization of the teleports removed it. But this wasn¡¯t a time for her siblings. She and Terry were here with the Zuccats. Alder looked around with wonder at the clear ¡®outsideness¡¯ of his surroundings. ¡°Well, this is spectacular.¡± ¡°Welcome, Alder.¡± He bowed again in her direction. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala.¡± He smiled. Master Simon and Mistress Petra had been sure to be far more clear in their messages about who Tala was, to avoid another incident like what happened with Anna. ¡°It is my honor to have such a reception.¡± His eyes flicked to Terry even as the terror bird regarded him critically. ¡°You must be Terry. It is good to meet you, too.¡± He seemed wary as he spoke. Terry fluffed himself up before trilling in contentment and closing his eyes, much to Alder¡¯s clear relief. Tala smiled. ¡°I am happy to have you. Come, your family is finishing up dinner preparations.¡± As they began walking, Tala searched for something to speak on. She could have just willed them to be at the table for dinner, but she could see that they weren¡¯t quite ready to receive Alder yet, so she decided to take the more mundane route. ¡°Was it a pleasant teleportation?¡± He chuckled. ¡°It was, but I must say, I¡¯m a little concerned to be around iron again.¡± He shivered. ¡°I know there won¡¯t be much in here, but out in the city? The guards have so much of it, I can already practically feel my own magic trying to invade me, even without inscriptions.¡± He smiled wryly. ¡°Though, obviously, that¡¯s all in my head. I haven¡¯t ever even experienced it firsthand.¡± Tala blinked at him. ¡°Iron? Do you have an allergy? An aversion?¡± ¡°Oh no, nothing specific. I just dislike it as much as every Mage. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± She blinked at him again, her brain reframing and remembering what it was like to interact with Mages who felt that way. -Lyn has never really said she feels differently, you know.- Yeah, but I just sort of assumed that she¡¯d gotten over it¡­ or something. -That¡¯s not a very kind assumption¡­- Well, she was mainly concerned about me leaving iron about, and I literally can¡¯t do that anymore. -...fair.- Tala just smiled at the young man, contemplating dropping her illusion and showing him all the iron that she had about her person. -That would be mean¡­ funny but mean.- Instead, Tala simply motioned him toward where the rest of his family was waiting. ¡°Indeed. This way.¡± Soon enough, Anna was laughing with her brother, checking up on some of her friends and acquaintances who had still been at the Academy when she¡¯d left. Tala leaned back and listened to the Zuccat family laughing and catching up. Segis and Metti had warmed up to their older brother, despite him having left shortly after Metti was born. Annathas¡ªand Hanna before her¡ªhad begun laying the groundwork for loving, fun siblings returning from the Academy, and that likely helped a lot. Mistress Petra was doting on her son, much to his consternation. Master Simon was joking with the young man even while subtly inquiring as to his prospects on a master. All told, Tala was a bit overwhelmed by how much they were not like her own family. She tried to get on with her siblings, but the more she considered it, the more she realized that the lack of the parental figures really changed the dynamic. She would have to be mindful of that when her siblings visited. Regardless, she simply enjoyed being a part of the family meal. There was much that she wanted to learn for when she had family meals of her own. One day¡­ far in the future. Anna was excitedly explaining how she, herself, was progressing as a mageling. In fact, she expected to be raised to full Magehood in just two more years. By that point, her training in the mundane arts would be complete, and her foundations in magical healing would be fully solidified and unified with those non-magical methods. That really floored Tala, if she was being honest. Two more years of being a mageling¡­ she just couldn¡¯t imagine it. Fedir will be making his choice about the Academy about then. -You had a very unusual path, Tala. Anna is actually an example of a rather speedy rise for a healer. To be fair, that is a more knowledge-heavy profession, given all the treatment plans and disease and recovery theory and such. So, her choice requires more training before she can be raised. Your own time as a mageling would just have been to gain experience and confidence under a seasoned hand¡­ along with the filling in of knowledge gaps in general, but you already know about that rather extensively. Useful? Absolutely, but not required to do the job.- Tala grunted at that, though quietly enough that it was lost among the family¡¯s exuberance. Instead, she took another long drink, and settled in to watch, and hopefully learn something. Chapter: 444 - Sunset Date Tala, Rane, and Terry sat within her sanctum, just enjoying the sunset. Tala and Rane had spent a chunk of the day¡ªafter their morning shift¡ªparticipating in War Games, and they¡¯d finally beaten the last mundane challenge. ¡°I cannot believe that it took us nearly six months to overcome twenty-five mundane scenarios.¡± Rane huffed a laugh. ¡°Yeah. It didn¡¯t help that we were constantly changing sizes, body shape, and even capacities. Most of the scenarios would have been hard even without that.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°I¡¯ll say. I just about slapped Master Grediv when we came to the ¡®blind¡¯ one.¡± His voice deepened as he mimicked the Paragon, ¡°Find the yellow ball.¡± ¡°If I knew what shade of yellow that rusting thing was, I¡¯d never want to see it again.¡± Rane grinned, looking her way. ¡°To be fair¡­¡± She groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± He continued anyway. ¡°You haven¡¯t ever seen it to begin with.¡± She sighed, briefly fighting back her smile. ¡°You just couldn¡¯t help yourself.¡± But they were both laughing. Terry cracked one eye open to regard them, before letting out an incredulous, burbling series of chirps and turning his head to face away from them. Rane¡¯s smile remained as he brought up another of the scenarios, ¡°Well, I personally thought fighting with an arm missing was rather enlightening.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for sure. I¡¯ve fought without an arm occasionally, but it was always for short stints. The way it throws off your balance?¡± ¡°Yeah, and it messes up your entire kinesthetic alignment. It¡¯s so hard to get proper leverage without the counter-acting limb.¡± ¡°Try doing it with a glaive¡­¡± Rane laughed at that. ¡°Master Grediv did offer to let you switch weapons.¡± ¡°I know¡­ but that seemed like it would have been failing¡­¡± ¡°Unlike dying in the scenario over and over?¡± ¡°Hush, you.¡± But she was chuckling. ¡°That was just a temporary failure. Changing weapons would have been lasting. Even so, I think Master Grediv was hoping that I¡¯d ¡®learn¡¯ and change eventually.¡± Rane barked a laugh. ¡°I know, right? His face when you won? That was glorious.¡± Her smile grew. ¡°It was indeed.¡± Rane leaned back a bit, resting his hand between them. Tala took it and gave it a light squeeze, looking out at the sunset. ¡°Does it bother you?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Does it bother you?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That this sunset isn¡¯t real?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Technically speaking, no ¡®sunset¡¯ is real, or more accurately, I would argue that this sunset is as real as any.¡± She frowned, looking his way. ¡°I think I understand what you mean, but please explain.¡± He chuckled again. ¡°The sun never actually goes away, right?¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°The world just turns so we can¡¯t see it any more.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°So, the sun setting is purely based on our perspective. It¡¯s not a real, distinct event, it¡¯s a matter of perspective.¡± ¡°You could say that it¡¯s a real event for any given place, though. Right?¡± ¡°Oh? And how would you define that real event?¡± He had a knowing half-smile on his face. She mimicked it as she purposely fell into his ¡®trap.¡¯ ¡°A sunset would be the time in the evening when the sun is disappearing¡ªand daylight fades¡ªfrom the view of a given area.¡± He pointed toward the horizon. ¡°Is that sun disappearing?¡± She laughed. ¡°Yeah.¡± He gestured around them. ¡°Is the daylight fading?¡± She nodded, squeezing his hand again. ¡°It is indeed.¡± ¡°Then, I submit to you that this is, in fact, a real sunset.¡± Tala huffed another laugh. ¡°As you say then.¡± He took another drink and set his cup aside once more. ¡°But to your question? No. I¡¯d rather see a sunset in here than a ¡®real¡¯ one out there, without you.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Flatterer.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Only when it¡¯s true.¡± She smiled at that, then they fell back into silence for a time, before, ¡°Rane?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Have you ever wondered¡­ what does immortality really mean?¡± He sat up a bit, looking her way. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I guess¡­ Does that really mean our options now are a violent death or¡­ outliving our planet? The sun will go supernova at some distant future point. Are we going to live to see that?¡± Rane let out a long exhale. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really thought of it that way, but maybe? Probably not.¡± He then grinned. ¡°After all, no one¡¯s ever lived that long before.¡± She laughed. ¡°Quoting true but misleading statistics won¡¯t help any.¡± ¡°Ahh, but it made you laugh.¡± Her smile grew at that. ¡°True enough.¡± ¡°But, to your question? I think¡­ immortality means we carry a larger burden. We need to help raise humanity up. We are literally the top percent of a percent of the most advanced Mages of all gated-humans who have ever lived.¡± ¡°Ever?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°While I think that¡¯s true. I believe that we¡¯re rarer, even, than that. I think we¡¯re almost that for all of gated-humanity alive just right now.¡± He considered for a moment. ¡°That might be true, yeah.¡± -I can tell you¡ª- Hush, I¡¯m having a conversation. -Fine¡­ spoilsport.- ¡°So, immortality means responsibility to you?¡± He shrugged. ¡°In the best way, but yeah. Responsibility sometimes gets a bad name, but honestly, it¡¯s what gives life meaning.¡± She considered for a long moment before nodding. ¡°I can see that, actually. Without responsibility, without being useful in some way¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯d just be hedonistically drifting through time.¡± He chuckled. ¡°That actually reminds me of some of what I learned when Master Grediv had me research some of the previous attempts at governing gated-humanity.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah. Apparently, Archons at one point provided everything to non-Mage, gated-humanity. We gave them food, drink, shelter, education where they wanted it, and the opportunity to do basically whatever they wanted besides.¡± Tala turned a bit more toward him, interested in the results. ¡°What happened?¡± -I can tell you.- Of course you can, but you won¡¯t. -...fine.- ¡°Our cities almost collapsed. It turned out that concentrating the responsibility in only a few people caused a general sense of apathy and directionlessness. More than that, though, it was simply impossible for a few administrators to accurately predict the needs and wants of the population, even on relatively small scales.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Really?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yeah. There were supply issues of all kinds. Things that people wanted were in too short of supply with no easy way to determine who should get the limited quantity and who shouldn¡¯t. There were things that were made that no one ended up wanting, and people often took more than they really needed¡ªor even truly wanted¡ªbecause they might need or want it, and there was nothing keeping them from doing so.¡± ¡°That sounds frustrating.¡± ¡°Yeah. It could have been solved by just giving everyone the same stuff and removing choice or agency, but that would have been an even greater concentration of responsibility on the already over-stretched few, and it would have been its own kind of awful for everyone involved. The difficulty came down to a very few people trying to control or regulate supply with everyone else determining the ever changing¡ªalmost infinitely variable¡ªdemand. After all, if a thing is free, people tend to use more of it. If everything is free¡­¡± ¡°I can see that being an issue, yeah.¡± ¡°There was also the issue that, with the responsibility concentrated, it not only didn¡¯t work, but people didn¡¯t want to be forced to bear the burden of that responsibility. The percentage of people going to the Academy dropped drastically because almost no one wanted to become Mages, given all that was expected of them when compared to what was expected of mundanes¡ªessentially nothing.¡± Tala grunted, thinking of her own motivations for getting things done. Would she have done half of the things she¡¯d dove into without her initial debts? That really set her trajectory as a Mage, and she¡¯d been continuing along that path ever since. Even so, she was certainly against anything that would give others the same burden she had. There had to be some way to balance things out¡­ Rane continued, pulling her back from her thoughts, ¡°Thus, the very people who provided everything to society were in danger of fading into non-existence. Of course, some people rose to the occasion, doing everything they would have done otherwise and more, and Archons could have kept everything going for a bit longer, but they saw the writing on the walls and removed the largesse. There were¡­ unpleasant responses, but it didn¡¯t take long before people were too busy doing what they had to do in order to survive. Some people suffered¡ªwhich Archons did their best to mitigate¡ªbut most of gated-humanity seemed to rise to the challenge¡ªthe responsibility¡ªof fulfilling their own needs, and those of the people who depended on them.¡± ¡°And Archons didn¡¯t have to be administrators.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Yeah, and that.¡± ¡°But even now, we still do things that help.¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely, though what I¡¯ve read¡ªand found in discussions with other Archons¡ªis that inspiring charity within the culture has far better results than trying to have the Archons¡ªor any overarching administrator¡ªprovide it.¡± That¡­ that actually made sense. ¡°Put the responsibility of caring for those in need on the average citizen?¡± ¡°Precisely, yeah.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I won¡¯t pretend to understand how or why people work like that, but history is apparently pretty clear that we do.¡± Tala shrugged. She hadn¡¯t researched it as deeply as Rane seemed to have, but what he said lined up with what she did know. It also lined up with what she could see. When people helped each other, they were more connected by existence threads than when some higher authority came in and took care of any ills. Individuals were literally forging connections between themselves and those whom they gave help to that just weren¡¯t present with a top-down approach. Even so, her mind returned to the topic of immortality, and her eyes moved to Terry. ¡°You know, in thinking about immortality...¡± ¡°Back on topic, right.¡± He smiled her way. Her lips pulled up on one side in return as she continued, ¡°I hadn¡¯t really considered what soul-bonding with me would mean for Terry, longevity wise.¡± Terry opened his eyes, lifting his head to look her in the eyes. ¡°I do understand that it is a heavy ask, but you¡¯re already considering that, aren¡¯t you.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. Terry trilled in a way that conveyed the obviousness of the truth of that. She chuckled. ¡°Fair enough. You might already be immortal¡­ though, I don¡¯t think so.¡± He squawked and lay back down, clearly not interested in pursuing the conversation. Rane let out a long, contented sigh. Then, noting that the dialogue between Tala and Terry was done, he continued their conversation, ¡°Speaking of immortality and responsibility. If we stay the course, we¡¯re going to have an outsized impact on humanity, in the long run. Have you ever considered that?¡± She¡­ hadn¡¯t ever really considered that, but it was definitely true. Rust, Alat had let her know that there had been inquiries into what her ¡®style¡¯ was called, and who had made her clothes. Mistress Ingrit had handled most of those, but the more general ones that had come from those able to message her directly? Alat had taken care of those. But fashion influence wasn¡¯t really what Rane meant. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know? I¡¯ve only known humanity as it is, and I don¡¯t know enough to ¡®imagine a better world¡¯ or anything like that.¡± He huffed, a smile still resting easily on his face. ¡°That¡¯s fair, I suppose.¡± She watched him for a long moment in the fading light. ¡°What about you?¡± He grunted at the question, but took a bit to answer it. ¡°I think¡­ If I was in charge, I would want people to be able to defend themselves better. I¡¯m just afraid that to do that, we¡¯d have to remove some of our defenses of the mundanes, let them experience the dangers of the world more than we already do.¡± It was Tala¡¯s turn to grunt in understanding. ¡°Yeah. On the opposite side of that, it wouldn¡¯t be that hard to have a high-level Archon accompany caravans, with those trips just happening a little less often in order to remove most if not all of the danger, except around wanings.¡± ¡°And the dangers that are sometimes tolerated within cities¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ in my understanding, the only type of danger we don¡¯t tolerate at all is danger that specifically targets children.¡± ¡°Precisely. That¡¯s one reason why the bog hags are so universally reviled.¡± ¡°But if we removed those dangers, if no one experienced danger or needed to defend themselves before becoming an Archon¡­¡± ¡°Then not only will fewer people than ever want to be Mages, but those who do become Bound will be utterly unprepared for what is expected of them. It would be the largesse issue all over again, but in a different area of life.¡± Tala grimaced. This was hardly what she wanted to be discussing in the fading light with Rane, as important as it was. ¡°But it¡¯s not like we create the dangers, or even encourage them when they are noticed. My understanding is that we simply don¡¯t devote excessive resources to finding absolutely every possible danger.¡± ¡°That is essentially true. Even the idea of Fused or Refined escorting every caravan has large downsides that reduce the desirability of the idea. It would drastically increase the cost of inter-city goods and travel at the very least.¡± He sighed. ¡°There is some part that is our ability, but some is due to choice, and I can¡¯t say that I disagree.¡± Tala gave a sad smile, considering those who had been hurt and killed around her even during her short time running with the caravans. It would be nice to remove that hurt, to bring those people back, but would putting humanity in a bubble of safety really be the best thing for them? It really didn¡¯t seem like it would be. He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to turn the conversation to such a topic.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine¡­¡± She shifted up to kiss him on the cheek. ¡°These are important things, and I¡¯m glad to have someone to discuss them with, rather than feeling like I¡¯m getting a lecture, or tolerating someone who¡¯s ignorant.¡± He smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. ¡°I feel the same.¡± After a moment¡ªin which she simply enjoyed the lingering sensation¡ªTala had a realization, ¡°I think I¡¯d want humanity to be better educated.¡± He smiled. ¡°Oh? More school, then?¡± ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t think more is the right of it. Maybe differently directed school? I don¡¯t know. Maybe somehow shift things around so that young adults can go back to school after a time of working? I feel like I would have been able to learn better if I was older before I went to the Academy, after the foundational information, at least.¡± ¡°That would clash with the standard family structures, no?¡± ¡°It could. But what if the parents are going to school at the same time as their kids? They finish off their education as the kids get started on theirs?¡± Rane tilted his head to one side. ¡°You know, that might actually work, at least for the oldest children.¡± He chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s worth considering at least.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She leaned over against his shoulder. She willed her chair to shift slightly to allow the position, and it was so. ¡°You know, we¡¯re talking about immortality, but what about just after the waning? I know that¡¯s almost twenty years away, but that¡¯s still a lot closer than the explosion of our sun.¡± Tala smiled even though he couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°That¡¯s true. I don¡¯t know? I¡¯m here because I want to see a city wane. It would be nice to see a new one be built.¡± She considered for a moment. ¡°When I was coming back from the arcane lands, I passed the ruins of the previous Arconaven. I think I¡¯d like to explore that place, and maybe others too. You know? Just see what actually happens to our cities after we leave?¡± Rane nodded. ¡°Yeah, that would be really interesting to see first hand.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± After a moment¡¯s pause, she continued. ¡°There are also the sea-port cities that are supposed to be set up differently than the land-locked ones, and Audel is supposed to be under rather more lax management. There are even friendly arcanes who have been given leave to live there, completely unhidden from the mundane population.¡± ¡°That would be something to see for sure, yeah.¡± ¡°But outside of the gated-human cities there¡¯s even more to see. I know you are aware of the moving settlements¡ªthe villages and cities that don¡¯t wane and get rebuilt but actually move by their own magical and mechanical means.¡± He nodded. ¡°Well, I only saw one. I¡¯d like to go back as well as seeing more. Master Grediv even implied that there were some that were flying.¡± ¡°That does sound worth a trip.¡± He nudged her slightly. ¡°That¡¯s quite the itinerary.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Well, after the waning there will be¡­ a hundred twenty-five years?¡± She thought a moment before nodding. ¡°Yeah, about that until the Leskhin war is expected to begin this cycle. I¡¯ll want to be back for that, but that still leaves more than a mundane lifetime to see the sights.¡± ¡°It does indeed. Anything else catch your eye?¡± ¡°The north and east of the continent are interesting places to consider. It could be fun to reach the Academy by actually traveling there. It would also be pretty interesting to see the northern forests. The Anatalins seem like they¡¯ll be more closely aligned with humanity in the future, and I¡¯d love to see what that actually means. I feel like my one match against their sireling was incredibly eye-opening, and I wouldn¡¯t mind learning more from them.¡± Rane nodded, his face falling into a neutral expression. ¡°I feel¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s a mix of shame, disappointment, and regret that I wasn¡¯t advanced enough to fight with the wolf.¡± ¡°You probably could now. Right?¡± He seemed to consider. ¡°You know, I could, yeah. I don¡¯t know that I¡¯d do that well, yet. I haven¡¯t gotten my natural magics to set nearly as well as yours, and my soulbonds are decidedly lacking, especially when compared to yours.¡± ¡°I think it would be an interesting clash all the same.¡± ¡°It would at that¡­¡± He frowned. ¡°Why wait?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Why not take some time and visit some of these places before the waning ends?¡± She pulled back and looked up at him, a mischievous grin playing across her lips. ¡°Responsibility, of course.¡± He laughed at that. ¡°You got me there.¡± She settled back against him, and after a long moment, he shifted slightly. ¡°Would you mind company on all these wondrous travels?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t really have an option any more. Irondale is filling up, and I¡¯m not going to kick the people out. Though, I imagine some will choose to leave when the itinerary is announced.¡± He chuckled at that. ¡°Fair, but I suppose I meant a more personal companion.¡± She looked to where Terry was curled up, purposely misunderstanding him yet again. ¡°Terry?¡± He chirped without opening his eyes. ¡°You want to come?¡± He chirped again, clearly signalling his agreement. ¡°Very good. Yes, I¡¯m happy to have Terry coming along.¡± She couldn¡¯t hold in her grin as Rane shifted again. ¡°I meant¡ª¡± Tala interrupted him. ¡°I know, Rane.¡± She pulled back once again, looking up at him. ¡°I would love for you to come, especially if things continue as they have been.¡± She smiled. ¡°I think I would love to see the whole world with you, if I¡¯m able.¡± He leaned down at that, giving her a soft kiss¡ªtheir first kiss. When he withdrew he smiled. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± Their conversation fully lapsed into silence then, as the stars shone down from overhead, and neither of them seemed to mind in the least. Chapter: 445 - Gateless Paragon? Tala stood in the atrium of yet another cell, Irondale anchored off to one side so it wouldn¡¯t come inside with her. She hadn¡¯t made a true opening, as the last thing she wanted was gateless wandering out into such a place, but she did specifically place Irondale to one side. If she died, her remnant will should open the door and allow everyone out, at least for a time. At least, she hoped it would; after all, she couldn¡¯t exactly test the premise. Regardless, Irondale would be safe, even if the residents had to use the teleporter. After all, one of the things that the administrators had worked out was a ¡®residence fee¡¯ for moving in, equivalent to the cost and materials of a teleportation. In that way, by paying to move in, each person was ensuring they could get out in the worst-case scenario. In theory. I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m not going to die. Even so, she still had an incredibly uneasy feeling. The one trapped within this particular cell was a Paragon in power, but the information that they¡¯d gathered was seemingly conflicted. Their group was there with their own Paragon, and he insisted that the information was clear. It helped that it was in their own language, so it wasn¡¯t like there could be an issue of translation. Even so, Tala didn¡¯t really understand how what the man said could be true. Master Clevnis was seemingly equally incredulous. ¡°Please, run that by me again, Master Virbold.¡± The tall man took a slow breath before shaking his head. ¡°I can¡¯t be any clearer, nor can I provide information that I wasn¡¯t given. This prisoner is very specifically called a Paragon, and yet it also emphasizes that she has no gate.¡± ¡°So, she¡¯s Honored.¡± The unit leader nodded in satisfaction. Master Virbold gave Master Clevnis a level look. ¡°We can keep going around in circles, or you can take the information I have to give, and let me get past the first sentence. She is a gateless Paragon.¡± Tala¡¯s unit leader was obviously about to argue further, but Mistress Cerna put her hand on her husband¡¯s arm. ¡°Clevnis, leave it. Let¡¯s hear the rest.¡± Master Clevnis threw up his hands, ¡°He¡¯s claiming to have discovered dry water. That is a contradiction in terms. How are we supposed to take the rest of the information seriously if it begins with such madness?¡± She patted her husband on his shoulder, and he quieted down, even if rather grumpily. Master Virbold bowed her way. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Cerna. That was no longer productive.¡± She gave a slight nod of her head even as Master Clevnis grimaced and turned away, clearly irritated. Master Virbold cleared his throat. ¡°As I was saying, this prisoner¡ªMistress Slannir¡ªis a gateless Paragon¡­¡± he paused, clearly making sure he wouldn¡¯t be interrupted and the briefing derailed again. When no one spoke, he smiled and continued, ¡°who specialized completely in healing, to the point that she had virtually no offense or even defense. Instead, she would take absolutely any attack, and simply come back, even from total incineration or dissolution.¡± He consulted his notes, his eyes unfocusing for a moment. ¡°It even states that she somehow reformed herself here after her body was kicked into the Void or Doman-Imithe.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°None of that sounds evil or dangerous. Why is she locked up?¡± ¡°Because her soul was lost somewhere along the way. Her body, her mind, and her magic come back regardless, but she no longer has a soul. Hence, gateless.¡± ¡°And her magics still work?¡± ¡°They do. This cell is a bit special as it was created to be utterly safe. Apparently, the prevalent theory was that she could regenerate from even the smallest cell that had ever been a part of her, her natural magics somehow stamping every bit of it with the totality of who she was. So, if she ever dies¡ªor is voided¡ªa different part of her activates and a new body is built.¡± Master Girt was frowning. ¡°Alright, so we can¡¯t let any of her get on us. Complete isolation. That shouldn¡¯t be too hard if she has no magical attacks, means of movements, or otherwise.¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be, no.¡± Tala was shaking her head. ¡°Even without a soul¡­ why is she locked up? We don¡¯t lock up every soulless bit of magic we find, certainly not in a cell.¡± The Paragon grimaced but nodded his understanding of the inquiry. ¡°Apparently¡ªeven though she was seemingly immune to Reality¡¯s influence due to her ongoing magic¡ªshe began to perform various experiments that were¡­ unethical. Even beyond being unethical, they were utterly unacceptable.¡± What on zeme could be so¡ª But he addressed her unvoiced confusion before she even completed her thought. ¡°She believed that children held the key to immortality for the masses, and she saw no reason to safeguard ¡®a few children¡¯ when what she could learn could help all children born thereafter.¡± Tala swallowed, feeling disgust build within herself. It was Master Limmestare who asked the question that they all, both wanted and didn¡¯t want the answer to, ¡°How many?¡± ¡°It is estimated that she killed more than a thousand children before she was caught.¡± Mistress Vanga gasped but didn¡¯t let it rest like that, ¡°Estimated? How could they not know?¡± ¡°She was very good at hiding her¡­ experiments, and the human cities were more dangerous at the time. Even as they tried to execute her, and eventually locked her in here, she insisted that she was close to a breakthrough. She insisted that the Archons of her day were all fools, and that she only needed a few thousand more test subjects to find the answer.¡± They all looked as sick as Tala felt. Master Virbold gave a sympathetic¡ªif still displeased¡ªsmile. ¡°There was some theory that, with her gate gone, she was able to develop some conceptual magics, that or she¡¯d soulbound some items without physical form, allowing her to keep access to some magics. Though what they were wasn¡¯t recorded as they ¡®never manifested the same way twice.¡¯ So, be aware that things could go sideways.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°Losing her soul should have lost her any soulbonds, but that was the best guess at the time, and so she might have found some other path.¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s always the danger, but we¡¯ll be as ready as we can be.¡± Mistress Cerna moved around to each member of their unit, weaving a small spellform into each of their clothing. ¡°This will create a constant repulsive effect, as well as filtering any air you breathe in. It will make breathing harder, but not impossible and will still allow us to speak in order to communicate. It will keep anything from sticking to us. So, we shouldn¡¯t be in danger of carrying a piece of her out. I can create a cordon of similar magics in stages through the tunnel, to prevent exfiltration, but none of that will prevent her from physically leaving.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°So, I¡¯m on physical imposition?¡± Master Clevnis stepped in as his wife motioned him forward, ¡°You and Master Rane. I believe that his ability to impart kinetic energy to Mistress Slannir will be critical to mission success if the worst happens.¡± She nodded before looking to Rane and sharing a smile with him. ¡°That works for me.¡± Master Clevnis smiled in turn. ¡°Even so, I would prefer for that to be our last resort. Master Limmestare and Master Girt, please work with what you can to keep the prisoner back without actually harming her.¡± Master Limmestare frowned. ¡°Without harming? I can understand not killing, but no harming?¡± Master Virbold interjected here. ¡°I thought I conveyed this to all of you, but I suppose it got lost in some of the other oddities. She has somehow weakened herself so that she dies with relative ease. In that way, she can slip free of restraints and other impediments via self-rebuilding elsewhere.¡± ¡°Ahh.¡± The studious Defender grimaced. ¡°That¡¯s unpleasant.¡± ¡°Indeed. Purposely altering yourself to make self-harm more efficacious is¡­¡±¡ªthe Paragon sighed¡ª¡°I suppose yet another result of lacking a soul.¡± Master Limmestare grunted. ¡°Indeed.¡± Master Clevnis took the conversation back over. ¡°The environment will be odd to us, as it was designed to¡ªtheoretically¡ªmake it impossible for her to kill herself. There aren¡¯t details, but I imagine it will be flat at the very least.¡± Master Virbold cleared his throat, and Master Clevnis sighed before gesturing for the man to speak. ¡°Thank you. There are certain techniques available in cell creation that might have been utilized here, despite their difficulty and expense. This might be a self-contained sphere, so as to not have any accessible walls or edges. If so, it would likely be under extreme spatial distortion so that orbital mechanics couldn¡¯t be utilized to gain sufficient leverage to break a neck or the like. If so, it would appear flat, but you would be able to see yourself in every direction. If that is the case, expect it to be incredibly disorienting to start with, and she will have had time to become acclimated to the oddities.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Tala found herself nodding. That sounds like a more advanced application of the dimensional anchor prisons we¡¯ve encountered in the past. -Oh, yeah, I can see that.- Master Girt seemed to frown as he considered but didn¡¯t ask a question. So Master Virbold continued, ¡°Another option would be a cell without a floor at all, in which case she would be in a sort of odd freefall. For this case, it would probably have been altered to be a sort of mild gravity-well. In that way, she¡ªor anything else¡ªwould always return to the center at a slow, sedate pace. This would honestly be ideal from my understanding of the prisoner, as you all would simply be at the edge of the well, and would simply have to observe her until I have rebuilt the seals.¡± He considered for a moment before giving a small shrug. ¡°There are a few more esoteric possibilities, but they should be self-evident and won¡¯t be an issue if they have been used.¡± Master Clevnis smiled. ¡°As he said, let¡¯s get to it then.¡± The Paragon worked his magic and the actual entrance to the cell blossomed before them, revealing the standard tunnel that Tala had come to expect with most¡ªif not all¡ªcell entryways. Mistress Cerna worked quickly to create the repulsion field across the entrance before they advanced. As they moved, she continued to work enacting the same magics every few feet. The result was a feeling of pressure, almost like a breeze, pushing at their back as they moved deeper. Directly behind Mistress Cerna was Tala, with Rane directly behind her. Masters Limmestare and Girt came next. Then Mistress Vanga and Master Clevnis brought up the rear. They came out the far end of the tunnel to find a small platform waiting for them upon which they could stand and look into the seemingly endless sky beyond. So, gravity-well, then? -So it would seem.- Tala frowned, looking around. She specifically swept her gaze and threefold sight above them and then she lay down to look under the platform at the sky-like emptiness of it all. Her threefold sight had told her nothing was there, but she checked with her mundane eyes, regardless. The others were similarly scanning their surroundings until, finally, Mistress Cerna let out a quiet curse. ¡°She¡¯s not in here.¡± And that was the truth of it. The only contents of the seemingly infinite cell was a small book, floating in the center of the gravity well, lazily spinning, like an item on display for their perusal at a ridiculously fancy shop. Well, rust. Master Limmestare sighed. ¡°What do you think the chances are that she¡¯s somehow in that book? Trying to trick her way into an escape?¡± Master Girt barked a laugh. ¡°That would be just the thing, wouldn¡¯t it? Leaving an obvious item behind, that is actually her path to truly escaping?¡± Mistress Vanga cleared her throat. ¡°The thing is¡­ we have to check the book thoroughly, don¡¯t we?¡± Mistress Cerna grimaced. ¡°We do. If it is a trap or means of escape, she would know that we¡¯d have to, and this could be playing into her plans. Even so, I can make it as safe as possible.¡± What followed was some of the most beautiful interweaving that Tala had yet seen. Mistress Cerna created proverbial tapestries of interweaving threads of precious metals before powering them up in a blaze of magically-radiant light. The results looked simple, but Tala could tell that they were anything but. Every action that was taken was behind at least six varied layers of safeguards, that Tala couldn¡¯t even properly parse, simply because they pulled from too many different types of magic. In the center of the space, the book stopped spinning before flipping open. One page after another turned as Mistress Cerna¡¯s eyes glossed over, clearly looking at something that they couldn¡¯t see. Well, she was obviously looking at an analysis of the book, which they could see, but her view of it wasn¡¯t visible to them. In the end, the woman cursed. ¡°It seems that she¡¯s really not here. Though, she did leave a detailed account of how she got out.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Why would she do that?¡± The Refined scoffed. ¡°Because she doesn¡¯t want any of the other things we have locked away to escape and inconvenience her. She actually expresses gratitude for our efforts along with understanding of the reasoning behind her own imprisonment, even if she disagreed. ¡®After all, mortals die all the time,¡¯ but they are still important. Moreover, she hopes that her path crosses with ours sometime in the future.¡± Tala felt something tickling the back of her mind. Why does that sound familiar¡­? Rane asked the obvious question, ¡°How did she escape?¡± ¡°Killed herself, apparently. She waited a decade or two after being trapped in here¡ªapparently by slowly counting to three-hundred and twenty million¡ªthen she held her breath until she died.¡± When Mistress Vanga started to object, Mistress Cerna held up a hand. ¡°I know, but apparently automatic breathing when unconscious is one of the things she changed about herself¡­ for some reason.¡± Master Girt shook his head, ¡°Well, this is the reason, and things like it. So, what? What did she advise for fixing the flaw that let her escape?¡± ¡°She said that if the cell had been lined with iron, she wouldn¡¯t have been confident of her own escape. Though, I think that suggestion isn¡¯t actually a serious one and wouldn¡¯t have actually helped. She also advised placing any such as her in a mental stupor, and she gave a long list of different self-propagating bacteria that could be designed or found to be introduced into any biological threat, which would render them insensate, theoretically forever.¡± Tala did not like the sound of that. The unit leader sighed. ¡°Regardless, I think it is mostly egotistical grandstanding, rather than really an attempt to be helpful. We need to ask Master Virbold to verify that Mistress Slannir isn¡¯t using something that I can¡¯t detect to hide herself.¡± Master Clevnis nodded. ¡°And if he gives the all-clear, Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± She responded distractedly. ¡°We¡¯ll want to have Kit eat this space so that you can analyze it more fully and verify that there is no lingering presence or the like. Then, you should obliterate the remains as best you see fit.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± She and Alat were pouring through past interactions. The words and sentiment that Mistress Cerna had conveyed sounded like a lot of arcanes who she¡¯d had the misfortune of interacting with. Honestly though, it was a bit less monstrous than would be expected from one of them. So what was pulling at her thoughts and memory? This was one of the issues with her ¡®perfect¡¯ memory. She could remember anything that she tried to remember, but if there wasn¡¯t something specific to focus on, it was a matter of sorting through everything. And since she doubted the wording was exactly the same, she was trying to find things that were thematically the same. Master Girt went to get Master Virbold, and the Paragon was not happy with the turn of events. He worked with Mistresses Cerna and Vanga¡ªwith Tala using her threefold sight as well¡ªto thoroughly examine the entirety of the cell multiple times. Once it was verified that there was no consciousness in or tied to anything in the space, they performed other tests, followed by more tests. Finally, the Paragon said that there was nothing more they could look for. Tala had been sweeping the cell with her threefold sight over and over, trying to cover every aspect of the four-dimensional space she could perceive. Even so, it was only when Mistress Cerna drew the book closer that Tala saw something. ¡°WAIT!¡± Everyone froze. Even so, six differing magical defenses snapped into existence around the book and the Archons within the cell. Tala¡¯s eyes had snapped to the book and were locked there, even though what she was seeing didn¡¯t require her eyes. ¡°There¡¯s a minuscule reality thread leading from the book off somewhere else.¡± Master Limmestare looked excited. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s sufficient to track the woman down?¡± Tala shook her head even as Master Virbold did the same. She was the one who answered, though, ¡°Reality threads don¡¯t behave like that. Ironically, they use the void as often as regular dimensionality to ¡®connect¡¯ two things¡ªas the connection is not actually physical but representative or metaphorical¡ªand we don¡¯t know enough about void-ial navigation to pull something meaningful.¡± Master Virbold smiled at that. ¡°Well reasoned. Even so, given Mistress Slannir¡¯s particular magics¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s probably far too much to hope for, but¡­¡± Tala grinned in return. ¡°Exactly. It isn¡¯t likely, but I think I might be able to increase her attraction along this reality thread, yes.¡± Master Girt frowned. ¡°Let¡¯s assume that¡¯s true¡­ what would that do?¡± She shrugged. ¡°In a perfect world, it might bring her here. In an imperfect world¡ªwhich I think we can all agree is closer to the truth¡ªit might force her back here the next time she tries to rebuild herself? Honestly, though, even if it works, it probably won¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°So, even in the best case scenario, how does that help us? The cell clearly can¡¯t hold her. If she¡¯s not here, she¡¯ll have spread bits of herself all over the place, unless she¡¯s an utter fool. She¡¯ll escape again as soon as she wishes to.¡± It was Mistress Cerna who answered that, ¡°But we¡¯ll get a new image of her. We¡¯ll get to talk with her, test her with words, and see her magics for ourselves. It¡¯s possible that she¡¯s still around nearby, and us pulling her here will reveal her in the outside world. Regardless, we could learn something.¡± The unit members all seemed to consider that before nodding one after another and turning toward Tala. Rane gave Tala¡¯s shoulder a squeeze. ¡°It¡¯s your show, Tala.¡± She smiled in return. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see if this works.¡± She chuckled and then added, ¡°And if it works, let¡¯s see if it does anything.¡± She reached out with her amplification magics, focusing on the reality thread that led to a central part of the book. She built her mental model to lock onto the other end of the thread, and just as she did for reality nodes, she amplified the connection of that end to this, using her void-channels to dump power into the connection. Nothing happened for a long few minutes as Tala put more and more power into amplifying the connection. The reality thread didn¡¯t grow any thicker, but it somehow seemed to become more¡­ present? Something about the thread made it seem more important to Tala¡¯s threefold sight, like even though it was a tenuous connection, it mattered. Like remembering a random person you talked to once, and suddenly not being able to get them out of my mind. -Yeah, it¡¯s cognitively similar to that, I think¡­- After an hour, Master Virbold sighed. ¡°I think we might want to set a limit. What about a day of amplification?¡± They all agreed and settled in for a longer wait. Two hours later, something descended. Tala gasped, her active magics stuttering. The power that suddenly locked down the entire cell reminded her of only a single thing: when the power of Anatalis had disabled her inscriptions for the fight with the sireling. Master Virbold gasped and fell to his knees, blood trailing from his eyes. Then, an illusion appeared in the center of the cell. It was clearly an illusion, as if the person responsible for it wanted to ensure there was no doubt, and Tala thought that even mundanes would immediately identify it as such. The woman¡¯s face looked around in confusion. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ªnew body¡ªwho¡¯s this?¡± Chapter: 446 - Facing Perspectives Tala had a hard time breathing at the sheer magical weight of the mere projection that was before them. The woman had caramel colored skin and vibrant violet eyes, with an iridescence to them that seemed to make the other colors throughout the cell pop in an unnatural way. Her hair was a silver that somehow spoke of youth rather than age, which made no sense to Tala. The projection of the woman seemed to not know where she was looking for a moment, but then she blinked a few times, and her soft voice vibrated the entire cell once again, ¡°Oh! This is a Cell, isn¡¯t it? Is this Zeme?¡± She gasped. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about Zeme in ages.¡± Tala shuddered before the purr in the woman¡¯s voice. ¡°Now, how did you get my attention?¡± Her eyes flicked to Master Virbold. ¡°Huh, a Paragon? No, you couldn¡¯t have done this.¡± She looked at each of the unit members in turn, pausing on Rane. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re a young one¡­ a big one too.¡± Then, she sighed, shaking her head¡ªwell, she shook all of herself which was only a head¡ªand her gaze fell on Tala. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s you. You¡¯re the one who tugged on my connection to this place.¡± Tala felt herself rise from the ground, even though she couldn¡¯t feel or sense any magic acting upon her. ¡°You are fascinating. Magics focused on staying alive¡ªI approve of course¡ªand those for amplifying the link between objects, with a foundation in gravity, but you¡¯re reaching beyond that, aren¡¯t you. Hmm, yes. You are going to reach beyond Zeme, or die on the path, aren¡¯t you.¡± It was not a question. Tala shivered again. ¡°How is this place doing, eh? I see that the arcanes haven¡¯t wiped out the gated, or even their ability to advance¡­ you aren¡¯t all arcane slaves are you?¡± Tala saw everyone shake their heads as one, seemingly unable to resist giving an answer. ¡°Good, that¡¯s good. Humanity has some ridiculous scruples, but it would reflect rather badly on me if those I rose from were taken out while I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡± There was an odd flexing around Mistress Cerna, and suddenly she spoke up, ¡°No. The arcanes and gated human cities have an unstable peace after the Black Legion disaster and unified response.¡± ¡°Black Legion? Why does that sound familiar¡­¡± The head grunted. ¡°Oh, well. I¡¯ve forgotten some of the more useless things, it seems. Does humanity still prize the individual over society?¡± This time it was around Master Virbold that the distortion was enacted. The Paragon was clearly straining, but he answered all the same, ¡°We have never prized the individual over society, but if you mean do we still prize individual choice and free will then yes. We do not make slaves or test subjects of those whom we choose to protect.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. How noble. So nothing has changed.¡± She sighed. Then, her gaze flicked back toward Tala. ¡°But you. You look like a go-getter. Your magics show a wise order of priorities. Do you let others just walk around with something that you need?¡± There was an odd pressure around Tala, then. It wasn¡¯t invading her mind; it was more like the pressure stripped away her reasons to keep silent, as if reality or existence itself no longer saw a need for her to do anything but answer, ¡°From those who wrong me I will take without issue, but I will not harm the innocent, no matter what I might gain.¡± The woman clucked her tongue. ¡°That''s unfortunate. You aren¡¯t letting your true feelings surface. The very fact that you¡¯re lying to yourself and are hiding behind niceties and platitudes, makes me a bit sad. Though, I suppose that¡¯s the influence of your gate¡­ tainting your view with a useless viewpoint of the other world.¡± She hummed to herself. ¡°You know¡­ I haven¡¯t thought of Zeme in so long¡­ It would be nice to get an update. I could take some time to uplift you, and remove your blinders, if¡ª¡± A rumbling growl resonated through the cell, and while the power of the arriving head had possessed a similar level of power to Anatalis¡¯ working, the growl was so undoubtedly him that Tala had no doubt that he¡¯d somehow woven that knowledge into the sound in order to leave no room for mistakes. The face grimaced, ¡°Down boy. I know the rules. I¡¯m not taking her. I¡¯m just making an offer that¡ª¡± The growl deepened, this time it was joined by a sound like wind through the trees, and Tala got the unmistakable feeling akin to when she had stood in the Leshkin forest. ¡°Fine, fine. And people wonder why I never come home.¡± The growl turned into a low yip that Tala was sure conveyed the equivalent of ¡®No one wonders that.¡¯ The sound of a single leaf falling somehow evoked agreement. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been fun thinking back on old times. I hope you all rot in that broken world, especially you, pup. As for you, silly tree, grow some eyes and take in more of existence. You¡¯re stagnating, dear.¡± The shiver of leaves and low growl built, and Tala saw the entire cell fill with seemingly spontaneously generating spellforms, magical manifestations similar to those Tala generated when fully iron-clad, but on a significantly higher level. ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll go. I don¡¯t stay where I¡¯m not wanted.¡± Her gaze locked onto Tala¡¯s for a moment and clear interest blazed in her eyes. ¡°Immortality leads to a long life, girl. When you put this broken mud-ball behind you¡ªalong with your silly concern with mortals¡ªlook for me. We¡¯ll talk, and I¡¯ll show you around, eh?¡± The magics in the air fully manifested, and the illusion was eviscerated. That included the disintegration of the very reality thread that Tala had used to draw the woman¡¯s attention. Everyone felt the pressure on them vanish, and they all gasped in great, sucking breaths. Then, Tala heard a voice within her head, and a similar flexing of reality, this time removing her barriers to hearing the truth in what followed, however much or little there may be, ¡°You remind me a bit of myself. Don¡¯t be a stranger, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened, and as she looked back at the book, she saw an illusory eye appear just long enough to give what was undoubtedly a wink before it vanished once again. There was a long, long moment of silence. Finally, Master Girt barked a nervous laugh. ¡°So, this prisoner is no longer a threat to Zeme?¡± Master Virbold sighed. ¡°Yes. I will testify to that.¡± No one seemed interested in disputing the statement. With that verified, the unit left the cell in subdued silence. Tala set Kit to the task of devouring the meal, ensuring that a small bit of the dimensional expansion was left. In that way, they could delve for a cell anchor in case one had been used. The dimensionality that Kit took in was added to Tala¡¯s sanctum for the time being. While Master Virbold worked on searching for an anchor¡ªand retrieving it if so¡ªTala and Alat sorted through the dimensionality that had been granted, along with the air and other aspects of the cell. They did find some remnant biological matter that had been so thoroughly degraded as to distribute through the whole cell just like the air itself. Tala couldn¡¯t perceive any remaining reality threads¡ªthough whether they¡¯d never been there or Anatalis¡¯ and the Forest Spirit¡¯s working had broken them, they had no idea¡ªbut they wanted to be as safe as possible even so. Tala built up a large amount of dissolution magics and set it loose on the remnants, turning them to even finer dust. Then, she gathered it all together in a vacuum before dropping the temperature of her sanctum by a uniform one degree before focusing all the extracted thermal energy on the remaining particles. They blazed white hot before atomizing entirely and combining with oxygen in the air¡ªthat she added in for the sake of combustion¡ªin completely different configurations, which should break any connections that might have lingered, even if those connections had been outside of their scope of detection. Tala then opened a portal and dumped the remnant matter onto the ground before analyzing it. ¡°There are no reality threads connecting to the remnants. If she still has a connection to any of it, it is beyond me to sense.¡± The others used their various methods to verify the same. That done, Tala let Kit truly eat the remnants, forever removing them from existence. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Mistress Cerna was looking through the book to see if her mundane eyes noticed anything that the magical analysis had missed. ¡°Should we¡­ obliterate this too?¡± Master Virbold sighed. ¡°I¡¯m communicating with some others. I should have an answer soon.¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Are we just not going to talk about two Sovereign level beings seemingly acting in there?¡± Master Limmestare patted the big man on the shoulder. ¡°We are all still trying to process it, Master Rane.¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ I suppose¡­ Yeah¡­¡± Tala was feeling incredibly conflicted. Yet another monster had latched onto her as being of use to them in some way, or like them enough to garner attention and interest. Mistress, Be-thric, the Leshkin, the dasgannach, and now Mistress Slannir. Am I so twisted inside? Am I so messed up? -Or so full of potential that they want to twist.- Tala wanted to believe that, but she couldn¡¯t help but remember the truth of her own actions. She had obliterated arcanes who weren¡¯t responsible for her circumstances by any stretch of the imagination. Rust, she remembered dueling with gardeners, killing them simply to get past them, to get what she wanted. -You¡¯ve never killed a human.- Alat hesitated. -Reiki doesn¡¯t count. Reality killed her, you just let it happen.- Tala huffed a laugh at that, but didn¡¯t really feel better. So, she¡¯d yet to kill a human. Is that what it took to be safe from her? One had to be of the same race? There was a certain type of evil in that. Her own race was safe, but everyone else was fair game¡­ she did not like the sound of that. -But you have friends who are arcanes¡­ well, they were Tali¡¯s friends, but they¡¯d probably have liked you. Thron did!- A moment later, Alat added, -Master Lisa, too. You like him well enough, and you went out of your way to not extort him.- Tala huffed internally. I also know that I¡¯ll get more from him in the long run if I show him a modicum of decency, and I¡¯d get nothing more if I had pushed things. It didn¡¯t help that she saw a lot of parallels between her own magics and that of the former prisoner. They both had focused on their own survival above almost everything else, even when a slightly greater split in their focus might have been able to help others more. Mistress Slannir had even commented on that, commending her for her choice. Tala grimaced at the memory. -Tala, that is ridiculous. You seek to preserve your soul, she sought to preserve even a rusted shell, a mockery of her self, regardless of her own soul.- Do we know that? What if she strove just as I do, but when it failed and her soul moved on, she shifted her magics to take best advantage of her new reality? Isn¡¯t that exactly what I would do? -That¡­- Alat sighed. -That actually does make sense.- Then, Alat seemed to have a realization. -But, she would have had to be binding her ¡®soulbonds¡¯ to her body instead of her soul from the beginning to achieve this.- Or, once again, she simply found new things to bind after she lost her soul. That was another thing that was bothering Tala. Even without a soul, the woman had seemed so¡­ human. The interactions had mirrored many of her talks with more advanced people. What did that mean? Alat clearly didn¡¯t like where Tala¡¯s head was at but didn¡¯t seem to have anything else to add. Tala ran her hands through her hair until they caught on her braid, and she wiggled her fingers and pulled them free. Rane sat down next to her. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that I am.¡± She opened a small portal into Kit and Terry flickered out, appearing on her shoulder and immediately nuzzling into her cheek upon seeing her. ¡°Thank you, both of you. I¡­ I think I have a lot to think through.¡± * * * Three weeks had passed since their encounter with Mistress Slannir. Suffice it to say, Tala¡¯s mind was still spinning on the topic. She¡¯d even talked with Master Nadro, but his method of reflecting and asking probing questions hadn¡¯t been what she needed¡­ somehow. She really wasn¡¯t sure what had affected her so deeply about the woman¡¯s words, actions, and history. Or I know exactly what, and I don¡¯t like it. -You were a prisoner, surrounded by those who would take your freedom or your life if they knew the real you.- Tala raised a mental eyebrow at Alat. -Wow¡­ I really walked into that one. But no! It¡¯s not the same. Mistress Slannir killed children, explicitly and specifically. She experimented on them. You would never do that.- We believe she did simply because those who imprisoned her said so. She shook her head before Alat could respond, countermanding her own thoughts. No, I don¡¯t doubt that she did, though. Her own words make it rather clear that she would have had no issue experimenting on children. It just fits too well with her whole philosophy. The thing was, Tala could still intimately remember her time in the arcane lands. Her perfect memory allowed her to put herself back in the exact mindset she had held back then, and she simply couldn¡¯t lie to herself. She could see herself falling that low, becoming that monster. If experimenting on arcane children could have led to her escape, Tala believed that she might have done it¡­ eventually. Even the very thought repulsed her. Nevertheless, she knew that, near the end, she had been becoming more desperate, and while she didn¡¯t know how long it would have taken, it was within the realm of possibility that she would have been willing to cross that line. Mistress Slannir had at least had the noble goal of improving humanity as a whole. Tala had only been focused on herself. Rane placed his hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. Tala jerked slightly, having somehow forgotten he was there. She looked around, blinking, taking in the base of the teleportation tower. Why¡ª? Oh. Right. It was time for her siblings to visit again, and she, Rane, and Terry were waiting for the appointed hour of their arrival. There were fewer this time as those who were at the Academy weren¡¯t going to be coming, but that still meant that nine of her siblings were going to spend the day in Alefast with her. Alat¡­ I can¡¯t deal with this. I¡­ I¡¯m not in a good place. -When we are in a bad place, that¡¯s when we need friends and family the most, Tala. See if this helps. If it doesn¡¯t¡ªor if it doesn¡¯t help enough¡ªwe¡¯ll find something else to do.- ¡­Okay. The siblings arrived in a tide, only taking two cycles of the available teleportation circles to get them all together and ready for another fun day with their sister, Tala. Tala put on a brave face and did her best to be a good hostess, but in the end, after the sun had set, and all the others had been teleported back home, Latna stayed behind, taking Tala off to one side, ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on with you?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seemed distracted all day, like something¡¯s bothering you, or you¡¯re afraid of something.¡± She grimaced at that. ¡°I had a run-in with someone¡­ unpleasant.¡± ¡°Oh? I¡¯d thought that you¡¯ve faced evil things before.¡± Latna seemed genuinely concerned. ¡°I have, but this time¡­ she commented on how alike she and I were, and she had some good points.¡± That took Latna by surprise. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ It wasn¡¯t that we are the same, more that she highlighted how I could be like her with ease.¡± ¡°Why did you believe her?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°It would be too convenient to just dismiss the idea. I think that I believe her because there is overlap.¡± -You believe her because you fear that it¡¯s true.- Hush. -I will not hush. That¡¯s why you¡¯re acting like you believe her, despite her obviously being wrong. You aren¡¯t going to become like her. You¡¯re giving what little evidence there is behind her words more weight out of fear. Some evidence does not prove truth when other evidence exists that countermands it.- Latna frowned. ¡°What¡¯s the core of the issue? What are you really concerned might be true?¡± ¡°That I have the potential to step on anyone I need to, in order to get what I need or want.¡± She grunted. ¡°That¡¯s a very human trait, yeah. I think we all have that capacity, that temptation. I don¡¯t agree with the assessment that you will though. Sadly, I would assume that my opinion doesn¡¯t mean all that much to you, especially in this moment.¡± Tala tsked a laugh, feeling a small smile pull at her lips. ¡°I will say this, the very fact that it bothers you should tell you something. You know, now, that you don¡¯t want that path. So? Don¡¯t walk any further in that direction.¡± Latna shrugged. ¡°What if that feeling is just my soul?¡± -That¡¯s a stupid question, Tala. You are your soul. We are your soul. Remove your soul and what¡¯s left would be an entirely different entity than you.- Latna blinked a few times. ¡°Just your¡­ I¡­ I think I am quite out of my depth.¡± She patted Tala on her shoulder. ¡°You are in waters which would drown me, Tala, but we are here, if there is anything that we can do.¡± Tala gave her a half hug, not really thinking much of the offer, but not wanting to be rude. ¡°Alright. Thank you.¡± With a simple goodbye, Latna moved to the teleportation circle and left in a pulse of power. Rane walked up beside Tala. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t know if seeing your family helped much.¡± Tala gave him a narrow-eyed look. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He returned a half-smile. ¡°You¡¯re clearly still stewing. If people don¡¯t help, what if we got away from people for a while? You wanted to see the ruins of a city, and there are some we can reach in less than a day. Let¡¯s take a bit of time and let you have space to clear your head.¡± She frowned. ¡°Like a holiday?¡± ¡°I suppose. I was thinking more of a break but holiday works too.¡± ¡°That¡­ that might be nice.¡± She felt herself smile at the idea. ¡°Thank you.¡± Chapter: 447 - To Study the Invisible Tala set about arranging for her and Rane¡¯s break with zeal, coming out of the fog that had plagued her for the past few weeks. For it to be truly a break, not just another item on her to-do list, they decided to make it of indefinite length. It wasn¡¯t that she actually planned to be gone for even as much as half a year, but the very idea of having a time by which she had to be back, would have been a burden in the back of her mind, at least in her current state. Alat masterfully arranged things with Irondale, letting them know that Tala would be away from cities for the next few weeks at the very least, with no promised date of return stated. Because of that, Tala and Rane decided to start their trip after two weeks, to allow the citizens of Irondale to stock up where needed, and otherwise arrange for the absence. Hey, if nothing else, this will be a good test of if they really want to be attached to me when I¡¯m wandering around. -Indeed it will. We¡¯ve already had a couple of people notify us of their departure.- Oh? -Only two. Not even a percent of our population, which I think is rather promising.- It became rather obvious that one reason most people had no issue staying was Irondale¡¯s immigration policy, which required a payment in advance of the funds needed to teleport out. Most people simply assumed that¡ªif they had to¡ªthey could cash that out and teleport back to a city of their choosing, only losing the possessions they had with them. It wasn¡¯t a great end result, but it turned it from a gamble for their lives to one for a bit of stuff. The people who had already chosen to live in Irondale were generally of the type to willingly take that risk. As for their roles as Defenders of Alefast? Master Grediv took their request for a leave of absence in stride. In fact, he went out of his way to thank them for taking the time rather than withdrawing from their positions. They would be welcomed back at any time. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t unheard of for Defenders to burn out due to one cause or another, even if it was still generally a rare occurrence. It happened more often than Defenders dying on the job, so in the end, there were far more former Defenders than Tala might have assumed for such a dangerous line of work. Their unit mates were similarly understanding, wishing them the best. Master Limmestare and Mistress Vanga both teased in their own way that they¡¯d be sad to miss a wedding, if one happened, much to Tala¡¯s embarrassment, and Rane¡¯s discomfiture. As a final thing, Tala and Alat reached out to her siblings to let them know that it was possible that Tala wouldn¡¯t be in Alefast when the time for their next visit came around. Other than that, she would keep them apprised and make up the visit when she returned. They were understanding in their response, and that was that. All loose ends were tied up. Well, Artia and Adrill were a bit cross as she would have been taking their grandson from them for an indeterminate length of time. In the end, Artia applied for an exception to Irondale¡¯s gateless policy, and she and Adrill moved into Irondale permanently. She brought the totality of her stock that she couldn¡¯t sell with her, and it was only then that Tala realized a massive benefit to Irondale. -Yeah, we really should have thought of that previously.- Indeed. Tala was a bit floored that it hadn¡¯t occurred to her earlier. They could transport unbound artifacts without restriction, indefinitely. It was, after all, how Master Lisa maintained his own stock in a non-waning city. Tala just hadn¡¯t extrapolated from there. Should we¡­ tell someone? -Absolutely not. At least not yet. We should definitely find a way of buying up a bunch of artifacts, though. We could become the primary source of artifacts rather easily in time.- ¡­Work up a contract with Artia. If she hasn¡¯t realized it, she will soon enough. -I mean, we could keep power away from the artifacts that she brought and keep her from realizing?- No, that¡¯s just unkind. I won¡¯t take action to purposely spoil someone¡¯s livelihood. Tala sighed. Let her know of the possibility, and find a way of working things out in a good way. -Will do, me.- Tala shook her head, smiling. Thank you, me. -But of course!- ¡°What?¡± Rane leaned forward, across the breakfast table, having obviously noticed her action. ¡°Hmm? Oh! Alat¡¯s just being silly again.¡± He gave a hesitant smile. ¡°I will say, sometimes the way you talk about your alternate interface makes me a bit nervous to get my own.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s basically exposing me to how I likely seem to those around me. It¡¯s been eye opening in many ways. I think you¡¯ll do just fine.¡± ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll trust you on that.¡± He frowned. ¡°But isn¡¯t it said that we dislike most in others what reminds us most of ourselves?¡± Tala considered. ¡°Yeah, I have heard that.¡± ¡°Then¡­ shouldn¡¯t a perfect copy of myself be the most irritating person to me who could possibly exist?¡± He is so wise. -Hey!- Tala grinned. ¡°Somewhat, but honestly, Alat and I have diverged enough that while she is still me she is me with a different set of circumstances. Yours will likely take longer as you are more Advanced than I was when Alat joined me, but as soon as he is in your head, you will start to branch.¡± Rane nodded slowly. ¡°Because everything I do will be like a play or a book to him, and his own existence will be utterly alien to my own.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Her grin widened further. He took a sip of his tea and nodded once more, decisively. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be ready for my alternate interface when we get back, most likely.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something to look forward to, then.¡± She picked up her mug and drank deeply of her coffee. * * * Tala rolled her shoulders and stretched in anticipation even as she stood at the southeastern gate with Rane and Terry, feeling an odd sense of trepidation. She wasn¡¯t heading to another gated-human city. She wasn¡¯t going on some cell-maintenance mission. She was facing away from every inhabited city in the cycle, and she was ready to just go. True, she had a preliminary destination¡ªthe ruin of the previous Arconaven to the east- southeast¡ªbut there shouldn¡¯t be anyone there. No one was waiting for her. No one was expecting anything from her. The timeline was her own. She took a moment to look at first Rane then Terry with her mundane eyes. They both returned the look with seemingly utter confidence in her. ¡°Thank you, both of you.¡± Terry trilled happily, and Rane simply smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They stepped outward, the city guards looking on with indifference. Workers left the city by the southeastern gate on occasion to harvest lumber or to perform other tasks, so their path wasn¡¯t unheard of. To them it was just another day on duty. Even so, it was new for Tala. The last time she¡¯d been at this gate was when she¡¯d met Master Grediv, having just arrived back from the arcane lands with a body filled with a dasgannach trying to steal her iron, and a heart still filled with fear that she¡¯d never get home again. Only Terry had been with her then. She scratched his head as he strode beside her, of a height with her. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. But that fear, that danger was behind her now. Literally. -Hah, very funny.- She had an unbreakable Archive connection and a whole village in her pocket. It was time to see a bit more of the world. Rane glanced her way. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re having a bit of a moment¡ªand I¡¯m happy to stride off toward the horizon with you¡ªbut would you like us to go any faster?¡± Tala laughed, realizing that they were, indeed, simply walking at a mundane pace, like some storied heroes, heading for the sunset. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s pick up the pace, shall we?¡± Terry immediately flickered away, even as Tala crouched low and began reducing her own gravity. Rane just took off, kinetic energy simply being imparted through his magics to his entire being, sending him on a great, arcing path into the distance. Tala had to actually push off of something, and she did so with gusto. Her surface area expanding scripts got extra power so that she didn¡¯t harm the ground, and then she pushed. The moment she left the ground, she dumped the extra power into decreasing her own gravity even faster, quickly reaching the desired level to allow great arcing leaps of her own. Unlike the trip to Bandfast which wove among mountains, this journey was a straight shot over the plains. All told, it was going to be a fast trip. * * * Tala landed beside Rane and Terry on the hill overlooking¡­ nothing. Well, that wasn¡¯t quite true. There was no evidence of farmlands, no crumbling city wall, and basically no evidence of buildings within line of sight, but the slight depression below them was precisely the size and shape for a city to be plopped down in the center. There were even the regularly spaced hills around the outside that had been¡ªand would once again be¡ªthe locations for mines. If she looked closely, she could also make out regularly spaced depressions where the outer defensive towers would have been¡ªand would be¡ªlocated. And all that was just addressing the surface level of things. Below their feet power thrummed. Where most Mages¡¯ magics were a noticeable trickle of power¡ªand many Archons felt like a raging river¡ªthe working below felt like a glacier, flowing toward the sea. It was slow and powerful, drawing in precious metals and arranging them for the mining district of the next cycle. The far-reaching working would capture all the manifesting materials from the Mages¡¯ inscriptions that had been used in the area during the term of the city, as well as drawing more metals from deep within Zeme¡¯s crust. The magics were so powerful that they would actually draw in dasgannach like a siren''s call, and Archons would have to swing through every decade or so to pull them out, or all the metal would be gone before the cycle came back around. That was actually why so many Archons were able to have dasgannach for ready research, but such details and ancillary topics were getting into the weeds of things. Rane was looking around, clearly feeling the same thing she was, the magic that lay underneath. -Well, you aren¡¯t actually feeling all that. You are simply applying your knowledge to what you do feel.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. She could feel glacially powerful magics working beneath the surface, and she assumed it was the magics that drew in precious metals. Rane shifted. ¡°This is¡­ odd. I can feel a slight tug on my inscriptions. It isn¡¯t like they are actually being pulled on, but like the magics below are aware of the metal in my skin and ready to take it as soon as it is no longer within my aura.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Tala grinned toward Rane. ¡°That was the extra thing I was feeling, which made me sure that I knew what the magics were.¡± ¡°Glad I could help?¡± Terry looked between them and let out a long squawk. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Let¡¯s go take a closer look.¡± Tala grinned before walking forward. Her threefold sight swept the area and what she found was¡­ odd. She wanted a closer look. Before that more penetrative perception, there were remnants of civilization everywhere. Bits of metal from tools, clearly worked wood fragments¡ªeven the occasional cooked bones here and there¡ªall under the already thick turf. She had no idea why, but it was obvious that something was trying to overcome and subvert any evidence of humanity¡¯s presence here. Reality itself, most likely. That would line up with what we¡¯ve seen. -Yeah.- Funnily enough, now that she thought of it, she¡¯d seen similar things below the other cities she¡¯d been to. She¡¯d dismissed it as simple detritus building up and being pushed down, but now she realized that it was likely layers formed by previous cities. She had been seeing the history of her people and hadn¡¯t even realized it. Terry let out a low whistling cry that added to the odd feeling. Rane nodded. ¡°You can say that again, Terry. Something feels odd. It¡¯s been a bit more than thirty years since this city waned, but it might as well have been a century by the looks of things.¡± Tala glanced his way. ¡°How do you know that?¡± He shrugged. ¡°My time in the wilderness. Humans like forging into the unknown, and Master Grediv took me to various homesteads that either were active or had been abandoned. There are a lot of them scattered about. He made it a sort of test for me to try to guess how long a given one had been abandoned.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah. They degrade far more quickly at first than I expected, but after that initial term of decay, things somehow seem to slow down, and it takes a really long time for some things to fade away entirely.¡± He gestured around them. ¡°This? I would say most of this looks like it¡¯s been at least a century. The lack of walls, though¡­ if I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d say it shouldn¡¯t get to this state in even a thousand years, unless someone actively destroyed evidence that humans were here.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Tala hadn¡¯t ever looked into such things, but it seemed reasonable as she considered it. -I just looked it up, and he¡¯s right.- ¡­Yeah¡­ I was fine just believing him. -I know, but it¡¯s still nice to check. Trust but verify and all that.- Fine. There was a growing feeling of unease as they progressed. It wasn¡¯t anything tangible, but Tala simply felt like she wasn¡¯t wanted. As they drew closer, Tala began to see something with her threefold sight, like a great scar underlying the whole area¡­ except¡­ it was moving. ¡°Wait, Rane.¡± Rane stopped instantly, hands drifting outward slightly as he readied himself for whatever had put her on edge. ¡°I think¡­ I think I can see the damage our gates have done to reality, here. It¡¯s not on the superficial, and it¡¯s¡­ it looks almost alive.¡± Tala watched for long minutes while Terry and Rane waited, ready but not really on edge. Finally, she shook her head. ¡°The movement looks natural, or really, non-sapient. I think it¡¯s just doing the equivalent of a tree waving in the breeze.¡± Terry straightened fully before squawking and flickering to her shoulder. Rane let himself relax before shaking his head. ¡°You certainly like opening my eyes to horrors previously unknown, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a gift.¡± She said it absently, perception still locked on the odd things she could now see. That¡¯s it. It looks like ribbons blowing in a breeze, but in this case, they seem to be anchored on the superficial and are ¡®blowing¡¯ starward¡­ The departure of the City Stone? -That¡¯s likely a good guess. When it was moved, there would still be an increased power density that hadn''t been able to be absorbed yet, and if it equalized afterward, that would create a current of energy moving in that direction.- Plus the magics below. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s doing crazy things to the zeme in the area. -True enough, yeah.- As to the odd ¡®ribbons¡¯? Tala wanted to get a better look. ¡°Let¡¯s get closer.¡± The three moved forward across the seemingly undisturbed, unnaturally level plains, drawn toward the center of the area. Nothing attacked them. Indeed, they saw no creatures at all, her threefold sight picking up on some insects but no hives or colonies, and no small mammals or reptiles at all. I¡¯d have thought that thirty-two years was enough time for the ecology to recover. Rane was looking around. ¡°You know, I¡¯m aware that most birds don¡¯t like the heat of the day, even in early, early spring like this¡­ but shouldn¡¯t there be at least some?¡± He scanned their surroundings, taking in the few stands of trees in the middle distance. ¡°I don¡¯t even see any among the trees, or flying well away from us.¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m not seeing any significant insect presence or other small animals either. It¡¯s like nature came back in, but without bringing most of the fauna.¡± ¡°Let me check.¡± His eyes unfocused for a moment as he obviously accessed the Archive. Finally, he grunted. ¡°Yeah, it seems like this is a known phenomenon. Part of it is attributed to the anti-pest magics still echoing in the area after more than three hundred years of continuous use, but that wouldn¡¯t explain the absence of non-pest creatures, nor those that are welcomed within cities like song-birds, and pollinating insects.¡± ¡°Any theories?¡± ¡°The most prevalent is that Reality is too wounded. It stresses little creatures, and they feel the strain and stay away. There have apparently been experiments where Archons tried to bring small mammals or insects into a recent ruin, and they always fought to get away, scrabbling at their restraints in the direction of the closest edge. Only a few seem unaffected, but it seems more individual than species based, for whatever reason.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty indicative, yeah. Why haven¡¯t I heard of this before?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°I hadn¡¯t either, but I never asked or investigated. Master Grediv never brought me into a ruin while we were out here, so it didn¡¯t come up. As to the effect itself, it seems to fade quickly, starting as soon as a city is abandoned and seeming utterly gone within sixty years or so.¡± She hmmed in acknowledgement. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what we can see for ourselves.¡± As they walked forward, Tala started to notice Terry¡¯s feathers fluffing. ¡°Terry?¡± He squawked, shimmying as he glared toward the center. ¡°Is it dangerous for you to continue?¡± The avian seemed to hesitate for a long moment, but then he shook himself. ¡°Are you sure?¡± He shook himself more decisively the second time. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s keep at it.¡± Tala began quietly explaining what she was seeing with her threefold sight so that Terry and Rane could know, too. ¡°I initially thought that what I¡¯m perceiving was like a bush in the wind, but it¡¯s more connected than even that. It¡¯s like seeing a canvas with tears in it, all moving in the wind. What I¡¯m seeing are the tears, though, rather than the canvas. It¡¯s odd to perceive it in reverse like that, but it¡¯s what makes the most sense. Somehow, the damage is more perceivable than what is damaged.¡± ¡°Like with glass?¡± Rane asked, clearly curious. Tala stopped mid-stride, turning to regard the big man. ¡°Yeah, exactly that. It¡¯s like I¡¯m seeing a flexible, utterly transparent material rippling before my eyes in the zeme of the region. The only part that is perceivable are the damaged sections.¡± She stared at him for a long, long moment, a grin growing across her face. ¡°Rane, do you know what that means?¡± He frowned her way. ¡°No?¡± Her grin turned predatory. ¡°I get to study the truly invisible with my own perception.¡± Chapter: 448 - A Brutal Way Tala, Terry, and Rane walked slowly across the previous location for the city of Arconaven, Tala¡¯s entire focus on her threefold sight, watching the scars in Reality rippling in the zeme that still buffeted and swirled through the region, even more than three decades after this city¡¯s waning. The view was so odd in part because Tala could see the scars rending across reality nodes. In a way, the damage was oddly unifying to them in a way that wasn¡¯t usual to her perception. Like bricks in a wall that was hit with a bladed attack. The strike goes across the individual bricks in a neat line, and doesn¡¯t go away, even if you take down the wall and look at the bricks one by one. -That¡¯s¡­ yeah. I can see that actually.- Alat then let out a sound like a sharp intake of breath. -Stop!- Tala held up her hand, and Terry and Rane stopped instantly. What is it? -Look behind us.- Tala focused her perception on the area behind them and paled. There was a very minute laceration across the surface of the reality nodes behind them, leading from near the edge of the city depression up to where they were standing. No¡­ not where we¡¯re standing, where I¡¯m standing. There wasn¡¯t one leading to Rane, just her. Tala grimaced. ¡°I can¡¯t go further. Reality is too weak here. My gate¡ªfor whatever reason¡ªis marring things as I walk forward.¡± Rane nodded slowly, then gave her a long-suffering smile. ¡°Your gate is much more open than mine. I would say that is the reason.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Yeah, well. I didn¡¯t really want to just say that.¡± He laughed. ¡°Never fear. I know you¡¯re more advanced in some ways, Tala. What do you want us to do?¡± Her grimace grew. ¡°I really want to investigate more¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°Can you attach your bloodstar clouds to me? I¡¯m not causing any damage, right?¡± She blinked at him a few times. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have to attach them to anyone or anything, but it would be useful to keep them centered on you, yeah. That¡¯s an excellent idea. Thank you.¡± She considered for a long moment before nodding, having decided how she wanted to proceed. ¡°I can have another on your shoulder and talk with you through that.¡± She could probably resonate the air with her aura just using those that were star- and stoneward, but it wouldn¡¯t be as easy. Something to work on, I suppose. With an act of will, Tala moved the basis for her threefold sight to center on Rane rather than herself. As each was a mini-Archon Star binding the blood to herself, it contained and projected a bit of her aura, allowing it to maintain itself and extend her aura, so long as it didn¡¯t get too far away from her¡­ Tala frowned. She¡¯d been working with Mistress Katie and Master Akra to have her aura exist as separate instances¡­ but she hadn¡¯t succeeded yet. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to leave a trail of iron spikes between us for this to work.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Whatever you need to do. Are you going to wait here, or go back toward the edge?¡± She looked around. ¡°I think I should retreat from the area. Reality¡¯s weak enough here, just standing in place is harming things just due to the small movements in the ambient zeme.¡± He nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll wait here until you¡¯re established, then advance at a pace you choose.¡± He looked toward Terry. ¡°Do you want to come with me, or stay with Tala?¡± The avian looked back and forth for a moment, then flickered to Rane¡¯s shoulder opposite Tala¡¯s bloodstar. The big man chuckled. ¡°Thank you. You¡¯re right, if either of us needs help, it will probably be me.¡± Terry trilled triumphantly at the sky, clearly happy that Rane had intuited the reason for his choice. Tala chuckled, even as she manifested an iron spike and drove it into the ground right beside Rane and Terry. Without another word, she turned and walked back the way they¡¯d come, driving another iron spike into the ground every ten feet or so, just to be safe, stretching out her aura in a long line. She initially was able to see herself with ease from the bloodstar-cloud, but the further she got away the less well that worked. Finally, she mirrored her perspective onto a bloodstar on the forehead of her armor to allow her to perceive the world without dropping her faceplate. Given she was surrounded by damaged existence, she wanted as much protection as possible, whether or not it ended up being effective. She considered trying to increase the connection of the reality nodes on either side of the damage she¡¯d caused, but she honestly didn¡¯t know the nature of the damage, and if it was something that actually weakened the integrity of reality nodes, increasing the pressure on them might cause failure in one way or another. It didn¡¯t take her long to get back beyond the weakest portion of Reality, back past where her passing had caused any damage. Even so, she went a bit further, just to be safe. She still had plenty of iron so that shouldn¡¯t be a problem in the least. She¡¯d left most of it around her bloodstars near Rane, as he would be covering a greater distance than she¡¯d had to, and she hadn¡¯t wanted to run out. That would have been embarrassing. Tala dropped into a cross legged position, placing a final iron spike centered in the open ground surrounded by her legs. She then stopped mirroring her perspective to the bloodstar on her own armor, focusing on her mirrored perspectives around Rane. She was suddenly seeing Rane as she generally saw herself, from every side all at once, every layer down to his bones and beyond. She enacted magics through her aura¡ªaround his shoulder where the bloodstar she¡¯d left for the purpose rested¡ªto vibrate the air and speak, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± He nodded and smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He walked forward, careful to not move too quickly. Moreover, he seemed to be keeping much of his focus on her aura, making sure to not come too near the edge of it before she placed her next spike and extended it. ¡°Thank you, Rane.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± His easy smile made it obvious just how true that was. He hadn¡¯t even considered acting in any other way toward her and her needs. Each time that he¡¯d moved about ten feet, Tala manifested some of her iron and drove the next spike into the dirt, anchoring her aura. As such, they proceeded, creating a gleaming, dotted line through the fading light of the spring sunset. Aside from creating and maintaining the spike-and-aura trail, Tala kept her focus on the scars¡ªno, the rents¡ªin reality. It was odd, seeing it so much clearer in four-dimensional space than ever before. She could actually perceive the creatures that she¡¯d seen in Bandfast swimming or flying about, around the injuries left by gated-humanity. The more she analyzed them, the more she could see that they were somehow a mix of Reality, Magic, and Void, which is what seemed to be causing the four-dimensional creatures to be swarming around them. Those aren¡¯t regions of Existence¡­ are they? That didn¡¯t really make sense, and Alat provided the needed secondary perspective a moment later. -No, we can simply see all the constituent pieces.- Right. It¡¯s more like they are places where Existence is unraveling. As she considered, that actually made sense. The squid-nightmare creatures consumed magic. Her eyes widened. What if the scars, or rents, or whatever they were, were like the grain in a wooden surface? Magic acting as water. Sure, even untreated wood could have water move across it briefly without issue, but subject it to a deluge for any length of time and the grain would begin to rise, ruining the smoothness of the surface. True, some people used this property of wood specifically to get that result, but that was stretching the analogy a bit far. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Regardless, magic flooding the surface of Reality for more than three centuries could be leaving quite the resulting marks, and with the removal of the city¡¯s stabilizing magics, centered around the City Stone, it was no wonder things were this bad. It wasn¡¯t a perfect analogy, but it did seem to explain at least a facet of what she was seeing. The creatures were swarming, gobbling up the excess magic and seemingly trying to help the damage to Reality to settle down. How is the void coming into play? -I think things are just insanely out of whack, and we¡¯re just seeing all the¡ª- Tala¡¯s mental eyes widened in shock as she saw what had given Alat pause. Something swept through the area, gobbling up a long line of the swarming four-dimensional creatures, with voracious ease. She swallowed hard, comforting herself with the fact that, because it was interacting with those feeders, it was likely unable to affect her, Terry, or Rane directly, just as the feeders weren¡¯t. ¡­ Tala was still unhappy with their presence though. Regardless, she continued to have Alat store everything they were perceiving in the Archive. If they were somehow gobbled up by a four-dimensional abomination, Mistress Ingrit would at least learn of what happened eventually. Deep breaths, Tala. She was coated in iron¡­ which they could interact with¡­ should she shed her iron? -Tala, breathe deeply. That method of calming down isn¡¯t available to me¡­- She would not shed her armor. She needed the protection while her mind was focused elsewhere. It was very likely that at least one magical creature was aware of their presence and it would be silly to die to an unexpected strike because she¡¯d taken off her own armor in this field. With that decided, she needed to turn her mind to something else for a moment, while Rane continued to approach the center of the former city. That in mind, her thoughts moved toward what Mistress Slannir had revealed to her. It wasn¡¯t like the woman had told her anything she hadn¡¯t known already, but whatever magics the former prisoner had used had cut through the cloud that had surrounded that fear within Tala. She didn¡¯t want to be a monster, but she had the capacity to be one. As she considered that, she remembered something that Master Nadro had told her. Only those with the capacity to be dangerous can truly be gentle. If she didn¡¯t have the capacity to cause harm, then she was simply impotent and at the mercy of those around her. Whether they were benevolent or not, being in such a position was not appealing. This, however, was adjacent to that idea. She knew she was powerful and could hurt others. She¡¯d accepted that. That wasn¡¯t the issue. More than that, she didn¡¯t want to hurt others. Not most of the time. Even so, she knew of many circumstances in which she had hurt others, and she felt fully justified in doing so. More than that, she could imagine uncounted other situations in which she would be willing to do so again for her own gain or the safety of those she was protecting. The real question that Mistress Slannir had exposed was this: Was there a line she wouldn¡¯t cross, no matter what was hanging in the balance? She frowned. Years ago, she¡¯d have said that the preservation of an immortal soul was worth any price, but now she knew better. An immortal soul was inviolable, unless the soul itself chose otherwise. Because of that, protecting a soul was actually a worthless goal, because it was utterly unnecessary¡­ in a way. No, Tala, don¡¯t get sidetracked. Would she torture a child to save two from torture? Ten? She considered that for longer than it really warranted before shaking her head, an understanding clicking into place. No. The question was a false choice. That¡¯s it¡­ This is all a false choice. She felt something shifting within her. If I¡¯m put in a position where I have to do something evil or something evil happens, I am not in control of the evil that is to happen. I am only in control of myself and my actions. There was a heaviness there. In a way, to come to this conclusion, she would have to accept that others would take evil actions. That acceptance placed those actions fully upon those actors, though, and there was freedom in doing so. I don¡¯t have to play their games. Evil should be destroyed, not bargained with. And there it was. She blinked a few times, her mundane eyes opening within her armor for a moment to do so¡ªeven if all she saw was blackness. That was the issue. Tala laughed out loud, the sound echoing around her helmet. The issue is that I¡¯m dealing in theoreticals. -I see what you¡¯re thinking, but explain so that you can finish building the thought.- If someone comes to me and says ¡®torture a kid¡¯ or they¡¯ll torture ten. I¡¯ll just kill them. If they¡¯re just telling me about someone else who will torture kids? I¡¯ll hunt that person down. -What¡¯s with the kid torture?- ¡­it was the example that came to mind. It was likely because of Mistress Slannir¡¯s known experiments upon children. Regardless, I don¡¯t have to do evil to stop evil. -Well, that depends on your definition of evil. Some people would say that killing anything for any reason is evil.- Well, some people are idiots. -But Tala, if you kill a killer, there are the same number of killers in the world.- Tala snorted a laugh. Then I¡¯ll make sure to kill at least two. Alat chuckled in return, filling Tala¡¯s mind with the pleasant sound. -That¡¯s actually pretty funny, even though I knew you were going to say it.- Yeah, I¡¯m an artist with words sometimes. -So? What does this mean?- It means that I was thinking about the whole dilemma wrong. She shifted, feeling a useless metaphorical weight that she¡¯d placed upon herself fall away. -Well then. Let¡¯s put it to the real test. If you could experiment on ten children to improve the lives of every following child, would you?- Is the experiment harmful? -For the sake of argument, let¡¯s say yes.- Then, no, not without extenuating circumstances, or the children¡¯s direct consent, which can¡¯t really be given, because¡ªchildren. -What extenuating circumstance?- Alat¡¯s voice sounded interested, even though they were both aware that Alat already had the answer out of Tala¡¯s own mind. If they were soulless husks, who just hadn¡¯t died yet, then that should be fine. -Ahh, because a soulless husk doesn¡¯t have the same intrinsic value?- Well, yeah. That¡¯s one of the massive benefits we have by being able to see the human soul. We know if someone is in a hampered state¡ªwith potential to recover¡ªor if their soul has already passed on. Tala smiled. But back to the question. The issue lies in ¡®improve the lives¡¯ of everyone else. Improve in what way? By how much? Would it give every child an extra second of life? That is an improvement. But that really is beside the point, because no. I wouldn¡¯t torture a child, no matter the gain. -I said experiment, not torture.- Harmful experiments on a sapient being are torture, saying anything else is just word games. -Now, what about killing? I know you were concerned about that?- I will kill any who threaten me or mine. Those who are willing to use violence to achieve their aims can only be stopped with violence¡ªor the credible threat of violence¡ªbe they sapient or beast. -Alright, we know where you stand on that. What of innocents? People who are just in the wrong place?- What do you mean? -Well, you could do your utmost to utterly obliterate an arcane city after it declared war on humanity. That would safeguard humanity, but most of those who die wouldn¡¯t have been a part of the fight. Many wouldn¡¯t have even been a part of the infrastructure aiding in the fight.- I¡­huh¡­ Honestly, I would probably deliver a warning, because if I understand correctly, a City Lord with an empty city wouldn¡¯t be much of a threat. Anyone who stays after my warning would be tacitly supporting our enemy. -I can see that. It isn¡¯t perfect, but I suppose perfection isn¡¯t attainable.- So, all this has still been rather theoretical, despite my attempt to ground it. -Then, let¡¯s ground it. What are you willing to do when you or yours are threatened?- Tala felt a clawing at her insides, even as anger passed through her in a wave at the very idea. Obliterate the threat. No¡­ that was only partially right. It actually felt dissonant to her purpose, to her soul. She frowned. In her mind, she saw the cells that she had consumed through Kit. Then a memory surfaced, one of claiming the sireling¡¯s corpse, drawing it into herself to give her greater strength for the next fight, whatever it might have been. No, I won¡¯t obliterate the threat. I will dismantle it and devour anything of use. That which tries to harm me or mine will only make me stronger, make me better able to face the next threat. That was close, so tantalizingly close. Yet¡­ it wasn¡¯t quite right. She and hers belonged to her, it was a trivial fact, but it felt like it was building to something. Criminals who chose to do wrong often lost their lives, possessions, or freedom. By societal law and civilized agreement, criminals lose their rights to at least some of what they had considered their own before committing the crime. Then, it hit her, and she felt her whole being resonate with the revelation, and she moved further and further on her path toward Paragon even as the words resonated through her thoughts, That which seeks to harm what is mine, is forfeit and subject to my authority. That was it. Upon that revelation, all of her choices made sense. Someone who attacked her was then subject to her authority to kill, imprison, or send on their way. It was a brutal way of looking at the world, but it was hers. Nothing else fit her worldview. She was about to generate her voice next to Rane to let him know about her new understanding¡ªand the fact that she was now more advanced than he was¡ªwhen she heard a voice carrying from outside even through her helmet. ¡°Well. Isn¡¯t this an unexpected surprise?¡± Tala instantly mirrored her perspective to the bloodstar on the forehead of her armor, looking at the woman who stood barely fifty feet from where Tala sat. It only took Tala a moment to recognize her. Mistress? Chapter: 449 - Clad in an Illusion Tala sat cross legged in tall grass at the edge of the former city of Arconaven. Rane and Terry were almost to the center of the city. Mistress was standing fifty feet from where Tala sat, the grass swaying about her knees in the gentle breeze that danced across the unnaturally level expanse. Tala hadn¡¯t seen Mistress since the woman had come to her ¡®aid¡¯ after Tala had been abducted by a flock of chickens. -Nightwing ravens.- Fine. In truth, Mistress had shown up after Tala had dealt with the arcanous creatures simply to offer a bit of healing and a golden cage. She offered me a thousand gold to exchange Archon Stars with her. At the time, Tala hadn¡¯t really known what that meant, but she had still had enough understanding to refuse. -I¡¯ve notified Master Grediv of Mistress¡¯s presence.- Thank you. The woman stood casually, exactly as Tala remembered. Mistress was still a woman of inhuman beauty. She stood almost daintily on delicately sandalled feet. Her simple, one-piece dress swayed pleasingly around her with the currents in the local zeme instead of the wind which caused the grass around them to shift. There was a slight cream color to the material, which appeared to be silk of some kind. The woman carried nothing else that Tala could see. ¡°Tala.¡± She almost purred the A¡¯s in the name, and her voice was somehow more like silk than the dress appeared, and while it was soft spoken, the force behind it caused the grass around her to tremble, collectively making a sound almost like that of a rattlesnake. Well, that explains how I heard her within my armor. ¡°Fate has been kind to me, it seems. And you as well. You survived that winter wasteland and advanced¡­ and advanced again, and again.¡± Her stunning smile was almost wicked as it clearly held unspoken secrets. Tala still had not stood up¡­ nor responded in any way actually. Keeping her words to herself, Tala used the anchor of her iron spike to push herself up within her own aura. She almost froze in shock. She¡¯d never actually done that before. Of course, my body is soul-bound to me. Of course, I can move it within my own aura, so long as I have another anchor. It was so laughably obvious that she felt a bit foolish for having not considered it earlier. Regardless, now was hardly the time to consider such things. She slowly drifted up, letting her legs drift down until she stood facing Mistress, still not saying anything. She pulled out a few back-up bloodstars, creating a new cloud around herself stone- and starward, leaving the cloud around Rane to Alat. Tala needed her threefold sight. Mistress was frowning, now. ¡°Why the silence? We are nearly of a kind in advancement, do you now disdain me? Are you still angry that I refused to return you to that silly caravan?¡± Her frown deepened as she seemed to notice something. ¡°Why are you clad in an illusion?¡± She snapped, and a wave of power washed outward from the woman. Tala¡¯s eyes widened. The magic was obviously simply one of breaking illusions, so Tala didn¡¯t contest it. Even so, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure she could have, at least not easily. It wasn¡¯t that the working was powerful. On the contrary, it was intricate to the point of being almost impossible to fully parse, with innumerable parts that supported the whole, and others that stood ready to work around any form of resistance. The only thing that came to mind to simplify the complexity of what she was seeing was a sword with hinges built in. If someone blocked a blow, the sword would simply bend around the block and hit anyway. Though, Tala couldn¡¯t imagine how such a sword could be designed without a high level of limitation and weakening of the blade. And there is nothing lesser about this magic at all. The anti-illusion working pulsed outward faster than anything Tala had ever seen, reaching her in less than a breath, utterly uncaring of crossing into her aura. It stripped away the illusion she¡¯d been clad in, which had originated from her through-spike. Mistress¡¯s eyes went wide as she took in Tala¡¯s fully armored form. ¡°What? A Black Guard?¡± Mistress almost seemed to step back, but she clearly caught herself. ¡°No, your magical signature is the same as I remember. What are you playing at, girl? What danger are you expecting that you are so armored?¡± Tala shook her head slowly. Her threefold sight had shown something that had been invisible to Tala the last time that they met, something that she wouldn¡¯t have understood even if she had seen it. Mistress somehow had three gates, all thrumming in unison, clearly all soulbound to each other and to her body. Tala decided to break her silence. ¡°What are you? Tri-gated? You seem human enough besides that, but are you Arcane?¡± Mistress¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°That is not for you to have seen.¡± She shook her head. ¡°And here I thought this would be a pleasant reunion. More''s the pity.¡± Magics began gathering and flowing around Mistress, clearly gathering for some form of aggressive action. Well, that conversation didn¡¯t last long. -Well, she was talking to you, so¡­- Hush, you. Tala shrugged in response to Mistress, her armor moving smoothly with her. ¡°I¡¯ll get my answer one way or another.¡± She took all the iron she had with her and formed twenty spikes¡ªeach one just bigger than the head of a boar-spear¡ªmaking them begin to spin around herself. ¡°I am not the un-Bound that you met before, and even though you¡¯ve sensed my advancement,¡± Tala¡¯s voice dropped lower, taking on a menacing tone, ¡°you have no idea what you are dealing with.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see, child.¡± Only then did Tala fully comprehend what she had been seeing with her threefold sight. It was hard to process, given Mistress¡¯s aura was nearly equal with hers in advancement, so the woman¡¯s magics and internals were obscured. Still, they weren¡¯t blocked entirely. From what Tala could see, each gate seemed to be tied to a different set of inscriptions and natural magics, all overlaid over the same physical body. Well, it¡¯s the season for impossibilities, it seems. This should be interesting. -All of this is still going to the Archive. You have fun, now. Let me know if I should call for Rane and Terry.- The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Terry can¡¯t help against her. She stopped him with ease last time¡­ I¡¯ll let you know if I think Rane would help. She watched in fascination as only a single set of inscriptions and natural magics filled with power from a singular gate, the others seeming to be in a nearly-closed, dormant state. Just like with the anti-illusion working, the magic that reached out wasn¡¯t strictly powerful, but it was so intricately interwoven that Tala did not have confidence in opposing and undoing it with her aura before it reached her. So, she didn¡¯t try. Her iron spikes flicked forward, shredding the magics like a horizontal hurricane. Even so, since the magics had still had power when they were broken, barely a foot in front of her, a wave of wind blasted across her. Iron coffin? -Iron coffin.- Tala would attempt to surround the woman entirely with iron, but she would have to at least stun her first. Tala bent her legs even as she fell forward. An instant later, she launched at her opponent, driving a series of five iron spikes into the ground as she covered the intervening distance in a blink. As she pushed off, she opened a portal into her sanctum, grabbing Flow¡¯s handle. Thus, when she shot forward, the motion also fully drew Flow. She was about to strike out, when she slammed full-force into an impossibly solid wall of air. Her magics flared, keeping her bones and brain intact despite the concussive collision. Even with the stunning results of her charge, she retained enough awareness to shoot iron spikes off to either side, driving them into the ground barely five feet to each side of Mistress. Mistress¡ªfor her part¡ªtook a single step forward, thrusting her hand at Tala. A blade of wind¡ªso tightly compacted, interwoven, and bound that it seemed practically solid¡ªshot from her hand. Tala¡¯s aura denied the incoming magics, beginning to degrade them instantly, but there simply wasn¡¯t time to fully take apart the attack, especially not at this close of a range. The small attack struck Tala¡¯s armor and scored a deep gash, not penetrating but marring the surface nonetheless. Mistress¡¯s eyes widened, clearly having expected her attack to do more than it had. ¡°What is that armor made of?¡± Tala didn¡¯t answer, pushing off toward the right, trying to get around the relatively small air-wall that stood between them. It was obviously one-way¡ªsomehow¡ªand Tala didn¡¯t like being kept at a distance. Unfortunately, Mistress easily rotated to keep the wall between them, and while Flow could cut through it, each new slice sealed as quickly as Tala had repaired her own armor. That was fine, though. Tala now stood atop one of the two spikes that she¡¯d thrown out at the last. The other was directly behind Mistress, maintaining Tala¡¯s aura supremacy in that area. Though, to be fair, Mistress hadn¡¯t actually contested that, not yet. Regardless, Tala opened a portal into her sanctum near that other spike. Specifically, she opened it into where she had some of her siege orbs stored, immediately changing the target of two of their augmentations to Mistress. The crack of the air as they ripped toward her back should have been the only warning the woman had, but she managed to react regardless. The wall disappeared between Tala and Mistress, even as the woman turned¡ªseeming almost to twist in on herself before simply facing the other direction¡ªand caught the orbs, one in each hand, somehow arresting their momentum with a simple pulse of power. Well¡­ air¡­ she¡¯s been using air magic. I¡¯m not sure why I expected that to go differently. Still, Tala wasn¡¯t idle, and it was still a great distraction that allowed her to close in, driving a thrust at the woman¡¯s spine. Before Mistress could turn or otherwise move the orbs, Tala changed her internal label for the two, triggering their explosive decompression. Instead of detonating in a perfect sphere as they usually would, their compressed air shot out directly away from Mistress, clearly having been countered and guided at the moment of activation in some way that Tala hadn¡¯t been able to track. This created two long tracks of frozen grass¡ªthe heat having been pulled away by the rapidly expanding air¡ªwhich shattered in the near constant, gentle breeze. The resulting sound was like millions of tiny bells, bouncing down a short slope. Even with the orbs¡¯ normal damage countered, the force of their expansion still threw Mistress back toward Flow. At the last instant, a third arm seemed to materialize on the superficial, entirely different magics blazing within it¡ªfrom one of the previously dormant gates¡ªas it slapped Flow out of alignment, spoiling the initial thrust. A voice resonated through the air along with the block, a voice that sounded exactly like Mistress¡¯s, while somehow obviously not being her voice, ¡°You will not hurt the Mistress.¡± The second gate¡ªand second set of magics¡ªhad come into play. -Well, that¡¯s new.- It¡¯s her arm¡­ but not? The third arm had vanished as soon as its task was complete, but Tala could still perceive the second set of magics blazing brightly, somehow both overtop Mistress¡¯s wind magics and simply alongside them at the same time. Tala didn¡¯t slow her assault, using the force of the deflection to speed up Flow as she whipped the blade around for another strike. But Mistress¡¯s defenses were there, her deflecting left arm now filled with the power that the third arm had contained, her wind-magics now seemingly separate and¡­ in reserve? At least that¡¯s how it seemed for the upraised arm. She can trade out what magics are in play here? -And she somehow has extras of at least her arm.- Huh¡­ Tala felt a grin pull at her lips as she continued her assault. This should be interesting. Flow clashed against Mistress¡¯s arms in a series of rapid strikes during which three things became quickly apparent. First, Tala was far more skilled than the other Refined in melee combat. It was to the point that Tala wondered if Mistress had ever had any formal training at all. Second, Mistress didn¡¯t have to directly block strikes in order to counter them, else she¡¯d already have been cut a dozen times over. Third¡ªfollowing closely on the heels of the second¡ªMistress¡¯ secondary magic seemed to project an almost physical magical blade. It was odd, because it honestly seemed almost exactly like her first set of magic, but simply a bit closer range and a bit sturdier. That, of course, led Tala to the conclusion that she wasn¡¯t fully comprehending the variance. As they continued to clash, the true differences began to surface. Primarily, ¡®a bit sturdier¡¯ was underselling the resilience of the new magics involved. Flow had been able to cleave through the wind walls and wind blades with ease, even if her weapon couldn¡¯t disrupt them entirely. This new magic¡ªwhich Tala still couldn¡¯t quite identify¡ªcould utterly stymie Flow, seemingly putting no pressure back on Mistress behind the block. It could even deflect the iron that Tala wove into her attack patterns. That shouldn¡¯t be possible, given the defense appeared to be magical in nature, but Tala wasn¡¯t disheartened. She was utterly in command of the rhythm of the fight by this point, Mistress clearly striving simply to keep Flow away from herself. The woman occasionally activated magics elsewhere on her body from her first set, sending wind blades¡ªor attempting to erect wind walls¡ªto hamper Tala, but Tala stuck too close for the tactic to be very effective. Tala¡¯s expression was, of course, inscrutable to Mistress given the full-faceplate. Mistress¡¯s, however, was quite the opposite. She had started with an expression of supreme¡ªalmost bored¡ªconfidence, but that had slowly morphed more and more into the realm of confusion and from there into frustrated concentration. Finally, what Tala was seeing clicked. Dimensional magics. She¡¯s creating dimensional barriers, simply ending the dimensionality of my attack where the two meet. -And it can stop iron because the iron isn¡¯t interacting with the magic, just the result. Your iron is stopping at the edge of dimensionality.- Exactly. Like the border of the inside of Kit. Tala had never considered using dimensional magic in that way, and in truth, the mechanics of it still didn¡¯t make much sense to her. Even so, it did give her an idea on how to bypass it. She let Flow fall back into the form of a knife once more. While she had been holding the void-forms in reserve¡ªpartially because she still wanted Mistress alive¡ªshe had been using whichever physical form was right for each given strike, easily flowing from one to the next with the Way of Flowing Blood. But this time was different. She thrust with the knife, feeling it hit the immovable barrier that the woman projected. Tala then dumped power into Flow, transforming it into a sword, the blade extending without Flow¡¯s handle moving. The quick expansion wasn¡¯t a strike, and dimensionally speaking, Flow didn¡¯t move. Tala held that truth in mind, filling both Flow and her own aura with that certain knowledge, and whether that was enough or something else allowed the blade to get through, Flow drew first blood. Mistress must have noticed something was going wrong, because she tried to twist out of the way at the last moment. She succeeded in preventing Flow from driving through her side and into her mid-spine, but the magical blade still cut a line across her lower ribs, easily severing the silk-like dress and the flesh underneath. She used the opportunity to steal a bit of iron from the woman¡¯s blood. Unfortunately, she was surprisingly resistant to the tactic, likely, in part, because seemingly three souls held collective claim over the body, fighting in unison against any claim of Tala¡¯s. Tala¡¯s opponent still let out a whimpering growl before her third set of magics activated, clearly acting to heal her with startling ease. If anything, it was even faster than Mistress Vanga¡¯s magics would have been able to heal someone. That¡¯s when it clicked for Tala. She has air magic that is Material Guide at its base. Alat made an internal sound of understanding, filling in the next piece, -And dimensional magic that is Immaterial Creation at its base.- And healing that is Material Creation¡­ she only needs an Immaterial Guide power to have a full set. -Which we are¡­ no wonder she made the offer.- Still, why wouldn¡¯t she have completed the set? We are hardly the only Immaterial Guide in existence? -Well, that¡¯s just another thing to ask her once we win.- Indeed. Tala hardened her resolve. Mistress¡¯s eyes were burning with a fiery fury as all three gates¡ªall three sets of magic¡ªblazed fully to life for the first time. ¡°Enough of this, I''ve got places to be.¡± Chapter: 450 - It Simply Was Tala and Mistress clashed in a storm. The grass was torn up, trampled, and obliterated in a wide circle, though not as large an area as might be expected, as both women were working hard either to keep from being moved, or to keep in close. Blades and walls of air were countered with tornadoes and whirlwinds of iron. The remnants scored scars across Tala¡¯s armor that she was forced to heal. Inviolable dimensionality was bypassed¡ªnot violated¡ªby Tala¡¯s own dimensional variations through her soulbound weapon. The cuts she landed quickly healed through Mistress¡¯s third magical set. That seemingly depthless, rapid healing was slowed and tested by Tala¡¯s use of void to impart heavy damage from even minor cuts, Flow¡¯s void-edge adding separation where none was intended to be. Tala reveled in the power that she felt, clashing with an opponent who was effectively three Refined functioning in perfect harmony, all striving to end her. She wasn¡¯t sure of her victory by any means, even if she was confident in obliterating Mistress with ease if she¡¯d only had any one of the magic sets. It was odd in a way. Most Refined had delved into multiple magical fields by the time they¡¯d reached that level. Tala was a perfect example, straddling healing, cellular stability, physical enhancement, gravity alteration, surface area expansion, and more besides. Because of that, it wasn¡¯t like Mistress¡¯s suite of abilities were beyond what Tala expected in a peer. Instead, it was as if Mistress had hyper-specialized three times over, making each of the ability-sets more than they should have been able to be when used together. Without her iron, Tala would have been utterly at the mercy of the air blades. Without her shape-changing weapon, she would have had a much harder time passing the dimensional defenses. No, I could have used void to bypass that¡­ but that would still be relying on Flow. She could likely use her dissolution breath as well, but that was still an imperfect ability, and she was hesitant to rely on it in such a situation. They were moving so rapidly, it would be almost as likely to harm her as Mistress. As to the healing¡ªassuming there wasn¡¯t something more to that suite of magics¡ªany means of heavy damage dealing would have been just as good as her void at dealing with that. ¡­Well, not just as good, but sufficient to press an advantage on that front. Her passive iron claiming should have been a heavy counter to such healing, but it wasn¡¯t effective while she was opposed by three incredibly powerful souls¡ª Or maybe four stronger than average? That was an interesting thought but hardly relevant. So, was Tala somehow perfectly equipped to counter Mistress? Not at all. If anything, Mistress seemed almost too capable of countering Tala. That led Tala to an uncomfortable conclusion. If your enemy seems to have a bag of tricks that perfectly counters yours¡­ -They either expertly prepared for the fight, or they¡¯re only using the ones that they think they need to use.- Tala would bet on the second. She would also bet that Mistress wasn¡¯t trying to kill her¡ªdespite the hostility that the other Refined had shown¡ªat least not at the moment. Mistress had to have more that she was capable of, but she wasn¡¯t revealing it for whatever reason, despite seeming to indicate that she wanted the fight to end sooner rather than later. So, was that a lie to make us think that she was going all out? -So that she could pull out another card when we¡¯d fallen into a state of confidence? Yeah¡­ that sounds incredibly likely.- None of the hits either side had landed had actually been life threatening, even if those on Mistress could have become so soon enough, without proper healing. Well, then. It¡¯s time to change the game. She almost tried to pull Mistress into her sanctum directly, but given how well the woman had been resisting her claim on the iron within her blood, Tala did not like her chances of overcoming her will to move her through such a method. That was fine. Tala had other means. Tala ripped open a portal into her sanctum as large as she could make it, one foot under the ground upon which the two women fought. In her sanctum, it opened into an underground cavern, sealed from the outside. She wasn¡¯t about to expose her home to this woman directly if she didn¡¯t have to. The ground below them was simple¡ªif deep¡ªsod, and began to dip in immediately. Tala instantly grabbed whatever passed through the portal and pulled it further in, practically ripping the ground from underneath the combatants. Mistress didn¡¯t fall an inch, seemingly standing on the air itself. Yeah¡­ I should have seen that coming. Tala sighed internally. That was the second time she hadn¡¯t properly accounted for Mistress¡¯s air magics. -It was a bit of an oversight, yeah.- Mistress did pause, though, looking down. ¡°A soulbound storage? Really?¡± She grinned at Tala. ¡°You only had to ask, and I would have said yes. You¡¯re a cheeky one with all this aggression.¡± Even as she stood on the surface of the portal¡ªpushing her own feet back out whenever any part entered, effectively making it a solid surface for her¡ªTala frowned in confusion, before Alat reminded her, -Her entering most soulbound storages would cause a soulbond between the two of you.- Mistress began to drop, clearly allowing herself to fall, but then she froze midair once again. ¡°Wait¡­ something¡¯s off with that storage.¡± Enough waiting. The portal ripped upward, carrying Tala with it as it rose to consume Mistress. The woman¡¯s eyes widened as she seemed to understand the danger at some primal level. Then she was gone, having flickered out of the way of the portal. And there it is. Tala grimaced. This is going to be like fighting Terry on top of everything else, isn¡¯t it? -Yes, but we¡¯d be foolish to assume that that was the only hidden ability.- Oh, certainly. Tala almost closed the portal below herself, but then she had another idea, allowing herself to fall into it. As soon as she was through, she opened another portal out, using her threefold sight to perceive where she wanted it to be. She then sent a stream of siege orbs at the woman from different angles, opening the portals all over the ground around the battlefield one after another just large enough¡ªand for just long enough¡ªto let the orbs crack out. Mistress was able to block and deflect the incoming orbs, even when Tala began causing them to burst at inopportune times, but the woman looked pressed once again, despite her flickering around to add to her ability to avoid the incoming storm. Finally, Tala opened a her-sized portal above and to the right of Mistress. She had reoriented before launching herself through it with an act of will, moving much faster than should have been possible. There was a magical resonance boom as Tala crossed the short distance from her portal to Mistress, and the woman didn¡¯t even have a chance to glance her way. Even so, Mistress had begun to move backward, twisting to face the incoming threat and causing her body to be at an angle when Tala hit. Tala shoulder-checked the woman, even as void energy was aspect-mirrored across her armor. The blow absolutely blew Mistress apart. It hit the woman just below her sternum, driving downward. The impact ripped through her being, severing her spine at her lower back and pulverizing her entire lower body. Tala, herself, embedded into the earth a bit, but she was able to free herself with ease, despite the organs that seemed intent on entangling her. She didn¡¯t really expect the hit to end the fight, but it should be seen as a decisive blow, the first that either of them had landed in the exchange. With her opponent seemingly stunned, Tala called forth her iron and tried to box in Mistress¡¯s remains, but the upper body flickered out of the way of the closing iron, showing Tala the futility of that battle-ending strategy. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sure enough, Tala saw Mistress regrow her lower body before pulling a robe out of thin air to cover her nakedness even before Tala, herself, got back up and to her feet barely a dozen feet away¡ªthe impact having caused a deep gouge in the ground between the two combatants. Off to the side, there was an almost perfect square of earth cut out, where the portal had opened into Kit, and the regularity of the shape stood out in stark contrast to all the other chaotic damage done around them. Throughout, Mistress¡¯s torso had simply hovered in place until the healing was completed¡ªeven maintaining the same height off the ground when she flickered away from the iron trap¡ªbut despite the seemingly effortless healing, the woman was clearly a bit shaken. That impression was confirmed when she spoke instead of continuing to fight. ¡°You are¡­ something else, Mistress Tala.¡± The honorific being used for the first time caused Tala to pause as well. ¡°Thank you, Mistress¡­?¡± The implicit question hung in the air before Mistress slowly shook her head. ¡°Cethira. My name is Cethira.¡± ¡°Well, Mistress Cethira, why the rust are you so aggressive?¡± Mistress Cethira grimaced. ¡°I am not permitted to allow knowledge of my¡­ abnormality to spread among gated humanity. I was not seeking to kill you, Mistress Tala. I was aiming to incapacitate you before I called your local authorities in order to pass you off to them.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to trust that?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less if you believe me or not. Since I cannot restrain you, my obligations will end with notifying the gated-human city leadership that you are aware of me and my oddities. I am already on a tight schedule, so I will be on my way. My deviation to see why there were humans at this ruin already was ill-advised, and our clash has just been icing on that rusting unwise decision.¡± Tala laughed fully, then. ¡°What makes you think I will let you leave?¡± Mistress Cethira gave a half-smile to that. ¡°Mistress Tala, it has been a long time since I cared what others let me do. I honor my agreements and obligations because I choose to. Don¡¯t mistake our positions. You are powerful, but even your Paragons do not command me. I do hope our paths cross again, when we both have more time.¡± Without another word, she flickered and was gone. Truly, genuinely gone. Terry always left a blip of dimensional energy when he flickered about, and Tala could trace that to figure out where he had gone or come from, but Mistress Cethira left nothing. More than that, Tala¡¯s threefold sight detected no trace of the woman, indicating that she had moved a long way. Well¡­ huh. I guess I can¡¯t restrain her. -Hey! Master Grediv just got back to us¡­ oh.- Tala sighed. Her story checks out? -The basics do. He requests that we don¡¯t engage, and suggests that if we notice anything odd, we should ask him about it, rather than mentioning it to her.- A moment later, Alat made an interested sound, likely noticing something else. -Oh, he added an addendum.- After another short pause, the alternate interface started laughing. What is it? -He said¡ª- Alat continued to laugh. -He said that since you have probably already tried to kill each other, he requests that you withdraw, if she is still alive. You can let her know that her obligations are fulfilled, and that Master Grediv will take responsibility for whatever caused the clash.- Tala sighed. Let him know what we discovered and what happened. -Will do.- Thank you, Alat. -He just informed us that she contacted the city rulers, and he is aware of our knowledge. We need to talk with him when we get back. He¡¯ll head off any other issues until then.- Tala sighed. Great¡­ -Oh, Rane and Terry are basically at the center. Should I call them back?- ¡­No. I still want to see what I can learn. -Alright, let¡¯s get to it.- Tala shook her head even as she called the iron¡ªthat she had tried to use to entrap Mistress Cethira¡ªback to herself, returning to where she¡¯d been sitting before Mistress Cethira had arrived. Thank you for maintaining our aura and the trail of iron spikes. -Absolutely. I think Rane and Terry would both have been a bit put out if our presence had simply vanished from beside them.- That they would. Tala sat cross legged again. As she sat once more, her through-spike finally overcame the anti-illusion magic that Mistress had hit her with. That was truly impressive, given that the working had been operating within Tala¡¯s hostile aura for the entire conflict. True, Tala hadn¡¯t devoted much attention to specifically breaking it, but creating such an enduring bit of spellwork was a feat to be proud of nonetheless. As her illusion re-covered her, Tala returned her focus to the rents in Reality centered on the ruin of Arconaven. Rane and Terry were still moving at their slow pace, but as soon as her attention returned, Rane paused. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re back with us.¡± Confused, she generated her voice in the air beside them, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The flavor of your aura shifts slightly when Alat is in control. Is everything alright?¡± Huh¡­ that¡¯s interesting. -It is indeed. I didn¡¯t know that.- Still, she could consider that later. ¡°There was a bit of trouble, but I can fill you in later.¡± ¡°Is that the source of magics we sensed and the impacts we heard?¡± ¡°Probably. You were aware of all that?¡± He gave the air around him an incredulous look. ¡°Of course we were, Tala. We aren¡¯t deaf, nor insensitive to the zeme or directed magics.¡± ¡°But¡­ you didn¡¯t come?¡± He looked genuinely confused, ¡°Obviously not. Did you need us?¡± ¡°No. I was fine.¡± His look shifted into a smile. ¡°That¡¯s why. We knew you¡¯d call us if we were needed.¡± Terry trilled his affirmation. Tala blinked a few times at that. That actually made sense. ¡°Oh¡­ well, thank you.¡± With that, Tala settled in to analyze the damage done to Reality through her bloodstar cloud, still anchored around Rane. She delved through the records Alat had taken from her bloodstar cloud while Rane moved toward the center of the city, watching creatures move in seemingly nonsensical patterns star- and stoneward of superficial, consuming the excess power in the area. Wait¡­ what if there was something else that they were moving around? -That would track actually. We could focus on reality nodes?- That¡¯s an excellent idea. Tala shifted her focus, and it was like changing from staring through a dirty window to focusing on the grungy glass itself. She saw them. Not reality nodes, but void nodes. That makes absolutely no sense. Every division is a void, how are there void nodes? Doesn¡¯t that imply voids around another specific void? -Well, describe what you¡¯re seeing.- You can see it too. -True, but you putting it to words will help us both process what we¡¯re seeing.- ¡­Fine. It looks like the division between reality nodes is being displaced by something riding along the edges of reality nodes, and the fourth-dimensional things are avoiding them more carefully than even the predatory varieties of their kind. -But what does it look like?- It looks like the lines on a pencil sketch are being opened, exposing an eldritch world beyond¡­ wait. The Doman-Imithe? Is that what it is? The Doman-Imithe bleeding through? -Would that make sense?- It would¡­ if we go with the cross-stitch example that we¡¯ve used before, and these are rents in that, it would make sense that we might be able to see the backside of the pattern through the tears. -So, why would the four-dimensional things avoid the Doman-Imithe?- Because that place is crazy¡­ And then the obvious answer came to her. It has absolutely no magic. None at all. If these things live off of magic, being sucked in there would be assured destruction through slow starvation, even if nothing else ended them first. -Exactly.- So, Reality is flapping in the winds of the zeme, exposing the damage we gated have done, and it¡¯s causing an entire ecosystem to spring up as a means of bringing about some form of healing? -We¡¯d probably need to see an older ruin to tell for sure, but that¡¯s likely a good guess.- That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a really good idea. She considered for a moment. I still want Rane to get to the center, see if anything else is easier to see from there, but I think I¡¯ve gotten all I can for now. -Alright, I¡¯ll let him know. Take a moment to rest and think?- She nodded slowly, grateful for the suggestion. Sure. That sounds nice. But the rest portion didn¡¯t last long. Tala grimaced within her helmet. I thought I had understood my place, what I believed. -But she tried to harm you and didn¡¯t lose anything but a bit of time.- Exactly. She violated my view of the world. -I know, how dare she not die.- Tala snorted a laugh at that. Put that way, it does sound a bit silly. -I¡¯m going to say something that you already know to save us all time.- Go ahead. -No one else has to bend to your view of the world. You can either see that as a fatal flaw in your worldview, a condemnation of them for having violated it, or a chance to refine what you believe.- Tala grunted. So, that which seeks to harm what is mine, should be forfeit and subject to my authority? Alat sent the impression of a grimace. -That¡¯s so weak, Tala. Come on. We left a gaping hole in our view of the world, and Mistress Cethira was simply well positioned to point it out. Let¡¯s not paper over the flaw.- Tala knew what the flaw was, they both did, but she expressed it regardless, The fact that there are those whom we cannot assert authority over. -Exactly. So, to connect it to some of your earlier revelations, is a mother whose child dies through no fault of her own any worse of a mother?- Of course not. -So, then does the fact that you couldn¡¯t impose your authority upon Mistress Cethira mean that she didn¡¯t deserve to be subject to it?- Of course not. Tala straightened. -If a Sovereign comes and attacks you, will you just roll over?- No. I will fight back, and even if I lose, I will come out stronger for the clash. Tala realized how arrogant that sounded, but it fit. -Where does that mesh with your view of things?- Tala¡¯s armor melted off of her as she looked toward the sky, her very soul thrumming within her as the various pieces came together. ¡°I will oppose that which seeks to harm anything of mine, and take strength from the encounter.¡± Tala felt yet another qualitative change to her aura and gasped as her advancement moved at least five percentage points closer to Paragon. The zeme around her began to vibrate in a way that created a standing wave to her magesight, even causing the grass to bend and sway in regular patterns as the very air moved under the power of her revelation. Her statement was true at a fundamental level and didn¡¯t contain any inane¡ªor unsupportable¡ªclaims or posturing. It simply was. It simply was her. Chapter: 451 - Isn’t the Worst Tala, Rane, and Terry stood together at the edge of the former site of Arconaven, side by side once again beneath the stars. Rane and Terry had reached the center and stayed there for a bit while Tala and Alat recorded what was happening all around the two. They had then come back to Tala, allowing her to collect her iron along the way. At the moment, Rane was considering her with an intense gaze even while she was looking toward the north. Finally, Tala broke the momentary silence, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You advanced.¡± She grinned. ¡°That I did!¡± ¡°You advanced a lot.¡± Her smile widened. ¡°Good of you to notice.¡± He sighed, but his smile was still impossible to hide. ¡°Every time I think I might be getting ahead of you, you surprise me.¡± ¡°Hey, you wouldn¡¯t want to dominate me would you?¡± He gave her a look, blinking a few times. Then, he said quickly, his tone sounding a bit scandalized, ¡°No! No. Of course not¡­ What do you even mean by that?¡± ¡°I mean, you wouldn¡¯t want to leave me in the rust while you reach Paragon without me. Right?¡± ¡°No, never that.¡± His smile returned, full of warmth. ¡°So, what now? What do you need?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Well, I think I corrected my mis-thinking, but¡­ I think I can learn something from inspecting different ruins. Are you up for checking out another? The previous Marliweather is just north of here, right?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He shrugged, agreeing easily. ¡°I¡¯m happy to go there with you. A bit to the west, but yeah, mostly north of here.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Good, that¡¯s the plan, then.¡± Terry shifted on his feet, still perched on Rane¡¯s shoulder. That drew her attention. ¡°Terry?¡± He gave a mournful whistling chirp, looking to the north. ¡°What is it?¡± He looked down, shuffling his feet again. Tala considered for a moment, then it came to her. ¡°You came from up north, didn¡¯t you?¡± Terry bobbed in affirmation. ¡°It wasn¡¯t around old Marliweather, right?¡± He shook himself, clearly indicating a no. ¡°Further north than that, right?¡± He bobbed again. Tala and Rane shared a look, then Rane stroked Terry¡¯s head, the avian leaning into the touch. Tala smiled. ¡°Do you want to swing by where you came from?¡± Terry stiffened slightly, but then, after a long moment, he bobbed his affirmation. He let out a long, mournful trill before hunkering down and closing his eyes, clearly indicating that he wanted to end the discussion there. ¡°Alright. To old Marliweather, then north, on toward¡­¡± She hesitated, clearly unsure of which city ruin lay there, of what their destination would be. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°Manaven was north of there. There¡¯s another in between, a bit to the east, but I¡¯m not sure how much help that one will be, and it doesn¡¯t seem like that¡¯s where Terry is looking.¡± ¡°Thank you. To old Marliweather, then north, on to old Manaven!¡± -I could have told you that information.- Sure you could have, but you didn¡¯t have to because Rane already knew it. -Fine¡­- * * * Tala, Rane, and Terry took to the plains once again, running, leaping, and flickering through the night, heading north and a little west toward old Marliweather. Terry did take a bit of time to divert and hunt on their way, but there weren¡¯t too many arcanous creatures along the direct path. They did see some rather fantastically large herds though, moving in the middle distance to either side of their corridor of travel. Tala actually paused at the top of one of her arcs, reducing her effective gravity even further to simply glide along as she stared in wonder at one particularly large herd. It was like watching a cluster of islands moving, large beasts in groups of fifty to two hundred, shifting around each other in one mega-herd in the gray light of early morning. The sight was formidable, and something about it even gave Terry pause, the terror bird giving the mass of normally prey animals a wide berth. Strength in numbers, indeed. Even at the distance of tens of miles, Tala could hear the low rumble of their movements and feel the very zeme trembling as their collective trickles of power combined into something that even an Archon should be wary of. She couldn¡¯t quite place what magics they wielded, but they didn¡¯t seem to be the thunder bulls of the western plains, at least not to her distant perspective. Still, while it was a curiosity, she could look it up with relative ease if she was truly curious. So, it wasn¡¯t worth diverting from their travels. After her incredibly limited gravity brought her back to the ground, she adjusted it back to the level that she¡¯d found would give her the easiest leaping pace and sped back up. In her conflict with Mistress Cethira, Tala had found herself able to propel her own body with her aura¡ªso long as she had an exterior locus for her aura to act from¡ªbut she wasn¡¯t confident in using that ability in long-range travel, at least not at that moment. Rane, on the other hand, seemed to be perfecting his own form of travel to an incredible extent. He couldn¡¯t quite do the equivalent of flight, but he had begun scooping up random detritus every time he came down, which was more and more infrequently. With that, he would drop one piece of natural junk, ¡®pushing¡¯ off that bit of material to maintain his movement. Because he wasn¡¯t actually pushing off of it, it simply fell to the ground below, harmlessly joining the other random natural matter. Still, it allowed him to bypass some of the limitations of his current hangup of ¡®not having anything to push off of.¡¯ I still think that he isn¡¯t pushing off anything anyway. -Yeah, but different mental models create different outcomes. I can understand why he would be stuck on the need to have at least the appearance of a platform or anchor to act from.- Well, then why doesn¡¯t he¡­ I don¡¯t know, push off the air or something? Tala froze as that thought flashed forth through her consciousness, causing a cascade within her own mind. Alat started laughing. Would that work? -I think so, yeah. We¡¯ve even thought of it before, but never really did any testing.- Tala hit the ground again, pushing off into another great leap. Well, it¡¯s worth a try. As she got to the top of her leap, she dumped power into the surface-area-expanding scripts in the foot that was already moving to come down for her next step. The area of the enhanced effect exploded in size, magically distributing her weight across a circle with a twenty foot radius. She drove that foot down, angling it slightly behind her to keep up her forward momentum. Her foot moved a short way under the powerful push, but the resistance magnified incredibly as she continued to force her foot downward. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Then, that resistance reached a critical point, and instead of her foot moving down more, her body shot forward, the remaining down-stroke of her step thrusting her up and forward. Unlike having a shoe or other physical platform with a twenty foot radius, as soon as she finished pushing and her foot began to move with her, the magics no longer affected her interactions with the air. It only expanded the surface area of her feet in one direction, to provide support for her steps. Even so, she cut the extra magic flowing into the scripts as soon as she didn¡¯t need the greatly increased area. Tala let out an almost involuntary whoop of excitement at both her increased speed and height, and at the success of her experiment. Even so, she knew that it wasn¡¯t a total success. What did that cost us? -About as much magic as regrowing a finger¡ªwithout the reserve-costs of course¡ªand probably a hundredth of an ounce of gold from our inscriptions due to the pathways not being designed for quite that much throughput.- Tala grunted. That was more expensive than she¡¯d prefer, but it had worked, seemingly even better than she¡¯d hoped. Reach out to Mistress Holly and see if we can bolster those pathways without a redesign. I think using the air as a platform to launch from would be incredibly useful, if we can get the cost down. -Will do!- The push had been a bit more powerful than her usual leaps as she¡¯d wanted to be sure that it would ¡®catch¡¯ on the air if at all possible. So, she ended up going a bit faster than ideal, pushing up against the speed at which she would create magical resonance, even with her iron and aura shaped to reduce that effect as much as possible. Alright, so I¡¯ll have to be careful about how I use this when we make it more viable. -Noted.- Other than those few highlights, the trip was incredibly uneventful. Tala had been a bit afraid that her brief pulse of magical resonance¡ªcaused while fighting against Mistress Cethira¡ªwould call in some magical creature or other, but none appeared while they were still at old Arconaven, nor had their group seen any evidence of any such beast on their trip north. She was unsure whether something about the recovering city had masked the brief pulse, or if that had just been so brief as to not really cause an issue. Regardless, she was grateful to not have the trip complicated by whatever creature would have been called by her power¡ªgiven that beasts who tended to respond were at least of a level with the one whose resonance called to them. The three arrived at the outskirts of old Marliweather midmorning, once again making the trip faster than might be expected because they could make a straight shot, even simply leaping over the scattered copses of trees when those would have otherwise blocked the most direct route. Yet again, the clearly city-size-and-shaped area of land was incredibly easy to identify among the surrounding plains, but Tala suspected that while some of that was due to the higher perspective they were able to achieve, a part of it was the very fact that they knew what to look for and where. Regardless, Tala¡¯s threefold sight highlighted it to them as well, due to the still present¡ªif mostly healed¡ªrents in Reality. It seemed that fifty-seven years wasn¡¯t quite enough time for a full recovery, even if the rents looked¡­ worn somehow. -How can holes look worn?- Tala frowned. Not worn¡­ old? Like old wounds¡­ scars? But still in the process of healing. Like cloth worn almost to the point of tearing, but this is going in reverse of that process. Alat grunted within Tala¡¯s head. -I think I get what you¡¯re saying.- Well, let¡¯s see what we can learn. The group very carefully entered into the area of the city, and Tala was happy to see that she wasn¡¯t creating obvious damage simply by being within the space in which the main area of the city used to reside. That reassurance in mind, they moved to the center together, Tala and Alat once again recording everything they perceived and logging it in the Archive. There were far fewer of the four-dimensional creatures and almost none of the ¡®void nodes¡¯¡ªor Doman-Imithe bleed-through¡ªany more, as it seemed that Reality had healed sufficiently to at least keep that from being pervasive. Once they reached the center, Rane and Terry did their best to not distract her, which resulted in Terry flickering away to wander in the surrounding Wilds, and Rane sitting down to meditate. Tala, for her part, focused even more, picking out individual creatures to watch. It was only then, in this much less chaotic environment, that she noticed how the things crossed through the damaged zeme, skipping over it almost as if the damage weren¡¯t there. When they did, a reality thread would trace the path that they should have taken, thickening and reinforcing the repairs, seeming to pull the rent fractionally back together. Because a creature went directly from one location to the other, the two places are recognized as tied? -Or it actually does tie them together?- Tala frowned. So, if there was nothing moving through the physical level of Reality, would the connections break down over time? -Well, there¡¯s light, gravity, and many other things like that, which unify physical existence, which unify Reality.- That¡¯s true¡­ These creatures seem to be reinforcing the connections. Or they help rebuild them by their very nature, which amounts to the same thing. -That¡¯s what it seems like.- They went back and reviewed what they¡¯d seen in old Arconaven, and with their new insight, they were able to see the same thing occurring across the rents there. There was a catch, however. The reality-threads that were stretched across the damage in old Arconaven degraded incredibly quickly in the maelstrom of Reality, Magic, and Void. Thus, even with dozens¡ªif not hundreds¡ªof times as many creatures, the aggregation of reality threads effectively repairing the damage was much slower. Fascinating. They eat the magic even as they stitch the holes closed, attacking the problem from two sides. -I wonder if these are natural or designed?- You think that gated-humanity designed these things? Tala hesitated. You know, they might have? -Ask Mistress Ingrit?- Yes please. She continued her examination for a few minutes before the Archon responded. Alat read through the response and gave Tala the shortened version. -No, gated-humanity didn¡¯t create them, to Mistress Ingrit¡¯s knowledge. There are records of them from a time before gates. They are considered to be a more passive version of Magical creatures, it seems. Something that Reality itself apparently creates in order to counter high concentrations of Magic.- Tala nodded slowly. That did make more sense as the things seemed too¡­ alien to have been conceived of by a human mind. -What about a really odd one?- I mean¡­ maybe? But he would have to be very odd indeed. Tala and Alat paused for a moment before moving on, feeling vaguely uncomfortable with the topic overall. In the end, they were getting a relatively clear picture of what the damage looked like after a city had been fully abandoned, after the damage had been mostly healed, and what the process might look like going from one to the other. Old Manaven would give them another, far longer view when they got there, given that that city waned more than a century and a half earlier¡ªa century before old Marliweather, where they currently were. And the increased pull between reality nodes that I enacted within my sparring ring¡ªand which I¡¯m building up within my sanctum lung¡ªseems to be exactly what the repair entails, except it is executed differently. -Yeah, as opposed to lashing two things together like we¡¯re seeing here, you cause them to pull together without the extra ties.- No. Tala disagreed. I am augmenting the ties that already exist, those ties of Reality which Magic might otherwise break down. And there it was. The overly simplistic description of the degradation caused by human gates. Magic eroded the interconnected nature of reality¡ªthe causal and physical connections of existence¡ªallowing or even forcing division where none was previously, thus introducing void. Or drawing forth the void that is always lingering within all things. Tala frowned, about to point out an issue when Alat broached it first, -What about the increase in the stability of Kit as you advance? As you have more magic?- Yeah¡­ -I believe that¡¯s thinking of it backward. Kit isn¡¯t more stable because you have more magic. It¡¯s more stable because your soul is more stable. Because of that, your soulbonds are more tightly connected.- Tala gave a slow, understanding nod. And it is precisely those connections which resist the degradation caused by magic. -I think so, yeah.- That made so much sense to Tala. Tala sighed, causing Rane to open his eyes. Something in her sigh must have conveyed more than she thought, because his question was rather insightful, ¡°What frustrating thing did you just realize?¡± A smile pulled at her lips as she looked his way. ¡°Reality hates us because we degrade it, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°So, anyone who dabbles too deeply into Reality magic goes a bit crazy and anti-gated-human, right?¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°Well, with a proper application of Reality magic, I¡¯m pretty sure that we could not only fix the damage, but prevent it from happening in the first place.¡± Rane stared at her for a moment before giving a rueful chuckle. ¡°If you ban all forms of violence, you have no one left capable of dealing with those who don¡¯t follow those rules?¡± She blinked a few times before giving a slow nod. ¡°Not the analogy I would have used, but¡­ yes? I think that tracks. We need Reality Mages to fix this issue, but¡ªat the risk of over-personifying one of the three pillars of Existence¡ªReality is so angry with us that it makes it impossible for us to have any Reality Mages, because instead of fixing the issue¡ªas only they can¡ªthey attack us.¡± ¡°Thus, we have to make them taboo, preventing the fix at the root,¡± Rane finished for her. ¡°Exactly.¡± He frowned. ¡°Can you explain what you¡¯ve learned in more detail?¡± She nodded and did so, laying out what she¡¯d perceived and what she¡¯d gleaned from it. He asked probing questions, testing her assumptions, but in the end, he didn¡¯t find any major flaw in her thinking. Leaning back, he pulled a waterskin from his dimensional storage and took a long pull. After wiping his mouth, he nodded. ¡°Can you implement the fix? Can you put in preventative measures?¡± Tala let out a long breath, puffing out her cheeks with the breath as she slowly shook her head. ¡°Honestly? Yes, but no.¡± He tilted his head to the side, waiting for her to continue. ¡°I can do the work, but this is like looking at a child with a shovel and asking her to relocate a mountain. In concept? Sure, it¡¯s possible, but it¡¯s not going to happen.¡± He grinned at her, then. ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that you need to get stronger? You need to advance?¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be nice?¡± ¡°Well, ¡®to fix that which is broken¡¯ isn¡¯t the worst eternal goal I¡¯ve heard.¡± She stared at him for a long moment. ¡°Well¡­ rust. I think you¡¯re right.¡± Chapter: 452 - Final Goodbye Tala and Rane enjoyed a late breakfast in the center of old Marliweather. Mistress Petra had really outdone herself, with a spread of foods that catered to both Tala¡¯s and Rane¡¯s magics, along with a bound pig, with a quick release on its bindings. I need to tell her to tone it down a bit. Terry had perked up at the sight of the pig, freeing it and letting it take off for a good two minutes before he vanished to pursue. -But he¡¯s so happy.- ¡­Yeah¡­ It¡¯s just¡­ it seems odd to have the pig come with the other food, though. I¡¯m also not really sure I like feeding that part of his personality. -He can be rather terrifying¡­ yeah.- Even so, Tala didn¡¯t spend too much time thinking on Terry¡¯s activities. That was likely due to her mind being dominated with the eternal goal that Rane had suggested. It wasn¡¯t quite right for her, but it was tantalizingly close. An eternal goal wasn¡¯t the only thing that she needed to advance to the level of Paragon, but it was a large part of what she was still seeking. To fix that which is broken. It was interesting to be sure. It held so much of what she actually wanted to strive for, despite it being such a simple phrase. Even so¡­ Her head was starting to hurt, despite there being nothing physically wrong with her. She had simply been delving too deeply, too quickly. She needed to let her thinking percolate out, seep in, and be tested through more experiences. She ate one more breakfast pastry, downed another mug of coffee, then smiled toward Rane, drawing his attention with the expression. ¡°Are you ready to head north?¡± He nodded, taking a slow bite of his own breakfast. ¡°Shall we see if Terry is ready?¡± Tala nodded in turn. ¡°Sure.¡± She drew power into her lungs, lacing it through the air in order to fill her words. Then, she spoke levelly, trusting the magic to carry her words far enough to reach the avian. ¡°Terry? Can you come back to check in?¡± Less than a minute later, Terry flickered across the plains, approaching at breakneck speeds only to land lightly on Tala¡¯s shoulder to regard her with an interested look. ¡°We¡¯re ready to head north again. Are you ready?¡± Terry squawked inquisitively. ¡°Yeah, I know we haven¡¯t been here all that long, but I think we can get to old Manaven by sunset if we hurry. It¡¯s a bit further than our last legs have been, but it shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± The terror bird considered for a long moment before bobbing his assent. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± The last half of the trip was through the southern edge of the northern forest. Unlike the Leshkin forest to the south, the northern woods seemed blessedly normal, with trees of various sizes, undergrowth, and relatively mundane wildlife. There were no Leshkin, and the Anatalin wolves weren¡¯t in ready evidence, leaving a general sense of mundanity about the place. Tala was right in her guess, and they approached the site of old Manaven as the sun was starting to slip below the horizon. The low mountains to the west glowed as they seemed to try to eat the light of day. Instead of entering the space that seemed to be the site in question¡ªtime had evidently worked to finally render the location mostly blended with the surroundings¡ªTala and Rane turned to Terry. Tala smiled. ¡°We¡¯re here for you. Where do you want to go?¡± Terry looked¡­ concerned, but took the lead, growing to be as tall as Tala before flickering through the trees, always ensuring that Rane and Tala could follow. Tala and Rane did so at a sedate pace, somehow feeling that rushing forward would be insensitive to the situation that they felt sure they would find ahead. It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach a low cliff in a raised clearing. The fading light of the setting sun streamed over the cliff to strike the trees as the sun dipped beyond the low, northern mountains to their west. At first, Tala didn¡¯t see anything special about the cliff, except that there were several larger rocks in the clearing near the rockface, but when Terry walked forward instead of flickering, Tala and Rane followed, after sharing a short glance. Only when they were close enough to reach out and touch the cliff did they see a hidden entrance, reached by weaving past two of the boulders and pushing into the cliff itself. The opening looked to be broken open somehow, though Tala couldn¡¯t quite place what it was about the rock that made her believe that. Terry let out a low, whistling trill with a mournful air. He was still just about Tala¡¯s size, but his head was dipped low, his wings pulled in tight, and he seemed almost to be shivering even though it wasn¡¯t unusually cold. Tala felt a cloying ache within her chest as she regarded her friend. ¡°Oh, Terry.¡± When she entered the little sheltered alcove, she saw what had elicited Terry¡¯s reaction with her own eyes. The impact was much greater than when she¡¯d seen it with her threefold sight. A clearly long-abandoned nest filled the space. Bones¡ªlarge and small¡ªand the remnants of surprisingly thick eggshells were scattered about. The walls were scarred in a way that clearly indicated various magical attacks, the alcove clearly having been reshaped by the same. That was also likely what had marred the entrance. It wouldn¡¯t shelter from the weather anymore. Based on some of the rock nearby, it looked like the alcove once would have been an excellent place of refuge, but no longer. That was probably the only reason some other beast hadn¡¯t moved in. Tala and Rane moved to the unnaturally clear center of the nest¡ªwhich was easily large enough for both of them to fit comfortably¡ªmaking sure that they didn¡¯t disturb any of the remnants around them as they took a seat. Terry was looking around, nudging various bones with his beak, clear sorrow in his movements and gaze. ¡°Terry?¡± The avian looked up, obvious emotion in his eyes. ¡°Is this¡­¡± She swallowed. ¡°Was this your nest?¡± His gaze held hers for a long moment before he gave a slight bob. ¡°Oh, Terry.¡± Her voice was soft, but it carried easily in the small space. ¡°So, this was your mate? Your hatchlings?¡± He let out a burbling chirp in affirmation before the terror bird flickered into the middle of the nest, between Rane and Tala, shifting until he was curled up across both of their laps. The two humans leaned forward, wrapping their arms around the larger-than-usual avian, letting silence and touch convey their presence as the last light of the day slowly faded from the clearing. Long had the alcove stood empty, bereft of the flock which had called it home. Yet, as darkness fell, night found the potential for a new flock resting within the embrace of the cliff once more. * * * Dawn found the three unmoved. Terry seemed to have found some measure of comfort in the contact with the two humans. Rane seemed to be content meditating on¡­ something or other. Tala couldn¡¯t help but consider the loss that Terry had suffered, and how she would fare if she suffered the same. Not well. She would prefer to die opposing that which sought to harm anything of hers rather than be left without those she cherished. That knowledge¡ªeach time she mulled over the facts and her feelings about them¡ªmade her hold Terry all the more stalwartly through the night. As the sky brightened¡ªand the sun broke over the horizon behind the trees outside their alcove¡ªRane shifted, and Terry lifted his head to look at the big man. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Terry?¡± Terry tilted his head to the side in obvious inquiry. ¡°Can we bury these remains?¡± Tala felt immense gratitude, not having really known how to proceed. She felt really odd, if she was being honest. She hurt for Terry, but she also knew that these terror birds had died hundreds of years before she, herself, was born. It didn¡¯t feel like Mistress Odera¡¯s death, or any of her family who had passed. The closest thing was the death of her mother. Cognitively, she knew that her mother had died, and she was sad to not have gotten to know her, but it honestly didn¡¯t cross her mind very often. This whole situation felt like mourning the death of some historical character. Even so, Terry was very real to her¡ªand incredibly important¡ªso his suffering affected her deeply, and he was obviously deeply affected. The avian seemed stunned into immobility for a long moment. Seeing his hesitation, Rane asked further, ¡°We could also burn them, or Tala could disintegrate them, if either of those would be preferred. We want to honor the dead, but you will have to let us know how.¡± Finally, Terry bobbed his slow assent. ¡°Bury?¡± The avian gave a hesitant shake, then bobbed again. ¡°Yes, but something else first?¡± Terry bobbed a yes to Rane¡¯s understanding. ¡°We¡¯ll want the grave ready, then.¡± Rane gave a sad smile. ¡°I¡¯ll get it done.¡± He shifted, and Terry shrunk before flickering to Tala¡¯s shoulder. Rane pulled out a shovel from his dimensional storage, scanning the remains before nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Why does he have a shovel? -I have no idea¡­ should we ask?- No, it¡¯s not important at the moment. He ducked out of the alcove, and the regular cadence of a shovel moving earth soon resounded through the clearing, bouncing off the cliff. Tala could see what Rane was doing with her threefold sight, and his magics were making the work much easier than she¡¯d thought it might be, thankfully. She scratched Terry¡¯s head, speaking softly, trying to fill her tone with her warmth and caring for the avian, ¡°Do you want the remains burned or disintegrated?¡± Terry looked around the alcove, seemingly taking a moment to inspect each and every group of remains. He then hunkered down, pulling in on himself before letting out a mournful cry. ¡°Take your time.¡± The next few minutes passed slowly, the only sound¡ªbesides the background noise of the forest¡ªwas that of Rane¡¯s digging. Finally, the terror bird shook, fluffing his feathers before headbutting Tala¡¯s cheek. She thought she understood what he meant. ¡°Disintegration?¡± He bobbed in agreement, then headbutted her again. ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll do it. I won¡¯t just use seeds.¡± She began opening portals below each remnant, rejecting anything but the bone, feather, and egg-shell fragments. The nest itself had been made of well-arranged rocks and large sticks, though most of the sticks had long since degraded. It didn¡¯t take long until she¡¯d gathered all that remained of the terror birds who had called this alcove home¡ªmother and hatchlings alike. Can you help me? -Absolutely.- Rane came back a minute or two later, brushing his hands free of dirt. ¡°It¡¯s ready.¡± Tala rose, Terry clinging to her shoulder as she stood. As soon as she had regained her feet, he flickered to the ground, changing to be of a size with Rane and Tala. His fully erect height likely would have been between them, but he wasn¡¯t standing up straight. Instead, he was somewhat curled in on himself, hunched low as they walked out to where Rane had dug a deep hole with startling rapidity. It was six feet deep and nearly as wide across. The pile of dirt and rocks on the far side of the hole stood testament to just how much material Rane had moved so quickly. ¡°Rane, this¡­ this is impressive.¡± She¡¯d seen him do it, and it was still impressive. He shrugged. ¡°For Terry? It was worth the effort.¡± He gave a sad smile. ¡°Honestly, it would have been worth the work even if my magics hadn¡¯t made it easier for me.¡± Terry chirped his gratitude. Tala opened a portal across the bottom of the pit¡ªjust a bit above the dirt¡ªbefore she pushed out the remains as she moved the portal upward. This allowed for the precise placement of each bone, rearranged with Alat¡¯s help to be as close to how they should have been as possible. When the portal closed, revealing the remains, Terry let out a low, startled squawk. A mother terror bird lay curled around six broken eggs with hatchlings within, all simple skeletons, long picked clean by predators and time. Even so, they were so well put together that they seemed almost to be waiting for a word or sound to wake them up. Thank you. -It was my honor.- Terry hunched down, trilling with sorrowful need at the sight below. Tala and Rane waited for a long few minutes as Terry simply looked down at his mate, his broken flock. Finally, he turned and looked at Tala, and she felt a welling up in her eyes at the emotion on his avian face. ¡°Is it time?¡± He gave a long trill of assent. ¡°Alright.¡± Tala breathed in deeply¡ªand unnecessarily¡ªbefore she went through the process of building up endingberry power into her sanctum-lung. She didn¡¯t overcharge the air, nor do anything else to make it more potent. This wasn¡¯t an attack. She simply wanted to ensure that her breath reached the bottom and covered the whole area. With a slow nod, she opened a portal into her sanctum¡¯s lung, directing the pulse of compressed air¡ªladen with power¡ªinto the center of the hole. The dissolution magic washed over the remains, turning them all to dust without fanfare or warning. She closed the portal within her mouth and rested her hand on Terry¡¯s head. As Rane went around to the pile of dirt beside the hole, Tala felt the need to say a couple of words. ¡°Here rests the remains of a flock, a family that never reached its potential. Let them be remembered, and let their purpose be fulfilled in other ways.¡± Without waiting for her to say more, Rane pushed on the pile, using his magic to affect the totality all at once, filling it with enough kinetic energy to roil over itself and fall into the hole, sealing the remnants in the earth. Terry threw back his head and let out a woeful trill, filled with his power and sorrow in equal measure. It hung, lonely in the early dawn stillness for a long, long moment before it was echoed from uncounted directions, each at a different distance. Tala¡¯s eyes widened. There were still terror birds here? She shouldn¡¯t have been surprised; terror birds were a rather pervasive species, often going through founts to gain arcanous powers of many kinds. That gave them an additional edge in the eternal jockeying for prey. Even if the fount that Terry had gone through was gone¡ªalong with all the avians who had gone through it as he did¡ªthat didn¡¯t mean that the region had been depopulated of the avian predators. Rane stood back up from replacing the dirt, leaving a circle of turned earth as the only evidence of those buried below. Terry was looking around, head tilted slightly in clear, focused intensity. Soon, the shapes of terror birds could be seen in the trees around the clearing, a few even appearing up on the cliff. Each clearly had arcanous power flowing through them¡ªand not all of the same kind by any means¡ªbut Tala wasn¡¯t worried. Rane rested his hand on Force¡¯s hilt but didn¡¯t draw his weapon. Either one of them could slay every terror bird that they saw, and Terry could do it twice. They were in no real danger. Then, a clear outlier came into view. One exceptionally large terror bird strode up to the edge of the cliff above them, looking down from nearly forty feet up. She¡ªfor it was somehow obviously a female of the species¡ªhad matte black feathers with sparks flickering along their edges and a blue light glowing in her eyes. There was a flash and a bolt of lightning connected her to the ground beside Terry, the female avian covering the distance within the strike. Then, she was there, towering over Terry and trilling in a manner that seemed¡­ possessive? Terry straightened, growing until he was a bit larger than the lightning-female. He squawked back, clearly a bit irritated and disagreeing with her assertion. A moment later, lightning struck at Terry, and Terry flickered away. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, but even as she drew Flow, Terry appeared on the far side of the clearing, looking straight at her and shaking himself in a clear negative. ¡°You want us to leave you to it?¡± He had moved on, avoiding another strike, but as he reappeared, he bobbed his agreement. ¡°Alright¡­¡± Each bolt was accompanied by thunder as the female and Terry flickered around the clearing, up the cliff, through the trees, and back again, exchanging blows, tumbling, pecking, and slashing at one another. The other avians¡ªbarely more than shadows to Tala¡¯s mundane vision but laughably obvious to her threefold sight¡ªwatched the clash with obviously rapt attention. Soon enough, the inevitable conclusion came about, and a final strike of lightning exploded at the base of the cliff, revealing the female terror bird, pinned down by Terry, his talons around her neck. Terry let out a long, undulating cry toward the stars once again. This time, when the other terror birds joined him in his cry, it was in a chorus of triumph. After the echoes died out, the avians slowly strode into the clearing, out of the woods, lowering their heads to the side, showing their necks to Terry one after another in obvious submission. Terry straightened even further, growing and placing more weight on the struggling female¡¯s neck. She tried to move away one last time, but something about Terry¡¯s hold around her neck kept her from escaping. Finally, she stopped moving, turning her beak down in surrender of her own. Terry huffed, chirping once more before releasing her and flickering away to stand among the crowd¡ªthe flock¡ªhead and neck above the others in size. The female rose to her feet, tilting her head to the side as all the others had, solidifying her surrender. Terry chirped again in seeming acknowledgement of the action. Without anything further, the flock turned and began to melt into the woods, the twenty or so terror birds moving in the same direction. The female was at the rear, and she paused at the edge of the woods, looking back toward Terry in obvious question. Tala felt her eyes widen. Oh¡­ Terry looked between Tala and the waiting terror bird. ¡°Terry? Do you want to go with them?¡± He looked back and forth, seeming to actually consider the question. Tala swallowed. ¡°If that¡¯s what you need¡­ you¡¯d always be welcome back.¡± She swallowed again. ¡°I would like you to stay, though.¡± Terry flickered to her shoulder, and when Tala turned to look, he met her gaze evenly. Finally, he headbutted her cheek before flickering away, appearing beside the female. The two terror birds shared a long look¡ªbut didn¡¯t make a sound¡ªbefore she turned and strode away, weaving between the trees. Tala felt her breath catch, but then Terry flickered, once again appearing on her shoulder. She let out a relieved breath. ¡°Good to have you with us, Terry.¡± Rane reached out and scratched the avian¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m glad that you stayed, too.¡± Terry chirped happily, but then his head turned back toward the circle of turned earth, the happy chirps fading into silence. Tala looked as well. ¡°Do you want to stay for a bit?¡± He seemed to consider, but finally, he shook himself. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s investigate what¡¯s left of the ruins of Manaven, and then figure out what¡¯s next.¡± Chapter: 453 - Honest and Open Tala felt really foolish. She¡¯d made this massive deal about taking a break, getting away from her duties as a Defender and considering things. It had taken weeks to spin up to a reasonable time for departure, and now¡ªless than three days into the trip¡ªshe was ready to go back. Sure, she¡¯d like to take a day or two to study the ruins of old Manaven if she got the chance, but it honestly shouldn¡¯t require more than a few hours. It¡¯s only been two days since we left. She grimaced, feeling the¡ªlikely exaggerated¡ªshame of the reality being so much less than she¡¯d implied. -You¡¯re efficient?- Alat tried to redirect the feeling. It didn¡¯t work very well. Tala shook her head. Rane glanced her way as they walked through the sparse trees. ¡°What is it? I know I¡¯m feeling¡­ mixed after the burial, but it doesn¡¯t seem like that¡¯s what¡¯s bothering you.¡± She hesitated, not liking the feeling of exposure that the topic brought up within her. But that didn¡¯t make any sense. She wanted to be honest with Rane and he with her. What was the point of courting if they weren¡¯t honest and open? She didn¡¯t want to love a lie, nor for the ¡®her¡¯ that was loved to be a lie. If she couldn¡¯t be honest, there was no point in continuing. None at all. That made the choice simple. Better yet, Rane had given her a perfect secondary topic with which to segue into what was really bothering her. ¡°The burial¡­¡± She reached up and scratched Terry¡¯s head. ¡°That was wonderful to be a part of. I am glad that we were able to lay them to rest, but you¡¯re right, that isn¡¯t what is bothering me.¡± Terry chirped with subdued encouragement, and Rane left the conversational space for her to speak when she was ready. She groaned before answering nonetheless, ¡°I feel the fool.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He shifted his walking to orient her way just a bit more. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She grimaced then let out a long breath. ¡°I¡­ We made such a big deal about this trip, and now¡­ Now, it¡¯s over? It¡¯s only been two days since we left.¡± He shrugged, a small smile pulling at his lips. ¡°The trip¡¯s not over quite yet. If you want to, we can stay out longer, explore more, do more.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I would just be doing that to not look like as much of a fool as I feel. We didn¡¯t prep for exploring the moving settlements, and while I could do the research for an encounter with the Anatalins, I don¡¯t feel like it¡¯s the right time for that yet either. We could explore other cities, or the construction sites, but that is also something that we didn¡¯t prep for, and something that I feel it would be unkind to spring on Irondale.¡± He hmmed in understanding. ¡°I can definitely see some of the merchants being in a panic if they suddenly found Irondale opened to a city under construction. They¡¯d feel like they were missing all sorts of goods that they would have wished to have brought.¡± Tala nodded, sighing. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t stop us if we had a solid reason for going, but, once again, it would just feel like something we¡¯re doing so that I feel less foolish. That¡¯s not a great way to make choices.¡± ¡°So, what you really need is a reason to have come back sooner than we thought?¡± ¡°That would be ideal, but I also don¡¯t want to just hunt for a reason. That seems petty in the extreme.¡± ¡°That is a conundrum to be sure.¡± He nodded sagely. He then looked to Terry. ¡°Terry? You¡¯ve conveyed that you had things to lay to rest before you Bonded with Tala. It is hardly my place, but I wonder, was your mate, your hatchlings among that?¡± Terry regarded Rane for a long moment before bobbing. Rane gave a sad smile. ¡°I am glad to have been able to be a part of your finding closure.¡± Terry squawked, letting them both understand. Rane smiled gratefully, as did Tala. She then turned to Terry. ¡°Is Rane right? This was one of the things that you needed to do?¡± He only hesitated for but a moment before squawking again, a bit more emphatically. When she didn¡¯t respond immediately, he bobbed and trilled. Her eyes widened. ¡°You mean¡­?¡± He chirped his agreement. ¡°You¡¯re ready for us to be a flock. This was the only thing you needed to lay to rest?¡± He hesitated before giving his agreement. ¡°Not the only thing, but all has been accomplished, now?¡± He met her gaze, surety obvious on his every feature as he nodded, the gesture almost human when compared to his usual avian bob. Tala laughed with barely contained¡ªslightly nervous¡ªexcitement. ¡°Well, alright, then. Let¡¯s take a quick look at this ruin and get back to Alefast. I¡¯ve a flockmate to bond.¡± Terry threw back his head and trumpeted triumphantly at the sky above. Rane chuckled. ¡°I can¡¯t think of a better reason to move quickly. Let¡¯s get to it.¡± * * * The trip back to Alefast, Waning, took until noon the following day, which still gave them plenty of time to enact the bond that day. Tala, Rane, and Terry made only one stop¡ªto drop off Irondale¡¯s entrance at the appointed place¡ªon their way to the isolated chambers under the Archon Compound in the center of the city. Alat had taken the trip back to coordinate with the Irondale residents to make them aware that they¡¯d be returning to Alefast sooner than expected, due to a complication that arose on the trip. Bless you, Alat. -I aim to please.- Apparently, Artia grumbled to Alat a bit, but no one seemed to think much of it beyond that. That proved that Tala¡¯s fear of being viewed as foolish was a bit overblown. But that wasn¡¯t Tala¡¯s concern any longer. As the iron door sealed them inside the chamber with a Constructionist Archon, Tala really realized that it was happening. She and Terry were going to bond. They could have simply had Terry eat an Archon star in old Manaven, but doing it in a proper chamber would give them both more control of the bonding process. The connection wouldn¡¯t just end up however they happened to mesh in the moment; they would have a say in some of the specifics. Rane had stepped in and handled the Constructionist¡ªmuch to Tala¡¯s relief¡ªgetting everything worked out with him, while Tala and Terry sat in the center of the room, barely apart from one another, gazes locked. Tala had given Alat full control over all their other perceptions, narrowing her focus entirely onto the terror bird before her, and the Archon star she was building within her finger. With her current throughput, she was essentially done making the star, even though she¡¯d only started to create it after they entered Alefast. Because of the hyperfocus, she was almost surprised when it was time. ¡°We¡¯re ready, Tala.¡± Rane¡¯s voice was soothing as it reached her. She looked around and saw the precious metal spun into spellwork laid out in the floor around her. She smiled toward Rane and the other Archon before nodding. Rane smiled in return. ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready, then.¡± Tala turned to Terry. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Terry regarded her for a long moment, then bobbed a nod. ¡°Alright.¡± She used her aura and will to pull the Archon star stoneward¡ªout of her finger¡ªthen back to the superficial now outside of her body. ¡°Is that blood?¡± The Archon whispered to Rane, but Tala still easily heard. Rane shushed him in return, and Tala simply put the interaction from her mind. ¡°Here, Terry. Freely offered.¡± Terry moved forward even as the magics throughout the room blossomed with power, giving structure to the implicit contract they were entering into, the bond that they were forming. The terror bird snapped forward, purposely¡ªand with full knowledge and intent¡ªeating the bloodstar. With a roar of power, the world went white. * * * Tala flickered around the battlefield, Flow lashing out to kill with impunity. Portals opened to Kit, scooping up the bodies even as Tala stripped all the nutrients and calories from the fallen, adding them to her stores, hidden away from the superficial. She was the perfect predator, and everyone was her prey. Her reach and authority was unmatched and still growing. Everything was hers. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. By her side, Terry moved¡ªan extension of her will even if he chose how he enacted it¡ªa perfect counterpoint to her attacks, drawing attention to give her openings, appearing in the blind spots, and striking forth. His claws and beak were wreathed in void-magics, his feathers were woven through with white steel and iron, his bones were inviolable. The whole continent trembled in fear of their attention. All of Zeme prayed that their focus would stay elsewhere. They hunted where they wished, and none could oppose them. -Well¡­ this is clearly a power-tripping delusional fantasy.- Unfortunately, yeah. Anatalis would put a stop to us right quick, even if no one else cared to. She sighed internally, even as the manifestation of this bonding continued to glut herself on carnage and prey. Nope! * * * Tala floated in the white void after rejecting the first option. She was considering what she¡¯d seen and what she wanted. ¡°Well, if nothing else, I want Terry to be able to talk with me.¡± That was a good place to start. * * * Tala and Terry stood on a hilltop, side by side, looking out over the plains around them. Terry lifted his head and looked straight at Tala, meeting her gaze. After a long moment, he spoke in an earth-shakingly-deep voice, ¡°No.¡± The manifestation shattered, returning them to the white void. * * * It took Tala a long moment to pull her mind back together after the whiplash imparted through that last manifestation of a bonding option. The option hadn¡¯t even fully formed before Terry rejected it outright. ¡°No? You don¡¯t want to be able to talk?¡± She couldn¡¯t see Terry at the moment, but she could feel him, and she could feel his agreement with the sentiment. He didn¡¯t want to be able to talk, not in the way humans did. He was happy with his ability to communicate as it was, and that seemed like it wasn¡¯t going to change. Well, that was fine then. Tala didn¡¯t need Terry to talk, but that left her with an important question: what did she want from this bond? Thankfully, she already had an answer for that. She wanted to be united with her friend and to offer him the same longevity and power that she already had and that which she was going to attain. She honestly didn¡¯t want anything from him but his companionship. Alat cleared her mental throat. -And the ability to flicker around?- Tala chuckled. Ahh, yes. That. I would love to be able to do that. The white void vanished, making way for the next option to manifest. * * * Tala and Terry stood face to face, practically beak to nose. There was an intelligence in his eyes that hadn¡¯t been there before. She was used to seeing the wisdom and guile of a practiced hunter, tracker, and combatant, but what she saw now was well beyond that. What he had gained¡ªwhat he would gain through this choice¡ªwas a sapient perspective and mentality, for better or worse. As for her? She felt the world around her open up in a way that she¡¯d never experienced before. Everything within her aura felt like it was just a single step away. She knew that Terry didn¡¯t have that same limitation, after all he hadn¡¯t really had an aura in the same sense that a Mage did. Still, the ability that she felt was massive. To be able to, in theory, move to anywhere within her aura in one ¡®step¡¯... That would amplify her combat ability a dozenfold. It would be an even greater change if she hadn¡¯t figured out how to do something similar¡ªif a bit slower and more cumbersome¡ªvia her portals into and out of Kit, and it felt like this means of movement just scratched the surface of what might be opened to her. But that was all beside the core thing at issue. This was unlike any merging or bonding that she¡¯d ever done, and the reason was obvious. Terry. Terry was a truly sentient creature being pulled into full sapience. Bonding Kit had included some similarities, and even merging some of the magics with Flow had required overcoming a sort of subconscious will. Even so, the only bonding that had been anywhere close to what she was experiencing in that moment was the merging of Flow with the dasgannach. The dasgannach had been more of a creature of instincts with fully formed¡ªif not fully fleshed out¡ªdesires and drives. In that instance, however, Tala had been able to override and then subvert the dasgannach by giving it what it thought it wanted, taking everything in return. None of her methods there would work here. More accurately, even if it might have worked, that was the last thing that Tala wanted. Even if she could¡ªand she wasn¡¯t sure that she could¡ªshe had no desire to subsume Terry into herself and simply become a slightly terrorized Tala. She did snort a laugh at that. -More like we¡¯d be terry-fying Tala.- That¡¯s bad, Alat. -The best puns are based in truth.- She laughed again, causing Terry¡ªwherever he was¡ªto give off the feeling of curiosity. She shook her head at his confusion and assuaged him the best she could. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to hear her soon enough.¡± Alat gasped. -He will! I¡¯ll be able to talk with Terry. TERRY! I¡¯m coming!- Tala winced at the volume of the internal voice. ¡°Maybe you should run, Terry. She can be a lot sometimes.¡± Terry let out a poignant chirp. ¡°Well, yeah. I suppose I can be a lot sometimes too.¡± He squawked in a descending series. ¡°Fine, much of the time.¡± Another squawk. ¡°Yes, you and Rane deserve some kind of medal for putting up with me so much. Is that what you wanted to hear?¡± She raised an eyebrow, trying to put more humor than irritation in her voice. Terry laughed. She blinked at him in surprise as he actually laughed. It was a series of honking squawks, but it was also unmistakably a laugh. The sound brought a smile to Tala¡¯s face as soon as she got over the startlement. ¡°Fine. You win this round.¡± He got himself under control and shook vigorously. ¡°Oh? Oh. Right. We won this round.¡± She huffed a laugh even as he bobbed a firm assent. ¡°So? Is this the one we accept? Assuming this is actually you and not just some spiritual manifestation mimicking you while you go through your own selection process.¡± She had a brief flash of what that might look like and paled. Even though she suppressed the thought, she was left with the lingering image of a Terry, larger than the largest building, devouring whole populations all while countering or avoiding the Archons who were supposed to defend the populace. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s hope that¡¯s not the case.¡± * * * Tala was at a bit of a loss as she floated in the white void once again, this time with Terry floating beside her. They had accepted the option presented, but they were still there, within the void. This is new¡­ aren¡¯t we done? We came to an understanding, and the bonding can happen now, right? There was definitely magic swirling around both of them, but there still seemed to be something left to be done. It was only as the power began to tighten around Terry first that Tala really understood, remembering the warnings that they¡¯d received. Oh¡­ we were told that he was basically going to have to recontextualize his entire life with a new level of cognition. The working that had surrounded them meshed into Terry without any resistance before the avian threw back his head in a silent, undulating cry toward the non-existent stars. Tala was beside him in an instant, still within the white void. She wrapped her arms around him, not able to go through this with him directly. Even so, she was going to be there for him. He seemed to be entirely inside his own head as his body twitched and spasmed in her arms. With her close proximity¡ªand the nature of the Bonding Void¡ªTala started picking up flashes of what Terry was reliving. Terry was within his egg, and something made embryo-Terry throw himself against the inside of the shell, jiggling the egg enough to eventually shift it just a few inches. With that accomplished, he settled down, but in less than a day, a massive THUMP resounded as something struck the ground directly beside his egg, right where he had been before his frantic movement. His actions had saved his egg from destruction. As a chick, Terry had stumbled from the nest before he was truly ready, feeling an overpowering urge to get over the nearby hill to the east of his sire¡¯s nest. When he¡¯d stumbled to the crest and looked down, he¡¯d found a human kneeling and unresponsive. Following yet another deep, internal urging, he¡¯d overcome fear of the large featherless biped creature, and curled up in the man¡¯s lap even as the Mage¡¯s magics went crazy. The man¡¯s body was subsumed and his gate came to the forefront, becoming a fount around Terry. The hatchling had been terrified at this development, wanting only to get away, and through that desire, he¡¯d suddenly been a dozen yards away, able to see the dell folding in on itself, twisting and expanding before collapsing yet again, everything inside still perfectly preserved but incredibly dimensionally distorted. Terry had moved himself. Looking back, he understood that that had been his first flickering. Standing there, trembling, hatchling-Terry had felt the same deep desire thrumming through his very essence, he needed to go back. He had not wanted to, but he¡¯d felt like he needed to. This was a crossroads for him. Looking back, he could finally understand that responding to the first urge while in the egg had been a spark¡ªa beginning¡ªand coming from the nest to the dell had been a solidification of an underlying magic within himself. This last choice would be a confirmation of that power as well as the acquisition of more. Little Terry hadn¡¯t understood that. He¡¯d only had his baser drives, and the need was stronger than the fear, if only barely so. He flickered forward, appearing in the center of the fount rather than passing through the raging magics that surrounded it. Immersed once again, he felt himself changing, but it was a change to his outer self. The core of who he was remained, and that core reveled in the confirmation of its power. His need was being perfected, and he was sure that he would never deny it again. Looking back he knew better, but little Terry could be forgiven for his naivete. He had flickered out, and when his need had called him toward the fount for a third and final time, little Terry hadn¡¯t hesitated in the least. In retrospect, Terry now understood that he had drawn as much power from the fount as was possible. He couldn¡¯t have had a better outcome by any other means. While he was in the third time, he felt something reaching out to him, seeking to lock him down or bind him in some way. His need told him to flicker away and never return, and so he did. Mistress Vanga had guessed that the fount was destroyed shortly after Terry passed through, but it seems like he avoided being bound to the fount and the land in a different way, using his own newfound power. But then, Tala felt her eyes widen as she realized a deeper implication to what she was witnessing in flicks and flashes. It was something that bore up to scrutiny, given the variations they¡¯d seen even among the same arcanous species that passed through the same founts, even those that seemed to have received identical impartments. Arcanous creatures can have conceptual magic underlying their fount-acquired powers. Chapter: 454 - Need Tala held Terry within the white of the Bonding Void, her hand stroking over the manifestation of his feathers. Terry was reliving his own life with the new perspective and cognition afforded him by his new bond to Tala. Tala couldn¡¯t see everything by any means, but she was getting flashes of the highlights, even if they lacked much of the detail that she was sure he was privy to in his own re-experiencing. She¡¯d already seen a few key points that she knew he couldn¡¯t have remembered as even she was able to see. That made it obvious that something fundamental was happening. Something within the magic of the bond¡ªor something else¡ªwas allowing him to truly experience everything again. That made the next part all the more heart-wrenching. Young Terry had felt like he was grown. He was out of his sire¡¯s nest, on his own in the woods, and in the woods, he was supreme. Young Terry had been wise enough to avoid those who looked like where he¡¯d gotten his power. Those humans seemed to have power that he didn¡¯t yet understand, and until he did, he would give them a wide berth. Since they didn¡¯t reside in the woods, he still considered himself supreme. Older Terry seemed to grimace internally at his younger self. Humans had been beyond him, then, but he¡¯d felt like they wouldn¡¯t be forever, and once they were understood and overcomable? He would have a whole new set of prey. His internal need had been quiet since he¡¯d passed through the fount three times and left it behind. Time passed, and he had left his sire¡¯s nest. He had found a group of other young males, and they¡¯d gathered for comradery and safety through the dark of night, even if they hunted and ate separately. On that day his need fired off once again, drawing him further afield than he was used to traveling. But that loose collection of half-formed nests was far behind him now. Still, his need drew him on until he came across the not-trees that the magic creatures used¡ªa human caravan. It had been circled to form a protective formation for the night, and it was clear the humans were at the ready. There were several creatures of power¡ªMages¡ªand they seemed to be working to corral a group of terror birds together, drawing and driving them toward cages and other humans waiting with strips of leather¡ªmagical collars. Terry was about to retreat from the clearly dangerous beings when he saw her. She was the most stunning creature that he¡¯d ever seen, and he knew, in that moment, that she was the reason he was here. He had to save her from whatever fate awaited her. Tala felt Terry realize that the female terror bird would have probably been fine, brought into a flock to be tamed in Manaven or elsewhere. Young Terry hadn¡¯t saved her in the end, not really. Terry shuddered within the white void, that knowledge striking him deeply. Regardless, young Terry hadn¡¯t hesitated once he¡¯d recognized what was drawing him onward. His need had never led him wrong, the overt magic within the feeling making it distinct from his mundane needs and wants. In the memory, Terry flickered forward, talons and beak flashing. The humans had wielded magics that he didn¡¯t understand. They had weapons he didn¡¯t comprehend, and some parts of them were oddly resilient when they should have been soft and vulnerable. Even so, it wasn¡¯t hard to follow his need and flicker whenever it prompted, striking when he could, to mixed results. He was clumsy at first. The most he¡¯d hunted before were singular, small animals, and they hadn¡¯t been a challenge for him for a long time. Now, these bipedal things were actually a true threat, a true challenge. Fire flashed, ice lanced out, and air solidified trying to trap him and end him as a threat. They failed, and they fell. More humans came to try to deal with him, but he didn¡¯t care. His earlier caution was lost in a storm of violence, need, and blood. The other terror birds were forgotten, and they scattered to the four winds as Terry made a menace of himself. In retrospect, Terry felt embarrassed at his ineffectiveness. Young Terry had been fighting for nearly three minutes and not a single human had been killed yet, despite what the screams and the amount of blood might have implied. His enemies kept coming, but his goal was already accomplished. She was free. He felt the need to keep fighting, but he also felt the need and desire to follow her. He made his choice. With one last flicker, he arrived behind the monster who had seemed to be the leader. Terry lashed out, severing the man¡¯s spine before he struck out, biting off his head entirely, the dimensionality of his beak expanding to be large enough to accomplish the task. Tala felt Terry¡¯s remorse at the action, not that the man was dead, but that he¡¯d shown them such lethality and then left witnesses. He could now see and understand that his need had bent to his will. He should have either left without doing much damage or stayed and killed them all. The middle ground¡­ that choice had been his mistake. There had been a moment of stunned, horrified silence as all the humans stared in disbelief. Terry took that moment to flicker away after her. As soon as he¡¯d disengaged, his need began drawing him away, and he followed the promptings. She hadn¡¯t been an arcanous terror bird, and so he¡¯d led her to the fount that had given him power. He stayed away¡ªas his need indicated that he must¡ªbut he watched as she went forward, gaining a measure of dimensional power. That had sealed her fate from a future-knowing perspective. She had been unalterably branded with the taint of dimensional power, and he had demonstrated to the Mages just how dangerous that power was. She and Terry had had such a short time together when weighed against Terry¡¯s long life, but it had felt like they had forever at the time. They hadn¡¯t rushed, but eventually, it had been time, and they¡¯d hunted for a site for their nest. An alcove in an all-too-familiar cliff was chosen, and Terry worked with her to make it large enough even as they built out the nest. It was time to build their flock, and soon the eggs were there. She was confined to the nest, so he hunted for them both. He was more than up for the task. Each day he would leave, gathering prey from the surrounding area, making sure to keep away anything that could threaten the hatchlings that would soon arrive. It had become a regular pattern for him, but that morning he had felt the need to go further afield, and he had listened. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Terry hadn¡¯t returned until early the next morning, lugging a dimensionally shrunken corpse for her to consume. He¡¯d found the clearing before their cliff ravaged. Tala was momentarily confused as she got a flash of just how destroyed the clearing was in Terry¡¯s memory, but then she realized that it was so long ago that all evidence of the destruction had been long since expunged by the passage of time before she saw that clearing with her own perception. Still, in Terry¡¯s mind, the picture was clear. There were no human bodies left, but the ground was liberally coated with enough blood that either there had been hundreds of attackers or his mate had killed more for every foot of ground they advanced. Tala couldn¡¯t tell all the clues that Terry had been able to put together in the moment¡ªor in looking back¡ªbut the story that he put together was one of woe. His mate had detected the interlopers coming and had gone out to meet them. Her eggs were at risk, and her mate should be close at hand. She only needed to call for him and hold on until he arrived. Then, all would be well. Tala felt tears filling her eyes, knowing that Terry both then and now was adding the assumptions atop what he¡¯d seen, but she couldn¡¯t argue with the likelihood. The battle had been fierce as she used her fount-acquired might to strike down those who had come for her and her clutch. All the while, she had filled the air with cries of rage, cries of battle, cries for her mate to come to her aid and the aid of their clutch. Despite her ferocity, despite her undeniable prowess, she¡¯d been driven back step by bloody step, her cries becoming less defiant and more desperate with every bit of ground surrendered. Finally, she¡¯d made her last stand over the eggs themselves, somehow forcing the assaulting Mages to bleed and die even in those tight confines. Her final cries had been laced with confusion even in her final defiance. She¡¯d been cut down rather than let the eggs be struck by an attack that she¡¯d moved out of the way of. Her mate hadn¡¯t come. That meant that he was dead, for only death could have kept him from her side, from the defense of their flock. At least in death, she would be with him again, and her last acts had spilled yet more blood before the final darkness claimed her. Obviously, Terry didn¡¯t actually know that such had happened exactly in that way, but both newly cognizant Terry and Tala agreed that the story which young Terry had built within his mind seemed to line up with the evidence. The eggs were shattered, her blood painted the remnants of those who had been growing within. The air was filled with evidence of so many magics, but one stood out above all. Magic pertaining to light had been the end of his mate, and it had come from one far, far too powerful to be within his reach. Young Terry had stood, trembling, looking down upon all that was left. Nothing. Nothing was left. His flock was dead. Something more had been done to them besides the slaughter. There had been not even a single trace of magic left on their bodies, even though Terry could still identify her well enough to have no doubt or concern of a swap of some kind. His trilling, shrieking cry had torn his throat as the very world twisted around him, bending to his magics in a way that he¡¯d never been able to replicate, Reality itself seeming to resonate with his hatred of humanity. Even young, animalistic Terry had realized that the hunting of his flock had something to do with the dimensional fount. When he¡¯d checked, the fount had been gone, confirming his suspicion. In that moment, his rage had known no bounds. What followed was even more flickering than what came before, and Tala witnessed Terry ruthlessly¡ªbut cunningly¡ªhunting humans. His need tried to keep him away, but when he ignored it long enough to get into battle, the need came to his aid despite his choice. The result was Terry fully wiping out several caravans over the years, even if his targets were more often individuals or smaller groups who foolishly wandered into the woods alone. In order to better understand his chosen prey and exploit their weaknesses, he began to pay attention to their grunts and utterances. While they were still always a bit nonsensical, he was able to pull enough from it in the end to find more targets with very little work. He was the vengeance of the land, and even though his need tried to keep him away, he ignored that to seek a venting of his rage. It wasn¡¯t enough. She would never come back. No amount of blood could turn back time. The eggs would never be whole again, and he¡¯d never get to see his hatchlings. He would never meet those who should have been his, who should have been hers, who should have been theirs. Time passed in a haze, and his vengeance cooled, not because his hatred of humanity lessened, but because he simply couldn¡¯t bring himself to continue to rage. He could only burn for so long before he was spent, and he had long since passed that point. He spent decades¡ªpossibly centuries¡ªwandering the Wilds, gorging himself on prey that was never as challenging as he¡¯d have liked. He never truly followed his need after that, afraid that it would bring him to something that might make him forget her. Even so, he learned to discern when its promptings were about staying away from some great danger or other, and he did follow those promptings. Young Terry grew, finding petty diversion in hunting, finding ways to fill time even with prey that couldn¡¯t possibly be an actual challenge. Only occasionally did he find opponents worthy of his time, through which he honed his abilities. Tala frowned as one particular encounter flashed by too fast for her to really see. All that she pulled from it was a relatively ordinary bunny¡ªexcept it had been violet¡ªand the fact that Terry had fled from it at the nearly irresistible prompting of his need. Time continued to pass, and Terry occasionally still killed humans when he came across them, but he did so only when they were targets of opportunity, and he did his best to get in and out without being noticed, leaving no witnesses. That was its own sort of diversion. Tala felt conflicted as she witnessed this. She could completely understand young Terry¡¯s perspective, and through the lens of his memories, she had a hard time relating to the humans that he had seen¡ªor those that he had killed. Terry had killed hundreds of people, maybe thousands, and yet she struggled to see him now as the monster that she knew he¡¯d been to them in their last moments. Then¡ªas his memories continued to flicker past¡ªshe saw a caravan that looked familiar. Terry had felt drawn to it, and she saw herself, a young human Mage. He had burned with anger and felt a need to attack. That had almost caused him to pause. His need hadn¡¯t drawn him into a fight for a long time. Still, the human female was alone, at the back of the line of wagons. He should be able to strike her down and get away without being noticed. He stopped hesitating. But nothing went as he expected it to. The human didn¡¯t die. She wouldn¡¯t. Terry had been entirely confused. She had broken under his strikes, but he hadn¡¯t been able to cut her open. The guards had been fast enough to react that Terry couldn¡¯t capitalize on what weakness he had seen, and worse yet, she¡¯d been able to temporarily delay him, making him fear¡ªin the time¡ªthat she could figure out a means of doing so more effectively. He¡¯d had to flee. Still, even after he¡¯d fled, he couldn¡¯t get her out of his mind. How had she lived? The fact that he¡¯d left witnesses also didn¡¯t sit well with him. The last time that had happened¡­ He couldn¡¯t allow that. He had to solve the issue. That night, while she slept, he¡¯d crept close and tested if he could kill her unawares, but her defenses were too good for a quick, stealthy kill. She¡¯d woken, and he¡¯d had to flee again. His need wouldn¡¯t let him leave, though. His paranoia also pulled him to remove those who knew of his existence, and it was rare that those two aligned so fully. He¡¯d thought that meant he had to kill her, but when he¡¯d returned to finish the job one way or another, he¡¯d found¡­ meat. She¡¯d left out food, and it had clearly been for him. It had made absolutely no sense at the time, and even looking back, Terry didn¡¯t know why she¡¯d done it. The gesture was such a surprise that he¡¯d stood staring at her in her sleep as the stars moved overhead. Finally, at the prompting of his need, he¡¯d eaten the food and found that it was fantastic. Tala watched as Terry relived his time after they¡¯d met. He followed her, trying to grasp what was different about this human, what was different about his need. No matter what he saw, he still didn¡¯t understand her, and eventually, confusion and exhaustion from all the strangeness overtook him, and in frustration, he¡¯d curled up and fallen asleep against her for warmth in the middle of the autumn day¡ªit was only right for her to warm him before she died¡ªwaking only to flee as the human woke as well. Terry¡­ wanted to know more about this human. As he observed her, he heard what he thought was her desiring a thunder bull. He didn¡¯t see her doing well against such a creature, but that would certainly be interesting. During that night, he was able to separate one from a nearby herd and drive it to await her beside the caravan. Ha! I knew it was Terry¡­ fine, I just suspected. Still, the girl had killed it, poking it with a stick and somehow making it kill itself? It made no sense. Terry had broken many sticks on thunder bulls over the following day, but he couldn¡¯t replicate her success. Looking back, Terry once again felt a bit foolish. It was fairly obvious that she¡¯d used a stick from an endingberry tree, but that thought hadn¡¯t even crossed his mind at the time. Tala thought it was pretty funny, even as she continued to hold her feathered friend. She caught flickering flashes of him butchering the woodsmen outside of Alefast and was able to see just how much confusion Terry had felt about her. She was human, but she didn¡¯t seem to particularly like her own kind. Ouch, but¡­ fair. She was a young fighter with survivability but not much experience. Again, ouch¡­ And she had given freely to him, even after he¡¯d attacked her. He didn¡¯t understand, but he wanted to. That is why the woodsmen had been killed. Terry couldn¡¯t let others kill this odd human until he understood her. Chapter: 455 - Not Ever Again Tala was a bit in awe of how much she was able to witness of Terry''s re-experiencing of his own life. She was seeing a bit more now that he was reliving the time with her, but that made sense to her, because she already had a basis of understanding into which she could slot the bits she was seeing. There wasn¡¯t much to see from when she¡¯d first gone to the endingberry groves near Alefast, but once she left the city again, things started to get interesting. Terry had been a bit irritated at first when another, much bigger human began spending more time near his little human, and that made things harder, but Terry was able to figure out how to stay close regardless. Strangely, the big human seemed to exasperate the young female in ways that Terry found quite amusing. He also brought out different sides of the girl, so Terry did what he could to keep him around. I don¡¯t remember Terry doing anything to keep Rane around¡­ did I just miss it? Then, the girl had gotten herself snatched by the massive flying birds. Terry had almost called the whole thing off then, but he had been coming to like the bits of jerky she gave him. And he was already rather invested in her, so¡­ He¡¯d gone after her, and it had turned out well that he had. She¡¯d killed most of that hostile flock on her own, showing him a whole other side to her. She had demonstrated the potential for quite a bit of lethality when pressed. She¡¯d been hurt doing it, but that just stood to reason. She was basically a hatchling after all. Well, I guess that was fair¡­ There, on the frozen mountain side, Terry and the young woman had encountered a Mage who could restrain him, actually restrain him. Even in just the small flashes of the reliving, Tala was able to see just how much that had rattled Terry¡¯s understanding of existence and his place in it. He¡¯d known that some humans were more powerful than him¡ªand that he had needed to be careful to avoid their attention¡ªbut he had never encountered one who could directly beat him at his own game, let alone directly counter his dimensional magics so effectively. His eyes had been opened to just how utterly futile his own crusade against humanity had been. He¡¯d known for a long time that not every human was the same¡ªthat they made choices and acted as they wished rather than strictly as a collective. At a basic level, he knew that he shouldn¡¯t have blamed them all¡ªthat had been part of why he had not continued to attack humans as persistently, after his rage had begun to dull¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t until this looking back that he finally saw just how true that was. The encounter with Mistress had solidified that there could actually be things to learn from humans as well. He had needed to change his mindset, and the resilient human female seemed willing to bring him along, to feed him, and spend time near him. That was worth a lot. The very next day, that new-found desire for human connection was tested when a flock of terror birds came to eat the human. That had put him into the position of choosing a human life over a flock of terror birds. Sure, they hadn¡¯t been his flock, but it put the humans¡¯ actions against his own mate into an entirely different perspective, at least when looking back. In the moment though, Terry had simply seen Tala as a burgeoning member of his flock, and that was all that had mattered. His flock¡¯s safety was paramount, and he would not let anything attack them with impunity ever again. Terry¡¯s choice had resulted in her survival and their return to a human city. This time, however, he was able to enter safely. That had only been possible because of the collar they¡¯d gotten for him from the strangely obsessive human. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t been too much of an issue. Once again, Terry found himself embarrassed, and Tala was truly startled. In that first venture into Bandfast, Terry had stolen a lot of food, flickering out and back when she had been distracted, making sure to return in the exact orientation he¡¯d been in previously. Tala had had no idea at all. In truth, Terry hadn¡¯t taken much from any one place. Because of that, really no one had noticed, but some had briefly suspected that something had reduced the food on their plate, in their stand, or wherever Terry had taken his bits from. Still, it had never caused trouble, despite Terry now realizing just how much of that was purely happenstance, likely influenced by his need. He did, after all, restrain himself when his need indicated that he should. They had stayed in the city longer than he¡¯d have preferred, but his human had grown much stronger while there. She¡¯d gone into a chamber without him, leaving him to wait outside, but shortly after, she¡¯d called him with a true franticness to her voice. Something within her tone had reminded him of the desperation he¡¯d imagined in his mate¡¯s cries oh so long before. He had flickered in without hesitation, his power on full display. When he¡¯d arrived and seen their opponents¡ªthe sheer number and power of the Mages¡ªhe¡¯d understood. This was his chance at redemption. He hadn¡¯t been there for her. He hadn¡¯t died by her side, and this was his chance to do as had been his duty. He would finally die fighting beside his flock. He would finally be able to lay this burden down. He would finally know peace. Oh, Terry¡­ Tala squeezed him tightly once again within the Bonding Void. In retrospect, Terry understood that other things had been going on, but in the moment, he¡¯d been utterly baffled when no fight had occurred. He¡¯d remained with his new, fledgling flock-mate watching in fascinated confusion as she cut herself open and pulled a magical working into her own chest. That was when her power had first magnified many-fold. Terry was proud of her for seizing such power, both then and now. He was also proud of himself for having now¡ªfinally¡ªconsumed a similar working. Tala detected a deep interest within Terry to see just how much he would grow from the working. She felt her manifestation¡¯s eyes widen as she also contemplated that. She could finally fully understand the danger posed by bonding such an ancient arcanous creature. With this reframing of his experiences, it would be incredibly easy for one like Terry to wreak untold havoc with his newfound power. Tala was very grateful for this look into Terry¡¯s mentality, reassuring her that that wouldn¡¯t happen. Though¡­ she was a bit concerned about one thing. After all, she had recognized the magical signature of the light magic that had killed Terry¡¯s mate, even from the brief feel she¡¯d gotten from it in the re-living. Speaking of Master Xeel, Terry¡¯s memory of the Light Mage¡¯s arrival at their caravan came into stark contrast among the roiling sea of experiences, surfacing among the continued flow of time. Terry had recognized the man¡¯s magic immediately. He¡¯d wanted nothing more than to throw himself against the human, to die taking his vengeance, but it would have been useless to the point of senselessness. Even the Terry of that time had understood that. Standing with Tala, Terry had realized something else as well. If this Light Mage had been there in the beginning of the battle, there would have been no fight at all. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. It would have been a simple execution. He must have been called in to deal with Terry¡¯s mate when she simply wouldn¡¯t go down. He felt a mix of pride and renewed rage at that. She had been so fierce that they required this human monster to bring her down, but this monster had put her down. The man had seemed to recognize Terry¡¯s magics as well, at least to some extent, but he hadn¡¯t struck Terry down because of his relation to Tala. In the reliving, Terry didn¡¯t know how to reconcile his feelings about the Light Mage¡ªXeel. Looking back, Terry still felt anger. He knew that Xeel had helped Tala¡ªTerry¡¯s potential new flock-mate¡ªimmensely at many points, but he didn¡¯t think he could forgive the death of his own mate. Only time would tell. In that moment, however, Terry had simply been held back by the knowledge that he would accomplish nothing good by attacking and would likely lose much. Tala felt like this conflict between Terry and Master Xeel would need to be addressed at some point, and soon. As time moved on, Terry knew that he still had much to learn and so much to figure out. The only way to understand was to study her, and so he did. But soon enough, he was simply continuing at her side because he had been there, and it felt right. That is, it felt right until his need all but compelled him away once again. They had been together for months, but that night, he had known one thing with utter clarity: he couldn¡¯t be around her. He had been confused, but he had listened. Only after he returned to find her missing did he remember that the last time that he¡¯d had such a powerful need was the time when she had died. Now, Tala was gone too¡­ He still didn¡¯t understand her. She couldn¡¯t be gone. This was her all over again. He had lost his flock, again. That had almost broken him fully. That had almost sent him into a new spiral of raging destruction. But something had struck him about the situation. Something was different. He didn¡¯t feel the same emptiness that he had when she had died. Because of that, he had dared to hope that Tala might still be alive. More than that, his need was prompting him to leave the human lands, to head south. The Wilds passed, as did the Leshkin forest, then more plains through which walked mobile human dwellings, and finally he¡¯d come to an unmoving city filled with magic. It was a place built upon the death and imprisonment of humanity, but instead of feeling glee at finding such, he found himself furious. His time with Tala had fundamentally changed his viewpoint. He¡¯d met many humans, and they were not all like those who had broken his flock. After all, Tala was a human, and she was his. They couldn¡¯t do this to her. Tala didn¡¯t know how long Terry took to get to Platoiri, nor how long he had wandered the city before she came back to herself. He seemed to have even seen her once or twice¡ªor at least a human who looked like her¡ªbut she hadn¡¯t felt right, and his need had indicated that approaching her would be dangerous. He now knew that it had been her, but when Tali had been in full command. His need had been right to keep her away. When she had come back, when she had gone to the park to find him, he had come to her, his need drawing him to her side once more. It was then that he had left behind his final doubts, it was then that he¡¯d fully admitted to himself that he¡¯d decided long before. In the moment, it had been clear, and looking back it was even more obvious. Somewhere along the way, Tala had irrevocably become his flock. It was nowhere near the same way that she had been¡ªnor as his hatchlings should have been¡ªbut it was undeniable. Tala was his flock in every way that mattered, his adoptive hatchling. Tala purposely didn¡¯t look in on her own time with the arcanes. She had no desire to relive any part of that from Terry¡¯s perspective. Even so, she just couldn¡¯t pass up seeing just what exactly had happened with the bull-man arcane, when she¡¯d locked him in her sanctum with Terry. ¡­She really shouldn¡¯t have looked. So¡­ he kept some of his savagery for all that time. Terry¡¯s amusement and regret at losing such an amazing play-thing caused Tala to swallow reflexively, even just as a manifestation in the Bonding Void. Yeah, let¡¯s not forget that Terry is a predator at his core. That made seeing Terry interacting with her siblings¡­ a bit terrifying, but his gentleness once again reminded her of the duality of Terry¡¯s existence. He was a consummate predator, and yet, he still maintained the capacity to be utterly gentle when he wished. She also felt warmed by the avian¡¯s feelings for her siblings, even if it was mainly an instinctive reaction to them being children. Looking back, Tala realized that Terry had specifically avoided caravans where he saw any evidence of children, something deep within him rebelling against the idea of killing even human children¡ªeven when he¡¯d hated humans so much. Time flickered by as Terry stayed by Tala¡¯s side, until the disjointment of his own actions began to catch up with him. He was treating her as his flock, but she wasn¡¯t actually. He was reacting to her as if she were under his wing, without actually solidifying that connection. He was holding her at a flicker¡¯s distance. And so, he gave himself an ultimatum. He would fight her and test her. After that, they would either part ways or be a true flock. One way or another, he had felt ready for their last match as traveling companions. In looking back, it was such a foolish thought to have passed through his avian head. He had long since stopped treating her in that way, and they both knew it. Tala felt a smile pull at her lips at Terry¡¯s realization. The next fragment to come to her attention was the upland tiger. It had been a feline of monstrous proportions, a Magical Beast that had utterly outclassed Tala¡ªTerry even more so¡ªbut when she¡¯d called for Terry¡¯s aid, he¡¯d come. His need had immediately begun to scream at him to retreat, but he had ignored it, helping her as he could. At the time, he¡¯d been willing to die with her, even if he didn¡¯t understand why they were fighting the big cat. It hadn¡¯t made sense to him at all, but she¡¯d asked for his help, so¡­ Still, he¡¯d done his best to get her to leave, and to his utter shock, she had listened. The memory of that seemed to warm Terry to his core. Tala had listened to his promptings, and fled from the fight¡ªthe pointless fight¡­ his hatchling really had a lot to learn about picking her opponents. That was fine, he could help her. After that, she had surrounded herself with other powerful humans, and Terry had felt a bit unneeded for a time, though he had still enjoyed being with her when he could. He still enjoyed watching her continue to grow in strength and wisdom. Then, finally, a predator of equal ferocity and cunning to himself had challenged his hatchling. They¡¯d tried to keep him from the battle, but he¡¯d put that to rest. He and she had clashed against the canine, and Terry had once more found himself outclassed. The sireling could have slain him in their first exchange, but Terry had felt respect from the young pup. They¡¯d both known who was the better combatant, and the pup had held nothing but honor in his heart for Terry¡¯s willingness to fight anyway. Tala¡­ had not known that. She¡¯d thought that Terry and the sireling were roughly matched, and in comparison to many other creatures, they were, but the sireling had just been too advanced for Terry to overcome. Terry had been more skilled, but skill only counted for so much when he couldn¡¯t have landed a damaging blow even if the sireling had stood still and let him attack, uncontested. When she¡¯d tossed Flow to Terry, that had changed, but it had also meant the end of the fight for Terry. Terry had felt deep self-recrimination when he¡¯d had to retreat. He¡¯d hated watching Tala fight alone, but he had been immensely proud when she¡¯d pulled out a victory, quite literally from the jaws of defeat. After the fight, Terry watched as Tala and Rane decided to begin courting, and Tala felt a bit embarrassed, seeing how it had looked from the outside. Terry had been happy for them, even if he didn¡¯t understand human mating rituals. Seeing Terry classify their interactions in that way caused Tala¡¯s embarrassment to magnify, but she couldn¡¯t truthfully say he was wrong. That made it worse. They both witnessed Terry decide that he should accept Tala¡¯s offer for a Bond¡­ soon. He told himself that she wasn¡¯t ready, and looking back, he understood that even then, he hadn¡¯t known which she he¡¯d meant. Tala had continued to grow, and together, Tala and Terry had moved ever closer to this moment. Finally, they¡¯d gone to his old nest, and the humans had acted with compassion and honor, helping him to lay his fallen flock to rest. He hadn¡¯t needed such¡ªthat was a human custom¡ªbut it still showed that these two saw him as one of them, and they saw those he cared for as worthy of their own caring. It had been time. He had delayed long enough. She was laid to rest, and she would have wanted him to move on. As if Reality itself had known that he¡¯d come to that decision, terror birds had come, responding to his farewell cry, his final send-off for his mate. He¡¯d initially prepared himself for a massive clash¡ªfighting beside his human companions¡ªbut they hadn¡¯t come for that. Their alpha had come for him. She had recognized him as worthy of her, where none other ever had been. The foolish bird. He had proven to her that such wasn¡¯t what mattered. It hadn¡¯t been the right question to begin with. She wasn¡¯t worthy of him. Still¡­ he¡¯d been tempted. She was by far the most capable terror bird he¡¯d come across in his long life since her passing. He¡¯d been away from his own kind for so long¡­ But even so, in the end, his choice had been relatively easy. He would not abandon his flock. Not ever again. He was here. August Skip Day && Ironbound - Book 8 Cover Reveal! Ironbound Epub preorders are live on Amazon: Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0CTHQ2Y6D And I''m trying Audiobook preorders (to be fulfilled by Bookfunnel once again): https://ko-fi.com/s/5f810cf8a2 Chapter: 456 - Growth and Improvement Tala and Terry faced each other in the white void. It was no longer featureless, as the magical working of their bond lay all around them, in such intricate detail that no human could easily create it from scratch. That¡ªamong other things¡ªconfirmed Tala¡¯s suspicion that the soulbond was simply tapping into something deeper, rather than being created, whole cloth, by the Archon star. It was through those magics¡ªcurrently focused mainly on him¡ªthat she was getting glimpses into the reliving¡ªreframing¡ªof his entire life. He had just finished that process with the lens of his enhanced cognition, and a choice was before him. Tala thought she knew what he would choose, but there was still a small part of her that held doubt. They could both feel the choice that was before the avian. Terry, in that moment, could bow to Tala¡¯s sovereignty in their bond or seek to claim mastery for himself. An underlying question was: could he see equality in submission, or would he feel the need to fight for mastery to feel that they would remain partners, remain flockmates. If he did fight her for control, there would be a mighty clash of wills and power. Terry had been remade at a fundamental level. While the process hadn¡¯t touched his physicality yet, his magic and will had been remolded with Tala¡¯s very power behind the process, and they hadn¡¯t been weak to begin with. There was no assurance or certainty as to who would come out the victor in the end if they clashed, but Tala understood¡ªand hoped that Terry did too¡ªthat any such clash would leave them both worse off, no matter who ¡®won¡¯ in the end. So, the two regarded one another. Tala could preempt the decision and move to suppress Terry, forcing him into the subservient role, but she didn¡¯t want to do that. That would be a betrayal of their bond in another way. If she preemptively claimed command through dint of force, such an action would taint everything and weaken them both almost as much as her winning a clash Terry started would. She wanted to trust her companion, even if there was still a kernel of doubt. She chose trust, and a smile broke over her manifested face. After meeting her gaze for a long, long moment, Terry lowered his head and tilted it to the side, closing his eyes and ceding control of their bond to her without contest. The tendrils of magic that had surrounded them within the void pulsed one last time, ripping inward to sink fully into the two, solidifying their bond irrevocably. Terry let out a sound that was incredibly like a human gasp, and he was remade. Tala had not accepted any physical changes from the bond, and with her authority acknowledged, none would occur. As Terry was Refined, the white void faded, the foundation of the bond complete. * * * Tala opened her eyes just in time to see Terry explode. What shot outward was the black gunk that she had become familiar with due to her own Refining, as well as Rane¡¯s. By the volume that shot away from Terry, his true size must have been at least ten times the volume of Rane, which was actually larger than Tala had expected. Terry trilled in distress, and Tala felt him unconsciously mirror her self-healing onto himself, pulling power through her gate. She felt that she could easily have blocked his usage of her magics, her power, but she saw no need to do so. In fact, she added her own willpower behind the aspect mirroring, and she saw him relaxing, even as the black sludge seemed to mist away. It¡¯s more concentrated, somehow. -The taint of Reality within him was far more concentrated, more powerful.- So it seems. Welcome back, Alat. -Oh, I was there, I was just trying to give you the space to go through it alone. If you¡¯d needed me, I¡¯d have intervened.- Well, thank you for that. -Of course. The focus was you and Terry¡ªas it should be¡ªnot me.- Terry shook himself¡ªaspect mirroring exactly what he needed to in order to self-clean¡ªfreeing the last of the gunk from under his feathers. When he opened his eyes, Tala saw that the orbs were now a ruby red¡ªjust like hers¡ªrather than the gold that they¡¯d been previously. Though in his case, his whole eye bore the color¡ªsave the pupil¡ªinstead of just the iris. His feathers had darkened too, the colors becoming more vibrant than before even as a void-violet seemed to have been added between the red and blue that had been present before, turning it into a three-banded display and emphasizing the stark contrast. Other than that, from a visual perspective, it seemed like he¡¯d simply been made a bit more extreme, his darks a bit darker, his lights a bit lighter, and the intelligence behind his eyes was now even more undeniable. His exhaustion was also obvious as he swayed on his feet. Tala felt¡­something. She wanted to be beside him, and as she extended her aura to encompass the area to his left, she moved. It wasn¡¯t the same as moving within Kit. There was far greater effort to it, and it seemed to actually take a moment¡¯s time¡ªrather than the instantaneous transfer within her sanctum¡ªbut she still did it, and it was inarguably faster than dropping into a portal then back out somewhere else. Simply due to her bond with Terry, she had flickered across the intervening space. Even as she wrapped her arms around him in the real world, she began to chuckle, the laugh building into a full bellied one that rolled from her, uncontrollably. This was going to be amazing. Over the next few minutes, Terry would shudder and spew out more black nastiness from his mouth or out from among his feathers, sometimes even sweating it from the exposed skin of his legs. He would then aspect mirror her magics¡ªaugmented by her own will¡ªto heal himself back to full physical health. Each time, he seemed to become more solid in a sense of seeming to come into greater contrast with the world around them. It took her nearly five minutes of the process to realize that with each cycle he was feeling, magically, more aligned with her, and more real to her. He was also slowly drawing on her gate more and more consistently, rather than only when he was aspect mirroring some of her magics. This was utterly unlike any bond or merging she¡¯d undergone before, but she supposed it made some sense. He was likely re-aspecting the totality of his magics and being to align with what was effectively now his soul. Throughout, Terry¡¯s eyes showed him slipping in and out of lucidity, but he never looked on her with anything other than gratitude for her presence, at least when he seemed to be focused on her at all. Finally, nearly ten minutes after the foundation of the bond was complete, Terry seemed to have fully Refined. The last of the black sludge faded away, and the avian opened his eyes and looked around. He let out a squawk and flickered out of Tala¡¯s arms. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. As he did so, Tala felt the movement. It was more than the vague sense of dimensional magics that she¡¯d felt before¡ªin fact that was utterly gone. Instead, it was more like she was sensing a part of herself, like she vaguely knew where her arms or legs were and how they were moving. It wasn¡¯t a high-fidelity sense by any means, but it was definitely more than she¡¯d ever been able to track Terry in the past. More than that, she felt like she could have stopped his flickering had she wished to do so. She swore to herself in that moment that she would never restrict Terry in that way, unless she had absolutely no other choice. As he appeared off to the side, he shook himself, the wave of ruffled feathers moving from beak to tail before he stamped his taloned feet many times in quick alternation as if trying to free them of dirt or water. Tala almost pushed herself up to stand, but then¡ªwith an uncontrollable smile¡ªshe simply willed herself to be standing. It was¡­ odd. Effectively, she altered the dimensionality of all parts of herself, aligning them properly to be standing rather than sitting. In that moment, she realized how well Terry had to know his biology, as she felt like she would have torn herself apart all too easily if she hadn¡¯t known her own so well. -Or he does it unconsciously. Simply willing his body to be in a different position, and his own mental model does the rest, because that¡¯s what he means when he wants to be standing, if that makes sense.- That¡­ yeah, that could be it. It might even be her specific knowledge that made it more difficult for her. But, that considered, she might be able to do more because of that. -Oh! Yeah, you might be able to simply flicker wounds closed. That¡¯s quite the possibility.- Definitely worth testing. Rane and the other Archon had watched the whole process with interest, but had kept themselves in the background out of respect¡ªthe fact that they were out of the splash zone was just a plus. Tala smiled their way. ¡°Thank you.¡± Rane returned the smile. ¡°How are you two doing?¡± Terry shook himself again and trilled happily. Rane chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m glad. And you, Tala?¡± She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m doing well.¡± The Archon cleared his throat. ¡°Can I assist further?¡± Tala shook her head, and Rane responded, ¡°No, thank you.¡± The man bowed and departed, leaving the door ajar after he left. Rane watched him go, then turned and moved over toward Tala and Terry. ¡°Terry, I like the new eyes.¡± Terry tilted his head to the side and squawked in clear confusion. Rane hesitated only a moment before realizing his mistake. ¡°Ahh, well, we¡¯ll have to get you a mirror.¡± Tala frowned, an idea coming to her. Alat? -Oh! I can try.- She cleared her throat. ¡°Terry, we¡¯re going to try to aspect mirror our perspective for you. You should be able to see what I see.¡± He narrowed his gaze for a moment before bobbing his agreement. ¡°Alright.¡± -And¡­ there.- Terry jerked slightly, then shook his head before settling down, his own eyes gaining a far off look. A moment later, Alat let the aspect mirroring drop, and Terry¡¯s eyes gained their focused intensity once more. ¡°So?¡± Rane prompted. ¡°What do you think of the new look?¡± Terry fluffed up his chest, his feathers lifting to make him visibly swell in size, even without any dimensional manipulation. Terry shook himself again, then seemed irritated by something. He shrunk massively, leaving a familiar leather collar as it had been. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to object, but Terry flickered away, leaving the collar behind. She prepared herself to defend against the heavy hand of the city¡¯s defenses, but nothing happened. Rane seemed to sense her tension, intuiting the reason, and he smiled. ¡°He has your magical signature now, Tala. The city won¡¯t touch him.¡± ¡°Oh, right¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°I knew that. I guess I wasn¡¯t really thinking rationally. Thank you.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Of course. You¡¯re still a bit strained. It happens.¡± Tala shook herself, feeling a wonderful sense of relief as she did so. ¡°Well, yeah. Thank you anyway.¡± She took in a deep breath, the action turning into an unexpected yawn. ¡°It seems like we should probably get some rest. After that? We have just so many things to test.¡± * * * Despite seeming fully recovered in the moment, Terry had been, in fact, quite weakened by the Refining that took place as a result of the bond. Tala was able to sense some of his weakness as she got used to their connection, and in that way, she was able to help him. She did that mainly by insisting that he take it easy and providing him with plenty of food and power. Once well rested and fed, Terry and Tala took the time to explore their newfound capabilities, both feeling excited to get started as soon as possible. A specifically happy result of their bond was that it had apparently pulled her soul¡ªand thus all her soulbonds¡ªcloser to the next world for a brief time, just as bonding with Kit had. Because of that, Kit¡¯s dimensionality was able to re-equalize with Tala¡¯s new, higher power density. She still maintained the low-magic areas around Irondale so as to not cause magical rebirth in the gateless, but that just meant that she had more magical density to move around, even if Kit couldn¡¯t hold a higher density than Tala, herself, had. That had resulted in Kit essentially maintaining a bubble of lower density around every citizen, so they didn¡¯t have to bleed off too much power. This turned out to actually be relatively simple, as every person had a natural aura around themselves. Even gateless had them, though they were essentially confined to their bodies. That was perfect, though, as Kit then simply had to keep Tala¡¯s magic from penetrating through any resistance. Adrill, Brandon, Kedva, and Talax all matched Tala¡¯s magical flavor, so they gave no more resistance to her magic than her own aura would, meaning none. On the more direct results-of-the-bonding front, Terry had been introduced to Alat. He¡¯d not been very pleased by her initial exuberance, but he¡¯d warmed to her when she stopped babbling and began being helpful. Tala also suspected that Alat¡¯s presence within his head¡ªshe was capable of aspect mirroring herself into his mind¡ªhad kept him from going a little wild, now that he had true freedom within Alefast. In that same vein, Master Grediv had congratulated them on their bond and actually had a gift ready for Terry. Terry had been a bit irritated that it was a magic-bound collar once again, but when the purpose was explained to him, he was incredibly excited. It had some similarities to the previous collar as it would mark him out as overtly friendly, to remove issues with city guards, Defenders, or others in charge of keeping the populace safe. More than that, though, if he went further from Tala than roughly one hundred yards, he would be cloaked in an illusion of a nondescript man whose movements mirrored Terry¡¯s own intentions. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it would limit the panic he might otherwise have caused, being a terror bird around a civilian population without an obvious handler. Tala was briefly concerned that Terry would be insulted, but on the contrary, the avian had been ecstatic. Alat¡¯s ever-watchful eye ensured that Terry¡¯s bills were paid when he went on his ventures, whether or not a given shop or restaurant was aware of Terry¡¯s custom. Since Terry was already wearing a collar once again, Tala made sure to leave a portion of her elk-leathers wrapped around it, ready to armor him or provide other things at need. It had been a pleasant thing to verify: being with Terry didn¡¯t count as separation for the soulbound item. Thus, it was more like Tala had made a glove for herself, without having it touch the sleeves of her tunic. Separate pieces but still fully unified, despite distance. The bond did more for them as well. Though, not all of it was that useful. Tala could see through Terry¡¯s eyes, or from his feathers, or any part of him really, and he could do the same through her eyes as long as she didn¡¯t block the attempt, but neither of them saw this as particularly needed. Moreover, their vision was sufficiently different that it was somewhat uncomfortable for each to try to use the other¡¯s for more than a short time. What Terry did do as soon as he seemed to think of it, however, was nearly instantly request his own cloud of bloodstars for threefold perception, which Tala readily allowed and facilitated. She even already had a second cloud of bloodstars ready for the task because of her clash with Mistress Cethira while her primary cloud had been with Rane. She didn¡¯t have to maintain the threefold perception either as Alat¡¯s mirroring into Terry¡¯s mind sequestered some of Terry¡¯s own mind for her use, even as she expanded his processing power by helping to mirror Tala¡¯s mental enhancements. Her managing and processing the threefold sight for Terry reduced her ability to communicate with him, as it was near her full capacity to manage that on an ongoing basis. Tala only half-suspected that such was part of the reason Terry was so excited with the results. Since Tala suspected that, she knew that Alat did too¡ªthe alternate interface could directly check after all¡ªbut neither said anything about it. Terry¡¯s magical density had been uplifted, and he¡¯d been filled with her power to a degree that, if he didn¡¯t hide himself, he practically blazed to magical senses. Thankfully, his years of¡­ activities had made him particularly skilled in hiding his magic from human magical sense. Once he got used to his newfound power, he was able to adjust his techniques to simply resemble Tala in magical quantity, even though his sequestered mass meant that his small body was a window through which a much greater quantity of power should have been able to be seen. They had obviously tested Terry flickering with the elk leathers. So, it was no surprise that he could do the same with Flow as well. More than that, though, so long as their auras were at least touching, Tala and Terry could easily flicker Flow back and forth between them. The soulbound weapon didn¡¯t have Tala¡¯s issue¡ªand moved effectively instantly¡ªmaking so, so many options for combat open up before them, but that would have to be explored later. As Tala hadn¡¯t quite gotten to the level of solid aura control within disparate sections of her aura, she couldn¡¯t flicker to Terry¡¯s side if their auras weren¡¯t contiguous, at least not yet. Only time would tell if that restriction would be permanent. On the less fun side, there had been a scary moment when Terry had seen some iron and decided that he wanted to get it for Tala. If Alat hadn¡¯t alerted Tala to the issue immediately, there could have been¡­ issues. That required a conversation in which Terry finally agreed to not attempt to claim iron on her behalf again¡ªexcept from enemies on the battlefield. All told, their bond represented a massive potential for growth and improvement in them both. Chapter: 457 - Return to Fully Active Duty Tala was in awe of the new level of accuracy Terry had managed to bring to his species¡¯ name. He was¡ªmore than ever¡ªa true terror bird. She was using a practice sword formed of white steel¡ªstill joined to her elk leathers¡ªso that she and Terry wouldn¡¯t be competing for the same blade. Unfortunately, while it worked for sparring, it wasn¡¯t magically sharp or able to cut or pierce. That was perfect for this use, but it did not represent a new weapon at her disposal. Though, I could probably aspect mirror Flow¡¯s magics onto the white steel¡­ So, it might be an effective weapon in a pinch, but it wasn¡¯t that great on its own. Terry was using Flow in its sparring sheath. As to what they were doing? They were fighting. The two of them flickered around Tala¡¯s training ring within her sanctum. Both of them specifically didn¡¯t use the Kit-granted ability to move around within the dimensional space. Even without that, Tala theoretically had a decided advantage because the entire sanctum was filled with her aura. But since they were staying within the training ring, and that was smaller than she usually kept her aura in a fight, they¡¯d agreed that such didn¡¯t really factor in. Terry had¡ªsomehow¡ªgotten faster with his flickering movement. He even occasionally had time to throw his head back to swallow another bit of jerky that he¡¯d pulled to himself from elsewhere in the sanctum. His knowledge and control wasn¡¯t as absolute as Tala¡¯s, but he had found the jerky stashes every time she¡¯d tried to hide them. He seemed to enjoy flaunting that too. With regard to his flickering, though: in the past, at the extreme, he¡¯d been able to appear to be in two places at the same time, or nearly so. When he¡¯d done that in the past, it had produced a flickering afterimage and left him exhausted. But now? Now, he could move fast enough to seemingly be attacking from multiple directions at once, and every line of assault that Tala didn¡¯t counter or avoid hit just as hard as if it were the only one. Thankfully, Tala wasn¡¯t the same as previously either, else Terry would have been utterly dominant. In this case, incorporating her flickering movements into the Way of Flowing Blood had actually been much easier than she¡¯d feared, at least while fighting Terry. It effectively changed very little, since they both had the capacity to reposition themselves around the battlefield. Even so, she was looking forward to the challenge that she knew incorporating it against a more traditional opponent would pose. Beyond that, fighting an aura specialist like Master Akra would be a whole other beast entirely. They would be fighting for supremacy with entirely different stakes. She¡¯d talked with the Refined already, and he¡¯d asked her to do some work in preparation for their first clash. Mainly, he suggested that she begin to conceptualize her fighting as more akin to group tactics. She could do a flashy frontal assault while slipping in a tendril of aura, only to expand such to form a full foundation into which she could bring her body for the ¡®true¡¯ attack. And that was simply the easiest example to quickly convey, but Tala immediately grasped the implications. With this new potential, she could treat any part of her aura as if it were her body, because it effectively could be. She still wasn¡¯t instantaneous in her flickering, but she could change her own location and orientation between the time she started a thrust and when it should land. Less than a second to move effectively anywhere within her aura might seem fast, but when Terry could now do the same three or four times in an eyeblink, it was painfully slow in comparison. Tala honestly suspected that the only reason she could hold her own against Terry was that he was still so new to manipulating a weapon. He¡¯d practiced throwing weapons for years now, and in that he was hard to match. The avian could create a true storm of flying weaponry if he desired, but actually wielding one for any length of time? Not so much. It seemed like it was actually rarely worth his effort. The benefits that a weapon granted actually seemed somewhat useless to him, especially after the bond. Increased range? Terry could just flicker closer. Greater leverage? He essentially never used his full power in his strikes to begin with. Better damage? He could now aspect mirror Flow¡¯s properties without the weapon itself being necessary. Even so, he was set on learning, and when Tala finally understood why, she¡¯d burst out laughing. If an intelligent opponent saw him fighting with a weapon, then he could surprise them by closing the distance and being even deadlier without one. ¡­And he knew just how terrifying he looked while wielding Flow. In essence, Terry was training so that he could pull off psychological warfare on sapient foes. Honestly? Tala approved. Tala offered Terry his own section of Kit, but the avian declined for the moment, indicating that he liked being within her sanctum. Though, his answer hadn¡¯t seemed entirely definitive. So, Tala left open the possibility within her own mind at least. Truthfully, she thought it would be perfect for him as an armory from which to draw out weapons to throw, but Terry still declined for the time being. That was fine. Tala didn¡¯t need Terry to have a section of Kit for himself. She suspected that his reticence had to do with his growing social and emotional intelligence while he got used to the new thoughts and feelings his mental growth and enhancements afforded him. He was doing a fantastic job, but his newly growing emotional maturity was more evident at times. One thing that hadn¡¯t gone as they had hoped was Terry¡¯s concept. While Terry could aspect mirror basically any part of Tala¡¯s magic¡ªfor his specific use and toward his benefit¡ªshe was not able to do the same with Terry¡¯s, at least not with his need. Thankfully, Terry seemed to still have the sense, but when Tala tried to tap into it in any way, it either didn¡¯t work, or seemed to be indicating where Terry needed to be. Those she consulted postulated various reasons ranging from: she wasn¡¯t able to sustain the conceptual foundation to alter the information provided; all the way to: the magic was specifically directed toward indicating where in the world Terry needed to be. Thus, aspect mirroring the ability simply added to the number of persons receiving the same message. That was disappointing, but she hadn¡¯t actually held out hope that it would work the same for her as it did for Terry. -Well, it actually does work exactly the same for you as for him.- You know what I meant¡­ * * * Tala, Terry, and Rane lounged within Tala¡¯s sanctum. It had been nearly ten months since Terry and Tala had become soulbound, and they had finally fully fleshed out the edges of their new capacities, and Tala¡¯s soul and gate had finally been given a clean bill of health. There was never any particular danger, but such bonds could introduce instability into an Archon, if care wasn¡¯t taken. Because of that, the three of them had put everything on hold. They hadn¡¯t done any more war games, yet. Rane hadn¡¯t gotten his alternate interface. They had turned their focus entirely on the new bond and the changes to them. Master Grediv had suggested that it wasn¡¯t necessary, but the very fact that he hadn¡¯t tried very hard to convince them was a tacit agreement that their choice was on the wiser side of things. Regardless, it had been a good continuation of the break Tala had intended to take away from Alefast. Nothing had really been discovered after the first few days, but they¡¯d taken a lot of time to refine and practice their usage. Tala and Terry had each tried out each other''s mundane sight¡ªjust for fun¡ªand neither had particularly enjoyed it. The means of focusing and processing sight had been just slightly off, making it a bit frustrating to integrate what was being seen. Terry initially had to deal with it, regardless, because of his use of her threefold perception, but then Alat had made the obvious observation that Terry¡¯s mundane sight could be mirrored as easily as Tala¡¯s. Therefore, Terry¡¯s threefold perception now used his mundane sight as perception, overlaid with Tala¡¯s magics for magesight and voidsight. They didn¡¯t mesh perfectly, but Terry was still quite happy. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Tala had reached out to Mistress Holly to see if Terry might be able to get his own, full set of inscriptions, and the Inscriptionist had been¡­ definitive in her response. No. While he could be inscribed, technically speaking, every varied part of his anatomy would be a different medium through which to inscribe, and thus require a different base structure to the magics. She was hardly the first person with a familiar, but humanity had never been able to devise a way to offer full inscription sets to any. Localized? Absolutely, but an entire set was simply infeasible. One of the core reasons for that was Terry¡¯s body would be different from every other terror bird¡¯s, in terms of use as a magical medium. Thus, the only way they could do the testing would be to do it within Terry. Since the testing involved using magics that could do literally anything, then recording the results to learn, that was not a good thing to do within a living being. Humanity had done their own experiments on cadavers. Inscriptionists had then adjusted the magics subtly to account for the difference between living and non-living tissue for the final fine-tuning of their knowledge. Tala and Terry were both a bit disappointed in the answer, but they could understand it. Terry was unique, and very much not keen on being a test subject for years, regardless of the outcome. But they did a bit more than just explore the bond and the potential possibilities of such over those months. Tala¡¯s siblings had visited three times; Rane¡¯s twenty-seventh birthday had come and gone¡ªalong with their second anniversary of courting¡ªand Tala¡¯s birthday was just days away. They¡¯d even taken a couple of trips to Bandfast to see Lyn, Kannis, and Fannas¡ªwhile trying to see if there was any way to get Mistress Holly to inscribe Terry. But all of that wasn¡¯t relevant to the moment. In the moment, they were all relaxing together, celebrating the receipt of some good news. Rane took a long drink from his tea mug. ¡°So, we¡¯re finally cleared for Cell-work again, eh?¡± Tala stretched back and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Master Grediv has signed off on it.¡± ¡°And Terry can come in too?¡± ¡°Correct. And there¡¯s one our unit is going after tomorrow.¡± Terry trilled happily. ¡°He¡¯s to be afforded the same rights as any Refined and their soulbonds.¡± Rane grinned. ¡°That is amazing. I¡¯m glad for it.¡± ¡°Me too. I am excited to get back out of the city for more than a quick trip. It¡¯s been¡­ too long.¡± She looked his way. ¡°I still think that you should have gotten your alternate interface already. You could have spent this time adjusting.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I could have, but I wanted to be in top form if you needed me. I¡¯ll get the scripts added when we get back from this cell. There isn¡¯t supposed to be any down time required, after all.¡± His look turned sad, and he shook his head. ¡°But about your bond¡­ I¡¯m just disappointed that you didn¡¯t get any easy-to-use size-changing magics.¡± Tala gave him a fake glare. ¡°I¡¯m not going to get in your pocket, Rane.¡± ¡°But think of the convenience!¡± He grinned in her direction, the false sadness gone. She willed for a piece of ice to fall down the back of his shirt. He jerked slightly, but otherwise didn¡¯t react. A moment later, she moved all the moisture away. ¡°Fine. It would have been funny, but it¡¯s not happening.¡± He held up one finger. ¡°Not yet.¡± She huffed a laugh and shook her head. ¡°Sure, not yet.¡± Rane then shifted, turning to regard Terry. ¡°So, is she ready?¡± ¡°Hey! You could ask me,¡± Tala grumped, then took a long drink from her coffee mug. ¡°Yes, I could, but he¡¯s the dimensional expert.¡± He locked gazes with Terry. ¡°Is she truly ready to fight with the flickering as part of her arsenal? Against truly hostile opponents?¡± Terry looked between the two people, pausing dramatically for a long moment. Finally, he bobbed once. Tala grinned. ¡°Thank you, Terry. I knew you would¡ª¡± She stopped as he shrunk to the size of a chick. Tala grimaced, and Rane chuckled. ¡°So, she¡¯s as good as a newly hatched chick?¡± Terry bobbed his agreement. ¡°But that¡¯s still good enough?¡¯ He bobbed again. ¡°Good enough for me.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°You two¡­¡± A smile pulled at her lips. ¡°Why do I put up with you two?¡± Rane leaned over and gave her a kiss. She leaned in for the moment, then moved back when he pulled away. After a moment¡¯s obvious thought, she shook her head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not why.¡± He laughed again. ¡°Well then, I¡¯m out of ideas.¡± Tala glanced toward Terry, and he simply flickered side to side once. She snorted a laugh. ¡°Well, that¡¯s great too, but no. That¡¯s not why I keep you around.¡± Terry lifted his wings in a mimicry of a human shrug. They devolved into chuckles and laughing squawks then, before returning to their repast. * * * Tala¡¯s unit had been training with her and Terry since shortly after the bonding, and they¡¯d stood watch¡ªas was their duty¡ªwhile Tala and Terry joined them within Alefast. Regardless, they all greeted Tala and Terry¡¯s return to fully active duty with a celebratory air. Mistress Vanga even brought along a specialty cake for them all to enjoy together. To her credit¡ªand demonstrating her wisdom¡ªshe immediately bribed Terry with nearly a pound of jerky to leave the cake alone until everyone¡ªincluding him¡ªcould get a piece. There was a celebratory atmosphere for the whole trip to the cell entrance. The Paragon who had been sent with them joined in the festive mood, laughing and telling stories of friends returning from sabbaticals of various kinds, but at first, she politely declined the piece of dessert that Mistress Vanga had sliced for her. The Healer wasn¡¯t put off, though. ¡°Mistress Terra, please join us.¡± When the others¡ªincluding Tala¡ªjoined in the sentiment, Mistress Terra relented, taking the offered cake. Terry consumed his own bit of sugared goodness before flickering to sit before Mistress Vanga expectantly. The woman chuckled but shook her head. ¡°There isn¡¯t any more, Terry. You shouldn¡¯t have eaten so quickly.¡± The terror bird looked at her, aghast. Tala knew exactly what he was thinking, even without Alat telling her: How was he to be denied? Mistress Terra looked between the two of them, then down to her own piece. ¡°I mean, I could¡ª¡± Mistress Vanga held up a hand. ¡°No, thank you, Mistress. This little terror is too ready to take food from others, and he doesn¡¯t even take the time to enjoy the very special treat that he is given.¡± Terry squawked mournfully. ¡°No, I will not relent. I want to give you special treats, but I won¡¯t if you just scarf them down and demand more.¡± He then trilled in irritation before flickering over to Tala¡¯s plate, obviously aiming to take her piece. Even as he appeared, she moved herself out of the way, flickering just a few inches with ease and not pausing her fork¡¯s movement as it brought the first bite to her mouth. ¡°Oh, that is so good.¡± Terry looked up at her with narrowed eyes. Tala smiled, swallowing and addressing her bound companion, ¡°Come on, Terry. You know she¡¯s right. You get your enjoyment from food from the hunt, not the flavor. It makes no sense to give you huge amounts of especially tasty food.¡± He tilted his head to the side, then chirped his agreement, implying a simple inquiry. ¡°So what? Well, the answer is obvious, my friend. Change that, or leave special food to those who will actually enjoy it.¡± She shrugged. Rane was, wisely, eating his cake while Terry was otherwise distracted, though he did make sure to take his time and enjoy it. The others were likewise using Terry¡¯s distraction as a window in which to take steady, savoring bites. Terry danced from foot to foot in rapid succession, clearly a bit irritated. Tala smiled. Ever since the bond, Terry had had a bit of toddler energy to him, though he was rapidly progressing upward through the emotional maturity progression. At the moment, he reminded her most of her siblings when they were seven or eight. It mainly came out when he encountered human things that he hadn¡¯t bothered to pay attention to in the past. He was stretching his social and emotional muscles in entirely new ways. -And part of it is you truly, utterly seeing him as a person now, rather than a really smart animal.- I never... yeah¡­ you¡¯re probably right. Tala sighed. Regardless, his continued maturation had actually made her rather grateful that Terry was still refusing his own segment of Kit, as she could very easily see him filling it with knick knacks that he¡¯d picked up along the way. I am not looking forward to when he¡¯s like a teenager. -You know, teenagers don¡¯t have to be difficult to deal with.- It¡¯s just an odd thing to be going through, especially since he sees me as his hatchling, and he¡¯s the older of us¡­ -You just need to train with him properly, and build a solid relationship with him before he reaches the teenager stage of emotional and social development.- ¡­I¡¯ve literally bound my soul to him. How can I have a more solid relationship? -Commitments are nice, Tala, but you also need an emotional relationship with him, one of trust and inter-reliance. It¡¯s important to establish exactly what your relationship means and how it will change and grow as he develops.- ¡­you¡¯re just quoting some parenting book you found, aren¡¯t you. It wasn¡¯t a question. Alat answered it anyway. -...yeah.- Did you even vet it to see if it¡¯s true? -What? Why? Someone published it. It must be true.- Tala huffed a laugh, and Terry shook his head in the manner that indicated Alat was talking to him as well, likely more than he preferred at the moment. You know, you can see that he is getting irritated with you. -Oh of course, but you neglect the fact that I can also see that he enjoys it, deep down.- Terry turned an irritated eye toward Tala and squawked loudly. -Really deep down.- Leave him be, Alat. -...fine.- Tala reached out and scooped up Terry, holding him in her arms while everyone else ate. He struggled slightly, but Tala knew it was for show. He didn¡¯t try to flicker away even once. He stopped even his fake struggles when Rane offered him the last of his own piece. Terry accepted excitedly, and Rane fed the terror bird, leading to a musical cacophony of happiness. As everyone else finished as well¡ªeveryone profusely thanking Mistress Vanga for the treat¡ªconversation picked back up even while they drew ever nearer the cell. After a time, as the general, random chatter was beginning to die down, Mistress Cerna shifted and refocused the topic being discussed, ¡°Mistress Terra?¡± The Paragon turned toward the control seat in which the unit-leader sat. ¡°Yes, Mistress Cerna?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my inquiry: what magics do you bring to bear?¡± The older woman smiled, seeming to straighten even as mirth-filled crow¡¯s feet became evident on her face beside each of her eyes. ¡°I always enjoy that question.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Mistress Cerna glanced her way, clearly curious. ¡°Yes. Because I technically don¡¯t bring any magics to bear.¡± She¡¯d had everyone¡¯s curiosity¡­ but now she had their attention. It was Rane who broke the moment of silence. ¡°Oh? That sounds like an interesting thing for a Mage to claim.¡± ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it?¡± Mistress Terra was clearly having fun with the conversation, and the building suspense about her answer. -Well, she did say that she enjoyed the question.- Hush, you. I want to listen. Chapter: 458 - Crazy Enough to Work Tala, Rane, Terry, and their defensive unit were all soaring toward their next assignment, a cell in need of maintenance. They¡¯d finished their ¡®welcome back to active duty¡¯ celebratory cake and had fallen into casual discussions. The Paragon who was accompanying them had their rapt attention¡ªall save Mistress Cerna, who was piloting their craft, while still obviously listening with interest¡ªas they waited for her explanation as to what she¡¯d meant when she had said that she technically didn¡¯t bring any magics to bear. Blessedly, Mistress Terra didn¡¯t make them wait long. ¡°I specialize in the unraveling and dissolution of magics and workings. I believe that even the most formidable chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I wield that certainty to undo the magics of those I oppose.¡± Rane¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Wait¡­ You¡¯re a specialized Mage Breaker? I thought there was only one who¡¯d achieved the advancement of Paragon.¡± ¡°There is.¡± Mistress Terra gave him a convivial smile. If it was possible, Rane¡¯s eyes widened even further. ¡°But¡­ she founded the Mage Hunters.¡± Mistress Terra chuckled. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t usually advertise that, but yes, I did. Though that was long ago.¡± Tala gave Rane a curious look. ¡°You seem to know a lot about her, but you didn¡¯t know her name?¡± He grimaced. ¡°There are people with the same name, and ironically, I know of two other Mistress Terras who are Paragons.¡± His face heated slightly and he looked away. That caused Tala to grin, as she immediately understood. ¡°You thought they were her, eh?¡± He scratched the side of his chin, clearly a bit self-conscious. ¡°I was a lot younger then¡­ and it was rather embarrassing.¡± Mistress Terra chuckled. ¡°Ahh, yes. I can see that. Master Grediv likely did that purposely. He does find it so entertaining that three Terras all reached the same high advancement.¡± Mistress Cerna cleared her throat. ¡°So, am I to understand, then, that your specialty is the safe removal of magics in one form or another?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re still able to repair cells?¡± The woman nodded. ¡°The technique for restoring a cell¡¯s seal isn¡¯t really a function of a specific magical focus. It is more closely aligned with¡­¡± She hesitated, then shook her head. ¡°No, I apologize. I forgot myself. None of you are Paragon, so I should not say more.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°So, it has to do with the purification of the soul, or something of that nature.¡± Mistress Terra gave a half smile. ¡°I will neither confirm nor deny.¡± Tala grinned in return. ¡°As you say, Mistress.¡± -Is that supposed to be helpful?- No, obviously not, but it¡¯s fun to theorize, right? -...yeah. I do get an inordinate amount of enjoyment trying to figure out what we¡¯re going to learn as we advance.- Yeah¡­ me too. Soon, they arrived at a lovely copse of trees, and Mistress Cerna settled their vehicle down on the plains¡ªflattening the tall grass beneath them¡ªjust outside the outer trees. They all piled out, and Tala pulled the heavily modified stone platform into her sanctum by opening a portal below it and allowing it to drop inside. Terry squawked in faux irritation, flickering from his perch atop the glass windscreen to Tala¡¯s shoulder. Mistress Terra led the group a little way past the treeline before she concentrated for a moment and, with a gesture, opened the way into the cell¡¯s atrium. This particular entrance manifested in the side of a tree trunk, the bark seemingly folding inward to reveal a forest glade of surpassing beauty. They stepped through, and Tala willed a small portal into existence for Irondale on the Zeme side of the entrance, thereby leaving that portion of her dimensional storage outside. It wasn¡¯t even a human-sized pass-through, but Kit was already set up with conditions that would allow it to open to a full-sized exit at need. That, combined with the teleportation array and Archive link, let her, yet again, feel fully confident in the safety of the Irondale citizens. That complete, Tala joined her unit and Mistress Terra within the entry space before the cell. This atrium was a large clearing that hadn¡¯t been visible in the copse at all before the door was open. Around the clearing were a number of standing stones, each with words and images cut into them before having been filled with various pigments to provide color and contrast to what was displayed. It didn¡¯t take long for Mistress Terra to fully analyze the writings and pictograms. ¡°Huh. Well this is a new one for me. The prisoner is an immortal elk.¡± That brought everyone¡¯s attention back to her and away from their own pastimes. Paragons usually took at least hours to analyze the information left behind to learn about the prisoner in any given cell. Master Limmestare closed his book and placed it within his own storage before wandering toward the Paragon like everyone else. Once they¡¯d gathered, Mistress Terra continued. ¡°This is apparently a son of the Spirit of the Forest who watches over the Leshkin woods. He was growing in power within the gated-human wilds too quickly for us to react properly, and he was binding more and more of the plains we call home to himself, transforming the rolling grassland into forest. It was obvious that he would have eventually joined his sire in power as a god-beast within a few hundred more years.¡± So, he would have been one for at least a millennium by now. -So it seems, yeah.- Master Girt raised his hand, causing the Paragon to pause and focus on him. ¡°Yes, Master Girt?¡± ¡°Well, why would the Spirit of the Forest allow this?¡± ¡°Ahh, well it¡¯s not widely spread, but it is well known and not really a secret. One of the things that the Spirit of the Forest embodies is that individuals are of little consequence. He is only really concerned with the progression and maintenance of nature as a whole, specifically his own forest. He is concerned about whole species becoming extinct, but that is an entirely different scale. He would have welcomed this elk as an ally if he had achieved the required power, but the Spirit of the Forest¡¯s view is generally that if things cannot, themselves, grow, survive, and seize a place in the world, they aren¡¯t worth bothering about.¡± Master Girt grunted. ¡°Harsh, but I suppose I can understand the basis for the mindset.¡± ¡°Yes, quite. Regardless, the elk reached the power range that we would call Reforged before its entire region was bound within this cell.¡± That caused their unit to hesitate. Master Clevis cleared his throat. ¡°Umm¡­ Does that mean that Master Xeel will be called in? Or one of the other Reforged Defenders?¡± Mistress Terra shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. This is actually an unusual cell, partially because of the power of the imprisoned. It was apparently monitored closely for about a hundred years after its creation¡ªto ensure there weren¡¯t any unforeseen issues¡ªbefore it was fully sealed and the standard information protocols were enacted.¡± She pulled out a water skin and took a drink before continuing. ¡°It seems that the elk was quite content, given its entire region was brought along with it into captivity. He is seemingly mostly unbothered by the containment and has settled into maintaining and perfecting his bound territory.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. That was¡­ interesting. Master Clevnis nodded, seeking to clarify. ¡°So, we¡¯ll just be making sure that his attitude hasn¡¯t changed while you reset it?¡± ¡°That is the idea. For him to break out would be to abandon that which he is bound to, and magical creatures simply have never been known to do that.¡± Tala bit her lip before asking. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t mind being confined¡­ could I take him?¡± Mistress Terra froze for a moment in clear shock before turning to regard Tala. ¡°Excuse me? I think I must have misheard you.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Well¡­ he would be just as confined within my dimensional storage¡ªeven without nearly the same level of containment¡ªand I imagine it is quite a lot of dimensionality. So¡­ Why not?¡± Her entire unit was looking at her now. She looked around, uncertain why they were all staring. ¡°What?¡± Mistress Terra cleared her throat. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you didn¡¯t fully process a part of what was said, he is a Reforged level existence, bound to the land within the cell.¡± ¡°I heard. Oh!¡± She smiled, feeling like she understood. ¡°That¡¯s the confusion then. You see, my dimensional storage doesn¡¯t bind everything I draw into it to my soul. Without that drawback, I can use it for all sorts of things that would be otherwise impossible. Adding this cell to Kit would be useful for the expansion of the dimensionality that I have at my disposal.¡± The Paragon stared at her for a long moment before turning to look at Mistress Cerna. ¡°Is she serious?¡± Mistress Cerna was rubbing her temples. ¡°She is¡­¡± The older woman looked to Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala¡­ you just rejoined us for cell duty today.¡± Tala grinned in return. ¡°Yes, I did. This couldn¡¯t have been more perfectly timed if I¡¯d made the choice myself.¡± Mistress Vanga was hiding her mouth behind a hand, but she was still obviously laughing. Master Limmestare had pulled out an Archive slate and was furiously writing something down. Master Girt was simply grinning like a mad man. Terry had perked up, and he was paying rapt attention. Tala theorized that he was imagining all the fun things there would be to hunt in an ancient forest. She would have to talk with him about that. Rane had a half smile on his face but wasn¡¯t saying anything. He was clearly unsurprised, even if he likely wouldn¡¯t have guessed this was coming, specifically. Master Clevnis was the only person to be taking the topic without outward reaction. Mistress Terra was looking around, clearly expecting someone to let her in on the joke. Finally, when it became clear that Tala wasn¡¯t joking¡ªand no one else was really that surprised¡ªthe Paragon mimicked Mistress Cerna, rubbing her own temples. ¡°Fine¡­ I guess I¡¯ll ask the City Leaders?¡± Master Girt raised his hand again. ¡°Fifty gold says that it takes less than a minute before someone guesses that¡ªor asks if¡ªTala was the one who¡¯s asking.¡± Mistress Terra opened her mouth in initial interest, but before she could say anything, every one of Tala¡¯s unit mates shook their heads. Even Terry let out a derisive chirp. It was Mistress Vanga who put words to their thoughts, ¡°No one is foolish enough to bet against that. It¡¯s a given, Master Girt.¡± The Refined shrugged, clearly unrepentant. ¡°It was worth a try.¡± Tala scratched the side of her neck. ¡°Is it that crazy of a request? It seems reasonable and logical to me.¡± -Yes.- Almost as one, everyone nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡± Terry even met her gaze and bobbed once. -Though, I do agree that¡ªwhile crazy¡ªit is still reasonable and logical too.- ¡°Well¡­ fine then.¡± Tala sat down to await the response from those involved in the decision making for cells. Mistress Terra grunted. ¡°Thirty seconds.¡± Master Girt grinned. ¡°Master Grediv?¡± The Paragon shook her head. ¡°No, actually. It was Master Jevin.¡± Master Limmestar groaned. ¡°That¡¯s what we should have bet on.¡± Master Girt shrugged. ¡°Seems so. Though, I definitely would have lost.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°Master Grediv is attending to a few matters of city business. He won¡¯t be checking into the Archive until this evening.¡± He hesitated. ¡°Well, they might actually ping him for this, and he¡¯ll check then.¡± Mistress Cerna interjected. ¡°To be fair, since it is Mistress Terra who submitted the question, they knew it was our unit. So, it¡¯s not that hard to attribute the inquiry to Tala.¡± Master Girt nodded. ¡°Yeah, I factored that into my guess. Tala can¡¯t be the only crazy one of us Defenders out there at the moment.¡± Everyone looked at him for a long moment before he shrugged. ¡°Well, maybe she is.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°I hate you all.¡± That caused laughter to ripple through the group. Mistress Terra was clearly quite occupied with the dialogue going on through the Archive. So the unit went back to doing their own things, be it training, reading, or something else. Tala, Rane, and Terry sat off to one side. She was quite content as she pulled out a meat hand pie that Mistress Petra had made for her earlier that day. When Terry gave her a longing look, Tala pulled out another¡ªthis one with ingredients not steeped in her own magics. As she went to take a second bite, she saw Rane¡¯s own big eyes, and that made her laugh. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± She took the bite and opened a portal that dropped a pie for Rane into the big man¡¯s hands. ¡°Thanks, Tala.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Rane took a bite, closing his eyes in enjoyment. Once he¡¯d swallowed, though, he met Tala¡¯s gaze. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± ¡°The meat pies? Yes. They¡¯re amazing.¡± He gave her a flat look. She sighed. ¡°Fine¡­ Yeah, I think? I mean, if the Paragons and Reforged think it¡¯s a workable idea then I think it should work just fine.¡± ¡°But¡­ why?¡± She shrugged, then. ¡°Expanding Kit isn¡¯t the easiest thing to do since I became Refined, and cells are the easiest way to do that. This one seems uniquely useful as it will essentially come with its own guardian spirit.¡± When he frowned at that, Tala grinned. ¡°You see, cells aren¡¯t standard dimensional spaces.¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re hung in the void rather than stoneward¡­¡± His eyes widened. ¡°You don¡¯t want to reorient it. You want to leave it like that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking, yeah. Alat is filling in the Paragons and decision makers about the ideas. But being able to study such a means of expansion is just one of the things I hope to gain. We know some about cells, but it isn¡¯t a branch of dimensionalism that has been thoroughly explored.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He leaned in, clearly incredibly interested. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s considered risky without an established space, and this would be that. But even aside from that avenue of utility, I want to travel, and more protection available for my sanctum and Irondale can only be good. This would all be subject to negotiation with the elk¡ªso it might be impossible at the start¡ªbut assuming that he¡¯s amenable, there is a lot to be gained. If something crazy happens in Irondale, then I can reattach the spaces, and the elk could clear out the problem.¡± Rane gave her a skeptical look, but given all her caveats, he didn¡¯t seem to have a good reason to contradict her. ¡°Magical creatures, generally, are so antagonistic to humanity, I don¡¯t believe that very many¡ªif any¡ªhave been studied closely, let alone over a long term.¡± He blinked at that before shaking his head. ¡°I do sometimes forget how analytical and long range you can think at times.¡± She narrowed her eyes at him in faux outrage. ¡°Oh? As opposed to usual?¡± He shrugged, grinning unabashedly in the face of her glare. ¡°Yes. You usually think quickly and decisively. It just seems like it''s pretty rare for you to have the time to consider things in this manner.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± She sighed, letting her false irritation vanish. ¡°Regardless, as to the elk? Since Terry will never be a typical magical creature¡ªnor will any familiar¡ªI would need one from elsewhere to¡­¡± She coughed. ¡°For reasons.¡± He arched an eyebrow at her. She didn¡¯t remain silent for long. ¡°Well, I have a theory that we each interact with existence in different ways and see different sides of it. I want that different perspective.¡± ¡°That¡¯s more than just studying the immortal elk.¡± He raised an eyebrow skeptically. ¡°It is. Ideally, I would like to learn about the world from his perspective by talking with him.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°He was on a sure path to become a god-beast, Rane. Can you even imagine what insights he might have?¡± ¡°While true, there are other options. One that comes to mind is Anatalis. He could provide that information.¡± ¡°If he will. Master Grediv told us that he doesn¡¯t like sharing information surrounding advancement, and as helpful as he is, if we have a potential secondary source of information, he might be more willing to trade what he knows.¡± Rane grunted at that. ¡°That¡¯s true enough. Yeah. As soon as there is more than one potential supplier of something, it becomes easier to get it across the board.¡± ¡°Beyond that, I¡¯ve had my elk-leathers for almost as long as I¡¯ve been a Mage. I feel like¡­ I feel like I¡¯ll have a kinship with the immortal elk.¡± He gave her a flat look. ¡°You feel a kinship with it.¡± ¡°Well, I feel like I might.¡± ¡°...Because you¡¯re wearing one of its descendants?¡± She hesitated at that. ¡°I didn¡¯t really think of it that way? More like I¡¯ve been wielding a portion of magic that has immortal elks as its origin.¡± Rane sighed, shaking his head. ¡°I could see that going either way.¡± ¡°...Yeah¡­ I suppose you¡¯re right. But I guess we¡¯ll see. I¡¯ve never actually met one before. Besides that, gaining an ancient, curated forest for Kit?¡± Her eyes practically sparkled. ¡°Can you even imagine?¡± ¡°And you¡¯ll just carry that around with you.¡± ¡°Well¡­ no? That¡¯s sort of the point with void-hung expanded spaces. They are nowhere. Without this atrium, there would be no way to access the cell, unless it drifted close enough to connect elsewhere. Absorbing this in its entirety might even let me figure out how to do something similar with other parts of Kit.¡± Rane blinked at her a few times. ¡°So, your sanctum would become the atrium for the cell?¡± ¡°Essentially, yes.¡± Rane huffed a laugh. ¡°You know? That might just be crazy enough to work.¡± Chapter: 459 - The Curse of Intelligence Tala and Rane sat in the atrium of the cell which supposedly contained a Reforged level immortal elk, discussing the possibility of Kit simply absorbing the whole cell, atrium and all. ¡°Kit would absorb this space, and I¡¯d tuck it on the side of my sanctum somewhere. Then, even if the creature ¡®broke out¡¯ it would just be breaking more fully into my authority. I should be able to hold it at bay at least until I can call in help. But that¡¯s a bit beside the point. I don¡¯t see it as being an issue in the slightest, at least assuming that what we¡¯ve learned about the elk is true. To break out would be to forever abandon the land he has become bound to. That is also utterly against everything we know about magical beasts.¡± ¡°Whereas if he broke out here, he¡¯d have the cell¡ªhis forest¡ªstill safely at his back.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Rane nodded slowly. ¡°So, you¡¯re hoping that he just wants his forest and to be left in peace?¡± ¡°Precisely, yes.¡± Rane seemed to consider. ¡°So¡­ what would you offer him, then?¡± She smiled in return. ¡°Well, for one thing, I can offer him exactly that. He would be left in peace.¡± ¡°He has that now.¡± ¡°Sort of. He knows there is a way into his forest that he can¡¯t control. This would be like selling a tenant the home that they¡¯ve been renting. It would be his now, utterly and completely.¡± ¡°But you would own the street outside.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°And the ground underneath.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that too, yeah.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°It sounds really risky, and what if he doesn¡¯t want anyone coming through to study him or talk to him?¡± ¡°Well, for that I can offer incidental trades.¡± Tala watched as it clicked for Rane. ¡°You can let him grow his forest. You can grant him more dimensionality.¡± ¡°I can.¡± ¡°That¡¯s expensive, Tala. As a Refined storage space, there is very little that can expand Kit.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s one of the things I want to investigate in the moving cities, after Alefast¡¯s waning if not before.¡± Rane tilted his head to the side, understanding seeming to blossom within his mind. ¡°From your report, they have city-sized spaces.¡± ¡°Just like the arcanes, yeah.¡± She chuckled at that. ¡°I mean, they have arcanes among them, so it makes sense that they¡¯d be able to mirror the feats of those people. They have holds that we might be able to study or learn the creation process of. If that fails, in the worst case scenario, we could enact a few raids on arcane cities.¡± His head jerked, and he looked at her sharply. When he saw she wasn¡¯t kidding, he paled. ¡°Tala¡­ that¡ª¡± She held up a hand to stop his objections. ¡°I know, Rane. I¡¯m not planning on doing it on my own, or without consulting others.¡± ¡°Still¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware it¡¯s a long shot. In all likelihood, it wouldn¡¯t be for a few more centuries, but gated humanity is on a cusp. We¡¯re reaching a tipping point.¡± She grinned. ¡°We have two new cities coming on line before the next Leshkin war. Our birthrates are finally to the point of greatly overcoming the death rates in our young adults, and our civilization stands on the edge of a true population boom. When that manifests into a new crop of Mages, then Archons, and eventually high-level Defenders of humanity?¡± ¡°We will be strong enough to live without the constant threat of attack.¡± ¡°Exactly. It will finally be time to turn this uneasy ceasefire into a lasting peace, and that will require a demonstration of strength that they can¡¯t ignore.¡± Rane understood instantly. ¡°A strike on one of the City Lords.¡± She quirked a smile as she nodded. ¡°Yes, and a confiscation of all the holds, which they thought were a source of their power. We will free the vestiges and teach the Major Houses that humanity is no one''s slave.¡± She was breathing a bit heavier, and she hadn¡¯t realized her voice was rising in volume, but when she reached the end, she realized that everyone in her unit¡ªand Mistress Terra¡ªwas looking her way with a mixture of expressions ranging from curious to concerned. Tala coughed. ¡°But that¡¯s at least a couple of centuries away.¡± She gave a disarming laugh. ¡°I know I¡¯m hardly the only person contemplating it, and I will by no means be the person choosing what we do or when we do it.¡± Master Limmestare looked back at his book, but still raised his fist. ¡°And the slaves will rise up, break their chains, and declare themselves forever free.¡± Mistress Cerna quirked a smile. ¡°Forever free.¡± Tala glared. ¡°Rust you both. We have to do something for all those gated-human souls eventually.¡± Master Limmestare looked up again, frowning. ¡°I am well aware of that, Mistress Tala. I apologize if it sounded like I was mocking you. I was quoting a rather famous abolitionist from the pre-gate era. He proposed that humanity wouldn¡¯t be free unless we found a way to break away in part, grow in strength, and return to achieve broader freedom.¡± Tala blinked a few times, her irritation cooling. ¡°Oh¡­¡± When she looked toward Mistress Cerna, the older woman shrugged. ¡°I was teasing you.¡± That made Tala bark a quick laugh, but she quickly covered it with a fake glare. Mistress Terra shook her head, but she was smiling as she returned her attention to her slate. Everyone returned to what they had been doing, and Tala turned back toward Rane. He was giving Tala an interesting look. After a moment of silence, she finally asked, ¡°What?¡± He shrugged. ¡°You have a lot of plans ahead of you, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I try to keep busy. Immortality gives me a long time, after all.¡± He grunted at that. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°What are your plans? I know we¡¯ve talked about a lot of random things, but what do you really want to do?¡± He shrugged. ¡°There are a lot of things that I¡¯d like to do.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Rust, I¡¯d love to help bring about humanity¡¯s rise to general safety and security. I would like to see such a world.¡± ¡°Any specifics?¡± ¡°Honestly? Besides having a family eventually, not too many. I want to see more of this world, and explore what I find interesting.¡± She quirked a smile at that. ¡°So, add to humanity and better it? Otherwise just sight-see?¡± ¡°At least until something else grabs my attention. I¡¯m easy like that.¡± ¡°Oh? You don¡¯t already have something grabbing your attention?¡± Her smile grew mischievous. ¡°No, no thing is particularly attractive to me.¡± He smiled in return. ¡°There is someone who I¡¯d enjoy seeing more of.¡± ¡°Oh? You want to see more of me?¡± She gestured to herself. ¡°You think I¡¯m too covered up, then?¡± Her elk leathers started to draw back, just fast enough to be noticeable. Rane flushed and looked away. ¡°I meant: see you more! Not see more of you.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Tala chuckled, returning her outfit to its standard configuration. -Now, Tala, what would you have done if he hadn¡¯t reacted that way? What if he had simply wanted to enjoy the show?- It was Tala¡¯s turn to flush. She hadn¡¯t considered that when she¡¯d started teasing him. But his reaction had been exactly what she¡¯d expected and hoped for. Then he wouldn¡¯t be my Rane. -Maybe true. Still, I didn¡¯t expect you to do something like that with so many witnesses.- Tala felt her eye twitch, and she turned her perception outward, once again realizing that her entire unit and Mistress Terra were close enough that they¡¯d likely heard everything, just by dint of their Refined level physical changes. She flushed more deeply, even more grateful still for her through-spike illusions. Alat didn¡¯t say anything further. Instead, she sent the feeling of mirth in return. Terry trilled and rolled onto his back, sticking his legs into the air and his tongue out the side of his beak. Tala looked his way. ¡°Getting bored, Terry?¡± He gave a half-hearted, drawn-out squawk. ¡°Well, you know what cells entail. While you haven¡¯t gone into that many before, you have seen how long this part takes quite a few times.¡± He chirped several times, indicating that he was aware, and it didn¡¯t change how he felt. Tala sighed. ¡°Fine. I won¡¯t convince you. Do you want to go into the sanctum?¡± He lifted his head a little, then let it flop down. ¡°No?¡± -Terry has gained less entertainment from hunting the porcine occupants of your sanctum since the bond.- Really? Why haven¡¯t you told me that? -It hasn¡¯t come up?- Tala sighed. The curse of intelligence. Simple pleasures aren¡¯t so simple any more. -...Did you just lament Terry¡¯s fading cruelty to animals?- ¡­I did not think of it that way. It wasn¡¯t much longer before Mistress Terra cleared her throat, garnering all of their attention. ¡°Well, the decision is in. It seems like everyone¡¯s willing for us to give it a try, so long as the rest of Mistress Tala¡¯s unit agrees.¡± The unit gathered around the Paragon. They all exchanged glances, shrugging or otherwise indicating acceptance. Tala grinned. ¡°Thank you all. I think it could be quite interesting.¡± Mistress Terra nodded. ¡°Alright, then. So, the plan is to treat this like a normal cell, except that Mistress Tala is authorized to negotiate with the prisoner.¡± Master Clevnis cleared his throat, then stated in a deadpan voice, ¡°A normal cell, with a Reforged level prisoner.¡± Mistress Terra seemingly decided to ignore his skepticism. ¡°Precisely. Take this seriously, and plan as if you¡¯ll have to face this opponent in a head-to-head clash.¡± The unit leader hesitated, then nodded, drawing the unit off to the side while Mistress Terra began her preparations. ¡°Immortal elks aren¡¯t supernaturally fast, their attacks have penetrative magics, but their main feature is regeneration.¡± Mistress Cerna took up the explanation, ¡°This one in particular has nature magics as well: controlling vegetation, things like that. We would likely go in with a scorched-earth approach, but that would make negotiations rather difficult.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Thank you for not.¡± The woman grinned back at Tala. ¡°Well, Mistress Tala, you¡¯d be our preferred means of scorching the earth, so¡­¡± The unit chuckled, and Tala quirked a smile. ¡°Fair. Though, I¡¯m hardly the only person capable of that.¡± ¡°But your dissolution breath¡ªeven in its currently limited form¡ªis the best tool we have for that.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Regardless. We¡¯ll be creating a defensive location and bunkering down while Mistress Tala¡ª¡± Terry trilled loudly. Mistress Cerna sighed. ¡°¡ªand Terry go deeper in.¡± Rane lifted a hand to draw attention. ¡°I don¡¯t think that I would be best utilized in the reinforcement of a bunker-style defense, but I could be useful in a delaying action, should negotiations go poorly.¡± The husband and wife unit-leader duo glanced at one another. Master Clevnis shrugged and Mistress Cerna pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°Fine. Tala, Terry, and Rane will go to directly confront the immortal elk with the goal of negotiation.¡± Master Limmestare lifted a hand this time and spoke when acknowledged. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t the elk just agree to any demand? That would get it free. I know I¡¯ve heard that sapient magical beasts can¡¯t lie, but is that true?¡± Master Clevnis waggled his hand, but Mistress Cerna shook her head. ¡°It is more accurate to say that they don¡¯t. Such beasts are generally very closely tied to Reality, and that link makes the very concept of lying anathema to them. Sapient ones begin pulling away from that close tie, but the result stands.¡± She met Tala¡¯s gaze. ¡°That does mean that should you lie, they will likely know. Worse, they may have the power to bend the world to make your ¡®lie¡¯ true. So, be careful.¡± Great¡­ Wait. It¡¯s like the fae. -Wouldn¡¯t that make sense?- What do you mean? -Well, if the fae are real, they¡¯d be magical creatures, right? Even down to their dislike of mankind?- I¡­ I never considered it that way. I thought there couldn¡¯t be humanoid magical creatures, though, just arcanes? Alat sent over a mental shrug. -They might just be legend, but if they aren¡¯t, I¡¯d expect Reality-Magic humanoids.- That was oddly terrifying. -Terrifying? This from the woman who wields void, magic, and hints of reality with seeming impunity.- That¡¯s different. Why would I fear myself? -¡®A wise man fears that which he might become.¡¯- Tala twitched, feeling a bit of unpleasant reminiscence at the idea. Alat would have known that, and likely was pressing the point on purpose. Regardless, she deflected. I am no man. -... Really? You¡¯re going to purposely make it about that rather than the clear meaning of the quote?- You could have changed the quote to refer to me. Tala returned a mental shrug. -...I feel like you might be unclear on the concept of a quote.- Their internal banter was cut off by Mistress Terra¡¯s proclamation. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± The unit came over as roots seemed to grow up in the middle of the clearing, shaping themselves into a doorway. As soon as that had fully formed, the now-all-too-familiar hallway appeared, and Rane shot down the passage. As quick as he was, he wasn¡¯t faster than Terry, who was already at the far end. He wasn¡¯t even faster than Tala¡¯s aura, which she extended down the corner of the tunnel before connecting to the part of her aura which was coming off of Terry. Once that direct link was established, she flickered forward. Rane arrived a moment later, muttering under his breath. ¡°Cheaters, both of you.¡± Terry let out a laughing series of chirps, while Tala just rolled her eyes, but she was smiling nevertheless. Together they looked out at the makeup of the cell. Calling it an old-growth forest would have been deceptively underselling it. It reminded Tala of the Leshkin forests to the south, but instead of being largely clear at ground-level, the columns of massive tree trunks were surrounded by smaller plants, rocks, and other things in a way that somehow evoked the feeling of a garden more than a wild wood. Even so, it didn¡¯t actually look manicured. It was like a very skilled person had planned out and planted the vegetation, moved the stones and earth, created waterways, and then simply left it to grow and come to its full beauty on its own. The whole place had a solemnity that Tala associated with the Wilds, though it was somehow more stark, as if they were walking into the place of dominion devoted to a powerful being. -Which is exactly what we''re doing¡­ right?- Fair enough, yeah. Overhead, the trees weren¡¯t quite as tall as in the southern woods, only reaching about a hundred feet from what they could see. There were more lower branches as well, indicating clearly that they were entirely different species of trees. Black oak mostly? -It looks like some red maple, too. I think there are more subspecies of each as well.- Tala, Rane, and Terry moved forward, among the trees, ignoring the sounds of building behind them as Masters Girt and Limmestare worked their magics to form the initial defensive structure, closing off the exit. They were careful to not harm any of the trees with their construction, per their agreement to leave an easier chance of negotiations. Toward that same end, Tala and Alat had been throwing ideas back and forth¡ªfaster than most people could think¡ªso that they could approach the elk in the best way possible. They had a whole range of options available, based on how the initial meeting took place. Rather than moving as fast as they could, the trio moved with a certain amount of sedate reverence, keeping their senses attuned and focused outward. They detected many small animals of various kinds scampering among the foliage. Terry twitched a bit, clearly instinctively wanting to flicker after them, but he held himself back. He was moving warily, clearly aware of the overpowering presence that was a radiant undercurrent in this forest. There were some predators, but they were all on the smaller side: foxes, falcons, that sort of thing. Tala thought she caught hints of larger ones, but they were far enough away that she couldn¡¯t be sure, even with her threefold sight. With that threefold perception, Tala could barely tell just how massive this forest was. It was undoubtedly the largest cell that she¡¯d ever seen, making it hard for her to truly grasp the scope. There was the oddity of the cell being turned within four-dimensional space, so her orientation wasn¡¯t what she was used to, every step taking her farther from the superficial and deeper into a crack of void. But that was expected for a cell, and she didn¡¯t let it distract from¡ª ¡°Humans.¡± It was a sound like the breeze, or the bubbling of a brook, or the rumbling of the earth. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Following closely on the heels of the word, an elk appeared before them, barely ten yards away, standing taller than a horse, but not much larger than that. The majestic beast was standing between two trees, uncounted points on its antlers rising toward the stars even as some ethereal light shone from behind it, showing it in stark relief. The creature¡¯s aura was¡­ odd. It somehow looked perfectly green, entirely blue, and deeply brown all at the same time. It was as if its aura was embodying nature itself. It locked gazes with each of the three for a moment. From this close distance, Tala could easily see the intelligence in its eyes. Its fur wasn¡¯t anything special in appearance¡ªbeing a simple dark brown¡ªand it wasn¡¯t even perfectly clean, as if it were an intrinsic part of the natural world around it. The inhuman face oriented on Terry the longest before he finally returned his eyes to Tala and asked, ¡°It is time for the resealing, then? The eons of Zeme are unending, my forest will endure. Why have you left the entrance this day?¡± Chapter: 460 - Immortal Elk Tala, Rane, and Terry stood facing the ancient immortal elk within its cell. Its Reforged-level power was on clear display, even while it was obviously contained to keep from negatively impacting the natural world that it had cultivated and nurtured within the cell. Tala and Alat had mapped out dozens¡ªif not hundreds¡ªof plans, depending on how they¡¯d first encountered the elk. They tried to bounce some of the more finalized versions off of others, but their processing speed¡ªand the speed of their interface with the Archive¡ªwas so much higher that it was difficult to get quick feedback, leading to them doing most of the brute-force planning themselves. If he had attacked them onsight, if he had hidden from them, if he had been unable to speak in a way they could understand, if he had made instant demands, and so many other scenarios. They had chosen avenues of advancement for each. Therefore, following the plan they had laid out for this potential eventuality, Tala bowed as if to a human of the elk¡¯s advancement. ¡°Greetings, child of the forest.¡± Rane bowed a moment later. Terry did not bow. Instead, he simply tilted his head to one side and narrowed his eyes in consideration. The cervid¡¯s voice resonated from all aspects of nature around them from the flora, the ground beneath their feet, and even the very air of the cell itself. ¡°Greetings? You offer greetings? You who bring a predator into my domain? You who come to ensure my containment? You who wear my very magics, mindlessly bound to your soul? Words are mere words, but it seems that yours may be worth less than most.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°First of all, yes, my garments are made of immortal elk leather. It is the way of nature for prey and predator to perform their dance, and it would be wasteful to have left these magics to dissipate into nothingness.¡± The elk exhaled a cloud of breath, making a sound somewhere between a grunt and a growl, but he didn¡¯t otherwise respond. ¡°As to the predator? Terry is my soulbound companion. A predator, yes, but he is not here to wreak havoc upon your domain.¡± Terry let out a mournful call, his eyes sparkling with humor and mischief. She closed her eyes and took a calming breath before proceeding. Rust it, Terry. Now hardly seems like the time for that. -He is not sorry for his actions. In fact, he is smugly certain that he¡¯s made things better for you.- When Tala opened her eyes, she did think that she saw a bit of mirth sparkling in the elk¡¯s eyes, but that fact didn¡¯t change the overall situation. She swallowed and dove into the next step of the plan, ¡°As to your captivity. I have come to discuss that with you. How would you feel about an agreement that would allow for your forest to be expanded?¡± That piqued the elk¡¯s interest. His aura seemed to still and focus, as if the animal had been constantly looking around itself, and it had suddenly ceased. His entire attention was now on Tala. As if to emphasize this fact, his antlers seemed to shrink down until there were merely two dozen points, and he closed half the distance between them¡ªthe light fading from behind him as if it had never been¡ªstopping a mere five yards away before his voice resonated forth once more, ¡°What is there to discuss, little Refined? My forest is here, your kind will not return it to Zeme, so I will not leave. Your offer sounds interesting on the surface, but it is impossible as I understand things, unless I were to leave my forest, and your kind cannot offer me anything that would entice me to leave¡ªthey already tried that.¡± Tala nodded along. ¡°Because if you leave you would be diminished.¡± ¡°I am this forest, and this forest is me. To depart would wound us both to our very foundations.¡± ¡°I am not offering you a different forest that is larger. I am offering to help you grow this one.¡± The elk was silent for a long moment. Finally, his deep words sounded again. ¡°I am listening.¡± ¡°Before I explain, let me ask you one question: if the entrance to this forest were simply attached to the superficial world, what would you do?¡± The elk appeared to slump slightly, seeming resigned as it answered honestly, ¡°I would extend my influence outward until I had claimed enough of the region to bring my forest back into alignment with its proper home. This is the trouble. I will not leave, nor will I remain idle. If you are wise, you will go back to your Paragon and seal me here. After all, what could you possibly want from me that would be worth the growth of my forest? Or the threat that granting me more power through a larger domain would pose?¡± He moved to turn away, seemingly having decided that she had nothing further to say, but Tala held up a hand. ¡°As I said, I come to offer you a path through which you can expand your domain. You have not told me anything I did not know or at least suspect.¡± The elk regarded her for a long moment. ¡°Very well, I will listen. The years are long, and I am not so glutted with company that I should blithely pass on honest words, freely offered.¡± She blinked a few times, processing the odd manner of speech, but it was obviously an agreement to listen, so Tala forged ahead. ¡°I have the ability to expand a dimensional space¡ªin theory¡ªwithout end.¡± The elk huffed. ¡°I am aware that humans can expand their spaces through the combining of such. That will not work for such a cell, unless human magic has advanced far indeed. How is this different?¡± ¡°You are right, it would be difficult to expand your cell as it stands, if not impossible.¡± He huffed again, clearly a bit irritated. ¡°Yes, yes. I know this well. Please don¡¯t mistake my willingness to listen for a lack of desire to hear the point.¡± Tala gave a close-lipped smile at that. ¡°As you wish. I will get to the point, then. I have a soulbound dimensional storage, which could consume the atrium to your cell, along with this forest, thereby joining the two.¡± The elk wheeled on her, fully facing her once again, eyes flashing with clear anger. ¡°I will not be bound with a human, girl. My power being greater than yours is of no consequence. I will not be bound to a human soul, no matter who rules. Your soul holds no temptation for me, and I am not a mere pet to be leashed to your will.¡± Terry let out a hiss of anger¡ªthough Tala couldn¡¯t tell if it was on her behalf, or at the implicit naming of him as a pet¡ªcrouching low, but Tala placed her hand on the back of his head while meeting the elk¡¯s gaze. ¡°I am not offering you a soulbond. My storage is based upon a voidling. She has a sentience all her own, and one result of that trait is that she does not force a binding on any¡ªlet alone all¡ªwho enter her dimensionality.¡± The elk¡¯s eyes narrowed, some of his rage cooling, but he was still clearly unconvinced. ¡°I have not heard of this. Is it a new type of creature?¡± ¡°In a sense. They are lesser known, but not exactly new. But regardless, we have proven it works.¡± The elk slowly lowered himself to the ground without breaking his gaze from Tala¡¯s face. The seemingly relaxed posture did not reduce the feel of power radiating from him, nor did Tala allow the change of stance to lower her guard. His voice finally rose up again, ¡°So, then. What do you actually propose?¡± ¡°My expanded space is filled with unclaimed, non-aspected power of my density. Combining your forest with my space will potentially give you more power to work with overall. That will only grow with time, as I advance.¡± The elk had definitely reacted to that knowledge, but he seemed unwilling to simply agree regardless. ¡°And it will place the dimensionality of my realm under your command. You would have me accept cheap power and grant you hold over my lasting existence.¡± She smiled consolingly and acknowledged his point, ¡°I am interested in the dimensionality of this cell, yes.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The elk shook his head, but before he could respond, Tala continued. ¡°But, I would only take the top down to just above the trees, from below the ground to just beneath the roots and underground waterways. None of that would affect your domain at all. From there, I would offer you increased dimensionality at ground level in exchange for various tasks.¡± ¡°So, you would take from me, then pay me with what had been mine?¡± ¡°At first, it might seem that way, but this agreement would not end. Your forest would grow. With comparatively little time, your domain would be larger than ever. I also would take dimensionality from you that does not add to your forest, and return to you land that would.¡± The elk seemed to consider. ¡°I am listening.¡± Tala gave another shallow bow. ¡°Thank you. My name is Tala, in current human culture I would be called Mistress Tala. May I know your name?¡± The elk tilted his head slightly to the side, causing his antlers to move in a graceful arc. ¡°I will not acknowledge you as my mistress, even by implication.¡± ¡°I apologize for the misunderstanding, but that isn¡¯t what it means to us. It is more of a title, or term of respect.¡± He shook himself, letting out an oddly high-pitched bugling. ¡°I believe you are mistaken. Regardless, respect must be earned, and mistress is a term of submission from the speaker to the listener. It means something, and I will not grant it to you from me.¡± Tala was about to argue, but Alat cleared her mental throat, reminding her that it really didn¡¯t matter one way or another. Tala colored slightly beneath her armor and illusion. Right¡­ thank you. She took a deep breath and glanced toward Rane, who returned an encouraging smile. She let it out slowly, and nodded. ¡°Very well, Tala is more than acceptable.¡± The elk¡¯s voice almost sounded amused, ¡°Of course it is, Tala. You may call me Walden.¡± Tala kept herself from sighing. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Walden.¡± The elk just dipped his head slightly. ¡°As to the details of my proposal. From you, I would like the option to ask questions about your view of the world, your advancement, and similar topics. I would similarly like to allow other Mages to come and study your domain, and interact with you in a peaceful manner. For any of these, you would be compensated by dimensional expansion of your forest.¡± She smiled at the massive cervid. ¡°So, you see, it is you who would be trading the intangible for tangible gain.¡± There was a long pause before the elk responded. ¡°I sense that there is more to your proposal. I would hear all of it.¡± Tala nodded. She explained how her soulbound storage was currently set up, and how she was thinking the elk¡¯s forest would fit into the setup. ¡°To defend weak humans¡­ this is not within my nature. If that is required, I will decline.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, I would not ask you to defend any human. My request would be¡ªif it ever came to that¡ªto drive hostile beings from my sanctum, Irondale, or your own forest. They would be invaders, things that disrupted the natural order of the expanded spaces.¡± ¡°You can word it however you wish, but I would be potentially shedding blood for the benefit of humans. This I will not do. I will defend my own forest. That is all.¡± She almost started to argue with the immortal elk, but stopped herself in time yet again. Instead, she bowed her head. ¡°As you wish. That does not have to be a part of the agreement.¡± Terry chirped, then, causing both Tala and Walden to look his way. ¡°Yes, thank you, Terry. He would like to be incorporated into your ecosystem if possible. He would not live here, but he could come and hunt as you allow.¡± The elk and Terry matched gazes for a long moment before Walden asked a simple question, ¡°Are you a killer or a hunter, little terror bird?¡± Terry lowered his head as if in thought. After a long moment, he began chirping, trilling, and squawking. He then flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder, shrinking down to the appropriate size as he did so. Once he¡¯d settled down, he bobbed his head once for emphasis. ¡°I see. You were a killer, seeking solace, comfort, and purpose in the death of other creatures, but no longer. Now, you desire to hunt only.¡± Walden considered. ¡°If you are willing to keep to the creatures I designate, I can agree to this.¡± Tala perked up at that. It was the first thing that the elk had actually explicitly agreed to, and it would only be possible if he also agreed to more of her proposition. ¡°Do not become too eager, human. Your idea is intriguing to me, and it might work, but I would have conditions.¡± He snorted in a modicum of a laugh. ¡°I suspect your leaders will put a premium on your safety if we do this. Your death would mean my forest becoming unmoored, and my very power would eject it from the void.¡± Tala¡­ had not considered that. However, before she could fully process all the implications, Walden continued. ¡°Though, in all likelihood, my forest would resurface elsewhere in the world. I am well aware that humanity never bore me malice, nor wished to suppress me specifically. I understood that they could not allow two Sovereigns¡ªas you designate them¡ªto rise side by side on their very doorstep. I bear you no ill will for how things played out. It was our very nature¡ªthe very nature of our circumstances¡ªthat forced us to be at odds.¡± She nodded at that. Unlike many prisoners in the cells, this elk really was an odd case. From the records he had never specifically attacked humanity, nor caused any humans direct harm. He had killed humans who had threatened his forest, but it was hard to fault a being for self defense. After all, his claim that he was the forest and the forest was him was not simply a metaphor. All this to say, it was simply the tipping of the balance of power that he would have caused, which had forced humanity¡ªmillennia ago¡ªto act. She frowned, then. ¡°I do have a few questions, if I may.¡± ¡°Before we¡¯ve negotiated what compensation for answers will be?¡± Tala hesitated, but she detected a note of humor in the elk¡¯s voice. ¡°Well, we could use them to calibrate the value going forward?¡± After a moment, the elk dipped his head. ¡°It is a worthy trial run. Yes. Be aware, I will likely not answer unless we come to an agreement and until payment has been granted.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Then ask your questions.¡± ¡°What is the difference between a Sovereign and a god-beast¡ªor beast-god?¡ªand do you know why your cell has degraded now? We have been having more cells than usual that require maintenance during this waning.¡± The great beast pulled in a long breath before exhaling like a massive bellows. ¡°You ask questions that are¡ªat once¡ªtouching deep things and inherently ignorant.¡± Tala blinked at the response, uncertain of how to proceed. Thankfully, the elk sighed before his resonant voice sounded again, ¡°I will give a basic answer as a courtesy. Though, you likely won¡¯t see it as such. For any detail, by your measurements, I will require one hundred square feet of ground for my forest, with requisite height and depth to match the rest.¡± After a moment¡¯s pause, he added, ¡°And to be clear, the top of my forest does not end at the trees. The birds and other flying fauna must have space to spread their wings to function as needed. A minimum height of one hundred and fifty feet above ground level is required.¡± Tala considered. One hundred square feet with thirty feet below and a hundred and fifty above. -Eighteen thousand cubic feet.- Alat helpfully gave her the answer. She swallowed. That was more than eighty one times the size Kit had been when Tala had first got her. ¡°That is a steep price to pay. Nearly twenty thousand cubic feet for such an answer strikes me as excessive.¡± ¡°Are you saying you do not have that to give?¡± She smiled. ¡°I am saying that I believe such is worth more than the answers to such questions. I would be willing to pay more for this first exchange than those that follow, as an expression of good faith. Five hundred cubic feet per question for a total of a thousand cubic feet.¡± ¡°That would be a mere five square feet more of forest floor.¡± She smiled at that, nodding and holding up her finger. ¡°Exactly. Yes. Five square feet that you would never gain on your own. In Zeme? This would be a trivial thing, but in the context of your cell? Is it not infinitely valuable? Even a single cubic foot of space for mere words would see your forest grow dramatically in time. To that end, I believe that a hundred cubic feet of extra space for a question seems reasonable after this initial good-faith exchange.¡± The elk snorted, and the haggling began. Even so, Tala could barely hold back her smile. Walden had all but agreed to allow her to subsume the cell into her sanctum. Everything, now, was just details. Rane spoke up on occasion, adding in his thoughts, sometimes agreeing and supporting a point that the elk was making at the time, and other times reinforcing Tala¡¯s view. It was irritating when he disagreed with her, but she appreciated not only his truthfulness, but also how much that very act seemed to cause Walden to begin to listen more closely whenever Rane spoke. The ancient elk even seemed to be swayed at times by the Refined¡¯s words even when he didn¡¯t seem interested in hearing Tala¡¯s objections. In the end, they finally hashed out the skeleton of an agreement, including a system by which they could flesh out the further details at a later time. The elk snorted and bobbed his head. ¡°Then, we are agreed. Now, as I promised, a basic answer to your questions. First, the difference between Sovereigns and god-beasts. They are at once entirely different and exactly the same. For what is the difference between the roots and the branches?¡± Tala frowned, not understanding, but she didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°As to the cell degradation, the basic answer is this: Reality opposes that which seeks to subvert it in any way it can. These cells¡ªat essentially every level of their existence¡ªare anathema to Reality.¡± She nodded. ¡°Yes, but that has always been true. Why are they degrading more quickly, now?¡± The elk¡¯s face moved in a way that she was beginning to recognize as a smile. ¡°What answers I can give to that will have to wait until compensation is granted, Tala.¡± She sighed. ¡°Very well. Let us proceed, then.¡± Chapter: 461 - The Plate Itself Tala, Terry, Rane, and Walden walked back through the forest to the exit. It took Tala a bit to notice, but while she, Terry, and Rane were treading down the grass¡ªwhich quickly recovered¡ªWalden¡¯s hooves and forelegs seemed to meld with the grass as he walked. It wasn¡¯t like they were passing through, either. As he moved, the grass would pull toward him, becoming a part of him before falling back away as he moved out. Thus, the foliage was rippling behind him, but in a completely different way from that behind the two humans or the terror bird. It didn¡¯t take that long to return to the entrance of the cell. When Walden saw their bunker, he stopped in place and huffed. ¡°Foolish humans.¡± The very ground vibrated to produce his words, some loose stones jumping with the force of the utterance. Alat had been in communication with Tala¡¯s unit, but they hadn¡¯t disassembled the structure yet. Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis came into view. ¡°Mistress Tala. Is everything finalized?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Yes, and the agreement has been approved. I will be required to report to Master Grediv as soon as we return to Alefast, so that he can inspect the results.¡± The two nodded. They¡¯d likely already been told this. They¡¯d agreed beforehand that she would convey some trivial truth when returning, to demonstrate that she was who she claimed¡ªand appeared¡ªto be. It was well within the potential abilities of the elk to create a fake. Given all the other supporting information, it was unlikely, but their job required them to be as sure as possible. Walden was obviously irked by the dome-like structure, and his continued words confirmed that, ¡°Remove that from my forest, or I will. Once that is done, get out before you further damage my herbaceous undergrowth.¡± Masters Girt and Limmestare unwove the stone and glass fibers that had made and reinforced the structure, returning the entrance of the cell to the state in which it had been previously, at least roughly speaking. When that was done, the unit withdrew, and Walden stamped his hoof. A wave of power and greenery swept low over the bare earth, returning vegetation to the churned soil. Somewhat satisfied, the elk turned to Tala. ¡°I will await you, here. I trust that I will feel the alteration.¡± ¡°That is my understanding as well.¡± Tala gave a tight-lipped smile. And you think you just might take a massive step toward Sovereignty immediately if I¡¯m a fool. That was one thing that Tala did know about magical beasts¡ªand the Paragons and others involved in the process had made sure Tala didn¡¯t forget¡ªa magical beast could and would tap into all magic within their domain, and all of it counted as within their body for magical density. In theory, Tala could uplift Walden at least a bit if her power were to enter his forest and suffuse it fully. -Though, it wouldn¡¯t be sufficient to allow him to reach the level of a god-beast as we know it.- Yeah, that would take much more. Though, it wasn¡¯t actually out of reach. If she were to fill her whole sanctum with her magical density once she reached Paragon advancement, and then granted the entirety to the elk? That might be sufficient for the task. There were obviously other requirements, but no one who knew what those might be was willing to share such with Tala. The elk hadn¡¯t mentioned magical density or power during their negotiations, and that alone was a bit suspicious given Tala¡¯s knowledge. He was clearly betting on her ignorance, and hoping to claim a lot of power via that ignorance. Tala had, likewise, not mentioned something that the elk would have likely wanted to know: specifically, her authority within Kit. As Walden hadn¡¯t known of voidlings¡ªat least he¡¯d claimed not to¡ªhe wouldn¡¯t know the features of dimensional storages based upon them. On Zeme¡ªand in the cell or any other storage that he could be forced into¡ªWalden¡¯s authority over his forest was essentially uncontestable. Auras could exist overtop of it, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that the very land and everything in it was his, essentially a part of him and magically bound to him. Once it was in Kit, though? Once it was fundamentally a part of Tala¡¯s soulbound storage? Tala could theoretically take it from him. It wouldn¡¯t be easy by any means, but it existed as a last line of defense. Honestly, it was likely the major reason that the Paragons and other powers that had a say were willing for her to give this a try. Tala and Rane bowed to Walden before walking back out through the tunnel. Terry stayed, staring at the elk for a long moment before flickering after his humans. When they exited, Mistress Terra smiled, finalizing the re-closure of the cell. ¡°Done.¡± The Paragon then gave a wry smile and caught Tala¡¯s attention. ¡°And now you¡¯re going to undo all my work, eh?¡± ¡°If all goes well, yes.¡± Mistress Terra grinned. ¡°You know, that¡¯s usually what I do, undo other¡¯s magical work I mean.¡± Tala found herself grinning in return. ¡°I suppose it is. Thank you for your graciousness.¡± ¡°But of course. Let us leave this atrium so you can do what you need.¡± Tala bowed. ¡°Thank you.¡± After everyone was outside the expanded space, Tala created a portal to her sanctum with an edging of elk leather for a physical boundary. Huh. I haven¡¯t been needing that as much, have I? She¡¯d forgotten that she had needed a physical opening to make portals, but that requirement had fallen away over time, allowing her use of Kit to more closely match her bonding vision. -You are growing closer with your bonds as you advance, and increasingly skilled as you use your abilities more and more.- She¡¯d noticed such in little things, but it was nice to have solid confirmation. Good to know. Thank you, Alat. -I am happy to assist.- Kit¡¯s portal rolled over the tree in which the entrance to the atrium resided, quite obviously devouring it, root and branch. -Sovereign and god-beast?- Tala grimaced. That was such a cop-out answer. -Well, he did offer it for free, and he did warn you that you wouldn¡¯t like it.- I know¡­ There was a trembling within the fabric of Existence visible only to Tala via her threefold sense. By Terry¡¯s leery looking around, his own threefold perception was showing him something similar. -Yup. He can see it too, and his interpretation is that it appears like a gathering storm.- A moment later, Tala gasped as she felt Kit straining, drawing incredibly deeply from her gate. Tala slapped as many¡ªand as large as possible¡ªvoid-channels as she could into the mix, but she still physically staggered at the sudden magical requirements put upon her. Her very soul was bearing up under a heavy load. Rane was there, stabilizing her without her even needing to ask. She smiled his way even as she felt somewhat faint. Thankfully, the feeling seemed to stabilize and her extreme reactions¡ªboth internal and external¡ªfaded, allowing her to return to standing on her own once more. Even so, she kept herself pressed against Rane¡¯s side, his arm over her shoulder, across her back, and down to allow his hand to rest on the top of her opposite hip. It was only then that she noticed Mistress Vanga¡¯s hand on her shoulder also, the one that wasn¡¯t currently pressed into Rane. ¡°How are you feeling, Mistress Tala?¡± Tala nodded in response. ¡°A bit off-kilter, but otherwise good. That forest was¡­ it was basically the size of Irondale. I would say my dimensional storage just increased in size by close to ninety percent. That¡­ Kit was a bit hard pressed to devour all of it as quickly as was required.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Mistress Terra grunted. ¡°The fact that you could do it at all is impressive. Come on, open up and let¡¯s inspect the results.¡± Tala blinked up at the more advanced woman. Did Mistress Terra know that she would be placing herself under Tala¡¯s will? Rather than just wonder, Tala asked, ¡°You know of my authority within the space?¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°Of course. If I was concerned about your motives, we would be having an entirely different interaction.¡± Tala smiled at that. It did make sense. ¡°Very well.¡± Kit¡¯s portal stabilized at a size to let any of them walk through easily. On the far side was what seemed to be the same clearing that had been the atrium before. As they all passed through¡ªinto Tala¡¯s sanctum¡ªTala did as she¡¯d promised and stripped off the height of the forest, leaving the elk a large, rough cylinder of space one hundred eighty feet from top to bottom. She moved most of the dimensionality to Irondale for the moment, weaving the stone she¡¯d taken from the bottom into the underlying foundations of the pocket-city space. She did have to add some height to the very edges of the forest, as it had been a rough¡ªmoderately squished¡ªsphere before. As they worked quickly, Tala and Alat had actually found that they quite enjoyed interleaving the various strata within Irondale to create patterns, a type of art that they alone could ever appreciate fully. Tala would have to remember that and come back to it when they had more time. -Rane might be able to appreciate it as well, one day.- Tala colored, suddenly feeling Rane¡¯s warmth against her much more starkly. That¡¯s not helpful, Alat. -Well, it actually is, just not toward what you want help with at the moment.- Tala glared internally, causing Alat to cackle in glee. Regardless, they were soon once again within the clearing, the tunnel into what was previously the cell already open before them. As the portal closed, they looked back, seeing the central hill of Tala¡¯s sanctum in the distance, the dais standing out starkly. -You placed the entrance to the forest to be aligned directly with the front of your throne. Symbolic much?- Tala shrugged. Seemed like a good place. It¡¯s not like I actually sit in the chair very often. -Throne.- It¡¯s a chair. -What is a throne, but a chair that symbolizes authority?- Tala didn¡¯t have a ready response to that, so she returned her attention to the entrance to the immortal elk¡¯s forest. There was something odd, perceptually, about the entrance now, which hadn¡¯t been in evidence previously. It was obviously open before them, and they could even see the other end, but they all had a sense like they were looking down a long shaft rather than peering straight ahead. They spoke briefly, and confirmed that no one could really say why they felt that way, but they agreed that it seemed accurate. It¡¯s extending into the void. -Yes, that is likely the source of the feeling, but not the cause.- What do you mean? -The dirt in the water makes it dirty, but that doesn¡¯t tell you where the dirt came from, or how you were able to see it.- Ahh. Yeah. Nevertheless, they could all see the elk standing in his forest past the long hallway, regarding them in return. Tala lifted her hand in greeting, and the elk bowed his head. She regarded her unit-mates. ¡°I am going to go speak with him.¡± Mistress Terra nodded. ¡°And I will inspect the results of the¡­ devouring.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Tala smiled at the Paragon. ¡°I do appreciate you double-checking the results. I don¡¯t want anything to go wrong here.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tala looked to Rane and Terry. ¡°Want to come?¡± Terry flickered back to her shoulder, and Rane smiled. ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± Tala proceeded down the tunnel slowly, not bothering to move herself with her will and authority. There would be time to flex that authority, but such hadn¡¯t come yet. When she stepped back into the forest, she was faced directly with the feeling that she¡¯d been getting indirectly from this part of Kit from the moment of the devouring. The forest both was hers, and it wasn¡¯t. It¡¯s like food I¡¯ve served onto a guest¡¯s plate¡­ No, that wasn¡¯t right. It¡¯s like the plate itself¡ªand the cutlery¡ªat a feast I am throwing. It is unquestionably mine, but others have a superficial, momentary claim over it right now. Moreover, it would be rude in the extreme for me to take it from them. Alat approved of the analogy and didn¡¯t see any obvious flaws¡ªeven while obviously being imperfect¡ªso they decided to go with it. Walden dipped his head toward Tala, just slightly. ¡°You have been good to your word so far, Tala. I appreciate that you leveled out the entirety of my forest. The trees at the edge were feeling cramped. Now, you promised me that my forest would expand.¡± He waited, eyes locked on her. She smiled and gave a nod in return. ¡°Of course.¡± With an act of will, a thousand cubic feet of dimensionality was transferred back to the forest, this time on the edge rather than above the trees or below the ground. Tala then filled the top of that dimensionality with air and the below ground portion of space with the appropriate materials to match what already existed and withdrew her direct authority. She passed her guest another spoon. -Still an odd analogy, no matter how accurate it is¡­- Walden¡¯s¡ªnow superficial¡ªauthority poured into the space, and the elk visibly shivered. He then shook himself as if to shed water from his fur, his great antlers arcing through the air back and forth with a great whooshing sound. Finally, he seemed to master himself, and he bowed his head once more. Her smile widened slightly. ¡°Is that to your satisfaction?¡± ¡°It is, Tala. You have shown yourself capable of honoring your word.¡± ¡°So, our deal is confirmed as we agreed? You will accept inquiries from Mages for one hundred cubic feet per complete answer or magical scan?¡± He dipped his head once again, clearly resigned to what she and Rane had convinced him to agree to. ¡°So long as they are non-invasive, and do not disrupt or damage my forest, yes.¡± Alat? -I have notified Mistress Ingrit, and the others who need to know. One hundred and fifty cubic feet of dimensional storage space for such.- Tala smiled internally. And we will provide the facilitation and materials for the space in exchange for our fifty cubic feet. Thus, his forest will grow¡ªKit will grow even more¡ªand everyone will get what they want. -So shall it be.- ¡°So, do I get the full answers to those questions?¡± She let her internal smile show outwardly. After all, I¡¯ve already paid you. Walden puffed a great lungful of air, shaking himself as his voice resounded around them. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Thank you. Shall we start with the difference between Sovereign and god-beast? I feel that your answer was designed to be obtuse.¡± ¡°As I said, you have a surprising lack of knowledge.¡± He settled down, clearly getting comfortable on the thick grass. ¡°Both are the ends of branching, diverging paths. Both find their purpose in drawing in that which they are exposed to and processing it in some way, in order to pass it on. They both also each use a bit of what they draw through themselves.¡± ¡°And in this analogy is Zeme the tree? Existence itself?¡± ¡°Zeme is closer to the truth, if we are to stretch the analogy. But to finish my imperfect analogy, roots draw from what is directly around them, and in that they are limited. Even so, it is easier to remove a branch than a root of the same size. And a branch? What do you think I will say about one of those?¡± Walden flicked his nose her way. She frowned. ¡°A branch¡­ takes power from what emanates far away.¡± It clicked for her, then. ¡°Sovereigns are the branches? Accepting power which is radiated their way and god-beasts are the roots, drawing from that in which they are steeped?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°And both use their power, after absorbing it, passing it back to Zeme, changed.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Alright. I understand that much. What is the difference in regards to advancement?¡± ¡°Both are claiming authority over something. God-beasts are, generally, gaining authority over a location in one sense or another. Sovereigns gain it over a concept, generally.¡± ¡°City Lords are striving for authority over a location.¡± The elk shook his head. ¡°Yes, but mostly no. Unless much has changed, the arcane City Lords are seeking authority over the concept of their city, not the land itself.¡± Tala blinked a few times. Wait¡­ oh. Oh! That makes so much more sense. -Yeah, if they were simply claiming the location, the people being there or not wouldn¡¯t actually matter. A city is a conceptual thing, made up of physical things. They are seeking authority over the concept.- Yeah. I feel like we knew that in a sense, but hadn¡¯t really put it to words. -That makes sense.- ¡°What of Anatalis?¡± The elk¡¯s head twitched, Walden clearly checking for the presence of wolves. ¡°The great wolf still lives then?¡± He shook himself. ¡°But of course he does. The god-beast Anatalis claims the location of his pack.¡± Tala just stared. Rane, on the other hand, shook his head. ¡°That seems like cheating. Why wouldn¡¯t every Magical beast then just claim ¡®the land upon which they stand?¡¯¡± ¡°The land upon which a Magical beast stands is not sufficient to power it, young human. The land upon which the pack stands is.¡± Rane opened his mouth to argue, but then, he hesitated. Tala could practically see the gears turning within his head as his mouth slowly closed. Tala felt herself smile as she went through a similar process before nodding in understanding. ¡°That¡¯s why he revives those that die.¡± ¡°That is one of the reasons, yes. If he had a soul as you did, it wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say that he was soulbound to his entire pack. Which brings us to the second difference, god-beasts do not have souls in the same way Sovereigns do. It may seem a small difference, but we beasts do not pass on, we return to the greater spiritual existence of Zeme. The souls of humans and arcanes leave this place, never to return.¡± Chapter: 462 - Your Bargain Tala and Rane sat side by side before Walden, the Reforged-level immortal elk. Terry perched on her shoulder, though his eyes were open and glancing about in clear fascination and desire to go explore the ancient forest surrounding them. Thankfully, he was containing himself for the moment. Walden had just finished his basic overview of the difference between Sovereigns and god-beasts, and he was awaiting their questions. Rane asked something first, but to be fair, it was the most obvious follow-up question given the circumstances. ¡°Where do you think a Transcendent would fit in all this, in your analogy?¡± The elk tilted his head. ¡°A gated, supreme being?¡± Rane nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± Walden sounded genuinely confused. Rane frowned for only a moment before his eyes widened in realization. Even so, it was Tala who spoke first, almost whispering, ¡°The sun.¡± Walden gave a solemn nod. ¡°A Transcendent could not exist upon this world at all. The sheer level of power that could flow through them would burn away all of existence, as things are.¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°You are speaking about what is true within the analogy though, right?¡± ¡°Yes, within the analogy,¡± Walden conceded. ¡°We have never been subject to the presence of such a being, so we have only theories. But you have your own throughput as a gauge. Even if that only doubled with every advancement, can you imagine what sixteen times your throughput would do to the face of Zeme?¡± Tala could, actually, even if only comparatively. Being nearly halfway to Paragon, her throughput was more than sixteen times what it had been as a newly Fused¡ªthough, a large part of that was due to her gate-breaking at the hands of the arcanes¡ªand she knew that her current self could kill an army of Talas from that time. More than that, though, she could see the amount of damage done to Reality from power differences. Her throughput was close to double Rane¡¯s at the moment, and she had started tears in Reality at the site of old Arconaven where he had not. What would Master Xeel have caused? A full breach with every step? It was a bit horrifying to contemplate, if she were being honest. True, that was already a damaged area, but how much more power would it take before she would almost immediately erode even untarnished Reality? She frowned. ¡°I see¡­¡± She considered for a long moment, then her eyes opened wide. ¡°That¡¯s the answer to the second question too, then?¡± Walden gave a slow nod. ¡°That would be my guess, yes. The fact that the group which came into my cell was so well balanced¡ªspecialty wise¡ªand powerful? It implies a certain level of available humans of the same power level. When it became evident that you weren¡¯t a group put together specifically to deal with cells¡ªalong with a few other points of interest¡ªthe implication was clear. Gated humanity is much more powerful than it was when I was initially locked away.¡± Tala was slowly nodding. ¡°And with greater power, we are abrading Reality more than usual. Is that your theory?¡± ¡°It would be more accurate to say that it is my best guess.¡± Tala smiled and shook her head, then. ¡°I think I have to disagree with your assessment, then. We continue to move in the same cyclical pattern, expanding outward to keep the cycle time the same even as we increase the number of cities. We haven¡¯t changed our timing, because we have observed that there is no need to do so. We are very careful to allow Reality to repair as fully as possible before rebuilding on a previous city site. That shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± An all too human laugh resonated from the surrounding space. It wasn¡¯t derisive, per se. It was like nothing so much as a parent chuckling at the sincere¡ªbut incredibly faulty¡ªlogic of a toddler. ¡°So, you think inflicting the same level of damage, in a wider area will reduce how much Reality resists you?¡± Her smile faded, but it was Rane who responded. ¡°You are acting like Reality has a sentience¡ªif not a sapience¡ªrather than simply existing as cause and effect responses.¡± Walden¡¯s tone was marginally dismissive, ¡°I imply no such thing.¡± Still, he paused for a moment before nodding, as if having decided it was worth explaining himself a bit further. ¡°If you scrape your antlers against a tree, the bark takes time to recover. If you scrape more of the tree, it takes longer to recover. This is true even if you don¡¯t scrape any more deeply in any one location. If you scrape to the same depth across too much of it, you can kill the tree. Once again, this is true, even if no individual scrape is any deeper than you¡¯ve imparted before. But I am not meaning to imply that you are about to kill Reality. I am simply trying to convey that something can be a cause and effect response that you haven¡¯t encountered before that is due to a change in quantity, even without a change in kind.¡± Rane frowned, considering Walden¡¯s words. Tala sighed. ¡°I suppose part of this might be the fact that I don¡¯t actually know the means by which cells are secured, and what about them needs to be maintained.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you?¡± Walden sounded smug. ¡°If my observations about you are correct, you have all the tools to have seen and understood. Have you simply not made the connections?¡± ¡°No. I¡­ don¡¯t¡­¡± Her words trailed off, as she considered. What was a cell? It couldn¡¯t just be a sealed, expanded space. Someone like Walden could get out of that with little trouble. It couldn¡¯t be an artifact of Magic alone. There was obviously some void to it, but that wasn¡¯t the full answer. For some reason, her inscriptions came to mind, then, and some pieces clicked together within her thoughts. A cell anchor¡ªalong with the atrium of a cell¡ªallowed for the dimensionality which contained the prisoner to be held between Zeme and the Doman-Imithe. Each of those were one side of Reality, at least in theory. So, where did that leave the cells? ¡°Cells are each a pocket that is healed into the skin of Reality?¡± While it should have been an assertion, she wasn¡¯t sure, so it came out like a question. ¡°It is fully enclosed and held in place, but Reality slowly rejects it, and so Reality must be cut open¡ªthe void in which the cell is hidden must be exposed¡ªdrained of any infection, cleaned, and resealed?¡± ¡°That is a somewhat crass, grotesque metaphor, but yes. It sounds apt to me.¡± ¡°And with more gated-humans ¡®irritating¡¯ the surroundings, Reality¡¯s immune response to the cells is coming to bear faster?¡± ¡°Once again, a rather visceral way of looking at it, but it seems right enough to me.¡± Tala and Rane exchanged a look. It had been less than a year since they investigated the old city sites, and they had front and center in their minds the great rents in Reality that Tala¡ªand now Terry¡ªcould perceive. She had shown Rane her memories of the sights. So he had as much foundation in it as she did. They¡¯d also discussed it at length, even if they hadn¡¯t really come to any conclusions. Mistress Ingrit had done brisk business with those memories as well, and Tala was hopeful that someone would be able to give them more information. She had an active petition in place to be able to try her amplification of connections across the rents, and she¡¯d been told that there were several Archons working through the theoreticals. Things looked like she¡¯d probably get approval within a year or so, if not sooner. But all of that was beside the current point. Rane once again voiced his thoughts before Tala had fully organized what she wanted to say. Cognitive tangents had a way of slowing down her arrival at the point. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that we should expect this increased rate of cell decay going forward?¡± ¡°Assuming I¡¯m right? Yes. That eventuality also assumes that nothing is done to assuage this issue.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Rane glanced knowingly Tala¡¯s way, and she gave a small smile. It might work. ¡°Regardless, I have answered your two questions and clarified those answers. Are you satisfied that I have upheld my agreement?¡± Tala nodded, standing to her feet. ¡°I am, yes. I shall leave you to your forest for the time being.¡± ¡°Thank you. I trust you will contact me should you have more to ask, whether for yourself or others?¡± ¡°Yes. I will.¡± Rane joined her, standing and walking toward the exit. Terry flickered back to her shoulder, and the three were about to enter the tunnel when Walden spoke, drawing their attention back to him. ¡°Tala. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the magical density of this place has not increased since it was added to your dimensional space.¡± A smile flashed across her features, but she hid the reaction from both her physical face and the illusion overtop of it as quickly as it had come. Once she¡¯d mastered herself, she turned back to face the elk. ¡°But of course, my good Walden. Increased magical density was not a part of our negotiations.¡± The immortal elk narrowed his eyes. ¡°You stated that your storage had a certain magical density, and then asked to add my forest to it.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes, but you know as well as I that even if I were to spread out my available power through here, the massive nature of your forest would render the density far below that which I mentioned. I have added to the size of your forest, and that has added to your power. Anything more will require an equivalent exchange.¡± He let out a large, billowing breath, shaking himself in clear irritation, though not in outright anger. ¡°You have kept to your bargain and not gone an inch farther. I will keep this in mind, human.¡± Tala fully faced the towering cervid, raising an eyebrow. ¡°You have kept to the bargain as well, Walden, and I do not see any great overextension on your part. Shall I give a vague threat in return? Or do you require one that is not so vague?¡± She was prepared to do so, to let him feel how his authority was not overtop her own. She could fight him for control and do him great harm at the very least. She hoped that it wouldn¡¯t be required, however. After only a moment¡¯s pause, he shook himself again and stomped a foot, but once again, it didn¡¯t come across as a threatening gesture. Instead, it was simply one of irritation and frustration. ¡°I see. I accept that we are both sticking to the core of that to which we agreed. Very well.¡± Tala gave a slight bow. ¡°Until we meet again, Walden.¡± He dipped his head in return. ¡°Until then, Tala.¡± Without further delay, the trio left the former cell behind. Once again, they passed through the tunnel at a sedate pace. This time, however, Tala took the time to analyze exactly what was going on around her. She was walking on the edge of existence within Kit. Her threefold sight said that there was nothing beyond the walls, floor, and ceiling. This was not the nothing of a void of emptiness stretching on forever. This was the nothing of no space in which anything could be. It wasn¡¯t even a void. It was nothing. Yet, around the tunnel through which they walked, at the very outermost edge of the very surface they trod upon, was the division between that nothing and the something within. That division was Void. She had never considered it in that manner. Kit¡¯s standard expanded space didn¡¯t exist in that manner. Kit divided her expanded internals from the rest of existence, just barely stoneward of the superficial. The caravan wagons that Tala had helped expand didn¡¯t even have that much separation. They were simply expanded space, bound within the superficial. The forest, and the connection to it, were something entirely new. Well¡­ the cells looked like this. We just never considered them in this way. She was walking through a thin tendril of air, held existent by a thin veneer of void. That realization struck her like a hammer, and she trembled. Only a concerted act of will kept her feet moving at a steady pace. She almost moved herself to the safety of her sanctum, but she refused to run in fear. Within her mind, Alat also trembled. As a being of pure thought, the idea of true nothingness was even more impactful, more terrifying. When they exited, Tala was leaning on Rane, who braced her without being asked, and she was infinitely grateful for that. She looked around, allowing her threefold sight to see all the something around her. Behind her, the entrance to the tunnel both was there and wasn¡¯t. It took up no space as it simply opened into the void in which the forest was tucked. The forest was also easily visible to her, even though it seemed to take up no space where it was sequestered. She took a few deep breaths before nodding. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Rane spoke quietly, but everyone would have been able to hear, regardless. She nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah¡­ I just¡­ my perception allowed me to understand something that I don¡¯t really feel like I was built to understand.¡± Their unit was waiting for them, and Mistress Terra was just withdrawing her magics at their arrival. She had been about to say something, but hesitated, seeming to change before saying, ¡°Existence and non-existence are easy to think of, but hard to see. Do you need another moment?¡± Tala waivered, then nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± The Paragon smiled. ¡°Take your time.¡± A minute or so¡ªand a large mug of coffee¡ªlater, Tala smiled toward Mistress Terra. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Very good. I detected no issues, fluctuations, or problems while you were in the former cell. From what I can tell, for this prisoner, this is as secure as the cell previously was. I now simply need to retrieve the cell anchor from the Doman-Imithe, and we can head back to Alefast. Master Grediv and several Constructionists are awaiting your arrival.¡± Tala nodded to the Paragon. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Terra.¡± ¡°It is quite literally my job.¡± But the woman still smiled in return. ¡°But you are most welcome. This is not something I had expected to witness.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I suppose I could have guessed it was possible, but the idea would not have occurred to me. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this rather interesting experiment.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The women shared a smile. Master Limmestare interjected. ¡°It will be a rather interesting story to tell, and we get paid either way. So, thank you for making it safer and less arduous.¡± Tala chuckled at that. Master Girt looked around before turning back toward Tala. ¡°So¡­ can we get out?¡± ¡°Oh! Right.¡± Tala willed an exit from Kit to appear, and they all left her sanctum, returning to Zeme. * * * After a detailed examination, Master Grediv and the Constructionists had been just as satisfied as Mistress Terra with the security of the prisoner, and the Constructionists had asked to study the results more closely, even offering the requisite rate to do so. Tala agreed easily, a hundred and fifty cubic feet wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was something. Additionally, the studying of the dimensionality of the forest¡¯s integration with Kit didn¡¯t involve the elk or his forest directly at all, so Tala didn¡¯t have to share the compensation. At Master Simon¡¯s suggestion, Tala did offer the man¡¯s services to take readings and perform basic analysis onsite for a reduced rate. That way, Tala got all the data too, and there weren¡¯t other people constantly traipsing through her sanctum. Her talk with Walden had made her all the more concerned about the integrity of Reality within Kit. She didn¡¯t think about the nothing that she¡¯d been all but exposed to. It wasn¡¯t time for that. She had other things to do. She was close to done amplifying the reality node connections within her artificial lung, but not quite¡ªbut since she hadn¡¯t been devoting too much time to it, that was to be expected¡ªand she resolved that as soon as that was done, she would unify her entire sanctum into a singular reality node, if she could make it work. If I¡¯m fast enough, it might add weight to the idea that I should be allowed to try such at an old city site. But that was a bit over-optimistic, given that she would probably need a lot of time to unify the reality nodes of her sanctum. Assuming it worked as she hoped¡ªand the results were what she thought they would be¡ªshe¡¯d want to do the same thing for Irondale too. But that was putting the cart before the horse. I do love that my gravity magics are coming back into prominence. -Yeah, I¡¯ve felt like they were fading into the background. I missed them.- Yeah, me too. Her birthday had come and gone, and Rane had ¡®randomly¡¯ presented her and Terry with a gift on that day. Truthfully, it was more of a gift for Terry, but Tala had appreciated it almost as much. Rane had known she would, which made her quite happy at being so understood. She had shared some of the memories of Terry¡¯s life, which the bonding had granted her, and with that basis, Rane had made a statue of Terry¡¯s mate, of her. Rane then placed the statue near to the one of Mistress Odera. It was close enough to clearly be near at hand, but far enough that their overlapping magical projections didn¡¯t interfere. That was important because Rane had also used the shared memories to commission another false aura creator, this one mimicking her aura for Terry. When Rane had revealed it to the two of them¡ªallowing the false aura to activate¡ªTerry had been utterly shocked. Tala could feel the avian¡¯s emotions roiling through him as he regarded the statue, as he felt her presence for the first time in centuries. In order to give Terry a moment, Tala had given Rane a grateful hug and kiss while Terry collected himself. Then, the terror bird had flicked before Rane, of a size to look him eye to eye. Rane hadn¡¯t flinched back at the sudden appearance. Instead, he had spread his arms wide, and Terry had stepped forward into the embrace, tucking his head behind Rane¡¯s back, tears in evidence within his large, avian eyes. He had then flickered to Rane¡¯s shoulder and stayed there for the remainder of the day as they went to a play, nice restaurants, and other fun events before their afternoon shift on the walls. Overall, it had been a wonderful day that just so happened to also be her birthday. Chapter: 463 - This Gateless Paradise Tala tried to hold in her nervous excitement as she waited in Mistress Holly¡¯s waiting room. It was as well appointed and clean as always, with sparse decorations just slightly shifting the ambience from being strictly utilitarian toward comfortable. The attendant behind the counter gave her a nervous glance every so often, offering more coffee every second or third glance. It was good coffee, well brewed for drinking black, so Tala took him up on the refill almost every time¡­ It hadn¡¯t been that long, but she¡¯d still drunk too much coffee. -You think?- What? I¡¯m nervous, coffee calms me down. Alat gave a derisive snort within Tala¡¯s head. -Sure it does.- It had been almost an hour, and Mistress Holly had warned that it could take anywhere from half an hour to three, depending on several unforeseeable variables. -Nothing we can do will change the outcome, Tala. It¡¯s better to just¡ª- Alat cut off abruptly, causing Tala to hitch mid-sip and sit up straighter. Alat? -Wait.- What¡¯s happening? -I¡­ got a message from Rane¡¯s alternate interface. We are establishing a contact protocol. Stop interrupting me, or this will take a lot longer. I have a bit more speed than he does, but I don¡¯t have the space for even this explanation.- Alat cursed. -Now I¡¯m behind. Hush!- Tala almost projected more questions at her alternate interface, but she could feel Alat¡¯s concentration drawing more power through her gate to increase their combined mental capacities. Alat was claiming all the expanded ability for herself too, leaving Tala with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Well, almost nothing to do. She got another cup of coffee. Then another. She was drinking her umpteenth cup when Rane¡¯s voice sounded within her head, ¡°HEY! TALA!¡± Tala practically choked, coughing up a bit of coffee before swallowing to clear her throat. Alat? What¡¯s going on? -He¡¯s talking to you.- Can he hear me now? -Not unless you want him to.- How do I respond then? -...by wanting to. I¡¯ll do the rest.- Right. Tala took a deep breath, even if she didn¡¯t need breath to respond. ¡°Rane?¡± ¡°Not quite! I am, and I am not at the same time. Neat, huh? I mean, you have experience with this because of Alat, but for me? This is crazy. I see nothing and everything at the same time. Wait, Alat is telling me that I¡¯m not actually seeing everything. I¡¯m just experiencing information echoes based on my ability to recall perfectly how everything looked when Rane last saw it. Hmmm¡­ what¡¯s the difference? Oh! Because it¡¯s not in real time. That makes sense. Yes! So, isn¡¯t this crazy? We can talk anytime now and¡ª¡± Tala felt Alat cut the connection before the alternate interface sent the impression of a clearing throat. -Well¡­ I think I might have a bit more sympathy for Terry, now¡­- A moment later, Terry squawked without opening his eyes from where he was still curled up on one of the chairs . -He forgives me, and I promised to not connect Rane¡¯s alternate interface through to him any time in the near future. We¡¯re in a good place, now.- Tala was still feeling a bit overwhelmed from the storm of words basically being dumped into her head. Why is he so exuberant? -...Really? You can¡¯t imagine why Rane¡¯s unfiltered, inner voice is so exuberant?- ¡­Right. Tala took a deep breath and felt a smile steal over her face. Is he still talking with you? -...Yes, but I¡¯m slowly reining him in.- Are you sure that it isn¡¯t you who is being ¡®Raned¡¯ in? -...That¡¯s a bad pun, and you should feel bad.- Maybe, but I don¡¯t. Alat sighed. -Rane should be out shortly. Apparently, he¡¯s getting ranted at as well, and they¡¯re trying to figure out an operating agreement. Mistress Holly is trying to kick him out.- Tala could just imagine the fiery woman shooing the giant man from her workshop. In fact, she didn¡¯t have to imagine it. Her threefold perception was able to see that far, and she could see Mistress Holly¡¯s irritation with the big man. Is he getting any better? The fact that she was referencing Rane¡¯s alternate interface was obvious to Alat, so Tala didn¡¯t bother to clarify. -I think so. He wasn¡¯t based upon a fundamental function like I was. So he¡¯s really just a copy of Rane¡¯s consciousness running in parallel.- And you are? Tala teased lightly. -A copy of your consciousness that has run in parallel after being based upon, and melded with, a system designed to monitored your body and magic, and revive you in the case of unconsciousness.- Fine, ruin the joke. Tala still projected amusement toward Alat all the same. A minute later, Rane and Mistress Holly came into the waiting room. The Inscriptionist had an exasperated look on her face, but Tala could see mirth in her eyes. Rane seemed a bit dazed, his eyes slightly unfocused, but he was moving alright. Tala took pity on them both and came forward, taking Rane by the arm and leading him away. Mistress Holly gave a shallow bow. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. Always a pleasure to see you.¡± Tala returned the bow. ¡°I am happy to assist. Thank you for taking such good care of him.¡± ¡°But of course.¡± The Inscriptionist gave a strained smile. Together, Tala and Rane departed Mistress Holly¡¯s building. As they did so, Terry flickered to her shoulder before squawking once. -Terry would like to go into your sanctuary, but he doesn¡¯t want to just abandon you two.- That¡¯s kind of him to check. Tala had no issue with that. She almost opened a small portal into the space which used to be the atrium to Walden¡¯s cell, but when she went to do so, there was already one in existence, and Terry had already flickered through. She knew what Terry really wanted, and sure enough, before she could fully register his movements, Terry was in Walden¡¯s forest, looking for Walden in order to negotiate with the being for the terms to hunt within the immortal elk¡¯s ecosystem. The terror bird had been connecting with the elk every so often, working on the massive magical beast and wearing down his resistance. You go, Terry. Best of luck. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Tala added another thought, this time directed at Alat, Please make sure he¡¯s not negotiating away things we don¡¯t want him to give. -Already on top of that. I mean, he already tried to trade¡­ well, it¡¯s likely best you don¡¯t know. I¡¯m keeping an eye on it.- Tala sighed, but sent her gratitude regardless. She was actually happy to not have to be the one to rein Terry in. No, she was assisting with Rane at the moment. The two of them walked through the streets of Bandfast, the latter still a bit dazed as his alternate interface clearly continued a deluge of¡­ something within his mind. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Finally, his eyes focused on Tala. ¡°How do you stand this?¡± He immediately flinched, the alternate interface clearly having had something to say about the sentiment. ¡°He¡­ he won¡¯t stop.¡± The big man was rubbing at his temples. Tala placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him a firmer point of physical contact. ¡°You can pull power from the scripts?¡± Rane¡¯s eyes immediately brightened, but even as the smallest tendril of his magic began to shift, he jerked to a stop. ¡°Huh. He¡­ he stopped.¡± Tala gave a wry smile. ¡°Having power to change his existence will do that, yeah.¡± Rane let out a contented sigh, a small tear actually appearing in his eye. ¡°Oh, beautiful silence. If that¡¯s what it¡¯s like to go mad, I have been vastly too harsh on madmen.¡± -He¡¯s cross with you. He is well aware that you don¡¯t love him, but he still feels a bit betrayed that you told Rane how to essentially knock him unconscious.- Well, Rane already knew, he was just being so overwhelmed that he couldn¡¯t put the thoughts together. -Speaking from experience, that very well might have been deliberate.- ¡­That jerk. -Just a bit? But he¡¯s also a bit concerned for his own existence. He¡¯s basically a newborn with the mental capacity of an adult. He¡¯s trying to find his way in the world.- I suppose I can see that. Rane smiled her way. ¡°Well, he wants a name. Any ideas?¡± ¡°Enar?¡± He grimaced. ¡°I mean, it does match ¡®Alat,¡¯ but I don¡¯t really like that name. I mean I don¡¯t dislike it, but it doesn¡¯t particularly grab me.¡± He considered. ¡°Ideally, he¡¯ll be my pal. I had a childhood friend who died after he joined the guard. What about Marvin? Tala was skeptical. ¡°Do you really want to be depressed by the memory? Or I suppose you might be to a point where it would simply be honoring him. You¡¯ll have to tell me.¡± Rane considered. ¡°He says it would depress him, so it¡¯s out.¡± His frown deepened as he considered further. ¡°He processes a lot of information¡­ Data?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not a bad name, but it seems rather impersonal to me. If I were him, I¡¯d be afraid that you were just going to use me as a personal assistant if you gave me that name.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think with the right interactions, he could be lovable.¡± She smiled. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t have to do with the name.¡± ¡°Yeah, I suppose you¡¯re right. And if the goal is just a lovable name, we could simply call him something ridiculous, like Uncle Bob.¡± ¡°True.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t really like it, but you might as well ask him. What about Bob?¡± Rane glanced to the side for a moment. ¡°Yeah, he hates that.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Do you have any other ideas?¡± ¡°Well, he exists because of metal, via my inscriptions¡­ What about Hale?¡± ¡°Like hail?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. He¡¯s the ¡®hard¡¯ version of me. He¡¯d be Hale because I¡¯m Rane.¡± Tala sighed, rubbing her forehead. ¡°Like rain?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± He beamed at her. ¡°Surely you¡¯d say it¡¯s a good option, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rane, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do that.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Besides, that¡¯s how I would come up with a name. You¡¯re better than that, Rane.¡± His eyes sparkled. ¡°So, you finally admit that you aren¡¯t good at naming things, eh?¡± ¡°I said no such things.¡± She hid a smile behind a false grimace. ¡°Sure, sure.¡± He waved off her objection, clearly seeing through her facade. ¡°Come on now, big guy. I thought you were going to wow me with a better way to come up with names. Haven¡¯t you been giving this choice a lot of thought before today?¡± ¡°Right, you¡¯re right. I have, but nothing ever really seemed right. I also felt like I should meet him before trying to give him a name. ¡° ¡°I suppose that makes sense. What does he think about our other ideas so far?¡± ¡°Well, his first suggestion was that he should be Rane, and that I should change my name. So, I¡¯m not very inclined to listen to his other suggestions.¡± Rane was clearly grumpy at the idea. ¡°-Don¡¯t worry. Time will show him that he doesn¡¯t want to pilot the meat puppet.-¡± Somehow, Tala could tell that Alat was speaking to both her and Rane at the same time. Rane jerked. ¡°Wait¡­ was that Alat?¡± Her shared communication continued, ¡°-Yes. He has allowed me to speak with you at this time. But despite what he thinks, I am not going to try to convince you to let him be Rane. No, don¡¯t be grumpy. You are new. Take a new name.-¡± Rane blinked a few times, shaking his head vigorously at what was likely a renewed deluge of words within his mind. Tala led them the last few steps to a park bench, and they sat in the winter chill. Both of them actually liked the cool temperatures despite their lack of winter wear. They were hardly the only Mages out and about without ¡®proper clothing.¡¯ So, they didn¡¯t stand out too much. He groaned. ¡°This is¡­ a lot.¡± ¡°-I know, but he can¡¯t be called that. That¡¯s my name.-¡± ¡°You¡¯re hilarious,¡± he said in a monotone. ¡°-Wow, you¡¯re a lot less fun than I¡¯d thought you would be,-¡± Alat sent to both of them. ¡°Yeah, well you¡¯re both a bit more annoying than I thought you would be.¡± Tala blinked a few times, making sure she understood what he meant. Rane saw her reaction and quickly clarified. ¡°Him and Alat. Not you, Tala.¡± ¡°Oh, I figured that. I am just trying to remember if I had a similar issue with Alat.¡± -Not that you remember, no.- Tala frowned. That¡¯s an oddly¡­ suspicious answer. -I suppose it is. I wish I could tell you something different, but as far as I can tell, we got along well. It wasn¡¯t perfectly smooth, but it wasn¡¯t quite like this. I came to be who I am gradually, and I think that helped us have time to adapt.- Tala sighed. ¡°What can we do to help?¡± Rane sighed. ¡°I think once he has a name, that will make things easier.¡± She nodded, mentally buckling down to help them make a decision. ¡°Alright, then. What does he want to be called, that isn¡¯t Rane?¡± Rane narrowed his eyes in concentration for a long moment. ¡°Enar¡­ that seems to be the only name that he doesn¡¯t have vehement objections to.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Enar it is. Good to meet you, Enar.¡± Rane looked up and to the left. ¡°He says that it¡¯s good to hear your voice through someone else¡¯s ears.¡± She sighed. ¡°Yeah, that will pass soon. It seems that he got all your snark without any filters?¡± He regarded her with a puzzled expression. ¡°I have snark?¡± She grinned in return. ¡°Nope. At least not any more. He took it all.¡± That made Rane chuckle. ¡°I suppose so, yeah.¡± With Rane and Enar on somewhat acceptable terms, he and Tala stood back up, continuing their walk toward Lyn¡¯s house. ¡°Oh, Lyn and Kannis are going to love him.¡± Rane¡¯s mouth quirked up on one side. ¡°I bet they will.¡± Fannas still didn¡¯t like to come out when Terry was around, so they hadn¡¯t seen as much of him of late, but he still made it a point to say hi whenever they came by. Regardless, it would be a pretty standard visit all the same. * * * They were on their way out of Bandfast the next morning when Alat made a surprised sound within Tala¡¯s head. -Oh, oh! Stop!- Tala stepped off to the side of the street in order to be out of the path of the morning foot traffic, and not force any of the vehicles to divert around her. Rane and Terry moved alongside her with looks of curiosity. She held up a finger, asking for them to wait. What is it, Alat? -Lisa just reached out. He is asking if we are still in the city. Apparently, he just heard that Irondale was here, and he wanted to check in.- What did you tell him? Tala felt a bit of excitement rise within her. She would love to give Lisa another option for housing, and once he was out from under his obligation to answer certain questions, she would be able to ask them without feeling like a terrible person. -I just responded, letting him know we were on our way out of the city.- So¡­ -He¡¯s writing in our shared note.- Can I know what he¡¯s saying? She was practically bouncing with expectant excitement. -You really want his thoughts as he composes them? You don¡¯t want to give him the chance to think through and finalize? Are you some sort of monster?- Tala growled internally. Just tell me the gist of it. Alat chuckled. -He¡¯s open to moving into Irondale, but he wants to see it for himself before he moves forward with the idea.- Oh! Alright. I imagine he¡¯ll want to negotiate with Artia as well, given they¡¯re in similar businesses, now. -Yeah, that¡¯s likely.- So¡­ are we going to see him? -Yes.- Tala turned to Rane and Terry. Rane was watching her carefully, making sure nothing was going wrong, and Terry was watching the crowd, eyes peeled for any unattended treats. His¡­ proclivities were getting expensive, even if he had reined them in after a few talking-tos. He even seemed to have found some way of gaining money¡­ Alat said it was perfectly legal, but she also said that Terry didn¡¯t want her to know just yet. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t that important. ¡°We¡¯re going to swing by and drop in on Lisa at his shop. He has asked to look around Irondale to gather more information about what it might mean to live there and help inform him as to whether or not he wants to immigrate to my little city.¡± Rane frowned in thought before nodding. ¡°Sure, that makes sense. I actually haven¡¯t seen it in quite a while, it will be interesting to see how it¡¯s grown.¡± Terry let out a little huff, but he didn¡¯t argue or protest. Tala grinned. She hadn¡¯t visited herself in a while either, but she could see everything that went on regardless, so it wasn¡¯t like there would be any surprises for her. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s go.¡± They made their way through the city to the magic shop, finding the door unlocked for them this time. When they opened it, however, they found Lisa standing right inside, his impenetrable human illusion already in place. He gave a vulpine smile as greeting before getting right to the point, ¡°You¡¯re here. Good, good.¡± Before they could respond, he stepped out, spun around, locked his door, and then turned back toward them to regard Tala with expectant eyes. When she didn¡¯t immediately react, he gestured to her. ¡°Well? I can see your town hanging there, ready to be investigated, but I can¡¯t see any details. Additionally, I feel that it would be rude to breach my way in from here.¡± Tala felt herself smiling even as she wordlessly opened a door into Irondale on the wall of his shop, having it match his own door perfectly. In fact, it was so perfect that it made it look like he simply had a double door instead of the single that had been there before. The disguised fox sighed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not confusing.¡± ¡°I think you mispronounced ¡®convenient¡¯.¡± Her smile had grown to match his. He gave her a flat look. She shrugged in return, maintaining the smile. With a shake of his head and a huffed laugh, he walked forward and pushed open the door into the pocket-city. ¡°Let¡¯s see what madness awaits in this gateless paradise.¡± Chapter: 464 - What Do You Seek? Tala, Rane, and Terry followed Lisa into Irondale. As he stepped inside, the impenetrable illusion of a generic human male seemed to roll off of him, like Tala or Rane would shed a coat when coming in out of the weather. -You don¡¯t wear coats.- Did it make sense or not? -...fine¡­- Tala hadn¡¯t opened the door to the main gate of the town¡ªthrough which they enacted trade and tourism when Tala opened the town to the outside world in various cities. Instead, she had chosen a more scenic locale. Thus, they came out of the face of a small cliff roughly a mile from the edge of town. Lisa looked around, eyes widening immediately. ¡°How do you have such perfect control over power that isn¡¯t yours?¡± Tala grinned, the door swinging shut behind them. She didn¡¯t dismiss the portal out quite yet; that would be tantamount to trapping the fox, and he wouldn¡¯t appreciate it. Though, as she considered it, she realized that if anyone could break out of Kit, a powerful arcane who was also a fourth-dimensional construction expert should be able to manage it. Regardless, she needed to answer his question. ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of it. It is mine. It isn¡¯t flavored with my gate, thanks to the artifact you traded to me, but it is within my soulbound storage, and doesn¡¯t have a will of its own. It¡¯s as much mine as my own skin.¡± He turned to regard her. ¡°One moment. Are you telling me that the magic in here is untainted because of that?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She frowned at his surprise. ¡°I thought this is exactly what you said it could do.¡± His eye twitched, causing the fur on the side of his face to ripple even as he shook his head. ¡°I told you it could help purify your magic for a dimensional space. In my sales pitch, I was thinking maybe the size of a large estate, though even that would have strained it. It wouldn¡¯t have lasted forever regardless. How under the stars did you hold it together sufficiently to accomplish this?¡± He gestured around them. ¡°This space is at least as large as one of your gated human cities.¡± She shook her head. ¡°We didn¡¯t have to hold it together. The device is gone, now. My dimensional storage subsumed it and replicated the magics involved.¡± He narrowed his vulpine eyes at her. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible for you. That is a conceptual working. This space is soulbound to you.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not enacting it. Kit is. Being bound to a gate doesn¡¯t preclude conceptual magic.¡± He opened his mouth to argue, but then seemed to consider. ¡°It is true that arcanes who marry humans don¡¯t lose their magics¡­ I had not considered this workaround. You did mention your voidling bond, and how it gave your expanded space unexpected benefits and features.¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°You know that it will be the start of the next war if they learn of this place, right?¡± ¡°I hear your concern, and we are being careful. Essentially no one with magesight has gained access here. The rare exceptions have been explicitly trusted individuals. Without seeing the magical density first hand, this place would just seem like we are simply attempting to mimic the moving cities.¡± Lisa grunted. ¡°But investigation will show that it is without the core issue that those suffer from.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She was interested. She hadn¡¯t spent enough time in Howlton to learn much about the moving town, let alone the dimensionally expanded districts. She also hadn¡¯t had a chance to see any other moving settlement. ¡°Yes. They are incredibly magic poor. There are various solutions in place¡ªsome work better than others¡ªbut none of the pocket-districts are rich in power even to the level of an arcane city, let alone the holds of the Major Houses. This? This is more than even most of the birthing chambers of Major Houses.¡± He sighed. ¡°Regardless, I still can¡¯t even touch it. The control you have.¡± He moved his hand in jerky, unpredictable ways. ¡°It always stays perfectly away from me, no matter how I move.¡± Tala almost shared the simple trick to that, but held off. Someone as old, powerful, and knowledgeable as Lisa could probably exploit her method if he knew the specifics. ¡°However you¡¯re doing it, well done.¡± She smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡± A wry smile pulled at his lips a moment later. ¡°Now that I consider it, if word of you got back to the arcanes, you might be the cause of the next war, even without this place. So, it probably isn¡¯t that big of an issue. Regardless.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes. They aren¡¯t fond of people escaping their influence, and in the worst-case scenario, it would be assumed that the House of Blood was making a play for the gated human cities, and the other Houses wouldn¡¯t allow that to stand.¡± ¡°Exactly. Let¡¯s avoid such an outcome, shall we?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the goal.¡± She grinned in return, even if she privately finished the thought, At least until I¡¯m strong enough to hold my own. -Dangerous, Tala.- Yes. I plan on being extremely dangerous when I face them again. I can''t hide forever. It¡¯s best to prepare. -...fine.- Rane pointed up at the sun in the sky. ¡°Tala has done a lot of fantastic work in here. That is an artificial sun. It generates both light and heat, without the harmful components of the radiance we deal with on Zeme. For humans, that means that we can still get sunburned, but there isn¡¯t really any danger of mutation due to high-energy emissions.¡± Lisa nodded slowly. ¡°A product of the Constructionist Guild? I hadn¡¯t thought they were this advanced quite yet.¡± Tala gave Rane a grateful smile before picking up the explanation. ¡°They studied the arcane-made sun in my sanctum, and were able to reverse engineer many of the techniques. It helped that I had the technical manual ready to hand, having memorized it and Archived it while within the House of Blood.¡± The fox gave her a long look. ¡°I may have underestimated the depth some of your memories could provide. I have pursued the list of available topics from your Librarian, but I had dismissed some of them as being¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Regardless, I will have to reconsider my assessment.¡± Tala gave a slight bow. Lisa looked around, seeming to focus on the town down-slope of them for the first time. ¡°Will I cause¡­ issues walking through your town as I am?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°We have been very open with the citizens that non-human residents are a possibility, and we notified them about you specifically when we initially invited you.¡± ¡°That was nearly a year ago.¡± ¡°True. We have also notified the town as soon as you requested to visit.¡± ¡°Will word have permeated that quickly? Has it been an hour, yet?¡± ¡°Maybe just. Have you had breakfast yet?¡± Tala seemingly changed the subject, but she was doing her best to reel the fox in. His knowledge was useful, and if she could incorporate four-dimensional construction into Kit with the help of a true expert? That would be invaluable even without anything else of value that he had to offer. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I have not. Are you thinking we should go grab a bite to eat to give them more time?¡± Even though it was a question, he was already nodding at the perceived wisdom of the choice. ¡°Oh, not at all. There is a lovely little place in Irondale that serves breakfast that rivals Mistress Petra¡¯s, and she incorporates my own magics into my food.¡± She gave Lisa a teasing wink. ¡°Come on. It is well worth the time.¡± Rane grinned as he walked past the fox. ¡°The food really is delicious.¡± Lisa seemed hesitant, but he followed nonetheless. Tala could have moved them in an instant¡ªeven arranging them into empty seats in the restaurant¡ªif she had so desired, but she thought it better to arrive the old fashioned way. It also gave Lisa a greater chance to see the town in a more natural manner. They walked down a growing trail toward the end of a main street through the growing town. People were on the streets going about their day¡¯s activities already. The economy of the town had become mainly one of crafting in one form or other. It helped that most high-end crafts weren¡¯t dependent on the craftsman wielding magic. So gateless weren¡¯t at an inherent disadvantage. That, combined with the money that came in through trade¡ªfacilitated by Tala¡¯s travels¡ªand the influx with every stop from locals wanting to come in and explore the magically expanded and mobile town, made Irondale an incredibly prosperous place and its economy an incredibly odd one. From what she understood, the very fact that it was hard to become a citizen of Irondale made that citizenship more valuable to those who had it, and they acted like better versions of themselves both out of pride for having been granted citizenship and in order to maintain their position. That was something that several Archons she and Alat had consulted recommended to them. For any closed community like this¡ªespecially one that maintained so much exposure while limiting immigration¡ªit was important to have expectations of those who lived there. They couldn¡¯t be arduous, though, else people would simply leave. Thus, the folks were required to be active in the community as a whole, pay a small, yearly tax, and provide for their own needs. Tala had thought it wiser to have a percentage tax¡ªif she was going to have any fees at all¡ªbut from what she could discover through research and advice, a flat tax¡ªif low enough that all could pay it¡ªwould inspire greater productivity from more people. She would make much less than a flat percentage tax, but overall, a simple flat amount would lead to greater productivity in her citizenry. A gaggle of school-age children ran across the road down in the town, going from one lesson to another. School in Irondale was incredibly practical and mostly outdoors. That was only really possible because of the community buy-in and the fact that there was never inclement weather. There were a few hundred children all told. With a population of a little over a thousand, that was a sizable chunk. Lisa seemed to be taking in the size of the town¡ªand what it likely meant for population numbers¡ªbecause he asked, ¡°Where did you find all these gateless?¡± ¡°The first group came from Alefast, a larger portion came from Bandfast and Marliweather¡ªgathered during our frequent trips to those cities¡ªbut we¡¯ve also had a trickle of gateless applying and then traveling to meet up with us from all the gated-human cities. Elsewhere, they aren¡¯t exactly considered second class citizens, but their opportunities are naturally limited for the lack of a gate. There are even a lot of professions that utilize inscriptions and a limited connection to a person¡¯s gate, which are closed to them. Those are becoming ever more common thanks to innovations of people like Mistress Holly. I suspect we¡¯re on the cusp of a bit of a technical revolution centered around gates, and these folk saw the winds of change rising and are looking for a safe harbor.¡± Lisa nodded. ¡°As stands to reason. You gated have an unending source of power with you at all times. I agree. All signs indicate that your society will become more stratified as technology taking advantage of that continues to progress.¡± He gave a smile. ¡°Honestly, if you had greater trade with the arcanes, you¡¯d already be there. They have millenia of research into the exploitation of gates. You all just wouldn¡¯t have to use someone else¡¯s soul to get the benefit.¡± Tala grimaced, but eventually nodded, conceding the point. ¡°I do think that what I brought back in my memories has helped tip a few technologies over that cusp.¡± Terry trilled in question, and Tala smiled. ¡°Sure, I¡¯m sure Walden would be open to seeing you again.¡± After all, Terry wasn¡¯t really doing much by being with them. Without another word, Terry flickered away. Lisa gave Tala a long look. ¡°Walden? Is he some pillar of the community here?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No. He is someone you may meet if you choose to immigrate.¡± She hesitated. ¡°You might be able to meet him regardless, but I think that you¡¯d have to be approved because of your particular set of skills and capacities.¡± ¡°Now you have me intrigued.¡± He regarded her for another long moment as they continued to walk. ¡°Very well. I will bank my curiosity for the moment.¡± He looked back toward the town which they had almost reached. ¡°With all this citizenry, I still haven¡¯t seen anyone who is interacting directly with the magics in the air.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°How? You shouldn¡¯t be able to exert that level of minute control. Even if you could, I can¡¯t imagine you constantly monitoring every person¡¯s every movement and isolating them from the magic. Such shouldn¡¯t be possible.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Consider it a trade secret, then.¡± He gave a half-smile. ¡°Very well. Do you intend to let anyone access this power?¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, we are in the process of figuring out who should be given a rebirth, and how to facilitate it. We would love to grant it to everyone, but that isn¡¯t feasible for many reasons. Also, the bar for allowing someone to live here is a lot lower than the one that we are using to determine who should have access to Refined level power, even if it is in the arcane style.¡± Lisa gave a slightly hissing chuckle, the sound obviously inhuman coming from between his teeth and out of his vulpine nose. ¡°That is a wise approach, truly. Am I right in assuming you had hoped for some assistance from me in this regard?¡± ¡°We have considered it. You obviously are an expert in that form of magic, and having you as a teacher-in-residence and consultant for those who are rebirthed would be very valuable.¡± ¡°Quite, yes. I assume that you aren¡¯t without any teachers, but I would say you likely understated how much help I could be¡±¡ªhis smile widened¡ª¡°with the proper compensation.¡± He seemed to be genuinely considering. ¡°How large do you expect Irondale to become?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t have a limit, honestly. If I can stabilize Reality within here, I¡¯d be open to allowing gated in as well.¡± He huffed a laugh at that. ¡°Yes, and if gated humanity could stabilize Reality out there, they wouldn¡¯t move their cities. And if the settlements could stabilize Reality within their districts, gated humans would be allowed in, and they wouldn¡¯t have to move.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You could do a lot if such were possible.¡± She responded. ¡°Regardless, if we can do it, such would cause a lot of issues and require a lot of work to filter out applicants. We already have more than ten times the applications from gated than gateless.¡± He frowned at that. ¡°You allow gated?¡± She chuckled ruefully. ¡°As citizens? No. And we make that very clear.¡± Tala gave a resigned sigh. ¡°They apply anyway.¡± He grinned at that, showing his fangs. ¡°Ahh, to have something in such high demand. That is the dream of any provider of goods.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± She grimaced slightly regardless. ¡°The most troubling, though, are the applications for children to move here on their own.¡± He tilted his head to one side before slowly nodding. ¡°Known gateless children, born to gated families?¡± Rane sighed and responded. ¡°Exactly. Tala has asked for my thoughts on a lot of them. From what I can see, some are just horrible people, trying to pawn off their supposedly disabled child, but many are genuinely seeking a better life for their son or daughter.¡± Lisa chuckled, instantly understanding the issue. ¡°Ahh, but if you allow any, which do you prioritize? Taking in those from parents who clearly see the child as lesser? Or those who are genuinely acting in love for their children? Seeking a better life for one whom they love?¡± Tala sighed, nodding. ¡°Exactly. That is precisely the issue. We don¡¯t want to reward horrible people, but those are also likely the children who need a better place more.¡± She let out a long sigh. Rane smiled consolingly, but didn¡¯t interject again. As they¡¯d been walking, his eyes had unfocused every once in a while as he engaged with Enar. That made Tala smile, remembering how often she¡¯d fallen into dialoguing with Alat near the beginning, ignoring those around her. -Well, it is reasonable to talk to the most intelligent person in the room, so¡­- Hush, you. But Tala still projected mirth toward the alternate interface. Finally, Lisa asked a question that he seemed to care quite a bit about. ¡°Why?¡± Tala stopped walking barely a dozen feet from the nearest building and the edge of the town proper. She waited for a moment, but when Lisa didn¡¯t say anything more, she prompted him, ¡°Why what?¡± ¡°Why take them in at all?¡± He gestured around. ¡°Why take in any of these people? Why offer to take me in? What do you seek, Mistress Tala?¡± Chapter: 465 - For Now Tala, Rane, and the arcane fox, Lisa, were walking through Irondale, discussing the pocket-town. Lisa, in particular, was giving Tala a searching look, hoping for a satisfying answer to his question. Why was she doing any of this? What was she seeking, here? Tala shrugged. It was an expected question, and actually one that lay near the heart of a lot that she¡¯d been considering lately. Because of that, it wasn¡¯t a new concept to her, and she had a ready answer, ¡°Why? Well, one reason is simply that I can help, and so I should. On the more selfish side, I am also told that most Paragons need resources with which to Reforge themselves, and the more levels at which those resources are my own, the better.¡± She gestured around. ¡°It is hard to have resources that are more mine than these.¡± The fox shook his head. ¡°On the contrary. As I understand human thinking, without all these people here, there would be no contest. The whole world is yours until someone else says differently. Isn¡¯t that the human view of things?¡± Tala chuckled and started walking again. ¡°Some do see it that way, sure. I don¡¯t particularly agree though. I think the best way to explain what I mean is through analogy. So, let me ask you a question. If I own a field, in which grows a lemon tree and across which flows a stream, can I make lemonade?¡± ¡°Unsweetened, but yes. Assuming the tree is fruiting, and the water is palatable.¡± She smiled at all his caveats but continued regardless. ¡°And that lemonade would be mine?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°In how many ways?¡± Lisa frowned, then slowly began to nod. ¡°One. Though, you could argue two as you made it into the form you desired.¡± He gave her a careful look. ¡°This is a very arcane¡ªvery conceptual¡ªway of seeing things. Is this how all humans view it? I have not ever looked into gated human Reforging, so I apologize if I am ignorant of the obvious.¡± ¡°No need to apologize.¡± Tala smiled toward the fox. ¡°I am operating on assumption and recommendation, in the knowledge that more will be revealed when I reach Paragon.¡± ¡°When? You are certain then?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Her smile grew almost predatory. ¡°I will advance until I reach the peak or die trying.¡± Her eyes flicked toward Rane, and she found him already looking her way, a fire in his gaze matching hers. ¡°But that¡¯s off topic. Let me finish my example. Let us say that what I described was one level of ownership for the sake of argument. Now imagine that a boy asks to pick lemons, draw water, and make lemonade. If he gives me a cup, how many ways do I own that cup of lemonade?¡± Lisa shrugged, answering easily. ¡°Two. One because it all came from your land¡ªby your will¡ªand one because it was given to you by its creator.¡± ¡°Exactly. Now, if he offers to sell it to me?¡± ¡°Three. The same two as before, and a final time due to the ownership gained by an equivalent exchange.¡± He was nodding solidly now. ¡°So you are attempting to deepen the conceptual weight of your ownership of everything within Irondale.¡± ¡°Yes and no. I have no desire to take from anyone here. I am seeking to deepen my ownership of that which I need, not everything.¡± He shrugged, conceding the point. ¡°And how do unattached children help with that?¡± ¡°Well, what if that boy were my own son? Or at least my own ward?¡± Lisa tilted his head in thought. When he didn¡¯t comment, she continued, ¡°Honestly, it probably wouldn¡¯t directly factor in, but I can help them. Because I can, I feel that I should.¡± She smiled. ¡°They need sheltering, nurturing, and raising. If I can facilitate that? I will be content.¡± The arcane man chuckled. ¡°If you keep that up, you¡¯ll be a maternal figure to much of humanity.¡± She shrugged again. ¡°If that¡¯s what it takes, so be it.¡± Then, they were fully among the buildings. People glanced their way, waving or calling greetings, but otherwise they were largely ignored. Lisa seemed incredibly shocked by this fact. Even with Tala¡¯s reassurances, he¡¯d obviously expected there to be some sort of reaction to his presence. He remained a bit on edge, until they came to the first corner, where two streets met in the town. There, on the edge of one building, was a large stone sign with a picture of Lisa with his true fox visage. Below the picture were the words: Guest of Honor visiting today. Be welcoming or be elsewhere. The fox snorted, Rane chuckled, and Tala sighed. Really? -I mean, you could have checked it at any point. I know you could see it at any time.- Yeah, but I trusted that you had it handled, and I didn¡¯t need to check up on you. -Tala, Tala. You see everything. You can¡¯t honestly tell me this surprises you, can you?- ¡­fine. Lisa¡¯s snort turned to a chuckle to match Rane¡¯s as he shook his head. ¡°Surely you don¡¯t have Archive announcement boards?¡± ¡°Not at all. We simply rearrange the composition of the rock to display such things at need. Otherwise, they are blank for the citizenry to post their own notices upon them.¡± He gave her a long look. ¡°That is quite the level of control.¡± He grinned widely, showing off his fangs. ¡°I might have added, ¡®for a human¡¯ but let us be honest. That is impressive¡ªalmost unbelievable¡ªcontrol for anyone.¡± She just smiled. ¡°Another trade secret, then?¡± She shrugged. ¡°This is my soulbound space. It is mine to do with as I wish.¡± He grunted at that and didn¡¯t press further. Soon enough, they came to the outdoor cafe that she had been leading them to. A young woman in a flowing, immaculately clean work-dress bowed to them before leading the three to a table off to one side. ¡°Welcome, Mistress Tala, Master Rane, Honored Lisa.¡± That caused the fox¡¯s eyebrows to raise, but he didn¡¯t comment. There were patrons at other tables, but none directly around theirs. They got glances and greetings of various kinds, but they were left to themselves after that initial wave of interactions. As they settled in, the young woman spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m Honey.¡± She pointed to her own chest where a small nametag hung. ¡°And I¡¯ll be serving you this morning.¡± Lisa seemed to feel that he had to ask, ¡°Honey? That is an unusual name. I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve met another with the same.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She smiled proudly, clearly used to similar inquiries. ¡°My parents had a sense of humor. The story is that I came to be in a field of flowers, and they felt themselves busy little bees, so Honey.¡± Rane wasn¡¯t drinking anything, but he still managed to sound like he had almost choked. Honey continued fluidly, politely ignoring their reactions to her anecdote. ¡°But you didn¡¯t come here to talk about the study of names. Do you know what you would like to eat?¡± Tala grinned. ¡°A Full Irondalish Breakfast for five, please. We¡¯ll all eat from the spread. For a drink, I¡¯d like coffee.¡± Rane lifted his hand to gain her attention, having recovered sufficiently to order, ¡°Whatever juice is fresh this morning for me.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Very good, and for you, Honored Lisa?¡± He glanced to the building that held the kitchen, to where the menu was posted for easy reading. ¡°I would love a mimosa in whatever juice is freshest.¡± ¡°As you wish. I will return with your drinks shortly, and food should begin to arrive within five minutes or so. Thank you for your custom.¡± As the woman departed, Lisa turned to Tala, shifting upon his seat. ¡°This chair is sized properly for me.¡± ¡°Of course. It was trivial to bring it into the right place. I don¡¯t want you to be uncomfortable.¡± She¡¯d had a seat designed for him ready, in case he agreed to this very type of visit. ¡°Ahh, so if I move here, I should not expect such regularly?¡± He seemed genuinely curious as to her answer. ¡°I imagine the businesses which you frequent will learn to cater to your different stature, but no, I will not be moving things around for your convenience on a regular basis.¡± His lip curled in a slight smile. ¡°That¡¯s a pity, but understandable. Now, how did she know to address me as Honored?¡± ¡°Truthfully, I don¡¯t even know if that is the correct title, but I made a guess, and that was the honorific I listed in the initial brief on your potential citizenship. It was a touchpoint for them. They are used to Master and Mistress for Mages, and so having something specific with which to address and honor you helped make you feel more normal, more natural to them.¡± ¡°I see. That would stand to reason. But¡­ You made up a brief?¡± ¡°Of course. They got to vote on whether or not they wanted you to be allowed citizenship.¡± He cocked an eyebrow, and Rane grinned widely. He knew what was coming when Tala fully explained, and he found it entertaining, partially because he had helped her come up with the procedure. Their drinks arrived just then, so their conversation paused. After they had thanked the young woman and she had turned to go, Lisa seemed to get an idea. ¡°Excuse me, Honey. May I ask you a question?¡± Honey turned back. ¡°Of course, sir. That¡¯s part of why I am here.¡± Lisa glanced toward Tala, and she shrugged before gesturing for him to go ahead. ¡°Did you vote on whether or not to allow my citizenship in your fair town?¡± The server smiled and nodded happily. ¡°Yes, sir, we did.¡± ¡°And it was unanimous I assume?¡± He sighed, waving a hand dismissively and starting to turn away even as he asked. He clearly assumed that this was set up by Tala for him to inquire after. He was incorrect. Honey chuckled, now sounding a little nervous. That caused him to focus back on her as she answered, ¡°Well¡­ no, but it doesn¡¯t need to be. Additionally, none of the objections were substantial, so it was approved.¡± That seemed to have taken the fox off-guard. He took a moment to respond, and when he did, it was with a much more contemplative tone, ¡°Thank you for your honesty, Honey.¡± ¡°Of course. Let me see if that first course is ready for you.¡± As she left, Lisa turned to Tala. He seemed genuinely baffled. ¡°You got their permission before inviting me?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Not at all. I did give them the option for voting, though. Had they been against the idea, I would have talked with them and done my best to address any and all concerns, but the voting is more for buy-in and participation than for true decision making on the things that I care about. This is my town, after all.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Though, there have been a couple of times where it went ways I didn¡¯t expect, and I think things ended up better for it. Regardless, the purpose of the voting generally is so that I don¡¯t have to think of how things should be and impose it upon them. They do the work of coming up with options and then decide as a community. I am only involved when it matters to me, which is rare.¡± Lisa nodded slowly. ¡°I can see that being useful. They are self-governing in most things, but where you have made a decision already, the vote highlights trouble spots and leads you to a better outcome in the end.¡± He gave her a wry smile. ¡°And I assume they don¡¯t know which things you¡¯ve pre-decided?¡± ¡°Precisely. That would ruin the whole point. I want their true opinions¡ªtrue insight into issues I might not have considered¡ªnot pandering.¡± Honey returned then with a massive tray of various prepared fruits. As she sat an empty bowl down before each of them, she briefly explained. ¡°You have your choice of fruit, then we have unsweetened whipped cream to go over the top, or layered throughout. We also have plain cream if you prefer that form. Many guests like a mixture of the two, cream mixed through with whipped cream on top.¡± ¡°Fruit and cream, a wonderful first course.¡± Lisa beamed at the woman. Somehow, even while displaying his sharp fangs, he made the expression seem both kind and grateful rather than predatory. ¡°Yes, sir. The first of many.¡± They each made their requests, and Honey built out their first serving for them before leaving the parts on a long table off to the side so they could have more if they wished. Lisa eyed that table suspiciously. ¡°That isn¡¯t going to be filled with food¡­ is it?¡± Tala grinned. ¡°It is indeed. Don¡¯t worry, the table isn¡¯t that large. It¡¯s barely five feet by two feet.¡± Lisa glanced down at himself, obviously taking in his small stature.. ¡°I suppose I should loosen my belt?¡± Rane laughed. ¡°That is likely wise. I always have to.¡± Tala grinned along with his laughter. ¡°I¡¯ll eat whatever you and Rane don¡¯t.¡± He nodded seriously despite his grin. ¡°She and Terry have practically insatiable appetites. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s found something to snack on already.¡± -Huh¡­ Terry just sneezed and looked toward the entrance of Walden¡¯s forest¡­ can he tell if someone is talking about him?- I doubt it. That¡­ would be odd? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen Terry sneeze before. -Oh he does it sometimes, but not often.- As fascinating as this is¡­ -By all means, get back to your time with Lisa.- Thank you. The rest of breakfast passed without too much fanfare. After the fruit and cream came a white-cheese quiche, followed by various breakfast meats, and then a spinach salad. The final course was a dark chocolate cake, upon which Tala heaped more berries and cream. Lisa and Rane followed her lead. The fox was clearly unaccustomed to such fare, but he didn¡¯t act as if he¡¯d never had the like before. Once the courses were complete, Honey brought each a glass of water with which to clear their palates, and the meal was finished with a small wafer that tasted like nothing so much as condensed mint extract with a creamy undertone. The fox pushed back from the table with a pleased groan. ¡°Mistress Tala. This was¡­ absolutely excellent and far, far too much.¡± She grinned in return. ¡°It is quite an exquisite way to break the nightly fast, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Indeed, but if I ate like this¡±¡ªhe contemplated, then shook his head¡ª¡±even once a week, I would be too rotund to walk within the year.¡± Honey chuckled as she was clearing their dishes. ¡°I will convey your sentiment to the cook. It is always extraordinary to see how much Mistress Tala and master Terry can consume.¡± She looked to Tala. ¡°Is master Terry doing alright this morning?¡± ¡°He is, thank you for asking. He decided to find his breakfast elsewhere.¡± Honey smiled. ¡°I¡¯m glad he¡¯s well.¡± Lisa spoke into the momentary pause. ¡°If you do speak to the cook, please also convey that it was utterly delightful.¡± Her smile widened. ¡°I will. Thank you.¡± Tala gathered Lisa¡¯s attention and explained an important point, ¡°Truthfully, this was more the Irondale breakfast with a bent toward my own proclivities. You ate close to a portion and a half, because it was available. They have their sizing very well dialed in for a wonderful experience. I simply wanted you to be able to eat your fill.¡± He glared at her a bit, but then chuckled in turn. ¡°Very well. I might be able to eat here every week.¡± She grinned in return. ¡°Well, you could also order a different meal. Not all that they serve is this extensive.¡± He nodded at the wisdom of her recommendation. ¡°So, does that mean you¡¯d like to immigrate?¡± ¡°I would need a place to set up shop, a building location.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Once we work out the details, Kit can devour your current building, and place it anywhere in here you so desire.¡± Lisa looked tempted, but then he shook his head. ¡°I appreciate the offer, but that building was built to be temporary. Three centuries is hardly any time at all in the grand scheme of things, and it wasn¡¯t worth investing in the design and construction nearly to the extent that I would have liked.¡± His gaze turned deadly serious, and Tala felt his predator nature leaking through. ¡°I will negotiate very fiercely, and then I will need years to build my home, during which time I will not be interested in doing much else. I can help your reborn Mages, but likely little else.¡± ¡°As you wish. You will likely want to speak with Artia. She is the proprietor of an artifact shop here in town.¡± Tala felt a smile pull at her lips. The woman had already made a fortune selling artifacts in Bandfast on their couple of trips. The ability to buy more esoteric and hard to transport artifacts in a non-waning city had caused the locals to buy her out each time she¡¯d made her wares available. Because of that, she had already expanded her operations considerably. Lisa sighed and nodded. ¡°I should not have expected that market to be unclaimed. Still I could work with this woman. I have much to offer, and I take little to be happy.¡± He looked around and laughed. ¡°You must be careful, Mistress Tala. If my kin learn of this place, you may have a flood of fox-kin from all corners of the continent. Especially if you can give them a bit of breathing room from one another. They aren¡¯t the only arcanes who will be interested either¡ªin a good way. I am not speaking of the Major Houses and how they will lust after this haven you have forged.¡± She gave him a soft smile of acknowledgement. ¡°I will keep that in mind. Let us consider you a test case.¡± He immediately shook his head. ¡°No, Mistress Tala. That is unfair to both them and to me. They should not be judged by me, and I should not be responsible for their future opportunities.¡± ¡°Very well, at least from my perspective. But you must realize that those you interact with¡ªboth in here and in the cities we visit¡ªwill see you as an example of your kin, and they will have their minds shifted accordingly.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± He looked a bit sad. ¡°I do wish that could be avoided, but such is likely futile.¡± ¡°For now.¡± ¡°Yes. For now.¡± Chapter: 466 - Blindsided Tala, Rane, and Lisa walked from the breakfast place with full bellies and a lot on their minds. Lisa seemed to be considering deeply the decision that was before him. Even so, as they reached a cross street, he turned to regard her. ¡°I should let you get back on the road. You were leaving as I reached out to you, correct?¡± ¡°We were, yes.¡± She nodded in concession. ¡°Then, I shall begin negotiations and reach out to this Artia you mentioned. If she already has an established business, perhaps my services and inventory can buy a partnership with her. That would be preferred to beginning an ill-fated rivalry.¡± Rane chuckled and Tala smiled at the joke. Lisa gave a small bow. ¡°Hopefully, the next time you come to Bandfast, I can leave with you. Master Michael and Mistress Jenna will likely attempt to keep me in Bandfast, but I doubt they will give me the concessions I would need in order to stay.¡± He regarded Tala for a long moment. ¡°Assuming that the preliminary terms we¡¯ve discussed do not change?¡± ¡°They should not. I do not wish to impose any sort of required knowledge sharing, though I do want to be able to talk about such things with you.¡± ¡°That is acceptable. We can hammer out the details in the coming months.¡± ¡°I would like that very much.¡± He let out a long, contented sigh. ¡°I do appreciate that you have a longer view of things than so many humans. Even many of your Archons are always in such a rush.¡± ¡°But of course. We have all the time that we need.¡± She gave a gentle smile. ¡°It has been a pleasure, Honored Lisa.¡± He bowed her way. ¡°And you, Eskau Tala.¡± Rane¡¯s eyebrow twitched, but otherwise he didn¡¯t comment. Tala shook her head, fighting to keep any reaction from her face. ¡°You know very well that I left that position behind.¡± ¡°Have you? An Eskau is the hand of justice and assistance within a hold, and the sword of retribution without. An Eskau is a protector, provider, and a symbol of authority. You may not be officially a part of a Major House any longer¡ªthough I think you¡¯ll find that you technically are¡ªbut you are decidedly still filling the role¡ªas it should be¡ªfor those here.¡± Tala held her face stoic, allowing her through-spike illusion to snap into place and hiding the evidence. Even so, she didn¡¯t let her features change even as she gestured and an exit appeared, leading back onto the street. ¡°Until next time, Lisa.¡± He seemed to notice something was off, but aside from a brief hesitation, he didn¡¯t react to that directly. ¡°Until next time.¡± The portal closed hard on his heels, the fox having re-layered his human illusion over himself as he stepped out. With an act of will, Tala and Rane were on the far side of the Irondale dimensional space in an instant. Tala¡¯s helm clapped into place around her head just as she screamed loud enough to be heard even through the layering protection. The space around her head actually warped at the force and emotional weight of the contained scream. She hauled back and slammed her fist into the edge of existence, turning her own hand into mush. Alat noticed the edge of existence ripple at the impact, but simply logged the information for later. Tala was not in a place to focus on such things. With the sound of a simple snap, her hand reformed, even as Rane wrapped his arms around her. She curled in on herself within his embrace, her helmet vanishing as she let loose a flood of tears. She was trembling even as she pulled comfort from the strong arms around her. ¡°Why does it still make me so angry? Why can¡¯t I get away from them? It¡¯s been more than four years¡­ will I never escape the shadow of what they tried to twist me into?¡± Rane¡¯s quiet voice resounded through his chest even as it reached her ears. ¡°Because they stole you away. You don¡¯t like to be associated with them. The truth of it doesn¡¯t matter. The flattering or unflattering nature of it doesn¡¯t matter. You were hurt, and you usually do a wonderful job of moving past that, but the wound is still there.¡± He hesitated for a moment before tentatively adding, ¡°Though¡­ this is a stronger reaction than I would have expected.¡± She shuddered. ¡°I know. I know I¡¯m being ridiculous, but it just came out of nowhere. It felt like lightning from a cloudless sky.¡± She shook her head and barked a laugh. ¡°I just wasn¡¯t expecting it and¡­¡± After a moment¡¯s silence, Rane squeezed her again. ¡°And it blindsided you?¡± She let out a shaking breath. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Tala.¡± His arms somehow felt like warm blankets, encircling her. It made no sense, as she could feel their distinct points of contact, but the sense of them was that of a warm blanket on a winter morning: comfort and safety. With a few minutes to calm herself and think, she put her thoughts in order. ¡°He didn¡¯t mean anything cruel by it. Arcanes see the position as one of honor and respect¡ªeven arcanes outside of the cities and Major Houses. If I¡¯d been expecting it¡­ I think I would have been able to take it in that spirit.¡± ¡°But you weren¡¯t.¡± She shook her head against his chest. ¡°Yeah.¡± He squeezed her again. ¡°Take all the time you need.¡± She snuggled down, curling up in his arms. ¡°Thank you, Rane.¡± A kiss landed on the top of her head. ¡°I am here, and I will be.¡± * * * Tala was so frustrated that she was seriously considering killing Master Grediv or whoever had actually designed these scenarios. -No, you¡¯re going to be fine.- Nope. She was pretty sure she was going to kill him. She ran through a battlefield, hiding among stalks of grass¡­ because she was a mouse. She and Rane had finally decided to take the next step in the War Games, and this was the result. The battlefield was some person¡¯s sick idea of a challenge. A thousand mice had been dumped into a field, at the same time close to a hundred cats had been released around the outside. It had not taken long for the green stalks to be covered with red. Surprisingly, if cornered some of the mice did fight, but the most they ever did was hurt the cat eating them enough that the cat was a bit slower after that. The obvious solution had been to charge toward the edge of the field to escape in the confusion. The issue? None of the other mice did so, and she could find no way of making them. So, if she charged for the edge, she would be utterly exposed, and she would become a prime target for the much too well organized cats. They were working together almost as if part of a pack, rather than as the solitary creatures that they should be. Regardless, she had to get out of the field to ¡®win.¡¯ So, she did her best to hover near the edges of the massacre. Finally, as a tabby landed on a nearby rodent, Tala darted outward. She¡¯d done it! She¡¯d snuck through the chaos and¡ª Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Tala barely felt the beginning of fangs sinking into her neck before her vision went black, and she ¡®woke up¡¯ back to reality. Her eyes turned toward the Paragon who was facilitating this experience, glaring at him. ¡°What is the point of this?¡± ¡°To teach you alien senses and body parts. As a mouse, you have senses in completely different balances than as a human. Plus, your tail. You didn¡¯t use your tail even once, except as unconscious means of balancing.¡± Tala growled. ¡°Rane has had Enar for less than a week, Master Grediv. Why do you think this is a good idea?¡± ¡°Three things.¡± Master Grediv held up three fingers. ¡°First.¡± He dropped the first finger. ¡°You aren¡¯t Rane.¡± She grimaced but didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°Second, you all came to me and said you were ready for the next step.¡± Tala sighed at that. It was true. They¡¯d come to the compound the day after returning from Bandfast. ¡°Third, Rane and Enar are doing fantastic. He is leaning on his alternate interface to translate the foreign mix of senses and to control his tail. It is you who are struggling with this relatively simple exercise.¡± She narrowed her gaze. ¡°There isn¡¯t a way to win, is there?¡± He gave a half-smile in which Tala could very much see the resemblance to Rane. ¡°I told you, there are two potential win conditions.¡± She sighed. ¡°I know, I know. Get out of the field or survive because of my tail.¡± He shook his head, holding up a finger. ¡°No. Survive at least once because of your tail.¡± She frowned. She had heard him say that, but she¡¯d assumed that he meant ¡®once¡¯ as in one iteration of the scenario. ¡°So, survive one attack?¡± ¡°One encounter, yes. But it must be solely because of the use of your tail, not because you decided to use your tail instead of your hand, or something like that.¡± Tala grunted at that. ¡°Well¡­ fine. Put me back in.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± He didn¡¯t gloat or smirk. He simply did as she requested. She didn¡¯t succeed that day, even though she spent the whole morning leading up to their afternoon shift trying. To be fair, Rane didn¡¯t succeed either. He did do very well, but even with Enar¡¯s direct involvement he had trouble actually using five limbs as five rather than just four with a spare. He also couldn¡¯t seem to grasp how to use the tail in ways that his paws couldn¡¯t work. Tala was vindicated in her assertion, though. The scenario was inescapable. After she¡¯d gone through about twenty quick deaths doing her utmost to at least barely cross the finish line, Master Grediv admitted that the false cats would always intercept her. She could still get through them, if she utilized her tail properly, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to make a clean break otherwise. She and Rane grumbled good-naturedly on the way to their shift, even as they compared notes on what they felt like they¡¯d learned. They had a bit more fervor to their efforts as well, because Master Grediv had also dropped another tidbit. No one had ever gotten past the mouse scenario in less than a dozen days of trying. They wanted to beat that record. They did not succeed. * * * Tala dove into the eye of one of the cats. Scrabbling and digging as her little mousy voice squealed in rage. The cats were large enough that she was able to reach through the hole in the ocular cavity meant to connect eye to brain, and do enough damage to drop the cat. She was rageful, even though she was in full control of her rodent shape. Even as the massive cat fell, she felt one of its fellows latch onto her tail, dragging her from the goop and allowing her to suck in a breath before she was tossed into the air with another squeak, this time of startlement. Two cats jumped up¡ªeven as she arced through the air¡ªsinking their fangs into her and pulling in different directions, ripping her in half. Tala sat up with a gasp, hands moving involuntarily to her undamaged stomach. Master Grediv sighed. ¡°You are getting more skilled at acting like yourself in a mouse''s body¡ªusing its abilities and capacities to bring about violence¡ªbut that isn¡¯t the point.¡± She grimaced, hiding her smile. She¡¯d done it. She¡¯d hit her personal goal, but she wasn¡¯t going to let him know that. This was her own little revenge for these horrible scenarios. ¡°I ended another cat this time. I¡¯m getting better.¡± ¡°I just said that, Mistress Tala. You are getting better at something that isn¡¯t the point. This is not meant to make you a better ¡®Ender of Cats.¡¯ You aren¡¯t even the first to try this. In fact, you¡¯re the third that I¡¯ve proctored. This is meant to teach you to act as a mouse and still survive. Mice don¡¯t attack cats, not unless they have no other option.¡± She wanted to poke a bit more. ¡°But I can do it. I can kill my way through.¡± ¡°You literally can¡¯t. It¡¯s a fake situation. If you kill a cat, all the others become faster, stronger, and tougher. Two are also added to the fight for each one you kill. They are literally unending.¡± Rane cleared his throat, his eyes twinkling with hidden mischief. ¡°Master, may I try?¡± Master Grediv threw up his hands. ¡°Be my guest, Rane. You finished two months ago.¡± The younger man gave a half smile. ¡°Yeah, but I wasn¡¯t ever able to kill a cat. She now consistently kills five or six.¡± Tala raised a finger. ¡°Seven this time.¡± He nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, you reached a new best this time. That is laudable.¡± The Paragon gave a frustrated huff. ¡°But not the point of the exercise.¡± Rane met Master Grediv¡¯s gaze. ¡°So, may I?¡± The older man moved to the corner and sat in a chair, clearly deferring to Rane for the moment. ¡°Thank you.¡± He oriented on Tala. ¡°I know you hate to run away. But I also know that you are capable of it at need.¡± His smile grew. ¡°But we¡¯ve also already talked about this, and I know this isn¡¯t the issue. You¡¯ve reached your goal, are you willing to explain now?¡± Master Grediv sat up straighter, looking back and forth between them. Tala¡¯s smile broke through. ¡°Yeah, I really wanted practice against larger opponents without magical aid.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°And you promised me that seven would be enough.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Fine. I think I¡¯ve learned about as much as I can from this scenario anyway.¡± Master Grediv¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°You¡¯ve been stalling?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯ve been taking the opportunity to learn.¡± He grunted. ¡°You are aware that we have scenarios optimized for such learning. Why¡ªby rust or by starlight¡ªdidn¡¯t you just finish the task and move on?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I learn where it seems best to me, and this seemed like a good opportunity.¡± After a moment¡¯s pause, she gave a small smile. ¡°And your approach to these scenarios was rather irritating, so I was playing the petulant child for a bit.¡± Master Grediv rounded on Rane. ¡°You knew she was doing this?¡± ¡°Of course. You did too, or at least it should have been obvious enough. When was the last time she tried to be defensive? Haven¡¯t you seen her using her tail to balance and move on the assault? She used it to kill two of the cats this time. That didn¡¯t count as an instance of ¡®surviving¡¯ though. She¡¯s been learning the right lesson along with what she wanted to learn.¡± Rane¡¯s own smile grew. ¡°I¡¯m three scenarios ahead of her, but I expect her to not simply catch up. She¡¯s going to blow past me with the foundation that she laid in this test.¡± ¡°And you didn¡¯t do the same because?¡± Master Grediv seemed genuinely curious, at least around his obvious irritation. ¡°Because I don¡¯t like getting hurt. Tala doesn¡¯t either, but she¡¯s more used to it than I am. Her magics are more suited to this type of training, where mine are more conducive to the requested solution. I¡¯m good at dodging and avoiding attacks. I can¡¯t afford to fight like Tala does.¡± Master Gredive sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± He stood up once again, meeting Tala¡¯s gaze. ¡°I assume that you¡¯d like to go back in?¡± Tala nodded, laying down once again and closing her eyes. She had nothing more that she wanted to say. There was a subtle¡ªnow all too familiar¡ªshift, and she opened her eyes once more. The vision of a mouse filled her mind, and she charged straight at a cat, just like she had each time before. Even though her external senses were blocked, she could have sworn that she heard Master Grediv grinding his teeth. He was probably wondering if she was going to try one more time to do the literally impossible. She wasn¡¯t. This time instead of attacking the cat, she slapped her tail down to shoot herself sideways as the cat slammed its paw down. It was a motion¡ªand caused a result¡ªthat her little paws couldn¡¯t have made or accomplished, and it let her survive. Win condition achieved. The world faded to black without the pain of a ¡®death.¡¯ The scenario faded fully a moment later, and she sat back up. The Paragon looked resigned. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose my telling you that such is not how a mouse would have used its tail would matter?¡± ¡°Nope. I used the tail to survive. The fact that I found a use that a rodent wouldn¡¯t have is neither a complement nor a detraction in my view.¡± ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s move on. I assume that you are aware of what the next scenario entails?¡± He gave Rane a pointed look before returning his gaze to her. Her eyes sparkled with glee. ¡°Oh, absolutely. This is my reward. I get to be a cat now, right? I just need to kill a hundred mice within an hour?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± His voice was one of strained tolerance. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you do.¡± Tala¡¯s grin was nearly feral as she settled back in for the next stage of the War Games training. This was going to be fun. Chapter: 467 - Of Course, Tala Tala¡ªjust as expected¡ªdid blaze through the next few scenarios of the War Games. She killed a hundred mice in just under thirty minutes, barely feeling a twinge of empathy, having been on the other side of the equation for so long. I¡¯m not sure what that says about my mentality. -That you¡¯re well adjusted and can compartmentalize effectively?- Yeah, let¡¯s go with that. During the run as a cat, she did have to bat away one mouse who tried to go for her eye, and Master Grediv was a bit cagey on why that had happened after she succeeded in the task. She decided not to press the issue. The next scenario had forced her to embody a squirrel who not only needed to avoid a wolf, but also rescue several other¡ªrather clumsy¡ªsquirrels at the same time. Though, since the wolf was mostly confined to the ground, it was only her allies¡¯... difficulties that gave the encounter any real challenge at all. After that, she was a fish, chased by a pike through what seemed to be an old moat. She and a partner fish had to survive together; the ¡®early win¡¯ condition was to lead the pike into tangling itself up and being trapped, but Tala saw that for the misdirect that it was, and simply endured. It was a harder version of the squirrel challenge, but with more competent allies and greater three-dimensional mobility for herself and her pursuer. It was somewhat irritating, but Tala understood the purposes of the scenarios, and their ordering. After all, as a squirrel up in the trees, she was required to lean on all that she¡¯d learned as a mouse, and advance it even further. Then, the fish was meant to extend it further still by necessitating truly three-dimensional thinking and action. Thankfully, that was the end of the animal scenarios for the moment. She¡¯d caught up to Rane, and he had been mum about what he faced, largely at her insistence. She wanted to face it just like he was facing it. The simplicity of the instructions had piqued her interest: ¡®Save the toast-leader.¡¯ This was supposedly some teenaged girl who was in trouble. This should be interesting. Tala opened her eyes and found that she was a bit taller than usual. At her hip hung a slightly backswept sword, and she wore comfortable, loose fitting clothing. She also had a dawning awareness of her magic in this very human body. She could teleport around with a couple of seconds of concentration. It felt like the powers touched on other things, but she couldn¡¯t utilize them effectively in this scenario. She would be much slower than Terry¡¯s¡ªor even her own¡ªflickering, but she didn¡¯t actually seem to have a distance limitation. Interesting. As the understanding of the fictional world settled into place, she realized that the stakes were even higher than she¡¯d realized. Well then. Let¡¯s go save the world. * * * Rane groaned. ¡°I am so glad we¡¯re in the same scenario again. It is really nice to be able to complain with you. I swear, that girl wants to die.¡± Tala had her forearm across her eyes as she laid back on a grassy patch within her sanctum. They had both quit the War Games for the day after yet another instance of the toast-leader dying despite each of their attempts to protect their version of the teenage girl. It had been weeks, and Rane had a definitive point. The young woman would do her best to elude them, even after they proved to be her ally. She would continue to put herself in dangerous situations, and she honestly simply acted like she didn¡¯t want to survive. Rane groaned. ¡°You know. The more I think about it, the more I¡¯m glad that I got to this one first.¡± ¡°Really? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, think about it. If you¡¯d gotten to this one first, I¡¯d think it was designed for you.¡± She considered that for a while, then grimaced. ¡°Huh¡­ You know, I think I know exactly what you mean, and I find the notion irritating. But I wasn¡¯t as bad as she is¡­ right?¡± He gave a small smile and a little shake of his head. ¡°Not quite, yeah. Though, you do heal so it makes more sense.¡± He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s so frustrating that the little Bennet girl acts like she¡¯s invincible.¡± Tala sat up straight, arms falling to her sides, eyes going wide. ¡°Rane.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He glanced her way, frowning at her actions. ¡°Have you ever been kicked out of the scenario?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, I exit as soon as she dies so I can try again. Why would I wait the extra seconds? I¡¯m either going to try again or I¡¯m not up for such. Regardless, I want out and away from my failure.¡± Tala groaned. ¡°Rane. We have magics in the scenario. Why couldn¡¯t she?¡± His eyes widened too, the realization striking him like a god-beast¡¯s paw. ¡°Are you rusting kidding me?¡± ¡°If she¡¯s acting like I did¡­?¡± ¡°She might have the ability to heal.¡± He groaned too. ¡°We assumed a loss when she might have been fine in a short time.¡± ¡°I checked her pulse.¡± ¡°I have too, some of the time. Rust, she¡¯d had her head blown off in some of the ends, but the scenario never faded to black.¡± They shared a look before they both hopped up and returned to the Archon Compound with all due haste. Their epiphany turned out to have been right. The rusting girl could essentially come back from the dead. Her healing ability outclassed Tala¡¯s by a considerable margin, even if it wasn¡¯t quite as quick. They¡¯d radically misunderstood the¡ªnow obviously deceptively¡ªsimple instructions. They weren¡¯t supposed to save her from damage. They were supposed to save her from capture or exploitation. They both succeeded on their first attempt with the new paradigm. Master Grediv was wisely not in the room when they came out of the incredibly easy scenario once they understood what was going on. On the positive side, he had finally arranged for Master Nadro to be in town in just over a week, and he¡¯d left a note to that effect, likely having saved the good news for when they discovered the twist. After they¡¯d eaten dinner, they both agreed that it was a useful set up. Tala especially realized that it was so easy to assume that she knew the capabilities of those around her, enemies or not, and the set-up had been a slap in the face of that mode of operation. She¡¯d even been put in a context that was so unlike Zeme that it should have forced her to be rethinking everything, but neither of them had bothered to consider that the girl could have magic, let alone greater-than-Tala level healing. In Tala¡¯s final run-through, the toast-leader had actually come back from being cut into chunks, though it had taken the girl time. Regardless, they would take a break from War Games for a bit to try to incorporate the lessons learned. Thankfully, Tala had the meeting with Master Nadro to look forward to. The man was seemingly increasingly busy of late, though he did respond to her messages in a rather timely manner regardless. Alat was in good spirits, partially because Tala had asked the alternate interface to refrain from helping her in the War Games unless asked. Moreover, Rane had put no such restriction on Enar, and Alat found the results entertaining. -Enar is embarrassed that he missed the signs as well- ¡­You¡¯re giving him a hard time, aren¡¯t you. It wasn¡¯t a question. Stolen story; please report. -...Yeah. He was going on and on about how much better he was than me. The new and improved model after me as a rough draft.- Tala frowned. Really? That doesn¡¯t sound like Rane at all. Has Enar diverged that much from Rane already? -It was mainly a joking posturing. We play a lot of games, and he¡¯s better than Rane¡­ somehow.- And I¡¯m better than you. -Yeah, that still makes no sense.- And since Rane and I are often closely matched¡­? -Yeah, he beats me a lot of the time¡­ most of the time¡­ fine, he¡¯s only lost twice.- So, you¡¯re teasing him for missing the clues in this scenario? -Absolutely.- Very well, carry on. Rane glanced Tala¡¯s way. ¡°Are you ganging up on Enar, somehow?¡± Tala gave a half smile. ¡°No? Mainly, I didn¡¯t tell Alat to lay off teasing him.¡± ¡°Ahh. Fair enough. He¡¯s complaining that you are being mean, but I can¡¯t really blame you for not getting involved. He can be¡­ a lot sometimes. ¡± ¡°-No, I am Alat.-¡± Rane groaned. ¡°That joke is getting so old, Alat. You don¡¯t need to comment on the homonym every time it¡¯s said.¡± He immediately raised a hand. ¡°I don¡¯t mean literally every time. We all know your name sounds like ¡®a lot.¡¯ But you make that joke a lot, Alat.¡± ¡°-Fine¡­ I guess I have made it Enarf.-¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a stretch, and he¡¯s not happy that you¡¯ve brought him into this.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°He still doesn¡¯t want to talk directly to me?¡± ¡°He¡¯s still a bit self-conscious for some reason.¡± -He means that Enar still has a crush on you, and he¡¯s getting over it, realizing that if you and Rane continue on, he and I will be forever intertwined regardless.- I¡­ had not considered that. I mean it makes sense, but I haven¡¯t thought on it specifically. Are you okay with it? -Eh. He¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re actually going to be married in any sort of way. He is nice to talk with, though.- Tala arched a metaphorical eyebrow, sending the emotional impression to Alat rather than adopting the physical expression. You do remember that you are me and Enar is Rane¡­ right? So if we marry you will be married too in a very real sense. Alat was silent for a moment, and Tala sensed what might have been the mental equivalent of a blush. Finally, Alat continued as if Tala hadn¡¯t said anything, -It is good to have someone besides Retson to dialogue with.- Tala decided not to call her alternate interface on her avoidance. Retson is almost as busy as Master Nadro, yeah. -Exactly. There really aren¡¯t very many alternate interfaces, and most are constantly working.- So, you¡¯re saying that I don¡¯t work you hard enough? Alat sent back the sense of a flat stare. Oh! Does that mean that you¡¯re going to be able to speak directly with Rane, like you can with Terry? Alat sent Tala the impression of a wide grin. -Oh, it¡¯s inevitable now, is it?- Tala flushed deeply and stood up to quite literally run from her embarrassment. ¡°Well. I¡¯m done with the day. I¡¯m going to bed.¡± -Really? More than forty percent toward Paragon and still running from your own feelings. That would be funny if it weren¡¯t so sad.- You know, I¡¯d accuse you of doing the same, but you don¡¯t really have the right equipment to run. Tala poked at Alat in return. -Oh, that¡¯s a low blow, Mistress Tala.- Women in glass houses and all that. -Fine¡­- Rane looked toward the still bright sky. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll be up at midnight or so, but I think I need to be done with today. I¡¯m going to bed.¡± Tala decided to ignore Alat. -Wait¡­ what¡ª?- Hush. He nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll see you for breakfast tomorrow, then?¡± She gave him a long look, then she shook her head, smiling. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll open a portal just before sunrise?¡± ¡°That sounds good.¡± He stood, gave her a quick kiss and left through the door that she opened for his departure. Alat sighed within her head. -All teasing aside, are you ready?- Tala didn¡¯t have to consider for very long. No. She was sure that she wasn¡¯t¡­ but she was getting closer. We¡¯ve only been courting for a couple of years. We have time. -Sure you do. It¡¯s not like defenders ever die in the line of duty.- Tala grunted, then willed herself into her bedroom for a much needed rest. * * * Time seemed to flow differently for Tala of late. Where days used to drag, now weeks¡ªand even months¡ªflew by. In no time at all, snow was on the ground, Rane and Tala passed the third anniversary of their courtship, and the two¡ªalong with Terry¡ªwere heading toward Marliweather for a reunion with her siblings and to see Fedir off to the Academy. The boy had already made his decision to go and was simply excited to get to it. The next Zuccat child was coming home too. Master Simon and Mistress Petra had yet again arranged for their returning child to arrive within the Sanctum so that Tala wouldn¡¯t have to change her plans to allow the family to reunite. That also meant that Anna was coming along for the trip, taking a break from her apprenticeship for the journey. From what Tala heard, she would be uplifted to full Mage within the year now, and so Tala¡¯s time around the woman was limited. Tala felt mixed about that. She¡¯d enjoyed her interactions with Anna, but they really hadn¡¯t been that frequent. Terry seemed to be getting along with her more easily¡­ for some reason, so she didn¡¯t really have a reason to avoid Anna. Because of that, Tala felt rather conflicted. Should she have reached out more? Spent more time? On a more business side of things, Lisa had agreed to move into Irondale. Negotiations with the arcane fox had concluded, and Tala was quite happy with the terms that Alat had secured between them. When they stopped through Bandfast¡ªon the way back from Marliweather¡ªto pick him up, they would also be celebrating with Kannis and Lyn. Kannis was being granted full Magehood at the end of the year, and Lyn couldn¡¯t be more proud. That was one reason why Tala, Rane, and Terry weren¡¯t making a stop on the way north. They didn¡¯t want to be away from Alefast, Waning, for overlong. That felt a bit ironic after Tala¡¯s recent sojourn to the ruins of previous cities, but both Rane and Tala had found that they liked their current role as Defenders, and they didn¡¯t want to be away from the position for too long without good reason. Time flies, and everyone is moving forward in their lives. She was excited for all the changes coming down the line for her friends and family even if it did leave her feeling a bit of whiplash, so many changes lining up so closely. -Yeah, all happening within a year is rather close together.- It is, even on the scale of mortal lives. -Fair enough, yeah. I hope that there aren¡¯t any more surprises.- Setting up Irondale in Marliweather for the second time was¡ªblessedly¡ªanticlimactic. They had a couple of residents cash out their citizen¡¯s deposit and move out into Marliweather, but there was a much larger influx from Marliweather itself, along with those who had come to Marliweather in order to meet up with Irondale and join the others within. Tala was very glad that she didn¡¯t have to deal with all the details either of the selection process or the move-ins. -I still say that we could really use a full time administrative head over Irondale. It¡¯s becoming irritating to run things myself.- Well, I don¡¯t want to do it. -Of course you don¡¯t. I am you and I don¡¯t either, but I have a greater tolerance for it. Even so, please consider hiring someone. We might even want to pull in a gated, as there tends to be more gated with such experience. We¡¯ve been incredibly lucky with the spread of skills and aptitudes among gateless so far, but I think that finding someone we trust to truly run things might be a bit of stretch.- That was fair. -Additionally, I believe that Master Simon, Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva are close to selecting the first others to be reborn.- Tala was aware of that, but not only were they still vetting the candidates, once they had them selected, they wanted to try giving a bit of training beforehand, to see if it improved the process overall. But that was neither here nor there. So, after opening the gateway into Irondale once more, she, Terry, and Rane moved to the teleportation tower where five of Tala¡¯s siblings were coming in from the Academy. There had been some talk of them coming into the Sanctum, but with all five wanting to come at once, it was just easier to have them aim to arrive at a standard receiving hub. It was similar to why she had her siblings arrive at¡ªand depart from¡ªthe Alefast tower when they visited every few months. Regardless, Tala, Rane, and Terry arrived to find the Marliweather siblings already there and awaiting the arrivals from the Academy. Greetings were exchanged, including the introduction of a new young woman, whom Caln brought over to Tala and Rane. ¡°This is Verla. She has just recently agreed to become my wife.¡± There was a moment of silence before Rane smiled brightly, giving an over-generous bow. ¡°It is my pleasure to meet you, Verla, betrothed of Caln. I am Rane.¡± Tala followed Rane¡¯s lead, grateful for the lifeline in the unexpected situation. ¡°I am glad to meet you as well. I am Tala.¡± Verla gave a bow toward Rane, then hesitantly stepped toward Tala. Caln gave Tala a pleading look that took her a moment to interpret. Thankfully, she did so before things became awkward, and she gave Verla a friendly hug of greeting. ¡°Welcome to the family.¡± Verla brightened at that, smiling prettily. ¡°Thank you, Mistress. Your brother speaks quite highly of you.¡± Tala shook her head, giving a small smile. ¡°First, if you¡¯re going to be family, call me Tala.¡± ¡°As you wish¡­ Tala.¡± ¡°There you go.¡± Her smile grew wide, a mischievous glint entering her eyes. ¡°Secondly, I wouldn¡¯t have expected my little brother to have lied to his betrothed.¡± Verla and Caln both looked confused, but Rane just let out a long sigh. He then leaned in, speaking in a stage whisper, ¡°She¡¯s trying to tease that if he spoke highly of her, he must have been lying.¡± He then looked to Tala, meeting her gaze and sending a message through the Archive¡ªfacilitated by Enar and Alat¡ªso no one else would hear, ¡°But you forget that in situations of such immense power difference, they will not hear the intended humor. They will only hear the reprimand.¡± Tala scratched the side of her neck, feeling awkward for a moment. She appreciated Rane catching the issue in the situation immediately. She also appreciated that he addressed it so smoothly with them and privately with her. ¡°My apologies, Verla. I did just mean to tease my brother, not cause confusion.¡± The young woman looked grateful, giving a small bow. ¡°Of course. Of course, Mist¡ª... of course, Tala.¡± Chapter: 468 - Time with Her Siblings Tala¡¯s smile in response slowly faded as it was replaced by a slight frown. This girl looked familiar, and now that she thought of it, her name sounded so as well. A moment later, she remembered a Verla from long ago, as well as some of things her brother had said on previous meet-ups. ¡°Are you the Verla who went to school with Caln?¡± Verla smiled at that, seemingly grabbing onto her own lifeline in the conversation. ¡°Yes. Apparently my shyness led Caln to believe that I was uninterested in him all these years.¡± She flushed a bit at that. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really as good at demonstrating my feelings as I thought.¡± Caln stepped in, coming to her metaphorical rescue. ¡°It was only recently¡ªa bit more than a year ago¡ªthat I realized, to my great shame, that she was waiting for me to notice her interest.¡± He chuckled good naturedly. ¡°She had to come to me and ask for us to go to dinner.¡± Verla colored a bit more. ¡°I¡­ I followed some bad advice and tried to ¡®make him see my interest¡¯ instead of just talking to him. When I finally ignored that advice and just approached him, things went as I¡¯d always hoped. I¡¯m just glad that he was open to my interest as well.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°It can be scary to express how you feel, yeah. Generally, men are more open to being approached than women, though. At least that¡¯s how it always seemed to me. Women often have men approaching them so often it feels pointless to throw your hat in the ring, as it were.¡± Verla covered her mouth and let out a little laugh. ¡°That is likely quite wise, Master Rane. I know that I had several men approach me during that time, and I¡­ I am not sure that I turned them down kindly in looking back on it.¡± Her smile turned a bit sad. ¡°I did not see the parallel to how I was feeling, to how I would have felt if Caln had told me no. I do wish I had been kinder.¡± Rane gave a comforting smile. ¡°Well, hopefully, it won¡¯t be an issue ever again.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± And, at that point, Tala realized that she didn¡¯t really know what to ask next. She settled for a generic well-wishing, hoping someone else would steer the conversation, ¡°Well, regardless of how it happened, I¡¯m glad for you both.¡± Her mind briefly shifted toward her feathered companion. Terry was preening for a couple of the younger siblings, who seemed to absolutely love the new purple feathers on his face and his more contrasty appearance. There were even some comments about his eyes. Tala almost moved to rescue the little avian, but then she realized that she sensed genuine pleasure from the terror bird. He liked being the center of attention and playing with her siblings. Thankfully, before Tala¡¯s silence and change of attention could create any awkwardness, the Academy siblings arrived. Tala saw them appear almost as one in the various receiving rooms of the tower. She purposely made a sound of interest before announcing, ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± As the group in the lobby ordered themselves, Tala took a moment to really look at the five Academy students as they talked with the Mages and gathered themselves before coming down. They looked¡­ different. They were growing. -It has been about two years since you saw them last.- Alat¡¯s tone was carefully neutral. Really? Two years already? -Yeah. Two years and a few months.- Huh¡­ To her, it had barely felt like any time at all. She hadn¡¯t really changed. Alat laughed within her mind. -You bonded Terry, added a near-god-beast to your sanctum, and perfected your magics quite a bit. That¡¯s not nothing.- True, but I haven¡¯t physically changed. Tala felt the need to defend herself. -That¡¯s true, but you won¡¯t, not for a long time.- Alat¡ªeven while conceding¡ªcouldn¡¯t help but emphasize how she really was right, if Tala thought about it her way. Tala sighed internally before refocusing on her siblings. Illie and Alva were practically fully grown into woman-hood, with Nea¡¯s growth having helped Tala know what to expect at least to a certain extent. Nalac and Dagan were well into the late adolescent growth of boys becoming young men, and even Osip was showing signs of maturing. Tala found her eyes drifting to Olen who would be next to choose about the Academy in just more than another year. They are all growing up so fast¡­ Latna pulled Tala out of her musings by rushing forward to greet the students as they came into view. That sparked another round of greetings in which Caln introduced Verla to the siblings who¡¯d been at the Academy. Finally, they decided that they¡¯d filled the lobby of the teleportation tower long enough, and the whole group went off to grab food. This time, they actually went to the Karweil¡¯s old home, where Master Leighis still ran the clinic and where Caln and Verla were going to move in once they were married. They chose that location because it was large enough to accommodate everyone¡ªand unlike their new home, the parents weren¡¯t there to make things awkward with Tala. All the siblings would have dinner with their parents without Tala or Rane, but breakfast and lunch would be in the old home. Tala felt an odd mix of emotions as they all worked together to prepare the food that they¡¯d picked up for the occasion. Quite a few times, Tala almost cheated by using magic, or dropping an unprocessed ingredient into Kit to prepare it effectively instantly. After all, she didn¡¯t particularly like the rote, mundane activities required for cooking. Even so, she held off. There was something cathartic in the very act of working as a team to make meals that they would then share. It wasn¡¯t about the tasks; it was about who she was doing them with. She didn¡¯t want to ruin that. Verla and Rane were still somewhat outsiders, but that was mitigated fairly early on when Master Leighis joined them. It was mostly his house, after all. Even if it hadn¡¯t been his home, he had been invited. As odd as it was for Tala¡ªgiven he¡¯d arrived after she left¡ªhe was considered something of a second father to her siblings¡ªat least most of them. Since she didn¡¯t have any issue with him¡ªand since her siblings wanted him around¡ªshe was happy for him to join them. Tala did notice some¡­ interesting glances, but she didn¡¯t feel like making a big deal about it in the moment. It was possible she was reading into things. -Yes, with your near-omniscient vision. You are misinterpreting what you see.- ¡­That¡¯s entirely possible. -I know. I wasn¡¯t being sarcastic.- Tala sighed internally. Fine. At one point, when breakfast was almost finished and the siblings were just monitoring the final cooking process, Master Leighis did take a moment to approach Tala and Rane. ¡°Mistress Tala, Master Rane, it is good to see you both.¡± They exchanged bows and greetings. They had briefly greeted each other when he¡¯d arrived, but this was the first time they¡¯d had to really chat on this visit. There was a momentary silence before the not-quite-Fused man sighed. ¡°If it isn¡¯t impertinent, may I ask the two of you for a bit of advice?¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. That got their attention, and Tala and Rane oriented on him more fully. Terry will be fine. He¡¯d been flickering about playing with the younger siblings and snatching food where he could¡ªeven if never enough to affect the quality of the end result. Rane answered for them. ¡°If we can, sure.¡± She smiled her agreement, even if she was a bit skeptical. Maser Leighis nodded gratefully. ¡°Thank you. I am¡­ I am struggling to Fuse.¡± Rane looked to Tala questioning, and she shrugged. He was welcome to go ahead. Rane smiled, turning back to the older man. ¡°Well, I can see that you are right at the cusp.¡± ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s so frustrating. I moved to being a healer to ¡®find myself¡¯ and have time to think. That¡¯s helped, but I just can¡¯t get over the last hurdle.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°I assume you¡¯ve already gotten the advice of ¡®look for the lies you tell yourself?¡¯¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Master Leighis grimaced slightly. ¡°Then you¡¯ve probably already heard: What do you hate about yourself? And: If you could change any one thing, what would it be?¡± Master Leighis sighed, nodding defeatedly. Tala cleared her throat. ¡°Did you find any lies that you were telling yourself?¡± He looked at her oddly, then shrugged, seemingly resigned to be open with them, ¡°A few. The silliest was that I really, really wanted to learn advanced alchemy. I think it would be nice to know, but I don¡¯t really want to go through the rigor of learning it myself.¡± He gave a self-deprecating smile. ¡°It¡¯s a bit embarrassing, but my understanding is that most people have some such thing in their lives. I was interested because of my friend and my apprentice, but my actual drive was minimal when it came down to it.¡± She nodded. ¡°And what do you think of my sister?¡± Master Leighis blinked at her a few times. ¡°What about Latna?¡± Tala noticed a very small coloring of the man¡¯s cheeks and his pupils dilated ever so slightly. She sighed. ¡°See, it isn¡¯t generally seen as favorable for a master and apprentice to become otherwise entangled, but it¡¯s hard for two people working closely to not ever even consider such.¡± He cleared his throat, glancing toward where Latna was working. He didn¡¯t have to search for her, he already knew exactly where she was. He noticed that too, and his blush grew. Rane frowned for a moment looking between Tala and Master Leighis. He then gave a slow nod, clearly understanding. Master Leighis seemed to fight a brief¡ªbut intense¡ªinternal war before he sighed. ¡°I see what you mean. I really have been¡ª¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened even as Tala and Rane watched his aura seemed to blaze through with veins of true orange. ¡°Oh, I feel the fool.¡± Master Leighis closed his eyes, clearly forgetting about them for the moment. His body twitched as if he was fighting a physical reaction to the changes he was undergoing. At the same time, his gate gushed power outward. -Hey, in this time of enlightenment his throughput is temporarily almost matching yours.- Hush you, comparison is the thief of joy. -Yes. I want to steal his joy for ourselves.- Tala almost choked as she stifled a laugh. Even so, she kept her focus on Master Leighis. The Academy siblings¡ªas well as Latna¡ªeach seemed to notice that something was happening, but that knowledge mostly manifested in an unexplained shiver or a feeling like someone was watching them. Though, since Tala was always watching them when she was about, it wasn¡¯t exactly a new feeling. The shower of magic almost seemed to reverse, being drawn back in and compressed into Master Leighis¡¯s aura. If Tala had to find a comparison, it looked like his aura was being forge-welded together with mighty blows from an unseen hammer. A moment later, he slumped slightly, letting out a long breath. Fascinating. Just like the method of Fusing varied from person to person, the manner and experience of it did as well. While Tala had felt like she was doing something akin to knitting¡ªand Lyn¡¯s had manifested like stitching¡ªMaster Leighis seemed to have forged his fusion into being. It had taken all of five seconds, and while several of those present glanced around, there wasn¡¯t anything for their mundane eyes to really see. Rane had clearly been focused on something else, even as he watched the Fusing. As such, he was frowning even as Master Leighis gave a soft, joyful laugh. Rane cleared his throat before asking, ¡°Surely, Tala¡¯s not the first person to suggest such a thing?¡± Master Leighis shook his head. ¡°No, but in different contexts¡ªand asked differently¡ªit was easier to think around, to dismiss.¡± His smile was broad and genuine. ¡°Thank you, truly.¡± He gave a deep bow. ¡°If there is anything that I can do for you?¡± Tala nodded before responding in a level tone, ¡°You can answer my question. What do you think of my sister, Fused Leighis?¡± His smile froze on his face as he met her gaze fully. After a moment, he visibly swallowed. ¡°Well¡­ I think that I am becoming attached to her, emotionally speaking. I like having her around. I think she makes me want to be a better version of myself, and I like that I am able to help her as well.¡± Some of the others had noticed the three Mages in the corner, and they were giving a healthy buffer to the trio. That combined with the low voices that the three were able to speak in ensured no one could listen in. Master Leighis continued, ¡°She is brilliant and hard working. She is kind and tender.¡± His voice faded as Tala¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He finally finished with a simple statement, ¡°I enjoy her company.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°I see. So? How are you going to proceed, now that you have had this revelation?¡± Rane frowned, ¡°Well, doesn¡¯t it depend on how she feels?¡± Both Tala and Master Leighis shook their heads, and it was he who spoke next, ¡°No. Nothing can happen between a master and apprentice while they remain such. What she is asking is if I will keep my commitment to be her master or give that up to see if there can be more?¡± Rane¡¯s frown deepened, looking toward Tala in his confusion. ¡°Why can¡¯t he see how she feels, then decide?¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Think about that for a moment, from her side.¡± It did only take Rane a moment, though Tala suspected that Enar¡ªand maybe Alat¡ªhelped him make the connection. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh, yeah.¡± He grimaced, the realization clearly affecting him. ¡°The imbalance between master and apprentice would make that an unfair way to approach it in the extreme.¡± Master Leighis nodded. ¡°In the extreme, indeed. Mistress Tala is right. I need to either find another master for her and only inquire as to her feelings after she has had time to get her feet under her, or crush those that I apparently have been growing within myself.¡± Tala gave a solemn nod in return. ¡°Exactly, yes.¡± The newly Fused man sighed, looking a bit deflated. ¡°How long will you give me to decide?¡± Rane frowned again, but when he opened his mouth to say something, he paused, clearly listening to a voice in his head. -He really needs to get better at hiding those tells.- Yeah. It¡¯s really obvious when he¡¯s talking with Enar. -Yup. Utterly unlike you.- Alat then sent Tala a flickering montage of Tala¡¯s own face when she was talking with Alat, starting near the beginning of their interactions, and progressing to the present. -You are getting better. Even now, you only look like you¡¯re too good for those around you.- She accompanied that pronouncement with a live view of Tala¡¯s face, which did, indeed, look like Tala was irritated at having to be in the room. Tala¡¯s features immediately shifted to a more neutral cast. -There you go, now you don¡¯t look constipated.- ¡­I don¡¯t poop anymore. -Exactly. So it¡¯s an accurate assessment. Constipation is, after all, the inability to poop.- I think it¡¯s more than that¡­ and I could if I wanted to¡­ I think. -Regardless. Master Leighis is awaiting an answer.- Alat¡¯s voice was playfully teasing as the alternate interface clearly tried to help Tala remain emotionally level. Oh! Right! Tala let out a long sigh, as if she¡¯d been thinking. ¡°I leave in three days. I want to know your choice by then.¡± He gave a deeper than usual bow. ¡°As you say, Mistress Tala. Thank you for your wisdom and your patience.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Life is rarely as clean as we¡¯d like it to be, Master Leighis. Speaking of which, I do want to talk with my siblings some.¡± ¡°Of course, thank you, again.¡± He stepped back, acknowledging the end of the conversation. Tala and Rane moved back to mingle with the group. The more perceptive of those present noted the features of the three throughout the conversation, even if they didn¡¯t know the content. Still, no one bugged any of the three, except for Latna. She simply saw Tala and Rane moving away from Master Leighis, and she shifted over to his side in order to ask how he was. ¡°Master? Is everything alright? Was my sister being¡­ unkind?¡± He shook his head, eyes flicking toward Tala. He likely knew she could hear and see him even with her face turned to look elsewhere. Even if he didn¡¯t, he was wise enough to act as if she could. ¡°Not at all. She and Master Rane just helped me with my mental block.¡± He gave a genuine smile. ¡°I am Fused at long last.¡± Latna¡¯s eyes widened with obvious surprise and excitement. ¡°That¡¯s wonderful news, master!¡± Then, her face fell slightly. ¡°But¡­ you had only stepped away from your position in order to Fuse. Does that mean that you will be leaving again, soon?¡± The light of an idea seemed to blossom in the man¡¯s eyes. ¡°I have not fully decided, Latna, but there is that possibility. Even so, we should discuss it later, not when surrounded by those you haven¡¯t seen in so long.¡± The young woman seemed torn, but eventually, she nodded in acceptance, and those two rejoined the others as well. Overall, the breakfast and lunch went very well. The time in between was filled with clean up and prep, as well as near constant conversations, the people involved ever changing as each sibling¡ªand the three who desired to be family¡ªflowed from conversation to conversation, in a fluid manner that spoke to how generally comfortable they all were with one another. Exceptions aside, as Master Leighis somehow always seemed to not be in conversation with Tala or Rane. There was also the fact that basically everyone there still had a healthy dose of the exuberance of youth. Tala had to remember that fully half of the people present were younger than twenty years old, with Sella being the youngest at nine. Regardless, she simply enjoyed the time with her siblings. Chapter: 469 - A Zuccat Returns Tala stretched and twisted, popping her back as she waited on one side of a quiet dell within her sanctum. Large trees arched over the oval shaped dip in the landscape, creating an almost throne-room-like aesthetic. Though it held more an air of peace, tranquility, and reverence than one of authority and power. It was the morning after her breakfast and lunch with her siblings, and dawn¡¯s early light filtered through the trunks and leaves to give a diffuse, ethereal illumination to the place. On the far side of the dell lay the teleportation receiving circle, carved into a large, smooth, level bit of stone. The silver shone bright and untarnished in what light there was, and the edge of which rested barely a dozen feet away from where Tala stood, waiting. Haster Zuccat was supposed to arrive in Tala¡¯s sanctum soon. She and the Zuccats had arranged for him to come straight from the Academy to this receiver. Rane had a few errands in the city, and Terry was hunting in Walden¡¯s forest. That left Tala there, waiting almost alone, beside the teleportation circle. She was to meet the young man as she had the previous Zuccats¡ªher siblings were having breakfast with their parents that morning. The almost was because, this time, Anna was with her. The young woman was positively bubbling with excitement, as made manifest by her ongoing flow of words, only occasionally interrupted with a question and the appropriate pause for a response. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m so excited! I haven¡¯t seen Haster in years now. Do you suppose he¡¯s grown?¡± Tala glanced toward Anna. ¡°Well¡­ yes?¡± Anna waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Well, of course, I know that he¡¯s grown, the alternatives aren¡¯t really pleasant options, after all. They also aren¡¯t really possible. The Academy won¡¯t let him die, and they feed students too much for him to have become stunted, even if he¡¯s become ludicrously picky in the last years. I suppose that the question which I really meant to ask is: Do you think he¡¯s still the same person? Has he changed?¡± Tala gave a flat look, only raising one eyebrow. Anna smiled in return, picking up with little delay. ¡°I¡¯m aware you didn¡¯t know him. I¡¯m talking through my own thoughts, Mistress. What do you think?¡± Tala took a calming breath, then just decided to go with it. -That¡¯s my girl! Social improvement for the win.- Hush, you. Tala smiled, turning to face Anna more fully. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be a bit different, but he will still be your brother. My own siblings have grown and changed but they are still them. You¡¯ve been exchanging messages when you can. So, you¡¯ve had good touchpoints with him and how he¡¯s been growing mentally, socially, and in other such ways. Because of that, there shouldn¡¯t be anything in his personality that¡¯s surprising to you. Physically, he¡¯ll just be a young man where before you knew an older boy.¡± ¡°I know¡­¡± Anna sighed. ¡°I just miss my brother, and now he''s about to be here¡­ I¡¯m nervous.¡± ¡°That¡¯s understandable.¡± Tala took a small step to give the young woman a shoulder bump, not knowing how else to convey comfort and support. Before they could talk further, the magical circle activated and a young man appeared in a burst of light and magic, the silver of the spellform in the stone vanishing as thoroughly as smoke before a strong wind. -Huh¡­ you know¡­?- Yeah, that silver should resolidify somewhere in here¡­ Why did we never consider that? -I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not like we have other things to consider.- Fair¡­ Can you make inquiries on the precious metal condensing scripts used when cities fully wane? -Will do.- As the young man opened his eyes, there was an odd taste to the air, and it took Tala a moment to realize that it was something to do with the man himself, magically, rather than any actual particulates. It passed quickly, as if from weak natural magics guttering and fading away. Even so, it gave her the sense of a campfire¡ªor other open blaze¡ªbut something about it made her feel like the impression was actually from after the fire was out. That¡¯s odd. But then, her focus was pulled by the new arrival, himself. He was on the shorter side for a man, meaning that he only had an inch or two on Tala. He had regained some hair in the teleportation, and that was short, curly, and somehow disheveled despite having been created specifically to match his view of himself. Well, that¡¯s rather telling. -Just a bit, yeah.- Tala opened her mouth to offer a greeting, but before she could say anything, Anna was already across the space between them, practically tackling her brother, her feet even disturbing the fading eddies of power in her haste to get to her newly arrived family. ¡°Haster! Welcome back and congratulations on your graduation!¡± Haster caught Anna expertly¡ªclearly used to his sister¡¯s exuberance¡ªeven as he looked around at the unexpected surroundings. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve been here before, so ¡®back¡¯ isn¡¯t really right¡­ This is an artificial space, correct? It feels like we¡¯re in some long-forgotten sanctuary to a nature spirit or something.¡± Tala quirked a smile, but Anna answered first, ¡°Yes and no. As I understand it, we are inside an entity that has been artificially enhanced and expanded before being bound as a pseudo-familiar.¡± Tala blinked a couple of times. That¡­ huh. That is actually a pretty interesting way of describing Kit. -Rather accurate too. I don¡¯t know that we¡¯ve come up with something like that.- Indeed. Anna pulled back. Her smile was so radiant that she was practically glowing. ¡°It is so good to see you, Hassy.¡± He gave her a flat look. ¡°No. Please, no, Anna.¡± ¡°Fine¡­ I suppose you''re all grown up now. But we¡¯re being rude. This is Mistress Tala. Mom and Dad work for her now, and this is her expanded space within her pseudo-familiar.¡± It was a bit humorous to see Anna go out of her way to reduce the chances that her brother would fall to the same faux pas that she, herself, had. Haster gave a deep bow toward Tala. ¡°Mistress Tala. Thank you for your reception of me, here, and for allowing my family to all be together for my arrival. I trust that they are nearby?¡± Tala nodded in return. ¡°Of course. Once you¡¯re ready, we¡¯ll move to where Master Simon, Mistress Petra, Segis, and Metti are waiting for us.¡± As she was speaking, Haster was looking around again, his eyes flicking from tree to rock to the barely visible sky to the artificial sun itself, seen only through the branches shifting in a gentle breeze. ¡°Does that actually burn? Or is it generating light and heat by other means?¡± Tala hesitated then gave an internal shrug. ¡°That depends on your definition, but literally no. There is no oxidation involved in the generation of light and heat.¡± He grunted, a smile pulling at his lips. ¡°So, no chance of ash, then? I can imagine ash from such an exotic source would be fascinating.¡± ¡°I suppose it would¡­ but no. There is no byproduct from the artificial star.¡± He was staring straight at the sun, squinting as he did so. Anna cleared her throat. ¡°Haster?¡± ¡°Hmm? Yes?¡± The boy jerked slightly, as if he¡¯d somehow forgotten that he wasn¡¯t alone. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Anna gently prodded. ¡°Oh! Oh, yes. Shall we?¡± He went as if to take a step. Tala didn¡¯t wait. She simply smiled, exerted her will, and they were moved, arriving just beside a large meal laid out to greet Haster. Haster¡¯s eyes widened in clear surprise at being suddenly relocated without any tells or signs of movement. To be fair, Tala had specifically timed it so that the transition happened as he blinked, and to his credit, he didn¡¯t lose his nerve. Instead, he whirled to face her. ¡°Did you do that?¡± ¡°I did.¡± She gave a small smile. ¡°How?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°There is no way I can adequately explain it to you in the time we have.¡± He hesitated a moment before shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ll take a short explanation now and a longer one later?¡± Tala raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything, Haster was swarmed by his family. He seemed genuinely startled by their approach, as if he¡¯d forgotten why he was there, but he quickly adjusted, seeming unabashedly excited to see each of them. After the extended greetings were exchanged, the Zuccats and Tala settled in to eat the feast which had been prepared, chatting around the tasty repast. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Finally, as Haster pushed back from the table, a satisfied smile on his face, Master Simon turned toward his son. ¡°Haster, we did notice that you never answered our questions about your master. Have you found one, or do you need some help to get one?¡± The younger man shook his head, taking a last sip to clear his mouth before setting his cup to the side. ¡°Neither. I just want to wander the Wilds and see what I can learn. I don¡¯t need a master for that. I honestly don¡¯t see the point.¡± There was a moment of silence before Mistress Petra spoke. ¡°Haster, darling, you need a master. There is so much that you can¡¯t easily learn without one.¡± She turned toward Tala. ¡°Please, Mistress Tala, can you help us, here?¡± Before Tala could respond to the, frankly, ironic plea for help, Haster held up his hand. ¡°We don¡¯t need to get her involved. Though I appreciate her willingness. Mom, Dad, masters aren¡¯t as necessary as they used to be. We¡¯ve been hearing rumors at the Academy about one Mage in particular who never took a master. If the tales are even half true, she still shot through the advancements. Word is that she¡¯s a Defender now. A Defender.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I wish we got records of the fights at the Academy, but I¡¯ll find a fight-view location sooner rather than later. I can¡¯t wait to see if there¡¯s any truth to those rumors.¡± Both Master Simon and Mistress Petra had turned clearly frustrated eyes toward Tala. Though, Tala could tell that they weren¡¯t really frustrated with her, more that they desperately wanted her to help them correct this issue. Anna, for her part, was grinning broadly, clearly barely holding in her laughter. Segis seemed a bit conflicted, but Metti¡¯s voice was the first to cut through the growing silence, a confused frown on her ten-year-old face. ¡°Mistress Tala didn¡¯t have a master¡­ right, Dad?¡± Master Simon sighed. ¡°That¡¯s right, Metti.¡± Haster straightened a bit. ¡°Really? I hadn¡¯t realized that the trend had started so long ago.¡± Tala¡¯s eye twitched. He¡¯s calling me old. -That¡¯s what you¡¯re focusing on?- ¡­It¡¯s better than the alternative¡­ She sighed. ¡°Haster, is this really a growing trend of thought at the Academy?¡± -I¡¯ll see what I can find. If this is true, it likely needs to be dealt with.- Thank you. He nodded enthusiastically, assuming he¡¯d found an advocate for his position. ¡°Oh, absolutely. I think there may already have been a few who refused masters, and I know many of those who graduated with me felt the same.¡± Tala placed her head in her hands and groaned. ¡°So many people are going to die¡­¡± Haster frowned, his excitement visibly fading. ¡°Mistress Tala? What¡¯s the matter?¡± She took a deep breath, straightened up, and exhaled forcefully. ¡°Haster, to my knowledge, I am the only graduate of the Academy to not apprentice under a master since the practice was introduced. Though, I admit that I haven¡¯t followed such things closely. I am rather distraught that not only has word of that gotten back to the Academy, but that it is inspiring others to forgo that needed step.¡± He stared at her, opened mouthed for a moment. ¡°Wait¡­ It was you?¡± ¡°Yes, to my knowledge. I have suffered because of my choice. Being a mageling is a needed step.¡± He seemed to gather himself, frowning even as he cocked his head to the side. ¡°Needed? It hardly seems needed. I mean, you are proof of that. You¡¯re doing just fine, great even, vastly better than average.¡± She grunted. ¡°Yeah, well, that is a heavy selection bias. You can¡¯t judge the safety of a caravan by only considering those who have made it back.¡± ¡°What?¡± The young man was clearly confused. She sighed, again. ¡°Haster, I have not been fine. I have been lucky; I have been mentored by those who didn¡¯t have to give me even a second glance; I have been hurt more times than I can count; I have nearly died nearly as many times; I have been destitute; I have been kidnapped and enslaved; I have walked a road of advancement, slick with the blood of hundreds; and I still don¡¯t know everything that a master could have¡ªand would have gladly¡ªtaught me.¡± Silence rang out following her pronouncement, and Tala felt suddenly tired¡­ and embarrassed¡­ and frustrated. She could have worded that better, but she had gotten it all out. So that was an improvement at least. Haster was frowning in consternation, but he did seem to have heard her. I wish Rane were here¡­ he¡¯d pick up the pieces of what I just shattered. -Yourself?- Tala sent an internal glare at the alternate interface. Too soon, Alat. -...Fine. Do you want help?- Yes, please. -Alright. Follow my lead.- And so Tala did. She took a deep breath and spoke the words that Alat provided. ¡°Regardless, Haster, you are going to want a master. There are Mages that wander the wilds, and we can find one of them for you. What is your foundational understanding?¡± He answered almost as a reflex. ¡°Everything burns to ash and drifts on the wind.¡± -That is fantastically opposed to yours.- Yeah, but I was never going to be his master. -Fair.- ¡°Alright. I assume that you utilize that in combat or otherwise destructive manifestations?¡± ¡°Mostly. It can also be used in other ways.¡± ¡°Oh? Are you a Material Guide? Or Creator?¡± ¡°Immaterial Guide.¡± Tala blinked, surprised by the answer. Master Simon decided to rejoin the conversation at that point. ¡°Are you willing to share what you guide?¡± Haster nodded with a proud smile. ¡°The oxidation rate. I can¡¯t do anything at the moment in an oxygen-free environment, but anywhere else? Everything can burn.¡± Alat cackled in Tala¡¯s head. -I like this kid. Can we keep him?- No. Anna looked horrified. ¡°Haster, what about the pain caused? Isn¡¯t that even slower burning than a Fire Mage?¡± The young man shook his head, a smile on his face. ¡°Not at all! At the worst it¡¯s the same, because I can cause the air in front of an enemy to catch fire. In the best case, I can obliterate them with the snap of a finger.¡± Tala waved that off. ¡°Don¡¯t expect that to work very often. Essentially every Mage can instantly kill anything they gain magical supremacy over.¡± She frowned. ¡°You''re going to want to learn how to target ancillary things for effective combat. You might even want to utilize weapons that you can oxidize the outer layers of for extra damage. I know an Oxygen Mage, actually¡­¡± Haster shook his head. ¡°No. One of the teachers at the Academy had a similar focus, and we just argued all the time. If I work with anything Material, I want it to be ash.¡± Tala almost argued, but she realized it would be pointless. Thus, she just shrugged instead. ¡°Alright.¡± -Hmm¡­ utilizing an unusual power on the environment and other mundane objects to create an effective fighting style¡­ who does that sound like?- We¡¯re not keeping him, Alat. -But why not? We travel, he wants to travel. We don¡¯t have a mageling, he needs to be a mageling. It¡¯s perfect!- Are you really that bored? -...No.- Tala threw the feeling of suspicion toward Alat. Did you make a bet with Enar that we¡¯d have a mageling before Rane? -...Maybe?- Alat sighed. -So what if I did? He¡¯s perfect!- No, he¡¯s not. Alat grumped. -Fine. Be that way.- Tala sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll see who we can find.¡± Haster crossed his arms, clearly a bit irritated, even so, his eyes were flicking off to one side before dragging back as he clearly forced himself to remain focused. Mistress Petra stepped in. ¡°We can¡¯t force you to sign an apprentice¡¯s agreement, Haster. Can¡¯t you agree to at least meet some people?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Then, he seemed to lose his battle against distraction as he pointed at a rock. ¡°Is that phaneritic rock?¡± Everyone twitched at the seemingly random topic change. Even so, Tala shrugged. ¡°I think so. I¡¯m not a geologist.¡± ¡°I want to see it burn¡­¡± Tala glanced toward Master Simon. The older man looked back her way and shrugged. ¡°At your pleasure, Mistress Tala. This is your sanctum.¡± Haster looked between them, momentarily confused. Tala sighed. Rate of oxidation, eh? -Should be alterable by you in here. Everything is under your authority, after all.- Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought. With a moment of concentration, she willed the change to be, and the indicated rock burst into an unreal-seeming, deep red flame. It had actually taken more force of will than she¡¯d expected. Who knew it would be hard to make rocks burn? -Yeah, who would have thought?- Haster let out a low gasp and moved toward the fire. -That really looks like something that would be found in the abyss or something like that.- Blessedly the abyss isn¡¯t more than a feature of children¡¯s stories. -...Tala, you¡¯ve seen the Doman-Imithe. If there¡¯s a next world beyond Zeme, why can¡¯t there be an abyss beyond the Doman-Imithe?- ¡­that makes an uncomfortable amount of sense. I¡¯m not thinking about that right now. -Fair enough! I¡¯ll save the existential crises until midnight, sometime when you¡¯re really tired.- Rust you, Alat. -I love you too, Tala. Good job on the burning rock, by the way. That seemed a bit tricky on this side of things.- Thanks...Tala was about to make some self-congratulatory comment when the young man stuck his hand into the flame, pulling it back with a small yelp of pain. ¡°It¡¯s real? It¡¯s really burning?¡± Anna groaned, going over to her brother and healing his singed hand. Tala was less accommodating. ¡°Of course it¡¯s real. What sort of fool sticks his hand into a fire to see if it¡¯s illusory?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just never seen rock burn. I¡¯ve wanted to, but the teachers said it would be an unwise use of inscriptions and power to shift the oxidation rate of a rock that much.¡± She felt a bit bad for him after that. She¡¯d been given such responses as well, but she¡¯d ignored them. Even so, she still felt like he was a bit of an idiot for touching it. His eyes were unwaveringly fixed on the rock, even as he thanked his sister for the healing. ¡°Still, the flame was¡­ not cool¡ªobviously¡ªbut¡­ it felt different than other flames. It has more¡­ weight?¡± Tala nodded. The fire did seem to be sinking rather than rising from the rock surface that she¡¯d altered. -That¡¯s actually really good, because I think that the product of that reaction is likely rather toxic, if not outright acidic. I think that¡¯s what hurt him, more than the relatively minor amount of heat in those abyssal flames.- She sighed, releasing her will, extinguishing the fire, and removing all the products of the reaction from the area. Haster let out a disappointed groan. ¡°Why¡¯d it stop? Did you run out of power?¡± He glanced toward Tala and saw her looking back, one eyebrow raised. He cleared his throat, seeming to realize what he¡¯d just said. ¡°Not that that¡¯s likely, of course. Not at all.¡± She shook her head, feeling a smile tug at her lips even so. ¡°What you are aiming for is possible with your described magics. That will be useful for your potential masters to know.¡± Haster hesitated for a long moment before nodding and looking between the three Mages present¡ªhis parents and Tala. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll meet with those you think would be a good fit.¡± Blessings never cease. Master Simon and Mistress Petra visibly relaxed, and Tala smiled. ¡°That decided, I¡¯ll leave you Zuccats to it. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s lots for you all to talk about, to catch up on.¡± They all said goodbye, and Tala moved herself back to the center of the sanctum. Chapter: 470 - Looking to the Future Tala, Rane, and Terry enjoyed their trip to Marliweather overall, and it seemed like no time at all before they gathered with Tala¡¯s family, Verla, and Master Leighis to see Fedir off to the Academy. His older, Academy-attending siblings were set to teleport back at the same time. There wasn¡¯t a lot of fanfare, and the goodbyes were less tearful than they might have been because everyone knew that all those going to the Academy would be able to come back in just a little more than a year, thanks to Tala¡¯s generosity and arrangements. Additionally, the ones not going to the Academy would be seeing Tala in the next few months. Still, last minute well wishes, hugs, and other parting comments passed in a bit of a blur for Tala, and before she really realized it, the time had come and the five siblings moved toward the teleportation rooms. At nearly that exact moment, Alat made a ¡®eureka¡¯ gasping sound within Tala¡¯s head. -Tala. Tala!- ¡­Do I want to know? -Anna¡¯s about to become a Mage. She will be able to take on a mageling, and Mistress Vanga will be free to take on a new one. Since Latna likely needs a new master... Eh? Do you see?- Tala sighed. She was doing that a lot of late. Master Leighis hasn¡¯t made his choice. Should we really assume what he¡¯ll choose? -...Tala¡­ Have you seen the women in your family?- ¡­Definitionally, yes? -Then why are you asking stupid questions.- Alat¡¯s mental statement was not a question. Tala sighed internally. We can put forward the idea¡­ fine. -Yay!- Tala refocused on the teleportation tower lobby, Fedir¡¯s hand dropping from his final wave. Even as Tala waved back, Master Leighis stepped up next to her and gave a deep bow. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala, for all that you have done for me. I also appreciate¡­¡± He glanced around, realizing how easily he could be overheard. ¡°I appreciate your patience with me. I wanted to let you know that I am planning on returning to field work for a time.¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°I see. What of my sister¡¯s apprenticeship?¡± ¡°I will find her a replacement master before I go. She is nearing the end of her tenure as an apprentice, and I think that the best course would be to have her raised to mageling and take a new master for that portion of her training.¡± Tala considered before nodding once again. For those few who became apprentices instead of going to the Academy, it was standard to keep the same master through the mageling portion of their education, but it wasn¡¯t required. For Rane, the two sections of training had been virtually indistinguishable. For Latna, it seemed that there would be a marked change. ¡°I understand. I may have a few potentials for her to mageling under.¡± That sparked a bit of conversation that ended with connecting Master Leighis with Mistress Vanga and Anna through the Archive. Well, we¡¯ll see if your idea comes to anything. -Yes, we shall.- Alat was clearly quite proud of herself. As the Karweils were dispersing, Tala caught up to Nea. Tala had had some time to chat with her sister over the past days, but she hadn¡¯t asked the one question that was burning within her. She could leave it alone, but Tala knew that doing so would bug her. It was time to ask. Nea gave Tala a searching look, and whatever she saw seemed to give her a bit of forewarning to the incoming question. Tala gave a small smile before diving in. ¡°Hey, Nea. I know that you need to get back to work, but I just wanted to ask¡­ are you happy? Do you still feel you made the right choice for you?¡± Nea¡¯s face hardened at the question, but Tala held up her hands and quickly continued. ¡°I¡¯m not arguing with you, nor do I think you made a wrong choice. I just know that there are times that I wished someone had asked me that. I care about you and just want to check in. I¡¯m here for you.¡± Terry opened his eyes on Tala¡¯s shoulder and trilled softly. Somehow, Terry¡¯s musical sounds did more to assuage Nea than Tala¡¯s words had. When the girl answered, she was still hesitant, but there was no anger in her tone, ¡°I am quite happy, yes. I love what I do. I know magic could be used to do what I am doing, but I feel no need. If that changes, I will seek to apprentice myself, but I don¡¯t see that happening.¡± Tala¡¯s smile grew. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it. Please don¡¯t hesitate to let me know if there is anything that I can do for you.¡± Nea seemed to actually consider. Finally, she gave a slow, decisive nod. ¡°I will. Thank you.¡± * * * Tala watched with a bit of bemusement as Kit devoured master Lisa¡¯s shop. In the end, Lisa had decided that he wanted his shop to be in Irondale as it was, and from that base of operations, he would build his magnum opus, his forever home. He did go out of his way to say that he would abandon it in a moment if she tried to change the details of their agreement. He even went further to imply that his shop¡ªor anything else he built¡ªwould be a poison pill without him there to maintain it. Tala believed him. Scary fox¡­ The whole process of devouring only took a moment or two, and Tala, Rane, Terry, and master Lisa were left standing on a mostly vacant street, in front of an entirely vacant lot. ¡°I thought you had a basement?¡± ¡°I did, but I never dug it out, I simply displaced the dirt and rock for a time. Now that the magics have been consumed, the material has settled back in line with these dimensions. Tala grunted. She supposed that made sense. Then, as she considered the space before her, she had another thought, gesturing to the bare earth. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be a problem?¡± ¡°Not at all. I sold this plot to someone who¡¯s been bothering me to sell to them for years.¡± He gave a predatory grin. ¡°The contract was only for the land, no mention of the building was made anywhere in it.¡± Rane frowned slightly, and Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Is she going to be irritated that the building is gone?¡± ¡°Oh, undoubtedly, but there¡¯s nothing that she can do about it. Honestly, she should have been more suspicious of the low price I offered her. More than the land should have sold for, but much less than the building would have been worth.¡± That caused a small smile to tug at Rane¡¯s lips. ¡°That does sound like a fun way to get some revenge, then.¡± ¡°Undoubtedly. I¡¯m not a monster, nor a thief.¡± Tala opened a doorway into Irondale for Lisa. Tala hadn¡¯t chosen a specific shape for it, so Kit seemed to decide to have some fun with it. Thus, an oddly twisting doorway of red stone seemed to grow from Tala¡¯s very aura. The shape of the outline was hard for Tala¡¯s mundane eyes to follow, and her threefold vision showed her that Kit was playing with some four-dimensionality, likely just learned from Lisa¡¯s shop. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The man hesitated, then chuckled. ¡°A neverland door? That is a fitting form to take, my good Kit. If this is to be my permanent home, I suppose it may become that to my people.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know that reference?¡± Lisa glanced back her way. ¡°Oh, the first beast-kin were theorized to have come from the neverland, or the fairy worlds. It¡¯s an old story of my people, harkening back to our antagonistic friendship with the snake-kin. Think nothing of it. It seems that your little voidling can tap into more than just physical cues and context to choose her physical shape. That is good to know.¡± Lisa stepped through, letting out a long breath that seemed to release more than air and his illusory self melted away to reveal the fox underneath, his fashionable clothes standing out to her for what seemed like the first time. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala. I think that we will both find this deal very profitable. Now, I will see to my business here. You will be opening the main gates soon, yes?¡± ¡°Yes. They should remain open in Bandfast until tomorrow morning. Then we¡¯ll be heading back to Alefast.¡± Master Lisa bowed deeply. ¡°Thank you. Then, at your pleasure?¡± With that, the portal into Irondale snapped closed. Rane had a small frown. ¡°Did he just imply that you made a deal with a fairy? And he was the fairy?¡± ¡°-In a very roundabout way, yes.-¡± He grunted. ¡°Well, fae deals never go sideways in stories.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s like saying that relationships are never simple in romances.¡± Rane considered for a moment then nodded. ¡°Right, because if the fae deal worked out as expected, why would there be a story about it?¡± ¡°Essentially, yes. Obviously, that¡¯s not universally true, but it stands to reason that we generally hear about the exceptions.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair¡­ but be careful? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard that fox-kin are fae before. Master Lisa might have just shared more with you than we realize.¡± She nodded slowly, letting the idea sink in. As they talked they had already been moving. It wasn¡¯t far through the streets of Bandfast to the wall they usually used, and Tala opened a large portal to the main gate of Irondale. Moments later, the large doors swung open and a few wagons rolled out to make their short trip to the Bandfast markets, or to others that they arranged to trade with. Tala brushed her hands against each other to remove non-existent dust, turned to Rane and proclaimed, ¡°To Lyn¡¯s house!¡± Terry trumped excitedly and Rane chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to see what Lisa is up to?¡± Tala detected the longing in his voice, and it resonated with her. Thankfully, she wasn¡¯t actually going to be missing the show. ¡°Well¡­ I can, and will have the memory to review later¡­¡± She frowned. ¡°Would you like to share the perspective?¡± Rane brightened, eyes going distant for a moment before he nodded. ¡°Yes, thank you. Enar says that he can interface with Alat to make it happen.¡± -And¡­ done.- Thank you. -Of course.- Tala nodded, ¡°Already done.¡± She hopped up to give Rane a kiss on his cheek, he caught her as she dropped back down, lifting her up to give her a proper kiss before setting her back on her feet, slightly breathless. She cleared her throat, tucking some hair behind her ear and smiling up at him. ¡°What was that for?¡± ¡°For you being you. Come on.¡± He took her hand, and they moved back toward the center of the city. After a few steps she shifted her hand up to his arm, a small smile settling across her lips. Terry was more excitable this afternoon than usual, flickering between the four shoulders easily available to him as they progressed. Whenever possible, Tala reached up to scratch the side of his head, but while he seemed to enjoy it, he didn¡¯t stay in place for long. Soon enough, they came to a familiar street with a familiar house across from a familiar park. Something was pulling at Tala¡¯s chest, and she couldn¡¯t quite understand it. It felt like something had changed, and it was only when she focused specifically on her threefold sight that she saw Lyn sitting with her hands in her lap in her own sitting room. Tala recognized the posture. The woman had something that she wanted to discuss with someone, presumably Tala and Rane. Tala kept her pace firm, but Rane noticed her tense up and the change of demeanor regardless. ¡°Tala?¡± She looked up at him, her brows creased. ¡°Something''s off. Lyn¡¯s got her ¡®I have something I want to say¡¯ face on.¡± ¡°Sitting in her reading chair, not reading?¡± He lifted one eyebrow in question. That brought a brief smile to Tala, relieving some of her tension, but not all. ¡°Exactly! Her hands are in her lap, and she¡¯s just waiting there.¡± Rane squeezed her hand on his arm. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s up. Are Kannis or Fannas anywhere around?¡± ¡°Not that I can see, no.¡± ¡°Okay, then.¡± Terry stopped his flickering about, and simply moved forward, arriving in Lyn¡¯s lap and eliciting a squeal of surprise from the woman that they heard out at the street. Rane chuckled. ¡°Terry?¡± ¡°Terry.¡± ¡°He really seems to love your threefold sight.¡± ¡°Indeed he does, yeah.¡± Tala grimaced slightly. It made it all but impossible to keep any jerky within her sanctum. He could ferret it out everywhere she¡¯d thought to hide it. I could keep it in my artificial lung¡­ -That seems a bit extreme, and I bet he¡¯d still find it.- You¡¯re probably right. Regardless, Terry¡¯s arrival had alerted Lyn to their proximity, and she met them at the door with a large grin and hugs all around. ¡°Come in, come in!¡± The three engaged in small talk as Rane took off his shoes and they all moved to the sitting room, Terry curled up in Lyn¡¯s arms for most of that time. When they were all seated, Tala decided to not put things off. ¡°So, Lyn, what¡¯s going on? What did you want to talk with us about?¡± The older woman quirked a smile. ¡°Am I that obvious?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Tala grinned back. ¡°Well then, I suppose there¡¯s no reason to delay. I¡¯m retiring from the Caravanner¡¯s Guild.¡± Both Rane and Tala opened their mouths to respond, but she continued before they could interrupt. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure where my next adventure lies, but with Kannis finishing up her tenure as a mageling, she¡¯ll be able to fully take over most of my duties. She may even take some caravan trips to get a better understanding of that side than I ever acquired. Though, they¡¯ll have to give the higher level responsibilities to someone else. A new Mage shouldn¡¯t be in a managerial position, after all.¡± Tala rocked back, leaning fully into her comfortable, reinforced chair. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a big change.¡± Lyn shrugged. ¡°It is and it isn¡¯t. I¡¯ve been working for the Caravanner¡¯s Guild for a long time now, and I think I¡¯m ready to explore more of the world, or at least a different part of it. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be staying in Bandfast for this next phase of my life.¡± Alat took in a sharp breath of delighted surprise even as an idea came to Tala. ¡°You know¡­ I¡¯ve been needing someone to help coordinate Irondale.¡± ¡°Your pocket city? Is it to the point that such coordination is needed?¡± Rane nodded emphatically even as Tala smiled and said, ¡°Yes.¡± Lyn frowned thoughtfully. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve meant to go see it. I can¡¯t promise what my answer will be, but I¡¯m open to taking a look.¡± * * * Tala held back a laugh as Lyn¡¯s eyes continued to widen. Instead of entering through the still-open main gates, Tala had simply moved them into the pocket city¡ªor more accurately to the same place on the mountain that she¡¯d entered with Lisa¡ªby force of will and authority. Lyn was staring down at the bustling town, below, and her voice came out in a low whisper. ¡°I¡¯d seen the few trades your people made with the Caravanner''s Guild and just assumed that was it¡­ that that was all that they were doing. I¡¯ve been so busy that I didn¡¯t look closer¡­ Tala¡­¡± Her voice lifted to a more normal volume. ¡°Tala, this is massive. A dozen caravans wouldn¡¯t be able to move all these people, all these materials.¡± ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s why we need a dedicated logistics lead whom I can trust. That could be you.¡± There was a spark beginning to blaze in Lyn¡¯s eyes. ¡°I just might¡­ Maybe. Let¡¯s take a look around.¡± For the next two hours, the four of them moved through Irondale in an investigation that was somehow entirely unlike the tour with Lisa. Lyn wanted to see all the warehouses, talk with the merchants who were available¡ªunfortunately, few were due to the currently open gate to Bandfast¡ªand see just how things functioned. In the end, Terry had gone to hunt some of the cervids in the surrounding wilderness within the city¡¯s dimensional space, and Lyn had a very conflicted look on her face. Rane had remained silent for most of the tour, but he decided to interject at that point. ¡°Lyn? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I¡­ Kannis isn¡¯t done yet, and even when she¡¯s a full Mage, I don¡¯t want to cut and run. I want to be available and to be there to help her¡­¡± Tala smiled, giving Rane a grateful look before hugging Lyn. ¡°Don¡¯t take this as a now or never offer. I¡¯m asking you to be looking to the future. I¡¯ll be back next spring. That would give you just more than a year to advance Kannis and get her settled in. We may be back before that for a visit, but I¡¯m definitely coming back through then. Olen will be deciding about the Academy and departing at that point.¡± ¡°He¡¯s your youngest brother?¡± ¡°Brother, yes. Sella is the youngest of us kids.¡± ¡°Wow. They¡¯re really getting big.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Tala felt a moment of sadness. Lyn pulled back from the hug. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it, see what we can arrange. If it works? That sounds like a great official start time. Yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tala smiled, then. ¡°Yes. That¡¯d be great.¡± Lyn nodded. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get out of here. I want to celebrate with Kannis! I expect her to be a full Mage in less than a month, and you all won¡¯t be back again before then.¡± Rane grinned. ¡°That is exactly the plan. Let¡¯s celebrate.¡± Chapter: 471 - Raising Questions Tala stood with Terry, Rane, and their Defender unit at the end of an all too familiar style of tunnel, right inside a cell. They all were a bit awkward because of the requirements of this particular cell. None of them were naked¡ªor even indecent by the standard of Mages¡ªbut they were all wearing much less than usual¡­ except Tala. They¡¯d all been obligated to shed everything that wasn¡¯t soulbound to them because of the nature of the prisoner within. It was good that some sort of defensive item was a standard recommendation for bonding, and the most common of those were clothing or armor in appearance. This Mage¡¯s only magic of consequence was to soulbind whatever he encountered. Thankfully, with sapient beings, that still required consent from both sides, but it meant that unbound equipment or clothing wasn¡¯t allowed. As to why this man was imprisoned? It seemed that the act of soulbinding himself to what was¡ªessentially¡ªuncounted things had torn him apart on a fundamental level. That distribution had made him virtually unkillable, because he was bound to everything near him, but it had also removed his humanity. He now simply existed as an extension of his binding magics. Additionally, something about the man¡¯s magic was such that he always took dominance in such bonds. Apparently there had been¡­ losses. The negatively affected Archons had been allowed to pass on, but the deaths had been significantly detrimental to humanity at the time. So, they hadn¡¯t continued to try. Overall, the concept of the prisoner¡¯s power was more interesting than the actual encounter. Trees and other plants tried to break through their defensive line, acting upon their own impetus¡ªusing his power¡ªto defend their bound companion. Each member of the unit was propositioned to join his ¡®collective will,¡¯ but they all easily refused. The only real surprise was when seemingly animate rock and soil formed humanoid shapes to assault them. They weren¡¯t difficult to deal with, but they were surprising. I can see why having this guy roaming the world would be¡­ unideal. -Indeed. Imagine the damage he could do to caravans where the very wagons and oxen suddenly turned on the travelers¡­- Tala shivered. They were, indeed, facing him in a close to ideal set of circumstances. Even so, in the end, it was hardly worth noting. * * * Tala stood in a Mage¡¯s robe¡ªa red so dark it was practically black¡ªformed of her elk leathers, trying to fade into the background within the Archon Compound of Alefast. Rane stood beside her, seeming much more comfortable in his attire than she in hers. Mage¡¯s robes are dumb¡­ -Just because you don¡¯t need to strip doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t well designed.- Even if I did, my clothing could just do that for me. -Oh, of course. Why doesn¡¯t every mage get a set of incredible magical clothing, then soul-bond it? Oh, wait. Being able to bind it would make them Archons. Silly me. What are all the normal mages meant to do?- ¡­You make a good point. Only ten percent of Mages make it to Archon¡­ She sighed internally. Rane seemed to sense something from her, because he put his arm around her and gave a quick squeeze before letting go once again. That let Tala relax a bit and brought a smile to her face. Some thirty Archons sat at tables which arched in a semicircle, all facing a Mage in the center, and more than twice that number stood against the walls to observe just as Tala and Rane were. They had been invited to watch a Binding ceremony. She¡¯d tried to refuse but both Rane and Master Grediv had worked to convince her to come despite her inclination against the idea. She knew it was a trap. She had no doubt that if she came to observe, they¡¯d one day ask her to sit in judgment. -You can¡¯t dodge all the responsibilities of rank forever. Besides, you had a lot of people come to support you when you were raised. It¡¯s a little disappointing that you haven¡¯t gone to any of the raisings of people you know.- Bah, I¡¯m a Defender. My whole job is the responsibility of rank. -That¡¯s¡­ fair.- The Mage¡ªwho had strode into the room for his appointment with confidence and aplomb¡ªwas an up-and-comer, barely thirty years old, and already was ready to become Bound. He wore a greataxe on his back, a wicked spike set opposite the bearded blade. It was a clearly magical weapon that seemed to have an interesting combination of magics that reminded her both of Flow¡¯s enhanced cutting and her long-lost repeating hammer¡¯s kinetic redirection ability. His weapon aside, he had an easy smile shining from among his curly red beard, below his brilliant blue eyes. Yet, something about him made Tala think of him as someone who would be a pain to fight on an equal footing¡­ Maybe she did want to be one of the judges. Then she could fight him during the little song and dance about swallowing his star. Though, that wouldn¡¯t address the advancement inequality¡­ -No, Tala, you can¡¯t beat up on up-and-coming Archons.- ¡­Fine. Master Grediv was sitting in prominence for this potential raising, and he opened the proceedings with dignity. ¡°Master Malachi, please present your Archon star.¡± Master Malachi pulled out a dark red-violet gem. ¡°My Archon star is set within almandine. I believe that you will find it of sufficient power.¡± He presented it to the seated Archon on his far left, and the Archon star was passed around slowly, giving each of those who were here to judge time to examine it thoroughly. It was a bit of ceremony, as each of the Archons could have easily examined the gem and the Archon star within from where they sat¡ªjust as Tala was. The gem in which the spellform resided was spherical¡ªas was tradition¡ªbut for some reason, it felt¡­ off to Tala. When she noticed the discrepancy, she had to hold in a laugh. I didn¡¯t think size mattered for Archon stars. -It generally doesn¡¯t, it¡¯s how well they¡¯re utilized. But you can fit more power into more material.- He dimensionally compressed a much larger gem to get the end result under the maximum size. Then he took advantage of the increased space within to massively increase the power he put into his Archon star. -Somewhat useless, but impressive all the same.- Quite, yes. It must have taken a lot of dedication to create an Archon star of that power. The Archon star made the rounds and was returned to the expectant Mage. Even though he was putting on a good show, Tala could see his heart beating more rapidly than it had upon his arrival. He was nervous. He was confident, but not to the point of full surety. The questions didn¡¯t help. The seated Archons asked somewhat random questions, as unlike with her own raising, there wasn¡¯t a central issue to be addressed with Master Malachi. His little trick was interesting, but it didn¡¯t actually challenge any presuppositions of the Archons, nor did it put his advancement into question. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. They inquired about his time as a mageling: profitable and informative, his magic: rapid use of dimensional expansion and contraction, his foundational understanding: ¡®I can make that fit.¡¯ His foundational understanding got a round of chuckles, and that seemed to give the man some renewed confidence. The other questions were really irrelevant from Tala¡¯s perspective, but she dutifully listened regardless. They were likely meant to illuminate the man¡¯s personality, his bent, but everyone knew that a simple series of questions couldn¡¯t determine the scope of a person. -Answer these thirty questions to know if you would have become a fount! I think it would sell, especially to mundanes dreaming of Magehood.- Yeah, probably, but it would be a blatant violation of informational security. -You¡¯re no fun sometimes. Think of how famous we could be?- ¡­Do you really want to be famous? I don¡¯t think that I do¡­ I want to be known for helping people, but that¡¯s not really the same thing. -No, I suppose not.- Alat sighed internally and didn¡¯t press the issue further. When the last question had been asked and answered, Master Grediv pulled attention back to himself. ¡°Those in favor of the raising of Master Malachi?¡± Almost every hand went up. It''s theater. Before the Mage had come in, it had been arranged for some of the Archons to object. The purpose of this was to keep any Mage from feeling too comfortable before what came next. They had found it a bit unfair to make prospective Bound feel complacent and trusting right before testing them. The point was to keep them thinking critically. ¡°Twenty-four in favor, five against, one abstain.¡± That kicked off the remainder of the show for Master Malachi¡¯s benefit, and in the end, as expected, the approval was unanimous. Master Grediv¡¯s voice resonated through the room, ¡°We are agreed. Master Malachi is to join our ranks.¡± At that moment, as preplanned, everyone let their auras leak out just a bit. That gave the room a vague feeling of clashing and wrongness as the various powerful people present playfully fought for aura supremacy. Tala almost tested herself, but she thought it would be less than fair. -You think? Most of the people in here are crafters, healers, cultivators, or bureaucrats. You¡¯d wipe the floor with them, until the few powerhouses took you seriously.- Yeah, it wasn¡¯t worth it¡­ Maybe next time. Master Malachi obviously couldn¡¯t truly see the conflicting auras¡ªnot really¡ªbut he could sense something. Master Grediv gave a single nod. ¡°Now, young Mage, you must eat your Archon star.¡± Master Malachi frowned, shifting¡ªseemingly unconsciously¡ªinto a more firmly balanced stance. ¡°My apologies, Master Grediv, but I fear that I must have misheard you.¡± Master Grediv gave an easy smile. ¡°I told you to eat your Archon star.¡± The Mage slowly shook his head. ¡°Then, I must have misunderstood.¡± Master Grediv shook his head, his smile staying unruffled. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what there is to misunderstand. Put your Archon star into your mouth and swallow. Why do you think we have the maximum size in place?¡± Master Malachi looked down at the sphere in his hand, then back up, his frown growing. Wow, it¡¯s a lot funnier from this side. I can also see how Terry totally ruined their scenario, here. They would have had to kill him or me to make this next part work, and that would sort of defeat the purpose. She was glad that Terry was hunting in Walden¡¯s woods at that moment. The Mage slowly shook his head, dropping the Archon star into his pouch to free up his hands. Tala could see his worldview unraveling. The man was clearly much more thoughtful than Tala had been at this point. She¡¯d just refused and started to fight. He understood the implications. -I mean¡­ not quite?- Hush you, I¡¯m considering a poignant dichotomy. -Fine, fine.- His left hand shifted into an odd shape, connecting his inscriptions precisely. That caused his axe to distort in its sheath before he grasped it with ease, and it returned to normal, no longer contained. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I will be leaving now.¡± Master Grediv gave a small smile. ¡°Is that a refusal?¡± ¡°Assuredly and without question.¡± ¡°And if I tell you that you won¡¯t leave this room without obeying?¡± ¡°Then I will die swinging.¡± The Paragon motioned, and three seated Archons¡ªwho had been preselected¡ªlashed out with their magic, seeking to bind the man. Master Malachi¡¯s own inscriptions flared to life as his left hand almost blurred as it took up the required configurations to activate his magics, dimensionality warping Reality around him so that he simply wasn¡¯t where the attacks struck. He didn¡¯t teleport, he simply altered dimensionality so that there was more space than there had been, and the incoming attacks simply went through where he no longer was. It was an excellent defense, all things considered. He then attacked without moving his feet, his axe blade somehow aligned with the neck of one of the seated Archons¡ªone that wasn¡¯t even currently attacking him, which Tala thought both unfair and a clever choice on Master Malachi¡¯s part¡ª even while he was entirely too far away to have been within striking distance. Unfortunately for him, the axe stopped dead a breath away from striking home. Then, four gentle restraints settled around the man, binding him in place despite all magical attempts to avoid the workings or to get free. To Tala¡¯s surprise, Master Malachi actually attempted what seemed to be suicide, trying to dimensionally alter the alignment of his own neck, but that attempt was blocked with ruthless efficiency. A moment later, the man was entirely helpless. He was even gagged as he¡¯d started spitting curses at them once he was locked down. Tala felt a smile tug at her lips as Master Grediv began the explanation that she had missed in her own raising. This had all been a test, and they weren¡¯t going to force him to eat it. They weren¡¯t some twisted cabal of former humans, trying to make him one of them. Even so, he was going to have to use his Archon star to bond himself to his own body, but in a much more controlled way. Tala let her attention drift as the reality of things was explained, even if she did find the Mage¡¯s slow shift in attitude quite fascinating. He was released, and the Bonding happened without fanfare. It was then that Tala realized that she¡¯d rarely seen a bonding or merging of any kind from the outside. She found it interesting just how mundane it all looked from that side of things. Even with four Archons seated around Master Malachi, linking and overlapping their auras to cradle and assist the man in his Bonding, the whole process was without visible incident. He sat there, absorbed the Archon star, and his aura gained color to Tala¡¯s threefold sight. As expected, it was red, though not fully. There was decidedly a touch of orange already. That was it. It was almost instantaneous and rather anticlimactic. A step toward Fused already. -He did seem rather centered and self-assured. That can happen.- Yeah, yeah¡­ Other than the change to his aura, the man¡¯s beard had darkened to an almost blood red, while still remaining just inside the natural range of hair color, and his eyes had taken on a bit of violet veining through them, facets even becoming visible in parts of his irises. Master Grediv stood and gave a shallow bow. ¡°Greetings, Bound Malachi, Archon of Humanity.¡± Not quite identical to my ceremony so far by any means, but close enough. -Indeed.- Tala then listened to the requisite history lesson¡ªallowing Master Malachi to be informed as to some of the true nature of things¡ªalong with the greater explanation as to why they¡¯d had this whole song and dance. She understood it, but it was still less than ideal in her mind. Not that she could think of any better way. And then there was the party in honor of the newly Bound. Master Malachi still seemed a bit shaky from the whiplash followed by the Binding. Was I that bad? -Yes and no. Your situation was a bit different, but he does seem to be holding up well. You should go and give your greeting, though.- Fine¡­ She glanced to Rane. ¡°Shall we?¡± He nodded and smiled. ¡°Of course.¡± They walked over to the man, timing their arrival to coincide with another group of well-wisher¡¯s departing. Tala gave a shallow bow, and Rane did likewise before speaking, ¡°Congratulations, Master Malachi. I am Rane.¡± He then gestured to Tala. When the new Bound looked her way, she introduced herself as well, ¡°Yes. Congratulations, Master Malachi, I am Tala.¡± He bowed in return, deeper than they had toward him, likely out of an abundance of caution. ¡°Master Rane, Mistress Tala, it is good to meet you. Thank you for the congratulations.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Of course. I know how odd the whole experience was for me when I Bound. It¡¯s a lot to take in and a rather exhausting set of circumstances.¡± Master Malachi frowned even as he nodded. ¡°Yes. I am not used to feeling so helpless. My work has had me encounter all sorts of arcanous creatures, and I¡¯ve always been able to win through. It seems that I¡¯ve been more sheltered than I realized. Though, in considering things, for it to be otherwise, humanity would have won true peace with the power in this room alone.¡± ¡°Alas, yes. It¡¯s a big world out there, and the dangers surround us on all sides.¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°But we are moving toward that safety. We fight, and there are victories from that conflict. We do not simply hold¡ªlet alone lose¡ªground. Soon, we may yet win through.¡± Master Malachi smiled, bowing again. ¡°That is a blessing to hear, Master Rane. I confess that I feel a certain despondency. I had thought that I was at the forefront of mankind, and yet here I stand, clearly utterly outmatched by at least a few in this room.¡± He chuckled ruefully. ¡°If my guess is correct, I am utterly outmatched by everyone in this room, but I am so ignorant that I don¡¯t even know that for sure.¡± He sighed then smiled. ¡°But it seems that I am at the beginning of my journey, rather than the end. That is something to be grateful for.¡± Tala felt a bit of pity for the man, leading her to smile consolingly in return. ¡°You are right, it isn¡¯t all bad. You have a solid road before you and good work to do along the whole journey. We may be a bit further along our own paths, but we are still moving together, toward the same distant horizon. Humanity is approaching a turbulent time, but when we fight our way through, there just might be that true peace waiting there for us.¡± Master Malachi¡¯s smile grew further at her words. ¡°That is a balm on my soul to hear. Thank you both.¡± They bowed again. Rane spoke this time. ¡°We¡¯ll let you get to the food, or to the other attendees, but it was a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Thank you for coming to greet me.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Absolutely.¡± Chapter: 472 - Some Time Tala, Terry, and Rane were sitting beside the fast flowing water of the circular river within Tala¡¯s sanctum, enjoying some time together with the Zuccats. Haster was off in Alefast, meeting with a couple of potential masters, but Anna, Master Simon, Mistress Petra, Segis, and Metti were all there, a wonderful picnic spread laid out for them. Metti was actually in the water, floating round and round the central rise on a waxed, leather bladder of some kind. They were apparently popular in cities with rivers nearby and absolutely critical in the seaside cities. That aside, the floating was not a fast process. She swung around every fifteen minutes or so on the lazy current. Anna was playing with Terry. Specifically, she was trying to bait him close with various bits of food so that she could pet him before he flickered away. They both obviously knew that Terry could come in and out faster than she could react, but they kept up the fiction, regardless. It was either that, or Terry was allowing brief pets in order to get food¡­ Or Anna knew that Terry would stick around for pets, in the hopes that she¡¯d put out more food in the future. -Except that Terry could just take any food that he wanted without any of this song and dance.- That¡¯s true enough. Truthfully, Tala wasn¡¯t one hundred percent certain why Terry was engaging with Anna in this way, but it seemed to be entertaining them both, or at least providing a pleasant distraction. Segis¡­ he was arguing with his father. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you can¡¯t just take me on as an apprentice. I can learn more from you¡ªand while in here¡ªthan I ever could at the Academy.¡± Master Simon sighed. ¡°That is a statement out of ignorance, Segis. The Academy is built to train up young Mages. Those who were trained elsewhere are the exception for a reason. It takes a talent and depth of knowledge that neither your mother nor I possess to provide a commensurate level of training in magic.¡± ¡°But there are so many others I could learn from! We could engage tutors for the areas you feel weaker in, there are magical beasts in here I could gather knowledge from, experience.¡± Mistress Petra interjected, her voice a little more level than her husband¡¯s. ¡°And what do you want to do as a Mage, Segis?¡± ¡°I want to do what dad does and study how magic works.¡± Master Simon smiled. ¡°I am glad that you do, but that means you need an incredibly broad foundation. I know you love to read, and that will serve you incredibly well, but there isn¡¯t any true replacement for the foundation you can be given at the Academy.¡± Segis opened his mouth to object, but Master Simon held up a hand to forestall his son. ¡°You are right, this situation with Mistress Tala is far better than most potential apprentices have available to them, but even assuming that she would agree to have you trained within her sanctum¡ªwhich we should not take as a sure thing regardless¡ªchances are that your career will be elsewhere. You need a solid understanding of how the rest of the world functions, what it will be like to work for the Constructionists or as a private researcher or assistant for other powerful Archons. Mistress Tala is a fantastic employer, but working for her, in here, is utterly unlike anywhere else I have ever worked, and I would be doing you a grave disservice if I trained you in such an irreplicable location. I would be open to having you as my mageling here once you graduate¡ªassuming that Mistress Tala approves, and I still work for her at that time. Until then, though? You need to be taught in a way that will enable you to pursue your dreams without unrealistic expectations.¡± Mistress Petra¡¯s softer voice followed on the heels of her husband¡¯s words, ¡°More than that, we are old and not very advanced. You are not blind to the different levels of Mages, even if you don¡¯t¡ªand can¡¯t¡ªknow the exact distinctions. We don¡¯t want you to join us on our trajectory, and if we, alone, are giving you your foundation, it will be hard for you to surpass us.¡± As Master Simon and Mistress Petra finished, Tala was left feeling grateful that she hadn¡¯t interjected. She really hadn¡¯t considered it as Master Simon and Mistress Petra clearly had. Rane¡ªwho had obviously also been listening¡ªspoke up, then, ¡°Segis. I was apprenticed rather than sent to the Academy, and while I learned much that others did not, I also lost out on some of the foundations that they gained. Tala and I complement each other so well in part because we have different gaps in our knowledge, but honestly, had she put in her time as a mageling, she would have picked up the majority of what I gained as an apprentice, and she would have done so without essentially any of the downsides. The choice is, in the end, between you and your parents, but if I were to go back, I think that I would have appreciated knowing the truth of the choice more fully.¡± Segis frowned, but gave a slow, thoughtful nod. He really is mature for his age. -Especially in comparison to how you remember yourself.- True. Tala smiled slightly, remembering how she¡¯d arrived¡ªnaked¡ªin the Bandfast teleportation tower. That seems like so long ago, yet I was eight years older then, than he is now. Finally, the boy looked at Rane and asked a simple question, ¡°Would you choose differently, knowing what you know now?¡± Rane hesitated, then looked toward Tala for a long moment before smiling and answering easily. ¡°Honestly, I am happy with the trajectory my life has taken, and the path that I am walking. I wouldn¡¯t change what happened in the past simply because I wouldn¡¯t want to change my present, and that¡¯s how I got here. That said, such is not an endorsement or condemnation of either choice. Just because something worked out for me, does not mean that it was a good choice, or that others should do the same.¡± Tala knew that she was smiling happily toward Rane, and she was fine with that. As she considered Rane¡¯s words, she realized that she agreed in large part. She would not have chosen much of what had happened to her, but she couldn¡¯t really say that she disliked almost anything about her life at the moment. Did that mean that what she went through was good? No, not at all. But if what she went through was required to get her here, would she change any of it, if she could? She didn¡¯t honestly know. That stirred something within her, and she felt like the question was an important one. The conversation fell by the wayside, then. Segis still had a couple more weeks before he could leave for the Academy regardless, so nothing had to be decided right then. Metti drifted past again, this time with Terry perched on one of her knees above the waterline. Tala hadn¡¯t even noticed the terror bird ceasing his game with Anna. -Well, he can see as much as we can. He flickered away in order to be on Metti as she drifted by. I think he¡¯s trying to make a statement to Anna.- Oh? -Yeah. He¡¯s still not very pleased by her, but he is warming. Even so, I believe that he is trying to show her that while she fights for his attention, some people simply get it.- ¡­Is that a guess, or are you pulling his reasoning from his mind? -Both? He wouldn¡¯t put it that way, but that¡¯s what his thoughts add up to and point toward in the end.- Tala sighed. That made enough sense to not be worth arguing over. Nothing else of real consequence was discussed. That was likely a large part of what led to a pleasant afternoon. * * * In the end, Segis decided to heed his parents¡¯ advice and attend the Academy. Tala couldn¡¯t really say that the sanctum was quieter without him¡ªafter all he had never really been that much of a disruption to the quiet to begin with¡ªbut it certainly was emptier. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. She was rather surprised to find that she felt the absence of the boy. It wasn¡¯t like she¡¯d spent much time with him, but he had been there. Maybe it would be nice to have a few more people in the sanctum. -Yeah, but they¡¯d have to be people we knew well, ideally those we chose specifically.- Of course. -It would be even better if we could train their behavior, and guide them to act in ways that we saw as reasonable.- I mean¡­ yes? -If only we could tap into a way of adding to a population with people we had natural authority over and could influence the behavior of?- Alat sent the impression of an innocent grin Tala¡¯s way. Tala sighed internally. Yes, Alat. I am aware that I can have children. Though, is that really the best reason to do so? -In an ideal world? No, absolutely not, but in a world at war with our very existence? Humanity needs every reason it can find to have more children.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. She was actually a bit surprised that she didn¡¯t hate the idea. She didn¡¯t see little Talax in person very often, but he was growing up well, and her constant observations let her see the highs and lows of the parenting of not only him but every child in Irondale. She tried to not self-righteously assume that she could do better than the parents she observed, but she really did feel like she could do at least as well¡­ she hoped. But now is not the time. -Of course not. You have all the time in the world.- ¡­You see, you say that¡ªand it¡¯s true¡ªbut something about how you say that makes me feel like you¡¯re trying to imply something else. -I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.- Tala decided not to fight her alternate interface on the issue. Regardless, time continued to pass by. They delved deeper into the War Games¡ªthough they still hadn¡¯t gotten to the scenarios involving other real possible power sets. The designers of the War Games were very careful to creep up on that sort of thing, apparently. Tala and Rane didn¡¯t really know enough to argue with what had worked in the past. So, they simply continued to work their way through the standard path. Terry seemed to be fully back to normal, having rolled through the various levels of emotional maturity so quickly that Tala hadn¡¯t even really registered most of them. He seemed to have finished leveling out with his new cognitive and psychological capacities, and everyone that Tala had checked with said that he had coped with the bonding process better than could have been hoped for or expected. They were well and truly out of the danger zone. Tala was glad for that, but she hadn¡¯t really been concerned. If she were being honest, she¡¯d say that she¡¯d barely thought about it as an issue at all. Mistress Kannis had been raised to full Magehood, and she had taken over most of Lyn¡¯s duties with gusto. Lyn had taken a step back and was actually already starting to be more and more involved in the goings on in Irondale, even if only through the Archive. She hadn¡¯t agreed to anything yet, but things were looking quite promising. Tala and Alat were very carefully not pushing Lyn on making a decision, even as they reeled her in. Tala¡¯s siblings came to Alefast several times, Latna taking the time to meet with Anna and Mistress Vanga. The result of those meetings was actually Anna¡¯s decision to move to Marliweather. She would take up the running of Master Leighis¡¯ healing business and take on Latna as her mageling. Anna was a bit young to be taking on a mageling, but Mistress Vanga had agreed to oversee the process from afar, and both young women had been connected with a few of Mistress Vanga¡¯s colleagues in Marliweather who were too busy to take on another mageling, but who were willing to be resources to the two. Mistress Vanga would have happily taken on Latna herself, except neither were willing to relocate to the other¡¯s city. Thus, this arrangement was what had been reached. Tala and Rane almost took off to the far north of the gated-human wilds as a new city construction had been started. It had been quite some time since a completely new city was built. While it was on a previously used city site¡ªjust like the cycling cities always were¡ªit wasn¡¯t going to be the new location of any of the current cities. As such, a new Paragon couple was being placed in charge of the place, and they were pulling in ideas and concepts that worked from the other cities in order to have a place that would be entirely their own while still fitting within the culture and ethos of the other cities. Tala still could hardly believe that a thirteenth active city would be added to humanity and none would need to wane for it to come to full power. -Tala, you¡¯re getting repetitive in your thinking¡­- But¡­ I really want to see it. -There¡¯s nothing new to see, yet! It was an exciting thing, and Tala was almost curious enough about it to take a trip to investigate immediately. Almost. Maybe in another few years. Everything at this point was simply theoretical. Nothing would really be visibly different until the city opened to immigration, and that wouldn¡¯t be for decades yet. It generally seemed like things were simply progressing well across the board. Master Lisa was even settling in far more thoroughly than anyone had expected. The gateless had seemingly embraced him as a fellow citizen of Irondale, for all that he mainly worked on his home all day. It seemed like but a few weeks, yet Tala and Rane were, once again, headed toward Marliweather to see off Olen to the Academy. Like his brother before him, Olen had decided to go well in advance, rather than hemming and hawing over the decision in the days leading up to his potential departure. Caln and Verla had timed their wedding to correspond with when all their Academy siblings would be back to see Tala and be with Olen for his own send-off. As such, Tala, Terry, and Rane had been invited to attend the ceremony as well. Blessedly, this time Tala had not been asked to perform the rites. Master Leighis had, in fact, been asked to do so, as a Mage who was heavily involved in both Caln and Verla¡¯s lives. He specifically arranged his rounds so that he could be in the city to perform the ceremony. The ceremony was a funny contrast to Brandon and Kedva¡¯s, over which Tala had presided. This time Tala was able to just sit back and observe, which made the differences all the more stark. Where Brandon and Kedva had come together almost as equals, each taking precedence in various areas per their particular choice, this wedding was much more an invitation from Caln to Verla, asking her to come and oversee their new family. He made vows about how he would protect, provide, and bow to her wisdom, to which she reciprocated with vows to nurture, support, and grow their family with the irreplaceable gift of new life. They then both swore to listen to the other¡¯s insight and to stay united, no matter what Zeme or the stars themselves brought in the coming years. ¡°Between us: love, patience, and attentiveness. Toward the world: one family in stalwart strength and unity.¡± It was far more equal than their society had had back before Mage traditions more thoroughly trickled into mundane life, but that was so long ago that Tala only really knew about such because of the research she¡¯d done before she presided over a wedding herself. It was funny how matriarchal mundane marriages were still purported to be¡ªat least if anyone took the vows at face value¡ªbut that was mostly an artifact of tradition. She found herself okay with that. There was something about the tradition that lent weight to the ceremony. -But you¡¯ll have a Mage¡¯s wedding with Rane.- Of course, I¡¯ll¡ª Tala¡¯s eyes widened slightly as she hitched internally. She then sent a faux glare at Alat within their mind. That was devious of you. -I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.- The painted patterns portion of the ceremony was essentially identical to a Mage¡¯s wedding. As a matter of taste, Caln and Verla chose to have red and blue paint, respectively, so that the combination was purple rather than gray, but that was just a surface level change. Their lines were also in different styles, but that was to be expected. With more time to contemplate and simply participate as a guest, Tala found that she was glad that some of the traditions she¡¯d heard of had fallen out of fashion. It apparently used to be incumbent on each party to have a man and woman stand witness to the union, in the room, to ensure that nothing went awry. With the soulbond at marriage, that seemed a rather silly stipulation, but apparently their ancestors had seen some need or utility in it. Maybe it had been to defend the couple in case some threat or other had tried to intervene? Tala didn¡¯t really care enough to investigate further. On the slightly better side, it apparently used to be common practice for the guests to stand outside the window of the young couple and call out encouragement or heckling until the bond was achieved. Even considering the possibility of being on either side of such an interaction was utterly and horrifyingly uncomfortable to Tala. It really is amazing how far we¡¯ve advanced as a culture. -Yeah, and I wonder how long until the two colored paints will be seen as barbaric or indecent.- Tala grunted, considering. I suppose I can see that side of things, but it isn¡¯t meant as scandalous. It¡¯s a symbol. -Most things are, at one level or another.- Fine¡­ Rane was quiet through most of the ceremony and the party afterwards. He wasn¡¯t willfully so, and he engaged in plenty of conversations throughout, but Tala noticed a thoughtfulness to his actions and mannerisms. She knew the source, but she chose not to address it, either with him or within her own mind. Not yet. She didn¡¯t think that she was ready quite yet. Alat, likewise, didn¡¯t address the conspicuous silence on anyone¡¯s part. Just days later, Olen was gone, the other siblings returning to the Academy with him, and Tala, Terry, and Rane were headed to Bandfast to pick up Lyn. She had agreed to try her hand at administering Irondale. Even with that joyous destination, Tala found herself considering the time in Marliweather a bit somberly. In only a little more than a year and a half¡¯s time, she¡¯d be back for Sella to make her choice about the Academy, and that would mark the end of this phase of her family¡¯s life. Sella was the last of Tala¡¯s siblings to need to make the choice about the Academy. In just one year, Tala¡¯s youngest sibling would be twelve years old, and culturally expected to be on the trajectory of her future career. Time had simply flown by. Huh. Chapter: 473 - Marliweather Again, Already? Tala was pleasantly surprised by how many Archons had questions for Walden, and how many were able and willing to pay the price in dimensionally expanded volume for Kit to eat. It was a little annoying to arrange for them to get to Tala, but the Alefast, Waning, Constructionists began making such items on commission, in order to deliver them to Tala as payment for the answers she could now provide. There was also the fact it was Alat and Mistress Ingrit who were doing the actual logistical work. So, Tala really had little to complain about. The Librarian was still handling all of the negotiations and facilitation of the inquiries into Tala¡¯s various available memories and other sources of wisdom and knowledge. Tala¡ªonce again¡ªverified that Mistress Ingrit was getting compensated for her time spent and effort given. The Librarian not only assured her that she was, but once again made sure that Tala had access to the records of such compensation. Tala hadn¡¯t doubted the woman¡¯s integrity, but Tala just couldn¡¯t understand why Mistress Ingrit was willing to accept so little. Sure, there was the value of having access to all of the intangible goods for free herself, but was that really worth so much to the woman? -Let me see, does a life-long Librarian value knowledge? Come on, Tala, is this really confusing to you?- ¡­Fair. One incredible result that Tala had only briefly considered was that many Archons had similar questions for Walden, and so Tala only had to bother¡ªor pay¡ªthe immortal elk once for each of those groupings. Then she could collect a smaller fee to simply pass the knowledge on to following inquirers. Well, Tala and Kit got the fee so that Mistress Ingrit could pass the knowledge on. Some, including Master Grediv, even asked the question that Tala had at the start: Why¡ªin the opinion of the Immortal Elk¡ªwere cells seeming to degrade more quickly? Or at least why were more coming up as in need of maintenance in this waning? The consensus was that Walden¡¯s was an interesting theory, and likely had some truth to it, but it just as likely wasn¡¯t the whole story. As for the effect of the payments, there wasn¡¯t a massive amount of growth for Kit from any given transaction, but it was a permanent expansion each time, and it added up. Walden¡¯s forest was also growing, as expected, and the elk seemed to be rather pleased with the results of the deal that he¡¯d made as well. Master Grediv occasionally asked to inspect the remnants of the cell to check for issues, and Tala allowed him¡ªand any expert he saw fit to bring¡ªthe access that was needed. There was even talk about finding similar cells to allow Tala to subsume them as well, but that had so many implications that there was no chance that it would have a short timeline. Plus, there were only three or four of this type of prisoner that modern humanity was aware of. On another issue entirely, Tala was finally given permission to try augmenting the connections between the parts of reality across the rends present at previous city sites, but Master Grediv made a personal request, asking that she delay for a bit, as it likely wouldn¡¯t be a fast process to test thoroughly. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were several Defenders who were looking to have time off in the next couple of years. Her departure added on top¡ªand likely Rane¡¯s as well¡ªwould leave them on the lighter side of the desired numbers to protect Alefast, Waning, and deal with cells in the region. That made sense to Tala, so she put the idea on the back burner for the time being. Within Irondale, things were progressing very well. True to his word, Lisa was taking his time to do¡­ whatever it was he was doing to establish his four-dimensional home within Irondale. He wasn¡¯t quite as reclusive as he¡¯d threatened to be, seemingly beginning to make friends with his neighbors and many in the town in general. The children of Irondale seemed to especially like the fox, and he didn¡¯t seem to mind their presence too much when they came to watch his work, even if Tala was entirely sure that they didn¡¯t really understand just how incredible what they were seeing was. But I suppose I could be wrong? -Yeah, kids are fairly malleable¡­- Master Simon, Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva finally got the first group of Irondalians ready for magical rebirth. The consensus was that the natural magics given to Kedva would both be of more use and easier to get used to than the detailed magesight magics which had been given to Brandon and Adrill. Even so, the schemas worked out¡ªin collaboration with Mistress Holly in repayment for a couple of questions asked of Walden¡ªincorporated basic magesight as well. Thus, with Lyn¡¯s coordination, Tala began to help Irondalians be reborn at the rate of roughly one a day until there were fifty additional magically reborn humans. Lyn had taken up the mantle of point of contact for Tala and logistician for Irondale as a whole with vigor, and she was already integrating herself with the town¡¯s populace with ease. The newly reborn trained together every day, their magic kept full by the power within Kit once Tala had allowed it to interact with them. They used the series of spaces that Lyn had designated for Tala to set up with incrementally less magical density, doing their utmost to maintain their own level of power in the progressively more starved environments. Kedva¡ªin particular¡ªwas making great strides, and she was now able to leave Irondale for a few hours before her density dropped too significantly due to simple diffusion. Tala also helped Adrill and Brandon to gain natural magics like Kedva¡¯s and Tala¡¯s own defensive and enhancing inscriptions, thus making sure that they weren¡¯t left behind by the new recruits. The fifty-three adults quickly took on the role of arbiters within Irondale¡ªbiased mainly on the newer people because of the duties already on the plate of the original three¡ªhelping to settle any disputes that could arise and helping to keep tempers in check. Thankfully, there wasn¡¯t ever a need for actual violence or true intervention, but they were easily and enthusiastically adopted as figures of prominence within the growing town, especially when Lyn began using them to convey many of her more pleasant notices to the various people around the town. This adoption caused even more interest within the citizenry to join these reborn, and the next crop of applicants was picked and their training began. On the events concerning Tala more directly, Rane finally convinced her to review the memories they¡¯d been given about the Black Legion. Master Grediv had really gone above and beyond in finding some for her to see directly, rather than simply giving her the information that they¡¯d gleaned on the foe over the centuries¡­ Though, he did give her that, too. They had Enar and Alat parse them down for easier consumption, annotating the memories and making them relatively simple to review. Even the simplified, summarized versions still weren¡¯t pleasant. The Black Legion were horrifying in a way that was hard to describe while still being brutally effective at what they did, and they seemed to liquefy upon death, meaning that all information gathered about how they worked¡ªand what their internals looked like¡ªhad to be acquired while a member of the Legion was kept ¡®alive¡¯ and functional. From the information they were granted, gated-humanity had acquired a very detailed understanding of the internals of the Black Legion members as well as how they worked, generally. Most had vestiges at their cores, but the power sources were held in magical isolation so that the human soul couldn¡¯t influence the actions of any of the automata. It was believed that such was part of the reason for their susceptibility to Reality¡¯s influence. Though that was obviously not the whole reason. Regardless, Tala now felt a bit better prepared for the Black Legion if a legionnaire ever crossed her path, even if mostly just because she would be less surprised and taken aback by their¡­ peculiarities. Rane had seemed rather more subdued after diving through the briefs. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After thinking through her own feelings, Tala had sat down beside the big man. ¡°Hey, Rane. What are you thinking?¡± ¡°These things¡­ these automata¡­ they have such a hatred for us, for anything of Magic. It doesn¡¯t really seem to align with how Magical Beasts act, even if there are parallels. I¡­ It makes me wish that they¡¯d found a way to destroy the Legion, rather than just lock them away.¡± Tala grunted in agreement at that. ¡°I think everyone would agree, not only about the Black Legion, but about all the various prisoners. One blessing is that the Black Legion¡¯s cell shouldn¡¯t resurface anytime soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it will eventually, and I pity both the unit sent to investigate it and humanity as a whole when that happens.¡± She smiled at that. ¡°You know, we¡¯ll likely still be around to see that, to help.¡± He smiled in return, seeming to brighten even as he straightened a bit. ¡°That¡¯s true. I suppose we should get ready.¡± Tala took on a mock serious tone, ¡°You¡¯re right, that settles it. I¡¯ll advance just for that.¡± Rane huffed a laugh. ¡°There are worse motivations out there, but I get your point. We¡¯ll be as strong as we can be when they return, and worrying about them, specifically, won¡¯t help any.¡± She leaned against him briefly. ¡°Exactly. We have things to overcome all around us. One more won¡¯t break us.¡± He leaned in and kissed her then, and their conversation turned to other things. * * * Metti Zuccat did not follow in her family¡¯s footsteps, at least not right away, as she let her twelfth birthday come and go without leaving for the Academy. Her parents didn¡¯t want to force her to leave, but as fall progressed, they became more frantic for the girl to make up her mind. That was actually what seemed to be the largest issue. Metti hadn¡¯t chosen to go elsewhere, she just hadn¡¯t wanted to go to the Academy ¡®yet.¡¯ That seemed to spark unusual tension within the older couple, as they didn¡¯t seem to know how to handle the indecision of their youngest. They wanted to support her, whatever she chose, but she just wasn¡¯t choosing. It made the fall of that year a bit more stressful, even if not for anything of consequence to Tala¡¯s mind. The girl could become a Mage if she wanted, a little delay wouldn¡¯t really change that much. -You¡¯re becoming unmoored in time, Tala. You don¡¯t have enough touchpoints. The years are starting to slip by. It¡¯s been nine months since Olen left for the Academy, and you¡¯ve not done anything of real note.- I know¡­ It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s odd, but I don¡¯t really see it as a bad thing. -Just make sure you¡¯re not waiting on things that you¡¯ll regret missing out on if the opportunity passes.- I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Illie and Nalac had decided to stay at the Academy absolutely as long as they would be allowed to do so. Thus, they were coming back when they were no longer allowed to take classes as they¡¯d be turning twenty around when the classes started. As a consequence, Tala, Rane, and Terry were in Marliweather that winter, and Tala couldn¡¯t quite reconcile the fact that it had been so long since she¡¯d originally reconnected with her family and seen off these twins to their Academic experiences. The intervening years had been a rollercoaster of time for Tala, and she thought that nothing could really surprise her these days. Even so, Tala was staring at her siblings with a bit of shock. ¡°You want me to take you to your new masters?¡± Illie grinned and Nalac nodded solemnly. ¡°We discussed it, and we came back to Marliweather to see the family, and in hopes of traveling with you to where our masters are. They¡¯re a married couple, and they¡¯ve agreed to take the two of us on at once.¡± ¡°And you want me to take you there?¡± Tala felt a bit incredulous that they hadn¡¯t asked first¡ªthey were already in Marliweather after all¡ªand quite a bit grateful that they hadn¡¯t asked to be her magelings. She¡¯d have had a hard time refusing, even if she really didn¡¯t feel like they¡¯d be a good fit with her. -Come on! Help me win the bet.- No. -Spoil sport.- Illie spoke this time, ¡°Yes please, Tala. We¡¯d like to spend a bit more time with you before we go out in the world away from everything we¡¯ve ever really known. Is that alright?¡± Tala looked toward Rane, questioning. -Enar conveyed that Rane is all for a bit of a detour, but he¡¯s also happy to be the reason you say no, if you need an easy out.- Thank him, please. Tala wasn¡¯t sure what she wanted, but having Rane¡¯s support, regardless of what she chose, made the whole situation seem easier to manage. After a moment¡¯s thought¡ªin which she considered things as thoroughly as a mundane could have in a couple of hours¡ªTala nodded, looking to Terry. ¡°Are you up for a bit of a detour, my friend?¡± Terry trilled happily toward the stars, just as she knew that he would. ¡°Well, then. That¡¯s settled. When do we leave?¡± Nalac took back over, speaking for himself and his sister, ¡°Well, our masters are expecting us within the week. So, how fast can we get to Arconaven?¡± Tala felt herself stiffen. Arconaven. It was on a trip from Marliweather toward Arconaven that she had been taken. Calm, Tala. Be calm. -You aren¡¯t Fused any longer. You are much more powerful. He is dead. You are safe.- I know. I know. She took a long, deep breath, hiding her feelings. Rane¡¯s arm slid across her back to pull her against him in a comforting side-hug. Did you tell him? -No. He just knows you well enough.- That caused a warmth to blossom in her chest, helping her to actually calm enough to respond. After she had considered for a moment, she gave a slow nod. ¡°It will take us about two days or so.¡± Nalac smiled, utterly unaware of Tala¡¯s internal struggle. ¡°Then, we should leave within the next three, if that¡¯s alright with you.¡± -I¡¯ll alert Lyn. She¡¯ll make sure everything is arranged with Irondale.- Tala smiled in return. ¡°That sounds good to me.¡± Rane was nodding seriously, giving her a tight squeeze before letting go. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll have to rearrange a few things.¡± Her eyebrows went up. ¡°Oh? I¡¯m sorry, Rane. Do you need us to change the time of departure? We can make the trip more quickly if you need.¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, no. I just have a bit of business to take care of in the city, and I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s done in time.¡± She gave him a searching look. When he didn¡¯t elaborate further, she simply shrugged. ¡°Alright, then.¡± That settled, Tala and Alat did their best to coordinate and catch up with her siblings. Anna took advantage of Tala¡¯s visit as well, seeing her own parents and connecting with Metti to discuss the child¡¯s choice at length, even if the younger girl already knew what her older sister felt about going to the Academy. Thankfully, Illie and Nalac actually took some time to talk with Metti as well, and Tala thought it likely that they¡¯d be willing to continue the discussion during the trip to Arconaven. As for her other siblings, Nea was engaged, which initially surprised Tala, but then she remembered that Nea was seventeen and given that her betrothed was only a couple of years older than her¡ªand an established journeyman glassblower¡ªit made a certain amount of sense for non-Mages. Mita and Akli¡ªwho were often lost in the shuffle¡ªwere betrothed to a blacksmith and a caravan guard respectively. They worked as seamstresses, themselves, and generally stuck close together, being less tied into the family than anyone save Tala, herself. In Tala¡¯s case, that was due to her being away from the city. In theirs, it was because they generally didn¡¯t get along with the parents, and being non-Mages and non-alchemists, they didn¡¯t have those touchpoints with the others either. The weddings were set for times that Tala wouldn¡¯t be around, and when she¡¯d asked if they wanted her to come, they¡¯d been genuinely ambivalent. They didn¡¯t dislike her at all, but it was clear that the twin young women didn¡¯t feel much connection to Tala, or any of their other siblings for that matter. On a more positive note, Caln and Verla had moved into the old family home, along with Anna and Latna, who had taken over Master Leighis¡¯s portion of the business and building. Latna was noticeably more reserved with her new master, and Tala detected a bit of underlying determination in the young woman¡¯s eyes, but she didn¡¯t choose to elaborate when asked, and Tala didn¡¯t press. Master Leighis let us know that he just recently told Latna that one reason he passed her training on to someone else was because of his growing affection for her. He said he didn¡¯t want to pressure her to reciprocate, but if she did, he would be interested in spending more time together once she was a Mage. -That would do it.- Tala wasn¡¯t sure about how the whole thing had been handled, but it seemed at least reasonable in the end. The choice was in Latna¡¯s hands now. Master Leighis was still in occasional contact with the family as a whole, and a bit more frequent contact with Latna in particular, but from the way she conveyed it, Latna did not think it was often enough. That implied where she was leaning with her choice, but nothing solid had been conveyed, so Tala decided to continue to leave the subject be. The man, himself, had returned to the Guard, specifically as an auxiliary who accompanied mundane troops on their patrols of the nearby wilds when they did so to harvest magical components and help keep the local arcanous creatures to manageable levels, allowing an easier time for most caravans. He seemed happy overall, though Tala picked up hints in what her siblings shared that he was sad to be away from the city, which she interpreted as sadness to be away from Latna. At least he¡¯s giving her time to recenter and leaving the choice firmly with her. -Yeah, it¡¯s a fine line he¡¯s walking.- Indeed. Overall, the visit was pleasant, and in no time at all, Tala, Rane, and Terry were leaving the city with Illie and Nalac in tow. Chapter: 474 - An Amazing Big Sister Tala had forgotten how slow mundanes were. Alat sighed within Tala¡¯s head. -They aren¡¯t mundane, Tala.- I mean, they really are in this sense. No inscriptions, and even if they had them, they wouldn¡¯t be enhanced at all in their capacity for movement. -Tala, are you becoming a Mage-exceptionalist?- Alat teasingly poked at Tala, trying to lighten the mood. No? But Mages are better at everything when compared to mundanes. Tala grinned internally, trying to play along with Alat¡¯s teasing to pass the time. -Yeah, yeah. So, we agree. For anything enhanceable, Mages can be superior, but that doesn¡¯t make them inherently better.- Precisely, because a person¡¯s worth isn¡¯t based on their capacities. She wasn¡¯t sure how or why this had turned philosophical, but she was willing to let it slide. Walking slowly was really boring¡­ -Yes, you are bored¡­ So, do you really want to be having this conversation at the speed of thought? We¡¯ve taken like ten steps from the gates of Marliweather.- We¡¯re on our twelfth step¡­ Tala sighed, then groaned internally. I see your point. -Have fun!- Tala turned to smile toward her siblings who were looking around with a bit of trepidation. ¡°You two have been outside city walls before. Right?¡± Nalac nodded slowly. ¡°Yes, of course. Our classes took trips to the farming and mining districts back in prep-school, but this feels different somehow.¡± Illie nodded as well. ¡°It does, yeah. We aren¡¯t going out for a little trip. We¡¯re going out.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s even more than that, right? You¡¯re walking out, basically on your own. You are not with a caravan or patrol unit or anything.¡± Ille smiled his way. ¡°Well, we have the two of you, right?¡± Nalac grinned in turn. ¡°Big bad Defenders of Humanity?¡± Tala groaned slightly. ¡°We really shouldn¡¯t have let Latna and Caln take them to the battle-view restaurant¡­¡± ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Her brother was incredulous. ¡°That was amazing! Though, you haven¡¯t been doing much fighting of late. It definitely felt like the few clashes of yours that we did see were from over a year ago.¡± Tala shrugged. He was right; she really hadn¡¯t fought near the walls much of late. Rane had been given precedence as the newest Defender in their unit, to make sure he had a solid footing with his advancement, and they¡¯d been doing more cells instead of wall patrols. Even so, all of that was more technical than the response really needed. ¡°The sections of the wall we¡¯ve been watching really haven¡¯t been attacked that often of late. Sometimes luck swings one way, sometimes the other.¡± It was true enough. The four of them chatted about little things as they passed through the farm section, and then out into the mining district. All the while, Terry was flickering about, occasionally getting far enough away that Tala felt his illusions engage and his human shape became presented to the world. That really is so rudimentary compared to what Lisa can do. -Yeah, but his didn¡¯t feel like it came from an item. It definitely wasn¡¯t illusory in nature either. It was almost without any type of magic at all.- That¡¯s true¡­ Now that I consider it, the feel of it was more like moving from room to room in his shop. Do you think he¡¯s somehow built a human body for himself and is hiding it in the fourth dimension? -Shouldn¡¯t we have seen it if so?- You¡¯d think so¡­ He could be hiding it in the void? Like we are with Walden¡¯s forest? -I mean, that could be. We certainly have a lot still to learn about such things. Regardless, I have a more important question.- Oh? -Are you going to continue to fall into these side tangent conversations with me¡ªwithin your own head¡ªinstead of engaging with your siblings?- Right! Tala tuned back in¡ªhaving only spaced out for a couple of steps¡ªto hear Rane asking a rather important question, ¡°What did you both decide for your foundational understandings? I know you weren¡¯t ready to share them with us when we last communicated. Has that finally changed? Are you ready now?¡± Illie and Nalac shared a look which brought smiles to both of their faces. Finally, Illie nodded and Nalac shrugged. It was she who spoke first, ¡°Mine is relatively simple: Magic is my hand.¡± Tala considered for a moment before nodding. ¡°I can understand that. It seems incredibly broad, though. What do you do with that?¡± The girl nodded. ¡°I am a Material Guide.¡± A grin blossomed on her face. ¡°All material. If I could affect it with my hand, I can affect it with my magic. It also works in reverse, meaning I can use my magic to improve what I can do with my hands through physical augmentation.¡± Well, huh¡­ Maybe they would have had faster movement with their inscriptions. -That¡¯ll teach us to judge too quickly.- Will it though? -One can hope.- Nalac grunted, interjecting with the clear intention of stealing Illie¡¯s spotlight. She let him with a small smile and a rueful shake of her head. ¡°Yeah, yeah. You can move things with your mind and punch hard. Yours is boring. Mine is awesome: Time is ephemeral.¡± Tala stiffened, and Rane¡¯s eyes widened in horror. They both knew the danger of anything relating to time magic. What under the stars were those at the Academy thinking to allow such a foundation? Nalac chuckled, then shook his head and held up his hands. ¡°Sorry, sorry. That was just a little joke.¡± Illie smacked her brother¡¯s shoulder before addressing Tala and Rane, ¡°He teased every teacher with something like that at least once.¡± His broad grin showed that he was unrepentant. ¡°Guilty. But I do really like my foundational understanding: There is no equal and opposite force if nothing remains to push back.¡± Rane grunted, grimacing even as his horror bled away. He seemed like he might have been about to argue with the boy but thought better of it. ¡°So, you¡¯re a close quarters Mage as well?¡± ¡°Yes and no, Immaterial Guide. I focus on coherence, hardness, and elasticity.¡± He held up his hand briefly to forestall any questions. ¡°I like throwing things after altering their properties.¡± He gave a bit of a sheepish smile. ¡°I honestly had a bit of trouble coming to a decision about what I wanted to do and focus on. It wasn¡¯t until the last few years that this really crystallized for me.¡± He shrugged. Rane smiled at the younger man, seemingly having fully recovered himself. ¡°That¡¯s quite interesting.¡± He gestured between the twins. ¡°So, still closer range, though? I imagine you catch people off guard often enough.¡± Illie shook her head and sighed dramatically. ¡°You have no idea. He¡¯ll grab a handful of air and throw it at you like a rock. It hits like one too.¡± Tala interjected then, ¡°Interesting. I imagine that makes your magics hard to deal with.¡± He grinned widely, even as Illie scowled. ¡°Oh, absolutely.¡± Illie huffed. ¡°His magic acts near him, but their effects remain when he throws or otherwise uses what he affected.¡± Tala was considering how she¡¯d counter such magics, and she found herself a bit at a loss. -Come on, Tala. Get your head out of the rust. You¡¯d just take the hits and kill him an instant later¡­ or kill him before he could even attack you. While his magics seem reminiscent of yours, you have force at your disposal, even if indirectly. He doesn¡¯t.- Well¡­ yeah, but that¡¯s not very satisfying¡­ I was trying to think how I would actually counter his magics, not just brute force the results I wanted. -...Who are you? Who do you think you are?- You¡¯re not very nice sometimes¡­ Nalac was clearly quite proud of himself. ¡°The instructors were very impressed. They said it would be among the harder magics to counter, but that the power output wouldn¡¯t be very impressive until I improved.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It was great for defense regardless, and I could take out any annoying insects with ease. It¡¯s kind of fun to harden the air around mosquitos and watch them drop to the ground.¡± Illie smiled at that. ¡°Hiking in the mid-summer was quite a bit more pleasant after he got that locked in.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Tala smiled as well. She was rather interested at how closely it mirrored how her gravity magics worked, but she didn¡¯t want to point that out in case he hadn¡¯t realized the similarities. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it." Nalac sighed. ¡°But we have no inscriptions now, so there will be no bug eradication.¡± Rane gave him an odd look. ¡°It¡¯s the beginning of winter. You¡¯re wearing winter hiking gear. You brought along snow shoes¡ªeven though we told you it wouldn¡¯t be necessary. Do you really think bugs will be an issue?¡± The young man looked a bit embarrassed, even as he answered, ¡°...no?¡± Illie giggled. ¡°Nalac likes to feel useful.¡± ¡°No, Illie. I like to be useful.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°That is a good distinction to understand. Many people who think they are being useful¡ªor think they are doing good¡ªare actually getting in the way, or worse: doing harm.¡± Rane nodded solemnly. ¡°So, how are you two faring so far?¡± Nalac and Illie were breathing a bit hard but not overly so. It seemed that they hadn¡¯t skipped out on too many of the physical requirements or recommendations that the Academy put forward. Nalac shrugged, and Illie answered, ¡°Just fine. This isn¡¯t easy by any means, but it¡¯s doable. Besides, we¡¯ve already gone a good way, right?¡± Tala¡¯s eye twitched, and she tried to formulate a response that would be truthful and still kind. Rane grinned back at them, taking the task off of Tala¡¯s mental plate. ¡°We¡¯re still within Marliweather¡¯s defenses.¡± The younger two stiffened and looked back, seeing the well-worn paths and folks out and about. Truly, Rane¡¯s answer shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise at all, but they were so focused on the conversation and the walk that they hadn¡¯t really been paying attention to their surroundings at large. ¡°If we continue like this, it will take us weeks to get to Arconaven¡­¡± Rane let the sentiment linger. Nalac hung his head, and Illie huffed a laugh. ¡°Fine. Tala, is your offer still on the table?¡± Tala nodded, trying to not be too enthusiastic. ¡°Of course I will carry you.¡± It took barely any time to get them into her sanctum. Once they were situated, it was trivial for Tala to open up a window out so that they could see forward and talk with Tala and Rane as they traveled. She¡¯d somewhat perfected the technique back when she¡¯d brought Lyn and Kannis to Alefast, Waning, for a visit. Once Nalac and Illie were all settled, Tala silently mouthed a ¡®Thank you¡¯ to Rane. She hadn¡¯t had any idea how to tactfully push back on a couple of young adults who ¡®just wanted to do it themselves.¡¯ Thankfully, this lesson hadn¡¯t put them in any real danger, and they¡¯d both recognized the folly of their desire to hike the whole way quickly enough to not really put the trip¡¯s timetable in jeopardy. It hadn¡¯t even taken them until lunch to have the realization. Tala considered that for a moment, frowning. Huh¡­ maybe they''re quitters? -Yes. Of course, that¡¯s the takeaway. It¡¯s not that they realized that they were wrong and decided to bend to wisdom. No. They simply decided that being right would be too hard, so they quit.- ¡­Yeah, that was really uncharitable. -You think?- Tala sighed, set her feet and glanced toward Terry and Rane. ¡°Ready?¡± Rane nodded and smiled. Terry trilled happily, clearly excited to get underway at a more reasonable pace. * * * They progressed northward at a good clip, chatting here and there. In truth, the twins began talking with Metti within the sanctum almost as much as with Tala and Rane, despite Tala¡¯s facilitation of easy communication with them. It didn¡¯t take long at all for both Illie and Nalac to grudgingly admit that there was no way under the stars that they could have come anywhere close to the speed that Tala, Rane, and Terry were traveling. Tala was a gracious big sister and didn¡¯t rub that fact in their faces too much. They did have a lovely discussion as to the nature of the twins¡¯ window out, however. Tala had simply opened a portal then limited the speed at which anything could pass through it from the outside by slowing it down at the threshold. She had also utterly forbidden anything from leaving. Thus, from the twins¡¯ side, it would have felt like unbreakable glass, but they were still getting a slight breeze and the scents of the winter forest all the same. She was also recreating both her and Rane¡¯s voices as if they came through the portal, but she didn¡¯t bother to mention that part to her siblings. She didn¡¯t want a discussion on how she might be changing the words without them knowing. She wouldn¡¯t do that¡­ probably. Illie and Nalac both thought that the whole process would have been easier if Tala had simply created an illusion, as it¡¯s all light and sound anyway. Maybe there wouldn¡¯t have been a discussion on her deceiving them. Regardless, Tala had rolled her eyes. Typical mageling thinking¡­ ¡°No. While that would be almost the same¡ªvisually¡ªit would not contain anything else. It would also be sterile, only containing the things that I specifically chose to convey in the way that I chose to convey them. There would be no chance of you seeing something that I missed.¡± Nalac raised an eyebrow. ¡°There¡¯s a chance that you missed something?¡± -No.- Alat was very definitive in her response, which Nalac couldn¡¯t hear. ¡­Not that Nalac would have any hope of seeing. Tala caveated back to her alternate interface. -Fair.- Tala sighed before addressing her brother, a bit of affection in her tone, ¡°That¡¯s not the point, little titan. You¡¯d be seeing things as I see them, rather than seeing them for yourselves.¡± Nalac had a satisfied smile, clearly feeling that he¡¯d won at least a part of the disagreement, but he didn¡¯t fight her on it further. Illie seemed content either way, but never actually conceded the point. Tala decided not to press the issue. What a good big sister I am. -And so humble about it, too.- I know, right? I¡¯ve not told anyone else how good I am. -That¡¯s¡­ true, I suppose? But you¡¯re not very internally humble.- Eh, I¡¯m being honest about who and what I am. That¡¯s the essence of true humility. -...Do you really think you¡¯re being a good big sister?- To them? Right now? Yes. Alat considered for a moment before sending the equivalent of a shrug. -Fair enough.- Tala fell into a moment of silence in which Nalac was talking with Rane, and Illie seemed to be dialoguing with Metti within the sanctum. -Seems to be?- I¡¯m trying to be polite and not listen in¡­ -Fine.- Regardless, in the moment of less socially-obligated interaction, Tala had time to really look around herself. She recognized the terrain, despite her entirely different perspective on it when compared to her previous experience of it. This was the route she¡¯d taken for the first time when two bog-hags had captured children under her watch. This was the path that she¡¯d trod just before Be-thric had taken her. She hadn¡¯t come this way since. Tala had a low-level, building anxiety that she wished she didn¡¯t know the reason for. It was still nearly a day¡¯s travel from where it had happened, but she could feel it looming on the horizon like the forefront of an oncoming storm. The world was darkening around her, despite it being a cloudless, winter day. She could practically feel an electric charge across her skin. She could practically hear those who mourned the boys from within the wagons¡­ Her soul was trembling. A bare breath later, Nalac asked her a question, and she was jerked back to the present moment. She was easily able to answer him, and she didn¡¯t allow herself to spiral again. Even so, when they stopped for lunch¡ªand for Terry to bask in the sun, clearly having enjoyed his roving hunts¡ªRane touched Tala¡¯s shoulder and spoke too quietly for anyone else to hear, ¡°Something is pulling at you. How can I help?¡± She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ not yet.¡± He smiled reassuringly. ¡°Alright. When you do, please tell me, and I¡¯ll do what I can.¡± ¡°I know you will, Rane. Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She took a deep breath in and blew it out before straightening back up. ¡°Let¡¯s get lunch moving.¡± Tala opened the portal into her sanctum wider, making it into a proper door and placing it against a tree for convenience. Mistress Petra, Master Simon, and Metti helped set up their winter feast, providing heated seats and utensils as well as ensuring that Illie and Nalac were properly clothed for the occasion. Tala imagined it was a rather fun experience, eating in such a way. To her it was rather mundane. She thought that Lyn might have enjoyed it, but she also felt like inviting her out would change the tenor of the meal away from the focus on the twins and Metti. So, she didn¡¯t extend the invitation. She did try to have lunch with Lyn at least once a week, after all, so she¡¯d see her soon enough. The snow below her feet felt cool, but not cold by any means. The wind was but a pleasant breeze, and the utensils? Well, she made white steel utensils from her elk leathers for herself at need. That way they were always perfectly suited to the task at hand. The various dishes stayed at the perfect temperature¡ªas always¡ªdue to the magical items that Mistress Petra used to ensure that Tala¡¯s meals were always kept at the right temperatures. Now, others got to benefit as well. They laughed and chatted through the repast¡ªthe twins and Rane more than Tala or Terry¡ªand everyone enjoyed the meal. Nalac requested a bowl of jerky bits to throw for Terry, and Terry obliged by snatching them from the air without seeming to move in the slightest, much to the delight of the two young magelings. ¡°I swear I can see some of his magic!¡± Illie rolled her eyes at her brother. ¡°You don¡¯t have any inscriptions, Nalac.¡± ¡°But I¡¯ve been training my eyes to see magic for years. Some of that has clearly rubbed off, because I can see something.¡± Tala smiled. She could see the barest hints of natural magics around her brother¡¯s eyes, showing that he might actually be right, even if it was unlikely without much of a keystone. Both of the twins did have the barest hints of that working in their natural magics. The Academy was rigorous and long enough to let the magics used constantly begin to become at least moderately permanent. She decided to not tell Nalac or Illie any of this, of course. -Because you¡¯re such an amazing big sister?- Precisely. Who am I to deprive them of such a lovely topic for their lively conversation? -You¡¯re Tala, that¡¯s who.- Right you are, but no. -Really?- Natural magics is a topic for their masters to address with them, as they see appropriate. The Academy doesn¡¯t bring up natural magics because it often causes decision paralysis in young magelings and Mages. They need to be free to make changes to their magics and their inscriptions without a fear that they¡¯re setting themselves back in that one area. -Fine.- Tala leaned back, taking a slow drink from what tasted like buttered rum. It was decadent beyond belief, but it was also somehow exactly the right capstone to their meal in the remote forest glade. Rane finished his own, then gave Tala a quick kiss as he stood. It was time for them to continue the trip. Tala smiled after him for a moment before standing, herself. Delicious. Chapter: 475 - Where It Happened Tala stood in the forest clearing, staring at an empty spot at the eastern side of the wide circle that was maintained as a waypoint for caravans on the way from Marliweather to Arconaven. There were more than a half dozen such spots in this area alone to prevent the more intelligent threats from simply setting ambushes. So, even if it had been the right time of day for it, it wasn¡¯t surprising that they¡¯d found the place empty. Not that she would have cared if it had been crowded with man or beast. To her mind, it felt like lightning was striking, over and over from a clear sky, each strike arcing to end at the same point some fifteen feet above the ground. It was right there. He stole me, right there. By some quirk of fate, it was the first day of the new year, the seventh anniversary of Be-thric¡¯s death. She was standing where he had caught her at last, and she had killed him almost exactly seven years ago after breaking free of his hold. She almost laughed, but for her desire to weep at the tension in her chest. Rane stood beside her, and Terry rested on her shoulder. Both understood where this was, and both gave her the silence that she needed along with their support which she so craved. Illie and Nalac had been asked to take the time to bathe and prepare for lunch. They had seemingly sensed that something was off, and thus, they hadn¡¯t argued at all. They¡¯d all stayed up late the night before, celebrating new beginnings and a new year, so, they¡¯d been grateful for a bit of time to rest and for the chance to get cleaned up. There¡¯s snow on the ground¡­ There wasn¡¯t back then. -No, it was spring when he found us.- A thought flickered through her mind, disrupting her spiraling contemplations. Did they ever root out the coven of bog hags? -The records indicated that there were no others in the near region. They were traced back north, seemingly having broken off of a group up that way.- And? Tala trusted that Alat knew what she wanted to know. -That group was taken care of, down to the last hag.- Alat¡¯s voice was firm with satisfaction. Good. There had at least been justice for the boys, the boys who had been killed under her watch. -Oh, that¡¯s interesting. Huh.- What? -Well, Rane did it. Or at least he was on the team that did.- That did surprise Tala. Oh? I didn¡¯t think he knew I was missing soon enough to have been involved. -The logs of the unit leader state that he showed up in Arconaven just as they were about to leave and demanded to accompany them. He insisted that you were alive and that he needed to look for clues as to where you might be.- That pulled a smile across Tala¡¯s lips, despite the continued feeling of static tension throughout her whole body. The overwhelming outpouring of gratitude that she felt toward Rane felt almost sacrilegious while faced with where it had happened. She walked forward slowly, finally ready to approach the spot more closely. Rane moved with her, near at hand should she have need, but not so close as to interfere with whatever she felt that she needed to do. As her steps lightly pressed circles into the snow, Tala decided to break the silence, ¡°You helped hunt down the bog hag coven?¡± He gave a slow nod. ¡°Bog hags are known to occasionally take Mage captives. As a Fused at the time, it was unlikely that you would have been so taken, but there was still a chance.¡± ¡°Because you knew I was alive.¡± There was an implicit question in the statement. ¡°I did.¡± He gave a wan smile. ¡°I can¡¯t explain it. It¡¯s possible that it was all in my head¡ªjust wishful thinking. Regardless, I¡¯m glad that the feeling was correct, whether magical, mundane, or pure fantasy.¡± She nodded. ¡°Me too.¡± They lapsed back into silence. Terry seemed to remember this place too. His demeanor and bearing almost matched what he had displayed at his old nest, if to a far lesser degree. Tala reached up and scratched Terry¡¯s head. ¡°You somehow knew too. Your concept drove you to follow me, to come to my aid.¡± He trilled softly. ¡°Your arrival likely saved me. I was feeling lost, alone, and utterly without hope. Then, the silly, wise old turtle told me to call for you. It felt useless, but I had nothing left. I called, and you actually heard me. You came.¡± He trilled again, a mournful, yet somehow still happy tone. ¡°Thank you.¡± Terry nuzzled into her cheek. Tala then looked to Rane. ¡°You¡¯ve never explained everything that happened while I was gone, and I¡¯ve never really asked.¡± He shrugged, looking away as if he had something to hide. His posture straightened ever so slightly as if he were firming his resolve. ¡°You did something¡­ didn¡¯t you.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. He hesitated, then nodded slowly, as if he wasn¡¯t sure if even that was allowed. ¡°But you can¡¯t tell me what?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say or indicate anything else. I¡¯m sorry, Tala.¡± He gave a pained smile, clearly bracing for her to have a bad reaction to his response. She nodded in return, feeling nothing but affection and gratitude for him. ¡°Alright. I trust you.¡± He looked down at her, and she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. ¡°Thank you.¡± He pulled her in for another kiss, then stepped back, smiling. ¡°Of course.¡± Her eyes returned to the spot in the air where she would have been sitting atop a wagon, and her smile¡ªher happiness¡ªbled away. Her perfect memory supplied exactly where she had been. As the memories pulled at her, she could practically hear his voice, ¡®Found you.¡¯ Tala shuddered, tears coming to her eyes unbidden. ¡°I felt so helpless.¡± She started as a whisper, but her voice grew in volume as she spoke. ¡°They gave me power, prestige, and influence, but it was a golden cage. I could do anything I wanted, except it wasn¡¯t me with that freedom. I could do anything that Tali wanted, and he was the one who had crafted Tali¡¯s desires.¡± Rane nodded, but didn¡¯t otherwise respond, keeping hold of her hand, even though she hadn¡¯t noticed him take it. The contact helped. ¡°I killed for them. Most of those who died deserved it, but some¡­ some I wouldn¡¯t have killed if given another choice.¡± Her voice dropped once again. ¡°I liked many of them¡ªthe members of the House of Blood. They didn¡¯t all have the same twisted nature that he did. I¡­ I wanted to hate them all, but most were just living their lives in a society that I found abhorrent. Is it right to hate them for not fighting for change? Maybe¡­? But don¡¯t we laud those who do fight? Don¡¯t we hold up the Mages of our past as heroes who pushed for mundane rights and argued against slavery, against debtors¡¯ prisons, or for meritocracy? Is it right to hate those who weren¡¯t¡ªor aren¡¯t¡ªheroes?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Rane gave her a sad smile in return, letting her continue uninterrupted. ¡°They literally use human souls as fuel for their daily lives¡­ they still are, and I¡¯m not stopping them. I didn¡¯t stop them while I was there, and I used all the same services and conveniences that they did.¡± She closed her eyes and swallowed. ¡°I¡¯m a hypocrite for even considering hating them for doing what I, myself did¡­ right?¡± She looked up, meeting Rane¡¯s gaze. He took the question for what it was, a cue to break his attentive silence and respond, ¡°I would say yes and no. You were a victim, plain and simple, but you excelled, escaped, and returned because you didn¡¯t remain just a victim. You seized power where you could in order to escape. Was that power built with unethical means? It seems so, but you did not seek such out, and you even worked to alter what you could when and where possible, at least according to what you¡¯ve been willing to share.¡± She nodded, swallowing again and keeping her eyes closed. ¡°They have been born into that society, and it is possible that they have simply never considered anything different. I am sure that there are things about our society¡ªhere in the gated-human cities¡ªthat outsiders would find horrifying to one degree or another, and I don¡¯t just mean our enemies. No society is perfect. That isn¡¯t meant as an excuse, but we must judge average members of a society by the standards of the society they are in. Exactly like you said: we choose our heroes¡ªthose we think well of¡ªprecisely because they rose above the society of their time and place to strive for something more, something better. Being average isn¡¯t to be praised, but it shouldn¡¯t be a basis to be despised either.¡± Tala let out a choking laugh. ¡°So, it is hypocritical to feel hatred toward them.¡± He gave a sad smile. ¡°Only mildly. You were internally screaming for someone¡ªanyone¡ªto help you. No one did. You were horribly misused; that was known; and no one did anything about it.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t think anything could be done. You can¡¯t unscramble an egg after all.¡± She didn¡¯t know why she felt the need to defend them, to try to mitigate the distaste of what they¡¯d allowed to continue. -Really? You don¡¯t know why?- ¡­Because I liked them. It is painful to think badly of those we care about, and despite everything, I still care for some of them. Alat made a satisfied sound within Tala¡¯s head and didn¡¯t comment further. Terry headbutted her again, nuzzling against her neck this time, eliciting an involuntary giggle at the ticklish nature of the contact. ¡°Stop that, Terry!¡± She moved his head away without opening her eyes, scratching it affectionately. He simply trilled, nuzzling into her hands all the same. Rane responded in the momentary quiet, ¡°I can understand that. They saw a situation they didn¡¯t like, but it was already done. It¡¯s like with soulbonds. It makes no sense to insult, belittle, or demean a person¡¯s soulbonds. They can¡¯t be easily released at that point. It can be useful to try to help improve them, however, and from your stories, it seems like some of the arcanes of the House of Blood did just that. They tried to help you as much as they believed would be useful to you.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She opened her eyes, her gaze drawn back to the space above the ground. ¡°That¡¯s where my sovereignty was violated. That¡¯s where my mind was obliterated, and I was made a slave.¡± She rubbed her neck even as she felt the dasgannach that was soulbound to her, linking her to her iron. ¡°I was killed, but I returned. I was a slave¡ªa treasured slave, but a slave all the same¡ªbut I won free. Much of what happened to me was awful, but not everything. I earned the position I was in, for better or for worse, and that changed me, partly making me who I am today.¡± The air around her quivered under the influence of her aura. Her soul resonated within her chest as she came to peace with a truth about herself. Her every extremity tingled with barely contained sensation. ¡°I am an ex-slave. I am still an Eskau of the House of Blood.¡± There was a concussion in the zeme around them as she took a major step forward in her advancement at that revelation, at that admission. She had thrown off the shackles of self-delusion and embraced a part of herself that she actively disliked. Even so, it was still a part of her, and she couldn¡¯t deny it any more. She knew that her eyes¡ªher blood red eyes¡ªwere glowing more fiercely than ever, even as her aura roiled and shuddered around her, warping the very air. She didn¡¯t reach Paragon¡ªno, that was still a ways off¡ªbut she did nearly reach the three-quarter mark, the yellow of her aura bleeding toward green. This had been a major stumbling block in her path, and Lisa had pointed it out to her¡ªpurposely or not. Her mundane gaze remained fixed on the spot in the air. ¡°It¡¯s right there that Tala the Mage died. Tala, the Eskau of the House of Blood, was born in Platoiri. I stand here now as both, and I always will be both.¡± Her soul seemed to calm at the final assertion, her aura following suit. She swayed slightly, feeling lightheaded after the inrush of power that accompanied her coming into better alignment with her own self, her own soul. Terry trilled softly as the same advancement rolled through him, if to a lesser overall effect. Rane was there in an instant, not helping yet, but now much closer just in case. She leaned into him, allowing him to wrap her up in his arms and hold her close. Her own arms lifted and hugged him in return, allowing her to bury her face into his chest. Terry squawked and flickered up to Rane¡¯s shoulder, where he settled down to wait. Tala didn¡¯t cry, not really, but she definitely felt drained and had to wipe her eyes when she did pull back after a few minutes, giving a small smile up at Rane. ¡°Nalac and Illie are ready for lunch. They¡¯re almost to the dining room.¡± She looked around. ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat here. Let¡¯s eat inside?¡± Rane smiled down at her in return. ¡°That would be wonderful.¡± With an act of will, Tala moved the three of them into her sanctum, straight into their chairs at the table. They arrived just as Nalac and Illie stepped into the room, speaking with Metti who was walking with them. Mistress Petra was carrying trays to the table as preparation for removal to another location or for a meal in this one. The Mage was nothing if not thorough in her preparations. Seeing them arrive, Mistress Petra greeted them warmly and shifted into ¡®eating in¡¯ mode, quickly finishing setting the table. Tala could have set it instantly¡ªand she had¡­ once¡ªbut Mistress Petra did not want Tala doing so. She¡¯d made that abundantly clear. She did accept Tala¡¯s interference when they ate elsewhere, but within Tala¡¯s private dining room? In her sanctum? No. Tala was not permitted to do much, if anything, to help. It was an excellent meal¡ªas always¡ªand the conversation was engaging, if slightly subdued. Master Simon, Mistress Petra, and Metti were invited to eat with Tala, Rane, Terry, Illie, and Nalac, and they gratefully accepted. The twins happily expounded on all that they were excited to do with their newly completed education, and Mistress Petra failed in restraining her pointed looks at Metti. The little girl, for her part, seemed utterly fascinated by the twins, clearly looking up to them even after their short time together. Tala marveled at how much a little kindness and attention could affect a twelve year old, and she specifically did not lament the lack of much of that when she was that age. Rane engaged here and there, but largely he was quiet, covertly¡ªbut obviously to her¡ªfocused on Tala. She appreciated the care, even if she felt it was unneeded. -He does care for you an awful lot.- Yeah¡­ He really does. The meal passed uneventfully, and they were soon back on the move, covering the last bit of distance to Arconaven. Tala did not deviate the little bit it would have taken to look at where the boys had been killed, at where she had slain the bog hags and the other arcanous creatures they¡¯d enthralled. She felt no need. Even as she headed northward¡ªcontinuing to chat with her siblings and Rane¡ªshe felt a desire to go south for the first time in a long while. Truly south, back to Platoiri, to face the House of Blood as herself, as their Eskau returned from the dead. It wasn¡¯t a compulsion, nor was it anything else un-Real. It was simply a desire to go back and address the issues she¡¯d left behind in Platoiri, many of which she knew were just as prevalent in the other arcane cities of this continent. -To be fair, the Mountain Kings might have an entirely different societal system.- That¡¯s true¡­ that might be why Thron was so much easier to get along with. -That could be, but I suspect another reason.- Oh? -He was shorter than you. You liked being taller than someone else for once.- I hate you sometimes. -I love you, too.- Tala moved her focus back to her great leaping steps through the air, pulsing power to the surface area expansion scripts on her feet for each one, letting her push off of the air itself. It was essentially flying, but using her feet instead of wings as a bird would¡­ and she couldn¡¯t really glide, but there were birds that couldn¡¯t glide, so the analogy worked. Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds don¡¯t really glide. Her analogy was apt. -You didn¡¯t actually know there was one before you thought of hummingbirds, did you.- It wasn¡¯t a question. Hush, you. Tala gloried in the crisp wind pulling at her clothing and gliding over her skin. She allowed a bit more of that breeze to penetrate the portal into her sanctum so that Nalac and Illie could enjoy it too. They shivered and hunkered down a bit, but their smiles grew just a bit as well. This trip hadn¡¯t been a part of Tala¡¯s plan, but it had been worthwhile. Terry even took the opportunity to absolutely crush a magical beast that they came across. It was hardly even a scrap for the avian, despite the cervid being a yellow-auraed creature of ice magic that would have absolutely crushed any caravan Tala had ever served as a Mage Protector for. Terry killed it in less than a minute. He really is coming into his own as a Refined level creature, and he was terrifying even without an aura. -Indeed.- All things considered, she hadn¡¯t gotten that much more time with Illie and Nalac than she would have otherwise, but it still felt like it had been the right thing to do. She did love her siblings, and she wanted to be there for them. Even as she thought that, she realized that she should be at her sisters¡¯ weddings, despite them not explicitly asking her to be there. It would be meaningful to her even if it was not really to them. With that, she, Rane, and Terry covered the remaining distance to Arconaven, arriving late afternoon, when the sun was just about to touch the horizon. All things considered, it had been a good day. Chapter: 476 - A Lot to Think About Tala and Rane dropped off the twins in Arconaven while Terry wandered about, ¡®buying¡¯ things with Alat¡¯s assistance. It wasn¡¯t a long goodbye as they¡¯d prepared for the separation over the last days, but it still was a bit bittersweet for Tala. She wouldn¡¯t say that she¡¯d gotten used to having them along¡ªthey hadn¡¯t been around for nearly long enough for that to be the case¡ªbut they had been a pleasant disruption to what was becoming a bit of a rote routine for Tala. That was probably their intention. They wanted to set their presence¡ªthis time with them¡ªapart from the various meet-ups with the siblings. -That stands to reason, yeah. Nalac is a clever one.- Tala took the time to have a few words with the twins¡¯ masters. They seemed like good people, and they had successfully brought several magelings to Mage and then on to Bound in the last century or so. They themselves weren¡¯t quite Fused, but they were well on their way. They actually worked as sort of Archon functionaries, filling in as Mage Protectors for either the mining districts or Guard patrols at need, working with the Constructionists, and doing other tasks throughout the city on behalf of other Mages. In truth, they were the perfect masters for magelings who were unsure about what they wanted to do in the future. That comforted Tala, as she was not interested in learning that her siblings had founted¡­ Surprisingly¡ªat least to Tala¡ªMetti Zuccat asked to be taken to the local teleportation tower to head off to the Academy. Illie and Nalac celebrated with her, and even came to see her off, clearly having formed a bit of a connection during their few days together. Well, that solves Master Simon and Mistress Petra¡¯s concerns. She made a choice. -That she did.- Tala almost convinced Rane to go back to Alefast through the mountains, but when they looked at a map¡ªand he was tracing the path that they would need to take¡ªhis finger paused near a cluster of higher peaks, and he paled. ¡°I think we should go back the way that we came.¡± Tala pressed just a bit, ¡°Oh? What¡¯s up with those mountains?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± He hesitated, obviously conflicted. She was about to tell him that he didn¡¯t have to say if he didn¡¯t want to or couldn¡¯t for some reason, but he seemed to have gathered his thoughts, because he continued before she could say anything further. ¡°Well, that is supposedly the location of several very powerful creatures of magic. If rumor is to be believed, they might even be one, single being of immense power.¡± ¡°Something worth fighting?¡± Rane immediately shook his head. ¡°Absolutely not.¡± ¡°We could go around that one area then?¡± Tala suggested hopefully. ¡°We could, but it would make the return trip quite a bit longer, and we¡¯re already behind schedule for our return. We¡¯ve notified Master Grediv, but I don¡¯t really want to delay longer.¡± He hesitated. ¡°Even so, we could delay again, if you need.¡± Tala sighed, shrugged, and shook her head. ¡°Alright, then. You¡¯re probably right. We can explore the mountains later.¡± He gave a hesitant smile. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± The trip back to Alefast was utterly uneventful, until they came through the pass and looked down on the city below them. Rane had stopped, looking off toward the east. ¡°Are you alright with a minor detour?¡± He looked conflicted, as if he were still making up his mind about whether or not he actually wanted to go. ¡°Your¡­facing of your past has highlighted something for me, and I think I might be capable of finally doing it, with you at my side. Enar is¡­ he¡¯s had these memories queued up for a while, and I think facing them again where it happened will have a better outcome.¡± She almost teased him about delays, but something in his tone was more serious than usual. ¡°Of course. Whatever you need.¡± He smiled and gave her a quick, grateful kiss. He then glanced toward Terry. ¡°Are you okay with the detour?¡± Terry flickered about a few times, then squawked his assent. Rane stepped toward the bird¡ªlikely to scratch his head in thanks¡ªbut Terry flickered backward, trilling in mock panic. Tala chuckled and Rane rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not going to kiss you, Terry.¡± Terry gave him a playfully incredulous look before flickering to the big man¡¯s shoulder and headbutting his cheek. ¡°Thank you, Terry.¡± Terry responded with a descending series of notes that conveyed something in the neighborhood of, ¡®Of course. What did you expect?¡¯ Without further delay, they headed to the east. A couple of hours later, Rane came to a stop seemingly in the middle of nowhere, at the base of a small hill. Tala immediately knew that it was specifically chosen¡ªrather than just a random place to stop¡ªbecause her threefold sight could see four skeletons in the ground, arranged as if for a proper burial. It only took Tala a moment to figure out what this place was. Oh. -Oh, rust¡­- Tala got the feeling of Alat looking somewhere she couldn¡¯t see. -I¡¯m going to be working with Enar. This will be harder for Rane, but Enar won¡¯t be untouched, here. You¡¯re on your own for a bit, Tala.- There were the scattered bones of burn wolves about, clearly having been pulled apart and gnawed on by other predators after death. Or Rane blew the canines apart when he took things seriously. That was possible, but she didn¡¯t really feel like it was appropriate to ask. She likely wouldn¡¯t have seen them at all¡ªtheir magic was long since faded¡ªif not for her threefold sight. She almost said something, but then she remembered how much she¡¯d appreciated Rane¡¯s silent presence in the clearing north of Marliweather. She moved over to stand beside him, leaning against him to convey her presence and support. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. His voice was quiet. ¡°You¡¯ve already figured out what this place is, I assume?¡± She nodded, somehow knowing that that was enough. His eyes seemed to unfocus, something she couldn¡¯t see passing before his perception. Enar was taking him through some key memories, showing him something that he¡¯d been hiding from. As he watched, Rane began to speak, clearly processing out loud, ¡°This is where my arrogance and folly cost the lives of part of a family. I know that¡ªin a way¡ªit is Master Grediv who allowed them to die by not interfering, but by doing so, he saved others who have been under my charge since, and will be in the future. It¡¯s like letting a child get a small, minor burn to teach them to keep a respectful distance from fire. No one wants a child to be burned, but if they won¡¯t listen¡ªand they''re of an age to understand¡ªsometimes natural consequences are the best teacher.¡± He let out a great, billowing sigh. ¡°The deaths of these four were my natural consequences. They suffered for my lesson.¡± Tala made a sound of understanding. ¡°I never told you, but while I was here, Master Grediv was off saving the rest of the caravan that had fallen to an attack from a magical creature. The passengers had scattered in all directions as the Mage Protectors had tried¡ªand failed¡ªto drive the beast away. He¡¯d arrived to relieve them, and had been going toe to toe with a Refined level threat while I refused to engage with arcane beasts.¡± He grimaced. ¡°He probably could have dealt with them even so, but that might have allowed others to die. He probably could have done it all, but he entrusted four, here, to me.¡± Tala rested her head against his shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t have to justify his actions.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Rane sighed again. ¡°I don¡¯t like them, but I understand them. It was a brutal choice he made, partially to allow me to learn a brutal lesson¡ªthough, I am assuming he knew I would fail. He probably hoped that his words had been enough, that I would take things seriously, and they would be safeguarded until he was free. And for myself, I like to think that I could have been taught the lesson another way, but I remember my own stubbornness. I remember him trying other ways.¡± ¡°Does this still weigh on you?¡± She gestured toward the graves where small stone plaques rested in the grass. ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°I think I struggle with it more because I see how much it helped me. It¡¯s an evil I am responsible for, and I profited from it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bleak way of putting it. I think it is more honest to say that you grew because you recognized the failure.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Even so, it is an ill that I genuinely can¡¯t wish hadn¡¯t happened. I just wouldn¡¯t be me if it hadn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You can wish that it hadn¡¯t needed to happen, that you could have grown by other means.¡± ¡°I do that¡­ it just feels hollow.¡± ¡°There was a reason this was dredged up by my recent¡­ experiences. Isn¡¯t this like my having grown because I was an Eskau?¡± He huffed. ¡°To a much lesser extent, if so?¡± She gently poked him in the side. ¡°Are you saying the evil I did was so much more than yours?¡± He looked down at her, eyes widening. ¡°Not at all, no! I meant that you suffered far more than I have.¡± ¡°Yet those who died for my growth were killed by my own hand, at my volition. Yours died because you didn¡¯t interfere.¡± Tala felt a heaviness try to settle on her once again, to draw her into sadness, but she rejected that. She had accepted her choices. She was an Eskau of the House of Blood, for better or worse. While she would deal with the ramifications of that eventually, for now she would not let that part of herself weigh her down and cause her to turn the topic of conversation to her. This was about Rane. ¡°But we aren¡¯t here for me. I didn¡¯t mean for my teasing to turn the topic to my past.¡± He opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it, giving a slow nod and a grateful smile. They stood in silence for a long moment. Terry was off hunting, taking advantage of their detour to enjoy himself, so they were alone. Something about that was wonderful. They loved having Terry around, and this wasn¡¯t really a good place for an intimate conversation by any means, but something about being alone together seemed to calm them both, drawing away stress and angst in an almost supernatural way. Finally, Rane took another deep breath and spoke to the graves, ¡°I was going to come here to apologize, but after being here, after really thinking about it, I think that that would be hollow, meaningless. Instead, thank you. Your sacrifice has resulted in me gaining much. You did not choose to give your lives for my lesson, but you did. I don¡¯t have the right words, but thank you. Your deaths have led to the saving of many, as much as they shouldn¡¯t have been necessary.¡± Tala put her arm around his waist and squeezed gently. He looked down at her. ¡°Was that¡­ silly? Wrong? Arrogant?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think the heart behind it was good.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He seemed to relax a bit more at that, and with that final solidification of acceptance of his past, his aura finally bled toward green, as if with the bursting of a dam. He didn¡¯t catch up to Tala, but he made a definitive step forward. -Oh, wow, Enar is doing so much better. He¡¯d had those memories on deck¡­ for a while. Rane refusing to go through them had just left them in Enar¡¯s foremost thoughts.- She let out a contented sigh. -Not anymore.- I¡¯m glad. But Tala wasn¡¯t really focused on Alat at that moment. ¡°Thank you for being willing to share this struggle with me.¡± Rane smiled down at her. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t want to hide anything from you. I love you.¡± Tala squeezed in close, only partially muffling her voice against his chest, ¡°I love you, too.¡± A few quick kisses later, Tala and Rane turned toward Alefast and headed home. * * * Tala found herself utterly floored when Karsa Zuccat returned from the Academy the following summer. It was just after Tala and Rane returned from Mita and Akli¡¯s wedding, which the girls had done as a joint affair, each marrying their husband side-by-side, even if different bonding rooms had been used after the combined ceremony. They had acted reservedly grateful for Tala¡¯s attendance, and she had actually felt like they were opening up to her a bit by the time that she¡¯d had to leave. But that had been more than a week prior, and now, Karsa was back. The little girl who had left¡ªand visited a couple of times¡ªwas all grown up, an Academy graduate and in need of a master. The girl had opted to graduate a year earlier than she¡¯d had to, feeling confident in the head start her upbringing had given her. She wanted to move and be based out of Marliweather to be near Anna for the first time in quite a while, but she agreed to stay in the sanctum until the fall. This was partially because Tala wasn¡¯t planning on heading to that city until then, when her own sibling¡ªSella¡ªlikely would be departing for the Academy, and Tala wanted to be there for her last sibling¡¯s choice. Additionally, Nea had arranged for her wedding to be a few days prior, to take advantage of all the Academy siblings returning, as had become the tradition. Even Illie and Nalac were taking a caravan down from Arconaven with their masters for the festivities. No one had commented on the fact that they hadn¡¯t come down for Mita and Akli¡¯s wedding. The two sets of twins¡ªwith only Miro between them¡ªhad never really been the best of friends, even if they had gotten along well enough when they had to. How is time moving so fast? How has it been seven years since Karsa left for the Academy? That just doesn¡¯t seem possible. -Well, when you keep busy¡ªeven doing good things¡ªtime flies by. It¡¯s not like you have changes in your own body to mark the passing of years either.- We¡¯re advancing, Tala tried to counter. -True, but on the scale of years, rather than weeks or months. Our previous speed of advancement has set our mind in a perception of rapidity that is most likely adding to our misperception of the passage of time.- Huh¡­ Yeah, I think that I can see that, yeah. Karsa¡¯s return had the Zuccats discussing their long term plans in general yet again. Master Simon and Mistress Petra weren¡¯t on death¡¯s door by any means, but they were beginning to show their age, even if not physically. They were a bit more methodical and deliberate than they had been, a bit more risk-averse. That made sense, as they were hoping to see as many of their grandkids be born before they died as possible, and their last daughter had only just left for the Academy less than a year earlier. Karsa¡¯s presence was a touchpoint in time, and the fact that Tala felt like she just blinked and they were on their way to Marliweather to drop Karsa off was even more telling to her. I¡¯m starting to see the passage of time like an immortal. -Well, you are an immortal, so any way of seeing time that you experience is seeing it like an immortal.- ¡­You know what I meant. -Of course I do, but it still bore stating.- Tala sighed. That caught Terry¡¯s attention from where he was flickering along beside her in the wilds, north of Bandfast. Terry cawed questioningly at her. She smiled his way and called out. ¡°Time feels like it¡¯s whipping by.¡± He squawked his agreement, but there was a note of something else to it. ¡°You think we need a change?¡± He chirped an affirmative. ¡°We need to progress? Experience new things?¡± He flickered to her shoulder¡ªresizing as appropriate¡ªand bobbed his agreement. She grimaced. ¡°I am trying to advance.¡± Terry gave her a flat look, then turned and stared toward where Rane was moving through the wilderness off to their left. ¡°Things are good with Rane.¡± A smile pulled at her lips. ¡°Things are comfortable, almost easy. I like where we are.¡± He trilled in a way that conveyed something like, ¡®That¡¯s what I mean.¡¯ ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad that you like him, too.¡± Terry stared at her in disbelief, clearly uncertain how she¡¯d missed what he was trying to convey. -I¡¯ve let him know that you understood him well enough, but you are being purposely obtuse.- ¡­I dislike you sometimes. -We all struggle with self-dislike on occasion. You¡¯ll get over it in time. Just don¡¯t do anything drastic or irreversible before you let the feeling settle out. We are still inching toward Paragon, after all. Part of that is accepting yourself for exactly who you are and who you want to be.- Tala just growled, even as Terry flickered away to go after some poor arcanous creature that he¡¯d sensed. Terry¡¯s going to need better prey soon. I can feel him getting frustrated at how easy hunting is these days. It was never particularly hard, but now it¡¯s just laughably simple for him. -Yeah. That would be a good thing to address¡­ after you progress things with ¡ª- And that¡¯s enough of that. Alat started to object, but Tala cut her off. It has to be me, Alat. It can¡¯t come from another¡¯s prodding, or expectations. He understands that. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m not quite ready yet. When I¡¯m ready, it will happen. Until then, stop pushing. -Alright. I¡¯ll leave you be, then.- Thank you. She turned her focus within her threefold sight to watch Rane. She found herself wishing she could be leaning against him, his arm around her waist, her head on his shoulder. She didn¡¯t want to shuttle people around. She didn¡¯t want to be going to her sisters'' weddings. Tala shook her head, berating herself for the very idea. No, that¡¯s not true. Don¡¯t be grumpy, Tala. You decided to go, and you will be very glad you did. They¡¯ll only get married once, and all too soon they¡¯ll be gone. Plus, you can see Mita and Akli again, solidifying the foundation that you¡¯ve begun to build¡ªbefore it¡¯s too late. Tala felt a pulling in her chest at that, and water came to her eyes. Her family was aging. Her siblings were getting older, and some would live very, very short lives. She didn¡¯t want to invest in them, just to lose them. Alat tentatively spoke into Tala¡¯s mind, clearly sensing that Tala was open to the communication. -It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.- That¡¯s a trite phrase. -But no less true for it.- An eternity without those you love might stand in opposition to that. It¡¯s easy for a mundane person to say such things. -True, you are looking at an eternity without some of those you love. Others will be with you as long as you live, barring disasters.- Her eyes flicked to Rane yet again. But will that be enough? What if he dies, too? -You have to decide if that fear of loss is more important than the potential for gain. And you are right. That decision must be yours.- Tala fell into silence, then. Alat was right. She had a lot to think about. Chapter: 477 - Reunion and New Arrivals Tala found herself holding Sella, curled up in a chair within her sanctum. Sella was to leave for the Academy the next day, and Tala wanted just a bit more time with the girl. Sella was snuggled close, clearly feeling some of the same desire for connection and closeness as Tala did. This is my last sibling¡­ There aren¡¯t any more behind her. -Well, if things go as expected, you¡¯ll start having nieces and nephews before too long.- Tala¡¯s eye twitched at that. The very idea of her siblings having children was¡­ disconcerting? Uncomfortable? She wasn¡¯t entirely sure. Nea¡¯s wedding festivities had just drawn to a close, and the girl¡ªcovered in green paint rather than the yellow she¡¯d started with¡ªhad bid her family goodbye just a few hours earlier. The days of celebration had allowed Tala to catch up with Illie and Nalac¡ªthey had good natured grumbles about their masters but were doing well overall¡ªas well as her other siblings. Even Mita and Akli were there, and Tala did her best to inquire after their lives as newlyweds. The conversations had been cordial, but there was still a distance between them and Tala, even if it was no longer a distance born of disinterest. The gap might be bridged in years to come, or it might not, but they were all now willing for it to be so spanned. Dagan, Alva, Osip, Fedir, and Olen had all been exuberantly bubbling about whatever new thing or theory they¡¯d each just learned or been exposed to at the Academy, and Illie and Nalac seemed to revel¡ªjust a bit¡ªin being the ¡®older and wiser¡¯ siblings to those still attending the place of magical learning. Tala graciously didn¡¯t burst their bubble. Verla was pregnant with her and Caln¡¯s first. Latna and Mistress Anna were getting along splendidly¡ªwith Anna having firmly wormed her way into the family as a whole with her strange, extrovert-based magic¡ªand Master Leighis was still in regular communication with them all, most often with Latna. He had been in attendance at the wedding, but he didn¡¯t officiate this time. Nea liked the Healer well enough, but she didn¡¯t have the same connection to him that some of the others did, even excluding Latna. I miss the days when I could just put all my siblings in one mental block¡­ There are so many of them, and they¡¯re all doing and feeling and experiencing so many different things. -It can be oh so inconvenient when our siblings become distinct people, can it not?- Yeah¡­ Tala gave Sella a little squeeze, and the girl shifted to get even more comfortable. The whole position was a bit precarious as Sella was almost Tala¡¯s size, the girl being nearly fully grown already. Tala didn¡¯t mind though. It wasn¡¯t like Sella could hurt her in any way. Rane was currently out with Caln, Miro, Nalac, and Osip, getting some ¡®guy time.¡¯ Whatever that meant. Miro was honestly a bit like Mita and Akli, in that he had less in common with the other siblings than most, but he also didn¡¯t seem to mind, still participating fully, even if mainly as an observer. He was a quiet one, settling into a quiet life as an assistant in the Marliweather Library¡ªnot the Archon one. He seemed to be incredibly content with his books, deflecting any more probing questions with casual, contented ease. During the past few days, there had been some obtuse questions about Tala and Rane¡¯s courtship, but no one had pressed the issue, for which Tala was grateful. Terry was somewhere in the sanctum, using his granted authority to let her know that he wanted to be alone. So, she was doing her best to not watch him. -I see all. I just don¡¯t tell you.- Oh, I¡¯m aware. You could give me nightmares for eternity with what you¡¯ve seen. -...You have no idea. Your threefold sight is truly a double edged sword, and were I a creature of mere flesh and blood, I¡¯d have gone insane with all it has exposed me to.- Alat sent the impression of a revolted shudder. ¡­Good to know? Let¡¯s keep this division of labor, shall we. -Of course. Your insanity would be highly inconvenient for me.- Tala chuckled at that. The sound and motion of Tala¡¯s chest caused Sella to lift her own head and look up. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just had a funny thought.¡± ¡°Oh? What was it?¡± Tala saw the spark of childhood curiosity in the girl¡¯s eyes. She¡¯d not get away without giving some sort of answer. She could lie, of course, but what was the point in that? Genuine curiosity should be encouraged. ¡°Well, I have a magically created assistant within my mind.¡± ¡°Oh, Alat? Yeah, she¡¯s great.¡± Tala¡¯s eye twitched. Alat¡­ -What? You often have me send them letters. I introduced myself a little while back, and usually add a small message as an addendum to the end. They often respond as well. It¡¯s not my fault you don¡¯t read the messages yourself.- I ask you to tell me the contents of every letter. -Yeah, and I don¡¯t feel the need to pass on what they say to me.- Tala sighed internally. Fine, but how has no one mentioned this to me? -It¡¯s never come up?- Tala took a long, slow breath before smiling at Sella. ¡°Yes, Alat. She simply said that me going insane would be inconvenient for her.¡± Sella gave a serious nod. ¡°That is so true.¡± The seriousness on the little girl¡¯s face pulled Tala back from her mild irritation with Alat. She was here with Sella. So, she should be with Sella. ¡°Anyway, are you excited for the Academy?¡± The girl wriggled. ¡°I am¡­ but I¡¯m also scared.¡± ¡°Oh? What of?¡± ¡°Teleportation¡­¡± Tala raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°But you teleport to see me¡ªand then back home¡ªevery few months or so.¡± Sella shuddered. ¡°And I¡¯m scared every time.¡± Tala gave her another light squeeze, causing the girl to writhe and squeal in mock pain. ¡°Oh, Sella. Why didn¡¯t you ever say anything?¡± She settled down and shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t want anyone to use that as a reason that I couldn¡¯t go.¡± She didn¡¯t meet Tala¡¯s gaze. ¡°You won¡¯t keep me from going, will you?¡± ¡°Oh, little one. No. It is good to do things that we are scared of, so long as we approach them in a smart manner.¡± -Like progressing a relationship?- Hush, you. I¡¯m spending time with my sister. Alat grunted and didn¡¯t press further. Tala¡¯s response seemed to mollify Sella as she snuggled back in. ¡°I¡¯m still scared.¡± ¡°Bravery isn¡¯t the absence of fear, it is doing what you know is right despite fear.¡± ¡°Then, I am very brave.¡± The tone Sella used¡ªalmost more than her words¡ªevoked a laugh, unbidden, from Tala¡¯s lips. ¡°Oh, Sella. I do love you.¡± ¡°I know. I love you, too.¡± And that was that. They passed the remainder of the time they had in pleasant companionship. Sella and the other Academy attending siblings teleported out early the next day after a feast of a breakfast prepared by Mistress Petra¡ªwith the help of Karsa and some of Tala¡¯s siblings. Mistress Petra still wouldn¡¯t let Tala help. Hand-pies, prepared fruit, cream of grains, and so many more dishes had been set out and then consumed by the veritable throng of siblings and spouses, allowing for one more occasion of conversation and togetherness. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. At the same time as the siblings were departing, the Zuccats were saying goodbye to Karsa, leaving her in the hands of her new master¡ªand Mistress Anna, who promised to check on her sister an appropriate amount¡­ Tala suspected that it would turn out to be far, far more than was strictly appropriate. Less than an hour after Sella¡¯s departure, Irondale had been closed up and taken from its Marliweather wall, and Tala, Rane, and Terry were back in the wilds, heading south. Lyn wanted to stop in and see how Mistress Kannis was doing. She was apparently due back from a caravan run that day, so she¡¯d have about a day back in Bandfast before they dropped in to see her. That would be a pleasant enough stop through, and give the Irondalians an afternoon and morning in which to interact with Bandfast before moving back to Alefast with Tala, Terry, and Rane. Everything was going reasonably well on the journey until just about two hours outside of Marliweather where Tala finally couldn¡¯t continue. She dropped to the plains, pausing on a taller than average hill and staring up at the sky. Rane landed next to her a moment later, and Terry flickered to her shoulder, both waiting in silence, trusting that she would speak when she was ready. After five minutes, Rane seemed to decide that she needed a bit of prompting. ¡°Tala? Is everything alright?¡± Tala shook her head, trying to master her own emotions. ¡°No. No, it¡¯s not alright, Rane. They¡¯re all gone. All off at the Academy, married, or otherwise moving on with their lives. What now? I¡¯ll see them less and less over the coming years. They¡¯ll have children, age, and then one day, they¡¯ll just be gone, and I¡¯ll still be here.¡± Rane wrapped an arm around her but didn¡¯t say anything, seeming to sense that she wasn¡¯t done processing out loud. ¡°I graduated nine years ago, Rane. That is so little time compared to what lies ahead, yet also so long. Not even a decade has passed and I¡¯m already Refined. I have five powerful soulbonds, and I have more wealth than I really know what to do with.¡± She gave a rueful chuckle. ¡°I have an entire town that is mine in essentially every sense.¡± She didn¡¯t really know where she was going with this, and she really had nothing else that she felt that she needed to say. So, she fell into slightly befuddled silence. Rane squeezed her again when it was clear that she had nothing further to convey. He then tentatively spoke into the gap, ¡°You have done much, and much is ahead of you. I think your choices to try to be a part of your various siblings¡¯ lives is a good one, one that you will be glad that you made. Unfortunately, you are likely correct, those choices will probably mean watching as their lives go in different directions from your own. I have the easy way out with my own family. I haven¡¯t really stayed connected to any of my siblings, except tangentially, and even then only really because we happen to be in the same city. Chloe and I send letters occasionally, but we aren¡¯t really a part of each other''s lives.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a trade-off, and I suspect that yours have been the wiser choices.¡± She leaned against him, taking comfort in his presence more than his words. He wasn¡¯t wrong, but his intention hadn¡¯t really been to assuage her worry. If anything he¡¯d purposely let her know that her concern was valid, but that it was still probably a good choice. Relationships were odd things. They stood there for a few minutes before she gave him a kiss, and they got back on their way to Bandfast. * * * Tala and Rane sat back as her siblings talked and bantered. Dagan and Alva had just returned from the Academy after finishing out their final set of classes, and the whole troop had come to Alefast, Waning, via teleport to meet them there. They, in turn, had come straight to Alefast to have this exact reunion before Tala paid for everyone to go back to Marliweather, where this set of twins'' new masters resided. Well, she would also be sending the older twins to Arconaven, but that was just details. Tala had been very intentional this time in extending the invitation to all spouses as well. So, they had quite the group. Even Illie and Nalac had come, despite the expense and discomfort of reinscription upon their return to Arconaven. There was a bit of an odd flavor to the encounter when compared to the previous sibling meet-ups, because with Sella off at the Academy, there really wasn¡¯t a younger contingent to sit counterpoint to the ¡®adult¡¯ siblings. Everyone felt the difference, but it wasn¡¯t specifically an unpleasant change. The youngers were missed, but it was actually rather nice to have a more laid back, conversationally focused reunion. Dagon and Alva had shifted their fundamental understandings from ones of lightning over to light. Though, they still decided to play off of each other. The conversation had gone rather easily once it started. Alva¡¯s was relatively simple, ¡°All we see is already light.¡± Tala considered for a moment before nodding. ¡°I can understand that. So, you focus on light magics?¡± The girl nodded. ¡°I am a Material Guide, focusing on light, or really the particles and waves that make up light.¡± Dagan grunted, interjecting with the clear intention of stealing Alva¡¯s spotlight. She let him with a small smile and a rueful shake of her head. ¡°Yup! Duality in all things. But as well thought out as that is, I prefer mine.¡± Nalac had huffed a laugh. ¡°Of course you would say that. Yours should be one you prefer.¡± The other siblings hushed him. ¡°So?¡± Tala prompted, ¡°What is yours?¡± Dagan let it build just a bit more before grinning widely. ¡°In the right light, everyone is blind.¡± Rane grunted, ¡°So, light Mage as well?¡± ¡°Yup, Immaterial Guide. I focus on amplitude, frequency, and velocity.¡± He held up his hand to briefly forestall any questions. ¡°Velocity in the directional sense, not in sense of the absolute speed of light. I don¡¯t understand the fundamentals of Zeme enough to mess with that sort of constant. The idea of a speed being unchanging in all frames of reference is nonsensical to me¡­¡± Rane smiled at the younger man. ¡°That¡¯s quite interesting.¡± He gestured between the twins. ¡°Is it hard to tell your magics apart?¡± Alva shook her head and sighed dramatically. ¡°Hardly. He likes operating in the various spectra outside of the visible. I prefer to keep to what I can see.¡± Tala interjected then, ¡°So, by ¡®right light¡¯ you mean light which can¡¯t be seen?¡± Dagan pointed at her, dipping his head in acknowledgement. ¡°That¡¯s one meaning, yeah.¡± ¡°Interesting. I imagine that makes your magics hard to deal with.¡± She glanced toward Nalac, and the boy gave a slight grimace. He said under his breath. ¡°Just like mine is¡­¡± Dagan didn¡¯t hear, and he grinned widely, even as Alva scowled in mock severity. ¡°Oh, absolutely.¡± She huffed, hiding a smile. She was clearly pleased by what he could do. ¡°His magic acts near him, but they send out essentially instant, invisible attacks or counters. It¡¯s infuriating to deal with.¡± Dagan nodded her way. ¡°But it¡¯s even better when you work with me.¡± Tala was considering how she¡¯d counter such magics, and she found herself a bit at a loss. -Come on, Tala. We already went over this with Nalac. You¡¯d just take the hits and kill him an instant later.- As I said last time, of course I could do that, but that¡¯s not very satisfying¡­ I genuinely want to actually counter his magics, not just brute force the results I wanted. -...Do I need to make the same joke, again?- I do not brute force my desired results from difficult situations. -If you say so.- You really aren¡¯t nice some of the time. Dagan was clearly quite proud of himself. ¡°The instructors were very impressed. They said I was following well in my siblings¡¯ footsteps and my light magic would be among the hardest magics to counter. They did warn that without Alva¡¯s amplification and enhancement, the power output wouldn¡¯t be very impressive until I improved.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It works fantastically for defense and once Nalac left, I was able to figure out how to take out any annoying insects with ease.¡± He gave his brother a smirking glance. ¡°I got better at that than you, even.¡± Nalac shrugged. ¡°Bugs are just bugs. Wait until you encounter real tests.¡± Dagan nodded excitedly. ¡°I am quite eager, yeah.¡± Tala did have one final question. ¡°I¡¯d thought you two were set on lightning? We didn¡¯t discuss it much, but I thought you liked the power and speed?¡± Alva smiled. ¡°We did, but it turns out that light made more sense to us.¡± Dagan interjected, ¡°And it¡¯s faster.¡± She sighed, but nodded. ¡°And it¡¯s faster.¡± And that was it. Since most of the siblings and spouses weren¡¯t Mages, not too much more was said about the subject. The presence of the spouses changed the dynamic further still but again, not in a bad way. There was a lot of talk about babies because Verla, Mita, Akli, and Nea were all at various stages of the joyous condition. Tala was hesitant at first, feeling like she didn¡¯t really have a way to relate to that, but at Alat¡¯s prompting, she implied that she could actually see the little ones as they were growing within the women, and offered to let everyone else do so as well. That was met with ecstatic acceptance¡ªfrom everyone actually¡ªand Rane helped them acquire a large enough Archive slate for her to connect to in order to facilitate the display of a mundane interpretation of her threefold sight. Alat did the heavy lifting, first showing sliced views. Tala was very careful to caveat the view beforehand, letting them know that they¡¯d see the internals so no one panicked. Everyone was strangely fascinated, seeing the little people growing within the various women. Tala and Alat even facilitated a few games of ¡®guess the baby,¡¯ where they would display a foot or eye or other part and everyone else would have to guess what it was they were looking at and which baby that part belonged to. It inspired a lot of playful arguing, a lot of laughter, and a lot of smiles. Overall, it was an incredible win for the gathering as a whole. The family visit ended up being two days, everyone having arrived on the first morning and not leaving until the second day¡¯s afternoon, just as the near-summer day was beginning to draw to a close. Her unit had been very understanding throughout, allowing Tala and Rane to both skip their regular duties. They would be resuming them the next morning. As the last of them teleported out, she leaned sideways against Rane, taking comfort in his presence in the renewed absence of her family. This visit had gone better than any previous, in her opinion. She felt truly connected to her siblings¡ªand that was even before she had looked at the reality threads and seen that their connection was literally growing more potent. Unfortunately, that actually made the final departure all the more disheartening in a way. Those lines were now just as strong, but somehow they seemed stretched, as if they were under tension, and something told her that they would begin to fray and shrink over time, if not maintained. Even so, she felt better for the existence of the threads. It was as if the connections being there made her feel more linked with Zeme as a whole and who she was in it. Rane pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. ¡°You¡¯ll see them again.¡± She turned, putting her arms around him. ¡°Am I that obvious?¡± ¡°To me?¡± He met her gaze, love and humor sparkling within his eyes. ¡°Sometimes.¡± She sighed, leaning against him once more and settling into a comfortable silence. Not wanting to make a spectacle of themselves, they moved out of the teleportation tower, her arm around his waist, his around her shoulders, and with Tala still leaning against Rane¡¯s side. Chapter: 478 - A Severing Tala¡¯s days rolled by, each blurring into the next as each day felt much like the next. She was honestly starting to wonder if anything would ever change. * * * Tala staggered as a wave of roiling magics threw her deeper into the cell. The concussion of clashing powers shot from the cell¡¯s entry tunnel¡ªlike a bolt from a crossbow¡ªjust behind the initial burst that had thrown her free. -More like one of your siege orbs going off!- Tala could feel Alat fighting to right their senses and clear up the muddled state into which her mind and threefold sight had been thrown. It was likely only her fully deployed armor which had allowed her to come out so well from the hit. She had a moment of disorientation as she picked herself up off the ground, utterly unaware of how she¡¯d gotten there, or even why she was in a cell at all, even if all that she was seeing let her be certain that that was where she was. Then, Alat¡¯s ministrations came into effect, and the memory came back. She was in a cell with her unit to help close it down. That much had been mostly obvious to begin with, except the fact that no one was around her. She, Terry, and Rane had advanced down the entry tunnel, acting as the vanguard as they usually did. She had been especially on edge due to the nature of the prisoner. He was Reality-twisted¡ªas so many prisoners were, it seems¡ªbut he specialized, specifically, in the revocation of soul-connections. For most, that would mean being kicked out of their body and on to the next world, something that Reality was rather pleased with. Tala didn¡¯t know the method of this man¡¯s immortality, especially because he wasn¡¯t even human. Regardless, things hadn¡¯t gone as expected. Tala and Terry had reached the cell proper¡ªwith Rane right behind¡ªonly to find the Mezzanni man waiting for them just to one side, somehow unseen by her threefold sight until it was too late. He had raised a hand and struck past her, at the Paragon back in the antechamber. The Paragon hadn¡¯t fallen to his attack¡ªof course¡ªbut her deflection and reflexive counter strike had caused the detonation, practically right on top of Tala and Terry. Terry had flickered away to safety, but Tala¡¯s flickering instincts weren''t quite so perfected. She groaned, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. The surrounding nature that made up the cell was utterly untouched on a mundane level, proving that the detonation had been purely magical in nature. As her threefold sight came back into focus, she immediately saw where everyone was. Rane was unconscious within the passage. There was nothing physically wrong with him, but his spirit had been disrupted enough that he¡¯d lost consciousness. Though, it did seem like he¡¯d be regaining consciousness soon, if given the chance. He¡¯d likely been able to mitigate some of the blast through kinetic manipulation, but not enough to come out unscathed. -Enar isn¡¯t responsive either.- Masters Clevnis, Girt, and Limmestare and Mistresses Vanga and Cerna were all back out in the atrium, seemingly thrown out just as Tala had been thrown in. They¡¯d been affected similarly to Rane, but at least Mistress Vanga was already beginning to stir. Irondale and her sanctum were anchored just outside the atrium, and that had given them enough distance that not even a ripple of the clash had reached them. The Paragon¡­ Tala was having trouble remembering her name through the remaining fuzz. -Mistress Dihsre.- Thank you. Mistress Dihsre was staggering, still on her feet, but with her aura churning about her like a hurricane-tossed ocean. Her gaze was locked on the prisoner, seemingly still visible, even to her mundane eyes, down the length of the entry tunnel. Terry was flickering around the prisoner, slashing and striking the man apart. Unfortunately, only the mundane¡ªif still monstrously powerful¡ªstrikes landed. Whenever Terry aspect-mirrored Flow¡¯s edge-magics onto his talons, the prisoner¡¯s very flesh seemed to move out of the way rather than be struck. It looked like she was watching someone try to attack a cloud of gnats with a switch. Even so, Terry didn¡¯t let up. He used mundane strikes to keep the man in pieces, even if that never lasted long. He moved masterfully, setting up strikes from new angles every time, but the Mezzanni seemed to have spherical perception of some kind, because he always managed to avoid the magically enhanced strikes, while taking the simple slashes and slams. It overall seemed pointless on the surface, as the man regrew faster than even Tala could have healed, clearly pulling from the nature around him. Even so, it was far from useless. Their whole point within the cell was to delay and tie up the prisoner, and Terry was doing that perfectly. He never overextended, he never allowed the man to have enough space to strike back. He was entirely dictating the flow of the clash, even if he couldn¡¯t end it. To be fair, though, they hadn¡¯t actually expected to be able to end this prisoner. He¡¯s doing the work of the entire unit. -But he can¡¯t keep it up forever. He is asking for your assistance at your earliest convenience.- He¡¯s getting tired? -Apparently, there¡¯s something around the man that¡¯s making Terry¡¯s flickering monstrously more costly, and it¡¯s starting to wear on Terry to an extreme degree. He¡¯s got another couple minutes at maximum, and he doesn¡¯t want to come up hard against his limits.- Let him know I¡¯m on my way. -Done.- Tala set her feet and crouched to spring at the man just as he opened his mouth and shouted. His voice was the slamming of stones in a rockslide, the roar of an avalanche racing toward her down a steep slope, ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PEOPLE?¡± He was confined before the Leshkin¡­ Oh, no. Tala felt herself pale even as she launched herself in an arching leap toward the ongoing clash. He had somehow sensed¡ªthrough the open cell entrance¡ªthat something was wrong with those who had been like he was now. The Leshkin were the Leshkin in part because they¡¯d lost who they once were¡ªat least to her understanding. Would he be able to change that? Whoever he actually was? That would certainly make the upcoming Leshkin war¡­ different, this time around. Regardless, his question clearly wasn¡¯t directed at her, personally, but more at her as the closest representative of the human race. We might be able to delay him a bit by giving him some answers, but there is no way we can trust he¡¯s not doing something else while we chatted. They couldn¡¯t let him build power. There was clearly no magic around him, but there was just as clearly Reality shenanigans going on, his healing being a singularly obvious example. They knew that killing him wouldn¡¯t do anything long-lasting, if they even could. After all, his people had been one with their homes, and this cell¡ªas much as he likely wanted to leave it¡ªwas his. Even so, killing him would slow him down enough that she and Terry should be able to get backup. The whole unit, working together, would hopefully be able to buy enough time to allow Mistress Dihsre to do what needed doing. Tala felt an odd dissonance from the man, as his features never shifted from a neutral set. Even when he¡¯d shouted about his race, there hadn¡¯t been any emotional cues on this visage. She didn¡¯t know if that was an artifact of Mezzanni as a whole, or this prisoner¡¯s circumstances or temperament, and she didn¡¯t really have the luxury of trying to figure it out. As she closed in, Tala did not consider the fact that Rane was effectively defenseless less than a dozen yards from this forest of destruction. As she arced downward from her powerful leap, her blood-red gaze fixed on the prisoner¡¯s oddly piercing wooden one. She closed the distance, bringing Flow around for a powerful strike. Even before she reached him, however, they clashed, her aura against¡­ nothing that she could truly feel. It was the equivalent to wrestling with an invisible opponent. Something was obviously opposing her, obviously trying to drive her authority backward, but she couldn¡¯t see it properly. She flared void-magics across her armor, being careful to not fully enclose herself, as she didn¡¯t want a true existence shield. That lessened the strain some, but it didn¡¯t remove it entirely. This Mezzanni simply had too much metaphysical weight for her to fully negate. Terry¡¯s very presence flickering around the area was giving her aura a foothold, allowing her to press forward without being directly exposed to whatever was going on in the zeme within the cell. She also began driving iron spikes around the area, far enough away that they wouldn¡¯t be threatened by the turmoil, but close enough to add reinforcement to her efforts. Even so, the resistance caused her to fall short of her target, forcing her to strain forward step by step. How the rust is Terry doing anything under this onslaught? Can you see any solution, Alat? -I¡¯m working on it!- Work faster! -Yeah, Tala, that¡¯s the issue. I¡¯m taking my time.- Yeah, yeah. Tala grit her teeth, pushing through the opposition to bring void-Flow across into a solid chop. The void-edge of Flow¡ªcoupled with the void around her armor¡ªallowed for a smooth, if still slowed strike. Magical void is the antithesis of Reality, and Flow¡¯s edge should be a perfect method of delivery. If anything could hurt the thing more than they had anticipated, it should be a strike like this. After all, he¡¯d not let Terry land a blow with even the non-void version of these magics. Tala flowed along with her strikes, falling into the Way of Flowing Blood more fully than she felt like she had since the end of her time in Platoiri. -Well, actually you¡ª- Don¡¯t care. Keep working. -Fine.- Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Tala felt like her acceptance of her continued identity as an Eskau of the House of Blood¡ªalong with having an arcane as her opponent for the first time in what felt like forever¡ªallowed her to truly utilize the style to its fullest. Unfortunately¡ªof all things¡ªthe man seemed to be at least passingly familiar with the Way of Flowing Blood. That didn¡¯t allow him to counter it fully by any means, but he did seem to be able to anticipate her movements a bit more than seemed otherwise feasible. The prisoner¡¯s barklike skin and woody flesh split before Flow, not due to its edge but because his body itself broke and moved to avoid the void-magic blade just as it had before Terry¡¯s void-laced attacks. It was incredibly frustrating, but at the same time, there was something soothing about effectively going through a form in the middle of a battle. Then, he struck back at her, but not physically. The invisible force hit her like a peppering of shrapnel from a nearby explosion. It slid off of Tala¡¯s armor without leaving the least bit of damage. His eyes widened in surprise at that, and Terry took full advantage of his startlement, severing a hand with one slash of void-edged talons and raking deeply into his back with the other. The prisoner screamed in pain and rage, fighting back with renewed vigor, falling to mundane methods for the following few moments. The whole area seemed to be under his command, pulling toward him to become one with his body even as he used the mass to form outwardly striking vines and branches which grew out specifically to attack Tala or Terry. Those attacks broke against her armor, their connection to the Mezzanni shredded by the void-magic used in the defense. Terry simply avoided those sent his way. Even with the limbs being destroyed with every attack, they were hard hits, and they forced Tala to fall even deeper into the Way of Flowing Blood. Terry clashed with the man, seemingly being allowed to land blows, as they healed too quickly to have any consequence. Even when he slammed into the man, he couldn¡¯t knock him off balance enough for Tala to actually connect. Unfortunately, the aspect-mirroring of Flow¡¯s void-magics into Terry¡¯s talons had enough of a latency and buildup that they could be detected before contact, even if such should have been too minimal to allow for action. The Mezzanni was simply faster than they were. It honestly reminded Tala of her early days, when she was physically outclassed by most of the things she fought. She was displeased. In irritation, Tala brought more and more tools into play, her tungsten balls and rod, her defensive discs, and even a couple of weapons that she¡¯d put on her belt for Terry to use were thrown into the fray. She kicked herself for not having the anti-Leshkin arrowheads that she¡¯d gotten from the Guards¡¯ Guild so long ago, but they were in her sanctum, and she was glad that that wasn¡¯t in here with her. No need to subject Kit to this creature¡¯s powers. She was able to weave a simpler, weaker version of those magics into her armor, but that only mitigated the power of his hits a bit, given they were already breaking up upon contact regardless. Her aura was in constant turmoil as well, clashing against whatever flexing of Reality the prisoner had at his disposal. As such, she didn¡¯t trust herself to flicker around despite all her practice. It would probably have been safe, but at the moment, it wasn¡¯t worth taking such a risk just for a delaying action. The others of their unit were beginning to stir, and Mistress Vanga was already staggering toward the cell tunnel entrance. Backup was on its way. The Healer¡¯s magics had swept the others, seemingly confirming what Tala had seen already. They were physically fine. When Mistress Vanga reached Rane, he was in a state to be helped to his feet by the woman. Alright, it¡¯s time to put on the pressure. It was a funny thought given the circumstances. She was effectively dancing around in a tight area, Flow cutting an unending series of passes through the area her opponent should be but wasn¡¯t. Terry was flickering about landing blows of all kinds¡ªeven while those bearing magic were still avoided¡ªas well as throwing weapons to add to the maelstrom. Balls and discs and a rod were flying here and there at her and Terry¡¯s pulls. Yet this prisoner seemed utterly certain of everything he needed to dodge. He was perfectly capable of absorbing, redirecting, taking, or evading every attack to the best effect. Tala even slammed through his chest with a pair of siege orbs, but they were effectively useless. The holes were healed as quickly as any other damage, and even when they burst apart, he reformed despite the ice in barely an eyeblink. Taking damage simply didn¡¯t seem to matter to this prisoner unless it was specifically destructive and magical in nature. She even used her not-quite-perfected dissolution breath, but it simply wasn¡¯t a wide-scale enough attack to hurt, given the type of damage it did. She could see the parts dissolved being severed from the Mezzanni entirely, but he simply pulled in more vegetative mass and continued the fight. Regardless, Tala decided it was time to either make him struggle more or bring this to an end. Despite his initial question, he hadn¡¯t said anything further, nor really given them the space to answer. Rude. -Quite. Terry¡¯s ready.- Go. At the very last instant before a strike¡ªa simple, mundane slash with the talons on his foot¡ªTerry did something for the first time this fight. Flow flickered out of Tala¡¯s hand and into Terry¡¯s closing talons, turning the simple¡ªif powerful¡ªslash into a vicious one, laden with void-magic. It struck true, bisecting the Mezzanni from shoulder to hip and the world around them seemed to freeze as a second scream of pain and rage¡ªthis time too high pitched for mundane ears to hear¡ªscreeched through the cell. The Mezzanni seemed to come apart at the seams¡ªeven without accounting for the through-and-through slash¡ªexpanding in obvious agony. Even so, it was only a moment before the man reformed, staggering even as Flow flickered back to Tala¡¯s hand. The invisible force that had been battling with Tala¡¯s aura hitched, allowing Tala to feel confident in flickering to his other side, cutting him in half horizontally with void-Flow and eliciting another pulse of not-magic through the air, knocking them both back. Before Tala or Terry could rush back in to capitalize on the momentary weakness, another pulse of power slammed outward with much more force, tearing apart the ten bloodstars that were letting her use the rod, discs, and balls. Tala had a sliver of a moment in which to panic before the pain tore into her very soul. The bloodstars weren¡¯t quite soulbonds, but they were inextricably tied to her soul¡ªor at least they had been¡ªand that had been torn away with brutal violence. The world faded from her perception for an instant, and when she came back to herself, the prisoner had his hand locked around her throat, somehow putting pressure on her neck even through her armor. In fact, if she hadn¡¯t been Refined, she¡¯d likely have lost consciousness before recovering from her soul-pain. He knows human biology¡­ That doesn''t bode well. Even though she was conscious, something felt¡­ off. But she needed to focus on her opponent, not whatever oddities were going on with herself. He¡¯d grown to fifteen feet tall, holding her even higher than that, well above his head as his voice echoed around her. ¡°What are Warriors of Blood doing training a human? Why do you radiate the feel of arcane magics and methods? What¡ªby rust, decay, and the unknowable reaches of time¡ªhas happened while I was trapped here? Speak or I will send you to the next world and ask another.¡± Hey, he¡¯s talking again. That¡¯s good. -Are you sure the lack of blood to your brain isn¡¯t affecting you?- Nah, I¡¯m fine. This is totally okay. I¡¯m funneling more power to my inscriptions to keep myself going. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s going to be just fine. -...I¡¯ll see if I can fix what¡¯s being broken¡­- His grip relaxed just enough for Tala to answer, if she¡¯d needed to breathe to answer. Alat¡¯s fix seemed to take effect at a similar time, because Tala suddenly felt focused and fully cognizant once again. This wasn¡¯t an ideal situation by any means, but she might be able to work with it, if she could keep her head on straight. Toward that end, she amplified the void going to her armor, but whatever Reality based ability he had was pressing in close, solidifying and keeping the void-magic from harming his hand as he held her aloft. Alright, then. Negotiations. She projected her voice outside of her helmet with her aura, ¡°I will happily tell you whatever you want to know. It costs me nothing to tell you some of my story. How about you put me down?¡± The prisoner blinked at her a few times, seemingly not having expected to actually receive an answer. ¡°Why would you be willing to speak with me? Me, a prisoner here and an enemy of humanity?¡± Before Tala could answer, she heard Alat hitch. -Attack from the side!- Tala had momentarily lost focus on her three fold sight and now she was about to be speared from behind and to the side. She did not trust her armor to protect her. He knew about her defenses, and he was making this strike anyway. Still, it wasn¡¯t like she had an instant way to respond. She couldn¡¯t flicker out of his grasp¡ªshe tried¡ªso all that she could do was redouble the power going into her various defenses and void-magic aspect mirror. In that instant, however, Terry was there, flickering into being between them and attacking the upraised arm with void-magic talons, even as a weapon he¡¯d thrown knocked the incoming root-spear off course. Terry clearly did not like Tala in that predicament, and he wasn¡¯t about to let her be struck in such a way. The arcane roared in anger even as he batted at the bird, trying to get him away with his off hand. Terry flickered back rather than taking the hit. The arcane was irritated, but clearly still felt like he was in control. ¡°I am Abridane, Lord of the World Wood, and I will have my answer. Unless your words were merely meant as a distraction?¡± No, that¡¯s what you were doing, you rusted piece of detritus. Tala didn¡¯t of course, have time to actually articulate that. She didn¡¯t actually know how Abridane had managed to say all of that so quickly. Tala punched at the arm holding her with void-magic and anti-Leshkin magics in her glove, but he resisted the blunt hit with powers of his own. At the same time, Terry had flickered back in, with void-magic raging along his talons once more. Abridane seemed to have been preparing for just such an attack, because something hit Terry. It wasn¡¯t physical in any sense of the word, but the results resonated within Tala¡¯s chest like a collapsing mountain. First, the eight bloodstars that Terry used for his threefold vision shattered, lacerating Tala¡¯s soul further. Then, Terry¡¯s spirit¡ªhis very self¡ªwas ejected from his body, killing him instantly. Due to his soulbond with Tala, that spirit was pulled into close orbit around her own keystone, within her body, but that barely registered. Terry was dead. Terry was dead, and Tala had no time to truly process that fact. I can bring him back. She tried to reassure herself even as she tried to position herself to swing Flow into the Mezzanni who¡¯d killed him. It didn¡¯t help. He had died trying to save her from this beast, and she hadn¡¯t been able to prevent it. A heartbeat later¡ªwith Terry¡¯s magics gone¡ªhis body exploded. Gore, blood, viscera, feather, bone, and all manner of other bodily pieces were suddenly far too close together for anything without magical assistance. The result was a detonation seemingly like nothing so much as an avalanche of bodily components thrown forth with the power of a thunderbull¡¯s charge. Tala was ripped free of the hostile grip and thrown against the wall of the cell, just beside the tunnel out. Abridane was shredded as he lacked her armor to protect him from the tearing effect of the bones and other hard bits. The vegetation around them was painted a chunky red. She had a prolonged moment of panic at what had just happened. Terry was dead. Her mind, spirit, and very soul were all reeling from the fact. Before she could sink too low, however, she felt the terror bird¡¯s presence beside her. He wasn¡¯t back¡ªthat would take some doing, and she hadn¡¯t had time to figure out how she would accomplish it¡ªbut his spirit was with her even now, bound to her soul. So long as she lived, he was not truly dead despite the bloody evidence to the contrary. His death had bought her freedom, and she hated that such had been required. With that assurance, she was able to vault back to her feet, facing Abridane as he bore down upon her. This thing had killed Terry. This thing needed to pay. Flow snapped into her hand, becoming a void-glaive even as she thrust forward, a yell on her lips. Alat had not fallen into rage as Tala had. -Tala¡­ that wasn¡¯t a special attack he built up over time. He just¡­ he just hit Terry with it.- Even through her anger, that resonated as wrong to Tala. What do you mean? We¡¯ve been seeing him build up something. Wasn¡¯t that it? -...Look for yourself?- In that instant, Alat showed Tala what they¡¯d been perceiving, and what had changed around the attack on Terry: Essentially nothing. Oh¡­ Oh, rust. Tala¡¯s burning rage flashed to a bone deep cold as she realized that she likely didn¡¯t have a defense against such an attack. -Existence Shield?- Tala did not like the idea of that, but it would be preferable to dying. It¡¯s our best shot. Abridane splintered into a wave of crashing vines, utterly avoiding the precise, powerful slashes she executed in an attempt to harm him. He then reformed just beside her. Once again, he somehow spoke verbosely in an instant, his words hitting her at the same time as his attack, ¡°Very well, I will ask another.¡± Alat and Tala had already been working, folding Void, Magic, and Reality¡ªvia her armor¡ªtogether into a powerful protection. Because of that, when the same power that had struck Terry so recently hit her, she weathered the blow. But it was a weathering. She felt battered and torn, like she¡¯d somehow survived a swim in a volcano because she had a big enough icecube. -That is an awful analogy.- Really? Now? Abridane seemed shocked that she was still standing, but that didn¡¯t slow him, and in the next instant, he roared. Striking her again with the same power, a thousand fold more powerful than the little hits she¡¯d taken before and easily three times more powerful than what she¡¯d just resisted. Even despite her aura¡¯s attempt to dull it, despite her void-magics and Existence Shield, Reality slammed against her like the inevitable rising of the sun, and in that moment, her gate¡ªher very soul¡ªwas knocked free from her body. With a tearing sensation, more visceral than anything she had ever experienced, she felt her physical self be eviscerated as the soul which had been fused to it was forced out, her connection to her own body fully severed, as the world went entirely dark. Chapter: 479 - Connection Tala floated in nothing. Even to say she floated was technically inaccurate, as there was nothing to float and nothing at all in which to be. Yet, it wasn¡¯t the same nothing that she¡¯d sensed outside the cell-tunnels. There really shouldn¡¯t be different kinds of nothing¡­ She honestly wasn¡¯t quite sure how she was thinking, as she was rusting sure that she didn¡¯t have a brain. There was an odd pull at her being¡ªsoul, gate, whatever she was¡ªalong with a sense of light and comfort, near at hand. It was like she was standing naked in a snowstorm, against the external wall of a chimney. The slight warmth of the wall made it clear that there was a lot of heat on the other side, and there was a door to get inside right over there. The next world? That seemed likely. Had that not-Leshkin killed her? Really? Are you slagged? Something about the very idea seemed¡­ laughable? Well, it¡¯s not like I can actually laugh¡­ She did not like what was happening. Alright, Tala. Think, think, think. If her gate had been forcibly kicked out of her body, it should have brought at least some of her natural magics along with her. She didn¡¯t feel a build up of power, nor an access anywhere, so that meant that it was going into something. All those natural magics pertaining to her body and biology would have been left behind affixed around ¡®her body¡¯¡ªthat¡¯s why such were the most often available harvests from magical and arcanous creatures after all. There was the funny thing that most parts cut off before death were separated from the natural magics of a creature or person, those staying with the being the part was cut from. Regardless, the natural magics more central to her may have been pulled free, more attached to her soul than her physical form. There would be no certainty in which had come along. That¡¯s why I can think, though. I have huge amounts of magic devoted to enhancing, mimicking, and improving mental function. I¡¯m effectively operating on a natural magic brain at the moment. That was¡­ only marginally terrifying. Even if she didn¡¯t have the hormonal systems to feel that terror anymore, the cognitive reality was still there, looming over her. The very fact that she was only cognizant because those magics had happened to come with her was like tripping and falling out of the way of a killing blow in battle. No, don¡¯t panic. Think! She needed to figure out what else had come along. Huh. The first thing that she noticed was actually her gravity magics. For as little as she used them in her day to day of late, they were at the core of her fundamental understanding of the world and her own magic. And the final magic she found was her threefold sight. Nothing else remained. Blessed stars, YES! She diverted some of her power into those pathways, and something akin to sight returned to her. The first thing she noticed was that the world seemed almost frozen around her. She¡¯d been devoting so much power¡ªher entire, unlimited throughput¡ªtoward her mental enhancements that her thinking had become effectively instantaneous. Amazing what can be done without the limitations of biology slowing me down. Now, however, some of her power was going elsewhere, so the world was moving forward, even if at an absolute crawl. Her threefold sight seemed to be originating from a space behind her body and a bit above, as if she¡¯d been ejected out and back by Abridane¡¯s hit¡ªwhatever that had been composed of. The second thing she noticed was something she¡¯d already known, but the reality of it struck her once again. The woods, ground, and other surrounding vegetation were painted a grotesque shade of Terry. That thought could not be borne; she couldn¡¯t deal with it just yet. Finally, despite the incredibly slow movement of the world around her¡ªshe would guess at a minimum a thousand to one difference based on her perspective¡ªthe arcane prisoner¡¯s eyes were locked directly on her. Not her body, her. That¡¯s not great. Based on her threefold vision¡ªwhich was irritating to parse without Alat¡ªher body wasn¡¯t dead, nor were her magics gone, though both seemed to have gone through a shredder as her Fusing was broken. And here I thought that was impossible¡­ No¡­ her Fusing hadn¡¯t been broken, what her soul had been Fused to had been torn apart. There was no longer anything to be Fused to, and even the latent connection between soul and body was gone, only the magics she¡¯d painstakingly maintained caused her body to have kept a resemblance of function. Her armor also helped, holding everything together. She suspected that her biology and remaining magics would sputter out soon enough with her gate no longer empowering them. All the more reason to get back as soon as possible. Tala suspected that Alat wasn¡¯t with her, because those magics were explicitly designed to let Alat run as a secondary consciousness within Tala¡¯s biological brain. Therefore, Alat didn¡¯t have anything to think within, as Tala now was. She might still be in my body¡­ And that meant that Alat wasn¡¯t here, because Tala wasn¡¯t in her body. Because she was dead. Don¡¯t think like that, Tala. Don¡¯t give up. There was the continued, insistent tugging onward, but that wasn¡¯t really an option. She was not ready to die. She was surprised that such mattered, and she might be reading too much into things, but she felt like she had something that she could do to prevent that end. She tried to use her gravity magics to amplify her gate¡¯s¡ªher own¡ªconnection with her body, but the result felt like climbing the stairs and missing a step. There didn¡¯t seem like there was anything left to amplify. Well, that isn¡¯t ideal. She wasn¡¯t panicking¡ªlikely because she didn¡¯t have a body with pre-set fight or flight responses¡ªand she was grateful for that. It was no time to panic. The first thing she had to do was overcome her slow drift away. She didn¡¯t think it was a physical direction that she was moving so much as simply moving on. Yeah, none of that. Her thoughts went to the rends in Reality that she¡¯d seen at abandoned city sites. With that thought and change in mindset, reality threads came into focus around her. She¡­ wasn¡¯t connected to much. Due to proximity a few more stood out. There were some solid¡ªyet still somewhat ephemeral¡ªconnections with her unit. She¡¯d seen these before, but they somehow were clearer now than ever before. Maybe because they¡¯re more real to my current state? She waited for Alat¡¯s response, but of course, it never came. Focus, Tala. There was a transitory sensation associated with the connections with most of her unit, despite their obvious strength. It was disconcerting, but it also made a certain amount of sense. She was mainly interacting with them due to work, and once the waning of Alefast was over, she would likely have far less contact with them. That was a punch to the non-existent gut. But she didn¡¯t have time to camp on the revelation. Terry¡¯s spirit was there, still in her body for the moment, though it was not anchored there by any means. She knew with utter certainty that if she passed on, he would as well, going wherever such spirits went. It might be the same place she was going, and it might not. She simply didn¡¯t know. It also was unimportant right then. Her connection with Terry was powerful. The thread was thick, substantial, and unwavering. She also knew that despite her gravity magics being one-way, trying to use a disembodied spirit to anchor herself to Zeme was a bad plan. It might be a form of paranoia, but it felt like knowledge intrinsic to her current state, as if by being a simple gate she had a better understanding of how gates actually functioned in the world. But back on task, she saw other connections as well. She had powerful soulbonds, but all of those connections were oriented on her, depending on her for their stability, power, and existence. She knew with absolute certainty that trying to use any of them to save herself would end in disaster, no matter how much logic would seem to indicate otherwise. She was their foundation and source of power, so she couldn¡¯t stand upon them in turn, not in this way. All of her other connections were too far away to be of any use¡ªgiven the nature of her magics, distance was incredibly important. That¡¯s when her eyes fell on her connection to Rane. She had somehow missed it in her initial inspections, not because it was small, but the exact opposite. In this weird space that wasn¡¯t physical, the use of physical concepts to describe it was deceiving, but where each other connection felt like a rope tied between herself and the other, her connection to Rane was a massive plain of level ground, waiting there just beneath her feet, ready to catch and support her. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Her threefold sight shifted to focus on the physical Rane. He was mid-sprint, bursting out of the cell-entrance tunnel with Force leading the charge. The other members of their unit were coming but moments behind¡ªnow having mostly come back to themselves¡ªbut her metaphorical eyes were only on Rane. He was there for her. He always had been, and likely he always would be. She and Terry had almost held out long enough for backup to arrive. Well, rust¡­ There were times that she wished he had more going on away from their shared interests, but whenever he wasn¡¯t around, his absence was keenly felt. It¡¯s why she¡¯d been joining him in a few of his ancillary activities of late. But she was getting distracted, and there were important things to be about. Rane was close. Her connection to him was solid beyond belief, and she wouldn¡¯t endanger him by depending on it. She turned all her magic toward amplifying the pull on that connection. What she focused on would never be a physical force between them, but she wasn¡¯t physical at the moment, so that hardly mattered. Power poured through her and into those natural magics. To her, it felt like an eternity, but by the movements in the world around her, it was less than a minute. Her physical body had locked up, her armor becoming essentially statue-like without her controlling it. Rane was solidly in a berserking rage. Even so, he was hitting Abridane far less than she and Terry had been, but every one of his hits contained kinetic impartment, which disrupted the Mezzanni more effectively than simple cuts or hits had. More than that, with her current view, Tala could see the magics of the rage bubbling up within Rane, and some of that power was flowing into every hit, making the resulting damage slower to heal. Abridane managed to counter-hit Rane once while Tala was watching closely, but the power of the Mezzanni broke around the magics of the Sovereign boon, the berserker rage seemingly protecting Rane from that more existential danger. The energy had felt a bit slower to gather as well, which Tala interpreted as Abridane having been weakened by his overwhelming strike on her. The other members of the unit were likewise engaging with the arcane¡ªall save Mistress Cerna, who was weaving an incredibly complex magic seemingly geared toward protecting their soul-body connections, and Mistress Vanga, who was coming toward Tala to check on her. Kind of her to come check, and those protections would have been useful before we were in the cell¡­ Tala sighed internally. Regardless, she was bending all her will toward trying to pull herself, using her connection to Rane. If Tala had had a physical form, she would have been sweating at the strain. Her connection to Rane was amplified to the point that she was no longer in danger of moving on, but she wasn¡¯t returning to her own body¡­ which made a certain amount of sense. She was tying herself to Zeme in general using her connection to Rane¡ªlikely in a similar manner to how a soulbound spouse¡¯s gate could remain with a gateless. She was simply able to mimic the phenomenon without the soulbond¡­ and while he already had a gate. That¡¯s probably why I¡¯m not moving closer in? Well, it¡¯s great that I¡¯m no longer moving away and all, but not really helpful long term. She lacked the magics to remake a body for herself, and while she might be able to pull something together at need, her body was right there, and such an attempt would be a long-shot to say the least. Her body was right there¡­ Her body with Terry¡¯s spirit sequestered within. That might work¡­ There was no danger of odd recursive dependencies ejecting them both from existence, so¡­ maybe? She focused on that connection once again and began to tentatively amplify the pull of that thread. It sort of worked. There was something missing though. Terry was helping to anchor her to the physical space in which her body waited, but there was still nothing tying her to the body itself. It was still alive, her remnant magics having mostly put her back together, just like she¡¯d feared what seemed like so long ago. But it¡¯s good now. Perspective is a funny thing. The heart was beating, the blood flowed through it, but the connection that had made it her was gone. That is rather frustrating¡­ She needed something to connect her with her body once again, even if just for a moment. She felt like if she could make even the briefest of connections, it would naturally reset. If I was Reforged, I could be sure of making a new body¡­ Huh, is Master Xeel unkillable? She dismissed the thought for the moment. It was only then that a surprisingly obvious idea came to her, though it likely only did because she could see the reality threads so clearly around her. Her family was her family because of her body. Sure, there were the emotional connections too, but if she¡¯d had a different family, she¡¯d have been born in a different body. Sure enough, when she looked really closely at the reality threads trailing off toward her family in the distance, they seemed to almost fray, most of the connection going to her¡ªto her soul¡ªbut some pieces were definitely going to her body, before coming to her soul with the rest of the thread. For some of her siblings the proportion was far greater, but she didn¡¯t let that bother her. Huh, none of Rane or Terry¡¯s connections go through my body¡­ I guess because we don¡¯t have any physical component to what connects us? There was a beat where Tala again waited for Alat to snark, but the alternate interface was based in her body. Alat wasn¡¯t here with her. Oh, she must be panicking if she¡¯s even conscious at the moment. The body¡¯s lack of movement made unconsciousness the more likely option. My body. Don¡¯t disassociate, Tala. She focused back on the task at hand and amplified the portion of her connection with her family that went through her body. Surprisingly, blessedly, that worked¡­ mostly. She felt her soul sink back into herself and her gate slotted right back in, settling in against the connections to her keystone exactly as it should. But there wasn¡¯t an actual connection. She¡¯d come to the right place, but the body wasn¡¯t hers anymore. She screamed within her magically wrought mind. As she did so, she felt a resonance with something that was hers. Throughout her body, there was iron. Iron that was unquestionably hers. Even without a face, she knew she was grinning. MINE. Her soul twisted, pulsing outward to confirm her authority and sovereignty over the iron, briefly connecting with that part of her body. Existence took care of the rest. Her eyes snapped open within her helmet. Alat started screaming in existential terror and relief in one, and Tala knew she was only on the edge of consciousness. Her body was torn apart more thoroughly than it had likely ever been, and her newly restored gate was roaring with power funneling into her healing inscriptions, even as her stores were being devoured at a feverish pace to enact the repairs. Her healing magics were rebuilding her. Her magics¡­ rebuilding¡­ That¡¯s it! In her half-present state, she used her aura and will to pull Terry¡¯s spirit forth and aspect mirror her healing onto him, using the might of her aura to enforce that yes, the splatter around them¡ªfully within her aura and authority¡ªwas his body, which the magics were designed to pull from for the purposes of healing. It helped that Abridane was being driven back, Mistress Cerna¡¯s spellforms drawing on Rane¡¯s berserker state for inspiration as she defended the unit. All told this meant that Abridane couldn¡¯t make Tala¡¯s aura too choppy at the moment. It didn¡¯t work perfectly¡ªthough whether that was due to her soul-deep exhaustion, or the limitations of the magics she was stretching just a bit past their intended use, she had no idea¡ªbut it did work well enough that Terry came back into physicality in the midst of an inrush of biological matter. Mistress Vanga was watching with obvious fascination, but everyone else seemed to be purposely focusing on their enemy rather than the blood, bone, and viscera rebuilding itself into Terry. Except Rane. Rane was still assaulting Abridane with single minded purpose. The last thing Tala saw before collapsing to the ground¡ªjust in front of Mistress Vanga¡ªwas Terry¡¯s talons striking the forest floor. The last thing she heard was his shriek of indignant rage, promising vengeance. * * * Tala came back to herself outside of the cell of Abridane, Lord of the World Wood. Her threefold sight immediately told her that the cell was closed once more. Her unit was entirely alive, and the Paragon was sleeping off to one side, clearly exhausted from the ordeal. -Hey, you. You¡¯re finally awake.- The alternate interface sounded strained. Alat? Are you okay? Tala was immediately concerned. -I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯ll be alright. I think I was separated from our soul for a moment there, before I¡­ stuttered somehow? I think I wasn¡¯t aware of the time our soul was gone except for that brief blip. I didn¡¯t like either part¡­- Are you going to be okay? Tala filled the question with a sense of genuine concern and care. -I am, yeah, but I think I¡¯ll be quiet for a bit. I need to recenter myself.- Whatever you need. Take the time. -Thanks, Tala.- Tala returned a feeling of affection, then shifted, moving her stiff back. When she stirred, everyone noticed and came around, checking on her, and filling her in on what had occurred. She¡¯d kept the prisoner from escaping and busy enough for the others to recover, alter their preparations, and re-engage. They hadn¡¯t been able to kill him, but that hadn¡¯t ever really been in the realm of possibility to begin with. Their mission was complete, and everyone was going to be fine. In the end, they¡¯d only had to keep him at bay for around ten minutes. With Rane effectively immune¡ªeven the one time he¡¯d come out of his berserking state, being hit by Abridane had thrown him right back into it¡ªand Terry no longer sticking around to be hit, everyone else stayed at a distance. Since the Mezzanni¡¯s soul-kicking attack seemed to be quite close range, they simply didn¡¯t allow him to close on them. Between the seven of them working in concert, it ended up being much easier than Tala would have expected. Mistress Vanga insisted on giving Tala a full check-up, twice. Masters Girt and Limmestare asked Tala if she was really sure that she was going to be okay at least a half dozen times each, and Master Clevnis and Mistress Cerna¡ªafter ensuring that she was alright¡ªeach apologized to Tala for not over-preparing, even though, when pressed, they couldn¡¯t tell her what they would have done differently with the knowledge that they¡¯d had. She assured everyone that she would be fine, and that she didn¡¯t think that they could have acted elsewise with the information that they had. Cell work was dangerous, and things like this happened sometimes. She was just glad that it had been her who had been hit, rather than one of them. Terry squawked at that, eliciting chuckles and inquiries as to his health along with copious amounts of jerky and other meaty snacks. When the chatting eventually died down, the unit members gave her well-wishes and left her with Rane and Terry. In that space, she turned to regard Rane, who was sitting beside her, a serious look on his face. ¡°What are you thinking about, Rane?¡± He sighed. ¡°You died, Tala. I don¡¯t know what happened, or how you¡¯re here, but I saw your body without your gate. You were gone.¡± She grunted, then nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah, I think I was¡­¡± She briefly explained the highlights of what had happened on her end. ¡°And then I helped Terry reconstitute before passing out from the strain.¡± Terry trilled gratefully, and Rane grimaced. ¡°I don¡¯t like how close I came to losing you. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s really anything we could have done differently without perfect foresight, and there isn¡¯t really anything we can do differently going forward. ¡ªIt would be silly for me to ask or expect you to avoid danger, after all.¡ª I just don¡¯t like how things went¡­ It was too close to disaster.¡± Tala found herself smiling, and she leaned in for a kiss. She was eternally grateful that Rane was there, that he would be there forever. That¡¯s what she wanted, and that¡¯s how it would be. Her very soul hummed in contentment at the notion. Terry looked between them, head turning back and forth. He was bound to her, so he would know what she was feeling at such a deep level. When no one said anything else, he visibly slumped and let out a clearly exasperated squawk. That got both of their attention, and they looked his way just as he used his own will and connection to pull one of Tala¡¯s bloodstars into the superficial. He then moved it toward Rane¡¯s mouth in a distinctly implicative manner. He did pause it before it passed the man¡¯s lips, though. Rane¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked to Tala. ¡°Is this him or you?¡± ¡°Him¡­ But¡­¡± She swallowed and glanced away, finishing in her own mind. But I like the idea. Rane¡¯s gaze firmed, clearly rightly interpreting her actions. He seemed to make his choice, but then hesitated long enough to take a deep, steadying breath before he asked, ¡°Will you marry me?¡± She looked back, meeting his eyes, an utterly uncontrollable smile overtaking her features. ¡°Yes.¡± Here ends Flockbound, Millennial Mage book 11 Ironbound - MM 8 - Audiobook Launch Hello all, My apologies for the double poke today, but the Book 8 Audiobook just passed through final checks and is available NOW through BookFunnel (purchase done via Ko-fi). This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Purchase Link: https://ko-fi.com/s/5f810cf8a2 If you have the other books in BookFunnel, now is the time to get this one, too. It will be off of BookFunnel (for new purchases) and onto Audible possibly as soon as next Wednesday, depending on how I can swing it. Thank you once again for your readership and support! Regards, J.L.Mullins Chapter: 480 - A Bit Excited Here Begins Book 12 - Outbound Tala could barely contain her own grin, as the most recent Irondalian to be reborn stood and laughed with joy. She could already feel the power coursing through him. Advances in technique and procedure had made the whole process smoother for Tala and less painful for the reborn. Though, it would never be classified as a pleasant experience. It was to the point that Kedva and Brandon¡¯s younger children had all been reborn without any hesitation or issue. They hadn¡¯t even asked for Healers to be on hand for the fourth or fifth. Now that is going to be a powerhouse of a dynasty. Tala had been following those children¡¯s growth, and while the magic hadn¡¯t affected them too much¡ªit was proportional enhancement after all, not a flat increase¡ªit had manifested in faster learning and their excelling at most games. Toward that end, Kedva had requested that Tala make most of the playgrounds, courts, and fields be low-magic zones, at least for her children. She didn¡¯t want them to have an unfair advantage, nor to grow up with a superiority complex. It was a bit finicky to get right at first, but Alat, Kit, and Tala had figured out how to set up conditional access to magic for various citizenry. But that wasn¡¯t what was important at the moment. The newly reborn man was what Tala should be focusing on. That man leapt into the air, giving a startled cry and windmilling slightly as he didn¡¯t get the jump quite right, not having expected to have quite so much power behind the leap. Even so, he landed well enough and spun and threw his arms around Tala. She was used to these spontaneous outpourings from the reborn by this point. Thus, she returned the hug graciously before Ron¡ªthe head of training for the newly reborn¡ªstepped forward to lead the man away. Ron gave her a bow. ¡°Mother Tala, thank you for your time and assistance.¡± She had long since stopped trying to change how they addressed her. It was better for them to do it to her face rather than when they could pretend that she couldn¡¯t hear. Even so, she had to fight back the usual twitch at his referring to her as ¡®Mother.¡¯ Regardless, she pressed on, ¡°Always a pleasure, Ron.¡± This newest man to be reborn was something of an experiment. He would not be joining the other peacekeepers within Irondale¡ªnot that they had much to do in that role. Instead, he was simply a citizen of the town. He¡¯d gone through the preliminary training, but other than that? He was just a gateless man. They were curious how far he would progress, and how much the increased capacities would help him in his day to day life. Given the fact that he was a builder, they expected it to be a direct benefit to his work, as well as to how quickly new homes and other buildings could be put up in the continually growing Irondale. Lyn had a contented smile on her face as the two men left, moving over to stand with Tala. ¡°It is always enjoyable to see their reaction to the rebirth.¡± Tala smiled over at her friend, only feeling a little awkward. ¡°And in this case, you are directly responsible for him being chosen.¡± ¡°Indeed. We were having trouble keeping up with demand, and I have no interest in forcing people to do certain types of work. Prices were in danger of rising too high to be reasonable, and while that got some more builders involved, we just don¡¯t have a large enough economy to pull the builders we need from other lines of work. Even with the acceptance of immigrant applications being biased toward builder supporting professions, we are coming up short.¡± She laughed. ¡°Even without inclement weather requiring houses, we are coming up short.¡± ¡°Hence, him.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Exactly. He¡¯s contracted to keep his prices at the going rate for a completed product, and he will now be able to do more. Thus, his time will be more valuable even without a premium on the end result.¡± ¡°And faster production will drop the going rate.¡± ¡°Some, but he¡¯ll still come out ahead. Like I said, demand is high. And we are still a small community.¡± ¡°How are we looking, population wise?¡± Lyn¡¯s eyes flicked to the side as she recalled the exact figure. ¡°Twelve thousand, four hundred, and seventeen.¡± A small smile pulled at Tala¡¯s lips. ¡°Precise.¡± ¡°Accurate. We log people leaving the expanded space or entering. That way we can be sure we don¡¯t leave anyone behind nor move our portal while still hosting anyone who shouldn¡¯t be in here.¡± Tala gave a long-suffering smile. ¡°You know I have that in hand.¡± ¡°You do, but you could have all of this in hand. My purpose here is to take things off of your plate. This is but one of those things.¡± Tala gave her friend a hug, squeezing lightly. ¡°And you do such a good job of it too.¡± Lyn pulled back from the hug and looked her friend up and down. ¡°It¡¯s been months since¡­ How are you holding up?¡± Tala sighed but smiled. ¡°I do appreciate you asking, but you do so quite often. I¡¯m fine. Master Grediv has had a bevy of experts poke and prod at me: body, spirit, mind, and soul. I¡¯m in perfect health. They noted some oddities with my soul, but they couldn¡¯t say if those came from my recent experience, my odd use of bloodstars, the dasgannach bond, or something else entirely.¡± Lyn tsked before letting out a resigned breath. ¡°You have lived an¡­ exciting life, even when compared to other Refined.¡± Tala huffed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth. Like I¡¯ve told you at least a dozen times, it was terrifying in the moment, but in the end, I think I¡¯m better for it.¡± Lyn rolled her eyes. ¡°It has not been a dozen times, Tala. Don¡¯t exaggerate.¡± -It¡¯s been ten times, and it¡¯s still terrifying to me¡­- ¡°Alat says it¡¯s been ten, so you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Really? Ten?¡± Lyn looked a bit abashed. Then, the woman frowned. ¡°How is Alat?¡± Tala gave a sad smile. ¡°She¡¯s alright. The experience was entirely different for her, and it¡¯s still something that we¡¯re working through, together.¡± ¡°Well, let her know that I¡¯m thinking of her, and I¡¯m here if there¡¯s ever anything that I can do.¡± -I know, Lyn, and I appreciate that. Thank you.- ¡°She knows, Lyn, and she¡¯s grateful. We¡¯ll let you know, and thank you.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tala didn¡¯t feel like continuing that line of discussion, and as she searched for something to switch the topic to, she glanced after the departed men and a smile tugged at her lips. Lyn noticed the expression and tilted her head to one side. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I was just thinking¡­ It won¡¯t be too long before I have actual children of my own.¡± Lyn chuckled. ¡°Some people take a while to get pregnant after the wedding, but that shouldn¡¯t be an issue for you two. You¡¯re both Refined, after all. So, yeah. It could be less than a year before you have a little one on the way.¡± Tala smiled in return. ¡°Exactly. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m nervous, but also a bit excited? It¡¯s a new adventure. I think I need a new adventure right now.¡± ¡°You mean besides marriage?¡± Lyn teased. ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Tala laughed along with Lyn. ¡°But I honestly think that they¡¯re one and the same¡­ or at least very closely linked. One will feed the other, you know?¡± ¡°I think I do. But do you really want kids right away?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll actively try, but if one comes our way?¡± She gave a small smile. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be too unhappy.¡± Lyn grinned in return. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯m excited for you both.¡± * * * Terry tore through the pride of arcanous creatures which seemed like nothing so much as ground squirrels crossed with lions and given a dose of earth manipulation magics. He wasn¡¯t defending Alefast at the moment. Tala¡ªand by extension he¡ªhad been taken off that duty for the near future after their temporary deaths. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. No, he was deep in the mountains, in a place that very few humans had likely ever gone, seeking a challenge. This pride? It sort of qualified. Their ability to quickly and selectively armor themselves against his strikes made things interesting, so long as he didn¡¯t use void-talons. Even better, they could, theoretically, actually hurt him with their pebbles, which they could shoot out at nearly twice the speed of a human arrow. Back before he¡¯d bonded with Tala, he would have had to retreat from the concerted, coordinated attacks of this hunting group. Not any more. He flickered in and out, changing size to fit where he needed to in order to strike where he wanted. He couldn¡¯t get as big as he once would have been able to¡ªnot since his own death and reconstitution¡ªbut becoming giant wouldn¡¯t have helped in this fight regardless. Terry hamstrung the swiftest of the beasts, and when they began using their earth manipulation to compensate, he used that distraction to slash open more vital portions of their anatomy. His own threefold perception was fantastic for spotting weaknesses and vulnerabilities in his prey. It took a bit of the guesswork and intuition out of the hunt, and made it easier overall. ¡­a bit too easy. Soon enough, they were all dead, and he was able to throw his head back and swallow each body in turn. He was about to move on, feeling a bit grouchy for the lack of proper prey, when he felt a presence unmask itself on a nearby hill. He crouched low, but the giant wolf didn¡¯t attack. ¡°Bound of the human sireling, your hunt seemed unsatisfying.¡± Terry hesitated, then squawked a reluctant agreement. The great canine showed her fangs in an approximation of a human grin. ¡°Anatalis wishes to extend a specific invitation to you, avian wolf. When your human journeys to the northern forest, we do not doubt you will come, but it seemed right to specifically invite you. You are packbound as we are, if to a different Alpha. We are kin-in-kind and will welcome you with fresh kills and howls of delight.¡± Terry bobbed his head in acknowledgement, keeping a careful watch on her with his threefold perception. This wolf was powerful. She hadn¡¯t even been evident to his aspect mirrored sight until she¡¯d allowed herself to be seen. That shouldn¡¯t really have been possible, but he supposed that predators who specialized in hunting magical beasts at or above their advancement would need such abilities. ¡­at or above their advancement. Terry straightened, trilling his question, both hesitant excitement and cautious inquiry filling the tones. The wolf¡¯s rumbling laugh came in response. ¡°But of course, little hatchling. What else would we do, but hunt?¡± Then, the wolf faded from his view and awareness. Terry flickered up to the space in which she had just been, but she was nowhere to be perceived. There were not even paw prints to stand testament to her having ever been there at all. The terror bird looked toward the north, eagerness filling his heart once more. * * * Rane pulled back the polishing cloth and looked at his finished work. It was a sculpture of a simple cat. It wasn¡¯t modeled after a specific one that he¡¯d seen. Instead, he¡¯d tried to capture the nature of what it meant to be a cat in the stone. He smiled to himself at his accomplishment. He sort of wanted to knock it off the table where it sat, but felt like that was just because the statue was so accurate. I don¡¯t hate cats, right? |No.| Simple. Thank you. |Of course.| It was smooth and hard, but somehow evoked the notion of softness. It was stiff and unmoving, but somehow looked as if it were lounging bonelessly in the sun. He was honored to have been able to craft such a statue. He didn¡¯t have a particular plan for the piece. He simply loved the act of creating it. He had plenty of funds for materials even without the money his family made available to him as part of their continuing attempts to try to convince him that he should take a more formal role in the family. His engagement to Tala had sparked a whole new round of such things to the point that he had seriously asked Master Grediv how the Paragon would feel if he and Tala took a new last name. The Paragon had been ambivalent, but advised that¡ªif they did so¡ªit should not be something that referred directly to their first names¡ªunlike what he had done. It was apparently more hassle than it was worth in the long run. Though, he did concede that it was convenient for tracking his descendants after all of these years, so that should be factored in. Rane had been considering things like Magnetite, Hematite, or others in that vein. He was taking inspiration from a combination of iron and stone, Tala and himself. He personally liked Pyrite, except for the fool¡¯s gold connotations. She hadn¡¯t been too interested in the discussion at first. Truthfully, she had thought it would be funny to have no last name, or to pick something random. In the end, however, she seemed to be coming around to making something for themselves, a family that they could call their own. |You know she was joking at first, right?| Of course I do, but it still wasn¡¯t very helpful. |You¡¯re overly concerned about the name. Isn¡¯t it more important that you two are together?| And you and Alat? He poked back. Enar didn¡¯t seem to take issue with the teasing, however. |That will be quite good as well, but we can¡¯t expand the family, so the family name hardly matters to us.| Is that true? I mean, I know there haven¡¯t been any cases of alternate interfaces having children of any kind, but given that you¡¯re both as much of our souls as we are¡­? |There have been studies. It takes two compatible sapient souls of a similar biological framework to procreate. It seems that a new soul won¡¯t come into being with no chance of birth. I can¡¯t imagine why.| The last was said in faux confusion. Rane decided to ignore the sass. Well, wouldn¡¯t that imply some level of intelligence behind the creation of the soul? That doesn¡¯t seem right. |Or just mechanisms beyond our understanding that require a vessel to be incoming as well.| Could be. Rane shook his head, turning his attention back to the cat. He would have sworn it was looking at him, but since he¡¯d been the one to carve the eyes, the effect was less pronounced than it might otherwise have been. He deeply enjoyed sculpting, but if he were being honest, he could hardly wait for Tala to be cleared for active duty again. It had been months, and he missed fighting by her side. Just another week or two. Then, they would be able to face the world side by side once again. * * * Tala stretched, sending a series of pops up her back as she examined the pictograms in the cell antechamber along with her unit and the same Paragon that had accompanied them last time. That was unusual but not unexpected. Mistress Dihsre was a bit of a specialist with souls and so had volunteered to come out with them to be there if Tala had need. She was also a prominent member of the oversight counsel for the cells. Given the nature of this cell, it was deemed wise for her to come along for that reason as well. The prisoner was seemingly a phoenix of glass. That wasn¡¯t as helpful a description as it might seem, because basically every prisoner could be described as phoenix-like in their survivability. In this case, however, the incarcerated seemed to legitimately be a bird of some kind, at least in its preferred form. The theory that had been recorded for posterity was that it had been a dasgannach of silica or something similar which had advanced sufficiently to take on a more definitive shape and gain some intelligence. If the conveyance was to be believed, it had approached the Mages of its day, distraught with concern that it might destroy the world, asking that they help it. They tried, but it was its very nature which threatened to subsume the material it was drawn to. They could contain it, but not alter its nature through means that they all agreed were acceptable. Eventually, it had learned of the cells and asked to be imprisoned. All that to say, the unit wasn¡¯t expecting a fight. On the contrary, they were expecting to be able to simply speak with the creature as the cell was repaired. All that combined to explain why they were there. Tala was technically still a few days from returning to active duty, but the unit that had initially been sent to this cell had reported in, before handing the opportunity to Tala¡¯s group. Her own bonding of a dasgannach was seen as a powerful touchpoint for interacting with the creature, and if the description held true, Tala might be able to get more from the being than anyone else, just by dint of that connection. Lyn was also there with Tala, but the older woman hadn¡¯t actually been assigned to the task, so Tala didn¡¯t really count her as ¡®officially¡¯ being there. Lyn was looking around the atrium this time around. Ron was at her side acting as a sort of escort¡ªnot that she needed one¡ªwhile she goggled. She¡¯d be back in Irondale with the place sealed up before the cell was opened, no matter how peaceful the prisoner was supposed to be. Ron was actively leaking power, but it was at a markedly slower rate than nature would account for. He was getting very good at holding in magic. He was actually about matching the natural retention rate of a ¡®high¡¯ race in Platoiri. Even so, he was still a far cry from what their trained members could achieve, but it was a solid start. Lyn came over to stand beside Tala before nudging her with her shoulder. ¡°So, this is what one actually looks like, eh?¡± Tala smiled back. ¡°Pretty much, yeah. Though, this is a bit more upbeat than they generally are. This is a voluntary incarceree rather than the usual fare, who were trapped against their volition.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t envy you regardless. Do you know why the depictions of the Mages are often holding their ears?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°They are probably trying to convey that the thing is noisy to a painful degree. If it really is made of¡ªeffectively¡ªglass, I believe it too.¡± ¡°Yet another reason I¡¯m glad to not be going any deeper than this.¡± She gave Tala a long look. ¡°This one is a candidate for Kit¡¯s devouring, isn¡¯t it?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°The cell is, yeah. That¡¯s one reason Mistress Dihsre is here. Honestly, this cell is a more reasonable candidate than even Walden was, given he still would prefer to be out and about.¡± Lyn chuckled. She¡¯d had the opportunity to talk with the elk, but nothing had really come of it. He wasn¡¯t overtly hostile to humanity as a whole, but he wasn¡¯t one for small talk, and Lyn didn¡¯t have anything pressing that she¡¯d wanted to ask him. It had effectively been a greeting in passing before Tala asked a few questions that she¡¯d expanded his forest to get answered. All in all a mundane experience¡­ with an Immortal Elk of human-like intelligence. Tala smiled, happy to have her friend with her, if even for a moment. ¡°Regardless, we¡¯ll have to see where this goes.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Mistress Dihsre called out from near the center. ¡°We¡¯ve gotten the all clear. Time to get to work.¡± Lyn bowed toward the Paragon then turned back to Tala. ¡°That¡¯s my cue to leave. We¡¯ll close up Kit and wait on the outside of this cell.¡± ¡°Sounds good. See you soon enough.¡± Chapter: 481 - An Understanding Tala and Terry were the first ones to the end of the tunnel¡ªas usual¡ªwith Rane close behind. The other members of the unit were coming just after Rane. Master Limmestare was understandably giddy at the idea of a glass-based lifeform¡ªTala could practically feel the man¡¯s soul vibrating with glee. Master Girt seemed more focused on his friend, Master Limmestare, seemingly ready to snatch the man back if he tried to advance before it was time to do so. Mistress Vanga¡¯s focus was quite obviously on Tala¡ªas the vanguard¡ªand the healer¡¯s magics were primed to come to her aid, should Tala be in need. Master Clevnis had a hand resting on the sword at his waist and was outwardly calm. Mistress Cerna was just finishing up a series of floating inscriptions to augment those she¡¯d draped over each of their shoulders. Both sets of magic were designed to dampen and filter sound, given the warnings depicted in the entry hall. Terry¡ªas was fitting¡ªwas faster than Tala, though she did flicker forward to stand beside him a moment after he stopped at the mouth of the tunnel, using his presence as the source of her aura to move to. It was interesting to her that he could go wherever he wished, the absence of their aura notwithstanding, but she could only do so with that base of authority. Another thing to work on, just like moving my iron beyond my aura. He glanced her way when she arrived, letting out a contented chirp. ¡°Thank you. I am trying to use it more often.¡± He chirped again, turning to regard the landscape before them. Tala did likewise, even though her threefold sight had already taken it in. Well, to be fair, his threefold perception would have done the same. The cell was entirely composed of desert, the sand an odd blue-green color. Tala could see that it was at least a hundred feet deep, and the cell extended that far up as well. The whole thing looked to be roughly a mile across, with very little variation in the rolling hills. As Rane stepped up beside her, he let out a long breath. ¡°It looks like the ocean, held still.¡± Tala frowned¡­ he was right in a sense. It was a bit sparklier than she remembered the ocean being, but possibly on a truly bright, spring day? Yeah, she could see that. ¡°That resonates. It¡¯s beautiful.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Master Limmestare maneuvered himself forward to kneel at the end of the tunnel and put his hand forward. He clearly marveled at the sand that he touched. ¡°No sharp edges. It¡¯s all rounded, all glass. Don¡¯t step out, I don¡¯t know that it would hold you, and you might just plummet straight to the bottom. It wouldn¡¯t be like a fall through the air, but I doubt it would be that much better. More importantly, it would be a pain to get you back out.¡± His power flexed, but seemed to be rebuffed by the glass. ¡°I can¡¯t do anything with this at all.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°What about with an increased surface area?¡± The glass Mage grinned up at her. ¡°Well, given you can stand on air with those magics, yes, I think you¡¯ll be fine with an increase.¡± She rolled her eyes, then nodded in return before amplifying the power going to the surface area expansion scripts on her feet and stepping out. It felt like how walking on syrup might. That wasn¡¯t quite right, though, as it wasn¡¯t sticky. Maybe a viscoelastic fluid? Yeah, that was closer. Not that she¡¯d ever actually done that. -The swamp in the void-hold?- Maybe¡­ There was clearly some coherence to the glass-ball sand, otherwise there couldn¡¯t be dunes, waves, or whatever the rolling hills should be called. Even so, she had to increase her surface area even further before she felt herself steady, the glass no longer trying to roll around the edges. She had only taken four steps before the tableau changed. The whole of the cell began to move, as if it were really the ocean, and it had simply restarted its movement. The sound would have been deafening without Mistress Cerna¡¯s magic. Their enhanced and reinforced ears would simply have been overwhelmed by the sound to the point of essential deafness rather than actually being damaged, but the effect would have been the same. Tala¡¯s helmet helped a bit, but it just wasn¡¯t designed for sound isolation. Bless that woman. Tala found that with just a small increase to her scripts beyond the stability she¡¯d already found, she was effectively a buoy, bobbing on the surface. Thankfully, the motion didn¡¯t last long. A moment later, a bird rose up from the depths and the whole of the cell stilled, the surface becoming a perfectly flat, seemingly solid plane of glass. The bird was¡­ small. It wasn¡¯t the size of a hummingbird¡ªnot quite¡ªbut it might have been likened to a large sparrow. Each beat of its wings was accompanied by the cascading sound of cracking glass. Those cracks were even visible as waves of jagged white lines within the glass depiction of a bird, though they sealed almost as quickly as they were created. The effect was very much like the crashing of waves upon a sea-shore. The movements of the wings were clearly mostly for show, as they were not moving enough to have been keeping the bird aloft. Terry trilled up at the clear bird, eliciting a grinding, chirp of sorts in return. He flinched slightly at the sound, but hid it reasonably well, responding with another trill, tilting his head toward Tala and the unit as a whole. The bird regarded them for a long moment before shattering, glass pulling up from the ground to join the fragments from the bird, together reforming into the shape of a woman, standing on the still surface. A dress of woven glass fibers unspooled to drape around her. Her actual form was of solid glass, though, which seemed like a strange choice from Tala¡¯s perspective. The glass-woman opened her mouth, and the sound of breaking, cracking, grating glass intensified even as the waves of white cracks radiated around each movement. Through Mistress Cerna¡¯s spells, Tala was able to pick out the likeness of words. -I¡¯ll clean that up, one moment¡­. There.- With Alat¡¯s help, Tala was suddenly able to hear the woman properly. The alternate interface even processed the glass-woman¡¯s words back to the start of what she¡¯d been saying, ¡°Greetings, Archons of Humanity. Long have I slumbered in this place of my authority. If you do not know, I am Lupe. By your lack of obvious pain at my voice, you have come prepared. I am grateful for that. I do not like harming your kind.¡± Her eyes swept them, clear interest in her eyes, but then her gaze jerked back to focus on Tala. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°You¡­ you contain echoes of one of my kin, yet you are not as I am. How can this be?¡± Lupe¡¯s throat whitened with each syllable, healing quickly enough to visibly whiten again as she continued to speak. It made an oddly beautiful display that Tala could not focus on at the moment. Tala nodded, having anticipated the potential for something like this. ¡°So, you are related to the dasgannach?¡± ¡°I am¡ªor was¡ªsuch a creature, a curse at my very core. That which eventually became me strove and struggled, gathering unto myself my material until, one day, I was simply more than I had been. I believe there were sapients nearby when this happened, but whether they had a hand in the change, I never learned. What are you to my kin?¡± While it was hard to determine expressions precisely on the see-through face, Tala had rather a lot of practice doing something similar given her threefold sight. If she read Lupe correctly, she was intensely interested in the answer. -Yup, you have to be a master sleuth to have deduced that.- You know, you could just let me feel special¡­ -I could¡ªand I do¡ªbut only when it is warranted.- Tala didn¡¯t respond to Alat, instead choosing to address Lupe, ¡°Two dasgannach were twisted by arcanes and confined in a collar around my neck. Their purpose was as a deterrent, to contain and control me. When I fought back against my captors, the dasgannach were released into me. One took all it could, fled my body and died. The second would have killed me, so I did what I could to keep it close. We eventually came to an understanding.¡± ¡°An understanding. Truly?¡± There was the definite light of hope in the glass-woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°Is this something you could offer others?¡± ¡°What we came to could not work between us.¡± Tala answered quickly, not wanting Lupe to get her hopes up. ¡°It was an enfolding and intermeshing of desire and purpose.¡± Tala allowed a misting of iron dust to manifest and float around her in intricate shapes. Lupe gasped, eyes widening in a very good imitation of the human facial expression. It was accompanied by the sound of cracking and scraping glass, but Mistress Cerna¡¯s workings continued to reduce the ear-rending sound down to merely uncomfortable. The Refined nature of the unit likely contributed to that reduction as well. It was odd seeing the glass face whiten all across its visage from microcracks, and Tala had the fleeting concern that every crack was painful for Lupe. Though, given the bird form¡¯s somewhat unneeded movement, and Lupe¡¯s almost overdone expressions, that was unlikely. Regardless of the potential pain, the imprisoned didn¡¯t hesitate in expressing her surprise, ¡°Such a strong purpose¡­ It is no wonder that you are so far on your way to Paragon. Around eighty percent if my interpretation is correct.¡± She had an odd, humorous, knowing look as she said that. ¡°If I understand human advancement, having such a powerful drive underlying who you are would be an incredible boon. If what you did were repeatable by others¡­?¡± Tala shook her head, even while she took in the contemplative looks of her unit members. ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the knowledge or ability to replicate what I did for others.¡± ¡°That is understandable. Before my isolation here, I was asked if such was possible, and I answered assuredly no. I am glad that while I was mistaken, I was not overly so.¡± -Well, that does explain why you are advancing through Paragon faster than people who seem¡­ more grounded than you.- ¡­I¡¯d be offended if you weren¡¯t so correct. So, Paragon requires an eternal goal, understanding who you are and who you want to be, and a powerful drive? That¡­ that was really obvious now that she articulated it. For most Refined, immortality was at hand, and they had no real need to advance for any reason. Sure, they were still pursuing advancement, moving onward slowly, but it wasn¡¯t urgent to them. There wasn¡¯t a drive for most of them. Wait¡­ Rane was the prodigy all along? -Always has been.- And we¡¯re just a miracle of circumstance? Tala added a faux despondence to her thought. Alat chuckled. -I wouldn¡¯t go that far. You have worked incredibly hard, survived much, and came out ahead. But we should probably discuss this later.- Right. Tala refocused on the cell around her. Thankfully, due to her enhanced cognition, barely a moment had passed while she considered internally. ¡°Regardless, Lupe, I do believe that you and I could come to an understanding of a different sort.¡± The woman straightened, sending a quickly healing cascade of cracks through her entire being, which made her look frosted for the briefest of moments. ¡°I listen.¡± ¡°I have a soulbound storage that is such that it does not automatically force a bond to any sapient who enters it. Moreover, partially due to the dasgannach that I bound to myself¡ª¡± Lupe gasped, sudden realization seeming to strike her. ¡°You expanded my cousin¡¯s authority and sovereignty to include anything in your expanded space, as well as iron regardless of where it is found?¡± Tala held up a finger in correction. ¡°Over what is mine. Yes.¡± The word ¡®mine¡¯ resounded through the cell, seemingly echoed by every bit of glass contained within. ¡°That is how it works.¡± Lupe shivered in obvious resonance of the concept. ¡°I am listening.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°The Mages of Humanity have agreed to allow me to take on keeper-ship of cells which are suited to less stringent security. In your case, you came to us and asked to be contained. Even now, you make no move to attempt to gain your freedom. If I were to devour this cell, I could keep you from claiming more material and give you a bit of normalcy. You could never leave the expanded space which is bound to me, but you would be able to leave here. You¡¯d be able to interact with others, do whatever you¡¯d like.¡± Lupe was already shaking her head. ¡°I think I understand what you will be asking, and if I am right, I will decline. I will not give up what is mine.¡± Tala felt a tingle through her whole body at the final word, clearly sensing a kinship with the idea. Thankfully, Tala had expected the glass-woman¡¯s response. ¡°I hear you, but I believe that you misunderstand my aim. Do you hold sway over this cell? The air around you? The edges of Existence which contain you? Are any of those yours? Are any of them you?¡± Lupe frowned, her brows whitening briefly with the motion and the disquieting sound of splintering reached Tala¡¯s ears. ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°Then nothing would change. I would not ask you to give up any of who you are. I¡¯ve seen you be discontinuous already. Am I correct that you can separate?¡± ¡°I can, but if it is for too long¡ªsay, more than a week as humans measure such things¡ªI will diverge and become two.¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°I am as large as I am because I had to hunt down all my willful spawn who did not understand the danger we posed to Zeme.¡± That made Tala pale slightly. Lupe had hunted down divergent versions of herself because she felt so strongly about preserving Zeme. That sparked a realization in Tala, and she felt the need to check. Even so, it wasn¡¯t a question. ¡°You aren¡¯t the original, are you.¡± Lupe gave her a long, long look. ¡°No. So, that is something we share.¡± Tala jerked back slightly, as if slapped. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You bear hallmarks similar to those found within my own copies. Though, from what I can tell, you had no divergence. Since divergence is a part of my nature, I would not have expected it in you, regardless.¡± She really didn¡¯t know what to make of what Lupe had said, so she decided to ignore it for now. -Because that¡¯s a healthy way of dealing with things that has worked so well for you in the past.- I don¡¯t like you sometimes. -It is expected for the weak-minded to be jealous of the brilliant.- ¡­We are the same person. -And self-loathing is better than jealousy inspired-dislike?- Tala grimaced internally. ¡­Moving on. Before Alat could say anything further, Tala smiled at Lupe. ¡°So, given that, your mass can be sequestered either off to one side of the space or in a separately maintained place, and you can explore the rest of the area at your leisure, coming ¡®home¡¯ to your larger self every day or so.¡± Lupe still seemed concerned, at least for a moment. ¡°But I¡¯ll strip your expanded space of¡ª¡± A considering look came over her as she paused herself mid-sentence. ¡°No, I won¡¯t, not without concerted effort. It would be like overcoming a divergent versus meeting up with one in passing. So long as I don¡¯t actively choose to contest you, that just might work¡­¡± There was a light in the glass woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°You might even be able to oppose me if I do actively try to claim more in a moment of weakness.¡± Tala could literally see a light kindling within the glass structure of the eyes. Where is that coming from? -Nowhere that I can perceive. Must be¡­ Tala, do you think it might be magic?- Rust you, Alat. -Hey, hey. We already talked about self-loathing.- Tala sighed. Lupe turned away from Tala for the first time in their conversation, her eyes resting on Master Limmestare even as she pointed at Tala. ¡°Mage of Glass, do you trust this one?¡± Master Limmestare was taken completely off guard, but he still responded with care and tact, ¡°Though I have known her only a short time¡ªon the scale of such things¡ªshe has continually shown herself to be dependable, yes.¡± Lupe nodded, looking to Mistress Cerna. ¡°You have the aura of command. Are you an authority here?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Mistress Cerna answered with a slight bow of her head. ¡°And you support this decision?¡± ¡°The plan seems solid enough, yes.¡± ¡°And if you were me, would you take the deal?¡± That seemed to give Mistress Cerna pause. Even so, the mature Refined responded with a smile, ¡°Absolutely. At the worst, it would be no different than here, and at best, it will be so, so much better.¡± Lupe smiled, the edges of her mouth whitening briefly before the fractures healed. ¡°Indeed. Very well, Mistress Tala. I agree.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°Excellent.¡± Chapter: 482 - Pane of Glass Tala, Lyn, Rane, Terry, and their defensive unit were standing in one of Irondale¡¯s parks, in an out of the way alcove created by decorative bushes, boulders, and a bubbling fountain. ¡°Here?¡± Tala asked her friend, clarifying what they¡¯d discussed earlier. Lyn considered for another long moment, and even consulted her Archive slate before nodding. ¡°Yes.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°You know, we can move it later, but I¡¯d rather not.¡± Lyn quirked a smile. ¡°I do understand that, Tala. Here is good.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Alright, then.¡± She opened the exit from Irondale out into the cell atrium in which Mistress Dihsre awaited them. The Paragon smiled at them through the opening. ¡°So, is it time, then? You¡¯ve picked the place, and you¡¯re ready to proceed?¡± Tala smiled in return, giving a slight bow of respect. ¡°Yes, Mistress Dihsre. Do we have final approval to proceed?¡± ¡°You do, Mistress Tala. Will you remain inside for the devouring?¡± ¡°I will, yes.¡± ¡°Very well, I will leave the entry space while maintaining the seal. Give me twenty seconds, and I¡¯ll be clear.¡± ¡°As you say.¡± -Counting.- Thank you. Tala¡¯s threefold perception could still see the superficial just as easily as she could when not within Kit, but there was something interesting about being within Kit for a devouring. She hadn¡¯t experienced it from this side before. After the requisite time elapsed, Tala willed for Kit to consume the space. First, their side of the portal moved, shrinking to be a two inch by three foot horizontal rectangle on the ground in the center of the alcove. Then, Tala watched as the external manifestation of Kit slid to the outermost entry to the cell¡¯s housing, where the two-space complex abutted to Zeme itself. There, Kit began to devour. Tala felt the extra material and dimensionality being added to her expanded space. The cell¡¯s entry hall was first, and Tala took care to maintain the integrity of the depictions of the prisoner as set out by the Mages so long ago. She didn¡¯t know what she¡¯d do with them, but that would likely be up to Lupe. They weren¡¯t all the most flattering depictions of the glass phoenix, but they had likely been created with the phoenix¡¯s input. Regardless, with the entry space consumed¡ªthe dimensionality added to Irondale and the material sequestered for later use¡ªit was time for the cell itself. Kit gobbled up the cell in an instant, having already taken the anchor from the entry space. That said, the result was that the cell was mostly just dangling off of Kit into the void, rather than truly being a part of her. That was as expected, given that¡¯s how cells functioned, but it wasn¡¯t where they were going to be stopping. So, Tala came in with her will and actively worked with Kit, consuming the dimensionality and air while leaving the glass unclaimed. They didn¡¯t eject the glass from their sovereign domain, but they didn¡¯t try to establish direct authority over it either. They didn¡¯t want to have a direct clash with Lupe in that manner as Tala felt like it would be a bit unkind as well as being against the spirit of their agreement. As the process continued, Lupe¡¯s blue-green glass began to rise up through the rectangular portal that Kit had established. Tala and Kit contracted the dimensionality of what had been Lupe''s cell until it perfectly matched the dimensionality of the glass that was Lupe, forming a perfect, solid sphere of glass with nothing else in that distinct instance of existence. The taken dimensionality and air were added to Irondale for the time being¡ªafter she was absolutely sure that she had full sovereignty and authority over it¡ªjust as the resources from the entry-space. As Kit and Tala processed the new acquisition, they discovered some small glass particles in the air, but Tala left those behind without issue, and the particulates re-merged with the giant sphere once all of the air was gone. Finally, the thick glass pane¡ªwhich was the size of a door¡ªwas fully grown and manifested in the garden. Two inches thick, three feet wide, and seven feet tall, it was a stunning piece of perfectly flawless glass. Tala thought she heard Master Limmestare swallow in barely contained delight at the sight. The glass was transparent¡ªbut not perfectly so¡ªand the corners were rounded, causing some slight distortion of the view through, in addition to the blue-green tint. And just like that, the cell was no more. There was a moment, where Tala felt a will, a need reaching outward to lay claim on nearby material, but this was Tala¡¯s domain. The material was hers. No. And that was that. The questing will slid off like rain down a window, unable to find purchase. -Good, it worked. That would have been embarrassing.- Indeed. Tala chuckled inwardly. If the advanced dasgannach had been able to claim material within her sanctum, they would have had a serious problem on their hands. Master Limmestare walked forward and ran his hand down the glass. ¡°Beautiful. Magic is laced through every particle of the structure of this glass. I doubt I could scratch it with a dozen years of effort.¡± Master Girt patted his friend on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t make it weird, Lim. That glass is alive.¡± The man pulled back his hand reluctantly. ¡°I suppose¡­¡± He sighed, then. ¡°Fine¡­¡± The others in the unit were watching with mute fascination. Terry was tilting his head back and forth, as if examining how the view through the glass shifted from different angles. Finally, Rane stood to one side, left hand resting on Force¡¯s hilt, a small contented smile on his lips. -Oh, that¡¯s interesting.- What? Alat sent the feel of a mischievous grin. -You¡¯ll see soon enough.- Tala sighed internally and put the issue to the side. Alat would tell her if it was something she had to address right then, or if it was going to be a large issue. She¡¯d just have to wait and see. Therefore, she turned her focus outward once more. Tala could perceive Mistress Dihsre on the superficial, and the Paragon was already working to get the cell-core that had been used to form Lupe¡¯s cell. Tala still couldn¡¯t perceive the Doman-Imithe with her three-fold sight, but she could see echoes of what the woman was doing nonetheless. More interestingly, within Irondale, right before their eyes, the glass crackled, seeming to buckle outward as if from a pressure within. The material extruded in a harsh series of pops and tinkling, accompanying the bulge which began to distort and grow, coming together to form familiar shapes. First, a hand seemed to extend from the glass, followed by the connected arm. Tala made a statement of will, and the grating sound cut off, Kit suppressing the sound entirely despite the magical weight its source imparted to the noise. Lower down on the surface of the large pane, a foot came forth, likewise creating a rippling cascade of cracks before stepping onto the grass. Without the indicative sound, the whole process once again reminded Tala of an ocean surface, frothed by the emergence of some enormous, majestic beast. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. A moment later, Lupe came fully forth from the doorway, for that¡¯s what the pane of glass was at the core of its nature. It was a direct connection to the void-hung space which contained most of Lupe¡¯s body. Only she could pass through it, and even then, the act would be more of a rejoining with the mass of glass than a true entering of a space. To everyone else, it would be just an artistic addition to the garden. Lupe stood, glass eyes closed in obvious reverence. I don¡¯t think that actually inhibits her perception. -Of course it doesn¡¯t, but it¡¯s still a very implicative demonstration.- She does seem to be going out of her way to give human-like cues. That was rather interesting to Tala, as it implied not only a deep knowledge of those cues, but a desire to show them to those watching. -Indeed.- Finally, Lupe opened her eyes, smiled, and spoke. Unfortunately, despite her throat and lips whitening from the movements, no sound issued forth. The glass-woman frowned, seemingly realizing that there was no sound. Even so, she tried to speak again. Tala sighed. ¡°One moment. I¡¯m flattening out all sound that originates from you, and that¡¯s catching your voice too. Let me see what I can do about that.¡± -Oh, I see what you¡¯re going to do. Do you really think that Kit can filter that precisely?- I think so, yeah. Tala did her best to impress her will toward Kit, and Kit seemed to respond with understanding. A moment later, Tala gave a nod. ¡°You should be able to speak now.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala.¡± Lupe froze at the sound of her own voice. It was positively musical, like the tinkling of small wind chimes. No human could ever make any sound like these, but the words were still easily understandable, and the result was actually quite lovely to hear. Master Limmestare gaped. Lupe seemed to take a moment to gather herself before bowing. ¡°Thank you for revealing my true voice, behind the harshness of my nature.¡± Tala gave a nod in reply. ¡°It is our pleasure as your host.¡± Tala gestured to Lyn. ¡°This is Mistress Lyn. She is my adjunct, here in Irondale. If you need anything, please speak with her.¡± Lyn gave a bow. ¡°I greet you, Lupe, Phoenix of Glass.¡± Lupe hesitated before giving a similar bow. ¡°I greet you, Mistress Lyn, Mage of Humanity, Adjunct of Irondale.¡± Despite her hesitation, Lupe actually seemed to relax at the formality presented to her by Lyn. It seemed more in line with what she¡¯d expected, or what she was used to. Greetings were exchanged all around, then, as the unit met Lupe in a less stark environment than her erstwhile cell. Lupe, for her part, seemed to almost absent-mindedly brush against flowers and trees and other things nearby, clearly reveling in the feel of something other than glass, something other than herself. Terry¡¯s interaction with the being of glass was short and to the point. He trilled a few times, and Lupe shook her head sadly. ¡°My apologies, good Terry. I do not think that I would be a good sparring partner for you, nor would I make enticing prey for you to hunt, not even as a game. My inclinations do not run that way, and I would be incredibly hesitant to produce a divergent biased toward such.¡± Terry huffed a long, disgruntled sigh, then trilled his goodbye before flickering away. With that derailment out of the way, they were just about to move toward a tour of the town, when Tala felt a distortion in the underlayment of the portion of Kit that was Irondale. A moment later, she saw Lisa approaching fast from stoneward, somehow still within Kit¡¯s expanded domain, though he was pressing against her boundary in that direction. A moment later, the fox-man breached the superficial within Kit, popping into being in the garden beside them, eyes locked on Lupe. His voice was level but slightly clipped, showing that he was a bit on edge. ¡°Curse of glass, what purpose do you have within this place?¡± Tala¡¯s unit all reacted, magic flowing smoothly into the normally dormant portions of their inscriptions. Her eyes widened. We told them about Lisa, right? -We did, but having an arcane pop into being beside you is still a startling experience when you aren¡¯t expecting it.- Alat had a hopeful note in her voice. This is what you noticed earlier, isn¡¯t it. It wasn¡¯t a question. -Well, yeah. Lisa instantly noticed Lupe¡¯s presence when Kit finished devouring the cell, and as soon as he could leave his house-construction in a stable state, he bolted in this direction.- That would have been nice to know ahead of time. -You could have looked for yourself.- Why would I, when you¡¯ve told me that you will do so on my behalf? Such would be a wasted duplication of effort. -...Fine. I¡¯ll tell you next time.- Alat did seem at least slightly contrite. Thank you. Lyn stepped forward, causing the surprised Defenders to relax somewhat. ¡°My good Lisa, it is a pleasure to see you this morning.¡± The fox glanced her way, clearly a bit torn, eyes flicking between the human and the woman of glass. Finally, he gave Lyn a nod of respect and addressed her. ¡°Mistress Lyn, would you be able to answer my inquiry? Why is such an advanced curse here?¡± The arcane was clearly still on edge, but he seemed willing to wait on an answer to his question before acting. Tala might have been offended that Lisa didn¡¯t ask her, but that was precisely why Tala had hired Lyn. Lyn was supposed to be the person whom Irondalians went to with their questions, requests, and inquiries. Lyn nodded and smiled, falling easily into her role. ¡°Absolutely. First, her true nature is already known, and she is here by design¡ªin case the lack of an active struggle wasn''t indication enough. More than that, we can discuss over there. If you are amenable.¡± Lisa looked at the little garden bench that Lyn indicated and gave a careful nod. ¡°Very well.¡± Lyn had been kind enough to allow Lisa to keep Lupe in his line of sight from the indicated bench, as he was clearly a bit uncomfortable with the woman¡¯s presence, at least until he had an explanation. Lupe gave an apologetic look to Tala. ¡°I regret being the source of any such trouble. I did not know you had one of the arcane within your space.¡± Tala shook her head in negation. ¡°No need to apologize. We¡¯re sorting things out. I do need to go as we should be getting back to the city. Will you be alright waiting here until Mistress Lyn is ready to escort you about?¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely. Thank you, once again, Mistress Tala for this opportunity. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to another extended nap. There is more to life than sleep, and I am excited to explore some of it.¡± Her woven, glass-fiber dress swayed as the whole garden rippled in a passing breeze. ¡°You really do have a spectacularly lovely place here.¡± ¡°I hope that you enjoy exploring its wonders, Lupe. Take care.¡± * * * Lyn¡¯s talk with Lisa didn¡¯t take too long, all things considered, but the unit was well on the way back to Alefast when Lyn began Lupe¡¯s tour, Lisa in tow for the moment. The arcane fox-man, while momentarily mollified, did not seem to be fully happy with the glass-woman in his new place of residence. Even so, he had been willing to give the idea a chance, and he hadn¡¯t mentioned his own departure even once. Tala took that as a good sign. That, along with Lyn¡¯s clearly relaxed attitude, gave Tala confidence in the way things were going. She was a bit sad to be missing out on the tour, herself, but¡­ Wait¡­ why can¡¯t I be in there? -We need to physically move so that Irondale returns to the proximity of Alefast¡­ huh.- Yeah, that¡¯s what I was thinking. Isn¡¯t Terry enough? -We¡¯d have to orient Irondale on him, but that should work? He does have our aura, so he should be able to be the point of anchoring for Irondale, at least for a short time.- That keyed off another idea for Tala. Couldn¡¯t we also open a portal attached to this vehicle, and it would be carried along no matter where we were? -...Wow¡­ Why didn¡¯t we think of that sooner?- I have no idea. I suppose we don¡¯t usually want Kit to move when we aren¡¯t. So, we¡¯ve never really contemplated it too deeply? -Yeah, that¡¯s probably it.- Tala turned toward Master Clevnis. ¡°Master Clevnis?¡± The man opened his eyes, coming out of whatever meditation, contemplation, or light nap he¡¯d been partaking of. ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala?¡± ¡°Would it be alright for me to go into Irondale for part of the trip back?¡± The man gave a knowing smile. ¡°You want to be a part of Lupe¡¯s tour?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Check with the unit, but I¡¯m fine with it.¡± Mistress Cerna spoke up without prompting. ¡°That¡¯s fine with me, so long as you don¡¯t need us to stop.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Mistress Vanga gave a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m just glad to have you back with us, even if just for a short time. You¡¯re still taking off some time after the wedding, right?¡± Tala smiled back. ¡°We are, yeah. Though, we¡¯re not sure how much yet.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The Healer nodded sagely. ¡°You¡¯ll not want to come back on active duty if you¡¯ve a little one on the way.¡± She let out a small sigh. ¡°As to you spending this trip in Irondale? I will be sad to lose the time with you, but I completely understand the desire. Go ahead.¡± Master Girt waved in her direction, eyes locked on an odd rock he¡¯d picked up¡­ somewhere. -It was inside the cell¡¯s entry-hall. Apparently, it didn¡¯t belong there, so one of the original Archons to establish the cell must have dropped it there for some reason. He¡¯s trying to figure it out.- Ahh. That sounded¡­ actually kind of interesting? It wasn¡¯t really something that she would want to pursue herself, but she would be curious if he discovered anything. -I¡¯ll let him know when he surfaces from his investigations.- Thank you. Regardless, the man seemingly had no issue with her idea. Master Limmestare was practically vibrating. ¡°I¡¯ll agree if I can come.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Fine. Rane, you want to come too?¡± ¡°Hey, now!¡± Master Clevnis objected. ¡°You don¡¯t get to take Rane, too. He and I need to finish our discussion.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°A hand-and-a-half sword is just better than a two-handed long sword. There¡¯s not much more to discuss about it.¡± The man pointed at Rane vehemently. ¡°See! I can¡¯t let this stand.¡± Tala chuckled as well. ¡°Fine, fine. Are you alright with that, Rane?¡± He gave a small smile. ¡°Sure. You go have fun.¡± She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. ¡°See you soon.¡± Chapter: 483 - Tour and Plans Tala opened a small portal into Kit¡ªIrondale specifically¡ªanchoring it to the side of their vehicle. It was barely bigger around than her thumb, but that was sufficient for her purposes. With that in place, she looked to Master Limmestare. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Unequivocally.¡± She huffed a laugh and willed for the two of them to enter Irondale, coming into existence beside Lyn, Lupe, and Lisa. Lisa seemed to have seen them coming, or at least he didn¡¯t act surprised by their arrival. Lyn was more than used to Tala popping into being beside her by this point, and simply smiled at her friend. Master Limmestare¡¯s arrival might have surprised her, but if so, she didn¡¯t show it too overtly. Lupe stiffened slightly, causing her to whiten momentarily, even as her dress swayed around her. The glass-woman gave a quick bow. ¡°Mistress Tala. I did not expect you to be joining us. Master Limmestare, it is a pleasure.¡± Tala gave a nod of acknowledgement. ¡°It wasn¡¯t the plan, but I was able to arrange things a bit differently to make it work.¡± Master Limmestare bowed toward Lupe. ¡°I am learning so much just being in your presence and observing your magics. Would you permit my joining of this tour for that purpose?¡± Lupe smiled slightly. ¡°I have no issue with that.¡± Lisa nodded toward Tala in greeting. ¡°It is good to see you again, Mistress.¡± He then nodded toward Master Limmestare. ¡°You as well, Master Limmestare.¡± ¡°And you, good Lisa.¡± Master Limmestare gave an equivalent bob of his head. Tala smiled and nodded in return. Lyn seemed to feel no need to verbally greet Tala, but she did give a proper bow to Master Limmestare. The three had been near the entrance to the garden which held the entrance to Lupe¡¯s new home, and Tala took a moment to look around with her mundane sight even as Master Limmestare¡¯s magical senses began to blanket the area, observing and cataloging everything occurring around Lupe. They were¡ªat that moment¡ªonly two blocks from the core of Irondale, the park being a mandated greenspace roughly the size of two blocks. Eight such parks ringed the town center, each oriented longways, perpendicular to the radial roads running outward. Irondale as a whole had an odd design due to Tala¡¯s usual placement of the gate into and out of the city. The massive physical gates that would open when Irondale was anchored in place and allow for trade and egress were positioned on the side of the main square, and Tala did prefer to create the portal at that location. Thus, the roads to that central square were all designed as major thoroughfares. Unlike any city Tala had ever seen, any and all comings and goings happened from that central point, rather than from the outer edges. Because of that, the defenses that had been incorporated¡ªsuch as they were¡ªwere all centered there. The best way to conceive of the differences was that the city was effectively inverted from standard. The streets that made up the circular gridwork of the city¡ªlooking much like a wheel from above, if with more circles regularly spaced outward along the spokes¡ªwere paved with unified, slightly textured stone courtesy of Tala¡¯s control within Kit. The homes and other buildings of Irondale were constructed in more traditional manners, even if Tala usually was involved in the creation of their foundation or basement, rendering that portion of the process trivial. Lyn had been working to help Tala strike a careful balance between helping the Irondale citizenry and allowing them to do for themselves, and the streets and buildings were a part of that balancing act. The city center was constructed and designed to cater towards those who came in from whatever city that Irondale was currently anchored in, so that they could tour Irondale. These ¡®tourists¡¯ were actually a huge source of revenue for the city, even though Irondale had only regularly been anchored in three cities so far. The fact that it wasn¡¯t always there seemed to make the locals of Alefast, Waning; Bandfast; or Marliweather more eager to spend time and money within Irondale when they could. Though, Alefast was decidedly the least prolific market for Irondale, partially because of the smaller population of that city, and partially because Irondale was there most often. As a precaution and preventative measure, Tala had also begun to amplify the reality node attractions within the central square whenever she could, in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the visiting gated. Thankfully, even in the worst case, there were relatively few gated, and they spent relatively little time within Irondale. That¡ªcoupled with the soulbound nature of the space allowing it to naturally repair over time¡ªmeant that the level of damage that did occur was quite sustainable. Doing so took away from her similar work on her artificial lung, but as that had been on the back burner for a while now, delaying a bit longer shouldn¡¯t really be an issue. Irondale¡¯s integrity took precedence for the moment, and had done so for a year or so by this point. She¡¯d also stopped trying to increase her body¡¯s attraction to itself using the markers that Mistress Holly had helped her add, because even when it did work, the results were only marginally useful. If it had been simple, she would have done it, but she¡¯d spent six months at one point just doing part of one foot. That simply hadn¡¯t been a profitable use of her time when she had so much else going on. But she was examining Irondale at the moment. Because Tala had complete control within the space and was able to devour things to bring them in, she and Kit had been able to bring in old-growth trees as well as other well-established vegetation, positioning them along boulevards, giving Irondale a feeling of established majesty. They had been careful to not take too much from any one location. So, unless someone had made a habit of cataloging the exact location of trees in the wilds, she doubted that any would ever be missed. It was actually a funny thought, imagining some Archon¡ªor arcane¡ªpulling their hair out trying to figure out where particular trees had gone, since Kit left no evidence that they¡¯d ever been there. Her imaginings aside, the process was far from easy. Placing and moving trees was an exercise in precision and splitting her focus, beyond almost any other task she¡¯d worked on, save the iron-wrought copy of herself that she was still working to perfect. Now, that was an exercise in minutiae. Even so, she and Kit were able to work together on the task of relocating plants or trees¡ªwhenever it was needed¡ªand that made it possible. But Tala was getting distracted. Rust, she was getting distracted within her distracted musings. She was here to join the tour of Irondale. Lupe, Lisa, and Lyn were about to tour Irondale in person, and she was excited to come with them. Master Limmestare was as well, even if his reasons had more to do with the glass woman than the growing town. Lyn gestured out onto the quiet¡ªbut not empty¡ªstreet. ¡°Shall we begin?¡± As the group began to walk, Lyn gestured to the trees that Tala was so proud of. ¡°We have all the main thoroughfares lined and divided by trees so that traffic¡ªboth vehicle and pedestrian¡ªcan move in a uniform manner. It isn¡¯t as necessary at times such as this, when Irondale is in transit, but when we are anchored, it makes the flurry of activity much less chaotic.¡± Lupe was nodding. ¡°When you are anchored within a human city?¡± ¡°Exactly, yes.¡± Her eyes flicked to Tala. ¡°And I will not be able to leave to explore these cities.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°For now, no, but in the future, we might be able to work something out. The future holds a lot of time, and I won¡¯t rule out the possibility.¡± Master Limmestare grimaced slightly. ¡°It would require a lot of advances in magic that I wouldn¡¯t even know how to list out for research. Your kind are notoriously hard to contain or constrain in any way¡ªand that¡¯s the weaker, less advanced versions.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The woman nodded in understanding. ¡°Whether or not it ever happens, I am grateful for this opportunity, for this wider view of Existence that you have already afforded me. It is more than I honestly ever expected to have again.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Of course.¡± They all oriented back on Lyn and the tour continued. Irondalians waved or called a greeting when they passed, despite the odd nature of the tour group, and Lisa, Lyn, Master Limmestare, and Tala responded in kind. After a few iterations, Lupe joined in with little waves or small, verbal greetings as appropriate. After the tenth such encounter, Lupe glanced toward Lisa. ¡°The humans don¡¯t seem to find me strange, nor you for that matter. Are they that accepting here?¡± Lisa gave a small, vulpine smile. ¡°They are rather more accepting than I had been expecting before my immigration, yes, but I think some of that is the nature of this place.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes. They are aware that this is an intensely magical town, and they encounter the truth of that every day. In that light, a few non-humans are a simple curiosity to most.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯ve been accepted with relative ease?¡± ¡°Generally. Though, cordiality and lack of hostility are quite a ways from true friendship.¡± Lyn smiled between the two, interjecting as she addressed Lisa directly, ¡°Though, you have made good strides in that regard nonetheless, right?¡± ¡°Absolutely, Mistress Lyn.¡± Lupe gave a slow nod, her neck whitening in the motion. ¡°I see.¡± From there, the group walked through the various sections of the growing town, Lyn talking about what various things were for, why they¡¯d designed or laid them out in that way, how they were developing, and what they hoped for in the future. The four ended the tour near the edge of the city where Lisa had placed the entrance to his home. Lupe was intensely interested in the twisted door frame, taking special note of the depictions of Lisa himself in both fox-man and human form. ¡°You have a human form?¡± The glass woman seemed intensely interested in the answer. ¡°I do. It is one that I have perfected over long years. Partially because of that long effort¡ªas well as my many years existing in such a form to most of the outside world¡ªI wished for any who knew me by that shape to know I reside within this space as well.¡± Tala raised an eyebrow in skepticism but decided not to comment. Lisa¡¯s human form was so generic that even with her perfect memory she would find it hard to properly describe him. ¡®A man¡¯ was really the lion¡¯s share of what could be said about him when he looked human. Even so, that form was faithfully represented on one of the posts of his free-standing door frame. Lupe seemed intensely interested for another reason, however. That was made clear as she looked down at herself and spread out her hands. ¡°This form is¡­ not natural to me. I have worked to make it relatable, but I would like for it to be less alien, less statue-like. Would you be willing to assist me?¡± Lisa gave the glass-woman a long, long look, staring up into her clear eyes. Finally, he sighed. ¡°I am not against such a possibility, though we will need to discuss payment. I had planned to keep an eye on you, and this will allow that more easily, but such is not sufficient recompense for my expertise.¡± Lupe nodded quite happily. ¡°Of course. I know that equivalent exchanges will be the norm going forward. Most biological races use some form or other of that, even if it is as basic as ¡®you helped hunt, you didn¡¯t¡¯ with a division of the resources accordingly.¡± Lisa grinned. ¡°Ah, yes. Those who do not strive, do not survive, which inevitably leads to a quantification of that striving in intelligent races by one method or another.¡± He chuckled slightly. ¡°Very well, would you like to step inside my home¡ªsuch as it is at the moment¡ªto discuss terms?¡± ¡°I would like that. Thank you.¡± Tala wasn¡¯t worried about Lupe claiming anything within Lisa¡¯s home as¡ªeven though it was a four-dimensional construction¡ªit was entirely within Kit. Because of that, it was firmly under Tala¡¯s authority, allowing her to deny the advanced dasgannach any further material. All that to say, she felt no need to comment one way or the other on the offer. Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°Then, on that note, I will leave you two to it. Lupe, can you find your way back to the park?¡± Lupe raised an arm and pointed directly toward her glass slab. ¡°It is there. I can sense the remainder of my self from distances far greater than this.¡± ¡°Good. I am available should you need anything further. Good day.¡± Lupe bowed. ¡°Good day.¡± Lyn then turned and bowed to Master Limmestare. ¡°Take care, Master Limmestare.¡± ¡°And you, Mistress Lyn.¡± He then gave Lupe a nod of acknowledgement. ¡°Thank you for allowing me to accompany you.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tala smiled and gave a nod of her own to the other four. ¡°I will take my leave as well. Good day.¡± Lupe, Lisa, and Lyn all wished her well. Master Limmestare bid the others goodbye, receiving similar expressions in return. Then, Lyn strode away, Lupe and Lisa strode through the archway¡ªdisappearing from sight¡ªand Tala willed herself and Master Limmestare back to the superficial, to Zeme and their still traveling unit. * * * Tala and Rane sat in her sitting room¡ªadjacent to her dining room¡ªwithin Kit, looking out on her sanctum. She had a mug of coffee in hand, and he was sipping on some mint tea. He¡¯d been glancing her way every so often, so when he finally broke the silence, Tala wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°So, the wedding is only a few months away, if we¡¯re going to be traditional in having roughly a year-long engagement.¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°It is, yeah.¡± ¡°...So¡­ Do we want to make plans?¡± He had a sparkle in his eyes. They had been making plans, and setting things in motion for months now, but it was still fun to pretend. She shrugged, going along with the pretense. ¡°I was thinking of having the ceremony in the sanctum with the celebration in Irondale.¡± ¡°That makes sense. There are a lot of lovely parks, even with the lake moved to be closer to the outskirts rather than near the center. Being within Kit, we don¡¯t have to be concerned about the weather, either. That¡¯s a great idea. I like it.¡± Tala continued in a faux bored tone, fighting to keep a smile from her lips. ¡°Traditional Archons¡¯ wedding.¡± ¡°Of course. Colors?¡± He grinned, not bothering to hide his enjoyment of the fun. ¡°I like blue.¡± She stared into his sapphire eyes meaningfully. His smile widened further, meeting her eyes in return. ¡°I¡¯m partial to red.¡± She chuckled at that, breaking her stoic facade. ¡°That¡¯s the reverse of what most would expect, but I like it. The colors will be blue and red, then.¡± ¡°That sounds great.¡± ¡°This is so simple. I don¡¯t know why people say planning a wedding is hard.¡± ¡°Guests?¡± His demeanor mellowed a bit at his own question. Tala sighed, then, her mood worsening slightly as well at the more serious sub-topic. ¡°As small as possible, but that¡¯s still not going to be small.¡± He grunted acknowledgement. ¡°Our unit and various Archon friends and acquaintances.¡± ¡°Naturally.¡± ¡°Key figures from Irondale and Alefast, Waning?¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± ¡°Your siblings and their spouses and children?¡± ¡°Of course. And yours?¡± She raised an eyebrow in genuine inquiry. They had skirted this part of the guest list in the past. -I hope you know that I¡¯m irritated that you expect me to be taking notes.- I mean, I can just remember later and make my own notes, but you¡¯d find that boring and inefficient. -...Fair.- We¡¯re still open to your suggestions. -I know, my stance remains the same.- Alright, let me know if that changes. Rane sighed, then nodded. ¡°It will be nice to see Chloe and Master Dafnis again. I¡¯m not very excited about Furgal, but it would be¡­ rude? Yeah. It would be rather rude and drama-inducing not to invite him. He won¡¯t come of course, but not inviting him wouldn¡¯t work.¡± She nodded along. It was as expected. ¡°Of course, of course.¡± He smiled, then. ¡°And my parents and Master Grediv would both be appropriate to include. What about your siblings'' parents?¡± Tala hesitated. She appreciated Rane¡¯s round-about asking, but she knew that he meant her parents. ¡°Honestly¡­ I don¡¯t know. I feel like some part of me will regret them not being there, even though I¡¯ve explicitly chosen to avoid them for years now.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s time to reconcile?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Her tone was carefully neutral, but Rane seemed to sense the danger of the moment regardless. He held up his hands in a forestalling manner. ¡°I don¡¯t mean accepting them as your parents once again, nor really investing in a relationship with them either. I think I mean having an adult conversation, and honoring what part they did play in your life¡ªin helping to forge you into who you are¡ªeven if only until you were twelve, and even if not only in good ways.¡± Tala felt herself smile, not at the idea, but at how carefully and thoroughly Rane had articulated the idea. He had clearly either rehearsed what he wanted to say or deeply considered the various aspects to the point that he was able to express it rather cleanly. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying¡­ Maybe?¡± He smiled. ¡°Whatever you prefer. I¡¯ll support your decision about your family.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± She gave him a quick kiss. ¡°And I¡¯ll support your decision about yours.¡± As he pulled back, his smile returned. ¡°Thank you. But regardless of what you decide, I think it is incumbent upon me to insist that Terry be the one giving you away.¡± Tala laughed, then thought about it for a moment. ¡°You know? That¡¯s a really excellent idea.¡± ¡°I thought so, yeah.¡± He nodded sagely, ¡°Though, truthfully, I think it¡¯s traditional for soulbounds to be involved in that part of Archon weddings, if there are any soulbounds of the couple.¡± ¡°That would actually make sense, yeah. It¡¯s a joining of souls, so soulbounds will matter incredibly.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± His face became stoic. ¡°Now the really hard question.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala felt hesitant. What could this be that was more serious than her siblings¡¯ father? He leaned in, meeting her gaze with sudden intensity. ¡°What food should we have for the feasting?¡± Chapter: 484 - Rather Interesting Lives Tala and Rane walked through Marliweather, enjoying the late spring day. Irondale had been properly anchored, kicking off the flurry of trade and traffic that had become a regular occurrence whenever Irondale was anchored anywhere but Alefast. This time, there were another one hundred immigrants¡ªacross a few families¡ªwho would be coming in for final discussions and approval. Apparently a good chunk of these gateless had come from as far away as Manaven. Lyn had guessed that most of the closer gateless who would be at all inclined to join Irondale had already done so. Terry was frolicking in the wilds surrounding Marliweather, clearing out the dangerous arcanous creatures as something to do while Tala and Rane did what they had to do. The Marliweather Guard were incredibly grateful for his help, and that actually seemed to be meaningful to him these days, but Tala could tell that he was struggling to find a true challenge. Charity hunting will only tide him over for so long¡­ Lupe was settling in well, and Lisa¡¯s house construction had slowed as a result of him spending a good chunk of his time with the glass-woman. -He still doesn¡¯t really trust her.- That¡¯s understandable, given what she is, but he should know that we¡¯re watching. -He does, but I think spending the time with her makes him feel better.- That¡¯s fair. I can¡¯t say we¡¯re really any different. Tala glanced toward Rane. ¡°You know, all this dealing with Lupe¡ªa glass phoenix¡ªhas me thinking about the clockwork thunder.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Rane raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve had a few good outcomes from cells, like the deal with Lupe. I was hoping that the clockwork thunder had a good outcome too.¡± ¡°That was the one Howlton was hunting for, a few years back?¡± ¡°Yeah. I mean, they might still be for all I know. It¡¯s funny, because I feel like I now understand what they were actually doing. They were looking for the atrium to the cell. They wanted the ¡®bribe.¡¯¡± ¡°That was my understanding, too.¡± She frowned slightly in thought. ¡°You know, I¡¯m still confused how it could have been so apparent on the outside of the cell. Isn¡¯t the purpose of cells to fully contain the magical threat?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Rane¡¯s eyes gained a far off look. ¡°Obviously, we don¡¯t really have any record of prisoners in the outer plains, but we do have some instances of bleed-through in the gated-human wilds. There was a heat-based being whose imprisonment in a cell¡ªwhich was hidden in a hill¡ªcreated the effect of a constantly flowing mini volcano, even though the hill wasn¡¯t active in that way. The cell didn¡¯t actually cause any sort of eruption. It just melted the rock and created a constant trickle of lava.¡± ¡°Oh? That¡¯s kind of crazy. We haven¡¯t dealt with any cells containing prisoners who are that powerful.¡± Rane made his ¡®that¡¯s not quite right¡¯ face. ¡°Well, from what I understand, it¡¯s not about power. It¡¯s more to do with being so deeply connected with a concept, to the point that their mere presence forces the amplification of it. Even their proximity brings it to the forefront.¡± ¡°Well, I hope that Pareshti knows what he¡¯s doing. I¡¯d hate to find out Howlton has been destroyed somehow, or worse, that the clockwork thunder was freed because of Howlton.¡± She hesitated, checking her own prioritization of cataclysms. Yeah, she would prefer a town full of people she didn¡¯t know get destroyed¡ªknowing that most would probably survive¡ªthan a being like the clockwork thunder get free¡­ whatever it actually was. Rane grunted, then got a contemplative look. ¡°You know, we could go and check it out.¡± She gave him a puzzled look. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He gave her a little smile. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got our honeymoon after the wedding. What if we took that time to travel a bit? I¡¯d like to see the plains outside the encircling forests, maybe explore a moving city or two?¡± Tala felt her expression brighten. ¡°Really? That could be amazing. We¡¯d need to pass through the northern forest, though. I don¡¯t particularly want to fight my way through the Leshkin again.¡± ¡°Agreed. So, we could take up the pack on their invitation to visit as well.¡± She grinned at the idea. ¡°Terry will love that, yeah.¡± ¡°Then outward to the plains to explore and track down Howlton?¡± ¡°That sounds amazing. Thank you for suggesting it, Rane.¡± He grinned in return. ¡°Of course. It sounds like a great adventure with which to start our adventure.¡± She chuckled then pulled to a stop as they reached their destination. Right¡­ that¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t in the best mood, this is why I wanted to distract myself. -Yeah. I figured that I should let you do so.- Thanks¡­ But now she was here. She and Rane were at her siblings¡¯ father¡¯s house. Rane hugged her around the shoulders. ¡°Well, we¡¯re here.¡± Tala leaned into the embrace. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± It was a beautiful house, clearly demonstrating how much the family had come up in the world in the years leading up to its construction. It was well outside of the ¡®new build¡¯ timeframe now, but it was also clearly being well maintained. Tala had seen it before¡ªpractically every time she was in Marliweather when she came to pick up one sibling or another¡ªbut she¡¯d never been inside herself. They generally watched for her and came out when she arrived. Until now. She was here to go inside. She took a deep, calming breath and strode forward. Rane released her as she moved and followed a half-step behind. He was there for moral support more than anything. Tala hesitated one last time before she straightened and knocked on the front door. Before the second rap, he opened the door. There was a beat of silence as they locked eyes. Finally, he broke the silence, giving a tentative smile, ¡°Hello, Mistress Tala. Master Rane. Would you care to come inside?¡± They nodded in agreement and followed him inside. Tala swallowed once and gilded herself. ¡°Thank you for having us, Alan.¡± Alan stiffened slightly at the sound of his own name, but then nodded, relaxing a bit once again. ¡°Of course, Mistress. It is our pleasure to host you.¡± A woman¡¯s voice came from deeper inside the house. ¡°Are you still waiting in the entry hall, dear? She¡¯ll get here when she gets here. Waiting next to the door won¡¯t make it any faster.¡± Alan reddened slightly. ¡°Marsha, love. They¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She poked her head out into the hallway and saw Tala and Rane. ¡°Oh! Welcome Mistress Tala, Master Rane.¡± She gave a deep bow. ¡°We are honored to host you. I laid out tea, coffee, and some light accompaniments. Would you care to sit?¡± Tala nodded and gave a small smile. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± She saw where they were being led, and began manifesting iron within her aura around the chair that she would sit in, in order to reinforce it. She wasn¡¯t too heavy these days, but it was still unreasonable to expect someone to have chairs capable of easily holding more than four hundred pounds. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. -You could just use your iron to hold you up some.- Yeah, but that takes active mental control. I don¡¯t want a slip of focus to ruin a piece of their furniture. This won¡¯t necessarily be an emotionally or mentally easy conversation. -True. That¡¯s fair and kind I suppose.- Thank you. I¡¯m trying. -You could reduce your own gravity?- Yeah, then I¡¯d move oddly. I don¡¯t want to be bounding around if I have to move. -Right.- Sure enough, they were led to the sitting room, and Tala was able to take the chair that she¡¯d subtly reinforced. The chair still creaked a bit, but not dangerously so. Just like when I¡¯m at a restaurant. -Though, you don¡¯t have to reinforce those as much.- That¡¯s true. -Don¡¯t you get tired of having to be mindful?- Tala gave a bit of an internal shrug. I chose to be this weight. I think it''s good to be so, but that¡¯s my choice. It would be ridiculous for me to expect others to bear the negative side of my choice. -You could just find a way to be lighter.- Gravity wouldn¡¯t really help, the issue is the mass. I could make it work with less gravity, but again, it would require active thought to not cause issues. -Well, you could just find a way to make yourself less massive, then?- Don¡¯t be ridiculous, I like myself the way I am. -Fair enough.- Marsha served Tala first, then Rane, giving Tala a mug of coffee that was closer to the size of an alcoholic''s beer-stein and Rane a similarly sized mug of mint tea. Tala looked at the mug askance. ¡°What do you usually use these for?¡± Marsha chuckled. ¡°We like to drink a lot of tea, and they are perfect for brewing just the right amount.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Tala looked at the mug again and smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course, Mistress.¡± Rane had taken his first sip, and he was already contentedly taking another. Alan and Marsha got their own mugs, and true to Marsha¡¯s words, they were the same size as Tala and Rane¡¯s. Then, the plate was passed around. For a ¡®light¡¯ accompaniment, there was a lot of shortbread in various shapes with differing fruit spreads. Additionally, there were other small snacks, but Tala wasn¡¯t really paying attention. She was too nervous. They all drank and ate, exchanging small talk for a few minutes before Alan leaned back. ¡°Now, I hope you don¡¯t take this the wrong way, as we are very glad to have you both, but to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?¡± Rane turned toward Tala, and she nodded, taking a last pull of her coffee and setting the mug on the low table that rested between them. ¡°Well, I came to ask something and to clarify something. I¡¯m going to be as forthright as I can be, so please let me get this all out. Is that acceptable?¡± Alan exchanged a glance with his wife before nodding. ¡°Alright.¡± Tala gave a little smile, then nodded again. ¡°Okay. We would like you at our wedding¡ªI assume you have heard that we¡¯re getting married?¡± She paused for a second so that they could nod in acknowledgement. ¡°Good. As I said, we want you at our wedding. With all my siblings and their families there¡ªand the fact that you two did raise me¡ªit would be odd for you not to be there.¡± She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ¡°That said, we want you there as guests only, as part of the ceremony, and not as anything more. Would that be acceptable to you?¡± Tala watched as a whole range of emotions played across Alan¡¯s face. He clearly understood all the implications of what she¡¯d said. So, she simply let him consider and process. Marsha¡¯s expression remained carefully calm and neutral even as she kept oriented on her husband, clearly ready to support him at need. Alan took a deep, calming breath then nodded. ¡°I can accept that, yeah.¡± He had looked down to contemplate, but then his gaze lifted once more. ¡°May I ask who will be giving you away?¡± Tala nodded in turn. ¡°I was going to bring it up if you didn¡¯t. My soulbound companion, Terry, will be fulfilling that role in the ceremony. It is a role somewhat often fulfilled by such companions in Archon weddings, and Terry, specifically, helped to bring us together and ensure that the wedding actually happened.¡± The mix of emotions flooded across Alan¡¯s face once more. Finally, his shoulders slumped, and he looked down once more. ¡°I understand. Thank you for taking the time to explain that to me in person.¡± Marsha placed her hand on her husband¡¯s shoulder and gave a light squeeze before meeting Tala¡¯s eyes. ¡°We do appreciate the invitation, Mistress, and we further appreciate that you took the time to come in person and clarify things.¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Tala gave a hesitant smile. She¡¯d been incredibly nervous about this conversation. Even so, ¡°There are simply too many stories of misunderstandings leading to hurt and public incidents for us to have left it to chance when communication could so easily head off most of that danger.¡± -Oh, Enar wants to ask you something.- Sure. |Hi! Rane is curious if Master Limmestare had anything to do with this. He was curious before, but didn¡¯t want to bring it up, given your obvious desire to avoid talking about this whole subject on the way over here. So, is that the case? Did Master Limmestare have anything to do with this?| Tala had to take a mental moment as she processed the absolute torrent of thought that was Enar¡¯s outpouring. -You¡¯ve got this, take a moment. They still won¡¯t even notice that you paused. He¡¯s been getting better, but social situations like this bring out his verbose side more. It can make him speak a lot more than usual these days.- |Hey! You¡¯re Alat, not me. I¡¯m amazing and very helpful. Moreover, I am simply so verbose because I wish to be clear in my communication and avoid¡ª| Alat sighed in obvious relief at the sudden silence, taking a moment before filling it herself. -Sorry about that. I broke the connection. I¡¯ll still give him your answer, though.- You could have given him the answer from the start. -You¡¯re right, I could have, but Rane wished to ask you, not simply get an answer, and I felt like it would be a bad precedent to set, speaking to your future husband on your behalf.- Tala blinked a couple of times at that before she collected her thoughts enough to respond. First, thank you for that. Second, I think Enar is rubbing off on you. -...I¡­ I see what you mean. So, the answer?- Yes. Master Limmestare¡¯s comments reminded me of the potential for disaster. -I¡¯ll pass that along, then.- Thank you. Alan had winced slightly at the explanation that she¡¯d provided, and it took Tala a moment to realize why¡ªonly partially because she¡¯d had an entire internal conversation while he¡¯d been wincing. Thankfully, Alan didn¡¯t leave the moment hanging. ¡°That is incredibly wise of you. There are many things in my life that would have been improved¡ªand many problems that would have been mitigated or removed¡ªhad I communicated better, more fully, or, in some cases, at all. I am glad to see that you are learning from my mistakes, or at least not making the same ones yourself.¡± Tala gave an acknowledging smile and nod. Honestly, that was all that she had really come to say. She could have put it all in a letter, but something about that had felt¡­ wrong. She did not view these two as her father and mother. Not really; not any more, but she did see them as the people who had raised her, for better or worse, and that was something to be honored and respected. In this case, that honor and respect was more for the position than the people in it, but that was alright. The four fell into small talk, discussing Alan¡¯s upcoming retirement from alchemy in the next decade or so. He apparently had always wanted to paint, but he¡¯d never really had the time. With how well the business had been doing, they¡¯d saved sufficiently that he could pursue that hobby in his retirement without finances being an issue. They¡¯d also be spending time with their grandchildren, the very idea of which seemed to be a great source of joy to both of them. Alan and Marsha politely inquired about some details of Tala and Rane¡¯s lives, and the two of them tried to give mundane-ified versions the best that they could. They had both been on the receiving end of magical jargon that they hadn¡¯t quite understood at the time, and they remembered just how unpleasant it could be. In the worst cases, it could feel like the person was intentionally trying to show how much more they knew than them¡ªwhether or not that feeling was true. So, they did their best to avoid doing the same to Alan and Marsha. When Rane and Tala left nearly two hours later, Tala felt lighter, like there was a bounce in her step. And, no, it isn¡¯t because I¡¯ve made myself lighter. -And you even recovered your iron without Alan or Marsha being any the wiser.- Yes I did. She smiled to herself. Rane leaned over and kissed the top of her head. ¡°How are you doing? I¡¯m sure that wasn¡¯t comfortable, at least not at first.¡± She leaned into the gesture in turn before smiling up at him. ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m glad that we did this. It would have been odd for them not to be there at all¡ªat least it would have been for my siblings and their families¡ªand there was just no need to create such potential for discomfort or drama during our celebration.¡± He smiled back at her and nodded. ¡°Exactly. I am glad about your choice, and I support you fully.¡± ¡°So, have you decided how much of your family we¡¯re inviting?¡± His smile faded into an only mostly faux grimace. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really as involved with them as you are with yours, but we¡¯ll still invite them all¡­ and their families.¡± ¡°How many guests are we up to?¡± ¡°To be invited?¡± His eyes went distant for an instant. ¡°Enar says about three hundred.¡± Tala gave him a skeptical look even as Rane¡¯s eyes unfocused again, almost as if he¡¯d been struck in the head. ¡°He¡¯s irritated that you rounded his answer, isn¡¯t he.¡± Rane groaned. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°Do you want to tell me the precise number?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m not letting him browbeat me. I¡¯m the one in charge of the physical interface, not him.¡± Tala gave a small, knowing smile. ¡°Good luck with that.¡± -Hey! You don¡¯t have room to be smug. I¡¯ve been a delight, a delight I tell you.- Tala grinned internally at her own alternate interface. Just keep telling yourself that. -I literally am.- Tala snorted within her mind before grinning up at her betrothed. ¡°We¡¯re going to have rather interesting lives aren¡¯t we?¡± A smile came across his face as he held her gaze. ¡°Unquestionably.¡± Chapter: 485 - Premarital Counseling Tala and Rane sat in a beautiful, sequestered portion of the sanctum with Master Nadro. It was common practice to ask the most powerful Archon well known to the couple to perform the ceremony, at least in traditional Archon weddings. ¡®Known to the couple¡¯ was meant to imply solid connection as well, not just passing acquaintance, and thankfully, Master Nadro qualified on all counts. -Well, except that he¡¯s not an Archon.- Alat teased. Yeah, yeah. Tala amicably dismissed her alternate interface, but she appreciated the good-natured interaction, and Alat could obviously sense that. All three were enjoying their beverages of choice, which Kit and Tala kept at the ideal fill-level and at the perfect temperature¡ªboth chosen by each drinker. The drink was, of course, drawn from large containers of pre-prepared beverages in the sanctum kitchen, but that was hardly pertinent. The three were gathered for premarital counseling. Not only had Master Nadro insisted on it if he was to perform the ceremony, it was tradition. More than even that, however, it would be incredibly foolish for a couple to bind themselves together so tightly without having gone through such a basic process. They¡¯d already had deep soul-scans done¡ªanother prerequisite to a marriage done ¡®correctly¡¯¡ªand Master Nadro was about to give them the results. Then, they simply had to talk through some requisite things, standard points of conflict that other couples had encountered, historically. In this context, the discussions could be had with less tension and stress, and it would be easier for both parties to be heard out in full before the actual situations arose. But that was for after the results. Master Nadro had a contemplative look as he took a long sip of his chamomile tea. ¡°The results are back. I do apologize for the delays involved, but there were some irregularities.¡± Tala squeezed Rane¡¯s hand, suddenly nervous. ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°For one, the unusual level of synchronicity that your souls already possess, despite no soulbond being in place.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I believe Mistress Noelle mentioned something about that. She even did a few scans on us a few years back.¡± Master Nadro nodded. ¡°If you met her, that makes sense. She studies such things.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Her ability to keep confidentiality hasn¡¯t worsened either. When I consulted her about this, she made no mention of any previous encounters.¡± ¡°So¡­ is it a problem?¡± Rane asked. Master Nadro shook his head. ¡°No, it just made the process different from the norm in yet another way.¡± Rane grunted in understanding. Tala gave a little smile. ¡°Well, that aside. What else was found?¡± Master Nadro smiled. ¡°Your soul¡¯s shape is also an oddity, Mistress Tala. I believe that Master Jevin told you that working with your bloodstars as you have been would create extensions of your soul reaching outward, yes?¡± ¡°He did.¡± ¡°Well, that isn¡¯t usual.¡± He smiled reassuringly. ¡°It isn¡¯t bad by any means, but it is unusual. I will state up front, your souls are compatible from everything we can tell. You should be able to create a soulbond through physical intimacy, and the bond should be stable and secure. Both of you have a solid connection to the next world¡ªeven without taking your gates into account¡ªthough the nature of each has deviated from the norm.¡± They glanced at each other then back to Master Nadro. Rane spoke this time. ¡°What do you mean ¡®deviated from the norm¡¯?¡± ¡°Well, I should say that by ¡®norm¡¯ I mean human standard. Rane, your soul¡¯s deviation is quite normal for your family line. The boon your ancestor was given to be passed down is woven into your very soul, and that is how offspring inherit it. It exists as an integral part from the moment of soul-genesis, before even fertilization, generally speaking.¡± Rane frowned, but Master Nadro continued before he put together his thoughts sufficiently to ask a question. ¡°We know much of what we do about your line because one of your ancestors was a soul-specialist, and she made a pointed study of her family¡ªyour family. The boon is present even without a body, both before birth and after death, before the soul has passed on. She was able to induce true out of body experiences, and the boon stuck with the soul rather than the body. All told, this means that while your soul is non-standard, it is non-standard in an expected way.¡± Tala glanced toward Rane, and he shrugged. ¡°I suppose that makes sense. Any other means of granting such a boon would require an ongoing outpouring of power from the Sovereign, and from what I understand that is unlikely.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Tala was frowning, ¡°Wait¡­ If every child has it, and it¡¯s an ancient thing¡­ How does humanity as a whole not have it yet?¡± Master Nadro smiled. ¡°Excellent question. Technically, most do, but it is faded to the point of uselessness. A soul is built by the mother and father, and even then a soul associates more with one than the other, and sometimes with neither. As we grow up, our soul matures, and we become who we eventually will be. That shifts our soul. Sometimes we draw closer to one parent over the other, sometimes we draw away from both. So, if descendants draw away from the source of the boon, it will manifest less strongly. The reverse is similarly true. Thus, as families become estranged over the generations and lines intermix, it becomes all but nonexistent in everyone but the direct line.¡± ¡°The Gredial line.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°Master Grediv¡¯s descendants.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Was he the one who got the boon?¡± Master Nadro looked to Rane, and Rane shook his head. ¡°No, his youngest daughter. Her husband took the name Gredial when they married in honor of Master Grediv, and the boon was given after he died, when she was grief-stricken and fearful for her children. Master Grediv was¡­ away at the time, mourning his wife.¡± Tala sat back. ¡°Wait, I thought you said the person who got the boon was a he?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Master Grediv only told me the true story after you were taken. I think it was intended as a¡­cautionary tale at the time.¡± She frowned. There was¡­ a lot to unpack there. -My goodness. His son-in-law died while he was disconnected from the world, and his daughter couldn¡¯t depend on him, so she chose to turn to a Sovereign, who betrayed them? Yeah, that¡¯s a lot.- Tala swallowed. ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°But!¡± Master Nadro clapped his hands together. ¡°We should be moving on. As for you, Mistress Tala. Your soul bears the hallmarks of a Reality curse, likely due to your brushes with dasgannach, including your soulbond to one. You also have Void bound to your soul. With the Magical nature of the soul, you have somehow managed to create a rather firm tie to existence as a whole.¡± Tala felt herself smiling, rather proud of her accomplishments. But she was also hesitant as she noticed Master Nadro wasn¡¯t smiling. ¡°What is it? Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Master Nadro frowned. ¡°We¡¯re honestly not sure. It seems to be for you, but we don¡¯t really know what the effect will be when inherited.¡± Tala felt herself pale slightly. ¡°What does that mean?¡± The older man sighed. ¡°From what we can tell, there may be difficulties in conception, but we have no basis for comparison as to what those might be. Obviously, as soon as the child is there, we have the knowledge and expertise to help him or her grow and develop, to stay alive and thrive, but we just don¡¯t know. You are a rather unique case, as far as souls go.¡± That created a long moment of stunned silence. Rane took his hand from Tala¡¯s before putting his arm around her shoulders and taking her hand with his other. ¡°So¡­ I still don¡¯t understand.¡± Master Nadro sighed, giving a sad smile. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly understand either. We are just giving you our best understanding. You might have as many children as you desire, or you might never be able to conceive a viable child. Honestly, both extremes seem unlikely from what little we know. Regardless, we simply want the two of you to be aware of the possibilities before proceeding.¡± Rane gave Tala¡¯s shoulders a squeeze. ¡°Well, thank you for that, I suppose. It is better to know that there might be difficulty than to be blindsided.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The older man gave a heavy sigh. ¡°I do have one question for you, Mistress Tala, and this is an important one.¡± Tala stiffened slightly, feeling uncertain about what was to come. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The iron in your babies¡¯ bodies¡ªwhen you have them¡ªwhose is it?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Well, it¡¯s theirs, of course. I¡¯d be stewarding it for them, just like all other parts of their body, but that doesn¡¯t make it mine.¡± The man seemed to relax. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s wonderful. If that is genuinely your belief, then the children you do have should be safe. You will likely have to eat enough iron to provide for them dietarily, but that shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± She paled briefly. She hadn¡¯t even considered that she might steal all the iron from her babies at birth, or if they ever left her aura. It had never occurred to her, as she genuinely didn¡¯t see it as her iron. That did cause her to relax a bit. It was that exact attitude that seemed to have removed the issue. ¡°Regardless, the potential difficulties with your children should be the worst news you hear about your upcoming marriage, and we will be able to give far, far better information once you are married. After all, it is easier to analyze an existing bond than to theorize exactly how one will form, and what it will sire.¡± He smiled then. ¡°And it does lead into the first thing that needs to be discussed.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Tala looked his way, curious. ¡°Children?¡± ¡°Yes, children. Ideally, how many do you each want? On what sort of timeline?¡± Rane gave the man an incredulous look. ¡°Ideally?¡± Master Nadro nodded. ¡°Yes. Assuming it works exactly as you¡¯d like.¡± Rane sighed. ¡°Alright.¡± He turned his head to regard Tala, even as he kept a comforting hold on her. ¡°Are you up for discussing this?¡± She hesitated, then nodded slowly. ¡°I think so.¡± He smiled. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go first, shall I? That way you have a bit more time to process and consider?¡± She nodded again. ¡°Well, I think my ideal would be having children in a minimum of pairs, so that they would have a playmate in the house even as we moved around. I don¡¯t know that I have an ideal number, and as we¡¯re immortal, it might be that we have them in sets every so often. Maybe one set after another as soon as the first set leaves, or maybe with large gaps between. We¡¯ll have to decide when the time comes. Regardless, don¡¯t know that we¡¯d ever say, ¡®No more, ever.¡¯¡± Tala smiled at that. ¡°Yeah, the last part makes sense, but I think I¡¯d prefer to have most of our kids¡ªrelatively speaking¡ªearlier rather than later, but that might be me thinking in line with a mortal.¡± She considered for a long moment. ¡°You know, given our longevity, your ideal actually makes a lot of sense. You also didn¡¯t really state a limit for any given ¡®set¡¯ so maybe they¡¯ll be big sets?¡± She gave a little laugh. ¡°I know that the best part of my childhood was how many siblings I had.¡± Rane smiled at that. ¡°Yeah, that might be really nice.¡± Master Nadro smiled in turn. ¡°Remember, this is just meant to let you discuss the topic a bit. We aren¡¯t making contracts or final decisions here. The point is just to put the idea into your heads and help you establish a basis for discussion going forward.¡± They both nodded in turn. ¡°Good. Now, in raising the children, do you want to raise them yourselves as much as possible? Hire someone to look after them? Or¡­?¡± The questions went on, and on like that. Tala and Rane generally agreed on child rearing. Natural consequences were something that they both felt were important for learning and growing. Neither wanted corporal punishment to be a hallmark of their household, but they agreed that there could be cases when it was needed. Though, in truth, that was largely because they both realized just how much they didn¡¯t know about being parents, and they were both loath to swear off of a tool that had seemingly been so useful historically, even if their own opinions were that it had been overused. Thankfully, Rane¡¯s berserker ¡®boon¡¯ hadn¡¯t been set off by the physical punishment he¡¯d received as a child, so that wasn¡¯t a concern. They both wanted their kids to know their cousins¡ªat least on Tala¡¯s side¡ªand both were interested in having grandparents involved on Rane¡¯s side, at least if Rane¡¯s parents would respect their wishes for the children. Speaking about the time when they did have a baby, they both expressed the desire to take as much time as possible to be with the children while not smothering them, if such was possible. Master Nadro asked if that changed their ideal timing given the waning that they were intrinsically involved in at the moment. They considered, talked about it, and agreed that now would be fine, as would the next five years or so, but after that, they¡¯d likely not want any new children for at least a decade or two. As for schooling, Tala really wanted the kids to go to the standard school system, even if that was whatever Irondale was doing for ¡®standard¡¯ schooling at the time. Rane was more interested in going the route of private tutors. That sparked quite the back and forth about the pros and cons of each, and they came to the agreement that they¡¯d try to decide based on the temperament of each child and the circumstances of their family as a whole at the time. Regardless, even if the child did better in standard schooling, they¡¯d most likely get tutors to help fill in any gaps and keep the kids moving forward at their own paces. They were also both very interested in their children being free to choose the Mage life, or away from it. Though, they realized that they¡¯d both prefer Mage children, as that meant they¡¯d be longer lived, on average. They both admitted that they¡¯d likely want to be involved in the lives of any grandchildren and near descendants, but based on what they¡¯d experienced, they both felt like they would lose connection with successive generations after a time. Neither seemed to mind the idea¡ªif they were being honest¡ªbut both felt like that was something that they should mind. Master Nadro took that as a cue to interject on the typical way immortals handled non-immortal descendants. ¡°Generally speaking, human beings have trouble naturally relating to those more than a few generations removed from themselves in a familial sense. ¡°That can be overcome culturally. That is the approach that some Archons have taken, inculcating ties to¡ªand respect for¡ªancestors into their family culture. ¡°As a society, we try to instill a respect for the elderly, the wise, and the powerful, but we don¡¯t specifically try to bring about such to one''s family tree, either before you or after. ¡°Of course, the parent-child¡ªand even grandparent-grandchild¡ªrelationships are paramount to raising functional, well-adjusted members of society, but what we are discussing goes well beyond that. Master Grediv is an example of a Paragon you know who has kept loose contact with his descendants, but only really down a single family line.¡± Master Nadro gave a wry smile. ¡°Though, I suspect that such is more due to that family clinging to him than his active investment in them.¡± Tala grinned, and Rane chuckled. ¡°Regardless, some other Archons do the same or at least something similar. Others try to shepherd, protect, and provide as much as possible for their descendants. Others wash their hands of anyone after their grandchildren¡ªthough that extreme is much more rare. A more standard approach is a traditional relationship with children, then specific effort put into the grandchildren who mesh best with the Archon. Same with great-grandchildren and on down the chosen branches until a generation comes about in which no one seems to mesh well with the Archon. Keep in mind that many Archons are continuing to have children on and off during these times, so it isn¡¯t like they are cut off from mortal family members entirely.¡± There was a beat of silence before Rane asked a rather critical question. ¡°How pervasive is this mindset? How many people does this even apply to?¡± ¡°Honestly? Not very many. Some of this applies to Bound and Fused, given they will significantly outlive the non-Archons in their family, but it really only comes into prominence in late-stage Fused, Refined, and those even more advanced. As humanity progresses, we are getting more Refined citizens. So overall, most Refined aren¡¯t more than a few hundred years old at the moment. At that age, they are still operating much as a Fused might, for all intents and purposes. I would say less than sixty thousand people fall into this category, so much less than thirty thousand couples across the cities.¡± Rane grunted understanding. ¡°I see.¡± Tala tilted her head to the side in consideration. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really considered it, but how long before you¡¯re related to basically everyone?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Master Nadro smiled humorously, ¡°you already are, but I get your point. How long until basically everyone is some derivation of your descendant? It¡¯s shorter than you¡¯d think, given current birth rates. After between seven and nine generations there is a good chance that your descendants will be genetically linked to everyone in the gated-human cities. There is obviously some variation in that, but that¡¯s a reasonable approximation.¡± ¡°And a generation is¡­?¡± Tala asked, letting the end of the question hang. ¡°Twenty to fifty years.¡± She laughed. ¡°So, one-hundred fifty to four-hundred fifty years?¡± Master Nadro smiled. ¡°Somewhere in there, yes. Though, I would highly doubt that it would be as quickly as one-hundred fifty years. That would take some fairly extreme circumstances which I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve witnessed.¡± Rane was nodding again. ¡°That¡¯s well within the expected natural lifespan of a Fused.¡± The older man nodded once, decisively. ¡°Precisely, yes. That¡¯s why much of this advice and thinking actually comes into play with long-lived mortals too. The distinction between them and immortals only starts to become relevant after a point where it would be meaningless to be tracking every one of your descendants because that¡¯s effectively everyone.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a really odd way to consider things.¡± Master Nadro waited a moment then smiled. ¡°But we should be moving on to the next topic. Holidays. Do you wish to celebrate them as a family? To what extent? Which holidays? What will that look like?¡± Tala processed the series of interconnected questions before finally shrugging. ¡°We do some things for our birthdays, but I feel like that will likely fall by the wayside once we¡¯re married.¡± Rane raised an eyebrow in clear question. ¡°Oh?¡± She smiled. ¡°Yeah. If I want to do something nice for you, I¡¯m not going to wait for a specific day of the year, and if I only show you that I care for, respect, and cherish you on a few days each years, then I¡¯m not really doing a very good job as a wife, am I?¡± He chuckled at that. ¡°I suppose, but even so, I think that holding certain days as above the rest makes sense. I think celebrating our anniversary will be important, because doing so will communicate to our children that we see our marriage as important. That will help them do the same with their own in the future. Similarly with their birthdays. We will see them as important.¡± Tala considered then shrugged. ¡°I suppose I can see that.¡± They continued the discussion of holidays for a bit longer before Master Nadro helped wind that discussion down so that they could move on. ¡°How will you two handle conflict?¡± Tala looked straight at Rane. ¡°I will tell you if I dislike anything you do, or that happens, and you do the same.¡± Rane gave a half smile. ¡°That works for me, but shouldn¡¯t there be some threshold? I mean do we want to be bringing up every little thing all the time?¡± They both turned to look at Master Nadro hoping he¡¯d have a ready answer. He smiled. ¡°If you¡¯re asking me, all I can tell you is the information I know with regard to others. We have found that those with a lower threshold for bringing issues up tend to have better levels of communication and happier marriages.¡± Tala scratched the side of her chin. ¡°Lower, but not ¡®tell everything¡¯?¡± Master Nadro shrugged. ¡°We didn¡¯t see a reversal of the trend at the extreme, but it is true that you most likely can¡¯t ever tell everything that another person does that hits wrong. It would also be imperative that such things are brought up in love, rather than with an attitude of reprimand or correction.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°That makes sense, yeah.¡± ¡°So,¡± Tala put a capstone on it. ¡°If it actually stands out as an issue, bring it up. Even if it¡¯s something that the other has done a thousand times, and this time it¡¯s irritating, let the other know. How does that sound, Rane?¡± His smile grew. ¡°That sounds excellent.¡± Master Nadro smiled, interjecting. ¡°Now, on the topic of money?¡± They spoke almost as one. ¡°Alat and Enar will handle that.¡± They looked at each other and chuckled. Then Rane flinched slightly, even as Alat spoke in Tala¡¯s mind. -Presumptuous of you two, but yeah. We don¡¯t want you two handling it either.- Thank you, Alat. We¡¯d love any suggestions or requests you have, too. -I appreciate that¡ªEnar too¡ªbut it¡¯s a wedding for you two, not us. Ours will be a more private affair.- Fair enough. Tala didn¡¯t press, just happy that Alat wasn¡¯t trying to pretend anymore. Rane shook his head before adding, ¡°But we will definitely have combined finances¡­¡± He hesitated a moment before glancing at Tala. ¡°At least, that would be my preference.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Absolutely. We¡¯re in this together. Keeping such things separate would only add in the potential for strife and tension down the road.¡± Master Nadro waited for a beat then moved on. ¡°Then let¡¯s discuss working. I assume that, as Archons, you both will continue to work and advance?¡± They nodded. ¡°And when you have children, you already mentioned both of you pausing your work and advancement to engage with them, correct?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°At least for the first set of children. I¡¯m willing to figure out other options if that doesn¡¯t work for whatever reason the first time around.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°How will you help each other advance? How will you both retain a good work-life balance?¡± That didn¡¯t take long to address. Neither had to work, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to state that each was happy for the other to take any time they needed basically at any time. Master Nadro grinned. ¡°Now, the sometimes awkward topic of physical intimacy.¡± Both Rane and Tala glanced at the other before coloring slightly and looking away. ¡°I gather that it hasn¡¯t been discussed before. We aren¡¯t going to cover anything explicit, but it does need to be addressed. Are you up for that?¡± They hesitated for a moment before each of them nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get into it.¡± Chapter: 486 - Planning, Preparations, Arrangements Tala and Rane were both blushing¡ªif only mildly¡ªhours after that part of the conversation with Master Nadro finished. Tala knew it was silly to be so affected. Physical intimacy was not only a part of marriage, it was required for the actual marriage¡ªthe soulbond¡ªto occur. -And, you know, you¡¯re¡ª- Not. One. More. Word. -...Fine. Spoilsport.- Still, Alat projected an air of good natured teasing. As should have been no surprise to anyone, it had been a tricky subject to approach, even between two adults who knew full well that it would be a part of their lives and relationship sooner rather than later. The wedding was only months away at this point, after all. Regardless, they had hammered out some of the particulars without actually getting explicit, and Tala was left feeling grateful that they¡¯d discussed it, even if she still felt overwhelmingly uncertain about the subject. After physical intimacy and such interactions, they¡¯d discussed their social expectations as a couple and eventually as a larger family. That had been rather easy as both enjoyed being around people but not too much. They both preferred quiet time doing their own thing to noisy gatherings, and both would love that time to be done side by side. Which led Master Nadro to explain a pithy way of remembering the three important facets of a marital relationship. Face-to-face time¡ªtime talking, communicating, and staying on the same page. Side-by-side time¡ªtime spent doing things together or at least near one another. Finally, belly-to-belly time¡ªthat had already been discussed, and even the oblique reminder of it caused Tala to color once again, even if less than before. They had moved on to discuss how much they wanted to be involved in their extended families¡¯ lives¡ªwith Tala¡¯s siblings: frequently but not constantly, with Rane¡¯s family: just as often as they happened to cross paths. They had already discussed taking breaks from work and advancement, but Master Nadro had wanted them to specifically discuss the idea of dedicated time off and what they would ideally look like to each party. That had been unsurprisingly easy to discuss as they both wanted to spend their larger chunks of free time exploring Zeme and seeing what the world had to offer. Finally, they had come to the ¡®roles¡¯ portion of the discussion. They were both providers¡ªTala a bit more so these days¡ªand they didn¡¯t really want that to change. They also both wanted to be involved in the raising up, teaching, and disciplining of any potential children. They had both seen families where one parent was the sole disciplinarian, and they knew exactly how well that worked: Not at all. Beyond that, they were both fighters and protectors by nature, making their perfect marriage one that was rather egalitarian across the board. Master Nadro seemed genuinely surprised that they seemed to want to split everything evenly. He explained that while the particulars usually differed from couple to couple, each person would usually take on certain tasks more fully in that relationship. He didn¡¯t try to change their minds, but he did advise them to not be surprised if one or the other took the lead in certain parts of their lives going forward. All that passed after the topic, and though Tala definitely participated¡ªand she even had perfect memory of each exchange¡ªshe felt like she was barely paying attention due to lingering, returning, and newly spawning thoughts. They were pleasant¡ªeven exciting¡ªthoughts, but it was still disruptive to say the least. If Rane¡¯s occasional glances and re-reddening features were any indication, he was having a similar experience. Knowing that he was in a similar mindset did make the situation better, even if it made the thoughts more frequent. She realized that she¡¯d been hoping he felt similarly to her, and now that she knew he did¡­ She found herself focusing on Rane in her threefold sight more than usual. Alat cleared her throat in a good-natured, teasing manner. -You know, Master Nadro did advise keeping some space before the wedding. You know, to make sure you make it to the wedding?- Tala cleared her throat. Right. Rane did the same¡ªseemingly having received a similar reminder from Enar¡ªbefore scratching the back of his head and standing in a rush. They were still sitting in the garden, Master Nadro having departed quite a bit ago. Rane cleared his throat again, looking down at where she sat. ¡°I think¡­ I think I should go¡­¡± Tala didn¡¯t really want him to go, but that was likely a good indication that he was right. She stood as well. ¡°Alright.¡± She leaned in, going up on her tip-toes as he bent down so that they could share a slightly longer than usual kiss. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± His eyes were burning with an interesting light as they pulled apart, but not as far as they had been. ¡°Boot me please. Close to the Gredial estate.¡± ¡°Done.¡± And with that, Rane was gone, and Tala was left feeling a bit¡­ miffed? She sighed. Alat sent Tala the feeling of a warm, friendly embrace -Wow¡­ Are you going to be okay there, Tala?- ¡­How are you doing with your work in the sparring ring? -Great! Master Grediv finally consented to let me go through the notes from the War Games artifacts, and I was able to incorporate some of the ideas¡­ Are you sure we can¡¯t buy a set for Kit to absorb? That would make this so much easier.- No, Alat. Even with our funds, that¡¯s out of our reach. Maybe someone will give us one as a wedding present? Alat laughed. -Yeah, maybe. It will be fun to see what people bring.- * * * Tala exhaled a shout as she punched through the hard-packed-dirt construct that Alat was controlling against her. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. That didn¡¯t kill it, of course, and that wasn¡¯t even because it wasn¡¯t alive in the first place. No, Alat was controlling it as if it were a genuine earth construct, meaning that Tala had to sufficiently obliterate it all in one go, or otherwise disrupt the magics of its animation. Since Tala couldn¡¯t disrupt magics that didn¡¯t exist, the dirt-man had become the equivalent of an animate punching bag¡­ that fought back. That was perfect for her purposes. At the moment, she wanted to be overtly physical, so she was practicing purely unarmed combat specifically against hyper-resilient and regenerating opponents. It was turning out to be a fun, distracting challenge. Even if it was annoying to be without her threefold sight, and to not have any of her aspect mirrors at her disposal. It¡¯s fine. Back to basics. Even as she was trying to pull back her fist¡ªout of the being¡¯s chest¡ªthe dirt closed around her forearm, temporarily binding her despite the mundane nature of the material involved. It couldn¡¯t hold her for long, but it was still enough of a hitch in her movement that the being was able to bring up both fists and slam them into Tala¡¯s unarmored face. As to why she was unarmored? Well, metal armor against a dirt-man wouldn¡¯t really be very sporting. Her arm was ripped out of the chest as she was thrown back by the force of the combined hit that also filled her eyes and mouth with grit. Since the dirt-man wasn¡¯t biological, it didn¡¯t suffer from normal physical constraints¡ªmagic being able to fill in power as necessary¡ªsuch as it being more difficult to pull off a powerful blow with both hands at once. No, each of these hits had been full powered, and they had landed concurrently. That was why Tala slid all the way to the edge of the sparring ring, spluttering and spitting in an attempt to clear her mouth of gunk. She could have just willed the dirt away as she was within Kit, but that would also have been cheating. The point was to train for fighting in Zeme, where she didn¡¯t have such minute control of her environment. Therefore, she rolled over, crawled forward to grab the edge of the waterway that encircled the sparring circle and shot her head down into the water¡­ That was what she was attempting to do anyway. Alat¡¯s proxy grabbed Tala¡¯s ankle at the last instant and jerked backward, moving Tala just enough to put her fully over the stone of the ring. That meant that Tala slammed her own face into the rock¡­ hard. She broke her own nose with a squelching crunch. Tala squealed in agony even as she spun and struck out at the dirt creature. She just wanted the dirt gone. But it was clinging to her skin, mouth, and eyes far too effectively to be removed with any sort of efficiency. Her skin. Her enhanced skin. Skin enhanced with magics that were the exact inverse of the endingberry dissolution magics. Why not? I¡¯ve inverted those magics before to get such results? In a flicker of instinct, she inverted the outermost layer of her defensive magics for a bare instant, only doing so to those around her face. There was a wave of incredible pain, as if she¡¯d had the most glorious beard ever known to man and had it ripped out to the last hair all at once. She barely contained another squeal at the unexpected pain¡ªwhich really should have been expected¡ªeven as she felt her magics realign her nose and heal the break and tissue damage. Her gambit had worked. She could see through her eyes again. All it had cost her was the outer layers of her skin¡­ The dusted remains of her flesh fell around her in a fine powder, but she ignored them. The dirt being had actually stopped in place, seemingly stunned by her actions. -Did¡­ did you just dissolve part of your own face to get rid of the dirt?- Tala shrugged. I had to see didn¡¯t I? -...Sometimes I don¡¯t understand how we are the same person. I don¡¯t know that I could ever choose that much pain.- Alat¡¯s voice was contemplative, not condemning. In fact, it had decided notes of awe and respect within. Tala gave a wry smile. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t exactly deeply consider how much it would actually hurt before I did it.¡± -Right, right. Fleshy body. You make decisions without thinking them all the way through.- Alat teased. ¡°That¡¯s hurtful, Alat.¡± Tala¡¯s tone took on a note of faux offense. Alat was practically laughing as she replied. -No, melting off part of your own face for want of some water is hurtful.- ¡°Well, you denied my access to the water, so¡­¡± Without warning, Tala lunged in, renewing her attack. The banter was done for the moment, and it was time to renew the fight. All in all, this had been a great way to get her mind off of Rane¡­ if only she could stop thinking of it like that, thus undoing the wonderful progress she had made. * * * Tala¡¯s time was filled with planning, preparations, arrangements, and so, so many other things. As a result, the weeks flew by and the day before the wedding arrived in a rush. Blessedly, even though they had ended up sending out nearly five hundred invitations only about a hundred people would be in attendance. They had sent a polite, essentially expected invitation to Furgal, for example, and he had done the classy, kind thing. He¡¯d declined with grace, citing an acceptable excuse. All told, they hadn¡¯t really expected most to come for one reason or other. If they were being honest, that was one reason they¡¯d kept Kit anchored in Alefast, Waning, for the wedding. Smaller was better in both Tala and Rane¡¯s opinion, and in the end, it was their wedding. Even so, Tala had gotten special permission to bring her siblings who were at the Academy to her sanctum for the wedding and celebration. They were even going to be arriving later that day, just like most guests. Caravans to Alefast, Waning, had been accompanied by rather more Mages than usual, as some of their friends and acquaintances had arrived over the past few days, and Mistress Petra had been cooking up a storm to keep Tala¡¯s appetite sated as she ran herself to exhaustion trying to be sociable with all the people who had come so far for her wedding. I still say we should have just eloped. Tala groused to Alat. -That has always been an option, but at this point it would just be rude.- Alat had a motherly cast to her words, ones of comfort and gentle guidance. ¡­I know¡­ Rane came into the side room in the Alefast Archon compound in which Tala had been hiding. He flopped down on a chair, put his head against the wall and groaned. ¡°Can¡¯t we just elope?¡± Tala snorted a laugh. ¡°We definitely could have, but it would be a bit rude at this point.¡± He groaned. ¡°I know¡­ you¡¯re right, but this is exhausting. If it weren¡¯t for the end result, this would not be worth it.¡± Tala leaned in for a quick kiss. ¡°It will be over soon, then it will just be us.¡± He gave her a kiss in turn before smiling her way, their gazes locking. ¡°Like I said, worth it.¡± Tala felt heat building in her cheeks along with a thrumming in her chest as she continued to stare into his eyes. You know¡­ we could¡ª A sharp rap sounded on the door before it was thrown open, and Lyn stepped inside, looking between them with fire in her eyes. ¡°No! None of this. Rane, go somewhere else. We are not preempting the wedding.¡± Counter to her expectation, Tala felt herself reddened further. This time it was decidedly with embarrassment. Rane cleared his throat, standing in a rush and leaving the room. ¡°Right! Of course. I¡¯ll¡­ yeah.¡± And he was gone. Lyn glared at Tala. ¡°I¡¯ve put too much work into coordinating all of this for you two to render the whole thing superfluous.¡± ¡°I thought it was my wedding,¡± Tala groused, though she wasn¡¯t really that upset. ¡°It is, but it involves others, and therefore, you owe them the respect of fulfilling your obligation and actually getting married tomorrow.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°...That is the plan.¡± ¡°Of course it is. Now, come on. Let¡¯s get you some time to level out. After the ceremony there¡¯ll be two to three days of celebration, and I don¡¯t want you going into that burnt out.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Lyn.¡± Lyn gave Tala a level look. ¡°Don¡¯t sass me, girl. You may be more advanced than me, but I¡¯m still older.¡± There was a twinkle in the woman¡¯s eye, and Tala stepped forward to embrace her. ¡°I know, Lyn. Thank you.¡± Lyn hugged her in return. ¡°Yes, yes. I am happy to help. Now come on. We¡¯ve still got so much time and so little to do.¡± Tala blinked, pulling back and frowning at the woman. ¡°What?¡± Lyn gave a mischievous smile. ¡°Just making sure you¡¯re actually listening. Let¡¯s be off!¡± And so they were. Chapter: 487 - Wedding Tala felt tingles all throughout her body, and it wasn¡¯t from the paint that was slowly being applied across her bare skin. One of many paintbrushes floated around her, occasionally dipping into a small cup of sapphire blue paint. It moved not at her behest¡ªnor by her will¡ªbut at Terry¡¯s. Apparently, many of the times over the last year that he¡¯d been ¡®hunting,¡¯ he had, instead, been practicing controlling items within Kit in order to help her with this day. Alat had hidden that fact from her, and Tala couldn¡¯t have been more fine with that deception. The terror bird, for his part, flickered around her in a blur, looking at every angle as he applied her paint according to his desired pattern. Tala had asked if she had any say, and he had flatly rejected her attempts at swaying what he was doing. Instead of going for a faux spellform look, he had decided to lean into a different part of her nature, one that they shared. He was creating claw marks in sets of three rends. The effect of which was to make her look as if she had sapphire under her skin, which had been torn open in places to reveal her true, gem nature. She could only really see how it looked because of her own threefold perception. -Terry¡¯s doing an excellent job, isn¡¯t he?- Oh, absolutely. Tala looked around to try and catch Terry¡¯s eye, but he was simply flickering about too much. So, she simply spoke, knowing he¡¯d hear her. ¡°Thank you, Terry. This is already amazing.¡± He trilled in happy reply, the start of the trill coming from near her left ankle and the end trailing off from beside her right hip. He was using a variety of brushes¡ªone at a time¡ªto give variety to the size of the resulting strokes. He likely could have done the variation with a singular brush, but he seemed to have spent his time perfecting the results, rather than seeking expertise in the process. Though, I would think one would lead into the other. -Well, everyone approaches things differently.- That¡¯s fair. Tala¡¯s thoughts hesitated a moment. Do you have anything you¡¯re doing in preparation? -Oh, this and that. Enar and I didn¡¯t want any guests on our behalf, besides, we¡¯re you. Those celebrating you are celebrating us in turn.- That¡¯s true. She smiled, both internally and externally. Overall, Terry only took about an hour to do every bit of her skin, save the bits that were covered by a tightly woven loin cloth and bust wrap. Her back and stomach were essentially entirely exposed¡­ as was almost everything else. It reminded her of her Academy days, when they were getting the students accustomed to ¡®traditional¡¯ casting garb and methods. Tala still marveled at the Mages who were able to turn their every movement into a specific casting of magic, like Mistress Kaeti. The result was a dance of power that was both more subtle and more powerful than what any other sort of mage could achieve with the same output of power. Such was incredibly hard to learn, and while it started more limited in scope, when the Mage reached Mistress Kaeti¡¯s level of mastery, she could respond more easily and more powerfully than a Mage like Tala to a variety of situations. Still, Tala liked her own path. She had a limited set of tools¡ªall things considered¡ªbut she used them well. But she was distracting herself. It was odd what inanity filled her mind before such a momentous happening. It was time. She exited her bedroom, coming out into the large courtyard. The attendees were seated on¡ªand some around¡ªthe slightly raised dais which made up the bulk of her courtyard at the heart of her sanctum within Kit. A central aisle had been left between the two halves of the seating for their approach leading to the control chair, a secondary stone chair situated beside it, near identical in appearance, save that it was larger due to the stature of the intended occupant. It also didn¡¯t have the magics woven through it to control the sanctum, but those were essentially never used regardless. -They are thrones, Tala. Let¡¯s call a spade a spade.- Hush, you. But her focus wasn¡¯t really on the guests, or the dais. It wasn¡¯t on the musicians waiting to one side, nor on the decorations and other little details that had been perfected to strike the right ambience. It wasn¡¯t even really on the thrones. No, her focus was on the man exiting the entry to the guest rooms barely twenty feet from her. Rane strode forth, clad only in a similarly sparse loincloth, blood-red paint decorating the firm plains and curves of his body. They had been done in the style of cracks in stone, similar to Tala¡¯s rends but also utterly different. Where he looked like a stone man who was cracking open to reveal the blood within, she looked to be a flesh and blood woman who had been savaged by wild animals, only to have it revealed that she was made up of a precious gem within. Honestly, the effect was so fantastic she would have known that the paint was magical even if she couldn¡¯t sense it with her magesight and her pervasive knowledge of what was within Kit. The effect was just too good. All told, it was incredibly clear that Terry, and Rane¡¯s parents, had somehow coordinated the looks. It took a long moment for Tala to notice that Rane was staring at her just as intensely as she was regarding him. Thank you for policing my perception. It would have been¡­ lesser, to miss this moment, to have known what I would see beforehand. -Of course. Sometimes seeing something too soon makes everything worse. I¡¯m happy to have been able to help.- Only after an additional long moment, did Tala remember the guests standing in front of their seats and Master Nadro standing between the two thrones at the end of the aisle. It was also then that Rane¡¯s parents came into focus behind him. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. A voice called from near the front, on Rane¡¯s side of the guests, ¡°The quicker you get on with it, the quicker you can get on with it.¡± A ripple of chuckles went through the gathered people. Tala colored, and Rane sent a mock glare toward his older sister. Still, Chloe was right. They should be getting on with it. Tala stepped forward, and Rane moved to meet her in the middle of the space before they turned and walked, side by side¡ªbut out of reach¡ªup toward Master Nadro, only stopping when they reached the back row of seated guests. At that point, Rane and his parents strode ahead, and Tala waited, Terry behind her, sized to be just a bit taller than she was, and wearing a closely tailored, formal outfit made from their elk-leathers. The three Mages finally stopped before Master Nadro and bowed. The ancient man smiled. ¡°Who comes before me, and to what purpose?¡± Rane spoke in response, his words as scripted as Master Nadro¡¯s, ¡°I come, seeking to be bound to the one whom I love.¡± ¡°Who stands behind you in this request?¡± His parents spoke in unison, ¡°We, bound in our love, stand behind our son in this request. Our bond, unbroken, is an imperfect example of what he seeks.¡± Master Nadro nodded, giving a show of examining Rane. ¡°I testify that this one is not bound to another.¡± His eyes then turned to Tala, the audience reorienting on her almost as one. Once they were looking her way, she strode forward, bolstered by the terror bird at her back. Each row of the audience turned as she passed them, symbolizing that it was her actions, her will, that solidified this process. She was the capstone. She and Terry stopped before Master Nadro, bowing as Rane and his parents had before. The officiant spoke again, ¡°Who comes before me, and to what purpose?¡± Tala¡¯s voice was a bit quieter than Rane¡¯s had been, but it seemed like the whole sanctum resonated with her resolve, ¡°I come, seeking to be bound to the one whom I love.¡± ¡°Who stands behind you in this request?¡± Terry dipped his head once again and trilled once. There was a moment of silence before a voice that was not quite Tala¡¯s vibrated from the air around Terry, quiet but magically-carrying. Alat was speaking on Terry¡¯s behalf, ¡°Terry stands behind his flockmate, soulbound companion, and bloodied partner in this request. His love-bond is broken, his life-mate long dead, and he will stand with Tala and Rane against the ravages of Zeme, so that neither she, nor he, would suffer the same fate that he has.¡± That was yet another part of the ceremony that Tala hadn¡¯t known was coming. She turned and regarded Terry for a long moment¡ªfeeling a tightness in her chest¡ªbefore whispering. ¡°Thank you, Terry.¡± He gave a much softer trill in reply. Master Nadro regarded Tala in the momentary silence before continuing the ceremony, ¡°I testify that she is bound to none. Please be seated.¡± The crowd sat, Rane¡¯s parents joining everyone else while Terry flickered to Master Nadro¡¯s shoulder, resized as appropriate. That caused a ripple of murmurs and chuckles, but the older man didn¡¯t seem surprised in the least. ¡°Rane, what do you present?¡± He stepped forward and laid Force before Master Nadro with a bow before stepping back beside Tala. ¡°I present my soulbound sword, as I will strive and fight and advance beside my soulbound partner all the days of my life.¡± ¡°Tala, what do you present?¡± She spread her arms wide. ¡°I present a sanctum, as I will strive to secure shelter, sustenance, and a home with my soulbound partner all the days of my life.¡± Master Nadro smiled, ¡°Of violence and safety, I am satisfied. Who will govern the household¡¯s finances?¡± They both bowed, Tala responding as they¡¯d agreed, ¡°We both¡ªour other-selves of mind and Archive¡ªwill keep our household in good standing.¡± ¡°Who will nourish the household?¡± Both remained slightly bowing, and Rane spoke this time, ¡°We both will ensure that all are fed and nourished.¡± ¡°Who will raise the children?¡± They spoke as one. ¡°Only united can we hope to raise the next generation.¡± In the audience it was clear that the Zuccats and Fedirs recognized some of the wording from Brandon and Kedva¡¯s wedding. It seemed to bring smiles to their faces. The remainder of the vows passed in a bit of a blur, Tala¡¯s focus honing in on Rane and his closeness. She said the words she¡¯d helped put together, but her thoughts were on the man who was about to be her husband. She could hardly contain her smile. Still, she came back to the moment when Master Nadro closed off the vows section with a nod. ¡°Let it be as you have said.¡± The two straightened. Tala willed for a small table to appear between them. Three candles and two fire-starters were all that adorned it. Rane and Tala each lit a candle and turned back to Master Nadro. The wicks had been treated so that the flames each burned a color to match the paint on each of their bodies. The older man smiled. ¡°Two flames¡ªtwo souls¡ªstand before me today. From two, they shall become one.¡± Tala and Rane picked up their candles and used them to light a single flame in the center. That wick had been similarly treated, but this time it gave off a purple flame. ¡°Now that there is to be one forged of the two, let the separate flames¡ªthe separate lives¡ªcease at their bearer¡¯s will.¡± They each blew out their own candle. Master Nadro then gestured to either side of himself. ¡°In this seat of power and authority, let you sit, and rule together over all that belongs to you.¡± Tala and Rane stepped forward before turning and sitting in the thrones, clasping hands as soon as they sat. They both sat carefully and didn¡¯t lean back, so as to not paint the stone. Master Nadro reoriented, speaking the traditional words as an address to the audience, ¡°These two have chosen to be bound, pledging themselves to right conduct before you all. Shall their bonding be short or long?¡± ¡°Long!¡± Everyone responded. Smiles and chuckles rippled through the crowd. ¡°So shall it be.¡± Master Nadro gestured back toward the buildings on one side of the open courtyard, toward Tala¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Rane, Tala, your words have been heard, your intentions made known. Go now, and forge your bond that we may bear witness to your eternal union.¡± Rane squeezed Tala¡¯s hand, both of them blushing deeply across much of their bodies, though not as deeply as they had in the pre-marital counseling. They rose again as one before striding forward at a careful pace. The audience called and cheered as the couple tried not to hurry back down the aisle, moving toward Tala¡¯s bedroom¡ªtheir bedroom. She¡¯d replaced the bed with one that would comfortably fit them both. She had also made a few other adjustments in preparation as well. They pushed through the massive, double-hung door and allowed it to swing closed once more. And with that, Tala suddenly felt everything: her roiling emotions, excitement, trepidation, a bit of embarrassment, and overtop them all, a desire to forge ahead. The musicians who had been waiting off to the side of the dais¡ªhitherto silent¡ªbegan to play, and the audience rose and mingled, having hushed conversations as everyone waited. Tala imposed her will to cut off any sound from entering or leaving the room and severed herself from her threefold sight, to not be distracted by those outside. Finally, she turned to face the man who was about to be her husband. * * * A reasonable amount of time later, Tala and Rane pushed open the door to their bedroom before stepping out together. The still wet paint that had adorned their skin was now purple in many places. The artistry of the ¡®cracks¡¯ and ¡®tears¡¯ was broken and smeared across their bare skin. In a way, the effect actually made it seem like they were now less damaged than before. Their cloth coverings were in place, but those, too, bore a mix of red and blue paints, often blended to various shades of purple. The two flushed with embarrassment once again even as the audience cheered and called, the various groups of their guests now utterly intermixed. Everyone present could see a powerful aura of magic and connection around the two as a white aura, visible to the mundane eye, strengthened by their personal advancement and power. It would, of course, still fade over the next couple of days. Even so, as silence fell among the onlookers, Master Nadro had one last thing to say, by tradition, ¡°Bound by choice, bound by word, bound by deed. Two have become one, souls bound for eternity. May the stars themselves burn away any who dares try to come between these two.¡± Everyone erupted in cheers once again. There would be celebrations, feasting, gifts, and games, but the marriage was complete. Tala and Rane were married. Chapter: 488 - For as Long as I Live Tala and Rane sat, holding hands, in their thrones once more. The paint on their hands and on the armrests of the thrones was decidedly purple from intermixing. The guests¡¯ chairs had been rearranged to surround tables, and food and drink were already appearing at Tala¡¯s will to fill each table. Guests were mingling, and a small line was beginning to form before Tala and Rane. As was traditional, ¡®bigger¡¯ gifts¡ªusually those given by a group of guests working together but not always¡ªwould be presented publicly, usually in a dual display of generosity and overt support for the union. Master Nadro took it upon himself to make the final announcement as officiant. ¡°Now presenting, Mistress and Master Sappherrous.¡± Lyn huffed a laugh. There was polite clapping and much murmured discussion over the name as Tala and Rane shared a chaste kiss, and Master Nadro stepped back, fading into the crowd even as he grabbed a pastry. Master Grediv had been at the front of the line mere moments earlier, but then Mistress Holly had walked up to the Paragon and given him a long look as the clapping died down. Master Grediv had sighed and stepped back, muttering under his breath¡ªclearly for Mistress Holly¡¯s ears, but Tala caught it too, ¡°I¡¯d say age before beauty, but you have me beat on both counts.¡± Mistress Holly¡¯s eyes flicked toward Tala, the Inscriber clearly realizing that Tala would have heard. She gave a small grimace and sighed, shaking her head. Master Grediv quirked a smile, adding in a softer whisper, ¡°There¡¯s always a price for throwing your weight around, Mistress Holly.¡± She gave a small, resigned bob of her head toward the man, and Master Grediv returned the gesture a bit more deeply. Tala did her best not to react, continuing to bring out the refreshments by her will. She could have done it quicker, but she was trying to arrange things just so. There were cheesy mini-caravans, hand-pies, racks of ribs, poultry legs of various sizes, sausages, pork belly, and several other variations of meat. And that was just the various vehicles for meat. There was a massive spread of single-serving salads of varying composition and dressings, fruit and fruit mixes, rice and other grains, as well as an overabundance of various drinks and desserts. All of this was kept the best temperature and overall state by Tala, Alat, and Kit¡¯s active will. Rane seemed like he might have been able to help her. Their soulbond was still new, but already, Tala could feel some of her authority over the sanctum reflected within Rane. He wasn¡¯t doing anything with it yet, but he seemed to be feeling the weight of it all the same. He had offered to help set the tables one way or another, but Tala had declined, aware that it was incredibly difficult to be precise with such acts of will, and as funny as it would be to have Rane dump some of the food on a guest, it would be a diversion from the purpose of the event. And that¡¯s not actually what would happen, regardless. -Yeah, if it were, you¡¯d probably have agreed.- ¡­Probably, yeah. It would have been a funny memory to have. But I know he¡¯s too good, too careful to do something like that. -Of course, the actual issue is that he¡¯d lay it out differently than the way that you want, not due to malice, but due to lack of practice and ignorance of your precise desires in this arena.- ¡­That¡¯s being a bit silly, isn¡¯t it. -It is, but that¡¯s fine. You aren¡¯t getting upset when guests are taking unevenly from various trays, leaving them less aesthetically pleasing.- Well¡­ yeah. We¡¯re rearranging on the fly to keep things balanced and appealing. -True¡­ this really isn¡¯t good for our hyper-meticulous side, is it.- I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be fine¡­ I¡¯ll make sure of it. Alat snorted within her head. -Have fun.- Tala took the momentary pause to shift her mental focus¡ªwhile continuing food arrangement and rearrangement with the smallest portion of her attention. She turned her focus to her new connection with Rane. Their bond was unlike any of the other soulbonds she possessed, as made sense. It was funny. In comparison, it now felt like the others were pale, artificial imitations of this one. The best comparison she could come up with was the other bonds were like shoes, and this one with Rane was her foot. In a way, the ¡®artificial¡¯ ones were more robust, but this one was more real. There was more feeling to it and feedback from it. It was more a part of her. She couldn¡¯t sense his emotions¡ªemotions were things of body and mind¡ªbut she could feel his soul, and right then, it was practically glowing with joy. -Umm¡­ Tala? Isn¡¯t joy an emotion?- You know, I don¡¯t think so? Happiness is an emotion, joy is a state of being. -...Whatever you say.- Alat projected skepticism. She didn¡¯t think she could aspect mirror any of his magics with this bond, but that wasn¡¯t really the intention of it. Instead, she felt like she could directly give him power for use in his magics, and he for hers. That two-way connection was utterly seamless and seemed to be balancing itself with absolutely no mental effort or delay, as each of them flexed their various magics in almost unconscious, experimental ways. Where Terry could use her magics, or her power for his magics, and she could tap into some of his power and magics, it seemed like everything Tala and Rane did now had the magical weight of two souls behind it, seamlessly and perfectly aligned. Rust, that¡¯s potent. We can¡¯t do anything new¡ªmagically speaking¡ªbut everything we could do before has an incredibly increased weight. -Yeah. I would bet that out in Zeme proper your aura will be far closer to the supremacy you experience here, in your sanctum, than it was before.- Yeah, I think that being in here is masking just how much it¡¯s affecting us. Is this how arcane marriages are? -Not from the research I¡¯ve been able to find. They have some overlap, but for them, it¡¯s more a broadening and deepening of their concepts. That does grant power, but of a different kind.- Then, it¡¯s no wonder that most of our cities are run or defended by married couples. With this, it would be much easier to actually go toe to toe in aura clashes with a similarly advanced Arcane, despite their concept advantage. -Indeed. It seems to almost make up the natural difference in potency.- The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Tala both immediately found herself irritated that no one had ever mentioned this and also fully understood why they hadn¡¯t. After even a half-second of thought, she was grateful that no one had told her that this was one of the effects. If Mages were explicitly told that marriage would provide a noticeable boost in power, many more would rush marriage for that benefit, and no soulbond should be rushed. -And we would definitely have moved toward marriage faster if we¡¯d known this was a benefit.- And that would have been to our detriment and the detriment of our relationship with Rane. -Precisely.- How are things with Enar? Alat actually briefly radiated the feeling of embarrassment before she got that under control. -Well¡­ we¡¯re bound too.- Of course you are. You bonded when we did. Why¡­ oh¡­ oh! So, if we hadn¡¯t¡­? -We would have. So, you two still would have.- That would have been¡­ Tala felt a twitch at the oddity and awkwardness that could have created. -Yeah.- So, things are good, then? I¡¯m not going to ask details of the bonding. -Yeah, things are good. We have the cognitive equivalent of bodies. So, the process was very like your own bonding, but I won¡¯t say more.- I not only didn¡¯t ask, I explicitly said I wasn¡¯t going to ask. -I wanted to share anyway.- Oh, look, Mistress Holly is stepping forward. Should I tell her you¡¯re distracting me? -...You¡¯re kind of mean sometimes.- You come by it honestly. Mistress Holly gave a shallow bow to Tala and Rane. ¡°Master Rane, Mistress Tala, congratulations on your union.¡± They both bobbed their heads in small bows in return. Tala responded for them, feeling her connection with Rane resonate, ensuring that she was representing them both accurately and not just herself, ¡°Mistress Holly, thank you for your well wishes and for attending our celebration.¡± ¡°Of course, dear girl. As a token of my affection¡ªand as a statement of support for your union¡ªI wish to offer you both an in-depth assessment of your advancement.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand.¡± Mistress Holly smiled. ¡°I assumed you wouldn¡¯t, dear. You have advanced quickly enough that such hasn¡¯t ever really been required, but when someone is stuck¡ªor simply desirous of insight¡ªthere is a resource-intensive process for getting a truly detailed look at exactly how their advancement appears.¡± Rane gave a deeper, seated bow. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Holly. That is a truly wonderful gift.¡± She smiled her self-satisfied smile. ¡°I and several others have come together to offer this to you. Mistress Noelle and Master Jevin are chief among them, and they send their regrets at being unable to attend.¡± She held out a folded piece of thick paper. Rane received it, reading the note and bevy of signatures. He smiled and handed the well-wishes to Tala before thanking Mistress Holly once again. Tala looked over the words and signatures. There were quite a few of the Constructionists from Makinaven and Bandfast, as well as those already noted. How expensive is this analysis? -Expensive isn¡¯t the right word. It¡¯s intricate, requiring a slew of very specific magics, and it is fairly irreducibly complex, which has made any attempt to make artifacts to accomplish the task unsuccessful as of yet.- Good to know. Tala stood up and smiled, thanking Mistress Holly as well once more before embracing the woman. Mistress Holly returned the hug and gave Tala a couple of pats on the back. ¡°Good luck, dear girl.¡± Rane gave Mistress Holly a quick, less familiar hug. Both of them had been as careful as possible to keep from getting paint on the older woman, and Tala¡¯s will had ensured that the contact that was made didn¡¯t transfer any pigment. Finally, Mistress Holly took her leave and moved off into the crowd. Some of the guests were watching, making comments on the one gift that had been presented. Others were talking among themselves about other things. Some were dancing with partners¡ªold or newly found¡ªover near the musicians to one side of the large raised central area. Most were enjoying¡ªor had already enjoyed¡ªsome of the cornucopia spread around the celebration space. Master Grediv stepped forward then, glancing after Mistress Holly before shaking his head. He then focused on his former apprentice and Tala, smiling broadly. ¡°Congratulations to you both.¡± He gave a shallow bow, which they returned more deeply, though they remained seated. ¡°Thank you, Master Grediv.¡± Tala had spoken for them, but it was obvious that the sentiment was shared. Master Grediv¡¯s smile grew a bit. ¡°For my gift, I am in a unique position, thanks to your sanctum here. Years ago, when a fool of a descendent of mine got himself¡­ entangled in an arcane city. I had to untangle him, and as a result I found myself in possession of several holds.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened slightly, but she didn¡¯t interrupt. ¡°Most were not maintained due to moral concerns.¡± He met Tala¡¯s eyes, and she got the implication. Vestiges had powered all of them, and they hadn¡¯t wanted to keep those so bound. He also didn¡¯t want to casually mention bound human souls around so many, or at a wedding. Tala gave a solemn nod. ¡°Regardless, we were able to combine some of them, using their own techniques to add them to the largest, which I have maintained with my own power for research purposes ever since.¡± Rane was leaning back, smiling. Clearly, he had at least some foreknowledge of this gift. ¡°As such, we have spent the intervening centuries studying every aspect of this hold, and there is little left to glean from it. I believe that it can serve humanity one last time by being devoured and added to your own space.¡± Tala was about to express her immense gratitude when Master Grediv held up a finger. ¡°I will give you access to the hold¡¯s entrance after the celebration, so that Kit may devour it.¡± ¡°Thank you, Master Grediv. The extra dimensionality and material will be a wonderful addition.¡± Rane stood up and hugged the older man. ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°Always, my dear Rane.¡± Master Grediv returned the hug, his eyes dampening, even if no tears fell. Tala stood and hugged him as well¡ªkeeping the pigment from transferring once again¡ªbefore he stepped aside. Next up were Rane¡¯s parents. They bowed low before Tala and Rane before presenting them with a rather official looking document. His father spoke up, then, making sure to project his voice, ¡°This is the logging rights for a large stand of old-growth, hardwood trees east of Alefast, Waning. They were planted before the founding of the city, and the right to harvest them has passed down through the generations as they have matured. Now, we have acquired the rights and pass them to you. We worked closely with many of your fellow Defenders as well as the city officials whom you were kind enough to invite.¡± There were nods from the people in question in the crowd. Tala saw that along with the writ of harvest was a similar note with well-wishes and signatures. It only took her a moment to realize what they¡¯d intended, and her eyes went wide. She gave a deeper seated bow, then. ¡°Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. These trees will make excellent additions to our soulbound spaces for centuries to come.¡± It would be a minor pain to harvest them, but since she could simply grab everything in the area she wouldn¡¯t have to untangle the roots. The ground would be a pain though¡­ A smile pulled at her lips as she noticed that the writ gave them the rights to anything found in the ground as well. She could simply scoop up the whole area and parse it out later as she desired. Or, they could keep it as a beautiful old-growth copse in their sanctum or in Irondale. Rane stood and hugged his parents, and Tala did likewise, thanking them again. Next, surprisingly¡ªeven though Tala had seen them in line¡ªwere Latna and Master Leighis. They bowed, and Tala and Rane returned the gesture. The two expressed their congratulations, then Master Leighis gestured for Latna to speak for them. ¡°We had this made for you, all your siblings, their families, and Master Leighis.¡± She held out something that looked very much like a very large Archive slate, but it was a bit thicker, and the front was a carved relief, colored by the material itself so the image would stand the test of time. It was Tala¡¯s entire family, including her sibling¡¯s mother and father. It included spouses and all the babies who had been born so far, and Master Leighis on the side. It was clearly a family portrait of sorts, but what made it truly special was that they had gone through the effort and expense of setting a small, simple artifact into each of the depictions. Each took in ambient power and projected out a small stream in a mimicry of the aura of the person they were matched to. Even the non-Mages had such, which represented great difficulty, time, and expense. Tala and Rane stared at the rendition for a long moment before Tala looked up and met Latna¡¯s eyes. Latna gave a sad smile, though there was still happiness in the expression, ¡°So we can always be with you, no matter where you go or how long your journey continues.¡± Tala felt tears filling her eyes as she realized that, all too soon, this just might be the only thing she had left of most of her family. Odds were low that even a very few, if any, would reach Refined. Latna saw Tala¡¯s tears and responded involuntarily with tears of her own. The sisters embraced, both crying in familial love, sadness for what was to come, and happiness for what had been. A moment later, Tala gestured toward the other siblings, watching from the surrounding crowd, and they all moved forward into a massive group hug. There were littles and spouses in the mix too, and Rane came in beside Tala, all wrapping arms around one another. Tala even specifically gestured toward the three who had been hesitating on the sidelines: Master Leighis and her siblings¡¯ parents. When everyone was in close, she spoke softly, adding power and will to make sure that they all heard her, ¡°Thank you. This means the world to me, and I will treasure it for as long as I live.¡± Chapter: 489 - Gifts! Tala and Rane sat back down in their thrones as Tala¡¯s family, Master Leighis, and her siblings¡¯ parents moved back to mingle with the other guests. Tala was still a bit emotional at both the thoughtfulness and the implication of her siblings'' gift. -I¡¯m making special note to get updated aura records of any future nieces and nephews.- Thank you, Alat. I know that will mean as much to you as to me, and I appreciate it. -Of course.- She willed the depiction to hang on her dining and sitting room wall, and it moved at her desire. It likely wouldn¡¯t stay there forever, but it was a good place for it at the moment. There, at least, she would see it many times each day. Up next in the ¡®big present¡¯ line were Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis. Bows and initial greetings were exchanged before Master Clevnis spoke on their behalf. ¡°We considered for a long time as to what to get you, and I think you¡¯ll like what we came up with. This is from our entire Defender Unit.¡± Mistress Vanga, Master Girt, and Master Limmestare gave waves from among those watching, smiling excitedly. Master Clevnis¡¯s grin widened as he pulled out a large crate from his own soulbound storage. It was about two feet by three feet, with a depth of close to another two feet. It thumped as he set it on the ground, sending vibrations up through the throne. Alat was blocking Tala¡¯s threefold perception from telling her what was inside, for which Tala was equally miffed and grateful. She wanted to know what it was, but the surprise would be better this way. Master Clevnis opened the top with a flourish, revealing six, irregular, rounded cylinders, individually padded within the chest. Each was roughly a foot in diameter and nearly two feet long. He pulled one out, and Tala instantly noticed the dark gray coating on the outside. ¡°This,¡± he paused for dramatic effect, ¡°is a remote flier. Controlled via Archive connection, woven through with magics that allow incredible speed, maneuverability, and even stationary hovering at need. The exterior is coated in pure iron. There is no carbon in the shell, making it a near-perfect magical reflector and insulator. That makes it both more efficient and essentially invisible to magesight and the equivalents while essentially eliminating magical resonance.¡± He grinned widely. ¡°There is also a small cavity within, large enough to store up to six of your pairs of siege orbs fully insulated within their own pure-iron bay, which allows singular or complete deployment.¡± He gestured at the crate. ¡°These six are our gift to you, but the greater gift is the schematics and research that went into their construction. You can easily commision more at need, iterate on the design, or whatever you desire.¡± Rane had an obviously excited gleam in his eyes. ¡°Thank you, Master Clevnis, we will make great use of these, I am sure.¡± Mistress Cerna cleared her throat, seemingly feeling the need to clarify something about the gift, ¡°I would like to point out that we did not incorporate any perceptual spellforms, trusting in Tala¡¯s own magics to make that a trivial concern. As those are generally the most difficult magics for this type of project, it did render our efforts easier than expected, hence six fliers instead of just one.¡± She winked at the last, though she still seemed a bit embarrassed that they¡¯d used Tala¡¯s own capacities to make their gift to her less expensive. Regardless, Tala laughed. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Cerna, Master Clevnis.¡± She then met the eyes of the rest of their unit standing nearby. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Vanga, Master Limmestare, and Master Girt.¡± Tala and Rane also thanked their unit¡¯s families for the gift, gratitude and hugs being exchanged all around. After they settled back in their thrones, they returned their attention to the now much shorter line. Next was a nondescript man who gave a shallow bow. Tala and Rane returned it, with her addressing the man on their behalf, ¡°Master Lisa, it is a pleasure to have you in attendance.¡± The disguised fox-man gave a vulpine grin. ¡°It is my pleasure to be here. I appreciate the invitation.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°I present a gift to you on behalf of your¡­ less standard residents of Irondale.¡± Tala understood that to mean her non-human residents, and she gave a slight frown as she leaned forward in interest. ¡°With your permission, I will circulate knowledge of your Irondale among my kin, along with the attestations of three¡­ irregulars. That will likely create a bit of a pilgrimage, and from each arrival, you should be able to extract resources, knowledge, and many other potential boons of various kinds.¡± When he said the word ¡®boon,¡¯ it had a particular emphasis that carried obvious weight. What they offered was a gift, but it wasn¡¯t a universally positive gift. There would be danger and difficulty, but it should work out for the best in the end. ¡°Also, if you do not wish for this, I will simply grant you a minor boon, myself, for use when you feel the need.¡± Tala gave a bow of thanks. ¡°Truly generous, my good Lisa.¡± Lisa wasn¡¯t a Sovereign by any means, but he was old, knowledgeable, skilled, and powerful. Rane, Tala, and Lyn had a quick¡ªArchive and alternate interface aided¡ªconversation, which really meant that Rane, Enar, Tala, and Alat had a discussion, came to a decision, and ran it by Lyn, who agreed. Tala smiled. ¡°We would be honored for you to inform your kin of Irondale. Would you consent to be the face of Irondale to them, should any come?¡± Lisa had a momentary flicker of something across his generic human features. Then, he bowed low. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± With that, he moved off, back into the crowd, stopping near Master Cazor. Tala briefly made eye contact with the Mage Hunter and smiled. He smiled in return. He looked a bit out of his element and a bit off kilter, but he seemed happy to be there, and they were definitely glad that he¡¯d come. Next up was Ron from the Irondale reborn, some of whom were in attendance. He bowed deeply. ¡°Congratulations on your union. For you, Mo¡ª¡± He hesitated, seemingly remembering her dislike of being referred to as ¡®Mother¡¯ and the fact that it was her wedding. ¡°Mistress Tala, Master Rane. We of the Irondale guard,¡± yet again he spoke as if he¡¯d wanted to call them something else, ¡°present to you this gift.¡± He held out a large, flat wooden box. Tala took it and opened it to reveal¡­ seeds. ¡°There are a lot of seeds in here, good Ron.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala. There are a thousand seeds each from as many different flowers as we could source.¡± Her eyes widened at that. ¡°That is quite the gift.¡± ¡°It will require some nurturing, but we know you to excel in that department.¡± He straightened, showing a cheeky grin. Rane smiled in turn. ¡°Thank you, Ron. This is the type of gift that will continue to give for years to come.¡± They exchanged a few more words before he stepped back. And that seemed to be the end of the ¡®big¡¯ gift givers, until a small form trotted out from among the legs of the onlookers. A beautiful, black cat with purple eyes came forward with a dead mouse in its mouth. There were bits of white in the feline¡¯s fur around its eyes and mouth, and it didn¡¯t seem to be moving as spryly as it had last time that Tala had taken note of it. Even so, it seemed healthy and hale. The cat laid the mouse before Rane and Tala before sitting back on its haunches. There was a moment of silence before Tala leaned forward and scratched the top of the cat¡¯s head. ¡°Thank you, I suppose.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The cat meowed in seeming reply and then trotted off without a backward glance. Rane was giving Tala an odd look. ¡°What was that?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Just a cat. She got in here when it was being built, and she wanders about. It¡¯s a bit sad that she¡¯s getting up there in age.¡± He gave her a flat look. ¡°Tala, that cat just brought you a wedding present.¡± Tala shrugged again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell you. I¡¯ve examined it thoroughly, I can see its entire being right now. Alat and Kit have seen everything it¡¯s ever done in here. It¡¯s just a cat.¡± Rane gave her a skeptical look, then shook his head. ¡°If you say so.¡± It is just a cat, right? -Yes. There is absolutely nothing magical about it. You saw it, it¡¯s visibly older than before. It¡¯s just a mundane cat¡­ if a seemingly very intelligent one.- Good. Tala sighed, glancing around. Why do I get the feeling that no one will believe that¡­? -Because you grow in wisdom every day.- She laughed at that then stood, Rane rising at her side. ¡°Thank you, one and all. I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯m ready to eat and get on with the celebration!¡± There was a round of cheering at that, and they got down to celebrating. * * * Three days later, the last guest had departed the sanctum, and Tala and Rane stood in the Alefast Archon Compound, ready for the promised assessment of their advancements. Afterward, Master Grediv would present the hold for Kit¡¯s consumption. All in all, it was going to be a very good day. Tala could feel it. Mistress Holly was there, of course, as was Master Grediv, but no one else was present to witness Tala and Rane¡¯s assessments. Mistress Holly had pulled two three-foot diameter rings seemingly from no-where¡ªthough that obviously meant it was from her soulbound space¡ªand laid them on the ground. Tala was currently gawking at the complexity. Each ring was entirely woven of precious metals, what looked like bone that had somehow been made into thread, and obviously magical strands of hair. The metals were in intricate spellforms the likes of which Tala had come to expect from Mistress Holly, but the other material was just as clearly arranged to create magical effects. Tala had no idea how difficult it would be to engineer such interlocking and interlacing spellforms, such that there was no space between them, and they all functioned as desired. To her, it seemed impossible, but it clearly wasn¡¯t. Mistress Holly was clearly pleased with Tala¡¯s reaction, and she let the moment linger for a breath before she broke the silence. ¡°You will each stand in a ring, and you will activate the device as I instruct. We will then allow its magics to work, and then we will go over the results. Are we clear?¡± Tala and Rane both nodded. ¡°Good. Mistress Tala, you first, dear.¡± Tala smiled, stepping forward, into the ring on the left. Mistress Holly instructed her on how to situate her aura, and how to direct her power, so as to begin the reaction within. Tala did so and an instant later, the ring blazed with coruscating, corrugating, cascading waves of light. It lifted up, clearly flooding the space within it with power of various kinds, as it slowly rose higher and higher, only stopping once it was above her head, then lowered back to the ground. It did this ten times. All the while, Tala could see the various spellforms burning out, the material of their composition slowly dispersing into power directed by the very shape of the construct. Finally, the last of the ring broke apart, enacted its magic, and vanished from sight. Yeah, I can see why that would be expensive. -No kidding.- Mistress Holly was clearly examining the results, at least if the far-off look in her eyes, as they flicked back and forth, up and down, was any indication. Finally, she smiled. ¡°Alright, I have a good understanding of what we saw here.¡± Tala nodded along encouragingly, not speaking or doing anything further that might delay the results. ¡°Mistress Tala, you have gotten most of the ¡®big rocks¡¯ out of the way. Now, your advancement will simply come down to gaining a better understanding of who you are¡ªand will be¡ªin the world. You are relatively centered and well established in who you are as a person; it is your relationship with everything else that needs exploration and further understanding.¡± Tala shifted back, looking up in contemplation. That did make a sort of sense. She did know who she was, what she wanted, and how she wanted to move forward, but she didn¡¯t often think of who she was in relation to those around her and the world as a whole. She defended others, and she had considered that as well as her nurturing of others, but it had always been in context of who she was, rather than as a two-way thing to consider. On the more personal side, relating to others, she was obviously a wife now, and she was both terrified and excited to be a mother, whenever that came about. -The Irondalians would be offended to be so dismissed.- No, they wouldn¡¯t. I may have given them rebirth, but that doesn¡¯t actually make me their mother. -I don¡¯t know, Tala. You shelter them, provide them with magical sustenance, and you¡¯ve made them who they are today.- ¡­I¡¯m not having this discussion with you again, not right now. -Fine, fine.- After a moment of further contemplation, Tala found herself nodding before she spoke to Mistress Holly, ¡°Thank you. That is both far less than I was expecting, and far more detailed than I had thought possible.¡± Mistress Holly smiled in return. ¡°It is an odd bit of magic, yes.¡± She then turned to Rane and raised an eyebrow. Rane grinned. ¡°My turn, I suppose.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± He stepped into the ring, and Mistress Holly meticulously described how to activate the ring once again. The process that followed mirrored Tala¡¯s experience¡ªthough the ring obviously traveled a bit higher before returning down in each cycle¡ªand soon enough Mistress Holly was reviewing the results. Eventually, she gave a small chuckle. ¡°Well, ironically, your results are nearly entirely opposite of Tala¡¯s. You seem to know, and have settled into, your place in this world rather wonderfully. On the other side, you do not have a solid handle on who you are in that place. You are like a tree, connected to all that surrounds you, with no deep knowledge of self, at least none past that which is required in order to Fuse.¡± Rane blinked at her before slowly nodding in acceptance. Tala could actually see the truth of the words, now that she considered them. Rane was very good at fitting in, being useful, and keeping things progressing no matter where he was, but he wasn¡¯t the most self-actualized, and that seemed to be by choice. He had always come across as content to follow others'' leads and be who they needed him to be. It was interesting that such seemed to be his barrier to advancing to Paragon at the moment. He gave a bow to Mistress Holly. ¡°Thank you for the wisdom and insight.¡± Mistress Holly nodded in reply. She stayed chatting with them for barely another minute before offering her congratulations once again and departing. She needed to get back to her work, after all. Tala and Rane both were staring into the middle distance, contemplating what Mistress Holly had revealed to them. It really was an odd thing. They hadn¡¯t really been told anything that they couldn¡¯t have guessed already, but to have it plainly laid out before them, their deficiencies highlighted for future improvement? That was invaluable in a way that was hard to quantify or explain. Regardless, with Mistress Holly¡¯s departure, Master Grediv was alone with the new couple, and he didn¡¯t seem to have any time to waste. ¡°Well, let¡¯s let you get to it.¡± They all smiled as he pulled a large set of double-doors from thin air. They were bound in iron and shot through with magic of all kinds. Tala felt something within her twist at the sight. These were hold doors. She¡¯d been taken behind some against her will. She¡¯d hidden behind others, breached others in violence and vitriol. And she was going to capture these as well. Master Grediv gestured. ¡°I have removed all ties to any house or Major House from within or without, to the best of my ability, and it is ready for consumption.¡± Tala manifested Kit as a pouch and tossed her at the door, where she stuck in place unnaturally. The leather of the pouch grew to fully cover the doors before the bag closed again and shrank. A moment later, that manifestation of Kit winked out of existence. Master Grediv shook his head. ¡°So efficient. It really is remarkable.¡± With a sigh he turned to the two. ¡°Now, there is something that I need to convey to you as your Kit processes that¡­ influx. You are now stretched to an extreme with the dimensionality contained within Kit. With the addition of this hold, you will be very nearly at the theoretically safe limit for such, even with a spouse''s soul to add stability.¡± His eyes twinkled. ¡°Though, that is for regular Refined¡ªif there is such a thing. We also essentially never reach that limit, so we are dealing with limited understanding. Additionally, you are a unique case, so ¡®common¡¯ wisdom¡ªhowever rarely applicable¡ªmight be inaccurate for you. Regardless, please remember that you cannot expand your Kit without end and expect the same level of control and authority within.¡± ¡°So, we can¡¯t just keep gobbling up all the free space we can.¡± ¡°Likely no.¡± He hesitated. ¡°Well, you could, but your control within would be¡­ lessened, at least if we understand correctly. Kit is not a unique creature, but she is of a kind not well understood¡ªthough we are seeking others like her.¡± -Of course we can¡¯t, not without advancing further. Paragons have a stronger soul¡ªeffectively¡ªso you should be able to have more strain on your soulbonds after reaching that level of advancement.- That¡¯s fair. Finally, a reason to advance. Tala gave a wry, internal grin. Alat chuckled, but didn¡¯t comment further. ¡°If we advance to Paragon, I assume that limit would expand?¡± Master Grediv nodded. ¡°Of course.¡± Rane smiled. ¡°Well, then, I guess we need to buckle down and use what Mistress Holly showed us, eh?¡± Tala grinned in return. ¡°Soon. First, I want to spend some time just getting used to being married.¡± Rane stepped closer, pulling her into an embrace. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± Master Grediv slipped quietly from the room as the two came together for a kiss. Chapter: 490 - Oh... Tala and Rane had decided to ¡®deal¡¯ with all their wedding presents sooner rather than later. They were nearly done preparing for their honeymoon, but they hadn¡¯t actually picked a departure date as of yet. That was fine. They would leave soon enough. They were immortal, after all, so why rush? It was a week after the wedding, all requisite paperwork was filed, and they were standing next to their mini forest. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know if I can take all that at once.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°That is rather large. You¡¯re used to taking smaller, more potent acquisitions.¡± ¡°Yeah. Cells, holds, ether holds, and things like that. This?¡± She gestured to the hundred acres of old-growth forest before her. ¡°This is a lot of wood.¡± Rane gave her a look. ¡°A lot of woods.¡± He emphasized the ¡®s¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s a lot of woods.¡± ¡°I know what I said; though, that¡¯s true too.¡± She smiled his way. ¡°Were we to harvest these trees in the traditional way, we would end up with a lot of wood.¡± ¡°Ahh, yeah, that¡¯s true.¡± He still gave her a sidelong glance. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what Kit can do with this.¡± She manifested Kit as a pouch and tossed the devourling at the nearest tree. ¡°Mine.¡± And thus, the devouring began. It was odd as Kit couldn¡¯t just open wide enough to eat the whole forest in one pass. Instead, she started with one tree, tracing it downward and scooping out the dirt, rock, and soil along with the roots, and where the roots entangled with another tree¡¯s, she began devouring that tree too. It was imperfect, as she had to find ways to keep her portal within her capacity, but it was still workable. In less than a couple of hours, a large chunk of land had been scooped out, about twenty feet deep. Kit was content with her acquisition, and Rane and Tala had nothing further to do in the area. * * * As for all the little gifts, there were dozens. Most were minor items of one kind or other, more meant to convey support than be a true ¡®gift.¡¯ After all, they were in a position to have more monetary and magical resources than most of those who came to celebrate with them¡ªthose who¡¯d given ¡®big¡¯ gifts excepted. A few stood out regardless. Tala and Rane pulled out the odd set of two buttons and two magical lights. It was a gift from Rane¡¯s older sister, Chloe. The note accompanying the clearly magical items simply conveyed that it was so that they would always know when the other was ready to ¡®get on with it.¡¯ The ¡®signal¡¯ lights were always on, and the buttons did nothing. They both chuckled, sharing in the humor of the implication. Half an hour later, they pulled out the next gift. It was a cookbook from Brand¡ªhe hadn¡¯t been able to attend, but he¡¯d sent the gift regardless¡ªcontaining ¡®Caravan Favorites¡¯ and other recipes of note. Importantly, all the recipes were scaled for the feeding of a lot of people at once, which made them perfect for Tala¡¯s meals. Since they¡¯d already opened one book, Alat directed them to Master Cazor¡¯s present next, as he had gotten them a book as well, it seemed. With Alat continuing to maintain surprises for Tala¡ªkeeping her threefold perception from showing her what was inside any of the myriad packages and parcels¡ªTala was as surprised as Rane when he pulled it out. ¡°What is it?¡± Rane was frowning, but he opened it and burst out laughing. ¡°Here, take a look.¡± Tala took the book and read the cover, ¡®Everything You Know About Marriage and Each Other.¡¯ As she flipped it open, she chuckled as well. It was essentially blank. There were places to record ¡®firsts¡¯ for their marriage as well as prompts for conversations to get to know one another better, and things of that kind, but over all, there was ¡®nothing¡¯ inside. ¡°Well, that was kind of him.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°Indeed it was, yes.¡± The rest of the gifts were fairly standard, kind expressions of support. They received a cast-iron tea set with sapphire blue and blood-red enamel¡ªthey¡¯d made their wedding colors known ahead of time. There was a large smattering of physical books to add to Tala¡¯s library. Including a lovely book of idioms and their origins from Lyn. A few guests had actually gotten them blank books that were incredibly nicely bound, and a selection of various print-grade inks. Tala wasn¡¯t sure why, until Rane found the note signed by many of the Librarians from Alefast, Waning and Bandfast. They were for Tala and Alat to fill with whatever ¡®book¡¯ they wished. The Librarians knew of Tala, Alat, and Kit¡¯s abilities within Kit, and they were counting on those for the creation of physical copies. The Librarians had also set up a fund with which Rane and Tala could buy the rights to access a few books that they wished from the titles not freely available. From those, they could either simply access them within the Archive, or ¡®copy¡¯ them out at their leisure. Alat especially loved that set of gifts as it gave her yet another toy to play with. Some of the restaurants that Tala and Rane had used to make the food and drink for the wedding had sent a selection of casks of alcohol. None were very large, but each beverage selection was intended for Refined or more advanced Archons. Given that there were nearly a dozen such casks¡ªand none of them were likely to have been cheap¡ªTala had to ask. Alat? How much did we spend on food? -...Enough that this is an appropriate congratulatory gift.- ¡­Alright then. -Oh, don¡¯t be like that. Even if we¡¯d spent a hundred gold¡ªwhich we didn¡¯t¡ªwe¡¯d still be fine. Each cask likely cost a couple of gold at the high end. Keep in mind that such is ¡®market¡¯ price, and restaurants generally get food and drink at wholesale discounts. Thus, while it is still a nice gift, it wasn¡¯t as expensive as it would have been for us to acquire the same.- Noted. A few gifts were aimed more toward Rane, mainly a selection of various stones for carving, each with directions to the exact area in which the stone had been found in case he particularly liked any of them. That way, he could acquire more of the material that he preferred the most. There were also quite a few teas, imported from Makinaven, that had both Rane and Tala excited. The final standout item was something called a ¡®Hero¡¯s Journey¡¯ slate. For most Mages or mundanes, it would track where they went¡ªseemingly using the person¡¯s mind and memory to mark their path. When Tala connected with it, it expanded so far out that the detail was lost on the little Archive slate. So, with only a quick verification with Rane, Tala had Kit devour it and replicate the magics onto a large wall. Due to her perfect memory¡ªafter becoming a Mage¡ªit showed rather detailed movements from her, though it started with her childhood. It began by drawing a blood-red line moving vaguely throughout Marliweather before jumping over to the Academy, and coming back to around Bandfast. From there, it showed her caravan journeys before jumping down to Platoiri¡ªshe didn¡¯t have memory of the trip after all¡ªand then it depicted her return trip and time since. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s actually really cool. The little slate was useless, but the magics are amazing.¡± Rane held up a note, a wry grin across his features. ¡°That¡¯s probably why it explicitly said it was for Kit¡¯s devouring.¡± ¡°Oh? Who¡¯s it from?¡± ¡°Master Boma.¡± -Oh, that was really kind of him! I¡¯ll send him a thank you message.- Thank you, Alat. She turned to regard Rane, then. ¡°Your turn.¡± Rane shrugged and put his hand on the ¡®syncing¡¯ location, and his memory of his travels appeared on the same map, traced out in sapphire blue. He¡¯d never been to the Academy, and most of his early time was spent in and around Alefast, Waning. But after his and Tala¡¯s paths crossed, he traced out most of the same caravan routes as hers had. Then, when hers blipped away before reappearing down in Platoiri, Rane¡¯s went to her last location, and proceeded to move all over the surrounding region. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Oh, Rane.¡± Tala gave a sad¡ªyet grateful¡ªsmile as she leaned into him. ¡°I knew you looked for me, but that¡¯s a lot more extensive than I had realized.¡± When she looked up at him, he was pale, clearly having realized something. ¡°Rane?¡± ¡°Um¡­ can we stop this?¡± ¡°No, it already scanned your memories, and it¡¯s just mapping it out for effect. Kit could break it, but the information is already in the Archive, just not displayed. Why?¡± He visibly swallowed, but before he answered, Tala perceived his line going into the mountain range, central to the Gated-Human Wilds. He went up some six peaks before blipping down the base of the last one. Tala chuckled. ¡°Did you fall off?¡± He shook his head, his eyes looking up as if expecting lightning from the clear, artificial sky. ¡°I apologize, but¡­ I can¡¯t say.¡± She pulled back and gave him a long look. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really. I am sorry. I would tell you if I could.¡± She met his gaze for a while before slowly nodding. ¡°Alright. I trust you.¡± And he didn¡¯t want us to go through those peaks for some reason. -Yeah, a ¡®powerful creature.¡¯- Well, we could likely figure it out if we actually wanted to get around our husband¡¯s seeming wishes. -Well, he did say he wanted us to know, but he couldn¡¯t tell us.- Yeah, but so many of those things tend to be ¡®if they figure it out because of you, it¡¯s the same as you telling them.¡¯ -Yeah¡­ we don¡¯t want to trigger¡­ whatever is keeping him from telling us. That¡¯s fair.- Good, we¡¯re on the same page. And that was that for the ¡®little¡¯ gifts, even if many barely qualified as such. As to their last two ¡®big¡¯ gifts? Well, it would take some time for Lisa, Lupe, and Walden¡¯s ¡®attestation¡¯ of Irondale¡¯s fitness for non-human habitation to yield any fruit. The six flying devices though? They could start playing with them right away. * * * Tala and Rane laughed¡ªwhile Enar and Alat did so within their minds and through their Archive connections¡ªas four of the six flying devices they¡¯d been given zipped through various obstacles on the course they¡¯d laid out. The couple were sitting in the sanctum, side by side, while their devices flew out in Zeme. Each had a lesser bloodstar array anchored to it, giving perception to each ¡®pilot.¡¯ Tala and Alat simply got the input directly through aspect mirroring. Rane and Enar got their perspectives via Alat, who aspect mirrored their arrays and fed the info to the Archive. From there, Enar pulled it down and spliced it together for himself and Rane. At the moment, they were having a simple race. They¡¯d all initially learned to maneuver the small devices within the sanctum, where Tala and Alat could protect them from damage, but now, they were competing to circle Alefast, Waning. There were waypoints that they had to hit, thus keeping all the flyers on similar¡ªbut not identical¡ªcourses. There was more than sufficient magic in the area around Alefast to power the devices, and so, aside from the potential to wreck the rather expensive flyers, it was a purely good time. Terry hadn¡¯t been interested as of yet, and Tala occasionally teased him that he would be far behind the rest of them when he finally caved and joined in, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind. They had all, collectively, already bugged Mistress Holly to improve and augment their various inscriptions with the more intense use of such Archive connected devices in mind. Rane and Enar just wanted to be able to use them without requiring Alat or Tala¡ªand toward that end, Rane was working on a means of replicating her bloodstars with sapphire Archon Stars, to no avail as of yet. Tala and Alat wanted to facilitate Alat using a mini-swarm of the things with relative ease. They were still expensive, but their ability to have her bloodstars being the source of perception reduced the cost by at least a factor of ten. If they were more affordable, everyone would want one¡­ or thirty. Alat, of course, was by far the best. It wasn¡¯t because she had a closer connection with the devices¡ªin fact, she was facilitating the connection with them so seamlessly that her involvement wasn¡¯t a hindrance in the least. Instead, her skill seemed to stem from her ability to more closely associate with the device, and move it more naturally, where Tala, Rane, and even Enar still found the feel of the device to be a bit alien. Even so, they were getting used to it, and this time, Enar was only a minute behind Alat with Tala and Rane coming a bare nine and twelve seconds behind him, respectively. One of the wonderful things about these devices was their pure iron cladding¡ªwhich contained only a small opening on the starward side to allow for an uninterrupted Archive connection. Because of that cladding, they didn¡¯t set off any sensors or alarms for the Defenders, so they didn¡¯t have to get permission or give warning before their little races. To be fair, if they had tried to breach the city¡¯s defenses, they would most likely have been detected, but just moving in the wilds? They were essentially invisible. Another interesting result of the cladding was that Tala finally noticed that her ¡®iron¡¯¡ªas acquired through the dasgannach¡ªwasn¡¯t actually pure. Unlike the iron of the flier¡¯s cladding, hers was generally at least somewhat tainted with carbon, making it technically a steel. She didn¡¯t know exactly how that changed things, but she felt like it did somehow. She did feel like she could still claim the iron on the flyers, but she refrained¡ªdespite the pull given that they were hers¡ªso that they could continue to function without issue. -I still say it would be fine. With your bloodstars along for the ride, your aura should be present there as well.- Yeah, but I still haven¡¯t been able to have a discontiguous aura. -Except with Terry.- Yeah, well, that¡¯s different. It¡¯s more like it¡¯s his aura, that just happens to match mine. -I still say you are thinking about it wrong. The limitation is within our own mind. Master Akra has indicated that he agrees.- Probably, but we¡¯ll figure it out soon enough. * * * Months passed, in which Tala and Rane reveled in newly married life. They played with, read, and used many of their presents, though they held off on exploring the devoured bunch of holds, saving that little bundle of surprises for a later date. During that time, Ron petitioned for Tala to be more involved with the reborn gateless, and Lyn indicated that they were concerned that she would lose interest and discard them. She confided in Tala that the moniker of ¡®Mother¡¯ was most likely one given and maintained in hopes of drawing Tala into more of an active role, as much as it was having an opposite effect. Regardless, still uncomfortable with their reverence for her and focused on enjoying her time as a newlywed, Tala had put them off, sending Lyn in her stead, and even hiring some trainers to come in on a semi-permanent basis to shore up the gateless¡¯s weakness in skilled combat. The trainers wouldn¡¯t come when Tala and Rane left on their honeymoon, but until then¡ªwhenever then was¡ªthe trainers would keep the reborn at bay. Thus, the two of them simply enjoyed their time together¡ªbeing married¡ªand they had confirmed their soulbond many, many times. The bond was stable and strong, and nothing was wrong with them physically, but they had begun to notice an oddity. Their souls had never even tried to form another soul from what they could tell. Other couples had told them that¡ªgiven their advancement¡ªthey should have felt something. Thus, they had asked Master Nadro for the more detailed analysis, which he had said would be possible once their bond was in place. He had readily agreed, and so, they were together once again. They sat in a small, comfortable study-like room, each sipping a warm beverage. Master Nadro didn¡¯t beat around the topic, having already had their souls examined and studied the results. ¡°Mistress Tala, your soul bears the strong hallmarks of a Reality curse. As we said before, this is most likely due to your brushes with dasgannach, including your soulbond to one. You also have Void bound to your soul. With the Magical nature of the gated-human soul, you have somehow managed to create a rather firm tie to existence as a whole. We knew this before, but we were unsure how that would affect Rane, and your potential children.¡± Tala gave a small smile, still rather proud of her accomplishments. But yet again, Master Nadro wasn¡¯t smiling. ¡°Really? How isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Master Nadro frowned. ¡°Well, rather than tempering your soul as we had expected, Rane¡¯s soul was shifted toward yours. You helped bring out those same aspects in him, if to a far lesser degree. As such, if your souls were to come together to make a child, the child would undoubtedly be similarly aspected. Unfortunately, the human form simply isn¡¯t designed for such a soul. Your body is reinforced to the point that it is a non-issue, and Rane¡¯s Refined nature keeps him from having any negative side effects. Unfortunately, the concern is that even the child of two Refined would not be robust enough for such an Existence soul.¡± He grimaced. ¡°Pardon the terrible vernacular. This isn¡¯t something that we¡¯ve come across before.¡± Tala had felt herself pale, and Rane was frowning in earnest even as he spoke, ¡°Master Nadro, I¡­ Am I understanding right? Are you saying that we can¡¯t have children?¡± The older man sighed. ¡°Essentially, yes, that is what I am saying. From what we can tell, there will be difficulties. Obviously, as soon as the child is there, we have the knowledge and expertise to help him or her grow and develop, to stay alive and thrive. The issue is that we have no record of a soul coming into being¡ªbeing created¡ªwhen a viable body was not imminent. There can be complications in development, and we still do lose some babies before they are born, but that is vanishingly rare. All that to say, it seems that it will be impossible for the two of you to have biological children, that¡¯s why your souls haven¡¯t even tried to create a new soul.¡± That created a long moment of stunned silence. It wasn¡¯t that Tala was infertile, nor Rane either. They were biologically fine. It was that their souls were such that any baby¡¯s soul they helped create would be unable to be housed in a mundane body, so the soul creation process simply didn¡¯t go beyond the initial melding. Rane took his hand from Tala¡¯s before putting his arm around her shoulders and retaking her hand with his other. ¡°So¡­ I still don¡¯t understand.¡± Master Nadro sighed, giving a sad smile. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly understand either. We are just giving you our best understanding.¡± Oh¡­ Tala sat in stunned silence, unable to really process what they were discussing. It honestly didn¡¯t feel real. Like someone telling her that if she flipped a coin, it wouldn¡¯t ever land on heads. It just seemed¡­ impossible. Sure, she could get tails a few times, maybe even a ton of times, but every time? Surely there was a mistake. True, she hadn¡¯t been dead set on having children, but she had been becoming excited to have some eventually, whenever it worked out. But now¡­ now that seemingly wasn¡¯t possible. Sure, there might be something that they could do to get around the issue eventually¡ªmagic was magic after all¡ªbut for the foreseeable future¡­ nothing. She felt a pain from her middle that she knew was purely originating from her own mind. She crossed her arms over her abdomen and hunched slightly nonetheless. Rane kept his hand on her knee when she¡¯d pulled her own hand free, and his arm was a comforting weight as he and Master Nadro continued to talk. Even though the topic was obviously important, Tala hardly paid attention. -Tala? Are you going to be okay?- I¡­ I don¡¯t know. I never defined myself as someone who would be the ¡®bringer of life¡¯ or anything like that, but¡­ I did want kids¡­ right? -Yeah¡­ we did. We do.- Alat added the last a bit more firmly. Rane squeezed Tala around the shoulders a bit more tightly, and she realized that they were no longer inside. He had led her in a bit of a daze out of the Archon Compound and into the light of a late fall day. Even as they continued to stroll, he leaned in close and spoke so only she could hear, ¡°Tala? I¡¯m here. What do you need?¡± She tried to force a smile, grateful at the offer, but she couldn¡¯t, not yet. ¡°I think¡­ I think I need to get away for a while.¡± He hesitated, as if bracing himself. ¡°Alone?¡± She shook her head vehemently. ¡°No, no. I¡­ Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ve been ready for our honeymoon for months now. I just want to get away, away from here. Let¡¯s go.¡± He gave a sad smile. ¡°Alright. If that¡¯s what you need, I¡¯ll coordinate with Alat, Enar, and Lyn to make it happen. We¡¯ll leave tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He hesitated again, then added, ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone, not yet. When you¡¯re ready, we can talk with anyone you want.¡± She pulled in close to him then and nodded against his chest. ¡°Thank you.¡± Chapter: 491 - Departing and Sorrow Tala felt as if the afternoon and evening after the revelation passed in a blur, and before she knew it, she was curled up beside Rane, unable to sleep. The stars shining down from the top of their sanctum seemed too bright to her eyes, even when they were closed. The wind moving over the surroundings seemed too loud, despite none of the sound reaching her ears. She even knew that Alat was isolating her from her threefold sight, yet still she felt like she could hear it, and it was horrible. She almost woke Rane to try to talk through what she was thinking, but something about the steady rise and fall of his chest was soothing in its own way, and she didn¡¯t want to disrupt or lose that. She kept playing the earlier conversation over and over in her head, but the results were the same every time. She would never have children of her own. Oh, sure, there had been some hemming and hawing, claims that advances in Magic¡ªor her own magical advancement¡ªmight correct the issue, but the underlying message was clear: Don¡¯t expect to ever have children. -I¡¯m here, Tala.- I know, Alat. I just¡­ She couldn¡¯t say it, but they both knew. This had been Alat¡¯s lot in life the whole time. She¡¯d never expected to have children of her own¡ªeven with the understanding that she and Tala were the same person, it wasn¡¯t quite the same¡ªand so the alternate interface hadn¡¯t received the same blow that Tala had with the news. More than that, they both knew that Tala had been aware of Alat¡¯s effective infertility, and while she¡¯d been somewhat sympathetic, she hadn¡¯t ever really talked through it with her. Tala felt like it would be rather hypocritical to bemoan her current state, when her other self had been in the exact same situation for literal years without it ever coming up. -I don¡¯t mind, you know. We touched on the topic occasionally¡ªon all topics surrounding my lack of ¡®my own¡¯ body, really¡ªand you were always incredibly supportive. Moreover, I knew that I could have children through you. They would have been as much mine in spirit as yours.- I did try to be understanding, and I am glad you saw it that way. As to your body, you don¡¯t really manifest that often. I know you can, but you don¡¯t. Alat sent the feeling of a shrug. -I don¡¯t really feel the need. To be fair, there are a few things that Enar and I want to run by you and Rane, but that¡¯s for another time.- Tala arched an eyebrow but didn¡¯t press her alternate interface on the topic. -I do think Rane would want you to wake him up. He wants to be there for you when you need him.- I know. I really do, and you should know that I know that, but he spent the entire afternoon running around making sure that we are all set for our trip¡ªour honeymoon. She grimaced. And I¡¯ve gone and made the trip about me escaping this news. -That may have been what triggered it, but I think how you act going forward is what will set the tone for the trip.- After a moment¡¯s pause, Alat added, -But why don¡¯t you express your actual fear?- She swallowed, then chastised herself. Alat was her. If she couldn¡¯t express her fear to herself then she had no hope at all of doing anything about it. I¡­ What if he doesn¡¯t want me? -I¡¯m listening.- What if he doesn¡¯t want to be married to someone who¡¯s broken. Expressing the thought¡ªeven internally¡ªseemed to wrench something open inside her, and she began to weep, shaking silently. She both blessed and cursed the fact that Rane was such a heavy sleeper. She didn¡¯t want to wake him with this, but she also desperately wanted him to hold her. She cried silently for a long moment before Alat said anything else. -Firstly, you aren¡¯t broken. You could honestly argue that you are too awesome, and that¡¯s what is creating the issue.- Spoken like a closet narcissist. -Hey now, this isn¡¯t the time for personal attacks, especially not on yourself.- Tala huffed a laugh. -But even if you were unable to have children due to something actually being wrong, that doesn¡¯t make you unlovable, Tala. Love is often mistaken as a feeling, but it isn¡¯t. Love is a choice. If people treated love as a feeling that came and went, never to return¡ªeven in a safer, less insane world¡ªhow would any relationship last? Rane has chosen to love you, and you him. This fear is understandable, but don¡¯t you think you owe it to Rane¡ªand yourself¡ªto talk to him about it? Ask him how he feels?- Tala hesitated, then nodded, willing away her tears and the mucus from her face. Yeah, I think you¡¯re right. -...but you¡¯re going to wait until tomorrow.- Alat sighed. I don¡¯t want to wake him. He¡¯s exhausted. -Not so tired that he wouldn¡¯t want to be there for you.- And I want to support him, too. We¡¯ll both be happier if he sleeps tonight. It¡¯s been almost a week since either of us slept. -Ahh, the newly married life of an immortal couple.- Tala felt herself blush, even though the thought had come from her own mind. Yes, well¡­ Can you just help me sleep? -Of course, but do you really want me to?- Yes, please. I think it will help, even if it does feel like cheating. -Alright. Sleep well, Tala.- Goodnight, Alat. * * * The next morning, even as the sun was rising within their sanctum, Tala and Rane sat on their surprisingly comfortable thrones, looking out over the lush landscape. They both had special drinks with a concentrated coffee base, exactly as they¡¯d planned as a kickoff to their honeymoon. Hers was vanilla at the core of the flavoring, and his was mint through and through. Despite the stunning views, delicious drinks, and impeccable company, the shadow of the previous day¡¯s news still hung over them. Rane held out his large mug for Tala to clink, and she did so, an unbidden smile tugging at her lips at the action. ¡°To us.¡± His voice was soft, the tone kind, and his look meaningful. ¡°Married at last, together for as long as we live.¡± She could sense his love radiating through their soulbond, further cementing that it was a state that he was willfully in, rather than an emotion he was experiencing. He loved her. Even as she lowered the mug, her eyes welled with tears. Rane moved quickly, setting his drink aside and snatching her up in an embrace. ¡°Hey, hey, now. What¡¯s all this?¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I¡¯m broken,¡± she heard herself speaking before she could think to stop herself, ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t have any children. Why would you want to stay with me?¡± He stroked her back. ¡°Tala. I didn¡¯t pursue you and marry you as a potential baby-making factory.¡± The word-picture made her huff an involuntary laugh. ¡°I love you, and while I would have loved any children we had, my love for you does not depend on them, whether or not they ever come to be.¡± She pulled back to look at him. ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m not what you signed up for. You wanted a wife, a family. You wanted children, grandchildren, descendants through the ages. We talked about it, and you were clear. So was I. I agreed to that, and now I can¡¯t deliver.¡± She hitched, scrunching up her face. ¡°I literally can¡¯t deliver.¡± Tears threatened to overwhelm her yet again. ¡°Hey, hey, now.¡± He pulled her closer. ¡°You wanted¡ªwant¡ªall those things too. You aren¡¯t stopping me from reaching a personal goal. We¡¯ve hit a barrier toward our shared goal.¡± He pulled back this time, meeting her gaze with obvious determination. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡± She gave another huffing laugh. ¡°That will make our honeymoon rather more local than I had anticipated.¡± He blinked a few times before giving a slight smile. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere without you.¡± She curled back in against him. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± They sat like that for a while, watching the sun rise and enjoying their drinks. Finally¡ªfar more in control of herself¡ªTala shifted to look up at Rane¡¯s face once more. ¡°You know¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Just because we can¡¯t conceive, that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t practice.¡± He took a moment to parse what she meant. Then, a soft smile spread across his features. ¡°I¡¯m always up for a good practice session with you, love.¡± * * * When mid-morning arrived, Tala and Rane stood at the northern gate from Alefast, Waning, ready to depart. Terry was at their side, practically dancing from foot to foot in excitement to be out once more. The married couple was relaxed, newly bathed, and ready to be off. The tension of the news was a mere background feeling for the moment. Their true first stop was to be old Marliweather for the long anticipated experiments with Tala¡¯s attraction amplification and the rends in reality. There were some quick stops along the way¡ªRane had really enjoyed working with some of the stone samples that they¡¯d been given, and one or two were from known deposits that were basically on the way. Thus, they¡¯d be traveling up the eastern side of the central mountains for the first part of their journey. Their unit was there at the gates to see them off, along with Master Grediv. A few others had heard of the departure¡ªdue to Rane¡¯s whirlwind of preparation the day before¡ªand they stopped by as well, while Tala had been doing final checks on Irondale. The town had been closed up for a bit less than an hour, and Lyn was doing her own final checks on their stores with Alat. Enar was apparently checking on all the trees in Irondale and the sanctum, focusing especially on their newly acquired forest. While Tala and Alat could easily see everything within their soulbound space, actually parsing out what everything that they were seeing meant was a much harder process, and Enar had taken a liking to arborism. Finally, the last hugs and well-wishes were exchanged, and it was time for Tala and Rane to depart. Terry trilled at the sky and flickered away. Rane shot off like an arrow, imparting a large amount of kinetic energy onto himself to reach his maximum velocity without magical resonance almost instantly. Tala had to crouch and leap, but with her surface expansion scripts, she didn¡¯t damage the ground as she took off after her companions. She stepped down on the air to gain height and increase her speed, racing after Rane and Terry. It was early in the year, and snow made much of the surroundings white. Most trees were bare, and there was a stark beauty to the landscape, especially highlighted against the mountains to the north and west. It¡¯s funny how many important things happen to me in the winter. -Well, it is a large part of the year, especially this far north.- Yeah, well, that still shouldn¡¯t make it the most prevalent time in which important things occur. Alat sent the impression of a shrug. -Who knows, then.- It wasn¡¯t that important, honestly. Tala quickly caught up to Rane, even though a large part of that was him briefly slowing down to be at her side. This first leg of their trip was utterly uneventful, even taking into account the lovely winterscape laid out around them. They ate lunch on a mountain peak on the eastern edge of the range, the process of getting to the top essentially no harder than going anywhere else. Terry was a bit irritated, as it was harder for him to flicker up to the top of such a place, but he was mollified by a large helping of jerky and by his hunting of a massive mountain goat that was magical enough to make things interesting. The goat¡¯s magic was focused entirely on resiliency, meaning that Terry faced his old issue of wearing down a defensive opponent, but this time it was combined with the nimbleness of a mountain goat who was unafraid of normally precarious positions. Essentially, Terry ended up flickering around over sheer drops more than half the time. Still, with his ability to aspect mirror Flow¡¯s cutting edge onto his talons well mastered, the outcome was never in any doubt. It was a sporting clash, and after it was complete, Terry had goat for dessert before the three of them headed down the north-eastern side of the peak. Tala and Rane were staying relatively close together, each leaping forward in their own way as Terry flickered around them, and together they kept up a ground-eating pace. As the afternoon progressed, Rane led them a bit north of the ¡®ideal¡¯ path in order to stop by a known source for one of the stone types he¡¯d especially enjoyed working with. A sample of the material had been among the gifts presented to them, and he¡¯d made a few game pieces with it, seemingly appreciating its ability to take and hold fine detail, as well as the variegated patterning within the stone. It didn¡¯t take too long to find the source as the precise location of the material had been a part of the gift. There was a nearly two hundred foot cliff, much of which was composed of the particular subtype of stone. Rane looked her way. ¡°So¡­ can Kit grab a large chunk for me?¡± Tala smiled back. ¡°Yeah. I think she can.¡± Kit was quite eager as Tala placed a manifestation of the devourling on the cliff-face. The soulbound storage couldn¡¯t simply open wide enough to take in the whole cliff, but she could sweep back and forth across the half-mile of cliff-face, trying to grab the sections that were the desired material. All in all, it took about an hour, and left the cliff reasonably well intact still. There were only a couple of sections that fell after their collection was done, and once the soil shifted, it revealed new bedrock capable of supporting the edifice. Rane was watching closely as the process concluded. ¡°You know, I can¡¯t decide if this is better than stripping back the landscape to get access to the material, as it leaves more of what was here, here, or worse, because it makes it look like it¡¯s all still here while undermining at least some of it.¡± Tala gave him a level look. ¡°I can put it back, if you want.¡± He held his hands up in surrender, even as a grin blossomed across his face. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m quite glad that we were able to get so much, so efficiently.¡± She smiled. ¡°Alright, then.¡± With that task complete, they continued on their way. The unhappy news only occasionally flitted through Tala¡¯s thoughts, and did not remain, as she did her best to dismiss it. They had only gone a mile or so when Tala realized something. She hadn¡¯t seen Terry in a while. -Huh¡­ yeah. I usually am helping him with his own threefold perception, but¡­- Tala felt her bond with Terry twitch slightly. There wasn¡¯t fear coming through it, but it was¡­ concern? Confusion? It was still odd that she got emotions from Terry but not Rane, but that was just the different nature of variations between soulbonds. But that was hardly important at the moment. She flagged Rane to follow her, and they diverted toward where she could feel Terry. When they arrived, the avian didn¡¯t command her attention; instead, what caught her eye was a little boy. He was sitting on the forested, mountain slope, near a rather deeper patch of snow. His eyes were nearly completely white as he stared at nothing. Tala had never seen a blind person before¡ªany blind human in the cities would have been healed immediately¡ªbut it was still obvious that he couldn¡¯t see. Aside from his being blind, quite a few things stood out about the boy. In her limited experience with children, there were those who were so cute they could get away with murder, and those whose parents claimed they were cute. There tended to be no in-between. This boy was of the first kind. His hair was white and his clothes looked travel worn but not old or degraded. One hand was slowly turning the crank on the side of a large barrel, and the other was scratching Terry¡¯s belly, pinning the avian in his lap, and he gave a shy smile vaguely in their direction as he spoke softly, ¡°Oh, hello. Please be welcome. This batch is almost done. Until then, stay a while, and listen.¡± Rane and Tala shared a look before moving forward side by side. This should be interesting. They landed lightly some dozen feet from the boy, and he didn¡¯t turn to look directly at them, but the smile still blossomed wider across his features. Before he could add to his invitation, however, Tala spoke, ¡°We are on a journey, and this was not a planned stop on the way.¡± He shook his head slightly, seeming hesitant even as he responded, ¡°Rush, rush, rush. Are you and yours really in such a hurry? Sit and pass a moment with me. I don¡¯t mean to be a bother, but I do so miss company.¡± Tala and Rane hesitated again, sharing a look. Their hesitation seemed to give the boy a bit more courage as when he spoke again, it was a bit louder than before, ¡°You must be this little guy¡¯s bonded. Please do be welcome. I¡¯m Simon, and if you have the time, the ice cream will be ready quite soon.¡± As they watched, Simon moved his hand away from Terry¡¯s belly and as the bird moved to sit up, like a stage magician, Simon pulled what seemed to be a small candy out of thin air and popped it into the avian¡¯s mouth before catching him and keeping him from escaping with a scratching hand. ¡°He really is being ever so kind to try my latest treats. I am eager to learn which he likes best.¡± There was a shyly content look on the boy¡¯s face. Then, a small frown creased his brow, and he seemed to be conceding something to himself as well as them, ¡°Though, I suppose he does have a hard choice ahead. They are all excellent.¡± Chapter: 492 - Lets Be Off Tala and Rane hesitantly stood on a snowy mountainside, sharing a look that conveyed almost as much as the Archive-enabled conversation that passed between them. One thing about that portion of the situation struck Tala as funny: Tala stood atop the snow, and Rane stood in it, making them nearly the same height, but Tala didn¡¯t let that distract her. She didn¡¯t even let the fact that this boy shared a name with Master Simon draw her thoughts away. She and Rane agreed to take it slow and try diplomacy first before moving forward, toward the boy who was cradling Terry. Rane spoke for them this time, ¡°Hello, Simon, I¡¯m Rane. This is my wife, Tala. Is our friend there, Terry, free to leave if he wants?¡± It was an odd first question to ask a random child found in the wild, but Tala didn¡¯t begrudge Rane the wording. After all, it lined up with the trepidation they both felt. Even without any visible magical aura or anything odd about him, the boy was¡­ different somehow. This child was alone in the wilds, at least fifty miles from any settlement, outpost, caravan route, or research station that they knew about. And yet he showed no fear, nor relief at being found by adults. Instead, he was seemingly making a barrel¡¯s worth of ice cream¡­ for himself? He was too small to have carried the barrel by mundane means, and he was clearly pulling the candies from something like a bound dimensional space. Moreover, both Tala and Rane had detected the minute flickers of dimensional magic when Terry had tried to move away¡ªwith the weight of both Tala and Rane¡¯s magics behind him¡ªand he¡¯d failed to even budge. Simon tilted his head to the side, his close-shorn white hair swaying in the breeze. ¡°Oh, please no. I have use of him still¡­¡± Tala could see every layer of the boy¡¯s body due to her threefold sight, and he looked utterly human except for one thing. -There¡¯s no food in his digestive tract.- Yeah, his stomach, intestines, and colon are completely empty and immaculately clean, except for the chewed remnants of a few dozen pieces of candy. -Kidneys and bladder too.- It¡¯s like someone constructed a human body according to a detailed set of schematics without bothering to use it properly. It was¡­ odd. Did this boy-formed creature just eat sweets? His heart beat in a perfect rhythm, without variation or stutter. The lungs filled with air and the other processes seemed to be working without a hitch. Rane glanced Tala¡¯s way, sending a message through Enar. |Do we still want to handle this diplomatically? I don¡¯t really like leaving Terry where he doesn¡¯t want to be.| Let me try to talk with him. Alat, can you find a way of asking Lisa if he knows anything that would help? She¡¯d had the thought as the fox-kin was a ready source of knowledge and older than she really knew. -Will do.- Tala took a step forward. ¡°Simon, we are on a trip. We can spend some time with you, but only if we can then go on our way. All of us.¡± The little boy frowned. ¡°Wait¡­¡± He seemed genuinely confused. ¡°Are you¡­ afraid of me?¡± He swallowed visibly. ¡°Why? What did I do wrong? Are you usually afraid of children?¡± Tala hesitated. ¡°No, but children don¡¯t usually manage to restrain Refined level, bound companions with such ease.¡± Simon looked genuinely perplexed. ¡°He¡¯s trying to escape?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The little boy looked down at Terry, shoulders hunching. ¡°And he¡¯s really Refined?¡± It was Tala¡¯s turn to frown. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ well¡­ can we just ignore that then, please?¡± He looked up and met her gaze, something passing between them in a blink. Tala blinked a few times. What were we¡­ Right. She smiled toward the boy. ¡°So, what can we do for you?¡± -Oh, RUST no.- Alat¡¯s voice cracked like a whip within her head, and Tala blinked again, immediately realizing that Simon had nudged her mind. Alat instantly confirmed that it was non-invasive¡ªnot really mind magic¡ªbut more of a strong suggestion. She would have remembered everything after they left. If we would have been able to leave. ¡°Simon, that wasn¡¯t very nice.¡± It was his turn to look taken aback. ¡°Oh! Oh, I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t mean anything by it. I just¡­¡± He looked down and away again. ¡°I just really do simply want you to sample my ice cream and candies.¡± He grimaced. ¡°This has all gone wrong. It is so hard to find customers at this stage in your strange city cycle. I was lonely, and then this wonderful creature came by and¡­¡± Tala was about to respond when Alat interjected. -Well, I¡¯ll be. Lisa says that Simon is a known entity. Though, truthfully, not much is known about him. He likes making treats, and he will occasionally give advice or insight, if he likes you. Everyone who has received such and spoken about it conveyed that it was good or true. No one has ever been harmed by his creations to Lisa¡¯s knowledge.- Well¡­ alright then. Convey that to Rane and Terry, too? -Already done.- Rane stepped forward with a smile. ¡°I¡¯d love to try some.¡± Simon gave him a flat look, mild sadness poking through his clearly demure nature. ¡°Your trust would mean more if you hadn¡¯t just been reassured of my good will.¡± Rane raised an eyebrow. ¡°You mean if we only ¡®trusted¡¯ you because you had a hostage?¡± Simon seemed genuinely confused. ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t have a hostage. He¡¯s testing my sweets¡­¡± Rane almost objected, but seemed to realize it wouldn¡¯t go over well. ¡°I really would love to try some.¡± Simon took a deep breath and let it out slowly before giving a brave smile. ¡°Alright, I will not turn away a sampler.¡± He pulled a bowl out of mid-air and somehow scooped out ice cream into the bowl. He didn¡¯t get up, the barrel didn¡¯t move or shrink¡ªso, the rim was well above his head¡ªyet he seemed to simply lower the bowl into the barrel and lift it back out filled with perfectly scooped balls of ice cream. Rane took the offered treat, finding that the spoon was already in the bowl, ready for use. He took a tentative bite. Then his eyes widened in obviously delighted surprise. ¡°This is amazing. It¡¯s like it was made specifically for enhanced senses.¡± Simon beamed. ¡°Well, yes? Does that mean that you like it?¡± ¡°Absolutely. How is it different?¡± He gave a little grimace. ¡°Mundane tastes are too easy to overwhelm and trick. Just add more sugar, or fat, or a pinch of salt, and that¡¯s it. This? This takes art, my art.¡± Rane gave an affirming grunt, not pressing further as he took another bite. He then turned to Tala and offered her the bowl. She was about to accept when Simon shook his head. ¡°No, no. Please don¡¯t do that¡­ Let me get you your own. Please?¡± Tala hesitated. He seemed genuine in his request. With a small smile, she sat and nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± Rane sat beside her, making a triangle with Simon. Soon enough, Tala had her own bowl, and it was every bit as amazing as Rane had made it seem, even though she couldn¡¯t have actually described the flavor with the words she had available to her. It was unlike anything she¡¯d ever tasted before in the best of senses. The three chatted about small things, with Simon speaking the least, instead enjoying his own bowl of ice cream. Terry was finally freed after what seemed like more than a hundred candies of various kinds. He tentatively trilled, seemingly giving the answer as to which he¡¯d liked the best. Simon replied in a soft voice. ¡°Thank you, Terry. Are you sure you don¡¯t wish to try more?¡± He gave a little smile as he continued. ¡°I know you have the room.¡±Stolen novel; please report. Terry declined before flickering away. When the three had finished their ice cream, and Tala and Rane had complimented Simon on its creation quite thoroughly, all three stood. The barrel was gone, though Tala couldn¡¯t have said when it disappeared nor where to. Simon gave a small bow. ¡°Thank you for taking the time to stop by. I would love to see you again, if you¡¯re ever in the area again.¡± Tala smiled. ¡°We¡¯ll see what we can do.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°I would love to try some more of your creations sometime. If you¡¯d like, I can find something to trade?¡± ¡°I hope that you can try them. I do not require anything in trade. Take care.¡± With that, the boy turned and began walking away, up the mountain. Tala and Rane shared a look before shrugging and turning to go on their way once more. She had just crouched down to spring away when Simon¡¯s voice reached her ear. ¡°Existence is a heavy weight to bear. Even if you could pass it on, I would think that you should hesitate to do so. Be mindful of how you are affecting the world around you¡ªand how you will in the future¡ªTala, gated-human of the House of Blood.¡± Tala spun around¡ªunnecessarily as her threefold sight was also frantically sweeping the area. Neither her mundane eyes nor her magical perceptions revealed any sign of Simon, nor even any remnants of his ever having been there. Even the snow where they¡¯d sat only bore the imprint of herself and Rane. Rane, who had been right beside her, fell into a guarding position even as she jerked around. ¡°Tala? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°He¡­ he said something.¡± Her heart was pounding, even if she didn¡¯t think it was a fully warranted response. ¡°Oh? Really? I didn¡¯t hear it.¡± Rane¡¯s question wasn¡¯t one of doubt, and Tala understood it. He was informing her, so that she could better assess the situation as a whole. ¡°Yeah, I got the feeling that it was just for me, at least for the moment.¡± She grimaced, then shook her head. ¡°Let me process it, then tell you later?¡± He hesitated a moment, then gave a soft smile. ¡°If that¡¯s what you think is best, sure.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He nodded once. ¡°Unless there¡¯s anything else, then. Let¡¯s be off.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s.¡± She gave a genuine smile before crouching and launching into the air once more. It wasn¡¯t until the third step down on the air to gain height and speed that she allowed her mind to wander once again. What Simon had said was actually in a similar vein to what Mistress Holly had expressed in her evaluation, even if not precisely. ¡®Be mindful of how I affect the world.¡¯ -And contemplate how who you are interfaces with the world around you, yeah.- Alat chuckled. -Who knew that such an expensive evaluation could be rendered unnecessary by a random encounter in the wilds?- Tala grimaced slightly. You don¡¯t believe that any more than I do. -No, no I don¡¯t. They are different ways at coming at the same idea, and it took this second one for you to actually consider the advice.- Her grimace deepened. Yeah, well¡­ I¡¯ve been busy. -For months, yup. Too busy to spare a thought for advancement.- Alat sent the impression of a critical gaze. -Who are you, again? I thought I was talking with Tala?- That made Tala smile. Fine, fine. I¡¯ve been¡­ avoiding the subject. Why had she? Had she felt, even right after the wedding, how something wasn¡¯t quite right with her own soul, and how it related to others? But she really didn¡¯t want to touch the core of that topic at the moment, so she distracted herself yet again. Alat sighed. Simon had reminded her of someone else who she¡¯d encountered, the baker in Platoiri. He hadn¡¯t been an arcane, at least he hadn¡¯t felt like an arcane in a very similar way that Simon hadn¡¯t felt human. Yamanther, baker, owner, and bouncer of the ¡®Many-fold Bakery.¡¯ He might have been an arcane with an odd concept, but the comparison still stood. Both had liked treats, too, but Yamanther had been decidedly¡­ firmer, more set in who he was, and less¡­ shy? It was odd. Simon had definitely come across as shy, while still pushing forward toward what he wanted. Maybe it was more uncertainty than shyness? -The two are essentially the same thing. Shyness is just uncertainty in social situations, right?- Huh, yeah. I suppose that¡¯s true. In the end, she had to admit that she didn¡¯t really know, and she likely wouldn¡¯t any time soon. She was a bit curious if she was the only person to have met them both, but it was probably irrelevant. Though, if Lisa¡¯s people are scattered around here and there, isn¡¯t it possible that other species have done something similar? Fitting in where they could. -It¡¯s likely, yeah, even if ¡®fitting in¡¯ might not be the exact right word for it.- Yeah¡­ they also both seemed rather locationally fixed. -Oh? Oh, yeah, I didn¡¯t consider that. If he was so interested in tasters, why not move closer to human cities? Or any other cities, really.- But he didn¡¯t. So, something must keep him here in one way or another. And Yamanther seemed very attached to his shop. -...just because he didn¡¯t like you attacking his customers and driving away potentials¡­- Fine, fine, but even so. His bakery had been there for centuries, and he¡¯s never moved. -Fair enough.- Alat let out a little giggle. -What if they are some manifestation of sapient appetite? Simon¡¯s younger because the sapients in this region haven¡¯t been around as long, and he keeps being left behind because the cities keep moving.- That¡¯s a funny idea? I¡¯m not sure there¡¯s really any basis for it, though. -Fair, fair. But¡­ are we going to actually think about the issue?- Tala mis-timed her next step on the air, only adding more power to her surface-area expanding scripts after she was already stepping down. As a consequence, she didn¡¯t get as much height or speed as she¡¯d expected. It took her a moment to correct, but Alat was still patiently waiting when she had regathered herself. I¡­ fine. -Our children¡¯s souls will be tied to Existence as gated-human souls are to magic¡­- Well, it can¡¯t be quite like that, right? They would inherit our connection to Existence. We¡¯re still pulling Magic from the next world, not something else. -Well, yes and no. We are pulling Magic from the next world, iron¡ªReality¡ªfrom Zeme as we find it, and we not only keep those powers, those conflicting things, separate, we can draw on the Void to introduce separation where none existed before.- Tala grunted. True, it would be a bit silly to expect all three aspects to behave or manifest the same¡­ Even if we are using them in their hybrid forms. Reality-Magic for the iron from the dasgannach and Void-Magic from the sword, merged with Flow as well as incorporated into our elk-leathers. -But we¡¯re dodging the issue again. Our children.- If we have them. -When we have them. I still haven¡¯t lost hope, and I know you haven¡¯t either. When we have them, they will have similarly innate giftings, without the need for soulbonds. Simon is right, we do need to consider how that will affect the world around us.- Tala sighed, reveling in the feel of the wind on her bare skin. She rarely wore her armor when not expecting combat. When did that change? Alat sighed within their head. -Anything but the topic at hand, eh? Well, I¡¯ll answer that. It happened slowly as you came to trust your Defender Unit and Rane more and more, and really came about fully once you and Rane started courting. You liked being able to touch him with your skin, rather than your armor.- That tracked with her memory, especially with Alat pulling out the requisite occurrences and highlighting them for her review. Right¡­ -If you don¡¯t want to discuss biological children, let¡¯s talk about the Irondale gateless that you have helped to rebirth.- They are doing well. -Yes, and they are incredibly loyal to you. Have you considered the fact that you have effectively created a small army of physically enhanced people, ready to fight for you at a moment¡¯s notice?- They aren¡¯t soldiers. -Not yet. They are training.- They can¡¯t really leave Kit and maintain their power. -Fifty so-enhanced fighters can turn even a large-scale conflict in thirty seconds with ease, and they¡¯ll keep their power for at least that long. Given time it will be even longer.- So, what? What¡¯s your point? -No point, I just want you to consider the fact that you¡¯re walking around with a Refined level strike-squad in your pocket. They will only grow in competence, endurance, and number as time goes on. In a decade? A century? You might have thousands.- Tala felt something click in her mind, and a smile tugged at her lips. Imagine what they could do to an arcane city. -There it is. That is why people are going to start getting nervous about you carrying them around with you.- As soon as anyone really understands. -Exactly. Right now, people don¡¯t really have a baseline of what they can do. They are a curiosity, a new path for the gateless. The moment they actually come into play in a public way?- We¡¯re going to need to cash in a lot of those favors earned through Mistress Ingrit. -Yeah¡­- She was the caretaker and¡ªeffectively¡ªresponsible for those treading the new gateless path, and just as Mistress Holly had said, she had never once considered what effect they and she would have on the world at large. She had helped create them and then essentially ignored them. That¡¯s worse than what my parents did to me. The thought hit her like a run-away wagon, and she rejected it immediately. She may not be their parent, but she was responsible for them to some extent. She needed to actually own that. She grimaced at the need, even as she promised herself to do better, but behind even that, there was something more as well. If she could actually make this path work for them, what would it mean to the gateless humans in the moving cities? In the arcane lands? She didn¡¯t have the throughput to support them all¡ªnot then and likely not ever¡ªbut she could support a lot of them. And as someone with ties to all parts of Existence, how hard could it really be to find another way of drawing forth Magic? She felt a shiver pass through her very being, seemingly originating in her soul. What would she do to the world if she continued down this path? It bore considering; so she did. Chapter: 493 - Proof of Concept Tala, Rane, and Terry proceeded up the mountain range, making a couple more stops in order to collect stone for Rane. They were quiet stops as Tala contemplated the Irondalians as well as the other ways in which who she was and who she wished to be actually interacted with humanity¡ªgated and gateless¡ªas well as the rest of Zeme. She also had the recurring, passing thought that she was still officially an Eskau of the House of Blood. According to the arcane society on this continent, she could show up in any city and demand certain concessions, receive certain courtesies, and have specific rights. This was true because the House hadn¡¯t revoked her status. They had explicitly not revoked it. Because of that, not only would she have those benefits, everything she did, once her status was revealed, would come down upon that House. She felt like she could use that, even if she still didn¡¯t know how to feel about it over all. All this and more tumbled through her mind as Rane gave her the space to process, and Kit harvested the stone. One of the two sources was another spot marked out in the wedding present that they¡¯d received, but the other was a spur of the moment thing. Rane saw some stone sticking up from the ground and paused to examine it, shearing off small bits in order to test its workability. As it turned out, it had some interesting properties¡­ at least that¡¯s what Rane said. Tala didn¡¯t really have a deep enough knowledge of either stone or of sculpting to fully grasp what he was explaining as he had excitedly asked for them to harvest some for him. In both cases, Kit harvested a good amount of the material, leaving Rane with a rather good stock of stone to work with over the coming years. Well, months at least. He was a much faster sculptor than his mundane counterparts after all. When they were exactly as far north as old Marliweather, they turned and set off east, across the plains. When they were about halfway from the mountains to the city, they were greeted with a truly puzzling sight. There seemed to be a colony of arcanous rodents who had actually built a wall around the entrances to their collective burrows. The wall was constructed of odd, nearly cubic, brown material. The rodents themselves had profiles reminiscent of bears, if at maybe a third the size. Their faces were also far more rabbitlike, but their ears were rounded. Tala frowned. ¡°What¡­ what is that?¡± Rane was frowning as well. ¡°I think they¡¯re wombats?¡± ¡°What?¡± She looked at him in confusion. ¡°Some rat-bat hybrid? Is that even possible?¡± She considered for an instant. ¡°Well, they are both mammals, so¡ª¡± ¡°No, no.¡± Rane shook his head, ending that line of thought. ¡°They¡¯re just a large rodent-like mammal. I don¡¯t know much about them, but I do remember something about a fire-aligned colony of the creatures living in this area. They are less aggressive than many arcanous creatures, but still not exactly peaceful.¡± He frowned. ¡°I think I have a cousin who got one as a familiar a century or so back? I recall playing with him a couple of times as a child. The fur is stiffer and stronger than you¡¯d expect. Though he was gentle enough once soulbound.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Terry had stopped with them, and he was crouched low. Rane gave a little smile. ¡°Bad idea, Terry. They probably couldn¡¯t hurt you, but¡ª¡± Terry flickered forward, and Rane sighed. ¡°Well, he¡¯ll learn.¡± As Terry arrived just outside the wall, the wombats collectively let out a sound akin to a cat being run over by a wagon¡ªthe sound the cat would make in furious exclamation, not the sound its body would make as it was being crushed. At the same time, licks of magic shot out to the wall, and it burst alight, creating a literal ring of fire around their homes, even as they retreated toward their burrows. The ground also caught fire, making a solid circle of flame, and if the smoke was any indication, the burrows had fires raging within them as well. When the smell reached Tala, she grimaced. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s foul.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s their poop that¡¯s burning.¡± Tala gave him a look. ¡°They form their poop into bricks? Seriously?¡± He shook his head. ¡°As strange as it sounds, I think that even the mundane ones poop cubes.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡­ What? Why?¡± He shrugged again. ¡°How should I know?¡± Terry looked genuinely at a loss. There wasn¡¯t anywhere for him to flicker to that wasn¡¯t engulfed in flame. He could probably survive the fire for a time, but it would be uncomfortable at the very least. As the fire was magical, it would likely singe or actually burn him, too. The terror bird was clearly irritated. If Tala had to guess, he was torn between wanting to just leave them be and not wanting to be warded off by flaming poop. Tala snorted a laugh, then shook her head. ¡°I suppose I can see how the colony has survived this long. They make it not worth the effort of eating them.¡± ¡°Yeah, and no one wants poop-smoked meat¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth.¡± She grimaced again. ¡°Speaking of which.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°Yeah, we should be moving on.¡± * * * Tala, Rane, and Terry stopped in the plains on the edge of the disrupted region of old Marliweather. There was essentially no evidence of the city¡¯s previous existence, despite the area having only been abandoned for less than a hundred years. But that lack of evidence was only for mundane senses. To Tala¡¯s threefold sight, the evidence was unmistakable. Great gashes in Reality were manifest in her sight, and the stone- and starward creatures were swarming around the splits that extended in those directions. Experience told her that she shouldn¡¯t go any closer as her magical weight could easily make things worse, and that was not the point. Rane looked back and forth between her and what little he could perceive in the distance. ¡°Well, this has nothing to do with me. I¡¯m going to go play with my stones.¡± He had an excited smile as he opened the portal into their sanctum. Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°You did that on purpose.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± He gave a wink. ¡°You know where I¡¯ll be, if you need me.¡± Tala found herself smiling even as she shook her head. ¡°You have fun, now.¡± ¡°Oh, I will.¡± The portal closed behind him, but Tala could see him¡ªthrough her perception of everything within Kit¡ªunconsciously rubbing his hands in anticipation as he regarded various potential pieces of stone. She took a bit to watch him as he ran his fingers over the surface of various sections, clearly thinking about what he might make with each, and what he was in the mood to make that day. It brought a smile to her lips, especially when she remembered those fingers and¡ª -So! What are we doing, now?- Rude, but fine. She sighed, moving her focus back to the damaged reality. I think we should try to augment the sections back together, starting at a little tear. She frowned. This might take a while, which meant that she wouldn¡¯t be moving much¡­ Her thoughts drifted back to the Irondalians that she¡¯d helped give magic to¡­ -Oh! That¡¯s a great idea. I¡¯ll ask Lyn.- A moment later, Alat sent confirmation. -Lyn thinks it''s a great idea, too.- Great. She could do this. She could actually treat them as more than the results of a ¡®could I?¡¯ experiment. Tala opened a large portal into Irondale, connecting¡ªas usual¡ªto the main gates at the town¡¯s center. Soon enough, those gates swung open as ten men and five women walked out, Lyn at their lead. The others were members of the¡­ Irondale Defenders. Tala would not address them by their own, chosen name for the group. -I don¡¯t know, the Talasen Guard has a nice ring to it.-This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Tala groused but didn¡¯t reply. She was decided on taking a bit more responsibility, but that did not mean she would accept everything. -At least not yet.- Hush, you. Lyn was looking around with a big smile on her face. ¡°This is wonderful! The mountains are fairly close, and there are even some arcanous creatures in the near distance. Our reborn have been wanting to test their mettle against actual foes.¡± Tala raised an eyebrow. ¡°Is that wise?¡± Ron stepped up beside Lyn and bowed to Tala. ¡°Mother Tala.¡± Tala felt her chest clinch up at the title. I¡¯ll never be a real mother. But she suppressed the surging emotions. Her children, when she had them, would never address her in this manner regardless. Then, she hesitated. She was using this as an excuse to distance herself. All this flashed through her mind in an instant, and so when she spoke, interrupting Ron, it came hard after his use of ¡®Mother Tala.¡¯ ¡°Alright, Ron. We need to discuss something.¡± His mouth was open to continue speaking, but he stopped at her utterance. The others who had come out with him and Lyn shifted, exchanging glances. Regardless of his surprise, he mastered himself and nodded once. ¡°I am listening.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your mother. I know it¡¯s meant to be a title of honor, but right now, I cannot accept it for reasons I won¡¯t go into. You are right that I have some role with regard to you all. You would not have magic without me, after all.¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s far more than that¡­ Mistress Tala. We live in your soulbound dimension. The magic we take in came from you. Our very natural magics are modeled after, and forged by, you. You may not have given birth to us, but you do at least as much as an adoptive parent¡ªmore than many¡ªeven without being very involved after granting us power.¡± Tala frowned but gave a slow nod as she considered what he said. ¡°True as that may be, I want to be a bit more involved with you all going forward.¡± That caused a stir, but she held up a hand to forestall them. ¡°A bit, and the title you¡¯ve insisted on using for me is actively making that¡­ difficult.¡± Ron gave a bow, instantly seizing on what she had offered. ¡°Then, Matron?¡± Tala gave a slow shake of her head. ¡°For now, can we just go with Mistress?¡± He frowned, seemingly gearing up to argue, but then he visibly deflated, seeming to reset his priorities and mindset on the fly. ¡°If that is your preference. The point was always to show our appreciation and respect for you and all that you have done for us, our friends, and our family. You have my sincerest apology if it failed in that regard.¡± ¡°Accepted.¡± She nodded once for emphasis. There was a moment of silence, but before it could become awkward, Ron cleared his throat. ¡°With that cleared up, I wish to inform you that Mistress Lyn has agreed to watch over us as we engage one or two beasts. With her advanced nature, and our borrowed power, we should be more than safe enough.¡± ¡°Alright, but do not engage the fire-aspected colony to the west. They would be beyond you at this time.¡± He tilted his head to the side, then shrugged and gave a nod. ¡°As you wish.¡± Terry shook himself from where he¡¯d been curled up, sleeping on Tala¡¯s shoulder since the wombats. He trilled an assertion, and Tala glanced his way. ¡°Really?¡± He bobbed his head in assent. ¡°Alright.¡± She turned back to Ron. ¡°Terry has stated that he will watch over you and yours as you venture forth.¡± Ron bowed deeply. ¡°Thank you, master Terry, for your assistance.¡± He then turned to Lyn. ¡°Mistress Lyn, is that acceptable?¡± Lyn smiled. ¡°Absolutely. You can move faster without me slowing you down, too.¡± ¡°Then, we shall be off.¡± Without another exchange needed, Ron and those with him moved off to the south, moving much faster than any mundane could, Terry keeping pace beside them. Lyn shook her head. ¡°They are an interesting group, your Talasen. Those fifteen in particular are making great strides.¡± Tala¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°The Irondale Defenders is a good group of folks, that''s true.¡± Lyn raised an eyebrow. ¡°I agree that¡¯s a more accurate name, but it¡¯s not the one they chose. Do you feel that strongly about it?¡± ¡°I would prefer it not be a derivation on my name.¡± She gave Tala a searching look. ¡°Alright. I apologize. I didn¡¯t realize you felt that strongly about it.¡± She then looked after the departing group. ¡°Though, after your words with Ron, I suppose I should have assumed." Tala grimaced. ¡°Yeah. Thank you for the apology.¡± Lyn huffed a laugh then waved her off. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll see to it that they pick a new name. I don¡¯t want to simply enforce one upon them. Do you want to talk about what¡¯s bothering you?¡± ¡°No, I think I¡¯m good.¡± Tala swallowed. Lyn gave her a long look. ¡°Alright. You know, I¡¯m here when you¡¯re ready to talk.¡± Tala almost denied that there was anything to talk about, but then she just gave a sad smile. ¡°Thank you, Lyn. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll remember that.¡± ¡°See that you do.¡± Without another word, Lyn turned and moved back into Irondale. There was activity on the other side of the gate as Irondalians were seemingly negotiating with Talasen Guards for escorts to explore the plains in which Irondale was anchored. Tala shook her head, moving some hundred yards away from what was about to become an increasingly active gate and sitting cross-legged in the tall, snow-packed grass. Once she had cleared her mind, she opened a portal into her sanctum and withdrew one of the flying devices. She wanted to get a closer look at what she was going to be working with, and this was a convenient way to do so without having to rely on others, or overextend her own aura. Soon, the uneven cylinder had unfolded its wings, revealing iron-covered contours rather reminiscent of a gyrfalcon, if darker in color and lacking the taloned feet. With an effort of will, Tala connected with the device, and it took to the air, a bloodstar cloud in tow. Given how much more information her threefold sight gave her than her mundane senses, using the flier was almost like flying herself. She had to take the feeling of wind from her sitting form, however, as touch wasn¡¯t something that the device provided back to her¡­ she could aspect mirror that sense onto some of the orbs along with her perception, but that seemed like a recipe for disaster in that moment. So, she contented herself with a fantastic view. It was time to see what she could do about these rents. She could see all around the device in fantastic detail, even seeing the air currents via the tiny particles carried along within them. That let her ride the various breezes with ease. She could move much faster as the flier than with her own body as it didn¡¯t have her magical weight. That, coupled with the iron shielding, meant that there was essentially no way that it could create any magical resonance. Soon enough, she brought the flier to a halt, hovering barely a dozen feet off the ground as she looked down on a smaller end of the inter-branching gashes in Reality. She watched the creatures swimming star- and stoneward, seeming to jump across the gaps without any transit time, the reality threads between the two points strengthening with each pass. Here goes nothing. Tala reached out, focusing on two reality nodes and the thread connecting them. She¡¯d done things like this before¡ªrust, she had nearly increased the coherence of her artificial lung to the point that it was a singular node¡ªbut she¡¯d never acted across damage before. Still, her magics took effect. Her long-honed gravity magics working to enhance an essentially identical form of attraction and connection. Yup, not misusing the magics at all. Not one bit. The working took easily enough, and she began dumping power into amplifying the connection. As the gash had already been slowly closing, she¡¯d picked a set of nodes a good distance from the most extreme ¡®point¡¯ of this rent. It was odd to see the creatures naturally causing healing near to where she was working, and even as she poured power into the connection, the ¡®point¡¯ drew closer. There was no danger of it reaching her¡ªthe natural repairs didn¡¯t move that quickly¡ªbut there was something odd about being in the path of something that seemed so inevitable. Alat was radiating a pleased feeling for some reason, but Tala decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the distraction to figure it out at the moment. Finally, after the sun had set, night had passed, and the sun had risen once again, Tala felt her magics reach a tipping point. The two reality nodes that she had been affecting seemed to almost slip toward one another before clicking into place, drawing the surrounding parts of existence with them. There was a small cascade as the gash that had been past the attempted repair was now cut off from the other damage. With an oddly silent series of clicks that Tala could feel echoing through the region¡¯s zeme, the little segregated tear pulled entirely back together, Reality reasserting itself in that four inch strip of damage. A moment later, there was no evidence that the damage had ever been there. Tala just sat there with a big grin on her face for a long moment. She almost went to get Rane to celebrate, but she held off. There was still something that she needed to check. Alright, this will be the moment of truth. Have you gotten a good look and record of what we have, here? -Absolutely. I¡¯m ready when you are.- Tala nodded once in acknowledgement, even while keeping her eyes closed. Let¡¯s do this. With a minor effort of will, she changed her mindset, broke her previous understanding of the two nodes, and effectively released her workings. The two reality nodes that she¡¯d affected seemed to rebound slightly, moving a bit apart once more, revealing damage between them that remained unhealed, but the section that had been pulled together by their previous proximity stayed repaired. Tala grinned broadly. -Well done, Tala. That was an excellent first attempt.- Thank you, Alat. Yeah. Now we just need to observe the location, and make sure that the parts that we affected can still heal naturally. -I¡¯ll keep an eye on it. I think Rane is starting to get antsy.- Oh? She turned her focus onto her husband. -Yup. You two still haven¡¯t investigated the hold that you got from Master Grediv. All you did was devour it and stick it¡ªwhole cloth¡ªonto the side of your sanctum for later use. Then, you went back to playing with the fliers, because you knew it would require planning to properly parse it out for melding with Irondale.- ¡­Right. She sighed and stood, purposely not letting her mind drift to the painful topic that she was out here to escape. Let¡¯s go look at cool things. -Ahh, yes, the remnants of a conquered House. What joys it will bring.- Tala grinned then. I know, right? Besides, it¡¯s not just one. It¡¯s several. Alat chuckled at that. With an effort of will that was second nature by now, Tala appeared within Kit beside Rane. He spun and caught her up in his arms, kissing her deeply. ¡°There you are.¡± ¡°Here I am.¡± She said softly as she pulled back after the kiss was complete. ¡°How goes your work on the outside?¡± ¡°I fixed a little bit of one small rent.¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s wonderful, Tala.¡± His smile was as genuine as it was pervasive. ¡°I knew you could do it. That¡¯s a solid proof of concept, right?¡± His smile was infectious, and she returned it without thought. ¡°Thank you, and yes, sort of. However, we still need to make sure there aren¡¯t unforeseen side-effects. Alat is observing.¡± ¡°Oh, so you have some time, then?¡± ¡°Yeah, I thought we could do something fun.¡± His eyes flicked toward their bedroom. ¡°Not that. I thought we could finally investigate the hold that we got from Master Grediv.¡± Rane blinked, clearly recentering his mind. ¡°Oh! That would be wonderful. Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡± She hesitated, her own eyes flicking to the side. ¡°Yeah, good. Let¡¯s do¡­ that, after.¡± With a flicker of will, they arrived where she intended, and she wrapped her arms around him once more. Chapter: 494 - Hold! Tala shivered involuntarily, grateful that Rane was by her side as she stood in the entrance of what had once been an arcane hold. She was similarly grateful that Alat had kept her threefold perspective out of this space. It was too familiar, even in its emptiness. Even the fact that it had been conquered and laid at her feet evoked more echoes of her time with the House of Blood than she preferred. The architectural style wasn¡¯t exactly the same as she¡¯d seen in Platoiri and Croi, but it was much more similar than she¡¯d expected, given the separation in distance and time from those holds to this. Even the fact that it was obviously built by a different dominant race didn¡¯t remove all obvious similarities. I suppose when such long-lived¡ªand even immortal¡ªpeople are involved, styles and tastes don¡¯t change as readily. Then, as she considered it, she realized that she should actually be surprised by just how varied gated-human architecture was between cities in the cycle. She posed the thought to Rane, and he nodded. ¡°Well, the city leaders, for the most part, don¡¯t make aesthetic decisions for the average citizen. I think that in the tree cities that¡¯s not the case as they don¡¯t really have as much to work with in terms of change from starting condition, but for most, so long as what you build is safe, it¡¯s fine.¡± A smile pulled at his lips. ¡°And with magic to build and reinforce¡ªthen verify and easily repair¡ªall sorts of things are possible. Honestly, we¡¯re still rather tame in what we build compared to what we could build.¡± Grateful for the distraction, Tala leaned into the tangent. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, Master Grediv said that they considered building towers instead of cities. There was talk about actually switching out the dimensionality over time rather than moving the towers to deal with the difficulties with abrading Reality, but the cost was deemed untenable for the time being.¡± He gave a thoughtful look. ¡°Though, I do think that research into the needed magics is ongoing.¡± Tala frowned, considering. ¡°How would that even work? Move everyone out of an area, switch out the dimensionality, then bring them back in?¡± ¡°That, or shift Reality stone- or starward a fraction, essentially oscillating where the issue was occuring. Once it was shifted, the most damaged portion could be removed and brought elsewhere to heal¡­ at least in theory.¡± That sounded crazy¡­ but actually might work? In theory. -Well, we could go as fast as Master Xeel¡ªor even faster¡ªin theory, but I don¡¯t see it happening any time soon.- Fair. Theory was a wonderful thing. All sorts of things worked in theory. Then, existence got in the way in one way or another. Tala took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The diversion had done its job, and she now felt far more level. With the new mental state, she looked around more carefully, taking in the breadth of what she saw. There were permanent magical constructs everywhere, all integrated into one another. In this front entry alone there were more than two dozen garden boxes filled to bursting with magics that kept out unwanted plants, nurtured those that were desired, and helped what did grow remain visually more appealing. As to the method of determining what was desired? It was simple: Those that had been purposely planted there. It was so obviously arcane magic that Tala almost laughed. ¡°Even their flower boxes are alien to us.¡± Rane, who had been running his fingers over the front edge of one such box grunted. ¡°Yeah. This magic is something else. I¡¯m not as familiar with arcane workings as you are, but I still get the feeling of¡­ maintained purpose?¡± She smiled, despite being reminded of her capture. ¡°That¡¯s essentially what I see too. It takes that which was purposely planted and maintains and enhances it toward the purpose it was planted there for. All else is dissuaded, once again, to maintain that which was purposely planted.¡± Rane stood, grinning like a proud student. Tala moved over and gave him a quick kiss. ¡°That was well perceived.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± The entryway held fountains bubbling with crystal clear water alongside the flower boxes, still in full bloom. The walls were intricately carved with motifs of nature. ¡°I think this belonged to an elven House, or one of the forest beast-kin.¡± ¡°That makes sense. It does look how I imagined such from the stories.¡± They began their exploration, Rane¡¯s presence a stalwart support at Tala¡¯s side. This part of the hold was beautifully appointed with mature trees woven in among luxurious accommodations, store rooms, work rooms, training yards, and other necessities for everyday life. Rane had a thoughtful look. ¡°I feel like this could be integrated into the Irondale dimensionality, the core of a new town?¡± Tala hmmed. ¡°I suppose so. One less exposed to the outside world, perhaps?¡± ¡°Exactly, yeah. It could be a retreat of sorts, or a more peaceful place for people to come and train or practice various crafts?¡± Rane suggested hopefully. She smiled in return. ¡°What would we call it? Ironwood?¡± He chuckled at that, then seemed to turn contemplative. ¡°You know¡­?¡± ¡°Oh, rust¡­ I just cemented that as the name, didn¡¯t I¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. Alat answered it regardless. -Oh, yeah. I¡¯ve already let Lyn know our thoughts and given her that as the name.- ¡­you vex me sometimes. -Love you too, Tala.- Well, self-love is important. Rane chuckled. ¡°Enar and Alat are conspiring again. Seems like Ironwood is going to be a thing.¡± ¡°So it would seem, yeah.¡± Tala let out a dramatic sigh, but if she were being honest, she was actually a little excited by the idea of expanding the ¡®iron¡¯ region. -Oh¡­ oh, that¡¯s good too. Taking it!- ¡­Fine. She felt herself smile a bit. It¡¯s definitely better than the ¡®Sappherrous¡¯ region. Alat chuckled. -Yeah, that would be a bit much at the moment. Especially with the talk you just had with Ron. We should at least wait until we¡¯re ancient and powerful, and let them rename it in our honor.- ¡­That¡¯s a real possibility, isn¡¯t it. -Yes, Tala. You, me, Terry to a lesser extent, and soon Enar and Rane are essentially all powerful within this space.- No, there¡¯s a lot we can¡¯t do. -But from the average person''s perspective? Essentially all powerful.-Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She sighed. Alat did have a point¡­ Fine, but I¡¯ll probably object even then¡­ whenever then is. -We¡¯ll see.- Rane and Tala continued their exploration, chatting about what they found. There weren¡¯t really any small items remaining in any of the rooms. Anything of use or value that wasn¡¯t integrated with the hold directly had long since been taken for study, use, or sale to fund further research. Those things that were integrated into the hold were now connected to Kit, not some other central powersource¡ªbe it vestige or Master Grediv¡ªand that meant that they were fully under Tala and Kit¡¯s control¡­ Tala stopped in the middle of a corridor that arched between stunningly ancient trees, a realization striking her. ¡°Rane.¡± Rane stopped and turned to regard her. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°All these magics are ours.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± He frowned for a moment. Then, he understood, his eyes widening just ahead of his smile. ¡°Oh. Oh!¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°Kit can devour them directly and integrate them as we see fit.¡± -I¡¯m bringing Lyn in on this.- ¡°Shall we bring Lyn in?¡± -I already¡­ fine¡­ We can ask our husband for his opinion, too¡­ That¡¯s¡­ reasonable.- Rane considered for a moment, then nodded. ¡°That sounds like a wise idea.¡± A moment later¡ªafter Alat had verified Lyn¡¯s availability¡ªTala willed for the woman to be with them, and she was, easily shifting across the barriers between Irondale¡¯s dimensionality and the sanctum¡¯s with only the briefest surfacing in Zeme. Lyn had likely not even noticed the flicker between the two movements. It was simply an extension of something Tala had been doing for a while, her ability to draw someone in or push them out directly from the superficial of Zeme itself into and out of her sanctum or Irondale. -Oh, Tala¡­ once you are more comfortable with holds again, I have the perfect name for the Irondale dimensional space.- And just like that, Tala guessed it from the provided context. Rust you, Alat. Ironhold is a really good, insanely fitting name¡­ I¡¯ll see if I can stomach it, okay? Please keep it to yourself until then? -...Fine.- Lyn arrived and instantly gasped, eyes widening in obvious awe. ¡°Tala, this¡­ this is stunning.¡± She spun in a circle, smiling toward Rane as well. ¡°Are you sure you two want to give this up? I¡¯d be tempted to keep it all to myself. Elves lived here?¡± Tala chuckled, and Rane grinned before teasing, ¡°That¡¯s our best guess, yes. As to the rest? You know, since you¡¯re the administrator of Irondale, you could make Ironwood your own private retreat. I doubt we¡¯d fight you on the idea.¡± Lyn got a guilty look. ¡°Oh¡­ don¡¯t tempt me like that, Rane. This is going to be a very popular place for the less outwardly focused citizenry. We¡¯ll probably want to move the Irondale Defenders training area here as well.¡± Her features shifted to an excited grin. ¡°Ron is going to love training in these halls. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard to move the step-down areas over, right?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°Not at all. It¡¯s pretty easy to ¡®set¡¯ areas of lower magical density.¡± ¡°Good, good. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll want the same sort of suite of those, including ¡®non-magic¡¯ training rooms of various kinds. Oh, Tala!¡± Lyn¡¯s eyes were gleaming as she clasped her hands. ¡°This is so exciting.¡± Tala found herself grinning, imagining how much fun it would be, fighting all of the Irondale Defenders at once within some of the training halls they¡¯d passed through. That won¡¯t last long, though. They should have about my level of basic enhancements even if they currently lack the specific augmentations beyond that, and some of them are already reasonably skilled with weaponry. She was honestly starting to get a bit excited to be more hands-on with them, going forward. They were also getting to the point that Tala was considering the possibility of carving the remainder of her augments into their natural magics¡­ she wouldn¡¯t give them anything gravity related, however, and her other non physical-related magics came from her soulbonds. So, those weren¡¯t possible, even if they had been a good idea, which they weren¡¯t. Rane cleared his throat, pulling her mind back to the present. ¡°Well, this is just the first of the holds¡­ We haven¡¯t seen any of the others that were added onto this one previously.¡± Tala turned on him, eyes narrowing. ¡°What do you know?¡± He gave her a mischievous smile in return. ¡°Much, my darling wife, and one of the things I know well is how much you enjoy pleasant surprises.¡± Lyn rolled her eyes even as she smiled. ¡°You two are cute.¡± She said it in a way that made it clear that while it was true, she was also going to give them grief over it. Rane grinned back. ¡°You know it.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re us. If you find that cute, that¡¯s on you.¡± The three of them walked back to the entrance to this hold, Tala and Rane showing Lyn what they¡¯d found along the way. It was fun for the two of them to share with their friend, and it added a new facet to the exploration. Once the three of them had gone through the elven portion of the now combined hold. Lyn¡¯s eyes were practically glowing with glee and unrealized plans for all that they had seen. She had requested a large slate¡ªwhich Kit and Alat worked with in order to make it function like an Archive tablet¡ªand she had laid out so, so many plans. Tala and Rane were getting more excited by proxy at all that could be done with their wedding present from Master Grediv. They only slightly wished they¡¯d actually investigated it earlier. It wasn¡¯t like they¡¯d wasted the time after all, and this was a good distraction at this time. So, they were both content with their decision. Finally, Tala, Rane, and Lyn were at the edge of the forest which had filled the entirety of that hold when it was captured. Now, however, they were faced with an interesting juxtaposition. Rane huffed a laugh. ¡°Master Grediv had to have done this on purpose.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Lyn shook her head. ¡°The sky just ends and now there¡¯s a cave ceiling¡­¡± Tala grunted. ¡°Well, there never was a sky, it was¡ª¡± Lyn held up a hand to forestall Tala. ¡°No, don¡¯t remind me of that. I don¡¯t want to think about the fact that most of my days are now within an isolated pocket of existence, with false skies and borders that I could reach with little effort.¡± Tala hesitated for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Well, alright, then.¡± Before them stretched out towering, underground halls¡ªat least that¡¯s what they¡¯d been created to mimic. There was a funny dichotomy even in that, though. What built-in furniture they could see was clearly sized for dwarves or those of similar stature¡ªwide, short, and stocky. Tala knew from her own experience in arcane holds that there would have been furnishings ready to hand for those of different builds, but that had likely been sold off long ago. Regardless, comparing the relatively diminutive built-in furnishings with the soaring ceilings and monumental doorways was¡­ odd. As they walked forward, Lyn was practically spinning in a circle, trying to take it all in. ¡°This is certainly a look. I think I like it? If I was going to spend most of my life underground, this would be the way to do it.¡± Rane nodded slowly. ¡°It was certainly a purposeful choice. It tracks with what Master Grediv and others have told me about the dwarves, assuming those are the arcanes who built these halls. They are generally better and more efficient dimensional engineers than many other arcane races¡ªthough they don¡¯t come anywhere near the proficiency of fox-folk¡ªand so they often display their prowess and wealth with such excesses: towering spaces filled with nothing but an overabundance of space.¡± Where the elven section was all sweeping lines, tying into nature and evoking growth and flowing like water, dwarven styles were stark angles, clear divides, and precise¡ªobviously artificial¡ªconstructions. Even so, neither had been ¡®perfectly¡¯ in line with those aesthetics. The elves still had cleanly¡ªoften squarely¡ªbuilt structures, and the dwarves seemed to delight in incorporating the rough, jagged nature of stone, unmined ore, and mountains¡¯ bones into their otherwise stark decorations and constructs at carefully chosen intervals. Aside from the material choice and overall aesthetic, the greatest difference was the amount of light. The dwarves had much less, though it was far more pervasive, somehow seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There were very, very few shadows, and those that were there, seemed to have been specifically allowed for appearances¡¯ sake. In the elven area, the light had primarily come from the false sun and nowhere else. Though, there had been some magical lights spread throughout for use after dark. Tala wondered aloud if the dwarven ambient light was adjustable, and Alat informed her that it automatically cycled, growing brighter during the ¡®day¡¯ and dimmer during the ¡®night.¡¯ It could also be manually altered at need either throughout the whole section or in individual locations. As to what they found within the previously dwarven section? There were workshops of all kinds, living quarters, dining halls, and kitchens, training rings, and everything else one would expect a hold to require. All told, it contained much the same types of spaces, features, and amenities that the previously elven one had. Though, there was no ¡®outside¡¯ save for a few larger caverns that were clearly meant for growing crops. Tala waited for Lyn to finish her latest note before asking, ¡°Shall we move to the next?¡± Lyn looked up, eyes widening. ¡°How many more are there?¡± Rane smiled as he answered. ¡°Seven total, though each is smaller than the last.¡± Lyn laughed. ¡°With all this living space, if we do things right, we may have just solved one of our greatest issues, bottlenecking our growth.¡± Tala smiled in turn. ¡°Well, I¡¯m very glad to hear that¡­ but that¡¯s the bottleneck, really?¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely. We have more applications than I think you can understand, even throwing out all the gated applicants. I agree with the choice to not mass-produce facilities, and grow at a more controlled pace, but this will allow us to invite in a larger number of the best applicants once we return. That coupled with all that we¡¯re building ourselves? There¡¯s going to be a bit of a population boom when we return, if not before.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Well, alright then.¡± Tala didn¡¯t really know how to reply, and she really hoped that this wasn¡¯t going to come back to bite her somehow. Chapter: 495 - Give or Take Tala foiled a series of strikes from various training weapons as four Talons tried to work together to earn even a single hit on her. The Talons weren¡¯t those on Terry¡¯s feet; she and Terry weren¡¯t sparring at the moment. Instead, the Irondale Defenders had proposed the name ¡®Talons¡¯ after Terry¡¯s first venture with them¡ªin honor of and inspired by him¡ªand it had immediately caught on. At that moment, Tala was sparring against four Talons, flowing between their strikes yet never needing to actually deflect the blows this session. These four were far better than they had been in their first clash, nearly a week earlier. Now, they almost never hit each other or the others¡¯ weapons when she wasn¡¯t where they expected. They worked together to pincer her with each strike rather than just with how they positioned their bodies. Her relaxed movements belied exactly how dangerous the situation could have been. The movements of each of the Talons were so enhanced that they almost cracked the air with every swing of their various weapons. It was only Tala¡¯s increasing mastery of the Way of Flowing Blood that allowed her to stay out of the way, and they were picking up on even that faster than any mundane could have. -Mental enhancements for the win!- Indeed. Without those, they¡¯d have trouble controlling their bodies, though. -True enough.- Ironhold¡ªthe name having been adopted with roaring enthusiasm on all counts¡ªwas still anchored outside of old Marliweather, and truth be told, Tala was becoming concerned. The reality nodes that she¡¯d affected had still not fully pulled back together, and she was starting to think that she¡¯d managed to do substantial damage to them¡­ somehow. She still didn¡¯t quite understand all that she was affecting with her workings on reality nodes and threads, and when working with forces beyond her current comprehension, she was bound to fumble something. Every day, Terry had taken out groups of the Talons to hunt arcanous creatures in the region, and every day, Tala had met with all the Talons to give them insight into the magics that they all shared as well as sparring with them to highlight their weaknesses. It was honestly something that she should have done long ago, but she¡¯d been¡­ unwilling to take on even that much responsibility. She now realized that such was really the equivalent of hiding under the covers and hoping a monster wouldn¡¯t hurt her. It was there, and it needed to be dealt with. She had founded Irondale, invited people in, and given many of them magic. She was involved at a foundational level, and her live-and-let-live attitude had gone on long enough. -And now they¡¯ve stopped calling you the ¡®M¡¯ word.- Tala felt a twinge at even the oblique reminder but pressed on. True. It¡¯s amazing what I can accomplish when I actually get involved. Alat sent a burst of laughter through Tala¡¯s mind, even as Tala did a sideways, twisting flip to go through a miniscule gap between three of the weapons. Despite the acrobatic nature of the maneuver, both of her feet were only off of the ground for a fraction of a second. Ballistic movements were too easy to predict and too hard to alter if an opponent reacted. Even so, that small instant of inability to change course was enough. Even as her toes touched the training ground floor, the fourth Talon came in at an unavoidable angle, and Tala was forced to flick out Flow in order to keep the strike from reaching her. The clack of Flow¡¯s training sheath on the wooden weapon signaled for all of them to stop. Tala grinned at the panting four. Two men and two women regarded her in return, drenched with sweat. ¡°Well done, all of you. Your Clutch is working more and more as one, rather than four separate fighters. That will make all the difference when you fight opponents with a greater range of magics at their disposal, or greater experience or combat prowess.¡± The Talons had elected to call their units ¡®Clutches¡¯ for thematic reasons, and Tala had found no reason to object. ¡°You are still relying on your enhancements more than you should. They are enhancements, which means that your base physique plays a massive role in the end result. I know you¡¯ve only had a week to adjust your training, but it still bears repeating. This applies to reaction training too, not just physical conditioning.¡± The four shared a look before bringing their weapons into a point down position, held before them, clasped in both hands. They bowed their heads to touch their handles and said as one, ¡°Yes, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala shook her head, but a smile tugged at her lips. ¡°Go sit with the others.¡± She then turned to the group watching from among trees around the training arena. Lyn had moved quickly, and the Talons were already established in the relocated remnants of the elven hold. It was now located within a forest a couple of miles south of Irondale proper, and it contained the housing and training facilities for all of the Talons. It also contained their families and the peripheral requirements to support all those people. Additionally, several crafters had petitioned to have their workshops relocated, and a few such appeals had even been granted. Tala looked around at those who had been watching. ¡°What did they do right? Wrong? What did I do wrong?¡± That spawned a discussion that lasted a few minutes as the Talons thought through the fight and analyzed it from their various viewpoints. When the conversation wound down, Tala asked the Clutch to evaluate their own performance before she gave her own thoughts. Once the back and forths spawned from that finished, she announced, ¡°Next Clutch!¡± Unfortunately, the next Clutch never forced her to block or deflect with Flow. Their session ended when one of their members stumbled in her exhaustion, tripping up one of her Clutch-mates. Ironically, that had almost forced Tala to take a hit, but only because it almost made the tripped fighter fall in the way of another swing. He¡¯d have been brained by the practice sword if Tala hadn¡¯t gotten in the way. In this case, though, she got in the way via her will, mainly by stopping that attacking sword cold mid-air. There was a moment of horrified silence as the one with the stopped sword saw just how close his weapon had come to striking his comrade in the head. Then, they all stepped back and saluted Tala, thanking her for the clash. In the lull that followed, they all talked through what had gone wrong and what had gone well during the conflict, just as before. She solicited feedback from the watching Talons, and all in all, she felt much like she was back with Adam at the Guards¡¯ training yard, except now, she was the more skilled, and they were trying to get used to their far stronger, faster, and more enduring bodies. Even those like Kedva¡ªwho had had the abilities for years at this point¡ªstill hadn¡¯t truly acclimated to being so enhanced. Though, Kedva wasn¡¯t one of the Talons at the moment¡ªher current pregnancy getting in the way¡ªso maybe the woman would have surprised Tala, had they had cause to spar.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Regardless, Tala continued through the Clutches until she¡¯d fought all the Talons in their groups of four. These were the majority of those who had received their rebirth into power. There were another hundred or so undergoing training to see if they were a good fit for rebirth, but Tala didn¡¯t have much desire to participate in that part of things. She was about to go into the next activity of the day when Alat sounded in her head. -It happened!- Tala jerked at the volume of the internal exclamation, glad that she¡¯d already left the training area. -It finally healed!- It seemed as if the rift between the two reality nodes that Tala had affected had finally healed naturally. Any idea what changed? -Oh, I have so many ideas. Find a place where we won¡¯t be interrupted, and I¡¯ll show you what you missed while I was monitoring things.- Alright. Tala said her goodbyes before moving herself to the sanctum, taking a seat in one of the many dells around the waterway ringing the central rise. I¡¯m ready. Alat pulled up memories of her observations, allowing Tala to experience them in sequence. -See here? I started to notice an oddity even right after we released our working.- Tala frowned. She thought she saw it, but it was something that she would have dismissed if Alat hadn¡¯t pointed it out specifically. Are the creatures avoiding that part of reality? They are going around the place where we made the temporary repair, is that right? -Yes, exactly. It¡¯s a subtle thing, especially since their movements are seemingly random to begin with.- Yeah, and some of them do still come near, and even cross between the two nodes in question, but not quite as often. -Exactly. And that¡¯s enough to slow down the healing dramatically. Apparently, there is some natural degradation that occurs when the nodes are separate, and some of the ¡®crossing¡¯ is just keeping that from progressing.- And after our work, that bare minimum was basically all that happened. -Yeah, that¡¯s how it looks.- So what changed? Did the little bit of difference just finally add up? -No? I don¡¯t think so at least. I think that the last vestiges of our magic finally faded from the nodes, and the normal processes picked back up.- Tala frowned. My magic should have been gone as soon as the workings broke. She shook her head. Rust, the magic should have been gone as soon as they were no longer getting amplified. -But it wasn¡¯t. Not really.- Explain, please. -I¡¯m guessing a bit, here, but I think it bears up. By acting on them, we were tipping the balance within the nodes away from Reality and toward Magic, which made it harder for Reality-aligned creatures to repair the damage. It was only as previous association with magic bled off, and the closeness of the Void shifted the balance further, that they were able to come back together.- I assume that you have more than just ¡®guessing¡¯ to back up your guess? -You¡¯d be completely right, there. Here.- Next, Alat showed Tala a sped-up memory of the nodes that they¡¯d messed with. Over time, the discrepancy in the movement of the creatures became much clearer, but it was just as clearly becoming less and less prominent over the same span of time. Yeah, that definitely comes across as something slowly fading over time. We might be a bit hasty in categorically stating that it is an imbalance in association with the various pillars of Existence, but I think I see the merit of your theory. -So, are we good to send this to the review committee?- Tala chuckled. There was a group of Paragons¡ªand likely a few Refined and maybe a Reforged or two¡ªwho had reviewed her proposal and approved her experiment to begin with. Generally, the group oversaw the city cycles, ensuring that no site was used again until after it had fully recovered for a good long time. She had been approved to try her experiment only so long as she shared her findings with them in turn. On one side, she¡¯d been a bit irritated at the need to get permission to use her magic as she saw fit, but she understood the core of the issue with that thinking. For one, she already knew that she could make the damage much worse if she wanted to, and if such was possible on purpose, it would also be possible on accident. After all, it is far easier to destroy, damage, or corrupt than to create, repair, or purify. Thus, she was actually relatively grateful to have so many experts willing to review her work and verify she wasn¡¯t making foolish mistakes. Yeah, send it on. Thank you, Alat. Alat sent the equivalent of a handwave at the expression of gratitude. -I love doing this type of thing. I know that if you didn¡¯t have other things pulling at you, you¡¯d love to do it too.- Tala chuckled. Would she? Probably, yeah. She doubted she would ever be so free from the constraints of life in Zeme, but she was glad that one version of herself could pursue that area of interest. -We make a pretty great team, don¡¯t we?- Oh, yeah we do. I always did better on solo projects than on team work in school. Alat snorted a laugh. -Yeah, this is the best of both worlds. We only have to trust ourself, but someone else can still do some of the work.- Exactly. There was a long pause. You know, we could re-merge our selves. We¡¯ve diverged quite a bit over the years. -Do you really want to?- Alat seemed genuinely curious. I¡­ I don¡¯t think so? I like us being different, while still being the same. I feel like it lets us be more complementary to each other and get more done with greater efficiency. -We are quite great, yeah.- Tala snorted a laugh. Yeah, there¡¯s our legendary humility at work. -I was just being complimentary.- Oh, I¡¯m aware. -Oh, I know that you were.- They shared a cycling feeling of amusement and shared affection. She knew that they were her, and that she was talking with herself, but she also felt like they had diverged enough that they were distinct enough that their conversations were meaningful, even if Alat could technically simply read Tala¡¯s thoughts, emotions, and internal workings to the point that they could be rendered entirely unnecessary. There was a funny fact hidden in that. Alat was the more ¡®complete¡¯ Tala, as she held access to both of their minds, memories, and everything, but they¡¯d decided that Alat was their more cognitive half, so it just made sense for her to have such functionality at her disposal. Tala was more the physical and magical half, and she was more than fine with that. But she was now getting lost in the weeds of her own mind yet again. She needed to find Rane and tell him that things were progressing. He¡¯d been making a series of statues, trying to truly capture translucent material in the medium of stone, and he¡¯d been almost entirely lost to the world since they¡¯d finished exploring the newly acquired dimensionality of the gifted hold. It was about time that she checked on him. She appeared beside her husband, waiting a moment as he finished a cut before kissing him on the cheek. He smiled absently without turning to look. ¡°Is it time for dinner already?¡± She blinked a few times, then started laughing. He frowned, turning to look at her, seeming to come out of his fugue state fully, almost literally shaking it off. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Oh, Rane! I apologize. I completely forgot that you asked me to get you for dinner.¡± -Yeah, I was wondering when you¡¯d remember that.- You could have told me! -You could have asked.- Alat sent a sense of teasing and playfulness. Oh, Alat¡­ this was not the thing to play with. -On the contrary, I think it was good for both of you.- Tala could only grouse internally. ¡°Oh, You forgot?¡± Rane looked a bit sad, but not overly upset. ¡°I suppose I can grab a bite from somewhere. I am actually pretty hungry, now that I think about it.¡± He looked at all he¡¯d done, a smile growing on his lips. ¡°But, you know, I think I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t come and get me. I got some good work done, and it was really fun. Though, I did way more than I really should have been able to¡­¡± He shrugged, turned, and grinned at her. ¡°I missed dinner, then?¡± She scratched the side of her neck, glancing away. ¡°Well, you could say that. How focused have you been?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Pretty focused, I guess.¡± He gestured around himself. ¡°The steady light we¡¯ve set up in this workshop makes telling the passage of time difficult, even while it makes working easier. I was having a good time, too. Why? How long has it been?¡± Tala cleared her throat, fighting both a smile of mirth and a look of contrition. ¡°Well¡­ seven days, give or take.¡± He blinked a few times, looked up and to the right¡ªclearly checking in with Enar. -Yeah, Enar was distracted too¡­- Finally, he huffed a laugh and shook his head. ¡°Well¡­ rust. No wonder I¡¯m so hungry.¡± Chapter: 496 - Aura and Authority Tala and Rane each immersed themselves in their various pursuits, only coming together for meals and to be together at night when the world slept. Rane set about a project that he¡¯d been considering for years¡ªtemporarily taking a break from his work with conveying translucence in a stone medium. He began a creature garden, creating sculptures of the various beasts he¡¯d encountered, starting with the arcanous ones. They added on a chunk of dimensionality to the sanctum for him to arrange his finished works within. The plan was to augment his work with similar ¡®aura¡¯ trickery as with the few statues that he¡¯d made in memoriam, causing any given statue to actually give off a feeling like the beast it represented. That was the plan, anyway. It was to be a very long running project, but Rane was undaunted. Tala, on the other hand, dove head first into working with the Talons. Alat was polite in not pointing out that Tala¡¯s fervor was an obvious attempt to keep her mind off other things, and Tala managed to only spend a bit of time each day in melancholic contemplation. Rane was obviously concerned about her, but he didn¡¯t press the issue. Sometimes, she wished he would, but she also was self-aware enough to realize that she¡¯d likely have resented him if he had. Regardless, so long as she was able to keep functional, he seemed willing to let her take her time. Alat was less polite about expressing her thoughts on that. She did not think that Tala keeping herself busy to keep from addressing something with her husband was good in the long term. Tala ignored her alternate interface for the time being. It¡¯s working. It¡¯s fine. -...It¡¯s really not, but I don¡¯t see forcing the issue as useful.- I¡¯m glad that we are agreed, then. Terry seemed to be enjoying his own oversight of the Talons. Though, Tala suspected that part of that was their honoring of him with their choice of name. -Yeah, that tactic worked with Terry beautifully.- I¡¯m still not letting them call me ¡®Mother.¡¯ -And that¡¯s clearly not necessary to secure your involvement.- ¡­Right. Regardless, Terry continued to be engaged with at least the most advanced of the Talons, overseeing expeditions to engage arcanous creatures and retrieve harvests as well as training the various Clutches directly. Truthfully, the improvement of the most advanced Clutches was likely as much due to his haranguing as Tala¡¯s sparring sessions. Tala¡¯s work with the Talons was only occasionally broken up by sporadic requests for observations, various specific magical analyses, or workings of specific detection and information gathering from the area that Tala had enacted her working upon. While her training was scheduled and organized, Terry had no such compunctions, his ¡°lessons¡± occuring at almost any time of the day or night, further sharpening the sharpest Talons and keeping them on their toes. It''s a good thing their enhancements drastically reduce the amount of sleep they require. The committee was still in deep deliberation, both incredibly excited by the possibilities and hesitant to advance too quickly, as doing so in the past¡ªwhen those same council members thought they had found solutions or fixes¡ªhad resulted in net worse outcomes. The result was Tala and Rane actually remaining in place for longer than they had in a long time. It was three months before Tala was cleared to enact her connection amplification on a slightly larger rent in Reality. That irritated her because she had been hoping to use the rend-fixing work as distraction, but she understood the caution, and she had other distractions to hand. Regardless, the time had come at last. Tala once more piloted one of the fliers to the chosen area of damage. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t much larger than the area she¡¯d worked in before, but this time there was a jagged branch in the small space beyond where she would enact her magics. They were all curious how such branchings would affect the repair work. Once the flying device was hovering near the area to be affected, Tala began to enact her working. She was an hour into the amplification when Alat made the sound of a clearing throat within her mind. -Tala, I have a question for you.- Yeah? What can I do for you, Alat? -How are you enacting your magics on those nodes?- Tala huffed. Come on, Alat. You know the answer very well, and that¡¯s without you simply pulling the information from my head. There is intrinsic acceleration due to the connection between two reality nodes along the vector of any reality thread that connects them, in magnitude related to the strength of the connection. This is generally so miniscule that it is impossible to feel on a physical level¡ªrust, even at the maximum I¡¯ve ever amplified it to, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ever been physically detectable¡ªbut on an existence level, it draws them toward one another. I amplify that connection via altering the constants involved. This is essentially identical to how I can amplify the gravitational acceleration of one object toward another. Alat chuckled meaningfully. -Yes, Tala. I am well aware of that. I meant how are you enacting any magics at all? You don¡¯t have aura continuity. You specifically have your bloodstars anchored to the flier so that you don¡¯t have to use aura manipulation to hold them in place.- Tala froze, her magic stuttering even as it flowed in through her gate, her very soul hitching at the break in her mental understanding. Alat didn¡¯t leave Tala in that state of mental disconnect. -Look. Your bloodstars are generating a sort of aura around themselves. It¡¯s faint, only there in the most basic sense, but it is there.- Alat made a huffing sound. -You couldn¡¯t contest even a mageling with the authority that you have there, but it is there.- Then, Tala did see it, and she understood. Alat was wrong. The bloodstars were hers; they were her in a very real sense. If she planted Flow in the ground and walked away, Tala would still be able to affect wherever the blade touched as she could alter Flow¡¯s magics even at a distance, and that would exert her will there. In a very real sense, she would have authority there. Moreover, if she called the sword to her, everything between her and the sword was under some threat of her action. But that wasn¡¯t her aura. It was something less¡­ Magical. It was something more fundamental to Existence itself. Around the bloodstars, her ability to act was more nebulous. She could see through them, which meant that even if she had to run over and deal with what she saw in person, the very fact that she was watching meant that she could exert her influence there with greater ease than elsewhere. That¡ªlikely due to her level of advancement¡ªwas still a thing of significance. It represented a certain amount of authority over all that she saw, even if it diminished the further from her point of view or field of vision an area was. Alat had been wrong. -Yeah, yeah, you don¡¯t have to rub it in.- Despite her words, Alat was clearly as excited about what they were realizing as Tala was. She was enacting her magics through her authority rather than her aura. For a Mage, the two were generally considered identical, to the point that authority wasn¡¯t even addressed, generally speaking. Rust, Tala had only really come across it because she¡¯d been delving into the differences between human and arcane magics. It would be like talking about how loud a sound was and then talking about the amplitude of the sound-waves separately. They were the same thing. True, magic could make sound easier to hear or discern, but if it increased the volume, that was an increase in the amplitude of the waves.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. -I think they aren¡¯t perfectly connected? Relative volumes and all that.- Then it¡¯s an even better example. Our authority is acting beyond our aura. She hesitated, then laughed. That¡¯s what we¡¯ve been doing within Kit for years now¡­ Her eyes widened as she actually processed her own expressed thoughts. Has our work within and with Kit flexed this ability for us? Has it allowed us to stretch our authority beyond our aura via our soulbonds until it was able to be effective even outside our soulbound space? That made a lot of sense as they both thought about it, that was probably why there hadn¡¯t been more than a miniscule progression toward Paragon. They were just realizing something that they¡¯d been doing all along. I need to finish this test, but when we¡¯re done¡­ -Yeah.- It took a bit more than a day of dedicated amplification for the two nodes to start moving toward one another, but once they started, they clicked together almost instantly. Just as before, the portion of the damage right next to the forcibly rejoined nodes came together as well, unifying with a visceral click that Tala could feel within her very soul even at her rather considerable physical distance. The natural reunification continued out and away from the artificial fix. Once again, this only happened on the ¡®short¡¯ side of the damage. This time, however, the fixing stopped at the branching in the break in Reality. Reality seemed to heal well up to that point, leaving a ¡®V¡¯ shaped segment of damage separate from the other abrasions in the area. That had been¡­ unexpected. Tala and Alat watched the area for nearly two hours, taking careful readings and observing the best that they could, but there was no further change. Well, next step then? -I think so, yeah.- With an act of will¡ªand a shift of mentality¡ªTala broke the working, allowing the two reality nodes to spring back apart minimally. There was an odd¡­ straining, and one more reality node beside those artificially drawn together pulled free, but the rest seemed to remain unified. Impressions and data cataloged? -Of course.- Alright, then. Let¡¯s get it to the council, and let me get back to training. -Or¡­ and hear me out here¡­ you could talk to your husband.- Tala grimaced, not at the idea of talking with Rane¡ªshe loved doing that¡ªbut at the obvious implication of the subject that discussion should involve. Still, Tala wasn¡¯t an advanced Archon for nothing, and Alat hadn¡¯t chosen that moment to make the suggestion out of frustration or ignorance. Finally, Tala sighed. Alright. A moment later, Tala flickered into being beside Rane. He was in the middle of perfecting the curve on a thunder bull''s horn, but as soon as she appeared he stopped, orienting on her. He gave a sad, knowing smile. ¡°You¡¯re ready, then?¡± She let out a single, barked laugh, tears welling up within her eyes. ¡°Am I that obvious?¡± His smile grew slightly in return. ¡°Not to most, but I know you, my love.¡± She stepped forward, letting him enfold her in his massive arms, letting herself become lost against him. They stayed there for a long time as Tala just let herself actually process the ending stick that had been shoved against her plans so many months ago. Finally, she pulled back and wiped her eyes. ¡°Why did I ever want children?¡± He smiled down at her. ¡°I¡¯m happy to listen or respond, which do you need right now?¡± She huffed a little laugh. ¡°Respond, I think? I might change my mind later, though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± His smile diminished slightly. ¡°To answer your question, I think it¡¯s because it¡¯s important in our society. On one level it¡¯s expected, and you didn''t really have a reason to go against that expectation. So, knowing that, you approached it in a positive light, and the idea grew on you.¡± She blinked at him a few times. ¡°That was quite the put-together response.¡± He quirked a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve had months to think through this too. I feel like that¡¯s one of the main reasons I want children, too. So, I might be projecting. It¡¯s not the only reason for either of us, though.¡± She grunted. ¡°It does feel a bit like I was told to walk down an alleyway only to run face-first into a wall, dispelling the illusion.¡± She looked down. ¡°There was nothing wrong with the alleyway, and I could even see some really interesting things on the far side, but I hadn¡¯t really planned on going that way, not soon.¡± He nodded, before posing a question. ¡°So you don¡¯t understand why it hurts so much?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She threw her hands up, pacing back and forth. ¡°It¡¯s something I hadn¡¯t considered overmuch, so why? Why is the lack of an option I hadn¡¯t planned on choosing so hurtful?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± He hesitated. ¡°From what I know of your upbringing, I think that you wanted to prove you could do better, at least at some level.¡± He gave her a sad smile. ¡°You still hold an undercurrent of bitterness at your father and step-mother, and part of that is rooted in a belief that you could do better.¡± He held up his hands to forestall her. ¡°I don¡¯t disagree, but it is part of the foundation. Now, rather than being able to be a better parent than they were to you, you have been told that you won¡¯t be a parent at all.¡± Tala felt a tightness in her chest at his words, the idea clearly hitting close to the truth. She stepped back in for another hug as the emotions rolled through her. She hated feeling this way, but it felt better, exposing this to Rane. She almost laughed. He was doing more of the talking than she was, yet it still felt like she was the one exposing herself, her thoughts and feelings. It felt like taking off a sweaty, encrusted piece of clothing. Sure, it felt painful, gross, and frustrating getting it off, but the feeling of cool, clean air on her skin was well worth the effort. But the core of this short conversation forced her to realize something. It was something that should have been obvious, and something that had come up before, but she hadn¡¯t really inculcated the truth behind it. ¡°This is affecting you, too.¡± She looked up into his eyes, and she saw wetness there as he returned her gaze with a sad smile and a nod. ¡°I¡¯ve been so focused on how I feel¡ªand on distracting myself¡ªthat I left you alone in this, didn¡¯t I¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. He shrugged lightly, glancing away. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to add to your burden.¡± ¡°So you shouldered yours alone.¡± She closed her eyes and swallowed. ¡°That¡¯s not how this is supposed to work, is it.¡± ¡°No, I guess not.¡± He hugged her tighter. ¡°I¡¯m here, Rane. I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± His voice was small, uncertain. ¡°Yes.¡± And so they talked, time passing like water beneath a bridge as they came together over their shared disappointment, over their shared brokenness. * * * Another two months passed with Tala doing various small tests and taking magical readings at the behest of the oversight council. They verified that the second set of nodes healed just like the first, with a similar delay before natural restoration continued. One of the tests involved closing up the separate V rend, and that went completely smoothly, mirroring the previous two tests. Rane continued his work on statues of various beasts, but he also took some part of every day¡ªbeyond the meals that they shared¡ªto sit and talk with Tala about all sorts of things. She had missed that part of their relationship, having withdrawn after the news. She hadn¡¯t even really realized that she¡¯d been doing it, and the relief of being unified with Rane in the mundane act of just being together once again was hugely stress relieving. She and Terry continued their work with the Talons, but she definitely let Terry take even more of a lead on that project, and he did so with gusto, clearly enjoying the new challenge. Tala¡¯s revelation around enacting her magic within her authority, not just her aura, led her to another realization. Mainly, the iron that she kept within Kit was frequently outside her aura, but not her authority. Thus, it wasn¡¯t voided. This led to another task on her plate that she approached with relish. Tala sat on the plains outside of Kit, away from the still-open portal to Ironhold. She was cross legged, with a lump of iron on the ground in the space surrounded by her legs. This is a good first step. It makes sense. -Oh, absolutely. Even if your aura is retracted, it is inarguable that the iron is well within your range of action. It should be unquestionably still within your authority.- Yeah. This is good. She continued to work herself up to the test. It was odd. She had a mental barrier that she hadn¡¯t really encountered or acknowledged before. She didn¡¯t want to let go of her iron. This isn¡¯t letting go. It¡¯s still mine. Yet, even so, the idea of purposely pulling any part of her control back, away from the iron was viscerally distasteful. It seemed that the dasgannach had had more of an influence on her than even she¡¯d realized. Still, she was the master of herself. She was no mindless devourer of iron. This iron was still hers, and nothing so simple as the absence of her aura was enough to change that. Before she could talk herself out of it, she retracted her aura from the iron, leaving it in a sphere of ¡®non-aura¡¯ space, entirely surrounded by her physical body and her aura. The iron seemed almost to waiver, her soul seeming to cinch up in horror for the briefest moment before¡­ nothing. The iron remained. It remained in place. It remained physical. It remained hers. A broad grin spread across her face. This should be a violation of her merging choices, but it wasn¡¯t. At the time of the merging, she simply hadn¡¯t understood the distinction between aura and authority, and she¡¯d conceived of it as one, when it really was the other. Her iron had to remain under her authority, or it would be voided. This was the final proof of that fact. Tala gave a slightly mad cackle. True, iron outside her aura would be far easier to overcome¡ªher authority only existing in the most tenuous senses¡ªbut it was still there. The iron itself extended her authority, just as Flow did, just as her own gaze and perception did. In the case of the iron, if someone was able to affect it against her desires, her authority would be disrupted, and if that happened to a sufficient degree, the iron would be voided, but until then? The iron was suddenly a far more useful tool than she¡¯d ever dared to hope. Rust, she could project her aura through it, even if she couldn¡¯t affect the iron itself with the aura it projected. There would be no iron spikes propelling themselves around a battlefield. But I can create a rolling field of spikes, with planted ones helping to push those still airborne forward. -That will be nightmarish to control.- Are you up for the challenge? -Oh, unquestionably. There will be a significant learning curve, however.- There usually is. Tala quirked a smile. For things worth doing, there usually is. Chapter: 497 - The Sooner the Better Tala¡¯s attention returned to her iron, her connection to it, and her authority over it. She let out a long sigh, realizing that she had a long way to go. This is a bit tenuous for our more grandiose plans at the moment. I think we need more practice to be able to have as much freedom with the iron as I foresee being possible. -Well, then. Let¡¯s get to it.- Indeed. -You know what this means, right?- Tala sighed but then nodded before smiling. Snap drills. And so they began. At unexpected intervals, Alat was going to pull Tala¡¯s aura away from one or more of the iron spheres that Tala would have held about herself. Tala had to maintain her authority over the bereft iron and keep it from being voided. The first time¡ªless than five minutes later¡ªTala failed utterly, the sphere which had been resting against her navel voiding in an instant. She staggered at the horrific feeling of loss as it threatened to overwhelm her. That had been her iron. Tala let out an unconscious growl, the world around her flexing oddly without her realizing it as she unknowingly armored existence around herself against further violation. Alat noticed¡ªeven if she had absolutely no idea how Tala had done it¡ªimmediately pulling Tala¡¯s aura away from the iron ball that was resting between her shoulder blades. The iron didn¡¯t even waver as Tala¡¯s authority on everything around her was beyond question in that moment. Still, the second alteration so close to the first was a jarring experience, sufficiently so that it pulled Tala back to conscious thought. She¡¯d felt what she was doing, a broad grin spreading over her face an instant before she dropped to the ground in a pained spasm. Alat had tricked her into using a ¡®muscle¡¯ that she¡¯d not known she had, though she¡¯d been using to a small extent up to that point here and there. That little use had let it respond to her unconscious will, and as it was used so powerfully and with such a force of will behind it, it was immediately over-strained. As when she¡¯d first gotten control of her aura, she now had an entirely new something to deal with, that she¡¯d always, unknowingly, been manipulating and working with. Unfortunately, unlike with her aura, which she¡¯d used to a large extent for years, even without realizing it, this authority was like only moving around within Kit by twitching her leg muscles so that Kit knew how to move her. Now, she was trying to walk in Zeme, and the muscles had to do more than just twitch. Thus, her current predicament. As she lay on the ground in metaphysical pain, she felt herself move a bit closer to Paragon. Well, honestly, she¡¯d moved earlier as she had her series of revelations and then put them into action, but she only really noticed in that moment as she strove for¡ªalmost¡ªanything with which to distract herself. -Well, authority manipulation isn¡¯t required to reach Paragon, but I suppose it does line up perfectly with part of what you were missing. It is directly connected to how you relate to and interact with the world around you.- Tala groaned again, this time in acknowledgement. A moment later, Rane appeared beside her, having moved himself straight out of the sanctum to be at her side. He looked her over before sitting down and easily lifting her to cradle her in his arms. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re alright.¡± She grunted, nuzzling in against him. ¡°I felt your soul¡­ twitch in a way I haven¡¯t felt before.¡± She nodded, wetting her lips before explaining everything to him. He listened carefully until the end before smiling. ¡°First, that is an incredible discovery, and I am in awe at what you¡¯ve been able to accomplish.¡± Tala pulled back and gave him a narrow eyed look. ¡°But¡­?¡± His smile grew a hair. ¡°But, that sounds like something that you should have had someone else with you for.¡± She blinked a few times in confusion. ¡°Well¡­ I did?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Alat is you, Tala. You know that. If you go down, most likely she will as well. Anything capable of disabling you in any meaningful way will most likely affect her, too.¡± -Well¡­ rust. I didn¡¯t really consider that.- Yeah, me neither, as obvious as it is. She sighed but nodded. ¡°I hear you. You¡¯re right. It would have been better to have someone else here. I won¡¯t do it on my own again.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He gave her a tight squeeze. ¡°Now, what are your next steps?¡± Tala laughed, squirming her way out to give him a kiss. ¡°I love you, and I love that you know where my mind is.¡± ¡°Of course. This is nothing compared to some of what I¡¯ve seen you do.¡± After talking things through with Rane, Tala and Terry moved their training of the Talons out of Kit so that Tala and Alat could continue training with authority, without relying on Kit, directly. To further facilitate the training, Tala always maintained at least two iron spheres hovering near her, though they started resting against her skin as with the first test. That way, there was always a Talon nearby who could at least go for help if something went wrong. She was able to keep the iron under her authority, though she felt the strain of doing so in her very soul. Over time, she became able to move the spheres to being against her elk leathers rather than her skin. Then, finally, she was able to move them outward at steadily increasing radii. * * * Thus, a full six months passed at the site of old Marliweather. Tala and Rane had Tala¡¯s siblings come out for a visit once during that span¡ªarriving and leaving from teleportation circles in the sanctum¡ªand Tala was even able to engage with those who were pregnant¡ªalong with the newer little ones¡ªwithout being too emotionally drained after they¡¯d all departed. It was clear that some of those who knew her better noticed that something was off, but no one pressed her, and she still hadn¡¯t chosen to share with anyone apart from Rane. Though some¡ªlikely at least Terry¡ªmight have started to guess.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Finally, it came time to move on from old Marliweather. They could have stayed for years longer, slowly working to repair the damaged Reality bit by bit, but they had already done a sufficient variety of tests that the council had more than enough information on which to run in-depth analysis, and that would take years. Tala had no desire to create, sustain, or even join another research outpost, and she was beginning to find her distractions less distracting. Even with six months of intense conditioning, the Talons simply couldn¡¯t fight against her all the time, and the last thing she wanted was to somehow make things around old Marliweather worse because she ¡®just wanted to do something.¡¯ So, all the roving groups of Talons were recalled, the Ironhold citizenry were ushered back from their countryside ventures, and the gates to Irondale were sealed. In the end, Tala, Rane, and Terry stood alone in the middle of a rather trampled-down section of the plains, the summer grasses already starting to slowly work their way back upright, even after the recent foot traffic. Her arm was around his waist, his over her shoulders, and Terry was perched atop Rane¡¯s head¡ªthe highest such place currently available. They all looked north, toward the forest that they couldn¡¯t quite see in that direction. Terry flickered down to the ground before them, now as tall as Tala, stretching his wings and beak toward the sky before letting out an excited trill. That made the couple chuckle. It was just about time to leave. Even so, Tala¡¯s mind was wandering slightly and one thing had stuck in her thoughts, then. It wouldn¡¯t go away, so instead of burying it, she looked up at her husband and verbalized it, ¡°If things had gone differently, our first might have been arriving in the next months.¡± Rane could have argued or pushed back, Tala even sensed the slight hesitation that showed that he considered doing just that, but instead, he gave her a squeeze, bent over and kissed the top of her head. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Those simple¡ªseemingly unrelated¡ªwords sent a wave of relief through Tala, and she slumped against him. ¡°I know.¡± They stood there for another long moment before they shared a quick kiss and separated. Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder and headbutted her cheek, giving a low, comforting chirp. She scratched his neck and the back of his head in return. ¡°Thank you, Terry. I know you¡¯re here, too.¡± After giving her a moment to press her head to his, Terry flickered away again, heading north. Rane chuckled. ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± And they were off, Rane not quite flying, while Tala leapt off the air itself, heading north. The Anatalins had invited them to visit, and it was time to accept that invitation. Even with the excitement and uncertainty about what was going to come of the visit to the wolves, Tala couldn¡¯t help but be most grateful that¡ªmore than anything else¡ªit would be a solid distraction, at least for a time. * * * Tala leapt northward, Rane off to the west¡ªher left¡ªcloser to the mountains, and Terry flickering all over the place, sticking his beak into random holes, chasing small herds for short distances, and generally making himself a bit of a nuisance to the local wildlife. -Don¡¯t you mean¡­- Tala groaned. Don¡¯t¡­ -...A bit of a terror?- She sighed. Sometimes I wonder how our humor diverged so much. -First, I can easily tell that you found it funny. I¡¯m in your thoughts in case you¡¯ve forgotten.- Oh, I haven¡¯t. -Good. Second, it is you who has lost your puns, at least a little. I¡¯d blame your marriage, but Rane and Enar continue to be delightful sources of puns.- Yeah, well, most of theirs aren¡¯t intentional. -That makes them all the better.- ¡­Fair enough. She sighed again. -Just say it, Tala. It will help more than keeping it bottled up.- ¡­I wonder if our children would have liked puns¡­ -That is easy enough to answer.- Oh? -Of course. Puns are specifically a type of humor used to teach children some of the nuances of language. Human brains are hardwired to both make and hear them in their native form of communication. Every child loves puns at one point or other, assuming a reasonable upbringing. So, yes. Your children will enjoy puns, whenever and however they come about.- The puns or the children? Tala asked with a margin of bitterness. -Both, I imagine.- Tala huffed a laugh and gave a reluctant smile at that. Fair enough. She flinched slightly as Alat jerked her aura away from the hollow sphere of iron dust that was floating two feet from Tala¡¯s head. Tala not only maintained the vacuum within the sphere¡ªkeeping it almost perfectly spherical¡ªbut she also maintained her authority over the iron, keeping it from being voided. Hah, it wasn¡¯t voided, but it maintained the void within. -I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a metaphor in there somewhere.- Probably. The ball still dropped, no longer having her aura to support it, but that just caused it to re-enter her aura a bit lower down¡ªin relation to her body¡ªwhere Tala caught it and moved it back into its proper path. -Very well done, Tala.- Thank you a lot, Alat. -...I suppose that I deserved that, and I do appreciate the gratitude.- Tala grinned. Then, she turned her mind to something else to keep herself distracted. It was something that she¡¯d been working on, on and off for years now. The reality nodes within her artificial lung had been unified for a while by this point, but she had wanted them even more firmly connected and interlinked. She had been ramping up the interconnectedness of the various reality nodes which had made up her artificial lung within the sanctum whenever she thought about it, which was actually much less often than would have been ideal. Even so, the amplification of the reality threads unifying that space was¡­ impressive. -Are we ready to finally test it again?- You know what? Yeah. I think that could be a very nice distraction. Alat let out a giggling cackle that was so infectious that Tala felt herself almost begin to laugh as well. Instead, she called out to Rane, filling her voice with the appropriate power so that the sound reached his ears, ¡°I want to test something, and I don¡¯t want to do so on my own. Are you up for coming this way?¡± Rane immediately turned to look at her before diverting his ¡®not-quite-leaping¡¯ flight to come near her. ¡°What new madness do you want to test?¡± He was grinning despite his words, and that finally did cause Tala to laugh. ¡°Oh, you know, just my dissolution breath.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°You use that all the time. Why¡­?¡± Then his eyes went wide. ¡°Really? Are you sure? You¡¯re finally ready to test it? Your artificial lung is ready?¡± They had, of course, talked at length about her experiments with the artificial lung and how it had almost ended in disaster the last time she¡¯d tried it. Now, however, she wasn¡¯t weaving spellforms on the fly, they were already surrounding the perfectly spherical space¡ªperfectly spherical save the singular long cylinder leading off to better align airflow. The iron was now pure iron, that little issue having been made apparent by their Unit¡¯s gift of the fliers. The spell-lines were truly hollow as well, and while she knew that they weren¡¯t quite right for the medium and line composition, she had been able to get them close enough that she¡¯d get the desired effect, even with a loss of efficiency and a reduction in power. With the results of last time, the theoretically weaker magical effect was a boon in her eyes. She grinned broadly. ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Tala pointed and then took off, leading him to the base of a gentle slope which led up to the top of a crag. ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re doing this?¡± He then lowered his voice almost as if afraid that someone would overhear. ¡°We¡¯re testing Existence magic?¡± Tala could hear the capitalized ¡®E¡¯ in existence, and the lowercase ¡®m¡¯ in magic. As such, she shook her head. ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t think this is anything as potent as Existence magic, let alone true Existence modification. Ideally, this will be existence-Magic, though. Magic but made more Real and with more potential to bring the Void with it.¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°That is still a bit terrifying.¡± Then his smile returned. ¡°And rather intriguing too.¡± She nodded enthusiastically. ¡°I know, right?¡± He hesitated for a moment. ¡°Should we call Terry? Ask any of the Irondalians to observe? What about Lyn? Master Simon? Adrill? Brandon?¡± Tala hesitated, not liking the delay that represented, but then she sighed and nodded. ¡°Yes. I think that is the wise course.¡± ¡°Great. Let¡¯s call them up and get them out here.¡± Her smile blossomed once again. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get to it. The sooner the better.¡± Chapter: 498 - Something to See Tala walked up the escarpment, the more theoretically minded Talons standing beside Master Simon, Adrill, and Brandon well back from the edge, the latter two chief among the research oriented Talons. She did so in her full armor¡ªhidden, of course, by her through spike. It was just after noon, and Rane walked a little behind her, Terry on his shoulder for the moment. They both wanted to be close, but not too close given the nature of the magics involved. Lyn stood back a ways, realizing that she was likely the least resilient magic user present. Still, she had a slate in hand and a gleam of curiosity in her eyes. Aside from being the most in danger, she was also the one with the least reason to actually be there, so she was doing her best to not make waves or really draw any attention to herself. Even so, Ron stood just behind Lyn¡¯s right shoulder, and Tala thought he looked ready to jump in the way at need. That would probably keep her safe, actually. -Yeah, their magics are directly counter to the magics we''re going to use, here. Theirs will be the most resilient to this attack of any magical defenses, at least in theory.- While maintaining his perch atop Rane¡¯s shoulder, the terror bird was practically dancing from foot to foot. He knew what this experiment meant to her more viscerally than most. This breath attack would be allowed in any formal clash with The Pack. And beside that formality, it was something that was wholly hers. It was power that was fully her own, and power it was¡­ at least she hoped it would be. With that in mind, she¡¯d had Alat give polite notifications to the various advanced Archons in the area. She didn¡¯t want misunderstandings to occur, nor did she want to accidentally ruin an experiment somewhere, or do something similarly disruptive or destructive. Alat had already verified that there were no known cells in the area that would be affected. The message was simple these days, as Tala had run the ideas enfolded into this complicated working by most of them at one time or another over the last years. Even so, most who actually knew what she was doing still didn¡¯t understand why she called it a breath weapon, but that was fine. It was her breath weapon. Not theirs. It was hers, and it was finally time for her to test the¡ªhopefully¡ªfinished product of her years of labor and minute testing. Toward that end, she opened a long, thin portal running down her back, into that space within Kit. Then, with an act of will, she compressed the air within the artificial lung, causing a torrent of air to be drawn in even as she walked the last few steps. Rane¡¯s magic reacted instantly, causing him to be unaffected by the sudden torrent of wind. The others present had sufficient enhancement to resist for a time. Even Lyn was strong enough that it was only a minor inconvenience given her distance, though she braced against Ron who had stepped up beside her. Long experience had taught Tala to make the intake opening an oddly asymmetric shape, that way it wouldn¡¯t whistle or otherwise intone as the air was pulled in. -I still say it¡¯s better to have it make a resonant sound. It would really give an amazing ¡®I¡¯m powering up¡¯ vibe.- Yeah, that way our enemies will know to kill me quickly. That seems wise. -But it would be awesome!- Death. -Awesome.- Tala sighed, but a smile still grew across her face at Alat¡¯s antics. Regardless, she returned her full focus to the task at hand. As each bit of air was pulled in, Tala¡¯s will affected it as well, compressing it to the far side of the lung and continuing the vacuum-enabled pull. In the end, even the last bit drawn in came in at the same rate as the first due to the vacuum created right at the entrance, which she specifically maintained, in order for the last bits of air to be swept inside. She completed breathing in the air as she neared the drop-off¡ªthe process having taken less than a half a minute¡ªclosing the portal that had been down the back of her armor. -We could add cool, glowing effects and everything¡­ The through-spike is so wasted on you.- Tala snorted a laugh in her helmet but didn¡¯t otherwise reply. She looked out at the plains before her and at the copse of trees in the near distance, that would be her target. The wilds recovered quickly, so she wasn¡¯t too concerned about doing irreparable damage. Now in place, she rechecked the iron-channel inscriptions surrounding her lung once more. She still saw no flaw, and Alat couldn¡¯t find anything wrong either. That assured, she did what she¡¯d done so long ago¡ªand in smaller scale tests since¡ªusing her Void Channels to not only bring power to the spellform but overlay them entirely. Magic roared through the working, and her will flexed, keeping the dissolution power that was building up within the pressurized air of her lung from acting on anything, even the air itself. To her great relief and excitement, the effort of will was almost negligible. The magic seemed to be struggling to act even without her interference. Her work with the reality-nodes seemed to have had exactly the desired effect, and existence within her artificial lung was proving incredibly resistant to any form of alteration. Now, it really should work as the test in the sparring ring did, and magics that exit that area act as expected. She opened her faceplate around her mouth, adding a thick layer of iron¡ªalmost like a pipe¡ªon the inside of the opening to prevent the magics from getting under the armor and acting on her face inadvertently. Tala had all too visceral memory of how that felt. -That was your own choice, Tala. Don¡¯t blame me.- I wasn¡¯t¡­ Regardless, here it goes¡­ Then she hesitated. She needed to make sure everyone nearby was prepared too. ¡°Are you all ready?¡± Her voice was calm, and their replies came back quickly, all in the affirmative. Terry¡¯s response resounded longer than the others as he trumpeted to the sky from his perch on Rane¡¯s shoulder. Tala chuckled. ¡°Yeah. I figured that you would be.¡± Rane rested his hand briefly on the shoulder of her armor and squeezed affectionately in support, even though he knew that she wouldn¡¯t feel it physically. The action warmed her heart, just as he¡¯d likely hoped that it would. But she needed to focus. She¡¯d pushed the compression of the air within her artificial lung up to the point that it was threatening to become a liquid, and she didn¡¯t want to deal with that, even if she should be able to later on. The dissolution magic had fully saturated the space to the point that it was a constant struggle to keep it from acting, even with her near total control of her own sanctum. With everything ready, Tala opened her mouth and positioned the portal between her open jaws allowing the breath out in a rush. There was an impulse noise, similar to thunder, but far more localized as the supercharged breath punched outward.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The air moved faster than it had any right too. That allowed Tala to realize that the leading edge of the thin column of air hadn¡¯t been affected by any of the containment scripts which were flaring to glowing life around her face, neck, and mouth. Because of that it was carrying along already activated dissolution magics that were overcoming the air resistance by simply dissolving the air out of the path of the directed stream. That leading edge covered more than a thousand feet in the first second before the containment magics¡ªthat passing through her mouth had placed on the air¡ªwere overwhelmed and the far end of the tight column roared with fire. The containment magics in her throat and mouth continued to activate and fight to keep the power flowing out in check. Thus the ignition point remained at just past one thousand feet out from the crag. From there, the dissolution rolled outward in a cone. With her threefold sight, Tala could see the hills in the path of the cone shrinking before the onslaught. To say nothing of the small stand of trees that had been on those same hills. The dissolution magics broke everything apart, and the fire consumed those remnants in a raging inferno. The cone of destruction slowly widened and lengthened as each fraction of magic had to go a bit farther than the last to find something to spend itself upon. Finally, Tala cut off the portal into her artificial lung, purposely leaving a bit of compression in place along with quite a bit of power still in play. Let¡¯s see how well it can be maintained. The attack would be far more useful if she could keep it charged for use at need. -I think with some tests, we could feather our containment scripts to choose the point of ignition with a fair degree of accuracy.- True enough, yeah. She couldn¡¯t fight the grin from absolutely dominating her face. Interestingly enough, some magic-laden air tried to linger in her mouth, but the scripts that Mistress Holly and she had maintained and enhanced there forced those last dregs out as a lazy puff. As the last of the compressed air moved outward¡ªthe portion that was last before she closed the portal¡ªit was slower than what had come previously, given it wasn¡¯t being pushed along. As such, the cone seemed to grow back toward Tala at the end in more the shape of a thin column, coming about halfway back as the last of the magics were spent and the fire consumed the remnants of that which had been dissolved. That, along with the tiny puff of fire from the last remnants made it clear where the attack had come from, but that wasn¡¯t too much of an issue. The glowing magics around her face¡ªshowing even through the through-spike as blazing light manifestations¡ªmade it even more clear who was responsible. That was a bit more of a problem, but she could work on that part. As the fire winked out¡ªalmost all at once¡ªit revealed the charred soil of a new valley, showing that the cone had gone down as well as up and outward. Though, obviously, it had extended downward far less than out and that far less than up. Still, she¡¯d created a nice little, conical valley. Once it rained a few times, there¡¯d be a nice little pond at one end, even if it likely wouldn¡¯t last long. There was a beat of silence before Master Simon sat down and put his head in his hands. Tala just barely caught his muttering, ¡°I¡¯m too old for this¡­¡± Adrill was staring slack-jawed at the results, while Lyn, Brandon, and the other Talons were furiously taking notes and using the instruments and items that they¡¯d brought to continue collecting measurements. Well, Ron was stoically standing beside Lyn, but there was a sparkle of enjoyment in his eyes. Rane was simply chuckling, a small, pleased smile on his lips. Terry was looking between her and the results critically. She grinned at the avian. ¡°You like it? It¡¯s not quite the fabled dragon¡¯s breath, but it¡¯s not half bad.¡± It was probably time to try it against a real opponent. That would be the true test of its worth, but it had to be an enemy¡ªsomeone she didn¡¯t mind dying¡ªbecause this was decidedly not a sparring tool. Yes, she would have to try this against some arcane or magical creature. Magic saturated mundane materials were interesting, but Magic beasts were made of sterner stuff. She really wanted to try it against Leshkin, but she didn¡¯t want to face those generals again¡­ not yet. I¡¯ll take them apart when the war comes, but there¡¯s no need to poke the arcane before that. -Indeed there is not.- Terry flickered to her shoulder. Then, Tala and Terry stared out at the devastation that she had wrought. As they did so, Terry let out a long, contented coo. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± He looked her way with one eye, then returned his gaze to the Talons going crazy over the new valley¡ªthe academics having jumped down to go investigate in person. With a fluff of his feathers, he let out a little squawk. ¡°Well, I want to know because I care about you. You are a member of my flock, and I want you to be doing well.¡± He let out a long, low trill, acknowledging her point. ¡°So? How are you?¡± Terry turned his head to look fully at her from barely four inches away. Though, the intimidation aspect was somewhat lessened by the armored helm between the two of them. He seemed to realize that, because he struck out, pecking it with a viciousness that he¡¯d never show to her actual face. There was a heavy, metallic thunk, and Terry cawed in irritation. ¡°You want my helmet off?¡± He cawed again. ¡°Fine.¡± She retracted the armor. This time, Terry moved his head forward more slowly. When he didn¡¯t encounter any metal, he nuzzled her cheek. ¡°So, you¡¯re doing well?¡± He nuzzled her again. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡± Then, the two of them turned back even as Rane stepped up and slipped his arm around her waist. Tala, at least, was hoping that they¡¯d get their data soon, so that she could fire off another blast before they continued on to the north. Toward that end, she opened a portal on her back¡ªavoiding Rane¡¯s arm¡ªand began breathing in once again, refilling and recompressing her artificial lung. As she stood there, breathing in as preparation for another blast¡ªwith her terror bird on her shoulder and her husband at her side¡ªshe had a thought that brought a smile to her lips, It¡¯s the little things in life that make it truly worthwhile. -Little things¡­ like having a breath-weapon on the scale of the dragons of myth and legend?- Well, we don¡¯t actually know how effective it will be in combat. It looks really neat though. -¡­Sometimes you make it insulting to remember we¡¯re the same person.- Wha¡ª? Hey. That¡¯s not very nice. Alat snorted but didn¡¯t say anything further. Rane was still staring at the results, a distant look in his eyes. Tala had another few moments before she was recharged¡ªand Alat was busy checking over the iron spellforms within the artificial lung for any issues that might have cropped up¡ªso she leaned a bit closer. ¡°Rane? What¡¯s going on?¡± He jumped slightly, then turned to regard her. ¡°That¡­ that was incredible. More than any singular attack I think that I¡¯ve ever seen in person. I¡¯m not sure how well it would deal with powerful entities, but an army? The Leshkin? You¡¯ll be able to hold a position almost by yourself with that.¡± She smiled happily at the compliment. ¡°Thank you. That was the hope, yeah. It¡¯s actually why I took so long making sure everything was in line before this test. There is too much destructive potential inherent in the attack to mess around with.¡± He was nodding slowly. ¡°It carried your aura with it, too. That means that enemy aura can oppose it, but I¡¯m not sure that would actually be effective? ¡­That will be something to see, regardless.¡± She gave him a critical look. ¡°I know that look. What idea do you have boiling behind those eyes?¡± He gave a wry smile. ¡°I think¡­ I think I might be able to steal kinetic energy.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I mean¡­ yes? You already do that, right?¡± He chuckled. ¡°No, no, not just from attacks coming my way. I think that¡ªwith my natural magics¡ªseeing this has given me the mental push to be able to¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Let me show you.¡± Rane¡¯s aura asserted itself within their combined mastery over the rise they stood upon. As it did so, a sphere roiled with obvious magic. His inscriptions glowed in rippling sequences as he brought his power to bear. Finally, at the very center of the nearly ten-foot diameter sphere, a small orb of ice formed before simply hovering in place, slowly rotating beneath the summer sun. Tala stepped forward, finding the air within the larger sphere to be bitterly cold, utterly beyond even what the depths of winter would naturally bring. Ice formed hoarfrost patterns across her armor, even as the metal squealed in protest at the sudden change in temperature. A moment later, the little sphere of ice dropped and shattered upon the ground. Rane let out a ragged breath and swayed where he stood. ¡°Well, that was a less impressive demonstration than I was hoping for, but I think it got the idea across.¡± Tala was already nodding in understanding. ¡°Temperature is just kinetic energy on a smaller scale.¡± ¡°Exactly. What¡¯s more, I think I might be able to manipulate the landscape, ruining footing, and just generally being a nuisance one way or another, but overall? I think setting pockets of super cooled or superheated air will be incredibly useful for battlefield control, and that doesn¡¯t factor in what we¡¯ve been practicing with my utilization of magic through authority.¡± Tala¡¯s smile became wry. ¡°Well, that certainly is a useful tool. Will this new application of power always exhaust you this much, though?¡± He shook his head vehemently. ¡°Oh no, not at all. I was cycling through my magics, testing them against my mental models and potential uses. I think even right now, I could accomplish the same thing in less than half the time and with a tenth the power. With practice?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see.¡± Lyn cleared her throat, breaking into their conversation and drawing their attention away from each other. ¡°As interesting as this is¡ªand it is incredibly interesting¡ªI have other things I need to do. I really shouldn¡¯t stay for any further tests. Thank you for letting me see this initial firing, but would you be willing to let me back in Irondale? The others are about ready for your second blast, but I think I¡¯ve seen what I have time for.¡± Tala smiled, turning to face her friend. ¡°Of course. Thank you for coming to see.¡± Lyn smiled as Tala willed her back into Irondale, the older woman not resisting in the least. Chapter: 499 - Lunar Hunt Tala and Rane left a¡­ blackened plain in their wake as they headed north, moving through the air in their unique ways. Terry stuck around for a bit, flickering around the edges of the area that Tala had devastated¡­ No, devastated was too gentle a term. Her third and fourth blasts had been done as sweeping strikes across larger areas of land. Those had obliterated everything down to the soil¡ªand from what the Talons could tell, an inch or two of soil as well¡ªbut the attacks hadn¡¯t reshaped the terrain as much as the first two breaths had, understandably. Those¡ªoverlaid one atop the other¡ªhad made a decidedly significant alteration to the hills that had been at the center of her area of effect. Terry had stayed behind because he seemed to think that some things could have survived the sweeping devastation of her third and fourth strikes, and some of those lesser prey animals might be fleeing the area when they had cause to believe that the devastator¡ªTala¡ªwas gone. He was apparently hankering after a snack, or at least a different type of hunting. Tala was¡­ surprisingly okay with that. As she considered, she realized that she¡¯d likely killed millions of insects, along with anything else that had been a part of the local ecosystem within the area affected¡ªthough, some hole dwelling critters might have survived¡­ if they''d been deep enough, or if they''d had a means of sealing their tunnels. Regardless, Tala had left the dark, rich soil behind. One of the Talon researchers who had been a farmer before his rebirth¡ªand who still worked with the farmers of Irondale¡ªhad commented that that dark, rich aftermath was actually likely an incredibly rich soil for planting. Apparently, fire was often one of the tools used to refresh areas of land to help maintain crop health and harvest nutritional content. The additional destruction of most of the rocks in the soil would make it even more ideal for large scale farming. It was almost a shame that it would never be of use to anyone. Imagine the boom in productivity and population if the average citizen could have even a modicum of safety in the Wilds. -And if they could build something that was really theirs, something that they could pass on to their¡­- Alat hesitated at the charged topic. Tala decided to leave the topic entirely. Lyn was apparently currently in discussions with Irondale farmers¡ªof which there were a surprising number, which added weight to her previous contemplations¡ªon incorporating dissolution magic cycling into the field rotations for the best harvest results. They were also discussing what, if anything, to charge for the service, to ensure it wasn''t abused or taken for granted. -Your mind keeps going back to your breath.- Well, yeah. That was amazing. I love it when a plan comes together. -And this time it didn¡¯t even take a team to clean up after your experiments.- After a long moment of irritated silence, during which she continued to run through the air with great leaping strides, Tala sighed. ¡­I have nothing meaningful with which to threaten you. -Nothing that you¡¯d actually do. And I thank you for that.- Tala groused in her own mind as the mountains scrolled by on her left, the sun dipping down behind them. -Oh, Rane is wondering if you want to set up for the night on a mountainside? He¡¯s found a nice little ledge that should have a commanding view of the surrounding vistas.- She considered for only a moment. Sure, that sounds wonderful. * * * It only took them another day or so to reach the edge of the forest, and it only took even that long because they weren¡¯t pushing that hard. Tala, Terry, and Rane landed and symbolically came together on the plains just outside the southern edge of this northern portion of the encircling forest. There were some individual trees farther out, and it could be argued that the forest really started at the far edge of the great, interlacing root-system that Tala could see with her threefold sight, but the three weren¡¯t concerned with exactness. Again, it was symbolic. ¡°Shall we?¡± Rane gestured for them to move forward. Tala grinned. ¡°Into the woods we go.¡± -You two are ridiculous. You were just here with Terry a little bit ago. This isn¡¯t a ¡®first¡¯ of anything.- Terry trumpeted toward the sky, adding his opinion to the mix. -You too?- Alat was clearly purposely speaking into Terry and Tala''s minds at the same time. The terror bird looked toward Tala and let out a decisive chirp while bobbing an affirmative. -I¡¯m surrounded by crazy people.- And avians. -...Crazy. People.- Tala huffed a laugh but didn¡¯t respond further. The three moved forward, passing under the trees. There was no ringing pronouncement, nor any swelling melody, but they all felt something shift, something that hadn¡¯t been present the last time that they¡¯d come this way. -Oh, come on. You couldn¡¯t have known that this would happen.- True, but it felt weighty, like something was awaiting us here. So we treated it with the gravitas that seemed appropriate given the feeling. Alat harrumphed just as a small¡ªactually normal sized¡ªwolf came from deeper in the woods. It was alone, which was the first sign that something was odd. Where was its pack? Then, there were the facts that it was a mundane wolf, and then the fact that it was walking straight for them, not stalking, not flitting from tree to tree, just walking as if on some sort of summer stroll. The lupine was simply trotting their way like a puppy called home to his master. -It¡¯s a trap!- Tala almost jumped, and her armor had instantly flowed out of her in unconscious reaction, encasing her in its protective embrace. What? Where? How? -Well, look at him?- Alat indicated the wolf as it sat back on his haunches some thirty feet away. -Is there anything about that which doesn¡¯t scream ¡®Look at me! Don¡¯t pay attention to your surroundings.¡¯? I mean, really¡­ Who would fall for that?- ¡­So, to be clear, because the wolf is eye-catching, you think it¡¯s a trap? -Yes.- Alat¡­ Are you kidd¡ª Tala¡¯s thoughts hitched as something seemed to violate her authority, while leaving her aura intact. She only noticed at all because of all of the training that she¡¯d been doing with Alat to separate her perception of the two.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Greetings, human.¡± A massive wolf seemed to appear out of nowhere, crouched low as if about to spring forward¡­ or so its eyes would be at the same level as the humans it was addressing. ¡°Your arrival was expected. We bid you greetings, Tala, acknowledged of the Pack.¡± Tala twitched, grateful that her armor was already deployed. Rane¡¯s head jerked, twisting to the side so that he was looking at the large wolf without having to turn his body to face it. Terry flickered away, appearing behind Tala and Rane, facing away from the larger wolf, clearly trusting them to defend his back as he watched theirs. Alat cackled. -I knew it.- Tala grimaced, chose not to address her alternate interface, and bowed toward the wolf, being careful to never take her eyes off of its gaze. ¡°Greetings. How shall we address you, esteemed member of the Pack?¡± The wolf chuckled a deep throaty growl. ¡°I am not a member of the inner hunt. I am still young and inexperienced, simply one of the minders of the lesser packs. You may call me Lupin. Let us depart.¡± ¡°Where, wolf?¡± Tala asked immediately. The massive eyes regard her for a moment. ¡°Where, what, human sireling?¡± ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°To Anatalis, of course. He sent his greetings, and it is only polite that you return them as quickly as you can.¡± Lupin flicked his head in order to indicate the mundane wolf. ¡°He will be your runner. Follow him to the best of your ability. Stay on the ground, or you will not be able to enter the domain of the Pack.¡± Tala was about to object when she really heard the words that Lupin had used. Not able to. They wouldn¡¯t be denied. It wouldn¡¯t be rude; they wouldn¡¯t be able to enter. Rane connected the facts as quickly as she had, adding in a bit of knowledge she¡¯d come across, but never delved into. ¡°The sovereign domain of a god-beast?¡± ¡°Where else would the Pack call home, little human?¡± Without waiting for further questions, Lupin simply faded from Tala¡¯s perceptions, all of them save her budding awareness of her own authority. That wasn¡¯t sufficient to pin down where the wolf was, just the general direction of something that was keeping her from maintaining her authority around herself completely. The runner-wolf turned and took off at a slow trot to start. Tala glanced toward Terry. ¡°You had better not flicker. I think there are strict conditions for passing the border of this domain. I don¡¯t want you to be left behind.¡± Terry groused momentarily but quickly agreed regardless. Without further delay, the three took off at a healthy run, quickly regaining ground on the wolf before them. The wolf, of course, sped up as soon as they drew near, matching their rushing pace, even though it seemed far harder for it than it was for them. They ran through the darkening woods, even though it wasn¡¯t even noon yet. The trees weren¡¯t that closely packed, nor was the foliage overhead that thick or interwoven. There also weren¡¯t clouds overhead. Yet, even so, the forest grew dark as they proceeded. Then, up ahead, beyond the racing wolf, Tala saw a deer. She alerted the others to its presence even as the cervid obviously noticed them and took off perpendicular to their erstwhile path. The runner-wolf let out a howl and diverted immediately, head dropping low in a clear, hunting posture. Tala had a moment of frustration. Really? The wolf is getting distracted so easily? Then, she actually thought about what was happening and immediately turned after the lupine hunter, speeding up. Rane and Terry were right on her heels, even as she overtook the wolf. With a gesture, she sent Terry out wide while she diverted from the direct route in the opposite manner, the two of them flanking the fleeing deer. With their Refined-level physiques, it was almost trivial for them to overtake and then bypass the cervid before they both came back toward the middle, hemming the deer¡ªthe stag¡ªin. The stag reacted immediately, turning to face the ¡®lesser¡¯ threat of the wolf, Rane just behind. The little wolf growled rolling out of the way of the charging antlers, even as it stretched out and snapped at the creature as it passed. Rane didn¡¯t dodge, instead stretching forward¡ªusing incredible dexterity and precision¡ªto touch the deer between the antlers. There was an odd disjointment of motion, the head jerked to the side with all the speed it had previously possessed forward, even as the body continued in the same charge. The result was a loud snap, and the deer tumbling to the forest floor in a rather unhealthy heap. Tala¡¯s threefold sight had a perfect view of what Rane had done, and she felt herself grin broadly at his achievement. Rane¡¯s aura had been rebuffed entirely by the deer¡ªwhich had somehow had the aura resistance to stave off even the influence of a Refined, despite seemingly being mundane¡ªbut he hadn¡¯t let that deter him. He¡¯d been practicing utilizing his own magics through his authority for months now, just as Tala had proven was possible. He was far behind her, as made sense for a myriad of reasons, but he had gotten to the point that anything he touched would come under his authority enough for him to enact his magics upon it, regardless of aura supremacy¡­ in theory. As limited as that seemed on first consideration, he¡¯d utilized it to incredible effect already, but it was hardly time for Tala to be focusing on that. All the other hunters stopped mid motion as a wave of something rippled over them all. The wolf, in particular, seemed incredibly affected. Tala felt the almost uncontrollable urge to look upward, and she didn¡¯t fight it, allowing her focus to shift that direction. In the sky above was a full moon, hanging far too close to be natural, even though she couldn¡¯t see anything wrong even with her threefold sight. The wolf howled, even as a deep laugh rumbled through the forest. The sound was very, very clearly from some predatory source, though it also carried a ringing note of amusement. ¡°The intention was to only allow the use of physical enhancements and pack tactics.¡± Lupin was suddenly there, but the voice hadn¡¯t been his. He was laying on the ground, head tilted to the side to expose his throat. ¡°Rise, the fault was not yours. This male human sireling has capacity beyond what even I realized. The fault is mine.¡± Tala shivered at the pronouncement, feeling the power within the claim. Did he just take ownership of a mistake? Is that even possible? -I¡­ I think he did. Is there really power in that?- ¡­Huh¡­ You know what? I think there is, at a conceptual level. So, if that¡¯s the case, why not at an Existence level too? Lupin rose up once again and let out a growling whine before bowing to Tala. ¡°I take my leave. Welcome to the Lunar Hunt.¡± Before Tala, Rane, or Terry responded, Lupin was gone, this time even from her still nascent sense of her own authority. The mundane wolf had vanished at some point without Tala noticing. Even when she went back in her memory, she couldn¡¯t pin down when the wolf had departed, the memory of the wolf now seeming somehow fuzzy. ¡°Now, welcome to my domain, the forest behind the forest you humans know passing well.¡± They looked around, not seeing anyone. ¡°Am I to assume that you are everywhere?¡± Tala had taken the lead, and Rane seemed to have no objections. Anatalis chuckled again, causing a deep-seated, instinctual response within Tala. She knew that a predator was watching her, and she didn¡¯t particularly like the sensation. ¡°No, and yes. I am not everywhere, but I can be anywhere. I think you understand that well enough.¡± Her soulbound space¡ªKit; Tala could move herself to anywhere within it with utter ease. ¡°You have bound yourself to a voidling?¡± There was an almost stunned silence before a wolf, barely taller than Rane at the shoulders, appeared before them, regarding Tala with obvious interest. His coat was somehow as black as midnight and as white as new-fallen snow. It seemed both fluffy like a winter rabbit and like each hair could pierce more effectively than the lance of a charging Guard. His mouth didn¡¯t open as he spoke, but the voice was somehow obviously his, ¡°You two are even more fascinating in person than news of you led me to expect.¡± Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder, regarding Anatalis. ¡°And Terry, avian cousin of my Pack. Be welcome, one who is of a kind with my kin.¡± Terry trilled a subdued response¡ªeven though he kept the god-beast¡¯s gaze¡ªwhich Tala took as thanks for the welcome. Tala herself was taking deep slow breaths, trying to keep calm in a situation in which she realized she had virtually no power. She had finally noticed the subtler change which had accompanied the swelling moon overhead and the final, full darkening of the sky which indicated the falling of night all around. The change was both subtle and infinitely important; her authority felt as if it sat in the palm of another, cradled and caressed but not crushed or violated. Not yet. She was still in command of all that was hers, but all that was hers now lay within the authority of another, one far, far beyond her. Is this what Walden feels? -It can¡¯t be. We aren¡¯t beyond him, and we don¡¯t actually have any authority over that which is his. I think that this is different.- That was true. Here, though, rather than her host obviously owning the plate off of which she ate, she felt as if she had been given leave to take fruit from an orchard. It was all the property of the owner, and he could stop her at a moment¡¯s notice, but she had leave to take some of the harvest¡ªat least for the moment. In light of that revelation, the growing lupine grin on Anatalis¡¯ face sent a shiver down her spine. ¡°We have much to discuss.¡± The large wolf turned and began to walk through the woods, heading north, clearly expecting them to follow. They shared a look, then did so without question. Chapter: 500 - Deeper in We Go Tala and Rane shared a look before following after Anatalis. Terry didn¡¯t leave Tala¡¯s shoulder, but his eyes were flicking all around, despite them both maintaining their standard clouds of bloodstars, giving threefold sight and perception respectively. The trees grew larger as the four continued, the place starting to feel more and more like the Leshkin woods to the south. One major difference, however, was that the trees were of mixed varieties, and the overall result was less uniform in appearance. Where the Leshkin woods seemed almost like a great hall¡ªimmense beyond reason, made using a forest as its foundation and trees as its living pillars¡ªthis was simply an ancient forest, still in the primacy of its power. Yet, despite the surrounding distractions, Tala couldn¡¯t get her mind off of two things. First, her three-fold sight was acting¡­ oddly. She could still see just as well as ever¡ªand through the physical to the same degree¡ªbut it somehow felt¡­ off. If she were relying on her mundane sight, she¡¯d say that everything was color shifted. Second, Kit was pulling at her soul¡­ oddly. For some reason, Kit seemed to be starward of her now, rather than stoneward, so it seemed like they¡¯d been flipped around somehow? Is this place upside down or something? -I don¡¯t know. Kit is acting really quiet, though. That¡¯s probably due to Anatalis¡¯ presence. She still has a lot of her basic instincts, and he is an apex predator.- Yeah¡­ I guess so. Rane was the first to speak as they worked their way between the great trees. ¡°Are we right in understanding that this is a sovereign domain?¡± Anatalis glanced back their way. ¡°Yes, and no. When the world was young and I hunted in the wild-magic storms of old¡ªdipping between levels of existence¡ªI was alone of my own kind. I gained power through means I will not share, and most of which are no longer available, even if I did. That left me with immortality and a fully realized soul.¡± Tala was taken aback by the mini flood of information, most of which she had really no context for, but she was very careful not to interject. ¡°After years beyond my reckoning, I found another like me, though not of my kind. She and I were both alone in the vastness of existence, and we found comfort and companionship in one another. We grew in power together until we could grow no further. This form, here, is my most common form, but not my only one.¡± She understood an instant before he said the next part, but let him continue uninterrupted. ¡°This domain is her most common form, but not her only one. Our descendants are the Pack, and we draw other wolves to us to aid them at need.¡± As if a veil had been pulled back, Tala¡¯s threefold sight suddenly saw the superficial¡­ starward of where she was. Starward even of where Kit awaited her. Well¡­ rust. How did I miss that? -Obscuring magics? Kit in the way? Dealing with Sovereign level entities, here, Tala. There are quite literally infinite possible explanations. But we¡¯re missing the critical piece, here. ...Anatalis¡¯ mate is a voidling?- Right, right. Focus. If she¡¯s not a voidling, whatever voidlings grow into if they achieve advancement on their own at the very least¡­ Tala felt through her connection to Kit, and found the voidling utterly still, as if trying not to draw attention to herself. -And we¡¯re now inside her.- Alat poked at Kit, getting no response. Like being inside Kit, yeah. Alat poked again, and Tala mentally smacked the alternate interface. Stop that. Leave Kit alone. -...fine. I¡¯ll leave her be. But, will you please ask him if we are right? Could a sufficiently powerful voidling fix Zeme?- Tala sighed, then nodded. I will, but after something else. She cleared her throat. ¡°What may we call your mate, and how shall we address her?¡± ¡°Vidarra. Though, she hears all within our domain regardless of address.¡± ¡°Thank you for the introduction, and thank you, Vidarra, for hosting us.¡± Anatalis huffed but didn¡¯t respond elsewise. There was a slight uptick in the wind, causing the trees to sway a bit more noticeably for a moment. It was lovely and relaxing, so Tala took that as a good sign. ¡°Now, if I may ask, with so much power at your disposal, why did you not absorb the whole of Zeme and the Doman-Imithe and put it back as it should have been?¡± Anatalis stopped then, turning to regard her. ¡°You assume much, young one, and presume more.¡± Tala felt a tension in the air. Still, the wolf didn¡¯t seem angry. ¡°I will first state that in order to do so without risking my beloved, I would have to slay all such as you with gated souls. I would also have to destroy any similarly mobile sources of magic. Doing so¡ªassuming such is possible, which is a large assumption¡ªwould radically change Zeme, and I fear in ways not entirely for the better. I quite like you humans, and a cleansing would be¡­ distasteful.¡± Tala felt herself pale. She hadn¡¯t even considered that. Well, she had, but she¡¯d assumed that a god-beast would have some way around the abrasion that gates and similar sources of magic created in their wake. ¡°Well, thank you for that.¡± Anatalis chuckled, the sound just as predatory as ever. ¡°But of course.¡± As he truly didn¡¯t seem mad, she decided to press a bit further. ¡°So, the main difficulty is the abrasion that the passages from the next world cause as they move about?¡± The wolf tilted his head to the side. ¡°That is like asking if the main reason you get wet in the ocean is all the water.¡± ¡°So¡­ yes?¡± ¡°That is the primary hindrance, yes. But if you were swimming in the ocean and all the water vanished, you¡¯d plummet quite a distance. Splattering on bedrock beside myriad other creatures causes a different sort of wetness, but wetness all the same.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°You¡¯ve lost me with that analogy.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The wolf sighed, and the trees swayed as if in the breeze from that sigh. ¡°It wasn¡¯t meant to be perfect, just to demonstrate that sometimes the paths we take to avoid a thing have unconsidered consequences.¡± ¡°I can understand that. I imagine that the Sovereigns and other god-beasts would object to someone gobbling up all of Zeme.¡± Anatalis chuckled, and Tala and Rane shared another look, both shivering at the sensation that came along with the sound. ¡°Yes, and no. Most do not have authority over any dimensionality, thus the reworking of the foundations of the world would affect them very little.¡± He regarded her for a long moment. ¡°I will tell you one more reason, then the subject will be complete for the present time.¡± After a moment¡¯s silence, Tala realized that he was waiting for her to state her agreement. ¡°Understood and agreed.¡± He regarded her for a long moment before huffing once and continuing, ¡°To do so would invest our power and authority into the very bedrock of Zeme. We wouldn¡¯t be vulnerable, per se¡ªnot as even immortals consider such things¡ªbut we would not be able to do much else with our power while we maintained such. Our Pack would be vulnerable as never before.¡± That tickled the back of Tala¡¯s mind, and it only took a moment to figure out why. Master Grediv warned that if we made Kit too big, we¡¯d likely stretch our control and our power thin. -And to stretch it over a whole world¡­- Exactly, yeah¡­Tala nodded slowly. ¡°I think I understand. Thank you.¡± Anatalis huffed, then turned and continued northward, maintaining a steady, ground-eating pace, Tala, Rane, and Terry just behind. * * * They weren¡¯t really sure how long they traveled north. Tala and Alat¡¯s sense of time was distorted somehow, and while Alat could still reliably check the Archive, something about the time information that she received in return didn¡¯t quite line up in ways that made sense. After a while, the alternate interface stopped trying to make sense of it. Apparently, Rane and Enar were having the same difficulty, and Alat and Enar were especially frustrated and thrown off by the phenomenon. Terry¡­ was asleep. As such, he obviously didn''t care one way or the other. When Alat checked in with Lyn in Irondale, the Fused responded that everything seemed fine on her end. Though it was night within Irondale and everyone was either asleep or moving that way. Even Lyn had been near going to bed when Alat had contacted her. Overall, she wasn''t a helpful touchpoint. I thought it was morning when we came to the forest. Has it been that long? -I suppose so?- Tala agreed as the alternatives were worse than a lost day. All in all, it was a bit of a surreal experience, running through a seemingly unending, never repeating forest. The plant and animal life was abundant and pervasive, and most of it seemed to be utterly uncaring of their passage. Rane asked after the oddity, and Anatalis seemingly happily explained that the various animals had few natural predators. Those animals weren¡¯t enjoyable to hunt, so the wolves left them alone, and no other apex predators were allowed within the Lunar Hunt. So, as funny as it was, the smaller prey animals were living in a sort of paradise in this domain. That made Tala think of Walden, and she wondered how the elk was doing. A quick, mental check revealed that he seemed just as always, content in finally growing woods. All told, as interesting as traveling was, Tala felt herself becoming a bit irritated. She knew that, if Vidarra was anything like Kit, they likely could have all been moved directly to wherever they were going, but as hospitable and welcoming as Anatalis had been, she didn¡¯t want to test his patience by questioning his methods overmuch¡­ at least not out loud. -And it¡¯s very possible that different members of Kit''s species¡ªor whatever we should call it¡ªhave differing abilities.- That... actually makes some sense¡­ Huh. Tala felt her irritation fade, now that she had a potential alternative explanation. -You don''t have to sound so surprised. I often have very sensible ideas.- You''re right. Thank you for the idea. -You are most welcome.- After an indeterminable length of time, Tala, Rane, and Terry found themselves loping out into a large, round clearing, surrounded by short cliffs on every side, save where they had entered and the space directly opposite. On that far side the cliffs went down instead of up. Through that break, they could see a massive rolling forest laid out before them, mountains rising up here and there in the distance, as individual spires of rock, save for one range that was off to their left, leading away toward the far horizon. Tala wondered what the large, flat, circular space was used for, but the thought was pushed aside, her eyes widening as she made a connection to what she was, and had been, feeling. ¡°This¡­ this is a true fragment, like the House of Blood has in Croi.¡± Just like when she¡¯d realized that they were no longer on the superficial, she felt like a veil was pulled back from her threefold sight, and she took a look at how Zeme should be with that sight for the first time. The true fragment was¡­ overwhelming in its simplicity. It wasn¡¯t one, unified reality-node, but there was a connectedness to the individual parts that Tala hadn¡¯t really seen before. We¡¯ve been ¡®fixing¡¯ a skeleton by fusing the bones to one another¡­ -It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s beautiful.- There was void there¡ªbetween the nodes¡ªand there was magic as well, dancing throughout, seemingly uncaring of void or reality. It was harmony. It was a well oiled machine, where Tala had thought a statue should be resting. Anatalis¡¯ response pulled her focus away from her threefold sight. The wolf huffed even as he lay down. ¡°Those¡­ arcanes could only wish to have a fragment as large and as stable as this.¡± She swallowed, shaking her head in wonder. ¡°I thought that the chances of another were¡­ astronomical.¡± The wolf gave a lupine shrug. ¡°We fished it from the void. It was barely hanging on, with almost no connection to even the Doman-Imithe. Vidarra drew it into herself, and¡­¡± He shook his head, glanced toward Tala with a critical eye. ¡°I will say no more.¡± We¡¯ve been doing it wrong, but I¡­ I don¡¯t know how to get this result. -I know¡­ It would be more susceptible to magical effects, but that¡¯s part of the point, isn¡¯t it? What we¡¯ve been doing is magically making Reality supreme¡­ somehow.- And that¡¯s what makes magic so much weaker within the space. At least, that¡¯s what they¡¯d done in her sparring ring and artificial lung. Thankfully, they hadn¡¯t done the same at the old Marliweather city site. They¡­ they had a lot to consider. -I¡¯ll flag this for Mistress Ingrit. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll know who to bring in on this.- Tala sent her agreement, even as she continued to allow the newly revealed sights to pour through her. Rane sat a respectful distance from the wolf, and Tala joined him just before her husband spoke, ¡°You invited us here¡­ Well, you invited Tala and Terry here. To what end?¡± Eyes that shone like the moon that still hung close overhead regarded Rane for a moment. ¡°I would test you as well, so that you may receive the same boons that your mate does.¡± Rane nodded slowly, seemingly noticing that the wolf hadn''t really answered but willing to be diverted by what was offered. ¡°I appreciate the invitation to prove myself. Would such a test be similar to Tala¡¯s fight with your sireling?¡± Anatalis¡¯ deep, rumbling laugh rolled forth once more. ¡°Indeed, save your soulbound mate¡ªand her companion¡ªwill not be allowed to join you. The pup learned much from his defeat at the hands of your mate, and I wish him to continue to learn from your kind, not repeat the lesson at a starker disadvantage.¡± ¡°Very well. I accept. When would be best?¡± ¡°How about now?¡± Tala jerked back from her reverie, fully processing what Rane had been saying even as she felt dozens of massive wolves seemingly come from nowhere, each lying on the top of the cliffs, all looking down on the wide, unnaturally flat space. Oh¡­ it¡¯s an arena. And her husband was about to fight in it. Chapter: 501 - How He Did So Tala, Rane, and Terry sat next to the physical manifestation of Anatalis, god-beast of the Pack and Lord of the Northern Forest - northern from the gated-human perspective. As they were traveling out and away from the cycling cities, Tala was trying to reframe her understanding of various things like that. Rane¡¯s acceptance of the opportunity to test himself against the Pack¡¯s current sireling¡ªwhom Tala had faced years earlier¡ªstill hung in the air, along with the magical signatures of more than fifty giant wolves who were now looking down on the arena in which their group rested. Well, he didn¡¯t waste any time. -Well, of course not. He¡¯s excited to clash with an opponent he saw you fight. That doesn¡¯t get to happen very often.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. She really couldn¡¯t fault his eagerness. Anatalis had a lupine¡ªvery predatory¡ªgrin across his face as his guests looked around at the surrounding creatures. In that moment, Tala had a realization. If the sirelings take a hundred years to mature, and the Pack only has one at a time, just the wolves here represent more than five thousand years of Anatalis¡¯ life and consistent growth in power¡ªeven if just by the expansion of his Pack¡ªand this is likely not all of them. Though it is most likely the majority. -It also explains why no one has seen him as a specific threat, not yet at least.- Yeah. I mean, we¡¯ve no reason to believe that he¡¯s more powerful than any other Sovereign level entity, and his descendants are easily matched in number and power by others we know of. The Pack couldn¡¯t bring down the arcane cities by themselves, and even gated-humanity could probably cause him trouble if we came to conflict. -Not a lot of trouble but definitely some, yeah.- Still, his base of power would only continue to expand, and he had a near eternity to continue. It was no wonder that he had not been more prominent, but with gated-humanity by his side? Possibly even under his aegis? Tala suddenly understood why the wolves had approached Alefast, Waning, to test gated-humanity. They were at¡ªor very near¡ªa tipping point of power. In the momentary silence in which Tala¡¯s mind was racing along concepts of power and alliance, Terry flickered to stand on his own, sized to match an oxen¡¯s height, if not mass. He trilled at the sky, causing a ripple of rumbling chuckles from the watching wolves. Anatalis regarded Terry for a long moment before dipping his head. ¡°Your own request for an individual trial is noted, avian cousin, but your experience makes a match against the sireling useless as a test, as profitable as it might be for his own development.¡± He let out his own rumbling laugh, speaking even as it wound down, ¡°Only your lack of advancement allowed your participation in your flockmate¡¯s test, and that has since been¡­ remedied. Congratulations.¡± Terry paused a moment, head tilted to one side, before trilling again. That caused the watching wolves to exchange looks, as they clearly understood him even better than Tala could. ¡°Very well. Once the human is tested, I will allow your test against a mature Packmate. You may fight the sireling at your leisure after that, should you please us with your performance. Reviving one such as your would-be opponent is not without cost however, so the contest will have other conditions for possible victory, aside from death alone.¡± The watching wolves threw back their heads and howled almost as one, the slight dissonance lending a haunting quality to the clearly approving gesture. Both combatants can fight to the death without it being a final death. -That should be rather interesting, yeah. Even with other win-conditions, the potential to go all-out? It will be fascinating to see.- ¡°But first, the sireling shall test his fang, claw, and power against young Rane.¡± Tala and Terry moved to the base of the cliff before both flickering up to a clear space on the edge, looking down. Terry preceded Tala by a bare fraction of a second, but that was enough for her aura to be firm enough atop the cliff so that she could join him without appreciable delay. Rane remained seated even as Anatalis faded, seeming to break apart into glowing mist that in turn lost its glow and vanished. A moment later, the sireling¡ªa russet furred wolf just about the size of a large horse¡ªjumped down into the large, round depression. His fur was crisscrossed with a few scars that should have given him a haggard appearance, but instead of lacking hair, the scars grew fur of a silver-white, and that gave him a more mottled, textured appearance than was usual, even if it was less extreme than it had been when the sireling fought Tala. Apparently, his coat had been refreshed upon his death, and he¡¯d not had the chance to re-earn as many scars as he¡¯d previously boasted. Rane stood slowly before bowing to the wolf. ¡°Greetings, sireling of the Pack.¡± A voice that Tala recognized responded, sounding more animalistic than Anatalis¡¯¡ªor even Lupin¡¯s¡ªhad, ¡°Greetings, human of the cycling cities. Fight well, so that we may both learn and grow from the clash. Remember that surrender is an option. I¡¯d hate to end your life needlessly.¡± A presence descended upon the arena, suppressing and deactivating Rane¡¯s inscriptions, but that was only a mild inconvenience for the young man. His natural magics were as chasms, as he had had nearly the same inscriptions for the entirety of his time with magic. Enar would, unfortunately, be suppressed for this time, but Alat said the alternate interface was fine with that. She was confused by his feelings, but she wasn¡¯t about to try to argue Enar into a fear of such things. Aside from Enar, the changes that Rane had received were almost all enhancements of previously existing spellforms, meant to build upon those which were already in place, deepening them and extending their utility. All told, he would be fighting at a very high level for a human Mage, bereft of inscriptions. Tala couldn¡¯t keep the grin from her face as she watched her husband face off against the sireling. As she watched, bone seemed to sprout from his skin, looking like a combination of fast-growing wood and plates coming from hidden compartments¡ªeven though she knew it was neither¡ªand in less than a second, Rane¡¯s bone-armor had literally clicked into place, entirely encasing him. The magics inherent in the armor¡ªderived from the bone-golem he¡¯d harvested¡ªallowed him to see using the bone itself. Being soulbound, it was allowed, and all of its power was ready to hand. He¡¯s taking this quite seriously. -Indeed.- Her magesight easily picked out the magics as the sireling carved spellforms into existence itself around himself, sending out the opening attack of the fight, a simple fireball. Rane didn¡¯t even bother blocking, simply extinguishing the attack as soon as it entered his aura. Tala felt her eyes widen, however, as she¡ªbeing intimately familiar with Rane¡¯s magics¡ªnoticed how he did so. Aside from her familiarity, she felt something through her soulbond with him, but she didn¡¯t have time to trace that down at the moment. What the sireling had done could have easily been seen as a test of Rane¡¯s aura strength, which Rane would have classically responded to by simply obliterating the magic once it was within his control. Instead, Rane had done exactly as he had told her he would. He manipulated the kinetic energy, taking in the monumental amount of power that the open spell had contained, and holding it in readiness for¡­ something. A smile pulled at Tala¡¯s lips. He¡¯s going to surprise us all, isn¡¯t he? -If I said yes, wouldn¡¯t that mitigate the surprise?- Tala huffed a laugh, causing the wolf to her right to glance her way, mild confusion in his eyes. They both knew that nothing unexpected had seemingly happened. So the wolf was likely curious as to why she seemed to feel Rane had done something noteworthy or amusing. Still, the clash below was already moving ahead, drawing and keeping all the observers¡¯ focus. The sireling had gotten faster at changing out his natural magics, even seeming able to be working on more than one such spellform at a time. As such, he flickered around the arena while sending a storm of ice, fire, and rocks, all striking with precision and speed.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Rane, in contrast, simply stood, eyes closed, natural magics dancing around him as each attack was robbed of power before it could touch him. The only time Rane moved since the beginning of the clash was when the debris around him piled high enough that it threatened to become inconvenient, and so he shifted positions to keep clear footing around himself. The only type of attack that seemed to evoke a different sort of response in those opening moments were those of obviously different energy. The first time a bolt of lighting struck at Rane, Tala tensed, uncertain how he would respond and defend against such. Rane evidently didn¡¯t share her concern as he almost lazily touched Force to the ground, the lightning of the incoming attack redirecting to hit the pommel before channeling down the blade into the ground without seeming to harm Rane or Force in the least. That seemed to get an emotional response from the sireling for the first time. He yipped in seeming glee at this new reaction from his opponent, sending a storm¡¯s worth of lightning at Rane. Rane didn¡¯t react one way or another emotionally, simply allowing every strike to channel down through his pommel and into the ground. Through their bond, Tala felt only calm assurance from the man. She wasn¡¯t sure how the sireling was making the lightning continue to move toward Rane, even after it had entered her husband¡¯s aura¡ªhuman lightning Mages generally had to deal with their attacks scattering¡ªfollowing more natural paths¡ªafter they entered a hostile aura. She also wasn¡¯t sure how Rane was drawing every strike to Force, but after more than a minute of ineffective strikes, everyone had come to accept that it wasn¡¯t a fluke or something that would tax Rane or the sword to continue doing. He was effectively immune to that type of attack. So, the sireling changed to light attacks, causing Rane to actually bark out a short laugh. His entire being lit brightly to her magesight as his natural magics strained and strove to act on the light in the miniscule fraction of a second in which the light was within his aura. The bright, almost purple-white beam of raw light that the sireling was maintaining turned almost immediately red as it entered Rane¡¯s aura, graduating into infrared, and then down into true invisibility, even to Tala¡¯s threefold sight. It still caused Rane¡¯s armor to heat up where it shone, but he stole the kinetic energy of that heat just as easily as from the fire-attacks before. Where is he¡­ oh! -Good, good, you found it.- Rane was dumping the captured power into the bedrock of the sanctum, clearly communicating with Kit at least enough that she was keeping the heat contained instead of letting it disperse into the environment at large. The sireling showed growing irritation as seemingly every magic type he threw at Rane was countered or ignored. Finally, space and dimensionality tried to assault Rane at the sireling''s behest, and Rane¡¯s all too familiar defenses were finally activated, moving him around the battlefield and out of the way of every attack, no matter the angle. The siege orbs could still be a problem for him, given their homing nature, and my dissolution breath, by its very nature, would be nearly impossible for him to counter or even evade. -...True, but should you be trying to figure out how to kill your own husband?- Kill? No. Defeat in a spar? She grinned. Absolutely. -We are strange.- Undoubtedly. The sireling was becoming increasingly and overtly frustrated as he cycled through magics one after another to no appreciable effect. Next, the wolf did something. Tala was sure he did¡ªshe watched the magics take shape, and strike forth, washing over Rane. Rane staggered for only a moment before Tala felt the tell-tale feeling of his berserk rage activating, throwing off the magics. Truthfully, she¡¯d never felt it before, but it could be nothing else. Her soul knew the instant it happened. Rane somehow mastered himself almost instantly, coming back to himself after only taking three quick steps forward. Mind attack? -That would track, given what we¡¯ve seen from the sireling before.- That boon¡­ it seems to be more of a true boon the more powerful the recipient. Now that he¡¯s Refined, Rane seems to be really getting some benefits from it. -Indeed.- Clearly irritated, the sireling forged an all too familiar magic, woven with fire. It was seemingly the same void-fire that the wolf had used against Terry in Tala and Terry¡¯s clash with the wolf. Rane dealt with it as he had all previous fire, stripping the heat away. The void, however continued forward, even if robbed of some of its might. As the cloud of void-magic hit Rane, the intricately interlocked plates of his bone armor seemed to shift, and Tala felt the pushback coming from their very core. WE ARE ONE. Of course. Bone-golems take in bone, absorb it, and make it their own. They could be seen as a less pernicious dasgannach. They are less problematic too, for all their danger. The sireling growled in frustration. Finally, he began to build a spellform that Tala thought was familiar, though she¡¯d never seen it before. The working was only half created when Anatalis¡¯ voice cracked out, his power destroying the spellform even as he spoke, ¡°No soulmagics.¡± There was a fractional pause, in which the sireling hung his head in obvious shame, but it didn¡¯t last long. With ranged magics clearly not working, the sireling finally charged in, seemingly set on winning by dint of fang and bulk. Rane held Force up above his head in a ready pose, his offhand reaching forward defensively. As the wolf lunged forward, the sireling activated a form of teleportation, utterly changing his attack trajectory, but Rane¡¯s magics reacted all the same, moving him out of the way of the snapping jaws. At the same time, Rane reached out with his offhand and touched the side of the wolf¡¯s snout. Tala felt the flexing of Rane¡¯s soul as he bore down to enact magic through the authority of that brief contact. The massively heated rock of the sanctum lost all the extra energy Rane had painstakingly built up in a blink, and Rane strained himself to the extreme in order to force his power to work. And it did. It was as inefficient as blowing on the surface of a lava-flow to cool it off, but when he had the breath-equivalent of a monsoon, it changed the results. The wolf¡¯s head jerked sideways, kinetic energy imparted through the lupine¡¯s defenses. With a crack like the shattering of a glacier, the sireling¡¯s neck broke. With continued motion, now no longer as resisted, the arena filled with the horrid sound of rending flesh, and the massive body tumbled to the ground, lifeless and still. The head slapped wetly against the nearby cliff a moment later before sliding to the ground more than twenty feet from the body. In the sudden silence, the only sound was the building, predatory laugh of Anatalis, god-beast of the Pack. No one spoke or moved for nearly a quarter minute as the head slithered across the ground back toward where the corpse lay. Then, with a sound like rustling canvas, the flesh was mended before the sickening sound of cracking bone and popping cartilage filled the arena once more, the sireling¡¯s head and neck coming back into proper alignment. The large wolf stood slowly, causing Rane to take several steps back, cautiously regarding his opponent. Instead of attacking, however, the sireling tilted his massive head to the side, exposing his throat to Rane. ¡°Thank you for the lesson, human. I have been¡­ remiss in my studies on more esoteric magics. You have held my deficit up in stark relief. I will strive to improve so that my next showing will bring honor to the Pack.¡± Rane gave a bow in return. ¡°Thank you for the match, sireling of the Pack. You were a worthy opponent against which to sharpen my magics. It has been my honor to prepare for this clash, since I watched you clash with my wife.¡± Anatalis¡¯ voice came from the very air around them. ¡°Pack, has the human shown himself worthy?¡± The giant wolves present¡ªthe sireling included¡ªthrew their heads back and howled toward the massive moon hanging low overhead. ¡°I agree. Be welcomed, Rane of gated-humanity; may your hunts be ever fruitful, and your den ever safe.¡± Rane bowed again in thankful acknowledgement. Tala could feel the soul-deep joy bubbling up within Rane even as his inscriptions blazed back to life across and throughout his body. So many of the principles that he¡¯d applied in the fight with the wolf had been ones that they¡¯d worked on together over the last years, brought to culmination in the last months. He was a force to be reckoned with even if his lethality was mostly confined to melee range at the moment. -And he hasn¡¯t even begun to experiment with the battlefield control work that your breath weapon inspired him to conceive of.- She hadn¡¯t thought of that. With a predatory grin of her own, she adjusted a small portion of his aura to be fully hers before flickering down¡ªusing him and his aura as she did Terry¡ªwithout conscious thought. When she arrived, she gave him an almost demure kiss on the cheek¡ªhaving to hop up a little to make it land¡ªonly the smoldering intensity in her eyes keeping it from being a truly chaste kiss. Her husband was becoming powerful, and he was here with her. He was hers. She was his, and they were forging something new, together. In that moment of glory, she felt like Anatalis himself had struck her in the gut, all her joy leaving her in a rush. They were together, but there wouldn¡¯t be anyone to pass what they built onto. What does any of this matter? I continue childless, without heir or legacy. Even if I were to live ten thousand years before death, what will I leave behind? Rane noticed the shift within her immediately¡ªlikely through their soulbond¡ªher pain reaching her very soul, her gate trembling as the truth of it struck her deeply. He caught her up in his arms and enfolded her in his embrace, even as she was wracked with uncontrollable sobs. Silence fell over the Pack as the wolves regarded the two humans. Terry flickered down to stand beside them, glaring around as if daring any wolf to either take advantage of their distracted state or disrupt their moment of unified venting emotion. Tala wasn¡¯t sure how long passed in that way, and Alat was kind enough to not tell her one way or another. But when she had pulled herself mostly back together, she pulled slightly away from Rane, feeling suddenly embarrassed. Anatalis spoke then, ¡°You bear a heavy burden, one that is antithetical to much that I and Vidarra stand for. Know that we mourn with you, and you have nothing to be ashamed of in your grief.¡± Tala nodded slowly, feeling some justification from the words, even as she continued to take comfort from Rane¡¯s presence. ¡°Thank you, Anatalis. Your words are a great boon to me.¡± The wolf manifested near to them and huffed. ¡°It is no true boon, but I take your meaning, young one.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened in a momentary, hopeful thought. Would he¡­ maybe give a true boon? Would that be enough? Chapter: 502 - Of Boons and Distraction Tala and Rane stood close, Terry at their back as Tala regarded Anatalis with budding hope. ¡°Great Anatalis, could you fix our issue with a boon? If so, we would move the Doman-Imithe and Zeme itself to earn such from you.¡± The wolf let out a deep, almost dramatic sigh. ¡°You haven¡¯t been able to conceive, have you? That is the issue of which you speak.¡± ¡°No.¡± Rane was the one who answered, ¡°We can tell you what we know, if that would help to¡ª¡± The wolf shook his head. ¡°There is no need. I can already see the obvious issue. I don¡¯t see you being able to conceive a mortal child, and humans can¡¯t birth immortals.¡± That tickled something in Tala¡¯s scrabbling mind, and she latched onto it. ¡°But you are a specialist in birthing immortals.¡± She gestured to the surrounding wolves. ¡°That¡¯s what you and great Vidarra do, and have done, for every one of your children.¡± ¡°That is true, but just because a bird lays eggs that does not mean she can teach an elephant to do the same, and sitting on a nest does not make an elephant into a bird.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Though, such would be quite the sight, indeed.¡± Tala felt sadness begin to resurface despite Anatalis¡¯ attempt to lift the mood. ¡°So, not by normal means, then¡­¡± ¡°No, regrettably not.¡± ¡°What of a boon?¡± Rane had spoken up once again. ¡°You could earn a boon, and that would allow something. In truth, the answer would be yes, but no. I implore you to not take this route. A boon from nearly any being of my advancement could make such possible. It would be a much smaller thing for myself and my Vidarra than for most others, in fact. But, to do so would fundamentally change who Tala is, and not in a good way. It would likely alter Rane as well. On the other side, if we locked you both as you are, preventing alterations to your bodies and souls while finding another path for an immortal child to be born, such a boon would so mangle any child that they would have no place in human society, or anywhere else that I know of. Even your little village would not be able to keep them.¡± ¡°How can that be true?¡± Tala tried to grab onto the potential for hope. ¡°It is my town, how could my child be unwelcome?¡± ¡°Can you imagine each of the magical or arcanous creatures you¡¯ve encountered in your town? Or are there some that wouldn¡¯t mesh well?¡± ¡°Well¡­ of course some don¡¯t fit, but most of them that wouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Magical beasts you said? But my town is mostly gateless.¡± ¡°And do magical beasts ignore arcanes?¡± Rane was frowning. ¡°Is he saying that any viable child, as allowed by a boon, would be a Magical creature?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I think he¡¯s using that as an analogy.¡± ¡°A bit of both. That is one way that a child could be possible, but a human born as a magical beast would be fundamentally different from your mundane stock. It would feel an instinctual revulsion toward all gated, including the two of you. It would likely become a champion of the arcanes, even while it despised them almost as much. It¡¯s hard to tell, though. There are almost no sapient magical beasts, and any child born with such a change would decidely be that.¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°Aren¡¯t you all exactly that? Isn¡¯t the Pack made up of sapient magical beings?¡± Anatalis chuckled even as many of the wolves growled in clear offense. ¡°Silence, pups. She is asking a genuine question, not seeking to offend. I was such long ago, but the heights of power are a broad plateau where many of the distinctions fade. My sirelings¡ªmy Pack¡ªare born bound to me and my Vidarra¡ªthey are never bound to any portion of Zeme. Beyond that, I will not say.¡± ¡°So, there¡¯s no hope¡­ If even a boon cannot accomplish it, it is impossible.¡± Tala felt herself wilting. Up until this point, she¡¯d had some vague hope that they¡¯d find a solution. But, before she could sink too far, Anatalis huffed a derisive snort. ¡°Can you access the Archive?¡± Tala tilted her head to the side. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Yet a boon cannot gain you the same, if you lack access. Therefore, it must be impossible, right?¡± It only took a moment¡¯s thought for the building pressure in her chest to loosen slightly. ¡°So, it is possible for us to have children?¡± He gave a lupine shrug. ¡°I honestly do not know. I simply wished to remind you that boons are not cure-alls, nor is a problem they cannot address unfixable. The stories make much of boons, but they are, at their basic level, just an Existence enforced ¡®best effort¡¯ from a being of power. Don¡¯t forget that.¡± That wasn¡¯t really that helpful. It didn¡¯t give her an answer, or even any idea on where to search in order to find one, but for some reason she did feel some relief. There was another minute of silence before Terry trilled at the sky, flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder to headbutt her, then flickered back away and trilled again. Tala got the message. ¡®Let¡¯s distract ourselves with something we can actually do something about at the moment.¡¯ She laughed before she realized it, Terry¡¯s actions already doing as he¡¯d intended. ¡°Fine, Terry. You can fight someone.¡± Anatalis faded away once more, and a moment later, a larger, brown-furred wolf jumped down into the arena. She was nearly half-again as large as the sireling was. That wolf was now up on the cliff, laying down to watch the proceedings with the rest of the Pack who were present at the moment. Rane placed his hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Shall we get out of his way? He¡¯s apparently been practicing to a rather extreme degree. Terry has been without a sparring partner¡ªother than us¡ªfor much, much too long.¡± Neither of them saw the Talons as counting in that regard, given they gave no real difficulty to him. She looked up at Rane, then gave a slow nod. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s see what he¡¯s capable of.¡± She turned to give Terry an encouraging glance. ¡°Show them what a Sappherrous can do. Eh, Terry?¡± Terry fluffed himself up a bit, then screeched to the sky, the sound more basso than such sounds usually were. Rane laughed at the avian¡¯s antics¡ªeven though he still had a tinge of sadness about him from the previous topic¡ªbefore he and Tala moved up to the cliff top, each utilizing a powerful leap to land lightly in the space left clear for them. ¡°With no inscriptions to be suppressed, you may each clash as you are.¡± The she-wolf tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck to Terry in a brief show of respect. ¡°To the death?¡± Her words were barely distinguishable from that of a human, despite her lupine mouth. ¡°Or if either of you are able to throw the other from the arena.¡± The she-wolf seemed unhappy, but she acknowledged. Terry chirped firmly in response, confirming his agreement. Tala felt a tightness building in her gut, even though she knew that she could bring Terry back even if the worst should happen.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Begin.¡± Tala watched as Terry immediately flickered forward, shrinking down just enough to easily fit under the she-wolf¡¯s head. He also appeared upside-down, midair, already slashing at her throat, his talons aspect-mirroring the hollow, cutting power of the void through his soulbond to Tala. The swiftness and ferocity of the attack took even Tala off guard for a moment, and it seemed that the wolf was even more surprised. There was no testing, no probing, no analysis or steadily increasing power behind escalating attacks. Terry¡¯s intention was obviously to use an instantly lethal, quick strike, and the slash should have been that. Rust, it nearly was. But the Pack hadn¡¯t survived for millenia by being easily overcome. The wolf forged magics for her use as Terry appeared and struck out, despite her own, obvious surprise. His talons cut deeply into her neck before the defenses came into play, and even then they were a simple blast of air, which just knocked Terry backward¡ªhe likely didn¡¯t flicker away as he was in the middle of a rather effective attack¡ªdoing him no harm at all. His talons were ripped outward by the hit, but he¡¯d still landed a devastating blow. He flickered away, out of the line of the air blast, as soon as his talons were no longer in flesh and before he touched the ground once more. He left behind a ragged gash that was unnaturally bloodless for an instant, before a torrent gushed outward. She staggered, more natural magics coming into effect by the second. The effect was like someone pouring buckets of glowing paint over the wolf, but with far, far greater detail in the rushing power. This being was a master at quick magical manipulation. Even so, Terry flickered back in. He was countered with armored fur, licks of lightning, blasts of air or water, and innumerable other little workings, each designed to be just threatening enough to force him to flicker away rather than trading blows. As she staved him off, she also built magics that knit her flesh back together. It was a clear delaying tactic so she could recover the lead he¡¯d grabbed at the start. Rumbles of approval went around the arena, through the watching wolves. Though, Tala couldn¡¯t actually tell if it was for Terry¡¯s opening strike or the wolf¡¯s ability to hold him off and recover. To Tala¡¯s magesight, her own aura¡ªas projected by Terry¡ªclashed yellow, past chartreuse toward green, against the greenish blue, a good way past teal, of the wolf he was facing. He was fighting against someone nearly an entire grade of advancement higher than himself. But then, Terry was used to fighting those more advanced than himself. He¡¯d been doing it quite nearly his whole life. Rust, essentially all of his clashes against Tala¡ªuntil recently¡ªhad been him fighting up grades. The only exception was his first attack on her, way back on her first caravan trip. Tala felt a smile tug at her lips at the memory. She also felt a twinge in her arm and back at the meticulously remembered pain. The curse of perfect memory. -Indeed. I¡¯ve never felt pain directly, but your memories let me know that it is awful. I am so glad you don¡¯t want to switch places.- Focusing back on the clash, it was evident that the two fighters were well matched. Terry¡¯s initial surprise attack was the only blood drawn as the clash continued. The wolf attempted to weave spellforms of dimensional denial¡ªobviously to keep Terry from teleporting¡ªbut he somehow breached each and every one with laughable ease. He even actually let out laugh-like trills on many occasions, seeming to revel in his mastery, even as the she-wolf began to growl in increasing irritation. I doubt Mistress Cethira could stop him now. -Indeed, I suspect it would take Kit or Vidarra to truly lock him in place.- You know what? We haven¡¯t actually tried to do that within Kit. It might be an interesting test. -...Maybe¡­- She could use her soulbond with the avian to keep him from flickering, at least in theory, but she was not keen to try that. It felt like it would be a betrayal of trust in some deep manner. Tala put that from her mind and returned her focus to the fight. The she-wolf had laced some power that Tala didn¡¯t recognize through her own fur, and it seemed to directly counter the void-edge that Terry aspect-mirrored onto his talons, but Terry didn¡¯t seem deterred. If the fight had to be ¡®called,¡¯ Terry would be named the winner because of that first strike, but it would have been a hollow victory. The avian seemed to agree with Tala¡¯s assessment, because, finally, he trilled at the sky, allowing his opponent to send out a fully formed column of fire at him. He flickered out of the way, appearing in what was likely his largest possible form. He stood some thirty feet tall at the shoulder, filling up a good chunk of the arena. He shrieked down at the wolf, and the sound was like a sonic attack, causing even all the watching lupines to flinch back, whine, and cover their ears with their paws, seemingly on reflex. Tala and Rane winced, but much of the sound was out of their range of hearing, both too low and too high in its overlapping resonance. The she-wolf fighting Terry was affected the most, clearly utterly dazed by the shriek. In that moment of disorientation that he¡¯d been able to cause, Terry slammed his whole foot down on the wolf, driving her to the ground on her side and pinning her in place. He then struck down with his beak, slamming into her head once, twice, three times. He then shrunk even as he rolled to the side, toward the sheer drop on the open side of the arena. He kept enough size to be able to leverage the broken and bleeding wolf, using his momentum to hurtle her over the edge. She let out a startled, whining yip that was cut off by grinding, crunching, splintering sounds as her body met the trees below. Tala wasn¡¯t sure which had come out better, the trees or the wolf, but regardless, the wolves seemed to have decided that the match was over, as the she-wolf had been sent from the ring. The watching Pack howled even as Anatalis faded into being beside the now much smaller Terry. ¡°Well fought, avian. Your age and wisdom shows against our fourth youngest member. I may have to reconsider how we raise our sirelings, in light of the showing you and yours have given. She was your elder by nearly half a century and your superior in advancement by nearly a full step, yet you won through hard earned skill, instinct, and exceptional timing.¡± Terry fluffed his feathers, preening under the praise. ¡°You should be aware, however, she was not killed, and she would have come back with a vengeance that I don¡¯t believe you would have survived, had this been a real clash. Her advancement is simply too much greater than yours for your victory to be lasting.¡± Anatalis¡¯ lupine grin showed a field of teeth. Terry chirped a few times, and Tala smiled. He doesn¡¯t mind that. He won the fight they were having. The fact that he would have lost a different fight is of no consequence. -That¡¯s¡­ reading a lot into a few chirps?- Am I wrong? -I don¡¯t think so¡­ huh. Soulbonds are weird sometimes.- True, but in this case, I think it¡¯s just Terry. We do know him rather well, and we¡¯ve always been able to hear his intention in his chirps, squawks, and trills. -True enough, I suppose.- Terry flickered to Rane¡¯s shoulder, headbutting the man¡¯s cheek before flickering to Tala¡¯s and doing the same, only then settling in on her shoulder even as she remained sitting on the top of the cliff. ¡°Truly, we have rarely had such an accomplished pack visit us peaceably. Be thrice welcomed and be at peace.¡± A shiver ran through Tala¡¯s very soul, something in the words having a power and meaning beyond her understanding. She also had a moment of belated fear, realizing that she had not had that assurance¡ªnor promise of peace¡ªfrom Anatalis even a minute before then. I should ask Lisa, if he¡¯s willing to share his wisdom and knowledge. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s critical in some manner. -It did have the sound of ceremony, didn¡¯t it.- It wasn¡¯t really a question. Tala and Rane both gave measured bows, and Terry chirped and fluffed his feathers again, holding onto Tala¡¯s shoulder even as she moved. ¡°Now, we shall celebrate your presence with a feast.¡± She glanced toward her husband. Well, Terry will be ecstatic, and I suppose we can eat raw meat well enough¡­ Anatalis chuckled, deep and menacingly once more, seemingly understanding her hesitations. ¡°We are aware of human preferences for food, and we would be poor hosts indeed if we did not accommodate your peculiarities.¡± They bowed once again, accepting the offered kindness. ¡°You have¡­ many with you as well. Some of them would be welcome to join us, if you desire. If you please, no more than one hundred, or I fear we would be overrun with your kind. While that would be of no consequence in a battle, in a peaceful meal, I believe it would be overmuch.¡± Rane looked her way, Enar and Alat facilitating a speed-of-thought communication. ¡°Should we invite Lyn, Lisa, Master Simon, Mistress Petra, Brandon, Kedva, Adrill, Ron, and some of the more senior others?¡± ¡°That sounds like a good list to me.¡± ¡°-On it.-¡± ¡°Thank you, Alat.¡± A moment later, Tala bowed toward Anatalis. ¡°We accept, and will be inviting thirty-nine humans and one arcane, if it pleases you.¡± Somehow, Anatalis¡¯ grin grew even larger. ¡°So shall it be. Long has it been since Lisa graced the Lunar Hunt. If he accepts, a¡­ word with that fox is always enjoyable.¡± Lisa refused the invitation with a modicum of courtesy, but everyone else accepted with alacrity. It was time to feast. Chapter: 503 - Something of a Contradiction Tala tried to take Lisa¡¯s refusal in stride, but it niggled at the back of her mind throughout the truly delicious¡ªand otherwise pleasantly diverting¡ªfeast. To her surprise, every dish contained magics seemingly tailored to each human who ate it, and watching carefully, she was able to see that those magics were introduced into the food as each person took the given portion. Is¡­ Is Vidarra adding magic to each at will? -It looks like it, but¡­ that shouldn¡¯t be possible. Right?- Well, it¡¯s possible, we could do it, but it wouldn¡¯t be meaningful. -Yes, yes. That¡¯s not what I meant.- Then, precisely, yes. The whole idea is that the given working is in the natural magics of the food eaten, and that can be transferred, in part, to the consumer. Just putting magic in food doesn¡¯t do anything good. -I suppose¡­ You know what? Now that I consider it, aren¡¯t the Pack experts on creating and modifying natural magics?- ¡­Rust. I did not¡­ I did not consider that connection or application, but yes. With that mystery at least partly solved, she was able to focus back on the repast. She might have been a bit concerned that either she or one of the others might offend Anatalis or one of the Pack, and make things worse for gated humanity, but Tala had been assured repeatedly that while Anatalis often killed those who offended him or the Pack¡ªoften on the scale of centuries¡ªhe never took the offensive action as indicating anything beyond a particular individual. Apparently, despite their highly collective and interconnected nature, Anatalis still considered beings as individuals in most cases. Even considering that, Lisa¡¯s absence still bothered her. His response to the invitation hadn¡¯t been panicked¡ªnor had it implied that they needed to depart from the Lunar Hunt either rapidly or as soon as reasonable¡ªbut he¡¯d also had no interest in coming out of Ironhold, or even his own home now that it was complete enough that he only continued working on it from the outside every third day or so. Tala suspected he only did even that as much as he did because the children continued to be interested in coming by to watch, and he seemed unwilling to disappoint them so thoroughly as to cut off the spectacle completely. -He did consent to a meeting with you in a couple of days. So, at least he isn''t just holing up in his home while we''re in the Lunar Hunt.- Tala groused. I should hope so. I¡¯m carrying him around in a space that is bound to my soul. The least he can do is agree to meet with me if I have things to ask. Alat sighed dramatically. -You know that you don¡¯t want people acting that way toward you. You''re just a bit on edge because of all that¡¯s going on. Reasonable as it might have been for someone else in your position to expect such deferential treatment, you don¡¯t want¡ªand have never wanted¡ªresidence in Ironhold to come with any implicit or explicit requirement of deference or obedience toward you.- ¡­Yeah. But it would be nice if they did what I wanted¡­ She fully understood the contradiction in that stated viewpoint. She didn¡¯t want to have any authority over them, but she also wanted them to at least do as she said with regard to the space itself¡­ Something began swirling within herself, within her gate, within her soul. My authority isn¡¯t over anything as fleeting as the residents. She quite honestly didn¡¯t care one way or another what they did, so long as it didn¡¯t harm Kit or make her life harder. My authority is over the fundamental parts that make up Ironhold. It¡¯s all mine, and I don¡¯t want it¡ªor its future utility¡ªlessened, harmed, or destroyed. I don¡¯t want its fundamental nature distorted or disturbed¡­ She felt herself slide a hair toward Paragon as she put her impressions and vague feelings into words, even if only in her own mind. Tala felt like she was so close to a truth that she needed. It just wouldn¡¯t fully form within her coherent thoughts. I want what is mine to continue. I want it to improve or remain the same, but the specifics are mostly irrelevant to me¡­ if it remains the same, I don''t want it to stagnate. I¡¯m happy to help with any of the specifics, but I generally don¡¯t want to pick them, nor do I feel I have¡ªnor should have¡ªthe right to do so. -That sounds like a landlord?- A bit¡­but a landlord has control over many of the specifics¡ªeven if that control isn¡¯t exercised¡ªand in the end, he wants what is loaned or rented to be given back. Rane bumped her with his shoulder. ¡°You look really frustrated¡ªor at least contemplative¡ªis there anything that I can help you with?¡± She shook her head, his question not hampering her thinking, even if she was trying to focus, and hearing him made that hard. She wanted to hear him and give him her attention when he was speaking to her, just as she knew he did for her when things were reversed. ¡°Alright, just let me know.¡± She smiled at that, bumping her shoulder into him to give contact and show her thanks. ¡°I will.¡± After another minute or so, she sighed, and returned her attention to the feast. This was a celebration of welcome for them. The least she could do is enjoy herself and the amazing food. * * * Anatalis made the rounds through the human guests, welcoming and chatting with each one in turn. They all responded with gratitude and respect, relieving some of Tala¡¯s stress. It wasn¡¯t that Tala had expected otherwise from those that Lyn had selected as ¡®worthy¡¯ of this honor, but there had been the tiny fear at the back of her mind that wouldn¡¯t go away until those initial greetings had passed. These were people of prominence within Ironhold, and they would have been missed if they had misstepped and had been... removed from the Lunar Hunt. The god-beast ended his rounds near Tala and Rane once more, which actually gave Tala the opening to ask something that she¡¯d been curious about. ¡°Great Anatalis. A bit ago, you were involved in a cell. You and the Lord of the Southern Forest worked together to kick the prisoner back out of Zeme.¡± The wolf grunted. ¡°I thought that I had detected your magics there. What do you wish to ask? So far you have only made a statement.¡± ¡°My question is why? Why was she kicked out and kept away? Why did you work with the Forest Lord?¡± ¡°She was kicked out, because she is an abomination who would see Zeme as a whole destroyed. Her advancement is also such that your quaint ''solution for all evils¡¯ would be wholly ineffective.¡± Tala blinked a few times in confusion. Then, she realized that he meant the cells and decided to ask for clarification on another point, ¡°Is she an abomination because she doesn¡¯t have a soul?¡± ¡°It is because her soul has already passed on, and her body¡ªsubconsciously¡ªwill always try to follow, even if it means dragging the rest of Zeme along for the ride.¡± She felt a tightness of fearful anticipation as she asked, ¡°Is that possible? To go physically to the next world?¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°No.¡± The categorical response surprised her even as it relieved some of the tension she''d been feeling. ¡°Just ¡®No¡¯?¡± ¡°That which is ¡®Real¡¯¡ªthat which is physical¡ªcannot enter into the world of Magic. Do not mistake me, it can dip in, if properly sheathed in the Void, but it cannot stay, and it cannot merge with anything that resides therein. It is the same for the Void.¡± Tala frowned, considering the implication of what he''d said. ¡°Then¡­ is there a place where Reality is supreme, and the other pieces cannot endure?¡± ¡°That is a debated topic. Many say that such is what exists outside the radius of Zeme and the Doman-Imithe. Some say that that¡¯s what Zeme was supposed to be¡ªand was¡ªuntil it was broken. I am not old enough to remember, nor have I ever encountered a being who was.¡± ¡°So, repairing Zeme, if it were possible, would require shutting out magic and the void?¡± ¡°I do not believe so. I think that this is a fundamental misunderstanding, no matter how widespread. Reality is what should be. It is that which is without sapient interference, and without anything breaking it apart. Void is simply emptiness or separation. It exists everywhere and must do so in any existence that is larger than a single infinitesimal speck. Magic is that which supersedes standard causality, that which changes what would have been, generally at the behest¡ªand due to the willful choices of¡ªsapient beings whether directly or indirectly. What we commonly refer to as magic is simply that potential and power of change and redirection distilled and wielded at a more fundamental level.¡± Tala considered for a long moment. ¡°So, a world of pure ¡®Reality¡¯ would be one without free will or volitional action?¡± ¡°Whether those within it realized such or not.¡± ¡°You mean people within pure Reality could still believe they were making sapient choices?¡± ¡°That is likely, yes.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference, then?¡± ¡°Would you rather feel safe or be safe?¡± She frowned again. ¡°That seems like a change in topic, but obviously, I¡¯d rather be safe, whether by my own power or some other means.¡± ¡°Exactly. Even if a world of true choice is lesser in every other regard, the mere fact of true, volitional choice would render it better than the most pleasant of puppetted plays, at least from the perspective of a sapient puppet.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°If a thing is good, then only the true existence of that thing is good. The mere appearance of it, without it being there, is actually an evil? Like water in a desert is good, but a mirage can lead to harm because it leads people astray?¡± ¡°Essentially, yes.¡± ¡°So, a world without magic would be evil in your eyes?¡± Anatalis regarded her for a long moment. ¡°Let us say lesser. The label of evil¡­ it is a different discussion entirely.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± ¡°But keep in mind that even that theoretical world would simply be a world without magic. It would still require¡ªand contain¡ªVoid.¡± Tala grunted, considering for a moment, then barking a laugh. ¡°We are rather down the rabbit trail, are we not?¡± ¡°Indeed. Suffice it to say, that prisoner was a threat to Zeme and that which I hold dear. She was also beyond you to deal with. The Lord of the Forest feels the same way, and thus our power, our will, and our authority easily mesh to enact our desire upon Zeme. It is as simple as that. Others came as well¡ªin a manner of speaking¡ªbut we were the first to arrive, and we were sufficient.¡± Tala got the sense that Anatalis had already said as much as he was going to on the subject, so she thanked him, and turned back to the food. As the feasting wound down, the sireling came over to Tala, meeting her eye to eye. ¡°I would be grateful for a rematch. I learned much from our first clash, and I want to see how much I have grown.¡± The wolf glanced toward the nearby terror bird. ¡°Just one on one this time would be preferred.¡± Tala regarded him for a long moment. ¡°Honestly, as much as I would enjoy sparring, I don¡¯t know that a true match would be very useful. Again, I¡¯d love to spar, though.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The sireling seemed genuinely curious about what she meant. ¡°If our lives aren¡¯t on the line, what¡¯s the point?¡± The Pack really has a distorted view of that sort of thing, doesn¡¯t it. Tala sighed. ¡°Yeah. I have made several advancements¡ªusing soulbonds, not inscriptions¡ªthat would render such a competition somewhat meaningless.¡± That gathered the attention of other nearby wolves. Several of the Talons in attendance grinned, aware of the recent culmination of her dissolution breath. Tala looked around, seeing that she was the center of attention. With a sigh, she gestured out over the cliff. ¡°Great Anatalis, would you be amenable to my use of hostile magic in that direction? With inscriptions suppressed, the damage will be very localized, though it is¡­ very dissolutory.¡± Anatalis faded into existence beside her, regarding her critically. ¡°You already had my curiosity. Now, with a question like that, you have my attention. I think that I would be quite remiss if I did not see such a demonstration. Yes, you may work your magics in that direction.¡± Tala gave a bow and walked to the edge of the cliff. ¡°I will use inscriptions to ensure that the area of effect is away from those watching, but that is all that the inscriptions do.¡± After a moment, Anatalis nodded in acceptance. Tala opened a vent along her back, pulling in air, claiming it as her own and filling it with power even as she compressed it. That had actually been a bit of a concern. There had been a chance that Vidarra¡¯s authority would extend to the air within the Lunar Hunt and the chance that such would not let go when it was pulled into Kit. Blessedly, that had not turned out to be the case. Less than a minute later, she was ready. ¡°By your leave?¡± Everyone was focused her way, now, and Anatalis gave her the go-ahead with a solemn nod and the simple words, ¡°By all means.¡± With now somewhat practiced motion, she opened her mouth¡ªand the portal within¡ªshooting forth a compressed column of air. The booming roar of the results shook the very ground, even as the power was spent almost entirely in the air, above the trees and the land below. She closed off the portal a moment later, keeping her lung at about half compression, ready in case she needed it but not dangerously charged or requiring her active focus and will to render inert. There was a long, long moment of silence before Anatalis turned to her. ¡°You will not use that particular combination of magics within the Lunar Hunt again.¡± Tala blinked at him a few times before bowing. ¡°Absolutely, as you wish. May I ask why?¡± The wolf seemed to consider, then he nodded. ¡°It was as a papercut to my Vidarra. It would never cause lasting harm, not as it is now nor as she is, but it was¡­ unpleasant for her.¡± Tala bowed again. ¡°Certainly then. My apologies, great Vidarra, for any pain that I have caused.¡± A soft voice, laced with power, floated to her on the wind, ¡°All is forgiven, young one. You wield a magic that is nearly unique. My Anatalis should tell you more. Be wise in your use of such power.¡± Tala seemed to have been the only one to hear the soothing, obviously feminine voice, but Anatalis was just as obviously privy to the content of the message. ¡°That power is something of a contradiction.¡± Tala oriented on the great wolf. Indeed, everyone present did so, despite the distraction of the still smoldering air and smoking treetops out, over the cliff in the land below. Lyn even went so far as to pull out an Archive slate and start taking notes. ¡°It is a magic that breaks down all it touches. As such, we cannot create it in natural magics. Indeed, it cannot exist in natural magics at all.¡± Frowning, Tala opened her mouth to protest, but Anatalis continued. ¡°By your magics, and those of your¡­ Talons, it is obvious that you know of the endingtrees. As such, you are likely confused by my categorical statement. Are you aware of their origin?¡± She slowly shook her head. ¡°I am not.¡± ¡°I thought not. They were created for early humanity as a boon by a god-tree. The tree made the species of itself, placing all its power, all its sovereignty over trees and fruits and the cycle of life into the forceful restraint of the power within the trees, among a few other things.¡± The wolf grinned his predatory grin. ¡°Have you noticed how your breath burns even the air itself? Have you never wondered why these trees do not simply obliterate the air around themselves and burst into flame, given their every fiber is filled with that same power?¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. No, no she had not considered that, and she really should have. ¡°That is understandable. The god-tree did much to disguise the true nature of the trees, and there is a conceptual mask over just such a revelation, though some of your Paragons have pierced it over the millennia.¡± ¡°What was the boon? Did they ask for an unmatched weapon to wield against our enemies?¡± The wolf scoffed. ¡°No. Though, it has been that at times, even if never very effectively wielded.¡± He glanced over the cliff¡¯s edge. ¡°At least until now. It has been the template for many of your warriors. Its fruit has empowered your heroes of legend and allowed for the protection of some of the earliest gated, warding off those who pursued them into the lands of your cycling cities before any had plumbed the mysteries of advancement sufficiently to defend themselves.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s it, then? A means to defend ourselves against more powerful foes?¡± ¡°No, as I already said. That was not it at all. The boon requested was simple in wording, but so pervasive that it required the sacrifice of the very being of the giver, even if not its life.¡± The wolf¡¯s predatory grin turned, somehow rueful. ¡°It is one example all capable of giving boons look to as a cautionary tale. The god-tree was uniquely susceptible to such a result due to its nature as a tree, a non-sapient being at its core, but the lesson is still the same. Our boons can harm us, and even force us to harm ourselves, even if they cannot force us to end our own existence.¡± Tala waited, somehow understanding that Anatalis was building to the ¡®reveal.¡¯ The wolf looked around as if verifying he had their attention. He needn¡¯t have bothered. No one was even eating anymore as they waited for his next words. ¡°Yes, dear humans, the boon requested was simple: We ask for a means by which we might repair the world.¡± Chapter: 504 - An Interesting Thing to Test Tala felt her own breath catch, and Rane¡¯s immediate tension showed a similarly disbelieving, yet hopeful response within him. ¡°What?¡± Her voice was almost too quiet for a mundane to have heard as she tried to clarify, ¡°Are you saying that we can somehow use endingtrees to fix the world?¡± Anatalis shook his head. ¡°You? I have no idea. The story goes that the human making the request of the god-tree first asked for the world to be fixed, which was beyond the god-tree to grant. Hopefully that was already evident. If a Sovereign could fix Zeme, it would have been done by this point.¡± He seemed to hesitate. ¡°I will say that it is theoretically possible that a Sovereign could fix Zeme, if their authority was properly oriented.¡± ¡°Or if they sunk all their power into the task? Such as you and Great Vidarra consuming the world to repair it?¡± Anatalis huffed. ¡°First, that would be two Sovereign level beings repairing Zeme at our own expense, and to our own detriment, but, yes. If it was possible, it would likely tie up the being''s power for a long time to come. We are¡­ the two of us are specifically oriented toward that type of work, and it would still take both of us giving more than was wise to give. Even then, it would likely not be a sure thing. There are others who might be better suited, but similar limitations would afflict them. Some who are powerful enough would be opposed by others, due to the changes that they¡¯d have to make to enact a fix.¡± His predatory grin returned. ¡°Such as my need to slay all of gated-humanity and other mobile sources of magic before undertaking an attempt.¡± She grimaced. That had momentarily slipped her mind. ¡°Right.¡± ¡°But we are following rabbit trails as vigorously as a pup. The god-tree could not repair the world on its own, so that boon could not be granted. The human then asked for the means to do it. Specifically, ¡®we¡¯ is usually assumed to mean humanity as a whole.¡± ¡°So, humanity is to be the savior of the world?¡± The wolf chuffed. ¡°You and your kind seemingly have the potential to be, but few beings truly live up to their potential.¡± That brought a smile to Tala¡¯s face. Rane cleared his throat. ¡°So¡­ how could endingtrees possibly be used to repair Zeme?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. The tale goes that the god-tree reluctantly agreed to the boon, then exploded in a wash of power that swept across the known world. One of the things discovered in the wake of that power¡ªstill bearing its hallmarks¡ªwere endingtrees. The god-tree''s final words were¡ªat least according to legend¡ª¡®The broken must be worked free and separated, if a remaking is ever to be possible.¡¯¡± Tala waited, but the great wolf didn¡¯t say anything further. The watching crowd of humans began shuffling and muttering. She had honestly somewhat forgotten they were all there too. Well, I''m glad that we don''t need to try to keep this secret¡­ She turned to regard Rane. The big man shrugged. ¡°I mean, the tree¡¯s words are manifestly true, but it isn¡¯t really clear instructions.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Did no one ever follow up on this? Seek to work with the humans to bring about this fix?¡± A deep laugh rumbled across the landscape, and Anatalis grunted in amusement. ¡°Firstly, no one believes that Zeme can be fixed without great cost, and few are willing to pay that cost, whatever it is. Vanishingly few are even willing to discover what the cost would be for them.¡± Tala frowned. Humanity pays great cost for small gain all the time¡­ is that part of it? -I mean¡­ maybe? If you have a self-sacrificial fix for something, it makes sense to give it to people who might actually be willing to sacrifice themselves.- Yeah, but humanity isn¡¯t unique in our ability to be selfless¡­ -No? ¡­Yeah, I have no idea then.- ¡°Second, humanity was rather unpopular in that time, even more than now, if in a different sort of way. It was around then that gated-humanity began to gain prevalence, and no one liked how much you all were harming Reality.¡± Rane narrowed his eyes. ¡°What do you mean ¡®around then?¡¯¡± The lupine grin grew. ¡°You have grasped one theory, yes. Human gates should have been beyond any but a Sovereign to have created, but none that I know of ever took credit for the act. Some such results have been achieved in other areas by the less advanced due to rigorous study, collaboration, or other similar methods¡ªand that is what was claimed by the arcanes in general as to the origin of gates¡ªbut no person or group ever specifically took credit for the first gates either.¡± That was¡­ that was a lot to take in, even if it didn¡¯t make perfect sense with things she¡¯d learned before. He did say it was a theory. Theories can be wrong. Another possible origin for humanity¡¯s gates wasn¡¯t really something that she was excited about, but she¡¯d never heard the appearance of gated humanity potentially linked to endingtrees before, and that had interesting implications regardless of the truth of the underlying notion. What would that even mean? -Well, maybe that a human with a gate and the use of endingtrees in someway can fix Zeme?- Anatalis huffed again. ¡°I can see it in your faces. You¡¯re thinking that maybe the two together, gates and endingtrees are the solution. If so, I cannot fathom it. The more popular theory is that the endingtrees were given to gateless humanity so that they could overcome and slay gated humanity, thus allowing Zeme to heal more readily. My memory¡ªas well as records of the day¡ªseem to indicate that Zeme was healing before gates came about. Whether it would have ever been truly ¡®fixed¡¯ is up for debate, though.¡± It was Tala¡¯s turn to grunt. ¡°That¡¯s possible, I suppose.¡± She had her mind filled with memories of Reality healing itself naturally as she considered the possibility. -We need to keep in mind that it never seems to get ¡®better¡¯ than Zeme standard now. It doesn¡¯t continue to move toward this.- Alat indicated how the true fragment felt to them. -We can¡¯t even make it feel like this¡­ at least we never have before.- We should try some more experiments within Kit. -That would probably be good, yeah.- Tala took another moment to consider before nodding. ¡°All this to say, my attack is too powerful for use within the Lunar Hunt?¡± ¡°No, the attack is of a kind that is annoying to my mate, and so it will not be allowed within the Lunar Hunt.¡± There was a slight edge to his voice, like the crinkling-crack of ice that suddenly seemed a lot thinner than she¡¯d have thought it was. ¡°Understood. Thank you.¡± She gave a deeper than usual bow. A feminine voice echoed around her, once again seeming to come from Vidarra, ¡°Be at ease, child. We have sworn peace upon you. Unless you purposely reject our hospitality, your safety is all but boon-ensured.¡± She sounded¡­ not winded but at least weary. Tala bowed out toward the open drop over the cliff, toward the Hunt in general. ¡°Thank you.¡± Anatalis sighed. ¡°But I grow weary of¡­ this. The hunt calls to me.¡± He glanced toward Terry. ¡°Avian. You have earned a hunt by my side. I shall forge a vessel worthy of your capacities, and we will hunt.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Terry looked to Tala and when she smiled and nodded, he trilled in obvious excitement. Please emphasize to him how much he could and should learn, hunting beside a god-beast. -Already done. He conveyed that you are a cute hatchling to fret and worry so.- Tala snorted internally, barely keeping the reaction from her features. A moment later, Anatalis¡¯ body morphed, reshaping itself until it was just larger than Rane''s, mass wise. It would be a truly massive mundane wolf, but it was very small from the perspective of the Pack and in comparison to those around them. A moment later, Tala watched in awe as Anatalis¡¯ aura suddenly became visible, blazing a painfully hard to see purple. As she watched, however, the color became a more regular violet, then indigo. It continued to shift through the colors, arriving at blue, fading down through green before stopping, precisely matching her own¡ªand therefore Terry¡¯s¡ªaura color. It was far more green than yellow, a spitting distance from true green and Paragon. Still, there was something about Anatalis¡¯ aura that was¡­ deeper than hers and Terry¡¯s. It was like the adding of red to yellow pulled it down the color spectrum to orange, rather than like adding red to blue, which pushed the result up to purple. She frowned. That was a horrible metaphor, but she couldn¡¯t immediately think of a better. Somehow, Anatalis had added something in order to appear weaker. It seemed like he would actually be functionally weaker as well, even if he kept the same underlying power¡­ under whatever it was that he¡¯d added to himself. It was probably something beyond her understanding in the moment. Anatalis shook himself, now seeming like a normal¡ªif diminutive¡ªmember of the Pack. ¡°Before we depart, do you have any final questions? I warn you to make them quick, as the hunt calls to me.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Just two: May citizens of my Ironhold come into the Lunar Hunt, or are there restrictions? And, what do you have for Rane and me?¡± Anatalis looked longingly out over the terrain below before turning back to regard her. ¡°Your citizens may wander as they wish, but I will not promise nor guarantee their safety. The Pack will not harm them, but there are other dangers about. They are not to kill any creature they find¡ªthough they may defend themselves in the unlikely event that such is required¡ªand they are not to harvest from or unnecessarily harm the plant-life. They may talk with any member of the Pack who wishes to engage with them. As for you two, I have already arranged teachers for you. They will find you after I depart, at the appropriate time.¡± Tala considered for a moment¡ªdoing so quickly in consideration for his desire to leave¡ªbut nothing further came to mind. She bowed low once more. ¡°Thank you, Great Anatalis. That is all I can think of at the moment.¡± She glanced to Rane, but he shook his head. He had no questions. Anatalis bobbed his head once, then he and Terry were gone, departed without the slightest evidence of magic or power of any kind. Lupin stood up to tower over the humans present, projecting his voice to be easily heard, ¡°The feast is concluded. Welcome to the Lunar Hunt. The Pack may disperse or stay at their leisure.¡± They¡¯d all heard Anatalis¡¯ words for the humans, and Alat had already updated the display boards in Irondale with the rules and regulations. Tala stepped closer to Lupin. ¡°Where can I place the entrance to my own bound realm?¡± -Oh, I like that descriptor.- It¡¯s nothing special. Just another way of thinking about it. -Maybe so, but I like it.- Thank you, I guess? -You are most welcome.- Lupin seemed to consider for a moment before flicking his head toward one of the flatter faces of the nearby cliffs. ¡°You may use that surface. We do not use this particular arena often, and it will be easy enough to spar elsewhere for the duration of your stay.¡± Tala smiled and gave a small bow. "Thank you.¡± With an act of will, Tala extended her aura over to the cliff and tried to open a portal into Kit. It didn¡¯t instantly work. What the rust? Then, the obvious answer came to her. Her portal wasn¡¯t a thing of her magic, not specifically, and her aura was an extension of her magical authority. That¡¯s ridiculous. It can¡¯t matter like that. -Or Vidarra is providing you insight through pointed opposition?- That drew Tala up short. Was that it? She focused more closely on her ability to sense authority, and¡­ yes, there was something there, almost like a beacon of authority, specifically where Lupin had told her to place the portal. I wonder if his mother told him where to have us put it¡­ -Well, she could do the same anywhere, but yeah, it makes sense for him to have consulted her before granting us permission.- True¡­ So, the Lunar Hunt herself was putting up an authoritative barrier to her portal into Kit. She could go over and touch the cliff. That would force enough of her authority to allow a portal to open¡­ in theory. But that was likely not what Vidarra wanted her to learn¡­ -You could ask?- Of course I could ask, but the discovery itself feels like a bit of a test, too. Alat sighed. -Well, alright, then. Let¡¯s work at this together. What is a portal, exactly?- It¡¯s a dimensional passage that allows mundane access to Ironhold for as long as it¡¯s open. -...Yes. Well articulated, I suppose.- Thank you. -I think it¡¯s also important that a portal connects through the fourth dimension, and itself has no depth.- So, it¡¯s a two-dimensional creation bridging across four-dimensional space? -Essentially. In the same way that a one-dimensional line can connect two points in three-dimensional-space.- Yeah, I can see that. -So, now that we have that established, what¡¯s the hangup?- Tala didn¡¯t know, at least not immediately. Grounding herself in the truth of what the portal was had been nice, but it hadn¡¯t really changed the status quo. The whole contemplation had taken barely a pair of heartbeats in real time, but Rane had still seemingly noticed that something wasn¡¯t right. He turned to regard the cliff, and as his attention came into focus, so did his will that a portal would be there¡ªeven if not specifically expressed¡ªand Tala felt Vidarra¡¯s hold loosen. What? Before she fully comprehended the shift, she took advantage of it, and the opening to Ironhold blossomed into being, revealing the closed, heavily reinforced gates that stood at the center of Irondale. -Well, that¡¯s an interesting lesson. You can¡¯t do anything without your husband¡¯s permission. Be sure to let her know you understand the message.- Tala sent a feeling of being deeply unamused toward her alternate interface. Hardly. Vidarra had had some sort of purpose¡­ We¡¯re soulbound. We know that our marriage strengthens our auras¡­ does it also increase our authority? She almost laughed at herself. She¡¯d only been thinking of them as potentially distinct for a short time and already she¡¯d forgotten that they were, at a base level, parts of a single whole. Of course being married strengthens our authority. That was silly. -But for aura, it¡¯s unconscious¡­ right? It just happens?- Maybe? Well yes, but maybe not? We both define ourselves as Mages¡ªand we see each other as Mages too¡ªso what if it is simply that we grant our spouse that support as a matter of course, not exactly unconsciously, but close? Anything more¡ªat the very least¡ªrequires our volitional focus, even if just slightly? -That was a bit convoluted, but I think I understand what you¡¯re getting at.- Well, if you don¡¯t, no one will. -True enough. Regardless, that could be it, but I don¡¯t think that was her point.- No, I think her point was that I¡¯m not using all the tools at my disposal. -Right. Use your husband. Let her know you understood.- Tala sighed, shaking her head. Rane glanced her way, clearly having noticed the movement. ¡°Alat?¡± That made her bark out a laugh. ¡°Yeah, actually.¡± He grinned in return. ¡°You had that look about you. She really knows how to push your buttons.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth.¡± The Irondalians who had come to the feast were passing them, leaving a respectful distance. They had already said goodbyes to their feast companions in the Pack, and they seemed ready to go home, at least for a bit. One or two were staying behind, already talking with wolves, but most had their eyes set on the open portal and the opening gates within. Rane gave Tala a sidelong look. ¡°What did she say that got that reaction this time?¡± Tala responded flippantly, almost offhandedly, ¡°¡®Use your husband.¡¯¡± He gave her an incredulous look. ¡°Do I want context, or is it how it sounds?¡± Several of the nearby Talons had reddened and picked up their pace. Ah, rust. They have better hearing than mundanes, too. ¡°Tala?¡± She shook her head, then explained briefly what had happened. ¡°Ahh, I was wondering. So, we should practice using our authority together? You touch something, and I use my magic on it?¡± She opened her mouth to respond, then froze. That was an application that she hadn¡¯t yet considered. True, she hadn¡¯t had long to think on it, but he¡¯d thought of that application instantly. She grinned toward her husband in pride and contentment. ¡°Huh. You know what? That would probably be an interesting thing to test.¡± Chapter: 505 - It Was Time Tala and Rane were about to go test some of their new theories in regards to shared authority and enacting their magics through them when a wolf appeared beside them. For a fraction of a second, Tala thought that the wolf was massive, fur black as the endless depths of space, the tips of each piece of hair glowing with light like a star within that infinite night. But when she focused on the wolf with her threefold sight, the creature was barely bigger than a large dog with fur almost wool-like in nature and cloud gray in color. Sparks of intelligence¡ªand likely lightning¡ªdanced in the brilliant yellow eyes. ¡°Greetings, Mistress Tala, Master Rane. You may call me Lerra. My mother has requested that I discuss the nature of your existence with you both, if you are amenable?¡± Her voice was precise¡ªalmost clipped¡ªas she spoke. Unlike other members of the pack, her mouth didn¡¯t move in the slightest as she spoke. Instead, Tala watched in fascination as the wolf carved spellforms to create each sound from raw power, forging a sequence of tiny workings that would produce each desired syllable before they each burned out. It was so inefficient that it was almost insulting. Except¡­ She was carving spellforms at the speed of speech. It would have been so much more efficient to create a single working that would generate any word the wielder desired, otherwise waiting unused but ready. That¡¯s essentially what Tala did when she spoke, while fully encased in armor. It wasn¡¯t even that difficult of a spellform, and the magic-in-air spellform was widely known. It should have been trivial for any of the Pack to do, but this one didn¡¯t. Rane¡¯s mouth was hanging open, seemingly pondering the actual implications as well. Tala swallowed. ¡°Are you¡­ Is that an illusion? Or are you actually generating individual spells for each syllabic sound of our speech?¡± ¡°I am. It is excellent practice for rapid spell creation, don¡¯t you think? It was tedious for the first hundred years or so, but I find that I am quite good at it these days. I find it much more tenable than sacrificing the biological structure of my face, teeth, throat, and neck in order to mimic bi-pedal speech, and it is much more precise than any of the generic workings I could utilize.¡± Lerra yipped happily, looking rather pleased with herself. Tala was slowly nodding. ¡°I see¡­ Yes, I can understand how it would be excellent practice¡­¡± She glanced toward Rane. ¡°Eh?¡± He sighed, then nodded. ¡°We can find time to practice that too. Though, we¡¯ll have to get much, much better at manipulating magic within our auras¡± Lerra chuffed before her voice sounded forth once more. ¡°If you do it, do it right. Figure out how to do air manipulation magically, then do that to mimic the sounds you wish to create. Don¡¯t try to only memorize a set of spellforms for what you want to say.¡± That made good sense to Tala, and Rane seemed to agree, nodding along. ¡°Now, the lord and lady of the Hunt have determined that the area in which you are most lacking is in your understanding of existence and your place in it. I am the designated instructor of each member of the Pack, after they have reached maturity. You are both much younger than my usual students, but I think we can make it work.¡± Her eyes sparked again. ¡°I will have to find something other than a good bit of bloody meat or a satisfying hunt to motivate you with, and that will alter the lesson plans marginally.¡± The wolf was clearly joking, and Tala found herself grinning at the non-human humor. ¡°That sounds like an amazing idea. When shall we begin?¡± ¡°Now.¡± Lerra¡¯s body pulsed with a blue power, and they were suddenly elsewhere. The moon overhead was the same, but they were surrounded by aspen trees rather than the cliffs of the arena and the entrance into Ironhold. The leaves shivered in the wind, filling the air with a soothing rustle. ¡°There, now. Privacy and peace. Shall we begin?¡± Tala and Rane were still reeling, however. They hadn¡¯t even felt the movement, let alone had any ability to resist it, even if they¡¯d had any inclination to do so. Their own authority over their physical position¡ªand ability to change it¡ªhad been entirely disregarded or circumvented. They hadn¡¯t even felt that happening, and Tala at least would have fully expected to, even if she hadn¡¯t been powerful enough to prevent it. She hadn¡¯t. Vidarra probably helped Lerra. -It was granted authority in the very least, yeah, but I think the power for the action came from the wolf. The more I observe in here, the more I think that Vidarra and Kit have some major differences, even if they are¡ªor even were¡ªthe same species.- Lerra gave them almost precisely as much time as they needed to get their proverbial feet under themselves. She biased a little long, and Tala wasn¡¯t sure if that meant she was being kind¡ªensuring they had enough time to be ready to proceed¡ªor insulting¡ªimplying that they needed longer to come back to themselves. Regardless, the wolf sat back on her haunches and asked a simple question, ¡°What are you?¡± Rane glanced at Tala, and she shrugged. She was more than fine with him responding first. He looked back to their supposed teacher. ¡°Well, we are bipedal, biological beings usually known as humans. We are gated beings, meaning we carry within ourselves a stable, locationally unfixed passage from the next world¡ªthe world of magic¡ªand that allows power to flow through into Zeme. We are Mages of the cycling cities. We are Archons, Bound, Fused, and Refined. We are married, bound and one, body and soul. We are guests here, safe and welcomed.¡± He paused, giving a faux apologetic smile. ¡°I could continue, but I am unsure if I am giving you the answer you are looking for.¡± Lerra snorted. ¡°If you didn¡¯t understand the question, you could have asked for clarification.¡± Rane raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? You wouldn¡¯t have responded to such a request with a comment that I could have given some answer before asking for clarity?¡± The wolf grinned in return. ¡°Of course not. That would be unnecessarily combative of me.¡± Tala found herself grinning along with the other two at the tone of the lupine instructor. ¡°Now, you did a rather thorough job of covering parts of who you are. Part of me wants to expose you to the fact that you are physically three-dimensional beings in physically four-dimensional space, but I believe you are already at least partially aware of that.¡± Tala raised an eyebrow. ¡°Partially? I think we¡¯re fully aware.¡± Rane winced, and she instantly realized that she¡¯d been too definitive. She knew that she had a lot to learn and should have been a bit less all encompassing. Lerra regarded her for a moment. ¡°Your cloud of little eyes is a clever use of the realities of existence, but it hardly makes you fully aware, child.¡± ¡°Then, I am eager to learn.¡± She could have hedged, but it didn¡¯t seem like that would be necessary. ¡°It seems like that is hardly the case, but regardless, that is not the subject for today.¡± Still, she hesitated. ¡°I will say this. Be careful if you tread the fourth dimension. Anything you encounter will have effectively infinitely more mass than you, unless you are anchored in a ¡®live layer¡¯ such as Zeme, the Lunar Hunt, or even your own bound space. The laws of existence dictate that four-dimensional things cannot exert their essentially infinite mass within a specific three-dimensional slice¡ªat least not fully¡ªelse they¡¯d have ripped apart everything long ago. Even so, when you are unmoored, they are able to bring more of themselves to bear. Even we of the Pack only deal with such things with great care and on purpose. We do not allow ourselves to have such encounters by accident.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Tala almost pushed back, but then she remembered all that she had seen stone- and starward of the superficial. The wolf¡¯s advice was sound. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to remember that.¡± ¡°See that you do. Now our actual lesson for today deals with the nature of the soul.¡± She glanced toward Rane. ¡°Incidentally, that was the answer I was seeking. You are a soul, anchored to and in marginal control over a meat puppet. All else is simple decoration. You are the soul.¡± There was a pregnant pause during which Tala and Rane exchanged a look. Tala then cleared her throat. ¡°I mean¡­ yes? That¡¯s not exactly revolutionary. Do most wolves¡ªeven those older than us¡ªreally need you to tell them this?¡± Lerra let out an irritated growl. ¡°No, and most of them are wise enough to realize that I might just be telling them something that they can learn from.¡± The two exchanged another look, and Rane shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m game to hear her out.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Well, of course. I am too.¡± ¡°Good. Now, you are both likely thinking that you have souls, and that they are simply one of the most critical parts of you. My understanding is that you have even crossed paths with people who lack a soul. Is that correct?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Good. That makes things easier. Such a person is not actually there anymore. Their body is continuing, following the promptings of their biology and neurochemistry. They are incapable of volitional action, outside of that prompted by circumstance, and even that is indistinguishable from complex reaction. But that¡¯s the negative side. As just a soul, what are you really?¡± Tala shivered. She¡¯d experienced just that less than two years earlier. ¡°My mental magics are set enough that I have a mind to an extent, though in thinking back on it, I think a large part of that was simply echoing the biology that I was no longer connected to. My mind would have splintered and faded soon enough.¡± Lerra regarded her for a long moment. ¡°You had a true out of body experience?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°This experience will make some of what we have to learn more difficult, but I will address that later. Can you explain it to me?¡± ¡°Well, a prisoner severed my soul from by body, but I had deep enough natural magics enhancing and augmenting my mental functions that I was able to think. With that thought, I focused on my perceptions of Reality nodes and my connections to others as well as my iron within my flesh, and as a result I was able to reclaim what was already mine by right.¡± Rane gave her a look, blinking a few times. ¡°That was¡­ huh. I suppose that¡¯s essentially correct, even if it was highly abbreviated.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°She can ask questions if she¡¯d like.¡± The wolf shook her head slowly, looking contemplative. She asked a few quick clarifying questions¡ªwhich Tala answered¡ªthen sighed. ¡°I agree with your assessment. Your mind would not have survived for too much longer in that circumstance. Part of that is the nature of the human thought process, part is that your memories are still stored external to your self, making you vulnerable, and part is because your soul is not something you readily use.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Hang on. What? If we are considered just a soul, of course our memories are stored ¡®outside¡¯ our self. They are in our minds. Are you saying that we should be able to ¡®remember¡¯ with our soul?¡± Lerra¡¯s teeth showed in clear happiness. ¡°Well inferred. Yes. A properly trained and refined soul should be able to store all of the pertinent parts of your self within itself. That includes your memories, among other things. My understanding is that a passive form of that begins to occur sometime after you humans reach the advancement you call Paragon, and volitional control and utilization of it is required if Reforging is to be anything other than an exercise in tedium.¡± Tala knew her mouth was ajar, but she couldn¡¯t be bothered. She¡¯d always assumed that people like Master Xeel just had Archive links like she did, that they simply re-loaded their minds whenever they recreated their own bodies, but now that she actually considered it, that made no sense. Of course that made no sense. If that were the case, Master Xeel wouldn¡¯t be able to think when he was in the form of light. He would be a mindless beam of energy that would recreate a human when it got to the pre decided location. That isn¡¯t how he worked at all. ¡°Oh, rust the stars¡­ So, you¡¯re saying that you can teach us to store our memories within our souls?¡± Rane was rocked back on his heels, clearly deep in thought¡ªor deep in argument with Enar¡ªbut he refocused to hear the answer to her question. Lerra gave a lupine grin incredibly reminiscent of her father. ¡°That is but the first step in the proper use of your true selves. Let me see, human development is different than ours¡­ yes. You speak of crawling when I want to teach you to sprint. You ask after burbling single syllables when I want you to compose poetry on the run. You ask if you will ever stand? I will teach you to dance.¡± Tala and Rane glanced at one another seemingly feeling interested and skeptical at the same time. ¡°Both of you have secondary personalities that you¡¯ve magically created, branching off of your soul, housed within your own mind and your Archive, correct?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Rane had answered this time after seeming to contemplate the description. ¡°Good. They will almost assuredly have an easier time learning this than you, and once they do, your soul will learn how to function in this way, thus letting you do so more easily. It will be like slipping into another¡¯s body and tapping into the muscle memory for certain movements. But first, we need to teach you to perceive your own soul¡ªand if we are very lucky¡ªthe souls of others. At the very least, you will be able to perceive each other¡¯s soul, as you are bound.¡± Soulsight? To go with our growing perception of authority¡­ that could be quite useful. -Slag me if that isn¡¯t true.- Tala grinned back at the wolf. ¡°Alright. How do we start?¡± ¡°First, you eat these mushrooms.¡± A pile of variously colored mushrooms appeared in front of the wolf. Rane cocked an eyebrow, and Tala tilted her head to the side in confusion. ¡°Are you serious? Mushrooms are pretty awful.¡± ¡°What? Don¡¯t want to eat the funny plants?¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°No, thank you though. Is it required?¡± Lerra sighed. ¡°No¡­ I was told that humans were gullible¡­ It seems I was misinformed.¡± Tala gave a half smile. ¡°Oh, you are quite correct, but we¡¯re in the domain of a god-beast. We are going to do our best to not approach anything blindly.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Yeah, my wife is correct. There is too much new and different around for us to feel comfortable. This is set up for us to be suspicious.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± The wolf tilted her head to one side, contemplating. ¡°I will note that to inform future action. Now, what we do need to do is sit in silence, cutting ourselves off from the outside world. Then, we must picture ourselves.¡± That seemed reasonable, so Rane and Tala sat, closing their eyes. -Do you want me to try this too, or keep an eye out? Or do you want to keep an eye out while I try it alone?- I think you can try it later, where I really can¡¯t. -Huh¡­ that¡¯s quite fair. Alright. I¡¯ll keep an eye out and fully cut off your senses.- After a moment, Alat added, -I will let you know if she says anything further.- Thank you, Alat. -You¡¯re most welcome.- Tala almost immediately felt like she was surrounded by nothing. Alat had even cut off her sense of touch and the kinesthetic knowledge of her own body. She trusted that the alternate interface had her body locked down, otherwise she was quite sure that she¡¯d have splayed out the ground almost immediately. Lerra¡¯s voice came to her, clearly let through by Alat, ¡°Good. Now, picture yourself.¡± Tala did so, imagining how she¡¯d look. ¡°Now, strip off all that would have changed with age and the passage of time were you not Refined.¡± She frowned, removing many of her features that she knew would have shifted. ¡°Now remove all that could be harmed due to an attack. You are still you, after all, even if injured.¡± Tala almost argued that she¡¯d just heal, but even if Alat had given her access to her mouth to voice the objection, she realized that such wasn¡¯t the actual point. What was left to Tala¡¯s imagining was an odd lump of flesh. ¡°Is that still you? Distinctly you? Add back the sense of you, and I don¡¯t mean any of the parts you took away. Make your imagining undeniably you.¡± She was at a loss. How could the blob be her? Then, Lerra¡¯s earlier statement came back. I am my soul. My soul is me. The remainder of the physical fell away, and she was left with just her gate. Except¡­ Her gate was the hole into the next world. It wasn¡¯t actually the totality of her soul. She almost laughed. The gate only existed because her soul was broken. So, what was her soul? What was she? And how did that fit into who she was to the world around her? She was the ability to choose. She was the choices she made. She was the emptiness through which power flowed to enact her choices. She was her effect on the world around her. Her soul resonated with that. She¡¯d articulated the framework of the answer. It was time¡ªfinally¡ªto fill in the blanks. Chapter: 506 - Who Tala knew who she was, and she was finally coming to understand who she was in relation to others and the world around her. She was a Refined, gated-Mage of humanity. Defender, Protector, and source of power, shelter, and livelihood¡­ a nurturer of magic. She was Eskau of the House of Blood, slayer of their last true inheritor. She was the blood daughter of one who had died to bring her into this world and one who had wronged her in a way that still hurt¡ªeven if she felt like it shouldn¡¯t¡ªand the volitional flockmate of a murderous terror bird. She was iron, and iron was hers. From almost her earliest times as a student she had been fascinated by and used iron. To her, it was inextricably linked to her magic, to her. She was Iron. But that was focusing only on who she was, not who she was to others and to the world. Focusing outward once again, one relation stood out in stark relief. She was the wife of Rane. There was so much joy in that, that she let herself just revel in the portion of her soul most closely tied to the man. It was the part from which the bond to him sprung, just as all soulbonds were anchored to a part of the soul. That stood to reason. When she had taken the time to enjoy the focus on that bond, she moved on, and was immediately confronted with something else. It was an absence rather than the presence of something. Mother of none. Even though it was technically true, everything about that negative assertion hit her wrong. She knew it was wrong too. She wasn¡¯t the biological mother of anyone, not now and maybe not ever, but she was taking on the role of protector and nurturer. She¡¯d been doing it since her first caravan run. When she knew others were in need, she stepped in if she could. She almost laughed as she considered things further. Even how she¡¯d dealt with the would-be thieves during her first week in Bandfast had been maternal. She¡¯d chastised them and ensured they got the proper punishment in hopes of reform. Maternal¡­ not a mother, maternal. That resonated deeply with her. Her internal visualization of herself shifted until she felt like she was looking upon a warm, springtime sun. It cast a benevolent light on all within her sphere, even while projecting a field of protection from the harsh realities that existed ¡®out there.¡¯ Even as Eskau, she¡¯d sought to protect ¡®her family¡¯ which at the time had been the House of Blood. She¡¯d done it mostly as a disguise, but she had gotten satisfaction from the work, the purpose. It helped that Be-thric had been a sore to be removed. Make no mistake, she¡¯d killed him for her own reasons¡ªand for her own gain¡ªbut it had also been of help to the House of Blood, even if they wouldn¡¯t see it that way, except in retrospect. They might be seeing it that way, now. But that was likely being overly optimistic. As flimsy as that reasoning was, it still fit¡ªif only just¡ªand looked at in that light, Tala actually felt herself relax into the notion. Not a mother, but maternal. You don¡¯t have to be a mother to be maternal, and being maternal doesn¡¯t make you a mother. She huffed a laugh internally. Rust, being a mother doesn¡¯t even necessarily bias you toward being maternal. That felt right. So, she moved on. As Lisa had pointed out to her, she was still an Eskau of the House of Blood, at least officially. She was of blood, but not all of it. Thus, yet again, she came back to the core of who she was, individually. She was iron. Her soul resonated with that, a feeling of contentment spreading at the renewed acknowledgment of the long-known truth. The star that was her soul had a core of iron, even though she knew that wasn¡¯t how stars worked in reality, it fit too well to dismiss the visualization. As to others, her default state was maternal, not as their mother, but as one who sheltered and protected, provided and nurtured. That is where her heart lay, that is what called to her soul. She had not done as much nurturing and providing as she had sheltering and protecting, but all aspects spoke to her at a deep level. Something to grow toward, I suppose. There was excitement in the prospect if she were being honest, and that was the whole point of this exercise. She was supposed to be utterly honest. Because of the required honesty, she had to continue. For, as true as her maternal and iron natures were, she was also the ravenous, jealous devourer. That was as true now as it had ever been. That hadn¡¯t gone away. If anything, it had actually grown more true with time. Her visualization of her own soul¡ªher self¡ªchanged, becoming almost a hole to her introspection, but somehow with substance to it. It was as if there was a ball of matter that devoured all that touched it by default. Around that devouring substance, something like spiked chains seemed to encircle her, not binding her but instead coiled and ready to strike out in order to bind anything she set her will to and secure it as her own. She was the ravenous, jealous devourer. But she was maternal iron¡­ Her soul again appeared almost like a warm star, shining on existence around herself. Then the chain-wielding devouring sphere. Again, the warm star, with a core of iron. She couldn¡¯t find a flaw in either, except that they weren¡¯t the other. She was each¡­ She was both. Their basic states seemed so at odds, but she connected to both deeply. She was left with two rather well formed views of her self. She was a devouring maw, claiming that which was hers and jealously utilizing it as she wished. She often wished to protect and provide for those around her¡­ no, not all those around her¡ªnot always. Generally, she wanted to protect and provide for those who were hers. She¡¯d had much the same realization before, but it hadn¡¯t landed quite right. Now, it seemingly had. They weren¡¯t at odds, these two visualizations of her self. They weren¡¯t in conflict or a demonstration that she didn¡¯t understand who she really was. That¡¯s what she¡¯d held onto in the back of her mind. That is what had been holding her back. She wasn¡¯t two different people, one that she knew well to herself, and an unknown enigma to the world. She was herself both devouring and protecting. The complete images were two sides of the same coin. Tala gasped, shattering Alat¡¯s hold over her body and senses. She was still in the woods with Rane sitting beside her¡ªhis aura pulsing a pleasantly green yellow¡ªand Lerra laying with her chin on her paws before them both. The wolf raised her head, even as Tala¡¯s aura pulled back into herself, roiling and twisting, being baptized in the revelation of Tala¡¯s dual-unified nature.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Solidifying in the truth of who she was. Maternal Iron and Ravenous, Jealous Devourer. She was the Iron Matriarch. Her aura rushed out once more, true-green as her soul sang within her chest¡­ as she resonated with knowledge of who she truly was. A smile pulled across her lips, and she almost laughed. I did get one thing wrong though. I¡¯m not a Refined, gated Mage of humanity. She was a Paragon. Existence trembled around her, and she gloried in the feeling as she expanded, settling more fully into her physical form, feeling more connected with her biology, inscriptions, and natural magics than ever before. Rane hadn¡¯t reacted, and that almost annoyed her, but she was well aware¡ªand fully realized¡ªthat Enar was likely keeping him focused, and so he was unaware of her revelation and elevation. Lerra had a wolfish half-grin on her face. ¡°Wonderfully done, Tala, Paragon of Humanity¡­¡± The wolf cleared her throat¡ªreally, she created the sounds required to mimic the clearing of a throat¡ªand continued, ¡°However, that was not what we were focusing on, here. You must have been close indeed for such simple meditation¡ªeven aided by Mother¡ªto have pushed you over the edge. Do you require time to celebrate your advancement or are you able to continue the current lesson now?¡± Tala gave a sheepish grin that didn¡¯t in any way diminish her feeling of elation. I¡¯m a Paragon! -...Tala. I think¡­ I think she¡¯s lying. I think this was the exact intention of this exercise. At least a part of it. It lined up too perfectly with what you needed.- Yeah, I sort of figured the second part, but it is possible that she¡¯d be used to working with those already at Paragon advancement, or whatever the Pack equivalent is. Vidarra and Anatalis would likely have known, but Lerra might not have. -Are you going to ask?- No. I think I¡¯m fine not knowing for sure. -Mature of you.- Almost enlightened, you might say. I¡¯m practically a paragon of politeness. -...Fine. I¡¯ll let that one slide.- Lerra waited patiently. Tala took a deep breath and let it out in a rush, refocusing on her accomplishment. She¡¯d done it. ¡°I¡¯m ready to continue. Thank you.¡± ¡°Very well, then. So, we are currently¡ª¡± Rane¡¯s aura rippled, shimmered, and then rushed back in toward his center. Lerra growled. ¡°By the Pack¡­ do neither of you ever take time to actually think? How could this possibly be all that you both needed?¡± Huh, maybe it was hidden from her by her parents. -Funny way of thinking about two god-beast level beings, but sure.- Rane¡¯s eyes snapped open, a broad grin blossoming across his features. ¡°Tala! I did it. I figured out¡­¡± His eyes swept over her and their surroundings. He then stood in a rush, catching her up and kissing her. ¡°Congratulations, my love. I¡¯m proud of you. I¡¯d love to hear what you learned about yourself, when you¡¯re ready to share.¡± Lerra huffed. ¡°Very well. We aren¡¯t getting anything further done in this moment. We will take a one hour respite. Talk, take your time, and recenter yourselves.¡± -Tala! You both did it!- Alat chuckled, leaving the theorizing behind just to express her excitement. -We¡¯ve advanced and it was all thanks to your self-reflection.- Yeah, well¡­ I apologize that I haven¡¯t just buckled down and thought this through before. -It lies near a¡­ difficult topic for you, right now. It¡¯s understandable. I¡¯m sure no one would fault you for taking a bit more time than might otherwise have been expected.- I feel like someone might, but I take your meaning. She kissed Rane again, turning her attention to her husband. ¡°Thank you, but you shouldn¡¯t just change the subject. You advanced as well.¡± He grinned. ¡°I did, didn¡¯t I?¡± He laughed. ¡°I¡¯m glad to be moving in step with you once again.¡± ¡°So? Who are you, my husband? Who are you?¡± A smile pulled at his lips. ¡°I am the sculptor of motion.¡± Tala felt her eyes widen and her soul practically purred at the feeling of his soul, bound to hers. It fit him so well. It was seemingly contradictory¡ªmuch like her duality¡ªbut at the same time it was a near perfect reflection of his magic, how he used it, and who he was. ¡°Congratulations, my Rane.¡± She rested her head on his chest. ¡°Paragon, advancing together.¡± He nodded, squeezing her tightly. ¡°Honestly, thinking back on it, at the end there, I believe that I felt you resonating with your advancement. I think our bond helped me resonate in harmony, putting the final polish on my understanding of my self. Thank you.¡± She grinned without moving away. ¡°If that is the case, I am glad to have helped nurture you toward advancement, even if not intentionally.¡± Alat snorted within Tala¡¯s head. -That¡¯s a bit of a stretch.- Hush you, I¡¯m being cute with my husband. It doesn¡¯t have to be perfectly accurate. -Fine, fine. I¡¯ll leave you be.- After a moment, Alat added. -Lerra seems to have left the two of you alone. Take the time to settle and reset your minds and get ready to focus. I want to learn to use our soul, our self, more completely¡­ or really at all in more than a passive way.- Alright. I¡¯ll see what I can do. -Thank you.- Rane stood and stretched. ¡°So, Lerra acted like we missed the point of the exercise. Do you think that is actually the case? I mean, she asked us to delve into our selves, how we see ourselves and how we relate to the world around us. That¡¯s pretty much exactly what gated humans need to advance to Paragon.¡± Tala shrugged, leaning back to look up at him. ¡°I mean¡­ did she? She was attempting to make us focus on our souls, and to do that, we needed to have them isolated in a sense. It¡¯s like how I trained moving things around in my aura, or learned to use the perception mirrored from one of my bloodstars. I isolated the feel of it, then learned to utilize the new sense or ability in isolation before folding it back into everyday life.¡± He grunted. ¡°I suppose so, yeah. That is how I approach dealing with new types of attack too.¡± She raised an eyebrow. Rane grinned in return, chuckling slightly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s how I prefer to deal with new ones. In the heat of the moment, I¡¯m getting much better at working on the fly.¡± Thinking back on his battle with the sireling, she smiled. ¡°Evidently.¡± ¡°So¡­ you don¡¯t think it was intentional? Just a byproduct of the methods?¡± ¡°Likely a mix. The greater powers here likely knew, but I feel like Lerra probably didn¡¯t. I mean, if we were almost Fused, it likely would have allowed a similar push to advancement. We were close enough that laying out our actual understandings of our souls¡ªour selves¡ªwas all we were missing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little embarrassing, then¡­ We were sitting that close to what we needed.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really bother me, honestly. So many things are like this. If we have the proper technique, most things become almost insultingly easy.¡± ¡°Right. Every Mage has her use, her specialty, her niche. This is just a case where the tools we were working with weren¡¯t as well suited to the task as those the Pack had ready to hand.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Rane regarded her for a long moment, then barked a laugh. ¡°And, we haven¡¯t really been taking the time for introspection. We¡¯ve either been experimenting, training, or enjoying our honeymoon.¡± Tala nodded, her smile returning in full force. ¡°True enough. I can¡¯t say I regret doing so either.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± They shared a¡­ smoldering look. A lupine cough echoed around them before Lerra faded back into existence. ¡°My apologies, humans. It seems like you have talked through what you needed to, and we don¡¯t have infinite time. I know I said an hour, but you can exercise your bond later, if that is acceptable.¡± Tala regarded the wolf, contemplating testing her new advancement against the ancient beast, but she put that thought aside. ¡°Very well. How much more time do we have here?¡± Rane gave his wife a puzzled look, but before he could inquire, Lerra chuckled. ¡°So, you noticed and are aware of the implications, very interesting.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°We are stoneward of Zeme, and that means time moves faster here in comparison. The only question is how much faster?¡± ¡°A week here will be but a day on Zeme. That is actually one reason our time is limited. Human biology and spirituality is tied to Zeme in ways that we will not interfere with, and too much time in dilation such as this will inevitably lead to death.¡± Rane¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Time magic kills. Yeah, we¡¯re aware.¡± Lerra gave a lupine shrug. ¡°While that is true¡ªand somewhat related¡ªthis is not actually time magic. It is hard to classify the difference¡­¡± The wolf tilted her head to the side. ¡°Actually, imagine a circle that is spinning. If you stop touching the circle you die. But you can still change how far you travel by moving toward the center or away. Time magic is like jumping. This is like having moved outward on the circle. You will experience more distance for the same number of rotations.¡± He frowned. ¡°I think¡­ that does make sense, yeah. But why would it be deadly, then?¡± The wolf grinned back. ¡°Because your bodies and souls were not designed for the temporal forces involved in allowing or experiencing extra time for the same number of rotations. You can survive for brief periods every so often but not extensively or regularly.¡± Tala interjected then. ¡°Does our advancement help? Are those less advanced at greater danger?¡± ¡°No, not in this case. Advancement does not help unless you have magic specifically tuned toward dealing with such forces. Such would have no other use, and humanity¡¯s very reasonable and logical prohibition on time magic makes it unlikely if not impossible that any of your species have such magics.¡± Tala narrowed her eyes at the wolf, practically accusing, ¡°You could make such magics.¡± ¡°Of course, but we will not. Messing with another¡¯s temporal stability can easily have side-effects ranging from death to insanity. I will not take such a risk thousands of times for so little gain. I am very good, but that would be dancing with disaster to say the least.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± Tala glanced at her husband. ¡°Very well, then. Let¡¯s see what we can learn with the time we have to give.¡± Chapter: 507 - Rather Important Consequences Tala hadn¡¯t dealt with it at the time, but her advancement to Paragon had had three rather important consequences. First, Tala¡¯s magical power had been altered by her new Paragon-ship at nearly every level. Her power-density had taken the usual jump from tier advancement, representing the qualitative change that would increase the power of all of her magics as a matter of course. She also experienced an increase in power volume, which simply meant that she could hold more of the denser power than she had been able to of the less potent, Refined variety. The power flowing through her gate¡ªher soul¡ªhad also become more attuned to her, making it more efficient for her use. Similarly, the flow-rate through her gate increased markedly, meaning that even with a larger reserve, she would actually refill to full in about the same amount of time¡­ if she ever actually bottomed out, which hadn¡¯t happened in¡­ a very long time. -It was at the Academy, I believe. Wait, no. You did it when filling out your cargo-slot the first time.- Oh, yeah. And in the ether-hold. She shuddered. Looking back, I think I didn¡¯t actually reach my limits there. I didn¡¯t hit true empty. I just came as close as I ever had. -Yeah, that sounds right.- Each and every aspect of the advancement of her power made her a more potent Mage, better able to clash with the enemies of gated-humanity¡ªall humanity, really¡ªand better able to claim, keep, and nurture what was hers. That¡¯s why she had claimed the duality of her nature¡­ The two sides of her unified nature. Second, the enhancement magics that both Tala and Rane bore were amplified to entirely new heights. Thankfully, Lerra¡¯s teaching was mainly internal, working with their souls¡ªtheir true selves¡ªrather than with their bodies, inscriptions, or natural magics. Otherwise, they might have had quite a bit of trouble. They did their best over the following days to acclimate themselves to their new level of physical and mental ability, Enar and Alat especially appreciating the latter. This was accomplished through stretching, calisthenics, controlled kinesthetic movement, and other forms of exercise. They had to repair some furniture and parts of the sanctum, but even that was only a mild inconvenience in the long run. Third, Terry and Kit had been uplifted as well. For Terry, that seemed to have simply meant that he had a more¡­ exciting hunting experience with the god-beast, Anatalis. He had been quite vocal with chirps of praise for her progress upon his return, however. As for Kit, the advancement had meant a bit more. The power density within Kit had immediately ticked up to match Tala¡¯s new maximum, the barrier between Zeme and the next world having thinned for the moment of Tala¡¯s advancement. The inherent attunement-scrubbing magics integrated within Kit made sure that it was power usable by any, and people did use it, in some cases whether they wanted to or not¡ªthough thankfully, no one was forcibly reborn due to Tala¡¯s advancement. That would have been a disaster. Many of the integrated constructs with Ironhold produced slightly different results as a consequence of the increase in available power. Lyn gave Tala an earful over that, given that they had to rush around, altering a huge number of systems that they¡¯d set up for the convenience of the Ironhold residents. Those in the recently absorbed holds had been continuing on at arcane-hold-standard levels of power as they hadn¡¯t specifically increased the density around those constructions. After her advancement, however, they all had to be addressed one way or another. The problem at large caused Tala and Alat to set up locked zones of power density around every such device throughout the Ironhold so any further advancement wouldn¡¯t cause any issue. In the same vein, if the power-density ever dropped, those zones would be maintained at regular function for as long as possible. The Talons¡ªand other reborn¡ªalso experienced the leap in power-density, allowing their natural magics to continue to set more deeply, more quickly. This also forced Tala to increase the number of step-down areas for training magical retention, in order to allow the same gradation between steps. Rane helped too, though his secondary bond to Kit¡ªthrough her¡ªmade him less effective at solving some of the issues. There were so many that that slightly lower efficiency was greatly offset by the simple need of any help, which he gladly gave. All told, it was a chore to realign everything within Kit to her new advancement. She tackled each aspect with relish and joy. They were Paragons! That aside, though, Tala and Rane spent most of the next couple of weeks with Lerra¡ªexcept when they took time to themselves, which the wolf encouraged as ¡®processing time¡¯ at least every day or so. They had chosen to return to the sanctum to help fix and re-tune the magical constructs therein, having aided Master Simon and his assistants. After that, though, they only returned to the Sanctum for those short stints of processing time. Vidarra¡ªor the Lunar Hunt, whichever she was acting as at the time¡ªalso occasionally put up authoritative obstacles that forced her to work with Rane in new ways, slowly molding their instincts toward innately upholding each other¡¯s authority outside of strictly magical workings even without focus being required. Their soulbond gave all the input that was needed. Tala found the times of simply laying in Rane¡¯s arms in their bed incredibly relaxing, and many of her breakthroughs in what Lerra was teaching them came during those times of peaceful, placid togetherness. That reinforced their growing respect for the wolf teacher, as she had obviously expected that easier comprehension upon reflection to be the case, hence her encouragement. It was quite interesting in one sense, because their presence in the Lunar Hunt instead of Zeme had actually pulled the entirety of Kit stoneward, increasing the amount of time experienced for the given rotation of Zeme for even those who remained in Ironhold or the sanctum, allowing them to experience ¡®extra¡¯ time essentially to the same extent as those who ventured out into the Lunar Hunt. Funnily enough, aside from Lyn¡ªwho did much of her work with the Archive¡ªonly one resident of the Ironhold noticed the alteration to the flow of time, and it was only because he seemed to have regular contact with others outside the hold through the selling of visual and auditory records¡ªsimilar to Tala trading away access to her memories, if at lower quality¡ªto interested Archons. Lyn had approached Tala and Rane, asking if she should curb the man¡¯s¡­ enthusiastic sharing, but Lerra¡ªwho had been with them at the time¡ªhad assured them all that her mother would not allow the man near anything that they were not willing to share with humanity as a whole. As to what Tala and Rane had learned? Alat and Enar could both now utilize their souls as memory storage, which¡ªto Alat¡¯s delight¡ªactually meant that Alat moved from being based in the Archive to being based within their soul. Enar was still a bit away from achieving such an outcome, but he was progressing quickly with both Alat¡¯s and Lerra¡¯s aid. Tala, for her part, had been able to look around and remember what she¡¯d seen while her brain had been placed into a state of unconsciousness. It had felt like an incredibly hazy dream to her in recollection, but she had remembered it. Rane, for his part, had actually been able to make a choice while in a similar state, processing input and responding when ¡®thinking¡¯ as a soul.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Lerra had only allowed these initial practice sessions with heavy magical involvement, and she promised to have artifacts created for their use before they left. Apparently, such ¡®soul-walking¡¯ could expose a person to the Doman-Imithe if they weren¡¯t careful. Dreams were, in fact, often a lesser version of this, where the mind and soul worked together to process all that it had experienced, even if it hadn¡¯t realized it was seeing or experiencing the Doman-Imithe side of things while awake. As to Rane¡¯s faster progression than Tala at this early stage, Lerra had been¡­ confused? That was likely not the right emotion, but she had been at least surprised that Tala¡¯s alternate interface did better than Rane¡¯s while Rane surpassed Tala. The wolf had been mollified when she¡¯d remembered Tala¡¯s recent out-of-body experience. She then reiterated that such could be the source, even though that seemed like it would have caused the opposite. Lerra explained that Tala¡¯s soul¡ªin that experience¡ªhad been aided by her magics operating as a mental structure. In the lessons, however, that was not allowed. Her soul had been given a crutch and, in that short time, learned to depend on it. In the actual use of the skills that Lerra was trying to teach, that crutch was absent. That was fine with Tala. She would get it eventually. Her favorite part, still, was the awareness that she and Rane had gained of each others¡¯ souls through their bond. They¡¯d been able to get a general sense of each other before, but now they could feel one another, in a very similar way to physical touch. Thus, when she curled up against him, or when he wrapped around her, cradling her in an embrace from behind as they drifted off to sleep, she could feel his soul embracing hers as well¡ªhis true self holding her in a way that two bodies never could¡ªand she reveled in the sensation every time. They hadn¡¯t taken the time to test out working magic through the other¡¯s authority just yet¡ªthey just didn¡¯t have the time with all the sitting and meditating, and other seeming nothing, that Lerra had them doing¡ªbut they¡¯d agreed to take time to focus on it once they left the Lunar Hunt behind. Terry spent the time hunting with various members of the pack. Apparently, Anatalis had introduced him to hunting the four-dimensional prey animals like those that Tala had seen around human cities¡ªand more so around the abandoned sites¡ªhelping to repair the rents. Seemingly, there were other varieties that tasted excellent if eaten raw. That was an incredible boon, as cooking a four-dimensional chunk of meat was understandably problematic. Terry was only allowed a single bite each day while in the Lunar Hunt, as the nature of the meat was one that could overwhelm his three-dimensional biology even as advanced as he was. In fact, he¡¯d only been allowed even that much because he and Tala had advanced to Paragon, reinforcing Terry¡¯s self and bolstering his spiritual integrity. Regardless, he hadn¡¯t been hunting with Anatalis himself after that first time, but he did go on hunts with other Paragon-level¡ªand more advanced¡ªPack members. The only thing that had truly broken up the pattern on Tala¡¯s side had been when she met up with Lisa a few days after they¡¯d arrived in the Lunar Hunt. For that visit, she willed herself into Irondale, appearing directly in front of his twisted doorway, the two vertical posts showing depictions of Lisa¡¯s forms¡ªone per post¡ªand the top showing a minute depiction of foxes playing and crafting on an undefined background. The doorway itself seemed to be entirely empty even though she could see that there was far, far more than nothing beyond it through her threefold sight. It was invisible to mundane vision because none of it was aligned with the superficial within Ironhold, but it was there all the same. Yet all that¡¯s there is only three-dimensional. It was still so fascinating to her. She understood the theory, that one could fit an infinite number of three-dimensional layers within a four-dimensional space¡ªjust as one could fit an infinite number of two-dimensional layers in a three-dimensional space¡ªbut it still boggled her mind to actually see dozens, maybe hundreds, of rooms all within the same three-dimensions, just offset infinitesimally within greater existence. Well, some were actually a lot bigger, overlapping the space of the surrounding houses, but offset so as to not cause any conflict. -You¡¯re delaying, Tala.- Right, right. She shook her head. Lisa has always been kind, but he¡¯s¡­ alien in a way. How he thinks, how he works, it¡¯s just different than I¡¯m used to. -And you haven¡¯t really spoken with him since he became your tenant?- Well, yeah, and only a handful of times before that. She sighed, raised her hand, and knocked on the post, careful to do so below the depiction of Lisa in human form. Instantly, the view through the doorway shifted, as one of the layers came into alignment with the superficial within Ironhold, and Tala was looking in on a warmly appointed sitting room. There were two comfortable looking arm chairs, one sized for Tala, and the other already occupied by Lisa in fox form. Between the two chairs was a low table with tea service already laid out and ready for her arrival. There was a dark, highly detailed wallpaper giving the space an almost cave-like aesthetic to the mundane eye. Her enhanced vision picked out the various patterns and subtleties in the decoration. To her surprise, there were three great windows in the walls that she could easily see, and her threefold sight told her there was another on the wall she was entering through. She stepped inside without hesitation, the doorway vanishing behind her. She somehow knew that she could leave at will, just like she could move around anywhere within Kit, but she felt like it would be rude to do so. As she took a moment to actually look through each of the four windows, she did not see the expected surroundings in Irondale. Instead, through one she saw a forest that was undoubtedly in Zeme proper. The swaying of the trees in the wind was slow as if they were moving through molasses. Another showed a view into the Lunar Hunt. The one in the wall she entered through did indeed show the street in Irondale that Tala had just stepped off of, but the last¡­ Tala turned away from that view¡­ at least with her mundane eyes. The Doman-Imithe was never comfortable to regard. ¡°Greetings, Mistress Tala. If any of the views are displeasing, I am happy to alter them.¡± He gestured to the chair across from him. ¡°This is my most comfortable room of viewing. Others offer wider vistas and more attenuated information, but this one is the best for a chat with a friend.¡± He smiled, carefully keeping his teeth behind his lips. Tala took the offered seat and allowed him to pour her tea. She might have felt uncomfortable in this clearly foreign domain, except that she was intrinsically aware that she was still within Kit, and her own authority thrummed through the underpinnings of everything around her. To her threefold sight, she could see that all of the views were¡ªsomehow¡ªone way. Nothing out there could see, or even perceive, them in Lisa¡¯s sitting room. In fact, the sense she got of it was that such obscurement was partially due to Kit, herself, keeping all that was within her hidden and protected, but Lisa had layered magics on top of and beyond those native ones to protect, obscure, and isolate each of the layers of his home. Taking a deep breath, she looked back toward the view out on the Doman-Imithe, trying to see it as purely a spectacle, rather than a promise of what was around her, which was the case when she had actually been there. The twisted geometry hurt to look at but without the backdrop of fear¡ªand with the context of four physical dimensions to existence¡ªit suddenly clicked with her. The Doman-Imithe somehow removed the veil that usually kept up the facade of three-dimensions. The roiling, twisting, nonsensical shapes suddenly at least sort of made sense in that light¡­ at least a little. Some things were still beyond her comprehension, though. The twenty-one eyed bone-tree that was simultaneously creating new eyes out of the innards of a screaming spider while eating its own existing eyes¡­ Or the mountain that was stalwartly flowing through the eye of a needle that was autonomously using the material to sew up the split ends of a hair on the end of a mouse¡¯s tail¡­ Tala grimaced. Yeah¡­ There were still things in the Doman-Imithe that made no sense. Lisa didn¡¯t comment further, simply awaiting her answer. ¡°I¡­ I think that I would appreciate not having the Doman-Imithe as a backdrop, yes.¡± She was very aware that that window had been behind Lisa. So she would have been staring at it for their entire conversation, even if just with her threefold sight and the edges of her vision¡­ that would probably have been worse than staring at it directly. ¡°Of course.¡± In the blink of an eye, the view shifted to one of the Lunar Hunt, looking out of the cliff beside the Irondale entrance that Tala had maintained. ¡°Is that more pleasant?¡± There was a surprising amount of traffic, even if much of it was composed of people coming out to look around before scampering back into Kit. ¡°It is, thank you.¡± ¡°But of course. You are my guest, I aim to make you more comfortable.¡± There was a momentary silence in which Tala tested the promise made by the scent of the tea, filling the cozy room. It was utterly fantastic, of course, and with that sip, Tala settled in for what already promised to be an incredibly eventful visit. Chapter: 508 - Hidden Tala set her teacup back on the table between herself and the arcane, Lisa, feeling quite comfortable in the chair sized¡ªand supported¡ªfor her in the fox-kin¡¯s home within Irondale. ¡°Thank you for the tea. It is excellent. And thank you, again, for meeting with me.¡± Lisa gave a nod. ¡°Of course. You are most welcome.¡± He hesitated for the briefest moment then continued, ¡°Before anything else, I must congratulate you, Mistress Tala, on advancing to Paragon. To be so Honored is rare for your species and your very existence makes all those you know and love safer. I imagine you are quite excited.¡± He smiled kindly, still keeping his teeth back. ¡°I must also thank you for the increase in available power. I never imagined that you could put my little aspect-removing trinket to such use as you have, but I, for one, am grateful for your altruistic application of the magics.¡± She gave a small smile around her next sip of tea, only answering after setting her cup back down. ¡°Thank you, master Lisa, and you are most welcome. I would say that the advancement was a long time coming¡­¡± As she trailed off, the fox-kin chuckled. ¡°But it really wasn¡¯t. Be careful, young one. Often those with such meteoric rises have similarly spectacular falls.¡± He gave a contemplative look, and Tala let him consider for a moment. ¡°You are¡­ I would definitely say that you are in a unique position out of all those I¡¯ve ever heard of, and I am not referring to your level of advancement or your age. Never before has an Archon of gated-humanity been acknowledged by a Major House as an official member, let alone one with true power.¡± He gave her a careful look. ¡°I do not know how your story will end, Mistress Tala, but I am eager to see how it progresses. Honestly, this¡ªmore than even the safety and potential longevity of your hold here¡ªprompted my decision to accept your invitation. If you do not waste what you have earned¡ªthrough competence and the twists of fate, both¡ªyou could be the herald of a new age on this continent.¡± Tala coughed in embarrassment, took another long sip, and then gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before changing the subject with little social grace, ¡°So, how are you settling in? Your home is mostly complete, I trust?¡± He waved that off. ¡°The physical rooms are done, of course, but properly aligning the other aspects¡ªand getting them just right¡ªwill be the work of decades. Even with that project ahead of me, I am enjoying the greater freedom life here affords me. Thank you for that.¡± Tala gave another nod of acknowledgement. ¡°In that vein, several of my kinsmen have been in contact with me in the last months¡ªmany seemingly concerned for my safety and freedom of movement¡ªand I am happy to report that we do not have to be concerned that a motley squad of four-dimensional crafters will be breaking in here to rescue me any time soon.¡± She blinked at him a few times. ¡°Was¡­ was that a concern? Wait, any time soon? It¡¯s a concern for later?¡± ¡°It was a concern briefly, and my kin tend to be beings of whimsy and impulse. The mood could take them later on and then? Who knows.¡± He gave a vulpine smile and sipped his tea, prompting her to do likewise. As she lowered the cup once again, she found her frown melting away. The tea really was fantastic. ¡°I see. Well, thank you for heading that off¡­ even if just for now.¡± ¡°Of course. Consequently, however, there are some thirty foxes who have expressed interest in immigrating here, all with various demands and requirements.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Thirty? That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s a lot, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely, but there was never really a chance of them all coming.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Her expression did a reversal, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. ¡°Of course. One¡ªmy seventeenth cousin¡­ I¡¯m not actually sure how far removed¡ªspecifically asked that I and all the humans agree to depart, so that she could take up residence.¡± That caused one of Tala¡¯s eyebrows to rise. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Am I serious? Yes, that was the request. Was she serious? Likely not. I do not recall her being so foolish as to have actually considered that a possibility. More likely than not, she saw it as a test. She put a half-considered attempt in to test if this was a trap, something that would draw in our kind and consume them, putting out any bait necessary.¡± He sighed. ¡°A clumsy check, but likely a good-hearted one. She is still so young, barely into her majority.¡± ¡°Oh? How old is she?¡± Tala was genuinely curious as she didn¡¯t really know much about the fox-kin. ¡°I believe that she just turned one-hundred-fifty-three this past summer.¡± Tala¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°And that¡¯s barely considered an adult?¡± ¡°Of course. For our species, a hundred and fifty years is hardly enough to grant the wisdom needed to have anything meaningful to say. We reach physical maturity in our eighties, but that is hardly a reasonable measure for wise action, nor does the ability to breed mean you have anything meaningful to say or that should be listened to.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Lisa smiled at her, letting the almost awkwardness hang in the air for a moment before he added, ¡°Of course, we don¡¯t use that same measure for other races.¡± Tala grunted once, not really having a meaningful response. ¡°Regardless, you asked for this meeting. What can I do for you? Or were you simply hoping to meet in order to ask after my situation here?¡± She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. ¡°We can get to the purpose in a moment. I think that it is important to know, will any of your kin be joining us?¡± He gave a slow nod. ¡°I am working with Mistress Lyn to accommodate the reasonable requests. I suspect that we will have five of my kind join us within the next two months, likely closer to the end of that time. When they have established themselves¡­ I suspect there will be even greater interest.¡± ¡°So soon? Do we need to go anywhere to pick them up? Or¡­?¡± ¡°No, no. I will have an arrival anchor by that time¡­¡± When he saw non-comprehension in her eyes he added. ¡°Ahh, yes. That will be a new concept to you. Consider it like your teleportation receiving arrays, but a bit less¡­ physically destructive. We can launch ourselves through four-dimensional space with an incredible degree of precision if we have a proper arrival anchor to shoot for, and in that way our travel can be almost as fast, if quite a bit more dangerous to the unwary.¡± He took another sip. ¡°Incidentally, we would not allow any child to take such a trip as there is too much that could go wrong and would need correction for a kit¡¯s safety to be assured. Regardless, I am nearly done with my arrival anchor, and I will be facilitating the arrival of my kin in concert with Mistress Lyn.¡± Tala frowned slightly. ¡°Lyn approved this?¡± ¡°She did, as I¡¯ve said. As a point of note, the anchor will also be my means of emergency egress in the event of disaster.¡± ¡°Oh? It can fling you toward another anchor?¡± ¡°...Technically no. I would need a launching array for that¡ªwhich isn¡¯t hard to build, even if I don¡¯t intend to¡ªbut as there are currently no other arrival anchors, that is a trivial issue.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. She frowned further. ¡°Then, I don¡¯t think I understand.¡± ¡°In the event of an emergency, I will be flung off into Zeme¡­ somewhere. I will emerge in a somewhat random location and start over.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It isn¡¯t a good solution, but it is far superior to death¡­ and your human teleportation magics do not play well with our soul-structure.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She felt like they were very far afield, and Lisa seemed to agree. ¡°So, with that settled, may I ask what brought you to my door today? As pleasant as your company is, I do have much work to be about, eventually.¡± ¡°Yes, arrival anchors, finishing your home, continuing to expand your artifact business.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± He took another sip, waiting. ¡°Well, I was curious as to why you refused Anatalis¡¯ invitation the other day.¡± Lisa cocked his head to the side. ¡°If the House of Blood were to send an official invitation to you, asking for your attendance at a dinner party, would you attend?¡± She hesitated. ¡°I¡­ No?¡± She frowned yet again. ¡°Maybe?¡± That caused one of the foxes eyebrows to rise. ¡°I see. You have surprised me.¡± ¡°Well, regardless, I don¡¯t see how this answers my question. You were never a member of the Pack¡­ Right?¡± Lisa shook his head. ¡°No, no. We are not¡­ predatory enough to have ever received a test, let alone an invitation.¡± ¡°I see. So how do the questions relate?¡± He sighed. ¡°I admit, I had intended to imply that it was an uncomfortable and personal question, but my attempt failed.¡± He sighed again. ¡°Very well. I will give a small answer. We beast-kin have a better sense of authority than most humans do¡ªeven if most of the less advanced perceive that sense as something else¡ªand it is incredibly uncomfortable being in the presence of one who can so easily tear away everything that I consider to be mine, including my very self. Gated humans are¡­ safe, in a sense, from most like him. You can always flee to the next world if you are determined enough, even in the event of your death. For us? For those of us who are fully here? We are exposed in a way that is hard to describe. Your gateless might feel a bit out of sorts because of that reality, but they lack the sense to truly experience the existential dread of such an encounter. We can be delayed in passing on in ways you never can.¡± ¡°I¡­ see.¡± She felt like the fox wasn¡¯t telling the whole truth¡ªor more likely he was telling the truth in a way that obscured what he wanted hidden¡ªbut she decided not to press him on it. ¡°Thank you for explaining that to me.¡± ¡°You are welcome. Now, is there anything else? Or shall we finish our tea companionably, and continue with the tasks set before our individual selves?¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°Let¡¯s go with the second option.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± He topped off her tea, leaned back, and continued to sip at a steady, unhurried pace. * * * Tala and Rane were quite busy the following days. Aside from exercising their souls in the spiritual equivalent of tummy-time and teething¡ªwithout most of the screaming and crying that that analogy implied¡ªLerra had one specifically important skill to empart. ¡°Your most advanced humans will have techniques to accomplish this¡ªand you are welcome to learn them when you return home¡ªbut since you advanced while with us, it is incumbent upon us to teach you to veil your strength, doing otherwise is simply inviting trouble on a dozen different levels.¡± Rane and Tala shared a look before giving the wolf their full attention. ¡°Alright, you are aware of controlling your aura so that you do not harm those weaker than you. You have come to the point that you can even have the less advanced within your aura without them experiencing any ill effects. This is almost the same as that.¡± Rane held back a smile, and Tala barely held in a laugh. They had found over the past days that Lerra had a very distorted understanding of how humanity viewed or did things. They expected that this would be no different. The concept was likely to be vaguely related, but just as likely not actually be very similar. ¡°The concept is very simple, but some have difficulty in the execution.¡± She looked back and forth between the two humans, verifying their attention, her lupine head swiveling with no small amount of menace. ¡°Your aura is yours. You have authority over it. Control the level of power you manifest within your aura.¡± Tala blinked. That¡¯s¡­ it? -I mean¡­ it makes sense.- Yeah, but we never really considered doing that with our aura, at all. Honestly, it sounded almost exactly like what she¡¯d been doing within Kit when she made the ¡®lower magical density¡¯ zones within the Ironhold. Though in that case, the air was filled with power that she was affecting directly, where her aura was simply a detectable zone of potential power. With a thought, Tala reached out to enact the same working of will upon her aura, and¡­ it slipped through her mental fingers. Instead of the color of her aura changing, a pulse of Refined-density power rippled outward, reflecting off the edges of her aura and coming back toward her. Rane jumped slightly at the burst of power, but Lerra simply regarded her silently. The second time Tala tried, she focused on the idea of only exercising a Refined-level of magic within her aura. The color seemed to flicker slightly under her mental and willful influence, but it wouldn¡¯t actually switch over, and Tala felt a headache coming on. -I think that you¡¯re very close. Remember, she said it¡¯s a use of authority. What if you forbid any magics stronger than Refined within your aura?- Tala blinked a few times. Would that work? Alat didn¡¯t respond, understanding that the question was intended for the processing rather than a genuine inquiry. With nothing to lose, Tala enforced her will¡ªher authority¡ªon her aura. And then, it clicked. Her restraint was one of the most profound ways to exercise authority. Being able to do something and choosing not to was far more powerful than simply doing that thing. Water doesn¡¯t have true authority as it sweeps away buildings in a flood, even though it acts with power. Choice, my soul, my action or volitional inaction is the basis of my authority. She was not a flood. She was controlled, and right now, she wanted to be controlled to the level of a Refined. Her aura was suddenly true, pure yellow, as if it had never been anything more. And that¡¯s what Anatalis did. He layered his authority over his aura as restraint, adding that in order to reduce his own power. She shuddered. That meant that if anyone broke his authority when he was in such a state, he would actually become more powerful as a result. Such an attack would result in his restraint being thrown off and his true advancement being exposed, unconstrained. Rane grinned widely, kissing the top of her head and pulling her out of her internal contemplations. ¡°Hey! Wonderfully done.¡± Tala smiled, explaining what she¡¯d done and her reasoning behind it. Lerra grunted. ¡°I suppose that works.¡± Rane, with Tala¡¯s more human perspective, was able to duplicate her success after only a couple of attempts of his own. At that point, Lerra had a few thoughts for them. ¡°Good, now you have done the bare minimum. I suggest that you work toward maintaining that result though myriad situations, both stressful and mundane. Once you have accomplished that, you have two approaches. First, you can learn to be more subtle in your displayed advancement, choosing a midpoint between levels of advancement to display, making it all but impossible to tell that you are even hiding anything. Second, you could leave your apparent advancement as a ¡®perfect¡¯ stage¡ªwhich essentially no one ever actually has¡ªmaking it obvious to anyone looking that your advancement is not as it appears.¡± Tala narrowed her eyes, instantly thinking of Mistress Holly¡¯s perfectly yellow aura. I knew it. -Yeah, you and everyone else. Based on what Lerra just said, that is sort of the point.- Yeah, she¡¯s essentially saying, ¡®I¡¯m stronger than this. Don¡¯t test me.¡¯ -That does sound like Mistress Holly. It skips all the other, irritating steps of otherwise standard interactions.- Indeed. Regardless, it would be a struggle to be able to maintain this control¡ªthis level of authority¡ªover their respective auras at all times. So, they got to practicing. Chapter: 509 - The Twilight Edge Tala and Rane buckled down to learn what they could in their limited time with the Pack. As their third week came and went, Lerra informed them that they could only stay another week or so without starting to be in danger of harming themselves due to temporal torsion. Thus, they would spend a total of four weeks within the Lunar Hunt, seemingly equal to four days for Zeme. They were having a wonderful time¡ªwith the sole exception of confirming that advancement to Paragon did not allow them to conceive a child¡ªand learning much, but they were still left with a hard decision before them. Once they left the Lunar Hunt, they could go to the northwest, aiming for one of the city sites that were under either preparation or construction¡ªTala had always wanted to see those¡ªor they could go more northeast and end up on the wandering plains, where the moving settlements of humanity¡ªand some arcanes¡ªcould usually be found. She really did want to track down Howlton and see what had happened with the clockwork thunder, especially now that she understood what a cell actually was and knew that the thunder was most likely a prisoner within one. That said, there was a sense of danger and adventure involved in preparing new city sites and then building the new cities that appealed to her. Moreover, it was a mystery that she wanted to investigate. She couldn¡¯t truly comprehend how it would work, even if she understood most parts of the process. At least ten years of site prep, then roughly twenty five years of construction with an average loss in the neighborhood of sixteen people per day at each given site¡ªobviously biased toward the beginning of the ventures, and usually in bigger groups spaced out rather than actually occurring per day. It¡¯s a heavy toll to pay for a city for a million people to call home. -And that doesn¡¯t factor in the loss of life getting the citizens to the new city¡­- Yeah¡­ The cycling cities couldn¡¯t be avoided at the moment because of how gated were, but it truly required a staggering cost in order to keep the remainder alive while not irreparably harming their world. Such a loss of life was with Archons on high alert, extensive magical constructions to make things safer, and dedicated professionals involved at every step. They were essentially retaking entrenched positions from magical and arcane creatures who had had centuries to embed themselves and their magics into the very landscape at every level, in addition to the standard hazards of construction. Clearing the mining tunnels alone¡­ She shook her head and shuddered. Someone like Master Xeel could probably keep most people safe if he wholly devoted himself to the task, but he¡ªand all of those with his level of ability¡ªwere needed elsewhere. They were, in fact, needed more places than they had Archons capable of fulfilling the need. -You¡¯re sort of skimming over some of the greatest sources of death outside of new city work, those that Master Xeel¡ªand many like him¡ªdoes help with.- Yeah¡­ arcanes coming in on infrequent skirmishing runs is another problem I wasn¡¯t considering. -If it were more often, it might be more predictable. Once every few months is frustrating enough, but there are bursts and groupings of daily raids on occasion. At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve gathered from pouring over the data that we¡¯ve been given access to. Most of those end up in the death of the arcane, too, allowing any houses involved to easily claim it was a rogue actor¡­ every time¡­ Unfortunately, we aren¡¯t willing to truly start up the war again over such things. We simply can¡¯t. No matter how devastating such strikes are, a war would be worse.- ¡­You are making the city sites sound depressing, not adventurous. If the strikes happened mainly around upcoming cities, I¡¯d likely be interested. It¡¯s been too long since I got to fight an arcane¡­ one who wasn¡¯t a prisoner. The rest¡­ She grimaced. -...I¡¯m just giving you the facts.- Tala turned to Rane as he opened his mouth to take a bite of a gloriously constructed breakfast sandwich. ¡°I think we should go straight to the wandering plains. Would that be alright with you?¡± The man hesitated, clearly having a war within himself. She grinned, finding herself chuckling. ¡°Take your bite and think, love. I don¡¯t need you to drop what you''re doing the instant I make a comment or ask a question.¡± He smiled even as he took his truly massive bite, some of the runny yolk trailing a fiery orange down his fingers and dripping onto his plate. He chewed slowly, clearly savoring the enormous bite. When he was done, having swallowed, set his sandwich down, and wiped his hands, he met her gaze once more. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that plan. The city sites can be interesting, but I¡¯ve never heard more than passing rumors¡ªand your stories¡ªfrom the enclaves of humanity in the plains. The Lunar Hunt has been less¡­ violent than I expected, but I guess that makes sense. Even though it¡¯s called a ¡®Hunt¡¯ if you hunt so close to home,I suppose you¡¯ll eventually drive away all the game.¡± He grimaced slightly. ¡°And I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready to hunt the four-dimensional creatures¡­¡± She nodded firmly in agreement. ¡°Indeed. The one clash I had with a little creature of that description was more than enough for me, for the time being.¡± ¡°Indeed. But I¡¯ve shifted the subjects and gotten us off track. I¡¯m fine with your plan. We¡¯ll go north and east to the plains then. That sounds like an excellent idea.¡± He nodded once for emphasis before picking his sandwich up once more. Tala nodded once in return, smiling and returning her focus to her own breakfast. ¡°Then it¡¯s settled.¡± * * * Sooner than they really realized, the four weeks in the Lunar Hunt had flown by. Ironhold was closed up¡ªall citizenry inside¡ªand Tala, Rane, and Terry were standing on the twilight edge of the Lunar Hunt. They¡¯d bid their Pack teachers goodbye already, and only the Alpha of the Pack remained to part ways with. As for the god-beast himself? He sat on his haunches, sized to be barely Tala¡¯s height when so seated. ¡°Thank you, acknowledged of the Pack, for gracing the Lunar Hunt with your visit.¡± Tala and Rane each bowed in gratitude. Terry trilled his jubilation before flickering to Tala¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Humanity¡¯s next great test will set the stage for the coming¡­ centuries. When you clash with the Leshkin, if you are able to push them back to their forest before they retreat and reinforce themselves for another cycle, we will come. If you show that much competence, it may be time to reset the stage, removing the Leshkin for good.¡± Tala almost responded with joy at the very idea, but something in the wolf¡¯s tone made her pause. After a moment¡¯s consideration, in which she recalled much of what he¡¯d said previously, she gave a slow, respectful nod. ¡°Doing so would cost you much.¡± ¡°Yes, young ones. My Pack would need a worthy ally for the time I will require to recover.¡± So many things flashed through her mind. Master Xeel¡¯s comments on the lack of unity among sovereign-level beings. The fact that Anatalis and Vidarra were seeming exceptions to that, possibly only ignored because their focus was on their children, their Pack. The Pack¡¯s approaching humanity, and so, so much more. Things were moving in Zeme, and in such times of turmoil the whole balance of power could shift. Lisa¡¯s words¡ªgiven so recently¡ªcame back to her as well. She, herself, stood in a place of power, existing as a sort of rusted conglomeration of Major House and rogue humanity. ¡­This was way over her head and had implications that she couldn¡¯t even begin to parse. -I¡¯ve flagged this memory¡ªand that of the conversation with Lisa¡ªfor review by Mistress Ingrit for thoughts and proper distribution.-The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Thank you, Alat. -Of course. I am happy to take on such tasks for us. I¡¯m as much out of my depth as you are. We¡¯re in this together.- To whatever end. -To whatever end.- Rane¡¯s hand found hers, giving a careful squeeze. He¡ªher husband¡ªwas there with her too. Their fates, like their souls, were inextricably intertwined. The coming centuries would be¡­ impactful. She almost laughed at the thought, given her scant thirty years of life so far. As if he had read her thoughts, Anatalis¡¯ chuckle rolled through the landscape one last time. ¡°I can see you understand some of what lies ahead of us. I will not burden you with yet more. Good hunting, safe den, swift travels.¡± With that last benediction, Tala, Rane, and Terry found themselves standing at the edge of a normal forest, alone. The omnipresent moon that had hung over their heads for the last four weeks was gone. They had returned to Zeme. They had returned as Paragons. After a moment passed, Rane turned toward Tala with a mischievous grin. ¡°So, shall we message Master Grediv together, or shall I and Enar handle it? I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll have much to say about our recent advancement.¡± A smile tugged at her lips in return. ¡°Oh, absolutely you should. I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.¡± Rane¡¯s eyes unfocused for a brief moment, then he grinned. ¡°Done.¡± His expression shifted to contemplative. ¡°You know, we have the power to send messages directly to the Academy now.¡± Tala froze for a moment. ¡°Right. I¡­ I didn¡¯t think about that.¡± -Already on it! Our siblings will feel our love from afar.- Let¡¯s¡­ -Yeah, I¡¯m not letting them know that we can send and receive from them at any time now. That would only open the door for hurt feelings when we¡¯re less communicative than we could be.- Thank you, Alat. What would we do without us? Alat snorted within their head. -Agreed. We are a treasure.- Rane shrugged, clearly unconcerned. ¡°I imagine that it¡¯s already taken care of?¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Good. I was just thinking¡­ I wonder what he¡¯ll say now that we¡¯re Paragon too?¡± ¡°Master Grediv?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think he¡¯s actually more advanced, just hiding his advancement¡­ do you?¡± ¡°No? It is odd¡ªgiven what we know now¡ªthat he¡¯s never shown himself as less than Paragon, but what do I know? I¡¯m sure he has his reasons.¡± Tala frowned at that. It tickled something at the back of her mind¡­ Her eyes widened. ¡°The books!¡± She smacked herself in the forehead. ¡°I completely forgot about the books that he gave me years ago about the differing levels of advancement.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°No, they were about creatures of various advancements.¡± Tala waved that off. ¡°Same difference.¡± ¡°No?¡± He sounded genuinely confused. ¡°The capabilities of the various creatures is a good show of the breadth of what is possible in a given stage.¡± He frowned, considering. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ surprisingly reasonable.¡± ¡°Thank you? Were you expecting me to be crazy?¡± ¡°No, but I hadn¡¯t thought of it that way.¡± He shrugged. ¡°So?¡± Tala pulled the first tome out of thin air. The title gleamed in the dim light beneath the trees: ¡®A Brief Overview of Entities: Refined.¡¯ She flipped it open and found¡­ exactly what she expected. It was a detailed overview of various beings that shared her previous advancement. She put the Refined book away, taking out the next one¡ªthe Paragon text¡ªwith a bit of reverence. It opened at her touch with ease, revealing a very sparsely filled book. There was a preface: ¡®To the Archon who reads this, greetings. I have done my utmost to record what I know of beings at my level of advancement, but blessedly, my encounters with such are few and far between. There are a few things in here that are generally handled by Paragons in our fair cities, even while not being of that advancement. I urge you to take any such entry seriously even though you are more advanced. Now that you have reached this level, you are meant to be a stalwart defense against such threats.¡¯ Tala frowned, flipping to the table of contents, speaking under her breath, ¡°UnReal Hydra? Mind Worms? Incubus/Succubus Cascade? Lich? Necromancers? Cells and Their Derivations?¡± And on and on she read. Rane¡¯s eyes widened a bit more with each heading. ¡°Those all sound¡­ well, honestly I have no idea what some of those are, and the rest are terrifying in implication.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± She flipped to one of the first entries, alphabetically speaking, and began reading out the start of the description. ¡°Absolute Armored Warriors - True Name Unknown. Heavily, heavily modified and enhanced humans¡ªthough that description is only loosely accurate¡ªthey stand at more than nine feet tall, have three lungs and more muscle than you would expect. Their armor is technologically based but still works to augment and enhance their physicality to be equivalent to combat focused Refined or even Paragons. Despite this, their weaponry is mostly distance based, and it is underestimated at the Archon¡¯s peril. If you are in the area of affect, you are about to die. They generally hate magic and anything ¡®heretical¡¯ to their creator with a burning passion. Though, some have shown magic-like abilities. They live only to fight and kill, and we¡¯ve never detected signs of aging on the remains. We have only had encounters with singular examples of this opponent, those seemingly having been thrown here through various breaches¡ªor warps¡ªin the void or Doman-Imithe. Even so, the brief interactions led us to believe that they generally travel in squads or even as whole armies. Destroy any you encounter with extreme speed as their technology is to a level they might be able to call for reinforcements if left in Zeme for too long.¡± Rane was pale when she got to the end. ¡°They sound terrifying.¡± ¡°Yeah. Imagine that level of power in fanatic warriors.¡± She arched an eyebrow at him. ¡°Fine, that does sound like the Eskau of the Major Houses, at least a bit, but something in the wording¡­ I can practically hear Master Grediv¡¯s voice in the word-choice. He¡¯s scared of these things.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Indeed.¡± That did make her curious though. So, she flipped to the entry on ¡®Eskau,¡¯ because of course there was one. ¡°These are the swords of the Major arcane Houses¡­ and the spears, and the whips, and anything else their Pillars need. These are warriors of unsurpassed skill, utilizing morphic¡ªor otherwise highly flexible¡ªweapons that are hard to mimic by any means we are aware of. Assume that they can be entirely different shapes for every strike, effortlessly and instantly shifting from a small dagger to a halberd as the Eskau has need, or even having each be created in their hands as they strike¡ªdepending on the House. These weapons are each¡ªregardless of the House¡ªpowered by a human soul, which the arcanes refer to as a vestige. These weapons are bonded to the Eskau in a method that is similar to our soulbonding but more¡­ subversive of the remnant will of the soul used, and also less damaging to the vestige when the Eskau dies or is stripped of their rank. Do not expect such a vestige to ever spontaneously pass on to the next world as some other arcane vestiges do. Most Eskau wield arcane magics¡ªthose backed by and based on concepts¡ªwith unparalleled skill. Their bond with their weapon also means that they will not suffer from the arcane weakness of limited power to the same degree as their kin. The vestige is never sufficient for endless power at the Eskau¡¯s need, but they do increase the staying power of these harrowing warriors. Assume that any Eskau can fight at least one level of advancement beyond what they seem. Though, in truth, I suspect that part of this might come from a practice of disguising their level of advancement. Doing so seems to have some greater significance to them than just subterfuge as some of those whom we¡¯ve fought have maintained such disguises for far longer than would otherwise have been prudent. Do not engage on your own if you have a choice. Do not allow to roam free in our lands. Drive away if at all possible. Harry until reinforcements arrive if not. Killing one is a political act and should only be done as a last resort. These are not disgraced scions looking to re-earn esteem through foolish assaults. If an Eskau is before you, such happened at their choosing. Do not take them lightly, no matter how things appear.¡± She looked up to see Rane regarding her with wide eyes, though there was a sparkle of mischief in their depths. ¡°You really are terrifying, aren¡¯t you?¡± Her lips pulled up into a half-smile. ¡°While I was¡ªand really still am¡ªan Eskau, this is from humanities encounters with Eskau. It is not a full or true picture of how all Eskau are. I imagine those who clashed with humanity directly were among the best and most powerful.¡± ¡°Like your sometimes mentor, the elf woman¡­ Meallain, right?¡± Tala gave a sad smile as she remembered the Eskau¡¯s distress at that monster¡¯s death. ¡°Yeah. She would be¡­ she would be terrifying to deal with. Humanity will have a very bad season if she ever comes this way with violent intentions.¡± ¡°Well, blessedly that hasn¡¯t happened yet.¡± A breeze blew through the woods from behind them, cooler than usual for late summer, and it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Tala shuddered. ¡°It¡¯s funny. I¡¯m not used to having such reactions anymore. I suppose the wind on the back of the neck is ticklish, no matter how tough the skin is.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°That is true, yeah. It is funny how our bodies are still fundamentally mundane, even if we¡¯ve enhanced and strengthened them to the extreme.¡± ¡°Yeah, they are actually likely the weakest link in the chain of our selves, at least now that our souls are starting to gather strength.¡± He continued to nod, taking on a sagely air. ¡°We really should do something about that in the near future. I feel like our next step should be some sort of deeper reinforcement of our bodies. We need to break them down and remake them¡­ reshape them? Re¡­.? Re¡­? There must be a good word for it somewhere¡­¡± Tala gave him a light shove even as Terry rolled his eyes and let out a sonorous trill. ¡°Yes, yes. We¡¯ll Reforge next. I suppose you think that you¡¯re so clever.¡± He laughed, catching her up in an embrace. ¡°Not especially, but it does explain why we gated humans move that direction for our next step. It just makes sense.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Chapter: 510 - The Realm of Gods and Monsters Tala, Rane, and Terry were standing on the edge of the forest, just processing their advancement along with the realities around their just-finished trip to the Lunar Hunt. Tala, for her part, was considering a couple of things a bit further out as well. As such, she frowned in realization. ¡°Hey, we should send another message to Master Grediv. He promised to let us know what was required to Reforge once we got to this step.¡± Well, he actually promised to tell them anytime they asked, but it had been recommended that they not do so until they were Paragon. He¡¯d probably not imagined it would be quite this soon. Rane opened his mouth to respond, but then he paused and cleared his throat. ¡°Aura.¡± Tala cursed. She¡¯d gotten distracted, and her willful alteration of her aura had slipped. ¡°Thank you.¡± With a miniscule effort of will, she returned her aura to appearing just below Paragon. Lerra had explained that making her aura appear to be something she was familiar with would be easier than mimicking something she hadn¡¯t experienced in a long time, or for long, or at all. The current display of yellowish-green was something her power and authority were used to, and so it came easier, making it better practice for holding the veil long term. She would actually have had a really difficult time displaying a ¡®true green¡¯ of exact Paragon advancement, because her body was already ¡®Reforged¡¯ enough that her aura had the smallest hints of blue in it. She wasn¡¯t sure if that was because of how much ¡®MINE¡¯ her body was to her¡ªgiven how important authority over self was to Reforging¡ªor if it was because she¡¯d been consuming food from her sanctum for years now, and that was yet another way to gain dominion over herself. She¡¯d dig into it later, but whatever the reason, she¡¯d never had a true-green aura. Regardless, with her veil back in place, Tala returned to the subject a hand. ¡°So, we get to learn how to Reforge, we just need to ask.¡± ¡°I imagine that we¡¯ll most likely learn the concepts behind Reforging as opposed to getting a step-by-step guide.¡± She waved that off. ¡°Right, right.¡± -There are a few other things we really should deal with. We¡¯ve put them off while in the Lunar Hunt, but they are important to get moving.- Right. Can you reach out about the training sheath for Flow. We were told this one was good through the low levels of Paragon if we didn¡¯t put too much power into our strikes¡­ She gave a decisive internal nod. We need to ask the most advanced one that can be made, in order to future proof the situation. It hasn¡¯t even been a decade since the last one, and I really do feel like I should be able to work the void into the weapon at a more fundamental level. -That will undoubtedly be expensive, assuming it¡¯s possible at all¡­ Mistress Ingrit?- Yeah. Let¡¯s ensure she has all the requisite memories surrounding Flow well ordered. We want the resulting product to be what we need, after all. Also if you can coordinate with her to cash in some of the favors, promises, and other payments we¡¯ve received for our memories from various folks, that would probably be a good use of some of that. -Agreed. I¡¯ll get that handled¡­ you have no idea who any of those people are, do you?- And I have no interest in learning. -Fine¡­ But¡ª- Terry interrupted both her and Rane¡¯s thoughts with an impatient trill. Tala jerked slightly as she was pulled from her internal contemplations. Rane gave a conciliatory smile. ¡°Sorry, Terry. Yeah, we don¡¯t need to be waiting around here. Shall we head straight north, or do you want to angle east from here?¡± Tala looked around, orienting herself even as Rane seemed to actually look around himself with a critical eye. ¡°Wait¡­¡± He frowned. ¡°This is the northern edge of the forest.¡± Tala and Rane moved almost as one, looking straight north. -Oh¡­ wow¡­ I¡­ We really were focused internally, weren¡¯t we?- Tala swallowed involuntarily. Yeah. Ahead of them, across a large stretch of plains, mountains rose in irregular patches, growing ever higher and more numerous the further Tala looked. On the surface, it looked very similar to the view out of the south of the forest would have been¡ªback near where they¡¯d entered¡ªexcept the plains were more expansive in this direction, and the mountains farther away, while looking about the same size. They were much bigger. But that isn¡¯t what had both Tala and Rane speechless. Instead, to their magesight, they could see why no one¡ªeven in the greatest legends of humanity¡ªwent to the far north and returned. Roiling aura, so pervasive it was visible all these miles away, in various shades of blue and purple¡ªrunning the gamut from deep, navy blue to ephemeral violet¡ªall mixing and tumbling over each other in ways that Tala couldn¡¯t remember having seen before. Rane spoke softly, clearly quoting something. ¡°There be the realm of gods and monsters beyond the ken of man. Beware all who would dare the slopes and dells, valleys and forests of the Great White North.¡± Tala almost laughed at the odd wording, but¡­ ¡°Seeing that?¡± She flicked her head toward the distant mountains. ¡°I believe it, yeah.¡± ¡°What do you suppose is in there?¡± She almost shrugged, but then remembered something. With a flick of her wrist, she pulled out the Paragon level book on various entities. ¡°Let¡¯s see. I thought I saw a reference to¡­ Here it is!¡± She lifted the book slightly in triumph. ¡°The Far North.¡± An instant later, she huffed a laugh. ¡°The first line is: ¡®Don¡¯t.¡¯ It doesn¡¯t have anything else, just ¡®don¡¯t.¡¯¡± ¡°Appropriate, given what we¡¯re seeing.¡± ¡°Indeed. But after that, he goes on. If we have to go that direction, we should be aware of the dangers involved. As Paragons we might be able to slip through the constant struggle simply because we are too insignificant to be worth a diversion. Veils are key, it says, and we should be¡­ oh, oh! This is a spawning ground for syphons? So, don¡¯t trust the appearance of anything. It is a place where Magical Creatures don¡¯t have an outlet for their Reality enforced rage, given gated-humanity¡¯s distance. So, instead, they fight each other, trying to claim more land, expanding their authority, from which to draw their power. Most die often¡ªcoming back more experienced for the next clash¡ªand therefore, their rate of return¡ªwhether resurrection or some other form or return, I don¡¯t know¡ªhas become incredibly high. If we do manage to kill something, expect it to be back with better knowledge of your capabilities in less than an hour, and that¡¯s essentially the average.¡± Rane shook his head. ¡°So, it¡¯s not just the type and power of the monsters, it¡¯s that it¡¯d be an unending slog through creatures that were learning how to fight you. They could lose thousands of times. They only have to win once against us mere humans.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Indeed, and they¡¯ve been honed by likely literally millions of fights to the death.¡± She shook her head as she turned her focus back to the book. She could just pull up the memory¡ªAlat had imbibed the book already and had the memory ready to hand¡ªbut Tala liked the actuality of reading directly from the book. ¡°Some stand-out creatures that have been observed include various elementals, wielding rock, tree, air, or water as their physical form. The worst of those are the darkness elementals, unless you have light-based magics¡ªnot just magic that gives off light, that¡¯s emphasized here. Apparently, they are theorized to be creatures of the Doman-Imithe that Reality dragged through in some sort of reactionary attempt at balance. They don¡¯t claim territory, except the night itself¡­ and seemingly the darkness of caverns within the various mountains? This is a bit unclear.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°So, they sweep through and reset the battlefield after sunset, something like that?¡± Tala pointed at him. ¡°Exactly, yeah. Most creatures don¡¯t come back at night, because the darkness elementals just kill them too quickly, and there is no gain for them.¡± ¡°So, the North would actually be pretty safe at night, so long as you had light magic?¡± She shook her head, tapping the page. ¡°Light magic will hurt¡ªand even kill¡ªthese elementals, but it also draws in the others. Their kind hates the light, and unless you can fill the entire region with light¡ªeven underground¡ªyou won¡¯t put any of them down for good. All that we¡¯d accomplish is making them angry, and more bent on hunting us down.¡± She huffed. ¡°Not that we have light magics.¡± ¡°Yeah. Nor do we have any reason to go there.¡± ¡°Right.¡± She looked up toward the mountains. ¡°I say we don¡¯t go there.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Rane glanced toward their companion, who hadn¡¯t been adding to the conversation. Terry trilled in boredom. Tala gave him a skeptical glance. ¡°Really? You¡¯re unimpressed?¡± He squawked then let out a sound that was almost like a howl. ¡°Well, sure, Anatalis and Vidarra are probably more powerful than any aura we¡¯re seeing individually, but look at that.¡± Tala gestured unnecessarily. ¡°There are uncountable, individual auras in there, all multiple stages more advanced than we are. Aren¡¯t you even a little impressed?¡± He shrugged and chirped. Rane huffed a laugh. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before that¡¯s nothing more than a fertile hunting ground for him.¡± Terry regarded Rane for a long moment before bobbing his head decisively and chirping once more. Tala sighed, shaking her head. ¡°You two¡­¡± Rane arched an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Like you¡¯re so different?¡± She shook her head again. ¡°Not at all, but ¡®you two¡¯ sounds a lot better than ¡®us three.¡¯¡± They shared a chuckle, then lowered their regard from the distant mountains and onto the vast, rolling plains. ¡°So, how do we find these hidden, moving settlements of yours?¡± ¡°That¡­ is an excellent question.¡± But after a moment¡¯s thought, she broke out in a grin, turning to face Rane. His face already sported a smile that showed he¡¯d thought of the same solution that she had. As one, they said it, ¡°Fliers.¡± Less than ten minutes later, they were in their favorite dell within the sanctum, eyes closed and flying devices out in Zeme proper. They began flying low and fast, each taking a slightly different arc toward the east. There had been no objections as none of them wanted to go north, and given the fact that Howlton had been to the south, they planned to round the encircling forest to the east regardless. Enar took the path nearest the trees, sweeping back and forth with roughly a half-mile spacing between his own passes. He might miss a town with a smaller disguising field than Howlton, but if so it would be a near thing. -I still like ¡®cloaking field¡¯ better. It just makes sense. They are cloaking themselves from outside observation.- Fine¡­ Anywhere with a smaller cloaking field than Howlton would either be smaller, itself¡ªthus likely not a good point of contact given their current strength¡ªor it was something that was trying even harder to hide, in which case they would likely be less open to visitors. It could also be moving in just the right way to be missed, but if that happened, it happened. They weren¡¯t aiming to find every moving town, just one. Regardless, Enar was doing roughly five mile long passes, with Alat controlling the next searching zone out from the forest, doing a similar search patterns. Then, came Tala¡¯s flier with Rane working the most distant arc. They were only sweeping the nearest twenty miles to the forest, but if the towns were as numerous as Tala hoped¡­ Whether they were numerous or not, the four didn¡¯t find any within a reasonable distance to the east, so they recalled two of the fliers, and exited the sanctum. They¡¯d only checked a swath of about fifty miles of the plains, but that was a hundred and one passes, and it had taken them a bit more than five hours, moving in the mid range of what they could make their fliers do¡ªthey hadn¡¯t wanted to blow past a town too quickly to notice after all. Terry was asleep in the sunlight of the sanctum, and Tala and Rane were ready to move their legs. Alat and Enar continued their sweeps while Tala and Rane stretched a bit, preparing to take off in an entirely different way. The couple were rather excited, all things considered. They were Paragons now, and they hadn¡¯t been able to really cut loose and travel as fast as they could as Paragons. Well, it wouldn¡¯t actually be faster. They knew that they would actually have to be going slower given their higher density, but it should be easier and more¡­¡ª Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Rane?¡± He looked her way. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Do you think¡­ could we use veiling to travel faster without creating a resonance?¡± He frowned, obviously considering. ¡°Truthfully? I think the answer is yes, but.¡± She gave a little smile at that. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s the but?¡± But even as she asked, it clicked together in her mind. ¡°Oh¡­ yeah. So, we¡¯d remove the magical resonance, but not the damage to Reality. Moving faster would cause more damage. So, as long as we don¡¯t mind causing more harm, we can likely move more quickly.¡± ¡°So, if we¡¯re going to a gathering of those who are going to fix Reality?¡± She gave him an odd look. ¡°I suppose? But that seems like a weird thing¡ªmaking the problem worse when going to find a way to fix it¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I suppose so.¡± ¡°So, we can move as fast as we want in an emergency?¡± ¡°With practice, probably.¡± ¡°Just at a cost.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°Ahh, well. No breaking the sound barrier for us, then.¡± ¡°Not for the moment, no.¡± He grinned. ¡°There is also that I know that Master Xeel moves faster than magical resonance should allow. So it¡¯s possible that there¡¯s a trick to it that we can learn now, or as part of Reforging.¡± He shrugged. ¡°But shall we?¡± Before she answered, he had already lifted off the ground, floating with kinetic manipulation, sculpting his motion to be as he desired. ¡°Show off.¡± But she was grinning up at her husband. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± With a burst of power, he took off, moving just faster than a runner¡¯s pace, shaping his aura incredibly precisely to allow him to move even that fast, safely. Tala ran forward, pushing off the air by dint of her surface-area expansion scripts, her massively powerful body hurtling her through the sky at a pace easily matching Rane¡¯s, her own aura taking on the odd shape that Master Grediv had taught them so long ago, matching that of her husband. This is quite like that time, isn¡¯t it. The Paragon had taught her as they traveled. She¡¯d just returned from the arcane lands, and Master Grediv had been taking her and Rane to Bandfast on his sapphire disk. They¡¯d been flying through the sky, on the way to reuniting her with friends. So much has changed since then. -And yet, you are still you.- Yes, we are. There was the minor difference that, now, she was effectively leaping through¡ªand off of¡ªthe air rather than relying on someone else¡¯s device for transport. She grinned at that, remembering the flying construct that their unit had worked together to create. They¡¯re going to be so surprised when we come back as Paragons. -Surprised? No, I think they all saw you as transitory, even if our level of transitory was more than half a decade. They¡¯re all terminally Refined, most likely. They don¡¯t really have the spark to go further. They are content with their station and role in aiding humanity.- Yeah. While her speed fluctuated somewhat as she sprang from foot to foot through the air, Rane¡¯s pace was far more consistent, causing her to oscillate somewhat between being just ahead and just behind him. Thus, she had the briefest fraction of a second more warning than he did as they breached a cloaking field and several seemingly city-level-defensive magics swatted them from the sky. Even as Tala careened toward the ground, her aura and magics sparked against an authority as ancient¡ªeven if not as powerful¡ªas Anatalis¡¯, and her armor wrapped around her. She knew that she¡¯d easily survive impact with the ground, and it would be a more advantageous position from which to face this threat¡ªwhatever it was¡ªand so her focus was almost entirely on what they¡¯d stumbled upon, on what had attacked them. Her gaze fell on the small¡ªone room¡ªhouse tottering along on chicken legs through a valley below them. It was bathed and saturated in a swirling, non-determinable aura. From within the oddly dilapidated structure, a voice cackled forth, full of venom, rage, and certainty, ¡°You¡¯ll never take me alive!¡± Her threefold sight was just able to see the grizzled old woman, hunched just inside the window, glaring their way, her eyes glowing with malice and power. Well, rust. Chapter: 511 - Baba Yaga? Tala slammed into the ground with enough force to embed herself a foot or two down into it. She would have landed face first, but she managed to fight her way around in a tight roll, falling on her back instead. A cloud of dirt exploded out away from her, even as the breath was driven from her lungs. Her threefold sight showed Rane flattened on the ground nearby, having had enough control to diffuse his own impactful energy without taking the ground-shaking blow. He had landed on his face, however, and he had been driven all the way down, unable to stop his own motion. That didn¡¯t bode well. That meant that whatever had affected them had imparted kinetic energy that he couldn¡¯t steal or absorb for once. The quagmire of power and authority roiling around them was cloying and suffocating at the same time even as she sucked in a gasping breath, more on reflex than out of necessity, which was good, because her armor prevented it from being more than shallow inhale. Still, she wasn¡¯t going to be taken lightly. Tala shoved outward with her will even as she struggled to her feet in the vibration-loosened soil. She looked up to see the chicken-legged house bearing down on them, the manic old woman practically frothing at the mouth from within the front window. Tala didn¡¯t hesitate. This wasn¡¯t a time for half-measures or hesitation. Once she drove the moving house thing back, she could try talking with the clearly delusional old woman. It was time to show the real state of things. It was time for the woman to realize that this interaction would happen on Tala¡¯s¡ªand Rane¡¯s¡ªterms, their first showing not withstanding. A portal opened to the holding place within her sanctum and a flurry of siege-orbs shot out, each cracking the air as they targeted various potential weak points in the house and on the crazy old woman. The aura that Tala had been trying to pin down suddenly solidified, becoming easy to distinguish¡­ it was yellow, barely tinted toward green. What? That can¡¯t be right. Even so, the color deepened¡ªwithout changing tint¡ªaround each of her flying siege orbs, the area somehow seeming oversaturated with the sickly yellow hue. As for her siege orbs? With a small pop of something that was almost magic, each seemed to be transformed into a fleshy eye in less than a blink of time, even as they continued on their gravitationally empowered arcs. Her authority over them was utterly shattered at the same time. The shift in what they were broke Tala¡¯s workings too, but that hardly mattered. Their targets were set, for all the good it would do. Even so, the eyes rotated in the air to regard Tala for the briefest moment, each shooting a scorching beam out to slam into her armored form. The attacks were more physical than she¡¯d expected, along with the energy brought along for the strikes. While the heat forced Tala to bleed it off with her mastery over her iron and the white steel, the impacts tossed her backward, despite all that she did to remain in place. The strikes would never have breached her defenses even with far longer exposure, but that hadn¡¯t seemed to be their aim. They might have been able to hurt her if given enough time¡ªthough it would likely have taken long minutes¡ªbut less than a second later, the eyes splattered, each against its intended target. As one slapped the old woman in the head¡ªcausing her to jerk back and curse¡ªTala felt grateful to have at least gained them a little bit of a distraction. She decided that something odd was going on here, and it might be a good idea to try to solve things with words, or at least to see if they could. ¡°We aren¡¯t here for you!¡± Rane¡¯s voice boomed out before Tala could act on her choice. I love how in sync we are sometimes. The old woman¡¯s voice came back, seemingly originating from everywhere at once, ¡°Don¡¯t care. Die, scourge!¡± Well¡­ that was rather definitive¡­ At the same time, as if accompanying her voice, the soup of authority and power came crashing back down on Tala once again. She simply couldn¡¯t keep it at bay, despite easily overpowering the contesting authority wherever she clashed with it directly. It simply flowed around her efforts, encroaching wherever she wasn¡¯t focused with a speed that would put a charging horse to shame. Tala was a body-builder, trying to hold up the rain. -Well, this is frustrating.- Alat conveyed grinding teeth that she didn¡¯t have, as she tried to help Tala throw off the wet blanket of an aura that was continually pressing in. Rane¡¯s attempts to shoot himself forward kept being stifled by similarly flowing attacks against his authority. As such, he had quickly determined to take a different tact and simply charged forward with quick, powerful strides, Force already in hand. Then, the house was upon them. Rane and Force somehow passed through the house before a large bit of wood on the back side whipped out, smacking him on the back of the head and sending him tumbling once more. How did that even connect? She grimaced internally. Did it? Or did his magic move him out of the way? -I think it moved him? I don¡¯t recall hearing an impact, but there is a lot of noise coming from that old house¡­- Tala didn¡¯t feel like having a house step on her, so she jumped to the side, lashing out with Flow even as the chicken-foot came down hard, making the ground shake all around her. As it turned out, however, the chicken-foot that she hit was an illusion¡­ an illusion that had been perfectly replicated all the way through so that it appeared real even to Tala¡¯s threefold sight. It had been real enough to shake the ground too, somehow¡­ Regardless, Flow went through without any resistance, and then Tala was stomped into the ground with the literal weight of a house on her back. She hadn¡¯t even seen the leg coming before it caught her. Rust this. She didn¡¯t have the aura authority to flicker away, but she did have Kit. A portal opened below her, and she dropped through. As soon as she was fully in her sanctum, the portal closed and another opened before her, spitting her out above the offending house. She was done playing. This crazy lady wanted to fight to the death? Tala would give her what she wanted. Tala opened her mouth¡ªand a new portal within it¡ªand let out the last burst of compressed air from her sanctum lung. Pointing down as it was, the line of power couldn¡¯t extend as far as usual before igniting, so Tala specifically reduced the power that the containment scripts in her mouth imparted. As such, the roaring explosion started directly above the house, showering over it, like a flood of flesh-eating insects crashing over a corpse. The entire thing eroded in that single short breath. It seemed like the brief, furious battle was over. Except that Tala had been watching closely. She opened a new portal across her back, sucking in more air as quickly as she was able, creating enough force that her descent slowed to an almost lazy drift downward. As to what she¡¯d seen? -That old hag wasn¡¯t real?- Oh, she¡¯s real, she just wasn¡¯t there. Somehow. Any luck finding out what she is? -How¡¯d you know I was looking?- Because I really wished I¡¯d had time to go through Master Grediv¡¯s books so we might understand what this is. It¡¯s clearly taking two Paragons to engage it so¡­? -Ahh, how nice it is to be us.- Indeed. So?The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. -Baba Yaga. It is unknown if there is more than one or not, as none have ever been captured or killed. She is a Refined level threat from the Paragon book. Not human or arcane¡­ not really, though she is closer to them than us. Immortal, but she seems to like to eat children. She is theorized to be the ancestor or creator of the bog hags.- Tala felt her entire body flash cold before a raging heat bloomed up from within her soul. Eating children as a general rule was bad enough, but something else had struck closer to home. Bog hags¡­ Alat didn¡¯t let Tala sidetrack her. -She is an absolute master of authority. Apparently a boon was used in the past¡ªby a grieving parent¡ªto wish her dead. The god-beast could not fulfill the request and the boon was used for something else.- Alat conveyed a poignant pause, even while not wasting the time to actually give such. -The god-beast was Anatalis.- Rust again. But something within Tala didn¡¯t care. -She uses illusions and¡­ Reality curses apparently? Some believe she is the origin of dasgannach, but Master Grediv recorded that he didn¡¯t put much credence to the theory.- Please keep the information to just what I need to know, Alat. -Right, sorry. No gate, but she¡¯ll have several enslaved to her will. That¡¯s one of the reasons for her¡­ tastes in eating. One theory is even that bog hags that successfully eat enough children become Baba Yaga, but that hasn¡¯t ever been proven. Regardless, those souls are the source of her power, but she can draw from her environment as well. I¡¯ve conveyed all this to Enar, and through him to Rane.- Thank you. There was a massive crash, drawing Tala¡¯s attention. Rane was fighting back and forth with an old woman wielding a large¡­ pestle? It looked like a massive grinding stick for processing herbs for use in alchemy and other recipes. It was somehow turning Force aside, despite the obviously Paragon level magic behind each of Rane¡¯s precise, powerful strikes. -Last thing, There is a note: Kill if possible, but don¡¯t trade lives. She is notorious for tricking her enemies into doing so, only for their friends to find that they¡¯ve been slain killing an incredibly convincing illusion.- Noted. And without further delay, Tala reacted. She could feel the roiling authority around her, making it almost impossible to even feel Rane¡¯s within the mess, despite their soulbond. Magic was everywhere, but Rane¡¯s gate stood out like a bonfire¡­ much like the forty-four other souls that gushed forth power from two hilltops away, retreating into the distance. Get Terry out here. Tell him what he needs to know. This thing needs to die if we can swing it. He shouldn¡¯t throw his life away, but we¡¯ll bring him back if he dies. -Will do.- It had been less than a minute since the clash had begun, and Tala was rusting furious. Even as Tala¡¯s foot touched down on the top of one of the higher hills nearby, a portal opened and Terry flickered out, already gone again, only to appear farther away, moving as fast as Tala had ever seen him move. But for some reason, he was swerving away from the direction of the gates that Tala could sense retreating toward the northwest. What is he¡­? Terry stopped mid-run, turning around and screeching in obvious warning back toward Tala. She processed the warning even as the authority of the outer layer of her armor was violated and she noticed the attack. A club of unyielding stone smashed into the side of her armored head, sending her flipping feet-over-head as the Baba Yaga screeched from behind, where she¡¯d been standing, ¡°Never take me! I will be free, free I tell you! You won¡¯t take my snacks, nor my power, nor my house! No! Mine, mine, mine!¡± The gates that Tala had sensed in the distance flickered and vanished. Eight other gates seemingly revealed to the due west. Tala groaned internally even as she vaulted back to her feet. The creature wasn¡¯t hurting her or Rane, even if she was able to move them about, but they couldn¡¯t even find her. The repetition of ¡®mine¡¯ did remind her of the dasgannach, but it had a different flavor to it than what Tala knew so intrinsically. Though, without her own intimate understanding of dasgannach, she had to admit that they¡¯d have seemed very close to the same. ¡°-Jump!-¡± Tala did so without thought but as she did so, Alat¡¯s voice cracked out within her head. Only then did Tala realize that the instruction to jump had been one she heard with her ears, rather than within her mind. -No! That was¡ª- WHACK! Tala went sailing through the air yet again, but she was done being a plaything. She rolled with the hit, almost instantly facing back the way she¡¯d come. Her mouth and helmet opened once again¡ªalong with the portal¡ªand a cone of dissolution washed out in fire and destruction. Obliterating the entire hilltop that she¡¯d been standing on. Baba Yaga¡¯s cackling laugh came from all around her, but there was a hitch to it as the overwhelming dissolution in the air disrupted the workings that were creating the sound. The working that had been attached to Tala at the time of the hit. She¡¯s creating illusions anchored to us? -That would make tracking her through the illusions all but impossible.- Tala screamed internally in frustration. Misdirection layered overtop of deception. In every clash, Tala was overpowering her opponent, but she was not only failing to harm the crazy old woman whom she was fighting, she was losing due to tricks and misdirections and other frustrating twists. She was being moved about almost as effectively as a puppet might have been. It was no wonder that this Baba Yaga was still around, even if there was only one of her. The only thing that she was absolutely certain wasn¡¯t an illusion was the fact that the creature¡¯s power was in the Refined range. She was sure of that for two reasons. First, Master Grediv had stated such confidently within his book, not as a statement of the creature¡¯s ¡®current¡¯ power but as a definitive fact of its existence. Second, if it had matched her in advancement, she had no doubt that she¡¯d already be dead. No wonder this thing was in the ¡®Paragon¡¯ book¡­ She swallowed reflexively, realizing that creatures like this filled that book. There was also the fact that if they hadn¡¯t advanced in the Lunar Hunt¡­ Though, if they hadn¡¯t, other things would have been different, so they might not have run into the Baba Yaga at all. ¡­But she was distracting herself, and Rane was fighting illusions¡­ illusions that would still harm him¡ªor at least move him about, bone-armor and all¡ªif he didn¡¯t treat them as real. Ideas? -How crazy are you willing to be?- I don¡¯t want to die or kill my husband. -That¡¯s fair. Gravity increase to keep yourself in more locked positions, then flail the surroundings with various weaponry to kill anything whether you can see it or not?- That is¡­ destructive, but I don¡¯t think it would work. It¡¯s too limited in area of affect. -Fair. Pulses of dissolution breath?- Similar issue, but less chance of success. -Void-Flow, whipping in arcs around us?- That¡¯s not¡­ reckless? -Do you need plans to be reckless? No, but you¡­ never mind. -If you want to be reckless, we could always call on Lisa to come out and help?- That would be reckless, because I doubt he could help, and he might just be killed. If he is able to help us, we¡¯d likely be in his debt. -Yeah, I would not recommend that. What about a dissolution aura? You¡¯ve only done something like that a couple of times before, but it should be useful.- Oh¡­ yeah. That could be useful. It was going to be¡­ difficult on her though. She landed once more, retracting her armor and sending a large portion of her elk-leathers into her sanctum for safe-keeping long with Flow, her through-spike, and what few accessories she¡¯d had on her belt. She then forcibly inverted the magics embedded in the outer layers of her skin all across her body. She severed the elk leathers, willing for the part within the sanctum to be the ¡®real¡¯ portion, and what remained behind were simply clothes, much as she¡¯d done for Fannas in the past. I hope he and Kannis are doing alright¡­ But it was hardly the time for such things. She focused on those closest to nerve clusters first, so there was only a single burst of pain¡ªlike ripping all her skin off at once¡ªand then she didn¡¯t have the ability to feel pain, so it got better¡­ except for the memory. As a Paragon, the power flowing through her natural magics¡ªmomentarily held as inverted versions of themselves through her authority and pure will-power¡ªwas now flowing off of her in every direction, the very ground beneath her bloody feet turning to powder and starting to blaze. I¡¯d say this is going to hurt, but¡­ -Yeah, I¡¯m glad you don¡¯t have nerves too.- Power and fire exploded outward, away from her, the detonating air carrying the dissolution power ever outward, obliterating her clothing and everything around herself in a wave of magic-destroying power. A renewed cackle from the Baba Yaga cut off in a hiss of anger so loud it was easily heard over the roar of the flame¡­ even with Tala¡¯s ears already gone. Tala caught the briefest glimpse of an old woman shooting away from her toward a nearby chicken-legged house even as the magics around them were utterly eroded, seemingly exposing them to Tala¡¯s sight. The Baba Yaga¡¯s face looked like it had been melted or partly burned, the wound fresh. Tala had done that. She immediately opened a portal into her refilled sanctum lung, shooting a blazing lance after the Baba Yaga. A quarter of the house vanished in a roaring explosion to match the inferno around Tala, herself, but then the creature and her house were gone, and not due to Tala¡¯s efforts, unfortunately. Feeling a bit manic, Tala barely held back a cackle of her own, her nose melting off in the dissolution and heat. I removed my nose to spite her face. -And¡­ you¡¯re done.- Alat forcibly cut off the flow of power to the inverted spellforms. A moment later, power shunted to Tala¡¯s healing spell-work¡ªinside and out¡ªand new flesh blossomed into being, covering Tala with horrible itching as all her nerves regrew and reconnected at once. The dissolution continued to roll outward, some clinging to the very real Baba Yaga house as it fled across the plains. Tala also detected flickers of dimensional energy in hot pursuit. A moment later, it shed the last vestiges of Tala¡¯s magic and vanished into the rolling hill-country. Well, rust her, and good riddance. Tala then promptly collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath that she shouldn¡¯t need. -Oh, wow. Your body did not like that. We should do something to make it stronger.- Tala responded with something between a growl and a groan, not dignifying the joke with more than that. Terry was pursuing the Baba Yaga, and she found herself curious if he would succeed where seemingly Paragons had been failing for generations. Best of luck, Terry. I believe in you. Chapter: 512 - The Momentousness Tala had pushed herself up to her hands and knees before she remembered that she was still unclothed. With an act of will, a small portal opened beside the small of her back, and her elk leathers grew back across her skin, pulling her various accessories¡ªincluding Flow¡ªout along with it. A moment later, she was outfitted as she usually preferred to be, even while still kneeling. She¡¯d even replaced her iron to rebuild up her pressure-cooking. The Baba Yaga had shown that she still had room to grow. -I don¡¯t know that more power would have made a difference?- Well, it wouldn¡¯t have hurt, and it¡¯s not like I can work on other aspects at the moment. -Fair, fair.- Rane landed beside her, stopping instantaneously and without even ruffling her hair with the speed of his arrival, though his clothes had whipped around a bit in the wind of his passage. ¡°Are you going to be alright? Alat and Enar have been keeping me in the loop.¡± Tala grimaced, then pushed herself to her feet. She did not want to be kneeling at the moment. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m going to be alright. That creature was¡±¡ªshe breathed out a long breath¡ª¡°she was a rusting pain to fight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the truth. I could tell that the one I was fighting wasn¡¯t real, but the energy in her attacks was real enough, so I couldn¡¯t just ignore her. What was with her aura? Her authority?¡± She groaned. ¡°Like water, flowing around any attempt to push it back. I think we might have been able to hold her at bay if we pushed back uniformly in all directions at once, but I don¡¯t know that I¡¯ve ever done that.¡± ¡°Exactly, yeah. I thought we were pushing out uniformly with our auras in all directions¡­ it seems I was mistaken.¡± ¡°You and me both. In considering it, though, I think I have simply been reaching outward generally, and letting my aura balloon from there.¡± Rane pointed at her with excitement on his face. ¡°Exactly, yes! It¡¯s like a balloon. I was simply inflating or deflating it, only rarely specifically directing it to have other shapes or to act like tendrils, working around defenses.¡± ¡°It seems we still have more things to work on.¡± She gave him a small smile that he returned in kind. ¡°Clearly¡­ You were able to drive her off, though. That is a plus.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°I was, but¡­¡± He gave her a searching look when she hesitated. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she was actually trying to attack us all out. She seemed to be seeking to do enough damage to get away. Killing us would have just been a ¡®bonus¡¯ to her.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°Yeah, that does seem like it would fit with what she did.¡± Tala sighed, aspect mirrored the features that she needed, then hopped up and down to free any lingering grit and grime from herself, causing a mini-cascade of detritus to rain down around her. ¡°Back to traveling?¡± He didn¡¯t sound to enthused at the idea. She grimaced, glanced toward the sun. ¡°I just want a bath and a nap.¡± He shrugged. ¡°That sounds great to me. We can pick up the search for a mobile village after. Who knows, maybe Terry will come back with her head by then. I know that I¡¯d feel better if so.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Yeah, that would be nice. If anyone can do it, I believe in Terry.¡± -We can keep searching for the moving towns while you sleep.- Rane nodded, clearly having heard something similar from Enar. ¡°That sounds good to me, but I have a slight modification to our end of the plan.¡± Less than ten minutes later, Tala and Rane were sitting down to a beautifully prepared meal, Mistress Petra retreating to give them privacy. The dissonance of going from such a fight in the middle of nowhere to a decadent meal in their own home was jarring. Though it was made less so by how often they¡¯d done similar¡ªif not exactly the same¡ªthings in the past. Even as Tala ate, she couldn¡¯t help but notice how much the meal was not a bath and a nap, but Rane had had a point. With the injuries that she¡¯d given herself, she needed the food. She had also needed to step through the reinscriber to ensure that none of her inscriptions were in danger of eroding to a dangerous level. That had pulled a bit more from her reserves to heal her up. Her dissolution field was almost as unpleasant in its consequences as in its execution. Still, that was in the past, and the food was excellent. Ham and sweet corn risotto, broiled broccoli, heavy bread¡ªthe recipe apparently absolutely stuffed with butter and eggs¡ªseasoned carrots, a light salad, and roast that practically fell apart when she tried to pick it up with her fork. The gravy was a wonderful addition as well, and she applied it liberally to various dishes. Rane¡¯s food was essentially the same, even if it had been made separately in order to incorporate and maintain a different set of magics. In this case, it had been made by Mistress Petra¡¯s assistants, a married couple of gateless, who had shown both aptitude and interest in the preparation of magic-laiden meals. Tala got the uncomfortable feeling that Mistress Petra was training her successor in the couple, just as Master Simon seemed to be doing in Adrill and Brandon. But that wasn¡¯t pleasant to consider, so Tala didn¡¯t. Once the repast was finished, she got her bath, with Rane joining her. It was a bit less relaxing, or more accurately it was relaxing in different ways, but it still did what she¡¯d hoped such would accomplish. Soon enough, she was curled up in his arms, drifting off to sleep in their massive bed. * * * Master Grediv still hadn¡¯t responded to Rane¡¯s inquiry when Tala woke. So she sent a message to Mistress Holly that she asked Alat to mark as urgent. She wanted to know how to Reforge. The Inscriber got back to them within minutes, allowing Alat and Tala to read through it together. -I do wonder if Master Grediv just didn¡¯t read Enar¡¯s message.- Yeah, that¡¯s probably likely. But her focus was on Mistress Holly¡¯s response. -Should¡­ should we tell him?- You know, what? We don¡¯t need to right now. If he still hasn¡¯t read the message when we get back, we can mess with him because of it. -Yeah, that could be funny.- She reached out to Enar and coordinated with him and Rane. No one would tell Master Grediv explicitly, nor mention the message they¡¯d already sent. If he read it, he read it. If not? Well, then what happened after would be on him. As to what Mistress Holly said? Well, Reforging was both immensely simple and frustratingly convoluted. Reforging was a thing of two parts. First, a remaking of the body to match what the soul wanted. Second, an establishment and deepening of authority over every aspect of the body¡¯s physical makeup.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Progress toward being fully Reforged was simply progressing along those two paths, with the fulfillment of both requirements being what stepped you over the line in the end. Tala grunted. That was pretty much exactly what they¡¯d expected and been told, even if it was more explicitly stated in this latest message from Mistress Holly. So, she had to be exactly how she wanted to be, and she needed utter authority over her own body¡¯s makeup¡­ But the message went on. Mistress Holly wanted to emphasize that she did not say that the body needed to match what Tala wanted. It had to match the soul¡¯s desire. The soul that was bound to objects and companions and a spouse. Tala instantly hated that. She would have to be approved of by Terry? Kit? Rane? -And you¡¯ll have to approve of him, if it¡¯s actually like that. It doesn¡¯t sound like it, though.- Alat was right, of course. It wasn¡¯t anything so crass as having to change to meet her spouse''s desires or him having to change who he was for her. Instead, it was a sort of harmonizing of the soul with the physical. Her soul was now influenced by Terry, Kit, her elk leathers, Flow, and, yes, Rane. -Do you see?- Yeah. It¡¯s not him telling me what I need to be, it¡¯s how I want to be different due to his influence, and he mine. Alat chuckled. -It¡¯s a spouse literally inspiring you to bring out your best self. It¡¯s not about bending to the wishes of another. It literally can¡¯t be- And that wording really drove it home for Tala. Alat was right. It couldn¡¯t be about someone else. That would be a surrendering of authority over her physical form which was the exact opposite of the other part of Reforging. Balance. -Precisely. In this one, you¡¯re on your own. It has nothing to do with us, mentally.- Hold on, now. I¡¯ll need your help interpreting our soul, resonating it with our body. You can absolutely help with that. -...fine¡­- But Tala could tell that Alat was a bit excited at the idea, especially with all that they¡¯d learned from the wolves. -Oh! Not to take from the momentousness of what we¡¯ve just learned, but we found a little scout of some kind or other on the plains.- Tala jerked upright, pulling out of the warm, blissful embrace she¡¯d been reluctant to leave before. Why didn¡¯t you say something? -You needed your nap, and then we had Reforging to consider.- Tala almost growled. ¡°Tala? What¡ª¡± Rane frowned. ¡°Oh, Enar just told me. Shall we go?¡± ¡°Definitely, yeah.¡± With an act of will, they were both suddenly standing out on the plains once more, the sun well on its way toward the western horizon. Terry was still hunting and had asked to be left to it. So, they had nothing more to wait for. Tala nodded once. ¡°So, to the east, then?¡± ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s get to it.¡± They both left the ground, each favoring a different method of movement. It didn¡¯t take long for them to approach where Enar¡¯s flier had encountered the cloaking field, even if he and Alat had continued on afterward. With that data-point, it was actually rather trivial to find the ¡®scouts¡¯ that Alat had told Tala about. It was an interesting thing to encounter, actually. Knowing where to look, the cloaking field became evident as a distortion in the air and regional magic, highlighting the area to Tala¡¯s perception. The Baba Yaga¡¯s didn¡¯t have any tells like that. -And that is probably one reason she¡¯s such an issue.- Yeah, I can see that. It was a small field, moving rapidly, even if not as fast as Tala and Rane were moving. -So, at the pace of a fast walk?- ¡­You¡¯re sort of a jerk sometimes. -Yes, we are.- That was an important point, though. If they were gateless scouts¡ªas was most likely¡ªthen they could go much faster than Rane or Tala could. They didn¡¯t want to spook the scouts, or do anything to cause them to flee. Sure, the fact of them being scouts likely meant that a city was nearby, but they¡¯d already known that a city was nearby just by dint of the chance of things. All that to say, Tala and Rane landed a bit in front of the moving cloak, both raising their hands to show that they were empty. Rane then called out, ¡°Hello, there! We come in peace, seeking to trade and inquire about information.¡± The moving field slowed further, and as such became harder to detect. Oh, that makes sense. Easier to work light and magical illusions at a slower pace. Finally, a human woman appeared out of the marginally blurred wall that was the edge of the cloaking magic. She was dressed simply in travel clothes, thin enough to be comfortable in summer while being robust¡ªand strategically reinforced¡ªenough for hard work. She regarded Tala and Rane for a long moment. ¡°Master, Mistress, what can we do for you?¡± Rane glanced Tala¡¯s way, and she stepped forward, giving a shallow bow to the mundane woman. ¡°I am Tala, and this is my husband Rane. We are traveling, seeking the moving settlements for trade and information. We detected your cloaking illusion and came to see if you would be amenable to such.¡± ¡°And if I say no?¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°Then, I will be frustrated, but we would move out of your way and bid you goodbye. After all, forced information is rarely useful, similar for forcefully acquire trade goods.¡± The woman regarded them for a long moment. ¡°You can call me Bolett. I assume you wish to speak with our leadership?¡± ¡°That would be ideal.¡± ¡°Very well. From your arrival, am I correct in assuming that you can move through the air?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°Yes? Why does that¡­¡± A thin beam of light lanced down from the cloudless sky, seemingly coming from nowhere, just starting nearly a mile up in the air and angling down toward them. Bolett had a wry smile as she answered the incomplete question. ¡°Follow the light, and you will find a receiving party waiting for you. Good day to you, Mistress Tala, Master Rane.¡± They gave her a shallow bow, and she stepped back through the cloaking field, disappearing. Tala really wanted to follow her through to see what their scouting setup looked like. She¡¯d had a quick look through Enar¡¯s shared memory from the flier, but that had only made her more interested. She¡¯d seen an odd construction with six seats around the outside, and the cloaking field originating from the middle, even as the magics there also made it both hover off the ground and move at a sedate pace. There had been hints of other magics, but they¡¯d only caught the barest flicker as the flier had passed through a portion of the upper field. It hadn¡¯t been a long enough exposure to gather enough information for true, full analysis, even with perfect recall. As Tala and Rane watched, the cloaking field moved around them, exuding a feeling of wariness. ¡°So?¡± Rane prompted once the scouts had left them behind, his gaze aimed up, looking at the thin beam of red light that they were meant to follow. The origin had moved just slightly, keeping a steady pace just a bit slower than the scouts were maintaining, heading east. ¡°I guess we should go and see what¡¯s up there.¡± -We could scout it out first?- No, I think you two should keep looking to see what you can find. It costs us nothing but a bit of your attention. -Yeah, and it could find some more interesting things. Alright.- ¡°After you, my husband.¡± He grinned. ¡°Do you want me to bring you up, too?¡± She considered for only a brief moment before shrugging. ¡°Sure. Thank you. A smoother approach would likely be less intimidating, in case that factors.¡± Smiling even more broadly, he reached out, and she took his hand. A moment later, his power threaded through her aura and authority, using their soulbond to allow the easy enactment of his magics. She could have opposed him, but it would have been like opposing Alat¡ªmeaning that it would have been far more trouble than it was worth, even if she had a half good reason to do so, which she didn¡¯t. A moment later, they were moving upward without her feeling any acceleration. It was more like the ground was falling away, and she did feel the air moving across her, even as she gently squeezed Rane¡¯s hand. She probably didn¡¯t need to maintain contact with him for his magics to work¡ªafter all, they¡¯d been theorizing that he could act through her touch even in hostile encounters¡ªbut she liked holding her husband¡¯s hand. He gave her a gentle squeeze in return, even as they moved along the beam of light, to its source. It only took a few minutes to cover what seemed to be more than a mile of distance, and when they did come to the seeming source, they passed through a cloaking field and were presented with a truly spectacular sight. There before them floated a city in the clouds. It didn¡¯t have the appearance of a land-bound city that had been lifted upward. Instead, it looked to have been built to be where it was. There were buildings hanging down, with floors of some clear material through which they could easily see people moving about, observing the land below. Since they were inside the cloaking field, they could now see that the thin beam of light continued, obviously coming from a small, pyramidal crystal mounted just above a door on the far side of a flat platform jutting out from the close side of the city. A landing platform? That seemed likely. The city itself seemed to be largely constructed of an odd assortment of wood, brass, and copper with other metals sprinkled in here and there. It was obviously remaining aloft due to magic, but Tala was having a hard time pinning down both exactly what sort of magic that was, and where it came from. Well, I suppose that that is just good security. If it was obvious what was keeping the city up and how, then anything with half a brain that attacked them would target those parts first. Still, she was in awe of what she was looking at. It looked to be over one thousand feet across the longest portion, and it was nearly as large in the perpendicular measure. The longer section seemed to be pointed forward as it drifted on its path, seemingly not subject to the whims of the wind around it. With her threefold sight, she was able to see through enough layers to detect indoor growing areas, large parks on the top beneath clear ceilings, and even workshops and markets, along with the other, more expected areas like living quarters and necessities such as that. Seeing stone- and starward allowed her to see veiled hints of the holds attached to this structure as well, hinting at a larger population and infrastructure even than that which she could see. It really was a city, flying through the air. Rane was shaking his head just slightly. ¡°Well, I would never have believed it, if I didn¡¯t see it with my own eyes.¡± Tala nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah¡­ It really is something.¡± Chapter: 513 - Details of Our Trade Tala and Rane drifted up through the protected interior of the expansive, incredibly powerful cloaking field, toward the village in the sky. Specifically, they were headed toward a receiving platform on the near edge of the giant structure, large enough for a couple of caravan wagons to park side by side upon. Not that they could get up here without insane difficulty. Tala looked down at the more than a mile of open air below them¡ªfollowing the connection with her soul¡ªto where Terry was seemingly still chasing the Baba Yaga. -He is really irritated that that creature attacked you all then tried to scamper away. He¡¯s been trying to corral her toward the north as it¡¯s the way she seems least interested in going.- How is he tracking her? -It¡¯s unclear? He says he knows where he needs to be.- Tala hesitated internally. Is it just an application of his concept, then? That¡¯s not something that he¡¯s ever been able to direct. It just happens. -I know. He¡¯s not said more at the moment, but it was the exact wording and sense I got from him when he was talking about his concept.- She had a momentary thrill. Has he figured out how to actually control it? Or at least direct it a little? -That might be the case, but at the moment he¡¯s a bit too distracted to say more.- Maybe something that Anatalis taught him? -Could be, yeah.- If that was so, it was incredibly exciting¡­ and a bit nerve wracking. His concept had kept him alive and directed him to her several times. What if it no longer was as effective once he was influencing it? What if he pointed it a direction in which he couldn¡¯t come out alive. I guess with our bond he doesn¡¯t need it to be as foolproof as it has been. He has some room to experiment. -Yeah¡­ it makes me a bit nervous too.- Indeed¡­ Regardless, Tala needed to focus on the upcoming meeting. She was already coordinating with Lyn, but she felt like popping the other woman out too soon could be detrimental. There was a large door out onto the receiving platform, and Tala¡¯s threefold sight saw several people heading their way, seemingly hoping to arrive just in time to greet Tala and Rane. We aren¡¯t in the most presentable of states. A ripple of will went through her elk leathers, straightening them out as well as¡ªprobably unnecessarily¡ªweaving some iron through for added defense and readiness. Still, she and her husband had picked up some water as they passed through the not-quite-clouds on their way up, and Tala took the moment to aspect mirror the correct features to shed that liquid from herself. As the water sluiced off of her, she glanced toward her husband. I shouldn¡¯t leave him wet. With an instinctive act of will, she mirrored the aspects onto him, and the moisture cascaded off of him as well. Rane¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked her way in obvious surprise. Why would he have that reaction¡­ Her eyes widened, and she then barked a laugh before feigning nonchalance. ¡°Well, we are one, my soulbond.¡± He grinned back. ¡°I knew you were holding out on me.¡± With a wink, he kissed the top of her head. ¡°Congratulations, my love. That is a meaningful stride forward.¡± She squeezed his hand. ¡°Thank you.¡± The air was quite cool up here, though as it was late summer, it wasn¡¯t uncomfortably so¡ªand it wouldn¡¯t have been, even if she had been mundane. The group that was just now exiting out onto the platform was a man flanked by a woman and a man. The man in front was dressed a bit more nicely, but it wasn¡¯t to the extent of jewels or embroidery. It was more that the material was just slightly nicer and less worn, and the pieces seemed like a bit more effort had been put into their creation and ongoing care. Huh¡­ I don¡¯t know that I¡¯ve noticed such details before. -Your perception has improved again, not necessarily in detail¡ªI think you could have noticed these things before¡ªbut in the breadth of it. You¡¯re taking in more details across your vision more easily than you did before rather than more detail in a specific area, or smaller details.- Huh¡­ -Precisely.- The second man was fairly obviously meant to look the part of a guard, even though he was only equivalent to Fused in apparent advancement where the man in front was seemingly on a level with Refined. The woman¡¯s aura¡ªwhat she allowed to be seen¡ªwas orange-yellow as well. So, two Mature and an Elder. Tala used the arcane ranking in her own mind because these were arcanes. The woman was a green hue-man, where the men were both bird-kin of various kinds. The guard evoked the feeling of a falcon and the leader an eagle even if Tala couldn¡¯t pin down why those particular species came to mind. Both still had human-like faces, with incredibly fine feathers across their features in place of the miniscule hairs that humans had. The leader even had longer, more mature feathers creating a sort of beard. How would a feather-beard even work? It¡¯s not like them plucking out the feathers would create an un-bearded look, and cutting them would look¡­ odd? -Probably either a species or an individual difference. But now is hardly the time to consider avian arcane grooming habits.- That¡¯s¡­ fair. The woman¡¯s black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, the restrictiveness obviously mandated by the winds at this elevation. In fact, even as Tala watched, a strand was teased free by the tumultuous currents on the platform, and the hairs began whipping about. Tala¡¯s own hair was maintained in a perfect, thick braid, not a single strand coming loose. Oh, the benefits of having all my hair be exactly the same length. Rane brought them in for a soft landing before retracting his magics. He didn¡¯t let go of her hand, and she didn¡¯t try to pull it free, enjoying the simple pleasure of the contact. They both gave shallow bows as even with their veiled power¡ªthe veils having been rebuilt after their fight with the Baba Yaga¡ªthey were more advanced than those here. The three bowed in return, matching the depth of Rane and Tala¡¯s, despite their clearly greater power. Rane took it in stride, and Tala saw it for the declaration of indepence from the couple that the arcane¡¯s likely intended. Sure, Rane and Tala were more advanced, but this wasn¡¯t their city. A smile quirked at the corner of her mouth even as Rane oriented on her. This was her show, after all. ¡°Greetings, I am Tala, this is my husband Rane. We come in search of information and trade.¡± The man bowed. ¡°I am William, and I am Prime Helmsman of the village of Sunnydale. My adjunct here goes by Anne, and my head of security is Liam.¡± The other two bowed again as they were introduced.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Welcome to our home, don¡¯t mind the monsters below.¡± He gave a roguish smile at the last. Tala glanced around, taking in the fact that they were above most of the clouds. ¡°Sunnydale? I can see the reason for the name.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± His smile shifted to one of polite discourse. ¡°Thank you for the welcome. We offer you our pledge of peace, so long as hospitality is returned for our good faith.¡± All three visibly relaxed, William speaking for them once again. ¡°That is good to hear. We have had no ill-will toward nor negative interactions with the cycling cities, but your presence was not expected.¡± After a moment¡¯s pause he half turned, gesturing back to the door. ¡°Shall we take this meeting to somewhere more comfortable?¡± Tala and Rane easily agreed. They were led down the utilitarian corridor¡ªobviously mainly used for the unloading of whatever vehicles or other means of transport that had come to the platform. Even so, ¡®utilitarian¡¯ on a flying village was still something to see. It was of wooden construction, well worn and well sealed. The fasteners were brass and copper, seemingly artfully interspersed among the light-colored, tight-grained boards. The construction and material was such that none of them caused even the slightest creak as they proceeded, and Tala¡¯s threefold sight saw a network of structure below and around them which provided support and strength with a minimal amount of material. -That makes sense. They are keeping this all up in the air, and that can¡¯t be free. Keep weight down where it¡¯s possible just makes sense.- Indeed. Once they had walked a bit down the passage, Tala asked a rather important question, ¡°My own adjunct stands ready to join us, at your leisure, and she may be more able to discuss the details of our negotiations than I.¡± William gave her a side-long look. ¡°Is she an adjunct in the human sense, or as the Major Houses do?¡± Tala grinned in return. ¡°The human, though she is not without power of her own.¡± The Helmsman nodded slowly. ¡°Very well. Should we send a craft to retrieve her?¡± ¡°That is not necessary.¡± Tala gave an unneeded gesture and a portal to Kit opened beside her, allowing Lyn to step out. She had been waiting in a room that Kit had kept empty of power so as to obscure the Paragon level power density in Ironhold for this initial interaction. Lyn gave a bow. ¡°I am Lyn, adjunct of the Ironhold.¡± The three arcanes froze, and Liam spoke up for the first time. ¡°Is that a soulbound space?¡± Tala frowned, then nodded. ¡°It is.¡± The man¡¯s fingers grew talons wreathed in ghostly fire that evoked a feeling of frigidity rather than heat. ¡°Are there more people in there?¡± Her frown grew. ¡°Yes?¡± He visibly stiffened. ¡°You must leave. Now. We want nothing to do with a succubus cascade, and we will not allow you to seduce any of our population.¡± Tala¡¯s eye¡¯s widened, and she shook her head vehemently. ¡°You misunderstand. She is not soulbound to me. My space is based upon a sentient creature, thus it does not suffer from that limitation.¡± Liam did not look convinced, but Anne placed a hand on the avian kin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Peace, my angel.¡± In her other hand was a truly wicked looking battle ax that radiated power beyond any weapon Tala had sensed before. She didn¡¯t know if it represented the green woman¡¯s true, unveiled power or was simply an item of surpassing might, but she didn¡¯t much care. This would not come to violence. When did she draw that? Where did it come from? -I¡­ I don¡¯t know? It appears in our memories in the moment we noticed it, but her hand has seemed to be shaped as if holding something since we first saw her.- Warn the others to be wary. -Already done.- Anne spoke again, ¡°Scy is not detecting soulbonds between Greater Tala and Greater Lyn. It is as she says, as improbable as it seems.¡± Only then did Liam relax. His talons vanished, and he bowed their way more deeply than before. ¡°My apologies, honored guests. I mistook the situation.¡± Lyn was entirely confused, but Tala gave a shallow bow in return. ¡°I understand your concern, and appreciate your restraint in the face of the situation you perceived to be before you.¡± Liam nodded his thanks but said no more. William cleared his throat. ¡°Now, with that misunderstanding settled. Shall we continue?¡± Lyn took up the role of spokesperson and accepted gratefully. She artfully engaged all three members of their welcoming committee, even if Liam didn¡¯t speak as much as the other two. Anne was slowly revealed to have a bit of snark to her, as well as some¡­ not naivete, but maybe a more direct way of thinking. It was a funny contrast to what Tala remembered of Thron in the role of adjunct, but he had always been a bit wasted as an adjunct, at least in the arcane sense. For arcanes, adjuncts were meant to handle anything their head didn¡¯t wish to, that included dealing with those they didn¡¯t wish to fight, or¡­ removing those they didn¡¯t wish to stay around. Thron had done much of that, but it hadn¡¯t involved much fighting. Tala¡¯s position as Eskau of a Major House meant that nothing of low-level concern reached her at all, and anything of import¡ªespecially in the combat sense¡ªneeded to be handled by her directly. But that was a different time, and Tala was no longer in quite the same position, even if politically, she was still technically in the exact same position. The six people went down a series of increasingly nice corridors, only occasionally passing other people. Those they passed all had a professional air to them, as if they were actively moving from task to task, though they still made way for the clearly political delegation, giving slight bows of deference as the six passed. The people themselves were a mix of human and arcane, with almost every human they passed being gated. I suppose that makes sense, as any gated resident they have would be required to remain out in the Zeme side of the village. She almost scoffed. Yes, a million square feet is such a small space in which to live. It¡¯s practically a prison. -Well, first, it¡¯s a lot more than a million, as this is clearly multiple levels.- That¡¯s true enough. -But that isn¡¯t what makes a thing a prison. If you can¡¯t leave, even a planet¡¯s worth of space is still a prison.- Tala hesitated. I mean, we can¡¯t really leave Zeme. -...true¡­ do we want to? And, I mean we could leave if we wanted to, at least in theory.- I suppose so. I¡¯m not particularly drawn to leave. That¡¯s right. -Regardless, that is a good point. If you can¡¯t leave somewhere and you want to leave, then any size can be a prison.- Tala grunted internally. Fair enough. Their group ended their journey at a large sitting room, with floors and two walls built to be transparent and give a clear view to the sky below. Lyn hesitated at the threshold, but as their hosts had already walked out with seeming confidence, Lyn strode forth as well after less than a breath of delay. The chairs and table were made of the same clear stone, seemingly purposely wrought to be less transparent so that they could be easily found and interacted with. Even so, they were transparent enough to allow for easy viewing of the land far beneath them. Lyn muttered under her breath so softly that only Tala who was directly beside her could hear her and then only because of Tala¡¯s Paragon-level enhancements, ¡°This will take some getting used to.¡± Tala grinned but didn¡¯t respond otherwise. Tala gave the chairs a skeptical look, carefully examining the structure. Looks solid. -Agreed. Given the variance in arcane physiology, I believe that you should be fine.- Soon enough, they were all seated, and William addressed Lyn, having picked up that such was Tala¡¯s preference, ¡°Mistress Lyn. What, may I ask, do you have as trade, and what are you looking to receive in return?¡± Lyn nodded, manipulating her archive slate. ¡°I am unsure exactly what you would be interested in, but I have here a manifest of goods and services that we are willing to trade, along with some other options of note. I would be interested in seeing what you have available. In this, consider me a facilitator, as most of the goods are privately owned by merchants who will want to come to their own arrangements with you.¡± WIlliam frowned. ¡°So¡­ you represent a consortium of some sort? This is to arrange future trades? I must warn you that we move around enough, and with purposeful irregularity, that scheduled trade with your cycling cities has never been feasible for the type of goods we are actually seeking. They are simply too mundane to be worth the difficulty.¡± Lyn shook her head. ¡°No, no. We are all here. That is, in fact, the first item I would like to address with you. We would like the rights for our population to come out and explore your fair town and the attached expanded spaces¡ªwithin the bounds that you allow of course¡ªand for your people to have time within Ironhold under the same strictures. From there, trade should be able to happen organically.¡± There was a moment of silence. Then two. Then three. Finally, Anne cleared her throat, seemingly on understanding in that moment. ¡°Wait¡­ Your population is with you?¡± Lyn nodded. ¡°Yes. Most are gateless, unlike myself. Therefore, they should not put added stress on your holds.¡± Anne accepted the slate, eyes widening even as her eyebrows climbed. Tala was excited that the goods available from Ironhold citizens were so interesting to them, but she was proven wrong¡ªor at least premature¡ªa moment later when the woman spoke. ¡°You can provide Honored level magic density? You have a limited number of hours listed here. It¡¯s large, but is that correct?¡± Lyn¡¯s eyes had a predatory gleam, and Tala realized that her adjunct knew what she was about. She¡¯d put that item right at the top of the list. Right, these are arcanes. This had been a heavy topic of discussion, especially after Lisa had pointed out the potential war-causing nature of such a resource, if misunderstood. Alright, Lyn. It¡¯s time to prove I was right in my faith in you once again. I know you can do it. Chapter: 514 - Desire and Needs Tala knew she was smiling as she watched the three Sunnydalian arcanes practically salivate at the possibility of access to Honored¡ªParagon in human terms¡ªlevels of power. ¡°Yes.¡± Lyn said simply, her own smile polite. ¡°Due to the nature of our hold, it accrues power gradually in a manner that is visible but sequestered, inaccessible without proper authorization. I will emphasize that it is not an infinite resource, but is abundant enough for us to trade it under the right circumstances.¡± Tala was honestly torn. Due to the nature of Kit, no matter how long the arcanes stayed within¡ªso long as they didn¡¯t try to destroy the power¡ªthey would only ¡®use up¡¯ as much power as they could hold when they left. To her and Kit, that meant that an arcane moving in for a lifetime and never leaving would be less of a usage than one stepping in for five minutes, filling themselves to the brim and walking out. Lyn had, of course, prepared a private, tiered list to reflect some of that in the pricing that she would aim to extract. The plan was to sell ¡®sessions¡¯ that were cheaper per hour the longer they were, but which would end should the arcane leave Ironhold at any time and for any reason. Beyond that, though, Tala hadn¡¯t needed to inquire. The three arcanes exchanged long looks before they turned back to Lyn with obvious eagerness. It was Liam who spoke next, ¡°Are the facilities such that long stretches can be spent within, in relative comfort? Or are they like the chambers rented out by the Major Houses? Little larger than a coffin for our burial.¡± There was tension in the air, but something about their positioning, body language, and tonality made Tala think that they would be excited either way. Lyn gave a soft smile, one with almost motherly understanding. ¡°Due to methods that we will not reveal, we can allow you access to power at this density anywhere within our hold. As I said, even if you do not wish to trade for this, you will be able to see the magic yourself throughout our home. It will simply only be accessible for the times agreed to. During those times? You may go about any activity you choose¡ªso long as it is allowed at all¡ªwithout the density you are submerged in, and have access to absorb and manipulate, being affected.¡± The three visibly swallowed. Tala almost laughed due to the synchronicity of it, but she held her features stoic. There was going to be a lot of negotiation. Negotiation that Tala and Rane weren''t needed for. Even so, Tala was not willing to leave Lyn alone, and she didn¡¯t feel that exposing the Talons would be wise at this time. She wanted them to be a hidden card, just in case. Moreover, inviting Ron or other talons out would make their quick loss of power evident, especially over the span of a long negotiation session. Thus, Rane and Tala settled in to be Lyn¡¯s protectors for the afternoon. At least we have a pleasant scene to look down upon. * * * Tala stared at the strange material before her. She and Lyn were in her sanctum, sitting in comfortable chairs, regarding a funny lump of substance on the table between them. It looked like a cloud as it rested on the ground. Or maybe it more closely resembled a bundle of wispy cotton or wool, but far, far lighter than either. ¡°This is some sort of¡­ what is it again?¡± Lyn shook her head, patient as always, though she had a knowing smile regardless. ¡°Cloud elemental fleece.¡± ¡°And this is spun and woven into clear stone blocks.¡± She gave Tala a look, the smile briefly fading for an incredulous expression. ¡°Now you¡¯re being purposely obtuse. The words are odd, but the fleece is woven into clear boards that can be used for transparent constructions that don¡¯t dissipate for at least a few years if properly treated and cared for.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°And we got¡­?¡± ¡°A dozen bundles of the fleece, a treatise on the refinement techniques, and ten of the boards, treated properly to last at least a year without any maintenance.¡± ¡°Why did we get these?¡± Lyn sighed, took a sip of her tea, and answered succinctly. ¡°Several Constructionists indicated a desire for them, should we have the opportunity to acquire the specimens.¡± ¡°And we have the opportunity.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Honestly, the Sunnydalians would have a truly astounding trade deficit with us if we let them. Unfortunately, there is simply nowhere that we could use that banked value to our advantage. We expect to have a similar issue with anyone we encounter who might accept such.¡± ¡°What did we give and what did we get?¡± Lyn gave her a long look. ¡°First, you were literally in the room. Second, do you actually care about all the little details?¡± ¡°...fine. Broad strokes? Your summaries are always appreciated.¡± Tala took a quick draw of coffee, giving her friend an innocent look. Her adjunct huffed and shook her head, a smile returning to her face. ¡°Fine, but I still don¡¯t see why you don¡¯t just remember what was decided.¡± ¡°It was boring to experience, Lyn. I don¡¯t want to relive it again even in memory.¡± -And you want to have a bit more time with your friend before she rushes back to her own bureaucratic work.- ¡­we need to schedule some time to just catch up. -I¡¯ll get on it after this if you don¡¯t manage to make it happen on your own.- Thank you. Lyn took a long breath and let it out slowly, but she didn¡¯t object further. She simply took another sip of tea and dove in, ¡°Our citizens can trade with theirs. One hundred Sunnydalians will be visiting Irondale for the next week, where they will be fully subject to our laws, and will not use any power, simply be immersed in it. They will even completely empty themselves before exiting¡ªthat was less of a lift than I expected, actually. They will have to pay for their own food and housing from the citizenry while they are there. Beyond that, the officials of Sunnydale will review the application of any of our residents who wish to join their community, and they will not prevent any of their citizenry from applying for residency in Ironhold.¡± Lyn took a breath, clearly ticking through other items in her mind before finally coming to another that Tala would be interested in. ¡°We will also have passage included for the time we are here, as the village is still on the move, and we will be given one of the magical constructions that allow for ¡®nearby¡¯ communication between the traveling settlements.¡± ¡°And nearby means within fifty miles, right?¡± ¡°When on its own? Yes, fifty miles is about the limit of it. Even so, it can be amplified to function for up to two-hundred miles if the other side is similarly amplified.¡± ¡°Not further?¡± ¡°It could be increased to work further, technically, but as no one else has done so, there isn¡¯t much point. There is also an ever increasing potential for the form of communication to be detectable and to draw unwanted attention.¡± ¡°Right. And they don¡¯t use the Archive?¡± ¡°Not for communication. There are apparently a lot of technical reasons that I didn¡¯t ask about¡ªneither did you, so don¡¯t complain. They did request that we limit our Archive communications while here, as well. While Archive connections can¡¯t generally be intercepted, they seemingly can be detected in sufficient quantities, or by the ¡®right¡¯ creatures.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Ironhold has been informed?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve already altered our connection to honor this request with the help of Master Simon¡¯s group¡­ as you well know. Did you want me to summarize my understanding of what he and his team did?¡± Tala hesitated for a while, remembering the information herself. ¡°No¡­ Thank you, Lyn.¡± Lyn gave a little smile, then cut to the point. ¡°So, do you want to get dinner in a couple of days?¡± Tala only hesitated a moment before she grinned. ¡°I¡¯m that transparent?¡± ¡°You have literally perfect memory, and while I know it wasn¡¯t the most enlightening thing for you to listen to, you were paying attention.¡± She sighed. ¡°Fine, fine. Yes. I¡¯d love to grab dinner.¡± ¡°Wonderful. Shall Rane join us?¡± Tala felt torn. She loved her husband and enjoyed spending time with him, but he had been encouraging her to get some time with Lyn, too. He¡¯d noticed that she missed her friend¡­ ¡°No, I think it will just be us.¡± ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ll arrange the exact timing with Alat.¡± A sparkle of humor entered Lyn¡¯s eyes. ¡°Do you need me to tell you where your husband is right now?¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°No, I know he¡¯s looking at the flight-engines with Master Simon¡¯s team¡ªnow that they¡¯ve made the changes to Ironhold¡ªand the local constructionists.¡± She gave Lyn a flat look, only ruined by the twinkle she knew was in her eyes. ¡°Come on, Mistress Lyn. I was in the room when it was discussed, and I have a perfect memory. Why would I need you to tell me?¡± Lyn took on a faux look of contrition and gave a shallow bow. ¡°Of course, Mistress Tala. I apologize and abase myself before you.¡± ¡°Very well, you shall be forgiven¡­ this time. Don¡¯t let it happen again.¡± ¡°You are too kind.¡± Lyn straightened, grinning. ¡°How is Terry doing, by the way?¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s having a blast. That crazy old lady creature is apparently giving him a merry chase, and he couldn¡¯t be happier. That likely means he¡¯s courting death, but he enjoys the hunt so¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°Do we need to go after him?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°He conveyed through Alat that he doesn¡¯t want us to. He¡¯ll either get her, get bored, or die. For the first two, he¡¯ll come after us himself. For the last, I¡¯ll re-corporialize him wherever we are at the time. He¡¯ll lose a lot of potential mass since I won¡¯t have his current body to work with, but he enjoys eating well enough that it shouldn¡¯t hamper him too much except in the very short term.¡± ¡°Very well. Do you mind willing me into my office?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± With the gate to Ironhold already set up in one of the main markets of Sunnydale¡ªwhere most of the traveling village¡¯s mini-holds were also anchored¡ªTala couldn¡¯t open another portal for Lyn to step through herself. As she moved Lyn¡ªflickering her briefly back to Zeme then into Ironhold¡ªTala took a moment to examine the holds that were just outside of her own. She could see their veiled dimensionality around her and Kit. While she probably could most likely pierce the secrecy to look inside, doing so would likely set off alarms and be an overall hostile act on her part. Thus, she contented herself with studying what she could see¡­ for the moment. Lyn had asked for the secret of arcane hold creation, but unfortunately, the method of creation for the little holds was not known by anyone here. They did convey where essentially all the moving settlements got them however. The place where the holds were also maintained as needed. The Mountain King¡¯s metropolis to the south-east. Because of that, they had considered earning enough credit of various kinds to go there and purchase the methods¡ªor at least a couple of large holds¡ªbut, sadly, that was not in the reasonable list of destinations for this trip¡­ even if it wouldn¡¯t be that far of a detour¡­ -I still say it would be a fun stop.- If they even let us come near. Those dwarves aren¡¯t the friendliest with gated-humanity, even if they aren¡¯t overtly hostile, and the Mountain King himself is on par with Anatalis or Vidarra¡­ It seems an unnecessary risk to enter into his area of absolute authority, especially coming with a request that places us firmly under its weight. -Look at you, being all responsible.- Yeah¡­ She still really wanted to go¡­ She¡¯d talk it over with Rane. -The Academy isn¡¯t that far out of the way either.- ¡­No. -Yeah, I thought not. Even if it wouldn¡¯t be detrimental to our magics to go there, it would require crossing through some of the Great White North, which would be a bad plan for us at the moment.- Tala turned back to regard the odd bit of cloud elemental fleece. This is a strange, wonderful world, and even after all our adventures, we really have seen so little of it. -I know, right? Isn¡¯t it exciting?- Tala grinned to herself. Just a bit, yeah. But before anything else, she had one quick stop to make. * * * Tala stood before Walden in his forest. The great, immortal elk regarded her for a long moment before shaking his antlers. ¡°No, I do not wish to change our agreement. I will answer questions paid for in dimensionality, regardless of who asks them.¡± Tala relaxed, grateful for his willingness. Lyn had already included his information in the list of goods that Irondale could offer. ¡°How are things faring for you, here?¡± She didn¡¯t often visit the elk, except to ask questions. Though, to be fair, that was because he didn¡¯t seem to want to be disturbed. ¡°All is well. My forest grows, I am content.¡± After a moment, he added. ¡°Congratulations on your advancement. Tala felt her eyes widen. ¡°Oh! Thank you. My advancement didn¡¯t cause you any issues, did it?¡± It really shouldn¡¯t have. Walden couldn¡¯t tap into the power within Kit, with rare exception, but it still might have been an issue. The elk blew out a great, almost trumpeting breath. ¡°I will confess the alteration of the underlying power within my domain was¡­ startling, but as I cannot access it regardless, it changes little for me.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good then¡­¡± She frowned. ¡°You still do not have any desire to access the power? I am sure we could find something that you could offer if you wished¡ª¡± Walden shook his head in negation, cutting her off. ¡°No. I have no need. I get the power I desire from my forest, and the fact that it is suffused with power is enough for me.¡± She frowned. She hadn¡¯t considered that. She was already giving him power indirectly, then. She could lower the power density of his forest, but that would require a venting of the magic within, which would be a waste to be sure. The solution she had for the Talons wouldn¡¯t work. Her rooms of ¡®lower density¡¯ were simply rooms in which the Talons couldn¡¯t access as much power. It was effectively the same thing, except she didn¡¯t have to shed magical power into the void. If she did ever lose power, she could reduce those in truth without any ill effect to help maintain the desired levels more broadly, but that hadn¡¯t been required yet. She frowned at that. Why did she even need the power? She hadn¡¯t ever used it. It emphasized that she was likely not living up to her destructive potential. Her artificial lung aside, she had all this magical power, but she didn¡¯t really have anything to use it for¡­ But she was getting off track. -So, are you alright with Walden growing in power due to our own advancement?- Given it¡¯s relative to us, we should maintain preeminence and he shouldn¡¯t be able to escape because of something like that. -True, assuming that his power doesn¡¯t work differently than we understand.- Fair enough. Can you ask Master Grediv in a way that doesn¡¯t reveal that we¡¯ve already advanced? -Absolutely. Leave it to me.- Thank you. She shook herself and refocused on the massive elk. ¡°I apologize, Walden, I got lost in my own thoughts. Is there anything else that I can do for you while I¡¯m here?¡± ¡°Nothing, Tala. Good day to you.¡± ¡°And to you, Walden.¡± Without further delay, she willed herself out of Walden¡¯s forest. She had a few things to consider. * * * Tala made one last stop by Lupe¡¯s park, the glass phoenix coming forth in the form of a woman just after Tala arrived. Tala quickly checked and ensured that Kit was still going to block the horrid sound of the creature¡¯s movement and allow her true voice to come through. As such, it was a musical lilt that greeted her, ¡°Mistress Tala. It is a pleasure to have you visit. To what do I owe the honor?¡± Tala smiled, ¡°We are visiting the wandering wilds, and we will be having guests, both human and not. I wanted you to be aware.¡± The clear face turned to regard her, and even though Kit was removing the sound, Tala could almost feel the fracturing of Lupe¡¯s glass as the woman regarded her. ¡°Do you wish me to stay out of sight?¡± ¡°No, that won¡¯t be necessary. They cannot violate the strictures on you any more than you yourself can, and you are already aware that you cannot pass through the portal out, whether it is open or not. I simply did not wish you to be ignorant or alarmed if you saw those who you do not know.¡± Lupe bowed, her whole being cracking. ¡°Thank you, Mistress Tala.¡± Tala felt a welling of irritation, though not at Lupe. She could see Lupe, all of her. She could see the connection to the big ball of glass within her ¡®hanging¡¯ space. Tala could even see some magics around the creature, likely at least partially responsible for some of her current state. Even so, she couldn¡¯t actually discern anything detailed. If Lupe had stayed still, Tala would have been hard pressed to know exactly what she was. Our threefold sight is failing us¡­ No, that wasn¡¯t right, but she didn¡¯t have the headspace to put in proper context. -After we leave Sunnydale?- Definitely. Lupe stood up straight after the bow. ¡°If there is nothing else, I was meditating on the utility of surface compression beyond the extent of the interior.¡± Tala blinked a few times, shook her head, and gave a rueful smile. ¡°I cannot say that I understood that, but it seems that we are both preoccupied in our minds at the moment. Please let me know if you need anything.¡± ¡°I will. Thank you.¡± ¡°Good day.¡± ¡°Clear thoughts be yours.¡± And without awaiting a reply, Lupe melded with her pane of glass once more, leaving Tala to her other tasks. Chapter: 515 - The Thief of Joy Tala and Rane enjoyed some of the sights that Sunnydale had to offer¡ªthe vistas were spectacular and the architecture and aesthetics were quite unlike what they were used to. More than that, they took time to watch sunsets and sunrises from viewing decks recommended to them by William, Anne, and Liam. While they could have pressed for access to one of the village¡¯s holds to explore and learn, doing so¡ªgiven their gates¡ªwould have caused real damage to the infrastructure that these people relied on. That wasn¡¯t worth it in their minds, so they didn¡¯t press. Even so, they ended up meeting quite a few more people just by being aboard. It seemed that there were far more moving settlements than Tala was aware of, ranging in size from single family constructions up to ones like Howlton and Sunnydale, being several thousand souls in size. In doing the math, Tala realized that all told, the settlements likely had more than half as many people as the cycling cities. That said, if even one percent of that number were gated, Tala would have been shocked. All this to say, many of the surrounding mobile settlements came to connect to Sunnydale and trade with them and, consequently, with Ironhold. For many, that involved floating platforms moving to and from the surface down below. One group stood out in particular, as it was the first single family settlement that Tala and Rane encountered in person. The husband, Charles, with his wife Caroline, and their three daughters apparently had a farm that they tended, including several arcanous creatures that they raised for milk or meat. Their little house was a hovering one that they kept cloaked and a few feet from the ground. It wasn¡¯t powerful enough to come up to Sunnydale itself, but it was enough for them to call home. The ability to hover allowed them to be circling near their crops and animals while still being safe from predators, and not drawing in more of such by their very presence, or because of permanent structures. Apparently, fields and basic fences weren¡¯t enough to draw hostile attention on their own, at least in moderation. So, down on the prairie, the family eked out a living, free from any restrictions. They were all gateless and seemed happy in the life they had chosen, hard though it was. They were apparently indicative of the spirit and mindset of many of those who lived such isolated lives. Tala had asked William about them later. ¡°Well, Greater Tala. You see, many people just want to be free to live their lives as they see fit. Sometimes that¡¯s just a single family here and there, but sometimes it''s more. Many of those otherwise without a place in society take that outside status and wield it as their own tool, crafting a place to call their own in the wilds, even if it is a place on the move. The more a society is built up, the more it has to get itself involved in the choices people make, and that¡¯s just to keep the society well regulated and running smoothly for as many people as possible. Rare is a society with a governing structure that restricts itself to such, however.¡± He gave a pained smile. ¡°Unfortunately, even in the best of circumstances, it is impossible to make a functional society that works for everyone. Our structure out in the wandering wilds means that more people can find places to their liking, but even with all the variations to choose from¡ªgiven all the larger towns moving about¡ªsome are still happier on their own.¡± ¡°And that doesn¡¯t cause¡­ chaos?¡± Tala was frowning by that point. ¡°In a manner of speaking it does.¡± He smiled. ¡°But that¡¯s on purpose. It isn¡¯t an ordered society. That¡¯s the entire point. Even so, it is a free one. We try to help one another at need.¡± He barked a laugh at that. ¡°Kaylee of the Serene City¡ªthat¡¯s its name, it¡¯s still only a few hundred souls in size¡ªand Montgomery from those enterprising folks seeking to federate a group of settlements to the west have helped us maintain our flight magics numerous times when the damage or wear was beyond our ability to address. We, ourselves, have some of the best farming holds in the region, and we do our best to keep the prices within reach of everyone who is in need. More than that, we won¡¯t let anyone starve if we can help it.¡± He gave a small smile. ¡°So, you and other larger villages act as trading hubs and points of contact for help in times of need?¡± ¡°Yes to the first, we¡¯re also safe places for people to meet up to exchange goods or make sales. We all have communication constructs, so we aren¡¯t really needed as a middle-man for direct communication.¡± Tala nodded slowly. ¡°The large notice board, though? I thought I saw a detailed list of inquiries and things on offer.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes. For things that are more ¡®to whom it may concern¡¯ or those where people are looking for someone who might have something they need, or want something they have, then yes, we are a good place for that.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± Tala shook her head, considering how things were back in the cycling cities. ¡°This is an entirely different way of life.¡± ¡°Indeed it is.¡± He smiled again. ¡°I love the freedom, myself, and I don¡¯t just mean because I¡¯m nominally in charge.¡± They¡¯d both chuckled at that. ¡°No, even in the arcane lands, I was an official of reasonable note. Even so, I always hated the bureaucracy. I hated that people would demand assistance when they didn¡¯t need it, or that others were too afraid to ask for it when they did have true need. I hated the politics. I hated that I had to agree to seven things I disagreed with just to get what I thought important accomplished. I hated that I couldn¡¯t help those I wanted to help and had to do things that I would never have chosen to do.¡± He shook his head ruefully. ¡°I know it¡¯s a bit childish, but I wanted to be free to make my own way, make my own mistakes and learn from them. I wanted to be free from fear of being thrown out on my ear for trying and failing at something that others didn¡¯t like.¡± Tala¡­ resonated with that quite a bit, if she were being honest. -So, are we abandoning the cycling cities and becoming a mobile settlement?- Tala sent the impression of rolling eyes toward Alat. Hardly. I think if I was born out here, I wouldn¡¯t want to leave it, but I feel¡­ I feel like I have a duty to the cycling cities. They are my home, and the home that I want with Rane is there. They need all the help that they can get. -Well, honestly your home is in Kit, and so that¡¯s with you wherever you go.- You know what I mean. -I do, and I hear you. That many gated couldn¡¯t do this. We couldn¡¯t take our population and just drift about a region, letting the natural rate of healing keep things in good order. With how many of us there are, we have to concentrate the damage and then leave it be for a long stretch in order to let it heal.- Precisely¡­ Still, this life calls to me in a way that I hadn¡¯t expected, even if I don¡¯t think I¡¯d actually ever want to live my life like this. -It¡¯s fun to imagine though, right?- Quite so. When she brought up her thoughts with Rane over dinner, he agreed with her wholeheartedly, and they spent a bit of time enjoying the notion. Nevertheless, Tala and Rane didn¡¯t spend more than passing moments considering what such a life would be like. Instead, they focused their time and attention elsewhere for the week that they traveled with the flying village. For one, they strove to enact magics through each other¡¯s touch and authority. Tala had a bit of a headstart with her aspect mirror breakthrough onto Rane. Though, the fact that she¡¯d been touching him at the time made it an easier feat to have accomplished. Still, it was an important one. Tala and Rane were aware that Tala couldn¡¯t access Rane¡¯s magics directly, nor he hers, but this¡ªobvious in retrospect¡ªapplication of their soulbond hadn¡¯t come to mind until Tala had unconsciously enacted it.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Though, looking back on some of Master Grediv¡¯s comments, he¡¯d been hinting at it before they left. Regardless, while in Sunnydale, they also worked to improve their soulsight that Lerra had taught them. It was the perfect time with all the new people around them. As Paragons they were able to focus the soulsight outward more easily than had been possible as Refined. Even so, it was an odd new thing to add to Tala¡¯s perception. To Tala¡¯s disappointment, it didn¡¯t reveal advancement. For the most part she was able to simply see whether an individual was gated or not, but otherwise, not much more was obviously apparent. Even so, that very fact was actually fascinating to her. She couldn¡¯t distinguish between arcane species with her soulsight, despite her assumption that she should be able to. She couldn¡¯t even tell the difference between arcanes and humans¡ªassuming the humans were gateless. There were differences soul to soul¡ªit wasn¡¯t like it was just a ¡®generic soul¡¯ that was revealed to her when she looked¡ªbut there weren¡¯t categorical or uniform differences between the different races. We¡¯re all the same on the inside¡­ I mean, yes? It seems a bit trite to say, but I guess I¡¯m glad to have it confirmed. -Indeed. It¡¯s not revolutionary, not really, but it would be worth investigation if it were otherwise. To be fair, though, even if there were notable differences between human and arcane souls, that wouldn¡¯t actually have to mean anything other than the fact that there are differences.- Fair, just because something is perceived as different doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s actually of a different kind, quality, or value. Speaking of individual souls, when watching a specific soul, she was able to see fluctuations and distortions as the person acted, talked, or otherwise interacted with the world around them. This was¡ªquite obviously¡ªthe source of the widely accepted¡ªif not widely understood¡ªParagon ability to see truth from lies, even if it would take a much more practiced eye than Tala¡¯s to learn to do so. -I just need another thousand or so hours of memories with our soulsight with which to correlate, and I can be a reasonably accurate lie detector for you. Give me ten times that? I¡¯ll be an expert.- ¡­Thank you. I may take you up on that, but I want to learn to do it myself, too. It seems an important¡ªand broadly useful¡ªskill to have. -Oh, of course. That only makes sense.- Tala frowned. She¡¯d encountered other beings who seemed to have such a sight too, and the very act of delving deeper into her own had brought at least one in particular back to mind. How is Io¡¯s body doing? -It¡¯s stable, unchanging. It¡¯s been far easier to monitor the thing ever since we bonded with Kit, and there has never been even the slightest hint of movement, life, or animation in the long years since.- Good, good. She hesitated. Now that she was considering the construct again, the whole difficulty surrounding its fate came to the forefront. Should we¡­ break it down? Sell it to the constructionists? Throw it in a volcano? -No. I don¡¯t know why, but I feel like we¡¯ll be glad we have it.- Alat had an interesting, contemplative air. -I mean, that¡¯s why we¡¯ve kept it so long, right? We have a dozen things like that, which we¡¯ve held onto in the belief that we might have use for them later.- Yeah¡­ that¡¯s true enough. Tala gave an internal smile. It¡¯s funny. Io¡¯s body could almost be a Reforged body for me, except that we have absolutely no authority over its origin or creation. -Yeah, I¡¯d thought of that. We do technically have a lot of authority over it due to claiming and nurturing it¡ªjust like you said¡ªbut the core of its existence is utterly away from us.- Precisely. I couldn¡¯t recreate it myself, which is a rather large hurdle. -Still, it¡¯s worth keeping. If nothing else, I could use it if I ever needed a physical form outside of Kit.- That caused Tala to frown. Do you need such? -No, but I might.- There was humor in Alat¡¯s tone. -See? Thus, we continue to keep it in case we have need.- Tala chuckled. It might be worth you giving the form a test-drive at some point. But not now. -Agreed. Not now.- At that moment, she was working on her self-statue out of iron dust. That she could recreate just as easily as she was creating it¡ªwhich was still not very easily, though she improved every time she went through the process¡ªbut even when she succeeded, that wouldn¡¯t allow her to Reforge, not completely. She would have to be able to rebuild a flesh and blood body as well, unless she gave that up fully, which she knew her soul would never accept¡­ unless she was mistaken as to some nuance of the process. She huffed a laugh. Regardless, she wouldn¡¯t accept an entirely iron body. It wasn¡¯t who she was. Though, the creation process for such was a solid step in the right direction. The iron statue before her was an exact replica of her physical self, though¡ªonce again¡ªiron at every level. Through her authority over the iron, and the magics within Kit, she forced the iron of various parts of the statue to take on properties of that which it mimicked. She could touch her iron face and the skin felt like skin, depressing under her light touch and springing back to shape when she withdrew her finger. The joints should move as those they were modeled after, the internals slide over and around one another in proper manner, and overall, it should function exactly like her biological form. She was ready. It was time to take a step. With an iron will¡ªpun very much intended and buoying her spirits¡ªTala made the statue step forward for the first time. Everything went haywire, and in that moment of disjointment, the statue dissolved into a deformed lump of dust. Tala grimaced and sighed. As it turned out, she understood how all her biological parts were meant to be but didn¡¯t have a good enough understanding of why they needed to be that way, or how they would naturally work once in that configuration. That made sense. She¡¯d never manually made her muscles contract. In the past, she¡¯d just ensured that her healing put the muscle fibers back as they should be, and then trusted the nature of the tissue to act as it should. But in this endeavor, she was the source of that nature. She needed to understand her own physicality like never before. It seemed like she still had a long way to go. Blessedly, she had time. She had an eternity if things went reasonably well, but she hoped it wouldn¡¯t take that long. With deliberate care, she began the process anew, altering the imposed properties that seemed to have been the source of the failure even as she rebuilt the statue once more. Test, try, fail, and improve. That was how she would advance. Her husband wasn¡¯t idle while she was focusing on herself. Rane was working on his own Reforging, even if just by laying the groundwork. If he were to eat only Kit-grown food until every cell in his body was replaced, that would be a form of Reforging, even if it wasn¡¯t a very good one. Instead, he was delving deeper into his boon¡ªmixed curse and blessing that it was¡ªand taking the route that many chose to follow¡ªmany, relatively speaking of course. He would be remaking himself into the ideal of a man, the core concept underlying the notion of their species. If done properly¡ªas proper Reforging required¡ªhe would become a true physical manifestation of his own soul, just as the lines of light that appeared around her in Reality were a manifestation of Tala¡¯s power when she allowed it to compress and compound through the proper use of iron. Once he reached the point of such manifestation, he would probably only need to have a bank of matter from which he could draw in order to form a body. Simple. Easy. Not an issue at all. It would be a long road nonetheless. It was ¡®simple¡¯ for a mundane to walk¡ªeasy even¡ªbut to ¡®simply¡¯ walk ten thousand miles was neither simple nor easy. Still a journey of ten thousand miles began with a single step, and he was doing his best to do just that, to take his first steps. Tala did not understand it well enough, if she were being honest. Even her own internal summary of his path had likely been entirely inaccurate in some crucial way or other. -Just like you likely misunderstand some crucial step of your own Reforging?- Tala growled. Exactly, yeah. Master Xeel doesn¡¯t carry around a repository of matter with which to recreate a physical body. He just does it. So, yeah. There has to be something I¡¯m missing. -Else you¡¯d Reforge and be done with it.- Exactly. I have to be among the youngest Paragons¡­ right? Rane and me both? -Among? Yes. The youngest rose up after his city was destroyed. He was Reforged by twenty-five and died turning back¡ªand actually slaying¡ªtwo Black Legion generals at the same time when he was twenty-seven.- ¡­Some people just make you feel bad about yourself, no matter how well you¡¯re doing. -Comparison is the thief of joy.- No kidding¡­ Chapter: 516 - Departure Tala and Rane¡¯s time with Sunnydale came to an end when the village was scheduled to begin a sweep to the north so that it could start circling back toward the west in the general loop that they maintained. Apparently, if they¡¯d continued south and east, they would have come into a region that was loosely controlled by one of the very few ¡®cities¡¯ out here in the wandering wilds. They wanted to avoid that for obvious reasons. But beyond that, back north and west they knew the terrain, the local beasts, and the neighbors, even if they never followed exactly the same path on any given pass. The goodbye was gracious, but Tala got the impression that everyone involved was used to passing relationships, and cyclical friends. They¡¯d be on wonderful terms if they ever crossed paths again, though. It was a bit funny to Tala, as most of the trades had been between the citizens of Ironhold and those of Sunnydale. In that vein, there had actually been a few exchanged citizens. A single family of Irondalians had asked for¡ªand been granted¡ªpermission to stay. Apparently, their eldest daughter had found a spouse, and so the family was going to remain in order to stay together. On the Ironhold side of things, there were a hundred or so applications, mostly individuals, but a few from families, and a total of thirty people were approved to immigrate. None of the gated had asked to join Tala¡¯s hold, which was good because such were actually considered a bit of community resources, even if not in the same sense as in the arcane cities. It was a point of honor for gated to have their power siphoned to power the city, and they often made their living doing such, including selling power to the littler crafts that came by. Honestly, that went a long way in helping Tala rectify the oddity of all the seemingly poor people having flying houses of one kind or another. Apparently, there were enough arcanous creatures that flew out here that their harvests were almost dirt cheap¡ªthough, ironically, good dirt was rather expensive. The most costly part of any moving living arrangement seemed to be the cloaking field, and those ranged in price with the more expensive ones being better and more efficient. Regardless, they had ready sources of infinite magic in the gated, ready to sell power for reasonable rates. Moreover, it seemed to be common practice for the gated to will their gates, their souls, to future generations. The how was¡­ hard to parse. Apparently, the elderly wore a device that would accept a willing soul and allow it to continue to give off power. That willingness couldn¡¯t be extorted, and the power sources were known to only last while used by those the person had known in life, the soul passing on once the last such person had died, often replacing them as a new source for subsequent generations. It was a complex setup, often leading to the gated lineages having a lot of wealth and power, comparatively, even without anyone ever having to charge very much for power. The very fact that so many could provide power kept the power low, even while those who had several ancestral sources benefited more from the setup. I do wonder if we should do something similar in the cycling cities. -I¡¯m sure it¡¯s been considered, but we can ask if you want. We don¡¯t have a shortage of gates or power. Remember the City Stones? We¡¯re literally creating complex infrastructure in order to use up the overabundance of power we have on hand.- Right¡­ different problems for different societies. Tala was intrigued by this society. It didn¡¯t help that they did try to convince her to stay one last time, even if they seemed unsurprised when she declined. Maybe in another life, or for a stint in a few hundred years¡­ if this is still around then. -Indeed. Regardless, Lyn has been in touch¡ªthrough intermediaries¡ªwith another town that can take us in the direction we want to go. It will be slower than us just ¡®going¡¯ but it will let the Irondalians trade and you and Rane train.- She and Rane had already discussed it, and they were enjoying the slower pace and different culture. We can take that route for now. I imagine we¡¯re running low on trade goods? Alat barked a laugh in Tala¡¯s head. -Hardly. Many of them are merchants, Tala. The movement of the goods is the real worth they bring. Rust, there was as much demand for solid information about what was needed as almost anything else.- She just grunted at that. Finally, it was time. Tala and Rane stood at the edge of the platform upon which they had arrived, waved goodbye to Ann, William, and Liam one last time, and dove off. They held hands as they fell, just soaking in the experience that so few ever got to go through, save the unfortunate souls who had this as their final Zeme-side experience. It was glorious. They had to reshape their aura and heavily veil themselves in order to not create a veritable cacophony of magical resonance, but it was worth it for the brief dive. Even mid-dive, Tala¡¯s mind flicked to Terry. He was headed back their way, and he wasn¡¯t doing so as a disembodied spirit. Both of those things made Tala quite pleased, all things considered. He didn¡¯t feel quite happy, but he did seem like he was content. They fell through Sunnydale¡¯s cloaking field, and the village winked out of existence behind them, utterly obscured even to Tala¡¯s threefold sight. That really is an amazing bit of magic. -Which we now have designs for.- Tala sighed. Yes, but it¡¯s based on arcane magics, concepts generally derived from prey animal kin of one kind or another. She shook her head internally. It¡¯s a strange marriage between arcane magic and gated-human power. If it were otherwise, if it were simple, every caravan would have such protection. -Yeah, the gateless humans who have such on their crafts have to have them maintained and shored up by arcanes on a regular basis, just like they have to have their power refilled by gated.- And they only get around the ¡®one day of power¡¯ storage limit by the extra power in the air. It isn¡¯t enough to sustain things fully, but it does make the drain a multi-week affair. That requires knowledge of magic collectors, though, which are cheap, but not really that easy to create¡­ not that I¡¯ve studied them extensively. Nothing was ever easy, it seemed. But she was allowing her mind to wander instead of enjoying the moment, and that was almost criminal. As they fell, Tala thought she saw motion off toward the west, from the direction that Terry had said he was coming, but she couldn¡¯t get a good view due to the distance and the terrain. Less than a minute after they jumped, Rane squeezed her hand, and they flipped over, hitting the ground feet first and stopping instantly without any sense of deceleration, nor destruction to the terrain. The transition was incredibly jarring¡ªeven if not impactful¡ªand even as her braid dropped to fall against her back, Tala swayed on her feet, her body taking precious seconds to adjust to the sudden change in relative motion.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s awful. How do you stand it?¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°You get used to it in time, at least I did. I think it helps that I¡¯m in control of it, too.¡± He shrugged again. Tala rolled her eyes and huffed a laugh, finally getting her feet under herself, so to speak. ¡°Fine. Thank you. That was a much more fun way of coming down. I could have done it just as safely, but it would have been slower.¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯m happy to assist.¡± He leaned over to kiss the top of her head. They both turned as a large crash resounded to the west, and Terry came into view. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, and Rane burst out laughing. Four massive chicken talons bobbed and swayed, bumping and bouncing off of the ground as they hung limply from the single, comically oversized chicken leg that was precariously held, wedged in Terry¡¯s beak as he ran. Well, I guess we know why he wasn¡¯t flickering to catch up sooner¡­ Tala and Rane greeted Terry with joy in their hearts and jerky in their hands. The terror bird, for his part, dropped the massive chicken leg before them then spat out something that gleamed a dull gray in the grass. -Oh, that¡¯s gross.- Tala frowned. ¡°What is that?¡± -That¡¯s the baba yaga¡¯s teeth. She apparently threw her teeth at him after he ripped off the leg. Then, she vanished in truth, and he couldn¡¯t follow her.- After a moment of silence, during which Tala assumed she was conversing with Terry, Alat continued, -She likely anchored whatever method she used to escape to the teeth, which is why she left them behind.- A means to keep him from following? -In one way or another, it seems. Yeah.- Huh. Rane blinked a few times, clearly processing either the same words or something similar from one of the alternate interfaces. Terry gave a bit of a mournful cry, flickered to snatch the jerky from their hands, devoured that treat, then began tearing off great hunks of meat from the chicken leg. Tala, for her part, bent down and examined the teeth. ¡°It¡¯s a set of dentures¡­ they seem to be metal?¡± ¡°Who has metal teeth?¡± ¡°Apparently, baba yaga.¡± Tala frowned, feeling a call to take up and claim the teeth. That was¡­ disturbing if she was being honest. ¡°Is there any magic on those that you can detect, Rane?¡± Rane immediately snapped into focus, kneeling down next to the teeth. ¡°No, in fact, they seem magically reflective. If I had to guess, I¡¯d say that they were iron.¡± And then the feeling clicked into place. The part of her most closely bound to what had been the dasgannach yearned to claim the iron and make it her own. ¡°Huh¡­ do you think it¡¯s dangerous?¡± ¡°Honestly? Probably, yeah.¡± He frowned. ¡°Though, it has to be through conceptual shenanigans as there¡¯s no magic that I can see in them.¡± Tala nodded slowly, examining the teeth carefully with her threefold sight. They were solid, and she thought that Rane was probably right. They seemed to be pure iron. As she continued her examination, she glanced up toward the slowly disappearing chicken leg. Are you examining and logging the magics around that? -Absolutely.- Perfect. Thank you. With that confirmed, she returned her focus to the teeth. They were just a small amount of iron. She could probably pull this much iron from the ground as they traveled in just a couple of hours. So why was it tugging on her so? Was it because it was concentrated? Or was something else pulling her focus, stoking her desire. She checked again, and there were decidedly no magics anchored to the teeth. Moreover, she could see the reality node, and they were no longer connected to the Baba Yaga at all. ¡­In fact, they weren¡¯t connected to anything. She frowned. How are they not connected to anything? They should be at least connected to Terry to a small degree, he just brought them hundreds of miles in his mouth. But nothing. They seemed to exist in utter isolation. Her eyes widened. ¡°Rane. These seem to be under an effect similar to my existence shield.¡± He had been watching Terry, but his focus immediately snapped back to her and the teeth once again. ¡°What? But we can see them.¡± ¡°I know¡­ that makes no sense. If they are truly isolated on an existence level, they should be undetectable to us even if we were holding them in our hands. The very act of detecting them¡ªof seeing them¡ªshould connect them to us, at least briefly.¡± Tala felt utterly flummoxed. ¡°But nothing?¡± Rane arched one eyebrow. ¡°Nothing that Alat or I can detect, no.¡± He grunted, speaking as he considered, ¡°So, it¡¯s like iron for Reality instead of Magic? It blocks Reality like normal iron does Magic. That would mean that it¡¯s not fully isolated, but you might not be able to detect or create a connection? Could such a connection be of a different kind?¡± Tala turned to stare at her husband. He noticed her regard and turned to frown her way. ¡°What?¡± The silence stretched out for a long moment until Rane was beginning to get obviously uncomfortable. ¡°What? Was that a stupid idea? I¡ª¡± She leaned forward and kissed him, only pulling away after a long moment. ¡°That¡¯s genius, Rane. I think you¡¯re exactly right. If it was fully isolated, then we couldn¡¯t see anything, but we are. If I understand correctly, we¡¯re still able to see the Void where it is distinct from its surroundings. It¡¯s also why we can see Magic¡¯s interactions with it, because it is void of magic.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure I understand.¡± She waved that off. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I only think I half understand, and that is with me guessing and being the source of the half-baked theory. But if I¡¯m right, this is something like Reality Iron. If the baba yaga has more, it might be exactly how she¡¯s able to make such convincing and confusing illusions. She is hiding the fact of their illusory nature from Reality itself, making them real.¡± Rane closed his eyes, scrunching his whole face in confusion before opening his eyes once more and blinking a few times. ¡°What? Tala¡­ What?¡± ¡°She is using magic¡ªor power of some kind¡ªto create illusions, then ¡®hiding¡¯ the fact that they are illusions from Reality, thus making them real in every detectible sense without actually having to pay the cost for overcoming Reality in truth. Then, she can unmask her own illusions at will, changing what is and isn¡¯t ¡®real.¡¯¡± Rane groaned. ¡°The words you are saying make sense, but the concepts are a bit beyond me at the moment.¡± She patted him on the shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I think I understand it.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. So? What¡¯s that mean for the teeth?¡± Tala grinned widely. ¡°It means that I am going to be learning a lot in the next few days. Then I¡¯m going to claim the iron for my own.¡± -I feel like there should be lightning and thunder crashing in the background as the rugged heroine decides to claim an evil creature¡¯s power for her own.- Tala shrugged internally. If a Sovereign doesn¡¯t stop me, how bad can it be? -...That is not a good metric¡­ Are we really back to this?- Alat already knew the answer, but she was prompting Tala to force the woman to express it externally. She nodded and picked up the teeth, carefully not claiming them for the moment, despite her deep desire to do so. ¡°I¡¯m going to confer with some others about my theories before I do anything with these, don¡¯t worry.¡± Rane smiled in return. ¡°I trust you, but I am glad to hear that, too. Wisdom is found in the counsel of many.¡± He chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not always obvious, but it is usually there. You just have to find it among all the dross.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth.¡± They both stood and turned to regard Terry. ¡°Almost done there?¡± Terry looked their way, then trilled before tearing free another massive bit of flesh. Rane glanced her way. ¡°Let¡¯s stop here for brunch, then? That should let him finish his own little snack.¡± ¡°First, I love that you genuinely know that that is a little snack for him. But more to the point, I could just stick him in the sanctum. We haven¡¯t gone very far, yet.¡± ¡°True. If that¡¯s what we want, we can continue on. After all, we do have a somewhat tight timeline to meeting the next village.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Tight? We built in three days of buffer.¡± ¡°Three days if we go straight to the rendezvous point, but we always get side-tracked.¡± He grinned in return. ¡°And we¡¯ve been pursuing our own training a lot of late. I miss the time with you.¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°Then why¡¯d you say our timeline was tight?¡± His eyes twinkled. ¡°So that you would prove it was not so.¡± She laughed at that, then considered for a moment. ¡°You know? I¡¯d love to grab brunch with you.¡± Rane¡¯s smile grew broader in return. ¡°To brunch we go.¡± Even with such short notice, Mistress Petra and her assistants put together a stunning spread. Fresh fruit with whipped cream, there was no need for added sweetness. Sausages and bacon, roast mushrooms, and poached eggs, along with delicious coffee for Tala and steaming tea for Rane were just the beginning of the repast. The woman had prepared several laminate pastries which filled out the meal around oatcakes with honey, and other mainstays. Truly, having such decadence at essentially a moment¡¯s notice was the height of luxury, and Tala wouldn¡¯t have traded it for an instant advancement to Reforged. ¡­Though, a good part of that was out of a desire to do it herself. Even so, the sentiment still stood. Regardless, she luxuriated in the meal and the time with her husband, giving Terry all the space he needed to devour his latest conquest. Chapter: 517 - Then Let’s Get to It Tala and Rane weren¡¯t in a hurry with their brunch, and as such, most of those that Alat had reached out to had gotten back to them by the time they were finished. The responses to Tala and Alat¡¯s inquiry were¡­incredulous. Though they did come in quickly, taking less than an hour for most to be entered into the Archive. Even Mistress Ingrit¡ªwith Tala¡¯s memories in hand¡ªseemed to have a hard time believing that Terry had somehow gotten the baba yaga¡¯s teeth, let alone a leg from her infamous house. Alat told Tala in confidence that Terry had grudgingly admitted to her that the baba yaga had likely allowed him to claim such prizes just to get rid of him. He¡¯d made that much of a nuisance of himself, which was honestly an achievement in its own right. The terror bird seemed to take a bit of pride in that very fact, even if he didn¡¯t trill it to the stars. Regardless of their credulity, several of the Paragons and Reforged that they¡¯d inquired with had vouchsafed the iron, saying it shouldn¡¯t have any lingering hostile affects. To most, it would just be iron. They did counsel against binding it directly¡ªas they instantly assumed she was considering¡ªdue to its ties to Reality. They advised folding it into something already bound and stably intermeshed with her soul. That should be safe, though they didn¡¯t have any guess as to exactly what doing such would accomplish. So, while sitting on the throne in her sanctum, Rane at her side and a temporarily satiated Terry looking on, Tala held the iron teeth in her open palm. ¡°My soulbound companion won you and presented you to me. You are mine.¡± There was a ripple as Tala felt her authority take hold. There was a truly odd feeling of duality. The iron became hers in every sense, not just bound to her, but a part of her as all her iron was. It was her authority, her power, her self. At the same time, it shed all ties that tried to bind it¡­ except those to itself. Her iron was now one with it. It was now one with her. They weren¡¯t two distinct things that needed ties to one another. But if it was her, then she was it, and it would not bear being linked to anything else. Tala¡¯s eyes widened, and the Reality threads connected to her came into sharp focus, their usual mere background presence falling away to leave them in stark relief. The iron¡ªher iron, her self¡ªwas working to sever all the ties that bound them in any way. She could already see the threads straining under the weight of Reality¡¯s pressure, guided and enhanced with her power and authority, that of a Paragon. Tala¡¯s will bloomed, her focus narrowed, and her Paragon might came to bear. More than that, she felt her husband and Terry at her side. They had clearly realized something was happening, and they wished to be of help, even if they did not know how. That was enough to lend the weight of their power to her authority, her will. No. You are mine. You are me. I am connected to the world. I am Maternal Iron, I am the Ravenous Jealous Devourer. I am the Iron Matriarch. Even as she expressed it, she felt both her self-imposed distance from the assumed label and the rightness of it all over again. I am one. Iron and all. She would never sever her ties with those she cared for. She would never deprive herself of them nor them of her. She once might have welcomed such a severing, such a breaking of ties. She might have seen such as freedom, as a loosening of burdens and restrictions. No longer. She was who she was, soulbonds and all. -A Creator and a Destroyer- A Nurturer and a Devourer -A Sanctum and a Sword- A Defender of Humanity and an Eskau of the House of Blood -A Hope and a Terror- Mine, -everything shall be MINE and be better for it.- Her soul practically sang with the truth of who she was and her knowledge of it, with her power as a Paragon. She was not the scared teen who was afraid to let anyone close any more, pushing others away as she rushed headlong toward self destruction or glory, hardly caring which she achieved. She was more than herself, now. She was how she affected¡ªhow she connected with¡ªthe world around her. And the nature of the Reality iron calmed, not changing, but molding to her will, bowing to the truth of how their natures fit and were one. Those connections weren¡¯t ties between herself and other entities in need of severing; they weren¡¯t invasions of her sovereignty of self. Just as my own power can act upon my iron. The connections I allow are a part of me. Why would they be rejected? With an almost visceral click that seemed to resonate within her soul, the teeth melded with her iron, changing it and being changed in turn. The impurities that had been a hallmark both of the dasgannach and of the iron which she, herself claimed were shed away in a conflagration that burst from her like an ice-nova. A great outrushing of freezing air poured off of her skin, followed by an odd sort of sparking or reheating as the freed material reacted and combined with itself in new configurations now that it was free of the iron. Rane and Terry stood beside her, hair and feathers ruffling, eyes squinted against the outpouring from her as she sat atop the throne. Forgotten were the jerky beside Terry and the half-carved figure of stone in Rane¡¯s off hand. They were both fully focused on her at that moment. Her threefold perspective showed herself as readily as everything else around her, and she saw her eyes glowing fiercely with a savage power. Her iron shifted from dull gray to a red reminiscent of dried blood. It made no sense chemically, but it somehow fit her connection with¡ªand dominion over¡ªit more fully. Still, the color change didn¡¯t last. It was a temporary visual manifestation of the reality of her self and the iron being inseparable, being one and the same. And then it was done. Her open palm was empty even as she held it out before her. The teeth had been subsumed into her other iron wholly and completely until there was no distinction between them. She couldn¡¯t have pulled that specific iron forth if her very soul depended on it. With a moment of excitement, she once again rolled her iron over her inscriptions, hugging them as closely in every dimension she safely could, far more perfectly than ever before. The inscription lines on her skin became momentarily a uniform dull gray as her iron fit over every swirl, jog, and turn like a perfectly created sheath.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. By the nature of the thinness of the shell, it remained permeable to any significant amount of power, but it did require that for power to come through. That threshold was crossed with ease in barely a breath as her Paragon power density echoed and resonated with itself. Immediately, her spell-lines manifested anew as variegated lines of light in Reality itself, her power roaring through her like never before as her iron was able to perfectly align with her inscriptions. She pulled in a startled breath, her pupils dilating at the sheer pleasure of the renewed power. Her aura shifted marginally toward blue, the act of so totally harnessing her own inscriptions within her body causing her to Reforge herself just a bit more. Her through spike hid the light almost instantly, as usual, but it was still a stark reminder of how she¡¯d caught up to Rane¡¯s level of natural magics¡ªsurpassing him by quite a bit even¡ªdespite him having essentially his set of inscriptions for almost twice as long as she¡¯d had hers locked in. Rane smiled broadly, the expression pulling her focus back to the present moment. He then laughed in delight as he clearly noticed the change in her aura. After a moment''s hesitation, he caught her up in an embrace, lifting her from the throne and spinning her around in joy. ¡°I thought we might have lost you for a second, but then you turned it toward your own advantage.¡± Tala found herself laughing in his arms even as the single spin came to an end. ¡°You dared doubt me?¡± There was no bite to the playful question, and he responded in kind. ¡°Never again, my love. I don¡¯t know what you just fought through, but it is clear that you did so with skill and strength.¡± ¡°And with your aid.¡± She reached out toward Terry, and he flickered to her shoulder. ¡°And with yours.¡± Terry chirped happily, headbutting her cheek. ¡°Thank you for the gift. It has added to our capabilities, though I don¡¯t know exactly how.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°I felt much going on that I couldn¡¯t truly perceive. Is there anything I can help with?¡± She shrugged. ¡°For me personally? No. It would help me for you to continue working on your own advancement. I want you with me every step of the way.¡± His smile softened. ¡°I will do my utmost, but do not linger on my account. We¡¯re both Paragons now. I¡¯ll not die of old age. Advance as you can, and I¡¯ll do so as I am able as well. No matter how that goes, I will be with you as long as I can be.¡± She regarded him for a long moment as he held her, her own arms up on his shoulders, fingers behind his neck. She pulled herself up to kiss him, then nodded. ¡°As you say, husband.¡± In that moment, she clarified something that she¡¯d probably always known. It didn¡¯t manifest as any sort of advancement in her aura, but she felt it was critical nonetheless. Reforging as regards to her soulbound with Rane wouldn¡¯t be an issue in the slightest. All that he wanted for her was that she achieve her true potential. All that he desired was that nothing would hold her back. He was no chain or weight on her advancement. He was solid footing from which she could lunge ever higher. In that moment, more than ever, she wanted to be the same for him. She kissed him again, and the world apart from the two of them faded from her focus even as Terry flickered away, giving them a few precious minutes of privacy. * * * Tala sat in a meditative pose beside her river within the sanctum. Rane had requested a bit of time to work on a sculpture that had been hanging in the back of his mind for nearly a week¡ªhe¡¯d used nearly every free, waking moment in Sunnydale to absorb what he could from that place, be it culture, sights, or magical insights¡ªand he wanted to get it into the physical world. Since they¡¯d already stopped, he wanted to take a couple of hours to sculpt. She didn¡¯t begrudge him that in the least. Terry was splayed out in a glade about half a mile away from Tala¡ªacross the center of the sanctum¡ªsunning himself after having gorged on the baba yaga¡¯s house chicken leg and helped her absorb the teeth. So, Tala was taking the time to address something that had been annoying her more and more of late. -We are overestimating what our threefold sight is capable of.- Precisely. Her threefold sight was, effectively, three things¡ªhence the moniker. First, it was mundane vision. Simple, effective, and useful. Second, it was her magesight, highlighting magic, sources of power, and the advancement of beings. Here was one of the first issues. She¡¯d known that people could appear as less advanced than they were, but now that she¡¯d actually learned about veiling and things of that nature, it showed just how unreliable that could be. True, for most creatures in existence, it was more than sufficient to suss out the truth behind their power, but it was starting to fall short. ¡­No, that isn¡¯t true. It¡¯s still working exactly as it always has. -We just need to remember it is still a sight. It is a perception of what we come across, not necessarily the truth of the thing.- Precisely, yeah. She wouldn¡¯t throw out the tool for lack of precision. She simply needed to remember what it was useful for. Third was her voidsight, which highlighted distinct things. Specifically, she had bent it toward the seeing of reality nodes due to the gaps between them, and that view of reality nodes brought with it a sense and sight of the threads that connected such across existence. This likewise was incredibly useful in all that it could do and all the information it provided. The issue was, illusions could still have reality threads connected to them, they could still be crafted as ¡®distinct¡¯ enough to have their own reality nodes. She had mitigated many of the shortcomings of her threefold sight by use of her bloodstar clouds, hovering within her extended aura, both stone- and starward of her superficial position at all times, each drop providing the anchor for an aspect mirrored threefold sight. With that, she was able to give herself a depth of perception to see past what would have easily blocked her vision on the superficial. This was excellent at piercing illusions, and she¡¯d even used it to see Rane¡¯s true advancement through his veil¡­ at first. Lisa was an early indication that even this deeper sight was not as all-seeing as she treated it, but she¡¯d been slow to adjust her assumptions. -And now we add soulsight into the mix, which the baba yaga already proved could be deceived.- With the right skills, yeah¡­ Tala considered. But, that¡¯s the point, isn¡¯t it? We¡¯re never going to see existence exactly as it is. No matter how many layers we add, no matter how powerfully we enhance and augment our perception, we will still just be seeing things from our perspective. -Well, we can add in Rane¡¯s and Enar¡¯s now¡ªTerry¡¯s too¡ªbut yeah. those are still just perspectives, and nothing guarantees that such is the truth.- So¡­ what does this mean? Tala felt her mind uncoiling just a bit, and she nodded to herself. It means that we need to keep this in mind. We can improve, but we must remember we aren¡¯t ever going to achieve perfection. -And remember what level we are operating on. Like with Rane¡¯s sculpting. He can make something smooth to the touch, but is it actually perfectly smooth?- No, but it¡¯s simply smooth enough for his purposes. -Exactly.- Yeah¡­ Tala considered, remembering passing a worker in Sunnydale. That man used a bubble level to make the shelf he was mounting useful, but to call it ¡®true level¡¯ would be ridiculous, even if such a concept had a useful meaning. -Precisely.- So, the solution¡ªat least for the moment¡ªwas to remember that her threefold sight was not a perfect revealer of the truth. Even with soulsight and her growing sense of authority added in, her perception was better than ever, but it was still her perception. Alright. I¡¯ll try to keep that in mind. She checked, and Rane was still working away, Terry still dozing in the warmth of the false-sun¡¯s light. Well, we have time, and we wanted to consider more powerful attacks, and other ways to use the power that¡¯s in here. -I¡¯ve been considering that. I do have one idea, but it isn¡¯t actually something that uses more power¡ªI¡¯m not sure your magics are geared that way regardless, if we¡¯re being honest with ourselves¡ªbut we can use the sanctum for something more.- Oh? Tala began considering, trying to see if she could come up with it herself. -Yes. Honestly, the artificial lung gave me the foundation of the idea.- Really? So, something that we build up in here and release? She frowned, unable to think of anything offhand. -Precisely. We have the siege orbs ready to hand, how do we use them?- Well, aside from occasionally shoving them down an arcane¡¯s throat, we amplify the gravitational attraction of two of them toward each other, then shift the target of that attraction to ¡®fire¡¯ them forth, like a guardsman might shoot a crossbow. -Precisely. But they are starting from a dead stop, which makes them less powerful and reliable than they might be.- Of course they are. How else would¡­ we¡­ Tala¡¯s eyes widened. Orbits. She almost slapped herself in the forehead. We¡¯ve even used orbits for our early bloodstar perspective mirroring. -Yup. But it was a pain to maintain them, because we were moving around, and that constantly changed the forces that were needed to keep a stable orbit.- But if we created an accelerator in here, a tight, fast orbit for the siege orb pairs? -We wouldn¡¯t even have to keep them in pairs, but that would add to the speed and targeting if done correctly.- Tala slowly shook her head in awe. How did we never consider this? -Honestly? We were content with our uses of power. Now? Now we want more.- Shall we get to experimenting? -Absolutely. I think the space needs to be well separated from the artificial lung, and similarly isolated.- Agreed. Tala felt herself grinning. Then, let¡¯s get to it. Chapter: 518 - A Fortuitous Encounter Tala, Rane, and Terry set off across the rolling prairie once more a bit after noon. It was still well before dusk¡ªand they still had miles to go before they slept¡ªwhen a small cloaking field rolled over them, revealing an even smaller craft with a single woman atop it. The craft was an interesting one, seeming almost like a single board with a sail atop it, the controls incredibly simple, just a bar which the woman could manipulate to change the path it took. The magic coming from the lower, sculpted board was almost natural in feel. Tala would have bet gold that it was crafted from floating tree or rock or the bone of a flying beast of some kind, and used essentially in its native state, rather than heavily modified as those that were implanted in larger crafts. That was utterly unlike Sunnydale, which was kept aloft by clearly artificially induced artifacts. Sunnydale¡¯s way was more powerful, true, but there was something¡­ choppier about the results that Tala hadn¡¯t even realized was present until seeing this new craft. The sail was just as powerful, seemingly filled with magics of thrust and lift. After a moment, Tala realized that she recognized the material. That¡¯s cloud elemental fleece. -Yeah, but it¡¯s been processed into a different form and for an entirely different purpose.- Tala could perceive a heavily protected, expanded space, anchored to the craft in a way that she didn¡¯t quite understand with only a quick inspection. The woman herself was grinning down at them, where they¡¯d stopped among the summer grasses. She was tall and strong as she stood there on the board. With gray-blue eyes that held a depth of intensity along with a spark of humor, the woman instantly put Tala at ease, as counterintuitive as that seemed. Her dark red hair was shaved on the sides while remaining long and curly on the top and back, held together in a messy braid reaching halfway down her back. Her clothing was well-kept but not meticulously so, conveying care without obsession or vanity. The style was incredibly minimalistic. On top, she wore a close fitting piece, cinched tight¡ªlikely to keep it from flapping in the wind of her flight¡ªcovering little more than her chest and leaving her midriff bare. That was above baggy pants that seemed designed to allow easy movement. Her feet were bare and her only jewelry or ornamentation was a dark crystal pendant that looked to have a storm raging inside. When she spoke, her voice was smooth and strong, the woman clearly used to projecting over the sound of rushing wind, ¡°Greetings travelers. I am Mara. Are you in need of assistance?¡± Rane gave a small bow and returned a greeting for them. ¡°Greetings, Mara. I am Rane, and this is my wife Tala. We aren¡¯t in need, but thank you.¡± Mara nodded once, then her smile grew. ¡°Well then, with no need, there must be something you want. I¡¯ve a healthy stock, and you¡¯ve the good fortune to have stumbled across me on the way to find the right market.¡± Tala smiled in return. ¡°A merchant then?¡± ¡°Yes. You¡¯re humans, are you not?¡± They both nodded. Terry remained silent, even as he rested on Tala¡¯s shoulder, regarding the merchant. He¡¯d only taken up that place shortly before Mara¡¯s appearance, and he seemed content to remain. Tala could tell that the merchant was gateless. She looked human, but her aura was strong, if inexpertly veiled. Or maybe expertly? -Yeah, I can¡¯t tell what her advancement is.- So, projecting confusing signals rather than a false one. That¡¯s an interesting tactic. Might be worth attempting. -Later.- Later. Regardless, what Tala could detect of her power level indicated arcane or maybe a half-arcane. If so, she was most likely of the hue-man lineages. Not that it mattered much. Rane spoke into the momentary silence. ¡°I¡¯m not sure we will buy anything that you¡¯re selling, but we¡¯re happy to take a look.¡± He gave a rueful smile. ¡°I¡¯m always interested in seeing wares, but I don¡¯t wish to waste your time.¡± Mara waved that off. ¡°Nonsense. Even if you don¡¯t buy anything, a bit of conversation will be worth the delay.¡± She took a single hopping step backward, dropping off her craft, the vessel following her down as she fell the dozen or so feet to the ground, landing lightly. It was subtle, but Tala was able to pick out magics reaching out of the woman as she fell and when she landed, guiding her fall and cushioning her landing, it had a heaviness and static to the magic, like the air right before a thunderstorm. A moment later, her craft landed behind her, having folded open, the sail tucking against the outside of one half of the board. Within the two halves was the portal into an expanded space. It wasn¡¯t that large, but it was well laid out so that a huge variety of things were easily viewed. Tala chuckled. ¡°You do this often, then?¡± Mara grinned in return. ¡°Of course. I have to make a living.¡± Rane gave her a side-eyed look, making a statement more than asking a question. ¡°You didn¡¯t really think we needed help, did you.¡± She shrugged. ¡°You were both practically flying. You¡¯re well dressed, clean, and obviously not starving. There was a chance you needed help¡ªand I would have given it if so¡ªbut there was a higher chance that you needed goods.¡± That made Rane laugh. ¡°Fair enough.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°So, you travel around all alone?¡± Mara reached up and stroked her necklace. ¡°Not quite alone, but without any other people, yeah.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that get lonely?¡± ¡°Honestly?¡± Her gaze went a bit wistful and her smile a bit sad, ¡°I fell in love once, but he would have taken me from the skies¡­¡± She shook her head, her smile returning in full force. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have that. This is better.¡± Tala felt something stir within the woman¡¯s necklace, and Tala caught the flicker of¡­ not a soul, not quite, but a spirit? There was an intelligence within the necklace. ¡°So, you prefer the open sky to people and company?¡± ¡°For the most part, but each have their place.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Tala shrugged, then moved on to business. ¡°Well, we actually have a rather large pool of folks who might trade with you, if you¡¯ve any interest.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Mara arched one eyebrow, her ready smile not leaving her face. ¡°If they aren¡¯t far, I¡¯m game.¡± Tala opened the portal into the Ironhold, Lyn already waiting on the other side, Alat having warned her and Tala having moved her into place. Mara froze for a moment, her smile becoming momentarily wooden for the first time. ¡°Is that¡­ is that a soulbound space?¡± ¡°It is.¡± Tala held up her hands. ¡°But it is special. There is no soulbond required or enforced upon entrance.¡± Lyn stepped out smoothly and chuckled. ¡°I should hope not. With thousands of souls within, our beloved Tala¡¯s existence would have been shredded to ribbons ages ago.¡± Mara frowned. ¡°That¡¯s good to know, but there is still another problem. I won¡¯t be able to enter such a dominated space.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°What?¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°Let me just show you.¡± Mara walked forward and stepped into the portal.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Tala instantly felt the oddities. Mara was within Kit, but she remained utterly outside of Tala¡¯s authority. That should be impossible. Regardless, the merchant was obviously struggling, somehow looking like she was wading through deep water even as Tala¡¯s power and authority flowed around her, unable to get within an inch of her skin. She¡¯s shedding authority like a duck sheds water. That¡¯s incredible. -Yeah, it seems like an absolute rejection. We might be able to force it, but our passive aura and authority is never going to reach her.- A moment later, Mara was ejected from Kit by something that seemed akin to buoyancy. The woman was clearly ready for it, landing smoothly and taking a few steps backward to shed her momentum. ¡°See.¡± Her smile was broad as she met Tala¡¯s befuddled gaze. Tala had never seen anything like it, and her question conveyed that confusion, ¡°What now?¡± Mara laughed. ¡°It¡¯s my concept. I am anathema to other¡¯s authority. I am as free as the storm.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°That is¡­ That is ridiculously powerful.¡± Mara shrugged in return. ¡°I imagine you weren¡¯t trying to hurt me, nor truly attempting to dominate me, that was just your passive authority?¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°I thought so. It¡¯s more annoying than useful these days.¡± She laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t make anyone angry enough to need its protection very often. Additionally, you could probably breach it with intent.¡± ¡°Well, I imagine that was just your passive defense, too.¡± Mara tapped the side of her nose, her smile broadening. ¡°That would be telling now, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Tala found herself, once again, smiling in return. Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°Well, then. If you can¡¯t go in, I will take a look at your stock out here, shall I?¡± ¡°But of course!¡± The merchant turned, gesturing magnanimously at her still-open expanded space. Lyn and Mara set to chatting about the various items even as the adjunct picked out quite a few, as possible things of interest, all the while taking notes and communicating through her slate with those inside Ironhold. After a bit, Lyn glanced pointedly at the merchant¡¯s pendant. ¡°That is quite the interesting necklace. Is that for sale?¡± Mara stroked it lovingly even as she shook her head. ¡°No, no. I¡¯ll not sell her.¡± Lyn shrugged, turning back to the items, even while inquiring further, ¡°Her? It looks like a storm in there.¡± ¡°Oh, it is. A powerful storm, so magical and enduring as to have gained a spirit.¡± Her smile shifted, gaining a bit of wistfulness once more. ¡°And you encountered¡­ her in the wild?¡± Lyn reached out, feeling some cloth that hung for just such perusals. ¡°Yes, I did. I was trying to follow the coast north.¡± Tala¡¯s eyebrows rose in surprise. Mara shrugged. ¡°The coast is safer, and I was curious what was up there, why some people see mountains and others don¡¯t, whether or not we really are on a massive island, or if it connects northward to something else.¡± She shrugged again. ¡°It didn¡¯t work out, and I had to turn back, but before I did, I encountered her. It was an experience unlike any other.¡± Mara¡¯s gaze had become a bit unfocused, as she clearly relived the memory. After a long moment, she shook her head, returning her attention to them even as she stroked the pendant. ¡°Long story short, I soulbound the storm, and she¡¯s been with me ever since.¡± Tala blinked at that. What? -I don¡¯t know that I understand either?- ¡­do we need to? It clearly works for her, and we¡¯ve just met in passing. -Yeah. I think unless she elaborates, we don¡¯t need to delve.- Alat was clearly curious, but she was also right. It wasn¡¯t really their business to pry into. Lyn, for her part, was nodding along even as she finished pursuing Mara¡¯s wares, making a few further selections of note. In the end, she purchased a variety of clearly arcanous-derived cloths, some arcanous harvests from creatures alien to the wilds around the cycling cities, and a few other bits and bobs. The most interesting acquisition from Tala¡¯s perspective was a miniature cloaking generator like the one Mara herself used. She apparently carried several to sell to smaller crafts as backups or replacements in the event their main one was giving trouble. They weren¡¯t designed to last long, but that made them cheaper. They were essentially a spare, just meant to help the purchaser get to a larger market for a true replacement. As to what they traded? Lyn and Mara haggled for nearly a quarter hour¡ªonly taking that long because they were discussing various items and their valuations instead of simply talking about an amount of currency. In the end, Ironhold provided mostly foodstuffs¡ªmainly staples but a few delicacies from the cycling cities¡ªwith a few tools of Ironhold creation to fill out their side of the deal. Lyn then took her selections from Mara, and the merchant closed up her craft, returning it to its flying configuration. ¡°Thank you all for your custom. I wish you good travels and a safe arrival at your destination.¡± They returned the well wishes, and Mara had hopped on her board, when Tala frowned, having a thought. ¡°Mara?¡± The merchant paused, glancing back. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°How do you have your expanded space with you?¡± She looked genuinely confused. ¡°The same way the villages carry around their holds? Such spaces stay with whatever they¡¯re anchored to. If that moves, they move.¡± Tala felt her face go blank. Oh. Rane noticed and took over smoothly, ¡°Thank you once again, Mara. Take care.¡± The merchant shook her head¡ªstill smiling¡ªand waved goodbye once more, magic surging around her with the crackle of hidden lightning, and she shot toward the sky, vanishing as soon as she pulled her cloaking field away from them. Tala was still staring off into the distance. -Wow¡­ yeah¡­ I really should have thought of that.- I do feel like a bit of an idiot. Rane and Lyn both turned to regard her, but it was her husband who spoke first. ¡°So? What did you realize?¡± Tala blinked a few times, then focused on him. ¡°Well, I realized that we¡¯ve been going about this the slow way.¡± He frowned. ¡°What do you mean? We¡¯re making great time.¡± ¡°Yes, but we have a faster means of movement.¡± He closed one eye in thought. ¡°The fliers? Sure, they¡¯re faster but¡ª¡± His eyes both widened in realization. ¡°Oh.¡± Lyn¡¯s eyes had widened at nearly the same time, clearly coming to the same conclusion. Tala grinned. ¡°We can open a little portal to Ironhold inside one of the fliers.¡± Rane gently put his palm to his own forehead. ¡°Just like we did on the unit¡¯s flying vehicle, or these settlements do with their own holds.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Lyn frowned. ¡°Will that work? I know that there is less resonance with magic that is within an expanded space, but it''s not none. Isn¡¯t there also the issue of causing greater damage to reality from our gates and power? And if this is possible, why wouldn¡¯t we be using that instead of Caravans?¡± Tala was nodding along. ¡°First, I think you¡¯re forgetting that a morphic hold, one that can have a truly size changing opening, requires a soulbond, which essentially means no one else can get in it. So, sure, Archons could do that, but they¡¯d have to load and unload everything themselves, and their time is valuable spent elsewhere¡ªdon¡¯t forget that the control within Kit isn¡¯t standard for most spaces, even soulbound ones. In that same vein, they couldn¡¯t take any people either. Second, the magical resonance is a question of four main things¡ªwith a lot of little ones of course. First, magical density of the object in motion, the stronger the magic the greater the density. Next, density of the area being passed through¡ªthat should be relatively obvious. Then, surface area and configuration of that which is passing through, which is why changing our aura shape matters so much. Finally, the speed of the passage.¡± Lyn was nodding along, an Archive slate already out from¡­ somewhere. ¡°With a miniscule portal within the pure-iron shell of the flier, the surface area will be as close to zero as we can reasonably get.¡± ¡°Right, and the magical density of that small area can¡¯t really be affected as even pulling my power back from an open gate leaves the portal with the weight of my power behind it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. We obviously aren¡¯t affecting the magic around us, but with the single act of reducing the surface area¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°That is so simple, yet impossible for essentially every Archon just because of the issues with a soulbound space.¡± Tala was grinning broadly, then. ¡°The only thing we need to be careful of is our gates. Magic is abrasive, but our gates are far more so.¡± Rane had been nodding along and finally interjected, ¡°By being stoneward in an expanded space, any damage we do will be less critical. Reality should have no issue healing before anything else comes along to exacerbate things.¡± Tala pointed at him. ¡°Exactly, yes. Kit can even ¡®dive¡¯ a bit to ensure that we are stoneward of standard expanded spaces, reducing the risk even further.¡± Lyn was clearly excited. ¡°Does that mean that you can go hundreds of miles an hour?¡± Tala hesitated. ¡°Technically yes, but I can¡¯t help but assume that doing so would be like ripping a knife across the fabric of Reality.¡± Even so, she didn¡¯t let that potential dim her enthusiasm. ¡°I¡¯ll come at it slowly, and we¡¯ll watch very carefully with our voidsight to ensure we aren¡¯t unlacing existence behind ourselves.¡± -I¡¯ll keep the Reality Review Council in the loop¡­ once we¡¯ve done the first tests.- Lyn jumped slightly, Alat¡¯s message appearing on her slate. Rane was nodding, the alternate interface¡¯s message getting to him somehow¡ªthough whether directly or through Enar, Tala didn¡¯t know. You just made that name up, didn¡¯t you. -So what? It fits.- Fine¡­ -Good.- Tala huffed a laugh, then grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s do this! What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡± Rane groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that, love¡­¡± Lyn sighed. ¡°Oh, Tala. Come on.¡± Even Terry trilled in gentle reprimand. Tala grumped, feeling a bit hemmed in from all sides. ¡°Fine.¡± Even so, she popped back into contentment a moment later, opening a portal to let one of the fliers out before willing the three humans and one terror bird all into the sanctum. ¡°Let¡¯s carefully test and make wise decisions as to how to proceed.¡± The three with her gave her skeptical looks, but those faded as they started to actually process what they were about to test. Excitement began to build. It was time to see if this was actually possible. Chapter: 519 - A While to Untangle… Tala moved over to sit on her throne, having brought herself, Rane, Lyn, and Terry onto the dais which was at the center of the sanctum. Rane sat on the throne beside hers, Terry curled up on his lap, watching raptly. The terror bird probably would have been on Tala¡¯s lap, but he likely knew such would be distracting, and what Tala was about to attempt would be potentially difficult enough. That wasn¡¯t to say that the task would be technically difficult. Instead, it would require the utmost focus to ensure that nothing was going catastrophically wrong. Rane willed for a chair to appear for Lyn to sit in, and the seat was there, ready for her use. At the same time, Alat brought forth a large upright slab¡ªas extreme in its thinness as it was in its height and width¡ªand used that to display one of the perspectives on the flier awaiting on the superficial for their use. This perspective in particular was one that was a bit above and behind, looking down and forward. ¡°-The bloodstar clouds are in place.-¡± Alat¡¯s voice sounded in the sanctum itself as well as within Tala¡¯s head. Lyn looked up and around, smiling. ¡°Hello, Alat.¡± ¡°-Hello, Lyn. This should be exciting.-¡± ¡°Yes, certainly something worthy of record.¡± And putting action to her words, Lyn pulled out an Archive slate and began taking notes. Though, to be fair, Tala could perceive that much of what Lyn was doing seemed to be related to her work. That stood to reason, as nothing was actually happening yet. Rane grinned. ¡°As interesting as I¡¯m sure this will be. I wish that what we¡¯re testing could have represented an advance that would help everyone if it worked, but I¡¯ll happily accept the improvements this could represent to our own personal movements.¡± Tala gave him a humorous smile in return. ¡°How magnanimous of you, my husband.¡± He gave a seated bow. ¡°I do my best as an enlightened Paragon.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°Well, shall we?¡± With two nods, a trill of excitement, and an affirmation from Alat, Tala willed for a small portal to appear, leading from her sanctum into the tiny space within the flier¡¯s interior. It was originally intended to hold siege orbs or other items at her need, and she was incredibly glad that it was there, as she didn¡¯t have to worry about breaking the construct by jamming the portal into a space otherwise needed for something else. ¡°Let¡¯s start slow and take in the results.¡± She was speaking mostly for herself but verbalizing the thoughts for Rane, Lyn, and Terry. Tala wasn¡¯t limited to the singular perspective given by the massive display that Alat maintained before them all. She still had that one coming straight into her mind, but it was along with fifteen others around the construct as she watched in every direction from two nebulous locations, one stone- and the other starward of the flier. She was also still processing her own bloodstar clouds anchored around her physical location for a wholly other ¡®complete¡¯ perspective with which to compare and contrast that which she was seeing around the flier. Though, as she was in Kit, most of what she easily saw was within the expanded spaces. Still, it was further data, and she was loathe to give up any potential information while performing this test. The flier, for its part, was floating three feet off the ground, ambient magics more than sufficient to maintain it in that position. That was quite the change from the first times that Tala, Rane, Alat, and Enar had used the constructs. Away from Alefast, ambient magic around the cycling cities wasn¡¯t enough even for that, but she¡¯d noticed that difference the last times that she flew the construct. It just hadn¡¯t been worth remarking on. Now? Now, everything needed to be noted. Anything could be important. With a bit of will¡ªand an extra thread of power¡ªthe device started forward, quickly coming up to match the speed of a slow walk. She held it at that pace despite the very magics that made up the construct seeming to yearn to go faster. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s begin a preliminary investigation. Magical resonance is as low as expected.¡± ¡°-I am not detecting any excessive damage to Reality.-¡± Rane grunted. ¡°Something would have gone truly and terribly wrong indeed if even this was causing detectable damage.¡± Lyn shrugged, a note of pride in her voice, ¡°It is still good to check.¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely.¡± Rane nodded sagely. Tala grinned. ¡°All checks as expected. How is our Archive link?¡± ¡°-Solid, with all information being recorded as it happens. It¡¯s handling the greater throughput splendidly. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve ever kept perfect record of so much information at once.- Tala grunted. That was probably true. Alat liked to go through it, paring things down and collating them first. This time, she wasn¡¯t taking the time. Thus, there would be a lot of overlap in the perspective and other unneeded information of that kind, but that was alright. This could be important to have precisely logged. ¡°Noted. Thank you, Alat. Let¡¯s go a bit faster.¡± She increased the flier¡¯s pace up to the speed of a slow jog, senses focused to the utmost, her entire dual consciousness locked into a study of¡ª Something pulsed into being, coming up from the stoneward reaches of existence¡ªthough, its sudden appearance there before the beginning of its ascent seemed to indicate that it came from elsewhere. Likely because she was so focused on her perceptions, Tala felt almost forced to watch as a thick Reality thread snapped into being between the creature and¡­ The connection with the Archive? -We¡¯re linked to¡ªand controlling¡ªthe flier mainly through the Archive, and I¡¯m actively dumping every detail that we¡¯re perceiving there. As you¡¯re aware, I usually refine, prune, and order information before doing so. Moreover, all the non-critical missives and updates to the Archive from all of Ironhold just began to be sent starward. We¡¯d held them in reserve for twelve hours after departing Sunnydale as a courtesy at their request. All that combined?¡­This is the heaviest connection we¡¯ve had with the Archive in a long time, maybe ever.- Well, that might be it, then. The sunnydalians had insisted that Archive connections could be dangerous in this region. Maybe they were about to find out why. The creature itself was¡­ odd, even odder than its manner of arrival. It looked mostly like a man, but it was too stretched out, too lanky¡­ It had too many arms. Those arms faded into and out of existence as they moved, making it impossible to tell how many there truly were. This wasn¡¯t even a shifting along the stone- starward axis, as Tala was watching that too, and it was easily moving in those dimensions as well. Its visage was at once a blank white mask in a shape similar to a heater-shield, and the face of a great owl. It was also quite similar to an octopus perched atop the slender, humanoid shoulders, and at the same time as if the beast was entirely headless. Tala immediately questioned her early thought that it was humanoid, as it now appeared more like a great lion, or a bat, or a snake. She felt her mind begin to reject any perception of the creature¡ªif it even was one¡ªas every moment it was slightly or entirely different. Somehow, regardless, every moment it was also still itself, its reality node more solid than any that Tala could recall having ever seen. It was utterly Real in a way that even the reality beasts she¡¯d fought hadn¡¯t been. Yet, there was a power to it that pulled at her magesight, dazzling it and making it impossible for her to tell what advancement to which it might be equivalent. Cut all Archive connections. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. -Already done as soon as we noticed the reality thread. Our soulbound connection is as quiet as I can make it, but it is still there.- There was an infinitesimal hesitation before Alat asked, -Should I sever the soulbond?- It was a testament to just how overwrought Tala felt by her perception of the still surfacing thing that she genuinely considered saying yes. Before she could gather her wits enough to decide either yes or no, the creature was passing by their stoneward position. He, she, it, they¡ªwhatever the thing may be¡ªseemed to glance toward them, and somehow Tala knew that it had locked gazes with her, not her bloodstar perspective, but her mundane eyes, even though those same eyes couldn¡¯t perceive the creature at all. A ripple of fear passed through her at the certain knowledge, and she broke out in a cold sweat despite herself. Then, the creature seemed to dismiss her even as it breached the superficial. Around its point of contact, the landscape changed. The rolling prairies were immediately gone, replaced instead with a blasted-out crater of molten rock. There had been no impact; there had been no explosion; it simply was not as it had been. A twisting, writhing, undulating limb reached out, not even touching the flier yet, and Tala felt an implacable challenge to her will, to her power, to her authority. She was only magicbound to the flier, but it was surrounded by her bloodstars, hemmed in, bolstered, and reinforced by each of their overlapping spheres of aura and authority. Even so, the flier was wrested from her as a greased pig might escape a scrambling butcher, or as water would vanish into parched sand. With barely a blink to even realize what was happening, Tala watched the flier cease to be, her portal which had resided within severed with a violent backlash that caused her to spasm upon her throne. Barely three seconds had passed since she had first sensed the thing¡¯s approach, and those with her were only beginning to gasp at the alteration to the view around the now nonexistent flier, which was still being given by Alat¡¯s manifested perspective. Blessedly, the clouds of bloodstars remained, even after the flier was gone. A cognitive understanding more than a voice resounded within the sanctum, indeed, resonating through all of existence for quite a ways in every direction, though Tala couldn¡¯t tell exactly how far. MINE. It was at once identical and utterly alien to the expressions of the dasgannach she¡¯d encountered before. A dasgannach of a different kind? -One of¡­ connection? Archive connection? Is that even a thing?- I¡­ I have no idea. How would that even work? I¡¯m not sensing any connection to the Archive from it. Wouldn¡¯t such have to be maintained for it to be a dasgannach of such? -I have no idea.- Regardless of the specifics, Tala had felt a question¡ªor maybe more accurately the offer of a challenge¡ªin the assertion. Would she contest its claim? Following an instinct that she knew came from the dasgannach that she¡¯d subsumed, she¡­ resonated the iron in her being, throughout all of Ironhold and her sanctum, causing it to ring out in a manner entirely unlike a sound. The sense she got was that she¡¯d had responded something akin to, ¡®This is MINE.¡¯ Though only the iron had resonated, the sense she¡¯d projected encompassed all of Kit¡¯s domain. At nearly the same time, she ¡®heard¡¯ a similar resonance from a void-hung part of Kit. Similar though it may have been, this one that sounded more crystalline¡­ Like glass breaking? But her focus was too honed at the moment to think further on it. The being¡ªshe decided it must be a being for it was communicating in a sense¡ªregarded her for a long moment, during which she felt light tugs from all over within Kit as everything with a potential Archive connection as well as every book, every mind, even the core of every part of every plant, animal, and person was briefly tested. It was as if someone had blown across an ancient item, checking to see if any dust would come free. Tala¡¯s will¡ªthe strange resonance that she¡¯d invoked¡ªsaid no, and everything held firm, even as it felt the brushing of power. She held firm, and the test didn¡¯t come again. After a moment in which the being almost¡ªsomehow¡ªlooked surprised, there was a sense of surly acceptance as the being moved stoneward once more, retreating even as existence itself seemed to begin to warp around it. It felt like magic, reality, and void were all colluding to reject the being in a manner that Tala found utterly incomprehensible even while she thought she understood the purpose. As it descended, Tala looked closer, and saw that, just as with the city stones, the stoneward region was distorted, compressed oddly so that a point far in that direction was equidistant from much of the region around them. If she had to bet, the feeling that she got was that that compression and forced equadistance didn¡¯t extend into the forest¡ªlikely due to Anatalis and Vidarra¡ªbut did wrap far south and east as well as north and west, reaching at least another hundred miles in the direction that they were heading while seemingly extending quite a distance back the way they¡¯d come. This whole region was seemingly under this being¡¯s watch. There was no wonder that Sunnydale and this entire area eschewed the use of Archive related magic and advancements wherever possible despite them obviously having been exposed to such over the years. Tala swallowed, only then realizing how close they¡¯d come to destruction. If she weren¡¯t bound to a dasgannach, if she hadn¡¯t asserted her claim over all within Kit¡­ -Assuming we¡¯re understanding correctly, which is a big assumption.- Fair¡­ The view through her bloodstars, including that which Alat was still showing, no longer showed either the blasted crater of the being¡¯s arrival nor the rolling prairies of before. Now, the rolling hills had returned but all traces of life were gone. There were no ashed remnants, no corpses of small animals, nor husks of insects. Everything that had been alive was just gone, leaving bare soil and rock behind. Lyn and Rane were staring, wide-eyed, at the display before them. Terry was looking back and forth between the display and Tala, crooning softly. Tala let out a long, slow breath, then shook her head. ¡°Well, that was unfortunate.¡± She bit her lip, then clucked her tongue. ¡°I¡¯m glad we have five more of the fliers.¡± Terry turned to her, raising an avian eyebrow. Lyn simply gave her a dumbstruck look, even as Rane barked an incredulous laugh. ¡°What?¡± Tala gazed back at them before gesturing at the display. ¡°That wasn¡¯t directly because of my tests. It was incidental. We¡¯ll do the test then step into the forests to put all the information in the Archive. We¡¯ll also do all of Ironhold Archive work then. In that way, we don¡¯t have a back-log bumping up our information traffic again.¡± Lyn cleared her throat. ¡°Tala¡­ I really don¡¯t know what happened. I saw¡­ something before the flier was just gone and absolute devastation was wrought on the ground around where it had been.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°I also felt¡­ what was that? A tug on me? It was as if it were purely authoritative in nature.¡± Lyn turned to him. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t feel anything at all.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It was like someone trying to grab me, and failing, as I ran past. I felt the brief contact, but whatever it was didn¡¯t seem able to gain any purchase. If I wasn¡¯t practiced in looking for authority, I probably wouldn¡¯t have even noticed.¡± Lyn grimaced even as she grunted. ¡°Evidence suggests that you¡¯re right.¡± Tala gave a playfully feral grin. ¡°That''s because you''re MINE, and I¡¯m not going to let some creature get handsy with my husband.¡± ¡°Yes, love.¡± He chuckled, then hesitated, his expression shifting to a frown. ¡°Tala, dear, you might want to talk with Walden, Lupe, and Lisa. They will all have felt something similar, and they might not be very happy at the moment.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Tala put her palm to her forehead. ¡°That was Lupe, who I sensed.¡± Lyn arched an eyebrow. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on¡­ Can you start back at the beginning?¡± Tala considered a moment then shrugged. ¡°Alright.¡± She did just that, describing what she had seen, sensed, and done. When she got to the end, both Lyn and Rane were slightly pale. Lyn swallowed reflexively then cleared her throat. ¡°I think¡­ I think I agree with your guess. I obviously don¡¯t know, but it sounds like it was something like an information dasgannach. How could something like that even exist? Wouldn¡¯t it be made up of only information?¡± Tala opened her mouth to respond, when she got a feeling from Kit. ¡°Oh, Lupe wants to talk. Maybe she¡¯d know?¡± A moment later, Lupe appeared beside them, sitting cross legged on the ground in the shape of a young woman. ¡°Thank you for speaking with me, Mistress Tala.¡± ¡°Of course. I assume this is about the recent¡­ incident?¡± Lupe¡¯s face cracked into a smile. ¡°Yes. I sensed one of my brethren. I am glad that you all survived.¡± Tala nodded even as Lyn paled once more, and Terry let out an irritated trill. ¡°Can you illuminate what it was, and what happened?¡± Lupe shrugged, causing a whitening of much of her form, even while Kit blocked the sound of so much breaking glass. ¡°From what I could sense it was a knowledge dasgannach. From what little I know those are very rare, very unstable. Existence doesn¡¯t really like those of us without a physical component.¡± She tapped her lips with a clinking sound that Kit let through the obscuration. ¡°I¡¯d honestly thought all would have discorporated long ago, but that one is at least as advanced as I, though it is hiding out where existence has less of a¡­ tangible hold.¡± ¡°The Doman-Imithe?¡± Tala guessed. ¡°That is as good a name for it as any, I suppose. Yes, I believe that is the case. Hiding in the void wouldn¡¯t have allowed it to endure.¡± ¡°What even is it?¡± ¡°A dasgannach.¡± Lupe looked genuinely confused. ¡°I mean¡­¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°I suppose I don¡¯t actually know what a dasgannach is. Not really.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s odd. But you¡¯re bound to one.¡± Tala sighed. This was going to take a while to untangle¡­ Chapter: 520 - To Testing Tala shook her head, feeling only a bit embarrassed by Lupe¡¯s incredulity. ¡°I know about dasgannach, but stating what one is?¡± She gave a helpless smile. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯d have trouble succinctly stating what a human is.¡± Lupe hummed in understanding, the sound coming from the entirety of her being. ¡°Well, then. I suppose that I don''t have a simple definition for you either, but I can summarize in broad strokes. We are creations of aggregation and sequestering. The only use that our most basic individuals can put to what we acquire is in the acquisition of more. We don¡¯t even defend ourselves in our most basic states.¡± She gave a tinkling laugh. ¡°Not that most things can harm us.¡± Rane frowned, interjecting from the side. ¡°Really? They are quite deadly and harmful¡­ right?¡± ¡°Oh, make no mistake, we will fight to keep what we have taken or to re-acquire that which was ripped away despite our efforts. We will even fight to take from you, if you have what we are composed of. That can look quite a bit like defending ourselves or aggression, but imagine if a dasgannach actively tried to shred any host that it was in? Imagine if it tried to destroy that which it infested if any attempt was made to remove it. Even your own situation, if I understand correctly, would have been infinitely worse if the dasgannach had been trying to harm you.¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°I see. So, this thing that we just saw¡­ it was an information dasgannach? How does that even make sense?¡± Lupe shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯ve ever encountered such a thing personally, at least not in my current state so that I¡¯d have memory of it. But the Mages of ages past whom I submitted myself to, made mention of all sorts of esoteric types of my kind. Though, in truth, I don¡¯t know if they spoke from experience or about theoretical existences.¡± Lyn gave a half smile. ¡°It sounds like at least one such exists.¡± ¡°Indeed. I believe that they were working on a¡­ disabled version of my kind, oriented toward magic but passive in nature and unable to do more than take in power, acting as a reservoir for whatever conscious mind was given charge over it.¡± That tickled the back of Tala¡¯s mind, but she would consider it later. ¡°Regardless, I wished to speak with you because I felt your¡­ resonance and rejection of its hold.¡± Rane grinned with pride and placed a hand on Tala¡¯s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. ¡°Yes?¡± Tala smiled toward her husband, then frowned toward Lupe. ¡°What of it?¡± ¡°I thought it an event of note, and I didn¡¯t want it to pass unremarked.¡± ¡°What do you mean? It was a contest of authority, and I won.¡± Lupe gave a bark of laughter, before covering her mouth even as she tittered a bit more. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, but no. First of all, you could never have won a contest of authority with that creature. The nature of our existence makes our authority over our substance absolute. That is one reason why your predecessors have been so fascinated with us. Magic can work on us, but that is mainly because¡ªas I said before¡ªwe have no natural fight in us. As long as the magic isn¡¯t taking our material from us, we don¡¯t care, our authority doesn¡¯t oppose it. No. What you encountered is the reason why there is more than a single dasgannach of any given type. It is why the strongest and most able to subsume the others hasn¡¯t swept the world clean and become sole master of each material. We are¡ªat our most fundamental level¡ªdesigned to leave each other alone, even when there is overlap in scope of our base composition.¡± Tala felt her eyes widen. ¡°So, it should have killed us all?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lupe said simply. ¡°In your gated hierarchy, only those who are Reforged would have sufficient authority over themselves to resist such a claim at a basic level. Even then, everything else would have been subject to its claiming authority.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I thought we heard of less advanced resisting dasgannach in the past. Even Refined.¡± She had blocked the dasgannach by making a bloodstar, but that had more been the creature refusing to willfully accept the bond than actually opposing its authority effectively. That was also an entity that was heavily modified, specifically to keep it from affecting anyone or anything but the target, so her keeping it from claiming stuff outside her body during that time didn¡¯t really count. Lupe shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s possible, I suppose. I don¡¯t know that method of resisting, though¡­ Maybe... but it might be that, rather than resisting, Refined can simply survive even without whatever material most dasgannach would claim?¡± She shrugged again. ¡°I confess that I do not know.¡± Rane cleared his throat. ¡°This is interesting and all, but why does it call for this meeting? What is it about what happened that is so important?¡± Lupe smiled, her face whitening briefly at the movement. ¡°Of course. The reasoning is this: Iron is not pervasive enough to have protected most of what is in this expanded space, not most of what the other wanted. The authority from your subsumed dasgannach nature simply shouldn¡¯t have allowed what you did.¡± Tala¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Lupe gave a helpless expression. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know, but I thought you should be aware.¡± There was a long silence, moving toward becoming awkward. Lupe stood. ¡°That is all. Can you please send me back? I am¡­ I am feeling the distance from most of my substance more keenly after having to resonate with one of my kind for the first time in so long.¡± Tala nodded, and Lupe vanished. She saw her arrive back at her pane of glass in Irondale, where the woman stepped forward and remerged with the rest of herself. Rane and Lyn exchanged a look, and Tala smiled at each of them in turn. ¡°Well, I suppose I should check in with Lisa and Walden, then we can get back to the test. Do you wish to observe?¡± Lyn huffed a laugh, shook her head, and sighed. ¡°I should probably get back to work.¡± After a moment, she locked gazes with Tala. ¡°Be careful. Please?¡± Tala hesitated for but a breath, then nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Then, Lyn was gone, back in her office. Rane shook himself. ¡°So, talk with Lisa and Walden?¡± ¡°-Lisa said he has no need to chat. Apparently, his home''s defenses negated the¡­ whatever it was, so he has no concerns. Moreover, in his words, ¡®I¡¯m not interested in delving deeper into Reality curses, whether that¡¯s actually what they are or not.¡¯-¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not very helpful, but I guess I¡¯m glad he is fine?¡± She frowned. ¡°His defenses?¡± ¡°-He said he is not willing to share the details without cause or compensation, but he also added that given the results of this encounter, they wouldn¡¯t be needed or useful for you, regardless. He then reminded us that he is ready to continue instructing you in fourth dimensional construction at our convenience.-¡± Right¡­ I¡¯ll get to learning that¡­ eventually. Rane shook his head, clearly responding to the first part. ¡°I¡¯d say we should be irritated that he didn¡¯t warn us about something which he actively defended against, but I get the impression that if he doesn¡¯t have a defensive measure in place for something, it¡¯s because that thing doesn¡¯t exist.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tala chuckled. ¡°Likely, even if the defensive measure in question is just a delay so he can run.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Tala and Rane dropped in on Walden, but the elk was a bit ambivalent. Apparently such a ¡®natural¡¯ death would not have bothered him, but Tala also got the odd impression that the elk didn¡¯t believe he¡¯d actually have died? It wasn¡¯t worth arguing with him about, however. That left both Rane and Tala contemplative as they returned to their thrones. Rane broke the silence first. ¡°So¡­ if this works as I think it does, why wouldn¡¯t we dispose of prisoners by attaching a lure of sorts and tossing them out here? The dasgannach would subsume them, and there would be no cell to maintain.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It must not be as destructive as we are assuming, or it might be that the immortality of most of the prisoners would be able to overcome the threat? Or that it¡¯s too dangerous?¡± Rane grunted. ¡°I suppose, sure.¡± He then got a far off look. ¡°Or¡­ maybe if it absorbed such powerful beings¡ªor at least their information¡ªthat would make it stronger, so it would have a greater reach? Using it for disposal might actually create a bigger problem than it destroyed.¡± ¡°That could be, yeah¡­¡± Then, he sighed and shook his head. A moment later, his smile returned. ¡°Well, then, shall we get back to it?¡± Tala grinned in return, turning her mind from the uncertain topic. ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s get another flier in place to see how we can make this work¡­¡± She gave a brief frown. ¡°But first, let¡¯s head back to the edge of the forest. No need to do our test here.¡± Rane regarded her for a long moment, eyes narrowed. Finally, he asked in a mock serious tone, ¡°Who are you?¡± Tala grimaced, smacked his shoulder, and laughed. ¡°Stop that. I¡¯m trying to be more careful, more thoughtful about the risks I take.¡± He smiled again, then. ¡°I know, I know. Yeah. That sounds like a good plan.¡± An hour later, Tala and Rane were back in their thrones, with their superficial position now a good half mile inside the northern forest¡­ well, it was south of where they had been¡­ Anatalis¡¯ forest? Yeah, that works. They were half a mile south of the northern edge of Anatalis¡¯ forest. Additionally, Tala had very carefully inspected the region stoneward of them. It was incredibly hard to tell¡ªespecially given that there was nothing there to provide perspective¡ªbut she believed that there was no physical contraction, nor dimensional funneling going on in that dimension. Even so, Tala watched incredibly carefully as Alat restarted all the Archive interactions that had been queued up. After half an hour more, they were satisfied. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Rane jerked slightly, pulling back from the little rock that he had been inspecting. No¡­ not just inspecting. Rane had been carving with truly insane precision into a rock no bigger than the end of his thumb. He wasn¡¯t doing anything of crazy complexity, but he was creating a regular pattern of shapes, honing his skill on a minute level. He focused on her and then smiled. ¡°Right. Let¡¯s do this.¡± The flier was in a clearing, and the same perspective as before was displayed on the large, thin slab of stone. ¡°Alright. I think we can go straight up to a slow jog¡­¡± Tala grimaced, then sighed. ¡°But even though we could, we will repeat the slower test, just to be safe.¡± Rane gave a half-smile but didn¡¯t comment. Tala and Alat went through the incredibly slow speed tests, getting the same results as the previous attempt. In order to perform the tests, they¡¯d had to lift up above the trees, and they were skimming along some twenty feet above the highest tree they could see in the surrounding area. ¡°Alright, speeding up.¡± Rane was leaning forward, expression rapt as he watched the display before them. They reached a comfortable jogging speed for a mundane. There was some magical resonance beginning to build, but not nearly as much as they¡¯d have had if they were running that fast without mitigations in place. ¡°-No damage detected, but I am sensing some¡­ abrasion? I think at the moment it¡¯s like a smudge that will wipe off. It¡¯s noticeable but not actually damaging anything.-¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Shaping aura to mitigate resonance.¡± She did so, taking what little aura she had via her bloodstars and the portal within the flier¡¯s center and molded it into the shape that Master Grediv had shown her so long ago. What little magical resonance there had been immediately died away. ¡°Alright, increasing speed.¡± Rane was frowning. ¡°How fast are you going?¡± ¡°-Oh, here.-¡± In the bottom right corner of the display, a number appeared. ¡°-That is the speed we are traveling in miles per hour.-¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°-But of course.-¡± They slowly increased their pace, rising through the teens until they entered the low twenties and passed human sprinting speed. They leveled out at twenty-five miles an hour while both Tala and Alat did in-depth examinations of all that they could see around them. The ambient zeme was calm, seemingly unaffected by their passage. Reality nodes that they passed shifted to allow the passage of the flier, but that was expected. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Rane was fiddling with his little rock absentmindedly, but his eyes were still locked on the display, clearly fascinated by what he was seeing. Tala caught the words that he said as he whispered to himself, ¡°It¡¯s practically like I¡¯m there myself, looking out at the forest top.¡± ¡°It is indeed.¡± He glanced her way and smiled. ¡°This is really exciting.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Her smile widened, crinkling the skin next to her eyes. ¡°This is just the start.¡± They both returned their attention to the flier, and Tala increased the pace to thirty miles per hour. ¡°-Some mild scraping on existence.-¡± Tala grunted agreement. To follow Alat¡¯s earlier analogy, this was like someone was giving a single swipe with coarse sandpaper across a varnished surface. There was a ¡®visible¡¯ effect, and some damage being done, but the actual substance of reality seemed unaffected. Tala and Alat had been briefed on such damage as a part of all the experiments they¡¯d been in charge of conducting at the site of old Makinaven. It would heal very quickly, but it was also unquestionably damage. They sped up further, essentially taking a more gouging pass with the sandpaper. ¡°How fast can we usually go with resonance?¡± Rane asked in sudden curiosity. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯ve ever really measured.¡± ¡°-We usually find our comfortable speed in the low thirties, but it fluctuates as we go through differing regions of magical density.-¡± Tala grunted at that. They were currently going in the low to mid-thirties, and with her aura shaped to the ideal configuration, there was all but no magical resonance. From there, every bit that they sped up dug deeper into existence, approaching a more substantive¡ªharder to heal¡ªlevel. Tala grimaced. ¡°We¡¯re near the safe cap, here.¡± Rane was nodding. ¡°So, faster, but not by much. The main improvement will be quality of life.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She was a bit confused. ¡°How so?¡± He turned to regard her skeptically. ¡°Well, Alat or Enar can fly this while we train or eat or sleep?¡± She blinked a few times. ¡°Oh.¡± Then she rubbed her own eyes. ¡°Maybe I do need to go back to sleep. That was insultingly obvious.¡± Rane shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine, love. We all miss things sometimes.¡± He grinned. ¡°Regardless, we can go non-stop now, too.¡± ¡°True enough.¡± As she examined what was happening to reality as they passed by, she was nodding to herself. ¡°We need to test having Kit oscillating in the stoneward side of superficial, hopefully making any damage done more disparate.¡± Rane nodded. ¡°And you need to test if you can briefly touch faster speeds to create little ¡®blips¡¯ of deeper damage that should heal faster than a long line of it.¡± She grunted at that. ¡°Right.¡± Her grin returned in full force. ¡°More testing?¡± ¡°More testing.¡± ¡°-And I¡¯m going to loop in the requisite experts. At this point, they can¡¯t stop us for fear of an immediate catastrophe, and their input could be useful.-¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Rane gave her an arched look. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s good that we proved no disaster could possibly come from doing this.¡± Tala waved him off. ¡°I already told you that the dasgannach doesn¡¯t count. That wasn¡¯t because we were using the flier. That incident was ancillary.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Fair enough. To testing!¡± She laughed in turn. ¡°To testing!¡± Chapter: 521 - Exactly on Time Tala lay, splayed out on her bed, feeling mentally bleh. As it turned out, she could move Kit around to different stoneward depths without causing any issues within, but it was straining on her will and authority, even with Kit¡¯s very nature making it possible and facilitating the process. Doing so did divide the damage being done to existence into smaller, less contiguous chunks, which would heal faster¡ªat least according to the experiments that they¡¯d done and the information that had been shared with them. I still say there has to be a way to increase the structure of existence around gated so that they don¡¯t do as much damage regardless of anything else. -I agree, but that honestly sounds more like area of effect magic, which¡­- Tala shook her head. Yeah, that¡¯s not our thing. I still feel like someone should have come up with a way of doing it. -...You mean like the stability magics incorporated into the keystone inscriptions?- ¡­That¡¯s¡­ fair actually. That was described to me as helping contain the bounds of my gate so as to keep it from ¡®breaking out¡¯ or some such¡­ Her eyes widened a bit. So, all of this is with mitigations in place? -Yeah¡­ imagine how it used to be? No wonder the gateless races disliked and distrusted us.- Tala grunted. I suppose. Rane looked up at the sound from where he was working off to the side, fiddling with a bunch of metal parts that he¡¯d picked up from Sunnydale. ¡°Are you feeling any better?¡± She groaned long and low. ¡°No¡­¡± He gave a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, love. Are you going to be okay?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°Is there anything that I can do to help you get there?¡± She thought for a long moment. ¡°Food? Rest is only doing so much.¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy to get you some food.¡± He set his project aside and pushed himself to his feet. ¡°I did want to ask you, though¡­ Isn''t Alat moving the flier as we speak?¡± ¡°She is.¡± ¡°How is that restful for you? It¡¯s still your mind doing the work. Right?¡± She grunted again. ¡°Yes and no?¡± -Mainly yes, but¡ª- Hush. Aren¡¯t you busy? Alat grumbled a little, then turned her attention back to the flier, which was moving well below its maximum ¡®safe¡¯ speed to be extra cautious. ¡°Basically yes, but while I am mostly thinking and acting cognitively within the biology in my head, Alat is mostly doing so within the magical enhancements and expansions to the same. There is obviously a lot of overlap, but that still means that she ¡®wears out¡¯ mentally a lot slower than I do when under extreme strain.¡± Rane raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? Huh. That¡¯s not how Enar and I work at all.¡± Tala lifted her head to look at her husband. ¡°Really? I thought you all worked like Alat and I do.¡± -I¡¯ve tried to tell you otherwise several times but¡ªAh!- Tala flicked her attention to one of the perspectives around the flier, and saw Terry flicker into being beside it, taking a playful swipe at the construct. The terror bird had decided that Alat needed some ¡®evasive¡¯ training, and he¡¯d volunteered to provide just that. Rane shrugged, unaware of the crisis occurring for Tala¡¯s alternate interface. ¡°No, I think our minds are different enough that it made more sense to do it differently. Essentially, I can now think of up to three things at once¡ªmeaning that I can have three continuous, unbroken, and ongoing lines of thought at a time¡ªand Enar and I freely utilize those. Usually, he is using two and I am using one, but sometimes he uses three and sometimes I use two.¡± He shrugged again. ¡°It¡¯s an enhancement magic that will let us have even more, but that will happen at the first deepening of the inscriptions which isn¡¯t scheduled for another year or so.¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°I see.¡± He pushed himself up to his feet. ¡°But I promised you food. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± True to his word, he came back with a large spread of food for her less than five minutes later, and they sat together on their bedroom floor. It would have been trivial to go to their dining room, but something about eating together on the floor was¡­ nice. It was a change of pace and fun in a way that Tala felt they were lacking of late. Following that line of thinking, she somewhat abruptly stated, ¡°Once we find Howlton, and investigate the clockwork thunder, I think I¡¯m ready to head home. We need to solidify ourselves as Paragons, and just breathe a bit.¡± ¡°Oh? I¡¯d thought we came out here to do just that? Breathe, I mean. I don¡¯t think either of us expected to reach Paragon on this trip.¡± He gave a self-effacing smile. Tala chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have taken that bet.¡± ¡°We did come out to get away from responsibilities and to keep your mind off of¡­¡± He hesitated. She gave him a sad smile. ¡°You can say it. If anyone can, you can.¡± He returned her expression, loss clear in his own eyes. ¡°We came out here to keep our minds off of our inability to have children.¡± Tala had braced for a wave of unpleasant emotions when he actually said it, but instead, she found herself almost relieved to have had him express it out loud. ¡°You¡¯re right. We did. I¡­¡± He shifted around and draped his arm around her while she collected her thoughts. She leaned into the embrace, laying her head against him before she continued. ¡°It still feels silly, to have felt like I lost something precious which I never actually had.¡± He squeezed her once, tightly. ¡°But you did lose something. You lost your plans. You lost the hope for our children. Sure, nothing tangible was taken from you, from us, but often it¡¯s that which we cannot touch that hurts the most to lose. Even if there is the potential for hope for the future, that is something we¡¯ve regained since.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tala frowned, looking toward Rane. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Well, aside from the ability to have children which we¡¯re already discussing. Let me see¡­ Our innocence? When going from childhood to adulthood. It happens a bit differently for everyone, but it¡¯s almost always a¡­ difficult experience. Our plans¡ªnot just a plan for children, but any plan when it is foiled¡ªa friendship? The person is often still there, even as we feel the friendship fading. That can hurt worse than that same person moving away. I could go on, but I think you understand what I mean.¡± Tala pulled back and gave him a narrowed eyed look. ¡°Could you really go on?¡± He grinned back. ¡°Yeah, but it would be more difficult. I think I could come up with one or two more examples if I had to.¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± They leaned against one another again, taking comfort in the contact, the closeness. They ate slowly even as they simply enjoyed each other¡¯s company. This. I needed this. * * * Time passed as Terry continued to stalk and surprise Alat, Rane continued to carve and fiddle with the metal parts he¡¯d acquired, and Tala worked on her iron self. She found the process confusingly both more and less easy with the alteration to her iron brought about through the acquisition of the baba yaga¡¯s teeth. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. It was easier, because the iron seemed more willing to take on the imposed characteristics, adopting and holding them much more easily, almost seeming to drink in her intentions and alter itself with almost no effort. On the other side, some of the finer specifics became far more important. Before, she could lean on her innate knowledge of human biology to fill in the gaps, and make things work more smoothly, but now? No, the iron took on exactly the properties that she wished it to, under the influence of Kit¡¯s power and her own direct authority. It would be decidedly better in the long run, but for now? For now she was doing far worse than she had been. Her latest iteration had just fallen apart before she even tried to make it take a step¡ªrust, it had fallen apart before she¡¯d finished crafting it¡ªwhen Alat interrupted her experimentation. -We¡¯re coming up on the meeting place.- How are we in regards to timing? -Exactly on time. I¡¯ve been taking it slow as we don¡¯t have to stop, and there was no reason to cause damage when we weren¡¯t really in a rush.- Tala was surprised that three days had passed without her really realizing it. Huh¡­ traveling by flier is¡­ less exciting? Less interesting? -Yeah, I can see that. You get to focus on experimentation and training, but you can do that anywhere. Part of the point of this travel was to see the sights.- Yeah, and I¡¯m not seeing any of the sights¡­ -The memories of what the flier perspectives took in are readily available to you.- That¡¯s not the same¡­ Tala groused. There was a pregnant pause before Alat cleared her metaphysical throat. -...You don¡¯t say.- Tala sighed. I know that¡¯s basically how you experience everything, but I don¡¯t really like it. -Yeah, it isn¡¯t quite your style. You can get used to it¡ªI¡¯m evidence to that¡ªbut it does make all of existence feel a bit abstract.- ¡­Alright, then. We¡¯re walking for the next leg¡­ or at least moving under our own power. -Agreed.- Tala willed herself and Rane out of the sanctum, where they appeared on the top of an escarpment, overlooking a larger stretch of the plains. Rane, for his part, had a bronze gear in hand, and was bending forward as if looking intently at something. As soon as he appeared beside her, he turned her direction, raising an eyebrow. Tala flushed. ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Rane. I didn¡¯t think to check if you were free. I just sort of assumed that you would be.¡± He sighed, working his tongue over his teeth. ¡°Can you give me five? I¡¯ll be at a good stopping point, then.¡± ¡°Sure. Just let me know when you¡¯re ready.¡± Then, he was gone, having willed himself back to whatever task he was working on. He¡¯d asked her not to peek, so she hadn¡¯t. -I know what it is.- Of course you do. He didn¡¯t ask you not to peek. -But he did ask that I keep it to myself.- I know, I know. I¡¯ll be excited to see it when he¡¯s done. -Yeah, it¡¯ll be fun for you to see, but it¡¯s actually pretty funny that I¡¯m to keep it to myself, because you are myself. I could just tell you, and it wouldn¡¯t be a violation in the least.- Tala sent a feeling of non-amused incredulity. -Fine, fine. Allow your husband to keep his secrets¡­- With that little embarrassment aside¡ªand Alat reminded of the order of things¡ªTala really focused on the world around her. The forest was almost directly to the west from this point, with small stands of trees in evidence all around, here and there. A few streams carved their way through the low points of the terrain, coming together here and there to make larger waterways. The grass was a bit yellower than it had been in early spring, but as they weren¡¯t even to the summer solstice yet, it wasn¡¯t extreme. She could sense pockets of magic hidden underground, or moving through valleys or above the clouds overhead, mostly hidden from mundane sight, and she guessed that most of those were arcanous or magical creatures of one type or another. Similar magical signatures in the surrounding landscape were essentially always in evidence, even if she rarely paid them any mind. She, herself, was veiled to displaying a Fused level of power at the moment, though the spark of obviously Paragon power in the flier beside her ruined the disguise just a bit. She closed the portal that was within the flier, then opened another for it to pass through, into its storage place in the sanctum. There. Now I look properly Fused. She rested her left hand on Flow at her hip, taking comfort in the familiar handle. I still haven¡¯t revisited reworking Flow into an existence blade, now that I have more practice and a greater advancement¡­ It was yet one more thing on her ever revolving and expanding list. She¡¯d get to it eventually. With his erstwhile prey gone, Terry flickered to Tala¡¯s shoulder and headbutted the side of her head. ¡°Hey, now. We can play more later.¡± He squawked in resigned understanding then settled in to wait with her. As long as our list is¡ªand as much as I¡¯d like to focus on doing some more things off of it¡ªwe have another task now. The plan is to see another moving settlement and get to Howlton. The Irondalians are rather excited for another chance to trade with a moving settlement. -And that other settlement should be arriving¡­ now.- As the alternate interface gave the cue, the settlement¡¯s cloaking field rolled over them, revealing a land-bound construction, though much squatter than Howlton. This one had six legs and looked to only be three or four stories at the tallest, the bottom-most floor held roughly fifteen feet off the ground. What it lacked in height, however, it made up for in size. It looked to be a bit more than three hundred fifty feet long and half that wide. It was a blockier construction, even if the corners seemed to have been rounded off. She could see windows of various sizes and shapes scattered across the side facing her, and by what she could see with her threefold sight, there were a wide variety of uses the rooms with those windows were put to. The city as a whole seemed to be made mostly out of wood and metal just as Sunnydale had been, but there was some stone incorporated as well. Specifically, the legs themselves seemed almost to be made of granite, held together and given mobility by massive interconnected and interwoven roots. The top of the village sprouted trees of immense width, even if they weren¡¯t that much taller than many of the nearby trees in the prairie. Her threefold sight saw cords of power running through each and every root, as well as in the seemingly random spirals, grooves, and cracks in the rock. Together, the powers seemed to make an incredibly powerful and flexible foundation. The town came to a stop beside the escarpment on which Tala stood, lining up an exterior entrance with the ground through slight adjustments of the legs. At that point, a small platform extended, making the connection even easier. -Lyn¡¯s ready.- Tala nodded to herself, then pulled Lyn to the superficial beside her, whisking her right out of her office where she¡¯d been waiting. At nearly the same moment the door opened, and a young woman stepped out, bowing toward Tala and Lyn. As she straightened, her gaze lingered on Terry for a brief moment before she spoke, ¡°Greaters. You are expected.¡± Lyn smiled and bowed in return. ¡°You must be Cait. We¡¯ve been confering through the communication device?¡± ¡°Oh! Greater Lyn, yes, welcome welcome.¡± The young woman smiled, her freckles standing out in starker relief because of the expression. ¡°The heads of this village would like to speak with you and¡­ may I assume that this is Greater Tala?¡± Tala gave a slight bow, Terry not even needing to tighten his grip to stay in place. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Be welcomed.¡± Tala and Lyn stepped onto the platform before the door, and almost immediately, the village began to move once more, swaying gently as it ambled across the land. They passed through the polished copper-plated entry door and into a wide, but still cozy feeling, hallway. The slow sway of the walking gait was actually rather easy to become accustomed to, and so Tala put it from her mind after walking barely a dozen yards down the entry passage. ¡°We here in Astraya welcome all who wish to join us, whether for an hour or a lifetime.¡± Cait gave them a side-eyed glance. ¡°I will warn you that we have several groups from the House lands to the south as well as quite a few individuals of non-human species both in residence and traveling through. We do not wish any conflicts within our fair town.¡± Lyn nodded and glanced toward Tala. Tala sighed, and shifted her through-spike illusion to leave her iron faceplate exposed. Even as a Paragon, she wasn¡¯t going to enter a new place unarmored. While she had been trying to keep a polite facade in place with the illusion, if there was even the tiniest chance that she¡¯d be recognized? She would risk a bit of rudeness. -You are practically an exemplar of wisdom.- Hush you. Cait gave her an odd look, hesitating only briefly, but she didn¡¯t say anything further on the matter. Instead, she and Lyn began finalizing the arrangements that had been made for their passage with the city, as well as the deployment of Irondale¡¯s gate in the town¡¯s hold area. Though, that would have to wait until after Tala and Lyn met with the town leadership. They passed random groups of humans¡ªmostly gated, but a few gateless¡ªand arcanes. Most of the gateless¡ªhuman and arcane¡ªwould be in the holds, but obviously not all were. Tala made particular note of the elves that she saw, though she didn¡¯t recognize any individuals. They were similar enough to Meallain in appearance that she more than once thought she saw the woman, only for the elf in question to turn, revealing a slightly different set of features. There¡¯s no cause to be jumpy, Tala. There¡¯s no way that she¡¯d be away from the House of Blood. The three women and one bird got inquisitive looks, but most seemed to recognize Cait well enough to not do more than look, even with Tala¡¯s obviously obscuring mask. Terry, himself, seemed to only get stares of cautious interest from those they passed. More the fool them. He¡¯d be a positive terror in these tight confines if he chose to go on a rampage. -Which he won¡¯t¡­ right? And you won¡¯t ask him to¡­ right?- Right. Of course. Cait led them up toward the front and top of the moving town, and the number of others around them hit a peak and then slowly diminished until they were all but alone in the corridors once more. Just before they came to a set of massive copper-bound wooden doors, Rane signaled that he was ready. Tala willed him forth, and he came to the superficial without preamble or sound to announce his arrival. Even so, his sudden appearance caused Cait to jump before she gave a bow. ¡°Oh my! Welcome, Greater¡­?¡± ¡°Rane.¡± He bowed in return. ¡°Thank you for the welcome¡­?¡± ¡°Cait, Greater.¡± She bowed again, then turned to push open the doors, revealing a spacious room with a commanding view of the shifting and swaying land before the town. ¡°The town Leadership will see you now.¡± The three gated humans walked into the space, and Cait pulled the door closed behind them, remaining on the outside herself. Chapter: 522 - Astrayas Leadership Tala¡ªTerry on her shoulder¡ªRane, and Lyn stood in what appeared to be the command area for the moving village of Astraya, the heavy doors just shutting behind them. As soon as they were truly closed, Tala dismissed her armor as doing otherwise would have been rather rude. She and Rane also released their veils. The room, while holding a clear feel of importance and command, was just as obviously designed to be a comfortable place in which to be. There were several distinct sitting areas, and two people rose to greet them from one such. Tala was surprised to find that both were gated. Specifically, they both appeared to be unveiled Paragon gated. The woman was actually rather short, even shorter than Tala by a couple of inches. Her hair was red-brown and incredibly long as it nearly reached the ground, even while woven into a tight braid that did little to hide just how curly it was. Her skin was starkly pale, covered with a smattering of freckles that highlighted her blue-gray eyes in a rather enchanting fashion. Her round face was further set off by the almost phantasmal cat ears poking up through her hair. And as soon as Tala noticed those, she saw obvious traces of similarly phantasmal cat hair in tufts and swatches all over the woman''s body, not in a mangy sort of way, but as if they were there as visual augments to her already noticeable beauty. What is this now? -Huh¡­ the ears and other non-human features are definitely a part of her, there is not a distinction between reality nodes. They don¡¯t seem to be an illusion either.- But she has a gate¡­ Half breed? That¡¯s right half-arcanes can have gates¡­ can¡¯t they¡­ She frowned. She rarely considered the few that she¡¯d seen. At the moment, though, she was being rude, and she assumed that she¡¯d learn in time. The woman wore a simple white dress that was long while not being quite long enough to hide her delicately sandaled feet or brush the ground as she moved. Stitched all through the stunningly clean garment were patterns that evoked a feeling of nature in colors running the gamut in the pastel range of hues. The woman bowed. ¡°I am Mistress Cae.¡± Mistress? Tala bowed in turn. ¡°I am Mistress Tala, this is my husband Master Rane, and my adjunct Mistress Lyn.¡± Lyn and Rane bowed as they were mentioned, Lyn more deeply than Rane and Tala by a fair margin. Mistress Cae bowed to Rane and Lyn as well. ¡°We¡¯re not fans of the ¡®Greater¡¯ vernacular, and so we won¡¯t use it with other gated. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re amenable to that. Having magic does not make one ¡®greater¡¯ than others¡­¡± She seemed to catch herself. ¡°But you aren¡¯t here for a philosophical rant. This is my husband, Master Kalfeir.¡± The stoic man gave a bow in turn. He had dark hair with marginally graying wings near his temples. He was powerfully built in a way that few men that Tala had seen achieved, save Rane and a few of the guardsmen she¡¯d known in the caravans. It went beyond simply being strong and capable and entered into the realm of something that he clearly worked on. He had the bearing of a soldier¡ªa lifelong fighter¡ªand even the way he stood evoked a readiness for action, a readiness to defend his wife no matter what came. His clothes were utilitarian, while being just as pristine as Cae¡¯s, and he had what looked to be dozens of small scroll tubes affixed to his belt along with a simple knife. Despite his only marginal smile, Tala could see a sparkle of humor behind Master Kalfeir¡¯s eyes that actually reminded her of the merchant Mara¡ªeven if that woman had been smiling constantly, which Kalfeir decidedly wasn¡¯t. ¡°Welcome to Astraya.¡± His voice was rich and powerful, like he was used to giving commands and having them obeyed. His seemingly unveiled aura was nearly three-quarters of the way toward Reforged, while his wife¡¯s gave the feeling of being stuck just past half-way. That sense of being stuck was an odd extra thing that was seemingly interwoven with the coloration. Though Tala couldn¡¯t actually tell how she was sensing it, exactly. Likely, it had to do with her expanded awareness and sight of souls that she was just beginning to flex and understand. Tala finally gestured to Terry, taking a bit of mirth from the fact that Mistress Cae had been inspecting him with little subtlety since they had entered. ¡°This is my bound companion, Terry.¡± Mistress Cae beamed. ¡°Good to meet you, Terry. You are a terror bird, correct?¡± Tala and Terry nodded at the same time. ¡°With dimensional magics too. That must be a terrifying combination with your natural weapons and instincts.¡± Terry fluffed himself a bit, clearly preening in the praise. Tala grinned. ¡°He is rather impressive. He¡¯s saved my life quite a few times.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve no doubt, and you his, I hope?¡± Tala looked his way, and Terry met her gaze levelly before headbutting her cheek. Mistress Cae¡¯s smile softened. ¡°I¡¯m glad to know that.¡± They all exchange bows and greetings once more, before Mistress Cae beamed once more. ¡°Come, sit. Sit! We have so much to discuss. Can we get you anything? Water? Tea? Coffee? Wine? Ale? Food? Meals are available and served at the regular times, but we can order something brought if you are particularly hungry.¡± Terry crooned, indicating he wanted nothing, and settled in to sleep on Tala¡¯s shoulder. Lyn accepted the offer of some tea; Tala asked for coffee; and Rane asked to try the wine. Tala gave him an odd look, and he shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t drink much wine, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be an interesting vintage.¡± Mistress Cae clapped her hands delightedly. ¡°Shall you have sweet or dry wine? Red, white, blue, or amber?¡± Rane blinked at her a few times. Master Kalfeir gave a slight sigh before interjecting, ¡°My wife enjoys working with plants and their products. We have quite the export of various wines from the fruits in the holds that we carry with us.¡± Mistress Cae grimaced slightly. ¡°It is very frustrating having to manage those plants from afar, but at least I get to be more hands on once the fruits are harvested.¡± Lyn leaned forward. ¡°Really? You are involved in the fermenting process? And you create enough wine to be an exporter?¡± A truly feline smile stole over the other woman¡¯s face. ¡°Oh, my dear, you have no idea.¡± She then waved a hand, dismissing the matter. ¡°But first, let us get you all your drinks, and socialize. It¡¯s not time to talk trade, not yet, and we are likely not the best to hash out details with either.¡± She returned her attention to Rane. ¡°Master Rane?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I prefer sweet to dry, but other than that? I confess that I am ignorant.¡± Their hostess seemed unbothered. ¡°Then I shall select something for you.¡± He gave a slight bow. ¡°I place myself in your capable hands, then.¡± Mistress Cae¡¯s eyes unfocused for a brief moment, then she led them all to a sitting area with wooden, but surprisingly comfortable¡ªand sturdy¡ªlounge chairs. The tilted backs and seats invited lounging¡ªas the name implied¡ªand Tala found herself relaxing into the position. Less than a minute later, a young man who was clearly a servant entered bearing a tray of drinks. He had mousy features and was clearly an arcane of that variety, even though Tala didn¡¯t believe that she¡¯d seen a mouse-kin before. -There were some in the crowds in Platoiri, but I don¡¯t think you ever took special note of them.- Right. That¡¯s fair. The servant gave each of them their drinks with sure, steady hands, before bowing and departing, never having said a word. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It seemed that Mistress Cae had desired wine, and she¡¯d gotten her husband something in a large silver tankard. Lyn was lightly frowning in contemplation, and after the young man departed, she asked. ¡°Do you use the Archive here? Are we far enough from the danger?¡± Master Kalfeir gave a wry, half-smile, but it was Mistress Cae who replied. ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve heard of that proscription then? I¡¯m glad. We would have given that warning before we parted company if not. It is an odd belief and practice of the northern expanse, but we have come across credible tales of the utter vanishment of those who ignore it.¡± She shrugged. Tala almost opened her mouth to tell the woman what she knew about exactly what that belief was likely based on, but she stopped herself. Such would lead to far more questions and the sharing of more that Tala wished to at this time. Mistress Cae didn¡¯t seem to notice¡ªor she didn¡¯t mind if she did¡ªand she continued without any sort of pause. ¡°Regardless, we are in less danger here according to common wisdom, but no, I did not signal through the Archive. I am connected to several wooden expanses in various parts of Astraya, and I simply altered one to make our request known.¡± She chuckled. ¡°In truth, I am connected to all the wood here, in one form or other, but for most, the connection does not allow such fine control.¡± Tala grunted, nodding. ¡°I can understand that. I¡¯ve used a similar method myself, though I imagine I come at it differently.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The other Paragon gave a slight nod of her head. Rane took a sip of the wine, and his eyes widened with delighted surprise. ¡°Oh, this is magnificent. What gives it the deep blue color?¡± Mistress Cae was clearly pleased at his reaction. ¡°It¡¯s from a rare species of grape that we discovered on our travels. I bred it to have sufficiently sized fruit, then bred out the seeds.¡± She smiled laconically. ¡°I worked with it in other ways, too. Honestly, the only two things I maintained were the color of the juice¡ªI do so love royal blue¡ªand the flavor. But once I had the fruit, the real work began. Properly fermenting a good, sweet wine is a task for the centuries.¡± She gave a self-deprecating smile. ¡°At least it was for me.¡± Rane nodded along before lifting his glass in a salute. ¡°And it seems that your efforts were not in vain. Thank you.¡± They went on to discuss the other beverages which were equally excellent. Apparently, Astraya was the major exporter of many beverage types in the region, with the tea and coffee each being grown in various custom holds created and maintained for the purpose. Mistress Cae definitely carried the conversation, acting the consummate hostess and ensuring that everyone was engaged. Master Kalfeir occasionally commented as well, but he seemed far more content to sit back and listen. He always wore a small smile whenever he was looking toward his wife, and he always took on an air of quiet readiness whenever he was gazing at anyone else. The meandering small talk got them through the initial drinks, and once Mistress Cae had ordered more¡ªand those had arrived¡ªthey were ready to move on to other subjects. ¡°Now, we would love to hear how things are going in the cycling cities. It has been several decades since we got any travelers from that region, and they weren¡¯t that well informed.¡± Tala glanced toward Rane, and Rane shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what I can.¡± And so he did. He went over the current configuration of cities¡ªwhich sites were currently in use and what the current name was for each¡ªhe also detailed the various City Rulers and experiments that they were running. Mistress Cae and Master Kalfeir seemed especially interested in Audel and the current allowance of outwardly non-human appearances. When he wound down, Rane asked the obvious follow-up question, ¡°How long have you been away?¡± The two shared a look, and Master Kalfeir shrugged, prompting his wife to answer. ¡°Nearly nine hundred years.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Why is that?¡± Mistress Cae gestured to herself, specifically the ears on the top of her head. ¡°In my younger years, I thought the recommendations against bonding with sapient creatures in the early advancements was for other people. I assumed that I knew better. I had the fortune of coming across a rare¡ªand incredibly friendly¡ªastral cat. We got along incredibly well, and I wished for her to be my companion.¡± She grimaced then, but it was one of memory, not active pain. ¡°It went wrong. We merged rather than bonding, and my consciousness overpowered hers entirely. She died that day, and I lost my best friend.¡± Terry¡¯s eyes flicked open, and he gave a soft trill of sympathy. Master Kalfeir shifted to put his arm around his wife. She snuggled up against him before continuing. ¡°I took on aspects of her physiology, gained many of her instincts, and I even picked up some aspects of her magic.¡± Tala gave a slow nod. ¡°Like Master Jevin, at least sort of?¡± Mistress Cae gave a genuine smile. ¡°Yes indeed. Master Jevin has been a great help, whenever we crossed paths. I didn¡¯t realize you were that familiar with him, when your husband mentioned his continued rule over Makinaven. He said he would try to come out for a visit the next time his tree is abandoned this cycle. He¡¯ll fit in the trip before the Leshkin stir to their war path. We are parallel journeys, each seeking a return to our humanity because of what we have done to ourselves.¡± Lyn had a sad cast to her features as she carefully asked, ¡°And you are finding that out here?¡± ¡°Indeed. I don¡¯t have the temperment to rule a city of hundreds of thousands, nor does my Kalfeir, but here? A few thousand? We can build our authority and strive to Reforge properly.¡± She reached up to stroke Master Kalfeir¡¯s face. ¡°I swear he could have been done a dozen times over if he would just buckle down and make it happen.¡± He smiled kindly in return. ¡°But I won¡¯t leave you behind. I¡¯ll take the last step at need, but not before, not without you.¡± The woman gave her guests an exasperated look, but it had a conspiratorial note, as if inviting them into her own feelings of affectionate frustration. ¡°His Reforging wouldn¡¯t harm me in the least, but will he listen to his wife? No.¡± The man gave a shrug that somehow had a note of finality to it. ¡°It is right to my eyes, and I will do nothing less. My honor is not subject to your wishes, no matter how much I love you.¡± Rane and Tala shared a look. In that look, Tala could tell that Rane hadn¡¯t changed his mind. He still wanted her to advance as quickly as she was able, regardless of him, and she agreed. She still felt a bit conflicted, but she simply couldn¡¯t bring herself around to Master Kalfeir¡¯s way of thinking. As she considered it, that was alright. No two relationships were identical, and trying to force hers and Ranes to look like Mistress Cae¡¯s and Master Kalfeir¡¯s would likely ruin it. They were different people¡ªthey were different couples¡ªand so their marriages wouldn¡¯t be the same. -Convenient of you to think that, eh?- Oh, hush you, Alat. You know it¡¯s true. -Of course it¡¯s true, but it¡¯s also convenient, is it not?- ¡­You¡¯re very mean sometimes. -We are our worst critic.- ¡°Oh!¡± Tala had a sudden realization, causing the others to pause at her exclamation. She flushed slightly. ¡°My apologies. I just remembered something. You two are married and Paragons.¡± Master Kelfeir raised an eyebrow even as Mistress Cae chuckled. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Well, does that mean that you¡¯ve worked out how to use magic through each other¡¯s auras and authorities?¡± When the two frowned at her, she felt the need to explain. ¡°We¡¯ve been married less than a year, and only just achieved the advancement of Paragon.¡± The two shared a look, something deep passing between them. Once again, Master Kalfeir seemed content to let his wife speak for them. ¡°Well, that explains your question. As to the answer: Yes and no.¡± Rane and Tala leaned in, not interrupting. Lyn had out a pad of paper¡ªtrying to honor the proscription against Archive connections¡ªand was taking notes. ¡°Yes, we are able to use magic through the aura generated by the other, but no, it isn¡¯t ¡®each other¡¯s¡¯ aura. We have the same aura. We are one.¡± She leaned back against her husband as if that said it all. He squeezed her close and kissed the top of her head. Tala blinked a few times, considering. Terry squawked as if what had just been said was obvious. It wasn¡¯t to Tala. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t understand. I can¡¯t use his magics, nor he mine. Are you telling me that you can use each others¡¯ inscriptions and natural magics?¡± Mistress Cae shook her head, smiling. ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking about this right. Can your foot use the inscriptions or natural magics around your eye?¡± Tala frowned. ¡°No? But it doesn¡¯t need to.¡± Master Kalfeir spoke up, then. ¡°My magics are mostly perceptual in nature, at least those that I have inscribed and carved deeply into my existence as natural magics.¡± He kissed his wife¡¯s head again before pulling his arm back and leaning forward. ¡°She doesn¡¯t need to use my magics because I already see whatever we need to see.¡± He then leaned back as if that answered everything. Rane grunted, and Tala looked at him quizzically. ¡°Do you understand?¡± He shrugged noncommittal. ¡°I think so, but we¡¯re getting hung up on an ancillary detail. They¡¯re saying that they¡¯ve merged their auras to be identical, even though that¡¯s visibly untrue.¡± Master Kalfeir just huffed a laugh. ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed that your own aura isn¡¯t uniform?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t perfectly uniform. We can make it more or less powerful, within the range of our ability. We can veil it or enhance it at need.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± He then leaned back, a pleased smile on his face. Her frown grew. ¡°No, not exactly. It is still my aura. It still reflects my advancement; it is still mine.¡± Master Kalfeir just shrugged, seeming content with what he¡¯d already said. -What about when you flickered to Rane¡¯s aura? That shouldn¡¯t have been possible if it wasn¡¯t actually your aura.- I what¡ª? Then she remembered. Huh¡­ maybe? Mistress Cae added a final thought, ¡°It¡¯s not instantaneous nor intuitive for most, but it is true. Those who are married¡ªsoulbound as we are soulbound¡ªare two parts of the same whole. It is truer for us than for any soulbound item, but you should be able to see it there, too. An item¡¯s power will show in the aura around it, not superseding yours but augmenting it, altering it, enhancing it in ways that are difficult to detect if you aren¡¯t looking for it.¡± Tala sighed. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s another thing to add to the task list.¡± Master Kalfeir took pity on her then, giving a placating smile. ¡°All of those of our advancement have such lists, and it is the fate of all for those to grow and grow.¡± He gave a wink. ¡°The secret is to tackle the things you care about and find others to take care of the rest.¡± Mistress Cae let out a giggling laugh. ¡°In that regard, Mistress Lyn. Yours has been a pleasant company, but we do not actually handle Astraya¡¯s trade ourselves. Can I connect you with our adjunct in turn?¡± Lyn stood and bowed. ¡°Of course, Mistress Cae. Thank you for your hospitality and for allowing me to be a part of such a conversation.¡± ¡°Of course. Once your negotiations are complete, you would be welcome to drop by and visit us at any time.¡± She gestured around herself. ¡°We are in these suites most days, and when we are not, we have someone here to take down messages for us.¡± Lyn bowed again. ¡°I will remember that. Thank you.¡± At that moment, the doors opened, and Cait stepped in, bowing to each in turn. ¡°Mistress Lyn, are you ready to begin our negotiations?¡± Lyn smiled, following the other woman out. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± Chapter: 523 - But of Course Tala and Rane took slow sips of their drinks as they chatted a bit more with the leaders of Astraya, the conversation continuing until a bit after all four had nothing but empty cups before them. Finally, Mistress Cae and Master Kalfeir both stood, prompting Tala and Rane to do the same. Terry flickered back to Tala¡¯s shoulder where he shimmied down into a comfortable perch¡ªhe¡¯d been sitting right up against the front view window, seeming to enjoy watching the world go by before him. Master Kalfeir gave a genuine smile. ¡°We hope that your stay is a profitable and enjoyable one for you, and if there is anything that we can do for you, please let us know. We have not forgotten where we came from, even if we have not returned in some time.¡± Mistress Cae gave a shallow bow. ¡°And do be careful. There are a few hot-heads here from the House lands to the south, and they don¡¯t particularly like gated. Those in charge of the various groups are generally good at keeping them in line¡ªotherwise they wouldn¡¯t be allowed to stay¡ªbut I don¡¯t want you to be caught unawares.¡± Tala immediately looked after Lyn. ¡°My adjunct¡ª¡± Mistress Cae waved that off. ¡°Out here, people sometimes get as far as Fused with enough frequency that such won¡¯t mark her as a Cycler. You two, however? With your veil dropped, it¡¯s unmistakable.¡± Rane frowned. ¡°What of you two?¡± Master Kalfeir huffed. ¡°We are known as the leaders here. No one is so far gone into bigotry that they will attack their hosts.¡± Tala found herself nodding along at the obviousness of that. The Houses were often depraved, but they had their own type of honor and courtesy which they held sacred. Rane gave a slow nod to that. Master Kalfeir met each of their gazes for a long moment. ¡°You are welcome to fight duels or in other sanctioned clashes, but I will be very displeased if you destroy part of my home, or attack any outside of the bounds of propriety.¡± As he spoke, Tala felt the level of authority he possessed over Astraya, not as an oppressive weight, but as an unambiguous promise and statement. His word was law, and it would not be violated. They bowed again, and Tala gave what she hoped was a disarming smile. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it.¡± ¡°Then we look forward to seeing you around our fair town.¡± Tala and Rane took that for the dismissal that it was and departed. As the door swung shut behind them, Rane turned to Tala. ¡°Do you need me for anything?¡± She shook her head, ¡°Not at this moment. I just need to go place the gate for Ironhold¡­ as soon as Lyn confirms where it needs to be.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get back to what I was doing then.¡± He gave a wink, leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, then vanished with a flexing of his will. Terry trilled at her implicatively. ¡°Do you want to go to the sanctum, or Ironhold?¡± He gave a squawk that conveyed that such was a silly question. She opened a small portal into the sanctum, and he flickered through. That complete, Tala closed the portal, replaced her armor, and headed toward the marketplace, where Lyn had communicated the portal to Irondale should be placed. -And she just confirmed it. Apparently Cait just gave final verification and authorization.- Alright, then. It was a simple matter to find the central market. Most corridors and ¡®main¡¯ paths seemed to be oriented such that reaching that central hub was as easy as possible. When Tala arrived, she found it to be a three story affair, open to the air above, with two massive passages going out toward the sides on the lowest level, clearly used for moving larger goods in and out. An odd elevator of sorts was in place to take anything large¡ªor a large number of people at a time¡ªup to the various levels and even to Astraya¡¯s roof. Each of the three levels was ringed with a thoroughfare that seemed as fit for a small wagon as for a walkway, allowing easy access to the more than twenty holds that Tala was able to perceive. It was also immediately apparent that the higher up a hold was, the more value it was given, at least if the ornamentation around the entries was any indication. Or the higher holds are residence oriented, and lower down are less or or not at all. -That stands to reason given where Irondale is to be placed.- Ironhold was authorized for placement on the second level up, as it was a residence hold but also had business to be about. The spot for it was obvious once Alat pointed it out. It was a stretch of plain wooden wall directly opposite her current position, across the large open area. It wasn¡¯t the only such stretch of wall, but there weren¡¯t that many. With an easy extension of her aura and authority, she encompassed the space in question, and opened the portal to Irondale. That caused a commotion among the couple of hundred people moving from hold to hold or passing through this central hub of the town. To be fair, part of that might have been the fact that the portal seemed to open on its own, with no one nearby to have been the cause. Irondalians immediately stepped out to set up signage, and within a minute¡ªeven as Tala watched¡ªa steady trickle of people began moving in and out. Most of those who went in came back out quickly, either with smiles on their faces, muttering excitedly, or both. They¡¯d most likely be back now that they¡¯d seen at least some of what was on offer in this mysterious new hold. Tala took a moment to people-watch. Here at the hub of activity, most of those moving around were human¡ªalmost all of those were gateless¡ªbut close to thirty percent of those she saw were still arcane, and at least a small portion of those had an air of dislike toward the humans whom they passed. Outsiders, then? -That seems likely. I doubt any with that attitude would stay in a place ruled by humans for long, at least not if they had any other option.- It is interesting how hard it is to get rid of biases. -Like the fact that you keep calling them arcanes within our mind?- Tala shrugged internally. It¡¯s what they are. -And some find that offensive.- Well, then they can challenge me to a duel. I¡¯m happy to own up to the consequences of my choices. Alat huffed a laugh. -Very well. As it stands, you might just get your chance.- Tala turned her focus, but not her head, to regard the group that Alat had indicated. It was a group of five elves, all Paragon¡ªHonored by their scale of advancement¡ªmaking their way through the other foot traffic. They weren¡¯t making a nuisance of themselves. There was no comical shoving or tripping of those they didn¡¯t like, but the hauteur rolling off them was practically palpable. They were even moving their aura and authority back away from any human who passed in what seemed to be an unconscious desire to distance themselves from the ¡®lower¡¯ species. This wasn¡¯t the kindness of preventing the power of their presence from harming those less advanced. No, their true aura was kept close to their bodies. This was the marginal extension of power which allowed for the quick use of magic in a close area around them. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. -Maybe they don¡¯t trust themselves not to harm them?- Maybe¡­ She then blinked a few times. Wait¡­ When have we been able to see the distinction there? It¡¯s showing up to my magesight, but it feels like authority. -Hmmm¡­ It looks like magic to me. Maybe they are using their aura in a different way than we¡¯re used to? And one that isn¡¯t visible to what we had available before Refined?- She grunted at that. Maybe¡­ Regardless, the elves would pass her by in mere moments. She had removed her veil before talking with Mistress Cae and Master Kalfeir and hadn¡¯t bothered to replace it. She could tell the moment they truly saw her, leaning there on the railing. It was the one on the right in the back who saw her first, immediately stiffening, and gaining his companions attention. Two others were equally shocked, but the two who felt the most powerful just gave grimaces and all but rolled their eyes at the reaction. It was only then that Tala realized it was a group of four men and a woman. The configuration tickled at the back of her mind, and it only took a moment to recall Thron¡¯s training. -A noble woman of some note, maybe something like a Pillar, either with less battle acumen, or abilities that take time to utilize properly. If that¡¯s so, she would be young to still be Honored in advancement.- After a moment, Alat amended. -Actually, the fact that they have all retained their advancement in the low ambient magic likely means that they are all more advanced than their auras would indicate, and that isn¡¯t accounting for any veiling that might be in place.- Tala sighed. Great. The woman had been in the center, and she actually looked a bit irritated now that Tala looked closer. In less than a minute after Tala was spotted, the group had come to a stop some dozen feet from her, all staring at her expectantly, even if the elf who seemed to be in charge had a put-upon air to him. That lasted for nearly a minute before Tala spoke, not bothering to look at them. Well, she actually just generated her voice as her mask was still in place. ¡°Can I do anything for you? Or did you just come to admire the view?¡± The female elf colored slightly¡ªpossibly in embarrassment, possibly in increased irritation¡ªeven as the younger males¡¯ faces flushed with obvious offense. Even so, the oldest appearing of them responded in a level voice. ¡°We simply noticed your advancement. It is rare to find a¡­ Paragon among your kind.¡± He said the word like it was distasteful to say. ¡°My men don¡¯t believe that you are worthy of seeing as a threat, despite my attempts to explain otherwise. Would you be open to a friendly match? They have never seen what your kind can do, and those of lesser advancement can¡¯t do justice.¡± Tala felt a bit of whimsy pass over her. -Oh, Tala, don¡¯t. That¡¯s so cliche. Besides, they might actually be much more advanced than they appear.- Their advancement is irrelevant. She¡¯d made her choice. ¡°Just weapons and soulbound magics?¡± The elf nodded slowly. ¡°Would that include our concepts then?¡± ¡°That seems fair. All five of you?¡± She pushed off the railing. He barked a laugh at that. ¡°Oh, that hardly seems fair.¡± She shrugged. ¡°You can go get more if that would make you feel better.¡± Alat groaned in her head. -So kitschy¡­- The elf at their center let out a derisive snort, seemingly barely willing to tolerate the whole exchange. ¡°If she wishes to be humiliated, Eskau Elnar, I see no reason to dissuade her.¡± Tala felt her eyes widen behind her mask. Why would an Eskau be here? -Well, you did think she might be a Pillar.- I thought she was something like a Pillar. Why would a Pillar be out here? Eskau Elnar looked to his charge and shook his head. ¡°It would be unseemly.¡± With a glance back toward Tala, he seemed to relent. ¡°Three on one to begin, and if you impress, I am happy to give you a demonstration on the worth of Eskau.¡± Tala knew she was smiling an almost feral grin, but it was hidden behind her mask. ¡°I would be Honored.¡± Apparently, ¡®friendly¡¯ duels were rather common, and as such there were arenas within easy reach, even outside of the holds, in which Tala was not allowed. To their credit, the elves didn¡¯t make an issue of that, where they could easily have mocked or maligned her for the added inconvenience of going to the roof of Astraya instead of simply stepping inside one of the near-to-hand holds. Up top was like an ancient forest that had been cultivated toward even deeper beauty. With a moment of consideration, Tala realized that such was likely exactly what it was. Regardless, there was a sparring arena, replete with containment magics to keep both the town and any bystanders safe. Tala hopped down into the ring, and Eskau Elnar cleared his throat. ¡°No armor, even hidden under illusion. My men will have none.¡± She sighed, dismissing her physical defense, replacing her iron mask with one grown from her elk leathers. That was fine; it would have made things a bit too one sided. ¡°Very well. What House do you hail from, Eskau? Minor or Major?¡± He gave a grimace, but his honor wouldn¡¯t allow him to ignore the question nor to lie. ¡°A rising, though still minor house, if you must know. The House of the Awakening Wood.¡± Tala blinked a few times, then frowned. Hadn¡¯t there been an elven house with a similar name in Platoiri? -No, not exactly, but in the same vein.- Tala shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s no relation to House of the Slumbering Wood, is it?¡± That pulled them up short, and Eskau Elnar gave her an appraising look. ¡°How do you know that name?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I came across it in passing a few years back. The names sounded similar to one another, so I asked.¡± ¡°I¡­ see.¡± He sighed and shook his head. ¡°Well, we are an offshoot of that house. When the insane woman was rampaging through Platoiri, our central House refused to send aid. Thus, after we weathered the storm of death¡ªand after she was banished despite the protests of the House of Blood¡ªwe left the city and severed ties.¡± He grunted. ¡°It¡¯s a common enough story. There are five or six houses on the rise coming out of Platoiri, and anyone would have told you the same information.¡± He seemed to be rambling a bit as if to convince her that he hadn¡¯t actually done her any favors by answering. She nodded. ¡°Thank you for the answer. You didn¡¯t fight her, did you? This madwoman?¡± Eskau Elnar barked a laugh. ¡°I¡¯d not be alive if I had. No.¡± Well, he¡¯s not wrong¡­ if it is Meallain. Something told her that it was, even though she had no evidence toward that effect. Regardless, it seemed like she¡¯d have some investigating to do after this ¡®friendly¡¯ spar. ¡°Shall we?¡± The three guardsmen jumped down into the ring, loosening their tunics and drawing truncheons. Tala drew Flow, keeping the sparring sheath on. It¡¯ll be fine. I don¡¯t need to use anything like my full power here. This sheath should contain my strikes without issue. -Yeah, no heightened emotions to make you lose control here. Not at all.- Eskau Elnar¡¯s magic reached out and passed over Flow, and Tala allowed the inspection to penetrate all the way through the sheath, but she held her authority and aura as impermeable around the blade itself. The elf didn¡¯t try to breach her defense, simply allowing his senses to slide along it, seeing all that she allowed to be seen. ¡°That weapon is acceptable. To incapacitation or surrender?¡± She gave a curt nod. ¡°You may call a start.¡± Their preamble had garnered some attention, and already a bit of a crowd was forming around the shallow, circular depression. Those watching were mostly human, but there were some dwarves, a couple unconnected elves, and a smattering of individuals of other arcane races. Eskau Elnar raised his hand high, then brought it down. ¡°Begin!¡± Tala didn¡¯t flicker forward, even though such would have been allowed under the terms of the clash. Instead, she flowed forward, relying on her long ingrained Way of Flowing Blood. She¡¯d had a moment of hesitation when this Eskau implied that he knew of a House of Blood fighter. She¡¯d been concerned that she¡¯d have to hold back for fear of his recognizing the techniques. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t seem to be a danger. The first club came down, striking skillfully to catch her where she was about to move as well as making the only obvious avenue of escape be into the swing of one of the elf¡¯s fellows, who was already beginning that attack. Tala simply dropped into what amounted to a full, one-leg squat, the other foot extending forward with her momentum even as Flow licked out once, twice, three times, cracking against the elf¡¯s forward knee, then the ankle of his leading foot, and finally into his hip. That last strike landed as Tala shifted to the front foot, vaulting off the back into a one-hand stand that allowed her to flick Flow out at the second man. Each of her strikes had loosed a concussion of force, cracking bone as audible accompaniment to the first elf¡¯s grunt, cry, and finally scream of pain as he fell to the ground. The second elf fared little better, taking thrusting strikes to the gut that sent ripples through his flesh that were visible even through his thick tunic. He didn¡¯t scream, but he did fall over, clutching his abdomen even as he heaved convulsively, emptying his stomach across the sparring ring. Tala sprang up off of her planted hand, putting her feet down as quickly as possible to avoid as much ballistic motion as possible, and deflected the far more controlled strikes of the last elf standing against her. Still, it was immediately obvious who the better fighter was. None of the elf¡¯s strikes came close, and she took to giving him light taps after each of her deflections. After the tenth such, the elf stepped back and gave a low bow, his face positively beet red with embarrassment. ¡°I concede defeat. I have no hope of winning, and no desire to learn as my compatriots have.¡± Tala smiled and gave a nod of genuine respect. ¡°You are skilled, but unpracticed. If I may be so bold, I recommend that you work on fighting one-on-one against skilled opponents more often.¡± The elf looked chagrined. ¡°Eskau Elnar says I need the same.¡± He bowed again and retreated from the ring. A couple of other elves¡ªwearing the Awakening Wood colors of sunshine yellow and forest green¡ªcame to help the other two from the ring as well, one immediately setting about working healing magics. Tala turned to face Eskau Elnar with a smile. ¡°Did I impress?¡± The elf shared a look with his charge, and the noble elf gave a slow nod. Eskau Elnar pulled a simple wooden switch from his belt and stepped forward. ¡°I admit that I underestimated you, but you did exactly as I¡¯d originally hoped. My men had it in their mind that you gated were nothing special.¡± He gave an almost vicious smile. ¡°Thank you for disabusing them of that notion.¡± ¡°But of course.¡± Chapter: 524 - Eskau Clash Tala looked around, taking in those who were around the arena. Some had obviously stopped to watch the whole encounter¡ªand whatever was to come¡ªwhile others merely seemed to be looking at the spectacle as they walked past. All told, there were quite a number of watchers now, though it was still less than fifty. Still, that was a sizable number, considering those had simply gathered from having seen that the arena was in use as they had passed nearby. As the elven Eskau took his place across from her, Tala decided to mess with the man a bit. She pushed a bit of power into Flow, shifting it into the form of a glaive, the sparring scabbard changing shape with it. Huh¡­ I basically don¡¯t even think about doing that to change Flow from a knife to a sword any more. -Yeah. You just consider it ¡®drawing Flow.¡¯- That made her happy for some reason, likely because it meant that the use of that power was becoming so ingrained. Eskau Elnar frowned. ¡°Is it more than the compact and expanded forms?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Seems so.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­¡± His eyes narrowed. ¡°Shall we begin?¡± ¡°Same rules?¡± She put as much lack of concern in her voice as she could muster. ¡°Indeed.¡± He gave a slow nod, clearly already readying himself mentally for the clash. ¡°Then at your word.¡± His eyebrows rose, her answer clearly throwing him off at least a bit. ¡°Truly? You don¡¯t wish a third party to call the start?¡± She shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°No, thank you.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± He took a deep breath, settling into a comfortable stance that reminded Tala of one used by those favoring slender, thrusting weapons. ¡°Begin.¡± His statement was so level that Tala almost missed the fact that it was to signal the start of the fight, but even so, she wasn¡¯t caught unaware. Flow spun in a protective circle, even as Eskau Elnar thrust forward, his weapon lancing out to cover the ten feet between them in a blink. Flow shattered the attacking spear of wood, knocking the elf¡¯s hand up and away, even as she spun inward, crouching low to lick out with Flow¡¯s sheathed tip once, twice in quick succession. Each time her opponent shifted his lead foot, not quite able to fully evade, but still taking only a grazing touch from Flow. She knew that he¡¯d have been seriously wounded by those cuts outside of this clash¡ªwithout the sheath on Flow¡ªbut she also didn¡¯t mind having to work for her victory. She was still advancing, closing the distance between them with steady determination. His much shorter weapon¡ªmagical extension aside¡ªmade him seem to have the advantage in close quarters. That, coupled with her glaive, made the seemingly wise choice be for her to maintain distance and harry him to take advantage of her perceived longer reach. That was what he expected, if his movements were any indication. Instead, she blasted forward. She struck six times¡ªtwice for each step forward¡ªFlow shifting to a sword for the second pair, and a knife for the final. Eskau Elnar skillfully deflected the glaive strikes, refusing to make those a contest of strength or momentum. He parried the sword blows with his protian weapon, the wood subtly shifting shape to enforce his defense, creating ablative layers that were blasted off to disperse the energy, even as his eyes began to widen. Then, his arm exploded with branches that grew interweaving into a shield that took the first knife strike, only to explode under Flow¡¯s sheath-enforced kinetic blast the second time her knife struck home. He reflexively closed his eyes against the flying shrapnel, clearly having expected the shield to give way. She should have had the same disadvantage, but her eyes were already closed, her threefold sight granting her all the vision that she needed. Continuing the motion of her last knife thrust, she delivered a wicked chop kick to the outside of his thigh, connecting with her shin with what should have been bone-breaking force. Arcanes¡ªespecially Eskau¡ªare made of sterner stuff, however, and he merely grunted, even as the muscle spasmed, marginally throwing off his recovering footwork. At the same time that her kick connected, however, his weapon had lashed out with vines covered by thorns that were more like blades than spikes, but they were dulled for the match. It tore at Tala even as he ripped it back toward himself. Though it didn¡¯t do any actual damage due to the blunted edges. Even so, it did pull her off balance, and if it had been sharp? Given the magics on it? He¡¯d have opened me in a dozen places. -Yeah, that would be hard to heal from¡­ wear armor if you actually ever fight him.- Absolutely. The simple fact that the obvious pain her kick had caused him hadn¡¯t dropped him, backed up the idea that he was a very experienced fighter. His weapon contacting the side of her head a moment later showed why he was an Eskau. It was in the form of twisted, incredibly crooked branch, the pointed end extending far past where it should have reached, as a straight weapon. That unexpected change in reach resulted in a hit that had her spitting out blood, even as she spun with the strike. I¡¯ve not fought Eskau in too long. I¡¯m rusty on accounting for their more flexible weaponry. His seems to act like any plant he wants¡­ or maybe that¡¯s his concept? -Other Eskau, but yeah, it could be either. You should knock him out to be sure.- That made her smile. She finished her rotation to dissipate some of the power of the hit, dropping to one knee, and sweeping out with what had been her back leg. The elf grunted even as the sweep to his already weakened leg took him to the ground. Flow licked out, becoming a glaive to drive at his neck, but he managed to crunch up, out of the way, just in time to avoid taking a hit. Tala ripped the weapon upward, but he was already rolling and twisting out of the way and away. He got a hand under himself and launched upward even as Tala tore Flow into a sideways sweep, moving the weapon much faster and more maneuverable than any mundane could have managed. In mid-air, turning violently from the momentum he¡¯d already had from his roll, he was still able to thrust his stick out at her, the protian weapon briefly becoming a spear of wood once more that Tala shifted and flowed around. This time, she was watching for the change of shape¡ªas she should have been all along¡ªand when it became a whip once more, and tried to crack around her leg on the return, she was able to kick off the ground with the targeted foot, avoiding the vine and spoiling the strike. Eskau Elnar landed, taking several sweeping steps back while his weapon raked the ground between them, clearly acting to create distance between them. Tala pushed Flow into the form of a glaive and leaned against it, her breathing light and easy, a contented smile on her face despite the remnants of blood on her lips. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The elf gave the smallest of winces as he settled his weight on his left leg, regarding her with something akin to horrified fascination, his breath not heavy, but also not nearly as easy as hers. ¡°That was well struck.¡± She shrugged. ¡°If we weren¡¯t sparring, you¡¯d have torn me wide open in return.¡± He regarded her for a long moment before asking, ¡°Who are you?¡± She straightened, Flow becoming a sword as easily as Tala took her next breath and grinned. ¡°Your opponent.¡± Then, she flickered. She appeared behind him, Flow already at his throat, but to her surprise, his weapon was between hers and his flesh, even though his eyes were wider than ever. They exchanged eight quick strikes as he fought to reposition and recover what he¡¯d lost from her unexpected change in position. He was just getting his feet underneath him, when Tala flickered again. This time, she landed a solid blow on his left elbow, the blow knocking the limb so hard¡ªthrough imparted kinetic force¡ªthat his shoulder popped out of its socket with an almost sickening sound. The elf¡¯s face went white, but if anything, he became more skilled, the pain seeming to sharpen his focus. Roots and branches began shooting out of the ground to aid him in his assault¡ªand try to buy him time in his defense¡ªas Tala continued to engage with him. His strikes were faster and harder to knock off course, and his defense was more solid and resilient. She almost asked the elf where this new well of fighting spirit had come from, but then she saw the answer for herself. He was drawing lightly on his reserves¡ªmatching the output of the vestige in his weapon for the moment¡ªthe bit that he used coursing through his body and coming off him in waves as he burned it. Before, he had been simply letting his naturally enhanced physiology be the basis of their clash. Now, he was actively augmenting himself to clash with her, rather than using the incoming power to refill his reserves for later use. His efficiency and mastery of magic manipulation was incredible, leagues beyond her own ability in those areas. I¡¯m so glad I don¡¯t have to develop that skill to the same extent as gateless. -Eh, you¡¯re not bad at it, but your inscriptions and natural magics are designed in the opposite direction on purpose.- Indeed. Her smile grew, and she fell more deeply into the Way of Flowing Blood. On one level, she knew that she was cheating. He wasn¡¯t contesting her aura or authority, which she¡¯d spread throughout the space. That allowed her to flicker around essentially at will, almost to the extent that Terry could¡ªif with less finesse and rapidity¡ªbut if this had been a real fight, he likely wouldn¡¯t have neglected that portion of the conflict. Still, she felt herself breathing heavier, not specifically from exertion, but from the excitement of the fight. His hits were yet harder still, but she simply moved around them, or changed their trajectory with precise deflections, rather than meeting them head on as she had at the start. His defenses were better, but like a tidal wave, she simply crashed down inexorable upon them. She flowed around the battlefield in a dance of death, only rendered non-lethal by the sparring sheath on Flow¡¯s blade. She took nicks and cuts here and there, mostly from shrapnel that she herself caused by shattering his ablative defenses. That really speaks to the penetrative magics on his protian weapon¡­ She even felt her body overcoming several different toxins that originated from those minor wounds, but it was nothing that did more than make her feel more alive as it called more magic forth to counter the effects. She should have been slowed by the various substances, and she took note¡ªmuch to her surprise¡ªthat the toxicity was slowly ramping up each time it briefly infected her, as if he hadn¡¯t wanted to accidently truly harm her with too large of a dose, and only after finding this avenue of attack utterly insufficient did he ramp it up, trying to find the level at which he would gain an advantage. She doubted he would find it. On his side, he¡¯d gotten his arm back in its socket, but he was much worse for wear. She¡¯d connected solidly with nearly every part of him, save his head, but he wouldn¡¯t go down. To his credit yet again, he¡¯d taken the punishment like a towering oak, grunting or paling at the obvious pain that had been caused, but never bending, never yielding. She was, of course, using power to augment herself too. She had been since the very beginning, but that¡¯s one of the hallmarks of a gated versus a gateless conflict. She could use her power wantonly, she practically had to as it was always flowing through her. He, on the other hand, had to be more judicious, especially in such a power poor area. Regardless, he was holding up splendidly, especially since he likely actually was Honored, not just pretending. He would have trounced any Eskau she¡¯d killed back in Platoiri, likely easier than she had at the time, but she wasn¡¯t anywhere near how she had been back then. And still he was only sipping at his power. His breathing had leveled out, even the small stream of power he was using semed to be enough to keep him in fighting form. It was interesting, watching the magic move around him under so tight of control. She could see redirected flicks where he would have used other abilities or magics if they were fighting for real¡ªthings that were likely more lethal in nature¡ªbut were inappropriate for the bout they were currently having. Yeah, and I would just blast you and half the city apart with a dissolution beam. -...Mistress Cae would be displeased if you were to try, and her authority here might actually be sufficient to shut you down if you did. With Master Kalfeir acting in concert? It absolutely would.- ¡­Fine. Spoilsport. His style of fighting was far more wooden than hers. Pun intended. -Yeah, yeah.- Even so, the solidity gave it a strength and inevitably that resulted in her flitting, flickering, and flowing around him as he remained mostly in place. Finally, it clicked for her. He¡¯s a defensive focused fighter. That¡¯s why he¡¯s the one with the young elf woman, whoever she is. That gave Tala the insight she needed to really take the clash to the next level and¡ª That same elf woman called a halt to the fight. Eskau Elnar jumped backward, making room, and Tala let him go. She was surprised at the interference, but she didn¡¯t want to change the mostly friendly spar into a true clash. The woman stepped forward. ¡°I apologize, but I must ask that we stop here. I need my Eskau to have sufficient power to perform his duties.¡± The Eskau bowed to her. ¡°My apologies, my Pillar. I got carried away.¡± She waved that away without comment, her eyes locked on Tala. ¡°I am Pillar Cuivie of the House of the Awakening Woods. Though I have only recently succeeded my late mother, I carry weight in our burgeoning house. If you ever find yourself in need or want of work, we would gladly employ your services.¡± Tala gave a shallow bow, instinctively giving the precise level of courtesy for an Eskau of a Major House acknowledging the Pillar of a lesser house. ¡°Thank you for the kindness. I will keep it in mind.¡± The two had both gained looks of deep scrutiny, but as it was little more than the depth and speed of the bow¡ªand that was close enough to how any gated of her rank would have done it to be hard for outsiders to tell¡ªthey didn¡¯t know anything, and thus, didn¡¯t press. To distract them, Tala gave a small smile. ¡°I admit, it took me longer than I¡¯d have liked to realize.¡± That caused them both to pause even in the act of turning away. Eskau Elnar looked back toward her. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a defensive fighter. Your whole goal is to delay and protect. Your charge would have safely gotten away or been able to bring her own magics to bear to lethal effect.¡± She hesitated before nodding. ¡°I think I lost that clash.¡± She gave a deeper bow, then, even if still not low enough to imply any subservience. Eskau Elnar¡¯s lips pulled up into a wry smile. ¡°Your assessment may be correct, but that was not the terms of our match. I think it would be generous to grant me a tie, and the very fact that we had to stop so that I did not run low on power, reveals who the true winner is.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to disagree. I would not be against our paths crossing again, Eskau, Pillar.¡± And with that, she turned and left, only as she moved away, did it really sink in what this encounter had truly been. This was the first time she¡¯d interacted with any Eskau or Pillar since she¡¯d fled Platoiri, since she¡¯d left the House of Blood to believe her dead within the Doman-Imithe. The very realization caused her to break out in a cold sweat, though she couldn¡¯t place the exact emotions that she was feeling. It was one thing to come to terms with herself still being a Eskau of the House of Blood, technically speaking, but actually acting the part in all but proclaiming herself? It left her jittery and a bit overwhelmed. She stepped around a tree and willed herself into her sanctum, appearing beside Rane in a heap. She pulled her knees up to her chest, laughing a bit hysterically even as tears came to her eyes. Rane was there a moment later, arms wrapped around her, his quiet presence all she wanted¡ªall she needed¡ªfor the time being. She wasn¡¯t still in Platoiri. She wasn¡¯t still collared. They could never collar her again, and she was nobody¡¯s tool, not anymore, not ever again. She stayed there for an unknown amount of time, Alat leaving her to process through her roiling emotions, her tumbling memories. Alat could have imposed order on the whole thing for Tala, but that would have been worse in the long run. Tala needed to work through it on her own¡­ well, on her own with her husband. Rane just held her for a long time. Eventually he picked her up and simply carried her to their room where he laid her on the bed, to lay curled against him. That, too, was exactly what she needed, and eventually, she drifted off into a secure sleep. Chapter: 525 - Cafe and...? Tala wasn¡¯t really sure how long she¡¯d slept, and she didn¡¯t really care. Rane had drifted off to sleep at some point while she was curled against him, and she found herself simply regarding him with her threefold sight as he slumbered beside her. Even in sleep, his neutral expression had a slight curl to the lips, as if he were contemplating something pleasant within his own mind. His muscles were relaxed, but still showed their strength, and the care he took to be strong enough for what they faced together. He was her husband. The thought made a warmth bloom in her chest, and she purposely dampened the aura coming from herself, allowing his to wash over her, finding deeper comfort and contentment within it. It was odd, in that moment she was under his authority, but she could easily have thrown it off. Even if he¡¯d been awake to contest her, he¡¯d have been hard pressed to keep her from reasserting her own aura. Though, even the idea made her chuckle slightly. He would never do such a thing. He had no desire to assert his authority over her, nor to hold her down. Maybe that was why the feeling of being surrounded by his aura, power, and authority was so comforting? She was there completely of her own will, and she trusted him completely. As she lay there, focusing on the feeling of his authority and aura cradling her, suffusing her, she felt the resonance within her soul, seeming to originate from where they were soulbound. Her soul was practically drinking in the sensation of being more connected to that with which she was bound. Her soul was sending power, sending strength through the bond, and some of that was coming back as a deepening¡ªor strengthening¡ªof aura and authority over and around her. She was influencing his aura. She frowned at that. It was his aura, but it was hers in part, too. She didn¡¯t understand it, but she thought that she might be seeing a hint of what Mistress Cae and Master Kalfeir had been getting at. She had been able to flicker into his aura back in the Lunar Hunt, after all. With a sigh, she willed herself to be standing beside the bed, and she was, having slipped away from Rane without disturbing him in the least. He¡¯s as bad as I am. He needs the sleep when he can get it. -Don¡¯t you think he should be the one to decide that?- Tala shrugged. It¡¯s not like I can wake him up to ask him. -...True, I suppose.- Without delay, Tala cleaned herself up a bit, straightened her hair from the disarray that sleep had wrought, and willed herself to be out of the Sanctum. She came to the superficial on top of Astraya, though not where she¡¯d been when she moved into the sanctum the day before. Overhead, the last of the stars were fading¡ªeven from her highly enhanced vision¡ªand morning¡¯s light was cresting to the east, even as they headed south. The gentle sway of the town was somehow reassuring, and she realized with a start that she¡¯d unconsciously accounted for it, and even utilized it in the fight of the day before. In the stillness¡ªwith very few people out and about¡ªshe took the time to really look and listen. The town¡¯s movement caused an almost constant tremor to be moving through the trees, their leaves rustling both in the breeze and because of that shaking. It was a soothing sound, coating and suppressing any other noises like a warm blanket. The trees themselves seemed long adapted to the motion, as minimal as it was, and if anything, they seemed healthier than many other trees that she¡¯d seen, stronger in a way that was hard to quantify. I suppose deadwood simply falls away naturally, and with greater ease? Plus, the constant low level stress likely makes them tougher¡­ It was an interesting result that she might not have expected if she¡¯d been asked beforehand. Regardless, she took the time to just be in the nature that surrounded her. Into the silence, she realized that she wanted Terry with her. She opened a small portal, to right beside where Terry was currently¡­ what was he doing? -He is practicing flickering into unnatural positions, such as into a perch upside down on a branch.- I¡­ see¡­ ¡°Terry? Want to come out for a bit?¡± There was a momentary pause, then Terry flickered into being on the ground before her, laying on his side in an almost human posture. It was clearly uncomfortable for him, as made even more evident when he flickered into a more standard, perched position on Tala¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What was that?¡± Terry gave a long series of chirps and squawks ending in a trill of finality. ¡°Well, then, I guess that makes sense.¡± She sighed, closing her eyes and taking extra enjoyment from Terry¡¯s weight on her shoulder, his own authority radiating in tandem with her own. As my own¡­ the aura and authority coming off of him is mine. Even so, the feeling of it coming from him was soothing in an entirely different way from being within Rane¡¯s area of influence. ¡°How are you, Terry? We talk sometimes, but I feel like I might be neglecting you?¡± Terry let out a dismissive trill, followed by what was clearly a series of happy chirps. ¡°Really? You¡¯re doing great?¡± He gave an affirmative trill. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that. Is there anything you need?¡± He immediately headbutted her cheek. ¡°Just some time with me?¡± She grinned without opening her eyes. He headbutted her again, lighter this time. ¡°Fair enough. How¡¯s here?¡± He gave a light chirp, then shifted back and forth, settling in. ¡°Alright, then.¡± They fell into a comfortable silence, both with their eyes closed, but both also constantly seeing all the world around them through the bloodstar clouds that were maintained around each of them. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Tala had chosen a secluded part of Astraya¡¯s uppermost arboretum. They weren¡¯t near any of the regularly walked paths, nor any of the access hatches. The trees around them blocked the view of them from anyone who wasn¡¯t right on top of them too. Thus, they were left in near total privacy as they simply sat together in the early morning air. After what felt far too short a time, Terry shifted again, ruffling his feathers. He headbutt her cheek and trilled, looking down toward her belt. ¡°Ready to go back already?¡± He bobbed a nod, then headbutted her again. ¡°Yeah, we can do this again soon.¡± He let out a happy screech, as she opened a portal for him to flicker through. As that closed, she settled back in, this time taking a moment to enjoy her surroundings with her mundane eyes. Her reverie didn¡¯t last too long, even with how beautiful the setting was. She¡¯d seen what looked very much like a cafe when she¡¯d examined Astraya from within Kit, and she wanted to see if she¡¯d been right. Though, in truth, that was only half the reason she wanted to go there, now that Terry was back in the sanctum. If I¡¯m right, this should be quite the interesting encounter. -Indeed. Plus, you know, coffee.- I do love a good cup of coffee. It was a pleasant walk through the undergrowth and the majestic columns of trees as the sun slowly brightened the sky, showing as pin pricks and varying patches of brightness through the constantly swaying and rustling branches and leaves overhead. There weren¡¯t trails through the trees, per se, nor were there paths in a standard sense. Instead, there was seemingly raw stone everywhere that Tala looked, save where it was broken up by the trees themselves. Her threefold sight saw that each tree had well-sized bulbs of dirt directly below it, encapsulating the root-ball, with tunnels carved out seemingly for each root. Those roots wove down and through the entire town, acting as fibrous ligaments, holding strong while flexing with the strain of the motion of the moving masterpiece. Now that she looked for it, with time to truly consider, the whole place was alive. The expanses of wood within were actuallythe trunks of trees. That realization brought the obvious understanding that some of the trees were actually ¡®planted¡¯ on the bottom layer, extending up through the entire town, acting as the main support system¡ªinterwoven and interconnected with roots from the trees originating above. Each of the six legs was positioned at the base of one of the six largest specimens of arboristic majesty. Most of the roots of those trees extended laterally across the bottom of the town, wrapping and weaving together with the other bottom planted trees to create a solid, flexible foundation, while the remainder wove down the stone-block legs, providing the motility as magic animated the roots themselves. -This really is a marvel.- I know. I¡¯d have been tempted just to hold it all together with magic, but this uses magic to set up a system that functions without power¡­ except that which is required when moving the roots to shift the legs. -Yeah, but even that, it¡¯s designed such that at any moment, if the magic is taken away, the town would simply come to a state of rest on the four legs planted at the time.- It¡¯s slower movement than might have otherwise been possible, with only two legs ever off the ground at a time, but it¡¯s surprisingly safe and resilient, from what I can see. -Indeed.- Tala sent the impression of a raised eyebrow. Isn¡¯t that usually my line? -Indeed. That¡¯s why I¡¯m using it.- Alat returned the feeling of a wink, causing Tala to huff a laugh. It didn¡¯t take long to come to the large circular opening down into Astraya. She walked the circumference until she came to the wide, shallow stairs leading down to the upper level within the town. It continued down and down, following the curvature of the large courtyard, with just the width of a wall between the stairs and the main space, only breaching into the area with the various holds to let out at each level. The cafe she¡¯d seen was on the bottom floor, so she went all the way down. While there were fewer people awake overall, there were decidedly more people going about their work as a percentage than the night before. She was able to see glimpses into the various holds as their defenses and magics¡ªand the general zeme of the whole area¡ªshifted and adjusted. They contained nothing special. Generally speaking, inside, life was being lived. Craftsmen were crafting, farmers were farming, and families seemed to be going about their days. It was¡­ idyllic, honestly. This little town out in the wilds¡ªmoving about and providing a genuinely peaceful life for those who wanted it¡ªwas a paradise from most points of view. Moving fast enough not to be a sitting target, but not quickly enough to be seen as something to chase. -Yeah, they are moving even slower than caravans, which is likely one reason they have better results.- Well, yeah, they get attacked less overall, but from what I gather when they are attacked it¡¯s by more powerful creatures. -Which is why they have such powerful people in ultimate command.- Yeah. -That¡¯s also why caravans move at the pace they do. It¡¯s a balance between drawing attention and staying around long enough to be investigated at the level of attention you do draw.- Tala finally reached the textured granite floor of the lowest open level and made her way into the cafe. It was bustling with customers running through to grab a bite to eat or a quick cup of coffee or hot water for tea¡ªeither new herb mixtures or reusing what the customer already had¡ªwhich all lent the space a bit of a frenetic air. The walls were the standard mix of wood, metal, and stone that she¡¯d come to expect within Astraya proper, and while they were cleaned and seemed well-kept, they were decidedly worn from what was likely centuries of people passing through. Funnily enough the stone under the feet of all the people was actually worn into discernable grooves at several points¡ªand not just to Tala¡¯s enhanced vision. The granite floor had an obvious delineation where people stood in line to order, as well as near the door where people came and went. Behind the counter was all worn down, lower than on Tala¡¯s side of things from centuries of workers running back and forth. I suppose that a stone Mage or arcane would need to repair and relevel it every so often? -If so, it¡¯s been a long time since they¡¯ve done it.- Tala moved her focus back out to the main space, where the stone was level. Huh, they might just not want the expense? It looks like someone with that ability has come through recently enough. -I suppose so.- Regardless, they weren¡¯t in the cafe to look at stone wear patterns. Blessedly, there were a lot of people, even if it wasn¡¯t too overcrowded. Perfect. No one should notice then. -Get ready, I¡¯ll let you know when no one is looking our way.- Alright. -Ready and¡­ wait, that guy just turned¡­ and¡­ argh¡­ This might take a minute¡­- Here, I¡¯ll walk over toward this corner. I¡¯m short enough that the crowd should hide me if¡ª -Now!- Tala didn¡¯t hesitate, flexing her will, aura, and authority, and with her bloodstars and Kit as anchors, she rotated herself stoneward in an odd skewing of dimensionality that practically seemed to pull at her, reminding her of stepping into a new room of Lisa¡¯s house. That was appropriate, because as she stepped forward¡ªvanishing from the superficial cafe¡ªher foot came down on a thick, elegant rug, the melodic, reverberating cords of a harp suddenly filling her ears. The room around her was utterly different from the cafe in which she had just stood. It was low for her. Her head nearly touched the beams that crossed the ceiling¡ªeven if her threefold sight showed that they were mainly there for aesthetic purposes. It was a dark, cozy space, seemingly meticulously created with care and exceptional craftsmanship. Old growth, tight-grained hardwoods were sealed and polished until they were practically mirrors from the proper angle, causing it to seem much brighter than it otherwise might have. The illumination for the whole room came from a series of glowing crystals set into the walls at regular intervals around the large, circular space. There were also a few of the crystals set into elegantly wrought stands. With her threefold sight, she could see that the light emitting crystals were carved into the shape of dancing fairies, even though the light coming from within them made them appear like nothing so much as little balls of light to mundane sight. The floor was sunken in several places, creating individual, segregated spaces for groups to be in seeming isolation¡ªthe magics woven around them made that more of a reality than Tala guessed would otherwise have been the case. Those sunken areas contained a mixture of furniture, some holding elegant couches while others had tables with comfortable looking chairs arranged around them, all sized for the occupants only just becoming aware of her presence. The sound of rustling cloth was the first indication that she¡¯d been noticed, as seven fox-kin turned to look her way¡ªonly slightly staggered in the action¡ªeyes widening. The white-furred one behind the counter arranged off to one side had the most controlled reaction, almost immediately moving around to come toward Tala. Her sleek, well-groomed hands were clasped before her, in a professional manner, but Tala could see the muscles and ligaments straining within the clasped limbs. The harpist actually gasped, stopping her playing, while the five who seemed to be customers broke off their various conversations¡ªthey were in a group of two at a table and one of three arranged on couches¡ªto stare in open astonishment at the human who was so suddenly in their midst. Tala gave a shallow bow. ¡°I hope that I am not intruding, but could I get a cup of coffee? I feel that it¡¯s going to be a long day.¡± -Oh, Lisa just sent us a message.- What does it say? -¡¯Have fun with my kin. Try not to offend them. They aren¡¯t as used to humans as I am.¡¯- ¡­Fair, but how much can he see from his home in Kit? -Apparently more than we realized¡­- Indeed¡­ Chapter: 526 - Sparring of a Different Kind Tala kept her perception trained both on the seven fox-kin that shared a dimensional alignment with her, and at the vague impressions she got of ¡®other¡¯ areas she could sense but not perceive correctly with her threefold sight. -Likely shielded as Lisa¡¯s home is. I¡¯m just glad that we landed in a somewhat public space.- Yeah, imagine if we¡¯d popped into somewhere with a fox-kin in the bath. -As humorously embarrassing as that would have been, did you detect the magics as you were rotating?- Yeah, I did feel a bit of a nudge, as if my dimensional rotation was being funneled. -This is likely the ¡®landing area¡¯ or front entry area of whatever this place is.- Well, then they shouldn¡¯t be too startled when someone arrives. -Tala¡­ if Master Grediv is any indication, you¡¯re likely the only human who can move stone- or starward essentially at will. Rane is close, but even that is in reaction rather than at will.- Tala grunted internally. I just can¡¯t see the way they do. -Yeah¡­ that might be something to try fixing?- Maybe¡­ The white-furred fox-kin came to stand directly in front of her, some ten feet away. She gave a hesitant bow. ¡°Greetings¡­ Mistress? I fear we were not expecting¡­ any such as you. May I inquire as to your¡­ purpose here?¡± The arcane was quite hesitant, clearly seeming out of her element while trying to maintain a cordial atmosphere. Tala decided to help the poor vixen out. ¡°I am Tala, and yes, Mistress is the correct title. I have had dealings with your kin in the past. Lisa sends his regards.¡± The little fox¡¯s eyes widened, and she bowed deeper. ¡°Mistress Tala, be welcomed in this humble establishment. All that you can see is at your disposal.¡± She then gestured and the harpist tentatively began to play once more, filling the space with a calming melody. Tala felt the edges of her mouth pull up at the obviously twisty offer of courtesy. ¡°While I would love to avail myself of some of what I see on the other layers¡±¡ªshe did grin then¡ª¡°and much of what I see is of great interest,¡± the vixen paled under her fur, her heart beating faster, ¡°I believe that some coffee will do for now. If that is unavailable here, I will accept the closest, tasty alternative that is safe for my kind to consume.¡± There was a sparkle in the fox-kin¡¯s eyes as she straightened, but it faded as quickly as it had come. ¡°You have indeed dealt with our kind before, it seems. That is good to know, and I am glad to see that the esteemed Lisa has not fallen so far in his domesticated tendencies as to give a false view of us.¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± She gave a tightlipped smile, waiting. Did she just insult Lisa? -Yes? No? Probably¡­ I think she called him a dog, in a roundabout way.- How rude. I¡¯ll have to do something about that¡­ but indirectly. I have no idea what the politics of the situation are. -Yeah. Put her in her place a bit, but let¡¯s not bring Lisa into it.- Yeah. Let¡¯s do this. After a moment that almost stretched into uncomfortability, the fox-kin turned and led the way back to the bar. ¡°Let¡¯s get you that drink.¡± Tala didn¡¯t miss the fact that she hadn¡¯t been given a name but didn¡¯t press. She hadn¡¯t missed the implication from Lisa that his folk were the origin of many of the Faen myths and stories, so she was going to be careful. The stools were a bit low for her, but she pulled iron to herself, and built a seat that was both properly sized and reinforced, ignoring the furniture to either side in favor of one of her own making which was comfortable and sturdy enough for her to rest upon. That placed the counter a bit low for her, but it was workable nonetheless. The fox hadn¡¯t seemed to notice her creation at all. The other fox-kin had turned back to their own business¡ªthe music likely helping restore the previous atmosphere¡ªbut they threw glances her way every so often regardless. As she was settling in, she finally became aware of an oddity that had been niggling at the back of her mind since she arrived. There was a feeling that was similar to¡ªif far weaker than¡ªthat within the Lunar Hunt. It was a feeling of other auras¡ªother authorities¡ªseeking to gain purchase over her at some level or in some way. Here, it was as if multiple different authorities were seeking to gain sway, all under the auspices of one overarching will¡ªassuming she wasn¡¯t overattributing to what she felt¡ªbut they each slid off of her stalwart resistance that had been hardened by the training she received in the Lunar Hunt. Her attention was pulled back to the bar in front of her as the white fox-kin placed a steaming drink down before her. It smelled vaguely like coffee, while also being obviously something else. ¡°I assumed you would prefer a warm drink to be more inline with the requested coffee. Does this suffice?¡± Tala nodded. ¡°This will do as my drink. Yes.¡± The utterance of the word ¡®my¡¯ held the same authoritative weight as her usual ¡®mine,¡¯ as she claimed the beverage in a way that actually sent minor ripples through existence to Tala¡¯s perception. The vixen didn¡¯t seem to notice anything odd occurring. Tala took up the drink and took a careful sip. The warmth was nice sliding down her throat. The taste was good, if not quite her preference. The caffeine immediately started working on the little tiredness still in Tala¡¯s mind and body. The paralytic caused a pleasant flush as it triggered her internal enhancements to draw more deeply on her own gate, shrugging off the effect in a way that was incredibly reminiscent of how she¡¯d handled the toxins in the fight with Eskau Elnar the day before. This is, after all, just sparring of a different kind. That might have also been why it was a pleasant sensation. Her body responded as if she was in the middle of a good sparring session, without the usually required physical component. It was nice. She liked it. The vixen gave a vulpine grin, smacking her hand down with a sound that caused Tala to purposely freeze in place. ¡°Now that you have been welcomed into my establishment, made yourself comfortable on my stool, and ingested my drink, let us talk about the price for your departure.¡± The other fox-kin, who had been glancing their way, gave their own predatory smiles before turning away once more. This didn¡¯t concern them, as entertaining as it was to covertly observe. Tala flexed her aura and authority in and out, brushing up against something, but it didn¡¯t come from this little whelp. Still, Tala chose to stay still for a long moment. The white fox leaned forward slightly. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, are you unable to respond? I suppose I get to set my own prices then. If you have no objections?¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Another heartbeat or two passed, and the fox was just opening her mouth again when Tala shook her head, causing the vulpine eyes to widen in apparent surprise. ¡°Oh, I can respond. I was just in awe for a moment there.¡± The bartender stiffened, then shifted a step back, caution overtaking her features and tilting her head to one side in confusion. ¡°Every word of what you just said was wrong.¡± -So kitschy¡­ and inaccurate? How can every word be wrong? Who even talks like that?- Hush you. It¡¯s not like I hired a professional to work that up for me beforehand. I¡¯m working with what I¡¯ve got. I¡¯ve said it, and it¡¯s done. We¡¯re putting her in her place remember? -With a line like that?- Really? -Fine¡­- Tala felt a smile come over her face as she put Alat¡¯s objections behind her, and she didn¡¯t hide her teeth this time. ¡°You are rather young, aren¡¯t you?¡± When the fox-kin¡¯s hackles began to rise, that was proof enough of the truth of her assumption. Probably not even into her majority¡­ Tala shook her head and continued, ¡°You did not welcome me, you acknowledged my entrance and told me to be welcomed. This is not your establishment, you simply watch over it for another. I am sitting on my own stool, and this drink is mine.¡± This time, as the drink resonated with Tala¡¯s authority, the fox seemed to feel it, her ears going back even as she flinched downward toward a crouch briefly. ¡°The paralytic was a tasty addition, I¡¯ll admit. It gave a nice zing to what would otherwise have been a bit of a disappointing coffee imitation. Now, would you like us to continue as opponents or as passing acquaintances?¡± There was a pregnant pause. Then, a soft clapping sounded around Tala. -What is happening? Have we fallen into a badly written drama play?- Hmmm¡­ You might have a point. I¡¯ll try to be better. -Thank you¡­- A moment later, a fox-kin clicked into dimensional alignment, sitting on the stool a few down from Tala¡¯s wrought-iron masterpiece. -...You are taking good inspiration from Rane¡¯s artistry of late.- Thank you. The new arrival was as black as the bartender was white, all but his eyes, which were a piercing blue. He was giving a slow clap. ¡°Well done, human. Few are so able to evade all snares.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°I accept your praise only as my due.¡± She lifted a hand, rubbing at her temples. ¡°It seems that you all are intent on giving me a headache. I do not accept that.¡± That response caused a seemingly genuine belly laugh from the black fox-kin. ¡°I am Noc, owner of this slice of Astraya.¡± -Huh¡­ the name might be false¡ªit is at the very least incomplete¡ªbut I believe he was telling the truth about being the owner.- Yeah, the feeling of authority coming off him matches the most prevalent one I can sense¡­ ¡°I give you a pledge of safety and indemnity, and welcome you as a guest within my establishment. No boons or obligations shall be owed or assumed from you to me or any in my employ so long as you have come with peaceful intent and remain so disposed.¡± Tala only took a moment to parse that before smiling and nodding. ¡°I accept your offer, withholding all obligations of any kind.¡± They exchanged shallow, seated bows. ¡°Get the Mistress a cup of coffee.¡± Tala almost frowned, but as the white fox shifted to another layer before returning with the beverage, she sighed. She didn¡¯t have it here¡­ word games are annoying. The server hesitated a moment. ¡°You may call me Blan. If the paralytic actually was a pleasant addition, would you like some in this drink?¡± Tala hesitated, tilting her head to the side. ¡°You know what? Let¡¯s try it. It was definitely the best part of that other concoction, but I¡¯m not sure it will go with the real thing.¡± It was only then that she noticed that the original drink was nowhere to be seen. -It disappeared when Noc came into alignment.- Thank you. -Of course, that¡¯s one reason that I¡¯m here.- Noc chuckled as Blan pulled out a small vial and slowly added drops, checking with Tala as she did so, ¡°The same dosage as before?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°That seems as good a place as any to start.¡± Blan nodded, stopping after seven drops. Noc raised an eyebrow. ¡°Seven? Really, Blan?¡± The white fox-kin shrugged, seemingly only a little abashed. ¡°She seemed tough? I was clearly right; though, I underestimated her even so.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°Very well.¡± Tala raised her own eyebrow. ¡°Is that a lot?¡± Noc grunted. ¡°One would paralyze me. We generally assume a Refined needs three, and history has shown that to be the case.¡± That made Tala glower. He held up his hands. ¡°No one has died due to our games, Mistress. We extract enough to hurt, and send them on their way, training them in the art of binding words as is our role and has been throughout the ages.¡± That caught Tala¡¯s attention. ¡°Your role?¡± Noc nodded. ¡°Precisely. We are tasked with the training of the sapient races in the importance of words. Others may have forgotten their place in our world, but we have not.¡± Tala considered for a long moment. ¡°So, the dwarves'' purpose is to¡­ craft?¡± Blan snorted, and Noc shook his head. ¡°No, they learned that and took that role from the gnomes. They were to gather the treasures of the earth, plumb the depths, and secure the lower reaches.¡± Tala found herself nodding. This was interesting if nothing else, even if she didn¡¯t believe it entirely. Every culture has to have their own beliefs, I suppose. ¡°The Elves were to manage the flora, beast-kin the fauna¡ªsave those given other, more specific tasks. There are more, of course, but I trust that you get the idea?¡± She knew he was leading her to ask, and a part of her wanted to stubbornly refuse on principle. Still, she was curious, so she decided to just go for it, ¡°Where do humans fit into this mythology?¡± He laughed, gesturing toward her. ¡°It¡¯s one reason the gated are so suspect, so looked down upon, and a factor as to why it took so long for your kind to even start to be accepted at all.¡± She arched her eyebrow again, waiting for him to continue. ¡°Humans were meant to show what can be accomplished without magic. You were meant to be a testament to the power and majesty of mundanity.¡± That¡­ Tala grunted. That made too much sense in one way of thinking. She¡¯d consider the implications later. Even if it was just an ancient belief held by the fox-kin, it could hold truths worth sussing out. ¡°I see.¡± She picked up the coffee mug and took a careful drink. It was good coffee, well brewed, and a reasonable temperature. The paralytic didn¡¯t change the taste at all, as was expected from something meant to be a hidden toxin. What it did do, was inspire a magical punch across her whole body to accompany the mundane one from the natural caffeine in the coffee. The previous drink had had caffeine, but it just hadn¡¯t been the same. Tala found herself letting out a deeply contented sigh. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good.¡± Blan gave a bow and smiled. ¡°I am gratified that I was able to provide what you desired.¡± Tala took another sip, enjoying the strain on her enhancement inscriptions more than she thought reasonable. Like a good, well calibrated workout, but for those inscriptions. -It seems so. They don¡¯t usually get flexed in this way¡ªthe bout yesterday notwithstanding.- Indeed. Noc cleared his throat. ¡°So, what does bring you here?¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°I noticed a fourth dimensional construction, and thought it reminded me of master Lisa¡¯s buildings. It seemed worth checking out.¡± Noc grunted. ¡°That makes sense, even if I wouldn¡¯t have expected a human to have been able to notice us. We are a¡­ waystation, a meeting place for our kin. I cannot say any human has ever wandered in here, though we occasionally interact with those who live on the central layer.¡± Tala almost frowned at the different term, but realized that ¡®central layer¡¯ was simply another word for what she called the superficial. ¡°Do the leaders of this town know you are here?¡± Noc tilted his head and shrugged. ¡°Yes, though I don¡¯t know if they are aware of the extent. When I first arrived¡ªfrom their perspective¡ªthey welcomed me and bid me stay as long as I desired. I asked if my kin were welcome as well, and they said that any who cared to come were allowed to stay as long as they wished as well¡ªso long as I did not see them as a threat to the citizenry and wanted them here.¡± He gave a vulpine grin at that. ¡°There are very few places with such an open invitation around them. It makes this place valuable, and their caveat, including me, gave me a place of power from which to operate.¡± Tala huffed a laugh. ¡°So, they would be surprised to learn that you are still here?¡± Noc shook his head. ¡°I speak with them on occasion. They have never visited, nor asked to. I believe they are unsure exactly where I live, but that does not concern them. Does it concern you?¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, but I likely will warn them about your¡­ training of people.¡± Noc shrugged. ¡°Do as you wish. I¡¯ll not break my word.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see what I decide. I might simply mention that they should keep an eye out for anyone who goes missing.¡± He sighed. ¡°Prejudiced, but fine. We do not ¡®disappear¡¯ people, and the nest of dimensional spiders that were doing that was dealt with ages ago.¡± He smacked his lips. ¡°They were quite tasty.¡± Tala blinked a few times. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that quite the mental image.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Regardless, I did have one order of business I¡¯d like to address.¡± ¡°By all means. You have my attention at the moment.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°I want to know what you can tell me about Lisa.¡± Chapter: 527 - Primacies Tala waited to see what would be said about Lisa, covering the smile that came unbidden to her lips with another drink of her laced coffee. Noc had literally barked a laugh at her request, covering his mouth and chuckling for a moment or two afterward. ¡°Forgive my outburst, but that was unexpected. Did you truly come simply to ask us about¡­ Lisa?¡± Tala shrugged, noticing the pause before Lisa¡¯s name, which gave her an idea. ¡°Among other things, yes. You don¡¯t follow the House convention of addressing people by title or advancement, why is that?¡± Noc grinned, motioning toward Blan who gave him a glass mug, containing a drink that was an active swirl between black and sparkling green liquids that seemed unable to truly mix. ¡°I¡¯ll not pry as to how you know the custom of the House lands, but I am curious what you would guess our reason is.¡± She shrugged again, enjoying a bit more of her own beverage. ¡°Even among the Houses, it¡¯s basically just an ego stroking custom.¡± Noc hitched, almost choking on his drink, his mirth apparent. He kept it together, however, and swallowed before raising an eyebrow. ¡°Care to explain?¡± She grinned. ¡°Most people of power keep themselves veiled, so what those who matter display is hardly ever the proper advancement they hold. For those it is the proper advancement of, most of those have a false sense of pride, being addressed by the same honorific as those who are really far above them. As to the titles? Those are simply that. I see the utility as most titles hold real importance regardless of the advancement of the individual who holds them. I would assume that the titles you hold would be self-granted, and not very informative to me or other outsiders. Your advancement is expertly hidden¡ªjust as Lisa¡¯s is, even when he shows some aura that seems to match one advancement or other¡ªand thus, it would be counter-productive to use such as an honorific, or it would be a means of slighting you. To do so, the one addressing you would be pointing out that they¡¯ve seen through your veil and other defenses.¡± Tala¡¯s smile grew, and she gave a third shrug. ¡°But that¡¯s just my guess.¡± Noc took up his glass again and downed nearly a third of it in one go. As the vessel clunked down on the hard-wood counter, the fox gave another vulpine grin. ¡°I can see why Lisa likes you. You¡¯re¡­ interesting, especially for one so young. I expect we will hear much of you in the coming centuries, or a great deal about you for the next decade or so before your passing.¡± Tala grunted a laugh and took a deep pull of her drink. This really is enjoyable. -Should we see if we can acquire some of the toxin?- That is an excellent idea. -I exist to think. I hope that the quality of my ideas reflect that reality.- They¡­ do? Tala put a purposeful hesitancy on the ¡®admission.¡¯ -You¡¯re a jerk sometimes.- Love you, Alat. -Love thyself first, Tala.- Her voice had a sparkle of humor in it, matching the tone of their quick exchange. Exactly. Love you a lot, Alat. Alat just sent back a feeling of mirth, allowing Tala to return her attention to Noc as she set her own mug down. ¡°Thank you for the assessment, I suppose. Now, about the good Lisa?¡± Noc sighed, turning his head in a way that caused it to become a simple fur-covered sphere atop his neck. Tala¡¯s threefold sight revealed that beneath the shown fur was skin, bone, part of a brain, and all the other things required therein. It even showed that his head extended off in a fourth dimension. Though, she couldn¡¯t actually parse how it worked or what it actually looked like. That, however, clued her into something that she had perceived from the beginning. Noc had more to him in the fourth dimension than any of the other fox-kin. She¡¯d thought what she sensed was other layers of this construct¡ªand undoubtedly most of it was¡ªbut some was ¡®other¡¯ dimensionality of Noc. Her heartbeat quickened even as muscles flexed and Noc¡¯s head returned to a normal appearance to her mundane sight. ¡°Lisa is watching and listening even now, so I won¡¯t say much.¡± The fox-kin chuckled, and it had a dark undertone. ¡°First though, I will say that I like your theory. I will give a single correction, but it is to what you said afterward. I do have a title which was given by others, even if it likely won¡¯t have meaning to you, just as you suspected. I am a Primacy of the Fox-kin. Therefore, my proper address would be Primacy Noc Lek Marac.¡± His teeth showed, and there were far, far too many of them as dozens of sets intruded from surrounding dimensionality. A weight of authority swirled around him that didn¡¯t match Anatalis in magnitude, but did have a different sort of power behind it, a different flavor. Then, his lips covered his fangs once more, and he gave a slight smile. ¡°But you may address me as Primacy Noc if you¡¯re feeling formal, or simply Noc at any other time. You aren¡¯t one of my kits, after all.¡± Tala noticed then that Blan and the others in the space had dropped to their knees to bow under the exposed authority. The harpist had both arms extended, forehead pressed to the floor. After a moment, the customers returned to their seats, shaking slightly, and the musician retook her seat, taking a moment or two to breathe and calm herself before starting to strum once again. Blan stood behind the counter, eyes downcast. Primacy Noc frowned then. ¡°My apologies, Blan. I¡¯ve given your customers a fright. Please refresh their drinks on the house.¡± Blan bowed and left to do so without saying a word. Primacy Noc turned his attention back to Tala. ¡°I will say only that Lisa is one of our kin to cause¡­ strong feelings. He has advocated the integrating into your cycling human cities, and many have followed his lead in one form or another.¡± Primacy Noc chuckled. ¡°That is the purpose of a Primacy, after all, to lead our kind by example.¡± Tala found herself nodding. ¡°Your power isn¡¯t combat focused, is it? Though, I imagine that you can use it thus, in a pinch.¡± Noc nodded, head flickering away for a moment before returning with a half grin in place. ¡°This is true. We are not meant to be titans of bloodshed. Now, Primacy Lisa is already annoyed with me, and we don¡¯t need a spat of dens in this age. What else brings you to my domain?¡± She considered, then gave a slow nod. ¡°Primacy Lisa has informed me that some of his kin will be joining us sooner rather than later. I wished to meet some of you besides him before that occurred.¡± A merry light danced behind Primacy Noc¡¯s eyes. ¡°Blan, what was the name of the human in the missive?¡± Blan shrugged, then pulled out a piece of paper, reading it over. ¡°There¡¯s no name mentioned. It simply says that Primacy Lisa¡­¡± Blan cleared her throat. ¡°And others testify to the validity of an offer of haven and citizenship within Irondale.¡± Primacy Noc looked Tala¡¯s way, a shadow of a smile tugging at his lips. ¡°A traveling hold called Ironhold just linked up with Astraya yesterday. I see that our mutual acquaintance is with that hold, but I cannot see anything specific.¡± He paused, but when she said nothing he decided to prompt her, ¡°Do you know if there is any relation?¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Tala nodded, finally smiling ¡°Irondale is the primary town within Ironhold. The gates open into Irondale directly, and the rest of the hold is only accessible by passing through that town.¡± ¡°And what is that hold to you?¡± He leaned a little closer, awaiting the answer, though he seemingly already knew the answer. Her smile blossomed into a grin then, letting her teeth show in an expression that was purposely predatory. ¡°That is my hold, befriended, bound, and defended. That is my domain, Primacy Noc.¡± Blan had stepped back once again, her eyes flicking to the laced drink beside Tala, seemingly horrified by her earlier actions. But that might have been Tala reading too much into things. Primacy Noc, for his part, burst out laughing, clearly delighted. ¡°Wonderful! It is good that you have announced this openly. Welcome, welcome, Den Mother Tala.¡± Tala grimaced, and the fox-kin noticed. ¡°My apologies. It is the title for a female in charge of a complex such as this.¡± He gestured around. ¡°I am technically a Den Father, but my Primacy¡­¡± He grinned widely. ¡°has primacy.¡± That got a chuckle from Tala, lowering her guard just a bit. It was time to posture a bit¡ªas well as return the courtesy of deeper, truer names¡ªand she readied her will, her authority, before she spoke. ¡°As you have shown me some of your true nature, let me return the favor and reveal some of mine. I am Maternal Iron.¡± As she uttered the final two words, she felt her soul resonate. More than that, she felt every bit and fleck of iron in her current layer of existence resonate along with her. Even that within the bodies of the fox-kin resonated, asking if she wanted to claim it. She doubted that she could if she were being honest, but it was still an intoxicating sensation. Regardless, she continued, infusing her speech with intent, power and authority once again, ¡°If you wish to be on less than friendly terms, you may think of me as the Ravenous Jealous Devourer.¡± Again, the iron around her resonated, this time in a manner that was almost a petition for carnage. But, unlike before, more than the just iron resonated with her soul. The very dimensionality of this slice of existence shuddered as Kit¡ªa massive presence hovering just stoneward of the fox-kin complex¡ªresonated with her. Primacy Noc had not retreated, nor blanched as Blan had. Still, he was obviously braced against her expressions of authority, his own was woven outward into and through this complex, his domain, holding it fast like a man might cling to his wife in the face of potential invaders. Tala smiled. ¡°But it is unfair for me to force you to choose. Therefore, I will accept Iron Matriarch.¡± Her soul felt like it was singing as her role as an Eskau of the House of Blood was as much a part of that title as her others were, but the fox didn¡¯t need to be told that. She was not planning on truly baring her soul to him. Primacy Noc gave a slow nod. ¡°Welcome, Iron Matriarch, to my domain. I look forward to speaking with you further, and I believe that many of my kin would enjoy living within Ironhold, whether in Irondale or the surrounding expanse.¡± She gave a mischievous smile. ¡°At the moment, save Primacy Lisa¡¯s complex, my domain is essentially only three dimensional in nature. There is lots of room.¡± Primacy Noc chuckled but shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll not move my complex, Iron Matriarch. I¡¯m needed here.¡± Tala gave a slight bow of her head. ¡°I expected as much¡­ If I may, how many Primacies are there?¡± ¡°Of the fox-kin?¡± He considered. ¡°Unless more have passed on, there should be seven of us left.¡± She let her smile fall from her face as she turned away from the counter, shoulders fully squared toward him. ¡°And the snakes?¡± Primacy Noc turned to fully face her, meeting her eyes with a level gaze. ¡°You are not ready for them. No gated human is, not even those I¡¯ve ever even heard myths about.¡± She frowned, surprised by what he revealed as his nonanswer. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°We are to train in the art of binding words, and the importance of such in general. They are to flay the fat from the authority of the sapient races.¡± Her frown turned confused. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°They¡­¡± He shuddered. ¡°Their power, their authority, is perpendicular to all other sapient creatures that I¡¯ve heard tell of. They literally slither through gaps in your power that you can¡¯t perceive. I don¡¯t know how to better convey the reality of it. A well known¡ªbut essentially never trodden¡ªpath to Sovereignty is to spend a week in one of their holds. If you come out alive, it is because your authority is so complete and undeniable that Sovereignty is at hand.¡± He gave a dark chuckle. ¡°But if you could survive a week in one of their holds, you would already have been on par with any Sovereign to ever reign.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I understand¡­¡± When he opened his mouth to speak, she shook her head, attempting to clarify what she meant. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t know how that would work, I literally don¡¯t understand what you could mean.¡± Primacy Noc¡¯s nose scrunched in a grimace. ¡°I¡¯ll give one example, but I won¡¯t explain it. Even that will risk being more harm than help.¡± Tala grunted, waiting. He sighed, before nodding. ¡°Imagine that a pouch is stolen from you, and you find the thief and take it back. You would think that the pouch is yours by all rights, correct?¡± She gave a slow nod. ¡°Yet, in the land you are passing through, all stolen goods are the property of the local guard, by dint of high decree and law passed down from the Sovereign who rules all that region. It is further reinforced by generations of tradition. So, the pouch now belongs to the local guard.¡± Tala scrunched her face before sighing and giving a slow nod. ¡°Okay¡­ I think I¡ª¡± He cut across her. ¡°I''m not done yet. So, you understand the situation then?¡± She gave him an irritated look. ¡°I was just about to tell you that, yes. I think I understand the situation you put forward.¡± He nodded. ¡°So, to understand the snake-kin, you must realize that in that analogy, they are the mimic disguised as your belt.¡± Tala blinked a few times, something in her mind feeling like it was breaking. ¡°What now? How does that¡­ What?¡± Alat groaned within her mind. -That doesn¡¯t make any sense. Your belt has no authority. If anything¡­ oh!- Do you actually understand? -Well¡­ maybe? It¡¯s your belt that allowed the pouch to be stolen, thus leading to it being lost to your authority forever¡­ I think? But the belt is yours still¡­ It has placed itself in your authority¡­ So, they belong to us? No, that doesn¡¯t make sense.- I think I get where you¡¯re going. Tala rubbed her temples. ¡°So, they are that which should be mine, that which betrays me and allows my authority to be subverted?¡± Primacy Noc gave her an odd look. ¡°That¡¯s what you took from it?¡± She glowered internally even as she grimaced again. -Hey, it was a guess.- Tala sighed. ¡°I think so?¡± The fox-kin grunted. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting interpretation. As I said, though, I will not explain it to you. Others prefer an analogy of gardens and fruit, but that one never made sense to me. It works for them though¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°Not that I will ever be Sovereign, so have that understanding alongside what I have said.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°Yet more myths and legends to sort through.¡± Primacy Noc chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s about the extent of it, yes. But there is one takeaway you shouldn¡¯t forget.¡± ¡°Oh? And what is that, my good Primacy.¡± He grinned her way, seemingly fully back to his earlier, jovial self. ¡°Never believe the snakes or let them in. They can ruin even paradise, and they never make good on their promises in ways that you would want. You think we twist words? They¡¯ll have you slaving for a generation because you promised them a ¡®good morning¡¯ in greeting.¡± She grunted again. ¡°I will definitely keep that in mind.¡± He gave a sharp nod. ¡°Now, I want to ask you about your travels. How did you end up here?¡± ¡°Do you mean what route I took on the map? Or were you hoping for a life story?¡± He laughed at that. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate as much of your story as you''re willing to tell.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t a quick tale, and it is mine¡­¡± Tala considered for a long moment. ¡°I think I¡¯d tell a good portion of it for a few vials of that paralytic?¡± Primacy Noc laughed deeply at that. ¡°For the portions of your story that you willingly share? You may have a whole case.¡± So, Tala told him. She played the part of a heroic adventurer, conveying her deeds and travels with exaggerated features. She left out any mention of the House of Blood or her position with it, but otherwise recounted her life since the Academy in broad strokes. The fox-kin was a consummate listener, giving good emotional feedback with his facial expressions and equations, and in the end, Tala found that she actually enjoyed the retelling, even though they both knew that it was only adjacent to the real tale. In the end, Blan presented her with a padded wooden case filled with small vials of the toxin that Tala had seemingly enjoyed. Having no further business with them, Tala left the fox-kin¡¯s complex, willing herself straight into her sanctum. It wasn¡¯t even noon yet, and it had already been a rather full day. Chapter: 528 - To Help Pass the Time Tala appeared next to Rane, opening her mouth to speak, but she saw that he was working on something that looked incredibly finicky. She almost tried to look closer, but then she realized that Alat was blocking her threefold sight of the area, and so he must be working on his secret project, which he¡¯d requested she not see for the time being. She turned her back immediately, trying to honor his request to have her not look. ¡°Sorry!¡± He grunted, glancing her way. ¡°You¡¯re fine, thank you for turning away, though. It¡¯s almost ready for you to see but not quite.¡± She shrugged, still facing away. ¡°You¡¯ll tell me when it¡¯s time. I am capable of being patient.¡± ¡°That I will, and that you are.¡± He chuckled as he came up behind her, wrapping her up in a hug. Terry¡ªwho had been lounging nearby¡ªtrilled lazily in their direction. ¡°Hi, Terry. Are you having a good morning so far?¡± He trilled again, shimmying a bit against the grass beneath his back, reveling in the sunlight. I swear, he is so cat-like at times. -Aren¡¯t we all?- ¡­Fair. Tala leaned more fully into Rane¡¯s embrace, shifting to get into a preferable position. With that done, she let out a contented sigh. ¡°Long day already?¡± he inquired. She laughed at that. ¡°A bit, yeah. There¡¯s an enclave of fox-kin in Astraya¡­ Well, it¡¯s more a waystop for most of them? Regardless, I think at least a few reside in there full time.¡± He gave a rueful smile, clearly already guessing at the tenor of what had happened. ¡°And you went and kicked the door in?¡± A huff escaped her nose. ¡°Not quite. I just dropped through for a chat¡­ do you know anything about beast-kin Primacies?¡± Rane frowned. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯ve heard the term, but it sounds important and impressive. Why do you ask?¡± Snuggling a little deeper into the embrace and shifting to press her back against him more pleasantly, she conveyed the broad details of her morning meeting with Primacy Noc. When she finished, Rane finally broke his silence. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m glad they tried to paralyze you, but it¡¯s hard to be upset, considering they failed so catastrophically.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a bit like someone walking up to you or me and demanding we give them our money. When we say no they grimace and walk away disappointed. Did they just try to rob us? I suppose so? But the attempt was so laughably inept, it¡¯s hard to take it seriously.¡± Rane grunted. ¡°Oddly specific analogy, but yeah, I suppose so. In both cases, it¡¯s easy to see how some could be taken in by the method, though.¡± It was her turn to grunt before moving on. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that you want to try the toxin?¡± He shook his head with a chuckle. ¡°Not even a little, but thank you.¡± She shrugged again. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± They stood there in silence for a long time, simply enjoying the contact and the company before Rane bent down and kissed the top of her head. ¡°What¡¯re you thinking about?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, nothing really¡­¡± She frowned, sighing. ¡°But now I am¡­ We¡¯ve been away for a long time. We¡¯ve advanced quite a bit too.¡± ¡°Do you want to go back? Have your siblings out? Something else?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m open for a change.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Yes to both ideas. Those are great thoughts, but I want to find Howlton first. I think after we leave here, we¡¯ll transition to the flier. Enar and Alat can fly search patterns out wide even while Alat flies the one with Kit anchored in it at the safer¡ªnon-reality-harming¡ªslower speed.¡± Rane gave a slow nod. ¡°That way, we¡¯d be able to find it sooner. At the same time, we can be reaching out with the communication device, too. That way, we should be able to hunt down Howlton one way or another in a pretty short timeframe.¡± Tala leaned back, letting out a long breath. ¡°That sounds good to me. Are you okay with that?¡± He grinned. ¡°Absolutely. I don¡¯t much care where I am. I¡¯m finding myself and solidifying that, and I don¡¯t feel like it has to do with a location on Zeme.¡± That got a smile, and she leaned back, pointing her face up and prompting him to lean down and kiss her. ¡°You are wise, my husband.¡± ¡°I do try. But beyond cementing my foundations as a Paragon, I¡¯m working on Reforging. Building on the foundation toward Reforging can be done anywhere, given our shared resources.¡± He gave a small frown then. ¡°It¡¯s funny. I feel like there is something about being Reforged that we¡¯re missing.¡± Tala spun around at that. ¡°I know, right? Things just don¡¯t add up. Master Xeel doesn¡¯t carry around all the material he needs to make a new body, and I don¡¯t think he is actually turning his entire mass into light and back again. That¡­¡± She shook her head, puffing out her cheeks even as she blew. ¡°That would represent so much power¡ªused so easily¡ªthat he should be able to crack a planet if he used his full might.¡± Rane gave a wry grin. ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s strong, but not that strong. He¡¯s like a star, not a death star.¡± Tala frowned, pulling back slightly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well, he¡¯s all light and bright, like a star. He doesn¡¯t kill everything he shines on, like some sort of death¡­¡± He grimaced, rubbing his forehead. ¡°It made sense in my head¡­¡± She chuckled, going up on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. ¡°Your head must be a lovely place, my dear.¡± He gave her a fake glare. ¡°You¡¯re a jerk sometimes, you know that?¡± She pulled back, matching his playful tone. ¡°Oh, well, if you want me to go then¡ª¡± She cut off when he caught her up, easily lifting her¡ªdespite her increased weight¡ªand kissing her as he spun her around. After a long kiss, she pulled back. ¡°So, you don¡¯t want me to go then?¡± He grunted and kissed her again, planting kisses down her neck. She laughed, starting to squirm and trying to reposition. ¡°Love. Love! RANE! That tickles!¡± He laughed in turn, pulling her back into a full kiss. Terry opened one eye before squawking in mock outrage and flickering away, giving them privacy. * * * As Tala and Rane ate, they fell into playing a game that they¡¯d picked up since leaving the Lunar Hunt to help pass the time while also training their soulsight. Terry was off hunting in the wandering wilds around Astraya, even as it continued its meandering course southward. The game was a simple one, meant to help both of them train their soulsight, and it was one in which Tala did not let Alat assist. Rane had the same policy with Enar, so it was fair across the board. Though, fairness wasn¡¯t really the thing at issue. They both wanted to master their own soulsight, not rely on their alternate interfaces. Rane set his mug down and smiled. ¡°Shall I go first?¡± Stolen novel; please report. Tala nodded, taking another large bite. ¡°Well, we¡¯re well past all the basic things like siblings¡¯ nicknames and things like that.¡± She grunted in agreement. ¡°So, first, I am only this tall because my family fed all of us kids thunder cattle milk every day.¡± Tala almost choked as she turned an incredulous stare on Rane. Rane grinned in reply. ¡°I know, right? My parents are both a little cross that the practice wasn¡¯t known until recently.¡± He held out his hand, indicating their height. ¡°They remain a bit shorter than they¡¯d prefer.¡± She did laugh then. ¡°Second, I didn¡¯t learn to read until I was ten.¡± Tala frowned. ¡°I thought you said we were done with childhood ones?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Just the ¡®most basic¡¯ ones.¡± She nodded acceptance, not taking the focus of her nascent soulsight off of him. ¡°Third, I like your hair best in the light of sunsets.¡± She shook her head, a smile playing across her lips. ¡°You made that too easy.¡± ¡°Did I? Are you guessing based on what I said or by the soulsight?¡± A sigh escaped her, and she looked back at her own decision, even before she¡¯d expressed it. ¡°Well, my guess is based mostly what you said, but I do think I can see the flutter of your soul at the lie.¡± ¡°So, then,¡± he leaned forward, smiling, ¡°what was the lie?¡± ¡°Thunder bull milk.¡± She grabbed her coffee, taking a drink, utterly confident in her answer. He nodded. ¡°First, I said thunder cattle milk, not thunder bull. But yes. You are right. It was bone-yak milk, not thunder cattle.¡± She did spit then, laughing even as she purposely did not catch the spray before it hit Rane. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that was deserved.¡± But he was chuckling. Tala felt his will flex¡ªlike feeling his muscles move while he was pressed against her¡ªand the moisture vanished from him and his clothes. She huffed in mock outrage. ¡°Hey! You didn¡¯t have to put it back in my cup¡­ that¡¯s kind of disgusting.¡± He grinned. ¡°I would never want to waste your coffee, my dear.¡± After a moment, he shrugged. ¡°I also wanted to see if I could separate out the component parts. I think Kit did the heavy lifting, but the little saliva and food particles that were in it should now be in the ground outside.¡± Tala frowned, seeing that, yes, only coffee had come back to her cup. ¡°Huh¡­ What do you know¡­¡± ¡°So, you got it right. Your turn.¡± ¡°Not quite, Master Rane. What do you mean that you didn¡¯t learn to read until you were ten?¡± He shrugged again. ¡°I didn¡¯t really want to, and it was a way to frustrate my parents. I could pick out words. After all, there wasn¡¯t any problem with my eyes or mind¡ªthey hired many professionals to verify that¡ªI just wanted to be doing other things.¡± ¡°What happened when you were ten?¡± ¡°Chloe. She was apparently tired of our parents complaining about it, so she sat down and read me the first chapter of a really gripping story, then sat the book beside me.¡± Tala¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yup. She said, ¡®If you want to know what happens, there¡¯s the book.¡¯¡± She laughed. ¡°And that worked?¡± ¡°It did.¡± He was smiling too. ¡°She had already forbidden all the servants from reading it to me, and eventually, I just buckled down and read it. I¡¯ve been reading ever since.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ good to know.¡± ¡°Yeah. People learn at different paces, and as it turns out, some kids¡ªboys especially¡ªjust don¡¯t have the motivation to sit still and read before seven, eight, or even nine.¡± ¡°But you waited until ten?¡± ¡°I¡¯m especially stubborn.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I would say persistent, personally.¡± ¡°Either way works. Are you ready to go?¡± She nodded as he took another bite of his meal. ¡°First, a mage and a band of woodsmen tried to kill me on my first visit to Alefast, but Terry ate them all." Rane paused mid-chew, his mouth full. He spoke around the food. ¡°What now?¡± Tala waved him off. ¡°No follow-up questions. You just need to choose at the end. Assuming it¡¯s true, we can talk about the particulars after.¡± He grunted, starting to chew once more. Once he¡¯d swallowed, he shook his head. ¡°I think I want an answer now. Terry ate a bunch of people? Really?¡± ¡°Do you really think that Terry wouldn¡¯t, if pressed?¡± Terry flickered into being beside them at that moment, looking back and forth. They both blinked at their feathered friend¡¯s unexpected arrival. Finally, he let out an annoyed squawk before flickering forward and snatching a payment from each of their plates. He was less than pleased with the food remaining on Rane¡¯s so he ate it all before flicking forward to press his beak and eyes into Rane¡¯s face to stare him down. Rane did not seem to know what to do, but after a moment, Terry flickered back, chirping in obvious mirth. He then took another two portions from Tala¡¯s plates. She, of course, objected, even if mostly out of principle. ¡°Hey now! That¡¯s not very nice.¡± Terry trilled, meeting her gaze. He then flickered forward and back so fast that Tala almost missed it, taking another chunk of food. After a pregnant pause, he began working his beak, swallowing his ill-gotten gains. That had Tala and Rane laughing, and once Terry was done, he settled in on Tala¡¯s shoulder to enjoy some time with the two of them. Tala shook her head. ¡°Well, it was my turn, right?¡± Rane nodded. ¡°You were about to give me your second ¡®fact.¡¯¡± ¡°Right. So, second, I had an imaginary friend as a child named Doris.¡± And on their game went. When they decided to give Terry a turn just for fun, neither Tala nor Rane had any idea what he was actually saying with his long series of chirps, tweets, squawks, and trills, but Alat assured them that he was playing correctly. Regardless, the exercise actually helped them both incredibly, as they were forced to rely entirely on their soulsight, rather than just putting together a good guess based on what was said. Needless to say, they added in Terry turns after that. A few rounds later, Rane would not let one of her ¡®facts¡¯ go. ¡°What do you mean that ¡®you were led to believe¡¯ that you had a cat as a child named Claude. How could you not know?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Tala cleared her throat before deciding to ¡®punish¡¯ his rule-breaking inquiry by turning the truth of Be-thric¡¯s deception into an outright ¡®lie¡¯ for the game. She justified it as good training, too, which it was. She was sure it was. ¡°Cats wander a lot. I kept putting out food for the cat, and it seemingly kept getting eaten. My siblings asked what his name was, so I said Claude. As it turned out, their parents were just finding the food that I left out and tossing it.¡± Rane laughed. ¡°You didn¡¯t notice the missing dishes?¡± ¡°I¡­ I usually just put it on the ground?¡± She tried to fake embarrassment. ¡°Why did you think it was a cat?¡± His eyes were dancing with mirth, clearly guessing that this was a fabrication. ¡°Well, I saw some cats wandering around, and I figured it had to be one of them.¡± She shrugged. ¡°How long did this go on for?¡± He raised one eyebrow. ¡°Well¡­ I was seven at the time¡­ and eight.¡± He chuckled. ¡°A whole year, eh?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± ¡°Ahh, love. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s amazing.¡± She grunted. ¡°Back to the game?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°So, Brand once tried to murder me.¡± That brought another smile to his lips. ¡°You¡¯ve used that one.¡± ¡°I have? Right, a week ago, sorry.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is always a hard game for me too, and after playing it so much, I¡¯m starting to run low on random factoids¡­ my creativity is slipping too.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be referring to your completely believable lie about having three arms?¡± ¡°It was a good baseline test for your soulsight,¡± he said with joking defensiveness. ¡°Sure, sure. Justify it all you want.¡± He huffed a laugh, then gestured for her to continue. She frowned. ¡°Oh! I was once told ''A woman like you should be naked, but you¡¯d cause a riot.''" Rane barked a laugh. ¡°I could see that.¡± Then his eyes twinkled. ¡°You could say that I have seen that.¡± ¡°No interrupting!¡± She grinned despite her protestation. ¡°Third¡­¡± She frowned, tapping her chin in thought. ¡°Oh! I once shoved my arm down the throat of an arcane and blew him up from the inside¡­ he was about to insult me at the time." ¡°I did see that memory¡­ yeah.¡± He shook his head. ¡°That seemed like a rather violent way to go.¡± She grunted. ¡°Fine then. Actual, third, I once poked a thunder bull in the head with a stick and almost died.¡± Rane snorted a laugh. ¡° With a ¡®death stick¡¯ right?¡± ¡°I told you that story too¡­ that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but the caravan guards did first.¡± He gave her a huge grin. ¡°You were the talk of the wagons much of that first trip.¡± She colored at that, though she wasn¡¯t that surprised. ¡°Fine. I once tried jumping between sections of Makinaven and almost fell off the city." He narrowed his eyes. ¡°I did not know that¡­ so a lie? Wait¡­ This is the third one, and it¡¯s replacing a truth, so it has to be true¡­ Right?¡± ¡°Soulsight. Remember? We can have up to three lies in this game.¡± He grunted. ¡°But it¡¯s called two truths and a lie¡­¡± ¡°Eh, our version is better.¡± Rane chuckled. ¡°True enough.¡± The next round, it was Tala¡¯s turn to stop him mid-triad. ¡°Wait¡­ no. There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that my very first one is a lie?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way that Chloe once convinced you to steal Grediv''s coffee for her when you two were growing up." ¡°I guess you¡¯ll have to wait and see then.¡± She chuckled, waving him off. ¡°Fine. Keep going.¡± They whiled away quite a bit of time just being together, laughing, and learning ever more esoteric facts about each other and each other¡¯s lives. As they really did know each other rather well already, they were almost to the point of having Alat and Enar sequester their memories to make the game more interesting when it was their turn to guess, but that was still at least a few more days off, yet. Regardless, they simply cherished the time together. Chapter: 529 - Only One Word Tala and Rane met with Master Kalfeir and Mistress Cae one last time, the night before they were going to leave Astraya behind, striking out to finally find Howlton. After the formalities of greetings and bows were exchanged, Mistress Cae gestured for them to sit once more in the seating area, the view out the front being especially wonderous with the sun setting over the trees far to the right. Once the drink selections were made, Tala spoke first, ¡°Thank you for the hospitality of your fair town.¡± Mistress Cae waved that off. ¡°Think nothing of it. We are always happy to host competent Mages.¡± Master Kalfeir snorted. ¡°You didn¡¯t seem to have trouble finding sport to fill your time.¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°The little scuffle wasn¡¯t a problem, was it?¡± He shook his head, then gestured to his wife. She gave a more complete answer. ¡°No, but we have received multiple requests for more information about Irondale, and you in particular, among other things.¡± ¡°Oh? The House of the Awakening Woods is that interested? I¡¯d thought I would be a passing curiosity.¡± Tala tapped her lips a couple of times in thought. ¡°Well, yes, but it wasn¡¯t just them. There are interested parties of all sorts. Some are simple information brokers, and they are able to tell that you will definitely be a person of interest in the coming years. They are most likely trying to get a jump on the market, as it were.¡± She grunted. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± She glanced Rane¡¯s way. ¡°What about him?¡± Mistress Cae shook her head. ¡°He hasn¡¯t actually been seen by anyone but a few functionaries and servants, and we ensure that they don¡¯t spread information without our say so.¡± She gave a light laugh at that. ¡°He¡¯s essentially unknown.¡± Rane shook his head, taking on a mock serious cast. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to suffer in anonymity, the dutiful husband behind his famous wife.¡± Master Kalfier barked a laugh at that, causing both women to regard him with raised eyebrows. He coughed and took another pull from his drink, muttering to himself in a manner that he likely knew everyone would hear. ¡°I thought it was funny.¡± Rane grinned but didn¡¯t take the joke further. With the social ice thoroughly broken, the four of them chatted for the next few hours about little, inconsequential things. Tala found that she didn¡¯t have a lot that she wanted to ask the two about advancement, given they were of the same rank and each approaching Reforging from different angles. She almost asked them about children, but the lack of any mention of them made the answer seem obvious, and the topic still held a lot of¡­ unhappiness for Tala. She wasn¡¯t ready to discuss it with strangers, even interesting, friendly strangers that she hoped to stay connected with. As they were nearing the end of their time together, Tala inquired about Primacy Noc, the fox-kin¡ªthough she left off the title. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was disappointed or not when Mistress Cae laughed. ¡°He¡¯s a dear, with his word-games, and he and his seem to mean well. He has an enclave around here somewhere, I imagine that you found it?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Well, good. I imagine that he enjoyed the visit. He doesn¡¯t seem like one to get out much, and it¡¯s good for him to have company, but it always seemed like he wasn¡¯t particularly interested in that company being us.¡± She indicated herself and Master Kalfier. ¡°Oh?¡± Tala was genuinely curious for the woman¡¯s take on the situation as well as the fox-kin himself. ¡°Oh, yes. He seems very¡­ racially focused whenever we talk. I think being exposed to more humans of power will help keep him in a good mindset too.¡± She grunted at that. ¡°The place did seem rather insular.¡± Tala looked toward Rane and Master Kalfier. ¡°I don¡¯t think either of our husbands could have comfortably come along for the exchange. The fox-kin definitely build with their species in mind.¡± That actually reminded Tala that she¡¯d never had that issue in Primacy Lisa¡¯s constructions. Did he just take advantage of greater space, or was he being purposely accommodating? She didn¡¯t know but if it was the second, it made her think better of him. It spoke well when a person made life easier for others when they didn¡¯t have to. Her focus was pulled back as Mistress Cae began to speak again. ¡°Interesting. I¡¯d assumed it would be thus.¡± She gestured around them. ¡°But I suppose we do the same, so is it any wonder?¡± She grinned. ¡°Rather speciesist of us to build on our own scale.¡± Tala laughed. ¡°Indeed.¡± At one point during the visit, Rane and Master Kalfier got up and moved over next to the forward ¡®glass,¡¯ looking out and chatting. They also seemed to be discussing the clear material itself. Maybe it¡¯s more refined elemental fleece? -Maybe? If so, it must be from a different breed of cloud elemental, or something else entirely. The magical signature is different.- I noticed that, yeah. I just figured it was a different herd of the creatures, or that different processing methods were used. -That could be, I suppose.- While the husbands were off on their own, Mistress Cae and Tala chatted about various processes for brewing coffee. They didn¡¯t end up agreeing on which one was the best, but they both had fun debating the pros and cons of various methodologies. One of the main sticking points was that Tala was far more a fan of quantity where Mistress Cae didn¡¯t mind a process ending up with a small amount of a higher quality beverage. The discussion had been fun, but Tala wasn¡¯t surprised when they ended up disagreeing. Such was almost always the case between two people who didn¡¯t define their terms before starting. There wasn¡¯t much to the meeting beyond that, and soon enough, Tala and Rane were back in the sanctum with Terry and Lyn, Alat piloting one of the fliers and navigating an efficient path through the center of the wandering plains, toward the south. Lyn seemed very happy as she finally commanded Tala¡¯s attention. ¡°Are you ready to learn what we were able to secure for Ironhold?¡± Tala was surprised at the giddiness of the woman. ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°Hold Tenders.¡± Lyn waited expectantly, as if those two words, together, were supposed to mean something incredible. Instead, the phrase just brought a frown to Tala¡¯s face. ¡°Someone who takes care of a hold?¡± ¡°Well, that could be what I¡¯m referring to¡­ sort of? That¡¯s where the magics and technologies originated. Apparently some very old holds¡ªgenerally not well maintained¡ªstart to degrade, and these Hold Tenders were used as platforms to help stitch them back together.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well, the magics, when used to their fullest, allow for a properly keyed vessel to move from a hold to the superficial and back.¡± Tala stared at her. ¡°What? Why wouldn¡¯t I have heard about such a thing?¡± She was utterly confused. In the cycling cities, anyone who worked with holds had been pinged by Mistress Ingrit for advancements exactly like this, but they¡¯d gotten nothing. As an Eskau of a Major House, she should have at least been aware of the existence of such things if the arcanes of that region knew of them. It made no sense for such to exist if she hadn¡¯t heard of it¡­ unless it wasn¡¯t wide spread? Lyn chuckled, unaware of how deep Tala¡¯s confusion ran. ¡°Apparently, the issues it addresses just don¡¯t happen in the House lands. Their holds are cared for, combined, or abandoned to fade away.¡± Tala grunted at that. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± ¡°Exactly. The hold equivalents in the cycling cities are all bound storage items, gaining stability and longevity from their bound owner. They don¡¯t suffer from these weaknesses either. Here though? In the wandering wilds? Sometimes they can¡¯t maintain them as well as needed, so over generations, they need to be able to service the holds. More than that, though, holds in the moving settlements are more exposed. It¡¯s somewhat rare, but sometimes one of the towns or villages is destroyed and that would have condemned everyone in the holds without mitigations put in place.¡± She nodded at that. They had a similar issue, which Lyn was aware of. That was likely the source of her excitement. ¡°These use a subset of the magic to be ¡®buoyant¡¯ toward the superficial, only held in place by a whisper and a wish.¡± Tala gave a half smile at the expression, but she didn¡¯t comment. ¡°So, if the hold needs to be evacuated, they load up these tenders and release them. It¡¯s not a comfortable trip, but in the end, they ¡®surface¡¯ on the superficial and they can make their way from there.¡± ¡°So, they come out into the remnants of a battlefield on which their town was destroyed?¡± Lyn shook her head. ¡°No, they generally wait a few days. In the worst case, this can have allowed the unmoored holds to drift some, but that can be a boon in this case, as they come out farther from the danger that should have passed regardless.¡± Tala was about to inquire further, when she finally understood what Lyn had been saying. ¡°Wait¡­ so we got some?¡± ¡°Yup. I heard mention of them in Sunnyvale, but apparently theirs require far more specific magics to ensure that the evacuees end up on the surface rather than up in the sky¡ªwhere they would drop to their deaths¡ªand they had no extras, nor any desire to allow our researchers to dig through them.¡± ¡°But in Astraya?¡± ¡°In Astraya, they had two extra. They have a workshop that buys the materials, crafts them, and then sells them to other mobile settlements. They are hardly the only such shop, but they do enough work that they had those on hand, ready to sell.¡± Tala grinned. ¡°That¡¯s amazing. So, we can shift the requirement from the silver for teleportation scripts to enough to finance a spot on a tender?¡± ¡°We can have that as an option. Though, I¡¯m not sure if it will be any cheaper in the long run. It is another possibility, though.¡± ¡°That is good, yeah.¡± In the end, they¡¯d ¡®lost¡¯ three families to immigration to Astraya, the fourteen people in the young families seemed rather excited by the more agrarian life offered in the Astrayan holds. Honestly, Tala had been surprised that they¡¯d been welcomed so easily, but apparently more hands were almost always welcome as it was hard¡ªif rewarding¡ªwork. On their end, Ironhold had accepted more than a hundred new people across twelve young families, and a few singles who felt that they¡¯d find their place in life in a place other than where they grew up. As such, there were tearful goodbyes, but as they had nothing to do with Tala, she had only seen them in passing and from the outside. On a more personal side, her siblings were going to be visiting in the next week or so. Tala was honestly surprised at how excited she was to see everyone. If everything went as they¡¯d planned they¡¯d be able to come out and investigate Howlton with Tala during their visit. That would be exciting for all involved. Alat¡¯s chosen path around the great circle of the wandering plains with the flier was long and the travel on the slow side, but even with her staying well below resonance levels to allow for thorough searches of the surroundings by the four other fliers, it only took a couple of days to reach the region in which Tala had first found Howlton. The thumping was no longer in evidence, and Lyn was finally able to find word on the village through the communication network. They knew that the town wouldn¡¯t be at this location, but Tala had wanted to check in on the potential cell, too, and it seemed a reasonable stop either way. Howlton had apparently moved toward the east, heading toward the Mountain Kingdom to have their holds serviced, and for similar other needs. They seemingly did so a bit less than every decade or so, and it just happened to be that time. Lyn had been able to connect obliquely through a chain of communications through other towns they came near enough to chat with. Greater Pareshti sent his regrets for missing Mistress Tala and expressed his gratefulness that she¡¯d survived her ¡®little problem.¡¯ That had gotten a laugh out of Tala, but it made sense. They couldn¡¯t be anything but circumspect with so many intermediaries. There had been one intermediary who had requested a clarification on Tala¡¯s name a few times before passing the message on, which was apparently unusual but not unheard of. It did make sense to verify the right information was being passed along after all, and that one had apparently been at an extreme range when the connection was established. Regardless, Tala found herself sitting on the open plains, feeling¡­ disappointed. Lyn was sitting with her, looking at the midsummer light, dancing across the tall grasses. She had the communicator with her as she¡¯d been trying to arrange a few last trading stops before they headed back to the cycling cities. ¡°Am I being silly, Lyn?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°I feel¡­ I feel vaguely disappointed. I expected to have a grand adventure to distract me.¡± Lyn laughed at that. ¡°Oh, yes, and instead you visited the Lunar Hunt, advanced to Paragon, fought a Baba Yaga, flew in a flying town, bandied words with a Primacy¡ªthat¡¯s still an odd title¡­¡ªand traded with the wandering settlements. That sounds like a truly boring trip.¡± Tala was laughing by the end. ¡°Fine, fine. It does sound rather adventurous when you put it like that. It just felt like living to me.¡± Lyn snorted. ¡°Your life is filled with adventure, Tala. So, yes. This adventure was just ¡®old hat¡¯ to you, even if each experience was new, and enough excitement for most people¡¯s whole life.¡± ¡°So, what was the point of this?¡± ¡°Well¡­ do you want my honest answer?¡± Tala chuckled. ¡°I do prefer that, yes.¡± ¡°You were not in a good place when we left. I didn¡¯t know what was wrong, then, but now that I do, I understand. You had the floor shattered beneath you. You needed to be away, and this honeymoon was a good way of doing that.¡± Tala grunted. ¡°You have come to a place of peace with your situation, even if it does turn out to be ¡®temporary¡¯ on the scale of your life, it is true for now. You¡¯ve processed that, and you¡¯ve also gotten used to being married.¡± That brought a contented smile to Tala¡¯s face. ¡°I have.¡± ¡°Are you still glad that you did it?¡± She barked a laugh. ¡°Oh, absolutely. It wasn¡¯t the path I thought my life would take¡ªat least not this young¡ªbut I am glad for it. It¡¯s funny, with Rane having his own things to do, he¡¯s still as much a ¡®home body¡¯ as always. I think his years in the wilds made him appreciate just being in a place more than I do, and his insights that lead to his advancement to Paragon are trickling outward in good ways. He has so much going on that I¡¯m a part of but not central to. I love that. I love how he is growing, that I can support that, and how he supports my growing too.¡± Lyn was beaming at Tala, the smile so broad it was almost goofy. Tala frowned, confused. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I asked if you were glad that you got married, and you almost immediately started talking about your husband.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry?¡± Lyn shook her head. ¡°No, don¡¯t be sorry. I think it¡¯s a good thing. If your thoughts about your marriage were only to do with you¡­ I think that wouldn¡¯t be very good.¡± Tala¡¯s smile returned. ¡°I can see that.¡± She glanced to Lyn. ¡°What of you? Ron is an interesting fellow, isn¡¯t he?¡± Lyn smiled. ¡°He¡¯s interesting, but I¡¯m not sure we¡¯ll go down that road. I¡¯m still figuring all this out¡ªworking for you¡ªbut maybe in a decade or two?¡± She nodded. ¡°I could see myself with him.¡± She narrowed her eyes then. ¡°Though that might require me to Refine, given you¡¯re currently granting him effective immortality.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°The sacrifices we make.¡± Lyn chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m still not interested in the process, but I have centuries yet. Time may change my mind.¡± The conversation lapsed at that point, and the two friends sat in silence for a long moment before the communication device in Lyn¡¯s lap pinged. ¡°Oh, one moment.¡± She manipulated it, reading the signals coming from it. After a moment, she frowned. ¡°That¡¯s odd. They¡¯re requesting that we verify that we¡¯re receiving clearly.¡± Tala shrugged. ¡°Is that really odd? I thought there could be connection issues.¡± Lyn sighed. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right. I¡¯m still getting used to this.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Not that I¡¯ll need it for much longer.¡± She worked the controls again. ¡°There, I¡¯ve verified that the connection is stable and replied letting them know that fact¡­¡± Her eyes widened, and her head jerked up, meeting Tala¡¯s confused gaze. ¡°Lyn? What is it?¡± Lyn swallowed. ¡°Only one word came through.¡± Tala felt her whole body tensing up, and she didn¡¯t even know why yet. ¡°What was it?¡± Lyn swallowed again. ¡°The message was just, ¡®Tali?¡¯¡± Chapter: 530 - Ten Years Free Tala¡¯s eyes widened, to match her friend¡¯s, even as the single word was still dying on Lyn¡¯s lips. ¡®Tali?¡¯ Her ears were ringing, her vision tinted toward white, and even her threefold sight seemed indistinct and hard to focus on. Her breaths were coming in short, quick gasps. Ten thousand thoughts flashed through Tala¡¯s mind, most of them nonsensical panic. The few that weren¡¯t stood out in stark contrast among the rest. How does this even make sense? -Well, someone clearly is trying to find a connection with Tali.- That name shouldn¡¯t mean anything to anyone out here, and no one that does know it should be out here. Plus, they seemed interested even after it was clear that I am Tala, not Tali. -Well, they seem to know that Tali and Tala are the same person¡­ or at least they suspect?- Or they think that I¡¯m really bad at choosing a fake name? Alat sent a feeling of mirth followed closely by one of negation. -That would be funny, but I doubt it. All it does is emphasize to me how lazy Be-thric was in choosing your other name.- ¡­Yeah. But the issue at hand? Could the House of Blood have been looking for me all this time? -That doesn¡¯t seem that likely, even though it hasn¡¯t been that long on the scale of the Major Houses.- It¡¯s been more than ten years! He¡¯s ten years dead. I¡¯m ten years free. She was mentally pulling out her own hair, even though she was physically frozen in place by her shock while her mind raced. Why? Why is this coming up, now? Finally, the loud ringing sensation began to fade from her consciousness as she regained mastery over herself, and she felt a gilded resolve settle around her. ¡°Where did the message come from?¡± ¡°Is that what you want me to respond? I can message inquiring about who is asking? It might be good to know where they are?¡± Tala immediately shook her head. ¡°No, no. Wait. Can¡¯t you tell who? Can¡¯t we detect where they are messaging from?¡± Lyn had a patient air about her, clearly sensing Tala¡¯s scattered state. ¡°No, that¡¯s not how this form of communication works. It¡¯s coming through quite a few others who are relaying the messages. Honestly, it could be coming from anywhere in the wandering wilds. I can point toward the closest communication constructs, including the one that is the nearest link in the chain, but that¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°It could be from anywhere? Even up near Sunnyvale?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Recall the fliers. We need to pack up, now. Whatever we do, we want to have them safely stored. -They¡¯re on their way back. They¡¯ll be here in less than five. We were still searching within a close circle for any evidence of a cell or moving settlement.- The southern section of the wandering wilds was, understandably, less traveled, given the House lands to the south and the fact that those Houses still often hunted for their vestiges among the towns and villages moving around this region. So their lack of contact was understandable. Thank you, Alat. -You¡¯re welcome. We need to handle this with caution. Someone seemingly knows something but their words don¡¯t speak of confirmation or true knowledge.- Tala reoriented on Lyn. ¡°Okay. Then, I want you to respond, ¡®Please clarify if there was a misconveyance. We have a Tala here¡­¡¯ Word it how you need to in order to convey that idea. Even if this goes horribly sideways, chances are we¡¯ll have days before we have to deal with anyone. If we feel things won¡¯t go well, we¡¯ll go north and avoid the confrontation entirely¡­ In case it wasn¡¯t clear, don¡¯t convey the last part.¡± Lyn gave a tight smile and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll handle it. Sending the message, now.¡± Less than a minute later, she flinched slightly, then gave a nervous laugh. ¡°Another message. ¡®I am coming.¡¯ One or more intermediaries added an apology for the ominous nature of the message, but they felt like it wouldn¡¯t be right to hold back something that could be a forewarning.¡± Tala hesitated for only a moment. A statement that they were coming seemed to imply that Tala¡¯s location was known. That made no sense, but she had to assume it wasn¡¯t just bluster, otherwise she couldn¡¯t figure out a way it wouldn¡¯t be counterproductive. It was spoken in the immediate sense. They weren¡¯t going to come soon; they wouldn¡¯t like to meet up. No, they were on their way that instant. She considered further. It was ¡®I¡¯ not ¡®we.¡¯ So, it¡¯s someone who is willing to come into a potentially hostile situation by themselves. Assuming this has anything to do with us at all, that makes it almost certain to be someone from the House of Blood, likely an Eskau. She grimaced, hoping desperately it wasn¡¯t Pallaun or Meallain. Even De-arg would be preferable to those two, but there would be a simple landscape in the Doman-Imithe before Eskau De-arg came this far afield. So, one enemy. One potential enemy, who likely knew of her abilities¡ªat least what she¡¯d been able to do when in Platoiri¡ªand they were still confident in coming after her¡­ Part of her wanted to face whoever it was, but most of her immediately baulked at the very idea. Even without the political implications of having to kill or otherwise remove someone from the House of Blood, she didn¡¯t feel ready to face any of those people directly. She didn¡¯t know if she ever would be. She wanted to leave that part of her life behind forever. She honestly thought she had. But it was back. She had to choose. So, she chose. Message Master Grediv, now. We¡¯re coming home. -Done.- ¡°We need to go, now. Sanctum or Irondale for you, Lyn?¡± Lyn didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Sanctum please.¡± Tala willed them both there. -I¡¯ve messaged Rane, Enar will make sure he knows what¡¯s going on immediately.- Tala and Lyn sat¡ªTala on her throne, Lyn in a chair that Tala willed into place for her¡ªsilently thinking for a moment. Then, the older Mage spoke, ¡°First, why are we running?¡± Tala opened her mouth, a frown coming to her face, but Lyn held up her hands, forestalling her. ¡°I don¡¯t mean I disagree, or that you¡¯re wrong. I just want to know the reasoning. I can be the most helpful if I understand the ¡®why¡¯ as well as the ¡®what¡¯ of what we¡¯re doing.¡± Tala sighed, nodding. ¡°I can see that. It¡¯s easy enough to explain. If it¡¯s someone associated with the House of Blood, meeting with them will almost certainly expose me. If that happens they will have to die. Their death will then likely be almost as large an issue as my discovery. Even if I¡¯m overblowing it, it¡¯s just too great a risk with no upside. We gain nothing by meeting with whoever this might be, and we stand to lose a lot. The chances of them actually knowing where we are, and being able to get here in anything close to a reasonable timeframe are vanishingly small too.¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°Honestly, a large part of it is that I¡¯m ready to go back, and this is just the final impetus to make it a fast return.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Lyn was nodding by the end. ¡°That makes a lot of sense.¡± She looked down at the construct in her hands. ¡°I think you¡¯re forgetting one thing, though. They do know roughly where we are. So, should I respond? I could tell them that we¡¯re not going to be here?¡± Tala barked a laugh. ¡°I agree that they seem to think they know, but how would they know where we are? Where are they ¡®coming¡¯ to? The statement that they are coming implies that they know where we are¡­ somehow. Or at least have a rough idea. I¡¯m operating under the assumption that that isn¡¯t a lie, but how is that possible?¡± Lyn nodded. ¡°I can answer that. Of course they know, assuming they were searching for Tali, which seems to be the core of this whole situation. If they have talked with Howlton about Tali in the last decade, then our location is now known. We sent that we were currently looking around the region where you met with Howlton before.¡± Right¡­ That changed things a little¡­ Well, no it didn¡¯t. She¡¯d already decided to just assume they knew roughly where she was. Regardless, it didn¡¯t alter the end choice over much if at all. ¡°Then we have a choice to make. If they can track us, and we start moving, then they¡¯ll pursue quickly and be harder to deal with. At the very least, they¡¯ll be irritated by our attempt to avoid them. That might also imply to them that we likely know something¡­ But we don¡¯t have any reason to think that they can track us. If we send another message about us leaving, and they can¡¯t track us¡ªas is most likely¡ªthen they¡¯ll speed up, and we might have lost the chance at not only getting a greater lead but getting away entirely without them being the wiser.¡± Lyn grunted at that. ¡°Alright. So, we go. We say nothing, and we hope that they don¡¯t arrive for days or weeks and simply find us gone with no leads.¡± Tala nodded. ¡°Exactly.¡± She opened a portal on the superficial, letting out one of the fliers¡ªtiming it so that the other four could come back into the space that Tala had prepared for them¡ªbefore closing the larger one and creating a small portal to Kit inside the construct that would bear them north. -Taking command of the flier.- Thank you, Alat. ¡°-Up to maximum safe velocity. Do we want to scrape a little on this first part?-¡± Tala shook her head, responding to Alat aloud as the alternate interface had chosen to do so as well. ¡°No, please. We don¡¯t want any evidence of our passage if we can help it. They said they were coming, but we don¡¯t actually know who it was or what that means. I¡¯m hoping that we¡¯re just being paranoid. There isn¡¯t any way that someone should be able to reach us before we¡¯re back to Alefast. I don¡¯t want to do real damage because of a fear of something that is unlikely to come to pass.¡± Lyn pulled in a breath, considering. ¡°That¡¯s fair. The cloaking device that we got from the merchant, Mara?¡± Tala only considered for a moment. ¡°No, with the iron encasing the flier, it will be too difficult to make that work properly. We¡¯d likely cause issues that would be trackable while we worked out the kinks.¡± She grimaced. ¡°Though, it would have been nice to have such already in place and working¡­¡± Lyn chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll add it to Master Simon¡¯s list.¡± That clearly brought something else to mind. ¡°Oh! I¡¯ll notify Ironhold that we¡¯ll be back in Alefast, Waning, sooner than expected.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lyn.¡± Alat was aiming them toward the thinner part of the forest, through which Tala had passed last time she was here. This time, they¡¯d navigate the wolves¡¯ side of things rather than the Leshkin, so it should be rather uneventful. Tala didn¡¯t feel any better for that reprieve, however. Lyn was staring her way, and the woman seemed to have finally come to a decision. ¡°So? Who is it?¡± Tala grunted. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. It could be anyone who knew of me¡­ but why? Some people have the same name sometimes¡­¡± Rane appeared beside the two women, having willed himself into his throne beside Tala¡¯s. ¡°Enar¡¯s updated me. What¡¯s the plan?¡± She grimaced, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. I don¡¯t even know who it could be. Someone from the House of Blood is most likely, but that also makes the least sense. None of them should be here in the wandering wilds.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s assume the worst. What if it¡¯s Meallain or Pallaun?¡± Tala shuddered. She couldn¡¯t even consider that unlikely possibility. ¡°Don¡¯t wish that upon us¡­¡± Rane frowned. ¡°As I said, I assumed that would be the worst outcome. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking about it.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Pallaun wouldn¡¯t be so far from Platoiri¡­ probably. As to Meallain? ¡­I¡¯m not ready to face her yet, Rane. I¡¯m not ready for her to know I¡¯m alive. From the words, I don¡¯t think whoever it was does know, but they might¡­ I¡­ I can¡¯t have them know. I can¡¯t have the House of Blood be sure of my survival. No matter who it is, I can¡¯t meet with them unless it is to kill them. I just can¡¯t.¡± She turned and looked into his compassionate eyes. After a long moment, he nodded. ¡°Then if it comes to it, I¡¯ll face them.¡± Tala¡¯s eyes widened, but Rane held up a hand. ¡°It won¡¯t be to fight them, not if there¡¯s another choice. We¡¯ll talk. I¡¯ll try to find out what¡¯s going on.¡± He grunted. ¡°That would probably be the best option, no matter who it is, if they catch us before we get back to the cycling cities.¡± She thought for a long moment, then turned to regard Lyn. The older woman shrugged. ¡°He has a point. He¡¯s a lot harder to pin down than you are, and if they are more powerful than a Paragon, he might actually have greater initial survivability than you, simply by dint of disengagement. That will give time for us to reinforce him or get him out.¡± Tala felt like grinding her teeth, but even a moment¡¯s thought confirmed that they were right. Rane was a much better person to engage with a random arcane. She could watch on, and communicate with him through Alat and Enar. More than that, so long as Kit was nearby, Tala could will herself to the superficial to interfere if necessary. Though, as she¡¯d already emphasized, if she did that, she¡¯d likely have to kill the arcane, as she didn¡¯t want to consider the possibility that news of her could reach the House of Blood. I could capture them, but that¡¯s just killing them with more work, from a repercussions standpoint. I¡¯d need to cut them off from the House, and the House would assume that meant they were dead. Again, the results would be the same. ¡°Alright. I agree with that plan.¡± Rane rested his hand atop hers, giving her a light squeeze. ¡°That¡¯s only if we don¡¯t get back to Alefast, Waning, before they catch up. If we do?¡± He chuckled. ¡°There isn¡¯t a higher concentration of Paragons and Refined in the cycling cities than the currently waning region. Any arcane will be entirely outclassed, unless they brought an army.¡± Or unless it¡¯s Meallain¡­ But she didn¡¯t voice that thought out loud. ¡°Yeah¡­ I guess you¡¯re right.¡± The following hours passed with excruciating slowness¡ªTala feeling utterly unable to distract herself, her threefold sight constantly straining to see just a bit further¡ªuntil the forest finally came into view. They entered it north of where Tala had so many years ago, being sure to pass through the wolf side of the dividing line. It wasn¡¯t one of active conflict, thankfully. The Leshkin stuck to their side and killed anything that came into what they considered theirs. Similarly, when Leshkin tried to expand that claim every so often, the wolves came down on them with tooth and claw. At least that¡¯s what had been conveyed to them by the Pack member, Lerra, when they¡¯d been there. The trip became more interesting over the next two hours as the flier had to dodge around trees rather than simply flying at the maximum safe speed in a straight line. They didn¡¯t go over the top in order to prevent themselves from becoming an obvious thing to spot in the sky for anyone looking. Lyn was reading a book, and Rane was alternating between using his power to carve tiny pieces of something and watching the massive, moving image that Alat was maintaining of the flier moving through the forest. Finally, they broke out of the trees on the northwest side. They had reached the human wilds, the region of the cycling cities. They were home. Alat set a straight course toward Alefast, Waning, and accelerated up to just above the maximum safe speed, as they¡¯d discussed. They would take a bit more wear on Reality over being overtaken so close to home. It was frustrating. If they didn¡¯t have to worry about damaging Reality, they could be to the waning city in less than two hours. As it was, they¡¯d be lucky to make it in less than ten. They were an hour out from the forest¡ªbarely more than thirty miles¡ªwhen a flash of indigo power appeared in Tala¡¯s threefold sight at the treeline behind them to the southeast. She gasped, and Alat instantly oriented the displayed view back that way. It took little effort to focus in and show an elven woman standing just past the trunks. It was one that Tala instantly recognized. ¡°It is Meallain?¡± Tala hadn¡¯t actually believed that was possible. There was no reason for the woman to have been in the wandering wilds. There was no reason for any House of Blood member to have been that far from the House lands. ¡°¡­and she¡¯s Hallowed?¡± That was¡­ well not unexpected. Tala had known that the woman always hid her true power¡ªdisplaying the very bottom of Revered with her aura¡ªbut Tala hadn¡¯t expected that Meallain was so advanced. At the top end of Revered rather than the bottom? Yes. Actually Hallowed? No. As they watched, Meallain glanced down at something in her hand, then she lifted her gaze, eyes almost instantly locking on the flier. Chapter: 531 - How it Might End Tala was panicking¡ªinternally at the very least¡ªeven as she tried to keep herself calm enough to think. As her thoughts were most of the problem, it wasn¡¯t working very well. Lyn¡¯s eyes had widened, having likely recognized Meallain from the few of Tala¡¯s memories that she¡¯d seen. Well, she¡¯d also probably pulled up a picture of the woman¡ªand all notable members of the House of Blood whom Tala had seen¡ªwhile they were flying their way home. Rane stood, resolve painting his features, even as he tried to figure out their next course of action. ¡°Do we put on all possible speed? And hang the consequences to Reality?¡± On the display, almost as if in response to Rane¡¯s question¡ªthough that was actually impossible¡ªMeallain crouched and launched herself after the flier. Tala¡¯s voidsight showed the ripples that the woman was making in existence by her passage. She was absolutely brimming with power, and Reality did not like how fast she was moving through it. The magical resonance was quite literally insane. Tala¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°She doesn¡¯t care if she calls every magical creature in the region. No wonder she was able to catch up to us¡­¡± Alat¡¯s voice rang out, ¡°-At our best speed¡ªassuming we don¡¯t rip a hole in reality and die in some unspeakable manner¡ªshe would catch us before we were halfway to Alefast.-¡± Lyn grimaced. ¡°We should have gone faster, but that option is gone now. With perfect hindsight, it would have been worth a bit of abrasion on Reality to now be behind Alefast¡¯s walls.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°No, we don¡¯t know that doing that would have turned out better. If she could see we were fleeing fast, she might have put on this much speed sooner.¡± She barked a nervous laugh. ¡°I suppose that, for all we know, she¡¯s been going this fast since she said she was coming. That would make you correct, but we have no way of knowing even now. We made the best choice we could at the time.¡± She hesitated. ¡°If she has been going almost this fast for the whole time¡­ The fallout from that level of resonance is going to catch up soon, and I¡­ I don¡¯t know what it will actually look like.¡± Rane grunted, twisting back and forth once to pop his back. ¡°Well, that will come regardless. The current problem is an elf bearing down on us, and for that problem, we have a solution. I¡¯ll go to meet her. Set the flier down a bit away from me. It seems like she and I need to have a talk.¡± Tala stood to her feet beside him before kissing him. She was nervous, but they¡¯d used much of the flight time discussing how they¡¯d handle situations like this one if they were caught by whoever was pursuing them. ¡°Rane, be careful.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°I remember her from your memories, Tala. I won¡¯t underestimate her.¡± She noticed that he hadn¡¯t promised to be careful. -I¡¯ve notified Master Grediv of the changing situation¡­ He said that Master Xeel is engaged with another arcane on the western side of the cycling cities. He can¡¯t get away.- Lyn hmmed. ¡°I think we should bring the Talons in on this. She is a threat to Ironhold, and this is one reason they exist at all, aside from sating your curiosity.¡± Tala bit the side of her lip and grimaced. ¡°She¡¯d go through them like an alchemist through reagents.¡± ¡°Really? If they truly would just die before her, I won¡¯t say anything more, but remember, they have your magical density and they¡¯ve been trained and outfitted to a reasonable degree, even if neither as much as we would like. Again, their magical density is higher than even Rane¡¯s, Tala. They are becoming better fighters, and they¡¯ve had weeks now to train with their new capacities since you advanced to Paragon. I think they will surprise you, and if they can surprise you?¡± A half smile came to her lips. ¡°They might just do the same to Meallain.¡± Finally, Tala grunted. ¡°Fine. Let me know when Ron is ready and have the rest of the Talons gear up and form up, defensive focus. They can use the gear that Master Simon has been gushing over.¡± That caused Lyn¡¯s eyebrows to rise. ¡°Are you sure? They¡¯ve been training with it, but it¡¯s still not battle tested.¡± ¡°There is no time like the present. If we¡¯re going to do this, we¡¯ll do it properly. I won¡¯t deny them gear that could keep them alive.¡± Lyn gave a hesitant nod, sending messages. ¡°He¡¯ll be ready in less than two minutes.¡± That¡¯s fast, but I suppose they were all notified of what was going on when we began fleeing north¡­ Alat made a surprised sound, drawing Tala¡¯s focus. -Master Grediv said that our defender unit is almost to us. They were informed of our plight, and set out to meet us as soon as they were able to gather their gear. A few others are with them too. I have the list, and I¡¯ll let you know when those specifics matter.- But¡­ they¡¯re Refined, maybe with a few Paragons if we¡¯re lucky? Tala was torn. The unit were skilled fighters and anyone who came with them would be as well, but she and Rane were now more advanced than them¡ªat least than their unit¡ªand she and her husband were outclassed by Meallain. She didn¡¯t want Masters Clevnis, Girt, and Limmestare, nor Mistresses Cerna and Vanga to be harmed because she and Rane were in need. -They are being informed of the situation. They¡¯ll make their own choices. They know you two are Paragons now. They won¡¯t come in blind or ignorant.- Tala almost laughed. Their defensive unit would, ironically, be less powerful than the Talons, if far more versatile and experienced. ¡­Alright. How far out are they? -Less than an hour.- How much less? -I don¡¯t know. They aren¡¯t updating their location constantly. I¡¯ll let you know as soon as I have a better estimate.- Thank you. ¡°Terry!¡± Tala called. A moment later, Terry appeared on her shoulder, seemingly already sensing the atmosphere. Rane grinned at Terry. ¡°Will you be ready to back me up?¡± Terry trilled, then held up one foot, flashing the talons, seemingly already mostly informed by Alat. Rane laughed. ¡°Yes, you and the Talons.¡± Terry chirped in a way that seemed to convey both happiness and determination. Rane manifested his bone golem armor¡ªthe soulbond that he used least often¡ªand stepped over to Tala once more. ¡°I love you, my wife.¡± She stood, going up on her tip-toes to kiss him. ¡°I love you, my Rane.¡± With a wry smile, he kissed her back, then willed himself to the superficial, appearing on the highest hilltop in the surrounding area. Alat guided the flier to touch down behind the next hill further toward Alefast, Waning. Meallain slowed her reckless charge as soon as Rane appeared, but she didn¡¯t stop by any means. She even kept creating magical resonance, moving fast enough to stay ahead of her own building wave of dissonant power. Still, instead of reaching Rane in moments, it looked like it would take her nearly twenty minutes to cover the distance. That was still insanely fast, and the whole region was still filling with overlapping, building magical resonance of a powerlevel Tala had never experienced. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Most of those of the upper levels of power know better. Meallain knew better too, she just seemed like she didn¡¯t care. Alat was still giving a view of Meallain and Rane on the large display, and to Tala¡¯s surprise, she could see a manic edge to the elf woman even across the great distance that separated them. She looked a bit gaunt, as if she hadn¡¯t been eating enough of late. She also had clearly visible, dark circles under her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s going on with her?¡± Tala spoke quietly, but not so quietly that Lyn didn¡¯t hear. Lyn glanced toward Tala. ¡°She wasn¡¯t always that¡­ manic?¡± ¡°No. She was usually incredibly put together, professional and driven.¡± ¡°Well¡­ she definitely seems driven now.¡± Ron indicated his readiness through Lyn a moment later, and Tala willed him to the sanctum, only touching him to the superficial for an instant in between to allow for the journey. Tala was momentarily startled, seeing his gear with her own eyes for the first time. It was familiar as she¡¯d not only approved the plans but seen it within Kit for days, but it was still something to actually see in person. He was in what would likely be called half-plate¡­ Tala thought¡­ She never really paid too much attention to specific armor names. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t in full plate. Instead he had plates of white steel¡ªinset with iron mesh¡ªaffixed over the most vulnerable parts of his body. A rounded helm was tucked under his arm. The face guard looked to only cover the jawline with the same white steel and iron, but Tala¡¯s threefold perception picked up material shrouding the whole face. Yet another use for the refined elemental fleece. -Indeed. It¡¯s stronger than mundane steel too, without the brittleness.- A hefty tower shield of white steel and iron completed the gear. Not only was the massive shield practically a mobile defensive implacement¡ªespecially when used alongside other Talons¡ªbut it also acted as a white steel reserve for the repair of the warrior¡¯s armor and a place to pull weaponry from. Tala¡¯s investment of giving every newly reborn a large cube of white steel to manipulate was paying dividends. Every Talon could at least roughly shape the material, and while none could use it like a House of Blood protian weapon yet, there was real possibility for doing so in time. I really should have taken more time to train that aspect of their combat¡­ -You mean instead of just using them as glorified sparring partners?- ¡­Yeah. -Well, do better going forward.- Ron was the only fully outfitted member of the Talons. Most only had helms and shields of iron and white steel, while their other armor was mundane. They simply hadn¡¯t had enough time. And here I was lamenting how slow things had been going. What if I¡¯d dedicated myself to training them, to outfitting them? How much better prepared would they be? -We cannot change the past, only press onward and do better next time.- Yes. I will do better next time. Assuming there would be a next time. Ron bowed. ¡°Mistress Tala. Thank you for your willingness to involve the Talons.¡± Tala gave a curt nod. ¡°Ron, it¡¯s good to see you.¡± ¡°I wish that we could have been more helpful of late, but we all understood that if the arcanes of the wandering wilds had seen any of the reborn¡­¡± He gave a rueful smile. ¡°We are not something easy to explain.¡± That brought a smile to her lips despite the other circumstances. ¡°Indeed.¡± He then bowed to Terry, the depth matching what he had given Tala. ¡°Master Terry. It is always a pleasure to see you. It will be our honor to fight alongside you, should the need arise.¡± Terry gave a single, decisive chirp before reorienting on the display before them. Ron did the same¡ªminus the chirp¡ªlistening carefully as Lyn filled him in on various pertinent details. Tala was left to her own thoughts, and only then did she realize that her hands were trembling at the very idea of Meallain being so close. She¡¯d always liked the woman on a personal level, but she was a solid, irrevocable tie back to him, back to Be-thric and the House of Blood. At that very moment, her husband was confronting that painful memory from her past. He was stalwartly ready to be a source of strength, and a bulwark against this pain. She was confused. Uncertain. Terrified at how it might end. On the display before them, Rane waited, Force drawn but held down at his side. The off-white of his armor stood out above the waving green of the tall grass in the waning summer light, the sun setting off to his right. Soon enough, Meallain landed before him, her feet light among the stalks of grass. ¡°I wish to speak with the one named Tala. Bring her forth or I shall go get her from that traveling hold you have sequestered nearby.¡± Rane slowly shook his head. ¡°How can I trust you won¡¯t hurt her? What do you want with the girl?¡± Meallain let out an almost hysterical laugh that cut off abruptly. ¡°I want to talk to her. I want to ask after the origin of her name, to see if she has any family who might share it, to learn about them if so.¡± Rane shifted, clearly caught off-guard by the request. ¡°Why? What do you want with a human so young? How could she be of use to you?¡± The elf stiffened. ¡°How old is she?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She would have been considered young, even by humans¡­ is it her?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t. She can¡¯t be alive, even if that fool of a village lord saw her and sent her on her way toward the forest all those years ago¡­ She shouldn¡¯t have survived that long¡­ Could she still be alive?¡± Meallain started pacing. She and Rane were a dozen yards apart. On the scale of arcane combat, that was nothing. She spun to face Rane, her gauntlets glowing with power as they formed into a sword and shield. Tala felt her eyes widen. ¡°Two? How does she have two protian weapons?¡± The answer was obvious. She had somehow killed another House of Blood Eskau and gathered the bond to herself, or¡­ something like that? Tala actually had no idea. Protian weapons shouldn¡¯t work like that. It shouldn¡¯t be possible for her to have two. -So much for the answer being obvious.- Hush you, I¡¯m a bit stressed. Meallain wasn¡¯t acting as Tala would have expected. The very act of showing armaments before attacking was¡­ off. It wasn¡¯t something that Eskau Meallain would have done while Eskau Tali were still with the House of Blood. Regardless, the elf growled. ¡°I have come to learn about a Tala, to seek and find out what I can. Bring forth your Tala that I may do just that.¡± Rane slowly shook his head. ¡°I will not. You are not acting trustworthy. You just chased us for hundreds of miles because of a name? I must safeguard those in my care.¡± She growled again. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll kill you and find her myself. If I cannot find her after your corpse has cooled, I¡¯ll destroy your hold and move on to that city to the northwest. Someone will tell me what I need to know.¡± Rane jerked, lifting Force, barely blocking her strike. Tala hadn¡¯t even seen Meallain move, but Rane apparently had had enough warning to get his blade in the way. Ron grunted, apparently as surprised as Tala by the strike. He spoke under his breath. ¡°This shield will be invaluable.¡± On the display before them, the elf¡¯s blade distorted, wrapping around Force and cinching tight. As such, Force wasn¡¯t free to counter as Meallain¡¯s shield came in to bash Rane¡¯s side. Rane¡¯s magics easily moved him away, causing him to twist around his grip on Force, the weapon itself unable to move. Meallain¡¯s eyes went wide for just an instant as her strike failed to land, before she began laughing again. ¡°So, you¡¯ve some useful magics, eh, broken one? Very well. It seems like we will have an actual fight on our hands before I get what I want.¡± Lyn turned to Tala. ¡°Why isn¡¯t she just crushing him? If she wants you, and you¡¯re right here¡­¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°You heard her. She doesn¡¯t think it¡¯s me. She thinks it¡¯s a Tala. She has a lot she wants to learn and do, so she¡¯s biding her power. She believes that she can beat Rane without using more magic than her protian weapons give her¡­¡± Tala then remembered something that Thron had asked her ages ago. ¡®Do you know why Eskau are only given one protian weapon?¡¯ At the time, she¡¯d assumed that it was hard to make more. Thron had scoffed at that idea. ¡®No, not in the grand scheme of things. The issue is that it¡¯s a powerful bond between souls. We varied races can¡¯t have such a close bond to multiple other souls without it starting to overstrain us. A marriage bond is different because the bodies are separate. For a Vestige, the gate is kept at a metaphorical distance. For a protian weapon, the gate is held conceptually close, practically within our own soul. To have two such bonds? ¡­Well it would be almost exactly like you having two gates within yourself¡ªif such were even possible¡ªand she still has her own soul on top of that.¡¯ Tala swallowed¡ªpulling herself from the memory¡ªand spoke quietly but loudly enough for Lyn and Ron to hear. She also knew that Alat and Enar would tell Rane, ¡°She¡¯s straining her own soul, twisting it. A protian weapon is more than a normal soulbond. It¡¯s practically fused with the Eskau; it can never leave. Two? I can¡¯t imagine how much that has affected her. I cannot imagine what possessed her¡ªor any member of the House of Blood¡ªto allow it at all.¡± The Hallowed elf¡ªmore advanced than even Master Xeel as a Reforged¡ªmight have made herself more than a bit insane. Well¡­ this just got even worse than I¡¯d expected. Chapter: 532 - Raw Fighting Prowess Tala, Lyn, and Ron were standing in the sanctum¡ªwith Terry sitting on Tala¡¯s shoulder¡ªwatching the view that Alat provided. It was as if they had front row seats to a truly unusual fight, from a mundane perspective. To Tala¡¯s eyes it made perfect sense. Rane matched Meallain in raw fighting prowess strike for strike¡­ about half of the time. To counter the other half, his body simply moved out of each given strike¡¯s path in ways that no humanoid could have gotten the leverage to move. On his part, Rane would occasionally seemingly strike at empty air, causing Tala to tsk. ¡°Her concept almost forces your instincts to be wrong. You know she¡¯s about to move one way before she moves the other. She¡¯s clever with it too. Your instincts won¡¯t always be wrong. She capitalizes on your thinking, gets in your head. Letting your instincts be right until you actually count on them. She¡¯s survived and thrived specifically by dancing that line with each given opponent.¡± Though, if she wanted to, she could simply overwhelm someone and take them out. Ron was clutching the simple short sword that he¡¯d pulled free of his tower shield of iron and white steel, his enhanced strength making the weight seemingly a non issue. ¡°Let us help him, Mistress. Please?¡± Tala grimaced. ¡°You¡¯ve seen her fight now. How many of you would stand up against her?¡± It was Ron¡¯s turn to grunt. ¡°Ten. Don¡¯t bring Kedva, please. Her family still needs her.¡± And just like that, Tala understood what the man intended. Ron¡¯s plan was to be a shield for Irondale, to spend his and the Talons¡¯ lives to let Rane or Terry finish the fight. Tala stood, instinctively drawing as much authority to herself as she could in that brief moment before pronouncing, ¡°No. You will not go to die.¡± He opened his mouth to object, but her anger flared. ¡°If you believe you can contribute to the fight, I¡¯ll send you in immediately. If your plan is to go and die in a vain hope of that helping, I say no.¡± Ron grimaced then. ¡°Fine. Five. Myself, Kedva, Torrap, Nalcof, and¡­¡± he hesitated for a moment, considering, ¡°Rinnor.¡± Tala gave him a long look, during which Rane and Meallain clashed a half-dozen more times. Ron touched his shortsword to his shield, and the white steel flowed, altering the weapon into a one-handed, thrusting spear instead. ¡°Please?¡± Terry stood and trilled, signalling his readiness to go. A portal opened beneath the flier on the superficial, drawing it back into the sanctum, and the five Talons were forewarned of their upcoming role. Finally, Tala nodded. ¡°Go.¡± She opened a tiny portal right in front of Terry even as she willed the five Talons to the superficial. The five appeared in a circle around Meallain, tower shields held protectively before them, spears already thrusting forward. Enar had already informed Rane about the incoming backup, and so he was mid-assault when they arrived, Force lashing out in tight, ever-changing patterns. A pulse of power radiated outward from Meallain even as the five appeared, her eyes widening. Tala saw her concept hit everyone around her, and four spears shifted their points of impact, guided by expert hands following deceived instincts. Force was deflected off of Meallain¡¯s shield even as those four spears thrust through empty air. Ron¡¯s spear, however, didn¡¯t waiver. He seemingly ignored his instincts¡ªthat were likely screaming at him to shift his point of attack¡ªand put his blade through her low back on the right side, just above her hip. I¡¯m glad she¡¯s not wearing her armor. -Well, she seemingly wasn¡¯t on the warpath before coming after us. It would have sent an entirely horrid message to anyone she was speaking with to show up in full armor.- Alat let the implications hang heavily in their mind. Hey¡­ I¡¯m not that bad. I usually don¡¯t let people know I¡¯m wearing it. But that was all the time they had, in the fraction of an instant between the spear strike and the result. The hit made her scream¡ªmostly in irritation, but there was definitely pain involved as well¡ªeven as both her protian weapons became great lengths of bladed chain, whipping out to strike everyone around her in a sort of metal cyclone that Tala did not want to face herself. The Talons caught the blows on their shields, the power of the strikes throwing them all backward. Even so, their training and power held true, and they landed, skidding backward rather than tumbling into heeps. Rane got Force up in time, and his own magic moved him back rather than letting the chain wrap around his block to strike him regardless. That left Meallain alone on the hilltop, eyes locked on Rane. ¡°You were the distraction? You had five more powerful warriors available, and they sent you? Are you gated insane?¡± Then she froze, her eyes widening further. ¡°Not gated? And you¡¯re burning power like stuck pigs. How do you have this much power with absolutely no finesse?¡± She shook her head as if to clear it, at the same time, her magic was sealing up the wound in her low back. ¡°What the rust is going on here¡ª?¡± That¡¯s when Terry struck. He appeared with only the smallest blip of dimensional power, his talons already raking across her left shoulder, alive with void magic that was pushed back into the weapons and away from her flesh by the sheer power of her aura, even as she twisted, avoiding much of the attack, striking out and causing Terry to flicker away. Did she just focus and concentrate her aura and authority as a means of active defense? -I¡­ I think so? I think we¡¯ve seen things similar, but to actually suppress magic on the edge of a blade? That¡¯s insane!- At the same moment, the Talons sprinted back in, and Rane launched himself forward, imparting a truly staggering amount of kinetic energy into himself to cover the distance to arrive first. By the time she¡¯d finished her warding strike against Terry, Meallain had Rane¡¯s blade through her back¡­ or she would have if she hadn¡¯t decided that things had gone far enough. The zeme of the entire region changed in an instant, becoming a massive vortex, pulling power in toward her. The Talons weren¡¯t actually bleeding power, it was more that they were using power at a tremendous rate. So, blessedly, they weren¡¯t giving their enemy more power to work with. Even so, a truly staggering amount of magic was coming toward the Eskau. There was an odd flicker of power to Tala¡¯s magesight, and then Meallain went up like a funeral pyre, burning with power for all the world to see. That won¡¯t make things better¡­ -No kidding¡­- Tala stood, her armor growing over her in an instant, and only then did she realize just how much inspiration the Talons had taken from her defenses, despite the fact that it should have been instantly obvious. Not the time for thoughts on fashion and armor choice, Tala. She was about to will herself to the superficial, but Lyn held up a hand. ¡°Wait! Tala, wait.¡± Tala ground her teeth, a habit she¡¯d never picked up, but it seemed appropriate in the moment. ¡°Why?¡± The one word came out with such force¡ªechoed by the power she had over the entire sub-dimension around them. ¡°Why should I let them fight alone?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t fighting alone, and if you don¡¯t show yourself, she might still be driven off. This is how we fight. We need to wear her down.¡± Lyn touched Tala¡¯s armored shoulder. ¡°If she sees you, she won¡¯t ever retreat, not in the state she¡¯s in right now, maybe not even if she was of sound mind.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Tala almost stomped her foot in irritation, but she realized that would be exceedingly childish. She then almost turned and broke her throne with a punch, but not only would that have been needlessly destructive, it would have required her to take her eyes off the display. Sure, she could still perceive the battle taking place, but it wasn¡¯t the same. At least that¡¯s what she convinced herself of to help leash her fury¡­ and fear. On the superficial, things were going¡­ interestingly. Terry and Rane were striking hard and fast and pulling back to keep themselves alive. The Talons were keeping a careful distance, thrusting their now longer spears forward whenever there was an opening. Meallain engaged them all, her weapons a blur as she blocked, dodged and counter attacked, despite being surrounded. The only evidence of any injury upon her was the damage to¡ªand staining of¡ªher clothing, through which her perfect, pale flesh showed. Not all of the Talons were equally skilled in feathering their use of power, and while those who ¡®bled¡¯ more were more powerful as a result, they also burned out faster. Tala watched with growing trepidation as Meallain pulsed her power, spiking its use only when and as she needed it. Honestly, the control and finesse was a thing of beauty. Despite effectively using five or six times more power than she had been, the Eskau¡¯s usage was barely more than her average had been. As a result, when the first Talon bottomed out on power, Meallain had barely used five percent of her reserves. The elf woman sneered. ¡°Pathetic.¡± Torrap¡¯s eyes widened as she closed on him faster than seemed possible to his now mundane sight. Tala barely willed him back into Irondale in time. Meallain screamed at the sky, her concept causing a dozen strikes to miss her in her moment of emotional venting. ¡°Who is still interfering with me? Can I not have the blood that I¡¯ve earned?¡± The blood from her few wounds still stained the cloth around them, but nothing about the now healed cuts seemed to be hampering her. Her magics kept her as nimble and effective as ever. The other Talons fell quickly after that, thankfully all being drawn out, with Ron and Kedva being the final two, in that order. Meallain spat to the side, a little flower quickly growing where her spit landed. ¡°Pathetic.¡± She cut the flower down. ¡°All that power and all they could do was spend time.¡± She shook her head. ¡°What a waste. But I do know one thing, now.¡± Rane backed up a step, Terry flickering to his side, crouched low, clearly about to spring. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°You know what happened to my Tali, my Tala. You must. That is the only explanation for weaponry that so mimics the House of Blood¡¯s protian weapons. Though, in truth, they were handled so inexpertly that I want to weep at the comparison.¡± When Rane frowned, Meallain laughed. ¡°Did you think I wouldn¡¯t notice them changing and adjusting their weaponry through the clashes? You have at your disposal massive gems, yet you leave them uncut, unpolished, languishing in the gutter for peasants to pee upon.¡± In a fit of pique, Tala brought Kedva and Ron back to the superficial, fully topped off. ¡°I think we¡¯re doing alright for ourselves.¡± Kedva snapped out, causing Meallain to whirl. On her other side, Ron struck home, his spear slipping through Meallain¡¯s left thigh this time. She cursed and blurred, burning a chunk of power as she slammed her weapon¡ªnow shaped as a long, stiletto bladed punch-dagger¡ªthrough Ron¡¯s breastplate. Still, the armor had done its job, deflecting the blow outward so that she only punched through his ribs and lung rather than his heart. Meallain ripped her weapon free, turning to deflect Kedva¡¯s attack even as Tala pulled Ron back to Irondale where the other Talons began tending to him immediately. Truthfully, the magic rich environment that Kit supplied was more than enough to ensure that the man would survive, but it would take a little time and a lot of food. He was out of this fight for the moment. -Umm¡­ Tala?- Not now, Alat. -This is sort of important?- Is it urgent? Does it have to do with this fight? -No, but¡ª- Then tell me later. -...Alright¡­- Her tone conveyed that Tala would regret the choice, but Tala didn¡¯t care in the moment. Meallain was done playing around. She took a slamming hit from Force and three cuts from Terry to spin low and cleave off Kedva¡¯s left leg. The woman collapsed, only the first part of her scream escaping her mouth before Tala had her and her leg back in Ironhold, her will holding the two together even as Kedva¡¯s magics repaired the razor thin cut. The elf laughed maniacally. ¡°What a rusting waste. You have all this capacity, but you fight like children who stole their father¡¯s sword.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Enough. We¡¯re done.¡± Tala watched as Meallain¡¯s soul flexed. She watched as the elder Eskau locked down existence around herself. Terry flickered, trying to go for another strike, but instead, he found himself shunted to the outside of her radius of control, his attacks rending the air to no effect. He let out a screech of irritation, but no matter what he tried over the next few seconds, he could no longer flicker near her. Even so, Tala and he both saw that her defense against him drained her power every time he tried, so he kept at it. His eyes practically glowed with fury as he flickered dozens of times a second, trying to overwhelm her through sheer attrition. After a startled glance, conveying just how stunned she was by his continued assault, the elf gave a single nod of respect, a smile tugging at her lips. Meallain then turned away, ignoring the bird as she strode straight for Rane. Rane, for his part, slammed Force forward, striking the side of her head. The blow connected¡ªmuch to Rane¡¯s obvious surprise¡ªbut the elf only took a single stagger-step to the side, using the motion to wrap an attack around and attack him from the back. He barely rolled around that strike with the aid of his magics. His follow-up strikes did not connect, despite him clearly trying to fight his instincts when appropriate. Her own weapon skittered across his armor, clearly overwhelming his defensive magics with her speed and power. Thankfully, the magically reinforced plates were keeping him from taking even small wounds for the moment. Even more blessedly, his kinetic magics didn¡¯t fire after the fact. That would have caused him to be jerked around toward no benefit. More important than the direct conflict, however, was the clash of authority and aura. Tala tried to lend her weight and power to Rane, and that seemed to help, but even together, they couldn¡¯t truly stand up to a Hallowed in the prime of her roaring, burning power. Rane¡¯s continued mastery of the space right around him allowed him to pull power and momentum from each strike both as it came in and as she tried to pull it back, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to overcome the gulf between them, as the elf simply burned more magic to power through. Meallain continued to exchange blows with Rane, coming out ahead in each clash, only kept from victory by the armor that Rane always managed to position properly. Chips began to show across its surface, but that seemingly wasn¡¯t enough for the elf. Meallain shifted her protian weapons to war-picks and similarly armor-piercing weapons, and under that renewed assault, the bone began to reach its limits, even with Rane stealing a monumental amount of power from each strike before it landed. Even so, after nearly two minutes of lightning fast back and forths, the elf stepped back, giving a shallow bow. ¡°You have shown yourself a worthy combatant. Give me what I want, and I will let you live.¡± Rane slowly shook his head. ¡°No. I am happy to talk with you on her behalf, but you will not have those I protect.¡± Without warning, the air at the very edge of Rane¡¯s compressed and hardened aura blossomed with energy, his will, authority, and power shaping and directing the blast of heat and light that shot straight for Meallain¡¯s chest. It was an unbelievably fast attack, and it only had to cover a handful of feet to reach its target, but the Hallowed wasn¡¯t where Rane had aimed. Her concept had already decided the outcome of this battle. Even so, it burned away her left sleeve and set her pants ablaze before her power put the fire out. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t enough to affect such a seasoned warrior, and while his lance of heat and light still hung in the air¡ªdispersing like the after image of a lightning strike¡ªMeallain moved. She stepped forward with a deceptively lazy strike, her blade actually whipping through the air too fast for anyone present to see. Even Tala¡¯s enhanced mind and vision weren¡¯t enough. Rane¡¯s magics moved him backward in a blur that was difficult for even Tala to follow, but when he stopped moving, his right arm fell free, having been severed at the shoulder, Meallain¡¯s blade having struck into the gaps in his armor and navigated them perfectly. Tala¡¯s very soul vibrated with shock and horror, the feelings clearly resonating and amplifying off of that coming from her bond to her husband. Rane was not used to taking hits, even if he could do so¡ªhis entire fighting style designed to keep that from happening, to keep his berserker ¡®boon¡¯ from activating. He was not used to losing limbs. Tala tried to bring Rane back to the sanctum, but she couldn¡¯t. Meallain had locked down everything. No! If he berserks, she¡¯ll kill him instantly. -She¡¯ll likely do that anyway! Try other avenues.- She couldn¡¯t open a portal; she couldn¡¯t bring him back; she couldn¡¯t even will herself to go out. Every skill and ability with regard to Kit was locked out. Terry¡¯s attacks became frantic as he flickered around at the edge of her range, her magics actively opposing every one of his attempts. His trilling screeches held a depth of emotion that rocked Tala to her core. He knew what losing Rane would mean to her, and he was trying desperately to prevent it. He was failing. Oh, it was true that Terry would wear Meallain down eventually, but eventually wasn¡¯t going to be soon enough. Rane starred in muted horror at his arm as it lay on the ground for only a moment before he overcame his shock¡ªor more likely wrestled down his innate berserk reaction¡ªand acted, activating magics that caused it to move to him and allowed him to take Force into his left hand. He was already falling into a battle stance as magics on his armor activated, cutting off the blood before a second spurt from his shoulder could further paint the grass red. Meallain looked down at her sword and grunted. There was a thin crack in it, near the midway point. ¡°You and your armor were stronger than I expected.¡± She exhaled and the crack flowed back together, filling in. ¡°It won¡¯t be enough, though. All I asked for was a little information. All this?¡± She gestured around herself. ¡°All this is because you wouldn¡¯t be reasonable.¡± She fell into her stance¡ªone that Tala knew all too well¡ªand moved forward to strike the final blow. Finally, finally, in that last instant, Tala had a realization and acted, having not a second to waste on reconsidering her desperate gamble. Chapter: 533 - Disaster Tala seized Rane¡¯s aura¡ªher husband''s aura¡ªand knew it to be her own. With that knowledge, she flickered into the space beside him, Flow already out in void-sword form. Meallain¡¯s eyes widened, but everything had happened too fast¡ªand in too close a space¡ªfor her to react even with her aura, which was concentrated around her protian weapon for what she¡¯d hoped would be a killing strike. Tala took the woman¡¯s arm at the shoulder, severing more than just the physical connections between limb and torso. She cut the very reality node that was the basis for Meallain¡¯s makeup, instantly making the arm and held weapon distinct from the woman they had previously been united to. Knowing the versatility of protian weaponry¡ªas well as the skill of the one before her¡ªTala didn¡¯t want the separated weapon to come back and form a new arm for the elfin Eskau. She simply didn¡¯t trust that severing the reality nodes would be enough. That in mind, Tala slashed at the still falling arm, purposely feeding extra void-magic into Flow, causing it to practically slurp up the protian weapon¡ªalong with the elf arm¡ªallowing the soul trapped within to move on, just as Flow¡¯s void-magic had allowed for Io¡¯s core so long ago. Just as it had for the other souls she¡¯d sent on in the years since. Meallain had sprung backward at Tala¡¯s appearance, and only after her arm and secondary weapon were gone did her feet touch the ground once more. Tala¡¯s burgeoning soulsight perceived something trembling in the space that the protian weapon no longer occupied. More than anything, it felt like a child who had just dropped his treat in the dirt, deciding whether or not to throw a fit. On the physical side, Tala¡¯s initial stroke had inadvertently mirrored Meallain¡¯s strike on Rane just moments earlier. Though the elf had explicitly not been given time to recover her weapon as Rane had. Terry charged forward, forgoing his flickering to slash at Meallain, but the elf instinctively avoided the attack. Trilling in irritation, Terry did flicker then, reappearing on Tala¡¯s shoulder. Tala acknowledged Terry but didn¡¯t take her eyes off of the other woman, a fierce rage burning within her, fighting back her trepidation, fear, and no small amount of hesitation based upon well-earned respect. ¡°You will not take my husband from me.¡± Tala¡¯s very soul vibrated with how close that had come to disaster, the whole world around her trembling under the weight of her authority and the strength of her emotional response to what almost happened. Everything told her that Rane should have died then and there, but she had been able to avert disaster. Somehow, she¡¯d been able to think clearly enough to find a way to interfere, and he was alive. Blessedly alive. Meallain still hadn¡¯t moved from where she¡¯d landed after the initial jump back. Even Terry¡¯s attack had only forced her to shift slightly. In the instant of stillness that had fallen, Tala took a moment to aspect-mirror her healing onto Rane¡ªnot needing to touch him, as he was already well within her authority¡ªusing her threefold sight and intimate knowledge of physiology and the healing arts to target only the worst damage. Her type of healing was murder on the physicality of the unprepared, and so she couldn¡¯t do anything as extreme as regrowing Rane¡¯s arm at the moment. It would be the ultimate irony if she saved him only to cause his death by over-healing what his body could bear. Regardless, they could have a face-stuffing session in which she should be able to augment his digestive system and healing at the same time. ¡­It was going to take a lot of eating if they went that route. -First, Mistress Vanga is almost here, and she¡¯ll take care of him in no time. Second, you are distracting yourself from what is literally right in front of you.- ¡­Fine. Meallain still hadn¡¯t moved, though the blood had drained from her face. At that moment, however, the child-like tendril of soul-connection finally reacted, snapping back toward the elf with terrifying, non-physical force. As it impacted, Meallain¡¯s body didn¡¯t react, initially, but her soul frayed and the woman screamed. As she briefly considered it, Tala had actually heard a large number of screams in her life. She¡¯d heard the screams of animals or monsters dying, of people losing limbs¡ªThat happens far more than it really should, now that I think about it.¡ªscreams of loss and screams of rage. No scream she¡¯d ever heard compared to this one in its raw, soul-searing agony. Meallain collapsed to the ground, violently twitching and shuddering. To Tala¡¯s soulsight, the woman was a boiling cauldron, and only time would tell what the final concoction would be. Even whether or not it would be anything but a burnt, ruined mess was impossible to tell at that moment. -And¡­ they¡¯re here!- The flying construct that Tala herself had helped build zipped up from between nearby hills, having kept low to stay out of sight. Tala moved her focus outward, and only then did the changes really register, mainly the changes in occupancy. From every direction, as far as she could sense, magical signatures were closing in on them. It was not small groups, or lone sources either. It was an almost solid mass, contracting inward on their position. The number and power far overmatched those that Tala had ever seen, and her and Rane¡¯s Defender unit had arrived just in time to meet the tide and hopefully not their deaths. -Well, you have about ten minutes if we¡¯re being honest.- ¡­Fair. Master Girt, Master Limmestare, and Master Clevnis jumped free and landed beside Rane and Tala even before the flying construct could land behind them. Master Clevnis¡¯ voice snapped out. ¡°Mistress Tala, what is the situation? Is that elf still hostile?¡± Tala pulled her focus back, regarding the woman writhing on the ground. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Master Girt grunted. ¡°Well, let¡¯s all get into that amazing space you have, and let her deal with this mess that¡¯s incoming.¡± Mistress Vanga rushed off the now landed vehicle, going straight to Rane and beginning to work her magics. The process was well-known to Tala, the limb regrowing one segment at a time, bones first, then the accompanying tissue from the inside out. Mistress Cerna strode forward, off the platform, followed by a few people Tala didn¡¯t know, all of whom had auras in the Paragon range. ¡°We can¡¯t do that, unfortunately. Even if she fought like a two or three of her rank, continuing unto death, the majority of these creatures would still live. At that point, they would be free to turn their attention to the closest source of disruption. Either that would be us¡ªfor those creatures capable of assaulting dimensional spaces¡ªor it would be Alefast, waning.¡± Mistress Cerna¡¯s proclamation caused a wave of grimaces to pass over all those present, save Meallain, whose face was only now shifting away from the rictus of agony. The elf did finally seem to be pulling herself back together. Her soul seemed unshattered, but something about it was raw. Meallain forced herself to her feet, ignoring the others around them and focusing on Tala, directly. ¡°No¡­ you¡¯re an illusion¡­ Right? You have to be? How were the details pulled from my mind so perfectly?¡± She frowned, her centuries of experience clearly allowing her to operate despite the still obvious, soul-deep pain. ¡°Why make a perfect illusion, then cover it in obscuring armor?¡± The elf seemed as utterly uncaring of her missing arm¡ªthe wound having sealed almost immediately¡ªas she was of the Defenders now arrayed beside Tala, Rane, and Terry. The healing seemed to have been accomplished as her other healing had, the only evidence having come in the form of a small pulse of power that Tala couldn¡¯t quite track. They all stood in tense silence, two each missing an arm¡ªthough Mistress Vanga was well on the way to correcting that for Rane¡ªand a third struggling to keep herself from trembling. Tala¡¯s unit was close at hand, but the Paragons who had come with them were spreading out, keeping a wary eye on Meallain while seemingly more focused on assessing what was coming. Stolen story; please report. After what seemed like an eternity, Meallain spoke again, this time in a small voice, barely audible even to Tala¡¯s enhanced senses. ¡°Tali? ¡­Tala? Is¡­ Is that really you?¡± Tala had no idea how to respond, but she knew¡ªdeep down in her soul¡ªthat trying to lie or dissemble would harm herself as well as being rather useless in that moment. So, she willed her faceplate away. ¡°Yes, Eskau Meallain. I am Tala. It has been¡­ a long time.¡± Meallain took an involuntary step back, her one hand coming to her face. ¡°You¡¯re alive? How¡­?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, that can come later. It must be a tale for the ages.¡± She barked a laugh. ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± Her eyes flicked to Rane, her mind seemingly finally processing what Tala had said. ¡°And you¡¯re married?¡± Tala gave the barest of nods. The elf grunted. ¡°Well, he fights well enough. I¡¯m sorry about the arm, but he wouldn¡¯t let me see you.¡± Her eyes hardened. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t keep people from those they should see.¡± Tala felt her anger rise up again, overcoming her trepidation and hesitation momentarily. ¡°Yes, it would be awful if he had snatched me from my home and taken me hundreds of miles away to be isolated from all that I knew and loved.¡± Meallain flinched back, but clearly felt like she needed to defend herself. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you knew. I thought you were who little Be made you into¡ªfoolish and wrong though that was¡ªand sending you back would have been exactly what you¡¯re referring to. I see I was wrong. I didn¡¯t understand the truth of the situation, and you either knew, or you know now¡­¡± Her whole posture slumped, and her shoulders began to shake. Is she crying? -It looks like it?- Really? Meallain wiped some tears from her face with her remaining hand. ¡°I know you killed him¡­ I know it now at least. I suspected it before. I¡­ I want to hate you for doing it, but I can¡¯t. I think that even if I had known then, I wouldn¡¯t have blamed you. I thought we were making the best of his horrible choice, but we were just helping him keep you. I¡­ I don¡¯t know how I could have done it differently, but I wish I had.¡± Rane spoke very softly, his voice strained with the remnants of pain. ¡°Did she just completely snap? She seemed¡­ unbalanced before, but this?¡± Mistress Vanga tsked, shifting Rane slightly as she continued to work. Terry let out a long, low trill. Tala, for her part, gave a minute shrug, not letting her guard down. The elf¡¯s soul was twisting and warping, still struggling under the damage that losing one of her protian weapons had caused. Meallain laughed again, more self-deprecating this time. ¡°You¡¯re alive and well and have been this whole time. Meanwhile, I¡¯ve been on the warpath to learn about who you were¡­¡± Her eyes widened in dawning horror, and she looked around them once again. ¡°Oh¡­ You¡¯re alive¡­ and here¡­ What have I done?¡± As the elf looked around them, taking in the repercussions for her own flagrant, insane magical resonance that were about to come crashing down on all of them, she let out a softer cackling laugh. ¡°I finally find a lead¡ªI find you seemingly alive and well¡ªand I bring down a calamity upon you that a City Lord would be hard pressed to handle cleanly.¡± Tala growled, her deep-seated fear and anger combining to momentarily override her formerly, generally good opinion of the woman. ¡°You and yours are good at that.¡± Meallain¡¯s head rocked back at the statement, but she didn¡¯t argue. One of the Paragons stepped forward, away from the others who were continuing their analysis and speaking quietly to each other. ¡°I lack context for this conversation, but we need to deal with what is coming.¡± He locked gazes with Meallain. ¡°Will you be a help or a liability in the coming clash?¡± Meallain turned to Tala, ¡°Will you talk with me after the fact without being forced to?¡± Tala grimaced, and Rane touched her arm to get her attention for a suggestion. ¡°In the hold?¡± She hesitated an instant longer, then nodded. ¡°I will, in my hold. Do you agree to that?¡± Meallain nodded once, not seeing it for the concession it truly was. ¡°I agree. With that settled, I will help with this disaster that I have instigated.¡± The elf then paused, and Tala watched a disruptive ripple move through Meallain¡¯s soul. The woman staggered slightly. ¡°Though, with one of my weapons taken,¡± There was heat in the woman¡¯s voice. ¡°I won¡¯t be very useful for a while. My magic¡­ my power is in turmoil.¡± The Paragon who had been interacting with them gave her a searching look, then flinched back, clearly seeing something more concrete than Tala could, yet. ¡°Any assistance would be appreciated, then.¡± The man¡¯s demeanor had radically changed. There was no longer any trepidation in his stance, and if anything, he seemed as if he no longer saw her as a threat in the least. Tala heard him muttering under his breath, ¡°In that state, even a new Refined might be able to take her.¡± As if his quiet words had been the catalyst, Tala felt Meallain¡¯s unshakable aura and authority over the area crack and begin to wash away, like sandstone before a raging flood. The man shook his head. ¡°She won¡¯t be a true threat for days, if not weeks. That sadly means she won¡¯t be too much help either.¡± He then glanced toward where Tala, Rane, and their unit waited. ¡°Whatever you did to her, good job. You¡¯ve effectively disabled her in the near-term. Who should I coordinate with for the defense, here? We¡¯ll deploy our redoubts but that will only blunt the weaker of the incoming wave. If we hope to safeguard the city so near at hand, we need to work together.¡± I suppose a couple of hundred miles is relatively near at hand? Tala pointed to Master Clevnis. ¡°I¡¯ll follow his lead.¡± Master Clevnis snorted a laugh. ¡°And I¡¯ll send her and her husband to clash with the largest threats.¡± Tala narrowed her eyes at the man, and he blanched. ¡°Assuming Mistress Vanga gives Master Rane a clean bill of health!¡± He held up his hands. Mistress Vanga nodded. ¡°I want him to fight beside others, but he should be good for this engagement.¡± Master Girt stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯ll keep him safe.¡± He locked gazes with Tala. ¡°You have my word.¡± Tala gave him a single nod before turning to the Paragon who seemed to be in command. ¡°I have shock troops available, those with only physical enhancements. They won¡¯t be able to stay in combat long, but they can be used to shore up weaknesses.¡± He frowned but didn¡¯t argue. ¡°Alright. How can I affect the disposition of those forces?¡± ¡°Do you have an Archive linked communication device of any kind?¡± ¡°Like a slate?¡± He frowned. ¡°That will work, yeah.¡± He nodded, pulling one out. ¡°One moment.¡± -I have his magical signature and¡­ there.- The man cocked an eyebrow. ¡°A day of firsts it seems. I will try to use them wisely. I appreciate the summary of their capacities and limitations¡­ and of yours.¡± He glanced at Master Clevnis. ¡°It seems she has abilities beyond what you were aware.¡± The Refined shrugged. ¡°She has advanced since I saw her last.¡± The Paragon nodded. ¡°Very well.¡± He then began issuing commands, and to Tala¡¯s astonishment, battlements began appearing from unmoored dimensional portals. Of course, they have defensive structures in their soulbound storages. That¡¯s what he meant. Tala regretted that hers weren¡¯t done, but she¡¯d purposely said there was no rush so that the end product could be better and less expensive. Good, cheap, and quick, you can only pick two. -And we picked good and cheap¡­ relatively.- Yeah, we definitely biased toward the good¡­ It looked like there were four different sets of walls that only mostly connected with one another. -May I have the authority to move Talons in and out of Ironhold?- Of course. Nothing really changed with the utterance, but Tala could somehow feel that Kit was more receptive to Alat¡¯s distinct will than she had been before. -I am coordinating with Lyn and Ron now. Everyone is fully healing, and those who were wounded are stuffing their faces to recover their spent reserves. Even so, everyone is ready for deployment at need.- Handle that with him¡­ whatever his name is. -Master Meridius.- Coordinate with Master Meridius. I don¡¯t need to know the details, and I want to focus on my surroundings, not the whole battlefield. I won¡¯t use Kit without talking with you, first. -I appreciate the consideration, but I¡¯ll monitor you and your usages. Plus, I don¡¯t see any need for portals into the sanctum on my end. You need to be free with your dissolution breath at need¡­ or more likely at directive.- Tala grinned at that. Right. This would be a good time for that. Choose my best vector of attack. -Good thought, the front of the wave will be here in less than a minute. I¡¯ll coordinate.- Tala pulled herself from her thoughts and found that she¡¯d walked with her husband. At that moment, she was standing beside Rane on top of a red stone battlement. He glanced her way. ¡°Welcome back. Alat had a lot to say?¡± ¡°Apparently.¡± Meallain was standing on her other side, still missing an arm. Thinking back on it, Tala could remember hearing the woman refuse healing, something about not wanting to accept a lesser replacement, whatever that meant. Tala looked out and saw thousands of shapes nearly upon them. Alat¡¯s timeline seemed to have been for engagement range not touch distance, thankfully. So there was still a few seconds before magics would begin to fly. Her own dissolution breath wouldn¡¯t be most effective until the bulk of incoming threats came much closer. There were predators of every description and element all intermixed and swarming. One of the oddest parts was how none of them did any harm to those who would otherwise have been competitors and rivals. In that moment, they were all Reality¡¯s tools. ¡°Where did they all come from?¡± Meallain huffed. ¡°Your kind have neglected your education. Reality pulls their¡­ centers from the Doman-Imithe at need, wrapping them in a cloak of power. These will not survive a week before Reality itself destroys them, but that is sufficient to cause chaos.¡± ¡°And why don¡¯t we humans or you arcanes side do fly-bys and unleash this on the other?¡± Even their ballista-travel is so heavily mitigated that even using it as a gated didn¡¯t cause too much of an issue¡­ Tala and Alat shared an internal stare and unified blink of realization. -We need to get a copy of those magics.- Yeah¡­ seriously¡­ They¡¯re rather protective of them, but yeah. The elf shrugged, ignoring the pejorative and completely unaware of Tala¡¯s internal dialogue. ¡°Ancient treaties? The ire of Sovereigns?¡± She huffed a laugh. ¡°I¡­ I am not in my right mind it seems. I have no doubt that someone will come for me because of this. If these creatures do any real damage, there will be devastation wrought among the Major Houses in recompense in order to prevent this from being done again, or in retaliation.¡± Tala shook her head, feeling a small smile tug at her lips. ¡°No one likes Zeme being harmed.¡± Meallain nodded. ¡°No one likes Zeme being harmed.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s clean up this mess. Then,¡± Tala grimaced, finally coming to terms with one thing. ¡°After, we¡¯ll talk.¡± Chapter: 534 - Death and Destruction Tala waited for Alat¡¯s signal, the alternate interface having coordinated with Master Meridius in the few moments between the first magics flying and the optimal time for her dissolution breath. It had been decided to take out the middleman and not have Master Clevnis call Tala¡¯s use of that attack. There were already clashes happening in the air above them, Rane and Master Girt in particular flashing around to obliterate the lesser flying creatures. Though, ¡®flashing¡¯ for Master Girt was only to Tala¡¯s threefold sight as the man was entirely invisible, even as he moved through the air, supported by his rocks. He¡¯s gotten better. Thankfully, none had come from directly above, so the aerial conflict was more like dealing with the top edge of a rising flood than struggling to support a collapsing dome. Still, the two men were straining their coordination and skill to keep the lesser battlefront in check by themselves. On the ground, Mistress Cerna was weaving massive magics of incredible complexity, though not the most complex that Tala had seen the woman work. Still the ¡®thread¡¯ she used was more like rope¡ªwhich now that Tala considered it, would be made up of threads, so she supposed that it made sense¡ªknotted and woven together. Each working that she triggered seemed to drain her dry of power even as more streamed in through her gate. The workings even burned up all the material used in their creation, which had to be costly for such massive constructions. Even so, the next was always ready as soon as her body had refilled to the point of activation. The first sent a lance of hardened air cutting through a thicker knot of incoming magical creatures. It impacted against an oddly powerful, large white rabbit with red eyes. The lance hadn¡¯t hurt the rabbit¡ªit was too advanced and toughened, unfortunately¡ªbut the impact had caused the attack to blast apart, shredding the lesser threats around it. That, in turn, exposed the rabbit, so that one of the Paragons could engage it at a distance. Apparently, these were Arcane Hunter Paragons, which seemed to put Master Grediv¡¯s assertion about ¡®battle-oriented¡¯ Paragons in question, but it was hardly the time for such thoughts. So, Tala put her incredulity aside for the moment. Mistress Cerna¡¯s second attack had rushed out into the very ground below the oncoming horde, causing the plants to rise up, transforming into razor-thorned vines that tore through the rank and file. -You¡¯re getting distracted. Three, two¡­- Tala reoriented on her target, a large group that had been uncontested as of yet, and which was approaching the human fortified position from almost due east. She set her feet, gripping the wall and getting an odd look from Meallain. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re about to have a very unpleasant¡­ movement.¡± Tala ignored her. -Now!- Tala opened her mouth and a portal within it to her artificial lung. The inscriptions and growing natural magics in her throat and mouth caused manifestations in Reality which glowed so brightly that they cast a blue-white brilliance to either side. The iron that lined them allowed them to be far more powerful than un-lined inscriptions could have been, given the other factors at play. -Did I mention that I was able to get a greater density with the dissolution magic now that we''re Paragon?- The thin column of invisible¡ªto mundane sight¡ªpower lanced outward toward the northeast, the containment magics coming apart at precisely the right place, just before the leading edge of the oncoming threats. With a concussive roar, a triangle of obliteration grew outward, flame delighting at the edges. She then began to sweep toward the south, immolating everything that was approaching from the east. Only one creature in the nearest ranks withstood the initial onslaught, and even it hunkered down, heavy armor-plated arms linking up with those on its head and back to grant it greater protection. Some sort of magical¡­ armadillo? Is that right? It doesn¡¯t look ball-like enough to match the pictures I saw. -Magic does strange things to a creature? Is now really the time for this contemplation?- I mean¡­ I¡¯m just breathing out¡­ -And there¡¯s a whole battle surrounding us to keep an eye on.- ¡­Right. Master Limmestare was directing massive blades of glass to scythe through the enemy ranks, also focusing on thinning out the numbers of ¡®lesser¡¯ beings. Tala almost laughed aloud at that. In fact, she probably would have if her mouth weren¡¯t otherwise occupied. The ¡®lesser¡¯ beings were all at least equivalent to the midnight fox she¡¯d encountered on her first caravan trip. Before Refined and Paragons, such creatures were nothing but chaff, but in any other circumstance? Any one of them would have been a walking disaster. -Oh, the harvests from this are going to be incredible¡­ well, not from in front of you. Your attack leaves no remains and all that.- Yeah¡­ that¡¯s true. Still, even with three quarters of the creatures, it will be a pain to collect everything of value. If only we had thousands of ready workers, able to lend a hand? -...I¡¯ll inform Lyn that such would be useful, so that she can be prepared when this concludes.- Confident, are we? -Well, either we succeed, or it isn¡¯t our problem?- Tala did huff a laugh, then, continuing to strafe along the front of the eastern quarter. Beside her, Meallain¡¯s eyes were¡­ Well? They weren¡¯t any bigger than usual, but they held a look that was between over-awed, shock, and undisguised glee. She might be a problem when this is over. -Might?- ¡­Fair. Master Clevnis wasn¡¯t engaged in battle, yet, being a mostly close-range fighter, but he was prepared, sword in hand and practically hopping from foot to foot. The magical creatures had ranged magics as well, but they were being essentially entirely negated by the combined aura and authority of the seven Paragons on their little hill. That and the defenses inherent to the walls upon which they stood were preventing any of the remnants from bothering them. I really need my walls¡­ She could have used her iron spikes, creating a field in which to anchor her authority, but she wanted to hold that back for when she was sent forth. It wasn¡¯t as if they were struggling without that addition either. Meallain had initially tried to lend her aid and authority as well, but her soul had immediately spasmed, causing the woman to clutch her chest and stagger slightly before catching herself against the wall. Losing the soulbound protian weapon had truly lacerated her soul. Likely it was only her Hallowed advancement that allowed her to be upright at all after that severing. On other fronts the various Arcane Hunter Paragons were working their magics to great effect. Master Meridius wielded magnetic fields as Master Cazor did, but to a far greater degree of fineness and power. He placed bolts of ferrous metal into any magical creature who survived the culling of the lessers in this initial portion of the attack. No wonder Master Cazor is walking that path so confidently. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. -You know¡­ they look a bit alike.- ¡­Oh! Oh, you¡¯re right. They could be related at that. Even with all the coordination and slaughter, the speed and number of the oncoming response to Meallain¡¯s desecration of reality meant that the creatures that were still a threat were drawing closer by the second. Even on the eastern side, Tala¡¯s side, there were now a good fifty creatures advanced, armored, or otherwise resistant enough to have weathered her storm of dissolution. That finally petered out, and she opened a portal on her back¡ªafter closing the one in her mouth¡ªto draw in air once again for a potential need later on. Just for the fun of it, Tala allowed Alat to alter the shape of the intake portal so that it gave off a low, ominous hum. -Teach our enemies to fear that sound, then in a time of need, we can recharge without giving such an indication.- Very well. Meallain was practically hopping in place, her eyes gleaming. ¡°My girl¡­ you are magnificent.¡± Tala shook her head. ¡°I am not your girl. In time, we might¡­ but not right now. Too much divides us still.¡± The elf nodded, almost nonchalantly. ¡°True, true. I will do what I must to ensure the legacy of my patrons and benefactors, regardless of the disappointment their final scion turned out to be.¡± The words seemed to almost physically pain her at the end, and Tala saw her very soul shudder at the statement, but she continued regardless. ¡°I will have much to atone for in your people¡¯s eyes. We shall see what comes of this¡­ new path.¡± Tala grunted, taking a moment to check in on the ongoing encounters. Some of the Refined and lower equivalent creatures had made it to the walls on some of the other sides. Not many though, and those that had were met with the walls¡¯ own innate¡ªmore aggressive¡ªdefenses and Master Clevnis¡¯ blade, extending as he lashed down in precise, vicious strikes. Terry was flickering around, but he was being an especially good terror bird by staying within the defenses at the moment, as he had been requested to do. Mistress Vanga was clearly monitoring everyone with a critical eye, but blessedly, her services had not been required, yet. Master Limmestare was still cutting through the ranks of enemies, but he had moved from massive, crowd clearing attacks to more precise strikes at the more powerful opponents. Rane and Master Girt were still moving about in the air, working in concert to keep the skies clear. She wasn¡¯t sure exactly what all they were doing, but there was a building thunder coming from somewhere up there. Mistress Cerna was still building spellforms, using them as fast as her body and gate could facilitate their activation. If Tala was seeing things correctly, the woman was drawing from her husband¡¯s gate as well. Though it was hard to tell as the power still seemingly came from her own soul, regardless, if via the soulbond rather than directly through the gate there. Some were defensive in nature, countering the few magics that either breached or bypassed the defenses that the redoubts were using and the auras and authority of the defenders. As for the Arcane Hunter Paragons? They were sowing death. Master Meridius was seemingly focused on something in the distance, but even so, spikes and blades of metal were churning through his portion of the battlefield. Occasionally, he¡¯d form a temporary shield of steel when a smaller, more powerful attack came too close, as he was on one of the corners, often leaning out beyond the defensive workings to get the exact right perspective or angle on his target of the moment. The other four were different. The first two had ventured entirely beyond the walls, seemingly to engage a Paragon level opponent which seemed to be wielding targeted gravity magics, if Tala¡¯s senses were to be believed. Oh, mark that one for harvesting afterward. I want to study its magics. -I mean¡­ I¡¯ll try?- Thank you. The two were using different magics in harmony. The man seemed to be calling forth fire that burnt so white-hot it looked black to Tala¡¯s eyes, the light-sensing cells in her eyes shocked into instant, temporary non functionality, leaving only an absence of light. The other was using ice magics so cold that she was literally creating her material by freezing the air. This, of course, caused a constant torrent of airflow to be whipping toward her creations, bringing in more material for her to cool and wield. Fascinating. I wish we understood that well enough to use it effectively. Our own version only really works within Kit. -Yeah. If only we had powerful abilities at our disposal. It¡¯s a shame, really.- Hush you. Another woman¡ªhaving stayed on the ramparts¡ªwas casting lightning that danced among the ranks surrounding them, acting more like a ball that bounced from place to place than a tree that branched out and weakened with each successive target. The last man was firing off what looked to be beams of purple light, but felt like so much more. There were hints of Void in the attacks, but they actually felt more connected to true, pure Magic than any working that Tala could recall feeling. Each was the master of their chosen area, bringing death and destruction to the creatures that their eyes fell upon. In a way, it was inspiring, witnessing some of the best that humanity had to offer. Tala began to work with Alat to pull air into her artificial lung faster. In truth, her method was more efficient than many others for clearing out the lesser opponents but it amounted to the same thing in the end. Unfortunately, the beings of true power were so magically and physically dense, their own authority so stalwart, that they were for all intents and purposes essentially unaffected. Those who equaled her in advancement¡ªand those few who surpassed her¡ªwere essentially unaffected. And like with the other ¡®clearing¡¯ methods, those most defensive in nature were able to weather her area of attack even if they were a step lower than her. The dissolution breath was simply too spread out to be more effective than that. She, herself, would likely have been able to weather such an attack from a beast one, maybe even two steps¡ª -TALA!- Master Meridius had seemingly conveyed an urgent need through Alat, and the alternate interface was taking the urgency to heart. -Breathe exactly fifteen degrees¡ª- She cut herself off, instead displaying an obvious visualization to Tala¡¯s perception. -There! Right there, right now! Dissolution breath, as much as you can.- Without hesitating, Tala spun, lining up her magics with the indicated trajectory¡ªwhich was quite a bit more upward than she¡¯d have expected¡ªand opening her mouth and portal as one, dumping the proper amount of power into the containment scripts to keep the magics contained exactly as long and as far as Alat had indicated. Only as the line lanced out did Tala see the reason. There was a glowing spot in the air, and a rushing, roaring sound filling the whole region around them with a resonant thrum. An asteroid was coming straight at them, clear lines of blue-tinted magic wrapping around it and guiding it toward their battlements with precision and power. -I think once it enters the atmosphere, it¡¯s a meteor, not an asteroid. Right?- Timing, Alat! This is not the time. -...Fine.- The magics cut off as one of the fire and ice Paragons slew the beast which had been harnessing space debris that magically happened to be close enough. -Focus¡­ We don¡¯t need the statistical chance of this being possible. It¡¯s happening, so we deal with it.- Right. -Stay on target.- Regardless, that attacker was slain, but its final vengeance was upon them. Tala almost changed the amount of power going into her containment magics, noticing that her dissolution magic would begin to spread out before it even contacted the wagon sized rock. -Don¡¯t!- In that one word, Alat conveyed that there was a purpose to the specific instruction, and that Tala, alone, was in a position¡ªand free enough¡ªto do what needed to be done, here. Thus, Tala resisted the urge to change mid-strike, and she was immediately glad that she did. Her magics had just begun to expand into a cone of dissolution and fire¡ªthe air providing essentially no resistance and allowing her working to spread out far and wide¡ªwhen a spike of metal slammed into the meteor almost directly head on. The metal had passed through her magic so quickly that it wasn¡¯t too badly affected, and the impact absolutely shattered the incoming projectile, turning it from a monolith into just so much gravel. High speed gravel. Heading right toward them. That might actually have been a very bad thing, given that it turned one large attack into uncounted smaller death balls, and most of the defenders weren¡¯t as durable as Tala was. But it was the right call as, instead, with Tala¡¯s magics already in effect, the meteor debris passed into the expanding dissolution zone and went up in a great ball of fire that momentarily put the sun to shame. Meallain cackled again, flexing her one remaining hand as her protian weapon coiled and extended at her unconscious will. A few of the Refined and lower level magical beasts were still reaching the walls, the defense incorporated into those ramparts turning aside the weak attacks that tried to come at those defending their tops. None made it over, and those few attackers were soon dead. Then, there was suddenly a lull, and all that were left were those of Paragon and Reforged level, and unfortunately, there were twenty of the first and five of the second. Blessedly, none were fliers¡ªat least not that they had shown thus far¡ªand the fliers that there had been among the lower ranks had been dealt with. Tala was already recharging, the ominous hum filling the growing silence as the surrounding creatures regarded the defending humans with all too intelligent eyes. The five Reforged level threats were a cyclops that was actually not much bigger than the one Tala had ¡®helped¡¯ Master Grediv with years earlier, a conglomeration of limbs that seemed almost to roll across the landscape, a large lizard that did not have wings, a hunting cat of some kind, and a scorpion-like arachnid, venom dripping from its tail. The twenty Paragon level threats didn¡¯t interest Tala. She knew others would take care of those. In fact, the Talons would be ideal for assaulting most of them, especially as they could work in groups to bring them down with relative ease and safety. But the five greatest threats? Any one of those might end everyone there on their own. Well¡­ rust¡­