The Torch that Ignites the Stars (Arcane Ascension Book 3)

by Andrew Rowe

  The rashan glared at me with narrowed eyes, then shook themself off, splattering water across the room. “Lead me to the crystal, human. Before I change my mind.”

  “Of course.” I nodded. Then, of course, I led the way straight to the fake crystal room near the entrance.

  The rashan approached the fake crystal, sniffing the air. For a moment, I thought they might have sensed my deception. They lowered their head, and for a moment, I expected them to leap toward it.

  It was only belatedly that I realized that this was not a gesture of aggression, but of reverence.

  “Great watcher, power of old, grant me a fraction of your strength.”

  That was promising. Except, of course, that I didn’t have enough mana remaining to grant the rashan a mark.

  Can you, uh, tell the rashan that it needs to spend a half hour in ritual silence while it awaits your mark?

  [Amusing. Very well.]

  The rashan turned their head to me. “Leave us, human. I must undergo the ritual to receive the mark. When I am marked, I will consider our pact sealed.”

  I nodded, then left the room.

  Then, of course, I rushed to the real crystal room to wait. I rested for about twenty-five minutes, then used most of the remaining time to drain the portion of my mana batteries that had recharged.

  [I now have 925 mana available. 1000 mana is required to mark the rashan.]

  I sighed, then drained some of the recharged mana from my shield sigil and circlet into the crystal as well.

  [I now have 1200 mana available. Shall I perform the mark?]

  “Go ahead.”

  There was a flash as a glowing mark appeared on the rashan’s front paw. They let out a surprisingly wolf-like howl into the air, then pushed out of the room.

  I met the rashan near the entrance. “I have delivered on my side of the bargain. Will you honor yours?”

  “Your people are the ones without honor. My pact was spoken, it will be fulfilled. Tell me of the return of the Sun Eater.”

  I’d had a bit of time to think about how to spin this. “One of the generals of the Sun Eater, Akadi, has been sighted in the human lands to the south.”

  “I know of this one. A stealer of bodies and harbinger of the Sun Eater’s coming.”

  I nodded. “If Akadi is here, there may be others. To fulfill our bargain, you may either destroy Akadi or discover another general and relay the general’s name and location to me. I will remain here and await your return.”

  “We have an accord.” The rashan lowered their head, then spun and rushed straight out the shrine’s door.

  I stared after the monster, my heart still pounding in my chest. For several moments, I braced myself for the creature to come back and rend me to bits. Slowly, I backed away from the entrance, lowering my sword only with great hesitation.

  [Congratulations. It has been years since someone has succeeded at this portion of the test.]

  I turned my head toward the crystal room. “Most people can’t defeat the rashan, then?”

  [No. Most people kill the rashan and fail the test.]

  “…What? You told me to eliminate the rashan by any means necessary!”

  [That is correct. I did not, however, state that you would pass the test if you chose a lethal approach.]

  I sighed and headed back to the crystal room, sheathing my sword along the way. “I feel like you were being a little deceptive, then.”

  [Yes, of course. Exposure to dishonesty is one way to learn about the nuances of communication, after all.]

  I rubbed my forehead. “Was that the end of this, then? Am I done?”

  [Not by any stretch of the imagination. You do, however, have a full hour before the next test.]

  “Care to give me a bit more warning about what the next phase will entail?”

  [Not particularly.]

  I sighed, sat down on the floor of the crystal’s room, and got to work.

  ***

  The next hour was fairly simple. I had the golems shift the furniture into a makeshift maze, slowing the path through that particular room, with the pit trap in the center of the path and still filled with water. It wasn’t much of a threat to anyone, but it would serve to slow down any other monsters that tried to simply charge through the place.

  I earned a thousand mana from finishing the round with the rashan. I knew I would be able to get close to another thousand out of the batteries, too. More if I was willing to drain my shield sigil and circlet again, but I wasn’t. I didn’t want to risk getting into another fight without my defenses in place. I didn’t know how deadly that rashan would have been if I hadn’t trapped it, and I didn’t want to go up against something similar or stronger without proper preparations.

  With over two thousand mana to spend, I could have done a lot of experimenting.

  It was tempting to create extra defenses. The challenges would probably get harder, after all, and I knew that I would “unlock” additional types of potential creation if I made enough of any one specific type of creature or trap. I didn’t know the thresholds for that, but with two thousand mana, I suspected it was likely I had enough that I could probably get better elementals, wood golems, or pit traps if I focused on them.

  But none of those traps and monsters were my main methods of resolving the recent entrants. I had, in spite of my best intentions, been handling a great deal of the work myself.

  And while that did have significant downsides, it did have one principal advantage: I was conserving mana. That mana was primarily intended to be used as a tool for resolving future challenges, but that didn’t mean it was the only way the mana could be used.

  With an hour to burn, I sat down with the crystal to talk. “Tell me about how exactly you’ve been putting those glowing marks on people.”

  [Why do you ask?]

  “Because I want to learn how to do it myself.”

  There was a pause. [Acceptable. Let our lessons begin.]

  ***

  At the end of the hour, I still had over 2000 mana — 2050, to be specific, since I didn’t quite wait the full hour to drain the batteries. The only action I’d taken in regards to the dungeon structure was to move the fire elemental that I’d walled off out of the walls. I’d asked if the crystal could heal the elemental, or if I could, but the crystal explained that it would automatically recover to full strength between rounds.

  While I hadn’t done much with the dungeon, that hour had been extremely productive. Why?

  Because one hour of that crystal’s time was more than enough for me to understand the crystal’s process for making a glowing, otherwise functionless mark.

  The foundation was remarkably simple: it required creating a six-part enchantment inside another entity’s body, all within the bounds of a single glyph.

  This contained the same basic structures as a standard enchantment: the enchantment’s function (meaning glowing), recharge, and capacity components. The other parts were also mostly straightforward: a function to prevent the mana from escaping into other parts of the body and a function to avoid the body rejecting the foreign mana. Interestingly, there was no purification function involved: this was because the crystal’s mana was already purified and safe for humans, like my own.

  The sixth and most important function was a connection to the crystal itself. This connection was apparently a prerequisite for the mark’s ability to recharge, which drew from some kind of external source connected to the crystal, rather than the environment. When I asked the crystal if this external source was a dominion, they told me that was “valuable information” that would require a boon to discuss further.

  That was fascinating.

  The most important part, however, was how this process was performed. There was no attunement primer involved, no applicator. The crystal simply had a single, self-contained function that could apply these marks to people.

  And if I could figure out how to replicate that…

  My mind swam with the pos
sibilities. But I couldn’t get too excited: the crystal wouldn’t explain how it was embedding that many functions into a single enchantment, or even how the enchantment was structured. It wasn’t quite the same as an attunement, with sub-glyphs and all that.

  If I wanted to know more, I’d have to spend a boon. A boon that was, unfortunately, already reserved for a completely different purpose.

  That’s not to say the information was without value.

  With that knowledge, I understood the actions the crystal had been taking, and I had room to discuss adjustments. “When you’re applying a mark, do you need to include all those component parts?”

  [Not technically, but it will not be fully functional without them.]

  “…Okay. What if you made one without the connection to you, or the ability to recharge?” I considered asking the crystal to remove the capacity and anti-leaking functions as well, but that seemed a bit extreme.

  [That would reduce the cost from 1000 mana to 700 mana, but the mark would cease to function after about an hour.]

  “Would that reduce the value of the reward in terms of my own rewards at the end of a round?”

  I felt something that sounded like the telepathic equivalent of a sigh. […Technically, no, as long as they leave the dungeon within that hour.]

  I grinned. “Perfect.”

  With that, it was almost time for the next round, and my plans were firmly in place.

  ***

  The next five hours passed in a blur. Every entrant was a single, ordinary human. Every single one of them subjected themselves to my strange, baffling interview process.

  And every single one them was rewarded with a gift from the fake crystal.

  In four cases, this was a mark. The fifth just wanted the crystal to answer some kind of esoteric question, which didn’t cost me anything, but I was a little disappointed that they had the conversation telepathically and the crystal wouldn’t tell me what it was about.

  Either way, I cleared each round, and each had a one hour wait afterward.

  From clearing each round, I earned a total of four thousand mana. That was heavily offset somewhat by the cost of four fake marks, for twenty-eight hundred mana, netting twelve hundred.

  But those five hours were an additional five hours of recharge time for my batteries, too. That amounted to a total of another 6100 mana.

  All told, I had 9350 mana at that point.

  Almost enough. If I have over twenty hours to go, I should get what I need long before that. Then I can experiment with some other ideas. I’ll start by upgrading treasure…maybe I can get to the point where the crystal will make magical items I can take out of here.

  [I regret to inform you that you do not, in fact, have over twenty hours remaining.]

  I blinked. I hadn’t heard the crystal responding directly to my stream of thought in a while. “Oh? How much longer do I have?”

  [One round.]

  “What? That’s…why? Isn’t this supposed to take up to thirty hours?”

  [Up to, yes. But I have already neared the completion of my evaluation.]

  “…Could I…uh, request a little more time?”

  [You could, but I would not grant it.]

  I sighed. “Right. Okay. One more round. Can I still use any mana I’ve saved up after the round is completed?”

  [I would permit that, but I would not advise it. I have decided you require a greater challenge.]

  I processed that. “…Thanks?”

  [Your final challenger will now enter the sanctuary.]

  I looked at the display next to the crystal, feeling a foreboding sensation as I watched an almost-familiar figure step through the door.

  The black-haired swordsman was wearing a strange tunic that seemed to drink in the chamber’s light. Over that, he wore a long, black coat. While his outfit was eye-catching, it was ultimately far less important than the two swords he wore on his hip. On his left side, he wore a long-bladed weapon with a silvery hilt in a scabbard that nearly dragged against the floor. On his right hip, the unmistakable brightness of gold that I had seen only in replica form.

  That sword was Dawnbringer, the Sacred Sword of Light.

  And my intruder was, of course, a copy of a younger Keras Selyrian.

  And I was reshing doomed.

  Chapter XXI – Dungeon Destruction

  Keras walked toward the sign, glancing it over. I’d replaced the sign after the rashan had destroyed it, and it said the same thing as before.

  In order to better serve your needs, please state your name, home, and magical abilities, then wait here for further instructions.

  “Sounds fake.” Keras muttered. “Super fake.”

  Then he kicked it over and walked to the door straight ahead of him.

  No, no, no.

  I watched in horror as Keras tapped on the door with a finger, causing it to fall off the hinges.

  I turned to the crystal. “Seriously? You expect me to stop him?”

  [No, Corin Cadence. I expect you to try.]

  I took a moment to panic.

  Keras had told me he’d gone through shrines like this one — he’d even described his adventure through a similar one, while he’d been searching for Dawnbringer’s medallions. While Len had mentioned that Keras had visited this shrine, I somehow hadn’t managed to consider the fact that the crystal might use him as one of the challengers for the test. An obvious oversight, in retrospect, as a result of a faulty assumption: I’d assumed that this test would be fair.

  I had absolutely no chance in a straight fight against Keras. None. A simulacrum of Meltlake had easily demolished my entire team in the final exams, and Keras was, in my estimation, even more dangerous than Meltlake was. And, of course, Meltlake knew she was running an exam and had obviously held back.

  If I fought a copy of Keras here, there was a real chance he could kill me. This was a younger Keras, one that presumably hadn’t even been to Valia. He wouldn’t recognize me. And, based on his own explanation of how he’d first encountered Len, there was a good chance that this copy of Keras didn’t think like Keras — he could be compelled to fight whatever he came across, for example.

  I considered just sitting in the crystal room and letting Keras walk through the dungeon. That might have been the sanest course of action. Maybe drop some traps to slow him down, then cash out on my mana stockpile before I failed the test. Assuming I asked the crystal to convert all the mana I’d saved into a mental mana crystal, I had already saved enough to make a Class 5 and accomplish my objective, even without finishing the test. I didn’t know if the crystal would agree to do that, but it was an option.

  I wasn’t going to take that option, of course. I wasn’t quite as stubborn as Keras himself, but I didn’t intend to give up without trying.

  That left me with a couple options. The safest would be to use the dungeon as designed and try to fill it with traps and monsters to stop him. Knowing what I knew about Keras, I sincerely doubted that would work. If I was able to get some of those higher-level monsters by producing enough small ones, maybe I could slow him down, but I couldn’t even count on that.

  And that approach wasted my hard-won mana. I still intended to use that and, well, I’ve always had a problem with sunk costs.

  That left the worst possible approach, which was the one I obviously was going to take. “How powerful is this Keras compared to the real one?”

  [This copy is considerably weaker than the original Keras who took the test.]

  “What does considerably weaker mean?”

  [Due to the unusual nature of the individual, I am unable to accurately quantify his power. His abilities are significantly restricted; however, you should be advised that this copy’s powers still vastly exceed your own personal abilities.]

  Yeah, no kidding. I wrung my hands in the air as I watched Keras advance into the next room.

  My fire elemental hurled a ball of flame at Keras as he stepped inside. Keras raised a hand and the f
ireball froze in mid-air. Then he wagged a finger at the fire elemental and gave it a disappointed look. “No. Bad.”

  The fire elemental seemed to shrink a little, then lowered itself toward the ground.

  Keras shook his head and walked in further, examining the room. The cube of stone that I’d sealed the fire elemental inside for its own protection was still near the center, but I couldn’t move the elemental in there now that it was “in combat”. I kind of wished I’d kept it inside.

  Keras didn’t attack, though. When he scanned the room, he noted the torches. He blinked. “Oh.” Then, with a flick of his wrist, he sent the hovering fireball straight into one.

  Then, with another gesture, he hurled a flame of his own and ignited the other.

  There was a click as the door on the opposite side of the room opened.

  I gawked.

  Keras, of all people, had actually solved my puzzle.

  I felt a little proud for a moment, almost enough to overcome the feeling of existential horror that came with the knowledge that Keras Selyrian was coming in my direction and it was my responsibility to stop him.

  “Were you just trying to help me, little guy?” Keras walked closer and patted the fire elemental on the…well, it didn’t have a head, but on the top of it. “Sorry that I yelled at you earlier. I’m having a bit of a day.”

  He shook his head, pulled away from the elemental, and headed toward the next room.

  I did not like the idea of fighting Keras Selyrian at all. I definitely did not like the idea of fighting him when he was having a bad day.

  …Well, at least my circlet is recharged. As long as he doesn’t fatally injure me, I can probably escape.

  I turned to the crystal.

  “Clear the monsters out of the other rooms. Put them in the interview room.”

  [Done.]

  I stepped out into the now-empty room just in front of the crystal chamber and prepared myself. I wasn’t waiting long. Keras walked in less than a minute later, after knocking that door off the hinges like he had at the entrance.

  He stared across the room toward me. Fortunately, his swords were still sheathed at his side. Then, he said something unexpected. “I wasn’t expecting another wielder here.”