The Torch that Ignites the Stars (Arcane Ascension Book 3)
Page 56
I waved a hand in a “sort of” gesture. “I’ve heard of them, but I haven’t actually worked with them.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter overmuch. These runes,” she pointed at the symbols on the box, “aren’t dominion marks, either. They’re more similar, so I was going to use that as a starting point, but we can just discuss them separately. The Jaden Box is Artinian in origin. It was crafted using one of their local forms of magic, called ‘Spirit Arts’. Are you familiar with those at all?”
“Barely.” I shook my head. “I’ve read a smattering on the subject, and Keras mentioned a few things, but nothing of substance.”
“Understood. I won’t go into Spirit Arts in much detail, either — I’m no expert at them — but the relevant thing that you need to know is that these runes are in the Artinian glyph language. Thus, if you need to look up the functions of any of the runes on the box based on their appearance, that’s what you’d need to reference.”
I nodded. “Okay. How do these differ from Valian runes in functionality?”
“Artinian glyphs are more like what you’d call compound runes here — each individual symbol often contains more than one component part. There’s also a different overall philosophy to their magic storage. See this?”
She pointed at one specific rune, which looked sort of like a “V” shape. There were a few similar ones on the box. “Sure, what’s that?” I asked.
“You know how Kaldwyn-style items tend to store magic inside an entire object, and have capacity runes to prevent the item from bursting? Artinian-style items function differently, at least in most cases. This is a storage rune.”
“Oh! So, it stores mana inside the rune itself, rather than the whole object?” I asked.
“Exactly. This makes it less likely for there to be conflicts if you put distinct types of mana in the same item, and it also prevents that bursting problem. The storage rune effectively has a built-in maximum capacity, and the box’s recharge functions simply stop when the storage rune itself is full.”
I nodded in understanding. “Some more advanced items made by our local Enchanters have things sort of like that, too. It’s necessary for any item that mixes a high amount of antithetical mana, like putting enhancement and transference in the same item.”
“Excellent, that makes this simpler, then. So, if you want to recharge the box, you need to locate each of the storage runes, determine their maximum capacity, and determine the specific composition of mana they’re intended to carry. After that is the most challenging part: you’ll need to actually construct the right mana composition to push into the runes. And virtually all forms of Artinian enchantments contain some portion of what you’d call spirit mana. Given that Enchanters do not have access to that mana type, I’m not certain you will be able to readily make use of this information.”
I grinned, thinking about the spirit mana battery safely hidden inside the box. “Oh, I don’t think that’ll be an unsolvable problem. But as for the previous parts…do standard Kaldwyn-style capacity detection spells work for this?”
“No, but I can teach you a spell for determining an Artinian spirit rune’s capacity. It’s only a slight variation of your existing capacity detection spells, so it shouldn’t be hard to learn, especially if you’ve learned any spirit detection spells.”
“I have.”
“Impressive.” She nodded. “I can teach you that spell tonight, then, as well as the one for detecting the necessary mana composition within the rune.”
“Could you help me try to recharge one of the runes tonight as well? I’d like to have some oversight before I try it myself.”
“Certainly. I’d be pleased to do anything that might accelerate bringing Wrynn here.”
I…wasn’t quite as thrilled about that, actually, but I tried not to let it show. At least our group had access to a dimensional bag now, but that felt so inferior to the box that I wasn’t ever going to be satisfied with it. “Could you teach me more about the other runes on the box as well?”
“We’ll have to see if we have time. Would you like to start learning the necessary spells?”
I nodded. “Let’s get to it.”
***
We worked throughout most of the night. In the end, I didn’t have enough time to learn about more of the runes — or glyphs, as she called them — but I did figure out the most important parts. I learned two new spells: Identify Spirit Glyph Capacity and Identify Spirit Glyph Composition, and I proved capable of casting them both. Both spells only required mental mana to use, not spirit mana.
After that, Len formed a few small crystals of spirit mana — her mana manipulation skills were impressive — and she let me practice attempting to mix those with my own mana types to get the right compositions to recharge some of the runes on the box.
This was mostly successful; I was able to complete the process on a glyph that required a mixture of spirit mana and transference mana by mixing them in the right quantities. I was not, however, able to recharge all of the necessary runes for the box to function: I needed air and travel mana for that. I didn’t have either of them.
I knew how to get access to both — Sera had them. If I wanted to recharge the box faster, I could probably do it with her help…provided I made a container for her to fill with mana, or she learned how to make mana crystals on her own.
Given that hurtle, the recharging the process wouldn’t be quick, but I could say that I’d made serious progress on that path.
Maybe I’ll see if Sera and I can make a travel battery at some point. Might be a good investment toward some teleportation items, too.
I was too tired to put that one on my physical list, but I hoped I’d remember it later. I went to sleep feeling fulfilled.
***
In the morning, we packed up to leave. Sera was doing a little better, but she wanted a little time to wake up alone, so I took the opportunity to go down and meet Warren for one last meal and some last-minute questions.
I found Warren sitting downstairs, looking at least somewhat coherent. I sat down across him, accepted a cup of tea, and got to the query process. “Aside from visages, how does someone get restricted attunements?”
“They weren’t always restricted. That’s just the name for attunements that come out of the Spider Spire.”
“…So, that’s real, then. It exists.”
Warren nodded amiably. “Yes. I’ve met people who have been there. No, I haven’t been there myself, nor do I know where it is. Neither do the people who visited — their memories were wiped clean.”
“I don’t suppose you could introduce me to these people?”
“No. We’re not on good terms. Ask your sword-obsessed friend sometime.”
I grunted. More things Keras had apparently been keeping secret. “Does that mean these restricted Arbiter functions were much more broadly available at some point? That seems…off.”
“You may be right. I don’t know. Remember that attunements have generational changes, however, and it’s possible that some of the functions that make the Arbiter unique these days didn’t exist back at that point. Even shrouds didn’t always exist. I wish I had a set of notes for what each attunement generation provided, but sadly…” He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“Got it. Maybe if I ever meet Ferras, I’ll ask if she has a list.”
Warren laughed. “Good luck with that.”
I sighed. “Okay. What about ascended attunements?”
“The seventh spire.” He gestured at one of the walls of his tower, presumably pointing in a direction. “That is where they come from, I think. I have been trying to find a way inside for many years, but it has eluded me.”
“Keras mentioned something about uniting the Six Sacred Swords…?”
Warren laughed. “The scriptures have a vague line that could be read that way. Good luck with that. Given that one is broken and some of the others are worse, that’s a lost cause if I’ve ever heard one.”
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“But Sera ascended without going to the spire, so clearly there’s a way to do it. Is that one of those hidden functions I’ll be able to see at Citrine-level?”
“No.” Warren shook his head. “At least, it wasn’t twenty years ago. Attunement design has changed. Perhaps there’s a latent ascension function in every current-generation attunement. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferras made significant alterations within the last few generations. Something happened a few decades back that…spooked them, I think. I still don’t know what it was, but their behavior changed for a time.”
“You worked directly for Ferras, right? She didn’t tell you anything?”
“I had about as much contact with Ferras as you’ve had with Katashi. A bit more, perhaps, but not enough to have significant insight into her character. I had more exposure to Wydd…and that was more than enough to make it clear that the visages do not have the best interests of humanity at heart.”
“Care to elaborate on that?”
He shook his head. “It’s…too much. I don’t think I can get into that today. I’m sorry. My mind is…”
“I understand. You’ve already taught me a great deal. Thank you.”
“I know all too well how frustrating it is to have questions that no one is willing to answer. Perhaps if you return sometime, after I’ve had a few months to recover…?”
I smiled. “I’d like that.”
***
After we finished our meal and talk, it was time to go home. Or, more specifically, time to get back to Caelford, catch a train, and then ride for two weeks to get home.
I felt a pang of loss when Len took us away from that majestic spire. Warren Constantine was…I don’t want to say he was the friendliest person, or the most informative, but…
He was, I think, someone like me.
I think it was important to both of us to meet each other. To see something like a reflection of the past, or the future.
Seeing what Warren had accomplished brought me great pride…
…And seeing what he became brought me the worst of fear.
Was it my fate to destroy my own power and hide myself from the eyes of the world in a wasteland?
Would I destroy my mind by invoking mental powers I could not afford to in order to assuage my paranoia?
Would I be wise enough to give up my own power if I reached a point where it became a greater risk than an asset?
Would I even survive long enough to make that choice?
…I had a great deal to think about in the days to come, but for the moment, I had only one thing to worry about: going home.
***
Len transported us back to Caelford as promised. No backstabbing, no running into the Tails of Orochi along the way. It was refreshing to not be dropped straight into a life-or-death situation for a day or two.
I didn’t have time to visit Annabelle Farren again before leaving Caelford, but honestly, that was probably for the best. We managed to catch the others before they got on the train, just barely.
Patrick and Mara were in great spirits, throwing hugs at Sera as soon as they saw her and politely greeting me from a safe distance.
Cecily looked absolutely exhausted, but otherwise mostly intact. I was half-surprised to see her coming back to Valia with us rather than staying to continue working at Farren Labs permanently, but I was happy to see her. We had a lot to discuss on the ride home.
Keras was uncharacteristically quiet as we boarded. He didn’t look injured, but something was clearly wrong. I didn’t ask immediately. Neither did anyone else, at least not in my sight.
We boarded, stowed our things in the various cars, and then consolidated into one car to talk.
“So,” Sera began, “We’ve been apart for a while. I’m sure we’ve all got stories to tell. Who wants to go first?”
Epilogue – Home Sweet Home
The train ride home was, for the most part, much less exciting than the way there.
That’s not to say that I was idle. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I got to work almost immediately, since Keras wanted a day to himself before he got started on the third part of telling us his story. I asked Sera if she wanted to tell us the story about her Judgment back in Valia, since she’d mentioned it on the train ride to Caelford, but she wasn’t quite ready yet.
I still had a ton of things on my “to do” list for the voyage back home, enough that I knew I’d have to prioritize. After some small talk with everyone, I got to work on the first of my tasks.
***
Once we were settled in, I asked Sera to give me some space to chat with Cecily for a bit. Sera waggled her eyebrows at me suggestively. I ignored her.
Once we were alone, Cecily and I sat down on the floor of the train car and silently began to set down our tools and materials. We could talk while we worked, and frankly, that made both elements of things easier.
“Any complications with Farren?”
“Nothing beyond what we expected. She has a long game for both of us. It’s clear she expects us to return: very likely next year, if not sooner.”
That wasn’t surprising. “Materials?”
She silently set down a handful of silver discs. “They should be identical to the others.”
“Excellent. Let’s get started.”
Over the rest of that day, we chatted while we worked on more mana batteries. We were getting started on a set for her, since I’d taken all the ones we’d made on our trip there. Once we finished those, we had enough materials to make one more for each of us by the time we got back to Valia.
The new one for my set would require help from Sera and Patrick: we were making an air mana battery, with the expectation that it would be usable to assist Sera in powering her spells, as well as useful for powering eventual future air items.
I’d seen enough flying combatants dominating the battlefield to know that flight was a ludicrous advantage. We’d also run into numerous cases of floor-based traps: pits, spikes, acid, pits of spiky acid, that sort of thing. Patrick and Sera had shown that the majority of those could be bypassed with simple levitation.
During the work on the batteries, Cecily filled me in on her week at Farren Labs. Her education had been more focused on items with composite runes: apparently, her newly-specialized attunement was ideal for comprehending how they were structured and properly creating them. She ran over some of the basics with me, but we didn’t have time for extensive lessons.
I filled her in on what Warren had told me about Farren, as well as Arbiter attunements as a whole. The information was too important to wait for a discussion with the entire group. I needed her to know the risks if she was going to go back to work with Farren in the future.
Aside from that, we talked about making enhancement elixirs. After seeing the results from Mara taking a bunch of them in rapid succession, I was more excited about the idea of brewing some of our own…but we didn’t have the materials, and we couldn’t really afford them.
Not yet.
When I got back to Valia, making some money to fund enhancement elixirs was one of the highest items on my agenda, and I had a few ideas on how to handle that.
Or schemes, one might say.
***
After the first day of relative calm, Keras got started on his story again. He seemed…sadder, this time. Atypically subdued. Some of that was probably because of the subject he was talking about: he’d left off on a somber note.
But I think something happened in the Tiger Spire, too. Something he wasn’t quite ready to talk about.
And if he wasn’t going to volunteer that information, I certainly wasn’t going to ask.
Later that evening, I pulled him aside briefly for something else. “Hey. I wanted to tell you that I met Len. Or, if you’re not familiar with that name—”
Keras blinked, seeming more startled than I expected. “Len? Spirit Gateway Len?”
“Yeah…?”
“How? Where was she?”
Keras rubbed his temples, looking exasperated. “Working with Constantine. Wonderful.”
That last word was heavy on the sarcasm, so I felt the need to clarify. “What’s your problem with Constantine?”
Keras grunted. “Haven’t seen him in a while, but when we met, he was trying to gain magical power through means I considered unethical. Also, raising a monster army. Nothing good ever comes of that sort of thing.”
“…That’s…he probably had a good reason.”
Keras raised an eyebrow. “I’m not so sure about that. Maybe I…” He shook his head. “Another time. I’m too tired to get into all that.”
I probably should have asked if he was okay, but I didn’t realize that was something a person should generally do until days later, and by that point it would have been weird. Instead, I simply said, “Okay. Well, anyway, I just thought you should know that she’s around, and she seems okay.”
“Thanks.” He gave me a nod, but his characteristic smile was missing. He didn’t even try to force one. “Maybe I’ll look for her sometime.”
I got the distinct impression that he wouldn’t. At least, not any time soon.
Maybe I should have asked why, but it didn’t seem like my place to ask.
***
The day went relatively smoothly. Keras continued his story in the morning, still seeming somber and cutting off much earlier than usual.
After that, Sera finally decided to tell us a bit of a story of her own: some of the details of her own Judgment. That was an enlightening experience. That story only took a few hours, but it was fascinating, and it gave me some new things to think about.
During the afternoon, I worked with Cecily on the mana batteries.
At night, I had a very different form of practice.
“Selyrian Cutting Style: Sixth Form, Reflective Guard.” I stood atop the train, my long school coat whipping in the wind. My knees were bent for stability and my sword arm was raised in a defensive line, a thin layer of transference mana flowing continuously from my hand to encircle the blade.