Diamantine (Weapons and Wielders Book 2)

by Andrew Rowe

  Meilin nodded to acknowledge the compliment. “Yes, but it was not enough. I must strengthen myself. Reika fights very much like my sister. I should have seen it sooner.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Your sister? Is she another student here?”

  “No, a ruin explorer like you. She will also be fighting in the tournament, but...we have not spoken in some time. She is very strong, like Reika. I must challenge myself to be a match for either of them.” Meilin took a breath, then turned to Reika. “Thank you for the match. I would be pleased to fight you again in the future.”

  “Same! You were great.” Reika grinned, stretching out with a fist in the same way Ari had.

  Meilin gave the hand an odd look, then tapped her knuckles against it lightly.

  Reika beamed at her. “I want to ask you some things about your fighting style, too. Can I get you dinner tonight?”

  Meilin blinked, looking baffled. “I...suppose that would be acceptable?”

  “Great! I’ll look forward to it.” Reika turned toward me. “So, what’d you think of my new techniques?”

  “I was a little surprised by the motion...er, transference burst. Have you been getting more out of the spear than you let on?”

  She shook her head. “No, I still don’t think that thing is helping my magic any. But when you told me about how the former owner used to fight, I realized I could start practicing the same things. I’ve already got transference mana, after all.”

  I...wasn’t sure I liked that. But that was a visceral reaction, and not a rational one. Logically, anything that improved Reika’s combat abilities was worth doing, and Velas had some very effective techniques.

  “I believe I have enough of an idea of your capabilities to begin preparing your training regimen.” Grandmother Iron cut in. “We will begin with some basics this week, then move on to more focused training next week, after I’ve had a chance to see you in another match.”

  Reika turned to Iron and bowed immediately. “Yes, Grandmother.”

  I spent much of the next week training with Grandmother Iron and her students. I learned a tremendous amount during that time.

  I’d heard a lot about attunements from Reika and reading her books, but I’d seen precious little of them in actual combat. The Tails of Orochi had some members with attunements, but at least some portion of their strength was from their hydra heritage, and I didn’t have a good idea of what an ordinary attuned’s strength would be.

  In truth, I’d underestimated the power of Kaldwyn’s humans significantly.

  From the time I’d reached adulthood forward, I was used to beating virtually anyone I encountered without difficulty. There were a few notable and memorable exceptions — people like Taer’vys or Velas — but months or years would pass between my encounters with people on their skill level.

  As we kept sparring with Ari and Meilin, I discovered that would absolutely not be the case on Kaldwyn.

  Ari was probably about as strong as I was at his age, which if I’m being honest, means he was monstrous by my home’s standards. My understanding was that he was significantly above average for Kaldwyn as well, but not an outlier like I had been. Think someone like Mara — Ari was probably about as strong as Mara will be in a year or two.

  He also kept insisting he was “holding back his true power”, whatever that meant. I asked him about it once, but he insisted it was a “forbidden secret”.

  In spite of her self-deprecation, Meilin was probably roughly the same level of fighter as Reika or myself, just with an entirely different skill set. When I sparred with her, I tried to counter her invisibility with wide-area attacks, but she could wrap herself in a magic-nullifying shadow shield to protect herself.

  Frankly speaking, she was extremely annoying to fight, but good practice. Reika fared better than I did in our sparring matches, once she realized that her new spirit-enhanced sight could see invisible opponents.

  I was forced to rely on something different — Dawn. Her mana-sense couldn’t find an invisible opponent directly, but she could find the empty spots in the air where she couldn’t detect anything at all. That was enough to give me an indication of when to duck and dodge, but Meilin was so fast that it was still difficult to counter her.

  I was impressed, and somewhat relieved that Meilin was on our side for the tournament. I generally loved fighting powerful opponents, but invisible ones were annoying.

  I approached Walter about sparring a few times as well, given that he was supposedly the strongest of the bunch. He refused each time, claiming we’d get around to it eventually. At the time, I assumed that was because he didn’t want to look bad in front of the other students if Reika or I outperformed him. Maybe he was trying to size us up or strategize a bit first, too.

  Beyond sparring, I had a few other important activities for my first week in Grandmother Iron’s care.

  First, I purchased a book in Valian for learning the basics of Edrian. I also asked everyone to help me with learning bits of the language when possible. I didn’t expect to get to the point of fluency within the couple months of the tournament, but I needed to be able to learn enough to go shopping or to ask for the location of the nearest restroom.

  Or more idealistic things, like how to offer an opponent the chance to surrender.

  Next, I did a little research on that eye monster I’d run into. There seemed to be a number of different names for it, like “Ruler of Eyes”, “Ocular Destroyer”, and “Glare King”.

  I eventually found an entry on what I was looking for.

  One of the Glare King’s most potent attacks channels the power of Ruin to cause the rapid deterioration of anything it touches. This is most effective at damaging inorganic materials, such as metal or stone. When it collides with spell effects, it causes their duration to rapidly advance until they expire. This is similar to the deteriorating shroud abilities of the Executioner attunement.

  Upon reading it, I felt a bit of disappointment. Rapid deterioration was similar to what my aura was capable of, but different enough that I didn’t think they were tied to the same dominion. My aura didn’t seem to make any distinction between organic and inorganic materials, and the effects on magic were different, too.

  I’d experienced a few other types of sorcery that felt similar to the Sae’kes before — like war and void — but none of them had ever proven to be an exact match.

  Dominions often have many connections with each other; for example, metal is connected with both fire and stone, which is why I have a natural disposition toward all three. The similarity between stone and the crystal that had surrounded Dawnbringer had eventually been enough for me to learn how to use it.

  Apparently, whatever the Sae’kes used was connected to war, void, and ruin, but it wasn’t any of those things. Nothing else seemed to erase things in the way that my own aura did.

  I’d tried many times over the years to find any evidence of a “Dominion of Annihilation” or anything similar, but I couldn’t find any references along those lines. The eye creature was, unfortunately, another dead end.

  At least for the most part.

  It did lead me toward researching the Executioner attunement a bit, and I learned that they had some techniques for shaping shrouds over or into weaponry, very similar to my own way of stretching my own aura over my scabbards or sword.

  I spent some time looking up those techniques to see if I could adapt any of their techniques, and I got a few useful ideas in the process. All in all, it wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

  Finally, Reika and I eventually made our way back to Sword Row, and I wrote down some prices to compare to the point costs of similar items. The prices in Sword Row tended to fluctuate so much that I couldn’t find a consistent conversion rate. My best guess was that a point was worth somewhere between a fifth and a half of a gold imperial, but it seemed to vary significantly based on the shop and the type of item.

  Oh, since you’re fro
m Valia, I suppose I should give some context for the currency. At the time, one gold imperial was worth about nineteen Valian silver sigils. I know the currencies have shifted since then.

  An Edrian silver imperial was worth a tenth of a gold imperial, and an iron imperial was worth a tenth of that. Then they also have one extremely valuable coin called a Crown Imperial, which is worth fifteen gold imperials. Crown Imperials weren’t “coins” in the traditional sense — they’re apparently small, cut rubies. I didn’t know how they had enough rubies to use them as a currency, even if they were small and the most valuable form, but I was sort of impressed.

  Anyway, after comparing prices, it turned out that purchasing potions with points was extremely efficient compared to using gold. Maybe someone was mass producing potions for the tournament, thus making them inexpensive. I concluded that buying a few potions would be a good investment, but beyond that, I’d simply have to prioritize what was useful to Reika and myself.

  I spent fifteen points on buying five more healing potions, leaving me with one hundred fifty-three points (since I’d also spent three points on identifying the shock gauntlet).

  Reika hoarded her points, just as she’d previously planned.

  I also looked into finding someone to help me identify the functions of Dawnbringer, but I couldn’t anyone that Dawn and I both trusted enough. We decided to hold off on getting her identified for a while, until we found someone both powerful and trustworthy.

  Grandmother Iron proved to be a hospitable host. We were each offered a simple room to stay in and provided excellent quality meals. Reika still ended up going out for more to eat, but having some free food and lodging saved us a great deal of coin.

  While we were expected to sleep in our separate quarters, it never ended up working out that way.

  I got a few more offers for sponsorship from people who recognized Dawnbringer, but I turned them all down. I wanted to focus on the tournament, and all the wealthy nobles who wanted to sponsor me wanted me to do public appearances and other time-wasting activities.

  Three days before the next round, the arena island began to move.

  I marveled at the sight of the colossal structure shifting at first, then swiftly moved on to trying to figure out the destination.

  Let’s see...we’re heading toward the north side of the city...maybe the palace?

  ...And we’ve passed that.

  ...Aaaand now we’re out of the city completely.

  Arena Island floated for miles beyond the city boundaries before finally settling in a hilly region with no signs of civilization for miles.

  And with that, it was time for the first true round of the tournament to begin.

  Interlude I – Arcana Evaluation

  “I’m sorry, hold on.” Patrick raised a hand. “Can I ask a question?”

  Sera sighed. “We all have questions, Patrick. Wait until the end.”

  “It’s fine. I could use a minute to collect my thoughts.” Keras turned toward Patrick, gesturing for him to continue.

  “That Lady Hartigan you mentioned...”

  Keras grinned broadly. “I won’t confirm or deny her identity just yet. Just wait. She’ll be in the story.”

  Patrick’s eyes glimmered with excitement. “Okay, okay. Great. Another question.”

  Sera groaned loudly, but Keras just chuckled. “Go ahead.”

  “Well, I’ve been trying to figure out roughly what attunement level you were back then. In the first part, when you beat Reika and Zenkichi, I would have guessed you were already an Emerald. But now you’re saying you and Reika were sparring with a Citrine and she was about your skill level?”

  Keras chuckled. “Ah. I see the problem. Well, a couple problems, actually. No, several problems.”

  Patrick looked abashed. “...Several problems?”

  “Not your fault, sorry. I’ve been explaining things badly. I should have known that you’d want context that suits your culture.” He raised a hand to his lips, pondering. “Let me see, how should I explain...”

  “His equipment is a major factor,” Corin pointed out. “When sparring, you’re not taking advantage of the vast majority of your abilities, and they’re heavily equipment dependent. Sort of like myself, or even more like Derek.”

  Keras nodded. “That’s a major part of it, yes.”

  “Enough to make a full attunement level worth of difference?” Patrick asked.

  “Oh, easily, with specific equipment. Consider this — Corin, you’ve been making improved shield sigils for your friends, yes?”

  Corin smiled, looking uncharacteristically pleased. “Yes. I’m working on some upgrades right now, in fact. I’m hoping to be done before we reach Caelford.”

  “And they’re, what, four times more effective than a standard one?”

  Corin frowned. “That’s not...exactly right. The next batch will actually be eight times the capacity than a standard sigil, but it doesn’t actually offer eight times the protection against any given attack. Moreover, they have secondary functions that are harder to quantify. I’m building them all to be more like my old silver phoenix sigil, which—”

  Keras waved a hand. “That’s enough to prove my point. Imagine not having those. Or any of the other items that Corin provided you. How much do you think that would impact your combat performance?”

  “It’s honestly really hard to judge.” Marissa frowned. “We’re so used to wearing them...”

  Keras nodded. “That’s fair, and it’s part of my own problem in explaining these things as well. But I’ll give you my impressions — you’re probably averaging about a half to a full attunement level above what you’d be without them.”

  There were a series of blinks. Sera nudged Corin. “See? You’re worth something after all.”

  Corin glared at her. “Thank you for the compliment, dear sister.”

  “It’s my pleasure.” She bowed.

  Keras ignored them and continued. “Now, that’s going to be a little misleading, because virtually every high level attuned is going to have some equipment. Moreover, there are plenty of other factors that are difficult to quantify. What about people with two attunements? Should they have twice the level? One extra level? It’s difficult to judge.”

  Keras shook his head. “How about Reika’s inherent dragon abilities? What attunement level do they translate to?”

  “Couldn’t someone just look at her aura?” Sera asked.

  Corin interjected again. “Wouldn’t mean much. Her dragon form might not even have the same color of aura. Auras are based on mana density, and that isn’t always representative of overall power. Moreover, mana power and combat effectiveness aren’t always the same. Things like the resilience provided by her scales aren’t accounted for by her aura color.”

  “And,” Patrick noted, “She probably didn’t have a shroud.”

  Keras nodded. “You’re correct, Patrick. Studying the Unclaimed Lands?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, I just like monsters and magic weapons, so I read a lot about them.” Patrick turned toward Sera. “Anyway, monsters born in the Unclaimed Lands usually don’t have shrouds. They still use magic, though.”

  “They said the same thing in my monster huntin’ class,” Marissa added. “Said monsters get their magic from the elemental temples, rather than the spires, so they work differently.”

  Sera frowned, looking contemplative. “Hm.”

  There was a momentary pause, then Keras spoke again. “I think I’ve failed to answer the original question, so let’s get back to that. So, there are a lot of factors aside from attunement level that can influence combat ability. Some of them are circumstantial, like using equipment. Others are traits that are harder to measure, like how my dominion sorcery matches up against an attunement.”

  “I could probably find a way to measure that,” Corin offered. “Mana expenditures per spell, or perhaps based on damage output to a target...”

  “I’ve tested some of that, and I’
ll get to that later in the story. Or maybe a different story. But testing my ability doesn’t cover every dominion sorcerer; we have tremendous variation in magical ability, too.” He took a breath. “My main point is that the attunement scale itself isn’t really tall enough or granular enough to properly account for all elements of combat ability.”

  “So, what’s that mean, then? Do you have a different scale you can use?” Patrick asked.

  Keras shrugged. “I suppose I could try to make one, but honestly, I don’t think it’s ever wise to assume you can summarize combat ability effectively with a single number. Take Mara, for example.”

  Mara looked startled, then pointed at herself dubiously. “Me?”

  Keras nodded. “You beat two those two bandits easily. They were probably the same attunement level you were, and I’m going to guess that they probably had similar equipment.”

  “Wait, Mara did what?” Sera glanced at Mara. “You didn’t say that.”

  Marissa looked abashed. “Well, I didn’t wanna seem like I was braggin’...”

  “It’s okay, Mara. You can brag about things like that.” Sera smiled. “Sorry, Keras, continue.”

  “If we just looked at equipment, attunement level, and species, she would have probably been at about the same level as they were. But she won easily. Why?”

  “Talent,” Patrick said.

  “Training,” Sera added.

  “Tactics,” Corin concluded.

  Keras smiled at the alliteration, even if it was probably unintentional.

  Marissa blushed furiously. “Wasn’t really much by way of tactics,” She admitted. “I pretty much just hit them.”

  “Even so, the others are applicable. And all of those are virtually impossible to measure properly. Talent is nebulous; you’d have numerous categories of different types of talents, even if we just talk about combat. Training is, again, complex. How do you measure raw athletic ability versus skill at a specific fighting style? What about someone who knows multiple different fighting styles? And tactics, of course, are going to vary much from situation to situation.”