by Andrew Rowe
When Tristan had mentioned a “sanctum”, I had pictured something like a personal quarters. A bedroom, a desk, maybe some kind of devices for monitoring the building.
I wasn’t thinking big enough.
Just on the level that we were standing, I could see dozens of things I wanted to run to and examine.
The outer wall of the room was ringed with doors, each of which had a reflective mirror-like panel to the side and a number above it.
Rings of metal were built into the floor, with each ring having lines of metal that led off to various devices and contraptions throughout the chamber. With my attunement active, I could see mana flowing within them, and I realized they were some kind of conduits for magical energy.
The devices themselves were myriad and wondrous. On the left side of the room, dozens of human-sized mana crystal were housed inside crystalline tubes, suspended in some kind of liquid. I’d never seen even a single mana crystal that large before. I couldn’t imagine the kinds of items they could power.
On the right side of the room were dozens of bookshelves, but rather than books, they contained more crystals, stored in labeled jars.
They’re memory crystals, I realized. They might be a more efficient means of storage for someone like Tenjin that can access them easily.
In the center of the room was a single titanic pillar filled with liquid, not unlike the one that had contained Selys-Lyann, but on a massively larger scale. I could see numerous runes etched into the surface and mana glimmering within the waters.
I could see multiple ways to reach the higher levels – stairways on each side of the room, and a few rune-activated platforms that looked like they might serve as elevators.
“...wow,” Researcher mumbled, her eyes widening.
“Yeah,” was all I managed to reply.
“This way,” Tristan gestured, following the wall to the right.
“Are you sure we can’t stay here a little while?” Researcher asked. “I’d really like to know what that thing is. And that one. And...”
I completely agreed with her. Just seeing that place...I had so many questions.
I couldn’t stay. I knew that.
...But I wasn’t going to let Researcher be disappointed, just because I couldn’t stay myself. “Sera, can you re-summon Researcher later, even if we leave her in the spire?”
Sera nodded. “Sure, the type of contract we made supports that.”
“Tristan, can she stay here for a bit? It would make her happy, and she might be able to help you a bit while she’s here.”
Tristan sighed. “Fine, she can stay a little while. But I’m going to be very strict about what I give her access to.”
Researcher clapped her hands together, beaming. “Thank you! Thank you!”
I was happy that Tristan had accepted. Mostly for Researcher’s sake, because she was clearly thrilled.
But in truth? I wanted to know how much information she could gather that might be useful to the rest of us, too.
I leaned over and whispered to her, “Get me some notes on the giant crystals and the pillar if you can.”
I wished I had time to give her more detailed instructions, or to properly prioritize.
Researcher gave me a conspiratorial grin. “Of course!”
Her reply was a little too loud, spoiling any effect at secrecy, but Tristan didn’t seem to notice. He was walking quickly, until he finally stopped near a door.
“Okay. This is it.”
The door had a “21” over it. The floor number, maybe?
He turned to the mirror-like panel next to it and ran a finger across it.
An image appeared in the surface, showing a room from above.
I saw Marissa, Patrick, and Sheridan sitting in the center of the room, talking.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized Mizuchi wasn’t there.
“They seem safe. You should go to them now, before Mizuchi finds them, and leave the spire immediately.” Tristan shook his head. “I’m sorry I can’t talk to you longer. It’s been good to see you both.”
He extended a hand to me.
I felt several emotions converge there. Doubt. Fear. Relief.
I clasped his hand. “I’m...glad you’re alive, Tristan.”
“Thanks.” He took a breath and pulled his hand away, reaching out to Sera. “Sera, it’s good to see you as well.”
Sera looked Tristan up and down, then frowned. “Yeah.” She didn’t reach for his hand. “Sure.”
Tristan put his hand back down. “Go on, you two. Given how things have been going, I suspect I’ll see you again soon enough.”
I wasn’t so certain about that.
Tristan opened the door. I could see a glimmering portal there.
I gave Tristan one last look.
“Goodbye, Corin.”
“Goodbye, Tristan.”
And I stepped through the door.
Epilogue – Another Step Forward
Sheridan, Marissa, and Patrick were somewhat surprised when I appeared in the room.
They were more surprised Sera appeared a moment later.
I didn’t fill them in on the whole situation. Instead, I told them that we needed to leave the spire immediately, because Mizuchi was presumably going to be looking for us.
We got an immediate chorus of agreements.
I sent a message to Keras with my necklace and told him we were leaving the spire, and that he should meet us outside. He sounded a little disappointed, but he agreed.
We used one of the return bells and exited the spire.
Keras did the same.
Then, with everyone else together, we headed back to the Theas household to talk.
Sheridan checked Sera over on the way and confirmed that Sera hadn’t done herself any more permanent damage, but advised that she’d strained her entire body with those invocations, and that she shouldn’t do it again.
Preferably ever.
When we arrived back at the manor, we gathered everyone together, including Derek and Elora, and filled them in on what had happened.
I was somewhat hesitant to say anything around Elora or Sheridan, since I knew they both most likely had their own agendas, but I was exhausted with keeping secrets. If they were going to be my allies, I wanted to treat them with respect.
Elora couldn’t confirm anything Tristan had told us — she still had a brand on her neck, and it clearly had different restrictions than his did.
She did, however, confirm that she was still considered a part of his “Ascension” faction...she simply had fallen “out of touch” with most of their organization.
Meaning she was probably lying low and waiting to see how the infighting resolved itself, rather than risking herself further.
Derek was uncharacteristically silent throughout the discussion.
After we finished sharing what we’d learned, Sera and I went to talk alone in the bedroom I’d been assigned.
“So.” I sat down on the bed. Sera sat next to me. “You’ve got an ascended attunement, apparently?”
Sera nodded. “I didn’t even know for certain that was what it was until Mizuchi mentioned it. But I’ve been feeling a stronger connection to my summoned monsters while I’ve been recovering. After the ball, Vanniv and I started practicing with it, and I figured out I could draw a bunch of his mana into me all at once. It makes me a lot stronger. It’s a little scary, though.”
“Yeah, after what happened with the water, I don’t blame you for being cautious. But you do feel okay now?”
“Yeah. I think the attunement is built for doing that sort of thing. It was handling most of the burden of all that mana coming in...but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it often. When I first practiced with Vanniv, he said he thought it worked more like a Soulblade summon. The kind of thing you can’t do more than once every few weeks, or it gets dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?”
“It puts a lot of strain on both of us. It’s almo
st like we’re merging our mana together for a while. That could permanently alter how our mana works if we do it too much.”
“Makes sense.” Keras had mentioned something similar about not being able to use some of his abilities too often because of how they altered his mana. “Could you have done that with Seiryu?”
Sera shook her head. “Not a chance. It still costs some of my mana to try to do that invoking thing, just like summoning something does. I still don’t have enough mana to summon Seiryu, so I wouldn’t be able to invoke her, either.”
“What about using Vanniv’s mana to summon Seiryu?”
“It doesn’t work like that. When I’m invoking someone, I’m only able to cast their spells with their mana, not mine. It’s basically like I have all of their abilities, on top of my own, but I can’t mix them together freely. Not yet, anyway.”
“That’s still pretty incredible.”
Sera smiled. “No kidding. I wish I could do it more often.” She paused for a moment. “I still can’t believe we beat Mizuchi.”
“Well, we didn’t, really. We just teleported her off. And she was much weaker than the last time we fought her, if you didn’t notice.”
Sera nodded. “I did. The banishment spell was probably weakening her, and I think Tristan drained some of her mana with his attunement while they were grappling with each other.”
I hadn’t actually noticed that last part, but it certainly made sense. It also led me to a more awkward, and more important, discussion. “What’s your take on the situation with Tristan?” I asked.
“I don’t trust him.” Sera shook her head. “But I don’t know what we should do.”
I bobbed my head in agreement. “I feel the same way. But I want to trust him. He’s our brother.”
Sera winced when I said that. “...I suppose he is.”
I frowned. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Sera sighed. “I told you before. Tristan... he didn’t always treat me well. You always idolized him, but he’s not... he’s not the perfect person you think he is.”
“I...are you saying he... He didn’t touch you, did he?”
She shook her head vehemently. “Not in the way you’re thinking.”
That was good, because if he had, I probably would have gone straight back to the spire to have a very different conversation.
“He was cruel, Corin.” She wiped at her eyes. “There’s a lot of your father in him. More than I think you realize.”
I didn’t want to think about the implications of that. “I’m sorry, Sera. Is there something...what do you want me to do?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I know how much Tristan means to you. But when you’re considering whether or not you trust him...just remember that there’s another side to him that he doesn’t show around you.”
“I’ll try.” I put a hand on hers. “And for what it’s worth? I’m not going to make any more big decisions without you. I mean, barring cases when we’re in completely different locations and—”
“I know what you meant, Corin.” She paused, then smiled and squeezed my hand. “Thank you, that means a lot.”
After that, we chatted a little longer, then washed up and went to sleep in the same room.
In the morning, I had a new message in my book.
Sera and I read it together.
Dear Brother,
I regret that our meeting was so brief.
As a result, I was not able to share as much as I wished with you, and I failed to ask you for a direct answer to an important question.
You know my mission now.
It will not be an easy one.
My resources are thin, and my allies are few.
My enemies are numerous and powerful.
I know that you cannot entirely trust me. That is something that will take time and knowledge.
But, if you are willing, I could use your help.
I have contacts in Caelford working on something important. Given what you already know, I’m certain you can guess what field of study it pertains to. I need someone I can trust to go and work with them. Someone who isn’t known to be a member of my organization.
Will you join my cause, and help give humanity the power that it needs to stand among the gods?
I await your answer.
-Tristan Cadence
I spoke with Sera for a time. Debated. Considered. Analyzed.
In the end, I wrote a single word in reply.
Yes.
***
I had a few visits to make before I left the country.
The first was the easiest. Cecily had left House Theas and gone home, but her family didn’t live far away.
I knocked on the door.
It was her sister, Yunika Lambert, that answered.
Her eyes widened a little when she saw me. “Corin Cadence?” She blinked. “It’s been a long time...what brings you here?”
“I was here to see Cecily, actually. But I think there are a few things you should know, too.”
Yunika nodded. “Come inside.”
I followed Yunika in.
She waved. “I think she’s in her room. I have questions for you, but I think you should probably talk to Cecily first.”
I found my way to Cecily’s door and hesitated.
It had been so easy just to walk in here and visit her.
Why had I waited this long?
Why was my hand trembling?
People were so much more terrifying than monsters.
I knocked softly on the door.
“Who is it?”
I hesitated again.
After a moment, I managed, “It’s Corin.”
I heard footsteps running for the door. She flung the door open.
I braced myself as she threw her arms around me. “Corin! You’re okay!”
“...Yeah, I’m fine.”
She buried her head in my shoulder. “Thank the goddess... I... I was so worried you wouldn’t come back.”
I awkwardly pat her on the back. “I’m okay. It’s okay now.”
I was still terrible at this sort of thing.
But as much as I didn’t like being touched....there was something important about the fact that she’d worried about me.
That she’d cared.
I took a breath and then pulled her just a little bit closer.
“It’s going to be okay.”
I wasn’t sure that I believed that, but on occasion, it felt good to pretend.
***
I spent some time telling Cecily about what had happened in the spire.
I didn’t share every single detail. I didn’t know how secure their house was.
But I did confirm that I’d found Tristan. That he was really alive in there.
Cecily smiled, brushing her eyes. “I’m so happy for you. I’m sure Yunika will be thrilled, too. Do you know when she’ll get to see him again?”
I shook my head. “...I think it might be a while.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Cecily turned her head away. “But I know she’ll wait as long as it takes.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I changed the topic. “I have a little something for you.”
Cecily blinked. “A souvenir, perhaps?”
I shook my head. “No, not something from the spire. I’ll try to remember that next time.”
I pulled the mana watch out of my bag and handed it to her. I’d fixed it earlier in the day. “You said you liked this when you saw it at the party. I thought you might want it.”
It was true that I thought she’d like the watch, but there was another reason I was giving it to her.
It was my way of getting telling myself that I needed to stop using it as a crutch.
If I wanted to grow stronger, I needed to stop letting my fear restrict my methods of training.
She accepted the watch with a grin. “Thank you! It’s a lovely gift. I’m afraid I don’t have anything ready for you right now, but...�
�
I shook my head. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I have a rather large favor to ask for.”
“Would you like to come with me on an adventure?”
***
Cecily agreed to come with us to Caelford, of course.
I couldn’t explain why I was so excited that she accepted.
Maybe I just wanted another Enchanter’s opinions on my research. A peer that I could share my excitement with. Someone who might understand bits of artificial attunement theory that could work with me on new ideas and tests.
Perhaps she represented a tie to a brighter spot in my past, something I wished I’d been able to hold onto a little tighter.
But maybe there was a bit more to it than that.
After that, we went and found Yunika, and told her a bit about what had happened. Yunika was clearly heartbroken that Tristan hadn’t left the spire with me, but she still seemed pleased to know that he was alive and well.
I made certain to mention that Tristan was clearly thinking of her, too.
With that finished, I had another visit to make that I wasn’t looking forward to quite as much.
***
I didn’t like visiting the hospital.
It was especially difficult when I didn’t even know if the person I was visiting was going to be alive.
Or if she was alive...I was a little worried that she hated me.
It didn’t take long to verify the first part. “Second floor, room 208.”
I knocked on the door.
“Didn’t you read the sign? It says clearly, ‘no solicitors’.”
There was no such sign, nor were solicitors likely to be a problem at the hospital.
I rolled my eyes.
At least Professor Vellum’s sense of humor was intact.
“It’s Corin.”
There was a brief pause. “...Ah, well, then. What are you waiting for, boy? Come in.”
I opened the door and stepped inside.
I expected Professor Vellum to be in a hospital bed, but I found her sitting back in a large chair, covered in an absolutely absurd pile of blankets. She set down a book on the table next to her as I walked in.
