That sounded adorable, but I chose not to mention it.
Does he seem like he’s in pain? I asked, because Ball-ee had proven he could understand questions, even if he answered them with his weird syllable patterns.
Nope, Val replied, he’s very clear on that. It just seems like what you said earlier. He feels like he’s full of power he doesn’t know how to express. But I can’t figure out how to help him.
Me neither, I admitted, trying to remember all the times Stell had said I was developing some kind of ability neither of us could figure out. The only suggestion I can think of is to give him patience and encouragement. Maybe he needs the right conditions to happen before he can do whatever his unclear instincts are trying to express.
Oh, okay, Val said to me. That works. I guess I should have thought of that.
I think you already did, I offered, and were just taking a moment to make sure you were doing the right thing, when we weren’t in the middle of something. Which is exactly what you should have done, I added firmly. Good job.
The Lord Challenger is right, Salima affirmed, having confidence in yourself is good, but there is neither shame nor foolishness in taking a quiet moment to ensure said confidence isn’t misplaced. You are by far the youngest of our group, one entrusted with the fate of entire worlds. You have every reason to ask any of us for extra guidance. I needed it at your age and older.
I still need it, I said tiredly, and I got a lot more training than you did before you were thrown into the role as a Challenger. Come to think of it, here’s an order for you, Val: if you’re not already doing it, I want you to work out a schedule with Salima, Breena, and Petal, for them to train you in their spare time, with anything they can share. Actually, I added, get the Testifiers to help, too.
Really? Val said, and I could hear her excitement warring with her caution. I don’t really think I have the time or talent to get Saga magic though.
Who knows? I replied as we crested another hill, with all of our combined senses still reporting no danger. We still had hours, if not days, left for our ride, so if Val hadn’t spoken up I probably would have been bored out of my mind. Maybe something will click, and you’ll find out you’re a natural in one. Maybe you’ll find that you can just learn a little bit, and it will still help. Or maybe you won’t have a talent at all, but will learn how to counter it. Or maybe they’ll be able to teach you about one of their Ideals, or other skills. Either way, the extra training will help you have a better handle on all this stuff, so you won’t have to stress yourself out over figuring out when you have permission to ask for help.
And there you have it, the Dunegraced woman said to my adopted sister, explicit permission to do the one thing you were hoping for.
But what if they’re busy? Val asked timidly, giving me a quick glance as she clung to Salima’s back. They were still just riding ahead of me, not that it mattered with the mindlink.
Then they tell you that they’re busy, and you look for someone who isn’t, I replied easily. I could tell she was trying to let go of her apprehension, but I knew fear had a sticky quality to itself. She’d need a little help with shaking it off. You can also offer to help them with something in exchange for the lesson. Or helping them could be the lesson in itself, which would probably save time for the both of you.
That makes sense! Val sent excitedly. I can do that! Thank you, Wes!
You’re welcome…sis, I sent back to her.
The dark-haired girl turned around in the saddle again. She had trouble finding me for a moment due to the way our horses were galloping, but when she did, my Rise-enhanced eyes spotted the bright, wide smile she wore when our eyes met. I returned it, hoping she could see it under my hood and helmet.
She turned back around to avoid falling off of Salima’s horse, and suddenly something clicked in my mind.
Training, I thought, I’m not done training either.
I had been learning too much at once to really focus on the particulars of any one of my Practitioner-level skills and magics, but maybe I finally had an opportunity to focus with these long rides.
Hey, Breena? I sent to the little fairy snoozing in a little harness on my back.
Snuz? she mumbled drowsily to me. Hmmm? Oh! Oh snap! I felt her startle awake. This doesn’t count! I didn’t get bigger and you never fell asleep! Tell your dragon this shouldn’t count!
Don’t bother me, I felt Teeth mumble, I’m trying to nap, too. Stop waking everyone up, asshole.
I’m awake, I’m awake, my bonded familiar insisted. I totally wasn’t sleeping on the job. What’s up?
Actually, I wanted to ask you about that tome of Air magic that we took off of Fragglerock, I supplied.
Fragglerock? Oh, that guy! He was a real jerk! I’m glad you blew him up. And had your sister kill him again. What about his book?
Well, I said, trying to put the lesson I just gave Val into practice myself. You know how your fairy magic lets you resize items for personal use?
Uh-huh, she said slowly, and I thought I could feel her eyes narrow.
And you know how we can share information through the mindlink? I continued, pushing down on my own apprehensions. They were different from Val’s in that I actually had managed to annoy Breena and the others in charge of teaching me, but it was either that, or continue to worry about Anahita and the multi-headed Horde Wyrm hellbent on eating my face.
Uh-huhhhh…Breena said even more slowly. Wes…are you wanting me to read a complicated magical tome to you?
Well…I began, but she cut me off.
One with the complex discoveries of a full-fledged Air Master? Breena continued critically.
I mean—I tried to say, but her interrogation persisted.
All while on the back of a galloping, Rise-enhanced horse as we trek through hours and hours of boring desert?
Er…yes, I finally told her. And you wouldn’t be just sharing with me. You’d be sharing with all of the other Air users in the caravan. I’m asking because not only are you one of the only two people in our group who can do it, and also because you’ve taught me so well in the past and—
Yes! Yes! the little fairy squeaked. Stop talking so I can say yes! This is what I’ve always wanted!
Uh…what? I asked, thoroughly confused. Breena had been pretty excited about her job in the beginning, but the more I tried to experiment with the Challenger course material, the harder she began to hit the pastries and mist-juice.
Just think about it! she continued excitedly. A long trip…with a book…that I get to read to the audience…in any voice I want. For hours and hours.
I mean, if you have to take breaks to rest your mental voice…I began, before I realized I wasn’t sure that was really a thing and trailed off. A horrified moment later, I realized that for all I knew, our new and improved mindlink might let Breena talk for the entire day without growing tired.
Don’t you see, Wes? the pink-haired woman pressed. I’ll be reading a book to an audience! I’ll be an audiobook narrator! This is something I always wanted to try! And during a road trip, no less!
Her excitement was beginning to cause me concern.
I mean, I used to try and read books to Stell all the time, but she would eventually walk away and/or banish me! But no one can do that, here! You’re literally a captive audience!
Um, Breena, I began, desperately thinking for a way to make this less scary.
And you were probably just about to tell me how ‘I need to get stronger, Breena,’ she said as she mimed my voice, or, ‘you never try to teach me anything anymore, Breena!’ Well, this fixes that! You’d better get comfortable in that saddle, Wes, because you finally learned how to get hours and hours of help out of me! Prepare to witness my story-telling talent!
It’s not a story-telling book, Breena, I said with desperate speed.
Nonsense! she corrected me. Any book can be a storytelling book if you read it dramatically enough! And if you don’t understand something on the first t
ry, I can try reading it again in a different voice! Oh! This is going to be so fun!
I started to protest, but she had successfully used my own words and arguments against me. I needed this thing to be done, and no one else could do the thing.
I summoned forth the tome that the others had insisted I keep stored safely in Breaker, and prepared myself for many, many hours of dramatic fairy narrating.
CHAPTER 17: PLAN ON THE MOVE
It actually wasn’t that bad.
The first thirty minutes were a bit rough—Breena insisted that she had to try certain voices, just this once, promise, okay maybe two or three times—but then she wound up getting into the material.
I hadn’t expected that. It was the equivalent of a magic textbook, and I had found Fragglerock too distasteful as a person to ever write anything fit for public use. But either he was better at being a writer than a decent being, or most of the text had come from other sources that he just copied.
That and voice acting was a much harder job than Breena realized it was. Her favorite voices wound up being the hardest for her to do for long periods of time, even though she was just thinking them instead of saying them out loud (“that actually made it harder!” she had complained to me a couple hours in).
It did help us regulate breaks that the horses probably appreciated, and during the first break Breena started reading ahead. I saw her mumble to herself, eyes slowly widening, before flying over to me and speaking rapidly.
I had apparently forgotten just how much Breena had learned over her centuries of working with different Challengers. Her power as a familiar had become tied to my own, which meant that however great her personal knowledge became, she was never able to wield any magic, or use any skill beyond my own level. In the past, that meant that she would grow to dizzying heights of power alongside whoever it was that she worked with, her bond letting her learn all of her Challenger’s abilities—even if she couldn’t actually use them. Then, when the Trial or Tumult was overcome and the Earthborn person went back home, she would reset back to a basic spritefolk’s power, retaining nothing more than her Water and Air powers, and a library of knowledge that she couldn’t really open unless it became relevant for her Challenger. In some ways, it probably made her Stell’s most difficult Satellite to maintain, because Breena’s massive gains and losses of power would require constant adjustment.
Now, though, there wasn’t any need for that.
Avalon itself had offered me a full-time job, and I had accepted it. So I wasn’t going anywhere after I saved the world a few more times.
That meant Breena could grow as much as she wanted, and it would be fine. In fact, now that I was making everyone grow alongside me, some of her power would be completely free of any limitations regarding me.
So Breena could read a Master-ranked Air magic tome without any restrictions, awaken much of her old power regarding that Ideal, and even discover new things, because Peitan had been an Air Master much, much longer than any of the fairy’s former Challengers had been.
Even though he wasn’t that great of one, she grumbled to me as I remounted my horse.
What do you mean? I asked as I settled into the saddle and stirrups, reaching for the reins. Wasn’t he throwing storms around?
Yes, and not much else, she replied, and I remembered the Pendragon’s comments about Fragglerock not unleashing his full potential in the fight. He was pretty lazy, in fact. Aside from his storms, and giant golem, and those burning balls of his that you kept breaking, he was using pretty basic spells. Mainly, just a souped-up version of that Friction Slice I taught you back at the beginning.
Yeah, I still use that spell, too, I admitted uncomfortably. Salima’s mount took the lead again, though she gave us a backward glance to make sure we were ready.
She and Val had wanted to listen to Breena’s reading, as well. In fact, given that the Ideal of Air was the most common Ideal in my retinue, at least half of the group wound up listening. I probably need more Earth and Water users, I thought to myself as our horses settled into a good formation.
Yes, and not only do you have a very good excuse for not using anything different—you flat-out haven’t had the time to learn, for berry’s sakes—you have done just as much experimentation with that same spell as he did! He didn’t even use Realm! Do you realize that? No, of course you don’t, she muttered next. There hasn’t been a reason for me to teach you about Realm, and frankly, now that I know what you’re constantly repressing, it’s a miracle you’ve learned as much magic as you have, much less use it so well. No, she corrected herself again, that’s still being unfair to you. It’s a miracle you handle even a single complex task once in your life, what with all the constant work you have to do throttling your inner dragon.
Breena, I tried to warn her, and naturally it didn’t work.
I mean, seriously, Wes, I had NO IDEA. None of Stell does! Not even Merada! And let me tell you she’s in for a surprise—
Breena, I tried again.
And not just her! the little fairy brazenly continued. Do you know just how much biological theory you’ve overturned? I don’t even want to think about all the long-term ramifications, because it might not just be you! Maybe we’ve been misunderstanding males of every race for untold centuries!
BREENA, I thought as firmly as I could.
Ow! the spiky-haired woman sent as she reeled and clutched her head. Good, grief, Wes! We have a mental link! Next time just say something if you want to get my attention. What do you want?
I—my mouth opened and closed angrily. It was even harder to control my mind-tongue than my actual tongue, but my Will and Wisdom helped me somehow manage. Realm. What is this Realm thing you mentioned?
Oooh, right! Breena chattered excitedly. I didn’t know how she managed to chatter without using her mouth. Realm! Realm is one of the crowning achievements of an advanced Ideal user! It’s a sign that the Ideal user has begun influencing their Ideal as much as the Ideal is influencing them!
Keep explaining, I requested as my horse rolled into a fast trot.
Because people here kept assuming I’d understand everything as soon as they dropped an important word that I’ve never heard before.
Right, right, my fairy said distractedly as she nestled back into my cloak, book in hand. You know how Ideal magic is unique in that it makes your body and mind stronger when you Rise? And how, now that you’ve reached the Practitioner level, you’re finding it’s easier to experiment with individual spells? Well, at some point, your spells are going to have their own unique signature, like Peitan’s did. Around that same point, you’ll be able to exert control over how a certain Ideal interacts around you. It’ll progress in stages, and probably start somewhere in the Adept level—I hope, dear elderberries please don’t be unique again here, Wes—and then if you reach Master, you’ll be able to control a much wider field. We call what you gain at the Adept level ‘Throne’ because it mostly affects your own personal space, and what you usually gain at the Mastery level ‘Realm’ because it affects a much wider field.
I felt mental nods from others through the mindlink, specifically Gabin and the Testifiers. Apparently this wasn’t quite common knowledge, but a known thing among scholars.
She’s right, Karim confirmed, we were worried he would unleash his Realm on you the whole time we were handling our own battles. That was why we tried to hurry as much as possible.
Maybe it was because he was fighting Wes through his golem? Breena offered. Instead of his original body?
Possibly, Gabin mused, golemcraft is a very specialized field. It’s unclear whether he could have used it through his giant construct.
Unless the construct itself was part of his Realm? Karim offered. It was composed almost entirely of Air magic.
And his real body was pretty banged up, Val spoke up, he looked like he was completely paralyzed. Which ironically made him harder to kill, because I couldn’t find a healthy place to stab him at. So I gave up a
nd just tried to make all of his current wounds worse.
At any rate, Breena continued, already sounding bored with the matter, whatever his problem was, he should have been able to just summon a zone of hurricane-force winds around himself, which would have made your arrows almost useless. Actually, given all the sand lying around, that actually sounds really lethal. He should have been able to whip the dunes around until he could bury you with them.
Meh, Teeth whispered inside me, wouldn’t have been an issue. We can just dig out with our claws. But hey! Ask her what happens if you have more than one Ideal when you unleash your Realm!
I’m actually going to read through this book and see if I can learn what was going on with his Realm, Breena continued. But anyway, you’re probably wondering how Realm works with more than one Ideal. The short answer is that it’s very, very difficult. And dangerous. Because imposing one Ideal on your surroundings takes a lot of mana and stamina. Imposing two will double the drain. But to even do that, you’d have to have more than one Ideal at the Adept or Master level, which is super rare, and I honestly don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that.
Knives in the Night Page 26
