Stepping through the portal, Salt felt the added presence of increasing magic richness Suffuse his being. The feeling, though familiar, was not unlike walking at the bottom of the ocean. Feeling the cold and the dark take you, and, just to make it that little bit Nersinian Unique. A bubbling, corrosive spirit, wanting and needing you to dissolve in its vast ocean. Home.
Seeing that there were six hours until the changing of the main library. Salt went to the cafeteria for a meal and to check the jobs board. Sensitive to the moods of crowds and feeling a tense atmosphere set upon him on the road he decided not to take the Main Road back.
3 hours later, after having dodged more than normal amount of warding's, investigations, spells and scrying. Salt Had multiple arcane servants, Looking through the job's boards in disbelief. Not only were there a bounty on his head, but the bounty was also enough to get a 7th grader, to take heed. It also took Salt a good minute looking through the vast board before he noticed. The main library was no longer Slated to be the Mundane arts of the worlds. But the private library of the cult DePhon A place he had never heard of, and which was seven days ago, slated to be the Main library in approximately 11,000 years.
Trying to double back to the portals. One of the myriad spell warding's that was trying to find him. Melded with his own private warding, Destabilising it for but a second. As every locator spell within a kilometre, attuned to his position. Now fully desperate, Salt threw His last Trump card on the ground. It was a paper an etching, of a half-finished body that looked identical to Salts. Starting the ritual that would summon the unfinished, Chassis of the new Salt. He fumbled through his robes for a core he was going to use for his new fungus servant.
Melding together Incredibly expensive and ridiculously intricate Components. Salt used 20 minutes he did not have, to get the homunculus up to snuff. In the end, he stood with a half man hybrid, with his face, smell and mana signature. Shoving in a full Battery core, Salt Inscribed it to detonate within six hours or if the homunculus was stopped and captured. Instilling as many commands as he could in as little time as he could. He sent it on a circuitous Route towards the portal Plaza. As he himself ran hell for leather towards the dungeon.
It took an entire day of running, before he again felt the scrying at the back of his neck. Someone was pumping an ungodly amount of mana into his capture. And though it was undirected this far, Salt shrank his own warding to within a centimetre of his skin. And he ran.
Waking up with his leg on fire was not a pleasant experience. But after it had happened three times, he was getting used to it. Someone clearly knew where he was running to and did not like it. The path Forward into the ruins and dungeon, was populated by small detonating fireflies. Now Salt Did not know if these were conjured, or if they were lured from the dungeon. Whatever the case, once they hit something organic, or originally organic and now spelled to be stone. They would explode into little puffs of Hellfire; He would love to know how they differentiated organic from spelled organic. But research was not the first thing on his mind right now.
The more battles Salt went through the more he acknowledged his own unsuitableness for combat. Like right now when he was trying to sneak through the lines of some Hunting creatures that had just woke him up. He wasn't trying to figure out a way how to destroy his enemies or create a counter ambush. He was thinking I lost my left eye to an acid attack two days ago. But in my dreams, well, I still have two eyes. If I grow three new eyes, will I dream that I have three new eyes, or will I still dream I have two?
The longer this continued, the longer Salt longed for sleep. And in this longing, he went a little mad. And in his madness, he tried things, Salt was always so careful when creating new spells and equipment. Now, if it was even vaguely something he thought would, work he tried it. Finding himself almost smiling as he cobbled together separate ideas from separate fields and pushing his wealth and regents into it. The good things about hunting packs, they always had extra weapons, regents and if the project went tits up, he could always stasis it. And throw it at the nearest hunting pack, in a sort of frenzy he was almost enjoying himself. Until he one day tried the ludicrous idea of a void Flint and cut both of his legs off at the knee. The manic energy sort of left him then, as he again understood that the soul needed sleep.
Taking what he understood of laying to rest the soul and recuperation, with sleeps clear help with conceptualization and comprehension. He cobbled together a sort of Dream stealer, something that let him experience the sleep that his pursuers enjoyed. A strong downside of the DREAMCATCHER Was that he needed to be very close for the artefact to work. And one morning he was too close.
One morning, as he was vicariously enjoying someone's dreams of becoming a cat, a bird, and a bird cat. His brain went into shock as his arm was separated from Its socket by some sort of Lightning spell. Immediately going on the offensive and attacking at the Strongest point in the line made by his ambushers. He caught them mostly by surprise as he pulped 2 mages, Unfortunately, the Wizard on his left sent a perfect Astral Arrow, almost directly into his central node shattering it. Instantly lowering his magic potential, Strength and stamina. Surprising himself in his shock and anger. Salt went a little berserk.
Taking stock of his situation after coming to Caked in blood and viscera. Salt Found it quite untenable, and though he now had N-points aplenty. Without his central node, he was barely a third circle wizard. He could always make himself new legs, but regenerating eyes now that he had lost both, that there was some finicky magic. Hurriedly Ripping out an Olivander Stone from what remained of his dream catchers. He spent 15 minutes to jury rig himself an eye and placed it within the hand of his left arm.
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Having regained something of himself. Salt was under no delusion, He was fucked. So, with heavy heart he activated his entire Perception warding. And levitated himself on a path towards the Bursar's office. Certain death behind him, And near certain death in front of him. Salt Preferred Near To certain.
Coming to a stop before a Vast empty seeming Manor building Salt was Singed, dirty and quite exsanguinated. The only upside seeming to be that no one would think he was stupid enough to come here. Floating through a delightful garden, that would be quite a bit more delightful without the Gruesome topiaries of students screaming in agony, fear and disgust. Coming up to the front gate Salt Use the elaborate doorknocker fashioned in a Grotesque mockery of a kitten hanging and almost falling from a rope line. Taking his time and knocking every 15 minutes Salt Waited for an hour before the door creaked open.
Peeking inside, salt heard the weirdest Noise. It was almost identical to the noise of the portal Rooms and plazas in and out of Nersinia. It really did sound like a bustling and hurried environment. The only problem was there was no one there when he looked out over a grand hall. Seeing lines clearly demarcated to queue before ending at several desks. Only one of which was occupied. Salt started down the queue line, trying mightily not to step over any lines in the floor. This was easier said than done as he Had scarcely started floating down one as the line started, moving and twisting of its own accord Seemingly trying to make him step over one of them.
Spending entirely too much time He at last reached the counter which read Student helpdesk 2. Behind the desk stood a clearly dead student, In uniform. After giving a small “hello” to the receptionist that did not seem to give some life to the being. Salt Reached down and struck a bell that was placed on the desk that said ring for help. As soon as he struck the bell, all sound within the hall ceased.
Seconds turned into minutes, as a faint noise of doors opening and closing started coming from all sides and up and down. The feeling in Salt chest was akin to a gripping and horrifying realisation of size. Finally, the creatures that have made the noise converged upon his Position. They looked like pieces of a clockwork creature, and though Salt, readied himself for death. The pieces overlooked him entirely and gathered behind the desk. After a few minutes and more than a little disturbing sounds. A vaguely humanoid clockwork things stood in the receptionist's place.
Reaching out a hand, the thing said with a voice like the emptying of an ocean. “Tuition..................... please.” Salt began throwing everything he had on the desk. Tomes, spells, scrolls, items, artefacts all the things he had fought for and all the things he had made. Salt himself as he looked down on his ram shackled and meagre wealth, thought this was embarrassing. Waiting for some time as the thing made A thorough inventory. It looked up and said, “Not enough.”
“Yes, well, I have N-points please check my records.” Salt started stammering with the voice he would have been embarrassed about if he wasn't so fucking terrified. “Your points were already set to be paid KRS 227, With both points and this It is not enough for current tuition.” The head of the clockwork thing sprang up and showed its teeth as it Sing sang. “Would you like a loan?” going if possibly even more white in the face, Salt Stammering said. “No, no, thank you. How long do I have to pay the tuition back?” “You have 3 minutes to correct your overdraft, or your soul and mind form will be taken in payment.”
Just cutting his levitation spell and letting himself tumble to the floor. Salt lay there for a while, before the clockwork thing leaned over the desk showing its teeth and spoke. “You have been in service before KRS 227. maybe selling yourself into service Again, will make you. Functional. Efficient. Useful.” lying there on the ground in the final minutes of his own freedom. Salt reminisced of the first time he saw a colour other than blue.
Even though his mind had been used so much during his Time in the Gestalt. Salt could not seem to remember the time before Five years old before his parents sold Him to the blue. The Gestalt was perfect, he could not remember how many Hundreds of years, or was it hundreds of seconds he spent toiling away on the efficiency question. Before he could stop thinking of efficiency as the only good thing. Before he questioned the prevailing wisdom of the Gestalts. Before he was one among thousands and not simply a part of the whole.
An uncoupled blue, rare as few things are truly rare. When he first opened his eyes in the rainbow Warrens, it provoked a bidding war. Everyone wanted to do a research thesis on him. Hell, if Salt was there, he would have wanted the research on him. But one can never get anything for free Especially not in dread Nersinia. Designation KRS 227 was sealed and set as servant of Nersinia. A servant's life is Monotonous and filled with places of learning. Salt Remember thinking of the idea of the wizard, how They made the world Their own servants. How understanding was power, and power was freedom.
KRS 227 had gone through such an ocean of condescension, bullying and unfairness. that he almost gave up many, many times, but there was one place for which he was never the lesser. One place that the unfairness was equally distributed and meted out. This place would now take all that was left of him. But it was his own fault, he had the ability to go over the contracts with his lawyers. He could have checked to see whether the keeper of the secrets of the library had special powers, or privileges. What was happening now wasn't fair, but it was the kind of unfairness that is spread equally.
So wielding what magic he had left, Salt Started laying down a tiny little ritual. Before intoning: “Nersinia you were always fair. You were always clean. Stupidity and arrogance were Punished severely. I find both stupidity and arrogance within myself. Nersinia I offer you this boon, all of Salts, memories, wishes, soul and body. The boon is freely given So Mote it be.”
the clockwork creatures stood there for a time After the offering had been accepted and taken away. after what felt like an age, the thing showed its teeth and piped out. “Tuition accepted. Paid in full.”