Serenity didn’t know what to say either. He probably shouldn’t have been quite so obvious with his experimentation, but he had learned what he wanted to learn. It wasn’t the best possible news; he still didn’t have a way to send it to Gaia and heal her without clearing out the sinkhole in A’Atla. On the other hand, it was by far the easiest way to make runes he’d ever had. He had to know exactly what he was doing, but that wasn’t new.
Come to think of it, he should probably make certain it worked before declaring it the best thing ever. He’d feel awfully silly if it didn’t work, even if he was the only person who knew. That was easy enough to do, too.
Serenity still had his aura spread over the runic inscription, so he supplied some mana at the input. It might work better if he used essence as well, but Serenity wasn’t skilled enough with essence yet to design the runic inscription on the fly; this one was mana-specific.
Everything worked as expected. The mana flowed easily and smoothly; there was plenty of capacity available. He’d have to check back later and make certain it concentrated the death-tainted mana correctly and that it didn’t wear down quickly, but everything he could test for now was working properly.
“You’re not from Earth, are you?” Liam asked the question quietly. “That’s how you know all this. How did you get to A’Atla?”
Serenity scrambled to remember the cover story his mother gave him. It was paper-thin and didn’t really cover this, did it? Oh, there was a ship listed, but Serenity was certain that anyone who investigated would find out that he wasn’t actually on it.
Maybe he should tell the truth and mention the Well of Souls without saying he started on Earth? Alternatively, he could simply say that he’d come the same way the Rothmers did; that was also true and might muddy things farther. Was that even the right thing to do?
Would claiming to be from the past be better? A’Atla was built by people who knew things modern Earthlings didn’t. Serenity was confident it was built by people who knew more than most elsewhere did, as well. Or … perhaps that wasn’t right. Maybe they simply knew different things. That seemed more accurate.
For that matter, he could even claim to be part of the organization that originally built A’Atla. If he admitted that, he didn’t even have to claim to be from the past to explain what he knew. People would take it as confirmation of his off-planet origins, but would that be so bad?
Serenity realized he’d frozen like a deer in the headlights. He wasn’t certain what to say, if anything. Perhaps that was the best answer after all; he could always change it later. Sure, Liam might well assume it was confirmation, but it wasn’t. “It’s probably best if I decline to answer that.”
Samantha plunged into the uncomfortable silence left by Serenity’s statement as if it weren’t even there. Maybe it was uncomfortable only for Serenity? “So, what does it do? I can see you made a magic thing.”
Serenity couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. “It’s not a magic thing, it’s a runic inscription. It’s a fairly simple one as these things go; it just pulls Death-attuned mana out of the local area and concentrates it in a small part of its structure. There’s Death mana almost everywhere on Earth, so it’s a simple proof of concept for using the crystal as a medium.”
Serenity looked at the accumulating ball of delicious Death energy and shook his head with a smile. “Serenity will like it, too; he has uses for the mana.” He had to remind himself to talk about “Serenity” as if he were a different person, but he thought he’d managed it well. Hopefully that would cover the fact that “Tom Cooper” made something that used Death magic when it was well known that Death was Serenity’s primary Affinity.
Doublethink like this was tough. Serenity didn’t like pretending to be someone else. He’d definitely flubbed it already if they realized just how rare the knowledge of runes was and how difficult it was to quickly draw a rune. Yes, there were a fair number in Takinat, but even there most were apprentices and journeymen. Most wouldn’t ever make it to master.
Fortunately, this was Earth. No one knew enough to call him out on it.
“Should we move it somewhere else?” Samantha tapped the table and Serenity flushed. He wasn’t thinking when he set it directly on the table; of course it would be in the way.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure just how sturdy it would be. Yes, it was arguably a type of rock, but some rocks were pretty fragile and the lines of the runic inscription weren’t that large compared to the scale of the inscription itself. “Maybe if we support it? I think I saw some thin boards earlier.”
“There’s no shortage of plywood here,” Liam agreed. “Is it that fragile? I assumed since it was magical it would be sturdy. That’s how it works, isn’t it?”
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Serenity shrugged. “I didn’t do anything to increase its strength. If you’re talking armor or weapons, of course they’re sturdier; they have to be in order to work. This doesn’t.”
A few minutes later, the three of them had the foot-and-a-half diameter runic inscription set onto its own piece of plywood for easy transportation. The plywood was on the table for now, since there was no better place for it, but at least it was still intact. That meant he could come check on it and see how it held up to continuous use.
Serenity added some more mana; he didn’t want it to run out before the next time he made it to the inner camp to check on it. If it did, it wouldn’t be a disaster, but he’d prefer that it didn’t.
“So, how much are you going to tell us about the magic opal?” Samantha tapped the clock of iridescent stone. “You said it’s dangerous, but not to us?”
Serenity wasn’t sure if he should share what he knew or not. He’d be giving away information that could potentially doom the planet. At the same time it was possible, even likely, that how useful World Core crystal was would be found out some other way, especially with a giant mountain of World Core crystal in a place that was being heavily investigated for magical knowledge. The fact that there were apparently smaller blocks as well wouldn’t make it any less likely.
Yeah, it would be figured out by someone. If he didn’t warn against it, how would they know that searching for more was a terrible idea?
Serenity looked up at Samantha. She might not be the right person to warn, but he didn’t know who the right person was. She was here and had a block of World Core crystal; that was enough. The trick was knowing where to start; should he follow the train of thought he’d used to get here or should he try a different tack?
Where he started probably wasn’t that important as long as he got started and made sure to cover it all. “This is World Core crystal from Earth’s World Core.” Serenity tapped the crystal block. “Earth’s World Core has been shattered twice that I know of; the more recent time was probably when A’Atla sank.”
Serenity glanced at Samantha. She was listening but didn’t seem to have had the sort of realization he’d expected. He needed to back up more, then. “A World Core is … well, it’s the magical center of the world. area that everything else moves around and the largest nexus for the planet. A broken World Core can cause all sorts of problems, anything from a decline in Tier to utter devastation of the planet.” As far as Serenity could tell, World Core damage was why Tzintkra was so strange. He couldn’t be certain it was why Tzintkra was covered in as much Death as it was, but the timing was suspicious.
“This probably comes from one of those injuries; I have circumstantial evidence that it’s probably from the first time and was moved, but…” Serenity stopped himself. That wasn’t relevant. “It doesn’t matter; either way, it’s World Core crystal. It’s a great material; a group of great materials, really. On Lyka, they were mining their World Core and using the material to make things. They were trying to enhance people, too, but mostly they just died.”
He wasn’t going to mention Legion. If they found out, fine, but Legion didn’t want to be looked at with pity. It wasn’t like the knowledge was helpful anyway; Earth humans were more likely to survive and be changed rather than dying outright but that was all they really knew.
“In and of itself, it’s just a material. There’s some danger, but proper filtration should handle it. The problem comes when people start looking for more of it. Earth’s World Core is fragile; even without someone trying to mine her, she’s in danger.” Serenity could still remember watching the planet break apart. Emotion warped his voice as he continued. “And if she goes, so does the planet. I don’t know what killed - what’s going to kill her, but I know it’ll happen if nothing’s done to stop it.”
Serenity took a deep breath to try and calm himself. Rationally, the destruction of Earth wasn’t the worst incident in Vengeance’s life, but it still held its place as the worst moment at the time. It was a symbol of the complete destruction of everything he knew and of all of the memories he’d lost. While it was true that neither New York City nor Arlington were still really there when Earth died, seeing Earth fall apart brought all of his loss home at once. He’d never forget it.
He needed to remember that it didn’t have to happen. It hadn’t happened and it wasn’t going to.
Serenity was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes, only then realizing that he’d closed them.
Liam wasn’t particularly gentle when he tightened his grip for a moment, but he didn’t need to be. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” His hand dropped from Serenity’s shoulder. “To find out why and do something about it. Are you-”
Whatever Liam was about to say was interrupted by a sharp sound from the entrance to the inner camp. An alert appeared in Serenity’s vision at the same time; something had moved inside A’Atla at a speed greater than the limit he’d set. Worse, this time it wasn’t on A’Atla’s surface; instead, it was inside.
At least he didn’t need to worry about getting there in time.
Serenity spread his aura across the entire camp. He usually kept it tight up against himself out of politeness, and he certainly didn’t normally do what he was about to do. He bore down on it, impressing reality with his presence and his Tier.
Samantha fell to her knees. She’d clearly never felt anything like it before and was unprepared.
Liam had already braced himself; all he did was grumble, “I hate it when you do that.”
Serenity didn’t pay much attention to the two of them; he needed to deal with whatever was happening outside. It was too bad for his image that he was dressed in “Tom Cooper’s” usual silk shirt above jeans outfit instead of the robes he wore outside, since it meant he couldn’t evoke the spells he usually infused into the robes. He also didn’t have many of his other common tools with him.
He’d just have to make do without them.