Xue sat on one side of the table, prepared to make his case.
Riri sat on the other side. She was not ready for this impromptu meeting, so she was not happy, but Xue was no fool; Riri was prepared for most anything. Any discomfort on her part was merely an affectation.
It was the best Xue could hope for, so it would have to do.
Elder Arilitilo sat at the head of the table. She said, “Loremaster Xue has informed me that Scion Phoenix is on his way here. We have little time to make this bargain, and yet we must make it. This is about your Nacreous Weaver, Loremaster Riri.”
Loremaster Riri’s amber eyes regarded the two of them. “Pearlchan does not deserve to be turned into a silk dispensary. She has been with me for fifteen years, and her children are a vital part of our silk house. I categorically deny you, Elder Arilitilo. And you too, Xue. I deny you, as I have done before, and will continue to do. Pearlchan is not for sale, trade, or otherwise.”
Xue said, “We could ask for anything, Riri. You understand this, right? He is bringing us a Flatt Ring of Intelligence. We could get that New Stat for ourselves. For several of our people.”
Riri remained firm. She said nothing. She didn’t have to. All of her complaints had been laid out in the dozens of conversations they had had on this subject, long before now. But Xue had hoped that she would see reason, when the prize sitting before them was so large.
Elder Arilitilo tried, “If Scion Phoenix has gotten his hands on a Flatt Ring, he can possibly get his hands on a piece of the Light Dungeon the Headmaster has. Would you consider this to be a fair trade? A minor Light Dungeon in which to raise Pearlchan’s children into actual Nacreous Weavers, instead of simple Light Weavers?”
Riri ignored Arilitilo’s argument and retread old ground, as she replied, “I raised Pearlchan from an egg and guided her through her mutation into a Nacreous Weaver. Dozens of her sisters perished, for nacreous Weavers are impossible to raise in captivity, but I managed the impossible, and have managed to keep her alive through continued impossibility. She is a unique specimen of uncommon mentality and love. Pearlchan will never become someone’s Familiar Form; not even mine. When she dies, I will burn her body upon the pyre, and make of her core and her final threads a meal that might transform one of her lesser children into a Nacreous Weaver, like their mother.”
Elder Arilitilo said, “Please see reason, Riri.”
“I see reason. I am very reasonable. It is you who are not. There is value in Pearlchan aside from her usefulness as a Familiar Form. I do not wish to be rude, and I am sure you do not either, but if I should happen to inform Ezekiel that I am giving up my beloved pet to him to turn into a Familiar Form, then he would not accept the gift anyway. And I would not want to present myself that way, either!” Riri said, “He seems like that sort of man.” With a gleam in her eye, she continued, “However, if you wish to make a few international trades regarding a Light Dungeon, then I will be more than happy to oversee the growth of new Light Weavers and Nacreous Weavers.”
That was a nonstarter of an idea. The Headmaster wasn’t trading any of his Light Sources, for any amount of money. Xue bet that Riri had already personally inquired, but had been rebuffed.
Elder Arilitilo frowned, then said, “Please rethink your stance.”
“I do good work for Star Song and the Spidery has never been more profitable, but I have one single line I will not cross. Do not ask me to cross it every six months. I do not appreciate this.”
Xue said, “We want Blood Weavers and you can never keep them alive. We ask for thread from your Pearlchan, and you will not sell, and especially not in the quantity we need. And we know you know what kind of thread Julia used to make her robes, but you will not share that information either. You are the most recalcitrant Loremaster of Star Song, and it is tiring.”
Elder Arilitilo said nothing; she let Xue speak for her, too.
Riri defended herself with a laid-back air, saying, “Blood Weavers need 50 liters of sapient blood per day, per spider. I cannot keep Blood Weavers alive because we would require donations from 100 people per day to do this. We could drop that down to 25 people per day if we use [Blood Regeneration] on everyone, but any normal person cannot keep that routine up for more than a week without feeling the deep effects of such harvest. As soon as I am allowed to set up such obvious Blood Magic harvesting then I will do so, but by the laws of Songli, I cannot. Take your complaints up with the High Clans, for I can do nothing about this problem.
“Regarding Pearlchan’s threads; she makes Star Song ten thousand gold every week. As soon as you are able to afford the fees she pulls in, then we can talk.” Riri stated, “The problems with almost every Loremaster in Star Song or in any other Clan is that you are not willing to give proper recompense for the materials I am able to produce. It is through no small part of my own, personal monetary efforts that Star Song enjoys such prosperity as it does. And because of this, Patriarch Zalindi upholds my monetary decisions, so unless that changes, then my stance will not change.
“As for Julia’s threads.” Riri frowned. “It has taken me a while to confirm what I suspected, but I suppose I might as well share right now: They’re Shadow Spider threads. Julia has a Shadow Spider form. She doesn’t have Healthy Form either, otherwise the threads would be much tougher. Possibly even magically constricting... or reflective. It could be either. I’m not sure. Most people who get a Shadow Spider form either get dead, or disappear, and it’s anyone’s guess as to if the people who disappeared actually got away.”
Xue frowned. All of Riri’s points were salient and her reasoning was sound. But he had heard them all before.
Except the part about Shadow Spiders.
There were many side effects to revealing ‘Julia’ had a Shadow Spider form, but when that bit of information was taken in concert with all the other ones they had…
Xue was experiencing many different emotions. Primarily, there was joyful surprise.
He was also angry that Riri hadn’t shared this until now, until this crucial upcoming meeting, but in the end, she had shared.
If there had been any doubt about Ezekiel’s true nature, it was gone, now. Talk of Shadow Spiders would have had Xue warding up his rooms with the most annoying and powerful spells in his Status if he had heard this news a year ago. Yesterday, before the gathering, this news would have made him go into temporary hiding, for a Clan gathering would have been the best place for the Shadow Spiders to attack.
But today, after the gathering of last night, upon hearing of Erick Flatt’s true nature, he was pleasantly thrilled to be in this place, at this time, taking part in these opportunities all around him. Erick Flatt was here, and opportunity abounded.
Oh, sure, the Clan Deliberation was still in session on whether Flatt was an agent of Melemizargo or not, and that smoldering bonfire of a conference would likely rage into an inferno soon enough, but Xue was firmly in the camp that Flatt was a benefit to the world. And either way, living in a time when all the Shades were either dead or Cursed into compliance was a novel experience, with each day seeming brighter than the one before. Flatt’s naysayers had used the proof of the Shades’ deaths as proof that Melemizargo was doing something different, and more insidious than his usual methods, but Xue thought differently. If the Dark God’s insidious plan was to kill his entire clergy, then Xue wasn’t going to voice objection.
More enemies of the world should shoot themselves in their hands.
Today was a much better day than yesterday, even if Riri was doing her damnedest to come out more on top than everyone else. Good thing Elder Arilitilo and he had conferred earlier, and decided upon the strategy of confronting Riri with their usual demands. By doing so, they forced her to deny the two of them, or else she would appear to be allying with them when she offered up her ‘Pearlchan’ to Erick, as though it was their idea. In the version of events Riri would have preferred, she would no doubt offer up her pet for some tiny concessions that only she would benefit from.
Ha! Not on his watch.
This way, they would all benefit.
Hopefully.
Xue said, “Then let us work together to get what we want. I want that Flatt Intelligence Ring. I am offering him Blood Magic lessons as a starting point. Maybe Blood Enchanting, too, if he wishes to learn.”
Riri’s facade briefly broke, revealing surprise. Then her facade came right back. She remained silent, and glanced to Arilitilo.
Elder Arilitilo added, “I want access to that ring. I’m offering him access to some of our archives, and to talk of magic, as well as some of our more hidden treasures.” She stared at Riri, saying, “Understand this, Riri, Star Song will take a great loss if it gains us the ability to become a High Clan. That is the opportunity on the table. That is the power we’re going after. To paraphrase what Ored Small Scare said at your table last night: Money doesn’t matter in the face of military might. So use your money to gain us some military might for once.
“I want you to seriously consider your future path in this Clan, for this is an opportunity that might never come our way again. Ever. Decide what you are willing to part with before the opportunity presents itself, so we may all cooperate however much we can, to get as much as we can, for I doubt the combined efforts of every single member of our Clan will get us everything we could get out of that man.” She added, “The entirety of Glaquin’s Forest has been made near-habitable due to the removal of two monster species. Half a continent opened up to Orcol expansion. This Elixir solution is one way we open up all of Nelboor for us, but we need more than that. Keep this in mind going forward.”
Xue waited for Riri to speak. Arilitilo waited, too.
Riri glanced to Xue, then to Arilitilo, then frowned as she tried not to appear nervous. They had unsettled the woman; this much was obvious. But this was likely exactly what she wanted them to believe. Riri was still Riri, and if she confirmed that Julia’s threads were Shadow Spider threads, then she knew what Xue had only just puzzled out himself. Even Arilitilo hadn’t known, for sure, until this moment. Probably.
It would be cliché to say that the Arachnid Polymage sitting before them spun webs and waited for opportunity to fall into her lap, but that is exactly what Riri did all the time. Only this time, Xue and Arilitilo were plucking the web as hard as they could to get her to come out and coordinate with them.
“I want that ring too.” Riri casually said, “I have always been loyal to Star Song, even if it does not appear as such to those who wish to use resources in less than the best possible way. But… for this… I am not a lone warrior, and I never have been. I will, of course, cooperate with the resources and strengths of Star Song in order to gain this valuable resource.” She added, “However, I will not give up Pearlchan. Not happening.”
Xue and Arilitilo both lightly stared at Riri.
Xue could understand, in an abstract sort of way, that Riri cared for her Nacreous Weaver, but the pure opportunity on the table was surely worth the life of a pet. Surely! Xue turned his stare into a pointed glare.
Riri huffed, then said, “I’ve already looked into acquiring a Light Source for a small Light Dungeon, but Oceanside will not sell one of their Light Sources. I even got a strongly worded letter from the Headmaster telling me to never ask again, though I got the impression that the letter was a single letter that he had [Duplicate]d and sent off to every single person that ever asked him the same question; there were many parts that did not pertain to my specific inquiry.
“To that end: If we could get a Light Source directly from Ezekiel then we might hatch some extra Nacreous Weavers. In a year. But Ezekiel is going to say no. He’s under contract with the Headmaster to not make any more Light Dungeons.” She rapidly added, “Ezekiel should say no. He could say yes. If he said yes, then the [Rebound] of that attack would fall upon us.” She asked, “Does Star Song want to go that route?”
Xue shrunk away from the opportunity before him. He was back to being a small frog in a well. He didn’t want to try and get out of the well, either, for up there lay dragons. He looked to Arilitilo. She wasn’t happy with Riri’s answer either.
Arilitilo frowned. “While true that we cannot put ourselves at odds with the Headma—” She briefly glanced away, then came back, saying, “We have little time. Ezekiel has passed the bridge and has stepped into the Alluvial District. He is coming here. We three here all want the same things. Let us decide on a plan of attack. We all want that ring. What are we offering?” She pointed at Xue.
Xue rapidly said, “Blood Magic and highly effective, secret matters of enchanting.”
She put a hand on her chest, rapidly saying. “Multiple treasures, multiple secrets.” She gestured to Riri.
Riri breathed out and blinked long. She said, “I have a secret. I will give it to him, only.” She stared at them, and her demeanor turned solid hard, “Let me make this deal for us. I don’t wish to disparage you two, but you’re both the furthest thing our Loremaster House has from merchants, and this needs a merchant’s touch.”
Xue warned, “Don’t fuck us out of our fair shares, Riri.”
“Have some more faith in your compatriot, Xue.” Arilitilo smiled, politely, saying, “I’m sure whatever tactics Riri uses will benefit us all.”
“I am thankful to have this opportunity entrusted to me.” Riri bowed in her chair, briefly, then raised her head. “This merchant’s daughter will ensure that the gains of Star Song are legendary.”
- - - -
Ezekiel and his people met Xue and Sikali at the edge of Star Song’s mountainous mansion. After a few pleasantries, they followed the Loremaster and the Enforcer into the complex, going left when the previous night they went right. They journeyed past magics and physical barriers that had been thrown open for Ezekiel’s arrival.
While they walked, Ezekiel asked who they were meeting, exactly, and Xue gave a concise rundown. By his tone, Ezekiel could tell that the man had lost almost all of his previous fear. This was good.
It also meant that Erick had been found out, completely.
This was to be expected, but Ezekiel would keep up appearances until circumstance demanded otherwise.
In minutes, they had arrived at a wide stone courtyard, open to the east. The area had understated elegance, with simple, yet sturdy grey flagstones. A curving grey stone railing separated the space from a wonderful view of other mountainous mansions, and the city of Eralis in the distance, which dominated the horizon. Further up the mountainside were smaller cabin-like spaces, sharing the view. Cultivated trees laden with pink flowers, like leaves upon willowy branches, occupied almost all of the edges of this comfortable space. Five stone tables were here and there, each with simple stone stools.
A barely-there magic held between the rest of the world and the courtyard, and from what Ezekiel was seeing of it, the purpose was to obfuscate the courtyard from sight and sound without marring the view.
Of the people in attendance, Ezekiel recognized most of them, and of those he did not know, Xue’s descriptions earlier had been enough.
Patriarch Zalindi was there with his dark blue skin and bald head. He stood central to the gathering on the other side of the courtyard, to the side of a central stone table.
Elder Arilitilo, with her purple skin, stood next to Loremaster Riri, with her large tan horns. Both of them looked ready for something, but Ezekiel wasn’t quite sure what.
Tadashi stood off to the side away from almost everyone else. He looked okay, or at least his pink skin seemed healthy enough, even if his obvious joy at the moment was heavily tempered with fear. His obvious brother stood with him; Wabi Diligent Scribe, if Ezekiel remembered correctly, and he probably did. Wabi was less fearful than his brother by far. Ezekiel didn’t know much about the man, but he was still of Diligent Scribe, which seemed like a problem, or a complication, seeing as how no one else from that branch family was here, as far as Ezekiel knew.
There were four alchemists from Star Song also in attendance, but they mostly stood behind and away from Tadashi. Xue had mentioned them, but not by name.
There was also Elder Mirizo, of Enforcement. He had been in attendance last night, but Ezekiel had not actually had a chance to speak to the man. He would likely get that chance today. Elder Mirizo was supposedly all about politics and getting things done, but Ezekiel had noticed that when Xue mentioned the man, Sikali briefly let her anger show. But they were here now, and Sikali’s face was once again a mask.
Xue and Sikali stepped out of Ezekiel’s way, moving to the side. Sikali went to stand with Mirizo. Xue went to Arilitilo.
Ezekiel stepped down into the courtyard.
Patriarch Zalindi spoke, “Welcome back to Clan Star Song, Ezekiel Phoenix.”
Ezekiel gave a tiny bow, as was appropriate for a Scion, even though every single person in the courtyard knew he was not. “Thank you for having me.” He straightened, saying, “Last night I offered an idea; today I am here to put words into action.” He pulled out a ring from his belt sash and held it out in the open. “To that end, we have this.”
Zalindi nodded, then gestured to a nearby table that held a bound book and several small folders of loose papers. “A comprehensive study of Antirhine as well as our current notes on the solution which Tadashi has created and our Potion House has attempted to understand.” He gestured to Tadashi, and to the alchemists behind the man, saying, “And though you suggested we use the ring on Tadashi, for he was the one who has most understood what he has made, we have more skilled alchemists than just him.” Zalindi gestured to where Xue had taken a stance with Riri and Arilitilo, saying, “And we have more areas of study than alchemy which could use the blessing of your ring. For a suitable recompense, of course.”
Ezekiel paused. He gripped the ring.
He considered.
Yes; he wanted them to recreate chelation therapy as fast as possible so that it could not be taken away from the world by an act of concerted killing. This was a point in favor of unlocking Intelligence in everyone here, or at least more than just Tadashi.
No one was able to unlock the New Stats through simple rings like Ezekiel was able to do, and had done. He knew this because the New Stats had gone far and wide when Candlepoint was still trading out the Stat fruits, and yet, only his artifact-level rings, made with a true understanding of light, were able to actually unlock the New Stats in a person. Other people could make rings of the New Stats, for sure, but they were made in the old-school way of enchanting, and they broke down rather fast, with half-lives measured in minutes.
This meant that unlocking Intelligence for the people here would be limited in scope, for a while. They could probably make rings of Intelligence, but they could not unlock the Stat for others. … Which was sort of a problem, but not a large one.
Maybe; Clan Star Song was a good Clan, from what he had seen and heard, but he had only been here for a few days. How they treated him was not indicative of how he judged if a person was good, or not. How a society treated people who couldn’t give them anything was a much better metric, and by that metric, the Highlands were failing.
Yes; he could get a lot of resources and power out of them for doing this.
Yes; it was better than giving them the Periodic Table, and that could come later, anyway, if his ‘Maybe’ from before cleared up into a full-blown ‘Yes’.
No; … he couldn’t think of a good reason not to do this, besides obstinance. He forced himself to consider why not to do this, but couldn’t come up with—
Oh. Wait.
No; these New Stats weren’t real. They were Wizardry, and they were from Melemizargo. Ah. Yeah. That was a great big ‘No’. Hmm.
Yes; other people might come to him with more trade and he could get even more stuff.
But what did he want from these people besides what he was already going to get from them?
Three seconds had passed while Ezekiel thought; while he eyed the others in the Courtyard. He made up his mind swiftly enough, and said, “Okay. I’m going to interview your chosen Alchemists and vet them one at a time. There need not be any subsequent exchange for this particular increase in the unlocking of Intelligence. But depending on how your people answer, they might not gain this boon.”
Every single alchemist except Tadashi, and to a lesser extent, his brother, looked like it was holiday time and they had gotten double presents. Tadashi was stoically reserved, like he knew he wouldn’t get Intelligence, and he likely wouldn’t. Wabi was a mix between his brother and the others, with a lot of empathy apparent for his brother.
Unless Wabi turned into a secret asshole, then Ezekiel would offer Intelligence to him too, simply because of that empathy right there. The jury was still out on the other four.
Zalindi nodded. “Our Alchemists will accept your judgment.” He half-turned to the Loremasters and Elders at his other side, asking, “What say you, regarding the other half of my inquiry?”
Ezekiel asked the indicated people, “I would have to know the offering on the table.”
Zalindi looked to Loremaster Riri.
Riri stepped forward, and said, “Our offers are myriad, but your offers are limited. We would ask that you increase your offer to the permanent granting of a Ring of Intelligence, as well as all the others.”
Zalindi was stoic.
Other people seemed scandalized, though they tried their best to hide it.
Ezekiel smirked. Riri knew she was not getting her demand. She was merely shifting the Overton Window in her favor, and by doing so, when she came down from her heights, she would appear reasonable compared to her starting zone. Other people might have called this simple bargaining, but if anyone around here were to call this ‘bargaining’ then they were deluding themselves. Riri’s request put this conversation firmly into the category of shifting how the world functioned around here, and that was firmly political.
Ezekiel said, “Not for all the magic in the world.”
Two could shift the window.
No one had sat down yet. No one had given out tea. This was not the true way to hash out a deal. And Riri knew this. It was all part of the plan, for sure.
Which is likely why Riri lightly smiled, then asked, “Would you care for some tea and cookies? We can also set up an interview space for your questions for the Alchemists.”
“Of course,” Ezekiel said, having already seen what was going to happen next. His mana sense reached into much of this part of Star Song’s mansion, after all.
Riri gently clapped her hands, and people started moving. Servants came out from behind a boulder and into the courtyard, carrying trays of tea and snacks. Paper dividers were positioned around a stone table to the side, making a semi-private area. Ezekiel would be putting up a [Sealed Privacy Ward] anyway, though. Did they think he would allow his interviews to be spied on that easily? Ah. Whatever. A few servants grabbed Ezekiel’s papers and book and bundled them in a paper wrapping, sealed with twine, then handed them over to Julia. At the same time, Julia, Paul, and Tiffany, were given their own set of tea and cookies at a table to the side of the courtyard, where they had come into the courtyard. The Alchemists were made to stand near the interview area on the other side.
Patriarch Zalindi, Elder Arilitilo, Loremaster Riri, and Elder Mirizo sat on one side of the central table.
Ezekiel sat on the other.
Riri poured them all a sweet-smelling plum tea, handing out the cups in the proper, deferential order to the Patriarch, then Ezekiel, then the Elders, then herself. They all sipped, and it was good, but Ezekiel was mostly focused on the cookies.
They were chocolate chocolate chip cookies. They were dark throughout with morsels of goodness within, and they smelled wonderful.
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Riri handed out the cookies next, in the same order. Everyone took one bite.
It was so good, Ezekiel took a second bite, then held his up, and smiled, saying, “Chocolate is taking off faster than I thought it would. It hasn’t even been two months since its creation.”
Riri said, “It is a luxury food as of this moment, but it is easy to grow, and the taste is divine. The style of the treat was taken from a little shop in Spur known as ‘And Dessert!’. I believe it is your flagship store?”
Ezekiel smiled. Riri had certainly done her homework. He said, “Ratchet and Arial both do good work. Arial’s children’s store, ‘Meat! Bread! Cheese!’ does rather well too, with the potatoes for the fries. Spur is a great place.”
“One made all the better for your arrival and continued support.” Riri said, “You bring prosperity wherever you go, and so we are thankful for your arrival here in Eralis, in this time of change. Have you gotten a good look at our fair city and culture?”
Ezekiel wanted to continue to smile, for Riri was a personable woman and the atmosphere of this place was rather friendly. But he forced his smile away, and said, “I’m not leaving Spur.”
Fully expecting this, Riri instantly said, “And we would not ask you to. But perhaps, when you get your [Gate] network up and running. Would you consider a [Gate] in our fair city?”
Well wasn’t that an interesting turn of events.
“Aye.” Ezekiel said, “That’s a fair possibility. I’m still on that Quest, though, so if you should happen to know any [Gate] secrets, let me know, and you’ll move Eralis to the top of the list.” He asked, “Does this mean you would be open to trade with Candlepoint? That’s likely where the Gates to the Stars will be located in a hundred years, but we might end up having [Gate]s before that.”
The calm atmosphere of the courtyard was the only thing that kept the excited, fearful, calculating, or otherwise surprised looks on peoples’ faces from turning into actual gasps or, worse yet, interrupting words. Even Zalindi and the other two Elders were unsettled.
Riri, however, was perfectly calm. “I would be delighted to speak of trade on a global scale, but for now, we have some smaller trades that we wish to conduct for smaller items.”
Ezekiel said, “I cannot permanently part with a ring. That is not an option.”
“Understood.” Riri countered, “Then in exchange for the unlocking of Intelligence for several people, I am willing to offer you the locations of a Nacreous Weaver and a Primal Blood Weaver for whatever usage you deem fit, as well as the knowledge of how to weave magic out of those threads. Weaving knowledge will come from me, while other enchanting and Blood Magic knowledge will come from Elder Arilitilo and Loremaster Xue, both of whom are particularly good with blood.”
It was a good offer, but what Ezekiel noticed most was the fact that Xue flinched, Arilitilo had a hiccup of movement, and everyone else had larger reactions, varying from surprise to disbelief. Zalindi was surprised, too, but his surprise turned to a small smile. Xue, standing behind Riri a good three meters away, couldn’t help himself but to glare at Riri’s back before turning his gaze back to Ezekiel.
Anyone else likely wouldn’t have seen any reaction, though. Star Song had a well-maintained united front.
“It is a good offer.” Ezekiel noted, “But according to what I see on the faces of the people in this courtyard, there were some surprises in your announcement. Why?”
“There are no Elders of Gold in the Highlands for various reasons.” Riri said, not missing a beat, “But in every Clan, there is usually at least one Loremaster who stands above the rest in the arena of commerce. Whatever reaction you have seen is the common reaction when big money starts to move out in the open.”
That was interesting, but that meant that last night—
Ezekiel asked, “Was Ored antagonizing you when he said that merchants did not belong in the nobility, last night?”
“He was.” Riri added, “But our small feud is more friendly than antagonistic.”
She was lying about that. But that was okay.
Ezekiel realized his question was, perhaps, rude. He moved on in the next direction he thought of, saying, “My daughter is looking into gaining a Thunder Bird or a Lightning Shrieker as well. Are those good forms?”
Riri held back.
Elder Arilitilo said, “Thunder Birds consume the minds of lesser Polymages in the same way that the ooze transformation and certain other monsters are capable of taking over a person. Many who considered themselves powerful Polymages have gone after Thunder Bird forms in the past, only to be consumed by the bird in turn, leaving their own Familiar Form behind.” She added, “It is strictly inadvisable to undertake this Familiar Form. Lightning Shriekers, though, are madness incarnate. They’re more Lightning and Thunder elemental than physical beast. I don’t believe it is possible to gain one of those as a Familiar Form.”
Well there went that idea. Ezekiel didn’t have to look behind him to see that Julia was disappointed by that news, but she got over it fast enough.
He asked, “Regarding these Blood Magic lessons. What would they entail?”
Elder Arilitilo said, “Most of what I teach is in regard to healing through Blood Magic. If you have not already gained [Greater Treat Wounds] through the Quest given by Registrars, then I can help you gain that spell and, more importantly, I can give you the capability to heal ailments that [Greater Treat Wounds], [Regeneration], and the smaller spells are not able to heal. I also teach a special method of enchanting where you can condense core dust into your blood that is outside of your body, and then you can use that for enchanting, directly, without the need to purchase or utilize cores.” She added, “Loremaster Xue was my apprentice for several years, learning all that I had to teach him, but he has gone further with this method of enchanting than even I.”
This was a fantastic offer.
Ezekiel wanted to learn those spells, and that method of enchanting.
Of course, he could have found some massive disaster somewhere and likely popped off the Quests for [Greater Treat Wounds] and [Regeneration] in one afternoon, which is something he certainly could have done if he had a mind to do so back when the Ballooning Spiders were still happening. But this seemed much better. He preferred learning those spells as they were meant to be learned.
Hiding his interest, Ezekiel asked, “How long would that take?”
“How familiar are you with the body and how it works?”
“Extensively familiar with the body, though not in any true medical sense.” Ezekiel said, “I have not explored much Blood Magic except to learn how to deny it.”
“That is the first lesson already taught, then. With your mana sense, I believe I could teach you most of what I know in under a month.” Ari added, “It might take longer than that if we only meet for half days. I can work around your schedule.”
Ezekiel considered, then said, “It seems like a high possibility.”
Arilitilo nodded, bowing out of the conversation.
Riri asked, “Are we up for a trade, then, Scion Ezekiel?”
Ezekiel tried not to show his enthusiasm, as he said, “Yes.”
A collective relief seemed to pass through the group.
Elder Mirizo hadn’t spoken at all, and it was just now that Ezekiel realized that the Elder was only there in case something went disastrously wrong. If things went how Ezekiel wanted them to go, Mirizo might not get a chance to speak at all.
Zalindi inquired, “Would you question our Alchemists?”
Moving right along, Ezekiel said, “Yes,” as he stood from his seat. “It shouldn’t take long, but I will be putting them behind privacy magics.”
Zalindi and the others stood as one, as the Patriarch said, “As you wish.”
Ezekiel relocated to the table surrounded by paper dividers. He moved the majority of them out of the way with a twist of lightform, then he erected a [Sealed Privacy Ward] over a table. The air briefly shimmered over the space, but settled down fast enough. None of the people behind him seemed to care, outwardly, that he had committed a social blunder; likely because he had done it on purpose. But Ezekiel wanted to be able to see out of the space.
Without a spell such as [True Sight], the stone table and chairs appeared the same as before, but under the piercing power of appropriate magics, the space was a solid magenta sphere. Paul walked into the sphere exactly as Ezekiel had wordlessly asked him to, vanishing from sight. Inside the space, he could still see out, though.
Julia and Tiffany remained at their own table.
Ezekiel stepped into the sphere, half of his body vanishing as he motioned to the first of four alchemists; a young woman of brown skin and black hair. “Come inside.” He stepped inside, and waited.
Ezekiel’s [Sealed Privacy Ward] was different from other privacy seals he had seen. His allowed him to watch the world outside without disruption. The Void privacy of Kaffi, and the [Stone Dust Privacy Ward], or whatever it was Tenebrae had, were solid disruptions, both ways.
Odin whined as his sight briefly winked out, his eyes turning solid white, but then he just blinked, resetting the [Scry] part of his eyesight, and pupils and irises returned. You could see out of the sealed space, but not into it. Yggdrasil’s [Scry] orb was destroyed as it tried to follow Ezekiel inside, but the tree [Familiar] brought his eye back quick enough, except the orb was on Julia this time.
Ezekiel sat down while Paul stood behind him. Both watched as the young woman, the first Alchemist of the day, steeled herself and strode into the hidden space, eyes open the whole way. She crossed the barrier and her eyes moved down, to see Ezekiel already sitting in his chair. She took her chair, briefly looked out at the perfectly uninterrupted sight of everyone else in the courtyard, currently looking their way, then turned back toward Ezekiel.
Ezekiel began, “Name, age, level. How did you get to be here, in this seat you are sitting in right now?”
The woman blanked for a good second, and then she rattled off, “Eroi, age 32, level 61. I worked at my father’s alchemy shop in Eralis making potions of increasing quality with less ingredient usage, where by fate or chance I caught the eye of Loremaster Riri a decade ago. From there she raised me up to Star Song where I have been making better and better healing potions ever since. Most of my potions deal with long term care, with minimal alchemy involved. I have even had success with refining antibiologic mixtures and poultices which remain effective even on those afflicted by the Elixir. The advent of Particle Magic has even enabled me to begin to isolate some of the non-magical makeup of the old and new recipes we have in our Lorehouses.”
Truthful, quick, and her area was solidly in line with what was needed to solve the problems of Antirhine. Ezekiel approved. Of course, he could be paranoid, and suspect that everyone he would meet today was as good of a liar as Kaffi, but he suspected people like the Singer were exceedingly rare.
Ezekiel asked, “How do you think the solution Tadashi created works?”
Without hesitation, and with more than a small amount of excitement in her voice, Eroi said, “I’m not sure! There have long been certain treatments that help the body to purge antirhine —we notice the antirhine in the urine sometimes— but none of them are effective in the long term. The problem remains in the bones. So this new potion has to have some natural bone-scouring effect. I imagine that if we had people drink cow milk a lot then we would offset the natural problems that I am sure this treatment will cause, but then we have to watch out for interactions with medicines and milk, and—” She paused, then rapidly added, “I was getting off topic. I apologize, Scion Fla— Ezekiel.” Her eyes went wide, briefly, as her mouth shut tight.
Ezekiel smiled, and said, “You can step out, now. Send the next one in.”
Eroi rapidly took the offered out, got up, bowed, then backed out of the space. Once she was out, Ezekiel watched as she nodded at one of the other Alchemists. The man hopped to, and went into the room, while the other two Alchemists watched on with hidden anger in their eyes, for some reason.
Interview number two went as smooth as the first one. The man was named Choi, and he, like Eroi, was a Classed Alchemist scouted by Riri over a decade ago. He figured that if the body had more blood production then that extra production could scour antirhine out of the bones as easily as Tadashi’s new invention. There was already evidence for this, as some Elixir’d Blood Mages could, through innate Class Abilities, lessen the antimagic effect inside of them so that other people could [Cleanse], cleaning off the skin, though the Blood Mage themselves could never truly rid their body of the Elixir.
Number three, Hangbi, was a trueborn son of Star Song. That was not surprising, as Ezekiel guessed based on clothing and demeanor that he had been given two common-born Alchemists and two noble-born Alchemists to interview. The rest of his answer was surprising.
Hangbi said, “I believe that we’re going about this wrong. I believe that the true secret to overcoming the Elixir is pure mana flow. There is already evidence that this works in that when you place an Elixir’d person at the end-nozzle of an entire dungeon’s flow of mana, you can deform their antimagic aura. If we scaled up this idea then there might be something there. No one has ever attempted to actually scale up the problem to the proper size, though.”
“I’ve certainly never heard that before, but it would be interesting if you could ‘push’ the Elixir out of its rest state inside the bones.” Ezekiel asked, “Does that actually happen, though? Can you disrupt the antirhine in the body with excessive mana flow? And do not forget: There is the problem of this action forcing core formation in a person.” He asked, “Unless antirhine prevents core formation?”
“Antirhine does not prevent core formation.” Reluctantly, Hangbi said, “There is merit to Tadashi’s invention, but it is merely the first step of a long journey.”
“You are correct about that. Send in the last person.”
Number four was named Ving, and she was a trueborn daughter of Star Song, as well.
There was a rivalry between the commoners and the nobles, even if all were all technically nobles these days. He briefly wondered if this was a bad or a good thing, and then decided that rivalry was good in many ways.
And then Ving’s answer for ‘why was she here’ made Ezekiel very glad that she had been included in this event, today.
Ving rapidly said, “I believe that antirhine is a single particle of atomic number 82. This is because antirhine has purity. Most of the time, the silver-white metal has to be refined through physical means. When it is refined, the purer it is, the larger the antimagic effect. But similarly, the more intent-filled mana that touches the antirhine, the larger the antimagic effect is, as well. This is why when a person imbibes the Elixir the resulting aura is many times larger than the aura in the bottle.” She shook her head, saying, “Anyway! Their aura eventually settles down some, which means that the antirhine is getting diluted, or locked away into the body, but not enough to matter. Probably. I think this is the secret to Tadashi’s treatment. Like how you described that water is two hydrogen and one oxygen, antirhine merely has to be in a long enough chain of particles, a big enough molecule, to where it doesn’t count as antirhine anymore! If I could figure out how all the bonding works and why it is the way it is, then I could truly understand what Tadashi has created. And then—” She paused, then politely said, “Then I could solve my cousin’s Elixir problem.” She rapidly added, “And everyone else’s, of course.”
Ezekiel could not stop himself from smiling. He said, “Thank you for your answer. Please send in Wabi.”
Ving stood up, briefly appeared as though she wanted to say something else, then bowed and walked out of the privacy. Ving gave words to Wabi, and after a brief exchange of surprise among the other people in the courtyard, Wabi broke away from his brother. The two pink men looked so alike. Wabi could probably pass for Tadashi if no one knew of them beforehand.
Wabi stepped into the sealed space, flinched as he saw Ezekiel already seated, then took a seat.
Ezekiel said, “You didn’t expect to be let into this conversation, did you?”
“… No, I did not. I am also not interested in the Intelligence Ring. I’m only here to show that Clan Star Song is supporting Tadashi.”
“Are they?”
Wabi flinched.
Ezekiel said, “If it helps, I’ve already made up my mind. I’m for sure helping the four Alchemists to gain Intelligence, and then I’m helping them to create proper anti-antirhine therapy, but I’m going to have to read the material they have given me, first. But I would like to know of any possible problems that are coming over the horizon and you seem positioned well enough to tell me true. Is there anything you think I should know?”
Wabi froze, completely. He said, “I am sure I do not know anything about anything, Scion Phoenix.”
Ezekiel tried a different tactic. “Are you still part of Diligent Scribe?”
Wabi frowned. “No. I was disowned yesterday. I am only here because Tadashi is looking out for me when I was incapable of being there for him. I am an initiate of Star Song at the moment.”
“How did the bandits manage to capture him and not you?”
Wabi instantly said, “They targeted him first, knocking him out with Blood Magic. You can’t [Teleport] the unresponsive. I’m not happy about what I did, running away from twenty soldiers, but I ran and I got help. It was all I could do. By the time we got back to the glade the soldiers were gone.”
“Soldiers?”
“From Terror Peak, on the other side of the Tribulations. No one believes me because I have no proof, but I firmly believe they were soldiers. Or at least some of them were.”
Ezekiel nodded, then he asked, “Who is the traitor in Diligent Scribe?”
Wabi froze. He unfroze in increments, slowly at first, but then rapidly. He said, “I don’t know, but they’ll come around again once Tadashi figures out exactly what he made. And he’ll do it, too. He’s a genius. If your ring actually works on him, then he’ll have the solution by tonight.”
“Is Tadashi doing okay? Are you doing okay?”
“… He’s driven. In most cases, that is better than being simply ‘okay’. I am only an initiate of Star Song, but I’m able to see to my brother’s needs. I am thankful for the opportunity to be there for him now, since I wasn’t able to be there for him before.”
Ezekiel nodded, then he said, “With any luck, Tadashi might not have to depend on you in this way in a year. They’re close to the solution. All they need is a nudge, and I’m going to give it to them. You may go.”
Wabi brightened. He stood, bowed, then walked out of the bubble.
Ezekiel turned to Paul. “So how much of what we heard was a lie?”
Paul chuckled. “I can’t answer that.”
Ezekiel got out of his seat, saying, “Oh well. Let the cards fall how they will.” He dismissed the [Sealed Privacy Ward]. Most people were already facing his way, but now they were facing him, directly. He pulled the Intelligence Ring out of his sash and held it in one hand, as he channeled the mana glow of Intelligence in the other. The pale-violet mana plume was barely visible against the blue sky. He said, “I know the Shades made multiple Stat Trees, but I am not sure if they made multiple Intelligence-colored Stats. If anyone has this color of Stat already in their Status, then the addition of Intelligence will soul-warp you into an unrecognizable mess of flesh and bone and blood.”
He dropped his mana channeling hand, cutting off the color, as the faces around him went hard. Only Wabi went wide-eyed; they probably had not informed him of this nuanced New Stat information, but the others had all heard of this already. Erick’s viewpoint of last Shadow’s Feast was likely leaked to many, many people by now, and then there were all the other stories coming out of Ar’Kendrithyst from everyone else involved in that whole mess. Star Song was prepared to accept this New Stat into their ranks.
Ezekiel said, “My second warning is that there are diminishing returns. The third warning is that if a Registrar wipes Intelligence from your Status, then you will have lost whatever points you put into Intelligence. No recovery. The fourth warning is that there are no Skills linked to Intelligence; what you see is what you get. The fifth warning is to not put too many points into it right away.” He paused. He said, “I can see all of you already know this, but I’m still saying this for my own conscience. Who wants to go first?”
The alchemists went first. Everyone else watched.
Ezekiel watched with mana sense, [Soul Sight], [True Sight], and from multiple angles. The information he got from [Soul Sight] was the most important, here.
Every person had a natural color to their soul which helped to inform the color of their magic. Ezekiel's soul was white. Julia’s was dark blue. Tiffany’s was grey and Paul’s was blue. Anyone looking at Ezekiel with [Soul Sight] active would see the magenta of his magic and the white of his soul and realize that something didn’t add up, but [Soul Sight] was barely more common than [Witness].
He knew he was never going to pull off hiding for very long!
Anyway.
Eroi, Choi, Hangbi, and Ving, with their pink, red, blue, and green souls, respectively, each experienced the same thing. Each had a blossom erupt in the center of their soul as the ring slipped onto their finger; some ineffable density taking hold that was similar to when someone raised their Stats, or learned a spell, or gained an Ability. But it was also different. It was colored ultraviolet, for one. That ultraviolet flavor soaked into the whole, and soon enough, the soul returned to its original color, but shifted, slightly.
Ezekiel guessed that his own soul had shifted much the same back in Shadow’s Feast, but his was white and he had all the New Stats, so the overall effect was minimal.
Here, the overall soul effect was also almost nothing.
But each person reacted to the addition of Intelligence in their own ways. Ezekiel remembered his own mania of creation after gaining Intelligence, causing him to gain all of the New Stats at once and then gain a visit from Rozeta, but in his case, he had left the massively enchanted ring upon his finger. All these four people got was the unlocking of Intelligence, and then the ring taken right back off.
Eroi started mumbling about how she needed to grow some certain plants. Choi spoke of a sudden realization that blood had types, which is how they could remove the antirhine blood from a person and then donate other, clean blood to the person and toss away the antirhine blood, possibly speeding up the cleansing process. Hangbi suddenly lamented that core formation would be the inevitable result of enough ambient mana funneled into a person, and he actually collapsed to the floor, saying that his life was a lie.
He was just being dramatic. Right?
Ving went very silent as she looked at Ezekiel, and said, “Oh. It’s rather simple, isn’t it?”
Ezekiel smiled as he removed the ring from her finger, and said, “Maybe. You tell me.”
And then Ving declared that she needed paper and pens. Where are the paper and pens! She must have some paper and pens!
Ezekiel let Elder Mirizo and Enforcer Sikali deal with that, as he went back to Zalindi, Riri, Xue, and Arilitilo, who were still sitting at the central table.
He held the ring in his hand, and asked, “Want to wait and see how they handle it? Or want to go right now? Who wants this?”
“Elder Arilitilo, Loremaster Xue, and myself.” Riri said, “Today would be wonderful, Scion Phoenix.”
“Not you, Patriarch Zalindi?”
Zalindi said, “The High Clans are not happy with the New Stats, but they are willing to overlook smaller infractions. My personal gain of Intelligence would be a large infraction.”
Ezekiel nodded, and with his lightform, he held the ring and moved it to hover in front of Riri.
Riri stared at the ring for all of a moment, then slipped her finger in.
Riri, Xue, and Arilitilo weathered the change much better than the Alchemists. Ezekiel suspected that the Alchemists each had points waiting to shove directly into Intelligence, but while these three likely had extra points, too, they did not shove them into their New Stat right away. Or maybe they were just more controlled than a bunch of scientists who had their eyes enlightened to the world.
When it was done, Ezekiel took the ring back.
Riri smiled wide, and happily turned to Xue, declaring, “Starting score of 19! What’s yours?”
So maybe there were some side effects. They would be temporary, though.
Xue didn’t respond. He mostly just blinked a few times. Sikali glared at Riri from where she was wrangling Alchemists and getting paper for Ving, but she said nothing.
Arilitilo said, “Ah. That is an experience.”
Ezekiel said, “I suggest you take a day to acclimate.” He said to Riri, “I will be taking those locations of those spiders, though, and any starter books on your thread enchanting, or whatever the discipline is called.”
Riri seemed to come back to the moment, having mentally gone somewhere while Ezekiel was speaking. When he stopped, Riri looked at him, blinked a few times, and said, “Yes. Okay. Let me send you a telepath—”
“RIRI!” Xue came back to himself. “You said you couldn’t raise any blood weavers!”
Arilitilo started in on Riri, saying, “She was lying to us— No. She didn’t raise them at all. And she’s still not giving up her Pearlchan, are you?”
Riri laughed. “Nope! In an absence of immense amounts of sapient blood, Blood Weavers need full lives in order to thrive properly, and I will not do that! But naturally occurring Blood Weavers can live off of other monsters. The Primal Blood Weaver is in an enclave of the lesser same, reigning as Queen, while the Nacreous Weaver I’m giving Ezekiel is NOT PEARLCHAN! Gods above! I am not giving him my beloved Pearlchan! This other Nacreous Weaver is in a grove tended to by—” She stopped. “My mouth almost ran away with me. Even a hint would have been too much.” She said to Ezekiel, “Xue and Arilitilo always wanted my threads. Don’t go selling your daughter’s threads in Eralis or else I might have to enact a hostile takeover! Ha ha!”
Zalindi frowned, harshly whispering, “Riri!”
Ezekiel would have smiled at Riri’s laughter, but the woman was not actually joking.
Xue and Arilitilo both had been about to say something, but they stopped at Zalindi’s outburst.
Riri frowned. Then she looked around, and realized something. She stared at Ezekiel, then softened, and said, “I will have some books for you by tomorrow.”
“I can have some reading material for you in an hour,” Arilitilo said.
Riri inhaled, then said, “Apologies. I meant I will have your books in twenty minutes.” She sent him an image of a grotto bathed in light, along with a map and the words, ‘Here is the Nacreous Weaver. Be careful. It’s more fragile than it looks. And!’ She sent him another image and a location, saying, ‘And the Primal Blood Weaver is somewhere around here. WHOOO she’s a bitch. Good luck with that. Don’t get cocky.’ She stood up, saying, “And that concludes—” She sat right back down. “Ah. I need to sit here for a little while longer.”
Ezekiel stood up, followed by Zalindi and no one else, and said, “Thank you for the hospitality. I will be taking these books and—”
“We have rooms for you!” Arilitilo said, “I set them up earlier, if you want to stay here! We’ve got [Ward]s more than that hotel you’re in!”
Xue held his head, mumbling, “I need a nap.”
Ezekiel said, “Perhaps I will spend a longer time here some other day. But there is still one more person to give the ring to.” He turned to Tadashi, who had yet to speak, who stood beside his brother.
Tadashi and Wabi were both gathered near the other Alchemists, listening to them speak the secrets of the universe, or at least of a small part of the universe. As Ezekiel walked toward Tadashi, Wabi noticed Ezekiel first. Wabi tapped Tadashi on the shoulder. The two turned to him.
Ezekiel did not get too close, as he asked, “Care to try, Tadashi? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Tadashi eyed the ring. He said, “I’d like to try.”
“Catch and be quick about it.” Ezekiel tossed him the ring.
Tadashi caught the small thing and jammed it on his finger. A moment passed. He frowned. “I felt… Some— No.” He shook his head. “Nothing.” He took the ring off and tossed it back. “Thanks anyway.”
Ezekiel caught the magically-dead ring, saying, “I’m sure your colleagues will have lots to talk about when they come down from this experience. Maybe you can wear one of these rings next year. But as for this one—” Ezekiel held the inert ring with his light, and with a great flex, snapped it in half. Diamond turned to diamond dust and shards. A [Mend] brought the ring back together, then he put it in the pocket of his sash. It might have been magic-dead, but Ezekiel ensured it was. “Good luck on figuring out chelation.”
Tadashi blinked in confusion. “Chelation?”
“Unless I’m mistaken, that’s the word for the process you have invented. It’s where a molecule of certain particles will flex in the presence of metals, like antirhine, because it is a more stable configuration with the metal contained in the molecule, than in any other configuration. Or something like that. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Chelation is the name of the therapy I’m thinking of, anyway.” Ezekiel walked away to suddenly dumbfounded alchemists and Tadashi, picking up his books on the way out, saying, “Thanks for the hospitality! We’re off to get some spiders!”
His people were ready to go, and with the final hint he had dropped on the courtyard, everyone was trying to talk over everyone else. Zalindi was one of two people with the wherewithal to bid him goodbye, with the other being Elder Mirizo, but even that farewell was cut short as the Elder needed to step between Xue and Riri before they started throwing more than just verbal barbs. Arilitilo seemed to be in the middle of a revelation, with her eyes to the sky.
Ezekiel left them to it.
With a quick wrap of magenta light and holding onto his books, the four of them were back in the hotel.
Ezekiel said, “That went well!” He asked, “Spider time?”