Harlan finally got back to Sheron about the man who wished to be an archmage.
The research was interesting, but not something he hadn’t tried before.
He hoped that meeting the man would be able to illuminate some hidden truth.
His home wasn’t large and imposing as he expected from a man who was committed to such research, but still it was clearly the home of a noble.
“Ah, Thank you for your time, I thought it was quite a long shot that you would accept my request.‘
“You might not have a clear path to what you are doing, but from reading your reports I get the feeling that it is going somewhere.”
“Thank you thank you thank you.”
He was small, barely 5’3, his hair thin and oily, his face slightly green from some sickness, making him almost look like a goblinkin.
But Harlan didn’t have any problem shaking his hand.
“Should we speak beforehand, or should we just jump right into the work?”
“Well, if you’ve already eaten then we may get to work. Naturally there were pieces missing from my reports, I didn’t want you to steal my- Ahem, sorry, I meant that-”
“I understand. And I hope I’m not overstepping my bounds, but I assume many people have tried to, or have taken advantage of you because of your appearance. I won’t lie, you do look odd, but that is no reason for me to dislike you. Many say that I look strange as well, though obviously it’s different between us.”
“Thank you for your words. It is as you say, many look at me as being shifty and unsavory because of how I look. But I try not to let it get me down, and if this works, I’ll be a hero, and they will love me.”
Harlan wanted to explain that it probably wouldn’t change anything, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for the man and didn’t want to dash any of his dreams.
As they walked through the halls to his lab, Harlan noticed something was off.
“I’ve not seen any servants.”
“Ah, yes, my research demands much from me, they didn’t have faith, they said I would fail, and my house would die with me, so they needed them to go away.”
“You should think more about how it sounds when you say things like that.”
He stopped a moment and then kept moving.
“I’ve poured much of the remaining wealth from my family into my research. I don’t have need for servants, so I only keep a small group of them who come to make breakfast and dinner, lunch is normally leftovers from one or the other. It keeps my costs down.”
“No family?”
Harlan already knew the answer, he wasn’t going to walk into this place without having Balor look into him, but it was generally seen as rude to let others know that you had dug into their past.
“My mother died giving birth to me, and my brothers died in the war, my father… he disappeared some time ago, but nobody found his body. So I eventually became the baron.”
He turned and bowed.
“OH, I’ve failed as a host. Welcome, Archmage Changeling. I am Baron Magruder Lillyplate. The name comes from my great grandmother, she was one of the rare women who was given a title for her combat prowess and she bought her own custom plate armor with lilies drawn on it.”
“Since it is just us, and we will be working together, there isn’t need for titles.”
“But they are important, once I get mine I’ll finally be seen by people, I’ll get a wife, and we’ll have five children, and my house won’t die with me, I won’t fail my father.”
His arms outstretched as he spoke, but once he was done he became conscious of how he looked.
“I’m sorry, I sometimes get a little wound up.”
“Not a worry, if this works, I don’t doubt that you will get much fame and wealth.”
The lab itself, despite what one might expect from the topic they were researching, was spotless, every bit of blood contained in vials or crystals.
“I’m sure it isn’t as grand as yours, but it is where I’ve been trying.”
“No, this is actually larger than mine, I work alone and I keep anything I’m not currently using in a different room, gate lets me grab them quickly regardless of that though. What got you into this subject?”
“Mostly it was you. Enchanting has been seen as the endpoint of permanent magic, but you came out with soulsmithing. And then blood crystals were seen as a mostly dead point of research, everyone had tried to crack their secrets, but after so long, people believed that they had found them all and they were just good for transporting blood without making a mess. That you incorporated the ideas of soulsmithing into the blood crystals and used them to make a soulless way to communicate like the ones you made with soulsmithing, it made me think about how all of their secrets were not unlocked.”
He pulled a book that looked to have been bound in human skin from a drawer.
“Apologies for the style of the book, but it is one of the very few pieces of genuine Fomorian literature that I’ve found. They are…”
“Monsters, but resourceful ones. Most everything they make is from anyone who was unfortunate enough to wander into their lands, from bone knives to armor to the leather that they use.”
“I think you are the first to see it and not scream or look at me strangely.
Inside of the book, there is a legend of The Ur-King of Fomor, Balor, and his spear, Lugh.”
Harlan suddenly felt his stomach drop and a coldness fall over him.
Memories that were not his own flooded his mind as he heard the names and felt the book calling him, it wished to be read.
He found himself staring from eyes that were not his own as he cut his way through people by the hundreds, men, women, children, it didn’t matter, the spear in his hand would fly its own path through them and then return to his hand.
Then he saw a pillar of shadows form and his soul ached.
With a sudden sharp inhale Harlan was back to reality, scaring Magruder quite a bit.
“Should I have called a doctor?”
“I wish to read the book.”
“Really? Here you go.”
Harlan committed every bit of it to memory as best he could, but the more he read, the more he felt like he knew all of this already.
“This book is cursed. I don’t mean in the way that most things are called cursed, meaning that they are simply something that people dislike and fear, I mean that it is bound to a vengeful soul. If I didn’t have mental defenses, I would read it and never question the lies.
I believe that it is a tool designed specifically to brainwash children into thinking that this version of events is the truth. That Lugh was not a tool for slaughter and the accumulation of power to the point where he hoped to kill a god, and that Balor was trying to free his people from the tyranny of the gods rather than a madman who sought to usurp the natural order in a lust for power.”
Harlan’s feeling had changed, he seemed supremely confident, cold as a northern winter, not the somewhat casual man that Magruder had been with until now.
The look in his eyes was vaguely threatening, but seemed to look down on Magruder so strongly that he wasn’t worth killing.
“Ho-how do you know it isn’t true?”
“I’ve been speaking with The Darkness since I was 14. People change, gods, they rarely do. I see no signs that anything like has been described is close to the truth. Tyranny is far from how she interacts with people, she enjoys freedom to a fault, Balor sought to aggressively take choice from others, make an empire of mindbroken people to follow his every whim, and she could not accept that.”
“Th-the blood gem, is that a lie?”
Suddenly coming back to himself and out of the trance that he had been placed in, Harlan shook his head, and his tone became more like himself.
“No, that seems plausible. Despite whatever I do know, Fomorian history during the age of gods is shrouded in mystery, most not even knowing that it ever existed. A combined force of Fomorians working together over decades very likely could’ve discovered a way to reinforce blood, through possibly alchemy or some ritual, that would allow the resulting crystal to hold souls.”
“Good news then, very good news, thank you, I’ve always been interested in them, and I feel like I’ve learned quite a bit about their history already.”
Magruder took the book back to put in the drawer and lock it, but he hesitated.
“Ah, um… Should I destroy the book? Am I in danger? You say it’s cursed.”
“I won’t say for sure that you must, and when you are holding it I don’t feel a connection between you and the book, I am only guessing, but I think it only works on people who have connection to the crossroads.
I’d need a Golden to hold the book to make sure, but I wouldn’t want to risk the mental health of any friend of mine, and I don’t have an Golden I dislike that would trust me enough to try it for me.”
“I, I suppose I’ll keep it then.”
“It is your choice.”
The first idea that Harlan had unfortunately was a bust, his own enhanced blood held the same properties as normal blood once it tried to hold a soul, and mixing it with normal blood from animals changed nothing.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
So they moved onto repeating all of Magruders failed methods, thinking a fresh set of eyes may change something, or that Magruder may’ve improved in the years and missed something before.
After a dozen other methods, there was one that caught Harlan’s eye.
Magruder had bought up a large quantity of mana gem chips.
They were mined as rough crystals and then cut down into the smooth shape depending on the original crystal.
Most large gems were rounded and flat or spheres because once the crystal grew large it more often than not sprouted quite a lot of spikes rather than continuing to grow into a more consolidated mass.
The gems required a smooth cut because of how mana flowed.
In smooth gems it would flow in more or less a proper cycle, but each spike would require it to make a long trip up the length and then back, which both made it more time consuming to cycle, and if one was using it for magic, any damage to this more fragile spike would mean that they spell, enchanted or soulsmithed, would need to be reapplied to account for this.
So it simply made more sense to keep things in simply rounded shapes.
A sphere was also the natural shape of souls, and while a body might have these same spikes in the forms of limbs, the mana mainly cycled within the soul, and what flowed in and out.
In for when one spent mana and more needed to be pulled in to recharge it by using calories to transfer excess mass into energy, or simply being in a mana rich environment.
Out, when one was full of mana and the soul pushed it out to make room for more to be generated, cycling passively in a way that led to naturally longer lives but that wouldn’t grant the super human bodies of mages.
When one cast, they didn’t pull from their body, but rather from their soul, which was the perfect sphere and the spikes didn’t matter as they weren’t the main mana circulatory system.
When Harlan added the dust into a sample of blood and then formed it into a crystal he could definitely tell that it was better than a normal crystal when it came to holding mana and withstanding flow, but it was still far from a full gem and there was an added instability that made it more explosive than pure blood crystals.
The dust that was gathered from the chips being ground smaller dispersed unevenly, and this uneven flow meant that it was like the inside of the crystal was full of inverted spikes, and as the mana improperly cycled, it wore down the crystal and with a poor ability to then release the mana like a soul naturally did with the body as a filter of sorts, stress built up until the soul placed into the crystal broke.
Harlan wiped the blood and dust off of him from the latest failure and put it back into the vial.
“I am going to assume that you haven’t contracted a lapidarist or geologist?”
Magruder turned on an air spell and pulled off his mask to keep the crystals from being breathed in while he crushed them.
“Why?”
“When I was doing some… other research, I ran into an issue where gems needed to be individually tailored to perfection so that the soul wouldn’t run into issues. As we refined the process, these imperfections didn’t matter anymore, the spell took that part out of the equation by having souls reshape the gems on a deeper level by themselves. I’ve hardly even thought about having done such a thing since it happened, and I assume it never spread that it was any issue at any point, the spell was changed and nobody cared about something that had already been fixed.”
“So we should change the insides of the gems?”
“I first bypassed it by checking that they were generally of the same structure so the results would be the same more or less. But afterwards, we did bring in a geologist, a mage that specializes in crystal magic to change the structure of the crystals to what we needed, and then we folded that magic into mine, giving instructions to the soul as it was placed in a crystal that it needed to fix the gem to whatever form had the best flow. It is what got me as interested as I am in crystal magic. In short, yes, we need to change the crystals.”
“So why isn’t it working here?”
“The process takes time. A freshly filled mana gem can’t be used to cast spells, it needs to first generate magic. It is during this downtime that the shaping happens. The blood gems take too long to shape by just the spell, and break before the flow can be corrected.”
“We need stronger crystals or faster shaping then?”
“The shaping I’ve got an idea about, but if my method is correct, then it is something that normal people can’t use, and I wouldn’t recommend that you present it to the academy for archmage consideration.”
“Even if it is something we both came together to make, it wouldn’t feel right if it wasn’t something that I could call my own in some manner.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
They kept working until an alarm spell Harlan put up went off, telling him that he needed to go home.
“That is all I can do for today, I’ve got to pick my wife up from the academy and then make dinner.”
“Ah, it is a shame, but there is always another day. I should contact my cook and ask about dinner myself.”
As Harlan wrote down his notes for the next day, Magruder got bad news.
“That is a shame, but I’m sure I’ve got enough food to not worry.”
He didn’t look up from his papers.
“You should just come with me, a proper diet is needed for recovery after a day of magic.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that for me.”
“I always make plenty, and besides, do you really want to eat alone in this big house?”
“Ah, I’m sorry, but I shouldn’t impose.”
“You aren’t, I am inviting you without you having said anything first, and I listened in on your conversation.
I know that I didn’t mind spending days without sharing words with another living being as I did my work, but as I’ve grown older I’ve found it more important to interact with others just to center myself, keep track of time, get away from the constant work that consumes men like us.”
Magruder chewed his fingernails with worry, but Harlan just kept up with the notes and diagrams.
“Alright, if you really don’t mind.”
“Perfect.”
Harlan finished up his notes and they walked out of the lab.
It was purely paranoia, but he didn’t want anyone seeing inside, even a glimpse through a gate was a risk worth mitigating.
Back home Adina laid down for a nap, four and a half months had passed and she was really feeling that sped up child growth.
She barely registered that they had a guest as she waddled over to the couch and laid down.
“Hellon said I should quit the year, come back to finish later.”
“Are you going to?”
“No, I’d need to go through the year again, even if I skipped every class other than the last few months and just did catch up work, I would still feel like I’ve wasted my time.“
“I should ask, what exactly is the plan after the academy?”
“I’m going to lounge around here and take care of our child, but I want to finish the academy just to spite the people telling me that I should quit. I almost knocked the jaw off of a girl earlier for insulting me.”
“Did she deserve it?”
“I don’t even remember what she said. I just remember Claudia slapping her for me.”
“Are you two getting close?”
“She’s… she’s not nice, but she and I seem to understand one another, she is protective of me since I’ve gotten too fat and bloated to move around like before. Fuck, I’m so pent up since you won’t-”
“We have a guest.”
She turned red in embarrassment, Magruder had been awkwardly sitting on the couch across from her the entire time, making himself seem smaller because he felt like he didn’t belong here.
Adina had moved to her and Harlan’s room, falling asleep for the rest of the afternoon and even into part of the evening, but Harlan had gotten used to it and made dishes that took longer to make as a result.
For tonight it was a braised beef roast, in the morning he had put on salt and pepper and let it sit in the cold room. Then he cooked it on a bed of apples and onions for the entire afternoon.
For the gravy he used wind magic to very finely blend the onions and apples with the broth.
For sides they had mashed potatoes, roasted carrots with rosemary, buns that he had made fresh, and lastly, a corn casserole.
Magruder was taken aback by Harlan’s ability to do so much by himself, and more importantly, that all of it
smelled wonderful.
Harlan and Adina portioned out their food with telekinesis, but he had never learned how to use it, and was a bit out of his element without someone serving him.
Adina quickly noticed the empty plate and served him.
“I’m sorry, we don’t really get guests, and we’ve become used to doing things this way.”
“It is no issue, I shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not?”
“Ah, well, people don’t invite me to places.”
“Shit people.”
He nearly choked on his food, but once he had gotten it down he continued.
“Just because you are ugly doesn’t mean that they deserve to treat you any worse.
Growing up I was never invited anywhere because I was blind, and they treated me like I was venomous.
I was never thin enough, never pretty enough, and my eyes turned people away.
Granted I was 14 at the time and it makes my skin crawl to think that people were looking at me as a mate when I hadn’t even bled yet.”
Once more he choked, this time more seriously, and she smacked him on the back to clear his airway.
He wasn’t yet going to eat again, wary that she would say something again.
“How old are you?”
“Ah, I’m 26.”
“You look older.”
She was about to take a bite when she thought about what she had said.
“I didn’t mean that as an insult, I’ve been having issues with anger, and Harlan taught me how to insult people better to deal with the stress, sometimes it makes me a bit coarse.”
“Ah, it isn’t a problem, you didn’t mean it, most people do.”
“Well, I’m sure there is someone for everyone, even you.”
Afraid of putting her foot in her mouth anymore, Adina decided to shut up and consider how she spoke around the house, getting too comfortable meant becoming abusive to others.
Harlan didn’t mind, he could take the ribbing, and he would reply back with his own words to counter her in their little game.
But doing so to a guest made her want to just eat in her room.
When dinner was done, Harlan needed to get Magruder back to his home.
Before they walked out the door, Adina went for a handshake.
“Feel free to come again, I need to learn how to adjust back to being a bit more polite.”
He bowed, but she kept her hand out.
“I really shouldn’t shake your hand, not with such a pretty lady.”
She leaned down and hugged him.
“I know far too well what it’s like to not value yourself. You aren't weird, you are just different, like Harlan and me.”
Harlan and her both heard his heart rate go up, but thought little of it, assuming that he probably didn’t really get much human contact, let alone from a pretty young woman.
When they reached his home and Harlan was about to leave, Magruder turned towards him.
“Ah, well, if you don’t mind, please tell Lady Fomoria that I am very thankful for her words.”
It was hard to read his emotions, the short and slightly deformed man was bursting with too many feelings.
But through all of it, Harlan was certain he felt an undercurrent of desire.
Harlan would think back to this day, to this moment, and he would wonder, could he have changed the outcome? Or was it always going to end like it had?
----------------------------------------
Boney hands moved with mechanical precision as he assembled the device, the consequences for such a thing were certain to be dire, but plans needed to go faster, everything needed to happen sooner, plans of the past be damned.
As he looked over the thing, the shadows of the room stared on.
“My, this one wishes to break words? To shatter what was outlined and redraw the map?”
“Your mysterious act isn’t very useful against me, or do you want me to start speaking that way as well.”
“That is just plainly rude. Did you think perhaps I would accept this change?”
“No, you like your plans, you are allowed to change them, but others are not.”
Xol spun his chair around.
“What now? Do you intend to toss me with the rest of the Fae souls?”
“Perhaps you could make an argument for what you’ve done, one that wouldn’t require me to do something drastic.”
“Then I will speak of what I’ve seen, and of my world. It began with…”