Chapter 39 - Reduction and Negation
Forest Outside Magrath, Vanstead Dukedom of Augustein Year 995
It was a waving moon that night. Though, Amara thought as she stared through the gap in the canopy, perhaps “waving” wasn’t the right word. That implied some sort of consistency, and that night the undulations could only be described as erratic. One corner of its surface would jerk outwards while another folded in on itself. Silver light fell unevenly across the leaves, rendering some branches into bright silhouettes while others were left shrouded in shifting shadows. Still, inconsistent though it was, the moonlight was more than strong enough to light up the clearing in cool, icy blue hues.
Amara heard grasses rustle behind her, and she turned to see Isolde walking closer to where she was seated. The woman had pulled her spear out the moment they’d stepped foot into the clearing, and its blade gleamed in the moonlight. The gemstone situated just below the tip of the spear looked especially bright, and if she looked closely enough, Amara could swear she could see the magic stored inside swirling around.
“They still haven’t arrived,” Isolde commented. Her sharp eyes scanned the trees in methodical sweeps.
“To be fair, he didn’t really say an exact time.”
“That doesn’t inspire much confidence.” Isolde took a seat on one of the stones near Amara, but her gaze never left the treeline, her shoulders never quite relaxing fully.
“I think they’ll come,” Amara said simply. Isolde just hummed, her eyes briefly glancing over to her, then away again.
About half an hour later, the branches rustled. Amara sat up straighter, squinting to get a better look between the trees, but the shadows made it difficult to discern anything. Isolde rose beside her, and she could soon hear the distinctive sound of footsteps moving around bushes. A gust of wind breezed past, carrying a few inaudible murmurs with it.
Finally, two figures appeared from the forest and stepped into the clearing. Levent was in the back, and he was still wearing his servant uniform. In the moonlight, his skin looked especially pale, which made his tattoo stand out all the more. Amara raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t thought he would come along. Her eyes scanned his gloved hands for a weapon, but he wasn’t carrying anything.
Like Levent, Glenn also looked like he’d come directly from work. The dark color of his uniform and hair made him blend in with the shadows, and Amara was reminded, now that he stood only a few feet away, how tall he was. In contrast to his imposing figure, however, the man’s face looked apologetic.
“You must have been waiting for some time now, my sincerest apologies,” he said, bowing slightly. Amara noted with some amusement that Isolde’s face had reverted to a calm smile, all her earlier perceptiveness carefully hidden away beneath a veer of serene calm.
“Technically I never said a time,” Levent muttered. His arms were crossed, and he tapped a finger along one arm as his eyes scanned the empty clearing.
Glenn frowned, straightening. “It’s still rude,” he said.
Levent rolled his eyes, but he looked more amused than anything. Amara’s eyebrows rose. She didn’t think she’d ever seen the man look so relaxed before in the few interactions that they’d had. He still had a bit of a guard up—Amara suspected he was the sort of person who always did—but he seemed more at ease than usual.
“It’s quite alright,” Isolde said smoothly. “We didn’t mind waiting.”
Amara snorted at that, but the woman didn’t react. Amara turned and waved at Levent, making sure to put extra energy in the motion. After their last conversation, she’d checked for dark circles or other signs of fatigue and hadn’t found any, so it seemed to be exclusively an issue of behavior.
“Nice seeing you again,” she called out. She nodded at Glenn. “You too. Haven’t seen you in a while.”
The guard smiled at that. “Indeed. I’m glad that the two of you are doing well. I apologize for leaving so abruptly last time; I had some business to attend to in the manor.”
Amara waved the concern away. “Nah, I get it. You’re probably really busy.” Her mind briefly drifted back to when she’d seen him in the square, standing off to the side as Lord Alardice twisted and snapped that watchman’s arm. She continued talking. “Besides, you’re helping right now, so it balances out, right?”
Glenn nodded slowly. He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he put the subject aside. “I heard you were training?”
Amara glanced over at Isolde, then back. “Yeah,” she said. She raised her hand. She’d kept her gloves on that day—a necessary evil, unfortunately. “I’m trying to learn negation, but uh, it hasn’t really been working out.”
Glenn looked thoughtful. “Negation, you say? Do you already know how to use reduction?”
“Nope. Can’t even activate it,” Amara said bluntly. Glenn simply nodded, and there wasn’t a trace of judgment or superiority on his face. Instead, he looked focused, like he was thinking through a complicated problem.
“I see. Could I ask what methods you’ve been using thus far?”
Amara turned to Isolde at that, and the woman stepped forward on cue and launched into an explanation while Glenn listened closely. Amara rose and brushed off her clothes while they spoke. She trusted Isolde to explain better than she could.
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From the corner of her eye, Amara noted Levent stepping over to the edge of the clearing and taking a seat against one of the tree trunks. His expression was impassive as he observed the clearing, practically disinterested. For a second she’d wondered if he would participate in the training as well, but it seemed not.
She directed her attention back to Isolde and Glenn, who had just finished talking. Glenn turned to face her again.
“Excuse me, but do you mind if I ask what major affinities you have? It may be helpful in determining a more specific plan of action.”
Amara could feel Isolde’s eyes on her in silent warning, and she resisted the urge to laugh. She knew better than to show her markings. Still, just to mess with the woman, she casually twisted the cloth of her gloves a few times before ultimately dropping her hands and answering.
“I’ve got an energy and mind major affinity,” she said casually. She tossed Isolde a grin, and the woman just shook her head, but she could see a hint of a smile at the corners of her lips.
“A mind major affinity? That’s quite rare,” Glenn remarked, eyes widening slightly.
Excluding time and probability—which were considered vestigial forms of magic that no one was born with affinities for anymore—out of the six affinities, energy and motion magic were the most common, and form and perception were also seen fairly often. Emotion and mind were the most rare, especially as a major affinity. Some of the watchmen she’d sparred with had remarked on it, but Amara herself had never felt that there was anything particularly extraordinary about it.
If anything, she often suspected she was picked for the experiments because of the affinity. It was pure speculation, and she knew it was just as likely that they’d taken children at random, but speculating a reason for it was grounding, in a way.
“Don’t get your hopes up, my basic use is at, like, 10%,” she joked.
“You’ve never tried using it before?”
“It didn’t really come up.” She didn’t mention her output issue. If she’d known about skills beforehand and how they affected the strength of magic, she might’ve tried, but it was too late now to change the past.
Amara heard Levent mutter something under his breath that sounded like, “Don’t blame you,” but Glenn continued before she could confirm.
The man cleared his throat. “Well, putting that aside, reduction tends to feel different depending on the type of magic you’re using.” He nodded at Isolde. “The method you’ve been training with sounds closer to what using motion magic reductively would feel like. It’s certainly still helpful, but a different method may be more effective for an energy user.”
“Do you have an energy affinity?” Isolde suddenly asked.
At some point between her conversation with Glenn and now, her gaze had sharpened again. It still wasn’t especially obvious, but there was an assessing gleam in her pale blue eyes that Amara recognized. She noted that the woman still hadn’t put her spear down.
Glenn seemed oblivious to the change in attitude, or perhaps he was simply unbothered by it, but Amara could see Levent bristle at the edge of the clearing.
“Energy and motion major affinities,” he said. “He knows what he’s talking about.”
Isolde turned and gave the man a long look. It was the most she’d ever directly acknowledged the servant so far. “Forgive me,” she said simply, though the cool look didn’t leave her gaze. If anything it only grew, and Amara could see Levent stiffen slightly. “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”
Amara looked between the two of them, keenly aware of the growing tension in the air. Coming to a decision, she spun around to face Glenn and grinned brightly, raising her voice while speaking.
“Hey, do you think you could do a demonstration?”
Glenn blinked. “A demonstration?”
“Yeah, of reduction.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t seen it in action much, so I think an example or something would be nice.” She felt two pairs of eyes shift in her direction. Success, she thought.
“Ah, I see.” The guard nodded. “Of course, I’d be happy to.” He raised a hand, and Amara saw that just above his black gloves was a silver watch with small, shining ores set in a diamond pattern along the wristband. If she hadn’t seen their distinct glow in the moonlight, they could easily be mistaken for mundane decorations.
Despite being smaller in size than some of the other ore Amara had seen, their clear, polished surfaces were indicative of their high quality. Amara noted Isolde’s attention honing in on the wristband and ore as well.
Glenn rotated the watch, sifting between the various stones, and Amara wondered how many types of ore were there. Finally he stopped, and a dark red magic ore now sat on the top of his wrist. He paused.
“Ah, I should warn you, reductive energy magic is a bit hard to see visually,” he said sheepishly. “Unfortunately it’s not the most conducive to demonstrations.”
Amara hummed in acknowledgement. That was true, she thought. Reducing the energy of something wouldn’t be visible unless it was an obvious blow or something similar, such as when the Aberration’s attack had been, she assumed, rendered weak.
An idea quickly formed in her head. Her eyes wandered over to Isolde and the spear still in her hands, then over to Glenn. She leaned forward.
“What about a spar? That’d make it a lot easier to see, plus it’d show how it works practically.”
She felt Isolde’s gaze on her and suspected the woman already knew what she was getting at, but she didn’t say anything. Glenn, meanwhile, frowned, shifting his weight.
“I wouldn’t mind, but…” his voice trailed off, and his eyes darted over to Levent, still sitting at the edge of the clearing, with what Amara recognized as concern. She raised an eyebrow. Interesting.
The tattooed man scowled. “Don’t ask me. Go for it.”
Glenn nodded slowly, though the crease between his eyebrows still didn’t disappear.
“...Alright,” he said carefully. He cleared his throat and turned back to Amara. “Did you have a weapon? Is that yours?” He nodded at the axe in question, which she’d left propped up against a stone. The blade was still covered.
“Yep, that’s mine.” Amara cocked her head to the side. “Actually, I think it’d be better if I sat out and just watched. I don’t think I’d be able to focus much on the demo if I was the one fighting,” she joked. She nodded her head over at Isolde. “I was thinking you two could spar, and I’ll just sit back and study.”
She met eyes with the woman, who was still staring at her. Amara couldn’t read her expression, her face perfectly impassive. To tell the truth, she wasn’t sure if Isolde would agree or not. She was awfully careful about keeping her abilities to herself, after all.
In the end, however, the woman nodded, and Amara’s grin widened. Isolde turned to Glenn with an amicable smile.
“I would be happy to,” she said.