– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 23 –

“Where to?” asked Sigille. “I can’t wait to see my holiday retreat.”

Sigille raised her eyebrows at Ying and played the belly drum. Matteo smiled warmly at the sight of his accepted mother getting itchy feet already.

“I can’t create a gate for the whole way.”

“I don’t mind walking,” retorted Sigille with anticipation. “Maybe we can meet a demon on the way. Or two. Or some.”

“No demons,” interjected Devon. “We would have to take a detour for those.”

“Hmph.” Sigille pouted. “That kind of takes the excitement out of it.”

“There are a few in that direction, but that is a long way to go.” Devon pointed.

“Heh.” Sigille considered the offer.

“Priorities, Ma,” said Matteo. “You’ll have to meet the witch sooner or later.”

Sigille’s face turned into a grimace and she grumbled: “Later sounds better though.” Then, she spoke to Megumi: “I like your scout, can I borrow him sometime?”

Megumi chuckled. “If you’re not careful with his directions, Devon may lead you to more trouble than you have bargained for.”

Sigille seemed tempted, but eventually shrugged in resignation. “Thanks anyway, Devon. I appreciate it. Unfortunately, Matteo has a point.”

“We can walk the first part,” said Ying and led the way.

Sigille quickly followed suit and walked next to him.

“Huh?” Terry blurted out.

“What?” asked Lizzy.

“I was expecting Aunt Sigille to carry a hammer…”

Instead, there was a two-handed axe with a modified grip for thrusts on her back. Some kind of inscription or enchantment had the axe stick to her back while also wrapping a leather-like material over the bladed parts.

Sigille snickered in front while Matteo shook his head.

“All as intended,” said Sigille mischievously.

“Divine hammer is an inscription,” explained Lizzy. “The inscription is notorious for being difficult to wield, but it does not have to be used with an actual hammer.”

Sigille glanced back at Terry. “By the way, Dhruv told me that there was an open research request that had been submitted by Megumi in your name. I’ll have the copies with me. Remind me to give them to you later.”

Sigille paused when her gaze moved over the group. “Huh, I hadn’t realized until now that our two groups collected the three most abnormal mana signatures of the bunch.”

Three?

Terry’s eyes quickly darted to Devon and Matteo.

That’s two.

Shouldn’t Dargones be counted? Or Amelia? Or were Amelia and Dargones excluded from that for some reason? Or is it that his signature is typical for a magebane?

Aunt Sigille wouldn’t count herself, would she? Then who?

Lizzy has quite a large mana pool, but hardly abnormal. The Captain has a rather intense mana signature, but I would not call that abnormal either…

Eventually, Terry’s gaze rested on Ying.

Is it because of the pronounced spirit aspect, maybe?

Ying felt the gaze on his neck and glanced back. He chuckled. “I believe she is talking about you, Terry.”

“Huhh?!” blurted Terry.

Megumi and Lizzy laughed.

“You know, if someone were to tell me you’re Devon’s younger brother, I might believe it,” said Lizzy.

“That can’t be right,” exclaimed Devon, and looked at Lizzy. “Can it? You said that Terry is even younger than the Captain. My parents can’t have been alive when Terry was born…” Devon’s eyes moved from side to side. “Can they?”

Megumi snorted and guffawed.

“I was speaking more in terms of brothers in spirit,” said Lizzy.

Terry scrunched up his face.

This doesn’t make any sense.

“Hmm,” uttered Sigille. “They told me you had a rather peculiar upbringing, but it seems that was an understatement.”

“But…” Terry looked around and compared himself to the mana signatures of the others.

“Terry, do you have any idea how old we are?” questioned Megumi. “You are not supposed to compare yourself to us.”

“Exactly,” said Sigille. “You’re what? Nineteen?”

“At the Academy…” Terry started to object.

“Have you met any Academy students your age recently?” interjected Sigille. “I’ve met Academy students before, and your mana signature is way out of the norm.”

“Seriously.” Sigille shook her head lightly. “Looking at you, one might suspect that you used to sleep in an unmanaged mana crystal mine. Or that you are permanently glued to a mana container.”

Terry’s expression froze. He subconsciously hid his left hand behind his back. The hand was grabbing a mana container.

At least you’re not hiding amputated fingers. Weirdo.

Megumi caught the movement and snickered. “No need to hide that as if it was a reason to be ashamed, Terry. On the contrary, being assiduous should be a source of pride.”

Sigille stopped and examined Terry more closely.

Terry pressed his lips together with a sheepish look and revealed the content of his left hand.

A strange glint entered Sigille’s eyes.

“Careful, Cousin Terry,” said Matteo. “That look strikes fear into every one of Ma’s disciples.”

“Since when have you become such a blabbermouth?” grumbled Sigille. Despite her grumbling, her eyes were smiling. “If you can demonstrate the same attitude with your mana cultivation, then perhaps I can do something with you.”

Sigille tilted her head. “I take it you have been instructed by Little Silly and her cheeky husband, hm…” She pushed her lower lip to the front and pondered. “They’re a bit soft, but they should know how to lay the proper groundwork.”

Terry’s mind was stuck on ‘Little Silly’ and ‘cheeky husband’ and it took a moment before he truly grasped what Matteo had hinted at.

Ma Isille and Pa Bjorln – ‘a bit soft’? That—

Terry was jolted out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. It was Matteo’s.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die.” Matteo patted Terry’s shoulder once and then continued walking. “Probably.”

***

Terry had not felt this happy in a long time. First, of course, there was the fact that he could finally be certain that his whaka were alright. Aside from that, he felt lucky to have another chance to visit Syn City because there had been no one around to cloak his items in the Chara Settlement.

Still, the Chara Settlement was incredibly helpful in its own way. Poppy’s items had practically saved his life from a phantom not too long ago, and Elvis had been an insightful helper for Terry’s design work.

Without the two, Terry might not have thought of incorporating coil springs. He definitely would not have known about mana-reactive shape-memory alloys, which were a perfect fit for the coil spring mechanisms. The alloys returned to their initial shape when mana is channeled through them, and Terry did not have to worry about the coil springs becoming permanently overextended.

Fortunately, a capable blacksmith could be found in both Chara and Syn. Terry had traded and sold some of his own items and in exchange, Terry was now equipped with a fully upgraded armor.

The base material was still cloud badger leather. All imprinted items had been properly cloaked by the mana crafters in Syn. Besides mana-osmotic materials, Terry had also added a simple shielding based on periodic tiles himself.

His boot mechanism incorporated an extension coil spring layer in addition to the fixed layer. Terry had added a shin guard with three septimum pearls arranged slightly above his ankle. The pearls were evenly spaced and only left a gap at the back of his leg. They were properly embedded into a fixed septimum layer that also carried the mana-osmotic material layer as well as the shock-absorption mechanism.

His bracers had received three imprinted septimum pearls similar to those in his boots. They were near the wrist. Besides the three pearls embedded into a fixed layer, there were two more pearls located at the inside of Terry’s forearm. These were connected to extension coil springs to substitute for his roped rings. Last, there was one septimum pearl embedded into the center of the bracer.

Terry had added imprinted chest and back plates for his upper body. He had struggled with himself if he should wait for his scale armor idea to pan out or not. On the one hand, the plates would provide additional protection. On the other hand, they might impair his mobility. As a compromise, the plates only covered roughly the same area as his ribcage, which did not afford much mobility, anyway.

The thought that had tipped the scales was the benefit that a transfixed back or chest piece could provide. Besides the obvious defense, it would also provide more leverage when kicking out, as well as new movement options when combined with the other imprints.

Terry had been trying out his new armor and was walking back from the sparring area.

“You’re still missing a helmet to finish the set,” joked Matteo, who was arriving from the other direction together with Sigille.

“Helmet is tricky,” replied Terry without thinking. “Too dangerous to imprint without a personal mana lock. Shielding or mana-osmotic materials would also negatively affect my mana sense. Even a helmet like Lizzy’s…”

While barrier spells are not as risky as an Immovable Object imprint at this location, it would still affect my mana sense… A non-magic metal helmet would incur the risk of a liquify spell and that…

“I think you broke him,” said Sigille while looking at the mumbling Terry. “Seriously, Matteo. You have barely had a cousin for a few days and already you broke him. We haven’t even gotten around to the first playdate yet.”

“Uhm.” Matteo had no idea how to react.

“Oy, Terry!” Sigille snapped her fingers.

Terry was jolted out of his thoughts. “Greetings! Sorry, uhh…” He looked at Matteo. “No helmet, no. Right now, I’m still trying to find a proper sheath for my throwing needles.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Hm…” Sigille retrieved something from her storage item. “I’m sure I have missed a few celebrations, so try this one and let’s call it even.”

“Thanks,” muttered Terry before knowing what he had received. It seemed to be some kind of belt.

“Same sheath inscription as my back strap.”

Ahh! The leather shaping that wrapped the bladed part of her axe!

“WOW, thank you!”

“See, Matteo? That’s a proper reaction. Remember when I gave you your first gift? That’s how you should have reacted.”

“Wouldn’t that have defeated the point of the dagger?” retorted Matteo. “Avoiding emotional outbursts and so forth.”

“Curse your unfilial logic that interferes with my teasing attempts.” Sigille played the belly drum and looked around. “Well, you’re better now, so maybe we can do some re-gifting or something.”

“How is the inspection going?” interjected Terry.

“Nice people – both dead and alive – and shady magic,” summarized Sigille drily. “Don’t know what to think yet.”

“I don’t like the talk of a masked Lightbringer,” said Matteo.

“Meh, maybe the guy is shy.” Sigille played her armored belly again. “Or still has to walk the streets in Tiv. Or he’s plain ugly. Or, well, a shady fella. Don’t know yet. There are all sorts of people...”

Sigille looked around. “As long as Gretchen keeps bribing me with her cookies, I’m willing to consider generous interpretations.”

“Skeletal warriors picking up baking is indeed an agreeable change of pace, yes.”

“Anyway, that’s us. How about your own research?” Sigille asked Terry.

“Don’t know yet.” Terry smiled wryly. “The Captain had warned me before but…”

“Did not expect the writings to consist mostly of gibberish?” Sigille snickered. “Common mistake.”

The copies of the documents from the ancient deathcult seemed to be in some kind of code.

Either that or the author was insane, which may be the most likely explanation considering we are talking about the infamous looney tower.

There were only a few terse notes in plain language scribbled between the lines or at some borders.

“The Captain could not help interpreting anything?” asked Matteo.

Terry rocked his head from side to side and replied: “Somewhat. She recognized some of the symbols and could tell me where else she had seen them.”

“Where is Megumi at the moment?” interjected Sigille. “Still staying with Lizzy?”

Terry nodded absentmindedly. “Anyway, now that Devon has returned to Syn, I thought about asking him, but…” His voice trailed off.

I don’t like reminding Devon of the tower…

“At some point, someone will have to explain this dungeon fairy thing to me,” said Sigille. “Odd does not begin to describe it.”

“Terry, just ask him,” said Matteo. “If Devon does not want to speak about it, then don’t, but there is no need for guesswork. It is not your choice to make. ”

Sigille glanced at Matteo in silence.

Terry shrugged and said: “I’ll do my evening exercises first. I don’t want to ruin their jousting matches or whatever they’re doing at the moment.”

***

Terry and Devon were sitting on the ground in Syn’s central park. Terry had transfixed one of his newly restocked light-aspected rods and went over the copied documents with Devon.

Since there was no order for Terry to detect, he had spread the papers around on the grass.

“These symbols represented the more important looneys,” said Devon calmly. “They each had one of these symbols on their robes.”

Terry had bought a separate notebook for organizing the information. He scribbled whenever Devon pointed something out.

“That one was in the main ritual room – the one for binding the incarnation… This one was in my room and it’s one of the first things I can remember...”

Devon let his eyes wander over the different sheets of paper.

“These here were in the ritual room for the mana adjustment… However, this symbol only appeared later… Here!”

Devon picked up one of the papers. “This thing here in the corner. That was on the wall.”

It was a heptagram with small symbols at six of its corners. One corner was empty. There were additional lines connecting two groups – three and four of the corners, respectively.

In the center, there was a large symbol – the same as in Devon’s room.

Beneath the heptagram was a row of symbols of which some had been struck through while others had been circled or underlined.

Terry subconsciously rotated his pen through his fingers.

“They used that one for the blood aspect.” Devon pointed at one of the symbols at the heptagram’s corner. It belonged to the group of three. “Don’t remember the others…”

Looks like they were searching for a specific aspect combination…

Terry tapped his pen on the ground. “Do you still remember the—”

The most painful time of your life? Yeah, great thing to ask!

“Uhm… How did they add aspects exactly?”

“Huh?” Devon looked at him as if Terry was a child talking nonsense. “The looneys did not ‘add’ anything. They took aspects away.”

“What?!” blurted Terry. “Why would anyone do that?”

Because they’re looneys?

Devon shrugged unconcernedly. “All I know is that I had unaspected mana once.”

Terry turned pensive.

Were they talking about which aspect to take away next? Is that when oscillating mana came up?

Was the order somehow important? Why else would you even discuss that?

What would there be to discuss?

“When…” Terry looked at Devon. “Do you still remember when the oscillating mana came up compared to the affinity adjustment discussion? Had the affinity adjustment been discussed before?”

Devon pushed his bottom lip forward and gazed at the stars above. “The affinity adjustment had come up before. I remember them arguing if it was really necessary to include both the life and the blood aspect. Something about priorities… Redundant overlap, essential foundation, opening new intersections… Amplifying strengths or covering weaknesses…”

Devon shrugged. “In the end, they kept both. Something about a bridge between the life and the death aspect. Oscillating mana came up later.”

“Do you still remember other aspects that came up? After the blood debate, I mean.”

“Aside from hellfire and netherfrost?” Devon laid back on the grass. “Don’t know… Hard to say if my mind is playing tricks on me with the common ones… The only other one I am absolutely sure about is the void aspect. I remember wondering what that was supposed to be before blacking out…”

Void aspect… Lower system again.

Probably an abyssal aspect, too. I should check with the Captain.

In Instructor Samuel’s classification chart, void was listed as a minor aspect of the major space aspect. However, he also used it as an example for some classifications being contested. One version had it listed as an intersection aspect between space and death…

Terry made a note and left it at that. He returned his pen, notebook, and glowing rod to his storage items.

Afterwards, Terry joined Devon in stargazing and retrieved two other items: a mana container and the throwing needle that was his target for aspecting.

He had started to document his aspecting input by filling up a mana container in parallel. If he used the same amount of mana for the mana container as for the aspecting, Terry would get an idea of how much mana was required to aspect an item with oscillating mana.

Of course, this assumes that aspecting with oscillating mana is really possible…

Terry frowned. The situation was frustrating. If it works, he will eventually find out. If it does not work, however, he would never know for certain.

Ah well, at least it helps train mana regeneration and mana control…

Terry puckered his lips.

Maybe I could even include mana reach training? Aspect the needle from a distance? Same for filling the mana container…

***

Terry was hanging in the air over the sparring area. The mid-wrist pearl in both of his bracers had been transfixed. He swung his legs to gather momentum.

Just like a gymnast’s high bar…

A short moment later, Terry was spinning around the rotation axis in full circles while accelerating more and more.

Now the switch…

Terry deactivated the imprints at the high point and he flew further up into the air. Next, he activated the mid-ankle pearls in his legs to create a new rotation axis. He gathered momentum with his upper body and used the rotation to change direction before deactivating the imprints.

On the one hand, the exercise was really fun, and he could move through the air faster than with his boot mechanism.

On the other hand…

Ugh…

Terry stopped gathering momentum and came to a stop. His stomach had been protesting vehemently against the whole exercise.

“This will take some getting used to…” Nevertheless, Terry was grinning. “Fun though.”

“Terry! Come down, please!” shouted Sigille.

Terry could see that aside from Matteo, the Captain and Lizzy were also there. During this stay at Syn, the Captain had insisted for Lizzy to rest and Megumi had spent most of the time together with Lizzy.

Everyone appearing together was unusual.

Terry activated one of the spring pearls and allowed himself to fall while being gradually decelerated by the extension coil spring.

After one more switch, Terry arrived on the ground.

“Is it time?” asked Terry. He understood he would leave soon with his aunt and cousin. They had already spent several weeks in Syn.

“No rush,” said Sigille. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning. Megumi’s group will continue staying in Syn.”

“Then?”

“We need to have an official chat with Ying and Saul,” said Sigille.

“Your aunt thought you might be interested in joining,” added Megumi.

Sigille gasped. “Who said I was giving him a choice?” She snickered to herself.

Afterwards, Sigille looked at Terry. “Come. This isn’t Arcana. You need to pay attention to what is going on around you. Sheltered Guardians don’t live too long.”

Without waiting for a response, Sigille walked ahead. Terry followed with the others.

***

“...to sum it up, I don’t like this at all.” Sigille maintained eye contact with Ying.

Saul snorted. “Who says that we—”

“I do,” interjected Ying. “I say we care.”

“We are free citizens of Syn,” growled Logan. “A Guardian from Tiv has no authority here. Not even the Divine Hammer.”

“Whatever. I feel like you’re missing the point here,” said Sigille unperturbed. “I don’t care that much about the whole life syphoning as long as it’s voluntary. I believe everyone has the right to do with their lives as they wish.”

Sigille glanced at Matteo. “For example, joining the Guild is bad for your health. Most Guildheads die young. Compared to that, your little life syphoning seems negligible.”

“Then what?! It is voluntary!” Logan opened his arms and shook his head. “What do you want?!”

“I have read through Megumi’s report and I think it’s an overall fair assessment. However, I would put the emphasis differently than Megumi. Let’s ignore for a fact the political nightmare that is waiting to happen. Let’s also put aside this Progenitor character. Let’s not think about the Wastes.”

Sigille raised her hands behind her head and clicked her tongue. “Bottom line, the people are accepting a magic that they do not understand. None of you do. This is eerily reminiscent of the channelers.”

Sigille paused for people to contemplate the comparison.

“Who is to say that you are not channeling the power of a different realm?” asked Sigille. “Even if you don’t, who is to say that the people are not opening their minds in a similar manner? Becoming vulnerable to mind-influence and possession…”

For a moment, there was silence.

“Didn’t Tiv officially make friends with cultists?” retorted Logan. While his tone was aggressive, his face lost some color at the idea of being possessed.

“I am not Tiv,” said Sigille calmly. “I may have gained a few pounds, but I can’t claim to be comparable to the empire yet. I myself have the same reservations with cultist channelers. I am tolerating them as long as they do not cross the line, but I can assure you that I am no fan.”

“The Heart is not channeling power from a different realm,” said Ying with confidence.

“I thought you didn’t fully understand the ritual?” retorted Sigille.

“True, but I…” Ying sighed. “I know at least part of its origin.”

Lizzy and Megumi shared a glance.

“I’m listening…” Sigille’s eyes remained on Ying.

“Ying, this won’t—” Saul started to speak.

“No,” interrupted Ying. He exhaled sharply. “But we can’t ask for trust without showing some trust in return.”

Ying took a deep breath. “The Progenitor stole parts of it from the Lich Kingdoms. He modified the ritual himself.”

Lizzy’s expression darkened at the mention of the Lich Kingdoms.

“Stole?” Megumi spoke up. “And how do you know that?”

“Because I was present,” said Ying with a distant and pained look in his eyes. “I was living in the Lich Kingdoms when one day, the Progenitor approached me. In exchange for gathering information and opening some doors, the Progenitor helped me escape the lich kings’ grasp.”

“That’s—” Lizzy started speaking up.

“That’s good, actually,” interjected Sigille.

Lizzy turned to her with an exasperated look.

“What?” questioned Sigille. “I agree that it’s not the most wholesome source of magic. I am not a fan of the Tiv treaty with the Lich Kingdoms either. However, while the lich kings are despicable scourges on the world…”

Sigille moved her hands from the back of her head and showed one finger. “They’re the kind of narcissistic megalomaniacs that would not submit to anyone else and that includes otherrealm creatures and…”

She raised a second finger. “They generally aren’t that subtle when it comes to mind magic. In the Lich Kingdoms, they don’t need to hide such effects of their rituals. Knowing them, they would rather make it intentionally obvious to display their authority. They’re the kind of wicked that gets off on dominating others in the open. For the likes of them, hiding it would spoil the pleasure.”

“Still…”

“I can’t speak for the magic,” started Ying. “But I am absolutely certain that the Progenitor would never betray this realm. I’ve seen him raid deathcults. I’ve heard his thoughts on otherrealm worshippers. I would bet my life that if the realm would come under threat, then the Progenitor would be the first to join the frontline for its defense.”

“You all had enough sense to leave the children out of it,” said Sigille. “That’s good. You ought to inform everyone about the potential risk of mind-influence before they make the choice. Ideally, you should also teach everyone the signs.”

Sigille looked into Ying’s eyes. “Aside from that, same deal as for all the other channelers. You’re all adults. You’ll be judged by your actions. Whatever comes out of this will be your responsibility. If you end up losing your minds and do things you wouldn’t normally do, then that will be your sin to carry.”

Sigille exhaled a sharp breath, smiled, and played the belly drum. “Anyway, enough of that. I do hope that you will be able to establish trade relations with Tiv. If you start exporting Gretchen’s cookies, I’ll place the first order.”

***