– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 219, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 97 –
“I can’t tell if it’s working…” complained Daisy.
“...me neither,” grumbled Brandon, who was holding Daisy’s hand. They were both sitting on the floor in Terry’s room.
Terry didn’t have to glance up from his notebook to reassure them. “It’s working. It’s normal that you can’t tell. Either your mana sense needs to improve or your mana pool has to increase before you will be able to tell the effect immediately. Continue like this. I’ll warn you when you are forcing the external push too much.”
While the two aspiring mana cultivators were practicing to improve their mana foundation under his guidance, Terry also paid attention to the transfixed items in front of him.
Terry circled mana into a combination of plane drift inscriptions on his fingers to get the direction he wanted, and then slowly moved each of the transfixed items while paying attention to the mana cost.
While noting down the results of his experiments, many conflicting emotions washed over Terry’s face.
The fact that his chosen body inscription was working proved his understanding of his Immovable Object spell correct. The spell shifted an object onto a colliding plane. That plane was inherently linked to him and the body inscription allowed him to move it.
So much for the good news.
The bad news was that the plane drift appeared nearly as infeasible for practical use as the unstoppable shift combination when he had first discovered it.
An obvious complication was the single-axis movement. It required Terry to handle different inscriptions at once in order to achieve the direction or complex movement he wanted. It was certainly a headache, but nothing Terry was too concerned with. No matter how complicated it was, he would get used to it.
As few tools as he had available, he was determined to master them all.
There was focus in his limitations.
His spell’s plane was directly and perfectly linked to his mana, which eliminated the biggest problem the original creator of the inscription had to deal with. There was no way for anyone to link the shadow plane as closely to themselves as Terry’s spell plane was inherently linked to himself.
Unfortunately, that was already where Terry’s luck ended.
Even with a perfect and direct link, the mana cost was exorbitant, and it increased with roughly quadratic growth relative to his desired drift speed.
The worst part, however, was that an active drift pretty much canceled his spell’s core feature: The drifting object became movable and not just for Terry.
Terry pushed with his finger against a drifting transfixed ball and frowned when he sensed his mana decrease the more he pushed against the drift forced by the tattoos’ effect. The plane drift tattoo allowed him to move an immovable object while it remained unbreakable, but it also enabled others to do the same while he was using the body inscription.
The more force Terry applied, the more his mana was eaten up, unless he matched the drift direction – and velocity – with his push. As long as he kept the drift active, he was opening himself up for others to empty his mana pool. He sighed and shrugged.
No dashing around with unbreakable shields for me. Although they remain unbreakable, they’re floating instead of immovable. Drifting against even slight physical pressure is extremely costly.
Thinking about having to match the body inscription use with his own physical movement was one headache, but the biggest headache remained the mana cost. If he had to match his physical velocity to his drift velocity, then even physical speed would cost mana while wielding an unbreakable item.
Slight or slow movement might still be sufficient for repositioning immovable objects mid-combat. I guess the drift could also be useful as an alternative to my coil spring mechanisms to soften the impact with immovable objects…
Terry recalled how often he had to be careful about transfixing his equipment while moving. If he had the option to soften his impact or give himself a bit of wiggle room with the transfixed object, then that would certainly prove useful.
Still…
All at a cost…
Terry tapped his pen on his notebook with an unsatisfied expression. Proving his understanding of his spell and mana type correct was great for his inner Academy student, but for practical applications he couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed… for now.
Unperturbed, Terry continued experimenting with the new tool in his belt. His mood improved the moment he realized it was possible to force a drift against resistance in the regular plane.
Terry used the plane drift with a transfixed throwing needle to carve a message into wood.
Naturally, he only managed to create shallow lines that resembled no letter known to his realm.
Obviously, the mana cost was horrendous for such a miniscule effect.
Even so, Terry couldn’t help but grin. Yes, with a drifting object, others could attack his mana pool with physical force, but he could also convert his mana into physical force of his own. Even if the conversion factor was horrendous, he had found a path for him to possibly scale physical attacks eventually.
Doesn’t fully scale though.
Even if Auntie creates more inscribing tools to cover more than just my fingers with the tattoos, there’s a limit of inscribable skin on my body.
Doesn’t fully scale…
“Not yet…” whispered Terry. He rubbed his eyes and forced himself not to talk out loud. He was aware that he wasn’t alone and he really didn’t want to fall into his weirdo habits again.
Even if the drift allowed him to wield physical objects hands-free, he was limited by the number of his plane drift tattoos. It was a start, but he had to figure out… something to push it further.
What was that something?
Terry had no clue.
Before he packed up to meet his other friends for a spar, Terry looked over his notes again. He circled a section on the difference in drifting cost for items aspected with the unbalanced aspecting technique.
He couldn’t put his finger on why, but his eyes kept moving back to the results.
***
“What was that?!” yelled Lori.
“Yeah, last I remember, it was supposed to be the immovable object,” grumbled Jorg.
Terry grinned from ear to ear. He knew this was a onetime surprise and wouldn’t work next time, but it just felt so nostalgic to trip his siblings up in a spar with a new idea. “Payback for having Elena use a freaking Blood Lure spell against me.” He had to admit that he hadn’t completely forgiven them for pulling that one over him.
As it turned out, the intense blood aspect eruption he had sensed from Elena had been nothing more than that. The spell simply radiated an intense blood-aspected signature. It was a way to attract certain kinds of beasts, but it had no effect besides. They had used the spell as nothing more than a feint.
Siling arrived and tsk-ed at Terry. “You let your cloaking slip. I saw your mana drop. That seemed like a gigantic waste.”
“Shh!” Terry gasped in mock exasperation. “No slipping intel to the enemy, remember, Siling?”
“Ooopsie.” Siling placed a hand in front of her mouth. “Silly me.”
Tiana stepped up next to Lori and rolled her eyes. “Another round.”
“Then I’m fighting with them,” declared Rafael, and moved from Terry to Tiana with a deadpan expression.
Terry couldn’t help but snort, which his felan friend pointedly ignored. Terry was pretty sure that Rafael was getting fed up with having to face Tiana. Even if they ended up winning, the felan rarely enjoyed the overall experience since Tiana and his siblings were still singling him out.
“Smoothskin sympathizer!” accused Siling and pointed at Rafael. “You’ll regret that!” The elven mage huffed in her best martialist impression. “I could sneeze you all death!”
Huh, perhaps she could?
Given her windvenom grizzly abilities… Terry snickered. Siling’s really getting a kick out of martialist nonsense.
Probably the only one that truly enjoys that though. Well, Jorg doesn’t seem to care much and enjoys trading insults, but the others…?
Terry still remembered some poor sods that had tried their martialist threats with Tiana and Lori recently. It didn’t end well for them. Not at all.
“Then I’ll move over,” declared Miguel, and looked at Terry. “You make sure they don’t get to me, and I make sure to place an arrow in Jorg’s butt.”
“You and your weird fantasies.” Jorg rolled his eyes. “You should fantasize about Lori’s butt, not mine.” He quickly dodged when his sister was trying to elbow him in the side. “Sis, you’re supposed to be on my side. No attacking your teammates!”
Terry narrowed his eyes and turned around.
“What?” prompted Siling. “Is Guillermo coming back? Or Patricia and Elena?”
“No.” Terry sorted through the mana signatures that had caught his attention. Once he understood the situation, he quickly searched for the others. “Patricia and Elena are still at the hunters’ headquarters with Intira. Guillermo is with his sect members. No, it’s a new group coming here. You’ll see.” He looked at Rafael. “Some old acquaintances.”
“About time.” Rafael grinned.
Before long, a group of people in light blue martialist robes stepped into view.
“What took you so long? Afraid?” taunted Rafael.
“How dare you speak to—?” A voluminous man flushed with fury.
“Barnes, remember to hold your temper,” chided Zhang.
“We are representing our sect,” reminded Sheila.
“Yes, Princess.” Barnes lowered his head.
“Doesn’t mean that we have to suffer our honor being insulted,” growled Chun with a warning gaze to Rafael.
“How about we all behave?” Terry rolled his eyes. If not like adults or decent human beings, then at least like people with a shred of sense.
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“Yes, Senior.”
To Terry’s surprise, both Barnes and Sheila lowered their heads in front of him.
“‘Senior’?” Siling snickered. “More of those?”
“They are from Icy Dew Mountain,” explained Terry.
“Oh?”
Terry could feel that his explanation had changed the atmosphere. Both his siblings and Tiana were looking at the arrivals differently.
“So you were the fools who attacked Terry?” growled Lori.
Tiana cracked her knuckles and began a staring contest with Chun. The tall martialist woman was not used to having other women tower over her, but she held Tiana’s gaze defiantly.
“Do we really have to behave?” Jorg asked Terry while keeping his eyes on the martialists. “I feel like misbehaving a little longer.”
Sheila held her tongue and looked questioningly at Terry.
“What’s your problem?” demanded Zhang.
“My problem is that your sect attacked my brother,” hissed Jorg.
Terry took a deep breath and raised a hand to preempt a familiar confusion. “That would be me. These are my siblings, and the others are friends from Arcana.”
Zhang grumbled slightly but swallowed his misgivings at being threatened so casually. “Those are grudges of the past. We have fought together with your brother and—”
“And after he saved you from that tomb, you didn’t even feel the need to come here when he needed your help,” interjected Tiana coldly.
“Please.” Terry forced himself into the conversation before things could escalate further. He wasn’t sure if this was Tiana showing her natural irritation, her demonic temper, or if Isille had put her up to this again. “Let’s just get along and focus on beating the Lich Kingdoms back.”
“A high ask…” Zhang moved his eyes from Terry to Tiana. “And one that requires more than individuals, which is why I made sure to get our sect on board. Convincing a whole sect takes time. Even Peter hasn’t been able to mobilize the Blazing Sun Sect completely and his current standing is higher than all of ours.”
“So you just happened to arrive on the day that we’re moving into the Lands?” asked Siling skeptically.
“No, not just ‘happened’,” corrected Zhang. “We’ve heard about the One Mage Army and the Elemental Fury. From our reports, even the Spirited Duchess hasn’t dared to make another direct move since their arrival, but hearing is not seeing.” He glanced at Terry. “I want our elders to bear witness to what you can do. The earlier, the better to firm everyone’s resolve.”
He wants to show them that we have a chance. Enough of a chance for them to consider the benefits of being early alliance partners.
“Then your timing couldn’t be better,” said Terry while staring off into a specific direction. “I think the preparations at the gate are finished.”
***
“Are you sure you don’t need all your constructs?” Edmund was hesitant to ask the miraculous crafter, but felt it had to be done. Naturally, he was happy about the army of constructs defending their Freedom Cooperative, but he also understood the importance of the mission in the Lands of the Four Towers.
It might be tough to defend the city without the constructs, but if that was what it took, then they would have to try. Edmund didn’t think it wise to risk the long-term strategy for getting the Union moving in force.
“Yes,” assured Brynn confidently. “And I appreciate you asked, but your concern is misplaced. If it’s a proper crafter’s competition, then it will be about quality, not quantity. I’ll bring my best work. The rest can remain deployed here.”
Brynn looked at Matteo. “Ready?”
“Yes,” assured Matteo.
“Are you sure?” asked Emaldine next to her accepted brother.
Matteo smiled and nodded. Then he and Brynn walked through the gate.
“Watch over her.” Isille told Samuel.
“No need to remind me.”
“If, unexpectedly, the Crafter’s Tower has switched to alchemy, come back to pick me up,” said Bjorln.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” said Emaldine. “We’ve confirmed the current rules.”
“Then we’ll make sure the city still stands when you’re going to return,” said Bjorln. He and Isille exchanged glances. This wasn’t how they imagined coming out of semi-retirement from the Guardians’ reserves in Arcana, but there was no backing down anymore.
Emaldine turned to address the others. “Alright, everyone in line.”
Terry walked to the front. Not because he considered himself the most important, but because they had all agreed he should be among the first to keep the joining martialists in check, and the delegation from the different martial sects quickly gathered around him.
Jorg joined to observe Brynn’s competition as well as to use the chance to learn about foreign crafting techniques.
Siling walked next to Jorg. She knew that the Spirit Tower had to be conquered eventually and that it might require her involvement. She might not remember her sister or father, but she wouldn’t leave her sister in the Lich Kingdoms’ clutches.
Tiana joined to support her teacher, Matteo. Vess followed her just like Nick and the other possessed. Even if not everyone in the demon squad was thrilled at the prospect of taking part in a coup, they had to stick close to the person keeping the elementals possessing them in check.
Lori’s group and Miguel remained behind, because they felt more useful in the city under the direction of Isille and Bjorln.
***
It didn’t take long for their group to garner attention and soon after the first few spectators paused to watch, people were pointing at Matteo.
“That’s…”
“Monster.”
“The Demon is back!”
“No!”
“You dare show your face here?!”
“KILL HIM!” Some people started throwing stones.
Terry didn’t know how to feel when seeing people cry or panic, but he pushed his conflicted emotions aside and chose to concentrate on what mattered. He could see that Matteo was already clenching shaking fists.
Terry had seen enough. He walked forward and flared his mana for everyone to see. He cut the air with his arm and a divine hammer hurled the stones back to their source, only for them to transfix a hair’s breadth before hitting the spectators.
Terry glared at the shocked perpetrators. He allowed his mana bubble to constrict around them to inflict the suffocating sensation of mana suppression on all mana users. He circulated mana through his tattoos and slowly drifted the transfixed stones the last distance. He felt satisfied at seeing them flinch back and give them space and finally allowed the stones to drop down.
Even the local martialists had stepped back and stared timidly at the strangely dressed mage with slightly darkened blood vessels and faint, fern-like scars running through his face.
“Terry…” whispered Brynn softly, with a concerned expression. She placed a hand on his shoulder.
To Terry’s surprise, all of his present family were staring at him with concern. Even his cousin Matteo.
“Thank you, Whaka Terry,” said Matteo with a pained expression. “But please don’t overdo it.”
“I heard what happened to you, but…” Jorg patted Terry on the back. “Take it easy. You scared the shit out of them.”
“Yeah, since when do you have such a short fuse?” asked Siling. “If I didn’t know you better, even I would have thought you might hurt them.”
“What are you talking about?” demanded Rafael. “These bastards are lucky they’re still breathing! Such insolence is intolerable.” Many outbursts of agreement came from the martialist factions.
Terry took a deep breath. “Don’t worry about me. I won’t go too far.” He didn’t agree with the martialists, but he also didn’t fully agree with his family’s reactions here.
Looking at his cousin, Terry realized what bothered him.
His aunt Sigille wasn’t here anymore, so Terry figured someone else had to do it. He glared sternly at Matteo. “But if you won’t stand up for yourself, I will.” It felt weird to threaten his infamous cousin, but he still forced himself to do it.
Matteo raised an eyebrow at Terry’s tone, but before he could reply, they were interrupted by someone else.
“How DARE you show your face here again?!” A group of mages in colorful robes arrived.
“How DARE YOU show your face here at all?!” retorted Rafael and squared his shoulders.
“What?”
“You heard the felan!” hissed Emaldine, eager at the chance to let out her resentment for their treatment of her accepted brother.
“I agree,” barked Guillermo. “Your face is an insult. How dare you trick us into looking your way with your incessant shouting! Why haven’t you apologized yet?!”
“You dare?!” People in martialist robes arrived to stand next to the elementalist mages.
“Arrest the demon!”
“Let him pay for his sins!”
“You will do no such thing!” declared Brynn firmly.
“Who are—?”
“We’re here to issue a challenge.” Brynn cut the chatter off. “We can discuss the disciple challenge for the Elemental Tower later. Today, I’m crushing the Crafter’s Tower.”
“‘Disciple challenge’?” screeched a woman in a blue tunic.
“You dare come back here and call yourself a disciple of the tower?” barked a man in fire-red robes.
Terry noted that not everyone from the elementalist faction appeared as offended. There was at least one powerful mage that showed no reaction. The man was wearing sand-colored clothing with an insignia showing the symbol of the Elemental Tower.
Matteo took a deep breath and declared: “I was a personal disciple of the Tower Master, even if I had another primary mentor assigned.” For a moment, he grimaced painfully before he managed to suppress the memory. “I was a disciple of the Elemental Tower. I have the right to issue the challenge under the disciple rules.”
“Like hell, you do!”
“There is no Elemental Tower Master anymore. The rules have changed!”
“You’re the reason that the Tower Master died!”
Terry could sense people moving their mana and even if he couldn’t know if they would move onto shaping spells, he didn’t hesitate to let a single wave of disruption wash over the people.
Not like they can pinpoint me as the source, anyway.
The locals from the Lands of the Four Towers didn’t know Terry, nor his skill-set.
“What the…?”
Brynn used the gap created by Terry to force herself into the conversation and get back to the direction they wanted: “Perhaps I was misheard before, but the Elemental Tower is a topic for another day, so save your arguments. Today, I will crush the Crafting Tower.”
“Confident, aren’t you?” Another group arrived on the scene.
“Arrogant,” corrected another crafter.
“It’s okay. She’s still young. The young are always arrogant. She’ll learn better.”
“A single crafter wants to crush our tower?”
“Make space!”
“Crush our tower? I’ll crush her!”
“No, I will defend our tower’s honor!”
“Let me!”
“No me!”
Terry felt people make space for the increasing number of crafters arriving to face the challenge of his aunt. Some of them were even beginning to summon constructs from their storage items.
“Silence!” barked one of the older crafters, whose black overall showed a similar insignia to the man Terry had noticed before. Only this insignia enlarged the symbol of the Crafter’s Tower in the overall design. “Construct challenges will be performed in the arena. Not out in the streets. What imbeciles has our tower raised that you would risk our country’s infrastructure for your impatience?”
While the ruckus simmered down, Brynn used her chance again. “Oh, that’s okay. Since so many of you have been so courteous to show me yours, I might as well show you mine, and we can walk to the arena together.” She pressed a ring into a bracelet on the other arm and channeled mana into it.
For a moment, Terry was lost in the complex and delicate mana flow. He shouldn’t have been able to sense it given its perfect cloaking, but his mana touch allowed him to feel some of the complicated lock mechanism.
This is on top of her personal mana signature lock?
Terry subconsciously held his breath, wondering what kind of construct his aunt would summon, only to crease his brow when the small dancing doll construct appeared. He had seen a similar design in larger versions and could attest to their combat power, but something about this smaller version felt different.
“Impossible,” muttered one crafter. Soon, all the older crafters were getting fidgety, obviously itching to lay their hands on the small construct.
“I think I now know who you are, young miss.” The man in the grey overall stepped forward with a bright smile. “Can I assume this is your strongest construct?”
“Far from it,” replied Brynn matter-of-factly. “But I consider it my most impressive working prototype. For people that can appreciate it.”
The man nodded and knelt down to take a closer look. “People generally assume that our craft progresses incrementally, but there would be no progress without a true paradigm shift once in a while. I remember the bright young Arcanian submitting an early draft on her theory of orientation effects in placed runic inscriptions and the different matrix effects of materials.”
The man was about to crouch around the construct to get a different view, when Brynn made it move so that the man wouldn’t have to. He smiled and lowered his head. “Thanks. I also remember how the next work on the implications for applying anti-magic had been torn apart by criticism.” He smiled lopsidedly. “I have to admit that I myself added to that criticism. The interpretation appeared simply too far-fetched.” He shook his head. “And yet…” He smiled widely. “Reality doesn’t care about our criticisms.”
The Crafting Tower Master looked up with respect. “My deepest thanks for proving this old man wrong, Lady Brynn.” He stood up and lowered his head. “It would be the honor of our Crafting Tower to welcome you as its new Tower Master.” Behind him, many of the more experienced crafters immediately followed to lower their heads, while many of the younger ones looked around with confusion before eventually giving in.
“What the heck?” An elven woman from the Martial Tower burst out. “What’s with these wussies?”
“How can they just give up?”
“They didn’t even put up a fight?”
“What a disgrace that we are allied with them. How did that even happen?”
“Crafters are all nuts, I tell you.”
“They have a point,” exclaimed Rafael. “I got pumped up for nothing! What the Wastes!”
“We could challenge a few from the Martial Tower later,” suggested Guillermo.
“As if anyone would dare to accept a challenge from the great me,” huffed Rafael.
“I’m sure we can find someone,” added Zhang. He leaned closer to Terry. “Might be a good idea, anyway. Get an idea of their strength.”
Terry nodded. He had never been worried about the Crafter’s Tower and no matter how complicated the situation with the Elemental Tower might be, he trusted Matteo with it. He still hadn’t heard anything from Apex, so gathering information could only help. He wished he could participate more directly, but the tower was only open to martialist challengers.
One step at a time…
Terry moved his gaze from the crafters to the sour-looking elementalists. With Brynn becoming the new Crafting Tower Master, his cousin Matteo would receive the full backing of the Crafting Tower. Even though many had refused to take Matteo’s challenge seriously before, the challenge would be a lot harder to rebuff with the changed situation.
***