The segmented, insectoid mass of the Inter-ring express skittered up the black, glossy wall dividing the Iron and Silver rings of the Ringed City. miles below in the Iron ring, heat from the forges of the smaller of the two industrial rings rose, naturally dissipating into the mana-filled structures of the ancient walls of the megalithic city. Gio wasn’t particularly averse to heights but was still relieved to not have to look out the side of the now monstrous train, being that the portside of the train was currently flush against the smooth glassy wall. He stared into his reflection, catching faint lines of the faded enchantment of the nearly indestructible walls beyond.
I wonder how powerful you would need to be to be able to use Hairline Fracture on the barrier walls. I know that there are teams dedicated to trying to establish more tunnels in between the rings, but it’s hard to imagine being able to leave a scratch on the walls.
The steppe-like structures of the barrier walls in the Copper Ring were much shorter in the periphery of the Ringed City. As a child, Gio and his friends would climb the formations near the shipping ports, where the sharp edges of the glassy black stone had been magically altered by the Royal Transport Authority to make the shipment of raw material out of the Copper ring mines to any place they needed to go easier. Gio had a fond memory of Quinn and himself trying to dig through the walls, and was very aware that leaving so much as a visible mark on the material was all but impossible, especially to children who didn’t have access to system-empowered magic like the royal architects.
After the hundredth time completing rounds of the mana shaping exercises that he could cast without any sort of preparation or alarming the train staff, he returned to the reporting instructions for his commencement day at CRA.
Commuting students - students who require transport to the Golden Ring will be issued complimentary Inter-ring fare. After prompt noontime arrival at the city administrative district, report to the Bureau of Student Affairs with CRA forms 17Epsilon, A-77, and SIGNED and NOTARIZED copies of the student code of ethics. Students found to have prematurely unsealed their classes will be denied entry to the Crystal Ring Academy, with NO exceptions.
The gold embossed vellum caused an involuntary spike of anxiety in Gio. His mother, the [Senior Actuary] had soundly defeated, consumed, and consequently notarized, bundled, and even duplicated the required forms, placing a copy in each of Gio’s bags just in case one was misplaced. Gio’s faith in his mother was absolute but did little to unwind the knot in his stomach. Gio once again looked at the map of the Golden Ring’s famous Gilded City, the unofficial Capital of the Golden Ring, housing the sole public entrance to the towering spires of the Crystal Ring. Gio marked out his path from the transit station, taking full advantage of his improved [Multitasking] to make notes on his path to his sole detour to the famous spell form emporium in the nearby mercantile neighborhood. He simultaneously circulated his mana, breathing steadily as he planned out his morning. He had set aside ample time to account for the inevitable choice paralysis he would face in the storefront. He was aiming for an uncommon warding spell, or at least some sort of protective measure. He once again drew his attention towards the page on which [Prismatic Shape] was artfully scribed into his new spell book, admiring his mother's fine work and the delicate touch of her gossamer lavender bindings, still shimmering with the touch of her stationary crafting. A fine print passage expertly placed in small, uniformly sized letters adorned the page.
Giorgio Benicio Cromwell deGloria. We knew, from the moment we saw your beautiful little eyes glisten the day that we took you to that exhibit in the Silver ring that you would be a mage. We hope that when life gets tough, you remember that you have all the light you need at your fingertips, right inside you. - love, mom and dad.
Gio didn't know how his parents managed to afford a lower-uncommon spell. He knew from overhearing their weekly mini-strategy meeting on Saturday mornings that Mom took a pay cut when she accepted her new position at the insurance company, and the budget had been a bit tighter in the past few months. His parents fought tooth and nail to ensure that their children didn't feel any of the stress that they were under, but that they were on track to be able to pay off the townhouse within the next few years anyway. Her new position would pay dividends in time as she took on new roles in the company, but to make that leap she would need to establish herself for a while first. As she had faith in Gio, he and his father had faith in her, too. Gio chuckled fondly at the fear his mother invoked in the few times he has been able to witness her fully in her element. The staff at the enrollment center in the copper ring were woefully unprepared for a full-ride student to CRA, a deficiency that Divina deGloria would not allow to go unpunished. Though she didn't work in education, her ability to suss out incapability in office staff was astounding in its own right.
Gio was pulled from his musings as the insectoid train rose above the black wall it had been climbing for several minutes, the suspension enchantments not allowing its passengers to feel any turbulence as it transitioned from climbing to gliding down. Gio looked out to see the sparkling towers and prismatic waterfalls of the famous Argentine coast of the Silver Ring spanning the miles in between the circumference of the borders of Iron and Gold rings. He could see the point of the tower of the Crystal Ring Academy glinting off in the distance.
With the reducing circumference of the rings being somewhat dramatic in between tiers aside from the irregularly located sub-rings, the distance over the lush silver ring went by quickly. Still cycling through his mana-shaping exercises, Gio kept a strand of his focus on the window for the entirety of the rest of the trip, pausing only for the delicious complimentary breakfast of eggs benedict and some sort of starchy tuber in an exquisite buttery sauce. Before long, the train coasted downwards over the shorter wall. The view into the golden ring was breathtaking. The Gilded City was nearly painful to look at in the cresting sunlight, radiant in its morning glory. Tall spires hewn from gem-toned stone were capped with architectural wonders of gold, some bearing figurettes of no doubt historical significance. The many houses of nobility and their colorful manors adorned the sprawling hills outside of the city center.
Rising from the center like the hub of a spoked wheel, the Crystal Ring Academy was a ring of its own. The wide and thick, diamantine walls of the dungeon glittered in fractal facets, confounding the eye as waves of enchantment roiled off the entire structure as if heat waves coming from a mirage. The concentric spires of the slightly blue crystalline megastructure had a hypnotizing dance, somewhere between chaotic and very intentional looking. Gio wondered where in the school his dorm would be.
_____
The trip from the train station through the route he had preplanned was slightly dazzling but ultimately uneventful. Even in the nicest, most ruffled finery he had, he couldn’t help but feel slightly under-dressed for the bustling metropolis of the Gilded city. Shopfronts alight with the beginnings of morning commerce lined the tightly packed streets. Even the paving stones underfoot appeared to glisten with flecks of gold and expediency enchantments. With no time to stop in traffic, he compelled himself onwards
Being on a tight budget makes for a quick walk, but some of those cafes smell unreal. I hope the cafeteria at school holds up to the rumors. I will be extorting every ounce of my meal card.
A heavily enchanted sign above a well-stated store greeted Gio, depicting a lifelike hologram of a glowing peacock, each of the quills of its plume bearing a different colored gemstone.”The Frill and Wattle” read the sign, in lavish script. Gio entered through the ruby-tone double doors, wondering if they were made from real ruby panes. A warm scent of parchment and cinnamon met him, as his eyes alighted to sparkling displays and motes of beige… parchment mana? Book mana? Gio was unfamiliar with such a specific subset of energy.
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Trying and hopefully succeeding to not look helpless, he descended upon one of the lower sections of the store, looking through display cases, marked “bargain deals!”. Trying to remember his uncle’s advice, he looked through the wards and abjurations section.
What exactly does profligate spell-turning mean in this context? And why does a lower uncommon abjuration cost 800 Bits!
A tan young woman with wide framed brassy looking spectacles, a loose bun full of sapphire hair, and a very toothy smile came over, towering over Gio even from paces away. “Hello there sir!! Welcome to the emporium, can this one help you find anything?” she said, in a spritely tone not entirely matching up to her imposing frame. Gio managed a shy smile and replied “Hi! Umm- yes, I was wondering if you had any defensive magic for a more tight budget.” Gio braced himself for the worst, steeling his resolve. In a cheerful, but measured tone, the girl spoke; “what sort of budget are we working with today? We have a large selection of spell forms, but to best match you with something, it would help to know exactly what you’re looking for and where about in our catalog we should be looking.”
Okay, I can work with this. “I have about 400 Bits to spend today, and I was hoping to find an uncommon defensive spell, preferably a ward or shield of some kind.” Gio stated. “Alright! Well the section that we’re currently in is more of a generalized section, but if you’ll follow me, I think we might be able to find you something. Be aware that the more desirable uncommon defensive spells tend to be… harder to find around this time of year. You’re a new student at CRA, correct?” the woman asked. Rubbing the back of his head, gio replied, “Is it that obvious? I’m from the Copper Ring, and I was hoping to pick something up before reporting to school in a few hours.” “From the copper ring?! I’ve got some family that work in the Fulgerite mines there! Well, thank you for being forthcoming. Sometimes people can be a little cagey about finances, but we run an honest business here at Frill and Wattle.”
Following the woman through the store, they arrived at a desk, and the clerk began setting out several glass panes containing glowing glyphs, suspended in some sort of holding enchantment. After several rounds of elimination, Gio was down to 6 options.
[Bloodwall] (Tier: Uncommon)(Schools: Necromancy, Unholy, Abjuration, Force, Self-Harm)(Active Ward) Summon a shield of blood from your extremities to conjure a powerful ward against hostile magics. Supremely powerful against holy magic. - 250 Bits
[Dryad’s Pulse] (Tier: Uncommon)(Schools: Nature, Abjuration, Growth, Focus required)(Active Ward) Using a bonded plant, flower, nature spirit, or other sufficient focus, pulse out a field of abjuration nature mana to turn away hostile magic. Less effective against death and fire magic, more effective against water, life, and light magic- 400 Bits
[Mighty Constitution] (Tier: Uncommon)(Schools: Might, Body enhancement)(Passive Ward) Your flesh becomes imbued with the power of might, causing hostile spells to either be less effective against you or not affect you at all. Relies on Strength, and Constitution stats. - 450 Bits
[Reflect] (Tier: Uncommon)(Schools: Mirror, Abjuration)(Active Ward) Summon a plane of abjuration mirror mana to reflect light, magical energy and inferior constructs. Some limited capability to reflect mundane projectiles, based on user skill and limitations. Very effective against light mana.
- 415 Bits
[Crystalline Field] (Tier: Upper Uncommon)(Schools: Earth, Light, Abjuration, Arcane)(Passive Ward/ Active Ward) A field of crystalline mana hardens around you, protecting you from harm. Apply more mana to increase the hardness of this field and potentially grow physical crystals that will dissipate in a few moments. - 1000 SALE 500 Bits
[Mana Shield] (Tier: Lower Uncommon)(Schools: Force, Arcane, Ward)(Passive Ward) A Protective Bubble of Abjurative mana surrounds you. - 345 Bits
“Okay, let’s talk through your options here.” Said Nyara. The Scaled clerk had been incredibly patient and helpful so far. Gio was going to try and… submit a survey. Or something? To relay how pleased and surprised he had been at her taking an hour out of her morning to help him select a spell. “If I’m being honest with myself, Bloodwall and Mana Shield are only here because they’re cheap. I feel like I’d be letting my friends down if I spent the money they worked for on something that I don’t love just because it’s cheap. Plus, bloodwall is gross and probably hurts.” Gio said, circling the table. Nyara examined [Crystalline Field]. “This one is on the other side of the spectrum, how do we feel about it? It’s rare for us to have such a sale, and although it’s outside of your budget, it’s a spell that could last you quite a long time.” Nyara postulated.
Tapping his chin, Gio hummed. “I really shouldn’t. It looks like a stellar spell, it really does, but that extra hundred Bits bites into my budget for the rest of the school year… assuming I go with that, I don’t know if I'll have enough money for an emergency ticket home. I’m gonna say no. But also… this is embarrassing but what is a synergy?” “OH! You have a synergy? That’s great! A synergy is when two or more spells have some sort of interaction when cast, usually affecting the way they work together. The downside is that you have to figure out what exactly that is by yourself unless you know about it beforehand. It is against store policy for me to ask for details about your spellbook, but if you have a synergy, that’s usually a good sign that the spells will work together. It’s a bit of a gamble because it’s not technically impossible for negative synergies to occur, but… I digress. Would you mind reading the first bit of your notification to me? Please leave out the spell names, if you’d be so kind.” Nyara asked.
Blushing slightly, Gio replied. “Sure… it says uh… serendipity, synergy detected between the following spells, and then i have another one that says rare in all uppercase lett-” “pick that one.” Nyara interjected. “What?” Gio was confounded. Leaning in slightly, Nyara whispered conspiratorially “Look… as per store policy, we’re supposed to remain entirely neutral about what our customers pick. We take the whole “honest business” thing really seriously, and we don’t specifically need to make sales. We’re somewhat of a… sponsored business, you could say. But I cannot go further into details about that. To the point, a rare synergy, while a bit of a gamble, can potentially increase the value of the spells associated with it by several rarity levels, depending on what it is. You know how the difference between lower uncommon and regular uncommon is a pretty big deal right? Well what if I told you that a rare synergy could reach lower epic power levels? Now… that’s a fringe case, but I’m just gonna say that we don’t have any records of a rare synergy reported with anything on this table. I don’t know what you’ve got going on in your spellbook, but I’d pick that one.”
Backing up, Nyara’s demeanor shifted from the bubbly clerk to pure business. “Lets make it easy, which one’s the rare synergy?” nyara asked. “Reflect” Gio replied. “Perfect. I’m authorized to give a discount under specific situations. I’ll knock that one down to 400 Bits so it’s within your proposed budget. The Nature spell requires a focus- usually, people looking for spells like that have the focus first. It’d be a different story if you had some wand made out of flowers or something. The necromancy spell is garbage, the might spell is a spellsword spell, and unless you really like getting beat up, I’d ditch that. Mana Shield almost always gets replaced by first-years who pick it, and that crystalline field spell won’t sell. A prominent duelist in the Silver Circuit lost big time after his opponent managed to counter his crystalline field in a particularly brutal upset broadcast live to the whole Ringed City a year ago. If you want it, come back when you get some more Bits and I promise you we will have like fifteen copies for you. It might even be cheaper, it used to be a better seller and we haven't sold one in months.”
Gio was slightly taken aback but assented to the brutal onslaught of logic coming from the imposing clerk. He followed her to the checkout and she bound the spell into his spellbook, commenting about how nice the binding work on his other spells is. She sent him on his way with a lovely packet of complimentary brochures, tips, and tricks accompanying his luxury purchase. She even threw in a small case of spellbook tools like ink and replacement bindings. Overall, Gio was floored with his morning so far. Looking at the time, he briskly marched out of the store, running a little bit behind schedule, but still well within his allotted cushion to get to the Administrative district early.