Tala was able to stand and shift around a bit more on this second version of their unit’s flying contraption.

They had spent part of the time while waiting for Mistress Kep to fully research the cell workshopping the combined construct, and this second version was much more stable as a result.

They’d added some fins which acted like the fletching on an arrow, keeping it oriented as they wanted. The orientation and construction was different from an arrow’s fletching, of course, because they didn’t want their platform to spin to create forward moving, stable flight. Rather, they needed it to remain flat, which required rather different orientations and profiles.

It wasn’t perfect this iteration, but they weren’t working from scratch by any means. Not only did each of those involved have some experience with various aspects, but the Archive also had an incredible number of plans and research notes on various forms of flight, flying contraptions, and concepts underlying magically assisted flight.

Humanity, it seemed, had always been obsessed with the sky, and only magical resonance kept them from it, as slow flight was much harder than fast flight as a rule. Though, the right types of magic negated much of that.

Even so, magical resonance would be less of a problem for non-gated, and higher above the ground… I wonder if there are any flying cities, like the mobile villages. There are moving castles, so why not castles in the sky?

-Maybe? They likely wouldn’t use the principles behind aerodynamic flight though. I’d bet they use something similar to your gravity manipulation, or something like that.-

Yeah, could be. I mean, we’re using it here, and it helps make our creation more functional.

Slightly counterintuitively, they’d made the platform much, much more massive this time around, Master Girt taking the extra time and power to condense and compress nearly five times the amount of rock and stone into a platform of roughly the same dimensions, the exterior becoming a nearly mirror smooth, incredibly hard, glass-like surface.

The added mass gave their craft inertia, which made it more power intensive to maneuver, but also gave its motions more stability, reducing the tremors and minor fluctuations that had been an issue last time.

Tala again had removed basically all of its effective gravity, which removed most of the issue with keeping the thing up, and did make it more efficient to operate than expected, all things considered.

Terry was still sitting in his preferred position, though now he had a sculpted perch upon which to… well… perch, as the wind tousled his feathers.

That was very kind of Master Limmestare.

-Didn’t take him very long or much effort.-

Most small kindnesses don’t.

-That’s fair.-

They glided through the air under magical power and at Mistress Cerna’s direction. The ground passing beneath them, and the occasional creature attacking them, were different than their trip out, not because they’d killed most of those creatures, which they had, but because they weren’t going straight back to Alefast.

Instead, they were making a requested stop at a private research post a bit to the east, out on the plains.

Tala wasn’t the first to spot it, but after Master Limmestare pointed it out in the distance, Tala was able to pick out the winding valley among the rolling hills.

It was a thoroughly agricultured section of land, looking to cover nearly a square mile, stretched out in the dells and valleys between numerous hills, only occasionally cresting those hills with some lower foliage, likely to not be too visible from afar.

Honestly, Tala wouldn’t have noticed it at all from the ground level, as the plains had quite tall grass as well as the occasional shrub and tree.

It’s well hidden.

-Makes sense. Being out here, you’d have to avoid arcanous or magical attention, especially around the waning.-

Yeah, that tracks. I wonder what they use to diffuse the ‘human’ sense to their magic? I don’t detect even a hint, and I think that I should if they have active magics in effect.

-I suppose we’ll see soon enough.-

As they drew closer, coming from above, Tala felt a power thrumming through the air, almost behind the natural zeme of the area. It didn’t feel human, but it didn’t feel arcane either. It just felt… natural.

To Tala’s varied magical senses, it seemed to command: GROW.

Now that the valley was closer, Tala was able to see that there were several small structures tucked in, artfully, among the various vegetation.

Tala looked around and marveled at the blend of natural and cultivated that the area managed to achieve. There was nothing that stood out as being ‘unnatural,’ but it was also just as obviously too clean—or ordered—to feel like some random patch of the wilds.

Near the largest—though still modest—building, there was a large enough clearing to land in.

Mistress Cerna, to her credit, set them down right in the middle.

As a detraction, it was a rather hard landing, causing everyone to bounce around a little.

The Refined and Paragon maintained their balance easily enough.

Terry flickered to the ground nearby, glaring back at Mistress Cerna and squawking irritably.

The impact had been enough to crack the reinforced windscreen, but a flicker of power from Master Limmestare saw all damage fade away.

The stone beneath their feet was fine.

The craft had bounced a bit, settling back down beside where it had initially impacted.

The ground where they’d hit first was noticeably indented, and the grass was positively squashed.

“Well, you all certainly know how to make an entrance.” A strong, clearly feminine voice floated from among the trees behind Tala.

Tala spun to face the source and found her eyes alighting on a tall woman, wrapped in clean, but not fastidious, saffron Mage’s robes.

Her skin was thoroughly tanned in the way that only those nearly perpetually outside for years achieved. Her brown hair was lightly shot through with grey, and she was on the muscular side for a Mage, likely for the same reason that she was tan.

She was clearly the tender of this oasis of cultivation in the wilds.

She would have appeared to be about forty, if she were mundane, but the color of her magics—clearly active in a ready state—matched her robes almost exactly, meaning that she would have had her aging magically slowed for at least a good while.

Nearly Refined? It was interesting to see the matching colors, as it was obviously not an accident. Wasn’t there a trend a few centuries ago to wear clothing that matched your advancement, so that even mundanes and those without active magesight could tell?

-I do think I remember that from one of the histories. Why were we reading about Mage fashion again?-

You know very well. We wanted to consider shaping the elk leathers differently.

-We never did do that.-

Yeah… we never did.

The woman gave a shallow bow in their direction, keeping a firm grip on her clearly magical spear, which had its butt planted firmly in the soil. “Refined, Paragon, welcome to my home.”

Terry flickered to Tala’s shoulder, and the woman’s eyes tracked the movement.

“I don’t have much use for arcanous creatures in these parts.”

“He is with me.” Tala’s voice wasn’t harsh, but it was firm.

She held Tala’s gaze for a long moment before nodding slowly, “So long as he stays with you, I won’t contest it.”

Master Clevnis cleared his throat. “Now that that is settled, I’m Clevnis. We were passing by, and Master Grediv asked that we drop through to verify your safety and see if you needed anything.”

The woman’s harsh exterior cracked slightly. “Master Grediv? That old goat’s still in the area?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Master Clevnis chuckled. “Yeah.”

“He swore he had given up on that family of his generations ago.” She shook her head, a mirthful, clearly caring, smile pulled at her lips. “I knew him to be the best sort of liar.”

She looked them over with narrowed eyes before shaking her head and waving them forward.

“Alright, well, you might as well follow me. There’s a kettle on, and there’s plenty to go around.”

The unit and Mistress Kep followed the woman as she walked toward her home.

“I’m Sae-tz, but most call me Sae. You can tell the old man that I’m fine. Your magesight will already have shown that my research is coming along splendidly.”

Tala frowned. “What exactly are you researching?”

Mistress Sae glanced her way, cocking an eyebrow. “I must have missed your name, Mistress…”

Tala cleared her throat. “My apologies, Tala. I’m Tala.”

Mistress Sae stopped in her tracks. “Wait… Mistress Tala?”

“Yes?”

“You’re the one who convinced the Culinary Guild to share all their research into arcanous harvest?”

Tala frowned. Mistress Ingrit was meant to have been the public face for that, even to most of the Culinary Guild. “I think you must be thinking of Mistress Ingrit.”

Mistress Sae waved that off. “Yes, yes, the Librarian did her duty and put her name on everything, but I know people. You’re that Tala?”

Her unit was giving her odd looks, and even Mistress Kep seeming interested in the answer.

Great… Paragon… Lying won’t help.

-Is there really a reason to lie?-

I suppose not… Tala sighed. “Yes.”

Mistress Sae squealed—as in literally squealed—in surprised glee. “YOU! Oh, you advanced my research by decades!” The woman laughed, taking a step toward Tala, then faltering. “I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat, brushed her robes unnecessarily, and smiled. “I’m just so excited to meet you.”

Tala gave an uncertain smile. “I mean, I didn’t do very much, and it’s not like I’m well versed in the information they shared.”

“Oh, of course you aren’t but you…” Mistress Sae shook her head. “There aren’t words. Thank you.”

Tala shrugged. “I suppose I’m glad to have been of help? What are you researching anyways?”

The woman’s smile turned to a ferocious grin. “I am pursuing Refining via herbology, arcanous plants, and Alchemy.”

There was a stunned silence from everyone present.

“I am, of course, my own test subject.” She shrugged. “I think my aura speaks for itself, no?”

Tala glanced at her again. “I suppose I’d have to know where you started. You’re… ninety percent of the way through Refining, from the point you can get to with inscriptions, give or take. So, ninety-five percent of the way from Fused to Refined.”

The woman nodded. “That’s my estimate as well, give or take. I did one session of Refining and decided that it wasn’t for me.” She quirked a smile. “That said, I wasn’t willing to give up on Immortality. After all, I achieved that point at seventy. So here we are.”

Tala blinked in surprise for two reasons.

First, seventy was actually quite a young age for a first Refining session, Tala and other exceptional cases excepted.

Second, Sae didn’t look young, and she didn’t seem the type to have wasted time and resources to look old falsely. That meant that assuming she was Bound by thirty and Fused by forty, giving her thirty years to get a point where she could have Refining inscriptions, and to have them fully set and alter her physiology to the proper point, all before getting to a place that she was ready for the attempt…

After all that, given how old she looked…

She could easily be over fifteen hundred years old.

Of course, that was all guess work, but it stood to reason as she was experimenting with similar things as Master Jevin, and that Paragon had been Reforging for a long time.

In truth, Tala was estimating very low across the board, giving Mistress Sae as long as theoretically reasonable for her to have been working on this task.

The group started walking again as Mistress Sae began to wax poetic on all the things that she had learned through the information she’d purchased from the Culinary Guild.

Tala knew firsthand how long and tedious a process it was to create new formulations for concoctions, let alone for entire plans of treatment. So, she could understand the value of what had been purchased from this woman’s point of view.

Mistress Sae had created an incredible series of salves, potions, infusions, and injections that moved her through the Refining advancement.

She felt like she was close to completion of her research. According to her estimates, it would only be, maybe another couple hundred years, and she’d have it.

Yeah, I think I probably got close on her age. Though, now that she thought about it, aging likely continued to slow, the closer one got to Refined.

-You know what? I actually haven’t seen any mention of that anywhere, or evidence in that regard.-

Huh… might be interesting to find out.

-Not now.-

Yeah, not now.

Tala almost asked why the Fused wasn’t sharing her knowledge already—given its success—to help others have an easier time Refining, but she stopped, realizing that there was still no proof that that was actually true.

It was possible that Mistress Sae had already done something that would prevent the final actualization of her Refining.

She needs to prove it works all the way to the end before it’s right to share it with others.

-Yeah, there are always people who would jump on the easier road, and I can only imagine the guilt and horror she would feel if she condemned a generation of Mages to dying a stone’s throw from immortality because she rushed the releasing of her research.-

Tala shuddered internally. Yeah…

True to her words, Mistress Sae had a kettle on in her small home, but there wasn’t room for everyone inside. Therefore, they sat in a circle of lovely chairs outdoors.

The chairs were especially interesting, because they seemed to be made from still growing trees, elegantly split, woven, and recombined to form living furniture.

The Fused was winding down her excited exhortations on the Culinary Guild’s research, and she didn’t seem to have another topic ready to hand as she was not interested in sharing anything overly specific about her research and accidently giving too much insight into it.

Thus, into the slight lull, Master Clevnis spoke up, “Mistress Sae, the reason we are here—aside from the stated one of checking in on you—is to warn you that the current waning is shaping up to be an extraordinarily hard one. Are you confident in your safety if the local creatures are more numerous and more powerful?”

Mistress Sae seemed to take a long moment to consider. “From the looks of it, how much more numerous and powerful?”

“We are already seeing a power and frequency of attacks that are normal for five years from now.”

She frowned. “That is unfortunate. Does Master Grediv expect it to follow standard patterns or to continue a faster ramp up?”

“Honestly, we aren’t sure, but his guess was a faster ramp up.”

She grimaced, then. “Unfortunate indeed. Even so, I should be fine. I will accelerate the growth of my protections, which will be inconvenient but shouldn’t be overly burdensome.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I knew I established too close to this city site. This has been a pain each cycle.”

Tala blinked a few times. Each cycle?

-Well, if your guess is right, this could be her second or third? But probably just second.-

Yeah…

While Tala was thinking to herself, Master Clevnis was checking with the Fused, clearly concerned that she was overestimating herself.

The woman continued to try to pacify him, but he refused to be put off.

Finally, Mistress Sae huffed a laugh. “I only have to contend with those who happen upon me. I don’t draw them in. Have you noticed that you’re within my aura?”

The unit shifted, glancing around, but Mistress Kep simply smiled, not seeing a need to say anything in response.

“I thought that most of you wouldn’t have. I drink a tincture of Mage’s Bane every morning. My magic is as pure as the zeme that surrounds us. In this case, they are one and the same, but you get my meaning.”

Everyone had a different reaction.

Master Limmestare’s eyes flicked to the mug in his own hands.

Master Girt grimaced and dumped his out on principle.

Mistress Vanga stiffened ever so slightly but didn’t otherwise react.

Master Clevnis slowly stood, looking around with deliberate slowness, seemingly checking to ensure they weren’t about to be set upon.

Tala simply frowned. Mage’s Bane… that’s an extinct plant, right?

-Apparently not.-

I don’t think I’ve come across mention of it since I saw it in my father’s book. I can’t quite remember it… care to help?

-I’ll do what I can.-

The tea, when drunk, surrounds the gate on a metaphysical level, greatly dampening through-put while purifying the power.

-Yeah, that’s what I can see from the memory, too. You didn’t understand the name then, but I think I do now. It also seems like it might have been one of the bases for the arcane purification scripts for their vestiges.-

Yeah. As to the name, the effect lasts twenty-six hours, almost precisely, if enough is taken. If the dosage is too weak to work it does nothing at all.

-And with twenty-four hours of your power being too weak to power much, if anything, any magic bound item is lost, and the Mage is effectively crippled, magically, during that time.-

Yeah, I don’t remember the precise analysis tables, but the rough estimation stuck in my mind.

-It was easy enough. Five percent.-

A Mage who has Mage’s Bane working within them has effectively five percent of their standard throughput.

The Fused sitting calmly across from them didn’t seem diminished at all. Her throughput wasn’t impressive, but it was well within standard for a Fused.

So, her unimpeded throughput is twenty times what we’re seeing?

-If that’s so… I have to say that that’s rather impressive. A throughput of that level is much more than we can draw on.-

In the short moment that Tala was dialoguing with Alat, the final member of the unit had reacted to the mention of Mage’s Bane.

Mistress Cerna had seemed to conjure a silver cage around her mug that didn’t do anything obvious before it vanished. “There is none in this tea.”

Mistress Sae huffed a laugh. “Of course, there isn’t. Mage’s Bane is rare to say the least. I might have the only plants in this part of the continent. There’s no reason that I’d waste it on random strangers who mean me no harm.”

Mistress Kep nodded once, clearly confirming the statement, and everyone relaxed.

Master Clevnis sat back down, clearly a bit disgruntled. “Well, that oddity aside. Let’s finish up. I’m sure there’s much that you want to do.”

Mistress Sae smiled back, “And I’m sure you’d like to get back to the city.”

“Indeed.”

“Then, by all means, what else can I do for you? And when we’re done with that, there's a new irrigation technique that I just have to tell you about. It is decidedly on my ‘want to do’ list.” She grinned a bit mischievously.

It was going to be a long afternoon.