Tala sat down with Adrill, Brandon, Kedva, and Master Nadro, joining in on their conversation, “What did I miss?”

Adrill smiled, nodding in greeting along with the other two before answering her question, “We just outlined the basics of what occurred, leading up to our rebirth as arcane magic users.”

Master Nadro chuckled. “Well, human wielders of the arcane might be more accurate, but sometimes accuracy breeds greater confusion.”

Adrill gave a slow nod before continuing. “He said that you gave him access to the advancement manual?”

“I did.” She smiled. “If there is anything in it that he doesn’t know already, I want him to have access to it.”

Master Nadro interjected then, “None of the concepts were unknown to me, not really. That said, there were several interestingly different ways of approaching things that would have made my journey much easier, had I known them at the time. There were also a few things that aren’t exactly useful, and which might actually be detrimental. I’ve noted them for you.”

Tala smiled. “Thank you. I’d hoped to have your expert opinion.”

“Of course.”

Brandon frowned, even as he held Kedva’s hand, still hung up on something that Master Nadro had said, “Your journey?”

Master Nadro nodded, “Now that Mistress Tala is here, we can truly begin. First of all, you should be aware of something that is not widely known: I am gateless.”

Three sets of eyes widened in shock.

Adrill collected himself the fastest, “But, Master Nadro, I can see some of your magic. Begging your pardon, but you are more advanced, magically, than Mistress Tala.”

So, he’s letting them see his advancement?

-So it seems.-

Hmmm… building trust in his expertise?

-That’s likely.-

Master Nadro nodded again in response. “I am, and I have worked hard to be so.”

Brandon, Adrill, and Kedva noticeably leaned in, expectant.

In contrast, Master Nadro leaned back in his chair. “All that time has given me the perspective to be of some help to you, so listen close.”

They nodded, staying silently attentive.

“Arcane advancement comes down to a single thing: Hold onto power.”

He let that sit for a long moment before continuing.

“That is the underpinning of their entire society. Hold onto power. Those who can claim it don’t let it go. Those who have it leverage it to get more. Their social structures are as designed to concentrate power in the elites of their various species as their magical techniques are designed to concentrate power within themselves.”

Tala felt herself nodding. That lined up with her experiences quite well.

“Now, the how is rather a different story.” He turned to Tala, “Mistress Tala, can you create a graduated series of rooms each with a lower concentration of magic?”

She thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I can. What percentage decreases?”

“Let’s start with ten percent.”—he turned to the three who were writing notes on their Archive slates—”When you step from one room to another, I want you to focus internally. Focus on wanting the power to linger.”

Kedva frowned. “That’s it? Just ‘want’ it?”

He gave a small smile. “We are trying to train your will. It will seem like it’s doing nothing for quite a long while, but eventually, you will notice that it takes a small amount more time to lose your magic. That’s when you can really begin.”

There were nods of understanding, but they all seemed skeptical.

“At that point, you’ll want to continue to practice that as well as the opposite.”

Brandon frowned, “The opposite?”

But his father was smiling, “Ahh, that makes sense.”

Brandon turned to Adrill, “Dad?”

Adrill glanced toward Master Nadro, and the ancient man nodded with a smile, “By all means, tell us what you think the reason is.”

He turned to his son, “If all we can do is slow the outlet, we’re only working our will in one direction, forcing ourselves to hold onto power. Practicing the other way will allow us to better vary our use of magic in the future.”

Master Nadro’s smile grew with genuine pleasure, “That is exactly right. Well reasoned. I can see your position as a researcher is indeed well-earned.”

Adrill gave a small, happy smile.

“So, we have your next steps planned. That established, there are a few other things that we need to address.”

That pulled everyone’s full focus back to the man.

“I gather that the incident which began all of this wasn’t planned? Or at least these results weren’t the desired outcome. Is that true?”

Tala looked down, nodding in affirmation, “That is true, sir.”

“So? Who was at fault?”

Tala scrunched down in her seat between Adrill and Kedva, feeling rather exposed.

Rust…

Brandon sat on Kedva’s other side and Master Nadro completed the small circle.

It was apparently time to discuss who was to blame for the three gateless’s rebirths into arcane style magics.

Tala didn’t really want to discuss it, given her mountains of internal self-recrimination.

So, there was a moment of silence.

Then, in what should likely not have been a surprise, Adrill spoke, “No one was at fault, Master Nadro. It was something that several of us could have thought of, and at least two of us probably should have realized the possibility, but even then, it would just have been to recognize the possibility.”

Brandon chimed in then, “I for one had wondered what the elevated, ambient magic would do to the people and things inside, but I decided it wasn’t worth asking.”—he held up a hand when Tala opened her mouth to speak—”I know that my query would have been addressed, and it would have been a good learning experience, but I wanted to do the experiment. I was excited to see something meld with Kit, and I chose to ignore my own internal inquiries.”

Tala grimaced. “It was entirely my fault. I have perfect recall, and I knew that this level of power was well above what the arcanes used to initiate their babies.”

“Ahh.” Master Nadro nodded sagely. “Then, that’s our answer. You knew that this would happen and tricked them into being within your sanctum at the time of the change over?”

“What? No!” Tala sat up straight, her face the picture of confusion.

“Oh, my mistake, then. So, you chose not to review those memories cognizantly beforehand, thus opening yourself up to such an error?”

“No. I didn’t even consider it.” She shook her head. “That’s the issue.”

“Ahh, I see. So, you regularly review all your memories before any test or somewhat new act of magic?”

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“No.”

“Then… how is this your fault?”

“I should have known. I made the connection as it was happening, but it was too late to do anything about it. If I’d been even a second or two faster in my realization, then I could have sent them away, to a less magically dense part of my sanctum, or… well, I might have been able to do something.”

Master Nadro shook his head, “We could convict anyone on might-haves, could-haves, and if-onlys, Mistress Tala. From what I have heard, and from what the others have told me, you did everything that you could have, reasonably. A perfect recall can be as much a curse as a blessing, because it leaves your brain with too much to sort through.”

Tala grunted, grimacing again.

“The human mind is designed to forget things. It allows what we do remember to stand out in greater contrast, it helps us keep our thoughts in order, and grow into a better person each day. If we are constantly bogged down in the minutiae of the past, how can we ever improve ourselves, and move on to become better versions of who we want to be?”

She opened her mouth, but found no words coming to her.

-Well, rust… This is my fault?-

Tala huffed a laugh in her own head, Don’t you start, now.

-Well, we both know that if it was ‘your’ fault, it was really mine. My whole purpose is to process all that you know and remember and keep you apprised of what should be in the forefront of your thoughts.-

You know, you say that a lot of things are your ‘whole purpose’ or things very nearly the same as that.

-No I don’t.-

I’m pretty sure you do. In fact, I can remember quite a—

-Fine. I say it a lot. I have a lot of purposes. I’m very useful. I just messed up here.-

So did I.

-Well, I think we’ve both messed up in this. Master Nadro’s right. I need to shift how we have our brain organized. We’ll keep our perfect memory, but I’m going to create a ‘standard memory model’ skin over the top for you and I. That way, we’ll function like normal, but if we want to delve into a particular memory, or remember something that has slipped our memory, I can easily get it for us.-

Tala considered for a moment. Agreed. That sounds like it could be wise.

She nodded, acknowledging Master Nadro. “You may be right. I had not considered that flaw in my standard way of operating. Thank you.”

He huffed a laugh, “Thus making it your fault again?”

She shook her head, “No. If I had been exercising poorly out of ignorance, leaving a part of my body weak, then I dropped something because that part of me gave out, I wouldn’t be at fault. I would be the cause—the impetus—as I am here, but I wouldn’t really be to blame.”

He sighed, giving a half smile. “Well, that is progress I suppose.”

He looked to the others, then back to Tala.

“What do you say you set up the training rooms for them, then you and I have a chat, eh?”

Tala smiled in return. “I think I would like that.”

* * *

Tala made quick work of the training rooms.

She built them as a series of walled-in spaces with open arches between each for easy passage through.

She didn’t bother with a roof, which made the whole process faster, and since the three didn’t need privacy to accomplish their training, she only needed to make a singular set.

When they became more advanced, they could simply enter in the more magically sparse rooms, rather than progressing through the linear series of courtyards.

She tucked them in an out of the way valley along the road that the arcanes had initially built before they moved the entrance from Kit’s edge to her center.

Thus, while it took a bit of effort to set up, once she’d managed to convey to Kit what she wanted with the power density, it became a self-sustaining process.

It’s good that we’re able to do that, honestly. It means that we can actually make ‘visiting’ areas for gateless to be able to come in without undergoing a rebirth.

-And if we ever have to treat with arcanes, it can be a place that we can allow them into without being in danger of empowering them.-

I… had not even considered that being an issue.

-That’s because you haven’t considered the idea of ever treating with arcanes again.-

That’s quite fair, yes. Well, aside from the villages… and Lisa, but I didn’t really think of inviting them into Kit.

Regardless, she and Master Nadro were now alone.

Tala, still not wanting to discuss the things that needed discussing, asked about something else, “So, should I be expecting those three to become immortal powerhouses like you?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Not likely, no. They will have a better shot at it than basically any in the arcane lands, though.”—he hesitated—“That said, no one in the arcane lands has as rich an environment as this sanctum has become. Don’t forget the fact that you should have been unable to have filled this place up with power. Not at all. It is only the soulbinding process—because of Kit’s somewhat unique nature—that equalized the power density within here with your natural state. Then, the purification magics have processed all that power.”

Tala nodded slowly. I can feel it straining my gate to pull more power through, to replenish what is used.

-And being soulbound, it should advance when you do, if we’re lucky. Otherwise, it’s never going to be more dense than this.-

Wait… that means that I had a nearly infinite well of my own power to pull from before I used the purification scripts?

-...Maybe? You'd have had to refill it. So, if you tapped it too deeply, you might have been magically crippled for years, until it was refilled.-

Even so, I gave it up without realizing what I even had… Her eyes narrowed in thought. Did master Lisa know?

-Maybe? Who knows. I know it doesn’t work that way for normal storage items, even those that are soulbound. That is one hundred percent something that would be spread around, and then, there’d be even more of an emphasis on making storages larger before soulbinding them.-

Also, I suppose, City Stone holders use power that isn't their own, so I could probably figure something out, if I really needed to.

Master Nadro leaned forward, giving her a very serious look. “I think you know this better than I do, but no one from the Major Houses can ever be allowed to know the specific details about this place. The very idea of an entire hold at this power density…”—he shook his head—“Even though there’d be little chance of extorting you to use it, there would be some that would try. After all, even Major Houses only keep their holds in the upper ranges of the Mature—or Fused—magical density. Yours, here, is pushing near to the lowest reaches of Honored—or Paragon.” He shook his head with a smile. “You really do have an astonishing density for your advancement. Regardless, there are always fools who take the path of folly in a vain attempt to seek a shortcut to power.”

Tala cleared her throat. “That extreme?”

He gave her a flat look. “By being in here, anyone can sit at the Elder advancement. Well, at least they could, after the smallest amount of training on how to take advantage of it. That means an incredibly long life, Mistress Tala. A long life in perfect or near perfect health.”

Tala blinked at him. “Wait… so they will live longer than ‘Mature’ humans, by advancement?”

“With the basic level of training they will be able to, yes, but not on their own merits, and they will not be powerhouses…” He paused at that. “Well, at least they won’t be for a long time.”

He shook his head and laughed.

“Anyone can become a genius at basically anything if given enough time. This arrangement of circumstances here, gives that in gold.”

Tala rocked backwards. “Master Nadro, I have Adrill’s wife trying to train with magic to increase her lifespan to match her husband’s. There is no chance she’ll ever become Bound, let alone Fused.”

“Then Adrill should never learn to extend his lifespan beyond what it will already be extended to. If he does, he will have to resist using that aspect of his abilities.”

She felt a wave of relief. “So, that’s possible? To learn, but not actually extend his life? He won’t be forced into longevity just by being in here?”

“Not forced, no, but he will have to stagnate and let himself die. In this environment?” he drew in a deep, full breath, “Power is practically begging to integrate itself with every part of you. Is it possible for a man to die of thirst while sitting in a spring of crystal clear, clean water? Of course, he simply must resist the urge to drink.”

“...that seems like it will need to be a conversation.”

Master Nadro nodded. “I plan on having it with him and his wife. There are many options available to them, and I am meeting them this evening to talk through the ins and outs of their particular situation.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“It is my pleasure.”

Tala hesitated for a long moment. Then, she just had to ask. “Why is this unique? I know the City Stones contain pure power. I also have guessed that they are purposely wasteful because they just can’t absorb all the power coming in fast enough. Why don’t we have an army of people like you?” She hesitated then continued, “Well, not like you, but advanced humans?”

He nodded again. “That is an excellent question. First of all, you are forgetting that City Stones are filled with mixed magic, coming, for the most part, through the gates of hundreds of thousands of non-Mages. Those disparate sources make the power slightly problematic for those wielding conceptual-based magics. Moreover, concentrating power is much more complicated and costly than you likely realize, even with items like the stone your sanctum consumed. Though, I suppose you have some idea, given your experiences to the south. If it was easy to take weak power and make a magical paradise…?”

“Yeah… every Major House would have done it.”

“Exactly, and that’s just the first issue. You bypass that, because the power in here is coming from a single source before being purified and contained within a soulbound space. Even then, that would normally restrict the haven to a single recipient of the power, but with your sanctum bypassing that issue quite nicely, we arrive at the crossroads of improbability which is this opportunity for the non-gated.”

“I imagine there are other issues, even so?”

“Oh my, yes.”

“So… how did you do it then? Did you find some paradise of magic? Gain a boon?”

Master Nadro barked a laugh. “Oh, stars no.”

“Then, if I can ask… how?”

He gave her a long, searching look. Finally, he nodded once. “I suppose you deserve to know at least a little.”

Finally.