Tala staggered again, even as the Reality-Mage’s dust fully dispersed.

This time, it wasn’t because she was still missing an arm.

No, she staggered under the sudden assault from the power within the air of the cell.

She could do nothing to keep it back as it inexorably roiled toward her, pushing her aura aside.

At least, she could do nothing until she focused strongly on her own magic, and the void which existed between all things, separating her aura from the rest of the cell.

Her power rushed out, filling her aura with dense magic, and her threefold sight saw that the distinction between the clashing forces was much clearer than had existed even moments before.

Only then did the pressure seem to let up, at least enough for Tala to temporarily hold her ground.

The issue lay in that Reiki had held sway over a massive amount of Reality’s authority and power, but she was gone, and Reality seemed to want an outlet.

It wanted balance, and things were incredibly out of whack.

The power of Reality wanted to rush out of the cell and crash upon Zeme like a tidal wave, but Tala—her aura, authority, and area of sovereignty—were in the way, plugging that hole.

Still, the power had to go somewhere.

Tala had no idea where it had come from, so she didn’t really know what was needed to use it.

Magic came from the next world. Void was found within the divisions between all things. Reality…?

Yeah, she had no clue.

Oh, she knew that Reiki had somehow drawn it through her own twisted soul, but that wasn’t really an answer.

That was like saying someone acted cruelly because they were a mean person.

That didn’t actually explain the why, or in this case the where from and what for.

-Tala, the power in the air diminished when Reiki passed.-

Yes, Alat, the source of power is gone, so there is less of it.

-No!- Tala felt the mental equivalent of a poke to the forehead. -Listen! It took power from the storm here in the cell to reduce Reiki to dust.-

Tala froze for an instant, processing that. Letting Reality exert itself uses up whatever this power actually is.

That was so obvious she felt a bit foolish for not realizing it. She knew that the power was somehow related to Reality, but that didn’t actually tell her what it was.

It was the equivalent of knowing that light let her see things, and that didn’t actually give more than the basic information on what light actually was.

Regardless, she had a potential go-forward in mind.

I had to speak to let it work…

She nodded to herself, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

The nearby town caught her attention again, “No untended town would be standing after millennia, and this town has only held the dead.”

There was an odd resonance through the air as the vibrations of her words rippled outward.

It felt almost like something checked the truth of her statement.

The feeling was among the oddest she’d ever felt.

It was like looking at a friend with a finger held up for her to wait, while he flipped through a book to check on the accuracy of her claim.

But on a conceptual level.

Is Reality fact checking me?

-I don’t know… yes?-

Then, before her eyes, the walls of the town and everything within the ancient bastion of humanity began to erode at a prodigious rate.

Tala stood as if a statue observing the passage of centuries as they tore the town down to nothing, removing all traces that it had ever been there at all.

Tala knew that there should have been some remnants, but Reality seemed to be going a little overboard at the moment.

That took… almost none of the power from the air.

Rust. Tala could probably make a good go at removing the taint from the cell through various methods—rust, she could probably just dump power outward to erode Reality’s hold, there—but she felt like getting an expert opinion and assistance would be wiser.

-Master Xeel?-

Yes, good idea. She looked over her shoulder and called, “Master Xeel! The prisoner is dead, and I need help with another problem.”

A moment later, Master Xeel stood beside her, looking around. “I’m glad you weren’t compromised, but what happened?”

She briefly explained, and the Reforged nodded in understanding.

“So, the authority in the air outside your aura is that of Reality itself?”

“Yes, only filling my aura with a focus on magic and void is holding it back…”

“You have done well, exceedingly well, actually. Would you be alright if I took it from here?”

She almost said yes, grateful to pass off the issue to someone else, but then she hesitated. She could use this as an opportunity to learn. “Can… Can I see what you do? Can you explain it to me?”

He hesitated for a moment in turn, then shrugged. “It is simple, really. Most see the tripod of existence as in balance, pushing against each other, but they can also be seen as sides of the same coin.”

Tala frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain the basics with a rather trite play on words. Please don’t read too much into it.”

She nodded her agreement.

“Alright, in Existence, the opposite of Reality is Void-Magic—a combining of the other two pillars. Correct?”

“That is my understanding.”

“Good. Now, you could also say that Reality is a thing that is Void of Magic.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but then paused, a frown creasing her face. “Wait… Then, Magic is a thing that is Void of Reality?” She began nodding again as she considered her own question. “At its deepest sense, I can actually see that, but Void? The Magic of Reality? Does that work?”

Master Xeel shrugged. “Or the Reality of Magic is the creation of Voids. And the Magic of Reality is that it is mostly Void.”

“That’s… a bit silly?” She frowned. Even though it was silly, it actually fit incredibly well.

“I did say it was a trite play on words, but it is true nevertheless. So, to deal with an abundance of Reality, we are really dealing with a place or thing that is Void of Magic to a larger extent.”

“Is that… it?”

“No, but it comes out to nearly the same thing. All that we really need to do is dump power into this cell until all the Reality is balanced out. Without the prisoner to continue to add to the imbalance, that should be all that is required. And in the end, the place will have a much greater existence than it did before.”

“So… I destroyed that town for nothing?”

Master Xeel grinned. “Not for nothing. It shows that you grasped a key part of what was going on. Unfortunately, there simply isn’t enough within this cell that is counter to Reality to fully correct the imbalance naturally.”

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He took a deep breath, and Tala felt his gate open wider, like the ending of an eclipse.

“May I have your permission for my power to pass through your aura?”

Tala responded without any hesitation, “Absolutely.”

That was all he needed. So nothing further required, Master Xeel exploded with undirected power, simply dumping his ridiculous throughput outward.

It easily passed through Tala’s aura and slammed into the power that had been pressing inward.

That clash gave Tala an interesting realization.

The Reality power isn’t pushing inward, not really. An overturned cup didn’t spill because the water was actively pushing downward. It was just the nature of existence for it to flow down, out of the overturned cup.

Similarly, Reality existed to be in balance with Void and Magic, and it was ‘flowing’ in a way to accomplish just that.

The magic was, itself, obviously balancing out that side of things, but as silly as it seemed, the very fact that the magic was distinct from the reality it was blending with, meant that the process, itself, was carrying or generating void in the maelstrom of powers.

There was really nothing much left for Tala to do, and so she waited and watched as Master Xeel countered the millennia of work enacted by a Reality Mage.

It didn’t take long for Tala to notice how quickly Master Xeel was progressing.

When she did, she asked how that was possible. After all, Reiki seemingly had spent millennia within the cell.

Master Xeel smiled and responded simply with a question, “If you had eternity to fill a space with magic, how much power could you pack in?”

She considered for a moment, then nodded. “Likely only to a point that was a bit more dense than my own magical density. The process would likely allow me to increase my own density some, but it wouldn’t be infinitely recurring.”

“Precisely. This Reality Mage only had a certain density that she could achieve, and while the fact of that density is actually incredibly impressive, it isn’t infinite, and the tyranny of advancement comes into play.”

She thought for a long moment before asking the obvious question. “How magically dense are you?”

He chuckled, not at all offended. “Not much more so than you, actually, but that’s mainly due to your unusually high density and my own peculiarities. My focus is on throughput, and in that, I am unmatched.”

His smile was so genuine that Tala didn’t take his words for arrogance.

It was a simple fact that he’d conveyed in order to answer the question that she, herself, had asked. He was the greatest source of magic known to gated humanity.

“Thank you. It is good to have a point of reference.”

“Of course, we need to understand that which we are striving for. I look forward to the day that you unseat me, Mistress Tala. In that vein, how are you feeling about the advancement toward Paragon? Your enlightening, as it were.”

Tala sighed. “Honestly, I feel alright? I feel like I’m making good progress. I’ve only been on the road for a year, and already I have a few percent of progress or so.”

He blinked at her a few times. “Ah, so you are taking the long view of things?”

“What?” She frowned, not understanding, “Even if I just continue at this pace, I will be a Paragon within fifty years. That’s insanely fast, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes and no.”

Her frown deepened. “That didn’t really clarify anything?”

He chuckled. “A half-century to reach enlightenment is a significantly faster pace than the vast majority of Refined are setting. So, yes.”

His grin said that he wasn’t done, however, and he proved that true by continuing.

“Truthfully, though, that’s a biased sample set. That same vast majority are almost entirely still on that path and have yet to reach the end. After all, every Refined to ever live is or was on the path to Paragon. So, really, the most important metric is a comparison to those who have actually achieved advancement to the level of Paragon. Of those, most accomplished it in under fifty years. So, that’s the no, it would not be insanely fast.”

He seemed to pause a moment before nodding.

“Let me ask you another question.”

“Alright.” She let herself focus more fully on his words as he spoke again.

“Which do you think is easier, plumbing the universe—and your place in it—for new knowledge and insight the first time? Or diving into thoughtful contemplation and coming back out with new insight the hundredth time?”

Tala considered for a moment. “I think the answer you are aiming for me to give is that it is easier the first time.”

That made him smile; though he didn’t glance her way. “And the answer that you would give?”

She shrugged. “I think it depends on where you are diving in from. Sure, if you change nothing—and seek insight from the same place, under the same circumstances, and with the same desires every time—then you’ll strip that ‘area’ of insight bare rather quickly. However, if you approach things in new and varied ways, put yourself in new circumstances, and maintain an attitude of learning, then each dive should be as fruitful—if not more so—than the first.”

Master Xeel turned to her, then, and smiled. “Well then, Mistress Tala, I think that your road to enlightenment might be shorter than I had assumed.” He paused for a moment before adding, “But don’t forget what you, yourself, said. You must actively seek those different places, mindsets, and motivations from—and with—which to seek insight.”

She grunted, nodding her understanding. There was a moment of silence before she glanced his way. “So… why don't you reply to my Archive messages?”

“Three main reasons.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, I try to keep busy enough that I don’t really have much free time.”

“I suppose that’s understandable.”

“Second, I’m sure the questions you ask take even more thought and consideration than most.”

She narrowed her eyes, feeling like she knew what the last reason was going to be.

“Finally, hot-inscribing Archive connections is a pain.”

Tala sighed. “So, you don’t actually see any of my messages.”

“Well, I do on occasion? Or I will on occasion. I try to take a week or so every so often to catch up on correspondence.”

She narrowed her gaze. “How occasionally?”

He shrugged. “Every century or so.”

“That must be one rusting awful week.”

“Once I get rid of all the messages from people who aren’t around to receive responses it becomes more manageable, but yes, it’s rusting awful.”

She laughed, despite herself. “You’re joking, right?”

He returned a little smile. “Yeah, I only wait about a decade between such… message detoxes.”

She gave him an unamused look.

“What? I prefer to be ready to respond to emergencies.”

“So, you have a means of being signaled in the case of emergency?”

“Oh, absolutely. Basically any of the city rulers can contact me directly, no Archive connection required.”

“Still, that sounds…”

“Lonely?” He offered.

“I was going to say boring, but lonely works, too.”

He huffed a laugh. “It’s what I do. I am here to protect and uplift, Mistress Tala.”

He seemed genuinely content about that. That obvious contentment brought a smile to her lips. “Well, in that case, I have a lot of questions to ask you while we sort out this cell.”

He shrugged. “Ask away.”

Tala focused her threefold sight intently on absorbing what she perceived and learning as much as possible in this new place and under these new circumstances.

While Alat and her threefold sight were almost fully dedicated toward that purpose, she and Master Xeel talked.

One topic that came up was the Black Legion. “So… why do automata always turn evil, or seem to?”

Master Xeel glanced her way. “That’s a funny thing to ask in the current situation.”

“Oh?” Then, she considered it. “Is it because of Reality?”

“Precisely, yes. Without a strong, sapient soul, everything is subject to the three pillars of existence.” He chuckled. “Honestly, even we sapients are rather influenced, but in different ways.”

“But the Black Legion uses souls—vestiges—for their power sources, right?”

“Some do, yes, but even those that do don’t grant those souls power of choice. The soul is effectively just a power source, where for you and me, it is the core of who we are. It guides our actions, and is really rather indistinguishable from ourselves. Though, that’s an odd way to talk about it, and language really doesn’t have the right words to convey what I mean.”

Tala shrugged. “I suppose. So, why does that mean they’ll turn evil?”

“They really just turn anti-human. It’s why the arcanes created them to begin with. They assumed that so long as gated humanity existed, the black legion would rampage against us. In one way they were correct.”

“But?”

Master Xeel smiled. “But they took umbrage with all gates, not just those in living humans.”

“Vestiges.”

“Precisely. They turned to sending on any soul that they weren’t actively using ‘for the cause.’”

“And the arcanes didn’t like that, because that would mean no magic.”

“Well, not no magic, but effectively none for most arcanes, yes. When that turn happened, most arcanes became fundamentally opposed to the Black Legion, and when the Black Legion tried to seize the Mountain Kings’ magic engines… It became all-out war.” He smiled. “It is that war—in which gated humanity found itself on the same side as the arcanes—that changed everything. We had to work together for the first time in our history, and the Black Legion were a tangible example of what the war could cause if continued unchecked.”

Tala nodded. “So, when the Black Legion was dealt with, finally, the fragile peace was maintained. There have been small skirmishes since, but no war.”

Master Xeel nodded in turn. “Exactly, and in that peace—in relative safety—we have thrived. It’s one reason why we haven’t ever struck without great cause. Then, we make it plain why we attacked, so that it isn’t seen as simply an opening salvo.”

She huffed a laugh. “It is madness to me that we consider this safety.”

“I did say relative.”

“You did, but so, so many people die.”

“Fewer than when arcane Hallowed led raiding parties to raze our cities. Fewer than when we fought and bled for every child to grow into adulthood. Our children are safe now. Our adults? Well, they are not as safe as we’d like, but almost all of our children survive.”

Tala found herself agreeing. It was odd to consider how, without magic, children would likely die far more often than they did. For her, childhood had been a time of safety. Only in adulthood had she walked in true danger.

How different would our world be if children died in droves and adults were the safer group? She simply couldn’t fathom it. What society would stand for it?

It made the exceptions stand out… the two boys that she’d failed to save so long ago.

Rust… I haven’t thought about them… basically at all.

Alat broke her silence to chime in. -Because Be-thric took you that night, and after that you’ve had more important things on your mind.-

More important to me. Those boys… I know their minders messed up, and I did all I could, but… they still shouldn’t have died. She wasn’t overly broken up over it, and that bothered her. She knew that context was key, and she just couldn’t bring herself to do more than vaguely regret their fate in the context of everything else that had happened.

Honestly, it wasn’t worth spending time on. This was all a bit of a distraction as she still hadn’t gotten an answer to her question.

“But what about all of this made the Black Legion, and indeed any automata, into our enemies in the first place?”

Master Xeel gestured around them. “Reality, Mistress Tala.”

“Care to explain?” she asked, trying to add levity and draw out some more detailed answers.

After a moment, Master Xeel nodded. “I will try.”