Tala’s ablative armor worked incredibly well in defending against projectile attacks, but it just couldn’t hold up to more sustained forces. Like a chomping wolf.

-Or a syphon’s constricting tentacles?-

Yeah or— As it turned out, she was very rarely hit with projectiles of late, and most of the time her armor was having to contend against direct applications of force.

Truthfully, though, did she really need it to? She could survive most hits from things of her advancement with her bare flesh, repairing what damage did come. The armor was meant to mitigate that need, though, and it was useful in that regard.

Rane cleared his throat. “Well, is that actually needed anymore? I know it’s been irritating for you to refill your reserves in the past, but now?”

The Paragon and Tala both turned to look at the new Refined. Tala, for her part, considered what he said. “You mean what I did with the wolf after he’d died?”

“Exactly, yeah. Didn’t you say that you were able to claim the reserves from the Anatalin and even refill yours somewhat?”

“I did… So, what’s your thinking?”

“Just devour your kills? Refill that way. Most magical beasts are far larger than humans, so they should be able to keep you topped off pretty effectively. You won’t be filled all the time, but you already aren’t.” He shrugged. “It seems like you’re searching for a solution to a problem that you no longer have.”

Master Grediv cleared his throat. “While Rane has a point for many encounters, you still want a set of effective armor in which you are comfortable for the occasions where it is required.”

Tala smiled at Rane then reoriented on the Paragon. “Alright, but that still leaves the problem I mentioned.”

“Are you willing to meet with some armor specialists and share some of your capabilities and secrets with them? I can give you a list of those I think useful.”

She considered then shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Sure.”

Master Grediv made a note then nodded for her to continue.

Threefold sight was a fantastic means of monitoring the superficial along with star- and stoneward at all times, and it allowed Tala to perceive more than she’d ever considered possible, but it still felt like she wasn’t using it to its full effect. Though, she couldn’t put her finger on what part of it wasn’t being fully utilized.

He nodded at that. “You are essentially capable of perceiving a number of three-dimensional cones. You are doing a phenomenal job of incorporating those into a cohesive picture of what is around you in four-dimensional space, but it is inherently imperfect.”

Tala frowned at that. “But… what am I not watching? I’d thought I was covering all vectors.”

“You are and you aren’t.” He saw her continued confusion. “Let me ask you this. How many two dimensional arcs would you need to completely encompass a three dimensional sphere if they all affixed to the center?”

She almost asked the angle of the arc, but then she realized that it didn’t matter. She could cover essentially all angles with enough views, but there would inherently be gaps—if minute ones—because her medium of detection had an entire dimension less than she was trying to perceive.

Even having her perspectives sweep through the entire space would improve the outcome—by removing gaps in volume surveyed—but there would then just be gaps in time seen, and continually sweeping her perspectives would reduce her own ability to process the information.

“Oh… so, that’s why it feels like I’m not seeing everything.”

“Exactly, because you aren’t. Now, let me be clear, it is possible that the minute gaps you have are effectively irrelevant, but that is likely at least one of the things that is causing your feeling of… incompleteness or inefficiency.”

“I see… thank you. I don’t know that I can actually do anything about it, but it’s nice to put a reason to at least a part of the sensation.”

“Of course.” He smiled. “That’s another reason this type of thing is so important.”

Continuing with her threefold sight, it was that perception which let her see reality nodes, and despite her little bits of experimentation with Mistress Kaeti and elsewise, Tala hadn’t been able to devote much time into the research of reality nodes. The fact that she was among the scarce few Mages capable of seeing—let alone interacting with—them left her bereft of study materials with which to build a foundation for further research.

“I really do think that we’d all benefit if you had a more research frame of mind.”

She gave him a flat look. “What part of this list makes you think I don’t?”

“The fact that it’s a list of incomplete projects and unprogressed research topics.”

“That’s… fair.” She scrunched up her nose. “But I do like figuring things out.”

Rane took a quick drink, but Tala could still easily see his smile. Threefold sight shows me all.

The Paragon shook his head, smiling openly. “Yes, everyone does. A research mindset is one that approaches the unknown with a sense of adventure. You almost have to love the act of looking for answers as much as actually finding them.”

Tala grunted. “That… yeah, that sounds really frustrating.”

“Precisely.” His smile was wider than ever.

“Well… moving on, then.”

She had been improving what was effectively a breath weapon with Master Doitean. Pulling her endingberry-derived magics into her lungs and inverting them back into disintegration on a fundamental level was a potent ability. She’d reached a reasonable proficiency, but her fight with the sireling Anatalin showed just how weak it still was against those of her own advancement.

True, that was partially because her inscriptions hadn’t been in effect, making the actual magical effectiveness at her fingertips much lesser, but the sentiment still stood. Her breath weapon wasn’t keeping up with her other skills and abilities.

Rane was curious enough to speak up here, “Why have you never gotten that actually inscribed?”

Tala shrugged. “It seemed unnecessary? I was capable of making it on my own without the need for specific inscriptions to make it happen.”

Master Grediv cleared his throat, calling up parts of her schema. “Actually, you have specific inscriptions in place to enhance spellforms within your lungs and airways and keep them from fully activating until exhaled. You have built a part of your magical enhancements toward perfecting a breath weapon without actually having one.”

-Well, rust me like a nail in a hurricane.-

We have a perfected magical scabbard, into which we’ve been shoving sticks. Sure, when we pull out the stick it’s pretty sharp and durable, thanks to the scabbard, but it’s still a freaking stick!

“I… feel rather foolish.”

“So, note that one to be fixed?” To his credit, Master Grediv had not a hint of smugness or even teasing in his look.

“Yes. Yes, please.”

After the Paragon did so, he looked back up. “I say this not to be negative, but some of these issues are precisely why having a more experienced Archon to turn to regularly can be incredibly helpful. If you don’t wish it to be me, that is more than fine, but please find someone who you can develop such a relationship with.” After a moment, he added. “I would recommend against Master Xeel. He is an excellent Reforged, beyond reproach in his knowledge and insight, but he is singularly focused on his path of Ascension. He originally wanted to complete it in two hundred years, but he missed that mark by a bit. Regardless, he is notorious for being unavailable.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Not you?”

“While I am always happy to have this sort of conversation with you, I do not have the time to take you on in such a far-reaching capacity. I am afraid that I just don’t have the time for anything beyond the one-off meetings we’ve been partaking in over the last years.”

Tala nodded slowly. That made sense. Who else, then?

She liked Master Xeel, and he had been quite insightful when they chatted within the cell of the Reality Mage, but she had already experienced exactly what Master Grediv was talking about.

“I’ll give it some thought. Master Jevin has been helpful in the past. It might be time to reach out to him once more.”

Master Grediv smiled. “He is an excellent choice. He’s made it a habit to help out any who he can.”

Rane nodded along at that. “Yeah, he was very helpful when we were in Makinaven.”

Well, let’s send him a message then.

-After this?-

After this.

Back to her breath weapon… Well, there were plenty of simpler ways to kill those less advanced if she had the need. In fact, it had only really been useful when fighting swarms or when she needed to remove a physical impediment with more precision and speed than a punch or sword cut would allow.

Well, it did end Be-thric quite effectively.

-Oh, that it did.- Alat played that memory for them both in exquisite detail, and Tala found herself gratified that he hadn’t had a different end.

Rane and Master Grediv had a few more thoughts on how she could approach the method of offense, but in general, it was up to her.

The Paragon made one final comment before they moved on. “Our breath is integral to who we are as living creatures. I think that you will find that it carries authority and power much more easily than other forms of area attack, and even more than many other medium to long range options. You, yourself, used this aspect when you verbally claimed the Anatalin’s corpse after that battle.”

That’s true. It felt like the right thing to do. Still, to use it properly and effectively, I’d need more lung capacity… Tala blinked a few times, then felt herself smile. I just might have an idea.

-I’ll note it for further research.-

Moving on to the next area of interest, her aura control practice with Master Akra was continuing well, when they had time to meet, and she had gotten far more out of that expanding ability set than she’d ever expected. It was interesting how much overlap there was in the feeling of her aura and the authority she had within Kit. There was something quite important in that which she needed and wanted to explore… when she had time.

Master Grediv shrugged at the notion. “Our aura is a subset of authority. It is, in essence, just an expression of authority over the magical power in the area.”

“All squares are rectangles?”

He looked at her for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yes, all auras are expressions of authority, but not all authority is an aura.”

That made sense.

As for the aura itself, when she used that, it was mainly—but not exclusively—through her iron. If anything, she’d improved in control over her iron more than in any other area recently. Well, that and her general use of authority such as she had within Kit since they’d bonded.

Rane interjected then. “Have you been able to do many tests as to clouds of iron, and how thick they need to be to disrupt incoming magics?”

Tala shook her head. “No, but that’s for one critical reason?”

“Oh?”

“My iron has to stay within my aura, and within my aura, I have magical authority to erase most magics.”

Master Grediv smiled, then. “It could still be useful to know, so that you can more easily deal with more powerful magics. The combination might even allow you to effectively negate those much more advanced than you, at least under certain circumstances. But you’ve said something rather interesting, given our previous topic. Did you catch it?”

Tala thought for a moment. “I have to keep my iron within my aura?”

“Exactly. Why?”

“Because otherwise it gets voided.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes?”

“That doesn’t sound very sure.”

She gave him a flat look. “That’s because a Paragon is implying that I’m wrong.”

He huffed a laugh. “That’s fair. What I am implying is that you might simply need your iron to remain within your authority. Your aura is the most obvious expression of that to our senses, but it isn’t the only one. I would recommend trying to put some of your iron into Kit, outside of your aura and see what happens. I might be wrong—and you will lose that iron—but it just might open up a whole new avenue for you.”

“I thought we were trying to reduce the things I was working on?” She pushed back a little teasingly.

“Not at all. We just want to make sure that it is being done reasonably, and that it is worth doing for you.” He shrugged. “It is just a thought though.”

Rane smiled. “It would be quite a bit more useful if you could use your iron outside of your aura. It would also make it far more able to hide in plain sight until you called upon it.”

That was a really good point. It also connected well into the next thing she wanted to bring up, battlefield control tactics generally. Mistress Deigh had been instrumental in helping Tala improve in that area, though the woman mainly focused on the use of ice to execute such. Regardless, the general principles had come into play in some conflicts, but Tala didn’t really feel like she had integrated the lessons as fully as she could, thus leaving capacity out of her arsenal.

Rane looked a bit sheepish as he regarded his teacher. “I actually could use a better sense for and means of battlefield control. I am very good in one on one exchanges, but affecting a large clash, or holding back a large number of opponents on my own? I have little ability or skill.”

The Paragon considered for a bit before smiling. “We have developed a method for training our unit leaders and division commanders, especially in the lead ups to wanings and the Leshkin wars. I think that we could make the war games available to the two of you. They aren’t that intensive to run, and they should help expand and deepen your tactical thinking.”

Tala tilted her head to one side. “War games? Just like mock battles and the like? I can see how that would help some, but…?”

“You will have to wait and see. It is something that requires Refined level mental enhancements to function properly—to do elsewise would be almost prohibitively expensive—so it will have to wait until Rane receives his updated inscriptions, and they have time to settle at least initially.”

They agreed, curious as to what they actually would be and how they’d help.

Tala next discussed her mastery of Flow in the various magical and void forms. To her own admission, it was middling—amazing for her age and relatively short time training but still below the masters of her advancement.

Additionally, she had allowed her practice and improvement of the Way of Flowing Blood to fall by the wayside with everything else that she was pursuing. That, more than anything, had caused her martial prowess to slacken, even if just barely.

I just don’t use it. I just hack and slash when I am fighting… Now that she considered it, she could probably have taken the wolf with that and Flow alone, if she’d been as practiced as she should be.

Master Grediv seemed to agree with the sentiment. “That needs to be corrected. The truly powerful of your advancement will be close combat masters, and it is staggering how often clashes come down to such skills, given how often we can simply counter each other at any appreciable range.”

That made sense to Tala.

Rane grinned her way. “Terry and I can push you and help you get back into fighting shape with the Way of Flowing Blood.”

The next item to be brought up was her Void Channels, which were still useful at times, but she hadn’t really worked with them extensively—or really improved them at all—since she learned to wield them to aid in her creation of the Archon Star which elevated her to Bound what felt like so long ago.

I wonder how much more power I could pull out if I studied that more extensively and took the time to improve and perfect it.

The Paragon—as expected—had a bit of wisdom to impart yet again. “Honestly, Ways can be incredibly useful as you stretch for continued advancement, but they do tend to fall by the wayside, if you'll pardon the pun, for most as they settle into their current rank.”

Tala felt her eye twitch. “So, I need to keep striving in order to keep advancing.”

“Well, that is always true, but in this case it isn’t necessary. You have a prodigious density and flowrate as it is.”

She shook her head. “No, no. I want this to be useful. I want to make it better.”

“Why?” Master Grediv leaned forward, seeming genuinely interested in what she had to say.

“It seems… useful? It moves my power more quickly and allows more power to come to bear on any given working. That can only be useful if I utilize it properly.”

“Indeed.” He smiled and nodded.

Beside Tala, Rane was frowning, likely contemplating his own Way.

Moving on, Tala was still continuing to deepen her natural magics at a good pace simply by the consumption of endingberries and the other magic-imbued foods from her sanctum, but that was sort of just drifting along. Could that be made more efficient or otherwise improved?

Definitely, but it would just be one more thing on the list.

Mistress Petra was actively working on a portion of that, mainly striving to efficiently combine the raw ingredients into foods that continued to maintain the full benefits. Kedva was working with the woman as well, though that would slow down a bit with a newborn to care for.

Honestly, if she wants to back off from work for a good chunk of time, that’s fine.

-She and Brandon know that. You were very clear.-

Yeah, yeah…

Finally, that brought the discussion to her inscriptions.

-Oh, exciting! This is me, this is me!-

Tala couldn’t help but smile. Yes, Alat. You are quite useful, even when you’re frustrating.

-I aim to please!-

She stretched a bit, settling in. “Alright, let’s get down to my actual schema and mental models.”

Rane gave her an encouraging smile. “Hey, with all the groundwork in place, this should be a good hashing out.”

Master Grediv nodded. “Indeed.”