"I'm not judging, Cali,” I sighed. “I'm just... concerned."

"Concerned?" Cali's ears twitched. "About what?"

"I'm worried about how much your kin are going to be an ever-escalating problem in my butt, getting in the way of my research,” I said. “Plus the future of humanity on Thornwild seems bleak. The way your society is structured, the extreme specialization, the control over men... it's leading somewhere, and I'm not sure that it's somewhere good."

“So you think that we are to be expunged?” Cali looked like she was on the verge of tears again. “That our reach for the stars, our great progress is flawed? That we are to be exterminated?”

"Progress isn't always good," I said gently. "Especially when it comes at the cost of grinding away freedom and individuality. Your people are becoming more and more like... well, like insects. Don’t you see it?”

"Insects?" Cali looked offended. "We are not insects! We are the pinnacle of civilization, changed by the Shard of Heaven!"

I held up a hand. "I didn't mean it as an insult. But think about it - you have increasingly specialized castes, a rigid hierarchy, men reduced to drones... It's very similar to how ant or bee colonies work."

Cali opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again, looking thoughtful.

"And what happens to individuality in that kind of system?" I asked. "To creativity? To freedom of choice? What happens when everyone is so specialized that they can't think outside their designated role?"

"Innovation is managed by the Corvix Arcanicx," Cali explained. "They're our Artificers, Artisans and Architects. Their Divine Beast is Mundus the Raven. Their innate talents correlate to their ability to combine disparate ideas into new forms. Felix like myself acquire unique tools and artifacts from all over and bring it to the Corvix to disassemble, understand and improve upon.”

“Huh,” I said. “Corvids?”

“The Corvix Arcanicx Coven of Iridium Istral Maggelanum made this sleigh!” Cali waved her hands at the lavish interior crowded with all of my witchy things. “They’re the ones who leased it to me, made a deal with me that once a month I’d call them if I found anything… unique for them to disassemble. Using their combined skills they can disassemble and reassemble anything, even a living being.”

Cali looked at me with what was possibly hungry eyes.

"Nu-huh," I said. "As much as I like the idea of hyper-intelligent, obsessive-compulsive raven-girls trying to 'understand me', I'm not that interested in being disassembled.”

If I wanted to become someone else's research project, I’d just stay with Yaga Grandhilda.

“The Corvix of Iridium don’t just take apart physical things, they take apart systems of governance, barbarous rituals, anything really!” Cali revealed. “If… if you bring your Understanding to them, they could take it apart, apply it to Iridium, make our city prosper!”

I frowned, realizing I might have said too much. Cali's eyes were gleaming with excitement now, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. She was already probably thinking about how to bring me to these Corvix Arcanicx, to have them dissect my river-moving abilities.

Stormy let out a low, deep growl from my shoulder, sending a signal that this was the wrong path to take today.

"You know, it would be a shame if someone accidentally relocated the Castian Sea about ten thousand elbows in the direction of Iridium, especially if that someone is being pestered by Corvix," I said sharply.

Cali's ears flattened against her head, her excitement quickly replaced by the existential dread of tsunamic obliteration.

"I didn't mean it–" she stammered. "I... I'd never force you to go anywhere you don't want to, my Omniarch! I... I just thought that maybe, if you desired it, you could reshape the flaws of our people by guiding the Corvix with your Celestial wisdom... instead of... just drowning us all."

I ignored Cali’s distraught expression and quickly outlined the Arcanicx Xenotypes in the Codex:

Felix Arcanicx: Hunters and deal-makers, guided by the White Lynx. Specialize in action outside Iridium, bringing back valuable men and tools.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Strix Arcanicx: Wise librarians and scholars, guided by Buboro the Wise Owl. Manage knowledge and run the Librariums.

Corvix Arcanicx: Clever artificers, artisans and architects, guided by Mundus the Raven. Innovators who combine ideas into new forms.

Aquariux Arcanicx: Water manipulators from the city of Aquanox, guided by ___

Drallus Arcanicx: the Star-Shard deprived, lower class breeders of men, guided by ___

Something wasn’t adding up. Some vital, important ingredient was missing. Something that could mess up my entire future if they simply knew about me. Why didn’t they know about me? Why did Cali buy a prophecy from Amari about me?

“Cali,” I said, my paranoia intensifying. “Is there a future-seeing Arcanicx type?”

Cali swallowed nervously. I squinted at her.

“They were once known as the Sages and Seers, the Weavers of Fate, the…” She pushed the word out of herself as Stormy and I stared at her. “The Drallux Arcanicx."

"Oh," I said simply.

"They… they sought to reorganize our society as they saw fit. The Corvix disagreed, stating that the present and future paths were something that could simply be disassembled, understood, changed. The Drallux did not relent. They attempted to usurp power across the entire Ring, undermining the other classes by creating… Jotuns on purpose.

"Every family turned against them and so their Divine Beast, the Weaver Spider Matriarch, was unmade by the Corvix. They themselves were reformed into a class of lowly breeders, banned from access to Star-Shards, cursed to give birth only to men forevermore.”

I leaned back, processing this new information.

A caste of Seers, deliberately creating Jotuns, trying to reshape society according to their perfect vision of the future. No wonder they were stripped of their power.

"So the Drallux were essentially neutered," I said. "But that doesn't explain Amari. You called her a Seer. How does she fit into all this? What kind of an Arcanicx is she then?"

"Amari... She's different. She's not an Arcanicx at all." Cali revealed.

"What?" I asked. "But you said she was an incredibly powerful Sorceress, able to see the future."

"Amari and her people live far North from the Castian Sea," Cali explained. "They're... well, they're all human in appearance."

"You called her a barbarian before," I commented. "Why?"

"Because by our standards, she is. Skulldug Isle isn't a part of the Ring of Castia. They don't use Star-Shards like we do, and don't have a caste system or Spirit Beasts. They simply worship Amari as a living Goddess. Their magic is... different. Wild. Unpredictable."

“Why didn’t someone like you try to capture one of the hunters of Skulldug?” I asked. “To bring it to the corvids to be disassembled or whatever?”

“Oh, there have been attempts.” Cali's tail swished uncomfortably. “They resulted in failure. Witnesses describe finding bodies in the woods, ossified and scorched as if thunderstruck. Other attempts simply resulted in Felix Arcanicx getting captured by Skulldug and then sold back to their family for a hefty sum.”

“I guess it’s hard to make moves against a future-seer like Amari when the Arcanicx got rid of the fate-weaving spiders,” I said, relaxing ever so slightly.

Cali nodded.

It appeared that Amari’s Skulldug Citadel sat in the way of the looming tide of the Castian Ring.

"So... Amari's essentially a wild card in this whole system," I mused as I grabbed some smoked meats and pickles from their box next to the food-preservation-gem. "A powerful Seer outside your control."

Cali nodded. "Yes. That's why some of us are willing to pay such high prices for her prophecies. She sees things we cannot predict, knows things our scholars can't learn from our books."

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "And you said she wants to meet me… just for a nice chat?"

"That’s what she said,” Cali said.

“Suspicious,” I commented as I chewed thoughtfully.

“Amari does not permit herself, her Citadel, or her hunters to be dissected by us,” Cali shrugged. “Her motives are unclear to us and so a decision was made to simply let her be. If she or her hunters were male it would be easy to bring them down, but our charms don't work against Skulldug."

"What, the men of Skulldug aren't allowed to go out?" I asked.

"I, uh," Cali rubbed her scar. "I don't know where the men of Skulldug are kept."

"Hrm," I murmured.

Having concluded with breakfast, I climbed out of the sleigh and examined the cliff wall right next to the sleigh. Then I grabbed an axe and began chopping down the nearest dead birches.

“What are you doing?” Cali asked, following me out of the sleigh like a lost puppy.

“Making a new base,” I said. “On the account that some bothersome Jonnies made a mess of my pub.”

The Felix Arcanicx blinked at me as she watched me fell birches. She probably didn’t understand why a great and powerful Celestial Emissary needed to cut trees with an axe like some mortal woodsman.

Stormy settled herself on the Codex for about an hour, then suddenly leapt onto Cali from atop of the sleigh.

“Eeek!” the man-hunter flinched, not expecting the sudden weight on her shoulder. She glanced at the kitten, unsure how to react to having the "Divine Beast" perched on her.

"Looks like you've been chosen by the Elder Wyrm, Cali,” I commented with a smile. “Better not disappoint your new goddess and lavish her with plenty of compliments and pets.”