Chapter 16 - Questions of Smoke or Blood
Palinus’s head was spinning, it was partially the exertion and pain from the testing that felt more like torture but he was also coming to terms with the aspects of his attunement that the Censor had just revealed.
“The Blood Pilum… or the First Tyrant… blood or smoke?" Palinus whispered to himself.
The mages that the censor compared him to were amongst the scariest and most powerful in the history of the empire. They were figures of history, but not the sorts of heroes that inspired a teenage boy.
The Blood Pilum was from the time of the 4th emperor, hundreds of years ago. He was known for summoning a demon and for launching devastating bolts of hardened blood that he could launch like a spear, giving him his name, or from the summoned demon. He was the sort of delver that mothers would threaten their children with. Palinus wasn’t sure how he felt about using blood, it wasn’t just that it was kind of gross but it also struck him as attention grabbing in all the wrong ways.
The First Tyrant was a mythical figure. He was known for dominating the battlefields of more than a thousand years ago with waves of smoke, it was said that he was impossible to stop and could kill in an instant. The power of the First Tyrant gave the smoke aspect something of a mystique, but there hadn’t been another successful smoke mage since. Something about smoke seemed like it was right to Palinus, he recalled moments in his youth that he had been enraptured by watching not the flame of a fire, but the smoke as it drifted in the air. The inevitable comparison to the First Tyrant was regrettable, but Palinus could make it work as a no-name delver doing rifts out in the country.
Censor Caelus didn't seem to notice Palinus’s lack of excitement about the comparison as he smiled and talked to himself, resetting the room.
“A combo builder… hmm. For blood that’d be easy, for smoke… not so much. A burst? Hmmm…”
Caelus stared at the roof for a moment appearing lost in thought.
“Show me the shard, boy,” he turned to command Palinus.
It was a harder voice that the Censor used, and Palinus hesitated for a moment recalling the significance that Servius, Marcus and Minucia had placed on the shard. This was a chance to get some answers on how to use it and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to say no as he pulled the stone out of his pocket.
“Hold it up.” Caelus said, Palinus was glad the man made no attempt to take it from his hand.
As Palinus held the shard up Caelus pulled another stack of tiles out of his pocket and a small brass bound lens that he stuck over his right eye. With one hand holding a tile behind the shard he made his other hand glow with white light that he cast through the shard onto the tile.
“Hmm, good.” He said as he switched the tile. “Yes, indeed.”
He tried nearly a dozen tiles that looked like minor variations of red colours until he was satisfied.
“Right, yes. Good.”
Without any explanation the Censor put away his instruments and led the teenager back to the first room with Bruchts and Rufian. They were sitting on the bench with cups of wine in hand still looking pale and shaken from their exposure to the sub-nexus. Sitting down to join them he found out a moment later where the cups of wine had come from as his mother walked out from the stairwell with another cup in hand.
Seeing Palinus she smiled warmly but said nothing as she passed him the cup and took the vacant spot as Censor Caelus led Rufian into the next room. Palinus instantly regretted not warning him and felt a wave of guilt.
“Hey Bruchts, he is-” Palinus started, before he was shushed by his mother.
“-Shhhh, he is just going to test his strength.” She said to stop Palinus revealing what was happening in the other room. “Just like you do every day. Isn’t that right?” She asked Palinus pointedly with a hand resting firmly on his arm.
“...yes, I suppose it is a strength test.” He struggled with the decision to stay quiet. But ultimately said nothing as he realised that knowing would only make the experience worse. Bruchts gave him a puzzled look, but he didn’t push further, simply sipping his wine.
Deciding to change the subject, Palinus took the opportunity to ask his mother a question that had bothered him for some time. He had asked this before, but the accidental revelation in the testing room brought it to the front of his mind.
“The Censor said something about my father. Who is he?”
“Oh. Did he really, the silly goat?… Well he is a bit distracted I suppose with everything going on.” She considered how to answer. “If I could tell you, I would. You know I was raised in the dormitories too. I know how you feel when the other children get to go home to their families…. I am sorry I can’t do that for you.”
She trailed off and had a tear in her eye.
“Minion shit mother. The fake tears won’t work on me.” He called her out unsympathetically.
“Bah, you’re no fun.” She dropped the act with a laugh, ruffling his hair. “Did he say anything about your attunement?”
“He said… well he said something quite interesting…” He responded to her change of subject with calculation. “I suppose what he said might depend on who my father is?”
“You never want to listen to my stories. Now suddenly you are interested in ancient history that matters little?” she huffed and stood to leave. “You need to finish those cups before the last test, it's mostly tradition but it is dosed with a relaxant that'll make the next test safer."
With a pout, she whirled up the stairs and out of sight. Palinus leaned back against the wall and sipped the cup of wine which was really quite nice.
“It means he is a citizen.” Bruchts said unexpectedly.
“What?” replied Palinus.
“Your father. She can’t say who he is because he is a citizen… and probably still in active service if he hasn’t named you already. It also means he is still alive, because then you would have his name too.”
It didn’t surprise Palinus that Bruchts would have that sort of knowledge about Erulean customs. Despite his Stoneman heritage he had lived in Erulea for a long time and he paid attention in lessons where Palinus would doze.
“You might be right, but that doesn’t rule out that many men at all. She name drops half the citizens of the 7th hill…” Palinus gave up with a shrug that Bruchts shared and they sat in companionable silence as they waited.
It was only a few minutes later that the door to the testing room was flung open and Rufian stormed out.
“Y-!”
Whatever he was about to yell was cut off by a bolt of white light that was shot from the doorway behind the teenager. The Censor poked his head through the door and looked around for a moment ignoring the teenager on the floor.
“Where did Appalina go?” He asked after Palinus’s mother, ignoring Rufian as he lay limp on the floor. “No matter. Help him up and get him to finish the wine. No time to waste. Big one…. Your turn now, come.”
He hurried Bruchts into the room.
As the door shut Palinus moved to Rufian and checked that his friend was ok. It looked like he was still breathing and had just been knocked out by the white bolt. Even as he rolled him onto his side the teenager started to stir.
“-ou said it… woah!” Rufian shouted from the ground recognising he was only the floor only halfway through his objections to the closed door. “Ughh… Splintery balls, that wasn’t fun.”
He hopped up from the ground and sat with Palinus.
“Sorry I didn’t warn you.” Palinus said apologetically.
“Bah, it’s not your fault.” he waved off the apology, “It’s that miserable old farr, he’s clearly taking pleasure in this… When I come back with my ars I’m going to bash his wrinkly face in.”
Rufian cracked his knuckles as he seethed, occasionally muttering to himself and rubbing his chest as they waited. It was only a few minutes later that Bruchts stumbled out the door.
“Good, good…” Caelus followed the teenager out the stone door. “Why haven’t you finished your wine? Quickly. Bottoms up!”
Pushing the cups to the boys lips to hurry them along Censor Caelus rushed them to finish their drinks and bustled them through the last door to another room.
This room was bigger than the last with half a dozen raised beds of stone next to a lectern that had several switches and dials. The beds were rectangular and big enough for a man to lay on, in the middle of each was a large central plate and two smaller plates of copper set flush against the stone.
“Sit.” Caelus commanded, pushing the boys to take a seat on one of the beds and aligning them forcefully so they were sitting on the big copper plate and had their hands on the small ones.
“For this test you need to focus and allow the essentia to flow through you." He explained hurriedly moving himself to the lectern. “Follow the pulse and release the essentia into the secondary panels. You can let go at any time, if you lift your hands from the plates the pressure will stop.”
Before he finished speaking a hum filled the room and Palinus started to feel a tingle from the plate he sat on. The feeling of essentia flowing through him felt right and the building warmth was almost refreshing. Every five seconds or so the intensity peaked and he let the essentia release down his arms and into the hand plates.
As the tempo and amount of essentia started to dial up the hum in the room raised in volume and pitch. He heard Bruchts and Rufian grunting and could feel the essentia pressure rising.
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“Sssss-,” Bruchts started letting out a whistling hiss with his mouth.
“Hnngggg,” and Rufian was grunting with effort.
The essentia still felt manageable for Palinus and he turned his head to see Caelus staring at him with a smirk as he made an adjustment on the panel in front of him.
“Oof-” Bruchts hit his limit and the testing mechanism seemed to relieve him of the pressure instantly as he let go and breathed out a sigh of relief. Rufian was still going and was trying to turn his head to look at Palinus and pushing himself to compete. The strain built and built but it just wasn’t affecting Palinus the same way.
“Ugh..” Rufian stopped straining and let go a half minute later, giving up with a valiant effort.
The essentia flows were starting to get serious now. The hum in the room had dropped as the other boys stopped, but it started to pick up again as the essentia flowing in Palinus’s body picked up, then picked up again.
Each pulse came with a wave of heat that rushed from the plate he sat on and through his body. Churning and mixing with the essentia stored within him and swirling in a crescendo that flooded his body until he was able to force it out of his hand. At first he could easily clear the waves of essentia without effort. His body capable of processing the essentia in an orderly way.
As the waves increased in power and volume he couldn’t quite offload the full load of essentia through his hands. He started to focus on the process and push the essentia through his body and out as quickly as he could. Palinus caught up to the flood of essentia and completely cleared the foreign essentia for half a dozen waves. But they kept getting stronger.
Gritting his teeth as he tried to tune out room and focus on the task, he could hear Censor Cealus chuckling quietly to himself and his friends whispered encouragement.
The test slowly pushed him to his limit, and he gradually lost the battle as more and more essentia in each wave remained and left him less room and more to process in each wave. It felt like an eternity he battled with sweat running down his face and teeth grinding
----------------------------------------
With a start, Palinus regained consciousness.
He lay sprawled over the stone bed and blinked with confusion.
“Well done, well done boy.” Censor Caelus handed him a damp cloth. The room had an oddly tinny smell that reminded him of a summer thunderstorm and he took a moment to remember where he was. The other boys sat around him in a marginally better state.
Clap!
The Censor got the boy's attention with a clap as he pulled out a sheet of albumstone.
“I have finished your assessment and I will start with your statistics.”
He quickly marked up the albumstone and explained as he did so.
“The testing indicates you have indeed all reached the first tier. This is a fine achievement for your first rift.” He beamed a wide smile as he praised the boys. “It appears you have all chosen to dual class, which is reflected in slightly lower statistics but is generally considered the optimal path for new delvers until you have settled on your class.”
He showed them the tablet.
“As a tier one you will be above the averages for an unformed person in most ways, but you only acheive another tier after breaking the deviation threshold for the next tier.”
Palinus
Bruchts
Rufian
Tier
I
I
I
Physical Statistics
Strength
I
II
II
Resistance
-
II
I
Vitality
-
I
I
Essential Statistics
Area
I
I
-
Force
I
-
I
Power
II
-
-
Mastery
Mastery
I
-
I
Sensing a question coming from Palinus, the Censor explained as he showed them the tablet.
“The demarcation for each tier is one standard deviation from the base unformed level. So for your squatting strength a standard intermediately trained unformed male would be able to squat 127 kilograms plus, the first standard deviation is 168kg+ and the next is 217kg+. The other statistics are benchmarked similarly, but that is the easiest to explain.”
Palinus thought for a moment, that made sense. At Tier one for strength he would be stronger that most men, but not stronger than all unformed men. It was also reassuring to know that while Rufian and Bruchts were clearly stronger, they weren't twice as strong, yet.
“If we go into a rift and choose different ars and classes will our stats change?” Palinus asked.
“A great question!” The Censor replied. “The short answer is no. The long answer is that your rift empowerment is developed incrementally in each rift but only manifests in the overworld once your avatar reaches its capacity and jumps to the next tier. So each rift you delve and the choices you make within will affect your empowerment for the next tier when that occurs.”
“Wh-” Palinus’s follow up question was cut off.
“No time for more questions.” He hurriedly stashed the albumstone and pulled out another with several of the coloured tiles from the previous testing room. “Here are your attunement results.”
Palinus
Bructs
Rufian
Red
CXXXIX
II
CCLV
Blue
IV
CXLV
CXXVII
Green
II
CXCIV
LXXX
Attunement
█████████
█████████
█████████
“Rufian, come with me. You two stay here for a moment, I will return to speak to you both.” Cealus led Rufian out the door. In the waiting room Palinus was surprised to catch a glimpse of Marius and even more surprised to see him in full uniform with several other soldiers.
“Marius! How ar-” The door shut off behind Rufian greeting the man. After only a minute the door opened and Caelus returned.
“Now. You two are faced with a decision.” The Censor had a serious expression on his face. “Your friend has a deep sanguine attunement.”
The way he phrased it made it seem like a really bad thing and Bruchts took sharp breath as if he knew what it meant.
“It means that he will be prone to impulsiveness, violence, and for some people… madness.”
“But I have a high red attunement as well?” Palinus questioned.
“Yes, yes you do.” The Censor replied. “But at less than one hundred and fifty it falls into a low risk category. You will be required to serve outside the capital once you matriculate, but not until you pass the 5th tier… or you start to show signs…” he tapered off dramatically, searching Palinus’s face as if looking for some response.
“What will happen to Rufian?” Bruchts asked.
“He will be conscripted immediately.”
“Can I go with him?”
“That is one of the options.” The Censor told Bruchts, who wasted no time in following through the door. He didn’t wait for the other options.
The Censor chuckled and shook his head. He seemed pleased with the impetuous choice by the blonde teenager. The ageing man turned to Palinus with a gleeful expression.
"Now for the only real choice of the day." Cealus sat on the stone beside Palinus. "I believe we can chart a path for either aspect, and you could be great as either. Smoke or Blood?"
He waited for an answer his bright eyes sharply framed by his bushy mostly grey eyebrows staring into Palinus's.
"I don't know..." Palinus was barely thinking about himself and his aspect. He was more concerned for his friends.
The Censor waited.
"I guess I prefer smoke?" As Palinus verbalised the words, he suddenly knew them to be true. The expression on his face must have answered the Censor as he slapped his hands in his lap and guided Palinus to the door.
“You can stay in Erulea and continue as you are doing. You would matriculate normally and might scrape together the money for passage across the sea. More likely you would find yourself further in debt and wiggle your way deeper in bed with the Commodus family, taking their scraps and doing their dirty work. Or…” He let the visions of a mundane and uncomfortable future linger for Palinus.
“... you could enlist as well and form a team for the Rift Trials.”