Soulburned: The School of Souls

Chapter 16: Adjustments

"Focus, Thale!" Magnus shouted.

"Void! I'm trying Magnus, but I'm running out of steam!"

Thale was coated in a thin sheen of sweat. Magnus had removed Thale from his rooms early in the morning and dragged him down to the Mage's Courtyard for his first day of training.

Fitness equipment was scattered across the courtyard, and a spattering of students had been there upon thier arrival, already getting a start on thier daily goals. When they saw two Tower Guardians enter the field, they stopped what they were doing and stared. It hadn't taken long for a crowd to form.

Frankly, Thale found the attention embarrassing. He was no stranger to attention, but if he had known he'd be turned into a showcase, he'd have at least liked the opportunity to preen a little... As it was, his Eros capacity was lower than it had ever been. This wasn't 'training', it was rehabilitation. He was a clown. Any one of these students would be able to take him down right now, and they could tell.

He was weak.

"Come on Thale, hit me!".

Thale swung the Shrive Blade, sending a lackluster arc of Void-Fire shooting towards the large man.

Magnus didn't even try to dodge, or parry the arc in any way, he just tanked it, letting the black flames crash into him and dance across his skin.

"Sylane, Would you please be a dear and top our friend here up? That last one was a bit... empty."

Weak.

Sylane strode onto the field and walked towards Thale for what had to be the third time this morning.

He sighed.

Thale had reacted strangely when he learned that the Mender was to be joining them. His initial reaction had been excitement, then embarrassment, then finally fear as the implication of having a Mender on hand for training sunk in.

"How you holding up Thale?" she asked.

Thale's arms were shaking, weak from the exertion.

"Pretty much out, again." he sighed. "It's only been what, ten minutes?"

"It's going to take time Thale. You're fighting upstream with this thing."

"It's killing me."

Sylane nodded, then put her hands on his chest. Her Eros washed over him, filling the gaps left behind by his own meager Eros. The sensation sent chills running up his spine and left his skin crawling, but his muscles stopped trembling.

He gasped, then sighed.

"Void, Sylane... your capacity has to be enormous, I wouldn't have been able to do that once, even on my best day. Why aren't you a Guardian?"

Sylane smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you make a habit of commenting on the size of a woman's 'capacity' so boldly, Mr. Vesper?"

"What?" Thale flushed, "I- No, of course not!"

She punched him lightly on the arm.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you. I've specialized in this." She glanced at his sword, "And... I actually am in the program... Magnus isn't sure who'll get Ambrose's blade, there are other candidates, but I'd like to think I'm in the running."

"You're training to be a Guardian? Even though you're a professor?"

The blade suddenly felt even heavier in his hands.

"Professor's Aid," She corrected him, "Void, how old do you think I am?"

He flushed again and she laughed.

"And even if I wasn't training for it, most Menders have a large capacity. Constantly draining Eros makes it come back stronger, remember? There's been a lot of healing going around lately..."

"Void, Sylane, just take the damn thing."

She smiled sadly.

"Dosn't work that way, Thale."

"Thank you, Sylane!" Magnus called from across the field, "But I recommend moving out of the way now!"

Sylane pat Thale on the shoulder then moved quickly to the the side of the field.

No sooner had she reached the edge of the grass that an Arc of black fire was coming straight for Thale.

HASTE.

He burned through a frustrating amount of Sylane's Eros to roll out of the way of the attack.

"No, Thale!" Magnus shouted, "The Sword! Use it to absorb the attack!"

Thale panted and scrambled back to his feet. He released his Haste spell.

"Right, sorry! Muscle memory!"

He hefted the blade.

"Don't worry lad, we'll beat it out of you!"

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Magnus sent another arc.

Thale swung the sword, attempting to cleave the blast in two. His sword passed straight through the arc, then the fire crashed into Thale.

Thale was sent sprawling. The blast of fire knocked him off of his feet and sent him tumbling to the grass. The fire burned at his skin but disappeared quickly. Magnus had an insane level of control over the fire and was able to keep it from burning Thale. It was a level of Eros control that Thale couldn't even fathom.

"Void, lad! You have to push a little Eros into it first!

"You alright, Thale?!? Sylane shouted, "That one looked like it hurt."

Thale coughed.

"Fine! I'm fine!"

"Ready for another?!"

Thale gave Magnus a thumbs up, then raised the Shrive Blade again.

Another blast of fire.

This time, Thale shifted the Eros from his arm into the sword. The fire constantly burning around the blade flared. He swung the sword at the incoming arc of fire... and it dissipated. The fire dimmed around the blade, and suddenly Thale felt just a bit better.

"There it is, Lad!" Magnus cheered, "That's Shriving! You stole the attack's Eros! Used it for yourself."

The excess power was gone in an instant, consumed by the sword. Thale seemed to deflate as the Eros was yanked away.

Magnus sent another arc at Thale, then another, and another.

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It was later that evening when Magnus next came to Thale's room. The younger man's body and Eros still ached from the morning's training.

"Not more again today?" Thale asked in disbelief when he saw Magnus. "I still can't even feel my left hand!"

"Peace, Thale. No more training today. It's time to start your duties."

"My... duties?" Thale asked.

"Aye, you're a Tower Guardian! That implies the act of 'guarding' the tower, does it not?"

"I suppose."

"Get dressed. No, not in your leathers. There's a Void Plate in the wardrobe. Just the cuirass for now... You'll need to adjust to it before you don the whole kit."

"Void Plate?!" Thale said, "I'm not ready for that! I don't even have the Eros for the sword!"

"The plate's power by the Eros in the Sword, not the Eros in you." Magnus said, "I'll make sure it doesn't bleed you dry. I can't have my Guardians wandering around unprotected! And there are too few of us left to justify letting you lie around and rot all day!"

Thale entered the small closet. He'd been avoiding the space. He still felt like an invader in someone else's home.

Draped across a wooden armor stand, next to the rest of Herclis's clothing was a suit of Void Plate.

It swallowed the light from the nearby lamps, appearing to be an armor-shaped hole in the room, as opposed to a physical entity.

Gingerly, Thale picked up one of the gauntlets. Its dark surface was smooth, and while Thale had expected it to be cold to the touch, he found it precisely skin temperature. It felt... wrong somehow, in the same way, that the sword. Like it wasn't a part of this reality.

"Hurry up, lad! We've got quite the round tonight!"

Thale began buckling on the armor.

He started with a standard issue Scleran gambeson, then slid on a thin sheet of quickwood mail. Even this was already overkill for what Thale assumed would just be a patrol route, but orders were orders. He picked up the Void Plate.

The Void Plate was thicker than his Quickwood breastplate had been, but a similar weight. He found that the armor fit him perfectly, as it molded slightly as he pressed the sheet of strange metal against his gambeson.

The moment the cuirass was buckled into place, Thale was assaulted.

Eros began bleeding out rapidly. Like water being drained from a tub.

"Pick up the sword, lad!" Magnus called from the other room.

Thale grouped for the Shirve blade, knocking armor and clothing all around the small room as he floundered for the weapon.

As soon as his fingers found the grip, the drain on his Eros ceased, his rate of consumption returning to the slow trickle that the sword required.

Thale shuddered, and Magus entered the closet.

"Glad you didn't try that sooner!" Magnus said as he poured Eros into Thale. "If you'd left the blade in the other room!" Magnus grimaced, "Not sure you would have made it."

"I'm starting to wonder why the Guardians even use the Void Plate... or the Shrive Blades for that matter. They seem to be more trouble than they're worth." Thale said.

"Aye." Magnus said, "But it's our burden to bear... And it's not a light one. I do not envy how you've been thrust into this Thale. It's hard enough for those of us who've prepared for it."

"No way for me to pass it on to one of your other candidates?" Thale asked, "Sylane seems keen."

Magnus laughed.

"Ayy, she is. But no. Not unless you're planning to follow Herclis's example."

"What do you mean?"

"Death, lad." Magnus said grimly. "Once you've bonded one of the swords... The only way out is death."

"Shouldn't be too long then, since the blasted thing is trying to kill me."

"That's blasphemy, lad."

Thale arched an eyebrow.

"I didn't take you for a Fundamentalist."

"I didn't take you for a fool. Look at yourself."

Thale did, examining his reflection in the nearby mirror.

He was... magnificent. The Void Plate gave him an almost otherworldly glow.

"You're wearing the Void, lad. Do not deny its existence while you're wrapped in it."

"I..." Thale trailed off. "I'm sorry, you're right."

Magnus grunted.

"Alright, let's go."

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The cool night air was invigorating.

Magnus had led Thale to one of the upper parapets. They peered out into the night as they silently patrolled the Iris. Above them, the white dome still shimmered, just translucent enough to let a bit of starlight in. Interestingly, snow still seemed to fall through the dome.

Beyond the dome, and the outer walls, Thale could see the camp of the Kovites. Hundreds of campfires were hidden among the abandoned districts, blazing out in defiance of the cold mountain air. The enemy had sent several probing forces to test the Shield, but so far nothing had made it through.

"Where did it come from?" Thale asked.

"The Shield?" Magnus asked.

Thale nodded. "And that beam..."

"Sorcery," Magnus said.

Thale scoffed.

"And you accused me of blasphemy."

"I'm serious. Both the beam and shield were cast by a Sorceror."

"You can't be, There's a sorcerer in the Iris?!"

"Aye." Magnus said, "I don't like it, but the Archmage has one in custody. One of the Branded."

"I thought they all died off!"

"All but one..." Magnus said. He looked up a the dome and shook his head. "Good thing, too, I suppose. Otherwise, you and I'd be cooked, aye lad?"

Thale was disgusted. He wasn't the most devout, by any stretch of the imagination, but sorcery? In the Iris? Sorcerors had caused the schism! They were the reason the Accursed had returned from the Void! The reason the Kovites had been besieging the city for generations!

The dome shimmered.

"Don't try to grapple it all at once, lad... It's an adjustment. Just like the armor. One piece at a time. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Guard duty."