“Are you giving it another try?” Norran Ravasz asked Isyd.

“I am,” Isyd said. “I am close, I can feel it.”

“You said that when we started this morning…” Julya pointed out with a smile.

The bells had chimed the 17 th Hour not too long ago and they had been at it since the 6 th , without taking any breaks. It was mainly due to Isyd’s stubborn determination; his mind was racing at the possible breakthrough on the [Outgracing Hex] and he felt that he couldn’t let it go. The [Spell] kept on collapsing around the 12 th Opening but he knew he was getting close to figuring out the Balance. It was at the same time frustrating and exciting.

Isyd had spent all his time those past few days in the Atelier with the Ravasz, going as far as skipping his non-mandatory classes. This was only possible because Tekla had been relatively absent or too busy to pester him. This newfound freedom was exactly what he’d hoped for when first joining the Atelier.

“You two can go ahead, I can still stay here for a little while,” Isyd told the couple.

“Now, don’t be ridiculous!” Norran said. “Of course, we will stay and help. We feel bad enough already since you’re doing most of the work.”

“I still want to point out that we are almost out of Ingraced Blysht, or normal Blysht for that matter,” Julya said.

It wasn’t surprising given all the frantic experiments the Commission had conducted. Isyd still had his own stash in Blotnia but he reserved it in case of emergency. He knew that the moment they revealed the Blysht to the world, it would become one of the most valuable resources in Ziemia and everyone will try to sell it and buy it. For now, if they wanted to get their hands on more Blysht, they would have to hire someone to go to the salt mines and sort through the useless junk or go there themselves. When it came to the Ingraced Blysht, only Isyd and Tekla could perform the Ingracing Hex successfully since the Ravasz were not skilled enough. The process was made even slower now that Hidrss had left.

“We still have a handful of pieces, don’t we?” Norran said. “I remember Ms Dumnchory keeping them in her office.”

“We should still have enough to finish the [Outgracing Hex], I think,” Isyd said.

He made the three crystal shards roll between his fingers, shining with their rainbow colours. Isyd’s gaze was lost in them as if he was trying to picture the solution to his problem. Julya had seen this expression quite often since they had started working together and she was familiar with it. She flipped to another page of her notebook and picked up her pencil as Isyd was preparing himself to resume casting.

“Are you going do anything different this time?” she asked him.

“No. I am convinced that the logic is correct. I just have to find the right Balance.”

“If you are so sure, explain it to me once last time so that I can write it down.”

Isyd put down the Blysht shards, only keeping one and laying it on a stool. He flexed his muscles, wriggle his fingers and gathered the Holy Grace. Butterflies burst in his stomach and his mouth was filled with a familiar sweet taste. He closed his eyes to focus and listen to the Song of the Grace.

“I derived my idea from Tekla’s idea of using Resonance,” Isyd explained at the same time as the Commands materialized in front of him. “What we want to do is find a way to take the Grace out of the Blysht. It is difficult to do due to the physical properties of the crystal. So, we need to trick the Grace and give it a reason to flow out. We know that when Resonance occurs between two [Spells], the Grace of one [Spell] will feed and amplify the second [Spell]. Following the same logic, it should be possible to create a minor Resonance between the Ingraced Blysht and a [Hex] so that the Grace stored flows out of the crystal. At least, that’s my idea. The purpose of the [Outgracing Hex] would be to introduce this minor Resonance…”

“Truly brilliant…” Norran was nodding approvingly but Isyd couldn’t see him as his eyes were closed and his mind fully immersed in the Idpulse.

Isyd was at fifteen attempts so by now, he had familiarized himself with the overall shape of the [Spell] and its complexity. The hundreds of sub-[Spells] that composed the [Hex] appeared and fused together with precision. The Ravasz watched with awe the geometrical shapes wrought in golden light dance in the air. For a moment, it was easy to forget that the master at work was just a Pupil of 1 st Year and 1 st Opening. For them, it was the clearest proof that Isyd Wybrany was indeed Blessed by the Grace for he made the Holy Grace dance at his will.

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“Still… I have a hard time understanding how we could make the Grace inside and outside of the Blysht match for a Resonance to occur…” Julya mused.

“It is… difficult to explain,” Isyd said.

He wished he could say more but he knew that it was useless. To fully understand it required hearing the Song of the Grace, which the two Arcanysta couldn’t do. How could he put into words the almost imperceptible humming the Holy Grace made as it was bent and shaped through the Commands into [Spells]? Isyd himself wasn’t sure he understood entirely how any of this worked. He could hear the humming of the Ingraced Blysht and knew intuitively the Commands he needed to tune the Song of the Grace as he wished.

As the [Hex] progressed, Isyd wasn’t so sure whether he was making the Grace sing or the Grace was singing to him.

The 18 th Hour bell rang out at the same time as Isyd put the final note to the [Outgracing Hex] in a flash of golden light. As it hovered there in the air, Isyd put his hands around it and pressed on it. The [Hex] grew smaller and smaller until it was no larger than a coin, floating a few inches above his open palm and glowing with its own light. The Ravasz rushed to his side, clapping and smiling.

“You did it!” Julya said. “Grace, this was fabulous!”

“So, this is it? Is it done?” Norran said.

“We still need to test it,” Isyd said.

“Yes, of course! It’s a [Core Hex], is it not?” Norran said.

Isyd confirmed with a nod. A [Core Hex] were [Spells] that appeared often and fulfilled specific functions within other[Hexes]. They were so common after a certain level of Openings that they were better studied as an individual unit, performing the same roles as the Commands.

“As a [Core Hex], the [Outgracing Hex] can be Meshed to any other [Arcane] and have it extract the Grace directly from the Blysht,” Isyd said.

“Well, let’s try then!” Julya said. She brought with trembling hands a Lightsphere and presented it next to the Ingraced Blysht on the stool.

The [Outgracing Hex] floated between his thumb and index finger. He approached the Lightsphere which presented on its surface the very faint etching of its [Lighting Arcane]. The [Outgracing Hex] drifted toward the glass, sparkled then faded out. Holding his breath, Isyd then picked up the Blysht shard and brought it in contact with the Lightsphere.

For three long seconds, nothing happened. Then, the Lightsphere flickered alight.

Norran and Julya hooped in each other arms and Isyd let out a satisfied chuckle.

Finally, they had done it. With the [Ingracing] and [Outgracing Hexes], the Blysht technology was functional. Isyd had just made a huge leap forward in his quest of defeating the Obcys for good. Now, his next task would be about turning the Blysht into a weapon.

“It’s fantastic! We can tell Ms Dumnchory immediately!”

“Actually…” Isyd said. His mind went back to the letters he had seen on her desk. He had been pondering about them, but without settling on what they could mean. “Let’s wait before we tell her… Let’s write first the report for the [Hex] and present her with everything at once.”

“Okay, we can do that as well. You did most of the work, after all, so we let you decide!” Julya said.

Isyd’s shoulders slumped. Today had been a long, but fruitful day. He was about to say something to the couple when his senses perked up at an approaching presence. It was familiar.

It was Tekla. And she wasn’t alone. He just had the time to turn off the Lightsphere and slip it in his pocket and turn to see her enter the Laboratory.