Osipheos

"What do we think Bel?" Osiph asked.

"I think that he shows promise. The fact he managed to survive the broken time dilation array. Not even integrated with his core yet. That alone would be enough to keep an eye on him." Beltraxyl paused to collect his thoughts before proceeding, Osiph waiting patiently. "What worries me, is that if you are right and he can help with your goals that will make him susceptible to unwanted observation. With Mel now tied to him… Though I do see your intention, if he is discovered before he can protect himself he will not be simply killed. He will be tortured for information and then dissected for study. Even if we hide- oh, that could help, but are we certain- I understand. With a sealing formation, that may buy time. I think it has many risks, even if I am conflicted with personal doubt. This may prove to be a very lucky happenstance or a catastrophe."

"You know my distaste for you intercepting my thoughts before I put voice to any of them. " He sighed, slouching down into a nearby armchair, he looked towards the door leading to the hallway. "You are correct though, I think with a bit of shaping we may be able to guide the boy to walk a very unique path indeed. With the help of a Librarian, that will speed things up considerably. The formation can be set up for him once we arrive, until then just proximity to me will be sufficient, at least for the journey. By then he shall have finished his integration with his Core and the bond between your daughter and the boy will be fully set as soon as it does. There is no need to worry yourself. Before the time the forces that would be capable of understanding his significance piece it together, he will be powerful enough not to be crushed right away at least. He will come from a position able to demand a seat at the table. Even if it is just conciliatory, for them to get what they desire. Until then we will just do our best to try and help him forward."

Bel nodded his hooded head, then disappeared back into Osiph's Core. His shady companion was the creation and life's work of Heredon the Devourer. A close friend and ally of his, though the name put most people off. Heredon had been taught personally by the aspect of Death. The physical manifestation of the concept had passed its wisdom and gifts of knowledge down to who would be later known as the God of Death. But now? Herndon mainly oversaw the largest bureaucracy in the multiverse, stuck in his office for eons, and he complained about it regularly. But he looked very much the part. As did his creation: the Head Librarian. He was a hulking figure, easily two heads taller than Osiph himself. Draped in a robe black as the void, untouched by light, none of his skin showed. Osiph was grateful for that robe, what was underneath made even him shiver.

He was in the adjacent suite, just across the hall, in the wing they had requested as compensation for heeding this planet's distress call in the first place. They were heading out to an estate they had also requested, in the far east to wait while the boy recovered, as part of their arrangement. The boy had survived but It had come at a large cost. His core was damaged, but there was no way to tell how significantly before he awoke.

Osiph took a long sip of a viscous amber liquid that smelled of fresh clove and honey. Setting it down on a nearby end table without a coaster, he got up and walked out towards the balcony. Stepping over the raised frame, he peered out onto the dark blue ocean roiling as the ship cut through massive waves hundreds of feet below him. He looked back towards the length of the ship, almost a quarter of a mile long, it had been two of the largest ships on the continent, quickly fused with teams of hundreds of metal mates working to get it ready for all of the refugees. While no one survived the city and the array, there were still hundreds of thousands of farmers, mill workers, forestry workers, and surrounding villages. All relied on the city for goods and services, now ruined by Death Affinity Mana as it had destroyed fields down to the bedrock. The Island nation would be uninhabitable for decades even with cleansing arrays and constant attention.

Most Mana had a natural Affinity from Wind Affinity to Sound Affinity. In small enough proportions that the automatic cycling of ambient Mana, could cleanse it into a pure form that the body of magic users could wield. With exceptions to the natural Affinity of your path which did not need to be purified as your body was programmed to receive it. This is also why the majority of spells a mage could learn would be from the school of their path's Affinity. While able to learn from other disciplines it was always an uphill battle.

All this ambient mana exists perfectly in nature with its aspects balanced. However, when several million humans, elves, dwarves, and other species all die at the same time, releasing a tidal wave of Death Affinity mana wreaks havoc. None dared stay to test their Luck.

So they had stowed away on a refugee ship cobbled together as a prize for saving this world. Osiph laughed gently. No, when the boy reached his potential, he would be plenty enough of a prize by himself.

Cassieus Hinari

Ugh…my head. I groaned mentally as my conscious mind fluttered back to my body, along with all the aches and pains. Nothing compared to the burning light but one pain did not make the other better. All those heroes who got cool superpowers cause they got tortured, I call bullshit.

Pain just hurts, it doesn't make you stronger. I felt distinctly, underpowered as I felt the fissure in my core, leaking mana back into my pathways. I felt very unlucky at the moment, no matter what Mel said. I was able to cycle my mana back faster than it leaked, so at least I didn't lose any. However, that meant that people could see that I was always using mana. Not only was it not advised in polite company, but stealth would never be an option. Even though it put a hamper on some of my distant revenge fantasies, I was just glad to be out of the near-infinite hell I had just been through.

But I felt empty inside. Millions of years staring at my family die. Alone in isolation, no one but my thoughts… my thoughts… my thou-. My head cleared as the horrific images were forcibly pushed aside and locked away. Having the expansive emptiness of time that I had undergone for countless years, compressed and confined helped tremendously. However, that still left millions of years of refinement practice, inner revelations, and introspection, that Mel deemed necessary to stay at the forefront of my new library of memories. As well as a small portion of the lifetime's worth of mourning. This did help to bring the smallest amount of real closure, and not just pure apathy, after the numbness of it all. Just knowing they were at peace now, and not trapped in their bodies for God's knows how long.

Distracting myself, I looked about the room I had woken up in.

Still not up to the task of moving my entire body, I twisted my head to get a better picture of my surroundings.

I was lying on a plush mattress situated against the wall of a moderately sized suite. Based on the scent of seawater in the room, and the mild rocking. I would bet money on being on a ship.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

At least it's a rather nice room, I thought to myself, closing my eyes once more and delving into my soul space.

I could visualize my mana traveling at incredible speeds through my body. My mana was a vibrant yellow, navigating inside of my pathways which appeared as a clear, almost ethereal material. Like if I touched it, it would burst like a popped soap bubble. These pathways connected each of the twelve six-pointed star relays located in specific areas of my body as well as to the corresponding nodes.

The relays were: the Cranial, Body, Dexter Brachium, and Sinister Brachium for the right and left arms respectively. Then Dexter Cruralis, Sinister Cruralis for the right and left leg, and Heart. As well as the five senses: Olfactory, Gustatory, Auditory, Tactile, and Ocular.

Each of these had dozens of nodes that related to each relay that acted as conduits for the ambient mana to be not just cycled into my body, but also for my Mana to be released from a metaphysical state into the real world creating spells and other various magical effects. These nodes were physically part of everybody across all of the known races. Other than monsters and Beastfolk, with their innate Cores received at birth, only those who received a Grimoire and absorbed it into a Core could interact with these nodes.

I examined the stress fracture on my Core more closely. It was leaking a slow trickle of mana into the greater void that made up this space. The only "light" visible was my Pathways and Core exuding the yellow glow in the intricate tapestry that made up my Spiritual Matrix. The Matrix resembled a dodecagram with each relay making up a point of the star, with my revolving core in the center, connecting to each relay directly with my Core as one Pathway led mana to the relay and the other brought back unused and ambient mana to be cleansed in my Core before entering the next.

Though the crack didn't seem to affect any of these pathways, I couldn't be sure there weren't any lasting side effects.

After the suppression, I had been under in the Time array, moving my mana now felt effortless. It was as easy as my blood flowing through my veins. I thought of the mist that had pulsed from my body, pushing back at suppression. I wondered how that would look if I could do it now that I was free of the burden. Then I thought better of it because I was obviously in some type of ship and exploring powers while over any kind of body of water is an extremely stupid idea.

Just then the Cranial relay in my soul space lit up brilliantly, then as soon as it hit its peak, died down to its normal dull glow.

"What did I say? Very high Intelligence" Mel's voice chuckled in my head, as a facsimile of Ren appeared beside me. Even being a visual representation of my consciousness inside my own isolated soul space, I still jumped back as she popped into existence.

This wasn't my sister. This was what I saw just before I passed out.

"Why the hell do you look like my sister?"

"Hey, don't get mad at me, Librarians are formless. The vessel is the mold for my visage. Whatever you got going on with you and all your family issues, spilled over and seeped into me. So you caused this. Apology accepted. Ignorance should always be responded to as an opportunity to share knowledge." She nodded sharply.

"I never apologized."

"No, but you were going to, and that's what matters, so it's faster to just skip past it and get to the real show."

"What show?" I asked after a long pause. She grinned widely, clearly enjoying me playing her game.

A large archway appeared near my Cranial relay, as Mel floated up to it. I followed and as I got closer I could make out more details. It was made up of several cracked and marred opalescent stones in the shape of thick books, stacked haphazardly in the vague outline of an arch. Mel reached out into the empty space and grasped a door handle that appeared in her palm as she closed her fingers around it. Twisting she shoved and a door materialized out of the floating handle and swung inward, leaving me in awe.

I stepped through the doorway behind Mel and gaped up at the expansive level we had just entered. The walls were a red-hued wood until halfway up, where it transitioned into a bright yellow. The room was fifty yards high with vaulted ceilings covered in gorgeous runic filigree. It stretched out about a hundred yards and was the same width. Spaced throughout were columns that matched the colored palette of the walls. Lined up in neat rows were a thousand waist-height pillars, some with books floating above them, though they appeared gray and blurry. A single regular-sized wooden door sat on each wall to either side of the way they came in.

Mel gestured to the books. "After integration, those will be accessible, as well as the Hall of Memories." She nodded to the door on the right. Turning to the door on the left she continued. "Then we have the Hall of Infinite Vaults."

The door to the left opened on its own and revealed a line of countless metal vault doors evenly distributed down the never-ending hallway. I felt something from down there that called out for me, but I ignored it.

"This gives you the ability to store more sensitive information to keep it secure. Keeps Mind Mages from going around here all willy-nilly, like they can with short-term memories and surface thoughts. It's also used to compartmentalize emotions and a multitude of other amazing things that you will find out at the appropriate time." She laughed sitting the door to the hallway and gesturing back out the entrance to my soul space. "Things to do, people to see, and stuff. "

Drifting back out into the emptiness around my Matrix, I waited.

"Alright, I want to try something, so just go along OK? Open your eyes at the peak."

Going along with it I just nodded and she reciprocated, then looked toward my Matrix. Following her gaze, the Cranial and the Ocular relays lit up just as brightly as before.

I opened my eyes back in the suite of the ship. My body was still in the same position I had been in before delving into my soul space. My head was still positioned to look towards the balcony and sitting on one of the red plush chairs was Mel. I blinked several times, but the outline of her stayed even when my eyelids were shut.

"I'm not actually here, I'm a projection channeled through your Ocular relay. But it feels weird, I've been nothingness for so long, and this form does not feel like what your memories of what your body feels like to you. I can tell that it's right though, at least I hope it is."

She leaned her head back against the sewn-in head cushion. I noticed that her features had changed slightly again. Her hair was shorter, more of a wheat brown. Her cheekbones were slightly narrower. She looked less like Ren, but there were some small features like the high ears or the dimples when she smiled.

"I guess you not wanting me to look like her, is changing my appearance, I didn't know that's how it worked. Interesting." Mel said reading my thoughts, still lounging in the armchair with her head back and eyes closed.

I sat up, expecting the pain but there was much less of it than I thought. I knew during meditation if one rotated Mana through their body continuously, It would help replenish resources by absorbing excess Life Affinity mana to replenish the pool of Health, though being much slower than a Life mage just injecting your body with this concentrated energy directly. I had been cycling mana to counteract the slow leak and had been speeding my recovery up, tremendously. I looked back at the armchair towards Mel, she had not moved.

"I'm pretty sure you've hit the nail on the head. You're practically meditating at all times, that might be useful as you'll always be recuperating resources with a percentage booster on it that normally comes from meditation. Also no, I'm not here when you look away, in fact, I'm not really here at all. I also would find it exhausting to stay floating statically in your vision at all times. I'll be wherever I'm going to be, so don't worry about me."

Nodding, I swung my legs off the bed and sat facing Mel. Standing shakily, I bowed as deeply as I could manage. "Thank you, I mean it. Thank you."

She opened one eye and smiled warmly. "No need for that, you will thank me with stuff."

I looked up at her and smiled back. Even though she appeared to be around my age, she still sounded a bit childish. I could feel the bond between us, yet it felt ephemeral. Like it could evaporate away at any moment. I knew I had to solidify this connection. With it, I would never be alone again, familiar's bound for life and if I ever ended up in that situation again, maybe I would have someone with me to help me make it through.