Choosing Destruction (Part 2)

Upstairs and out of the cellar, Idris heard laughter coming from down the hall. The large house’s entrance hall combined with its living room to make a cozy, inviting area complete with a small fireplace and comfortable furniture.

All seated and clearly enjoying themselves, the three other Seekers were listening as a fourth man Idris didn’t know held court.

The man had an easy confidence, much like Conrad in his element, but rather than the measured and cultivated, straight from the tales of heroes look that defined Conrad, this man gave the distinct appearance of being beyond rules.

Idris didn’t know if it was his clothing, which didn’t mark him for any particular class, or his long loose hair, or something else entirely about the way he carried himself but one thing he knew for certain - those unmatched green and blue eyes were part of it.

Idris froze, embarrassed as the whole group stopped and suddenly focused on him. He tried to get by with a quick nod to the group, but Conrad spoke up behind him.

“Kal, think you can give us the room for a bit? Idris’ll show you to the Inn. We’ll be around shortly,” he said.

The newcomer, Kal, nodded, and despite the tension in the faces of the Seekers at the sight of Idris, his easy smile never left him.

“Graham’s son?” he asked.

“The Light Bringer himself,” Conrad said, and for the first time Idris didn’t like the way he said the name. Not in front of this stranger.

“We’ll catch up later then, lads,” the stranger said, then directing that green blue gaze on Idris, “Both your father and Conrad speak highly of you. I’ve been hoping to meet you.”

The two of them left. Rain fell steadily and the roads had turned to mud. Above, dark clouds roiled so thickly that it seemed as if dusk had already arrived.

Conrad closed the door behind them and the stranger stood waiting, still smiling. For a moment Idris considered just running. Whatever Conrad had said Eana was still out there and she still needed him… but he calmed himself. Rule number four was to trust his companions and Conrad had told him to take this man to the inn. And see his father.

It hurt to admit it, but going his own way hadn’t turned out so well so it was time he tried somebody else’s.

Idris motioned for the stranger to follow and began leading him toward the inn. Before awkwardness could set in the man plowed straight through it.

“We could hear everything, in case you were wondering,” he said.

Idris hadn’t, and hearing it was not exactly a good way to make him feel less self conscious.

“Conrad really let you have it. But, if I’m being honest, he should have given you a little more credit than he did. I expect he was trying to drive home all those lessons, but even still. Oh! My name is Kaladrian. Out of Confluence.”

The man seemed friendly enough but Idris wasn’t feeling like reciprocating. He feigned a lack of care and quipped, “Kaladrian? What kind of name is that?”

“What kind of a name is Light Bringer?” Kaladrian asked, smiling.

“Don’t call me that,” Idris said.

“Why not? The story I heard about how you got it is rather impressive. Saved the whole adventurer’s encampment to hear Conrad tell it,” Kaladrian said, “Names carry with them more than just the words themselves - and the best names carry with them the weight of deeds.”

Idris snorted in derision, but he couldn’t help but feel a twinkle of pride. That wasn’t when he got the nickname but it had been the day the name changed meaning entirely. Maybe the man had a point.

They walked in silence a few moments, the usual activity of the town oddly diminished around them making for an uneventful stroll.

This time Idris broke in with a question, “What did you think I did right? I mean, you said you’d have given me some credit.”

Kaladrian looked thoughtful a moment before replying, “Thing is, I’m an older brother myself, and I know that a man’s duty to his younger siblings sometimes means holding them back like Conrad said, but sometimes, it means giving them space to grow on their own,” he said, “You did that for your sister. And you’re not Conrad nor did you have time to consult anybody who thinks like Conrad and so you made a choice. Might not have been the right one, but the work you did in choosing it was good.”

Idris began to feel that he liked this man. He wondered if he could teach Conrad a thing or two about pep talks.

“Thank you,” Idris said.

“Of course,” Kaladrian said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Idris said.

“It’s about how you got your title,” Kaladrian said.

Idris laughed, “Title? You mean nickname?”

“I don’t,” Kaladrian said, “Nicknames are terms of affection. Titles are earned for deeds done. Light Bringer - assuming the story I heard was true - was earned.”

“It’s true,” Idris said, pride forcing a smile onto his face.

“How do you think it happened then?” Kaladrian asked, “Your story is what first intrigued me into come out to Irondale. How did the monsters follow you through the walls of the node?”

Idris shook his head, “Wasn’t just me. It was my sister Eana and I. And I’m not sure. I was running and Eana was beat up so bad I had to carry her,” Idris surged with pride at seeing Kaladrian smile at this detail, “She was healing herself and when we looked back we could see the node. Rippling and waving and in places, sort of tearing. And in came the imps.”

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Snapping his fingers and nodding Kaladrian said, “That’s right! Was it your spell that made the node visible? Conrad mentioned you used it rather cleverly. And what role did your sister play?”

“I sent her to go get help,” Idris said, “She would have been able to help but there was so much confusion I didn’t want her getting caught up in it. Besides, people get weird about Eana healing them.”

“That’s a strange reaction,” Kaladrian said.

Idris threw his hands up, glad somebody understood, “The other Healer, Gendra, uses up her mana after just a few casts while Eana can just keep going. But they’d all rather stand in line bleeding waiting for an old woman to take care of them.

“Even Conrad. I was working with her, you know, trying to help her figure out what it is that makes people, well, what makes it happen the way it does.”

He stopped talking and glanced up at Kaladrian, gauging the man’s reaction.

“That was another strange detail,” Kaladrian said, continuing on as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, “A Healer, and a talented one from what I’ve heard, and not even Conrad wants to take her on. Seems like an odd enough problem that I might even enjoy trying to figure it out.”

“How? And why? You’re just another adventurer here to run the dungeon. Conrad brings the interested ones back whenever he goes to the city,” Idris said.

“Adventurer,” Kaladrian said and pursed his lips in distaste, “I fit some of the description, yes, but between you and me, I’m more of a scholar.”

“A scholar? As in, you spend your time studying?”

“In part, yes,” Kaladrian said.

It was sometimes such a curse to be stuck in Irondale. Idris knew nobody else in town could help Eana and so he had worked to help her himself, but he hadn’t considered that maybe they could leave town and find somebody outside who knew more. Of course people like Kaladrian were out there, studying and learning about the mysteries of Chaos, Order and the entire world.

Eana could still be okay. Idris had to hold onto that hope and not missing this chance to help her was part of that.

“So have you ever heard of anything like what happens when Eana heals?” Idris asked.

“Not precisely. But the pattern feels like one I’ve seen before. Does she have any other unusual abilities?” Kaladrian asked.

Idris thought a moment before answering, “A couple of things. Cooldowns for one. They just don’t seem to apply to her when she uses skills or spells.”

Kaladrian thought a moment and said, “Do you know what cooldowns are?”

“It’s a timer… you have to wait until it expires before you can use a skill again,” Idris said, uncertain what the scholar was looking for in an answer. It was obvious.

“That’s true enough, but there is more to it than that,” Kaladrian said, “For one, they’re a limitation Order places on us. They restrict us in power. Much like the mana limitation that makes magic use such a burdensome and often useless choice.”

Idris decided not to talk about his Light Mage class. He got plenty of use out of it even if his mana pool was small and he had no idea how to grow it outside of getting more mana gemstones like Eana’s charoite bracelet.

“Imagine if there were no such limitation. If Order imposed no restrictions on progression, well, you can imagine the resulting…” he swirled his hands to punctuate his sentence, “disorder. But cooldowns are more than that. Order limits magic usage through mana pool limits, but those are also limited by mana regeneration. Consider your light spell - how often can you cast it?”

“Well new lights just replace the old one’s but I can keep doing that until I’m out of mana. There’s a small delay between casts but real cooldowns aren’t for spells, they’re for skills and abilities that don’t need mana,” Idris said.

“Are they though?” Kaladrian asked, and Idris realized he was being led to a conclusion the man had long since already reached, “When you run out of mana, you incur a wait time while you regenerate the needed mana to cast your spell again - is this so different from a cooldown?”

“Huh,” Idris said, “It makes sense, but it’s not the same. In my interface I can see numbers, my skill tells me how many seconds it needs to recharge.”

“I see you haven’t learned to customize your interface. Use an ability that requires a cooldown, but when you do, focus on the number in the cooldown timer and will it to change form,” Kaladrian said.

“To what?” Idris asked.

“There is only one alternative. Try it.”

Idris invoked Adrenaline Rush. As the surge of power swept through him he focused in on the cooldown timer and did as he was asked.

“Chaos take me, sometimes I hate having grown up here,” Idris said.”

“Yes, I expect that’s why your father has worked so hard to get you out of here,” Kaladrian said, “He spoke at length about it on our trip back. Exhausting length.”

The two laughed together

“Tell me about it,” Idris said, “But anyway it changed to a bar. It’s like my mana bar, and it’s refilling instead of showing me the countdown.”

Kaladrian nodded, “Do you see what I’m getting at then?”

“No,” Idris said, “It just looks different.”

“A cooldown,” Kaladrian said patiently, “Functions exactly the same way as your mana pool does in regard to casting a spell using the exact amount of mana you need before bottoming out. In essence, what I’m saying is your skills and abilities have their own mana pools. If for example Adrenaline Rush used ten mana when you invoke it, you use that ten mana and that bar shows you your regeneration rate of that ten mana. The timer is just a calculation of how long your regeneration will take, and any reduction of that timer through leveling the skill is actually an increase in your regeneration rate of that specific skill’s mana pool.”

This all seemed very academic and interesting but Idris wasn’t sure what it had to do with him or his sister, “Spell it out for me.”

Kaladrian laughed, and there was no mockery in it, only good natured cheer in sharing knowledge, “If it’s true - and I don’t doubt your word - that your sister is not affected by cooldowns, and simultaneously, has a much larger mana pool than would be expected from somebody of her age and abilities, then it might make sense that…”

“Wait,” Idris said, “You’re saying that Eana has the ability, somehow, to take the ‘mana pool’ Order gives her for using her skills, and use it for other things?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Kaladrian said.

It was a revelation, but it didn’t explain everything. Idris wished Eana was there with them now and felt the sudden urge to run off and get her. To undo his mistake of letting her go with Gendra to begin with. But he had to hope Conrad meant what he said about helping. And if Eana really did need help, then Idris would once again need the Seekers.