“…have any other questions?” Ignatius finished.
“Uh, just one,” Levi said, mind whirling. “How does it determine my lifespan?”
“I believe it gives that figure based on your soul, Vital essence, Animal essence, Water essence, and some other minor factors.” Ignatius replied. “That calculation becomes more accurate the closer to death you are. At this point in your life, it rounds to the decade. It can’t account for someone murdering you in the street next week of course, this is just based on the current state of your body.”
Levi stepped away from the Orb, trying to figure out what to do with this information. He had known that Virtue Priests, and acolytes for that matter, live longer than most others. But seeing that line, ‘Lifespan: Fourty-three of One hundred twenty,’ was a lurch. He was practically still in his twenties.
“That’s too much,” Ignatius suddenly snapped. “Take your hand away now!”
Levi refocused and saw Seth stumbled away from the Orb. He was about to check on his son, when he heard a resonate crackling sound. Looking back, he saw the Orb grow dull, and fractures begin to race across its surface. He quickly joined the old priest in front of the alcove.
“What happened?” Levi asked a pale Ignatius, whose face was whiter than his beard.
“The boy’s Explication was too long.” The man replied, gritting his teeth as anger and fear swirled inside him. “The pane only appeared briefly, but it was two or three times as long as yours. The strain on the Orb is largely derived from word count.”
The two watched in silent horror as the cracks in the orb widened, and fragments of the crystal began falling off. Before it finished crumbling, there was a thump behind them, and they turned to see Seth lying on the ground. Blood was pouring from his nose and ears, and he had clearly lost consciousness.
Levi immediately moved to his son’s side and tried to feel his injuries. The Sin essence in his body made it more difficult, but Levi could push past it. In addition to the obvious abrasions in the nasal passages and inner ear, there were two tears in the brain, one in the frontmost area and the other closer to the center of the brain but forward slightly. There was essence in these wounds that was impeding Seth’s Virtue essence from restoring them quickly.
After a moment, Ignatius joined Levi at Seth’s side. To the man’s credit, Levi could feel some concern added to his mix of emotions.
“Is the boy all right?” Ignatius asked distractedly.
“No!” Levi said sharply. “There are abrasions in his nose and ears, and two tears in his brain, all with foreign essence that resists healing. Is this what happens when the Orb is overtaxed? A warning would have been preferable.”
“How should I have known?” Ignatius snapped back. “It’s never broken before.”
“Actually,” the other priest who had been sitting silently spoke for the first time. “This may be more complicated than backlash from the Orb’s…final moments.”
They all glanced at the pile of quartz fragments in the alcove, then Levi and Ignatius looked back at the other priest.
“What is it, then?” Ignatius asked.
“After the young priest released the Orb,” the man explained, “he stood for a moment looking down at himself. Then, a pane of Explication essence appeared in front of him. He read it for a moment as he started bleeding, then collapsed.”
“So he used the Orb a second time?” Levi asked. “Does it not necessarily require contact?”
“It does.” The others said at the same time.
“So, what, he just developed an Explication ability?” Levi asked incredulously. “That would be the second ability he’s gotten this year, and the first one is the reason we came to have him Explicated in the first place.”
The second priest shrugged and said, “I’m just telling you what I saw.”
“You were right about his injuries, Levi.” Ignatius said, examining Seth as Levi had a minute before. “I think we should call the Bishop to deal with that foreign essence. The boy’s own healing will deal with it eventually, but he has an essence that interferes with my healing. Is this Sin? Regardless, the Bishop will be able to push through and fix him up so that we can get more information.”
____________________________________________
Seth suddenly regained consciousness with a surge of energy that washed through him and made him sit bolt upright. He immediately regretted doing so, as his head felt like he’d just torn a page out of it. His vision became blurry and he wavered unsteadily for a moment before a firm hand on his shoulder stabilized him.
“I suppose I won’t bother asking how you feel,” the man standing next to Seth said. “Just try to hold still until you’re balanced.”
Seth obeyed, blinking to clear his eyes. As they focused, he looked at the unfamiliar man in yellow priest’s robes next to him. Actually, the robes weren’t exactly yellow, they had a queer sheen to them. As his other senses came into focus, Seth realized that the ringing in his ears was from his auditory ability. This man was the loudest single person he’d ever encountered, and was projecting a huge amount of Virtue.
“Bishop?” Seth said in a slightly high pitched voice.
“Indeed,” the broad chested man replied with amusement.
He only looked a few years older than Seth’s dad, but Seth knew the man had been the bishop here for at least sixty years.
“It’s an honor, your excellency,” Seth said quickly, attempting to bow from his sitting position and getting woozy again.
The Bishop held him steady again, then let go.
“Of course.” Nicholas said. “Now, tell me, what do you remember about the Orb of Explication?”
Seth’s eyebrows rose in horror as he remembered.
“I tried to use it, but it broke and then I…” he trailed off, thoughts spinning. “What do I do? Do I need to pay you back? I do have a lot of Value now!”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“That depends on a few things.” Bishop Nicholas said, slightly ominously. “One of the priests that was in the room when the Orb was destroyed reported that you may have demonstrated the ability to Explicate just after using the Orb. Is this the case?”
“Yeeesss?” Seth said uncertainly, remembering the many concerning details in the description of that ability, Origin of Genes. “I can’t do everything the Orb could, I think, and the description I got said that the ability wasn’t meant for organic use. I’m not quite sure what that means.”
“So you did Explicate at least one of your abilities?” The Bishop clarified.
“I think I can do them one at a time, yes,” Seth said with a bit more confidence. “And maybe get some of the other details I saw on Dad’s Explication.”
“Good.” Nicholas said, clapping his hands once. “Let us test it, then.”
A familiar short young acolyte quietly entered the room and walked over to the two of them. As they stood side by side, Seth noticed that Jacob resembled Bishop Nicholas.
“This is my great-grandson Jacob.” The Bishop explained. “I would like you to attempt to Explicate his Virtue use ability. Do you require contact like the Orb did, or not?”
“I don’t know,” Seth said honestly. “I can try just looking if you’d like?”
Bishop Nicholas nodded, so Seth looked at the young acolyte and tried to focus on how he used Virtue essence. A minute passed in awkward silence, then he felt something. A tan pane of Explication essence appeared in front of Seth, and a horrible pain tore through his eyes as everything went dark.
Agony aside, Seth was still conscious and managed to stay upright, but he couldn’t see. He could feel liquid flowing down his cheeks and heard a slight retching sound from one of the people in front of him. Then a feeling of warm honey filled his eye sockets, and after a little while, his vision returned. His eyes felt sticky, but he glanced down at the small pane that was still waiting.
> Child of the Cloth: The children of clergymen often gain this limited tolerance for virtue essence and ability to use it.
“It says ‘Child of the Cloth,’” Seth said, looking up. The Bishop’s expression was blank, but his great-grandson had taken a few steps back, looking horrified and pale.
“I suppose we know why that isn’t meant for people to use.” Nicholas said carefully. “The strain that we had to account for in the original quartz of the Orb is much more…significant to flesh and blood.”
Seth looked closer at the liquid that had spilled down his face and onto his robe. It wasn’t all blood. In fact, most of it wasn’t.
“Both of your eyes ruptured.” The Bishop explained, seeing his look. “I numbed your pain and regrew them. If I hadn’t been here, you would most likely have passed out again.”
Seth swallowed nervously. “Is that what happened the last time, too?”
“No, you had tears in your brain,” Nicholas replied bluntly. “With the Explication essence in them slowing your healing, you would have taken days to wake up even with help. Your eyes would have been easier since you would have rebuilt them entirely without fighting foreign essence in the wound.”
“So the ability is useless then,” Seth said, his head drooping.
“For my purposes, most likely,” The Bishop said, “but let’s do one more smaller test.”
He beckoned Jacob, who reluctantly returned to the bedside.
“This time touch him with a single finger, and focus on a detail other than an ability,” Nicholas instructed.
Seth nodded and hesitantly reached out with his right pointer finger. The young acolyte was staring at him intently, muscles tense. After placing his finger on the boy’s hand, there was a pause. Then a shooting pain ran through Seth’s nail bed, and a small Explication pane appeared before him. He looked down at it as blood began to drip from his fingernail.
> Intellect — Forty three
“I, uh, got his relative intellect.” Seth said awkwardly, shaking his still stinging finger.
“Oh?” Bishop Nicholas said with interest.
“It’s, well, forty-third percentile.” Seth muttered.
“Hmm. I see.” The Bishop said.
There was an uncomfortable pause, and the pain in Seth’s finger still refused to go away.
“If you want to fix that, you’ll need to get rid of the Explication essence in the wound,” Nicholas said finally. “If you’re going to use that ability with any regularity, then that’s a skill you’ll need to master.”
“Do you have any suggestions about how to make it easier?” Seth asked, squeezing the finger to try and stop the bleeding the normal way.
“You are only producing Basic quality Explication essence, so my Complex Virtue wipes it away too easily for me to get a feel for it,” the Bishop said dismissively. “Just try different ways of conceptualizing it and something should work eventually.”
He walked to the door, his grandson trailing close behind, and paused in the doorway for a moment.
“Rest for now. We will speak of the consequences of all this later.”
Between the pain in his finger and that ominous declaration, rest was the last thing on Seth’s mind. Recalling his dad’s advice about how to cleanse different essences back when they were purifying bodies, Seth started trying different mental images. Picturing Virtue as water to wash away the Explication essence didn’t work, nor did burning it. He’d begun trying to blow the essence away by imagining wind when the door opened to admit his dad and Priest Ignatius from the Orb chamber, who was holding a scroll.
“How are you feeling?” Levi asked, while the old priest gave Seth a sour look.
“My head feels better.” Seth replied, then held up his hand. “The Bishop had me use the ability a couple more times, and left me to heal the last one myself. I’m trying to figure out how to purify the Explication essence in my finger now.”
“So you have an Explication ability, and it hurts you to use it?” His dad clarified.
“Oh, yes, sorry.” Seth said. “I figured he had told you.”
“The Bishop has many other things on his mind,” Ignatius said haughtily. “Especially now. You are fortunate that he had time for you at all.”
Seth noticed Levi grinding his teeth. He seemed to be tired of the old priest’s attitude.
“Anyway, I am here to officially record your abilities,” the man continued. “We are aware of your birthright, but need the names of any other abilities you possess.”
“Oh, sure.” Seth said, deciding to give the abilities that were part of the Gene one separately. “I also have ‘Origin of Genes,’ ‘Landon Clarke’s Possessions,’ and ‘Quartz Explication.’ I haven’t Explicated my physical and mental aspects, so I can’t tell you those yet. Do you want me to do that now? I can use my other nine fingers.”
“Three others?” Ignatius said, raising his eyebrows while writing quickly. “Interesting. And sure, go ahead and check your lifespan, affiliation, aspects, and so on.”
Seth nodded and carefully raised his left pointer finger to poke himself in the shoulder. Unfortunately the pain didn’t come from either, instead shooting through his brain again, though not nearly as bad as last time. Clutching his throbbing head, Seth looked down at the pane.
> Lifespan: Seventeen of One hundred thirty
“It says I’m 17, and that I’ll live to 130.” He said, squeezing his eyes shut. His eyelids still felt sticky. “I guess using the ability on myself causes head pain no matter what I do. Even doing just that gave me a bad headache, and I don’t know how to get rid of the Explication essence yet. I don’t think I can do that many more times.”
Levi sat next to him on the bed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. More Virtue essence trickled in to help his own slowly chip away at the small, resilient shards of Explication essence in his finger and brain. At this rate, it would still take an hour to get rid of each one.
“That’s fine then,” Ignatius said, making a note. “The abilities are the important part anyway. The two of you should wait here for now. Someone will bring you to the Bishop when he has more time for you.”
He looked up at Seth for the first time, and his gaze tracked over the liquid on Seth’s face and robe.
“I’ll send an acolyte with a new robe and a wash basin,” The old priest continued, then gave them a thin smile. “You’ll need to be presentable when the Bishop discusses your…prospects.”