~ CHAPTER 15 ~
THE MAGIC OF SEEING AND PERCEIVING, PART 1
“Many things are hidden in the Mist.”
You know when you’re reading up on a new game, or watching a promo video, and you see a tagline like that, and it gives you this sense of oh yeah, so that’s what that character’s like. You file it away, not as a useful piece of information, but as a kind of feeling, and then you don’t think too much more about it. Things go on, you’re enjoying the game, doing your thing, and then it hits you out of nowhere: There’s that tagline again! And then hey wait… it was actually meant to mean something?!
Of course it was. It wouldn’t be a prominently displayed tagline if it wasn’t.
And there it sat, at the core of what it meant to be a Mistborn.
What does that tell you?
Well, first you’d need to know what the Mist actually was, or at least have some vague idea. I was in the process of learning that everything I thought I knew… was a whole lot more than what I actually knew. Here, let me quote: “That which is between and beyond what exists.”
What does that tell you?
Ok, lets back up. Not so long ago, I was an eager new pioneer to the Wild Continent, arriving through the waygate hub to Cowl’s Landing: bewildered, unprepared with nothing but the clothes on my back, but just waiting for adventure! Now I was still a new pioneer. I’d arrived. I was still waiting.
My name was River. I was a petit… scratch that. I was a pretty tiny teenaged girl, with gleaming sapphire eyes, dark turquoise hair pinned so I didn’t sit on it, and flawless pale, slightly greenish skin that was threaded with darker rivulets - sorta like weird faded tattoos. I was a Mistborn. Until very recently, I was also a [Magical Martial Artist], in name at least. Now I was a [Runemaster]. What is that, you ask? I’d like to know.
There were also some other things I wanted to know. For example: how was I supposed to mimic creating a floating, three-dimensional sigil with nothing but the powers of my mind, when it didn’t even stay the same shape from one moment to the next?
Oh, you wanna know that too? “By listening to the voice in your heart.”
I loved the Keeper, but I didn’t always get her teaching style.
We’d been at this for about half an hour by that point. This being her attempting to teach me how to empower a Runic Sign. The Keeper was adorable. Gentle, caring, endlessly patient, and apparently wholly committed to seeing me succeed. It was a great feeling. What was less of a great feeling was my thirty-seventh failed attempt in a row thirty-seven attempts long to cast my grade 1, most basic of all basic Skills.
"The Substantiality of a flame, guided through the Mist into creation." Can you picture that? Hah! Of course the sigil kept changing on me. Have you ever seen a flame sit still?
Everything seemed to hinge on what the Mist was.
“Don’t look with your eyes dear.”
…
*crack*
… What?
“Ah, there you go! What did I tell you?”
Yes, what did you tell me?
*ping*
New Skill!
[Sign of Inverse Devouring]
Instant, no cooldown
Activate a [Positive Fire Rune] and a [Negative Substantiality Rune] to empower a Sign on the target that prevents all incoming damage up to a maximum of 14 for 16 seconds.
“Don’t glare at me like that sweetheart. How about a brownie to celebrate? I’ll put on some tea.”
“Wow! Can I really?!”
Quest Complete!
[Path of the Runemaster (Part 2)]
Delve more deeply into the mysteries of the Runes by learning your first Sign.
I mean… brownie… you know?
New Quest!
[Path of the Runemaster (Part 3)]
Temper your mastery of the Runic powers with experience by empowering a Sign 10 times, at least once while under pressure.
They were really good.
I decided I was just going to ignore the little bit about how the stats on my Skill weren’t quite as advertised. That was normal. It wasn’t worth getting upset about. It left room for the Skill to grow as I got better at using it. A tantrum wouldn’t help anything.
The tea tasted pretty good too.
I allowed myself to just bask in the glow of achievement. Brownies and grudges are pretty much mutually exclusive anyway.
“Sooo, have you thought about what you’re going to do next?”
I think she intentionally timed that for when my cheeks would be full. It took me a few moments to chew and swallow.
“Um. I was sort of thinking you probably had something more you needed me to do? Like maybe for the Runes, going out and gathering something else?”
“Oh, that’s all in the past now. There won’t be any more Inscriptions needed for the Creator Flame, at least for a while yet.”
“Oh but what about… um. Well, you did say you needed me to replace the other ingredients we used, didn’t you?” What about, you know, all the other Runes?
“Ah. So I did.” Her expression had this mixture of approval and skepticism that left me nowhere further ahead. Suddenly, she flashed a grin at me. “Just checking to see if you were going to try and weasel your way out of it!”
“Hey!” I threw a punch at her, and she caught it effortlessly. She’d totally just forgot.
*chuckle* “Well I can certainly have you gather up some of those. Some not so much. That wasn’t quite what I was referring to, though. I can teach you about the Runes, but you’re still going to need a source of income now that you’re here, aren’t you?”
Oh. In other words: I’ll feed you, but I won’t give you unlimited Gemdust to go buy new dresses with. Or, in another language: I’m a source of story quests, not an all purpose one-stop quest hub. Fair enough.
“Ok, I get it. I’ll, um. I’ll go take a look at the quest board out at the main gate. I glanced at it earlier, but maybe there’s some new stuff that’s been added.”
“Mmm, that’s a good start. You could also try asking around town a bit. Sometimes there’s odd jobs that the shopkeepers need taken care of, or you can find someone willing to offer a big sum for a group to go out together. The wilds can get a bit dangerous if you’re on your own, you know.”
Stay in town, stay out of trouble, or stay in the back, in other words. Yeah… no. I’m an adventurer, right? It’s gotta be adventure.
Plus, it’s not like I didn’t have any offensive Skills.
Shut up.
“Alright, yeah, I’ll keep that in mind as well.” I lied.
The Keeper peered at me through raised eyebrows, then sighed and shook her head. “Nah you won’t. Alright, I’ll see if any of my contacts can come up with something for you. In the meantime, do promise me you won’t stray too far out of town, alright?”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Well. I guess… ok.”
She stuck out her hand at me, pinkie crooked.
Blah.
I crooked my pinkie around hers. “Alright, I promise.”
“Thanks River sweetie. You’re too cute, I’d miss you if you got eaten by an Ellilect or a Vine Walker or something.”
I had no idea what either of those things were. Was the name Vine Walker supposed to sound scary? The first one sounded like that thing they used to do with members of parliament. Anyway, I’d promised now.
“Well, I guess I should go take a look, then.”
“Sure you don’t want to finish your tea?”
She got me there.
I sat in peaceful silence, enjoying what was left of my tea. It was a slightly bitter almost-cherry-like flavour with hints of blackberry, cinnamon, and something else. I doubted any of those were among the actual ingredients, except maybe the something else, but it made for a weird-but-not-bad combination. The Keeper wandered into the back room, saying something about the list of ingredients.
It was a moment for contemplation. I had more than my fair share of questions, and the list only kept getting longer. I’d succeeded in finding my first Sign, but how had I done it? What was the Mist anyway? It wasn't like there was a big foggy patch on the map just waiting for me to walk into it. Don’t think for a moment that I’d failed to notice that other quest in my log. How can you see something that doesn’t exist?
“Don’t make that face, dear.” I jumped. The Keeper was standing right in front of me, holding a rolled up scroll. “You’ll get wrinkles.”
“Sorry.”
“No need to apologize.”
“Sorry, um… I was just thinking about the Mist.”
“Mmm? And that was bothering you?”
“Yeah. You keep talking about it, but you said it yourself: it doesn’t exist. How are you supposed to see something that doesn’t exist?”
“Ah, well that is the age-old question, isn’t it?”
“So?”
“Hmm.” She peered at me for a while, arms folded, tapping her chin with the scroll. Finally she started speaking again, slowly. “When I was in the other room, you couldn’t see me, could you?”
“No, there was a wall in the way.”
“Right, but you knew I was there, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah. Where else would you be?”
“And yet you couldn’t see me.”
“Okaaay. I don’t get it.”
The Keeper just shook her head. “It’s alright dear. You will someday. Soon, probably. It’s in your blood. Anyway, it’s not something you need to worry about right now. Just know that to perceive something - to understand it’s being there - is not the same as to see it. Case in point: you didn’t see me come back in, did you? Or you wouldn’t have jumped so adorably.”
She had a point. I still didn’t get it, but I didn’t need to figure it all out right now.
“So, I’m guessing you want to get out adventuring pretty soon, don’t you?”
“Yeah I think so.”
“Well, I’ll let you get to it in a minute, but first…” She paused, pursing her lips to the side. She started again slowly. “Earlier, you wanted to ask about the other Runes.”
Wait, I didn’t actually say that out loud, did I?
She watched my reaction. “You want to know how you can find them, am I wrong?”
“Um. No… I do.”
“Right. Well the short answer is: you can’t. At least not if you’re looking. They’re out there, but they’re kept well hidden in the Mist.” She tapped the scroll for emphasis. “If you want to find them, you’ll have to do it another way.”
“Ok?”
She nodded. “The long answer is: as long as you keep an open heart, you’ll find them eventually, just by following how the Mist flows.”
Didn’t we just go over that?
She grinned and held out the scroll to pass to me. “I realise that probably doesn’t sound very helpful, at least not to someone your age, but it’s not as bad as you think. Here’s the list of ingredients, by the way.”
As I took the scroll from her, I paid attention for the now familiar *ping* of a new quest. There it was.
New Quest!
[The Keeper's Garden (Part 1)]
Obtain the items listed on the first part of [The Keeper’s List]. 0/10.
The Keeper continued. “Do give it a look over before you leave. You can get some of those in town if you shop at the right places.”
I nodded. “Ok.”
“Right, anyway. Lets get back to the main topic: finding things that are hidden in the Mist. Now, I can’t make you any promises, but I think I can offer you a place to start. Are you ready?”
“Yes please!”
“Ok, so. If I were you, setting out looking for the Runes for the first time, in your case I’d start by trying to seek out three things. Now remember, these aren’t things you can find just by looking.”
She paused, and held up one finger. “The first is a droplet of the Skystream. Don’t look at me like that, what did I just say?”
I glowered at her.
She held up a second finger. “The second is a petal of the Nimbus Flower. The tricky part here isn’t where, but how. You’ll understand soon. Your friend Essy can probably help you with that, though.”
She held up her third finger. “And the last, is a piece of the heart of Eternity. Don’t worry. Again, finding it won’t be the hard part, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.” She punctuated her last point with an encouraging smile.
“Now, before you blast me with a million questions, let me just say this: I can’t tell you what to do. This is your story, remember? But I think if you follow my advice, and again, I can’t make any promises, but I think you might just find some things worth finding.”
I just stood there, giving her my best impression of a basilisk.
…
That was… well, it was probably a riddle. Or not. I’d just have to take her word for it.
*ping*
New Quest!
[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 4)]
Make a connection with another of the Runes by walking within the flows of the Mist.
New Quest!
[Things Worth Finding in the Mist]
Seek out three things that cannot be found: a droplet of the Skystream, a petal of the Nimbus Flower, and a piece of the heart of Eternity.
It’s not as bad as you think. Seriously? What was the Mist?
~ ~ 26/1/1/19:06 ~ ~
Status: [River]
Class: [Novice Mistborn Runemaster]
Location: [Cowl’s Landing - The Keeper’s Sanctuary]
Health 39/39 ~ Mana 40/40 ~ Stamina 38/41 ~ Runes 1/1 Equipped Skills (8/8):
[Force Infused Palm]
[Myriad Fists]
[Imbued Defence]
[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]
[Body Conditioning (Passive)]
[Elementary Ingredient Preparation (Passive)]
[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame (1/1)]
[Sign of Inverse Devouring]
Statistics:
Defence +8
Resistance +4
Constitution +4
Willpower +4
Endurance +4
Spirit +1
Perception +1
Equipped Items (3/8):
[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]
[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes]
[Valesilver Pin] Other Skills:
Other Items:
[Special Edition Founder’s Token]
[Novice Healing Potion]
[Novice Mana Potion]
[Small Pouch]
[Small Iron Key]
[Sugary Biscuit]x2
[The Keeper's List] Active Quests:
[Cryptic Flows of the Mist (Part 1)]
[Path of the Runemaster (Part 3)]
[The Keeper’s Garden (Part 1)]
[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 4)]
[Things Worth Finding in the Mist]
Status: [Demi]
Class: [Novice Freechild Guardian]
Location: [Cowl’s Landing - Rukaan’s Garden]
Health 54/60 ~ Mana 4/10 ~ Stamina 39/40
[Knocked Down], [Drained (20%)], [Infused: Novice Healing Salve (16 min)] Equipped Skills (6/8):
[Guarded Strike]
[Standfast]
[Shield Block]
[Shield Discipline (Passive)]
[Mocking Shout]
[Strength of Eternity (Passive)]
Statistics:
Defence +24
Resistance +3
Damage +2
Endurance +1
Strength +8
Constitution (-20%)
Willpower (-20%)
Equipped Items (5/8):
[New Arrival’s Basic Short Sword]
[Greatshield of Dauntless Hope]
[New Arrival’s Basic Chain Armour]
[New Arrival’s Simple Undershirt]
[New Arrival’s Basic Chain Tasset]
[New Arrival’s Simple Pants]
[New Arrival’s Basic Leather Boots] Other Skills:
Other Items:
[Special Edition Founder’s Token]
[Novice Healing Potion]
[Novice Stamina Potion]
[Vial of Silver Gemdust (2)]
[New Arrival’s Basic Shield]
[Novice Rejuvenating Salve]x5
[Novice Healing Salve]x2
[Guldrin’s Checklist]
[Saproot Seed]x14
[Mordalk Stew (cold)]
[Luma Feather]
[Garden Pebble]x4 Active Quests:
[Wanted: Dead Spider Monkeys]
[Guldrin’s Experiment]
[Strength of Eternity (Part 3)]
[Asyr Hospitality (Part 2)]
[Establishing the Pecking Order]