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CYRUS
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“A decade of my life is invaluable. It took me three to become an Alter. Me. And I was so secretive about it that not one of you knows my name. You’ll never achieve it in ten years, Cyrus. No one has ever achieved it in ten.”I see.
So you achieved it at 30, and in ten years I'd be 27.
“You didn’t answer the question.” Envy crossed her legs.
“Yes he did.” Cy leaned in. “You’re constantly testing me, aren’t you? But not them. They’re special." Cy pointed at his friends with his mug. "I’m not special. Or maybe I am, because you’d have stopped wasting your time on me, trying to tease out my abilities. Your time is invaluable, after all."
The Painter cracked the faintest smile.
“You have a puzzle for me." Cy tilted his head. "No, you have a puzzle for yourself. And it’s had you stuck for a while. And if I had to guess—Longer than a decade?"
“To my unending surprise, you are rather close to your mark.” The Painter waved his hand around in the air. A lit cigarette formed between two fingers. He inhaled it slowly and deeply. Smoke wafted upward. What am I missing here?
Cy hoped Jules would come to his aid, but help never arrived. What could an Alter want? They have access to nearly unlimited power. They can alter the very fabrics of reality because they know every Rune—
Or at least most of them. That’s it. Buy some more time. “I’ll find it for you.” Which of the Banned Runes do you want?
The Painter exhaled smoke for the first time. He held his cigarette at a distance and observed it, admired it. “And is that before or after I train you?”
Not the Death Rune—I wouldn’t give that to anyone if I found it, let alone this guy. From his smoking, I doubt it’s the Life Rune, either. You've already proven you have the Memory Rune. “After, of course.” You seem to have already mastered the Space Rune from all the illusions we’ve seen you perform. Maybe you want the Void Rune?
The Painter took another puff; he was halfway finished now. “I’m starting to like this deal." The Painter pointed his cigarette at Cy. "But I feel uneasy about your hesitation to say the Rune aloud. Or is it that you’re unsure?”
You obviously know the answer. Think, Cy! The cig's almost out. This’ll be his last puff. A dozen more Banned Runes to go through, and the clock’s almost run out—
Cy smiled. He laughed and took a long swig of wine, long enough to make a statement, but short enough to meet his deadline.
“Fine. After I ascend to the Alter, I will find you the Time Rune. Then my debt will be paid.”
> [Pang! Persuasion increased to Level 8.]
“You show promise, child." The cigarette and its smoke disappeared. "But allow me to clarify. When I have raised you to the Alter, within ten years’ time, you will dedicate your life, your very soul, to finding me that Time Rune. When you’ve delivered it to me, your debt will be paid.”
“Cyrus.” Jules cautioned his friend with both a shake of his head and his full name.
“Ten years is a long time to figure things out, Jules. Plus, after that, you’d have an Alter by your side.”
“No, Cy. After ten years, I’d be missing my best friend by my side, for who knows how long.”
"How long indeed?" The Painter's eyes pierced through Cy. He extended a hand.
“There’s no other way for me to both achieve my goal and become as strong as you need me—”
“We can continue negotiating—”
“Deal.” Cy shook The Painter’s hand. Their hands lit up, but instead of rays of light, darkness radiated from them.
The pain was immense, and Cy fell to a knee. Cy's hand shredded into ribbons, or at least it did in his mind. The Painter, who simply winced through the pain, ended the embrace. Cy inspected his own hand.
The inside of his right palm, uninjured and still intact, bore the symbol of their Binding Vow Script—a tiny hourglass etched in black. The top half was filled in; the bottom was voided, only an outline of the hourglass shape.
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Find a way to train under The Painter.]
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> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective ADDED: Complete The Painter's training.]
>
> This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
>
>
>
> [New Binding Vow: Time Is of the Essence]
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> [New Binding Vow Description: Ascend to the Alter with The Painter, and then find the Time Rune.]
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> [New Binding Vow Penalty: Death.]
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> [Time Is of the Essence — Binding Vow Objective ADDED: Become an Alter in 10 years.]
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> [Time Is of the Essence — Binding Vow Objective ADDED: Afterward, dedicate your life, your very soul, to finding The Painter the Time Rune.]
“You idiot.”
Jules’ eyes are on fire again. Kat looks disappointed, too.
“What’s done is done. I can work toward two goals at the same time.” I need to get on your level, Jules. Surpass it, even. Jules didn’t respond.
“Shall we seal our deal?" The Painter reached his hand out to Jules. There's that mischievous grin again.
“Interesting choice of words,” Envy said.
“Binding Vows aren’t necessary for us.” Jackass. Jules continued. “We will train with you, and you can see us in action, not to mention keep us close by. But we will reserve the right to leave whenever we’re ready.” Jules is learning to bargain pretty well.
“Then I’ll claim that right as well.” The Painter didn’t flinch. Did he expect this? Did I just play into his hand—again? “Well, any other closing table changes I should know about? Speak now or forever hold your peace." No one answered The Painter. “Ah, I hear purring. We must be ready to move on, then. Please, sit down.” The Painter raised himself out of his chair without moving his body; he just floated up. “You three exhibited great strength and Skills out there today. From strategy to the use of your, limited, mind you, knowledge of Runes. However, I didn’t realize how few Scripts you all actually know. And I noticed you two didn’t want to show your cards to me at all. That’s fine. In due time.” He glanced at Cy with that last word. “Now you are clearly the rational thinker of the group. So tell me what you know, better yet, what you think you know, about Scripts.”
Cy's cheeks flushed with pride. “Well, Scripts are used in a variety of ways. From the Trades to simple and complex magic to even weapons in combat. We Enchant items or tattoo ourselves to activate the power of our Scripts with Ryoku.”
“Errgh, wrong!” The Painter dismissed him for the other two. “Any other guesses?”
Jules and Envy shrugged.
“I’ve got one,” Rukia said. “They’re not as effective as my innate Yokai magic!” She poofed into a ball of smoke and reappeared in a chibi form. She wore a beautiful flowery pink kimono and fanned her face, which was covered in Noh makeup. Whiskers knocked her over with one paw. She struck the ground in a cloud of smoke and transformed back.
“I see you never actually read my book." The Painter shook his head.
"Scripts are The Truth in vocal or written form," Whiskers said. "What you say, comes to pass. At the cost of life force."
Arrogant pussy today, aren’t we?
“Errgh! Errgh! That’s three X’s for you lot.”
Whiskers licked his ass.
“Though you are each close,” The Painter continued. “Scripts are words. That’s it. There is no truth to words, just as there is no truth to actions. Think about it this way, what happens when an immovable object strikes an unstoppable force—annihilation? Maybe, but we will likely never know. On second thought, you children might one day find out. Alas, here’s a more practical example.”
Cy stood up. Oh shit, where’d he go?
“Let’s say I hide from you all. I can use a variety of Runes in an even larger variety of orders. Some will be more effective than others, but for brevity, say I activate the Runes Hide, Body, Arcanic, and Human, like I just did. Now let’s say you used some Runes, like Reveal and All—or maybe even Light, like Cyrus here did last night—who would win?”
“Well, I did,” Cy bragged.
“You think you did,” Jules said.
“It depends on a lot of variables. I am not actually making myself invisible, and you are not actually able to see everything. What would actually happen is you would realize something or someone is hiding, and I would realize that someone was looking for something hidden, which, in this particular case, would be me. It then becomes a battle of wits, wisdom, strategy, and mastery of Scripts.”
Judging from their faces, I’m the only one who’s grasping this, and I’m starting to see through some cracks. Better keep that knowledge to our Party for now, though.
The Painter reappeared and held up three fingers. “If you see your training through to the end, I will only teach you three main lessons. You will learn Runes as a side effect, but those are not the lessons I will instill in you. What you should focus on and learn during our time together,” again he looked at Cy, “are the answers to these three questions:
“What are Scripts? What are the main branches of Scripts? Cy, these are similar to what you mentioned: Trades, Magic, Combat, etc. And how do you exploit the System?”
> [New Quest Available: The Painter’s Lessons]
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> [The Painter’s Lessons — Quest Objective ADDED: What are Scripts?]
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> [The Painter’s Lessons — Quest Objective ADDED: What are the main branches of Scripts?]
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> [The Painter’s Lessons — Quest Objective ADDED: How do you exploit the System?]
Cy felt nervous, like he was being watched. I guess the System creeps me out after all. This feels… Beyond illegal. Sacrilegious, or like blasphemy. “Isn’t speaking about the System like that a cardinal sin?” Shit. Cy scratched his face. “Sorry guys, I didn’t mean it like that.”
Envy laughed, and Jules finally cracked a smile.
“I wouldn’t know. But I have been doing it for a very long time.” Finally, he didn’t look at me when saying that word. “Now, a demonstration. The people of Salvatica are so peaceful on the surface, it’s rather boring. They lack imagination about how to effectively use Scripts, focusing mainly on their efficiency and applications to industry.”
Yeah, I'd say you definitely taught Isolda a thing or two.
"How do we know your answers to these questions are correct?" Envy asked.
"Oh, I’m not asking you to mirror my opinions on the matter. Again, there is no truth to words. You must seek your own answers." The Painter waved away a bad smell. Cy scooted to the edge of his chair. “To chase that efficiency—whether for wealth, power, or the state, it doesn’t matter—they have split Scripts into self-proclaimed categories. In doing so, they restrict citizens’ Script knowledge relevant to their active Skills. Which, for most people, is a measly five. Ha! Can you imagine?”
Cy shifted in his chair. I only have three…
“Eh, my apologies. I forgot my present company. You can't control your age, so think nothing of it. Anyway, that’s it for your lesson today on the first question. Moving on to the second, the demonstration. There is a lesson inside it, but figure it out for yourself."
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