Chapter 349: A Lot
Tala looked skeptically at the small golden bar resting in the palm of her hand. Are you sure?
Mistress Cerna chuckled. Either you can give it back when were done, or it simply costs a couple ounces to learn something interesting.
-Shes giving us gold, to experiment with our items. I see this as an absolute win.-
I suppose
Tala wasnt really sure if it would be worth it to her, at least not at the moment, but Mistress Cernas priorities were different, and that was alright. If you say so.
Tala pressed the two-ounce rectangle of gold to her elk leather sleeve, willing the void within her garments to draw the precious metal in, just as she did with the white metal.
As expected, the void magics responded to her will, reaching out and wrapping around the precious metal to draw it into the sleeve.
At that moment, she could somehow sense the gold within the soulbound item, just as she felt the reserve of white steel.
It wasnt tangible, nor like a feeling of a full stomach. She simply knew that she had a limited amount of gold available to work with.
Tala barked a laugh. I feel it. I think it worked.
Mistress Cerna grinned, actually rubbing her hands together in comically maniacal glee. Alright, now, can you let the gold back out as thinly as possible?
-Ahh, her reasoning makes sense, now. I hadnt considered this.-
Yeah. She wants gold threading, it seems.
Tala shrugged, turning her hand over, growing a bit of leather out onto her palm, and then wishing for the gold to come into being in a long, thin strand, extending upward.
Alright, as youre going, let it leave your control. I believe youve been able to do that before, too?
She nodded, thinking of her scale-mail hauberk. Thats right.
Good! Mistress Cernas magic reached out, seizing the far end of the gold strand even as Tala continued to extrude it. The other Refined easily manipulated the gold into a classic pattern for the formation of a ball of thread or yarn. It wasnt long until Tala had let out all the gold that she had and surrendered it all to Mistress Cernas working. Excellent, excellent.
It was odd. Tala didnt feel any sort of emptiness. She simply no longer had gold to work with. It wasnt a vacancy so much as just beyond her elk leathers to make parts of themselves into gold.
Tala frowned. What was the point of that? I mean, all that I did was turn the little bar into thread. I didnt even pass enough power through it to make it Mage gold.
Hmm? The woman looked up. Oh, its incredibly expensive to get precious metals made into consistent, well-wrought thread. Wire is relatively easy, thread? Horrifically difficult to do consistently.
Tala gave her a flat look. Really.
Really. Mistress Cerna nodded seriously. Its my greatest expense, as I cant manipulate the material until it is at least close to threadlike in nature. I can purify and clean it up once its at least roughly threadlike, removing the flaws of imperfect craftsmanship, but thats a losing proposition in most cases, because it takes power and focus, thus inscriptions, to do so.
So, you pay for it again in that way.
Exactly. This, though? She held up the two ounces of wound, golden thread. This is perfect.
Tala sighed, shaking her head. So, that was the purpose? To save you some time and money? I mean, Im happy to aid you, but you could have just said so.
The older woman shrugged with a smile, Well, on one hand, yes. If we are in the field, in a dangerous situation, and I run out of materials, our units effectiveness and flexibility will drop dramatically. This is a relatively simple means of solving that issue.
Tala tilted her head to the side, considering. Finally, she grunted. I suppose
But theres more. Mistress Cerna had an almost manic shine in her eyes. You can cause your garment to make any shape, correct?
Tala nodded, hesitant as to where the Refined was going with this.
Then, can you make this shape? The golden thread, wrapped in Mistress Cernas power, unwound slightly, twisting into a simple three-dimensional pattern, parts splitting off to connect elsewhere to form a lattice of gold, if a relatively simple one.
Tala examined the shape, then caused leather to grow into that pattern, hanging down from her forearm. She had to nurture some minute boning within the leather to keep it in the proper shape, but it worked.
Mistress Cerna laughed with glee, her smile slipping when she saw Talas face. Dont you see?
No.
Really? Think about it. Why am I so flexible in my magics?
Because you can shape any spellform at need.
Exactly.
-You see, right? I mean, dont feel too bad, I just understood what she was getting at a moment ago.-
Talas eyes widened in understanding.
-There we go.-
Are you saying that I can manifest spellforms, then activate them?
In theory, yes, but we must be careful. You do not strike me as someone who wants to delve the very edges of all possible magics. You enjoy delving the far reaches of the magics that call to you, and that is one of your strengths.
Tala nodded, smiling. Yeah, I think thats fair.
But you do have those arrows rather ingeniously created for and by the Guards, and your own scale armor, which acts like your own quiver of arrows and bow in one Mistress Cerna trailed off implicatively.
Tala felt her smile broaden into a grin. Do you think?
I do. Well need to do some experimentation. I doubt there is a robust body of work on using that mysterious metal as a medium.
-There isnt.-
So, well have to figure that out ourselves. Then it will be a matter of translating the provided spellforms. Once we have that, you can add specific counter-magics at will.
Tala laughed involuntarily. Lets get started.
The older woman hesitated. I havent actually investigated a new medium in a long time. We should go get a primer on the subject.
Talas smile pulled up on one side. Wouldnt you know it? I already have such a book.
* * *
Tala looked between the three men standing near her, deep in Kits dark underbelly. Youre sure?
Yes, Mistress. Master Simon nodded.
Then why havent you already done it?
Adrill spoke up, then. Well, its not ours, and there no such thing as perfect certainty.
So, you arent sure. She turned to regard Master Simon again, more pointedly this time.
Master Simon turned an exasperated glance on his assistant. Adrill. We have done as much as we can with the documentation that we have. The only thing left is to try it.
The man nodded. Of course. Even so, what I said is still true.
Brandon cleared his throat, drawing Talas attention. Mistress Tala, we are as sure as we can be, and we thought it prudent to have you present, rather than using your equipment without permission.
Finally, she shrugged. Very well. Do you have what you need?
Master Simon took charge once more. We do not. In order to follow the recipe for the white metal, we will need one part gold, three of tool steel How about I just give you the list?
Tala took the scrap of paper from the man.
After a long moment, she looked up to find the older two conspicuously inspecting the large magical machinery.
So, she turned to Brandon. This is why you wanted me involved?
He shrugged. It was a small factor. Those are expensive materials, even if the most expensive are in quite small quantities.
She sighed. Fine. Ill release some funds for use in this. What was the second thing you wanted to discuss?
Adrill turned back to her. Well, you might be curious why the device is still viable, being out of use for as long as it has been.
Tala shook her head. I assumed there was a vestige buried in there somewhere, or that it had defaulted to drawing power from Kit.
Well, this was designed to draw power from a vestige He blinked a few times. Oh you knew?
More suspected. Most arcane magical items have vestiges at their core, somewhere. At the very least they are designed to accept power from one. They basically never magic bond anything, if they can help it.
Oh well, that makes this easier.
Tala glanced toward the two mundanes. Are they allowed to know about vestiges?
Master Simon glanced their way and shrugged. We keep mundanes in the dark to prevent any potential of triggering their move toward becoming a fount to a minimum. These two dont have gates, so they arent at risk.
Adrill cleared his throat. There were also extensive references to founts and vestiges in many of the documents weve been reading through for the various systems, workings, and spellforms within your sanctum and associated with your various acquisitions.
Oh yeah, that makes sense.
Master Simon smiled, But back on topic, can you tell us how it is getting power, then?
She shrugged. Its just a guess, but I would say that it was designed to draw power from the vestige at the heart of the hold in which it was kept. Those are kept incredibly pure, so it was unbound as Ive already said. Here, though? Here there is power within Kit, freely available. I would guess that it is pulling from that.
Master Simon was nodding. That does line up with what we were detecting. I just didnt realize that the power source it had before would have been pure enough to prevent any sort of magical bonding. He glanced toward Adrill and smiled. As it turns out, you were right, Adrill.
Adrill waved Master Simon off. It was a guess based on the materials we were reading through.
Still, well intuited.
Tala cleared her throat. So, any other needs?
The three men turned toward the tank in which Io floated, almost in unison. Brandon spoke again, That thing it gives off the feeling of just being asleep.
Really? Tala turned and studied it, the purple liquid only marginally obscuring the fully grown automaton within.
Brandon nodded. It subtly changes positions over time. I know that thats likely explicable by being close to neutrally buoyant within that liquid, along with the currents as the liquid is circulated, but theres a feeling about the thing.
The young man shivered, but Tala only saw that in her mirrored perspectives. Instead, she was walking closer to the tank.
Do you see anything?
-No?-
Tala frowned. Nothing looked out of place to Talas sight: magical, mundane, or void. Not even her real, physical eyes picked up anything, as enhanced as they were. Not that her mirrored perspectives were worse, but there was just something about seeing through her own eyes.
-I could keep a watcher over it.-
That pulled Tala back to the matter at hand. Huh, I suppose so.
She looked around before directing one of her extra bloodstars to rest on face of a nearby shelf, looking like nothing so much as a small stain once it had landed. Can you see through that mirrored perspective?
-Confirmed.-
Alright, monitor that as we leave. I think it should be fine, because Kit is magic bound to us. Shed never tested her limits on the distance she could get from her bloodstars, but the experience of losing her iron when Soles cell was sealed was still a bit too fresh to not consider the potential issue.
Tala turned back around to where the three men were already discussing something about the magical smelter once again.
Alright gentlemen, Ill grant the funds to Adrill so that he can get whats needed while were gone, but for now, you twoshe pointed to the father and sonneed to head out.
Adrill opened his mouth to protest, then sighed. I knew this was coming.
Tala nodded. I told you that my unit has a mission outside the city. I even gave you a few days warning.
The father turned to his son. Can you tell your mother that I didnt get out in time? I can apologize later.
Im not lying to mom. Brandon shook his head.
Adrill took on a stern expression. I would never lie to your mother or ask you to do so. I didnt ask you to tell her I couldnt get out in time, simply that I didnt.
Brandon opened his mouth and stood there for a long moment before grunting, Huh thats true enough.
His father gave a decisive nod, smiling.
Still no.
The man sighed. Very well.
Tala cleared her throat. Adrill, do you need your equipment?
Adrill turned to Master Simon, Can I continue working with you, upon Mistress Talas return?
The Fused smiled broadly. Absolutely.
Adrill turned back to Tala. Then, I have nothing that I need to get out of here. Doing so would simply add time unnecessarily.
She shook her head, gesturing to the door which had just appeared. Then out you go.
As the two men walked out the open door, Talas eyes were drawn to the white metal ingots that were waiting off to one side. Yeah, theres no reason to keep those in here.
She willed herself to be beside the remaining metal and quickly took it into her elk leathers, increasing her store of the material to work with.
There. Ive had too little in the past when that wasnt necessary.
-Its about time.- Alat teased. -So, are we ready to investigate another cell?-
Tala nodded to herself. There really did seem to be a lot of those popping up.
She was grateful that she seemed to be getting the hang of handling them alongside her unit.
* * *
Tala kicked up her feet with a groan, letting her head hang over the back of her chair.
That was ridiculous.
-I never would have thought that sand could be terrifying.-
Stars bless Master Girt. The man had been invaluable in countering what was effectively a sand elemental of terrifying temperament.
At first, they had all be confused as to why such a basic creature been deemed worthy of imprisonment.
The reason was now all too obvious.
It had, apparently, inexplicably gained a penchant for terrorizing any sapient it came across. The theory was that some mad Mage had bound himself to it, and the combined being had been twisted by hatred of what hed lost. Unfortunately, the records left behind had indicated that they werent actually sure.
But that no longer mattered.
She was no longer being chased by a morphic horror through the halls of an abandoned city.
She no longer had to doubt her ears as the thing somehow mimicked her unit-mates voices. Nor did she have to hear the creepy sounds or false calls for help from long dead children.
She no longer had to fear that any bit of wall, floor, or ceiling could turn out to be a psychopathic sand elemental that was utterly impervious to even her dissolution breath.
The cell was resealed once more, and she was back home.
Mistress Tala?
Tala jerked, letting out a little yelp as her eyes snapped open.
-Gah!-
Mistress Petra jumped backward, not even landing before Tala had willed herself to be standing on the far side of the room.
Tala felt her heart pounding within her chest and forcibly slowed it. Shed fallen asleep and been startled awake. That was all.
Mistress Tala? Are you alright?
She took another moment to attempt to calm herself before answering, I am, Mistress Petra. My apologies. What can I do for you?
You asked me to let you know when dinnertime was approaching. The Fethuas will be here within the next hour.
The Fethuas? Oh! Artia, Adrill, and Brandon.
-And Brandons intended.- Alats voice sounded strained.
Even so, Tala outwardly smiled, remembering the planned meal. Brandon and his intended were courting, now, and if all went well, theyd likely be betrothed within the year. Right, right.
She would address Alats seeming stress in a moment.
Thank you, Mistress Petra. Ill prepare. Is there anything that I can do to assist you?
No, Mistress. I have the food well in hand. Thank you. She smiled as she turned back toward the kitchen.
Tala shook her head, trying to clear the fog over her thoughts. Alat, are you alright?
-That was unsettling. I didnt even notice us falling asleep, so I didnt split your mind so that I could stay active while you recovered.-
Tala somehow felt Alat shudder within her mind.
-I dont like losing consciousness. Its pretty much all I have.-
Im sorry, Alat. I didnt realize I was that tired. She looked around at her sitting room. Id definitely have gone to my bed to sleep if Id known.
-I know, Tala. Its still I only exist within your mind. I dont have a physical existence that persists while my consciousness is inactive-
Tala willed herself to her own room, then spoke aloud, Alat? Can I see you?
She moved one of the bloodstars that mirrored a perspective for Alat to another part of the room.
There was a brief hesitation before Tala appeared to her own eyes, standing where the bloodstar had been hovering, arms wrapped around herself, hugging tight.
Not me, thats Alat.
Tala took a brief moment to notice the differences that were there.
Their hair was arranged slightly differently.
Funnily enough, the style that Alat adopted for herself was one that Tala had used in her early days at the Academy, before theyd been shaved for inscriptions. It was shorter than Tala preferred now, and all bound up tightly to her head with blue-green cord, woven tightly and artfully throughout.
Alats eyes were a beautiful, inhuman yellow.
If Tala wasnt mistaken, that was the precise color of their aura.
Alat also wore slightly different clothing, opting for a flowing, almost formal dress of amethyst-purple silk that complemented her eye color as much as her figure.
Tala smiled. I like the look.
Alat gave a small smile. Thank you. I think its a bit more me than you, though you would look good like this.
Yeah, we do, thats true. Tala chuckled lightly, I am a bit more martially inclined, and Ive never liked wearing dresses.
We should on occasion, though. Theyre nice.
Tala took another, closer look. You arent wrong. This is better than a mirror, or even an aspect mirrored perspective. We should remember that. I know it shouldnt be
Alats smile grew a bit. But it is.
Yeah. Tala stepped forward and placed a hand on Alats shoulder, drawing their tangent to a close. Even though she knew that the woman and sensations of touch were entirely within her head, they seemed utterly real. Regardless, that wasnt important for the moment. Are you sure youre going to be alright?
Alat leaned into Talas touch even as she gave a small nod. I think so. I I just wasnt expecting it, and it reminded me of of Be-thric.
Tala grimaced, shuddering involuntarily at the reminder. I can imagine. Still, she mastered herself and smiled at Alat once more. Is there anything that I can do?
Alat shook her head, straightening and smiling with obviously forced confidence. No, thank you. This was a kind suggestion, though. I think it helped to have a manifestation, even if just for a moment.
Im glad. Will you be able to talk with Retson, soon? Master Nadros alternate interface was a valuable conversation partner for Alat, when they had the time to dialogue.
I will soon, yeah. Right after your next manifest conversation with Master Nadro.
Thats good to hear. After a moments consideration, Tala smiled, Do you want a hug? she held her arms wide.
Alat only hesitated for a moment before stepping in for an embrace.
The manifested woman shuddered slightly with obvious tension slowly bleeding out of her.
After a long moment, Alats voice came to Talas ear, Thank you.
Tala nodded. Always. We have a bit. Take all the time you need.
Alat curled in against Talas shoulder, hugging her self tighter. Okay.
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