Chapter 377: My Fault
Tala helped Brandon and Adrill to their feet, one with each hand.
It was easy enough to allow her iron to actually settle upon her to give her the inertia to help them stand, and she certainly didnt lack the strength. It was the least she could do.
Considering
-Not yet, Tala. They still need our help.-
The two men gratefully accepted the help even as they had their heads practically on a swivel, trying to take in as much as they could.
She was holding herself tightly emotionally controlledwith Alats help. If she panicked, theyd be utterly lost, Slow down, gentlemen. As long as youre in here, your magesight wont go away. It should even maintain, if at a lower fidelity, outside, within Alefast and the surrounding region.
That seemed to allow the two to settle down a bit. Good, theyre doing better.
-Hold it together, Tala. Dont think too deeply. You got this. We can go off on our own soon.-
Yeah. She encouraged herself, trying to keep a brave face, Yeah
Brandon held himself still and cleared his throat, seeming a bit more embarrassed than his father at their earlier display.
The older man was still staring around himself in wonder, even if with less of a frantic air.
Mistress Tala? What about my question? Can you do this for others? Bradon shifted uncomfortably, Or have we just condemned ourselves to outlive those we love?
Tala swallowed. Well, for those without a gate, this can be done. It is a nearly flawless process, but the results arent perfect nor guaranteed. If it fails, the result is death. I am unsure if even having a healer on hand would prevent that, but were definitely going to regardless. Similarly, you are both going to be thoroughly checked out as soon as Master Simon gets back with one.
Why?
Which part? I said a lot of things in there.
Why dont you think a healer will be much help?
Oh. Well, its a suspicion more than outright knowledge, but its pretty well grounded, as I think youll agree. It is because the issue in that circumstance is that the patients body is trying to draw in too much magic and is being made toxic because of that.she was rambling, but she didnt think she could stop herself and hold it togetherMore magic, even that which they cant absorb, even that of a helpful variety is going to exacerbate the problem. There are likely some magics that could help second-hand, but the sort of immediate treatment that would be required likely wouldnt be possible.
Brandon was nodding. He knew the theory well enough by that point to have followed what she was getting at. And mom?
Tala shrugged. This environment shouldnt affect her at all. Her body is already magic-bound to her own flavor of power, for lack of a better description. The stuff in the air, here, might hurt her if we doubled the density.
-More like increased it by a factor of a hundred.-
She shook her head, No, it would need more than that, probably closer to a hundred times this level before it could start to actively harm her.
-Smooth.-
Thank you.
Adrill had been drawn in by her words, out of his awed examination of the world around him. Even though he was still clearly euphoric, a spark of concern and doubt was beginning to creep in. So my wife?
Tala grimaced. The only thing I can think of is to get her a keystone, deepen her connection with magic enough to at least get her inscribed. Every bit of power we can get flowing through her will lengthen her life, but it isnt an easy process, or everyone would do it. Tala huffed a forced laugh. We want more people more than almost anything else. If we could easily extend peoples natural lifespan, wed be doing it to everyone.
Dont talk about Archon stars. Dont mention them at all. We are absolutely going to keep her well below the threshold to move in that dangerous direction.
-Yeah, we do want people to live longer, but its a balancing act to keep from suddenly having millions of founts-
That would be less than ideal, yeah. Plus, a large portion of those who are denied Magical training are so rejected because they would succumb to becoming a fount so fast as to make their training detrimental.
-True enough. Hey! Good job changing your focus, by the way.-
-Oh, its back sorry about that.-
Adrill nodded slowly. She did not do well on the Mage aptitude tests when she was younger.
Tala bobbed her head in understanding. Those tests are for mind-set and mode of thinking. I dont think that Artia will ever be a Mage, but we should be able to induce enough magic through her that she doesnt have a significantly lower lifespan than you. She chuckled. After all, shes around artifacts practically all day, every day. She has to have some penchant toward understanding how magic functions.
She hesitated, frowning for a moment.
You know, maybe the scripts to allow her to feed power to a magical item would work for her. No magic necessary for herself, only for an item.
A Mage doesnt need thoseat least most Immaterial Guides dont because we can just grab the power directly and give it to the item. No scripts required.
-Yes, you are extra special and awesome.-
Yes, we are. Tala smiled internally just a bit.
Brandon interjected, then, Why doesnt everyone do that? Why doesnt everyone get basic scripts?
Well, first of all, its expensive. She quirked a smile. Beyond that, you still have to have an understanding of magic, generally, and manyif not mostpeople simply dont, and cant, understand it.
Adrill responded before his son could, She definitely doesnt really appreciate the theory behind magic like we do, son, but she has a solid grasp of the fundamentals.
Then, maybe? Tala shrugged. Im sure with such an important goal before her, and you two beside her, we can get it to work for her.
Brandon frowned. Does that mean that Kedva would need such an understanding?
Tala almost opened her mouth to say yes, but hesitated. Wait
-Yeah arcane babies definitely dont have an understanding of magic when they are induced upon their birth.-
Maybe not? I will have to learn a different spellform to use for her than for the two of you. You both have the cognitive grasp of magesight to make it work. It wouldnt for her without extensive study but basic enhancement magics? Yeah that would just be taking the body as the template and allowing it to be more. I obviously already know that one, as that is part of what I gave to you.
-Enhancement magics were the recommendation given in the primer.-
Though, it was stated that such gave consistent, mediocre results.
-Yeah, consistent.-
but mediocre
-Do you think they will care?-
They might.
-Then, we let them decide.-
Tala nodded to herself, gilding herself and pushing on ahead, Ive been wanting the two of you to officially come work for me in here for a while, now. Master Simon has been not-so-subtly asking for it as well. If you agree, Ill give you this as your first project: You would fully study the arcane advancement manual that I have and break out the steps for use by others, such as Kedva.
Both men froze.
Did we not tell them?
-No, Tala. No, we did not.-
Oh Now was probably not the right time to broach the source, was it?
-No, Tala. No, it was not.-
Adrill swallowed visibly, Arcane advancement? Mistress Tala, are you telling me that
The door from the outside burst open at that moment, and Master Simon rushed in with a clearly confused Archon in tow. His inscriptionsand what Tala could seeindicated that he was a healer.
Context makes that pretty obvious too.
The older Fused frowned, looking at the stricken men before him, Well, youre up and about. What did I miss?
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* * *
Once Tala had conveyed what she could of the situation to Master Simon and the healerand promised Adrill a full discussion later on the origins of what had been done to themshe left the four men to run tests and make sure everything was going to be alright.
She let them know that she needed to deal with something, and with an act of will, she moved herself into a cave with no entrance on the far side of the sanctum.
She immediately dropped to the ground, her suppressed emotions finally breaking free as she began to weep.
-Tala Im sorry. This is all my fault. I should have realized sooner that this could have been the result.-
I forced them into this, Alat. They didnt have a choice. They werent even aware of the possibility. I forced them onto the path of magic while gaining something for myself. She felt tears flowing down her face and snot building in her nose. Im a careless version of my father. At least he sent me off to the Academy intentionally. I just barreled forward, rust the consequences.
-Tala. This is on me, not you, and doing something on accident isnt worse than doing it on purpose.-
Only if it really is an accident.
-Tala-
I could have read that manual. You did read it. We are the same person. Your failing is my failing.
She pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging them against herself.
Now, its possible that Ive condemned a man to outlive his wifehis partner, the person he loves most in this worldby decades.
She knew she couldnt imagine the pain involved in that.
Losing Mistress Odera had hurt her deeply, and she realized that her relationship with the older woman hadnt been a fraction of Adrills care, affection, and love toward Artia.
There was a momentary pause, then Tala felt the part of her mind in which Alat operated begin to strain.
A hand suddenly fell on Talas shoulder, and she looked up, startled.
Alat stood beside her, dress fluttering in a breeze that wasnt actually there. Tala I
She seemed at a loss as to what to say.
So, instead of saying anything, she sat down beside Tala, wrapping her arms around her, and they wept together.
* * *
Tala and Alat managed to pull themselves together sufficiently to join her unit on wall duty that night, but it was a rough time, at least at the start.
On her way to her duty-station, Tala asked Alat to contact Master Nadro and Master Grediv, letting them both know what had happened for different reasons.
For Master Grediv, Tala and Alat had wanted to ensure that the Paragon knew that some gateless humans were suddenly able to wield magic within his city, even if just barely.
With Master Nadro, they hoped to schedule an additional meeting, aside from their regular meet up, and see if he was free to give any advice or guidance to the two new wielders of arcane-like power.
Master Grediv had been terse in his reply, stating that he would come by to meet with the two men the next day.
Master Nadro was not available any earlier than their already scheduled appointment, but he did say that he would make it an in person one, so that he could meet with those affected.
When Tala arrived, her unit mates immediately intuited that something was wrong.
They were already on the lookout for such signs, because Tala had been off-kilter due to Mistress Oderas death.
Rust I had put that out of my mind
Regardless, Mistress Vanga sat with her in silence while the others kept a careful eye. Though, each had noticed something was wrong and had made expressions of concern, before letting her know that they were there if she wanted anything from them, trusting her to ask if that was the case, and leaving her to herself.
In truth, Alat was on watch as well, being a bit more removed from the whole situation.
Alat also found it helpful to focus on their three-fold vision. It was soothing for the alternate interface to process so much information constantly.
That became relevant when, just after midnight, Tala stood up, I really need this. Let me take the leading edge, please?
Her unit mates had oriented on her when she moved, and they detected the incoming threat just after she had.
New sight? Master Clevnis asked, clarifying that she'd seen the incoming enemy first through her three-fold sight.
New sight. She appreciated the abbreviated communication. She really wasnt in the mood to chat.
Very well, you take point. Well have your back and the wall.
She felt gratitude to the man, and her unit. She really did feel like she needed the fight.
-Need? No, we just want to kill something. Preferably many, many somethings.-
Well it has helped before.
-Fair enough.-
Tala had no idea what depraved hole of the world reality and magic came together inside of in order to spawn some of the things that threw themselves at Alefast, and at the moment she didnt really care.
It was a swarm of near identical creatures that she knew wouldnt be her strong suit, but the others would mop up after her.
With no fear, she dropped over the edge of the wall, leaving the citys defenses behind.
In all honesty, those would likely have been plenty to handle this foe, but it was better to be safe than sorry with lives on the line.
As she fell, even her mundane eyes easily saw the odd creatures, and Alat was able to find them in their indexes almost immediately.
-Quilled Jerboara. We wont know what subspecies until-
The sound like a thousand madmen all trying to talk over one another swelled out of the oncoming creatures as they got within their own poor eyesights ability to see the wall.
-Oh, gibbering quilled jerboaralovely.-
As she landed, Tala had already pulled three sets of siege orbs from her beltKit still being back at Artias shopand with an act of will, she sent the six devastating projectiles into front ranks of the nearly one thousand creatures, well-spaced along the front, targeting creatures in the middle to allow for the orbs to rip deep into the charging ranks before she detonated them.
As the six zipped forth, quickly accelerating to the point that they cracked the air with their passage, Tala took a moment to review what she knew of the creatures.
Jerboara were charging creatures that have clawed paws but most closely resemble boars in their nature and behavior.
Wickedly sharp tusks and hardened skulls were complemented by oddly large ears that allowed them to nearly unerringly home in on their prey.
And they did have prey. From all evidence, they were omnivores like swine, but they seemed to prefer meat.
And, of course, killing gated humans.
-There is that lovely feature of virtually every magical creature, yes.-
The quilled portion of their name referenced the near-metal-like quills that armored their sides and back, which they could flex and position for defense and close quarters offense.
The foremost quills could even be pulled forward and positioned like a miniature forest of lances in order to add to the damage potential of a charge.
And the gibbering portion of their name?
Aside from the unnerving nature of the sound, it actually represented a birdsong-like form of communication, which allowed whole herds to work together.
The gibbering quilled jerboara was the most intelligent variety of jerboara by far.
Additionally, their magics were almost entirely focused on sonic manipulation of varying kinds.
Ears sealed.
-Ear canals filled. Were good to go.-
The siege orbs punched through the first rank and threw them back into the second, disrupting the tightly packed charge some hundred yards from the walls. Even so, the orbs didnt come out the backs of the first beasts they entered.
Thankfully, it did cause some of the quills of the creatures to be slammed into those behind them, which caused further damage and confusion.
Well.. they are more durable than we were led to believe.
-Just a bit, yeah. Their hides must be insanely enhanced.-
Without further delay, Tala triggered the orbs, releasing the incredibly compressed air into a concussive explosion.
That worked at least, as the six jerboara almost seemed to swell like balloons before bursting. Their whole bodies swelled and tore with what must have been a rather disgusting sound, even as the ground rumbled at the detonations.
The result slung frozen gore and bits of flesh everywhere, actually sending the quills and bone fragments shooting outward, tearing through the surrounding beasts.
Well, that worked, but not really as Id hoped
Flow snicked into Talas hand from the sheath at her belt.
It was time to close in for some true stress-relief.
Tala crouched against the base of the wall, making sure to brace against the foundation stones and the ground in equal measure, before launching herself up and outward, removing her downward gravity at the last minute in order to soar the intervening distance between herself and the herd that was slowly pulling itself back in order.
The sound of her launch must have been noticeable, and some of the bigger beasts clearly oriented on her as she was flying their direction.
Her entire body began to vibrate, her very bones jiggling and trying to pull free of the surrounding tissue as close to a hundred of the more aware jerboara unleashed their power to send sonic attacks her way.
Her very brain felt like it was trying to enter a liquid state.
Blessedly, she was more durable than that.
Rust my biscuits, Im glad Im the one who engaged directly.
-First, thats Mistress Hollys phrase.-
Other people have said it.
-...regardless. Second, they wouldnt have closed at all. Third, eye on the target, its time to descend.-
One jerboara in particular seemed to realize that she wasnt dying as theyd expected, because it quickly gathered its back legs under itself and lunged out and up, aiming perfectly to meet her mid-air.
Its forward quills snapped to the front, even as it lowered its head to bring its tusks to bear.
Lovely, a volunteer.
Thus, as Tala allowed her gravity to return to normal and arced down into the mass of enemies, Flow bisected one of the biggest monsters, allowing the horse-sized magical thing to fall in two pieces behind her.
She didnt pay attention to the squelch of the two halves landing, as she had other things on her mind. She had had come down on top of an unsuspecting member of the assaulting herd, her full weight and surface-area expansion scripts allowing her to drive it into the ground, even if it didnt kill the thing outright.
These things are tough.
-So it seems.-
Well, then, close quarters killing it is.
-Shall we?-
Quite.
And that is exactly what she did.
Her breath tore at them from the outside.
Flow cut them with every movement.
Her shields, defensive discs, and tungsten balls and rod frustrated their movements.
Talas aura supremacy kept them from amplifying each other's magic.
Her body resisted their concentrated sonic attacks.
She didnt use any more siege orbs, as they didnt seem to be as effective as shed like. Thus, she kept the few still on her belt in reserve, just in case they were needed.
They werent.
Similarly, she didnt use her iron spikes, as they were entirely unnecessary, and Tala was trying to unburden her mind, not strain it differently.
Her unit mates joined her in spirit and with their long-range magics, sending their power from the walls, and striking at portions of the massed creatures that she wasnt currently addressing, keeping them milling and confused barely a hundred yards from the wall.
It was a slaughter.
It was exactly what she needed right then.
Some days, it really paid to be a defender.
And, of course, I am actually going to get paid.
-Ahh, the perks and plus side of doing our job.-
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