The atmosphere seemed to lighten as soon as Agatha appeared in the office.
Some of the Imprint's heavy and persistent presence was subverted despite Kieran's lack of control over the thankless desire. He also suffered the aftereffects of having Agatha manipulate his mystical signal, starting at the root.
The way in which Agatha regarded the Imprint underwent subtle changes. Within that medley of emotion was roguish praise. Her sangria-colored eyes, resplendent, polished, and radiant like gems bathed in deep light, shimmered.
"This Imprint was damaged in the beginning, was it not?"
Kieran shuddered, looking at Agatha dubiously.
From the state of her eyes, the way they glistened and felt profoundly deep, Kieran understood she was using one of the innate abilities of the Runemasters.
All truths and lies were laid bare before her. At least, that's the gist of what Kieran understood. He wasn't entirely sure how high her mastery of those eyes was. Or what seeing through truth and lies entailed.
Could Agatha truthfully perform the feat? Or was truth-seeking an ability reserved for a real master, exclusive to beings of Hekaina's mighty station and unique agency?
'Are there others like her? If we discount Eni, probably not. Neither Agatha nor I are her peers in the arts. Speaking of which, I don't think Eni is a Runemaster. He's something greater. For now… we'll just call him the Father of Runemasters. Hold on…'
Kieran thought back to his conversation with Hekaina. She had revealed tidbits of prudent information, and he remembered the mention of a mother in passing within those kernels of knowledge.
That mother was supposedly the first Enchantress to walk through Xenith, and she wielded the Supreme Ciphers with incomparable grace.
'If only I could remember her name. Maybe I can learn more about her in the future. Many relationships soured throughout history, but according to Hekaina… she wishes to salvage those relationships for the fate of the Boundary.'
Kieran had deeper ruminations left in him, but Agatha disrupted his thoughts with a sonorous snap beside his ears.
"What? Have you become lost in my eyes? Ah, never seen a breathtaking beauty before? Do I look so good that the dim light in your head has extinguished completely? Pity. I don't fancy a dimwitted man."
Kieran scowled and squinted, his gaze piercing and venomous.
'I hate powerful women. They taunt you too much because they know you're powerless to do anything about it. Hmm… what if I sic Scar on her? That rabid hound is much stronger than I am.'
Devious and petulant thoughts circled Kieran's mind, the twisted glee gradually showing in his chilling grin. Until he stopped and gave Agatha a deep look, taking her in for everything she was.
What a supple… bewitching sight.
"Your beauty does transcend reason. That much is true. But it's not enough to make me lose my reason. Some things are simply more enthralling than you are. Like knowledge."
Agatha squinted, offense bludgeoning her mind.
"Have I just been compared to words? What a freak. No wonder Eni chose you. You're a freakishly abnormal dimwit. Enough… pass that here."
Agatha's dainty fingers pointed between Kieran's palms. He had given up on trying to subdue the Imprint alone but continued inspecting, observing, and studying the brilliant design.
He relinquished his mystical authority over the pattern, and it floated up steadily. Then, it drifted toward Agatha after experiencing her enthralling pull. The thankless tenacity seemed tame and docile in her presence.
'Ah, the thing must love women. It's sexist, has to be.'
No, that wasn't quite right. The reason for its docility wasn't a vain explanation like that. It remained in the form of energy and presence Agatha gave off.
"Do you know what Imprints used to be called in the Old Book?"
Her question came suddenly, and it was something Kieran didn't know. He responded with a subtle shake of his head.
So, she continued.
"In the Old Book, which can be treated as the cousin of what rests in your mind, Imprints are referred to as many things: Words of the Wise, Significance Written, Urges Captured, Foreign Memories, Composed Heirlooms, Imbibed History, …Children of Thought. The list goes on and on, but can you tell me the similarity in all the names they've been throughout history? Many lost to the throes of time."
Kieran grew perplexed.
That didn't quite add up in his mind. The last part, he meant. Information lost to time? Was Eni not the Keeper of Information, Endless of Mysteries, and Seeker of Knowledge? How could information be lost if he held dominion over it then? That's what Kieran gathered being an Endless meant—holding dominion over some endless domain. They could exist for as long as that domain existed.
That's what Kieran believed.
As the thought played at the back of his mind, floating idly as a subtle bother, Kieran answered.
"It's all related to words. I'm guessing Imprints are mystical words given permanence by years of experience."
"Yes, but no. You're on the right track, but that is not our focus here, Mystic Light. Think again. The answer is within your grasp. You should have felt it when you repaired this thing. You did… repair it. Which you forgot to answer."
Kieran scowled deeper, his expression contorting in deep contemplation and frenetic focus. He searched his mind for the answer until he unwittingly separated the information. Yes, all the names bore the bearing of being words, but there was more there. A lot more. So vast he could only skim the top layer.
Just that opened him up to a torrent of understanding.
Imbibed, Wise, Significance, Urges, Thought, Foreign, Heirlooms—something could be made out of these words. Kieran simply lacked the insight and experience to piece the disparate pieces into a unified tapestry.
Thus, he used what he could understand.
"The Imprints are sentient, and their Ego represents the extreme of some trait. That's what I felt when I went against it."
Agatha nodded, her fingers gracefully pinching, pulling, and drifting through the air. She was met with no resistance, unlike Kieran.
"Correct. Did you know your esteemed Enchantress did not use might to engrave your first Imprint upon your body? Think back. Consider and comprehend the feeling. Did you feel suffocated by her vast presence or small before her boundless might?"
Kieran listened. His mind traveled to that memory. The experience was lucid and impactful, giving him a clear understanding.
"She was gentle and embracing. The might succumbed to an envelopment."
Agatha smiled this time.
"Correct, she used understanding to dethrone and defang might. Where is the pleasure if the opponent is unresisting and compliant? If met with similar intent, Imprints will rebel. You must learn versatility when approaching them."
The pattern of brilliance unraveled itself effortlessly as Agatha continued to speak and impart knowledge Kieran gravely lacked.
"Imprints gain their permanence through implanted Significance. They are with purpose. Here to teach and instill. Which is why your path of thought was on the right track. However, you didn't know that the sourced Significance does not come from those who weaved the Imprint. These are usually created at the behest of others."
'Others…'
Kieran contemplated, nodded, and absorbed information like a voracious glutton.
Hekaina may have introduced him to the world of mysticism, but Agatha, the Rightful Heiress to the Enchantress, was his true teacher. He understood why, however. Hekaina was in too meaningful of a position to abandon her post to teach him. And he couldn't stay within the Colony, forgoing his responsibilities.
His teacher could only be Agatha, who roamed the lands freely, assimilating information piece at a time.
"So then, the intent I sense, the sentience I feel…"
Agatha picked up where Kieran had left off.
"Once belonged to a real person, or an item of significance from a real person. They exist to impart information. Though in pieces and disturbingly fragmented."
As they continued to speak, Agatha finished prepping the Imprint of Tenacity, allowing it to enter a state primed for body enchantment.
And that allowed Kieran to finally see its information.
Item Name: Imprint of Tenacity
Item Rank: Legendary
Item Type: Enchantment (Body)
Item Level: 100
Description: The Tenacious are frenetic, tireless, and significant. Often of inexhaustible persistence, the tenacious are usually seen as foolhardy, thus bearing the burden of Tenacity. The Imprint empowers, but it also brands. The Tenacious are cursed and blessed, and the meaning of why eventually shows. The fragment bears the signatures of the Lineage of Ancient Wisdom but holds a greater significance beneath the surface.
Enchantments: Marked, Tireless, Significant, Resilient, Fortified.
For a moment, Kieran was floored, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
The way this Imprint gave information differed from the previous encounter with Imprints. Maybe it had something to do with Agatha's differing method… or perhaps though this Imprint was equal to Might, it was not created the same.
'...Of equal Ranking but bearing greater Significance.'
Kieran inhaled deeply and then removed his top. The deep color of the Imprint of Might was revealed, looking stark and ravishing against his skin tone. Its lines were precise, tapered, and broad as one would expect of refined Might.
He didn't know why he understood where the marking was supposed to go; he just felt it. A connection between him and the pattern had been created when he repaired it.
He simply lacked the gentle touch needed to make it flourish.
The Imprint then burst into motes of shimmering, silver, golden, and faint azure lights. Pain followed beauty—a beautiful union of agony and misery.
The excruciating pain became unbearable as it drilled into Kieran's spine, pain shooting from head to toe in lightning cycles. The sensation became one bout of blinding white pain that seared his mind and body together.
He was sweating… but he was becoming significant.
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