by Andrew Rowe
Vanniv, to his credit, didn’t say anything at all. He just looked kind of bored.
“I’ll nag Keras a bit before we hit Caelford, yeah? Then fill you all in when I know more.” Marissa looked conflicted. There was a part of me that wanted to push, but with Researcher and Vanniv still present, it was probably a bad idea.
I could have just suggested sending the summoned monsters away for a bit, but honestly, I felt safer keeping them around for a bit longer. The bandit threat was supposedly resolved, but the attack had left me feeling like we could be ambushed again at any time.
“Fine, fine. Just stop poking me.” Sera sighed.
We waited quietly for a bit after that, filled with nervous energy with no good way to get rid of it.
I wrote some more runes on the walls, simply because I could.
Keras returned with a new shirt a little bit later. “Now, then. Everyone ready?”
We nodded.
“Where was I?”
“You were on your way to the tournament,” Patrick offered.
“Right. Let me continue...”
Chapter II – Earlier and Later
Keras continued telling his story for much of the remainder of the trip.
Between his story and mine, we had several hours each day when most of us were in one place. That was good for security, getting everyone properly informed about the situation, and for keeping the ever-social types like Sera and Patrick sane.
I wanted to hide in a cave well before the end of it. As much as I’d acclimated to being around people again, weeks of near-continuous social contact just isn’t my ideal.
Fortunately, I had some time in relative isolation at night, after we’d stopped storytelling for each day. And during each evening, I got to work, or talk to people in smaller group settings. Most of my chatting was with Patrick, since we shared a cabin on the train, but I spent a fair bit of time wandering around the train cars with the others and working on enchantments.
And I suppose that last part is the most important thing I should talk about.
I’m going to jump back a bit and talk about some of the things I worked on during the train ride.
***
Day one of the train ride.
When we first got on the train, one of my major goals was to figure out my priorities.
Don’t laugh, yes, I actually made a physical list of things to work on this time. I won’t pretend it was exhaustive, but it gave me a starting point.
After that, I discussed some options with Sera.
“Message necklaces.” She pointed at the one I was wearing. “We need them for everyone.”
I winced. “The materials for those were expensive. I can make some with just your mana and mine, but they’ll be a lot shorter range.”
“Better than nothing. You’re also going to have to fix the one you gave Keras.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“You didn’t notice?” She shook her head. “He’s been eying it sadly all day. I think his aura broke it.”
I frowned. He’d mentioned that his aura degraded items, but I’d hoped that something enchanted would have held up a little longer.
“...I’ll take a look at it and see which runes are damaged. If the communication ones are still intact, the rest are easy to replace. If not, I’ll have to replace his with a short-ranged version, at least for now.”
“You may want to put some sort of resilience or shielding enchantment on it to prevent his aura from breaking it again.”
I nodded at her logic. “Makes sense. I should be preparing for that with anything I make him in the future in general. It still won’t last forever, given how powerful his aura is, but putting shields on things isn’t hard for me at this point.”
“Speaking of which, you need to replace the shield sigil you gave Tristan right away. And then give the rest of us the upgrades?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll get to those, and probably before the message stuff. I’d like to prioritize things that will help us more in the long term, though, now that we have a bit of a breather.”
“I think surviving is pretty important for the long term, but what were you thinking?”
I rolled my eyes. “Obviously I’m still going to make defensive equipment. I know Mizuchi and Saffron are still a threat, too, and I’ve got some items on the list to help with that in specific.”
“Such as?”
I pointed at my circlet. “Teleportation items, like this one. Right now, the range isn’t great, but evacuating is still our best option if we run into one of them again.”
“Unless it’s in a place with anti-teleportation runes like, you know, both the places we fought Mizuchi.”
“And in both of those cases, someone broke the runes eventually. That’s solvable.”
“I’d rather find a way to eliminate the problem, not just keep running.” Sera folded her arms.
“We’re not Keras. We’re not going to be able to fight people like Mizuchi or Saffron seriously for years, if ever. The only reason I survived my first meetings with them is that I didn’t register as a threat.”
“Sure, that was your situation. But I fought Mizuchi directly in the spire. She’s beatable.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That was while she was recovering from being banished, Sera. She’s going to be much stronger when we fight her again.”
“I will be, too.”
I was going to say something about how unrealistic that was, but I stopped myself.
Of course she wanted to fight Mizuchi. She’d been kidnapped and used as a tool to find Tristan — if I was in her position, I’d be pretty irate, too.
I had my own reasons for wanting to defeat Mizuchi permanently. She’d murdered people at the winter ball, and she’d probably permanently blinded one of Tristan’s eyes. But even that wasn’t as personal as what Sera had been through.
I nodded to her. “Okay. I’m still planning to make teleportation items, but I’m going to help prepare for fighting, too. I have some ideas I think you’ll like, but they’re mostly long-term, not quick fixes.”
That seemed to get Sera’s attention. “Such as?”
“Items that increase our long-term efficiency. Things like items that help me make other items more easily, or maybe eventually items that even make other items. That’s mostly for me, but I’ve also been thinking about things that can increase the rates of mana gain for everyone.”
Sera nodded. “I wouldn’t mind a pair of those mana regeneration bracers. I could probably train more efficiently with them.”
“Yeah, that’s part of what I’m going to put into the shield sigil upgrades. Mana regeneration for everyone. But I don’t think it’ll actually improve our mana gains that much. If you go through your whole mana pool too many times in rapid succession, you’ll hurt yourself, even if you stick within the ‘safe’ values.”
“Like how you lost the feeling in your right hand for a while after you first made the bracers.”
I winced at the memory. “Yeah. Don’t...do that.”
“I’d never think of repeating your mistakes. I’m perfectly capable of coming up with new ones on my own.”
I laughed. “That was more self-deprecating than you usually get.”
“Well, these last few months,” she gestured to her throat, “have put a lot of things in perspective.”
“Oh? Are you finally going to stop teasing me, then?”
“Don’t be absurd. You’re my brother, that’s an important part of my job. So, mana regeneration might help us do more exercise back-to-back, but we still shouldn’t increase our daily maximum too much. That’s fine, even if it’s a small efficiency increase. The bracers will be great if we actually get into a situation when we need all of our mana, too.”
I nodded. “I was also thinking that if I put some on Vanniv, you could keep him out all the time without having to pay the mana cost yourself. Sort of like how Researcher used to be entirely powered by the platform in the library.”
“Might be useful at times, but that doesn’t actually help increase my mana pool. In fact, the gradual strain from my attunement helps build mana, so taking that away would be counterproductive. I’m actually paying mana for Researcher’s upkeep now, too. Not a lot, but some.”
That’s right, Researcher mentioned that her new contract works differently than the one that she had with Mizuchi. Okay.
I pondered that for a moment. “...You know, you’re right. That’s actually one of the most useful parts of your attunement, if it helps increase your mana growth rate.”
“You’ve got that look like you’re plotting something, Corin. Please don’t tell me you want me to make more contracts right now, I can barely afford what I’m working with.”
I shook my head. “No, no. That’s not it. I was thinking about how absurdly powerful Derek and Elora are for their age. They both have contract-based attunements like you do. I should have thought about this before.”
Sera gave me a quizzical look. “What, that Summoners build mana faster, but have to sacrifice some of it to maintain contracts? We knew that.”
“No. Faking contracts with other attunements.”
Sera blinked. “What?”
“You know more about contracts than I do — could you make a null contract? Like, a contract with no one, that just takes up some of your mana until you get rid of it?”
She shook her head. “Doesn’t work like that. I need a creature I can initiate a contract with. The spell doesn’t complete until they accept.”
“Could you teach me the spell to make a contract at some point?”
“Sure, but you’re not going to be able to cast it. It requires a Summoner attunement.”
“Except that Soulblades can do it, too. Which means it’s not completely unique, even if their contracts are somewhat different. And I don’t need to make a real contract. I just need to understand the way contracts work, and why they increase your mana rapidly.”
“I get the idea. You’re trying to make an exercise item.” Sera furrowed her brow. “Is that really the highest priority right now?”
“In terms of immediate results? No. But I’ve been purely reactive to things for too long.” I shook my head. “I’m tired of feeling like I’m always one step behind. This is the type of thing that could be a long-term game changer for us. The type of thing that could help us get to Sapphire.”
“Sapphire? Is that your goal?” She raised an eyebrow.
I nodded. “It’s one of them. One of the most important, really. If we’re going to be able to compete with the types of enemies we’ve been encountering…Sapphire might be a low bar, honestly. We might need to aim higher.”
Sera laughed. “Well, I can’t fault you for a lack of ambition, at least. Okay. Let’s work this out. Why not make an item that just uses up some of your mana constantly?”
“Looked into that. They don’t really help.” I shook my head. “An item that just drains your mana isn’t exercising your attunement in the same way that casting spells does. If you think of casting a spell as cardiovascular exercise, holding onto an item that gradually drains your mana would be more like something syphoning out your blood through a needle.”
“Eew.”
I snorted. “Yeah. Sorry for the imagery.”
“It’s fine. Hm. I guess there’s a functional difference — when casting a spell, you’re converting the gray mana in your body to the right types, then shaping it into the exact form you want and releasing it. There are more steps.”
I nodded. “Right. An item that just drains your mana doesn’t push your body in the same way.”
“Could you make an item that forces the body to cast spells?”
I considered that. “...Maybe? That sounds kind of horrifyingly dangerous, honestly. Maybe that is what your Summoner attunement is doing, though. I don’t know.”
“The distinction could be the two-way connection, too. When I’m sending mana to a summon — say, Vanniv — I’m also getting mana in return.”
I pondered that as well. “Do Summoners still get mana faster if their contracted monsters are supplying the same types of mana that the Summoner already has? Or is it only if they get a different mana type?”
Sera shrugged. “No idea. Maybe there have been studies on that, but I haven’t read them.”
“Maybe it’s the act of trading out some of your mana for a different mana type that helps the body build mana...?” I shook my head. “I guess we can’t know that for sure without data.”
“We can ask Derek and Elora if they know more about this when we get back.”
“Yeah, but I’d like to get working on something sooner than that if it’s plausible. Building our mana pools as quickly as possible is one of my highest priorities.”
“No disagreement there, although if all you’re doing is mimicking an advantage I already have, I guess it won’t do much for me.”
“No, but I think I have other ways of helping you. The Arbiter attunement will help once you’re feeling safe to try it, and I have some other ideas as well. Derek and Elora can’t have gotten where they are just based on contracts.”
“Sure. They’re climbers. They probably get some mana growth just from fighting and recovering in the spires. The higher mana concentration in the spires helps their growth rate, too.”
“That’s true, but that should mostly help overcome the Sunstone Wall. There has to be something else actively driving their growth.”
“Maybe, but keep in mind they got their attunements at a young age. It’s not like they’re only five years ahead of us.”
“Both of them?” I raised an eyebrow. “Elora is a Summoner, though. That’s local.”
“She took her test at the same time Derek did, but in the Phoenix Spire in Edria. She walked out with a Summoner attunement and a God Phoenix contract. The God Phoenix is the reason why she ended up with a Summoner attunement, they made a deal of some kind while she was taking her Judgment.”
“How’d you know that?”
Sera snorted. “I asked her when we were at her house. It’s not often that I run into another Summoner with a god beast contract, you know. We had a lot to talk about.”
“Oh.” I did have a habit of forgetting other people could talk to each other without me being aware of it. “Okay. Good to know. So, they’ve had their attunements for around nine years.”
“Close to ten now, depending on when they got it in the year.”
That was a little disappointing. I’d been hoping Elora had some sort of crazy secret to getting to Emerald in five years I could try to figure out or improve on. Nine or ten years to Emerald was still absurdly impressive, but I wanted to get myself and my friends to that level as quickly as physically possible.
“What other ideas did you have for speeding up our growth?” Sera asked.
“I have a few, but you’re not going to like the first one.”
She frowned. “Drinking more attunement primer?”
“...You’re close. Enhancement elixirs. Now that I can purify my mana without a still, I think I can figure out how to make them.”
“With due respect, Corin, I think I’ll wait a while before drinking any other mana-increasing compounds you offer me.”
I winced. “I’m really sorry about that.”
“I know. And it’s a good idea. You should make the elixirs if you can, I’m just going to show a bit of due caution this time.”
I nodded.
“Also, will those even help?” She asked. “You’re already using your Arbiter attunement on everyone other than me. Didn’t Sheridan say that elixirs were functionally the same?”
“They’re similar,” I admitted, “But I don’t think they work identically. Someone might be able to benefit from both at the same time, but I don’t know. Sheridan told me a little, but not a lot. They also mentioned that things like lavris fruit work differently from elixirs; maybe I could make a more powerful version of something that works like th
e fruit, rather than a conventional elixir. I need to study them more.”
“Maybe ask Cecily? I think she took the potions class.”
“Good idea.” I didn’t actually want to ask Cecily about it, but it was a good idea. I briefly considered asking Sera to summon Researcher so I could ask her instead, but I decided against it. I didn’t want to talk to either of them right away. I’d been talking to people too much as it was. Fortunately, Sera was much easier for me to tolerate than most, since I was so used to her. “There’s also whatever Katashi did to Mara’s attunement. It was an immediate boost of a much higher magnitude than my Arbiter attunement can handle. And, beyond that, I’d like to figure out how ascended attunements work.”
“I’m certainly not going to complain if you figure out how to upgrade people’s attunements directly, but do keep in mind that Mara was sick for weeks after Katashi upgraded her attunement. And my ascended attunement...I wouldn’t recommend going through all that to anyone.”
I nodded at both points. “Marissa’s sickness would be bad in a dangerous environment, but imagine if we could get something like that just before the train ride home. We’d be pretty much recovered by the time we got back, and maybe a full attunement level higher.”
“I do like the sound of that.” She sighed. “I’m still so far behind.”
I tapped my hand. “I could go ahead and start using this to boost your mana. It might be safe at this point.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not risking it. We can do it after I hit 112, where I was just before the whole potion incident. Maybe sooner if Ferras actually heals me entirely.”
I nodded slowly. “That’s your decision.” I left it unsaid that I disagreed, and I changed the subject. “I’ve been thinking about how you got the ascended attunement out of drinking the primer, and it still doesn’t make sense to me. Even if that mana somehow fed into a contract function, why would that make your attunement change into something else?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, too. I can see two explanations.” She raised a finger. “One. All attunements are already set up to ascend under certain conditions. I think this is eminently plausible, given that they change at specific mana levels. It’s possible that there’s a condition on the attunement that says, ‘if you get this much mana at once, ascend’, or something similar. Or perhaps the mana just fed into a specific latent function, like a rune that wasn’t charged.”