by Andrew Rowe
“Temporary?” Patrick blinked. “Aren’t these self-recharging?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” I waved a hand dismissively. “Not what I mean. I mean they’re low-level items, and I’m eventually going to be able to make Emerald ones, so they have limited long-term use.”
Meltlake broke her silence to laugh. “Oh, Corin. You don’t think small, do you?”
“Never.” I gave her a side-eyed look. “Did you?”
“Fair point.” She grinned. “I certainly can’t complain if my students are as ambitious as I was.”
“As much as you may have a point about the eventual replicability of low-level items, we do have to survive to that point,” Sera pointed out, “also, we can sell any low-level stuff when we’re done.”
“True.” I gave her a nod of acknowledgment. “Just was advocating for the utility of long-term investments like the elixir. There are other valid choices. In fact, there are a few I like a great deal.”
“Well, don’t leave us in suspense,” Mara grinned. “Let us at ‘em.”
“Right.” I walked to the next item, jerking a thumb at it. It was a large brown sack. “Dimensional bag.”
Everyone knew what that was, of course. They’d seen me use the Jaden Box a million times.
“Limitations?” Sera asked.
“The extra dimensional space linked to it is a ten-meter cube. There’s no automatic recall function: when you reach in, it’s just like reaching into the top of that cube of space. You can also physically go in, I suppose, but you’d suffocate pretty fast if you don’t leave the top of the bag open. It’s less like the box and more like you’re just…carrying around a closet.”
“That’s still pretty useful.” Patrick rubbed at the scruff growing on his chin. Now that I’d mostly broken that habit, apparently he’d been picking it up. “I mean, not all of us have a box like yours, and you’re not going to be able to keep it permanently.”
“No,” Meltlake gave me a hard look, “certainly not.”
I cleared my throat. “Right. Uh, so, dimensional bag, really great prize, someone should take it. Moving on.”
I poked at a dagger. “This guy? Flying dagger. He’d be floating even without the spell that’s levitating everything for showmanship.”
“It’s not showmanship, it’s enhanced visibility,” the spectral figure pouted quietly toward the back of the room. I’d…kind of forgotten they were there.
And I forgot promptly again as I resumed my explanation. “Anyway, levitating a dagger is generally easy enough, but this one has a pursuit function. You point it at a target and it fires a beam of light from the tip. Whatever that light strikes is marked as a target, then when you say the command word, it follows the mark. Another word can recall it to your hand.”
Sera raised an eyebrow. “Meaning it’s basically a homing throwing dagger? That sounds kind of weak.”
“It’s not really that it’s powerful, so much as technically complex. Marking and tracking a target is actually a very advanced set of functions that…”
“Aren’t really all that useful to the rest of us,” Sera pointed out. “And you’ve already written them down.”
“Fair.” My shoulders slumped a little. I liked that dagger. I wasn’t a sword aficionado like Keras, but I appreciated fine art, and that dagger’s enchantments were art. “Okay, let’s try something a little different, then.” I waved at what looked like a long, silken sheet.
“Let me guess. Flying carpet?” Patrick asked.
“Actually, no. I mean, it is right now, but no. Ordinarily, this is a security blanket. You put it on the ground, unfold it, and activate it. It puts up a dome-shaped barrier for ten hours, blocking anything from entering the dome, aside from air. It also has temperature regulation, sound suppression, and even visibility concealment functions.”
“…Oh, I getcha.” Mara walked up and patted the side of it. “It’s for sleepin’ outdoors.”
I snapped my fingers. “Right. You could use it sleep, say, in the Unclaimed Lands, in a dangerous spot. Or in snow. Or if you’re in a spire and need to sleep, but can’t get to a safe room.”
“…Not very big, is it?” Sera noted.
“Eh, I’d bet we could fit two or three of us, if we scrunch.” Mara tugged on the fabric, trying to stretch it further.
For some reason, Patrick blushed a little.
“Anyway, I think something like this would be a good investment in the long run.” I moved on to the next item, a red iron helmet. “Real simple one: it’s built for blocking mental intrusions. And given what happened last year…”
“Corin.” Sera’s tone was far more forceful than I expected. “We all remember that. There’s no need to bring it up.”
I didn’t understand why until I saw Meltlake’s expression. She turned away, but…
Oh.
“I, uh. Sorry. Anyway, useful item. Not foolproof, but better than anything I can make. Moving on.”
I must have gone through the descriptions of ten more items after that, but I’d covered some of the best ones early on.
In the end, Mara walked out with the security blanket, Patrick picked the dimensional bag, and Sera took the enhancement elixir. I was pretty sure Mara wanted the elixir, too, but I think she read Sera’s intent and simply let Sera take it.
We all knew how important it was to Sera to make up for lost time.
Meltlake surprised me by taking the sphere. I didn’t think it would be useful to her, given her own offensive abilities, but I figured she might have picked it as a gift for someone who might need it. Maybe Patrick? I didn’t ask, since that would have ruined the surprise if she did plan to give it to someone in our group in the future.
With all our prizes in hand, we were finally ready to leave the tower.
I’d succeeded.
I had my route to reach inside Arbiter’s Gate.
With our new items in hand, we formed a circle. Meltlake rang a return bell.
And with that, our trip to the Tiger Spire was at an end.
Chapter XVI – New Old Friends
Appearing outside of the tower was almost as surreal as stepping inside had been. It took me a moment just to steady myself and process our new locale — the anchor room for the nearby Soaring Wings facility. Immediately, one of their staff checked us over for injuries. Mara was a little beaten up from her fight with the tiger and got some brief medical attention, but we were largely in excellent shape.
Soon, we were on our way out and back into the world.
We formed a small circle to discuss things outside the building.
“I believe this is where we part ways.” Professor Meltlake still leaned on her cane as she talked to us, but perhaps a little less heavily than before we’d entered. Her expression seemed calmer, too.
More like the Meltlake of old.
“Are you…sure, Professor?” Patrick turned to her, his tone pleading. “You could come with us through the Arbiter’s Gate, too. I mean, assuming Corin is okay with it?”
“Sure, I’d be glad to have her along…assuming any of you can come with me. I’m not actually sure how that works.” I frowned, thinking back to my talk with Farren, but it seemed frustratingly vague.
“It should, but you’ll basically be in a waiting room until someone comes to address you,” Meltlake explained, “And I believe I’ve waited quite long enough for what I need to do.”
Patrick frowned. “You’re still going to do a second Judgment, then?”
Meltlake gave him a firm nod. “Yes. If anything, this experience has made that clearer. But worry not.” She lifted her cane and pointed it at him. “You still have far too much to learn for me to leave you behind.”
Patrick laughed. “Yeah, you still haven’t taught me that Mete—”
Meltlake raised her other finger to her lips. “Ssh. Let’s save that one for a surprise.”
“Of course!” He laughed again. Then, after a moment of pause, he stepped forward and hugged her. M
eltlake froze for a moment, then pulled him in closer.
“You stay safe, Patrick.” She let out a sigh.
“You too, Professor.”
With that, our group exchanged a few more goodbyes with our professor, then parted ways with her.
Good luck, I wished her in my mind as she approached the Gates of Judgment. But I don’t think you’ll need it. Not anymore.
A fire burned within her heart once again.
***
Before our circle broke apart, Sera turned to glance around the area, making sure we weren’t observed. Then, she spun toward me. “Before we do anything else, I need your help.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Sure…? What’s this about?”
She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, opening and closing her hands in the air, then took a steadying breath. “Your Arbiter power boost. I need it. Now. As much as you can give me.”
I blinked. “Are you sure? You still haven’t hit your old mana level, and I thought that threshold was—”
“Time sensitive matter. Need to do this now. Wanted to do it immediately, but couldn’t risk Meltlake taking action.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Okay? Uh, if you’re sure. Turn around, it’s easier with direct contact.”
She turned around, pulling up her shirt slightly so I could see the mark on her back. Patrick turned away, looking mildly embarrassed.
I put my hand on Sera’s Invoker mark. “Last chance to—”
“Do it.” She hissed. “Before I have a chance to change my mind.”
I frowned, trying and failing to understand what could be so urgent. Then, with great care, I began to transfer mana from my hand into her Attunement.
“More. Quickly. As much as you can give me.”
“Sera, what’s this—”
“You’ll see in a moment.”
I poured mana into her, draining most of my right hand’s power. “I’m going to estimate that you’re at twice your safe level now. I shouldn’t go over that.”
Sera pulled away. “It’ll be enough. It’ll have to be.” She adjusted her shirt, then activated her bracers, the first item I’d made her. They flooded the air with additional mana to be used for summoning, but…what was she doing with it?
Seiryu? Summoning her would take tremendous mana, but she can’t do that outside of the spire, can she?
The answer came a moment later. Sera took another breath, then spoke a simple phrase that created as many questions as it answered.
“True Summoning — Emery Verena, I summon you.”
There was a flash in the air around Sera, then the sound of something cracking. She staggered…and then a young woman was standing next to her, looking disoriented.
I stepped forward out of instinct, grabbing Sera before she could fall over.
At the same time, Mara gasped and moved. “Emery!” She threw herself at the sickly woman, pulling her tightly into a hug. “Emery, you’re here!”
“I…” Emery Verena melted into Mara’s hug. “Oh.”
“Sera,” Patrick’s voice was filled with concern and…perhaps a bit of uncharacteristic disapproval, “…What have you done?”
Sera steadied herself, giving me a grateful nod as she pulled away to stand on her own. “Exactly what it sounded like.” She raised a hand in a “hold on” gesture, then broke into a wracking cough.
“Sera…are you okay?”
Sera winced, rubbing at her neck. “I…will be. Give me a minute.” Her voice was ragged, the worst I’d heard it in months.
Mara finally separated from Emery, giving Sera a grateful look. “Thank you.”
Emery turned as well, giving Sera a curtsy. “You have my gratitude as well, of course, Miss Cadence.” She frowned, turning to examine her surroundings. “It’s true, then. I didn’t believe you when you first offered the contract, but this…this…that’s the Tiger Spire, isn’t it? That’s where we were?”
Something about Emery’s expression was heartbreaking, but not as much as the thought of what Sera might have just done. Without the mana watch, I couldn’t check to see if she’d just torn her attunement back apart, but from the scratchiness in her voice and the coughing…
…Well, that couldn’t be good. I hoped that whatever damage she might have caused wouldn’t be permanent. Perhaps she’d just reopened an old wound that would heal on its own.
“It is,” Mara smiled softly. “Wait. You…remember Sera? And do you…?”
“I remember you.” Emery smiled, lifting a hand to Mara’s cheek. “As if I could forget.”
“How is that possible?” Mara asked. “Aren’t you, you know…”
“A construct. A fake version of a woman long dead.” Emery Verena nodded. “Miss Cadence explained the situation to me the morning before you left. She said that with a contract, she could potentially summon me — the same version of me that you met — out of the spire…but only if she was fast enough to get to me before our area in the spire ‘reset’. If that happened, neither of us were sure what would occur.”
“Then…you…”
“She’s not a copy of the version you met, Mara,” Sera managed. “It was a True Summoning — I didn’t make another copy. I physically moved her. She’s the same one we all met in the tower.”
“Sera…” Patrick gave my sister a concerned look. “There could be consequences for this.”
“Don’t I know it.” Sera laughed, rubbing at her neck, and then broke into another cough.
Patrick winced. “Those…aren’t the sort of consequences that I meant. Taking an original creature out of a spire…that’s…”
“Not generally permitted without special circumstances,” I finished for him. “Because you’re depleting the spire’s resources.”
“Summons that don’t even know they’re summons are something of a gray area.” Sera winced. “Normally, most summons are taught the conditions under which they’re allowed to be True Summoned, which go in the contract. But since Emery didn’t even know her true nature…we just sort of did our own thing.”
“And you could get in trouble for it.” Patrick shook his head.
“We’ll deal with that. For the moment,” I glanced around at the area, “we may want to head somewhere we won’t attract further attention.”
I got a series of nods in reply.
Given the situation, our next trip wasn’t to the Arbiter’s Gate, but to a hotel. After booking a couple rooms, we discussed our plans.
“Can you summon and unsummon Emery safely?” I asked Sera.
She nodded. “Yes, but it’s…a little more complicated for a True Summon. More like how Derek’s Soulblade summons work.”
I nodded in understanding. “Okay. Let’s take a few hours to rest here, then we can figure out what to do next.”
We took a few hours to bathe, change our clothes, and get some food. Sera’s voice had cleared up a bit by the end of that, but she was still clearly worse than before we’d entered the spire.
“Are you up for going with us to the Arbiter’s Gate?” I asked her.
“Absolutely.” Sera nodded. “I can feel my mana coming back. It’s…not like before.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief. “You took a tremendous risk there.”
She nodded. “Can’t let you be the only one making the crazy decisions. I… remember what Keras told us about the Spirit Gateway Crystal making copies of his friends? The spires are the same. They’re…basically making people, then killing them immediately when they’re done being used.”
“Why do something about Emery in specific? Isn’t the same thing true for everyone in that party, and the people on the Iron Redoubt, and…”
“Yes.” Sera nodded. “But I’m only one person, and not a particularly strong one. Not yet. Even one True Summoning was beyond what I could have done on my own, which is why I needed your help. Even then, it almost…” She winced, rubbing at her neck again. “My choices were simple enough. I could do nothing, or I could do somet
hing that might help in a small way. And given those choices, well, there isn’t really any choice at all, is there?”
“…No.” My shoulders slumped. “But you’ve reminded me about a much bigger problem, and now I feel…”
“Like you need to fix everything right now?” Sera gave me a pained look. “Look, Corin. You can’t always save everyone, and certainly not immediately. It’s not your responsibility to fix every perceived inequity in the world.”
“I know, I know, I just…” I shut my eyes. “I didn’t even think about saving Emery. Or anyone at that party. I was so wrapped up in the moment, I…”
“That’s normal. Those spires are dangerous. I just happened to have an opportunity to do something good, and I took it. You could maybe, I don’t know, feel proud of me instead of feeling bad about yourself?”
I winced. “I…am proud of you.”
She nodded. “Good. You should, because I’m amazing. Now, you need to forgive yourself for not doing the same thing, or doing more — because you can’t always be looking out for yourself, your peer group, and literally everyone else in the world at the same time.”
“It’s…gah. I know that, intellectually, but it’s hard.” I winced. “And it’s harder when I forget, and then remember. Because it’s so easy, Sera. It’s so easy to just…play along. To get caught up in the tides of what we’ve been taught and never question anything, never seek change. What happens if I just…lose track of things, and never address any of this?”
“Well, then. I suppose you’ll have to let everyone else in the world take a tiny bit of responsibility.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just…kind of got quiet for a while.
Finally, Sera spoke again. “Even if you can’t trust everyone in the world, can you at least trust me a little?”
“I do, I just…I don’t think we always have the same priorities.”
“We don’t.” She nodded. “But as far as monster stuff like this goes? I’m not going to forget about it.”