The Torch that Ignites the Stars (Arcane Ascension Book 3)

by Andrew Rowe

  I shook my head. “Maybe, but if Roy was actually going back to his family, would he feel like he’d succeeded?”

  [That would largely depend on whether or not he retained his memories of the experience. Given that you rewarded him with a valuable item, a version of Roy that survived with an injury and a new magical weapon without any recollection of the events that led to that point would likely expect that he performed well and return home with a feeling of success.]

  And suddenly the idea behind wiping memories after a Judgment had an entire layer that I hadn’t really considered. I’d always considered that memory wiping to be a form of security measure to preserve the integrity of the tests, allowing future Judgments to retain a higher degree of challenge. After all, if everyone remembered their tests and recorded them, Judgments would grow progressively easier as they were studied.

  But what if Selys — or whoever had first implemented that memory wiping mechanism — had another motivation? A kinder one? A mechanism for erasing any inadequacy that might have come from failing specific challenges, and leaving the successful applicant with nothing more than an attunement and the knowledge that they had succeeded at the Judgment as a whole?

  [I cannot comment on the motivations of the goddess you are thinking about, but I can confirm that the concept you have just considered is consistent with one of the reasons why I offer to perform my own memory alterations for test-takers.]

  “I’m…going to need to think about that for a while.” I pushed myself back to my feet. “But later. For the moment, I have some redesigning to do.”

  [What sort of redesigning?]

  “I’m going to see if I can find a different way to help people. One that doesn’t require fighting monsters and risking death.”

  [Then let us begin.]

  ***

  Minutes passed as I went through a flurry of instructions on modifying the existing rooms. After my thirty minutes were elapsed, it was time to see how my redesign fared.

  I watched from the wall of the crystal’s room as the next entrant walked into the dungeon: a young woman in long black robes carrying a staff. Given the stereotypical wizard’s outfit, I judged that she might have fared better against the fire elemental from my original entrance, but that wasn’t what she faced.

  Instead, she glanced from side-to-side after entering, then approached the most prominent feature of the new entrance: a sign a few steps ahead of the doorway.

  She tapped the floor with her staff as she approached, presumably testing for traps, then read the sign aloud. “In order to better serve your needs, please state your name, home, and magical abilities, then wait here for…what the resh?”

  She glanced around, searching. “Is this some kind of prank? Someone else there?”

  She removed one hand from her staff, snapping her fingers. Light washed over the room. “Hm. No illusions?”

  She grimaced, then looked back to the sign. “Ugh. Fine. I’m Elina Maryn, and I’m from Valia. Purifier, first-class.”

  I blinked. First-class? That’s an older designation, before the color system for identifying attunements. She must have visited here hundreds of years ago.

  And that isn’t a Valian attunement…or, at least, it isn’t now. Maybe it was back then?

  Either way, she’d met the first requirement on the sign, so I spoke aloud to the crystal. “Left room.”

  The new entrance chamber had three exit doors: left, right, and center. All of them were locked. The center path led to the original entrance, complete with all the same challenges as before.

  The left and right paths were new.

  When I said “left room”, the lock on the door clicked open at my command. Or, really, at the crystal’s command. The crystal knew to open the doors based on my mental instructions.

  Elina noted the audible click of the door lock opening. “Is that it…? Can I go to the next room?”

  She took another minute to circle around the room, tapping floors and walls and inspecting the other doors.

  During that time, I conversed with the crystal. “Mana check.”

  [You had 675 mana after the last test. You recharged me from your batteries, including the new spirit battery, for an additional 525 mana, for 1150 total. After that, you constructed three additional rooms for 600 mana, three doors with locks for 225 mana. The contents of your new rooms cost 350 mana. You have 25 mana remaining.]

  I nodded nervously. Keeping track of the numbers wasn’t exactly difficult for me, but it was good to have someone else check my math. My mind did have a tendency to wander.

  Elina finished checking the entrance room, grumbled a little, then moved to the left room that had been unlocked. She prodded it with her staff, then after a moment of hesitation, turned the knob and entered.

  She blinked at the sight of the interior of the room. I didn’t blame her — it wasn’t exactly a conventional challenge.

  Instead, the room simply housed a table with chairs on both sides. There were also pens and a couple pieces of parchment.

  Cautiously, Elina approached the table, then took a look at the piece of paper nearest her. “Please have a seat and wait for your interviewer to arrive…? What the resh is this?”

  “Guess that’s my cue.” I mumbled, then left the crystal’s chamber. I headed through each of the rooms, unlocking and relocking them behind me, until I reached the entrance. Then, I headed through the same door that Elina had.

  I walked in to find Elina sitting at the table. She shot to her feet as soon as I walked in and raised her staff. “Don’t move.”

  I raised empty hands. “Easy, there. No need for that. I’m just here for your interview.”

  “Interview.” She spoke the word slowly, turning it over in her mouth experimentally. “What do you mean by ‘interview’?”

  “I’ll be asking you a series of questions. You’ll provide me with answers, and from those, I’ll evaluate—”

  “I know what an interview is!” She huffed. “Why is there an interview? There are supposed to be traps and monsters and all that!”

  “That’s a very interesting perspective, I’ll have to take a note of that.” I nodded seriously, then walked a long way around her to sit down at the opposite side of the table, picked up a pen, and wrote a note.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Notes, like I said.” I lifted the paper to show her the words “expected monsters and traps” written on it. “Now, Miss Maryn, please have a seat so we can get this started.”

  She glowered at me, then hesitantly slid back into her chair.

  Please shut the door, I said mentally.

  The door closed behind us and locked.

  That was a good effect, it seemed to rattle Elina a bit. I forced myself not to smile, instead focusing on the interviewer persona I was playing. “Thank you. Now, Miss Maryn, can I ask why you’re here?”

  She turned toward me, looking awkward. “I’m here to explore the shrine? Obviously?”

  I scribbled something on the page. “Mmhmm. But why are you here to do that? What is your goal?”

  “I…I’m here to ask the crystal for a boon. That’s something that happens here, right?” She glanced from side-to-side.

  I nodded. “If you successfully complete your application here, we’ll review it and evaluate your potential for a meeting with the crystal. I can’t make any promises about whether or not the crystal will give you anything, I don’t have that kind of authority. I’m sure you understand.”

  “I…uh…right. This isn’t what I expected.”

  “Care to elaborate on that?” I made a “go on” gesture.

  “Well, like I said, I thought there would be more…um, fighting things? Danger, you know?”

  I nodded sagely. “Yes, I’ve heard that before. Why did you have that expectation?”

  “Well…really, I guess it seemed like this was sort of like a Judgment, but older fashioned?”

  “Ah, yes. A number of people — especial
ly Valians — come in here with the expectation that this will basically be another Judgment for them. There are some similarities, of course, given that Selys based her tests on the elemental temples, but this isn’t quite one of those. You’ll find that while we do have strict requirements for meeting with the crystal, no violence or danger is necessary here.”

  “That’s…not what I’d heard.” Elina looked at me suspiciously. “Is this some sort of trick? Are you just playing with me here, buying time for something?”

  I shook my head. “I assure you that I’m not. Of course, you’re free to leave at any time if you feel threatened.”

  Unlock the door.

  There was a click as the door behind us unlocked. I gestured magnanimously toward it.

  “I…no, that’s okay. You’re really just going to ask me questions? That’s it?’

  I nodded. “Sometimes there are other forms of tests, but we’re evaluating a new minimalist testing routine right now. I don’t believe anything beyond the interview will be necessary in this case.”

  “…Really?” Elina looked understandably nervous.

  I nodded. “Yes. How does that make you feel?”

  She frowned. “…A little conflicted, if I’m being honest. Like, even if I succeed, I wouldn’t have earned it properly?”

  I nodded, making a note. “And that’s in contrast to the Judgment you took, which felt more significant?”

  “I mean, yeah, obviously. Those things are dangerous!”

  “Right.” I scribbled another note. “What exactly did your Judgment entail?”

  Elina scowled. “I don’t remember that, obviously. No one does.”

  “Then how do you know it was dangerous?”

  …There was a moment of silence.

  To her credit, Elina formulated a response faster than some would have. “Some people don’t come back.”

  “Hypothetically, couldn’t they simply stay behind in the tower?”

  “Well, yeah, but that’s not…” She wrinkled her nose. “Is this some sort of test of faith? Are you trying to get me to sell out my goddess?”

  “Goodness, no. Please recall that these shrines pre-date Selys. We have nothing to do with her, and these questions are not religious in nature. I’m merely trying to dig into your expectations of what you feel might be a reasonable form of testing in order to ask for a boon. Your ideas seem to have been filtered through the lens of your Judgment and the risks involved in that process. Would you say that is accurate?”

  “Sure, I guess?” She blinked. “Who even are you, by the way?”

  I waved a hand dismissively. “That’s not important. I’m just here to interview you.”

  “How do I know you’re actually a part of this shrine, and not just…I don’t know, some other adventurer playing a prank?”

  She had a good point.

  I raised a finger, then said, “Shrine, lock the door.”

  The door clicked behind us again. “Shrine, unlock the door.”

  It unlocked.

  I smiled at her. “Is that sufficient for you?”

  “I mean…you clearly have some influence over a door, but that doesn’t mean you run the place.”

  “An excellent point, allow me to take a note. One moment.” Scribble, scribble. “What sort of demonstration would you require for me to prove my connection with the shrine?”

  “I…don’t know. You could, uh, show me the crystal?”

  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible until we’ve had a chance to determine if you’ve met our qualifications. However…”

  You can communicate with me telepathically and read my mind. You can also give orders to the elementals. Presumably, that means you can communicate with her as well, correct?

  [That is correct.]

  At no mana cost?

  [Correct.]

  Okay, please send her a message that says, “This is the Transcendence Gateway Crystal. Please continue your interview process.”

  [Very amusing. One moment.]

  Elina shot to her feet. “What was that?”

  I tapped my pen on the page. “The crystal sent you a message, did they not?”

  “I…uh, well, someone claiming to the crystal did, but it could be…”

  “Continued skepticism.” I wrote another note. “Understood. Now, can you please give me an idea of what sort of boon you were looking for here?”

  Elina scanned the room again, then slowly sat back down, looking even more nervous. “I...uh, heard there are things that are similar to attunements here, but older?”

  I wrote another note. “Yes, that’s correct. Not everyone who comes through here qualifies for one, but spirit bonds are indeed technically possible here. Are you familiar with the concept?”

  “Spirit bond. Is that like one of those old-fashioned dominion bonds from back at home?”

  I nodded, mentally noting that she must have been from a time period where dominion sorcery was still relatively commonly known about. “More like a complex dominion mark, if you’re familiar with those.”

  “Oh, sure, I’ve heard of them. I thought only the gods were supposed to…” She paused, blinked, and then continued, “Wait. Are attunements the same thing as dominion marks?”

  “I’m sorry, that’s not something I can answer for you at this time. If you reach the crystal, however, asking a question is a possible use of a boon.”

  “Huh.” Elina nodded, pondering. “Okay. Uh, what else did you need to know?”

  “Let’s go over a bit about your personal history and magical capabilities.”

  “…Sure.”

  ***

  I went through a series of more interview questions with her, taking up another fifteen or twenty minutes. That level of social contact was exhausting, but I think I played the role well enough.

  There were a couple advantages to the exhaustive process.

  One, in spite of what I’d told her, I was buying time. Not for anything nefarious, though: I was waiting for my mana batteries to recharge further. Every minute I kept her busy was another minute of time for me to get more mana that would be useable for the next round.

  If the time between rounds wasn’t affected by the time I spent during a round, I benefitted from dragging out each step as much as possible. Of course, there was a possibility that my time during the round was going to affect subsequent rounds, but I couldn’t know without trying it.

  Even if the timing of future rounds didn’t change, there were potential downsides to dragging things out. For example, if I hit the maximum of thirty hours without going though every possible dungeon entrant, maybe that would be a failure of some kind. It was also possible there were other time limits, or that the crystal would get bored and send in a second person early, but the crystal refused to answer any of my questions on the subject.

  Without any definitive knowledge on how things would work later on, I thought the advantages of playing it safe and stalling outweighed the potential downsides.

  Beyond that, the interview was giving me valuable information. I learned a bit more about what ancient attuned believed about the shrines, and even a few bits about older attunements. Elina was apparently from just over a hundred years after the Exodus, and she had a very different perspective on things than modern attuned do.

  Finally, I was able to teach her some things about magic and attunements, simply through the interview process. And by doing that, I was meeting the requirements of my own test.

  When I concluded the interview, I stood up, said, “Thank you, please wait here for a moment,” and headed out of the room.

  Breathing heavily, I headed back to the main crystal chamber, trembled a little bit as I recovered from the extended social experience, and then prepared for the next part.

  “Okay. Please open the door to the path on the right. Tell her she’s been cleared to leave the room and cross the hall.”

  [I will do so right now.]

  From the crystal’s chamber, I was abl
e to see Elina startle from the sudden telepathy, stand, and then head out of the interview room. From there, she headed across the entrance to the door on the right side, which opened for her.

  Inside, she stared at a beautiful sight: a tremendous crystal in the center of the chamber.

  A tremendous crystal that was, of course, completely fake.

  I was fortunate that the Transcendence Gateway Crystal had been willing to consider “a fake version of you” to be a valid form of “furniture”, albeit an expensive one. The two chairs had cost a total of fifty mana. The table had been another fifty mana. The fake crystal had cost me two hundred, but the sight of it was absolutely worth the cost.

  “Okay, now, I’d like you to telepathically tell her that she’s completed her test and can ask for a boon.”

  [I will do so now.]

  Elina stepped into the chamber, presumably following instructions, and gawked silently for a moment, then she said, “…Could you give me one of those blessing marks? The one that’s like an attunement?”

  I nodded, having expected that. “Tell her to please wait a moment while you consider her request.”

  [Done. What is the plan?]

  “Okay. I assume you’re actually capable of giving something like that to people, correct?”

  [Yes.]

  “How much mana would it cost for you to give her one?”

  [Twelve thousand.]

  I whistled. That was even more than I’d expected, but I had known it probably wouldn’t work, and I had other ideas. “What would the bond do if you gave it to her?”

  [The bond would create a permanent connection between us, giving her access to a fraction of my mana. You may consider it analogous to a Summoner contract.]

  “Would that bond grow stronger with use, like an attunement?”

  [It can grow stronger, but not in the same fashion as an attunement.]

  “Is that twelve-thousand mana cost static, or does it vary based on the person you’d be marking?”

  [Static.]

  I pondered that. “…Okay. I presume that the cost is related to specific effects the mark grants?”