NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter-114 Varos
The tests and the experiments on potential materials for Varos took up his days and filled his diary. He’d given up on mystic-element material, so his next choice was the earth-element, as his family’s journal advised. Tigog Acrix, the glass of earth, was his top pick, but he didn’t give up on checking other materials. He roamed the hub, bought even the most useless options that showed even a hint of potential to be his Varos. As long as they were of the earth element, he spent his Novas on it. Since it could support his indulgence now, he indulged.
In the end, one material broke through the ranks and joined the glass of earth as one of his probable picks—Crelith, the mortals’ currency. It lacked the special features that the earthen glass had but made up for it in pure defensive strength. Even with Ewan’s improvised structure, the glass of earth couldn’t match Crelith’s defense. When his research ended, the result presented him with two choices—either spike towards pure defense or branch out towards miscellaneous features.
Simplicity versus complexity—after a round of colliding thoughts, Ewan chose the latter. Spells could make up for both, but it was easier to add extra defense on Tigog Acrix than to add those special characteristics to Crelith.
And so, the time to make the breakthrough finally came.
……
Ewan rested in the practice room and placed the bag of white sand in front of him. Indecisiveness was the tendency with the choices that would affect his future. Even a hint of doubt or hesitation could unravel the resolve. What if the material had another fatal weakness he hadn’t discovered? What if he found a better choice tomorrow?
But this was a step he must take. So, to kill the root of uncertainty in his heart, he gave way to recklessness.
Whatever may happen!
He cast the spell for Varos and targeted the sand. The bag rustled, and soon the grains hovered before him. They were already miniscule, and the spell crushed them even smaller. The white sand whirled around him in patches, its grains grinding and shrinking. Every time they shrank, Ewan left his mark on them through the spell circuit. The smaller they got, the closer they became to him.
The powdered sand became finer and finer under the spell, but before they ‘vanished’, he carved the circuit for the structure he researched on each grain and connected them all. The hexagonal nodes design was now the default for his autonomous defense. The Tigog Acrix would consider this structure as its active initial state. Its strong shape-memory would revert any damage and bring it back to that state with much less energy than other materials.
The process ended when the sand grains disappeared—it was the idle initial state. Unless Ewan willed it himself, it would float around him, invisible to the naked eyes and ready to move to the active state in case of any attack.
This was his fifth and final innate—Varos, the physical defense. The completion of it checked the condition needed for the ninth awakening. The flood of spirit Ewan kept at bay for so long finally crushed the film and blasted the pool.
He jerked back, the chill spread from his head and sent a shiver down his spine. The bubbling spirit comforted every cell, every tissue, every organ in his body. An involuntary moan escaped him as his tight posture loosened and his shoulders slouched. The breakthrough washed away his fatigue, his stress, his anxiety, and he relaxed.
When it all ended, his chosen Varos embraced him as he dozed off.
……
The ninth awakening marked the end of Step-0; the Soul-Awakening stage. The peak stood beneath his feet, and now the only entity blocking his way forward was the gate to Step-1; the Spirit-Nebula stage. If he wanted to step through it, he had to shatter it. But the grandeur of the breakthrough weighed him down, his confidence creaked under it. Many had reached where he was. Yet, a bulk stumbled, and only a handful marched ahead of the crowd. The pyramid structure of Ashevas spoke volumes about the struggles of rising high.
But before he moved forward and even thought about Step-1, he had to finish the pending work for Step-0—the second layer of ‘Elementalist’ subtype. And so, it climbed its way up on his priority list and saw itself beside the Noble Rite’s requirement for Iris. It was a lengthy process though—a matter of months. The written details said he could lose his sense of time once he started the second layer.
Thus, Ewan ticked off the more urgent task in the list first—the life sacrifice for Iris. This was a path without light, and he walked on it with a blindfold on. The rite only mentioned a red-blooded life, it didn’t specify whether it had to be a Staron or an Astylind.
Starons cooked up the division line that set them apart from their not-so-wise brethren; the Astylinds. The lack of any inherent and drastic difference in the anatomies of the two disagreed with that division though.
The facts he knew, however little they were, qualified both Starons and Astylinds as possible sacrifices. Ewan weighed them both, their pros and cons, and the Starons side measured heavier.
A grown Astylind was easier to hunt or buy but was harder to control and transport—an inefficient choice for a life sacrifice. Non-native Starons were a rare commodity in the slave market but if he could find one, the rest of the way would be a smooth ride.
His potion shop raked it in, yet his presence was fresh on the hub, even with his Pa’s alias. His connections didn’t reach deep enough, his success only created enemies, no friends. So, he had to try his chances off the hub. And only one person came to mind when he thought of slaves.
Cork…
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