Elydes

Chapter 178 - Schemes and Rewards

On his way to Edgar’s lab, Kai could hardly take a step without hearing the passersby discuss some odd event. Some guessed the meaning of the vivid dreams they had during the alignment, others had heard a mysterious wail in the night or found a golden egg on their balcony, and more men and women than he cared to count announced they had found their soulmate.

“I swear it’s true, Nina. My cousin’s friends gave birth to triplets last night. It must be a sign from the gods.”

I’m not sure that’s how it works…

Kai was skeptical. Most of these claims had nothing to do with the moons’ conjunction. The cheerful atmosphere and the rivers of alcoholic drinks offered a convincing explanation. He had also heard a few merchants advertising mystical experiences, though Flynn had steered him away before he could learn more.

He had witnessed a few unusual events himself, but nothing that flashy. Large whirlwinds of mana, the ambient density rising and falling, and he could swear Hallowed Intuition had whispered twice before turning silent when he paid attention.

Maybe the alignment can actually influence Fate.

Edgar’s house was forgettable like usual, slipping out of his mind if he let his attention waver. Before he could knock, the oak door swung open with a creaking. Kai was convinced every sound inside the granite house was designed to fuck with the visitors.

“Back already?” The grumpy gnome greeted him without raising his gaze from Virya’s amulet. “You said you’d leave me alone for a day.”

“I did. The alignment was yesterday.”

“Rotting titans, why do good times always pass so quickly?” Edgar groaned and distractedly waved to the chaotic lab. “Take your pick of a seat and don’t disturb me.”

You sure know how to make me feel welcome.

Kai wandered the hall for a new desk corner. His usual spot had been filled with clutter. Careful not to cause a chain reaction, he moved a pile of papers and books and a half-melted silver wire to free some space. Perched on a stool, he pulled out his design and got to work.

The warm, mana-rich environment and the blessed silence. Kai fell back into the rhythm, runes assembling in new configurations in his mind and on paper. The day off had given him plenty of ideas and time to recover his strained skills.

Their work was interrupted when a package flew out of the wall with the gnome’s lunch, and later with his dinner. Once empty, the hidden compartment disappeared behind the impenetrable cloaking of the house.

How does that work? I want home deliveries too.

Chewing on a spiced chicken thigh, Edgar seemed to remember he wasn’t alone. “Let me see what you’ve got, kid.”

Yes, Grumpy. Ehm… Is it racist since he’s not a dwarf?

Kai swallowed a curse when the gnome touched his notebook with his oily fingers. He pressed his lips shut and patiently waited for the runesmith to watch over his work.

“Mhmm… it’s good,” Edgar muttered between the bites. Kai perked up at the unexpected praise before the gnome went on. “I mean the food, this design is garbage. You completely butchered the balancing and…”

Kai accepted the pointers with curt nods. Despite the harsh words, his schematic wasn’t that catastrophic, and the mistakes were fixable.

Nice try, but I’m not going anywhere.

“Thank you, teacher.” Kai grinned brightly. “Your wisdom is always enlightening.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m such a generous gnome to help dim kids.” He scowled. “If you're having a hard time, I could write you a referral to another runesmith. They might be more… amenable to your slow progress.” He struggled to suppress the hopeful light from his bulbous eyes.

Kai feigned to ponder. “I don’t know. Is there anyone as good as you in the archipelago?”

The gnome scrunched his face like he had eaten a lemon. “M-maybe.”

His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Oh, so there’s a better runesmith in Higharbor…”

“No,” Edgar snarled before lowering his tone with unnatural gentleness. “I didn’t say that. Artistry and genius are just so difficult to define. It’s not impossible that there is a field where they might excel.”

“I think I’ll stay with you.”

His pointed ears flopped down. “Great.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, teacher.”

“Please, be late.”

***

Over the next few days, news from the edges of the archipelago reached the capital. The twin islands, Kanlun and Kawei, had been hit by a mana storm during the moons’ conjunction, while a kraken’s tentacle washed up on the shore of Sanborn on Yawei.

Amidst stories and rumors, Kai was particularly interested in sightings of high-tier beasts. He had asked Flynn to look out for them, and the boy brought quite a catalogue.

“Everyone’s talking a lot of bullshit after the Festival, so it’s harder to confirm them.” Flynn checked the edge of a blade on his thumb before sharpening the next knife. “The stories always grow larger and more ridiculous as they spread. By the time they reach Higharbor, they’ve gone through a dozen tellings.”

Kai chewed his cheek, frustrated. It was always difficult to obtain information beyond the city, and the Republic was never forthcoming. “So, you think they’re not true?”

Flynn shrugged. “I doubt a storm of thunderbirds flew over Easternedge or that a sea dragon capsized a vessel. But there were eleven sightings from the opposite sides of the archipelago. There was probably a beast involved in at least some of them. You think they could be connected to the ruins?”

It was Kai's turn to shrug his shoulders. “I don’t know. They say beasts often get confused during mana events. It’s possible it was just the moons’ influence.”

Or maybe the alignment caused more ruins to spit out beasts. Am I just seeing what I want to see?

“Let me know if you hear more news.”

“Yes, boss.”

***

Despite Edgar’s attempts to get rid of him, Kai continued to smile and learn. As his knowledge of Runes and enchantment grew, he became ever more certain he had gotten an amazing deal out of their arrangement. The gnome’s bottomless pride wasn’t without reason.

Out of all the enchanting shops Kai visited in the upper city, no one could hold a candle to Edgar’s work for efficiency and precision. Flynn told him there were exclusive shops and artisans that worked on commissions. He needed a contact in the Republic and an invitation to be allowed inside.

I could track down Valela, she definitely knows how.

No, it was too much hassle just to satisfy his curiosity. The little princess would demand something in exchange, and he would receive more scrutiny than he was comfortable with.

They’re probably still not as good.

He already had his hands full between alchemy and enchanting. A blade at a time, the number of sea serpent’s fangs was dwindling, and so was the time for his secret project.

Kai had hit a ceiling with the mana engraving copy. Each new level in Mana Echo improved it a little, but the skill was still too unwieldy to make lasting enchantments unless something changed. There was only one way to salvage his evil schemes.

He needed to reach the second milestone.

With a bit of flattery and a box of cream puffs, Kai convinced Edgar to let him train on the discarded sketches scattered around his lab. He had to leave the copies in the underground chamber, but it didn’t matter.

The sketches offered a limitless source of new material to copy, and experience. He drew countless pages of runes till each muscle and tendon in his hand hurt, and his head pulsed with skill strain. Finally, he saw the blinking light.

Mana Echo (lv75) ➔

As you reach the second milestone, you are presented with four choices to continue your journey. This choice might influence the future of your profession:

Greatly reduces the time to create and improve an echo.

Greatly increases the number and size of the echoes that can be preserved in your mind.

Allow the creation of more complex echoes through repeated observation. Obtain improved results depending on your comprehension of the mana construct.

Greatly improves the speed, precision and accuracy when copying a runic pattern or chain.

Thank the spirits, I thought my hand was going to break.

Still inside the underground lab, Kai hid his elation. Edgar continued to ignore his existence, grumbling over his cloaking project.

What do we have here…

The first two options were the same he had received in the previous specialization with the addition of greatly. Still not enough to make the cut. The last one was a surprise, proving the options were influenced by his actions. He might be tempted if he wanted to become a runesmith.

And that leaves…

Kai smiled at the third option. It was an evolution of what he picked last time. He didn’t hesitate to select it.

*Ding*

You chose to allow the creation of more complex echoes. Mana Echo (lv75) can now reach lv100.

Muhahaha! I did it!

“What are you chuckling about, kid? Did you finally lose it?” Edgar asked, sounding vaguely hopeful. “I warned you not to fry your brain with your cheating skill. I won’t take responsibility.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. My brain is perfectly healthy. Just finished fixing another design like you told me.” Kai pulled the sheet he had completed three days before. “Can you spare a little time to engrave it?”

“Let me see if you can follow instructions,” Edgar snorted with exasperation. He glanced at the paper. “Passable. Give me that fang, I’ll do it now, but you leave afterward.”

“Of course, teacher.”

Evil always triumphs!

***

Kai couldn’t stop grinning, on his way home he hopped like gravity had no hold on him. He had managed to pull it off. The upgrade had worked as anticipated, raising the ceiling of what Mana Echo could imitate.

Now he just needed to witness more engravings to perfect his copy. The gargantuan skill echo hung in his mind like a beautifully complex machinery.

It can't be a green skill, can it? No, my profession is still Red… It must be a yellow skill, probably quite high level.

The success lifted a weight off his shoulders. He had neglected everything to pursue Mana Echo, and it paid off.

I could take some time off as a gift to Edgar…

With the twins and Ana back at Hawkfield, and Lou busy with the job he couldn’t talk about, Kai had rarely visited the beach or the cultivated fields to practice Nature Magic. It was time to catch up. He had quite a few skills waiting for the last push to reach a milestone.

When he proposed the idea the following day, Edgar imposed a single condition: that he would take a week instead. Kai managed to talk him down to three days by threatening to not leave.

Time to go for a swim.

Water Magic had been on the brink for more than a month. The skill easily overcame the bottleneck after diving into the waves and trying a few ambitious spells.

Kai swam to shore to consider his choices. A flick of his wrist left him dry to sit on the sand.

Water Magic (lv50) ➔

As you reach the first milestone, you are presented with three choices to continue your journey.

Stay the course on your current path. You won’t gain new significant benefits, but you’ll greatly deepen the insight into your path.

Make full use of your surroundings. Improve your ability to draw Water mana and cast spells inside a body of water.

Attune to the element. Allows to summon and manipulate water in all its states.

Contrary to profession skills, general skills could continue unchanged if he didn’t want to specialize. He had feared he wouldn’t get the option he craved, and be forced to delay his choice instead. Thankfully, it was there.

Improving his Magic inside a body of water was interesting. It was the first specialization that mentioned a straight-up improvement to his spells. And at Orange, the upgrade was sure to be notable.

Maybe if I were a merfolk or a siren…

It wasn’t viable since it lacked flexibility, and it would leave him powerless if he didn’t hang around the ocean. The greatest benefits always came with the greatest drawbacks. If someone chose to specialize their skills and profession for a single task, it would be hard to predict what they could achieve.

Something to keep in mind.

The third option was the one he planned to get since he found it in Virya’s library.

*Ding*

You chose to attune to the element. Water Magic (lv50) can now reach lv75.

The hand of the Guide was barely perceptible, just the slightest touch of warmth. Understanding appeared in his mind as if it had always been there.

It could be clearer.

The stretch of beach was deserted, Kai summoned a small marble of elemental mana and visualized the desired effect of the spell. Ice creaked into existence forming an opaque blob.

He stared transfixed as the ice melted into his palm. It was smaller than he expected for the mana he consumed, and definitely not in the shape he had in mind. None of that mattered.

I’m going to have so many cool drinks this summer.

It would have been such a game-changer during his stifling time in Greenside, or after an exhausting training at the estate. He had learned to make do with enchantments, but they were awkward to carry and slow to use.

It will also be nice to have something hard to throw.

Liquid water wasn’t the most offensive element. Kai continued to experiment with his new ability. He could also summon steam, though it was even harder to control and immediately dissipated.

He had known it was possible to expand his major affinities to its most adjacent neighbors, though it wasn’t the same thing as having an affinity for Ice. Each spell took more mana than it should have, and it didn’t intuitively follow his desires unless he perfectly visualized each step.

It was easier and more efficient when he tried to freeze water instead of directly condensing ice from the air moisture.

I just need to practice.

Spells grew more intuitive with use and repetition. It was why it was so hard to get the hang of Space.

Mhmm… Blessed Swimmer is also close to evolving…