Tale of Eldramir

Upon alerting the staff at the infirmary that he was awake; Ezekiel was informed that he would have to wait until Carrian arrived to ask him what had happened. There was some concern that Ezekiel had been doing unsanctioned experiments with his soul, as his own underwent several changes, and seemed to grow immensely over the course of the week he’d been in the infirmary.

Ezekiel agreed to this, as he also wanted to find out what happened, but he requested that Carrian be given a letter before he was alerted, so that the Grand Scholar could grab something on his way to see him.

So, it was nearly twenty minutes later that Carrian walked through the doors to Ezekiel’s room, with the sword that Shine inhabited in his hands.

“I believe that this is what you were referring to in your message?” Carrian said sarcastically as he handed Shine over to Ezekiel. “I honestly don’t think you could’ve been less direct in your request. I am not sure whether or not I find that impressive.”

“I just figured that I shouldn’t directly refer to Shine unless there was a certain level of security, and a letter like that one isn’t exactly secure.” Ezekiel said in self-defense.

“Hmm. What happened?” Carrian asked, getting straight to the point.

Ezekiel didn’t answer for a moment, instead focusing on conversing with Shine to see what had happened on their end of things.

From what Shine could tell, their soul had also undergone a surprising amount of growth, and it was somewhat overwhelming for them. It was to the point where Shine was having difficulty reigning in their mana, rather than just letting it leak out. Shine explained it as feeling too full, when they compared it to sensations Ezekiel had experienced.

Not certain what was happening, Ezekiel turned to Carrian and explained what happened, as well as what Shine was feeling.

Carrian closed his eyes in thought before answering. His face was set into a grim demeanor as he spoke.

“I believe that you will need to hold off on having Shine progress to the next Step.” Carrian said.

“Why? I thought there weren’t any issues with progressing through the Steps within a Tier. Only with Tiering up, and even then, such situations are rare, or are entirely to do with how difficult many find Tiering up to be.” Ezekiel asked.

“That’s not exactly the case. You see, rising to a higher Step, or Tier, usually requires one’s Soul to be at an appropriate level of development in order for said increase in power to occur. Said increase in power is also paired with a small increase in the size of one’s soul, but the amount is fairly minor.” Carrian explained. “You see, it is not a commonly known fact, but it is possible to damage the soul by forcing it to grow too much, too quickly. Which is what I believe happened in this instance. Shine is less than a year old, correct?”

Ezekiel nodded his head at the question.

“Even if they are incredibly intelligent, let us compare such growth to a human child. What do you think would happen if a less than one-year-old child were to forcibly grow to the size of a two-year-old overnight?” Carrian asked.

Ezekiel winced at that thought. The sheer amount of pain that growing at such a rate caused was unimaginable. Similarly, the lack of nutrients and overall available mass would mean that such growth would fail due to malnourishment and lack of resources to build upon.

“Exactly. You see, our pools of mana are tied to the size and strength of our souls. Usually, when done naturally, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to increase one’s Step before the soul has grown enough to withstand the growth of one’s mana. The exceptions to this are using mana crystals to accelerate such growth, but usually, by the time a child has reached the age where they can do that, using mana crystals to reach as high as Step five of Tier one, is not dangerous.” Carrian said.

As Ezekiel thought about Carrian’s words, he realized that it made a lot of sense, when looking at it from a perspective that didn’t take himself into account. If this wasn’t an issue, then nobles and other rich families would be forcing their children to grow at ridiculous rates, so long as they had the money and resources, which weren’t so common as to be totally viable, but even so, it was a possibility.

“Will this be an issue when we try to reach Tier two in the future?” Ezekiel couldn’t help but ask. He noticed that Carrian had only mentioned the Steps of a Tier when he was talking about the dangers.

“No. But that is simply because it is impossible to Tier up if one’s Soul has not grown enough. If your soul is not big enough, you will simply not have developed your second Chakra, so you won’t be able to find it, no matter how much you search for it, even with a Spirit’s help.” Carrian told him.

This was surprising to Ezekiel. He had heard of the theory of Chakras even back on Earth, but there was always the idea that they were an intrinsic part of a person’s soul. Not something that you grew as your soul got bigger.

Suddenly, Carrian let out a sigh and stood up, looking down at Ezekiel and Shine with a look of frustration in his eyes. Ezekiel couldn’t help but wonder what they’d done wrong this time.

“I had hoped to keep you out of trouble for a little while. Have you and your team continue to work on your project and see what other wonders you could make for the world, but it seems like I’ll be giving you another mission. This time one that expects there to be combat.” Carrian said with an exasperated tone.

Ezekiel just looked confused. Carrian, seeing his look, explained.

“The soul grows through a number of things, time being the most easily accessible one. But I don’t think you’ll be able to wait for too long. Not with the pace you’re going, not with the dangers you’ve got hanging over your head.” Carrian told him.

“Your soul is plenty grown. For reasons I’m certain we’re both aware of.” Carrian gave Ezekiel a half-lidded glare. “I’d go so far as to bet that you’d be able to reach Tier four right now, if you had the resources. But Shine cannot. As you well know now. Yet, without them you will not be able to reach Tier four, unless you invent a new method for that too.”

Ezekiel knew Carrian was speaking in jest, but he couldn’t help but wonder if that would one day be possible.

“As such, we’ll have to use other methods to help Shine’s soul grow stronger. Namely, exercising mana, and feeling a sense of urgency.” Carrian said.

“How will those things help? Shine and I have been using mana fairly regularly, doing our best to practice our Spells as often as possible. Well, we were, before we dedicated our time to sharing mana and growing Shine’s mana pool.”

Carrian scoffed.

“Yes, you were using your mana, but what were you feeling while you were using your mana?” Carian asked. Ezekiel didn’t reply. They really hadn’t been feeling anything at the time.

“Exactly. To grow one’s soul, they need to learn new and unexpected things. They need to experience things on a spiritual level. Specifically, when it comes to emotions and feelings. From what little I know of the event, I'm certain you know full well what happens when we feel things, aren’t you?” Carrian asked.

Ezekiel couldn’t help but shiver as he was reminded of his first time in a Ruin. The emotional backlash was horrifying, and for a time, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was still under the effects.

“Would you say you obtained a better understanding of the world after your experience?” Carrian asked.

Ezekiel could only nod in confirmation. Much to Carrian’s satisfaction.

“I’m not saying we need to traumatize Shine to make their soul experience growth, but when a person undergoes a great change in who they are, their souls can experience great growth, or great loss.”

“Which is why your soul is so strong, but also why the Void Mages in the past have sometimes gone mad. Too much pressure on a soul collapses it. There is a balance that must be found for the best growth to occur.”

“Rest, and stress. It’s why Mages and Hunters alike don’t just spend all their time meditating, and will often go out and see the world, or spend time at the bottom of their current Step testing different spells, just to stress their mana, before spending time meditating to relax their mana.”

“Shine has not experienced enough stress, has not exercised their mana under enough harsh conditions, to truly experience growth. I don’t know if Shine’s soul will ever be as strong as yours, the difference is just that great, but if they don’t grow stronger, then you’ll start to be held down, rather than raised up.” Carrian’s voice had a much graver tone than it had when he had first started speaking.

For a little while, the room fell into an uncomfortable silence as Ezekiel and Shine digested what Carrian had told them.

“... I’m sorry for holding you back.” Shine quietly whispered in the back of Ezekiel’s mind.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Neither of us knew, and if I need to slow down in order for you to catch up, so be it.” Ezekiel said back.

He refused to let his bonded Spirit fall into despair. Shine had helped him grow immensely in his understanding of the Void. Without Shine, he wouldn’t even have any spelling to use. Just physical reinforcement and enchantments. Not only that, but Shine was born from Ezekiel’s own soul. He couldn’t imagine being angry at them for something like this.

“You said something about missions?” Ezekiel finally said, turning to face Carrian.

“Indeed. As much as I hate to admit it, combat, struggles against impossible odds, and a general sense of helplessness, and overcoming those feelings is one of the best means by which a person’s soul can grow stronger. Pain works as well. Unspeakable pain that hurts the soul, but such methods are barbaric, and far too dangerous to be used on a soul as young and weak as Shine’s is.” Carrian stated with certainty.

Ezekiel couldn’t help but agree. The few times he’d felt pain in his soul were horrific, and he doubted he’d wish such an experience on the likes of Aldor, let alone his bonded Spirit.

“For now, use the rest of the day to rest. Have Shine expend some of their mana. While it’s not a perfect solution, it will lessen the feeling of tight bloating that they are feeling.” Carrian pulled out a few items from his robe. It was a pair of the communications artifacts that they had made previously.

“Just place this on top of Shine and have them channel their mana into it. Physical contact should be all they need to make it work. That way you won’t be risking agitating the ambient motes of mana in the infirmary.” Carrian said as he handed the set of artifacts over to them.

Ezekiel accepted them with thankfulness and set them on top of Shine, who immediately got to work sending mana into the artifacts. Ezekiel heard a faint sigh from the back of his mind as the artifacts began lighting up in a mind-boggling strobe like effect.

“Report to my office tomorrow morning. You both should have recovered enough for me to get you started tomorrow. Scarlet will also be returning tonight, so you’ll likely see her when you see me. Until then, rest well.” Carrian said before turning to leave the room.

Ezekiel muttered a light farewell as the Grand Scholar left the room. He once again felt like there was so much that he still had to learn of the world. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that increasing one’s Step was dangerous. A part of him knew it was just because his and Shine’s positions were very unique.

Most people his age would barely be capable of reaching Tier two, let alone Tier four, like Carrian currently assumed Ezekiel could reach.

Shine was also in a special situation, as most Spirits weren’t as young as they were when they bonded with a human, and unbonded Spirits grew naturally according to the available resources, and occasionally from consuming the mana of other Spirits.

They were wild, after all, and such scenarios would mean that their souls were quite strong, as the stress of such a life would certainly promote their growth. Otherwise, Ezekiel guessed that one of the reasons Wild Spirits didn’t just continually grow stronger was because a Spirit’s ability to naturally absorb mana was also likely tied to the strength of their soul.

Since Shine couldn’t absorb ambient mana, this wasn’t an issue, but it seemed like they would need to be careful regarding how much time Shine spent meditating in the future.

For now, Ezekiel tried his best to stop worrying. He leaned back in his bed and tried to ignore the shining lights beside him. There would be plenty of time for worrying tomorrow, when they actually found out what exactly their mission would be.

Ezekiel once again found himself inside Carrian’s office, this time with Scarlet also inside the room. He was dressed in the enchanted clothing his mother had made for him, rather than the Church’s official robes, and was seated with Shine laid out across his lap. Atop the sword were two communication artifacts softly blinking back and forth as Shine continued to expend their mana as much as possible.

“I don’t like this Carrian. I’ll admit that kid’s a smart one, but he’s still only middle Step o’ Tier one. I don’t usually take anyone on my crew unless they’re Tier two. You know that.” Scarlet said after being given the explanation regarding Ezekiel’s situation.

“Can you think of a better way, that’s just as safe, relative to the situation, that will help Shine and Ezekiel grow more efficiently? You know that he’s in danger, and at least for now, we need to do our best to protect him.” Carrian said.

The two had been going back and forth regarding this topic for a while. Scarlet was against taking Ezekiel with her, since her usual jobs revolved around taking care of rowdy Wild Spirits and clearing out the closest islands of any pirates or their dens.

She had actually been extremely busy the past few months, given the fact that Sasha had a fairly extensive list of locations and people that she’d given to the Church. Scarlet had been hunting pirates left and right for a while now and had still only managed to get through roughly two thirds of the list.

This had put a bit of a strain on the Church, as it meant that one of their Grand Scholars was constantly busy. It had gotten to the point where her duties at the Cathedral were being covered by a team of regular Scholars.

There was also the fact that she wasn’t able to perform her duties as security for Church officials and affiliates that needed safe passage to other islands. She was meant to have gone back to Harkem at least once over the past couple months since her previous trip, but it had been delayed, and didn’t look to be happening anytime soon.

Given the number of issues that kept popping up, it was little wonder that she was frustrated, and had no desire to take Ezekiel with her on her next mission.

“Carrian, we got a lead on another Hull Breaker hideout. One that might lead us to their main island. But it’s certain that there’s going to be a number of Adepts there for us to face, and the location means that there’s at least one Legendary Spirit nearby.” Scarlet said.

She was confident that her crew would be able to take care of the Adepts just fine, even if they didn’t have Spirits themselves, as they were going to be taking a Tier two Guild along with them to help.

The guild in question, the Island Hoppers, was a guild that specialized in major transportation of goods, as well as security accompaniment for the Church and other major merchant houses. It was different from Chester’s business, as that was a small shipping company that only dealt in the transport of small end goods and individuals to and from the Sanafalls’ other port towns and satellite islands.

The Island Hoppers had a veritable armada, one that had hundreds of Apprentice level Hunters on call. Also, they had nearly a dozen Adept Hunters in charge, to run things smoothly.

Scarlet had been working with this Guild for years, and they had never let her down. Back when she was a Hunter herself, she had actually managed to raise the Island Hoppers to a Tier three Guild. They would’ve been the highest-ranking Guild in Sanafalls, had she not lost her Spirit and lost her right to be a Hunter.

“I can’t afford to have him babysat. Especially if you want him to get actual life and death experiences. This is just too high a level for that.” Scarlet said in finality.

From his seat off to the side, Ezekiel couldn’t help but slightly nod in agreement with her. While it rankled him to know that he was still being held back, he understood and accepted the fact that she would know better than him in this circumstance.

As much as he wanted to deny it, there was no way that he and Shine were ready to take on pirates at a higher Tier than themselves. But Given Shine’s age, they simply had no other way of expanding his soul enough to safely grow stronger. Not quickly enough for it to matter, at least.

“Enough, Scarlet. I have already made my decision. If the Island Hoppers aren’t happy about it, then here. Hire another team.” Carrian said as he tossed her a small pouch containing a few hundred gold coins.

Scarlet and Ezekiel both looked on in shock. Neither had expected Carrian to be this adamant about sending Ezekiel on this mission.

Carrian himself wasn’t so certain this was a good idea, given the danger that Scarlet had informed them of, but he knew that Shine needed to experience true battles, sooner, rather than later. Otherwise, Ezekiel’s soul might become stagnant while waiting for Shine to grow.

“Consider this a test as well. If he does well on this mission, then maybe you can take him on a few more. We’ll also see about getting him included in some of our joint training with the Island Hoppers when you get back.” Carrian told them.

Scarlet still looked like she was unwilling to take him.

“It’s still too dangerous.” She said with certainty.

“Take him. Or I’ll go, in your place, and take him myself.” Carrian stated.

Scarlet just clenched her fists and bit her lip before turning around without another word and storming towards the door.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You hear the Grand Scholar’s orders!” Scarlet yelled at Ezekiel as she held the door open.

Ezekiel leapt to his feet, rushing out the door and wincing as Scarlet slammed it behind her.

“I don’t think she likes us right now.” Shine mumbled.

“I think it’s more the situation that she doesn’t like.” Ezekiel replied.

No words were said aloud as Scarlet marched off towards the exit of the Cathedral. Ezekiel and Shine followed along like a little duckling as they exited the Church. Meeting up with the Scholars that had accompanied Scarlet to the Cathedral.

Ezekiel got some strange looks as they continued outside and towards the docks. However, no one said anything, as they could tell that their captain was in an incredibly bad mood. It wasn’t until they were fully outside the Cathedral’s grounds that Scarlet finally spoke up.

“Ezekiel!” Scarlet barked out as they slowly got closer to where their boat was docked.

“Yes!” Ezekiel nearly yelled in shock at the sudden attention.

“When we get to the ship, you will accompany me to my cabin so I can go over exactly what you will and won’t be doing on this mission. Am I understood?” Scarlet asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ezekiel replied.

“I think I like her more when she isn’t angry.” Shine seemed to almost whimper as Scarlet’s drill sergeant behavior was scaring them.

“Me too, Shine. Me too.” Ezekiel said back.

“Tommy! You’ll be in charge of setting us off. I want us to be at the Island Hopper’s main headquarters as soon as possible. We’ll be hiring another team due to Carrian’s scheming.” Scarlet ordered her first mate.

“Well, shit...” Tommy muttered in frustration as he realized what Ezekiel was still doing here with them. “Babysitting duty?”

“Yes. Into a battlefield no less.” Scarlet said with a grumble.

Tommy and the other Scholars started cursing as they realized just how much more difficult their jobs had become.

Ezekiel couldn’t help but stare at his feet as they walked. A sense of guilt and sorrow started to well up inside of him. This didn’t last long though, as suddenly there was a hand slapping him on the shoulder that snapped him out of his mood. Tommy wrapped an arm around him and put him in a headlock.

“Chin up, kid. We’re not mad at you, we’re mad at Carrian, and worried for you. If this was one of our regular run-of-the-mill patrols, or pirate hunting, then there wouldn’t be as much issue. But this is taking on a pirate stronghold.” Tommy told him as he tried to keep Ezekiel from being too hard on himself.

“We’re expecting several ships worth of Hunters, and fortified defenses that will certainly be trapped in some way or another. Not to mention the chances of the Captain being taken out by a Wild Spirit. She’ll have her own team backing her up just for that possibility.” Tommy explained in an attempt to lift Ezekiel’s spirits.

It partially succeeded, and Ezekiel was happy to know that it wasn’t him they were upset with. A part of him still felt guilty, however, as he knew his presence was still making things difficult for them.

Seeing that Ezekiel looked a little bit better, Tommy let him go and the group marched on in silence until they reached Scarlet’s ship. After doing one last check to ensure that everything was in order, and that they had enough supplies to get everywhere, Scarlet and Ezekiel headed onto the ship as Tommy started yelling orders left and right.

Reaching the captain’s cabin, Scarlet sat down behind a large desk that looked to have been grown out of the wood of the ship. Obviously, it was a Life Mage’s work, but Ezekiel couldn’t help but be impressed by the details all the same.

“Naeri made it for me. If you were wondering.” Scarlet said quietly after she noticed his staring.

Startled out of his thoughts, Ezekiel turned his attention to her as soon as she finished speaking.

“I’m going to be quite simple with my instructions, simply because there’s no need for overly complicated ones. While we’re traveling through safer waters, you will be training with Tommy or one of the other Scholars. The sooner we can get Shine up to strength the better.” Scarlet said.

Ezekiel only nodded in agreement.

“Other than that, you will be a chore boy on this ship, and you will do whatever I or the other Scholars tell you to do. They are basically the officers on this ship, so they have command after me. Other than that, we will go into detail regarding who you answer to in the Island Hoppers when we reach their headquarters and speak with one of their leaders.” Scarlet continued to explain.

“Now, the Guild in the Archipelago are a bit different from the one’s in the mainland. Tier three and four Guilds are a bit rarer than you would think, and usually such Guilds rule their own little island fiefs off the main trade routes. The Island Hoppers used to be a Tier three Guild but fell to Tier two because of reasons.” Scarlet didn’t like explaining her shame and loss to most people, but Ezekiel knew that she was talking about the loss of her bonded Spirit all the same.

“That said, they still have over a dozen Tier three Adepts that run things, with four elected leaders that take charge. With the positions changing every five years. We’ll probably be assigned at least four of their Adepts for this mission. Originally it was going to be three, plus a number of Apprentices, but with you here that’s changing. Most likely, we’ll just place you with the Tier twos, and leave you to survive.”

Ezekiel was less than enthused by Scarlet’s intentions regarding his place in this mission.

“Don’t give me that look. Do you really believe that you’ll be able to actually kill anyone with your power right now?” Scarlet asked him.

The memory of Aldor and his Spirit dying at his hands briefly flashed through his mind, as did the death of the Tier three Death snake Spirit. Each one was a lucky shot, but he figured they should still count for something. But he knew better than to pick a fight on this.

“Try to survive. Understood.” Ezekiel calmly stated.

Scarlet let out a sigh in response to Ezekiel’s words. Her face took on a gentler appearance than the serious expression she had before.

“I’m not trying to belittle your past achievements. But luck can only get you so far. Even if all you do is focus on protecting yourself, and getting out alive, even if you have to run, that will help but you and Shine grow stronger. It is your experiences that will help you grow your souls. Not your successes.” Scarlet explained.

Ezekiel nodded once again. This time more certain than before. He didn’t like it, but he knew that she was right. For now, he and Shine just needed to survive, and accumulate as much experience for Shine as possible.

Ezekiel gave a slight bow towards Scarlet, but she waved him off, sending him out of the room. He needed to report to Tommy. He was going to begin his work and training right away, so there was little time to waste.