Chương 17: Chapter 16: Why’s the mnemonic so cringy?

The lower channel ponds weren't far, but Fabrisse felt like they were venturing into a different ecosystem altogether. Past the eastern greenhouses and the old clock tower, the land sloped toward a series of runoff-fed terraces where the Synod kept its minor aquafauna: the silt-swimmers, scale-eels, and the occasional duck-thing that wandered in from the canals and decided to stay.

The air smelled even more of moss and charcoal than other parts of the Synod, and a light mist clung to everything as if the water was eternally shrouded by Veil magic. The duck-things, as Liene called them, were somewhere between aquatic birds and confused garden spirits. They honked like opinionated old men and lurched forward in aimless little bursts as though each step required committee approval.

"Look." Liene pointed from behind a willow-like vine, aggressively whispering, "Duck; duck! Go." One of the duck-things had a glowing beak, and it looked like it had swallowed a very small candle. It was swimming away from the others, veering toward a section of the pond marked with warning glyphs and a collapsed shrine gate draped in algae.

"That's not normal," Fabrisse muttered.

"Even for them." He reached slowly into his satchel and retrieved a speckled Stupenstone named Gravelkin 2.

"Let's try this first," he whispered. With perfect hand movements and surprisingly decent timing (probably luck), he was able to cast the spell. [SKILL ACTIVATED: Strata Recall (Rank II)] He crouched near the edge of the pond, placing his hand on a lichen-dusted slab that looked like it hadn't been moved in decades. The stone was cool to the touch. Light flashed. He saw white. The duck-thing was waddling along the bank, then there was the sound of quartz stone clattering from someone's cloak.

The duck-thing had waddled over, pecked curiously at the stone, and then swallowed it whole like a particularly crunchy snack. He saw nothing beyond that. No real imprint. It wasn't his stone.

"You were right," Fabrisse said.

"That thing ate someone's stone." But then, that meant someone else was also collecting stones like him, and this duck-thing took that person's stone. But who else could be collecting stones?

"The stone was imprinted," Liene said triumphantly.

"I knew it. Look at its aura! It's wobbling in guilt."

"Guilt should be accompanied by trace of sandy yellow," Fabrisse corrected.

"How would you know? You skipped emotional theory."

"I skipped once..." He stood, brushing moss off his knees.

"I can animate two pebbles." So long as they weren't Stupenstones, which meant he had to pick up random pebbles from the pondside. [SKILL ACTIVATED: Stonesway (Rank II)] Two pebbles rose and bobbed lazily in the air. Fabrisse waited instinctively for the familiar wobble, yet it never came. He was off to a good start. Yet... the duck-thing didn't so much as glance at them. They were too far away for it to notice.

"Can you bring them closer?" Liene whispered.

"... I' m not sure." Yesterday, he wouldn' t even have considered it. Trying to guide the stones farther away from himself had always ended with them wobbling out of alignment and dropping into the dirt. But Rank II Stonesway was different. Carefully, he pushed. The pebbles glided over the pond, weaving them between the reeds in a broad curve that would have been impossible only a day earlier. Controlling only two stones instead of three made the movements feel almost... comfortable.

The duck-thing stopped paddling. It gave one suspicious honk before beginning waddling toward the hovering pebbles. It works flawlessly now! Blessed be the Rank II Stonesway. Some of the other ones looked up too, but they quickly lost interest since they likely weren't into stealing stones.

"Lure it gently," Liene whispered.

"It's a duck. It has the attention span of a spell-fried squirrel." Fabrisse made the pebbles wobble in formation, chirping magically enhanced squeaks. The duck-thing honked, honked again, and waddled toward them. One of the pebbles dipped suddenly. Fabrisse winced and lowered the whole group, hand twitching. His control faltered, and the magic fizzled out. The pebbles dropped unceremoniously into the grass. Liene sighed.

The duck-thing stared for a moment, then wandered off like it had never cared in the first place. Fabrisse swore under his breath. I guess even Rank II has its limits. Liene crouched beside him.

"You're lifting with your fingertips. If this is anything like Light casting, then you anchor through the wrist, not the knuckles."

"What difference does that make?" he muttered, but awkwardly flattened his palm all the same. To his surprise, the pebbles steadied. They rose again, more level this time, their little squeaks better timed. The duck-thing looked up, head tilted. It waddled closer, just enough for Fabrisse to feel an iota of triumph— The lead pebble jerked sideways and tumbled. The other followed in a sad cascade. Fabrisse groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"I hate birds." The pebbles' orbit was uneven. Retaining resonance was hard enough, and he might have missed the minor phase shift in the pond's ambient resonance. Of course they'd dip. Liene grinned.

"You hate magic." That too, he thought. The duck-thing paused, but not because of the pebbles. The glow around its beak pulsed. Then it turned and bolted, or rather, flapped with great confusion into the water, kicking up a splash of pondweed.

"Wait!" [QUEST OBJECTIVE UPDATED: Duck-thing has moved into the Restricted Sanctuary Basin. Passage requires a Shrine Permit or active stealth effect.] Fabrisse groaned.

"You couldn't have warned me sooner?"

"How? I didn't know it'd bolt like that."

"I was—" He was talking to the glyph. But Liene couldn't have known that, and she shouldn't know. He sighed, then rotated his wrist and whispered under his breath. [SKILL ACTIVATED: Veil of Shame (Rank I)] This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The memory of tripping into the Eidralith while the entire Synod watched still haunted him. He then whispered the mnemonic,"Cloak of shame." The shame came easily, and a few wisps of purple clung to the side of his robe.

He didn't know why this skill was so easy to cast. He didn't even have to think about when he should channel his shame, but it had worked anyway.

"What did you invoke?" Liene asked.

"Why's the mnemonic so cringy?" He crouched low and whispered the mnemonic again. He tried walking. His footsteps grew light and muffled as if he were walking through thick molasses.

"That's my boy! Nice going!" Liene whispered. Ahead, the duck-thing flapped awkwardly into the Restricted Sanctuary Basin, its glowing beak casting indistinct ripples of light on the mist-shrouded water. Liene leaned close.

"I've got you." She raised a hand and murmured a chant. Suddenly, a gentle current of air stirred around Fabrisse's feet, swirling leaves and drifting petals over the ground. He felt something akin to a crisp exhale across his skin. This was probably the Low-Pressure Liftfield, a standard Air-based support veil used to reduce surface presence and scatter minor tracking residues. It was pretty well-cast.

"Perfect," Fabrisse said. The duck-thing waddled carefully along the tangled banks. It paused beneath a gnarled tree root arching over the water, and there was no sign it had detected him. Open water was out of the question. He lacked both the Water affinity and the Hydromancy permit for it. Instead, he skirted the edge, slipping from stone to a muddy patch, keeping to the shallows where the reeds grew thick. Liene's Liftfield thinned his weight just enough that the water's surface barely rippled.

His boots were already soaked, but the duck-thing hadn't noticed. One foot at a time. The duck-thing dipped its beak into the water, then pulled back with a shudder. Nearly there. Fabrisse was five steps behind the duck before— From the other side of the pond, Liene started waving at him. Both her arms flailed like a weather-vane having a spiritual crisis. She pointed, urgently, toward the northern slope behind him. He turned his head just enough to glance over one shoulder.

Standing amid the glyph-lined stones at the Sanctuary boundary was Lorvan. He was looking directly in Fabrisse's direction, and judging from his brisk pace and the way his eyes scanned the banks, the Mentor was clearly trying to find him. He didn't seem to have spotted Fabrisse yet, however. The duck-thing honked indignantly and took off paddling in another direction, possibly offended by the emotional spike. Fabrisse froze. Very, very possibly, he had seconds.

A puff of air burst from Liene's fingertips, blurring the air around Lorvan's face. It was a minor glamor: Displacement Haze, if Fabrisse remembered correctly. Designed to temporarily blur visual perception, commonly used by prankster first-years to swap exam nameplates. It glittered like cheap candlelight. Lorvan stopped. His shoulders rose. Then, slowly, very slowly, he turned his head in Liene's direction. She sprang from the bushes with an exaggerated grin and a little pointing gesture.

"Ha! Gotcha. Just, uh, testing some effects, you know? I just got this spell to Rank IV the other day! Can you believe that?"

"Miss Lugano. If you're here, then Kestovar must be close." Liene laughed.

"He might be! Or he might not be! Or—what is proximity, really, in a metaphysical sense—""Spare me," Lorvan interrupted.

"He is to return to class this instant, and I would very much like to have a few words with him. Several, in fact." Fabrisse stood torn. He was five steps from the duck-thing, and also one loud syllable from being caught. But… Stonebound Synapse. He needed this one. Stonebound Synapse would boost his Stonecraft rank just enough to show tangible progress, and maybe even get Lorvan off his back for a week. The stone was right there. Fabrisse felt lucky today. He moved.

The duck-thing squawked, and its webbed feet shuffled. Fabrisse lunged forward. Lorvan's voice cracked like thunder from across the water.

"Kestovar! Hold it right there!" The duck-thing exploded into motion. Not in a graceful way—more like a fluffy feathery sack of rice being launched by panic. Its wings flapped unevenly, its glowing beak zigzagging wildly through the mist. Fabrisse dove, efficiently. He was already calculating trajectory, wind arc, and moss traction. He just hadn't calculated for the root. His face hit bark. The bark hit back. His foot went sideways.

He pinwheeled through the air with the grace of a collapsing laundry rack, and collided full-body into the tree root arch.

"Oh no, my rock!" he yelled. His outstretched hand accidentally smacked the duck midair. The duck squawked like a kettle being throttled and spun. Something small and shiny flew from its beak, arcing through the air with just enough dramatic flair to qualify for magical slow motion. Fabrisse landed face-first in a bush.

"Duck!" Came Liene's voice from somewhere on the other side, but closer now.

"Where?" He lifted his face. The glowing stone thunked off his forehead and bounced neatly into his palm. [QUEST COMPLETED: Trace the Freckle-Star] Reward: +5 Mastery Points [NEW ITEM ACQUIRED: Glowing Stupenstone] [SYSTEM NOTE: A Stupenstone, but glowing.] [NOTICE: Stealth bonus not awarded. Consider falling less dramatically next time.]"I meant… duck. The verb." Came Liene's voice again. Fabrisse groaned, upside down in the shrubbery, one boot in the air and moss in his ear.

He turned the stone over in his palm, grinning despite the mud in his teeth. This stone really was freckled.

"Worth it." The reward was Five Mastery Points. Again. Which raised a rather pressing question. What exactly was he mastering? [Tutorial Quest Received: Mastery Progression] Objective: Learn or upgrade a Common spell using available Mastery Points Reward: +100 EXP Hold on. Any Common spell? He pulled up the acquisition interface, hoping for a sprawling catalogue. The list showed up. It was not sprawling.

Skill Name Tier Sub-Affinity Description Cost Loamwake (Rank I) Common Earth Reinvigorates depleted soil by redistributing nutrients and latent aether to promote natural recovery. 5 Mastery Points (Earth) Rootsense (Rank I) Common Earth Grants low-level perception of root networks, burrowing life, and soil displacement within a short radius. 5 Mastery Points (Earth) Verdant Hold (Rank I) Common Earth Temporarily stabilizes living ground, preventing erosion, collapse, or nutrient loss in cultivated terrain.

5 Mastery Points (Earth) Stonebound Synapse (Rank I) Common Stone Stone spells cast 5% faster and with 5% improved precision. Stone Thaumaturgy skill progression speeds up 5%. 5 Mastery Points (Stone) Stonebound Synapse? I've never heard of such a skill. Isn't it really good? Five percent didn't sound like much, but permanent bonuses rarely were. With this improvement, he could easily— Then he heard the stomping. Across the pond, Lorvan was already storming toward him.

Liene slapped both hands to her mouth, either in horror or to hide her laughter. Fabrisse straightened, flipping through his mental flashcards: Eye contact (but not too much). Neutral tone. No jokes. Let the adult feel in control.

"Pleasant morning, mentor. I was enriching myself educationally," Fabrisse said as he redeemed Stonebound Synapse.

"With… ducks." Lorvan's footsteps thundered closer, but he stopped just short of yelling. His gaze landed on the glowing pebble in Fabrisse's hand, then his eyes narrowed.

"Class," he said again, quieter. But with no less steel.