Chương 57: Invisible Restraints

It was like he was probing to see what would make her react, and the random fluctuations in her mana, along with her rate of mana absorption, were giving her away. She would have to do something about that.

"Enchantment?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, gesturing toward both the bottle and the bracers. She looked at the bottle, the bracers, and the tablet very closely, both with her normal sight and through the information layer as the Historian's short, sharp fingernail outlined the patterns across the tablet's surface. Following the movement she saw the symbols. The tiny patterns that were etched into it.

Now that she knew what she was looking for, and now that she possessed the psionic imprint of what those symbols and patterns looked like, it was as though an entirely new layer of reality had revealed itself to her. Her psionic energy bypassed the meager privacy measures as she sharpened her perception enough to see the enchantments on all three items. Even the potion bottle.

"Crafting is a tried-and-true method for earning stats. Training your mental attributes follows a progression very similar to combat, in that you can work on increasingly more difficult projects." He indicated each item in turn.

"I can offer you three options. Alchemy." He pointed to the vial.

"Runecraft." He pointed to the bracers.

"And enchantment." Before the words had even completely left his lips, Scarlet answered.

"Enchantment." There was no need to hide her eagerness. He already knew.

"Then enchantment it is." Before she could utter a word of protest, the mana potion she had been promised disappeared. She had a feeling that even if she had chosen alchemy, he would have removed the bottle anyway. Somehow, knowing that made it easier to keep her calm. Even as one of her suspicions was slowly being confirmed.

"All right then," he said, unlocking the device.

"You will need this." He tossed what looked like a metal cube into the air. She caught it reflexively, studying the curious object. It resembled a puzzle cube.

"No knowledge tome?" she asked, not truly expecting one.

"Trust me. It's better this way." She didn't. But she would. Inspect told her it was something called a 'labyrinth box'. Apparently, if she completed each layer of its maze-like puzzles, the box would eventually open, revealing whatever had been locked inside.

"That is a labyrinth box, a type of puzzle box often used to store inheritances and legacies, or as challenges that hold prizes inside. They are very popular in some competitive circles, as they are a relatively fair way to challenge someone's dexterity, mana manipulation, and intelligence.

"This particular box is less a test and more a training tool. To activate it, just push in some of your mana. It'll bind to you and your mana signature and generate a path of progression all your own.

"Also, nobody else can open it so long as you've claimed it." Scarlet did as she was bid, feeling a lesser version of the soul-binding.

"Every time you complete a section of the labyrinth, a new one will open up. Once you have solved the final section, the box itself will open." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"You will solve that while you listen," he said, pulling up what looked to be a textbook on the tablet and preparing to begin his introduction to enchanting. Something Scarlet very much wanted to listen to. But she knew this for what it was. A pacifying tactic. Propped against the wall in the entrance foyer was the icicled form of Tareth, a temporarily neutralized threat who was being periodically maintained by the mechanical staff of the villa.

Somewhere inside whatever spatial item the Historian kept hidden was the potion that would complete, if not a full saturation of her Mana Stat, then at least bring it to its natural limit. Both problems sat directly in front of her, both solutions were easily solvable by the Historian, yet neither was being addressed. She was being left in limbo, dangled like a fish on a hook, and she did not appreciate it. She would have answers, and she would have them now.

"Before we begin," she said, spinning the intricate cube between her fingers, "I would like to take the potion." The Historian froze, and the two regarded one another in silence.

"You'll have it," he said at last.

"I already said you would."

"When?" she pressed.

"Why not now?" The Historian made a gekkering sound and looked away before meeting her gaze again.

"All things in due time."

"I'd like to take it now." The genial expression slipped from his face like ice from a warm roof. He could sense this was not a line of questioning she would abandon easily. If he could not provide a satisfactory answer, he would eventually have to make his intentions plain.

"You'll need it before your training has ended, so you'll have it before then," he said.

"Why not now?"

"Do you not want to learn enchanting?" Scarlet barely kept her composure, Meditation ramping up in the background. Was he threatening her?

"When?" she asked again. The Historian bared his teeth.

"Unless your Mana Stat has reached its limit, you don't need it now." Scarlet blinked once, then again before gently placing the labyrinth box beside her, leaving it to a curious Maus. Leaning back in her seat, she crossed one leg over the other before interlacing her fingers atop her knee.

"And Tareth?" she asked. The Historian raised a brow.

"What about him?"

"When will he be dealt with?"

"I won't clean up that mess for you," he said.

"Only give you the opportunity to do so yourself." Seriously? How shameless could he be to imply Tareth was her mess? She hadn't wanted to deal with the guy in the first place. If not for the Historian's insistence and guarantees, he would never have had enough proximity to her to become a problem in the first place. Scarlet half suspected the Historian had anticipated something like this and had used her as a cat's paw to create a convenient excuse to dispose of his disciple. Still, Scarlet did not react.

Even Meditation continued steadily as she simply stared at him.

"So, when will he be dealt with?" The Historian waved a hand dismissively.

"I told you I'd let you deal with him before you returned to your world. But if you want to go at him now, then by all means," he made a noncommittal gesture.

"I'll unseal him, and you can have a go. But you won't win. He's Tier 2, and you haven't even reached the first." That was, if not fair or satisfactory, then at least reasonable. According to the Historian, the only thing preventing her from eliminating that threat was her own weakness, and she was already addressing that. Which brought her back to the potion. He had essentially given her an impossible timeline for what she wanted to accomplish.

She would not feel comfortable approaching the other factions while this still dangled over her head. At least she had his word, and their contract mandated that he would not go back on it. She would receive the potion eventually, at some point before advancing to Tier One. It was a deeply frustrating dilemma that placed her firmly within the Historian's control without him ever breaking their agreement, lifting a finger, or making an overt threat.

All he had to do was withhold the potion long enough for her to run out of opportunities to meet the other factions. So long as she remained within his influence, he reaped the benefits of her growth while preventing her from accessing other sources of knowledge. She did have an out – slim though it was. All she had to do was get to 18 Mana. She circulated the energy through her body faster and faster as her mind split, adjusted, and calculated.

She needed to gain those eight Stat points while leaving herself enough time to establish contact with the other factions and build rapport. She needed information that didn't come from the Historian, and she needed to leave his sphere of influence long enough to develop Skills outside his constant surveillance. She did not believe he would offend allied factions merely to monitor her constantly. At least, that was what she was banking on.

There was an unavoidable element of risk, but before any of that she had to maximize out mana stat. Well, it wouldn't be her first time doing the impossible, and there were far worse ways to begin that journey than learning enchanting. If what she could understand even half of what she was seeing in the info-layer when she focused on enchantments, the potential of the discipline was remarkable. It might solve many of Earth's problems while creating opportunities she fully intended to exploit.

This was not an area of study she was willing to abandon, and despite her interest in them she doubted the other factions would offer her the same opportunity.

"I understand," she said, pushing Empathy even as Meditation continued to run. This time, instead of dulling her emotions, she deliberately pushed disappointment, dejection, and just a hint of anger, allowing a sliver of indignation to show.

"Shall we begin?" he asked, his voice no longer warm. He didn't give her a chance to answer.