Chương 19: 19 Loop 0, Part 19

I climbed back up through the iron door with 13 mana and a spell I couldn't cast. The main library was dark and quiet. Reading lamps had dimmed to their overnight setting, throwing amber shadows across the stacks. Grimm was off teleporting somewhere. And despite his warnings about the library closing, there was still one nook with somebody reading. I limped past the front desk, past Grimm's empty chair, and hustled on over to my nook in the east. For a moment, I thought somebody had taken my notes.

They'd been sitting here since last night. But Grimm must have stored them away for me. I found them filed neatly behind the desk in the gap where I usually wedged them. I pulled them out and spread them flat. Four sources over years of research, and a spell called [Soul Tether]. [Soul Tether — Soul] Cost: 280 mana. Creates a direct mana conduit between the caster's soul and a target's soul. Transfers mana from caster to target, stabilized by the caster's soul.

Failure to maintain the conduit results in catastrophic discharge through both parties. Duration: Until transfer is complete. 280 mana. I could cast it, but barely. My pool was 320, which left me 40 mana of breathing room. But the notes were clear about what happened when a conduit was underpowered. The mana would try to cross, the structure would fragment under the load, and the energy that should have run from my soul into his would discharge back through both of us. Catastrophic for him. Fatal for me.

40 mana wasn't much of a margin. I'd need to be full, or close to it, and I'd need to not cast anything else between now and then. So the math was simple. I couldn't cast this spell. Not safely. Not without burning through more mana than my body could hold, which meant I'd be casting it while running on fumes, hoping my soul could bridge the gap that my mana pool couldn't. The same kind of reckless, self-destructive, channel-burning stupidity that had put my uncle on that stretcher in the first place.

I was going to do it anyway. But I needed every drop of mana I could get first, and currently, I had 13. There was only one way to close a gap that size: meditate. Sleep regenerated mana at 20% of my pool per hour, and meditation did 40%. The advantage of meditation was that it also progressed your tier unlocks. The disadvantage was everything else about it. Everybody assumed I'd love meditation. You sit still for hours and do nothing and grow stronger. My kind of deal, right? Wrong.

The problem was it was a boring kind of nothing. I couldn't recline. Couldn't read. Couldn't sleep. Just sitting perfectly still on a hard surface while my brain screamed at me to do literally anything else. I grunted in frustration and closed my eyes. And I began the worst part of my night—which was saying something, given the competition. The first hour was the worst. My ankle throbbed in time with my heartbeat, and my ribs still ached from Holt's mana bolt.

Every time I started to settle, my mind shoved an image at me. Finn on the marble with his eyes open. My uncle falling to the ground with a terrible thud. Vex's headless corpse. I pushed it all down because I had to. If I sat with it, I stopped meditating, and if I stopped meditating, I would lose my uncle. And then Finn would have died for nothing. I couldn't allow it. So I breathed. I pulled the ambient mana of the air back into myself, one slow trickle at a time.

I thought about Manifestation, and Alteration, and Enchantment, and Soul Magic. The four forces of the universe comprised the fragile makeup of existence. A system notification arrived. Like a door in my mind opening to a room I hadn't known was there. Level Up! Manifestation, 25 [Manifestation — Journeyman Tier Unlocked] Prestige Unlocked: [Mana Pool 2] [Mana Pool 2— Passive]. +50 maximum mana. Your pool expands to accommodate your growth. Must have been the dragon fight.

I'd cast more spells in twenty minutes than I usually cast in a week. My maximum mana ticked up from 320 to 370. There was a small widening in my mana pool. Like I had drawn a breath deeper than my lungs could manage. Sadly, the pool didn't fill any faster. The second notification came ten minutes later. Level Up! Soul Magic, 25 [Soul Magic — Journeyman Tier Unlocked] Prestige Unlocked: [Mana Flow] [Mana Flow — Passive]. +5% mana regeneration during rest or meditation. The current strengthened.

The small trickle became a very, very tiny stream. 25% an hour now instead of 20%. Which wasn't as much as I would've liked, but sitting on an uncomfortable chair in a library, with my best friend dead and my uncle dying, I'd take every fraction the universe was willing to hand me. I kept going. The mana came, time slid past, and I lost track of both. A tinkling chime took me out of my meditation, but this time, the third notification was different.

[Enchantment — Level 50: Adept Tier Unlocked] Prestige Unlocked: Choose Your Path The level-up had come this morning, in my sleep. But, as always, in order to proceed beyond tier caps, you had to meditate. Two options materialized in front of me. [Dual Weaving — Passive] Cast any two spells from the same class simultaneously. [Spell Merge — Passive] Combine two spells from different trees into a single maintained effect. At first glance, they were the same thing. Two spells at the same time.

But after a moment of thinking, I realized what the difference was. [Dual Weaving] would allow me to cast [Wideview] and [Subtitle] at the same time. But [Spell Merge] had possibilities. I could cast [Light] and [Enlarge] it for free. I could cast [Marble] and enchant it with [Illuminate], or [Magiball], or any other effect. And not only save potential time, but save mana. And part of me really liked being able to get my morning spells cast immediately. Did you know this story is from Royal Road?

Read the official version for free and support the author. But I picked [Dual Weaving]. As good as [Spell Merge] could've been, nothing would beat being able to cast [Wideview] and [Subtitle] at the same time whenever I needed them. A fourth and final notification arrived just after I selected. [Alteration — Level 50: Adept Tier Unlocked] Choose Your Path [Spell Stretch — Passive] Extend the duration of all active spells by 25%.

[Feedback Loop — Passive] When you alter an active spell, recover 10% of the original spell's mana cost. I sat pondering. [Spell Stretch] was my kind of passive. I'd get to cast my spells fewer times to get their full benefit. But [Feedback Loop] would prevent mana exhaustion. Once the thought crossed my mind, I didn't hesitate. I picked [Feedback Loop]. There was no way I was going to let myself die of mana exhaustion. The notifications faded. I had claimed four prestiges.

My pool had grown, and my regeneration was quicker. And I could finally stack casts, something Finn had been able to do since the end of last year. It added up to a real jump in power. None of it changed the fact that I was sitting on a library desk with my eyes shut, trying not to see Finn's face. My mana kept climbing. 200, 250, 300. The Archives were in that deep quiet that only old buildings got to after dark. The kind with random creaks and moans that made no sense because you knew, knew you were alone.

Except I wasn't. Through [Wideview], I could see Popo, two alcoves over, curled into her chair, with Into the Deep Wood open in her lap. She was snoring. And then I heard boots. Someone had entered the library. I double-checked and it wasn't Grimm. Grimm obviously never made a sound when he moved. No, these boots were hard-soled, each step a deliberate attempt to gain attention. Several sets of them crossed the main reading room from the entrance.

Through [Wideview], I caught them before they passed the first shelf. Bain was in front, walking like he owned the building. His usual hunch was gone. Standing straight, he looked like a different person entirely, and my stomach turned. Behind him was one of Creed's people. They crossed the reading room to the front desk. Thankfully, it didn't seem like they were here for me. At least, they didn't seem to be looking around for anyone.

Grimm materialized near the front desk at the center of the floor, hands behind his back. No expression, as always.

"Master Grimm." Bain's voice carried something new. You could tell he had a pep in his step.

"By order of Prime Minister Creed, I have been formally appointed Headmaster of MIRKS, effective immediately." Grimm gave Bain the look he gave everything else.

"Congratulations," Grimm said, but you could tell he didn't mean it.

"As Headmaster, I am ordering you to surrender full access to the restricted Archives. All levels. All collections. All cataloging records, ward keys, and preservation protocols. I know the previous Headmaster gave you a little bit of a looser chain."

"No." Bain's jaw tightened. The lackey shifted his weight, one hand drifting toward his wand holster.

"This isn't a request, Grimm. The Prime Minister requires a full audit of the library. There are items here that may be relevant to ongoing investigations, and other materials that should not be in the reach of students."

"The Archives are not subject to political audit. They never have been. This was written into the charter of the school. Headmaster Yarrow understood this."

"Headmaster Yarrow is no longer in charge." Grimm studied Bain for a long moment.

"The answer is still no." The lackey stepped forward.

"Master Grimm, you are hereby placed under arrest for obstruction of a ministerial investigation. Refusal to comply with a direct order from the Headmaster of this fine institution has also cost you your job. You will be detained and transported alongside former Headmaster Yarrow. The minister has ordered both of you to appear at midnight." They were moving my uncle at midnight. And they were still going to go through with arresting Grimm? I shook my head. Any other news I hadn't heard? I checked my mana.

It was enough. I had enough.

"Louis, once you deposit Grimm in the makeshift jail, stay behind to help Jasper. Two guards is better than one." Louis saluted and then moved to arrest Grimm. Grimm didn't resist. He clasped his hands together, parallel, the way he always did, and let the lackey bind him with a mana suppression cuff. It pulsed a dull orange and sealed away his mana. As they led him toward the exit, Grimm's eyes swept the library one last time. Over the shelves, the cataloging desk, and then, for half a second, he looked at me.

He didn't nod, or speak, or do anything other than just stare at me. But I could understand from his expression what he was saying to me. Two alcoves over, Popo was on her feet. Her book on the floor, her face white. As soon as the invaders left, she ran over to me.

"Lazlo, what the fuck was that?" Her voice shook. She'd come to stand between her alcove and mine, the book still on the floor, not having bothered to pick it up. Her hair was disheveled from her nap. But she was lost—she'd missed pretty much everything.

"Have you even left the library today?" I asked.

"No?" she said questioningly.

"To make a very, very, very, very long story I don't want to tell short: Kalin Tuffet summoned a shadow dragon in the Crucible. It killed people. Finn's dead. My uncle killed the dragon. And now he's dying of mana channel collapse. The Prime Minister arrested him, and now Bain is the new Headmaster. They just arrested Grimm, and they're transporting my uncle and him at midnight. If I don't get to the infirmary before that, he dies, and this school becomes Bain's playground for the rest of our lives."

I said this all quickly. In fact, I think it was the quickest I had ever said anything. Popo's mouth opened. She stood there, dumbstruck, in awe. And then she let out a whimper.

"Finn's dead?"

"Yes." Popo went still, her eyes filled with tears, and she pressed the back of her hand against her mouth. She was about to come apart, and we didn't have time for it.

"Popo, I know. I know." I pulled her into a hug. When I released her, I said, "I need your help. My uncle is in the infirmary. I have a spell that can save him, but I need to get into that room, and I need the guards gone."

"I don't—Lazlo, slow down. What do you mean you have a spell?"

"I found one. Tonight, down there." I pointed at the iron door.

"It doesn't matter how, but what I need is for you to help me get in there. Just two minutes alone with my uncle, and there are guards outside the door. You heard Bain—Creed's people. I need them not to be there." She stared at me, hands shaking. Grief was still there in her face, but her jaw had set. I had seen that look on her last year, when her sister Kate was in the infirmary. She had been injured when the Manafount erupted, and I had managed to save her life.

Popo had slept for three days in a chair next to her room. She had helped get meals for her and refused every offer of a proper bed, staying within reach in case Kate had needed her. I hadn't asked for anything back then, and hadn't needed to. Afterward, she sought me out to tell me I was someone who showed up for people. Which I'd spent the time since trying to forget, because that was a dangerous reputation for me to cultivate.

"What do you need?" she said. Her voice had steadied, and she took on a determined look.

"A distraction. Something that gets the guards away from my uncle's door for two minutes so I can sneak inside."

"Two minutes."

"That's all." Popo looked at me. Then, she crouched, picked up her book, and pushed it into her bag without bothering to find her page.

"Okay." We left the Archives together. Without Grimm to turn them off, the reading lamps still burned as we walked outside. The campus was dark. The paths were empty, and nobody was outside. The Crucible stood smoking against the sky, its upper stands broken open like a tornado had fallen through. Which, in a sense, I guess it had. An idea came to me.

"I need to make a stop first," I said.

"Where?"

"Thane's classroom."