Chương 16: Blowing Steam

Nolotl found himself at a loss now that he had given the blueprint to Roxina and returned to the academy. This project had taken him the whole month prior to the total celestial alignment, but now he found it finished by day one. He was well aware that he should deal with the ambush, but his mind was totally elsewhere dealing with this feeling of disconnect and the only thing that helped his mind come back in line on such occasions was moving his body. The more violent, the better.

The Empyrean of Information went from the teleportation network of the Central Tower to the Life Tower in search for that violence. Each tower had something unique to them. His tower, the Information one, was littered with books everywhere and had that 'academy aesthetic' as some people liked to say. But the Life Tower was special even amongst all of them for its… well, life. The gnosiamancer was assaulted by a wave of humidity the instant he set foot on the tower.

The air was so thick and charged with water that it was even difficult to walk, not quite like swimming, but unbalancedly close.

"Ah, just like home," the Tezlan took a deep breath, allowing the humidity and heat to fill his lungs.

"I should come around here more often; this air does me good. Though the same can be said for Descent's frigid air. The problem is the Information Tower, really. Too much wood and paper smell." With a sigh, the prince trod forward through the tropical corridors. The Life Tower had a massive opening in its spine, where many plants grew and hung from. Even trees spurted from the massive column, utterly defying gravity with its horizontal structure.

One might think that topomancers had enchanted the tower's central column with a gravitational pull, but it just was the plants that were built differently. Something that could be seen in every dryad as they could have whatever shape they pleased, completely disregarding biology and physics. The only influence of another tower was at the very top where a massive crystal lingered like a fake skylight.

Sunlight didn't reach the towers most of the time, whether it was because the Mount Empyrean blocked the sight or there were too many clouds, so the biomancers had worked together with the photomancers and taximancers to create an artifact that would perfectly recreate the day and night cycle inside of the tower. Other towers simply countered that lack of sunlight with lamps—that did recreate sunlight perfectly—but the biomancers wanted a more realistic experience.

They wanted to create their own enclosed ecosystem. And it had worked. Too well in fact. Fauna, flora, and fungi perfectly coexisted in the Life Tower like some sort of idyllic utopia, but what was always the eyecatcher wasn't the verdant plants or the fake sun, but the central column. For it was no column at all. Unlike any other tower, this one was handled by dryads instead of celestials. And they had decided that there was no better way to support the weight of the tower than with a tree.

A tree whose height expanded well over the three digits in meters, its colossal branches being both the skeleton of the tower and also thick bridges that made the Life Tower one of the most interconnected ones, allowing a new dimension of travel beyond stairs and elevators. A world tree it might not be called—for there was only one of them and the Tezlan Confederation was its home—but that didn't remove any of its might.

Having admired enough the tower's beauty for the day, Nolotl cast Dijkstra's Routing and let the spell guide him to Azithromycin. The divination typically didn't work for people as it relied on the collective unconsciousness that was the Cognition, but as he was highly connected to the fellow Tezlan and she upheld that connection willingly, that meant that Nolotl could find her anywhere and anywhen. The biomancers had peculiar ways to move around their tower.

Elevators existed, but those just were death traps and also in every tower; no, what they used was their body and the environment. Most biomancers had the Release Animal Form Boon—whether in its lesser form or the upgraded Unleashed form—so they could use their enhanced prowess to climb walls, jump high, or outright fly. And if they didn't have the Boon, they could always use a bit of Life hocus pocus to command plants to rise and mount them like living and breathing elevators.

Such was the panorama as Nolotl calmly strolled across the slithering corridors. That epithet was a bit more literal than he would have liked as serpents creeped and vines snaked around. Vines that some biomancers used as hand-elevators, their grip strength more than enough to let themselves be carried upward. The spell guided him underground to an amphitheater. It was mostly empty, save for a few students brawling in the arena and another handful weaving baskets and growing plants on the terraces.

Biomancers already had a stereotype and they did nothing to disprove it. Especially that one girl smoking a blunt bigger than her forearm. Not to be racist, but it didn't surprise him that she was Cahtuli. But he was being racist. Mostly due to the anger from being killed by one of them, but if Tezlans had the false reputation of sacrificing infants and being whores, then Cahtulis had the reputation of being drug addicts. That one was more deserved, however. Could that Cahtuli ambusher be high off his mind?

I won't deny that's a possibility. The brawl settled down instantly as he appeared, mainly because one of the participants was Azithromycin and she had sensed him. Probably through his special tonalli. All Life practitioners always commented that, but alas, as he couldn't feel the resource, he couldn't confirm it. To unlock that sense he would need Vitality Exaltation —the Life starter Boon—just like Cognition Connection allowed him to sense and use computation for spells.

"High priest," Azithromycin said after kneeling. One fist on the ground and another on her knee, as it was typical Tezlan tradition.

"I told you to not call me that, Azi," Nolotl sighed, he always experienced this exchange whenever he treated with the ocelotl warrior, but it was worse when he had to repeat his words because this Azithromycin had never heard them.

"My apologies, Lord Nolotl," the biomancer slightly bowed her head further down.

"May I ask why is Your Highness in the arena?"

"Who is he?" One of the other biomancers, a young dryad, at the arena asked between whispers.

"Nolotl Xocoyotzin, Empyrean of Information," a man responded in a low tone.

"Nothing much, I was just a bit frustrated and wanted to blow off some steam," he explained to Azithromycin as he ignored the background speakers.

"I see," she raised her head and frowned.

"I cannot fail to notice that you have not brought your mighty spear with you," Azithromycin gestured at her macuahuitl with her spotted tail.

"You say that as if you don't have training spears. Or did you want to have a real match?"

"I would not dare," the fellow Tezlan swayed her head.

"I know I wouldn't be able to beat Your Highness if you were to go all out. But I'm afraid I would need a rest before sparring. I have yet to recover my breath." It annoyed him partially how much of a lie that was. He doubted he could beat Azithromycin if both of them went all out. His twiceborn form wasn't that strong.

"Of course, I am the interlooper here." Pulsars, Enantyum has corrupted the word to me forever, I meant interloper. Thankfully, his companion didn't seem to notice his mispronunciation. Nolotl accompanied Azithromycin to the terraces where they sat and looked at the brawling congregation of biomancers that had restarted their exercise. Most people, especially Originals, would call this 'savagery' instead of an exercise, but not every type of Alignment was trained through study. Some were more practical.

And besides, Tezlan sparring always ended with blood, friendly or not. This wasn't anything new to him. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Azithromycin let out a heavy sigh as her chest started to rapidly inflate. The ocelotl terian was a great fighter, unfortunately the cosmos had dotted her with a big cleavage, which was an equally colossal disadvantage on the battlefield.

Biomancy allowed her to reduce their size and move the mass elsewhere, but it was a conscious effort and at her level she couldn't perform a permanent shift. Her firm yet motherly bosom contrasted greatly against her pronounced abdominals, far greater than Nolotl's. But core muscles mattered little in battle. Her sturdy biceps and thick thighs contributed far more to the handling of her macuahuitl. The newly formed mass applied a lot of tension on her wraps, forcing Azithromycin stand up and partially free them.

No breasts spilled out of the cloth wraps, even if it certainly looked like it was going to happen. The woman let another sigh before securing in place the wraps and fixing her mane. Biomancy interacted weirdly with muscle mass, so biomancers tended to have figures similar to those previous to their Boon selection or those that would have been endemic to either way.

There were many fat biomancers around weighting hundreds of kilograms because they simply couldn't eliminate all that weight from their body— Vitality Exaltation was a bit too literal with its name, almost forbidding biomancers to alter their body until they were strong enough—even if their increased strength and healthiness nullified the negatives of obesity. Barring all that extra volume, of course. One of such kind of biomancer was in his family, and he only got benefits from all that fat.

"It must be difficult," Nolotl commented with his eyes focused on the match.

"Difficult? No," the ocelotl woman shook her tail around and sat down.

"Incredibly tedious? Yes. I envy the dryads, whether they are bountiful or not with their bodies, they have perfect control over their elasticity without Boons, so even if they chose to keep their chest big, it would never pester them. They also don't bleed regularly, which makes me jealous twicefold."

"That I cannot comment about," the gnosiamancer preferred not to talk about the subject, especially as he knew menstruation was a more complex matter for biomancers.

"So, a friendly spar, eh? Do you do this often?" He changed the subject with the smoothness of broken obsidian shards.

"Physical training comes in many shapes and forms, but at least I like to indulge in battle once in a week," she responded.

"I would like to be more active on the arena, but classes take much of my time."

"Ah, I forgot classes were even a thing," Nolotl let out a wry chuckle. The time loop certainly didn't help remembering that.

"Not everyone can achieve the status of Empyrean, Lord Nolotl. And I must admit I'm quite far from Lady Clonazepam."

"How strong would you say my fellow Empyrean is?"

"Can I be honest?"

"The harsher the truths, the more veritable."

"Is that a yes?" Azithromycin looked at him with a frown. Nolotl sighed, "Yes."

"Lady Clonazepam is a genius amongst all the dryads, who already hold the title of being the best biomancers in all Lon. Not a prized flower—for such analogy would be undermining her true might—but the sapling of the tallest of trees." The Empyrean of Information was aware of his fellow's might, but that sort of artistic description didn't sit well with his analytical mind.

"And numerically speaking?"

"She's stronger than you. And by much."

"Oh wow, you didn't even hesitate," Nolotl responded with faux surprise.

"You told me I could be honest, Your Highness."

"That much I did, yes," he nodded.

"And I am aware Clonazepam is stronger than me. All empyreans are." Now it was Azithromycin turn to portray surprise.

"All of them? Even the Empyrean of Time?" A hearty laugh escaped Nolotl's mouth. It was so loud that it alerted all students at the amphitheater.

"If you had asked that question a month ago I would have doubted with my answer," the gnosiamancer chuckled again, "but now this comes almost like a joke. Enantyum Dei is far stronger than you might—anyone might—think."

"I had for impression that the Empyrean of Time was the weakest of them all as their Alignment requires… well, time to flourish."

"My fellow empyreans are unparalleled geniuses, far better than the ones that came before and likely that the ones that will come latter, and it feels almost like a joke in poor taste to compare myself to them," Nolotl explained, not just out of a sense of inferiority, but because he knew he had only gained the Title on a technicality.

"Nina and Alvedon are quite their eminences in their fields, forces to reckon with even when archmagi enter in the fright, but even then, there are no geniuses greater than Paizon and Enantyum Dei, that much I can tell you."

"I knew of the power of the "Singed Obsidian", but I can't say the same of the "Immutable"." The biomancer referred to the empyreans by their callsign.

"It seems I must reevaluate my standing of the chronomancer."

"You should, you should," the gnosiamancer repeated with cyclical nods.

"But I would prefer if we didn't talk about him. In a way, I came here to forget about him."

"If that is you wish, my prince," Azithromycin bowed. Getting fidgety, the Empyrean stood up and stretch his arms, his cape bellowing behind him.

"Are you rested enough for a spar, Azi?"

"Aye," she followed suit and stood up, also cracking her neck.

"But first let us get you a spear, Your Highness." As expected of the more physical oriented Alignment, biomancers possessed a myriad of training weapons, not just variety in their class but also materials. Whilst a wooden spear would be better for training, he doubted that wood would survive Azithromycin macuahuitl and he voiced out his fear.

"Fret not, Lord Nolotl. They dryads are expert woodcrafters, not just in giving shape to the wood, but also birthing it. These training weapons are just if not more durable than iron ones." Nolotl trusted the fellow terian, so he picked up one of those wooden spears. It felt a bit wrong in his hands as it was lighter than he was used to. His main weapon was an obsidian spear with a lead core, making it heavier than most spears out there, if not any weapon in general.

Suddenly changing the heavy metal for light wood unsettled him, but it was a welcome change, nonetheless. To assimilate the change of weight and center of mass, Nolotl repeated some basic katas as he spun the wooden spear at vertiginous speeds, coiling the shaft all around his body as if it was a living snake that obeyed his commands. It may seem farfetched, but there was no greater Alignment than Information for martial arts, armed or otherwise.

Information allowed oneself to have not only a heightened expertise in the field, but keen senses and feedback of the weapon, which only certain permutations of Life may allow. Being one with the weapon wasn't difficult for gnosiamancers, just uncommon.

"Alright, I'm ready," Nolotl said with a soft pant as he breathed for the first time since starting his katas. Azithromycin didn't speak, just wordlessly nodded and assumed her stance. He liked that about the woman, when it was time for battle, she let her actions speak for her. The biomancer didn't release her animal self, but one would think otherwise with the ferocity she portrayed with her lunge. Alas, spear wielders were at their strongest when defending.

The gnosiamancer sidestepped the lethal macuahuitl and struck the woman's calf—unfortunately missing the ankle—with the butt of his spear. Nolotl instantly comprehend that with this spear he should treat it like a polearm and go for easy hits rather than lethal ones like he would with his. Such was the issue with a pointed spear, more of a pike than anything else, instead of his trusty serrated tepoztopilli.

Having a complete understanding of his surroundings thanks to the copious eyes observing their exchange, the prince was able to backstep without fear of missing his footing. Backstepping in battle was almost never recommended, but when one had perfect comprehension of the terrain, suddenly it became a useful tool. Though hijacking the local Cognition for terrain comprehension was worse than using his Starguided Blessing.

Nolotl went for easy shots at Azithromycin's arms, hoping for a disarmament but his hits were too shallow to faze the woman. He may be in beyond peak physical condition for a man of his age, but she was a biomancer. It didn't matter that Azithromycin was a woman and hadn't trained her body as much as him—which she hadn't, but gender dimorphism didn't matter at their level—the passive increases of the Life Alignment already put him at a disadvantage. The frail one was him, without a shed of doubt.

No sane person would tackle a biomancer in close combat, but for one to be gnosiamancer, sanity was already in doubt. Feeling the blood in his body boil with ferocity, his animal side screaming for violence for there was only one animal more visceral than the quetzal, Nolotl charged with his spear pointed forward.

The ocelotl woman swung at him with her terrifying club, but the angle was just perfect for a deflection, blocking it with the shaft of his spear and sending hers to the ground, then rotating his weapon cutting her neck with a shallow strike. Azithromycin backstepped and put a hand on her neck, she saw how her palm was soaked with blood.

"Heh…" She simply laughed. Any other mage would have panicked at the sight, but biomancers didn't care for such wounds. They only emboldened them.

"Raaaaah!" Already having considered the round lost, Azithromycin faced the next one with an advantage as she activated her Release Animal Form Boon. And unlike his enchantments, she didn't require preparation time. The spotted orange fur from her tail grew to cover her whole body and her orange eyes' shape shifted as her irises became edged like a cat's.

"Come at me," Nolotl taunted at her with an open palm pointing at himself as a smile covered his face. Ah, he panted as he felt stress leaving his body. Yes, this is what I crave. Even if it felt like ages, he had used both of his animal forms less than a day ago, and his mind still felt that. Still felt that lingering savagery. Being twice an animal had its advantages and its consequences as his Animal Spirits constantly clashed against him. His smile became more and more wicked as Azithromycin closed on him.

This is going to hurt. He knew this fight wasn't going to be a clean one. And that only excited his avian self more.