Chương 18: Following the Script

First things first, Nolotl took a nap as soon as he reached his alcove. He still felt awful from that sparring session—the adrenaline finally drained out of his system—and Clonazepam's not-so-gentle warning didn't exactly help. Though all of this was mostly because he would feel like a hypocrite if he didn't have a recovery sleep when he'd just accused Cillin of not sleeping enough for two consecutive months. Even if the girl didn't remember it.

Once he woke up and was fresh, he restarted with his time loop objectives.

"I can do a lot without leaving the Information Tower." A thing he didn't want to do after going out a bit too much yesterday, and he only had half of the day remaining because of said shenanigans.

"The two unidentified gnosiamancers must be here and so is Luminol. But besides that… I also want to deal with that printing press enchantress, Enala Pril. I did warn her on the first loop... zeroth loop about her instability, so I didn't think much of her death as I did all that I could to avoid it but… that's no longer the case. It's a completely avoidable death. It doesn't sit well with me if I let her die again." Death was common and he was insensitive to it, but it was also abhorrent.

It should be prevented at all costs. Not just out of his beliefs and respect towards his faith, but also as part of his moral code. Now, surrendering your life because you wanted to kill someone was a wholly different matter, but if the opportunity presented, Nolotl would try to end things diplomatically with the ambushers. The first time didn't work out, but now he had both foresight and hindsight at his hands, and life was important to preserve it if possible. Keyword, possible.

His first course of action was to visit Xanax, not at his seminar, but at his office. The tower master himself had said it on the first iteration—or rather the zeroth iteration of the loop, yet again—that he should abuse more his privileges as an Empyrean, and that meant personal tutoring from the archmagi and Information Tower's master. That visit had two objectives: contacting Luminol and starting the chain of events that led him to meet Enala Pril.

"I'm not sure how the latter will go as the setting will be completely different and I already skipped the first seminar, but I have to try. If it doesn't work at least I can go search for her in person." The more stairs Nolotl ascended to arrive at Xanax's office, the more he regretted his decision to not use elevators. That's how they get you. Complacency. Don't forget it. He never could. The ambush during the total celestial alignment only reinforced his preexisting trauma.

Paranoia wasn't just mandatory, but also a virtue. With legs stronger than most neophyte biomancers and an aching respiratory system, the Empyrean reached the tower master's office. As always, Luminol was waiting at the counter in front of the office. The job of secretary was a slow-paced one that required to clock in many hours, but the astromancer was probably being paid more than most dream of even acquiring.

"Luminol," Nolotl nodded as a welcoming sign outwardly whilst inwardly he was trying his best to not pluck the eyes of the man and eat his tongue. It was hard. He wanted to brutalize the man so viscerally that his Animal Spirits threatened to pour out of his body. A primal rage that almost overpowered his passive emotion-numbing cantrips. But he managed to keep a straight face, if barely. He really wanted to kill that white-pupiled man again.

Amusingly enough, Luminol reacted poorly to the whiplash of being called by his name. After all, they had never gone on a name basis between each other. Still, the man refused to let his composure falter.

"I will notify Xanax you are here, Nolotl." It was praise-worthy how the secretary had managed to turn his name into an insult. There was so much venom in the word that it was immeasurable. The fact that he pronounced the 'tl' of his name with the correct accentuation instead of a plain 't' only made it worse, meaning that he had known his name all this time. No differences from other encounters, though. Nolotl noticed.

Either he has yet to talk with Cillin and understand that I told her to stay away from him, or he's hiding it. Considering how passionate he was on the ambush, I'd bet on the former. And talking about the ambush, he couldn't help but feel pathetic. The only reason why he had managed to survive long enough for Enantyum to arrive was because all the gnosiamancers at the field hadn't controlled their emotions, himself included, unfortunately.

If he had just been more coolheaded, then it wouldn't have been about survival, but victory. But controlling two different animal forms was difficult. Most twiceborn were pariahs as they degenerated into wild beasts, mostly contained to villages with more of their kind; such was the nature of his silvery tattoos. Shackles to contain a wild, bifid beast. As the door to the office swung open by its will alone, Nolotl stopped dwindling on the past and what-ifs.

The present and, most importantly, the future was what mattered now.

"Oh, Nolotl, I can't say I did expect you here!" Xanax jovially announced like a grandfather who had been visited by their grandchildren after a long time. Well, I'm not surprised that the script has deviated already, the Empyrean of Information mused to himself. I came here unnoticed.

"How is it that you've come here?"

"I've been researching as of late what I could do for the incoming total celestial alignment," he said as he sat down on one of the armchairs in front of the lit fireplace.

"And I would like to use my privileges as an Empyrean to ask for advice."

"Ah, you finally have seen reason and ditched that needless humility, that's good. Humility is but a sin for the search of knowledge," the old archmagi smile.

"I guess that explains why I haven't seen you in any seminars these last couple of days."

"Is my lack of presence this felt?"

"For me? Definitely. It brings joy to an old heart to see a young student standing side by side with postgraduates. For the postgraduates, though? Their eyes are too dead to even notice if they are on the right class!" Xanax heartly chuckled, slapping his knee in a measured manner. This type of humor could only be understood by gnosiamancers, and whilst he didn't bust laughing, Nolotl did draw a smile on his visage.

"Anyhow," the archmagi continued, "what would you like to ask advice on?"

"I've weighted my options on what to do for the total celestial alignment, and after doing some research, I decided on the Second Mind ritual as my Information enchantment slot is free."

"Ah, what a great choice!" Of course, it was you who suggested it.

"It is indeed one of the hardest rituals out there in what respects to mental fortitude, but even at your low level, your resistance to cognitive afflictions is greater than most postgraduates so there should be no problem with you executing it." The bearded mage didn't necessarily mean the common gnosiamancy Boon, but rather the standard mental fortitude people would usually talk about. Although they weren't exactly unrelated as resistance Boons multiplied what already existed.

"I didn't know you had such high hopes on my mental fortitude," Nolotl mused. Xanax smiled and pondered his words.

"Terians already need to fight off their animal self by default, that is why virtually every terian biomancer chooses Lesser Release Animal Form as their fourth level Boon to assimilate their inner wild side. But you don't have that choice. In a way, being a gnosiamancer is a handicap as it's an added load to your existing ones. By sheer virtue of being able to handle your animal self, your emotions, and the looming Truth—all combined—means your base mental fortitude is greater than most.

And considering Resistance to Cognitive Harm is an exponential multiplier, I am not jesting the prowess of your base capabilities to be at the level of postgraduate who oscillate the ninth level."

"Your words comfort me," the prince pressed his fist against his heart. He had never been aware Xanax had such high hopes for him, and it made him feel bad he only discovered that after having died. I should have really used my privileges more, perhaps that would have helped me avoid my death. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! …Though that can also be said if I didn't spend so much time on my side quests.

"But going back to the Second Mind ritual, I'm more than please to help you with it. Alas, I do not have the framework of the ritual in my office, so that will have to wait."

"That is not an issue," Nolotl calmly responded, but in the privacy of his Cognition he was smiling from ear to ear. That must have secured the Enala encounter, but I can't be sure just yet. Enantyum really feared the butterfly effect, and it's not like Xanax can just send other students in her steed. Especially when this should have occurred way later as we have skipped the Goldsmithing Stars book this time around, which has accelerated the schedule by almost a week.

"But before giving you such framework, I need you to promise me that you will take all the necessary precautions. The Second Mind ritual is an extremely powerful and fruitful one, only matched by its dangers."

"You may have praised my mental fortitude, but I take pride myself in my caution. I will not try anything that may put myself or others in dangers."

"Bah!" Xanax protested.

"Forget about the others! That doesn't matter in your own pursuit of knowledge. Only you. Beware your safety, don't waste mental energy on others."

"I'll take that into consideration," Nolotl smiled at the advice he had been offered, but he politely disagreed with Xanax's words. The man was too ancient to be aware that not caring about the others and the consequences of one's actions could create a lot of enemies, especially in a delicate and fateful activity as a ritual. And call it innocent thinking or religious belief, but he didn't want to hurt others if it was possible.

"For your precautions, I recommend reading a paper called Goldsmithing Stars by Cepha Lexin, Light's Tower Master. Whilst the paper itself is about Light enchanting, it explains in great detail how to work around and protect oneself whilst dealing with dangerous magics." Or perhaps we haven't exactly skipped that event. The Empyrean was genuinely happy to hear Xanax offering him the same book.

Repetition could take a toll on the mind, and Enantyum had already advised about the deterministic nature of reality but seeing that things could be repeated even if the scenarios and time were completely different was noteworthy. He and Xanax continued talking for a while longer, but it was sooner than later when Nolotl left the tower master's office.

For now, he decided against dealing with Luminol, but he gave him a polite farewell when he left, if just to put himself on a slightly better standing in the astromancer's mind. Now, where are these students that ambushed me? Nolotl was well aware that if Luminol didn't join the ambush as he was the head of the coterie, the couple of gnosiamancers wouldn't try to kill him either. But just in case, he wanted to tag them. If there was one thing certain in life, it was that information was power.

For the rest of the day, the Empyrean scouted the Information Tower in search of the unidentified students. To keep up with the charade, he did check out Goldsmithing Stars on the Archives, even if the booklet had been burned into his corneas by now. Most people had already gathered at the Archives, so it wasn't a bad choice to do his scouting either way.

The problem with being in a tower full of mages whose entire repertoire was centered around the Cognition was that he couldn't spy on the Cognition or a random and totally unrelated student could detect him, so he mostly listened into conversation the old-fashioned way as he scanned for brain waves.

"This isn't working," he closed his book with a sigh as his stomach rumbled. It was night already.

"They looked older than me, so they must be upperclassmen. I could try prying into different advanced classes. There should be no problem if I'm the one doing it." Nolotl was taking the whole 'abusing his perks' close to heart. Alas, he had to leave that for tomorrow as classes were long over, unless they were some astromancy seminars or maybe akyromancers doing whatever akyromancers did. The voidlings' power worked better at night, even if most couldn't tell why as the Void didn't rest.

Nolotl would have said that he enjoyed his sleep, but unfortunately, a student knocked on his door at two in the morning. Fortunately, it was a woman who sported copious bags under her eyes.

"Tower master Xanax asked me to bring you this tome," Enala Pril explained with a shallow and faint, yet sweetly harmonious voice. Exactly like the first time he had met her.

"Thank you so much," Nolotl reached for the book, but like before, the enchantress didn't let go of it.

"Is there something wrong?" He continued to follow the script.

"You are the Empyrean of Information, right?"

"Are you a postgraduate by any chance?"

"Enala Pril," the woman bowed and now he recognized the little ticks in the movement. Not those related to her mentally unstable character, but those of her upbringing. Western and highborn. Though I can't point out the country quite yet, I need more information.

"Postgraduate of the Information Tower and enchantress of printing presses," the enchantress finished her introduction.

"I see," The Empyrean stared into her deadened blue eyes as he followed his script for the time being.

"Printing presses are quite the uncharted field, are they?" Vaguely resemblant to Void practitioners. But I guess it's just severe exhaustion and stress rather than having sacrificed her sight or health.

"We are still ironing out the kinks, yes. Right now, we are only using them for the standardized Alignment sheets because it is hard to make different designs and patterns, but our hope is that we will be able to print books en masse in the future." By now she should have started to stutter, but being a handful of days early meant that her mental decay was nowhere near as pronounced.

"What can I do for you then, Miss Pril?"

"This is the framework for the Second Mind ritual, am I wrong?"

"Indeed."

"Uugh…" And there we have it. Nolotl mused. But it shouldn't be this bad, should it? I'm doing the whole thing a few days ahead of schedule. So why is she this afflicted already? But it's also somewhat different from the first time, less... guttural. So she is... fine-ish?

"Are you alright, Miss Pril?"

"F-fresh as a babe."

"Is that all you wanted to inquire about?" The Empyrean internally pondered what to do with the woman as he talked. Her degeneration has started but it's nowhere near as bad..." Tower Maste r Xanax doesn't trust me with the spell, even though I am more than qualified," she spoke.

"So I was wondering it if you could lend me the book once you are done with it. I w-will be the one to return it in any case."

"You are asking me to go against the decision of an Archmagi and Tower Master."

"You are t-the Empyrean of Information. You could yourself recommend the book to me." He wasn't sure if to attribute that stutter to plain nervousness, which it was a certain possibility.

"Even if I did, there's nothing in it for me. What can you provide me with, enchantress?" Nolotl said, hoping with all of his heart that the next words that would come out of her mouth weren't the ones he knew so he could forget about all of this.

"I c-can give you my body," she said without blinking and portraying a disturbing smile. A month ago, he had shut closed the door before her, but now he saw a chance. Portraying a diplomatic smile, one of those he had seen and learned in court many times, Nolotl stepped forward. He mentally sighed to himself, knowing that if she had even entertained that thought for a millisecond meant that she was already in a poor state of mind, meaning he couldn't let her go free.

One hand he placed on the book, his fingers meeting Enala's; and the other hand he circled around the enchantress waist.

"Ah…" The postgraduate silently yelped and a semblance of sanity reappeared in her eyes. Her mind wasn't as afflicted as much back at the zeroth loop, after all. Regret? Nolotl asked himself but was disappointed to see how the woman just turned her head to the side and slightly blushed, leaving her body completely limp and at his mercy. That infuriated him to no end. Xanax said that one had to do anything for their pursuit of knowledge, and therefore power, but he thought otherwise.

Without pride we are no different from animals. The Empyrean truly believed those words, for he always felt that animal pecking inside of him. Both of their peaks gnawing at his grey matter like the carrions they were. Such words only held more weight when spoken by a twiceborn. Containing a sigh, he pulled Enala closer to him and their bodies met. Whilst the woman wasn't trembling, her eyes were closed and it was clear she wasn't completely comfortable with her choice.

This made him think if the enchantress had only made such an outrageous proposal because she wasn't in a right state of mind. In a way, it was both the worst and the best choice she had taken. Taking advantage of his hold on her waist, Nolotl picked Enala up and carried in her arms, prompting another yelp from the woman. With a minor act of telekinesis that drained considerably his mana, he closed the door and carried the enchantress to the bed, placing her carefully.

Whether it was the weight of the situation finally setting in or the combination of his tenderness and the bed, Enala slightly trembled. Perhaps he couldn't read the enchantress mind, but those eyes told him enough. She wasn't seeing a young student which she had plenty of seniority over him with her postgraduate status, but a man, with all the negative connotations that had. She didn't protest, but Nolotl saw how her mouth opened and closed in quick succession.

Her breathing was rugged and no matter how she tried, no words left her mouth. Her mental and emotional state was totally and utterly collapsed, this much stress unfortunately only accelerating her cognitive degeneration, allowing him to peer into her mind with Lesser Read Thoughts. She was living a nightmare, one of those where a monster chased you but no matter how hard you tried, your legs wouldn't move and your throat wouldn't produce a sound. And, of course, he was that awful monster.

The Tezlan prince held his own desire to vomit, though the feedback from his Boon only made it harder. He climbed into the bed and caressed the enchantress' white pale skin with his dark chocolate hands. If her breathing didn't halt with that gesture, his next words certainly did the job.

"Worry not, I'm gentle."

"A-ah…" A stuttering yelp finally escaped her lips; her tone drowned in silent horror as even in her failing mental state she comprehended the wrongness of the situation. Then he knocked her out cold by attacking her pressure point and her Cognition at the same time.

"Sorry, but I won't be following the script this time if it means I can save you," Nolotl said with an emotionless smile, his cyan eyes cold as ice, as he boosted his emotion-numbing cantrips to the maximum.