Chương 24: Approaching Deadline

The Void Tower was the smallest of the ten towers that composed the megalithic Empyrean Academy. Not only because akyromancers refused materialism as one of their core tenets, but because the Void Alignment was the least common and most repudiated of them all alongside Death. Currently there were around one thousand students and a hundred more researchers and teachers in the Arcane Tower alone, but the Void Tower might only contain only a hundred people total.

Not that there were accurate numbers floating around as it was impossible to make a census when most of the demographic it targeted were people that could vanish out of existence. The first thing Nolotl noticed when he left the sky-bridge that connected the Central Tower with the Void one was a massive disconnect in the Cognition. For a diviner that spent most of his time in the cyan Cognition, he suddenly felt blind.

Nolotl had three sets of eyes: his real ones, his Cognition Connection Boon, and his Starguided Blessing. Now as he stepped into the oppressive nothingness that was the Void Tower, Nolotl had none to his name. Not only there weren't any stars in the Void Tower to activate his Blessing if something went wrong, but most mages that did linger in the tower weren't just disconnected from the Cognition, but outright closed to it.

This meant that the local Cognition was a black hole, impeding him not just from seeing people, but also from seeing the world itself from the plane of thoughts. The Cognition was a plane of glittering cyan, yet inside of the Void Tower it had become a dim place of dead blue strands too far apart from each other to weave anything. But finally, there were his actual eyes. Those didn't work either. The Void Tower was shrouded in absolute darkness. Oppressive and violent darkness that gnawed at one's sanity.

You have resisted Madness. The notification of the Real-Time Status divination was no surprise nor novelty, yet at the same time it did feel different to the usual one he saw. It had a different undertone. Like he wasn't resisting Madness, but rather he was resisting… You have resisted Despair. You have resisted Insignificance. You have resisted Revulsion. You have resisted Suppression. You have resisted Confusion. You have resisted Fear. You have failed to resist Apathy. Your Sanity is taking a toll.

You have resisted Resignation. Void Alignment increased by 0. 00001%.

"Yeah, screw this." Without thinking twice, Nolotl skedaddled out of the Void Tower knowing better than to remain in a place that was threatening his very mind this intently even with his Resistance to Cognitive Harm Boon. The Empyrean of Information rushed out of the Void Tower with his tail between his legs and without feeling any shame. He almost collapsed midway through the empty sky-bridge as he gasped for breath.

He might've been able to resist most of the effects, but they had still taken a massive impact to his own Cognition.

"Oh, that was bad…" The terian said between gasps, his Animal Spirits oddly quiet after that experience.

"I think I can know understand why Beta is how she is and why there's so few akyromancers even in the capital of magic." Nolotl tried to stand up, but he slipped as his legs trembled, wholly unprepared to be assaulted by so many status effects. Madness and Rage were the usual ones and the only effects he really knew. Perhaps Sleep and Confusion, but those he might see once in a dual blue moon.

"Bad, bad, bad," he whispered to himself as he rested his back on the sky-bridge's wall.

"I wonder if I gave up so fast because I failed to resist Apathy… But at the same time… I mean, it's not good, Apathy is a status effect, but it would be nice to have a self-afflicted curse or a geas to give myself Apathy in case I need to put my Spirit Animals into place. I kinda like how silent they are."

The Empyrean of Information might have failed to resist that specific status effect, but at the same time, he wasn't especially vulnerable to it as his mind-numbing cantrips already forced similar effects upon his mind even if they weren't strong enough to give him the status effect as such. For that he would need a full spell. The terian took another deep breath before finally standing up.

"I won't be able to search for the unknown akyromancer if I can't even make it to the Void Tower… Perhaps some kind of mind-protection spell will help, but that's bound to be an abjuration, even if a gnosiamancy one. Do I have enough time to learn a spell without full proficiency when cutting it this close to the total celestial alignment?" The answer was no. Mind-protection was too broad of a subject to tackle so it would take him a week to learn such a spell; a spell which he had to first find out.

"Hmm… considering I will aim for abjuration instead of a botched divination, it will also block access to the Cognition, which it means that it won't be useful in the ambush…" He sighed as he made his way back to the Central Tower.

"I need to be fully connected to use my illusions and divinations, and considering I was able to handle Luminol, Moda, and Armoda already, this will be a waste of time. Maybe if the loop does exist I will try it next time." He didn't really want to bank on the idea that the loop existed.

Not because that meant that Enantyum was a mage of unprecedented power and he had complete control over his life and time as a whole, but because it did exist a small chance that this was a powerful illusion or mental control, so he couldn't afford to throw his life willy-nilly.

"I doubt I will even be sure if the loop is real even if I do manage to loop several times…" Paranoia was what had kept him going for long, and it still even did, so Nolotl wouldn't just stop feeling tha- You are clear of Apathy.

"Huh," Nolotl hummed and raised his brows.

"I didn't feel it much, but it's nice having a confirmation. Otherwise… I think I will go back to working on the printing press and the printer. With luck, Nina will find that taximancer. And with even more luck, the fact that I haven't that letter to Chichi means the Cahtuli warrior won't even have organized that ambush. Oh well, a man can dream." Information Alignment increased by 0. 00001%.

The Real-Time Status notification was more than welcome as Nolotl massaged his temples after another fructiferous session of engineering. Whilst he hadn't gotten the notification now, he did get some minimal experience from time to time on his progression level, edging him closer to level 5. I think I will be able to make it to level 5 regardless of whether I manage to complete the Second Mind enchantment or not, he pondered whilst reclining on his seat. I mean, the idea is getting it.

Better to think of this not as a loop but a single isolated event that has propelled me back in time once. The fact that Enantyum hasn't come to check on me sorta corroborates that. The diviner was aware that the chronomancer had given him two loops of 'free time' to adapt to the situation, but considering how fractured Enantyum's Cognition was, Nolotl wasn't sure if he could trust him. It was hard to trust people already by default.

"It's a shame that the total celestial alignment is so close by," Enala sighed next to him. The woman had worked interruptedly all of these weeks, only stopping to go to sleep and maybe shower. Even the food he had to personally bring to her, but considering he had to eat to, it wasn't that bothersome of a task.

"If people weren't taking breaks for it, we could make that final push and get the printing press done."

"I think a never-before-seen phenomenon takes precedence over a printing press," Nolotl commented. He was quite satisfied with the fact that Enala seemed a functional member of society now. Though the more he interacted with her, the less he understood how she could have brought herself to such negative and suicidal state. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Oh, but I will also be making use of it," she stated as a matter of fact.

"How come?"

"How have you become an Empyrean with that head of yours?" Nolotl frowned at her words, as playful as they could be.

"The total celestial alignment will buff the Information Alignment by a lot! That doesn't just mean your capacity to cast spells cheaper or easier, but also the affinity percentage in your status! Perhaps a virtual increase, but that still means that any Boon that benefits from it like Cognitive Stimulation will be boosted."

"Huh," the terian bit a fingernail as he pondered.

"I hadn't thought of it. That's certainly something that happens. But still, it won't be that significant of an augment. You're doing yourself a disservice by not running some kind of ritual, whether to gain experience or enchant yourself."

"I do trust and believe that boost will be enough for me to get an Insight and have a breakthrough," the enchantress explained.

"Perhaps if I complete the printing press in one fell swoop with a timely inspiration I will gain enough experience to level up."

"That's… quite genius," Nolotl admitted.

"Perhaps not the best usage of such an astronomical event but… far from bad either. Some people are just going to inevitably waste the celestial alignment and let it pass, so your choice is infinitely better in that sense."

"It feels great being called a genius by an Empyrean," Enala snorted.

"But it also kinda feels horrible. I almost double you in age." The diviner raised his hands defensively.

"You're the one that went there, don't blame it on me."

"I don't, don't worry about it," she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"But what will you be doing during the total celestial alignment?"

"Don't you remember?" Nolotl looked at her and the western woman looked at him in confusion.

"…" Enala remained silent, her mind trying to process information.

"The Second Mind ritual," the foreigner prince refreshed her memory.

"Pulsars, I forgot!" She cursed and grabbed her head in a panic.

"You haven't showed it to me yet, bastard!"

"Hey, I might be a lot of things, but not a bastard," he scowled. He really hated that word, mostly because it always ended in people badmouthing his mother. Now mestizo, as awful as the connotations that could garner, was a correct term to apply to him. Enala groaned at his outburst.

"You're old enough to know that no one uses that word in that sense."

"Until they use it in that sense," he countered.

"Don't try to fight a gnosiamancer with fallacies." The enchantress frowned, her visage saying 'I'm also a gnosiamancer' but she ended up deciding against voicing those words out.

"However it might be, you need to show me the ritual right now."

"Weren't you going to spend the total celestial alignment putting the finishing touches on your printing press?" Nolotl inquired.

"Fuck thaaaat!" Enala stood up and slammed the workshop table.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I won't let a second brain escape my fingertips!"

"Valid argument," the Empyrean of Information snickered.

"Well, I guess I could show it to you. But I can do something better yet. I feel like the deadline is approaching too fast for you to handle the ritual in your lonesome, so how about you follow me to the spot I picked out to perform it? Not only do I have the spellware's hylomorphism ready so we can share it, but we can also watch each other's backs." He was a bit hesitant to bring Enala to the ambush, but at the same time, he wanted to believe he had dismantled it with his preparations.

Not only the Finil twins had no reason to attack him, but perhaps the Cahtuli warrior wouldn't even have received the prophecy to kill him after failing to send the letter to the High Priestess of Nochochenca. Perhaps that was too optimistic on his part, but the Second Mind ritual was an especially complex one in case he had to perform it after the ambush, so having a helper would be what he needed to succeed.

But he really wanted to believe he had managed to dismantle the ambush, no matter if he would still prepare to defend for it. After all, how could he fail when he had survived the future already? One try should be more than enough with all the preparations he did.

"Hmm…" Enala hummed in a pondering manner, her gaze wandering to her printing press almost in a guilty manner.

"Do you think we could have time for both?"

"Not a chance," Nolotl instantly shut her down.

"We're going to climb the Mount Empyrean to get to the spot I scouted, so unless you have a portal stored in your pocket, there will no chance to double-dip in your projects."

"Climb?" The grown woman groaned.

"I guessed as much, but it's horrible thinking about it. I still have nightmares from all these years ago when I first climbed the mount to inscribe on the academy." Years, or decades? Of course the diviner didn't speak his intrusive thoughts aloud as that sounded like the perfect way to get slapped. He cleared his throat and looked at the enchantress with a soft smile.

"Do you see yourself capable for the climb? It's only four kilometers and the summit of the mount is actually safer than the skirt."

"Safer? Yeah," she snorted derisively.

"Only because the temperatures are way below zero, the winds can outright send people flying, and the lack of oxygen can kill you."

"All of those are fixable," he countered.

"Not only are you an enchantress, but the academy is also overflowing with climbing equipment." He himself didn't personally need it thanks to his double avian blood, making him able to withstand low temperatures and lack of oxygen far better than most other avian-based terians, though he was still severely limited by virtue of not being a biomancer. Hmm, considering the ambusher didn't have climbing equipment either that means they tracked me and then only teleported when I had remained still for a while.

Perhaps if I defend myself against divinations I will be able to at least make their climbing experience more miserable. If the ambush even occurs, that is.

"I'm more worried about my lack of stamina than any of the actual problems," Enala admitted without shame.

"Also, you said you scouted the spot. Were you being literal or did you only examine it with divinations?"

"Literal," technically speaking, he didn't add that final part. Does it even count as me having been there if it technically hasn't happened yet? Pulsars, time travel is such a weird thing.

"I was there in person, and the greatest danger will be the winds, but I already have bought an enchantment to counteract that."

"That does give me a vote of confidence in this whole excursion…" The enchantress tapped her fingertips on the workbench in a sinusoidal succession whilst meditating on her decision.

"Is getting carried an option?"

"Unless you want me to die from exhaustion," Nolotl responded nonplussed.

"That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," the terian squinted at the woman.

"I'm jesting! Jesting! I… believe that I'm down for such expedition, not only is having an additional mind that great of a perk, but it kind of feels wrong that I'm an enchantress yet I have yet to use any of my enchantment slots," Enala looked at Nolotl's silvery tattoos, her gaze bewitched by them.

"Can I touch them?"

"Be my guest," the diviner shrugged and extended his arms forward for her to inspect. Enala's touch, whilst deeply enthralled, was purely professional unlike the caresses of another woman who had blatantly announced her physical attraction. The fact that Cillin hadn't done anything this whole loop only meant how literal she had been when admitting to physical attraction and nothing else, a thing that Nolotl respected.

Meanwhile, the pale woman traversed the argent markings on the chocolate skin with her fingertips, feeling the magic and materials of the enchantment with her own skin.

"Hmm, that's certainly an interesting enchantment, one based in the vitality of biomancers, but I cannot ascertain what it does from a cursory glance," she explained without removing her gaze from the vine tattoos.

"Can I ask what they do or is it a secret?"

"I guess it is, but I don't mind telling you." With any luck, you will forget about it. Though that same line of thought made him suddenly gloomy. If the time loop was indeed a thing, all of these six weeks of interactions with Enala would cease to exist. Worse yet, only he would remember them. Because they weren't even acquainted at the start of the loop, Enala would go back to being a stranger.

That was a weird thought he preferred not to dwell into, no matter if he wasn't that particularly close to the enchantress. It was hard not to grow attached to a person after working with them for more than a month, after all. Nolotl wasn't sure if she could call her a friend, but she certainly was an esteemed peer, and he would like to think she thought the same about him. For better or worse, she didn't seem to hold against him how they met this time around.

"So…?" Enala inquired, lifting her gaze and looking at him directly in the eyes, cyan meeting against one another.

"So, what?" He asked back.

"You forgot to say what the enchantment does."

"Ooooh!" Nolotl mouthed.

"Sorry about that, I was lost in thought. Effect-wise, it's not that strong. They are called Argent Bindings of the Twiceborn and they contain my Animal Spirits, making me look like a celestial instead of a terian, beyond granting me some lesser all-round corporal bonuses. It also slightly makes my terian form stronger than average ones if I have had it contained for long, at least enough to rival Lesser Release Animal Form."

"Why would you want to contain your terian self?" She inquired mostly out of curiosity, though there was a hint of… sadness? Perhaps.

"Isn't it supposed to be a part of yourself? Besides also making you stronger?"

"You're not wrong, but I'm what's called a twiceborn," the terian explained.

"Twiceborn are terians with two Animal Spirits instead of one, and if the animals do not synergize, they can cause adverse effects to the terian. Beyond that, my animal instincts are greatly amplified, far more than if I were to double the effects of an average terian, making me need to keep them in check."

"What Animal Spirits do you have to require of such bindings?"

"Crow and quetzal," Nolotl revealed.

"Those…. sound rather synergistic to me," Enala frowned.

"I don't know much of Tezlan fauna, but aren't both of them birds?"

"Yes, but anything that isn't the same animal or some specific combination is not considered synergistic."

"Huh," the enchantress mused as she finally removed her hands from his arms.

"Just for the record, same animal notwithstanding, what would be some of those specific combinations that would aid you?"

"Considering I have two avian spirits, but mostly due to the quetzal, I would say any serpent," the priest responded after thinking it for a second.

"A serpent?" Enala frowned at him.

"What does that have anything to do with birds?"

"It's mostly due to an old Tezlan legend, I guess Nochochencan too," Nolotl shrugged.

"It's basically a myth as no twiceborn has been born with that combination. Not that they are common in the first place."

"I see, I see," the enchantress nodded.

"I cannot say I understand much of this, but it's always nice learn more about enchantments, especially when they use resources I'm not used to."

"Well, whilst I'm not open to dissection, I'm willing to let you inspect my argent bindings with more detail in the future."

"I'll take your word for it," Enala smiled.

"How does it sound doing so after the celestial alignment once I have an additional mind?"

"It sounds good," Nolotl found himself smiling to, but his smile was pulled down by a baggage the enchantress had no way of knowing. In that instant, his mind was torn apart, one half wishing the time loop was real, whilst the other one hoping for the opposite so that promised future still existed.