Chương 67: Chapter 64: Thinking About Weapons

Wood met wood in a brutal clash. The vegetal material shouldn't chirr, yet it did as it collided repeatedly in a flurry of strikes. Two unleashed terians went at each other with unfettered brutality, as if they wanted to claim each other's lives. There was an undeniable passion in the violent frenzy of combat. A dance that few could partake in. A tail tried to attack from the opposite direction of the macuahuitl, but feathers countered the member and the feint was punished by a stab of a spear.

The wooden spears made by the dryads weren't meant for carnage, but they were still quite sharp and durable, allowing to easily cut through biomancer skin. Though measly cuts would never bring a biomancer down. The ferocity of the duel was one for the ages as a crowd started gathering around the frenzied opponents. Even though the terians were going at it with everything, the battle had already been prolonged for more than ten minutes, and it showed no signs of relenting.

That much was expected of the ocelotl terian due to her biomancer nature, but the avian terian was proving to have quite the endurance by lasting this long and still holding his footing. But no matter how fast a mind was, a body inevitably would falter to exhaustion and sluggishness. Perhaps the spearman could react in time, but that didn't matter if he couldn't block the lateral strike of the club-sword in time. Mage Armor!

In fractions of a second, an ethereal armor materialized atop the gnosiamancer with his hand haphazardly drawing a symbol on the armband, and it came just in time as it ate the brunt of the macuahuitl's violence. He had managed to partially raise his spear in time, but that only meant that it dissipated a bit of the force instead of negating it as the weapon had only been held with a single hand due to the abjuration's restrictive requirements. Nolotl, for the first time in his life, flew.

His Mage Armor had shattered from that single collision, but he flew so high from that preternatural impact and he still had enough presence of mind as no gut strike was capable of inducing a concussion so he was able to recast the abjuration before impacting with the ground. Harshly. This time around, the ethereal construct held, but the caster still took a significant amount of damage as he ragdolled around, clouds of dust rising in his wake.

"Lord Nolotl!" Azithromycin shouted as the ferocity vanished from her emerald eyes and she rushed towards her fallen opponent.

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Nolotl responded, planting the butt of his spear on the ground and struggling to put himself upright.

"Let me doubt that." Who spoke wasn't the ocelotl terian, but the Empyrean of Life who now stood in front of him with arms crossed.

"Oh, hi Clonazepam," the Empyrean of Information added casually as if he wasn't dying inside. Literally at that. I think I might've perforated a lung, he jested mentally with a grimace. In times like this I'm happy that Yaxkin isn't a true biomancer. If he hit as hard as Azi, I would have never succeeded that easily with the ambush. Easily being a sucker punch at himself for having messed up the Second Mind ritual all those loops back.

And I should also have in mind that going toe to toe with one doesn't mean I'm anywhere as hardy or strong as them. His fighting style worked through guile and cunning, easy to make enemies bleed but difficult for him to execute them.

"No 'hi Clonazepam', Lord Nolotl," the dryad protested in an angry pout.

"Why are you fighting biomancers with such disregard to your life? You're made out of paper compared to them!"

"Well, I trusted someone could heal me out of death," the terian responded without a kernel of shame.

"And look at me, I've been lucky enough to find a healer of great competency!"

"I thought you were smarter than this, Nolotl," Clonazepam sighed and shook her head.

"But it's true enough that I won't let you go home with these wounds. Sit down and let me begin treatment." The gnosiamancer practically collapsed on the ground as he could barely hold himself upright even with the assistance of the dryadic spear. He recalled the Mage Armor to help Clonazepam access his skin. Unlike Beta, the Empyrean of Life didn't sweat due to her vegetal nature, which mean that he was more comfortable with her touching him.

It was to be expected that Clonazepam as the Empyrean of the Life Tower and the prodigal daughter of the dryads was far better at healing than Azithromycin who was practically only a warrior, but what was surprising to find was that her healing was more thorough than Quetiapine's. I mean, Quetiapine is a neuromancer so her capabilities are diluted, but this is still crazy. She's a graduate student and a certified healer, yet her younger sister is outperforming her…

Tramma Dol was right, all of the empyreans are monsters. Of course, with the sole exception of Nolotl Xocoyotzin who was struggling to fight a single biomancer. All his strength came from cunning and planning, so he was at a massive disadvantage on duels. His strength was so diluted in both body and mind that a gnosiamancer could beat him mentally and a biomancer physically.

Yet again, the only way he could win against the coterie of the ambush was either through meticulous planning or sacrificing the stability of his mind. And he didn't want to repeat that again. Life assimilation progressed by 1%. Perhaps I should get hurt more if it can advance my Life assimilation. Though I won't exactly look forward to it if that's the case.

"That should be good enough," Clonazepam said a minute later, standing up from her squatting position.

"And whilst I don't enjoy seeing you treat your body with such carelessness, I must admit it's impressing seeing you hold your ground against a biomancer that was using augmentations."

"Technically speaking, so I was," Nolotl chuckled and stood up, now with far more ease even if a non-negligible amount of pain still lingered.

"My tattoos empower my base terian self up to the level of Lesser Release Animal Form."

"So barely an augmentation and more of the baseline of a biomancer," the dryad said unimpressed. Well, unimpressed wasn't the correct term as that lackluster augmentation only made his efforts even more impressive.

"Still a bit more considering my twiceborn constitution, but yes, I remain a gnosiamancer. That much is an undeniable fact," the terian cracked his neck and moved his arms around whilst flexing his torso to the sides to check that the healing had worked properly.

"Barely any lingering sensation, what a great job."

"If there's barely any sensation is because your body produces worrying amounts of adrenaline, Lord Nolotl. That cannot be healthy."

"Better lots than none," he countered. Clonazepam sighed at those words.

"Are you going to continue sparring?"

"Today? No, I don't think so," Nolotl shook his head.

"I'm utterly exhausted, but I have reasons to come another day for me." Namely, using all that backlogged time of his true self. As he would be using the observatory room during these loops, he didn't need to worry about the ambush, and practicing his true self and polishing his martial skills was of great importance. The dryad sighed again, practically deflating this time.

"If that's the case, please warn me beforehand. I wouldn't like to see one of my peers grievously wounded."

"I won't turn down such a generous offer," the prince bowed in Tezlan fashion by leading one knee to the ground and putting an arm in front of his face. Clonazepam rolled her eyes—in a literal sense as her emerald eyes went beyond the top of her head—and lent him a hand to help him stand up.

"I will content myself on the fact that I will be able to put an end to things if they get too… heated." The Empyrean of Life bowed and walked away, most of the spectators also leaving by now as there was no longer any bloody entertainment. Most of the actual blood had come from Azithromycin as a single cut could spell Nolotl's demise if he were to be hit.

"I will look forward to those spars," Azi saluted him with a fist pressed against her bound chest.

"Likewise," Nolotl's smile came veritable, no longer a diplomatic facsimile. As of late, he found himself at a greater ease to smile.

"Stop studying and help me a bit," Beta commanded him as she frantically—or what could be considered frantically for a lethargic person like Beta—tapped on her palm. Stress was one of the emotions that she had no difficulties showing, but it was still very mitigated.

"Why is it so hard to turn information into thoughts when it's trivial to turn thoughts into information?"

"Because that's how our brains have developed," Nolotl explained with a chuckle, walking up to her.

"It's like how we have some difficulties understanding information from books but a greater ease at hearing someone dictate that information. Oral tradition forms part of the brain, while written one does not. It's an invention of our own design and our brains have yet to fully adapt to that fact, or at least, have the same innate proficiency they have with processing sounds." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Hmm…" the akyromancer processed the information on her own, musing in shallow-level meditation.

"I will need you to draw some spellcircles for data-to-thought transformation. I get the logic behind your words on a fundamental level, but it's not the same to apply it on a development environment."

"Now you understand the same desperation I feel when dealing with Void," he let out another chuckle though this one was loaded with exhaustion.

"I do have a method to help you out with this specific lagoon of understanding, if you're willing to go with it." Beta squinted at him with suspicion.

"Which method are we talking about?" Even her impassive voice now carried a degree of hostility, as minimal as it might be." Thought Projection," the gnosiamancer explained.

"No," her reply was resolute.

"I must specify that Thought Projection works in one way only, I project information but I cannot read what there might be in your mind."

"But you will need to be inside it to project that information," the akyromancer scowled.

"Only at its periphery," he softly reasoned.

"Not any different that what you've did to interact with the vestige."

"Yes, but I did that without the tools of a gnosiamancer, meaning that you will have more access."

"…Not necessarily," Nolotl's voice came out weak, which only furthered Beta's suspicion.

"Look, I wholeheartedly understand the notion of not wanting to have someone at your brain, I really do, but this is a Boon that will accelerate your progress considerably. At least ponder about it." The Empyrean of Void tapped several times at her palm.

"…I will consider it. But for the time being, you must continue instructing me as usual."

"How queer that I end up being the teacher now when our starting deal was the opposite," the Empyrean of Information chuckled softly at the notion.

"I will give you a hands-on lesson for Invisible Gesticulation later, but now, it's your time to teach," he nodded at the akyromancer's offer. As always, he wouldn't say no to a lucrative offer. Invisible Gesticulation was a nuisance of a spell. Not only did it have three requirements, but they were also obtuse in their own ways.

Concentration meant that you could only have one invisible extremity summoned at any given time barring exceptions like Second Mind and also that you couldn't use other spells that required concentration. Cheironomy meant that one's hand needed to be occupied to use the spell.

This could have some uses as the Invisible Gesticulation could go through walls if needed and it also meant further reach, but it also meant that the Invisible Gesticulation wasn't as invisible as stated when you needed to recreate manually the movements. So that meant it wasn't that useful for combat. Finally, xenoglossia. Truth be told, it was the least limiting of the requirements. A simple chant or even just calling out the conjuration's name was enough, but that meant that one couldn't be stealthy about it.

It left one supremely vulnerable to Counterspell, but it wasn't like everyone knew the…

"Why haven't you taught me Counterspell?" Nolotl accused his abjuration teacher.

"I don't think you're ready for it yet," she plainly responded, though some annoyance glinted in her eyes as he had interrupted their class.

"Why not? Isn't there a gnosiamancy version?"

"Gnosiamancy, akyromancy, taxi and ataxiamancy," Beta elaborated.

"So what's the issue exactly?" Counterspell was one of the most famous spells ever, so of course Nolotl wanted to learn it.

"The issue is that the gnosiamancy version works vastly differently from the others," the akyromancer tapped on the workbench.

"The other three work by disruption, either consuming or dissipating the magic of the spellware, but gnosiamancy works by perfect destructive interference. This means that one has to know to cast the spell that it's interrupting. It has the advantage of being basically a free Counterspell as no magic is used to counter it, but also means that you won't be able to counter any elemental magic beyond third tier. Unless you bother to learn the spell, that is."

"Yeah…" Nolotl softly smacked his lips at that explanation.

"Beyond the need to upcast Counterspell and learning other spells, it sounds like a fool's errand… But your overlooked a mighty detail, Beta."

"And which that might be?" Her tone was nonplussed.

"That I can go back in time."

"Oh," yet now it betrayed some interest.

"Well, I guess that in that case you could learn the frameworks of the Counterspell, but… I still would wait. Due to its ascendant logic with upcasting, Counterspell should always be able to be slotted to your abjuration slot, meaning that it's best that you only learn the base form once you can slot it so you don't need to unslot the spell ever again."

"Hmm, that makes sense, yes" he nodded.

"Considering how much Void is taking me to increase it, it's better if I don't ever remove whatever spell I put there. Counterspell sounds like the best option all-round with my status." Nolotl didn't look forward to learning any spells just for the sake of countering them, but he couldn't deny that there was a brutal utility in that. Not that the ambushers used many spells. I always take the gnosiamancers first and so far only Luminol had a single chance to cast a spell in the shape of a light beam.

The one ambusher that has cast more spells is the taximancer, but he's quite the pathetic person. The lightning strikes packed a considerable punch, but between having no combat instincts and shitty aim, that mage is far from dangerous. Yet again, he was reminded how little combat prowess some people had. Fighting instinct came literally built into one's body and mind, yet most people struggled to access them.

The only reason why the first ambush would always succeed without any slip of future information was because of the overwhelming numbers. A 1v6 was unwinnable in most cases, especially when all those six out-leveled the one. Though I might not be that out-leveled in a while. Slowly but surely, Nolotl was approaching level 7. It was actually the worst possible level for him after having taken Lesser Alignment Assimilation, but he would care about that when the moment arrived.

What mattered was that at some point, and not even one that wasn't that far into the future, he could deal with the standard ambush with relative easy. The enhanced one still remains a problem. The choice to use the Void Tower observation room always remained, but a part of his body always craved to murder Yaxkin yet again. It didn't help that his mind knew that the Cahtuli akyromancer would continue to live no matter how many times he killed him.

"Are you even paying attention to me?" Not quite a snap, but Beta still raised her sepulchral voice ever-so-slightly.

"I am, I am," he nodded." Invisible Gesticulation will be practice for Counterspell as you also intend for me to also learn the akyromancy version. I understand your logic and I accept it. Though first I would like to learn the gnosiamancer version to have a better chance at the task."

"We'll do that, but first, you need to learn this conjuration. Your skill with akyromancies is utterly pathetic."

"Considering I'm working with barely 4% affinity and no proficiency, I'd say I'm doing quite well."

"If you were doing quite well, you'd long have assimilated Void," Beta attacked him where it hurt most. He had grossly overestimated his progress as in the early days he had had a significant amount of freebie notifications. But as of late, his Void assimilation progress only increased after grueling hours of work or study. His saving grace was that the rest of Alignments—with the sole exception of Space as he had yet to see a notification on that one—still gave him freebies.

Even if Time was a bit odd to consider it a freebie when it took all that time for little progress.

"Well, you could help me with my current progress if you were to give me a visual example of the spell," Nolotl countered.

"…Did you just ask me for a visual example of a spell that has invisible in the title?" Her tone might imply that she wasn't judging him, but he had met her for enough time that she was utmost definitely judging him.

"You know what I mean," the diviner frowned.

"And still, the abstract mentions that Physicality cannot interact with it, but when a wording is that specific is for something. You can perceive the conjuration through other planes, can you not?"

"Yes," she admitted taciturnly with perhaps a hint of pouting. But with Beta, those expressions were in the microscale.

"Well then, show me the example," he extended his open palms in offering. The Empyrean of Void sighed and straightened her hood." Invisible Gesticulation." Whilst Nolotl's eyes couldn't see anything, he did feel something. But before he could put a name on that feeling, he felt something poke on his chest. Repeatedly at that. The terian looked down to find Beta's pale finger barely moving back and forth.

"The summoned extremity can amplify the gestures?" Nolotl inquired as the invisible hand kept poking his chest. The only saving grace there was that it was the only covered part of his chest as it hit around the sternum.

"Not the spell as such, but one's mastery with it," the akyromancer elaborated.

"We learn this spell in the Void Tower to deal with antimaterial substances in our learning process. A novice akyromancer's Resistance to Oblivion isn't that potent, after all." She dutifully explained. While still poking Nolotl's chest, that was.

"Will you stop with that?" He squinted at the impassive woman.

"No," Beta responded without satisfaction nor discontent.

"Destroy the arm if you want me to stop."

"And how exactly will I do that?" The terian crossed his arms, the gesture doing nothing to stop the poking.

"You already know the answer," Nolotl didn't appreciate the cryptic answer worth of an old hermit, but it told him all that he needed to know. The Empyrean of Information focused his consciousness on the Cognition. There lay the feeling he had sensed when the Invisible Gesticulation had been summoned. Even though eyes weren't strictly a thing in the Cognition, Nolotl still couldn't see the conjuration. But there's something there…

In the Physicality, the spell was completely invisible and intangible, basically impossible to state that it existed unless it touched something, but in the Cognition… There's some sort of warping. Like how an ice cube might displace volume and diffract light but still remain mostly unseen in clear water. And it's… here! With his cognitive self, Nolotl grabbed the conjured extremity. He still couldn't see it, but unlike with the Physicality, he could interact with it.

I don't have any offensive spells for the Cognition, or any for that matter, but I still have far more computation that the average gnosiamancer so if I… Nolotl pressed his mental load onto the hand, just like he had done to the coterie at the zeroth loop. It was far from a good attack and the hand wasn't a cognitive entity, but the low-tier spell still crumbled to his might. Success! He celebrated in his mind and went back to the Physicality.

"Isn't it a bit feeble?" He inquired at Beta.

"Unless you're a gnosiamancer, necromancer, or akyromancer, you don't have any solution at hand to deal directly with the spell," she reasoned.

"The Physicality remains the cradle of most magic."

"Akyromancy too?" The diviner raised a brow.

"Akyromancy tends to affect all planes, even if the effect is mostly felt on the Physicality. So yes, akyromancy too," she looked annoyed at having to explain that, even if he was mostly searching for confirmation.

"Hmm, this means this spell could become quite the significant weapon if two-thirds of mages can't deal with it…"

"Are weapons the only thing you think about?" Beta accused him, though it wasn't like she added much passion to her tone. Specifically, none at all.

"No, but I have a good motive for getting as many as I can. And besides, why would you use this spell if not for nefarious reasons?"

"To deal with hazardous substances like I said a moment ago?" Her gaze was constant as always, but the judgement in those eyes was impossible to escape from it.

"Right," Nolotl smacked his lips.

"That's a good usage, yes." Beta sighed.

"Has this helped you?" Void Alignment increased by 0. 0001%. Nolotl looked to his side and saw that notification.

"It indeed has," he nodded.

"That's enough lessons for you for the time being then," the akyromancer summoned a hefty book with her Inner Abyss that dropped on the table with a mighty thud.

"Now it's your time to give me some. I still cannot comprehend how you can transpose information to thoughts."

"Alright, let us start using the improved version of Vacuous Filtration as it seems like it has some minimal connection with the Cognition…" The lesson extended for the rest of the day, far longer than the lesson he had received, but Nolotl was still aware that this wasn't for vain. If Beta, in fact, managed to develop a way to send meaningful and useful messages to the past, then his own utility for Enantyum would skyrocket.

Nolotl Xocoyotzin didn't intend on meeting the fate of his predecessors, whoever they might be.