Chương 9: Nolotl Xocoyotzin

"Just now," the Empyrean of Time answered calmly as if he hadn't materialized out of nowhere, his eyes lazily roaming the conference room.

"How?" Nolotl questioned.

"I was watching over the Cognition; you were nowhere near the Central Tower. How is it possible that you are suddenly here?"

"I stopped time," Enantyum replied as a matter of fact. The Empyrean of Information's body spasmed as he tried to make sense of the words he just heard. By all accounts, it should be impossible. Chronomancy was one of the most complex and difficult Alignments, it shouldn't be possible for Enantyum to stop time for enough time to get over this room when he wasn't even in the tower, no matter if he was the respective Empyrean or not.

"You know, that's funny," Paizon interjected.

"How is it that you can stop time and yet you've arrived late?"

"That is an interesting question. I'm just…" Enantyum started and waited for a few seconds, "in time." Hurriedly, Nolotl checked for the Cognition and checked for the current time. Even if his search was haphazard, his mind was thinking fast, and sure enough, the exact second Enantyum stopped talking it was the accorded time for the meeting." Macuha etochala huilitzi…" The Tezlan prince let out a curse in his language.

"Our esteemed Empyrean of Information can verify my claim," Enantyum added.

"No need," Nina joined the conversation.

"I think we can tell after Nolotl's reaction that you are very much on time, though I would appreciate next time if you arrived five minutes early instead of just on time." Nolotl wasn't surprised by Enantyum's perfect timing, a lot of mages could do that, not just chronomancers or gnosiamancers. But the fact that he did indeed arrive perfectly on time corroborated his time stopping capabilities. A suppressed memory resurfaced on his mind. Regressor. Hundreds of mana. Wrong age. Uncommon Titles.

Alignment Obfuscation Boon. Something is happening here. Nolotl withheld from disputing the matter with the chronomancer now, especially when he decided to publicize such a claim as being able to stop time when he wasn't even a graduate student. Such abilities weren't unheard of with chronomancers, but Enantyum was young, and considering their type lived for longer, it was expected that those who could perform such feats of strength would have their age measured in the three digits.

The gnosiamancer did his best to keep his cool, which wasn't that hard considering that abstaining from emotions was part of his Alignment, but suspense was killing him. He was a seeker of knowledge and enlightener of the unknown, and Enantyum held secrets that he wished to uncover. He led the matter slide a month ago as there were more pressing matters, but that was no longer could be the case. This was too egregious to not be tackled.

"Let us formally begin this meeting," he announced as the Empyrean of Information, making a mental note to confront Enantyum. Perhaps he was the most recent addition to the representatives of the students of the Empyrean Academy, but it was expected that it was the gnosiamancer that arbitered such gatherings as they were the most neutral of mages by definition, the only ones who lacked a counterpart. And they also handled documentation and paperwork with ease. That was the real reason.

As much mysticism as the other students wanted to give to the gatherings of empyreans, these meetings were nothing more than dull bureaucracy. They were the representatives and voices of their respective towers, albeit only for the students, so the objective of these meetings was nothing more than to clarify some objectives or problems that should be brought out to the teachers, tower masters, or the headmaster.

"As you know, classes will be suspended for the day of the total celestial alignment with teachers being able to independently decide to postpone lectures for more days," Nolotl continued with another topic as he revised some paperwork before him.

"The city of Descent will be organizing a festival for it starting the day before, and when taking into account the people peregrinating Mount Empyrean and other mages wanting to get as high as possible for their rituals, we expect high amounts of traffic on the mount and the teleportation network. Anything to add, Empyrean Sina?"

"Erm…" the lifeful topomancer snapped out of her torpor. These gatherings were too dull for her always-moving mind.

"There will be no congestion of traffic," Mio explained.

"The Tower Master of Space is going to establish regulations and only people of interest are allowed to use the network hours prior to the celestial alignment. After this meeting ends, we will be issuing warning about those people that want to move around the city and the academy that they should plan their movements in advance."

"Understandable," Nolotl added. The meeting was full of these moments, and it wasn't like everyone participated, even if they were required to attend. The most important members were—Nolotl notwithstanding—Roxina, Nina, and Mio. Not only their elements would be significantly augmented by the Alignment, but Roxina had ties with the municipality of Descent, Mio was in charge of the teleportation network, and Nina the ever-serious wanted to take control of the course of the meeting.

A loss of control which Nolotl didn't mind, it would be better for his workload if she arbitered these gatherings and she was definitely more experienced with them. The conclusions they arrived to weren't surprising nor that important as their executive power was limited, but the main decision they came to was "no screwing over anyone until the total celestial alignment was over".

This was the opportunity of the millennium, if not a greater denomination of time, and everyone in the room wanted to take advantage of it.

"I believe that would be all," Nolotl announced after a few hours, and as no one tried to tell him otherwise, he stood up from his chair.

"I declare this gathering adjourned." Expecting foul play, the Empyrean of Information accelerated his thoughts and opened his mouth. His mind was working faster than his reaction time by orders of magnitude, yet as words gathered in his mouth, the figure he was looking at disappeared in a single frame of reality. One moment he was there, the next he wasn't. As it would seem, Enantyum Dei could truly stop time.

"Motherfucker," the gnosiamancer cursed low enough so Nina wouldn't reproach him for cursing. Roxina next to him look at Nolotl after she noticed his outburst and followed his eyes. It didn't take her long to notice the lack of the Empyrean of Time.

"Huh," the photomancer mused.

"I can believe he has acquired the ability to stop time before the upcoming alignment, but how is he entering the room? If I recall correctly, Time Freeze doesn't let you interact with any of the realities, only move across them, and every entrance to this room was closed both times."

"I've got no idea…" Nolotl took pride in knowing at least a tidbit of everything that he found. But for the first time, he was clueless. After the gathering he tried finding Enantyum, but as it would seem, it was hard finding a man who could stop time even if you could infer into the collective unconscious. Dijkstra's Routing was telling him that he was at the Time Tower one second, and in the next one he would be at the Central one, making it impossible for the diviner to keep track of him.

Time was running out and the total celestial alignment was getting closer, so once more, Nolotl let the matter slide, as unwillingly as he had. Now, he wouldn't let it slide a third time. He would get his answers after the celestial alignment on way or another. What mattered now was getting a goodnight's sleep and preparing for the Second Mind ritual. A 100% increase in computational power was no joke, especially as a second organ of computation might be even better than a simply 100% increase.

A second stream of thoughts was really that valuable. The next day he descended to Descent and picked up his ritual components from Roxina's workshop, the streets of Original capital already starting to set up the stalls for the festival. He actually arrived too early and had to wait for the photomancer to give the finishing touches to his commission, but he enjoyed seeing her work. The only one of the empyreans who could be called a professional at their field was Roxina.

Most of them were too divided between responsibilities and whatnot, but Light was a 'low' investment school of magic as the Empyrean already found herself at the max level, which allowed her to focus herself on her craft. And the rainbow lights of the glass forge made her look gorgeous. Nolotl couldn't deny that was a plus.

"Make good use of it," Roxina handled him the glass-printed circuits inlaid with gold, still smoking from the forge's heat.

"Don't even doubt it," Nolotl smiled at her. But he only had scant hours to toy with his expensive spellware as the promised day inevitably came. There was a weird air permeating the academy. It wasn't stale as such, but it was rather charged and static. People had a lot of expectations for the total celestial alignment, but they were also anxious. They couldn't allow themselves to miss this opportunity.

Of course, young students could do nothing about it, maybe a lesser ritual to increase their Alignment, but Alignment percentages only got a person so far. You would either need to boost your body or progress on your chosen Alignment level to make a difference. Maybe the people weren't voicing their anxiousness, but as connected to the Cognition as Nolotl was, he could palpate it with his own hands.

It got so bad on the Information Tower that gnosiamancers were entering a negative feedback loop where they were getting more anxious from other people's thoughts. Nolotl rushed away from his tower and the academy as a whole. It was very early in the morning, just scraping six o'clock when he got out, but he would need every drop of time he could muster. For climbing Mount Empyrean was no easy task.

He was still donning his ceremonial robes, which he actually expected to boost his magic during the fated nine seconds of the total alignment, but wore a cape of top of them as temperatures could get well below freezing on the zenith of the mountain. Yes, with his innate set of skills he could resist cold temperatures, but there was a limit to what he could withstand.

On his back he carried a backpack with all the materials needed for the ritual and some food and water in case he somehow got lost, no matter how improbable that was with his knowledge as a walker of the Cognition and his reliable Dijkstra's Routing divination. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. On his hands, though, he wielded a rather expensive walking stick. In truth, it was his personal spear.

Whilst it was made for fighting biomancers with its serrated tip, it still could fulfill every function of a traditional spear and was pretty effective against everything magical thanks to its lead core, even if the surface was mostly wood intertwined with some runes. Nobody expects the lead core. Jokes aside, he truly expected to find some dangers. The fauna of the Mount Empyrean was a dangerous one and mutated by natural or other powers.

Information and its magic weren't the most effective one at defending or, worse yet, killing things. The prince wanted to have some tools at his disposal to manage the danger, even if things had to get physical. Once the sunrays peered over the horizon, his Starguided Blessing kicked in. The mantle of the clouds blocked starlight, but the sunlight was harder to obstruct. Because he was always inside the academy, he couldn't make much use of it, but today it would be of great assistance.

Even now, hours away from the alignment, he could feel in his skin how the celestial bodies were rearranging themselves. The initial trek as he left the academy grounds was easy, but as he gained elevation, oxygen levels quickly dwindled. His brain didn't need to consume as much oxygen as other people as he could limit its activity, but the same couldn't be said for his exerting body.

There would be no problem during the ritual as he had prepared some simple runes to gather and accumulate air so he wouldn't pass out, but now he was struggling and panting.

"Pulsars," he weakly cursed, "who would have thought that climbing a mountain at over ten kilometers the sea level would make someone dizzy?" Mount Empyrean was a heavily traveled mountain so paths were marked with clear roads and signs even this high up. If Original mythos was to be trusted, here the true and original Celestials with the True Empyreans guiding them descended from the stars, but Nolotl was reticent about it considering his background as a High Priest of Nochochenca.

Ignoring mythology, this meant there were some very eager pilgrims that would walk up to the top of the mountain, even if it was around ten kilometers from its foot. Twelve if you started from an uninhabited depression that was somewhat below sea level. Cold and lack of oxygen were the real dangers of this point onward on the journey, not many animals—magical or otherwise—got this far either. Whilst arduous, the journey was tedious.

An opportunity that Nolotl took to either run some prime number calculations or revising the ritual in his mind. From time to time, he did sense movement on the Cognition, mostly basic fauna judging by the instinctual pulses he detected, so he did his best to avoid it and he never got pounced. But mages did appear from time to time in his range, only that non-gnosiamancers were really hard to detect.

"Time's cutting close…" Nolotl heavily panted as he peered at the skies. It was ten o'clock. Two hours away from the total celestial alignment and he yet had to arrive at the spot.

"Come on, one last push." Fortunately, it wasn't that far away. He wouldn't go to the actual apex of the mountain as it wasn't necessarily the best spot, and it would also likely be occupied by people who could access it way more easily than him like topomancers or some archmagi. But there was also the matter of effort. Stars valued one's effort, even if it was not exactly necessary.

It wasn't that effort would be rewarded but it would be appreciated and therefore could tip the scales when someone got close to the edge. Such an effect would be greater with the geass of Arcane, but dipping into that Alignment even if it was by a toe would cripple his. No, Nolotl's destination wasn't the top, just a plateau short of it. Though it felt odd calling a place one kilometer away from the zenith being just "short of it". That showed the magnitude of the Mount Empyrean.

The winds were strong here, unprotected by the mountain walls and left exposed to the elements, but he had accounted for such problems.

"Hour and a half, let's get this done." Even if the temperature was well below zero this close to high noon, Nolotl took his cape off as it was more detrimental than positive with these winds. He started unpacking and nailed everything that could fly away to the ground, then he started drawing chisel in hand. He didn't have enough time to draw anything elaborate, but spellcircles could be substituted by meticulously placed runes.

This method was preferred by gnosiamancers and topomancers as they possessed a heightened dimensional sense and precision simply because it took less time to set up, though of course, taximancers had also proficiency with them. Once the runes were settled, Nolotl pushed mana into them alongside intention. More like self-sustaining spellcircles, he was the one managing the spells, the runes were nothing more than anchors in the Physicality.

The nine runes formed an enneagon and activated a half-spherical barrier of wind protecting him against the harsh winds of the mountain, bringing stability in this limited space.

"Oof, I can finally hear myself," Nolotl sighed and scratched his ears as the air no longer howled on his head.

"Now it's time for the actual ritual." For starters, the gnosiamancer took all the glass pieces and scattered them around the circle in a seemingly arbitrary manner. It actually represented an approximation of the star map, with him as Lon, and the biggest piece as the sun. He would also need to wear a headgear with a prism on top that would work once he sat down in the middle of the formation. The light from the total alignment would come directly from above him, perfectly perpendicular.

The prism would refract the light in the correct positions to power the little inscribed runes on the other glass pieces and then form a three-dimensional spellcircle. Yes, three-dimensional spellcircle, not spellsphere. Though perhaps that would have been a more adequate description. The Second Mind ritual worked by infusing his own mind with a fragment of the Cognition.

The prism was the pure representation of that as it would separate light in different colors in the same way he intended to separate the Cognition from itself and take in the parts he wanted to assimilate. It was quite a dangerous ritual as if performed sub-optimally it could inflict severe mental wounds. But on the other hand, if performed super-optimally it would give him a lot of insights on Information, the Cognition, and Alignment as a whole. He expected to level up in one go if the ritual was successful.

"Everything's ready," he muttered to himself.

"The verbal component from the chanting, the somatic component from the position of all glass pieces acting as a stellar map, and the glass pieces themselves as the material component." The gnosiamancer took a deep breath upon hearing his own words, the prism that was the spellsphere glittering with runes that dyed his skin with a myriad lights.

"This is my first time using the school of enchantment for something that wasn't minor enchantments… But I think I'm ready." By the time he finished setting up everything, only half an hour remained for the total celestial alignment. The sky was already obtaining a curious orange coloration because of it, even though it was nearing noon.

"Nine minutes of total eclipse, nine seconds of total alignment exactly at half the duration," he recalled the star's path. Not only would this be the longest eclipse ever, but both of Lon's satellites would be parallel with each other, making it the first dual total eclipse in history.

"What a shame Zesca will be totally eclipsed by Orlon," the diviner referenced the dual satellites of Lon.

"Though it will be interesting to see what image the moons create once they are no longer aligned with each other." Nolotl expected to see an infinity sign with the contours of the sister satellites, but he would get his answer in around 38 minutes. For the last time, the Empyrean went over the ritual all over again, nonuple-checking that everything was in order.

"Ah, I'm really feeling the effects of my Blessings," he looked at the goosebumps surrounding his silver tattoos.

"I expected the alignment to boost Starguided, but I can't say I expected the same from Touched by Information. Though now that I say it aloud it makes sense." Nolotl chuckled out of nervousness. He had done everything in his grasp to near the ritual to the 100% success rate, but this universe was non-deterministic. Things could go against the pre-established route. And as the sky started to obscure from the first stage of the eclipse, the route deviated.

Nolotl frowned as people appeared in his senses, their presence betrayed by the Cognition. How? He questioned. I should be able to sense people almost half a kilometer away in this remote region, so how are they only a hundred meters away from me? He expected foul play. The Empyrean stood up and faced the mountain road. It took a couple of minutes for the group to appear before him. They were five.

Three gnosiamancers judging from their imprint on the Cognition—which would explain how they went undetected—but the same couldn't be said for the other two. At first glance, Nolotl couldn't identify their school of magic, but one of them had a very marked wardrobe and ethnicity. A fellow Tezlan. This does not bode well. Nolotl grasped his spear tightly, readying himself for the worst.

"You should have moved us closer. Look," the Tezlan pointed at Nolotl, "he has detected us already." His voice was weak as Nolotl wasn't really listening to him but tailgating his words on the Cognition. The wind shield would have blocked all noise either way.

"You knew it wasn't possible," one of the gnosiamancers responded.

"The celestial alignment is hindering most non-ritual magic. Getting closer would have put our lives at risk." It was then that the Empyrean recognized the identity of the gnosiamancer. What is happening? It was none other than Xanax's secretary, the very same that loathed him for no reason whatsoever. Three gnosiamancers, a Tezlan — most likely biomancer judging by his usage of a macuahuitl — warrior, and an unidentified mage. Probably a topomancer considering they have been teleported here.

He went over the little squadron and analyzed them through the Cognition. A little bloodshed, especially from the secretary, and he's tethered to the other gnosiamancers, so they are some sort of coterie. But not an experienced one, haphazard at best. Nolotl turned his gaze to the skies and the occluding sun. The eclipse had started, but they were still a few seconds away from the total darkness that it would follow.

"May I ask what are your intentions?" He asked at the group, both through voice and thoughts.

"We are nothing more than passerby, Prince Nolotl!" The Tezlan shouted with enough force to pierce the wind veil but the scoff he added at the end, the burlesque intonation of his name, told him enough.

"I see…" Nolotl mussed. No bond, he realized as he tried to send mana through his Title.

"You are not from the Confederation." It wasn't that every habitant of Tezlan was of Nochochencan faith, but his High Priest of Nochochenca Title detected no connection whatsoever between him and the macuahuitl wielder. He hadn't exerted any priestly duties in a decade, but he was still half of a head of faith.

"You are quite right," the warrior laughed.

"I'm Cuhtali, not a Tezlan. And my objective is just one," he lifted his colossal weapon effortlessly with one hand and pointed at him, "your life, Prince." Nolotl shrugged.

"May I ask why?" He wasn't sure if he could survive a kill squadron of five mages but dying without answers was something he couldn't tolerate.

"The diviners and stargazers have predicted this day for years now, even if we have only recently gotten the specifics," he set the tip of his wooden and obsidian weapon on the ground.

"The total celestial alignment will be a period of sudden change. It is the perfect opportunity to stop Tezlan's supremacy."

"I fear you are misinformed; I'm not aligned with the Confederation's political stances or royal family. I'm disinherited, after all." The Empyrean added, trying to gain time as he poured mana into his tattoos. He couldn't forcefully liberate his bindings.

"Such are the directions of our own diviners, High Priest of Nochochenca," the Cuhtali warrior said as a matter of fact.

"They long predicted this war, but more importantly, they now predicted that it would be unwinnable as long as you were alive."

"I see…" He didn't really understand, he was a powerful religious figure, perhaps the most connected Astral-Who-Knows with the faithful for the last generations even if he was a pure gnosiamancer instead of an astromancer. But if these many diviners had seen their defeat if he were to live, then it was most likely true.

"I understand why a Cuhtali may want to kill me, but why are you here?" Nolotl pointed with the tip of his spear at Xanax's secretary.

"You are a nuisance," he simply responded. A hint of madness fizzled across the Cognition.

"That's all?" Nolotl said with a hint of disappointment.

"You shouldn't be Empyrean," the astromancer secretary elaborated, his white pupils shining with hate.

"You are robbing my dear Cillin's position!" The priest frowned.

"Cillin said I was going to pay after the alignment for giving her so much work, but I didn't expect her to collaborate with a foreign assassination plot and send a kill squad at me."

"My fair lady knows nothing of this, and she shall never learn."

"That eases my consciousness," Nolotl added.

"It would seem I'm just dealing with a fool."

"How dare you?" His rage echoed through the Cognition.

"I can understand killing someone to win a war. I do recognize the honor of saving lives through assassination." He acknowledged the Cahtuli assassin with a nod and the man nodded back with professional respect.

"But out of jealousy? That is utterly pathetic."

"You know nothing!" The astromancer responded.

"Regardless of your intentions of going after my life, whether honorable or not, I will not go without a fight," Nolotl shifted the position of his feet, and his tattoos began to glow.

"I hate using this, but you've tipped my hand." For the first time in ages, Nolotl accepted his true nature. His silvery tattoos started becoming transparent until they vanished, and his body mutated, unleashing the first enchantment carved into his body. Feathers grew all over his arms in the pattern of the rainbow and his fingers twisted into claws. The transformation was as painful as it was swift.

His arms were substituted by wings, and his mane became ever-so-slightly blonder with many locks of gold instead of just loose strands as the blackness transformed into a crown of black feathers on the top of his head. He gripped his spear and assumed a defensive position, ready for confrontation.

"You face the Prince of Tezlan, the High Priest of Nochochenca, the Empyrean of Information, but above all else, you face Nolotl Xocoyotzin, Terian."