Chương 10: Attacks & Appraisals

The marketplace had been loud before, but now it had descended into pure chaos. All around, the cacophony battered at Ari's compoure. The clattering of overturned wooden carts, shrill screaming, the roar of the explosions, and the crashing of glass. So irritatingly loud. Ari suppressed the urge to cover her ears and first attempted to disrupt the spell with her hands in her cloak pockets. That way, her actions would be sufficiently shielded, and no one could tell what she was doing.

However, possessing the already bonded particles that controlled the wave of destruction proved to be particularly difficult. There were simply too many of them holding each other in place, and the mage in charge had masterful control over his essences. Ari would either need him to get closer, or she would need to use her hand to strengthen her connection to the essence. Or perhaps, both. Ari surveyed the crowd a few times and saw no one staring directly at her.

They were focused on the fire that surged forward like a living thing, and the man who rode the rolling crest of flame as though it were an ocean wave made of molten gold and orange. The inferno carried him down the market, his cloak snapping violently in the heated wind, its edges already burning away into drifting cinders. The flames licked around him but never touched him, bending instead to his will. Stalls detonated as the wave passed. Hanging fabrics caught instantly, fire climbing the market awnings.

Crates of fruit burst open and blackened, the sweet smell of charred oranges and apples mixing with the thick smoke. Barrels cracked and spat steam. Iron lanterns melted into glowing drops that pattered against the ground. Chickens scattered wildly, feathers igniting in brief flashes before disappearing into the smoke. When he'd finally made enough headway and most people had cleared out of the environment, Ari reached out her hand and connected to one of the orbs. Finally, it recognized her.

It greeted her, and she greeted back, pulling with her core. The essence put up some resistance, but not because it rejected Ari's control. It simply did not want to leave its friends behind. Ari did not take no for an answer. She yanked away with her hand, tugging the speel loose. It promptly fell apart. The flames died with a stunning thunderclap, followed by a shockwave that smacked the mage into a wall. It pulsed through the air, the excess energy hurling tables and sending wares flying.

Ari put her hand down right as a swarm of birds dove from the sky, their wings thrashing together in a chaotic spiral. Then they began to take form. A man. Tall and lean with a type of face that her sister would cut out and tape on their shared bedroom wall. It was even more symmetrical than Warrior Fenwick's son, and he had better qualities like long eyelashes and a mole under his eyes, looking almost feminine in his beauty. He had waist-length white hair, green eyes, and a scar on his eyebrow.

When he turned, she noted that there seemed to be ink peeking out of the open neckline of his blouse. He regarded her, then turned back to the man on the floor. He snapped his fingers, and a bird flew out from the tip. One became two became four, became eight. Dozens surrounded the unconscious Phasewalker, and when they disappeared, he went with them. Ari was watching it happen until the tall man began to walk toward her.

"Girl." His tone was smooth, honeyed.

"Did you do that?" She almost nodded automatically, but then caught herself. Her heart raced. Why was he asking? Had he seen her? She bit her lip. Elric wasn't here to save her. She had to lie by herself. She shrugged, still looking at the space left bare by the Phasewalker. Her sister told her the first step to a proper lie was feigning ignorance.

"Do what?" Luckily, before she could say anything else, Archmage Elric appeared again beside her, with labored breathing and a sweaty forehead. He stared at the rubble that had once been the market, then glowered at Ari.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked.

"Why didn't you run?" She blinked at him.

"You told me to stay put."

"Yes, but..." He sputtered for a few seconds, then said, "Are you always so literal?"

"Yes."

"I see. My mistake then," he sighed. Meanwhile, the white-haired man was still staring at them. Though he did not wear a mage robe–clad only in a button-up silken shirt and black formal pants–there was an undeniable command in his expression.

"Gio." He inclined his chin.

"Elric. Who's your young charge?"

"She's my cousin, Ari."

"Cousin?"

"Yes." Elric gestured.

"Do you have any idea what happened? I caught two more Phasewalkers on Almond Street, trying to escape."

"Yes, well, I was escorting a small gang of them to the courthouse for a hearing, but then I got hungry. Thought we would stop by for some hearty pork bone soup." He ran his hand through his hair in a lazy, careless motion.

"They promised me they wouldn't try to escape while I got the food, but then their friends ambushed me." He tutted.

"I suppose you can't trust criminals these days." Elric's eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry, you were transporting Phasewalkers and decided it was a good idea to stop for lunch?"

"Yes. I thought they might want something yummy as a final meal before receiving their sentence of eternal damnation." He yawned.

"Anyway, I've caught the other six. Well, five. One of them was having too much fun with me and died in the process." He gestured around the market, where people were tentatively returning now that the threat was suppressed.

"Elric, are you going to clean this up or not?" Elric narrowed his eyes. Then he held out his hand and said, "[Axis of the Unbroken Form]". Just like the spell in the field, this one reverberated with significance and spurred an outpouring of essences that spread across the entire market. Four great lattices formed in the air, glowing and rising to the sky as items began to rise with them. Shards of glass fused to make mugs. Broken wheels returned to their rightful place.

Debris and dust rebuilt the wrecked homes, and every piece, down to a splinter, became part of the whole again, the world coming back together like a puzzle. Within seconds, the market was the same as it was before the Phasewalker's invasion. Ari gaped at Elric.

"That was amazing."

"Thank you." He gave her a quick smile before he asked Gio, "Where's the one who caused this?"

"Gone."

"What do you mean, gone? Is he dead?"

"No, but he was seriously injured by that backlash. It was pretty bad. You would think a Phasewalker would have better control of his spells." He looked to Ari with that final sentence, and she promptly looked away, surveying everything else in the space but him.

"They're typically good at that."

"I suppose everyone has an off-day," Elric responded.

"I suppose." He was still staring at her, and it was starting to make Ari uncomfortable.

"This is Gio," Elric said.

"He's the highest-ranked Archmage currently in the system."

"Oh, you flatterer, you."

"It's not flattery. It's fact." Ari frowned.

"Are you sure?" she asked Elric.

"He doesn't look like an Archmage." Elric inhaled sharply, and Gio laughed.

"Don't I?"

"You don't," Ari responded honestly. He wasn't wearing Archmage robes, nor did he have any of the badges. Also, everything about his carefree speech to the way he moved rejected the formality ingrained in Ascendant culture. Besides, with his floral blouse and his tight pants, he looked more like a courtesan than a warrior. But then something happened. Suddenly, Ari felt an oppressive weight pushing in around her, so oppressive it robbed her of breath. Celestial Blessing.

His was so much heavier and more severe than Master Phineas'. If Phineas's authority felt like sinking into a moat, Gio's was like being dragged down into the depths of the ocean. He really was an Archmage. A really powerful one. When she dared to meet his eyes for a second, he grinned.

"Do I feel like an Archmage now?" She hurried to bow, and he waved her back up.

"Don't do that. I hate that."

"Yes, sir." She straightened.

"Were you suppressing your celestial blessing this whole time?"

"Yes, and I've only released a quarter of it. I like to practice humility occasionally. Especially around this one." He jabbed his thumb toward Elric.

"But since you're in such doubt about my legitimacy, I suppose I must gloat a little. Do you want to see my stat screen? Oh, why am I asking? Of course you do." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He waved his hand in the air, and black ink stitched together to form words.

Subject: Giovanni Li Title: The Eternal Light Tier: Archmage Mage Rank: 4 Level: 1672 Focus: Luxa-Vacu lean Specialty: Illusions and Illusion Breaking, Curse Removal and Reversal, Reality Manipulation, Pocket Dimensions, [Hidden Abilities] GRIMOIRE: The Saint's Domain [Legendary Tier] Black Sermon [Legendary Tier] Prayer of the Severance Spectrum [Archmage Tier] Edict of the False Doctrine [Archmage Tier] Revelation of the Shattered Veil [Archmage Tier] Aperture of the Unseen Testament [Archmage Tier] He waved it away before she could read more, even though his high-level spells kept growing and growing.

"Well?" he asked.

"What do you think?"

"You know a lot more spells than Elric does." Ari was simply making an observation, but it made Elric choke and Giovanni laugh.

"I wouldn't say a lot more…." Elric clarified.

"You haven't even seen mine since..."He trailed off. Ari knew what he was going to say, and she was about to complete his sentence, "Since–""Never mind," he cut her off.

"We should go–""Not yet." Giovanna leaned forward with her hands on his knees and tried to meet eyes that skittered away from him.

"Show me yours."

"She can't," Elric said.

"Her stats haven't been uploaded yet. We just got her evaluated."

"Ah." He straightened.

"Shame. I was curious." Elric cleared his throat and took Ari's hand. His hand was sweaty. Unpleasant, but Ari didn't yank hers back.

"We'll get going now. I dropped off the other Phasewalkers at the detention center."

"I appreciate the help."

"Anytime." As Elric turned away with Ari, she felt the other man's knowing gaze on her back.

Ari and Elric soon discovered that, unfortunately, they could no longer get ice cream. According to Elric, the shop owner was too traumatized from everything that had happened, hence couldn't scoop frozen desserts at this time. He needed time to calm his nerves. Ari didn't understand. The man should have been celebrating that his shop was still intact and that he was still alive, but it seemed he only wanted to focus on the negatives. Oh well. In the meantime, Elric took Ari shopping.

They first went to the Wandery, where they quickly sifted through the shelves and selected a wand. It was made with Cindralith wood, Elric said, and was perfect for those with a Luxa-Massa lean. It cost him ten gold, which was an impossibly expensive amount for Ari to fathom. At the counter, Elric sifted the coins out of his pocket, and Ari opened her wand box to stare in wonder at the softly iridescent wood, color shifting between a deep violet and a silver-blue.

It was smooth but subtly textured, its veins moving in a spiral pattern, before collecting into gently twisted knots at the base, providing a better grip. Ari loved it. Though she didn't need it, she liked having it because it was beautiful.

"Thank you, Archmage Elric," Ari said as they left the store and she held the box to her chest.

"I will never forget this kindness."

"You're very welcome." He winked.

"And it's just Elric, Arielle. We're cousins now. Remember?" She nodded.

"Cousins." As they left the Wandery, Elric told her that she needed to pretend to be his cousin, to prevent people from looking too deeply into her lineage. If they knew her parents were Mossbornes, they would be suspicious of how she got her power, but believing she was related to Elric provided the perfect cover. Elric explained that she was to pretend to be a distant cousin from his mother's side, adopted by the Blacksoils.

Elric's mother had been a Massa-Luxa adept mage who belonged to a smaller clan that had almost been entirely wiped out by clan wars. She was also a fourth cousin of his father and had come to him for protection after her family's demise. Theirs had been a political marriage to give her the Earthbinder name and defense, which she had then squandered when she'd had her affair.

Elric clarified that he planned on telling people that recently, one of his mother's cousins, who had managed to escape the massacre, had told him about Ari, who had been given up as a baby. Using the information he was given, he'd tracked her to Fenway Basin, where she lived after being adopted by Mossbornes.

"It's the perfect story, fleshed out with just enough detail and tragedy to be believable," he said.

"And everyone who could dispute it is either dead or lost. It also helps that you don't look much like the rest of your family." That was correct. Ari was smaller than the rest of the Blacksoils, had black hair while theirs was brown, and had emerald green eyes, where theirs were forest green. Her grandmother always told her she looked like her great-grandmother, which accounted for the discrepancy.

"But won't someone figure it out?" Ari asked.

"If your parents were related, then that might mean that your father should know members of her family, too. Don't you know all your cousins?" He chuckled.

"Please. I barely know all my siblings. My father was extremely indiscriminate with his affections, and the men on my mother's side of the family were the same way. Massa-borne nobles like to spread their seed, so it's extremely plausible that one fell into a crack by the wayside." It took Ari a few seconds to get the reference, and understand he wasn't talking about literal seeds. She'd heard similar language from her brother.

"You don't have any proximity to the clan leadership, so no one will pay any attention to your heritage. As long as you keep a low profile and don't raise suspicion, no one will bother to check."

"Okay," she said.

"I'll try." While they talked, they walked down the cobbled streets towards a bookshop with the exterior markings of a small cathedral. That was their second stop, and here, Elric not only bought multiple books and codices that he insisted she would need for her lessons, but he also bought a thick leather-bound book and a smaller notebook with similar woven Elderscript pages within it.

"This is your Grimoire," he said, lifting the bigger book.

"Any spell script that you write can be uploaded to your system Grimoire; that way, you can easily call on spells even when you don't have a script in front of you. As a beginner, it also lets your professors know how many spells you've perfected, but once you get to the adept tier, you'll want to save only your more complex spells there to prevent clutter. By that point, you should be able to easily cast Tier 1-4 spells without a spell-script."

He didn't wait for her to digest that, as he pointed to the smaller notebook.

"The other one is your miniscroll. The Grimoire is too heavy to carry around, so whenever you're trying to quickly draft a spell script, you can use that. You can also use it to experiment and write out your rough notes and calculations. You can do that in your Grimoire, too, but usually, most people don't like to do the dirty work of crafting in their Grimoires. Just to keep it neat."

"I'll get to craft my own spells?" Ari hadn't even considered that.

"Of course," he said.

"It's a requirement to graduate. I know you could easily steal and repurpose a spell if you wanted to, but I implore you to do it the old-fashioned way and start from the bottom up. Identify the spell you want to create, the intent, and then work out the essences. It's good to get in the habit of it, and there's nothing like utilizing spells that you created. It makes everything feel better, more natural." He pointed.

"Remember, there are multiple ways to get to the same goal. But the path you choose is always the best."

"So spells in your Grimoire... you made them?"

"Yes. Most Archmages only put their own created spells in their Grimoire. It's a thing of pride, and also, with spells of such high complexity, it's best to make it your own in some way and add your signature. That way, no one else can copy it, and you know exactly how to balance your spell if it destabilizes."

"I understand."

"Good. Now, let's go pay for the books."

"Oh, I don't have money." She sputtered. She had some savings in a ceramic pig at home, but it was only twelve copper coins.

"Of course you're not paying for it, silly," he said.

"I am." She bit her lip. She wanted to let him, but it all felt like too much. First the wand, now this. All those books in his hand must be very expensive.

"All that for me?" she asked, to confirm.

"Well, it's not for me." She looked away.

"It will cost too much." Books were expensive, and she'd never received so many at once before. Typically, she got one only on special occasions, like her birthday or when her mother or sister returned from a lucrative mission, once every other month or so. Nothing like this.

"They do cost a lot," he said, and her hope sank, but then he grinned.

"Lucky for you, I have more money than I know what to do with. One of the few perks of being an Archmage and getting high-level quests is that I get paid like a king. Twenty gold pieces are nothing to me." The hope and excitement she'd been trying to suppress bubbled to the surface. Tears almost shone in her eyes.

"Thank you," she said.

"I'll find a way to repay you." His expression softened.

"You're very welcome, Ari." [SYSTEM INTEGRATION COMPLETE]. The voice sounded softly in her head, and Ari said, "I think it's done. My stats have been uploaded."

"Oh, good. Do you remember how to display it?" She nodded and waved her hand, calling on the built-in essence reader that did not require external essences. Name: Arielle Blacksoil Age: 16 Tier: Apprentice (Level 20-100) Level: 50 Strength: 35 Constitution: 60 Agility: 60 Reflex: 45 Endurance: 70 Full Essence Capacity: 110 (High for Level) — CORE ESSENCE DISTRIBUTION — Calor – 20. 00% Vacu – 20. 00% Vitae – 20. 00% Massa – 20. 00% Luxa – 20. 00% Deviation Margin: ±0.

02% Equilibrium Index: 100% Final Lean: Luxa-Massa Quest Completed: 0 Experience Points to the next level: 20 Grimoire: No spells Special Storage Items: None"That's a very good starting point," Elric told her.

"It will mark you as a naturally skilled mage with potential to become an Archmage and explain your unusually fast casting speed, but it won't quite give away how peculiar your skills are." He patted her head.

"You did well, Ari."

"I'm glad," she said. After they went back to see Phineas, and he essentially just reiterated everything Elric had already told her about her lean. He then asked her how she felt about it, and she shrugged, because she truly didn't feel any differently. As they were about to leave, Phineas pulled Elric back and told him in a low tone, "I don't know what you're doing, but if you've gotten me in some kind of trouble, I'm never going to forgive you."

"Why would you think I would get you in trouble?"

"You altered my memory."

"No. I gave you plausible deniability." Phineas threw daggers with his gaze. They walked out of the ministry for the last time as the sun began its slow descent. Arielle asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Elric seemed surprised by the question.

"Why do you ask?"

"Master Phineas seemed angry when we left. Sometimes I do things that make people upset without knowing." Elric stared at her, his gaze unfathomable.

"Does that happen often?"

"Yes. All the time. I was ostracized at school because of it. No one wanted to sit by me or be my partner at playtime." She paused.

"If possible, I would like to know what I did to upset Master Phineas, so I don't do it again."

"You didn't do anything wrong." He pressed his lips together.

"And I'm sorry that happened to you at school. They shouldn't have ostracized you."

"They had a good reason for it. My brother tells me I can be extremely annoying sometimes."

"Even if you were, it would be their fault for not relaying their concerns to you more directly. You can't know what you don't know." She agreed, but of course, life was always more complicated than she would like, as her mother used to say. They walked in silence for some time, aimless with drifting thoughts.

"People have all sorts of silent communication and give quiet hints," he said.

"You should learn to read them."

"I try, but it's not consistent," she said.

"That's the problem. I know a smile means happiness. But it can sometimes mean anger. It can be sarcastic. Or it can mean mocking. Or it can be this." She mimicked the smile Greta had given her once when Ari had asked if she wanted to go glowfrog hunting with her brother. When she replicated the smile for Elric, his eyes sparked, and his lips quirked.

"Well," he said.

"I can help you craft a spell that might translate emotions better."

"You can?"

"Yes. It will be your first crafted spell. We don't have time today, so we'll do that on the way to campus."

"When am I leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Okay." Once again, she felt sad and excited. They ended the day sitting at a bench watching the sunset after they'd finally gotten their cones of ice cream. Elric showed her how to put items into her special storage with a simple spell and also had her practice the [Quick Appraise] spell for reading preliminary stat screens, which usually just told her what kind of creature they were and what level they were at.

For example, a passing mage read as: Creature Type: Human Mage Level: 250 Another passerby read as: Creature Type: Human Mundane Level: 10 Ari couldn't wait to use that at home, but Elric warned her about using it too much.

"Especially with higher-ranked individuals, they can sometimes shield their stats or sense when someone is reading them. It might be considered rude. So use sparingly."

"What if I choose not to use it at all?" She didn't want to be rude.

"Trust me, you'll need to use that skill once you're on campus," he said.

"It's too useful not to, and it's an easy way to know who should and should not be messed with."