Chương 26: One Solution, Two Problems

Arielle found Lyra in their room, pointing a wand at a plant. She couldn't figure out what spell Lyra was trying to cast. The essences continuously got away from her, the bonds not even close to forming.

"4, 5…" Lyra murmured before she released the spell with a sigh. Forehead lines deepened for a split second, then cleared with a headshake as she said, "Okay, again." She waved her wand, about to weave the spell once more, but paused when she saw Arielle still standing there observing her. Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"Did you need something from me?" Ari shook her head. She briefly debated whether to maintain 'space' or provide aid, but she finally decided it was irrational to let Lyra continue to suffer when she had such an easy fix for her.

"You have to hold your cores firmer," Ari said.

"What?"

"The spell form isn't coming together correctly, which tells me that something is wrong with your core connection."

"What's wrong with it?"

"You're not holding firmly enough."

"I'm not sure what you mean." Ari opened her mouth and closed it again. She realized that she couldn't explain it further than that. She had never tried to investigate anyone else's cores before, and she didn't even really know how other people controlled their cores. It was also difficult to describe how she controlled hers. When she told people to hold firmer or shift to the left, it came to her as naturally as breathing or scratching the tip of her nose.

Like her cores were really just phantom limbs that she'd trained to move the essences to her liking. Was it not like that for Lyra, or for everyone else? Was that why the girl in spell-casting class had given her that puzzled look when she'd said it?

"Arielle," Lyra prompted.

"You're not explaining what you mean."

"How do you sense your core?"

"You mean during meditation?"

"Yes."

"It feels like heat." Arielle nodded. Hers was often heated too, but she could usually cool it down at will.

"How about when you cast a spell? Does it also feel like heat?"

"Sometimes. It depends on the spell."

"Does it depend on spell difficulty?"

"No, it's very random. Some days I just feel it more than other days. On the days I feel it, I cast the spell correctly and sometimes even quickly. Other times, I don't." That was strange.

"That kind of variance isn't normal." Lyra executed a lipless smile.

"I know."

"Do you know why it happens?"

"No."

"Is it dependent on your mood?" She shrugged. This was the problem. The problem was that they couldn't even diagnose the problem because Lyra didn't know enough about how her cores worked, and Arielle could not look inside her to investigate. She could see everything that was happening externally, but she couldn't tell what was causing it.

"I don't know how to help you." It was a stunning realization. Ari had assumed, at first, that there would be a simple solution, if not an easy one, because Lyra's problem wasn't complicated, on the surface. However, the randomized nature of it gave her uncertainty.

"Have you tried to find a pattern in the failure to connect?"

"Yes. I have a journal where I track it. So far, Professor Valeria and I haven't found any correlation. My cores appear fine in meditation class, and for some spells, they're also fine, but then they fail me randomly." Arielle shook her head.

"Then I can't help you." Vexation skittered across Lyra's features as she released a frustrated breath.

"Why did you act as though you could?"

"I didn't think your problem would be so insurmountable." Lyra's eyes blazed. She got up and said, "Can you do me a favor?"

"What favor?"

"Can you go back to ignoring me like you've been doing all this time?" Ari blinked, wondering why the atmosphere had suddenly turned contentious. Had she done something?

"You... want more space?" she inquired.

"Yes. Please." Disappointment sank Ari's shoulders. She'd hoped and expected their conversation to signal the end of the careful distance. How to Charm Kings had told her to check the temperature of the relationship routinely, which was essentially what she'd done. It seemed with Lyra, the temperature was still too hot... or cold, depending on which one was worse. Arielle nodded hesitantly and went to her desk.

She remained unsettled as she sat, replaying the conversation in her head, wondering what she'd said wrong, how she had offended. Moments like this made her feel so helpless, because she simplydidn't understand. Elric's [Empath Sense] wouldn't help her here either. She needed a spell to make her not do and say the wrong thing. If such a spell even existed. That, plus the knowledge that she couldn't help Lyra, weighed heavily on her mind. Why?

Perhaps it was because it was the first magical thing she hadn't excelled at. Or perhaps she was worried about the potential manalings that Lyra would create with her repeated failures. Or maybe it was simply because Lyra's failure meant that she might not make it past the next severance trials and that, in a few short weeks, she would be gone. Arielle didn't want her to leave. Lyra was the perfect roommate.

She was never loud or untidy, she didn't have unsettling mood swings, and she had an appreciation for symmetry when she organized her side of the room. Not to mention, she was kindhearted enough to attempt to rescue Arielle from Faulkey on the first day, even though she likely knew it would be to her own detriment. Previously, Arielle had thought she just wanted friendship with anyone, but now she realized that even more than that, she wanted a friendship with Lyra, specifically.

Even if Lyra never became stronger and could never offer her hand in brotherhood, Arielle was willing to compensate for that. She had more than enough power for both of them. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. But Lyra likely wouldn't want to be her friend if she left. Arielle hadn't fully won her over, and their friendship was not yet on solid ground, what with all the space Lyra needed from her. If she left, Arielle suspected that might be the end.

She didn't want Lyra to leave, but she didn't have any way of helping her. In an act of desperation, she turned around in her seat.

"Lyra," she called.

"You're supposed to be ignoring me."

"Yes, but I have one more thing to say. Can you talk to the essences?" The slow head pivot Lrya executed was the height of dramatism.

"Are you mocking me?"

"No. I'm being serious. I think it might help you to do so. It might not be an instantaneous improvement, but if you continuously talk to them, you might gain increased sensitivity, and it will help you cast spells more reliably by the time severance trials begin. Although it is somewhat unlikely, I would give it at least a two percent chance." Lyra didn't respond verbally. She did, however, shoot Ari such a glowering scowl that there was no doubt as to the direction of her thoughts. Arielle gave a quick nod.

"I'll go back to ignoring you now."

"Please." Ari settled in to read advanced spell-casting as Lyra continued failing at basic spell-casting. However, the problem lingered in her mind. What could be going on with Lyra? How could she possibly help her? Arielle knew there was a chance that her roommate could not be helped, that her cores were simply defective in a way that Arielle couldn't understand. But for now, she chose not to entertain that conclusion.

There must be something she could do to strengthen her core and to bridge the gap between what Lyra wanted to do and what she was actually doing. A separate thought occurred to Ari. Perhaps there was a rune that would help. She flipped her pages until she happened on the chapter about runes and rune crafting. Runes are some of the most exacting magical implements to craft.

More demanding than spells, charms, or potions, runes require a deep and precise understanding of reagents, mastery of bonding instruments, expertise in stoichiograms, and proficiency in the preparation of the inkform that will carry the enchantment. Each rune is a careful composition of arcane theory and meticulous practice, inscribed upon a rune scroll. Examples of Commonly Employed Runes Teleportation runes. Binding runes. Storm Call runes Soul Resonance runes.

Arielle paused on that last one and scanned down the page to read more about it. Soul resonance runes are utilized by masters or above in the act of refining their cores and improving core connection when casting high-magnitude parallel spells. They can only be crafted and purchased by masters or above, typically costing upwards of one mithril... Arielle blinked in shock. One mithril? That was a hundred pieces of gold. Why did it cost that much for a single rune? Where was she even to get that kind of money?

While it would help Lyra, it was too much for Ari to afford right now. She kept reading, hoping to find something else that would work just as well, but none of the other runes helped until she got into the topic of charms. There were two different types of charms. Simple charms, which were essentially tiny magical scrolls torn to release magic, and protective charms, which worked by a far more complicated and holistic mechanism.

Simple charms were similar to runes, except easier to craft and didn't need as many specialized items, simply ink-making herbs to imbue the magic and the charm scroll. Though easier, charm crafting was nevertheless more complicated than spell crafting, still requiring essence bonding expertise and knowledge of the essence composition of herbal mixtures. Charms worked better than potions with stronger results and fewer side effects.

One of the most common simple charms was vitality charms, and there were several categories. Some boosted energy, some boosted speed, some simply boosted awareness, and some even enabled one to analyze auras. Perhaps Arielle needed one of those. If she read Lyra's aura while at the same time staring at the spell essence's movement, she might be able to isolate the problem. Furthermore, there were vitality charms that also boosted awareness of cores.

Even if it was just temporarily, at the very least, it would educate Lyra on what her core connection was supposed to feel like. Then they could figure out her issue from there. The only problem was that the vitality charms were also expensive and were only sold to masters, heads of noble clans and sects, or academy professors, to prevent misuse. The spell form was also patented by a man named Alaric Winthrome, and so it wasn't available in any spell books.

However, Arielle could likely figure out the spell on her own. She'd been learning about spell crafting for a week now, and she was confident enough to craft her own spells. The only difference between crafting spells and charms was that charms required reagents with essences built into them, mostly in the form of herbs that would be ground into ink. The complication lay in deciding the amount of herbs that gave the proper number of essences and combining them in such a way that they formed the right shape.

However, Arielle could work backwards, visualize the essences, and use that to select the perfect amount of herbs for the combination. At its base, it would be a vitality spell, which was a beginner spell that every first-year student knew. Then she would simply make additions to strengthen it until she got the result she wanted. It might come with a few failed trials, but in the end, the essences would guide her, and she would have a vitality charm that she needed.

Excitement alleviated her earlier discontent, and she went on to read more about the reagents she would need. Vitality charms had a fixed amount of herbs that were used to create the spell ink. Mandrake herbs for Calor. Angelica herbs for Luxa. Yarrow leaves for Vitae. Wormwood bark for Massa. Blue belladonna flower for Vacu. She knew where they sold those. Her sister bought blue belladonna all the time at apothecaries, and Arielle had gone with her once, so she knew they cost around a few silver coins each.

Arielle ran the calculations in her head, and having no other choice, she pulled out her messaging book and wrote on the page assigned to Elric: How much would a charm scroll cost? She expected him to reply much later, but he must not have been very busy because he very quickly wrote back: Are you studying charm crafting already? I thought that wasn't until your second year. Professor Valeria wants to accelerate my progress. She's very excited about it. Why? Did you do anything strange? I don't think so. Hm.

Charm scrolls cost about eight silver per roll. With that roll, you can create up to fifty charms. She likely didn't need that many. Do they only sell it by the roll? Yes. She thought about it, biting her lip. In related affairs, can I borrow eight silver? As well as an additional fifteen copper coins for the reagents. I promise to pay it back with 15% interest. That is the standard interest rate given by small lenders.

Elric did not respond for quite some time, and Ari was anxious that she'd pushed too far and he would tell her that he couldn't keep giving her coins. But then he replied at the same time as she got a system alert: INVENTORY ALERT! GOLD COINS RECEIVED. I sent two gold coins, equivalent to twenty silver. There's no need to pay me back, Arielle, as I have said, I do have more money than I know what to do with.

I initiated the transfer with my bank, but since you do not have one, it should simply show up in your inventory. Ari checked it now. INVENTORY GOLD COINS: 2 Arielle beamed. Thank you, Elric. Of course. I probably should have sent an allowance already, but I simply forgot that young ones like you need that. No need for an allowance. And I will pay you back. I have to. They might be a pretend family, but Arielle was acutely aware that they were not related.

And even if they were, she did not enjoy being indebted to anyone. It was enough that he'd bought her those books and the wand and everything else. She itched to pay him back for all of it. How, when I don't have income? She sighed and opened her book again, but then it struck her like a lightning bolt. She needed a way to make money with minimal time commitment... as with goods to sell. Charms were a kind of good.

Perhaps, since she had extra scrolls and extra silver, she could buy extra reagents and make extra charms. And sell them. That way, she would have one solution for two problems. Of course, the patent slightly complicated things, but she could adjust the charm and its effect slightly, so that the patent would no longer be enforceable. At least that's what Brom used to say when he spoke about the beauty of counterfeits and why it was so hard to curtail them in the market.

It was a way for the poor to cheat the system, but it was a legal cheat. She pressed her lips together, heart racing as she was faced with a conflict. Arielle certainly didn't like to cheat. She was a good, law-abiding young citizen and prided herself on doing the right thing always. However, her priorities were… adjustable. While she wanted to believe that she was righteous enough to ignore the real possibility of accumulating some manner of wealth by distributing counterfeit goods…

the temptation remained, and her other priorities tipped things in its favor. She was her brother's sister after all. And it appeared mercantile ambition ran in their family.