Chapter 344: Oh R—
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 344: Oh R—
Tala continued to feel sweat pouring off of her as she strained to keep the iron containment in place around Sole.
Well that wasnt quite accurate, but she was sweating much more than she usually did.
Alat had sent a message through the Archive to her unit detailing the situation, and shed received back instructions to hold, and call for back-up at need.
That made good sense. Fewer variables meant that fewer things could go wrong, assuming she kept things under control.
Master Clevnis was in process of being healed, Mistress Vanga taking her time to do a detailed rebuild of his legs to reduce any chance of dissonance with the new limbs. She was only taking that level of care because according to the current plan, there should easily be time for such a meticulous healing.
That was alright with Tala. She was fairly certain that she could hold this prisoner, even though it was steadily getting more difficult while she slowly wore down under the effort.
The prisoner had shown his experience after his initial panic wore off, and he was now essentially bouncing his power off of the inside of the iron container, building momentum within the magic, effectively acting like a slowly heating liquid within an enclosed container.
And he saves on magical power, too
She wasnt having to hold the iron in place, thankfully, but she was having to fight to keep her aura at least equal with the inner surface of the iron.
As a complicating factor, there was also a further odd resonance that came from the power that was originating from within his body, which she held some sway over.
Basically, it felt just a bit like she was attacking herself, which was quite conceptually unpleasant.
In order to conserve her strength, Tala pulled her spikes out of the stone. She did this for all but a pathway from where the entrance would reappear to where Sole was encased, reabsorbing the iron into herself.
She had never been so active with her aura while changing the amount of iron she had on hand, and doing so caused her to notice a slight easing of her task as the iron entered the dimensions of magic around her body.
Around my soul.
-That would be my guess, too. All tasks with your will or soul originate within your body or gate, so adding real weight to them would make those tasks easier.-
At least it seems so.
-Agreed, more testing is in order.-
After were done here.
-Oh, obviously.-
Tala slowly lowered herself into a seated position while maintaining the seal on what was increasingly becoming a dangerously overheated pressure cooker of powerthough, it resembled that tool in an entirely different manner from her own iron containment.
In my case, Im continually adding more magic. In his, hes making his magic move more. She shook her head. Not that thats very important right now.
-This really makes me wish we could see Mistress Cerna deal with Sole. I think it would be informative.-
Tala had to nod in agreement.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
If Tala hadnt been up for the task, or if shed failed in her implementation, Mistress Cerna was the Archon who would have stepped in to counter this prisoner.
Apparently, she had a whole slew of scripts that were specifically for aura enhancement. With that, she could effectively fill the role at least as well as Tala had, through an entirely different manner.
It would seemingly be rather expensive, however, as well as a bit less flexible.
And, I dont know how shed have handled the almost undetectable attacks. She glanced down at the cuts in the stone ground that the needles had sliced and poked before she had scooped them up.
It will be interesting to see how well those hold up once were away from him. Im not sure in what way he enacted their indestructibility.
-He did seem to have realized that eternal nullifications can come back to bite him-
Yeah, I definitely dont think that I would want to make eternal choices.
-Like marriage?-
Precisely. Though, that was an odd thing for Alat to bring up, especially now. Still, the alternate interface probably had her reasons.
-Or soulbonding.-
I already agreed that marriage is too big a thing for me to choose into right now.
-Oh, I was talking about a sword, outfit, informational connection, that sort of thing. We wouldnt want to rush into such things.-
I need to focus, Alat.
-Sure, sure. Do what you need to do.-
Tala grimaced internally and returned her focus to the captured, weakened, pressure cooking Honored.
Yeah, this is much less complicated.
How long had she been at this?
How long had she kept Sole contained?
-Youve been in here, alone for about half an hour, give or take.-
That wasnt great. Still, that was a quarter to a sixth of the time required.
Was there a way that she could vent the pressure?
Tala frowned.
If she let his power breach out, that would obviously be a flaw of containment, and it would force a much more direct confrontation. It would also be one that shed have less bracing for.
She would likely lose that clash.
Tala could vent it downward into the ground, where her aura was thinnest, but if he capitalized on that, who knew what oddities he could work when presented with the situation and a potential to do something.
So, she couldnt vent it into the surroundings.
She just needed it gone or somewhere it couldnt do anything.
Huh
-Tala if you eject him into the Doman-Imithe thats a mission failure.-
I know, I know you know I know it too. Thats not what I want to attempt.
-But it is a possible result of what you want to attempt.-
Unlikely
-but still possible. That is, unless he notices; then its no longer unlikely. In that case, it is very likely that he would purposefully throw himself into your void-magics.-
Her gamble had backfired.
Her plan had resulted exactly as she had hoped it would but had consequences that she couldnt have possibly predicted.
Less than ten seconds passed, and a pulse of power announced the tunnel behind her opening once more.
Her mirrored perceptions saw more blood within the tunnel and Mistress Vanga still working on Master Clevnisthough they were both looking her way when the wall openedmuscle and sinew visibly growing across exposed bone to rebuild what had been destroyed.
Two seconds more saw golden balls that were insanely intricate spellforms begin to fly into a pattern around the contained Sole.
Tala felt her aura grip slipping, but suddenly it was as if new strength surged through her.
No, the task just became orders of magnitude easier.
It was as if her fingers had been slipping off of a ledge, and then she found her wrists strapped to a hook, now embedded and holding her up.
The result wasnt comfortable, but it was almost overwhelmingly easier.
Mistress Tala, how long did you have him contained so tenuously? Mistress Cernas voice was firm, clear, and precise, utterly professional in an incredibly tense situation.
Tala tried to open her mouth to respond but found it difficult to shift her will-power toward freeing her mouth.
-I got this. Keep on task.-
More than half an hour of containment, becoming slightly more difficult with time. So, you werent struggling this much the whole time, correct?
-I said no.-
Thats good at least. So, something changed?
Tala nodded slightly.
Then, thank you for calling on us. With such a stationary opponent, I can reinforce anothers aura That is a lot of pressure, though. Is this enough help?
Tala hesitated.
Alat didnt. -I said no. Please help more.-
Mistress Cerna wove another dozen golden spheres over the course of the next minute, fixing them spatially in place around the contained prisoner.
Each one was a soothing balm to Talas strained will and mind.
Her magesight showed that the golden balls linked not only Mistress Cerna to the effort. Everyone in the unit was lending their magical weight to back up her aura.
As theyd discussed before coming in, this was only possible because of the static nature of the aura conflict. Their reinforcement would greatly trail behind any action she took with her own aura, and that could actually cause her to be fighting against them if she were forced into a dynamic conflict as she had been in the beginning.
Yeah, I should have called them sooner.
-Maybe, but the plan was for you to hold out if you could, to mitigate risk. We called for help when we needed it, and we have the backup that we need, now.-
Tala felt relief wash through her as she realized the truth of that statement. Im not alone.
In the corners of her voidsight, she saw the threads of reality between herself and her unit-mates grow just a bit stronger.
As she watched, the one linking her to Mistress Cerna gained another fraction as the woman leaned in, Thank you for saving my husband. While he might have survived without your intervention, it would have been a whole lot nearer a thing.
Tala felt her illusion smile with weary warmth in return, reflecting her inner feelings in a way that shed never been able to master before.
Great, so the key is utter exhaustion. Who would have thought?
- you know thats how you usually have your breakthroughs, right?-
Tala chose to ignore her alternate interface, instead leaning into the support coming even from the injured Master Clevnis and Mistress Vanga as she worked.
Her unit had her back, and she felt a growing contentment and certainty that she would have theirs as well.
Time passed in a blur, and it was almost a shock when Master Abali contacted them to indicate that he was done with his setup and ready for their withdrawal.
The golden spellforms had needed to be replaced at least four times, showing just how costly the workings were.
Now, as the unit pulled back, Tala braced herself.
First, she removed the iron spikes around Sole, pulling out and withdrawing all of the iron spikes from the ground back to the exit of the tunnel, even as she retreated to the entrance.
That, alone, put a strain on her iron cocoon once more.
Ready? She glanced toward Mistress Cerna, happy that shed recovered enough to allow her to move her metal for speech once more.
Master Abali nodded from beyond the Refined, On your mark.
Mistress Cerna nodded as well, even as the other unit members braced themselves, Flaring in five, four, three, two, one, GO!
As the golden spheres blazed with power, burning themselves out in a final pulse of power, Tala ripped away the iron shell.
The iron flowed like a diving falcon, shooting toward them and down the tunnel, Talas spikes pulling free of the walls to join the flood as it passed.
Talas aura became more and more leveraged over those short seconds.
Only the flaring power of Mistress Cernas spellformsbacked by the power of five more Refinedkept Talas aura tightly around Sole.
That didnt physically restrain him, however.
The man was disoriented for the briefest of moments. Then, his eyes locked onto Tala for the barest instant before he vanished from her perception.
Even so, his reality node was obvious before her voidsight as it rocketed their way, somehow almost matching the speed of her iron.
The last flecks of her iron exited the tunnel on their side just as he entered it from the other.
At that instant, the whole thing twisted to her voidsight, pinching off and wrapping back in on itself in a manner to seal off the cell.
Tala maintained spikes around the twisted doorway even as the stone distorted and shrank back into the ground.
At the last instant, an incredible blow slammed into her aura, barely being kept in place by her layers of reinforcement. Even then, it was only due to the rest her unit had allowed her that she held her aura firm, keeping out whatever working hed thrown at them in the end.
As reality stretched and twisted, Tala felt an increasing burden, her bound iron getting further and further away.
This was an entirely new thing. Shed never had iron that never entered her aura proper before. Her understanding was that even with Master Akras training, she wouldnt be able to infinitely separate herself from a soulbound item and generate her aura from it.
Her magic was being siphoned off in an increasing torrent, flooding into her connection with the iron, trying to prop it up, and allow it to stretch into the increasing distance.
Then, the cell was closed, Sole was contained, and Tala was entirely cut off from the iron in the prisoners blood.
Oh r In a terrible instant, all of her internal magic was torn from her, though her throughput meant that none of her magics spluttered out. But more than that, she felt something within her crack and her entire self jerked as if she had been struck by Force.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 344: Oh R—
Tala continued to feel sweat pouring off of her as she strained to keep the iron containment in place around Sole.
Well that wasnt quite accurate, but she was sweating much more than she usually did.
Alat had sent a message through the Archive to her unit detailing the situation, and shed received back instructions to hold, and call for back-up at need.
That made good sense. Fewer variables meant that fewer things could go wrong, assuming she kept things under control.
Master Clevnis was in process of being healed, Mistress Vanga taking her time to do a detailed rebuild of his legs to reduce any chance of dissonance with the new limbs. She was only taking that level of care because according to the current plan, there should easily be time for such a meticulous healing.
That was alright with Tala. She was fairly certain that she could hold this prisoner, even though it was steadily getting more difficult while she slowly wore down under the effort.
The prisoner had shown his experience after his initial panic wore off, and he was now essentially bouncing his power off of the inside of the iron container, building momentum within the magic, effectively acting like a slowly heating liquid within an enclosed container.
And he saves on magical power, too
She wasnt having to hold the iron in place, thankfully, but she was having to fight to keep her aura at least equal with the inner surface of the iron.
As a complicating factor, there was also a further odd resonance that came from the power that was originating from within his body, which she held some sway over.
Basically, it felt just a bit like she was attacking herself, which was quite conceptually unpleasant.
In order to conserve her strength, Tala pulled her spikes out of the stone. She did this for all but a pathway from where the entrance would reappear to where Sole was encased, reabsorbing the iron into herself.
She had never been so active with her aura while changing the amount of iron she had on hand, and doing so caused her to notice a slight easing of her task as the iron entered the dimensions of magic around her body.
Around my soul.
-That would be my guess, too. All tasks with your will or soul originate within your body or gate, so adding real weight to them would make those tasks easier.-
At least it seems so.
-Agreed, more testing is in order.-
After were done here.
-Oh, obviously.-
Tala slowly lowered herself into a seated position while maintaining the seal on what was increasingly becoming a dangerously overheated pressure cooker of powerthough, it resembled that tool in an entirely different manner from her own iron containment.
In my case, Im continually adding more magic. In his, hes making his magic move more. She shook her head. Not that thats very important right now.
-This really makes me wish we could see Mistress Cerna deal with Sole. I think it would be informative.-
Tala had to nod in agreement.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
If Tala hadnt been up for the task, or if shed failed in her implementation, Mistress Cerna was the Archon who would have stepped in to counter this prisoner.
Apparently, she had a whole slew of scripts that were specifically for aura enhancement. With that, she could effectively fill the role at least as well as Tala had, through an entirely different manner.
It would seemingly be rather expensive, however, as well as a bit less flexible.
And, I dont know how shed have handled the almost undetectable attacks. She glanced down at the cuts in the stone ground that the needles had sliced and poked before she had scooped them up.
It will be interesting to see how well those hold up once were away from him. Im not sure in what way he enacted their indestructibility.
-He did seem to have realized that eternal nullifications can come back to bite him-
Yeah, I definitely dont think that I would want to make eternal choices.
-Like marriage?-
Precisely. Though, that was an odd thing for Alat to bring up, especially now. Still, the alternate interface probably had her reasons.
-Or soulbonding.-
I already agreed that marriage is too big a thing for me to choose into right now.
-Oh, I was talking about a sword, outfit, informational connection, that sort of thing. We wouldnt want to rush into such things.-
I need to focus, Alat.
-Sure, sure. Do what you need to do.-
Tala grimaced internally and returned her focus to the captured, weakened, pressure cooking Honored.
Yeah, this is much less complicated.
How long had she been at this?
How long had she kept Sole contained?
-Youve been in here, alone for about half an hour, give or take.-
That wasnt great. Still, that was a quarter to a sixth of the time required.
Was there a way that she could vent the pressure?
Tala frowned.
If she let his power breach out, that would obviously be a flaw of containment, and it would force a much more direct confrontation. It would also be one that shed have less bracing for.
She would likely lose that clash.
Tala could vent it downward into the ground, where her aura was thinnest, but if he capitalized on that, who knew what oddities he could work when presented with the situation and a potential to do something.
So, she couldnt vent it into the surroundings.
She just needed it gone or somewhere it couldnt do anything.
Huh
-Tala if you eject him into the Doman-Imithe thats a mission failure.-
I know, I know you know I know it too. Thats not what I want to attempt.
-But it is a possible result of what you want to attempt.-
Unlikely
-but still possible. That is, unless he notices; then its no longer unlikely. In that case, it is very likely that he would purposefully throw himself into your void-magics.-
Her gamble had backfired.
Her plan had resulted exactly as she had hoped it would but had consequences that she couldnt have possibly predicted.
Less than ten seconds passed, and a pulse of power announced the tunnel behind her opening once more.
Her mirrored perceptions saw more blood within the tunnel and Mistress Vanga still working on Master Clevnisthough they were both looking her way when the wall openedmuscle and sinew visibly growing across exposed bone to rebuild what had been destroyed.
Two seconds more saw golden balls that were insanely intricate spellforms begin to fly into a pattern around the contained Sole.
Tala felt her aura grip slipping, but suddenly it was as if new strength surged through her.
No, the task just became orders of magnitude easier.
It was as if her fingers had been slipping off of a ledge, and then she found her wrists strapped to a hook, now embedded and holding her up.
The result wasnt comfortable, but it was almost overwhelmingly easier.
Mistress Tala, how long did you have him contained so tenuously? Mistress Cernas voice was firm, clear, and precise, utterly professional in an incredibly tense situation.
Tala tried to open her mouth to respond but found it difficult to shift her will-power toward freeing her mouth.
-I got this. Keep on task.-
More than half an hour of containment, becoming slightly more difficult with time. So, you werent struggling this much the whole time, correct?
-I said no.-
Thats good at least. So, something changed?
Tala nodded slightly.
Then, thank you for calling on us. With such a stationary opponent, I can reinforce anothers aura That is a lot of pressure, though. Is this enough help?
Tala hesitated.
Alat didnt. -I said no. Please help more.-
Mistress Cerna wove another dozen golden spheres over the course of the next minute, fixing them spatially in place around the contained prisoner.
Each one was a soothing balm to Talas strained will and mind.
Her magesight showed that the golden balls linked not only Mistress Cerna to the effort. Everyone in the unit was lending their magical weight to back up her aura.
As theyd discussed before coming in, this was only possible because of the static nature of the aura conflict. Their reinforcement would greatly trail behind any action she took with her own aura, and that could actually cause her to be fighting against them if she were forced into a dynamic conflict as she had been in the beginning.
Yeah, I should have called them sooner.
-Maybe, but the plan was for you to hold out if you could, to mitigate risk. We called for help when we needed it, and we have the backup that we need, now.-
Tala felt relief wash through her as she realized the truth of that statement. Im not alone.
In the corners of her voidsight, she saw the threads of reality between herself and her unit-mates grow just a bit stronger.
As she watched, the one linking her to Mistress Cerna gained another fraction as the woman leaned in, Thank you for saving my husband. While he might have survived without your intervention, it would have been a whole lot nearer a thing.
Tala felt her illusion smile with weary warmth in return, reflecting her inner feelings in a way that shed never been able to master before.
Great, so the key is utter exhaustion. Who would have thought?
- you know thats how you usually have your breakthroughs, right?-
Tala chose to ignore her alternate interface, instead leaning into the support coming even from the injured Master Clevnis and Mistress Vanga as she worked.
Her unit had her back, and she felt a growing contentment and certainty that she would have theirs as well.
Time passed in a blur, and it was almost a shock when Master Abali contacted them to indicate that he was done with his setup and ready for their withdrawal.
The golden spellforms had needed to be replaced at least four times, showing just how costly the workings were.
Now, as the unit pulled back, Tala braced herself.
First, she removed the iron spikes around Sole, pulling out and withdrawing all of the iron spikes from the ground back to the exit of the tunnel, even as she retreated to the entrance.
That, alone, put a strain on her iron cocoon once more.
Ready? She glanced toward Mistress Cerna, happy that shed recovered enough to allow her to move her metal for speech once more.
Master Abali nodded from beyond the Refined, On your mark.
Mistress Cerna nodded as well, even as the other unit members braced themselves, Flaring in five, four, three, two, one, GO!
As the golden spheres blazed with power, burning themselves out in a final pulse of power, Tala ripped away the iron shell.
The iron flowed like a diving falcon, shooting toward them and down the tunnel, Talas spikes pulling free of the walls to join the flood as it passed.
Talas aura became more and more leveraged over those short seconds.
Only the flaring power of Mistress Cernas spellformsbacked by the power of five more Refinedkept Talas aura tightly around Sole.
That didnt physically restrain him, however.
The man was disoriented for the briefest of moments. Then, his eyes locked onto Tala for the barest instant before he vanished from her perception.
Even so, his reality node was obvious before her voidsight as it rocketed their way, somehow almost matching the speed of her iron.
The last flecks of her iron exited the tunnel on their side just as he entered it from the other.
At that instant, the whole thing twisted to her voidsight, pinching off and wrapping back in on itself in a manner to seal off the cell.
Tala maintained spikes around the twisted doorway even as the stone distorted and shrank back into the ground.
At the last instant, an incredible blow slammed into her aura, barely being kept in place by her layers of reinforcement. Even then, it was only due to the rest her unit had allowed her that she held her aura firm, keeping out whatever working hed thrown at them in the end.
As reality stretched and twisted, Tala felt an increasing burden, her bound iron getting further and further away.
This was an entirely new thing. Shed never had iron that never entered her aura proper before. Her understanding was that even with Master Akras training, she wouldnt be able to infinitely separate herself from a soulbound item and generate her aura from it.
Her magic was being siphoned off in an increasing torrent, flooding into her connection with the iron, trying to prop it up, and allow it to stretch into the increasing distance.
Then, the cell was closed, Sole was contained, and Tala was entirely cut off from the iron in the prisoners blood.
Oh r In a terrible instant, all of her internal magic was torn from her, though her throughput meant that none of her magics spluttered out. But more than that, she felt something within her crack and her entire self jerked as if she had been struck by Force.
Chapter 344: Oh RTala continued to feel sweat pouring off of her as she strained to keep the iron containment in place around Sole.Well that wasnt quite accurate, but she was sweating much more than she usually did.Alat had sent a message through the Archive to her unit detailing the situation, and shed received back instructions to hold, and call for back-up at need.That made good sense. Fewer variables meant that fewer things could go wrong, assuming she kept things under control.Master Clevnis was in process of being healed, Mistress Vanga taking her time to do a detailed rebuild of his legs to reduce any chance of dissonance with the new limbs. She was only taking that level of care because according to the current plan, there should easily be time for such a meticulous healing.That was alright with Tala. She was fairly certain that she could hold this prisoner, even though it was steadily getting more difficult while she slowly wore down under the effort.The prisoner had shown his experience after his initial panic wore off, and he was now essentially bouncing his power off of the inside of the iron container, building momentum within the magic, effectively acting like a slowly heating liquid within an enclosed container.And he saves on magical power, tooShe wasnt having to hold the iron in place, thankfully, but she was having to fight to keep her aura at least equal with the inner surface of the iron.As a complicating factor, there was also a further odd resonance that came from the power that was originating from within his body, which she held some sway over.Basically, it felt just a bit like she was attacking herself, which was quite conceptually unpleasant.In order to conserve her strength, Tala pulled her spikes out of the stone. She did this for all but a pathway from where the entrance would reappear to where Sole was encased, reabsorbing the iron into herself.She had never been so active with her aura while changing the amount of iron she had on hand, and doing so caused her to notice a slight easing of her task as the iron entered the dimensions of magic around her body.Around my soul.-That would be my guess, too. All tasks with your will or soul originate within your body or gate, so adding real weight to them would make those tasks easier.-At least it seems so.-Agreed, more testing is in order.-After were done here.-Oh, obviously.-Tala slowly lowered herself into a seated position while maintaining the seal on what was increasingly becoming a dangerously overheated pressure cooker of powerthough, it resembled that tool in an entirely different manner from her own iron containment.In my case, Im continually adding more magic. In his, hes making his magic move more. She shook her head. Not that thats very important right now.-This really makes me wish we could see Mistress Cerna deal with Sole. I think it would be informative.-Tala had to nod in agreement.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.If Tala hadnt been up for the task, or if shed failed in her implementation, Mistress Cerna was the Archon who would have stepped in to counter this prisoner.Apparently, she had a whole slew of scripts that were specifically for aura enhancement. With that, she could effectively fill the role at least as well as Tala had, through an entirely different manner.It would seemingly be rather expensive, however, as well as a bit less flexible.And, I dont know how shed have handled the almost undetectable attacks. She glanced down at the cuts in the stone ground that the needles had sliced and poked before she had scooped them up.It will be interesting to see how well those hold up once were away from him. Im not sure in what way he enacted their indestructibility.-He did seem to have realized that eternal nullifications can come back to bite him-Yeah, I definitely dont think that I would want to make eternal choices.-Like marriage?-Precisely. Though, that was an odd thing for Alat to bring up, especially now. Still, the alternate interface probably had her reasons.-Or soulbonding.-I already agreed that marriage is too big a thing for me to choose into right now.-Oh, I was talking about a sword, outfit, informational connection, that sort of thing. We wouldnt want to rush into such things.-I need to focus, Alat.-Sure, sure. Do what you need to do.-Tala grimaced internally and returned her focus to the captured, weakened, pressure cooking Honored.Yeah, this is much less complicated.How long had she been at this?How long had she kept Sole contained?-Youve been in here, alone for about half an hour, give or take.-That wasnt great. Still, that was a quarter to a sixth of the time required.Was there a way that she could vent the pressure?Tala frowned.If she let his power breach out, that would obviously be a flaw of containment, and it would force a much more direct confrontation. It would also be one that shed have less bracing for.She would likely lose that clash.Tala could vent it downward into the ground, where her aura was thinnest, but if he capitalized on that, who knew what oddities he could work when presented with the situation and a potential to do something.So, she couldnt vent it into the surroundings.She just needed it gone or somewhere it couldnt do anything.Huh-Tala if you eject him into the Doman-Imithe thats a mission failure.-I know, I know you know I know it too. Thats not what I want to attempt.-But it is a possible result of what you want to attempt.-Unlikely-but still possible. That is, unless he notices; then its no longer unlikely. In that case, it is very likely that he would purposefully throw himself into your void-magics.-Her gamble had backfired.Her plan had resulted exactly as she had hoped it would but had consequences that she couldnt have possibly predicted.Less than ten seconds passed, and a pulse of power announced the tunnel behind her opening once more.Her mirrored perceptions saw more blood within the tunnel and Mistress Vanga still working on Master Clevnisthough they were both looking her way when the wall openedmuscle and sinew visibly growing across exposed bone to rebuild what had been destroyed.Two seconds more saw golden balls that were insanely intricate spellforms begin to fly into a pattern around the contained Sole.Tala felt her aura grip slipping, but suddenly it was as if new strength surged through her.No, the task just became orders of magnitude easier.It was as if her fingers had been slipping off of a ledge, and then she found her wrists strapped to a hook, now embedded and holding her up.The result wasnt comfortable, but it was almost overwhelmingly easier.Mistress Tala, how long did you have him contained so tenuously? Mistress Cernas voice was firm, clear, and precise, utterly professional in an incredibly tense situation.Tala tried to open her mouth to respond but found it difficult to shift her will-power toward freeing her mouth.-I got this. Keep on task.-More than half an hour of containment, becoming slightly more difficult with time. So, you werent struggling this much the whole time, correct?-I said no.-Thats good at least. So, something changed?Tala nodded slightly.Then, thank you for calling on us. With such a stationary opponent, I can reinforce anothers aura That is a lot of pressure, though. Is this enough help?Tala hesitated.Alat didnt. -I said no. Please help more.-Mistress Cerna wove another dozen golden spheres over the course of the next minute, fixing them spatially in place around the contained prisoner.Each one was a soothing balm to Talas strained will and mind.Her magesight showed that the golden balls linked not only Mistress Cerna to the effort. Everyone in the unit was lending their magical weight to back up her aura.As theyd discussed before coming in, this was only possible because of the static nature of the aura conflict. Their reinforcement would greatly trail behind any action she took with her own aura, and that could actually cause her to be fighting against them if she were forced into a dynamic conflict as she had been in the beginning.Yeah, I should have called them sooner.-Maybe, but the plan was for you to hold out if you could, to mitigate risk. We called for help when we needed it, and we have the backup that we need, now.-Tala felt relief wash through her as she realized the truth of that statement. Im not alone.In the corners of her voidsight, she saw the threads of reality between herself and her unit-mates grow just a bit stronger.As she watched, the one linking her to Mistress Cerna gained another fraction as the woman leaned in, Thank you for saving my husband. While he might have survived without your intervention, it would have been a whole lot nearer a thing.Tala felt her illusion smile with weary warmth in return, reflecting her inner feelings in a way that shed never been able to master before.Great, so the key is utter exhaustion. Who would have thought?- you know thats how you usually have your breakthroughs, right?-Tala chose to ignore her alternate interface, instead leaning into the support coming even from the injured Master Clevnis and Mistress Vanga as she worked.Her unit had her back, and she felt a growing contentment and certainty that she would have theirs as well.Time passed in a blur, and it was almost a shock when Master Abali contacted them to indicate that he was done with his setup and ready for their withdrawal.The golden spellforms had needed to be replaced at least four times, showing just how costly the workings were.Now, as the unit pulled back, Tala braced herself.First, she removed the iron spikes around Sole, pulling out and withdrawing all of the iron spikes from the ground back to the exit of the tunnel, even as she retreated to the entrance.That, alone, put a strain on her iron cocoon once more.Ready? She glanced toward Mistress Cerna, happy that shed recovered enough to allow her to move her metal for speech once more.Master Abali nodded from beyond the Refined, On your mark.Mistress Cerna nodded as well, even as the other unit members braced themselves, Flaring in five, four, three, two, one, GO!As the golden spheres blazed with power, burning themselves out in a final pulse of power, Tala ripped away the iron shell.The iron flowed like a diving falcon, shooting toward them and down the tunnel, Talas spikes pulling free of the walls to join the flood as it passed.Talas aura became more and more leveraged over those short seconds.Only the flaring power of Mistress Cernas spellformsbacked by the power of five more Refinedkept Talas aura tightly around Sole.That didnt physically restrain him, however.The man was disoriented for the briefest of moments. Then, his eyes locked onto Tala for the barest instant before he vanished from her perception.Even so, his reality node was obvious before her voidsight as it rocketed their way, somehow almost matching the speed of her iron.The last flecks of her iron exited the tunnel on their side just as he entered it from the other.At that instant, the whole thing twisted to her voidsight, pinching off and wrapping back in on itself in a manner to seal off the cell.Tala maintained spikes around the twisted doorway even as the stone distorted and shrank back into the ground.At the last instant, an incredible blow slammed into her aura, barely being kept in place by her layers of reinforcement. Even then, it was only due to the rest her unit had allowed her that she held her aura firm, keeping out whatever working hed thrown at them in the end.As reality stretched and twisted, Tala felt an increasing burden, her bound iron getting further and further away.This was an entirely new thing. Shed never had iron that never entered her aura proper before. Her understanding was that even with Master Akras training, she wouldnt be able to infinitely separate herself from a soulbound item and generate her aura from it.Her magic was being siphoned off in an increasing torrent, flooding into her connection with the iron, trying to prop it up, and allow it to stretch into the increasing distance.Then, the cell was closed, Sole was contained, and Tala was entirely cut off from the iron in the prisoners blood.Oh r In a terrible instant, all of her internal magic was torn from her, though her throughput meant that none of her magics spluttered out. But more than that, she felt something within her crack and her entire self jerked as if she had been struck by Force.
