Chapter 360: Let It Go
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Chapter 360: Let It Go
Tala allowed her effective gravity to return to normal as she stood firmly in the testing room. Then, she stretched, feeling her body almost seem to realign after its moments of weightlessness.
She cleared her throat, and looked directly to the two Refined, We need to add something else to the list of warnings.
They shared a look before Mistress Spiora pulled out an Archive slate, an almost hungry look in her eyes. What did you experience?
Gravity. I was still in existence, but there was nothing holding me up, and I would have started to fall if I hadnt noticed something while still standing on the iron sheathing around this place within the dimension of magic. I was basically slipping toward a precipice when I noticed and negated the downward force before I went off of it.
That that actually makes a lot of sense. We have had unbound items go missing.
Master Aman nodded, considering. It also explains some of the anomalous readings weve gotten.
His wife spoke again, seemingly continuing his thoughts, And with gravity, that would be pulling the items back toward alignment with us, here, but likely very physically near the center of mass of Zeme.
Then, the theories of high matter concentrations in the far magic dimensions
Could just be from those who didnt parse their data well or who didnt have the right sort of measurements.
Tala frowned. Wait. I cant be the first person to have done something like this.
The first? Absolutely not. There are those like us who send items to learn more about the dimension of magic, and there have been some, historically, who have dipped their toes in the waters, but some vanished without a trace, and others kept their notes private, not trusting anyone else with access so that the information is lost now.
Tala grunted, feeling irritated and wanting to do something to correct the injustice, but Alat responded before Tala could ask her.
-All notes and memories of possibly pertinent events are actively shared with Mistress Ingrit.-
What about? Tala briefly thought about a certain cell and the prisoner within.
-Yeah, no. Thats not spreading because of us.-
Tala flickered her existence defense, just in case. She didnt know if it would do anything, but there was no way shed let that prisoner get an attachment to her if she could stop it with something so simple.
The two Refined moved backward, eyes widening, but their further reactions were utterly different.
Mistress Spiora was suddenly covered in what seemed to be a transparent suit of diamonds that moved with her perfectly.
No, not diamonds but similar visual effect?
Additionally, Mistress Spioras hands came up, magic gathering across her palms.
Master Aman simply lifted his hand as if ready to snap his fingers, before he asked, What was that?
A precaution against something that doesnt affect you.
They shared another look, before Mistress Spiora shook her head, her defenses fading, while her husband lowered his hand. She sighed, I suppose well have to take your word on that. Did you need us further?
Tala grinned. Oh, yes. I have quite a few more things to test. Pull me out in five minutes?
The two sighed, before Master Aman pulled out a pair of chairs, hesitated then pulled out a third for Rane.
Rane thanked the man as they all sat.
As they were getting settled, Mistress Spiora cleared her throat tentatively. Mistress Tala. I hope you are aware that that is plenty of time for you to drift too far.
I appreciate your concern, but I think its worth the risk.
Rane shifted slightly, drawing her gaze before he spoke, What can I do?
She considered for a moment before shrugging, I apologize, but I dont think there is anything. Im sorry for wasting your time. If you want to leave, we can meet up later?
He shook his head with a smile. No waste, and I dont wish to leave. This is fascinating, and its giving me a lot to think about.
She smiled in return, then looked back to the Refined couple. Ready?
They conferred briefly, then nodded, Mistress Spiora speaking for them, We are ready.
Tala still had her working in place, anchoring her to the superficial, so she began amplifying her pull stoneward once again.
This time, she amplified it toward an empty reality node less far removed from the superficial.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
That should allow her to get enough force to break free more quickly.
As she felt the beginnings of the pull stoneward, she broke her bonds of gravity pulling her downward, so that she floated up a bare fraction of an inch from the floor before her mundane sight went black.
She moved stoneward more quickly. It was barely an instant before she arrived at the node that was the aim of her amplified gravity, starting to oscillate a bit as she came to a near rest in place.
That done, she verified the state of herself.
She had a good lungful of air, which was an additional boon, even if she could get on without it.
There was the odd lack of pressure which Mistress Spiora had warned her of, and Tala had barely felt during her last, brief test.
Now, floating in the emptiness, the feeling was akin to an odd tightness of her own skin, like her skin was fighting against her bodys desire to expand outward.
It wasnt the most comfortable feeling, even if it wasnt dangerous.
Her eyes felt more pressureas well as other types of attempted degradationthan her skin, but their defensive inscriptions were more than sufficient to keep them intact and functional.
With her physical safety verified, she began to look around, testing the extent of her magesight.
First, she panned stoneward and starward within the testing room that she was using.
As she did so, she really couldnt see much, as nothing much seemed to exist away from the point of origin, along the dimension of magic. It was like staring straight up at an empty sky.
Or out at an unbroken ocean.
-We simply cant perceive everything at once. We arent able to grasp it. At least not yet. Lets sweep outward.-
What layer of the dimension should we focus on?
-Lets look around at the level of the Stone?-
Rane was the first to notice the changes on her return. Though, she had no idea how he could tell the difference despite her through-spike. Tala. Wheres the danger?
Master Aman and Mistress Spira were immediately enveloped in shifting magics that hugged their skin, though Tala didnt have a chance to determine their composition.
She split her metal, opening her mouth to respond, even as she relaxed.
Thats when it hit her.
She had only an instants warning as something flickered at the edges of her magesight.
In that instant, she allowed all of her iron to weigh down on hernot keeping it in place relative to her body with her willto increase her inertia.
The blow came from stoneward and at an angle, physically.
She was thrown backward, away from the other three, and her mundane sight just briefly went black as she was pushed starward before settling back into the superficial, like a ball balancing on the edge of a hole before falling in, where it belonged.
There was a response from the citys defenses, and Tala felt an odd flavor of magic slam into the creature, even as it rushed past her.
Force was in Ranes hand when she refocused on the physical.
What was that? His face was pale, as were the visages of the two Refined.
-I found it.- Alat highlighted what had attacked her in her vision.
Tala growled, glaring at the thing that the three with her couldnt see.
It was coming around again.
-Ready?-
Now! Tala lashed out with her hands, snatching for handholds that she could properly see.
It was exceedingly difficult, because she couldnt change where her hands were positioned along the magical dimension.
Still, as the beast impacted hertrying to push her stoneward this timeher hands trailed behind her body, remaining superficial just long enough to latch onto the thing.
Her still active working was actively working to pull her back starward, and she began amplifying that working for all that she was worth.
Her hands began to ache, despite her incredibly enhanced strength.
Not taking a chance on being able to hold out, she immediately tried to extend her iron and white steel forward and into the beast, putting her power behind the growth, but as soon as her magic touched the creature, it began to bleed away before it could help her penetrate the seemingly hard exterior.
A magic absorber?
Her magic pulled her back to the superficial layer, and she was suddenly able to hear Rane and the Refined exclaiming in alarm as Tala wrestled with something that was moving in and out of alignment with their layer of physical reality.
Alat did her best to put together a cohesive picture of the thing but, as expected, it didnt really make sense from a three-dimensional perspective.
At times, the beast had the look of a person in various positions, flickering through the peripheral portion of her mundane vision. At other times, it looked like a squid, and that seemed like a fuller picture of the reality of the creatures shape.
Long tendrils extended in all directions, somehow having purchase or generating thrust within the dimension of magic, continually fighting Tala, trying to get free. It was also scrabbling against her, but it didnt actually seem to have any blades, claws, or teeth that it could bring to bear on her.
Oddly, it didnt feel like the white steel was slowing it down at all, each impact simply landing on her iron as if the other metal werent there.
To add to the chaos, the citys defenses were slapping into every part of it that passed through the superficial, and Tala began to see ragged edges, indicating that the thing was taking damage from whatever specialized magics were at play.
Do I kill it? Or I could just hold it until the citys defenses do?
-I would say a hard no. This seems to be a creature that lives off of the magic in its environment, and we stood out too much as a good source of its food.-
Tala felt herself pale. And if there is such a bottom feeder
There very well might be a predator or carrion eater, and we do not want to draw the attention of such a thing.
Tala growled. Have you all gotten a good look?
Mistress Spiora wore a pair of gauntlets now, each with blades strategically growing out of them for both defensive and offensive use, and she had fallen into a fighting stance yet again, eyes fixed on the flickering thing that Tala held.
Master Aman held a simple ball of what looked like steel between himself and Tala, his own magical shell seemingly of shifting shadows, or at least something that looked like flickering shadows.
The Refined seemed surprised by her question, not understanding what she meant, but Rane answered quickly. Yes. Let it go.
Tala did so, and the thing, whatever it was, rushed stoneward at speed.
It was only then that Tala noticed her arms seemed to have vanished somewhere between her shoulders and elbows, but even as she watched, they shifted back into line with the superficial.
That was disconcerting.
-Quite.-
Everyone was in a state of shock, Tala included.
Rane visibly swallowed. It was passing right through me, and the defenses on me. It just pulled magic from me with each touch, and there wasnt anything I could do about it. He glanced to the two Refined and nodded his thanks.
Only then did Tala notice swirling layers of what seemed to be diamonds and shadow overlaying Ranes entire body.
Those defenses faded, along with the ones on the Refined, themselves.
Master Aman nodded. The power taken was very little. I doubt that Id have noticed at all in almost any other situation.
Mistress Spiora looked around. I would hazard a guess that we havent noticed it in the past. The woman paused and seemed to consider. I understand you have iron around you?
Tala nodded, still gazing stoneward, trying to catch a glimpse of the thing again but to no avail. It was lost among the vastness. I think thats what it was hitting, and what allowed me purchase. Magic was just sucked away, but iron could interact with it.
Rane cleared his throat, sheathing Force. So, it was a sort of parasite that nibbles away at our magic, and we never really notice, save to think things are less efficient than we might expect.
Tala nodded but it was Master Aman who responded verbally, So it would seem. Though, I dont know that parasite is exactly the right term.
Mistress Spiora oriented on Tala, hesitated, then seemed to gild herself before asking a careful question, Was that the only one?
Tala heard herself let out a nervous chuckle. Well no. I think its safe to say that that was not the only one.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 360: Let It Go
Tala allowed her effective gravity to return to normal as she stood firmly in the testing room. Then, she stretched, feeling her body almost seem to realign after its moments of weightlessness.
She cleared her throat, and looked directly to the two Refined, We need to add something else to the list of warnings.
They shared a look before Mistress Spiora pulled out an Archive slate, an almost hungry look in her eyes. What did you experience?
Gravity. I was still in existence, but there was nothing holding me up, and I would have started to fall if I hadnt noticed something while still standing on the iron sheathing around this place within the dimension of magic. I was basically slipping toward a precipice when I noticed and negated the downward force before I went off of it.
That that actually makes a lot of sense. We have had unbound items go missing.
Master Aman nodded, considering. It also explains some of the anomalous readings weve gotten.
His wife spoke again, seemingly continuing his thoughts, And with gravity, that would be pulling the items back toward alignment with us, here, but likely very physically near the center of mass of Zeme.
Then, the theories of high matter concentrations in the far magic dimensions
Could just be from those who didnt parse their data well or who didnt have the right sort of measurements.
Tala frowned. Wait. I cant be the first person to have done something like this.
The first? Absolutely not. There are those like us who send items to learn more about the dimension of magic, and there have been some, historically, who have dipped their toes in the waters, but some vanished without a trace, and others kept their notes private, not trusting anyone else with access so that the information is lost now.
Tala grunted, feeling irritated and wanting to do something to correct the injustice, but Alat responded before Tala could ask her.
-All notes and memories of possibly pertinent events are actively shared with Mistress Ingrit.-
What about? Tala briefly thought about a certain cell and the prisoner within.
-Yeah, no. Thats not spreading because of us.-
Tala flickered her existence defense, just in case. She didnt know if it would do anything, but there was no way shed let that prisoner get an attachment to her if she could stop it with something so simple.
The two Refined moved backward, eyes widening, but their further reactions were utterly different.
Mistress Spiora was suddenly covered in what seemed to be a transparent suit of diamonds that moved with her perfectly.
No, not diamonds but similar visual effect?
Additionally, Mistress Spioras hands came up, magic gathering across her palms.
Master Aman simply lifted his hand as if ready to snap his fingers, before he asked, What was that?
A precaution against something that doesnt affect you.
They shared another look, before Mistress Spiora shook her head, her defenses fading, while her husband lowered his hand. She sighed, I suppose well have to take your word on that. Did you need us further?
Tala grinned. Oh, yes. I have quite a few more things to test. Pull me out in five minutes?
The two sighed, before Master Aman pulled out a pair of chairs, hesitated then pulled out a third for Rane.
Rane thanked the man as they all sat.
As they were getting settled, Mistress Spiora cleared her throat tentatively. Mistress Tala. I hope you are aware that that is plenty of time for you to drift too far.
I appreciate your concern, but I think its worth the risk.
Rane shifted slightly, drawing her gaze before he spoke, What can I do?
She considered for a moment before shrugging, I apologize, but I dont think there is anything. Im sorry for wasting your time. If you want to leave, we can meet up later?
He shook his head with a smile. No waste, and I dont wish to leave. This is fascinating, and its giving me a lot to think about.
She smiled in return, then looked back to the Refined couple. Ready?
They conferred briefly, then nodded, Mistress Spiora speaking for them, We are ready.
Tala still had her working in place, anchoring her to the superficial, so she began amplifying her pull stoneward once again.
This time, she amplified it toward an empty reality node less far removed from the superficial.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
That should allow her to get enough force to break free more quickly.
As she felt the beginnings of the pull stoneward, she broke her bonds of gravity pulling her downward, so that she floated up a bare fraction of an inch from the floor before her mundane sight went black.
She moved stoneward more quickly. It was barely an instant before she arrived at the node that was the aim of her amplified gravity, starting to oscillate a bit as she came to a near rest in place.
That done, she verified the state of herself.
She had a good lungful of air, which was an additional boon, even if she could get on without it.
There was the odd lack of pressure which Mistress Spiora had warned her of, and Tala had barely felt during her last, brief test.
Now, floating in the emptiness, the feeling was akin to an odd tightness of her own skin, like her skin was fighting against her bodys desire to expand outward.
It wasnt the most comfortable feeling, even if it wasnt dangerous.
Her eyes felt more pressureas well as other types of attempted degradationthan her skin, but their defensive inscriptions were more than sufficient to keep them intact and functional.
With her physical safety verified, she began to look around, testing the extent of her magesight.
First, she panned stoneward and starward within the testing room that she was using.
As she did so, she really couldnt see much, as nothing much seemed to exist away from the point of origin, along the dimension of magic. It was like staring straight up at an empty sky.
Or out at an unbroken ocean.
-We simply cant perceive everything at once. We arent able to grasp it. At least not yet. Lets sweep outward.-
What layer of the dimension should we focus on?
-Lets look around at the level of the Stone?-
Rane was the first to notice the changes on her return. Though, she had no idea how he could tell the difference despite her through-spike. Tala. Wheres the danger?
Master Aman and Mistress Spira were immediately enveloped in shifting magics that hugged their skin, though Tala didnt have a chance to determine their composition.
She split her metal, opening her mouth to respond, even as she relaxed.
Thats when it hit her.
She had only an instants warning as something flickered at the edges of her magesight.
In that instant, she allowed all of her iron to weigh down on hernot keeping it in place relative to her body with her willto increase her inertia.
The blow came from stoneward and at an angle, physically.
She was thrown backward, away from the other three, and her mundane sight just briefly went black as she was pushed starward before settling back into the superficial, like a ball balancing on the edge of a hole before falling in, where it belonged.
There was a response from the citys defenses, and Tala felt an odd flavor of magic slam into the creature, even as it rushed past her.
Force was in Ranes hand when she refocused on the physical.
What was that? His face was pale, as were the visages of the two Refined.
-I found it.- Alat highlighted what had attacked her in her vision.
Tala growled, glaring at the thing that the three with her couldnt see.
It was coming around again.
-Ready?-
Now! Tala lashed out with her hands, snatching for handholds that she could properly see.
It was exceedingly difficult, because she couldnt change where her hands were positioned along the magical dimension.
Still, as the beast impacted hertrying to push her stoneward this timeher hands trailed behind her body, remaining superficial just long enough to latch onto the thing.
Her still active working was actively working to pull her back starward, and she began amplifying that working for all that she was worth.
Her hands began to ache, despite her incredibly enhanced strength.
Not taking a chance on being able to hold out, she immediately tried to extend her iron and white steel forward and into the beast, putting her power behind the growth, but as soon as her magic touched the creature, it began to bleed away before it could help her penetrate the seemingly hard exterior.
A magic absorber?
Her magic pulled her back to the superficial layer, and she was suddenly able to hear Rane and the Refined exclaiming in alarm as Tala wrestled with something that was moving in and out of alignment with their layer of physical reality.
Alat did her best to put together a cohesive picture of the thing but, as expected, it didnt really make sense from a three-dimensional perspective.
At times, the beast had the look of a person in various positions, flickering through the peripheral portion of her mundane vision. At other times, it looked like a squid, and that seemed like a fuller picture of the reality of the creatures shape.
Long tendrils extended in all directions, somehow having purchase or generating thrust within the dimension of magic, continually fighting Tala, trying to get free. It was also scrabbling against her, but it didnt actually seem to have any blades, claws, or teeth that it could bring to bear on her.
Oddly, it didnt feel like the white steel was slowing it down at all, each impact simply landing on her iron as if the other metal werent there.
To add to the chaos, the citys defenses were slapping into every part of it that passed through the superficial, and Tala began to see ragged edges, indicating that the thing was taking damage from whatever specialized magics were at play.
Do I kill it? Or I could just hold it until the citys defenses do?
-I would say a hard no. This seems to be a creature that lives off of the magic in its environment, and we stood out too much as a good source of its food.-
Tala felt herself pale. And if there is such a bottom feeder
There very well might be a predator or carrion eater, and we do not want to draw the attention of such a thing.
Tala growled. Have you all gotten a good look?
Mistress Spiora wore a pair of gauntlets now, each with blades strategically growing out of them for both defensive and offensive use, and she had fallen into a fighting stance yet again, eyes fixed on the flickering thing that Tala held.
Master Aman held a simple ball of what looked like steel between himself and Tala, his own magical shell seemingly of shifting shadows, or at least something that looked like flickering shadows.
The Refined seemed surprised by her question, not understanding what she meant, but Rane answered quickly. Yes. Let it go.
Tala did so, and the thing, whatever it was, rushed stoneward at speed.
It was only then that Tala noticed her arms seemed to have vanished somewhere between her shoulders and elbows, but even as she watched, they shifted back into line with the superficial.
That was disconcerting.
-Quite.-
Everyone was in a state of shock, Tala included.
Rane visibly swallowed. It was passing right through me, and the defenses on me. It just pulled magic from me with each touch, and there wasnt anything I could do about it. He glanced to the two Refined and nodded his thanks.
Only then did Tala notice swirling layers of what seemed to be diamonds and shadow overlaying Ranes entire body.
Those defenses faded, along with the ones on the Refined, themselves.
Master Aman nodded. The power taken was very little. I doubt that Id have noticed at all in almost any other situation.
Mistress Spiora looked around. I would hazard a guess that we havent noticed it in the past. The woman paused and seemed to consider. I understand you have iron around you?
Tala nodded, still gazing stoneward, trying to catch a glimpse of the thing again but to no avail. It was lost among the vastness. I think thats what it was hitting, and what allowed me purchase. Magic was just sucked away, but iron could interact with it.
Rane cleared his throat, sheathing Force. So, it was a sort of parasite that nibbles away at our magic, and we never really notice, save to think things are less efficient than we might expect.
Tala nodded but it was Master Aman who responded verbally, So it would seem. Though, I dont know that parasite is exactly the right term.
Mistress Spiora oriented on Tala, hesitated, then seemed to gild herself before asking a careful question, Was that the only one?
Tala heard herself let out a nervous chuckle. Well no. I think its safe to say that that was not the only one.
Chapter 360: Let It GoTala allowed her effective gravity to return to normal as she stood firmly in the testing room. Then, she stretched, feeling her body almost seem to realign after its moments of weightlessness.She cleared her throat, and looked directly to the two Refined, We need to add something else to the list of warnings.They shared a look before Mistress Spiora pulled out an Archive slate, an almost hungry look in her eyes. What did you experience?Gravity. I was still in existence, but there was nothing holding me up, and I would have started to fall if I hadnt noticed something while still standing on the iron sheathing around this place within the dimension of magic. I was basically slipping toward a precipice when I noticed and negated the downward force before I went off of it.That that actually makes a lot of sense. We have had unbound items go missing.Master Aman nodded, considering. It also explains some of the anomalous readings weve gotten.His wife spoke again, seemingly continuing his thoughts, And with gravity, that would be pulling the items back toward alignment with us, here, but likely very physically near the center of mass of Zeme.Then, the theories of high matter concentrations in the far magic dimensionsCould just be from those who didnt parse their data well or who didnt have the right sort of measurements.Tala frowned. Wait. I cant be the first person to have done something like this.The first? Absolutely not. There are those like us who send items to learn more about the dimension of magic, and there have been some, historically, who have dipped their toes in the waters, but some vanished without a trace, and others kept their notes private, not trusting anyone else with access so that the information is lost now.Tala grunted, feeling irritated and wanting to do something to correct the injustice, but Alat responded before Tala could ask her.-All notes and memories of possibly pertinent events are actively shared with Mistress Ingrit.-What about? Tala briefly thought about a certain cell and the prisoner within.-Yeah, no. Thats not spreading because of us.-Tala flickered her existence defense, just in case. She didnt know if it would do anything, but there was no way shed let that prisoner get an attachment to her if she could stop it with something so simple.The two Refined moved backward, eyes widening, but their further reactions were utterly different.Mistress Spiora was suddenly covered in what seemed to be a transparent suit of diamonds that moved with her perfectly.No, not diamonds but similar visual effect?Additionally, Mistress Spioras hands came up, magic gathering across her palms.Master Aman simply lifted his hand as if ready to snap his fingers, before he asked, What was that?A precaution against something that doesnt affect you.They shared another look, before Mistress Spiora shook her head, her defenses fading, while her husband lowered his hand. She sighed, I suppose well have to take your word on that. Did you need us further?Tala grinned. Oh, yes. I have quite a few more things to test. Pull me out in five minutes?The two sighed, before Master Aman pulled out a pair of chairs, hesitated then pulled out a third for Rane.Rane thanked the man as they all sat.As they were getting settled, Mistress Spiora cleared her throat tentatively. Mistress Tala. I hope you are aware that that is plenty of time for you to drift too far.I appreciate your concern, but I think its worth the risk.Rane shifted slightly, drawing her gaze before he spoke, What can I do?She considered for a moment before shrugging, I apologize, but I dont think there is anything. Im sorry for wasting your time. If you want to leave, we can meet up later?He shook his head with a smile. No waste, and I dont wish to leave. This is fascinating, and its giving me a lot to think about.She smiled in return, then looked back to the Refined couple. Ready?They conferred briefly, then nodded, Mistress Spiora speaking for them, We are ready.Tala still had her working in place, anchoring her to the superficial, so she began amplifying her pull stoneward once again.This time, she amplified it toward an empty reality node less far removed from the superficial.The roots of this story extend from novell bin origin.That should allow her to get enough force to break free more quickly.As she felt the beginnings of the pull stoneward, she broke her bonds of gravity pulling her downward, so that she floated up a bare fraction of an inch from the floor before her mundane sight went black.She moved stoneward more quickly. It was barely an instant before she arrived at the node that was the aim of her amplified gravity, starting to oscillate a bit as she came to a near rest in place.That done, she verified the state of herself.She had a good lungful of air, which was an additional boon, even if she could get on without it.There was the odd lack of pressure which Mistress Spiora had warned her of, and Tala had barely felt during her last, brief test.Now, floating in the emptiness, the feeling was akin to an odd tightness of her own skin, like her skin was fighting against her bodys desire to expand outward.It wasnt the most comfortable feeling, even if it wasnt dangerous.Her eyes felt more pressureas well as other types of attempted degradationthan her skin, but their defensive inscriptions were more than sufficient to keep them intact and functional.With her physical safety verified, she began to look around, testing the extent of her magesight.First, she panned stoneward and starward within the testing room that she was using.As she did so, she really couldnt see much, as nothing much seemed to exist away from the point of origin, along the dimension of magic. It was like staring straight up at an empty sky.Or out at an unbroken ocean.-We simply cant perceive everything at once. We arent able to grasp it. At least not yet. Lets sweep outward.-What layer of the dimension should we focus on?-Lets look around at the level of the Stone?-Rane was the first to notice the changes on her return. Though, she had no idea how he could tell the difference despite her through-spike. Tala. Wheres the danger?Master Aman and Mistress Spira were immediately enveloped in shifting magics that hugged their skin, though Tala didnt have a chance to determine their composition.She split her metal, opening her mouth to respond, even as she relaxed.Thats when it hit her.She had only an instants warning as something flickered at the edges of her magesight.In that instant, she allowed all of her iron to weigh down on hernot keeping it in place relative to her body with her willto increase her inertia.The blow came from stoneward and at an angle, physically.She was thrown backward, away from the other three, and her mundane sight just briefly went black as she was pushed starward before settling back into the superficial, like a ball balancing on the edge of a hole before falling in, where it belonged.There was a response from the citys defenses, and Tala felt an odd flavor of magic slam into the creature, even as it rushed past her.Force was in Ranes hand when she refocused on the physical.What was that? His face was pale, as were the visages of the two Refined.-I found it.- Alat highlighted what had attacked her in her vision.Tala growled, glaring at the thing that the three with her couldnt see.It was coming around again.-Ready?-Now! Tala lashed out with her hands, snatching for handholds that she could properly see.It was exceedingly difficult, because she couldnt change where her hands were positioned along the magical dimension.Still, as the beast impacted hertrying to push her stoneward this timeher hands trailed behind her body, remaining superficial just long enough to latch onto the thing.Her still active working was actively working to pull her back starward, and she began amplifying that working for all that she was worth.Her hands began to ache, despite her incredibly enhanced strength.Not taking a chance on being able to hold out, she immediately tried to extend her iron and white steel forward and into the beast, putting her power behind the growth, but as soon as her magic touched the creature, it began to bleed away before it could help her penetrate the seemingly hard exterior.A magic absorber?Her magic pulled her back to the superficial layer, and she was suddenly able to hear Rane and the Refined exclaiming in alarm as Tala wrestled with something that was moving in and out of alignment with their layer of physical reality.Alat did her best to put together a cohesive picture of the thing but, as expected, it didnt really make sense from a three-dimensional perspective.At times, the beast had the look of a person in various positions, flickering through the peripheral portion of her mundane vision. At other times, it looked like a squid, and that seemed like a fuller picture of the reality of the creatures shape.Long tendrils extended in all directions, somehow having purchase or generating thrust within the dimension of magic, continually fighting Tala, trying to get free. It was also scrabbling against her, but it didnt actually seem to have any blades, claws, or teeth that it could bring to bear on her.Oddly, it didnt feel like the white steel was slowing it down at all, each impact simply landing on her iron as if the other metal werent there.To add to the chaos, the citys defenses were slapping into every part of it that passed through the superficial, and Tala began to see ragged edges, indicating that the thing was taking damage from whatever specialized magics were at play.Do I kill it? Or I could just hold it until the citys defenses do?-I would say a hard no. This seems to be a creature that lives off of the magic in its environment, and we stood out too much as a good source of its food.-Tala felt herself pale. And if there is such a bottom feederThere very well might be a predator or carrion eater, and we do not want to draw the attention of such a thing.Tala growled. Have you all gotten a good look?Mistress Spiora wore a pair of gauntlets now, each with blades strategically growing out of them for both defensive and offensive use, and she had fallen into a fighting stance yet again, eyes fixed on the flickering thing that Tala held.Master Aman held a simple ball of what looked like steel between himself and Tala, his own magical shell seemingly of shifting shadows, or at least something that looked like flickering shadows.The Refined seemed surprised by her question, not understanding what she meant, but Rane answered quickly. Yes. Let it go.Tala did so, and the thing, whatever it was, rushed stoneward at speed.It was only then that Tala noticed her arms seemed to have vanished somewhere between her shoulders and elbows, but even as she watched, they shifted back into line with the superficial.That was disconcerting.-Quite.-Everyone was in a state of shock, Tala included.Rane visibly swallowed. It was passing right through me, and the defenses on me. It just pulled magic from me with each touch, and there wasnt anything I could do about it. He glanced to the two Refined and nodded his thanks.Only then did Tala notice swirling layers of what seemed to be diamonds and shadow overlaying Ranes entire body.Those defenses faded, along with the ones on the Refined, themselves.Master Aman nodded. The power taken was very little. I doubt that Id have noticed at all in almost any other situation.Mistress Spiora looked around. I would hazard a guess that we havent noticed it in the past. The woman paused and seemed to consider. I understand you have iron around you?Tala nodded, still gazing stoneward, trying to catch a glimpse of the thing again but to no avail. It was lost among the vastness. I think thats what it was hitting, and what allowed me purchase. Magic was just sucked away, but iron could interact with it.Rane cleared his throat, sheathing Force. So, it was a sort of parasite that nibbles away at our magic, and we never really notice, save to think things are less efficient than we might expect.Tala nodded but it was Master Aman who responded verbally, So it would seem. Though, I dont know that parasite is exactly the right term.Mistress Spiora oriented on Tala, hesitated, then seemed to gild herself before asking a careful question, Was that the only one?Tala heard herself let out a nervous chuckle. Well no. I think its safe to say that that was not the only one.
