Chapter 396: Void and Kinetics
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Chapter 396: Void and Kinetics
Tala and Rane arrived outside Artias shop just as Master Tai turned the corner on the far end of the street, entering that side of the market.
She was still gratified when her threefold sight made things like picking out a specific person in a crowd so trivial.
Tala waved to make sure he saw them among the other pedestrians in the area. Thankfully, there werent so many that he had trouble seeing her when she made such an obvious gesture.
He waved back, seeming uncertain even as he continued forward. Tala saw the Bounds magesight activate, and remembering how hed had trouble detecting her before, she allowed her aura to be seen.
She noticed Rane doing the same, even if not quite as necessary, and she took that moment to look for herself.
-Roughly three quarters of the way to Refined. He made it halfway from prepped to fully Refined in the first session. Thats both better than I feared, and not as good as we hoped.-
Yeah, if I remember right, session two is usually only about half as effective as session one.
-Without extenuating circumstances, yeah.-
Same for session three when compared to session two. What about session four?
-Again, it varies, but generally, its accepted that number four can match three, but doing so is accepted as making the experience and the recovery worse.-
Well lets hope he can get it in four sessions then.
-Lets hope hes up for four. Id hoped he could do it in two.-
Yeah, even with as rare as that is I had hoped for it too.
-Still, we should wait for the official diagnosis. Master Grediv did promise to share it with us, and it usually is given a month after the first session.-
That sounds fair, yeah.
When Master Tai stopped before them, he gave two deep bows. Mistress Tala, Master, it is a pleasure to greet you.
Tala nodded, Master Tai.
Rane gave a shallow bow. Master Tai. I am Rane.
Master Rane, it is good to meet you.
And you.
With the greetings done, Tala spoke before any silence could begin to stretch. Rane, here, specializes in kinetic magics, and we were hoping youd be willing to speak with us both, given our overlapping disciplines.
Master Tai examined Rane once more before nodding. It would be my pleasure.
Good. Tala smiled. Right this way, then.
She gestured at the blank wall beside the shops entrance, and before Master Tai could say anything to match his confused look, Kit manifested a door, having moved the entrance from the alley where it had been before.
-Wise, not asking a new acquaintance to follow you into an alley.-
Yeah, I thought the optics wouldnt be great.
-We grow in wisdom!-
Every day.
-...-
Most days?
-Many days.-
Youre sort of a jerk sometimes.
-Yes, yes we are.-
Tala shook her head as she led the way through the door and out into her sparring circle.
Rane followed her with Master Tai right behind the much bigger man.
As soon as Master Tai stepped across the threshold, he gasped, eyes widening.
Tala smiled, turning his way. Yeah, the magic density is a bit higher in here.
Master Tai gave her an odd look, then shook his head. Yes, I suppose, but thats not what startled me.
Oh?
How did you make the void more distant? He frowned, looking around. No, thats not right. Id say smaller but the void is infinite wherever it exists, so thats not right either. He turned back to regard her. What did you do?
Tala frowned for a moment, then it clicked, Oh! Ive been grabbing the bits of reality and pulling them against each other more tightly.
Master Tai seemed to be fighting himself. Finally, he asked, I dont think I understand. Would you be willing to explain?
Of course. She dismissed the door out of Kit, moving its exterior location back to the alley wall so the others who wanted to use it would be able to find it where they expected.
With that done, Tala took a moment to explain to Master Tai, describing generally what shed done, while trying to prevent teleportation.
He grunted, Well, that wouldnt work to block teleportation, from what I understand.
Tala huffed a laugh. Yeah, it certainly doesnt really slow Terry down.
Terry?
As if on cue, Terry flickered into being on Talas shoulder before headbutting her. Hey, Terry. Sorry I havent been around much.
He trilled in irritation and headbutted her cheek again.
Rane smiled and waved, Hey, Terry.
Terry regarded him before chirping happily and flickering to Ranes shoulder for a moment.
Ranes eyes widened. Youre youre on my shoulder?
Terry tilted his head to one side and trilled.
Oh, youre fine, you can stay. Rane gingerly patted the bird on his head.
Master Tai cleared his throat. Ahh, I can see the gist of what you were trying to prevent. My bet would be that stopping that would be impossible. You might be able to keep him out of somewhere with the right preparation, but even keeping him in somewhere would be nearly impossible.
They all regarded Terry as he seemed to practically radiate an aura of smugness.
Tala laughed. Yes, you are the best bird.
He trilled, then flickered back to her shoulder and settled down.
The three Mages moved to sit in a circle in the middle of the sparring circle, and Master Tai cleared his throat. So what did you want from this?
Tala shrugged. I dont even know myself. I only gained access to void-magic through the merging of an artifact with my bound weapon.
Master Tai frowned. Can I see it? The bound weapon I mean.
She nodded, and Flow dropped into his lap.
Gah! Master Tai jumped backward, hardly seeming to flex despite his three-feet of movement.
Oh, come back, here. Its not going to hurt you. She tried to will Master Tai back to his previous location, but the Bound seemingly reacted on instinct.
A pulse of void-magic came from his center, radiating all the way out to the borders of his skin and clothing.
Tala blinked, leaning forward. Say that again.
He looked at her curiously, then repeated his metaphor.
She swallowed. Holding out her hand for the knife.
Master Tai placed it on her palm. Now, as to your magic.
Tala nodded absently. You said it was hard to detect?
Yes, its almost like youve turned down the volume on your power somehow if that makes sense.
She chuckled, still considering. It doesnt?
Its like a crowded room, where youve shut the door. The voices are still there, and if you focus on them, or open the door, there is plenty of volume, but until then? Its pretty easy to miss.
Huh. Now that I consider it, Ive had some interactions where my magic wasnt as noticeable as it probably should have been.
-Like when you had a power measuring contest against a Paragon, and he kindly didnt break your toys?-
Not how I would have worded it, but yeah.
-A guy pulled a sword an inch from its scabbard, and so you drew two knives and growled at him.-
is that really how it came across?
-Give or take, but I think he understood what you were getting at, just like you did for him.-
Fine
This line of thought was distracting her from what she wanted to be thinking about. Thank you for letting me know. I dont have an answer for you at the moment, but Ill let you know if anything comes to mind.
Thank you.
Can you and Rane go over there to talk while I think about this? Youve given me a lot of things that I want to consider.
The two men nodded amiably, already beginning to delve back into the intricacies of kinetic redistribution and manipulation as they moved to the other side of the sparring circle.
They would clearly have a lot to discuss.
-Youre already thinking what I am in regards to Flow.-
Yeah. Void and magic.
-All that is missing is reality.-
It has reality, it exists, but everything also always has void, because it is distinct from that which is around it.
-And everything always has at least a bit of magic, even if it isnt inherently magical.-
So, we need to bring forth reality more strongly. We need it more strongly than even having it surrounded by and connected to a ridiculous amount of iron.
-It did seem to work against Sole, trapping in the iron I mean. Though, looking back, I feel like we brute forced it a bit by sheer quantity of iron.-
Tala dove into Flow mentally, using her threefold sight to analyze it more deeply than shed ever truly examined anything.
She parsed it at every layer, from every angle, utterly forgoing any view outward to aim all her perspectives at her soulbound weapon.
There was already a tremendous amount of iron attached to Flow, and that, she moved out of the way for ease of examination.
The dasgannach had been merged with her weapon, so it was effectively the source and anchor for all of her iron, but that alone wasnt imparting Reality to a sufficient degree, even if it was there, ready.
Its like the void-magic when Flow is in one of its standard forms.
As she searched through the magics of Flows makeup, she found what Master Tai had been talking about.
Void-magic seemed to be twisting aroundnothing.
It was like a three-stranded braid where a gap existed instead of one of the strands.
Im filling in the gap with void? No, that wasnt right.
Regardless, it clearly needed reality, somehow.
She tried adding iron into the gap and felt it spark in her hand, singeing her skin as the material was rejected violently by the knife.
It didnt hurt her too much, nor draw the attention of the two others who were deep in discussion.
It did grab Terrys attention, however, as he squawked, seemingly having been woken up by her actions.
Sorry, Terry.
He chirped, headbutted her that it was alright, then flickered away.
Right now, it is void-magic. Adding in reality as a basic concept doesnt really make sense. I would need to add in reality-magic, and reality-void?
That isnt how her existence defense worked through her elk leathers, but that was a flawed working regardless.
Sure, it functioned, there was no doubt of that, but it was also imperfect, like the forces involved were constantly roiling, making it incredibly unstable and unable to resist dedicated, sustained pressure from an aggressive source.
That was likely what left her feeling so isolated within the defense, and that was also what had made the shield able to be pushed back, leading to her current need for recovery.
The existence defenseas she currently used itwas void-magic, magic, and reality in the form of iron.
Its too magic heavy.
Similarly, when she tried to add iron into Flows magics, directly, it was just void-magic and reality in the form of iron. Those two were opposites.
I either need true void with the magic of Flows makeup, or reality-magic and reality-void.
Master Grediv would not be pleased if she pursued reality-magic and for good reason.
Yeah, lets not take that path.
So, Tala did the only thing she could think of.
WIth an act of will, she drew on her authority within Kit, her authority over Flow, and her authority over her own power.
This space was hers, this weapon was hers, and everything within her incredibly focused perception belonged to her and her alone.
She focused her will, preparing to use Flows natural spellforms as a guide. She wasnt trying to change them. Her goal was to augment them, fill in the missing pieces, and let them come to full fruition.
Then, she tried to force the weapon to pull apart in that specific pattern, introducing void along that pattern previously filled with void-magic, her magic ready to weave through it along with iron as soon as she opened the voids.
Flow, obviously, didnt want to change shape, let alone pull apart.
She felt herself growling, her hair standing on end as her entire being flexed against Flows resistance. At some level, she was fighting her own souls resistance to change.
You are MINE.Shift at my will or be devoured.
A wave of power washed out from Tala, and Master Tais gaze snapped to look her way, even as he cut off Rane.
Rane turned, eyes widening an instant after Master Tai.
Tala felt her very soul resonate at her drive and desire to enact her will upon the world.
She felt the deep dissonance as she tried to force something bound to her very soul to bend and change.
The very metal of Flows makeup screamed and cracked.
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Chapter 396: Void and Kinetics
Tala and Rane arrived outside Artias shop just as Master Tai turned the corner on the far end of the street, entering that side of the market.
She was still gratified when her threefold sight made things like picking out a specific person in a crowd so trivial.
Tala waved to make sure he saw them among the other pedestrians in the area. Thankfully, there werent so many that he had trouble seeing her when she made such an obvious gesture.
He waved back, seeming uncertain even as he continued forward. Tala saw the Bounds magesight activate, and remembering how hed had trouble detecting her before, she allowed her aura to be seen.
She noticed Rane doing the same, even if not quite as necessary, and she took that moment to look for herself.
-Roughly three quarters of the way to Refined. He made it halfway from prepped to fully Refined in the first session. Thats both better than I feared, and not as good as we hoped.-
Yeah, if I remember right, session two is usually only about half as effective as session one.
-Without extenuating circumstances, yeah.-
Same for session three when compared to session two. What about session four?
-Again, it varies, but generally, its accepted that number four can match three, but doing so is accepted as making the experience and the recovery worse.-
Well lets hope he can get it in four sessions then.
-Lets hope hes up for four. Id hoped he could do it in two.-
Yeah, even with as rare as that is I had hoped for it too.
-Still, we should wait for the official diagnosis. Master Grediv did promise to share it with us, and it usually is given a month after the first session.-
That sounds fair, yeah.
When Master Tai stopped before them, he gave two deep bows. Mistress Tala, Master, it is a pleasure to greet you.
Tala nodded, Master Tai.
Rane gave a shallow bow. Master Tai. I am Rane.
Master Rane, it is good to meet you.
And you.
With the greetings done, Tala spoke before any silence could begin to stretch. Rane, here, specializes in kinetic magics, and we were hoping youd be willing to speak with us both, given our overlapping disciplines.
Master Tai examined Rane once more before nodding. It would be my pleasure.
Good. Tala smiled. Right this way, then.
She gestured at the blank wall beside the shops entrance, and before Master Tai could say anything to match his confused look, Kit manifested a door, having moved the entrance from the alley where it had been before.
-Wise, not asking a new acquaintance to follow you into an alley.-
Yeah, I thought the optics wouldnt be great.
-We grow in wisdom!-
Every day.
-...-
Most days?
-Many days.-
Youre sort of a jerk sometimes.
-Yes, yes we are.-
Tala shook her head as she led the way through the door and out into her sparring circle.
Rane followed her with Master Tai right behind the much bigger man.
As soon as Master Tai stepped across the threshold, he gasped, eyes widening.
Tala smiled, turning his way. Yeah, the magic density is a bit higher in here.
Master Tai gave her an odd look, then shook his head. Yes, I suppose, but thats not what startled me.
Oh?
How did you make the void more distant? He frowned, looking around. No, thats not right. Id say smaller but the void is infinite wherever it exists, so thats not right either. He turned back to regard her. What did you do?
Tala frowned for a moment, then it clicked, Oh! Ive been grabbing the bits of reality and pulling them against each other more tightly.
Master Tai seemed to be fighting himself. Finally, he asked, I dont think I understand. Would you be willing to explain?
Of course. She dismissed the door out of Kit, moving its exterior location back to the alley wall so the others who wanted to use it would be able to find it where they expected.
With that done, Tala took a moment to explain to Master Tai, describing generally what shed done, while trying to prevent teleportation.
He grunted, Well, that wouldnt work to block teleportation, from what I understand.
Tala huffed a laugh. Yeah, it certainly doesnt really slow Terry down.
Terry?
As if on cue, Terry flickered into being on Talas shoulder before headbutting her. Hey, Terry. Sorry I havent been around much.
He trilled in irritation and headbutted her cheek again.
Rane smiled and waved, Hey, Terry.
Terry regarded him before chirping happily and flickering to Ranes shoulder for a moment.
Ranes eyes widened. Youre youre on my shoulder?
Terry tilted his head to one side and trilled.
Oh, youre fine, you can stay. Rane gingerly patted the bird on his head.
Master Tai cleared his throat. Ahh, I can see the gist of what you were trying to prevent. My bet would be that stopping that would be impossible. You might be able to keep him out of somewhere with the right preparation, but even keeping him in somewhere would be nearly impossible.
They all regarded Terry as he seemed to practically radiate an aura of smugness.
Tala laughed. Yes, you are the best bird.
He trilled, then flickered back to her shoulder and settled down.
The three Mages moved to sit in a circle in the middle of the sparring circle, and Master Tai cleared his throat. So what did you want from this?
Tala shrugged. I dont even know myself. I only gained access to void-magic through the merging of an artifact with my bound weapon.
Master Tai frowned. Can I see it? The bound weapon I mean.
She nodded, and Flow dropped into his lap.
Gah! Master Tai jumped backward, hardly seeming to flex despite his three-feet of movement.
Oh, come back, here. Its not going to hurt you. She tried to will Master Tai back to his previous location, but the Bound seemingly reacted on instinct.
A pulse of void-magic came from his center, radiating all the way out to the borders of his skin and clothing.
Tala blinked, leaning forward. Say that again.
He looked at her curiously, then repeated his metaphor.
She swallowed. Holding out her hand for the knife.
Master Tai placed it on her palm. Now, as to your magic.
Tala nodded absently. You said it was hard to detect?
Yes, its almost like youve turned down the volume on your power somehow if that makes sense.
She chuckled, still considering. It doesnt?
Its like a crowded room, where youve shut the door. The voices are still there, and if you focus on them, or open the door, there is plenty of volume, but until then? Its pretty easy to miss.
Huh. Now that I consider it, Ive had some interactions where my magic wasnt as noticeable as it probably should have been.
-Like when you had a power measuring contest against a Paragon, and he kindly didnt break your toys?-
Not how I would have worded it, but yeah.
-A guy pulled a sword an inch from its scabbard, and so you drew two knives and growled at him.-
is that really how it came across?
-Give or take, but I think he understood what you were getting at, just like you did for him.-
Fine
This line of thought was distracting her from what she wanted to be thinking about. Thank you for letting me know. I dont have an answer for you at the moment, but Ill let you know if anything comes to mind.
Thank you.
Can you and Rane go over there to talk while I think about this? Youve given me a lot of things that I want to consider.
The two men nodded amiably, already beginning to delve back into the intricacies of kinetic redistribution and manipulation as they moved to the other side of the sparring circle.
They would clearly have a lot to discuss.
-Youre already thinking what I am in regards to Flow.-
Yeah. Void and magic.
-All that is missing is reality.-
It has reality, it exists, but everything also always has void, because it is distinct from that which is around it.
-And everything always has at least a bit of magic, even if it isnt inherently magical.-
So, we need to bring forth reality more strongly. We need it more strongly than even having it surrounded by and connected to a ridiculous amount of iron.
-It did seem to work against Sole, trapping in the iron I mean. Though, looking back, I feel like we brute forced it a bit by sheer quantity of iron.-
Tala dove into Flow mentally, using her threefold sight to analyze it more deeply than shed ever truly examined anything.
She parsed it at every layer, from every angle, utterly forgoing any view outward to aim all her perspectives at her soulbound weapon.
There was already a tremendous amount of iron attached to Flow, and that, she moved out of the way for ease of examination.
The dasgannach had been merged with her weapon, so it was effectively the source and anchor for all of her iron, but that alone wasnt imparting Reality to a sufficient degree, even if it was there, ready.
Its like the void-magic when Flow is in one of its standard forms.
As she searched through the magics of Flows makeup, she found what Master Tai had been talking about.
Void-magic seemed to be twisting aroundnothing.
It was like a three-stranded braid where a gap existed instead of one of the strands.
Im filling in the gap with void? No, that wasnt right.
Regardless, it clearly needed reality, somehow.
She tried adding iron into the gap and felt it spark in her hand, singeing her skin as the material was rejected violently by the knife.
It didnt hurt her too much, nor draw the attention of the two others who were deep in discussion.
It did grab Terrys attention, however, as he squawked, seemingly having been woken up by her actions.
Sorry, Terry.
He chirped, headbutted her that it was alright, then flickered away.
Right now, it is void-magic. Adding in reality as a basic concept doesnt really make sense. I would need to add in reality-magic, and reality-void?
That isnt how her existence defense worked through her elk leathers, but that was a flawed working regardless.
Sure, it functioned, there was no doubt of that, but it was also imperfect, like the forces involved were constantly roiling, making it incredibly unstable and unable to resist dedicated, sustained pressure from an aggressive source.
That was likely what left her feeling so isolated within the defense, and that was also what had made the shield able to be pushed back, leading to her current need for recovery.
The existence defenseas she currently used itwas void-magic, magic, and reality in the form of iron.
Its too magic heavy.
Similarly, when she tried to add iron into Flows magics, directly, it was just void-magic and reality in the form of iron. Those two were opposites.
I either need true void with the magic of Flows makeup, or reality-magic and reality-void.
Master Grediv would not be pleased if she pursued reality-magic and for good reason.
Yeah, lets not take that path.
So, Tala did the only thing she could think of.
WIth an act of will, she drew on her authority within Kit, her authority over Flow, and her authority over her own power.
This space was hers, this weapon was hers, and everything within her incredibly focused perception belonged to her and her alone.
She focused her will, preparing to use Flows natural spellforms as a guide. She wasnt trying to change them. Her goal was to augment them, fill in the missing pieces, and let them come to full fruition.
Then, she tried to force the weapon to pull apart in that specific pattern, introducing void along that pattern previously filled with void-magic, her magic ready to weave through it along with iron as soon as she opened the voids.
Flow, obviously, didnt want to change shape, let alone pull apart.
She felt herself growling, her hair standing on end as her entire being flexed against Flows resistance. At some level, she was fighting her own souls resistance to change.
You are MINE.Shift at my will or be devoured.
A wave of power washed out from Tala, and Master Tais gaze snapped to look her way, even as he cut off Rane.
Rane turned, eyes widening an instant after Master Tai.
Tala felt her very soul resonate at her drive and desire to enact her will upon the world.
She felt the deep dissonance as she tried to force something bound to her very soul to bend and change.
The very metal of Flows makeup screamed and cracked.
Chapter 396: Void and KineticsTala and Rane arrived outside Artias shop just as Master Tai turned the corner on the far end of the street, entering that side of the market.She was still gratified when her threefold sight made things like picking out a specific person in a crowd so trivial.Tala waved to make sure he saw them among the other pedestrians in the area. Thankfully, there werent so many that he had trouble seeing her when she made such an obvious gesture.He waved back, seeming uncertain even as he continued forward. Tala saw the Bounds magesight activate, and remembering how hed had trouble detecting her before, she allowed her aura to be seen.She noticed Rane doing the same, even if not quite as necessary, and she took that moment to look for herself.-Roughly three quarters of the way to Refined. He made it halfway from prepped to fully Refined in the first session. Thats both better than I feared, and not as good as we hoped.-Yeah, if I remember right, session two is usually only about half as effective as session one.-Without extenuating circumstances, yeah.-Same for session three when compared to session two. What about session four?-Again, it varies, but generally, its accepted that number four can match three, but doing so is accepted as making the experience and the recovery worse.-Well lets hope he can get it in four sessions then.-Lets hope hes up for four. Id hoped he could do it in two.-Yeah, even with as rare as that is I had hoped for it too.-Still, we should wait for the official diagnosis. Master Grediv did promise to share it with us, and it usually is given a month after the first session.-That sounds fair, yeah.When Master Tai stopped before them, he gave two deep bows. Mistress Tala, Master, it is a pleasure to greet you.Tala nodded, Master Tai.Rane gave a shallow bow. Master Tai. I am Rane.Master Rane, it is good to meet you.And you.With the greetings done, Tala spoke before any silence could begin to stretch. Rane, here, specializes in kinetic magics, and we were hoping youd be willing to speak with us both, given our overlapping disciplines.Master Tai examined Rane once more before nodding. It would be my pleasure.Good. Tala smiled. Right this way, then.She gestured at the blank wall beside the shops entrance, and before Master Tai could say anything to match his confused look, Kit manifested a door, having moved the entrance from the alley where it had been before.-Wise, not asking a new acquaintance to follow you into an alley.-Yeah, I thought the optics wouldnt be great.-We grow in wisdom!-Every day.-...-Most days?-Many days.-Youre sort of a jerk sometimes.-Yes, yes we are.-Tala shook her head as she led the way through the door and out into her sparring circle.Rane followed her with Master Tai right behind the much bigger man.As soon as Master Tai stepped across the threshold, he gasped, eyes widening.Tala smiled, turning his way. Yeah, the magic density is a bit higher in here.Master Tai gave her an odd look, then shook his head. Yes, I suppose, but thats not what startled me.Oh?How did you make the void more distant? He frowned, looking around. No, thats not right. Id say smaller but the void is infinite wherever it exists, so thats not right either. He turned back to regard her. What did you do?Tala frowned for a moment, then it clicked, Oh! Ive been grabbing the bits of reality and pulling them against each other more tightly.Master Tai seemed to be fighting himself. Finally, he asked, I dont think I understand. Would you be willing to explain?Of course. She dismissed the door out of Kit, moving its exterior location back to the alley wall so the others who wanted to use it would be able to find it where they expected.With that done, Tala took a moment to explain to Master Tai, describing generally what shed done, while trying to prevent teleportation.He grunted, Well, that wouldnt work to block teleportation, from what I understand.Tala huffed a laugh. Yeah, it certainly doesnt really slow Terry down.Terry?As if on cue, Terry flickered into being on Talas shoulder before headbutting her. Hey, Terry. Sorry I havent been around much.He trilled in irritation and headbutted her cheek again.Rane smiled and waved, Hey, Terry.Terry regarded him before chirping happily and flickering to Ranes shoulder for a moment.Ranes eyes widened. Youre youre on my shoulder?Terry tilted his head to one side and trilled.Oh, youre fine, you can stay. Rane gingerly patted the bird on his head.Master Tai cleared his throat. Ahh, I can see the gist of what you were trying to prevent. My bet would be that stopping that would be impossible. You might be able to keep him out of somewhere with the right preparation, but even keeping him in somewhere would be nearly impossible.They all regarded Terry as he seemed to practically radiate an aura of smugness.Tala laughed. Yes, you are the best bird.He trilled, then flickered back to her shoulder and settled down.The three Mages moved to sit in a circle in the middle of the sparring circle, and Master Tai cleared his throat. So what did you want from this?Tala shrugged. I dont even know myself. I only gained access to void-magic through the merging of an artifact with my bound weapon.Master Tai frowned. Can I see it? The bound weapon I mean.She nodded, and Flow dropped into his lap.Gah! Master Tai jumped backward, hardly seeming to flex despite his three-feet of movement.Oh, come back, here. Its not going to hurt you. She tried to will Master Tai back to his previous location, but the Bound seemingly reacted on instinct.A pulse of void-magic came from his center, radiating all the way out to the borders of his skin and clothing.Tala blinked, leaning forward. Say that again.He looked at her curiously, then repeated his metaphor.She swallowed. Holding out her hand for the knife.Master Tai placed it on her palm. Now, as to your magic.Tala nodded absently. You said it was hard to detect?Yes, its almost like youve turned down the volume on your power somehow if that makes sense.She chuckled, still considering. It doesnt?Its like a crowded room, where youve shut the door. The voices are still there, and if you focus on them, or open the door, there is plenty of volume, but until then? Its pretty easy to miss.Huh. Now that I consider it, Ive had some interactions where my magic wasnt as noticeable as it probably should have been.-Like when you had a power measuring contest against a Paragon, and he kindly didnt break your toys?-Not how I would have worded it, but yeah.-A guy pulled a sword an inch from its scabbard, and so you drew two knives and growled at him.-is that really how it came across?-Give or take, but I think he understood what you were getting at, just like you did for him.-FineThis line of thought was distracting her from what she wanted to be thinking about. Thank you for letting me know. I dont have an answer for you at the moment, but Ill let you know if anything comes to mind.Thank you.Can you and Rane go over there to talk while I think about this? Youve given me a lot of things that I want to consider.The two men nodded amiably, already beginning to delve back into the intricacies of kinetic redistribution and manipulation as they moved to the other side of the sparring circle.They would clearly have a lot to discuss.-Youre already thinking what I am in regards to Flow.-Yeah. Void and magic.-All that is missing is reality.-It has reality, it exists, but everything also always has void, because it is distinct from that which is around it.-And everything always has at least a bit of magic, even if it isnt inherently magical.-So, we need to bring forth reality more strongly. We need it more strongly than even having it surrounded by and connected to a ridiculous amount of iron.-It did seem to work against Sole, trapping in the iron I mean. Though, looking back, I feel like we brute forced it a bit by sheer quantity of iron.-Tala dove into Flow mentally, using her threefold sight to analyze it more deeply than shed ever truly examined anything.She parsed it at every layer, from every angle, utterly forgoing any view outward to aim all her perspectives at her soulbound weapon.There was already a tremendous amount of iron attached to Flow, and that, she moved out of the way for ease of examination.The dasgannach had been merged with her weapon, so it was effectively the source and anchor for all of her iron, but that alone wasnt imparting Reality to a sufficient degree, even if it was there, ready.Its like the void-magic when Flow is in one of its standard forms.As she searched through the magics of Flows makeup, she found what Master Tai had been talking about.Void-magic seemed to be twisting aroundnothing.It was like a three-stranded braid where a gap existed instead of one of the strands.Im filling in the gap with void? No, that wasnt right.Regardless, it clearly needed reality, somehow.She tried adding iron into the gap and felt it spark in her hand, singeing her skin as the material was rejected violently by the knife.It didnt hurt her too much, nor draw the attention of the two others who were deep in discussion.It did grab Terrys attention, however, as he squawked, seemingly having been woken up by her actions.Sorry, Terry.He chirped, headbutted her that it was alright, then flickered away.Right now, it is void-magic. Adding in reality as a basic concept doesnt really make sense. I would need to add in reality-magic, and reality-void?That isnt how her existence defense worked through her elk leathers, but that was a flawed working regardless.Sure, it functioned, there was no doubt of that, but it was also imperfect, like the forces involved were constantly roiling, making it incredibly unstable and unable to resist dedicated, sustained pressure from an aggressive source.That was likely what left her feeling so isolated within the defense, and that was also what had made the shield able to be pushed back, leading to her current need for recovery.The existence defenseas she currently used itwas void-magic, magic, and reality in the form of iron.Its too magic heavy.Similarly, when she tried to add iron into Flows magics, directly, it was just void-magic and reality in the form of iron. Those two were opposites.I either need true void with the magic of Flows makeup, or reality-magic and reality-void.Master Grediv would not be pleased if she pursued reality-magic and for good reason.Yeah, lets not take that path.So, Tala did the only thing she could think of.WIth an act of will, she drew on her authority within Kit, her authority over Flow, and her authority over her own power.This space was hers, this weapon was hers, and everything within her incredibly focused perception belonged to her and her alone.She focused her will, preparing to use Flows natural spellforms as a guide. She wasnt trying to change them. Her goal was to augment them, fill in the missing pieces, and let them come to full fruition.Then, she tried to force the weapon to pull apart in that specific pattern, introducing void along that pattern previously filled with void-magic, her magic ready to weave through it along with iron as soon as she opened the voids.Flow, obviously, didnt want to change shape, let alone pull apart.She felt herself growling, her hair standing on end as her entire being flexed against Flows resistance. At some level, she was fighting her own souls resistance to change.You are MINE.Shift at my will or be devoured.A wave of power washed out from Tala, and Master Tais gaze snapped to look her way, even as he cut off Rane.Rane turned, eyes widening an instant after Master Tai.Tala felt her very soul resonate at her drive and desire to enact her will upon the world.She felt the deep dissonance as she tried to force something bound to her very soul to bend and change.The very metal of Flows makeup screamed and cracked.
