Chapter 42: Well… That’s New
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 42: Well... That’s New
Over the next hour, Tala filled the fruit picker seven more times, each time moving back to the rock, or another convenient seat, to process her harvest.
During that time, she lost another shirt, and two pairs of pants.
With one of each left, she was forced to continue her work without other covering.
It wasnt unpleasant in the cool weather, but it definitely left her feeling like every tree, rock, or bush held some hidden watcher.
She filled both glass containers completely and ate a picker-basket full of the berries herself for lunch, supplemented by the travel food shed purchased in Bandfast. No need to let this go to waste.
She drank a lot of water, though it did little against her building headache. Is this from lack of coffee? Its probably from too little coffee. She grumbled unpleasantly about the stinginess of inns.
Her lunch now finished, she looked down at herself and noted that her fingers were stained a near maroon, and there were some drip stains on her chest as well. She could only imagine what her face looked like, if enough had gathered to drip down off her chin. She had tried to be careful, knowing that every drop of juice held power, but there was only so much she could do. She let out a resigned sigh. Oh well. I suppose Ill bathe when I get back to the city.
Attempts at rationality aside, she was quite irritated at the waste of power that the juice represented, and she resolved to be even more careful, going forward. Though, I dont really know how I could be Such a resolution, without a plan, was probably doomed to failure.
She pulled out the keg shed purchased and set about emptying the initial containers into it. They filled it quite nicely, just as shed hoped. She set the keg's lid in place and pulled out a wooden mallet.
Shed purchased the mallet in Bandfast, along with several other random odds and ends, to help round out her options, if unexpected things happened. As shed hoped, it had turned out to be a wise choice.
It was a bit more difficult than shed expected to properly set the kegs lid, but she got it done, mentally referencing the barrel sellers advice and instructions. Glad I asked, or this would have gone a lot more poorly
With the full keg again stashed in her belt pouch, she had two empty jugs, ready to fill.
Here we go. Once more, into the grove.
Without clothing to protect, she was a bit less careful in this initial step, favoring speed over safety, and she was brushed, struck, and poked at least half a hundred times over the next hour. Her speed paid off, though, as she filled the two jugs and ate her absolute fill of the ending-berries.
No wonder no one harvests these. Id be dead a dozen times over. A hundred, more likely. From her experience, only her iron salve had kept her intact.
She withdrew for the final time, settled down on a comfortably flat boulder, and finished processing the last harvest. Then, she stored the fruit picker in the convenient hole, prepared within her belt pouch. Is hole the right term? Carrying case doesnt really work. Mount? Slot? It didnt really matter.
She absently licked her fingers clean, relishing the tiny influx of power added to the storm within her with each drop. It had been a very productive outing. Not without its costs, however. Shed lost two shirts, three pairs of pants, and quite a bit of hair. She reached up and felt her patchy scalp with a sigh. She had not come through completely unscathed. Still, Im alive, and there is no way I would have been without my peculiarities.
She had kept her hair growth inscribings from activating, knowing that she could easily exhaust them if she let them trigger for every disintegrated chunk of hair. The salve that I worked into my hair helped some, but not as much as Id hoped.
That said, she was ready to restore herself to a state that didnt resemble someone newly recovered from a ravaging disease. Tala was about to let the magic loose, when she had a realization. Ive no idea if it will grow all my hair the proper length to recover from bald, or if it will feather the growth so that the result is correct.
She knew that the inscriptions would restore her hair, but like most acts of magic, she didnt know exactly how.
Well, there's no time like the presentto learn. So, she allowed power to flow through the activation scripts in her scalp and above her eyes.
Her hair did grow only as much as needed, and she felt the tingling power of one of her eyebrows returning to form. The other was miraculously untouched. Good to know. It isnt wasteful. Though, in truth, she had expected nothing less from Hollys work.
She regarded the two jugs, alongside the keg, and decided that she wanted to contain and maintain the magic as much as possible.
Shed already worked iron salve into the outside of the keg, so she was able to place that back in her pouch with a happy smile.
The jugs were a different problem, given that they were glass, and that couldnt really absorb the salve.
In the end, she pulled out two medium cloth sacks, turned them inside out and coated the insides with her salve before inverting them once more and placing a jug within each. Ill have to buy another keg if I mean to store these longer term Shed been cognizant enough to finish filling her iron flask, and that was comfortably stored alongside the keg. Its iron the only containment that vessel needed.
Now, the jugs were bound in iron salve, so the magic in the berries shouldnt fade too quickly, if at all.
She felt positively brimming with power from the berries that shed eaten. Unlike before, when shed had her palms uncovered along with her eyes as possible escapes for the power, now only her eyes were open, and her inscriptions were actively working to keep power from flowing through that weak point.
Thankfully, those were gold inscriptions, like those of her passive enhancements, and should easily last until her return to Holly. The idea had been to prevent hostile magic from getting into her through her eyes, not escaping, however, and she could feel, and even see through her mage-sight, wisps of power slowly leaking from her open eyes.
She blessed the stars that none of the flailing branches had ever caught her in the eye, she wasnt sure her inscriptions would prevent the entry of magic that was physically thrust into her eyeball. That would have been a disaster.
Her palms were not open now, because shed left the glue in place after treating the keg and fruit-picker handle, earlier, and a healthy coating of iron salve had melded with the paste through the course of her work.
The power had nowhere to go except what little could escape from her eyes, and she felt it settling in within her, strengthening her, and adding weight behind her enhancements.
If she were being honest, she felt as if she could stand before a siege cannon and take the blast. Thankfully, such weapons of war hadn't been seen by humanity in centuries, but they were still a subject of fascination for Tala. The idea that she could withstand one was intoxicating. And she found herself basking in the feeling of power, in the sunlight, in the ambient magic swirling around her, and in the cool breeze playing across her bare skin.
So, she made her way back to the inn; once each goal was reached, she set another just a bit further. She maintained her concentration and continued to funnel as much power as she could without overtaxing herself.
In truth, it felt like carrying the heaviest weight her body could manage without injury, as she continued to push for just one more block.
Then, almost unexpectedly, she was in her room. Thats it. Ive got to get it out.
She fumbled at her belt, pulling the knife so that she could prick her finger.
Dont let the scriptings activate. She diverted a small fraction of her thoughts to her fingers inscriptions, pulling power away from those intended to keep her skin whole, just as she did every time she needed to confirm a contract or transaction. Done.
She also needed to tame the power of the ending-berries, racing through her system in quantities vastly outstripping those shed worked with before. She had to draw it away from the site of the cut, or they would prevent her skin from being pierced. Also done.
Tala lifted the knife and paused. Im an idiot; Im not thinking clearly. Her focus was split so many ways, and she knew it was close to breaking. Ive got to move fast. With careful motions, she sat, and pulled out an iron vial. I almost just let this drop onto the floor. What would that have even done?
She held her finger over the open vial, and carefully slit her skin, allowing the drop of blood to flow out. She maintained full control over the power, until it left her body.
As the drop appeared, three things happened in quick succession.
First, her mage-sight became outward-focused again, and she saw the power within the Archon star. Not bad, Tala. It was at least as potent as the one shed placed into her knife the night before, and that had been the combination of multiple efforts. Not bad at all.
Second, as the drop fell free of her finger, her inscriptions activated behind it to close the small cut flawlessly.
Last, her once again free mind realized something. Ohthe knife.
The Archon star, forged within blood, seemed to sense its like nearby. As it fell, its path changed drastically and instantly.
The drop ticked sideways, briefly stopping against the handle of her knife, which was still held firmly in her grip. Even with that instantaneous pause, there was no time to act, and in less than a blink, the miniscule drop of blood had rolled down the handle and into the pommel, precisely where the other star had gone the night before.
Well, that choice is gone, then.
The knife quivered in her hand, a ripple moving through it from tip to butt, and after the tremor passed, she was a bit surprised by the changes.
The blades color had returned to a more natural steel grey, though there was depth to the color that reminded her of the difference between red paint and a ruby. The handles material now resembled nothing so much as a night sky, where every star was the deep, vital red of liquid blood.
Give a knife a blood star, and you get what you gave? She felt something deep within her chest, like the sadness of missing a friend or the joy of hugging a loved one, and at the same time, she felt a resonance within the weapon she still held. Instinctively, she knew that her bond to the knife had deepened, for better or worse. Thankfully, there was no increase to her exhaustion. Apparently increasing a bond didnt have the same tiring effects as creating one. Well, aside from the strain of creating the star used for such.
Grediv said that the Archon star would allow me to exert control outside of myself. She could already push magic into something that she was holding, so she took the knifes sheath from her belt, placed the knife in it, and placed both items on the nightstand, beside her bed.
How far can it work? She still felt the knife, but not as if it were in her hand. The feeling was more like how she could reliably point at the sun, while standing in its light.
She stepped back until a good ten feet of space was between her and the knife. Then, trusting her own instincts, she gathered up a bit of power, and pushed it towards the knife.
It was as easy as moving power towards or away from inscriptions within herself. Easier, in fact, if that was possible.
The knife drank in the magic thirstily, and Tala cut off the flow. Can I draw power back?
She tried, using the same sort of techniques, but got nothing. Hmmm Can I move it?
She tried to shift the power within the knife, but it was like trying to move a pen by thinking at it: Utterly ineffective and headache inducing.
This is getting nowhere. I cant move power out of it, or within it, all I can do is give it power. I dont really see a point to that She sighed.
But, Tala, you can give it powerat a distance! She snorted a laugh. Thats true, and unique, I suppose. She smiled. Its something.
The seamstress wasnt likely to be by for another hour or so, then she had dinner with Artia, Brand, and Artias husband. What was his name? She hadnt met the man, but Artia had spoken fondly of him, and he seemed like he might have some of the answers she sought. It was like Adam, but notAdrill! That was it. She smiled in satisfaction at remembering.
So, she had a bit of time before the seamstress, and dinner with Artia, Adrill, and Brand. How to spend the time?
Tala decided that she should go buy one more keg, at the very least, as well as the tools to tap the one she had, for when that time came. Maybe a larger iron jug or flask? There were too many things to spend money on. Shed have to consider it on the way. She was almost to the door, when the light pressure on her back came to the forefront of her thinking.
Right! The knife. She turned to go back and pick it up, reaching out in preparation, even while still across the room.
In that instant, she felt a tugging and the knife, sheath and all, zipped through the air to stop lightly in her hand, the handle perfectly situated in her grip for instantaneous use. A pulse of tiredness followed, as if she had just sprinted across the room, lifted a heavy crate, and sprinted back, crate in hand.
Tala stared down at the knife, now firmly in her grasp. Well Thats new.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 42: Well... That’s New
Over the next hour, Tala filled the fruit picker seven more times, each time moving back to the rock, or another convenient seat, to process her harvest.
During that time, she lost another shirt, and two pairs of pants.
With one of each left, she was forced to continue her work without other covering.
It wasnt unpleasant in the cool weather, but it definitely left her feeling like every tree, rock, or bush held some hidden watcher.
She filled both glass containers completely and ate a picker-basket full of the berries herself for lunch, supplemented by the travel food shed purchased in Bandfast. No need to let this go to waste.
She drank a lot of water, though it did little against her building headache. Is this from lack of coffee? Its probably from too little coffee. She grumbled unpleasantly about the stinginess of inns.
Her lunch now finished, she looked down at herself and noted that her fingers were stained a near maroon, and there were some drip stains on her chest as well. She could only imagine what her face looked like, if enough had gathered to drip down off her chin. She had tried to be careful, knowing that every drop of juice held power, but there was only so much she could do. She let out a resigned sigh. Oh well. I suppose Ill bathe when I get back to the city.
Attempts at rationality aside, she was quite irritated at the waste of power that the juice represented, and she resolved to be even more careful, going forward. Though, I dont really know how I could be Such a resolution, without a plan, was probably doomed to failure.
She pulled out the keg shed purchased and set about emptying the initial containers into it. They filled it quite nicely, just as shed hoped. She set the keg's lid in place and pulled out a wooden mallet.
Shed purchased the mallet in Bandfast, along with several other random odds and ends, to help round out her options, if unexpected things happened. As shed hoped, it had turned out to be a wise choice.
It was a bit more difficult than shed expected to properly set the kegs lid, but she got it done, mentally referencing the barrel sellers advice and instructions. Glad I asked, or this would have gone a lot more poorly
With the full keg again stashed in her belt pouch, she had two empty jugs, ready to fill.
Here we go. Once more, into the grove.
Without clothing to protect, she was a bit less careful in this initial step, favoring speed over safety, and she was brushed, struck, and poked at least half a hundred times over the next hour. Her speed paid off, though, as she filled the two jugs and ate her absolute fill of the ending-berries.
No wonder no one harvests these. Id be dead a dozen times over. A hundred, more likely. From her experience, only her iron salve had kept her intact.
She withdrew for the final time, settled down on a comfortably flat boulder, and finished processing the last harvest. Then, she stored the fruit picker in the convenient hole, prepared within her belt pouch. Is hole the right term? Carrying case doesnt really work. Mount? Slot? It didnt really matter.
She absently licked her fingers clean, relishing the tiny influx of power added to the storm within her with each drop. It had been a very productive outing. Not without its costs, however. Shed lost two shirts, three pairs of pants, and quite a bit of hair. She reached up and felt her patchy scalp with a sigh. She had not come through completely unscathed. Still, Im alive, and there is no way I would have been without my peculiarities.
She had kept her hair growth inscribings from activating, knowing that she could easily exhaust them if she let them trigger for every disintegrated chunk of hair. The salve that I worked into my hair helped some, but not as much as Id hoped.
That said, she was ready to restore herself to a state that didnt resemble someone newly recovered from a ravaging disease. Tala was about to let the magic loose, when she had a realization. Ive no idea if it will grow all my hair the proper length to recover from bald, or if it will feather the growth so that the result is correct.
She knew that the inscriptions would restore her hair, but like most acts of magic, she didnt know exactly how.
Well, there's no time like the presentto learn. So, she allowed power to flow through the activation scripts in her scalp and above her eyes.
Her hair did grow only as much as needed, and she felt the tingling power of one of her eyebrows returning to form. The other was miraculously untouched. Good to know. It isnt wasteful. Though, in truth, she had expected nothing less from Hollys work.
She regarded the two jugs, alongside the keg, and decided that she wanted to contain and maintain the magic as much as possible.
Shed already worked iron salve into the outside of the keg, so she was able to place that back in her pouch with a happy smile.
The jugs were a different problem, given that they were glass, and that couldnt really absorb the salve.
In the end, she pulled out two medium cloth sacks, turned them inside out and coated the insides with her salve before inverting them once more and placing a jug within each. Ill have to buy another keg if I mean to store these longer term Shed been cognizant enough to finish filling her iron flask, and that was comfortably stored alongside the keg. Its iron the only containment that vessel needed.
Now, the jugs were bound in iron salve, so the magic in the berries shouldnt fade too quickly, if at all.
She felt positively brimming with power from the berries that shed eaten. Unlike before, when shed had her palms uncovered along with her eyes as possible escapes for the power, now only her eyes were open, and her inscriptions were actively working to keep power from flowing through that weak point.
Thankfully, those were gold inscriptions, like those of her passive enhancements, and should easily last until her return to Holly. The idea had been to prevent hostile magic from getting into her through her eyes, not escaping, however, and she could feel, and even see through her mage-sight, wisps of power slowly leaking from her open eyes.
She blessed the stars that none of the flailing branches had ever caught her in the eye, she wasnt sure her inscriptions would prevent the entry of magic that was physically thrust into her eyeball. That would have been a disaster.
Her palms were not open now, because shed left the glue in place after treating the keg and fruit-picker handle, earlier, and a healthy coating of iron salve had melded with the paste through the course of her work.
The power had nowhere to go except what little could escape from her eyes, and she felt it settling in within her, strengthening her, and adding weight behind her enhancements.
If she were being honest, she felt as if she could stand before a siege cannon and take the blast. Thankfully, such weapons of war hadn't been seen by humanity in centuries, but they were still a subject of fascination for Tala. The idea that she could withstand one was intoxicating. And she found herself basking in the feeling of power, in the sunlight, in the ambient magic swirling around her, and in the cool breeze playing across her bare skin.
So, she made her way back to the inn; once each goal was reached, she set another just a bit further. She maintained her concentration and continued to funnel as much power as she could without overtaxing herself.
In truth, it felt like carrying the heaviest weight her body could manage without injury, as she continued to push for just one more block.
Then, almost unexpectedly, she was in her room. Thats it. Ive got to get it out.
She fumbled at her belt, pulling the knife so that she could prick her finger.
Dont let the scriptings activate. She diverted a small fraction of her thoughts to her fingers inscriptions, pulling power away from those intended to keep her skin whole, just as she did every time she needed to confirm a contract or transaction. Done.
She also needed to tame the power of the ending-berries, racing through her system in quantities vastly outstripping those shed worked with before. She had to draw it away from the site of the cut, or they would prevent her skin from being pierced. Also done.
Tala lifted the knife and paused. Im an idiot; Im not thinking clearly. Her focus was split so many ways, and she knew it was close to breaking. Ive got to move fast. With careful motions, she sat, and pulled out an iron vial. I almost just let this drop onto the floor. What would that have even done?
She held her finger over the open vial, and carefully slit her skin, allowing the drop of blood to flow out. She maintained full control over the power, until it left her body.
As the drop appeared, three things happened in quick succession.
First, her mage-sight became outward-focused again, and she saw the power within the Archon star. Not bad, Tala. It was at least as potent as the one shed placed into her knife the night before, and that had been the combination of multiple efforts. Not bad at all.
Second, as the drop fell free of her finger, her inscriptions activated behind it to close the small cut flawlessly.
Last, her once again free mind realized something. Ohthe knife.
The Archon star, forged within blood, seemed to sense its like nearby. As it fell, its path changed drastically and instantly.
The drop ticked sideways, briefly stopping against the handle of her knife, which was still held firmly in her grip. Even with that instantaneous pause, there was no time to act, and in less than a blink, the miniscule drop of blood had rolled down the handle and into the pommel, precisely where the other star had gone the night before.
Well, that choice is gone, then.
The knife quivered in her hand, a ripple moving through it from tip to butt, and after the tremor passed, she was a bit surprised by the changes.
The blades color had returned to a more natural steel grey, though there was depth to the color that reminded her of the difference between red paint and a ruby. The handles material now resembled nothing so much as a night sky, where every star was the deep, vital red of liquid blood.
Give a knife a blood star, and you get what you gave? She felt something deep within her chest, like the sadness of missing a friend or the joy of hugging a loved one, and at the same time, she felt a resonance within the weapon she still held. Instinctively, she knew that her bond to the knife had deepened, for better or worse. Thankfully, there was no increase to her exhaustion. Apparently increasing a bond didnt have the same tiring effects as creating one. Well, aside from the strain of creating the star used for such.
Grediv said that the Archon star would allow me to exert control outside of myself. She could already push magic into something that she was holding, so she took the knifes sheath from her belt, placed the knife in it, and placed both items on the nightstand, beside her bed.
How far can it work? She still felt the knife, but not as if it were in her hand. The feeling was more like how she could reliably point at the sun, while standing in its light.
She stepped back until a good ten feet of space was between her and the knife. Then, trusting her own instincts, she gathered up a bit of power, and pushed it towards the knife.
It was as easy as moving power towards or away from inscriptions within herself. Easier, in fact, if that was possible.
The knife drank in the magic thirstily, and Tala cut off the flow. Can I draw power back?
She tried, using the same sort of techniques, but got nothing. Hmmm Can I move it?
She tried to shift the power within the knife, but it was like trying to move a pen by thinking at it: Utterly ineffective and headache inducing.
This is getting nowhere. I cant move power out of it, or within it, all I can do is give it power. I dont really see a point to that She sighed.
But, Tala, you can give it powerat a distance! She snorted a laugh. Thats true, and unique, I suppose. She smiled. Its something.
The seamstress wasnt likely to be by for another hour or so, then she had dinner with Artia, Brand, and Artias husband. What was his name? She hadnt met the man, but Artia had spoken fondly of him, and he seemed like he might have some of the answers she sought. It was like Adam, but notAdrill! That was it. She smiled in satisfaction at remembering.
So, she had a bit of time before the seamstress, and dinner with Artia, Adrill, and Brand. How to spend the time?
Tala decided that she should go buy one more keg, at the very least, as well as the tools to tap the one she had, for when that time came. Maybe a larger iron jug or flask? There were too many things to spend money on. Shed have to consider it on the way. She was almost to the door, when the light pressure on her back came to the forefront of her thinking.
Right! The knife. She turned to go back and pick it up, reaching out in preparation, even while still across the room.
In that instant, she felt a tugging and the knife, sheath and all, zipped through the air to stop lightly in her hand, the handle perfectly situated in her grip for instantaneous use. A pulse of tiredness followed, as if she had just sprinted across the room, lifted a heavy crate, and sprinted back, crate in hand.
Tala stared down at the knife, now firmly in her grasp. Well Thats new.
Chapter 42: Well... That's NewOver the next hour, Tala filled the fruit picker seven more times, each time moving back to the rock, or another convenient seat, to process her harvest.During that time, she lost another shirt, and two pairs of pants.With one of each left, she was forced to continue her work without other covering.It wasnt unpleasant in the cool weather, but it definitely left her feeling like every tree, rock, or bush held some hidden watcher.She filled both glass containers completely and ate a picker-basket full of the berries herself for lunch, supplemented by the travel food shed purchased in Bandfast. No need to let this go to waste.She drank a lot of water, though it did little against her building headache. Is this from lack of coffee? Its probably from too little coffee. She grumbled unpleasantly about the stinginess of inns.Her lunch now finished, she looked down at herself and noted that her fingers were stained a near maroon, and there were some drip stains on her chest as well. She could only imagine what her face looked like, if enough had gathered to drip down off her chin. She had tried to be careful, knowing that every drop of juice held power, but there was only so much she could do. She let out a resigned sigh. Oh well. I suppose Ill bathe when I get back to the city.Attempts at rationality aside, she was quite irritated at the waste of power that the juice represented, and she resolved to be even more careful, going forward. Though, I dont really know how I could be Such a resolution, without a plan, was probably doomed to failure.She pulled out the keg shed purchased and set about emptying the initial containers into it. They filled it quite nicely, just as shed hoped. She set the keg's lid in place and pulled out a wooden mallet.Shed purchased the mallet in Bandfast, along with several other random odds and ends, to help round out her options, if unexpected things happened. As shed hoped, it had turned out to be a wise choice.It was a bit more difficult than shed expected to properly set the kegs lid, but she got it done, mentally referencing the barrel sellers advice and instructions. Glad I asked, or this would have gone a lot more poorlyWith the full keg again stashed in her belt pouch, she had two empty jugs, ready to fill.Here we go. Once more, into the grove.Without clothing to protect, she was a bit less careful in this initial step, favoring speed over safety, and she was brushed, struck, and poked at least half a hundred times over the next hour. Her speed paid off, though, as she filled the two jugs and ate her absolute fill of the ending-berries.No wonder no one harvests these. Id be dead a dozen times over. A hundred, more likely. From her experience, only her iron salve had kept her intact.She withdrew for the final time, settled down on a comfortably flat boulder, and finished processing the last harvest. Then, she stored the fruit picker in the convenient hole, prepared within her belt pouch. Is hole the right term? Carrying case doesnt really work. Mount? Slot? It didnt really matter.She absently licked her fingers clean, relishing the tiny influx of power added to the storm within her with each drop. It had been a very productive outing. Not without its costs, however. Shed lost two shirts, three pairs of pants, and quite a bit of hair. She reached up and felt her patchy scalp with a sigh. She had not come through completely unscathed. Still, Im alive, and there is no way I would have been without my peculiarities.She had kept her hair growth inscribings from activating, knowing that she could easily exhaust them if she let them trigger for every disintegrated chunk of hair. The salve that I worked into my hair helped some, but not as much as Id hoped.That said, she was ready to restore herself to a state that didnt resemble someone newly recovered from a ravaging disease. Tala was about to let the magic loose, when she had a realization. Ive no idea if it will grow all my hair the proper length to recover from bald, or if it will feather the growth so that the result is correct.She knew that the inscriptions would restore her hair, but like most acts of magic, she didnt know exactly how.Well, there's no time like the presentto learn. So, she allowed power to flow through the activation scripts in her scalp and above her eyes.Her hair did grow only as much as needed, and she felt the tingling power of one of her eyebrows returning to form. The other was miraculously untouched. Good to know. It isnt wasteful. Though, in truth, she had expected nothing less from Hollys work.She regarded the two jugs, alongside the keg, and decided that she wanted to contain and maintain the magic as much as possible.Shed already worked iron salve into the outside of the keg, so she was able to place that back in her pouch with a happy smile.The jugs were a different problem, given that they were glass, and that couldnt really absorb the salve.In the end, she pulled out two medium cloth sacks, turned them inside out and coated the insides with her salve before inverting them once more and placing a jug within each. Ill have to buy another keg if I mean to store these longer term Shed been cognizant enough to finish filling her iron flask, and that was comfortably stored alongside the keg. Its iron the only containment that vessel needed.Now, the jugs were bound in iron salve, so the magic in the berries shouldnt fade too quickly, if at all.She felt positively brimming with power from the berries that shed eaten. Unlike before, when shed had her palms uncovered along with her eyes as possible escapes for the power, now only her eyes were open, and her inscriptions were actively working to keep power from flowing through that weak point.Thankfully, those were gold inscriptions, like those of her passive enhancements, and should easily last until her return to Holly. The idea had been to prevent hostile magic from getting into her through her eyes, not escaping, however, and she could feel, and even see through her mage-sight, wisps of power slowly leaking from her open eyes.She blessed the stars that none of the flailing branches had ever caught her in the eye, she wasnt sure her inscriptions would prevent the entry of magic that was physically thrust into her eyeball. That would have been a disaster.Her palms were not open now, because shed left the glue in place after treating the keg and fruit-picker handle, earlier, and a healthy coating of iron salve had melded with the paste through the course of her work.The power had nowhere to go except what little could escape from her eyes, and she felt it settling in within her, strengthening her, and adding weight behind her enhancements.If she were being honest, she felt as if she could stand before a siege cannon and take the blast. Thankfully, such weapons of war hadn't been seen by humanity in centuries, but they were still a subject of fascination for Tala. The idea that she could withstand one was intoxicating. And she found herself basking in the feeling of power, in the sunlight, in the ambient magic swirling around her, and in the cool breeze playing across her bare skin.So, she made her way back to the inn; once each goal was reached, she set another just a bit further. She maintained her concentration and continued to funnel as much power as she could without overtaxing herself.In truth, it felt like carrying the heaviest weight her body could manage without injury, as she continued to push for just one more block.Then, almost unexpectedly, she was in her room. Thats it. Ive got to get it out.She fumbled at her belt, pulling the knife so that she could prick her finger.Dont let the scriptings activate. She diverted a small fraction of her thoughts to her fingers inscriptions, pulling power away from those intended to keep her skin whole, just as she did every time she needed to confirm a contract or transaction. Done.She also needed to tame the power of the ending-berries, racing through her system in quantities vastly outstripping those shed worked with before. She had to draw it away from the site of the cut, or they would prevent her skin from being pierced. Also done.Tala lifted the knife and paused. Im an idiot; Im not thinking clearly. Her focus was split so many ways, and she knew it was close to breaking. Ive got to move fast. With careful motions, she sat, and pulled out an iron vial. I almost just let this drop onto the floor. What would that have even done?She held her finger over the open vial, and carefully slit her skin, allowing the drop of blood to flow out. She maintained full control over the power, until it left her body.As the drop appeared, three things happened in quick succession.First, her mage-sight became outward-focused again, and she saw the power within the Archon star. Not bad, Tala. It was at least as potent as the one shed placed into her knife the night before, and that had been the combination of multiple efforts. Not bad at all.Second, as the drop fell free of her finger, her inscriptions activated behind it to close the small cut flawlessly.Last, her once again free mind realized something. Ohthe knife.The Archon star, forged within blood, seemed to sense its like nearby. As it fell, its path changed drastically and instantly.The drop ticked sideways, briefly stopping against the handle of her knife, which was still held firmly in her grip. Even with that instantaneous pause, there was no time to act, and in less than a blink, the miniscule drop of blood had rolled down the handle and into the pommel, precisely where the other star had gone the night before.Well, that choice is gone, then.The knife quivered in her hand, a ripple moving through it from tip to butt, and after the tremor passed, she was a bit surprised by the changes.The blades color had returned to a more natural steel grey, though there was depth to the color that reminded her of the difference between red paint and a ruby. The handles material now resembled nothing so much as a night sky, where every star was the deep, vital red of liquid blood.Give a knife a blood star, and you get what you gave? She felt something deep within her chest, like the sadness of missing a friend or the joy of hugging a loved one, and at the same time, she felt a resonance within the weapon she still held. Instinctively, she knew that her bond to the knife had deepened, for better or worse. Thankfully, there was no increase to her exhaustion. Apparently increasing a bond didnt have the same tiring effects as creating one. Well, aside from the strain of creating the star used for such.Grediv said that the Archon star would allow me to exert control outside of myself. She could already push magic into something that she was holding, so she took the knifes sheath from her belt, placed the knife in it, and placed both items on the nightstand, beside her bed.How far can it work? She still felt the knife, but not as if it were in her hand. The feeling was more like how she could reliably point at the sun, while standing in its light.She stepped back until a good ten feet of space was between her and the knife. Then, trusting her own instincts, she gathered up a bit of power, and pushed it towards the knife.It was as easy as moving power towards or away from inscriptions within herself. Easier, in fact, if that was possible.The knife drank in the magic thirstily, and Tala cut off the flow. Can I draw power back?She tried, using the same sort of techniques, but got nothing. Hmmm Can I move it?She tried to shift the power within the knife, but it was like trying to move a pen by thinking at it: Utterly ineffective and headache inducing.This is getting nowhere. I cant move power out of it, or within it, all I can do is give it power. I dont really see a point to that She sighed.But, Tala, you can give it powerat a distance! She snorted a laugh. Thats true, and unique, I suppose. She smiled. Its something.The seamstress wasnt likely to be by for another hour or so, then she had dinner with Artia, Brand, and Artias husband. What was his name? She hadnt met the man, but Artia had spoken fondly of him, and he seemed like he might have some of the answers she sought. It was like Adam, but notAdrill! That was it. She smiled in satisfaction at remembering.So, she had a bit of time before the seamstress, and dinner with Artia, Adrill, and Brand. How to spend the time?Tala decided that she should go buy one more keg, at the very least, as well as the tools to tap the one she had, for when that time came. Maybe a larger iron jug or flask? There were too many things to spend money on. Shed have to consider it on the way. She was almost to the door, when the light pressure on her back came to the forefront of her thinking.Right! The knife. She turned to go back and pick it up, reaching out in preparation, even while still across the room.In that instant, she felt a tugging and the knife, sheath and all, zipped through the air to stop lightly in her hand, the handle perfectly situated in her grip for instantaneous use. A pulse of tiredness followed, as if she had just sprinted across the room, lifted a heavy crate, and sprinted back, crate in hand.Tala stared down at the knife, now firmly in her grasp. Well Thats new.
