Chapter 85: About Time You Finished
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Chapter 85: About Time You Finished
Tala stopped by to say goodbye to Lyn on her way out of the Caravanners main office. The other woman seemed surprised, for some reason, but otherwise didnt comment, except to say, Ill see you at home.
It was late afternoon, and the sun had already set, though light still clung to the sky to highlight the clouds overhead, and periodic lights on the main streets provided easy illumination.
Tala knew it was cold. Even Terry seemed to snuggle closer into her neck as she stepped outside, but to her, it just felt wonderful.
There was an especially lovely park on the way, and Tala left the road to walk through it, across the grass. Still green? I wonder what that takes
After she was a ways out onto the lawn, she had a realization. I hope Im not crushing the grass as I walk. She looked behind herself and found that there didnt seem any permanent damage, marking her path. She looked down and took a moment to analyze what she saw.
In a circle around each bare foot, the grass was pressed flat, as if under the boot of a giant. Tala couldnt help but grin. I was wondering how it would look. Nice!
She could see the telltale threads of magic across her sole, increasing the surface area of her feet. She could feel the power in the gold inscriptions enacting that spell-form.
The manifestation is obviously beyond my foot, but the magic, itself, is contained there.
Magic was amazing.
She shifted up onto the balls of her feet, and the circle of compressed grass moved forward just a bit but didnt reduce in size. Exactly as expected. It was an elegant solution.
A great solution to a problem Ive created. She shook her head. I need to give it a solid try.
So long as what she stood on could bear her weight, it shouldnt be damaged. If shed done the math right, once she reached her maximum weight, that which she stood upon would experience the same pressure that it would under a normal person. Weight could still be an issue but shouldnt be terrible. If a floor can hold four to eight people, standing in a huddle, it should be able to hold me.
It wasnt a perfect analogy, but it was close enough.
She bent down and placed a palm down on the lawn.
An identically sized circle of grass depressed as she shifted her weight onto that hand. The active spell-forms on her hand were differently shaped from those on her feet, due to the difference in the form of the limbs, but they had identical functions.
I wonder what would happen if I slap someone She grinned.
Now, she kind of wanted to slap someone. No, bad Tala.
It was time to get home.
* * *
Tala sat, cross-legged on the floor of the sitting room.
She was just finishing the last vestiges of a miniature vat of custard. Shed scraped the last out with her finger, which shed then licked clean.
Lyn walked in, stopping when she saw her housemate. What did you eat, this time?
Tala pointed at four different bowls, each in turn. Beef stew, bean porridge, chicken chowder, and butter-cream custard.
Lyn shook her head. Each of those bowls looks sufficiently large to hold enough food for a family.
Tala grinned. Thats why theyre called family size.
Lyn snorted. Fair enough. How was the meeting?
You didnt just look up the results?
I thought it better to hear from you.
Tala shrugged at that. I think I did pretty well. Im going to have someone watching over my shoulder, but I think I can probably learn from them, so its probably for the best.
Thatssurprisingly mature of you?L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.
No need to sound surprised.
You arent exactly thewisest person I know.
I follow wisdom when it really matters.
Lyn opened her mouth to respond, then paused. I think that might actually be true, from your perspective.
Of course, thats why I said it.
Lyn sighed. So, you have a minder. Did you get a pay increase along with that restriction?
I didnt get my initial ask, but I didnt expect to.
Oh? So, you did get a bump. How much did you get?
Ten ounces but upped to twelve as soon as Im raised to Archon.
Lyn blinked at her, then she started laughing.
Tala was grinning, but slowly, that expression faded.
Lyn sat down in a nearby chair, shaking her head. You robbed each other.
Tala frowned. What do you mean?
I looked at your file before the meeting. I saw what he was authorized to give you. I also saw a note, added by someone else. Lyn had a small, knowing smile on her face. Someone who didnt know you very well.
Oh?
The addendum was a notification that you were newly graduated, and while your ability was acceptable, impressive even, we should not expect further advancement for quite some time.
Tala tilted her head. So?
Lyn grinned widely. He was authorized to give you up to eleven ounces per trip.
Tala cursed. That slippery-
Lyn held up a hand. No, Tala. You dont understand. He was specifically forbidden from giving you more.
He didnt.
Lyn cocked an eyebrow.
Well, he hasnt yet.
And arent you planning on making an attempt at Archon, tomorrow?
Tala opened her mouth, closed it, then barked a laugh. Oh! She laughed again. So, he thinks he saved an ounce, or I could have gotten one more ounce from him, but as soon as I succeed, Ill have violated my maximum, by what he was told.
Precisely. If youd actually gotten eleven ounces, gold, per trip, they would not have renegotiated any time soon. She was shaking her head. Somehow, you got more than you should have, by accepting less than you had to.
Tala gave a seated bow. Breaking the system, one decision at a time.
That does seem to be the way you work, doesnt it?
Tala sighed, leaning back and bracing herself up on her palms. So, when are you making your own attempt?
I took tomorrow off. Ill see what I can do with the five hours in which I can maintain my void.
So, didnt your master tell you not to move on, until you could hold that constantly?
Yes and no. He said that I shouldnt move on down the Way of the Void, until then. He actually left tips and tricks to allow for the creation of a star much sooner than that. She smiled fondly. Everything I can see seems to indicate that our learning and improvement will be opened to new horizons by becoming Archons.
And you didnt want to do it.
Lyn gave Tala a flat look. I still dont really want to do it. Im not driven to be the best Mage I can be, unlike some people. Im looking on the bright side, but I am content where I am.
Oh?
Lyn shifted slightly. Mostly.
Tala just smiled.
Fine! Ive been feeling a bit stifled. I like my work, but I feel like Im in a rut. Every day is the same. She gave a half smile. Well, it was, until you arrived. Thats probably why I took such an interest in you; you were odd from the start.
Glad to help.
Lyn rolled her eyes. Anyways. Mistress Holly is right. Its time for me to move on with my magic. She let out a sigh. I was going to fight to keep my position, but who knows? Maybe, those I can move into will be more fun. She did not sound convinced.
Sometime after the first hour, Lyn had joined her, sitting on the floor across from her, holding a small, roughly spherical diamond between her palms.
That was over two hours earlier.
Tala was currently resting and used her freed mental space to glance at Lyn.
Her void is constant, consistent, and strong. Tala, herself, was improving. If she had to guess, shed say she was holding the void-channels for nearly twenty minutes, now, and her required resting time had only increased marginally. Im getting better.
Still, Lyn was doing it and doing it well, no sign of slipping in evidence.
Tala frowned as she looked more closely at the diamond in Lyns hand. Power was pouring into it, but a lot was flowing off of and around the surface, dissipating into the room.
Her mental construct of the Archon star isnt perfect? Or there is some loss through the change of medium It was most likely both.
It was almost as if Lyn was simply throwing the power at the gem, trying to alter it so it would take the proper form on its own.
But that would be madness. This is really hard, even while Im controlling the power directly
She looked down at her own hand, inside of which her own Archon star blazed with vastly more power than Lyns partially constructed one. Im not seeing the same inefficiency.
As she thought about it, that made sense: she was an Immaterial Guide, and magic was immaterial, especially within her own body. She had nearly perfect control over her own internal power. So, even if Lyn could have been working within herself, she wouldnt have the same advantages that Tala was experiencing.
Tala had also created quite a few stars, by this point, and her mental construct was likely much more refined than Lyns. This is going to be easier for me, than her. It is easier for me in basically every conceivable way.
While they each had advantages, Lyns mainly being her better, longer-lasting void, Tala decided she liked her own more.
Yes, I like having all but one advantage. Massive insight, Tala.
As rested as she was going to be and ready to dive back in, Tala closed her eyes and reforged her void-channels. Another round!
To her surprise, as she precisely guided her power into the spell-form, she could feel it coming to a tipping point. Just like Flow. If she had to guess, she was about to cross the lower limit of a true Archon star.
As she guided her magic, the spell-form ticked over the hurdle, and began drinking in power much more easily. In fact, Tala suddenly had to fight the spell-form on several fronts.
First, it seemed to want to draw all the power out of her, to drain her dry as some of her earliest versions had, before shed gained greater control.
Second, it was trying to move on its own.
The Archon star wanted to move up the flows of power, towards her core. Tala felt silly, anthropomorphizing the spell-form that way, but it was an accurate description of how it felt.
Similarly, she knew that that was not a good idea. Something deep within her rebelled at the idea of the Archon star reaching her gate.
So, she fought the star, even as she continued to drown it in magic, using the pressure of inflowing power to assist in pushing the spell-form back.
The void-channels were now simpler to maintain, as if they were naturally meant to be there, but Tala was now working harder than ever: As the star grew in power, it also grew in strength.
Somehow, Tala knew: This is a fight for dominance like no other Mage has to face. She snorted a rueful laugh. This might even be why they dont suggest Archon stars be forged within a Mages flesh. She didnt know what would happen if she failed. She simply did not know enough. Even so, she knew that she, as she was, would cease.
Somehow.
And so, she fought.
She considered allowing her accomplishment to be enough. She almost stopped, realizing that she had a fully powered star, if in the lower reaches of acceptable power. No.
The channels were locked open, now, and while she could cut them off if needed, they were trivial to maintain. Like adding one to Flow, since its change.
Tala gritted her teeth and turned her entire focus inward.
* * *
More than an hour later, Tala was gasping for breath, her breathing pattern forgotten.
She was coated in sweat, more so than she had been in her memory. Academy calisthenics have nothing on this.
Her lungs burned, her every muscle quivered, and her inscriptions werent helping. The strain was beyond physical, and that was all those spell-forms could address.
Her star was complete.
Not only had she hit the level Grediv had recommended, but she, in her near infinite stubbornness, had gone beyond that, and the spell-form was no longer taking in power.
The Archon star sat on the cusp ofsomething. She had no idea what.
All she could interpret was that no further power could be incorporated into the form, and she had to GET IT OUT, NOW!
Her camp knife, not Flow, came up in a shaking hand, while her left hovered over the prepared iron vial.
Ok, Tala. Just a moment more. Youre almost there.
She pulled her power back from the ring fingers defensive forms.
The tip of the blade pushed into the skin, her shaking making a far larger cut than she had intended.
No blood came out.
What the rust?
The Archon star did not want to leave.
Tala growled, pushing with all she had.
The star wouldnt leave.
Rust you, you stupid, slagging spell-form! She jerked her defensive power back further and cut off her fingertip at the knuckle.
Tala almost lost the fight with the Archon star, then.
First, the intensity of the pain was staggering, given the totality of her focus on the digit.
Second, she was utterly unprepared for what she saw.
The fingertip fell away, leaving a golden mesh of spell-lines hanging in mid-air, connected back to the stump. The spell-lines stayed, even while the flesh fell away?
Power was flowing through them, locking them in place, even if she was forbidding their enactment. Cant turn off gold lines
In the center of it all, floated the Archon star, seeming somehow outside the physical space her finger had occupied.
Each beat of her heart caused blood to flow through where her vascular system should have been, and where the spell-lines meant to augment it still were.
The Archon star was perfectly spherical and ruby in color, set within an impossibly intricate weaving of gold.
Wellrust. What am I supposed to do, now?
As if in response, the star seemed to flex, pulling on its connection with her, to call itself to her, as she might have pulled Flow into her hand.
She opposed it with her will, and the strength of her soul, alone, but she was tired.
Bless you, Grediv, for insisting that I strengthen my soul.
She had no idea if she was screaming in agony and determination, or if she was utterly silent. She couldnt spare any of her focus from the internal battle in order to register either sound, or the lack thereof.
Slowly, inexorably, she drove the star through the netting of gold, pushing the lines apart, only for them to snap back into shape right afterwards. Those spell-forms seemed tied to, and maintained by, the flow of magic, which again, was deeper than physical.
She didnt know if she waged her war for a bare instant or for hours, but finally, the Archon star moved free, and the conflict was done.
The drip of power-saturated blood rocketed downward, into the iron vial, still enough a part of her that its gravity remained enhanced.
There was a last, sucking attempt to drain her dry, but Tala slapped it aside with contempt.
Then, knife dropped and iron cap firmly in place over the vial, Tala allowed her inscriptions to act.
Her finger blossomed outward: flesh and bone, nerve and sinew, drawn into being through the working of her spell-lines, the material and energy for their construction instantly moved from her bodys stores.
It didnt take a lot, all things considered; a fingertip really isnt that massive, and it was over in an instant.
Take that, you rusting star! She had tried to yell at the vial, but her throat was utterly parched, and it came out as an unintelligible croak. What possesses people to make these? She didnt know if she trusted the star, outside of its vial. Good thing I dont need to take it out
In that instant of relief, she saw that the windows of their home were dark, and Lyn was sitting in a chair nearby, regarding her critically.
Well. About time you finished, Tala.
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Chapter 85: About Time You Finished
Tala stopped by to say goodbye to Lyn on her way out of the Caravanners main office. The other woman seemed surprised, for some reason, but otherwise didnt comment, except to say, Ill see you at home.
It was late afternoon, and the sun had already set, though light still clung to the sky to highlight the clouds overhead, and periodic lights on the main streets provided easy illumination.
Tala knew it was cold. Even Terry seemed to snuggle closer into her neck as she stepped outside, but to her, it just felt wonderful.
There was an especially lovely park on the way, and Tala left the road to walk through it, across the grass. Still green? I wonder what that takes
After she was a ways out onto the lawn, she had a realization. I hope Im not crushing the grass as I walk. She looked behind herself and found that there didnt seem any permanent damage, marking her path. She looked down and took a moment to analyze what she saw.
In a circle around each bare foot, the grass was pressed flat, as if under the boot of a giant. Tala couldnt help but grin. I was wondering how it would look. Nice!
She could see the telltale threads of magic across her sole, increasing the surface area of her feet. She could feel the power in the gold inscriptions enacting that spell-form.
The manifestation is obviously beyond my foot, but the magic, itself, is contained there.
Magic was amazing.
She shifted up onto the balls of her feet, and the circle of compressed grass moved forward just a bit but didnt reduce in size. Exactly as expected. It was an elegant solution.
A great solution to a problem Ive created. She shook her head. I need to give it a solid try.
So long as what she stood on could bear her weight, it shouldnt be damaged. If shed done the math right, once she reached her maximum weight, that which she stood upon would experience the same pressure that it would under a normal person. Weight could still be an issue but shouldnt be terrible. If a floor can hold four to eight people, standing in a huddle, it should be able to hold me.
It wasnt a perfect analogy, but it was close enough.
She bent down and placed a palm down on the lawn.
An identically sized circle of grass depressed as she shifted her weight onto that hand. The active spell-forms on her hand were differently shaped from those on her feet, due to the difference in the form of the limbs, but they had identical functions.
I wonder what would happen if I slap someone She grinned.
Now, she kind of wanted to slap someone. No, bad Tala.
It was time to get home.
* * *
Tala sat, cross-legged on the floor of the sitting room.
She was just finishing the last vestiges of a miniature vat of custard. Shed scraped the last out with her finger, which shed then licked clean.
Lyn walked in, stopping when she saw her housemate. What did you eat, this time?
Tala pointed at four different bowls, each in turn. Beef stew, bean porridge, chicken chowder, and butter-cream custard.
Lyn shook her head. Each of those bowls looks sufficiently large to hold enough food for a family.
Tala grinned. Thats why theyre called family size.
Lyn snorted. Fair enough. How was the meeting?
You didnt just look up the results?
I thought it better to hear from you.
Tala shrugged at that. I think I did pretty well. Im going to have someone watching over my shoulder, but I think I can probably learn from them, so its probably for the best.
Thatssurprisingly mature of you?L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.
No need to sound surprised.
You arent exactly thewisest person I know.
I follow wisdom when it really matters.
Lyn opened her mouth to respond, then paused. I think that might actually be true, from your perspective.
Of course, thats why I said it.
Lyn sighed. So, you have a minder. Did you get a pay increase along with that restriction?
I didnt get my initial ask, but I didnt expect to.
Oh? So, you did get a bump. How much did you get?
Ten ounces but upped to twelve as soon as Im raised to Archon.
Lyn blinked at her, then she started laughing.
Tala was grinning, but slowly, that expression faded.
Lyn sat down in a nearby chair, shaking her head. You robbed each other.
Tala frowned. What do you mean?
I looked at your file before the meeting. I saw what he was authorized to give you. I also saw a note, added by someone else. Lyn had a small, knowing smile on her face. Someone who didnt know you very well.
Oh?
The addendum was a notification that you were newly graduated, and while your ability was acceptable, impressive even, we should not expect further advancement for quite some time.
Tala tilted her head. So?
Lyn grinned widely. He was authorized to give you up to eleven ounces per trip.
Tala cursed. That slippery-
Lyn held up a hand. No, Tala. You dont understand. He was specifically forbidden from giving you more.
He didnt.
Lyn cocked an eyebrow.
Well, he hasnt yet.
And arent you planning on making an attempt at Archon, tomorrow?
Tala opened her mouth, closed it, then barked a laugh. Oh! She laughed again. So, he thinks he saved an ounce, or I could have gotten one more ounce from him, but as soon as I succeed, Ill have violated my maximum, by what he was told.
Precisely. If youd actually gotten eleven ounces, gold, per trip, they would not have renegotiated any time soon. She was shaking her head. Somehow, you got more than you should have, by accepting less than you had to.
Tala gave a seated bow. Breaking the system, one decision at a time.
That does seem to be the way you work, doesnt it?
Tala sighed, leaning back and bracing herself up on her palms. So, when are you making your own attempt?
I took tomorrow off. Ill see what I can do with the five hours in which I can maintain my void.
So, didnt your master tell you not to move on, until you could hold that constantly?
Yes and no. He said that I shouldnt move on down the Way of the Void, until then. He actually left tips and tricks to allow for the creation of a star much sooner than that. She smiled fondly. Everything I can see seems to indicate that our learning and improvement will be opened to new horizons by becoming Archons.
And you didnt want to do it.
Lyn gave Tala a flat look. I still dont really want to do it. Im not driven to be the best Mage I can be, unlike some people. Im looking on the bright side, but I am content where I am.
Oh?
Lyn shifted slightly. Mostly.
Tala just smiled.
Fine! Ive been feeling a bit stifled. I like my work, but I feel like Im in a rut. Every day is the same. She gave a half smile. Well, it was, until you arrived. Thats probably why I took such an interest in you; you were odd from the start.
Glad to help.
Lyn rolled her eyes. Anyways. Mistress Holly is right. Its time for me to move on with my magic. She let out a sigh. I was going to fight to keep my position, but who knows? Maybe, those I can move into will be more fun. She did not sound convinced.
Sometime after the first hour, Lyn had joined her, sitting on the floor across from her, holding a small, roughly spherical diamond between her palms.
That was over two hours earlier.
Tala was currently resting and used her freed mental space to glance at Lyn.
Her void is constant, consistent, and strong. Tala, herself, was improving. If she had to guess, shed say she was holding the void-channels for nearly twenty minutes, now, and her required resting time had only increased marginally. Im getting better.
Still, Lyn was doing it and doing it well, no sign of slipping in evidence.
Tala frowned as she looked more closely at the diamond in Lyns hand. Power was pouring into it, but a lot was flowing off of and around the surface, dissipating into the room.
Her mental construct of the Archon star isnt perfect? Or there is some loss through the change of medium It was most likely both.
It was almost as if Lyn was simply throwing the power at the gem, trying to alter it so it would take the proper form on its own.
But that would be madness. This is really hard, even while Im controlling the power directly
She looked down at her own hand, inside of which her own Archon star blazed with vastly more power than Lyns partially constructed one. Im not seeing the same inefficiency.
As she thought about it, that made sense: she was an Immaterial Guide, and magic was immaterial, especially within her own body. She had nearly perfect control over her own internal power. So, even if Lyn could have been working within herself, she wouldnt have the same advantages that Tala was experiencing.
Tala had also created quite a few stars, by this point, and her mental construct was likely much more refined than Lyns. This is going to be easier for me, than her. It is easier for me in basically every conceivable way.
While they each had advantages, Lyns mainly being her better, longer-lasting void, Tala decided she liked her own more.
Yes, I like having all but one advantage. Massive insight, Tala.
As rested as she was going to be and ready to dive back in, Tala closed her eyes and reforged her void-channels. Another round!
To her surprise, as she precisely guided her power into the spell-form, she could feel it coming to a tipping point. Just like Flow. If she had to guess, she was about to cross the lower limit of a true Archon star.
As she guided her magic, the spell-form ticked over the hurdle, and began drinking in power much more easily. In fact, Tala suddenly had to fight the spell-form on several fronts.
First, it seemed to want to draw all the power out of her, to drain her dry as some of her earliest versions had, before shed gained greater control.
Second, it was trying to move on its own.
The Archon star wanted to move up the flows of power, towards her core. Tala felt silly, anthropomorphizing the spell-form that way, but it was an accurate description of how it felt.
Similarly, she knew that that was not a good idea. Something deep within her rebelled at the idea of the Archon star reaching her gate.
So, she fought the star, even as she continued to drown it in magic, using the pressure of inflowing power to assist in pushing the spell-form back.
The void-channels were now simpler to maintain, as if they were naturally meant to be there, but Tala was now working harder than ever: As the star grew in power, it also grew in strength.
Somehow, Tala knew: This is a fight for dominance like no other Mage has to face. She snorted a rueful laugh. This might even be why they dont suggest Archon stars be forged within a Mages flesh. She didnt know what would happen if she failed. She simply did not know enough. Even so, she knew that she, as she was, would cease.
Somehow.
And so, she fought.
She considered allowing her accomplishment to be enough. She almost stopped, realizing that she had a fully powered star, if in the lower reaches of acceptable power. No.
The channels were locked open, now, and while she could cut them off if needed, they were trivial to maintain. Like adding one to Flow, since its change.
Tala gritted her teeth and turned her entire focus inward.
* * *
More than an hour later, Tala was gasping for breath, her breathing pattern forgotten.
She was coated in sweat, more so than she had been in her memory. Academy calisthenics have nothing on this.
Her lungs burned, her every muscle quivered, and her inscriptions werent helping. The strain was beyond physical, and that was all those spell-forms could address.
Her star was complete.
Not only had she hit the level Grediv had recommended, but she, in her near infinite stubbornness, had gone beyond that, and the spell-form was no longer taking in power.
The Archon star sat on the cusp ofsomething. She had no idea what.
All she could interpret was that no further power could be incorporated into the form, and she had to GET IT OUT, NOW!
Her camp knife, not Flow, came up in a shaking hand, while her left hovered over the prepared iron vial.
Ok, Tala. Just a moment more. Youre almost there.
She pulled her power back from the ring fingers defensive forms.
The tip of the blade pushed into the skin, her shaking making a far larger cut than she had intended.
No blood came out.
What the rust?
The Archon star did not want to leave.
Tala growled, pushing with all she had.
The star wouldnt leave.
Rust you, you stupid, slagging spell-form! She jerked her defensive power back further and cut off her fingertip at the knuckle.
Tala almost lost the fight with the Archon star, then.
First, the intensity of the pain was staggering, given the totality of her focus on the digit.
Second, she was utterly unprepared for what she saw.
The fingertip fell away, leaving a golden mesh of spell-lines hanging in mid-air, connected back to the stump. The spell-lines stayed, even while the flesh fell away?
Power was flowing through them, locking them in place, even if she was forbidding their enactment. Cant turn off gold lines
In the center of it all, floated the Archon star, seeming somehow outside the physical space her finger had occupied.
Each beat of her heart caused blood to flow through where her vascular system should have been, and where the spell-lines meant to augment it still were.
The Archon star was perfectly spherical and ruby in color, set within an impossibly intricate weaving of gold.
Wellrust. What am I supposed to do, now?
As if in response, the star seemed to flex, pulling on its connection with her, to call itself to her, as she might have pulled Flow into her hand.
She opposed it with her will, and the strength of her soul, alone, but she was tired.
Bless you, Grediv, for insisting that I strengthen my soul.
She had no idea if she was screaming in agony and determination, or if she was utterly silent. She couldnt spare any of her focus from the internal battle in order to register either sound, or the lack thereof.
Slowly, inexorably, she drove the star through the netting of gold, pushing the lines apart, only for them to snap back into shape right afterwards. Those spell-forms seemed tied to, and maintained by, the flow of magic, which again, was deeper than physical.
She didnt know if she waged her war for a bare instant or for hours, but finally, the Archon star moved free, and the conflict was done.
The drip of power-saturated blood rocketed downward, into the iron vial, still enough a part of her that its gravity remained enhanced.
There was a last, sucking attempt to drain her dry, but Tala slapped it aside with contempt.
Then, knife dropped and iron cap firmly in place over the vial, Tala allowed her inscriptions to act.
Her finger blossomed outward: flesh and bone, nerve and sinew, drawn into being through the working of her spell-lines, the material and energy for their construction instantly moved from her bodys stores.
It didnt take a lot, all things considered; a fingertip really isnt that massive, and it was over in an instant.
Take that, you rusting star! She had tried to yell at the vial, but her throat was utterly parched, and it came out as an unintelligible croak. What possesses people to make these? She didnt know if she trusted the star, outside of its vial. Good thing I dont need to take it out
In that instant of relief, she saw that the windows of their home were dark, and Lyn was sitting in a chair nearby, regarding her critically.
Well. About time you finished, Tala.
Chapter 85: About Time You FinishedTala stopped by to say goodbye to Lyn on her way out of the Caravanners main office. The other woman seemed surprised, for some reason, but otherwise didnt comment, except to say, Ill see you at home.It was late afternoon, and the sun had already set, though light still clung to the sky to highlight the clouds overhead, and periodic lights on the main streets provided easy illumination.Tala knew it was cold. Even Terry seemed to snuggle closer into her neck as she stepped outside, but to her, it just felt wonderful.There was an especially lovely park on the way, and Tala left the road to walk through it, across the grass. Still green? I wonder what that takesAfter she was a ways out onto the lawn, she had a realization. I hope Im not crushing the grass as I walk. She looked behind herself and found that there didnt seem any permanent damage, marking her path. She looked down and took a moment to analyze what she saw.In a circle around each bare foot, the grass was pressed flat, as if under the boot of a giant. Tala couldnt help but grin. I was wondering how it would look. Nice!She could see the telltale threads of magic across her sole, increasing the surface area of her feet. She could feel the power in the gold inscriptions enacting that spell-form.The manifestation is obviously beyond my foot, but the magic, itself, is contained there.Magic was amazing.She shifted up onto the balls of her feet, and the circle of compressed grass moved forward just a bit but didnt reduce in size. Exactly as expected. It was an elegant solution.A great solution to a problem Ive created. She shook her head. I need to give it a solid try.So long as what she stood on could bear her weight, it shouldnt be damaged. If shed done the math right, once she reached her maximum weight, that which she stood upon would experience the same pressure that it would under a normal person. Weight could still be an issue but shouldnt be terrible. If a floor can hold four to eight people, standing in a huddle, it should be able to hold me.It wasnt a perfect analogy, but it was close enough.She bent down and placed a palm down on the lawn.An identically sized circle of grass depressed as she shifted her weight onto that hand. The active spell-forms on her hand were differently shaped from those on her feet, due to the difference in the form of the limbs, but they had identical functions.I wonder what would happen if I slap someone She grinned.Now, she kind of wanted to slap someone. No, bad Tala.It was time to get home.* * *Tala sat, cross-legged on the floor of the sitting room.She was just finishing the last vestiges of a miniature vat of custard. Shed scraped the last out with her finger, which shed then licked clean.Lyn walked in, stopping when she saw her housemate. What did you eat, this time?Tala pointed at four different bowls, each in turn. Beef stew, bean porridge, chicken chowder, and butter-cream custard.Lyn shook her head. Each of those bowls looks sufficiently large to hold enough food for a family.Tala grinned. Thats why theyre called family size. Lyn snorted. Fair enough. How was the meeting?You didnt just look up the results?I thought it better to hear from you.Tala shrugged at that. I think I did pretty well. Im going to have someone watching over my shoulder, but I think I can probably learn from them, so its probably for the best.Thatssurprisingly mature of you?L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Nvl--B1n.No need to sound surprised.You arent exactly thewisest person I know.I follow wisdom when it really matters.Lyn opened her mouth to respond, then paused. I think that might actually be true, from your perspective.Of course, thats why I said it.Lyn sighed. So, you have a minder. Did you get a pay increase along with that restriction?I didnt get my initial ask, but I didnt expect to.Oh? So, you did get a bump. How much did you get?Ten ounces but upped to twelve as soon as Im raised to Archon.Lyn blinked at her, then she started laughing.Tala was grinning, but slowly, that expression faded.Lyn sat down in a nearby chair, shaking her head. You robbed each other.Tala frowned. What do you mean?I looked at your file before the meeting. I saw what he was authorized to give you. I also saw a note, added by someone else. Lyn had a small, knowing smile on her face. Someone who didnt know you very well.Oh?The addendum was a notification that you were newly graduated, and while your ability was acceptable, impressive even, we should not expect further advancement for quite some time.Tala tilted her head. So?Lyn grinned widely. He was authorized to give you up to eleven ounces per trip.Tala cursed. That slippery-Lyn held up a hand. No, Tala. You dont understand. He was specifically forbidden from giving you more.He didnt.Lyn cocked an eyebrow.Well, he hasnt yet.And arent you planning on making an attempt at Archon, tomorrow?Tala opened her mouth, closed it, then barked a laugh. Oh! She laughed again. So, he thinks he saved an ounce, or I could have gotten one more ounce from him, but as soon as I succeed, Ill have violated my maximum, by what he was told.Precisely. If youd actually gotten eleven ounces, gold, per trip, they would not have renegotiated any time soon. She was shaking her head. Somehow, you got more than you should have, by accepting less than you had to.Tala gave a seated bow. Breaking the system, one decision at a time.That does seem to be the way you work, doesnt it?Tala sighed, leaning back and bracing herself up on her palms. So, when are you making your own attempt?I took tomorrow off. Ill see what I can do with the five hours in which I can maintain my void.So, didnt your master tell you not to move on, until you could hold that constantly?Yes and no. He said that I shouldnt move on down the Way of the Void, until then. He actually left tips and tricks to allow for the creation of a star much sooner than that. She smiled fondly. Everything I can see seems to indicate that our learning and improvement will be opened to new horizons by becoming Archons.And you didnt want to do it.Lyn gave Tala a flat look. I still dont really want to do it. Im not driven to be the best Mage I can be, unlike some people. Im looking on the bright side, but I am content where I am.Oh?Lyn shifted slightly. Mostly.Tala just smiled.Fine! Ive been feeling a bit stifled. I like my work, but I feel like Im in a rut. Every day is the same. She gave a half smile. Well, it was, until you arrived. Thats probably why I took such an interest in you; you were odd from the start.Glad to help.Lyn rolled her eyes. Anyways. Mistress Holly is right. Its time for me to move on with my magic. She let out a sigh. I was going to fight to keep my position, but who knows? Maybe, those I can move into will be more fun. She did not sound convinced.Sometime after the first hour, Lyn had joined her, sitting on the floor across from her, holding a small, roughly spherical diamond between her palms.That was over two hours earlier.Tala was currently resting and used her freed mental space to glance at Lyn.Her void is constant, consistent, and strong. Tala, herself, was improving. If she had to guess, shed say she was holding the void-channels for nearly twenty minutes, now, and her required resting time had only increased marginally. Im getting better.Still, Lyn was doing it and doing it well, no sign of slipping in evidence.Tala frowned as she looked more closely at the diamond in Lyns hand. Power was pouring into it, but a lot was flowing off of and around the surface, dissipating into the room.Her mental construct of the Archon star isnt perfect? Or there is some loss through the change of medium It was most likely both.It was almost as if Lyn was simply throwing the power at the gem, trying to alter it so it would take the proper form on its own.But that would be madness. This is really hard, even while Im controlling the power directlyShe looked down at her own hand, inside of which her own Archon star blazed with vastly more power than Lyns partially constructed one. Im not seeing the same inefficiency.As she thought about it, that made sense: she was an Immaterial Guide, and magic was immaterial, especially within her own body. She had nearly perfect control over her own internal power. So, even if Lyn could have been working within herself, she wouldnt have the same advantages that Tala was experiencing.Tala had also created quite a few stars, by this point, and her mental construct was likely much more refined than Lyns. This is going to be easier for me, than her. It is easier for me in basically every conceivable way.While they each had advantages, Lyns mainly being her better, longer-lasting void, Tala decided she liked her own more.Yes, I like having all but one advantage. Massive insight, Tala.As rested as she was going to be and ready to dive back in, Tala closed her eyes and reforged her void-channels. Another round!To her surprise, as she precisely guided her power into the spell-form, she could feel it coming to a tipping point. Just like Flow. If she had to guess, she was about to cross the lower limit of a true Archon star.As she guided her magic, the spell-form ticked over the hurdle, and began drinking in power much more easily. In fact, Tala suddenly had to fight the spell-form on several fronts.First, it seemed to want to draw all the power out of her, to drain her dry as some of her earliest versions had, before shed gained greater control.Second, it was trying to move on its own.The Archon star wanted to move up the flows of power, towards her core. Tala felt silly, anthropomorphizing the spell-form that way, but it was an accurate description of how it felt.Similarly, she knew that that was not a good idea. Something deep within her rebelled at the idea of the Archon star reaching her gate.So, she fought the star, even as she continued to drown it in magic, using the pressure of inflowing power to assist in pushing the spell-form back.The void-channels were now simpler to maintain, as if they were naturally meant to be there, but Tala was now working harder than ever: As the star grew in power, it also grew in strength.Somehow, Tala knew: This is a fight for dominance like no other Mage has to face. She snorted a rueful laugh. This might even be why they dont suggest Archon stars be forged within a Mages flesh. She didnt know what would happen if she failed. She simply did not know enough. Even so, she knew that she, as she was, would cease.Somehow.And so, she fought.She considered allowing her accomplishment to be enough. She almost stopped, realizing that she had a fully powered star, if in the lower reaches of acceptable power. No.The channels were locked open, now, and while she could cut them off if needed, they were trivial to maintain. Like adding one to Flow, since its change.Tala gritted her teeth and turned her entire focus inward.* * *More than an hour later, Tala was gasping for breath, her breathing pattern forgotten.She was coated in sweat, more so than she had been in her memory. Academy calisthenics have nothing on this.Her lungs burned, her every muscle quivered, and her inscriptions werent helping. The strain was beyond physical, and that was all those spell-forms could address.Her star was complete.Not only had she hit the level Grediv had recommended, but she, in her near infinite stubbornness, had gone beyond that, and the spell-form was no longer taking in power.The Archon star sat on the cusp ofsomething. She had no idea what.All she could interpret was that no further power could be incorporated into the form, and she had to GET IT OUT, NOW!Her camp knife, not Flow, came up in a shaking hand, while her left hovered over the prepared iron vial.Ok, Tala. Just a moment more. Youre almost there.She pulled her power back from the ring fingers defensive forms.The tip of the blade pushed into the skin, her shaking making a far larger cut than she had intended.No blood came out.What the rust?The Archon star did not want to leave.Tala growled, pushing with all she had.The star wouldnt leave.Rust you, you stupid, slagging spell-form! She jerked her defensive power back further and cut off her fingertip at the knuckle.Tala almost lost the fight with the Archon star, then.First, the intensity of the pain was staggering, given the totality of her focus on the digit.Second, she was utterly unprepared for what she saw.The fingertip fell away, leaving a golden mesh of spell-lines hanging in mid-air, connected back to the stump. The spell-lines stayed, even while the flesh fell away?Power was flowing through them, locking them in place, even if she was forbidding their enactment. Cant turn off gold linesIn the center of it all, floated the Archon star, seeming somehow outside the physical space her finger had occupied.Each beat of her heart caused blood to flow through where her vascular system should have been, and where the spell-lines meant to augment it still were.The Archon star was perfectly spherical and ruby in color, set within an impossibly intricate weaving of gold.Wellrust. What am I supposed to do, now?As if in response, the star seemed to flex, pulling on its connection with her, to call itself to her, as she might have pulled Flow into her hand.She opposed it with her will, and the strength of her soul, alone, but she was tired.Bless you, Grediv, for insisting that I strengthen my soul.She had no idea if she was screaming in agony and determination, or if she was utterly silent. She couldnt spare any of her focus from the internal battle in order to register either sound, or the lack thereof.Slowly, inexorably, she drove the star through the netting of gold, pushing the lines apart, only for them to snap back into shape right afterwards. Those spell-forms seemed tied to, and maintained by, the flow of magic, which again, was deeper than physical.She didnt know if she waged her war for a bare instant or for hours, but finally, the Archon star moved free, and the conflict was done.The drip of power-saturated blood rocketed downward, into the iron vial, still enough a part of her that its gravity remained enhanced.There was a last, sucking attempt to drain her dry, but Tala slapped it aside with contempt.Then, knife dropped and iron cap firmly in place over the vial, Tala allowed her inscriptions to act.Her finger blossomed outward: flesh and bone, nerve and sinew, drawn into being through the working of her spell-lines, the material and energy for their construction instantly moved from her bodys stores.It didnt take a lot, all things considered; a fingertip really isnt that massive, and it was over in an instant.Take that, you rusting star! She had tried to yell at the vial, but her throat was utterly parched, and it came out as an unintelligible croak. What possesses people to make these? She didnt know if she trusted the star, outside of its vial. Good thing I dont need to take it outIn that instant of relief, she saw that the windows of their home were dark, and Lyn was sitting in a chair nearby, regarding her critically.Well. About time you finished, Tala.
