Chapter: 277 - Tests of All Types (Patreon)

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Tala led the group back to the center of her sanctum, ending the tour by showing them the ‘standard’ place the door would open, the highly defended, bunker-like setup of magical defenses.

She led them through the door and back out into the meeting room. Terry remained on her shoulder, seemingly content to nap on his perch.

Mistress Ingrit carefully emphasized to the group that she should be contacted with any questions and information requests.

Masters Boma and Queue reminded Tala to drop by the Constructionist Guild in the next few days. That way they could help her reinforce her sanctum and undo any damage to the underpinnings of reality within it. There almost certainly was some due to so many gated humans moving through it for a bit more than an hour.

That really is pretty kind of them.

-Undoubtedly, yeah. If it were cheap, dimensional spaces would be used to move people in much more efficient manners.-

She thanked them, and the meeting concluded.

With that, everyone but Lyn, Rane, Tala, Master Grediv, and Mistresses Holly and Ingrit departed.

Those six remaining Archons looked back towards Kit’s entrance.

Mistress Holly smiled widely, a predatory glint in her eyes. “Now, show me that reinscriber.”

Tala shrugged. “Sure.”

Lyn and Rane looked toward Tala, questioningly.

They all went back inside Kit, stepping out before the dais, and Tala addressed her friends’ confusion, “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Specifically, it’s a conceptual magic device that reinscribes me, or reinforces my current inscriptions, matching my most recent set.”

The two glanced towards one another, eyebrows climbing, but it was Rane who responded first. “That’s incredible. Can it work for anyone?”

Tala nodded. “I believe so. At least, that’s what the manual said. Even so, without healing inscriptions, or a healer on hand, I don’t know how useful it will be. ” She then turned to Mistress Holly. “Which form of reinscription would you like to see?”

Mistress Holly seemed to consider. “While I would like to see the ‘through the skin’ method first, I don’t think you’ll be demonstrating either, not for a while. We’ll still need to do some pervasive reworking of your scripts. We should be able to nudge you in the right direction for your Refining easily enough. Until then? We need to minimize the stresses on your body.”

-Oh… right.-

Tala hesitated then. “Oh… right.” She frowned. “I really shouldn’t do this should I?”

Mistress Holly looked mildly annoyed even as she shook her head.

Mistress Ingrit frowned. “Mistress Tala?”

The Archivist was clearly waiting for Tala to explain, but it was the Inscriptionist who answered, “She is… damaged. I would say that she is in desperate need of Refining, but in the grand scheme of things everyone below Refined is in desperate need of such.”

Master Grediv rolled his eyes, and Mistress Ingrit gave Mistress Holly an arch look before the Inscriptionist sighed. “I was simply hoping to examine the device, myself. Is that acceptable?”

Tala smiled. “Absolutely.”

Mistress Holly’s power rolled off her in a wave of yellow-tinted magic.

It was specifically yellow, which struck Tala as a bit odd, because not every working was tinged with a Mage or arcane’s advancement.

Is she doing that on purpose?

-You know, the only reason we think she’s Refined is because of what she’s let us see.-

Worth asking?

-Probably not.-

Tala gave a small smile and shrugged to herself.

As Mistress Holly took a couple of minutes to magically examine the dais—which was more than the reinscriber, but Tala didn’t mind—the others looked around, taking a bit more time to soak in the features of her sanctum.

Rane stretched. “This really is a peaceful place. I know you told us there was a whole ecosystem in here, but hearing the songbirds”—he shook his head—“this is incredible.”

Tala smiled. “It is a pretty great perk to come away with, yeah.”

Lyn patted her on the shoulder. “Doesn’t make it better though.”

“Oh, obviously not, but it is better to have, than not.”

She grinned. “Oh, obviously.”

Rane had his arms spread, eyes closed, and face toward the ‘sun.’ “It even feels like sunlight. I’ve been in Archon’s dimensional storages before, even those with artificial suns, and none were quite like this. This is so much more.”

Tala walked up to stand beside him. “Yeah, they spend a lot more time within holds than we do. So, it makes sense that they’ve perfected their creation and enhancement.”

Mistress Holly sighed loudly. “I think that’s all I can learn within any sort of reasonable timeframe.” She turned towards Tala. “I suppose we should get you to my shop, then, so we can do some proper diagnostics?”

They all agreed, and the group exited once again.

Terry headbutted Tala’s cheek and flickered away before she closed the door and hung Kit from her belt.

She took a moment to acquire the remains of the dinner that had been set out for them, carefully putting the cleaned plates back on the table for the staff to collect.

-Hey! That’s progress.-

I progress all the time. Tala grumbled internally, just a little.

-Ahh, but not on all things.-

That’s… fair. She sighed.

The group walked together out of the meeting room and to the entry hall of the Archon compound.

Mistress Ingrit stopped near the front desk and gave a shallow bow to Tala. “Mistress Tala. Thank you for allowing me to assist you, but in that vein, I do now have a lot of work, processing all that you brought back. I will be sure to be in contact with you as needed, and we will do what is required.”

Tala gave a bow in return. “Thank you for handling so much.”

Mistress Ingrit hesitated, then tentatively opened her arms.

Tala smiled and accepted the hug gratefully.

“Welcome home, Mistress Tala.”

Tala pulled back after a long moment, feeling water in her own eyes. The Archivist had unshed tears as well, and they each wiped their own eyes.

They bowed to one another again and parted ways, Tala heading out towards the street with the remaining four Archons, Mistress Ingrit moving towards the library.

Master Grediv came up beside Tala as they walked, speaking in a low, but not really confidential, voice, “I am happy to continue to accompany you or depart, whichever you wish.”

Tala glanced towards the Paragon, considering.

-He will likely have insights into quite a few things that still remain to be revealed.-

So would Master Xeel. Is he still around?

-We can look, but I think we should answer Master Grediv, first.-

She nodded. “While I would be grateful for your insights, I am sure you have much to do. I will leave the choice up to you, but please know that you are welcome with me.”

The Archon nodded, moving to walk beside Rane. A power seized the air around them, and Tala recognized it as his privacy working.

Perfect time to practice and look for Master Xeel at the same time.

She pushed Flow into its void-knife form, leaving it in its sheath.

Her voidsight opened.

Firstly, she saw what she’d expected, though she hadn’t seen it explicitly before.

Master Grediv’s magic radiated from a nodule of reality that was slightly distinct from the pieces they were moving through.

It was odd to really analyze. Now that she knew what to look for, every person around her, even every animal, seemed to have its own bit of reality that moved through and around all other pieces without really displacing them.

It was instantly apparent which bits had gates—all the humans—because their fragments almost seemed to drag on the nodules they passed through, like they were rougher than those of the few animals she saw.

Tala focused on Master Grediv’s fragment, and she could see the working he’d affected was rather easy to spot. By the flick of his eyes in her direction, she assumed that was likely because he’d hoped she’d notice the working and could learn something.

He could have called more attention to it.

-Master Grediv seems to value ‘go-getter’ attitudes. If you saw, wonderful, if you didn’t that would be your loss, not his.-

So, I shouldn’t expect to be able to see things like this as easily in the future. She sighed internally.

That spotted, she swept her gaze around herself.

No obviously hidden fragments were in sight, but she had no idea what that actually meant.

-I would bet that they are easier to detect in a space like Kit.-

That makes sense. The fabric of reality is thinner, so pieces moving behind or around it would be more visible.

She had to turn her head to look, but she did so as smoothly as possible. She’d not tried mirroring her voidsight onto her bloodstar perspectives, but it should be possible. Another thing to experiment with, soon.

Tala considered her list of things to experiment with and was shocked at how long it was getting.

Alright. I need to actually come up with a priority order for these. Toward that end, Tala began considering her to-dos.

After a moment’s silence, Alat sighed. -Tala. Not now. Focus outward.-

Hmm? Tala looked up, really looking for what felt like the first time in a while.

Her voidsight had fallen away once she’d stopped maintaining it, and so she had a rather mundane view of the scenery.

Her magesight had little to highlight in a human city, as most power was pulled away almost immediately, so she simply saw… normalcy.

It was a human city, very much like the one she’d grown up within.

Surrounding her were the sparse pedestrians of a winter’s evening with the occasional animal darting towards the next sheltered place. Through the windows, Tala could see that, within the buildings, people were going about their normal lives.

This was what she’d been fighting to return to.

This was humanity as she knew it.

Safe.

Happy.

Normal.

Lyn seemed to have noticed something, because she didn’t interrupt Tala, even as they all continued walking.

Rane and Master Grediv were still speaking within the privacy magics, and Mistress Holly was muttering to herself, likely working on something only she could see.

So it was that Tala walked in silence, just soaking in the feel of the place, the people, the humanity of it all.

Home.

There was an incredibly light snowfall, drifting down from a mostly clear sky. It was the sort of snow that wouldn’t have been noticed if Tala hadn’t taken the time to look upward, and allow her enhanced vision to sweep the sky.

More of a smattering than a true snow.

Most of the trees set into the sides of the streets, or in the parks, were free of leaves, with only a few evergreens standing out against the backdrop of snow and city.

Tala hadn’t bundled up—she didn’t need to—but she finally noticed that Lyn had.

Rane looked like he wished he had, but he didn’t seem so uncomfortable that he was going to pull out warmer clothing.

Tala’s eyes roamed, taking in the dichotomy of peaceful stillness of the winter evening and the bustle of the city streets.

No sound was as loud as it should have been, with the snow that was already on the ground, and a heavy stillness pervaded the air.

It was familiar.

It was stunning.

It was peaceful.

Tala felt herself relaxing further as she enjoyed a real winter stroll, and let herself continue to note how different it was from winter weather in Platoiri.

The walk passed more quickly than Tala would have liked, and that helped cement in her own mind that she was moving too fast, pushing too hard.

She was still on the edge of panic, and that wasn’t sustainable.

She hadn’t really stopped and rested in the knowledge that she was home.

Even during the travel between Alefast and Bandfast, she’d spent her time examining herself internally and trying to adapt to her most recent changes.

I haven’t stopped in… well, a long time.

-Makinaven?-

Yeah, I think that that month with Rane and Mistress Odera in Makinaven was the last time I really let myself just be.

The months she’d spent going back and forth between Bandfast and Marliweather to be with her siblings had been slower paced, but even then, she hadn’t rested. She’d simply stolen moments for her family around her otherwise full life.

She needed a break. She needed to let herself realize that she was free, safe, and whole.

I still feel like someone’s watching me, ready to snatch me back to the arcane lands. She shuddered even as they all entered Holly’s workshop.

Lyn shivered, settling deeper into her winter clothing, “Will it be warmer in the back?”

Mistress Holly gave her a confused look. “Hmm? What?”

“The temperature. It’s winter outside, but it feels basically the same in here. Don’t you heat your work areas?”

There was a Mage sitting behind the counter, shrouded in layers, looking wide-eyed at Lyn.

As Tala expected, she couldn’t get a reading on the woman’s aura or advancement. She’s obviously freezing, though. So, she probably isn’t Refined.

-She’s also probably too afraid to ask about the situation or do something about it.-

Tala frowned. I’ve been  here in the winter before. Was it cold, then?

-No, not to our memory.-

Maybe something was broken.

Mistress Holly looked around, holding out a hand as if to test the air. “Mistress Emersen?”

The Mage sat up straighter, a lock of blonde hair falling free of her thick, woolen hat. “Yes, Mistress Holly?”

“Why did no one tell me the heat was malfunctioning?”

“It isn’t… Mistress.”

“What?”

“It isn’t malfunctioning. You had us turn it off last week.”

“That’s right, and do you remember what I said?”

The woman cleared her throat. “You said that as subjects’ skin heats up, it expands, ruining alignment, and you didn’t have time to wait for them to achieve thermal equilibrium. So, we should just match the temperature inside to outside.’”

“Yes, yes. But the rest?”

“Only leave the heat off until we found a better idea?”

“Precisely. Are you telling me none of my apprentices have come up with a solution? After all, the issue is that people tend to bundle up, so when they take off their outer layers, there is now the reverse problem.”

So, it was a test for her apprentices?

-One they didn’t pass, apparently.-

Mistress Emersen gave a careful smile. “There are several proposed solutions awaiting your approval on your desk, Mistress.”

“And no one enacted any?”

The assistant released a long breath. “No, Mistress Holly. We know better than that.”

It was then that Tala noticed the twinkle in Mistress Holly’s eyes. She’s testing them in multiple ways?

-Mad is the person who tries to understand Mistress Holly.-

I don’t know, Mistress Emersen seems to be doing a reasonable job.

Master Grediv sighed. “Mistress Holly. Just heat the place. If you really care that much about the thermal shift, you can have your clients arrive early, so they come up to the proper temperature before they see you or your apprentices.”

Mistress Holly turned to the Mage behind the desk and pointed to Master Grediv. “That is an excellent idea. Mistress Emersen, see that it is done.”

The woman nodded vigorously. “Yes, Mistress Holly. I will do that.”

From the woman’s look, Tala guessed that that had been exactly the policy before.

Mistress Holly does seem to go down esoteric paths sometimes, doesn’t she.

-Yes, but she also seems to put far more thought into her work than anything else.-

True enough, yeah.

Emersen got up and scampered into the back, likely to inform others and adjust the temperature of the warehouse-sized workshop.

Mistress Holly didn’t watch the woman go as she was simply standing in place, muttering to herself, occasionally moving her hands through the air.

Tala cleared her throat, and the Inscriptionist jerked slightly. “Oh! Yes, yes. Right this way.”

Soon enough, they were back in Mistress Holly’s personal workroom.

The place gave Tala an ache of nostalgia.

Mistress Holly spun around as soon as the door clicked shut behind the last of them, all focus returned and oriented on Tala. “Now, my dear, let us see what you have done to yourself, hmm?”

“Didn’t you already get a scan and record from the monitoring scripts?”

“Of course, but that’s hardly comprehensive. We need to have you fully prepped for Refinement, and that requires precision. Precision requires knowing exactly where we’re starting, and where we need to go.”

That made sense to Tala, but even so, she had a sense of foreboding.

What followed was a lot of seemingly esoteric tests and measurements using a lot of tools that Tala didn’t really understand.

The first set were performed on her as she was. For the next set, Mistress Holly had her expel all the iron that she could remove safely.

Tala didn’t like that very much.

The iron never went far, simply waiting off to one side in a blob-like pile.

Still, the iron felt like the sun, shining at her. She could tell exactly where it was without effort or thought, and she wanted it back.

Well, that’s not concerning…

-We’ll get it sorted. This is going to be alright.-

Yeah. They won’t leave us broken.

As night fell, Lyn had excused herself to go home to sleep, but only after Mistress Holly had snippily indicated that the tests would last most, if not all, of the night.

Master Grediv and Rane took advantage of Mistress Holly’s begrudging hospitality and went off to utilize some cots the Inscriptionist had in side-rooms.

Tala remembered using one of those rooms herself, after her initial sensory enhancements.

She did recall the cots being oddly comfortable, even to her overstimulated sense of touch.

They’ll probably get a great night’s sleep, then. Good. We want the Paragon in top form to help Mistress Holly plan out our Refinement.

-I don’t doubt that Mistress Holly will be consulting far and wide on this. Master Jevin and Mistress Noelle will definitely want to weigh in.-

Oh, for sure.

Mistress Holly had many rounds of tests of all types.

Some involved blood, some samples of skin or hair.

For one, Mistress Holly took a careful core sample from her scapula, her shoulder blade.

That had been painful even with local anesthetics.

Occasionally needles needed to be inserted into her skin in various locations, allowing myriad magics different means of analyzing her physical, spiritual, and magical substance.

Mistress Holly also put each of her bonds, soul and magical, into analysis devices, gaining details on them in their own rights.

By the end, as Alat informed Tala that morning was drawing near, Tala was beginning to suspect that this was more than even Mistress Holly’s standard ‘overboard’ testing.

Still, she trusted Mistress Holly, and she definitely didn’t want to fight with the woman.

When Tala suspected that dawn had fully arrived, Mistress Holly finally sighed.

That seemed like an opening, and Tala seized it. She tried to be respectfully inquisitive, but she did not succeed in keeping the weariness out of her voice, “Are you done?”

“Yes, yes. There aren’t any other reasonable tests I can think of that might be useful.”

Tala felt her eye twitch. “Were you simply hunting for more tests to do?”

“In a sense, yes. Your biology, physiology, spirit, and magic are all significantly deviated from human standard, and we need to be sure that we don’t cripple you with your Refinement. I won’t let some silly detail, that I didn’t bother to check, be what kills you or prevents you from progressing further.”

Tala blinked a few times. It might have been her general tiredness, but that actually made a lot of sense. “Thank you?”

“Why do you sound uncertain? Did you think I was just wasting both of our time?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good. Because this will take a lot of careful analysis and planning before we’re ready to proceed.”

Tala felt a sinking in her gut. “So, it’s bad?”

“I would say this is an unusually bad case, yes.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“In general? No, but don't leave Bandfast city limits until you're Refined.”

Tala deflated a little bit more. “Oh. That’s pretty bad.”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s not really because of the results, it’s just that last time that you left, it took you nearly a year to return, and it would be best if we didn’t delay overmuch.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but found that she really didn’t have anything to say.

-Well, she’s not wrong.-

Yeah, that’s what I’m realizing.

Mistress Holly was tapping her lips with one finger. “Why don’t you take a week? Rest, eat, read, walk, speak with friends.”

Tala found herself nodding. That sounded absolutely wonderful.

Mistress Holly’s eyes hardened. “This is not a training week. I don’t want to hear that you’ve been pushing yourself, or sparring. You may keep up with physical conditioning, but that’s it. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“Good. Now, send in Master Grediv. He and I have a lot to discuss.”

Tala nodded, standing and stretching. She’d been moving around all night due to the nature of the various tests, but it still felt good to move just for the sake of moving. “What about going by the Constructionist Guild?”

Mistress Holly nodded absently. “So long as you don’t power any scripts yourself, that should be acceptable.”

Tala gave a shallow bow. “Thank you, Mistress Holly.”

The woman paused, turning to fully face Tala. “You are most welcome, Mistress Tala. I am glad that you are safe and mostly whole.” She smiled sincerely. “Welcome back.”

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