Chapter 26: Spellform (Patreon)

“So the rumors were true,” Heimdall said. “The VHF thugs are looking for the surge as well.”

“Most likely,” Jason agreed.

“Although,” Zed chipped in, “we only saw a ground rats’ nest they’d cleared out. Very effectively, might I add.”

“And I see you’re still alive,” Heimdall noted with a frown. “Surprising.”

Zed shrugged. “What can I say. I’m hard to kill.”

Heimdall ignored him and turned to Jason.

“So I was right,” he said. “He’s an attribute type mage.”

Jason nodded and Heimdall rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

“Your kind is rare,” he told Zed. “Which makes you rare. And in this world, as it is now, rare is useful. Very useful, might I add.”

“I don’t like the way he's looking at me,” Zed said, making a show of hiding behind Oliver.

They were back in town, and Jason had all but marched them straight to Heimdall after running into Bruce at what Zed was beginning to believe was the entrance to the town. In the time they’d been here, Jason had given a detailed report of their escapade, leaving out the events with the Moscovian sloth. Zed wasn’t sure if he did it for his own benefit or Zed’s.

The mention of the VHF platoon had invoked an expression on Heimdall’s face which was usually stoic and had led him to gesture the rest of his minions away before listening to the rest of the story. Heimdall took everything Jason reported in strides, nodding once in a while and making Jason repeat parts he seemed uncertain of. Through it all, none of the others had made a sound and Zed had followed in their footsteps. However, he didn’t do it because he wanted to be civilized or responsible, he did it because he wanted to see exactly how Heimdall would take the news.

Zed wasn’t sure how he would know, but he wanted to see how the man responded to the presence of VHF. He wanted to see the look on the man’s face. The words he would use. The emotions he would display. Zed wanted to see if Heimdall was a man unwilling to give up his power or a man looking out for his people.

Sadly, he saw nothing.

Besides the momentary surprise at hearing that the VHF platoon was close, his expression was unflinching through the conversation. He was a commander listening to the report of his subordinate. A part of Zed respected him for, at least, that.

Now Zed and the others stood in front of Heimdall in a small room that had most likely served as a study once. Heimdall sat behind a large work desk of brown polished wood, so that they stood like children called to the principal’s office. There were shelves by the sides, empty where they might have once held an array of books. Behind Heimdall’s chair a long piece of rag served as a curtain to veil the room from the world outside. It was a dirty green and reminded Zed of vomit.

“So what are his attributes?” Heimdall asked.

“Regeneration and something that helps with his stability,” Jason said in a military fashion.

“Regeneration, huh,” Heimdall mused. “Sounds useful. He can take the front lines during hunts. And something that helps keep his feet on the ground.”

Heimdall got up from his chair and Zed took a hesitant step back. Heimdall frowned at that but proceeded to step around the table before Jason stopped him.

“I’ve already checked,” Jason said. “I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I could take him down very easily. Too easily, actually.”

Heimdall made a sound between a groan and a grunt.

“So only one useful attribute,” he said. “Did you teach him any magic; spellforms?”

“No,” Jason answered.

“Good. It would’ve been a waste of everyone’s time. How’s he with runes?”

“Gave him a simple ward rune test.”

“How’d he do?”

“Like every mage. Poorly. Gave himself a nose bleed trying to draw it.”

“Hmm,” Heimdall rubbed his jaw. “Determined. Good. Perhaps he should meet Festus. As an attribute mage, runes are the best he can do. A regenerative attribute, coupled with a rune or two would make him a force to be reckoned with.”

Zed watched as two men decided what would be done with him, asking for no part of his opinion. He wasn’t sure he liked that. No. He was certain he didn’t like that. For some reason, the feeling it gave him was eerily familiar.

“Anything else?” Heimdall asked, returning to his chair.

“I think our dealings with Abed should come to an end,” Chris said.

Heimdall paused. “Why?”

“Because the fat prick tried to send us to our deaths.”

“I don’t think he did, though.”

“What?!” she hissed.

“Careful, child,” Heimdall warned, his voice calm with an undertone of menace. “I tolerate you but be careful how you speak. As I was saying,” he continued into the silence that followed. “He didn’t offer you the job, did he?”

“No,” Chris replied.

“You went asking for it yourself. All he did was not inform you of the gravity of the situation,” Heimdall stated. “Now that Felix is gone, Abed is our only connect to a steady supply of mana stones. Unless one of you knows how to make mana stones out of monster cores, your unfortunate encounter is not reason enough to cut ties with Abed.”

Power, Zed decided as they left the house, leaving only Jason behind. He is a man unwilling to relinquish his power.

…………………………………….

Later that night Zed sat on the couch in Oliver and Ash’s living room that served at his bed. In front of him he had his personal information arrayed staring at him like a mirror, if his face was made of words.

Melchizedek Nyborn

• Specie: Human (Mana blessed).
• Category: 1/3.
• Rank: Beta (category 1).
• Exp to category 2: 0423/2500

Skills

Titles

Attributes

• [Equilibrium] (Physical, mana).
• [Regeneration] (Physical, mana).
• [Hypersensitivity] (Physical, mana).
• [Bone density] (Physical)

Affiliations

Aptitude

• Strength: 32.
• Agility: 25.
• Speed: 22.
• Mana: 49.
• Wil: 23.

You have 12 unallocated Aptitude points.

“So that’s what all those question marks were,” he mused. “And why is mana so high? It’s just oppressing the others and making me look like I’m slow when I know I’m not… I hope I’m not.”

He read the numbers again, deciding on how best to use his aptitude points.

“Well, I don’t need mana since I don’t have any spells,” he muttered, thoughtful. “Definitely need to up speed, I might meet another Moscovian sloth and need to run. I need the strength, too and the agility…” his words trailed of and he paused. “You know what, this is complicated. Apart from mana, I kinda need all of them. I’ll just go for something more balanced. So I’ll up everything except mana. Already have a lot of that wasting away as it is.”

He thought of his aptitudes and the notification narrowed.

Aptitude

• Strength: 32.
• Agility: 25.
• Speed: 22.
• Mana: 49.
• Wil: 23.

You have 12 unallocated Aptitude points.

Next, he thought about increasing each one.

He waited and when nothing happened, he thought about all of them with new numbers. Still, nothing happened, and he frowned.

“How do I use these then?” he complained. “What’s the point of having the ability to allocate them when I can’t allocate them?”

“Allocate what?”

Zed turned on the couch and found Ash standing at the stairs leading up, staring at him.

“What are you trying to allocate?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he answered. “Was I disturbing? I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“I’m a mage, Zed,” she said strolling into the kitchen to grab a cup of water. “I don’t need sleep that strongly. I sleep for the fun of it. But you should try to get some sleep. It’s good for you.”

Zed nodded as Ash returned back to the stairs and a thought occurred to him.

“Ash,” he said, halting her exit.

“What’s up?” she asked, turning back to him.

“Do you guys have a way to get stronger, or does it just happen after a while?”

Ash bobbed her head from side to side, contemplating, before she answered.

“For some mages they just wait for it to happen,” she said. “But those of us who know what we’re doing know how to speed the process up.”

“How?” Zed asked.

“Well, for starters, what you need to know is that you need a lot of fighting, and I mean a lot. The kind that could get you killed. Then you also need to use your core a lot, so a lot of things that will strain your mana, burn it a lot. After that, comes the way to speed it up. You know how Oliver taught you how to sense auras?”

“Yes?”

“It’s something like that. But while you pay attention to what’s outside to sense auras, you pay attention to what’s inside to get stronger. It’s like calming your mana then gathering it. It’s similar to the feeling of moving to Beta rank after awakening, that early discomfort before you form your mana core. Just remember the feeling and…” her voice trailed off at a look from him.

“Oh, right,” she smacked her forehead. “You don’t remember the feeling, do you? I’m an idiot.”

Zed shrugged. “Not your fault. I am remembering things, though. Mostly useless stuff like comic books and boring movies. Nothing important.”

“You know what,” Ash said, running her finger through her messy blonde hair. “Get some sleep, and I’ll walk you through the process in the morning. Sound good?”

Zed nodded. “Sure thing.”

With that, Ash turned and went up the stairs, and he didn’t stop her.

When Zed couldn’t hear the sounds of her footsteps anymore, he returned his attention to his aptitudes.

“Well,” he mused. “It’s worth a try.”

He adjusted his position so that he was comfortable, leaned back and rested his head against the back rest. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Then he waited.

His senses spread out so that he listened and felt the world around him. He heard the almost mute creaks of Ash’s footsteps somewhere above. From the distance the effect of her aura was muted, soft. He could sense her, knew where she was. He knew when she paused in front of her door before entering her room. His senses spread farther and he couldn’t feel Oliver. He wondered if the boy had snuck out of the house to meet the girlfriend he didn’t want Ash to know about.

Not like this, Zed thought, pulling his senses back to him. She said inside; I’m supposed to sense myself.

He pulled his senses back until he could feel only the couch he was sitting on, the broken fabric, the hardness of its dried up cushioning, and the wood beneath it all. From there, he drew his senses closer until he could feel only the roughness of his clothes on his skin.

Tighter, he beckoned, and his senses obeyed.

They tightened until he felt as if he could feel every pore of his skin, every strand of hair, every injury that no longer blemished his body. He was at a good point but not good enough. So he tightened his attention until he could feel and hear the beating of his own heart.

The rest of the world around him went mute.

Zed’s heartbeat was loud in his ear and he thought he could hear his blood flow. At first it was like the sound of running water, a raging stream carrying detritus into a larger body of water. But there was an undertone there, an almost mute rush. He listened to that until it was louder, harsher, a raging ocean of deep blue-white.

As if responding to his thoughts, an image grew in his mind, flickered, formed and twisted from words and thoughts. It continued until it was an interconnecting chaos of veins and arteries, filled with something white with a hue of deep blue, rushing and gushing like disturbed waters.

Zed focused on it and took an educated guess as he trailed a path from one end to the other. Each trail was linked to the next, the large parts existing independently of the smaller parts. Regardless, they all converged at one point, and Zed followed them to it. There he found a massive circle of blue-white. In truth, it was more white with a bluish hue, and to call it a circle was an overstatement. Its circumference was too rough to be called a circle, too chaotic. If anything, it was more accurate to call it circular.

Its content was like liquid, reminding Zed of the very oceanic roar of blue that ran through the large and small paths that spread through his body like veins and arteries of white and blue.

A notification came up and he saw it even in his mind.

• You have identified [Mana channels].

He cast the notification aside, unwilling to be distracted, as he focused on the chaotic orb within him. It rested just beneath his navel, swirling and bubbling like a cauldron. Ash had said growing was like calming his mana, so he thought of calming it.

It replied to his thoughts and, rather than simmer, it swirled ever so slightly. I guess that’s how it’s done, he thought to himself, a bit smug. Alright, Zed, we’ve just got to keep going. When a pot of soup is boiling and you don’t want that, you stir it. Stir it like soup.

Zed willed it to turn again, and it obeyed sluggishly where he wished for speed. It fought back against him, and he took a deep breath before trying again. It was like struggling to turn a pot of congealing syrup, and he heaved and struggled with each process.

He was at it a while, breathing and turning. The liquid obeyed like a petulant child in public, fighting back at every action until Zed found a rhythm that worked. It wasn’t long till his breathing was less labored and a bit more controlled, rhythmic. The edges of the circle shaved off a little as it turned, the liquid spiraling inside like water down a drain. Zed continued to stir it, continued to breathe.

The cauldron dropped into a gentle simmer as time passed, and soon, it was a condiment taken off the fire. It gave him a calming sensation despite his need to keep his breathing rhythmic, to hold its focus lest his control stray.

The white or the haphazard orb within him dimmed into a lesser shade of itself. The bluish hue remained but the white looked as if it was losing its color. It wasn’t significant enough to be easily seen, but it was noticeable if he looked for it. Mana reached out of it, calming the others that raged through his mana channels until every bit of it was a flow of tranquil water.

Zed had never felt such calm as he took controlled breaths.

• You have activated [Refine].
• Your [mana] flows better.
• [Raw mana] detected.
• You have 12 unallocated [Aptitude points].
• Would you like to allocate [Aptitude points]?

Zed gave a mental consent and his Aptitudes came up.

Aptitude

Strength: 32

• This aptitude determines your strength as a mage. It      determines your physical strength and decides on if you will be a      juggernaut running through boulders or a mountain unmoving against the      will of the world.

Agility: 25.

• This aptitude governs the lengths of your body’s      willingness and ability to make those hard to execute moves. It takes you      through the air chafing away at your rigidity for flexibility. Will you be      a falling rock or a leaf blowing in the wind?

Speed: 22.

• This is how fast you’re willing to go. A bullet train      or a moving bullet. Some mages aim to reach the heights that rival light.      Or you could rival the dark and reach a height so fast it’s like you were      already there.

Mana: 49.

• This is the will of the world; the will of the sentient      connecting to the world. Mana is the life force of every mage and some      have enough to move waves and speak mountains into existence.
• [Raw mana] detected.
• Re-calibrating [Mana] quantification.
• [Mana] has been re-quantified.
• You have received +18 [Mana].

Wil: 25.

• This is the strength of a mage, their hold over their      mind and mana. It is the quantification of a mage’s aura and their command      over self and all else.
• [Pocket memory] detected.
• Re-calibrating [Wil].
• You have -3 [Wil].
• Repair to [Pocket memory (Who am I?)] detected.
• Re-calibrating [Wil].
• You have -2 [Wil].
• You have 12 unallocated [Aptitude points].
• Would you like to allocate [Aptitude points]?

Zed ignored the new mana levels and the impact on his Wil, despite how troubling the latter was, and agreed, slipping into allocating points.

Aptitude

• Strength: 32.
• Agility: 25.
• Speed: 22.
• Mana: 49(+18).
• Will: 18(-5).

Unallocated [Aptitude points] 12.

He tinkered around with it, allocating points to aptitudes with a surprising ease for something that had taken him the literal calming of waters to accomplish. At the end of the process he stared at his new aptitude points as close to equal as they could get with what he’d been given to work with, even if strangely put.

Aptitude

• Strength: 32(+1).
• Agility: 25(+3).
• Speed: 22(+4).
• Mana: 49(+18).
• Wil: 18(-5)(+4).
• Unallocated [Aptitude points] 0.
• You have 0 Unallocated [Aptitude points]
• [Aptitude points] will be gained at each category.
• You will gain 5 [Aptitude points] for each rise in      category.

Zed opened his eyes and let out a deep breath. The house was somehow clearer in his eyes now, not necessarily brighter, but more detailed. He felt refreshed and fatigued at the same time, like having a cold shower after a long jog.

Zed sagged into the couch, unbothered by the discomfort, and took another well needed breath.

• Your control over your mana has increased.
• Your control over your aura has increased.
• You are better connected to the world around you.
• You have obtained Spellform [Conqueror’s touch].

Spellform: [Conqueror’s Touch] (Mana, reality)

It is the duty of the vanquished to remain defeated and that the victor remains the conqueror. Your connection to the mana around you has grown and your mastery over it is sufficient. Those you have defeated are subject to you and will unravel at your touch.

• Effect: Claim [Exp] from those you defeat with a touch.
• Effect: Due to the trait [Mana blessed] you have a      chance of gaining rewards from [Conqueror’s touch].

Zed read the notification and smiled at his first spellform.