"Welcome back. You do not look well at all, though I sense from your satchel that your venture has been successful at least." Sevi said.
"The voice is back. I can hear it again, though I'm still myself." Rethys coldly declared.
"Of course it returned, or did you really think the curse I inscribed upon you would solve all of your issues forever, just like that?" Sevi answered, her voice taking on a bored tone.
"But you said that the curse will solve it. That it-"
"That it would safeguard your will, so that you may never again be stripped of your control over yourself. It is not at all unexpected that a creature as powerful as the one observing you managed to find a method to somewhat subvert what I did to you.
"But know that so long as it remains intact, the curse will never fail you. It is absolute, and will continue to make sure that you can neither suffer nor use effects of the mind. Now step closer, your wounds need healing."
Rethys stood there, warily regarding the azure gem as it peered back at him, before stepping forwards.
Approaching the large, suspended sword, Rethys plopped down on the ground with a grunt. As he sat down, he could feel Sevi's blood-red ether slowly condensing around him. He could feel the energy of her magic waiting for permission from him, almost requesting it.
Accepting the foreign magic into himself, he felt a sense of elation and warmth spread through his body, and could sense his pain quickly lessening.
While healing, minutes passed by in silence, or as silent as it could get inside in Rethys' head, before Sevi spoke in a gentle reassuring voice.
"Do know that what you are suffering now is the plight of every talented mage. And know that power always comes at a cost, Rethys. For us mages, this is due to the very nature of the ether and how it functions. Just as your element is a manifestation of your most primordial self, you yourself mirror it. Thusly, just as you manipulate your ether and use it to shape the world according to your vision, it subtly manipulates you in turn in an inescapable equivalent exchange.
"You yourself must have heard tales of particularly talented wielders of the ether going completely mad, often due to their will not being strong enough to match the effect echoed back at them through their powers. They lose much of their agency, and at that stage are no longer mages harnessing magic, but are instead more akin to elementals guided solely by the whims of their element."
Rethys doubted that now was the best time for a lesson in magic but couldn't say no to free knowledge. And hearing Sevi's explanation, he recalled many such cases he had heard of throughout his life. Tales of mages, or sometimes even civilian non-mages going completely berserk, their magic gaining unprecedented powers while they went on senseless rampages.
As far as he knew these rampages differed with each element, Fire wielders would start wildfires or even try to torch entire towns, while Water wielders would simply disappear, only to be later discovered to have drowned somewhere.
"It will be the same for you, Rethys, though it would seem your case will take on a different form. Perhaps due to being the peculiar circumstances of your element. What this implies for your future, I would not claim to know. But remember that a staunch will and a clear vision are mandatory if you wish to use your magic and not be used by it."
"I see." He responded, perhaps not convinced but at least satisfied by her explanation.
After all he himself felt it, and knew that the ether was much, much more than magic and power. And though he could not make comprehensible sense of it, he could still feel in himself that great insight granted to him by the Origin entity.
He didn't appreciate the sheer vagueness of the knowledge, or rather feelings, that his element bestowed upon him. He had the feeling that the rather intimate understanding he had of it all would be very helpful once he discovered more about magic and the Ether, but it would be worth nothing if he couldn't get out of here first.
'And I will get out of here.' He repeated in his mind for the umpteenth time.
Taking his mind off of unhelpful thoughts, he reached into his satchel and pulled out the small magical coffer, setting it down on the ground.
"If I recall correctly, they used these containers to store their most valuable supplies, and to prevent the more dangerous dwellers from detecting their signatures. Hopefully, whatever is in there, you would make better use of it than its previous owners." Sevi commented.
Prodding each of the enchantments adorning the lustrous surface of the strongbox, Rethys eventually found the one responsible for opening it. He could see the circle responding to his input, but nothing seemed to happen. Trying a second time to send ether to it, the lock showed a different response, and a surge of power moved throughout the small chest.
'Don't tell me...'
It was as he suspected, he seemed to have done something wrong, and the chest now refused to respond to any of his attempts. In fact, the ether coursing through its surface seemed to have multiplied many times in intensity.
"A pity. It seems to have detected your unauthorized access, and has locked itself." Sevi revealed.
"I can see that." Rethys grumbled.
He scrutinized the metal container from every angle he could, studying the circles and runes adorning it, yet in the end couldn't find out anything useful.
"Hmm... Send your ether towards the fourth outer rune to the left of where your hand is, erase it as you told me you could do." The trapped mage suggested.
Rethys hesitated to listen to her, but realized that he had no other choice. Doing as she asked, the rune disappeared, and he felt the power of the enchantments beginning to wane.
"Incredible!" Sevi exclaimed. "Now move to the third rune to its right and dismantle that as well."
Following her instructions, he moved from rune to another, all the while the strongbox's enchantments continued to lose strength. The runes on the coffer were smaller than those on the summoning magical circles he tampered with before, so he only needed to spend a negligible amount of energy on it.
"Now move to the circle directly to your left, dismantle the rightmost rune then its centermost rune!" The trapped mage instructed.
'She's enjoying this too much' Rethys sighed inwardly.
Moving to dismantle the last two runes needed, Rethys saw the chest relax open, its enchantments fully deactivating and the magic circles that constituted them slowly fading away.
"An Endrasum coffer, so effortlessly unlocked, or rather disenchanted... Marvelously done Rethys!"
"All I did was do was send ether to it." He shrugged while reaching to open the strongbox. "And what's Endrasum?"
"Hm? Ah, Endrasum is one of the magical metals. It is extremely impressive that your element could subvert the protections installed into it. Regardless of how simple the task was, it does not detract from your element's wondrous powers."
Rethys actually felt a bit flattered, but frowned just as quickly as bitterness set into him. He still couldn't believe he was supposed to be some unique anomaly among his race that could use a normally-unusable power. More importantly however, he couldn't accept it, resentment still welling from deep within him whenever he saw ether bearing that dreadful blue color emerge from his hands.
Deciding not to dwell on it too much this time, he reached inside the small coffer. Inside, he found a few items, first a talisman, then a wand, and finally a few bottles of glowing liquid of various colors.
Setting the items down on the room's floor, he took his time to inspect each one of them closely.
The talisman was the most understandable one, a small metal disk covered with magical circles engraved into its metal that surrounded a green etherstone embedded in the middle of the disk. Though he recognized the stone's element as that of Life, the stone itself seemed strange, he could tell it was completely different from normal etherstones, but could not tell how.
The stone however did radiate a familiar and nostalgic aura that went beyond its element alone.
The wand was a short stick fashioned out of what seemed like wood, or a material that at least resembled it, and had a purplish pink etherstone of Malice on its tip. Rethys noticed that this stone too was of the same kind as the one found in the talisman.
The third item, or rather set of items, found in the enchanted strongbox were a set of four small vials, with each containing a liquid of a different element and color. One was of Restoration, another of Mind, the third of Darkness, and the last one of Wind.
"A strengthening talisman, a shock baton, and a few Aspect potions." Sevi commented.
"What do they do? And why does that etherstone look different?" Rethys asked.
"That is not an etherstone, but rather a spellstone. It contains a stable spell instead of only ether, and can cast it on demand." Sevi explained. "The spellstone contains a physical strengthening spell, and you can access it via the talisman, you should be able to do it even as you are now. It has a limited energy capacity however, and would need time to ready itself again after each use."
'So, it's like Master Fulgrith's spell...' Rethys mused inwardly.
"The baton follows the same principle, and deals disabling pain, much like the example I used when explaining magic to you, funnily enough. It might not be of much use however, as many of the catacomb dwellers must have little regard for physical pain at this point. As for the last item, those are aspect potions, they imbue you with a rudimentary version of what your people call infusion magic of their respective element for a time, about three hours judging from their power and your own level. Use them wisely and sparingly."
"I see, thank you for the insight." He said as he rose to his feet.
His wounds were now fully healed, and his mind calm enough to focus despite the Origin entity's pleading resounding time and time again in the back of his head.
He judged he was ready enough to go exploring again, and grabbing his things, headed towards the long corridor leading outwards to the rest of the underground halls.
He also took with him his three latest finds, hoping that they would grant him the necessary power to not be too easy to kill.
"Leaving again so soon?" Sevi asked.
"I need to keep searching. I need to find a way out." He declared gravely.
"Best of luck to you then, Rethys." The trapped mage responded with a sigh.
It was only a few steps from there before he was once again walking through the large repeating stone hallways of the catacombs, already on his way to his next target.
'I will get out of here.' He repeated in his mind, trying to keep pushing himself forward.