Toren Daen
I pulled myself shakily from the floor where I had collapsed, the lingering aftereffects of the dream a burning coil of emotion in my core.
I carefully settled my emotions, the recurring image of Norgan's death replaying painfully in my head. I wasn't just Toren, and I wasn't just me. I was something in-between; something else. Though I was more Earthen than Alacryan in spirit, what tied each half together was the pain we felt watching Norgan die.
I didn't know why the death of Toren's brother hurt the side of 'me' from Earth so much. Norgan was practically identical to my previous life's brother in physical appearance, true, but otherwise, there was no relation. But something compelled both my halves towards utter anger. And with our new resources, exacting real vengeance should be possible.
I slowly went back over the events of last afternoon in my mind, shivering at the recollection of Lady Dawn's King's Force–killing intent, whatever it was called–pressing into my body.
At least my ribs and forearm were whole now, my healing factor finally mending my body. Though after a quick removal of my bandages, I noticed a nasty scar stretched where my forearm wound used to be.
But another difference in my body was immediately noticeable. A tattoo of red chains coiled around and up my right arm like a serpent, crossing my shoulder and ending over my sternum.
I suppressed a gulp at witnessing the chains. I had likened the contract I would be taking earlier to a prison. It seemed I wasn't far off, but it was a chain I had agreed to leash myself with.
Glancing inward at my core, I noticed an immediate difference: I had advanced to the light orange stage of core development, granting a decent boost in mana reserves and purity. Small yellow runes now scrawled across its surface, glowing like coals and pulsing in rhythm with my heart.
I could also feel something–someone–pressing against my mind. It was a strange sensation, almost like an innate sense that I wasn't alone.
Lady Dawn? I thought across the tether, probing uncertainly.
I got no response.
"Lady Dawn?" I tried aloud, a bit worried. I needn't be, though, because my vision was awash with a familiar dark atmosphere with mist edging around the corners of my sight.
I was going to need to call this vision something. Maybe the Unseen? A bit on the nose perhaps, but the similarities were obvious.
I flinched slightly under Lady Dawn's gaze, the lingering touch of her King's Force burned into my mind. I forcefully suppressed what was definitely a very traumatic experience and forged ahead.
I nodded politely. "Thank you for trusting me," I said earnestly, moving to a more comfortable position. "I, um… I'm going to buy some food, then search for a proper weapon." I shifted under her sun-like gaze, then ironed my resolve. "After that, I'll go back to the forest," I bit out. I really didn't want to go back to the forest south of Fiachra, but it was the only place nearby besides the Relictombs–Fiachra did have an Ascension Portal, but I was far from powerful enough to be an ascender–where mana beasts were abundant. Furthermore, it would provide me some much-needed privacy to train my abilities, whatever they would be.
Even if my near-death experiences there were of nothing but pain.
Lady Dawn tilted her head. "And why, Contractor, have you called to tell me this?"
I hesitated, asking myself inwardly that exact question. "Because if we're going to work together to get me more powerful, it doesn't seem fair to leave you out of the loop of my plans," I said slowly. I really did not want to piss the phoenix off again. Catching her off guard so thoroughly yesterday had backfired miserably. And I hoped our relationship could shift to one of mutual benefit. The first step towards that was honesty.
Lady Dawn hummed. "Very well," she replied. "And once you are within the depths of this forest, I will lend my aid in your training," she said, looking me up and down. "You are pitiful as you are, Contractor."
I winced but didn't deny the phoenix's statement. I hadn't dared to hope that she would help me: the woman had been pretty hands-off with my new life so far. But being trained by an asura could go a long way in helping me improve as a warrior, as that was what I would have to be.
A familiar anger began to rise in my stomach as I remembered why I had bargained with the phoenix in the first place. Blood Joan had eradicated the remnants of Toren's family, and decades later kicked their fallen foes while they were in their darkest days. Like a child breaking his toys because they weren't 'fun' anymore. The recent dream had brought those emotions back to the forefront painfully.
I exhaled slowly, envisioning my anger leaving with that breath. It helped somewhat; brought me back to a more stable state of mind. Lady Dawn lingered, sensing that I had more questions. "Why do you not communicate over our mental tether?" I asked, sensing the bond I shared with the phoenix. But all I could feel in my mind was that the bond existed: no emotions or thoughts traveled over. "It seems really convenient. I've never had any sort of telepathy before."
Lady Dawn's face darkened perceptibly. "I will not touch your mind, nor any others," she said with iron. "No matter the benefits."
I opened my mouth, then closed it. Lady Dawn had expressed hatred of mind-altering mana arts. I could guess why: Agrona's tried and true tactic of warping people's minds with his runes and magic made me shiver to read. But that was when this was all fiction. Now, in reality?
What had this woman experienced? I knew she had been imprisoned by Agrona an unknown number of years before the main story of The Beginning After the End began. And now that Toren's memories had merged with my own, practically everything I knew about Alacrya from the novels lined up with what Toren had experienced.
Except for the existence of Lady Dawn. I didn't know what she had been through; not exactly. But it was certainly hell.
"Okay," I said softly. Then another thought crossed my mind; something I was hesitant to ask. But needed to, desperately. Everything I had known had been ripped from me; everything I thought to be truth flipped on its head. And it all centered around one fundamental question. I rolled my tongue around in my mouth, anxiety building. I tapped my fingers on my leg. "I need to know," I said, pushing out the words that burned as I spoke them. "How am I in this world? What brought me here?"
When I met the phoenix's eyes, I was surprised that I was able to read them. For all that they were blazing pits of fire, I could decipher her expression changing; the twin suns warning me of the answer. They were reluctant to give it, for a reason I couldn't understand.
Fear pooled in my gut then. I had asked the question on the spur of the moment, without thought or contemplation. I wasn't afraid of not getting an answer. No, I realized. I suspected parts of the answer. I was afraid to get it; to have my inklings of suspicion confirmed.
Lady Dawn was silent for a long, long moment. "Why, Contractor, do you know so much of this world and its future?" she said in turn, an answer unto itself. Her eyes of inferno seemed to dim under the weight of knowledge.
I clenched my eyes shut, my anxiety ratcheting up several notches. Lady Dawn didn't expect me to answer that question, but it had implications. Whatever brought me to this world would have an answer equal in weight to how I knew of this world's impending wars and crises.
I feared that answer more than ever before.
—
I walked into the weapons shop feeling more than a little nervous. I was in West Fiachra now, the middle-class district. My clothes were clean, but they were still of noticeably lower quality than the average pedestrian. Standing out so blatantly unnerved me: Norgan's murderer had promised that the masked brat would exact retribution on me soon.
I didn't doubt he would try.
The weapon shop was a nicer one, as I didn't want to skimp on what would be my main line of defense. As I surveyed the shop, I noticed the increased mana concentration in the area. Several other customers perused the wares: from framed maces that glowed with fire to axes that shined a yellowish-brown that I associated with earth mana. But I ignored these expensive showpieces, mostly because they were outside of my budget.
Near the back of the store, they held their more conventional weapons. Simple steel or mana beast material was the norm here, but they were of good quality. I was surprised so many types of weapons existed, to be honest. I saw a boomerang with sharpened edges. Then there was a flail that, instead of a spiked ball on the end, had an axe head.
How the hell did that work?
Either way, I quickly found my way to the section I wanted: the daggers.
I was a bit of a sword aficionado in my previous life on Earth. But cross-referencing Toren's previous experience, the fighting style he planned to use to support his brother and the well-oiled techniques he and Norgan used to work together, I knew what was best.
I saw a dozen different types of daggers on display: karambits, katars, dirks, and more.
I was looking over the store's selection of stilettos—a kind of knife that was designed with the primary purpose of stabbing-–when I began to ponder what my current strengths and weaknesses were.
I could push or pull with my telekinesis crest, but if I wanted to work that into whatever dagger style I used, I needed a blade designed to cut, not just thrust.
The selection of double-edged daggers was surprising. I surveyed my options carefully, before finally arriving at one. As I remembered how that brooch had stabbed into Norgan's wielder, a grin stretched across my lips. For all that a slashing blade would best fit my planned fighting style, I would damn well like to stab that woman again.
A relatively long, double-edged weapon was displayed before me. The blade was entirely straight, tapering off to a wicked point about a foot from the hilt. The hardened steel flashed in the glow cast by the nearby lighting artifacts, promising deadly precision. It had a knuckle guard with small spikes, creating a nice dagger-knuckle duster fusion.
It would be perfect.
I couldn't take it off the shelf as it was locked behind a near-translucent mana barrier. It had an item number that I quickly memorized. I assumed an employee would deactivate the protective seal once I purchased it.
Strolling to the counter, I greeted the clerk. "Hey," I said with suppressed excitement. "I've got a weapon I want to buy, but it's locked behind a barrier."
The clerk, a young woman, nodded. "Ah, no problem, sir!" she said hastily. "If you know the item number, we can get that unlocked and purchased so you can be on your way," she said, smiling sweetly.
I rattled off the number, watching as the woman tapped in the numbers on a keypad formed of solid mana. Then she held out a strange device to me. It looked like a transparent sphere with several wires attached, stretching to whatever device she was using.
Confused, I took the artifact. "Uh," I said a bit stupidly. "Is there anything I need to use this for?"
The clerk, who had looked back to her device, turned to me with obvious surprise. "Oh, just infuse it with your mana. That will unlock the barrier for a moment," she said.
"Ah, okay," I said a bit awkwardly, infusing the sphere with a touch of my mana. It began to become more and more translucent, losing its near glass-like transparency. When I felt the device stop accepting my energy, I withdrew my hand. Soon after, another employee of the store brought the dagger to the counter.
The price was far less than I expected to pay, likely because it was such a relatively small weapon. I left content.
—
I had a lot more money left over than I expected, which I wisely returned to my stash hidden under the floorboards. If I were right, I would need it pretty soon. When I finally reached the south gate, it was already early afternoon. I would only have a few hours to practice by the looks of it.
With a nod to the guard, I set out toward the forest. I was prepared this time, as prepared as I could be. I had a sling bag that I wore on my back which contained a filled waterskin, a few provisions, and first aid tools. On my belt was my new dagger: snug on my waist and deadly sharp for combat.
It took about ten minutes of intermittent mana-enhanced jogging to reach the forest, which I now guessed was a little over two miles from Fiachra. I was slightly winded when I reached the edge, but far and beyond better than my previous life in terms of cardio.
Mana really helped in that sense.
I took a swig from my waterskin before returning it to my bag. I scouted the treeline carefully, painfully remembering my last encounter with that whiptail mana beast. I now knew it to be a barkskin grohd, one variant of many of the lizard-like creatures that spanned Alacrya.
Feeling the coast was clear-–or at least knowing that if it wasn't, I would have no way to tell—I entered the forest. My hands clenched unconsciously, remembering in vivid detail how I had nearly died again several times in this accursed forest. But I had work to do.
For Norgan.
I walked for several minutes, luckily seeing neither hide nor hair of any mana beasts amidst the towering autumn leaves. With Toren's memories, I knew they were a type of famous tree called the clarwood. The tree wove mana into its structure somehow, allowing epic proportions. Not quite as tall as the trees in the Elshire forest, I presumed, but still impressive. These trees, combined with the mighty Sehz river which bordered the forest, contributed to the naming of the southernmost Dominion.
"Lady Dawn?" I asked aloud once I was amidst a small clearing, allowing tiny rays of light through the distant canopy.
The Unseen washed over my vision, changing to familiar dark hues. Lady Dawn was surveying the area I had chosen with a stern expression, but I didn't notice outright disapproval. She turned back to me. "You beckoned, Contractor?"
"I need to ask," I said, "What exactly I've gained from our Contract." I paused. "I've got ideas for how I want to train, but I don't know what I have to work with."
Lady Dawn looked at my sternum, her eyes burning a path to my core. "I am your Bond and Will," she said. "Though I doubt you understand the weight of those words."
I looked at my hands. "I'm not sure I do," I said quietly. Sylvia's Will enabled Arthur to separate himself from the flow of time and tap into a form of insight that led toward manipulation of the foundations of reality itself. The power of an Asura was not to be trifled with.
But then I thought of the Bond. I remembered descriptions from The Beginning After the End about how deep and personal a Bond was. It was something that ran thicker than water; thicker than blood.
The connection was soul-deep, I was sure. And the implications of that unnerved me. I didn't even have a point of reference to begin to understand what I now held.
"You will learn," Lady Dawn said, brushing my concerns aside. "What have you called me for?"
I shook my head, recentering myself. "I'm planning to train here every day I can for as long as I can," I said without preamble. I hesitated, still somewhat uncomfortable in Lady Dawn's presence, before continuing. "I wanted to work through some sort of dagger form, hand-to-hand combat training, and then refining my use of telekinesis. Is there anything you think I should change?" I asked.
Lady Dawn cocked her head. "Yes. You forgot the most important thing, Contractor."
"What did I miss?"
"You wield mana as the Dicathians do," Lady Dawn said coolly. "If you are to reach the apex of your strength, you cannot afford to forget these parts of your repertoire."
I blinked, startled that I had actually forgotten about that. When Lady Dawn helped me circulate mana through my mana channels, it had forcefully broken whatever sort of seal Agrona used within spellforms to limit Dicathian mana arts. "Oh, I actually did forget that," I said, embarrassed. I furrowed my brow. "I would be a conjurer by Dicathian standards, I think."
Lady Dawn nodded. "You would be. And you are lucky to have me, Contractor. As I touched your mana before, I know your elemental affinities."
I furrowed my brow. "Affinities?" I asked, catching the phrase. "Plural?"
"You possess a dual affinity for sound and fire," the ghostly phoenix said, a phantom breeze rustling her feather-red hair. "This is fortunate, as I am especially proficient in these elements."
I looked down at my hands, flexing them lightly. I knew the theory behind conjuring spells: in lower core levels, you would actively draw in mana from the outside world, purify it, then use that mana to cast a spell. As the core began to purify and grow, however, the step of taking in ambient mana for each and every spell was less and less necessary, as the required amount to cast a spell was already stored within the mana core.
Lady Dawn waited for me to finish reflecting. "Tell me what you know of mana manipulation, Contractor."
I put a hand to my chin, thinking over all that had been revealed within The Beginning After the End. I essentially had hearsay and writing, not direct understanding. I was under no illusions that the words on a page would translate perfectly to skill, but they were worth a great deal.
"Dicathian magic consists of two major categories," I said. "Augmenters and conjurers. Augmenters focus on strengthening their bodies, and conjurers funnel mana in the atmosphere into their core to use to cast a spell into the world," I continued. "This distinction lessens as a mage's core purifies, but a conjurer's prominent mana veins allow faster purification of the mana core." I snapped my fingers, remembering something important. "Oh, and the levels of core go from black, red, orange, yellow, silver, then white. Each of these–except white–has a dark, solid, then light sublevel." I looked at Lady Dawn. "After that is the Integration stage."
Lady Dawn paused at my mention of Integration, but then gestured for me to continue with a wave of her hand. "There are four basic elemental affinities and mana aspects respectively. Fire, water, earth, and wind. There are also deviant forms of these four: lightning, ice, gravity, and sound," I continued. "A mage's core stores purified, unaspected mana. When a mage uses this mana, they can change it to any of the elemental types, but their own affinities are easier."
Lady Dawn nodded, her blazing eyes brightening for a split moment. "That is correct. The precedent for any practice is theory. So you must try to cast a spell. Any spell."
Taking Lady Dawn's instruction, I looked inwards once more, observing my light orange core. Already it was slowly progressing toward the dark yellow stage due to the ever-present deluge of mana from the phoenix feather, but it was a ways off. I pulled a sliver of mana from my core, willing it to my hand. I watched as it pooled above my open palm, invisible to the naked eye but with a light glowy feeling to my mana senses. It was warm, and I immediately recognized it had changed to be fire mana. Exactly as I intended, though I wasn't entirely sure how.
I looked up to Lady Dawn, silently inquiring if I was on the right track. Considering she didn't call me out, I figured I hadn't messed up yet. Turning back to my task, I tried to push… intent, for lack of a better word, into the sliver of mana above my palm. I wanted it to become a small bead of fire. "Fireball," I whispered, trying to project the image I wanted onto the mystical energy.
I was disappointed when the mana puffed up on the wind, misting outwards as if blown away.
"Damn," I huffed, sensing the mana disperse. I glanced back at Lady Dawn, who was still watching me expectantly. With a renewed determination, I pulled more mana from my core, the energy shifting to fire mana once more. I again tried to push intent through the mana, but the result was the same.
"Your visualization is poor," I heard the phoenix say. I looked up at her, furrowing my brow in slight confusion. I knew visualization was important for casting spells, and saying a chant helped the caster better form their intent into an effect. "You must not only define the element of your spell, but its direction, speed, size, power, and more. Every variable must be accounted for, which strains the mind."
I thought about her words, but then my train of thought caught on a few specific words. I zoned out slightly, Lady Dawn's words ringing like a gong in my head. The phrases 'define' and 'variable' swam around alluringly, ideas building in my mind.
A grin stretched across my face. I thought I had a good idea of how I was going to cast a spell now.