Chapter 286: Book 5-5.2: Changes

‘The streams of Chaos are really colourful,’ Yuriko thought as she stood on the upper deck of the Ebon Horizon. Days of being cooped up in her room, with little to do other than meditate, had taken its toll on her mind.

She wanted to move, to train her sword skills. She wanted to spar. Although, now that she thought about it, the majority of the past year had been filled with life and death battles. With the devilbeasts, and later with the Vizugmonians and Tiathans.

The mere thought of it sent her mood spiralling to the Abyss, however, and she was quite tired of feeling blue. So she shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and somehow locked it in with a key.

Huh.

She shook her head and gazed outside.

The Ebon Horizon was covered in a shimmering sphere, well, ovoid, of neutral grey Animus. It made it so that the ambient Chaos within it was no denser than a regular plane. The density was a bit more than it had been in Bella, somewhat higher than in Rumiga too, she thought. Maybe more akin to being in the Shallows of a Tidelands?

Her Anima flared slightly at the thought and took in some of the ambient Chaos. The feel of it was similar to when she was in Kogasi. The bit of Chaos she took in, sizzled and smoked, leaving an acrid stench. The air around her shimmered, and for a moment, she felt dizzy and nauseated.

“What was that!”

“Breach?”

“Where?”

The sailors sitting on their stations at the edge of the deck started to panic. Each of them was seated on a chair in a circle of runescript. Their Animus extruded from their hands and fed into the lines, which in turn kept the spherical shield stable.

“Ah!” It was her fault!

Before she could say anything though, the Bosun, a dusky-skinned woman named Svitlanna, yelled, “False alarm, return to standards.” She glared at the sailors who returned their vigil out into the Chaos Sea and when she was satisfied, strolled towards Yuriko.

“Miss Davar, I ask that you refrain from trying to manipulate Chaos while on deck. For that matter, unless you want to draw the Dwellers from every corner of the Sea, refrain from doing so while we’re at Sea,” she said stiffly.

Yuriko felt her face heat up and she said quickly, “Yes, I apologize.”

“No harm,” Svitlanna snorted, “I guess.” She eyed Yuriko’s Anima, focusing on the bit of distilled Chaos she produced. Her eyebrows climbed up to her hairline. She shook her head as she spun on her heels. Yuriko could hear her mutters, “...crazy girl, toying with Chaos at Sea...”

Yuriko hung her head down and sighed.

Well, it looked like she could do nothing of the sort here. She’d visited the dingy little room they called their gymnasium. Maybe two people can use the weights there at the same time. If they were careful not to stretch too far out with their hands or legs. It was a room just barely twice as big as her quarters. There was also a schedule posted on the door and her name wasn’t on it, of course. Not that she needed much physical conditioning these days.

So, since she couldn’t practice her Animus manipulation, the Radiant Sun was absent, and she couldn’t do much physical training, what was she to do?

Read and study, apparently. Layla found her one morning and handed a thick textbook to her.

“I don’t have any of the Neophyte, or the Novice level runescribe books,” she said apologetically, “and I don’t have much time while we’re travelling to tutor you personally. So here’s Advanced Runecraft Theory and Patterns. Try to see what you can learn from it. I promise to answer any questions you might have, though only after my shift.”

She left before Yuriko could get a word in edgewise. She eyed the book doubtfully. Its thickness was the length of her middle finger. She opened it to a page in the middle and found it filled with words. Just words. Oh, there were a few illustrations and diagrams, but it was mostly a wall of text. Her eyes swam and watered.

Yuriko slammed the book shut.

Oh, Ancestors! Was she really going to be stuck indoors in what was essentially a floating box for the next Season?

The next couple of days had her perusing the book. The text was small enough that she had to squint before she remembered to use a variation of Enhanced Sight that allowed her to see smaller things more easily. Unfortunately, that didn’t help much with her headaches when she read too long.

Frustrating. It wasn’t even the book or the lack of training areas. No Radiant Sun and the fact that she couldn’t distil Chaos meant that she had absolutely nothing to do.

There were twenty-three crew members of the Ebon Horizon, seven officers, four marines, two service staff, and ten ordinary sailors. All of them were busy. Either they were at their duties, and while they were in the Chaos Sea, that meant being at their station for their entire shift, focused on keeping the Ebon Horizon stable. Each shift was four hours, any longer and they would lose focus. That was disastrous, apparently.

Layla said that it was the watch crew’s efforts that kept any stray thoughts from creating something regrettable in the Chaos. A greater part of the ship’s runescript lines was devoted to just that, but about twenty percent focused on propulsion and navigation. Only ten percent were used to power the protective sphere, and five to power the Plasma Carronades.

There were three of the incredible weapons on board. One at the front, and one at each side. Access to it wasn’t terribly restricted, so she was allowed to take a look. The Carronade was about two paces long, was cylindrical, but looked quite stubby with how wide the bore was.

The Chief Gunnery officer, which also happened to be Layla, explained how to load and fire the thing. Yuriko was sure Carronade operation was part of Agaza’s curriculum, and she was glad to learn it now.

A cartridge was used, one charged by the Runescript Engine. It was loaded at the side, then locked into place. Then the gunner aimed the weapon, the front carronade could only swivel at around fifteen degrees, but the left and right side had sixty, then triggered the charge. The resulting plasma bolt was nearly a pace wide and possessed a limited amount of self-correction.

She had a chance to see it in action on the fifth day when a strange-looking creature appeared inside the Waypoint with them. It looked like an elongated bug, with dozens of spiky feet. Its head was that of a…Yuriko wasn’t certain she could call it a human face, aside from the size, which was nearly five paces high, the eyes were close-set, there was no nose to speak of, and it had no lips, just bare gums sporting jagged teeth. A nightmare made flesh. She couldn’t help but shudder, even after several days had passed when she recalled it.

Anyway, the gunner, a different crewmember, took one look, spat out his pipe, aimed the Carronade at it, and let loose. The Plasma Bolt was a fierce crimson, and even before it touched the creature, the contained heat from it already started to scorch its carapace. It tried to wriggle out of the way, of course, but the bolt curved to follow. In the end, it was struck. And instead of the bolt blasting a hole through, it burst and coated the thing with a goopy layer of superheated plasma. It melted and turned to ashes.

“Not the worst I’ve seen,” the gunner said to Yuriko after everything happened.

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For her part, she wondered if it would have provided a challenge if she faced it in direct combat. It was several times her size though and she’d probably have to summon Fri’Avgi to hand to even have a chance. And…they were still in the Chaos Sea. She wouldn’t be able to bear the exposure.

That was the way of it. Sometimes, the Ebon Horizon moved in open Chaos, and at others, they entered a Waypoint that appeared suddenly around them. The Protective Sphere kept whatever hostile energy at bay. Yuriko only had an inkling of what could happen, mostly from snippets mentioned by her Da, or her teachers over at Sharom. The Chaos would invade the body and Anima as soon as it touched, and then, Chaos poisoning if the poor victim was lucky.

A Knight’s Protective Field was necessary to push the primordial matter at bay. Well…she’d heard that her flared Anima had similar properties as a Knight’s Field, but she wasn’t quite foolish enough to put that to the test. Not now, anyway.

Still, she survived being swept by a Chaos Storm. And of course, what she got out of it was several weeks where she could barely use her Animus techniques. She was sure it was Fri’Avgi that made her survival possible.

Once you’ve formed a Radiant…

Damien’s words faded away as the dribbles of Radiant energy she had in reserve disappeared. She couldn’t even blame him for his flagrant use. It wasn’t as if she could keep it inside her for long.

Without a constant source in the sun, the Radiant energy in her Facet slowly escaped her Anima. She should have just used it for Refinement! she thought furiously. But no, it took a couple of days and nearly a fourth of the reserve before she noticed it dwindling.

She’d decided to store it for emergency use, but alas, that’s what happened. It was another reason why she felt so cranky. Well, her tummy was crampy too. She felt twinges, every now and then. No, it wasn’t because of the food, it was lower, below her navel. Several weeks, nearly a year, actually, when she started using the technique Master Alfein taught her to control her cycle. Er, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be used this long continuously?

She should ask Aunt Layla about it. Yeah.

Still, it was a few more days before she managed to get some privacy with her aunt, and it was mostly the other woman who sought her out to answer any questions regarding runescript techniques.

Honestly, she barely opened the book. She just couldn't take it. She mentioned as much to the woman, and Layla frowned.

“Perhaps we should see a healer when we arrive at Realmheart,” Layla said with a deep frown. “How long have you experienced nausea while reading?”

“Uhm, all my life.” Yuriko sighed. “It's when the words are small and close together that I have trouble.”

“So, if it's picture books you don’t have a problem?” Layla arched an eyebrow.

Yuriko felt her cheeks redden. “Yes, at least I don’t recall growing dizzy…”

“You’ve never told this to Virgil?”

“Oh, Da knows,” Yuriko said. “Though it wasn’t this bad in prep school.”

“I see. Well, that complicates a few things,” Layla muttered. “Well, I guess I can teach you directly, no, no, that’s not going to work. I barely have enough time to myself.” She started muttering under her breath.

“Ah, before that, I have another…uh, problem.”

“Yes?”

“Um, one of the masters in Sharom taught me a way to control my period. I used it while I was stuck in the Kogasi plane when my cycle came with severe cramps and pain.” Yuriko said quickly, “Ah, I’ve honestly forgotten about it, but a few days ago, it started to cramp up again. I checked, the runescript is still there.”

“Someone taught you fertility control?!” Layla’s eyebrows flew all that up to her fringe and disappeared into her hairline. “Why? Ah, you’re not sexually active already, are you?” Her voice rose in pitch until it was practically a squeal.

“Huh, no, of course not,” Yuriko said with a frown. “I’m too young for that.”

“Good,” Layla muttered under her breath, then she coughed. “Ah, sorry. I was, er. Anyway. Fertility control techniques aren’t that well known, and I’m surprised your teacher knew it, or that you could use it. Anyway, you’re still a growing girl, and messing with your body like that could have repercussions we don’t know about. I suggest you stop using it and don’t use it unless you’re in a similar situation.” Layla barked a laugh. “Hopefully, never again.”

“Oh. Alright. Er, I’m afraid I don’t have any preparations.” Yuriko gestured towards her bag and her clothes. She was still wearing Dougi and Hakama.

“I have some in stock.” Layla tapped her lips. “And I have some spare clothes, if you prefer to get out of those…tribal clothing.”

“If you have forceweave…” Yuriko sighed, “But these fit me well. It’s just a pity it isn’t as sturdy as my old clothes.”

“Alright, I’ll get you some proper clothing once we arrive at an Imperial plane.” Layla grinned. “Ah, you were on the Sorcery course, right? You haven’t started on Spellweaving?”

“No, not at all.”

“Hmm, you’ll like that over runescribing. Huh. Ah! We can start on those lessons instead! Hee hee! Ah, after we exit the Chaos Sea. No need to jeopardize the ship!”

Yuriko grudgingly agreed. She had little else to do.

Two weeks into the voyage, they finally arrived at the nearest plane to Bella. The Ebon Horizon shuddered as though something enormous took hold of it and started shaking it about. It lasted for nearly an hour, with Yuriko going green and nearly spewing her dinner all over her bed. Only Recovery hastily and continually applied kept everything where it should be.

When the shaking finally stopped, she made her way back on deck. Riwuc, the plane was called, was a grey stony waste. The winds blew heavy sand into whirling dervishes, and she tasted an acrid tang at the back of her throat. But the sun, the blessed Radiant Sun, shone down from the heavens and her body greedily drank in the light.

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