Chapter 49: Ch. 45: Stealing Away

Mage stone- a magically conductive rock created by the suffusing of magic into ancient metamorphic rocks like clay, quartzite, shale, marble, granite or obsidian. Its ability to absorb ambient mana makes it a choice material for use by enchanters, especially when crafting basic items that do not require complex runecraft. Catalogue of Inventory for Yondouk's Magical Emporium of Arcane and Mundane Goods.

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“ For a novice, your first workings were not terrible” Kolvar pointed out.

“Said every [Enchanter] or [Artificer] that looked at my hoverboard,” Arthur groaned, under his breath as he folded his arms.

“It was not that bad,” the old sylvani reiterated

“I heard you the first time. It is not that good either, ” Arthur scowled. “You don't have to coddle me.”

“Peace…these things take time,” the [Runic Arboursmith] assured. “Your rune workings were simple, but the material covered was much. That you even managed to make the ...what did you call your craft again?”

“Hoverboard,” Arthur sniffed.

”Ah, yes, hoverboard. A great name…”

“Thanks, I guess?”

”Mmh,” Kolvar muttered, oblivious to Arthur’s sarcasm; it rolled off him like water off a duck.

“If you're going to make more of these, you might want to save on materials without compromising on quality. I recommend that you compress the runes,by layering their matrices in the same place or aggregating runes with complementary functions.”

“ Recall that a rune matrix can be also translated spell matrix and spell matrices often contain more elemental anchors than their runic counterparts . Nonetheless, it is sometimes impossible to inscribe the whole matrix on a panel of arcane metal such as this,” he went on, as he picked a copy of the Azure Surfer’s main rune workings.

“Notice that runes embody one word functions, like [Aggregate], [Trigger] or [Dispel],” he said, pointing out Arthur's runecraft.

“In that regard, it is possible to compress a number of complementary matrices into smaller dimensions or, barring that, the same dimensions,” he said. “If you have read your magical theory, which I assume you have,” he went on.

Arthur looked like he wanted to ask a question, but the elderly sylvani shook his head.

”No, read up on it when you have the time. We have much to cover young sprite,” Master Kolvar said slowly and firmly.

‘Frag…’ Arthur swore. ‘More studying,’ he mentally pulled out his hair. Ever since he’d retrieved his Essentia Chronicon the old sylvani had changed tactics in the manner of teaching which included assignments and self-study on magical theory. They were on the penultimate lesson on basic runecraft before Arthur could spend the final three days preparing for the things ahead.

One of them included the much awaited tolerance tests for the magier engine, alongside the preliminary steps for his new choice of weapons. That is not to say that he slacked off with his swordcraft. After the divination, Szephia thought he was better off being a jack instead of specialising in swordcraft. From then on, his training was to include swords, daggers, and wands. The faerieborn decided that he was better off being a spellblade rogue instead of a straight up swordsman.

“Young Arthur…your mind is with the flying fowl again,” Master Kolvar grunted.

‘Gah! Just call them birds,’ Arthur started. “ Ah, sorry, what were you saying?” he added unabashedly.

“I asked that you remind me of the principles of runecraft from our last meeting.”

“ Right,” Arthur said, remembering things from [Eidetic Memory] was a breeze but delivery was something else altogether.

“The gist of it was, from tier 0 to tier 3 magic, all matrices have one or more of the aforementioned components in varying degrees. Each component is called an element anchor and dictates the nature of the spell. “

“And do tier 0 spells indicate the lack of an elemental anchor, young Arthur?” Master Kolvar asked with smiling eyes. What he was having him repeat was apprentice level runecraft in the curriculum if there was ever a school that taught it.

“On the contrary, Master Kolvar, we start counting elemental anchors from tier 0 not tier 1. At tier 0, magic already has an inherent elemental property which makes up its affinity. Consequently, before a matrix is used, it is already aligned to the elemental nature of its intended manifestation.”

“Good, I can see you do not have your head stuck in the clouds after all,” Master Kolvar grinned. Arthur sighed.

Learning the basics of rune craft from the ground up was a lot like taking elementary chemistry and mathematics again. While elements did sound like vectors, there were no discrete numbers.

What existed were approximations of infinitesimal values that were accepted as common sense by the average Erythean mage. In the history of magic, new matrices were discovered through either pure luck, extrapolation, or experimentation, and [Mimetic Inscription] was a proof of that.

Thanks to the impersonal entity known as the World, less of heavy lifting was necessary otherwise magic would've been a tedium even for the most studious of mages.

With matrices, spells also became either one dimensional, two dimensional, four and so forth, in order of ascending tier. Past the fourth tier, arcanery started skirting the bounds of what was naturally possible. For example, [Lysbringer’s Skyfall] which seemed to pull meteors out of nowhere, fell somewhere between the fourth and fifth tiers.

The reason such knowledge was pertinent was so that Arthur could have the ease of acquiring new runes for his repertoire, where the source material was aetheroglyphs . He did not tell the old Sylvani combining, [Rosetta Stone], [Mimetic Inscription], [Eidetic Memory and [Phantasmal Blueprint] made him feel like he was cheating his way through enchanting.

Nonetheless, there was euphoria and satisfaction that came from translating a complex three dimensional spell into a line or shape that could be etched in two dimensions. Most translations resulted in triangles and circles, and that simply boggled the mind.

‘I knew from studying Aetheroglyphs that there was a rationality behind the squiggles and strokes in rune etching but this is so much easier than geometry. I shouldn’t have skipped my foundation,’Arthur mentally facepalmed.

“Regardless, the principles of runes remain the same. Recall, the different paradigms of implementing runecraft,” Kolvar said with a gleam in his eyes.

“I will reiterate it as many times as possible, the Sylvani magic as a song. It therefore follows that they would employ the same in the runes and enchantments.” Kolvar said, clearing his throat.

“Dwarven runes are, on the other hand, utilitarian, directly transposed from the spell from which they were derived. Their rune craft is the barebones upon which other races have built upon, or so I think—”

’Programming languages my old friend,’ Arthur winced as he felt [Eidetic Memory] strain under the dump of revelations he was picking up. ’Runecraft is just magical coding with extra steps.’

“Never mind that I might come off as biased but I will tell you for free that Sylvani runecraft fosters fewer errors and encourages some degree of elegance in rune workings. By transforming matrices into discernable musical notes, one can catch the discordance before the rune is etched onto the material, as you would immediately feel it because it wouldn't feel right.” Kolvar said with a proud grin.

“You have a point…” Arthur agreed, looking at the rune inscribed panel of metal as the master crafter levitated it beside him.

’ Show off; I already have that taken care of,[Phantasmal Blueprint]’ Arthur left unsaid.

“Glad you understand…” his tutor smiled. “With that in mind…I think you should be able to inscribe more complex runes regardless of the size of the arcane material and broaden your repertoire of the same. The higher the tier of magic you seek to transform, the more efficient the transformation, the more powerful the effects will be.”

Arthur exhaled a breath of relief. He felt that he'd learnt so much in such a short period of time.

”However, there is one more thing.” Master Kolvar said. Arthur gave the sylvani a one arched brow as he paused mid-arm stretch.

“Please keep using your inspection skills as you learn new runes and diagnose the workings of artefacts and magical items. I wager by the time you approach the next tier, they are bound to consolidate into a more powerful skill,” Kolvar remarked.

“I shall keep that in mind Master Kolvar,” Arthur assented. The sylvani was talking about [Diagnostics] and [Detect Flaw] which as per the Essentia Chronicon report, tier 2 and tier 3 respectively.

Arthur was gunning for Appraisal at tier 3 through skill consolidation. Regardless of his class’s tier, he would not call himself a magical crafter if he did not at least acquire the skill.

“Well then, on to practical things. Would you care to join me in the ship berths?” the old crafter asked.

“My apologies; I have another project that requires my attention,” Arthur replied. “The next three days are crucial.”

“Hoh? Is that so?” The [Runic Arboursmith] hummed, grooming his beard . “You wouldn’t mind telling me about the things you had some of my crafters do behind my back, would you?”

“Who knows?” Arthur said, avoiding his eyes. “I might use them for cudgels and blowdarts.”

“Very well…be sure to go over your reference materials before tomorrow. “ Master Kolvar said, sighing.

“That I will, Master Kolvar,” Arthur said, walking off with a wave.

---

It felt like ages since he’d been sparring with the sylvmaid. His Lightning Shrike Sword Art which favoured fast strikes and movement, had been beaten into him in less than two nundines.

Arguably, the time was longer than that since they practised in a time dilating array made of Faerie magic, and as a result, Arthur had clocked close to a month's worth of time . For unknown reasons, his tutor had been upping the ante of late―this particular day was also different in other aspects as well.

“Long have your lips been sealed about that clandestine project of yours, and this is what it has come to?” Szephia remarked, squinting at him from across the training court as she tied her mint green hair back in a bun. Arthur winced at the sylvmaid’s snarky comments as he made his way to his side of the training court.

The room was a large spherical atrium with a domed glass ceiling . Dappled sunshine fell upon the duo in the middle of the court while Nora sat off to the side, ready to step in for healing. Not that Arthur ever needed it, because the training court was warded against a certain amount of force and magical damage.

“I think you should reserve your remarks until after you have seen what it can do,” Arthur said as he adjusted the holster of his new weapon at his waist. Overkill was strapped to his hip while his yet unnamed Cerusthril sword was sheathed on his back.

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“I fail to see what purpose such a peculiar shape would serve for a wand― ?” the sylvmaid said. She limbered up before she drew out her plystre with a flourish. A plystre was a Sylvani hybrid rapier that had a piercing point as well as a double cutting edge; its name translated to ‘whispering blade’.

Despite the innumerable quartz of time they’d spent training together,Arthur had not become inured to the sylvmaid’s needling. First they started with filling in his foundations for the Lightning Shrike Sword Art, then moved on to refining the Gusting Swallows Sword Art.

Later on, Szephia tried to set him on the path to learning sword techniques like [Thunder Strike] which involved chaining multiple forms together. That was the way augeo practitioners evoked their skill matrices. Needless to say, they were hard to learn and more than anything, they had to be done just right.

Most hybrid mages like Spellblades could use both Materia and Augeo magic, but the distribution of their abilities was disproportionate; one of those types of magic was always weaker than the other. However, dragontouched and faerieborn were the exceptions to the rule.

“It is rude to judge a weapon by the first encounter,” Arthur snorted. “ You haven’t seen what it can do.”

“If you say so―regardless of whether you brought wands to a swordfight, be prepared to lose,” Szephia said as she shifted stances to point her hybrid rapier at Arthur.

‘That is not something you tell someone you’re tutoring,’ Arthur groaned internally. Naturally, when they sparred, Szephia was needlessly competitive, even though she had him beat most of the time. Arthur was about to change that.

“Both of you are wasting daylight,” Nora called out from the side. “I still have to teach Arthur daggercraft you know!”

She had a different hairdo of navy blue hair that was so dark it was almost black. You could see the blue fringes shimmer when her hair caught the sunlight.

“I concur with the dhampir―” Szephia said, grinning hungrily. Arthur suppressed an involuntary shiver as her whole countenance changed— then she blurred.

'[Evanescing Wend]’ Arthur caught on. The skill was Szephia’s trademark. For heartbeats at a time, she could flit unseen so fast one would have thought it a trick of the light; even now Arthur still did not have the mechanics of the skill down. With her skill with the sylvani rapier, one would be dead by innumerable papercuts before they even realised what had happened.

‘[Draconic Sight]!’ Arthur willed the skill to the fore. His vision swam with the colours of the aether and he was just in time to catch the blur coming towards his right. He sidestepped, rolling along the length of the rapier as it whistled past the side of his neck while drawing his artefact from its holster in the same motion.

This put him right beside Szephia as she faded into sight, Arthur knocked up her arm with his elbow and drew his weapon point blank. Szephia remained unfazed, letting the fouling motion throw her hybrid rapier into the air. Arthur triggered the spell; Szephia’s left was a blur as she caught the rapier with her other arm.

She guarded against the muzzle of the strange wand while tilting her head back; she had good battle instincts. Air valves hissed on Arthur’s artefact before there was a burst from its end. Szephia’s hair was ruffled as she knocked Arthur’s aim off course. Arthur disengaged, spiriting away the weapon before the sylvmaid could bring her rapier to bear.

Hissing from the missed shot, Arthur jumped back, putting some distance between himself and his sparring partner, and drew the weapon on his left using [Inventory Chest] like that was always a cheat.

‘Here it comes,’ Arthur thought as Szephia threw out her free hand, unsurprised by the turn of events.

She didn't need to call it out loud, but the momentary pulse in her aura let him know that she was using her spell. Sitting through her aura training sessions had taught Arthur that his own auric field could be used to focus [Mana Sense] if he willed it. The very same auric field was the basis for so many inspection spells as well as domain spells—thus, he countered with his own equivalent nullification spell.

As soon as he felt her area of effect spell smothering the mana in the air like an oil slick, he internally incanted, '[Dispel Matrix].’ He had practiced the spell just for this engagement; of course, the World had yet to recognise the spell.

There was a hum and then a sound like the crackling of static as Arthur countered, and their two spells cancelled each other out. Arthur hadn't been sure it would even succeed, but that did not mean he had come into the spar gambling. Even if the sylvmaid crippled her own ability to cast offensive spells, she only needed her Sword Art to take down Arthur.

‘This is exactly what I made this for,’ he left unsaid, keeping the satisfaction from showing on his face. Szephia hadn't hesitated to try and close the distance.

She stopped using [Evanescing Wend] now that she knew Arthur could also counter her magic using [Dispel Matrix]. Szephia recognised that she'd grown too confident in her abilities and that Arthur had baited her with his new weapon. Eager to capitalise on it, Arthur also went on the offensive.

“Hoh, confident are we?!” Szephia taunted him maniacally as she blitzed towards him with her faerie-like agility. “Why do you not use the augmentation skills I taught you?”

‘Battle Junkie' Arthur thought. ’You sure would get along with my sister’ he left unsaid as he refused to rise to Szephia's prodding. Using Augeo magic for movement was still disorienting, and he'd sooner overcompensate and injure himself in a fight than use it without experience. There was a time and place for that, but that was not here.

Arthur did not know if Szephia mouthed an incantation, but if he had to guess, it was another nullification spell. It was not an area of effect, so it had to be [Dispel Matrix]. She was turning it against him, hoping it might affect his weapon. However, the artefact’s focus was shielded inside a barrel of null-steel and the spell merely bounced off in a crackle of static.

“Think again,”‘[Aer Shot]!’ Arthur retorted as he ran diagonally to the sylvmaid. He felt the heart of the weapon thrum beneath his hand as its rune matrices triggered with a cast.

Surprise was writ large on the sylvmaiden’s face as the magic was cast inside the well-worked wooden and null-steel barrel. Diminutive valves, like a woodwind instrument’s, whistled along the barrel before the next projectile shot out. There was another popping crack and the sylvmaid found herself bringing up her rapier to guard.

The first shot cracked against her faeriesteel weapon with a screaming ring, then another shot came hot on its tail; that too was riposted, and then two more. Szephia had quick reflexes, but Arthur’s strategy was to keep moving and harry the sylvmaiden.

‘And that’s six shots,’ Arthur mused as he moved towards the sylvmaid whose posture was none too cautious. While the number of casts on the thing was spent, he had already put her on the back foot as he advanced on his own terms.

Six shots were nothing to celebrate , and even then, Arthur was astonished that the prototype of the arcane pistol even worked at all. There was a cooldown of about 15 heartbeats then he'd have 3 more shots. If he waited 3 more kardions he'd have 3 more casts.

But Szephia did not know that, and she moved to guard—Arthur feigned a shot at her shoulder, and Szephia switched stances to compensate. Arthur grinned and let his weapon drop, surprising the unmovable Szephia for the first time. The sylvmaiden did not know where Arthur’s attack would come from next.

But that was just part of the plan to keep her off-kilter. As Arthur stepped past the falling weapon, it was still within the confines of his auric field and the Sylvmaid didn't see it vanish into [ Inventory Chest] behind his back.

By then, the distance had been bridged, putting Arthur inside Szephia's guard. Despite this fact, Szephia was quick to whip her rapier around just as Arthur struck towards her torso with Overkill in his hand―

---

“You did well despite your unorthodox methods,” Szephia said towelling down her hair. Her cheeks were flushed with exertion, which was arguably a better outcome than most. “ I see the allure in becoming an [Armsmaster]. They are among the most formidable classes because you never know what new counter they'll invent in a fight.”

“Ability does not make up for experience―I had to make up the rest by playing to my strengths,” Arthur sniffed. “And just because someone has never done it before doesn’t mean that it is unorthodox.”

“Hmm…regardless, you have mastered your aura in time; but that is more than can be said for your swordcraft and mastery of Augeo.”

Arthur grimaced at the remark as he stowed away his sword. Coming from her, such words were the barest praise he could get, even if he had had his ass handed to him for the umpteenth time. At least he had managed to last longer than his previous spars.

‘Where have I felt that before?’ Arthur mulled, tousling his hair.

“Well then, are you going to tell me what―” Szephia’s enquiry was suddenly interrupted by her telecry chiming and pulsing a ruby red.

“Pardon me―” she frowned as she walked some ways off to respond.

Her face remained inexpressive, but all Arthur needed to interpret that as a sign of alarm was the colour that had pulsed on her brooch. Over time, he had learnt to discern the colours; a normal hail from the telecry was blue. Red had to mean priority hail, and the obfuscation ward she’d thrown up to converse was unmistakable. And the sudden gaze she threw his way? That was ominous―

Arthur felt his adrenaline suddenly hike and his thoughts went to Nora, who’d gone back to the penthouse. She had Aithlin, a peach haired sylvmaid as her escort, so she wasn’t in any danger―unless of course, the threat was from within.

“Dragontouched―” Szephia called out, breaking off from her hail over the telecry. Her countenance was serious. “ See to it that you have all your possessions where you need them― you are leaving!”

“What happened? Where is the Elder?!” Arthur asked as he scrambled after the slyvmaid. They left the training court, almost breaking into a half-run as they took one of the main arena-like entrances.

“The Elder is currently engaged with matters of his station―however, he left instructions in case something transpired,” Szephia said as they both bundled into a faerie ring. The short range faerie gates that functioned as magical elevators for the grove’s multifarious floors.

Space twisted in on itself as the two staggered into the penthouse’s private access, meeting Nora, Aithlin, and Irindelle on arrival. Nora was decked out in a cloak with Arthur’s knapsack underneath. Her hood was off, revealing the glamour magic that replaced her vampiric features with those of a slyvmaid.

“Nora?” Arthur called out.

“Arthur,” the dhampir replied, throwing him his own non-descript cloak. But for her rounded face and soft jawline, Arthur would have barely recognised her. She had gone out with the glamour enchantments this time.

Swiping the cloak from the air, Arthur immediately fastened it around his shoulders. He cast a burst of [Cleanse] on himself, taking away the ickiness of his practice session.

While Szephia debriefed her subordinates, Arthur caught a momentary glance of the dhampir. Her hair had been styled into a silver bob, cascading from the top of her nape and curling towards her neck. There was a lot of volume in her bangs, which retained the snow white fringes of her previous hair. Arthur recognised the look from one of the photos in his phone gallery, borrowed from a cyberpunk character with purple hair.

‘That is a lot of experimenting, Nora,’ Arthur thought, appraising her new look. Her crimson irises had also been glamorised into aquamarine like most sylvanis.

“Arthur…” Nora cleared her throat. Arthur started, realising he’d been staring, and turned his attention to Szephia who had just wound up with her debrief. Szephia tossed him a satchel before giving her subordinates a wordless nod. Irindelle and Aithlin paused a breath before bowing and giving Arthur and Nora a Sylvani salute.

““Fair winds to you all,”” they said before taking off into the penthouse.

“Well?” Arthur asked, fumbling with the satchel. It barely had any weight to it; another bag of holding, no doubt. They were piling up like grocery bags.

“Listen very carefully, dragontouched,” Szephia began. “My task is to lead you to a faerie gate in the Undergrove―henceforth, treat every other member of the Weald Watch as a potential enemy.”

Arthur gulped. In plainspeak, he was deep in a scat creek without a paddle.

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