Chapter 8: Chapter-7: Indictus Empirical Art

[Sorry for late posting.]

Alenor opened the heavy wooden gates of the armory and walked in, it was damp, humid, and smelled like rotten woods. This place was falling apart. Wooden floor cranked beneath her feet. She looked around, it did not have as many weapons as she expected, maybe soldiers stole them when they were discharged. It did not matter to Alenor, She only needed one. Preferably, a war hammer. One which could hold against clashes. She looked through the armory, inspecting weapons, most of them were beyond useless. One swing and their grip would break, the blade would be in pieces. Rusted and brittle. She went deeper, it was grand if only size was considered. Looking through the shelf, she heard some weapons fall. She chalked it up to rats being happy.

After looking through everything, she found one war hammer, unclaimed by rust. Smooth grip and reflective surface likely made of superior materials than she could afford. Alenor smiled faintly. Her heart thudded at the thought of fighting against an army, both in fear and dread and in anticipation. Only in fairy tales did people do such things. She wishfully thought how good her life would be after she defeated an army of monsters and humans, perhaps she would be called a warlord too. Alenor laughed. Did talking to Celine make her optimistic? Even though Celine herself was not. 

Hammer was black, no shine nor any decorations. Full body made out of the same material. One, she did not know of. It was heavy, heavier than she had anticipated. Whole body was plain, no pattern or anything that usual expensive weapons had. Its face was around half a foot in diameter, shaped like a curved rectangle, and two and a half foot long handle, which somewhat had a grip carved in on the handle itself. Alenor had to put some effort in picking it up and swinging it. She even lost her balance in the process but somehow managed to not fall. Nothing else in this rotten place was of any use, Alenor walked out of the room, dragging the hammer with her. Wood cracked under its weight.

Alenor walked in front of the mansion. The Walls were cracked and washed of colors. She made her way toward the bridge. The sanctuary expanded itself to the other side of the bridge. She did need not to worry about them. In this darkness, She stood there alone. At the foot of the bridge. Third and smallest of gates was somewhat visible. The night which has gone beyond anything she had expected, meeting with a kind nobel, traveling through a mystical passage, watching something darker than the night itself. She looked back, at the mansion, and spotted Celine on the balcony. She could hardly see her in this darkness. At least her eyes had adjusted enough to make out most of the things. Although vaguely. 

 

Now she just needed to see if she could still use her Empirical Arts. Her lack of mana and extreme focus required to use it, made it hard for her to use it for a long period of time. She couldn't even remember the last time she used it. She took a deep breath; her vision shifted; she saw twinkling mana specks of every color floating around. 

Her headache returned, as she had expected. But it was not as bad as when she was on The First Gate. Mana razed through her body, her numb and stressed body gaining superhuman powers back, it felt good, like a high from expensive Ale. She let go of the breath. She channeled it into her hammer. It did not resist, a good sign. Most cheaper weapons did not channel mana smoothly, it was a tiring process, and resulted in losing most of mana. 

A white glowing line appeared on the surface of the black hammer, as if magic was trying to burst out of it from within. Less resistance meant less wastage of her reservoir. She picked it up, this time weight was of no concern, thanks to her magic. She brought it back and swung it. It traveled, leaving behind afterimages and white sparkle. As it crossed her body, smashed into the air like it was a solid wall. The air broke like a mirror at the point of collusion. A circular Crack not more than the actual diameter of the hammer. A perfect circle, glowing white, Impre, she called it. It will stay here for a period of time until she strikes it again. She could create more than one Impre. She did not know how many, her reserves would be empty after the third Impre.

 Alenor lifted her hammer and struck the same place, on the Impre. Lines of crack were like air was ice cube, it traveled through the bridge and reached the other side. Second part of her Empirical Art, Afflict.

Alenor felt weight and coldness on her abdomen. She looked down and saw Metal chains, Chains of reality, she called it. Chains hindered her movement. They were heavy. A consequence of her Empirical Art. Every time she uses Afflict, a new chain would appear and bind her in some other part of her body until she could not use it anymore.

In theory, she should be able to use Afflict until the chain immobilizes her and Impre infinite amount of time. Although Impre consumed the most mana and Afflict consumed the least, almost nothing at all. Chains disappear in three minutes after she stops using Her Empirical Art. 

Alenor felt elated; even fate was on Celine’s side. With this she was sure Celine would live. She could use her Empirical Art better than she had hoped, and this weapon channeled magic perfectly. She dropped a hammer on her side and sat down. Celine would be wide-eyed if she looked at her Empirical Art, Alenor hoped so. Even so, nothing was visible at night. She could only speculate.

After a few minutes, she thought she heard Celine. And promptly stood up and walked back toward the mansion. Her chains had faded away. Celine was calling her. A noble's calls always made her feel disgusted and trapped. Celine, on the other hand, did not. She was kind hearted, kind hearted enough to not know about Arcane of death, this small thing made her somewhat comfortable, yet now Celine could hear about it, what did that mean? She decided not to think.
“Miss Celine?”

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She said and stared at the balcony. Celine threw a bottle of blue water, glowing in the dark. Alenor caught it. 

“Alenor, this is a medicine for mana exhaustion, please consume it and take rest. As much as it pains me, I cannot leave my chamber, that too is a condition. And I doubt I am of any use in the front line.”

“Thank you, Miss Celine, and you are the client, it would be bizarre if you were capable of fighting on the front lines.”

“And would you inform me of the expiry of the sanctuary beforehand? I need time to prepare for my Empirical arts." 

“How early, Alenor?”

“ 10 minutes would be sufficient”

“ I shall, you can stay here or go back. Wherever you find comfortable.”

Alenor bowed and walked back; Celine did not say anything more. But Alenor knew if Celine could she would have walked down. She was strange for an aristocrat. Not an unpleasant one. Yet staying away was more comfortable.

 She drank the medicine, it tasted like burned oil, and sat down. She needed to rest her mind so as to focus to be in state to use her Empirical Art. And the clock quickly ticked by.

[ Today onwards, I will be posting at this time]

[This chapter and next one will be small after that most chapters will be around 1800 words]

[Thank You for reading ????]

 

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