Published at 16th of February 2024 2:21 pm

Chapter 26. The Laws Of Attraction

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When Annabelle tracked them down, Lillin, Roque, and Victor were engaged in combat with three lizards. Two more dead specimens lay on the ground. They all didn’t have the same physique. Of the five, only two specimens matched the stalker; one was already dead. One lizard stood much taller than its companions. Each of its limbs was as thick as Nox’s shoulders and splayed outwards from the thick, flat body. The green fumes rising from its nostrils concerned him.

Meanwhile, the beast's two companions were barely bigger than ordinary wolfdogs. Sickly green sludge dripped from their mouth, and the ground sizzled where the liquid landed. One of the specimens had already died. Its head and body lay a foot from one another. One of Roque’s handaxes lay between them. The blade had melted in parts, and the rest looked warped. Nox took a swig from his flask. The old cocktail still had samples of Sniper’s Eye along with Feline Grace and Runner’s High. The effects helped him get a better look at the scene.

Only Roque had suffered any injuries. Angry red blisters covered his left arm from knuckles to the elbow. Sweat covered Lillin’s brow, and sweat dripped from her nose. He could tell at a glance that she had most, if not all, of the mana stored in her gravity planet.

“Tell them to stay away from the little ones,” Nox whispered before drawing Ratra’s Bow. He created a mana arrow and then used Crystallize Essence. The excess arcane energy leaking from the weapon turned into shards of essence glass. They revolved around the conjured projectile, gaining speed with each cycle. Then Nox released his arrow.

Unlike the wolf centaur, the smaller lizard lacked the durability to resist his attacks. The mana arrow pierced the creature, entering through its back and coming out of the side. Then the projectile exploded, and the essence glass shards shot in every direction. They shredded the lizard, spraying its similarly sized friend and giant friend with its bodily fluids.

The mana explosion triggered the destabilized essence glass, and they reverted to their natural state, carrying the spell in Nox’s star. Everything sizzled and melted wherever bodily fluids landed. The smaller lizard remained unharmed, but its larger companion’s scales and hide lacked acid resistance. Chunks of them and flesh fell on the yellow stone ground, revealing the tissue underneath.

“Tell them to attack now,” Nox instructed. “Just focus on the big guy. Leave the little one to me.”

The destabilized essence glass had no effects on the larger beast. It was much too big for the spell’s effect to cover its giant form. When it recoiled and writhed, the cantrip’s effects dispersed. Meanwhile, the stalker enjoyed no such benefits. An ordinary shot from Ratra’s Bow ended its life before it could react to the previous attack. The projectile shot through the neck, ending the creature’s life.

Loud thunks drew Nox’s attention to Roque. His handaxe and shield lay on the ground on either side of him. He drew his two-handed battle axe and charged. The axehead’s age glowed red, and one swing cleaved through the giant lizard’s leg. It screeched and swung towards him. Lillin slipped in between them before the attack could make contact. She thrust two fist-sized gravity orbs at the creature, and then an invisible force pulled her away toward Victor. Her conjurations remained in place and caught the limb.

Nox collapsed onto his bottom, panting. He didn’t have it in him to watch the rest of the fight. The fight hadn’t just drained his mana. Nox felt the strain of using too much intent-driven magic. Spellforms existed to lighten the mental strain of channeling mana. Without them, he’d wear himself out much too swiftly. Both of his sigils tingled, and he felt a change in his core.

Nox Ratra

Apprentice

Crystallize Essence | Shaping

12/44 | 1/9

“Damn.” Nox sighed.

He wanted to wait until he had completed the spellform before forming the planet. Unfortunately, his mana system took the planetoid’s formation out of his hands. Intermediate Mana System Theory had taught him that when the mana cloud outside the star got too dense, internal forces caused it to come together in clumps. Gravity then brought the chunks of mana together, and the cloud slowly condensed around them, forming a planetoid. Typically, such developments only occurred when the excess mana in the system crossed eight. Nox guessed, repeatedly draining his star, and then Ygg’s energy had made the mana cloud surrounding it too dense.

It wasn’t the worst development. Having a planetoid dedicated to Shaping would make the rift easier. The manameter’s classification suggested it had no specialization and used the basic concept. He didn’t have the time or mental capacity to look inward and study it now, but modifying it wouldn’t be as challenging if it was simply Shaping. Nox would need to be patient and not grow the planetoid into a planet or implement the spellform until it was perfect.

In the future, Nox planned on being careful with the excess mana in his system. Nox didn’t practice them, but, as a child, he had learned meditation techniques for funneling the extra arcane energy through his star. The technique’s helped increase maximum mana but came with a risk of losing the excess. Letting the cloud get too dense would cause another planetoid to form, focused on whatever techniques he was practicing at the time.

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Fortunately, Nox didn’t need to worry about such a thing happening anytime soon. His star needed to reach sixty-four maximum mana before it had enough gravity to hold another planetoid. Meanwhile, all excess mana would gravitate toward the new planetoid. Nox would need to be careful about not letting it reach sixteen maximum mana. For the time being, he planned on growing his star.

Without stalkers and acid spitters, the melee fighters and Lillin had little trouble putting down the juggernaut lizard. Roque kept the creature’s attention, and she kept it off-balance. Victor switched between acting as a control and support mage. If he wasn’t pushing or pulling the beast, he was doing the same to his party members, rescuing them from the raging beast’s uncoordinated thrashing.

After the fight, Annabelle received a lot of grief for letting the beasts surprise the party. Much to Nox’s relief, Victor didn’t verbally abuse his sister or instruct his goon to strike her.

“You can’t blame her for this,” Nox said, butchering a small lizard for its acid gland. He paused and whipped out a shard of black, smoky essence glass. “I got this from the stalker that attacked us. Shadow Essence excels at hiding its users. Conceptually it's the antithesis of spells like foresight and farsight. I wouldn’t be surprised if these things can blanket their companions with a concealment spell.”

They delved deeper into the rift and faced more lizards. The groups were smaller, and the scouting pair stayed close. Now that Annabelle knew to pay attention to shadows, no stalkers got a jump on the party. The five of them could work together thanks to the close proximity, and the lizards stood no chance against them.

The sky darkened, and all paths led down. It wasn’t long before they left the canyon walls behind and entered a cave system lit by bioluminescence. After four skirmishes, the party was exhausted. They set up camp in a cavern with a waterfall passing through it. It only had one entrance and enough luminous mushrooms to see several feet beyond it.

“Let’s keep watch in pairs,” Victor said. “Annabelle and Nox can go first. Lillin and I’ll take the second watch.”

The lordling won a soft smile from Lillin. Nox guessed she had successfully won his attention. It didn’t surprise him when they set up their bedrolls in the same tent.

“What about Roque?” Nox asked. “Isn’t he keeping watch?”

“My magic is physically and mentally exhausting,” Roque said. “Without adequate sleep and food, I’m a useless vanguard.”

The party didn’t light fires. Instead, they ate under the blue-green bioluminescence and kept warm with heat rocks. Nox and Lillin didn’t have any. He shared with Annabelle. She planned to do the same with Victor. The sounds coming from their tent suggested they were sharing more than just a rune-worked stone.

“Can you please stop defending me please?” Annabelle asked Nox when they were alone. “My life is already pretty unpleasant. Your interference won’t improve it anyway. Besides, it's rather presumptuous of you to think I need your help.”

“Me? Help?” He chuckled. “I’m just educating the ignorant.”

Nox shaved cheddar onto a piece of hard rye and topped it with a slice of cured venison. He offered Annabelle a piece, and she only glared at him.

While trying to stay awake, Nox made arrowheads out of essence glass. He needed to grind it first since large chunks didn’t obey his magic. They had a better finish than his first creation. The mana in the air wasn’t as dense as the energy on the dungeon studies department’s roof, but that didn’t stop Nox from pulling energy into his star. The progress was slow, and he had to rely on mana pills occasionally.

Much to Nox’s surprise, Annabelle offered him a flask halfway through their watch. He sniffed its contents, and his nostrils burned. She raised an eyebrow when he returned it to her.

“You don’t drink?” Annabelle asked. Her hushed words carried a surprised note.

“I don’t see much of a point in it,” Nox replied.

“I’ve never met a man our age who doesn’t drink.”

“Sigil of Immunity. Alcohol is poison, and my body resists its effects. Now if you had sellis weed or a similar hallucinogenic, I’d happily indulge with you.”

“You resist alcohol but not hallucinogenics?” Annabelle raised an eyebrow.

“Not all of them. In all honesty, I avoid them all. Despite my sigil, I don’t trust anything addictive.” He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his mana burns. “I have enough wrong with me. Adding substances which affect brain chemistry could potentially multiply my problems.”

“A twenty-two-year-old that doesn’t drink or take drugs. That’s new.”

“It’s even more rare and surprising when you take my trade into consideration. Most alchemists are drunks or addicts. I have goals. Bad habits won’t help me achieve them.”

Annabelle shuffled closer and held the heating stone between them. The warmth that washed over Nox didn’t just come from the rune-covered stone. His nostrils filled with her scent. Nox smelled her sweat and whatever she used to wash her hair. It had a comforting pleasantness to it.

Then his eyes met Annabelle’s. She looked away from him, and he saw the corner of her lip twitch. Nox didn’t want a relationship. He didn’t currently have time for one, and besides Mou and her husband, he hadn’t seen many positive examples of romance. When Nox found the time, he hoped to visit a tavern to fulfill his needs. Lillin was happy to get what she wanted from Victor, but Nox wasn’t happy walking the same path as her. He wanted to befriend Annabelle, not take advantage of her.

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