Published at 16th of February 2024 2:22 pm

Chapter 55. No Pain No Gain

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Brewing aether ink was an easy process when compared to Nox’s recent alchemical challenges. It used a handful of rare ingredients and required micro-management and constant attention after the halfway point. Most journeymen alchemists would be hesitant to attempt such a brew without assistance or a senior present, but Nox had made it enough times to know what he was doing.

After class, everyone but Ernest returned to Nox’s apartment. He needed to maintain his body's energy and nourishment levels to keep the monster parts under control. Expecting a full morning of combat training, Michelle had pumped him to capacity. Now, Ernest needed to train alone and tire his body out.

Discussions regarding the previous evening continued once behind closed doors. Michelle and Lillin investigated the animals in Pudge’s room while Nox and Annabelle descended into his workshop. The young noblewoman had surface knowledge of alchemy thanks to the Oakheart family’s business but lacked practical experience. So, she sat back as Nox got water boiling for the base and started preparing the ingredients.

The increased mana zone size and Mage Hand made brewing easier. None of the materials were particularly caustic or volatile. However, the cantrip gave him a floating helper to stir, wash, or just move things while his hands were busy. After spending years of controlling an Artisan’s Arm with Mage Hand, Nox’s mastery of the cantrip had grown to the point he could run the base version without giving it much thought. It was almost as thoughtless as controlling limbs connected to one’s nervous system.

Once Nox had everything cooking and the other ingredients ready to go, the party retired to the paupers’ cafeteria for an early lunch. The men and women running the stalls no longer gave Annabelle funny looks for dining in the establishment. They didn't use stiff, formal tones, which most commoners used when communicating with the aristocracy. Instead, they treated her like one of the gang, recommending dishes, talking about specials, or telling her tales of a dish's origins. Annabelle didn't behave like she was their better. Instead, she joked and laughed with them. On one occasion, when a vendor was off sick, she had food and medicine sent to the elderly woman's house.

Meanwhile, Lillin received scorn for the obnoxious amounts she piled onto her tray. Nox guessed the university paid the vendors a stable salary that covered ingredients, labor, and miscellaneous costs. People like Lillin probably hurt their profit margins. Nox usually received the same attitude whenever he dined with Lillin and not Annabelle.

Everybody but Nox took their time eating. He stuffed his face, barely chewing most of his food, and rushed out before the twelfth bell rang. Since most students were in their first class of the week, he didn’t have to weave through foot traffic and made a beeline for the research department. It took a few minutes of pacing down corridors and peeking inside classrooms before he found the person he needed: Diya.

The grandmotherly professor was in the midst of a ward-making class. Battle mages and delvers rarely utilized the craft. As far as Nox could tell, it was the most practical of all the courses covered by the department. Even though Nox had no interest in learning the craft, he wondered why people didn’t weaponize it. Most wards specialized in protection, surveillance, or repelling unwanted presences. They took time to set up, but he could see their potential in hunting. He imagined if done right, wards could function no different from traps in a dungeon.

Hunters and delvers could benefit from the spatially locked spellforms. Nox had read about wards capable of misdirecting attention, so no one paid attention to an object or location, therefore hiding it in plain sight. Layered wards lined Queen Mercer’s vaults. Some functions involved setting off alarms, creating force barriers to trap intruders, or causing collapses that killed intruders. The arcane craft had three significant limitations: set-up time and immobility.

Nox imagined the possibility of portable or quick wards in dungeon passageways to disable or kill patrols. A party could set up the trap and wait for monsters to pass or lure them in. He guessed such ploys rarely saw use since mages who specialized in the craft had no interest in delving. Meanwhile, most delvers preferred a more direct approach. Time was as valuable as a resource as money, and they opted for paths that let them survive and destroy their foes quickly.

The students were slow to clear the classroom when the bell rang. Diya was even slower to gather her things. No one offered to help the older woman, so Nox jumped at the opportunity.

“How can I help you, young man?” she asked. Her usual grandmotherly style had an element of haggardness to it.

“I’ve completed the Shaping spell,” Nox answered. “Planet creation has been a challenge, unfortunately. I’m about to try something most would call drastic.”

“And you want me to have a look to ensure it's not a wasted effort.” Diya sighed. She looked Nox up and down. “I’m guessing this couldn’t wait until tomorrow’s lesson?”

“My party has been holding off on delving for my sake, professor. It might take me a day or two to complete the planet and then a few more to recover from the process.”

“I’ve heard about your party, Nox Ratra. I doubt they’d mind. But you’re a good boy, and I know how much time and effort you’ve put into the script.” Diya held out her hand, and Nox handed her his journal. “Walk with me.”

The professor limped out of the classroom, nose in the journal. Nox followed her, carrying her books and notes. The corridors were more crowded now, and they had to walk against the tide. The students parted, creating a path for Diya but didn’t give Nox the same courtesy. As he followed Diya, he had to dodge gossiping teenagers and scholars engrossed in their notes.

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Fortunately, they didn’t have to go far. Diya led Nox into an office with wall-to-wall bookshelves and blackboards covered in spell scripts and ward diagrams. Unlike Kris, Diya maintained a well-organized workspace. No stray papers littered the desk and floors, and all objects were parallel to edges or neatly stacked. However, the clutter made moving around the office or finding a space for Diya’s belongings challenging. He settled for leaving everything on a corner of her desk.

The professor cleared the chalkboard behind her desk, and her hands blurred. Within seconds she copied the spell shapes, runes, and all connecting syntax with surprising accuracy. Then she went around it, marking several sections with crosses or ticks.

“If this were just for passing my class, I would’ve passed you with merit and left it at that. Since this is for your planet, I’ll be extra critical.”

“That’s quite alright, Professor. I’d rather make this as perfect as possible. The base versions were far too expensive for regular use.”

“It’s too busy and cluttered.” Diya tapped several connector lines between the spellform’s three sections. “Your mana storage and amplification scripts make a good deal of these redundant.” She moved on to the direct connections between the Micro and Macro Shaping scripts. “You have overlap here. I understand you’re trying to ensure the information transferred is accurate, but a lot of this is unnecessary. There is no point in sending the same information multiple times. I’d say two connecter line is enough. One for the initial stream and another to confirm it or make corrections.

“Doesn’t that leave more room for error, Professor?” Nox asked. “My essence glass can be volatile. If incorrect Shaping destabilizes the crystal and returns it to its original form, the results could be devastating for me.”

“Much like the cantrip stored in your star, the spells powering the planets evolve and grow with their respective heavenly body,” Diya replied. “The more complicated you make the base spell, the less room it has to adapt to your use. Leave developments and additions for the moons when you get to them.”

“Thank you.” Nox took his journal and marked the corrections on his final spell design. “Is this enough to pass the course? Or—”

“You’ve passed. The spellform displays your grasp of linear and looping spellforms. You’ve also used the control gates, storage, and amplification scripts well. The only issue was the clutter, but that’s something even students on the advanced course make. Experience is the only remedy for it.” Diya groaned as she took a seat behind her desk. She massaged her hip for a moment before continuing. “If you wish to take any advanced spell-weaving courses, I’d like a demonstration of the spell in action once the planet is complete.”

“There’s more than one advanced course?”

Diya nodded. “Advanced Spell Weaving is a blanket course that touches on all the major disciplines. The department also teaches Live Spell Weaving to talented students looking to create, modify, or adapt spells on the fly. Sentient Spell Creation pursues the development of living spells capable of learning, growing, and eventually decision-making. Dean Woodson teaches the course. It's a precursor to golemancy. There’s also Battle Enchantment. I believe you might find interest in the subject. It’s not too different from Live Spell Weaving but focuses on creating single-use or short-term enchantments for combat. Your essence glass might benefit from it.”

Once done with the meeting, Nox raced back to the apartment. The base was on a simmer, and the viscosity had increased to an undesirable point. Nox had no choice but to measure concentrations, dilute, and bring the mixture back to a simmer. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long process, and Slow made the temperature control significantly easier.

Mana gems increased Aether Ink’s difficulty level. They didn’t just cost a pretty penny but were challenging to process. Crystallized mana had more stability than essence crystals, but if misused, it could very well diffuse into the atmosphere. Nox had purchased it already ground into fine sand, which increased the price but lowered risk on his end. However, he still needed to add it to the brew at the exact right time or risk losing it to the air.

First, Nox added the stabilizers and bonding agents. Years of practice had made his dicing and shredding skills exact. The wastage was minimal. He saved the scraps for miscellaneous brews. While brewing under Mou, Nox rarely had to worry about costs. He mostly worked for her, and he got everything at a severely discounted rate when making concoctions for himself. Now, Nox’s heart pounded as he carefully added the mana gem to the cauldron. A sieved funnel helped control the flow while keeping bigger fragments out of the mix.

Mage Hand stirred the mixture in an anti-clockwise direction while Nox’s free hand fed the spellform mana. He had drawn it onto the work surface in preparation for the brew. It lit up with a silver light as the cauldron’s contents glowed, painting the room the same color. Nox held his breath as the luminosity decreased. The white transitioned to a pale teal before slowly darkening. Once it reached royal blue, he cast Slow, pulled on his safety gloves, and moved the cauldron of the heat.

Mage Hand helped move the still-steaming mixture into cooling containers. The last of Nox’s frost essence lay in a tray of water under them. He fed the liquid lightning essence, and a biting cold aura washed over Nox. He persevered and continued until the cauldron was empty.

Lillin had returned with dinner while Nox brewed. He rejected the sandwich and put her to task with the temporary tattoo. Despite the freezing temperatures, the Aether Ink maintained its liquid state. Once it returned to room temperature, the concoction would still be usable but not as effective for Nox’s purpose. So, he stripped down to his underwear, held a length of leather between his teeth, and let Lillin paint his arms.

It wasn’t just the frigid temperature that caused the aches and pains. The Aether Ink stung as it seeped through his skin. It felt no different from mana burn. The condition made it feel like one’s nerves were on fire and burning from the inside out. It was the sensation of one’s arcane channels twisting, shriveling, and breaking as uncontrolled mana overloaded them. Meanwhile, Aether Ink tattoos forged new pathways under the skin. The alien presence caused almost as much discomfort.

It was challenging not to twitch or flinch. A single mistake would mean waiting a week before the tattoo could be removed and then redone. Even though Nox had skipped dinner, he had to pause twice during the tattooing to throw up. The pain only increased afterward. If all the discomfort wasn’t enough, he had to circulate mana through his system throughout the process. It ensured energy flowed through the new channels and cemented them. When Lillin finished, she helped Nox up the stairs and into her bed, where he promptly passed out.

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