Adamant Blood

Understanding #1 was one of three such buildings that Eliot had built for Mark's Unions of Understanding. The first was the largest, but all three were pretty much 4-story houses/gathering-places/arcanaeum-additions, and while it was technically separate from the arcanaeum, it was right beside the place. It wasn't layered with quite as many defenses as the arcanaeum, because not everyone who came here went through the arcanaeum. It still had a lot of defenses.

Cameras were among the trees, scanners were in the walls, and you had to cross an open lawn to get near the wall near the place, unless you went through the arcanaeum. That entrance/exit to the arcanaeum was shut tight when Mark wasn't in residence, though.

There was no scheduled Understanding today, so there were no guards in the area except for the one by the gate, in the small wall that separated this place from the rest of Mage Society. The guard today was Bertrand, sitting in his little guard booth, and the gate was open.

Mark walked up to the open gate. Bertrand perked up, then waved. Mark waved back, offered Bertrand a donut which the guy happily accepted, and then Mark walked through.

Isoko was inside the main building up ahead, right beside someone who was probably Elaria. Rekaro was inside his office back in the arcanaeum, but now that Mark was here Rekaro got up and started walking this way. Reeni was not anywhere to be seen, or felt—

And then Mark entered the main room of the main building, and Reeni stepped out from behind an absolutely massive colony of cleaner plants, the tubular succulents glowing a little bit as she stepped fully into view. Mark offered her a donut.

"I also have some lattes if you want one."

"Don't mind if I do!"

Soon, Reeni was nibbling on a chocolate glazed with a latte in her hand while the two of them walked toward a big room in the back.

Isoko and Elaria were talking with hand signs, Sigaldry flashing fast. From their vectors and from what little Mark could gather from the sigils, Isoko seemed to be asking for clarification on a line in her Wind Shaper spell.

Isoko stopped when Mark showed up, though, her vector turning accomplished as her eyes brightened.

Mark said, "You had it for a while!"

"A full 5 minutes!" Isoko said.

Elaria grinned. "She'll be stabilizing the Alteration soon enough… Are those donuts?"

Mark grinned. "I also got lattes for you and Rekaro, though I'm not sure if he drinks coffee… Or if you drink coffee, actually. You said something about tea, didn't you… Uh. Sorry!"

Elaria grinned, saying, "No coffee for me, but thank you anyway, though I will gladly take a donut…"

And so that happened, and then Elaria and Reeni spoke about something; Mark wasn't sure. Just small talk.

But Isoko was so very excited and Mark was happy for her, too, so he focused on her as she said, "I was so close! I'll try again tomorrow and I'll get it done, for sure, and then we're going out flying together."

Mark grinned. "Absolutely."

Rekaro showed up while Mark was on his second donut. Mark offered him one of two un-taken coffees and also donuts, but he politely declined, and said, "I'd like to do this ritual and then get back to it. Do you think you'll want to do another day of Sigaldry work, Mark?"

Reeni and Elaria came back to the discussion, with Reeni saying, "I doubt he'll need to."

"You should move on to the next language," Elaria said, "It should be Aethercall."

Mark said, "It is Aethercall, and I think I would like to move on." Mark set his drink aside and fluently 'spoke' with Sigaldry, 'From-the-heart I am sure I'm fluent in handsigns-of-magic, so moving on would be proper-wise.'

Rekaro signed, 'From-the-head I agree, though action/decision will disappoint a great deal of humans.'

Reeni signed, 'From-the-head other people are riding his draft-flow, so ignore what other humans desire/want/need.' And then she spoke with her actual voice, "For this ritual, I'd like for you to Union us in Purpose, Mark, after I explain it, so not yet."

It was time.

Mark set his stuff aside, and so did everyone else.

Reeni was easily the oldest, most powerful person in the group. She was a contemporary of Sloane Addashield, and a retired Witch of Empire, to hear the rumors surrounding her. Still, it was surprising when Elaria and Rekaro were absolutely focused on her, and what she was about to say. Mark would have imagined that Elaria would have had more experience with this than she seemed to have, and Rekaro was a Grand Mage, so… He should already know all of this, too? But, no. Reeni was a cut above all of them. Perhaps even above Walaria, unless Mark was terribly mistaken.

Isoko was just as surprised at Mark, at how much Elaria and Rekaro were focused and ready for the lesson.

Mark guessed that the old witch didn't give out lessons very often, huh.

Reeni said, "This is a basic witch ritual to consecrate the land against certain forces. There are many important parts to it, but mostly you need a killer of those forces present —this is you— and organizers against those forces of various levels, which means Rekaro, Elaria, Isoko, and I. You can do this ritual alone, but in a group it is better.

"I want you, Isoko, as the youngest, to stand here, in the East. You are the new day. The new action.

"Rekaro in the North, as the power in the place, which is here, the settlement.

"Elaria in the South, as the power-deferred, the one who has lost.

"And I'm the old witch of the West, the sunset, the one who is still here.

"Mark, you're in the middle, as the focus of the ritual."

Everyone got situated as they needed to be. So far, it all seemed rather simple to Mark, though he never would have imagined doing something like this. For Rekaro and Elaria, this was completely rote, boring-and-normal stuff. They were waiting for Reeni's actual lesson. Isoko was about as lost as Mark, but she was right there for it all.

Reeni got into her own position, and though her face was a mask of surety Mark could tell she was having a bit of fun. She was excited for whatever might happen next, and that was kinda concerning. Didn't she know what was going to happen, though? She had spoken about making anti-Bite magics, and whatever, but… She had also spoken about this ritual not needing to be like that at all.

Reeni said, "Okay. That is the position. Now Mark. I want you to face the person you want to face— Don't think about it! Just do it."

… Mark turned toward Isoko.

Isoko grinned.

Rekaro and Elaria focused; this was the part that they were waiting for, though neither of them expected to actually learn anything new. Still, though, this was where they might learn something new.

"Good choice," Reeni said, "This is the most normal position for someone trying to bring about a real change. Face the new day and bring about a revolution, and all that. I'm sure we'll be doing a Death To All Monsters thing in this ritual, and facing the sunrise is good for that sort of action.

"However…

"Killing all monsters is pretty much impossible with the level of power we have here, or that we're going to tap into, and even if we got rid of most of them, then the Veil would reassert itself and start spawning strange things. If nothing else, then a truly strong Kill All Monsters ritual would cause oozes to spawn. Oozes are like slimes, but a lot worse. I'm sure you've seen those out there, yes?"

Mark answered, "Yeah, I have. Water oozes are like Water Shapers but with a core the size of a head. They're stronger than water elementals."

"Yup. That's correct. You can kill an entire city if you cause oozes to spawn everywhere, so let's not go that far, probably ever," Reeni said, "Moving on: I had spoken to you about making a ritual that did an anti-Bite thing, and driving away goblins, but this ritual does not need to be like that at all. You, as the center, will be deciding what this magic is about.

"Facing the East is good for new magics.

"Facing North is good for aligning yourself with the goals of the Powers-That-Be. So anything that makes Rekaro's personal ideologies and connections to Aluathan Imperial Society stronger. Rekaro would be the Will of the Empire, in this kind of ritual.

"Facing the West is good for closing something, or bringing about great shifting change. Inverting normality to something else. In the case of an anti-goblin ritual, it could be anything from making them unable to Bite, unwilling to Bite, to turn them blue, or whatever else would cause a massive change. Sleep rituals are strongest when the warrior is facing West. We could put all goblins that come into the space to sleep, if you would have faced me. That makes them easy to kill, but we're not doing that, in that way.

"Facing the South is to invoke forbidden magics that exist outside of polite society. Your Union of Vein Decay/Integrity qualifies. A Southern Ritual could involve making all goblins internally hemorrhage to death. We'll be doing a more normal action, though.

"So, Mark," Reeni asked, "How do you want to bring about the eradication or dispersing of goblins from the local area?"

Mark glanced to the right, to the South, to Elaria, who grinned a little. None of the people here made a single blip when Reeni spoke of the secrets of the Inquisitors, of Unions of Vein Integrity/Decay, which was kinda… a thing to ask Lola about, actually. But other than that… Mark asked, "Is it too late to do the Southern Forbidden thing?"

"Yes," Reeni said.

Mark faced Isoko and had a think—

"Don't think too deeply," Reeni said, "The more action you put into the ritual, the shorter it lasts, and it might not work at all against stronger goblins. So think of what you need to happen, and then make that happen."

Mark made a quick decision, and said, "Clumsiness and Surety, then. Clumsiness to the goblins, Surety to everyone else, and make it a strong effect that will help everyone overcome the goblin problem, and… Can we do that?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Doable," Reeni said, behind Mark, her voice turning more solid, like a depth opening up behind Mark.

Mark stood straighter.

Something happened in the gathering. Mark had no idea what it was, but it was happening, right now. He faced Isoko and Isoko faced him, while Rekaro was at his left and Elaria at his right. Isoko, Rekaro, and Elaria seemed to focus, though neither of them really felt what Mark was feeling. Elaria was close to feeling it, though, her vector threading into Mark, and then behind Mark, to the depth in the West.

It was a feeling of connection, with all the people here, and all the world besides. It was not a Union, but it was… close.

Reeni intoned, "And now we will speak of an ancient enemy, and our desires to confound, confuse, and confuddle. I raise now the sign of the enemy, and ask the group to recognize the enemy, and for the warrior to say what must be done, and for all the gathering to join him in that doing."

Mark felt it just as much as he saw it, as Isoko looked past Mark and her eyes went wide, her vector focused. To the left and the right, Elaria and Rekaro made the sign of the goblin, and then Isoko mirrored that action.

It was the thumb curled inward slightly, with the pointer and pinky extended erect, and the index and middle finger curled onto the thumb, like two fangs biting the thumb. It was a magically-significant sign. It was the goblins biting the thumb, and the thumb representing humanity.

Mark made the same sign—

The ritual undulated.

Mark didn't know exactly what he was feeling, but he knew what he was seeing, and everything looked perfectly normal, for now. Reeni was doing something big behind him, though, joining them all together… Mark was supposed to do that too, wasn't he? Mark made the sign of the goblin again, and then he Unioned with the group.

All of them made the sign together, at the same time.

And then Mark spoke with Sigaldry, 'From-the-heart, goblins should falter.'

Isoko signed back, 'From-the-heart, goblins should falter.'

To the sides, Rekaro and Elaria did the same thing, but Mark didn't really notice them right now. He barely noticed Reeni, behind himself. Mark focused on Isoko and they had a small conversation about goblins.

Mark signed, 'They bite and they claw, and they hurt and harm, and I want/need them gone/erased.'

'Death/ending is too much power/cause. It weakens the ritual, yes/agreement/question?'

'Yes/agreement/answer, so we make their feet slip on mud/ground, their Power go wide/miss.'

'We open their sides/weaknesses to spears and swords.'

'Eyes that do not see.'

'Ears that do not hear.'

'Goblins that fail to bite.'

'Goblins that fail to breed.'

The ground felt floaty.

The walls seemed transparent.

A Union of Life, beyond breath, blood, or brain, held the group in its power, and the power flowed outward, into Mage Society, into the walls, into the ground. Mark felt ten thousand Powers flow together, to gather, hidden, in the ground, to consecrate the land with Purpose.

Mark started the signs, but he had no idea where his fingers and focus started, and where others began, as action passed from hand to hand, making words, causing action, 'Goblins are not welcome. Make them falter, make them fall. Mud in the eyes, wax in the ears. Goblins are not welcome. Do they see humanity? No they do not. Do they sense humanity? No they do not. Do they smell humanity? No they do not. Goblins are not welcome. The Bite does not spread. The Bite does not breed. Goblins are not welcome in this land of humans.'

Mark felt as something flexed and tied off, like a rope around the neck of an enemy.

And then the ritual was over.

Mark felt strangely, very weak. Everything was dark. He breathed deep and hard, his adamantium heavy on his skin, his Union feeling stressed and torn. He beat his heart with Good and Bad, and with everyone near him, but it took a few heartbeats for his Union to heal himself enough for him to reach Isoko, Elaria, Rekaro, and Reeni. That's when he blinked enough for his eyesight to come back.

Isoko was on her ass, looking up at Mark, chuckling, "Holy gods that was a lot."

Elaria went, "Ohhh!" as she stretched her back. Mark heard an audible crack, and then Elaria sighed. "That one was a good one."

Rekaro was barely able to hold himself upright so he decided not to. He sat on the ground.

Elaria teased him, "Can't take the mana, eh Rekaro!"

Rekaro closed his eyes and breathed, saying, "I knew it was going to take a lot out of me, but I did it anyway."

Mark was in a Union of Good/Bad with all of them, his range rapidly increasing back to something normal, the three of them getting stronger by the moment. Reeni seemed to be just as strong as before, though. Maybe this really hadn't taken anything out of her.

Reeni said to Rekaro, "That's what you get for not doing enough ritual work."

Rekaro simply hummed and started meditating, his breath turning deep, his hands curling on his crossed legs. He said nothing.

Elaria said, "Took a lot out of me, too." She told Isoko, "You should feel strung out worse than we do, so we're going to take an extra day and do your Alteration the day after tomorrow."

Isoko didn't like that, but she was also tired. Terribly tired. She reluctantly changed her mind about not liking that decree, and said, "Yes, Elaria."

Reeni said, "So that's it for the ritual. Got any questions, Mark?"

Elaria and Rekaro both focused again. They had not expected Reeni to allow for any questions. Mark hadn't expected it either.

Mark asked the first thing that came to mind, "How much of that was me, versus you?"

Reeni said, "A shallow question. It was all of us, equally, as much as we could spare or decided to provide. I provided the foundation and mana. Isoko provided mana and a Union-based understanding that aligned with your own understandings of what the ritual should be. Rekaro provided a great deal of background placements and ideology that you likely did not consider, such as the Shine and how that would mess with the ritual's dissemination. Elaria provided mana and a subversiveness to make the ritual practically unnoticed, that aligned with your own power, Mark. You provided the kaiju-share of power and understanding as to what 'clumsiness' even meant. You and Isoko are the only real warriors here; the ones who will fight goblins at their own level.

"In a simpler and less clear way: When we, each of us, donated mana to the ritual, we stripped ourselves of our un-Bound mana to power the ritual, and that mana carried meanings that we imparted through our Sigaldry.

"Don't go casting any or making new Alterations for a day, but other than that, all of our normal Bindings are still usable." And then Reeni said, "But this ritual is rather shallow, all things considered. If you want to bounce around in your language-learning and try to make something stronger, you could try learning goobersmithing and basic enchanting, next, and you can enforce this ritual into a kilo of adamantium and other things, and then we could incorporate that artifact into the ritual next time, and solidify what we just did into something a lot more solid than an airy, one-time thing.

"Otherwise, this ritual might only last… 25 days?" Reeni hummed. "Maybe 18. It's a simple ritual of clumsiness for all goblins, so it will last a while and work even against strong enemies, but that's more than enough of an edge for a land of warriors."

Mark nodded, then he asked, "How often do people do these sorts of rituals?"

"These sorts?" Reeni rhetorically asked, from where she stood all the way beside a bunch of cleaner plants. "Almost never. Smaller ones? All the time. See you later."

And then Reeni walked beyond the tubular succulents, and she was gone.

"There are classes for this sort of thing, Mark," Rekaro said, eyes once again closed as he sat on the ground, meditating even as he talked. "Applied Sigaldry. You can use it best for self buffs or small bits of manual magic, like lighting flames and such. It's more of a specific elective, though; not something that people regularly do. You can even do it at home, as long as the room is locked against prying eyes."

Elaria said, "I always preferred Worship as the best ritual magic."

Rekaro scoffed, and that was all he said about that.

Mark had 'Worship' as a 'magical language' somewhere at the bottom of the list, if he recalled correctly.

Elaria grinned at Rekaro, and then she said, "You're doing Aethercall next, yes, Mark?"

Mark said, "I have a day of applied Sigaldry that I'm probably going to do at home like Rekaro suggested, but yes to Aethercall. Need to get the books." Mark supposed it wasn't too early to get in on the next language, though, and Elaria seemed to want to talk about it, so Mark asked, "Do you have any tips?"

Elaria said, "I certainly do! Would you and Isoko like to join me for lunch?"

Rekaro stood, saying, "I'll take my leave. Please let me know of your future Aethercall plans, Mark. Thank you." He bowed just a little.

Mark bowed back.

And then Mark went out to lunch with Elaria and Isoko.

In a nice booth in the back of a diner called 'Charred' with a picture of a flaming slime as its mascot, Elaria happily began talking about Aethercall, by talking first about Sigaldry, "Sigaldry is all about making shapes and with that physical action causing effects. Thus, Sigaldry is perhaps the most solid of magical languages. Aethercall is not like that at all. Aethercall is considered the first natural magical language, because it's all about feeling and emotion and learning to speak by using your mana itself. Even monsters can Aethercall, which is, indeed, what monsters usually do with their mana. Aethercall has no actual words, so it's a lot less formulaic compared to Sigaldry, but while it is less exact than Sigaldry, it is just as potent as any magical language. It's a lot faster than Sigaldry, too. Some would even label Aethercall as stronger, and some would even say that Aethercall was the actual first magical language, and that Sigaldry stems from Aethercall, though that's a debate for scholars and not necessary to learn the language itself…"

It was a good introduction to Aethercall.