NOVEL NEXT 93 - A Challenge is Issued
"Are you sure about using that?" Rory said when he saw Beatrice brandishing the Gemstone Wand.
"Yes. Shut up."
"Point for me," Archmund muttered.
"Shut up."
The five of them had left the break room, all filled up on water and caffeine, and began venturing deeper into the Second Tier of the Dungeon. So far, the place still looked like cubicles or prison cells, though the darkness felt denser and deeper upon their skins.
"But what about your worries?" Rory persisted. "You always say that you don't want to get locked in to a single way of fighting, the sort of thing Gemgear does—"
"That was because of you!"
"Me?"
"I thought you were like this because that staff was making you overly nice and like a wall, but then I met this guy again," she said, jabbing her thumb at Archmund. "Look at him. He's got like 3 Gemgear things but hasn't been shaped by them at all. He's flexible. He's a winner."
"Sword gives me anger issues," Archmund said. He had intended to be helpful but he imagined it actually wasn't.
"I worry for you, young master. You have so many other very useful artifacts."
"Point for me," Beatrice said. "So you just don't use it. Have you pulled it out even once while we were down here?"
He hadn't.
"If I might question the esteemed lords and ladies," Mary said, slipping back into her obsequious servant voice, "what is the purpose of a Wand?"
Beatrice gave her a look. "To cast spells."
It was odd that it was a wand.
As far as he knew, magic in this world wasn't channeled through wands. It was channeled through Gems, which could unleash their full potential and power. And if not through Gems, through Gear, which constrained the magic to follow known forms, guidelines, classifications.
This was a blurred line. An implement that looked like a flexible tool that could cast magic, but that was actually as constrictive as binding as Gemgear. Or was it?
So it was odd that magic would be channeled through a wand. Perhaps it was a relic of a bygone era. Perhaps it was an object of myth and legend, of magical powers that had been bound into wands instead of Gems.
Or perhaps it wasn't a wand.
Blue, black, and red.
The colors of pens.
Not exactly all pens, not universally, but those most common in making corrections. Blue, so it was obvious when something was copied. Red, for noting when something was wrong. Black, as a straightforward color.
He couldn't say that, though, since it wasn't information that would be of any relevance to the people here. They'd have no idea what he meant.
And he wasn't even sure he was right. This also could have been convergent evolution — red natural caught the eye, black was the natural pigment of the Dungeon, and blue was dark but not black.
Or perhaps it was something even more esoteric. Black was the color of darkness. Red was the color of fire. Blue was the color of water. These things occurred in the natural world as well, as usual opposites.
Even if he was imagining things, Beatrice got her new toy.
"I find such questions… oftentimes unnecessary. Or, at least, coming from a very human perspective," Gelias said.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
That caught Archmund's attention. "What do you mean?"
"You're wondering if a piece of Gemgear like that makes sense," Gelias said. "You're wondering if it breaks any rules, since it almost acts like a Gem that's Awakened."
"How is it like a Gem that's Awakened?" Mary asked, frowning.
Gelias paused, looking to Archmund. Right. Mary was in the gray area where it wasn't completely clear and obvious that it was fine that she knew these things. That was just how things were sometimes.
"My teacher didn't really explain what Awakening was and how it worked," Archmund said. "Just that you could make the Gems do whatever you wanted them to."
"Your teacher's either a moron or a genius," Gelias said lightly.
"She was a Master in the Arcane University at fifteen."
"Definitely a genius, then. Someone who's achieved so much and gone so far that they're completely unable to discern the barriers that obstruct us lesser mortals."
This had been one of the reasons why Archmund hadn't wanted a genius for a magic teacher, because now it was clear that he had some gaps in his education.
"It's obvious you've achieved your First Awakening with some of your Gems, just from watching you," Gelias said.
Archmund groaned. First Awakening.
He'd thought he'd attained the peak of his power with his Ruby of Energy, and now he could work on spreading out his experience and mastering his other abilities. But now it seemed like there were greater depths to plumb in his primary power.
"At the First Awakening, you unlock Skills. At the Second Awakening, you can break them down. At the Third, you can put things that were never meant to mix together. But some build before they break, and some break before they build."
"What does that mean?"
"And how do you know this, Gelias?" Beatrice said. "How come you've never mentioned it before?"
"I didn't see the point. You and Rory are at your First Awakening, but you're quite far from Second Awakening."
Beatrice stopped walking, and turned to him, her mouth falling open in indignation. Gelias waved her off.
"I know you, Beatrice Blackstone. If you knew such an advancement was possible, you'd chase it without shoring up your basics in fear of falling behind. You would stab yourself in the leg if someone told you pain would help you run faster."
"Shut up."
"No points if it comes from Gelias," Archmund said. She stuck her tongue out at him.
Gelias looked at Archmund reproachfully. "If you tried, Granavale, you could reach a state of Second Awakening within a matter of weeks or days."
"And I haven't because…"
"You've been distracted. With your five other Gemstone Artifacts."
"No points if it comes from Gelias," Beatrice whispered.
He swiftly drew his bow. "This bow has been in my family for generations, and magic has flowed through it, carving a deep well of knowledge and potential. For me, there's very little more to Awaken, but a vast, vast, vast reservoir to Attune. Only once I have fully aligned this bow with my spirit will I be able to add to the body of knowledge within, and that will take years — but even now, and this answers your question, Beatrice, I inherit some of the knowledge of the mechanics of this weapon, and of Awakening as a whole."
"Second Awakening. What would that let me do?"
"I know you have a radial light mode and a linear invisible heat mode for your Gem," Gelias said. "This would allow you to combine different aspects of your abilities to, for example, create a sphere of heat or a thin beam of light"
"I could already create the thin beam of light, though," Archmund said.
"But you had to train and practice to unlock each Skill like a discrete power, no?" Gelias said. "First a radial light. Then a beam of light. Then a beam of heat. Then a pulse of heat. Each building on the previous, each requiring as much practice and serendipity to realize. At the Second Awakening of your Ruby, you wouldn't have to take so long. It would be intuitive."
This didn't seem that convenient to Archmund. Useful, perhaps, but not earth-shattering.
His Microwave ability was a continuous beam, but he hadn't found the time to unlock other forms of radiation. And conversely, he'd unlocked a cylinder of heat in his Heat Wave skill, but he hadn't been able to turn that into a spotlight or a continuous beam, at least without spending valuable time that was better put to use on other things.
It would be useful to be able to mix-and-match on the fly, but it wasn't worth the effort of doing the work while in danger.
His list of priorities rapidly rearranged to attaining the Second Awakening with his Ruby of Energy, as soon as he was out of the Dungeon.
"And the Third Awakening?" Beatrice said.
"Would be wholly and entirely useless to you specifically," said Gelias.
"Why?"
"Well, perhaps not, actually," Gelias said, glancing at her again. "But…"
There was an unearthly screech. The five of them turned to face the growing darkness.
They had reached the limit of the Dungeon Archmund had cleared from afar, and beyond this point the Monsters remained in their natural, undisturbed state. From here, the halls widened, moving away from the tightened corridors to something open, almost spacious.
"The Third Awakening allows you to transfer Skills channeled through one Gem and apply them to other Gems. To build and meld things together, to place things where they do not belong, against the natural order. That is the first step towards becoming a true master, and beyond that, my ancestral memories remain locked to me. Though, depending on who you ask, that is Second Awakening, and Third is the power to break Skills down and recombine them in different ways."
He gave Beatrice a look of challenge.
"So master that wand of yours, and maybe you'll have something to shoot for."
There was distant motion in the darkness, and with resolute glares at each other, Archmund and Beatrice strode forth to face the Monsters.