Elydes

Chapter 190 - Past and Future

“Don’t be a sore loser.” Flynn brimmed with satisfaction. “I won fair and square.”

“It’s not a victory if you knock us both out,” Kai grumbled and pulled away. He walked ahead on the beach, Higharbor rose in the distance beneath a cloudy sky.

His defensive Water spell had made electricity course through both their bodies. Lightning was one of the trickiest elements to control, and Flynn was far from mastering it.

Kai hadn’t been too surprised when his friend got an affinity of 54 for Shadow. Scholars had found some correlation between people's behavior and their affinities. It happened often enough to be noticeable, but not to be reliable.

Not sure what five major affinities say about me? That I have a split personality? It sounds like this world's version of an astrological sign…

Lightning had been the real shock. It was an uncommon element, and at 47, it wasn’t a small affinity. Kai would have much rather done without being hit by a human taser. Who knew lightning could be so painful? Despite the healing potion, each step made him wince like he had received a beating.

Must be why villains used it to torture people in movies.

Flynn caught up with him, still with that unbearable smile. “C’mon, I didn’t use that much power.”

“No? Tell me, how much elemental mana you have left?”

“Huh… Well, I…”

“I knew it!” Kai pointed an accusing finger. “You used everything in a single spell. Not that much power, your empty head! How long were you saving mana for that? And don’t you dare lie to me!”

His eyes wandered around guiltily. “I don’t know. About five or six hours? Lightning mana is sparse, and I’m terrible at absorbing it. Honestly, I didn't think it was a lot. Spirits, I wasn’t even sure it would work.”

Five or six hours of accumulation, he says. Not a lot, he says.

“You didn’t know and decided to test it on me?” His voice rose with each syllable. Kai clenched his fists at his sides and marched away from him before he might commit murder.

“I tested half the charge on myself a couple days ago. I knew it wasn’t dangerous.”

“Just fucking painful.”

“How many times have you hit me with a spell in the last months?”

“I was helping you train Vigilance and your Perception skills.” Kai defended himself. He might have gotten a little trigger-happy, but the situation was totally different. “You were happy with how rapidly your skills were advancing. You know how the Guide works, no pain no gain. And a little water pebble doesn't hurt nearly as much.”

“Maybe not one, but I got hit by hundreds. I was pelted with bruises for weeks. Try explaining why you didn’t want to get touched on a date,” Flynn said with dead seriousness. “Don’t laugh, it’s not funny. People either thought I was in a gang or got beaten by my family. I had to beg a girl not to go to the enforcers.”

Kai burst out laughing imagining the scene. They would have thought him crazier if they knew the true reason. “You have to admit it’s a little funny. You could have said something, I would have aimed where it was less inconvenient.”

“Such as?” Flynn raised an irked eyebrow. “I need all my body parts, and they are quite hard to hide on a third date.”

“Hmm… I’ll think of something.” Kai chuckled, then he remembered he was supposed to be upset with him and firmed his face in a scowl. “That still doesn’t change the matter. You agreed to that training, I didn’t agree to get electrocuted.”

“We were sparring, and I was trying to win. I respected every restriction we agreed upon. I admit I might have underestimated the effect of the spell a tad bit, but I got hit by my cast too.”

“That’s because you used an element you had no idea how to control. I told you Lightning was dangerous.” Kai sent a withering look, though the anger had left him. Worse than his body, what had been hurt was his pride. He could argue it was a tie. The truth was it had been his match to lose, and he had lost it spectacularly.

Elijah would have kicked my ass to the other side of Veeryd, and he’d have been right.

He had broken one of the fundamental do-nots of combat, growing overconfident like an idiot. He was lucky it had been a spar and not a real fight, or the consequences would have been deadly. And worse yet, he had panicked when Flynn rushed him.

There were so many things he could have done better. Thrown up a wall of ice, ran away with Empower to take time, not fucking stood there casting the same ineffective attack.

That’s why you do sparring, genius.

Flynn had played it perfectly. He baited him the entire fight for a shot at victory, days if they included his preparations. It seemed so glaringly obvious in retrospect that Kai wanted to put his head underwater and scream.

The teen held back his full speed with Dash and ran around to get used to his attributes. Then he used a clumsy Shadow spell, so Kai would think his higher grade had made little difference and his magic wasn’t a threat. He held back till the last moment and used the opening he created to full effect.

He played me like a damn fiddle.

They were halfway back when Flynn awkwardly broke the silence. “Kai, listen,” he cleared his throat looking for the right words. “I shouldn’t have cast the spell blindly to win. I’m sorry.”

The words hit him like a slap. He had made him apologize for winning like a sore loser. Kai couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so pathetic. “You don’t need to be sorry. You’ve won fairly.”

“I did…?”

“Yes. Now wipe that grin off your face and let’s go home. That victory puts our sparring to a few hundred to one. And it won’t happen again.”

Kahali smite me if it does. I’ve gotten complacent living in a city, theory isn’t enough if I don’t put it into practice. Apart from the Sea Serpent, I’ve not had a decent fight in forever.

* * *

A globe lit the bedroom, the door was shut, and the curtain drawn tight to not allow any outside distraction. Kai sat stiffly at his desk, his entire focus balancing between Edgar’s skill and the modified stylus in his hands.

He methodically engraved the runes on the dagger of Yellow alloy. The slightest wavering would ruin the enchantment. This was his tenth and last attempt, infused metal could be reforged only so many times before it lost its natural mana and degraded.

While his heart raced, his hands remained firm on the stylus, his mind focused on Mana Sense. He had specialized Inspect to intuitively grasp the flows of mana. His goal had been to support Alchemy and spellcasting, but it was having all sorts of unexpected benefits.

It was a double engraving, drawing the Runes in both ink and essence simultaneously. Both presented their unique challenges. Kai’s Unforgettable Signature could penetrate any material, but the ink was finicky to use. If he indulged a moment too long, it would eat into the alloy and splotch, if he moved too fast, it might dribble off the surface.

Shaping the runes inside the alloy was more straightforward, but it grew harder with each second. Mana Echo ground against its limits to manipulate a copy of a much higher grade, the strain rising behind his eyes.

Edgar made it look so easy.

He had double engraved tens of red tools and a dozen orange with his copied skill, but he had never managed a proper enchantment on a yellow material. The mana was denser and harder to shape, rapidly exhausting his skill and causing him to make more mistakes.

Don’t rush, don’t slow down. You’ve got this.

Kai linked the last runes and Inspected the dagger for any mistake. Flaws could appear after the ink had settled. The mana flowed smooth and uniform, he let go of the breath he had been holding. As if to confirm his success, the Guide sent him a notification.

I did it.

It was the design he had created for his first sea serpent fang, modified to work with the alloy. Not the most challenging enchantment, but still up to Edgar’s standards.

Huh… What did I get?

*Ding*

New Feat: Talented Engraver - You’ve engraved a lasting enchantment on a weapon beyond your grade without a specialized profession. You are awarded: +1 Favor!

The spirits haven’t forgotten about me!

Like Moui promised, feats were becoming harder to obtain as he grew up. Talented Engraver rewarded him for an accomplishment and not a fixed milestone in his status.

You could have given me more Favor, stingy Guide. Why is the notification still blinking?

*Ding*

Mana Engraving (lv1) – Master enchanters know how to shape runes directly into the essence of their craft to create everlasting enchantments.

Oh… Yeah, I accept your apology.

His Archive had collected plenty of orange skills over the years, including the orange version, Superior Engraving. The possibility of an upgrade had crossed his mind, but he hadn’t dared get his hopes up. This was the second yellow skill he had ever got.

Edgar’s definitely going to kill me if he finds out.

Then a worse realization hit him. What skill was he going to discard? He couldn’t refuse it, could he? Mana Engraving was yellow grade, and not something abstruse like Hallowed Intuition. He could actually train the skill, gain 700 XP for each level, and free Mana Echo for a new project.

You evil Guide! How could you do this to me?

General Skills:

Hallowed Intuition (lv10>13)

Mana Sense (lv87>96)

Mana Manipulation (lv75>83)

Empower (lv73>77)

Inspect (lv72>77)

Runes (lv61>67)

Water Magic (lv54>61)

Blessed Swimmer (lv52>57)

Alchemy (lv50>57)

Nature Magic (lv44>49)

Herbology – Advanced (lv41>47)

Swordsmanship – Advanced (lv35>40)

Attuned Meditation (lv24>30)

Improvisation (lv21>28)

His status had been honed to the most essential elements years ago. There was no fluff or skill for emotional comfort, every ability was there for a precise reason and function.

Kai opened the curtain to let some air and light in. He could add Mana Engraving to the ever-growing list and forget about it till he advanced to Yellow. That would be a shame, and a stress-free choice.

No, I need to consider all the possibilities.

He picked out his notebook and began the tedious task of writing pros and cons. Having them on paper always helped clear his thoughts. Outside of his fundamental skills, there were maybe three skills that might not cripple him entirely if he discarded them.

Not to say there would be no consequences. They stood at the end of the list still fulfilling an important role.

Kai massaged his eyes. He technically didn’t need Herbology to practice Alchemy, but his brewing would suffer significantly. The duo was already a barebone combination. Most alchemists had seven or eight slots dedicated to the craft.

I can’t abandon it. Herbology might not be flashy, but I need it. What’s next…

Improvisation wasn’t strictly necessary. While he tried not to use it with his friends and family, it had saved his ass countless times when haggling with merchants or dealing with officers.

He couldn’t always fight his way out of a situation, sometimes his fate hung on picking the right words to say. He would encounter plenty of powerful people and unknowns on the mainland. A social skill offered an insurance when his Favor failed him.

So that’s a no too. Great. Seems like Past-Kai knew what he was doing.

Last was Attuned Meditation, the first skill he had ever learned. It had carried him through his darkest and loneliest days as a baby. He had no idea how his life would be if he hadn't learned it the day he reincarnated on Elydes. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine it might look very different.

The skill had been his silent helper all along. It had helped him push through when his dad died, and helped him at the estate when he was about to crack under the expectations. Meditating in the morning had been an ingrained habit to focus his mind, and gather elemental mana since it evolved to Orange.

I don’t need a skill to do either of those things…

While he wouldn’t be as effective without it, the loss wasn’t going to hinder his abilities like Herbology. The specialization of Inspect would help him absorb elemental motes. Attuned Meditation was too slow to level, at second to last place in his status despite twelve years of training.

If he were to be honest with himself, he had outgrown the skill. It would be nice to keep it if he had the space, but between Attuned Meditation and Mana Engraving the choice was painfully obvious.

Dammit. This is the emotional choice, isn’t it?

Kai sighed, he had found the last flaw to hone off his status. The decision was made. It would hurt to lose 30 levels, both literally and metaphorically.

He informed Flynn in case something happened, made a quick stop in the bathroom and retired early for bed. He got cozy on the soft sheets and fluffy pillows, making sure blood would flow to all his limbs.

It’s not going to get any better than this.

*Ding*

Do you wish to discard Attuned Meditation (lv30)? Be aware that this choice is irreversible and may have adverse effects.

Instant sleep here I com—

* * *

Kai woke up in the late morning of what he thought was the next day. His head pounded, vertigo and nausea hit him when he tried to stand up. He had been cheated, getting knocked out by the Guide was nothing like sleeping.

I didn’t miss the discard one bit. It’s not fun when I’m the one to do it.

A knock at the door and Flynn walked inside carrying a steaming cup of mint tea. “I heard you wake up. I thought this might help.”

“Thanks.” He rasped, his mouth dry and disgusting. He accepted the mug with both hands to not spill the liquid and slowly brought it to his lips. He gulped down as many sips as his stomach could tolerate to wash the stale taste off.

“Maybe it’s better if you lay down a little longer. I can bring you lunch too.”

“I’m good, I’ll come down in a bit.” He ordered his head to stop spinning and attempted a smile. “Meditation didn’t go through any milestone, so it should pass soon.”

Flynn gave him a long look. “You remember we agreed to meet with Lou’s group tonight, right?”

Shit, was it today?

“Of course.”

“Do you want me to warn them you’re sick? We can postpone it to another day.”

“No, I’ll come.” They had organized the meet-up months ago. He couldn’t stand them up when they came back to town.

“‘Kay, call me if you need anything.”

When the door closed, Kai put down the mug and rummaged through his ring for a potion that could help. Dora said it was better to wait out the headaches, but it couldn’t hurt to try.

He swallowed a mix of healing and invigorating potions. It was time for dessert.

*Ding*

New skill learned! Mana Engraving (lv1) – Master enchanters know to shape runes directly into the essence of their craft to create everlasting enchantments.