NOVEL NEXT (Vol 5) Chapter 48: Sagely Gifts
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Sammy awoke to the world near the hideout in Geirkos, in the practice yard with the sun's light beaming down. As usual, after the visions and experiences within the System Deck, she was lying face-first on the ground.
But only part of her mind registered she was there. Another part freaked out, still picturing the dark, dark world she’d glimpsed, and she internally panicked.
She reached out almost immediately with a mental grasp, for Azure. “Azure! Azure, are you there?! Please-”
“I’m here!” Azure was there like a glorious, beautiful lightning bolt. “Do I need to come to you? I can come to you right n-”
“No, no no — I’m good. I’m good.”
Banishing her anxieties that felt suddenly silly and selfish as she recalled what had brought her there, she pushed herself up enough to look for Orswyth, spitting out grass. Why do I always wake up like this?! Is it because I don’t sleep on my back? I should’ve listened to my dad, we’re supposed to sleep on our backs, aren’t we?
Such mysteries remaining unknowable, she caught sight of a large, tall body in the grass nearby, very face up and very still.
“Orswyth!” In alarm, Sammy did a quick scramble over on her hands and knees. She was relieved to see his eyes open, staring up at the sky. He seemed somehow peaceful and disturbed at once, musing internally with deep thoughts. “Oh, thank heavens you’re okay… you are, right? Orswyth?”
He didn’t respond until she took his hand, and then he blinked and turned his head to her. “Hmm? Oh. Yes, Your Majesty. I’m fine.”
Sammy breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m really sorry about all of that…” She winced as she recalled The Hermit and what that whole experience would’ve been like. Meanwhile, the incredible events revealed from the vision bubbled underneath the surface, their intrigues bewildering and terrifying.
Orswyth turned back to the sky. “I am somewhat glad for the vision coming after the-... that other experience. Do you remember when you told me about your great vision, when you’d first revealed your Fate Domain? You told me about this ‘Gandalf’ character and how you felt like him during a certain part of the story.”
“Yeah. Trippy Space Wizard stuff.”
“I experienced something like this, too, between the end of the vision and here. I feel like a Gandalf, and well, so does He if you take my meaning. Even more so.”
Sammy grinned. “You are definitely a Gandalf. Way more than me.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“It’s a cool thing.”
“Even better. Isn’t the term ‘pretty cool?’ Or is that going too far in coolness?”
“No, being pretty cool is like a lesser cool. So not you. You’re very cool. No — super cool.”
“Astonishing. I don’t know what to say to such high compliments. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“So… our mutual friend showed us quite a vision. That was an incredibly advanced and intricate spell utilizing artifacts to supplement. But it was a hard counter to the Seed.”
Sammy saw an ant crawling around on Orswyth’s arm, so she grabbed it and flicked it away into the grass. “I get that I can use my Domain somehow instead of that artifact you had to hunt down. Any further insight about how?”
Orswyth squinted in thought. “The concept in my head is that you would have to emulate what Last Light was — a literal small piece or shard of a deity. It is not the same as simply providing a Faith Energy invested item or the like.”
“So you’re saying I have to separate a piece of myself as a sacrifice, to create a kind of protection spell working similarly to Glae’s act?”
“Yes — and provide the equivalent of many years worth of light-attuned energy. Again, all based on the scale of people who were not deities of [Light] and had reduced resources after losing a war.”
“Right. Well. Damn. Guess it makes sense, though.”
“I don’t think this is a level 7 thing, Samantha, so we’re likely going to have to wait on discovering the details. At least we know a few things to work toward. It may be easier to secure Last Light with your and the realm’s help rather than how the other iteration of me did it with far less. Then you would have at least one use that did not take something from you.”
“And we should make massive batteries of Light-attuned mana. Just more and more and never stop. Even if we don’t need it all for this, it sounds like a smart thing to do for whatever else.”
“Yes. Exactly. It isn't a terribly common attunement in your current territories.” Orswyth finally moved to sit up, and Sammy made sure to help him. He put his staff over his lap. “I am unsure if divine-source energy can be used. Faith Energy. It is more rarefied and can’t simply be harvested from nature, but it would be more potent.”
“A matter for investigation, it sounds like!”
“Yes. I can help with this. Perhaps I should lead, with so much on Tashome’s plate, but I will still consult him.”
Sammy raised her eyebrows. “What kind of stuff did you get from the System? In this case, with our mutual friend skipping the after-party festivities, I didn’t get to see.”
“Quite unconventional, him. My priest class changed to [Celestial Sage], which retains divine spells with or without a deity, but gains more with one. It is… very customizable so I am still processing options, but its general specialties are focused on unique group buffing, perception, and information. Knowledge, I suppose.”
“Okay. Okay, I’m feeling it, yeah. Without a deity? So does that mean-”
“Yes. I can pick certain additive Domains that only I can access — for spells, that is. I have one extra at my level, and I can sacrifice access to one of yours for another selective. I should probably do this considering you have numerous Samanthian clerics with the same domains, even with specialty possible.”
“Awesome! I’d probably go with sacrificing [Mirrors] — has utility but others can pick up the slack, and in an Ultimate Team Gathering, if you will, Azure will already be a top tier Mirror-user.”
Orswyth nodded thoughtfully. “[Illusion] is too useful for my day-to-day, not to mention it can completely solve my vulnerability if my assailants are susceptible. Paired with [Pneuma] and [Light] for Hard Light and such… and those two also have synergy together alone… it’s just impossible to give that combination up.”
“You and Estara have consistently been the quickest to catch up after I level in [Goddess], so there is that to consider. Not everyone is going to have the maximum potential of you two. So far, anyway.”
“Tashome will always lag behind with his specialties, and Bast is largely not a priest any longer. Pashett, Bamm, Finley, Anton, and Vitarion aren’t far behind, and the tier after that lot, including the likes of Saphos and Bob, aren’t far behind them. At some point, I think a dozen or so will be at maximum waiting on your level-ups.”
“Vitarion?! Surely he’s in that third tier, he came after everyone you named.”
“He’s closing in on level 7 last I heard. I’m not sure if the exodus from Traesh will diminish him, but yes, he’s exceedingly good at, ah… milking the system? He’s one of the few of the [Antimage] class that don’t have a close second in [Knight], that might have something to do with it. He is also very wealthy, influential, and resourceful. A blue blood.”
“Right. Which is why Glae restrained himself from killing him.”
“I get the sense that lad’s behavior is always bent to his own advantage. Hot coals poorly smothered by damp cloth, always smoking with danger. The split and banishment became a negotiated, secret matter, with Vitarion the primary negotiator on our side. It’s all bloody hush-hush to avoid political upheaval.”
Sammy sighed and shrugged it off. If anyone could turn the complication into opportunity, it was Vitarion. “Anyway, what else did you get? It can’t just be a class and experience.”
Orswyth nodded, then met her eyes. Briefly, the twinkle of stars within was seen. “Aye. [Teaching (Grandmaster)] for one, which greatly speeds up learning. [Illuminated Vision], which gives Detect Magic and Detect Scrying continuously, while Identity, Read Auras, Read Signs and Portents, Deep Contemplation, and True Sight are usable at will but require focus and mental strain. All of this is at my maximum level plus seven, so quite high.”
Sammy laughed in glee to hear it. “Incredible! Though I’ve never heard of Deep Contemplation.”
“Me either…” He squinted as he must’ve been perusing its effects internally. “It allows time to be spent on an existing failed task which can be retried… gaining a hidden bonus progressively over time spent unraveling or planning out a solution.”
“I see. That has to be some unique shit from your inner self. You’re the Brains of the Operation! Even more so. Aramis will be so jelly.”
Orswyth chuckled. “On the contrary, Madam. He’ll be elated. Undoubtedly, I’ll be bouncing everything I contemplate off of him and the rest of the Brain Trust. I won’t know immediately if I have solved something, after all.”
“Welp, why don’t we get out of the grass? Probably should get back to the grind.” Sammy helped Orswyth rise just as she did, then patted him on the shoulder where they stood. She met his eyes and smiled fondly. “I’m glad your inner alien feels something close to a friend. I was worried, and I can’t say I expected how it turned out… but he really does suit you.”
Returning the grin, he gave her shoulder a squeeze, too. “Yours does too. Very stubborn and dodgy.”
Sammy burst out in laughter, and Orswyth joined in. Finally, Sammy gave him a playful push with one hand — carefully and gently, knowing his weakness. “Get outta here, Old Man. And don’t get caught up in realm duties before you dig into your class choices. Pawn things off on whoever you have to. Galynth, maybe. That’s an order, Hierophant.”
Orswyth gave her a quick salute. “Aye, aye. I have a time limit, so I’ll have to, and in the middle of the bloody day, no less. A tough choice these days, with Bamm and Saphos sent off for the missions. Galynth seems to struggle in Geirkos if I’m honest. Not much for knightly virtues here.”
Sammy frowned. “Well, if not Galynth, the next second-in-command you choose will stay your second. That’s also an order. I’ll send out a memo.”
“Understood, Your Majesty. I’ll be off, now. I have much to think on — not that it is anything but a pleasing prospect now…” Smirking and muttering to himself, Orswyth began toward the hideout, and likely his quarters there for the private contemplation he mentioned.
Sammy watched him go with her own varieties of thoughtfulness. Was her priesthood thin on superstars in Geirkos, now? It seemed likely after all the missions sent out, and the Borderlands had actually been some of her strongest first crop of the more priestly type believers — Pashett, Finley, Bob, Anton, and Dame Adeline (who’d become a Follower from being inspired by Estara) in addition to Estara herself.
Perhaps I should move one of them here. It’s difficult to expand in the Borderlands area compared to the Southlands or even the war-torn Southwest. A small group going elsewhere would be vulnerable. But I could trade one for Galynth, who’d be better off with other knights. That’s why he’s here at all: to be one of them.
Her thoughts drifted to the recent vision. The names of heroes she hadn’t heard of or met yet, who’d gone down to die to Entropy’s horrors.
Six Moons Falling, Keinauz, Gelmak Por… names I should probably remember…
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