NOVEL NEXT Chapter Fifty-Nine: Winter Break
The rest of the break went by both shockingly quickly, and at a seemingly leisurely pace. With the help of Jackson, Yushin, and Salem, steady progress was made on the curse to be leveled at the Traitor Wyrm, but we didn't have any revolutionary new breakthroughs. Having Yushin on board, and willing to at least accept the possibility of her god betraying her was a weight off my shoulders, but otherwise, things were fairly normal – mostly. There were a few changes.
My personal favorite was improved sleep, the spell we had found hidden in the depths of the library. It was a third circle spell of moderate complexity, and it utilized a branch of magic that I'd barely had any time or training with: restoration. While I had learned how to cast the holy healing spell using professor Caeruleum's blood, that was the only other spell of the school I knew. While there were some sections that worked with life force, similar to spells like sharpen senses or animal morph, there were sections that were entirely new to me, which seemed to be manipulating psychic threads. Luckily, Salem was able to help with that – it was apparently common for enchantment school spells to interact with the mental threads, and he was a psychic.
The morning I woke up after having mastered the spell, though, I knew it was the kind of spell I was going to be casting every day for the rest of my life. I felt absurdly refreshed and restored, in a way that I hadn't experienced in years, perhaps ever. It was almost like I'd already drunk three or four cups of coffee, even though I'd just woken up. My muscles were in the perfect state of being relaxed without being so gooey that it would make moving difficult, and I felt ready to spring into action. My ether pool felt fuller and richer, like it had been refreshed, and the fire of my spirit seemed to crackle and spark like fresh logs had been placed on it.
The spell even cut down on the time I actually needed to sleep. It wasn't anything like Wesley's absurd ability to only sleep one or two hours a night and still remain fully rested, but it was a noticeable decrease. Where before, six or seven hours of sleep was ideal for me, now I felt completely refreshed after just four hours. Two or three hours a night wasn't much, but I wasn't shackled to the tiny lifespan that most humans had. Across three hundred years, that would be an extra quarter-century I spent awake and aware, rather than sleeping.
Of course, the sleeping spell was only one of the books that we'd gotten from the library. Working through the primer on the so-called 'exotic' rituals was helpful for all of us when it came to building my curse, and it helped me refine my ideas of what to do with the brazier, but it was dense and dry. The book on ether shaping techniques was far more interesting, and of a good amount of utility. It contained some basic ether shaping techniques meant to help with each of the schools of magic, somewhat like the technique that professor Gemheart had taught me, but that was hardly all it contained. Its ether recovery technique was about twice as complex as Xander's massage, and yielded about a third more ether, which really put into perspective why professor Silverbark had stated that the massage had the best difficulty to effectiveness ratio. I didn't start practicing it yet, but I dutifully copied it down in my grimoire for whenever I might need it.
The best shaping technique contained within the book, however, was the pressure-bomb. It reminded me of the bottled explosion method that Jackson had taught me, and caused pain in a similar manner, but was far more difficult to pull off. I could only use it once or twice a day without risking permanent damage to my ether pool. But while it didn't feel great, I couldn't deny its sheer effectiveness. A single use of it expanded my ether pool almost as much as four hours of Jadis' remodel, and it wasn't like I couldn't use the remodel during the recovery period. It was going to help my growth explode.
Adapting it to my fire also showed some promising results, and I continued my plan of expanding my flame, only to compress it down again and increase its density as much as possible. After all, the density would be multiplied, while size would only be added.
Finally, there was the elemental guide, and I got my first look at some additional water spells. Water whip was nothing absurd, just a decently useful first circle attacking spell, but it was good to add a low cost alternative to arcane missile. Conjure wave had some utility as battlefield control, as it was a surge of water better directed to forcing movement than to hurting someone.
If the first and second circle spells were underwhelming, they were made up for by the third and fourth. Water Wall could conjure either a crashing waterfall wall of water, or a circular vortex, both of which would be great for diverting attacks down or to the side. With it, I might even be able to fight against Jackson, at least some.
Dessicate, on the other hand, was a spell that was terrifying. Unlike the other three, which pulled water out of an empty, endless elemental plane of water, dessicate was a greenish, rippling ray of magic that pulled water out of the target. That was already scary, as while working magic onto someone against their will might be harder, it was still the kind of spell that could easily kill anyone who didn't have a supernaturally toughened body or other defense.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
But when I used it to reduce an apple to a shrivelled husk, I had a thought, and pulled out my grimoire. I fused dessicate with a suffering curse of dehydration, one that only lasted a single second, and in exchange held a great deal of power, and recast the spell on a fresh apple.
The apple dissolved to dust, and blew away in the wind, and I let out a cackle. While it might not work on creatures without any water in them, or with so little as to essentially have none, it was a terrifying amount of power, far more than either spell alone should have had. The effect hadn't just been added, but rather multiplied.
But new spells were hardly the only change, either for me or for others. As the solstice drew nearer, the walls between Etherius and our world thinned, and magic began to spread throughout the city. There were minor miracles everywhere, wrought by gods of farmers and farriers, gods of cobblers and candlemakers, gods of butchers and bakers, and a hundred other small gods besides. University staff once again bent their vast reserves of magic to taking command of the weather, creating illusions of snows, and summoning up creatures of the season. It was that last one that caused a change in my life, as one morning I emerged into the common area, only to see professor Toadweather sitting atop one of the cushions. When she saw me, she practically exploded into movement, her pixie wings blurring wildly.
"Morning! Do you want a job?"
"Good morning, professor," I said, then frowned warily. "I suppose it depends on what kind of job I'll actually be doing, as well as what the compensation is."
Professor Toadweather threw back her head and laughed, as if I had told the funniest joke she'd heard in ages, before wiping a tear from her eyes and nodding.
"You, mister, have aced the first semester of Conjuration Two, and have good recommendations for competence with bargains and magic! That means you qualify to work as my assistant."
"You still haven't answered my question, not really."
"You didn't ask a question, you said a statement."
"Point. But I would like to know what I'll actually be doing, as well as if I get paid in some regard."
"Hmmm," professor Toadweather said, before sighing dramatically. "Okay, fine. Do you remember the creatures that were running around last solstice?"
"Sure, there were arctic foxes, the sprites that moved holly berries and mistletoe around, and little guys in red hats who looked similar to gnomes but gave small gifts to people who left out cream and eggs for them."
"Exactly! Your job would be to help me summon and contract a few dozen of each of them, in order to bring whimsy and merriment to the masses of the Citadel of Ether. Materials for the lesser planar contract spell will be provided, as well as make up your payment. Five, not one, nor two, nor six, but five! The material costs for five castings of lesser planar contract will be provided."
"That's a good bit of ether crystal dust," I admitted, then smiled at her and nodded. "I'll need the spellguides to summon sprites and nisse, but it sounds fun."
Indeed, it was rather fun. Perhaps I was the strange one for enjoying it, but I found the process of building the circles, conjuring forth a creature, and negotiating with them to be pleasant. The nisse rarely wanted for anything but a crock of eggs in exchange for running about and granting boons to other students who left out more for them, and the sprites most frequently were interested in being paid in bread, cakes, and honey for their work. The arctic foxes, on the other hand, were most interested in meat, especially venison. I wound up having to run to three separate butcher's shops in order to meet all the deals.
It was really quite surprising for me how often they wanted foodstuffs. The nisse I could understand, as milk and eggs seemed to be hard-baked into their bloodlines, but the sprites and foxes were more confusing.
"Do you know how hard it is for the average sprite to get their hands on cake?" professor Toadweather asked when I commented on it. "Ninety percent of fae can't take things without repayment, and most bakeries have listed prices. That means we have to pay or negotiate. That's a pain. Why would we have human money?! What's more, being in this world is… boring. The ether is sluggish and slow, and our bloodlines don't feel as strong."
"I suppose that makes sense," I agreed. "But what about the foxes? I've been to one of the realms where they live, and they're in the middle of the food chain there, not the bottom."
Seren hissed sparks from my shoulder then as he explained that, to many elementals, food was directly tied to the power of their bloodline. He was able to grow in power by my ether and flame, but for these foxes, the meat presented a chance to grow in power and elevate themselves. I accepted that, and made a mental note to make more of a point to feed Seren and Orla. Just because both of them were sustained by my magic didn't mean they couldn't grow faster by eating.
When our summoning work was complete, and the creatures were dancing across the campus, forming snowdrifts, creating wreathes, and leaving blessings, professor Toadweather paid out the ether crystal dust, then dismissed me, and I returned to my friends.
Once again, I attended the holiday party at the Charm and Fable and made small talk with all of my co-workers, including the strange green haired boy, and we all exchanged some small gifts, and Charm paid out our bonuses. Before I knew it, the night of the solstice rolled around, and we all bundled up, braving the snowdrifts to reach the Shé home, where a massive spread had been prepared for us. There was roast duck with an orange glaze, baked potatoes, and green beans sitting next to winter melon soup, pots of congee, and braised beef with radish.
As Martha, Rui, Yushin, Salem, Jackson, and I all gathered around the table, and I subtly slipped some food to my familiars, Rui raised his glass and called a toast.
"To friends and family."
"To friends and family!"