NOVEL NEXT Chapter Thirty-Seven: Restoration and Manipulation
The rest of the weekend passed by without much incident, as I wandered from spot to spot on campus, channeling ether into my ring and expanding the waypoints within the ring. There was a single small incident where, upon adding the tenth tunnel into the strange space that let me traverse the school, I felt the first star on the ring flash three times with ether, then go dark. Considering that was the function that seemingly allowed me to add and access the waystations, I at first thought it might be an indication that the ring wasn't able to take on any additional waypoints, but when I managed to add another, I figured that it had to indicate something else – I just wasn't sure exactly what.
Apart from that, I spent some time working on my affinity, as well as with Salem, who was currently in the middle of delving into ritualistic application of affinity magic, a topic that sounded interesting, but wasn't something I'd spent much time diving into.
Sunday passed similarly, and it was in the middle of a shift that I managed to finally get a handle on Jadis' remodel. I hadn't even been trying especially hard, just idly flipping my attention back and forth between the two halves while practicing Summers' inversion and checking inventory, when there was a brighter green light than usual, and I glanced down to see the bowl's inside and outside both glowing bright green.
Though I wasn't able to immediately replicate the success, knowing that I was capable of it proved to be the impetus that pushed me over the finish line, and by the time I was eating dinner, I was able to consistently get the entire glass device to glow green when I tried. A part of me was still tempted to purchase the bowl, in order to give me a bit more practice, but even though the months of working over the summer had given me enough savings to do it, the wandering vagrant in me rebelled against the idea of being so spendthrift.
Salem, on the other hand, had committed to purchasing it. Even with my assistance throughout Sunday evening, he wasn't as skilled with the practical side of ether manipulation as I was, since so many of his spells involved working with intangible concepts and psychic traces, more than they did forming complex patterns of ether. He could get one side to light up or the other, but was slow to swap between them.
As the night ticked on, I left to the campus greens with my box of ether dust, as well as the bags of components from professor Caeruleum's class. I picked a spot in the grass where I could get a clear look at the full moon, then weighed out the ether dust, mixed it with the black salt, white sage, and ground acorns, then spread it out into the first circle.
I ran through the chant in my head several times, just to make sure I was as refreshed and focused as possible, then stepped into the circle and began the spell, flying through the incantation for shield as fast as I could, while shaping the ether within my pool, and flicking my hands quickly. A single perfect shield bloomed to life, completely transparent, and I immediately began again. A second shield joined it, so I began the third. I very nearly tripped over my words and misspoke in the rush of nerves, but managed to correct the 'ro-se-bo' into 'bo-se-ro' at the last moment, causing the third shield to form.
There was a flash of light as the components were consumed, and I let out a sigh. One night down, fourteen to go.
I gathered my things, and headed back inside to pass out, and so Monday arrived with little fanfare. I took a shortcut through my room to get to the ethics course, where we worked on continuing to identify potential stressors that could cause us to act more in line with the Creep, this time shifting from our past to our current circumstances, and after that class, it was time to return to Practical Magecraft.
As I entered the hall, professor Silverbark was waiting outside the door to the room, and nodded as I approached.
"Pardon, Ermys, do you mind showing me your progress with Jadis' remodel?"
I fetched the device from my locker and demonstrated, then passed it over to the professor, who nodded in appreciation as he put it away in his own locker.
"Well done. You should be ready to attempt the technique for yourself now."
The way he phrased it, it was more of an invitation than a statement, so I closed my eyes and began forming the vortex within my ether pool, scouring away at the edges and abrading off chunks of my own spirit. It wasn't exactly painful, especially not in comparison to the bottled explosion technique that Jackson used, but it was deeply uncomfortable, like holding an intense stretch for longer than was strictly healthy. As I gathered a cluster of my own spiritual energy, I ejected it up in a straight line, then used a thread of ether to cause it to scatter out to the very edges of my spirit and fuse it back into myself. That wasn't exactly pleasant either, just on the edge of pain, like someone repeatedly poking a bruise that had mostly healed, but was still a bit tender.
Unlike with Summers' inversion, this wasn't a one use technique that strained the connection to Etherius, then required rest. It was more like Xander's massage, a technique that could be operated as long as there was ether to work with, and it took me an instant to balance the two unpleasant sensations and techniques against one another. Once I did, however, they managed to fall into a sort of symbiosis, syncing together into a single greater whole, and I opened my eyes.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Professor Silverbark nodded to me, and gently patted my shoulder.
"Well done. Learning to maintain the effect constantly without focusing on it is quite difficult, especially without a relevant affinity for it, but it's well worth learning. I wouldn't normally tell you this part, not with your age, but considering your fire… Once you've passed the age barrier, and are free to compress your power without damaging your ether pool, Jadis has an advanced compression technique that uses similar principles. If you can get the remodel to be subliminal, like breathing, you should be in a good spot for it."
He winked at me in a conspiratorial manner, then put a finger to his lips, before ushering me inside. I thanked him and headed inside, taking a seat on my mat next to Salem and Kybar. Once everyone had finished shuffling in, professor Silverbark strode in, animating the chalk with a flick of his wrist. It began to write on the board, and he turned to face all of us.
"Welcome, welcome. Congratulations to those of you who have passed. To those of you who didn't, don't lose hope. Even if you didn't purchase the device, if you attend my office hours, I can temporarily provide you with one, in addition to my guidance, should you need it. Now, today we are going to focus on our next two ether techniques: Kirtle's weaving and Maugrim's surge."
He tapped his fingers of his left hand against the desk, and paired sets of glass training artifacts appeared on its surface. The first one, which I assumed to be the weaving, rather resembled braided hair. It was uncannily accurate, to the point where I could almost see the individual strands of hair that seemed to make it up. The second device, on the other hand, resembled a well. It had a round circle, a winch, and even a miniature glass bucket.
"Kirtle's weaving is a simple technique, in its way," the professor began. "However, in its completeness, it is devilishly complex. You separate your ether into strings, then braid them together."
To demonstrate, he ran ether through the device, which glowed green, but only the faintest level of green.
"That's what it looks like to maintain three strings of ether at once. But the unique factor of Kirtle's weaving is that it's not limited to three threads. In fact, as far as anyone can tell, it's not limited at all. I can personally split my own ether pool into just shy of four hundred different threads."
This time, hundreds of the individual strands of glass 'hair' lit up, and each of them began to race up the braid, twisting around one another. I sat back, shaking my head in amazement. I'd never done this specific technique before, but there was a comparable bloodline technique, where you sent disparate streams of flame into each of the coals providing power. That was simple enough, but there was a big difference between being able to split my fire into a dozen streams and being able to perform hundreds, like professor Silverbark could. He was an elf, so he might well have a century on me, but even so.
"Willow's path grows in difficulty with the size of the ether pool, making it an excellent first technique. This technique doesn't grow in the same way, but it does grow with each additional thread. It's not suited for the unmotivated, but for those with the will to continue pushing themselves, it's an excellent way to form an edge over your peers."
I drummed my fingers on the ground behind me, wondering if I should purchase this device. I'd figured out the remodel on my own, and could practice it, but that was a one-and-done technique – you either knew it or you didn't. This seemed like I'd benefit more from being able to get visual feedback when I wanted it. Before I'd come to a decision, however, professor Silverbark gestured to the second ether training tool, the one shaped like a well.
"Maugrim's surge is a refinement of what many historians and magioanthropologists believe to be the first ether restoration technique ever created. The idea is simple: ether comes from Etherius. By reaching out through our innate connection, we can grasp a handful of ether and draw it back into our pool, restoring us partially or even fully. A fine theory. So why didn't I teach it to you in year one?"
"It's too hard?" Kybar asked, before shaking his head and answering his own question. "No, that doesn't make sense. The massage was a much more complex technique than this, unless the theory behind this is simple, and the application is difficult. But if it was the first, then it shouldn't be."
"Spiritual strain?" I suggested, and professor Silverbark pointed at me.
"Exactly. Much like Summers' inversion, this technique severely strains your connection to Etherius. The oldest and basest versions of it, found in the ruins of the Elikus kingdom, purportedly damaged the connection so severely that it all but halted a person's natural regeneration of ether for hours, or even days."
I winced and was about to ask a question, but the professor kept talking, and answered my question before I could ask it.
"Maugrim's version of the technique is much safer. It involves first creating a thin, permeable sphere of ether, sending it down the connection to Etherius along a tether or power, allowing the sphere to fill with power, then drawing it back into your pool. It's still straining, but it can safely be done once, perhaps twice, each day before it begins to damage your connection."
"If it's made'a ether, does 'at mean it needs ether ta' work?" Salem asked, not bothering to raise his hand.
"It does," professor Silverbark agreed. "Not much, and the ether that is used is also returned to the pool, but if you are completely dry on power, you aren't able to perform the technique. Still, having the ability to restore a sizeable amount of the ether pool when low once each day, is quite the boon."
Though he probably hadn't expected a response, I found myself nodding along. I'd been forced to sever my bond to Orla and Seren in my fight against Gerhard, just to spend every scrap of ether I possibly could. Being able to draw out just a bit more power wouldn't have made me steamroll Gerhard, not even close, but it could have saved me hundreds of silver and made the fight easier.
"Everyone, please come forward and take one of each device," the professor said, breaking me out of my stupor. "As with last time, these are on loan, not yours to keep, and…"