Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

"Hey! Open up!" Alex yelled as he approached the metal door leading into the HA encampment.

I really need to start thinking of this thing as a fortress…

"Let me see your ID," came the bored reply.

Alex reached into a pocket at his side while pulling the identification from his spatial ring to make it seem natural.

"My friends should have come through here a little bit ago with an injured companion," he said through deep breaths.

"Oh yeah," the man said, accepting Alex's ID through the small slot. "Why didn't you come in with them? They seemed like they were in a rush."

"I got held up." He looked from left to right and ground his teeth.

"You guys all looked pretty banged up. I've never seen a—"

"Sir, am I able to enter? Sorry to interrupt. They were in a rush because one of our team members was injured. I'd like to go check on them as soon as possible."

"Sorry. One moment, please." The slat on the door closed, and Alex wanted to groan in frustration, but only a few moments later, the latch was lifted and the door pulled open. "Here you are," the guard said, a bit stiffly.

"Thank you, sorry again. Normally, I don't mind the chatting…"

"No problem, sir," the guard said. "I can understand. Go catch up to your team."

Alex nodded and activated his movement skill again and took off down the road. He heard the guard call after him about the use of a skill in the town, but he didn't care too much.

He returned to the research center, where he'd dropped off his notes almost two weeks before. It looked exactly the same. A large grey, stone building with no outer adornments, positioned at the end of a small concrete road.

It struck him as odd then that there were roads at all in the Rift. It wasn't like there were cars to be driven or traffic to direct.

Opening the door, he was confronted by yet another similar scene. Researchers moved about in all different directions, most of them wearing the same standard white lab coat and dark navy blue pants. Some wore more casual clothes with buttoned-up shirts, but they were all focused on their task and moving with a purpose.

He walked to the countertop and felt a sense of relief wash over him as he saw Darnell, the same guy who'd helped him the previous time. "Hey, Darnell. Do you remember me?" Alex pushed the ID card he still held in his hand onto the counter for emphasis.

The worker didn't even look at the counter. "O- Of course, Mr. Moore. How are you today?"

They both looked down at Alex's tattered state at the same time. "I'm all right. I'm looking for my friends, though. It should have been a group of them. They came in with an injured companion?"

"Oh, right. They came in with Mr. Reeves. He's a big deal around here, too, you know? Wait!" His mouth opened in an 'o.' "Are you guys on a team, now? Wow, that's a really strong—"

"Darnell, I need to see my friends. I'm really worried about them. Is Evan here? Were they able to meet up with him?"

He stuttered to a stop. "Oh, no. Sorry. He's not on shift today. The manager came out when the one with the daggers looked like she was going to start stabbing people… Uhm, Mr. Reeves spoke up for the team and got them into one of the research rooms even though the shift lead kept telling them that they needed to go to the medical bay."

Alex nodded and felt a small smile tug at his lips. More of the tension in his shoulders slowly left his body. "Can you take me there? To wherever they are?"

"Of course." He turned and exited the back door before returning a few seconds later with another girl about his age. They whispered back and forth a few times, but eventually the girl looked resigned and took his place behind the counter.

Darnell gave Alex a big smile before waving for him to follow. They entered through the same facility door that Evan had taken him through, and it was clear they were going to a similar section of the building.

Even though they entered a different room and passed through a sturdier set of double doors, the layout of the room beyond was the same. The only addition was a worried group of adventurers looking battered and bloodied.

"Well, don't you guys look like a mess," he said from behind Darnell.

All heads came up, and Olivia stood to embrace him in a rush. "What took you so long?"

He saw relief on several of their faces. "It wasn't that long." Looking around the room, he saw that Nox was absent and perked up. "Were they able to take him?"

Valtherion uncoiled from where he'd been resting with his head on Sam's lap, and came over to nuzzle Alex's shoulder.

Jonathan stepped forward then. "They were able to, but you might want to talk to them. We don't really know what they can do for him… and it doesn't seem like they do either."

"And without Evan here, we didn't really know anyone else," Mark added.

"All right, I'll talk to them. Liv, come with me. You guys hang out here for a few?"

Everyone agreed except Jonathan. "I'm going to need to step out. I'm glad I could help, and… I hope that Nox gets better." He directed the last statement to Olivia. He stuck his hand out to Alex, and they shook. "It was great working with you again. I'll see you around." Before leaving, he nodded once to Sarah and stepped from the room.

"Come on," Alex said, leading her to the back of the large space, where the incubation tubes and researchers were located. This room, unlike the one Evan had taken him to, had six tubes, and they seemed larger and wider than the previous set.

When they approached, he could tell the debate that the three huddled researchers were having was exciting for them. Knowing how he was when on something new, and remembering Evan's focus in his previous visit as well, Alex simply walked up from behind them and leaned into the circle.

"Hello," he said simply.

It earned him some startled reactions and immediate attention. "Who are you?"

"Please stay with your little friends," another one of them said.

Alex's eyebrows came together slightly, but he forced down the feeling in his stomach. "I was told Evan wasn't on shift tonight. Are one of you the manager?"

"I am Doctor Borman. Your friends have mentioned that name before. Who are you talking about? We don't have a manager named Evan."

"Oh, I'm not sure he's a manager. He's an enchanter. Evan Wilson, is his name."

Recognition lit on all three of their faces. "Ah, yes. Mr. Wilson is a brilliant associate of ours."

Nodding, Alex felt pleased that they had a high opinion of his friend. "Yes, well, we spoke before about some of the research that you all were doing here: testing the Celestial magic's effect on creatures of the Night."

The open talk of their research seemed to make them uncomfortable, and they looked at Olivia before looking back at Alex.

"I told Evan two weeks ago that I don't think Celestial magic is meant to counter Night magic— Sun magic is. He seemed to jump on the idea. Have you been able to follow through on any of this theory?"

"We… have," Borman said hesitantly.

"Great. Well, my friends bonded companion," he stressed the phrase as he nodded to Nox, who had been loaded into one of the incubation tubes, "is a creature of Night. He's from a different Rift and is not affiliated in any way with the monsters of this Rift. But he's been cursed by Sun magic and has been struggling to fight off the curse. He just pulled in a ton of the Night, and we think he has an ability of some kind to balance it out. The problem is, both of the energies are way too strong. Do you have a mana sight skill? If you just look at his body, you can see them clashing still. But, with the testing that you guys have done, I think you can slowly introduce some of the celestial mana you were testing on them into his body. If you do it in a controlled manner and probably start at his shoulder, where the original curse was placed, it should balance him out."

"What makes you say that?" one of the researchers asked. The topic seemed to interest all of them greatly.

"The same thing that had me give Evan the first idea. I've found more than one old set of ruins in the Rift that show two sides fighting each other. One is clearly the Night, and the other is the Sun. But always, in the middle, is a vision of a Celestial acting as a barrier or a middleman."

Dr. Borman stood and looked at the tube nearest them, which held Nox suspended. Through his Heavenly Eye, Alex saw mana begin to move around the man's head in what he assumed was a skill. "That's an intriguing idea. How would we deliver the Celestial mana to him, though? Before, we were willing to do it through small cuts from the enchanted items we found in the city. I don't think you'd want us doing that to your bond."

"Of course not," Olivia said quickly.

"You shouldn't need to do that. The Night feeds on mana, can't you just put the mana in the tube with him and let it get absorbed naturally?"

"We've tried that. However, their body consumes the mana, changing its effects as it enters their System. There is much less of a reaction that way. Hmm… but what if…" The doctor mumbled to himself with his finger tapping on his lip.

His two colleagues listened with great interest. A quick glance showed that both of them also had a skill running that seemed to pull their naturally leaking mana toward their heads. Dr. Borman spoke up soon after. "I think this is something we can do, but it will require a special plant that the Hunters have only brought in sparse amounts. And…"

"What is it?"

"I would like to study it."

"The plant?"

"No, the bond," Dr. Borman said, eyes still shining as he looked up at the lit tube.

"It?" Olivia's voice cut in on the conversation.

"Will you give us a second?" Alex asked, grabbing her arm and taking several quick steps away before any of them could respond. "Look, I know. He has zero social awareness. But he's a lab guy; there's no point in getting annoyed with him. And we need their help, Liv." He looked at her with wide eyes, trying to hold her eye contact as she attempted to glare at the doctor's back. "I can see the mana in his body clashing because of how much is leaking out of him. You have to be able to feel it from the bond. He needs some sort of help, and this is seriously the best I think we can hope for."

She deflated a bit. "I know we do. But… he's scared. He's scared he's going to die, and I don't want them to poke and prod at him for the sake of research if he is already in pain and discomfort."

"Why don't you let me talk to them? I'll stress that they can do research, but Nox's well-being and healing come first. I'll negotiate that you can stay here with Nox as much as you want, and watch over him and their treatment."

She mulled over the offer before nodding. "Make sure they know I can kick their ass if they do anything to him. I'll burn it—"

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll make sure they understand that you're tough." He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Go hang with the team and make sure you let Sam do a health check on you."

"It's not my blood," she said as she stalked away.

He let out a breath and turned back to the three scientists. "Dr. Borman," he said. When they were able to talk once again, Alex spent some time going back and forth over some details with the group. Dr. Borman could conduct tests with the expectation Nox was a bonded companion, and not a test subject. He would conduct tests only when they didn't hinder the growth or recovery of the shadow panther. Despite their initial resistance, they agreed to allow Olivia access to the lab whenever she desired. The only thing they asked was that she not touch anything and keep monitoring her companion.

Their attitude was that of excitement and some amount of entitlement as they talked through these things… that is, until he mentioned just how strong Olivia was. He pointed out her level and combat capabilities as gently as he could, though the message was still received.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Alex had to subdue his smile when he saw Dr. Borman pale. On a separate note, he told the researchers that he looked forward to working with them, and studying more magic. The entire group seem surprised, as if they didn't expect Alex to be interested in the use of magic with his physical appearance.

When the conversation was finished, Alex returned to his group and handed Olivia the slip of paper. "Take this to the front counter. They'll issue you another temporary badge that will let you get into this lab whenever you want. They just asked, very nicely, if you wouldn't touch anything while they're not here."

The relief on her face was visible, and she accepted the paper before leaving the room.

He sat down next to Mark and let out another tired breath, removing his hat at the same time.

"Hey, really, what took you so long?" Mark asked.

"They wanted to fight me."

"What? You're serious?" Mark asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. The first group recognized my hat, I guess, which is why I made it back so fast. They just said good luck and wanted to go on their way without me bothering them."

"The second group didn't recognize you? Maybe they're new?"

"No, they did too. I think they are new, but they'd clearly heard about me and recognized me when I approached. They were friendly at first, but then they wanted to fight. I don't think it was that serious, but they definitely wanted to see how strong I was."

"Did you fight them?"

Alex scoffed. "No. What would I do? Blast them all full of lightning? I used the barrier spell a few times and punched their frontliner hard enough to flatten him out. They stopped after that, and I apologized. They asked a few questions, and I told them they could find me here. I had to catch up to you all."

Mark laughed. "Isn't it funny that you don't even think that people swinging weapons at you and you punching someone in the face isn't considered fighting?"

They all laughed then, and more seemed to drift from the group.

"Jon's going to be in some trouble," Sarah commented into the quiet that followed.

"Why?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't think it's pretty obvious what happened when two of the aspects suddenly update as dead on the Rift quest, and a short time later, two of the most powerful fighters in the Rift come back in a team looking beaten and battered?"

"Ah, man." Mark shook his head.

"Dang… is that why he left so quickly?" Alex asked.

Sarah shrugged. "I'm sure he went to make a report."

"What if he just doesn't say anything. We can say it was us," Sam offered.

"No, he wouldn't do that. He'd think it was dishonest."

"Hmm, maybe we can talk to the higher-ups and explain what happened and that it was our doing. Jon was there, but it was really just from circumstance. What else was he going to do?"

"Maybe…" she said.

"It'll work out," he encouraged her. "For now, let's go clean up, and you guys can take a bit of a break. Check the admin building and make sure that we have our same rooms. I think we should plan to do most of our work and training from the fort over the next few weeks. The colony has been really good to us, but we should be here for Liv and Nox."

"'You guys can take a break?'" Sam echoed his statement as a question.

"I need to go back to the colony and release Lin Mei from her oath. Val, do you want to come?"

"Yes. I want to see baby spiders."

"Let her go? Just like that?" Sarah asked.

He shrugged. "We've completed both of our goals in coming here. All of you are strong. We operate as a fantastic team now and did everything we could to heal Nox." He glanced at the incubation tube and the subdued bond. "Now, it's just a matter of whether he can withstand the backlash from all that power in his body, and if he can recover with the researchers' help. There's no real reason for me to keep her oath. She can't go and warn concealment or Unity, and she's got some pretty dark plans about gaining power and seeking revenge."

"Makes sense," Mark said.

"Fair enough. Just be safe." Sarah's small, nervous smile matched the rest of the group.

He returned it with a confident one of his own. "I'll be back before tonight. I'll meet you guys in the common area."

Alex and Val made the trip to the deeper section of the Night territory and found the entrance to the spinner's cavern with little issue. As soon as he got out of range from the Hunter's fort, he activated his mirage combination and let the second Alex sprint off into the distance, looking for ways to train.

I really keep this running at all times now. With the time we have left in here, I need to figure out how to get the clone to have more physicality. Only a few levels left to push for it.

He hoped that with continued development and his intent to transform the skill into something more like a clone. If he could, the upcoming evolution would significantly boost his power and capabilities.

He had the brief thought of a Hunter team risking themselves to try and rescue one of his clones and winced, deciding then that he would have the mirage go as deep as possible into the Night territory to train.

On their way, he and Val only saw one other team, but they avoided them this time and continued moving.

Even further from the HA fort, the areas were thinning in monster density. Part of him wondered if that was due to the Hunters getting stronger and slowly venturing further out, or from the dwindling number of aspects.

When he arrived, he was greeted by several spinners, showing more enthusiasm than normal.

At his prompting, they guided him to a nearby chamber very similar to the one he'd stayed in during his first encounter with the creatures. When the webbed doorway was cut away, he saw Lin Mei sitting on the floor with mana circulating in a pattern around her.

It reminded him of the method Eura had taught him for circulating mana in his core, which had slowly fallen by the wayside over the last few months of constant training.

I'll need to pick that back up now that there will be more time for training again.

He scanned her and was startled to notice, for the first time, that her status readout had completely changed from the time he scanned her before the oath. Presumably, because of the oath, she no longer had a readout like a monster. Instead, it looked like any other System user.

"Lin," he said.

Her eyes opened, and the mana pattern was disrupted. "You're back? I wondered if you'd made it out alive."

"Huh…" he thought. He didn't know what would happen to the oaths if he passed away.

Would the System automatically release them?

Would they know I had passed?

He shook his head, making a mental note to ask Maelis later. "Come on, let's head out."

Lin nodded and stood. "These creatures are more powerful than I had realized," she said as she walked from the small alcove, giving the spinners a wide berth. "Did you know they can use qi techniques? Powerful ones, too."

"Oh? What happened?"

"I threw a jagged piece of rock at one of them when it came to let me out for a walk. It blocked the attack with a semi-translucent barrier and then made me sit in the alcove for another few hours." She seemed disappointed by the story, but told it anyway.

Alex laughed. He was happy to see that the spell circles were already being used by the few spinners who could.

The walk back to the main cavern they'd been staying in didn't take long; from there, the trip was more than familiar to the surface. He let his guide know he appreciated their help and would return to visit and continue teaching over the next several weeks.

Once they were alone, Lin spoke up and prodded Alex for some information for the first time. "Where do you and your friends come from? Is it west of Tianluo?"

"Hmm, no. We're from a long way off. The culture of the people here is really different from ours."

She bobbed her head as if expecting the answer. "I guessed as much. You do not speak like those pig-headed sect members, and do not think or act like cultivators."

"To be honest, I am looking forward to going home. But, there is still a lot to gain here, specifically, I'll start doing what I can to upgrade my eye and my mirage."

"The golden one? Is it not the eye of the Celestial sect? I assumed that if you weren't part of them, then you stole it as your right. Perhaps in combat?"

Her tone suggested flattery, and something about it made him uncomfortable. "No, it was a gift. From someone I hold close. Please don't speak ill of him."

Lin grew quiet and walked alongside him as they neared the surface.

Just before exiting the tunnel, he stopped and nodded out of the tunnel. "We've finished our mission, so I'm ready to release you from your oath. There's not much more you could do at this point to sabotage us. I'm sorry that I held you in it as long as I did, even when you asked to be released. The information was critical."

Lin shrugged. "It was the smart decision."

"Well, are you ready to cancel the oath?"

"What happens when we do?"

"Nothing. We go our separate ways. I hope not to see you again, since it will likely be as enemies. But your people seem resilient, having already lived this long in the Night environment."

"Okay, I've made my decision," she said seriously.

"All right, repeat after me—"

"No."

"No?"

"This one does not agree to releasing the oath."

"You-you don't…. Wut?" Alex felt his face contort and both eyebrows come together. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You said that both of us have to release the oath willingly. I would like to keep it," she said while clasping her hands in front of her and lowering her head.

"No, I get that. But why?

"I watched your people fight both in preparation for your quest and again in the heat of battle. Your people trust you, and your power is respectable, if unrefined. More interestingly, it does not seem to be stopped by a bottleneck, I see you easily climbing to the Heavens if you do not trip on your own feet."

"At the risk of sounding stupid for repeating myself… What the hell are you talking about?"

"This one used a technique to spy on your assault against the aspects. You have a power that I would like to obtain. I believe that if I follow you, I can gain the power that I desire."

His brain quickly caught up to what she was getting at and remembered glimpsing the small bit of mana that seemed to track them through the mission. "You want to follow me to get stronger? For what? To come back and wipe out the members of your sect?"

She shrugged, closed her eyes, and turned her head to the side. "It matters not. If that never comes to be, so be it. Pushing my limits toward the Heavens is my only goal, and it will happen by following you."

He sputtered for a moment before shaking his head. "No."

"No?" Lin asked.

"No. I don't want you to follow me or my team. Tell the truth. Why do you want to follow me?"

"To gain power," she answered instantly.

"That's the reason you wouldn't do well to follow me. I don't know what I'm doing here. I have a lot to learn, and those who are following me now do so because they're my friends. They've known me since before I had power, and we would do anything to support each other. You could say… that's part of our power. That is part of what makes us strong."

She looked more confused.

"I don't think that you want to work with others. You just want power for yourself. Right?"

"Of course," she nodded eagerly, seeming happy that he understood her motivations.

Alex covered his face before scratching his hair under the brim of his hat. "Look, Lin. This really just isn't going to work. Your culture is way too different. It's… too ruthless. We don't operate that way. I would never think of surpassing these people and coming back to injure them. Do you get that?"

"No," she said unblinking. "But I can learn."

"Do you mean that?"

"No. Gah!" She unclasped her hands and slapped her leg. "I can try! I do mean that honestly," she said quickly, beaming at the recovery.

Alex groaned loudly and turned away from her.

Would Maelis know how to get me out of this?

The thought made him feel tired. The spirit would likely find glee in Alex's current situation. He hadn't ever wanted Alex to swear the sect member in the first place.

"Look, fine. How about this? You can tentatively join us for the next three months. We'll see how that goes. I'll have you spend time with each of the team members. You will need to learn from them and do your best to understand our ways and what it means to be on a team.

"We'll likely fight less as a team and focus more on our own projects, but you can pair up with them one at a time. Your oath still holds, since you don't want to give it up. This is the only reason I'm willing to entertain this idea, you understand? If there is even a hint that you're attempting to circumvent the oath, then I'll do everything I can to break it and toss you back out into the Night."

Lin smiled widely, her narrow eyes closing in an innocent manner. "Of course! As you said, this one is still bound by the oath. I will do what I can to learn and be helpful. In return, I will learn to become strong from you and your people."

Alex groaned again and began walking from the tunnels with Lin close behind. "Don't make me regret this. Give me a few minutes to think. I need to figure out what we're going to do."

They walked on in silence for some time as Alex considered how he could handle the situation. He saw several possible routes to get Lin into the camp, the problem would be that they weren't just going to leave. They still had three months left in their rotation and he fully intended to get the most out of that time.

He let his mind split and thought through multiple scenarios. The one he landed on time and time again was one that he was hesitant to jump into. His relationship with the HA was growing, and it seemed to be going well. He just didn't want to reveal too many of his cards to the government organization if he didn't have to.

It's not like they won't figure this stuff out. Hell… they might already have a Planetary Title holder.

Alex sighed. "All right. I know what we need to do," he finally said.

Lin perked up and looked over at him.

"The security around the fort has gotten a lot tighter lately. I know we could sneak you in, but there are a ton of other complications with that. They've developed a way to check peoples mana signatures— er, qi signatures. So if we steal an ID for you or something, then they'll know that it's not yours. They've started to get wary of illusions and entering and exiting takes an ID check now. We also can't go get an ID made for you, since you're not on the slotted roster to enter the Rift. They've been strict about entering and exiting, so it'll just cause more headaches."

"So what do I do?"

"For now, I'm going to have you stay out here. I need to go and make a call to the higher-ups."

"Are you going to duel them?"

"What? No. I'm going to tell them the truth. We have a good relationship, and there's information here with the oaths and title that they could probably use. If they already know about it, then the only information I'm giving up is that I have one of the titles, which should make me more valuable as an ally to them. If they don't know, then it will look great that I'm the one giving them the information and willing to play nice, even though I'm not a part of the organization."

"Hmm, I think a duel sounds better."

Alex rolled his eyes. "No, we don't duel around here. Speaking of which, while you're out here waiting for me to come back and get you, don't kill anyone. Just use your illusions to stay out of sight, okay?" When Lin agreed, he continued. "For a while, after we get you in, I'm going to want you with one of us at all times. I know killing and crippling is much more common among your people, but you can't go around doing that here. It's not normal and will get you kicked out, or I'll have to deal with the issues. I'm sure the Director will want to witness the oath working for himself and make sure I'm not bringing in some sort of sleeper agent. I don't want to give you an order not to kill people, I know that the oath will hold you to that. You should always have the ability to defend yourself, but things will get ugly if you're caught. So, for now, you're going to be tied to someone's hip at all times. If anyone on the team tells you to do something, or not to do something, you need to listen to them, all right?"

"This one understands," she said, somehow managing to bow at the waist while jogging.

"And stop bowing…"

The conversation continued as they made their way back to the HA area. His anxiety grew as they went over immediate bits of mannerisms that she needed to adjust. Lin agreed readily to everything he said, and he was impressed at how quickly she adapted to the demands on the spot.

As they approached the walls of the HA fort, she moved off in her own direction, saying that she would wait for him to return and stay out of sight.

Alex continued on by himself, running through the conversation he'd have with the Director and how he could present the functions of the Planetary Titles in a way that wouldn't make him seem like a threat on the horizon. The more he thought about it, the less of an issue he thought it would be, but if the Deputy Director was there, Alex knew that there would just be an overwhelming number of questions to answer and likely a future protocol to follow.