The Grand Weave

About an hour later, with my storage space filled with tons of extra food from all the various stalls Teddy showed me, I followed the big man back to the inn. The best way to end the eating tour was undoubtedly by laying down on some cloud furniture. I sunk like a stone into a large pink cloud of cosmic fluff and embraced my inner sloth. If it weren't for Teddy calling my name, I would have fallen asleep the moment my eyes closed shut.

"Wh-whmph?" I pushed myself up enough so the cloudy material no longer blocked my head. "What is it? Did you call my name?" I asked slowly.

Teddy shook his head and rested his head on his hand. "You never answered my question. What do you see yourself doing in the future?" His words were serious again, even with the relaxed smile he sported.

I begrudgingly fully sat up and crossed my legs underneath me. "I don't really know? I have massive gaps in my overall knowledge about how things work. And I guess my goals are pretty vague without Sam here to push me in any direction."

"Anything in particular. Anything at all that you want to work towards?"

I paused and gave it some thought. In truth, I already had an answer to this question. It was easy to answer, and I felt it etched inside my soul. The simmering rage, the one always beneath the surface of my thoughts, lurking, waiting, ready to strike and remind me of the things that plagued my dreams at night, provided an answer to Teddy's question.

"I want to get stronger. I want to become powerful enough that I'll never be in a situation where I feel as useless and pathetic as I watched my best friend, my sister, get dragged into the void. Outside of that? I don't know. Ask me how I want to accomplish that goal? I can't say because I don't know what's best. I have no idea where to start."

The acid filling my voice was hard to control. Teddy wasn't who I was angry at, and he was most likely asking me this question to help me. I had to settle for clicking my fangs together, the simple, odd motion giving me something to shift my focus away from the anger.

Teddy didn't frown, and he didn't wince or give me a sympathetic look. He matched the intensity of my stare and cracked a bright smile. "That's a clearer goal than none. I assume then that means one of the first things you want to do is fill up your skill slots. The number of slots you have is personal, but I have to ask. Are you able to reach true ascendence?"

"You mean all fifteen slots? Then yes, I have ten for active and five for passive—three actives, one passive. I have... err, do racial skills count as one of your slotted skills? Because I already know I can't increase the skill directly like I can the others."

Teddy's eyes perked up as I openly shared private information about my skills. On the last question, he shook his head. "No, racial skills and acquired skills outside of skillstones do not count against your slot total."

"Good to know. Then yeah, I only have three active filled."

"Do you know your affinities? I can already guess fire and nature. It's unusual to have high affinity with opposite aspects, but it's not unheard of."

I didn't answer him right away. As willing as I was to trust him and divulge most of my status, I was unsure about revealing my identity. About a week and a half. That was how long I had technically known the guy. But, being honest with myself, I wanted to trust him. I wanted to have someone who could help me so that I didn't need to hide and be selective with information regarding me. The morning spent with him going out of his way to show me the city and talk with me heavily weighed in on my decision.

"That answer is a bit complicated. Not sure how to put it."

Teddy conjured a small leather sack into his hand. He reached inside it and fumbled around for a couple of seconds before finding what he was looking for. He pulled out a small sphere with more than a dozen gemstones embedded in the white crystalline shell.

He tossed the thing to me, and I caught it with my right hand. As I brought it closer to my face to inspect all the different gems, he explained what the device was. "Wasn't sure I still had the thing. It's rare for one's affinities to go up, but it does happen sometimes. This is called an Aspelo Sphere. When you channel your mana into it, the device will examine your mana and light up the corresponding gems according to your affinity. This is a simpler version than the one the temple uses, but it should do for now. The more advanced device can tell you in specific percentages how high your affinity is, but this one is simpler, so we'll rely on how brightly lit the gems are. Go ahead and give it a go."

I ran my thumb across a purple gemstone and felt the cool glass texture against my skin. Instead of channeling my mana like instructed, I set the ball down in my lap and looked up at Teddy. "Before I do this, I need to ask. Is this place safe? Nobody else can see or hear us in here? And while I trust you, I would prefer if we kept this a secret between us for now. Once I do this, there might be more to explain than you initially thought," I said carefully.

"We should be safe here. This is a v.i.p. room, so Uzu puts in a lot of serious runes to prevent scrying or anything of the sort. Still, give me a second," he replied. I felt mana pulse out of him, and the golden circle in his eyes lit up again. I couldn't see exactly what he did, but the feeling was the same as the last time he used his skill back at the fountain. "There, as an added measure, I'm adding an illusion around us. That way, even if somebody can see into this room, all they will see is us sleeping. I can't do anything about sound, so you'll have to rely on my word when I said Uzu warded the rooms well enough."

I felt silly at the extent of caution I was going to, but I felt safer this way. Looking back at how easily Sam and I revealed our statuses to Brelten and Talis, I wanted to smack myself in the head. It was through sheer luck that we didn't somehow get murdered or imprisoned back then.

"All right then, here I go."

How silly would things be if nothing happened or all of my cautions were for nothing? I'm not sure I could emotionally handle it if Teddy just laughed at me for being silly.

I closed my eyes and sunk into my soulspace. The wisps of light danced along the water, but I ignored them for now. This time, I started to funnel some mana out of my chest and into my hands, following along like a spectral ghost as the liquid energy rushed through my body. It was hard to follow the mana out of my body and into the sphere, but I briefly caught a glimpse of what was happening.

My mana pushed into the crystal skin of the sphere with little resistance. If anything, the device seemed to greedily welcome in the mana. I wasn't skilled enough to watch for more than a second, but I saw that my mana entered a central grey area where it branched off into thin wire-like lines connected to each gem.

As I pulled my consciousness away from my soulspace and returned to the physical world, I looked down at my hand and saw exactly what I was expecting. Glowing brightly with coloured light, every gem was lit like a Christmas bulb. I turned the sphere slowly examined it from all angles, and confirmed that every gem was equally lit.

When I turned my attention to Teddy, I met his surprised stare. His jaw was slack, and his eyebrows were raised. After watching me slowly spin the Aspelo sphere in my hands, he regained his composure and sat up with his back completely straight.

"I understand now why you were being so cagey. This is rather unheard of. The highest recorded amount of affinities was from a half-elemental half-dwarf woman, and she only had seven. And with how bright they are glowing, I'd say you have near-perfect affinity in everything." His voice had a current of amazement, but I detected something negative trailing behind it. When his neutral expression slowly dripped into a tight frown, I instinctively squeezed down on the sphere.

"Aaaah! Don't squeeze too hard; the thing may not look it, but it's incredibly fragile," he called out.

I relaxed the pressure and tossed him the device. He caught it easily and made it disappear. Not wanting to be the first to say something, I waited for the questions to start flowing.

Instead of starting a round of interrogation, he sat there silently. When I began to show my confusion, he blinked and then cocked his head. Finally, after more than five minutes of silence, I mentally cursed the man in my head and sighed deeply.

"Alright, what gives? Why are you silent?" I asked suspiciously.

Teddy flashed his pearly whites and leaned back into his cloud chair. "I have plenty of questions," he answered nonchalantly.

A flash of anger flared up. It was starting to feel like he was mocking me. "And why don't you ask them then? Or was your reaction fake when I used the device?"

"I believe I've proven myself as an honest individual, Cyrus. The reaction was genuine."

"Then why?"

"Why not bombard you with a hundred questions? That's easy to answer. I respect your privacy. You've already shown enough trust in me to reveal critical information about yourself. I have no intention of pushing past what you are willing to voluntarily give. But do not mistake my silence as a direct insult to your person. If Celanae were here, she'd have dozens of journals ready to be filled with the very same questions I want to ask you," he explained calmly.

As he explained, I felt a surge of anger trying to take hold of me, but it quickly dissipated. I briefly entertained the thought of punching Teddy but soon found myself laughing at the unexpected turn of events. My mind was struggling to keep up with the situation.

Teddy continued to smile at me kindly while I cackled like a maniac. Once I calmed down, I wiped a tear from my eye and attempted to mimic his posture. However, within five seconds, I sank back into the soft, comfortable cloud furniture.

"You know what? Screw, trying to be careful and safe. You said that you trust me, so I'll reciprocate the same right back. This should answer most of your questions, though I won't promise it won't lead to more."

I pulled up the sleeve on my left arm, folding the material back to my elbow. With the material cleared, I extended my hand, palm up so that he could clearly see my arm. As I brought my will to bare, my legacy mark appeared. The red symbol depicting a circle containing an upside-down triquetra etched itself onto my skin. With my pale body, the red stood out like an angry welt.

This time, when I looked at Teddy, wanting to see his reaction, I flashed my fangs. There was no smile, not this time. "So, I'll ask again. Any questions?"

He closed his mouth and chuckled. "Fine. You got me. I wasn't expecting that. Hell of a way to trump somebody. On the bright side, the others owe me money."

"You guys bet on me? That's a little twisted."

"We always have one major bet in place at all times. Helps make things fun during all the parts that suck. But, ignoring all that, for now. I can confidently say that Isaac was right. Whenever we return to the capital, it will be an interesting experience, for sure."

"What do you mean?"

He waved his hand dismissively, warding off my question. As he raised his palm into the air, a metallic cube appeared in his hands. It was easy to notice all the runework etched into the metal, for the cube's surface had next to no space left that was not inscribed.

He lowered the cube into his lap and placed a hand on top. The etched lines glowed a brilliant gold. Unfortunately, my weird translating power did not let me decipher the runes. I did, however, recognize the largest rune on the front of the cube.

There was little Brelten could teach me about runes simply because the actual practice of enchanting was a closely guarded trade secret. I was given a brief lecture about a few standard runes to look out for. One of those runes was the symbol for 'lock.'

With both hands on the cube, different symbols started to dim while others glowed brighter. After a dozen seconds, there was a loud clicking noise, and the small metallic box opened.

Teddy gently placed the opened box in front of him and then spun it around so I could see inside. "There'll be plenty of time for you to share your story. And hopefully, you'll be able to trust the others enough to share it with them. Still, thank you for trusting me enough to reveal what you have. However, in the future, I suggest you don't, which is a little hypocritical of me. Some people might not be able to recognize the significance of why your symbol is upside down, but plenty of people will. We have grown up on stories about the legendary Reborns. Growing up, several books we had to read expanded upon how they affected history both famously and infamously."

When he referred to Reborns as legendary, I felt a slight sense of revulsion. Although Brelten had previously explained this, a part of me resisted the notion. It evoked the idea that my future was predetermined and unchangeable, as if I was destined to be a disaster waiting to happen. But I refuse to accept this idea of fate.

I ground my teeth and tried to slow my breathing. "I understand," I said as neutrally as possible.

"Can't wait till Celanae finds out. She'll probably be your biggest fan. She's always reading those fiction books about you guys. She used to hide it, embarrassed and all that. Now though? She's secretly converted Igas and Isaac to her cult, worshipping some author. I believe she told me she was on book number thirty-two of the guy."

After pausing to chuckle at his own words, Teddy patted the rim of the opened metal box. "You said you wanted to gain more power. You need strength; to do that, you must fill your slots. Then let me offer this to you as an exchange. As a fellow legacy-bearer to another, I'll offer you a single skillstone if you agree to mutually share our legacy's description. What do you say?"

I counted two rows of metallic shelves inside the box as I looked down. Five stones were slotted into the first row and four into the second. Each crystal was, at minimum, tier two.

The answer was obvious. "I accept. Do you want me to share my status screen?" I asked.

"I got a better idea. We can make this official since we both have a legacy," he said. Suddenly, the light in the room shifted, and the surrounding corners dimmed. Teddy held out his arm, and his legacy mark blazed on his wrist. Where my symbol was red, his was blue. "I, Theodore Lightcrest, initiate an exchange of information. From one ascendant to another, I offer this strand of my tapestry. I consent to the binding by the Grand Weave. Do you accept?"

There was a burning itch along my wrist, and I caught the red legacy mark blazing with a red light. The air felt heavy, and Teddy's words rang in my ear. With his right hand extended, I could almost see a ghostly image of a single golden thread wrapped around his hand and extending out from his fingers. There was a flash of memories that raced through my thoughts.

I was aware of what needed to be done without any conscious effort. Even though my brain tried to convince me that I shouldn't know this information, it felt like second nature. Using my memories as a guide, I extended my left hand, and a faint gold thread emerged from my middle finger. When Teddy leaned in, I grabbed his wrist and connected our threads.