NOVEL NEXT Chapter 111 - The Problem with {Psyche}
From the moment she'd opened her mouth, Malwine regretted having asked. She knew all too well that if she'd waited a moment longer, she'd have backed out once again—perhaps it would have been for the best if she had.
"Of all the things you've asked… That is a peculiar question," Veit noted dryly. He seemed neither annoyed nor confused, features twisting with a level of blatant pensiveness that was very much unlike him. "That is not a category most would think about, in no small part given how it is absent from the Visible Status Effects panel when not in use."
"Well, I—"
"Read about it?" the forester asked. His eyes were moving rapidly as his scowl deepened, gears clearly turning in his head.
All at once, Malwine felt very stupid. She'd glossed over the likelihood of him suspecting why she asked when she'd weighed the pros and cons of the choice. Once she'd gotten it into her head that she was wasting an opportunity by not consulting this with him, she'd been at war with herself. Trying to push forward before she talked herself out of it had taken precedence over everything else.
Refusing to meet his gaze, Malwine sighed.
"Is this about your mother?" Veit asked, eyeing her. She didn't have to look up to get the impression that he was being a bit judgmental.
"I shouldn't have asked," she muttered, her exhaustion forgotten as she tried to think of an out, all while knowing there probably wasn't one.
To her surprise, his next words weren't just a demand that she explain. "Would it be harmful your mother, you, or your family if we were to discuss this?"
Bewildered, Malwine finally turned to him. Her immediate reaction would have been to say 'no', but should she? Any urge to lie would have been born of her desire to avoid the conversation, not out of any true justification. Being honest about it might be worth it, though she genuinely hadn't expected him to react like this. He'd seen through her so quickly—goddammit, Veit, why can't you be a bit slower on the uptake?—yet unlike when she'd accidentally outed herself as a Forger, he didn't seem angry in the slightest.
If she hadn't built this image in her head of him being this grumpy old man she could spend her time annoying, she would have believed he looked genuinely concerned for once. As if he were… Not someone she had a deal with, suddenly worried about whether it'd be fulfilled, but someone whose student said something that concerned them and they were trying to get to the bottom of it.
"No, not quite," Malwine shook her head. "At least I don't think so."
"Is this about your mother, then?" Veit seemed to take her answer as permission to repeat his question. With a wave of his hand, glass manifested, shifting in a kaleidoscope of colors until a chair stood there, for him to sit on. He leaned forward, fingers intertwining as he clasped his hands.
Veit sat there. Waiting. During their first true argument, he hadn't let her evade his questions in peace. The sight of him just waiting for her to say something was more jarring than any other reaction she could think of could have ever been.
Malwine scrambled to get her story straight—though thinking of it like that might have been inaccurate. For once, she technically didn't have to lie about anything. Her connection to the widow, the matter of how some aspects of the system clearly still saw her as an otherworlder—none of that mattered. This all came from Beryl.
"It is," she confirmed, glancing at the panel that was the source of all her problems ever. I'm not even exaggerating!, she insisted to herself.
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[Lament of a Salvation Denied] Cast by F̵̋̽͜l̴̠̰͑̌ō̸̫̗̹͔̿ş̵̗̬̬̌̆͛̑b̵̪̩̫̽̒̕l̴͍̻̿͊̆ò̴̼̣̈̀͌m̶̧̰͙̭̌ḙ̷̓̍ of the Court of U̴̘̻͖̗͂͂n̴̙̐̎̏̏f̸̘̈̉́̏ȁ̶͎͚̲̠͐t̴̝̀͂ẖ̵̻̍̀̅ȏ̵̯́̈́̀m̶̨͔̱̍͊ā̸͎́b̷̧̥̠̖̒́̃͋ļ̴̥͕̣̌̈e̵͙͙̻̒̎͘͜ ̶̦͙̓͑F̸̨͙̳̱͌̚û̶͍͎͇͊̉t̸̳̣͕̾͝u̸̪͔̗͎̾͛r̵̦̹͋̆̊͘é̵̬̙̀s̴͍̦̃̿́͗ MAY YOU AND YOURS NEVER AGAIN KNOW A HAVEN, USURPER BERYL RĪSANIN. MAY YOUR FLOWERS NEVER BLOOM, AND MAY YOUR LAST DAY COME TOO SOON. |
Bringing up a new panel and an oversized quill to copy what she could of the text—wasting the chance for some extra Skill leveling would have been foolish even under such serious circumstances—Malwine screwed her eyes shut. [Mental Defense] meant the panel itself had next to no impact on her by now, but Elflorescence's unreadable name presented her with a problem.
She wanted to write out what she felt when she touched upon the panel, not what she couldn't read—if that even made sense.
| Your [Write Anything] Skill has improved! 14 → 16 |
"That makes a terrible amount of sense," Veit said within a moment.
Malwine shot him a look, confused. Was that seriously the first thing that came to mind for him? "What do you mean?"
"Because approximately nothing relating your mother has made sense until now. From her disappearance, to her apparent impairment, and her having just placed you in stasis before dumping you here," the forester continued. "If she knew you would have inherited this Curse from her, she likely used stasis as a way to ensure your survival. Your awareness during it could be attributed to her presumable inexperience with such a thing, and the timing of your awakening to the real world might imply the process was only sustained until you were strong enough to survive this Curse on your own. The Skill levels you gained before then must have played a part."
He ran a hand through his hair before standing and beginning to pace. Malwine wasn't sure how to interpret his expression just then.
"How does the Curse manifest for you? What does it affect, beyond its phrasing?"
"I have a negative multiplier on my stats."
"Of…?"
"Minus ninety-nine percent."
Veit shot her an incredulous look before shaking his head. "Beryl Rīsanin—just how would she go about pissing off someone like that?"
"She existed, probably," Malwine shrugged. "That's about as much as I did, and I still had it for as long as I remember."
"Which Affinity was it?"
Considering he'd known enough to say she was lucky to never have planted {Ore}, maybe it shouldn't have surprised her that he immediately reached that conclusion. "{Foresight}. How can you tell?"
"The name there. Given the lack of a title, I would presume it to be a Banate Court, not a Royal Court. Unfathomable Futures, it reads," Veit voiced out slowly, as if watching some dots connect. "Flōsblome of Unfathomable Futures. Not someone I recognize, but undeniably fell."
"I've guessed as much," Malwine admitted with a sigh. The Skill levels she'd gotten suddenly felt all the more well-earned, considering she'd succeeded at conveying what the real panel said, if Veit could make it out. "Flōsblome is the name? I've been thinking of the motherfucker as Elflorescence because why not," she gave him a glance that dared him to comment on her language. Her eyes widened a second later. "Wait. Is it safe to say that aloud? Elves and fell and all. I don't know, I've read some funny stuff about names."
He must have known what she meant. "To my knowledge, that's superstition at most—likely born of the protections around seafarer names, which cannot be uttered without permission. The seablooded naturally make up most of the fell present under the wave, and the terms are prone to confusion. Most people hear one or the other and don't know the difference," Veit clarified. "Do you have any more surprise fell Affinities sitting on your Mana Sources panel? I'd like to know before we proceed."
She didn't think she had any others, but how was she to know for sure at this point?
"Ugh, give me the thing."
With a grumble, Malwine projected her real, full Affinities this time around.
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Mana Sources for Malwine Rīsanin Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: rgba(236, 240, 241, 1)"><strong>Other Affinities:</strong> <strong>Ore III</strong> <Rare></span></p> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Veit remained quiet for an uncomfortably long time. "Why are you like this?" "I don't know, man," Malwine tried her best to pretend the comment didn't affect her, shrugging. "I was just born this way." The fact that he did seem to find a problem with her list of Mana Sources did not bode well for what little remained of her general peace of mind. Shaking his head, the forester let out a drawn-out sigh. "First, I can see why that deity mistook you for a Lorekeeper." "…Do I want to know?" Veit ignored her question. "{Legacy} and {Perpetuity} are their signature Affinities. The good news for you is that they aren't the fell—they do not care for such things. Not to mention, their presence in this world might as well be nonexistent, for all that does bring questions as to just how you ended up with it." "I thought it was normal for children to just randomly develop Affinities their parents didn't have?" Malwine said, unconvincingly. "Normal? …Strictly speaking, it isn't abnormal. But it isn't common, and most importantly," he took in a deep breath that came off as so excessive that Malwine couldn't tell if he was trying to calm himself down or make her take him more seriously, "Affinities that spontaneously manifest with no precedent in a bloodline don't show up as Timeless. They all start at the first tier." "Huh. Didn't know that." "It isn't my place to speculate on your parentage," was all Veit said before he moved on—or at least, before he tried to move on. "Doesn't that mean all Affinities started out like that? If Affinities start on the first tier, grow with each generation, and can just randomly show up, doesn't that mean they all exist because someone in the past randomly got them?" That was an interesting detail Malwine genuinely hadn't considered before. She already didn't put much emphasis into the intrinsic value of any particular bloodline, given how there were clearly other ways to attain Affinities—not to mention generations could be skipped—but outright spelling it out like that felt like a great revelation. "That would not be inaccurate, though most if not all Affinities have existed for so long that not even the oldest Immortals know where they were first seen," Veit said. "As I was saying, there's nothing wrong with possessing the {Legacy} Affinity, but I recommend you keep that close to your chest." Ha! I have a Skill for that. Literally. "If you couldn't tell what my Affinities were, is that really a problem?" "Yes and no. Almost all forms of mana sense that enable the detection of Affinities require understanding. Being able to feel the power doesn't guarantee someone will recognize it for what it is, if they have no knowledge to identify it with. But you should always operate under the assumption that someone out there might know. Being mistaken for a Lorekeeper in person would be much harder to handle than when you encountered that god through your panels." "…Okay," Malwine nodded. To say she was more than a little bit peeved would have been an understatement. On top of all the fell gatekeeping bullshit and the existence of the Tacit Saint, the best of her Affinities was apparently also controversial. "The others are alright, though? It's not like I can get double cursed over {Foresight}…" Now, she wished she could plant {Ore} on the spot out of sheer spite. "{Vestige} is probably fine," Veit conceded. It sounded like a peace offering. Malwine narrowed her eyes. "{Implicit} might also be troublesome, however. Its Saint has… a reputation. Not something I couldn't handle if it came to that, but I would very much rather not have to get involved at all." She winced. That wasn't unsurprising, but a part of her had hoped the Tacit Saint's dislike of rivals wasn't just common knowledge. It being so implied patterns, beyond what Hildegard had told Adelheid. "Did your mother have all of these?" Veit asked. "I'm aware everyone seems to be ignoring your grandmother was a cultivator, but in all my time here, I've never sensed anything that disproves the assessment that the rest of your family save the girl are all mortals." "She has or had {Foresight}," Malwine sighed. Can you keep something secret for me?, she almost asked. It probably went without saying, yet she still kept fearing any extra detail she added might just be the straw that broke the camel's back after everything she'd shared. "Do you remember what I told you, about the trials I could run?" "I recall that." "From that, I know Katrina Skrībanin had {Foresight} and {Ore}. My grandmother," Malwine explained before adding: "I don't know about my mother, but Katrina fought the fell. I saw it during the trial. She died killing three of them." Veit froze. "Did that happen on the mangal surrounding this estate?" "Eh?" The question caught Malwine off-guard. She made an effort to remember the setting of Katrina's death, though at the time she'd been distracted by how the trial seemed to be glitching out. "Maybe?" The forester closed his eyes. "So that was what it was." "What was what?" Malwine prodded. Since she had her grandmother's obit, she hadn't really put much thought into the aftermath of her death, or even where she'd died, but now she was curious. "Some years back, your guardian asked me to canvass the area and seek any signs of your mother's fate." I don't know how I feel about Bernie asking for that. Did she think something would actually pop up? Malwine just bit her lip as Veit continued. "I found three skeletons, specifically—before you ask, I've since reburied them," Veit clarified as he sat back down—given his {Bone} Affinity, he probably felt the need to. "It goes without saying that human beings take those with them when they dissolve into obits. Everything goes. Which left the fell, and specifically the seablooded, as the only potential explanation that seemed reasonable." "…Damn." Veit's hut was practically in the mangal. Had they been close to those whenever she visited them? She wasn't bothered by the idea of a nearby burial so much as the fact that she'd missed out on any chance at getting to see them. "You asked me, if I knew how one would go about removing a curse," Veit sighed, leaning back on his chair. "If this weren't a curse from the fell, I would tell you I could handle it. Normally, permanent status effects can be dismissed by force. It would be a matter of overpowering it, or at least matching it for long enough to win a battle of attrition against it. The cost of a curse is one the caster pays so long as the curse remained. Whichever [Toll] Flōsblome of Unfathomable Futures accrued to curse your mother is [Toll] they will never recover so long as the curse is in place—I would hazard a guess that the cost likely doubled upon your birth, actually." "Why do I feel a 'but' coming?" "Because it is. A curse from the fell is something far from the norm. Regardless of which Affinity a particular Court stands for, {Psyche} is the signature Affinity of their entire Kind, and almost all magic they weave stems from it by default. {Psyche}… Not much is known about its details—it's not as if anyone's gotten one of them to share. But it is an Affinity of control, and not only of minds. It is about making something be true for anyone affected. If you want that curse gone, you would need someone to overwhelm it in the same way in which it was made." Malwine considered this. "So I'd literally just need to find someone with {Psyche}? Someone stronger than Elflo— than Flōsblome." "The issue is that you will not. {Psyche} is a fell Affinity." She scoffed. "Like {Foresight} and {Ore} are?" "No. It isn't an Affinity they fashion themselves the custodians of. It is genuinely an Affinity unique to them, by virtue of their Kind." At that, Malwine did stiffen. "Well. Shit." "…That reaction is understandable," Veit said. "My recommendation to you would be to work towards getting yourself… ninety-nine percent worth of attribute bonuses. I shan't pretend that would be easy, but it is the only realistic solution I can suggest." That's… not that far from what I was already doing. Granted, [Enforced Longevity] only mitigated the penalty for a short time, but she wasn't about to deny she was disappointed that after exposing this much to him, his idea of a solution still amounted to little more than what she'd already thought of. "How would I get bonuses like that?" "The simplest way would be Traits. You would have to sacrifice many a slot to it, but that might genuinely be the only way to counter something like that. I… I find it regretful that I cannot suggest a more meaningful solution." "Ugh. It's fine," Malwine assured him. It was very much not fine. "As for the rest… We will be making some changes to your training schedule, by necessity. Working on your ability to hide your power has become a priority." "I have a training schedule?" Veit shot her a glare that somehow lightened the mood. That's more like it. She quite preferred seeing her teacher be annoyed at her over having him looking like he actually worried about her wellbeing. |