52 — The Next Step

Metal struck metal, ringing out in a mesmerising sound. Jennifer could hear the faint ring of her master's working even through the many wards present in his shop.

Jennifer went around the store, entering the store from a side alley. She felt the tingle of mana pass over her skin as she walked in, pouring from the smithy down where her Master continued working.

<Master/Work-Home? Xar can feel magic. Lots of it.> Xar sent and Jennifer smiled.

“Yeah, master has quite a few items that have mana in them. Not surprising, he’s a [Runesmith] after all. The best one around,” Jennifer said with a smile.

<False. Jennifer knows crafting guild head Valencia is better.> Xar said and Jennifer gave him a mental shove with her telepathy. Which did nothing as he shoved her back instead, easily beating her weak abilities.

<So unfair> Jennifer sent back, and she felt a smug happiness come from Xar.

<Jennifer needs to just get good> Xar replied, and she snorted.

Jennifer went to her chamber, taking out her little chalk, and inscribing stone for enchanting. She paused when she noticed how she’d stopped relying on written inscriptions for a while, with her enchantments.

<Different magic style. Faster. But weaker.> Xar said.

Jennifer nodded, manifesting a shard of glass. “[Twofold Enchantment]” she voiced her skill as she felt [Resonant Mana Runes] activate. Waves of mana pulsed through her glass, as the glass began to glow a bright light before she cut off the inscription.

“I have a lot of skills I haven’t paid enough attention to don’t I?” Jennifer muttered out loud.

Perhaps I can go to Nathaniel and have him actually train me. I’ll need to reach out to him in regards to my soul anyways. I have a feeling the damage along with the fusion’s effects won’t just be limited to a simple change in hair color.

“Is that you lass? Come on down here!” her master called out from below. Jennifer let her glass shatter, fading into motes of mana before she began to head down.

“Grab me the mithril ingot—” Her master paused as he stared at her. “What happened to your hair?”

Jennifer smiled awkwardly. It never got any less strange to go through this so many times. She didn’t have to do anything, as Xar spoke up on his own.

<Hello! My name/call/sound is Xardhviladrothic! Nice to meet you, Jennifer’s master!>

Jennifer stifled a laugh as she saw her master’s eyes bulge in surprise, as he stared at her. She could sense him turning wary, and decided to interject before things got any worse.

“It’s my friend master. Come on out Xar,” Jennifer said as Xar walked down her shoulder and onto her hand.

“This is Xardhviladrothic, master. Xar for short. He’s my friend,” She said, and she saw her master stare at Xar, as he raised one of his legs, waving them as she’d told him people did when greeting others.

“You may want to take a seat before I start,” Jennifer said, and she saw her master’s confused face go up from Xar, and towards her.

“Aye, lass, think I might need a drink or two as well, to meet your new… friend,” her master said, and Jennifer closed her eyes.

<You’re ready?> she asked Xar.

<Xar is always ready!> Xar exclaimed and Jennifer nodded. Their marks hummed as one as magic flowed, and a link formed between them and her master.

<This is me master. Jennifer. You’ll see some things now. Don’t be too surprised.>

Her memories of the past five months began to flow through the link.

❖❖❖

Jennifer exhaled loudly. Forming a link with her mind, even with Xar’s help had drained her, she could feel her Master’s mind as a mess of complex thoughts as her memories flooded him. She hadn’t shown him the entirety of her past. The events far too many to properly explain. But she’d shown him most things that she felt had been important.

She’d relied on him before, to be there when she’d been falling apart. Yet, a part of her had always felt that he didn’t understand. A part of her couldn’t help but wish he’d remembered things. And now he did. Now she could show him, and Jennifer felt a strange sense of relief fill her at that.

“Lass, I… This has happened before. I know. I remember it. I saw it. But— Give me a moment Jennifer. I just need a moment,” her master said and Jennifer smiled.

“It’s intense isn’t it? I get it. Well. I don’t actually. I’ve been living through this for a while now, so I’m somewhat used to it now,” Jennifer replied.

<Together now. Will win.> She heard Xar speak to her.

“Aye lass… I’m still inclined to believe the spider has taken over ye mind somehow and this is some kind of twisted abomination sitting on yer shoulders,” her master said, turning to look at Xar.

<Rude!> Xar exclaimed, and Jennifer pet him gently. She knew he wasn’t really offended, but instead pleased to be found intimidating, and that amused Jennifer immensely.

“You know that’s not true. If you don’t trust me then-”

“No, I do. I trust ye lass. I know. It’s just a lot to take in. Even yer magic is different now. Yer aura, all of it. It’s different. There’s something more to it now, something that hadn’t been there the last time ye’d shown this to me. I’d ask how yer blade is doing, but I suppose I already know that. It saved yer life and that’s all that matters. It’ll be back soon,” her master said, getting up from his chair.

Jennifer raised her eyebrows as he walked closer. “I know we’ve got a lot to talk about, lass. But, come here for a second.”

Jennifer stared at him for a moment, before he got up, walking closer. Her eyes widened in surprise a bit as her master hugged her, patting her back gently.

“This ain’t like me I know. But for a moment, I saw the demon’s face. And I saw you there. Dying. And I felt like I’d lost you lass. I’m sorry you have to bear so much. I’m sorry the world has been put on your shoulders child. But thank you. Thank you for coming back,”  Her master replied, his voice quavering at the end.

Jennifer tried to laugh, but her voice got stuck in her throat, as her master hugged her tighter. She felt Xar send a comforting emotion through their bond and she felt something wet travelling down her cheeks.

“This is so unfair…” Jennifer said, in a quavering voice. “I always end up crying to you don’t I? I wasn’t even planning on it… I have Xar back. I have you. And you know this time. For five months, no one knew. No one but Xar. But now you know. You remember. And I… why am I so weak in front of you,” Jennifer replied, her voice breaking as tears flowed freely from her eyes and she felt her master’s warm hands gently pat her back.

“It’s alright to cry lass. All of us need to cry sometimes. It’s alright to be afraid, and worried. Ye wouldn’t be human if ye didn’t cry lass. I’m here this time. I’ll be there for ye lass. We can do this,” her master said, and Jennifer buried her face in her master’s shoulders, as silent tears flowed freely from her eyes.

<Together. Allies. Will win. Strong.> Xar sent, and she sensed his resolve.

Jennifer sniffed, wiping her tears as she pulled away, smiling shyly. “Thank you master. Thank you for always being there,” Jennifer said.

“What can I say lass, I always knew ye were a bit of a troublesome apprentice, have to keep an eye on ye, ye know?” Her master replied as Jennifer smiled.

“Well, enough of that now,” Haireth said, stepping away awkwardly. “Let’s talk about how to save the damn city.”

❖❖❖

“A crack in your soul, right,” Haireth said, frowning. Jennifer nodded. A lot of the talks had proceeded smoothly due to Xar’s mark, as they’d navigated through the various memories.

Jennifer had to pause at the raw fury she’d felt when they’d gone through her first death with the [Sand Mage] and then with the Demon mark. She could sense a lot of reprimands her master was about to send her way, but had held back.

“That’s a concern. It’s clear that yer mark works with the soul somehow. Seeing how it’s engraved in there all neatlike. But soul magic… is taboo for many reasons. Ye saw the result of what happens when it’s used when the dragon woke up.”,” Haireth said, taking a sip from a mug filled with Dark Ale.

“We need yer prince to interfere, most likely. Ye really are far too impulsive lass. Running head on into yer problems all the time. Like throwing a brick at a wall, hoping it’d break down,” he said, staring at her.

<Jennifer was stupid, Xar agrees> Xar spoke up, using a mix of telepathy and mind magic to speak to both of them. Something he’d picked up on just now, allowing him to talk as if he was speaking with a mouth.

“Can ye sense the Demon now? With yer spider friend’s mark?” her master asked and Jennifer turned towards Xar, who gave her a shrug. Jennifer paused, surprised at how he’d mentally communicate such a physical gesture, before she shook her head.

“We can check, yes. But for that, I’ll need to be close to the demon, which is fairly problematic. I suspect the demon may remember some things as well. Alongside who I am. My mark wasn’t able to remove Rumina’s form that it’d taken, and it was capable of using Soul Magic.”

Her master hummed for a moment, thinking. “Well, if the monster knows, then we need to get yer fixed up quick. And… Sera damn me, I can’t believe I’m saying this lass. I’ll see how to make a safer way to reset for ye.” Her master said, breathing out, and Jennifer nodded.

“Show me [Eternity] lass, lemme see how it’s holding up.”

Jennifer called her blade from, summoning [Eternity]. A pang of pain ran through her soul as the hilt of the blade manifested above her hand. The blade was cracked, broken right through the middle with the upper half of it missing. She could see the magic swirling through the blood glass in the blade.

“Healing. Good. It’s my best blade lass, ye better take care of it,” Haireth said, pride filling his voice.

“How long do you think it’ll take to be back?” Jennifer asked, curious. A part of her felt like it was missing, when [Eternity] wasn’t around.

“Can’t say lass. Yer skill isn’t normal to say the least. People don’t normally pour their souls into things.” Haireth said, snorting. “Ye know anything about Artifact skills? Or colored skills?” he asked, and Jennifer paused, shaking her head.

“Very well. Never thought I’d see ye get not one but two of them. And a title to boot. Yer an insane girl. Anyways. Skills that the system provides, ye don’t see any colors when the voice tells ye about the skill normally do ye?” Hareith asked, and Jennifer shook her head once more.

“Ye, that’s cuz they signify something. Yer prince’s skill. [Sanctuary of Fate], it’s a skill that burns with a golden fire, isn't it? That’s a lineage skill there. The secret behind the royalty, and the strength of Royal classes. These skills are exclusive to Royals, [Lords] and [Nobles] have weaker versions of these. But gold signifies a [King], it carries the weight of a kingdom behind it. Some of the world’s most powerful skills are Lineage skills. Only the rightful heir can use them. A skill not formed by a person, but a kingdom. Elphion damn me, yer prince can probably see the future with how wide his skill runs. The fate of kingdoms… it touches the realms of gods,” Haireth said, swearing something in dwarven as he took another gulp of his drink, before roughly putting it back on the table.

“Irwys’s boon, back when the first invasion happened had also mentioned Anvyrin,” Jennifer replied and got a nod from her master.

“Aye lass, Anvyrin’s involved with that boy. The goddess of Fates, she and both her sisters are probably keeping an eye on ye lass. I’d need to meet yer prince to be able to say more. Anyways, Artifact skills are rare. But when an artifact is in-tune with its user, it can develop a skill sometimes. It’s rare but it can happen. The blue color though… let me tell you a story first.” her master took a deep breath in, and Jennifer sat straighter. She could feel Xar’s excitement as well.

“In the murk, we’ve got [Murk Crafters], another name for [Geomancers] but they form Earth Golems to fight monster tides from the deep murk. One such [Murk Crafter] that was later shunned was [Archmage] Orceiol.” Haireth said, taking another sip. Jennifer could sense the drink slowly but surely start to have an effect on her master. She wondered just how strong the alcohol was.

“He was a genius. But he wasn’t born to the true stones, and so he’d been pushed down by the Old timers. They wanted to preserve their magic within their blood. They still do. So Orceiol went and learned magic from the humans and he was better. Better than anything, the old dwarves could throw at him. He was shunned eventually, but before he left, Orceiol had created something that lives even now, down beneath in the Murk. Guarding the deep downs.”

“He’d touched on the magic to form a Sentient Golem, and created the first levelling artifact and golem. [Sentia]”

Jennifer let out a breath, feeling her hair rise as something within her pulsed from the word. She could feel [Eternity] pulling towards the name.

“Kinda like Xar over there. Monsters shouldn’t be levelling either, but there he is, sitting on yer shoulder as if it ain’t just breaking what we know about the world itself,” Her master said, and she felt a strange pride well up in Xar.

<Xar is just that good! The greatest spider around!>

“Might not even be a false claim, with how strong ye are, for yer tiny size. Wouldn’t even see ya, before ye can just twist someone’s head in a snap.” Her master said.

<Grow/Evolve strong!>

“Aye, anyways. Sentia still lives in the old down under, centuries later. One of the highest levelled creatures in the entire world, surpassing even her creator. It was then that [Sentia] was created that Orceiol shared something with the dwarves. Something we’d not been aware of. Her name  shone blue. It was a Unique skill.” Haireth said, and Jennifer felt a strange sense of awe building up in her.

Her master stared at her, and she felt his aura flare for a moment. “Yer skill lass, is the first one in the world. It’s yours and only yours. Few ever see a colored skill, much less a unique skill. It signifies a new path unknown to the system itself.” Haireth breathed out and Jennifer gulped.

“[A Moment of Eternity]” she said out loud, and felt something in her soul stir. It was dormant right now, recovering like [Eternity], but she could feel herself reflected in the skill.

“As for yer other skill… I’ll be honest. I’ve never even heard of a green skill. I’ve heard of dark magic skills being bloor red, and Sera’s boon shines with her light, but never a green skill. It may be related to the Calamities. Or the Death of Dragons, Meiphor.” Haireth said, and Jennifer nodded.

“I’ll have to look more into that. And how to prevent the blood ritual. Nathaniel will probably help, but, it’d be ideal if we could find the demon mark in the guild, and involve the guild itself,” Jennifer said.

“Don’t play with fire lass. Stick to the allies ye know ye can trust. I don’t want you around the guild. Ye know the demon can do lasting damage, and ye don’t even have yer blade. Don’t be foolish, no. We need to train ye first, and find a way to fix yer soul. Focus on that, and filling in yer allies. They’ll handle part of the word for ye,” her master said and she sensed Xar’s agree.

Jennifer sighed, conceding the point to her master. She was impulsive, there was no point in denying that.

“Anyways, lass, while we were talking, I had a thing brewing up,”  her master said and Jennifer looked up curiously, surprised he’d been doing that all this time without her noticing.

“Hold out yer hand,” her master said and she did. She saw a bracelet form on her hand, a familiar bracelet. Her master set it at her hand, as it shrinked, fitting snugly at her wrist.

“I set the Tier to Five, and improved the Appraisal spell, so it won’t be blowing up like before. Also added a [Danger Sense] skill to the bracelet, and a [Force Ward], though the ward will need to be recharged. Now go on, run the appraisal skill,” Her master said, and Jennifer stared at the bracelet, before she took a breath in and sent a pulse of mana, activating the Appraisal ring.

The bracelet began to glow, and a system prompt appeared in front of her eyes.

Mark of Time and Psyche

Bonds: Fate

Tier: Undefined

Chronomancy/Mind Magic/Arcane

A fused mark of Psyche and Time, combining two souls into one. Made by ______ for the Old Order of Truth.

It holds two of the twelve keys needed to restore the Library of Truth.

A mark given to the chosen of time, it contains the soul of Alphion. To select the candidate for the role of the Seeker. The Guardian of the _______

A voice rang in Jennifer’s head, as something whispered from within her Mark, reaching out and another system prompt opened in front of her and she heard a voice call out from her Mark.

The End of an Endless cycle. Not even Time can delay it.
Beware your destiny my Chosen.

The Trial awaits.