Untapped ~ Chapter Ten!

“You're saying you want to join the math club?” Master Cosmo Hollows excitedly gripped Joe's hand and began pumping it up and down. “We'd love to have you! We meet every Tuesday and Thursday from-” 

“I was more hoping-” Joe had to put effort into freeing his hand from the Wolfman’s good-natured excitement as he slowly crushed him. “-you could get me the best profession for figuring out Magical Matrices. I have two open slots.” 

“That's even easier, but we could really use a few more people joining our ranks.” Cosmo’s voice had an edge of desperation to it. “Do you know how hard it is to keep people in the group when it’s just us and our kids for the last hundred and fifty years? It's fallen out of favor, Joe!”

“I can't make any promises,” the bald Ritualist firmly stated as he stepped back and away. “But maybe I can swing by when I'm in the area? The Grandmaster is sending me back to Midgard, or at least I need to go there once I realize how badly I’m throttled by my ‘lack of a foundation’ or whatever it is he keeps telling me.”

“Hmm, yeah.” Cosmo distractedly agreed with him as he bit his lip, eyes going distant as he clearly tried to think of a way to bribe the newbie. “I suppose that's gonna have to be good enough for me. It'll work as merits, at the very least, if you get the skill high enough. Alright, really all you need to do is read this book and accept the profession at the end of it. Should take you all of… thirty seconds?”

Joe glanced down at what was essentially a pamphlet, not at all surprised a person this dedicated to math carried such an item around. Eagerly accepting the offering, he pulled it open and softly read out loud. “So, you have begun to wonder about the underlying, ever-shifting mathematics of ritual magic. Rejoice, for your ability to calculate and predict ritual flows will increase dramatically-”

He finished going through the information, slightly uncomfortable with how cult-like the information packet was reading by the end. It was bad enough that he was surprised it hadn't told him to start spending less time with friends and family in favor of exploring mathematics. Finally, he got the notification he’d been waiting for.

You have met the requirements to earn the profession: Ritualistic Numerologist Novitiate! This is an entry-level, upgradable profession, which will allow you to increase the associated Lore extremely quickly. Each Lore skill level earned will instead grant two levels and increase your profession level by one, to a maximum of level five, or Expert in the Lore skill. Reaching Expert in the lore skill will maximize the profession level. Would you like to accept this profession? Yes / No.

“This looks completely different from the other times I was offered a profession.” Joe murmured to himself, mentally accepting the prompt.

Ritualistic Numerologist Novitiate (Level 0): Everything in the world, the universe, and even in various side dimensions can be explained and charted with mathematics. If it can be measured, it can be improved. A Ritualistic Numerologist Novitiate doesn't care about the doing of the math, only the knowing of it. This is a language written in numbers, lines, and sequences of power. Every angle has a purpose, but only those who don't have deep knowledge think formulas are static instead of a constantly shifting balance of power. There are no absolutes, only counterbalances and fluctuating variables. 

By sacrificing the ability to make things easier for themselves, those who take this profession will be able to increase the Lore skill associated with the profession at double the standard rate. +100% skill gain when increasing the Lore skill ‘Calculus and Number Theory’. -99% speed of alteration to ritual-specific matrices. 

When you C.A.N.T. you can only think, you C.A.N.T. do.

“It has a detriment? It didn't tell me it was going to have a detriment!” Joe glanced up at Cosmo, who only shrugged as though it wasn't a big deal.

“You're going to need that foundation the Grandmaster was talking about either way, right? Better to get a few levels in the skill before trying something big and having a blow-up in your face.”

“Yeah, about that.” Joe cracked his knuckles and closed his eyes. “I'm already at Journeyman four for Calculus and Number Theory. Probably could’ve skipped straight to the big boy version of this profession.”

“Oh? You're that close to Expert rank already?” Cosmo’s eyes started shining as he leaned in. “I thought it would be years at the minimum before you managed to bring me a merit; who knows how soon it will actually be? With your help, I might be the first Ritualist Numerologist Sage! Would you like to come and meet the rest of the math club? There's quite a few around your own level.”

“I… still have another profession slot to fill, and I'm not sure where I can find,” Joe paused, feeling his throat close up slightly from sheer embarrassment as he finished, “*Ahem*, Master Darling.”

“Her?” Cosmo’s face clouded up immediately, his canines peeking through as his lips twitched in annoyance. “Don't tell me you’re going to go take that as a profession? There's a reason there's only a handful of Ritualistic Enchanters in the tower, Joe. You think what we do regularly is expensive? Even forging is less than half as resource intensive. Not to mention the sheer amount of… never mind, I can already tell you don't think it matters. Okay, well, if you can afford to make toys for the next decade before making anything useful, go for it.”

“Thanks. Um. Any chance you know where I can find her?”

“She usually hangs out anywhere from five hundred to eight hundred feet up the tower. If she's not out in the open areas, only the Grandmaster has the authority to bring her out.” Cosmo flashed Joe a lopsided smirk that was half amusement, half challenge. “I hear she's been rather quick to bind people to the ground floor recently after someone shattered a crystalline token she’d been working on for nearly six months. Hopefully she's in a better mood these days. Look, if you change your mind, we’ll be on the fourth floor, room three-one-four. Ma~ath club!”

His final words were whisper-screamed through cupped hands, as though to emulate a cheering crowd. With one last intense bout of eye contact, Cosmo turned and waved over his shoulder as he sped off. 

Taking a deep breath and trying to put his worries to the side for the moment, Joe glanced upward, trying to determine exactly which platform he had landed on during his ascent earlier that day. Just as he picked out a likely candidate and crouched to begin Omnivaulting upward, a light cough sounded out behind him. “Master Joe, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

Joe's foot slipped out from under him as he tried to cancel his jump, and he ended up falling nearly flat on his face before turning the awkward collapse into landing on the ground in a relaxed lounging position. “Master Darling! I was just asking after you, in fact. Care to join me? The floor here is surprisingly comfortable.”

“You have strange customs. Is this common on other zones?” The seriousness with which she asked caused Joe to bite his lip, wanting to do nothing more than make a joke, but somehow knowing it would come back to bite him in the end.

“No, this is just a ‘me’ thing,” he admitted with a heavy sigh, pushing off the ground with a flick of his fingers and easily landing on his feet. “How can I help you?” 

“Your honesty is appreciated,” she stated in a polite, professional tone, making no further comment on his failed dexterity check. “First, how much do you know about Ritualistic Enchanting? The activation of my ritual above went off without a hitch, and I was hoping to ask your opinion on a few other prototypes I have.”

Joe held up a thumb. “More than happy to help! If it's about the circles, I'm sure I can figure something out. If it's about the overall craft… I’m only at Student rank two. Lots of room to grow, and I was hoping to speak with you about getting an associated profession.”

“Oh… that isn’t easy, unfortunately.” There was a pained look on Master Darling's face. “We don't have handy pamphlets.”

“But you do recognize the rivalry with the math club. How interesting…” Joe murmured under his breath, earning a sharp look for his attempt at a joke. “What I mean is, uh, please continue.”

She remained silent for a few more moments, clearly gathering her thoughts. “Master Joe, unlike other professions, with Ritualistic Enchanting, you are not able to avoid having a large base of knowledge and instead focus only on cherry picking the parts you want to use. If you want me to help you get a profession focused on enchanting, you need to start with a more general profession, then move to a specialized field from there.”

“Do I need to have my Enchanting skill high enough, or…?” Joe gently pressed, not ready to rule it out just yet.

“Again, this comes back to how much you know about the actual skill.” Now she had a slightly defeated tone in her voice, as though she were about to have to explain something simple for the umpteenth time.

“You see, Joe. When you create an enchanted ritual, you are delving into the most diverse field of ritual magic. We focus on, in general, summoning, sealing, and curse breaking. We control powerful oaths, wards, and binding formations. In essence, we are the meta magic of ritual magic, taking two separate fields of knowledge and power structures and using the best of both. Without at least a deep theoretical knowledge, Master Cosmo was correct… you'll need at least a decade of study and practice making things that are little better than toys.”

“So you were listening to that, huh? Well, if I told you I was already a Journeyman in Enchanting Lore, would that change your mind a little?” Joe held back the smug smirk that wanted to crease his lips as her eyes widened in surprise, instead managing to shift it into a real smile at the last moment. “I always love catching people by surprise like that.”

“How could you possibly… do you have a high level in regular Enchanting? It's almost impossible to understand the mechanics, the underlying theory, without the hands-on experience.” It was clear that she was extremely interested in finding a new method of training, but it wouldn't have been terribly surprising for Joe to have other skills, having literally come from another planet.

“Nope.” Not wanting to irritate her with a guessing game, Joe quickly explained himself. “I have many Lore skills that I've been working on for a long time, and my Enchanting Lore recently reached Journeyman five. Will that be enough?”

Master Darling pursed her lips, weighing a few options before slowly stating, “I might have something for you, but it's an ancient profession that's almost impossible to get much use out of. Unlike what you likely just took from Cosmo, this one has a requirement of becoming an Expert in the lore before it’s able to be upgraded. It offers good rewards if you can do so, but as it is a foundational profession, it's impossible to combine or upgrade without doing so. There's almost always a better option for someone who is progressing the Enchanting skill at the same time. If that sounds at all interesting, give me a couple hours to figure out the requirements, and I'll get back to you.”

“Before that, why don't you let me help you with whatever ritual circle you’re working on?” Joe politely offered, not wanting to keep making requests of her without offering something in return.

“Mm.” Shaking her head slightly, the powerful lady pulled a book out of her pocket and opened it—only for an illusion to spring up over the open pages and begin rotating in midair. “As you can see, I've been trying to generate a curse-breaking ritual which will be useful all the way up to cleansing Artifacts. The problem I'm having is creating the targeting sequence. Gear doesn't have blood, and shaving parts of it off to create a sympathetic bond can either weaken or destroy the item… if it's even possible to do so in the first place.”

Joe looked at the spinning circles, immediately able to identify a few areas that could be better transposed, though they would work for an ephemeral construct such as a curse-break. That should mean it was a burst of power and didn’t need constant reapplication. Still, something about how she had described the targeting ritual irked him, and it took a moment to realize what it was. “Why are you required to create a sympathetic link? Is the item you're trying to cleanse working to escape the bounds of ritual circle? Is it on the move, or something?”

“No, in fact it is almost impossible to move it, as part of the curse. It's a hammer that only lets those it deems ‘worthy’ lift it, and it was left in a rather inconvenient place.” She let out a grunt of frustration, though it was easy for Joe to recognize she wasn't directing it at him. “Problem is, whoever created it was too literal, and now only people who have ‘worthy’ in their name or title can pick it up. Then, of course, they can never put it down again.”

“Of course they can’t.” Joe shook his head at the rookie error she was describing. “What happened to the last guy who picked it up?”

“He cut his hand off to get rid of the hammer.” 

“Ah.” Joe poked at the spinning hologram, and it rotated away from his touch. “So… I've got to ask, you do know how to activate undirected rituals, right? You don't actually need to feed chunks of your target into the ritual to make it work. If you look here, instead of supplying parts of the desired target, you could simply input the exact shape and size alongside its coordinates by using a differential equation. It takes a bit of mathing the problem, but if it can't move, there's no issue. There’s an entire math club you could ask for help, if you really need it.”

“Yet here I am, speaking with you. The fact is, I'm not trying to target the hammer, I'm trying to isolate its cursed energy pattern.” Master Darling responded with a dismissive shake of her head. “Don't I need a sample of said energy to get rid of it?”

“Is this… the first time you've had to break the curse on a stationary object?” Joe didn't want to specifically call out exactly how wrong she was, as he was still working to make a good impression. “Let me tell you, making permanent things is what I do. I totally understand that the very concept of permanent construction is antithetical to the culture of impermanence I've found among our contemporaries. If I had to guess, I'd say it's likely due to the Ritual Combat Guide you all get right away when you are starting to learn the class. Here, let me…”

Glancing around, Joe pulled out his inscription tool and spun it about, practically itching to draw out a ritual for the first time in what felt like forever. Just as he was about to start scribbling on the floor, Master Darling caught his wrist and sent him a look of horrified shock. “You can't draw on the tower! What if you damaged its structure?”

“Didn't you draw out a ritual on one of those balconies?” Joe gestured in a general upward direction. 

“Celestials’ sake, man.” She pulled on his wrist, starting to walk away. “Just follow me, and I'll show you where my setup is.”

A short while later, Joe was a few hundred feet off the ground, staring at the ‘balcony’ she had set him up on. “You mean to tell me these are detachable blocks of stone? I can draw out an entire ritual on this, then just… take it with me?”

“Yes, but you don't need to do the whole thing. As you can see,” Master Darling gestured at the intricately designed ritual sprawling across the ground. “The majority of the work is done, I just need to figure out the targeting portion. What do you need? I have purified silver filaments to help conduct and disperse the lingering malicious energy, but I don't know if you want to use that on its own or combine it with the salted obsidian powder to help ground the curse and prevent it from reforming while the remainder is eradicated. Or, I suppose if you're more traditional, I have some blessed chalk stashed away somewhere-”

“Just need to know what the hammer looks like and where it is,” Joe responded with a hint of caginess in his tone. 

“Are you certain? These are Artifact fragments, and I wouldn't want you to have to use your own stash for my project.” Seeing Joe's face remain calm, she simply shrugged and passed him the details.

“Let's just say I'd really like to get that profession up and going.” Joe's inscription tool flared with an orange light as he injected aspects into it from his newest Aspect Jar, quickly drawing out the remaining portion of the ritual and connecting it to the broader design. Master Darling let out a gasp of horror as he turned his attention to the outer rings, using the flaming substance to make minuscule adjustments to her ritual diagram. Even though she was certain weeks of effort were about to go to waste, she didn't try to interfere with the rapid, efficient motions.

Joe stepped back, double checking his work as the orange light faded away, shifting into a substance that perfectly aligned with the rest of the ritual diagram. After scanning every inch of the circles, he slowly nodded his head and gestured at his peer to take over. “That should do it for you! Anything else you'd like me to look at, or shall we call it a day? Oh, sorry, did you want to activate this right away and test it out?”

“Activate it? While I'm absolutely flabbergasted at whatever you just did, our methods of using rituals can't be so different that you don't understand that activating this ritual will cost over ten thousand mana for the outermost circle alone.” 

Even though her tone was questioning, her eyes never left the suddenly completed circles. “There's a reason every Master has scores of Experts working under them, who in turn have dozens of underlings of their own. “I'm estimating the activation cost of this ritual to be approximately thirty-four thousand mana, with an upkeep of at least a quarter of that per minute until the curse is fully shattered. I wouldn't touch this thing without a complement of twenty-three total Ritualists channeling.”

“An upkeep cost?” Joe's ears perked up at that. “I haven't run into many rituals that have that. Not unless they’re creating specific effects over and over, and even then, it's just a recharge. Literally, I had just been thinking curse-breaking would be a single burst of power. If that’s the case, I'm guessing you need to fully remap the energy pathways, expel the foreign energy, and replace it with… for lack of a better word, clean mana? ”

“There's a few more subtleties to it, but essentially yes.” She finally glanced over at him, though there were many questions hidden behind her eyes. “That's part of what the enchanted tokens will do—tapping into the curse, forming the map of the pathways, holding it, flooding it, then tying it off when the cursed item’s intentions have been changed.”

“Ah… because even though it turned into a curse, it's still an enchantment. At such a high level, it’s ‘kind of’ alive.” Joe felt a slight chill run along his spine at the thought of running into Minya in the future and having to explain what had happened to the gear he’d been wearing. “Curses have something like intentions, then? Or more like thought patterns?”

“This is an entire lecture course, not a casual conversation,” she explained while jerkily shaking her head back and forth. “Tell you what… if this profession works out for you, I'd love to exchange Mastery merits. You help me get up to Master rank in Ritual Circles, and I'll do the same for you with Enchanted Ritual Circles? Again… you will need to complete the requirements of the profession before I can do much more for you.”

“Sounds good to me,” Joe happily replied, managing to stop himself from asking her why she hadn't just worked with one of the other Masters in the tower previously. There was no reason to question his own good fortune. “What’s your skill level in Ritual Circles?”

“I’m…” She flushed and looked away, before glancing at him and offering a weak smile. “Still a Beginner. I've only been part of the Tower of Rituals for about a year and have been working on the last few circles you've seen almost the entire time. They made an exception to let me in, as they have almost zero Enchanters and certainly none at my level. These circles, well, there's a lot of crossover with Enchanting, so I was able to make it work, but… between the sheer amount of resources I've wasted and the amount of time I've invested into these, if they don't work-”

“They had a few errors, but nothing that would cause them to explode.” Joe casually shrugged, not at all concerned at the thought of wasted materials. “I'm more impressed that you were able to make Master-ranked circles in the first place, as a Beginner.”

“Anything is possible, if you're careful enough.” She took a deep breath through her nose and stood straight. “I'm hoping that, when I fully activate them, I will gain a large number of levels in one burst. Now, I know you have other things to do, so let me go find those profession requirements.”