Ar'Kendrithyst

The morning sun rose in the same window where it had set, which was the same window where the literal sliver of a moon had been all night long. Erick hadn’t slept, so he had definitely noticed that the sun and the moon rose and fell in the same part of the sky. Which had been weird.

Or maybe he was too stressed, and he was mistaken about the sun and moon (he wasn't mistaken) but whatever! He couldn’t fix that stress right now, either. Add it to the pile.

Anyway. For his 12 hours of accretion done during the night, Erick had managed to stuff himself with maybe 4000 mana, which should have translated into 16 Stat points. He hadn’t tested himself against the counting crystal until now because he wanted to see if his numbers and estimations held. If they did, then he should be at roughly even accretion for all of his Stats.

Erick held the counting crystal in his hands, and flooded it with an estimated hundred mana.

The thing glittered, and then the numbers started flashing. When the flashing was over, Erick smiled. He wrote down his Stats on a paper to track his progress.

- -

Strength: 13

Vitality: 13

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 12

Perception: 12

Willpower: 23

Focus: 23

Intelligence: 13

- -

Mana: 230

Mana Regen (Vit+Foc): 360

- -

His math had predicted all of that, which was great.

And yet… His math had predicted all of this, and it had taken Erick till now to realize that it would really take ten days of this, at least, before the snowballing truly started, and that meant that Erick would need to make some decisions about Redflame and [Renew] before he was ready...

Actually.

Erick went back to the numbers, to see if the calculations would come out better if he tried calculating the whole thing a different way.

Considering that he could accrete 200 mana in 5 minutes, this meant he would need a Regen rate to at least match that rate of regeneration. This meant 2400 Regen. 2400 Regen meant 120 in both Vitality and Focus, though, and Erick wasn’t 100% positive, but he was pretty sure that numbers like that were beyond Second Foundation. He should hit Second Foundation at around 65 in all of his Stats. Or something like that.

This just meant that he needed to get those triple Mana Regen and Health Regen Skills. But at the same time, he was pretty sure he needed 1000 Base Mana to Remake those skills, and he couldn’t get 1000 Base Mana without getting way past Second Foundation.

Okay.

How to cheat?

… Did he even have Health anymore? Well. No. But that was beside the point. The only reason he wanted Health in this scenario was so that he could use Blood Mana, but his Class Ability to turn Health into Mana-equivalent was likely not available, anyway.

He needed to break the lock on his Blood Mana, too, so that his Base Mana could include his Health values… But then again, how did Blood Mana work in Ar’Cosmos? Literal blood? Hmm.

Okay. So. Erick needed to get to Second Foundation, which was still days away, and then he would probably be able to do… something to fix all of his resource issues. This was a rather systemic issue, too, now that he could spare some time to actually think about it. Without the Triple Resource Skills, and without the Scion Skills, of which Erick was going for Scion of Balance this time, he would be stuck at a Max Mana of just his Willpower times ten. 100 Willpower only meant 1000 Mana, right now—

Okay. Okay.

He was going around in circles. Perhaps he was overly worried.

It was time for breakfast. Time to switch gears a bit. Erick took his letters with him as he went downstairs. He made it half way down and almost bumped into Maid Maria on her way up.

The pink dragon lady blushed as she looked up at him, then curtsied, and said, “Breakfast is served, Archmage Flatt.”

“Appreciated, Maid Maria.” Erick said, “Also— There’s no best way to say this, so I’ll just tell you: I’m sorry for almost killing you the other day.”

He had wanted to say a lot more than that. Perhaps about how unintentional murder was not something he would have done if he had been in his right mind, with all the unsaid implications fully implied. But that would have been a threat, and even though Maid Maria was one of his captors, he did not wish to cause himself anymore mental grief due to causing Maria mental grief, which would likely come back to bite him in the ass in the future, in some unforeseen way. Likely through Fairy Moon. Fairy Moon seemed rather protective of Maria, after all.

Maria went stock still as Erick’s apology caught her completely off guard. Then she breathed a bit, and curtsied again, saying, “The apology is appreciated, and so I feel I must reciprocate; I apologize for the disruption this event has caused you, Archmage Flatt. If there is some way for me to make you more comfortable, please inform me at your leisure.”

“Then I will do that.”

Maria calmed, then asked, “Will you be joining Fairy Moon for breakfast?”

“I shall. Lead the way.”

And so she did.

Breakfast was pancakes and sausage and strong black tea.

It was all rather great. It was also eaten in silence, though, with Maid Maria eating her own breakfast in the other room. It appeared there was still friction there, but then again, how could there be anything but friction, right now?

Toward the end of the meal Erick couldn’t stand the silence anymore, so he spoke up. “Fairy Moon.” Erick asked, “How much mana do you think it would take to Remake Concentration or Discipline?”

“The power it takes to get a Point through the Script is the same power one needs to enact a smaller change in the character of oneself.”

To clarify, because he was surprised if he had understood her correctly, Erick asked, “However much mana it takes to gain a Point in one’s Status is the same amount of mana it takes to make Concentration, for 3 times Mana Regen?”

“Aye. A blessing is bought by the same measure as the manifestation of a Point. Still, though, wait till Second Foundation for such a blessing.” Fairy Moon said, “Cores are better to bless than smaller soul shards, for breaks and accidental curses are more easily cured or removed in a proper core.”

Erick blinked a bit, surprised. “Oh. Okay.”

So Erick could make these ‘minor blessings’ as soon as he gained 250 Mana; not 1000. That was surprising. He still didn’t have 250 maximum Mana, but he wasn’t days and days away from that goal, anyway. Maybe he could even have that much Mana today.

Fairy Moon seemed to see the thoughts behind his head, though, for she said, “Heed this warning, young one: The consecration of a core is more wisely done at the correct core capability. Wait till Second Foundation.”

Fair enough. “Heard and understood.”

Fairy Moon nodded, then asked, “Do you desire Illustrious return, to guide you in your Remaking of your requisite Skills, when the time ticks nigh?”

“If the nature of magic is mostly the same, then I can change my maximum Mana and Mana Regeneration on my own.”

“That minor magic is the same in every space, ever since the Script selected what was, and what was not.” Fairy Moon shrugged, making for a very human-looking sight, as she said, “A minor magnification of capability that peaks with time and trials, and a restructuring toward faster flow that does the same.”

Erick paused, and then he nodded, too. “That’s what I thought it was.” He added, “I am surprised that all it takes to make something like that is the equivalent of one Point, but that makes a lot of sense. It’s only a single Point to buy the Skill in the Open Script, anyway.”

“Concentration is but a minor magnification that grows. The ‘growing’ is important.” Fairy Moon said, “If you were to make that magic fruit in full at the initial instantiation, that would be considerably more costly. The Scions do not follow this formula, for they are greater gains than the smaller skills. I warn you to wait till you get back to Veird to align your soul with a Scion, even if you should reach Second Foundation much faster than that exodus.”

Erick decided that her advice was good, and that he would follow it. And then he put forth his letters, which were folded and set to the side until now. “Could these be mailed for me?”

Fairy Moon nodded, saying, “I will honor Illustrious Moon’s promise, if you will trust me to enact this promise.”

A sudden spike of worry lodged in the center of Erick’s brain, sending chills down his spine and across his arms.

“… I will trust you, then.” Erick refrained from frowning, and said, “I don’t want any of these people harmed, though.” Erick was suddenly, very acutely aware that he was asking for Fairy Moon to interact with his loved ones, and other people, too. He kept that panic at bay, but it was a close thing.

“I will not harm nor hamper anyone who does not deserve it, Erick.”

“You warn me all the time of various lines I should not cross. Here is one for you to ware: Do not harm my people.”

Fairy Moon raised an eyebrow. She smirked, then said, “I shall honor this request in the manner in which it was intended.”

Erick felt a rush of relief at those words. “Acceptable.”

Fairy Moon nodded.

After breakfast, Erick went back up to his room and accreted some more. He had been awake for 24 hours at this point, but he could do this for at least two more days before he needed to crash. Rozeta’s Recovery and Dexterity and Perfected Body each contributed a lot toward that capability.

During the times between accretion, Erick read up more on the whole process, looking for words regarding the remaking of Concentration, and all the rest. He found no specifics. All he found were instructions to spend Points over in Veird in order to gain those Skills; not even a hint that one could Remake those Skills themselves. Even the advanced books were like that, which was rather disappointing, but understandable. They were made for mass production, after all.

Erick was still disappointed to see the same lack of information freedom here in Ar’Cosmos that existed in Oceanside, and Stratagold, and every arcanaeum the world over.

Erick accreted more, he read more about accretion, and when he finally felt he had read all he could, he went over to the books on enchanting from Inferno Maw. It was a very nice change of pace.

Enchanting was vastly different from what was taught at Oceanside, and yet not at all.

This enchanting was meant to work with those who had cores. If Erick was reading this right, which he was pretty sure he was, it seemed as though he could make himself some Stat rings, or whatnot, and speed up his accretion timeframe by days, at least. Erick almost laughed at that. He should have checked out these books sooner.

- - - -

Over the course of another twelve hours, with another 18 cycles completed and accounting for breaks for lunch and dinner, Erick had probably learned all he could learn about enchanting without actually enchanting. Theory was next to useless without practice. Now, at least, he could probably hold a conversation with Inferno Maw about how to enchant for Strength, or how to make a Wand of [Force Bolt]s.

And it was almost the same as how they did it at Oceanside.

There were some major differences, though. The enchanting practices of Ar’Cosmos relied on using the language one was most comfortable using; not Ancient Script. This language was then carved into any solid thing at all; not just wrought-quality metal. And then one took one’s own mana, strung it through one’s own blood, causing ambient mana to crystallize into that blood, and then one used that blood to inscribe those solid items. Bloodline enchanting was what it was called.

Other people called it other things.

Erick had already seen bloodwork enchanting once before, back in Songli, with Blood Mage Xue and Soul Mage Elder Arilitilo. If not for the Chelation War Erick probably would have learned this stuff already, but as it was, everything that he had seen around Xue’s workshop looked like the same sort of formations inside these enchanting books. In particular, these books explained the process of making blood hold power, which was what Erick was specifically going to learn from Xue.

Mostly, the process involved a bit of body alteration to align a mana vein with a blood artery inside one’s arm, and then to cycle magic —not mana— through that mana vein while pumping out blood through that blood artery. Not the blood vein, though. You wanted your magic-rich blood to be pumping out of your body. You did not want any accidental pumping of rads into the body.

Arteries went out; veins went in.

Other than that foible, this process was basically what Erick did with channeling mana through a magic, through a hand to listen to the spell, except through his blood.

It was just…

So simple.

It made so much sense, too. Erick had already been doing something near to this when he channeled mana through his Willpower, for instance, to produce a prominence of light that was tainted with near-ultramarine colors. At that point, it was the work of a lightmask and diamond jewelry and a thin layer of [Exalted Rain] silver to trap that magic into a ring, to thus empower the wearer with a higher Willpower, through a resonance boost to the soul’s base Willpower.

Erick’s own Stat enchants did not work in Ar’Cosmos, though, because the Script made Stats work the way they worked. Without the nearness of the Script, manalight wasn’t good for anything at all. But the basic idea of ‘boosting a Stat’ held true, even here in Ar’Cosmos.

You just had to do it differently, and more ritualistically. The ritual of item creation (which included personal skill, personal knowledge, and personal willpower) was only worth about 40% of an item’s end result, though.

60% of the end result was due to the materials put into the project.

According to the book, for the creation of a proper ‘Amulet of Focus’, or something similar, Erick primarily needed a knot of old, Focus-aligned wood, or densely magical metals, or other items that resonated with him. Then he could soak those items in his own Focus-charged blood until the ritual completed. Erick’s target ‘ritual’ would only take about an hour from start to finish, but only due to the fact that he was mana limited, right now.

Such an amulet would even work back on Veird, because meaning and intent went a lot further inside Ar’Cosmos than it did on Veird. Such an amulet would last quite a while before it degraded due to natural fluctuations in the mana, which constantly wore at every magic out there. It was considered extremely hard to protect against such fluctuations, but…

Erick had already perfected Permanency magic long before now. He knew how to protect enchantments so that they continued to function under normal wear and tear. How well that information translated to this Ar’Cosmos, though? He had no idea.

He kept reading, though, and kept being surprised at how enchanting worked in Ar’Cosmos.

And then Erick laughed out of minor joy when he read the various sections on ‘how to protect enchantments from natural degradation’, for he already knew everything they spoke of, and more besides. He laughed again as he realized that none of what was written here was even hinted at in the normal textbooks at Oceanside. In enchanting, perhaps more than any other way, Oceanside proved itself as inferior to Ar’Comos, by a lot.

Once again, Erick wondered how much of Kirginatharp’s teachings were malicious, versus how much were intended to protect the world from mages who knew too much. Kirginatharp’s Elites surely knew how to work magic properly, but the basic students? Not really.

None of the classes Erick had attended there had helped him with his own enchanting efforts at all. It was only when he encountered the runic systems of Enduring Forge that he had begun to make any real progress with enchanting. Now, he could even make runic webs that held onto magic indefinitely long. Staves that fired off a hundred [Fireball]s at once.

All of that stuff ran off of Script-support, though.

But with this stuff here…

Erick was pretty sure that if he tried for it, he could make amulets of All Stats that would function in any world, using the little bit of knowledge contained in these normal, Ar’Cosmos enchanting manuals and textbooks. He was also pretty sure that if Jane, or Kiri, or if anyone of his people had this sort of knowledge—

Kiri especially!

Like, holy crap. She would be so good at this stuff.

Maybe even Jane could learn proper enchanting, since apparently math was only supposed to be used to plot out how to best link up inscriptions and formations, to make sure that the kerning in inscriptions was properly done so that letters and such were all spaced properly. The entire school of enchanting is supposed to flow a lot more organically than it did in the classrooms of Oceanside. It was supposed to be more like dungeon ecology, and permanency magic. Enchanting was about controlling the flows of mana inside self-reinforcing spellwork. Math was just used to make that process work out properly.

… Maybe that’s what Oceanside’s math did? Erick still wasn’t sure what was going on there.

He would have liked to talk to Kiri about all this. She knew her stuff, and Erick trusted her.

The next twelve hours passed with another 20 cycles geared toward generalized accretion. He had likely missed a few points of progress here and there due to needing to spend mana on such annoyances like checking his Stats, but he was pretty close to accretion perfection. His Stats were pretty much exactly the gains he had expected.

- -

Strength: 17

Vitality: 18

Dexterity: 17

Constitution: 16

Perception: 16

Willpower: 28

Focus: 28

Intelligence: 17

- -

Mana: 280

Mana Regen (Vit+Foc): 460

- -

Erick had gained 35 Points since yesterday, all of which were evenly distributed.

Over the next 24 hours, Erick would regenerate a little over 11,000 mana, according to current numbers, but he would be at more like 12,000 by the end. He would need to cycle about 45 times to make use of all of that, which was eminently doable. Nearly every half hour...

“I need a clock,” Erick decided. “A clock would be better than timing this by feel.”

Though every mental hurdle was getting easier to cross as his Intelligence inched back up to where it had been, he was still far away from his ‘normal’. Even discounting the rings he always wore, Erick had been at 25 base Intelligence before this monstrous reset.

He glanced around the room, and at the golden sun beyond his window—

A sudden wave of sleepiness crashed into him, but he blinked and held it back. He frowned at his own weakness. What the shit was that? Bah. He had only been awake for like… Three days? Or something. He could last longer than this, right?

Redflame’s [Renew] attempt was only 6 days away, and Erick needed to be ready for that before it happened.

Erick took a quick bath, felt a lot better about everything, and then headed downstairs to get breakfast. On his way down the stairs, he met Maid Maria who was on her way up. She curtsied again, explaining that breakfast was ready. Erick followed behind.

Breakfast was great.

Maid Maria had made cinnamon rolls. She still ate in the other room, though, which was fine.

After breakfast, Erick asked Fairy Moon for a clock, to which she told him that it would be done. And then she handed over the reply letters from all of his people.

Erick stared at the envelopes, not sure if they were real or not, and not knowing what to do if they were real; If the words therein were truly from the people that he wanted them to be from.

Fairy Moon said, “If you desire continued correspondence then I shall have Maid Maria set up a box beside your door, to which you may place letters and in which Maid Maria can place responses.”

“I do desire continued correspondence.” Erick took the letters. “This is appreciated.”

“Let me know if you desire more than that.” Fairy Moon stared at Erick, briefly, but with a depth that betrayed so much worry. “Your letters ended a burning that your people tried to enact on the Forest of Glaquin, which would have done nothing but make the Twisted Visions mad. This saved us all that particular fate. I had not expected that, but your Path seems to have expected this much in my place.” She said, “It is good that I am walking with you and not the other way around.”

“… Ah. Then… That’s good.”

“It is objectively good, yes.” And then Fairy Moon said perhaps the first thing that made her seem like a real person, “None of these people involved in this world deserve any of these fates, but circumstances have been unkind for a long while. I tried my best, but this reality is a lot tougher than how it used to be. Sometimes my judgment creates jeopardy instead of justice, and this appears to be one of those times.”

Erick just sat there for a long moment.

And then he said, “According to the enchanting books I read, and everything else I have heard, I imagine life was much more fluid in the Old Cosmology.”

“Oh yes.” Fairy Moon began, “Back when everything was mana instead of half of the whole…” Her voice trailed off, as she got a far off look in her pink and green eyes. She glanced to Erick, then looked away, saying, “It was a different time. An easier time in some ways and yet a weariness in others.” Then she looked to him. “You should rest some, Erick. You are getting rather talkative in your sleepy state.”

Erick didn’t feel he was anymore talkative than he normally was, it was just that...

Maybe she would understand if he told her.

“Maybe some of my walls have come down due to sleep deprivation, but I’m normally talkative. The only reason I haven’t been talkative is because I don’t trust you, Fairy Moon. Kidnapping then mind control— The mind control I can sort of understand, because I almost killed someone, and I bet you’re used to using your Fae Magic to stop a lot of fights around here. Everyone was giving Illustrious Moon the same looks that I know I was giving you after that… episode.” Erick said, “So I guess House Fae is able to apply your fae rules against other people to keep them in line, too.

“I don’t really know about that, but it makes sense based on what I have seen.

“Anyway. I still don’t like the kidnapping and the control, and I only barely blame myself for the accidental murder that almost happened.” Erick tried, “You do understand that if you hadn’t knocked me out, and if I was able to be on my own, that I never would have attempted to murder Maria. Or anyone else nearby.”

Fairy Moon said, “The Fate you represent is bigger than your own needs, Erick. While I earlier stated that my judgment was not always just, in this instance I know what I am doing. You play at powers you cannot control, so I hope you come to accept the mantle of master you are trying to wear sooner rather than later.”

“I am not a master of anyone.” Erick wanted to sigh, but he did not. “I suppose my personal desire to simply help people doesn’t really matter, since enacting even the most basic help means changing how the world functions.”

“Exactly.” Fairy Moon said, “Personal desires are best discarded when building a perfect-Fate Future, and you, Erick Flatt, are enacting far-reaching change.”

“… It didn’t start out like that, nor did I mean for that to happen.”

Fairy Moon nodded, saying, “I believe that most heartily. Doesn’t change any facts, though.”

Erick frowned, but it was at himself.

Fairy Moon said, “Go sleep, Erick. You need it.”

“Heh.” Erick snarked, “Are you going to order me to?”

“No. We are past that, and you did not take well to instantiated instruction.” Fairy Moon said, “I might have made some miscalculations about that, somewhere between there and here.”

Erick laughed once, for that was a pretty big apology from her.

Probably.

Anyway. Breakfast was done, and so was the conversation. Fairy Moon had Maid Maria retrieve a ‘mechanical’ stone clock from some storage room and had her help Erick put it in his room. Maid Maria even set it up, and then she did a little curtsy before leaving him to his own devices.

It was a nice clock. Simple, and yet…

Maid Maria had said that it was a one-off production from a very old mage who had gifted it to Fairy Moon long ago, and that it was still working due to the fact that it could be recharged with replacing the rad that powered it. It was like the portable stove, or any number of other ‘modern’ conveniences that used rads back in Spur. But because it used rads, which were worth 5 gold, it was ruinously expensive to operate for most of the people of Veird. It never caught on due to that cost.

Erick instantly fell in love with it.

The clock was a simple disk of green stone, possibly jade, with green lightward numerals floating above. Touching some raised bumps in the back seemed to complete some magical circuitry, or something, which caused the numbers to progress forward. Taking one’s hand off of that junction caused time to proceed as normal. Most people didn’t really use clocks on Veird, though, and Ar’Cosmos was no exception, so this was the very first illuminated clock that Erick had ever seen. Back in Spur, if anyone wanted to keep time, they looked out and up at the clock tower in the center of town. Back in Songli, there were small water clocks everywhere.

But this stupid, small, solid stone clock reminded Erick of his stupid alarm clock back on Earth. He loved it. He even cried a bit as he played with the alarm settings. Luckily, he was alone, so he was the only one who saw his silly tears. Probably (not, but whatever).

Reading the letters was yet another emotional rollercoaster.

Silverite had replied on Spur’s behalf, of course. Apparently she had gotten the Crystal Star along with his letter. The Crystal Star was now waiting for him at Spur, for whenever he got back, for she was not comfortable with having it and Koyabez had already told her to hold it for Erick until he returned. She had a page of suggestions for how to deal with Ar’Cosmos and Fairy Moon, but as she had never dealt with any of them on her own, all she had were minor suggestions, and heavy caveats to not trust her advice on that matter. She did add, though, that she would have liked to never have dealt with Ar’Cosmos or Fairy Moon, but the deed had already been done. ‘So thanks for that, Erick. Hope you fare well and come back soon, and I can tell you off in person.’

Queen Strelkova responded on behalf of Stratagold, telling him of how they were glad to know that he was safe. Her letter was rather dry, though it was full of instructions on how to escape Ar’Cosmos, cobbled from the intel of various people, from Kromolok, to the wrought city of Titanite, to Riivo at Archmage’s Rest, along with everyone else who felt like responding. That letter took up ten sheets of paper, each numbered, and each wholly intact, as far as Erick could tell. Erick didn’t know what to really make of that, except for that it was either a ruse from Fairy Moon, or the truth, and he didn’t know which one was more unbelievable.

Kirginatharp from Oceanside had a single paragraph, full of sarcasm.

‘Dearest Erick. I don’t believe this will actually get to you, but if it does, then you should transmute antirhine through some Particle Magic and directly cut your way out of Ar’Cosmos. It might work. See if you can stab Fairy Moon on your way out, too. Might actually kill the horrible witch if you manage the feat on her homeland! Never know unless you try.’

Erick smiled at that.

… Lead probably wouldn’t work, would it? Likely no.

Kiri’s letter was full of concern, half of which was asking if this correspondence was even real, while the other half was about the history of the fae that she had learned back at her time in arcanaeum. The fae were all dangerous; too dangerous to even talk to. Too dangerous to be a real threat, even. But Teressa seemed to think that the contents of the letters were real, and Kiri had no idea what to make of that.

Teressa’s letter was also full of concern for the future, for what she was seeing was dark, and terrible. She saw Treehome on fire, and danger all around, but then, suddenly, on the morning before the arrival of this letter, the future seemed brighter. Now she knew why. Erick’s letters had caused many people to rethink what Erick-in-Ar’Cosmos meant.

So that was good news.

Poi’s letter was a flat refusal to believe that these letters were real because Fairy Moon had never let anyone communicate with the outside like him before. But in the off chance it was real, and maybe it was according to Jane’s small visit with Yggdrasil (but then again all that could just be fae fakery) then he wished Erick well. He would also be teaching Erick some proper mental blocking spells after this was all over.

Erick felt warm inside to read those words. Also… He probably wouldn’t need their help protecting himself against mental magics if this accretion thing worked out how it needed to work out.

Jane’s letter was simple.

‘A lot of people are divided on if this letter is real. I hope it is. I was talking with Treehome about going into the place that the old guy showed us, guns blazing, but now we’re waiting. It is what it is. Also, apparently you have Yggdrasil’s eye there with you, and so I went to Yggdrasil to see about that. He wasn’t allowing anyone near him, but he let me. He wasn’t able to show me you, or to do much except say that you’re there against your will, and that you’re alive. People are divided on what that means, though, because apparently all of Ar’Cosmos is an illusionary lie. Anyway… I hope that this letter is true, and that you’re safe. I love you. Come back home as soon as you can.’

Erick sighed and smiled as he read Jane’s letter three times. Afterward he just sat there, absorbing the moment. And then he glanced toward his new clock.

He got up and set the alarm for 3 hours; he was exhausted and he needed some sleep. Not a lot, but some.

He slept through the alarm.

- - - -

Erick managed to pull himself out of bed for a cycle just before Maid Maria knocked on his door to announce dinner. At dinner, Erick asked about enchanting.

And then Fairy Moon’s eyes glittered. She opened her mouth, and Erick was suddenly worried that he had stepped into some shit.

Fairy Moon’s words were ethereal. “Books and bindings and words and runes all work for alternative reasons. Even the language I speak is suffused with the laws of enchantment, but putting that power down into detailed creation is cause for celebration. Not everything tried by everyone works because not everyone works hard enough, and yet what is work but a trifling weave of trial and yearning for more? I say work is nothing but power made pure, but now we question ‘what is purity?’. A machine of a million parts like a shopping mall mart, where people buy things for all time, is basically purity in the sense of a surety of how economies turn on bell chimes.

“But most enchants are simple, like the stripping of pimples from the face of a child yet grown. Or perhaps you are partial to colors and contrast and you strive to make green out of grey, so maybe you add in some things that make no sense like you place the enchant near a plant. The power will thus present only in environments of trees or grasses or mossy graves.

“For my self-sense a rhyming repeat-ance makes magic have power and poise. But some magics are so dense that surfacing from them is a dangerous prospect indeed, and so here’s a warning that is not much a warning for you already know it in true:” Fairy Moon drew herself up in her large chair, and in that moment she was absolutely ancient. “Beware the depths on all sides and walk the way toward the sights you desire to behold, for while the person carves their path and creates their power, the power also causes the person.”

Silence stretched in the dining room, and for a brief moment, Erick felt the weight of the world upon his shoulders. The wooden carvings of people and fae on the walls, and all the paintings and sculptures scattered throughout, all seemed to look at him, and Fairy Moon, to bear witness to this moment and give it weight in their viewing.

The moment passed.

Erick collected his thoughts, felt that whatever magic Fairy Moon had made was not against him, and so he brushed over all of the power in her words, to say, “I have no trouble believing that. Say. Could I get some ancient mana-soaked wood for some Stat rings? I want to speed up this accretion process.”

Fairy Moon looked at Erick a bit longer, her vibrant green and pink eyes staring a bit too hard, and then the stress of the moment faded. Fairy Moon relaxed. She stuck a fork in her buttered vegetables, saying, “Of course. You will have your materials by the morrow or sooner, though if wood be what ye seek, then perhaps a clipping from Yggdrasil would be better for your magic.”

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye turned on Erick’s shoulder, as he perked up.

“He’s not real yet, though.”

“… He’s not?” Fairy Moon frowned. “Yes he is?”

Erick considered his stance, what he knew and what he thought Fairy Moon might know, and then he said, “A divine seal prevents a full manifestation because all the gods are worried that Melemizargo will blow up this world as soon as he has another. I don’t know what is happening with Yggdrasil’s twin, under the care of Sininindi, but this Yggdrasil is still a part of me, and he is not fully real.”

“Ah. That. I suppose that view is also correct.” Fairy Moon waved a hand, saying, “He’s as real as the magic enhancements you wish to make, so perhaps a clipping, properly clipped, would be best for you and yours.”

“… Or some wrought-class metal, would be good, too.” Erick said, “I’m not willing to do experiments on Yggdrasil, now, or ever. Perhaps when all a clipping requires is a simple dropped branch, then I will take your advice.”

Fairy Moon rolled her eyes, saying, “Working in metal is working in poison to the non-metallic, and you are non-metallic. If you don’t want to get a clipping from Yggdrasil then I will get you a clipping from another source of similar power. Still, though, you should pluck twigs from your Yggdrasil and create wonders like no other.” She shrugged, and with a bit of sarcasm, said, “Or maybe you can just make a silly little belt of Stats, like a common caster.”

Erick nodded, and adroitly declared, “I am but a humble mage, looking for some small bonuses here and there; no need to go making mountains when molehills will suffice. And besides that! I’ve been working on Stat enchants ever since I heard they were possible and—” A thought struck. “Oh my gods.” Erick chuckled a bit, saying, “I’ve been making things slightly better for a while, eh!”

Fairy Moon looked to him, suddenly judging.

… She slowly nodded. “Perhaps you have. This bodes well.” She paused. She said, “You will need to make mountains eventually, and at least one shall be called Elemental Benevolence, for it will need to withstand all storms to ever arise. When you reach another revelation or four about how you desire to proceed with that mountainous construction we shall discuss the necessities you deem necessary. I doubt this will happen before Second Foundation though… Perhaps seven days away?”

“Hopefully sooner than that!” Erick asked, “Can I get those wood clippings or wrought metal, and also my adamantium knife, too? Maybe in a few hours?”

“… You will have a collection of materials made available to you, soon. I do not have your knife, but I will figure something out.”

Erick thought for a moment, and said, “Maybe some normal carving tools… and I’m going to try for bloodwork. What do you think of bloodwork in magic?”

“Bloodwork is but a path to crystalwork; crystalwork is better.”

Erick considered those words, then asked, “You mean crystals as in mana crystals, yes?”

“You mark the meaning correctly.” Fairy Moon said, “I doubt you have ever seen an actual mana crystal, though, aside from the piece of one used to make your counting crystal.”

“I imagine that they’re just purified mana that is allowed to settle and then self-organize in a vat, or something like that? Not monster cores?”

Fairy Moon tilted her head. “That is an oversimplification, but that works. And no. Monster cores are not mana crystals.”

“But mana crystals are all about putting down layers of similar mana, yes?”

“Similar and yet different.” Fairy Moon ended that vein of conversation with, “I do not desire to taint your learning of mana crystals at this time. I will approach Illustrious to speak of crystals with you more, if you desire.”

“Sure. That works.”

The conversation moved on to lighter topics. It was almost a normal dinner, between normal people, with Erick mostly staying away from the larger topics, and Fairy Moon giving warnings about things that were self-evident. It was, perhaps, the first nice talk that Erick had had with Fairy Moon. She still spoke alliteratively, though. Which was a bit freaky.

- - - -

Erick cut his accretion short and opened his eyes. The green moon hovered beyond his window. The air was cool, and he was clean from a recent bath but with a light sweat from his accretion efforts.

There had been a knock on the door.

He got up and answered it.

Maid Maria stood on the other side, holding a large wooden box by a handle on its top. “Greetings, Archmage Flatt.” She lifted the box like it weighed nothing, but it looked like it must have weighed a hundred kilos. “Your requested materials are here for you. Would you like me to place them in your room?”

“Ah. I can take it from there.” Erick said, “Appreciated, Maid Maria.”

Maria set down the box. “Will that be all? Or would you perhaps desire a work table, too? I can retrieve one of those from storage, as well.”

“… Oh? Uh. Yeah. I could use a work desk.” Erick said, “I didn’t know that was an option.”

“Fairy Moon desires to be accommodating where she can. I will return with a desk as soon as I leave here.” Maid Maria said, “Also, the kitchens are open at all hours. You need not restrict yourself to normal meal times. If the mealtimes Fairy Moon has chosen do not agree with you, then adjustments can be made to account for your wants.”

Erick smiled softly. “Appreciated. Maybe I will get myself a midnight snack later, after I make some Stat jewelry. Otherwise, everything has been about as good as it can be.”

Maria gave a curt nod, then said, “I will return with a desk shortly.”

But she was waiting for Erick to pick up the box and prove he could move it on his own.

Erick grabbed the handle and tried to lift it—

Failure. It didn’t even budge under his physical power.

Maid Maria instantly offered, “I can move the box around for you before I go.”

“Nope nope.” Erick struggled to lift the heavy thing, so he decided to drag it across the floor instead. “It’s fine. I’ll take that work desk as soon as you can.”

Maria nodded again, then stepped away, back down the stairs.

Once she was out of sight Erick frowned at the heavy box. He could already tell what was in there, and the only things that weighed so much were the metal disks at the bottom of the box. So he had Ophiel grab it with his lightform and move the thing to the side of the room, where Erick wanted it to be.

Erick dug right into the gifted box, pulling out sparkling silver wood and gems of every color and gold bars and platinum ingots, and dark carving tools made of some strange metal that was likely not adamantium. Or maybe it was? The tools were simply labeled ‘enchanter’s carving kit’. A lot of things had rather simple descriptions that told Erick nothing of their true value. He kept everything separated and organized on his writing desk, but he was glad for Maria’s offer of an additional tabletop; he was going to need it. This was an enchanter’s cornucopia, worth thousands upon thousands of gold. Some of the materials were so obviously magical, like the ‘manawood’, and so very much out of Erick’s expertise that he had no idea of their costs, or their functions.

Luckily, Inferno Maw’s enchanting books should be able to help with identification of—

Maid Maria returned with a sturdy desk, carrying it up the stairs and into the room like it was a particularly large and unwieldy sheet of paper, and not at all like the thick wooden creation it appeared to be. She set the desk to the side of the room, and then stepped back to the door, and curtsied.

“If that is all then I wish you good night, Archmage Flatt.”

“That’s all. Good night, Maid Maria.”

Maria left.

And Erick got down to the business of learning how to make an amulet of… At least Willpower and Focus, yeah? Yeah. That seemed safe. Easy. With that in mind, Erick began organizing the contents of his gift box on his writing desk to that end, while simultaneously poring over the textbooks from Inferno Maw, checking and double checking what he had against what he needed.

When his mana topped off, he accreted.

- - - -

The sun dawned in the window and Erick finally felt ready to make himself an amulet.

Every little detail about enchanting was different here in Ar’Cosmos, from how it was out there on Veird. But the broad strokes were the same. ‘Imbue an item with the thing you wish to empower/create’. Simple stuff. The details were still vastly important, though.

Using Ophiel’s power, while the little guy sat on a perch on the edge of the table, Erick grabbed a lump of platinum off of the ingot with [Metalshape]. A simple crushing light turned that metal into a perfect disk. Mostly, Erick tried to use Ophiel to do the big stuff, for Erick had none of his usual throughput, but Ophiel was not limitless, either. But at the same time, Ophiel’s mana limitations weren’t much of a concern since this particular Ophiel had been conjured with Erick’s Normal Form’s power, and had over 13,000 Mana and 57,000 Mana Regen, and he was located inside the dense, Restful air of his [Prismatic Ward]. Ophiel wasn’t losing cohesion any time soon.

Erick couldn’t use Ophiel’s mana to enchant, though. He had tried before and it never worked. So Ophiel was just a glorified assistant, for now. He didn’t seem to mind. With bright white eyes and flickering wings, Ophiel watched as Erick worked.

Erick slipped the platinum disk into a holder he had already made, that would allow him to both hold the amulet and turn it as he worked. He turned the amulet in its cradle now, while he marked out where the words would go with chalk, for everything needed to be set correctly for it to work properly. In that way, this was pretty much ‘formation work’ from Songli.

Once everything was marked out and the cradle was calibrated, next came the engraving half of the ritual.

Erick took the black scalpel from the carving tools and held it himself. For a moment, he worried over his own mana reserves, but he should be able to complete one inscription if he went fast. His hands were steady. He was rested enough.

He discarded his worries and went for it.

Glowing aura flowed into the scalpel, then latched on to the mana-conductive metal as soon as Erick tried to latch on. Slowly, mana flowed through, and Erick shifted that channel to resonate with his Focus, turning the white glow to bright cyan. With a quick, Dexterous right hand, Erick began carving, while with his left, he turned the cradle slowly, but surely. With quick flicks and focused touches, words began to appear in the circle of platinum. ‘Focus on the flow, and let it fill you full.’

His Mana reserves lasted it all the way to the end and a little bit beyond.

Erick had to laugh at that thought, though.

“Lasted to the end. Ha!” Erick said, “240 mana gone, just like that. You know, Ophiel, I think I grew complacent as to just how much 250 mana means to most people. That’s a full day’s allotment.”

Ophiel twittered in response, happy to be included.

Erick looked down at his circle of platinum. “Not done yet, but I’m spent. Break time.”

He left his stuff there and went to the bathing pool for a small swim and a cleanup. He had extended Ophiel’s [Prismatic Ward] across part of the water, though, so he was still able to Rest while he was resting. Half an hour later, Erick was out of the bath and ready to go for enchanting round #2.

Now this part was tricky. Not too tricky, since Erick knew all how it was supposed to work. But tricky in the way that he had never done it before. There was no time like the present for some hands-on learning, though, so Erick sat down at his enchanting table and held his hand a decimeter above the platinum disk.

White glows manifested across his palm.

A quick flick with the black scalpel opened up the meat of his hand; one of the easiest places where a person could cut and not worry about channeling mana through the artery/vein confusion. Blood flowed, but it did not drip. Erick held the flow back with his aura, and his mana, making tangible the intangible, soaking the bright red power in his white mana. As Erick focused, his blood began to glitter cyan as infinitesimal core dust began to manifest inside the red drops that had not yet dropped.

And then some line of power had been crossed. A shimmering iridescent droplet of blood fell from his wound to land upon the center of the amulet like a tiny firework that started off red and white, but shifted to cyan as it flowed into the lettering. The blood vanished into the metal, but the power remained. The words he had carved began to glow. Another drop of magic blood fell onto the amulet.

Drip drop. Drip drop.

With every bit of power that fell from Erick, the lines of his inscription began to fill with cyan blue crystal, like rock candy crowding out of a sugar solution. Twenty one drops and practically all of his Mana later, a drop of iridescent blood landed on the amulet and did not soak inside. The magic splashed away from the crystal. Nothing grew larger.

The enchantment was full; saturation had been reached.

Erick smiled and pulled back his aura. Ophiel rapidly hit him with a [Greater Treat Wounds], instantly healing the small cut on his hand. Erick had been holding him back from doing exactly that for the last ten minutes, while he also held open his own body to keep the blood flowing.

He smiled, saying, “Thank you, Ophiel.”

Ophiel twittered in joyous violins.

And Erick inspected his work.

The platinum amulet was practically festooned with cyan-colored crystalline growths, almost completely obscuring the original words. But the words were there, if you looked hard enough. Erick picked it up and pressed it against his chest—

Cold, yet refreshing flows scattered throughout Erick’s entire body, like he had jumped in a wintry pool. He shivered a bit. It wasn’t a bad feeling, though. Erick took the amulet away from his chest, and while the cold abated, it did not fully go away. The thing was now linked to his aura, it seemed, or something like that, and even holding the thing in his hand was almost as good as properly wearing it.

Erick smiled. “Now that’s a successful enchantment.”

He strung a chain through the loops in the back of the amulet and wore it below his necklace from Fairy Moon. The cold chill seemed to return in full, but Erick got used to the feeling quickly enough. And now, then, was the moment of truth.

Erick turned toward the counting crystal. He took the cube in hand—

Ah. Shit. Right. He was out of mana.

… Erick went over his enchanting books for a little while, making sure that what he had was truly an example of a good enchanted object (it was) and was surprised when his normal 30 minute wait to full mana only took 20 minutes. This boded well!

Erick checked himself with the cube.

- -

Strength: 17

Vitality: 20

Dexterity: 18

Constitution: 17

Perception: 17

Willpower: 39

Focus: 52

Intelligence: 17

- -

Mana: 390

Mana Regen (Vit+Foc): 720

- -

“Ah ha!” Erick laughed out loud, then told Ophiel, “This is great! Complete success; I even got some base mana, too! And Vitality, too? Unexpected— Ohh. I should account for all of that next time. This is good, Ophiel. This is literally days saved…” He looked at all the rest of his enchanting ingredients. “And I should be able to make a better amulet with some adjustments of materials and process— Oh this is good. Very good, indeed.”

Ophiel twittered in happy violins.

Erick got back to accretion as soon as he could.

Time flew fast as Erick’s core filled out, and his body strengthened. He had saved a lot of time, and the next item he made would help him save even more.

- - - -

Yggdrasil watched his father make a magical item out of metal.

And then he thought back to what Fairy Moon had said about taking a clipping from him, to help his father make items for himself. A part of him felt odd at seeing his father happy over bits of metal, when there was apparently a better way; a way for Yggdrasil to be involved, directly.

Yggdrasil wanted to be involved.

But he wasn’t stupid. He had seen what Fairy Moon had done to his father, and he didn’t like her at all. Nope! Not one bit.

And yet…

Yggdrasil focused a very large and trying-to-be intimidating eye at Fairy Moon, who was sitting in the air in his boughs. She was not intimidated. Yggdrasil’s eye usually scared lots of people, but not her. She didn’t even eye him back. She was simply not scared of him, at all, and that was weird. It was very easy to kill small things like her, after all. Yggdrasil had accidentally killed small fishes before, and he had accidentally hurt people…

He had purposefully hurt people when they tried to hurt him, but mostly he did not. Father had said that words were important, and that Yggdrasil needed to be defensive; not offensive.

But against Fairy Moon? Yggdrasil had purposefully killed her many times already. Walls of Force. Trapping Domains. Slicing light. All of it had worked, too. He had killed Fairy Moon ten times so far.

Usually, dead things stayed dead, but Fairy Moon appeared to be an exception. Each time she came back the same as before, looking no worse for wear.

Yggdrasil spoke, “If I give you a twig will you go away and leave my father alone?”

“I will go away for now if you give me a twig tamed to reality, so that I may relinquish it to your father,” Fairy Moon answered. “It is for his enchanting efforts.”

Well… that was fine… right?

And yet…

He didn’t like Fairy Moon.

Yggdrasil broke a twig off of himself and floated it toward Fairy Moon, and then he stabbed her through the head with it. She died, again.

Probably wouldn’t last long this time, either—

Fairy Moon instantly reappeared, yelled, “Appreciated!” and vanished along with her previous corpse, and with the stick embedded in its head.

Yggdrasil didn’t know how to feel about that.