Millennial Mage

Tala and Terry made good time to the Culinary Guild. The assistant on duty was obviously a bit uncomfortable with Tala’s arrival, but he’d apparently been advised to expect her.

Atrela came out to greet her in short order, leading Tala down a side hallway into a spacious pantry.

The four walls were covered, floor to ceiling, in shelving. A counter ran the circumference in front of the upper shelves, and above the lower. That counter was only broken by the single door in and out.

A large work-surface anchored the room from the center, with a six-foot walkway all the way around.

The room was bigger than most home-kitchens. And this is just a side pantry. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected from the Culinary Guild. If she was being honest, she’d not given it much thought.

The shelves of this pantry were stocked full of bulk goods, well labeled and tightly sealed.

On the central counter a treasure trove of non-perishable food was spread out, awaiting Tala’s inspection.

“We try to keep proper nutrition in mind.” Atrela had a self-contented smile. “I oversaw the selection myself, bending the choices towards those we’d give a combat response group.”

When Tala gave her a quizzical look, Atrela continued.

“We tried to ensure that you have the right nutrients for proper healing and bodily function.”

Terry was looking around with interest, but he didn’t leave her shoulder.

Altrela walked Tala through each section of the staggering array of food. I need to expand Kit’s capacity…

There were dried fruits and vegetables of all kinds, grains en masse, and canned meats in ridiculous abundance. Tala had seen canned food before, but her family had rarely used it. As she considered, she actually didn’t know how it worked.

Atrela grinned widely when Tala asked. “We use the same methods the supply masters use for city emergency stores. A marginal dimensional expansion on the food, which fades once the can is sealed. That causes a strong vacuum that helps prevent any seepage or contamination of the contents. Then, we have a powerful sterilization inscription that we activate on all the goods. It kills anything that might otherwise ruin the stores. It is more effective than home-preservation methods and allows for the long-term preservation of items that can’t take heat-canning.”

Tala nodded appreciatively, glad for the explanation, but not really interested in a deeper exploration. The preservation process works, it won’t fail, and I don’t have to be concerned about the food going bad.

Atrela handed her a simple notebook, smaller than Tala’s palm. “This contains the list of items and recommended preparations and meal-plans. Feel free to add your comments and ratings, then when you re-order, we can shift what we provide to match your specifications.”

“Couldn’t I just tell you?”

She gave Tala a long look. “Mistress, this is five-hundred days’ worth of meals for one person who is expecting heavy exertion, and it will effectively never spoil, assuming it isn't damaged or otherwise despoiled. I deeply hope that you don’t remember your impressions of the early meals when you finally reorder.”

Tala’s eyes widened, doing quick math. I gave her a budget of two gold. So, “How can you provide meals for fourteen copper apiece?” She hesitated. No, that’s not actually that cheap, is it… She could almost get three of Gretel’s meat pies for that price, and that would be a reasonable meal for most people. Food from a restaurant or food-cart was almost always more expensive than it would cost to make it herself.

“We make all of this in colossal quantities. We pulled your order from a batch we’re putting together to ship to the City Builders' Guild at the current construction site.”

The new city. “The Builders eat this, regularly? Why wouldn’t they just get it from the closest city?”

“It is meant to supplement and insure against the loss of supply caravans, so yes this does feed them, but not exclusively. As to why from us?” She shrugged. “While we are on the far side of human civilization, all cities pull their weight in the support of upcoming bastions of humanity. At the moment, we have an excess of foodstuffs, so that is what we’re sending.” Atrela smiled. “If cities between here and there have need of the food, instead, they’ll trade it out for other things of use to the Builders.”

Tala nodded, thinking through all the implications. Most of her thoughts centered around the food, before her, rather that the intricacies of inter-city trade agreements. That makes a lot of sense. If they are making vast quantities of this type of food, they’re likely able to be much more efficient and thus get the price much lower than it could be under other circumstances.

“We still do recommend that you get some form of cauldron or cooking pot. Trying to cook this up without such a tool will be difficult. Obviously, you can eat some without preparation, but most will need some cooking.”

Tala shrugged. “Any recommendations on a supplier?”

Atrela grinned. “We can offer some options. The best would be cast-iron, both for longevity and utility, but I understand that Mages want as little to do with iron as possible. We have several other options that should serve well-enough.”

Tala waved her off. “Cast-iron will be just fine.”

That threw the woman off for a moment, but she recovered quickly. Atrela turned, squatting to reach behind where she’d been standing, into one of the lower shelves, muttering under her breath, clearly not intending Tala to hear, “Not the strangest thing about her, I suppose.”

Tala didn’t comment.

With a soft grunt of effort, Atrela pulled out a relatively large, cast-iron cauldron. “This can be set over a fire without need of a grill or suspension.” The woman set the heavy cookpot on the central worksurface.

Tala glanced to the bottom and easily saw three legs sprouting from the pot-bellied base. Those would hold it a good six inches above a flat surface or be sunk into ground to give greater stability and less distance above the heat. The cauldron itself was just under a foot in each dimension at the largest, discounting the legs. The sidewalls and lid were all thick, which would lend them longevity if Tala cared for it properly.

Atrela spent a few minutes extolling the virtues of the cauldron, pulling out several implements for use alongside it and explaining how it should be cared for.

“Alright, I’ll give it a try. How much?”

“Ten silver.”

Tala sighed. She’d expected as much, if she was being honest. That was twenty-five days of meals, at the cost she was paying here. Still, can’t eat the meals if I can’t prepare them. “Can you throw it in, with such a large order?”

Atrela gave her a long look. “I think if you are still willing to discuss the…other item, then yes. We can sell the food and these implements for a total of two gold.”

Tala nodded. It’s always worth asking. “Thank you.”

After they’d finalized the transaction, Tala took Kit off her belt in order to make the loading faster. She didn’t worry about organization within Kit; the dimensional storage would arrange as appropriate. Yeah, I definitely need to give Kit some good upgrades. They are well-earned and heartily deserved.

She thought about it for a moment as she continued moving items into the pouch. I have a bit more free funds than I was expecting. An upgrade to Kit’s capacities is likely one of the better investments I can make, at the moment. She would investigate it at least.

She hitched for a moment. I forgot to ask about a clock of some kind. She sighed. I really do have too much going on…

Once all the items were tucked away, she regarded Atrela once again. “So, did the Order make a decision?”

Atrela was looking through notes on her slate, and she glanced up. Noticing that Tala was done, Atrela tucked the slate away and nodded. “We have. If you allow us to add you as a member of the Order within the Archive, we will not oppose you taking the question to one you deem appropriate.”

Tala thought about Ingrit’s answers in the Bandfast Archon’s library. My being a member might allow me to unlock the records to a librarian, for investigation. Then, I can progress from there. “I agree.” She hesitated. “Wait… You have Order membership logged in the Archive?”

“Of course. We have to, so that we can properly restrict access to our research.”

“But you’re trying to hide from Mages…Aren’t you being a bit trusting?”

Atrela shrugged. “If the inter-guild agreements fail, we will have something to worry about, but as it is, the Archive has proven itself utterly secure and discreet.”

Tala did not understand, but she didn’t have to. “Alright, then.”

Atrela went through the process of adding Tala to the confidential rolls of the Order of the Harvest. Apparently, even the name of the Order was sealed from anyone who wasn’t authorized, within the Archive.

I guess I’m glad that it’s that secure. She really should get an Archive slate for herself. That should probably be my next big purchase, after expanding Kit, assuming that’s reasonably priced.

With no further business, Tala bid Atrela farewell and headed back down the tree, towards the work-yard and the cargo-slot that she needed to empty.

* * *

Within the cargo-slot room that she’d called her own for nearly two weeks, Tala didn’t have much to consider. In the end, Tala took her bed, but that was about all she needed from the space.

Everything else of hers lived in Kit.

Blessedly, the bedframe folded to a size that would fit through Kit’s opening, and the mattress, while incredibly firm, still flexed enough to be forced through.

After that addition, Kit was full. There was still enough room that Tala could pull out what she needed, but she didn’t really have room to climb down in anymore, let alone room for a bath.

Unacceptable. Instead of going back to the training room, she returned to Jevin in the Constructionist Guild.

Mistress Odera was gone, as Tala had expected, and Jevin came from the back shortly after the pleasant ding announced Tala’s arrival. It was still late afternoon; so, it wasn’t after business hours, thankfully.

“Mistress Tala? What are you doing back so soon?”

“I need to make my dimensional storage larger.”

He nodded. “That makes sense. I assume you just need raw size, not any other feature?”

She frowned. “Yes? What do you mean?”

“Well, every additional feature or ability integrated with a dimensional storage is added complexity and expense. We do, however, have quite a few Mages and Archons who simply want to expand their storage devices, not to mention a host of mundanes who just want to store a lot of things.”

“What are you getting at?”

“If you just need the extra space, we can expand it much more cheaply than the cost of a truly useful dimensional item, containing the space we need.”

She grimaced. “That’s not what you conveyed before.”

“I was conveying generalities and minimums. It’s always better to set expectations of cost at a reasonable level.”

“So…?”

He gave her a look. “I assume your new desire is partially inspired by your stipend from the Caravan Guild?”

“It is.”

“Do you want to spend all of it?”

“No? I can probably spare…” She hesitated, taking a deep breath. “…thirty ounces, gold?”

“We can triple your pouch’s capacity, with that.”

“Is that the full cost? Or just for the construct that we need?”

“For item and combination.”

“Great. Let’s do that.” She’d been hoping to at least double Kit for thirty gold, a tripling was almost enough to make her laugh in glee. “When can it be done?”

“We can do it now. It doesn’t take that long.” He motioned for her to follow him, and he led her into a backroom that she’d not seen before. That wasn’t surprising, as she’d not really explored this complex, despite her somewhat frequent visits.

She looked around, taking in the simple space. Most of the room was filled with a heavily inscribed construction of immense complexity. The clearly inscribed construct appeared to be made in sections, mostly of wood, cleverly latched together. As a part of the construct, there were two small platforms, each with an open, smooth circle of wood three feet across.

“Alright, what do I do?”

“Place your storage on the left side, and I will be right back.”

She did as he asked, unclipping Kit and setting the pouch within the clear circle. After a moment’s hesitation, Tala quickly topped off Kit’s power reserves. Better to be safe.

Jevin returned carrying a simple wooden crate.

Physically, it was expertly crafted, the seams all but undetectable even with her enhanced vision. The dowels did stand out, pinning the sides together, but in a way that added to the beauty rather than took from it. The leather hinges were obvious as well, woven through smooth holes in the lid and through the top of one side.

Dimensional magic was quite evident surrounding the box, and it was as simple as it was powerful. All that the magic ingrained into the artifact-like construct did was expand space within. There was no isolation, no organization, no protection. It was just a box that was bigger on the inside.

I feel like it would look even prettier painted blue. She shrugged at the odd notion. It was already a well-crafted container. There was no need to cover up the craftsman’s work.

It expands space like Kit does. Tala paused at that. Wait… if Kit just expands the space, the inside should always be leather, like the pouch. She looked back towards Kit. Her mage-sight saw what she’d always seen, the magics ingrained in the pouch were directed at expanding the space within, defending the pouch, and axis, weight, and kinetic isolation for the expanded space. And… there’s more that I don’t really understand. Something tying it all together. Obviously, there were at least space manipulation aspects, otherwise Kit couldn’t reorganize, or give her what she reached for. Worth looking into, further, but not now.

She shrugged internally. Jevin had examined Kit’s magic and hadn’t seen anything of concern. So, it was fine.

“This, right now, has a bit more than double the capacity of your pouch. We expect a little bit of loss, with most combinations.” He set the crate down in the other circle of the larger construct. “This device,” he patted the massive construction. “This will hold the contents of your storage in suspension, combine the devices, and return your items to the newly created whole.”

Tala nodded, feeling a bit nervous. “And that won’t damage Kit?”

“No. We’re very good at this, Mistress. No functionality will be lost.” After a moment, when she was clearly still concerned, he continued. “We have a guarantee, but since it’s been centuries since it was invoked, we rarely bother speaking of it.”

That did make Tala feel better, at least a bit. She nodded. “So, what now?”

“Now? Since one of the storage items is magic-bound to you, you must power the merger.” He pointed to a hand-shaped impression off to one side.

Tala walked up to it and placed her hand there. “Just… feed it power?”

“I would suggest creating a mental construct of your aim, but yes. I assume you understand dimensional expansion well enough for the mental model?”

She nodded. So, the mental model that matters is the result, not the process. That made sense. It wouldn’t be very efficient, but it would work. “Let’s do it.”

Without further hesitation, she built a mental image of the end result she wanted: Kit, with greater spatial capacity.

She forged one large void-channel and connected it to the massive device through her mental construct. That wasn’t giving enough power, so she made another, then another. Finally, she reached the needed flowrate.

Power ripped through her, moving in a thunderous tide.

Slowly, the copper lines on the great construct began to glow, her power suffusing the feat of magical engineering.

When the entire room was filled with coppery light, the air hummed with power. Kit and the crate slowly lifted up, floating on power and circled by activated inscriptions.

Both storage items seemed to become translucent, their magical matrixes fading into visibility even to Tala’s mundane sight.

Just like she’d seen before, the crate was a simple, straightforward construct.

Kit’s magics, on the other hand, were a mind-bending, interconnected masterpiece. If Tala hadn’t known better, she would have said it looked like some sort of alien being, one that couldn’t possibly exist in their world. That image wasn’t helped when Kit’s scripts shifted, unfurling like a great mouth opening wide.

It consumed the simple script as a cat consumes a tasty treat.

As Tala watched, the crate’s spell-forms were pulled free of the physical object. As soon as the spell-lines separated, the wooden crate came back to easy visibility, settling back down within its circle.

The magics stolen from the crate were pulled into Kit, absorbed, digested, and integrated into the pouch. The result was a larger, slightly more complex, alien construct of interwoven spell-lines.

The empowered item that Tala was feeding with her void-channels slowly wound down. Kit and the crate floated down to rest where they had been, physically unchanged.

When the draw of power through her hand ceased, Tala broke down her void-channels, stepped forward, and examined the crate. Nothing. Just a simple wooden box.

Then, she picked up Kit and looked inside.

There was so much room! Tala laughed. “That’s amazing!” She turned to Jevin but hesitated when she saw the Paragon regarding her and Kit oddly. “Is everything alright?”

“That was… more animated than I usually see.”

“The combining? That’s exactly what I’d expected.” She shrugged. “Well, I suppose I mean it seemed right to me, not that I really knew what to expect.”

He visibly relaxed. “Ahh, that makes sense. This sort of combination often takes a form according to the caster’s understanding.” He smiled. “So, are you satisfied?”

“Well, I don’t have a measuring tape on me, but it looks great.”

He nodded. “You actually got just more than triple the capacity. You had a much better mental construct than I was expecting, and so the process was more capacity efficient than usual. That likely comes from your work as a dimensional Mage. It took a bit more power, but you handled that with ease.”

She shrugged and smiled. “Thank you.”

“I am happy to assist. If you confirm the transaction, we’ll be done. Though, of course, you are welcome back any time.”

She smiled, examining the slate he held out to her. It allowed the Constructionist Guild to take thirty gold from her upcoming payment from the Caravan Guild. Not ideal, adding to my debt even temporarily… If she’d taken a moment to consider, she’d probably have waited until the stipend was given, but that option was past possible.

With a press of her thumb and power, she confirmed the new debt and forced a smile. “Thank you, again.”