Chapter 167: It All Started with Some Chicken Soup

Chapter 167: It All Started with Some Chicken Soup

Tala, Rane, Lyn, and Terry entered the Archon compound, and Tala immediately felt a difference.

It was subtle, likely something that she only noticed because of her heightened mage-sight.

The power within the building was held on a much shorter leash, as it were. Even the little magic in the air was all claimed by various spell-forms, in one way or another.

Honestly, it felt like Makinaven, but where that city had had a single, unified overlord, this felt like a patchwork of authorities overlapping one another.

Huh, there is no free-floating power at all. The city usually had at least a little. There must be incredibly efficient collectors within this complex.

She rubbed her temples briefly, vainly attempting to dispel her headache. At this point, shed suspect mental shenanigans, but Alat had remained silent. No use worrying about it, I suppose.

The overall sensation was like having her clothing pulled tight across her skin, but it was external power tightening around her own, internal power.

She bolstered her aura, just at the boundary of her own skin, and felt a lessening of the pressure within herself, though it meant that it was concentrated on the edges of her power. Its even trying to strip power from my aura. These scripts must have been laid and activated by truly powerful Archons.

She rubbed her forehead against the still present headache and took a deep drink of water.

When they entered the entry atrium, Tala suddenly remembered the round disk given to her by an Archon, after the fight with the syphon. Oh! Right, my token.

She pulled out the token that shed been given, ostensibly for her contributions towards finding and removing the creature. Shed not actually looked closely at it, and now that she did, she had a moments hesitation.The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

It was a thing of beauty.

A stylized golden skull was inset into wood. The skull wasnt actually gold as the image was slightly translucent, somehow, but it represented the color well enough.

Around the outside were twisting, interweaving lines that looked like inscriptions, but werent. Just decoration, or is it some sort of script? She could look into it later, if she had time.

For now, though, she was standing in the Archon Complex atrium, staring at a small wooden coin.

She cleared her throat and continued forward, ignoring the inquiring looks from her companions. Well, not Terry. Terrys content to sleep, for now.

Feeling a bit hesitant as she wasnt quite sure this was exactly where she was supposed to take it, she walked up to the central desk and cleared her throat. I believe that I was told to bring this here? She held up the circular item.

The young man behind the counter looked up. Oh, certainly, Mistress. He held out his hand, and Tala placed the token into it.

Lyn patted Tala on her shoulder. Yeah, I cashed mine in at my inscriptionist after lunch. Took most of the afternoon, but Im all refreshed, now. She gave a half smile. Best part about that token was it got me out of the afternoon of work to have the inscription done.

Tala smiled at her friend briefly before returning her attention to the Mage behind the counter

He placed the token on a small, empowered circle that was clearly intended for the purpose. He read something on his slate and nodded. Oh, I see. You assisted with one of the last syphons.

Tala managed to keep her astonishment off of her face and out of her tone. One of the last? How often does this happen? She supposed that if they didnt kill anyone, they could be pretty prevalent and be little more than a nuisance. Yeah. She tried to act casually, but the assistants small smile said that shed given away something of her surprise. Has the reward been set?

Yes. It says here that you are to be given the choice between three gold and the syphons alteration fascia.

Tala blinked, all pretense at understanding utterly forgotten. Excuse me, but its what?

Its alteration fascia.

When Tala simply returned a blank look, the assistant sighed, manipulated his slate and began to read from what seemed to be a prepared information packet.

Syphons use a mix of dimensional, material, and illusion magics to create their perceived form, both interior and exterior. Its alteration fascia are the tendrils, nodes, and interconnected networks, which contain and transport that power throughout its form.

How would such a thing even be harvested? Tala imagined trying to remove a creatures circulatory system, intact. That sounds tedious to the extreme, not to mention finicky beyond belief.

With great precision, care, and precisely modulated spell-forms. There are several specialists within the city who are masters of dressing arcanous kills and extracting the useful bits whole and in working order.

Hunters Guild?

Most of them are, yes.

Huh. So, why is it being offered to me? Not that Im not grateful, of course. Tala held up her hands placatingly.

Of course, of course. All the Archons that participated in the slaying of this creature in an official capacity have already merged their dimensional storages with one or more syphon alteration fascia, so they have a lesser claim. Syphons are true magical creatures, not the result of founts, so they are both prolific and seemingly unending. The law requires that such harvests be offered to participating Mages before they are sold off by the city, though that basically never actually happens. If you do not claim this as a reward, it will be offered to the Mage with the next fewest such, merged with their bound items. The young man looked up from where hed clearly been reading from a script. Do you have a preference?

Tala was still dumbfounded. What is something like that worth?

He got a hesitant look on his face. Well, that should not factor in as you would be barred from selling the harvest if you accept it as your payout. It is intended as an incentive to find and fight such creatures, not as a source of income.

Tala waved that away dismissively. Yes, of course, Ive no plans to sell it, if I accept. What about for curiosity sake?

He frowned, looking back down. He took another minute to search through information on his slate before grunting in seeming success. Here it is: The last time one was offered on the open market was some three hundred thirteen years ago. It sold for two hundred and thirteen gold, seven silver, and six copper. He laughed. Thats a funny coincidence. Some hundred and sixteen years ago, it sold for some hundred and sixteen gold, plus change.

Huh, yeah. Funny. TWO HUNDRED GOLD?!? She hesitated. Maybe I should sell it No. This was clearly a valuable resource, and they wouldnt let her sell it anyways. Yes, Id like the fascia, and how can I be authorized to hunt more of these?

If you mean as a private citizen, there is no authorization required. We encourage such, in fact.

What if I wanted to be called in to assist in taking down ones found by others?

The young Mage put on a pained smile. Unfortunately, slots for exterminating such creatures in an official capacity are highly coveted and only available to the city lords personal guard. He glanced down, then added, Oh! My apologies, the item I found, which was for the sale, was the fascia of an Elder syphon, this one was two stages higher when it was engaged.

Talas eye twitched. Worth more that two hundred gold The city lords guards get to hunt these and claim the harvestsI could always still take that position She had drastically underestimated that offer of employment. No, stay strong, Tala. You dont want to be trapped here It was obviously tempting, nonetheless.

As I said, you are still encouraged to engage any syphon you find within the city, as a private citizen. He straightened a bit, seeming to return to the script. As you have selected the fascia for your reward, you will receive no further compensation for your participation in the removal of a clear and present detriment to the citizenry of Bandfast. Is that understood and acceptable? He slid a slate across the counter to Tala, and she read it, reading through its contents.

That is acceptable. She placed her thumb on the stone and pulsed her aura through the identifying magics, confirming the agreement.

Thank you, Mistress. I will go get that for you, now. He stood up and walked to the center of the round reception desk. In the floor in the center of the space that was surrounded by the circular desk, Material Guide scripts activated, moving the stone aside with a touch of magic, coming from inscriptions set around the Mages ankles. Below the new opening door was a spiral staircase leading down, presumably into a storeroom.

It only took a few minutes for him to return carrying a large, iron-clad box with obvious effort.

Tala could see further inscriptions running throughout his muscular-skeletal system, strengthening and stabilizing him, and he was having difficulty even so.

And you know that the berries, and the juice, would effectively be a mildly crippling agent for virtually any other Mage, any Inscribed, or anything naturally Magical?

I do. Well, I didnt know, but that is close enough to a pithier wording of what Grediv told me, so same difference.

Will you make a statement of intent to never give, sell, or in any way voluntarily pass on the berries, juice, or any other harvest from the trees?

Tala grimaced. She could make good money selling parts. Is that absolutely necessary?

If the trees werent such a pivotal part of humanitys history, wed have wiped them out centuries ago. They are dangerous in the extreme, every part of them. Yes, it is absolutely necessary to have such a commitment, if I am going to provide locations to you.

I could just hunt them down on my own.

You could, but you would receive no assistance from the Archive in that endeavor.

She sighed. Fine. I want the things for my own use anyways.

Alright. Ill ensure that you have clearance to access ending-berry grove locations in the future. That is generally restricted information for the reasons just explained, but youd qualify for a dispensation.

Thank you.

You can sign the statement of intent and pick up the map at the front desk on your way out. She smiled. Now, what was the last item that you wished for us to discuss?

Last item? She blinked, pulling herself out of musings about ending trees and their harvest. Oh! Right

Mistress Tala? Is everything alright? Ingrit looked genuinely concerned.

Oh, yes. I am just ordering my thoughts. Start simple. Yeah. Thats the way to go. Do you automatically have access to all the parts of the Archive that I do?

Ingrit gave her a curious look. In a sense. If you make an inquiry, I can query the Archive as if I were you, and then I am granted access to anything that you would be able to see.

Why is that better than me querying it myself?

She grinned. That is an excellent question. You could run all these queries yourself, Mistress.

When Tala reddened, Ingrit let out a small chuckle.

But I offer insight and the quick compilation of the results into coherent answers. I can also alter your access, as with the ending tree locations. That query would have simply returned that you were unauthorized to access the information.

Alight. Tala nodded. Here it goes. She smiled broadly. Alright! The non-Mage, human consumption of arcanous harvests. What can you tell me about it?

Ingrit sighed. Mistress Tala. You know the answer to this question. Youve even asked it of me before. Then, she hesitated. Somethings changed though, hasnt it. It wasnt a question.

Tala nodded. Please, humor me.

Ingrit shook her head, then glanced up and to the left. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. If Tala hadnt had her enhanced senses, shed have missed it entirely, and even so, it was a subtle thing.

Tala grinned, and she looked over to her friends, only to see confusion on their faces.

Rane cocked his head to one side. Whats this about?

Tala gestured to Ingrit. Wait and see.

The Archivist Archons eyes were flicking back and forth as she was clearly processing a lot of information. I can tell you a lot, it seems. In general, any non-elementally aligned harvest can be used to enhance the same biological processes in a mundane. The enhancement is temporary, but seems to last longer with each successive use. There are a long list of specific harvests I could direct you to enhance various things from healing to reaction time. Do you want a list? Her voice had an almost unbelieving quality to it.

That isnt necessary. Thank you. If I were to inform you I was going to research further, would that be an issue?

Not at all.

What if I told you that someone with my new access, a mundane, was going to do this research?

Ingrit hesitated, clearly inquiring. No issue whatsoever.

Tala let out a happy little laugh. I knew it.

Mistress Tala, what is this about?

She hesitated, then shook her head. No. I need to check withsomeone first.

Ingrit frowned and Tala hurried to continue.

Ill do my best to come back, tomorrow, though!

This is going to create a headache for meisnt it. Again, it wasnt a question.

I deeply hope not. My intention is to mend fences and soothe headaches.

Ingrit huffed a little laugh and couldnt keep a small smile off her face. Do you have anything else for me, or that you needed from me? Or was this the only puzzle you needed to put upon me?

Tala smiled apologetically. I will try to be back, tomorrow.

Very well, Mistress. She then turned to regard the other two. Did you both really just come to sit there and listen?

Rane scratched his temple, grimacing. Seems I had a lot to learn, so yeah. He glanced to Tala. Can we get the full story?

Lyn nodded her agreement. Yes, please. I would greatly like to know what is going on.

Ingrit frowned just a bit but nodded. Very well, then. I will leave you to it. This booth is yours for the next hour.

Thank you for your assistance.

Ingrit smiled brightly. You are most welcome, Mistress Tala.

Without another word, the woman departed.

Tala turned back to find her friends regarding her with undisguised intensity. She felt herself start to shrink back from the gazes but steeled herself. Alright, alright. So, it all started with some chicken soup.