Chapter 169: The Normal Rate

Chapter 169: The Normal Rate

Tala looked at the new door out of the room. Huh, thats Kit. The dimensional storage had formed a doorway, hard up against the iron wall, seeming like it belonged there.

She then looked back to Boma, as he held out a slate to her for confirmation of the work done, and her payment therein.

She fuzzily confirmed the transaction, still awed by the nearly entirely ordinary seeming door. So, this is what it allows?

Boma froze, tablet halfway withdrawn after shed touched it. Excuse me?

Tala sighed and waved at the door. This is what the fascia allows, then?

He slowly finished pulling back the empowered device before tucking it into his own storage space. Am I to understand, Mistress Tala, that you just paid me to merge an unknown item with your magic-bound dimensional storage?

Of course not, both you and the attendant at the Archons Compound said that it was a wonderful addition to a dimensional storage.

Boma rubbed his forehead between his eyebrows furiously. I meant: Did you really not understand what it would allow for your item?

Tala shrugged, now that her headache was coming back to the forefront of her thoughts, it hurt, and it was making it difficult for her to think clearly. It was good, it was valuable, and now its done. What does it do?

He made an oddly inhuman sound, somewhere between a grunt of astonishment, a squeal of surprise, and a whine of indignation. Boma took a deep breath and let it out slowly, eyes closed. When that was complete, he repeated the process. Then again.

Tala looked longingly at the door which ostensibly led into Kit and her bed. It would be so, so nice to sleep.

Finally, Boma opened his eyes. Mistress Tala. I will not waste both of our time by explaining how much what you have just conveyed smacks of idiocy. I will simply state that my opinion of you has dropped, markedly.

Tala felt like shed been slapped in the face, but before she could respond, Boma raised a hand.

That said, I will still correct your ignorance as much as my already limited time allows. He took another deep breath and let it out. At its most basic level, your storage item now has a greater ability to alter itself, both inside and outside, to meet your needs. This will have come with a percentage increase in the overall dimensional capacity that will remain as it expands, meaning that any increase to its capacity will be likewise increased by this percentage. For a Revered fascia, I expect this to be effectively a doubling of storage size.

Talas eyes widened. A doubling of the current size, and a continued doubling of any expansion I do? That was beyond incredible.

The greater control will allow a fine-tuning of your dimensional space beyond what youve experienced, thus far. I would have to know exactly what youve experienced to tell you how it would change. He gave her a critical look. But I can see you are fading. Sleep, experiment with the capacities of the item, and if you have any questions, come back. After a moment, he added, At a reasonable hour, please.Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

She nodded. Come on, Terry.

Terry flickered to her shoulder as she opened the door to Kit and walked inside.

The last thing she heard as she stepped through, letting the door swing shut, was Bomas startled exclamation. No! Not in here, girl!

But she was too tired to really process what he was trying to say.

* * *

Tala woke bright and early, feeling that shed gotten exactly as much sleep as she needed.

Her eyes snapped open, and she was fully awake. Bright? I thought I was in Kit.

The light level within space was, indeed, slowly increasing. Moreover, she was sure she was in Kit based on the underlying feel and magical sense of her surroundings.

The illumination was especially of note, because Kit had never really seemed bright or dark inside. It was always exactly light enough to see clearly, and not a lumen more. Though, shed always kind of wished the lighting was more varied.

Wish granted; I suppose.

The new ambient light in the space seemed to be increasing from near total darkness, likely so that she could sleep more easily, to the golden light of morning.

It was glorious. Exactly what I want for waking up.

There was no real source for the light, per se, even though it was coming through a window, and Tala had an intuitive feeling that plants couldnt use this light to grow by. Illusion, then? Not real light?

That had some interesting implications. If the light is an illusion, does it light the space as it is, or does the illusion have to include everything within the space? It was an interesting philosophical question, but hardly relevant at the moment.

She looked around and found that she was curled up in her bear fur, which was situated in a bed-sized nook in one wall of a small room, and folded over her to be both top and bottom for her sleeping arrangement.

Across from her bed, the giant window looked out across rolling wooded countryside. If she focused even a little, her mage-sight revealed the view to be purely an illusion, but it was utterly convincing to her mundane sight.

The illusion was a mix of magically generated light, texturing and coloration added to the space beyond the window, and a subtle push on her mind to see it as intended. Her defenses didnt automatically reject the mental nudges, as it was her own power, wielded through Kit, which was doing the work.

She decided to simply appreciate the end result.

Beautiful. The detail was stunning. She could see a little creek winding its way among the hills, variation in the type and age of the trees, and even the occasional bird flitting between the branches. Her mundane vision was enhanced well beyond what any normal human would have, let alone process effectively, and yet she couldnt see anything that stood out as out of place.

Is that because the illusion is perfect, or is the illusion altered to perfectly match what I expect to be there to believe what Im seeing? The second sounded the most likely, especially given the source of this new ability for her storage.

She turned her attention away from the stunning vista and examined the rest of the room.

The walls seemed to be made of well-fit stone, like a shepherds cottage in some rocky highland. Not that there are too many of those around. Still, it evoked the idea from some of the old stories.

She looked out at the wide, open space through the window, and even though she knew it wasnt real, it still seemed to help her relax, loosing tension she hadnt noticed. It evoked a sense of peace, a sense of freedom.

She stood and stretched, finding the space between the bed and the window perfectly sized for her morning stretches.

Those complete, she looked back towards her sleeping area and noticed her comb beside the bearskin. That is a good idea.

She took a moment and ran the comb through the fur, detangling and debriding it after her night of sleep. The small magics involved were lovely in their simplicity, and now with her increased mage-sight sensitivity, Tala could see it easily.

The comb basically decreased the coefficient of friction to any natural fibers running through the tines, and for a short distance ahead of their movement. That allowed any debris, any water, and any tangles to come out with a single pass.

So simple, yet so useful. It used so little power that even in a city it didnt need a Mage to refuel it. You know, Ive never seen one of these for sale beforeI wonder if the Constructionists could replicate it?

If so, the market for such a product would be immense. Ill ask someone.

Afterwards, she replaced the comb on its little shelf and folded the bearskin back into a pleasingly neat state.

There was no sign of Terry, yet.

To the right of the window, perpendicular to that wall, was a plain wall with an inset shelf containing her notebooks and a pencil. On the other side was the door out. It matched the simple, clean, craftsman aesthetic of the rest of the space, the handle seeming of wrought iron and the wood well shaped.

Hey! I was only in there for five hours? Thats wonderful. So, a total of ten gold and five silver.

Thats right.

She clucked her tongue, looking over the transaction. Yeah, Im not paying this.

She handed the device back to him with a smile.

Have a great day! Without a backward glance, she strode from the room.

She left the gap-mouthed Mage behind as she swept through the halls. Where is that man?

After taking a couple of turns, she sighed and stopped, allowing the quick-walking Mage to catch up to her. What time is it, again? Even as she asked, she somehow knew. Its 2:07 in the morning.

Just a couple of hours after midnight, Mistress.

Tala frowned, then sighed. The information must have come from the subconscious bond to Archive link. Not the time for such contemplations, Tala. This would be a rusting rude time of night to bug him She glanced back at the Mage. Incidentally, why did you knock, when you did?

What do you mean?

You knocked. Why did you choose then to knock?

Im so sorry, Mistress, I dont understand. Ive been knocking every ten minutes, since Master Boma set me to the task. Is that what youre asking?

Huh, Kit didnt allow the sound to transmit through the door, until I was ready to interact with the outside world. Thats fascinating.

The young man held out the slate once again. I really must insist that you pay your balance, Mistress. He looked quite uncomfortable.

Tala cocked an eyebrow at him, when he didnt budge, she sighed and rubbed the sides of her head. Her headache was coming back to the forefront of her mind. It had been there since she woke up, but she hadnt paid it any mind, hoping that it would simply go away. It hadnt. I suppose I have been a little bit rude. What is your name, good Master?

He seemed taken aback at that. Well. He swallowed. I am called Simon, Mistress.

Good to meet you, Master Simon. Material Guide, specializing in the alteration and study of empowered materials? That was interesting to say the least. What could he even do with that? Maybe

Simon seemed a bit confused, the slate dropping slightly as he lost his focus on that matter. Oh, umm. Thank you?

Tala stepped forwards and took the slate back. Next to the fee of two gold per hour was listed Rate for active, Magical use. Tala frowned. Does using it as an entry point for my dimensional storage really count? This seems excessive. Are these the true rates?

He glanced to the side, then shook his head. Master Boma was less than pleased with you, so he instructed me to use this rate for the room.

What about for you?

He squirmed a bit, clearly uncomfortable. He wanted me to charge you a gold an hour for my time as well, but that seemed excessive. That portion is the Guild rate for my time.

Tala found herself touched, and then she felt irritated at herself for how shed treated the Mage previously. My apologies, Master Simon. My actions put you in quite the awkward position.

He glanced down and shrugged.

What would the proper rate be? If you are allowed to say.

Two silver per hour to reserve the room, more to use it for mundane purposes, more still for magical use. What you did would qualify most closely as reserving the room.

Tala contemplated for a long moment. Will you get in trouble for charging me the normal rate?

Simon looked up at her, frowning in confusion. Most likely not? Master Boma probably wouldnt check the exact amount of the receipt, and even if he did, once hes lessdispleased, he likely wouldnt mind, in truth.

Tala nodded. If its alright with you, lets do that.

He hesitated a moment longer, then shrugged and nodded, taking the slate back and manipulating it to make the changes.

Tala verified the new total of fifteen silver and confirmed the transaction.

Thank you, Mistress Tala.

And thank you, Master Simon. Im sure you had better things to do than wait for me to re-emerge, even if it was just sleeping.

True enough.

Now, where can I find Master Boma, to wake him up.

Simon paled, his hand trembling, slightly.

Tala held up her hands in a warding gesture. Im kidding! She chuckled awkwardly. Im only kidding. Ill come back, once the sun is up.

He visibly relaxed, clearly relieved that she hadnt been serious. Oh. Oh, good.

Tala was about to turn away from Simon, when her thoughts coalesced, despite the headache.

Master Simon?

The Mage seemed a bit nervous. Yes?

Would you, or the Archon you work under, have any interest in examining a simple, useful artifact for potential reproduction?

Simon frowned. But we cannot make Artifacts, Mistress.

Ohrightrust Of course, I was meaning to pull the idea, and learn from the spell-forms.

He gave her a searching look, then shrugged. Probably. Master Queue, would probably love to discuss it with you. He was my master, before I attained Magehood, and he continues to oversee my projects.

Disaster averted, good. She smiled. That sounds excellent. Ill ask for him after I speak to Master Boma, once the sun is up.

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Chapter: 170 - Black, Please