Chapter 176: Through-Spike

Chapter 176: Through-Spike

Tala followed Jenna into the room on the other side of the hallway, rubbing her nose after the impact with the stone wall.

Honestly, Tala was a bit irritated by the incident. Was that necessary?

Jenna shrugged. Necessary? No. That said, it was entertaining; it lightened the mood; it conveys an important lesson; and Im tired. You woke me up.

I thought you said you had a long night.

I did, then I finally got to sleep, and She cocked an eyebrow and gestured to Tala.

And I woke you up.

And you woke me up.

My apologies.

Jenna waved that off. Nonsense. It was better to happen in the middle of the night than in the middle of the day.

That is what I had hoped. Tala finally looked around the plain room. Aside from two chairs, most of the space was filled by a huge black box. What was the lesson?

Jenna walked in and sat in one of the chairs, Tala following and taking the other.

Dont always trust those in authority, or with power, over you.

It was Talas turn to cock an eyebrow. Look at me, Mistress Jenna. What part of this came from following the dictates of authority.

Yes, child, you are very rebellious. Good for you.

Thats just insulting.

Jenna hesitated. It was, wasnt it. She tapped her own jawline a few times, then shrugged. I apologize. I did not intend to insult, but the point is still valid.

Which is?

She sighed. You seem to treat people either with complete and utter trust, or complete and utter contempt.

Tala opened her mouth to protest, but Jenna raised her hand to stop her.

I dont mean in the sense that you hate them, simply with how you treat their words, advice, and instructions.

Tala closed her mouth and considered what the other woman had said. Is that true? Do I consider the source more important than the content? The more she thought about it, the more she thought it was true. Rust.

The older woman glanced at the still open door and gestured, closing it, though Tala didnt see any power connect her to the door.

Alright. Thats interesting. At that point, she finally took a good look at Jenna.

While Tala knew that the other woman was older, likely by centuries, Tala would have placed her in her early thirties. Yet more evidence that I am horrible at judging the ages of Mages.

She had dark red hair, falling in big curls around her shoulders without poofing up on the top of her head overmuch. She was short, shorter than Tala even, and curvy. The woman was fit, as all Mages tended to be, and she had an almost aggressive tone to her stance and manner of movements, as if she was ready to come out ahead in any interaction, whether verbal, martial, or magical.

Jenna wasnt visibly armed, but that meant little, except that she didnt wish to look armed.

She wore very traditional Mages robes of some sort of black silk with bronze swirls and no visible clasps. From the toes Tala caught a glimpse of, the Archon wore simple, black leather slippers.

Talas examination of the Reforged had been quick, barely a glance, but shed clearly noticed, though she seemed disinclined to comment on it.

Instead, Jenna simply lounged back in her chair. So, your look isnt actually that great of an issue. We can fix that with any number of little artifacts. The real problem that we should discuss is how you appear to passive scans.

Couldnt I use something like a collar for arcanous animals?

What? No. Jenna gave Tala a searching look. You know how those work, right? She glanced to Terry. Id have thought that you did.

Of course, I do. Tala felt vaguely insulted. They change the magical signature of the wearer to one that wont trigger the defenses.

Ahh, so you understand, you just didnt think it through.

What?

Jenna shook her head. You are a clever girl, and I do mean that. So, you tell me.

Tala took a moment to think and realized the issue. Ive basically no magical signature to alter.

Precisely. Jenna nodded in approval.

So, what can we do?

The simplest would be to have a breach in your iron layer, so that scans could penetrate through and get a good look at you, but that is unideal for many reasons.

Tala nodded.

We could give you a beacon that would effectively give you a false magical signature, that might work.

But, isnt that dangerous? Couldnt it be taken and used for nefarious purposes?

Possibly? But as it wouldnt suppress anything about you, just give off the magical signature, someone else using it would appear pregnant. Jenna grinned. Theyd look like they were pregnant with an Archon at that. So, it would be pretty obvious that it was being misused.

Pregnant?

Two magical signatures in one body. I know its late, child, but you really should think a bit more before asking questions.

Tala shrunk in on herself, feeling her cheeks heat.

Tala sighed. How much?

One gold.

She scrunched up her face but nodded. Thats fair; I suppose.

Jenna handed over a tablet with the transaction.

After Tala confirmed it, Jenna changed what was displayed.

Here are the places that Mistress Holly said you could have the through-spike implanted, without it interfering with any of your inscriptions. Im partial to inside the nose but some find that disturbing. Below is a text overview that will explain it clearly enough that you should be able to power the device. Ill give you a booklet with more details before you go, so you can improve efficiency at your leisure.

Tala looked over the available options, read the description, and sighed. Ill take this one. She pointed to the illustration of the back of her neck, roughly half-way between Alats core spell-lines and her gate. I think this will be the least obtrusive. Why wouldnt my regeneration push it out?

Your body will push out foreign substances that are embedded into your skin. That is magically enhanced. The through-spike will match your magical signature from the moment of true activation, so it wont be rejected.

I hadnt considered that side of it. It makes sense.

Im glad I could explain satisfactorily. Now, are you ready?

As Ill ever be. Lets do this.

As you wish. Jenna reached out to pat Tala on the shoulder.

Tala felt strangely warmed by the gesture, but at the last moment, the womans hand moved with a quick flick, and Tala felt the smallest little sting on the back of her neck, more like a poke than a puncture. She glared for a quick instant, before letting the expression fall away and sighing again, shaking her head. You could have just told me.

I couldnt have you even subconsciously resisting, or it wouldnt have taken hold.

And my noticing and trying to flinch away?

Yes, your perceptual and reactive speeds were greater than I was counting on, but it doesnt seem to have negatively affected the device.

Tala opened her mouth to ask if it had worked, then simply glanced down at her hands. They looked perfectly ordinary to her mundane eyes.

Her mage-sight showed her lines of power weaving through the air just outside her body-paint, subtly altering the light as it bounced off of her. Over that, she felt like she was looking at her naked power, unobstructed by inscriptions or workings, though it was much dimmer than shed have expected.

Tala grunted. Seems to have worked.

Indeed.

Tala considered for a moment. This wasnt developed for disguise creation, was it? If the illusion were replaced with a defense of some kind, then that defense would be devilishly hard to detect.

Jennas features morphed into a wide, genuine smile. Well considered. The through-spikes original purpose was the generation of additional defense while letting your magical signature through and appear normally distributed. Sadly, through-spikes tend to interfere with one another. One day, when you no longer need an illusory one, you might want to look into the defensive variety.

I definitely will. Thank you.

As they stood to go, Jenna handed Tala a little booklet. For your reading, when you have time.

Tala took it with a smile, then glanced at the large black box that had been sitting next to them through the entire conversation.

What is that, by the way.

Jenna froze, eyes widening just slightly. You can see that?

Tala looked between the woman and the black box. Obviously. Theres no magic to it, but its a big black box. My eyes work just fine.

No human should be able to see that box.

Tala hesitated, sighed, and rolled her eyes. Youre trying to mess with me again, arent you?

Jenna paused, then shrugged. I laid it on too thick?

Just a little, yeah.

Fine.

After a moments silence, Tala cleared her throat. So, what does it do?

What does what do?

Tala felt her eye twitch. The black box.

The what?

Her face heated in irritation. The black box that we were just- Then, she stopped herself and took a long, deep breath.

Jenna grinned. That was much better. Thank you for the feedback.

Youre not going to tell me. It wasnt a question.

Tell you what?

Tala closed her mouth, bowed to the woman, and turned to leave.

Oh, Mistress Tala?

She paused and looked back. Yes, Mistress Jenna?

Dont paint over the through-spike, please. That would rather defeat the purpose, and I dont actually know what having those magics trapped and reflected back into you would do.

Thank you for the warning, Mistress. Good day to you.

And to you.