Chapter 305: Finally!

Chapter 305: Finally!

Tala felt like the next days passed in a blur as she continued with her slowly increasing training, spent time with friends, and allowed the researchers in and out of her sanctum every so often.

The teleporter still didnt work from within Kit, despite them trying a dozen variations, and theyd recently reached the end of their ideas. It wasnt impossible, they were sure, but they needed to do more in depth research into the fundamentals of the process. Master Simons own work and study was now being fed to them as well, and that was sufficient for them to pair with their tests on the outside.

By the time she returned from Marliweather, theyd have another version or two ready to test.

Overall it barely felt like any time had passed, and yet, she was currently making her way to Mistress Hollys workshop for her final set of tests.

And hopefully Ill be cleared for regular activity! She felt whole and unbroken, strong and unmarred by imperfections.

-Ahh, yes. To spar again and taste the gritty wonder that is sand.-

I dont think any of my previous sparring partners will push me to that.

-Terry.-

Tala hesitated. That will be a much more interesting fight now.

-Yes. Interesting.-

She was actually looking forward to sparring with Terry again. Rane too, and Master Cazor if possible. Theres lots for us to test as well, now that my power isnt pulling my body apart from within.

Despite those somewhat dark thoughts, Tala smiled contentedly, thinking back over what had occurred over the past nine days.

Master Simons research had barely begun, but hed been able to give a solid recommendation on which grid-node to install within Kit, and theyd accomplished that with little difficulty.

Additionally, Tala had agreed to have the net installed onto the outside of Kit.

It was a fascinating branch of magical construction. It was effectively being magic-bound to Kit, rather than merged with it. As such, it could be reused for a different dimensional storage, in the likely case that Tala didnt die before soul-bonding Kit.

She was really glad for that, as the magics involved were actually beyond humanity to recreate, and only were actualized through the careful combination of several very elusive harvests. The rarity of the parts, along with the difficulty of proper construction, meant that there was no way Tala would have been able to get such a creation if shed been forced to pay for it.

Now, however, she wouldnt have to temper her actions because she had civilians within Kit.

Id have had to live a pretty boring life, if I took them into full account, and they were counting on me to stay safe.

-Yeah, and I think your story would have been over, if youd been forced into such a change.-

I probably wouldnt have died of boredom, but it would have been a near thing.

Aside from her feeling that it relieved her conscience of the weight of three childrens safety, Tala had spoken to Mistress Odera, Lyn, and even Mistress Holly, and all three had recommended she do so.

Since the teleporter wasnt possible in the short term, it just made sense.

While Master Simons family wouldnt be in as much danger as many in their world when traveling with her, they wouldnt be safe by any means, and this little accommodation cost her literally nothing.

It had been incorporated without a hitch, beyond Tala watching closely and mentally insisting that Kit not eat the artifact as it tightened and sunk into place.

Kit had even seemed content? That wasnt right, but the pouch had accepted the mesh integrating with her exterior without a whisper of resistance.

If shed still been in the arcane lands, Tala might have been concerned about a plot to kill her and take Kit, but honestly, anyone who could arrange for her death could just take her stuff if they wanted. There was also the fact that while Kit would return and be maintained for the short term, it wouldnt last very long in the grand scheme of things.

Thus, those who might have been most inclined to try to get access to Kit would lose out in the end, as opposed to simply asking to study what she had, which she had allowed Mistress Ingrit to offer.

There had been some cursory inquiries, but nothing truly concrete, yet.

But that was getting off into the weeds.

With those two additions, the modifications of Kits magic were completed for the near-term.

Mistress Petra and Master Simon had brought in raw materials, and Tala had taken a couple of hours to help manipulate them into place to fashion the beginnings of a living space for the family.

Kit did all of the work, but Tala still had to give the commands.

Beyond that, the teacher from the Culinary Guild came and went, spending nearly all of four days with the Mage and leaving Mistress Petra much better versed in the preparation of dishes, while maintaining their magical conveyance.

Per their agreement, Mistress Petra had recorded all the specific insights provided toward the creation of food for Tala. That way, when the woman left the position, her replacement would at least have a place to start.

Whether that is in a year or a century, she wont be my cook forever.

Tala slowly allowed the increase of the proportion of magic in her food until the harvests from her sanctum were the sole source of the ingredients made into food for her.

Kit was rather accommodating, though she didnt allow Mistress Petra to make requests directly.

-You are anthropomorphizing Kit, again.-

Well, Kit acts like she has a personality.

-All thats happening is Mistress Petra is sending us a message with the raw ingredients that she needs, and we wish for her to have them. Kit does what she does, and the harvests arrive.-

Kit could move anything within her to anywhere else. She could also exert slight force, such as pulling a berry from a stem, or a leaf from a plant, but she could not process the harvests.

Mistress Petra still had to kill and butcher the animals as needed, processing the meat to lock in the magics imbued within, according to the methods of the Culinary Guild.

Honestly, the results were surprisingly effective.

Tala was able to compare what she saw with some memories, and it seemed like the Culinary method was at least as efficient at trapping the power within the harvests as the arcane methods.

I suppose the cooks have been working at this for a long time and with very few resources. They learned to be efficient.

-And now that they have Mages coming in to build on their theoretical foundations? Its no wonder that there have been massive leaps in methodology even in just a year.-

It makes Mistress Ingrits position on knowledge more understandable.

-Yeah, imagine what we could do as a species if we didnt hold back any secrets and strove toward a common goal?-

Tala smiled to herself. But then, would we really be humans anymore?

Alat snorted in amusement. -To be human is to strive for self-improvement and advancement.-

But to continue, we need each other, and we must serve one another as if we were one and the same.

Tala gasped, almost missing a step as her soul resonated with the sentiment.

-What?-

I think did we just take a step towards Paragon? They examined their aura and sure enough, there was the barest hint of green in the otherwise pure yellow.

-Id estimate a hundredth of one percent of the way?-

Tala smiled. Still, thats something. We werent even striving. We were just Her eyes widened. We were just discussing how our society has been set up to operate and why it makes sense Do you think?

-It makes sense that a society built and maintained by Paragonsand those even more advancedwould reflect at least some of the insights required to reach that level of advancement.-

Even so, there was a lot of strength behind the blow.

The power of the hit was transferred through her body and into the ground by way of her back foot, and there was enough force to drive that planted foot nearly six inches downward, creating a large circular depression because of her inscriptions.

The downward force also compacted the sand around the depression, and that exploded inward when the pressure had passed, still resulting in her leg being showered with chunks of up to her knee, many of which stuck even if only temporarily.

Despite being slightly off balance, she ripped her back foot up and kicked at his legs even as she rolled backward to get her feet back under her.

He jumped over her attack, and an instant later, a series of cracks resounded through the arena.

Many of them seemed to have been from some of the clumps of sand that shed carried with the kick tearing through the air, but some were from the stone of the wall behind Rane.

The sound was so unexpected that they both paused and turned to look, seeing a series of small craters in the wall behind Rane. They were in a nearly perfect line, along the arc of her kick.

What?

They exchanged a look, and tacitly came to a silent agreement.

They let their weapons fall to hang by their sides, still in hand but not in any sort of fighting placement. Together, they walked over to inspect the wall.

In the center of each little crater were the remnants of a cluster of sand.

Rane looked at her, aghast. What did you do?

Nothing! I just tried to kick you. Some compacted sand must have come along for the ride and been thrown off.

The little craters werent deep, but they were there, surrounded by little cracks.

Will that be repaired? Tala was a bit hesitant. Do I have to pay for that?

Rane shrugged. I think so? They have a stone Mage who comes through and enacts repairs, but anything substantial is an additional charge. Seeing Talas face, he quickly added. This shouldnt be sufficient to necessitate that.

Tala frowned. Even so, thats irritating. Isnt this room meant for high-level Archons?

Well, yes and no? I told them we would be mainly fighting in melee, and that might have influenced the arena they gave me

She snorted a laugh. Well, it seems like we might need somewhere sturdier to fight.

So it would seem.

An hour later, they stood facing each other in a slightly smaller arena. The floor was still sand, but they were completely surrounded by a feeling of power.

Theyd had to dig themselves out of the previous room because Tala had buried the door in sand. Then, theyd had to track down an attendant with the authority to grant them access to the higher rated training rooms.

This one seemed like it would do nicely.

The stone of the room was actively reinforced with inset magics, powered by the city grid.

They had been assured that this room was at least as sturdy as the outer city wall.

The two of them could probably break the walls if that was their aim, but they should hold up to glancing strikes, or the spill over from their clashes.

Ready, Tala?

Absolutely.

He struck first this time.

Force moved almost lazily from her perspective, even as the air distorted around it from being forcibly compressed.

Where did he get this much physical power? She pushed off to shift herself out of the line of attack, even while she thrust forward with Flow, pushing her weapon into the form of a glaive.

Force changed direction mid-swing, knocking Flow aside.

What the rust?

There had been a trickle of power surrounding Rane as the change had occurred.

No, not physical power. Hes augmenting his movements somehow.

They exchanged a startlingly quick series of strikes, and that trickle of power never manifested again.

Tala slowly drove Rane backward, across the arena throughout the clash, and she began to frown in growing frustration.

Tala had always overshadowed Rane in sheer physical might, and even speed, but he had, overall, been her match due to his better foundation in the fighting arts and his magically enforced defenses.

His defenses still stood, but Tala had closed the gap in regard to technique.

More than that, in that area she had surpassed him.

He was still a master with his blade, easily showing as great proficiency as any his age could hope to achieve, but Tala had a second lifetime of experience to draw on, and far far more brutal teachers and experiences to solidify her foundation, even if at least some of them hadnt actually happened.

When handling Talis memories, Tala had discarded everything false, with the sole exception of leaving the foundations for her martial training. In that way, she didnt have any of the memories, but she still had the mindset that Be-thric had instilled on which to build Talis fighting ability.

More importantly, as shed noticed before, Ranes style was designed and tested against creatures larger and stronger than himself. He was built and trained to fight arcanous beasts.

Tala was trained to kill men.

Unless something changed, there was no possibility of Rane matching her for longer than a handful of moments.

She couldnt fully grasp how disappointing that was to her, and she knew that she would not be able to continue if this kept up. Obviously, her disappointment was clear in her expression and her actions.

Still, she saw a smile tug at Ranes lips as he was backed almost all the way to the far wall.

The next instant, everything changed.

Rane shifted stances from one reminiscent of the city or caravan guards to one that was more casual? He suddenly seemed like an artist, critically examining a blank canvas.

Force deflected Flow, but as the weapons met, Flow was sent off in a completely nonsensical direction, the forces applied were almostbut not quiteperpendicular to the direction they should have been directed.

The unexpected jerk pulled her off balance for a fraction of a second, and Rane capitalized on it, punching her shoulder again.

She instinctively braced just as she had before, but his punch somehow pulled with as much force as it should have pushed with.

She was jerked forward, right into the path of follow-up swing. Forces edge sent out ripples through the air as it ripped towards her.

Hes actively manipulating the kinetic energy and momentum of whatever he hits.

-Thats a level of control and a use of his magics that weve never seen before.-

It really is. A smile pulled at Talas lips.

This, this would be a challenge.

Even as she moved to counter this most recent attack, her smile only grew.