Chapter 402: Session Two

Chapter 402: Session Two

Tala followed Rane into the Refining room.

Master Grediv came up directly behind her, not commenting on her heavily armored state.

Inside was completely bare save a wrought iron chair with legs melded into the floor.

The wall, floor, and ceiling were all smooth planes of iron, the corners somehow welded to create a seamless whole, as if the box were cast all together and then polished smooth.

With her threefold sight, she could see that those near-perfect welds went all the way through the nearly foot thick surroundings.

Its no wonder this is on the ground floor. It must weigh just so much.

-At times, your precision is just staggering to behold.-

Hush, you.

This room was significantly more iron-armored than the room in which Rane had undergone his first session.

He wasonce againdevoid of all inscriptions save those required for the procedure.

Even so, she knew that the walls would soon be scored deeply.

From what Tala understood, the increase had been necessary because Ranes flailing magics would likely be even more extreme and powerful.

She, herself, had come out mostly unscathed because her iron had been withinand backed up byher aura, dispersing the magics as they hit her armor. Iron on its own simply reflected or dismissed those magics, yet allowing the kinetic blades they had created and directed to still impact and cause damage.

It wouldnt be as easy for her to do that this session as he was now closer to her advancement. Additionally, she knew that hed been making improvements to his understanding and mental models based on discussions with Master Tai.

This session was going to be interesting to say the least.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Tala took a moment to look around at the iron surrounding the room, panning its depths with her threefold sight even more extensively.

There were no obvious flaws at any level, but she wasnt exactly a blacksmith or metallurgist. Mainly, she found that she was curious how she would use this much iron.

Honestly, she could buy literally tons of iron if she wanted to, but something told her that it wouldnt be a good idea, at least not yet.

She needed to keep a balance within her being, and that much iron would heavily weigh her toward Reality in all the wrong ways.

As shed glanced around, Rane had moved to sit in the chair.

Master Grediv handed him the seemingly innocuous device which facilitated and directed the Refining.

It effectively looked like two knife handlesformed to be comfortable to grip tightlyconnected by a wide, flat bit of material.

The whole thing was, of course, utterly entwined with magics of various natures, all aimed toward helping an Archon Refine.

Tala moved to stand behind Rane, causing Master Grediv to glance her way before returning his eyes to Rane. Rane, are you sure you want her in here? Having someone in here for these sessions can make things worse.

Is that always the case?

No, of course not. It generally hinges on whether the one Refining truly wants the person in the room. That is why I am checking.

Rane shook his head, then glanced back toward Tala. Do you wish to be here?

If it helps even marginally, yes.

He nodded, looking back to his former master. I am sure. I want her here.

Master Grediv gave a small bow. Very well.

His magic shifted through the device in Ranes hands.

Remember, my boy, there is nothing holding your hands to the device now that the first session is complete. If you ever let go with both handseven for an instantthe session will end, and you will have to fully recover before undergoing another.

Rane nodded. This wasnt new information by any means. And if I dont let go, this session will end on its own when Ive Refined as much as my body can handle this time around.

Precisely, yes. Have you determined your preference on intensity?

Maximum, please.

Master Grediv hesitated, and Tala knew why.

Shed seen the unadulterated reports on Ranes condition. To have a better than fifty percent chance of succeeding, he only required an intensity near the upper range, not the absolute maximum.

Even so, it was more important to a successful Refining that Rane be the one to choose the intensity.

As you wish.

The Paragons magic seemed to activate certain pathways in the device that Rane held.

Once the door is sealed, please wait a slow count of ten. Then, run a bit of power into the construct. Things will proceed automatically from that point.

Rane nodded and gave a strained smile. Thank you, Master Grediv.

With one last meeting of Talas gazeor at least an attempt to do soMaster Grediv left, pulling the door shut behind him.

Rane started taking deeper breaths, specifically inhaling twice for each exhale, trying to calm himself.

His hands were trembling on the device.

Tala stepped a bit closer, setting a hand on each of his shoulders.

She felt him tense up, but then, tension seemed to bleed from him at the light pressure she was exerting.

With a thought, she banished the armor from her palms and the fronts of her fingers, allowing her hands to sink down until her skin was resting on the cloth of his tunic.

She felt a smile pull at her lips.

Leaving those particular portions of herself bare reminded her of her iron salve.

She remembered meticulously putting glue on her palms and the pads of her fingers to keep iron from them as she did her best to impregnate her skin with the concoction of iron and bees wax.

Oh, how far weve come.

Rane must have reached ten, because Tala felt him send a flick of magic into the construct.

There was a sensation through the magic in the room, like the deep in-draw of a bellows.

The construct was suddenly ablaze with power, some pulled from Rane, but some clearly drawn from the city's grid of magical power.

To complete the metaphor, the bellows was compressed, magic rushed into Rane, and his top layer of skin was blown off entirely.

The mans arms trembled under the strain that was more mental than muscular.

Tala watched one or the other of his hands almost unconsciously try to flex open, only to be re-clamped down with vicious growls of determination.

Each time the growl was just a bit closer to a whimper than the time before.

Throughout it all, Tala didnt move her hands, nor in any way interfere, no matter how much she wanted to try to help.

She knew that anything that she could do would only make things worse, and despite her doing her best to focus on what was affecting her, and learning to better utilize her own magics, she felt her eyes begin to fill, just as they had during Ranes first session.

Therefore, she endured, standing behind Rane as he endured worse.

She stood stalwart, even as Rane bore the brunt of the ordeal.

She wept, even as Rane experienced the pain and suffering.

* * *

Tala knew she was pale as she held Ranes limp body in her armored arms.

Dont kick down the door, dont kick down the door, dont kick down the door.

Master Grediv was likely almost there to let them out and see to Ranes condition. She could see him with her threefold sight moving their way.

Dont try to claim the iron to get free, dont claim the iron to get free, DO NOT CLAIM THE IRON.

He had endured the entirety of the session, lasting until the construct had powered down of its own volition.

I am fine, he is fine he will be fine.

Master Grediv stopped outside the door and seemed to be looking at his Archive slate, though what he was seeing was shielded from her threefold sight by the mans aura.

What is he waiting for?

She felt magics sweep through the room, despite the solid iron surrounding it and the flecks of iron dust in the air.

Oh that would be a reasonable reason.

She growled, manifesting her own iron flush with the ceiling before dragging it downward, rolling it over and around herself and her burden before it pressed into the floor, trapping all the detritus that had been in the air.

A moment later, magic swept through the space again, and Tala got to watchthrough her threefold visionas Master Grediv twitched slightly at what had to seem like a stark change to his scan.

Then, the door swung open.

Tala was striding through as soon as there was room for her to pass with Rane still in her arms.

He was an awkward burden, even if not heavy, and she was forced to sidestep her way out of the Refining room.

His clothing was shredded and barely hanging off his substantially emaciated frame.

No, not emaciated. His muscle was still there, but it was as if hed been pulled thin, beaten flat, and then reinflated somehow.

She would have bet that hed lost quite a bit of weight, and what was still there had been compacted into even less of his body than would be expected.

Tala had done her best to scrape the black ooze from him as she ran the iron down from ceiling to floor, but it hadnt been intended to be a perfect cleaning, and there was still a lot of the substance in his clothing and hiding in the harder to clean parts of him.

Master Grediv gestured toward the recovery room, and Tala moved that way.

Behind her, on the floor of the room, her iron wrapped around the black sludge that shed grabbed, and dragged it stoneward to be brought along until she returned to Kit.

For good measure, she claimed the iron fragments that Rane had torn free.

She knew that theyd be thrown out regardless, so it was trivial for her to enact her ownership over them.

That done, she refocused on who she was carrying.

Ranes now utterly bald head was resting on her shoulder, and his feet were barely above the ground, but she was managing him alright, his body held between her arms in front of her.

One arm was across his back, holding him up under the far shoulder, and the other of her arms was braced below his knees.

When they reached the recovery room, Tala once again shuffle-stepped sideways through the door before striding across the small room and laying Rane on the waiting bed.

The two Healers already in the roomneither of which Tala knewwaited until she stepped back before they came forward to examine Rane.

Tala watched as the Refined and Paragon Healers delved through Ranes ravaged body.

There was magic in the sheets of the bed which activated as soon as the top one was pulled over Rane.

They shredded what remained of his clothing and then caused the clothing and all remaining sludge to flow down into a collection container at the base of the bed.

Normally, it would be contained to prevent it from contaminating anything else until it faded awaybut Tala had been granted the right to examine it, now that it was separated from Rane, even if it was a bit gross to think about.

She used her iron to dump the portion of the sludge shed already collected into the same container, nearly filling it entirely.

Master Simon will appreciate having another Archived perception for comparison.

They had similar material from Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva, which didnt seem to fade, or at least didnt fade as quickly.

He had been able to determine that the material which had been gained from the others had traces of iron throughout.

Tala didnt send any magical examination through the black, knowing that would cause it to disperse more quickly.

Instead, she set Alat to examining it with their threefold sight in as detailed a fashion as possible until the stuff vanished entirely.

But Tala was distracting herself once again.

Alat had that covered.

Rane was unconscious, and the Healers werent healing him.

She knew they couldnt, not in a way that would really help, and theyd already done what they could.

He had to come back to consciousness on his own.

The two reported to Master Grediv, not trying to keep her from overhearing.

He was doing as well as could be expected, and they believed that he would wake within a day or two.

That was all that they could determine for the time being, as Ranes body struggled to begin recovery.

So, Tala grew a chairfollowing the same principles that underlay her armor as a form of practicebefore she sat and settled in to wait.