Chapter 2: Meet the Locals (1)

Chapter 2: Meet the Locals (1)

Hiding Hole was nowhere near as comfortable as Wizards Sanctum, but the spell got the job done.

After just about an hour of rest, Sylars soul was now reinfused with a versatile spread of the four Primal Essences, alongside a healthy amount of Form and Fate Essence, with a small trickle of Shadow and Space Essences for situational use. It was his preferred set-up for the limited store of Essence he could carry within his soul unlike some mages that focused exclusive on one particular element, he valued being able to cast a wider variety of spells in his repertoire, even if he couldnt repeatedly cast the same spells because of the lack of any one Essence in great quantities.

Much of the time had been spent waiting for the Transcendental Essences to funnel in while they were commonplace here, they were still spread much more thinly than the Primal Essences were.

Inside the stationary extradimensional space of his Hiding Hole, Sylar had taken stock of what had been brought with him to this yet-unknown world. The situation wasnt pretty he had practically no coin on him, and he wasnt certain if the few gold pieces he had were worth any currency here. Hells below, he didnt know whether there were even other people with which he could trade.

Right now, his goals were twofold: find civilisation, and survey the local environment for anything of value and for threats. Food wasnt too much of an issue, since he could simply conjure a bunch of Goodberries with the Form, Space, and Life Essences permeating the Aether. No one would use such a precious resource for so frivolous a purpose back on Resham, but circumstances had changed.

And so, while casting a weak Detect Creature every few dozen seconds, at a rate he could maintain indefinitely given his current Essence Flux and rate of Soulburn depletion, he continued travelling onward from the forest clearing that the artifact had sent him.

If the exit vector had been pre-determined by its previous user from the time of the Rostaran Civilisation, it was possible that civilisation was nearby, even if the thousands of years since had shifted the exit point of the teleportation spell. If it wasnt predetermined, and his arrival location was completely random, it spat in the face of all established rules of Teleportation magics, which made for excellent study material once he found his way to a more secure location.

Then, after just slightly more than ten minutes of travelling at a cautioned pace

AHHHH!

Suddenly alert, he spun toward the direction of the faint yell. With a minute expenditure of Fate and Wind Essences, Trace Sound let him pinpoint the location where the sound originated, a task impossible for the mere human mind as soundwaves bounced, diffracted, and were dampened by the plant-life of the forest. In the next instant, Projection allowed for a short-range scrying, granting him a glimpse of a wagon being drawn by two frenzied horses, wheels clattering along a road, before disappearing beyond the bounds of his projected sight with the rate that it was travelling.

Hot on its heels, visible for only a few scant seconds, he saw a pair of lupine creatures, each almost the size of an adult human. One was almost ethereal in form, a near-transparent silver, while the other had a thick mane of dark fur. From where his physical body was, he could hear their snarling grow louder, alongside the sounds of wheels clumsily impacting against gravel.

Spirit Wolves. Hed never seen one in person before, but every mage worth their Essence knew of them from bestiaries. They were creatures most commonly found at nexuses where Space Essence bled into the Material Realm, proposed to originate from the Endless Expanse. Although relatively uncommon in most parts of Resham, most scholars agreed that they only posed a threat to junior adventurers.

They were said to be docile creatures, though. Why were they so enraged?

Sylar had no idea why Spirit Wolves were chasing down whatever poor soul was desperately trying to escape from their clutches, but he wasnt about to stand around doing nothing. Common decency aside, it seemed that he had finally found some semblance of civilisation, and he wasnt about to let something as simple as those creatures stand between him and the answers he sought.

He tapped on Fire and Form Essence, quickening his movements with a Haste spell, taking quick stock of his current state of resources. Thus far, he had cast two First Level spells and a single Third Level spell, leaving him down 42 Ferins of Essence. Haste had taken the vast majority of what Form and Fire Essences hed stockpiled, leaving further Transmutation out of the question for the upcoming combat.

As he ran, he went over his options. Combat as mages revolved almost exclusively around resource management, and that went doubly so for Divination specialists, who had the uncanny ability to discern the constituent Essences within the souls of their opponents. Analysis and reaction, the point had been drilled into him since the early days of his training. Abusing the practicalities of Essence capacities and Soulburn that were universal to all life was the crux of battle.

Jiu ming ah! Jiu ming ah!This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

The words were meaningless to Sylar, but the meaning was obvious from the sheer panic carried by the voice. With each passing second, the yelling grew louder still, the world passing by him rapidly under the influence of Haste. Finally, as light finally pierced through the thick canopy of trees, Sylar emerged from within the forest thicket, finding himself within the road that cut through the forest that hed seen with his earlier spells.

Eeek!

The driver of the wagon shrieked loudly, jerking on the horses reins. That, unfortunately, only served to cause the horses to flinch, abruptly shifting their course, and in the process sent the wagon crashing over on its side. Sylar reacted instinctively, casting a quick Softening spell on the ground, cushioning what would otherwise have been a heavy impact. Rather than immediately splintering into pieces, the wagon instead sunk into the marshy terrain. The reins that kept the horses secured to the wagons snapped from the strain, the beasts of burden neighing loudly as they fled into the distance, driven by pure animalistic terror.

Calm down! Sylar urged, sparing only a brief glance for the fallen driver, who was flailing around in the morphed terrain. You damn it, you dont understand Reshamin at all, do you?

Sh-shen me?!

There would be a time and place to cast a spell of Tongues to allow him to communicate with the panicked local, but it was assuredly not while he had to deal with the Spirit Wolves that were quickly drawing close to their cornered prey. He cursed, readying himself, Essences already placed into their respective shells for his first spell. With a new threat interposing between them and the downed man, the wolves halted for a brief instant, growling as they surveyed Sylar.

The bestiaries were rich with descriptions of Spirit Wolves, as one of the few creatures from their Plane of origin that ventured into Resham. They always came as a pair, one existing within the Material Plane, while the other drifted in a place between Planes. With a flare of Space Essence just like any spell cast by a mage, the two could reverse their spatial relation, the physical turning incorporeal, while the ethereal would enter fully into the material world. The scholars were divided on whether they were truly separate creatures, or two halves of a single whole, but it really didnt matter to Sylar.

He concentrated, slotting Essences into their desired positions. A glyph flared brightly from his extended palm, a metaphysical representation of the spell matrix appearing. With a rushing whoosh, a jet of flame materialised into being, shaping themselves into several projectiles as they travelled toward the incoming assailants.

Just as described, his initial salvo of Searing Daggers passed straight through the spectral wolf, digging deeply into the flesh of its darker-coloured kin. It howled with pain and rage, crimson eyes filled with malice. The other wolf continued on, undeterred, leaping into the air, its sharp maw gaping open, its teeth glowing from the light of its silvery eyes as though illuminated by moonlight.

Just as planned.

From the time that hed released his first spell, Sylar had already been preparing the matrix of the follow-up spell, fully anticipating the ineffectiveness of Searing Daggers to the ethereal wolf. With a grunt, a golden-yellow sigil manifested in the air between him and the wolf, before bursting into radiant light a moment later. The accompanying Thunderclap of sound and electricity that marked the eponymous spell sent the wolf hurtling backward, the silvery substance that composed its form shifting and morphing, disturbed by the spell as it was.

The texts were completely accurate, it seemed. While the more mundane half of the pair could be injured as any other opponent would be, only spells altered by an individuals unique Core Essences could bring harm to the spectral wolf. Sylars specific Core Essence was based on Chaos, which altered the forms of the spells based on Wind Essence such as Thunderclap to manifest as lightning.

From one side, the local of this world was shouting words that were unintelligible to Sylar, but he thought he could get the gist of it. Shock, encouragement, cries of warning unnecessary, but the sentiment was appreciated all the same.

Smoke billowed out from the burned coat of the physical wolf. Beside it, the other wolf had recovered from the effects of the Thunderclap, its form coalescing together, although it was now shrunken in size. In unison, they gave a guttural roar, repeating their attack.

To his Diviners sight, Sylar could see the Essence flaring within the pair as they charged and flanked him from both sides, and he reacted accordingly. With hastened limbs, he leapt backward deftly, unnatural dexterity preventing him from tripping, as he timed the release of his next spell. Essence was being fed into his opponents spell matrix, energy flaring, and

Now!

In the precise moment that the pairs bodies switched properties, the Third Level Lightning Lash tethered the two wolves together, forcefully altering the momentum of their charge as directed by his magical vector. The spectral wolf crashed bodily into its twin, tugged by arcs of lightning that wrapped around the pair. There was the sound of sizzling flesh, obscuring a fainter buzz that came with the dissipating ethereal substance of the ghostly wolf. Faint sparks danced along his outstretched fingertips, dancing electric lights playfully flashing momentarily in the space between Sylar and the wolves in the aftermath of the spell.

The end was near, now. Both wolves were struggling to rise to their feet, the spectral one only in slightly better shape than the burned and charred one. One final spell should do the trick.

They gave a final enraged howl, completely at odds with the regal nature that they were often described as, Essence flaring within their souls. The pattern was different, now. This was not the variant of Nether Swap that they previously employed. Narrowing his Diviners eyes, he skimmed over the Essence pairs quickly falling into place.

Four Space-Wind pairs, two Space-Space pairs, one Wind-Wind pair, and that formation

On pure reflex, he reacted the way he would have against any mage opponent, readying a counter for what was their version of the Warp Strike spell. The space between them grew cloudy as their spell took hold, their forms blurring for just the briefest of instants, visible only to the eyes of a Diviner.

Instead of striking into the fleshy form of an unprotected mage, however, their attacks found resistance against the Earthen Shell that had been erected around his skin.

Used appropriately, a First Level spell could halt even a spell of the Second Level. Magical efficiency at its finest.

Where the spells met, the protective spell built of Earth Essence shielded against the cutting force of Wind Essence, being deposited into an Essence Field within the Aether. Sylar briefly considered his options quickly draw upon the Essence before it dissipated completely, or press the attack?

There wasnt yet a need to draw upon more Essence, since he had a healthy stock remaining, and so he decided to finish the job. Sylar grinned, tracking the bodies of his opponents that had glanced off his spell of warding, ready to deliver the final blow.

Hed already used up most of his gathered Fire and Wind Essences. Water Essence had been completely untouched, and now, they were being organised into one last spell to end the battle. Chaos Essence within the matrix imparted an element of disorder to the spells form, required to have any lasting effect on the spectral wolf. A layered glyph manifested in the air, in the vicinity of where he estimated the wolves would land based on their current trajectory.

A cloud of thick, condensed steam appeared in that space. With a hiss of vapour and an intense burst of radiance, the Fourth Level Cloudburst spell reduced what was left of the physical and ethereal forms of the wolves to nothingness through the combination of heat and pressure. Through the residual steam, he could see Space Essence drifting into their realm of origin, the final remnants of the Spirit Wolves diffusing away quickly.

No sense wasting good Essence. With how concentrated the Essence was, he could draw them into his soul at a respectable rate of about 1 Ferin per second. It was far, far faster than it had been back in his Hiding Hole, where hed had to draw in the significantly more diffuse ambient Transcendental Essences.

By the time the steam cloud finally drifted away, his soul was 26 Ferins of Space Essence richer than hed been previously. The expended Primal Essences were slowly being infused once more at a slower rate. Over the nine spells hed casted since he heard the beginning of the commotion, he had accumulated 163 Pyrans of Soulburn about a tenth of his maximum that was now beginning to dissipate.

It had been a pretty decent showing, if he did say so himself. He didnt tend to fight that much these days, but it was nice to see that habits from his adventuring days were more deeply ingrained than hed thought. Now, it was time for him to take a breather, let all that excess Soulburn dissipate while he worked on getting back his expended Essence

A cry of words he didnt recognise that spewed from the still-trapped mans lips made him reconsider that notion. Caught up in the adrenaline of the moment, hed almost forgot what brought him to battle against the Spirit Wolves in the first place. Thankfully, Tongues was a low-level Divination spell, and didnt tax his remaining reserves of Spirit and Fate Essence all that much.

thank the Heavens that youre here, oh I cant believe that

Laying on the praise a little thick there, he commented dryly, readying his intended spell. Contrary to Wenchais words, he had no intention of performing manual labour when he could be relaxing instead. Get on board.

Certainly! He plopped himself atop the seat. Sylar joined him a moment later, much to his confusion. Uhh

Mid-word, Sylar let the spell take hold, Shadow Essence forming the main constituent of the underlying matrix. Dark, wispy vapours coalesced together, before being knitted together as though strings on a loom, expanding outward and joining together. Beside him, Wenchai gasped loudly, mouth agape.

Odd. Was such magic uncommon? Sure, the commonfolk back in Resham didnt deal with these branches of magic every day, considering how difficult it was to procure Shadow Essence at reasonable cost, but even they knew about the existence of these spells. Wenchai looked as though he was seeing the Deities themselves.

Shadow Essence was derived from the Hollow Reality, one of the Planes Beyond. Though reliable accounts of its nature were sparse, the generally accepted theory was that it mimicked the material world, stitched purely of Shadow Essence. At the pinnacle of Illusion magics, the goal was not to present a false reality, but to rewrite reality in a way that became real, blurring the division between it and the field of Transmutation.

This was no high-level Illusion spell, but Phantom Steed was well on its way to muddying the barrier between what was imaginary and what was real. It was yet again another Fourth Level spell, but he could always regenerate his lost Essence during the ride back.

What what is this? Wenchai turned to look at Sylar, stunned. He reached out, touching the substance of the mighty chargers, what was once murky darkness now turning into a close approximation to actual horses. This Ive never heard of such a Spiritual Art! They theyre real!

Really? That was odd. Considering how much free access there was to the Transcendental Essences, except for Life and Death Essences, hed been expecting to find that the local mages had advanced knowledge of esoteric magics. It was a bit of a disappointment, but perhaps Wenchai was simply uninformed.

Well ride to Penshan, then ditch the horses once were there. You lead the way, Sylar said, handing over the reins that had been crafted alongside the phantom horses from the Hollow Reality. In truth, he could mentally direct the horses himself, but he wanted to spare what concentration he had for gathering lost Essence and prying information out of the trader.

Of course! The trader accepted the offered reins, hesitantly at first, before growing into open curiosity as he found that it was just as tangible as the horses were. Wow

With a mental order, Sylar stirred the constructs into motion. They began at a slow trod, letting Wenchai have some time to get used to the novelty of the Illusory magic, before breaking into a steady pace once he looked to be more comfortable with the task.

The wagon continued along on its way to Penshan. Now that the danger had passed, and he was once more back on track to make his delivery, it was clear that Wenchai had many questions regarding Sylar, if the furtive glances were any indication. Finally, Wenchai cleared his throat, and began to speak.

This forgive me for asking, great cultivator, but how have I never heard of you before?

I told you, I come from far away, Sylar replied easily.

Well! This humble one thanks you very much for your timely arrival, Wenchai said. What, ah, manner of business draws you to Penshan?

Sylar considered the question. Without a sense of just what types of magic were available here, it didnt seem like a good idea to talk about Teleportation magics stemming from an artifact that was so far out of the realm of what was practical from any living mage. Without an immediate solution that would let him return to Resham, his best course of action would be to further his understanding of the Transcendental Essences, and to check out the local mages.

Id like to meet other ma I mean, cultivators in the area, if possible. He tilted his head quizzically to one side. Dont suppose youd know about the local situation?

Who do you think youre speaking to? The trader puffed his chest out, speaking with mock indignation. Is there a soul in Penshan who hasnt heard of the name of the great merchant Suo Wenchai?

Probably, Sylar wanted to say. Considering that all he had was a single trade wagon, without any guards assigned to protection of his precious goods, he couldnt be too far up the business ladder. Sylar, of course, didnt openly comment on that, instead nodding politely.

Penshan lies in the State of Wu, Wenchai began speaking with an air of self-importance. Of the cultivation sects closest to Penshan, the three most well-known are the Righteous Heart Sect, the Radiant Star Sect, and the Crystal Path Sect. Together, they form the Penshan Alliance, that protects the townsfolk from Demonic Beasts and other horrors.

He paused momentarily, before voicing an afterthought. Speaking of which, I really need to make sure that the Elders of the Righteous Heart Sect hear about the aggressive behaviour by the Silver Guardians today. Maybe theyll finally send someone down to cull their numbers a little.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, unaware that the culprit for said behaviour was, in fact, seated right next to him. Then, Wenchai glanced at Sylar, expression brightening. Master Lu is well acquainted with Elder Ma of the Righteous Heart Sect, actually. If youd like, I could try asking him if he could introduce you to them, mister not-a-cultivator.

Yet another wink; the words carefully intoned. Sylar supposed that there were mages who liked to hide their identities for the sole purpose of messing around with others, but he had no clue as to why Wenchai had inferred that of him.

That would be much appreciated, he said diplomatically. For now, though, is there anything else you can tell me about the neighbouring areas?

He asked the question, but couldnt fathom why Wenchai looked utterly dumbfounded. He was about to repeat it once more, but then Wenchai began to speak, and he quickly saw the problem.

Tongues had expired. Getting used to this method of communication was going to be an annoying process. Sooner or later, hed have to become independent of the spell, considering that it seemed like he would be stuck here for the foreseeable future. A quick reapplication of Tongues, and he caught the tail-end of Wenchais words.

what you said?

Is there anything else you can tell me about the region? he asked once more.

Thankfully, his words were fully understood this time. Wenchai nodded obligingly, and began to tell him more about Penshan and its surroundings. There was a lot that he had to personally infer, since some trivial information that Wenchai took for granted was in fact unfamiliar to Sylar, but he got a close enough picture of the state of affairs here.

Mages well, cultivators, he supposed formed Sects. In most cases, they lived cooperatively with the commonfolk, helping them put down threats of all sorts. He had no idea what these Demonic Beasts were that Wenchai kept referring to, but as far as he could tell it was pretty similar to how it worked in the Kingdom of Nimbria, where most mages were contracted adventurers or running independent research organisations. Here in the State of Wu, cultivators were independent parties for the most part, acting separately of the local government.

Other states, though, operated differently. There, cultivators had either a larger say in the matters of running their lands, or were in fact members of the government structure themselves. It wasnt too different from, say, the Magiocracy in Velen or the Sacred Order of the Five Dragons that guided the Zirconian Empire.

Of course, not all mages acted in the interest of the commonfolk. Some, that Wenchai termed Demonic Cultivators, or followers of the Evil Sects, actively disrupted the peace. Again, it was not unfamiliar territory Necromancer cults, Liches, rogue wizards disenchanted with their schools of origin, and many other such examples littered the history of Resham. Hed put down a couple of those threats himself together with his party in the past.

Despite all that, there was one fact that bothered him. No, scratch that Labyrinth of Eyes below, it didnt just bother him, it outright vexed him.

These cultivators of yours spend their lifetimes training their bodies?

Of course! Wenchai nodded rapidly, not at all bothered by Sylars aghast tone. They say that the junior cultivators practice everyday from the time they are seven, and by the age of thirteen can split boulders with their bare hands! Was that not something you experienced yourself?

Sylar really hoped that Wenchai was misinformed, and that the source of power of these cultivators werent the same as that of mages, despite being able to use what he had termed Spiritual Arts. Sure, Sylar had been able to do the same with Boulderfist from the time he could hold enough Essence to cast First Level spells, and that same spell barely cost any Essence or Soulburn to him now that he was a full-fledged Arcanist but why in all of Resham would he want to do that? Worse, why do that at the expense of ignoring the many other brilliant aspects of magic?

For that matter, did they simply cast the same low-level spell over and over again? It was still training that could grow Essence Capacity and maximum Soulburn, but it sounded like dreadfully boring work.

Wenchai continued speaking, oblivious to his thoughts. I mean, Ive heard of those from the Radiant Star Sect being able to punch out jets of flame with their qi techniques, but seeing those Spiritual Arts of yours first-hand really was something else. He chuckled, steering the horses lightly, following the bend of the road. Cultivators really can manipulate the Elements themselves, huh? Dont suppose you could share a couple tricks with your good friend here?

He elbowed Sylar in the ribs, holding on the reins with one hand. Sylar ignored him, thinking of other questions to ask. Truthfully speaking, much of his current interest lay in what the implications of having freely-available Transcendental Essences were to magical advancement of this world, but a merchant such as Wenchai wasnt the right person to ask.

At present, spells requiring the Transcendentals other than Fate and Form higher than Fifth Level were difficult for him to cast, because he didnt have much practice with infusing them into his soul, limited by their availability as he had been in Resham. Once he got settled down, he was keen to start working his way up the list of established spells whose matrices hed memorised, but never got the chance to cast.

Perhaps he could even invent a spell or two from scratch, if he came across an issue that couldnt be resolved through pre-existing spells. Substantiology and the related field of Spell Theory were crafts hed dived into after retiring from adventuring life, and it wouldnt do good for him to grow rusty.

And so it was, that Wenchai continued chattering on, guiding the Phantom Steeds toward the Lu Estate in Penshan City. Sylar picked up little bits of information every here and there, answering questions of his own where he could, and before he knew it, they arrived at their destination.

-o-o-o-

[An excerpt from Mage Logbook #1, Sylar Wershin, aged 10.]

Essence Dynamics

- Soulburn is shed at a rate proportional to current Soulburn (S). -d[S]/dt = a[S] + b, for some values a and b, that vary from individual to individual and can change during a persons lifetime.

- The rate at which Essence is gathered from the mages surroundings follows first order kinetics with ambient Essence concentration, and is dependent on the amount of Essence already present within a soul. The lower the currently-infused Essence as a proportion of maximum Essence Capacity, and the greater the concentration of ambient Essence, the greater the rate that Essence can be drawn in.

- Occasionally, when spells meet, they can potentially react with one another, resulting in mutual annihilation. When this happens, constituent Essences of spells are deposited into the surrounding Aether, forming a localised Field of Essence. The high Essence concentration there allows for quick recovery of lost Essence, but the field quickly dissipates if left untapped. Master Rynwald says that considering how these fields can be used for strategic purposes is critical in battle, but he will only allow me to try it out in practical combat once I can consistently cast Second Level spells.

Homework

Using several example values of initial Soulburn, calculate the time it would take for all current Soulburn to be depleted. Repeat with different values of a and b.Consider the phenomenon of Essence reactivity that gives rise to Essence Fields. Present five different ways in which such knowledge can be useful in combat situations.

[Transcribers notes: Be aware that while technically true, some of Spellsights notes and observations during his early days of training present an incomplete picture of todays understanding of Essence Dynamics. Completed homework assignments, wherever recovered, can be found in annex 1.]