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P.O.V. Shift – Arduen, 1st Person.
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I watched intently from 3 meters away as he seemed to trace numbers on the face of what I assumed to be his EFA for all of five seconds, and then he sat still for a moment with his right hand on the knob at the top. The moment he pulled it, everything in a one meter radii of Lee faded into a blur beyond what I or anyone I know of could even begin to process without heavy assistance. I thought for a moment to use the Seer Serum to attempt to actually watch it, then I remembered how Vivye reacted. However… she was trying to look into the EFA. My curiosity persisted, and I found myself reaching for my satchel.
"He certainly doesn't waste time," Archatae responded, having come up from behind me through the shelves.
"Well, it only makes sense;" I lifted a vial of red liquid above my eyes, and carefully meted out a single drop in each. "He's a fish out of water, but he's got the wits of an octopus by comparison. He knows where he's lacking and has a clear goal in mind for what he needs to do."
"Careful, Lore-Master; if I was audacious, I'd say you were coming around to respect him."
I stifled a chuckle.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, but he certainly is full of surprises." I smiled, bemused. I could process his speeds now, but only barely. Focusing on his eyes for a moment, his irises were shifting so quickly that it appeared as though in several places at once. The laughter I'd stifled a moment earlier began to break through in pieces.
"It's insane to watch, to say the utleast;" I took a deep breath in and exhaled, smiling. 'Honestly, I feel I may be putting that lightly. This is unreal.'
Archatae patted my shoulder. "Try not to lose yourself watching this insanity, then. I need to tend to the shelves." She backed into the furniture from whence she came. I continued observing. 'Such fervor, he almost reminds me of Tess…'
I closed my eyes and shook my head.
'No, that's improper Arduen. She was her own person…'
But my eyes wouldn't register what my brain was saying, and I found myself hallucinating a vestige of someone dear but departed right alongside him. A flicker of sun-blonde hair against Lee's own, pale skin flickering like an overlay to his… then came the eyes, electric blue pools of polarized sky darting every which way, taking in everything.
I stood aghast, forcing myself to blink in an attempt to rid myself of this fever vision. Seer Serum, these side-effects weren't common, they weren't even rare; they were theoretically non-existent. Fact of the matter was, however, that this was the second time someone on my team was subject to a theoretical non-possibility. Either I was, indeed, losing my mind, his influence made it infeasible to utilize Seer Serum without repercussions… or…
'No,' I shook my head. 'It'd been so long since I'd seen her… I'd almost forgotten her face.' I let my head fall solemnly. 'Adversion or not, I'm thankful you permitted me to watch you work, Lee. More than I'm willing to ever verbally admit.'
I could have sworn, right after that thought passed through my brain, that the projection (?) turned to me and smiled.
I'd seen enough. I returned the smile to what I logically knew was nothing in particular, and pulled out a second vial of clear liquid to nullify the Seer Serum. The droplets hit my eyes, and I watched as the illusion of Tess faded into the blur of Lee's field, resuming its initial rate of progression. In spite of the sadness I felt for what I'd lost, I was content. I was able to see her smiling again…
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-/-
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-/-
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(30 years prior)
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"ARDUEN, I SAID STOP!"
The skies were crimson and fractured, with shadows criss-crossing the landscape. Smoke rising from the incinerated forests bellowed and bent with the traversal of winged demons through it. Like a signal of the end, a pillar of an incandescent inferno erupted forth from the ground from the Research Facility we'd been staged at for the past three years. All that work, the fruits of our labors… burnt to a crisp, its juices evaporated and bled dry like an exsanguinated corpse. We had only ourselves now; for all it was worth, we were still alive.
"We can't stop running, Tess! We've got to rally with the envoy! Kariagua must be notified!"
Her Sun-blonde hair was singed, rogue embers had caught in her locks. Those eyes now darkened like a pit of the sea. I know she needed time to process what had happened, but that was time we didn't have right now. We needed to keep moving; if we even paused to catch our breath, it'd be our last. The Grey Star had betrayed its charge, and now we stood on a cosmic sacrificial pyre to their Ambition.
"FYRR IS STILL-."
I could feel the sweat gather at my grip on her wrist, still I pulled with manic desperation.
"Fyrr will make their own way out, we owe it to them to keep running!"
A string of fireballs sprayed down from above, launched by a cluster of the fliers. I reached into my satchel and pulled a silver cube of 1cm dimensions out with my free hand; offering up a silent prayer in my mind.
'Mistress of Fate, Luck and Fortune, though my means be in my offhand, let my aim be true!'
I threw the cube into the air over my shoulder, with it breaking apart in mid-air and auto-transmuting into homing missiles.
"TESS, HOP ON MY BACK"
I felt her petite frame latch onto me, and I cast a self-augmentation spell on my legs. There was no choice, we couldn't turn around. We had to make our way into the woods, and meet up with the missive-holder…
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… It took three hours, but we'd finally met up with the envoy. My legs were on the verge of giving out.
"Arginold, it's as we feared."
The Envoy lowered his head in shame as he processed my words.
"The Grey Star has-."
"I know. If this were not the case, we'd not be suffering an Incursion, would we? There's a crack in the Foundation."
We were able to walk now that we'd met up and managed to find a canopy free of blaze to traverse underneath, but we still needed to keep a steady and slow pace. We couldn't run without alerting Incursion scouts, with their ability to sense exhiliration. FUCK. That fucking Grey Star; all that prestige, all that power and you still dared to want more!?
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… We were so close to the border of the forest, Kariagua was within sprinting distance… Then we saw it, and our faces were overcast with terror. Spires of lightning danced about the skies and tumbled down from the heavens to strike the skyline down. Smoke billowed upward from blazing homes and businesses were razed in an unrelenting inferno.
We were too late. Kariagua was falling, our research had been destroyed, an Incursion was sweeping across the plane, and now everything we'd worked for was going up in flames.
I fell to my knees, a primal despair welling up in my gut; I wanted to hold my mouth shut. Alas, my woe took the better of me…
I cried out to the fractured, crimson heavens, howling. But when the tears parted enough for me to see clearly, at the peak of the blood red horizon, I saw a-
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{Query: Class_Ten_subliminal_infomorphic_Cognitohazard_failed_to_purge_from_render_Cache}
{Proteus_Immersion_Engine_profile_scrambled_and_recompiling}
{Cognitohazard_cannot_be_parsed_from_archival_entry}
{Engrained_in_Wanderlust_Recollection/Recommended_Actions_include}
[1 – DeFrag_POV]
[2 – Realign_Fragmentary_Vectors]
[3 – Disseminate_Cogni-innocular_Precept_Parameters]
-/-
-\-
-/-
[Action_3 – Actualizing]
{Suspending_Immersion_to_set_for_Cogni-Innocular_Precept_Parameters}
{Realigning_Cognition\Standby_For_Reimmersion}
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I snapped back to my senses, it'd been nearly an hour since Lee began studying under the effects of his field, and the stack of books I'd given him had been reduced by 2/3 its size and set to the side. I put my hand to my head and sighed heavily.
'The Last thing I wanted to dream of… damn, and I was happy for the moment too.'
He was still blurred in his studies, so attentive.
'Is he even going to be able to retain it all? I understand he's an exception, I've no doubt he'll be able to make use of some of it, but I'd be breaking sweat left and right to do what he's doing, even with his capabilities…'
"What do you think his rate of action is?"
Rythie came up from behind me this time, more intrigued than Archatae was initially.
"That depends… how long was I out?" I began circling my index and middle fingers against my temple; twice forward, three times backward.
"Approximately 53 minutes. You nullified the Seer Serum then fell asleep on your feet from the looks of it."
Right, I hallucinated that I saw Tess, decided that was enough, then I blacked out after nullifying the Serum.
"If I had to guesstimate, I'd say; assuming he doesn't run into any complications, that he'll finish in the next twenty minutes or so. Looks like… a ratio of 180:1."
I didn't have to turn my head to know Rythie was gobsmacked.
"Even if he's an Exception-."
"I know. If he manages to retain everything in those books after this, there's no telling just how far he'll go," I felt a smile creep onto my face, slowly but surely. "He might just be able to turn the world on its head."
"He may settle for doing as much to you."
'That'll be the day I eat my title,' I chuckled to myself.
"Arduen."
She wouldn't let this go until I faced her.
"Are you going to be alright?"
I could lie. I could do it so easily. I hardly care that I'd be seen through, being that I'm such a terrible liar, but… I couldn't lie to them.
"I can't say if I ever will, Rythie. It's bittersweet, having memories forcibly brought to the surface, when you've spent nearly half a century trying to bury them."
'But I am thankful he did so, nonetheless. That was the first time in a long time I was able to remember her smile.'
"At the very least," I continued, "I'm not *not* alright."
A chilly, but gentle embrace enveloped me.
"Please don't frown, Rythie."
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'Last few pages, aaand done!'
I took Time's Keeper and deactivated the field. Arduen was standing by Rythie off to my left, against a shelf. I gently placed the last book on the stack of read books, stood up and stretched my limbs. Three hours to sixty seconds, and I spent about eighty minutes with that field up, so… 240 hours of cramming, right Jan'Ros?
'Relying on me for basic conversions? What did they teach you in public school?'
Not enough of the shit that's worth knowing, Jan'Ros. Not even how to do my bloody taxes.
'Disgusting.'
Isn't it though? Anyhow…
"Arduen, I think that does it."
He took a pause, then nodded affirmatively in my direction.
"Understood, did you want to test how well you understood anything in particular?"
Why do I feel like he'd sulk if I refused?
"I suppose I could stand to test my understanding of magick, but I also imagine that this would be a very bad place to do so."
"You're damn right, it would be," Well, that's one hell of a guttural tone. Perish the thought!
Rythie floated over to the table, hovering her comfortable 3cm above the ground; beckoning me for the books.
"Just doing my job," She perused the pages and spines to check for wear and tear.
"None taken, rather I'd be insulted would you not."
She met my eyes with a curious gaze.
"You really are an odd one."
"… I hope you weren't expecting an apology?"
A harsh cackle escaped her throat, taking me off-guard.
"Now why would I demand apologies for such amusement? You're an odd one, sure; most would think you were trying to make a pass at me."
I felt my face flush and heat up. Jan'Ros sighed.
'Wasn't just me.'
'Shut your fictitious mouth.'
"Please continue…" I awkwardly managed to utter
After she finished checking the books for any lingering influence, Rythie handed them off to Archatae, who placed them back on the shelves they'd been retrieved from. I heard a snicker from Arduen.
"Something funny?"
"Oh no, not at all."
Arduen didn't even attempt to hide it. I grumbled.
"You really aren't doing yourself any favors, halfling."
"Well Lee, I wasn't trying to. I was simply enjoying a single moment of aloofness as it presented itself before my senses. You, however, seem to be perpetually between a rock and a hard place. Both mentally and emotionally."
He started walking towards the West wall, to a carved opening in the perimiter of the Library. My pace hesitated, and Arduen took notice.
"Come along now," He beckoned, waving his fingers towards himself. "You wanted to try magic but I forbid you from practicing among the shelves and volumes. So, we're taking this topside."
I cocked my head in a moment's hesitation, then followed him into the opening.
"So, is this an elevator?"
"I suppose you could say that is a part of its function," Arduen responded curtly. He traced his fingers over an uneven pad in the opening in the shape of a T. The air between our feet and the floor solidified and expanded before beginning to rise steadily. "Does this give you a better idea?"
I whistled, impressed.
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(Two minutes later)
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We arrived on top of the Library in swift order, seems as though it leads to the roof of the facility; we were roughly 100 meters above the forest canopy, at the precipice of a new dawn; the stars were only just beginning to fade back into their cosmic curtain. Standing on a platform of material that was visually indistinguishable from the atmosphere itself, Arduen and I stood 30 paces apart from the center between us.
"Lee, there is a lot you're going to need to know to make it in this world," He called out. "As far as Magicks and the Metaphysical are concerned, I shall serve as your instructor for the time being. At this time, since you've only utilized your EFA on a basic level, we're going to get you accustomed to the sensation of harnessing Etre, or Animus Magickal Energy. In your old world, you may have known of Etre in 'French,' I believe the tongue was called, as the term for 'Being'," He saw the confusion on my face and quickly added, "You're not the first one from your world to come here, if you were unsure of how I know of such topics. That aside; Animus Magickal Energy, or AME if you'd prefer, is Corporeal in Nature. It can be utilized to amplify your senses, strengthen your constitution, multiply your speed, basically it magnifies what you are capable of handling that presides within what is tangible. In other words, everything that can be physically interacted with.
"Having said as much," Arduen continued, "you might be wondering why I primarily listed self-centric techniques in the examples." He took a moment for his voice, then continued. "Because regardless of how durable your body is, there's no Exception in the history of the 15 planes of Sybelia who hasn't faced the eventuality of not being able to utilize their EFA. It could be chalked up to this Universe's way of trying to equalize luck and fairness, but while that's a shallow and naive supposition, that is also neither here nor there."
So, he wanted me to learn to sense a specific type of Magickal energy with no prior training aside from a crash course in textbook theorem… I felt a grin borne of expectant disbelief creep onto my face as I responded.
"So, how are we doing this?"
Arduen, as surely as I had jinxed myself, returned the expression with the following:
"The way you're most familiar with," He raised his left hand into the air, and the gemstone of a ring I hadn't noticed prior glinted against contact with the first rays of the Sybelian day as he appeared to distort with the light. What I can only presume was a Field-based Magick Circle etched its own boundary five paces behind myself and Arduen, and activated. Surely this was...
"Trial by fire."
… Sure. As. Shit.
"Here's what's going to happen, Lee," Arduen's voice was being projected from several stretches of the barrier, and all at me, with the source of the voice beyond my vision, "By the end of the hour, you're either going to have found me and engaged in combat with me, you'll not have caught me but you'll be less worse for wear, or if you end up taking a number of attacks past a certain threshold, you'll have failed this test. You are to do this without making use of your Exceptionary Function Actualizer or you also lose. I will not use my artifice, only my animus Are we clear?"
There was no point in trying to argue with him or reason against it, but I suppose this is exactly what I needed, so how else was I to respond?
"Crystal Clear, I hope you know what you're in for!"
A bemused chuckle echoed itself throughout the barrier.
"I'm looking forward to it. Bookmark One: ACTIVATE."
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> . . . - - - - - - - - -[Important!!!]
{Cogni-Innocular_Dissemination_progression-\-Saturation_levels: Adequate_for_ReImmersion}
[Sequence_Rehash_Completed]
[Proteus-Engine_Paradigm_Shift_Drive//: On_Standby]
{Sequence_Profile:// Arduen.}
[Halfling]
[Indeterminate_Age]
[Artificier_Extraordinaire/Arch_Sorcerer]
[Peace_Officer/Damocles_Division]
[Lore_Master]
[Widowed]
(Pertinent_Context_Awaiting_Sequential_Dissemination)
{Sequence_ID:// 27318-TOS-a:// "The_Grey_Star_Incursion_of_HIY_6325"}
[Proteus-Engine:// On_Standby]
-\-
-/-
-\-
{Query: Proceed_with_Immersion_Sequence? Y/N}