Author's note: At least seven chapters today, though I'm aiming for ten total again.
...Magelord...
After the phase ants fell from the sky, there'd been a lot of chaos in the Forgelands.
To be fair, it was basically just another day in the Forgelenads. In fact, despite the abundance of destruction, according to Inertia, who could make sense of the swarms of moving bodies, the attack hadn’t affected the city much.
Sure, there were some buildings that’d need to be rebuilt, but most of the Forgeborn saw that as a good thing.
And speaking of good things, there’d been a positive development for one of my closest friends.
Clasping Calbern on the shoulder, I asked, “You're sure you're ready?”
He sat at the front of the observation deck aboard the Iron Curtain, the semi-organized chaos of Hellbrand spire and Ashforge Abyss stretching below. Calbern was sitting on the edge of a pool of Kinya solution. One provided by Inertia. Apparently among her many materials, she had her own supply of the rare herbs and liquids stored away.
Considering how much of Ro’an the duo had traversed over the years, they’d seen a lot. And picked up a lot along the way. As Tresla had explained, Inertia never knew what she might need for experimentation.
After several moments of silent consideration, Calbern inclined his head slightly. “Quite sure. I merely need to consolidate my gains and I will be able to push through to a higher tier. I would like to note that there is a good chance there will be screaming involved. Please do your best to disregard it.”
“Not really reassuring me here, old man.”
“I was unaware I needed to reassure you about my own ascension.” Despite his words, I caught the corner of his lip twitching upwards reflected in the observation window. “Besides it is not as if your own ascensions have proceeded without their own challenges.”
“Part of the reason I'm worried.”
“I shall be fine. Have at least that much trust in your friend.”
“It's not you I don't trust, Calbern. Just worrying. You understand, I'm sure?”
Slipping one bare leg into the tub, he paused. “I suppose I do, Perry.”
“Right so anything you need from me before you plunge yourself into a pool and torture yourself to a higher plane of existence?”
“I believe I shall be all right.”
I looked over the pool once more, shaking my head. He was right. I’d done far worse to myself. Plus, I suspected I'd be doing it again in the name of advancement. Even so, never felt good having to witness somebody I cared for go through pain. Not even if it meant they'd most likely come out of it healthier. Just like surgery back on Earth, there was always a risk.
“If that is all, it is time,” Calbern said, lowering his frankly jacked body into the liquid. His face might’ve been wrinkled, but under his uniform was the most toned body I’d seen with the possible exception of Velor. And she was a dragon-souled.
The pool had been mostly placid when he'd only had his feet within. That changed as he lowered the rest of his body. The blue-green liquid quickly had black bubbles form within it, floating to the surface. Then he slid his head underneath the surface. Once he was hidden, I pulled the opaque cover closed, sealing him away.
“Seems like all your friends are getting stronger except for you,” Starbreaker said as I walked out of the observation deck. “The lightsinger's oath has been reforged on a level that is visible in her very being, your servant is ascending to a new tier, and you must simply watch.”
“Did you forget I ascended to Hydra-souled less than a month ago?” Starbreaker's face twisted into a grimace at that, suggesting he really had forgotten I ascended so recently. Seriously, some people’s great-grandparents. “You know what? I don't care, Starbreaker. My friend is improving and I'm happy for that. Means he'll be healthier longer.”
“He will serve as a better tool once he has been purged of his weakness.” Between the distant gaze and the hollow emphasis, his words sounded more like rote repetition than actual belief. It got me to stop and inspect the man more closely. The elf was still staring at Calbern's transformation chamber, working his jaw back and forth.
“You don't really believe that do you?”
“Perhaps not entirely,” Starbreaker allowed with a gentle shake of his head. “It is true though. And you are his leader, no matter what you may profess about friendship. What else would you do except use him?”
I didn’t respond, not at first. I was thinking over my answer, though before I found one I was happy with, Starbreaker spoke again. “It's not fair, is it?”
“What's not?”
The man's dark green eyes rose to meet my own, hand upon the hilt of his sword as he stepped out of the observation deck to the stairs where I was waiting. “It's not fair that the more powerful you get, the further you feel from… the less connection you have to the very people you're trying to protect.”
“You're right, Starbreaker. It's not fair. Like I've always said, nothing in life is fair. All we can do is try and make it fair enough.”
He grunted at my words.
Deciding the conversation was over, I made my way to the front of the ship to join Tresla and Inertia. The latter was busy affecting repairs. The Iron Curtain hadn't made it out of the fight entirely unscathed, though it had taken less damage than many of the Forgeborn ships. Most of the local aircraft were never intended for any form of combat. Not a surprise, so close to the heart of their civilization.
After assisting with some enchanting repairs, I retreated to my cabin for the evening, giving a call to Ari.
Again it was a report of everything she'd handled throughout the day and thankfully there didn't seem to be anything she wasn't capable of dealing with. Was a bit concerning Bahama was spending so much time with her, but it didn’t seem to bother her. It wasn't until she got to the end of her report that her voice caught.
“Perry, about Nexxa…”
My thoughts had been drifting, thinking about being back home, getting to see them again. Ironic considering I was currently talking with Ari but it didn't feel like it, not when we’d spent the entire mirror call talking about the business of running Aeternia. Her comment snapped me back to full attention. I squinted at the silvery surface, as if I could somehow make out Nexxa’s form despite barely being able to pick out Ari’s face. “What's wrong with Nexxa?”
“She went through the ascension procedure but…” I was leaning forward, Ari's features distorting as she pulled away while looking to the side, as if staring at something nearby. “But she hasn't woken up.”
“How long has it been?” I asked, leaning back. The diagnostic chamber had said it would take her nearly a full day and that was before she re-enchanted the imps, the skull with the imps.
“It's been six hours.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “That's okay Ari, it-”
Ari cut me off. “Six hours since she was supposed to wake up.”
“Okay. That’s… less than ideal,” I said, wishing I was back in Aeternia. If I was in Aeternia, I could at least take Nexxa to the diagnostic chamber and see if there was anything I could do to help. “I wish I was there.”
“Me too,” Ari agreed, her head leaning forward as if pressing against the edge of the mirror. I wanted to reach forward and comfort her though I knew that she wouldn't be able to feel it not truly. Even so, I stroked her hand through the mirror, hoping the ripples would at least show my attempt to comfort her.
“Home Spark isn’t strong enough to get there on its own,” I said. Even as I did, I cast the precursor part of the spell again, confirming the interference was strong as ever. Being able to send off the test pulse was good in a way, since it kept me from diving into something that’d leave me trapped. At the same time it was horrible being able to send that pulse off to confirm I was still separated from my family. If only we had something to increase the strength of the signal, something like...
I wanted to smack my head so much I actually did. A full proper facepalm right in front of Ari. Something that had no problems making it through the distorted image of the mirrors.
“You thought of something.” There was a degree of relief in her voice.
“Yeah, something obvious. The Waygate network. It might not work on its own but if we were able to configure it to use the same sort of precursor as Homespark, we might be able to cut through the interference.”
Ari’s silvery head, bobbed, the image getting caught halfway before stuttering into a smile. “It's worth investigating. Shall I set our team to it?”
“Probably need to work it from both ends. And I can get us on the way, but from what Calbern said, I’ll need him to point out the actual Waygate site. Wasn’t the most distinct. No convenient mountain as a landmark.”
“And he’s undergoing his own ascension,” Ari noted, having picked up that much from our earlier conversation.
“Yep. Hopefully he won’t… well, hopefully Nexxa wakes up before he’s done. He said it can take weeks for some ascensions.”
“Well at least there was that bit of good news today,” Ari said, giving me a genuine smile.
“Yep, he even smiled before I trapped him in his Kinya bath, leaving him to marinate in ascension juice.”
“Perry,” Ari protested, making a face of disgust.
Despite her apparent upset, our conversation ended up going longer than they usual. The two of us forgot about our self-imposed time limit and simply talked. Not about Aeternia or spells or anything like that, just little things. It was amazing how much that extra half-hour felt like it restored me.
Near the end a thought occurred to me. A rather obvious one. “Ari…”
“Yes?”
“Why don't you get Sidhe to send me the reports on what's happening in Aeternia? If we’re going to stick to half an hour a day, I'd rather we not cover the nitty gritty details.”
Ari opened her mouth as if to object before closing it and her eyes. She gave a shallow nod and a smile that was far too weak but it was a genuine one. “I do enjoy getting your thoughts on Aeternia but… well, I can save that for the important subjects.”
“Always,” I agreed. We chatted for another couple minutes before bidding each other farewell.
Then I went back out to the observation deck and sat down on the edge of Calbern's pod, staring out over Ashforge. Unlike Terra Vista or even my own Cape Aeternia, you could hardly tell that the monsters had landed in Ashforge. Other than two missing towers, what little damage they'd done had already been repaired.
Well, and a few airships that were being taken apart to be reused for new crafting projects.
They didn't think the same way in Ashforge city as the rest of Ro'an. Here devastation was just the next step before creation. It helped that it took a lot to truly destroy a Forgeborn.
Even now, more than half a day since the attack, they hadn't suffered a single death. Thousands of Forgeborn had been damaged to the point where they couldn't move. Damage that’d nearly crippled Inertia, and had required me to sear my hand off repeatedly.
Even now, my mind flinched away at those memories.
Hadn't realized just how durable they would be. It helped explain how they endured even when their outer shells seemed so frail at times. Wonder if that was part of how humanity had endured as something as weak as we’d been back on Earth.
The outer shell might've been weak but the core, the heart of humanity, it had always been strong.
Unfortunate it’d taken going to another world for me to see it.