On the Shoulders of Titans (Arcane Ascension Book 2) Read online

  “Speak.”

  “My sister, Sera, may have drank some of the fluid. But it didn’t explode — her attunement changed.”

  Vellum’s brow creased. “Changed?”

  I showed her the drawing.

  “Oh, dear. What attunement did she have before?...no, don’t tell me. Summoner, yes?”

  “How did you know? Is that some sort of advanced Summoner attunement?”

  Vellum shook her head. “No, it’s just that Summoner is the only local attunement that involves persistent spell effects inside the user’s body. That would be what triggered your potion — her contracts. The primer reacted to a contract spell, fusing it with her existing attunement. The primer contains tremendous mana. It’s enough to remodel how the entire body functions, when guided by the proper type of spell.”

  I winced. “And somehow the contract fused with her attunement?”

  “An apt explanation for a foolish act. You could have killed her. If she hadn’t been a Summoner, and someone had hit her with an offensive spell next, the primer would have enhanced that spell.”

  I shuddered at the image that followed. “...It was a risk, but we needed the power. It worked. For a time, at least.”

  “Oh? And now?”

  “Now she can’t speak, and her safe mana capacity registers as zero.”

  “Quite fascinating. Well, I hope you’ve learned a valuable lesson from destroying your sister’s life. Off you go!”

  I stoppered the potion again and tucked it away. “You’re not going to ask about—”

  “I don’t get involved in the foolish endeavors of youth. If you say you needed that kind of power, fine. You can believe that. Next time you find a mysterious potion of great power, ask an expert before anyone drinks it.”

  Well, consider me sufficiently rebuked.

  I nodded. “I will. But, would you happen to know any way I can help with my sister’s situation now that I’ve made my mistake?”

  Vellum sighed. “I can’t change an attunement once it has been made. I doubt anyone can, at least not yet. Believe me, I’ve tried, and so have many others. A Mender may be able to help her with the side effects, and she may be able to earn a second attunement if she can regain enough use of the first to survive a Judgment in another tower.”

  She paused, considering. “If the spell that changed her mark is a contract, you should determine what type of contract that was — that may give you a way to address the problem. Perhaps if it was a tie to a specific entity, that being would still be able to transfer mana into her. Or, alternatively, breaking the contract might restore the attunement to something resembling normalcy. It may require breaking all of her contracts, given that it’s possible they all activated the primer at once.”

  I furrowed my brow in consideration. “How can she break a contract without using mana?”

  Vellum shrugged. “Ask a Summoner.”

  “Thank you, Professor. I’m sure she’ll appreciate your insight.”

  “She’d better. And you’d better, too.” She waved at the broken vial. “You can start by cleaning that up. Then, you’re going to mix me a replacement potion...”

  I sighed and got to work.

  ***

  I didn’t go back to tell Sera what I’d learned. Not immediately, at least.

  I hit the library first, and then the archives in the Divinatory again.

  On the way in, I saw someone leaving the restricted archives that I didn’t recognize. She looked to be in her twenties and wore an all-white business suit. More interestingly, she had purple hair that trailed all the way down her back.

  Hair dyes weren’t that uncommon, but I did admire the particularly spectacular shade that she’d chosen.

  She glanced at me as she passed, raised a single eyebrow, then kept walking.

  I waited until she was out of the hall before entering the restricted archive.

  I didn’t find any books specifically on mana scarring, but there were plenty of books on general human anatomy and healing magic.

  I asked Researcher during my visit, but she didn’t have any books available on my new attunement. There were some general books on attunements that had sections on restricted attunements, though, and I grabbed a couple of those.

  It’ll be interesting to see what information they have on other restricted attunements, and it’s far past time I get familiar with the whole list of foreign ones.

  I didn’t plan to memorize every attunement out there right now, but I wanted to find any other ones that looked like they had a good chance of being able to help fix Sera’s condition.

  I also asked Researcher for more details on the types of attunements that were being used for studying how to heal mana scars here in Valia. She didn’t know, but she gave me the name of the researcher she’d heard about: Sheridan Theas.

  That name sounded like all sorts of problems. There was basically no chance Sheridan wasn’t related to Elora Theas in some way, and Elora remained at the top of my list of potentially deadly enemies.

  Then again, if this gave me an excuse to visit with members of House Theas, maybe I could finally get some information.

  I liked that idea.

  Once I had all the books I wanted, I brought them back to Derek’s manor. I went to give Sera the news, but she wasn’t there, so I checked with Derek.

  “Patrick convinced her to go take a visit to the campus hospital.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I doubt it will help, but she seemed to want to do something, so I don’t blame them for trying.”

  Derek was probably right. If Katashi couldn’t heal the problem outright, a random Mender at a hospital probably couldn’t either.

  Then again, Katashi had thought Ferras had a better chance of fixing the problem. That implied that the visages had different skill sets.

  Our legends said that the visages had the abilities of every attunement, but that didn’t mean they were equally powerful with each of them. And even if they were equally powerful, maybe Katashi just wasn’t as knowledgeable about every subject. This could be an issue of finesse and creativity, rather than raw magical ability.

  Since Katashi represented concepts like justice, and if his skills matched, I expected he was probably better versed in attunements geared toward enforcing law and maintaining order. Ferras was the Visage of Creation, so it was logical for her to be more specialized in things like manufacture and repair. I figured healing fell into that latter category.

  I took a seat nearby. “I agree that it’s unlikely a Mender would help. I did do some research on people who are working to treat mana scars locally, however.”

  “Oh?” Derek raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, and I came upon a name I wanted to ask you about. Sheridan Theas?”

  Derek recoiled as if struck.

  That was not a good sign.

  “Sheridan...Theas, you say.” His frown was deep enough that I could have used it to tunnel to the other side of the planet.

  “I take it you know her? Or him?”

  “Either or neither,” he waved dismissively. “Usually neither.” He shook his head. “Deni takes after their patron.”

  I knew what that meant. “You’re saying that Sheridan is a follower of Wydd?”

  “Follower would be too light a term. More like disciple.” He sighed, putting a hand to his head. “And yes, Deni would be a good candidate to talk to about mana scars, under normal circumstances.”

  I took a few mental notes there.

  First, apparently Sheridan had a nickname, “Deni”.

  Second, if Sheridan was usually genderless, I’d have to try to remember to call them by neutral pronouns like “they” unless they asked me to use a gender. That was the polite thing to do.

  Third, based on Derek’s last point, I had to brace myself for being told that Sheridan was working with Tristan and Elora. I asked for clarification anyway. “What’s the problem?”

  “Deni and I have had a somewhat...sordid history.”
r />   I folded my arms. “More sordid than your history with Elora? And I take it they’re related?”

  He sighed. “Siblings. I’ve known them both since childhood and, well, things happen.”

  I had to cover my eyes with my hand for a moment. Derek was just too ridiculous. “Okay. So, you’ve had some issues with both Theas siblings. Would that be a problem for getting Sheridan to talk to Sera?”

  “No...” He sounded hesitant. “But you may want to worry for other reasons.”

  “Oh?”

  “Deni is like you in a sense. Attuned directly by one of the visages, with a restricted attunement.”

  That sounded great, actually. It just gave me another reason to want to meet them. “Why would that be a problem?”

  “They’re a Necromancer.”

  I blinked. “You’re joking. Those are a myth.”

  He shook his head. “Not a myth. Forbidden knowledge. And, with Wydd being the Visage of Forbidden Knowledge, they occasionally give chosen disciples access to it. Doesn’t work like you’re thinking, though. No raising skeletons to run around and butcher the innocent. It’s mostly interacting with spirits.”

  I contemplated that. “Huh. That’s a little strange, I’ll admit, but it doesn’t sound like a problem.”

  “It’s a serious problem. Necromancy is, more than likely, how Deni could help your sister. But what necromancy can do, and how it works, is forbidden knowledge.”

  “Meaning that Sheridan wouldn’t be allowed to use it to help?”

  “Meaning that, knowing Deni, they’d only offer to help under specific conditions. One would probably involve Sheridan taking Sera somewhere alone, depriving her of her senses, and trying to fix her under conditions Deni controls. You don’t want that.”

  I considered that. “No, you’re right, but it’s not my decision. It’s Sera’s.”

  “Wouldn’t be wise right now. Deni and Elora don’t always get along, but if Elora asked Deni to grab Sera and take her somewhere to make you cooperative...”

  I nodded. “I was going to ask if you thought they were working together.”

  “Deni was the first person I investigated. I doubt they’re directly involved. But I do think that if you put Sera in Deni’s hands, she’d be in potential danger.”

  I scratched my chin. “Do you think Deni would agree to other terms? Maybe erasing our memories later?”

  “Doubt it. Memory erasure is unreliable at best.”

  “I could mention that I have Katashi’s favor?”

  “Might help, but it probably wouldn’t be enough to convince them on its own. Too much risk for just a nebulous favor that might or might not be applicable.”

  I considered that. “How much trouble would they get into if Wydd figures out Deni used Necromancy in front of us?”

  “No idea, especially since you have a restricted attunement yourself.” He sighed. “I’ll make the arrangements for Deni to come visit, but it’s going to be up to you to figure out something of sufficient value to offer. And I’m not talking about gold. It’ll have to be something unique enough to be compelling.”

  Unique, eh?

  Something came to mind immediately, but it wasn’t an option I liked.

  Was I willing to give up the Jaden Box — my best chance of being able to have a physical meeting with Tristan — for a chance to heal Sera?

  “Give me a day or two to talk to Sera about it and we’ll come up with something.”

  Derek grimaced. “All right. I’d better go write them a letter now, before I lose my nerve.”

  “Thanks, Derek.”

  He waved a hand dismissively. “Least I can do. If you hadn’t gotten that ring off my hand...” Derek shook his head. “I still don’t like to think about what might have happened.”

  “Appreciate the help regardless.”

  He headed toward the stairs. “Don’t thank me yet. Deni is one of the most dangerous people I’ve ever met. There’s a good chance you’re going to regret this.”

  ***

  When Patrick and Sera got back from the hospital, Derek and I filled them in on what I’d learned.

  I considered not telling Patrick about the whole Necromancer thing. He didn’t really need to know. But I was tired of keeping secrets from my friends. Nothing good came of it.

  When I told Sera about what Vellum had explained to me, she seemed interested. She wrote me a quick note in reply.

  I don’t know how to release my contracts without using incantations, but I’ll read up on it. Maybe we can check with a Diviner to confirm Vellum’s hypothesis, too.

  That sounded like a good plan. I asked her about what they’d learned at the hospital.

  As we’d suspected, the Menders at the hospital couldn’t heal the damage. The doctors mentioned that Sera could seek out an Emerald-level healer of some kind and see if they had more knowledge, but they didn’t know of any.

  There was some mention of surgery, but Sera wasn’t willing to take the risk of making the problem worse.

  The one new piece of information that came out of a more complete investigation was the extent of the damage. Sera’s lungs weren’t the only thing that was scarred - she had scarring all the way up her esophagus and throat.

  That, not the mana scars on her lungs, was what was keeping her from talking.

  That meant we had two different problems to solve, but it seemed to make Sera feel a little better. The esophageal and throat scarring was still going to be difficult to treat, but it was somewhat easier to handle with healing magic than lung damage.

  The doctors still didn’t have the expertise to treat that on the campus, but they gave Sera a list of names of doctors that she could see about that type of surgery. While that was safer, Sera still wanted to find a different approach if possible, since the recovery time would apparently be weeks or months even with magical aid.

  Also, throat surgery sounded pretty terrifying to all of us.

  “You really mean it? They’re a real Necromancer?” Patrick was positively gleeful. I doubted he’d have been any happier if I’d given him a magic sword.

  ...Which I still intended to do. Eventually.

  Patrick’s enthusiasm made me smile in spite of my nervousness about the whole situation. “Yep, sure are.” I turned to Derek. “Did you get a reply?”

  “Of course. Deni said they’d come by in two days. You’ve got until then to come up with a really good story, and most likely an even better gift. Deni collects sources of forbidden knowledge, so that might be a good angle to consider. If you can teach them something they don’t already know, or give them an item made with forgotten techniques...”

  “Forbidden knowledge, eh?”

  I knew exactly who to talk to.

  ***

  I found Keras playing a game of Crowns...apparently against himself.

  I’d grown up playing Valor, rather than Crowns, but I was familiar with the game. It wasn’t as popular as Valor, but some people enjoyed the fact that each player chose a different set of pieces. The asymmetrical nature made it more engaging for the comparatively small number of players, but it was much harder to learn, and the unbalanced teams made it less suitable for tournament play.

  At the moment, Keras was sitting on the left side of the table, holding the Katashi piece. He looked to be debating using it to take one of the tyrant’s sons off the opposite side of the table.

  I didn’t know for sure, but at a glance, it looked like the tyrant’s side of the board was winning.

  He looked up as I approached and set Katashi back down on the board, presumably in the same place he’d been before. “Corin! Care for a game?”

  I considered that. “I’d like that, but maybe you could help me with something first?”

  The swordsman nodded. “Sure, probably. What do you need?”

  “Oh, not much. I was just hoping you could teach me Pre-Attunement Era sorcery.”

  He blinked. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
<
br />   I wasn’t sure if he was being evasive or honestly didn’t know. “You haven’t told me about how exactly your magic works, but when I mentioned Wrynn Jaden, you said you knew her. She’s what we call a Pre-Attunement Era sorcerer, meaning she used magic in the days before the goddess gave out attunements. That kind of magic isn’t supposed to work anymore, but I think it’s what you’re doing, and why you’re so powerful.”

  Keras shook his head. “I’m not like Wrynn. Not exactly, anyway.”

  “What are you, then? I think Patrick’s guess was ‘ancient wizard king more ancient than time’.”

  “Did he really say ‘ancient’ twice in there?”

  I laughed. “He did. Is that seriously your only objection?”

  “Obviously not. Wizard king is far too lowly a title for one such as me. He could have at least used ‘god emperor’.” Keras rolled his eyes. “But no, I’m not anything like that. Sorcerer is a good word, though. That’s what we call magic users where I come from.”

  Now I was getting somewhere. “And can you teach me?”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “I did say I’d teach you a few things, but I was thinking more in terms of fighting techniques. I don’t think teaching you sorcerous theory would do a lot of good.”

  I took a seat opposite from him. “Can I politely disagree? Being able to use magic of any kind without an attunement would be...tremendous.”

  “That’s just the problem. I don’t think you can. I could explain all the rules of sorcery, as they were explained to me, and I doubt anything will come of it.” He paused. “Why do your people think this ‘Pre-Attunement Era Sorcery’ disappeared?”

  I knew how to answer this one. It was something I’d studied before taking my Judgment, hoping to find a way to gain power without an attunement.

  Like many of the things I’d researched, it had amounted to nothing useful. At least until now. “There are a few prevailing theories, if they could be called that. Really, the first one is more of a legend. Some people say that before the exodus to Kaldwyn, the Tyrant in Gold stole magic from humanity as a way of securing his eternal rule.”

  Keras nodded. “And other theories?”

  “Others believe we just lost the secrets of how to use it, or that perhaps it was tied to the land we were on before the exodus, and it can’t be used here. Another theory is that our bodies have changed over time for any number of reasons, and we no longer produce enough mana to cast spells on our own.”