On the Shoulders of Titans Read online

  I considered that for a moment, raising a hand to my chin. I didn’t scratch it. I was trying to cut back on that habit. “Okay, but you’re a summoned elemental, right? What happens if I ask you to do something that conflicts with your Summoner’s instructions?”

  “I cannot directly go against my Summoner’s commands, even at an Arbiter’s request.” She grinned, showing a hint of mischief glimmering in her eyes. “But...if it wasn’t directly against my Summoner’s orders...”

  Huh, she’s got a mischievous streak. Wouldn’t have guessed that.

  “Got it.” I smiled in return. “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you. Do you know exactly what I can do with this? I mean, like, what abilities does the attunement confer?”

  She nodded once. “Ah, yes. The Arbiter attunement specializes in transferring mana into others. Its primary mana generation type is transference. Its secondary type is life.”

  I blinked. “Wait, transferring mana into others? Isn’t that extremely dangerous?”

  “Humans typically are unable to transfer mana into other humans because of impurities. The Arbiter attunement purifies mana that is sent through that specific attunement, allowing for safe transfer into other humans. This is its core function. It can be used to both restore lost mana and to temporarily increase the power of an ally over their normal maximum limits.”

  My eyes widened as I considered the possibilities this created.

  “Temporarily? Is there any permanent benefit to using the attunement on someone?”

  She held up two fingers in a sign for “little”. “A slight one. Anything that pushes an attuned’s mana beyond their capacity has the potential to increase that capacity permanently — but usually just a bit, and doing it too frequently or with too high of a volume of mana all at once can cause damage. For example, an Emerald-level attuned pushing as much mana as possible into a Quartz-level attuned could potentially cause them permanent harm.”

  I processed that.

  There was a lot of potential in this new attunement.

  Could I use the purification function as a way to create enhancement elixirs without distilling them?

  Or maybe just transfer enough energy into someone to permanently increase their power a little bit, gradually over time?

  Could I combine this with my other attunement to put enchantments on people?

  ...Maybe that’s how artificial attunements are made?

  I had some more direct questions to ask, too.

  “Could I use this on myself to enhance my Enchanter attunement?”

  Researcher frowned at that. “It isn’t meant to be used like that...but I suppose it might work? I haven’t heard of any cases of it being used in that way, but the restricted attunements are obscure, even by my standards. I don’t have a lot of data to work with.”

  I’d have to save that as a last resort, then. I would have been more tempted if my other attunement had a direct combat application, but trying to enhance my own Enchanter attunement was a great deal of risk for the potential of a minimal benefit.

  I was getting a little bit better about using my mental mana without the watch, but the idea of flooding my brain with enough mana that it could potentially cause scars was...

  I shuddered a little bit just thinking about it, quickly changing the trajectory of my thoughts to something more palatable.

  “If I gave someone enough mana to push them over the threshold to the next attunement level, would their attunement’s level increase?”

  Researcher nodded. “That is a standard way of using the attunement, however, it would be temporary. They would gain the benefits of the higher attunement level, but only until that additional mana is used, after which the attunement would most likely revert to its previous state.”

  “Most likely?”

  “As I noted previously, there is a small permanent benefit from receiving an infusion of mana. It’s possible that your ability could be used as the catalyst for a permanent change, but only if they were already at the cusp of reaching the next attunement level on their own.”

  “What kind of scale of permanent benefit are we talking about?”

  She made a ‘hmm’ noise. “I would expect it to translate to being able to stretch the person’s capacity to about two percent higher than their previous maximum, provided you supplied them with mana equal to their current maximum safe value. I would never give someone more extra mana than their current maximum value, nor would I advise using this on the same person more than once per week.”

  That was interesting, particularly because it implied that whatever had happened to Sera when she drank the potion I’d given her wasn’t the same as transferring mana into her directly. She’d checked in the morning and her mark still hadn’t returned to its previous appearance, in spite of her maximum mana apparently decreasing, rather than increasing.

  It was possible that her attunement would have reverted if not for the scarring, but I suspected something else was at work. I hadn’t just been giving her pure mana, after all — that potion was some sort of catalyst for attunements.

  I’d procrastinated long enough on analyzing the potion. I planned to do that within the next few days.

  Beyond that, knowing some of the safety limits of my attunement was extremely useful. I’d need to know everyone’s safe mana levels, then I could transfer an equal amount into them...provided I had enough mana to do that. Marissa already had more mana than I did, but maybe I could use this as a tool to help Patrick catch up to us. And if I only needed to infuse him once a week, I could safely do the same thing for a few other people, too.

  “Can I give people mana more than once per week if it’s in smaller amounts?”

  “The more important part is that you don’t want them to exceed their maximum more than once per week. You can safely recharge their mana as many times as you need to.”

  Good to know. That’s probably enough on that subject for now.

  I took out a drawing of Sera’s new attunement and showed it to the researcher. “Have you ever seen a rune like this before?”

  “How fascinating.” The researcher stared at the image. “This is unfamiliar to me. I can check with the central archive, but that will take some time.”

  “Central archive?”

  The elemental turned her head toward the east...toward the spire, maybe? “My true self remains there, alongside many others of my kind. We gather, maintain, catalogue, and distribute data. Tenjin has kindly allowed this variant of me to remain here.”

  Well, that means this elemental isn’t some kind of violation of divine laws, at least. That’s good — I don’t want to deal with any more visage-related complications right now. I have enough of them.

  “What are the odds that mark is a restricted attunement?”

  Researcher shook her head. “It’s not. I’d have recognized it if it was.”

  “What about an ascended attunement?”

  Her eyes widened slightly. “That’s...possible, I suppose. I’ve never actually seen one.”

  That was interesting. “Do you know how those are obtained, or how they work?”

  “No, but I’d like to! If you find out anything about them, I’d love to hear it.”

  I nodded. “Okay, another question. If someone had lost the ability to use their attunement properly due to scarring, could I use this transfer ability from my new attunement to help them?”

  Researcher shook her head sadly. “It would be unlikely to have any benefit. Mana scars inhibit the proper passage of mana through the body. Attempting to flood a scarred area with mana might do more harm than good.”

  Maybe I could get Sera a second attunement, then, and help her get stronger at using that?

  No, that’s working around the problem. I’ll do that if I have to, but I’d rather get her voice back.

  “Do you know any means of healing mana scars?”

  “Not easy ones. In Caelford, they are performing research on full organ replacements, with som
e signs of success. Our own research has been focused on restoring the body to a previous state, using a combination of local Menders and other body-related attuned from other nations. There have been some successes with both approaches, but each has significant risks.”

  Researcher waved a hand toward the section of the library on her left. “The most reliable approach, unfortunately, remains the most difficult. In row 4-D, you can find a section called ‘Goddess-Touched Locales’. We currently have three books covering a location called Vanreach Peak. In this location, rare medicinal herbs can sometimes be found during the winter season. These herbs serve as the foundation for the Vanreach Elixir, which is reported to be an effective treatment for virtually any physical injury, including mana scarring.”

  I perked up at that. “How does this elixir work?”

  “The herb itself is the most powerful known alchemical component for healing purposes. Elixirs created using the herbs, which are known as Goddess’ Tears, trigger a potent regeneration effect on the body that can repair long-term damage on the body. Some claim the elixir is even potent enough to reverse the effects of aging.”

  That sounded pretty amazing. “If this herb is so potent, why aren’t we growing it on farms or in laboratories?”

  “Attempts have been made, of course.” Researcher smiled. “But it isn’t a naturally occurring herb — and all attempts to breed it have failed. We have a poor understanding of the conditions under which it grows. At one point, the Valian government placed the entire mountain under observation for the winter. No herbs were found that entire season. According to local legends, the herbs only grow when the goddess visits the mountain to mourn a friend. Thus the name.”

  I nodded at that. “And I presume that, given the value of the herbs, there’s a great deal of competition for them?”

  “Oh, yes. And the Vanreach Mountains are infested with monsters.”

  Of course they are. Everywhere interesting seems to be.

  “I’ll take a look at the books when I get a chance, thank you.”

  “It is my honor to be of service, Arbiter.”

  I twisted my lips in response to her words. “You don’t need to be so formal. I’m not that important.”

  Researcher put a hand over her chest and closed her eyes. “Oh, thank the goddess. It was so hard doing that. It’s been ages since I’ve had to be all... ‘It is my honor to serve you’ and such.”

  I laughed. “I’ve never been much for titles and formalities.”

  “That’s a relief. Now, what else do you need?” She folded her hands in front of her, rolling back and forth on her heels with obvious energy.

  “I think that’s most of it for today, actually. Let me think for a minute.”

  What else did I need to know?

  A whole lot of things, actually.

  But what could she help me with immediately?

  Probably more questions related to my new attunement? Or maybe something about the Whispers, that organization that Tristan supposedly belonged to?

  Maybe not that last part. Asking her about the Whispers could be suspicious. She’s being extremely helpful, but I’m not her Summoner, and I still don’t know who her Summoner is. She wouldn’t tell me last time...

  ...Meaning that might be a good question.

  “Do I have sufficient authority now for you to tell me who summoned you?”

  She shook her head. “Nope! That’s one of the things I’ve been expressly ordered not to share.”

  I considered that. “If I asked you the name of a Summoner, could you tell me if they’re not the one you’re contracted with?

  “I suppose I could answer that.”

  Who seems likely? Hrm. “Is it Elora Theas?”

  “Not her!”

  I didn’t actually know that many other Summoners. I listed a few more names of students, but none of them came up. “Professor Orden, maybe?” She told me she wasn’t a Summoner, but she’d deceived me about plenty of other things, and I knew she worked in here.

  “Nope!”

  I nodded absently. “Okay...Do you have a list of all Summoners working at the university?”

  “Not in a single location. You could look at the general faculty lists and cross-reference them with the individual profiles for each faculty member, though.”

  I waved a hand dismissively. “Too much work. It’s not that important.”

  “If you say so!”

  I rubbed my chin. “I think that’s all I have to ask for the moment, but I’m sure I’ll be back here soon. Thanks for all the help.”

  “It’s been my pleasure, Arbiter.” She bowed at the waist. “I had fun, too! You should come by more often.”

  It struck me that she sounded lonely — and that made sense, given that she was standing around, sentient and conscious, doing...virtually nothing all day? Maybe she was scanning through the books somehow. I didn’t really know.

  “I’ll try to do that.”

  I meant it, both for her sake and mine.

  I went and grabbed the books about the Vanreach Mountains she’d told me about, packed them in my backpack, and headed out.

  It was time to risk visiting my dorm.

  ***

  I strongly considered going to Jin’s room first.

  It was just above mine.

  It would have been easy to check on him, just to see if he was there.

  To see if he was even alive.

  But what would I say?

  Oh, hey, Jin. How’s that shrapnel in your chest doing?

  My hands had balled into fists without my conscious knowledge.

  No, I wasn’t ready to look for Jin just yet.

  I told myself it was because Sera was my priority right now, but I was aware I was deflecting. That was fine, though. The lie was sweeter than the truth, but the truth was sufficient reason to stay away in itself.

  We’d nearly killed each other. The next time I saw him, I knew he might try to finish what he’d started.

  I doubted it, but that doubt itched at the back of my mind, and I knew it would continue to until I found a way to expunge it. That was, like dealing with any fear, a substantial task: and one I wasn’t particularly adept at.

  I made it to my own door without being ambushed by assassins.

  I admit it was kind of a let-down. I would have felt vindicated if there had been assassins, and maybe it would have distracted me from thinking about Jin.

  Probably not. In retrospect, assassins reminded me of the first time he’d saved me.

  Resh.

  Okay, clearing mind, focusing on work.

  I opened my door.

  I didn’t have a perfect memory, and it had been a while since I’d been back to my room, but I was pretty certain it was not how I’d left it.

  It didn’t look like someone had sacked the room.

  But there were little things that were out of place.

  The books on my desk were on the left side, not the upper right hand corner where I usually put them.

  My clothes were folded too well. Honestly, I was awful at folding.

  I activated my attunement, scanning the area for magic. I found something faint, glowing subtly under the carpet.

  I couldn’t ignore that. I’d just have pay for the damages. I cut away a square of the carpet, finding a set of runes that I most certainly hadn’t put there.

  Let’s see...

  That’s very similar to the activation rune on my return bell, but with a higher level of sensitivity. Betting it’s for detecting if anyone steps on the area above.

  That’s the function rune. It has something having to do with air mana, and it’s tied to the next rune...

  Which is something that stores a specific sound.

  That’s a targeting rune for setting a destination for a spell effect.

  The rest of them are just runes for capacity and recharging the enchantments automatically.

  After a moment of consideration, I determined they were a simple signali
ng enchantment. Something that activated another set of enchantments elsewhere when it detected someone present in the area.

  From the level of the range rune, the targeted location could be anywhere in the city. And, unfortunately, I didn’t have any way of tracing where it was going.

  Not immediately, at least.

  I was reasonably confident that Jin didn’t have a high level Enchanter available, so it probably wasn’t him.

  I patched up the carpet, took my school books, and left.

  I abandoned the clothes. I didn’t trust that they didn’t have kind of detection enchantments built into them. They weren’t glowing, so it wasn’t likely, but I wasn’t going to take the risk.

  School books wouldn’t have the enchantment capacity to handle any serious enchantments. Trials of Judgment had to be made of some kind of special material to be able to handle the magic it was capable of, and I was reasonably confident these books were the same ones I’d left behind. I checked each book with my attunement before packing it away, though, just to be safe.

  I also took my few other enchanting supplies: an extra etching rod, clamps for holding the object steady, pens, parchment, and that sort of thing.

  After a bit of consideration, I changed my mind about the etching rod and left that one behind. Any enchanted item had a risk of being modified. While I didn’t see any new runes on the rod, the stick that Derek had given me proved that there were ways of hiding enchantments.

  After that, I locked my room and headed back to Derek’s place.

  I dropped my stuff off there.

  “Someone broke into my dorm,” I explained to the others. “Bring me with you if you plan to go back to your own rooms. I’ll check for enchantments.”

  Derek looked concerned when he heard the news. “I’ll double-check the security of the mansion. We’re well-protected here, but I’ll take some extra precautions.”

  I was glad for that. I also spent a bit of time checking the mansion for anything suspicious myself.

  Each room had a standardized set of runes etched into a wall. In a couple specific places, like Derek’s room, there were redundancies for extra protection.