home

search

Chapter 26: The First Strand of Fate - Part 3

  “Teufel. It's time for your check-up.”

  Soon enough, a nurse entered the room, placing her hand on Irene's shoulder. She jumped from the sudden contact, before standing up and nodding at her. After waving goodbye at Arthur, they both left the room.

  A neutral expression remained on the elf's face as he watched them. From the nurse's fingertips, holding Irene by the shoulder, sparks flickered in the air. Ley Lines were shifting and activating, a spell of some kind. Perhaps, to keep her from running away.

  He let out a sigh, before standing up himself. He cleaned up what they had used, before shifting his gaze towards the Gemstone stove. Under his gaze, one of the Archive's windows manifested.

  “Didn’t even have to ask for it.”

  He had read the contents of that specific iteration a number of times already, but he just wanted to double, or triple check it.

  It was a summarized version of the workings of Archêometry, in general. In particular, his eyes were reading over and over again the passage in which Ley Lines were described.

  The naked human eye shouldn't be able to see Ley Lines, without entering a state of Dipping. That was accepted as a universal truth. And yet, every now and then, those invisible eyes showed themselves to him.

  Right now was one of those moments, he could see the circuits running inside the Gemstone, configuring it and causing it to have the effect the manufacturers needed. The first time he noticed this was at the Moonstone Refinement Facility, but he didn't have enough information to realize this wasn't ordinary.

  He wasn't sure what the trigger was, for him to see the Ley Lines, but it had happened another time earlier that day. He saw circuits creeping down Jacob's arm, coiling and extending around Sol, as if wanting to choke him with the Ley Lines.

  ‘Well, he could have gone through with it…’

  He chuckled at himself, before moving away from the counter and the stove. He closed his eyes, and focused on the cold sensation running through his veins. As he thought, he could see much more while Dipping, even if partially, than what he could with his eyes.

  ‘This is weird…’

  He opened his eyes once again, and started stroking his chin. The naked eye couldn't see Ley Lines. Inversely, that meant that there were methods for the human eye to perceive Ley Lines.

  For example, certain Gifts allowed their holders to innately see the Ley Line systems of a person's body. It was thanks to these people that most of the illustrations and depictions of the circuits were derived.

  Of course, it was also possible through entering a Dipping state, and similarly, by consuming specific medicines. Initially, he thought that was the case with the medicine he had been taking, but the instances were too random and erratic for it to be connected with the pills.

  The closest thing to observing Ley Lines with the naked eye was possessing a Gift that allowed it. However, that couldn't have been the case for him. After all, his Gift was the Gift of the Archivist, he knew that much.

  ‘Should I ask the Archive about it…? No, if it could tell me, I'd already have seen the window…’

  He glanced at the iteration of the Archive in front of his eyes, no changes were apparent. If his Gift hadn't provided him a response to that question yet, it meant it couldn't share the information with Arthur.

  Arthur clicked his tongue and shook his head. No use wrecking his head over that now. Rather, he could try and figure out how to turn on that ‘Ley Line Vision’ at will, as it could be a useful skill to have.

  With a wave of his hand, the checklist window appeared, and he added ‘Figuring out vision’ on the list, below the other matters.

  “Now…”

  He looked around himself for a moment in silence, before nodding to himself. There wasn't much else to do in that break room, unless he wanted to drink some more coffee, or study the Gemstone stove.

  He walked out of the room with his arms crossed and thoughtful eyes, thinking of what to do next. Not in the large scheme of things, but rather, what to do in the immediate future. He wanted to go check out the engineering workshop, and there was nothing stopping him from doing so.

  After some trouble with the layout of the underground complex, he eventually reached a metallic door frame. The underground and aboveground weren't connected by staircases or complex passages, but rather, a mechanism.

  Sol had told them, while they were heading towards the rooms, that the head of the engineering workshop had developed it. Now, he knew that person was Gunnhildr, although he hadn't met her yet.

  In short, it was an elevator powered by Gemstones. He didn't know how exactly it worked, but he assumed it was similar to the ones he was used to, replacing electricity with some kind of force generated by the Gemstone.

  He stepped inside the small cabin of the elevator. Beside the entrance was a small control panel, with a handprint carved out. It could only go from one floor to another, so providing it Ark was all that was needed to start it.

  After a few moments of silent self-lampooning, Arthur sighed and smacked himself in the forehead.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Right. Ark.”

  Like most other instruments in that prison, it required Ark. And Arthur didn't know how to use it yet, nor did he know how to feed his Ark into a Gemstone.

  He glanced downwards towards the palm of his hand, with his brows slightly furrowed. If he squinted, he could see the Ley Lines running through his body. And if he focused on them, he could feel the freezing energy coursing through him.

  He could barely enter a state of Dipping, enough to perceive Ley Lines and Ark. But even after taking two pills in a row, he couldn't manage to control that energy. He didn't even know where to begin.

  He sighed.

  “Might as well try. Worst case, I end up looking like a fool trying to carve my hand's print into… The other print…”

  He placed his palm onto the control panel, and waited a few seconds. As expected, nothing happened. He was hoping that maybe, it would activate and suck the Ark from his arm, or something like that.

  But nothing happened. He tried stretching his fingers, closing them slightly, bumping his palm into the handprint, all to no avail. If he wanted to go above ground, he needed to either figure out how to use Ark right now, or an enormous stroke of luck.

  That being, someone having to use the elevator at the same time as him, and turning the mechanism on.

  He let out a breath of mixed annoyance and exasperation, knowing that wouldn't happen, no matter how much he hoped for it.

  After some repeated tongue-clicking and sigh-letting, circling inside the small elevator, he stopped to glare at the control panel once again. He uncrossed his previously crossed arms, hesitantly moving a hand towards the panel.

  He shook his head, he already tried and it didn't work. Arthur took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled while closing his eyes. He cleared his mind of any useless thoughts, and slowly sank into the state of Dipping.

  The cold spread from his Core, coursing throughout his body with the Ley Lines as mediums. He was quickly washed over by the chilling sensation, his fingertips feeling as if they were encased in ice.

  He slowly opened his eyes. The view, this time, was different from the previous times he had attempted Dipping, and the one time he was fully successful. His vision was blurry, as if droplets of water covered his eyes.

  However, the sight that showed itself to him was that of the elevator, and not a dark abyss of Archê. Through the distortions and ripples of the water, the glimmering circuits were revealed to his eyes, and he reached out his hand.

  He could see the Ley Lines of the Gemstone more clearly now. The Gemstone was actually encased above the elevator, at the uppermost ceiling. Circuits ran from the control panel to it, through wires and beams, to transfer the Ark.

  Arthur looked down at his palm, and at the faint Ley Lines. While in the Dipping state, interacting with Ark felt more instinctive than normal. He could guess what he needed to do to manipulate Ark off of muscle memory and imagination, as opposed to logic.

  He squinted, focusing his attention on his hand. He visualized closing it into a fist, his fingers tightly squeezing together, and gathering the chill all in one singular spot.

  The Ark in his body swirled like frigid winds on a mountaintop, circling him. Initially focused near his chest, the dense collection of Ark shifted down his arm. And eventually, he found energy crackling from the palm of his hand.

  The swirling mass of frozen, condensed Ark was unstable, and Arthur felt it clearly. He couldn't put his finger on it, but this wasn't the correct method of manipulating Ark. It was merely a temporary way of using it, until he could figure out how to do it the proper way.

  He extended his hand towards the control panel, and the energy quickly seeped into his skin. The Ley Lines ran down his fingers, each of his finger's tips glimmering with unstable and frozen energy.

  This would be enough, he hoped. He didn't have to be a master magician for now, he only needed a way to power Gemstone Technology.

  Arthur felt himself collapsing, as the elevator started. The mechanical whirring and vibrations snapped him back to reality, as he found himself slouched against one of the walls. Cold sweat was running down his face.

  He hadn't realized it yet, but he was taking in quick and arrhythmic breaths. The elevator had reached the aboveground complex. He stumbled out of the cabinet, holding an arm against the corridor's wall to keep himself up.

  “Agh…”

  His free hand shot towards his chest, as he winced in pain. With each breath, it felt like his lungs were being stabbed and pricked by small, frozen needles. His airways were obstructed, and more than that, tired.

  He felt like he was about to pass out at any moment. His body was entirely drained of strength, and subjected to a terrible chill. It reminded him of that sensation, when he took two of the medical pills.

  ‘Calm down… Think…’

  He took in a deep breath and collected his thoughts. First of all, breathing hurt his lungs, although he wasn't sure whether they were damaged or simply in pain. That pain spread through his chest, the area in which his Ley Lines were damaged.

  He was cold, feeling like he would freeze over at any moment, and just like his first attempt at Dipping, he felt like all his energy had been drained from him. However, the reasons must have been different.

  Since he woke up that morning, he hadn't yet taken the medicine. His free hand dropped towards his pocket, taking an incredible effort just to open the tin container's lid. Between ragged breaths, he managed to take out one of the pills, swallowing it.

  For just a moment, it seemed the cold would only increase. However, the pain in his lungs and chest quickly disappeared. His body was still exhausted, but he could focus properly now. He took in a mouthful of air and closed his eyes.

  After a few moments, he opened them again, a calmer look showing itself on his pupils. As soon as he touched the control panel, his body exhausted all of its energies, and the damage on his Ley Lines increased. That was the general idea.

  ‘Is it because I used Ark…?’

  He closed his eyes, trying to enter the Dipping state. Whereas earlier his body was practically glowing from the energy coursing through it, the light present now was dim. It was as if he had used up all of his reserves, just to power that elevator.

  ‘Of course… My Ley Lines still aren't healed.’

  Looking down at his chest, he could notice some spots where the light was particularly dim, or even absent. From those spots, droplets of Ark were leaking out, although they were quickly stopped by the medicine's effects.

  The wounds he had taken from the Moonstone's explosion were still open. If he tried to use any Ark at all, it would have to pass through those gashes first, causing the majority of it to leak out and be wasted.

  That was his current hypothesis. Arthur clicked his tongue, and ran a shaky hand through his hair. If that was the reason, it would mean he couldn't attempt to interact with Ark at all, until those wounds were fully closed.

  And if what he had just tried worsened the wounds, and caused him to require a higher dosage of the medicine, he risked wasting the time Sol had made in his schedule to train them in magic. That would be the worst case scenario.

  “Can't think about this later… Pretty damn important…”

  This one time, his motto didn't hold up. He mentally scratched all other matters from the checklist, the most important thing at the moment was figuring out whether he could use Ark at all without damaging himself, and how to.

  “Archive, start writing… Whatever you can find about this. The effects of Ley Line wounds, how to use Ark with damaged circuits, you get the gist. I want to know how risky it is, to use magic as I am right now.”

  He ordered the Archive, and started walking once again, after he found himself stable on his feet. Although he wanted to figure out the possible risks of this side effect, his original plan of going to the workshop hadn't changed.

Recommended Popular Novels