Chapter 62: Divine Encounter of the Second Kind

  A repeating, strobing light flashed white like the sun above a tall, snow-capped mountain peak, and everything in the room grew pale and hard to spot. The flickering sun that had somehow made its way into the double room kept flashing long after his eyes, previously shut and flashing a blood red, had opened only to be blinded by white.

  “What the—”

  It must’ve been what a divine visitation looked like from up close, like what had happened when the effigy had risen from the flat ground. To finally experience it for herself! Being the First Storm, the second highest ranking of Arcana’s very own religion, was paying dividends already. A visitation would be well worth some ocular discomfort—Arcana was a divine, after all; her very visage should not be seen by mortal eyes.

  “Ahh!” sounded from her temporary roommate, a shriek like someone with a low vital stat getting sun-blasted into their open eyes by a goddess.

  “Finally,” Grace said, opening her heart and soul, spreading her arms wide to receive Arcana’s blessing. She knew staying put would be the right choice.

  The intense flashing continued, repeating twice a second in a steady rhythm otherwise impossible for any other natural phenomenon could. The blazing white light burned away any lingering doubt that infected Grace’s thoughts.

  “Should’ve gone with dark instead!”

  Her roommate’s loud voice, filled with panic and regret, pierced through the brilliant veil. The brightness pounded into her eyes, an unrelenting assault on her senses.

  “Just close your eyes!” she yelled. The brightness was almost enough to blind her—he’d stand no chance against it, risking permanent injury.

  “You think my eyes are open?”

  “Just turn away from her!”

  “Her? And I’m already under my bed! I can’t find the door!”

  Arcana’s warmth spread over Grace. The goddess must’ve realised Theo was too weak to properly serve as her…what was he to her, exactly? Puppet? Now, facing her divine light, bathing in her glorious presence, Grace would be raised as her champion, a warrior to stand proud against anyone and anything disrespecting the old way.

  “Why is it hot?” Theo asked, cowering as he did.

  If the man hadn’t been so cute and…different from all the rest, Grace would’ve already regretted saving his life after the previous time. Now, with no more potions to fix his internal structure, he might die if he wasn’t careful. Quaking under the bed wouldn’t help him survive Arcana’s powerful presence, but he had grown stronger since last time. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

  The air filled with the scent of crisp ozone, like when Arcana’s lightning had stormed around them in the centre of Sigil Lake—another sure sign of her being here, gracing Grace with a drop of her power.

  Grace saw the radiating core of the goddess’ very being, a sphere of power and light and warmth. Adapting to even this light was possible for someone of her strength, balanced though it might be. Grace’s devotion, unlike most others, even affected her stat-balance; Arcana’s strength lay not just in her high physical prowess, or most notoriously with her powerful magic, but she was also enduring against the powers that came before. Grace looked at all three categories as separate parts of Arcana herself, and devoted herself to perfect balance.

  A perfect globe, undulating with purity, radiating light, showering Grace in warmth. Then, before Arcana could speak to her most devout, darkness. The room fell into an eerie silence and the walls blackened from their previous lustre. Theo crept out from underneath his bed. The morning light from the window couldn’t make its way inside, the room suppressing all light. Then Grace’s eyes adapted again, finding the familiar shapes of the walls, the beds, even Theo. Her pupils took in more light by the second, returning the room to normal after minutes of an explosion of white light, followed by a half-minute of diminishing darkness.

  “Note to self, leave the sigils in an empty room,” Theo breathed as he squinted at Grace. “Are you okay?”

  “That was you?”

  “A hundred and fifty loops of ‘Create’ ‘Light’,” he responded, his voice back to normal, if not more prideful.

  “Asshole.” Her hand thwacked him on the head. “I thought…”

  “Ow!”

  “Sorry. I thought it was Arcana. I got carried away. Of course it was you doing stupid things.” She huffed, pulling her arm back to wrap around her torso, shifting away from her stupid roommate.

  “Oh. That’s what you meant by ‘her’. I thought it’d just be flashy, not…that. I’m sorry. But…”

  “But?” She turned her face towards him again, watching him expectantly.

  “But it worked!”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “What did?”

  Congratulations! You have earned the Level One skill Light Affinity.

  Light Affinity (Level One): Shimmer. All stats +5.

  Congratulations! You have earned the Level Two skill Light Affinity.

  Light Affinity (Level Two): Shiny. All stats x1.05.

  “In one go?” Her breath grew ragged, but she contained a scream.

  Theo beamed and said, “Damn right! Oh, this might go so much faster than I thought it would! It caught up and blew past my earth affinity! If I keep count of the number of loops, I can make a rough estimate of how many casts it required of every other element. Maybe I should cast darkness at a lower loop-number, like a hundred. That way I can get within a fifty-cast difference. Going down to ten would be too far, but maybe a hundred first, then ten until I reach Level Two? That could work, unless I get to Level Two in the first hundred!”

  “Hey, dork?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m excited for you, but that’s not how it works. You can’t just ‘do exactly this a specific number of times’ to get affinity skills. If it was, you’d catch me doing that right now.”

  “Which affinities do you have, and at which level?”

  “You won a heart-to-heart, and we agreed to do it in the dungeon. If I feel like it, I’ll let you ask your questions at that time,” Grace avoided. Her lips twitched, something Theo’s increased perception could notice. “Remember that you not only have to cast spells with the element, but you have to understand the element, what it can do, how it does what it does. To be honest, very few ever get the requisite knowledge to get Level Three elemental affinities, much less all of them.”

  “I know,” said Theo. “If I can be honest in return…what your world’s people struggle with understanding about the elements is basic science where I’m from.”

  Thwack!

  “Dummy, I’m trying to tell you that might not be enough! From what you’ve told me, the elements in your world are only similar to ours. Can water heal wounds? Can light turn solid enough to touch? How can people or things move through darkness?”

  “Err…I just think that’s the effect of mana and the glyphs, giving shape, form, and purpose to the elements. I think they’re pretty identical otherwise. Daylight isn’t solid and shadows don’t teleport you anywhere at random.”

  Grace eyed him. “Damn, that’s a good point. Who ever said you were struggling to adapt?”

  Theo chuckled. “All of you, repeatedly.”

  The pair left their room soon after, Grace still complaining at the rude awakening Theo had put her through, though with a slight humorous tone evolving during their short trek downstairs.

  Lady stood in the lobby, greeting everyone that passed through and asking how their nights were and if they had any complaints about their roommates, the beds, or anything else. After a soul-crushing minute where Grace stood silent, considering the question when asked if she had complaints about him to Lady, the priestess shook her head with a smile.

  Grateful for his life, Theo pulled Grace along to the campfire for breakfast, for what might be the last breakfast held there. The cook might arrive soon, and all food and ingredients able to keep at room temperature, like the abbles and plenty of the foraged goods, as well as any smoked meat if the cook could make that, should be put in the pantry. The thought wakened a question Theo had considered before, but never asked about—like so much else—but from now on, he’d start taking his life in Aera seriously.

  “How are things chilled?”

  He took a bite of yesterday’s mushrooms and a handful of berries, which also reminded him to check on his own garden later.

  “I thought you understood how ‘cold’ works,” she said, grinning his way.

  “Ha-ha. There’s no such thing as ice affinity, right? So, it’s a water spell, I guess, but the glyphs must be quite different from other water spells. Am I right?”

  “Yes, ice magic, like what the Ice Princess and the queen is known to use, is a branch of water magic. You’re only half-right about using spells to cool things, though. Yes, magic is often used when you can afford it, but we’re talking noble territory, at this point. Also, throwing a bunch of ice into a box will not only flood a room, but eventually break the box.”

  “How did you—”

  “You’re pretty smart, I’ll admit that, but your DIY-ideas are laughable, at best. Remember the well?”

  “Shush. Okay, so how do the rich cool things, then?”

  “Remember when I taught you about mana threads?”

  Theo did. It was in the abble dungeon when she was teaching him to target something for his sigils. He’d created fire right on a Treen, burning it down in a horror-show of living wood and vivid flames. The memory was stuck in his head, overshadowing the playful target practice with Grace only moments earlier. He’d rather be able to think back on his first dungeon run with happier memories, like a soaked Grace laughing on top of him or his first ever loot, but the teenager treant slowly burning away was too powerful of an image.

  “Yeah, you said it was most often used to combine two enchantments on items…which is what people use to cool stuff.”

  “Ding ding ding! Enchantments. Consider them semi-permanent spells attached to objects, like the intoxi—sweet smell of your shirt.”

  Theo chuckled. “Intoxicating?”

  “You wish. I was about to say ‘intoxic’. It’s a word. Maybe not where you come from, but here it is.”

  “Okay, okay,” Theo laughed, waving his hands in complete surrender. “And is there a difference between enchantments and engravings?”

  “Smooth. You’re awfully pushy about this.”

  “Hey, it’s relevant, right? I wasn’t prying about your engravings, just engravings and enchantments in general.”

  Grace breathed. “Fine. And you might have to wait a bit longer. With the Ice Princess coming with half an army, I don’t want to be away in some dungeon. We have to prepare. But…they’re similar. Enchantments and engravings, I mean. Enchantments are more basic in their functions most of the time—they don’t have to shoot magical icicles, they just have to generate cold, in this case. Engravings, on the other hand, mimic spells entirely, requiring full glyphs to use and an influx of mana each time.”

  “How are enchantments powered, then?”

  “Charged, usually, but sometimes channelled. You wouldn’t want a sword that was cold at all times, right? You’d rather channel it when wielding it or needing cold damage. With a cold box, it’s a passive effect requiring a low-yet-constant flow. They can usually hold their charge for weeks at a time, but to refill it you only need mana control; no enchantment skill or weaving a glyph is necessary. Just touch it and charge.”

  “Cool. How difficult is it to make? We’d need a cold storage at some point, right?”

  Grace considered it, sitting back and tearing a large piece of crispy abble into her mouth. “Shure. It’sh…” She chewed more, then swallowed. “Sorry. It’s doable. Sherblanc might know a few enchantments. I’m only a Level One enchanter, and I just know how to make things glow. Don’t ask.”

  “I won’t…before we go back to the dungeon together,” he teased with a wink.

  Grace tossed her half-eaten abble his way, the light throw not enough to harm him in any way even if he didn’t catch it. But he caught it. He took a sizeable chunk out of it, and juice dripped from the side of his mouth. Slurp.

  “So, what’s the plan about the army coming to our doorstep?”