PreCursive
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Chapter 11 - The Eighth
🕑 Added 2023-07-30 20:18:52 +0000 UTC“Nathan, please repeat that,” Grey said hoarsely. “Are you saying that you still have open Profession Rings at each of the Professions star’s vertices?”
“Uhh,” I said. “You mean the circles at the points of the star? Yeah, they’re all still open for me.”
“Bleeding hells…” Azarus muttered.
Grey looked at me intently for a moment. “I think, Nathan, that it is time you share your racial Talents with us. That is, if you’re comfortable doing so.”
Azarus snapped his fingers. “Yeah. Yeah! Never heard of something like this, it must be that.”
“Okay…” I said, acquiescing. “Um. How do I do that? Can I just show you my Status, or do I have to write it out or something?” I paused for a second. “Wait. Would you even be able to read my handwriting? Did this language skill change the language I write in?”
Grey shook his head. “There are skills to observe another person’s base status, but they do not include racial Talents. Nor Talents in general, or Skills. You cannot simply show your Status to another. You’ll simply have to relay them to us verbally. As for the intricacies of Language Adaptation,” Grey smiled wryly. “We’ll save that for another time. Suffice to say, some scholars have spent their lives researching that one, common Talent.”
“Alright,” I replied. “I have three of them and that language talent. I’m gonna warn you though, they have pretty crappy explanations. The first one is called ‘Hidden Amidst the Spheres’ and it says ‘Veil your Status’. Second is ‘The Scintillant Blade’ and it says ‘Strike the root’, whatever that means. The last one is called ‘Dream of the Infinite’, and it says ‘Allows unshackled Aetherial growth.” I finished, looking expectantly at Grey.
He stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment. “It must be the last one that’s causing this.” He murmured. “The first sounds like a defensive Talent, given to you in order to protect your Precursor status. The second…frankly, the explanation is opaque. Testing will be required in order to determine its effects. But the last…”
“Aetherial growth?” Azarus said, scratching his head. “Okay, so Aether is stuff that souls are made of, and what we absorb to level up. What does it mean by ‘unshackled’ Aetherial growth?”
“There has long been a theory,” Grey murmured distractedly. “That the reason Professions generate Impact is because the act of creation somehow affects the soul. In a positive manner, it is believed. The theory goes that by creating through the use of Professions, you impart some of your own refined Aether into your creations. By doing this, one ‘frees up’, so to speak, room in your soul for more to fill it. However, the boundaries of the soul are still accustomed to a greater density of Aether, and thus relax, rather than contract. When more Aether is introduced into the soul, the boundaries are more elastic and thus expand until they can tolerate no more. Through this, the theory states that Impact is merely the training of the soul to handle greater amounts and density of Aether. Coincidently, this theory was the life’s work of Silvain von Gradon, who penned the seminal work on Professions. However, to this day it remains only a theory, as it is beyond our ability to observe the inner workings of a soul. Hmm.”
Grey looked up from his muttering to see that both Azarus and I were staring at him blankly.
“Ah.” He said embarrassedly. “Forgive me. I lost myself for a moment. Suffice it to say, Professions are good for the soul.”
“Hells, I could have told you that,” Azarus said smugly.
Grey coughed into this fist.
“Returning to the point,” Grey said swiftly. “The wording of Nathan’s Talent is interesting. When it speaks of ‘Aetherial growth’, it must be referencing Professions. What is most interesting to me, is that it implies that restriction of only two Professions is a shackle, or perhaps a restriction. Thus, ‘unshackled Aetherial growth’ must mean that Nathan has no restrictions on the number of Professions that he can take.”
“Alright, but what good would that even do? I mean, if that means he could take all seven Professions, that would be splitting his attention too many different ways. It’s already hard enough to juggle two Professions.” Azarus said doubtfully.
“I have no idea! How exciting.” Grey said cheerfully. “Presumably there is some manner of benefit to taking so many Professions, but what it could be is unknown. Nathan told me earlier that his Talents were uncorrupted, despite his late Awakening. It is unlikely to be a detriment.”
“Well, okay. I’m down. You guys still have two other Professions, right? Let’s test it.” I told them.
“Aye.” Azarus nodded. “Let’s give it a shot.” Azarus extended his right hand to me once more.
I took it in my own right hand.
Azarus looked me in the eyes. “Do you wish to learn Smithing?”
“I do.” I felt that same spark again. When I did, I let go of his hand. “You’re supposed to feel a small spark when you accept a Profession, right? Well, I felt it again.”
Grey smiled broadly. “Excellent. My turn then.” He extended his right hand to me as well.
I took it.
Grey also looked me in the eyes. “Do you wish to learn Alchemy?”
I returned his stare. “I do.”
Spark.
I let go of his hand and nodded at him. “Felt it again.”
Azarus piped in. “Well? Don’t keep us waiting. See if it actually worked.”
“Alright, alright. Keep your pants on.” I told him. I picked the mirror back up again and looked at it. Again, I mentally opened up my Status.
You have learned Blacksmithing!
You have learned Medicinal Alchemy!
Would you like to review your Professions?
Y/N
Mentally selecting Yes, I brought up my Professions pane. Sure enough, two of the empty circles had been filled in on my Profession star.
But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed with it. In the space in the center of the start formed by the intersecting lines, something had appeared. It was hazy, and I couldn’t quite make it out, but it appeared to be another symbol written in blue-white light. Whatever it was, it was indistinct. I got the impression that it wasn’t finished.
I closed my Status and looked back up at Grey and Azarus.
“Well, it worked,” I told them. “I picked up Blacksmithing and Medicinal Alchemy.”
Grey smiled widely at me. “Excellent! I’ve never even-”
“Hold on.” I interrupted. “That’s not all. Something else is coming through in the middle of the star. It’s hazy, but it looks like another symbol. Can’t quite make it out though.”
Azarus was dumbstruck. “Couldn’t be.” He said, looking over at Grey. “Could it?”
Grey looked so excited he could explode. “My gods! An eighth Profession! I’m absolutely certain something like this has never happened before in the history of Vereden. Well, at the very least in the Post System era, that is.” He added offhandedly. “I have no conceivable idea what it could be. We must ensure that Nathan acquires it. Presumably, it will fully manifest once he has acquired the other three.”
Azarus groaned out loud, drawing our attention to him. “Slight problem with that. We can get him Wildshaping and Fleshcraft if we’re careful about it.” He said bitterly. “But like I said earlier, that shithead Magnus is the only Artist around for leagues.”
Grey paused in his excitement. “Ah…” He said slowly. “That is, indeed, a roadblock.”
I looked between them both. “So, what? We give up on the idea?”
We sat in silence for a moment. After being so excited at the idea earlier, Grey looked monumentally disappointed. I’m sure I looked disappointed too. Azarus just looked contemplative.
Noticing the look on his face, Grey said to Azarus. “What is it? Do you have an idea?” He said hopefully.
Azarus didn’t say anything for a moment, just staring off into space. After a moment, he leaned forward in his chair.
“There is one thing.” He said slowly. “Grey, you know how I have to leave town once a month for Smithing supplies, right? There’s shit all for good materials to be found around here.”
“Yes?” Grey said. “I believe you go to-” He paused for a moment. “Ah, I believe I see where you’re going with this. Do you know someone then?”
Azarus nodded. “Aye, I do. I could probably manage it.”
“Hold on,” I interjected. “Don’t keep me in the dark. What are you talking about?”
Azarus looked over at me. “Well, like I said, I leave for another, larger city every month for crafting materials. Place is called Rhoscara, pretty much the stronghold of one of the other ruling dwarven Houses other than the Savoy.”
Grey picked up his glass of water, long gone warm. “Your mother’s House, in fact.” He muttered into it.
Azarus nodded. “Aye.” He said solemnly.
I decided not to ask.
“Well,” Azarus continued, looking back at me. “I figure that nobody would care if I took my ‘slave’ with me to get my supplies.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Just like that? No guard is going to try and stop me?”
Azarus nodded. “Just like that. Nobody gives a shit what you do with your legal property, after all.”
“Terrible practice,” Grey said, shaking his head.
I thought about it for a moment before something came to me. “Wait a second. Hold on.” I said, raising a hand. “I’m going to say something right now, and I don’t want you two to get pissed about it, alright? It’s purely hypothetical.”
Grey and Azarus looked at each other for a moment before looking back at me. “Continue, please,” Grey said politely.
“Alright,” I started. “If me leaving town with Azarus is an option, and I can go with him to this other city, what’s stopping me from staying there? I mean, you said I don’t actually have the slave binding because they didn’t brand me correctly, right?” I told them. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for what you two have done for me. If you’re right, this Magnus guy might have just ordered me killed, and I’m thankful for that. But despite being a Precursor, and despite whatever sick racials I may have, I’m a pretty ordinary guy. I don’t know anything about magic, or intrigue, or even how to fight. I can’t see how much help I’m going to be to you guys.”
Azarus crossed his arms while Grey nodded.
“You are correct in that you do not have a proper slave binding, Nathan,” Grey answered me calmly. “But there are two problems with what you say. The first is that although you may not possess a binding, you are still legally a slave within the dwarven Principality. If you decided to stay behind in Rhoscara, someone here would eventually notice your absence and report it to the slave catchers. We would never report you, but it would not be up to us. They would find you eventually, I can assure you. Dwarven slave-catchers are a rightly feared organization for their skill and prowess. They would be able to easily tell that you possess a false brand, and would remedy that and then deliver you back here, or to Magnus.”
“Not only that,” Azarus said gruffly. “But you still have a collar on.”
I looked at him. “What’s the problem with that? I thought this thing only worked with the right brand? We could just saw it off or something, right?”
Grey winced. “That is an exceedingly bad idea.” He said to me. “While you are correct about the relationship between a slave brand and the collar, that is not all that the collars do. Acting as an activation signal for a brand is merely one part.”
“Those damn things,” Azarus picked up. “Have other enchantments in them as well. First is a standard tracking spell. Doesn’t matter where you are, they can find you if you’re wearing one. Second, is the death enchantment.” He told me. “Whoever holds the control slate that a collar is bound to can activate an enchantment to kill whoever is wearing the collar at any time.”
I paled. “T-they can? How?”
Grey coughed into his fist. “Well,” He said delicately. “I’m given to understand that different collars have different, ah, functions. Some poison you, while others simply kill you instantly.”
“Magnus is a sadistic little shite, so he buys all kinds of collars for the ‘variety’. I can tell that yours is an explosion type, though.” Azarus told me bluntly, making an explosion with his hands. “Boom.”
“So, you’re telling me that I’m wearing a literal bomb collar right now,” I said, fighting a growing panic.
Grey shot Azarus a disapproving look. Azarus held his hands up in defeat.
Looking back at me, Grey said. “Calm yourself, Nathan. This is not as bad as it seems. I’m given to understand that House Savoy is well aware of Magnus’s predilections, and thus insured that he could not simply execute his slaves with impunity. After all, that would be a waste of good money. Thus, they ensured that the control slate was in the care of the manor Seneschal, Orinbar.”
“He’s an uptight bastard and doesn’t do enough to curb Magnus and his tantrums, but he’s made sure that slave deaths were kept to a ‘minimum’,” Azarus told me.
"Beyond that," Grey piped in. "Physically tampering with a slave collar in any meaningful degree will set off the death enchantment. So no, Nathan, we cannot simply 'saw off your collar', if you don't wish for a premature death."
I took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it rush out of me. “Okay,” I said, still anxious. “I guess I’m with you guys. What’s the plan then? When do we leave for Rhoscara?”
“Ain’t no rush,” Azarus said. “We’ve got a few more days before I’m scheduled to leave again.”
“Besides, there are two other Professions you should learn first before you leave, Nathan,” Grey said to me. “I believe I have a good idea of how you can acquire Wildshaping. And you, Azarus? Do you know anyone amendable that knows Fleshcraft?”
Azarus smirked. “Oh yeah, I know someone. And they owe me.”
<<Chapter 10 | Table of Contents | Interlude 1>>
