System Scribe Academy Book 2 - Chapters 6,7,8,9,10

Chapter 6

And Now We Go

Sparks flew from the transparent barrier. Ethan was frozen on the spot, considering the best way to escape from his current situation when he realized the attack launched against him was completely ineffectual. It was a mundane assault that could never hope to break through his powerful shield. Of course, that didn't stop his bracelet from analyzing the situation, offering illusory tactical advice and a suggestion for an immediate retreat through the door.

"I can't even see what's hurling the daggers," Ethan said, craning his neck to get a better look at the line of trees.

The area he found himself in was dense woodland. Where he had stepped through the door was a slight clearing, giving a view of a pale blue sky overhead with no other noteworthy features. Somewhere within the darkness of the forest, the daggers were being hurled, one every two to five seconds. Soon there was a decent pile of them at his feet, and it was hard not to scoop one up for inspection.

“That dagger is completely magical in nature. This unit is unsure why it's so weak. The force it hits your barrier with is quite mundane.”

"This is bizarre." Ethan watched as motes of mana evaporated from the surface of the blade he held. It was cold to the touch, and a few breaths later, the weapon was completely gone. “Let’s get a better look at the forest.”

“This unit advises against it. Retreat would be best.”

Retreat might have been the best choice, but Ethan couldn't keep his curiosity down. He ensured his barrier would hold up and approached the forest's edge. The daggers slowed as he got closer, and as more of the darkened woods were revealed, he saw the place from which the daggers came. There was simply nothing there. They appeared in the air, shot toward him, before clinking against his shield and falling to the ground. Each one appeared from absolutely nowhere, and there didn't seem to be a caster nearby, at least not in his senses.

"The problem with infinite tiny realms is that anything can show up." Ethan moved behind a tree and heard the sound of daggers thunking into the bark. "In a nonsense forest world where daggers appear from nowhere, that's gotta be…"

An electric shock ran up Ethan's arm. He had grown so used to the constant buzz of his bracelet on his wrist that normally he wouldn't notice it. But this wasn't just a random buzzing. It was something that dug into his nerves and sent him diving to one side involuntarily. An instant later, a massive double-sided axe came hurling through the forest, chewing the trees into pulp and screeching with such a sound that the scribe was deafened.

“And now we go!” Ethan shouted, getting back to his feet and reaching for the doorknob.

The screeching came from the distance again, the scribe pushing the door in and diving forward without hesitation. Another enormous axe blade passed by, sucking wind through the door and releasing the horrid sound into the real world. Ethan fell on his butt, kicking at the door with his foot. It snapped closed, and the sound stopped.

"And you know, I was thinking about calling that the Dagger Realm, but it seems as though it's just the Disembodied Flying Blade Realm." Ethan wiped his forehead, then pressed his hand to his chest. His heart was thumping hard, and he realized the bracelet's suggestion to increase his Vigor Ring was an excellent idea.

"The source of those blades was magical, but this unit couldn't find a source. It was as though they were an afterimage, if that makes sense. They were the memory of a blade. Why were they flying through the air, and why were they targeting you specifically?"

"Not that it matters now. Unfortunately, this means we know exactly how dangerous these places can be. We're going to need the whole crew if we want to map it out. I don't think Tenalia is good enough."  

“This unit reluctantly agrees. It'll be difficult to assemble the Anomalous Materials Group, but without their help, I believe it will be impossible to reach our destination.”

Considering that finding the place they needed to go was only half the battle, Ethan needed to get working right away. The six months he had to endure the trial at the end of the semester was now a very short time in his mind. He would need to use every moment of it to great effect if he wanted to complete the task in the allotted time.

After Ethan's heart had stopped beating out of his chest, he penned a letter to Luna and Fin, requesting their help at their earliest convenience. There might have been a messaging system that connected the various academies, but the scribe simply didn't have access to it. If he wanted to speak to his own headmaster, that was easy enough, but the others were on different continents. Unfortunately, a letter was the fastest way to get in contact.

Of course, it didn’t reach them in time.

Ethan waited, performing his daily tasks of accumulating points for the trial, solving minor anomalies, and working on his flying spell. He was pretty close to a spell that would allow him to fly, but he currently only had a minor version of the Agility Ring ability that made him float for a few seconds. On Thursday morning, before anyone else had awoken, the scribe made his way to Pel’Vengar Spire 1 for his meeting with the Anomalous Materials Group.

The circular room was as inviting as ever. Something about the city always made him feel too cold, but upon entering the meeting room, he felt a great sense of comfort. Perhaps that was driven by the ever-burning fire or just the cozy atmosphere. Whatever the case, seeing both Finn and Luna waiting for him there with arms crossed filled him with equal parts dread and happiness.

"I typically don't like being signed up for extra work," Luna said, approaching and staring him down. Her starry eyes were a cloudy mix of red and black that was hard to read. "But worse than that, you've signed us up to delve into Voidspace. This isn't something I'm eager to take on, you know."

Ethan let out a heavy sigh. "I'm well aware of it. I've done a little bit of poking into Voidspace, and none of it seems very inviting. And I'm still absolutely clueless as to how to move around in it. My bracelet hasn't come up with anything useful, either.”

“And that spells doom for the rest of us.” Finn released a dramatic sigh, falling deeper into the sofa." We're supposed to find a specific location on the planet using Voidspace. I'd say it's easier to dig or use one of the many cavern systems. If Armel suggested that you use those strange spaces, does it mean they are truly only accessible that way?”

"I've done research on the topic. There's no way to the center of the planet.” Luna grimaced after uttering the words. Eventually, she shook her head as though to dislodge an errant thought. "That means the Voidspaces are the only way we can travel that deep. And if Ethan can't figure out how to do it, I'm afraid we're screwed."

"There has to be a way for me to understand. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given me this task. Especially not when I have a class focused on the topic next semester. I think this is the easy part of it. I'm just missing something."

“If this is the easy part, we’re double-screwed,” Finn said.

Seeing the members of the Anomalous Materials Group despair at their inability to complete the task made Ethan bolster his thoughts. He didn't want to be the person bearing the charge for this group, but if given no option, he would throw himself even further into his work. There was something he was missing about traveling in Voidspace. He just needed to figure it out.

There was only one way Ethan could think of to break the somber mood that had fallen over his companions. He nodded to himself, cracking his knuckles before reaching out and grasping the air.

"Why don't I show you guys some, and I can run some ideas by you." The scribe turned the handle and pushed the door open to find an unfamiliar sight. He had been focusing on the stately concepts of the room, the things that made it seem as though it belonged to a nobleman. Maybe it was a library or something. That's what he had thought, and that's what he got. On the other side was an endless library, pages flitting from the impossibly high ceiling and cascading to the ground here and there to create a spread of endless pages.

Finn was on his feet in a heartbeat, a card in his hand as though he was ready to fight. "Is it safe?"

“Of course, it isn't safe.” Ethan shook his head just looking at the space. "But I think it's safer than most if I focus on concepts that seem friendly, like a library or a pleasant room. I typically get what I'm looking for."

"And how does this place translate to physical space?" Luna asked her question, edging closer to the door and pressing her hand against the side of the door frame, sticking her head through the threshold.

"That's the question I need to answer. If I can figure out how to navigate the space, then we can arrive at the center of the planet in moments."

"Gods, I love the smell of books. These are a bit too musty for my taste, but still." Luna breathed in deeply, letting out a contented sigh as she removed her head from the threshold. "I suppose we've got to get started somewhere. It's not fair that we leave you high and dry on this."  

"And I brought my puppet." Ethan smiled to himself, gesturing to the open door of the circular room. "Except I'm not really sure where she went."  

It took a bit too long, but eventually, Tenalia appeared at the door and waddled in. She muttered something and then simply walked through the Voidspace door and into the unknown library.

“See? She’s not scared.”

“She looks half-dead today. What’s wrong with her?” Finn asked.

"She's not injured. She's just sulking." Ethan laughed to himself, watching as the puppet inspected the immediate area inside the door. She eventually turned to him and gave him an affirmative nod. "I wouldn't let her go out and kill monsters today, so she's rather upset. Try not to say anything about high adventure or slaying monsters. Otherwise, I'm afraid she'll lose it and kill us all."

“Understood.” Finn grumbled some more but eventually approached the door. “Is there any point in delaying this?”

“No.” Luna shook her head, stepping through the door. “I think we can handle ourselves inside.”

Ethan watched as his companions entered the Voidspace. He wasn’t sure what happened when he left a door open for too long, but he wasn’t willing to find out the hard way. The scribe entered next, pulling the door closed behind him and turning with a satisfied smile. Luna and Finn were already scouting around the immediate area while Tenalia hung back to defend him. The library was filled with endless shelves that stretched hundreds of feet in the air. Books and pages fell here and there, all cascading to the ground to create messy piles.

Ethan realized that the ground they were stepping on wasn’t stone, but the amalgam of library materials which had stacked to impossible heights.

“How deep is this place?” Ethan asked.

“Let’s not find out.” Luna’s sight was locked in the distance. “I sense something in that direction. Best if you find a different realm.”

Chapter 7

Strange Places

On the surface, an area that was essentially just a gigantic library wasn't that dangerous. But as the group made their way through the massive halls, they quickly realized a problem. It wasn't too bad when a few pages were falling, but as they rounded one corner finding more endless rows of bookshelves, they were met with a deluge of pages. These ones fell at such a rate that if a person wasn't careful, they could easily get buried beneath.

"Standing still isn't an option," Ethan said, looking around to find the path from which they had just come to be the most inviting. "While my bracelet is doing its analysis, we need to keep moving. Where is that magical thing you sensed?”

“I’m afraid it keeps moving.” Luna’s eyes darted around. “It seems to be moving more now that we’re all inside.”

"Oh great, a magical moving source of magic that never ends poorly," Finn grumbled, a card still held in his hand.

“Stay with me, weakling.” Tenalia had her doll-height sword out. Occasionally, she slashed at falling pages for effect. “I won’t let anything harm you.”

“Yay. The doll actually likes me.”

“‘Like’ is a strong word.”

Ethan ignored the banter and focused his senses, desperately trying to feel what it was that Luna felt. Every so often, he got flashes, but it wasn't a source of magic. It was something so familiar as to be undeniable, and the scribe would be lying if he said he wasn't excited to feel it. There was an anomaly in this space. The way it felt was like anything he had ever sensed with his class. For now, he would keep that to himself. They only needed a way forward for now. Anomalies could come later.

Once the bracelet had gathered enough information on the space, Ethan began forming an image of the next area in his mind. For this one, he focused on some of the same concepts of stately manners, large libraries, and comforting interior spaces. When he reached out for a doorknob, this time he felt several calling back to him. It was a very strange sensation to filter through them in his mind, but the scribe did his best to disregard those that had even a hint of hostility. Eventually, he grasped an ornate brass doorknob and turned it. The moment he opened it, pages fluttered through as if sucked inside by an unseen force. The group did not wait. They all clambered through the threshold and snapped the door shut once they were through.

What greeted them was even more confusing than the previous scene. It was an interior space appearing like an old-time manor with wood trim everywhere, a crackling fireplace, and exactly no furniture. The temperature inside was a strange mixture of cold and hot, with the air itself being rather thin to breathe. Everyone's eyes shot to the ceiling when the sound of creaking floorboards overhead echoed. Even the bracelet seemed to give a slight electric jolt at the sound.  

"This unit is gathering information as quickly as possible. Please make your defenses ready."

"The bracelet wants you guys to know that she thinks we're screwed." Ethan licked his lips in anticipation, eyes dragging to the staircase that split off in either direction. “I’ve got a thousand gold that says a vampire comes down those stairs.”

“I’ll take that bet.” Finn withdrew a 1k coin from his bag and held it aloft.

“I’m not taking that bet,” Luna grumbled. “A vampire is absolutely coming down those stairs.”

While they waited for the bracelet to finish calculating, Ethan focused on the space they were in and the space they had come from. The connections were solid. These two places looked a lot alike, and even when compared to the Anomalous Materials Group meeting room, they all shared a general theme and vibe. But the thing he wanted to consider was how those things connected to physical space.

“Bracelet. I have a stupid idea.”

“No ideas are stupid. Well, sometimes you have… nevermind.”

“What if we just go to the physical world from here? Wouldn’t that give us a decent map?”

“This unit is completely unsure. Is that something you can do?”

Ethan shuffled his feet. He wasn’t sure. “Let me try.”

Focusing on and reaching out to concepts was easy enough. When Ethan passed from space to space within Voidspace, he was simply making the connection between where he was and where he wanted to go. But now, when he looked back and thought about the real plane of existence, he couldn't find the same connections he had found before. The sound of the creaking floorboards overhead drew him out of his thoughts every so often, but eventually, he came to a realization. The space he was in was connected to the real world, but that connection wasn't the same as the conceptual connections he had been using to navigate.

The connection this manor house had with real space went beyond a concept. It was a factual connection, one of space and time. They occupied the same general spot in normal space, and existed within the same time. Ethan combined that with the “directional” connection he had used before and found himself reaching out to a doorknob that wasn’t there. A moment later, he grasped the brass and turned it.

Bright light flooded into the dim manor, fighting against the light cast by the fireplace for dominance. The smell of salt air flooded into Ethan’s nose, the sound of sea birds assaulting his hearing. He jumped at the sight at first, but soon relaxed.

“A beach?” Finn asked, rushing over to see.

“Nope.” Ethan poked his head out of the door. “The open sea.”

“Allow this unit time to complete its calculations. Then I'll need you to stick your hand out the door so I can gather information outside.”

Ethan peered down at the dark blue water, wincing as he considered what kind of horrors could lurk underneath. He shook his head and nodded. "Okay, but hurry it up, please." 

When the bracelet was done with its calculations for the room, it had Ethan put his hand outside. From what it could tell at first blush, it was the world and not some other Voidspace. The scribe breathed a sigh of relief at that thought but didn't feel as though they were out of the woods. Having two points of reference on a map didn't mean they knew exactly where they were. Especially if the map was blank.

Then again, not everyone had a super fast computer on their wrist.

“This unit has a decent idea of where we are on Tal’Vangar. It will take me quite a while to run the calculations, but this may give us a way to perform calculated travel through Voidspace.”

“So, can I close the door?”

“Please do. This unit has detected several high-Rank sea monsters in the ocean below.”

Ethan slammed the door closed. The moment he did, the sound of the footsteps above stopped. Everyone froze where they were. Everyone except Finn, who edged closer to Ethan and tugged on the sleeve of his robe.  

"Can we get out of here? Can you open the door to the other one… The library?" 

Ethan swallowed hard, reaching out and searching for the doorknob to their previous realm. Although he probed fruitlessly at the air, his eyes were locked at the top of the stairs. The footsteps had drawn closer and were ambling towards the twin staircase. The scribe's mouth was dry. As he saw the feet of some figure appear first, Luna was already in a combat stance, joined by Tenalia at the foot of the stairs.  

"A door would be nice right about now, Ethan." Luna's voice came with urgency but still held the same calm tone as always. The scribe realized how cool under pressure she was at that moment.

The bracelet said something Ethan didn’t hear. His eyes had gone wide, tracking the sluggish pace of the interloper. Shined black shoes, a dark black pair of slacks, white shirt and black jacket, and a gait over stairs that betrayed normal movement. By the time the creature came into view, it wasn’t just a vampire that had appeared. It was the vampire”

“Bela Lugosi?” Ethan whispered, brows furrowing hard as confusion washed over him. “What the…”

“Who?” Luna whispered. “You recognize this man?”

The creature said something. It wasn’t as though it was in a different language. Instead, it was a collection of sounds that could almost pass as speech. But there was just something wrong about it that Ethan couldn’t put his finger on. And he wasn’t willing to stay to figure out what exactly it had tried to say.

“NOPE!” Ethan finally found the doorknob, twisting it hard and throwing the door open. He barely had to put effort into it to find the space they had previously visited. The scribe and Finn were through the door first, followed by Luna and eventually Tenalia. Finn pulled the door shut, then kicked it for good measure.

“What exactly was that?” Finn asked, heaving breaths.

Ethan had a hard time understanding it, but as he stood there, mind reeling from what he had just witnessed, he realized something about Voidspace. It was made up of many rooms, all interconnected with a series of doors. That did not mean that the contents of those rooms had to be the same for everybody. Perhaps it was just so infinitely deep that it contained all things possible. The scribes suspected that when he entered a realm, it was generated on the spot just for him.

“You look as though you have something to say.” Luna looked up, shaking her head as a big stack of papers fell over her. “Spit it out, or get us out of here.”

Ethan reached, finding the doorknob that should have taken them home. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to twist it yet. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, trying to conjure the words to describe what he had seen. It wasn’t just Dracula appearing in a strange fantasy world. It was the fact that he knew Dracula had been generated by him. Or, perhaps, he had generated the creature.

“That was a person back from Earth.” Ethan took a long time to measure his response. “He was famous and long-dead in my time.”

“So, you’re making these places?” Luna asked.

“It makes sense, if you think about it.” Tenalia shrugged, gesturing to everything around them. The pages were falling more by the minute. They’d get buried if they stayed still for too long, so the group set off to have their discussion. “Voidspace is hard to explain from the perspective of a conceptual spirit. We fill the spaces with our hopes and desires, making each segment of Voidspace a reflection of ourselves. Perhaps Ethan is doing the same thing.”

“You aren’t a Voidspace expert though, are you?” Luna asked.

“Not even a little.” Tenalia’s mood had become slightly somber as she gazed off at nothing. “But I can see, and I have my old experiences. It isn’t hard to make leaps based on that.”

One thing was certain, Ethan didn’t want to stick around for much longer. If this was a place constructed by his own thoughts, that wasn’t good. His mind wandered at the best of times, and he often found himself thinking about what could be on the other end of those doors. Perhaps there was more they could study here. But the bracelet was busy running calculations, and the scribe wasn’t interested in being eaten by a vampire. Or a book.

“I think we got some decent information.” Ethan reached out for another handle. “How about we get out of here before we’re all buried?”

“An excellent idea.” Finn came skipping over. “Allow me to go through first. To make sure everything is safe on the other side.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure that’s why you wanna go first,” Luna teased.

Chapter 8

One Last Stop

Ethan wasn’t sure if he understood more or less about Voidspaces after this most recent trip. He stood with Finn and Luna in the meeting room of the Anomalous Materials Group for some time, contemplating what had gone right and what had gone wrong. He now knew a fundamental aspect of the space, which might’ve been helpful. The spaces were closer to manifestations of what he was thinking about combined with latent aspects. Thanks to Dracula, the revelation had come.

Thanks, Dracula.

An hour after departing from the library, the bracelet still didn’t have a solution calculated. Not that Ethan expected it to accomplish such a task in such a short amount of time. If he couldn’t figure it out, he wouldn’t expect his bracelet to do it faster. But they now had something to go with, and perhaps something that would eventually help them reach the center of the planet.

Luna finally sat up, breaking the long silence that had such a stranglehold on the room. “How are the trials going?” She asked the question without looking over to Ethan. Perhaps the weird spaces had been more traumatizing than any of the group could’ve guessed.

Ethan shrugged, eyes still locked on the ceiling. He was most used to the Voidspace, even if he didn’t like it. And his trials were going just fine. “Still first in my group. As long as Barry doesn’t do anything crazy, I think I’ll stay there… Do you remember that tablet problem we fixed on Erradon?”

“How can I forget?”

“That tablet left behind some Creation magic for me to latch onto. I made this spell to repair buildings, and it earns me a lot of points.” Ethan laughed to himself. “Enough points that I’m not sure I should keep using it. Seems kinda unfair.”

“Who cares? Get all the items.” Finn scoffed, but didn’t pull himself up into a polite, seated position. “If you stop putting in all you got just because you think you’re cheating, you’re gonna come up short.”

“Agreed.” Luna nodded. Her eyes had mostly gone a milky color, the stars barely visible underneath a cloudy layer. “The only reason I’d say to stop is if you’re hurting someone. But your potential is high. You need to take advantage of that.”

Ethan knew they were right, but that didn't mean he had to accept it. Rocketing forward wasn't really his style, and since the placements on the charts were public knowledge, he wasn't interested in ruffling feathers. He hadn't even gone to see what kind of rewards they could get, so he didn't feel as though he truly just served them. What he wanted more than anything right now was some more interesting abilities. Unfortunately, that would likely mean he needed to go study, which, with how busy everything was, seemed very unlikely.

Finn idly swept his finger through the air and eventually clicked his tongue. "You and that burly mechanic friend of yours are extremely highly ranked. If you sort by points and find your spot, you can see that all the people around you are Rank 3 or higher."

“Most people in the first year don't take it seriously. I wouldn't feel bad if you got ahead, Ethan. Just do your best.” The words of encouragement were helpful, but Ethan still wasn't certain if he would take them up on the idea.

The group remained there within the meeting room until dusk, as though the bracelet would finish its calculations. But it didn't. Whatever it was onto was too complex to be completed so soon. When Ethan tried to communicate with it, there was no response. They were eventually forced to give up for the day, heading out for dinner in one of the many restaurants in the sprawling city. Although Avalara had been teaching Amelia how to cook, it just couldn't compare to that prepared by a professional chef. And since Luna was paying, they went to a very high-end place. The food there had a depth that seemed impossible, and the amount of energy it sent flooding through the scribe's body was almost impossible to handle.

“Better than a hangover!” Finn shouted, slapping Ethan on the back as they were leaving the place.

The group parted ways in the street, and Ethan had a silly idea. Tenalia was with him, so he wasn’t worried about getting eaten in Voidspace. He reached out, finding a friendly space to invade, and stepped through the door. He arrived in a plain-looking city, not all that different from the one he was just in. The only difference here was that perpetual twilight had settled over the city, and the streets were completely empty.

“I see you didn't have enough of being mentally tortured by these places.” Tenalia led the way down the empty streets, sweeping her sword through the air as though she would catch an air and ghoul. There was no such danger to worry about, though.

“I don't know. I guess I'm hoping to feel something or maybe instigate the bracelet to finish its work.” Ethan smiled to himself. “Or maybe I’m looking for a quick shortcut home.”

“Hah! Fine then, little man. Let’s see if you can truly do it.”

Now that he was under the spotlight, Ethan really wasn't sure what he had hoped to accomplish. He took his time finding the next door to use and eventually reached out to grasp the doorknob. When he turned it, his mind slipped, fearing that he would once again be face to face with Dracula. When he pushed it inward, after focusing on concepts of stone and water, a familiar sight greeted him. He almost laughed as he looked upon the darkened environment of the Twilight.

“Ah! Look at that!” Tenalia pushed herself into the doorway, tumbling inside. “You found your way back to a place!”

It might have seemed like a small thing, but Tenalia was right. Ethan had shoved his way back into a place he had visited before. He had come to this area by accident a while ago, and now that he found himself here again, he felt a swell of pride in his chest. True, he didn't mean to come here, but he was certain that if he had the right things to focus on, he could head directly to the Twilight from the real world.

“Arthur?” Ethan asked, stepping through the door and closing it behind him. His eyes settled on the castle in the distance. The towers of stone sat before a backdrop of stars, the shape of it cutting through the dots of illumination. “You here?”

Although there was no response, Ethan swore he could hear the sound of a massive gate opening far in the distance. He trudged forward, pausing on the bridge for only a few moments. As he peered over the edge, the water below was a swirling mass of impossibly dark liquid. If he focused hard enough, he thought he could see something swimming just below the surface, but eventually he shook his head to break from his stupor and continued toward the castle. By the time he had arrived, the vampiric figure was standing out front, hands on his hips with a predatory grin on his face.

"What brings you to my abode today?" Arthur's smile grew softer the closer the scribe got.

“Actually, I came here by accident again. I’m trying to understand how to travel through Voidspace.”

Arthur’s expression dropped. “Now that isn’t an easy feat. Not the way you’re doing it. Come, did you want some food?”

Ethan patted his stomach. “Just ate, actually.”

“Then some coffee.”

It wasn't hard to see that Arthur was a lonely guy. From what Ethan could tell, the vampire was the only person here, and he had sequestered himself in such a place to keep those vampiric urges suppressed. The scribe accepted the invitation and followed him inside. They passed through the bailey and into the main body of the castle, eventually finding their way to a grand dining room with a roaring fire. Both Ethan and Tenalia took their seats, and the vampire served everyone coffee, ‌including the doll.

Tenalia brought the coffee to her helmet, and pretended to sip. “My people don’t have much experience with vampires. What is the best way to slay your kind?”

“Same as any other.” Arthur answered the question, blowing to cool his coffee as though she had asked him how to water the flowers. “Removing the head is typically best, though. Depends on how strong a vampire is, though… Yet, I’m not a vampire.”

“Really?” Ethan asked, sighing in disappointment. “I was sure you were.”

“I’m a dhamphir. Half-vampire, half-mortal.” Arthur nodded to himself. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Lots of both, please.”

Something flashed through Ethan's mind. Zeal and Solace were still recovering from their recent awakening. They were afflicted with undeath. While the scribe didn't know exactly what that meant, he knew that Arthur and they shared something in common, even if it was a distant relation. The dhamphir returned a moment later with a ceramic pot of cream and a decorative goose-shaped container of sugar. Ethan added loads of both.

“I have some people I'm looking after, and they're afflicted with undeath.” Ethan really wasn't sure how to phrase it. That was the best he could come up with. “I'm not sure if you're any kind of relation to them, but I'd appreciate any advice you might have.”

"Here's the difficult question to ask," Arthur said, stirring his coffee and smiling to himself. "Are they afflicted with True Undeath, or is it something else? Are they fiendish ghouls, and you're looking for a way to turn them back? Because if that's the case, I'm sorry to say, but they're long gone."

“True undeath,” Ethan confirmed. “They have undead systems. Well, they will have undead systems.”

Arthur stopped stirring. His eyes dragged up, over the table until they locked with Ethan’s gaze. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Ethan shrugged. “I am. Although, I’m unsure why that would be so concerning.”

“Do I look concerned?” Arthur produced the least authentic laugh ever laughed by a dhamphir. Ethan assumed it was pretty bad by vampiric standards, anyway. “No, that’s simply interesting. Beyond interesting, actually.”

“So, you do know something about undeath.”

Arthur sipped his coffee, nodding a few times. “When a person is turned, or in the rare case like me when they’re born, with vampirism, they gain a new system. The old one is destroyed to make room for the new one, but the result is an exchange of power for this curse.”

Ethan rubbed his chin. “I mean, removing an old system might be something in my wheelhouse. But I suppose that depends on the power of the system.”

“Really? Well, perhaps you can do me a favor.”

“Not here.” Ethan looked around, feeling how the mana in here was wrong. He wasn’t even sure he could cast a spell, let alone the powerful one needed to reverse vampirism. “And not anytime soon. I have a feeling you’re pretty high-Ranked.”

“You could say that. Anyway, tell me about these undead friends. True Undeath is extremely rare. I’ve only seen it a few times in other systems.” Arthur leaned in over the table. He had only taken a single sip of his coffee, but now all his attention was on Ethan. “Is it a local system? Or something… else?”

“Can’t tell yet. Their old systems were firmly in place, and they were absolutely high-Ranked.” Ethan thought about all the details he knew. It was hard to condense something down he didn’t truly understand. “The new Undead system is growing in its place. Speaking of, I need to check on them.”

“Interesting. Are you helping the system grow?”

“Do I need to?”

Arthur laughed. “Everything must be watered to grow. Even systems based on undeath. Perhaps I might have some suggestions…”

Chapter 9

Coffee Insight

Ethan didn’t really mean to have so many distractions. But things were happening with Zeal and Solace. The topic of their condition was something the scribe wasn’t well-informed about. In fact, it was likely that no one knew what they were going through… no one but Arthur, of course. Death Mages weren’t a thing someone came across every day, let alone Undeath Mages. A vampire, or dhamphir, hanging out in the Twilight was the closest thing he could get.

“Most people assume Death and Undeath are so greatly tied.” Arthur let out a dramatic sigh. “There is debate about Undeath and how close it is to Death. But I believe Undeath is a unique branch of magic, especially when one takes a True Undead into account.”

“That hasn’t been my observation.” Ethan wasn’t interested in picking a fight, but the Death-aligned worshiper of the Lady of Light had been the person to give Zeal and Solace a chance. The scribe explained as much.

A smile crept across Arthur’s face as Ethan explained how he thought things worked. The scribe thought Undeath was a branch from Death. That’s what it boiled down to.

“Ah, this is possible.” Arthur’s head was now nodding constantly, that slightly smug smile hanging on his face. “But perhaps an example is in order. Your mana alignment is… Pure?”

“Celestial.”

Arthur blinked a few times, his countenance hardening to confusion. “Oh. I suppose I’ve seen stranger things. Didn’t expect you to be that close to the source.”

“Close to the source?” Tenalia laughed. “He’s swimming in the wellspring of creation.”

Waving a dismissive hand, Arthur sipped his coffee and moved on. “No matter. We’re very familiar with Pure Mana as it relates to Celestial Mana.” The dhamphir chuckled to himself. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to stretch my example wider than I had expected.”

Holding his hand out, Arthur closed his eyes. He took in a sharp breath, holding it as a small blue flame burst to life in his palm. He let the breath out, the fire stirring. Finally, his eyes snapped open and a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. “I’m using flames only to represent the power of mana. Now, this is a Pure flame. But what if I do this…”

Arthur brought his free hand close to the blue fire, siphoning some of its mass off. He then shot a flamethrower blast’s worth of fire off into the distance. The fire crashed against the stone wall. This time, the fire was a rich orange color, illuminating the interior with a color that matched the fire burning in the fireplace.

“You converted the Pure mana into Fire mana.”

“Exactly.” Arthur tipped his head toward Ethan, still holding his Pure flame. “That means Fire is a branch of Pure. Which means Pure is a branch of Celestial.”

Ethan frowned, casting his eyes to his coffee as he thought. That wasn’t a good assessment at all. It was a cheap way to think of things. The example was like saying coffee was a type of soup because it was wet. Branching off from a concept, like adding water to something, didn’t make them directly related, let alone a true branch. Smacking himself in the face, the scribe looked up at Arthur.

“Okay. I get it. This is complicated.” Ethan sighed. “The system analogy for branches doesn’t work for domains.”

“Exactly. Death and Undeath share a similar domain. But they do not share a branch. They cover concepts of the cessation of life, but they diverge quickly after something dies, don’t they?” Arthur looked pleased with his example, puffing his chest and grinning. “By the same logic, a Vampire system is in the same lineage as Undeath. But that is even cheaper than the comparison between Pure and Fire mana. It sullies the idea and robs Undeath of its origins. Vampirism, for example, is a much younger curse.”

“So, why is this idea of domain within branches important for these two people?” Ethan asked.

“Because I assume you’re feeding them Death mana.” Arthur held the Pure flame high. In his free hand he produced a Fire flame. He smashed the two together, creating turbulence. Eventually, the Pure mana won out, snuffing out the one aligned with Fire. “I can make a Flamethrower spell with this Pure mana. But isn’t it more efficient if I use Fire mana?”

Ethan blew out a breath, pushing back in his chair and gazing at the ceiling. He basically used Celestial mana for everything. Because of this, he assumed things worked the same way downstream. Celestial Mana didn’t have a domain, from what he understood. Or maybe the domain of that type of mana was everything, meaning the scribe had developed a warped sense of reality.

It hit Ethan suddenly.

“Oh. Crap. I can make True Undeath Mana.” He slapped himself in the face again, feeling like an idiot.

“You can make every type of mana.” Arthur laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “Celestial Mana is unique like that, isn’t it? Learn how to do that, and the establishment of their systems will happen quite quickly.”

“Yeah, but the implications of this. I mean, I already knew it. I cast Gravity, Spatial, Barrier magic all the time. My system adapts to whatever I need.” Ethan rubbed his face vigorously.

This was a moderately confusing thing for Ethan to come to terms with, but as with all things, he set it straight in his thoughts. Branches and domains were different. Domains could overlap over branches, or be exclusive to one. Branches could spring from one another, sharing a domain or not. The source of a branch’s power didn’t determine anything. The takeaway here was that he could simply ignore most of this for himself. The scribe was an omnimage. He could adapt his Celestial Mana to match anything else.

Assuming he understood it well enough.

“A lot of information, isn’t it?” Arthur asked.

“I’m used to it.” Ethan politely sipped his coffee, eager to finish it before he left. But there was one more thing he wanted to ask Arthur while he was here. “How do you travel through Voidspace? I’m trying to go to a specific place on Tal’vengar, but I’m horribly lost.”

Arthur chuckled, steepling his fingers and leaning in. “I don’t. Not with the method you’re using, anyway. I take the River.”

“And what exactly is the River?”

Arthur sighed, looking back toward the door as though he could see it from here. “Impossible to explain. And even more difficult to navigate. But for those of us not blessed by the system, it is easier than traversing Voidspace.”

Ethan nodded. If the River was out of the question and Arthur had no top tips for traversing Voidspace, he just had to learn how to do it the hard way. Of course, that meant leaning heavily on the bracelet to bridge the gap before he could get into a classroom with Trex. But it wasn’t polite to ditch an attention-starved dhamphir so soon.

“Thanks for the insight. Anyway, what have you been up to lately?”

Arthur looked taken aback for a moment. He then straightened up, running his hands through his hair to smooth it out. “Well… No one who travels through the Twilight asks me that. Ah, I know. There’s this boat that keeps riding on the river. Strange, since the ‘water’ there melts most materials…”

Ethan listened to tales of the boat. Arthur suspected it was someone exploiting the Twilight’s long-distance traveling properties to ferry people. He had a lot of theories, but that was the one which he liked the most. After the coffee had been refreshed three times and Tenalia shared a few stories of her own, which all included how many monsters she had slain and how glorious she was, it was time to go.

Ethan reached out, grasping a doorknob that wasn’t there before turning it. When he opened the door, revealing the Anomalous Materials Group room. The scribe let out a contented sigh. “At least I learned something. I didn’t want to see… Well, let’s just say my planet has some assumptions about vampires.”

“Oh, are they accurate?” Arthur flashed a smile, his teeth catching the light shining through the doorway.

Ethan winced, hiding the expression as quickly as he could. “Absolutely not. You’re… uh… a lot more charming.”

“Glad to hear it. Until we meet again.”

Tenalia made her way through the door first, curtsying on the other side. Ethan joined her, waving before shutting the door. He shook his head, locking his gaze on the puppet’s helmeted face. It was rough not being able to see a face. Maybe he would paint something pleasing on the helmet.

“The vampire is strange.” Tenalia huffed. “We should be killing monsters. Gaining points.”

Ethan shook his head, patting the puppet on the helmet. “You need to keep the long game in mind. Making friends and allies is extremely important, especially when those people have information we need. Arthur is toothless down there, but there’s a power lurking in his chest. Did you feel it?”

“Faintly. It hardly matters if he’s strong or not. He knows things. The vampire could be the weakest being in the universe, and it wouldn’t matter. Yes, I see what you mean. Points aren’t everything because you likely won’t die this semester. I hope.” Tenalia paused for a few long moments. “Plus his coffee smells good.”

“You can smell things?”

“Yeah. Duh!”

“I find it concerning how you didn’t expect me to survive the semester.”

“Hmm. Yes, you’re getting stronger. Only because you’re doing as Barry says.” Tenalia smacked his legs a few times. “You need more muscle, but at least you’re not so scrawny.”

Looking down at himself, Ethan didn’t feel as though he had gained any muscle. He poked at his midsection and shrugged. Perhaps he was a bit more wiry, but he had never been super chunky to begin with. He eventually shrugged, sinking into the sofa in the Anomalous Materials Group’s meeting room. A lot had happened, but it brought less information than the scribe would’ve hoped. Arthur told him things he already knew, even if he didn’t know he knew them.

Heading to Luminarum House wasn’t appealing to Ethan. Not today, anyway. With the bracelet busy calculating something related to Voidspace, the scribe instead headed back to Gale House and hit up the library. With no one to complain about exactly how much time he spent awake, he planned to work throughout the night once again. After all, he needed to seize the advantages he had. Otherwise, what was the point?

Ethan never thought that creating a flying spell would be that difficult. When he had created his jumping travel power, perhaps it would have been a challenge. But now he had a wealth of knowledge at his fingertips and the ability to use it. He knew that the best way to get this spell working was through a combination of Wind and Gravity Magic. He imagined that anybody creating a flying spell from purely Wind-based magic would have a difficult time. The mana cost would have been insane to keep somebody aloft with just Wind magic, but with Gravity magic, reducing his weight to zero, it would not be that hard. He just had to find the right two spells to do it.

That was the point of trying to steal a Rogue movement ability. Ethan was looking for something that would send a person forward, but he wasn’t sure if Springstep was it. He flipped through endless books, narrowing his search to tomes related to Wind magic. By the time he returned home, eager to get at least an hour of sleep, a decent blueprint for the spell had formed in his mind. He didn’t find what he needed. Even worse, he was certain he would need three slots to make it happen.

With a sigh, Ethan fell back onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Looks like I need to add another slot to my Rank 1 Agility Ring. When did I become an Agility specialist?”

The question hung in the air, but Ethan wasn’t there to hear it echo. He fell asleep right away, drifting off for his brief respite from the madness of the trials.

Chapter 10

Undeath Mana

Creation magic spread like a glowing blanket over the surface of a stone wall. Bricks that had been destroyed reappeared from nowhere. Those near enough to regenerate from actual material hovered in the air, sliding back into place as though played in reverse. That morning, Ethan had awoken at dawn and worked his way to the edge of the safe zone, finding enough damaged infrastructure to pad his points before focusing completely on his other projects.

At first, small crowds had formed, watching him work the impossible spell, but those had long since dissipated. It had been at it for hours, and truthfully, the moments when the wall repaired itself were few. Ethan spent most of his time managing his mana. The bracelet was still down, performing calculations intense enough for it to cease speaking. That was moderately concerning, but there was nothing the scribe could do. His mind wandered toward his flight spell, and during those moments when he was resting and recovering his mana, he worked on enhancing his Rank 1 Agility Ring, attempting to add a third slot.

It wasn’t as easy as he had expected.

“May I please rush off into glorious battle?” Tenalia sighed again, her little puppet shoulders drooping dramatically. “We’ve been at this for days.”  

“We’ve been at this for hours,” Ethan shook his head, feeling his soul siphon mana from the air as his Agility Ring swelled. “Not days. I’m going to Luminarum House here in a bit.”

“Ugh, leave me out of it. I cannot suffer the pain of shame yet again.”

Ethan shrugged. She could do whatever she wanted… after she defended him from potential goblins. Those things were sneaky.

With an absurd number of points to his name, Ethan released the doll from his command. She dashed off to kill some goblins while he exploited his privilege as a member of the Anomalous Materials Group to take the gate to Luminarum House. He paused briefly at a vendor’s stall, buying a skewer loaded with spirit fruits and lingering around for quite some time. The energy on the campus had changed significantly. Official classes were no longer running, so groups of students could be seen here and there, reviewing what they had learned. As the scribe finished his food and was heading for the gate, he spotted a few people from his Array Foundations 1 class.

They were those few students who still struggled with the concepts taught by Professor Marsh. Ethan shook his head, approaching and offering the goodwill that most members of Gale House had. Naturally, they were happy to accept tutoring from a top student. The scribe wasn’t exactly disappointed with their lacking knowledge. But he was surprised at how little they understood about the fundamentals of the class.

What was supposed to be a quick stop to give some tips, turned into a full-blown lesson on array formations, including advanced topics like lacing linework with runes, array stability, and advanced mana cycling techniques. Ethan wanted to grumble about how his schedule had been interrupted, but he forced himself to remember the purpose of the academy. There was no point rising to such heights of power if he couldn’t drop some knowledge along the way. The universe thrived as a whole, not through individuals.

Ethan didn’t mind traveling without Tenalia, but he always felt more comfortable when he had her with him. The problem was that now he didn’t even have his bracelet to talk to. She was still deep in the throes of doing calculations. At least the person at the gate didn’t give him trouble. Seeing his badge and immediately opening the portal to another continent without question, the scribe passed through, feeling the familiar sensation of displacement and being reminded of another project he had not made progress on.

“You’ve got to give yourself a bit of leeway,” Ethan muttered, staring up at the sky as he recalled the dimensionality project which he had not made progress on. “You can only do so many things at a time.”  

But, of course, a smile appeared on his face. Being busy wasn’t a bad thing, especially when he was working on so many cool projects. Instead, he shook his head, assessing the situation in Luminarum House. He was always impressed with the way these people had organized. They went through similar phases as Gale House, with controlled sections of the city being condemned and allowing the goblins to rush in. But the military organization of their fighters was bonkers.

Paladins, adorned in shining armor and bearing heraldry and decorated shields, stood at attention at various spots in the city. Should anything break through the interior walls, they would no doubt be struck down within moments. Ethan eventually pulled his gaze away from the impressive ranks and headed for the Church. There, he was made to wait in the atrium for quite a while, and he wondered what the holdup was until he spotted the massive form of Nultan, the Death Cleric, coming from one back room. He had a smile on his face.

“Thought I’d never see you again.” Nultan reached out, shaking Ethan’s hand. “Coming to check on my guests?”

Ethan shook his head, “More than that, I’m here to instruct you on how to properly use your powers.”  

Nultan’s face shifted into an amused smile. “Really? You’re here to teach me?”  

Ethan burst out laughing. It sounded stupid. The cleric was Rank 3, and in his second year. He was far more advanced than the scribe could ever hope to be in the ways of godly magic. But the one thing that Ethan had over him was control of specific aspects of mana. It would have been even better if he had practiced before coming here today. 

“Yeah, I know it sounds silly, but I spoke to somebody who gave me some very interesting instructions on how mana works. I think your dual-aspect soul can generate some interesting combinations. If I’m wrong, then I can just do it myself.”

“The confidence of this guy…” Nultan muttered, turning and gesturing to the door leading to the cloister. “Why don’t you explain it on the way.”

Ethan nodded, following closely behind the cleric. “I don’t really know if you can generate the kind of mana they need. Basically, it boils down to the fact that you’re feeding them Death mana to keep them running and build their new system, but they don’t need Death mana. They need Undeath mana.”

“Well, I could have told you that, but unless you can find me a lich or somebody to create the mana we need, then they’ve got to settle for what I’ve got.” 

“This is my fault. I should’ve said that I can work with any mana from any system.” Ethan ducked his head as they passed through a strangely short doorway. “I’ve never had the need to use raw mana from another domain. But this guy, Arthur, told me about how domains work and how close Death and Undeath were. He politely called me an idiot and told me to use my Celestial mana to convert to Undeath mana.”

“And… that’s a thing you can do?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. My bracelet is down.”

“Your… bracelet?” Nultan paused in the hall, turning and looking at Ethan as though he had gone nuts. “Do you need to see a cleric?”

“Don’t worry about it. Once I see Zeal and Solace, I’ll know.”

The duo eventually entered the cloister. Zeal was on his back, wearing nothing more than a pair of slacks. He stared up at the sky and idly threw a ball straight into the air before deathly catching it. Solace was nearby, a notebook in her hands, writing something with a fountain pen.  

“I don’t know, babe. I feel like I’m getting smaller.” Zeal sighed as he probed at his bicep. “All this Death mana is withering me away. Maybe we need to eat souls or something. Oh, hey Nultan. Wussup?”

The cleric side gestured to Ethan. “He thinks he has a way to help you, but I’m uncertain.”  

“We will take any help we can get, dude.” 

“Your character slipped,” Solace said. “Again. Ethan, if you could fix us up, I would really appreciate it. The clerics won’t let us leave. And I’m going absolutely insane being with this oaf all day.”

“Oh, come on. You love me.”

“That love only goes so far.”

Ethan cleared his throat, turning to Nultan and holding his hands out in a pleading gesture. “I’m going to admit that I don’t actually know much about changing the aspect of my mana. I understand how to process latent energy into my kind of mana, but can you teach me how to change the domain?”

“Seriously?” Nultan asked. “You’ve done some amazing things already and you can’t do that?”

“Long story. You’re dual-aspected, so I’m guessing you’re familiar enough with it.”

Nultan grumbled, looking at his charges lazily laying around. Eventually, he released a heavy sigh. “In Luminarum House, aspected mana is a very early lesson. First semester. Surely you know something about it. Right?”

“Maybe.” Ethan held his hand out, focusing on the technique Arthur showed up. He wouldn’t have been able to summon the flame without Luna’s instruction, but with some effort he conjured a shimmer silver-blue flame of Celestial Mana. It didn’t pass his notice that Nultan, Solace, and Zeal all went rigid at the sight of it. “That’s my natural mana. The example I was given was that a person can convert mana from one type to the other. If one takes Pure mana and converts it to Fire Mana, they’ll do so at a loss. But Celestial Mana can be anything. How do I make this be Undeath Mana?”

Nultan took in a steady breath, his eyes locked on the flickering flame. Eventually, he pointed at the mana. “You aren’t your mana, but you control it. That is a part of you, because it came from you. To convert it to another type, you need to force your will upon it and command it. Try something easy to start. Think of fire, heat, burning. Convert your Celestial mana into Fire mana.”

Ethan nodded, focusing everything he had on converting the mana. When he looked upon the flame dancing in his hand, he could only think of the depth and breadth of Celestial magic. It was the wellspring from which everything else flowed. Although he hadn’t considered it too much before, at this point he now understood how powerful it was. It was the building block for everything else. Unlike every other type of mana, it was a pure, unadulterated thing that could become every other thing. When his mind focused on the ideas of heat and fire, flames dancing and flickering to consume, the mana within his palm changed. It burned brighter, taking on an orange-yellow hue before he knew it. His will had been imparted on it, and the Celestial mana in his palm was now purely aligned with Fire.

“That was… faster than expected.” Nultan shifted uncomfortably on the spot. “Now do the same thing with Undeath.”

“But what are the concepts of Undeath?”

“Ever-living, consuming, hunger,” Zeal said without hesitation.

“That is petty undeath,” Nultan corrected. “Ever-living, unchanging, mastery, cunning. Those are the concepts of True Undeath.”

It seemed subtle, but Ethan shook his head and focused. He dismissed the Fire mana, and summoned a flaming glob of Celestial mana. The moment he even considered converting it to True Undeath, he felt push back. His brows knit as he sensed some force trying to keep him from doing his job. But whatever held him back was quickly shattered when faced with the fact of it: Ethan was a System Scribe. His entire body, mind, and soul rested on the base of the tree of everything. There was no authority in the universe that could stop him from fixing the problems with the Grand System.

Zeal and Solace were a problem to be fixed. They were a quirk that the Grand System wouldn’t suffer. They were an anomaly that had to be repaired.

The room around Ethan darkened and Nultan fell into a battle stance. A system message appeared in the scribe’s vision.

“Uh-oh…” Ethan said, clicking his tongue. “I think I just stepped on someone’s toes…”

[Primal Interdiction]

The Primal God of Undeath has taken notice of you. Automated Grand System action initiated…

Action failed… Authority denied.

…