Web of Aeons - Chapter 44: Advancement

They regrouped with the Solidors later that day, and Rosintar made them a portal to the cult’s safe house. It looked like somewhere in Northern Espiria, judging by the snowcapped mountains on the horizon. The buildings also had a log cabin aesthetic that reminded Akari of the Hunter’s Guild back in White Vale. 

She sat with Kalden on a wooden bench near the dojos, relaxing in the cool mountain air. By now, they’d showered, changed their clothes, and spent some quality time with the cult’s healers. It still felt strange to get healing from someone who wasn’t Relia, and she hoped they wouldn’t make it a habit. 

Arturo and Zukan were back inside the house, probably watching the news with the others. Akari could have joined them, but what was the point? The Solidors had driven Storm’s Eye from the city, and that was all that really mattered. She didn’t need to hear more bad news on top of that.

She surveyed the rest of the property and the short mana wall that surrounded the wooden buildings. This part also reminded her of White Vale, and the sights brought a strange wave of nostalgia. The Archipelago had been a dark time in her life, filled with constant stress and uncertainty. For all that, the good memories overshadowed the bad in her mind. Traveling with Kalden in a strange new city. Meeting Relia for the first time, and hunting mana beasts in the forest. Learning about the outside world, and seeing glimpsing power beyond her imagination . . .

“Hey.” Kalden reached out and touched the back of her hand. “We should talk about what happened.”

Akari winced as her mind came back to the present. “I’m sorry, okay? You were right. I never should have gone up in the sky.” 

He paused, clearly choosing his next words with care. “You’ve been a lot better this year—putting the team first, being less impulsive. I think we all agree you were a good captain”

A small laugh escaped her lips. A few weeks ago, she’d accused Kalden of never saying anything positive, and this was obviously his attempt to fix that. She’d always liked that about him. Most people went through life as if they were dreaming, never truly watching or listening to what happened around them. But Kalden understood problems, and he was always solving them as they emerged.

Her smile faded an instant later when she remembered how much they’d lost today. Losing Elise was bad enough, but Relia had been with them since the beginning. The three of them should have been together right now.

“And I’m not worried about who was right,” Kalden said. “I know you and Relia weren’t thinking straight. Neither was I, to be honest. I just want to make sure we do better next time.”

“You mean the next time one of our teammates dies?”

“Maybe, If it comes to that.” He gestured to the dojo where the Darklights were talking with the Solidors in private. ”We’re not kids anymore, and we’ll be even stronger after this ritual. We have to do better.”

“Any ideas?” She’d known it was stupid to attack Valeria, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself in the moment. The same thing probably happened to stronger mana artists every day. Valeria had clearly regretted her choice to come here, and Moonfire would soon realize that he couldn’t keep his daughter locked up forever. 

Then again, only a true psychopath could unleash Storm’s Eye against a city of civilians, so maybe Moonfire would never regret his actions. The other Mystics must know about his involvement, but would they retaliate? Did they even care? No mere mortal could answer those questions.

“We’ll figure it out,” Kalden said. “We’ll make a code phrase or something. If one of us says it, the other stops. No matter what.”

“Last Haven,” Akari suggested. That had been her biggest mistake, and she could have avoided it if she’d trusted her parents. 

Kalden frowned, but he didn’t contradict her. “Do you think Moonfire was the one who attacked our sect?”

“No,” she said after a short pause. “I thought about it, but it doesn’t fit. Whoever did this wanted to be anonymous, but I saw Moonfire in that diner. Why would he censor his own name?” 

“Could be a distraction,” Kalden said. “Hiding in plain sight.”

She shrugged. “It’s simpler to hide the whole trail.”

“It’s also more difficult. Not to mention the mana cost.”

Akari gave him a frank look. “His technique alters memories and records all over the world. Now he cares about saving mana? How would a space artist even do something like that?”

“He’s also an Aeon,” Kalden said. “They break the rules all the time.” 

“Do they?” she countered. “Aside from using Angelic mana, don’t they follow the same rules as mana artists?”

“They can absorb other types of mana. Even crystals, and enemy techniques.”

“So can we,” Akari said. “They just do it ten times better.”

Kalden nodded as if conceding the point. “But Moonfire’s an Aeon Mystic.That’s unprecedented.”

Akari opened her mouth, then closed it. 

“Even regular Mystics keep their techniques a secret,” he pressed on. “So we have no idea what Moonfire can do. No one does.”

Shit. They’d been aiming to be the first Aeon Mystics, hoping to gain an advantage over their enemy. But what if he’d beaten them to it? 

The dojo’s wooden door slid open behind her, and Elend stepped outside. “They’re ready for you now.”

The two of them got to their feet, and Lena Cavaco appeared behind Elend in the doorway. “You both have empty stomachs, right? And you’ve used the bathroom?”

They nodded. After training for months in Elend’s pain machine, they knew all the rookie mistakes.

Lena ran through the risks one last time, reminding them how no mana artist had gone through this ritual without permanent soul damage. Relia didn’t count, since she’d technically been born an Aeon. Either Akari and Kalden would be the first real success story, or they would cut their journey short. 

Despite the risks, she forced herself to step forward. If Ashur Moonfire wasn’t the Mystic from her dream, then he served someone even stronger. Either way, they would need this power to defeat him.

The dojo had the same log cabin look as the rest of the compound, with rough walls covered in a web of intricate sigils. The Solidors stood near the room’s center, and Thane gestured to a pair of dark brown mats on the floor. 

Akari and Kalden lowered themselves to the floor, resting their heads on the pillows. Elend and Irina stood a few paces back, while Lena prepared several pieces of equipment. Apparently, she’d be serving as the Solidor’s assistant. 

Kalden removed his t-shirt, folding it up on the floor beside him. Akari took off her glasses, then her hoodie. Her tank top hung low in the front, so they could access her soul without her stripping down completely.

Relyn loomed above them, holding the Etherite collar in her outstretched hand. “Good news,” she said in a cheerful tone. “This shard is big enough to make two souls.”

Akari let out a breath of relief, sinking deeper into her pillow. Elend had seemed confident about the collar’s size, but he hadn’t been sure.

“This should give you a head start with your soulbonds ,” Lena added.

“What?” Akari asked. “Seriously?” They’d talked about Aeon soulbonds a few weeks back, but she barely remembered the benefits. Something about advanced telepathy and shared techniques?

The older woman nodded. “A soulbond is just two pieces of Etherite with matching crystal patterns. Most Aeons will alter these patterns over time to form bonds with one another, but that can take month.” She gestured back to the collar in Relyn’s hand. “These patterns already match, so you’re more than halfway there.”

In other words, the collar was even better than the cuffs for this ritual. At least one thing had worked out in their favor today.

“Alright,” Thane said. “Let’s get an MP reading on Akari.”

Lena knelt on the floor and pressed a mana watch to Akari’s chest. “Three thousand seventy-two over three thousand seventy-four.”

Thane nodded and met Akari’s eyes. “I’m going to force the remaining mana through your soul and bring you to the peak of Apprentice. Relyn will make your Aeon soul at the same time. Any questions?”

“You’re going to force over a hundred and twenty mana points into her soul?” Kalden asked. “How long will that take?”

“Not long.” Relyn knelt on the floor beside Akari. “Your soul has barriers to stop it from advancing too quickly, but the brain controls those barriers. I have a technique like dream mana. It will let me enter your brain and open the gates .”

Just like that? Her tone was surprisingly casual, considering the enormity of that task. But it was easy to forget that the Solidors were older than they looked. Older than Elend and Irina, even.

Footsteps echoed against the wooden floor as Elend stepped forward. “Relax, lass. The hard part is behind you now. This will be the easiest advancement you ever have.”

“Okay,” Akari said. “What do I do?” 

“Breathe for me,” Relyn said. “Inhale as deep as you can. Fill your stomach, then your chest.”

Akari did so.

“Now inhale again,” Relyn said. “Without releasing the breath.”

That seemed like a contradiction since she’d already filled her lungs. But Akari did it anyway, taking an even deeper breath than before.

This went on for several more rounds, and Relyn spouted some stuff about the parasympathetic nervous system. Akari had studied biology, but she didn’t know half as much as Relia or Kalden. And things got even weirder when you brought in the metaphysics of channels and souls. Your mana technically existed outside your body, but the brain grouped it with your heart rate and breathing.

“This will feel strange,” Relyn said. “Just try not to think too hard.”

Akari released her last breath, and every muscle in her body went limp. She tried to tense them again, but she couldn’t. Then her limbs moved on their own, shifting their positions in small ways, the same way a teacher might adjust her stance during combat training. It felt like Akari’s idea to move them, but another part of her brain knew it wasn’t happening naturally

“Good,” Relyn said. “Now you need to hyperventilate—deep inhales, and shallow exhales. This prepares your body to go without air.”

Relyn must have been speaking for Akari’s benefit because her lungs filled and emptied on their own. She fell into a rhythm for several dozen breaths, then Relyn forced all the air from her lungs, and her body lay still.

“Ready,” Relyn said to Thane.

“Forcing the mana now.” Thane placed a hand over Akari’s chest and unleashed a torrent of power into her soul. Panic flooded her mind as the mana stretched the opening far beyond its limits. It felt like forcing a storm into a bottle, and one wrong move could turn that bottle into a glass bomb.

Fortunately, Relyn’s dream technique kept her body loose and relaxed. Her heart slowed to a crawl, and her lungs sat empty. Even her channels remained as still as a frozen river. The dojo swayed around her, and her fingers and toes went numb. She felt like she was floating off the mat, leaving her body behind.

The crystal collar vanished from Relyn’s hand, and Akari felt another explosion of pain. This was far stronger than Thane’s mana, and it felt like a machine of spinning blades and flames. Akari looked down, but she couldn’t see her chest from this vantage. Even so, she half expected to see blood gushing out from her sternum.

Her vision darkened, but Relyn’s technique kept her from passing out. The pain spread to the rest of her body, from the bottoms of her feet to the tip of her skull. 

But this was the best kind of pain—the feeling of all her cells breaking down, bathing in mana, and rebuilding themselves anew. The pain of advancement.