Andrew Rowe - On the Shoulders of Titans

Nothing happened.

After a few moments, I raised a tentative eyebrow, but nothing changed.

Vellum nodded to herself, lifted a hand, and a tiny spark of flame brushed up against one of the vials.

The liquid inside shimmered and turned crimson.

“Mm.” She moved her hand to the other vial, focused, and the glass began to freeze.

The water within shifted to a deep cerulean hue.

Vellum lifted one of the vials, inspecting it more closely. “It is, of course, what I expected.”

“Meaning…?”

She slipped the vial back into the rack. “Meaning what you have is an attunement primer solution.”

“And that is…?”

Vellum sighed. “Something you shouldn’t have. But, since you somehow managed to stumble upon it, now it’s merely something you shouldn’t use . An attunement primer is used to ready the body to receive an attunement. It does not carry an attunement itself — no potion does.”

“But then how—”

“Magic.” She waved at the vials. “Specifically, the primer reacts to magic. It’s the catalyst for a reaction that, when a proper spell is used, forms an attunement in the body.”

Vellum pointed at the crimson vial. “Expose the primer to flame, and the gray mana in the solution becomes flame mana, saturating your body. A proper attunement-granting spell contains the specific domi—, or, mana types necessary to form that particular attunement, as well as instructions for the mana to take the proper shape.”

She paused, mumbling, “More of a ritual, really, given the complexity and material components necessary…”

I folded my arms. “Wait. You’re saying someone casts a spell to create an attunement? I understand that artificial attunements might work that way, but…”

I don’t remember anyone casting a spell.

I remember drinking the fluid, then a vision…

Was that a hallucination?

Or did someone — or something — cast a spell on me?

The Voice…Tristan…had some kind of entity that was talking to me. Did he cast something on me? Or was it some kind of enchantment on the basin?

When he put that rusted sword in there, he pulled Selys-Lyann out. Maybe the sword was repaired by the water, or maybe he withdrew a completely different weapon — either way, the basin itself was enchanted. Could that be what the true source of my attunement was?

Vellum shrugged her shoulders. “I know everyone wants to believe the goddess just gives them to us, but even goddesses have methods . That method happens to be infusing us with liquid, then activating the liquid with a complex spell that creates an attunement.”

I waved at the vials. “And what happened there? I take it you didn’t attune the water.

“No, just basic spells to test the liquid’s reactivity. I’m afraid I can’t attune a liquid, though that would be quite a good trick. A large part of what forms an attunement is the mana already within your body, it’s simply being reshaped by the primer and the spell.”

I frowned. “And if you happened to drink some if you already had an attunement…?”

“Let’s see, shall we?” She found the syringe again and withdrew another droplet. I mourned the loss of a little more of my potion, but it was worth it to see the results of the experiment.

Vellum dropped a single droplet into each vial.

Again, nothing happened.

Until she flicked an electrical spark toward the crimson vial…

…And it burst apart, sparking liquid dripping flowing across the table.

“The primer remains isolated until it is exposed to any spell effect, at which point it changes to the appropriate type…often with unpleasant results.”

I stepped back to avoid the flow of liquid. “And if the spell effect isn’t the right type to create an attunement?”

“It would simply flood the body with that much mana of the types used in the spell.”

“How do people earn second attunements, then?”

“Very carefully.” Vellum chuckled. “Whoever — or whatever — force in the tower grants the attunements would have to strip all active spell effects off the person to prevent them from triggering the primer, then isolate their existing attunement somehow to prevent that mana from flowing into the primer and triggering it.”

“And…hypothetically…if someone didn’t go through that exhaustive process?”

She pointed at the broken vial in the puddle of liquid.

Oh, Sera. I’m so sorry.

I frowned. But that still doesn’t exactly match with what happened to you. You didn’t…explode.

“What are you thinking about, boy? You did something, didn’t you?” She folded her arms and glared at me.

“I, uh… It was an emergency?”

“Speak.”

“My sister, Sera, may have drank some of the fluid. But it didn’t explode — her attunement changed.”

Vellum’s brow creased. “Changed?”

I showed her the drawing.

“Oh, dear. What attunement did she have before?…no, don’t tell me. Summoner, yes?”

“How did you know? Is that some sort of advanced Summoner attunement?”

Vellum shook her head. “No, it’s just that Summoner is the only local attunement that involves persistent spell effects inside the user’s body. That would be what triggered your potion — her contracts. The primer reacted to a contract spell, fusing it with her existing attunement. The primer contains tremendous mana. It’s enough to remodel how the entire body functions, when guided by the proper type of spell.”

I winced. “And somehow the contract fused with her attunement?”

“An apt explanation for a foolish act. You could have killed her. If she hadn’t been a Summoner, and someone had hit her with an offensive spell next, the primer would have enhanced that spell.”

I shuddered at the image that followed. “…It was a risk, but we needed the power. It worked. For a time, at least.”

“Oh? And now?”

“Now she can’t speak, and her safe mana capacity registers as zero.”

“Quite fascinating. Well, I hope you’ve learned a valuable lesson from destroying your sister’s life. Off you go!”

I stoppered the potion again and tucked it away. “You’re not going to ask about—”

“I don’t get involved in the foolish endeavors of youth. If you say you needed that kind of power, fine. You can believe that. Next time you find a mysterious potion of great power, ask an expert before anyone drinks it.”

Well, consider me sufficiently rebuked.

I nodded. “I will. But, would you happen to know any way I can help with my sister’s situation now that I’ve made my mistake?”

Vellum sighed. “I can’t change an attunement once it has been made. I doubt anyone can, at least not yet. Believe me, I’ve tried, and so have many others. A Mender may be able to help her with the side effects, and she may be able to earn a second attunement if she can regain enough use of the first to survive a Judgment in another tower.”

She paused, considering. “If the spell that changed her mark is a contract, you should determine what type of contract that was — that may give you a way to address the problem. Perhaps if it was a tie to a specific entity, that being would still be able to transfer mana into her. Or, alternatively, breaking the contract might restore the attunement to something resembling normalcy. It may require breaking all of her contracts, given that it’s possible they all activated the primer at once.”

I furrowed my brow in consideration. “How can she break a contract without using mana?”

Vellum shrugged. “Ask a Summoner.”