Andrew Rowe - Sufficiently Advanced Magic

That was good. I had work to do.

As soon as we were released, Patrick and I went to check on Sera. We found her back at her room, unharmed and unconcerned. We were both pretty relieved.

After that, Patrick and I parted ways to head back to our own dorms. I found Jin right outside our dorm building. He wasn’t hurt, either, but he was in an even less talkative mood than usual. Maybe he was a bit shaken by what had just happened. If so, I couldn’t blame him.

When I made it back to my room, I was surprised and relieved to see that the ceiling had already been fixed. Maybe the academy guard had seen the hole and sent in the request, or maybe Professor Orden had handled it herself in spite of her protestations. I’d find out later, but for the moment, I had a more pressing priority.

I opened a very familiar book and began to write.

Dear Voice of the Tower,

Residents of the tower are currently scouring the Lorian Heights academy for something. One of the creatures I saw looked a great deal like the form you used in the tower, but bigger. Was that you? Are you here?

-Corin

My heart pounded while I waited. I had no evidence that the Voice was outside. Its name implied that it probably wouldn’t be… but the similarity between that robed figure and the form the Voice had chosen was worth investigating.

I didn’t get an immediate reply. I ended nervously skimming through some of my text books and periodically checking back until I finally saw a response a few hours later.

Dear Corin,

So formal. I preferred “Mysterious Book Entity”.

The creature you speak of was not one of my forms, however, I do have a limited presence outside of the tower at this time. Communicating through this method has limitations, however, and I will not be able to speak with you regularly.

The creatures loosed from the tower were not under my command. Steps will be taken to ensure this does not occur again, but you must play your own role in fixing a problem you helped to create.

How much does Lyras know?

Yours,

Book

My hand trembled as I pondered my reply.

The Voice is nearby and he holds me responsible for part of this. That can’t be good.

I guess this more or less confirms that freeing those prisoners started this situation. Or at least contributed to it.

At least maybe I can finally get some more information, though.

I told her about Keras being loose in the tower, his conflict with Katashi, and your instructions for her to meet with you.

Good. Does she know about the book?

I haven’t told her, but she does seem to be watching me fairly closely. Should I tell her?

Under no circumstances. If she finds the book, I will handle the situation. For now, it is best if she simply meets me in the tower at her soonest convenience.

I bit my lip. Well, that’s not suspicious or anything. If she’s one of his contacts, why not share the existence of the book? What’s the significance of it?

I will keep the book hidden. I could use some guidance about this situation in general, though. Why was the tower sealed to prevent anyone from exiting? Is Katashi guiding those creatures? Are they looking for Keras? For Vera? What should I be doing if I see one of them?

Don’t worry, Corin. Lyras and I will handle things from here. If this is not resolved by the time you enter the tower again, I will provide you with further instructions. In the meantime, focus on making yourself strong enough to survive.

-Mysterious Book Entity

I set the book down. The chastising tone signaled a clear enough end to the conversation.

I hated being kept ignorant, especially when I was being blamed for something. If he, she, or it wanted to leave me out of things, I’d have to find my answers through other means.

Before even that, though, it was long past time I started properly protecting my room.

I spent the next few hours shopping. The first few things I picked up were mundane: a chain for the door to replace my wooden plank; tools to fasten the chain on; and bell to ring if the door was somehow opened.

After that, it was time to finally pick up some enchanting supplies.

As it turns out, I couldn’t afford many of them.

I had a total of twenty-two silver sigils after saving a little bit of money from the first week, my stipend from the subsequent two weeks, and the handful of coins that Professor Orden had given to me. As an Enchanter, I’d eventually get some materials to work with for class, but not until later in the year.

There were three enchanting supply shops on the main campus, and one in the “old university” area nearer to the tower. Of them, the ones on the main campus were all similarly priced. The one in the old university was more expensive, but had a broader variety. Apparently, climbers often sold their findings from the tower there, and the shopkeeper resold them at a profit.

I spent the most time in that old university shop, the “Climber’s Court”. The title came from the place’s function as a meeting place for Climbers, as well as serving as a general store for supplies needed for tower expeditions. Almost everything there was outside of my price range, but I spent four silver sigils on a lesser mental mana crystal in exchange for permission to copy down the runes on the magical items that were being sold there.

The shopkeeper, a retired climber named Lars Mantrake, was happy to regale me with the stories he’d heard from the adventurers who sold him the items — or, in some cases, the ones he’d picked up personally as a younger man.

He had a lot of inventory. That meant a lot of runes to copy.

I could have found most of the same runes in the books in the library, but there was a big advantage to studying them on actual items. By looking at the items with my attunement active, I could see the exact proportions of mana that were used in each individual rune. That made it much easier to conceptualize than just looking at “22.7 units of gray mana” in a stuffy tome.

By the end of that week, I’d managed to recharge my shield sigil by transferring mana out of the lesser mental mana crystal I’d purchased. It was a huge victory for me, the first time I’d successfully moved mana from something other than myself into an item.

Somehow Jin, being the creepy and amazing guy that he was, seemed to know about it immediately. He confronted me after classes at the end of the week.

“Corin. You have been studying creating magical items.”

I nodded. I was an Enchanter; it was a safe admission.

“I’d like you to make some for me.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. Commissions? I hadn’t even made an item on my own yet. “What sorts of items?”

He handed me a list.

There were nearly thirty items on it.

“Uh… I know I owe you a couple significant favors, but this may be a little bit beyond my abilities.”

“Why is that?” he asked, brow furrowing. He didn’t look angry, just some combination of confused and frustrated.

I wasn’t exactly going to admit I hadn’t managed to make an item completely by myself yet. That, while perfectly reasonable at this point in the year, sounded embarrassing in my head.

“I don’t have anywhere near enough materials, nor the means to afford them,” I said instead. That was just as true.

“I can secure materials. What do you need?”

That warranted raising both eyebrows, but quickly turned my attention back to the list.

Item that allows for creation of aura of shadows.