Andrew Rowe - Sufficiently Advanced Magic

That was something I decided to fix.

After a few hours of sorting through Vellum’s designs and taking notes on what they probably were meant to do , I headed toward the Climber’s Court.

I nearly ran right into a man who was on his way out. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and dodged out of the way.

The man looked like he was in his early twenties, with clean-cut short brown hair. He was wearing a long gray coat, similar in style to the ones we wore as students, but lacking the colorful epaulets that marked a specific division. He was clean-shaven, with unmatched swords on his hips. At a glance, he looked rather dashing.

More importantly, he had an attunement mark that I’d never seen.

I’d been seeing attunements since my childhood, but I’d never seen one that looked like that. It was a foreign mark; one from one of the other towers. I knew that dozens of other attunements existed, of course, and I’d even seen a few during large social events and the occasional sporting event. But this one stood out in another way, too.

Now that I knew about attunement levels, I had a pretty good idea of how common each of them were. Most adults seemed to be Carnelian-level. That seemed to be where most soldiers, teachers, and other professionals stopped. This guy was at least a Sunstone Mage, which put him in a similar category to Teft or Meltlake. Pretty impressive for someone of his age.

So, when I nearly blundered into this guy, I admit that I froze up for a moment. He probably could have taken my head off with a flick of his hand.

He just laughed, taking a step back and folding his hands. “Sorry about that! Didn’t mean to nearly clobber you there.” He extended a gloved hand. I managed to shake off my stupor long enough to give him a hand-clasp.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment as we shook. “You look familiar somehow.”

I tried not to look too intimidated by that. “Corin Cadence,” I managed.

“Oh!” He released his grip, grinning and stepping back. “I thought I knew you. Tristan and I went to school together.”

I must have winced at the sound of my brother’s name, because the stranger’s expression sank. “Ah — I’m so sorry. I just remembered… I’m so sorry for your loss.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. It’s been years now. Thanks for being so considerate.” I managed to peel my eyes away from his mark to glance his face over a little more carefully…but he still didn’t look familiar. “I’m sorry, I fear I can’t remember your name.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry, you were probably still a child last time I visited. I’m Derek Hartigan.”

“Pleasure to meet you again, Derek.”

“Likewise!” He glanced downward, frowning at something. “That sword you’re carrying… is that for sale?”

I was a bit taken aback by the question. “I hadn’t considered it, but probably not? It’s has a degree of sentimental value.”

“Ah, of course. Not a problem. I’m just something of a collector of rare weapons.”

Had he recognized my weapon at a glance? I didn’t realize it was that famous… But maybe he had another attunement that was helping him identify it?

Or maybe he just had a strong mana sense? I didn’t know much about foreign attunements, and I wasn’t sure if he had one that was of an information gathering style. I’d need to research that.

“Sorry to disappoint you. I’ll let you know if I’m ever looking to sell it, though, or if I come across any others.”

He looked pleased at that. “Excellent. Well, I’ve a Survival Match to win later today, so I must be off. You’re welcome to come watch if —” he cut himself off. “Ah, but you’re still a student, aren’t you?”

I glanced down at my very distinctive uniform, but decided not to make a big deal of it. “Yes,” I said simply.

“I suppose you’d be too busy, then. But if you happen to have the time, we’re starting just after six. And I could get you in without an entry fee.”

“Survival Match?” I asked.

“Ah, haven’t seen one yet? It’s a competition. Warriors in an arena lasting as long as possible against summoned monsters. The team that lasts through the most rounds of monsters wins the prize.”

“Is that… safe?” It didn’t sound like it.

He chuckled. “Of course! The Summoners can always force their monsters to stop attacking, and we always have Menders on the sidelines. I think you’d enjoy it — your mother was an expert in her day, you know.”

I… hadn’t known that. Honestly, I knew very little about Mother’s hobbies.

“…I’d be interested. Let me see if I can make the time. Where is it?”

He reached into a pouch, took out a piece of parchment and wrote me an address. “It’s at the Esslemont Arena, just a few miles from campus.”

I took the slip. “Thanks. I hope I can make it. If not, maybe we’ll see each other around again sometime.”

“I’d certainly hope so. Stay well, young Cadence.”

“Good luck tonight.” I flashed a polite smile.

He cracked his knuckles. “I won’t need it.”

Judging by that single attunement? He was probably right.

With that minor delay out of the way, I finally made my way into Court.

“Oi! Corin!” Lars grinned and waved at me as I entered.

I looked around, noting a few other customers already browsing. Unusual, given the early hour. “Morning, Lars. How’s business?”

“Can’t complain. That lad you nearly crashed into bought one of my favorites, so I’m in mourning. Fortunately, I have a new bed of silver to cry into.”

I laughed. “You have my condolences for your loss. What’d he buy?”

“Quick-keen. A dagger that can pass through armor like it ain’t there. Saved my life more than once, it did. Why, back in my third year as a climber—”

“How’s it know what qualifies as armor?” I interrupted.

He folded his arms. “Don’t ask me how it works, boy. You’re the one with the toy maker’s mark, not me.”

I made a rude two-fingered gesture and he gave a deep-belly laugh.

Lars leaned on a nearby countertop. “So, what’re you here for today? Going to try to cheat me out of my hard-earned loot, or maybe just my hard-earned money pile?”

“Well, if you’re offering to part with it—”

“Bah!” He slammed a fist on the counter, then winced and inspected the wood for cracks.

Typical.

“Just here for research, really. Although it might help bring you some business.” I stepped over to the closest table, pulling out a blank journal and a fountain pen. I’d bought them both recently out of necessity; the latter was an excellent tool for practicing runes, but much more expensive than traditional quill pens.

“Oh?” he asked skeptically. “And how’s that?”

I made a wide gesture across the store. “Everything here is too expensive for students. If I could sell you some cheap items—”

Lars shook his head. “Noble idea, lad, but I don’t sell cheap items for a reason . My customers know that anything they’re going to pick up here is going to help keep them alive in that tower.” He gestured toward the Serpent Spire’s location outside.

“Sure, but even a veteran climber could probably use a few more small trinkets, right?”

“Maybe, but I’m thinking no . When you wear items too close to each other, they tend to interfere with each other. You can only carry so many before they stop working. Or worse.”

I scratched my chin. I’d heard similar things before. “What if I could make something useful that you could still sell at a low price?”