World Sphere - 78 - Serious Talk

Chapter 78: Serious Talk

Gareth waited outside as the naval steward led me to an office inside the richly furnished house. Sebastian was at his desk, but my attention was drawn to the walls that were covered in the schematics of the Harbinger-class warship and the Wasp-class scout. Notes were everywhere about wood types and sourcing materials. Sebastian looked up, a smile quickly forming.

“Storme! What a surprise! Is something wrong? I never expected you to visit me in the capital,” the older mage said as he stood up and cracked his back from sitting so long. Then he walked over and we shook wrists firmly.

“It has been a long time, Sebastian. I came to ask questions and seek advice from you,” I said. We released our wrists and my eyes drifted to the detailed drawings on his walls, comparing them mentally to my book on the Wind Splitter.

Sebastian moved beside me. “You must have grown three inches since I last saw you. I didn’t see you fight in the Annuals, but Cilia said you were remarkable. Thank you for getting her assigned to Loriel Miaden’s staff. It relieved a burden on my mind knowing she is free of the influence of Abaddon and the Bricios.”

I turned and looked at Sebastian. He looked much older than I remembered. Dark circles lined the orbits of his eyes and there looked to be more wrinkles on his face. I spoke honestly, “I didn’t play a role in Cilia’s assignment. I am here for information and advice. I also have a communication stone for you from Callem.” I passed him the stone, and he looked at it in his hand thoughtfully.

“Thank you, Storme. I will talk with Callem when I get the time. There has been a crackdown for fear of spies, but I should be able to keep this.” He put the stone in his pocket and added, “Cilia has professed your friendship with Loriel is somewhat strained.” I started laughing so hard I couldn’t speak.

When I regained myself, I offered, “Loriel is more like a thorn in my side.” I sighed, “But I will admit Cilia is probably in good hands. I think Loriel is selfish but will look after her own.”

I pressed Sebastian for one of the reasons I was here. “Loriel told me she is worried about the state of Skyholme and civil unrest. She has made plans, and it is prompting me to do the same. I am ready to start building my own skyship, and I came here for advice and to ask how quickly I need to complete it.”

Sebastian furrowed his brow and looked thoughtful. He eventually directed me to the kitchen, and we sat. He poured me a glass of his favorite red juice and spiked his drink with some of Callem’s vodka. It took him a moment as he corralled his thoughts. “Civil unrest,” he said heavily. “No. I don’t think it will come to that. Granted, I am mostly on the outside looking in. They have me focused on getting eight new Harbingers sky-worthy before the new year. I am either working in my office or at the shipyards.”

“So there won’t be a draft for mages,” I asked, digging.

Sebastian let out a sigh. “That will happen. We can barely crew the fleet currently in the air. We need six strong mages for each of the eight Harbingers I am building.”

“How strong?” I asked.

Sebastian looked me in the eye. “An upper-tier mage has an aether pool between 70 and 100. They are needed to keep the ship’s primary power aether crystal charged in battle,” he explained. “I haven’t seen the official roles, but I know several retired mages have been returned to service after the Sadian attack. Any mages forced into service are being given a dungeon essence and a healthy wage. They shouldn’t complain too strongly.”

Sebastian was dancing around the question. “Do I need to rush the construction of my skyship?” I pressed.

Sebastian relaxed in his chair and finished his drink in one swig. “I would say the next Sadian attack is years away. We bloodied them, as they bloodied us. Their alliance with the beastkin has eliminated one of the threats to their kingdom in the lowlands, but they still border other nations. When their strength does rise again…if they have the same number of ships…Skyholme may fall,” he admitted grudgingly.

“We lost some of the strongest and most brilliant captains to win this last engagement because of interference and incompetence. Our best hope is for the Bricios to be knocked from power,” he said icily. He looked around like he suspected someone of jumping out and arresting him. “They have placed their personal wealth and power above the security of Skyholme. Good men like Callem Dregalla have been pushed aside or assassinated so the Bricios can maintain their influence. We have been greatly weakened, and only now is everyone waking up to the reality the Bricios are at fault.”

“Isn’t this your best-case scenario? People turning on the Bricios?”  I questioned.

“Storme, a cornered wyvern is more dangerous than fighting a wyvern in the open sky. The Bricios will not give up their wealth or power easily. They are entrenched deeply in other families, control the Inquisition, and have officers on every skyship.” He poured himself more juice without Callem’s vodka.

“It is not for you to worry about such things. It will be years, and we will have a warning, Storme.” He smiled and looked twenty years younger. “Now, you wanted to build a skyship? Let’s talk about that! Are you going to build another Wind Splitter? And how is your progress coming on the two spells I gave you?”

I grinned proudly. “I have imprinted both those spells.”

“Fantastic, Storme! Callem said you were special!” He slapped the table hard in excitement.

Pride welled within me, but I stayed focused on the skyship, “What advice do you suggest for building a skyship? I have a concealed hanger in Aegis City. It is large enough for the Wind Splitter if you wish to visit.”

Sebastian’s face fell. He drank his juice in one go again. “The Wind Splitter was commandeered as a scout by the navy and was downed in the Sadian attack.” He laughed painfully, “Still waiting on receiving fair compensation.” Sebastian sat taller. “Let’s talk about how to build a skyship from the ground up.”

“You will need a shipwright. Most of building a skyship is math. Lots and lots of math. You will also need an experienced foreman to manage the build. Also, you will need a professional wood shaper to build the wooden skeleton. Lumber not dried and molded by magic is too unreliable. You could go with a metal frame, but that is usually reserved for ships traveling outside of the Sphere and requires a much larger aether crystal to keep it aloft. And you will also need an experienced artificer—that will be very expensive. A few laborers would round out your build team.” Sebastian finished and corked the juice so he wouldn’t drink any more.

My mind went to Remy. He had affinities in math and engineering and seemed to be a perfect candidate. Isla wanted to be the foreman, procuring materials, and if I had no other choice, I would go with her. I planned to do the runic artificing myself. The shaper was my biggest hurdle. A shaper was a mage capable of shaping and hardening wood.

Sebastian interrupted my wandering thoughts, “You also need a large aether core to power your vessel. A ship the size of the Wind Splitter should have at least a tier 5 blue crystal core. I would say at least 10,000 units in size. That is about 13,000 gold for the ship’s power crystal alone, Storme. And that is just good enough for traveling between the islands.” I nodded absently. Hopefully, I could find something better when I was ready to finish my skyship.

When I didn’t reply, Sebastian thought I was concerned about the cost and offered a suggestion. “An airship is much simpler and would cost much less he offered.” I shook my head. An airship was much slower and was assisted by the wind most of the time.

I brought out the manual from my storage space, and we spent the next three hours going over the plans in detail, and Sebastian advised me on the materials. When we finished, Sebastian said he would talk to an old shaper for me. He had built civilian traders for over seventy years and was retired, but he might be convinced to join me on this project. I thanked Sebastian for his time and left.

I found Gareth sitting on the steps to the small villa across from Sebastian’s residence. He looked up miserable. I approached knowing he was going to inform me of his current misery. “Can you do me a favor, Storme, and not tell Fera?” I knew he was referring to the Nina, the waitress.

“Gareth, we are brothers. I will not tell Fera. But I will also not lie to her if she asks me,” I said solemnly. He looked at me, slightly abashed and nodded.

“Thanks, Storme. That is fair,” he said while contemplating his life decisions.

When we landed in Hen’s Hollow, I went to talk to Callem. I told Callem I gave Sebastian the communication stone and what we had discussed. Aelyn and Ennet returned during our conversation. Aelyn sat down and told me about the delve that morning.

They went in with Gimble, Sammie, Talia, Ullmark, Lana, and herself. Ullmark was the old delver I had been trying to recruit. Aelyn described him when I asked about him. “Ullmark was good to have along. He served on the front with Sammie. It felt more like we had two instructors with us, Ullmark and Gimble. We didn’t harvest a lot of honey, as Lana’s dimensional storage was much smaller than yours, Storme.”

Callem added his thoughts. “Sounds like you got lucky, Storme. Ullmark sounds like a great addition to your team. I will check and make sure he is not connected to any of the families.”

“I do not think he is. He was just along to see us in action. He hasn’t made a decision yet to join Shiny Platinum Delving. Remy paid him twice his normal fee, in order to get him to join us. But I think Sammie might have won him over. He was treating her like his long-lost daughter while they fought on the front line, teaching her while protecting her.”

“Still, it is better to be certain the families don’t have their claws into him. Anyone competent in the islands has some attachment or debt,” Callem said seriously. “Wynna, Ennet, and I are going to the Shiny Platinum on 4th day to see the apartments. I can talk to Ullmark then.”

“That is fine, Callem. Ullmark used to delve the Bricio dungeon but quit because he was disgusted with working for them. I thought he had decent morals and thought he could help the team on the lower levels of the Frost Vault,” I said, explaining my reasoning. Knowing he was a Bricio asset made him frown but he didn’t say anything.

Callem left, and I spent an hour talking with Aelyn alone in the kitchen. She shared her adventures in the Frost Vault this morning, and I listened and asked questions when needed. I left when Ennet came into the kitchen to make dinner. Not feeling up to cooking for four, I excused myself.

I went to the larder in the academy, made a few sandwiches, and locked myself in the artificing classroom. Now that I was the only student of Aldon, I shouldn’t be disturbed. I used an arcane lock on the door and windows. I followed this by anchoring privacy screens over the door and window.

I brought out a few staves to practice my enchanting. I followed this with material and the runic scripts for the instant change of direction. This would allow me to change the direction of a swing instantly, but it would also cause a backlash to my body. When these runes were installed on a skyship, the change of direction had an inertia sink, so the passengers didn’t feel the change in acceleration or deceleration.

The runes for an inertia sink needed to be applied to a large mass, making them infeasible to be added to a weapon. I had a cheat, as my lightning reflexes spell had protections for such rapid speed alterations. The staff was a proof of concept for me. It took an hour as I had to enchant both ends of the staff.

I tested the staff at full force and broke my left wrist. I swore and was glad I now had the lesser restoration spell to heal the broken bones. After I healed the damage, I worked to figure out the issue. After two more tests, I found the issue.

The change of direction was magnified to twice the expected speed because both ends of the staff activated on each strike. The torque from the first strike had been so high that it easily overcame my lightning reflexes spell defenses. Now that I understood the issue, I began practicing with my new toy. I just needed to make sure I was prepared and had my hands appropriately positioned and didn’t try to fight the whip effect.

I returned to my room to find Gareth lying on the bed, lamenting. “I told her, Storme, I decided I couldn’t hide it from her. I told Fera about Nina. She slapped me and isn’t talking to me again.” I shook my head at my friend and patted him on the shoulder. I was glad that I wasn’t the one to have to tell Fera.

“You did what your conscience told you to do,” I said, consoling him. I then produced a sandwich from my storage and handed it to him. “Food always makes you feel better.” He munched away, spilling crumbs onto his bed, knowing I would clean up after him with my spell.

I set the alarms and arcane locks, and I crashed heavily on my bed and set up a privacy screen. I made some mithril and then summoned two spell books. I had been working on the thermostatic aura spell, but now had the tissue extraction as well. Both spells were tier 3 and in the healing sphere. I felt like I was getting extremely close to imprinting the thermostatic aura spell, so I put the tissue extraction spell away and continued to study it.

The next day, Gareth’s self-inflicted misery had me eating all meals with Mia, Fera, and Mera as Gareth was rightly ostracized. The meal conversation all centered on Gareth’s wandering lust. Then in the evening, I had to listen to Gareth bemoan his own idiocy. I was making a concerted effort not to get involved. This was how my tortuous week proceeded.

My personal progress in magic was much better. I imprinted the thermostatic aura on the 2nd day and moved on to imprinting the tissue extraction spell. The thermostatic aura had two primary evolution paths. The first was controlling the temperature, and the second was increasing the area of effect.

On learning the spell, I only controlled the temperature three inches from my skin. I could adjust that temperature by 50 degrees in either direction. My evolution at level one was to increase the temperature range to 150 degrees. Each progressive evolution invested in this, which increased the range by another 100 degrees, but drew more aether. I would need about ten evolutions to be able to walk through fire unharmed. The spell book noted the adult dragon’s fire burned around 4000 degrees, so I knew I could not stand in front of such a nightmare.

The other tract for this spell was to increase the range to encompass other people. My next four evolutions would focus on increasing the aura bubble out to four feet. That would allow eight people to surround me comfortably. I would be happy to travel the Frost Vault dungeon now without layering up my clothes.

During the week, I leveled up and evolved a number of spells. Lesser restoration reached level 7, and I added the evolution perfect skin. This was a huge improvement over the scar removal and body sculpting evolutions from my mend flesh spell. Now I could handle old burns, birthmarks, and remove or add body hair.

My cleanliness spell had reached level 20, getting closer to the level 23 goal. I had been investing a lot of aether into this spell and was eager to be able to use it on another person.

When my dimensional closet reached evolution level 17, I decided to increase its height by 2 feet. Once my aether core finished developing, the space would be roughly 19 feet in dimension. I planned to build a deck inside it. The second floor would have an 8-foot ceiling, while the first floor would have a 10-foot ceiling. When I started constructing my skyship, I could secretly bring in materials with my space and keep it secret.

My alarm spell reached level 17, and I increased the volume of the sound. It was somewhat deafening if it was activated near an ear. I would need to add one more sound increase to get the flash-bang effect that I was seeking. I also needed to protect my own ears from the loud sound with a separate evolution.

My heavily used privacy spell reached level 14, and at level 13, I added the air recycling effect to my containment bubble. Between my thermostatic aura and privacy bubble, I could survive in extremely harsh environments now. That is as long as my aether didn’t run out.

On the 5th day, Callem talked to me about his visit with Ullmark during his visit to Aegis City. Apparently, he was much older than he appeared, as he had a slow aging ability. He was a fan of Callem back in Callem’s days in the Annuals Tourney.

He was joining the dungeon team for a few sword lessons from Callem. Callem had never displayed hubris before, but now I could see a flicker of it. Ullmark had watched Callem win all his titles. Ullmark would talk with me when I visited the Shiny Platinum.

Before the 7th day, I had made some surprising progress on my aether core. I managed to stir the core, stirring the vortex. It was not stable and settled when my attention wandered, but I found that when I focused, I could increase my aether core filling by about 25% faster while I meditated on the movement. The ultimate goal was to stabilize the vortex, so it was maintained subconsciously. Since my aether core was still expanding, that was going to be extremely difficult, according to Selina.

Early in the morning, Gareth, Aelyn, Fera, Mera, Mia, Callem, Wynna, Ennet, Freya, and I boarded the transport to Aegis City. Freya had convinced me to let her see the Shiny Platinum. I knew it was so she could brag to her friends, but I was ok with that as long as she asserted Callem owned the building. While I was in the dungeon, I would task Wynna and Ennet with keeping an eye on her.

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