A Soldiers Life - 205 - Cram Session

Chapter 205: Cram Session

Zyna didn’t return by dark, and I was left to my own devices. I spent most of the night in the alchemy lab doing prep work. I wanted to stockpile pellets if my time with the Hounds was approaching. The blindness and sneezing powder had been incalculably effective in the fight with the Pathfinders.

I worked late into the night, expecting Zyna to return. When I gave up on her return, I took the minor quickness essence and my only apex illusion essence and entered the dreamscape for a few hours.

After adding some orc pathfinders to the dreamscape, I quickly realized their fighting ability was inferior to that of the elite coliseum orcs. I let Konstantin engage them for a while before turning my attention to fighting both Konstantin and Xavier. It wasn’t a punishment I sought but rather a realization that I needed to be better prepared for the challenge of fighting multiple opponents simultaneously.

Before leaving the dreamscape, I delved into the spell forms of the illusion affinity. With one major essence of illusion remaining, I saw the potential to elevate the affinity beyond ten. The three lesser spell forms in the book piqued my interest: illusionary mask, which requires a ten affinity; shadow merge, which requires a fifteen affinity; and mirror image, which requires twenty. Each held a unique utility.

The illusionary mask spell created an illusion over a small area, about a cubic foot. Its primary use was disguising yourself with someone else’s face. The problem was it was a static image, meaning the lips would not move when you talked, and there were no facial expressions. The illusion did move with the mage, so it could be placed elsewhere in the body. The size of the illusion grew with the affinity as well, doubling in volume every ten points. But the spell form would never animate the illusion, turning me off from the selection.

Shadow merge didn’t actually merge you with the shadows. Instead, it was a powerful chameleon ability that perfectly blended with shadows. The problem was you couldn’t move out of the shadow, or you would break the spell. You could attack from the shadows, and it would not be disrupted, so it had some uses as an assassin skill.

Mirror image was much more interesting. It created a copy of a person or object from which the mage could walk away. The illusionary person was inanimate but would last for an hour after the mage abandoned it, or he could sustain it indefinitely by remaining in contact with it and supplying a trickle of aether.

All three options would have seemed fantastical before I had arrived in this world. Now, I needed to get the most utility out of every spell form I inscribed on my core. I hadn’t planned to review the mid-tier spell forms since I lacked the ability to imprint them. The mid-tier illusion spell forms had the good stuff. Alter self, invisibility, and silent sphere.

Alter self was the upgraded version of the illusionary mask. It changed the mage’s entire body, including their clothes. The illusion was an overlay, and facial expressions and clothes appeared to move naturally. It would be a way to blend into a crowd rapidly, but the affinity requirement was 30.

Invisibility was as advertised. It didn’t hide your scent, sound, or tracks. But as long as the mage focused and supplied aether, they would remain invisible. It had a lot of applications. The required affinity was also 30. The silent sphere created a bubble around the mage that moved out to fifteen feet with the mage. The sphere could be enlarged with a higher affinity.

I didn’t look at the higher-tier spell forms. Why lust after something I had no chance of getting? Exiting the dreamscape, I used the tablet reader and took in my illusion affinity—it was ten. It would end up at 12 or 13 with one major illusion affinity left. I was in the same dilemma as I was with learning a displacement spell form. The displacement spell forms I was interested in utilized much more aether than I had available.

With the illusion affinity, the best spell forms required an affinity of thirty. The only place I had gained the illusion essences was from the greater shapeshifters in the Shimmering Labyrinth, who were pretending to be elven children. I had no desire to return to the depths of that dungeon, but Konstantin had noted doppelgangers were not uncommon in cities, so perhaps with luck, I could find some. Was it prudent to wait or should I start learning illusionary mask? It would be useful, especially since no one would know I had the ability.

I went through my morning fitness routine on the balcony. The city seemed less lively, with fewer street lights lit and the moving lights of people. I rushed through the sword forms with the orc’s torment, magebane, and the black spear in the common room. I dressed in my common clothes and packed my resin-hide armor with plans to get it repaired by Ignis. Normally, Kolm would patch up our armor, and I would buff off the marks. But if I could get Ignis to do it for me for just a book—why not?

As I descended the towers, it was much quieter than normal, and the doors to all the libraries were closed. Was there a holiday, or had something happened? Very few mages wandered the courtyard, and the Imperial legionaries guarding the Imperial Grounds stopped me. “No one is to enter the palace grounds today, legionnaire.”

“Has something happened?” I asked while setting the bag of armor on the ground.

The old legionnaire looked confused that I didn’t know what was going on. “The city is under curfew, and only those summoned to the palace may enter. The mages are all discussing defense plans for the College and city. No classes are being held.”

I repeated myself, “Has something happened? Is Chancellor Zyna okay?”

He seemed agitated about having to explain things to me. Even after I had passed through his gate numerous times. “The orcs have launched attacks against the Empire on the seas, Varvao, and they even tried to assassinate young mages. As far as I know, all the Chancellors in the city are meeting with the Emperor.”

It was more information than I probably could have hoped for from the old legionnaire. I picked up my armor and thought it best to return to the tower. As I climbed the stairs, I thought about putting on my armor and sneaking out to the Adventurer’s Guild. It seemed like an opportune time to do so.

Another thought occurred to me. I stepped off the next landing and knocked softly on a door. No one answered, and I tried to open it. The double door was made of wood but had no lock. It groaned on its rarely used hinges as I pushed with my shoulder. When it was open enough, I dragged my armor inside and pushed it closed.

I recalled the mage curators of all the libraries were part of the college’s defense, so the libraries were abandoned. This library had spell forms and how to defend against spell forms. Hundreds of books lined the shelves, divided by affinity. There should be other spell forms for illusion affinity here. But I was also curious about some other spell forms for affinities I had yet to be able to find.

I groaned in disappointment as I didn’t find any books on the world affinity. However, there were about half a dozen books on void affinity. I paged through all of them and planned to evaluate them in the dreamscape. Even though my materialism affinity was only 9, I added books related to it next. I heard voices in the hall and paused until they faded away.

I moved to the illusion affinity and pulled the three books on lesser spell forms first and paged through them slowly. There were five more spell forms listed that only required a ten affinity: silent steps, light, night vision, dazzling lights, and ventriloquism.

Silent steps immediately caught my attention as it was a lesser form of a silent sphere that just affected a small radius around the mage’s feet. The simple light spell would be useful too but I had glowstones.

I passed by the time affinity books, paused, and backtracked. It would be useful information. I read about using the time affinity to reverse aging versus slow aging. Much of the text confirmed what Zyna had implied about the Emperor.

“…reverse the effects of aging using spells is always temporary as normal aging resumes immediately. During the rejuvenation process, the body returns to an earlier chronological state. It is important that the body has already been reinforced with physical essences; otherwise, the process will consume an unhealthy amount of tissue while being spelled.”

“It should also be noted the process does not cross over to mental attributes. To maintain a sharp mind for centuries, dungeon artifacts that incorporate the slow aging spell form are suggested to protect the mind and body from the inevitability of time. It is not understood why the human mind deteriorates past two centuries as the elves maintain mental acuity well past nine centuries…”

I stopped reading but paged to the end and then went and looked through the slow aging spell form and smiled. I hadn’t fucked up like I thought. Zyna must not have been aware. Oh, that is right. I never told her my concerns, and as she was unaware, I had imprinted the spell form for slow aging. Slow aging encompasses the mind and body in the process. It was an inefficient spell as it had to be maintained all the time, but as a spell form, it was extremely valuable.

I was a little giddy as I paged through the fire affinity and water affinities next. I was staring at the air affinities when the door groaned behind me. Soft whispers and grunts entered the room, and a skinny young mage in a gray robe stumbled. A youthful male followed, and they immediately turned to close the door. I was behind a shelf but could see them clearly through the books.

After they closed the door, they were breathing loudly and giggling to themselves. The straw-haired girl was leaning heavily against the door and listening. The boy reassured her. “They are supposed to be meeting all day. No one will find us here.” He moved into her and pinned her from behind to the door.

For a moment, I thought she was going to be raped and was going to intervene. But her neck strained back, and they kissed passionately. They were completely oblivious to my presence as their passions flared. Then she pushed him back, dropped her robe, and rushed him. He stumbled over my bag of armor, swearing violently as he fell, “Cupid’s curse!”

I heard a small pop as he braced himself with one hand, but the weight of two people broke his wrist. I recognized the sound of a broken bone well. “Nothing like some bad luck to spoil the moment,” I said, stepping out from behind the shelves.

The boy was holding in tears and trying not to sob from the pain. The young girl looked panic-stricken at her injured boyfriend and my appearance. I didn’t recognize either of them. The boy couldn’t hold onto his masculinity and started to scream, cradling his arm. I rolled my eyes and stepped to help, but his cries were heard in the hallway, and soon the door was being pressed open again with the hinges groaning.

One of the tower’s porters, a barrel-chested man I was familiar with, grunted as he entered and assessed the screams of pain. “Go get a healing mage,” I ordered as a servant also poked her head in.

The boy took minutes to calm. The straw-haired girl wanted to be anywhere but here by her epression, but more and more tower attendants and gray and white-robed mages crowded the door. I was slightly surprised when they parted, and Zyna entered the room. “What has happened here?” She demanded, and her eyes locked to mine. She did not look happy.

I answered before the two mages. “I was doing some research. These two entered.” The color drained from the young girl. I changed my mind about outing them. “They heard me inside and asked if they could also come and study. The boy tripped and landed awkwardly, breaking his arm.” Zyna’s eyes narrowed. I guess I was a bad liar because I could see she did not believe me.

“First Citizen Stella, go to your room. Mage Claudio, report to the infirmary.” The two young mages were soon gone, and the mage curator for this library arrived angry. The old woman didn’t like legionaries from my few encounters with her—or maybe it was just me. Zyna waved dismissively to calm her down, “Hadria, it has been handled. None of your books have been damaged.”

Mage Hadria did not believe the Chancellor and immediately moved into the shelves, where I suspected she would check every book. Zyna shook her head. “Sentinel, go and prepare my dinner.” I nodded compliantly, picked up my armor, and climbed the tower.

Zyna arrived as I was making a bear roast for her. “What really happened?” She demanded.

“I was studying in the library. The two mages entered and didn’t see me. They were in the process of getting undressed, and the boy tripped and broke his arm.” I explained.

She just sighed. “Well, if First Citizen Stella wants to sully herself, her father can handle it. Baron Martyn is not a forgiving man. Maybe I can have Mage Claudio sent to the western border.”

I stopped her self-monologue. “What has been happening?”

“What hasn’t been happening?! The orcs are attacking shipping all along the coast. All merchant ships have been warned to stay in port. The Emperor refuses to pull the Navy away from the threat posed by the Esenhem elves, and the orcs will soon be raiding small towns all along the coast.” I could understand her anger as one of those towns was her tiny Barony.

Zyna wasn’t done yet. “The Emperor continues to plan to march himself to Macha and the dig site against the advice of his Chancellors.” She looked at me, “Just a minute ago, I was pulled from the assembly for the city’s defense, saying my sentinel had attacked a pair of mages.”

I laughed out loud to kill her frustration. “You should definitely fire him then. Send that traitorous sentinel far to the south to pick cabbage.”

“Since I returned, I have had to refuse seven requests for your services from dukes and counts.” She let out an evil smirk, “One of those requests was by Duke Octavian on behalf of his niece, Mage Ona.”

My heart thudded in my chest. Cashius’ twin sister had requested me to serve her? That made little sense. “Why?”

“Cornelius completed his report and every Duke, Count and Baron in the city has read it. The Pathfinders were targeting the mages. Not Renna specifically, but all of them. The necromancer confirmed it on questioning the dead Hounds.” She let that sink in while she got herself a drink. “You killed nine Pathfinders alone. With the Empire about to be besieged, every First Citizen is looking for a shield to hide behind when the fireballs and lightning start flying.”

“Harpy’s tits,” I cursed.

“Don’t worry. Cornelius’ report had another purpose. Your skills are needed in the Hounds. He will come and collect you in a week.” She drained her glass. I thought I would have looked forward to training with the Hounds, but not so much anymore.

We were both silent for a while, and the smell of the roast filled the kitchen. I hesitated momentarily, weighing our trust, then pulled an amulet from my dimensional space and placed it between us. “How do I use this?”

Zyna’s eyes were puzzled as she reached for it. She had probably expected the dreamscape amulet, but this was something else. “Where did you obtain this? From the orcs? It looks like an elven artifact.” She studied it closely for a while, turning it in her hands.

“It probably is elven. It is an arcane armor amulet. How do I use it?” I asked patiently as she continued to study it. I could feel a hint of aether from her as she explored it.

Her eyes went wide in surprise after a few minutes. “No, this is not an arcane armor amulet. It is something much more precious.” Her serious eyes studied mine, and she repeated herself. “Where did you get this, Eryk?”

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