Millennial Mage

Tala and Mistress Holly entered into the back room of the workshop and sat down at a not-usually-present set of table and chairs.

The table held steaming tea, ready and waiting.

The tea was one that Tala couldn’t quite place, but it went down smoothly, and she felt herself relax as the warmth spread through her.

“Now, Mistress Tala. We will be doing basically all the tests we did in preparation for your Refining, so that we can compare the results as a way to measure your body’s recovery and improvement.”

Tala took another sip, sighed, and nodded. “Out of curiosity, shouldn’t we wait until I am physically fully recovered?”

“We will need to take another set of measurements then as well, but we need to head off any potential issues now, if they exist. So, we can’t wait any longer.”

“Very well. I expected as much.”

“Good. Do you have any questions?”

“Honestly? Yes. I have quite a few, but not really about this process.”

As Tala settled back in her chair, she realized that she hadn’t invited Terry to join her.

She opened Kit and called to him. The terror bird flickered to her shoulder, where he headbutted her cheek, and curled up.

Tala stroked the avian, then turned back to Mistress Holly. “Sorry. My questions. What was that black gunk?”

“That is actually a subject of some debate. Once it separates from an Archon, it begins to fade. Any attempt to perform tests upon it, or direct magical scanning at it either utterly fails or seems to speed up its fading.”

“And if it remains on the Archon?”

“Then attempting tests or scans causes it to retreat back into the Mage, harming the Refining.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “Could my magesight have triggered that?”

“Oh, no. Your magesight wouldn’t have seen anything from it, but you probably already know that. It would be simple deadspace to that perception.”

“Are there any guesses on what it might be?”

“The most prevalent theory is that the 'gunk' is a purely conceptual substance.”

“How does that make sense? Shouldn’t it have to be material?”

“In theory, no. Not that we understand conceptual magics that well.”

“And so it would be… what? The concept of bodily corruption?”

“That’s as good a guess as any, honestly.”

“Well, in either case, I’m glad that it didn’t retreat and harm my Refining.”

“Quite. We would not have left your magesight active if it could harm you.”

Tala grimaced. “You didn’t seem to mind hurting me.”

“I never claimed differently. The pain, the hurt, was for your own good, and was required because of your condition.”

She frowned. “But you just said…”

Mistress Holly sighed and shook her head. “Harm and hurt are very different things, Mistress Tala. I think you know that to be true. For example, a parent’s discipline must hurt to be meaningful, whether that hurt is physical, financial, social, or otherwise, but it should never harm.”

“Ahh, I see the difference. Hurt is painful, but that fades, while harm is damaging in the end.”

“Precisely.”

She took a deep breath and asked one of the more important questions, trying to not let her voice tremble with either anger or remembered agony, “So, why did you allow me to experience so much pain?”

“Do you remember when I rendered you unconscious to inscribe parts of you?”

“Yes.”

“What happened when you woke up?”

Tala’s eyes widened just slightly as she understood. “The sum total of all the pain I would have felt hit me at once.”

“That, if done for the Refining, would have killed you, almost without question. The pain you felt was mostly on the soul-level, as one of your soul-bonds, specifically your body, was broken down and stripped of pieces of its makeup.”

“Stripped of who knows what.”

“Well, we know the results, but that doesn’t really help us concretely identify the substance.” Mistress Holly gave a rueful smile. “In fact, us knowing the results lets us extrapolate the connecting concept of what was removed, which is why the ‘conceptual substance’ theory holds so much weight.”

“And those known results are?”

“Refined gain incredible multiplicative increases to throughput, magical density, inscription efficiency, and magical control. An end to physical degradation due to time. An almost total immunity to non-magical disease and poison. A perfecting of your genetic code, to be passed down to any offspring. Physical capacity is amplified as well to an incredible degree. Mental functions are lifted to completely new heights.”

Mistress Holly clearly saw Tala’s confused frown.

“All of this will manifest as your body solidifies in its new state. There are many more-specific benefits, but they all are understood to fall under what I already stated. These are some of the reasons why we implement the reconstruction inscriptions before Refining. Aside from making the process easier, they make the results better, too.”

Tala grunted. Terry seemed to be getting bored, so he flickered to a corner, where he contentedly curled up to wait.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

She only hesitated a moment before shrugging. “I suppose not.”

“I didn’t want to ask before, because I didn’t want to influence your decision, especially when you had an expert to consult. Now that it’s done, though, what was your reasoning behind binding the dasgannach with your weapon as opposed to your elk-leathers?”

Tala grunted. She’d actually given it a lot of thought and talked it through with Mistress Aurius. Tala had been inclined to use Flow, and her research and talks had only reinforced the decision. “That’s simple enough. The elk-leathers and dasgannach were too similar. One would have subsumed the other, and I’d have been left with one that could somewhat pretend to be the other. Flow and the dasgannach were distinct enough, with marginal overlap, that they should now be able to complement each other, rather than overriding or fighting for supremacy.”

Mistress Holly nodded. “That would have been my fear as well. I’m glad to know that you got good advice, and it’s also nice to confirm that I’m not so ignorant in the field to have missed the mark.”

Tala grunted again. She was almost frustrated with Mistress Holly, but she realized that it wasn’t Mistress Holly’s job to hold her hand in such decisions, especially when they lay outside her expertise. Mistress Holly had gone above and beyond, finding an expert for Tala to work with, after all.

The Inscriber titled her head in thought, seeming content with Tala’s response. “Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. What else did you want to ask?”

“Soul bonds.”

“They aren’t my area of study, but I’ll answer if I can.”

“It has been implied to me that I shouldn’t have more than eight at any one time.”

“That is fairly standard, sound advice, yes.”

“I have Flow, my elk-leathers, my Archive link, and my body, right? Does my body count?”

“In almost every sense, yes.” Mistress Holly’s smile shifted towards a wry grin. “Except toward that limit. While you’re Bound? It counts and is like any soul-bound tool, in every basic sense. Once you Fuse though, you basically do to your body and soul what you just did to your weapon and the dasganach.”

Tala blinked a few times, processing what Mistress Holly had said. “So, because my body is Fused with my soul, it doesn’t count as a bond?”

“For soul-strain, no, it doesn’t count.”

“So, I have five more slots?”

“You? I have no idea. There are so many extenuating circumstances that might have affected the strength, flexibility, and durability of your soul in ways I have no clue how to understand nor quantify. Standardly? Yes, I’d say four more tools and a spouse would be the limit.” She held up a finger. “Though, I wouldn’t rush into any of those bonds until you were utterly sure.”

“Absolutely not. So, the dasgannach and Flow are just a single bond?”

“That is usually the point of a merging. If you were set on doing all your bonding now, I would be comfortable telling you to only add four more bonds, but as the merging settles over time, it will only strain your soul as much as a single bond in the end.” She narrowed her eyes at Tala. “I feel the need to emphasize that this is meant as an upper limit, not a goal. Most Archons end up with four or five tools of various natures.”

“Offensive, defensive, storage, and Archive connection?”

“Generally, yes. Each of those takes a different form, within reason. So, it’s not like it’s a standard set of gear by any means. There are also obviously Archons who end up with a different set entirely, and almost no one who stops before Refining has a soul-bound Archive connection, so it’s only vaguely accurate.”

“Thank you for that clarification. In that same vein, what does it mean for my bonds that I am now Refined?”

“On the surface level, they are going to Refine as well, though it will take longer for them, and it is an automatic process. In the case of inanimate objects, we’ve not observed any of the black sludge, either. When you Fused, the change was mainly in you, and you likely gained greater control over them and simply had more power to grant to them for their usage. Now, however, both you and your bonds will end up altered.”

Tala opened her mouth in shock, but Mistress Holly held up her hand.

“Altered isn’t the right word, but it’s also the best one I have. You will find them both more efficient and able to handle more power. Your Archive connection will likely allow for faster transfer of information at the very least as well. That is a relatively standard item, so the results are somewhat known. It’s especially well studied because very few bond one before Refined, so those that do are watched closely. Master Nadro implied that you are already starting to be able to use that connection for real-time communication, rather than simply for the sharing of notes. Is that correct?”

“It is, yes.”

“That would have been much more difficult, if not impossible before Refining.”

-She’s right. We could obviously have done it if I stopped backing up your mind, and other uses of the Archive, but it still would have been a strain.-

But, that’s silly. Why would communicating in real time take that much informational throughput?

-The Archive is secure, not fast, perhaps? It’s also designed as an informational repository. It is much easier to give it information than to relay information through it.-

Hmm… That sounds like there’s some sort of conceptual backing to it, and that’s causing this nonsensical duality of capacity.

-That is in line with our earlier guesses.-

“Alright. I think I understand.”

“Now, do you have other questions, or should we get to the tests?”

“Just one more, unless your answer keys off more.”

Mistress Holly smiled and took another sip of tea. “Ask away.”

“My fusing feels… off somehow. Strained? Tangled? Something in that vein.”

Tala had looked into her inner view of her fusing and found the massive, crocheted field to be rather less ordered than it had been when she had Fused. Specifically, the part which represented her body seemed to have been cut apart and put back together, no longer quite fully intermeshed with her spirit and soul.

It wasn’t in a way that made it seem like the whole thing would pull apart, but it was definitely not how she had left it.

“Ahh, yes. That is expected.”

“Does it have to do with the changes due to Refining?”

“It does. This is a known result, and not one that you should deal with at the moment.”

“But I could?”

“You can’t. Well, I mean of course you could fix it, but it isn’t worth your time and effort. It would be foolish, so you shouldn’t.”

Tala frowned. “What do you mean?”

Mistress Holly sighed. “Because every step from here forward will make the Fusing worse, but it won’t break it. If you aimed to keep it perfected, you would need to fully undo it and start over to make it right, and then you’d have to redo that for every single step between Refined and Paragon, then again for each major progression towards Reforging. And then yet again when you headed towards Ascending.”

“And then towards Transcendent, too?” Tala finished for the woman with a sigh.

“Well, no.” Mistress Holly smiled knowingly. “While to my knowledge, we don’t have definitive proof, the most prevalent theory is that moving from Ascending to Transcendent is simply a matter of doing precisely this, meaning re-Fusing. At that time, your body, soul, and spirit will have been cleansed and it’s just a matter of aligning and interweaving them. Thus, the final step is simply to recombine them into a coherent, perfected whole.”

Tala felt her mouth hanging slightly open. She just… told me?

She blinked a few times, uncertain if she’d misunderstood.

Alat… did she just tell me how to reach a certain, future advancement?

-Well, yes, but to be fair it was a theory, and still an incredible distance from where we are.-

I have to test this. What else will she tell me? “Does that mean you can tell me what the other advancements take?”

“Yes but no.” Mistress Holly’s smile turned wry. “Paragon? Yes. Reforged? Yes, but I highly recommend that you wait to learn that bit of knowledge for at least a year, if not until you are a Paragon. Ascending? Yes, but it is recommended that you wait until you are a Paragon, otherwise you will make the process of reaching that advancement much harder.”

Tala frowned. “Aren’t we set up to hide these secrets, to make progression easier? Isn’t that the point of the previous secrecy?”

The Inscriptionist snorted. “No, not at all. We hide the things that would make advancement basically impossible. These bits of information will just make it much harder, so we allow the individual Archon to decide.”

“I see… Well, I’d at least like to know what it takes to become a Paragon.”

“Of course. Like Refining, it is incredibly simple in concept, but difficult to enact. Blessedly, it is an internal process, as Fusing was, not one requiring exterior assistance or intervention.”

Tala nodded, waiting expectantly.

“Becoming a Paragon simply requires releasing a mortal view of this world and your experiences within it.”

What now?

-What now?-

Tala scrunched her face in confusion, but no clarity came with a moment’s thought. So, she asked, “What now?”

Mistess Holly smiled. “You must allow yourself—and your spirit—to let go of a limited view of reality. You must allow your thinking, along with your emotional responses, to become that of the next world, thus allowing your spirit—and the half of your soul that remains here—to better align with the half of your soul that is in the next world.”

Tala’s scrunched face became a grimace as her parents immediately came to mind and anger built within her. So, I have to acknowledge that, in light of the next world, their betrayal is rather meaningless? There. I did it. Are you happy?

-Tala, I don’t think that’s what that means, and I don’t think you do either.-

Mistress Holly sighed. “I know you have much to work through. I will tell you one thing that my master told me when I had reached this step. ‘This is not about freeing those who have wronged you. It is about freeing yourself.’”

Tala looked over to the other woman in confusion. “I might still be a bit fuzzy, but I don’t think I understand.”

“Let me tell you a story as an analogy.”

She nodded and leaned back, continuing to enjoy her tea.

“Long ago, there was a group of Mages who avoided iron entirely to prevent any tainting of even their mental foundations for magic. It was a core tenant of their group, and an unthinkable breach to have any interactions with iron.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “They’d have loved me.”

Mistress Holly smiled in return. “Quite. But you understand the setting?”

“I do.”

“Important to the story is that this was when humanity lived in the countryside, moving around in smaller groups. This is before the cycle of cities was established.”

“Alright.”

“So, a master and mageling of this group were walking through the countryside, and they came across an overturned cart. It seemed that a wheel had broken, causing the contents of the cart to fall out onto the man who had been walking alongside, prodding the oxen.

“Now, the cart had been loaded with long iron rods, each two inches thick, and the cartman was basically unhurt but utterly pinned under the jumble of rods.”

“I think I can see the conflict of the tale.” Tala’s mouth quirked up into a half smile.

“Shh.” Even so, the Inscriptionist smiled in return. “The master, without hesitation, rushed forward, grabbed the iron rods and with tremendous strength, brought on by his magics, freed the man. Less than a minute later, the two Mages were on their way, and the cartman was already working to repair his vehicle, no longer needing their help.”

Mistress Holly paused to take a sip of tea before continuing.

“The two continued walking after that, and the mageling was understandably conflicted. His master had violated the strictures of their group and had touched iron. More than that, it wasn’t a simple accidental brush with the metal. He had purposely grabbed it over and over, even utilizing magic to allow him to effectively work with it.

“Finally, when they had nearly reached the end of their trip, and the day was drawing to a close, the mageling couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Master, how could you do something against our ideals?’ the young man asked. ‘You willfully touched iron, endangering your mental foundations.’

“The master turned to his mageling and gave a sad smile, ‘My boy, I touched the iron for but a moment; you have been carrying it all day.’”

Silence fell in the room as both women enjoyed their tea.

Mistress Holly seemed content to wait for Tala to fully process.

Finally, Tala nodded. “So, it isn’t about what happened, it is about your mindset?”

The Inscriptionist sighed, setting her teacup aside. “Yes and no. Let me try a more ‘real’ example: Your Refining was traumatic.”

Tala felt her eye twitch at the change in topic. “Yes, it was.”

“And I led you into it.”

She grit her teeth but responded again, “Yes, you did.”

“You could hate me for that. You could leave and refuse to ever see me again. There is no question that your view of me has changed, but you are still here, listening to me and willing for me to still help you. Either response makes perfect sense given what you have gone through.”

Tala didn’t have a response.

“So, let me ask you this: If you chose to hate me and avoid me, who would be harmed? Would your hatred—your avoidance of me—cause me any lasting harm?”

After a moment’s thought, Tala had to concede, “No, it wouldn’t.”

“But would it harm you?”

“Probably…”

“That is what I mean. Few things are so clear cut, even the situation surrounding your Refining, but it is a good analogy.”

“I’m still not sure I quite understand.”

Mistress Holly smiled again, more softly this time. “That’s understandable and more than fine. If you truly understood, you’d already be a Paragon. You are young, yet. Give it time. Master Grediv is a wonderful resource, too. He will likely have a slightly different perspective and might convey it in a way you would understand better.”

Tala grunted. Then, she gave Mistress Holly a side-eyed look. “So, your master told you that tale?”

“Yes.”

“When you were in my position, Refined and looking towards the advancement to Paragon?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you are Refined? As basic and pure a yellow as I’ve ever seen?”

Mistress Holly smiled mischievously. “Am I? I don’t generally think on such things.”

Tala opened her mouth to comment further, but Mistress Holly stood up.

“Now, we should really get to the tests, Mistress Tala. I have much else that I need to do this week.”

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