Chapter 251 - Quiet Preparation

Sorry for the delay. This chapter was finished yesterday but I didn't hated the first draft! Completely rewrote it from scratch today.

There was no hiding how pleased Hump was that Celaine wanted to join him in leaving Drakalyn once this was all over, though it was easy to forget once she started to reveal the details of her dinner. Vamir joined them for a few drinks, during which she recounted the tale.

"What a sorry excuse for a keeper,” Vamir spat, shaking his head. “I’ll speak with Tessa. I’m sure she can arrange for you to be put into one of the other keeper squads.”

Celaine smiled. “Thank you.”

“At least you got a good hit on him,” Hump said, trying his best at a reassuring smile. “He’ll know better than to mess with you again.”

“Yeah. Well, I guess it is what it is.”

There was a sadness to Celaine at that, and Hump could guess why. Arsehole or not, Finnian had been a friend of hers since childhood. To be treated so poorly by him had to sting.

They moved on from the topic, Nisha soon settling in Hump’s lap and falling asleep. Later that evening, Hump decided it was time to commit to his next spell. He’d had his day of rest. Now he needed to get back to his training.

“I like the first one,” Walt said, his soul stone illuminating the table in Vamir’s house.

Hump glanced at him. “Molten Stone? Why?”

“It fits with all the lava powers you’ve got going on,” Walt said haphazardly. “It’s thematic. It’ll sound better in a song, and you could get more girls. You like girls, don’t you? Wait… do you like girls or are you a girl?”

Hump frowned, taking a moment to process the comment, slowed down by a little too much of Vamir’s own version of Drakalyn’s favourite spirit, Fire. “Right… thanks for that Walt.” He turned to Vamir and Celaine. “How about you two?”

Vamir’s eyes were stuck on Walt, still not entirely sure what to make of him. “As much as I’d like to agree with your strange, ghost friend—”

“We prefer spirit, thank you,” Walt interrupted. Then quickly stammered, “Not that it’s a big deal or anything. Honestly, call me whatever you like… Sir.”

“Calling him strange was a bit rude though,” Celaine added.

Hump nodded. “Don’t take it to heart, Walt. Vamir once told me I’m not a real wizard.”

“He did, did he?” Walt asked. “You’re a wizard? Oh, I knew that.”

“Called me short too,” Hump said. “And underpaid me for setting up his tent.”

“Some people, huh,” Walt said. “The nerve.”

“I did not underpay you!” Vamir said, affronted. “A silver coin for a few minutes work was a good deal.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Hump said. “But everything else was true!” He noticed Celaine squinting at him, thinking about something. “What?”

“I was just trying to think of whether there’s anyone that hasn’t called you short?”

Hump laughed.

“Anyway…” Vamir said. “Back to the matter at hand. Neither Molten Stone nor Daybreak are earth affinity. I can see a use in both, particularly the latter when it comes to facing off against undead, but from the sounds of it you’re overly reliant on burning things already.”

“You agree with my thinking then?” Hump said.

Vamir nodded. “It makes sense to stick with an earth spell for now, yes.”

“I think so too,” Celaine said. “You’ve got enough fire spells. The other two would be useful if we come up against something with fire resistance.”

“Right. So that narrows it down to two.”

Hump looked at his spellbook, willing it to show the two choices on either side of the page. The ink swirled, words and formations emerging in spiralling strands of liquid essence.

SPELLBOOK
Seismic Sunder

Evocation | Battle Magic | Tier 4 | Range: Medium

Description

Manifests a wave of seismic energy that seeps into the ground and spreads like a wave. Upon further activation, it erupts into the air in an explosion of energy, causing damage through vibration and disorientating nearby foes.

SPELLBOOK
Titan’s Wrath

Evocation | Battle Magic | Tier 4 | Range: Long

Description

Conjures an obsidian spike charged with the intent of the caster, launching at incredible speed towards the target. Essence in the area surrounding the projectile is disrupted by the caster’s intent. The effect is increased against those struck directly.

The choice was pretty clear to Hump. He didn’t need more mid-ranged spells, especially one that seemed more suitable for targeting a group of foes. While he was sure both would be a useful addition to his arsenal, it would take him too long to learn both. He tapped the page with Titan’s Wrath on it.

“This one. It’s usable at long range, a powerful physical projectile, and will provide some utility. The magical disruption may even work against undead, if it can interfere with their magical bindings. I’ll need to do some testing to figure that out.”

Celaine groaned. “Every time you test something, bad things happen.”

“Is that so?” Vamir asked. “Now this is a story I want to hear.”

“Did I never tell you of the time I almost chopped off Hump’s hands?” Celaine said.

“You did not.”

“Brilliant,” Hump said. “You tell him that, I’ll make up my own mind then.”

She laughed. “Titan’s Wrath is the one I’d go for too.”

Hump nodded. “Thank you.”

***

The next few days passed surprisingly quickly for Hump. After his talk with Celaine where she’d agreed to leave Drakalyn with him once all this was over, it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He could sense where he was going. All he needed to do now was pass the trials, and trust that Owalyn would still let him leave with Nishari once he did. Yeah… there were a lot of ‘ifs’, not least of all the lich queen that now stood between him and his path to Alveron, but at least he could prepare. It gave him newfound focus. He’d pass the Trial of Resolve, and then whatever came after it. In the meantime, he continued to do what he always did. Train.

His routine had developed since his time in Sheercliff, but he still stuck with the principles Vivienne and his master had taught him. Simple shaping exercises were no longer enough for him to warm up, so he used various spells to add complexity. He built towers of stones with Transform Earthor built a tiny but furious flame with Control Fire, slowly increasing the temperature and turning the fire as hot as he possibly could. Control Lava was almost a combination of both, the challenge of maintaining heat while controlling physical mass, all while carefully managing his control, power, and intent.

Following the exercises, he’d added his Soul Manifestation training that Ado had insisted on, bending the essence of the world to his will without forcefully commanding it. While still challenging, ever since he’d first sensed it answer his call, he felt closer to the answer, like a word on the end of his tongue that he just couldn’t quite remember. An addition of his own was the telepathic element of his Soul Manifestation. After he’d accidentally communicated with Nishari when speaking to Aurora in the forest dungeon, he realised he’d been neglecting the ability.

The description in his spellbook didn’t do it justice. Once perfected, Hump theorised that even long-distance communication would be possible for him, though as of yet he’d been unable to reach Bud.

THE BOOK OF INFINITE PAGES

Soul Manifestation

Description

The first step for any practitioner, whether wizard or martial, is learning to manipulate the essence of the world with one’s will. Soul Manifestation is the act of imposing one’s being on the world itself, changing it, and bending it to one’s command.

Effects

Gain a dragon’s presence, instilling fear in any that look upon you, and granting you better control over spells and essence. While active, your stamina, speed, and strength, both magically and physically, are increased.

Communicate with people you are familiar with through wolf dragon telepathy. Requires full manifestation and intense concentration with non-wolf dragon entities.

With Nisha, it came particularly easily to him. They practiced each day. He would command her to fly, race through trees, jump and dive and chase him around, all without uttering a word. The area around Ado’s cabin made for the perfect place.

Once the dragonling was sufficiently exhausted, Hump moved onto the heavy lifting of his routine. He drew upon his essence, building it in his staff and focusing on a target he’d created himself. Nothing complex, just a piece of stone in the ground that was vaguely human shaped, and hardened as much as he could. His staff glowed brightly as essence built within, his spellbook flying open to Titan’s Wrath, the formation shining as he wielded his book’s Compact Formation’s function.

He cast slowly, paying attention to the flow of essence, trying to engrain the feeling of the spell in his mind. Bronze essence condensed before his staff, growing brighter and brighter at its core until suddenly the light vanished. Darkness took its place, a black crystal forming at the heart of the bronze light, growing as more and more power filled it. Still, Hump took his time. In some of his earlier attempts the crystal had cracked, shattering the spell in a blast of essence. His application had to be precise, his mind focused. It took him almost a minute to be happy with his creation—a pyramid shaped shard as large as his arm, narrowing to a sharpened black spike.

Hump drew a breath and uttered, “Titan’s Wrath.”

Bronze essence exploded forward and carried the obsidian spike with it. It struck the stone pillar ahead of him in a near instant, a giant crack thundering through Ado’s training ground. Essence exploded from the point of impact, bringing a cloud of dust and stone fragments with it. As it cleared, the obsidian spike remained intact at the base of the stone target. Bronze light pulsed from within, spreading out in rippling rings through the air, willed with Hump’s intent. Powerful at first, but the light dwindled quickly.

Hump didn’t wait for it to end, already moving onto his next spell, his spellbook whirling. He turned to six wooden posts he’d taken from Ado, red essence building in his staff. The runes on the shaft crackling with power. The positions of each post were fixed in his mind.

“Lava Coils.”

Twin coils exploded forward, whipping back and forth, slicing through the six posts with precision, carving each of them with a separate attack. His intent was focused, his desire to destroy each of the posts clear.

They fell into smoking heaps. Hump was breathing heavily now. Two Tier 4 spells used so closely together was exhausting even for his improved essence reserves. He could feel a chill down his arms but didn’t stop. He moved through his small training ground, launching off a barrage of spells, pushing himself to maintain his aim yet not take his body over the edge.

Once he was too exhausted to go on, he took a seat nearby to recover a little and watch as Nisha gained a second wind of energy. She was getting big now and seemed to have a limitless amount of energy. Despite the simple joy of watching Nisha, Hump couldn’t help but feel helpless. The undead hadn’t sat idle over the last few days. Frequent skirmishes were taking place to the south of Drakalyn as Lich Irila’s forces continued to pour through Fire Pass, her army growing in the fortress. Celaine was out there too, hunting alongside Keeper Rujan and his Chosen along the forest border. He should have been with her.

“Wizard Humphrey,” a voice called from behind him. Hump turned to see Celaine’s uncle, Alir, approaching, along with three other Sentinels of the Everflame. “It’s time, lad. We’re to go straight to the temple.”

Nisha came to stand before Hump excitedly, but she must have sensed something in Hump change as she became less sure of herself.

Hump stood and gathered his things, wishing they’d warned him before he did his training for the day. At least he was warmed up. He picked up Nisha and went to join Alir.

The sentinels formed up around him as they walked, as if they feared he might run, though Hump suspected it was simply customary.

“Have you heard from Celaine?” Hump asked. “She’s supposed to look after Nisha during the trial.”

“She got back this morning,” Alir said, smiling back at him as they walked. “She’s ready for you. Everything’s prepared.”

“Great. Thank you.”

It didn’t take long to reach the temple. Hump stared up at the Everflame, burning with blue fire overhead. The time had come. The trial he’d prepared for awaited him, along with the pain, and gods knew what else. Despite that, Hump found himself calm. This was no unexpected torture or long-awaited punishment—it was a choice. That made a difference. He was doing this not only for himself, but for Nishari. To become the keeper she deserved. Being dragon blooded would make him stronger, and in this world where the Fallen Lands continued to devour everything in its path, he was realising just how important that is.

He followed the sentinels inside, marvelling at the finally decorated walls from the moment they stepped through. It reminded him of the nature temple they’d encountered on their way to Sheercliff City almost a year ago, though the details were finer and more colourful. An entire story told, enhanced by essence stones and paint.

“Before we go in, I wanted to speak with you,” Alir said, coming to a stop before a small side chamber to the left. “I never thanked you for your help in the dungeon. You saved Celaine—she would not be here if not for your help.”

“No need to even mention it,” Hump said. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Just glad I was there.”

“All the more reason for my thanks,” Alir said. “And my apologies. I was rude to you when we first met, and you’ve more than proven me wrong. My home is welcome to you, if you ever need it.”

He extended a hand and Hump shook it.

“Thank you,” Hump said, trying not to let his awkwardness show. He always hated moments like this, though he appreciated the gesture.

“Good luck today, lad,” Alir said. He gestured toward the side chamber, and one of the other sentinels opened it. “Everything will be explained to you inside.”

Hump stepped into the chamber, where Celaine, Vamir, and Ado waited for him inside. Before he could speak, Nisha frantically wriggled free of his arms, a wave of excitement exploding through their bond as she leapt toward Celaine, who caught her, laughing.

“How are you, little Nisha,” Celaine said as the dragon clambered up her chest, licking at her chin.

She’d been gone for three days. It was the longest Nisha had ever gone without seeing her. She chirped and whined excitedly and for a moment Hump forgot the trial.

“The man of the hour!” Vamir said cheerfully, bringing Hump’s mind back. “Feeling confident?”

“Relatively, yes,” Hump said. “I’m calm, which is probably more important.”

“Calm is good,” Vamir said.

“We’ll take care of Nisha while you’re in there,” Celaine said. “Once you’re finished, we’ll catch up.”

Hump nodded. “Sounds good.”

It wasn’t long before they were ready for him. He said his goodbyes to Celaine and Vamir, and Ado led him to the great doors that led to the main hall. They stood there, facing them.

“When the doors open, all you need to do is approach the altar,” Ado said quickly. “Don’t look around, focus only on what’s ahead of you.”

“How fast do I walk?” Hump asked.

“A measured pace,” Ado said. “Don’t rush, but don’t inch your way there.”

“Got it.”

“Once you reach the altar, Elder Rena will give you further instruction. It’s a bunch of nonsense really, the important part is that she will withdraw an artifact used to inject dragon blood directly into your heart. When she does, remain calm. It looks much more painful than it actually is.”

Hump frowned at him nervously. “You never mentioned that part.”

“Hate to say it, lad, but if you can’t stomach that part, this isn’t going to be a good time.”

“Brilliant.” Hump took a deep breath. “Anything else?”

“Just remember your training.”

The doors cracked open and a deep chant came from inside, along with beating drums.

Ado clapped Hump’s shoulder again. “Good luck.”

The doors opened to a room full of people. Hump breathed deeply, then started walking. The altar loomed up ahead, a table formed of twisting branches and a leafy top. Behind it, Elder Rena stood, waiting for him.

Hump swallowed, his throat feeling tight. His heart raced as he felt eyes fall upon him.

Maybe I’m a little nervous after all.