”Whatcha’ doin’?” Lucia pulled her Oculus off and pulled her arms behind her back.
I looked up from the TV. My favorite show was on, so how could I not take over the living room? “Glitch Scouts.”
It’d been a day since I went prowling around the Darkzone with Clover. I spent most of that time scrolling through Warden-only articles and forums looking at various stuffs. Oh, and hanging out with Lucia. Couldn’t forget that.
“The kids show?” Lucia’s head tilted to the side, sending her golden hair sprawling. “No- no, sorry. What are you doing with your ether?”
Why did everyone call Glitch Scouts a kids show? It was a highly advanced show with amazing acting, characters, and storylines. They just didn’t understand the sheer majesty and emotional depth of Glitch Scouts-
[Nighteye snorts. What majesty? It’s a kids show, kitten.]
I sipped at my coffee and shot a glare out into space. Look me in the eyes and say that again, Nightloser. I can handle others defaming glorious Glitch Scouts, but not you. We’re supposed to be on the same side here! Why are you downing me out of the blue?
[Nighteye’s claws stick out dangerously. Nightloser? You looking for a fight, punk? What’s your last name even supposed to mean? Io U one for putting up with me?]
If it’s a fight you want, it's a fight you’ll get! Just as soon as I figure out how to wrap my hands around your mangy-
”Aylin?” Lucia waved a hand in front of my face. “You there? Kinda just checked out on me.”
“Yep. Sorry.” Someone actually important was here, so why was I talking to a cat that missed her rabies shot? Shoo- go back to whatever rotten den you crawled out of, Stupideye.
Lucia didn’t look convinced. “I was asking about your ether?”
“String. Magic.” I waved a hand, drawing out a thin string of the stuff once more. The motion was easy now with my rapidly improving ether control. I still hadn’t made any progress, but I had a feeling that’d all change soon. It had to. Otherwise, I was looking at a Skill called Ether Musician that could act as a starting place for me. It was from a B-rank rift though, so it’d be a while.
“Cool. Is it a Skill?” Lucia watched the strings of ether condense and then break when I actually tried to use them to play a resonant tune.
”…” I shook my head, leaning back on the couch. I sipped at my coffee once more, suppressing a sigh. “From back. Home.”
”They used String Magic in the Ashlands?” She watched me try once more, this time with a slight shift to the shape of the string. “Hmm… doesn’t look like it's working. Explain it to me? Maybe I can help you figure out what’s going wrong?”
I doubted it. She was what- seventeen? Hmm… but I did suspect she was of the royal bloodline, so maybe? Elysia personally taught me back then… Explaining would be a hassle though. Ugh- once more my curse struck.
I pulled out my Glass, drawing pictures to help. Slowly but surely, I explained the basics of how it was supposed to work assuming the Weaver was in place.
— — —
Lucia followed along with her grouchy guardian. Aylin’s face was pinched into an irritated frown, which was an interesting change of pace. She usually just rocked a clueless expression and looked around like a turtle trying to see the world. That was entertaining in its own way, but some change was good.
She shifted, tuning back into Aylin’s slow pace of speaking. Her husky voice had a certain pleasant ring to it like a late night talk-show host. “Pluck String. Bam. Magic.”
Yeah, it’d been a struggle to understand what she was saying. The entire time, the teenager couldn’t help but wonder where exactly her faithful guardian came from. When her Head of Security ran a background search, Aylin’s SIGIL said she was from out in the Ashlands. Her mannerisms and knowledge didn’t fit an Ashlander in the slightest though.
String Sorcery, as she called it, definitely didn’t come from the Ashlands. It was a type of magic casting that Lucia hadn’t even heard of before. Aylin’s speech limitations already made it difficult to understand, but add in all the new concepts?
If she was following though, it worked by plucking strings to make magic. It was entirely different then Bastion’s Skill system, the Rykon Dragon Runes, and the magic circle system that were prevalent throughout the city. So different, in fact, Lucia didn’t even really know where to start. At least the runic and magic circle systems had similar basis.
Lucia suppressed a sigh. Looked like she wouldn’t be able to help out after all. What a bummer. She was really looking forward to it too. A bit of reciprocation for all the help Aylin had given her. Maybe once she was a CEO again, she’d be able to do more for the taciturn woman.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Unless… did her star have something to offer? She waited a few minutes, nodding along to Aylin’s diagrams. As per usual, her star was silent. Honestly? She didn’t really know what she expect-
[Transcendent King opens his eyes. You have what you seek.]
Ugh- more riddles as always. Lucia’s nose scrunched up in annoyance. Why couldn’t he ever just tell her what he meant for once? She had what she sought… did he mean something in the OS?
[Lucia Orien
Innate Trait: [Eyes of Providence]
Skills: [Ether Physique-3], [Cower], [Guns-1], [Ether Shot-1]
Boon: Transcendent King - [Ruler’s Aura]]
Hmm… Eyes of Providence? It was the only thing that made even a lick of sense. It worked off strings, and Aylin’s weird magic supposedly worked off strings as well. She hesitantly activated her Innate Trait.
A massive weave of strands spooled out before her eyes, dizzying in the amount and shape. She quickly narrowed her vision so as not to be caught up in all of the chaos that her Trait brought. Even just this much made her dizzy though.
Hesitantly, almost scared to try, Lucia summoned up her ether. It was a slow going process. She mentally beat herself up over that fact. Once tomorrow was over and she was firmly back in the CEO seat of Cernobog, she’d have to spend more time hitting rifts and practicing ether control. Preferably with Aylin.
The teenager carefully pulled the substance into a thin line, similar to what the other woman had been doing. She diverged significantly though. Instead of just blindly flailing and hoping for the best like a child, she copied one of the countless strands that her Trait showed her. She merged the ether into it, copying the resonance and style as best she could.
And then, with the innocent naivety of a child, she plucked the string-
— — —
I watched Lucia. She was messing around with her ether, imitating my actions. Or, at least, I thought she was. Just before she fully went down the same path as me, she adjusted her ether. The small strand shifted, seeming to vibrate and hum like it finally synced up.
I carefully watched her finish forming the string. It looked familiar, but it was ever so slightly off? Lucia reached out to pluck at the string-
“…!” I lunged off the couch and tackled her to the side-
Pling!
We hit the ground the instant that the string activated. A fireball summoned itself into existence and exploded against the couch in a spray of fire. It coated my back with a burning heat, though was mostly warded off by Ebonshroud. The same couldn’t be said for the poor couch.
How the hell was I going to explain this one to Kali-
“What’s going on?!” Kali burst into living room like the hounds of hell chased her. As soon as she saw the fire, her eyes went wide and she raced for the fire extinguisher. “Damnit, Aylin! I know this is your fault!”
”…” Why was I the first to be blamed? This definitely wasn’t my fault!
”Aylin?” Lucia sleepily muttered underneath me.
“…!” Right. I pushed myself off and looked her over. She looked fine. Maybe a little startled, but thankfully there weren't any injuries.
Lucia staggered to her feet. I caught her just before she could fall back to the floor. “I-I’m tired. ‘Mma take a nap.”
Kali darted back into the room, hosing down the couch with the fire extinguisher as she muttered to herself. “This is why I can’t have nice things.”
Lucia went limp in my arms, her eyes fluttering shut. For the first time in ages, a tightness spread through my chest. I carefully checked her breathing. “Kali?!”
”What- oh.” Kali dropped the fire extinguisher and moved over to check on the teenager. “Looks like it's just Ether Exhaustion. She’ll be fine after a few hours rest.”
“…!” Phew. I cradled Lucia, carefully carried her to my bed, and laid her down. Keep her safe, alright Nivia?
Kali leaned against my doorframe, looking at us. “What happened? Are we going to have to make a rule about magic in the apartment?”
I rubbed at the back of my head. It was maybe just a tiny little bit my fault. “Sorry.”
“You’re paying for the new couch.” Kali pushed off the doorframe and stalked back to her room. “I can’t afford to keep buying a new one.”
Yep- yep, that was fair. It was fine though. No one was hurt. I looked at the sleeping face of Lucia for a moment longer before quietly closing my door and moving back to the living room-
I froze in shock, staring at the shattered body of my coffee cup. Its life-fluids leaked all over the place. Porcelain lay in pieces all over the place, stomped on by some heartless monster. I had only one suspect in mind. I wasn’t careless enough to commit such a crime, and Lucia was unconscious… Kali, my blade thirsts for vengeance!
[Nighteye laments her choice of Warden. You really need to stop watching old anime.]
It took a while to get everything cleaned up. Thankfully, it was just the couch that ate the fireball. I ordered a new one, and it arrived in a box at our front door within the hour. Bastion sure had its convenience. I splurged a bit to get an nice one that’d be more comfortable to sleep on.
It cut into my SIGIL account a bit, but I was up a ton from even just a day ago. I eyed the swirling runes carefully: 77,932 Nytes. The pay from Clover came in not too long ago at just above 50,000 Nytes. I needed to run it by Pursius when I got the chance.
Once everything was cleaned up, I started to play with ether-
Oh, right. I should go do this somewhere else. No magic in the apartment or Kali might actually kick me out. I formed an Ebonshroud hoodie and mask then worked my way up to the roof. A quick inspection revealed no smokers. It was just me and the chilly rain up here.
I moved around to a camera blind spot and dredged up my ether. I had some ideas when I saw Lucia work her magic, literally, earlier. My strings weren’t vibrating at the correct frequency to work with ether. Back in Serhymn, I just had to reach out and pluck the Weave. Actually making the strings themselves? Entirely different.
After a bit of practice, I managed to get the vibration down just right. I doubted I ever would’ve figured it out if not for Lucia, to be honest. The resonant frequency of the ether was at complete odds with what the Weave had used. A string of ether hummed in the air before me, ready to release its fury.
Another problem cropped up almost right away. It was a bit difficult to control. Not only that, but I wasn’t even sure what the effects were. Basically, different tunes cast different magic. One string may be fire, and the other might be solar. I knew all of the Weave’s strings like the back of my hand.
The Ether Strings sounded different though. I’d have to relearn how to play them from scratch. Given the hundreds of different resonant and dissonant tunes, it’d take a while. Not to mention I’d be going through a long process of trial and error on top of it being more difficult to control without the Weave acting as the middleman. No time like the present I guess.
[Nighteye wonders if you should take precautions-]
Pling!
I threw myself to the side just in time to dodge a fireball. I carefully memorized that one’s shape and tune, and then moved onto the next one. Surely I could find some useful ones if I kept trying?
