Binding a slice of life.., p.16
Binding: A Slice of Life Progression Fantasy (Millennial Mage Book 3), page 16
Lyn thrust her finger at Tala. “You. You are supposed to be taking a break, going easy. Now, you’re planning on making a star?”
Tala glanced to Master Himmal for support, but she found the Mage wide-eyed, mouth agape, staring at her. “Mistress Tala… why are you shaking the ground with a step? I didn’t feel any magic in that vein radiating from you, but the result was obvious.”
Great, two issues to address…
Tala addressed Master Himmal first, simply stating that her effective weight was now around a thousand pounds.
He seemed to take it in stride. “We’ll reinforce the carrier wagon for your cargo-slots then. I presume your preference is still to ride atop that wagon—as you did on your recent journey?”
“It is. At least during the day.”
“Is your mass increased or just your weight?”
“Just my weight.” She frowned. “Does it matter?”
He smiled. “Of course. With just your weight increased, we’ll have to reinforce vertically but not horizontally, at least not to the same extent. In addition, there shouldn’t be extra strain on the oxen or harnesses as they won’t be overcoming vastly increased inertia.”
That made some sense. She hadn’t really thought about the logistics of having increased weight but not increased inertia. Hard to lift me, but not hard to push me? I suppose I’ll have more friction against the ground, due to the higher weight… It was something else to contemplate. Maybe, this wasn’t such a good idea… In either case, she’d give it a good effort, at the very least.
He nodded. “Neither would be insurmountable, but this is the easier to work with. It will increase the cost, even so.” He quirked a smile. “The bonus from the Caravanner’s Guild for especially large storage capacity will be tapped to pay for the difference.”
Tala sighed. “Fair enough.”
Lyn cleared her throat, possibly even more irritated as she’d had to wait. “So? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’ll be taking it easy, not stopping, Lyn.”
Master Himmal quirked an eyebrow at the lack of a title but didn’t comment. I guess he didn’t notice the first time. Rane either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“You nearly killed yourself. Please. Please. Don’t succeed?”
Tala gave a tired smile. “I won’t lock myself away. I know that my mistake cost me days of progress and nearly killed me. Even though it didn’t, it could have damaged me enough to halt my growth entirely.”
Master Himmal cleared his throat. “Yes, that is not something you should do.”
She gave him an apologetic look. “I am doing my best to be careful.”
He grunted. “Make your star. Get yourself raised to Archon, and much will be made clearer.” He looked to Lyn, smiling slightly. “Truthfully, that is one of the safest things our young Mage, here, can do.”
Rane nodded. “Besides, I don’t want to rise to Archon alone.”
Everyone turned to regard him, and he grinned widely. “I finished my star yesterday.”
Tala looked around but didn’t see any such thing on his person. “Oh?”
“It’s in a little iron box. I figured if you were going to be done soon, we could go through the rigmarole together.” He shrugged. “Paperwork and bureaucracy are always better with friends.”
Tala snorted. “You say the nicest things.” Then, she frowned. “That was fast, though…”
He shrugged again. “Master Grediv has been pushing me to make one for years, and though I refused to let him give me the spell-form, or to start training on the Ways, he still managed to trick me into preparing. The small shifts I was able to make, based on his letter, pushed me over the edge.” He was grinning.
Master Himmal cleared his throat. “As wonderful as this is”—he looked to Rane—“and it is wonderful; congratulations, Master Rane”—he looked back to Tala—“shall we test your cargo-slots?”
“That is a fantastic idea.” She smiled at him. Tala reached out and patted Rane’s shoulder as they walked after the elder Mage. “Good job, by the way.” She smiled. “It sounds like I still need to catch up.”
He grinned back. “You’ll be there sooner than you know.”
Lyn rolled her eyes. “You two are ridiculous.”
Rane glanced her way. “You’re one to talk. Didn’t you say you were going to be making an attempt soon?”
Tala looked to her friend. “Lyn? Do you think five hours with your void will be sufficient?
She shrugged. “Maybe? From my master’s instructions, I’ll be close. I think I can maintain the spell-form through a rest as well.” She smiled. “I’m not looking to make a splash.” She chuckled lightly. “I just want Mistress Holly off my back.”
Tala nodded at that. “She’s a scary lady.”
The group came out into sunlight, and Tala beheld the new creation.
Her eyes widened. “Beautiful.”
The cargo-slots were a dark, almost black wood with a unified matte finish over the entire surface. The handles for doors were black iron, lacquered to prevent rust or irritation for Mages. The rivers, streams, and swirls that composed the spell-lines were polished, almost red, gold.
“Is that an alloy?”
Master Himmal seemed quite pleased with the product. “Proprietary information, my good Mage.”
Lyn was already walking around the constructs.
Tala walked up and examined the descriptive inscriptions. “These are four times the size of my last voyages’ cargo-slots.” Without a mental construct, this size took me twelve minutes in my initial testing.
“Precisely so. Though, with your increased capacity, we added several features we can only implement on occasion.”
“Oh?”
“First of all, they are almost weightless when active. The cargo-slots themselves have their mass negated to the point that they react as if they were roughly thirty pounds apiece. We got much of the power for that by negating the indication lights.” He gave a small smile as he continued. “Mass isolation is in effect, of course, so anything inside will have a perfectly smooth ride, and we have built the accouterments to make one a dedicated, high-value passenger transport, another a combination of venture resources and guard barracks, and two more into standard passenger carriers—as needed. We can even fit in Mages’ quarters into the barracks cargo-slot—again, as needed.” He was smiling happily. “With the specialized wagon to carry all the cargo-slots, I see no need for any other wagon on any caravan route, save the chuckwagon.” He nodded definitively, clearly proud of the work.
“So, there are fourteen?”
“The classic ten for a caravan load, then four for the purposes of personnel.”
She grinned. “Well, let’s see what I can do then.” She walked forward and placed her hand against the activation point of the detailed, stunningly beautiful spell-lines. To reach it, she had to step up onto a stepstool already in place, the plate, itself, being on the top of the slot.
“Why is the activation conjunction on the top, by the way?”
“So that you can recharge them all from the wagon’s roof, even while the sides of most are covered by those in use for personnel and passengers.”
She nodded. That made a good amount of sense.
Tala turned back to the cargo-slot before her and carefully built the mental construct of what her power would do. Out, not up. More symmetrical than oblong. She imagined exactly how the power would flow through the script and what it would do to the dimensionality of the space between the front and back panels.
It was similar, but not identical, to the cargo-slots that she had been empowering.
She moved to create void channels, connecting to the inputs of the construct, but then she glanced to Lyn.
Lyn had a suspicious frown on her face.
Tala sighed. Fine. She simply channeled her excess power accumulation through the mental construct and into the device, empowering it.
It felt painfully slow. Roughly twenty seconds later, the first indicator blossomed to her magesight.
“Remarkable improvement.” Master Himmal was talking to himself.
Tala fought not to roll her eyes. If I used my void-channels, I’d have it filled in two or three seconds. She might have been correct, but she’d not attempted to hold a mental construct with multiple through lines before. This was safer. This was wiser.
It took her right around a minute to fully empower the cargo-slot. A twelfth of her previous attempt at a like-sized dimensional empowerment, and this endeavor hadn’t touched her reserves. She was utterly fresh, in mind, will, and power. How inefficient was I being, without a mental construct? It was a humbling thought. How inefficient am I still being?
Tala stretched back, then twisted, cracking her back. “Well, that wasn’t bad at all.” She grinned. “Thirteen more to go.”
Master Himmal cleared his throat. “Well, no. Not right now.”
She looked at him. “Oh… right. I don’t have a contract, currently.”
He smiled and nodded. “Exactly.” He opened the door, and they all walked inside, examining the cavernous space.
To Tala’s surprise, it wasn’t dark within. It wasn’t bright, by any means, but the sides and top of the space were mildly translucent, allowing in the sun from outside. “How does that work?” She pointed at the closest side wall.
“The sunlight that strikes that side of the device is allowed through and distributed evenly across the entirety of the expanded space.”
“Huh… that actually makes sense.”
Lyn was frowning. “No, it doesn’t.”
Tala waved her away. “It does to me, and that’s what matters here.”
Lyn sighed but didn’t comment further.
After they verified correct and complete empowerment, the four of them left the enlarged space, closing the door behind them.
Master Himmal reached out and tapped a portion of the script, sending power with an intricately constructed form into the point. The cargo-slot flared with power for a brief moment, and the magic bled away.
Tala looked between Master Himmal and the construct several times. Finally, she managed to stammer out. “But… that was gold!”
He was smiling mischievously. “Are you sure?” he replied, but then he turned away before she could respond.
Lyn cleared her throat. “Secrets aside, Master Himmal, I’m not sure I can sign off on a spell-form that can be powered down. That would obliterate cargo and passenger alike.”
He waved her off. “It cannot be powered down if anything remains inside. Had we tracked too much dirt and dust in, I’d have had to order a cleaning crew to scrub the place before it could be deactivated. I assure you that it is perfectly safe.”
She gave him a hard look.
He sighed. “The Wainwrights will send a letter of assurance to the Caravanners as soon as you leave. We fully certify this design.”
Lyn nodded, satisfied. “Very well, then.” She looked to Tala. “I’m happy. You?”
Tala nodded, smiling broadly. “Oh, yes. This is going to be amazing.”
They all bid Master Himmal a good day and departed. Tala and Lyn set off towards the Caravanner’s main guildhall, while Rane made his way to talk with the Guardsmen. Tala’s primary tasks for the afternoon were almost complete.
I just have to talk with a senior guild official, which will likely include a renegotiation of my contract. No big deal. It wasn’t like much was on the line.
Tala shifted uncomfortably as she walked.
Lyn, who was coming to the guildhall but not the negotiation, noticed. “Everything okay?”
Tala grunted. “It seems silly that so much could hang on a single conversation.”
Lyn smiled. “It’s why I have a job.”
Tala snorted. “Do you know who I’ll be meeting with? Any tips?”
“No, and yes. Know what you’re worth, and know what you’re saving the guild. The bonus for the custom cargo-slots is negotiated with, and goes through, the Wainwrights, so don’t bring it up. It shouldn’t factor into your discussion, from either side. They are going to be upset by your… extra-curricular dangers. After all, you did act recklessly quite a few times, but you also didn’t fail in your duties. Try to keep that in mind—both facets of it. Don’t let them push you around.” She shrugged. “Also, stop getting in so much danger. I don’t want you to die.”
Tala smiled, gratefully. “I’ll do my best.” She thought for a moment, then addressed a different aspect of the topic at hand. “So, don’t bring up the savings from the reduced wagons?”
“Oh, you should definitely do that, just not the fact that custom cargo-slots have been made for you. Your pay should go up for reducing the needed peripheries but should not go up because you can facilitate a larger cargo-load. Does that make sense?”
Tala was nodding. “I think so. I need to negotiate for my rate as a Mage Protector as well, right?”
Lyn looked hesitant. “No? Those rates are set per danger thwarted, with some modifications based on the specific route. It would be appropriate to note that by reducing the need for another Mage, you further reduce the peripheral requirements, though.”
“Got it.” She sighed. I hate money… No, that wasn’t right. I hate dealing with money… Again, that didn’t seem quite true. I hate having to make decisions that will greatly affect how much money I have? That seemed right.
“You seem lost in thought.”
Tala sighed. “Just deciding what, exactly, I hate about this.”
Lyn huffed a laugh. “Seems about right.”
Tala grinned. “Any generic advice?”
“They won’t kick you out, though they may offer to let you end your contract. If they can’t give you the amount you’re asking for, they will simply let their offer rest. Unless you are truly unprofessional in this meeting, they won’t forcibly eject you from the guild.”
“That’s good, at least.”
“That doesn’t mean you can simply say, ‘Give me your best offer,’ and expect such. You’ll probably still have a job, regardless, but you want to be paid as much as possible.”
“Don’t we all.”
Lyn grinned. “I’m quite satisfied with where I’m at.”
Tala rolled her eyes. “So I’ve heard.”
“You want as much freedom as possible in contract choices, but they are going to want to restrict you, somehow, to keep your… more dangerous actions in check. Consider the wisdom of letting them.”
Tala almost objected, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Lyn was right. Maybe I could use a steadying influence… Rane would not be a good source for that, even if she were willing to accept such advice from him. I’ll hear them out.
Lyn seemed to be contemplating something. After a moment, she shrugged as if to herself. “Do something to take the official off their guard. Disarm them and put them on the back foot but not with anything overt.”
Tala frowned. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“Be you? You really are quite odd, and most people don’t know quite what to do with you.”
“So… your advice is to be me?”
“Precisely, that’s why I wasn’t sure if I should say anything.”
“Alright then…”
Shortly thereafter, they arrived back at the guildhall, and Lyn bid Tala goodbye. She had work to do. “I’ll see you tonight, if not before. Good luck!”
Chapter: 14
Watching for a Trap
Tala waved goodbye to Lyn over her shoulder as she walked through the Caravanner’s Guild headquarters and to a nearby receptionist. “Hello.”
“Greetings, Mistress.”
“I’m Mage Tala, here to see a guild official?”
The assistant looked down at his notes, flipping through a book, hunting for her name. “Ah! Here you are. Yes, right this way.”
He came out from behind the counter and led her down a side hallway. “Will your bird be with you?” The assistant wasn’t inscribed, and he was young, obviously in his middle teens.
She nodded, patting Terry’s head as he slept on her shoulder. “Yes, he is an arcanous animal, on a training collar.”
The teen nodded, seeming satisfied. “Very well. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Some coffee would be lovely if you have it.”
He gave a nod. “Certainly.”
Tala was grateful that Lyn had thought to ask for a first-floor meeting room. Tala would not have started out on the right foot if that foot was through the floor. Thankfully, the floors down here were solid stone, some set in place, some poured.
She was led to a closed door. “Your appointment should be along shortly. Feel free to wait where you feel most comfortable. I’ll return in a moment with your coffee.”
“Thank you.”
He gave a small bow and departed.
Tala pushed open the door and walked into a simple, small room. Two chairs sat facing each other across an appropriately sized table. A pitcher of water and two empty cups already sat in the middle of that flat, wooden surface. A window looked out on the street, slightly below. The street outside sloped just enough to put this window above eye level for the passersby, giving the room a good view and light while maintaining a modicum of privacy.
Tala moved over and examined the chairs. They were identical and seemed ill-suited to bearing her new weight. Great.
She briefly considered undoing her increased weight but shook her head. No, I need to give this a good try, at the very least.
She moved one chair away, tucking it into a corner, but remained standing. I don’t want to be kneeling when they arrive.
Terry immediately flickered over to the chair, curling up and continuing his rest.
As Tala was taking in the room, she allowed her mind to wander, really for the first time since she’d woken up. I am much, much heavier now. All of her was heavier. Her heart didn’t feel like it was straining too hard, but she supposed that it had had four days to acclimatize to the changes. All her involuntary systems had.
