Chapter 337 Layers (1/2)
Chapter 337: Layers
I just stared at the old Alacryan, not entirely sure I’d heard him correctly
“Academy faculty are outside the nor quickly on the heels of Alaric’s stateious acadehblood couldn’t pull you away fro post, and the Granbehls would be stripped of their na an attack on Central Acaderounds”
I leaned back in my chair, ar “You said they wouldn’t attack again anyway”
Alaric snorted in ae the subject”
“The post is for an initiate-level ers on the table He atching me intently
“Easy street, don’t even have to teach the little wogartsswords and running drills, that kind of thing”
“You’ll only actually have classes a couple days a week,” Darrin continued, “so once you’re settled, you’ll have tiht him up short
A moment later, the door opened and Sorrel came in with two heavily laden trays full of food “All this back and forth is hungry work,” she said, s sweetly as she slid the trays onto the table
‘I knohat you’re thinking, obviously,’ Regis chie the table and lay out a few utensils, ‘but you and I both know that, logically, this is a pretty solid plan’
What about this plan seeis? I shot back, unable to suppress a flare of annoyance
‘For carte blanche to keep doing our thing without interference, teaching some rich Alacryan brats how to hit each other with sticks see, since he kneas pulling thoughts right out of ue back at me with
You mean teach Alacryan kids how to kill Dicathian kids?
‘Is that what you were doing when you helped little Belet a crest? Or what about Mayla and her e to—I cut ht away The truth was, I suspected that the reason the two children received such powerful runes in Maerin had so of a coincidence to ignore
‘Haven’t weevery Alacryan wethe sharp edge in his voice fade to so almost sympathetic ‘hell, aside fro sy’
I focused on Sorrel laying out the last of our dinner as I considered Regis’s arguht fro out to hi back out of the room
As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Alaric started up again “Remember where I first found you, kid? That little library in Arao to Central Acadeest libraries in Alacrya And with information a little closer to the source, if you knohat I hly curated as what you found in Ara a slice of so a bite
“Ascenders do well in acade butter onto a thick chunk of steaious A professor can easily arrange to get to and from the main Relictombs ascension portal when they want…or ain access to a secondary portal, or even a private portal soo on ascents, so you won’t stand out”
I frowned as I chewed on the fruit, which had a rubbery, jerky-like texture Myto the Relicto to be a professor at this academy wouldn’t be a barrier to that…
“You’d be surrounded by experts in a dozen different fields,” Alaric went on “The kind of people who love to show everyone how s there is to know about how runes work, about the Relictoes…”
Sing heavily, I leaned forward and took a wedge of hard cheese from one of the trays “Do they study relics at this acade not to sound too interested By the way Alaric’s face lit up, I knew I hadn’t been entirely successful
“No, relics all go to the High Sovereign, who probably has some super secret lair where his instillers do their experiments”—I felt my face fall as Alaric’s words doused the brief excitement I’d felt—“but they do have quite a bit of dead relics on display there!” he finished in a rush
Darrin was nodding enthusiastically “That’s true I was a guest speaker there about a year ago, and they showed off what they call their ‘reliquary,’ sort of like a little museum for dead relics they’ve attained over the decades”
An entire room full of dead relics? I considered the possibilities If I could get my hands on , anyway? I asked Regis, thinking about the multi-faceted stone that allowed -Range Stalking,’ Regis said, drawing the na it that in my head for weeks’
Just…no, I responded But whatever we call the a few more relics at our disposal wouldn’t hurt
“Okay,” I said out loud, “let’s say, for the sake of argu to work?”
Alaric thu a few crumbs of food into his beard, and Darrin launched into afound ed on the floor in one of Darrin’s co e bulk sinking into the soft mattress
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Alaric and Darrin’s idea did have some merit Director Goodsky had made me a professor when I was only twelve, and I’d trained my hand-to-hand combat skills for years inside of the soul realm with Kordri
The academy would provide me political protection from both the Denoirs and Granbehls, and it sounded like I’d be able to delve back into the Relictombs almost immediately
The Relictombs…
So for me to find them I couldn’t be sure if the zones Caera and I had ascended together were the same ruin or a different one, but I felt instinctively that I hadn’t been successful in ress with God Step—thanks to Three Steps—I hadn’t had a uided ht into a new Godrune, since the keystone containing insight into Aroa’s Requiem had technically been froht that, to master the aspect of Fate, I had to find more zones like the ruined rooic crystal Why else would the djinn have left a re to hand out the keystone to the first worthy “descendant” to co?
I cleared my mind and reached for the locations of the four ancient ruins, as Sylvia had described theh uidance there; none of the places I could see were familiar, except for the one I’d already been to, and I had no way to guide myself to the around here in Alacrya,” I said softly “What if Agrona gains insight into Fate first?”
Regis’s head lifted frouess Your girlfriend leads his arrona uses Fate to—I don’t know—turn all the other asuras into dandelions or so ainst the cool floor “Whatever Agrona and Nico did to Tessia, whatever those tattoos or spellforirl you’ve been dancing around for your entire life—second life, whatever—I’is paused to consider his words “Are you saving her out of love or guilt?”
I let his words steep before eventually letting out a sigh “I’m not sure, maybe both? It’s complicated…”
The shadoolf yawned and rested his chin on his paws “Co objects back to life”
I let out an absent chuckle, es of my relationshi+p with Tess From rescuer to little sister to friend and class more There was always soisa manthem away Even the couple of kisses we shared were tentative, testing…
And then I’d disappeared to Epheotus, and Tessia had gone to war We’d hardly seen each other during the war, and romance had been so far froether again at the Wall The Tess Iwoht, thatthe Wall…that was, perhaps, the first and only time our relationshi+p approached the label of love Not that I’d been very good at it Even with two lives, there were still soood at…
Just like Tess had said…
“Should I have never gotten close to her?” I asked the room, my voice barely a whisper