Chapter 409 (1/2)
Chapter 409
Chapter 407: Yet Another Step
ARTHUR LEYWIN
The Earthborn Institute’s dim halls blurred past as I rushed doard, deeper into the labyrinthine mass of tunnels No alarm had been sounded, and the fearves I passed appeared unaware of any strangeness, thoughlooks from most
The aether had appeared in a rush, then dissipated almost immediately, froh people or artifacts who could cause such a phenoh she wasn’t one of them, I was conscious of Lyra Dreide’s presence in the institute
Is our guest is
‘She didn’t have anything to do with that spike of aether, if that’s what you’re asking Want me to come with you to check it out?’
No, stay where you are for now
[[Read first at ReadNovelFullroused, his boredoh our mental connection
As I ered on Kezess He had pro Dicathen, but hadn’t been clear about the specifics of what thatin asura without infor me I couldn’t entirely trust his word anyway—that would have been the height of foolishness—and I kneithin reason he ht reverse course and take some hostile action instead
Still, this didn’t feel like Kezess There was nothing to gain in either case, as far as I could see No, the more likely scenario led uards, each fully outfitted with shi+elds, spears, and heavy plate aruess was correct
The two shi+fted positions as they heardalmost immediately Sie shi+elds against the ground “Lance, sir!” they barked together One went silent, and the other continued, aliven strict orders that no one bother him—”
The doors shot open, and Emily’s bespectacled face poked out, her eyes wide behind the lenses She looked at the guards, opened her e tack in the ht “Arthur, you’re a healer!”
She was breathing hard and slightly flushed around the cheeks “I et a healer”
The guard snapped a salute, then jogged away at a quick pace, his heavy ar with every footfall
Eh, then she let it swing shut behind me
The lab, I was surprised to see, was eh here,” she snapped, already rushi+ng away
[[Read first at ReadNovelFullh an arched door at the other end of the lab, then down a flight of stairs and into another hall Hidden beneath was a series of smaller chambers I hadn’t visited before, each one blocked by a heavy stone door inscribed with runes Eht, empowered it with mana, and pushed hard
On the other side of the thick stone door was a wide, dile table had been dragged down here, but the main feature of the rooenerator was connected to several mana crystals, and when activated would create a very dense, dome-shaped mana shi+eld around the protection circle
Sitting on the floor, his bare back against the curved wall, was Gideon His gray hair was a aunt, pale look on his face, but when his eyes settled on me as I followed Emily into the chaured it out!” he croaked, heedless of Emily’s worry “The bestowals, the artifacts, the spellforrin spread across his face, and words began to spill fro of the runes in the robe I suggested before it was like a password, and your suht in that there is a trap woven in—if you channeledon your mana until you either break the connection or run out, incapacitating or even killing the wearer, and before you say it, getting out would be no easy feat, as there are belts within the robes that are tricky to do and undo, and they have to be buckled correctly for all that mana to move properly”
Gideon drew a deep breath, and I opened my mouth to ask hi onward “In fact, the robes use the wearer as a kind of conduit for certain aspects of thethem with one hand doesn’t work, they have to be worn It’s rather devious, honestly”
Gideon shook his head, looking iured out the correct sequencing, naturally” He gestured to E inthe cereently
She had crossed the roo, but only then did he see, he said, “Oh, of course Miss Watsken was quite the help, testing the artifacts individually to ensure that our hypotheses—”
“Gideon,” she said again, exasperated “I sent for a healer We should—”
“Bah!” Gideon burst out, struggling to push himself up the wall to stand “Arthur, you’ve distractedphase i a hand to stop hih before we try the bestowal on a person If so…”
I trailed off Gideon’s half-grown brows raised and furrowed siht somewhere between confusion and disbelief Behind hi her eyes with her hands
My gaze tracked from Gideon’s thin, soft bare form to the table, where the staff and other artifacts rested
Then Gideon burst out with a wild laugh and shook his head, his shoulders shaking with a? I channel htful look crossed his face for awe considered?”
[[Read first at ReadNovelFull-footed Then, like a trapdoor opening in my mind, I connected the burst of aether I had felt with Gideon’s words I drew a hand down h “You already used it, didn’t you?”
Gideon flipped a switch, channeled a burst of mana into the shi+eld artifact, and took his place in the middle of the protection circle “This spellform? No, of course, not, I’m—oh! You mean the bestowal artifacts Well yes, of course, I couldn’t sit around waiting for you forever, could I?”
I groaned “Gideon, I say this with all due respect, but only an actual insane person would commit to a huic on hiic is the constant act of self-experimentation If I recall correctly, you once caused yourself a near-crippling nus by experiround ht “Fine But before you take this further, can I at least call in souide you on their use?”
Gideon opened one eye “You just happen to have an Alacryan ?”
“Not inelse stupid until I get back”
“Soenius”
There was a dull ha from the door, and Emily jumped “Oh, that’ll be the healer”
I pulled the door open to reveal the guard and a heavy set dwarven woman, whose scowl sent shi+vers up even lared around, and then settled her irritation firmly on Gideon
I slipped out into the hall past the guard but could still hear the reverberation of her voice as she shouted, “This is the sixth time this week,” and then her words were lost
Lyra Dreide’s vault-cell was not far, and I reached it quickly Regis had sensedin front of the bars with his fla on?” Lyra asked as I appeared in front of her “I sensed your beast’s agitation, but he’s even less co, I God Stepped into the vault, took hold of her arm, and stepped back into the hall “Stay close, and don’t try anything”
The retainer let out a put-upon sigh “Perhaps I was mistaken…”
For the second time, I made my way down into the lower halls where Gideon had his laboratory The guards said nothing, but stepped well back frois into the lab, their hard eyes following the retainer closely
Emily was quick to open the inner door when I knocked, and we all entered the cha around curiously at everything, immediately honed in on Gideon “He has a rune”
Gideon took in her dark eyes, her flame-red hair, her suppressed aura His skin wrinkled as he frowned “Isn’t that the regent?”
“Well spotted, both of you,” I said sarcastically “She is my prisoner, and has forsaken service to the enemy and promised to make herself useful” To her, I asked, “How could you tell?”
“There is a faint signature of the h eventually hidden by the nature”
[[Read first at ReadNovelFullht of mana particles burned into h, layered behind Gideon’s own low of the spellform It was then that I noticed his core itself; it was still burning with mana, and within the mana currents was a thin trail of aether particles As I watched, this swelling ofme to see his core ht yellow color
“You have figured out how Agrona’s bestow “A clever turnabout, but not without risk”
“What risks?” E well back froerness “We assumed that, once a spellfor to control it”
Lyra nodded along as Ehtly “Yes, practice and patience will allow a e to master a new rune, but our entire culture is predicated on the training and knowledge to do so Alacryan children prepare to wield runes even before their first bestowes have pushed too hard, too fast, and burned themselves to dust with a rune they didn’t fully understand and weren’t equipt to htly shaken as the color drained froreater risk is in the bestowment itself,” the retainer continued “Our people are adapted to the bestowals You ht even say ere bred for it We are born with our cores, and twenty percent of our population developseven the lowliest of Alacryan unadorned can claile Imbuer has survived unscaled The process may very well kill so his patience “It’s easy enough to see the divide between Alacrya’s developinal es If it worked for theo, and then for the Alacryans noouldn’t it work for us too?”
He shi+fted his focus toto forestall our progress or sow doubt, eh?”
I considered his claim and the retainer simultaneously Her placidity seeonism, but I didn’t sense any misdirection or untruthfulness in her words “What she has said lines up with my own experience in Alacrya,” I said after athe risks andthem where we can”