Arcane Apocalypse ~ 157 (Patreon)

AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was probably the easiest chapter I had written in months; it just flowed, and I wrote the entire 4k-word piece in just two sittings. 

*****

“And you are sure not upgrading all the runes to Rank 1 won’t make the Ritual any weaker?” Mia asked, making Nikki glance up at her with a deadpan look on her face. 

“The pseudo-spirits will be Rank 0, same with the spell that will summon them forth,” Nikki said patiently. “But you are aiming to turn the spell into a Subskill for your Class Skill the moment it forms, and if things go well, you will be able to. As a Subskill, all aspects of it will scale with your Attributes, not with the runes going into the Ritual circle, or with the ones making up the spell circle. Relax, it will be fine.”

Mia gave a quick nod, making the blue-haired woman huff and return to her work, doing a final check on the Ritual circle the two of them had spent the last few hours making. It was just the two of them now. Camie and Gabe had been around at the start, but the vampiress decided to take a ‘stroll’, and Gabe made Nikki nervous, so Mia promptly booted her nosy brother from the Ritual room.

He had no experience in rituals anyway, and Mia didn’t want his stupidly dense mana and magical presence to disrupt the ritual on the off chance that he got startled and accidentally stopped suppressing either of those two things. A single moment of inattention from him and the entire ritual could go down the drain.

“Thank you for helping,” Mia said suddenly, making Nikki give her a curious look over her shoulder. Mia shrugged awkwardly. “I just remembered that I never thanked you for your help. I just dragged you off to do this ritual.”

“I agreed to help, didn’t I?” the woman huffed again, an amused smile tugging at her lips. “But you are welcome, it’s not much of a bother, and I’d always been interested in rituals like these. Artificial and pseudo-spirits are rare; rituals that can create them, especially at our Level, are even more so.”

Mia nodded again, not wanting to hold up Nikki’s work any longer with her questions. Even if she enjoyed the work, the woman was doing her a favour. Another one. 

She still didn’t really get what metric the System used to determine when a spell became worthy of being turned into a Subskill … but she’d cross-checked it in multiple books already, and all of them confirmed that this Ritual combined with the spell which would summon forth the twin pseudo-spirits once they were created and tied to her own Spirit would be instantly recognised by the System as ‘worthy’ upon her first successful casting of the spell. There wasn’t much else to do but trust that information and see whether it was true. 

Hell, the only reason she was worried at all was that all her information came from a single source: books written by a System. It wasn’t that she distrusted the System; it hadn’t led her astray or lied in a way she could confirm, so far, but her college professors would have all collectively had an aneurysm if they saw her now. Her thesis would have been thrown out the window if she had used only a single source, after all. 

Still, her only three alternatives were Nikki, Gabe, and Camie’s Bloodline memories. None of which were helpful with a random, specific Arcanism ritual. 

“Everything seems good to me,” Nikki said, standing back up with a light groan as she gingerly stepped away, careful not to touch any part of the ritual circle. “You know what you need to do?”

“Yeah.” Mia nodded, running her gaze over the complicated ritual circle, her eyes lingering on the dozen Rank 1 mana crystals embedded into the smooth ground at the ends of the twelve-pointed star making up the foundation for the circle. The two Minor Crystallised Essences, one of Slaughter and one of Valour, sat in twin bowls carved out of the ground, glowing lines of magic running along their rim. “I just need to connect to it and kick-start the ritual, then try to resist as little as possible as it attaches the two newly born pseudo-spirits to my Spirit.”

“That last part is important,” Nikki said. “Probably the most important part of this ritual. Your Spirit Attribute should be at the peak of what a Rank 0 User could have, so the ritual would usually have some trouble overpowering your natural resistance, but we are using Rank 1 mana crystals to power it, and not weak ones either. Still, the singular point of failure in this ritual is if you panic and lock up, reinforcing your Spiritual resistance with your Willpower and mana. Do not do that, or both of those extremely valuable crystallised essences might go to waste.”

“Will those make the ritual more powerful if they are so valuable?” Mia asked curiously.

“They will make it more certain, remove random variables,” Nikki said. “Usually, we would do the same thing we did with the purification rituals. Search for a catalyst, use it to establish a link with the Spirit Planes of Valour and Slaughter, then use something to extract a bit of essence from both. There are a lot of variables in that, and you should always try to minimise those when planning out a ritual. This way, you lose the possibility of getting incredibly lucky and managing to extract a great quantity of essence from those Planes, but you also remove the much more likely possibility of not managing to extract anything at all. This version of the ritual will result in making two above-average pseudo-spirits consistently.”

“I see,” Mia said, then took a deep breath and hopped into the small circle left empty for her in the centre, between the two bowls holding the crystallised essences. “I’m ready to begin?”

“Yes,” Nikki said, arms crossed and a serious look on her face. “Just keep calm, use your favourite breathing exercise if you need to and activate the ritual. On your part, this ritual should be the easiest one out of any you’ve done so far. That one we used to upgrade your runic-model had been much more complicated and you did it without trouble, this one will be the same.”

Mia smiled, taking the woman’s advice and beginning to breathe at a steady, familiar rhythm as she kneeled down and placed her palms in the prepared spots. Her eyelids fell, and she roused her mana, making sure she had it currently Aspected to Order before urging a small stream to flow out through her palm.

With the Mana Heart thrumming in her chest, all of your energy channels had mana flowing through them at all times. They weren’t full, but there was always enough for a smaller spell present within her palm, and activating this ritual needed even less than that. The quantity wasn’t important; the connection was, a connection she would have to maintain throughout the ritual. Keep calm, keep the mana flowing, and don’t resist the likely incredibly uncomfortable process. 

Pseudo-spirits were lesser than true, Natural Spirits like Sparkle. They had no minds, no thoughts, but they had instincts and emotions too. Simple ones, yes, but emotions still. 

One of them would be The Black Knight would have the instincts of a great warrior, their fighting spirit, experience and skill at arms, along with an unending hunger for slaughter and bloodshed. It would be a bloodthirsty beast eager to slaughter all the enemies of its master. 

Meanwhile, the other would be The White Guardian, the polar opposite of The Black Knight. A protector, with all the experience and skill needed to guard its master from all their enemies combined, with the unwavering will to always stand between them and danger. No matter what horrible form it may take, the White Guardian would always be ready, always present. 

The ritual circle activated, carved lines lighting up like a Christmas tree as mana flowed through the engraved channels. Rune after rune followed soon after, siphoning mana from the lines they were connected to. The twelve-pointed star glowed the brightest, all twelve Rank 1 mana crystals that made up its tips shining like lightbulbs as their topmost layers began to vanish into thin air, their energy fuelling the entire ritual. 

Once everything was active, the ritual slipped into phase two, and the two crystallised essences shone. Dark energy tinged with crimson, reminiscent of blood, flowed from the Slaughter crystal, spreading through the lines connected to the bowl, overpowering the natural bluish hue of the mana originating from the twelve crystals. On the other side, a similar white energy with hints of gold poured forth from the Valour crystal. 

Both of them followed the prepared channels, flowing towards Mia’s palms. She tensed subconsciously as they were about to overtake the pinkish hue characteristic of her own mana, but forcefully calmed herself just in time. 

It felt like a clamp biting down on her spirit, latching onto it with a vice-like grip, and it took everything Mia had to resist the urge to clam up, to do the natural thing and throw the entirety of her mana reserves at the thing clinging onto the core of her being. Her reaction was almost visceral, a deep need to rid herself of this alien thing defiling her spirit, surging forth. Her mana buzzed despite her vice-like grip on it, willing, eager to take on the Aspect of Chaos and tear through these invaders.

Reason prevailed, however, and Mia kept herself forcefully relaxed and open in the spiritual sense. Oh, her Mind was far from relaxed, but these were just instincts, urges, emotions. She wasn’t a slave to them; she was better than that. Just yesterday, she’d been disgusted by the beastkin for allowing themselves to give in to the primal urges forced upon them by their Blood. She was not going to be like them. If she acted upon her own instincts, it was because she chose to do so. Her grip on her mana tightened, enforcing Order upon it as deeply as she could.

Mia focused on her breathing, on the air slowly filling her lungs, on the way it caressed her nose as it gently flowed out through them. In and out. Slow and steady. It was the only thing she could do to stop herself from focusing on the way something started to grow on the disgusting parasite clinging to her soul. 

No! Mia gritted her teeth, banishing that idiotic thought. She knew that thing was no parasite; she knew exactly what it was: her two new pseudo-spirits. They were incubating, being nourished by her Spirit and fed by the ritual. And yet … her emotions were still consumed by a visceral disgust. Her Mind may have understood the logic, but her Spirit most certainly didn’t. It was fortunate then that the Spirit and the Body were both subservient to the Mind. I need them. I will get used to it.

And she did. It was a slow thing, but that initial visceral reaction faded, a slower, colder disgust that was simmering and frothing in the background taking its place. The emotion wasn’t lesser for it; the disgust was still as deep as ever, but much more manageable and easier to ignore in this new state. Hopefully, it will fade with time. Her Spirit had to realise that the pseudo-spirits weren’t harmful with time, right? Right. Surely. Mia just had to internalise her logic … or something.

The two pseudo-spirits kept growing, more and more of the essence flowing into their eggs — or incubation pods? What the hell did you call a soon-to-be-born spirit? — and Mia managed to keep her focus. Spirit relaxed, mana under control, and connection to the ritual carefully maintained. She just had to ignore the two growing tumours, the growing sacks of pus and filth- the spirits. Stupid instincts. 

After what felt like hours, but was probably just minutes, Mia felt in control enough to pry her eyes open. Her gaze flickered onto the nearest bow containing an essence crystal, and it was just in time to see the last few shards of it turn into gaseous energy and flow into the nearest glowing ritual channels. She traced it as it flowed, watching as the bluish mana slowly overtook the pitch-black Slaughter essence in the latter’s wake. 

A few seconds later, those last few whiffs of essence reached her palms and, through the link she maintained, poured into those spirit eggs. Mia had to remind herself that it wasn’t over yet, because the urge to slump and heave a massive sigh was strong now that the nourishing phase was over. Now came the final phase, the one which would make the two ‘eggs’ ‘hatch’, as it were. 

The ritual circle shone brighter, Mia’s own pinkish mana spreading through some thus-far unpowered secondary circles, powering another set of runes. The whole thing blinked one last time before dimming. Mia couldn’t pay attention to that, reeling back as the equivalent of a slap to the face struck her Spirit. She jolted, then went stiff as a board as she felt alien emotions and minds brush against her own spirit in a way not at all dissimilar to how Sparkle felt through the Bond. 

One was eager, hungry, and vicious. She could feel the overpowering bloodlust and killing intent, even if it was distinctly alien and detached from her. It wasn’t affecting her, but it was very obvious and very present. Another complementing Will rose up, pushing it back as she was shrouded in a cloak of unyielding protection. 

Mia took a moment to centre herself, then she opened her eyes and rose to her feet- only to stumble as her knees wobbled beneath her. Nikki thankfully was there to catch her before her face could have a rather embarrassing meeting with the floor.

“Thanks,” Mia said, her shoulders sagging wearily. 

“Is everything alright?” Nikki asked, eyes cringing in worry.

“Yeah,” Mia said, nodding slowly. “I think so, at least. My … instincts were acting up something fierce about something alien attaching itself to my spirit and proceeded to throw the mother of all fits, and now my two newborn pseudo-spirits are having the spiritual equivalent of a dick-measuring contest.”

Not really. They didn’t have minds, just Wills. They weren’t intelligent enough to have feuds and rivalries. One was a spirit of Slaughter and acted as such, radiating its presence because it couldn’t do so. It just so happened that its presence was rather disturbing and uncomfortable, especially for any length of time. The Guardian was the same, acting according to its nature and protecting her from something Mia recognised as a danger she needed protection from. 

“The runic lexicon said you should be able to make them go dormant,” Nikki said, frowning as Mia finished … whining. “It should need nothing more than a mental command. They are bound to you and your Will as extensions of your Spirit. They are practically spiritual prosthetics. That’s why they are mindless pseudo-spirits, so they can harmonise with your Spirit better.”

Mia nodded again, scrunching up her face as she focused. She focused her mind inward, narrowing it down on the writhing, murderous presence clinging to her Spirit like a particularly persistent mosquito. Go to sleep. 

She felt it twitch, its presence dimming slightly before returning in full force. Her eyebrows twitched in irritation. If this fucker wouldn’t go to sleep, she would never be able to sleep again, with it practically screaming bloody murder into her mind and doing the spiritual equivalent of screeching into her ears. SLEEP! You idiot!

The presence dimmed, collapsing back upon itself and coiling up, almost fading from her senses entirely. She waited a second, then another, worried it would bounce right back up again like one of those stupid bobbing toys. It didn’t, and she finally allowed herself to relax, a smile spreading on her lips now that she knew the ritual had been a complete success. The White Guardian could stay ‘awake’ as its presence wasn’t so ‘loud’. If anything, its calm readiness and unyielding resolve to protect her was calming in its own way. 

“It worked,” Mia said. “Thanks … both for helping with the ritual and this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nikki said, giving her a genial smile. “Want to test it out?”

“Of course,” Mia answered quickly, her runic model already rotating, runes she had added to it ages ago but never got to use coming into focus. The spell circle Summon: White Guardian clicked into place, and Mia stretched out her palm, pulling on the mana in her energy channels and pouring them into the spell circle forming above her palm. A flick of her thought actualised the spell, and the circle glowed, the outer parts with Mia’s pinkish arcane mana while the core of the spell circle shone with that white light tinged with gold.

Mia felt the spell latch onto the protective pseudo-spirit all but wrapped around her spirit and draw it forth, guiding it into a corporeal body made of arcane mana. At first, it looked like an empty husk, a mannequin made of opaque pink clay, but the moment the spirit came to inhabit it, its form changed, shifting under the spirit’s influence. That unyielding protective presence swept forth as a resplendent white armour formed around it, and a massive white tower shield slammed down to the ground before it was grabbed by a gauntleted hand. 

The White Guardian stepped forth, now at least a full head taller than Mia, taking up its post at Mia’s right while lines of gold flowed over its newly formed armour to create tasteful highlights along edges and curves. It was beautiful, like an idealised version of the ‘knight in shining armour’, merged with the ideal of valorous, heroic knights. This being standing before her really was a manifestation of its name, empowered by the very essence of the Concept of Valour. 

“This is quite something,” Nikki mused aloud, a hint of awe held in her voice, which made Mia stand up a bit straighter and puff out her chest. “Wanna pull out the other one too?”

Mia paused, checked her reserves, then nodded eagerly. She poked the pseudo-spirit until it awoke, its unrestrained presence uncoiling like a storm of murderous intent, then she prepared the spell circle. Summon: Black Knight.

It began with the same faceless mannequin made of solidified arcane mana, then the murderous spirit leapt into it. Jagged black spikes emerged from beneath the mannequin's skin, piling atop each other like scales, one after the other. The form hunched forward, arms lengthening, legs too, and body now fully covered in jagged obsidian shards. It straightened, and the black armour plates smoothed themselves out somewhat, though it still looked like just trying to hug the thing would dice someone up to reward them for the effort. It was all sharp edges and jagged lines, and then came the swords. Two massive claymores of the same pitch-black material, one growing in each hand, and by the time they stopped, both blades were taller than Mia and nearly wider too. 

Its presence exploded out, a visceral aura of murderous intent that smelled like blood. It coiled around the Black Knight, wreathing it in a crimson cloak of energy reminiscent of Sandor’s Berserk Rage aura. 

Unlike the White Guardian, the Black Knight did not step up to protect her. Its head turned towards her with a creak, a pair of growing crimson orbs shining in the darkness of its helmet visible through the small slit. Its posture was ready, coiled tightly like a bloodhound ready to pounce, and Mia realised with a start what exactly it was waiting for: a target. 

A target to kill. A victim of murder. A foe to slay. If she pointed at someone, anyone she knew, deep in her bones, that this bloodthirsty thing would leap into action and slaughter them. Young or old, guilty or not, be it a weak critter or an entire army of dragons. The Black Knight would pounce on them all the same. 

Neither of her summoned spirits felt all that strong; their mana levels were still the same as they were before they inhabited the arcane constructs created to be their shells. But there was something more to them, something more than mere mana that her Spirit Sense was having some trouble fully grasping. Their presences, their auras, were drenched in those Concepts whose Crystallised Essences gave birth to them, and that gave them power beyond what Mia could accurately measure. 

[Secondary Skill Unlocked: Spirits of Duality]

[‘Spirits of Duality’ is compatible with your Class Skill. Do you wish to make it occupy one of your 2 remaining Subskill Slots?]

[Yes / No]

Mia breathed a sigh, calmed herself, then pressed yes. The Black Knight unnerved her a bit, but she knew that it was unquestionably hers, that it would never betray her. It was an extension of herself, a very murderous extension, but part of her all the same. 

[Spirits of Duality has been added to Class Skill Junior Arcane Mage’s Compendium]

[Spell: Manifest Pseudo-Spirit - Black Knight / White Guardian has been removed from your Spellbook]

Mia dismissed the two summoned spirits with a thought, had her runic model unwind back into its resting state … then she re-summoned them with nothing but a thought. The White Guardian materialised next to her in a blink, fully formed, tower shield raised and ready. The Black Knight reappeared even faster, slamming back into existence as a shudder ran through its form, making the numerous disjointed armoured plates making up its form rub against each other in an eerie cacophony of wailing metal. 

Their presence deepened, both the mana pressure they radiated and the other presence she couldn’t really quantify beyond the shudder running down her spine when looking at them. With the Skill, summoning them would be instant, and the attributes of their corporeal shells would now scale with her Spirit/Manifestation stat. Meanwhile, the pseudo-spirits themselves would be nourished further by her Spirit, growing along with her in a way not entirely dissimilar to how her Bond with Sparkle worked, just even closer. Sparkle was her partner and equal party in their relationship; these things were mindless drones bound to her on a much deeper level.  

“Holy shit,” Nikki breathed, and Mia blinked, glancing over at the girl peeking back around the doorframe. “That thing has a foul presence … but damn. I can only see the mana it’s radiating, but I feel its presence in my bones. It’s nasty and dangerous.”

“It’s …” Mia struggled to find the right words, then grinned when one popped into her mind that aptly described her feelings. “Awesome.”

“That it is.” Nikki grinned back, though it was strained. She kept a wary eye on the Black Knight, practically vibrating in place like an addict suffering from withdrawal. When it didn’t move an inch despite its visible eagerness to do so, Nikki finally relaxed and stepped back into the room, her grin turning more genuine. “Congratulations. I don’t think there is any possible deterrent you can get your hands on better than this.”

“Not even Gabe?” Mia asked without thinking, almost missing the way Nikki’s entire body twitched at the mention of his name.

“He is a bit too cute to be a viable deterrent for those who can’t sense mana,” Nikki said, forcing a smile. “This Black Knight of yours is very … obvious. It’s visceral in a way that will drive away even the stupidest idiot who would try their luck, causing you trouble.”

Mia nodded, curiosity shining in her gaze as she looked at Nikki, but decided not to question the woman about something she clearly didn’t want to talk about. She thankfully wasn’t the type to be unable to keep her nose out of any piece of juicy gossip or brewing drama. We are all adults here; she’ll speak up when and if she wants. Though maybe I should make it clear to Gabe that she is my friend and I’m about to whoop his ass if he is intentionally causing Nikki trouble. Just to be safe.