Aerien’s POV

I was still convinced there ought to be some kind of magic buried in the kata of my fighting art, but I had a very strong feeling my younger side might not like that route. She seemed dead set on wanting to do something that was different and unique from what I could do, and magic that was baked into the martial art I would be using regularly simply does not cut it for that.

I needed something different. I could ask Gaerien, but she had already proven herself to be less than reliable where managing my peculiarly structured spirit was concerned. She had plenty of theory, but did not seem to know enough about how to apply it. However, there was one other person in my life who had a deep and long enough experience with the world of magic that she very well might know an answer to my problem. She had even bragged on her own millennia of wisdom not too long ago. And, best of all, it served as a pretty good excuse for a way to start getting close to her. Given the nature of our relationship, any case in which I could ask for her to teach me something was a viable “bonding” exercise.

I used the fairy circle from the usual teleportation room. It seemed Isanil didn’t quite pick up Dryad’s technique for utilizing the micro-fungi quite yet. I appeared on the other side up in the crown of the tree that would dwarf the tallest sky-scrapers back on Earth. I looked up from the base of the hollow where all the branches bifurcated at the dragons and large human-size great-fairies flying about overhead. There did not seem to be any form of court meeting right now, so they were not formed up at attention with their committees or gathered in any kind of great number.

However, the one dragon who I DID want to see was exactly where she always was. The dragon large enough to create the illusion of a perfectly normal size snake coiled around a perfectly normal size tree when wrapped around the massive building-size branches of this gigantic hunk of wood stared down at me with her one good left eye as her sightless scarred right eye remained fixed lifelessly as it stared straight ahead.

‘Aerien, it is good to see you have come to pay me a visit. How are you fairing, my daughter?’ The massive draconic queen of the fey spoke through a form of telepathy usable by all powerful members of the fey races.

“Angry.” I spoke aloud while also using my thoughts to make certain my words reached her. Her massive size created a strange illusion that made it easy to forget that we were likely thousands of feet apart from one another, so mere spoken word would not be able to cross the distance. However, simply by supplying a little bit of spirit energy, the energy of thought, the meaning of the words I had just spoken would still reach her. I was also capable of communicating by thought alone, but I had not fully mastered it so my words often came out sounding really “loud” to those who could receive my thoughts. I needed to speak the words out loud as well with the intention to have them heard in order to project my thoughts at the correct volume. “I am certain Sagel already told you that much though.” I added.

I watched for her reaction. “I already suspected him.” I elaborated. “I found it a little strange he had vanished suddenly after I returned to my room with Gaerien and the boys. He would have no other reason to be apart from me now that mister Steven is gone.”

The dragon queen’s eye narrowed. ‘Aerien, it is not good for you to be in a position where you cannot trust your familiar. I would highly suggest you take full control over him as soon as you can. A simple assertion of your will over him ought to make him completely yours. I would say it is quite important for you to do so. After all, the reason he was bound to you in the first place was so he would be unable to misuse the power of a dragon which he will acquire after spending enough time among the dragons. It will upset the other nobles if you are not able to fully dominate him soon.’

Hmm… that’s not quite an admission of guilt, but it is also carefully phrased in such a way that I cannot call it a refusal to admit it either. Oh well.

“I appreciate the advice mother.” I responded with a reverent nod of my head. “That is not really why I came here though. I would like to ask your advice in regards to a different problem that I have.”

‘Very well, I will be happy to help if I am able. Please come closer, my daughter.’ The queen kept a gentle tone as she had since the moment I came in. I considered the thought for a moment before running some magic through the fancy enchanted robes I had been given. This allowed me to take flight, and I could achieve an amount of speed proportionate to the amount of mana I dumped into it. I could not quite get it to move fast enough to enable proper travel across the world, but it was plenty to have me sailing through the air to close the thousands of feet between the dragon fairy queen’s head and my dust-speck like self by comparison. Soon, I was flying over the fairy queen’s nose attached to her city-block size head, and took a seat on top of the scaly muzzle. ‘Now then, tell your mother what it is that you need.’

What a fake-feeling saccharine-sweet way of talking. Well, supposedly she lived for all this time and this is her first experience with any kind of “child.” Even so, as a fey noble, she would have never have been expected to deal with a real child anyway. According to what I’ve heard, fey nobles adopt people who are already adults as their “children,” and it is really more like an apprenticeship than a real parent-child relationship. Even if she was authentic, which I am not completely convinced of after this morning where she tricked me into that oath, she would probably come off sounding about the same.

I suppose I might as well just roll with it then. “Well, I was attempting to cultivate some spell casting ability according to how I was told it was supposed to be done, but it seems as though my current cultivation works against the formation of spells, at least by the conventional methods. Every time I attempt to form a spell crystal, the flow of energy inside my spirit causes the crystal to shatter and the energies to be washed away. I was wondering if, perhaps, you would know of a different method that might be more compatible with my cultivation.”

‘Hmm… well, that is something of a surprise’ The huge eye of the dragon queen seemed to be taking me in and re-assessing me. ‘Although, I suppose it is something that makes sense once I come to consider it. The flow within your spirit is massive, in order for you to have even formed a spell crystal in that flow at all it must have been formed exceedingly fast and loaded with immense power. Simply recalling the feeling the flow from when I aided you before, I suppose it must have been a seventh rank crystal or higher just to resist that current and maintain itself for more than a matter of seconds. However, to form a crystal of that rank so quickly it is more or less a given that it would be unstable.’

“So, are you saying I may succeed if I simply focus on it for longer?” I asked.

‘That could likely work, and considering that you have a second spirit within you I would guess that it ought to be within your capabilities. However, it would be quite difficult to dedicate that kind of time to the task… I am uncertain your youthful immature spirit would be up for the task, and I do not believe we can afford to have your more mature spirit preoccupied with such a thing for so long, especially with how quickly our situation has devolved. I do believe, however, that there might be another method more suited to your particular cultivation method.’

Well, I think she might just be underestimating how stubborn a kid can be when they put their mind to something. From what the queen just told me, I’m certain my younger half would eventually succeed someday if left to it. But, a more fitting method would, of course, be quite welcome.

‘It is actually a method for which you have already accomplished the first important step, manifesting a model of your own energy body. As you are aware, your energy body has a number of nodes which we call the nexuses of the spirit body.’ Nexuses. Well, I suppose that would actually be a better and more descriptive name for what we from Earth call the Chakras. It means either a connection or the core of some greater system, so it’s a pretty literal definition of the role it serves for the energy body. ‘For this method of spell cultivation, you would write a spell directly onto your spirit nexus points. It is a method that is both more limited, but also more powerful than traditional methods.’

“I see…” I responded upon hearing about this method. “I can see why this method might have gone out of style over time, I suppose this also has several limitations. Not the least of which is the number of spells available to learn by this method.”

‘Indeed, but it is also far more powerful. If your spell is chosen carefully enough in such a way that it has room to grow and develop, the spell which you write directly onto your spirit nexus will become more powerful as your cultivation develops. And, if you would like my opinion, the limitation of variety is really not that harsh. Those with a large number of spells often only use a small number of those spells anyway.’

“So, I would just have to carefully consider which spells I chose.”

‘I can make a suggestion in that area.’ The queen said. ‘Your cultivation, from what I have seen, is very well aligned to summoning, particularly in the area of energies. I would suggest you dedicate at least four of your spells toward summoning the base elements, and perhaps have a fifth that is capable of combining elements. In fact, that would likely be an excellent application of the seven primary nexal points. Four for the base elements, two more to access the positive and negative energy analogs you possess, and then a seventh that allows them to be combined. This would allow you access to the entire spectrum of the elements you have available within your spirit realm.’

Well, that DID seem like a fairly good suggestion, and it also takes the nature of my own spirit into consideration. However, there was something about it that just didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t help the feeling there just had to be a more efficient and versatile way to put such a thing together.

“Well, I would have a few questions before deciding whether or not to go that route. First, once the spell is written onto my, uhh… nexal points, is there any way to later alter the spell?”

‘There is not. That is one of the most critical failings with this method, and so which spells you select needs to undergo very careful consideration. However, this is not so large a problem in your case. You have formed your spirit body model with every single one of the nexal points manifested. These lesser nexal points can also be utilized. While the first seven you select will be the most powerful and grow the most in the long-term, those weaker points can be easily utilized as well.’

So, this would mean a total of 114 possible sites for spells to be written. This actually created a fair amount of freedom. However, I still felt there ought to be something more that could be done with those core seven. Since they were the most powerful, they were also the most important to get exactly right.

“One more question, you mentioned something about utilizing one of the spells to mix other summoned elements. This would suggest a spell can be formed from multiple nexal points if the spells written on them work synergistically, correct? Would it then be possible to simply write a single far larger complex spell spanning all seven?”

The queen was silent for a large period of time as she looked me over.

‘I honestly do not understand how your mind can come up with such things, but yes, that is absolutely possible. However, I really do not think any such spell could be any more effective than one which would allow you to summon every element.’

“Nither do I.” I respond with an inward grin. “That is why I am working on formulating a spell that really can summon every element, including 118 which my world discovered but yours seems to be unaware of.”

‘118 elements Aerien!?’ The queen responded, her astonishment came off her like a wave, catching the attention of everyone in the area. ‘I do not sense any deception or mirth in your words, you are completely serious. Your world has honestly discovered 118 elements in addition to the base six and the derivative twelve?’

“Well, it would be incorrect to say that.” I told her. “It is more like… these 118 elements conform to a different model and understanding of what the elements are. So, rather than my spell summoning 132 elements, it is more like the ability to control those 118 will in-turn give me even more finite control over those 18 which you are aware of. As I am talking about a different model, it means this world has already discovered over half of those 118, they simply have yet to begin thinking of them as elements, and might think of them instead as being a kind of earth or a part of the air.”

‘I see, so that’s how it is, hmm… Actually, this information coming from you is quite troubling.’

“How so?”

‘It is less about the information and more that this shocking and revolutionary concept is something that you told me about. The dryad of Cundo gained it’s expansive knowledge from you. If you know of such a thing, it means that dryad does as well. I fear what they may be able to do with such knowledge. Aerien, I am going to need you to teach this knowledge to members of the arbor committee and the defense committee. I will give you the time you need to begin developing this spell of yours, I am certain it will serve you well, but as soon as it is complete I will need you to come up with a way to teach them anything in your knowledge you believe the dryad could potentially know and use against us.’

Well, that certainly brought my mood down fast. She is absolutely correct though, it may just be that the most valuable thing in me thinking up this wild idea was the fact that discussing this brought us both to this realization. Dryad has a serious knowledge advantage over the fey here, and I am the one best suited to helping them to bridge that gap. Although, I am far from the only one. There are quite a number of others from Earth who could also teach them. Perhaps I will have to meet the others from Earth on somewhat more official terms than I had intended.

-

??? Dark elf POV

An acolyte of Iuuttel walked down a cave hall tucked into a back-corner of the church’s prison-wing, a special section meant entirely for those receiving the coward’s punishment and the valuable spawn which they produced. She sneered as she drew close to the one currently occupied cell. This one was especially valuable, it would certainly be worthy of inclusion in the Nirodgir unit once it’s training is complete. That worthless wench seems to have provided them with a thing of actual real value. However, there seemed to be one problem. It was soft. Perhaps even too soft for Iuuttel’s blessing to resolve.

This was a serious detriment. She sincerely hoped the sub-priestess’ training would be enough, it would be a shame to see that much power go to waste. That cursed woman’s kindness was tainting this precious gem that had come out of her worthless womb. They should just kill the wench and be done with it. The only thing that kept them from doing it was the fact she was required as part of the ritual to bestow Iuuttel’s blessing, but by the sounds of it, the kid was really attached to his servants. Surely they ought to be enough on their own if he was so attached. That girl he seemed to particularly favor could take the place of the mother in the ritual.

But, no… that scrawny little creature was simply not physically large enough. There’s not enough blood in her body. But, they HAD to find some way to stop the mother’s weakness from rubbing off on the kid.

As the acolyte's mind was absorbed in these thoughts, her feet had managed to take her to the kid’s cell. She glared at the door with a face full of contempt for the woman inside. The men stationed to guard the cell and respond to any of the kid’s needs stiffened at attention as she approached, as any man ought to respond when a woman of the clergy approaches them.

“The priestess would like to know how the boy is responding to the gifts that have been included with his meals lately, give me your report!” She demanded.

The two men looked at each other stupidly for a moment before one of the dullards finally got his wits about him. “Ah! Yes mam!” He said. “The boy seems to have organized his servants into a routine for effectively dealing with the rats. When the rat and the meal are first delivered, all of them scream at the rat, presumably until it hides. Once they have all eaten their meal, they use the remaining scraps on the boy’s tray to lure the rat in, and then one of them deals with it. It seems as though they have opted to capture it in a blanket and bash it against the wall rather than using the knife provided, I heard him saying something about the blood stains staying in the cell even after the rat is gone.”

“Hmm… ruthless, resourceful, and intelligent. Perhaps he was born the wrong gender. And he has also organized his servants in such a way? Hmm… Very well, I will report that the priestess’ plan is showing excellent results. Continue to give him these gifts with his meals, we will consider how to advance things from there.”