The planting had been done, and all the farmers, ranchers, and fruit growers were at liberty. A fine time too, since the elections for Virtalla City’s Counselor were less than a Season away. The air was filled with floating blossoms shed from the cherry trees, and at the corner of Victory Square, there were pink piles taller than a man.

The podium at the middle of the square, next to the marble fountain that spewed out crystal clear water, was occupied by a group of a dozen well-dressed men and women. One of them, a man, stood at the forefront, facing a crowd. He was pontificating, yelling slogans that the crowd echoed.

"Virtalla for Virtallans! We've given everything to Bresian and what do they repay us with? Only more work! Our fields grow crops for the lazy loafers! Our sons and daughters learn the Weaving of the magisters and forget our native ways! We are being forgotten! Our glorious history is lost to time! No more! In the coming elections, vote for me, Hector Soria and the Scions of Virtall, and we will reclaim our lost legacy!"

Rolland Turner vi Ishodir snorted at the speech while he gazed down on the scrying pool. Normally, sound wasn’t included in the scrying spell, but that was why he had two diviners working by his side. Well, not that he was the one casting the spell as he had little aptitude for spying.

“Shift the image to the other side,” he said curtly.

The clairvoyant nodded, her veil concealed most of her features as did her voluminous robes. Still, those robes were cinched at the waist, showing off her lovely shape. As a connoisseur of…lovely bodies, Rolland definitely enjoyed every bit that he could see, touch, and taste. And he well knew that not everyone he liked looking at would even want anything more from him. Even as an emperor with dozens of ladies in his harem…well, perhaps he had too many. The Empress’ seat was still vacant as he hadn’t found anyone worthy of it yet. The search continued, but he could only leave those aside while he focused on other matters.

The image within the scrying pool shifted to Virtalla Plaza, which was in front of the old palace. The current Counselor was making her own speech to a gaggle of people. Hers was practically the opposite of the Scion’s and she had an equal number of supporters. More, actually. The Scions of Virtalla were a minority group obsessed with ancient history, but that was what made them such useful tools.

The Ishodir Empire had a land area ten times as much as Bresia, but many of their regions were occupied by Elemental Confluxes which made them practically uninhabitable except for strong Magi. Not every citizen could progress to full Magi, and most lingered at Apprentice or Journeyman. They rarely needed better to live easily anyway, and good combat troops took time to train. Industrialisation of Arcana-powered firearms also meant that even Apprentices could strike with the power of a full Magi, even if they weren’t as flexible.

Unfortunately, Arcana firearms fared poorly against the elemental beasts found in Confluxes or Chaos Founts. Or even the rarer Shardlands found beyond the first layer of the Founts. Those Shardlands were the battleground of the elite and the rewards found within could fuel the rise of nations.

For those, he needed more powerful Magi, and to get that, he needed good stock and knowledge.

Bresia Republic’s twin Magi Academies had somehow propelled that nation to greater heights when it came to Arcana Weaving, and Roland hungered for the knowledge and wisdom locked within those halls. Even if his ancestor was an Archmagus, His Excellency Edward Turner had long relinquished political power, nor was he interested in teaching even more apprentices, not when he already created a dozen lineages.

Rolland frowned as he pondered those inbred, stubborn, traditionalists. The Six refused to teach their ways to those who were not part of their family, citing the mandate the Supreme had given their line alone. They jealously guarded the tidbits the Archmagus had given their ancestors and refused to share, or collaborate. What had been the cutting edge millennia ago was now a dull knife.

‘And the old man only laughed and told me that it’s my problem now.’ Rolland grumbled.

He watched the current counsellor proselytize for a few more minutes before he waved a finger and the diviner sighed and released the spell. Virtalla City was going to boil over, but it needed to simmer for a good while longer to enhance the flavour. While it looked like the Scions of Virtalla had a good chance of winning, they didn’t stand a snowflake’s chance in a forge. There was too much wealth to be gained by exporting and going to bed with the rest of the republican cities, even if the wealth practically stopped at the upper crust. The commoners were also well-fed and well-entertained. There was class mobility and anyone could visit another city easily. There was no oppression unless one counted the fact that the old fools weren’t allowed to remain bigots.

No, the Scions would probably lose, but that was what Rolland was counting on. Losing sight of their goal, falling short, and seeing no change should prompt a rather…explosive reaction.

Rolland settled in his office and leaned back against his comfortable chair. He didn’t have to hold court until later this afternoon, and he was just thinking of calling in one of his ladies for a light romp when he received his Ancestor’s command. He passed it on to the intelligence division and proceeded with his day.

The next morning, he found himself in his office with one such officer who was about to present interesting news. The man unrolled a scroll, allowing the image within to project a bust above the runescript formation. He blinked at the vision of absolute beauty, instantly smitten.

“Who is this?”

“A new professor in Niria Academy,” the intelligence officer said. “Yuriko Davar is a powerful Light Magus and an unorthodox teacher. She teaches an elementally resonant style of swordsmanship and is adept at simplifying complex spells.”

“Light Magus,” Rolland muttered. Just what his ancestor wanted. He tapped his lips and wondered if it would be worth it to keep her away from the old man. Well, it wasn’t as if he needed to bring every Light Magus to Ishodir. But this one…

Yes, she would be interesting to meet. Not that he could go there himself. Still…

“See if you can get her to visit here,” he finally said.

Afterwards, he looked at a dozen more talents and prospective partners before he put the matter aside and focused on other things that were objectively more important. Such as the imminent conquest of the contested Shardland.

____________

Over the next couple of days, Yuriko continued to chat with Gwendith and Heron through the True Connection spell. It was a draining act, but it did help train her Will and Intent, even if the effects were marginal at best. As for simplifying the spell…well, she could barely cast the original version and she would need to study it for quite a while before she could make the attempt. She instinctively knew that it wouldn’t be as easy or as intuitive as the two she already simplified, but she found the puzzle engaging.

Yesterday, after her classes, she attempted to use True Connection to contact her Da, but the interference of the Chaos Sea was too much, especially with the shift between the Arcadia Region and the Shattered Realm. She probably needed to cast the spell in the Chaos Sea, and probably away from the shallow portion that was filled with waves. She didn’t know how far or how long it would take to cross and she feared that it would take years of travel just to make the attempt.

Her research on the portals was pretty much over, and she needed to gather the necessary resources to open the gate in Bresia. As for permission, her position as a Niria Academy Professor gave her enough status to make the request, and have it approved, though the government would not provide the materials to open the portal either way. She’d have to pay an obscene amount of golds otherwise, and there would still be a waiting period as not all of the reagents were locally available. Alternatively, she could wait for someone else to open the portal or wait for someone to go through it from the other side, but the chances of either were relatively slim.

Well, that was why Gwendith and Heron were scavenging for Ambrosia. If the other reagents were not available, then they could just use that to shift into what was needed. Life Essence was but a single flawed aspect of Ambrosia and was honestly a criminal waste. Yuriko clicked her tongue at that thought.

It was too bad she couldn’t use Ambrosia to continue advancing. Not for a long while yet anyway. Her body and Anima were satiated with it, and adding more would just be a waste. Forging her Will and Intent didn’t need Ambrosia anyway, but completing her Colligia would have been faster with it. Thankfully, Bresia and the Arcana Region were possibly the best place to advance her Ennoias.

Well, it was time to train her Will.

Yuriko took a deep breath and looked at the mass of memories that occupied nearly fifty paces of her Anima reach. Damien had been gone from her life for half a year now, but the wound still felt fresh. No matter what his ulterior motives were, there was no denying that he had saved not only her life but her family and friends’ lives, too.

She focused on the mass of memories. In her mind, it was a cloud of light, with hundreds of thousands of white and golden orbs glimmering from within. The cloud was made of everyday memories, inconsequential thoughts, and experiences, while the orbs contained glimmers of truths and secrets dire enough to burn planes to ashes.

She was nowhere near powerful enough to handle those and she knew if she tried now, it would be no different than surrendering her body to Damien. So she reached for the cloud stuff and slowly dissolved them into the sea of her memories.

Most of the stuff was contained within a bubble, but some still managed to seep through and contaminate her core. But that was fine. Little droplets soon dispersed into the golden Radiance and soon became homogenous to everything else. She saw flickers of memories, sights, smells, tastes…and mostly sex. Damien simply indulged in the act, and almost every particle of the cloud involved it. Yuriko sighed as she felt her loins heat up. Her cheeks flushed with desire and she had to stop herself from indulging in self-pleasuring. Doing so would integrate that aspect of Damien more thoroughly into her mind, and make it much harder to resist the next wave.

As the cloud stuff dissolved, she felt well enough to continue. She could manage two or three helpings an evening without strain, though sometimes if the contents were too onerous, she stopped at one.

She reached for another fluff and absorbed it, careful to keep the contents separate, allowing only dribbles to pass through.

She hummed in surprise when she actually perused the contents. It wasn’t about one of Damien’s conquests. It had gotten quite awkward when she realised that one of the frequent subjects had been her Ancestor, and the other slightly less frequent had been the Empress! Ancestors! He got around, didn’t he? She got filled with pointless wisdom on how to best pleasure both of those women that she knew she wouldn’t be able to see either of them straight in the eye again.

No, this one was about one of his travels. A place of wonder and a place that he used in his youth to grow in power. It was a place to challenge the greatest warriors and a place to kill the strongest foes. It spanned from the Firmament above to the depths of the Abyss.

The Eternal Tower.

Huh? Wasn’t that where the portal in Bresia City led to?

End of Book 12.