Universe's End

Chapter 261: Don’t judge a book by its cover

“It’s only a little bit cursed,” Rory said as he looked down at the tome.

Only a little.

Analissa was clearly utterly spent, her eyes looking as if they were swiveling through molasses, but even then, she managed to look genuinely shocked as she looked at the ravenous tome.

“Oh, do be nice,” Rory sighed as he gently swatted the tome, as it settled down.

My fault, to be honest.

Once, long ago, the tome had been nothing but an ordinary tome prepared for future inscription artists of Ehkorrus. Then, Viviann, his former hook-up and sort-of inscription apprentice, had the bright idea to attempt to use the same tome as a medium to draw knowledge and significance from Rory in an attempt to evolve her inscription skill. It had been done on behalf of Ehkorrus, but the poor woman hadn’t realized what she was getting into, resulting in a tug-of-war between Rory, who had been tier seven at the time, and herself, who hadn’t even been tier six. The result had been unsurprising; she’d died, but what had been surprising was that her significance and essence had been pulled into the very medium of her attempted ritual.

The tome.

Tome of the Failed Ancestral Usurper

Grade: Rare

Once a mere tome of instruction, the most notable aspect of the tome was that it was left behind by the founding father of inscription. After the failed use in an attempted usurpation ritual, the tome was infused with the essence and significance of the attempted usurper. While the physical contents of the tome remain unchanged, the infusion of life’s worth of an early apprentice of the founding father of inscription alludes to potential boons to one who may resist the damned nature of the tome.

Except that wasn’t where the story ended. Rory had been given the tome for safekeeping, meant to be given to someone worthy. The problem was that Rory had forgotten.

For a long time.

The next time Rory had fished around his inventory, there, in a back corner, was a now rather viciously flailing tome. He wasn’t really sure what had caused the change, but if he had to take a guess, being in constant proximity to the target of the initial usurpation ritual had resulted in the tome warping itself, like some post-death grudge.

Did that mean he believed Viviann was haunting him from inside the pages of a tome? No, not at all, Viviann wasn’t the type for that. But some sort of energy interaction had caused the tome to change.

Tome of the Failed Ancestral Usurper

Grade: Rare

Once a mere tome of instruction, the most notable aspect of the tome was that it was left behind by the founding father of inscription. After the failed use in an attempted usurpation ritual, the tome was infused with the essence and significance of the attempted usurper. While the physical contents of the tome remain unchanged, the infusion of life’s worth of an early apprentice of the founding father of inscription alludes to potential boons to one who may resist the damned nature of the tome.

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Revenant Tome of the Failed Ancestral Usurper

Grade: Rare (+)

Once a mere tome of instruction, the most notable aspect of the tome was that it was left behind by the founding father of inscription. After the failed use in an attempted usurpation ritual, the tome was infused with the essence and significance of the attempted usurper. Exposed to myriad energies without consideration for the long-term effects, it has since developed an ID. Only one capable of proving itself greater than the tome may quell its instinctive urge to consume the significance of others.

So… a little cursed. In fairness, it wasn’t dangerous… to Rory. But he could already imagine how another person trying to draw knowledge from the tome would find themselves the one drawn into the tome instead. Going by the inscription alone, Rory had eventually come to the belief that it would only be usable by those who had made a rune themselves, as the entire original intent of Viviann’s doomed ritual was to gain the skill upgrade that would make creating runes herself a feasible achievement.

Enough time had passed since the incident with Viviann that Rory largely felt nothing but a small sigh of wistfulness. Looking back now, Viviann hadn’t been exceptionally driven or talented, a cut above average, sure, but nothing that truly stood out. Yet, she’d tried her best to meet expectations.

But in the end, the universe wasn’t fair, and sometimes, try as you might, the dice roll didn’t go your way.

Analissa was different. He could feel far more potential in the woman, an internal drive that was developing into something special; it just needed more time. Rory couldn’t give her years directly, even for a founder like himself, that wasn’t possible, but perhaps he could give her a chance to reach higher and claim those extra years for herself.

The fact that she’d succeeded in making a new rune where so many others had either failed or not even bothered seemed like all the proof in the world to Rory that he was on to something.

So, looking at the somewhat cursed tome, Rory wasn’t thinking about what could go wrong, because in his mind, they’d already crested that mountaintop.

“You’re probably going to need to discipline this one,” Rory said, giving the tome a quick rap on the cover with his knuckles. “But there are probably quite a few runes and ideas in this bad boy you’ve never even considered. More importantly, I have a sense that between having crafted your very own rune and reading this, you might find yourself with a brand new, evolved version of either your vocation or your inscription skill, or both.”

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Analissa nodded, but it was so sluggish that Rory sighed.

“Miguel, would you mind taking Analissa to her home, or somewhere she can rest? She’s likely going to be sleeping this off for a week or two straight.”

“Certainly,” Miguel said, walking up to the desk and lowering his shoulder to scoop Analissa up, like someone helping their inebriated friend stagger back home.

“I’m… fine,” Analissa said, her words further reinforcing the image of someone well beyond drunk.

“Sure, you are,” Miguel snorted. “C’mon, I know little Rosy will want to see you.”

“Rosy?” Rory mouthed as Miguel half-smiled.

“Pet bird,” Miguel mouthed back before glancing at Analissa. “I remember doing this when we were both what, twenty-two and you had…”

Rory watched in silence as Miguel chattered to the all but unconscious Analissa, stories being retold that had Rory somewhat nostalgic for his own childhood into his early twenties.

“Well, with that little sidetrack taken care of,” Rory sighed. “On to other things…”

The next few days passed in a blur as Rory rotated between teaching seminars on crafting to the small but dedicated population of crafters of Zoey’s village, which he’d come to realize most of her people referred to as ‘Sky Haven,’ the name of the land synonymous with the name of their scattered village, and working on his own project.

Which, of course, was just more skybound chanting. No longer spending days just meditating –or whatever you wanted to call it– high above, the words of the wind came to him piecemeal, only a single extra word learned in that time.

Which was fine, because by the time Zoey and Eia returned from their own little adventures, Rory was putting the finishing touches on something he’d been making.

“Sup,” Zoey said as naturally and casually as if it had been a single day since he’d last seen her.

“Yo,” Rory responded, carefully attaching the final piece of his small-scale project.

“Whatcha’ doing?” Zoey asked, looking curious.

“Project,” Rory said as Zoey hovered in the background.

“Well, yeah,” Zoey said, rolling her eyes. “Not what I meant.”

“I’ll explain later,” Rory said, ending the questioning of that specific subject. “How was the adventure?”

“Entertaining,” Zoey said with a grin. “Nothing too crazy. Did find a hidden cave filled with ‘Sky-Seething Anacondas.”

“Oh?” Rory questioned, genuinely curious how that played out.

“They were tier seven, so nothing that interesting for the most part,” Zoey said, brushing it aside. “Except for the den ruler.”

“Tier eight?”

“Nah, but they were a peak tier seven Territory Alpha,” Zoey corrected. “And Eia did not like them.”

“Why is that?”

“Two huge egos,” Zoey said. “Also, he wanted to take Eia as his mate.”

“And how did that play out?” Rory questioned, already having an idea.

“Oh, they had a duel. Eia ended up eating him.”

“And the rest of the den?”

“Them too,” Zoey snorted. “They weren’t as intelligent as the den leader, but I think they somehow assumed Eia was planning to take over.”

“Any goodies?” Rory asked.

“Sort of. Neither I nor Eia could make use of this on its own. Well, Eia said she could probably absorb the latent energies and significance, but that it would be less efficient in the long run than just handing it off to you.”

Curious, Rory held out his hand as Zoey motioned as if she were tossing something, an item materializing midair. Catching it, Rory’s eyebrow rose an inch as he examined the item, recognizing it even before he did.

Cracked Samsara Seed of the Sky-Seething Lesser Serpent Lord“Another Samsara seed. I thought these were supposed to be rarer,” Rory said, mostly speaking to himself.

“Aren’t the cracked ones the useless ones?” Zoey asked.

“Not useless,” Rory corrected. “They’re just not capable of rebirthing the original monster like the other two versions. I guess the cracked ones probably are meant to be not super uncommon, especially if coming from a territory alpha.”

“Interesting,” Zoey lied, sounding like she was already losing interest.

“Anything else?” Rory asked.

“Well, yeah, I skinned the main snake.”

“You?”

“C’mon, I may not be an artisan, but I can do that much,” Zoey rolled her eyes. “Given its snakescale from a tier seven, I figured you wouldn’t mind if I handed it off for my people to get their hands dirty on, they probably haven’t had many chances to use materials from a peak-tier-seven territory alpha, if any.”

“No problem here,” Rory said. The only reason she was being so considerate wasn’t out of deference; their relationship was purely that of equals after all, but from a practical standpoint, giving raw resources to Rory was simply the smart choice most of the time. In this situation, while materials from a territory alpha would still be quite valuable, at only tier seven, Rory didn’t mind giving them up to be used much less effectively than if he were the one to handle them.

“Gracias,” Zoey said with a bit of a downward tilt of her head.

“Random question,” Rory said, suddenly curious about something.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you do that sometimes? In the past, you never did.”

“Do what?”

“The random Spanish?”

Glancing around and confirming no one was in earshot, Zoey merely shrugged.

“My sister and her mother. They’d sometimes use a bit of Spanish, and I think I picked it up as a habit thing, ya’ know? When I feel at ease, it's like a reminder of home.”

“Sappy,” Rory said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Zoey rolled her eyes. “So, are you going to explain your project now?”

“I guess,” Rory sighed. Instantly, a second, completed version of what he was working on appeared as Zoey examined it.

“That’s a wing suit,” Zoey finally said after a moment.

“Good job, Captain Obvious,” Rory smirked.

“Hey, I’m just trying to play my part and not spoil myself by examining it right off the back.”

“To which you have my thanks,” Rory chuckled. “Yes, it’s a wingsuit. But calling this a ‘wingsuit’ would be like calling the planes the Wright brothers made as jets.”

“Meaning…?”

“Meaning it's better than any wingsuit you’ve ever seen,” Rory said with a smile. “Give it an examine.”

“Well, now that I finally have permission,” Zoey dramatically sighed before she lifted an eyebrow. “Skyblazer Suit Mk. 1. Your naming scheme sucks.”

“Hey, Mark One is a perfectly descriptive name. It’s the first version, ergo, mark one.”

“Uh-huh,” Zoey nodded. “So… Skyblazer?”

“Well, if we’re about to be hunting down a flying territory alpha, we need to fly.”

“Yes, of course.”

“But last time, your glider got kaboomed.”

“I’m not sure ‘kaboomed’ is the scientific name, but sure,” Zoey agreed.

“It is when I’m the closest thing to a scientist around,” Rory said. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the best way to handle that situation the next time around. The easy option was to lure it to stable ground.”

“But the chances it falls for that are slim.”

“Bingo,” Rory nodded. “So, how do we handle the chance of our gliders being kaboomed?”

“Don’t use gliders,” Zoey realized.

“Bingo,” Rory repeated. “The nice thing about gear you wear is that it naturally gains a level of resiliency, clinging to your body, it's protected within the internalized aura.”

“Question,” Zoey said, sticking her hand up as Rory sighed.

“Yes, Zoey?” Rory said, calling on her as if she were an excited student.

“I understand the basic theory, but that’s not how anything works, at least not to an appreciable level. Otherwise, clothes or such would be protected just as much as armor.”

“And you’d be correct,” Rory said. “Yes, the effect is usually relatively minor, but that’s where the name blazer comes in. Specifically, from the Trailblazer rune. A rune one of your people just recently made.”

“Oh, nifty,” Zoey said, borrowing Rory’s favorite word.

“I’ll skip some of the details, but let's just say that the trailblazer rune makes it far more feasible. All in all, by hammering home a lot of repeated skybound chanting, I was able to get the suit skybound, though with a relatively low passion.”

“Passion?”

“It’s the term Miguel used to explain how powerful the skybound effect is,” Rory explained. “The interplay of the entire suit being skybound, alongside the runes used, and the basic physics of a wingsuit, and tadah, you’ve got a skyblazer wingsuit.”

“Cool.”

“Cool. That’s it?” Rory asked.

“Uhh, super cool?” Zoey offered.

“Right, don’t know what I expected,” Rory grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Nerd shit aside,” Zoey said with a wide grin. “That means we can go murder the flying phlegm lord?”

Rory crossed his arms, thinking about it for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.”