Elydes

Chapter 176 - Celestial Alignment

News of the alignment swept through the streets, faster than his feet could carry him home. The bells eventually quietened, and excited voices rose to take their place.

It was rare six moons aligned for any length of time—not counting the Lost Sister that was unpredictable by nature. Beyond the celestial spectacle, the phenomenon carried numerous meanings and omens.

Superstitions like those of the elusive Wandering Moon, though these held more truth. Kai had seen the alignment five times before and witnessed his share of unexplainable events. Temperatures drop to freeze water, spirals of sand and leaves floating unchained by gravity, and wild fluctuations in the mana currents.

Some claimed to have had premonitions of the future, seen the spirits of the ancestors or received mighty gifts. Magic being real on Elydes didn’t stop people from making shit up: it just made it harder to parse the lies. The grains of truth were drowned by hordes of superstitions, with no way to test or verify them.

“Blessings!” A woman with graying hair greeted him at the limit of the Ring Road. She had set up a stall outside her bakery, offering sweet buns to every passerby.

The smell of warm food made his mouth water. Kai couldn’t tell if it was a pious act or a marketing strategy, in either case, who was he to refuse free food? “Blessings.” He repeated, the word was already filling the city in the background. The woman gave him a chubby bun and turned to another man.

She must be a believer.

He had never been particularly interested in the faith of the Seven, though it was impossible to live in Higharbor without picking something up. The alignment was only more important in the Republic, where the moons were worshiped like actual deities.

I guess they are real.

Such a weird thought weighed heavy on his mind. With seventy million believers across the mainland, there must have been miracles and blessings aplenty. Kai stole a glance at the clouds. A pale, yellow moon hung uncaring in the winter sky. If the gods were watching, they gave no sign of acknowledgment.

Knowledge of deities was even harder to come by than information on Fate and Favor. Or better, people were only willing to discuss the virtues of the Seven Moons, how and when to pray and show your devotion to the faith. He had never found a bookshop in the capital that had less than a dozen volumes on religious doctrine.

Before the gods, people were supposed to bow down in worship, they weren’t supposed to question them. What were they? What was the extent of their power or the limit of their actions? Had the Seven always been there, born with the celestial rocks orbiting the planet, or had they appeared later?

Not a scrap of paper or a broken sentence on the topic. The books he was allowed to browse at the estate hadn’t contained more than vague passing mentions, and after his teachers had left, he had known better than to ask out loud.

Virya’s attitude of treating deities like forces to be studied and negotiated with was considered heretical by islanders and mainlanders alike, and Kai was in no mood to be burned at the stake.

Away from the hills of the upper city, the echoes of blessings grew fainter as the population tilted in favor of the natives. Besides the mystical shenanigans, true or otherwise, there were more direct consequences to six moons linking. That was why the alignment went by another name in the archipelago - The Festival of the Tides.

Depending on the timing of the alignment, the sea could rise to swallow coast and towns or disappear beyond the horizon. His mom could probably tell him which with her moons charts.

The door closed behind him, Kai enjoyed the sudden silence of his house. How could anyone survive the noise of the city without a soundproofing enchantment? It had been one of the very first additions when Reishi handed him the keys. A few circles of shining runes hidden behind paintings and bookshelves to quieten the clamor.

Did they always look so ugly?

Every line was inadequate, sloppy, inefficient. In light of his recent progress, every tiny oversight had become a glaring mistake. Kai diverted his gaze before the impulse to redo could win. If he started to look for flaws, he could spend the next week redrawing every enchantment in his house and still have more.

It doesn’t need to be pretty as long as it works.

Edgar might have rubbed off his perfectionism on him, but the gnome wasn’t there. He would rather starve than leave his home. No one would know how absolutely terrible his work was.

Damn, stop thinking about it.

“Have you heard the news?” Flynn strode in the living room with a toothy smile. “There is going to be a Festival of the Tides! It’s been so long since the last.”

It does feel like a lifetime ago, I was still at the estate…

“It was hard to miss on the streets. They rang those damn bells for five minutes straight,” Kai wasn’t surprised his friend already knew. Flynn always had a knack for gathering information, even without leaving the house.

He must have known what the noise meant.

“But I’m not sure they’ll celebrate the festival here.”

It had been the Faith of the Seven Moons to give the news of the alignment, not the local tideseer. Kai didn’t even know if there was one. The traditions in the Republic were different. While they might not care to actively convert the population, the city was the heart of their power in the archipelago.

“You know Higharbor continues beyond those flashy hills, right?” Flynn asked with complete seriousness. “Have you spent so much time walking among the clouds that you’ve forgotten about us lowly mortals?”

“Very funny.” Yes, the place had a few nice shops and a scenic view of the city, but that wasn’t the reason. He went to the upper city because of Edgar. “I don’t like it there any more than you do.”

“If you say so, Your Highness.” Flynn gave a teasing bow. “Maybe you should try going out for reasons that don’t include training.”

“I do that all the time.”

“Buying food or shopping for materials to train doesn’t count. When was the last time you went out for fun? Just to walk, see the sun, or talk to people?”

“I can do all those things while I run my errands.”

Flynn gave him an exasperated look as if he had just proved his point. “Let’s focus on the future. There will be plenty of celebrations for the festival in the outer city. I can show you around, I found this tavern with the most interesting people. You need a referral to enter but I—” he stopped and narrowed his eyes on something at his back. “Is that for me?”

“No,” Kai answered before understanding what he was referring to. The handle of his new blade slightly poked from his satchel. A sliver of polished wood that could have belonged to a thousand different things.

How did he spot that? He cursed himself.

There had been no time to hide it. The gnome could see every angle of his house, and he wasn’t going to use his ring in the streets.

“Was it made by the grumpy gnome? Can I try it?” Flynn approached with his beaten puppy look. When that didn’t work, his grabby hands dashed forward.

Kai was ready to dodge him, but the space inside the house was limited. They ended up wrestling on the couch and then the floor. “It’s mine.” He clutched his satchel with no intention of letting go.

“C’mon, don’t be stingy,” Flynn tried to pry his fingers open against Empower. “I just want to see it.”

“The things you watch have the tendency to disappear.” Kai snapped back. He would trust those words more if they came from a giggling toddler.

“It’s not my fault if you always bring such interesting things home. I’ve listened to you rant about that grumpy gnome every night for a month, I’ve the right to be curious.” Flynn suddenly let him go and stood up with a sulk. “You’ve even forgotten my birthday last week.”

Shit! Did that pass already?

Guilt and shame washed over his reluctance. Kai ordered his hands to release the bag and pull out the blade. The dagger was the first of many, he had a chest full of fangs waiting to be enchanted. He was already planning to give most of them away—on his terms.

Flynn patiently waited till he deposited the crystal knife in his hands, or maybe he was too stunned to move. “It’s beautiful. Are these the enchantments you designed?” He stared at the chains of delicate runes with wide innocent eyes. It was a pity he couldn’t admire the mana hidden inside.

“The first enchantments Edgar approved,” pride surged through his veins. “And… I’m sorry I forgot your birthday. I was so busy it slipped my mind.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Flynn waved him off. “It’s next week, but it’s nice for you to bring a gift ahead of time.”

Kai took a second to compute the words. “What!” He wished his gaze could burn, equally furious at himself for having fallen for such an old trick. “Give it back!”

“Nope, it’s rude to take a present back.” Flynn had darted out of reach with a cheeky smile. He stood with the kitchen table between them. “And if you believed me, you had actually forgotten about my birthday. Tell me how many days are left and I’ll give it back.”

Kai pressed his lips. His stupid brain couldn’t recall the information. “F… Th…” His friend gave away no information. “Three!”

“Seven. It falls right on the festival.”

Dammit! Where is my Luck when I need it?

“I wrote it somewhere, I would have checked.” He was almost sure he did, a good eighty-five percent confident.

“You mean in one of your hundred notebooks, or in one of the eleven stacks of loose papers in your room?” Flynn gave him a skeptical look. “Do you want to bet if you can find it before midnight?”

“I— Okay, you might have a point. I won’t forget again.”

“It’s fine, I know you’re terrible with those kinds of things.”

Thanks, I guess?

Flynn ruffled his hair, chuckling at his glare. “You’ve other qualities. Like, I don’t know… you’re rich, fun to tease, entertaining to watch and… did I already mention the money?”

“I already feel much better.” Kai pushed away his hand. “It makes me wonder why you don’t just rob me and run away.”

“That’s because I’m playing the long game. Do you take me for an amateur?” Flynn stood back in dramatic shock like he had received a grave insult. “I’m a professional, I’m gonna let you fatten properly before I make my move. You already earned a gold mesar, who knows how much more you’ll make next year?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “And you're telling me this because…?”

“Because it’s all part of my evil masterplan,” Flynn facepalmed at the foolish question. “Your mind is just too limited to see it.”

“Right, that makes perfect sense.” He didn’t point out the tiny flaw in the reasoning. The ring and his teachers’ gifts were worth more than anything he might have earned in a decade or two.

I should be the one to give him lessons on evil schemes.

“Do as I say, and one day you might be able to see it too. Now I need to go live a life of crime! I heard they’re giving out free food on Ring Road.” Flynn headed for the door. “And thank you for the dagger, it’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

You're welcome.

Faced with the mess of paper in his bedroom, Kai plunged into the tedious task of bringing order to chaos. Countless pages covered in runes for practice, messy notes on new alchemy recipes Reishi provided, and a considerable pile where his dad's journals mixed with his own writings.

How did I let it get so out of hand? It’s Edgar’s fault for making any amount of chaos look trivial compared to his lab.

He had almost gone through Rellan’s whole research, looking for mentions of spatial phenomena and beast sightings. Thus far, he had come up empty-handed. There was mention of other small mana anomalies in five other sites, two of which had been demolished by the Republic, but nothing about the true mystery.

Did Dad never notice?

No matter how rare, there must have been other spatial events through the decades. Though it was possible they didn’t carry a large yellow beast, and no one noticed. Kai grumbled in annoyance as he ordered the books.

If no one found out in eight millennia, it won’t be easy to solve.

By the time Kai was done, the crystal lamps lit the streets outside. While the chaos was nowhere near defeated, he had dealt it a heavy blow. He could even reach his bed without the risk of tripping on a book. A neat stack of letters from his family rested on his nightstand, his mom non-so-subtly suggested he should visit.

There was still a large pile to sort through, especially runes stuff. Deciding what was worth keeping was going to be a grueling task. What if he lost the schematic for a heating pane, it was always better to save an extra copy, wasn’t it?

No, I’m not going to become a crazy hoarder.

He wouldn’t allow himself to end up like Edgar. Each visit to the runesmith was a fresh reminder of how insane he might end up if he wasn’t careful, helping him keep his resolution.

Back in the underground chamber, Kai was ready to tackle a new schematic. He planned to add a little more flavor to the enchantment this time. Edgar offered to take care of it instead—likely to see him gone sooner—but there was no way he would accept.

The gnome might not let him witness the enchantment if he didn’t design the runes, or decide he had fulfilled his teaching duty. Both unique opportunities he couldn’t squander.

The test with his copied engraving skill had been an utter failure. His mana separated into tiny filaments, swaying like an epileptic octopus. Despite his best efforts to control them, he had completely botched the red drake tooth he bought for experimentation.

Part of it might be his lack of experience with an advanced skill, but he could only manipulate the copy so far. He needed every new chance to improve the echo and see how the skill worked in the hands of an expert.

Profession Skills:

Gifted Novice (lv50>60)

Mana Echo (lv47>66)

He had used the last Mana Echo upgrade to improve the maximum quality of his copies, but they were still not as flexible as the original. Perhaps if he reached the second milestone…

Making use of the week before the alignment, Kai managed to complete two designs for a pair of daggers with wind and water enhancements respectively.

Finally, it was the day. Outside his window, the sky had filled with an unusual number of moons.