Soul Bound

1            Soul Bound

1.1          Finding her Feet

1.1.5        An Inscrutable Mastermind

1.1.5.6      That floating feeling

Isabella started scolding her for setting every pendant in the Sanctum on fire. Kafana tried to act penitent, and took the opportunity to ask Isabella about whether they had someone who specialised in helping minds heal from the scars of past abuse, mentioning that it seemed from reading the books Isabella had lent her, that she’d need to pair up with a specialist in air-order magic. She mentioned the use she’d made of inscriptions as visualisation aids, and asked if Isabella had anything on that or on group casting, as that was what seemed to get Kafana into trouble most often. Oh, and what runes should Kafana use to kill a disease inside a person or object? Isabella shook her head at the torrent of questions:

“Apprentice! Do I look like a librarian? Most apprentices don’t manage to absorb a single book in a month, and you’ve read three in depth in just three days. Most apprentices are still trying to get healing right. Your questions are more appropriate for journeymen or even masters.” Isabella pretended to sigh “It serves me right for picking a questing spirit as an apprentice. Here’s what we will do. I give you free rein of the Sanctum’s library. Just make sure you return anything you borrow. You may write down questions and have them sent to me. I will either send you answers, or forward them to someone who does have the time and ability to answer them. Don’t you have quests to be doing or something? Go hurry up and reach level 25, so you can at least be made a journeyman and I can regain some of my dignity. I’m meant to be in a meeting right now, not mollycoddling apprentices.”

Her actions belied her words, however, as she stroked Kafana’s hair gently, and whispered to her: “Well done on the forging. But do look after yourself better. And now you have been seen to have been scolded, you won’t be resented as an exception who can get away with breaking rules.”

Rodolfo, on the other hand, was unabashedly gleeful. He returned the borrowed jewellery and promised that she’d be welcome to visit and help with rituals any time she wanted to. Wellington he tried to offer an apprenticeship to but, on finding Wellington already had one, settled for offering a journeymanship as soon as Wellington was available. Wellington cautiously thanked him, praised Rodolfo’s skills and forge, but promised nothing.

They used their shared map to meet up. Wellington found that he could set a target waypoint that they could all see and aim for. Kafana considered diverting to the library, but knew she might end up spending hours in there, and instead exhibited great self restraint in deciding to leave that pleasure to Vessel-Kafana. Tomsk amused himself by bringing up orglife mode as they walked, and practiced quickly targeting passing priests to label them with things like “will be first against the wall, when the revolution comes” and “picks his nose”.

Bulgaria showed them how to attune their Cov’s pendant to this particular sanctum, by touching it to the rune at the centre of the Sanctum’s large central hall where respawning happened, then they headed out.

Wellington tried complimenting Alderney’s hair, before asking her to bounce over to the Speckled Dove with some money to pick up the buff foods that Bungo had put in a request for, the previous day. Alderney, somewhat startled, nonetheless managed to gravely thank Wellington for noticing, and praised him for improving his people skills. Wellington looked pleased, like someone who has entered a password and is relieved to find it worked. Kafana realised that they had a long, long way to go, when it came to helping Wellington.

Kafana: “Guys, I’ve an idea. We’re not going to remain inconspicuous, whatever we do. So I might as well cast a running buff on us all, and get us over to Libri in half the time. But some of you have massive DEX. I propose, to make a fair race of it, that Tomsk and Bungo do this as a three legged race. What do you think?”

Bungo: “Inefficient. How about we make it a piggyback race? I’ll race against Tomsk. Tomsk carries Bulgaria and Wellington, I’ll carry Kafana.”

Tomsk: “You have far more DEX than I have. I’ll agree if it is the other way around. I carry Kafana. You’re much bigger, so you carry both Bulgaria and Wellington.”

Bungo: “Done!”

Kafana squawked, but Bulgaria was already giving Wellington a leg up onto Bungo’s back, and Tomsk was making “hurry up” motions to her with his hands. He didn’t want to lose.

She placed the +5 pendant over Tomsk’s neck because it gave a bit of a DEX boost too, and climbed on his back, uncomfortably aware of his body. She pushed the thought aside and sang her speed run buff to target just Tomsk and Bungo.

Wellington: “3, 2, 1, “

“Go!” shouted Kafana, aware of all the nobles and diplomats in the Plaza of Peace looking at them. She gave Tomsk a nudge with her knees, as though he were a horse, and clung on tightly.

Her buff had levelled up again, she noted. Perhaps casting it at a higher level also granted more advancement experience to the skill? Tomsk was going much much faster than she’d gone. They’d already entered the Plaza of the Founders and were nearing the Plaza of the Public. She saw the sail of a tall ship ahead, moving towards the bridge, and wondered how it intended to get past to go up river. She renewed her buff as they jumped the central amphitheatre, surprising a group of actors defending a flimsy wooden gate against another actor dressed up as a small demon.

It wasn’t until they were nearly on the bridge that she got her answer. The central section of the arched bridge made of sandstone supported by magic had flowed aside to leave a gap, and the ship was sailing towards it.

Alderney’s voice broke in: {Keep going, you can make it, speed up!}

Kafana, panicked, sang the first thing that came to mind, the chorus from “Lighter than Air” by Feenixpawl.

They reached the gap going nearly 60 km/h, and kept going, rising and rising. She checked her buff timer. 5 seconds left! She sang it again and again, her mana plummeting, until they landed in Libri.

Bungo groaned: {Alderney, you wanted us to crash into that sail, didn’t you?}

Bulgaria: {Win-win situation. She’d have gotten excellent footage either way.}

They walked the rest of the way to CoThEx. Slowly. Kafana insisted.

*ding* [Your party’s reputation with the students of Libri has increased by 20.]