Orphan At The Edge Of The World

Orison said, "I"ve already internalized my summoning models. How do I maintain them so that they can grow?"

t.i.tania Prime looked at Orison, dumbfounded. "Why don"t you ask a farmer how he plants a field after he harvests it? If you want a seed to grow, you find some soil. Just in case you"re not that bright, I meant that as a metaphor."

Orison smiled and said, "It wouldn"t matter. I have something that fits that description both metaphorically and literally. In fact, I may have not realized the actual nature of what I had until you said it so bluntly."

Orison turned his sight inward towards the bath barrel sized chunk of five colored soil with the spa.r.s.ely spread spirit gra.s.s going about their slow and stately growth. Hovering over it was the mustard seed bracelet like a little home-craft halo giving away the presence of a kind but shy angel. Orison amended that image to a benevolent Buddha after the bracelet literally bent out of shape and produced a faint scent of incense.

To give his theory a try, Orison constructed the model for t.i.tania and attempted to have her manifest from the essence of the soil instead of the essence in his s.p.a.ce or filtered from his own reserves through his s.p.a.ce. He already knew what happened when the sub-mind tried to use the power invested in his s.p.a.ce to fuel any kind of model. As soon as it entered the world, it might as well have been pa.s.sing a reality boundary for all the chance it had of surviving. As it so happened, t.i.tania not only survived, she looked stronger from the very start.

The sprite looked over his t.i.tania and scoffed. "You"re still choking her potential to death but at least she"s "alive". You"re not as completely hopeless as I thought. Not by much, though."

Orison said dryly, "Gee, I think you"re swell too."

After the young mage"s revelation about the long term value of what he was picking through with zeal before, Stag"s interest in the new acquisitions died significantly. Just as well because Orison had one more important thing to do with the wild fey blooded man before they left the Osomo free zone.

Orison said, "I don"t have an easy way to do this but I need to clear you of the Osomo spark you have and give you a clean one. That would be impossible out there but in here I can do it. Warning though, it"s going to hurt. I"d leave it be but there"s a chance Osomo will yank you back after I yank you. Needless to say, that would be fatal."

Stag flopped onto the bed dramatically and stared at the ceiling. "Slick"s in the second drawer. Loosen me up a little before you start if you"re feeling kind. It"s been awhile."

The young mage shook his condensed spark out of his formation, letting the newly formed bit of bright crystal take center. He imagined he could hear the spirit gra.s.s protest as their sun got down-graded to a white dwarf. His sub-mind informed him that his soil"s intake of essence had also reduced to just barely more than what would sustain the current gra.s.s and his t.i.tania summon.

He had been under the impression that the motes were what empowered the soil but they were just making it with the help of the gra.s.s. The radiation produced from his formation is what made the free essence in his s.p.a.ce that the gra.s.s used to live. They in turn created air and some kind of vital essence that the bracelet was currently enjoying. Since he didn"t have anything that needed whatever it was that the bracelet wanted, he could care less. In fact, he owed the object big time and if this was the pay back, he was happy it was so cheap.

As he brought out the condensed spark, every eye in the room glued to it, especially t.i.tania Prime. Before she could get too close, Orison pushed it into Stag"s chest. Under spirit sight, Orison watched as the spark drew in and consumed the lesser spark until it was gone. All the while, Stag writhed and held back a scream with sheer willpower.

Once the condensed spark was done, Orison removed it and returned it to his s.p.a.ce. Once he had found one of the untainted ones that hadn"t been chewed on overly much by his s.p.a.ce yet, he placed it into Stag. Noting the minor internal bleeding from where the spark was placed, Orison hit him with a little healing before sinking a glowing mote into the new crystal.

Looking up at Orison with involuntarily wet eyes, Stag said, "Was it good for you? Because I don"t think I"ll be remembering that too fondly."

Orison looked at his newly christened long term companion blandly and said, "I"ll try to be gentler next time."

Smiling weakly, Annie said, "I guess there are some positive sides to parting ways with you."

The young mage said. "Living a wholesome, virtuous life is no less difficult and no less rewarding."

Annie said, "A comforting lie. It only has a little truth to it."

Orison shook his head, "No, I"ve seen bit and pieces of a greater truth. It matters. It"s just not easy... Even though Osomo subverts the journey of souls, to get away with what it does it still has to follow whatever those rules are. A**holes are resp.a.w.ned or born as creatures and people who live good lives are resp.a.w.ned into better circ.u.mstances or even become the souls of newborn n.o.bles... I can tell there"s more to it than that but that"s all I personally know and can attest to without it being, what did you call it? A comforting lie."

Annie said, "Be that is or isn"t true, we"re in a want to be other places. Unless... Are you in the mood to celebrate life?"

Orison smiled and said, "With you? More than, but I don"t really get the feeling you"d be that into it. If I took you up on that offer, I feel like I"d be lumped with all the rest. I think being special to you appeals more than a quick roll for the road."

Annie stared at him expressionlessly for a moment before she said, "You"re a little cruel aren"t you?"

Orison hugged her and gave her a light peck on the lips then whispered, "Sometimes."

It was time to leave. They all knew it but there was a small desire to stay. Fortunately, they could all blame it on the lethargy of the tainted spirit essence in the construct rather than the impending circ.u.mstances that waited for them after they left.

Seeing Orison begin constructing a beacon model, Annie said, "Wait! It might be a lot to ask for but do you think you could invite someone else out that"s in confinement?"

The young mage stopped casting and said, "It"s not that simple. I have to have some kind of connection to use as a backdoor. I could get away with Stag and another captor due to having family members present. In fact, Stag"s may not have been strong enough to reach were it not for the presence of another who"s father was present. It was a piggy back kind of thing."

Biting her lip, Annie said, "If you had access to one of their children, could you?"

A little hesitant, Orison nodded.

Stag looked at Annie in surprise and said, "Are you trying to get Pete out?"

Looking a little ashamed, Annie nodded.

Stag said, "I"m not going to dig into old gossip but if that kid you helped to escape was really his instead of the guy that paid to breed you, you don"t have to have the kid. I... may have been using a dirty trick to keep from their little breeding program getting their hands on my legacy. I"m not going to go into details but what you got in you isn"t mine, you get me?"

Dealing with some mixed emotions, Annie said, "Apparently I didn"t "get" you but... are you saying that it was Pete"s?"

Stag nodded smugly.

Looking tired, Annie turned to Orison and said, "It"s not that I have feelings for the guy but he is the father of my one year old son. It"s for my boy, not me. I..."

Orison struggled to process what he just heard for a minute and then said, "Yeah, uh, sure... No, that makes sense. I mean, it makes sense that you wouldn"t want... That was a little left field so, but sure . Let"s do it."

Unable to lock away all the complicated thoughts running in his head from showing, as Orison used his spirit sight to catch a trace of someone else"s signature within Annie, she said, "If things had played out differently, would this have mattered?"

Orison thought about lying outright but the presence of t.i.tania Prime kept him honest. "Yes, but it wouldn"t have been the end of everything either. It just wouldn"t have been as straightforward, not for me... It hasn"t taken yet but it still could. Do you want me to...clean it out?"

Annie said, "Can I have a chance to speak with Pete first?"

As neutrally as he could, Orison said, "Sure."

With a flourish of magic, the group appeared at Indigo"s transporter. Once more and they were at the southern part of Sky Hub. One jump away from either Snow Cap or the hub city that connected to the Earth Circuit and the five great cities.

"Here goes," Orison said as he invited Pete.

Two minutes later, a fully naked, fairly human looking bull tribe beast folk appeared at the transporter. It didn"t go unnoticed.

To help move things along, Orison prompted, "Annie, I think you have some clothes in the pile you just put away that will serve. No need to wait for local authority to give him a complimentary covered escort to the local tailor shop, right?"

After a quick apology for forgetting how "intimidating" Pete was, she rushed off red faced to offer some clothes which the man put on with the air of a person who enjoyed the eyes of the public.

Orison turned to Stag and said, "Real soul of the entertainer, this guy."

Stag added, "Went from hired muscle to debtor employee and then to cage neighbor in under six months. He has no respect for rules but his own. Couldn"t ask for a better friend or a worst enemy.

"More than one"s commented that the fact he wasn"t Chosen proves that Osomo doesn"t pick for potential. Next to no martial training and the guy has no problem tackling or knocking out anything under a top mid range defensive cla.s.s. I get the impression that we"ve kinda used up your generosity but is there any way to..."

Orison sighed, "I don"t but you do. In fact, since we haven"t officially traveled through a transporter or visited a trainer yet, your pugilist set is gift-able too. As a second generation, I think I heard that you can chose a retainer for three year chosen status... Oh, that reminds me."

While Stag debated his own generosity, Orison walked to the trainer and dumped Rose"s remains on the platform. A few moments later, she walked out in the basic white courtesy outfit Osomo offered to Chosen who wiped in a horrific way.

Looking around, she locked in on Orison and said, "When Ivan disappeared in transporter light, laughing like a fool after having soiled himself, I a.s.sumed your friend would be fine if he failed. I wanted to keep going and saw no harm in leaving them there."

Orison said, "There was plenty of possibility for harm but you weren"t aware. I can"t hold that against you."

Rose sighed, "A killer can"t complain about being killed. I might be a lot of things but a hypocrite isn"t one of them. For the record, I was only going to rough you up a bit but I"m proud of how you handled it. Am I allowed to think of myself as a good teacher?"

Orison weakly smiled and said, "The very best. On a personal level you"re absolute sh*t, though."

Rose shuddered and Orison pretended it was because he"d put the fear of G.o.d in her and not because his words gave her a cheap thrill. As she was about to use the transporter, Orison offered her the back of his wrist. Warily, she touched it with hers.

After transferring a chunk of junk treasure, Orison also gave her one of the two vials of soul elixir he"d found in the second set of loot. Since it contained a good deal of the unknown purple substance that bonded people to Osomo, Orison didn"t want much to do with it other than a few experiments. Without some kind of help to replenish her weakened soul, there was no hope of Rose accomplishing much before her active days were done and the elixir could accomplish that plus some if she was determined to make the most of its effects.

Orison said, "With that, we"re done. I don"t care about you or your issues anymore."

While the young mage walked away, Rose shouted, "I think I might love you."

Without turning around, he replied in a kind voice, "Thank you. I"ll remember to file a restraining order."

While he had been finishing things up with Rose, his sub-mind had been scanning through the token rewards screen. Once the red haired Draconos had returned to Snow Cap, Orison returned to the transporter to flash away so that his purchases could be added to the crystal spark"s inventory. Once done with that, Orison unloaded a set of equipment on Stag.

Not really knowing why he did it and feeling a little childish, when Pete came over to pay his respects, the young mage accepted them with as much social grace as he could muster before excusing himself and letting the three take care of their business by themselves. It didn"t take long. With less than five minutes spent, Pete was a royal retainer Chosen with a full pugilist set, off to Daub with a somewhat melancholy Annie.

After the mismatched pet.i.te and mountain of menace couple was gone, Stag said, "What"s next?"

Orison said, "That depends on you. What basic trainings do you want?"

Stag chuckled nervously and said, "I thought you"d just tell me. You picked this set for me. I can feel it has good stats but it looks so basic. I can"t place what it is."

Orison looked over the slightly baggy pants, undersized shirt and oversized fur lined short sleeve jacket. "It"s a neutral set. Besides, it doesn"t matter... Pugilist or adventurer isn"t a bad choice because it"s universally useful but I"d suggest some kind of training with a supernatural or magical touch to it as a second, even if it"s not really your thing. It might be personal prejudice but I feel it gives a few extra tools in the toolbox that physical skills alone just can"t give."

Stag thought for a minute and messed his hair up in frustration. "Based off of what you told me, almost all of it"s worthless. Can"t you give me a few pointers on what will carry well or what you can help me add to that"ll be, I don"t know, not beginner?"

Orison chuckled. "Are you asking me how to cheat "climbing"? I"ve been hit with some pretty absurd luck in both directions. That"s not something I can teach you or you should even want to know. When it comes to survival, which is the most important, a good combat competency is essential. Healing is fairly boss for that on the magic side but it"s technical. Ultimately, when it comes to climbing, the more it fits you the more "cheat" it is because you"ll advance a lot faster when it matches your core self"s ideals.

"What confuses me, is that nearly every Nunos is a healer/guardian. I figure that druid/archer would fit better for the blood that they carry but maybe they know something I don"t. Then again, I don"t see any of them doing much to strengthen their blood, only maintain what they have."

As if he"d been struck, Stag looked at Orison stunned for a moment and then started laughing. By the time the green haired man had gotten himself under control again, Orison was on the verge of feeling offended.

Stag clarified. "We"re told from an early age things we"re supposed to avoid if we"re Chosen. On the top of that list is druid because family who take it tend to disappear. In the early histories, we were banned from taking it at all. It wasn"t until the First Family did their vanishing act that we even had the choice. It"s fact that every family member who"s ever chosen to take it, shun the rest and eventually are never found.

"The second that we"re not supposed to choose is necromancer. The reasons behind that are a little stranger. Supposedly, we"re not good at it and won"t make it very far. That"s true too but every generation, there"s one or two that take it and one of them will be the one who watches the family crypt. I could feel a life and death feeling from Ivan"s mark even though he"s a guardian... I think I"ve found my cheat.

"If I dump professions, I should be able to pick up pugilist anyway. Based off what you say, they"re garbage anyway. Will that work? Druid, necromancer and pugilist, that"s what I want."

Standing in an absurdly comical hands on hips hero pose, Orison declared. "Then that, intrepid hero, is what you shall get!"

Half a day later, in the Temple of Greed, The two were bleeding, poisoned and suffering from numerous curses as Orison said, "Why do so many people want you dead so badly!?"

Stag looked at Orison incredulously. "More than half of them were calling for your head by name. Don"t try to put this all on me!"