What We Do to Survive

Fine currents of mana flowed smoothly through the metal band, following the silver runes set both along the surface of the titanium band and hidden within the metal itself. Figuring out how to manage that had been an absolute nightmare, particularly since transmuted silver lacked the same mana-conductive properties of ordinary silver and the processing required meant I couldn’t just poor in melted silver either. In the end, I’d had to transmute the titanium around a frame of carefully formed silver wire, and it had taken quite a few attempts to get the technique down.

After several tests, I smiled in satisfaction as I found that everything seemed to be working as expected. None of the specially treated silver wire had been damaged, I couldn’t sense any imperfections that would make the titanium brittle, and the four crystalline mana-batteries I’d embedded inside the metal had connected to the runic network without any issues.

Setting it back down on the table, I pulsed my mana and, just like I’d designed it to do, the collar split into four perfect quarters as though cut by an impossible sharp knife. I picked one up, examining how perfectly the titanium had bonded to the silver wire inside the metal. I could still feel mana flowing through the piece, though the primary magic-suppressing enchantment was currently inactive. I hadn’t managed to find a way to include it in all the pieces, the entire thing had to reform before that enchantment would snap back into place, but that was not unexpected. I’d recently come to find that symbolism had more of a place in runes than I had ever expected, and that sort of enchantment worked best with a closed loop or some other ‘sealed’ container.

Still, I had high hopes for this new design. Channeling more mana into my circulations, I strained myself trying to bend the metal further, but my efforts were futile. The strengthening runes inside the quarter sprang to life immediately, drawing additional mana in order to reinforce the already very durable metal.

Nodding in satisfaction, I moved on to the next test. I’d made some modifications to the enchantments imbued into the metal since the last time I’d made one of these, and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t messed something crucial up in the process. Last time, I’d had to settle with trying this enchantment on training dummies, but this time I had a much more convenient target.

Looking over my shoulder I found Rea dutifully sweeping the floor, naked except for the long socks on her feet as she had been for the past two days. It wasn’t something I’d told her to do, I didn’t particularly care if she wanted to wear her little dress or not, but apparently now that she had confirmation that I liked what I was seeing, she made it a point to immediately remove anything she was wearing as soon as I stepped into the room.

Leaning back in my chair to watch, I channeled a touch of mana into the piece of the collar I was holding, then tossed it onto my table with the other pieces. It didn’t even hit the wood before the enchantments triggered and it floated up into the air along with the other three pieces. They hung there for a long moment as the magic did its work, and then all four pieces simultaneously launched themselves through the air like a volley of arrows.

Rea let out a cute squeak of surprise as the first piece slammed into the side of her neck, nearly knocking her to the floor as one soft sock slipped across on the smooth stone floor. Then the other three closed in around her and snapped together, the metal shrinking slightly to form a tight ring around her neck.

A tendril of force caught her before she could hit the floor, another gently shifting her broom out of the way so she wouldn’t impale herself on the dull pole. “Try to cast something, a light spell.”

Despite the sudden request and the fact that she was currently half-sprawled across the floor, she jumped to obey. Then she yelped loudly and I called out for her to stop. After giving her a moment to regain her senses, I curiously asked, “How did that feel?”

Hanging her head, she replied, “This slave begs forgivness it could not complete Master’s command. This slave tried to cast the spell, but it, it burned and this slave could not cast it.”

I nodded slowly. “Don’t worry about it, you were not supposed to succeed. Come here.”

She quickly crawled over and I easily removed the collar, the metal expanding slightly to its original size. I ran a cursory check on the enchantments and found that, beyond a minor drain on the crystal batteries, everything was still working as intended. Very nice.

Leaning over, I placed a light kiss on the side of her neck. “How about now?”

“This slave thanks Master. The pain was only momentary.”

“Good girl. I’ll definitely make sure to make it up to you.”

I smiled as she blushed brightly and ducked her head. Suppressing a laugh, I gently pushed her away. “That too, but later. I saw how disappointed you were that you couldn’t play with the new girl, but I’ll probably have someone else for you soon.”

I let Rea return to her work and went back to mine as well, making a few minor notes on the new design’s performance in one of my many notebooks. I was quite happy with how well the new design seemed to be working. It had moved faster than the previous version, though I would still need to test how well the seeking function actually worked. It could clearly catch an unresisting novice human, but how well it would weave around obstacles and avoid attacks was still up in the air.

Additionally, I was happy the retributive enchantment seemed to be working, though that too would still need more testing. Instead of simply suppressing mana use, the new collar would also punish the wearer for trying in the first place. If it detected any attempts to breach the boundary it formed between the wearer’s body and mana, it would subject them to an increasingly intense pain spell or attempt to render them unconscious depending on how I tuned the enchantment.

Looking at the silvery band of metal, I compared it to some of my earlier attempts. It was the most advanced magic item I’d ever made, the increased complexity only possible because of the valuable reagents I’d used during its construction. The small mana batteries had cost me nearly two hundred pieces in materials, a veritable fortune but one that would hopefully last me for years. The silver wire I had made myself, using a painfully large amount of my pets’ precious milk and some blood to improve its mana conductivity and empower the enchantments it was formed into.

It had been almost physically painful to use so much money on a single item, but hopefully it would be worth it in the end. It was… bizzare to realize that the unadorned piece of metal in front of me was probably worth more than some towns I’d visited, more than the entirety of the Saddleshapers’ inventory and house combined. It was also probably horrifically illegal in most of the civilized world, the mage elite of most countries were absolutely terrified of this sort of artifice. Even at Avalon, it had taken an enormous amount of effort to design a functional prototype, though I had innovated greatly since then.

I stood up and stretched, my back popping after several hours hunched over my desk. Even though it was just barely after lunch, I’d been up and working since the early hours of the morning. I had a lot to do, particularly since I still wanted to make time to visit Lea tonight. I would have to be extra careful now to make sure I wasn’t tracked in anyway. Illusions, a few extra scrying wards on top of my amulet’s protections, and some more mundane precautions would hopefully make sure no one looking to score points with Clarient would be directed towards my childhood friend.

Unfortunately, I would probably have to put off tracking down the fucks that had hurt her for another day. I still had class this afternoon, I was meeting with Miranda and Briella to discuss how to deal with Clarient, and I still had to make time for practice and research. Now was not the time to slack off and let my hard-earned skills get rusty.

I arrived at the classroom almost half an hour early, slipping into the small lecture hall under the cover of invisibility. I stiffened as the very last person I wanted to be alone with right now stood up from her desk and turned to glare at me, cold anger visible in the dark gray eyes.

Clarient Valorous was an imposing young woman, with a presence around her that screamed of power and authority. She was tall, slightly shorter than me but not by much, with long black hair and sharp, regal features. She was built like a trained warrior and not at all shy about showing it off, her bare arms, belly, and legs covered in lean, corded muscles. On an ordinary day, I would have likely thought that she looked rather attractive, she wasn’t exactly my type but she was undeniably a beautiful woman. Right now, her murderous intent killed any sort of apeal I might have felt in an instant.

“Good afternoon, Clarient,” I tried, doing my best to put as much polite sincerity in my words as I could.”

“Orion. Hunter.”

A great start. I’d honestly forgotten that she had been in this class the first week of the semester before transferring to a different course. Apparently, that meant that she had not been removed from the room’s wards, otherwise she would have been forced out an hour before class started. Well, that or she’d somehow overpowered the Academy’s wards, which I found unlikely. She was good, but that would take more than just ‘good’.

Well, if nothing else, it was a good opportunity to set the record straight, even if I wasn’t really ready to talk to her yet. I would have much preferred to discuss things with my more people-savvy servants and have Liam present, but this was a fine neutral space as well. I doubted she would willingly violate Avalon’s rules on classroom violence just to get back at me.

“So before we go any further, I want you to know that Kwesta is alive and well and that she was the one who started things in the first place. Miranda is a valued associate and an attack on her is an attack on me as well.”

Clarient listed in silence, an unreadable expression on her face. I waited for a moment for her to say something, anything, then pushed on. “I am willing to trade her back for a modest sum and an oath of nonaggression from you and her both, though the exact terms would have to be agreed upon later. Kwesta is fully healed and at no risk of deteriorating, though I’ve kept her unconscious in a state of suspended animation since her attack.”

I paused again, waiting for her to say something, anything, but once again she stayed completely silent. I bit my lip, then decided to try the idea I’d been hoping to run by Miranda. “Look, I understand how important friends can be. I lost my family years before I came to Avalon and I greatly value the connections I’ve made with some of my classmates. I’ve heard what happened and things must have been very tough for you. Losing my parents was horrible and I was much younger than you were at the time. I can’t imagine how I would have managed to push through something like that now. I can see that you don’t like me, but I want you to understand that I can not tolerate an attack on one of my people, no more than you can do the same.”

Clarient’s presence spiked sharply as I finished speaking, her dense mana crashing against mine for an instant. It was clearly meant as an intimidation tactic and it was a rather effective show of strength, but I was actually rather reassured. It gave me a chance to clearly read her mana, and while impressive, it was nowhere near what her titanic reputation had me imagining over the last few days.

I flared my own mana in response, shielding myself in a shell of my own power. Our manas clashed directly for a moment before with both withdrew nearly simultaneously. “I’ll take that into consideration,” she said plainly. Without another word, she walked briskly past me and out the door, leaving me standing confused at the center of the room. That had been… weird. Gods above I wished I had spoken to Miranda again earlier…