Chapter 33 - River and Waves

Hump instinctively placed his free hand on his spellbook, as if somehow that would keep the bloody thing from shaking. As if it could sense his thoughts, it chose that moment to shake again. He sighed. “It shakes when it wants me to open it.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “It’s sentient?”

“Somewhat,” Hump said. “It doesn’t talk to me, but it definitely has a sense of awareness. It was my masters, and after he died, it bound to me. I didn’t even mean for it to happen.”

She blinked. “It’s soulbound?”

“Yeah.”

“Holy Mother. That’s… It must be worth a fortune.”

“Which is a big part of why I don’t go around blabbing about it either,” Hump said. Thinking about it, that was probably why his master had never let him see it.

“Does it do anything other than show you spells?” Celaine asked.

“It does,” Hump said. “From what I’ve seen so far, it’s able to record patterns of essence within its pages and recreate them for me to see. It also seems to be able to measure my progress with spells. Apparently, it’s full of spells from my predecessors but so far it’s only shown me stuff I already knew.”

“Well open it then,” Celaine ushered him. “Let’s see what it has to say. Maybe it’s got something that will help us find a way out of here.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Hump said, removing the book from his belt.

“You need me to read it for you?” Celaine asked.

Hump scoffed and put on his most smug voice. “This is a soulbound spellbook, Celaine. Trivial things like a light source are unnecessary.” He opened it to the centre.

The pages faintly shimmered with essence lighting up the letters to reveal the Essence Blast page. Hump frowned. Light ran up the page, glimmering in the lines of the letters and spell formation, then all at once the lines began to rearrange themselves. Ink swirled on the page, taking form before Hump’s eyes. When the ink had settled, Hump read:

Spellbook
Essence Blast -> Focused Blast

Description: Unleash an explosion of essence. Increase the spell’s power by focusing the essence into a beam.
Classification: Battle Magic
School: Evocation
Spell Tier: 1 -> 2

Ability Rank:
1 – You can cast this spell at a basic level.
2 – Your ability to control essence allows you to focus the blast into a smaller space, increasing the spell’s effective range and concentrating its power.
3 – Your ability to condense the power of Essence Blast into a beam further increases the spell’s range and focuses the power of the blast into a small space.

Notes by Ivish:
My practice of Essence Blast led me to this. Always a nice surprise to figure out a new spell, even better when it’s Battle Magic. There’s a fine balance between power and control that works perfectly with this spell. Through proper shaping technique, it is possible to cast a Focused Blast with the force and precision to pierce through one side of a tree to the other.

Excitement flooded through him. At Tier 2, this was a spell that could rival Rockshot, without the limitations of requiring ammunition. When he’d blown apart the undead in the kobold village his level of control must have had to increase with it. That would explain the appearance of the spell. He glossed over the details in the book, memorising the method to activate it.

It was simple really, like all things in magic, clear intent was key. He’d have to work on his shaping technique if he were to do the spell justice, but even if he could only focus his essence a little bit it might mean a drastic increase to Blast’s power. It wasn’t exactly going to help them down here though. They needed a spell that would show them the right path back to the surface, though even if one existed, Hump had never seen his master use any sort of tracking or pathfinding spell.

Suddenly, the pages shuffled once more. Pure white essence shone between the pages, giving the book a faint glow that lit up the space around Hump. When the pages finally settled, the light diminished, and he was left in the dark once more. Slowly, letters took form on the page in swirling lines of light.

Spellbook
River and Waves

Description: A method of essence circulation within the body, that improves focus, essence control, and minimises the effects of essence overuse.
Classification: Essence Circulation
School: Universal
Spell Tier: 3

Ability Rank:
1 – Manipulate one’s internal essence with great control, commanding essence beyond the capabilities of one’s mortal form.

Notes:
For all of my magic, nothing was more important than a simple meditative technique. If one wishes to control the world, one must first master themselves.

Hump’s eyes widened as the spell formation manifested beneath the writing. The book’s essence drew a human body. Within it, channels pulsed with essence, stemming from a central core at the centre of the chest.

It was just like the rivers he had always envisioned inside of him. And it was Tier 3! He could hardly believe it. A technique he’d been practicing since he was a child, yet his master had never mentioned that it was a spell. Let alone one so powerful. It had simply been a way to calm the mind and help him focus. The only other Tier 3 spell he had was Chicken Fix, and as useful as it could be, it was hardly versatile. This… this would help to solve his issues with essence overuse. He must have achieved the requirements through his control of wizardfire. The elixir had forced him beyond his limits, making him adapt on the fly or risk being consumed by the power within.

It suddenly occurred to him that his master might have been preparing Hump for this for a long time. He’d learned the spells in the spellbook, practiced the same advice he’d read inside, partaken in shaping exercises and training. This could have been part of the old man’s plan all along.

“Why do you look like that?” Cealine asked. “Is it something good?”

“Yeah!” Hump laughed the word. “Really good.”

“Tell me it’s a spell that will lead us out of here,” Celaine said, exasperated.

“Erm, no. Not that good, sorry. It’s a new and improved, more precise version of my Blast spell, as well as a technique to help me channel essence. It should help me to replenish my essence.”

“How does it work?” Celaine said. “Is it like a blessing? Can you just use it?”

“No, it doesn’t just grant it to me. It shows me how to use my essence to recreate the effect.” He held up the book to her and pointed at the lines that coursed through the diagram. “You see this? It’s able to record the exact movement of essence.”

Her eyes narrowed and she stared at the page. “That’s all there is to magic?”

Hump snorted. “Try it. It’s not as easy as you think. Especially for magic that uses external essence like Rockshot.”

“Probably not the best place to try it out down here,” Celaine said. “Show me when we’re back on the surface.”

Hump looked at her shape curiously. “You’re interested in wizard techniques? Are you not concerned you might upset your god?”

“The rules aren’t always so strict outside of your pantheon,” Celaine said. “Owalyn encourages the practice of other techniques, and to find our own path. So yes, I’d definitely be interested.”

“Okay,” Hump paused. “Well, I’ll show you if we ever make it out of here.” He returned his book to his belt. “Is there anywhere nearby that we could safely rest?”

“I’m not sure anywhere is safe down here,” Celaine said. “But There was a small alcove a short way back. That’s about as good a place as I expect us to find down here. How long do you think you’ll need to get yourself back in shape?”

Hump leant tiredly against the wall. “A week, if I’m lucky.”

“You know what I mean.”

He shrugged. “A few hours and I should be able to at least pull my weight.”

“Good,” Celaine said. “That’ll give Vamir and Bud a chance to come looking for us too. We’re close enough that it wouldn’t take long to get back.”

“Or for the kobolds to find us if they come down,” Hump added.

“That too.” She took him by the hand again and dragged him back the way they came.

Hump snacked on jerky and hard biscuits as they walked, the fuel all adventurers knew well. He and the old man had gone days on the biscuits alone, forced to soak them in water just to make them edible after so many months in the saddle bags. It gave him the little bit of strength he needed to keep the aftereffects of wizardfire back. It still kindled in his chest, an ebbing heat, slowly dwindling away to nothing, and taking with it all the warmth he had left. There was so little now he felt himself growing stiff and tired.

Celaine helped him find a seat up against the wall and stared down at him. Her green eyes blinked in the darkness. “I’ll keep watch.”

“Thanks,” Hump said. He rested his staff across his lap and then pulled his book off his belt. He pictured the River and Waves technique in his head, then opened his book. The technique shimmered, faintly illuminating the space around him.

It was hard not to be excited, even in their current situation. He studied the movements of essence on the page for a few minutes, memorising the patterns from the core to the rest of his body. Nearby, he heard Celaine scuffle about, her footfalls nearly silent even in the echoing tunnels. When he was ready, he closed his eyes and focused inward.

The first thing he noticed was that his river was more like a stream. An extremely dry and empty stream, flowing out from an equally dry and empty pool at his core. Beneath it, where his stomach was, a small fire still kindled, sending out waves of heat that threatened to burn up what little essence remained. At least it gave him something to work with.

Hump reached for the flame, urging it to move with the slightest touch of his will. Too much, and he would end up burning his essence away, he had to incorporate it into the pool slowly, and dissipate that energy around the rest of his body.

As the essence of wizardfire flooded into him, Hump spread it out into his limbs and began to cycle it around his body. He gritted his teeth as he once more felt that icy chill in his core, like a knife in his heart. It spread slowly, tendrils of ice that threatened to freeze his streams and core. He kept the essence moving, never allowing it to stop as he slowly added more and more to the mix, using it to distribute the cold to the rest of his body and keep it away from his core. For this to succeed he had to maintain a constant rotation, otherwise he could just as easily allow all the power in his channels to escape from his body.

As the cycles continued, he felt essence from the dungeon gather around him. It tingled pleasantly against his skin and Hump had the urge to draw it in. When he finally drew a deep breath, he willed all that power to come with it, drawing it into his lungs. A breath of concentrated power.

Warmth burst from his lungs, leaking out through the rest of his body blissfully. It was nowhere near as powerful as that of wizardfire, or even an essence elixir, but it filled him with energy that his body was craving. In the past, much of that essence would have escaped. Humans were poor vessels when it came to containing essence outside of their core; if he let his control slip, it would seep out from him like steam from a pot.

Instead, he let it trickle into his pool, and join the cycle around the rest of his body. With each cycle, he felt the cold tendrils retreat. With each breath, he felt a little life return to him.

“Hump,” a distant voice called to him. He wondered at it idly, but it was too far away for him to care, and he was too tired. Then he felt his leg shoved. “Hump!” Celaine was shaking him with her foot. “Hump, are you there?”

“Yeah,” Hump said groggily. He blinked, trying to get a grasp of his surroundings, before remembering where they were. Pure white essence steamed from his skin in faint trails, only visible in the pitch black of the tunnel. Celaine stood before him. “What’s going on?”

“Kobolds are in the tunnel,” she said. “They’re coming for us. We need to move. How are you feeling?”

Hump took a deep breath, flexing his hands and fingers, and he let essence flow from his core. “Better. Much better actually. Most of the cold is gone and I should be able to hold my own in a fight.”

“Good. You might need to.”

“How long was I out?” Hump asked.

“Hard to tell,” she said quickly, eyes vanishing. Her footsteps echoed to the right as she walked away from him, and he imagined her peeking around the corner nearby. “A bit over an hour. Maybe two.”

“And you’re sure it’s kobolds?” Hump asked. “Vamir could be back with reinfor—”

The familiar clicking tongue of kobolds echoed down the tunnel.

“Definitely kobolds,” Celaine said. “We had best be gone before they catch up. Can you run?”

“I can briskly walk. If I run, I’ll spend as much time on the floor as on my feet.”

“Just do your best. And stay quiet.”

Hump closed his book and grabbed his staff. Celaine didn’t wait for him to push himself to his feet, taking him by the wrist and dragging him up. He had time to attach his book to his belt once more, then she pulled him down the tunnel. They stopped for a moment, then she directed him left, tugging him into the darkness.