Chapter 13: Arcoryx

It was a tiny bit rude that Ryland was a little distracted from Echoes of Stardust thanks to current ongoings.

“[Omniscience].”

The spell sent his sight outside the train so that he could take in the hullaballoo and find out what was causing the slowdown. Hmm. Quite the commotion that. He decided to take care of it, since it appeared the mess kept growing worse every moment.

“[Unmaker’s Sentence].”

Realm 44’s infamous mana-devouring crystals emerged from the cracks in reality that Ryland set all around the train. The crystals spread out far and wide, growing through the crimson tide of Living Mana and easily swallowing it all up. His spell made the earth shake and the air shiver, the crystals’ viridian sheen steadily overcoming the Incursion’s ruddiness.

There was probably a lot of screaming and screeching going on, but the sound was muted at best. He was just letting a lone eye through, nothing more. And that too only to keep an eye out and ensure the crystals didn’t spread excessively far.

It wasn’t long before things settled down.

“Those crystals,” Viren said when he returned. The disbelieving look Ryland had seen so often was now shaded with suspicious resignation. “That was you, wasn’t it, sir?”

“The Ne’er-spawn?” Ryland said. “Why yes. I’m surprised no one has come up with the same solution to the Living Mana problem yet, but at the same time, I’d be unsurprised if it was considered and then rejected.”

“What do those things do? How are they eating the Living Mana?”

“The Ne’er-spawn eat mana. That’s it. And oh, that includes anything even remotely associated with mana, including mages, manabeasts, Relics, and even Glyphs too. They are practically anathema to anything magic.”

Viren’s eyes widened. “Wait, if they’re that destructive—”

“Not to worry. As you can see, I’m already sending them back.”

Even now, as the last of the Living Mana Incursion was consumed by the metallic crystals, Ryland was returning it all back to Realm 44 with his rifts. Fractures broke reality around them faster than they could eat the magic that caused them, and soon enough, they were all gone. Like they had never been here to begin with.

“Since this wasn’t a populous land,” Ryland said. “And the Living Mana had neither significantly breached the train nor had been engaged directly by any defenders, I had free rein to use the Ne’er-spawn. Understandably, this measure would have been prohibitively difficult in most other scenarios.”

Viren shuddered a little bit. “Right. I felt like getting close to those things would have gone really bad for me.”

“Yes, most likely.”

Ryland waited for a while for the train to get going. Viren seemed to be in a ruminating mood, not ready to talk, though he figured the boy would pop up with questions sooner rather than later.

Eventually, however, they still hadn’t resumed motion. There was a little bit of time before Ryland would be preoccupied again, so he rang the bell that summoned the conductor.

Colm appeared almost instantaneously. “My lord, how may I be of assistance?”

“I hope there haven’t been any serious casualties,” Ryland said.

“None thankfully, my lord.”

“Good. Would you mind telling me when we’ll resume our journey?”

“Uh, we’re finishing up repairs before we start, my lord. We’re still not certain if the Incursion is truly gone or if it has simply taken on a new form…”

“It is mostly gone for the time being.”

“I told you,” Viren piped up, shooting the conductor a soft glare. “They didn’t want to believe me, but I told them it was gone for good. Thanks to you, sir.”

“You… really did that?” Colm asked, eyes widening. “The other lords are still debating what exactly caused the Incursion to be devoured like that, and a few were certain we were beset with an even worse problem, but it’s all gone now. All of it just disappeared.”

“I can assure you, the problem has been dealt with,” Ryland said. While he sympathized with their consternation, and perhaps it was on him to assuage their general fears, he also didn’t possess boundless patience. “I can’t speak for other Incursions down the line, but I am certain that we’re all safe here. So, kindly make arrangements to continue the journey.”

Colm looked a little like Ryland had simultaneously lifted years’ worth of burdens off his shoulders while also putting him under a deep-sea-trench’s worth of pressure. But he picked up the note in Ryland’s words anyway. “We will see to it immediately, my lord. We apologize for the delay.”

Once Ryland had dismissed the apology, the conductor bowed deeply once and left.

True to Colm’s word, it didn’t take a whole lot of time afterwards before the train resumed its journey. They were headed for the academy.

[ Achievement Recognized: Ascending Incursionist

You have defeated a Mithril-ranked Living Mana Incursion despite being merely Silver-ranked.

Reward: Rank up from Silver [50] to Silver [75].

Reward: 80 Glyph Prints.

Achievement absorbed by Manasoul Archetype [???]. ]

Ah. Now he was getting Glyph Prints as rewards rather than just Evolution Prints. Ryland had worked with both before, of course. They were a fundamental part of working with Glyphs in general, at least if the caster was in the business of getting more of them or evolving the ones they possessed.

Perhaps, when the fancy struck him to try out a new Glyph, he’d now have an easier time of it.

A very, very slight one.

Just eighty prints was about a twelfth of the amount he’d need if he wanted to create a Tier 20 Glyph from scratch.

“You saved us in the end, sir,” Viren said after a little while. “Against a Mithril-ranked Incursion.”

While the windows provided ample privacy, Ryland had no trouble sensing the other nobles outside. They had gathered together a long while back, and even after the train had got going again, they hadn’t dispersed. Several times, he felt some of the subtlest magical probes he had ever experienced thrown his way, but they always recoiled as soon as they came close.

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“Oh, I don’t know about saving.” Ryland closed his eyes, returning them to where they had been on Realm 21 to watch more of Echoes of Stardust. “I’m certain the train’s passengers would have been able to successfully defend themselves.”

“Then why did you interfere? Because the train was slowing down?”

Ryland noted the use of interfere. “Precisely.”

“But… what about your show?” He twisted his head up from where he was lying on the bed. Poor boy seemed exhausted. “Aren’t you missing it even now? Or is it over?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. We’re just in an intermission. They have rather lengthy advertisements, unfortunately. It’s gotten rather obnoxious over the years, truth be told. I can recite, word for word, the exact procedure for magical soap that doesn’t just clean you once but automatically cleans you up to six times afterwards whenever you get dirty.”

Viren stared at him. Then strange laughter bubbled out of him until he was clutching his stomach. Tallow, who had returned to Viren when the boy had reappeared, meowed along with the laughter.

“You should get some rest,” Ryland said. “I’m about to resume my show.”

“I will, sir. I…”