Chapter: 540 – What Now?

Tala, Rane, and Master Grediv returned to their tea for a final cup and further conversation after honoring their fallen friend.

Master Grediv spoke as he poured his cup. “I think that it is an excellent memorial to Master Girt.”

Rane nodded, accepting the compliment, and Tala smiled. “We’ll invite the rest of our former Defender unit tomorrow, then.”

Rane cleared his throat. “Speaking of whom, are they going to be able to function as a unit of just four?”

Master Grediv shook his head. “No, but they won’t have to. Several more Refined have come to aid in the waning, and two of them will be assigned to fill in the gaps. We even have a few entirely new groups, as people have been working to ‘come in’ early given the waning’s greater… acceleration of danger.”

That was good to know. Tala had been a bit concerned that they would be leaving their friends in the wind with their advancement and Master Girt’s death on top of that.

“But that shouldn’t concern you directly.” He gave an implicative smile. “I would like you to be Paragon in command of a cell detail, however. It is expected—required even—for any Paragon in the city.”

Tala felt her expression brighten, her focus and thoughts being pulled from the previous topic. “Oh? Does that mean I’ll get to learn how that’s done?”

He gave her a flat look. “Yes.”

When he didn’t say more, she shrugged. “Alright then. When?”

“We should meet up tomorrow, and I believe that you’ll go out either then, or within the week.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yes. The feel of the zeme makes our experts believe a cell will reveal itself in the next week or so, and I’d like you to handle it… with a Defender team of course.” He was looking straight at Tala, a bit of an intensity to his gaze.

“Sure.” She smiled, shrugging. “I was hoping to learn how that was done regardless. This is as good a time as any.”

“What about me?” Rane interjected, clearly feeling a bit left out.

“What about you?” Master Grediv arched an eyebrow. “You’ll learn as well, and we’ll get you out for the next cell.”

“Ahh. Sure.” Rane smiled, leaning back and taking up his tea once more. “That sounds excellent.”

“Speaking of advancement…”

Tala frowned. They hadn’t really been speaking of advancement, but she supposed she wasn’t one to throw stones over conversational awkwardness.

The older Paragon shifted. “Has anyone discussed Reforging with you?”

Tala was the one to answer. “Some, yes.”

“Good, good. I assume that neither of you is one who will Reforge immediately? I mean, by the lack of such advancement, it seems obvious, but you aren’t holding back for some reason?”

Rane shook his head. “I am not, no.”

Tala hesitated, causing both men to look at her. Rane gave a knowing, encouraging smile, and Master Grediv frowned. “Is there something that you would like to share?”

Tala shrugged again. “I feel like I could Reforge, if I stretched my will and authority in the right way, but it feels… incomplete. The sense I get is that I would step onto a peak and never progress further.”

Master Grediv actually seemed to relax. “That is wonderful to hear.”

It was her turn to arch an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He smiled and nodded reassuringly. “Yes. If you can sense that, then you likely won’t fall into that trap… if any advancement to being fully Reforged can really be called a ‘trap.’”

“What do you mean?” Tala was incredibly curious, and Rane leaned forward as well.

“Well,” The older Paragon paused for a moment, clearly collecting his thoughts before continuing. “To Reforge is to remake yourself completely under your own authority—this is the imperfect shorthand for what is to happen. The truth of it is that any human, with sufficient determination, can throw off other authority sufficiently to ‘claim’ their own body uncontested for enough time to ‘Reforge.’ For mundanes or lesser Archons, this manifests as a brief moment of increased power or seemingly supernatural capacity in one way or another, but it isn’t sustainable. For a Paragon, with an actualized and understood soul? The result is permanent.”

“And that’s bad because…?” Rane prompted, though he looked like he already had some idea.

“That’s bad because you aren’t actually remaking yourself. You are claiming yourself as you are.”

Tala frowned. She thought she was following his thought process, but she wasn’t sure. “And that’s… bad?”

“Yes.” Master Grediv gave a half smile. “Who and what you are, physically, is decidedly influenced by many, many outside factors. So while claiming it as your own is good—and even required—it is not truly Reforging in the most potent sense. In fact, it cements ties, restrictions, and influences, making Ascension essentially impossible.”

“Essentially?” Tala prompted.

He shrugged. “It’s never been recorded, but we’ve had so few Ascended to begin with that such is hardly a comprehensive refutation of the possibility.”

Rane grunted his understanding.

She tilted her head to the side in consideration. “So, it would be like calling a broken sword a finished piece, or saying it had historical significance and shouldn’t be touched, or something like that. It has been ‘remade’ into a ‘complete’ item that doesn’t need to be or shouldn’t need to be fixed, but that doesn’t actually make it better than it was before?”

“Well, it does make it more useful, in the sense that it is acknowledged for exactly what it is and can be utilized as such, but essentially, yes.”

Tala nodded, asking the obvious follow-up. “So? What does need to happen then?”

“You need to remake yourself into something that is uniquely you, and by your own volition.”

What he said lined up with what she already understood. So, Tala arched an eyebrow. “I can already do that.”

That caused Master Grediv to hitch. “What now?”

She shrugged. “I can quite easily recreate my physical body from the individual cells outward, in a better-than-Refined state due to fundamentally threading them full of magic at every level as I build.”

He blinked at her a few times. “And that feels… incomplete to you?”

“Yeah. It feels like I’d just be a human with magic highlights, no matter how intrinsic those were.”

Master Grediv seemed contemplative. “I see.”

His confusion made her feel like she needed to give further explanation, like she needed to defend her position. “I feel like I need more, like I have something else that is graspable, but not quite in my grasp yet. I think I know pieces of it—even if I can’t quite actualize them yet—but I’m still missing… something from the basic concepts.”

Master Grediv seemed a bit at a loss for words, but eventually, he gave a slow nod. “I will not advise you to ignore your own intuition, especially not on something like this. I will simply trust that you are continuing on your path of advancement.” He then turned to Rane. “What of you?”

“What about me?”

Master Grediv gave Rane a flat look, causing the younger man to chuckle.

“Fine, fine. Ever the mentor, eh?”

That brought a smile to Master Grediv’s lips. “Always.”

Rane chuckled. “Well, in all honesty, I am moving toward much of what Tala has rejected. Though, to be clear, I am not simply solidifying myself as I am. I am working to learn what I need to know in order to perfect my physical form to match my view of—and desires for—myself.”

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Master Grediv nodded, not saying anything further on the matter. “I did want you to know that Master Jevin has been involved with the goings on with Eskau Meallain.”

Tala gave the man a level look.

He held up his hands. “I’m not telling you anything about what else is happening with her, but that was important to know, as it explains why he and I were talking, and why you came up.”

She grunted but didn’t otherwise respond.

“Regardless, Master Jevin would like to see you when you have the availability. Even with your… history? Yes, let’s call it that. Even with your history with the Leshkin, you should be more than up for making the journey through the southern forest safely.”

Tala considered for a moment, then nodded. “I don’t see any reason not to. It might not be for a bit, but I think we’ll be able to make the trip.”

As she glanced toward Rane, he shrugged. “Sounds fine to me. It could be fun to go back.”

She smiled. “Then it’s settled. How is he doing, by the way?”

“Master Jevin?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, he’s doing just fine. He’s been a bit close-lipped about it, but I believe he Reforged a year or two back. The old tree keeps his aura looking the same as ever, though, so it’s hard to tell.” Master Grediv chuckled. “I guess calling him the ‘old tree’ doesn’t really make sense anymore, if my guess is actually right.”

Tala felt an upsurge of happiness. “Hey! That’s wonderful news.” She hesitated a moment, but when Master Grediv didn’t continue, she frowned. “Shouldn’t this be a bigger deal? I mean, he’s one of the older Archons we have, right? His advancement should be cause for wide-spread celebration.”

Master Grediv nodded. “It should be—and would be—if he announced it. As it is, though? We might be celebrating nothing, and he is entitled to his own privacy as he deems appropriate.”

She grunted. There was some logic to that. “But you think he’s advanced?”

He grinned widely. “I’d bet a lot on it, yes.”