Ch 14: History

A body born without mana is not used to it. It tears at its insides, trying to unanchor itself. The physical and mental resources of one who completes the ritual are taxed to the limit even if absorbing the most minor of magical creature’s mana. The larger the creature’s mana pool though, the harder it is for the body to adapt. In some cases, it’s not possible at all and the ritualist can die. It should be noted however that this ritual can only be used once. An absorption of a minor magical creature may be safer, but you will need to cultivate and develop the mana you absorb within yourself. The higher the risk, the greater the reward.

• Unknown, Living Mana Transference: Permanent empowerment by sacrifice and cultivation

Solomon was slowly going over the symbols in the circle around the chained god, his head only a few inches from its massive claws. He located the next several runes in the sequence, noting their locations and order, then once the page he was writing in was filled he made a small mark with chalk outside the circle to mark where he’d stopped.

He walked back to the desk where he’d left the Union textbook and the Ritual instruction open along with several pages of notes. He’d been going around the ritual line by line, comparing the runes listed with the ones in the book, and extrapolating how their effects would have an impact on the ritual. He wanted to understand the ritual before he attempted it. First he confirmed that the symbols matched what was listed in the ritual instructions, then he checked what they did.

He started cross referencing this newest sheet. As with all of the others, he noticed several changes that didn’t match what was in the ritual instructions. An additional rune representing soul, one that was meant to mean opening or unlocking and another duplicate of the rune for switch or transfer. Those were frequently among the excess runes that were placed around the circle, along with several that were not listed in the Union textbook, or weren’t even human runes at all.

He frowned as he looked over everything so far. He was roughly halfway through the spell, and had located excess runic phrases in six places so far. From what he’d seen of his Uncle, he was a meticulous and careful man. He couldn’t imagine him making those markings unless it was on purpose. He just wasn’t certain if the markings were refinements to the original ritual that he had created, or something else.

He’d hoped he might find the answer in his Uncle’s journals, but he had yet to crack their cipher in any meaningful way. He was certain the letter I was a part of it and A was not. That wasn’t exactly enough to break through. He’d also scanned the journal to see if runes were listed anywhere, but they were not.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He’d read through the ritual as well as all of the warnings it came with. The larger the mana source, the harder it was on the body once it was consumed, and the longer the adjustment to it would be. Perhaps his Uncle was trying to find a way to minimize that adjustment? He could erase the additional runic script from the ritual circle and the remaining runes would perform the ritual as it was originally intended, but if he made a mistake he may not be able to correct it. Luckily, the circle itself wasn’t what was binding the god inside, the chains were. That meant even if he made a catastrophic mistake it wouldn’t be released. It would be catastrophic too. He could feel the hate the god felt toward him. A simmering malice that grew every time he returned to the hidden chamber.

He reached into his pocket and removed his pocketwatch, checking the time. He had made plans to leave for Church in an hour. That gave him time to clean the ink stains from his hands and don a fresh vest along with his mourning coat. This would be the first service he attended in Moonfallow and it was important to make a good impression. It would also be an opportunity to identify who all of the important people about town were, aside from the Mayor and his brother.

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He gathered his walking stick, choosing to leave all of his research down in the hidden room where it would be safe, and began to walk up the steps. He stopped to listen at the top for a few moments before activating the opening on his side. After the last two nights of study he could now identify the runes for blood, open, and quiet, around the central eye. He had no idea of how they were tied together, but he was happy to be able to gather that at a glance.

“Thank you,” he said to the empty suit of armor as he climbed up and into the library. Barnabus and Bart had started their work on repairing the shelving, but so far that had mostly involved tearing down the shelves that couldn’t possibly be repaired. The walls were looking more and more bare by the day, but at least a small corner shelf now had a few of the books Melissa had picked out for her and the other servants to read.