22 – Cycle

Ari knew she would have to harm the orbs to help them. It was inevitable. They couldn’t remain as they were, because they were likely already hurting from the anomalous bonds they shared, even though they clung hard to them. That pain radiated in the air, driving away the other, more normal essences, and was likely what led to the contamination of the animal and plant life in the area.

Ari would need to return them to their original, unbroken state, but it would not be easy. As a matter of fact, it would hurt them a lot.

She leaned in tentatively and said, “I’m really sorry. I’m going to help you, but I have to tell you that it’s not going to be a pleasant process. As a matter of fact, it’s going to hurt a lot.”

The essences somehow understood her intent, and they silently argued back, rebelliously trying to break her hold on them. They didn’t want to be hurt. They’d already been hurt enough.

But she had no choice.

“Sometimes you have to get hurt a little more to get better,” she murmured. It was something her mother always told her whenever she was ill and forced to take bitter medicines or suffer leeches. Ari would wail and whine, but mother remained steadfast. She would sometimes hum while she did it, to make Ari more at peace with the process.

Ari tried humming now for the orbs, though she knew they likely still couldn’t understand why she was doing what she was doing.

She would just have to make them better and hope they understood later.

This was a highly experimental plan, but the idea was to reconstruct the orbs with the stray waste essence material strewn all over this cave.

She recalled Elric’s reconstruction spell in vivid detail. She could likely replicate it, but the problem was that she didn’t want to use up all the essences in her reservoir to do that.

But she didn’t necessarily need it.

The essence in manalings themselves would do the job. They had enough brightness left to bond and release magic. They were purified, though broken, which made them difficult to use.

But not necessarily impossible for Ari.

After all, she’d initially started meditating with impure orbs, and those didn’t even have any brightness to them at all, which was why they couldn’t be used in spells.

These could be utilized technically once she got rid of their anomalous bonds.

So essentially, she was killing two birds with one stone, using the essences to heal the essences.

It would need to be quick, near instantaneous, which is where the complication came from. She would need to, bit by bit, align the Luxa and Massa particles in the right order before she ripped the orbs apart and allowed the magic to take hold.

That magic would then call to their broken pieces before they faded away, and then she would use that to fuel even more healing for the orbs.

After it was done, they would simply transform into used essences, rather than semi-used dangerous blobs.

She turned over the idea in her head again and again, trying to find loopholes. When none appeared, she decided to take the chance.

She released the essence on her finger as she sat cross-legged on the cold cave floor, assuming her typical meditative posture.

“I really hope this works,” she murmured, attuning all her focus and spreading it so that she could sense every single essence in the room and knew where they were located.

She inhaled and exhaled. Then she began to move them.

It was difficult to say the least.

Back when she was younger, she learned that essences liked to be talked to. She would simply reach out and communicate with the essences around her, telling them about her day, about everything that had bothered her. She would also ask them questions about what they were and where they came from.

She couldn’t understand their language per se, but she’d come to understand the different buzzes they gave off, representing separate feelings. Excitement. Apprehension. A greeting. A goodbye.

It was communication at its simplest, and she did it now, using her core to form as many connections with the essences as possible, welcoming them with her mind.

She encouraged them to commune with her, all the broken pieces to float and drift towards her.

She was their anchor in the leydrift.

Come to me.

She spread her internal voice far and wide, isolating sections of the manalings and drawing them closer.

They were extremely slow to move.

The scraps were easier and faster to direct towards the manalings, but they couldn’t do anything but float once they got there, waiting for the bigger components to break.

Those were harder for Ari to move, but she did it anyway, manually forming the shape of Elric’s spell but on a smaller scale, using every bit of concentration she had to keep it from falling apart.

It was a cyclical feedback relationship, but someone had to go first. The snap had to come.

Once she’d gotten the Luxa Massa in the right orientation, she extended all the internal hands she had, holding on to each essence.

Then she ripped them apart.

Reeee!

As they screamed, she whispered, “[Axiom of the Unbroken Form]”.

It was instantaneous, the scrap snapping to fill the gaps, the shrill whistling lowering to a hum once more, the surprised buzzing following it.

Once she was done, she opened her eyes.

There were no more manalings in the cave. Only unbroken used essences that now floated happily free from pain.

Some drifted close to her, flitting over her skin. She knew what they were saying.

“You’re welcome,” she said, with a gentle smile.

Just then, she heard something move outside.

Not a manaling, a real physical thing, like an animal or a human running through the bushes.

She jerked into alertness, getting to her feet, eyeing the entrance.

When no one came in, she called out, “Hello?”

No answer.

“Is someone there? Rava?”

No answer again.

She crept closer to the entrance, staring out at the setting sun. No one was there. She considered going out to search the surrounding area, but she didn’t want to waste her precious reservoir doing it.

Hopefully, it was just an animal, and no one had seen her do what she did.

Even if they had, well, she didn’t regret it. She couldn’t while looking at the happy buzzing orbs.

After about an hour, Rava returned, still muttering at her device.

“We have to go before it gets late, Arielle,” she was saying. “I couldn’t fix the leak without Garrick. We can continue tomorrow.”

“No need,” Arielle said. “I finished cleaning.”

The woman finally looked up. “Did you?”

Arielle nodded.

“Oh. Well…” She beamed. “That’s very good then. Hang on, let me check.” She twisted a few dials on her device and blinked in surprise. “Well, you’re right. No manalings sensed here. Although it does read as though there were more used essences than before, that must be from what you used to sweep.”

“Uh-huh,” Ari said, grateful that her voice didn’t shake.

“A bit more than expected, though. Gosh, I need to get this thing checked. Anyway, you did great. Garrick and I will get rid of the ones that got stuck later.”

“What if there’s nothing to get rid of?” Ari asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What happens in the cleaving channel exactly?”

“Well, the manalings get cleaved by the artifacts in there. Sometimes, a few manalings get stuck in the vents, and Garrick and I have to do it manually.”

“What if nothing gets stuck?”

Rava sighed. “That’s practically impossible, but we can only hope. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“I think you will.”

“Ha, right. So I’ll let Dean Octavius know to add the extra units to your allotted essence for the week.”

“Thank you,” Arielle radiated from the thrill. That, plus the two hundred units in her reservoir, made her feel like a wealthy merchant who had just sold land. ,

“I have a request,” Ari said.

“What is it?”

“I would like to help you clean up waste during my free time,” she said. “Please call me if you ever need it. No one else.”

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Rava was surprised. “You enjoyed it?”

“Yes.” She also didn’t want anyone else coming to slice the essences into pieces.

“I‘ve never met anyone who enjoyed a mana sweep before,” Rava responded. “I can’t exactly turn down other students who might want to earn some extra essences, but it’s not like they’re breaking down the door anyway. Sure.”

Ari was pleased. That was good.

But it didn’t feel enough.

She knew realistically, Rava wouldn’t call her all the time. Even if she wanted to, Ari might not always be available, and someone else would be called, or they would just cleave the essences themselves.

It made her a little sick to think about it.

What if she told them what she knew and what she could do? That she could separate the essences without the need to destroy them?

But telling them and furthermore showing them would raise suspicion and get her into trouble.

Unless she could just do it in secret…

Would Elric let her?

She should ask him.

As they left, she thought back to the sound she’d heard at the entrance. Hopefully, it truly had been an animal. Hopefully, no one had seen her.

That would be a disaster.

***

Elric still hadn’t responded to Arielle’s message when she got back.

He hadn’t responded to it after dinner either. Quite unexpectedly, she’d sat with Riorke, Lacey, Cuthbert, and Cedric for dinner, because they’d called her over after she’d gotten her food.

She had thought they would want to discuss the assignment, but they didn’t.

Instead, they talked about tournaments, knight exams, a sport called Podu, and a whole bunch of other things that Ari did not understand.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed the companionship and not having to sit alone

At least for the first few minutes.

However, after thirty minutes of chaotic conversation and overstimulation, she was ready for solitude.

After she returned to her room and washed up, she sat at her desk with a sigh of relief.

Today had been a good day. She’d gotten an advanced spell-crafting book and homework she was excited to begin. And she had made friends.

Yet it still bothered her that Elric had not responded to her messages. Was he alright?