System Scribe Academy Book 1 - Chapters 81,82,83,84,85 (Patreon)

Chapter 81

Golemancy

Ethan didn’t know why, but he felt if he squinted hard enough, he might understand what Trex meant. No matter what he thought about, he couldn’t get his head around the concept of elves. He barely understood what elves were, let alone taking them in a conceptual context.

“Try not to think so hard. You might perish,” Trex said with a laugh. “Hey, did you want some coffee with your cream and sugar?”

That was enough to break Ethan out of his thoughts. He blinked a few times, looking up at the woman with his mouth hanging open. “What?”

Trex gave him a flat look, shaking her head. “Thought you were quick.”

Looking down at his “coffee,” Ethan tried his best not to cease existing from embarrassment. He felt blush spreading across his cheeks, but soon shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. “I just got lost in my thoughts.”

“Yeah, pretty deep in those thoughts. Must be hard with a head so empty.” Trex reversed course from praising him, leaning ‌heavily to the other side.

“Right. A conceptual elf…” Ethan started, mostly doing his best to fill the silence so the giant demon-looking lady wouldn’t make fun of him before he could figure it out on his own. He could put enough together to bullshit his way through some of this. “If we’re talking about Primal concepts, then a conceptual elf is the most elf-like spirit around. Since the binding on the doll wasn’t a soul binding, this isn’t an actual spirit, but some kind of abstraction of the idea. Perhaps like a proto-soul, if we take the dungeon example into account.”

Trex hooted with excitement. She stood, actually flipping the damn table. Ethan sat there, eyes wide as he watched her dance on the shattered piece of furniture. That was fine. He didn’t need his “coffee” anyway.

“Hells yeah, dude!” she shouted, throwing up what looked suspiciously like the horns. “I lost hope for you for a second, but you pulled it back. So, how far out of your ass did you have to pull that to keep me from being disappointed in you?”

“Pretty far,” Ethan said with a wry chuckle. “But, was I close?”

“Damn close.” Trex passed her hand over the table and it restored itself to perfect condition. Ethan’s drink was beyond saving, but at least the table repaired itself with ease. “A Primal Spirit is like an echo of a concept. Pretty interesting to see one outside of Voidspace, the elemental realms, or the heavenly realms. Shouldn’t be enough delicious energy for them to chomp. Which means they’re weird.”

“Interesting. I’m not sure what this means for my problem, though.”

“I can help you fix this thing. Pretty sure I could fix it myself.” Trex took a dramatic moment to flash a toothy grin at him. “But I’m not gonna. I’ll put you on the path, instead.”

Trex’s hints on how to fix the spirit were… annoying. Basically, Ethan was missing the one thing he could have never hoped to understand in a short time. The binding for a golem. More specifically, she was happy to give him one of her high-grade puppets, which would be completely useless for anything binding the spirit. According to her, she went well above what she should’ve done by placing the appropriate inscription to accept the Primal Spirit.

“And that’s the fun part,” Trex said after getting done explaining the puppet. “You already fixed the doll thing, but the trick was you needed a new binding object. Hah! Smarty pants.”

“I’m just gonna… take it,” Ethan said, accepting the foot-tall doll and shaking his head. “I’m a bit tired of this problem.”

“You and I both. Hey, if you see me giving another lesson at Fangbrand, don’t hesitate to come visit.” Trex patted Ethan on the shoulder. “Go take the exit in the cupboard.”

Ethan squinted, trying his best to understand the instructions.

Trex mimicked walking across the room, opening the cupboard in question. She mouthed, “Open, and leave. Easy peasy.”

Ethan did as he was shown, heading to a small, white cupboard near the kitchen. He looked at Trex with a confused expression the entire time. But eventually, he gawked at the inside of the piece of furniture. He had only swung the door open a moment earlier, and he now saw the familiar grounds of Gale House.

“A portal?” Ethan asked. It didn’t feel like a portal.

“Voidspace! You’re too young to understand all that, though. You know… space is a space and Voidspace is less of a space. Or more of a space? Whatever,” Trex said, placing a foot on Ethan’s butt and pushing him through the door. “Good luck!”

Tumbling through the doorway was a strange experience. At first, Ethan felt himself stumbling, then an unexpected feeling. He was falling down, about six feet before landing hard on the ground. The air was driven from his chest, leaving him gasping on the ground right before his staff, upright as always, came down to smack him in the stomach. The scribe spotted Trex waving at him with a stupid smile on her face before pulling the door, the door on the ceiling of his cottage, closed. 

Then it vanished.

“What in the name of… Ethan? Are you okay?” Avalara rushed over, floating and settling nearby to give Ethan a check.

Once the scribe got his breath back, he gave her a tentative thumbs-up. Nothing seemed broken, and there was way too much to consider to be mad about the situation. “Voidspace,” he rasped, barely able to get the words out. The ghost was concerned, but gave him enough consecutive moments to regain his breath. “I learned a lot. Like the importance of trusting a golemancer.”

Tenalia came trotting over, her doll-body falling over a few times and cracking the porcelain. “What is that?” she asked, pointing a chubby doll hand at the puppet still resting under his arm.

The pain was minimal. Ethan checked himself over mentally, finding that there were no broken bones or permanent injuries. As always, when dealing with powerful people, he was happy to get away with his life. But this time, he had escaped with something far more valuable: knowledge. The Primal Spirit was attracted to the wooden doll because whatever inscription Trex had placed on it was tailor-made for the spirit. It was the missing piece to solving the anomaly, since the anomalous part of this situation was a Primal Spirit outside of their designated area.

“This thing should fix you,” Ethan said, holding the puppet up for her to see.

The doll was plain, which didn’t get a good reaction from Tenalia. She cocked her creepy head to one side, tutting. “It doesn’t suit me.”

And that was true. It was a roughly-hewn head, with block arms and legs and another block for the torso. On the back was a plate of some metal Ethan didn’t recognize inscribed with so many sigils packed so tightly it looked like a solid color. Only when he nearly pressed his face against the surface did he see exactly what those sigils were. They weren’t System sigils, instead appearing like what few sigils he had seen from the M-228 system. Which meant Trex likely had the core-based system Alex had.

“We’ll buy you some dresses. Custom-made, of course.”

“And a sword,” Tenalia countered.

Ethan’s thoughts were halted on the spot for only a moment, but he shrugged. If his assessment of Primal Spirits was right, and Trex had all but confirmed it, Tenalia was the most elf-like elf around. Contrary to what Earth lore might have a person think, elves around here weren’t tree-dwelling hippies. They were a sturdy people who made their homes from stone and timber, often building massive walls and waging very competent siege warfare.

“I’ll get you a little sword. Armor, a shield… Whatever you want,” Ethan said. He was so eager to please the spirit, if only to get her ready to… do what exactly? He shook the thought away, vowing to deal with it later. “But you need to hop into the new body so I can solve this anomaly.”

“You promise swords, armor, and dresses?” Tenalia asked. “Pretty dresses with floral patterns? And perhaps a sword with a pretty pattern, too. An elegant pattern.”

“Sounds good to me.” Ethan gestured between the horrid porcelain doll and the new puppet. “So… just hop on over.”

The doll tilted its head to one side. Ethan expected to see something shift of magical power, but there wasn’t. One moment the doll was standing there like a creep, and the next, the puppet started moving. Its wooden limbs clattered against its body as it stumbled to standing. The instant she started moving, Ethan got the message he had been hoping for.

[UNKNOWN Repaired]

You have repaired an anomaly known to the Grand System. Please continue to resolve anomalies.

Reward:

Increased breadth and depth of one Attribute Ring of your choice.

250 coins.

“Well, that’s kinda disappointing,” Ethan said with a heavy sigh. “Thought I’d get more coins.”

“It matters not.” Tenalia spoke, and Ethan’s mouth dropped open. She now had a voice appropriate for her position as a Primal Spirit of the Elves. It was an elegant kind of voice with a backing power that made the scribe stand at attention. “Whatever coins you earned from fixing me shall go toward my new attire. I cannot run around naked.”

Ethan turned, sharing a concerned and confused glance with Avalara. They both returned their gaze to the newly animated puppet, their mouths open. "Right, I guess we should go get you some clothes," Ethan said after a long pause.

Tenalia climbed up onto Ethan's shoulder, smacking her wooden leg onto his chest. "Onward, steed."

Ethan made an excuse that he had to get his things before they went, but in reality, he recorded the magic within the puppet itself and the area where the strange door had appeared in his ceiling. He wasn't sure which one was more interesting, but since the primal spirit was moving and talking, he decided that one was the one to gain his attention for now.

The local tailor in Gale House had absolutely no trouble taking commissions for a one-foot-tall wooden puppet. They didn't even seem concerned that the puppet could move and talk. Apparently, exposure to golemancy was widespread enough that they had learned not to bat an eye. Ethan ordered an assortment of dresses and even some school robes for her, figuring that if she wanted to blend into the town or move on elsewhere, she should be well prepared to do so. The local blacksmith was much less interested in entertaining the idea of making tiny armor. They apparently didn't have the skill, which forced Ethan to take a trip to Feyhammer House City.

Although it would be quite expensive, Ethan forked out a lot of money to commission several pieces for the puppet. He even put a rush on it, ensuring it would be done before Sunday. For his efforts, he was rewarded with several sets of armor and a real-life enchanted magical blade, complete with a Damascus pattern, which was, according to Tenalia, elegant enough.

For now, the puppet was a piece of plain cloth the tailor had quickly fashioned into an impromptu dress and the old yellow hat she had from her porcelain form. Ethan was exhausted. As he returned to Gale House City, he found his way to the dining hall and eventually to the same seat Amelia and Barry occupied. They gave him a rather confused look, both pointing to the puppet on his shoulder and asking if he had taken up a new hobby.

“No, this is Tenalia,” Ethan said, patting the puppet on the head. “She’s just hanging out until she’s ready to head off on her own.”

“Off on my own?” Tenalia asked, scoffing in indignation. “And leave my steed behind? Well, I never… How do you think a puppet like myself would navigate this world, huh? You gave me the breath of life, so take responsibility!”

“Oh!” Barry shouted, slamming his fist on the table. Even before he started laughing, his face turned red. “Ethan had a baby!”

Amelia’s eyes went wide as she drew her lips into a tight line. “I promise I won’t—” She was going to say that she wouldn’t laugh. But when the puppet stroked the side of the scribe’s cheek with her wooden hand, that was too much.

Even he had to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Chapter 82

Muscles to Build

Ethan wasn’t surprised that he got some excellent sleep. His Monday had been packed full with too many things that sent his head spinning. The moment he had returned home, he fell into his bed and drifted off to restful sleep. He had no idea what Tenalia’s intentions were with him, but he was happy to support the little puppet. He couldn’t imagine how confused she was being in the wrong realm and then bound to an unworthy body, but she’d taken everything in stride. She rode on his shoulder as they headed from breakfast to the first class of the day. Array Foundations 1 was one of the scribe’s favorite classes since Barry and Amelia were there with him.

The bracelet projected an image of a moderately complex array in the air as the group walked together. “This is what Professor Marsh is likely to cover today. I’ve already gone through it a couple of times, so I figured I’d give you guys a chance while we’re walking.”

Amelia stifled a laugh, pointing at various parts in the array. “Is this what you do when you go for a stroll? You study?”

“Moving around helps me think, and I actually do a lot of walking. I’ve actually lost a bit of weight since I got here.” The scribe lifted his robes. Of course, he was wearing shorts underneath, but he got an appreciative hoot of excitement from Barry. 

“Check out those abs! Man, we really should do some workouts together.”

“That might be exactly what I need. I’m going to start working on my physical attributes here soon, and I figure you’re the man to go to.”

“You should simply ask me for physical fitness instruction,” Tenalia pronounced the statement as though it were some royal decree. “There is no mortal in this kingdom more fit than me.”

“But you’re just made of wood. Do you have true physical fitness?” Amelia asked.  

“Of course, observe.” Tenalia jumped from Ethan’s shoulder and dashed around, displaying some seriously impressive speed. He wasn’t sure how he would place her in terms of strength, but he could tell she had quite a bit of power beneath those wooden limbs. 

“Quite impressive.” Amelia patted the puppet on the head, forcing the hat to go lopsided.

Even if Tenalia didn’t have fingers, she could manipulate objects somehow. Ethan couldn’t feel the magical forces beneath it, but she grabbed the brim of her hat and made it right again. “If you’re looking for a duel, you’ve found it! Wait until I get my sword…”

“She’s a fighter, huh?” Amelia asked with a giggle. “I like her.”

In a very small voice, Tenalia said, “I like you too.”

The group entered Bantari Building 1 and found their traditional seats somewhere in the middle. It gave the best view of Professor Marsh, who was quite short. It took a while for the rest of the class to file in, and every time a new person entered, they saw the projection of the arrays and came over to get a brief lesson. Ethan didn’t mind going over the material several times. He was very good at forming his own style of arrays, but when emulating the X-13 system, he wasn’t quite as good as the others. He had received some advice to take esoteric classes after this, so he was unsure if he would even attend Array Foundations 2. He could secure the passing grade, but whether or not he got the seal of approval was up in the air.

Professor Marsh entered, looking around with confusion as most of the class was crowded near the center of the room. Eventually, the professor waded through students, reaching the front of the class to clear her throat. “Did you want to come up here and teach the class yourself, Mr. Walsh? I’m happy to let you, but I’m afraid I can’t pay you.” The professor paused, narrowing their eyes. “Is that an automaton?”

“Uh… yeah,” Ethan said, not sure if he should actually answer the question.

“Talk to me after class. Anyway…”

The lesson was exactly as Ethan had predicted. Of course, he didn’t make the prediction alone. He and Barry had gone through several scenarios that the professor could present. Since all of the foundation classes followed the same exact pattern of starting with a set of material, working through it over the course of a month, and then doing the same thing again while adding more difficult concepts, it was quite easy to predict where this one would go. In the third week of the second month, they were going into depth on the dual-layer arrays.

This was actually a topic Ethan had some experience in, thanks to his experimentation with rank two anomalies. To him, the most important part of these types of arrays was to ensure that the connection between them was secure by lining them up perfectly. That was something very hard to do by eye, and even when forming the arrays in one’s soul, the challenge was immense. But through serious practice and real-world experience, he had gotten pretty good at it, even if he had no desire to cast X-13 spells by forming them directly in his soul. The whole thing was very cumbersome compared to his own system.

After class was done, the group filed out. Everybody except Ethan, of course. He stayed behind, awaiting the ire of an angry teacher in his seat. Of course, Tenalia wasn’t disturbed at all and stood at attention as the professor approached. If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn she produced a snappy salute.

Professor Marsh leaned in, narrowing her eyes as she opened her magical senses. Her pupils dilated as a shimmer of energy spread across them. Ethan could feel the sting of some ability she had used. When she pulled away and shook her head, it was clear she saw the complex level of the magic within the puppet.

“And where did you come about something like this?” Her tone wasn’t accusatory. Instead, she sounded curious. “You’re doing pretty well in my class, especially for somebody without the X-13 system. I can only assume you’re putting in some serious hours. When did you have time to construct such a complex automaton? This is advanced-level golemancy.”

“That’s a long story.” Ethan didn’t want to dodge the question. Instead, he’d sell the maker out. “A golemancer named Xol’trex made it. The attached spirit was part of an anomaly the academy commissioned me to repair.”

“Ah, that old thing.” Professor Marsh clicked her tongue. “Was it a fey spirit?”

“This is a conceptual spirit.” Ethan left out the “primal” part of it, not wanting to draw too much attention to Tenalia. “I wanted her to leave, but she’s grown attached to me.”

“Have not!” Tenalia shot back.

Professor Marsh offered a kind smile, patting the puppet on the head before giving them some distance. “While you’re doing a good thing, I know Trex personally, and she’s a genius-level golem expert. You’re lucky to have received such a powerful gift from her. I heard she had gone insane in recent years, so I’m shocked to see you alive. Dabbling in Voidspaces can be dangerous on the best of days.”

Maybe it was a trap, but Ethan didn’t care if he fell for it. “What exactly is Voidspace?” he asked. “I understand it’s kind of a place between places, like a representation of the space between the planets. But when she took me there, she had a house, and then there was a door in her cupboard that I took that sent me to my cottage.”

Professor Marsh’s concern was obvious on her face. “You went there? Gods, and you’re still alive?” She took a long breath before speaking again. “You’re right. You can think about it like a place between places. We have a few examples of working Voidspaces in modern times. The Bridge of Shadows, the Storm, the Wild Way. They’re all physical spaces in Voidspace that mortals can occupy. Would you guess the most common use? Travel over long distances, not unlike Portal or Gate magic.”

Ethan shook his head. “But that means Trex carved a bit of Voidspace out for herself and built a house there. That sounds incredibly complex and difficult.”

“It is. It’s also insanely dangerous and nobody would try it unless they were truly seeking their own demise. Understanding dimensional magic is one thing, but Voidspace magic? I wouldn’t recommend anyone go down that path.” A smile curled across Marsh’s features. “Unless you’re her. Or her brother. They hail from a race born within Voidspace. She used to talk about creating spells that would allow her to tame it, but I never thought she’d go through with it…”

Apparently, the entire reason for Professor Marsh’s meeting with him that day was to tell him how well he and his cadre were doing in the class. She praised them for exemplifying the spirit of Gale House, even if two of their number were not holders of the X-13 system. The puppet was just a curiosity.

“I’ll give one warning,” Professor Marsh said before Ethan could leave for the day. “I understand a few things about your unique system. Skill-stealing and all that. Do not look too deeply into Voidspace magic. That is a path you will not come out the other end of.”

By the time Ethan actually left the classroom, it was close to noon. He was unsurprised to find that Barry and Amelia had turned a nearby park into another classroom. The scribe joined them, happy to lend his accurate projections from his bracelet, which was simply the best way to visualize information. Some professors could do mono projections, but the bracelet could do them rapidly and in insane detail. There was no level of interpretation. It simply shot the information out into the air.

The lesson actually got pretty advanced when Ethan mentioned modifier sigils. Everyone got interested in that, and he was surprised to see that the X-13 system had a similar function for their spells. That’s where Amelia shone the brightest. Once again, the scribe was reminded that she wasn’t the best practical mage in the world, but as far as academics went, she was a master. She could recite a lot of stuff from textbooks better than the bracelet could and also had keen insight into the uses of spells. So her knowledge went beyond just academics and bled into the practical, like most things with the academy.

To Ethan’s absolute horror, Barry’s training camp started then. Right after the meeting with the other students was over, they were doing laps around the campus. Ethan felt the energy within his Strength, Agility, Vigor, and Endurance ring swelling. But he also felt the pain in his muscles, burning in the first ten minutes. He was covered in sweat by the end of the first hour, panting for breath after falling into a bush.

“Owie,” Ethan squeaked.

“On your feet, soldier!” Tenalia shouted, smacking him in the face with a wooden arm.

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have lungs.”

It would have been easy enough just to solve anomalies and put energy into those rings, but Ethan had to admit his physical appearance had been improving and he had a desire to continue to improve himself. Not only did he want to look good, but he wanted to feel good. Even though he was sweaty, hot, and already sore all over, he felt good.

Barry reached out a hand, helping him to his feet. “Come on. Bodyweight exercises now. Let’s go!”

“Move, move, move!” Tenalia shouted. “Look at your arms! You’re so weak!”

“God,” Ethan panted, dusting himself and allowing a burst of cleaning to wash over him. “Don’t you have a motorcycle to build?”

Barry flexed, showing off his enormous arms. “I got muscle to build!”

Chapter 83

Puppet Greetings

Ethan was very close to finishing his spatial rune. Amelia had a little bit of spare time on Tuesday and helped him devise a solution. Unfortunately, that required a little bit of outside help, which forced the scribe to contract somebody from Feyhammer House to help him finish it off. Apparently, the problem with the stability of the rune was that it lacked an external power source. While it was completely possible to power it through ambient mana alone, the issue was that sometimes the flow of mana halted. If that happened for even a moment, the entire thing would collapse in on itself. So, a backup power supply was required.

That power source came from a high-grade Mana Crystal, which would sit in a cute little holder and gather up ambient mana with the help of yet another rune. This runework stuff was getting out of control. All Ethan wanted was a house that was bigger on the inside. He wasn’t used to things like this taking so long. Then again, there was no living Spatial Mage in the academy he knew of, so he counted his blessings.

The result was a runework pattern that should increase the size of a room depending on programmable settings. It was the first and last major runework project Ethan intended to embark on. When he returned to his cottage, he was broke. The crystal alone cost nearly 5,000 coins, and hiring a specialist was just as expensive. His coin purse was empty. But at least now his house would be gigantic. Completing a few Anomaly jobs along the way might’ve bolstered his reserves, but his newest plan for Barry would require another investment.

“Rest?” Tenalia asked with a scoff. “You’re resting?”

Ethan had flopped onto his sofa and, a breath later the puppet berated him. “The body must rest,” he countered. “Just for a few minutes.”

“Pah! Whatever."

Fortunately, the Mana Crystal was a sturdy thing. The person who sold it to him told him it could be used multiple times and transferred between different projects. So instead of diving straight into it and creating the rune inside his house, he did it out in the yard again. This time he edged it into a plate and set it into the ground. This was a metal plate that would be mounted inside his house when he was done. If the plate moved at all while the rune was active, the entire spell would fumble.

“Here we go,” Ethan said, pressing his finger into the rune labeled “operate.” He ran back, watching as the stones on the ground expanded out in a confusing warping of perspective. “It should work better inside. This spell is designed to function in buildings, not outdoors.”

“It looks functional to me,” Tenalia said.

Ethan took a tour of his interior space. He had designated a 10x10 section to expand out to 100x100, which was way too much. The power draw would be too great, and eventually even the reserves in the crystal would fail. But the experiment was a success. He walked around the spacious interior of the confusing spatial warping for quite some time before deactivating the rune. It deactivated smoothly rather than violently.

“Worth every coin,” Ethan said, picking up the plate and giving it a kiss. “Which room should we do?”

“Your bedroom, obviously. A kingly room for a kingly man.”

“Oh, do go on,” Ethan said, realizing a moment later he was fluttering his eyes at a puppet. He cleared his throat. “I mean, let’s get to work.”

Applying the room to the bedroom seemed like a vain idea. Ethan instead selected the shared dining room and living room area, finding a spot on the wall to mount the plate with a hammer and some nails. He checked and double-checked that nothing had been damaged before dialing in the settings. The moment he did, an unsettling sensation spread through his chest. The furniture all shot out, occupying different corners ten feet away from where they were originally.

"Oh, that is a delightful effect." Tenalia clapped her wooden hands together, observing the room and appreciation. "Perhaps you can make it just a little bit bigger."

Ethan checked the power drain of the 20 by 20 version of the room and shook his head. "We can do 25 feet, but anything more in this room will power out. We could do a bigger one, but we'd need another crystal, maybe two. And that's too expensive for me right now."

Ethan made the adjustments, once again checking the mana draw to find it satisfactory. 25x25 was the perfect size for the current power load, even if it was a bit… cavernous. The spatial magic had a way of warping places. The stones that up the wall didn’t stretch like he had seen them do before. Instead, they assumed a repeating tiled pattern that defied logic. Whatever that Lutia person had done to his System Sigil for Spatial Expansion had made it a lot better for interiors.

"This is all very lovely. I love large interiors." Tenalia looked around the space, perhaps finding it a bit too sparse, but it seemed she approved. "But I have to ask, why go through the effort and expense? I appreciate a bit of regal accommodation as much as the next person, but why?"

Ethan placed his hands on his hips, smiling broadly. "Because this was a test. I thought about buying Barry a workshop, maybe finding a place in town that was haunted or otherwise destroyed by anomalous powers. But then I realized why not just build a 10x10 shack in the backyard and then apply a spatial room to it, turning it into a hundred by hundred space."

"Oh, you cheeky little scribe. You actually had a plan this whole time." Tenalia shook her wooden head, waving her blocky arm at him. “You're a bit more sneaky than you appear. Did you know that?”

“Heh. Yeah. I’m a sneaky little guy.” Ethan took a deep breath, grumbling as he had to walk across the room to take a seat. “Hey, Avalara! Come check out the new digs!”

It didn’t take long for the ghost to appear. She phased through a wall, then scrunched her ghostly features up. Almost into a ball. “Okay. I’m not sure how you want me to respond to this.”

“Surprise and amazement,” Ethan said.

“My goodness!” Avalara said, a bit too dramatically. “What amazing things you’ve done with the place! I am surprised! And amazed!”

“A bit too thick.”

“Very interesting. So this is the sigil you were given?” Avalara asked. “It looks very competent at interior spaces. The walls don’t appear so… squished.”

"I think this is the best compromise we could have possibly made. I really don't like runework. So this is the only one I plan on using.”

Avalara had a few more bits of advice about the runes. Apparently, in her past life she was a decent mage, but this wasn't her forte. Still, it was hard to stop a mage from giving advice about magic, even if they didn't understand it completely. Their conversation was cut short when the front door swung open.

“Woah.” Barry stepped outside, looking at the exterior of the house before entering again. “Did it get bigger in here?”

“Just a bit.”

“Cool. Anyway, ready to train some more?”

Ethan tried to delete himself from existence, but it didn’t work. Instead, he headed off to get more exercise with Barry. Truth was, he needed to get his mind off the runes. He had to let them run on their own for a while to ensure they wouldn’t snuff themselves out. The scribe could feel his attributes expanding out, especially Endurance. But the cost of a shack and some more Mana Crystals was high, and he was grateful when the brutal training ended.

Tenaliah was happy to join Ethan in his whirlwind eviction of more anomalies. He focused on the ones that were the highest paid according to the Academy. He would get paid twice, once from the system and once from the Academy itself, but the Academy always paid better. They prioritized the ones that would pose harm to people and ended up clearing twenty before it was too late for him to get enough sleep. His class tomorrow, Anomalous Materials, was at 7 a.m.

He had enough cash to almost buy another Mana Crystal… But he needed at least 2, probably 3. When he returned home to the cottage, he found an assortment of new furniture in the living room. Avalara informed him it had been donated by both Amelia and Barry, including the interesting firepit in the center of the room. It produced a magical flame and heat, but no smoke. The scribe fell asleep on the sofa, listening to the sound of the crackling fire and the sound of the sea through the window.

***

Ethan hadn't thought much about his puppet until the morning when he was walking to meet with the Anomalous Materials Group. It was then he realized that he had something very interesting to share with them, something he wasn't comfortable sharing with anybody else. On the way to Silver City, he explained the situation to Tenalia. She was oddly receptive about it, likely because the group themselves were an eclectic mix of highly skilled individuals.

Did that mean the group was elf-like? He had to wonder.

The instant Ethan stepped foot inside the massive circular room in Pel’Vengar's Spire 1, Luna pointed an accusatory finger at him, saying, "What exactly is that?"

"Just a puppet." Ethan sauntered across the room, unable to hide the smile on his face as Luna stewed. Of course, the puppet was a beacon of magical powers. If Tenalia had the ability to hide her presence, she hadn't shown much desire to do so.

"That ain't just a puppet." Finn jumped from the sofas, though he was ready for battle. His hair was all messed up, and his clothes had quite a few wrinkles in them, but he still looked ready for a fight.

Ethan decided that he didn't want to fight his friends and grabbed the puppet from his shoulder, allowing her to balance on his hand. "I want everybody to meet Tenalia. She is a conceptual spirit exemplifying the aspects of being an elf. I guess. I don't really fully understand it yet."

"Greetings, mortals. I'm sure it's a pleasure for you to make my acquaintance, and I endeavor to ensure that you'll serve me well."

“She has a bit of an ego,” Ethan admitted. “But she’s pretty cool, otherwise.”

Luna had only relaxed slightly as she crossed the room, reaching out a hand to touch the puppet. Of course, Tenalia was quick to extend her wooden hand, under the impression that the tall cat-lady wanted to shake her hand. The shake was rather awkward.

“Nice to meet you. I think,” Luna said. “Ethan, where did you find it?”

“Her,” Tenalia corrected. “And he didn’t find me. I found him. He’s my loyal steed.”

Ethan sighed. “This is gonna be a long one…”

Of all the people in the academy, Ethan trusted the Anomalous Materials Group the most. He was happy to relay every bit of information he had learned about the primal spirit to his friends. As expected, they hadn't heard of a primal spirit before, although conceptual spirits weren't outside their base of knowledge. Both Luna and Finn were, after all, extremely experienced with anomalies in general. They had gone down the esoteric lines of magic within this world and seen more than the scribe could imagine.

"I saw a conceptual spirit once.” Finn was probing Tenalia with one of his cards, apparently taking readings for his own edification. "It was nothing like this one. It certainly couldn't speak, and I don't believe it had the ability to take a form. This is some pretty advanced-level golemancy, and I've never heard of this Trex person.”

“What are you slouches waiting for?” Tenalia asked. “My steed informed me you are the best of the best. Aren’t we going to destroy some nasty anomalies?”

Luna snorted a laugh. “Yeah, actually. We’re going to tackle the Necromantic Anomaly today.”

“Guess a puppet would be perfect for such a job.” Finn hummed to himself as he scratched his chin. Eventually, he snapped his fingers. “I got it. I think we just found a loophole to have another member!”

Chapter 84

Necromancy is Yucky

Once offered a spot among people she assumed were important Tenalia puffed with pride, electing to ride atop Ethan for a better view. Luna, as the new leader of the Anomalous Materials Group, had organized with a cleric from House Luminarum. She made a point to talk about how good this cleric was at dealing with undeath in general, claiming he had a specialty in dealing with necromantic energies.

To Ethan’s great dismay, the house was only sending the one cleric. Which pissed him off at first, seeing as the anomaly had only grown larger in the past few days. But Luna assured him the one man was enough to get the job done.

“Through the portal!” Tenalia shouted, gesturing with her wooden arm. “To battle! Give them no mercy!”

The guard at the nearest gate looked around, pointing at himself. “Am I supposed to do something?”

“No.” Ethan patted the poor man on the shoulder. “She gets like this sometimes.”

After a few more proclamations of great battles and how she would flay the enemies alive, Ethan and the group moved through the portal. It was a fairly long jump, bringing them to one of many adventuring outposts in the Tariat Academy. The operation of these things was still a mystery, but the scribe knew that without his special badge, the cost for using a Gate was vast.

“Bracelet, remind me to collect our money from the academy before we head home tonight.”

“This unit has recorded your request.”

Even from a vast distance, Ethan could feel the shifting of the energies in the distance. The cleric was already at the site, diligently working on the issue before they even arrived. Naturally, Luna took stock of the energy before they even approached the man. It was hard to tell from a distance, but the scribe could see he was tall and wide in the shoulders. The aura that came off of him was like a cleansing tide, massive amounts of god-aligned magics rolling out like an uncontrollable wave.

“We try our best not to get involved with aligned folks,” Finn said with a dramatic sigh. “But sometimes, needs must…”

Ethan nodded, doing his best to ignore the occasional eruptions of uncomfortable energy. This cleric’s specialty might’ve been purifying or healing power, but there was a sting to it that made the scribe recoil. It didn’t take long to understand what he was responding to. Like his meeting with the two Avatars of the Lord and Lady, the oppressive energy of a god wasn’t pleasant.

“Makes my little wooden limbs rattle,” Tenalia said. Her limbs were indeed clattering against her body. “A mighty foe, I think. When does your part of this job come in?”

“Just like the other ones you saw me fix, I need to get to the center. If the outside is clouded by mana, I can’t emulate the system.” Ethan couldn’t get a good sense of what was inside of the necromantic haze. Every time he reached out, he felt it slap back with a putrid sting. “Ugh. This is the job I was least looking forward to. I don’t even want to emulate that system.”

“Because you’re weak?”

Ethan shook his head. “No, because necromancy is yucky.”

“Indeed. It is a foul scourge.”

Apparently, the cleric was too in-depth into his work and ignored when Luna approached. Instead of pushing the matter, the group found a decent spot under a tree and chilled. Ethan turned his attention to his tablet, eager to make some more money. There were more than enough errors with X-13 classes to consider, so he flicked through that list. A lot of it read like a wishlist from people. They didn’t like the way a spell or ability worked and wanted it to change. Since each spell-based entry came complete with an array, he could dismiss a lot of those.

But there were still quite a lot of entries that appeared to be genuine problems. A lot of the ones that seemed convincing were those that had illogical functions. Like a Mage ability that clearly stated a percentage of mana conversion in the description, but with testing was proven to be inaccurate. Those were the kind of issues Ethan found most concerning, since the system text should’ve been a reliable source of information. The scribe marked those as most important, and got to work straight away. Like the classes he had taken, he treated this as an act of laying the foundation with no intention of solving it now.

Besides, the cleric seemed to have snapped out of his focus and was approaching the group beneath the tree.

“Appologies about that.” The man stomped over the open field, his footfalls practically thunderous. He came from a race called the vulbet, which were massive dudes covered in a thin layer of fur. They had somewhat animalistic features, with ears hidden beneath the fur atop their head. Above all, each member of that race was absolutely massive. Not just in height, but in muscle as well. It was like looking at a fury version of Barry wearing a silver and gold cleric’s robe. “When channeling the energies of my patron I can become difficult to reach.”

Luna dusted herself off, seeming to size up the cleric. Eventually, she nodded. “I’m Luna. The card-slinging one is Finn, and that’s Ethan.”

“I’m Tenalia,” the puppet said.

“Yeah, and that’s the puppet, Tenalia.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” the cleric said with a bow. “You may call me Nultan.”

“Hope you were given a rundown of this place, because we can’t touch it.” Luna walked past Nultan, patting him on the shoulder. Finally, there was someone to match her height… “We scouted the outside and still can’t find a way in. Does your god have anything to say?”

Nultan’s features darkened. “He told me this would be a test of faith and my convictions. My Lord, Hallow, doesn’t speak to me often. But he did not speak well of this ‘anomaly,’ as you call it.”

The group continued talking, but Ethan centered his focus on the cleric. He had never emulated a faith-based class before, but there shouldn’t have been anything to stop him. From what he understood, everything came from Celestial mana. So, he should’ve been compatible with the class, especially since it was an X-13 system. It wasn’t easy. At first, he thought the barrier blocking him from emulating the system was that same divnity. Only when the message appeared, asking if he wanted to assume the role of a Cleric did it make sense when the dam finally broke.

[System Emulation]

Would you like to emulate the X-13 system at Rank 3, Level 1, with the Cleric class? Your highest rank is Rank 2, which will restrict your access to Rank 3 Cleric abilities and spells.

Y/N

Ethan wouldn’t even have been able to emulate a Rank 3 person if not for his two Rank 2 rings. Even then, he could feel his grasp on the class as a tenuous thing. He barely noticed that no one around him was moving. It took a few breaths for him to spot the change in their behavior and he finally groaned when he realized what had happened.

“Looking to borrow some power?” a voice seemed to come from all directions. It was soft and comforting, instantly sending a sensation as though he was wrapped up in a warm blanket on a cold day.

“Maybe,” Ethan said. He kicked himself, pushing down his natural reaction and instead putting on his good-boy pants. “Apologies. We’re working on a system-based issue, a Necromantic Font, and I thought I could emulate your follower’s system to speed things along.”

“Very curious.” The voice had a gravel to it that would rumble the ground, if Ethan hadn’t been frozen in time. “Let’s just search your heart to see how worthy you are… Hmmm, interesting. You would’ve made a decent follower.”

Ethan shook his head. He was unsure if the god could see him, but it was gazing into his heart, apparently. “No offense, but I have no plans to involve myself with divinity.”

“Really? But you’ve involved yourself on several occasions at this point.” The voice sounded amused, but not cruel. “I see you’re from Earth. If you’re not aware, I’m Hallow, the local god of healing and other concepts. Unlike the other gods, I don’t involve myself in the workings of mortals. Not unless an exceptional case crops up that requires my attention. I do not possess my followers, and I never claim an avatar. Those who follow me do so willingly, out of the selflessness of their hearts and desire to see all of mortalkind thrive.”

“That’s a noble cause.” Although Ethan wasn’t convinced, he wanted to take the god at his word. He was, after all, borrowing some of his power. “If it isn’t agreeable, I’ll stop emulating your follower’s power. Otherwise, I’ll use it to remove this nasty energy.”

“By all means. My entire power set is based on helping others. I do not support warriors, paladins, or other offensive classes. Even the undead are treated with the respect they deserve.” Hallow was silent for a few moments, some of the time-freezing effects wearing off. Luna was mid-motion, pointing toward the shell of the anomaly. “Use my power freely. Heal the wounded. Purge the plague of necromancy. Consider this power my gift to mortals, because that’s all it ever was. A chance to thrive.”

Time started again in a flash. Ethan jumped as though he had been poked by a cattle prod, letting out a very manly scream.

“You good?” Luna asked, turning and preparing to rush over to check on him.

Nultan’s mouth was hanging open. “He spoke to you too? This problem is worse than I thought. I must get back to work immediately.”

Ethan, Finn, Luna, and Tenalia watched as the man rushed off.

“What did you do?” Luna asked.

Ethan smiled sheepishly. “So, for future reference… If I emulate a faith-based system, the god knows.”

Finn barked a laugh, falling back onto his back and releasing a labored sigh. “You really need to stop talking to gods. You’ll get us all killed.”

But Luna nodded with approval. “Do you have his system?”

“Yeah. Cleric at Rank 2. He’s Rank 3, but I could only emulate stuff up to the second rank. Looks like Hallow gave me permission to use and abuse it. His aligned class can’t cause harm, so… That’s good?”

“Fine. Do the rest of your thing and help Nultan clear away the miasma. Gods know you’re gonna find a better way to channel the spell than him.”

Ethan rose, making sure Tenalia was firmly on his shoulder before jogging over to the cleric. “I just need to watch you work.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “I’m starting now.”

That’s when Ethan saw the cleric’s eyes glow with blinding silver light. He held his hands out, and the necromantic energy in the area was purified. The scribe cursed under his breath, studying the way that Nultan used the ability. Of course, it had to be an ability rather than a spell. He could emulate a spell in minutes, but abilities? That required him to watch, understand, and perform the same action. With a sigh, he got to work.

The ability Nutlan was using wasn’t complex. It was a way to turn his body into a conduit for Hallow’s energy. Then, he’d draw in the tainted mana and purify it. He didn’t use his soul to this, instead relying on the layer of divine energy to act as a filter. By the time he expelled the mana, it was as though it had never touched him. It took a few hours for Ethan to get the method down. When he finally did, he inspected the ability.

[Beacon of Hope]

Emulated Rank 2 Ability (X-13)

Description:

Turn your body into a beacon of hope, drawing in any negative energies, tainted mana, befouled air, or other aberrant things intent on destroying mortalkind and destroy them.

Effect:

Channel your mana to purify the surrounding air.

The amount of mana channeled determines the size and effectiveness of this ability.

“Well. That’s going to be an interesting ability to exploit,” Ethan said, rubbing his hands together. He looked to the sky and crossed himself. “Sorry, Jesus. I mean Hallow.”

Chapter 85

Egg

When a god told you to go wild with their power, you didn’t blink. You craft some seriously cool spells and get rid of some nasty necromancy. The way that Ethan had managed font-style anomalies up until this point was through the use of mana processing techniques. Draining the mana way from the font was a great way to render it inert. That technique might even work for a possession, similar to the one Tenalia had done to the porcelain doll, but with the fonts, it was especially effective. Depending on the complexity of the anomaly itself, sapping the mana might’ve been enough to get rid of it forever.

But some persisted, and Ethan could feel the impressive power of the deadly font from 100 paces. Both Mana Filter and Mana Breathing were good options as a base for the Beacon of Hope ability. Since Mana Breathing had a skill-based component, and the scribe was quite good at the technique, he picked that one. The combination of the two abilities slotted together without an issue. It locked into place, his Mind Ring shimmering with gold and silver as a new ability was born. Even without using the ability, he felt that same comforting energy as before.

Ethan inspected his new, aligned ability.

[Lesser Purging Breath]

Mind Ring Synergy Ability

Generated By:

Mana Breathing, Beacon of Hope

Description:

Draw in massive amounts of mana using deep breathing techniques. The mana drawn through your lungs will be purged by the M-228 Deity Hallow’s purifying light. Resulting mana will be a purified version of the base’s origin.

Effect:

Drawing in mana is effortless through breathing.

The mana drawn in is automatically purified, removing any aspect the M-228 deity Hallow deems as “corrupt.”

Reading the description on this one was very important. When he found the section about mana being “automatically purified,” Ethan nodded with approval. That’s the bit that he needed. Everything else was inconsequential, and he’d have to deal with another quirk of the ability later. The processed mana would be “purified,” but still aligned with whatever the base of the mana should’ve been. Apparently, the bracelet could read the message. Which might’ve been new, the scribe couldn’t remember.

“Instant purification solves the problem of infecting yourself with necromantic power. The aligned mana should revert to Death mana, or an adjacent school.”

“Oh. Neato. Thanks for that.”

“It was effortless.”

Ethan didn’t doubt that. The bracelet had some serious processing power, and it was about time they started abusing it. “Could you get an idea for how long it’ll take me to process this whole font? Try to calculate for Nultan’s pace as well.”

“Operation starting.”

Ethan started on the furthest edges of the anomaly possible, picking an area that was lightly forested. Even before he started, you could see the effects of the necromantic magic on the trees. They had withered leaves long since tumbling to the ground. The bark seemed diseased, with oozing pustules and other nasty things. The scribe pushed this out of his mind and focused on his lesser purging breathability. He drew air into his lungs tentatively and felt a confusing mixture of mana enter his soul for processing. He would have to catch it before it actually touched his soul and expel it. Otherwise, his soul would be far too busy trying to churn out strange alignments of mana.

But the ability worked perfectly. When he breathed in his first lungful of necromantic mana, it was purified in an instant. He breathed it out before it had time to enter his soul, glittering in the air with a sinister purple energy. Luna was nearby supervising and drugged over to give her opinion.

“Death mana. It’s not dangerous on its own, but at least it’s better than necromantic  mana.” Luna cocked her head curiously to the side. “Seems as though you pulled in quite a bit. But is the breathing technique the best way to use the spell you emulated?”

Ethan had been so accustomed to using mana filtration techniques to take care of anomalies that he hadn’t even considered using a different spell. He would need something that created a wide area effect. His first thought was to use his barrier, but then he got a better idea and got to work on a new spell. Rituals could be a pain in the ass. Unless the scribe transcribed System Sigils into runes he could use with his Sketch Rune ability in his Dexterity Ring. Then they were easy. He started with the spell, favoring his Rank 1 Affinity Ring to combine the effects He then took the Clean Surface spell from the X-13 Mage system and slapped them together.

He started working on sketching the runes onto the ground, Luna watching curiously over his shoulder. Of course, she couldn’t really read System Sigils so was likely confused. But when he began work on a ritual-style spell, which was completely unmistakable compared to other forms of magic, she nodded with approval. Ethan put the final touches on the spell, intending only to fuel it with mana from his body, and inspected the spell in his Affinity Ring for reference.

[Lesser Purify Area]

Affinity Ring Synergy Ability

Generated By:

Clean Surface, Beacon of Hope

Description:

Purify everything in an area. This area will be purged by the M-228 Deity Hallow’s purifying light. Resulting surface will be cleaned of dirt, dust, grime, blood, etc as well as any effects the deity deems as “corrupt.”

Effect:

Designate an area to be cleansed by Hallow’s purifying light.

The substances and energies to be purified are designated by Hallow’s decree.

In its spell form, the ability would clean a decent area, perhaps 20 by 20 feet in a circle. But when turned into a ritual, that area would likely more than double. Then, empowered by the more efficient rune version, Ethan couldn’t even estimate the amount of area it would cover. He had a feeling that this was less potent than the breathing technique, but that was the trade-off for a greater area.

“How close can you get to Celestial mana?” Ethan asked, turning to Luna and tilting his head to one side.

Luna had to think about that for a second. She worked her jaw, shrugged a few times, and eventually spoke, “I can get pretty close, maybe three or four steps away. The mana I cultivate isn’t exactly Celestial mana, but yeah, it’s pretty close.”

“Perfect,” Ethan said, clapping his hands together. He pointed at the ritual circle, which bristled with magical potential. “Can you feed this thing some mana? You just need to press your hand on that rune and it’ll activate properly. You’ll know if it has too much mana. Because it’ll explode or something.”

“How encouraging.” Luna laughed. “Remember. All members of the Anomalous Materials Group are considered masters of mana manipulation. This should be easy.”

“Can Finn do the same?” Ethan asked.

“I’d fire him if he couldn’t.”

Ethan’s plan was to rush off and create another rune-empowered ritual circle, but he stuck around long enough to see if Luna used it correctly. As instructed, she placed her hand atop the feeding rune and gave it some mana. A glittering barrier of white, silver, and gold sprang up, expanding out to about a hundred feet in any direction. He could see the interaction with necromantic mana, and although it didn’t clear it away instantaneously, he observed it dissipating.

Running off to get the other circle started, Ethan spotted Nultan, the cleric, going to work. His ability to draw in massive amounts of mana and remove all impurities was monstrously impressive. As the scribe was passing by him, the cleric turned, waving a hand as though to beckon him over.

“That ritual circle is impressive. I didn’t think your group would be useful in any regard, but you’ve copied my Lord’s ability and put it to good use. But I’m afraid I have a warning.”

Ethan swallowed hard.

Nultan’s expression softened. “I’m not trying to scare you, but of all the local gods you picked to copy, you did so with the one that is the most forgiving. It is said that Lord Hallow didn’t kill a single soul during his ascent to power. According to his own oral tradition, he spent 10,000 years fighting for his spot. Even when it came time to usurp the man who held his throne of power, he did so with words, not with a sword.” The cleric’s expression darkened again. “The field of the dead resting at the feet of Lord Death is incalculable. Lord Shadow has slain enough to make a throne of skulls. Even Lady Silver, Queen of the Elemental Plane of Water has her fair share. But do you know why they’re dangerous?”

Ethan thought he knew, but Nultan was on a roll with the grim picture he had painted. Instead, the scribe just shook his head.

“They would kill you for copying their power. You’re borrowing divinity, which is a limited resource. Yes, the amount we lowly clerics draw is almost nothing to them, but they would still take offense.” Nultan placed a powerful hand on Ethan’s shoulder, the kindness in his eyes returning. “Please remember how petty the gods are.”

Ethan bowed his head slightly, eyes locking onto the face of the cleric. “I understand. And I really appreciate the warning.”

Nultan gave his shoulder another firm pat. “Excellent. Let’s get to work.”

Ethan’s ritual circles weren’t as powerful as the manual breathing technique, but the thing about his circles was that he could create multiple of them. The single circle he had given Luna wasn’t enough. After Ethan completed Finn’s circle, he went and made another for her. Then, over the course of the day, those circles worked inward until Tenalia came back to him with a report. She approached, providing a snappy salute and said, “Sir, I have a report, sir,” as though they were in the military or something.

“What is it?” Ethan tried not to sound annoyed, but the caricature she assumed sometimes could be grating.  

“There’s something strange at the center of the anomaly. It seems to be focused in the town square of a tiny village. When I approached the strange egg-like object, I almost lost an arm. If not for the potent magic of my creator, I believe I would have been destroyed. Could I please have a sword?” 

“Your sword’s not going to be done until Sunday at the earliest. It might even take him longer since you just had to have the expensive enchantment.” Ethan folded his arms, all the annoyance flooding from his body as he looked at the somehow expectant features of the doll. She was doing a great job, but he didn’t have a sword for her. “We can talk about a sword when we get closer to the anomaly. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours before we’re there.”

“What are my orders until then?” Tanalia asked.  

Ethan shrugged. The best thing for her to do was to keep scouting. “Run the perimeter of the anomaly. Make sure it’s reducing at a steady pace and check for any undead creatures. I’m pretty sure this necromantic magic isn’t the resurrecting type, but if you see any zombies, come tell us, okay?”

“Zombie patrol. Got it!” Tenalia shouted, dashing off again. Her plain, blocky doll body looked weird dashing off.

How fast was she, exactly?

The bracelet gave reports about the reduction of the necromantic field. The group worked along the perimeter, ensuring it was reducing at a steady pace until they finally saw the center of the tiny village. It was little more than an outpost, with a cluster of three buildings made from poorly hewn timber. Everything had been sent into a state of decay thanks to the thick presence of mana, but the most curious thing was exactly what Tenalia had reported. There was a strange egg-shaped object in the center that each member of the expedition was eager to see.

When the magic had finally faded and the square was safe to walk around, Ethan, Luna, Finn, Tenalia, and Nultan stood around it in a circle.

The object indeed looked like a very large egg. The surface was a deep shade of purple with veins of red running along its length. From within, Ethan could sense some kind of power, but it didn’t feel necromantic, as he had some exposure to death magic. That was what he would say it was closest to. However, the expression on Nultan’s face indicated it was something the cleric was familiar with.

“Hand me a sword.” Tenlia demanded, putting her blocky arm out.

Finn giggled, reaching into a satchel at his side and withdrawing what could only be described as a fantasy greatsword. It was something far too large for any normal person to use, but he held it with ease. He tossed it to the ground, winking at Ethan. “Let’s see our little soldier lift that.”

“Hup!” Tenalia shouted, getting her body under the handle of the massive sword.

Although Ethan expected her to fail, that didn’t happen. The puppet pivoted what little weight she had, dragging the sword along with her. The entire group shouted at her, but it was too late. The massive, man-length hunk of steel whistled through the air, splitting the egg along one side.

From within, an eerie glow emitted. From within, a voice grumbled incoherent words.