Chapter 13: The Last Vestige of the Arcanum
"Okay, I think we've got it," said Nick, writing down the last few characters on a small scroll. "Someone go press the button."
Pinkie, being the closest at the time, walked over to the wall and stood on her hind legs, pressing the button with her forehoof. Immediately, the text on the walls disappeared, and once more, Gim-Palarcanus stod at the center of the room.
"Excellent work! You've just completed the third challenge!" he shouted. With a snap of his fingers, Twilight's horn, Fluttershy's pendant, and Pinkie's hair ribbon all appeared in their respectful places. "Well done indeed!"
"I don't understand," said Twilight, stepping forward. "I thought we needed to solve the cryptogram?"
"Actually," corrected Nick, "What he said was that we needed to push the button twice to solve the third challenge. He never said that we had to solve the cryptogram. But then," he turned to face the thaumal master, "Why recommend that we do?"
"Because that's the fourth challenge, silly!" laughed Gim-Palarcanus. "The challenges are, in order: to know, to learn, to listen, and to remember! All of these are things having to do with how magic is controlled! You may not have it now, but you will soon enough. A vast quantity, too, if I'm not mistaken. And I'm never mistaken!"
"Well then," started Nick, "Let us proceed to the next chamber, and take the final challenge." As he approached the door, it sealed shut, blocking their exit.
"A contradiction, my good sir," said Gim-Palarcanus. "The fourth challenge is going to be in here, for two very good reasons. First, because you're in a terrible hurry to pull Braeburn out of that field he's in. Second... Well, ask Akaitora what the last hallway leads to next time you see him. Now, what did my message translate out to?"
Nick pulled the scroll up to his view, and spoke the translation as he read it. "Gim-Palarcanus grants you your magic. You may now use it at your own discretion."
"Congratulations! You've just passed the trials of Gim-Palarcanus!" he shouted. "What are you going to do next!?"
Everyone was silent. That final trial had been too easy. Finally, Nick shrugged. "I guess we're going to the next temple."
"Which temple?"
Nick unrolled the map, then quickly rolled it back up and put it away. Well, since I have no idea where in equestria this library is, which one is the closest?"
Gim-Palarcanus laughed again. "All of them are an equal distance away! You need only the proper key!"
"Then what do you suggest?" asked Nick. "We have three of the artifacts now,, which means, according to Kai, we have seven left."
"That is correct." chuckled Gim-Palarcanus. "I would suggest the figrealm, that you may learn of the plot to stop you, for your own protection."
"What plot?" questioned Nick. "Who's trying to stop us?"
"I'd tell you, but you're about to enter the planes of Galaris, so I see no point in it. Goodbye."
"WAIT!" shouted Nick, but it was too late. The master of thauma had disappeared into thin air.
"Now what do we do?" asked twilight.
"We do exactly as he suggested." Nick turned, and began walking down the hallway, back to the main chamber. "We head to the figrealm."
Reaching the main chamber, they found that Braeburn and Trixie were gone. Worry began to arise, but was snuffed out as Akaitora explained that Trixie had taken Braeburn back to the quarters to rest. The four bands hung on the rack, and after being assured that they were safe, Nick picked them up, sliding them up his arms, until they glowed a multitude of colors. Looking down at his left hand, he saw that his middle finger had grown a violet stripe, running from the tip of his finger to his palm.
"That's his blessing," explained Akaitora as they made their way back up the winding path to the library. "Even without any training, the blessing of any of the weaker ten grants you a power unlike any that could be attained through normal means."
"What does that mean?" asked Pinkie.
"Well, it means that Nick here can cast spells while here in Equestria, and maintain spells that any of us could cast. The black band of Shumbra grants you dark magic,, the light blue streak of Oneiros grants you access to illusory spells, and the violet streak of Gim-Palarcanus grants you general spells that are ot otherwise aligned."
"But I don't know any spells, or how to cast them," Nick stated. "Even Pinkie has a better knowledge of magic than I."
"Then I suggest you have a look through our shelves before you head to your next destination. Since you have three of the blessings, you can learn the spells rather quickly. If I may make a suggestion: start with illusory spells. There's one that can speed up your processes, to where it seems that the world itself has slowed down. I use it to up my productivity. So where are you headed next?"
"The figrealm," stated Fluttershy. Akaitora stopped, heaved a heavy sigh, then continued down the hall, completely silent.
As soon as they were back in the library, Akaitora pointed off into the shelving area. "Nick, find unit 12, third shelf from the top, fifth from the right, page 45, and read to page 52. It's one of the most important spells you'll ever learn. Girls, follow him, and do the same. After that, you can all practice. Once you've got that spell down, feel free to learn any others. I have something that requires my full attention. I'll be back in about three hours, although you might feel that it's going to take longer, due to the spell. If you'll excuse me..." He headed off, into a wooden door, which closed behind him.
"Well, he's never been known to lie," said Fluttershy, "So I think it's best that we listen to him."
"I agree. Besides," reasoned Twilight, "If this spell is as important as he says it is, then we should learn it quickly, and practice for a little while."
They found the book, Arkhved's Guide to Mindcraft, and opened it to the specified page, and began reading.
Another useful spell that I found was the ability to control the synapses within my own mind, utilizing the input as well as the output. The results were quite astounding. It seemed that the entire world around me slowed to a crawl, but in reality, after an hour in this state, the sun had barely moved from its place in the sky, and a timepeice I had set up had only gone by for a few seconds. I realized at this point that I hadn't slowed time, but sped myself up to such a degree that I had been moving almost at the speed of sound. I thought to myself, in how many ways can I utilize this? After a few more tests, I was ready to test my theory. I sttod in front of a stone wall, a crossbow aimed at me, and pulled the trigger using a contraption built for this purpose specifically.I then cast the spell, and moved out of the way of the bolt, and watched as it cut straight through the stone wall. I couldn't believe my eyes.
I then started work on a small project using the trespassers I had caught mere days before. I told them that if they could hit me with any of their weapons, they could go free. I was a bit overconfident, I know, but the real rub was that I had given them access to my small armory, letting them use whatever they liked. As I had suspected, they never even touched me.
The story of how it could have been used out of the way, here's how the spell operates...
Nick read page after page until he had reached the end of the article. "I think it would be a good idea to test out this spell," he said, handing the book to Twilight. He focused his mind on his left hand, forming a small, cyan ball of energy. he turned it over a few times, studying it a bit, then brought it to his forehead. The instant it touched, he felt a silence come over him. He waited a few seconds, then released the energy from is hand, melding it with his mind.
He opened his eyes, realizing that they were shut, and looked around to the ponies around him. They were still, as if they were made of multi-chromatic stone. He stepped to the left, then to the right. he watched as Twilight's mouth slowly opened, trying to form words. As a test, he ran to the balcony and back, then checked on Twilight. She seemed to have made a partial letter, and some wind had pulled Fluttershy's hair forward. Nick smiled, then broke his concentration on the spell.
Immediately, they all felt the wind from Nick's run, which interrupted Twilight's sentence. After a fit of coughing, Twilight simply smiled. "I'll take that as a 'yes, It works.' How was it?"
"It felt invigorating at first, then that wore off as my output reached the same level as my input," said Nick. "It's an amazing experience, then shrinks back to a normal frame of mind. It seemed that everyone else was moving so very slowly." Nick was silent for a moment, as he pushed back his wavy dark brown hair over his ears. "Do you think I could beat Rainbow Dash in a race if I used this?"
"No," chided Twilight. "Using magic to give yourself an advantage is considered cheating, as is having someone else cast the spell on you. If you were to do that in a competition, you would be committing a capitol offense, and I don't want to see you in jail, especially since you're the reason we're out her."
"You're right," apologized Nick. "I'm sorry. It was a hypothetical question. I'll only use it for studying, and when allowed by a jury of my peers." He began to cast the spell again, ending on the note, "That means you four."
The next hour went by slowly for Nick, since he spent most of it at an insane speed, rifling through books as if they would burn if he didn't read them soon. For Fluttershy, the last to read the time spell, it was a little bit funny watching Nick spend less than a second on a page, flipping through them faster than she could read the titles By the time that it was her turn, Twilight had made enough attempts to cast the spell on herself that she had managed to cast the spell correctly three times, and was now reading the books in the shelf, though not nearly as fast as Nick. She was also practicing a few spells that she had read, while still under the influence of the speed spell. She looked flustered, but otherwise fascinated.
Pinkie had no trouble getting the spell down, already having the frame of mind that worked best for a hyperactive lifestyle. This provoked a glare from Twilight, which Pinkie couldn't see because she was hopping around with her eyes closed, smiling from ear to ear, and beyond. Nick caught a glance at this, and wondered to himself how she hadn't crashed into anything.
"It wasn't long before Fluttershy had read the spell, and was able to cast it with only a hoofful of failed attempts, none of which ended with a major problem. She was now up to speed with Pinkie, who celebrated Fluttershy's victory be sporadically teleporting a plate of cupcakes onto a nearby table.