796 - Unhealing Wounds
Night had fallen by the time Lex caught up to Solvei.
“Master!” Being able to sense his location as well as he could sense hers, it surprised Lex not at all when she rushed through the undergrowth to meet him, her armor and armaments having been discarded in favor of the simple leather pants and halter top that Akna had been wearing when he’d first met her. “I’m glad you’re here! Silla isn’t doing well!”
Her report was wholly unnecessary. After he’d managed to recover his wits enough to respond to Solvei’s desperate entreaties, he’d looked through her eyes at the injured adlet that she’d found.
What he’d seen had been someone more dead than alive.
The warrior’s body had been covered in horrific wounds. A deep cut just above his waist had very nearly spilled his entrails across the snow. His left arm was broken in multiple places, and his right was dislocated. But his upper limbs had fared better than his legs; the left having been shredded to the point where the bone was visible, and the right being completely gone below the knee. The only reason he hadn’t bled out, in Lex’s estimation, was because of the scorch marks spread across his body, whatever fire had struck him having cauterized the wounds.
That he hadn’t died from his injuries was nothing short of miraculous, and it was only his nature as an adlet – a being of intrinsic cold, like the winter wolves – that had kept exposure from finishing him off. As it was, Lex had managed to walk Solvei through some basic treatment for Silla’s injuries, another thing he’d learned from the medical textbooks he’d borrowed from House Call during his ill-fated trip to Las Pegasus, but with no equipment, medicine, or healing magic of her own, there’d been little for her to do except watch over Silla and try to keep him from slipping away before Lex arrived.
That she’d succeeded was more a testament to the adlet warrior’s toughness rather than anything Solvei had done, Lex knew.
But things were different now that he was here.
“Take this and place it on him,” ordered Lex, plucking the cleansing charm – which had been among the treasures he’d received from Solvei’s mother – from the hem of his cloak and holding it out toward Solvei. Even as he did, he carefully channeled a small surge of power into it, stopping well short of what his body could handle now; the charm was little more than a trinket, and overloading it with more power than it was designed to handle would likely damage or destroy it. “It should clean his wounds.”
“Right!” Snatching the charm from him, Solvei darted back the way she’d come, Lex following closely behind her. The anxiety he’d registered from her ever since she’d found Silla was starting to give way to hope, and Lex found himself wondering if her upset was because of Akna’s influence. Was the adlet Solvei had merged with influencing her, the way that creature he’d joined with had overwhelmed him-
For the briefest instant, Lex’s steps faltered, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he pushed that memory away. Don’t think about that now. There are more pressing concerns. Stay in control.
It was fortunate that his tulpa was no longer capable of mocking him, because although Lex had repeated those words to himself many times over the last several hours, they had brought him no relief. Although he’d clamped down tightly on his urges and instincts, using his telepathic link with Solvei to maintain a running conversation with her about Silla’s condition so that he had something to focus on, he’d nevertheless remained keenly aware of the beast inside of him.
To say it was angry at having been denied was an understatement. The creature was furious at being unable to indulge in its pleasures, and was fighting hard to continue pursuing them. Even now Lex keenly felt the urge to abandon what he was doing and go hunting, drawn toward the visceral thrill of a life-or-death battle, followed by the joy of a warm meal of bloody meat, and then the satisfaction of mounting a conquered female...
Knowing that those desires weren’t his own brought Lex no comfort, because they were his own now, and that terrified him down to the core of his being.
How arrogant had he been, declaring to the Night Mare that he’d face his fears in order to gain more power? All he’d done had been to mistake ignorance for bravery, certain that his sapient mind would be able to recognize and compensate for the base drives of an unthinking beast. Only now did he realize that he’d badly misunderstood just what their union entailed, afflicting him with powerful compulsions on which his intellect had little bearing.
As it turned out, his newfound cravings were more akin to being bombarded with a raging torrent of emotion. Fortunately, that was an area where Lex had plenty of experience, albeit with a very mixed record of success. While he was able to maintain a tight rein on the beast within him, he could feel it straining at the leash he’d put around it, knowing that it was waiting for his control to slip so that it could run free again.
And when that happened...
“Master, I think it’s working!”
Ahead of him, Solvei was looking over Silla’s broken body, eyeing the pin that she’d attached to the shredded remnants of his tunic. “See? His fur is cleaner now,” she noted, pointing at where the soot and bloodstains were disappearing. “But his wounds aren’t closing.”
“I didn’t expect them to,” answered Lex, eager to deal with something other than the raging monster inside him. “That was purely to sterilize his wounds. The spell I’m going to cast relies on artificially augmenting his body’s natural healing processes, rather than infusing him with a restorative pulse of positive energy. To that end, this is necessary to make sure he doesn’t contract an infection in the meantime.”
Solvei tilted her head, glancing between him and Silla. “I see...”
Lex registered confusion from Solvei then, making it clear that she didn’t understand what he was talking about. But he paid it no mind, instead focusing on the weak healing spell that the Night Mare had given him. Carefully performing the requisite gestures as he chanted the required liturgy, he again focused on channeling power through his body and into the thought-form that was the spell’s shape.
And this time he didn’t hold back.
Doing so was a calculated risk, not to himself but to Silla. With as much power as his new body was capable of handling, Lex had no idea what pouring that much power into his spell would do. But as risky as it was, there was little alternative but to experiment now; in its base form, the spell was too weak to do little more than scar over the worst of the adlet’s wounds, and likely wouldn’t do much to help him survive. Even a moderate amount of additional power was likely to provide only limited help in the face of such grievous injuries.
Which meant that, in order for Silla to have any real chance of survival, there was little alternative but to pour as much additional magic into the spell as possible. But since the spell’s parameters weren’t designed to hold that much power, that meant carefully threading the influx of energy into the spell as it was being cast, guiding it so that it augmented the underlying instructions in a controlled manner. Otherwise, there was no telling how it would alter the spell’s effect.
Putting his free claw on the gash across Silla’s midsection, Lex slowly finished the casting, feeling the magic discharge as he forced more power into it. A soft grunt, barely a whimper, came from the adlet as the magic slowly went to work, his body beginning to repair itself with unnatural speed.
“It’s working!” cheered Solvei as the rent in Silla’s abdomen began to close, the discolorations dotting where his arm had been broken disappearing as the bone began to mend. “Master, you did it!”
Not yet, muttered Lex across their telepathic link, concentrating too hard to speak out loud. I’m having trouble making the excess energy function according to the spell’s underlying framework. It’s already stimulating his body’s healing processes to the point of stress. Anything else might do more harm than good.
“I know you can do it, Master!” Clapping her hands together, Solvei gasped as Lex registered excitement coming from her. “What about regrowing his legs?! Master, if you do that, Silla will still be able to live as a warrior!”
That’s not possible. His innate powers of recuperation don’t include that type of regeneration. There’s nothing there for this spell to enhance.
“Master, please! I know you can do it! You can do anything! You-”
Be quiet! snapped Lex, his patience fraying. Trying to modulate the additional input via the spell’s inherent mechanisms was growing exponentially harder with each passing moment, and while Lex could see Silla’s legs scabbing over, the adlet’s breathing was growing dangerously ragged, his heart beating faster. I can’t do what you’re asking, and trying would kill him before it made him able to walk again!
“But he’ll die anyway if he goes back like that! Crippled warriors take their own lives rather than be a burden to the tribe! Master, I’ve known Silla my entire life! I can’t-”
That was all it took.
In the instant that Solvei mentioned her life as Akna, Lex flinched inwardly, her slip reminding him of his own recent loss of self. While it was only a minor lapse in concentration, it was enough for the additional power that he’d tried to poured into the spell to slip out of his mental grasp, flowing into Silla all at once.
The result was that his body suddenly strained, back arching and muscles tensing. It lasted only for a second, his body collapsing back down, only to start convulsing a moment later. His wounds ceased closing as Lex immediately cancelled the spell, allowing the remaining power to discharge harmlessly, but Silla didn’t cease shaking; instead, his thrashing grew worse, his breathing growing louder as it became a series of harsh gasps.
“Hold him down!”
Lex didn’t wait for Solvei to obey his order, instead calling on his backup plan. Diamond dust! he screamed at his tulpa. Thirty-two ounces!
Acknowledged.
A second later, the coarse powder filled Lex’s claw, but he was already casting.
For all the strength Lex had gained during his time at the Shrine of the Starless Sky, it wasn’t solely due to his new body. The knowledge that he’d gained from the Libram of Ineffable Damnation had been revelatory. The information in the Auctoritas Caliginous had shown him aspects of the Night Mare’s faith that he’d never imagined. And of course, Solvei – his soul-bound servant – had gained new powers as a result of her merging with Akna.
But that hadn’t been all that Lex had gained.
On the morning after reaffirming his newfound faith in the Night Mare, when she’d seen fit to expound on the final fate of souls who went to the realms of the gods, Lex had realized that his store of divine spells had grown. Not by a great deal, but there were now several spells which hadn’t been there before, stronger than what he’d previously had access to.
At first he’d thought that the goddess had seen fit to reward him for his loyalty. It had only been upon further reflection that he’d realized the truth: that the Night Mare had always made stronger spells available to him. He simply hadn’t had sufficient understanding of her doctrine to be able to handle that degree of sacerdotal thaumaturgy. The same way he’d needed to train his thoughts so as to be able to hold the mental architecture for arcane spells, he’d previously only had sufficient faith necessary to receive a limited amount of divine magic...and with his greater understanding of the goddess, that limit had grown.
And one of those spells was a restorative agent, unable to truly heal injuries but able to relieve physical trauma, stress, and similar afflictions.
It was a spell that Lex didn’t dare try to modify as he hurried through its casting, spreading the diamond dust which acted as a medium for its operation across the convulsing adlet, ignoring the panicked whimpers coming from Solvei. And when it finished...
Silla fell back, his breathing slowing as his body went limp.
For a moment no one moved, then Lex shook off his tension and stepped forward, checking on the adlet. Solvei bit her lip as she watched, teary-eyed.
After a few seconds, Lex stepped back. “He seems to be out of danger,” he pronounced at last. “Adlet biology isn’t like that of a pony, but from what I can tell-”
He wasn’t able to finish as a sob escaped Solvei’s lips, and she fell into a crouch as she looked down, shoulders jumping. “I’m sorry...” she sniffled, and Lex registered guilt and shame coming from her in equal measure then. “That was my fault...I...”
She wasn’t able to finish as Silla groaned, eyes fluttering open. “Ak...na...?”
“SILLA!” Rushing to his side, Solvei took his hand in hers, managing a teary laugh as she smiled at him. “Hey...it’s okay...you’re going to be okay.”
“Where...are...”
He didn’t finish as his eyes fell on Lex, a gasp escaping his lips. “Y-you...”
Lex tilted his head. “Hm?”
“They...took them...because...of you...”
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I was expecting this so Silla's words made sense due to Akna's presence and actions against Sissel and her group obviously made the adlets a more immediate target for them. Makes me wonder if Silla was left there so Lex would know though whether or not he had lived to tell Lex was inconsequential to them.
Regardless, looks like Akna will have her own vested interest in hunting down Sissel and her group down now.
Also, it seems Lex fears he'll lose what he has with Solvei once she and Akna fully merge. Or maybe he is hurting from them caring for someone else other than him. Maybe a slight reminder of the time Sonata left him for Fireflower?
I wonder how many of todays charges that dust took out of the Tulpa? It has improvements in capacity as Lex own abilities, levels improve?
He do understand that they are his feeling now.
Lol no they didn't. This would have happened either way, the time table has just been forwarded so blaming Lex for something he cannot control is kinda egotistical.
11498967 It might not be a surprise for us, the reading audience, since we knew what the bad guys were planning thanks to them letting it slip back in Chapter 729, but for Lex and Akna it's a very unpleasant revelation indeed! Silla might have been left there in order to clue Lex in (since otherwise there's little point to taking the adlets), but given that Lex is soul-bound to Solvei, and Solvei is Akna now, it's hard to imagine that he'll let this go. While he and Solvei/Akna might have a master-servant relationship, it's clear that (despite his best efforts to the contrary, at least until recently) he cares for her deeply, and given how upset she is here, it's hard to imagine that he won't want to help.
And, of course, he's already committed to a course of bloody revenge on Sissel and her clan anyway.
As for the undertones of Lex seeing his Solvei fretting over someone else...surely that's not a thing, right?
11499143 You have a talent for sniffing out areas where fitting the game rules to the narrative are ill-fitting.
Lex's ability to use his dreambinding is based on his total bonus in the dream-binding skill, which is primarily determined through skill point acquisition, but since it tracks total bonus rather than total ranks (i.e. things can add to your bonus besides your rank), there are other ways for him to raise it. (And, he's using a variant that has some weaknesses not outlined in the article, in exchange for some improvements that are similarly not outlined there either; that's why I like using Eclipse: The Codex Persona, since it formalizes the method of tweaking things that way.)
The problem is that while the skill's ability to bring things forward is determined by its total bonus, the actual way it measures how much can be brought out is measured by...gold piece value.
From a narrative perspective, that's a problem. The game treats the price of goods and services as absolutes, but that flies in the face of any semi-plausible understanding of monetary value, which is that they're agreed-upon abstractions for the sake of convenience, subject to market forces and other local conditions. A longsword is listed as being worth 15 gp, but if you're in a place where steel is exceptionally rare and highly prized, it should be worth a lot more than that. And yet the value of things like spell components (e.g. a diamond worth 25,000 gp to cast a wish spell) are treated as being immutable, rather than someone bringing out a diamond of any particular size or type and having someone "appraise" it as being worth 25,000 gp.
So it's kind of hard to delineate the parameters of what Lex's dreambinding can do from an in-character standpoint.
11500401 He does, and that's what makes it so horrifying to him; he can characterize it as "the beast inside of himself" all he wants, but after the merging which he voluntarily initiated, that distinction is largely artificial. That beast is part of who he is now, and he's struggling for how to deal with it.
As for Silla...we'll presumably see why he says that next chapter, but I suspect that he heard the bad guys say something to do with Lex, since we know they're going this route to try and force his hoof.