Was there some great malice between the two, Mendax and Nola?
If Mendax had been asked, he would have said no.
There wasn't much at all between the two. For two people who held similar roles under the house of Nix, their roles were solitary. A more prudent leader would create a backup division for such roles, but Caducus was what one might call efficient.
Their roles were disposable.
They didn't even meet during training. Mendax had obviously finished his... education before Caducus decided to try to perfect the success. Thus, when Mendax first met Nola, it was not only a peer but also a rival. As all those Caducus marked for Mendax's fate were.
The one who showed the best results was the one who wouldn't be used as a sacrificial lamb.
With Mendax's years of experience, the others had little chance of keeping up. Only his lack of complete submission necessitated their existence.
How further could Mendax have gotten from them? It was for the best that he hardly knew them.
But Nola had stuck out.
Her strength, her loyalty—or really, her faith—to Nix, and her viciousness had reached even Mendax's far-removed ears.
And he had happened to see her once in the training grounds. He was above them, passing through an open hall with the grounds in clear and near view.
Clang!
Swords clashed. She faced a man much taller than her as her opponent. Mendax stayed because of that.
Mana could be used to reinforce the physical form. All were aware of this. However, the baseline of that enhancement had its limits. The element and original forms played into it.
In most cases, a woman and a man using the same element and a similar number of layers would not reach the same level of strength. The body's original limitations extended into the strengthened state.
This wasn't limited to gender. Debilitating diseases or other detractors from the body, like malnourishment, would also hold it back.
Of course, female warriors existed. While outnumbered by women who used the elements directly, they adapted. Instead of focusing on their strength, they focused on their speed or endurance. Evening the field by going with their advantages.
However—
Clang!
The swords rang out again, and Mendax saw it clearly. The smaller woman pushed back the man with brute force. No special tricks needed.
However, there were always exceptions to the trends.
The man skidded out of the ring, drawn into the ground, ending the duel.
"Hyarrrhhh!"
The woman gave a war cry as she continued her assault. The mighty sword she carried was lifted and swung down, lifted and swung.
Many times. Mendax's lips drew back.
A sickening crack sounded as the man fell unconscious. She lifted the blade, more like a plank of iron with an edge, above her head.
"For Nix!"
Her lifted gaze met Mendax's lowered one.
He moved on.
Her little victory meant little in the end.
After that, Mendax heard more and more about her. They had even had the displeasure of working together.
Neither was impressed.
That attitude carried over to the present moment, as Mendax watched Nola leave.
Respect and dissatisfaction.
She would be a difficult opponent. Not for cleverness or any superior strength. What he needed to counter was her violence, her tendency to attack unerringly while her opponent was weak, and her exhilaration from the fight.
The night was long, and in the early morning, it seemed it would be longer still.
———————————————————
Aureum, after two days, was sick of being stuck. She woke up early to knock on Mendax's door.
The man that crawled out and opened the door was half asleep. His long hair didn't stick up as much as it could have, but it wasn't even in the lax ponytail that usually reigned it in.
"The library won't be open this early."
His first words.
"It'll be fine by the time we get there. I also wanted to look at cloaks. Before or after, it doesn't matter."
"…Alright. Give me a few minutes."
Aureum felt bad. She'd thought he was already up. Now, he was. She waited, holding her wrist.
He opened the door again, looking only slightly better maintained and with his long coat in Nix style. Instead of a cloak, which was more common across Aeternitus, it had sleeves and buttoned up.
It might have been the more conservative traditions of Nix, or it might have been a smarter way to deal with the winters.
Aureum was noticing more about him these days. Even his worn and drab attire.
Maybe I could find him something that's new. And not a coat. He can continue wearing layers in hot weather if he wants, but this is ridiculous.
"Are you ready?" He said.
"Ready."
That's all it took for them to leave. They didn't speak much. Aureum counted and double-counted the things she needed. She had money, lots of money, but once she left the city, it wouldn't be so easy to find places that were selling. If she added gifts she wanted to get before she left, the list suddenly became longer. Mendax was simply exhausted.
Having reached the library, they entered it just in time for the doors to be opened. Mendax spoke first.
"Miss Zizan would like to speak about what she requested yesterday."
His words were directed to the first librarian he saw, a young man who startled a little at the words, or maybe Mendax's appearance. But he nodded quickly and darted off.
"What did I request yesterday?" Aureum asked.
"I'm just asking about Spesavia again. It sounds better if it's for you."
"Alright. I'll try to act dignified."
She straightened her back a little and smoothed her expression. It was easier than she had expected, given the strange setting for it and the lack of practice.
Mendax eyed her, pleased. He had wondered if her occasionally noble posture would appear at the right time, but apparently she could summon it at command.
The same scholarly man strode his way to them. Much faster than yesterday, Mendax noted. He grabbed Aureum's hand as Mendax watched on.
"Miss Zizan, I had not known you were trying to reach Spesavia, or I would have offered a better solution earlier."
Aureum sought Mendax's eyes to share her amusement. With weeks of coming here, everyone with even a touch of idle curiosity knew who she was. Whether he hadn't been bothered to ask was something Aureum couldn't be bothered with.
The thorough change in demeanor couldn't be charity.
She pulled her hand away and held it to her body.
"Yes, and I hear you have a way to reach her?" Aureum said.
"No reason to make it sound so mysterious. We do have a private conversing stone for her, whose twin she has been encouraged not to chuck off a cliff, but it's still just a humble stone."
What did this man do, Aureum wondered, for him to grasp so desperately at anyone with a hint of any backing?
She couldn't help him, but she would reap the rewards of it.
Aureum, with Mendax a few steps behind, was escorted to the second floor. The weight of this one was different. The first floor was quiet, but the second was silent, still, and laden with dust.
"This way," their groveling guide said.
She followed him to another room. The slabs of stone were here, but these were large. Instead of hanging on the wall, they jutted from their stands on the floor within an average man's reach. A little tall for Aureum or Mendax.
"What excellent implements you have here," Aureum said.
As any lady knows, the best way to start every interaction was a well-targeted compliment. Aureum wasn't that good as a lady. Complimenting somebody's tools was a low fruit.
"Why, you're correct! While in most cases the ratio of the frequencies between the stones would mean that a slab a sorcerer can carry could never be cut from something of this size, our calculations have proven plentiful in that not only can these stones reach their smaller twins, they can also do it at a greater distance."
"Indeed," Aureum said.
Even keeping it vague as he had, most of it went over her head. Greater distance sounded good.
She stepped before the one labeled for Spesavia, expecting him to stop her. He didn't. He did continue talking.
"You might think that the larger size would ruin the size of the words being translocated, but we have also deduced this and flipped the reflection, stopping it at the precise moment."
Aureum paused as her finger waited to write upon the smaller flat face of the stone that reached up towards her. She looked at him.
"This means you may write without issue."
So she proceeded:
This is Aureum.
Compared to her first words written on the other slab, she couldn't be bothered to form more than that until she got a reply. The three of them, Mendax to the side of the door, waited with bated breath.
As the moment stretched, Aureum felt her spirits plummet. All that anticipation to be met by the same outcome. She turned away.
"I guess she's got better things to do," Aureum said, her superior manner slipping a bit.
"Watch," Mendax said, pointing past her.
Aureum looked back. Her words were wiped off with a familiar glow of mana.
The first word appeared as a hand wrote it out:
Brat.
Aureum grinned. The message continued:
Where have you been? Your parents are worried. Your sister, too.
Aureum waited, but there was nothing further. She used her own mana to clean the face off and wrote.
I've been around. Currently, I'm at Viadelux's library. Would it be too much to ask you to come back?
The words were wiped, only for new ones to be written out:
I have an errand to run near there. Wait.
They all leaned into the words. Mendax had joined the crowd around the stone before Aureum had noticed. They waited, but there were no more words. She wiped off the letters to write more:
All right. For how long?
But no reply was coming. No matter how long they waited.
"That's Spesavia. So rude. You'd think somebody with immortality would learn a little about manners."
"Thank you so much for coming here. Please come here tomorrow! I can tell you if she leaves an answer."
Their guide was even worse at the groveling, with Aureum's connection to Spesavia proved. She couldn't leave fast enough once Spesavia stopped replying.
Outside the library, Aureum stopped. Mendax looked back at her in question.
"So," she began. "I would like a replacement for my cloak. A butterfly cloak. It lets me fly. Do you know of anywhere one of those might be?"
Mendax looked away.
"I forgot."
"Huh?"
"Somebody," his fingers curled up into fists, "bought a collection of butterfly cloaks from the auction."
"Oh. Ohhh. So we can just go pick them up?"
Mendax started walking again, and Aureum ran a few steps to catch up.
"We might have to pay," she said. "Luckily, we have the hush money."
"Hah."
Aureum glanced up at him. He seemed mad. He might've just been grumpy.
"Am I asking too much to do it now? This can wait."
"No, it's better to do it sooner."
Although now, with Spesavia entering the picture, things were looking up, it was better to leave nothing to chance.
"I'll take you to the inn and pick it up after," Mendax said.
"That's kind of silly," Aureum said. "Why don't we go together?"
Mendax slowed for half a step.
"Is there some issue?"
Mendax, who was losing focus fast, couldn't find the right words to say "yes" and not seem suspicious. In fact, he was out of time not to seem suspicious already.
"No," he said. "I'm tired. They might not even be there if we go to meet them now."
"Even more reason to head there now and leave a note," Aureum said. "We can line up a meeting quicker. Then some of us can head to bed."
"Sure," Mendax said.
Her meeting with Nivis isn't a major concern.
Nivis wouldn't reveal anything that might damage him. Like the fact that his older brother was a secret stain upon the bloodline. It wouldn't help him to make his position weaker, and Lord Nix would be most displeased.
Still, it would be tiring. Mendax started walking again. The quicker it was, the less annoyance it might bring.