The first thing I did after unlocking my Affix was keep trying to use my Aspect. Infusion. There wasn't an explanation accompanying what that meant, which was a bit off-putting, considering I had received a helpful description of the dangers of my Core. Come on, some information about its capabilities would have been nice.
Maybe there wasn't anything inherently dangerous about my Aspect—not for me, at least—so the Weave hadn't bothered.
My young aggressor hadn't been stymied by my surprising powers of weight-management for long. He had just summoned more of those burning orange threads going up his arms, then started shoving me even harder.
I actually ended up moving maybe an inch or so on his third attempt. Impressive. He was stronger than he looked.
Since a little more focus on Infusion was enough to stop him again, I could take a few seconds to focus on what I was doing.
The sizzling sensation driving through my body had reduced to a tingling hum that kept me on edge. I imagined it was the physiological sensation of using my Aspect, or more specifically, probably the feeling of channelling mana to use my Aspect and its associated Affix. It was the latter I tried to figure out.
Infusion just seemed to be adding weight to whatever I was directing it at. In this case, it was my own body. The more I concentrated, the more I turned the purple threads into darker and darker strands, adding greater and greater heaviness to my chosen target.
So far, I hadn't thought about the spread of the threads. I had just held a vague choice of "my body" in my head when I had focused on using Gravity and infusing its ability to increase my weight. But now, as I concentrated harder, I found I could localize the effect and have it work differently on different areas. As in, I could make my right hand heavier than my left.
Huh. Could I do the opposite? Instead of weighing myself down, could I unburden the shackles of gravitational pull and allow myself to shoot into the sky?
It was a giddy, silly idea, but absolutely not something I was about to try just then. Not when I wasn't far from being pushed into an active volcano.
"You realize this isn't working, right?" I said.
The youth had pushed me for a whole minute now, having failed to make any progress whatsoever. He didn't seem that tired, even if his breaths came a little harsher and sweat beaded under his sparse, dark brown hair. The frustration was evident, though.
Problem was, I was exhausted too. Not exactly physically. It was a deeper ache, a sensation of emptiness sitting heavy like hunger, but closer to my chest instead of my guts.
I had a sneaking suspicion I was running out of mana, which raised a different concern… so I checked my status.
[ Ross Moreland
Profile
Race: Human
Weave Access: Full
Paths
Path of the Newborn Star: Iron I
Core
Mana Implosion: [Unawakened]
General Attributes
Vitality: Iron I
Power: Iron I
Agility: Iron I
Path Attributes
Spirit: Iron I
Aspects
Gravity: Iron I
Infusion
Time until Mana Implosion: 22 hours ]
Wait, what?
The countdown stated twenty-two hours now, instead of twenty-three. Forget pushing it back, stupid thing was getting even closer. I could swear I hadn't spent an hour on this blasted volcano-top. Maybe it counted whatever time I had needed to actually come back to life…
I had actually been afraid of this ever since I started feeling tired inside. It was an exhaustion borne from my lack of mana. But if I had been gathering mana at an uncontrollably fast rate, then running out of it should never have been a problem. Which suggested either using my Aspect wasn't accessing the same store of mana as my core, or that my body could only channel so much mana before it got worn down.
The latter made more sense, considering the warning had stated something about drawing in way too much mana way too quickly. Like it was gathering mana far, far faster than I could spend using my Aspect.
Which meant I was screwed unless I found a different way to get rid of it. Shit.
The youth staggered back again, panting a little. "*** *** *** doing ****?"
I was trying again not to give in to panicky thoughts. Twenty-two hours still ought to be enough to figure out a way to get rid of my core's mana. Why was it gathering mana so fast? Argh.
"****** **!"
I was about to say that I had no clue what he was saying, but then, he retreated several steps. His expression grew even more determined and more threads of coppery light worked up his arms. That didn't look good.
Then he rushed at me.
I wasn't surprised. He was faster than I was expecting, but the idea had come to me before he had started executing it. If simply pushing wasn't going to work, why not take advantage of some extra momentum?
The problem with that was he would still need to actually hit me.
Which he didn't as I stopped using Infusion, my weight rapidly returning to normal as I sidestepped away from his bullish rush.
It was… easy? I wasn't sure what the youth thought, or if he just wasn't that smart, but he charged through the spot I had been standing, his lashing arms failing to reach me. And then he was desperately trying to apply the brakes. His arms sailed, his feet dug into the soft ground, his whole body cringed and tried to halt his momentum.
Despite his best efforts, he reached the edge a little too quickly. His attempt at backpedalling hadn't worked.
Lucky for him I was able to get close and reach out to grab the back of his robes.
He froze, his body forty-five degrees over the edge of the lava-filled pit.
I sighed, hauled him back, and was none too gentle about letting go once he was on proper solid ground again. The youth staggered, then fell on his ass.
"***—" he stuttered, staging at me agog. "*** ***** me!"
"Don't get used to it," I said.
If I was being honest, a part of me hadn't intended to save him. He was a member of the group that had tried to sacrifice me. He was one of the ones involved with ripping me from my old life, dragging me into this… wherever this was, and then quite literally trying to burn me alive. It was only their incompetence at doing so which had led to them shooting me in the head.
The more I thought about it, the more the anger that had been eclipsed by my elation at being alive—at having magic—came rearing up. Tit for tat, right? Falling into a pit of lava was the least this stupid asshole deserved after what he and his buddies had done.
After how he had been trying to shove me into the volcano mere minutes ago.
"Why *** *** **** **?" the youth asked.
I scowled down at him, able to understand the gist of his question. "Because I'm not one of you."
He understood enough, and thankfully possessed sufficient shame, to look away rather guiltily. Wild, considering what he had been up to not that long ago.
There was the other side of things that I needed to account for too. If I wanted to figure out what was going on in this world, if I wanted to get a handle on the imminent implosion of my mana core, then I was going to need as much information I could find. Regardless of my initial feelings towards him, this guy had his uses. I needed to take advantage of that.
Not that I was pretending my decision had been a cold, calculating one prioritizing my survival over my sense of justice. No, that had mostly been instinct. Someone had been about to die and I had reached out to help where I could.
Generally speaking, I trusted my instincts.
The gangly young guy looked up at me, a different expression trying to morph past his guilt, making his face indecipherable for a few moments. "*** *** *** ****?"
I shook my head. "I don't understand what you're saying."
He seemed to understand me to some extent however, so his question changed as he looked me up and down, noting the dark violet threads of power. Or rather, the fact that they were gone now. "*** *** *** **** **** Sacrifice?"
"Uh, yeah," I said, doing my best to interpret his query from just the bit I understood. "As far as I understand, it's the Sacrifice you lot did that led to me getting my Gravity Aspect."
It was strange to be talking almost so casually about literally getting my head blown off, especially when I was starting to feel afraid that I was screwed despite coming back to life.
Plus, should I even be revealing so much to him? Admittedly, he didn't really look malignant. He had been determined to carry out his duty earlier, to make sure the Sacrifice he and his fellows had performed earlier actually went through. Now that he knew he couldn't, he was just a weird mix of nonplussed and regretful.
Hmm, hold on…
I was growing surer that I needed someone like him. Someone who would have a lot more knowledge than me about the intricacies of this world, about how the Weave and everything related worked.
I needed more information. I needed a new way to deal with my growing problem, to deal with my mana-guzzling core. I needed to get rid of the magical energy in it, maybe in one go if possible. I needed to… to Sacrificeit?
A heady feeling made my body buzz, even after the mana exhaustion had made me loosen my grip on my Aspect. Thankfully, the youth didn't get up to start taking advantage of me lowering my guard. He actually had a strange look on his face, and I might have considered it an expression akin to wonder, but my new idea was taking over my mind.
"How does Sacrifice work?" I asked quickly. "Can you Sacrifice pretty much anything?"
He seemed a little startled by my question as he slowly got to his feet. "********* **** **** ** ****** **** belong ** ***. *** *** *** asking?"
I tried not to curse. The first half of what he had said was basically incomprehensible. What was the point in trying to talk when I didn't understand most of the conversation?
"I'm asking because I need to Sacrifice the mana in my mana core." I sighed. "But I don't even get what you're saying."
There was that one word I had understood, though. Belong. I only had to think for a few seconds before the realization dawned on me. He was saying something had to belong to me before I could Sacrifice it. I could only offer up what I truly owned as a tribute. Probably. If that was what he had said.
Nothing I said alleviated the youth's confusion, though he was beginning to look at me with greater and greater interest. Maybe I could use that…
I warded off my frustration and focused on my goal—acquiring Sacrifice somehow. Maybe it was an Aspect or an Affix to an Aspect, or maybe it was something else entirely. But I was pretty sure that even if I couldn't understand what it was from other people, if I got it myself, I could figure it out on my own.
And to get Sacrifice, I would need get into the cult.
Yes, I was positive they were some sort of cult. Only cults did ritualistic human sacrifices, right? Unless it was a common thing in this culture, which I wasn't certain I wanted to contemplate just then.
More importantly, I remembered the look on the old leader's face. I recalled one word before my brain had been blown out of my skull. Sorry. These people didn't give the impression of blood-hungry zealots.
On the other hand, I had been shot in the head. One of their own, the guy right next to me, had just been trying to push me off into a volcano minutes ago.
Nevertheless, I was noting the way the young cultist's behaviour had been changing, especially after he had begun believing me. I had a sneaking suspicion that I was a very interesting case, and this youth was starting to realize that too.
Sacrifice.
I needed it.
If my theory that I could Sacrifice anything was correct, then I had to test if I could Sacrifice my own mana. There was the evidence that Gravity could only channel so much mana before my body gave up, but maybe Sacrifice had some sort of bypass to that. Maybe it worked differently. I was reaching, but I was a bit desperate at this point.
"How did you get Sacrifice?" I asked. "Like, is it an Aspect or an Affix or something like that?"
No way it was an entire Path. That didn't sound right.
The youth stood warily of me now. No, not warily, awkwardly. Yes, that was it. Even better for me, because I could take advantage of that. Uh, not in malicious way.
"** ** ** Aspect," he said. "*** *** **** ** *** *** **** ** *** Acolyte ** *** **."
I was encouraged to hear the word Aspect, but then he added something about an acolyte in there too. Hmm. The former likely confirmed my suspicion of what Sacrifice actually was. The latter… I blinked. Right, the latter had to be about how I could get Sacrifice.
"Acolyte, huh?" Just to make sure my intentions were fully understood, I used my hands as I talked. I wasn't one to gesticulate much, but the situation called for it. I pointed at him and me as I said, "You think I could become an acolyte too?"
He considered my words, and I was left wondering how much of it he actually understood. Then he nodded and walked away, indicating for me to follow.
Hoping this wasn't a trap, I trailed behind.