Chapter 274 – Taking Apart The Clock

Emily nods and reaches a hand up to her left bicep. The metal plating splits apart with a single command, shifting to reveal The Clock sitting in a form-fitting slot lined with rubber. She pulls the watch out of her arm, feeling the weight bearing down on her increase as she reaches out to hand it over, despite no change in the mana density of the room.

It feels a little like tearing off her own arm as she lets go of the small device that’s been her biggest safety blanket since awakening, letting it fall into the outstretched palm of someone far stronger than her, someone she couldn’t hope to fight to take back possession.

“Incredible,” Phyllie whispers, drawing her arm back in and raising the watch to inspect. “It appears almost entirely mundane the moment you release it. I could feel its influence on the timeline while you wore it, though… a soul bond?”

Her glistening eyes snap back to Emily, and her arm stretches to offer The Clock back without a word. The moment Emily takes it into her hand, Phyllie rises from her throne, the floor below her churning and shifting to carry her smoothly over to stand directly before her student.

“Yes, a soul bond. I can hear its magic coming alive the moment you make contact. That will make this interesting.”

“In what way?” Emily asks, spinning The Clock in her palm and brushing her fingers over each smooth face in a familiar dance, popping its panels open to reveal its inner workings. “I was aware it’s bound to me, but the exact mechanisms behind that are still beyond my grasp.”

“That’s not surprising.” Phyllie nods, reaching out and brushing her fingers against the glowing gem at the centre of the device, which was once a vibrant blue but over time has bled into a pale sea green. She lets her crystalline fingers deform to fold around the gem, feeling out its inner and outer structures without pulling it away from its socket. “Soul bonds are the deepest level of connection possible between a being and an object, but they’re rarely touched upon by any under the ninth level thanks to their volatility and complexity. Their main useful effect, and the thing that will make my investigation more challenging, is concealing the inner workings of an artefact from anyone not bound to it. We can work around it, but you’ll need to cooperate, and it will take a little longer.”

“That’s okay, but if it takes too long, will you extend the agreed-upon length of this meeting to make up for the loss?”

“Of course, I expected this part to be over quickly, so I won’t cheat you. But, while I told you we had until your crew reaches my Jump Gates, that means we have as long as I want.” Phyllie flashes a predatory smile, her perfect white teeth once again sharpening to vicious points, this time with touches of red tinting them. “I guess this marks the first stage of our lesson: how time is perceived by those of us less constrained by it.”

Phyllie takes a step back and raises her hands, releasing a flood of lime-green mana. The visible energy curls in on itself, forming thousands of small threads that wind together to create a long cable.

“Time is one of the most complex known elements, and there are several ways to interpret it. My preferred vision is as a flowing river so vast it could swallow a sea.” The green cable grows till it’s the same height as Emily, mana pulsing from one end to the other. “It flows ceaselessly onwards, and most are pulled unwillingly with it. Then, there are those of us who’ve learned to dip our hands into the stream and separate our own thread.”

A single, finger-thick strand of mana splits from the end of the cable, curling back on itself and stretching towards Emily.

“Though the main, universal, timeline may continue unaffected, we strive to manipulate our own path around and through it.” The separate thread winds back around the larger cable at a distance, sometimes shooting back in and parting from another side, making it back halfway before turning again and flowing in the same direction as the main weave. “There are many different methodologies and personal beliefs on how this should be done, but to catch up with your artefact, I analysed the residual effects it left on the main timeline. Now, whenever ripples spread through the main timeline near me, I can immediately send a copy of my own memories back along with that wave to wherever you’re returning.”

“So, you’re hijacking my signal to use it against me,” Emily says with a small frown, trying to think of a way to protect herself against that happening again.

“Exactly.” Phyllie nods, waving a hand and dispersing the mana in her display, turning it to a fine mist that withdraws into her body. “And since our threads aren’t flowing with the main timeline, it gives us the perception we’re living time that never happened in relation to other events. As long as a pursuit is only mental, not physical, we can chase it for as long as we want.”

Emily nods, having long accepted the mechanism of her Clock. Though it does feel odd knowing others can join her in frozen time.

“So, as long as you prove worthy of my time, the marker I set for the extent of your learning is flexible: I merely set a minimum.” Phyllie steps in again, expelling threads of time-infused mana to pry at The Clock once more. “Now, to fully explore this artefact, I’m going to have to isolate and slow down its reversal function when you activate it. I’m currently trying to break the base runic encryption concealing any signs of its inner workings, but it doesn’t feel like I’ll make much progress alone.”

Emily nods in understanding, following along without confusion.

“How can I help?” she asks, committed to developing their understanding together, even if it sets her at a slight disadvantage in the future.

“Layer your mana over mine and try to match the frequency I’m using. If we can trick the protective enchantments into believing my mana is yours, I should be able to get in. It will also allow you to see how and what I prioritise and examine.”

Emily lets mana flow from her skin without hesitation, pushing it first through The Clock and the time gem in the centre, before gently wrapping it around the threads of invasive mana from Phyllie. She feels the texture of the energy, slowly relaxing and tensing her own in a complex balance to try and form it into the same shape, letting it hum and trill at the same rate.

“Impressive control,” Phyllie comments, probing the veins of metal flowing through the pocket watch and trying to dip into the time gem to feel out the imperfections within. “I haven’t seen such mastery of mana-manipulation below the ninth circle in millennia. I daresay you’re on the brink of reaching the same level as some nascent ninth-circle beings.”

She falls silent again as they continue their joint investigation. It doesn’t take long for Emily to start peeking through the cracks into The Clock’s inner mechanisms, feeling out the shape of complex, twisting runes that seem almost physically impossible beneath the touch of their combined mana.

“What are we feeling?” Emily asks, a frown creasing her brow.

It’s odd. She can still feel her mana right there, delicately entwined with Phyllie’s, but it also feels distant, like she’s reaching through the cracks of reality into another layer she shouldn’t be able to reach.

“The enchantment on the artefact’s vessel,” Phyllie explains, waving a hand and raising a chunk of gemstone from the ground, forming it into a twisting matrix of runes as she records what they’re seeing. “It’s one of the more delicate forms of enchanting. Through the careful expenditure of mana, a skilled mage can etch enchantments onto the base metaphysical vessel of anything, a bit like you’ve done with those tattoos of yours. I would have thought you’d be aware of the method with mana control as fine as yours.”

“The tattoos were a happy accident,” Emily replies, her cortex humming with activity as she digests the new idea. “I’d never considered layering my enchantments… deeper before.”

“Well, it’s the most common method among high-level enchanters. I’ll show you how it's done once I’ve finished dismantling this artefact, but if you’re sharp, you should be able to work out how just by looking closely at the result.”

They return to silence, with Phyllie guiding their exploration with gentle nudges to her mana. Occasionally, the phosphelite points out specific runic sequences she recognises the function of, allowing Emily to quickly grow her record of time-related runes, which only contained a few runes gleaned from within the Spellweave until now.

It takes nearly twenty hours for Phyllie to satisfy her curiosity, finally withdrawing her mana and allowing Emily to close The Clock back up.

“I think that’s everything I can learn for the moment,” the Queen of Gems declares, taking a few steps back to settle on her throne once again, a satisfied smile etched on her face. “I have to say, the universe’s gifts are quite generous.”

Emily tenses up, still feeling exposed every time The Clock’s origin is mentioned, brushing her fingers over its glass face as she lifts it back into her arm.

“It has been invaluable on my journey so far,” she agrees with a nod.

“I can imagine. A closed-loop memory slingshot available from the first circle should basically guarantee anyone’s rise to the ninth as long as they can use it responsibly. I still fail to see how it’s protecting against fluctuations in your existential weight, though, so it may cause some issues down the line…”

“My existential weight?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. That won’t be a concern for you until you’re closer to my level.” Phyllie waves dismissively, immediately throwing it to the top of Emily’s question list. “Now, your end of the bargain has been fulfilled, but before I hold up my end, I would like to see if you’ve made any progress from simply watching.”

“A demonstration?”

Phyllie nods, pulling a glowing blue magic crystal from the folds of her pitch-black dress and throwing it over. Emily snatches it out of the air, feeling the telltale flow of lightning within, just strong enough to classify as a greater crystal.

“Okay, well, I’m not certain which is correct, but I’ve theorised a few mana applications to try and achieve vessel enchantment.”

Phyllie nods and gestures for her to continue, so Emily starts by letting out a flood of mana, saturating the air around her with it. She delicately bends the mana into shape, creating the entire array she wants to apply to the crystal and charging it with the intent to bind. She carefully holds the mana construct in place as its blurred edges solidify into sharp lines, before gently compressing the whole thing at once, pushing it towards the crystal waiting in her palm.

The array shrinks without breaking, quickly approaching the gem, but before it can sink through the surface and settle in, the gem’s natural mana-flow starts reacting. Tendrils of lightning lash out, burning marks into the encroaching array and forcing Emily to repair it. She keeps pushing, ignoring the damage, but as the array gets closer and closer to fully layering over the crystal, she can feel its emotionless rage building, the flow inside growing more and more chaotic as it resists the foreign influence with everything it has.

“Not that method then,” Emily mutters, letting the array disperse and relaxing the pressure on the crystal, allowing it to calm down.

Next, she starts by reaching into the crystal with her mana, following the same ethereal, pulsing frequency Phyllie used while scanning The Clock and trying to feel the crystal’s vessel. It takes a few minutes, but she eventually brushes up against a wild mass of charge that’s both there and not quite. It feels both unrestrained and trapped, held together by the weight of its own existence on the edge of reality.

Holding onto that feeling, Emily tries to push her mana through the delicate link to the crystal’s inner vessel. It works at first, and she begins weaving her array around the raging mass of charge, but the more stable runes she forms, the more the crystal’s vessel seems to lose energy, reducing in activity until it’s clear she’s smothering it with her interference. The physical crystal’s vibrant blue glow dims to barely a flicker.

She shatters the forming array in an instant, returning the crystal to its original vibrancy and severing her tenuous link to its vessel. Frowning, Emily restarts forming a connection to the gem’s vessel, considering her next move.

Those were my most hopeful methods… well, she did say mana expenditure, right?

“Do you mind if I damage this crystal with my attempts?”

“Not at all.” Phyllie shrugs.

“Perfect.” Emily lets out a mist of mana to surround the crystal as her connection to its vessel reforms.

She pours intent to bind into the mist, adding in a touch of lightning to get it closer to the elemental balance within the gem before gently speeding up the flow within her cloud of energy. She creates several conflicting currents, letting them clash against each other as the energy level builds without the mana density increasing. Within a few minutes, the lightning-tinted mana bursts into flames, burning sky-blue and cold to the observers.

Emily feels the crystal’s vessel reacting, crackling with activity and actively drawing in the burning mana. She twists the burning energy as it’s drawn in, losing most of it to fuelling the crystal’s vessel but forming the remainder into a stable magic circle.

It takes nearly half an hour, but by the time her mana has stopped burning, the crystal is happily floating in place, held by a flight array that’s invisible to the naked eye.

“Done!” Emily beams with pride at the success, glancing at the system window that pops up in the corner of her vision and noting how her mana reserves have dropped by a sizable degree despite the basic nature of the enchantment.

¯¯¯¯¯

Skill upgraded: Mana Manipulation (Intermediate > Advanced)

Skill created: Vessel Enchanting

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Advanced Mana Manipulation (passive)]

User has fine control over external mana use.

-Grants +20% efficiency and control over mana outside the body

-Grants +10% power to elemental manifestation

-Grants +5% stability to raw mana constructs

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Vessel Enchanting (active)]

[Cost:] Variable Mana

Through burning mana and catalysts, the User can carve enchantments onto an object’s metaphysical vessel.

_____

Drinking the information in in the blink of an eye, Emily closes the window and looks up from the floating crystal to see Phyllie’s gaze alight with approval.

“Incredible. Only three attempts to figure out and succeed at vessel enchanting. I never thought I’d find a student not of my own race that I’d be so excited to watch grow.”