Echoes Of The Seven

After all of the artifacts were handled, Eris was escorted (with a cock ring in her pocket) to her shop. Or rather, just outside of it. There was an odd sense of familiarity when looking over the piles and piles and piles of magical items outside, except now they were being watched and sorted by over half a dozen Syndicate officials. Eris blinked. “Uhh…”

Konderlacht cleared her throat. “Because of Malleable Arcana, we had a crew working all night to gather and sort any magical items in Marrix that could be spared. Thankfully, many of the students also offered their own gifts, being anything they didn’t immediately need for their upcoming deployments.”

“What the…” Eris muttered as she carefully stepped in between two tables- one almost overflowing with assorted food such as crackers, jerky, and even what was definitely a bottle of beer. The other was completely covered in glittering jewelry shining with more gemstones than Eris could count. Eris couldn’t even focus on the multiple uniformed officials carefully placing weapons on racks or sorting shields by some metric that wasn’t immediately obvious.

“By our best assumptions,” Konderlacht began, “this collection should contain every single possible stat modification, as well as almost every conceivable enchantment outside of extremely specific cases. If that skill was intended for you to slowly gather enchantments and effects as you came across them, then instead, we will give you everything the Syndicate could possibly muster all at once.”

“By the gods…”

“All of the ichryte produced by your consumption will also be provided to a different team that is already working to condense the dust back into a crystalline form. Those workable ichryte gemstones will then be delivered and used by crafters across the continent, which previously wasn’t possible because of how limited the supply was.”

Eris was led along a thin path between tables and racks and piles and stands and even more tables before the open door of her workshop awaited her. Stepping inside, the tables and chairs were all moved around, but Eris could see the general shape of the design. She would be sitting in the middle, right behind a large basin on wheels that was clearly designed to hold the copious quantities of ichryte dust- along with the four identical basins lined up against one wall. Furthermore, the tables were all moved to surround that central chair, with chairs on each one of them for Syndicate officials that were already seated with a small pile of magic items in front of them- ready to hand them to Eris. Furthermore, the shuttered wall of the shop was open, making a clear passage for even more attendants to transfer items from the piles outside right into the magical garbage bin that was Eris.

Konderlacht actually held a teeny-tiny smile on her face- breaking up the resting stern expression she always had.

“Now- let’s begin.”

Three hours.

That was how long it took to get through the initial mountain of magical items piled outside. Even when that was finished, there were still more coming in by the minute from crafters all across the city giving a random dagger, or helmet, or hammer, or even a scarf- if nothing more than to give an extra hundred-or-so Magic Power each. Then, of course, there was the assortment of items that Eris had become quite accustomed to seeing over the last few days, since it had been following her everywhere.

Seeing Charlotte in a simple black shirt and blue jeans really did give Eris more appreciation for how pretty the soldier was without her armour.

However, Eris was already exhausted. It was oddly strenuous- to hold each and every single item over the basin and will it to crumble away, then immediately grab another. One item after the next after the next after the next, often two at a time since Eris had two hands. By the time the first basin was filled, Eris herself was covered in the translucent powder. By the second, it was also all over the tables and the attendants beside Eris passing her each item. By the fourth, the ichryte dust seemed to be in the air itself as a could of dust that was definitely coating everything in the entire workshop. Since the Cleansing Stones didn’t seem to work on the stuff, that only meant that cleaning the shop would be a nightmare.

But after three hours, with Eris’s arms feeling a little weak, she got to lay down on the dusty bed in the corner of the room while all the officials worked to try and clean the particulates from the far side of the room using brooms, dustpans, and cloths. However, Eris wasn’t resting on the bed- not completely. Instead, she stared at the ceiling while thousands and thousands of words flashed across her mind. Dozens of stat modifications and hundreds of enchantments, all painstakingly sorted into whatever categories Eris desired. After all, Eris wanted to take stock of whatever seemed to be important before she got to work on spending her Magic Power.

And by the gods, was there a lot of it.

Malleable Arcana

Magic Power: 1,723,966

Between the eight-hundred-ish thousand from the two-dozen Artificer artifacts earlier, and the million-or-so from about what had to have been over two thousand Gifted magic items, Eris was sitting on a mountain of resources to spend. The scariest part was that a quick glance over the hundreds of enchantments just reinforced in her mind that she still didn’t have enough points to level all of them up to any serious degree. However, she could pick a good handful of really important or useful enchantments and boost them a fair bit. Right alongside any stat modifications that could possibly be useful in the equipment she was going to be making for the strike team.

If this was what other Artificers before her all dealt with, then how in the world could there have possibly been a world-ending threat to begin with? It baffled Eris. The insane amount of level progression she was getting, and Magic Power, and Desire, and everything. Any previous Artificer should have been able to accomplish the same, so how did they even have any struggles at all?

Eris paused.

Except the previous Artificers didn’t have the same resources as Eris. They were living in a mostly non-magical world, where they themselves were the source of the supernatural. They didn’t have a city of ten thousand magically-enhanced people gifting piles of magic items to devour like potato chips. They only had the items that they themselves made, or ones that they potentially had stolen from other Artificers.

Even if they had Wonders of Artifice to boost their level progression, and even if it worked on non-magical individuals, surely a person without a class couldn’t give any worthwhile amount of power to the Artificer they were connected to. Gods- even if they also had Benediction to boost both the quantity and quality of that bonus, the total effectiveness of a previous Artificer using it solely on non-magical people wouldn’t come close to what Eris could likely achieve with just a single crafter doing the work for her.

Could this…

Could this have been the reason she, now, was chosen to be an Artificer? After the gods died and Demeri had her ghost fracture the power of Echoes into the normal classes to bestow them into hundreds of thousands of people? So that when Eris eventually became an Artificer, that she would be one surrounded by countless magical individuals she could draw strength from in a way that previous Artificers never could because of the scarcity of Echoes?

Eris shook her head.

Nope. She wasn’t going to get into those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to theorize the reason behind her existence or some grand plan. That would just make her head hurt, maybe cause a nosebleed, and waste time. Right now, she just needed to spend her Magic Power.

First, she picked out a slew of enchantments that served in similar function to Skilled and Precise.

Tough: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Vitality stat increases by {1} rank.

Tolerance: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Tenacity stat increases by {1} rank.

Powerful: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Strength stat increases by {1} rank.

Agile: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Dexterity stat increases by {1} rank.

Willful: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Mind stat increases by {1} rank.

Unbreakable: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Physical Defence stat increases by {1} rank.

Unyielding: {Level 1}

While worn, the user’s Magical Defence stat increases by {1} rank.

A quick test confirmed that all of these seemed to operate identically to her other levellable enchantments- a hundred points to bring them to level two, then five times the previous cost for each level beyond that. Seven hundred total brought the lot to level two. Three thousand five hundred got them all to three. Seventeen thousand five hundred brought them to four. Then, eighty-seven thousand, five hundred brought all seven of them to level five and confirmed something Eris was curious about.

For enchantments specifically, it didn’t seem like they evolved upon reaching fifth level. Spending another four-hundred and thirty-seven thousand Magic Power to bring them all to level six seemed to prove that further.

That was reasonable. Eris didn’t really need it to go any further. The enchantments levelled up predictably, adding one rank to each of the specified stats for each level. At level six, the enchantments added six ranks to the specified stat. Of course, another couple of levels would make it more efficient, but right now it was enough. Two rings and a necklace with a specific stat was enough to put eighteen ranks in whatever core stat Eris wanted- in other words, an immediate A+ rank for any stat, for any person that wore that jewelry. With the assumption that nobody else could even get higher than that maximum, then there was no reason to try and go any further.

Eris weighed her next options carefully. Sure, she could probably pick out a specific enchantment for each person in that strike team and level them up equally, or she could pick an assortment of general-purpose enchantments that would be useful for all five of the party members, Charlotte, and whichever other combatants the Syndicate decide take priority for Eris’s creations. Then, those enchantments could be brought up by a much higher amount. Not to mention, putting more enchantments on a single item took more CP, which could have been spent on just increasing the Potency which would directly make the enchantments more powerful. Not to mention, a good number of enchantments couldn’t be levelled, which allowed Eris to focus more on the ones that could.

Except for when many of them had been specifically advised not to upgrade or even use. Eris could hold one hand up over her head and read over the sheet of paper listing out dozens of enchantments to avoid under any condition. She furrowed her brow.

“I’m sorry, but an armour enchantment that burns anyone who attacks the wearer seems like a pretty fantastic idea. Why in the world would they not want me to use it?”

Charlotte, who was sitting on a chair beside her, cocked her head in thought.

“Well, I used to have a breastplate that had an enchantment like that- if I was attacked it would force the attacker away. The more powerful the item, the stronger the repulsion was- but also the more sensitive. It was strong enough that if someone so much as pat me on the back, they would get sent flying. It actually became a very big problem, so I had to get the breastplate remade but intentionally weaker.”

Eris pursed her lips. “So in other words, if I put a burning retaliation enchantment, it would be strong enough that a gust of wind might incinerate every single person nearby?”

“Possibly. We’ll need to test it.”

“Fantastic,” Eris sighed. “Okay, that also explains why all of the elemental attack ones are denied, but what about the life drain? A flaming sword that might blow up the wielder with every swing is one thing, but siphoning the life essence of whatever you hit to heal yourself is incredible. I don’t see how there can be too much of that.”

“Me neither. It is an extremely powerful enchantment,” Charlotte said. “A weapon you make with that may very well kill anything instantaneously, then mend every single possible injury on the wielder.”

“So why not use it?” Eris asked.

“Simple. That is an enchantment that drains away and robs the target of their vital essence, then pumps it into you to mend your wounds. Against anything alive, that is. When you’re fighting the Hollow- something that is the literal embodiment of consumption and decay, that life essence is deeply tainted.”

“Instead of healing you, it poisons you,” Eris surmised. Charlotte shook her head at that.

“Worse. You start corrupting right then and there. One scratch even with the weakest possible absorb-life enchantment or spell and that soldier is lost. No healing, no amputation, no medicine- nothing. The only thing that saves them is to kill them quickly, before they can finish turning.”

Eris frowned. “Okay then, understood. Depressing, but understood.” Eris cleared her throat.

“Though, my only question now is that since I’m not allowed to even use most of the enchantments because I might actually be too powerful, what the crap am I supposed to put on the gear? Your gear? I mean, you had like six different retaliation effects on there and a passive taunt that directed nearby hostiles into attacking you, but that’s also on the list. What, is the Syndicate afraid that a taunt effect I make is even going to have allies start beating on their own friends?”

“That was their concern, yeah.”

“Gods, what am I even supposed to put?”

Charlotte frowned. “I believe the general consensus was for you to keep things as simple and straightforward as you can for the first iteration of equipment. Stat-boosting effects, basic buffs, that sort of thing. Since your equipment is already going to be so drastically powerful compared to anything else, that strike force and I won’t need anything fancy to get the job done.”

“So the Syndicate actively wants me to make the first round of equipment the most simple, basic crap I possibly can?”

“...Until testing has proven other enchantments safe, yes.”

“Welp,” Eris lowered her arm, letting the page of banned enchantments fall back to her side and revealing the ceiling once more. “At least that makes spending on the enchantments easier.”

Eris returned to her Malleable Arcana page. First thing first, Eris went to the enchantment she pulled from that Artificer bow- First Blood. There had been a number of other weapons she had just drained with the same enchantment, so it wasn’t anything special she gained from that bow- unlike the body-looting-gold one. However, that one wasn’t exactly screaming to be useful for a barebones, basic, nothing-but-the-fundamentals set of equipment like First Blood was.

A hundred points brought it to level two, with the twenty-five percent bonus to Quality against unharmed targets increasing to fifty. Five hundred points brought it to seventy-five percent. Twenty-five hundred brought it to a hundred percent, twelve and a half thousand for a hundred and twenty five, then a little over sixty thousand brought the level six bonus to a hundred and fifty percent- the same amount that the previous bow had.

Thanks to a trio of extremely quick cloth bracelets showing a silver shield with holding hands, Hima’s relatively-exclusive enchantments were Eris’s to use. Yes, there were other enchantments that did similar effects which Eris gained from the slew of items given to her, but Hima’s were both incredibly simple yet unquestionably effective- especially since all three of them could be levelled up.

Revitalization: {Level 1}

While worn, the wearer regains {10%} of their missing Vitality every hour.

Resurgence: {Level 1}

While worn, the wearer recovers from exhaustion {50%} faster.

Rejuvenation: {Level 1}

While worn, the wearer regains {10%} of their missing Mana every hour.

Instead of a health regeneration enchantment that passively drained Mana to recover Vitality, or a Mana recovery one that replenished a bit of power whenever they became injured, these ones were always active at all times, with the trade-off of being relatively small values over an extended period. The thing was, Eris could make those ‘small values’ very much ‘not small’.

A hundred for each brought them to level two. Ten percent Vitality and Mana regeneration became twenty percent per hour, and fifty percent recovery from exhaustion became a hundred. Five hundred each, then twenty-five hundred, then twelve thousand five hundred, and then sixty-two and a half thousand a pop. Suddenly, the passive and lackluster enchantments seemed far, far more interesting.

Revitalization: {Level 6}

While worn, the wearer regains {60%} of their missing Vitality every hour.

Resurgence: {Level 6}

While worn, the wearer recovers from exhaustion {300%} faster.

Rejuvenation: {Level 6}

While worn, the wearer regains {60%} of their missing Mana every hour.

Potentially having someone like Claire, for example, be completely out of Mana but get every drop of it back in about ninety minutes was more than a little incredible- especially since Eris’s other effects could send someone’s Mana capacity through the roof. At a certain point, it may not even be possible for someone to run out of Mana no matter how many spells they cast. The only time they would ever be at a risk of doing so would be in a really, really bad situation. Hence, the next two enchantments.

Desperate Measures: {Level 1}

While being used, the user gains a bonus of up to {25%} to their Magic Power, based on how much of their Mana is currently expended.

Grit: {Level 1}

While being used, the user gains a bonus of up to {25%} to their Physical Power, based on how much of their Vitality is currently missing.

Theoretically, Grit was completely useless. Anyone loaded up with Eris’s crafts was going to be so powerful that the odds of them even getting a scratch were minimal at best- let alone be so dangerously injured that a Physical Power boost would be necessary. The same went for Desperate Measures. If Eris had her way, the items she made would be so powerful that those situations never, ever came up. However, Eris could feel her heart clenching in worry just at the thought.

Eris didn’t care. She was going to be safe, not sorry.

Those two got the same treatment as the others; seventy-eight thousand, one hundred Magic Power each.

Desperate Measures: {Level 6}

While being used, the user gains a bonus of up to {150%} to their Magic Power, based on how much of their Mana is currently expended.

Grit: {Level 6}

While being used, the user gains a bonus of up to {150%} to their Physical Power, based on how much of their Vitality is currently missing.

Because of that same chronic worry, Eris held no hesitation in spending another seventy-eight thousand Magic Power and bringing the level one bonus of a different enchantment from forty percent up to six times that amount.

Fortitude: {Level 6}

While worn, the wearer is {240%} more resistant to dismemberment and sustaining crippling injuries.

Overkill? Absolutely.

Eris didn’t give a shit.

With just over six hundred and thirty thousand points left, she turned her attention to a slew of combat stat modifications that were sitting at a zero-percent bonus to their effectiveness- a number that Eris wanted to bring up by no small amount. Now was not the time to be rationing out her resources.

So, she spent it.

Combat Stat Modifications: 17

Vitality: 30,000% bonus.

Vitality Recovery: 30,000% bonus.

Tenacity: 30,000% bonus.

Strength: 30,000% bonus.

Dexterity: 30,000% bonus.

Mind: 30,000% bonus.

Physical Defence: 30,000% bonus.

Magical Defence: 30,000% bonus.

Physical Power: 30,000% bonus.

Magic Power: 30,000% bonus.

Spellcasting Speed: 30,000% bonus.

Mana Recovery: 30,000% bonus.

Mana Efficiency: 30,000% bonus.

Reaction Speed: 30,000% bonus.

Attack Speed: 30,000% bonus.

Melee Physical Power: 30,000% bonus.

Melee Attack Speed: 30,000% bonus.

There were other stat modifications she could enhance, obviously, but those were ones that weren’t IMMEDIATELY useful for the primary party- such as benefits specifically for ranged weapons or even unarmed fighting. As for right at this exact moment, this seemed like a good start.

Even if Eris still didn’t know exactly what these percentages meant or how they were applied, surely having the numbers higher could only mean good things. Though, Eris was incredibly skeptical about it being another form of multiplier. Any stat bonuses on Eris’s items were already liable to be more powerful than anything the Syndicate had ever witnessed. Having those then be multiplied now by three HUNDRED times was downright absurd. More likely, and what Eris was willing to bet all her moons on, was that these served more as a static additive. A bonus of thirty thousand percent was absolutely incredible, but it likely meant that the thirty thousand was simply added to whatever invisible number resembled the total effectiveness of that stat modification, not multiplying it.

Of course, Eris could also be completely wrong and she just effectively made herself hundreds of times stronger than her already-ridiculous state in a matter of hours. However, that thought was honestly terrifying, so Eris much preferred the hope that she was weaker than the numbers made her seem.

Unfortunately, the Syndicate couldn’t afford her to be weaker, and Eris still had a hundred and twenty thousand points. Since all of the combat enchantments would take at least three hundred thousand to level up a single one, Eris decided to move over to a different window and flesh out the other side of things. It wouldn’t be useful until she actually remade all of her tools, which would be after making all of the combat equipment, but Eris was sitting on a huge pile of Magic Power. She’d rather get everything spent and ready now. Well, almost everything. There were at least a hundred more crafting-related enchantments that she’d have to find time to sift through and cherry-pick the ones she wanted to focus on. It could be helpful to have a little bit of Magic Power stashed away for a quick couple of levels in an enchantment if she found a diamond in the rough.

Malleable Arcana

Magic Power: 16,601

Crafting Stat Modifications: 27

Control: 1000% bonus.

Craftsmanship: 25,000% bonus.

Crafting Potency: 25,000% bonus.

Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Crafting Durability: 1000% bonus.

Crafting Duration: 1000% bonus.

Alchemical Potency: 1000% bonus.

Alchemical Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Alchemical Duration: 1000% bonus.

Culinary Potency: 1000% bonus.

Culinary Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Culinary Duration: 1000% bonus.

Leatherworking Potency: 1000% bonus.

Leatherworking Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Leatherworking Durability: 1000% bonus.

Metalsmithing Potency: 1000% bonus.

Metalsmithing Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Metalsmithing Durability: 1000% bonus.

Stonecutting Potency: 1000% bonus.

Stonecutting Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Stonecutting Durability: 1000% bonus.

Weaving Potency: 1000% bonus.

Weaving Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Weaving Durability: 1000% bonus.

Woodcarving Potency: 1000% bonus.

Woodcarving Crafting Speed: 1000% bonus.

Woodcarving Durability: 1000% bonus.

Crafting Enchantments: 13

Gorger: {Level 4}

Every time this item is used to make a culinary craft, increase the Quality of this item by {100%}, stacking up to {5} times. Gaining another stack when at the maximum amount resets the number of stacks to 0.

Protective Varnish: {Level 4}

When this item is used to make a woodcarving craft, the maximum Durability of the craft is increased by {100%}.

Soot and Steel: {Level 4}

When this item is used to make a metalsmithing craft, the craft gains {4} additional stat modifications.

Strange Brew: {Level 4}

When this item is used to make an alchemical craft, {4} stat modifications or enchantments on the craft, chosen randomly, have their effects increased by {100%}.

Crosstitch: {Level 4}

When this item is used to make a weaving craft, the user’s Control stat is reduced by up to {5} ranks, and their Craftsmanship increases by the same amount.

Gentle Gem: {Maxed}

When this item is used to carve or shape minerals, unwanted damage to the mineral is far less likely to occur.

Severance: {Maxed}

When this item is used to create a bladed weapon, the weapon gains a Minor bonus to Physical Power, in addition to its normal stat modifications.

Skilled: {Level 4}

While worn, the user’s Craftsmanship stat increases by {4} ranks.

Precise: {Level 4}

While worn, the user’s Control stat increases by {4} ranks.

Analyst: {Maxed}

While worn, the user can determine the exact weight and volume of a material by sight alone.

Sharpened Sights: {Level 4}

While worn, the user can magnify vision for extremely detailed viewing of anything within {3000 feet}.

Mending: {Level 4}

When this item spends a consecutive {90 minutes] without being used, it regains {8%} of its missing Durability.

Exhibition Efficiency: {Level 5}

While the user is nude, any crafts made with this item gain {5} additional stat bonuses of the user’s choice upon completion. Does not apply if nobody observes the crafter’s nudity for the majority of the crafting process. Crafting equipment, protective equipment, jewelry and body ornaments do not count against Exhibition Efficiency.

Eris groaned and rolled up into a sitting position on the bed with her legs hanging off the edge. She glanced up to Charlotte beside her.

“Okay, I think I’m finally done spending the points. Gods, my head hurts.”

Charlotte furrowed her brow in concern. “Do you… do you need a healing potion, or…”

“No- no!” Eris fumbled. “Not that kind of hurt- just… too much thinking kinda hurt. I really just want to turn all the lights off in my head and do something completely brainless for a couple of hours. What time is it anyway?”

Eris reached into her still-dusty pocket to pull out a silver watch that was a little bit powder-coated. She’d need to remake all of them- especially since Jaxie and Alex’s were both perpetually glowing with pink light from their trip into the Obelisk. Not to mention, make one for the rest of the team. She could probably put some cool enchantments on them too- she had enough kicking around in her skull now. She narrowed her eyes- squinting a bit to get them to focus on something real instead of the fuzzy images and numbers in her head she’d been staring at for the last twenty minutes. The time staring back at her made her stomach growl in recognition.

“Ooh, lunchtime!” Eris stood up and started drifting towards the small kitchen- freshly cleaned from the residue of gemstone powder coating every surface.

“You know, I haven’t actually had the chance to make any food for myself for the last few days, so I don’t even know how good this is gonna taste. I don’t even care about any enchantments or stat effects right now. Tomorrow I can possibly make myself some snack to boost my crafting stats before I get properly into the business of making the equipment, but right now I just have the weirdest craving for a baked potatooouuuugh-”

Eris seized completely. Legs didn’t work. Arms stopped moving. Breath didn’t come, and even her eyes weren’t focusing. The entire world simply became a blurry smudge as Eris froze in place. Because she was mid-step, however, Eris could distantly- distantly feel wind whipping past her face as she toppled to the floor. There was an impact- Eris could feel it, but it was distant. Seemingly softer than it should be, but Eris was too busy trying to, you know…

Breathe.

It was several seconds before everything slammed back into focus with enough power to give Eris whiplash. Or that might have been the way she curled in on herself with the power of the breath she took. At least Charlotte’s arms were strong and steady as they held Eris completely off the ground.

Wait- what?

Eris blinked her eyes amidst the gasps to see that she was indeed being held in the bodyguard’s grasp in a shockingly comfortable princess carry, then looked up at the woman who was staring down with a calm expression.

“I’ve got you. Just breathe.”

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

Eris gulped, gave a shaky, blushing nod, then tried to focus on steadying herself post-level. It didn’t help much when Charlotte effortlessly took a few steps back towards the bed and gently lowered Eris onto the cushion like a lover would. Eris’s mind instinctively flashed back to that kiss in the shower. Charlotte wanted her. Eris wanted Charlotte. They could fuck whenever Eris wanted, and nobody would have the slightest apprehensions about it because of the Desire-

Not the time! Eris shook the thoughts away. She was trying to retrieve her ability to breathe properly, not make herself hyperventilate. After a few moments, the clarity fully came back to the world and Eris let out a sigh.

“Have I said how much that sucks?”

“A few times now, yeah,” Charlotte nodded.

“Just making sure you knew,” Eris said. “Alright, let’s see what we got here. Uhh, all my stats are still an F minus except for Mind which went up by two to D plus, Control which went up by two to C, and Craftsmanship which went up by four to a flat twenty. I’m out of the alphabet naturally, now.”

“What about your skills?” Charlotte asked.

“Uhh… da da da da dahh,” Eris idly hummed as she skimmed through her skill page to find the new things. Finally, her internal eyes found what she was looking for and started reading. Two new skills. The first one was to be expected- a bit ironic in the timing, but that couldn’t much be helped. As for the second, it was-

Eris froze, eyes going wide and a chill running down her spine. Eris didn’t need to read the skill. Just casting her mental gaze over it gave her all the information she needed to know- every aspect of the skill being poured into her head like an instruction manual made of water. Everything she needed to do, what it would accomplish…

-And what needed to be given up to make it happen.

The words passed Eris’s lips before she even had a cognizant hope of stopping them.

“Uh oh.”

“Is it a Vile skill?” Charlotte asked, resting a hand on Eris’s knee and snapping the redhead back into focus. Eris’s eyes fixed on the bodyguard’s, but Charlotte’s weren’t the same colour anymore. They were, but they weren’t. The brown was still there. They were soft and warm just like they had been for the last few days, but underneath the brown there was something else. A colour that smelled like hate and tasted like a scream. Something impossible to perceive in any proper manner- seeming to exist between the gaps of the basic five senses. The meaning of it, however, was undeniable.

Charlotte was eligible.

Eris flinched away from the Knight out of reflex more than anything, lurching up and out of the bed. Charlotte yelped in surprise.

“Woah, woah, is everything okay?”

Eris gulped, holding her trembling hands to her chest. “I- uhh…”

The words wouldn’t come. With nothing else to do, Eris closed her mouth, took multiple long, deep breaths, and tried to stop her hands from shaking.

“We need a meeting. Now.”

“With Konderla-”

“With everyone!” Eris blurted, only realizing that she had almost screamed the words in her panic when they bounced back off the workshop walls. The various Syndicate attendants on the other side of the room that were still in the process of cleaning up dust all had their gazes turned over in concern. Eris took a shaky breath and tried to ignore the Wrath in Charlotte’s eyes.

“Konderlacht, Kull. All the other deans. Elmas. Jaxie and the others in the party. My tutors. All of Marrix, I don’t fucking care! Just get everyone!”

Eris was shaking. Charlotte, with concern plastered on her face so thick that Eris could practically see it dripping to the floor, slowly stood with her hands outstretched as if to console a wild animal.

“Eris, I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

“What’s going on,” Eris wrung her hands together. “Is that you and all those other soldiers are going to run as fast as you can to get every single person you can even think is important and bring them back here.”

“I’m not to leave your side, Eris. You know that,” Charlotte furrowed her brow.

“All of them do, as well,” Eris said shakily, “which means they’re gonna listen to you when you say that this is an emergency.”