The Torch that Ignites the Stars (Arcane Ascension, #3)

by Andrew Rowe

The Godslayers wanted to kill the visages outright. The Peacemakers still wanted the humans and visages to live together in harmony, but with more of a balanced relationship. And Tristan’s faction, the Ascension faction, wanted to level the playing field more permanently — by finding a way to get humanity visage-like powers.

“An item that just drains your mana isn’t exercising your attunement in the same way that casting spells does. If you think of casting a spell as cardiovascular exercise, holding onto an item that gradually drains your mana would be more like something syphoning out your blood through a needle.”

I’d already been thinking of attunements as potentially being constructed from a bunch of different enchantments, some of which were activated at specific power thresholds. Enchantments could be changed. And, even without changing an enchantment, things like my mana threads could interact with existing enchantments by feeding them mana or drawing mana out of them. Could I do that with an attunement?

For me, meeting new people was generally an unfortunate necessity, not an interest.

“Miss Farren, thank you for your time.” “Never thank me for that, Sera.” Farren gave her a sharp look. “I didn’t give you any. It doesn’t belong to me.”

“I’m just very tired of my life being dictated by others without asking my input first.”

The important part is that the power isn’t in the symbol. The symbol results from the power, not the other way around.”

“So, you’re saying attunements are…what, a sort of meta-enchantment that contains other enchantments?”

“Moving a high-level attunement to someone who is not acclimated to it has side effects. There’s a technical term for what happens to a person when that happens — we call it ‘exploding’.”

The only way to lower my burden is to succeed.” “Corin…that’s not a healthy way to live.” I gave her a sad smile. “What other choice do I have?”

(I make no claims as to whether or not Keras could have successfully punched out the ocean.)

“As a teacher, I should be ashamed of my lack of clarity. Humans do not have a Sapphire level. Attunements do not have a Sapphire level. Monsters, on the other hand, do. They have Sapphires…and beyond it. And that is why we will never be enough. Why I will never be enough.”

“You’re forgetting when I challenged Teft. I might be a little overly cautious from time to time, Sera. I might even be annoyingly cautious. But this? I can do this, Sera.” I straightened up a bit. “Let me show you why I’m worthy to bear the name Cadence.”

As his shockwave approached, my mind raced. Projectile width: One point two meters. Rate of movement: two hundred and eighteen meters per second. Angle… My mind flashed with numbers. My hand moved. My blade widened and cut. His shockwave vanished as my own blade passed through it at the exact angle and size necessary to neutralize it harmlessly.

That being said, you’re not entirely wrong — everyone who exists is mentally compromised. We all accumulate false information over time, internalize it, and are influenced by it, consciously or otherwise. We are, in part, a product of these biases, as well as all other information we gather in our lifetimes.”

She turned, smiled, and waved to the tower’s entrance. “Welcome to the Sorcerer’s Spire. Home of the Ascendant Arbiter.”

“Dangerous things, questions,” Warren Constantine mused to no one in particular. “Almost as dangerous as answers.”

I smiled softly. “When you’re a hero with a more legendary sword to use, pass that sword on to someone else who needs it more than you.”

Slavers are on that list. Crystals that make copies of people without their consent, then recycle them for death games? That’s just a very creative kind of slavery.”

“Seventeen…” Keras shook his head, briefly looking wistful. “Gods, I wasn’t anywhere close to your level at seventeen. You’re going to be one of the best when you’re older.”

“Ah, yes. Much-vaunted human morality. That’s doing real well for us, what with the child-death towers and the monster farms within them.”

It was the same thing that both she and Patrick had accused me of before: I was always looking for someone or something to save.

Lars was very clearly attempting to sell Vanniv the walls from earlier in the dungeon. This was, perhaps, the most enterprising financial move I had ever witnessed, and I admit to being somewhat awestruck.