Elian held his breath as he downed another big gulp of Borlen’s concoction—a mixture of crushed roots and dried krell newt tails. Bad but not the worst taste in the world. According to Borlen, he should drink it whenever his stomach threatened to revolt. Elian had asked him to make it extra strong. So far, it was working well, and Elian didn’t have the urge to vomit. For all the other negative effects of the growth solution, Elian just had to endure it.

  He wobbled as he walked, feeling like a bowling ball was inside his skull. Shuffling his feet to maintain balance, he descended the main ramp of the Cauldron to its lower tiers.

  Maybe he should’ve stayed in camp until it was time for his classes on Immaterial Hill. But the excitement of a new idea wouldn’t let him rest.

  Yesterday, he spent his time at the temple library researching Magic Resilience and plant symbiotes. Since Viney wasn’t directly affected by his Curses, maybe it could provide a loophole to defend against magic? Not a breakthrough or anything because that was also Elian’s idea with learning Aether Magic. And just like remaking Aether constructs, a mature Viney in the future could regrow its tendrils and harden them again. The problem was that Viney only had its natural Magic Resilience, which wasn’t much to speak of.

  “How to give plant symbiotes Magic Resilience?” Marielle had frowned at Elian’s question. “We don’t have anything as specific as that. We have a section on plant symbiotes, though the topics there lean more into increasing their Health and Armor since that is the interest of Penitents tackling Lesser Tribulations.”

  “What about the Enlightened Penitents?” Elian next asked. “Aren’t there any who used plant symbiotes?”

  “There were a few that did,” she replied. Elian noted her usage of the past tense. “But none used it as their primary defense for the magical aspect of Greater Tribulations. I have references for their strategies. Let me write—”

  “I’m focusing right now on my plant symbiote. Hoping to eventually reach Greater Tribulations, so I’m preparing my Magic Resilience. Being responsible and having foresight, and all that.”

  “If I’m understanding you correctly, you want something like Barkskin against magic? Why not just buy Magic Resilience armor?”

  “There are some complications with that…” Elian didn’t want to explain the Elder Giant’s Curse.

  Marielle’s towering hair bounced as she heaved a sigh. “I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t even understand your aim. Put an anti-magic ring on your symbiote, I suppose? That was a joke if it wasn’t obvious. I’m turning up blank on you—”

  “That just might work,” Elian blurted back then.

  And now, he was looking for the cheapest ring with Magic Resilience that he could find. If it wouldn’t work out, he’d gift the ring to Borlen to reciprocate for the necklace he had given him. But this plan, stupid-sounding it may be to put a ring on a plant, had precedent.

  Beast tamers would often equip their controlled creatures with magical items. No difference with a human wearing gear. Elian once fought together with a rather eccentric beast tamer who confined himself to controlling only floranimalis—plant beasts. Floranimalis were more animal than plant, having nervous systems and the usual innards, though they had plant parts like roots and leaves, even fruits and flowers. Elian had picked the fruit of one of those floranimalis and remembered seeing it had strength bracers around its forelegs.

  Why shouldn’t a magical item work with a plant symbiote? People on Forge Hill probably had answers, but the fastest way to know was to try.

  “Excuse me, sir. Are these Magical Resilience rings?” Elian pointed at the items with a signature inscription for magic protection. Just simple metal bands with the barest enchantments and Energy infused in them. Should be cheap.

  “These rings here—” the merchant gestured at the bottommost row of the short glass cabinet “—give a hundred Magic Resilience. These give two-fifty. The top row is five hundred. Those are the standard ranges, the same as you’ll find elsewhere, even on Forge Hill. Enchanted rings with above five hundred Magic Resilience, I keep in the back.”

  “And these are the prices?” Elian pointed at a tag at the end of each row with Angloise numbers.

  “If you’re complaining they’re expensive, that’s just the way it is, young man. You can wear metal pots glued together and add more than fifty Armor. A hundred Armor if you’re using good quality pots, no kidding. But Magic Resilience is a different matter. And these are no simple rings. These columns here are for enchantments.”

  “Anti-astral enchantment,” Elian said, tapping the carved symbol on top of the cabinet. “Anti-zephyr energy. Oh, this one has a magic dampener. Very useful. But I’m looking for something without an enchant because my budget is tight. Do you have a ring with just a hundred Magic Resilience? Smallest size, please. It’s not for me.”

  The merchant was initially hesitant to offer Elian any of those because it’d rake in more profit to have rings enchanted and then sell them at a premium. Elian remembered that after his first salary back on Earth, he bought an expensive phone with a ton of features that he never used. Just the immaturity of showing off. Enchantments on the ring were good and all, but in his state of zero Magic Resilience, getting any was the most cost-effective move.

  Eventually, the merchant relented because Elian said he’d also buy an Energy-draining shard ring.

  “Wha-what are you doing, sir?” The merchant took a step back as Elian awakened Viney. “Don’t tell me you’ll put the ring on tha-that… thing?”

  “I’m telling you that, yes, it’s what I’ll do .” The ring, small it may be, was a loose fit for one tendril. Elian willed Viney to make another one. The two together had the width of a finger, and ‘wore’ the ring. Checking Viney’s stats, Elian grinned. “Would you look at that… it really worked. Makes logical sense. I should’ve thought of this earlier.”

  “Erm, young man, I won’t question your business with that vine growing out of your arm, but what about the spell shard ring you wanted to buy?”

  Spell shard rings, like those Jadewell had, contained a spell that could be used for a set number of times, limited by the power stored in their crystal cores. Even a kid, assuming he was trained how to activate the ring, could generate the stored spell. Elian was looking for a spell shard ring that generated a simple shield against magic. Didn’t need to be a dome covering attacks from all sides. A rectangle that could cover half his body was enough.

  Elian enumerated the spells he was looking for. “The Energy-drain variant of the ring,” he added. “Crystal cores are too expensive and limiting.”

  “You are aware that the stored spell will cost several times the amount of Energy compared to normal casting?” asked the merchant as he searched below the counter.

  “Very aware. I don’t use my Energy at all, so, no worries.”

  “Unfortunately, young man, I don’t have what you’re looking for in stock. You must understand that physical defense is the priority for the Temples of Tribulation.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Elian nodded, juggling his schedule in his head to free up time for shopping at Forge Hill. He’d have better choices available there. He got lucky finding a shop that sold him an unenchanted Magical Resilience ring, but that was where his luck ended. Same as the other shops he checked earlier, what he wanted to buy for himself wasn’t there either.

  “This is the only Energy-drain, spell shard ring I have in the shop containing anything anti-magic.” The merchant raised a purple crystalline ring pulsing a faint rainbow glow for Elian to examine. The merchant then wore it to demonstrate its effects.

  It took several seconds for the ring to sufficiently charge itself, signified by its light no longer flickering. Elian looked down. Obscured by the counter and the shelves around them was a magic circle around ten feet across, with the merchant in its center.

  “An attribute impairment aura,” Elian said, noting its construction. “What does it do? Something with Magic Power?” It looked like it, but he couldn’t check the effect because he had zero Magic Power.

  “Reduces the Magic Power of anyone inside the circle by ten percent. A respectable amount, isn’t it?”

  “Ten percent is huge,” Elian agreed, nodding. Could be viewed as a ten percent reduction in actual magical damage. The stronger the mage, the more powerful the attribute impairment compared to if subtracted only a fixed amount.

  “If this was sold elsewhere, this would fetch a very high price,” the merchant said with a lamenting tone. “But since there’s a low demand for such an item in this area, I’ll give you a discount.” The price the merchant quoted was laughably high.

  Elian leaned on the counter with a smirk. “Low demand or defective product?”

  “What are you implying, young man? I’m appalled that you’re accusing me of—”

  “Impairment auras should cover an expansive area, way larger than enhancement auras that are for supporting party members. What’s the use of an impairment aura that can’t reach the enemy? Even more so when it comes to Magic Power impairment. Mages would be firing spells from a distance.”

  The merchant’s furious face faltered. “That’s… Ah, well… you see—”

  “What am I supposed to do? Run at the enemy mage and pray they’ll be daydreaming? I’ll get fried before the edge of the impairment aura touches them. And that’s not all.” Elian pointed at the floor. “How about you step out from behind the counter so I can see the whole seal.”

  “Is that necessary? Why are you insisting—”

  “Not only is the seal’s area of effect tiny, it also has a huge flaw. It affects the user, doesn’t it? These lines here are a mistake.” Elian tapped the floor with his foot, pointing at the portion of the seal with error. “Tell you what. I’ll buy that ring from you for the cost of the materials minus ten percent for the defective seal. I’ll find some use for that.”

  “I can’t even recoup my capital for buying this!”

  “You may not recoup it at all because no one’s going to buy that other than me.” Elian extended his hand.

  All the problems he mentioned about the ring were true. The impairment aura affecting him wasn’t a huge deal because he had no Magic Power. As for encompassing enemies inside the seal, that was up to his battle experience and instincts. The price for a regular impairment aura ring with an expansive area of effect was several times the money he brought. But he could make do with this defective product, especially if he was hunting beasts like jarlions who wouldn’t think of positioning. He’d buy this for now and save his money for stronger items.

  “A hard bargain you drive, young man,” the merchant said, shaking his hand. “But this ring has been sitting in my store for more than a year already. A bringer of bad luck, my wife always tells me. May it serve you well.”

  With three rings and a grumpy stomach, Elian hurried to class. It should’ve started by now, and he had a long way to walk… run. He should run.

  He took the last swig of Borlen’s mixture and hoped his stomach would shut up in the silence of the indoor garden. Today, Elian would show the class his Manifested Armor, a fully formed construct recognized by the Covenant as an entity. He was holding back, waiting for Thorren to make his. After which, Varmisal would progress the class to controlling their creations.

  “A good day to you, fellow Penitent!” A group of people blocked Elian’s way as he crossed the bridge to Immaterial Hill.

  Red robes. That symbol. Faridar’s followers.

  Elian raised a brow, hiding his annoyance at the utter waste of time. What were they up to? “I’m a bit busy—” he started to say.

  “We won’t hold you long, dear brother,” one of them said. “We only want to share the good news that Champion Penitent Faridar will be attempting his two hundred and eightieth Tribulation three days from now!”

  Elian stopped trying to shove his way past them. “He is? But his last Tribulation was just a few days ago.”

  “And the great Faridar is once again ready. Rejoice! Rejoice with us!”

  “Uh, yes… I heard he saved most of the resources meeting the previous Tribulation,” said Elian, repeating what Naamon told Borlen. There was something else. “Is Penitent Faridar going to use an armor suit from the golden hall? There were rumors of—”

  “The rumors are true!” The red-robed pilgrim hugged him. “The priests granted our Champion Penitent permission to borrow from the golden hall.”

  “What? Really?” Elian jolted at the unexpected news.

  What would be the reaction of Borlen and the supporters of Tharguras? The supporters of lesser Penitents would complain as well. Not just complain. Riots were going to start again. More chaos if Faridar succeeded in his next Tribulation because he’d be the top one on the scoreboards. Elian just wanted peaceful surroundings while he trained.

  “Really, really, really brother.” Another pilgrim hugged Elian. And then another. All of them came for one stuffy huddle.

  “There is presently no Enlightened Penitent walking the path of Tribulation,” explained one of the pilgrims. “The priests want to hasten the Enlightenment of Faridar. This is proof that our Champion Penitent is the strongest! Come and witness it!”

  “Ye-yes, I’ll come to the Tribulation,” Elian said. “Thanks for the invitation. Uh, see you there, I guess.” This time, Elian didn’t want to miss Faridar’s Tribulation. He was interested in the man’s strength and also wanted to see a legendary suit of armor in action.

  What Elian didn’t want to see was chaos leading up to that day. The aftermath would be worse, whether Faridar succeeded or not.

  Elian couldn’t maintain concentration during class. There was something amiss. It was… there. Just an inch out of his grasp. Intuition honed through years of bad things happening one after the other told him that yet another bad thing was coming. Not the obvious ones, the riots and whatnot.

  Something else…

  “Elian, are you ready to present your construct?” Varmisal broke Elian’s spiraling thoughts of doom and gloom. “You’re up next, followed by Thorren. I believe the two of you have done your assignment. Thorren seems raring to go. Hurry now, Elian.”

  Elian drew Aether from the air and molded the image in his mind’s eye—a circular shield with an intricate carving of a jarlion, fangs bared. Its mane of crystal was a wreath around the shield. None of the flair was needed. He was just showing off.

  “Impressive artistry!” Varmisal clapped his heart out as if Elian gave the performance of a lifetime.

  Students exchanged knowing gazes. The class was used to their teacher’s over-the-top reaction.

  Varmisal came closer and peered with Aethersight at the shield. “Level four. Yet, its attributes are above what’s expected for the level. And that’s not all. You’ve zeroed the unneeded Attack and Magic Power. I applaud you again.”

  Elian smiled, mentally thanking Thalman for his help. He looked over the stats of his construct that Varmisal should be seeing with Aethersight.

  Manifested Shield | Aether Construct | Level: 4

  Health: 200/200

  ATTRIBUTES:

  Attack Power: 0

  Magic Power: 0

  Armor: 74

  Magic Resilience: 105

  “It is now Thorren’s—”

  “Wait, Master Varmisal,” Elian said. “I’m not finished yet.” He conjured three more shields.

  Eleven advanced chapters are available on Patreon. It will continue to increase. Many thanks to Gam, riley st john, Moon Shadow, and Wesley Krause, our new Patreon supporters.