"Hahahahah!"
Spesavia burst out laughing.
"Your face, Aureum! Oh, your face!"
"Is this all a joke?!" Aureum said, turning to stand up.
"No, stay," Spesavia said. "I'll explain. Calm down."
Aureum lowered herself again. Slowly, and with intense side-eye directed towards Spesavia.
"I want you to draw out a single strand of mana," Spesavia began, "pull it through your body, and put it into the egg."
"Just a strand?" Aureum said.
"Size of a thread."
"That could get tiring quick."
The pool wanted to pull her in, not the other way around.
"It'll be good practice then," Spesavia said.
Aureum sighed. She wasn't entirely surrendered, though.
"Why?"
"Well," Spesavia said, "it is written that dragons are creatures of pure mana. This means we can use a dragon egg to create a being of pure mana."
"Wouldn't that just be a dragon?" Aureum asked.
Spesavia chuckled.
"Theoretically, yes," she said. "In practice, no. Whatever monstrosity was originally born in these depths was no dragon. Just a motley beast with a taste for flesh. You never heard about it?"
"I was busy," Aureum said. "Lord Nix or his gaggle never talked about it in front of me."
"Figures," Spesavia said. "I believe its form was because whatever mana goes into the egg comes out of the egg, meaning they created a stew of whatever life was stolen into this well throughout the years and gave it breath."
Aureum looked at the pool, again in concern.
"And I'm—
"You're acting as the palate cleanser," Spesavia said. "Hopefully, when you direct the flow of mana into the egg, it will get an idea of one form over the other."
"Mana remembering what form it used to take?" Aureum said. "To the point it becomes a what? A human? That's ridiculous."
"Things are ridiculous until someone proves them true," Spesavia said. "It would be ideal for you to take all of the mana into your pearl and then direct it out to the egg after a few years, but we're pressed for time. This experiment on the egg's potential for forms will have to do."
"You made me hunt that beast for weeks," Aureum said. "Weeks! Now you're telling me we're pressed for time?"
Spesavia shook her head as she began to pull a journal from her ring.
"The beast served a double purpose. There would have been no point in bringing you down here if you couldn't fight. Fighting isn't just exercise. I had to see for myself how you would act.
As for the time, Aureum, you really seem unaware of the knowledge available in the world. I know of the future, the dragon egg, and these palace ruins. But it even took me a bit of time to tie everything together, and I work at the university, for Malum's sake!
But the beast would have been known about by someone. With time, the other ascended will also cut through the knots and find it here if they want it enough. Being found here could be today, or it could be a year from today."
"If this is all for the egg not being used wrongly, why not just destroy it?" Aureum said.
"I will," Spesavia said. "If it comes to it. But it's better to learn than to act hastily."
"Fine," Aureum said.
She didn't agree. Then again, so soon after the cougar, she couldn't bring herself to suggest more than that.
"But why am I doing this?" Aureum asked.
"You don't get it?" Spesavia said. She pointed at the pool of water. "That's mana." She pointed at Aureum. "You need mana."
Aureum scowled back.
"I'm going to be putting all the mana into the egg. How does that help me?"
Spesavia sighed.
"That's physically manifested mana. Just running it through your body will leave residue. That's residue you can use to build your pearl."
"…And you still get the benefit of traipsing around ruins nobody has had the chance to write about in eight centuries, while I do the chores."
"Precisely," Spesavia said. "Being not entirely heartless, I need you to go through the process a few times while I'm watching so I can ensure you're doing it properly."
"All right," Aureum said.
"Don't show me an expression like a dead fish. It might be tedious, but it's simple, and it'll help you."
She was stuck in some foreboding ruins, next to a creepy sigil, forced to feed mana to a future monster, while her mentor went on a field trip.
For who knows how long starting now.
"…"
Might as well get this over with.
It wasn't the worst thing, in her mind.
Aureum started. Spesavia did share a few tips for circulating the strange mana around her body that helped. It was not wind or fire but just mana.
"The result of being crushed over a few centuries, there are a few other, natural, examples scattered across the land. Though admittedly much smaller in scope…"
Aureum was then allowed to do it a few times herself with Spesavia only watching.
"That's good enough," Spesavia said. "You won't hurt yourself."
After that, they set up camp.
"You want us to sleep down here?" Aureum said, as Spesavia began pulling things out.
"It's too impractical to keep coming and going," Spesavia replied. "It actually increases the risk of accident if we keep moving through it, and we'll get our task done slower, compounding the amount of times we'll have to travel."
A large tent of Spesavia's was put up, which Aureum didn't understand the need for at first, with their sleeping rolls, bags, and Spesavia's books and notes inside it. Almost cozy.
I need one of those rings. I could put in and pull out as many pillows and blankets wherever I was.
A movable home! It would still need to be a tent, simply so that she had the strength to pull it out. A real house was too heavy. But it would be a lot nicer than carrying everything on her back.
Aureum hardly slept at all, tossing and turning for hours despite her exhaustion. The floor was stone, and everything was deathly still other than Spesavia's snoring. Last night she had gotten barely a wink of sleep. Tonight was worse.
The next day, Aureum woke to an empty campsite. Breakfast was left with a note.
"You can get started without me. The ring has snacks and lunch…?" Aureum read.
She picked up the ring the note had been curled into. It was a tiny item of holding if she examined it closely. She could feel the mana coming from it.
If I know Spesavia, I hope it has dinner too.
She was still excited about the potential gift. It fit her bag inside it just fine, which was amazing if she had to make a quick getaway.
Despite Spesavia's eagerness, Aureum practiced the spear first. If Spesavia could prioritize her studies at a time like this, Aureum could prioritize her practice.
The pool, which she had avoided glancing at the entire time despite its centerpiece location and glowing light, waited for her. She sat next to it, the egg on her lap.
One thread of mana from her finger around her body to the egg.
Getting started was surprisingly easy, but continuing it was tiring. It wore her down. After a few hours her head ached.
She blinked as her vision began to swim.
The process was like carefully tipping water from the pool to the egg, with her as the water tipper. The egg part was easy. It absorbed any mana she sent it like a dry sponge soaking water. The pool was the tiring part.
Even without intent, taking a little thread of it without taking more was a constant struggle. When she finally slipped in her concentration, the mana broke from her grasp and dispersed into the air.
She could feel it for a second, that cloud of mana. Then it was sucked into the pool at startling speed.
Aureum didn't move for a moment. The stone tiles beneath her became a background annoyance to her need for stillness. As if she could hide from a curse.
If she gave me snacks, breaks should be okay!
Snapping out of her fear, she crawled away with the egg in her arms.
"I hope you're worth all the trouble," Aureum grumbled at it.
Her break consisted of honey cakes and gazing up at the dark ceiling. The pool was her only light, and it worked to fill the room. But the ceiling was too high.
At least the lake provided her some light. Other than that, the tent had embroidered writing that gave a soft glow to the inside, but that was all she had.
She tried to do some layering, but she'd been moving mana all day. It was straining an overworked muscle. More than a little break was needed.
Should I write a letter?
Aureum still hadn't picked up any hobbies that weren't focused on self-improvement. If she was too tired to train, what was she supposed to do? Eat? She'd already eaten. She didn't need to eat again. Not unless she wanted to roll herself out of the cave.
Reading wasn't too bad, but she hadn't brought anything with her. And she wasn't about to ask Spesavia for recommendations.
She had paper. So, a letter was the only option and the only solution.
The letter to Lacuna was brief, breezy, and bright. She told the events of the journey so far and asked a few questions about Lacuna's relationship with Sitis to tease her.
She considered writing a letter to Sitis but ditched it. They were friends, but it might be too forward. Plus, Lacuna could tell him anything she knew.
And… that was that.
Anyone else was awkward.
In the end, she dozed and had another snack despite her best intentions. Then she tried layering.
It was weird for there to be so much mana in her body, but it was a benefit. Since there wasn't a lick of mana outside of it.
One day ended, with Aureum asleep before Spesavia returned. Spesavia was there for breakfast the next day.
"You don't have to push yourself," she said. "Think of filling the egg as a mountain. It's a one-step-at-a-time sort of deal. You're not going to jog up it."
"Fine," Aureum said.
So, what am I supposed to do? Wait until you get bored?!
"Do you have any source of light with you?" She asked.
"Light? Oh," Spesavia said.
She fiddled with her necklace.
"I got sick of dealing with lanterns and torches until I finally got this necklace and the tent," she said. "It'll be difficult to come up with a solution now. Why didn't you bring something?"
"Ah ha… Can I keep the ring then? The one you gave me for lunch."
"Of course," Spesavia said. "I didn't give it expecting it back."
"Thank you!"
This is how Spesavia transformed from a crotchety old crone to a beneficial deity in the blink of an eye.
The next day passed without incident. And the one after that. Before she knew it, the page in her notebook she used to keep track of time had a week marked out. Then two.
Little of note happened.
She woke, ate, spear-trained, tried to fill the egg, took a break at lunch, stared at the ceiling, and layered.
It was like she was in a prison where all her options were only things that had to do with training. It was training brain rot.
One day, she didn't do anything at all, and nobody noticed.
The crone's visits were infrequent at best, absent at worst. Spesavia had a chance that was rare even for her long lifetime, and she was taking advantage. When she would return, sometimes it was a quick chat. Other times it was a long lecture.
Of all the days, that one was the worst. It felt like a new pit opened up inside her soul, and nothing could fill it.
The next day she opened her eyes. The pleasant glow of the tent greeted her, but as soon as she stepped outside, it was the same ceiling, the same ceiling, and the same ceiling every day. It was enough to make her go insane.
I need to do something else. Now.
So she walked a bit outside the sigil room she thought of as the center. But she couldn't go far. It was too dark.
Returning, she pulled out her notebook. She wasn't writing a letter, not exactly. It was addressed to multiple people yet nobody at the same time. It wasn't a journal either, because to recount her boring days would have been suffering compounded. It was a stream of words as she thought them, about everything and nothing at all. Different sections for everybody.
I hope Lacuna keeps up her best. Sitis might actually go the distance, but even if he doesn't, I hope she's able to get whatever she desired.
I wish Mendax was feeling as miserable as I am.
Felixia, you're right about your sister being crazy.
Dad, I wish you would have just listened to me.
Mom, I miss your hugs.
Nivis' very guts should rot out from his rear end.
I wish Caducus would just disappear.
And so on.
She felt better, but it was like the draining of black sludge. There was still nothing left to fill the void.
The events in the world were kicking off. Those who wanted power were trying to kill to claim it, and those who wanted love were building new houses. Yet, Aureum was stuck in a cave, unable to even feel the wind.
I really should have gotten an instrument at Fluentem.
Aureum got back on track. The egg slowly began to fill, and Aureum could feel it become heavier. Then she saw that it had grown in size.
"Are you supposed to grow?" Aureum asked it. "Grow faster then. I'm sick of you."
The egg had no reply.
Her pearl grew as well, but that was almost unnoticed. In the habits of her daily routine, the goals she had set out for herself became forgotten.
As long as she continued, those goals would be met, one day.
The egg began to shake.