122. Triggering The Trap Card

The ritualists fell one at a time.

Only the first of them turned into dust. Then, anyone who strayed from their position around the ritual circle’s edge was torn to shreds. It looked like a giant invisible bird was taking chunks out of them. The most unnerving part of it for Lukas was that none of them bled. It looked like something was cutting neat chunks out of frozen corpses.

“What did you do?” Irma asked. All hope had left her voice. She was among the few who hadn’t moved. “How?”

“Preparation. Preparation. Preparation.” Lukas answered. “My shadow golems have been in and out of here for a few days now, tracking the preparations and tweaking them. This is all well beyond me, but changing the target of the communion and reversing the protection and sacrifice zones were easy enough.” He flashed her an apologetic smile. “Mira helped. I don’t think we could’ve pulled any of this without her.”

“She betrayed me,” Ephram said. The man had fallen to his knees.

“No. You betrayed her, and she finally saw the truth.”

Mira hadn’t left Penelope’s side since meeting her. She needed to keep her distance from Revolution and the Aquila guild. Morph had perfectly copied her form and spent significant time learning to copy her mannerisms and speaking style. He replaced Mira while she taught a Spellweaver the ritual Ephram, and she had been working on. They substituted sections of it together while Morph practised Shadow Illusion to ensure Ephram didn’t catch on.

The plan was simple, but the execution was not. Lukas doubted he would’ve made it if not for Fortune’s Favor. He was just starting to figure out how Ace’s ability worked. It had proven instrumental in penetrating the estate’s wards. Thanks to him, the clones had found evidence against Ephram and mobilized the Shadow Seekers. Knowledge of the internal defences and security forces had also helped them plan their assault.

It wasn’t a snake he was dealing with, but a hydra. Cutting off all the heads, simultaneously or not, wasn’t enough. The body also needed to die. Even though Lukas still couldn’t use his abilities or magic, he could sense that most of his clones had died. Foggy memories lingered at the back of his mind, and his soul was more than half of its usual size. Two, at most, three remained. Many had started their assault as soon as the ritual commenced; it was likely they were forced to hold the line until Penelope and the Shadowseekers arrived.

“You’re not going to describe in excruciating detail how you overcame our lovely friends here, are you?” Minarv asked.

“Those only work in your beloved pantomimes, my love,” Luas stated. His heart didn’t flutter like it always did when he interacted with the Greater Being. Instead, it was heavy and tight. “I wasn’t sure whether you were going to come. A part of me worried you’d send someone from the council.”

“When I sensed the connection to Fracture, all the souls on offer, and the sheer volume of magic, I got worried.” The giant owl descended from the starry sky, shrinking and transforming into a tawny-skinned woman. A cloak of pearlescent white feathers hung from her shoulders, covering the delicate form that Lukas once loved. “At first, I thought something had happened to one of my temples. I…”

“You thought I did something evil and destructive to get your attention.” Lukas completed the thought for her. Only her soft voice remained now. All other sounds faded into the background, and the gales ceased. 

“It crossed my mind. But I know you’re turning over a new leaf and wouldn’t treat innocent lives with such callousness. How did you establish the connection, though?”

“I got the runes from an amulet,” Lukas answered. “There was a Roc attacking caravans and stealing arcane objects. It probably came from one of your priests. I was trying my best not to use it. You said you wanted distance. But the ritual needed to target someone. I’d rather talk to you than Silverspine.”

Nothing but Minarv existed when she moved closer to Lukas, floating more than walking. He couldn’t get himself to care about the begging and final words of the last of the ritualists as they died. A vindictive part of him had wanted to watch Ephram and Irma fall, but it died as soon as his eyes met Minarv’s. The drugs coursing through his system burned away as soon as her cool fingers caressed his cheek. Her touch was soothing. Nourishing.

“So, your Biomancer clone found out this lot intended to sacrifice you to the Abyss Engine. Instead of running, you decided to gamble everything on turning the tables on them. Leaving the Gray and returning to Iskander wasn’t an option?”

“The path to godhood comes with risks.” Lukas shrugged. “Besides, the Revolution is, I mean was, overconfident in its reach, influence, and ability. We both know how easy it is to take down such entities.”

“But they found the real you, Lukas.” Minarv sighed. “I thought you wanted to treat this second chance more seriously.” She touched Lukas’s back, pinched his skin, and pulled out a bundle of floating runes. “I bet they planted this on you some time ago. You need better defences or a diviner scanning you for such things.”

Lukas inspected the squirming characters and the energy mote they orbited closely. Everything suddenly made a lot more sense. It was simple and almost undetectable. He had encountered a similar spell before. It had a horrible range and was far from efficient. But the caster didn’t need it to track Lukas. Instead, they probably planted one on Flukas, Zwei, and any clone they touched or encountered.

When Lukas dispelled a clone, the spell disappeared; only the one attached to him remained. He had underestimated the Revolution in the same way he had him. Fortunately, they knew nothing about his connection to Morph or the extent of the clone’s transformation abilities. Otherwise, the plan would’ve fallen apart. 

“That was careless of me,” Lukas said. “I need to stop keeping Ace at arm’s length. His magic could’ve helped find it.”

“I suppose all that matters now is that you’re alive and your enemies are not.” Minarv rubbed the spell between her talon-like fingers, and it crumbled into dust like it was nothing. When she opened her palm again, a clear sphere filled with white wisps floated above her palm. “This is a grand offering. What do you want in exchange?”

“What can I get?” 

“That’s not how this works, Lukas,” Minarv stated. “And you know it. You state your desires and I tell you whether I can do it or not.”

“Can I state a desire and ask whether I can get more from you?” Lukas asked.

Minarv rolled her eyes. “I suppose that doesn’t violate the ritual’s Laws.”

“All Laws are open to interpretation, Mina—”

“Don’t start.”

“Can you disentangle the journal from Silverspine?”

“No,” Minarv said. “And I wouldn’t even if I could. The bitch-dragon wouldn’t take such a slight lying down, and the last thing the Realm needs is another War of Greater Beings.”

“Can you impact the world outside?”

Minarv shook her head, fixing Lukas’s hair. All of his aches and pains faded as she touched him. The rope burns around his wrist disappeared, and the magic he couldn’t access before came rushing in. “Your request must be tied to whatever is within the ritual’s inner circle. I can only influence you, the floor stands on, and the air you breathe.” She continued even when Lukas opened his mouth to ask a question. “If your question is related to your abilities, know that there are limits to how I can impact your abilities. Fracture won’t let me fiddle too much with the Pillars of Self.”

“So you can’t substitute the ability in my Body Pillar?” Lukas asked.

“I’d have to reset it, and your memories tell me you like the Shadowsteel too much. Are you willing to start over with an unascended ability? A smart man wouldn’t ask for ranks but new tools or improvements to the ones he already has.”

“No.” Lukas sighed. He thought over what to request carefully because he knew that once he made a concrete statement regarding the payment for the offered souls, there was no going back. “Nod if you can do it. Mime if I should ask for more. Shake your head if I’m going down the wrong path. Is that okay?”

“I can always trust you to find a way around Laws,” Minarv said, chuckling. “Even if it's stupid.”

“It’s not stupid if it works.”

“I suppose that's true. Go on. Let’s give it a try.”

“I want Thunderstorm’s Eye to reach the ascension threshold,” Lukas stated. He continued when Minarv gestured for him to carry on. “I’d like improvements to Spellweaver. Help me get it to a point where I can disentangle the journal from Silverspine.” Minarv kept gesturing for him to ask for more. “I want a shard for a new specialized clone. And essences for him and Ace.”

Minarv smiled, her eyes gaining luminosity. “You’ll need to be more specific with the final requests.”

Lukas wracked his brain for what kind of clone he wanted next. There was no telling what the next upgrade for Empowered Clones would bring, but his instincts told him not to go for another Body ability. It was vital that he spread out and have specialists with a unique Heart shard or another Mind shard. Initially, Lukas had doubts about Ace, but the clone had already proven himself invaluable in the past couple of days. They also needed to put the divinity-adjacent attunement to greater use.

Between the storm, shadow, and the currently under-utilized illusion attunements, he also had plenty to play with. More options wouldn’t essentially make his life any better. “This is challenging. I need something to protect against mind magic and these alchemical brews, too. But wasting a shard on just resistances feels shortsighted.” He paused. “An aura generator and manipulator of sorts, perhaps? Like the bards and spellsingers from the Lord of Brawls and Feasts’ halls? And then a divination essence and a mental reinforcement essence for the bard. All leftover energy can go to the journal, if possible. It's supposed to hasten my ascension in exchange for leftovers and then save whatever remains.”

“I half expected you to request a shard so you can have a specialist enchanter,” Minarv said as her eyes glowed even brighter. 

“That’s not half bad an idea—”

“Too late.” Minarv took a step back, and three dense arcane sources solidified around her. Two turned into essence spheres, and the third took on the shape of a shard. Lukas felt the journal vibrate when she spoke again. “Your Heart ability is now at the ascension threshold. Fracture won’t let me empower Spellweaver or spawn a new sub-ability. However, I had no trouble granting your Assistant Spindle a significant boost. Its spool will now carry threads with your specialized clones’ attunements.”

Lukas’s eyes widened. It wasn’t an insignificant boon. Casting divination-adjacent and life attunement spells using the familiar was a significant expansion to what he could already do. Then there would be whatever the new shard granted to.

“Could I have asked for more?”

“Yes, but Fracture is actively fighting me. It doesn’t like the Realm of Greater Beings actively influencing or changing things. Hence, we need temples and agents, and this is why the Revolution reached into the Void for the Abyss Engine and the nether for the Great Black Dragon.” Minarv moved closer to Lukas again and pulled him into a tight hug. “I think this is the last time Fracture would allow me to physically manifest. Let's make this goodbye. Leisel. Mira. You have options, Lukas. It’s time to move on.” 

“I’m trying—”

Once again, Minarv didn’t allow him to complete his thought. Her body exploded into a cloud of feathers that swiftly crumbled into nothing. Only the ritual remained afterward. The starry sky and barriers were all gone. Only the dead ritualists’ clothes and trinkets remained on the heavily scratched stone floor. It looked like countless talons had destroyed giant chunks of the spellscript.

Lukas picked up the shard and essence spheres before checking them with the journal.

Shard of Glorious Anthems

Essence of Cleansing

Essence of Seeking

He trusted Minarv’s decision-making. The selections couldn’t be more perfect. The journal had far more to say. For the time being, he ignored most notes related to his abilities’ rank progressions.

Thunderstorm’s Eye has reached the ascension threshold.

Lukas couldn’t help himself. He checked its compatibility with the Essence of Dragon straight away. 

Stormdragon’s Eye

• Your control over storm energy and all the fire you can produce will improve significantly. They may not burn in your chest like in a dragon’s, but they’re a part of you all the same.

• Arcane projection is significantly improved when utilizing flames.

He didn’t second-guess his decision. Lukas had intended to upgrade the ability with the Essence of Dragon long ago. It didn’t give him new toys straight away, as all of his other ability ascensions had. However, it provided boons where he was weakest: arcane projection. Given his preference for storm and shadowfire in combat, it was perfect. Increased control over lightning would also help with electromagnetic research. The upgrade was also bound to combine well with Spellweaver’s ward effects. As a result, he didn’t care that it didn’t come with a minor ability.

As promised, the journal made the upgrade instantaneous. There were no minor abilities even though the name changed, but Lukas didn’t mind. He got his pick of conjunction abilities straight away.

Your Heart and Mind pillars have ascended beyond the first tier. Conjunction abilities are available and may also be used by the clones. Please pick one of the following:

• Stormweaver: Spells woven using storm energy are significantly more potent. Their effects linger even after the base spell has completed its function, leaving a miniature localized storm behind. 

• Draconic Intelligence: Imbue spells and constructs with intelligence and purpose using significant arcane investment. Only spells of a single affinity can be granted intelligence per day, and a full night of sleep is needed between changes.

• Attune Storms: Your storm energy will also contain attunements of a greater variety, namely ice and wind. Substitute lightning and sound with either or both. 

Before making his decision, Lukas swiftly checked his conjunction ability option.

Your Heart and Body pillars have ascended beyond the first tier. Conjunction abilities are available and may also be used by the clones. Please pick one of the following:

• Dracometal Scales: Gain the ability to grow dracometal scales. They’re brittle and excel at absorbing a solitary physical blow. The scales' true strength lies in their ability to dull the power of arcane attacks and use their energy to repair themselves.

• Alter Gravitational Orientation: Gain the ability to change your personal orientation of what is up and down. Walk on or hang from walls and ceilings without suffering any negative aftereffects. 

Damn.

Lukas guessed Alter Gravitational Orientation was a product of the draconic essence interacting with the base Alter Mass ability. If it granted him the gravity attunement, he would’ve leapt at the option. Now, he needed to decide whether to go for mobility or a defensive manifestation, which also protected against combat spells. The latter was bound to benefit Stalkers and Stormtroopers significantly more in close combat. Meanwhile, the other emulated an ability from one of his favorite fantasy novels from Earth.

Neither decision was going to be easy.