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"I'll go."

Inukar smiled.

"Good. You know, Edward went to this a few years ago. Hated it. Would not shut up about it, either."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the boy's smart, but he's not..."

Inukar shrugged.

"Well, not that diplomatic, I guess."

Odd. Ulos felt he had been about to say something completely different.

On Monday, as per usual, he had his brutal day of tutoring. Edward showed up, and looked him up and down.

"Headed to the conference?"

"Yes."

"Pointless thing. Inukar thinks 'making connections' is important. The reality is, though... if you're a good enough mage, the connections get made for you. Anyway. They'll probably quiz you on magical valence between branches of magic. It's not really related to what we generally talk about, but I'd prefer if you didn't make an idiot of yourself after Inukar introduces you as someone tutored by me."

Ulos tried to speak, but Edward simply kept going.

"So. Magical valence is weird, and to be honest, fairly new. The idea that runes and sigils interact with one another is fairly common - the magic comes into the world, and if it doesn't come in the right way it has problems. You can disrupt sigils this way by flooding them with waves of raw Ether, though doing so is tough and to be honest, raw Ether is something you don't want to handle without an artifact doing the heavy lifting for you."

"Don't we handle raw Ether when we draw on magic and bring it into the world?"

Edward's eyes widened for a second.

"Right. Inukar likes to teach the same way I do - get the equations in first to see who has the mental fortitude and intelligence to figure it out, and then move on to the grand unifying business. I find the latter more interesting, but it's undeniable the former has more immediately utility to you. So..."

Edward turned for a second, lost in thought.

"Raw Ether?"

"Right. The Primordial Ether is genuinely Primordial, or so the theory goes. At least the theory I subscribe to. The entire world is made out of Primordial Ether taking the forms of, well, stuff. Spirits are just slightly more animated versions of Ether. We only see so many of them because, being animate, they tend to be easier to spot. We don't know this for sure of course, but it fits with our knowledge. Spirits are unpredictable because there's no guiding principle for them like there is in nature."

Edward gestured over at the wall of Inukar's office, where a bookcase sat. Ulos had no idea what he was pointing to, exactly, but dutifully craned his head as to not to seem stupid.

"Ether itself is supremely dangerous. We don't really know why some people can access it, but something about human intention and action transforms Ether into a constrained space where it becomes a controlled effect. If you draw Ether into the world, on the other hand, it is not constrained or controlled. Doing this is difficult, as if Ether is not channeled by some other effect, such as a Sigil, it is channeled by the human body."

Edward looked down at the bookcase further, drawing out a book. He flipped it open. Inside was a picture of a man with black and green protrusions coming out of his body.

"Channeling Ether into the human body is extraordinarily difficult, thankfully. My personal opinion is that those who lacked the mental mechanisms to naturally safeguard themselves from doing so died, leaving the existing mages as those who naturally have such mechanisms. It is why you might be able to feel or touch your magic pool, in some abstract sense. You cannot, however, unless you are very unlucky, draw it naturally in to yourself. If you can do so, you are likely to do so in a moment of accidental panic or foolish experimentation. At which point, the random nature of the Primordial Ether touches the human body, which is a piece of pristine and perfect clockwork doing a hundred thousand different things. The effect is not dissimilar to taking a sledgehammer to a pocket watch, at least in terms of damage."

"So how does this relate to magical valence?"

Edward looked at him.

"Well, this is largely my own research. Valence is a rough notion, one not fully explored. Notably, though, you cannot destroy a Spirit with magic. The effects of a Spirit, certainly. An embodied and active Spirit, though, is literally invincible and unstoppable. It will tear through magical constructs as if they are not even there, ignore the most esoteric attacks, and destroy any sort of magic it comes into contact with."

He smiled.

"Magically, this holds true for other things. If you wish to interrupt not merely the form magic is being channeled in, but the raw Ether itself, it is necessary to counter it with Ether as well. Artifacts can be made capable of refining Ether into a usable, but still somewhat raw form. A 'counterspell' if you will. This is not particularly interesting, excepting that this 'refined Ether' is very similar to the magic we feel within the forms of our sigils and runes. It is the same stuff, simply not as directed, not as shaped."

"The interesting thing, though, is that Ether has valency once refined. Sigil Ether and Runic Ether counteract one another, repelling one another in a sense and scattering a spell. This holds true for runes against runes and sigils against sigils, as well. However, Alchemical Ether is the opposite. I know, personally, several Alchemical Recipes that require a charged Rune as a recipe, and trying to counterspell an Alchemical Concoction often makes it stronger, though not to any useful degree."

Ulos looked at Edward, a little confused.

"So... Ether changes according to how we use it? And different forms of Ether have different effects on each other?"

"Two effects. There are only two 'directions' Ether can be refined in, as far as we know. Of course, valency postulates the existence of another branch of magic. Sigils and Runes use the same Ether, what is the corresponding branch to Alchemy? Something I hope to discover, at any rate."

Ulos's eyebrows went up.

"Shouldn't this be a secret?"

Edward chuckled.

"Oh, the fabled Fifth Magisterium is a fairly common legend. I think the facts bear out it exists, others think it might not, or perhaps is not discoverable with our current knowledge. Anyway, it's not really anything you'll need to focus on anytime soon, but I thought the notion of valency would be a useful one, coming up to the conference. I want us back on illusion sigils, anyway. Write out these exercises, and..."

(Magical Theory Roll: (3+3+5+5+1+1+1+1) * 4 = 80 . Gained +2 Magical Theory. Current +25 Lore: Magical Theory (31/35 next level))

---

Later on, Ulos decided to try and figure out the damned Artifact, one more time.

(Artifact Roll: 38 + 10 (CHA) + 5 (Lore: Runes / 2) = 53 vs DC 50. Success!)

It was obvious, now Ulos thought about it. He recognised a rune for water on there, which was rather odd. Of course, who would know more about magical theory than Edward?

He went back to the office that day, finding Edward engaged in a shouting match with Inukar. He stood outside the door for a minute, his hand moving away from the handle as soon as he heard the shouting.

"Shut up old man! You think you know everything because you've spent a few years studying?"

"That's enough out of you, child. You're arrogant and foolish, and being good at something isn't the same as being experienced. When you live as long as I have, you either learn how to survive or you don't survive."

"Coward."

"You think I'm a coward, Edward? Look at me. Look at me! I've been delving into magic for decades and I'm still alive. You think I got scars because OI'm careless? No, I only have scars because I'm careful, you young idiot! You don't know what careful means, because this is the first time you've found something actually dangerous. Or interesting, for that matter. I'm telling you. Study it with me. Go slowly. Live."

Ulos backed up the hallway a bit.

"I'm sitting on the greatest.... and you want me to go slowly? No! No, I-"

A few minutes later, the door burst open and an extremely angry Edward burst out. Upon seeing Ulos, he took a deep breath, as if ready to yell, and then slumped down, all the fight leaving his lanky body.

"Ulos? What are you doing here?"

"Um, I have this amulet I acquired, and I want to figure out what it does?"

"Artifact?"

Ulos nodded.

"How did you- no, don't tell me. Knowing would just make it more boring. Come with me, we'll have a look."

Edward led him outside, down a ways, and into a small thicket of trees, one of many that littered the campus. Inside was a seat in a clearing, the sun shining down onto a field of grass.

"Now, let's look at this amulet of yours."

Edward turned it over, and muttered a few words. He looked at it for a little bit longer, and then smiled.

"Oh, this is reasonably standard. Very, very good craftmanship, though. Impressive. It's an Alchemical Amulet of some sort."

"Alchemical Amulet?"

"Protects you from vapors, liquids, stray fumes of semi-raw Ether if any happen to come out. Very interesting construction."

You have identified the Amulet as the Amulet of Purification. Requires 150 Magic Points to fully charge. When activated, offers six hours of protection against poisons, acids, and harmful liquids and particulate matter of all kinds, converting them to either pure water or pure air before coming into contact with the mage. Allows +1 to all Craft: Alchemy Training Rolls, and +20 to all rolls to improve a Recipe as you are able to weather far worse conditions to improve your magics. Allows you to imbibe any liquid without fear of poisoning. Only needs to be charged once every month due to extraordinary workmanship.

Edward looked intently at it.

"The workmanship is precise, and extremely good. Hmmm."

He looked thoughtful.

"I'd like to exchange it for something of mine, if you're interested in a trade. I have a few Artifacts scattered about, of similar scale. Want to take me up on it?"

[ ] Yes! You're no Alchemist anyway! - Go straight for a different Artifact. Edward has two for trade (of roughly equal value, within 25 Coins of the Amulet's value either way). If you vote Yes, please vote for a sub-vote.

+ No incriminating Artifact.
+ Get a new sweet Artifact!
- Lose an amazing Alchemical Artifact
- Also great for countering poisons and such, as well as fumes which are excellent attack vectors in your first year.

[ ] The Rainbow Hammer. Getting into a battle, but don't have a large Magic Pool? The Lens is here to help! Runes are carved into an opal that is set in a small pendant shaped like a hammer. Holding it and using the command words allows the user to fire three forms of kinetic force - blunt kinetic force to incapacitate, sharp kinetic force to slice and kill, and percussive force in the air to make really loud sounds. Can store up to 250 Magic Points. Blunt attacks use 30 points, sharp attacks use 10, and percussive sound strikes use 150. Blunt attacks will break (but not shatter) bones, and are only deadly if aimed at the head. Sharp attacks will cut a human being in half. Percussive attacks will inflict deafness for ten or fifteen minutes to everyone nearby.

[ ] The Fear Capacitor. The secondary option. A simple thick copper wire wrapped around a topaz, runes carved into both the copper and topaz respectively. Not hugely effective against experienced mages, but a great crowd control tool otherwise. Want to inflic pants-wetting terror on your opponents? Done. Want to do anything else? Not on the cards, sorry. Against mundane opponents it's essentially unstoppable, and against mages who haven't prepared a defense or haven't properly practiced one it can be a fantastic alpha strike capacity. Can store up to 100 Magic Points. Fear attacks cost 5 Magic Points per person, and last about five to ten minutes. Can be stacked on top of each other for added effect.

[ ] Keep the Amulet of Purification. Not as offensively oriented as what Edward is offering you (why is he offering you such powerful, damaging tools?), but offers a near-complete defense against poisons and fumes, as well as improving any possible Alchemical training and classes. Of course, it does leave you offensively without any power whatsoever. Benefits as above.