27 – Readings
Back at the hotel, Ward asked Haley to wait while he cleaned up the bathroom and got himself dressed. He had a vague memory of cracking the porcelain rim of the tub, but when he looked more closely, he realized he hadn’t done that; he’d gouged several deep grooves in it. “Jesus. How hard must my nails have been to grind through porcelain?”
Grace leaned close, peering at the damage. “I’d say it’s a combination of the hardness of your nails and the force applied, Ward. Porcelain is hard but brittle. Your point stands, though—the nails you sprouted during your little episode were formidable. Whatever the case, the hotel staff will be gossiping about what you and young Haley are getting up to in the tub.”
“All right, all right. Enough of that.” Ward waved her off and turned on the water. Sluicing it around the tub to wash the gray, stinking residue down the drain. While he was at it, he scrubbed the blood and grime off himself, for the first time really noticing what Grace had mentioned earlier; he was thicker around the chest and arms, his legs were more muscular, and, yes, everywhere he grew hair, it seemed thicker and darker.
As he finished and was toweling dry, he looked in the mirror and couldn’t help striking a muscle-man pose, flexing his arms. “Hah!” he laughed as his biceps and shoulders bulged. “This has to be cheating. I haven’t lifted any weights or anything.” He rubbed the thick stubble on his jaw. “Shame about all the hair, though. Grooming’s going to be a real chore.”
Grace drew her fingers across his chest, scratching her nails through the stiff, dark hair. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. Not all women like the smooth, boyish look.”
Ward slapped her hand away. “That’s enough of that.”
She grinned, hopping atop the counter to watch him get dressed. “I’m glad you’ve learned to take a little teasing.”
“What I’ve learned,” Ward said, shrugging into a clean shirt, “is that fighting with you doesn’t do any good.”
“True. So? Are you ready to see the hemograph?”
“Yeah, we’ll check out my reading while Haley’s in here.” Ward took one more look around the tub area, wiping up some soapy water from the floor, then gathered the wet towels, intending to leave them outside the room. When he stepped out, Haley jumped up eagerly. And Ward chuckled, “Feeling less conflicted?”
“I’m excited! You seem more vibrant, I mean, despite your weird adventure last night…” She frowned, stepping a little closer. “You don’t suppose you’re going to go on rampages like that all the time, are you? Maybe we should buy some chains while we’re out today.”
“Chains?”
“To bind you to the bed or maybe a bolt in the floor.”
Grace laughed. “I think that’s a fantastic idea! Let’s chain him down!”
“You two need to cut that shit out! Hopefully, we’ll find some information about Lycan bloodlines today, and we’ll know how often I might lose my, uh, self-control.” He gestured to the bathroom. “Your turn. Don’t put much water in the tub until afterward, okay? I wouldn’t want you to drown.”
“Should I drink both—”
“No!” Ward and Grace said in unison. Haley’s eyes widened in alarm, and Ward clarified, “Not right away. Drink the refinement, then come out here, and we’ll do a hemograph reading. Then you can drink the green potion, and we’ll do another reading. It’ll be good research for us.”
“Ah, I understand.” Haley stepped into the bathroom and started to close the door but paused and looked Ward in the eyes. “Here goes.”
She sounded more than a little scared, so Ward tried to reassure her, clicking his tongue as he said, “It’s unpleasant, but you’ll be fine. It’s like being sick for five minutes, then you’ll feel better. Drained, but better.”
“Okay, well, don’t come in. I don’t want you to see or…smell me like that.”
Ward shrugged. “Hardly fair, but all right.”
Haley didn’t respond, but her lips quirked up at the corners, and he considered that a win. She pushed the door closed with a click, and then he heard the water start to run in the tub. “Come on,” Grace said, gesturing to his pack. “Get the hemograph out.”
“Right.” Ward retrieved the device and sat on the edge of the bed, setting it beside him. A moment later, he was sucking on his sore finger and watching the aetherflux swirl around, glowing with silvery blue luminescence. When the figures arranged themselves into a table, Ward stared at the results for several long seconds, forgetting even to breathe as he took in the changes:
Previous reading detected – Earlier values displayed in brackets.
Bloodline: Evolved [Awakened] Human – Aetherborn Traces, Lycan Manifestation [Traces], *Unknown* Traces
Accumulated Mana: 0 [1212]
Mana Distribution: Natural – No Allocation Enchantments Detected
Mana Well: Tier 3 – 76% [36%] to Next Tier, Enhanced Regeneration Minor
Mana Sensitivity: Tier 4 – Bloodline Dependent
Mana Pathways: Tier 5 – Bloodline Dependent, *Unknown* Artifact Influence Detected
Vessel Capacity: Tier 4 [Tier 2] – Bloodline Dependent
Vessel Durability: Tier 3 – 2% [Tier 2 - 60%] to Next Tier, Enhanced Healing – Moderate [Minor], Enhanced Bone Density – Moderate [Minor]
Vessel Strength: Tier 3 – 5% [Tier 2 – 46%] to Next Tier, Enhanced Physical Power - Moderate
Vessel Speed: Tier 2 – 94% [50%] to Next Tier, Enhanced Reflexes - Moderate
Longevity Remaining: 80% [62%] – Tier-3 [Tier-2] Depletion Rate (Approximate)
Anima Heart: Tier 1 – Closed, Pathways Detected
Anima: Nil
“You’ve certainly gone through some changes,” Grace observed. “I don’t see anything that seems negative.”
Ward snorted. “Well, except for the whole running through the streets naked and eating roadkill.”
“I think it’s worth staying posi—” Grace’s words were cut short as Haley cried out from the bathroom, her voice strained like she was trying to lift something heavy.
Ward shook his head ruefully. “Poor thing. I know that feeling.” As Haley’s grunts and groans continued to emanate from the bathroom, he turned to the readout again, pointing at the “Bloodline” section. “Looks like we were right, at least. Lycan is now a ‘manifestation.’ Then you can see I have improvements in speed, strength, and durability. ‘Moderate,’ whatever that means. I wish there were more precise levels like the numbered ‘tiers.’ I really want to try to find a better hemograph.”
“I agree, more information would be nice, but, Ward, you improved in almost every category. You feel amazing, don’t you?”
“Yeah, other than the yawning canyon crying for food that my stomach has become. Oof! Why’d I think about it?” Ward pressed his palm to his stomach. “I hope Haley’s quick in there. I’m starved!” Ward stood and walked over to the bathroom door, pressing his ear to the wood. Haley was panting and grunting, and he could hear her limbs thumping the sides of the tub as she thrashed. “She’s still in the thick of it,” he whispered.
Grace nodded. “If you hurry, you could order some food brought up.”
“I hate to leave her. I promised I’d be here for her.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Grace paced toward the window, speaking more to herself than Ward. “Just be patient. She’ll be done soon, and then, while she cleans up, we can go order the food.”
Ward joined her in pacing, walking from the bathroom to the bed, to the window, and back again. He figured he could spend some time trying to prepare the spell he’d gotten from the spire, but he felt like his mind was too disordered, his thoughts running in a million directions. He was a goddamn werewolf! Or if not a werewolf, he was a were-something. He couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t freaking out more. Was it the nature of the magic? Was his physical well-being so overpowering that it wouldn’t let his mind slip into terrified catatonia?
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Despite what the hemograph said, Ward didn’t feel any different. He didn’t feel like a “Lycan,” whatever that was supposed to feel like. Of course, he immediately played devil’s advocate against that thought; if he’d changed, would he even know it? He whirled on Grace. “Am I different?”
“I told you! You’re…thicker. You’re more vital. I don’t know how else to—”
“No, dammit. I mean me. Am I still me? When I first woke up, I thought the world looked sharper, everything smelled richer, and I could hear things far away. Now, it all seems normal. Am I just used to being…whatever it is I am now? Was it so easy to forget my humanity? Would I even know it if my feelings were different? Am I going to want to kill people? Eat their bloody livers? Am I—”
“Ward!” Suddenly, Grace was right in front of him, grasping the sides of his face, her sharp nails tickling the stubble on his jaw as she tilted his face toward her. “Do you remember what you did yesterday?”
“Yeah, of course. We were in the Spire, and then we left and got ambushed by—”
“And do you remember last week?”
“We were on the ship…Captain Lemon—”
“And last month?”
“Tarnish. Fay and Fan and—”
“If you can remember your life, Ward, you can remember how you felt. Remember Fay? Remember how she felt, naked and hot, her breaths gasping in your ear as you had sex, grinding your—”
“Jesus, Grace! Cut that out!”
Grace’s face twisted into a self-satisfied smirk. “You’re still you, Ward. You can count on me to help you remember who you are if it ever comes to that. Okay? You should stop spiraling because it’s not doing anyone any good. What’s done is done.” She nodded toward the bathroom. “I haven’t heard any grunts in a while. Check on her!”
Ward nodded, irritated but grateful. Grace was right; he was still himself on the inside despite the changes he’d gone through. That was what mattered, right? He tapped on the door. “Haley?”
“Don’t come in here!”
“I won’t. Are you okay?”
“I am, but I feel like I was thrown and trampled by a stallion!”
“Well, that’ll pass quickly. Wash yourself off; I’m going to go and order some food brought up, all right?”
“Yes, please!”
Ward chuckled and hurried downstairs. He spoke to the young woman at the desk, promising a generous tip to whoever brought breakfast for six up to their room. On his way back to the room, Grace gave him a sidelong look. “Six, Ward?”
“I’m telling you, Grace, I’ve never been this hungry in my life.” Haley was waiting when he got back, sitting on the bed beside the hemograph. Ward paused at the door and gave her a good, long look, curious to see how the refinement potion affected another person.
Her hair was damp, and she kept it short, so he couldn’t see much different about it, but it certainly seemed to have a healthy sheen. It wasn’t just black; it was like onyx, with an inner luster that would’ve done wonders for a shampoo company in their commercial. Her eyes were still pale, silvery discs, but he hadn’t expected that to change. Her brush with death had caused them to look that way, and he wasn’t sure it was necessarily part of the “corruption” she had on her spirit or if it was just a side effect of being brought back through the “veil.”
Overall, she didn’t seem significantly changed. Her skin, pale as it was, had a healthy glow, and her wiry muscles stood out tautly on her shoulders and arms—she wore a sleeveless sleeping gown—but they always had done so; Haley was a damn healthy, fit person—probably one of the healthiest people Ward had ever met. “How do you feel?”
“I feel wrung out, but good. Like you said, the soreness faded quickly.” She nodded toward the hemograph. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait. Do you want to see?”
“You know I do!” Ward hurried over and peered down at the display, afraid the numbers would fade before he got a good look:
Previous reading detected – Earlier values displayed in brackets.
Bloodline: Empowered [Awakened] Human – Infernal traces, Celestial echoes – *Unknown* Corruption Detected
Accumulated Mana: 743 [312]
Mana Distribution: Natural – No allocation enchantments detected
Mana Well: Tier 1 – 36% to next tier, Enhanced fire affinity – Minor
Mana Sensitivity: Tier 2 – Bloodline dependent
Mana Pathways: Tier 2 – Bloodline dependent, Enhanced mana collection – Minor
Vessel Capacity: Tier 3 [Tier 2] – Bloodline dependent
Vessel Durability: Tier 3 – 21% [Tier 2 – 74%] to next tier
Vessel Strength: Tier 3 – 98% [55%] to next tier, *Unknown* feat or mutation detected
Vessel Speed: Tier 2 – 64% [21%] to next tier
Longevity Remaining: 99% – Tier-Four depletion rate (Approximate), *Unknown* feat or mutation detected
Anima Heart: Tier 1 – Closed, Pathways detected
Anima: Nil
Grace was the first to speak, “Why did she change from ‘awakened’ to ‘empowered,’ while you changed to ‘evolved?’ It has to have something to do with you advancing your bloodline, don’t you think?”
Ward shrugged. “That or Gopah… Like, the way she gathers mana might be having an effect on that.”
“I’m here!” Haley said, waving a hand. “What does this all mean?”
Ward sat down beside her and pointed to the readout. “The big thing is your vessel capacity jumped to tier three, which means you can improve your ‘vessel’ attributes that high. Though, your strength was already tier three, so I don’t think the rule is set in stone. I mean, that ‘mutation’ seems to be pushing your strength past its normal bounds.” He took out his notebook and began scribbling down Haley’s numbers.
Grace pointed to a line on the reading. “You see, your strength is nearly the next tier. I’m interested to see what will happen to that when you drink the green potion.”
“Should I do it now?” Haley asked, standing up.
“Why not?” Ward glanced up from his scribbling to look at Grace. “Any thoughts on why it might be bad to do two potions back to back?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never read anything about it. Honestly, before we came here, I didn’t know there were different types of refinements.”
“I’ll do it.” Haley started for the bathroom. “I feel fine.”
“Well,” Ward stood, frowning, “don’t lock the door, okay? Holler if you need anything.”
“I will.” With that, she stepped into the bathroom, and the door clicked shut. A moment later, the water turned on in the tub.
“The potion was called ‘fortitude,’ Ward. I don’t think it’ll be harmful.”
“Yeah, I know—” His further words were cut off by a knock at the door. When he opened it, two young men stood outside carrying trays laden with food, and suddenly, Ward’s hunger surged to new heights. He ushered them in, snatching a rasher of bacon as they passed by. “Just set it on the table over there. I’ll sort it out.”
“Yessir.”
“Thanks, boys,” Ward flicked a ten-glory coin to each of them, and then he fell into a feeding frenzy, the likes of which would have left his Marine buddies envious. It felt like he had a bottomless pit in his stomach. He’d eaten something like ten eggs, four biscuits soaked in gravy, a dozen slices of bacon, two bowls of chopped fruit, and a plate of linked pork sausages before he began to feel normal again. When he looked up, Grace was watching him with wide, amused eyes, licking her lips in vicarious pleasure.
“God, you loved that food!” she laughed.
“I told you! I was starved. I feel pretty great now, though.”
“Well, I don’t envy the toilet when you pay a visit later today.”
“Nah, I’m a machine.” Ward stood up and slapped his hard stomach, grinning. “None of that’s going to waste.” Further joking around was forestalled when the door opened, and Haley tentatively poked her head out.
“Um, Ward, Grace…”
“What is it, Haley?” Grace hurried toward her, though she couldn’t do anything other than look at her face more closely.
“I feel…different.” She pushed the door open and stood before Grace. When he saw her standing there, Ward could see why. She’d grown. More than that, some of the healthy glow of her skin was back—the paleness caused by her “corruption” had faded significantly. Her hair had grown several inches, her shoulders seemed broader, and overall, she just seemed much, much more vital.
Ward laughed and hurried over to grab her into a hug. “You look like I feel, Haley! You look fantastic!”
She laughed along with him for a moment, but when he released her, some doubt crossed her eyes. “It’s strange, though! Isn’t it…” She held up her hand, flexing her fist and looking down at herself. “Isn’t it unnatural?”
“Honey,” Grace laughed, “you and Ward are drinking ancient magical potions designed to improve a person’s vessel. No, it’s not natural. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, though! People have been fighting over these things for thousands of years!”
Ward stepped back and held out his hand, visually measuring her height in relation to himself. “Yeah, you grew a couple of inches. Last time I hugged you, your head came right about here.” He touched his sternum. “You’re up to here now.” He shifted his finger to a spot just below his clavicle.
“I grew nearly three inches?” she cried. “My clothes won’t fit!”
“Something more to shop for today,” Grace quipped. “Come on, let’s see her reading.”
Haley nodded and walked over to the hemograph. Ward watched while she stuck her finger into the little slot, jerking it back when it clicked. “I hate that!”
Ward nodded. “Yeah. Same.”
“You know…” Haley held her finger up, and Ward could barely see a tiny bead of blood. “It didn’t hurt as much as the last time.”
“That might be a good sign…” Ward stopped speaking as the hemograph began to populate its strange, mystical table:
Previous reading detected – Earlier values displayed in brackets.
Bloodline: Empowered Human – Infernal traces, Celestial echoes – *Unknown* Corruption detected
Accumulated Mana: 233 [743]
Mana Distribution: Natural – No allocation enchantments detected
Mana Well: Tier 1 – 36% to Next Tier, Enhanced fire affinity – Minor
Mana Sensitivity: Tier 2 – Bloodline dependent
Mana Pathways: Tier 2 – Bloodline dependent, Enhanced mana collection – Minor
Vessel Capacity: Tier 4 [Tier 3] – Bloodline dependent
Vessel Durability: Tier 4 – 1% [Tier 3 – 21%] to next tier
Vessel Strength: Tier 3 – 98% to next tier, *Unknown* feat or mutation detected
Vessel Speed: Tier 2 – 64% to next tier
Longevity Remaining: 99% – Tier-Four depletion rate (approximate), *Unknown* feat or mutation detected
Anima Heart: Tier 1 – Closed, Pathways detected
Anima: Nil
“Well,” Ward said, smiling at Haley. “I guess it’s safe to say that improving your durability is another way to stave off that corruption.”
Grace folded her arms over her chest. “That’s one takeaway. Another is that it seems the ancients mean ‘durability’ when they say ‘fortitude.’ Haley, was the process as…unpleasant as the other refinement?”
Haley was still staring at the report but looked up and shook her head, locking her bright eyes on Grace. “No. At first, I thought I was just sweating, but when I stood up from the tub and looked in the mirror, I saw I was steaming—thick, gray steam that drifted out the window. I got very hot, but that’s it.”
“Well,” Grace clapped her hands together. “You should eat some of the scraps Ward left behind for you, and then we’ve got some serious shopping to do.”
Ward nodded. “Yeah. Hell yeah. Congratulations, Haley! You look fantastic, and I’m beyond thrilled that nothing crazy happened to you.”
She smiled mischievously, and Ward felt like he was catching a glimpse of the old Haley, the one whose family wasn’t dead, whose cousin hadn’t betrayed her, and who hadn’t died and come back with a shadow on her soul. “Do you mean like sprouting a bunch of body hair and running through the streets showing everyone my arse?”
“Hey!”
