Chương 36: Exorcising Fate

As he often did, Ryland blessed his past self for coming up with a spell like [Mindscape]. For all the time that he had lived, for all the experiences that had tempered him, for all that he felt unfazed and unflappable by anything, he couldn't entirely ignore the jolt of worry that shot through him. He was confident in [Ephemeral Fortress]'s ability to protect Viren and Tallow, but it didn't undercut the fact that Fate had acted.

That, even if Viren and his cat were safe, they were still potentially shocked and scared. The minute or two he got from a cast of [Mindscape] allowed him to settle on the least uproarious course of action.

"Linsby," Ryland said.

"How fast can you enquire if there has been any sort of disturbance at orientation?" The bespectacled man gawked a bit at not just the weird query but also at the sudden change in Ryland's demeanour.

"Erm, I can find out this instant," he said.

"Why? Do you think something happened? And if so, how? Why?" Ryland looked at him pointedly. Linsby quickly got it that this wasn't exactly the time to have everything explained for his benefit.

"Can't believe I'm turning into a lackey for somebody I just…" Linsby's mutters ceased when a Glyph came to life. A Tier [3] Glyph of Communication. Not very strong, but strong enough to get the job done, especially within the academy grounds. Ryland only listened to the key words of Linsby's conversation. It turned out there had been a complication. An accident where one of the temporary structures had collapsed and fallen on a couple of students. One of the students was Viren.

There was no need to worry, thankfully. Both students were fine. Observers were befuddled as to how. Ryland had held back his frown. They hadn't talked about [Ephemeral Fortress], though the alert confirmed it had activated. Was Viren hiding it? He wondered who the second student was. Linsby looked at Ryland oddly after the little conversation was done. Unfortunately, all of Ryland's affability had disappeared as soon as he had received the alert, and it hadn't really abated despite learning that Viren was fine.

Confident though he was about Viren's safety thanks to his spell, Fate acting so directly against him wasn't something he'd let stand any longer than necessary. He had to act. Ryland turned to his new mentor.

"It seems I have some pressing matters to attend to, High Academ. Perhaps we can meet again before classes start." And discuss matters more in depth then? Ridiculous. Ryland was pretty certain that even if he had been one of the few people to elicit some sort of response from the High Academ, Heldon wasn't the kind of person to sit down and chat like Alaric was fond of. Whatever the case, it could come later. Right now, Ryland had other matters to deal with. He took his leave of Linsby as well, then quickly exited.

His fellow graduate student was clearly stifling all the questions swirling in his head. He appreciated Linsby's forbearance. Ryland rifted away once he was out of the others' presence. While Linsby had confirmed that the situation wasn't urgent, Ryland still intended to counter Fate directly sooner rather than later. When he reached orientation, he didn't find anything untoward going on.

If the administration had discovered anything awry about a temporary structure collapsing on two students and a manabeast, they had already moved on from it, deciding to continue their program in full swing. Ryland furrowed his brows a little. On the one hand, it meant that he would have more space to act. On the other, the academy not treating it as a serious issue didn't sit well with him. That said, they didn't know about Fate itself.

Viren likely hadn't said anything to them either, so the officials had chosen to prioritize the continuation of the orientation experience for all the other students rather than hold things up for too long.

"I'm fine, I promise," Viren said when Ryland eventually reached him. The boy did indeed look fine. Apart from a glum face, he was otherwise uninjured. Ryland had found Viren sitting by himself, drinking water from a cup, Tallow wrapped around his neck like a furry, comforting scarf. The second student was no longer present.

"Hmm," Ryland said, observing Viren critically.

"That doesn't sound like a nice hmm, sir."

"Are you done with orientation? Or would you like to wait till it's over?" Viren got to his feet.

"For what?"

"To exorcise Fate."

"I'm sorry. Come again?"

"To exorcise Fate."

"Could you repeat that one more time please?" Ryland frowned and cleared his throat.

"To—" Viren made a sound that was a strange, strangled combination of a sigh and hysterical laughter.

"I'm sorry sir, I was just kidding. I heard you loud and clear. It's just… who exorcises Fate?" Slowly, Ryland smiled.

"I do. Now, answer my question, please." The glumness he had noted earlier now returned with force.

"I think I should go, yes. Um, go with you, I mean. I don't want to be… I don't want to endanger anyone."

"The other student," Ryland said.

"What happened?"

"She's fine. Your spell protected me, but she… protected us all. Me, Tallow, and herself."

"Interesting…" Ryland looked to his left, where the last of the debris from the collapsed arch was being cleared away. There was one official there. Viren had already spoken with the administration, and they were essentially ruling it as a malfunction of construction. An unfortunate accident, nothing more.

"Why did you lie to them?" Ryland asked. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The bluntness in his voice made Viren flinch.

"I didn't lie!"

"Lying by omission is still lying." Viren looked at him squarely, his eyes looking even more expressive thanks to his glasses.

"Do you want me to tell them that it was Fate making the archway collapse? Do you want me to explain to them why Fate is targeting a first-year academy student like me?" Ryland's immediate impulse was to answer yes. Resoundingly. But as he deliberated Viren's questions, Alaric's reminder of just how well being overly frank had gone pinged in his mind. People didn't appreciate bluntness, regardless of the facts of the matter. It was all well and good to not hide and be open and truthful.

But if being honest was causing greater harm than being a bit more… careful about it, then the issue of judging truth became fraught.

"I can see your point," Ryland said.

"But regardless, the truth must not be kept hidden entirely. That would be too self-serving. However, I admit I'm not entirely knowledgeable as to who the truth should be disseminated to. Or when. Beyond the Headmaster, that is."

"So, we can just tell him, and he'll take care of it, right?"

"That is what I'm hoping, yes. Although, I am the one who's ultimately responsible for all of this, I must prevent anything of the sort from happening again." Ryland sighed.

"That you were targeted is very regrettable. That your friend got caught up in it as well is unconscionable."

"I know, sir." Viren tried to perk up bravely.

"But that's why we're going to try this exorcism, yes?"

"Indeed. So, if you're certain you wish to leave, we can get started immediately." Viren nodded resolutely, gently pulling Tallow off his neck and stuffing the kitten back in his coat.

"I'm ready."

"Sir," Viren said as they reached a secluded area in the academy grounds, well away from where Arcoryx was carrying out its orientation like nothing had gone wrong.

"How exactly are we—well, you —going to exorcise Fate?"

"Simple," Ryland said.

"With a Glyph Exorcism, of course." Viren stared.

"Right. Of course. Silly me."

"I would do it here, but my Glyph is probably too powerful."

"Naturally. If you tried exorcising me here, you'd end up wiping out the spirits of every living thing within a five-league radius."

"Closer to a five-hundred league radius, but you are correct in essence."

"I was joking…" Viren muttered, very, very quietly. Ryland glanced down at the boy.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"N-never mind, sir. So, um, what is the solution then?"

"Ah, it's simple. I'll just take you to another Realm where we won't have to worry about others. That is, unless you had any issues with such a procedure?" Viren needed a minute or two to come to grips with that. He seemed very hesitant for some reason.

"I—" He shook his head resolutely.

"I'm ready whenever you are, sir."

"You were hesitating a moment ago."

"It's nothing, sir. I trust your judgement on what's best."

"Hmm." Ryland considered for a moment, then decided to be blunt again.

"What's bothering you, Viren?" Viren grimaced.

"I just… Well, one of my dreams was to go to other Realms. And I wanted to achieve that through my own merits." He didn't look up at Ryland, but his words grew stronger the longer he spoke.

"So if you just take me to another Realm by yourself just like that, sir, then… what's the point in having a dream?" It was Ryland's turn to need a moment to absorb all that. Then he smiled.

"See, this is why I often insist on frankness and open honesty. We are both being rather silly." He felt his manasoul turn bright and fiery." [Translocate]. [Oneself World]." Just as twin rifts swallowed only Ryland and Viren—and Tallow—a shimmering barrier spell took effect around the trio. Then, the rift spat them out into thin air.

"Where—" Viren gasped. Tallow tried to peek out of the coat, meowing in alarm, but he determinedly pushed the cat back inside his coat.

"Stay inside, Tallow!"

"I took you into the sky," Ryland said.

"We're flying?"" [Oneself World] can be modified to protect against any and all forces one might experience, including gravitational forces. So yes, we're technically flying." Viren was so taken by that fact, he seemed to completely forget that he was cursed by Fate. He was too busy staring around everywhere, just revelling in the fact that they were airborne.

"Wow. The sky here… doesn't even look like the sky anymore." Ryland nodded. This high up, the sky was nearly the shade of evening, despite it being the middle of the day. A scattering of stars were trying to pervade the sun's dominant shine.

"We should hurry, though," Ryland said.

"Wouldn't want the planet to leave us behind, after all." Viren looked nonplussed for a few moments. Then his eyes turned wide as saucers.

"When you said all forces…"

"Indeed. Anyway, prepare yourself. This may feel a mite disorienting. I'm hoping the clutches that Fate has on your soul should keep your soul safe from the power of my Glyph of Exorcism, but the effects will still be severe." Viren forced himself to concentrate.

"I'm ready!" Ryland nodded. He cast the Glyph of Exorcism. At the same time, he added some tiny modifications to the spell already acting on Viren. [Oneself World] would try to protect his soul against being poked at by external forces now that Ryland had added an additional Subglyph. Then the Glyph of Exorcism burned bright. A purplish white Glyph imprinted in the air, the strict lines of its upper half sticking out against the more fluid curls of its lower section.

Its power stormed outwards, digging through layers of reality to find the plane that souls occupied. The blinding light was frying the air, the power of the Glyph was scarring reality itself, and even Ryland's soul felt like it was under a magnifying glass at high noon. But it was working. It was doing its job. [Omniscience] allowed Ryland to focus on the black lines of Fate that had tangled around Viren and Tallow.

Now, with the overpowered Glyph eradicating the very space that spirits called home, the violet-hued black lines were burning and snapping. An unearthly shriek emanated from every thread that got torn apart. It stabbed at Ryland's soul almost as terribly as his own spell was doing. Viren wasn't taking it very well. His body jerked a bit every now and then like he was suffering electric shocks. Inside his robes, Tallow was moving and squirming angrily.

Ryland focused on the exorcism, targeting every single strand of darkness causing them harm. For all that Ryland was focusing on Viren and his cat specifically, the effect of the spell was spreading out farther. He hadn't been joking about the five-hundred-league radius. Under the power of the Glyph of Exorcism, the sky around them turned a strange mix of grey and violet. The wind stilled, and the clouds froze. Everything's soul, living or not, was impacted.

Of course, the extent of the spell would catch anything alive in its exorcising net. But Ryland had taken them quite high indeed. Where the highest of birds, the greatest of wind drakes, didn't dare travel. With a blistering flash like a bursting lightning bolt, it was finally done. Ryland himself had to blink a few times to prevent the afterimage from burning into his eyelids. That had been a fraction more intense than he had been prepared for.

[Achievement Recognized: Fate Repellent You have repelled the unstoppable stream of Fate itself. For now. Rank up from Gold [18] to Gold [28]. Reward: 1 Print for the Glyph of Fate. Achievement absorbed by Manasoul Archetype [???].] The achievement was decent confirmation that it was over, but he used [Omniscience] just to be sure. There were no more of Fate's dark threads miring Viren's destiny. Or Tallow's.

"I believe we're done here," Ryland said.

"You're fine now, Viren…"

"Hng…" Viren mumbled. Within his coat, Tallow purred sleepily. Hmm. Alright, they were decidedly not fine. Ryland tutted. He had expected something of the sort after unleashing a spell of that nature. Always kind of weird to discover when one of his spells was stronger than the other. He'd never have guessed that a Glyph of Exorcism could overcome [Oneself World] to this degree even after he had modified it to protect souls. Though, he supposed he should be glad it hadn't affected his spirit much at all.

Ryland's Soul Glyph of Genesis shone to life." [Immortal Rejuvenation]." Viren blinked, then coughed as warm, green light embraced his body. Awareness returned rapidly.

"What happened?" He looked around wildly.

"Did it work? Are we still flying? Wait, things look different now…" Ryland slowly smiled.

"Yes, it worked. You should be fine." He chuckled.

"And yes, we are indeed still airborne. Though, let me allow gravity back inside so the planet doesn't pull too far away…"