The Rifts of Psyche by Kyle West (popular e readers txt) 📗

Lucian cleared his throat. “What’s it made from?”

Kieron looked at him, deadpan. “Wyvern testicles. It’s the venom that gives it that kick.”

Lucian nearly heaved right there on the spot, as everyone laughed uproariously.

“It’s made from fermented glow shrooms and caro pepper,” Kieron said. “Not as exciting, I’m afraid.”

Lucian noticed some of the people filtering out, though many hung around to talk. When Kieron and his family had left, Lucian was about to leave himself to get some much-needed sleep before Elder Ytrib waved him over. Fergus stood next to the Elder, gripping his spear tightly as Lucian approached.

“I know you’re weary,” the Elder said, “but I want to go over tomorrow with the both of you.”

Fergus stood straighter, while Lucian wondered just what the Elder was going to say.

“It is well that another mage has joined us,” Ytrib continued. “There are few enough in the village as it stands.”

“He has yet to be proven,” Fergus said. “But I intend to discover the extent of his abilities. Of that, you can be sure.”

“Yes,” Elder Ytrib said. “That was what I intended. Fergus, I would like you to take Lucian under your wing tomorrow. Teach him about the rift, teach him our customs, and fill any gaps in his knowledge. Though he defeated two wyverns, he is still too young to know as much as you in the ways of magic.”

Fergus looked at Lucian. “What kind of mage are you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

Fergus stared in disbelief. “What do you mean, you don’t know? What magic did you use to kill the wyverns?”

“Binding.”

“So, Binding is your primary?”

“I’m not sure, yet. It might be.”

Fergus looked at Elder Ytrib, incredulous. “You expect me to believe that a child of such limited knowledge killed those wyverns, Elder?”

“Until we have evidence otherwise, then yes. I do believe it.”

Fergus shook his head, and Lucian got the sense that he didn’t often disagree with Ytrib.

“That said,” Elder Ytrib continued, “it is a bit strange. What did that academy of his teach him?”

“I’m willing to learn more,” Lucian said. “They saved most of the advanced instruction for the Talents.”

“You weren’t even a Talent?” Fergus asked.

Lucian ignored the question. He was done trying to explain himself.

“Your primary is the Aspect with which you are most gifted,” Ytrib explained. “If you used Binding to kill those wyverns, that would make you a Binder. And that would make Psionics and Radiance your secondaries, and Gravitonics and Dynamism your tertiaries.”

“I was taught that such beliefs were limiting.”

“Then your academy doesn’t know its ass from its tits,” Ytrib said. “It’s inconceivable that you could have killed creatures as powerful as wyverns with anything but your primary. That makes you a Binder, plain and simple. The adjoining Aspects on the Septagon are Radiance and Psionics, your secondaries. They are things you should not be as proficient in, but you can still do basic streamings. And finally, your tertiaries. Many mages must stream quite a bit of their magic to even do basic things. And finally, your quaternaries you can just forget about. They are possible to stream, but with a great deal of effort and inefficiency. For you, those would be Atomicism and Thermalism.”

“I’m pretty good at Thermalism, though,” Lucian said. “At least, I think I am.”

This was met with silence, until Fergus shook his head. “Impossible.”

Ytrib held up a hand. “Now, let’s not jump to conclusions, Fergus. If that’s true, Lucian, then what you’ve said is an incredible thing. Of course, it’s possible for a gifted mage to stream their quaternaries, but not without a great deal of practice. Since Thermalism and Atomicism are on the other end of the Septagon, they are as far from Binding as you can get. But if you really are good at Thermalism . . .”

Fergus called out to one of the women. “Dalia! Might you bring us a pail of water for the young mage?”

Not for the first time in the past few days, Lucian found himself under the gun. When the pail was brought, the two older men waited eagerly as Lucian reached for his Focus. He found the Septagon image easily enough, despite the pressure, and noticed for the first time that lines interconnected bordering Aspects and Aspects two places apart. He could also see the blue orb shone more brightly than the others, almost so bright as to be blinding. But shining quite brightly next to it was the violet orb, Psionics, while the green orb bordering the blue one was not as bright as the violet one. If Binding were his primary, as these two were saying, wouldn’t the purple orb, the one representing Psionics, and the green one, representing Radiance, be of equal brightness? But it was not so.

Lucian realized the truth, then. Binding was not his primary. At least, it hadn’t been before finding the Orb of Binding. Psionics had been. For the Gravitonics orb was brighter than the Radiance orb. And the blue one would have been just as bright as Gravitonics, if not for the Orb of Binding in his possession. That Orb had made his secondary even more powerful than his primary. Far more powerful, from the looks of it.

“I’m not a Binder,” he said. “I’m a Psionic.”

Ytrib’s eyes widened at that. “So, you are saying you defeated the wyverns with your secondary?”

Fergus growled. “Why are you lying to us? Do you take us for fools?”

“I’m not lying, Captain.” But he could not explain himself further. He could not tell them about the Orb of Binding. Not ever. And he had almost given it away, so maybe he should have just pretended that Binding was his primary. At this point, for all intents and purposes, it was. If they somehow, against all odds, figured out the truth, they might kill him for it. The Oracle had told him as much, that the Builders had turned on each other for the right to bear even one Orb and become a Vigilant.

“Then if you