TRC - Searching for the Sky Ch. 31

Looking over the three pieces of paper, Kal shook his head. He could see hints of the featherfall and telekinesis runes as well as the telekinesis cantrip he used so often but each one was like a smaller piece of the larger structure of the Gravitas... rune. Though it was supposed to be an element of other runes like any other glyph, it didn't feel right lumping it in with the relatively simplistic sigils.

"Sapphire, do you have a completed version of Prentas's flight rune on there?" the mage asked pointing at the crystal in her hand.

She grabbed another piece of parchment, "Yes, but you aren't going to like it."

A few minutes later Kal was groaning and rubbing his temples as he stared at the black center of the flight rune. Only in a few places here and there did the paper show through once the golem stopped drawing. Despite his frustration with the Gravitas rune, it was interesting to see the rest of Prentas's original flight rune and its differences from his.

Instead of letting himself freefall, Prentas set his up to look at his height and adjust when the safety net would activate. It also just reduced the power to the central rune instead of cutting it off completely. Kithana suggested he do the same if he figured out how the rune worked. Prentas often complained about how much energy it took to activate and maintaining it at a low power state would keep him from wasting magic to reenergize it as he approached the ground. The ancient mage never needed to worry about such things since he would just slowly drift downward using the remainder of his power.

The part he replaced with his acclimation spell still seemed needlessly complex but Kithana explained that the Sisto glyph he used in his version of her freezing spell wasn't available at the time. It wasn't until a few centuries after Prentas died that a mage researched a cleric spell meant to hold people in place for a few seconds and developed the 'stop' glyph, with the Tardius or 'slow' glyph coming shortly after. Realizing the mage had nothing to go off when developing this particular rune only boosted Kal's opinion of the man.

Not that it could go much higher, the Gravitas rune was a masterwork in the young mage's eyes. The only problem was he didn't have the slightest idea what to do with it.

Sighing, he looked down at Sapphire, "Can I have my chair? It looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me."

---

Senshu and Sera ran into Kal as they were coming back to the tower a few days later. The mage was standing in the ankle-deep snow close to the black sphere, repeatedly tossing a rock into the air.

The pair watched him for a minute before Sera finally spoke up. "What are you doing Kal?"

"I've been reading up on this 'Gravity' that Prentas based his rune on. He says there is an elemental force that constantly pulls us all toward the ground, but he has no idea what it is or what causes it. I went through Ikuno's books and a couple of other mages mention it over the years but none of them knew any more than Prentas, most of them knew a lot less."

"What does that have to do with the rock?" asked the gorgon, the serpents making up her hair had fanned out and were bobbing as they tracked the stone.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to decipher the Gravitas rune. As much as I hate to admit this, I think it's just too far beyond my knowledge right now."

"That hardly explained the rock," Senshu deadpanned.

"I'm getting to that," he said, smiling at the six-armed lamia and failing to catch the stone. He dug it out of the snow and brushed the rock off before tossing it in the air again. "From what I know, Prentas was a mage his entire life. Intense thirst for knowledge, studying things down to the most minute detail, things I aspire to now that I'm a mage. But I wasn't always a magic-user, most of my life I was a farmer, and farmers look at things differently."

"You have my curiosity piqued, go on," said Senshu.

"Farmers care more about getting things done as quickly and easily as possible and, as long as it's done right, care less about how it gets accomplished. Gravity is a force that constantly pulls us downward, yet birds and insects can overcome it. Even I can overcome it just by throwing this rock upward or even jumping.

"Prentas's Gravitas rune cancels out gravity, but to fly I don't need to cancel gravity." He tossed the rock much higher than normal then transferred a slightly larger rock and flicked it into the air so the two met as the first was coming down. There was a sharp crack as the two stones came together and they both flew off in different directions but the lighter first rock flew back up into the air before falling and disappearing beneath the snow. "I just need another force pushing or pulling me upward harder than gravity pulls me down. Harpies do this with their light bodies, wings, and a little bit of magic."

"If you can't even use the rune, then was this trip wasted?" asked Sera.

"Not at all," said Kal. "Right now, the only spell I have that could do that is Greater Telekinesis and you saw how horribly inefficient that was." Under his breath, he grumbled, "Even if it was what kept Kit from killing me."

"What was that?" asked Senshu.

"Nothing... at least nothing important," he said hurriedly. "What is important is that somewhere buried within Prentas's rune is the key I need to make a spell efficient enough to be useful. It needs to last for hours and not minutes when carrying something as heavy as me."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" the lamia asked.

"Thanks, but no. I think my eyes will be the best way to figure all of this out, so there isn't much you could do. I just came out here to clear my head in the cold air and let my eyes rest for a while."

"Well, we will leave you to it then, I'm starting to feel a little sluggish from the cold," said Sera. "By the way, could I use Ria for a bit? Oona said she wouldn't be able to help me in the lower library and an extra set of eyes would be useful when looking for books."

"No problem," he said before summoning the sprite.

Sera, Senshu, and Ria stepped into the bottom floor conversation area before the silver lamia spoke up.

"What's going on, Sera? You have the acclimation spell Kal gave you and a mana crystal in your pocket so I know you aren't cold, and Oona would come running if you needed her down in the library. Why did you lie to him?"

"Did you hear what he said about Kit?" asked the gorgon.

"No."

"It sounded like he still resents Kithana for his trial."

"She did mention that she put out a blatant offer awhile back and that she may as well have been talking to the wall. But he's been with me and Molo many times since then, why not feel the same about us?"

"Because you didn't want to kill him and neither did Molo, you both acted like you were just doing your jobs. Kit made it obvious afterward that her intention from the start was to make sure he died."

"She's got a point," said Ria.

"That she does, but why do you need Ria?"

"Because, if those two are to get over their differences they need to do it properly. Which means—"

"They gotta fuck," Ria finished for her.

"Knowing those two? Probably," said Senshu

"But what does that have to do with me?" asked the sprite

"He still hasn't done anything to you while you're small," Sera pointed out.

"I think it creeps him out a bit."

"If he won't do it with someone he cares about, do you think he and Kit will ever be able to kiss and make up?"

Ria threw her hands up in the air, "Yes! That enchantment on his cock had better not fuck things up for me. I want to feel what it's like to have his dick coming out of my throat."

"That's not how things normally work," said the lamia.

"Not for you girls," said the sprite, "but trust me, Kithana wants the same thing."

"So, Ria first, then what?" asked Senshu. "Are you just going to walk into the library and say, 'you two need to sleep together,'?"

"No, I'm not going to actually try to get them to have sex. I'm just removing a potential barrier if it gets to that point."

"You hardly sound like the same mildly jealous woman who arrived weeks ago."

Sera shrugged, "Having to share him over and over, it was hard not to worry about him finding someone better in bed or more exciting to be with. All that disappeared when I told him I was staying. The hurt in his eyes was so real... I don't think I will ever doubt how he feels about me again."

---

Kal was still confused as he walked to the library the next morning. That Ria had demanded a night with him wasn't a big deal but her insistence that he have sex with her in her smaller form was certainly odd. He couldn't say he cared much for the experience. It felt like he was masturbating with a Ria-shaped cocksleeve. Her stretchy body made things interesting until the head of his prick started pushing her breasts out to either side.

Things just got weirder from there.

Ria, on the other hand, enjoyed herself immensely and was looking forward to doing it again. Kal had a request in mind whenever that happened to make herself just a little bigger with the will-o'-wisp's power. He quite enjoyed seeing her belly bulge as she slid down his shaft, things only went bad when the sprite went from 'stuffed' to 'misshapen.'

Kithana was waiting for him in the library, looking at the three sections of the Gravitas rune sitting where he left them last night.

"How is it coming?" she asked.

"Put plainly? It's not. I don't think I'm any closer to cracking this but on the way down here I got an idea that might help."

"What's that?"

"A change in perspective. These black lines feel like they are running together the longer I stare at them."

Kal got out three square pieces of leather large enough to put the parts of the Gravitas rune on them. Once he had copied and set each of them into the hide, he drew two outer circles and filled them with the glyphs that made a glowing representation of his haste rune appear above the rune itself. Sliding them together, he spread his fingers and laid his hands on where the sides met so he was touching all three. Empowering the circles, deep red and purple images of the runes appeared. Every few seconds a sliver of the darkest black would flicker along the lines.

Kal jerked his hands away, his surprise written on his face. He looked over at the sprite, "How...?"

Kithana was no help, she seemed as shocked as the human. "Kal... what was that?"

The mage tentatively reached out again and powered the runes. On the right was a dome filled with various runes with a similar image on the left side except the dome was upside down. In the middle, the rune formed a cylinder with bulging sides. He looked up at the sprite, "I didn't even know these could be something besides flat." Turning back to the display in front of him, he stared in wonder at the three parts. "The Gravitas rune is a sphere."

---

He spent the next few weeks trying to figure out a way to get all three parts of the Gravitas rune to work together, but every attempt ended in failure. He just couldn't make them all function as a single rune. Overlapping all three on the same piece of leather only ended in a shower of sparks and bits of animal hide. Some sections needed to work with the parts above or below it while if other parts touched, they failed catastrophically and exploded. Even with his enhanced vision, he had no way of telling which was which.

Kal was despondent when he finally admitted that this was beyond him and fell back on his plan to accomplish the same effect but without the Gravitas rune.

Thankfully, Prentas's means of flying did give up some of its secrets to the young mage. When he first looked at the Gravitas rune, he saw parts that looked familiar from his normal set of spells. Using this knowledge, he found them once again within the sphere. As he had hoped, the glyphs were more complete, and swapping them out increased the efficiency of his featherfall and telekinesis spells significantly. However, the glyphs were made for use inside the spherical rune, so they still were far from amazing. At least the telekinesis spells were moderately useful now.

"Kithana? Is there a spell that makes things move upward?"

"The Motus glyph does that."

Kal shook his head, "I mean something my size and weight. It worked for Prentas because he canceled out the effects of this 'gravity' to make himself weightless."

Kithana closed her eyes in thought for a few seconds before answering. "Saph wasn't joking when she said that Prentas did this as a side project. I never even knew it existed until he revealed it. As you said, I can already fly. Because of that, I didn't pay much attention and honestly didn't know that Gravitas would be so far beyond your current level of knowledge.

"But you need a spell to make you fly and do it safely. I think I may have something you can modify to suit your needs," she said. Landing on the library table, Kithana dragged a piece of blank parchment off the pile in the middle of the table before grabbing a quill and starting to draw.

"Why don't you use magic to do that?"

"After thousands of years using magic for everything imaginable, some asshole of a mage accidentally reminded me of what it was like to feel things like back when I first opened my eyes and greeted the world," answered the sprite. As she drew out the rune for him, it looked like she was dancing with the quill. Lightly stepping in between the sigil's lines, she continued, "Before I knew or understood that I was immortal and what that meant, I looked at things with the same zeal for life as you humans." She finished the rune and stepped off the paper. "This should give you a starting point that you can mold into the spell you need."

Kal looked over the spell. Again, there were hints of runes and glyphs he already knew but the purpose...

"Am I reading this right?" he asked Kithana.

"It's an offensive spell. If the target fails to resist the magic then it tosses them high into the air."

"And lets them fall to their death?"

She nodded, "That or you could use it in a cave."

Kal cringed, "That sounds messy." He continued to scan the spell while taking mental notes about possible adjustments. "I... I think this might work," he looked up at the sprite, "Thank you Kit, I really appreciate this. When I saw the Gravitas rune, I knew there was no way I would figure things out and get back to Ikuno." The mage turned back to the parchment, "With this, I think I can make it and maybe have some time to spare."

Kithana started toward the door, "Hopefully that makes up for trying to kill you when we first met. I'll leave you to your studies. Our conversation brought up some painful memories and I'd like to be alone for a little while."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No, not yet anyway. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with."

Curious about the sprite's change of attitude, the mage stood there for a few long seconds before turning back to the spell on the table.

---

The heavy iron door deep underground swung open on squeaky hinges then closed itself again as the sprite flew past. She came to a stop in front of the wardrobe sitting by itself against the back wall. Coming to rest on the floor in front of the wooden cabinet, she sat down and crossed her legs in front of her.

"I know you can't hear me Gray, but I need someone to talk to..."

---

"How are you doing this again?" asked Veir. She and the mage were standing on the roof of the tower in the brisk morning air. Actually, she was the only one standing, Kal was currently floating a few feet above the tower, windmilling his arms to keep himself upright.

"The spell is constantly throwing me into the air at the same rate as I would normally be falling... Oop!" said Kal as he struggled to maintain his balance. "I took the spell Kit showed me and made it continuous instead of one strong burst then toned it down until it matched my falling speed. After making it adjustable so I could move up and down, I switched it from a drawn spell to a wearable rune and you are seeing the result. This brings me one step closer to being up there." He pointed toward the sky, but the motion threw him off balance and a moment later he was lying on the roof, flat on his back and rubbing the back of his head as the healing rune went to work.

Before he could get up Veir walked over and threw a leg over him before sitting down on his lap. Her eyes were unusually intense as she leaned over and looked down at him. "I think that is why I considered you for a mate at Velt and Graff's. Father was always scared of the sky, but you... you came here searching for it." She leaned down and gave him a searing kiss that left them both panting by the time they separated. "You need to get this spell done, fast," she said, her voice a sultry growl.

Kal smiled, "Yes, ma'am."

---

"Are you ready?" asked Kithana. She was floating next to Kal as he stood on the tower parapet looking down.

"No, but I need to test this before I can even consider going higher."

"As if jumping from the roof of the tower wasn't high enough," she laughed.

Kal stepped off the wall, the flight rune activated but so did his boots, holding him up for a second before the pressure under his feet disappeared. The added control from the rest of the flight rune meant he wasn't flailing about to keep his balance anymore

He looked down to see Cyrene waiting for him. Her body was spread out, making a large blue spot in the snow covering the clearing. If the safety portion of the flight rune failed, she was the only thing that would save him. The slime wasn't the only spectator. Veir and Sera stood nearby on the roof, the gorgon holding the pouch with his mana crystals as Ria sat on her shoulder. Senshu, Molo, and a few others were watching from the ground with two unexpected visitors. Velt and Graff showed up around sunset last night after hearing from Veir that Kal was nearly finished with his flight rune.

It was exhilarating to be standing on nothing but the power of his magic and he had to fight down the urge to go flying around the tower before doing the test. He pushed the thought away as Kithana hovered in front of him with a worried expression.

"When you are ready, touch me and start pushing your power into me."

"You only want me to touch you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Get it hard and I will happily stick myself on your cock if you really want to give it to me that way."

Kal was caught off guard by the sprite's forwardness. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly but no sound came out.

"No, you'd better keep your pants on, you need to lose contact with me as soon as the rune's safety net triggers. But that doesn't stop me from doing this." Grabbing his hand, she dragged it up in front of him before spreading her legs and wrapping them around the tip of his middle finger. "Okay, now you can pump it into me."

"That was unexpected," said Sera as Ria hooted at the sprite and mage.

Veir's jaw looked like it was about to hit the roof of the tower. "Is she flirting with him?"

"I think they are a little beyond flirting," deadpanned the gorgon.

Kal flipped the sprite over into his other hand and placed his finger back on Kithana's groin. Lifting his finger slightly he pushed the magic from his reserves into the tip until a small steady arc jumped from his finger to the sprite's sex.

"Now I'm jealous," whispered Ria as Kithana threw her head back and screamed with pleasure.

"You might like that, but I doubt it would feel as good on us," Veir said to the avatar, though she was unable to take her eyes off the two floating just off the side of the tower.

On the ground, the original monster girls were staring upward in shock as the sprite squealed from the intense sensations Kal was causing.