CHAPTER 59: SUMMONS TO THE OBSIDIAN KEEP

Cecilia had been living the slow life for a few weeks, teaching Marya during the day, going for walks in the forest, sometimes helping people from the village, and sometimes going with Marya and Mina to dinner at Aelindra’s home.

One day, the now familiar routine is broken by two sudden messages popping up in Cecilia’s vision.

[Yo, Cecilia. Aelindra’s looking for you. She asked me to sent you this message to tell you to come to the Obsidian Keep asap.]

[Also, is the system glitching for you, too? It’s a bit unstable for me.]

((Huh? Did Jules always speak like this? Or is this just him acting more naturally as we got more acquainted?))

Cecilia thought for a bit, then answered.

[I’ll be there soon.]

Cecilia’s reply pulsed faintly in the corner of her vision, the familiar ripple of a sent message crossing whatever lay between her and Jules.

Marya, who had been reading a treatise in botany by Ephyrael, raised her head. She asked softly, almost whispering.

"Miss Cecilia? Did something... happen?"

Mina, kneeling on the floor with a bundle of laundry she’d been sorting into precise, terrifyingly perfect stacks, flicked an ear without looking up. Her tail had gone still: that alone said more than her voice.

Cecilia rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers.

"Aelindra wants to see me. At the Obsidian Keep. Which means it’s official business and not a leisure chat. Jules said the system is unstable, but I don’t know if it’s linked."

Marya’s eyes widened a fraction.

"Unstable how? Like... error messages and such, or unstable like... Verdant Root unstable?"

"If Jules felt the need to comment on it, it’s probably closer to the second one."

Mina muttered, standing up with the folded cloth pressed neatly against her chest.

Cecilia allowed herself half a smile at that.

"He’s not that dramatic,"

She said, but there was no weight behind the protest.

((Would it be that there’s a new batch of players coming? Did the system got unstable when we arrived?))

The world had been quiet lately; it had almost started to feel like a life. She thought that she should’ve known that there was a storm brewing.

Her trail of thoughts was interrupted by Mina.

"Are you going alone?"

Cecilia nodded.

"Yes. It’s too risky. There might be danger."

"No, I want to go! I want to learn more and... And I want to be useful!"

"But if there are some powerful foes, it might be dangerous."

"If there is danger, then being at your side will be the safest place in the world, right?"

((Ugh... She can be really persistent when she wants something.))

"Okay... You’ve been studying theory for weeks. There’s no better classroom than practice. But Mina, you stay and guard the village. If anything happens that is more than you can handle, send me a message."

She had managed to use the trick with the system’s admin access to give Marya and Mina access to the chat. She still didn’t get to do the same for Aelindra. That’s why she’s still using Jules as a courier, but only because she had the idea yesterday.

She looked straight into Marya’s eyes.

"You stay behind me and do exactly as I say. And no wandering off."

Mina’s lips pressed together, but she didn’t object.

"I’ll prepare your things. Shouldn’t Marya have proper equipment?"

"Oh, right. I’ll whip up some robes for her. You get the Scepter of the Dawn-Bloom from the hidden base. Time is of the essence."

Mina nodded, and Cecilia opened the crafting UI. She created a full set of Ephemery’s acolytes’ robes, but strengthened by her own stats.

Marya looked at the crafting process with wide eyes. She was somewhat familiar with it, as it was a bit similar to her own potion-crafting techniques, but seeing another person doing it, and at the level Cecilia was doing it, was incredible.

But the result of the crafting was even more stunning. Though it appeared as a simple acolyte’s garment, with soft, white linen, hemmed in pale gold, Cecilia could feel the power humming within it.

When Cecilia handed her the robe, she used Appraisal.

[Blessed Acolyte Robes of Ephemerys (diamond)

Crafted by Morielen Thal’Mor of Drakestadt.

Bound to: Marya Solaraen.

Durability: Self-repairing.

A ceremonial set of robes tailored for the first disciple of the Priestess of Ephemerys. The inner seams bear hidden runes that respond only to the wearer’s mana signature. When mana flows through them, faint floral patterns shimmer beneath the cloth like sunlight through leaves.

Effects:

1. Verdant Veil (Active / Toggle)

– Envelops the wearer in a translucent shimmer of golden-green mana, reducing physical damage by 20 % and magical damage by 15 %.

– While channeling healing or support magic, the barrier redirects 10 % of received damage to mana instead of health.

2. Ephemerys’s Embrace (Passive)

– Healing spells cast by the wearer gain +25 % efficacy and extend their range by 2 m.

– When restoring life, faint butterfly-shaped motes manifest around the target.

– Critical failures on healing spells are negated once per day.

3. Blessing of Solaraen (Lineage Effect)

– If worn by a descendant of House Solaraen, grants the Sun-Grace boon:

• Regenerates 1% of maximum mana per 10 seconds in sunlight.

• Restores a small amount of health to allies within 3 m when the wearer casts a healing spell.

4. Weave of Grace (Passive / Self-Repair)

– The cloth absorbs ambient mana to mend tears and clean itself.

– Cannot be stained by blood or corruption.

– Carries no weight for the attuned wearer.

5. Attunement to the Mentor (Paired Effect)

– While within 100 m of Morielen, the robes gain +10% to all defensive stats and half of Morielen’s mana-efficiency bonus.

– If Marya is incapacitated, the robe automatically casts Minor Barrier (Auren Ward) once per hour to protect her body until Morielen arrives.]

"Whooaaaaaa. This is... this is..."

Marya was stuttering, incapable of expressing her emotions at seeing such a miraculous garment.

"I know, but there’s no time. Wear it, so we can go."

Right after, Mina arrived with a staff in her hand. It was as tall as Marya’s shoulder and more on the delicate side. It looked like polished white wood coiled by silver filigree. At the tip there is a crystalline bud within which faint silhouettes of butterflies drift.

She waited for Marya to change into the robe, then handed the scepter to her.

Marya hesitated, then took it, looking at Cecilia.

"This equipment is now yours, as my first and only disciple. Go ahead, check it."

Marya gulped and activated Appraisal again.

[Scepter of the Dawn-Bloom (diamond)

Crafted within the Sanctum of Elenwacht under the authority of Morielen Thal’Mor. Reserved for apprentices of the Oracle of the Cycle.

Made out of a living silverwood core entwined with translucent aurasteel.

Effects:

1. Anhael’s Bloom

- When used in healing, the scepter externalizes Marya’s mana as spectral blossoms. Each flower absorbs pain and withers, reducing the target’s wound or illness.

2. Vaerien’s Grace

- Generates a gentle aura of harmony in a five-meter radius, calming fear, anger, and mana turbulence. Animals and children instinctively approach its bearer.

3. Vaelir’s Reflection

- Once per day, reflects any harmful spell of equivalent or lesser power by manifesting a mirror of light. The reflection doesn’t harm the caster but purifies the mana, neutralizing curses or corruption.]

"So, ready to go?"

Marya didn’t even manage to answer that. She just nodded and walked mindlessly alongside Cecilia.