The Foot He Left Behind

Chris looked down at the Motaro in his hand.

"So what I got my hands on really is precious."

"That's why I broke a taboo and told you the secret."

"If this gets out, the magic towers could collapse, couldn't they?"

Perez answered, cold as stone.

"Not quite."

"The Seed Cultivators would all run, though."

"You think anyone who's climbed that high will throw away everything they've enjoyed, abandon the dream of eternal life, and simply walk out? No. I don't think so."

"But if they stay in the tower, they'll be eaten."

"We don't eat every Seed Cultivator in a tower. Why? Because Ring Binding mages are rare. The Seed Cultivators who get sacrificed... as a proportion, it's about one in ten. They'll offer a colleague up and climb higher themselves."

Chris thought back over every mage he had met so far, and he had to admit Perez had a point.

"It's sad that I can't deny what you're saying. Then I'd rather just expose the secret."

Richard spoke.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it might not play out the way Perez says. In the worst case, a tower could collapse. Even if the matter were settled quietly, the tower's decline would be unavoidable. And it would grow more likely that talented people choose knighthood over magic."

"Unlike Perez, you're taking a bleak view."

"Yes. Most of those who've reached Seed Cultivation will turn their backs on the towers."

"I wonder which of you is right."

Chris swallowed the nausea rising in his throat.

"Is there anyone here who hasn't eaten a Klpandi? If there is, this Motaro is theirs."

No one stepped forward. Sorrow and anger rose in him together.

"So all of you have eaten a Klpandi."

Daryl reached out a hand.

"Keep your promise."

Shay bellowed.

"Give it to me!"

"Let me think about it."

Chris let the silence hang a moment, then went on.

"Suppose, for the sake of argument, that someone raised their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠realm without relying on shortcuts."

Perez laughed in his face.

"You mean you?"

"A hypothetical. A hypothetical. Most mages carry a seed of water, wood, earth, fire, metal, or wind. Three rings of their own affinity, and five more woven from the other five great elements, and that makes an eight-ring mage. So what do you bind the ninth ring with? Is that when you eat a Motaro and become an Ultimate Mage?"

Daryl said, "The ninth ring can't be bound with Motaro."

Shay added, "If someone could eat about ten of them, a ninth ring might be possible, but no one in history has ever obtained more than ten Motaro."

"Then an Ultimate Mage is impossible?"

"There are special attributes. If you eat a Klpandi of a special attribute, one that doesn't belong to the six great attributes..."

In that instant Chris's eyes went wide.

"Unaspected!"

Those whose seed attribute could not be identified were called the unaspected. They had felt mana, and there was no such thing as feeling mana without a seed, which meant their seeds were of some special attribute outside the six. Andy had been one. So had Howard. So had Douglas. And Alex, who had gone a long time without a reading despite burning through several expensive Evaluation Papers, was surely unaspected as well.

Daryl had complained to Richard that he was being greedy when he already had Alex. Which meant Richard hadn't taken Alex in because the boy was some descendant of a descendant. He had taken him in because Alex was unaspected — so that once Alex reached Seed Cultivation, Richard could devour a Klpandi grown from that special seed. That was also why Spirit Awakening mages who never had their attribute revealed were quietly carried off by those above. Even if it cost a fortune, the plan was to identify the seed, raise it, and eat it. And that was why word of an unaspected Spirit Awakening mage's future never traveled. Once you were eaten, there was no news left to leak.

"Special seeds must be precious, then."

Shay said, "They aren't common the way the six great attributes are, so of course they're precious."

"That precious? None of you seem to have bound eight rings. Wouldn't it be better just to eat the six great attributes?"

"There's the matter of opposing affinities. And a ring of a special attribute is easier to bind than the others. Eat even one, and the ring forms."

"Easier?"

"Yes."

"Then it would be truly precious to an eight-ring mage."

"It would."

"Do all of you believe you can become eight-ring?"

Perez and Richard answered as one.

"If we can just get our hands on Motaro."

"From the way you speak, the two of you must be six-ring, or seven."

Shay said, "The three great elders of Mick Magic Tower are all six-ring. We're five-ring."

"Then Tom and Donna would be six-ring?"

"You really do know a great deal."

"Do I?"

"We didn't even know Tom was imprisoned in Mick Magic Tower. We didn't know Donna was running a shop in its shadow, either."

Britney said, "We thought they were dead."

Carmen glared at the three great elders of Mick Magic Tower.

"Locking them away for all those years. Vicious creatures."

Chris said, "Is anyone here tenderly raising a special seed, planning to eat it later? Just now Archmage Daryl was grumbling at Archmage Richard for being greedy when he already had Alex. Does this Alex happen to carry a special seed?"

Daryl was openly impressed.

"You pieced the situation together from a simple conversation. You're sharper than you look. Quick on the uptake, too."

Richard's thought was simple. Which is exactly why he has to die.

Chris inclined his head.

"You flatter me. That aside, if the three great elders of Mick Magic Tower are six-ring and the Laphunians are five-ring, then even if I gave the Motaro to Master Shay, I doubt he could keep it out of their hands."

Daryl said, "Obviously. So give it to me."

Carmen said, "The gap between six-ring and seven-ring is large. That's the climb from middle to high, so of course it's wide. But five-ring and six-ring aren't so far apart. If it actually came to a fight, there's no telling who would win."

Daryl snorted.

"Hmph."

Britney ignored the snort.

"Magic tools are a variable, too. Stake your life on a fight and there's no knowing how it ends. That's why they don't attack us."

The two groups snarled as if they might clash at any moment, but it was all bluster. No one truly came to blows. They seemed to fear that a quarrel today would spread into a war between the towers themselves.

Chris tossed a spark into the tinder.

"Mick Magic Tower kept Tom imprisoned for a very long time. Is that simply going to be overlooked?"

Perez smiled, oily and knowing.

"Trying to set us at each other's throats, are you? Think you can slip away if we start fighting?"

Chris didn't deny it.

"My life's on the line. I have to try something."

"It won't be easy."

"I don't know. From where I'm standing, it looks as if Laphunian will want repayment for Tom's imprisonment."

"They can't. The key that opens the ruins was ours to begin with. Tom stole it."

"Ah. So that's how it was."

From Mick Magic Tower's point of view they had merely locked up a thief, which made it difficult for Laphunian to call them to account.

"What do you suppose Tom and Donna are doing, and where?"

"Diligently digesting the Motaro they obtained in the ruins, I imagine."

"Would they have gone outside?"

"They'll still be in there."

"Why?"

"Step outside and plenty of people will attack them for the Motaro."

"Then by the time they leave the ruins, they'll be seven-ring at the very least. They might even be eight-ring."

"That's right."

Richard ground his teeth. What truly seemed to gall him was that they had been the ones to use the key.

All through the conversation Chris had kept one way of slipping the noose in mind, and now, at last, he brought it out.

"Since the key has come up..."

He rose a little higher and looked to the sky. There was no sign of lightning yet. He lowered his gaze and went on.

"Give me the Silver Key used to leave the ruins. Then this Motaro belongs to whoever does."

Daryl licked her lips.

"If that's the condition..."

Perez objected at once.

"Don't. He knows the secret."

Britney came in on his side.

"He's right. Absolutely not."

Carmen said, "Daryl, give him the key and you'll pay for wagging your tongue."

Chris said, "Archmage Daryl, so you do have the key. Come up here. Let's make the trade."

Daryl rose into the sky.

"No!"

"Stop!"

Shay and Perez moved their staffs at the same moment. In the instant they meant to strike, Chris shouted.

"Shall I destroy the Motaro?"

They flinched. Chris climbed a little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠higher, and Daryl's irritation snapped.

"Why do you keep going up?"

With the hand that wasn't holding the Motaro, Chris pointed below.

"Because they keep looking for an opening."

"I'll throw the key, so you throw the Motaro."

Richard said, "We can't let him get away."

Chris said, "If I save my life and make it out of the ruins, I'll bury myself deep in the mountains and live quietly. I will never reveal what I learned today."

And he rose again.

Daryl's irritation reached its limit.

"Keep that up and you'll be struck by lightning!"

Chris was testing the boundary of the ruins.

"Make them stay down."

The other mages' feet left the ground as well. Watching one another, they were creeping upward little by little. Daryl looked at them and pleaded.

"I'll compensate you later, so yield to me this once."

Then the bottle holding the Motaro slipped from Chris's hand. Every eye locked onto it. Daryl swallowed, rigid with tension.

Wind-attribute mana closed around the Motaro, and balls of fire took up position around that shell. Chris shouted.

"Throw the key!"

Daryl shot back, "You throw first!"

"No."

"Then at the same time!"

"You first!"

"No."

"You don't have much life left, do you? You went through everything there is to reach six-ring. Isn't it a waste to die like this?"

"You're no different."

"I'm all in either way. If you don't want to throw the key, then don't. I'm fine dying with the Motaro."

Chris's fireball swelled until it was the size of a house. In that instant Daryl flung the key without warning. The moment Chris caught it, he hurled the Motaro off to the side.

Daryl screamed and went after it.

"Liar! You tricked me!"

In that same moment the fireball split and shot toward every mage but Daryl. A mid-stage Ring Binding mage with five or six rings bound was not going to be hurt by a fireball thrown by someone at Seed Cultivation. They would, however, have no choice but to waste time dealing with it. The time they wasted was truly brief — brief enough to call an instant — but to a mage with six rings, it was anything but short.

Daryl had been nearest the key, and she had been the first to move. That advantage was enough. The Motaro she had ached for ended up in her hands.

Chris, meanwhile, had shot skyward the instant he caught the key and threw the Motaro. As he climbed he split the fireball and struck at the five mages, and with everything he had he sent a thread of Thought Language into the key.

The key thrummed, and a passage opened. At the same time the sky showed an ugly promise of what was coming. The instant Chris's upper body entered the passage, the heavens vomited lightning.

At that stage he wasn't worried about the six Ring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Binding mages. He assumed every one of them had gone chasing the Motaro they wanted so desperately. He didn't believe a single mage among them would rank revenge on him above it.

Just as he expected, they all chased the Motaro. They did not, however, leave it at that. They packed their fury into attacks and hurled them at Chris.

A strike laden with the malice of mid-stage Ring Binding was insidious and vicious, far beyond anything Chris could block. By sheer good fortune the key had opened the passage quickly, and so he escaped the attacks of four of them. Richard's magic he could not escape.

When his legs had gone into the passage as far as the knees, lightning falling from the sky struck his calf. In the same instant Richard's wind blade hit his ankle. The calf charred black, and the ankle was severed.

Chris's scream echoed inside the passage. Then the leg went all the way through.

The five mages who had attacked him spared him no further thought. Every shred of their attention was fixed on the Motaro.

Daryl, watching Perez and Richard of her own tower bear down on her at a terrifying speed, exploded.

"Don't chase me — stop them!"

Perez and Richard ignored her.

"Don't you bastards have a shred of loyalty? Damn you!"

Shay laughed openly.

"The things a mage will say."

Lightning was beginning to gather in the sky. Daryl saw it and drew a Silver Key from her robes.

Carmen swore.

"Damn it, that bitch has another key!"

The moment the lightning struck, a passage opened. Daryl was six-ring. One bolt wouldn't kill her. She took the lightning and leapt into the passage anyway.

The others tried to follow, but the lightning wouldn't allow it. It was pouring down on them as impartially as it poured on her. While they fended it off, the passage closed.

"Damn it!"

They dropped toward the ground, dodging the bolts and spitting curses.

"The crab's gone, and so is the basket."

Britney glared at the mages of Mick Magic Tower.

"Mick Magic Tower is going to pay for what happened today."

Perez shrugged.

"You mean to make an issue out of losing a scramble for Motaro? Advertising that you're an idiot?"

"That isn't what I'm talking about. The problem is that Daryl revealed the secret of the rings to that whelp."

Perez pointed at Shay.

"He ran his mouth too."

"Because Daryl started it. And Daryl spilled far more."

Thunder rolled, and the sky cracked twice. They reached the ground and took several more bolts. Then the heavens, having disgorged their lightning in a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heap, fell still.

Richard walked to the place beneath the passage Sid had opened and vanished through, and picked up what lay on the ground. It was burned so black the shape was hard to make out.

Perez asked, "What is that?"

"Sid's foot. The one I cut off."

Lightning knew no mercy. It had struck even the piece of a body Chris left behind, and that was why the foot had burned so.

"Welcome news. Better if it had been his neck."

Richard held out the foot, charcoal now, and Perez frowned.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"It's his flesh and bone. He won't dare go around blurting the secret he learned today. If the rumor spreads, every magic tower on the continent will hunt him down to kill him. But we can't simply leave him be. He has to pay for making fools of us. Track him with this, and kill him."

Perez took the foot.

"He might open his mouth, so yes, he has to die. But it's so badly damaged I'm not sure a trace will even take."

"You know what you can do. Don't whine."

"It'll take a long time."

Perez put Chris's foot into a spatial pouch. Carmen, who had been listening, said, "The two of you are responsible for shutting Sid's mouth. Do that, and I won't make an issue of today."

Richard nodded.

"Agreed."

They stared each other down with cutting looks, then parted in different directions. A cold wind passed over the ruins.