Boundless Chronicles

Chapter 42: The Spires of Aethelgard, III

Cold abyss wind howled across the narrow stone sky-bridge connecting the First and Second Spires.

Eight hundred feet below, sea-clouds of white mana fog churned over the jagged obsidian peaks.

"The wind resistance on this bridge is fluctuating," Gideon noted, his cloak snapping violently behind him. He kept one hand firmly on the hilt of his silver rapier. "Look at the archways ahead. The Second Spire isn't built from solid stone like the first."

Through the swirling haze, the Second Spire loomed before them like a hollow iron cage.

Unlike the solid obsidian walls of the First Spire, the Second Spire was composed entirely of thousands of rotating brass gear-platforms, suspended in midair around a pulsing blue energy core.

"A mechanical puzzle spire," Lyra said, her eyes brightening beneath her helmet visor. She pulled out her brass tuning spanner, her Tier 1 Artificer vision scanning the gear rotations. "The platforms are moving on three independent axis gears. If you step onto a platform during an off-gear shift, the weight imbalance will flip the stone slab upside down."

Julian Falcrest peered over the edge of the sky-bridge, his golden armor gleaming under the pale morning sun.

"Can your Artificer calculate the gear rotation cycle?"

"The rotation isn't mechanical," Noël replied, adjusting his trench coat against the gale. "It's temporal."

He opened his left eye.

His pupil burned with deep violet light as the Gyre Eye activated.

Through his vision, the rotating gear-platforms were laced with faint silver threads of localized time acceleration. According to the historical archives of the first timeline, the Second Spire of Aethelgard was powered by a minor temporal resonance engine. Every twelve seconds, the middle ring of gear-platforms accelerated to three times its normal speed, while the outer ring reversed direction.

"Gideon," Noël said clearly. "Prepare a solar thrust at the three o'clock gear axle."

Gideon didn't question the command.

"Standing by."

"Elara, take the left ledge. When the middle ring accelerates, drive your spear butt into the guide rail to anchor Julian."

"Understood, Noël," Elara replied, bracing her boots against the stone.

Julian looked between them, his jaw tightening.

"What about you?"

"I'm taking the Core Route."

Before Julian could process the answer, a sharp metallic screech echoed from the upper gear-platforms.

Hwiiik!

Four swift silhouettes leaped down from the rotating iron girders, landing twenty paces ahead of them on the bridge.

They wore sleek, dark-blue leather armor reinforced with silver alloy plates. Cadets from the High Capital's Vanguard Academy.

Their leader, a tall young woman holding twin curved shortswords humming with wind ether, glared at them through her visor.

"House Falcrest's team," the leader said, her voice sharp and cold. "You stole the First Keystone Seal using a maintenance shortcut. You won't bypass the Second Spire."

"Senior Cadet Vane," Julian said, recognizing her. His face paled. "The Vanguard Academy's top skirmish team."

Vane didn't waste time on conversation. She raised her twin shortswords, and her team moved in a synchronized quad-formation.

"Wind Walk!"

Whooooosh!

All four Vanguard cadets blurred into streaks of pale blue light, accelerating across the narrow stone sky-bridge at frightening speed.

"They're too fast on this open bridge!" Gideon warned, stepping forward to draw his rapier.

"Hold your ground," Noël instructed.

He didn't wait for them to close the distance.

He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the Chronometer of the Unseen Clerk. The three fine cracks on its glass face shimmered as he pressed the silver crown.

Click.

[Relic Effect: 'Chronometer of the Unseen Clerk' Activated.]

[Local Spatial Frame Delayed by 1.5 Seconds.]

The forward momentum of the four Vanguard cadets suddenly stuttered. To an outside observer, their movement appeared normal, but through Noël's Gyre Eye, their spatial coordinates lagged a fraction of a second behind their physical bodies.

'Void-Weaver's Tread.'

Pft!

His frame blurred, executing an instantaneous Spatial Leap that placed him directly inside Vane's forward stride.

Vane's eyes widened behind her visor as Noël materialized in her blind spot before her wind-blade could complete its arc.

He didn't use a lethal blow. Instead, he drove the heavy pommel of his Aethelgard combat blade into the Central Junction of her leather chest plate, channeling a concentrated burst of physical kinetic force.

Thump!

"Kuh...!" Vane gasped as the impact knocked the wind from her lungs and halted her momentum.

Noël grabbed her right wrist, twisted her arm downward to disarm her shortsword, and shoved her backward into the path of her two flanking teammates.

Crash!

All three Vanguard cadets collided in a tangled heap of leather and steel, skidding five yards across the frost-covered stone.

"Gideon! Strike the axle now!" Noël called.

"Solar Aspect: Sun-Strike!" Gideon bellowed.

Gideon lunged forward, driving a blinding beam of white-gold solar ether directly into the three o'clock gear axle of the Second Spire.

Kaaa-bang!

The solar heat expanded the iron gear teeth, causing the rotating platform mechanism to lock with a deafening metallic screech. The sudden halt of the gears created a stable, stationary bridge straight across the Central Shaft toward the inner altar.

"Move!" Noël commanded.

Elara grabbed Julian by his shoulder armor, hauling him forward, while Lyra sprinted right behind them.

The fourth Vanguard cadet tried to rise and draw a crossbow, but Elara swept her Radiant Lancer spear in a broad arc, shattering the weapon's stock with a heavy crack.

"Pass through!" Elara barked, keeping her spearpoint trained on the recovering cadets.

They sprinted across the locked gear-platforms, reaching the Central Altar Room of the Second Spire in less than fifteen seconds.

Floating above the central iron pedestal was the Second Keystone Seal, pulsing with bright azure light.

Noël stepped up to the pedestal and pressed his right palm against the stone surface.

Tiiiing!

[Second Keystone Seal Claimed!]

[Team 'House Falcrest Auxiliary' has secured 1st Place in the Second Spire!]

[Current Trial Ranking: 1st Place]

The azure seal dissolved into a brilliant pillar of blue light, unsealing the high elevator conduit leading directly toward the Third Spire.

Behind them, Cadet Vane picked herself up from the walkway, holding her chest as she stared through the archway at their team in disbelief.

"What kind of spatial technique was that...?"

Noël stowed his combat blade inside his trench coat, wiped a single drop of blood from his left nostril, and turned toward the elevator conduit.

"Keep moving," he said to his team. "The Third Spire is ahead."