Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 229: For the Scythe

Thank you to my beta reader and editor, GlassThreads!

Toren Daen

This puzzle should have been easy. In fact, I was certain that under literally any other circumstances, it would be easy. I already had a clear path to victory in my head, and if I could just–

The godforsaken block I'd been nudging lurched a centimeter too far to the side, throwing the entire structure out of balance. And like a single card removed from a mansion of them, all my progress collapsed inward. The puzzle reset itself, scrambling my work on the way out.

"God dammit," I cursed aloud, drawing a few wary looks from passersby. I ignored them as I focused back on the puzzle, walking along as I engaged my telekinetic regalia to the utmost.

Seris had once again commissioned a puzzle for me to complete. This one was like a confounding cross between a Jenga tower and a Rubik's cube–and I could only twist the blocks with my rune.

I sighed as I allowed my anger to settle, giving myself a moment before I attempted to solve it again. It was designed to progressively require more and more delicate care and finesse as I shifted the pieces about, and the act actually served to help me discover the intricacies of my new rune.

I had infinitely more fine control than ever before, the ambient mana itself supporting my telekinesis under the influence of my white core. Yet like a muscle I'd never exercised, I needed to practice each twitch and pull.

This mana-imbibed puzzle was perfect for that. Seris had ordered it artificed in record time after I'd told her of my new abilities.

After a few more unsuccessful tries–I kept getting stuck on the portions that required multiple points of steady, continuous pushing that would barely nudge a blade of grass–I finally stowed the puzzle into my dimension ring.

That had thankfully been returned to me, and Seris had assured me that she had personally kept it in the wake of my imprisonment.

Some part of me quietly wondered if the enigmatic Scythe had indeed looked through it and found my journal on The Beginning After the End, but I doubted it. If she had, though, she either hadn't deciphered it or was a better manipulator than Agrona himself.

I let those thoughts drift away as I strolled along the hanging bridges of Burim, noting the return of tension in the aftermath of the Aurora Constellate. It felt like the last time we would have peace, and the city's very foundations seemed to agree.

Speaking of the Constellate, I'd just left a brief meeting with Barth the puppeteer. I'd bought some aged leatherbound folktales from him and also subtly inquired about the source of the story he'd told a few nights ago during the Constellate.

Barth had revealed to me that his great-great-great-grandfather had helped a man along the road, and as was tradition back in the day in his House, only asked for a unique story in return.

Apparently, the nondescript traveler–no doubt an asura in disguise–had told Barth's ancestor the story of the Dragon and the Mountain. Barth's ancestor had sensed the importance of the tale, even if he hadn't truly recognized its origins.

As I'd been trying to leave, Barth had tried to cajole more information from me about "The Ascender and the Sorceress," namely if he could get me to tell it at another of his shows. Apparently, the tale of my encounter with Seris had spread through Burim like wildfire.

I'd declined that offer. That was the kind of story I only told once.

It's probably going to reach Alacrya soon, too, I thought, for once wondering if I really should have been so... blatant. Seris had certainly found it charming, but was it really the wisest thing to do?