Walking four blocks north and east six blocks to Princep Tolly's was a retively uneventful affair, except for all the people Vicktor almost ran into while deeply in thought.

  Vicktor had heard of the chaos gods and their acolytes, hidden in the woods scattered throughout the continent. It was not common knowledge where their communes resided, they were

  The building was remarkably simir to the Princep Talia's, same double doors, same ck of windows and an incredibly simir sign above the entryway.

  ALLIUMS BEST INSCRIPTIONS

  All Welcome

  FREE QUOTES

  The doors opened before he got close and a voice spoke. "Come in, Come in, your friends are already here and all of you reek of that stupid Nuln oil perfume my sister uses"

  No magical pressure exuded from the building, but there was some kind of attractive force pulling him towards the open doors. Despite being flung wide, the doorway had some sort of privacy magic, the entire doorway scattered in prismatic colors, shapes, and strange sounds. As Vicktor's face was right about to pass through the magic, he actually smelled petrichor and blueberry. Passing through the shifting curtain, Nora waved from a chair, partially obscured, while Ar y supine upon a rge bck couch.

  *shlick.* *shlick.* *shlick.*

  The pulsing staccato echoed from a slightly hunched form

  The voice that spoke earlier echoed from a barely dressed toned tattooed body, a small strip of fabric across its back and a leather loincloth tied at the sides. At least 10 different metallic hues spiraled and dripped of their skin, their bald head glowing fiercely as the inscriptions pulsed to an unheard symphony. Viktor didn't have much of an ability to sense ambient mana, but he could feel it be drawn eagerly and deeply into their form.

  "This is your first time right? Come over here and we can chat a little bit, your friend Nora here has been a good girl and hasn't twitched at all, nothing like that birdbrain over there. Even with incorporeal needles to protect his feathers, he still squirmed like a toddler"

  "It didn't hurt Princep Tolly" Ar moaned in discomfort "It's just the feeling of the silver that makes me want to molt even if my feathers are fine". The owl moaned and covered his eyes with the crook of his left arm.

  *shlick.* *shlick.* *shlick.*

  Vicktor smiled and his cheeks reddened just a bit. Ar quite a feminine moan. He was now incredibly aware of the individual locations and angles of his entire body.

  "Come take a closer look Vicktor, let's discuss your options" raised a hand and waved him closer, without turning their head.

  Walking forwards he noticed several things rapidly, first was that Nora was wearing the same outfit as princep Tolly, a small strip of fabric around her chest and a leather loincloth tied at the side. The side close to him was inundated with fresh tattoos barely shining her brown and grey speckled fur. The fur on the other side of him was yet to be tattooed. Now that he was closer, Vicktor heard the soft swooshing of Nora's tail on the wooden floor.

  "I've held off on doing their mage-sight so I can show you what to expect and so we can modify it a bit as needed, the letter I got from Master Tosk said you had a bespoke fundamental principle. I need to hear you say it, I'm not sure if you've told your friends, but I can put up some privacy magic if you need to"

  "Nah, I don't need privacy, Master Tosk said it in front of them" Vicktor replied.

  "But have they heard you say it? Words are power after all. They mention it at the Academy, but the gravity of it is often forgotten after years of notes, books and fighting. Magic is about imparting truth upon the world. If I were to impart my truth upon you with my full might, I might be able to shatter your soul and render your mundane for the rest of your days. Don't frown kid, you're shaping up to be a real terror even if you can't see it yet"

  *shlick.* *shlick.* *shlick.*

  Her tattoo gun never stopped its procession across Nora's Fur.

  *shlick.* *shlick.* *shlick.*

  He paused "I mean maybe? I can't do any offense magic, moving around soil and stone is useful tactically for sure, but I'm not sure how I'll be a 'real terror' when my fundamental principle is just-"

  *I CONSTRUCT OUR FOUNDATION*

  The tattoo gun stuttered for only a second and the world seemed to freeze. He hadn't directed any mana into it yet it still felt way stronger than when he had used it in front of you

  "Excellent! Careful with that one Vicktor, that one will mutate and grow with you. Bend with it and don't fight the change or it'll break you as you advance."

  After a few mechanical sounds of silence, Ar spoke up. "My fundamental principle is incomplete, most avian beastkin's are. It's difficult to incorporate our ability to fly into our other magics, apparently it gets more prevalent the more magically enhanced the abilities. Dragon beastkin take forever trying to get the fire AND the flying together. They tend to take up so much of the avaible mana that they crowd everything else out. You haven't seen them, but my combat options are decidedly limited without advanced preparation and tinkering"

  He paused for a few moments then spoke with conviction but it the words barely resonated.

  *I fly, I see, I suggest*

  He paused and sighed. "It's the best I have. I do those three things and my soul resonates with those three things. I need to focus myself more somehow. My grandfather's foundation was 'I am the rending wind' and he protected hundreds of caravans from monsters during his life. He used the wind itself as a weapon, focusing the gusts into bdes. He had far more than average mana for an avian."

  Ar sighed yet again and stopped speaking.

  *shlick.* *shlick.* *shlick.*

  Princep Tolly spoke up. "Like I told you earlier, It's not a bad start. You just need more experience and actually fight some monsters, the complex thoughts get quickly stripped away to be more practical. Plus, while I detect my sister's work in that pouch of yours, that's not her usual style. You must have shown prototypes to her. Don't get yourself down because of familial stories if I remember your grandfather, he was a rector. He protected the caravans well, but still only a rector. Master Tosk wouldn't have picked you if he thought you'd only get to Rector."

  She paused, the tattoo stopping it's understanding path for a second or three.

  "It might not be manifest in your soul yet, but you remind me of my sister a long time before she was a Princep. You should try to pick up more engraving or inscriptions. A craft will do you some good."

  *shlick.* *shlick.* *shlick.*

  Princeps Tolly switched to the other side of Nora and start their ministrations. Nora looked surprisingly calm, if a quiet a bit flushed.

  Vicktor had a sudden question that had never been answered at the Academy.

  "I know of the 6 Chosen tiers above mundane and how they get stronger and longer lived as they advance. But everything above Mage and the methods of advancement is entirely opaque. Everyone above Mage just gets called a 'rector' and then people like you just drop titles that we don't understand. It's infuriating."

  Tolly's smile could be heard weasy as she spoke, tattooing all the while. "It's opaque because we want it to be opaque, it's part of our price from our boon-granted contemporaries. Gods don't tend to manifest inscriptions or engraved swords much these days, so the Chosen come to us. We always leave breadcrumbs of progression for those with good enough eyes to see it."

  "But why not give people an idea of the heights they can reach?"

  "Chosen tend to funt it a bit more, but even they hide their power from the mundanes. People might have heard stories of the deeds of City Lord Aurelia, but those just stories, who really knows her limitations except for her and those who have earned the right to know."

  "They talk about the first few tiers in Mage csses, each significantly stronger and more resilient than the one before. It's public knowledge that Alliums City Lord, City Lord Aurelia is a tier 6. The 'Serephim of Ultar' is quite a formidable ss, but is progression linear? Logarithmic? Exponential? Maybe something different entirely? Hmmm?"

  "Keep your head on your shoulders and blood pumping through it and maybe you'll find out ay?"

  Another long pause while Princep Tolly worked.

  Nora spoke up, "I never said my fundamental principle. But, I probably shouldn't say anything while I'm getting these inscriptions"

  "Yes dear, you've been quite distracted. But yes please don't say it, you probably wouldn't explode but it would definitely be painful. Just hearing it spoken to you might not be so great especially if it was me repeating it the way you said it to me. Tell the boy ter, preferably in private"

  After an hour of small talk and silence, Princep Tolly spoke again. "So we have finished all her inscriptions except for the Mage sight. We will be doing a simple one here. Basic mana vision as well as some ability to detect advancement of Mages, Chosen, and beasts. It can be easily fooled by higher tier advancements so don't ever get too cocky around anyone with an aura. It's only going to be on her face, but in theory it can be put anywhere. Eventually all of you will need to get some way to see behind you, Ar might choose the back of his head or his back. Absolute nightmare to learn how to use but it's better than a cw in the back. You ready dear?"

  Nora blushed HARD and nodded.

  "Stay still" and she began again.

  "Vicktor you should get it on your feet today as well as your around your eyes. There's a version that lets you see through the ground instead of through the air. There's a version to see through water but it's pretty niche"

  Soon Nora was done and smiling distantly.

  "Don't activate it for a few days until the swelling stops, it will just hurt unnecessarily and psychic damage is a real thing, you'll have your whole life to practice with it, it can wait a bit"

  "Yes Princep Tolly"

  "Your turn Vicktor, it's your first tattoo let alone an inscription, up to you if you want to do both"

  "Won't it affect my feet and my gravity training with Master Xan?"

  "I'll use incorporeal needles for your feet like Ar's face, much faster recovery time. Same thing with Nora and Ar. You'll need a few days recovery before you activate it"

  "Okay, let's do it!"

  ***

  It fucking hurt. Fucking felt like fucking bees. How did Nora endure this shit.

  The inscription on his fucking skull vibrated through his whole star-fucked head. It was over in less than 5 minutes, but the sound was truly awful. The schlick of the tattoo gun sounded so very much worse resounding through his inner ear.

  "Shame we won't be able to see you in a loincloth like Nora, your usual robes aren't particurly tailored well enough to show off."

  Fuuuuuuuuuck.

  The crimson engulfing his face was only marginally married by the tattoo gun continuously injecting silver around his eyes. He closed them in embarrassment and traced the activation of the mage-sight inscriptions through his mana pathways. He could feel where he needed to channel his mana as well as why he needed to wait. The silver felt too temporary, his body or soul slowly becoming adjusted to the ink.

  He wondered if inscriptions could be forced onto someone

  His feet were next,

  "All done, be on your way. I have a private appointment for a fertility inscription."

  The three gave Princep Tolly a worried look.

  "They have the proper permits. Here's a thought experiment for you three, how might a fertility inscription might be useful in combat? What about everyday life?"

  The worry turning to perplexity.