989.M30.
Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, leaving the Ark Reach Cluster, in the Primarch's office.
Arsena, holding a datapad, reported.
"My Lord, I have compiled the Legion's casualties from the conquest of the Ark Reach Cluster. A total of ten thousand four hundred and seventy battle-brothers fell."
Nareth considered this silently. Though he did not know the precise casualties of the Thousand Sons, Space Wolves, and Word Bearers, he could infer from the lack of progress before Russ's request for Magnus's aid, and the combat prowess of the Shrike Riders, that the combined losses of the three Legions likely exceeded ten thousand.
As he pondered, Arsena continued.
"Among them, the Sixth Chapter suffered the heaviest losses. In their struggle for air superiority and during landing operations, they lost one thousand five hundred and ninety-two fighters to shrikes and other flying creatures."
...
"The Eleventh Chapter suffered the fewest casualties, losing only three hundred and eighty in the process of subjugating the five star systems."
After listening to Arsena's report, Nareth issued his command.
"Do not report the losses to the War Council. Conceal the existence of the Ark Reach Cluster."
The Ark Reach Cluster, having developed over millennia, had formed a relatively complete system and represented a series of resource-rich territories.
"I understand." Arsena noted the Black Emperor's command.
'Instead of inflating casualties, I'm reporting none at all. I am truly loyal.' Nareth mused.
'Still, it is worth it.'
Among the territories not reported to the War Council, the Ark Reach Cluster was second only to the Sak'trada Deeps in size, even larger than the Gardinaal system with its eleven planets, the "Terra" system's nine planets, Orios, and the Olamic Quietude.
As Nareth was thinking, the silver-haired Arsena put away his datapad.
"My Lord, I have, as you commanded, trained the fiftieth polymath."
"Excellent." Nareth moved his mind. In the first layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, the Jokaero immediately began concocting the Sequence 5 "Mysticism Magister" potion, using materials including a copy of the full-fledged "Witch's" notes.
He addressed Arsena: "It is time to grant you new power."
"But to consume the potion, you must assemble the fifty you have taught and drink it before them."
"I thank You for this gift." Arsena's narrow eyes lit up. He immediately followed the Black Emperor's command, pressing his comm-bead to summon everyone to the lecture hall.
After releasing the bead, Arsena added, "My Lord, the Emperor has convened a war council tomorrow at ten."
"I know." Nareth nodded slightly. He turned his hand over, and a vial of dark red potion appeared in his palm.
He set the vial gently on the table and said with a smile, "Go on. Enjoy the new power I grant you."
Arsena, his datapad tucked under his arm, took the vial respectfully with both hands.
His blue eyes stared at the bronze scales that drifted within the dark red liquid, rising and falling. Then, with a deep bow, he turned and left the Primarch's office.
Arsena's office was within the Primarch's palace. He had constructed his lecture hall adjacent to it.
Though he had built it within the Primarch's palace, no one would have criticized him, for all knew Lord Nareth's trust in his attendant. Still, Arsena did not overstep.
Two attendants in black robes, holding datapads, bowed to their mentor.
Arsena nodded slightly, stepping through the cold mist as the hatch slid open.
The chamber was unlike most of the Shadow's Sovereignty, especially the nearby Primarch's palace. It was a regular rectangular structure, unfolding like a book.
The "Polymaths," in black robes, holding datapads, stood in neat rows.
They bowed in unison to their mentor.
Arsena, under their admiring gazes, stepped onto the obsidian podium.
It was the most irregular object in the lecture hall: a cylindrical form, truncated, its right side sloping almost like a fan towards the lower floor, the left side a smooth curve.
Arsena looked at the fifty polymaths he had taught, then tilted his head back and drank the potion in his right hand.
The "Polymaths" watched their mentor's actions. They all knew what it was.
The power Lord Nareth had granted their mentor.
They, too, had all received similar gifts. It was this miraculous power that had set them apart.
The potion slid down his throat, churning into a semi-transparent, coiled "blood sausage."
As it churned, torrents of information exploded in Arsena's mind.
Arsena clenched his teeth. The flood of information threatened to burst his skull.
Dense text and images scrolled across his narrow blue eyes. The faces of the fifty apprentices below grew indistinct.
He vaguely saw some looking up, their eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge. Others gripped their styluses, as if unwilling to miss a single word he spoke...
The layered figures were blurred, wavering in his sight.
A sudden flash of insight struck the full-fledged "Detective." He recalled the Black Emperor's command to assemble the polymaths he had taught.
'Teaching... perhaps it will help me master the power my Lord has granted me.'
"Today, we will revisit what we have learned. What is sorcery?"
Arsena's thoughts were in disarray. He could not teach new material, so he decided on this approach.
"Sorcery is secret, specialized, and unique magic."
He recalled the notes of Chief Librarian Thomas, which he had read, and after a moment's thought, added something new to this review.
"Unlike the spells created by 'Witches,' sorcery often dispenses with material components, incantations, and most steps of the casting process. It is faster and more subtle."
"Of course, not all sorcery can dispense with these prerequisites. But those with preparatory requirements are either exceptionally powerful or have unique effects."
"..."
Arsena gradually regained his mental composure as he spoke. The torrent of knowledge in his mind flowed in an orderly stream, merging into different memory regions like well-managed traffic.
He realized he had found the way to master the new power the Black Emperor had granted him, and he continued.
"Sorcery also differs from psychic powers, which rely on channeling the power of the Warp. Our power depends on our own spirituality, driving it to leverage the forces of the material world."
"Performing sorcery depends on knowledge. It is your 'analysis' and 'imitation' of spells."
This was the domain of the "Polymath."
"Of course, once your knowledge accumulates to a sufficient level, you can create your own sorceries."
Arsena, as a pyromancer and telekinetic, concisely explained the difference between psychic powers and sorcery.
As he finished, he felt the chaotic knowledge in his mind finally settle.
After a moment's thought, he realized with joy.
'Upon becoming an "Mysticism Magister," I have acquired eleven sorceries.'
'Praise the Black Emperor!'
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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