Once again, I am waiting.
This has become a recurring theme lately.
At the moment I am sitting inside a small shop that sells peanut cakes.
The shop is pleasant.
The cakes are excellent.
The circumstances are not.
According to Ryn, I am supposed to wait here.
Apparently the place she intends to visit is currently occupied by another guest.
Which would have been easier to accept if the place in question did not resemble a collapsing storage shed.
More on that later.
The second reason I am waiting is because Ryn has temporarily left to rescue Spathian from something.
I do not know what.
Unfortunately, this description narrows the possibilities very little.
The day began normally enough.
After breakfast, Ryn arrived.
Spathian arrived.
Everyone appeared ready.
Then we departed.
What confused me immediately was our direction.
We were not walking toward the Inner Ring.
Not toward the Scarward.
Not toward the impressive districts filled with wealthy explorers and famous specialists.
Instead we kept moving outward.
Further.
Further.
Spathian looked confused.
I looked confused.
Neither of us asked.
I assumed Ryn had some unrelated business to handle first.
That explanation seemed reasonable.
At least initially.
During the walk, Spathian suddenly announced that he still did not understand Treasure Vaults.
This surprised me.
Not because he was confused.
Because he admitted it.
Ryn sighed immediately.
The specific sigh she reserves for family members.
"Are you serious?"
Spathian nodded.
"I understand the general idea."
A pause.
"But inside my head it still feels incomplete."
Another sigh.
Ryn informed him that he was simultaneously the smartest and dumbest person she had ever met.
This apparently was not the first time she had reached this conclusion.
Then she began explaining.
According to Ryn, the world contains many major leyline centers.
Dunskar.
Yggdra.
Isla de la Luna.
And others.
These places naturally generate arcane energy.
Arcane energy is difficult to visualize directly.
Ryn compared it to invisible currents.
Like water.
Or wind.
Something always present.
Even when unnoticed.
Living things absorb it constantly.
People.
Animals.
Plants.
Everyone.
And over time it enhances desire.
Strength.
Beauty.
Intelligence.
Speed.
Adaptation.
Not instantly.
Not dramatically.
Gradually.
The way rivers shape stone.
This also explains certain mutations throughout the world.
Strange creatures.
Ancient beasts.
Unusual plants.
Arcane energy influences them all.
It can also be harvested through specialized technology.
Arcane craft.
Something I already knew.
At least mostly.
Then she reached the part that interested Spathian.
Sometimes massive concentrations of arcane energy collide.
Not often.
Rarely enough that entire generations may never witness it.
But when it happens—
an anomaly forms.
A Treasure Vault.
According to Ryn, phantoms and artifacts are essentially expressions of overloaded arcane energy.
Manifestations.
Byproducts.
Symptoms.
Treasure Vaults themselves act like magnets.
They attract additional arcane energy.
Which is one reason cities eventually form around them.
Not only for treasure hunters.
The cities themselves help absorb and stabilize the surrounding arcane flow.
The farther a Vault exists from civilization—
the more dangerous it usually becomes.
But also—
the more valuable.
Spathian became quiet after that.
The thoughtful kind of quiet.
The dangerous kind.
I understood his reaction immediately.
Because I felt something similar.
The strange thing is that none of this information was new to me.
I already knew most of it.
Yet hearing it explained all at once felt different.
Like discovering pieces of a picture I had been looking at my entire life.
I understood exactly what Spathian meant when he called it a puzzle.
Sometimes knowledge exists inside your head without ever connecting to anything else.
You know it.
You simply never think about it.
The same way I rarely question why the sun exists.
Or why oceans move.
Or why Joan somehow creates the greatest fried potatoes in existence.
Some things simply become part of reality.
Then I remembered something else.
The Moonfen Sister who sold me the Wand of Yggdra.
During that conversation she explained that what the Moonfen do is not truly magic.
At least not the way outsiders describe it.
According to her, they merely guide arcane energy slightly.
Redirect it.
Encourage it.
Nothing more.
Then she casually informed me that everyone can do it.
Unfortunately.
I suspect she was using the Moonfen definition of everyone.
Which appears significantly different from the normal definition.
Eventually our conversation ended.
The streets became quieter.
The crowds thinner.
The buildings less impressive.
And then—
we arrived.
I stopped walking.
Looked ahead.
Looked again.
Then a third time.
Because surely there had been some mistake.
The structure standing before us was—
Actually, I am not entirely certain what it was.
A building.
Probably.
Technically.
A very small building.
A very old building.
A very tired building.
The sort of structure that appears one strong argument away from collapse.
I stared at it.
Then looked at Ryn.
Then looked back.
Surely this could not be the destination.
Surely we had merely stopped briefly.
Perhaps Ryn needed to collect a debt.
Or deliver paperwork.
Or threaten someone professionally.
Any explanation felt more reasonable.
So naturally I chose optimism.
I am currently sitting in a peanut cake shop nearby while waiting.
The cakes are excellent.
The mysterious building remains concerning.
But I am certain there is a perfectly logical explanation.
Probably.
For now I will finish this entry.
And enjoy another peanut cake.
Because regardless of what Ryn is doing—
the cakes have exceeded expectations.
Unlike certain buildings.
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