Chapter 21: The Other Sides

Chapter 21: The Other Sides

Boundary Ward expired while Silas was washing a plate.

The faint resistance around his practice dish disappeared, and the wooden ball resting against it rolled across the desk. He caught the ball with Remote Grasp before it fell and finished rinsing the plate.

[Boundary Ward — Temporary Record Expired.]

[Assimilation Record Retained: 65%.]

[Temporary Talent Slot: 0/1 — empty.]

He dried his hands and looked toward the door.

Talia had already visited for an inspection, brought him home when he could barely walk, and returned to discuss his workspace. He couldn’t keep summoning her whenever he wanted a fresh week with her Talent. Sooner or later, she would suggest that he read a book.

He had read several pages of the equipment-protection guide that morning. Mostly, they told him to purchase things.

His new steel lay wrapped beside an empty wooden packing box Evan had left after the lens job. Silas had planned to put the weapons in it, with spare tools on the shelf above. When client materials arrived, he would need somewhere for those too.

There was a legitimate question in that arrangement. He opened the guide again and worked out what it was before messaging her.

By the next morning, he had a reply.

Send the dimensions and a picture. What exactly are you protecting against?

Silas sent both. He explained that the box would hold equipment rather than anything powered, and asked whether a small protective plate covering its opening would also protect the contents if something fell from the shelf above it.

Then he asked about the least expensive suitable rating.

Talia’s response arrived after breakfast.

Is the box freestanding or fitted into the shelf? Your picture doesn’t show the back.

Freestanding. It can be moved. You can look at the arrangement after your rounds if that is easier.

He almost added that it would take only a minute. Talia had a better idea than he did of how long he could spend asking questions.

She agreed to stop by that evening.

Silas put his plate away, then cleaned off every trace of his own practice marks. He checked the wooden box for chalk twice. The last thing he needed was for her to recognize her Talent’s work beside the equipment he supposedly wanted advice on buying.

Talia arrived carrying her inspection slate and an unopened bread roll wrapped in paper.

"Have I interrupted your dinner?" he asked.

"You’ve interrupted the walk to it." She stepped inside. "Where’s the box?"

The private prompt appeared.

[Talent Record Available: Boundary Ward — B / Rare.]

[Previous Assimilation Record Detected: 65%.]

[Record Talent?]

Yes.

[Boundary Ward recorded.]

[Assimilation: 65%.]

[Remaining Duration: 7 days.]

Silas indicated the cleared space beside the desk. Talia set her slate and bread on the spare chair, crouched, and ran a hand behind the box.

"You’re moving this whenever you work?"

"Sometimes. The desk isn’t getting any larger."

"And the shelf stays there." She looked up at the tools above it. "Move the heavy things lower, regardless of what protection you buy."

He took the heavier tools down with Remote Grasp and put them on the floor beside his feet.

Talia examined the specifications he had copied from the guide. "This plate covers an opening. It won’t protect the lid because the lid isn’t inside the boundary it creates."

"Then I’d need two?"

"You’d need something intended to enclose the storage space." She stood and gave him a considering look. "You’re trying to avoid paying someone to fit it."

"If I can understand what I’m buying, why should I pay twice?"

"I thought so."

He braced for a lecture about professional services.

Instead, Talia picked up the box. "Desk?"

Silas moved his papers out of the way.

She set it down and took a piece of chalk from her pouch. "Empty it first."

The steel and its cloth rose out. Silas placed them on the bed, where they wouldn’t be near her demonstration.

Talia drew a few temporary marks around the empty box, then set a wooden disc on its lid. "Try to slide that off."

He pushed gently with Remote Grasp. The disc moved a finger’s width and stopped against resistance.

"From the other side," she said.

He reversed the pressure. It met the same obstruction. When she asked him to lift it, he found resistance above it as well.

The studio’s awareness let him follow the boundary around the box. Unlike the little arrangement around his dish, it extended over the top and down the sides, enclosing a volume. The copied Talent gave him enough familiarity to recognize how much of her work he didn’t yet understand.

"I could make the front much stronger," Talia said. "Then you’d think it was a better ward, provided you only tested the front."

"And drop something straight through the top."

"Exactly. Don’t pay for one very strong face if you need six modest ones."

Silas eased the disc against a corner. The resistance there felt no weaker than at the middle of the lid.

"How do I check that on a plate before buying it?"

"Ask them to demonstrate the coverage. If they only show you the door, ask about the rest."

She had him try from below by lifting one side of the box. The boundary held around it while she supported the wood. Silas watched where its upper and lower sections met, careful not to stare so hard that she asked why.

Talia released the ward and wiped away the marks.

"That’s the difference," she said. "The strength you need will depend on what might fall and how far. Start by rearranging that shelf."

"You seem very determined to deprive someone of an installation fee."

"You’ve been taking enough assembly work lately. I assumed you had a use for the money." She picked up her bread. "And I would rather answer this now than write up another accident."

Silas glanced at the roll. "There’s tea, if you want it."

"Thank you, but I have dinner waiting." Talia took her slate from the chair. "The floor beside your bed would also work. Nothing above it."

He looked at the space she meant. It would, though he would have to move a pair of shoes.

She left while he was considering that.

Silas locked the door and fetched his chalk. He set the empty box back on the floor, away from the desk, and began with a much smaller volume than the one Talia had enclosed.

The first attempt resisted a push from the front. A wooden ball lowered from above passed through and knocked against the lid.

He checked his marks, then tried again. When the top held, a side weakened. Strengthening that side made the opposite corner flicker.

For a while he kept adding force whenever something failed. The mana cost climbed, and he caught himself tightening his shoulders each time the ball approached.

She did this while holding her dinner.

He lowered the ball and sat down.

Talia’s demonstration hadn’t strained anywhere. His was thick along the front, where he had started, and thin wherever he’d tried to extend it afterward. He let it go completely and redrew the marks closer together, enclosing only a little space above the lid.

This time he worked around the shape gradually, giving each section enough to hold before adding to any of them.

The ball stopped above the wood.

It still got through a corner. Silas noted which one, put the chalk beside the box, and went to eat before trying again.