Chapter 10: The Siphon’s Secret

Kaelen felt the raw sewage gray pulsating in his mind, and it never truly left him. The 'Discordant-Prison' signature, that angry, sad, struggling pulse, had tattooed itself on his awareness. He could feel it now, even from Arion’s study, a constant, low thrum beneath the Conclave’s 'Stone-Heartbeat.' He knew what he had to do. He had to understand it. He had to find a way to use it.

He spent the next few cycles meticulously studying the Conclave’s ancient texts. He came back to Arion’s study, day after day, because that was the only place with texts he needed. He always waited until Arion left for his own duties. Then Kaelen would slip in. It was simple. Arion rarely locked the door. And even if he did, Kaelen knew how to notice signatures, and how to get past them. He knew how to get past the physical security, and also the Aetheric security. Knowing that Arion would not find him, made Kaelen a lot safer. He knew that Arion sometimes returned unexpectedly, so he was always alert.

Kaelen wanted to understand the 'Binding-Glyph' signatures he had observed in the chamber below. He remembered their intricate complexity and their purpose. They suppressed, they contained, they absorbed. But more than that, they *converted*. They took chaotic Aether and turned it into something stable and useful, something that fed the Conclave. This was not just a prison, he realized. This was a power plant. And the Loremaster, he thought, was running it. The thought of this made Kaelen’s corporate instincts hum with satisfaction. This was exactly the kind of efficiency he admired. But then he remembered the agonizing struggle he felt. And it made Elara’s body feel a bit sick inside. Though he quickly dismissed it. The body should cope with it.

He began with texts that spoke of Aetheric containment. They were dense, dusty, and full of archaic language. He scanned them quickly, his eyes darting across the pages, absorbing concepts, and discarding irrelevant details. He looked for anything that mentioned sustained Aetheric siphoning, or entities that produced such intense, chaotic energy. He also wanted to know what Loremaster Arion knew. So he studied his bookshelf, trying to find which books the Loremaster had studied the most. He knew Arion knew. Kaelen was sure of that.

He found a few references to what ancient texts called ‘Aetheric Tethers’ and ‘Resonance Locks.’ These were spells, or perhaps, architectural designs. They were used to bind powerful Aetheric phenomena. But they also mentioned that true binding, lasting for millennia, had to include a way to drain the unbound energy. Otherwise, the object contained would eventually tear through its prison. This confirmed his theory. The 'Discordant-Prison' was not just held. It was milked for its power. It was feeding the Conclave, giving it energy. Therefore, he felt that this was a good thing for the Conclave, for without it, it might not have been able to exist.

He wanted to find out *how* it worked. He focused on the descriptions of the 'Binding-Glyphs.' He found some diagrams, very old ones drawn on brittle parchment. They depicted patterns similar to the ones he had seen on the chamber walls. The explanations were sparse, but what he pieced together was fascinating. These glyphs did not just contain. They acted as a kind of filter, or a funnel. The chaotic, 'Agony-Spike' and 'Rage-Current' Aether from the 'Discordant-Prison' would hit the chains, then flow into the glyphs. The glyphs would then process this raw energy, smoothing its edges, dampening its destructive aspects, and converting it into a steady, usable current. This steady current then merged with the Conclave’s own 'Stone-Heartbeat,' nourishing it, strengthening it. It was genius, he thought. Dark, but genius.

Kaelen spent hours, sometimes stretching into the night, in Arion’s study. He would leave before dawn, making sure he was back in his own bed, just in case. He didn't want to raise suspicion. His Aetheric senses were invaluable. He could hear Arion approaching long before he arrived, giving him ample time to put the books back and slip out. He also mapped Arion’s Aetheric signature. He knew its pulse, its frequency. He could tell when Arion was focused, when he was relaxed, and when he was simply moving from one place to another. This helped him to better evade detection, because he could better understand the Loremaster’s behavior.

One afternoon, he found a particularly cryptic passage in a scroll titled ‘The Prime Weaver’s Sustenance Tapes.’ It spoke of ‘the sacred exchange,’ where unbound energies were ‘purified and consumed for the greater good.’ Kaelen scoffed. ‘Greater good’ was just a fancy term for 'our benefit,' he thought. He knew that from his corporate life. There was no 'greater good,' only 'more profit.'

But the scroll also mentioned a critical weakness in such systems. All siphoning mechanisms, no matter how ancient, had a point of equilibrium. A balance between the source and the drain. If that balance was disturbed, the entire system could become unstable. He also wanted to know more about the Prime Weaver’s. Why were they so powerful? He would need to learn more about them.

Kaelen realized the entity’s struggles were not a bug. They were a feature. The constant lashing out, the 'Struggle-Pulse,' was what generated the raw Aether needed for the siphoning process. More struggle meant more energy. Less struggle meant less energy. It was a cruel system, designed to prolong the suffering of the contained entity to ensure a continuous power supply. He felt a flicker of something in his gut, a mix of disgust and a strange appreciation for the ruthless efficiency. It was horrible, but useful, he thought.

He continued to delve deeper into the nature of the 'Binding-Glyphs.' He understood their function, but he wanted to understand their *vibration*. Each glyph, he knew, had its own Aetheric signature. He had sensed them as ‘Binding-Glyph’ signatures. He needed to map these in minute detail, to understand their internal structure and how they interacted with the chaotic Aether. He thought of it like breaking down a complex algorithm. Each part had a function. If he could understand each function, he could potentially rewrite the code.

He spent more time in the 'Discordant-Prison' chamber, projecting his awareness towards the glyphs. He would sit in Arion's study, eyes closed, pushing his conscious senses down, deeper, until he could feel the cold, heavy air of the chamber, and the grating, rasping pulse of the imprisoned entity. He would focus on one glyph at a time. He felt its complex 'Binding-Glyph' signature, trying to discern the layers within it. It felt like a multi-layered song, each part vibrating at a different frequency, all harmonizing (or perhaps, disharmonizing) to create the binding effect.

He found that each glyph was not a single point of power, but a network of interconnected lines and symbols, each performing a sub-function. Some lines seemed to absorb the 'Agony-Spike,' others to channel the 'Rage-Current.' A central pattern then recombined these energies, converting them into the stable flow. It was an incredibly sophisticated system, showcasing the advanced Aetheric knowledge of the Prime Weavers. No wonder they were so powerful. And he thought, that there had to be some way to learn their ways.

He realized the glyphs didn’t just convert. They also reinforced. They were feeding the power back into the chains, ensuring the prison remained secure. It was a closed loop, constantly self-sustaining its own containment. This made it even more challenging to disrupt. It was like trying to break a self-healing wound.

Kaelen considered the implications. If he could learn to manipulate these glyphs, he could potentially redirect the power. He could cause the system to overload. He could even, perhaps, free the 'Discordant-Prison.' The thought sent a jolt of excitement through him. He reminded himself of the danger. This was a fundamental power source. Destabilizing it could have catastrophic consequences for the entire Conclave. But that was a tertiary concern, Kaelen thought. His primary concern was his own power, and how to harness this new found knowledge.

He began searching for ancient texts that detailed the process of Aetheric reversal, or the dismantling of complex Aetheric constructs. These were even rarer. He found some obscure references to ‘Breaking the Loom’ or ‘Unweaving the Tapestry.’ These were forbidden arts, according to the marginalia in some of the older books. They always came with dire warnings about unleashing chaos. He smiled. Chaos was just unmanaged order. And he was good at management, he thought. It was his day job, before he arrived into this world.

The problem, he noted, was that all of these texts spoken of very subtle manipulations. They required a flawless understanding of the original construct, and an Aetheric precision bordering on the impossible. The Prime Weavers, the texts implied, were the only ones who truly possessed such mastery. This meant he needed to learn more about Prime Weavers. How they acted, thought, and did their magic. He needed to understand them, if he were to follow their way.

He found an old, worn book, its cover made of what looked like solidified leather, titled ‘The Prime Weaver’s Manual of Sacred Rites.’ It was bound with thick, dark cord. The book, he noted, had not been touched for a very long time. It smelled of deep, undisturbed dust, and old, forgotten magic. The Aetheric signature was faint, but undeniably ancient, a 'Prime-Ancient-Hum'. It was the kind of book Arion would usually keep hidden. But perhaps he had forgotten it, Kaelen thought. Or had missed it. He doubted Arion would purposefully leave such books for public.

He opened it carefully. The pages were brittle, almost translucent, but the text was still legible. It was written in a formal, almost chant-like language, interspersed with complex diagrams and glyphs he recognized as variations of the 'Ancient Symbol' he had found in the dormitory alcove, and the 'Binding-Glyphs' in the chamber below. It was a book about ancient rituals, about how the Prime Weavers engaged with the Lattice. And about how they established control.

He read about how the Prime Weavers didn’t just channel Aether. They *interfaced* with it. They would immerse their entire beings in the Lattice, becoming extensions of its will, or perhaps, asserting their will over it. The line was blurred. This was far beyond what even Arion had taught him about internal 'bedrock' and 'internal stillness.' This was about becoming one with the Lattice, about merging with its immense power. His mind clicked. This was his path. This was the true path to becoming the strongest mage.

The manual detailed an ancient ritual, a ‘Ritual of Unbinding Resonance.’ It was not designed for a prison like the 'Discordant-Prison,' but for releasing powerful Aetheric constructs from their anchors. It described a process of carefully mirroring the original binding, then subtly reversing its flow, creating a feedback loop that would destabilize the construct from within. The process sounded horrifyingly delicate. It required 'Aetheric precision beyond mortal ken,' the text warned. It also required a deep understanding of the Prime Weaver techniques.

The text specified that the ritual could be used to ‘unravel the very fabric of Aetheric reality,’ and that it could have unpredictable consequences. It explicitly warned against using it on ‘entities of bound chaos,’ stating that such an act would ‘unleash primordial forces upon the world.’ Kaelen ignored the warnings. He had dealt with 'primordial forces' in the corporate world. They were just bigger, angrier versions of the same thing. And they could always be leveraged.

He spent the next weeks pouring over this manual, trying to decipher its many layers. He cross-referenced its diagrams with his understanding of the 'Binding-Glyphs'. He began to see cracks in the containment. Not physical cracks, but subtle energetic discrepancies, points where the flow was not perfectly smooth. These were the vulnerabilities. And this ritual, he realized, was designed to exploit those very vulnerabilities.

He also started to analyze the Conclave’s 'Stone-Heartbeat' itself. He knew it was being nourished by the 'Discordant-Prison.' So, if he disturbed the source, he would disturb the Conclave. Like cutting off a nutrient supply. He wanted to see how deep the Conclave’s reliance was on this source. He noticed subtle shifts in the Conclave’s overall Aetheric signature. During his observations, he noticed it had a slight 'Dependent-Tremor,' a faint wobble when the 'Discordant-Prison' seemed to lash out with particular fury. The moments of agony from the prison seemed to be moments of greater stability for the Conclave itself. The Conclave was not just surviving on it. It thrived on its suffering. This made him feel a cold determination.

One evening, while reading the manual, he felt a faint shudder run through Arion’s study. It wasn’t a physical tremor. It was Aetheric. He projected his awareness instantly. The 'Discordant-Prison' was having a particularly violent struggle. The 'Agony-Spike' and 'Rage-Current' were amplified, lashing out more violently than usual. He had gotten used to this by now. He had observed it many times. But this time was different.

He felt the 'Binding-Glyph' signatures strain, vibrating with intense pressure. He noticed a momentary flicker, a minuscule, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it instability in one of the glyphs, a 'Glyph-Flicker.' It instantly corrected itself due to the Glyph being self-correcting. He had never seen that before. It lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was enough. It was a sign. The system was not foolproof. And he knew how to exploit it.

This 'Glyph-Flicker' confirmed his theory. The system, while ancient and powerful, was not unbreakable. It had moments of weakness. And the ritual in the manual, the 'Ritual of Unbinding Resonance,' was precisely what was needed to exploit those moments. It was a way to amplify that flicker, to turn a momentary instability into a catastrophic failure.

He read the final, chilling passages of the ritual. It spoke of immense Aetheric precision. The caster had to be perfectly aligned with the Lattice, their 'bedrock' absolute, their 'internal stillness' profound. They had to resonate with the specific frequency of the original binding, imitate it, then subtly introduce a counter-frequency, a discordant note, that would unravel the entire construct. It needed a deep understanding of the Prime Weaver’s techniques, Kaelen knew now why it was so essential. It needed someone with the precision he knew he was quickly developing.

The ritual culminated in a single, focused burst of Aether, perfectly attuned to the instability, designed to 'rend the veil' and 'unleash the bound.' The manual warned that failure would result in the 'unfettered wrath' of the contained entity, and possibly the 'dissolution of the caster into the primal chaos.' This was not a small risk, he knew now. But Kaelen was not afraid of risks. He had spent his entire previous life taking calculated risks, and this was just another one. A bigger one, but still a calculated risk.

He closed the manual, his heart thrumming with a cold, calculated excitement. He now had the framework. He knew the target. He had the weapon. The 'Ritual of Unbinding Resonance' could destabilize the binding glyphs. It could potentially free the contained power. Or it could cause it to explode, engulfing him in a flood of chaotic Aether. The manual, with all its warnings, just fueled his determination.

This was exactly what Kaelen had been searching for. A true challenge. A way to prove his mastery. A path to unimaginable power. He knew it would be incredibly dangerous, a dance on the edge of destruction, but the potential reward was simply too great to ignore. He felt a deep sense of purpose, a cold thrill running through his veins. This was the ultimate leverage point. This 'Discordant-Prison,' this thing of agony and rage, was the key to unlocking the true power of the Conclave. And of himself. He would not just survive in this world. He would conquer it.