Nimbus returned my gaze. “Yeah. I’ve thought about it and decided syncing with you makes the most sense—temporarily.”
I blinked. I had not been expecting Nimbus to change his mind on the subject so quickly. I probably should have just accepted this turn of events and not questioned it, but it wasn’t in my nature not to ask questions. “Why?”
Nimbus wriggled his nose. “Like you, I didn’t like how our encounter with Herod and Darkspike went. It reminded me of another time in my life when I was powerless and helpless. I also want to get stronger, strong enough to defend myself … and after seeing Darkspike, I’ve decided that syncing with a human Codexer is the fastest way to do that.”
Nimbus thumped his foot and appeared next to the Stationary Node. He began hopping in circles around it. “So how does this syncing stuff work? We were automatically synced back in Aaron’s trial, but this time we have to do it manually.” He stopped hopping and looked at Isaac. “Drunk human, you’re supposed to be the expert here. Tell us what to do so we don’t have to waste time figuring it out on our own. And get me a banana while you’re at it.”
Isaac and I exchanged quick, puzzled looks, but I couldn’t deny that this was what I had wanted. After all, I’d been the one to suggest syncing with Nimbus earlier.
Still, I wanted to make sure Nimbus understood what we were about to do. “What makes you think syncing with me will make you more powerful?”
“Nimbus isn’t wrong,” said Isaac, scratching his cheek. “It’s well-established that synced Codex Beasts grow at exponentially faster rates than their wild counterparts. Likewise, human Codexers with Codex Beasts also see faster growth, though their synced Beast partners are the ones who see most of the growth.”
What the drunkard said,’ Nimbus added, as if he’d known all that—though I doubted it. He scratched his ear. “Besides, didn’t you see Darkspike? He was incredibly powerful, probably stronger than both of us put together. That had to be thanks to his synced partner. Therefore, it is in my best interest to find a human partner like Darkspike. And no, I don’t want to sync with Isaac.”
Isaac grunted and scratched his beard. “The feeling is mutual, rabbit. Never been one for syncing with Codex Beasts except temporarily. Too risky.”
I looked at Isaac in confusion. “Risky? What do you mean? I have only ever heard good things about syncing with Codex Beasts. What risks could there possibly be?”
That was a genuine question on my part. Back in the Codex Trial, I’d been able to use my temporary bond with Nimbus to do things that I couldn’t have done on my own. And I agreed with Nimbus after seeing the bond between Herod and Darkspike. Whatever risks existed when a human Codexer synced with a Codex Beast must have been pretty minor; otherwise, I doubted that a Codexer at Herod’s level of power would have dared to risk doing it.
Isaac folded his arms in front of his chest. “For one, if either one of you dies while you are synced with each other, the consequences will be extremely severe. For you,” Isaac pointed at me when he said that, “if Nimbus dies, the mana feedback from his death will render your portable useless. At higher Chapters, it might even make your portable explode entirely, which would probably kill you if you don’t stop wearing it around your neck like a walking bomb.”
I had a brief mental image of Jezebel’s head exploding again the night before and gulped deeply. Before I could say anything, however, Nimbus perked up his ears and said, “So? I just won’t die. It’s that simple.”
Isaac turned his gaze toward Nimbus and raised a questioning eyebrow. “But do you know what happens when the human Codexer you are synced with dies?”
Nimbus suddenly became very still, as if Isaac had just asked him a very personal and probing question. He wriggled his nose, but it seemed more like a stressful reaction to a bad memory than anything. “I do know, Isaac. So maybe we could just do a temporary sync for now. At least until Aaron gets stronger.”
I frowned when Nimbus said that. He had become so uncharacteristically serious when Isaac asked him that question, like he spoke from personal experience. That was strange. Had Nimbus already synced with another human Codexer in the past? He did mention that he had been imprisoned by some humans before Salome rescued him. Was his previous sync connected to those humans who held him prisoner?
Unfortunately, I suspected that Nimbus wouldn’t answer that question, so I turned toward Isaac and asked him a different one. “What happens to Codex Beasts when their human partner dies?”
Isaac waved a hand at me dismissively. “That’s not important right now, as I assume you don’t have any plans of dying anytime soon. But I think the rabbit is correct that you should form a temporary sync for the time being instead of a permanent one. That way, in case something happens to either one of you soon, the consequences will be much less severe.”
Nimbus nodded. “The drunk human is correct. With a temporary sync, if you or I were to die, Aaron, then the only thing that would occur would be that the surviving partner would suffer some minor mana feedback and lose some Words, but otherwise survive and maintain their connection to the Codex. With a temporary Codex sync, we’ll still get all the benefits of a permanent sync while avoiding drawbacks.”
Nimbus’s answer all but confirmed that I wasn’t his first human Codexer partner. I was severely tempted to ask more questions about his past, but again I restrained myself. Nimbus had already made it quite clear that he didn’t like talking about his past. And the fact that he wanted a temporary, short-term Codex sync indicated that he still didn’t trust me quite enough to tell me all of his secrets yet. That was frustrating, to say the least, but Nimbus had a point that even a temporary sync would be beneficial to both of us.
Isaac put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to the side, looking at Nimbus suspiciously. “That isn’t quite true, rabbit. Permanent Codex syncs come with certain benefits that temporary or short-term Codex syncs do not, such as—”
Nimbus thumped his foot against the floor loudly. “We will revisit this matter later if Aaron and I decide to permanently sync. In the meantime, we should go ahead and sync already. I assume you still want to sync with me, even if only temporarily, Aaron?”
I bit my lower lip but nodded. I wanted to know what the benefits of temporary versus permanent Codex syncing were, but I was afraid that if I pushed the subject too much, then Nimbus might rethink syncing with me at all. Best to just accept Nimbus’s offer and get the answers I wanted later on, when they would be more relevant.
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Isaac scratched the back of his head, a slightly exasperated expression on his face for some reason. “All right. If both of you consent to a temporary Codex sync, then you need to come to the Stationary Node over here and sync with it. Then it will ask both of you if you want to sync with each other, as well as how long the syncing will last, and other details you’ll see when you begin the syncing process. Shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes at most.”
That was good to hear. Nimbus and I walked up to the Stationary Node in the center of the room, and I pressed my portable against its smooth surface while Nimbus reached out with a paw and touched it.
As soon as we both touched the Stationary Node, mana surged through the Stationary Node into my portable before stabilizing. It felt like my portable had been connected to the Stationary Node, which was a familiar feeling because I had experienced it during my Codex Trial yesterday.
But this time, I could feel the mana connecting me not just to the Stationary Node, but also to Nimbus. I couldn’t read his mind or access his stats or spells or anything like that. It mostly felt like we were attached to the same piece of rope. Nimbus could feel me in a similar way, which felt different from when we were temporarily synced together in my Trial.
Though now that I thought about it, how did the Codex sync us together in my Trial without giving either of us consent? Had it simply been able to override my portable’s settings? It certainly hadn’t hurt for us to be forcibly synced during that brief time, and the benefits had been enormous, but it did make me wonder if the Codex could do that in the real world as well as in its Arcane Simulations or not.
My thoughts were interrupted when a slightly transparent scroll unfurled in front of my eyes:
Codex Beast Nimbus the cloud rabbit is initiating a temporary Codex sync for one month! Do you accept?
I looked at Nimbus, whose eyes and fur were glowing with Codex energy, and frowned. “Just one month?”
Nimbus nodded without looking at me. “Sure. That seems like plenty of time for us to grow and advance without having to risk our long-term fates on each other. If, at the end of the month, we’re still happy with our partnership, we can extend it another month—maybe two if it’s going really well.”
I frowned deeper. “I was expecting that we would permanently sync after this temporary trial. You know, so that way we could both grow even stronger?”
Nimbus grunted. “One month. Take it or leave it. I could definitely leave it.”
I let out a frustrated breath, but didn’t see what options I had. If I kept fighting Nimbus about this, then he might very well decide to call off the entire syncing process, and then I would lose my best chance at getting a Codex Beast. I felt like it was extremely important for me and Nimbus to work together, so I couldn’t afford to let him either disappear into the wilderness or, worse, end up getting captured by the Wolfbrand Bandits again.
But neither was I going to let Nimbus boss me around and get his way all the time. “Six months.”
Nimbus finally looked at me with his bright golden eyes, a clear look of disbelief on his features. “Six months? But that is—”
“My offer,” I said to Nimbus, interrupting him. “Look, you and I both know that a month isn’t nearly long enough for either of us to grow very strong. But if we work together for six months? Then we might be able to turn to the next Page in both of our Codexes—maybe even gain a Chapter in the process. You never know.”
Behind me, Isaac snorted like I’d told a funny joke. I ignored him, however, to focus on Nimbus, whom I was determined to convince to sync with me for much longer than a month. And I meant it when I said that six months would give us more time to grow than one month. It was simple logic.
But also, I still had the timer for the Reset Protocol ticking away in the corner of my vision. With 10 years on the clock, a month meant very little, but six months was quite a bit more time for me to figure out what the Reset Protocol even meant and what I was supposed to do about it, exactly.
Nimbus appeared to be seriously considering my offer, but I was afraid he was just going to say no. But then he nodded and said, “All right. Six months it is. But I am going to be expecting a lot of bananas during that time. Okay?”
I nodded with a smile and then heard a ping from my portable. I glanced at the notification that had asked me if I wanted to sync with Nimbus and noticed that it had changed the time frame from one month to six. That was the only detail that had changed, and because that was the only detail I had any problems with, I mentally consented to sync with Nimbus.
The notification furled and then unfurled again, showing new text on its translucent surface:
Both parties have agreed to a temporary Codex sync of six months, starting today, between Chapter One Codexer Aaron Thorn and Chapter One Codex Beast Nimbus, the cloud rabbit. This temporary sync will automatically end at the six-month deadline, but can end sooner if both parties consent to end the temporary sync before then. The death of one or both parties will automatically result in the annulment of this temporary sync, but destroying or damaging the North Forest Node will not end it. See your updated Codex Beast page for more details on how this temporary sync can be annulled before its actual deadline.
It was a bit concerning that the Codex mentioned that destroying or damaging the North Forest Node would not end our temporary sync. I hadn’t been intending to do that myself, but I wondered if this was a common problem or not. It must have been, if the Codex felt the need to explicitly tell us that that wouldn’t work.
As soon as the notification disappeared, I got another notification almost immediately. It was another Codex Achievement, and not a bad one as far as Achievements went:
Codex Achievement: First (Temporary) Codex Beast Synced!
Category: Codex Beast
> Congratulations on successfully completing your first Codex Beast sync outside of an Arcane Simulation! Though this is only a temporary sync, it still represents a major achievement for a Chapter One Codexer such as yourself. This Achievement is usually only obtained at Chapter Two, so you are ahead of many of your peers already. Expect another Achievement with even greater rewards if you permanently sync with Nimbus.
Rewards:
-
Access to the spellchain protocol, allowing you and Nimbus to share mana/Word pools, spells, abilities, and more
-
Access to the Codex Beast tab in your user interface
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+30 Words (to be distributed between your Banked Progress and your Casting Pool later, per the requirements of your Inscriptionist Discipline)
Codex Note:
> “Your Codex Beast is a partner and a friend, not a weapon. Treat them like a friend and you will go farther than either of you could possibly imagine.”
My jaw dropped straight open when I saw the rewards. Especially those 30 Words. Those were a lot more Words than I expected to get in one go, especially from an Achievement.
“Well, well,” said Isaac behind me. “Looks like you two are partners now.”
I removed my portable from the Stationary Node and looked at Isaac. He was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, arms folded in front of his chest, an open bottle of beer in one of his hands. Where he’d gotten it, I didn’t know—nor did I care to ask.
Beside me, Nimbus stopped glowing, indicating that he had also disconnected from the North Forest Node and shook his head before hopping away from it. “Ugh. The rewards are nice, but I forgot how weird the whole syncing process is. Going to be a while before I feel normal again.”
I frowned at Nimbus. “What do you mean? I didn’t feel weird when we synced.” I furrowed my brows. “Other than the Achievement I got, I didn’t feel anything at all.”
Nimbus snorted. “That’s because you’re human. For us Codex Beasts, we feel … tethered, to say the least.”
I was about to ask Nimbus what ‘tethered’ meant when I got another ping in my portable, a quest ping based on the sound.
I eagerly raised my portable and saw the familiar symbol of a quest—a capital ‘Q’ with glowing lines around it—before looking at Nimbus and smiling. “Looks like we got our first Codex Quest together … partner. Let’s see what it is.”
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