“Formations are sigils scaled up and given permanence,” said Nexus. A book was laid out in front of the sculpture, floating in mid-air. “There are a wide variety of sigils, each of them specific to a legacy or a tree of sorts, but for the purposes of this demonstration, I will use the Generic Set.”

“Generic Set?” Gaius echoed.

“The sigils with a singular application. Most formations are after all based around the sigils listed under the Generic Set — the first volume of them is the most prolific books amongst Engine users,” Nexus explained quietly. “The others, however, have been lost to time. Or they would have, until I remembered a month ago that those little manuals you’ve been collecting are parts two and three of the Generic Set.”

“You can add part four to that list,” said Gaius. “I got a similar looking book from the warfront at Feng-Lang a month ago.”

“So we’ve completed a legacy set, then.” Nexus nodded to itself. “Generic Set sigils are very easy to identify — their names are basic and straight to the point, unlike the poetic long names that are so popular with other sets. Especially the family ones.”

“Poetic long names?” Gaius asked. “An example might be nice.”

“Autumn Spring Song,” Nexus replied obligingly. “White Night’s Veil. Lucent Singularity. Lots of weird names that don’t really tell anyone what these sigils actually do... and the results are usually underwhelming to boot.”

“Illuminating.”

“No they aren’t.”

“I was referring to your explanation, not those weird names.”

Nexus cleared its throat. “Well, at any rate, the crux of formations is to link multiple sigils together. At the core is a set of sigils that specialise in gathering energy. By linking them together in a network, you give them permanence — they won’t fade away after hours.”

“I don’t think I know how to draw sigils that gather energy,” said Gaius.

“It’s okay. I do, and that’s what matters.”

Gaius stared at the sculpture, speechless, and then shook his head. “Such arrogance.”

“I’m willing to back it up,” said Nexus. “But enough of this petty squabble. Pay close attention to my demonstration, and see what I do with it.”

The sculpture extended its small arm, and from there, faint strands of light began to form. After a few minutes — Gaius’ time at Eo-Seu had shown that few could draw sigils at the absurd pace he himself had — five perfect circles with patterns inside them that were identical to each other in every possible way.

“You can draw sigils. Why do I not know that?”

“It was too much of a hassle for me to draw them individually,” said Nexus. “Formations are easier if you can forgo sigils.”

“And how does that work exactly?”

“I use myself as the core and as the hubs, that’s how. Nakama’s increasingly intricate craftsmanship has enabled me to be the artefact I was always meant to be. There’s virtually no time lag between my true self in the Library and the sculpture I’m occupying now, thanks to her.”

“Put it that way…Nakama seems to be a good sigil drawer?”

“And an artificer,” Nexus added on. “She’s very talented, to say the least.”

Gaius rolled his eyes. “Pshaw. She can somehow turn a lifeless knife into a sentient artefact by speaking to it. Talent alone just doesn’t cut it anymore.”

“Yeah. But enough about your lavish praise. You’re so easily distracted,” said Nexus. “After drawing multiple such sigils, you link them together this way.”

Lines of gold light extended outwards from each sigil, and Gaius peered closely at the sight. “You’re…carving the air, aren’t you?”

“Excellent observation, Master Gaius.” Nexus continued to draw more lines. “Qi in sigils are used to simulate energy flow within artefacts. In formations, however, qi is used to partition the air itself and all ambient energy within the affected area. Therein lies the difficulty of formations: qi has two separate applications for them. One as the guiding path, and the other as the power that flows through them. Mess them up, and things get…messy.”

The lines of gold light hardened as Nexus spoke, turning into what looked like translucent wires. As qi coursed through them, Gaius had an epiphany. “Formations are artefacts created through the natural environment, aren’t they?”

“Yes.” Nexus pointed at the five linked sigils. “These five are the source from which the paths of the formation are created, as well as that of the qi that flows through them. The larger the formation, the more such sigils are needed.”

“Carving the air and land to create paths, in which energy flows through…” Gaius murmured. “Why then, do these formations seem far more powerful than sigils or artefacts?”

“Because the scale is much larger,” said Nexus. “Even the largest of sigils are unable to go beyond five centimetres in diameter. And artefacts the size of a city are few and far between.”

“But they do exist?”

“Yes.”

Gaius considered the artificial intelligence for a moment. “In that case, am I considered to have mastered formations if I’ve already mastered sigils and artefacts?”

“Why, yes, of course.” Nexus answered. “You just need to take this book and memorise the effects of each and every path, how they interact with each other, and then learn how to integrate them together.”

The book that Nexus was pointing at was slightly thicker than his chest, and the boy felt the smile on his face waver as he stared at it. “This book?”

“Yes, Master Gaius.” Gaius could sense a whirling current of irony in its words, growing as Nexus continued to speak. “For reference, it took me fourteen days on end to read and comprehend the secrets hidden within. You’re mortal, so you’ll probably fare slightly worse than me, but I have faith in you.”

Faith in what exactly? That I’ll be able to use this damn book as a weapon two weeks from now? The book was too thick for his tastes, an impression further compounded when Nexus spent thirty seconds in pushing it to him.

“About the part where I wipe away the Human God’s traces from that…”

“Did I say that?” The sculpture stretched its body as it stood up, a nonchalant air around it. “Well, once you’re done with that book, you should be able to think up of something to handle it. Now, you should spend the next few days just reading, so that you aren’t that reliant on me.”

With that, Nexus left the room, leaving Gaius alone with a thick book. As well as an orb of divinity, but the boy wasn’t really in the mood to think about that little plaything anymore. After a few minutes of staring blankly at the doorstopper, the boy picked it up and ambled out of the room.

His heart, despite the early morning, was full of fatigue when he finally reached the living room.