by Chris Vines
CHAPTER FOUR
A couple of days after I started to gather, Jon and his family came over for dinner. “Have you started trying to gather yet?” I asked Jon about halfway through dinner.
“Well, I’ve started trying. So far I haven’t had any success. Have you?” He asked back.
“Started a couple days ago and had success pretty quickly.” I said, and started to describe what I had done. I described the particle nature of Aether by describing it as the dust particles you can see in a sunbeam, how I pictured Aether drifting as they did. I noticed the elder Noptep’s questioning gaze at Elena, and her nod that answered the unspoken question of ‘Did he really succeed in only a couple of days?’ Jon just shook his head after the explanation.
“That’s awesome. I’ll try that tonight, thanks. So I guess I’ll be seeing less of you, huh? Knowing your drive with getting stronger, I bet you’re going to be gathering every night as best as you can?” I blushed a bit at his words. I’d pushed Jon to work out, walking longer distances and moving boxes around that he normally would let someone else move. The Noptep’s owned one of the laborer companies that provided people for unloading and loading the ships in the docks. Jon did some lifting himself, but he usually worked on paperwork and overseeing groups of laborers.
“We’ve got to get ready for the Academy test, right? The stronger you are, the more likely they will reduce the cost to attend. We need all the help we can get to afford it.” I gave one of the many reasons I had for trying to gather as fast as possible. The primary one was because I can do magic now! Which wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense unless I explained the truth of the situation I was in, something so different it I still caught myself doubting the reality of it.
We finished dinner with Jon telling about a recent escapade where he snuck into the baker’s shop and replaced their salt with sugar. The irate baker chased him out of the shop after a batch of cookies failed. Jon did come back and buy the cookies. He would play pranks on people but would always try to make it right later.
A couple days later Jon came by super excited. “I did it!” He shouted as he entered the shop. The other two customers looked over and shook their heads at his exuberance. “I gathered some Aether, and it only took me three days with your method!”
“Great! Let’s go out tonight to celebrate, then we can get busy gathering for the Academy exam in a couple months.” Jon agreed before he ran off, probably to tell more people his good news. I just shook my head at him.
One of the customers came over and remarked, “You’ve grown really mature ever since your brush with death.”
“Thank you. It has given me a different perspective.” I said, before helping him with his purchases. That’s because I’m really six years older, at least mentally. I occasionally received comments like that, and I just accepted them then moved on.
The next couple of months passed quickly. I continued to help out in the store stocking shelves, moving boxes, and making inks. Jordan let me copy a short manuscript once, with permission from the customer. A discount too, I think. This was hard because we worked to make the script nearly the same, not just the words. I kept trying to work out a design for a printing press, but I hadn’t really studied history before. I kept redesigning the kludged together drawing.
Moving items helped get my body stronger and I discovered that Aether helped the body recover from exertion faster. I slowly grew stronger and got to the point of being a normal fourteen year old here. Jon didn’t get the ‘have to get stronger’ bug as bad as I had, but by association with me he ended up stronger than he would have otherwise.
Pretending to be Aiden got easier over time as well, especially as the amnesia excuse was used to gloss over all my questions about life in the world. My natural curiosity helped me be seen as younger than I felt, though I’m sure that was also the hormones in this new body. I also believe that Darkness did something to both my, and my new parents, minds. We accepted and adapted to this new reality much too fast for it to be otherwise. Though the natural charity and kindness Jordan and Elena exhibited to everyone helped as well.
Other than helping around the store and our home above it, my only task was to gather for at least an hour every night. I would usually do this just after supper, leaving about two hours to roam the city if I wanted to. For the first week, I did nothing but gather for those extra hours before heading to bed. I discovered that I had a limit of new motes of Aether added to the meridian circle per cycle, with each cycle taking a half hour or so to complete. The number was large enough that I couldn’t accurately count it, and when I mentioned this to Jordan he told me that it was limited by my talent and the rune quality. Once I was tested I could increase the quality and number of runes by a couple times, depending on overall talent level. “I’ve got a third level Earth rune and Elena has a second level Metal rune along with the starter rune, so either one of those will beat the starting rune.”
“Levels of runes?” I ask.
“Yup, runes go up in level based upon their complexity and capability, with each level being significantly greater than the one before. I know of at least twelve levels, though rumors occasionally pop up of a higher level than that. The craziest one I heard of was a reported level twenty was found in a ruin in the Skraj Mountains. That one sent people flocking to search for it, but no report was ever made of anything significant being found. People will always chase after something that will make them powerful or rich. No one really knows how many people died chasing that rumor. The wilderness outside of the cities is not to be trifled with.”
“How common are the higher level runes? You said all you have are a level two and level three, so who would own a level ten? Or a twelve?”
“Well, runes get much harder to get above a two. The three I use was a lucky break, found among a grouping of stuff someone sold when their father passed away. Otherwise, I would not have been able to afford it. Above a four you get to the point where large academies or noble families have them, but no one else does. The twelve I’ve heard of was the rumor of how strong the Royal Families runes are. It might not be true, but who knows? That is outside my experience.”
After the discussion about rune quality and my limitation, I spent an extra hour a day gathering, trying to advance my gathering level as fast as I could. The first stage of gathering was just called Aether Gathering, and it focused on increasing the amount of Aether that you could hold, strengthening your meridians and center to hold more. The first level of this stage was described as “Vapor” where the Aether was barely visible, and when I focused on my whole body the Aether was barely able to be sensed by me. Each level of Aether Gathering was divided into low and high, and I really wanted to get to high Vapor. I had no idea when that would occur, but was hoping to get there before the testing. Only sixteen days were left at this point.
Two days later, I encountered my first bottleneck in gathering. One hour into the two I spent every night, I suddenly couldn’t force more Aether into my Life meridian. I remembered reading that this signified running into the boundary for the next level higher! I sat up straighter and focused on breathing for a couple of minutes before grabbing a hold of some Aether again and focusing on pushing the Aether into the suddenly not welcoming meridian. The next hour was an exercise in futility, until I thought of particle accelerators. I grabbed a very small group of Aether, maybe ten motes total, and prevented them from entering the meridian. I redirected their rotation to circle my center, pushing them closer and closer to the very middle each rotation. As I did so, they noticeably sped up and became harder to control. I focused, chanting to myself “Stay on target, stay on target”, as I pushed until they were as close to the center as I could force. Before I lost control, I directed them straight at the meridian and they slammed into the barrier holding out the extra Aether. With a pop, they shot right in, and I felt a large increase in the pressure of the Aether in my meridian.
Looking closely, the Aether particles were much cl
oser together than they were before, giving significant extra room. “Wow, that was hard. “ I muttered to myself as I wiped sweat off my forehead. I controlled my breathing and started gathering, noticing a small increase in the rate I was able to gather afterward. “Nice. I’m ready for the testing. I doubt I can get to the next level, as each level is harder than the one before.” I spent another half hour gathering, but my focus wavered after that so I decided to wash up and go to bed.
Washing up was interesting and disturbing. I had a small black film over my head and torso that washed off. Oh, right, the book said leveling up reduces impurities in your body. Gross! The technology of the washroom always amazed me. Mostly gravity driven from containers on the roof, the wastewater was pumped into a sewer using Air and Water engravings. Later on, it would be purified with Lighting, Fire, and Wood engravings before being dumped into the river. This significantly reduced the likelihood of disease, as did the strengthening effect of gathering. Thankfully, I’ll probably never get the flu again! Though no one knows why I got so sick before. After a quick bath where I scrubbed the grime of the day off, I collapsed into bed.
The next two weeks flew by, nothing major happening. I kept more to myself except around Jon, mostly acting the curious but clueless guy. Whenever one of my questions aroused curiosity, Jon would explain that I had been sick and lost my memory. It sounded truer coming from him rather than me. I mostly ran errands for Elena and Jordan, getting to know people around this area of town. We were in an area that was mostly middle class, with the east of the city being the rich part of town. To the west were the docks and the slums. I typically avoided going to either side, except for the occasional visit to Jon and his parent’s workplace over by the docks.
Most of the people I interacted with were normal, everyday, good people, until two days before the testing. I was running an errand to the central market, picking up some food for the next couple of days, when I heard a scream of pain from the edge. I hurried over, ready to help out whoever was injured, when I hear a whip crack and another scream. Pushing my way to the front of the growing crowd, I see a boy about my body’s age lash at a slightly older, sixteen (Zemian) year old girl with a whip as she cowered on the ground. Bright lines of blood showed where the whip had hit her already while she sobbed, “I’m sorry I ran into you, sir. I’m sorry!”
“This will teach you to insult my august personage with your bumbling, wench.” He raised the whip for a fourth time. Seeing no one else willing to step up, I rushed in and caught the whip, wrapping it around my arm and yanking it out of his hands.
“The young woman’s had enough, or do you think it manly to beat on someone with a weapon when they have none?” I said, settling into a combative stance.
“Who do you think you are, interfering in my, Haodha Nicolai, business?” He challenged back, expecting me to know his name.
“Someone unwilling to watch injustice occur while I can stop it.” I retort back. “ Run back to your daddy and report that someone was mean to you. I’m sure that will increase your power in your family.” I snidely taunted him, stepping back slowly, and helping the young woman to her feet.
“You’ll regret this. Guards, seize him!” As he said this, two burly men stepped out of the crowd and started moving towards me. Some guards, let me rush him and steal his weapon I thought as I backed slowly up. Whistles came from the edge of the market, and three market guards rushed up.
“Break this up!” One shouted, looking sternly at the young noble. His two guards backed off, walking back to Nicolai, who glared at me one more time.
“You’ll regret this!” He repeated himself as he left in a huff.
The lead market guard walked up to me. “Aiden, you should know better than to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. Luckily the young Haodha didn’t want to make a larger scene, or you could have been in a world of hurt.”
“Thank you Lucas, I’ll let Ma and Pa know what you did. I doubt anything will come of this, it shouldn’t be worth the noble’s time.”
“You don’t remember these nobles Aiden, respect and power mean everything. You insulted him in front of a crowd of people. He will try to find you and hurt you. Keep your head low and this will pass, but I’d recommend not coming back here for at least a month. Take care.” He said as he turned to keep patrolling.
“Thank you,” a timid voice from behind me came. I looked back at the young woman, although she was probably two or three years older than the current me. Gah, age is going to be a problem, I know it.
“It is what people should do.” I replied back. “Do you have a place to go, or will that cretin come back?”
“I should be okay. I doubt I have a position at the teahouse anymore, but I can find a place on the other side of town. Thank you for caring. I’m Khadma Acenath.”
“I’m Kupiec Aiden. If you need help, feel free to come to my parent’s shop, just three blocks north and two west from here. Are you sure you can make it alone?” I ask again, but she nods resolutely and walks away.
“Well, hopefully this tendency to jump in won’t bite me in the butt.” I mutter to myself.
CHAPTER FIVE
The day of testing was here. The day when all people were allowed into the northernmost portion of the city, where the City Lord’s Keep and the Azyl Academy was located. I woke up early and made breakfast for Ma and Pa, too excited to focus on gathering. Today I get to know my Affinities and my Talent. Hopefully it’ll be high, so I can pay back Elena and Jordan for taking me in. I really hope it’ll be enough to get into the Academy here. I was fairly sure my abilities would be very high, if for no other reason than I was “chosen” to come here, but anxiety listens to no logic.
After breakfast was ready, I finished up the sketch I had been working on, of the idea of a printing press. I’m finally ready, or at least I need to be. If I don’t share this now I probably never will, so just do it. I had been looking at the world and trying to think of ways to take the knowledge from Earth and apply it here, but without creating social havoc and upheaval.
Civilization here was much more fragile than back home, what with the Beasts and Elemental Beasts that lurked in the wilderness, ready to destroy a non-unified people. While the map I had seen on my first day here showed the border between Toprak and Craesti was the Skraj Mountains, in reality, neither country controlled anything within a hundred miles of the mountains except for some small outposts. Freeing people from tyranny to deliver them to death was not my goal, especially if I didn’t really know what was really going on. I needed to explore and discover the world even more before making any huge changes, and to involve the people who I trusted in helping to make those decisions.
“Jordan, take a look at this.” I said as he walked over to the table.
“What’s this?” He said as he set down his plate of food.
“We called it a printing press, or rather it’s my attempt at remembering what a printing press would look like. I’ve been working on this for a while now. Basically the idea is to use these carvings, here, to press ink into the paper, thus copying an entire page from a book at once. The way the letters are set up, here and here, allow quick and easy transitions between different pages, or we could set up numerous boards to hot-swap. I was thinking of copying the elementary gathering book, since you had mentioned that there were never enough copies and the City Lord would buy them from people who produced them.”
“Wow, that’s phenomenal. I’ll look into getting parts for it. This will change our entire business. Elena, what do you think of this?” He handed her the drawing as she walked into the room.
“Hold on, let me get some of this great smelling food first. Thank you, Caleb, for cooking breakfast today.” She gathered some food and sat down, eating while looking over the drawing. “Interesting. So this will make books very fast? We should be able to build this fairly quickly. I’ll talk to the Noptep’s about getting materials or borrowing some silver to get this started. We simply don’t
have the money right now to invest.” Turning to me she said, “Thank you for this. If it works out, we’ll be able to get back to a more solvent position.” We had recovered some during the last few months but were still deeply in debt.
“I just want to pay you both back for taking me in,” I replied sheepishly. We finished the meal quietly, each thinking about the day ahead. I was getting antsy, nervous, and excited at the same time. This would be a defining moment in my life here.
“So are you ready?” Jordan asked.
“I think so. I’m not sure what I want, to be highly talented or normal. I’m worried that I’ll end up bringing trouble here.”
“Either you will be normal, in which case life will continue here and you can help us with this printing press, or you will be highly talented and bring fortune to us, not misfortune. Life for the talented is usually better than for those of us who are normal. Now go get dressed in your fine red tunic, we have to look our best for today,” Elena commanded.
I put away the dishes and went to get dressed. A red tunic with green trim was accented by a pair of loose green pants. The cloth it was made of was finely woven, but not very precious. The clothing showed we were fairly prosperous but not excessively rich. It was left over from before my sickness. After dressing and taming the unruly mop of black hair on my head, I went down into the store. Elena was waiting for me, wearing nearly the same outfit, just adding a silver necklace shaped like a snowflake. “You look lovely Ma.” She thanked me and we headed out of the building and turned to the North, where the keep of the City Lord and the grounds of the Azyl Academy were. After about a half hour of walking, we encountered the crowd of people all moving towards the Academy. Each group of people included at least one youngster who was headed to take the Academy’s test.