by Chris Vines
I quickly obeyed directions. Pulling the Aether forward, it tugged slightly, and with a stinging sensation flowed into my eyes. Still concentrating inward, I discovered that the Aether didn’t want to go straight back, but wanted to flow out and around, reentering the meridian behind my left ear. I stopped pulling straight out and felt out for a spot at the reverse of that spot near my right ear. I found a section of the meridian wall that felt thinner and pushed at it with a handful of Aether motes. It felt like a screen parted, and Aether flowed into a new pathway, moving through my ears, nose, mouth, and eyes. Suddenly the world exploded with new sounds and scents, so much so that I was overwhelmed at first. Opening my eyes, I saw a blaze of light surrounding the Counselor, and little drabs over everyone else. The air seemed to sparkle, as little Aether motes floated in the air.
Looking closely at Bridget, I saw a speck of glowing light blue Aether moving erratically in her core. Counselor Sila asked Bridget, “Are you following the Aether I injected?” To me it now seemed that he was shouting. “It was pure Air, so you should absorb it fine after I stop manipulating it. Now, gather some Aether of your own, and follow my movements.” Suddenly, the speck orbited closer to the center of her center, and shot out on a tangent, before hitting a spot above and to the right, where it sank in and then flowed towards her shoulder. Bridget followed this by gathering a large clump of Aether and attempting to hit the same spot. It took her a few tries, but after she was able to hit it, the Aether flowed through the now open meridian.
She gasped as the wave hit her heart, and the Counselor slammed his hand on her back. “A little less Aether next time,” he said to her, “and it won’t hurt as bad. You only needed a third as much to open it. That goes for everyone.” He said, looking over at us, “use the minimum Aether required to open a meridian, especially one that impacts your heart, lungs or reproductive organs. Now, we will be dividing you up into groups, and the assistants and I will be walking you through the process. You will pick someone to watch each time since you will eventually be called upon to assist others, whether students here or civilians in the city, with opening up these specific meridians. Now begin!”
As he said begin, I kind of fell over. My head was pounding, my ears ringing because my increased sensitivity had made it seem like he was shouting the whole time. My nose was completely stopped up and I tasted blood. The worst migraine I’d ever had fell upon me, and I threw up next to the seat. Suddenly, I felt cool air entering into me, and my Aether stopped flowing through the new meridian. The headache started getting better, and I was able to get up off the floor where I had fallen. “What happened?” I asked shakily, still feeling bad but slowly getting better.
One of the assistants handed me a water skin, and I gulped it down. As I did so, the Counselor said “You opened a meridian that enhanced all of your senses. This overwhelmed you and you collapsed, so I injected some Aether into it and set up a structure that is mostly blocking the opening, so that your enhancement is minor right now. I’ll slowly open it up over the next couple weeks so that you get used to it. Everyone’s senses will get enhanced as they grow in strength, and I predict you will grow significantly more. I’ve never encountered this meridian before. Now, are you feeling up to opening another meridian?”
I didn’t answer at first, looking inward to try and access my condition. The Aether he inserted into me had calmed the inflammation down, leaving only a residual headache. “Yes sir, I think I am.”
“It is good that you took your time to answer, as if you had said yes immediately I would have sent you out. Now, into your center and follow my Aether,” he said, gesturing for me to sit back down. I sat down, and again felt the cool breeze that was pure Air Aether against my skin. I felt something resist it, and consciously relaxed. “Good, that makes this easier. Follow closely.” I watched as his Aether swirled around my center, and I followed it closely with a small handful of Aether. As his Aether shot out, I had mine orbit again and then follow, feeling the Aether enter in the meridian. A wave of fire seemed to spread down my arm, though my heart dealt with it fine. My knuckles cracked as the Aether flowed through them, followed by my elbow on the way back up. As the Aether hit my kidney, the pain let me know I’d probably pee a bit of blood later, and then it reconnected to my center with a feeling of being more. “Whoa,” I said as it connected.
“Good, now watch others. Push a bit more Aether into your senses meridian so you can see the Aether in others. We’ll teach you in a month or so how to hide from others senses, or to at least dampen your presence. Now, onto you young Noptep.” I was still getting my balance but I watched Jon get his meridian opened. The process took about ten minutes each, so we finished just after an hour or so. “Now you’ve opened your meridians, so the Aether already in your system has been redistributed. The number of meridians you have open determines how much Aether is required to advance, at least at first since each must be filled up. However, by having more open, you will gather faster, so it is beneficial to open as many as possible before you advance. Additionally, more open meridians spread the benefits of advancing throughout more of your body, strengthening, and purifying it. Take the next two hours to gather Aether and meditate, imprinting the runes given to you on the memory stones if you haven’t yet.”
“Sir,” a young man with dark olive skin, dark hair, and dark eyes spoke up.
“Yes, Pescador Philippe?” Counselor Sila paused, looking at him.
“Um… how do we use the memory stones? I’ve never seen one before,” Philippe asked hesitantly. His clothes betrayed his status as a commoner, probably from one of the outlying villages. I felt for him, understanding what it was like being the poor guy in a rich school.
“Ah, yes. Simply hold them to your forehead and pull Aether from the life meridian to that point. Your Aether will enter into the stone and pull the information to your mind. It is not instantaneous, but it is significantly faster than reading a book. Take your time, and come seek me out if you need help. I will be here until lunchtime. Go find a place in the Meditation Grotto or return to your rooms, whichever you prefer. Now, you are dismissed.”
CHAPTER NINE
After being dismissed, everyone stood and bowed slightly to the Counselor and headed out. Outside the door waited a couple of youths somewhat older than those inside, probably second or third tiers. Some of them greeted my classmates, recognizing them from family gatherings or other activities, and the resemblance was striking in some cases. An older Haodha was obvious, with the bright red hair they are known for. Seeing him, I looked around. I didn’t see Nicky, but I was still worried. “Come on Jon; let’s find a good spot that is open in the Grotto. I want to explore it,” I urged, eager to get away before running into the arrogant Haodha.
“You go on ahead; I’m going to head back to my room. I left all my stones there this morning.” “Oh, okay. I’ve got mine. I’ll see you at lunch.” I said, watching as all the members of the class split up. After heading out the main door, I turned off the pathway back to the dorms, heading into the side of the Grotto.
As I walked around the classroom building, I admired the Grotto again. It was essentially a small forest inside the walls, around three hundred meters long and two hundred wide. It had a wild feel to it, though you could tell it was maintained. The dichotomy made the Grotto more interesting. Entering into the Grotto, the path split into three different paths, each winding around the interior. The air was noticeably cooler, and I heard insects and bird calls. I hoped I would see that fiery bird again, or other wondrous creatures. That got me wondering what we were going to cover in the Beasts class tomorrow. I was lost in thought, wondering once again at this strange world I ended up in. Thankfully, my newly enhanced senses alerted me to the footsteps pounding up the trail behind me.
I turned quickly, accidentally dodging the running punch by Nicolai. He moved past me in a stumble as I staggered backwards. Behind Nicky I saw a three other kids from our year. Ah, it’s Nicky and the brown no
ses. “What in Light are you doing?” I yelled at Nicolai, turning so that I had both him and his lackeys in sight.
“I’m going to beat you down and embarrass you in front of everyone! How dare you talk down to me in the marketplace! I will get my revenge for that embarrassment!” He shouted at me, moving towards me again. Wow, cliché noble idiot. Crap, I am the main character.
“It’s not that embarrassing to be beaten by four people. In fact, you’ll just be called a coward for attacking me with your lackeys. Or are you a coward, unable to solve your problems yourself?” I antagonized him, mostly trying to make this a one-on-one. If I could, delay until an instructor or others showed up would also be useful.
“Elric, Stephan go block the path and make sure we are uninterrupted. I’m going to beat him down myself.” Nicolai demanded of his flunkies. Seeing two of the three stooges nod and turn back up the trail gave me some relief. At least now it’s just two v one. That’s half as many opponents! Look on the bright side, only two sets of bruises instead of four! My sarcastic inner thoughts helped to calm me down and I settled into a fighting stance vaguely remembered from Unarmed Combat One and Boxing class from the Academy on Earth. Nicky also took a fighting stance before moving forward at me. I dodged sideways, putting my arm in the way of his punch, and tried to punch him back. He smoothly sidestepped my awkward attack, before a pivot kick slammed into my gut.
Ow, how is he that strong! I thought as I staggered backwards, barely keeping my feet and blocking a follow up punch from the jerk. He tried to repeat the kick, but I stepped forward into it this time, following instincts my training. Getting close, I focused on pulling my Aether to the surface of my knuckles, as it looked like he was, and hit him in the gut with a sharp right. When my fist hit him, some of the Aether drained out of me and entered him. As it did so, his whole body seemed to lock up. He started twitching like someone was tazing him. “My liege!” exclaimed the as yet unnamed floozy, rushing to his side. As soon as his eyes were off me, I booked it out of sight. I ran as fast as I could, putting as much distance between us before he recovered. Taking the first right then the second left, zig-zagging so that my path wasn’t straight. Hopefully those nobles can’t follow tracks!
After a number of zigs and zags, and crossing paths with a few other students, I found an offshoot trail that led past a nice gazebo with solid walls. Rather than go inside, I went around it into the woods slightly, sitting with my back to a tree. I concentrated on getting my breath and panted, “Well, at least I got a good run in today, before PT. I’ll be faster than everyone else at this rate. Can’t hit what you can’t catch!”
After several minutes, I had calmed myself down. I reached into the sack I had under my shirt and pulled out the level seven Lightning memory stone. So this is more than twice what Da had, and is apparently worth more money than I’ll ever see. Time to see what is so special about it. I pressed it to the center of my forehead. It was a tad uncomfortable, with sharp edges threatening to pierce the skin if I held it too hard. Focusing on the location of the discomfort, I pulled Aether from the Life meridian to the skin. As the Aether connected, I lost all sense of where I was.
Suddenly I was looking into the center of another person, watching as they dispersed a rune and began to draw another. It started with an eight pointed star, straight line up and down, two lines to make an X, then a plus sign. Then a continuous line of circles, looking like a curlicue, connected all of the points, with the circles perpendicular to the original drawing. Next, another star was drawn perpendicular to both the original star and the circles plane. Finally, jagged bolts split the open areas between the stars from the center point to the edge of the circles. Whoa, that’s complicated! I thought, as he made a small mistake and wiped it out again. I watched what must have been hundreds of repetitions, before my head began pounding and I withdrew from the vision.
Coming to, I was laying on the ground drenched in sweat. When I focused on my center, I realized I had used almost every drop of Aether I had in me. I took a deep breath, and gathered for a couple of minutes, until the headache had subsided. Crud, I forgot to ask how many runes you can have! Well, that rune was incredibly complicated. But it’s also the best one I have. Should I wipe the one I have and replace it, or make a new one? I decided to gather a bit more and see what the end of the stone said. After another ten minutes, I looked into the stone again, trying to focus on the end.
This time the vision showed him setting the rune up one final time, and then gathering with it. The speed of Aether induction staggered me. It wasn’t simply seven times, but more than a hundred times as fast as I could gather now. The scene faded, and then it showed him instructing a young girl in how to make it. She was about my age, and through his eyes I saw two open meridians. He guided her through drawing the sign, off to the side of her current one. I pulled out of the simulation or memory or whatever it was. That is intense! I thought. Time to draw a new rune!
The first attempt was bad, and I felt bad. I also discovered that wiping a rune hurts. Like stabbing myself hurts. Wow, I am more impressed with the guy who invented this rune. I don’t think I could do this hundreds of times. The second time I made it through the circles before getting the angle wrong on the last star. I tried to wipe just that part, but it made the whole thing unstable. Whining about how much it hurt, I successfully accomplished drawing the rune on my seventh try. I immediately started gathering, and noticed a huge jump. Not as much as the guy in the memory did, but something like sixty times my previous rate. I gathered for another ten minutes before the gong for lunch rang. Wow, I must have been watching memories for only about two hours. I’m glad I didn’t miss lunch. That felt like so much longer. That’s useful. I thought to myself, getting up from the tree and heading out to the path. I didn’t run into anyone I knew, but I felt safe from Nicky and his flunkies since I was around people.
Crossing out of the Grotto, I saw a small flood of people heading into the dining facility. I was still looking around, loving the sight of the Grotto. I looked over the Physical Training Fields again, and this time saw a series of straw targets set up at one end and arming dummies on the other. Racks of different weapons were set up on the side of the fields by the dummies. Nice, we’ll be doing weapons training! I thought, excited by the prospect of a sword.
Entering the flood of people, I looked around for someone I knew. Coming from the other direction, I thought I saw Jon and Louis enter the food hall. Hurrying to catch up, I walked around a couple groups of people before I felt a weird sense of being watched. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone specifically looking for me at first. Then I saw Counselor Sila moving through the crowd quickly, though he didn’t look like he was hurrying. “Ah, Aiden, I was looking for you. Follow me please.” He told me in a quiet voice that brooked no dispute.
“Yes sir.” I replied, following him back into the Grotto, this time near the edge by the dormitories.
I followed behind my teacher quietly, looking pensively at him. The silence was eating at me, but I was patient enough to wait him out. After about a minute he took a turn into one of the pavilions and gestured for me to sit. I sat after he did, and looked attentively at him. Finally, he spoke up. “Why did you try and start a war in my city?” the Counselor asked.
“I what? How?” The question floored me.
“It was reported that you attacked and nearly killed the heir of the Haodha Clan. As you have been seen socializing with the Lo Clan, many people assumed you attempted to kill Nicolai on Ming’s orders. I doubt that is true, which is why we are having this discussion here instead of the City Lord’s prison. So, what actually happened?”
I spent the next couple of minutes describing the fight, at which point he asked why Nicolai had attacked me to start with. I told him the whole story of stopping him in the marketplace and taking his prized whip. “Ok, good, you didn’t lie to me once; otherwise we would be having a very different conversation. I will bring this to the Headmaster and he will be
punished. However, you will probably be punished as well. You did nearly kill a boy, even if by accident. Thankfully a healer was able to reverse the damage, or the Haodha would have been able to demand your head. Do not use Aether as an attack again until you are trained how to and how to defend against it. He didn’t expect to be hit by an Aether attack from you and so didn’t have a defense in place. Your Aether ravaged his muscles and nerves.”
“I didn’t know. I thought it would just make the hit stronger, kind of like how we pulled Aether to make our eyes see better.” I replied, worried now. What had seemed an annoyance might now become a serious threat, as I doubt the leaders of the Haodha would be very forgiving.
“You are lucky he will be fine and that you didn’t know. Unfortunately, we will have to change up the order of classes for the rest of the week to prevent this from happening again. Your punishment, and his, still hasn’t been decided. Go to lunch. I will see you and your classmates afterwards.” He dismissed me, turning and walking down the pathway towards the classroom building.