by Chris Vines
Everyone not named got up and went outside. We lined up where we had the last week and began to work. As I was working through, Mentor Bonde came over to watch. I got to the seventh move of the third set when he corrected me on my form. We worked through it and the eighth move, when he complimented me on getting so far already. In less than ten minutes, I had finished understanding the first three sets. “That is probably enough for a while, if you want to work on something else. The fourth set is usually not mastered before getting to the Fog level, or later.” Mentor Bonde told me.
“Thank you.” I responded as he walked over to another student, I think her name is Qingshan. I worked through the forms again, making sure I had the first three sets fixed in my mind. After that, I looked over and saw Jon was still working on the seventh move of the first set and the Mentors were all working with other students. So I went over and asked if he’d like help.
I ended up helping Jon through the seventh and eight moves of the first set, and Lucas asked for help as well. We worked for about twenty minutes when Brett came over and told me to head up. Lucas and Jon both thanked me as I went to speak to one of the advisors. When I got to the classroom, Mentor Gutierrez waved me over. As I got closer, I passed through a thick layer of air, and my ears popped. I reached up and rubbed at them as I sat down in front of Mentor Gutierrez.
“The Wind Wall is set up to make sure our conversation isn’t interrupted,” he explained. “Now, nothing we decide here is permanent. As a first tier, your classes can change on a weekly basis for the next month or two. The first week you got to see a quick overview of most of the classes we offer here. Now, again as a first tier, there are some classes you will have to take for the next month. History and Geography are together as one class starting this afternoon, and you have to take that. Beasts and Herbology are mandatory, though your other classes will decide which version of each you take. You get a choice between Alchemy, Smithing, and Inscription, and Tactics is again mandatory.”
“I’m really interested in both Alchemy and Inscription. Is it possible to take both?” I asked.
“Yes, it is. You can take two days of each. Most people pick one crafting area to focus on, so you’ll have to work harder to not fall behind. The Counselors may ask you to come in on some of the evening periods as well, so you may have to give up sleep or gathering time. Though with your talent that won’t hurt you that bad. Having chosen those, you’ll be put in the Herbology and Beast classes that focus on Alchemical properties. That should suffice for the next couple of weeks,” Mentor Gutierrez told me, writing down my choices in a notebook.
“Thank you sir.” I told him.
“Go grab Jon and have him come. Good luck,” he told me as I stood to leave. I went down to the front yard and told Jon to head up. Mentor Lo saw me and waved me over.
“Good job on helping out your classmates. You were teaching Jon and Lucas well. Do you have your merit point crystal on you?” He said as I approached. I pulled it out and he took it. Afterward, it glowed for a second and then he handed it back. “I just awarded you ten merit points for helping out without being asked and doing so successfully.”
“Uh, thank you sir. I was wondering, how do I check the value that I have? Also, how do I spend them?”
“To check, you should just run some Aether into them, similar to memory stones. Go on and try it,” he said. I held the stone up and pushed some Aether through my hand into it. It glowed for a second before showing 60/60 on the crystal. “It tells you the current value along with the total accumulated. The total accumulated is the value used to determine your place in your tier and how you advance. The current value is how many points you have after all the subtractions for spending on equipment and consumables.
You’ll be able to spend the points at the Armory for techniques or available equipment. On the second floor of the Alchemy and Inscription labs is a small area where you can purchase pills and inscription papers. Alternatively, you can ask for a specific pill or equipment inscription to be made and commission it for points. The forge has an area where you can commission weapons or armor to be made as well. Now, you are free to leave, as is everyone else who has already spoken to the Counselor or a Mentor.”
I thanked him as he walked off. I decided I wanted to go by the Alchemy lab to see what was available for purchase. Upon entering the lab, I went up the stairs to the second floor. This floor was different. On one side, there were still doors into rooms, but the other side was an open area, with a number of tables set up. There were around ten third and fourth tier students sitting around the tables, discussing various things. I heard recipes and gossip mostly. The walls were all chalkboards, and there was a counter that led into a storage area on the wall.
On the chalkboards were written all sorts of pills, powders, and potions along with a price next to them. These went for as little as two points for a Complete Flower Gathering Powder to eight hundred thousand points for something called an Aether Crystallization Catalyst. I saw the Minor Gathering Enhancement pill for ten points as the Mentor from the Training Pavilion had said. There was a Small Gathering Enhancement pill for fifty points. There was also a Major Gathering Enhancement pill for eight hundred and fifty points. I don’t think I’d see that one for a while.
I was surprised, however, when I saw that the Meridian Cleanser pills I had been given went for one hundred points each. I went up to the counter, and a third tier student came out from a small lab space after a minute of waiting. “Good morning, what brings a first tier to the Alchemy shop? Ah, you just had your first pavilion run, didn’t you? That means you made it to level five on your first run. Congrats! I didn’t make it to level five until my fourth try.” He bubbled at me.
“Uh, yeah. We had the run yesterday and I barely made it to level five. I was also given some merit points today, so I have sixty right now. I was wondering, is it better to get five Minor Gathering Enhancement pills or one Small Gathering Enhancement pill?”
“That depends on what you mean by better. Five Minor pills will let you get about half again as much Aether as a Small pill, but the Small pill has fewer pill toxins than three Minor pills, so you come out ahead unless you spend more points on a Meridian Cleanser or other similar pill. Of course, if you can craft pills and make a Meridian Cleanser, it is probably better to use the Minor pills. At least for a little while. But if you can make Meridian Cleansers, then you have enough points to just use Smalls and not have to worry about damage to your meridians. Or even use Moderates. Though it is also not good to take more than a couple of Meridian Cleansers per level, especially at your stage. So I guess better is very subjective.” How did he not take a breath while saying all that?
“Oh, I didn’t know that. They hadn’t mentioned what pill toxins were in Alchemy yet.”
“I would think not. That is one benefit of powders, as they have very little toxins in them. However, they lose much of their efficacy due to the roughshod nature of their production. Of course, at your level you don’t have to worry too much about pill toxins. It is only when you are ready to start Condensing your Aether that you need to make sure your meridians are clear. Though having clear meridians is always good since it helps you gather faster and prevents issues as you advance. Though your meridians clear some of their blockages as you advance past bottlenecks and levels.” Wow, this guy loves the sound of his voice, or doesn’t get to talk to people very often. It is good information, though.
“Thank you for the information. So, in your view, I should buy a two to four Minor Gathering Enhancement pills instead of a single Small one? In that case, I’d like to buy three.”
“Okay. Let me see your point crystal please,” he said while he pulled out a larger crystal. He inserted Aether into the larger crystal and put mine on top. They both glowed for a second. When he handed mine back, I checked the value and it said 30/60 now. Useful, it’s like a credit card. He then walked into the back, and came out with a small glass jar holding three pills. As he
handed them to me he said “No more than one at a time, and probably best not to take more than two in a day. First tiers have a morning and an evening gathering time. That is separated enough. Have a great day.”
“You as well!” I said, more informed and three pills richer, though thirty points poorer. Oh well, easy come easy go. I left the lab building and ran to my lion bench. Akil was there again, still on the dragon across the path. I pulled a pill out and took it, before starting to move through the first three sets of the Eight by Eight Gathering Form. The rush of Aether was intense.
Over the next hour, I gathered as fast as I could, just repeating the first three sets over and over. With each set completed, my gathering speed doubled for a nearly five minutes, then slowed down again. If I can get all Eight forms done, for the last time period I would be gathering at two hundred fifty six times as fast as before I started. That’s insane! Adding that to the pill that tripled my speed and absorption threshold, and I was able to get three days worth of Gathering in an hour. I wonder how quickly I’ll advance at this speed.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Once I finished, I rushed to lunch, waving at the Zarorzel as I passed it on the trail. Lunch had already started. Oops! I ate quickly. After lunch, I was walked with Jon and some others towards class. We were supposed to have History and Geography combined now, so I assumed we would learn about a place and its history. “Most of this will be new to you, won’t it Aiden?” Jon asked suddenly.
“Yeah, I don’t remember anything about history, and getting used to the world again took most of this past year. Thanks for sticking with me through it, though.” I said.
“No problem. Maybe now I can help you some more.”
“Hah, you’ve helped me more than I could ever help you. Let’s head to class.” As we headed into the classroom, I noticed most of the students were not excited. Only Qingshan and I seemed even remotely interested in history. Headmaster Glav was back as our instructor. For the next hour, I was fascinated by learning an abbreviated version of the Kingdom’s history.
The Kingdom of Craesti was formed by King Craesti Aurel three hundred and forty seven years ago. King Craesti arrived on the shores of what is now the Kingdom at the base of the Craesti River. Aurel was the leader of a group of refugees, nearly fifty thousand strong, from across a large empire. They were fleeing what is only described as a calamity. No books describe what happened, and the few people who survive from that time refuse to talk about it. The King did say, however, that they did not come from the land where the Weltreich is nor from the Illyrian Empire.
At their landing point, they decided that they had traveled far enough to escape. After a decade of establishing the capital city and spreading to the surrounding countryside, a primordial beast known as Jormung attacked the city from the south. It was defeated by the King after a long battle that tore up portions of the city. The capital was then redone to be a large fortress, and an outpost was created on a bluff overlooking the Craesti River. That outpost is now the Azyl City Lord’s keep.
After fifty years, groups of people began to explore the Central Mountains, the Great Western Forest, and the Zaboj swamp. Many small towns were formed, and sources of minerals and resources were discovered. However, Beast attacks grew rampant. This led to the series of forts established near the borders of the Kingdom, at the time, and the establishment of the Academy at the capital and at Azyl. The most critical of these was at Kneija, and eventually it too became a city and established an Academy.
Ten years after the forts were built, a series of explorations into the Great Western Forest were conducted to try and discover why the Beast attacks were occurring. This resulted in the deaths of over ninety high level gatherers. A small group led by Barakat Zelec found a way through the forest and discovered the Skraj Mountains. After some exploring, they found a pathway through the mountains that, in Zelec’s words, ‘looked like a giant sword had cut the mountains in two’. This pathway became known as Zelec’s Cut. The exploration team circumnavigated the forest, moving north in the boundary between the forest and mountains. They then followed the coast back to Kneija and then Craesti. Zelec was elevated to the nobility and given several hundred soldiers and settlers to create a town at the cut, and explore the mountains for resources.
It was nearly a hundred years later when a party of people from the Toprak Kingdom came through the mountains. These were very high level gatherers, and they attacked Zelec’s City immediately. Nearly a tenth of the city was destroyed before they were driven out. The resulting war would last for ten years, and deplete the Kingdom of nearly twenty percent of its soldiers. Small skirmishes and attacks will come occasionally, though we trade with them as well. The traders are most likely black marketers since the hard feelings between our two Kingdoms have lasted even through today.
At the same time, expeditions into the Zaboj swamp had made it all the way down the Zaboj River to the sea. Large amounts of medicinal herbs and rare plants grew in the swamp, but it was full of dangerous creatures and maze-like inlets. The Zaboj Gateway is a moderate sized city established at the entrance to the swamp on the Zaboj River, and Oddali was established at the tip of the peninsula. This was the discovery that the Kingdom was on a peninsula. Over time, Oddali became specialized in building large sea-going ships using materials from the swamp.
Eight months after the founding of Oddali, a sailing vessel from the Weltreich arrived. They were ecstatic to discover us because they normally had to hunt for food to replenish themselves before the trek home. Our settlement let them just trade for food. This was our introduction to the Weltreich, the Illyrian Empire, and the Free City of Monster Island. Trade between the Free City and the Weltreich had been happening for several decades, and Oddali slotted into the perfect position in the middle. Oddali quickly grew, becoming the second largest and the wealthiest city in Craesti.
The Illyrian Empire is a nation of slaves who will occasionally raid our coastal villages. They are hated by everyone around them, but are in a nearly unassailable position. The Empire is bounded by two large mountain ranges that are full of extremely hostile Beasts, and their coast is small, with only a single harbor that is heavily fortified and surrounded by cliffs. The largest raid ever sent out was just over ninety years ago, and they succeeded in capturing over two thousand of our citizens. There is no telling how many people they have kidnapped from the Toprak Kingdom or the Weltreich, and fighting them is one of the few things that we can agree with the Topraks on.
So, this Kingdom has two allies, one antagonistic relationship, and one ongoing war with a different large power. I wonder what calamity the original settlers experienced, and why they won’t talk about it. Wait, that was three and a half centuries ago, how are people still alive from then!
The last thing discussed in class was eighteen years ago, when the Free City established a multinational competition for the outstanding youths from themselves, the Weltreich, the Topraks, and ourselves, which will occur every five years. The last competition, three years ago, was won by the Weltreich and the winners received amazing equipment and medicinal pills. “So get ready, as you all and the second tiers will be the prime candidates for the junior level of the competition, where I believe we have a good chance of winning everything.” Headmaster Glav finished her lecture.
“Headmaster,” Jon asked, “What do you think happened in the calamity that King Craesti was fleeing from?”
“Sorry, I won’t answer anything about the calamity. Speaking of it is potentially dangerous,” she answered him. Potentially dangerous to speak about? Should I mention the warning given to me before I got here? How would I do so? I need to think about this, and figure out some way of communicating it, hopefully without revealing my origin. Wait!
“Ma’am, were you in the original group of settlers to arrive in the kingdom?” I asked, awe leaking into my voice.
“Yes, all the Academy Headmasters were, along with the City Lords of most major cities.” Holy mol
y! She’s over three hundred fifty years old! She barely looks like she’s forty! “Yes, I am nearing four hundred years old now. If you can ascend to the Perfect Core stage or beyond, you’ll be able to live for potentially a thousand years. Now, it is time for your training. Shoo!” She said, and then turned and walked out.
I was lost in thought as we all moved to the PT fields. A calamity is coming, and the kingdom was formed by people fleeing a calamity. This can’t be a coincidence. I need to, we need to, grow stronger faster. I need to get more information too. Need to think about what to do later, but for now just focus on the here and now. Okay, now what do I need to work on for PT? I’ve got the Aether Blast mostly down now. Let’s look at the Four Twin Lightning Stabs today. As I was musing over the lesson, Jon looked at me and said “Are you okay? You’ve been very quiet since the lesson.”
“I got a really bad feeling when Headmaster Glav told us that speaking about the calamity was potentially dangerous. Like something bad was coming. I feel a real need to train faster now.”