by Chris Vines
They both charged chirping at me. I blasted several times at both before they got close. I tried dodging, but they were faster than me. I was suddenly blocking hits with my trisula and tanking them on my shield, which was failing quickly. A quick flip put the trisula in reverse grip, and I tried out my new technique. My shield failed at the same time, causing me to take a couple of light slashes on my arms and torso.
I activated the Four Twin Lightning Stabs as I stepped into the slightly more injured one, and my arms blurred into a series of strikes. Its torso exploded outward, all that force directed into a single point, and it dissolved as all defeated simulations did. To do this, however, I exposed myself and took several more deep cuts. I managed to repeat the process against this mantis as well. As it popped, I shouted, “I’m done here. I won’t make it past the next one. I surrender.” When I did, the world faded and I woke up in the circle.
“Good job recognizing your weakness. You did fairly well, though you underestimated the first two enemies and it cost you. Time and Aether for the first one, and an injury for the second. Good attempt on the Wood Mantises, they are some of the tougher level two Beasts, especially for someone with a short weapon. Now, do you want to go back in? I’d recommend going to level two and working on your techniques.”
“Yes ma’am, that sounds exactly like what I would like. May I go into level two?” I asked. I spent the next hour fighting a number of level two beasts, getting more proficient at Aether Blasts, Aether Shields, dodging, deflecting, and stabbing. I practiced every technique I knew in a battle setting, which helped engrain them into my reflexes. I only stopped when I was running on fumes, both physically and in my Aether pool. When I awoke, I was covered in sweat.
“You pushed harder than almost everyone does, especially for your first time. Keep up this work ethic and you will be incredibly successful. You’re allowed two more visits before your end of week exam, so I will see you in two days. Be back here at the same time. Go gather and come back stronger.” Counselor Chokhbah said.
I bowed to her and left. I went to the lion statue bench and gathered, making sure to gather in an Earth and Metal area to keep the elements in my Aether pool balanced among my affinities. After an hour and a half, I went to the PT field to practice more. Advancing in level let me gather for longer, but I’ll need even more to advance again. The amount of Aether I need is increasing faster than my ability to gather is. Pills and other enhancements are going to become increasingly necessary to advance. At least in any reasonable amount of time. I need to ask Counselor Sila about getting more merit points, and about getting ingredients and alchemy supplies.
I practiced until my tiredness started impacting my ability to practice correctly. Remember, practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. Bedtime. I left the PT field and headed to my dorm. I was quickly asleep.
The next morning flew by. Breakfast was interesting since more people said hi than just the small group I had been talking to. This was especially true of the young women, as everyone I danced with said hi. This made me self conscious. After breakfast Gathering class was more of the same. Counselor Sila did say that we would work on a new technique tomorrow. At the end of class, I went to speak to him.
“Sir, I just advanced again, and I have come to suspect that I’ll need more pills or powders to keep this speed up. Is there a way I can earn merit points to purchase pills or powders? Also, can I purchase just ingredients and make powders?” I asked.
“That observation is correct. You are going to either take longer to advance or use increasing amounts of resources. Unfortunately you are still too weak to be sent out on missions for the Academy, and the missions aren’t available until after your first month anyway. You should be able to purchase ingredients at the same place you purchased pills, and craft powders for a minor profit. Hmm, if you want I can meet you after dinner at the Alchemy lab and will teach you a new recipe. You will need to spend five merit points for ingredients, and if you are successful you will be able to make significantly more than that back. That is the best way to make points here. At least at your level.”
“Thank you sir. I will take you up on the offer.” I said before heading into the Grotto to gather with the Zarorzel. After that and another awkward but fun lunch, we went to Herbology. We were introduced to a number of herbs that were able to cure poisons or enhance healing by themselves or as ingredients in a powder. Counselor Sila let us know that anyone in Alchemy would be learning a recipe for a healing powder tomorrow.
PT was more training, with some guidance from Mentor Jameson on punching with the trisula, followed by more exercises. I was fitter now than at any other time in either of my histories. Even with the benefit of Aether, I was still working harder than ever. I loved it.
Dinner was good. I was starting to feel like I fit in, at least among a group of friends. Though they did make fun of me a bit when I said I was going to get tutoring in Alchemy rather than go have fun during the free time after dinner. I waved it off, though I did promise to go tomorrow. Mostly because Bet, Vaya, and Jamila all asked me to. It’s hard to say no to three different beautiful young women.
Leaving the dining hall, I ran to the Alchemy lab. Being able to jog faster than the old me could sprint makes this huge campus seem much smaller. I found Counselor Sila waiting in the main hall, and he directed me into a smaller lab off to the side. “Good evening Aiden. Ready to get started?” he asked.
“Yes sir. Here is my merit crystal to pay for the ingredients.”
“No need, I’ll collect five points worth of finished product and only deduct anything if you don’t succeed enough. Tonight we’re going to work on enhancing the Complete Flower Gathering powder by adding another ingredient. These are the leaves of a Balsam Tree grown in a neutral affinity valley. They aren’t extremely common, but are not prohibitively expensive either. By mixing in an equal portion of these and refining it properly, the Complete Flower Gathering powder becomes an Enhanced Flower Gathering powder and nearly doubles in potency. The process only adds about thirty percent costs while doubling value, so it is well worth your time. Now watch as I prepare the first dose.”
Counselor Sila then divided all four flowers into equal amounts, and measured out about a third more Balsam leaves than the flowers. Looking with Aether vision, I saw that the density of Aether in the leaves was less than the flowers. The Aether was an off-white color until I picked up a leaf and held it close. I saw all colors of Aether in a near-balance with each other. Ah, so it’s only quasi-neutral, like plasma, I thought, though the colors of all of the motes seem muted, so maybe there is a difference? After dividing, Counselor Sila ground all four flowers together and dumped them in the wok. He then got out a second mortar and pestle and ground up the leaves. Once ground up, he pushed Aether into the wok and it heated up. After slowly drying out the flowers, he sprinkled leaves into the mixture while flowing Aether through the wok. The Aether wrapped around the flower powder and seemed to grab the leaves, slowly merging them together. A rune was being traced along the side of the wok as well.
Over the next three minutes, the ingredients slowly mixed under the guidance of Counselor Sila and my watchful eyes. This was the first real Alchemy, to me at least, that I had seen. The resulting powder was an off-white color and let off a strong flowery smell. “Do you think you can repeat that?” Counselor Sila asked after scraping the powder into a bottle.
“Uh yes sir,” I said firmly while I took the tools to wash. I cleaned and dried them, before setting out ingredients and beginning the process. I was able to get the first part down pretty easily because I had already made the Complete Flower Gathering powder successfully, and grinding the leaves down didn’t need any special techniques. I slowly tried to copy the rune and move the Aether through the mixture, but had trouble getting the ingredients to merge.
“Use less heat next time, slow the process down, and get a feel for how the ingredients mix. Try again.�
�� Counselor Sila instructed me after the ingredients became a burnt mess. I tried again, taking nearly twenty minutes this time, but I started to get a feel for the process. This still ended in a burnt mess, this time taking me another ten minutes to clean off the wok. Back to scrubbing pots for me! The third time was the charm, though, and I managed to successfully make an Enhanced Flower Gathering powder.
“I didn’t expect you to be successful this quickly. I have ingredients for another eleven doses. They are worth half a merit point each, so nine more to pay off the ingredients. That will leave you with either two doses or one merit point. For your level, these powders are good. You can use them twice a day with no real drawbacks. Also, the powder I made is for you to take, not sell. I want to see how quickly you can advance,” Counselor Sila directed. “Just leave the powders here, and I will collect them tomorrow morning.”
I spent the next two hours making powders, slowly increasing the speed until I could make one in ten minutes. I burnt one last one, leaving me with only two powders that I could keep, one I made and one made by Counselor Sila. “I’ll do this every night I’m not at the Training Pavilion. Spend five merit points, make six and keep three powders to take in two days. Then I’ll see if I can maintain this speed. If I can, I’ll spend ten points to make thirteen and have four doses left over. After a week or so maybe I can learn a more lucrative recipe. Let’s go use one dose and Gather for a bit. I’m still going to save the pill for later.”
I jogged out to my pavilion and washed down the powder with some water. I gathered, using the Eight by Eight Techniques, and noticed an increase from the powder of just over fifty percent, which is great as the unenhanced version only gave a boost of thirty or so. Now, I can use these all the time, though I still have to worry about toxins building up. I think. Maybe that’s just pills? He said they have next to no toxins, which isn’t any. Uh, I’ll ask tomorrow, I thought, yawning as I finished Gathering. The powder had run out after forty minutes or so, and I had finished out the hour unassisted. By now it was late, and I needed sleep, even with my enhanced constitution.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The rest of the week passed quickly. I spent time at the First Tier pagoda, dancing, playing games, and talking with my classmates twice. In Alchemy we learned a healing recipe that took most of the class two days to get. When I had achieved it the first day, Counselor Sila told me to just make powders and gave me three doses worth of ingredients for both the healing powder and the Enhanced powder he taught me for the class. The second class was more practice for me, along with helping a couple of classmates out in how to make it.
In Gathering we learned a general enhancement channeling ability, which made every muscle something like thirty percent stronger, but ate Aether quickly. By focusing the ability, it was possible to just increase strength in the arms or legs or torso as well. This was mostly used for physical labor. Using the ability let you chop trees, haul boxes, or dig ditches faster. In Inscription, we learned how to change the ball of light into a ball of fire or ice and send it shooting straight forward into a target. Fireball! Fireball!
After that, I spent time in the library studying the runes some more, this time with Bridget. We decided that we could make a ball of just about anything and send it flying with the Inscription, but it still wouldn’t be very powerful. Still, we made a couple more Inscriptions, one that shot Fire, one Ice, one Lightning, one Metal, and one a combination of Wood and Water that was labeled Acid in the book. Not trying that one indoors, I thought, not wanting to destroy part of the building or release toxic fumes into the air.
PT was more of the same since I still had not managed to fully master either technique. I did, however, start on the Iron Bones, Granite Skin technique. It was good I had spent time on the Dancing Northern Wind because the defensive technique slowed me down significantly. I did ask Jon to hit me with it active, and he punched me as hard as he could. I staggered back a bit, but he broke his hand and needed healing. “Sorry!” I said, wincing as he shook his hand.
“Well, that technique works. Too bad I don’t have the right Affinities,” he said. After dinner that night he tested it with a large branch he had found, and it still didn’t hurt. Then he tested it with an Aether blast, and that knocked me down.
“Apparently this needs to be done with an Aether Shield,” I said, recovering from the blast, “as it didn’t stop the Aether you sent very effectively at all. It’s very good at dispersing force, and probably at preventing being cut, but ineffective at Aether protection.”
“That’s good to know. So I should smack and blast you occasionally to test your reaction times?” He asked mischievously.
“No, I’m good.” I said hurriedly, not wanting to have to watch my back against him too, though he would do it only in jest. I still worried about Nicky, as I still hadn't seen him. He didn’t seem the type to let bygones be bygones. I still wonder if he’s avoiding me, or if he left the Academy. Just how much does his house value my potential? I doubt they’d censure him over me. I worry that he’s plotting something.
Geography was a lesson on the coastline, covering major cities in all five known coastal kingdoms, including the fortified city of Borgby in the Illyrian Empire. The discussion on the known fortifications made all of us wonder how anyone could possibly take it. I guess that’s why no one has successfully attacked Borgby yet. Someday, someday that evil will fall.
Gathering had proceeded smoothly, and Counselor Sila said I should reach the Haze level, one above Mist, by the end of the month. Many of the nobles had already reached Haze because they were able to use pills all the time. Gaining strength is much easier when you are rich. Well, to catch up I’ll just have to work harder. I was holding my own, keeping pace with them, but they so far had an insurmountable lead. I resolved to make points faster, and would talk to Counselor Sila after the next ranking challenge about another recipe that was worth more.
The two times I went back to the Training Pavilion I stayed at level three and worked on tactics for dealing with two enemies. I slowly discovered another benefit the brain meridian had conferred. I had become much better at multitasking, and had become entirely ambidextrous. This led to an awesome scene where I skewered one Silverfang while slicing through another as they both leapt at me. I stood in awe, feeling more like a superhero at that moment than I had at any point before it.
That is, until a duo of Wind Wolves took me out of that session. I discovered that I could not reenter for a day after losing. Something about trauma to the psyche and soul damage. This was the main reason behind the limit to four times per week, to give your soul a chance to rest and heal. This was the first I had heard about the soul needing rest or being able to be damaged. When I inquired about it, I was told that it won’t be important until you start to develop your Core.
Finally, it was time for another ranking challenge. This is going to suck, but I wonder if I’ll be able to beat level five? I haven’t tried going above three since last week. I’ve definitely become a lot stronger since then. I still don’t know what the fifth level is. Is it more enemies? A stronger one? How did Ming get to the eighth level?
The crowd of students was solemn as we approached the Pavilion. Everyone was excited, but we all knew that we would die today, at least virtually. That took the spring right out of our step. As we arrived around the Pavilion, I finally saw Nicky again. He seemed even more nervous than the rest of us, with his group of sycophants around him laughing cautiously at something he said. The push of Aether I felt from him had grown significantly since I had last seen him.
I guess he leveled up too? I thought. Counselor Might called out “Today we will use a slightly different order. You will be called up in reverse class order, so the bottom ten will go first. Use this to improve yourselves. The goal for everyone is to advance over your previous result. Rewards for increasing your level and especially for reaching level five will be provided. Now come, let us see how much you have improved over this last week.�
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The lowest ranking ten were called up and sat down. Jonas, the guy who failed quickest last time, had a determined look on his face. Over the next five minutes, no one was knocked out. Finally, another student stumbled off the pavilion, having reached the second level. A mentor met him and congratulated him on advancing to the second level since he had only made it to the first last time. It looked like the reward he received was a bottle of powder. Huh, that’s Enhanced Flower Gathering powder. Are they using the powder I made for the rewards? Neat! I thought proudly.
Over the next two hours, the class cycled through the Pavilion. Everyone who had lost in the first level managed to pass to at least the second. I congratulated Jon on making it to level four, from level three last times. Jamila was still in when it was my turn to go up. Okay, go all out every step of the way. I thought as I sat down. Never give up, never surrender!
The world faded, and I awoke in a rocky glen, standing next to a small stream. I hopped on top of a rock and looked around. Flapping towards me was a goose from hell, the frozen one. “Oh Darkness no,” I said sending a full power Aether Blast into its head as it started to dive towards me. It crashed to the ground next to me and dissolved. Well, that was easy, I thought, while still looking around carefully.