by Brian Keller
Birt waved him over to sit beside him for lunch. Once he was seated, each gave the other a look full of joking accusation. Cooper knew how he’d earned his look of reproach but Birt’s expression turned to surprise as he asked, “What’d I do?”. Cooper shook his head, “It isn’t what you did, it’s what you didn’t do.”. Birt looked confused as Cooper continued, “We walked in together on my first day of Etiquette class, and you didn’t make a point of making sure I got my family tree diagrams. I’ve been trying to get through class this whole time without knowing they even existed. You’re supposed to be looking out for me, aren’t you?”. Birt’s face fell and his jaw hung slack, “Aw, crap. It never even crossed my mind. Sorry, Cooper. No wonder you were having such a rough time! Damn, now I feel like a jackass.”. Cooper chuckled, “It’s alright. I’ll catch up quick enough. It’ll just take me a few hours before bed to study them. Of course, after Master Brais’ class I usually just want to go to sleep.”
Miss Camilla was moving them through their textbook at a measured pace. There seemed to be no rush and everything was explained fully before moving through new material. It seemed that no one was having any difficulties in the class. The practical exercises were carefully spelled out and all anyone needed to do was follow the instructions. As long as there were no mathematical errors when calculating the ingredients, there was little that could go wrong. Occasionally someone might become distracted while they had a flask heating over a flame causing the mixture to be ruined. That simply called for that student to start that process over with a new mixture. There was always work to be done, but never any doubts as to what was needed. Cooper noticed that Aden almost never needed to repeat any processes, and he wasn’t the only one to notice. Miss Camilla had spoken with Aden and once she was assured of his interest, she’d begun giving him some additional tasks that were more complex. Aden seemed to thrive on the additional attention as well as the extra challenge.
In combat class, Mister Skran had them ‘warm up’ doing drills for about thirty minutes and then paired them up. Cooper was paired with Kolrem. Mister Skran demonstrated the strike/block/counterstrike techniques he wanted them to practice and, again, he stressed the importance of using proper technique with a blade. As they all practiced, Mister Skran’s corrections were swift and to the point. The teacher seemed to be everywhere at the same time, observing, correcting, reprimanding, and delivering open handed swats as he deemed necessary. Cooper quickly got lost, concentrating with each repetition, and before he was aware of the passage of time, class had ended. Kolrem was shaking his head, causing Cooper to ask, “What is it?”. Kolrem kept shaking his head as he replied, “There’s just no ‘quit’ in you anywhere, is there?”. Cooper smirked, “I save it for the end of each day.”. At that reply, Kolrem slapped a hand across Cooper’s shoulders, “Well said, Mister Cooper. Well said. Now let’s see what feast our lovely ladies have prepared for us this evening, shall we?”. Cooper had decided that the more he came to know Kolrem, the more likeable he became.
Master Brais became more insistent about silent movement. He began to impose penalties for making excessive or unnecessary noise. Penalties were usually in the form of ‘taking a turn on the Trap’, which was always a humbling and occasionally painful experience. Not a single Movement Class went by that Cooper didn’t think at least once about how it would feel when he would be allowed to Flow across whatever course Master Brais had prepared for them. He tried not to let those thoughts distract him. He needed his full concentration to move with both agility and silence; or at least as silently as possible. Master Brais would usually demonstrate each course or series of obstacles, and generally speaking, if Cooper hadn’t observed with his own eyes and ears he wouldn’t believe that such movement was possible without making noise. But there was the Master gliding and fairly flying through the course without a sound, then looking behind him with an expression of expectation in his eyes.
Cooper couldn’t help but notice that he had two instructors that he could possibly pass on the street and not recognize unless he heard them speak. He’d never yet seen Mister Skran’s face except for his mouth and chin, and hadn’t seen anything of Master Brais’ face other than his eyes and bridge of his nose. He’d began to wonder if there was some reason for these two instructors’ desire to conceal their features to the point of anonymity.
Tonight’s class, Cooper managed to avoid the Trap. He wasn’t silent, but he’d evidently been quiet enough to satisfy his instructor’s expectations. It was good to end the day on a high note. He was on his way back to his room, looking forward to a quick clean up and then sleep, then he remembered he had family diagrams to study as well as receiving tutoring from Treanna on customs and mannerisms. Oh, his day wasn’t nearly over yet.
Trea was waiting for him when he arrived. He couldn’t help returning her smile, despite his fatigue. He soon learned that her method of memorization of the customs and mannerisms was to create a persona for each culture. That persona embodied all the traits, mannerisms and peculiarities for that culture. Cooper was astonished at how easy it was to remember all that information by simply using her method. People, even imaginary ones, are easily memorable; while a list of customs and mannerisms is easily forgettable. Any time he wanted to create a role, all he had to do was make adjustments to that persona and tone down some of the attributes and mannerisms, and perhaps do away with a few of them, and he could create a multitude of fictional persons based off that one persona. If he was required to assume the role of an actual person, knowing the nation of their origin would help fill in some of the blanks if he felt uncertain how he should react to certain circumstances.
Each night for the rest of the week, Trea helped him create his personas that would help him to retain as much information as possible. She then improvised several scenarios for him to adopt the persona for that night, displaying all combinations of mannerisms and customary responses, which usually resulted in bouts of laughter from the both of them. By the third night of practicing this way, both Aden and Osrim began listening in and even taking part in the scenarios, which resulted in even more amusing improvisations. Within two weeks, Cooper could shift with little preparation between personas as Trea would give him cues to indicate that she was changing the scenarios and telling him which persona to assume next.
Over the following days and weeks, Etiquette class even began to become a little bit entertaining, or at the very least, it was no longer a source of dread.
Chapter 29
Master Darius conducted the test on Locks on the third day. Habbon and Neril also participated in the test. The written test consisted of one hundred questions about various locks, how they worked, where they were vulnerable and how they could be bypassed. Several questions were designed so that a short answer could not sufficiently answer the question. Master Darius had the foresight to leave larger spaces after those questions before introducing the next one. Cooper finished quickly, since he’d applied the last advice he’d received from Felis to every written test so far. Once everyone had finished their answers and turned in their test sheets Master Darius divided the class into five lines, each leading to a table at the front of the room. Each table had two locks on it. He explained that due to time constraints and the number of students testing, each student would get only four minutes maximum at each table. Once they’d picked each lock and set them down, he would inspect them. Once he’d verified they’d successfully opened them, he’d record their time and send them to the line leading to the next table. This would continue until they’d finished at each table. Their grades would be based on how many locks they successfully picked, and how quickly they’d succeeded. As long as they picked all locks within the allotted time, they would also pass. He informed the students that it was also possible to fail with any one lock and still pass, as long as they were fast enough with all other locks. However, if they had taken more than three minutes at any one table, they would need to pick all locks to pass.
T
he next hour seemed to drag itself out without end except for the few minutes that Cooper spent at each table. He’d had a little trouble with one of the locks, forcing him to release the pins and start over. On that lock he’d spent more than a minute, but less than three at that table. Other than that, he’d spent less than a minute with any single lock. When all time had elapsed and the results were tallied there were only two boys that failed, Neril and one other boy that Cooper hadn’t met. Cooper congratulated Osrim, who’d spent more than three minutes at almost every table but successfully picked all the locks. Cooper learned that the written test and practical test were graded separately. Each had to be passed on its own merits and the scores were not combined or averaged. The other boy that failed, had failed the written portion.
Etiquette class had become easier, not only because he was starting to organize the material in his head, but also since he’d started to become more aware of how he’d likely be able to apply what he’d learned. Using Trea’s methods, he’d created a few personas and was able to draw from them to play the various roles required while in class. He recognized the importance of the class, but he still couldn’t claim to enjoy it.
That day in the Training Room, Habbon asked a question that caused Mister Skran to halt the class and gather them up. Once gathered, Mister Skran asked Habbon to repeat his question. Habbon was looking at his shoes, shifting his weight from side to side. Mister Skran’s voice had a touch of a growl as he tried to sound patient, “Mister Habbon, you are not in trouble and I am not ridiculing you. You asked a legitimate question. Others have likely wondered as well and I’d prefer to answer it one time in front of everyone and have done with it. Please repeat your question.”. Habbon nodded, “Sir, if our Talents will determine our specialties and to some point, our abilities, why do we spend so much time practicing?”. Several students were looking at each other, apparently several of them had indeed wondered but left the question unasked. Mister Skran scanned the faces of the students, “I want you all to listen carefully. My answer will address Talent as well as the importance of practicing.”, he paused to make sure everyone was listening, “For those with sufficient affinity, or Talent, the manipulation of an element to create an effect is as simple as visualizing it, directing the necessary energy, and maintaining a certain degree of concentration. For some things that are basic, it takes next to no effort and can be maintained, even while the person performs normal tasks… as long as they don’t lose their concentration. For example, you can walk and add small numbers at the same time. Neither task suffers, since both are simple and require almost no concentration. Now try adding those same numbers while walking a tightrope stretched between two buildings. You’re still walking while trying to add numbers, but the amount of concentration required has changed. Affinity, or strength of Talent has nothing to do with it. In order to accomplish this, one needs to practice those actions enough that it doesn’t require so much concentration to perform them. This is why I say (points to a sign above the doorway), “Ability is some combination of Talent and effort. Of the two, effort must be refined and Talent is commonly taken for granted.”.
In Movement Class, Master Brais had dimmed the lights. It was still light enough to see everything in the immediate surroundings, but dim enough that objects that were fifteen feet away couldn’t be seen clearly. Master Brais explained, “Most of your work will be done at night. I would question why that is, except that it certainly does make it easier to trespass during the dark hours. In order for you to be effective, you must be able to function in the dark. Hence, your current situation. I have set up a low course, close to the ground with some safety nets on those particularly challenging points. Once you have completed the low course twice in succession in one class without falling, you will ‘graduate’ to the elevated course. I must warn you, the elevated course has no safety nets. If you fall there, you’ll have a few moments to contemplate your foolishness before you reach the ground.”. He was in no hurry to move to the upper course, but the lower course held only a small challenge and even then only on those “particularly challenging points” that Master Brais had mentioned. If it weren’t for the fact that the room was darkened he might not even have to slow down for those spots. He completed the lower course four times, but only because he fell once during his second trip around. The elevated course wasn’t much more difficult, the main issue stemmed from the fact that the low point of the course was thirty feet above the ground. He was almost finished with his first circuit around the elevated course when he saw Rukle climbing up to join him. Cooper reached the first platform just before Rukle climbed up from below. As Master Brais had dictated, he made no attempt to assist him. As Rukle gained the platform and stood beside him, both boys were in control of their breathing, but that both had exerted themselves was obvious. Rukle spoke first, “How is it?” Cooper shrugged, “Easy enough if you ignore the height.”. The boy nodded, “If it’s all the same to you, go ahead and start your second circuit. I’ll let you get ahead enough before I start so I shouldn’t interfere. I’ll go around a couple times for familiarity before increasing my speed.”.
Cooper hadn’t finished his third circuit before Kolrem started his way around the elevated course. As Cooper was on his way back to the first platform, Master Brais voice came up from below, “It appears to be getting crowded up there. Cooper climb down and follow me.”.
Master Brais led Cooper to a small room set up as a living room with a central table, a sofa and a few chairs. Master Brais went around the perimeter of the room, dousing lanterns, leaving a single candle lit on the table and one other candle on an end table between a chair and a sofa. His teacher sat down at the table clasping his hands together and spoke, “There is much more to Movement than balance, agility, and speed. Stealth plays as much of a role as any of those other skills. My class also covers Stealth Training. I understand from speaking with one or two others within the Guild that stealth skills are not unknown to you. We will start your stealth training now, but first I wish to assess your current ability. You start on that side of the room and I’ll wait on the opposite side in the shadows. Your task is to cross the room undetected by me, if you can.”.
Cooper looked around his side of the room. There were several shadowed areas to choose from but several paths to the other side of the room had obstacles or spots that were illuminated. Master Brais had shifted back into the shadows after giving him his instructions. If Cooper knew where he was he could use the furniture to conceal his movements through lighted areas, but once his teacher had backed into the shadows he’d completely lost sight of him. Cooper paused only briefly, long enough to take one breath and let it out. He slid to his left and entered a shadow. He crouched down and then knelt on one knee. He absorbed the shadow and let the shadow absorb him. Once he felt hidden he began his movement. Between two darkly shaded areas there was the table that was dimly lit by a small candle. Since the candle set on top, the area below was also cast in shadow. The difficulty was in approaching the table and getting out from under. Passing under the table would allow Cooper to cross halfway across the room. If he managed that there was only one other obstacle he had to work around, a chair with an end table. The end table had a similar candle, but staying in the shadow of the chair shouldn’t prove too difficult. Cooper eased himself toward the table, watching the flickering candle and casting his eyes around for indications of where Master Brais had tucked himself away. There was no sign of him but Cooper had picked out a spot and was just thinking, “That’s where I’d be if I were him.”, but it was more than just a thought, it was a sense of where he felt his instructor was positioned. In fact, he felt sure enough about it that he decided to cross under one side of the table rather than right up the middle, where the shadows were deeper. If he passed under the right hand edge, the chair might partially obscure his instructor’s view of him, if his instructor was where Cooper thought he was. Cooper dropped to his knees and elbows as he moved under the table. He stopped f
or a minute or two and lay down fully on the floor. He felt completely concealed in the shadow under the table. Cooper chose his path and decided he’d risk raising to a crouch once he came alongside the chair. It was too difficult to move silently on elbows and knees. He heard his clothing rustle and whisper as he brought himself up from his prone position and he froze, and waited. He heard no other sounds. As he drew closer to the chair he raised to his hands and knees and once he was beside the chair he started to move behind it and come up into a crouch. He heard Master Brais’ voice, “Stop. You are silhouetted against the light from the candle on the table behind you.”. Cooper dropped his head. He hadn’t thought of that. His only consolation was that Master Brais was right where he’d thought he was. His teacher stepped out from the shadow and was staring at him intently with a strange expression on his face. “Very well, we will need to work on your awareness of your surroundings. Your use of shadow was excellent and your route selection is almost uncanny. I will need give our session some consideration.”.