Elsa bowed low. “We will not disappoint you.”
“Very well. Jenn will be your first instructor,” Yukiko said.
Jenn stepped forward. “Second training room. Let’s go.”
As the children filed out, led by Elsa and followed by Jenn, Victoria smiled. “They’re so cute.”
“They are,” Gregory agreed. “We get the first training room.”
Daciana was already moving, eager to fight.
“We’ll be fighting in rotation,” Yukiko said as they trailed Daciana. “Loser steps off, and the next person in line fights. This way, everyone has a chance to practice and, as we’ll be going for most of the day, you should get the chance to face everyone multiple times. After an hour, I’ll be switching with Jenn to train the children, then Gregory will switch with me.”
“Then we’ll pause for a snack and meditation,” Gregory said. “Once that is done, we’ll go back to sparring, and the children will be watching those fights, since I’m sure they’ll do their best today.”
“Understood,” Nessa said.
“This is all unarmed and without aether, right?” Victoria asked.
“That is correct,” Yukiko nodded. “This is the best we can do to help get you ready for the first tournament.”
“And we thank you for it,” Nessa said.
“Thank us afterward,” Gregory chuckled. “You saw the pain we endured over the last five days? Today is your day.”
~*~*~
The hours slipped by as they sparred. Daciana was aggressive, but controlled in her actions. Nessa was more cautious, ready to capitalize if given an opening. Victoria had the roughest time of it— she was the least trained among them, but she kept picking herself up and asking questions to improve.
When Gregory went to the children, he could see the tiredness in their faces, so he went a little slower. He corrected as needed, but made sure that none of them were pushed too hard. Elsa was nearly vibrating during the last hour, and Gregory just grinned as he watched her do her absolute best.
When their snack break came, they informed the children they would be able to watch them spar, which brought smiles to all their faces. Tea and small sandwiches helped rejuvenate the adults. The yard was quiet as they ate and meditated, with the children trying to copy them.
“There is one thing we wanted to tell you before we go to spar again,” Gregory said as they all got up. Seeing that he had all eyes on him, he cleared his throat, “Tonight, Yuki, Jenn, and I will be spending the night here.”
“Really?” Elsa asked with wide hopeful eyes.
“Yes. After our friends leave, we’ll have dinner, and after that, we were thinking of playing some games with all of you,” Gregory said.
The children began to chatter excitedly, each suggesting different things. Elsa cleared her throat after a moment, and they settled down. “We would love that,” Elsa said, “but that is after sparring, and we don’t want to distract you from that. I will speak with the others and we will have solid ideas about the games we’d like to play, if that’s okay?”
“That’ll be fine, Elsa,” Yukiko smiled. “We look forward to it as much as you all do.”
~*~*~
After they had finished sparring for the evening, Gregory was with the male children in the bath, the women and girls having gone first.
“What happened to your arm?” one of the youngest asked upon seeing the scars.
Gregory glanced at his arm before taking a deep breath. “Bane wolf.” Seeing the wide eyes and fear, he spoke on, “It’s fine. Bane wolves would never attack you here, but I grew up in a small village out on the northwestern fringe. On my age day, a bane wolf came into the village.” He glanced at the others and saw he had their rapt attention. “It was after a friend of mine, and I yelled at it. As I had just received my blessing from Aether, it decided to come after me instead.”
“Did you run?” one of the boys asked.
“I couldn’t,” Gregory said. “You see…”
He explained the whole attack to them, and even let them touch his scars.
“Will they go away?”
“Maybe in time, but I’ll have them for a very long time, according to the proctor who saved me.”
“But you saved your friend?” another spoke up.
“Gunnar is still alive, yes,” Gregory smiled. “Friends are important. They help you when you need it most.”
The kids all exclaimed that they were friends with each other, and Gregory grinned. “Good. Hold onto the friendships, help each other grow and succeed. Now let’s finish bathing. We don’t want the women to think we’re just lounging around in here.”
~*~*~
Freshly bathed and changed, the children rushed off to see if they could help with dinner. Gregory found his wives and the novices in the parlor.
“I thought you three were gone already,” Gregory said as he entered the room.
“We were just having a chat,” Yukiko said. “They’re leaving now, but they wanted to wait for you.”
“I’m glad I didn’t take longer, then,” Gregory chuckled.
“That would have been problematic,” Jenn agreed.
Victoria was the first one to Gregory. “Thank you... For doing this for all of us, but also for taking the extra time to explain things to me.” She bowed formally to him.
“You’re welcome. I know how hard it is to get your feet under you when you first get here. Luckily, you, like me, found friends to help.”
Victoria moved aside, and Nessa went to stand before him. “You’ve shown us that we can succeed, even without a great clan. We will give everything we have to show that we’re worthy of joining Aether’s Guard.” With a deep formal bow, she stepped aside.
“Nessa is right,” Daciana said, having taken her place without giving Gregory a chance to reply. “The help you give us… that all of you give to us,” she added, looking back to Jenn and Yukiko, “means a lot. I know I push more than they do, but that’s because I know I have to if I want to achieve what I want. Knowing that you support me... us in that gives me hope.”
When she stopped talking and bowed, Gregory shifted so all three of them were in front of him, and he bowed back. “The clan would be stronger with you. Moreover, you are friends, and that makes it even more important to help you. If you keep giving your all, I’m sure you’ll get to where you want to be.”
All three women blinked at him, and their cheeks pinked.
“They do need to be going,” Yukiko said, coming to stand between him and them. “Elsa, can you show them out?”
“Yes,” Elsa said, moving from where she’d been watching from beside the door. “Please follow me.”
Chapter Thirty-seven
Gregory waved goodbye to Elsa one more time as the three of them left Gin’s. Their evening of games and dinner with the children had left them happy, and training the next morning had been enriching and fun for all of them.
“It’ll be a month or more before we see them again, probably,” Gregory said a few minutes later as they walked down the street.
“Yes,” Yukiko agreed, “but it was good to see them. They all enjoyed spending time with us.”
“Elsa is almost a mother to them,” Jenn commented. “At the very least, she’s a very protective older sister. She broke up that argument faster than we could react.”
“Just using their names and a look,” Yukiko giggled. “My mother did the same to me a few times.”
“I’m sure all of our mothers did,” Jenn replied.
“Which shop were we going to first?” Gregory asked, wanting to push the topic away from mothers.
“Hemet’s is the closest,” Yukiko said.
“That’s our first stop, then,” Gregory said, taking a right at the next street.
The jingle of the bell announced them as they entered Hemet’s Curiosities. Hemet came out of the back and gave them a slight bow of his head. “How might I serve you today, Apprentices?”
�
�Hemet, it’s good to see you again,” Yukiko smiled. “We only need a few items and hope you have them.”
“I have many odds and ends,” Hemet grinned.
“Do you have storage earrings that can hold at least a middle-initiate’s aether?” Yukiko asked.
Hemet’s lips pursed and he looked into the distance for a second. “I believe I might. Is that all?”
“I hope you also have a ring that does the same. Greg doesn’t have pierced ears, so a ring would work for him.”
“Three storage items that can hold at least a middle-initiate’s aether?” Hemet asked to make sure that was all they were looking for.
“We could also use a dozen bane cores to recharge our rings,” Yukiko added after a moment.
“Let me see what I have,” Hemet said, going into the back.
“This is going to cost a lot, Yuki,” Gregory said softly. “Are you sure it’ll be okay?”
“Mother told me what limit I have with the bonds they left with me,” Yukiko said. “As long as we stay under that, it’s fine. If I go over, it’ll be okay, but I will need to explain to them.”
“We don’t need them, yet,” Jenn said. “My ring from the elder holds more than the earrings.” As she said that, a frown formed on her lips. “I don’t know what it can hold actually, as it hasn’t pushed back at me at all.”
Both Yukiko and Gregory looked a little surprised at her comment. Gregory was the first one to reply, “Lightshield said it was the ring of a woman that Aether favored. Maybe it’s like the medallion except it wasn’t already holding aether when Jenn got it?”
“Hmm… we could have Hemet examine it for us,” Yukiko said. “The ring,” she clarified when Gregory’s forehead creased. “He should be able to tell us how much aether it can hold.”
“Oh, that would be good,” Jenn nodded. “If it holds enough, we can pass on getting me another item.”
Yukiko pursed her lips, then nodded. “If it holds enough, but extra aether isn’t a bad thing.”
“I’m not arguing that, but why spend the vela on it now if my ring can hold enough?”
“She has a point,” Gregory said, siding with Jenn. “We’ll still want the ring looked at first before we decide one way or the other.”
“Agreed,” Jenn said.
“I will agree to those terms,” Yukiko said.
They had to wait another few minutes before Hemet came back. “I have good news and bad,” Hemet said, bringing a small case to the counter. “I have a few aether storage items, but only one set of earrings, and some of them are expensive.”
“Before we go further, we have a request. Can you examine a ring and tell us how much aether it can hold?” Yukiko asked.
“I can do so,” Hemet said, producing his monocle. “I do charge a flat fee to examine an item— one thousand vela.”
“Accepted,” Yukiko smiled. “Jenn?”
Jenn slipped the ring off and set it on the counter. “I got this from our clan leader for winning the second tournament. I’ve pushed energy into it every day since then, and it hasn’t given indication it is full.”
Hemet’s lips pursed as he picked up the ring. Setting his monocle in place, he stared at it, turning it over and over slowly in his hands. “Hmm... very intriguing. It’s also a storage ring with a large capacity. There’s also a faint trace of aether on the band... a glamor to hide a marking.”
When Hemet said those words, Gregory knew what the hidden marking was. A snippet of a vision came to him, showing the ring being held in a large, masculine hand. The inside of the band had the same markings that the temple had, but in tiny detail and with one difference— the triangle was replaced by an aether flame. Its flames went up to each circle instead of lines.
“I can erase the glamor, if you wish,” Hemet was saying as he removed his monocle. “As for how much aether this ring will hold...” One aged hand came up to stroke the wispy white beard. “All I can safely say is an elder’s aether, but possibly more. Your clan leader gave you this?”
“Elder Lightshield,” Jenn said, her eyes wide as she looked at the ring in Hemet’s hand. “An elder’s aether? And I have it?”
Yukiko stared at the ring, then glanced at Gregory, who stepped forward and held out his hand. Hemet exhaled sadly and placed the ring on Gregory’s palm.
“I couldn’t interest you into selling it, could I?” Hemet asked, though his tone gave away he knew what their answer would be.
“No,” Gregory replied kindly. “If the elder gave it to her, I’m sure he had a reason to.”
“Did you wish the glamor removed, at least?” Hemet asked.
“There’s no need,” Gregory said as he turned to hand the ring to Jenn. “I’m sure if we need to know, it’ll become clear in time.”
Meeting Gregory’s gaze, her eyes widened a little more and she took the ring, slipping it onto her finger. Yukiko took a step forward, making Hemet look her way.
“It seems we’ll only need two items instead of three,” Yukiko said, “though if you have a storage item— a belt pouch, for instance— I would be interested in that.”
“That all depends on how much storage space you want,” Hemet said. “First, though, let’s talk about aether storage…”
~*~*~
Gregory shook his head as they walked down the street. “That was much more than I thought it would be, Yuki.”
“They’ll last us for years,” Yukiko replied. “I only went over Mother’s budget by a little. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Jenn exhaled deeply. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how much vela your family is okay with spending.”
“Agreed,” Gregory nodded. “She only spends like that for us, though.”
Yukiko looked down. “I just want the best for us...”
“We know,” Gregory said, going to put his arm around her waist for a second before moving away a half-step. “We thank you for it, but it’s still staggering to me.”
“To us,” Jenn corrected. “And we aren’t complaining, Yuki, but that was nearly what my father makes in a year.”
“And more than my village would make in that same time span,” Gregory added. “It just reminds me of how lucky I was to be caught by you.”
“We were,” Jenn smiled. “Not only did she accept me, she also let me have a desire of my own.”
Yukiko’s lips turned up and she shot them both glances. “I will temper my spending for the rest of today... And I still feel like the lucky one. My heart accepted me, and then my best friend joined me in protecting and loving my heart.”
“The one thing we’ll never agree on,” Gregory chuckled, “is which of us is the luckiest.”
Both women laughed with him as they drew closer to the second stop.
~*~*~
“How can I help you?” the polite female voice asked as the bell chimed. “Oh, Warlin. How can we assist?”
“My name is Pettit now,” Yukiko gently corrected her. “All of us need to make sure our additives are as helpful as possible.” She pulled her medallion out. “As you can see, we continue to grow.
“And rapidly,” Rhea, the receptionist of Alvis Alchemy, said with surprise. “I’ll make sure the next batch of supplies reflects your current rank.”
“I’m one step behind them,” Jenn said, showing Rhea her medallion. “If it’s possible, could I have mine just a touch stronger so that I might match them in time?”
“A little stronger should be fine,” Rhea replied. “I’ll speak with Aldor just to make sure.”
“Thank you,” Yukiko smiled. “I was also hoping you had a dozen or so bane cores I could purchase.”
“Bane cores?” Rhea asked, puzzled.
“One of our enchantments requires cores to recharge them. This was the first place I thought of to get them,” Yukiko lied gracefully.
“Ah. Let me check our stock and see what we can spare,” Rhea said.
“More cores?” Gregory murmured when Rhea left.
&nb
sp; “A stockpile of them would be useful, and we all have storage items now,” Yukiko whispered back.
“That’s a good point. It’s also why the ring cost so much.”
Before Yukiko could reply to Gregory’s statement, Rhea was back. “We have nine that we can spare at this time. Is that sufficient?”
“That will do wonderfully,” Yukiko smiled. Placing a small pouch, which clinked metallically, on the counter, she asked, “How much?”
Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) Page 29