I stay awake a few more hours using Tanyth’s mirror for light as I make divinations for the two courses Martin said he was debating. Ultimately, we decide to try to use the winds around the storm to pick up speed, a manoeuvre he said he would never try on his own.

I get up early morning before dawn, dunk water on my face from a barrel on deck and meet Martin for his lesson, this time at the prow of the ship facing the rising sun. Right before we start though Edward comes with Edmond in tow and hands me a medium gold for five lessons in advance, saying he considered my offer and that it was cheaper than he’d get anywhere else.

Maybe I should have asked for more so he wouldn’t have taken up the offer, but I suppose the coin will help my mission and it’s not bad to make connections with supposedly important people. Though I question how important he can be if he lacks the coin for a better teacher. Maybe he’s a middling but well-connected functionary.

I start Edmond with a candle and tell him to repeat the cantrip for lighting it until something happens. Nothing does, but maybe he’ll feel the ‘eye’ tonight.

As for Martin I just go over the standard associated paradoxes while he’s in the eye’s gaze to help his mind form around the concepts he needs to understand.

Just simple things like ‘how can an arrow reach its target when in order to do so it must first reach halfway, and then halfway from that, and so on to infinity’. The answer is simple and won’t help, but thinking about it might.

Between directing the two of them I manage to finish learning missile guidance, which I reward Edmond’s not being as annoying as his father by giving a demonstration of. Tricks like hitting a pouch of stuff from behind some crates, or off his head while I’m not looking.

He seems very impressed, though rather calm. Perhaps he’d like a firestream better… I’ll save that for when he feels the eye.

The sun fully risen, I grab a quick bite to eat then head back to my room to check the array and study more advanced uses of the rods. About an hour later there’s a knock on the door that nearly startles me off the hammock.

“Hey.” I say cracking the door open to see Sarah standing in front of it.

“Hey. Kalen’s being annoying again. You mind if I hang here?”

I nod. “Yeah, just be careful coming in… Sorry for asking, do you mind handing me your sword first, so you don’t knock anything over?”

“Sure.” She says, surprisingly enthusiastic.

“Less hesitation than I expected from a squire.”

She laughs. “It’s not like you could kill me with it anyways, especially with the room as cramp as you say.”

“Right.” I feel a little offended of her dismissal of my prowess but push it aside. “Don’t open the door farther than this and scoot along the wall. Just make sure you don’t touch the rods or step on the map. Hammock or tiny chair?”

“Hammock of course.” She smirks as she hands me the sword and enters as instructed.

The manoeuvring is tense, and she nearly hits a rod several times, but stops an instant before with supernatural coordination, finally leaping on the hammock hanging high near the ceiling.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about it being cramp. What’s that?” She says pointing to the potted staff by the door as I carefully unfold the tiny chair to sit in the corner by the window.

“Staff, grows magic food… You can have some if you like.”

“Thanks!” I wince as she twists around in the hammock to reach down and grab a few berries, but she manages not to fall off onto the rods, so I smooth my face before she turns around again.

“They’re good. I feel great, like a tiny boon. Thanks.”

“They grow about once a day, so I’ll bring you some more.”

“Thanks, so what do you do in here all day anyways.?”

“I wait for those rods to fall.”

“Sounds boring.”

“…I actually just study magic, I set up the array to give me the most free time. Don’t tell the captain. I want him to think I’m constantly hard at work.”

She laughs. “Don’t worry. The rest of the guards just laze around all day too, except when we’re training. I see you have a new cudgel on your belt. The guard on the handle is like Kalen’s, did she give you that?”

“Yeah. She um, doesn’t seem to mind me as much as you. Something about me fulfilling other roles. Also said you don’t listen, but I don’t believe that.”

“Heh, yeah, figures she just has it in for me.”

“Well, I do get the sense the rest of the crew finds her scary, so maybe it’s not just you.”

“Well, that’s nice to know at least. So, tell me about yourself? Why are you heading to central? You’re from Caethlon right? See much fighting?”

“A little… I mean I’m from east Caethlon so the rebels weren’t as active where I was. I lived with my grandma who’s a hedge mage, so I was pretty safe. Things started drawing nearer so I figured it might be safer to leave and go take the exam at the big academy in central since I’m of the age and know a few things. I heard about the pacification at Salunt, but I figured I might as well keep going since I was already on my way.”

“Nice. I thought about trying the exam, but I had a good knight teaching me, so I figured I wouldn’t throw away a good thing for something uncertain. Hope you get in… Do you think you’ll have a chance?”

“… Maybe. I’m trying my best to expand my spell repertoire, hence negotiating a private room to study in. But I think it’ll depend on my mundane knowledge… Do you regret not going?”

“You ask questions straight, don’t you?”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine… I don’t know. It would have been nice, but I love the sea. My master is a famed knight mariner, which is what I’m working towards. I doubt I would have gotten better training in a land locked school for that goal, but maybe I would have made friends there and learned other things too. So, it’s hard to say. I guess pretending I made the right decision is better for my sleep, though I think it’s probably an even trade.”

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“Yeah.” I say, suddenly thinking about what I would have been like if I gave up Anar after leaving the cult, didn’t join the resistance, and just focused on learning magic. Maybe found a teacher who could have helped me train.

Useless thinking. My magic is probably at around the same level as I would have been, but my physical ability is far greater. Besides, I only gained the grimoire with the resistance, and there is no guarantee I would have found an equivalent source of knowledge, much less a teacher.

So why did I ask the question?

Pushing the thought aside I say “So why are you headed to central?”

“Oh, no reason. I’m just sailing around getting paid while honing my skills on pirates. I’ll probably hang around for the next couple of ports, assuming I figure out how to get along with Kalen. Other ships make me do crew work while I’m not fighting, and Sraw is paying well. After all, I have to do something to earn coin since I’m the fourth child, and so won’t be inheriting anything from the estate.”

“You’re a noble?” My skin suddenly itches. I manage to keep my face smooth for the time it takes to stand up to look out the window.

“Parents are. Minor barony off the coast. So small they can’t even get me married off. Fine by me– sea’s more exciting anyways. Though I wouldn’t mind getting a rich spouse. Maybe a noble, but they can’t be domineering about status. They’d have to be fine letting me have a sea life, and maybe go with me. Maybe someone like Martin. I heard his family is rich, and he has a softness I find comfortable… Maybe someone like you.”

“Me?” I say, not looking away from the window. The itching has lessened, but not stopped. Her being from such a minor nobility lessens her worth, as does not being the heir apparent. But it’s still nobility. I try not to think about how I retain less and less power from each regular sacrifice, and how even a minor noble will help reverse the trend.

“Yeah, well, you’re a mage so you can earn money easily. Plus, you haven’t displayed any personality traits I find annoying yet, so superficially you’re a pass. Though maybe not. There’s something about you that says I shouldn’t find out more, but that also makes me want to try. I don’t know. Maybe when you’re older, and graduate the academy you should find me, and we’ll see if we match. What about you? What’s your acceptable spouse like?”

“I… haven’t really thought about it.”

“Well, no reason not to, it’s fun. Thinking about yourself, and lives you’ll probably never have, but might.”

“… Alright. I suppose someone rich like with you… but I don’t think someone like Martin would do. I find soft bedding comfortable, but I don’t think a soft person would suit me. Perhaps the opposite then, and I should find someone like Kalen.”

“Pffft haha!” She laughs out loud. “Are you trying to get me to fall onto your fancy magic thing?”

“Why, you don’t think it’ll be a good fit? I told you, she treats me much nicer than she does you.”

“Yeah, maybe. Don’t know. Is it a martial prowess thing? I do admit her muscles are way more ripped than mine.”

“Yeah maybe. Though, not specifically Kalen. I’m just using her as a base to taste the idea. Maybe not though. You’re right, she can be a bit… erratic. Maybe I should have returned the favour and said someone like you?”

“Heh, as I said, wait until you graduate and then we’ll see.”

“Yeah… I do think that I’ll want someone with fighting ability though. Whether that’s a mage, knight, squire, or just someone who has a strong divine contract and a skilled sword arm.”

I don’t think I could stand the temptation otherwise.

“Well, you’ll find plenty of rich fighters where you’re going. Will you be trying to snatch a noble?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. But I wouldn’t be opposed.”

“No no. You’re supposed to say you’ll always be true to your promise to find me after you graduate.”

“… I don’t recall promising. That was just something you suggested on your own.”

“I’m hurt!” She theatrically grips her chest.

I smile at the performance. “So, how close are you to being a knight?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Hmm, oh, maybe a few years. My coordination and reflexes are where they need to be, but I need to about double at least two of my strength, resilience, or regeneration before my master will grant me the title.”

“And where is your master now?”

“Oh, working for another ship probably. She sent me out on my own for my ‘final test’ you could say. What about you, how far away are you from just smiting whole pirate ships out of the water?”

I shrug. “At least until I graduate. A cascade orb can probably do it, but my… grandma didn’t know how to cast them. Right now, I’m stuck at being a squad level asset.”

She grimaces, not seeming to notice my fumbling my cover. “’Asset’, who talks like that?” She scrunches her face. “It’s like you’re thinking about power in how you can benefit others, and not the freedom it’ll grant you.”

“… Is that why you’re training to be a knight? Freedom? I thought you had to take oaths and whatnot.”

She laughs. “That’s for landed knights. For knights of the sea? Well, all sailors love freedom. Otherwise, why leave home?”

“… I see.”

“You’re thinking so hard about it. Look at it this way. My master always told me that when I’m training I should think about the thing I want to be able to do, what gets me excited, not what I’ll be expected to. Cause when you impose your desire on the world it’ll respond better to things that come from within. It seems reasonable that mages are the same way.”

“… I didn’t think I would get magic advice from a baby knight.”

“Pfft, what, you think it’s that different for mages?”

“Maybe…”

Perhaps she has a point. Maybe I should focus on only learning magic I get excited by. Not thinking about what will get me in or help with my mission. Because if doing that helps me learn faster, then it’ll be helpful to my mission anyways.

Learning healing magic is mildly nice, but it doesn’t excite me the way growing plants on demand does. So, it’s probably better to switch. Who knows, maybe I’ll get something up to field level if she’s right about the universe responding better. I do still want to learn animal communication, and that’ll be much better if I can talk with them instead of just projecting emotions. I’ll probably dabble in healing when I get stuck on the others though.

“Your face says I might be right.” She says smirking.

“… maybe.” I say, not wanting to admit I got training from a squire.

She laughs, causing me to join her, but am cut off by a series of wood clanking on wood. I look down and see several rods pointing towards the coast several hundred miles away from us.

“Huh, must be something big if it’s not in our path.” I say.

“What is it?” She says, peering over the hammock with a fascinated look.

“Don’t know. The rods signify north, woe, and blood. Woe is just a catch all for anything I haven’t set up specifically for. It could be disease, famine, bad bards, anything. But whatever it is, it’s centred there. So, it probably won’t affect us.” I say, pointing to where the rods (stuck to the floor by magic) intersect.

“That’s port Malsas. A major trade city, even bigger than Salunt.”

“Huh, well I better perform some divinations just to make sure it won’t reach us.”

“Can you tell what exactly is going on?”

“Eh, yes, but it would take hours to attune my array to the likely possibilities, then hours more to change it back, and in the meantime I couldn’t use it for us. There are rituals that could narrow it down without dismantling the set up, but I haven’t learned those yet. I’ll try to figure them out, but it’ll probably take a few days at least.”

“All right… do you mind if I stay and watch you work?”

“Sure, just be quiet.”

She nods in assent, and I begin chanting to reset the fallen rods. By the time I’m done Sarah is snoring in the hammock. Only on hearing this vulnerability do I realize my itching has long since stopped. I focus on it to see if it wants to come back, and sigh in relief when it doesn’t.

I’ll need to think back on what went on here and figure out if I can replicate it.

With her sleeping I perform the main ritual, which produces vague but troubling answers.

Whatever is going on is growing over time but won’t reach us directly, at least not on this voyage. I’ll mention it to the captain so he can be on the lookout for any ships coming from the city just in case they’re a vector.

Even if they left well before the divination doesn’t mean they’re safe, since the trouble likely started sooner and just grew big enough for the divination to pick up, or maybe we just got close enough. Difficult to say.

Whatever it is though, I’ll object to any course taking us closer.

With that settled I sit back in the uncomfortable tiny chair and start reciting the chants for the plant grower spell to the sound of Sarah snoring.