Stoelians, the people that can manipulate the earth around us, simply refer to their stages as Stage One through to Stage Seven. They have no use for any titles and spent much of their early stages as a power just trying to survive.
Excerpt: An Examination of Power – Shouza Namano
Sammath smiled lightly as he watched Ashe fall asleep while leaning against the rough stone of the alcove. Anything was comfortable if you were tired enough, “Get some rest, buddy. You can have some food tomorrow when you wake.”
Across the fire from Sammath, Erin sat, lost in thought, as he slowly roasted the birds over the campfire, staring deeply into the flames. Eventually, the red-headed girl voiced what was on her mind, “We’ll have to pick up the pace tomorrow. We may have had a free day today to travel slowly but, tomorrow, they’ll be on our trail with horses and dogs. If it were just us, I’d be confident in escaping without a fight but, with Ashe, I don’t think we can.”
Sammath just nodded. He knew it all, in fact he even agreed with Erin, but he wasn’t going to leave Ashe behind right after rescuing the younger boy and he didn’t think Erin would leave Ashe behind.
“Good. I’m just making sure you know what we’re in for.” Erin fell silent again after that, sitting for a little bit before getting up, “I’m going to scout the area and try to find some water. We need some right now and we’ll definitely need it tomorrow. Ashe especially, once he wakes up.”
Sammath just nodded once again and focussed his attention back on cooking. When Erin left, he closed his eyes and activated his Motion Sight, watching as the bright blue of her Motion glowed like a bonfire as she rocketed off through the forest, travelling faster than a bolting deer. Surprised by the girl’s sheer speed, Sammath re-evaluated his chances in a fight with her; while she only gave off the pressure of a Baron Stag - the Arikaran equivalent to Sammath’s own Volkarian Essence Stage – she was clearly a master of her abilities. In fact, Sammath thought, she’s probably even better at utilising her abilities than I am. And that’s saying something.
Sammath stared at the bird, interested in how it would taste. He’d never actually eaten, let alone cooked, any form of bird before, even though he knew that there were many forms of bird that were farmed and eaten outside of Volkar but Volkarians were primarily pescatarians. Sammath had eaten cow, goat and sheep before but very rarely, only when they were forced to put down one of their animals after it had broken its leg badly or had been hurt in a bad storm. Primarily, their animals were used to provide milk and wool.
Eventually, when Sammath judged that the birds were ready to eat, he pulled them off the flames and bit into one of them, idly noting that the kill had been expertly dressed. Sammath stuck the end of the stick with the other bird into the ground, leaving it for Erin to eat later. As the juices of the meat dribbled down his chin, Sammath found himself craving some vegetables and decided to ask Erin to forage for some mushrooms and plants they could eat. After all, while Sammath was familiar with the Volkarian plant life, that didn’t mean Sammath knew about the Arikaran flora and he could eat a poisonous mushroom just as easily as an edible one.
Before he knew it, Erin was back at the camp and she sat down next to Sammath, picking up her part of dinner. Chewing on the bird, which Sammath thought was probably cold, Erin seemed lost in thought. Sammath shrugged internally, figuring she would speak up if the information was pertinent, and lay back to stare at the night sky through the trees. Here and there, stars would twinkle through the leaves above and Sammath tried to count the number of stars he could see through the foliage. The longer he stared, however, the more stars he seemed to find, especially as the fire shrunk, and he eventually just gave up.
Closing his eyes, Sammath just listened to the sounds of the night around him and was startled out of a semi-meditative state when Erin spoke, “We should set a watch for tonight. I’ll take the first half, you take the second.” Sammath just nodded, without opening his eyes, but Erin continued on by volunteering what had been on her mind, “You seem pretty close with Ashe.”
“As close as two people could be in a few weeks,” Sammath answered, “He reminds me of the kids in my village. Sort of like a brother that I don’t care about as much as a real sibling.”
“So, you do care about him, right?” Erin asked Sammath.
Sammath opened his eyes for a few seconds to glance towards the sleeping form of Ashe, “Yeah. I suppose I do.”
“Then you should know, Sammath, that he’s too weak. Either we need to send him away or we need to raise him to the Baron Stage. He’ll be in danger even then, but at least it’ll mean that he can stand up to the guards. As it is, he’ll get us all killed as we try to protect him.”
Sammath opened his eyes and sat up, feeling like a conversation of that severity required his active attention, “You’re right, Erin but, to be honest, I have no idea how to do that. So, unless your Bloodline powers can magically summon a trainer who knows everything about Ashe’s specific Shinian Enchanting proclivity – which I think has something to do with Runes - and who is willing to work with him while we’re running from slavers, we’re just gonna have to roll with the Motion of the ocean. Oh, and that’s not to mention a trainer who knows how to increase Ashe’s power and is willing to rough it out for a few weeks or months.”
“Well, that’s the thing. We don’t need to find a teacher. We already have one. What I need you to do is ensure that we travel far enough each day and that Ashe isn’t too tired by the end of the day. Now that Ashe knows I’m a high-ranking noble, he’ll be too scared to let me carry him or help him keep up with us.”
Sammath nodded, “I can do that. It’ll be a little bit tiring but I should be able to with the help of my powers. What do you mean we already have a teacher, though. Unless you happen to not only be an expert with your weapons, your powers, and spying but also an expert teacher with deep, inside knowledge of how Shinian powers work and grow.” Erin didn’t respond and Sammath groaned, “Are you serious?”
“Well I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert teacher, but… my father ensured that I was very well-learned.”
“Oh, and let me guess, you also know how to juggle, gut the deep sea tenkari, bark like a dog, and play the hatch harp with your feet. All at the same time, of course.”
Erin hesitated before answering, “Well… I don’t know about playing the hatch harp with my feet and I doubt I can do all of that at the same time, but I can do all of them.”
“What the fuck!” Sammath exclaimed, swearing in front of Erin for the first time, “What in the deep, sweaty pits of hell was your education? Is there anything you can’t do?”
Erin smiled slyly and nodded, “I told you already. My father made sure I was taught a wide variety of subjects. Anything that I may need to fit in anywhere. In regards to your second question, yes. There is.”
Sammath waited for her to expand but, when she didn’t, he threw his hands into the air as though he were exasperated, “Well. What is it?”
“Why would I tell you that?” Erin asked Sammath.
Sammath groaned again and muttered to himself in Volkarian, “Of course I got stuck with frickin princess perfect over here. Making me feel inadequate. It doesn’t help that she happens to be gorgeous.”
Without missing a beat, Erin responded to Sammath in flawless Volkarian, “I’m not a princess. I’m a duchess. And why did you bring up how attractive I am? Are you…” Erin blushed, seeming genuinely unsure for the first time since Sammath had introduced himself to her, “Into me?”
Sammath, too floored that Erin spoke Volkarian, couldn’t process what Erin had actually said. At least not after a long, awkward gap in the conversation. Volkarian was a practically dead language except on Volkar so the fact that Erin had learnt the language only attested to her father’s commitment to her education. Once Sammath managed to get past that fact, however, he cracked up laughing, “No. I’m not into you, Erin. No offense, but you don’t do it for me. I’m more concerned about how many prospects you’ll pull away from me.
“As to the other thing, I couldn’t really care less. Saying you’re a baroness, not a queen is like a buffalo telling me that it’s not a bison. Either way, you both sound like bovines, you both smell like bovines, and you both act like bovines. A cow is a cow, no matter what fancy title you decide to put on it.”
After managing to rapidly regain control over herself after Sammath said he didn’t like her, Erin lost a very small bit of control when Sammath gave his cow analogy. Her mouth hung slightly open and her eyes widened very, very slightly, “Did you just… call the queen a cow?”
“I called everyone a cow. What of it?”
“You can’t just call the queen a cow!”
“But why not? I don’t think it’s illegal here. That would be a very stupid and pointless law. Even if I wouldn’t put it past an aristocracy.”
“Because she’s not a cow. She’s kind, if strict, and she’s most definitely not fat.”
“I don’t know what kind of cows you’ve been talking to but cows on Volkar are quite kind. They don’t push or shove any other cows and generations of being raised in a loving environment without any predators has made them quite docile. Pretty much the only thing you have to watch out for are the males when they’re randy. Also, why would cows be fat? Just like any other mammal, some are fat, and some aren’t. In fact, I should think being called a cow is a compliment. They’re loving animals but, when they feel threatened, can be quite powerful.”
“You talk to cows?” Erin was flabbergasted by the strangeness of the boy in front of her.
“Well, of course. All Volkarians do. Don’t you? We have found that cows make great listeners. They don’t judge or interrupt you and, sometimes, it just feels really good to have things out in the open. It really gives you some perspective to just release your thoughts to the world.”
“I have extensively studied Volkarian society and in no way, shape or form have I ever heard any mention of a Volkarian tradition of venting their emotions to cows. There is no way you’re telling the truth.”
“Well, to be fair, I may be embellishing the truth slightly,” Sammath admitted, “Not all Volkarians speak to cows. Different places tend to speak to different animals. Some may speak to goats, some may speak to birds, and others may speak to crabs, even if they can be vicious little things. In all your extensive studies of Volkar, don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the term ‘animal therapy’.”
Erin hesitated; that did actually sound vaguely familiar; and Sammath immediately caught on to her uncertainty, “Aha!” He exclaimed passionately, “You have heard of it.”
“Shhh,” Erin hushed Sammath, “You’ll wake the boy.” Sammath grimaced slightly and nodded, having been too caught up in his triumph to think about what may happen if he yelled. “And while there may be some truth to what you’re saying, I still stand by the statement that you shouldn’t be calling the queen a cow. In fact, you shouldn’t be calling any woman a cow. No matter how much of a compliment it is. In fact, I may not be as well-versed in colloquialisms as some people are but even I know that you won’t ever get with someone by calling them a cow. Speaking of which, you may want to grow some hair as well.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“That’s quite presumptuous of you.” Sammath stated, frowning playfully at Erin, “First off, I’ll have you know I was considered quite the catch in my village. I had both women and men vying for my affectations and the polished, gleaming dome of my head only helped. Secondly, how dare you assume that I want a woman. You wound me, oh great Baroness Sunrise Burning.”
Sammath burst out laughing when Erin once again lost control of her face, having feared that she’d made a huge social blunder. When Erin glared at him and motioned at Erin, Sammath rained in his celebration and simply revelled in the satisfaction of teasing the noblewoman. Oh, what a great life he lived.
“It’s Dawnblaze,” Erin’s voice had turned eerily calm, and Sammath immediately knew he may have pushed her a little too far.
Not really bothered, though, Sammath just waved his hand dismissively at the name, “Pot-ay-to, pot-ah-to. They mean the same thing, don’t they? Anyways, let’s just agree to disagree. I’m going to go to bed now. You take the first watch. Wake me up when it’s time for me to take over.” With that said, Sammath promptly rolled over and rested his head on his arms, smiling slightly as he heard Erin sigh and shake her head. It didn’t take long, though, before Sammath made true on his promise and fell asleep, darkness and dreams welcoming him into their grasp.
Sammath slept well, dreaming of the ocean. Clear skies above and waves beneath the bow of his boat, Sammath sailed over endless seas, deeply invested in understanding the nature of Motion. When Erin came over and tapped his shoulder, however, Sammath was immediately roused from his pleasant dream and aware of the world around him.
Stretching awake, he nodded to Erin and rose to his feet. Sammath watched as Erin went to lay down and get some rest, herself, before moving to find a spot from which to observe the camp. After a few minutes of moving between trees, Sammath found a good place to sit, comfortably sitting on a low-hanging branch and leaning against the tree trunk. While Sammath wouldn’t normally let himself lean back against the tree if he was on watch, this particular tree had a very nice knot in it that Sammath utilised to poke himself in the back and keep him awake.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the night passed uneventfully and Sammath scampered down the tree as the sun began peeking over the edge of the horizon. Erin woke before Sammath came within a few metres, but Ashe required Sammath shaking him awake, “Come on, buddy. It’s time to wake up.” Ashe groaned in response and tried to roll back over but Sammath didn’t let him, grabbing Ashe by the arms and slinging him over his shoulder.
“Alright, alright, Sam. I’m awake,” Ashe yelled, frantically, but Sammath pretended not to hear. Jumping up and down with Ashe on his shoulders, Sammath shook the younger boy around and Ashe, for all of his demands that Sammath ‘Let go of him’ maintained a very impressive grip on Sammath’s arms.
Laughing, Sammath set Ashe down on the ground and moved his shoulders around, making sure he was limber. Erin came over, “I’m going to quickly catch us some food. Make sure you’re ready for the day.” Giving Sammath a look, as though thinking he would forget to talk to Ashe about increasing their travel speed, Erin wandered of into the forest, quickly disappearing as she crouched down and moved through the underbrush.
“If I’m ever bicurious, I don’t think she’d be a bad choice.” Sammath muttered to himself.
“What was that?” Ashe asked the older boy and Sammath coughed.
“Don’t worry about it, Ashe. I was just talking to myself. I really should get out of that habit now that people are around.” Ashe just shrugged and looked toward Sammath. Sighing, Sammath walked over to the smaller boy, whose black hair was messily strewn about and who rested his hands on his knees as he watched Sammath and sat down next to him.
“Ashe,” Sammath began, “I feel like an old man right now, saying this, but we need to have a talk.”
Ashe looked towards Sammath, seemingly puzzled, “Why? I mean I know it’ll be about making our way to a city or something, but I thought we already had a plan.”
Sammath sighed, “It’s not about the plan, Ashe. It’s about the fact that you can’t physically keep up. Erin and I aren’t going to leave you behind, not after everything we went through to rescue you, but we won’t be able to outrun the guards if we’re limited to your speed. Yesterday was fine because the guards would have had to rally and contain the prisoners but now they will be coming after us and on horseback. If we maintain the same pace that we did yesterday, we won’t be able to keep ahead of them and will be run down within a matter of days.”
Ashe looked down and Sammath felt an icy grip seize his heart. Despite not wanting to hurt the boy, Sammath knew that he probably had, “Just leave me behind.” Ashe muttered, “I may not be strong but I won’t die. Not to them.”
Sammath was surprised by the certainty he could hear in Ashe’s voice. Ashe really did believe that he wouldn’t die. Sammath looked at Ashe appraisingly, feeling the decidedly lacking strength of Ashe’s Dawn Stage aura and wondering what the boy was hiding. Despite not feeling anything that would verify Ashe’s claim, Sammath felt himself believing the younger boy, “Be that as it may, we’re still not leaving you behind, Ashe. That’s why I’m going to carry you.” Ashe immediately began protesting and Sammath shushed him, “I’m not done. I will be carrying you, not just for speed but so you aren’t too tired for Erin to train you. I don’t know exactly how but she said she’d be able to, and I believe her.”
Pretty much right on time, Erin walked over with their breakfast and Sammath felt that that had been intentional. As quickly as he safely could, Sammath cooked the animal and served it up to everyone, “We really should eat something other than dead animals,” Sammath remarked to the others as he chewed, “It can’t be healthy to just subsist off of meat.”
Neither Ashe nor Erin responded to Sammath’s attempt at conversation but he didn’t really care. If they didn’t want to talk, they didn’t have to. With that decision made, everyone finished their meal in silence before they set out for the day.
Even with Sammath weighed down by Ashe, the group made far more progress than they had the previous day, with Sammath using his Motion and Erin using her raw physical strength. When the sun sank below the horizon, Sammath’s arms and legs were mildly sore but apparently nowhere as bad as Ashe’s; the boy had been complaining nearly all day. After Erin had caught their dinner, the three of them sat down and ate before Erin looked at Ashe, “Ashe, I think it’s time we begin your training today. To begin with, I need to know which of the eight manifestations of Shinian magic you have.”
“None of them,” Ashe replied immediately.
Erin nodded; that wasn’t completely outside of her expectations. The magic that someone was born with wasn’t completely defined by what country someone was born on as, while magic was typically labelled by the country it was common in, it was quite common for people to be born with a different type of magic if they lived on the border between two powers. If their parents happened to have different types of magic, it was even more common.
“Okay, then, where does your magic come from? Which of the powers?”
“Shinia.” Ashe said, and both Erin and Sammath frowned.
“How can your magic not be one of the Shinian magic manifestations and not come from Shinia?” Sammath interjected.
“I think he’s saying that his magic is a unique manifestation,” Erin answered Sammath’s question before continuing on with her line of thought, “And that is very, very interesting indeed. I’ve never actually heard of a completely unique manifestation before.”
“What do you mean by a unique manifestation?” Sammath asked Erin, having never heard the term before.
“Well,” Erin began, “You know that each of the great powers have a different kind of magic, yes?” Sammath nodded, “Volkar has Concepts, Arikar has Bloodlines, Shinia has enchanting, the Order of the Solar Storm has cultivation, Atra Oblor has Faith, etcetera. There are some powers whose magic tends to vary wildly and some that it stays very strict and rigid for. No one knows why, only that it does. Unique manifestations are powers that haven’t ever been seen before. In places like Volkar, where people understand the world for power, this is quite common. Everyone has their own understanding of the world so, even if two people understand the Ocean, their powers might differ wildly.
“In Arikar, the magic is more structured. People generally have Bloodlines that are passed onto them from their parents. Bloodlines aren’t completely fixed, however, and people can gain a unique manifestation when their parents’ Bloodlines mix to form a new Bloodline or when they receive both of their Parents’ Bloodlines. Unique manifestations can also happen when two people from different powers have children. For example, my father’s brother had a child with a woman from the sects and my cousin absorbs heat and light Qi straight from the sun, through his Bloodline and into his core, with the aspect. He can’t use Bloodline powers but his abilities are still a unique manifestation of powers.
“Shinia, however, has very defined powers. I’ve only ever heard of people that have had unique limits imposed on their power. Not unique manifestations. For example, there are some Shinians who have their magic limited in scope to only being able to affect the element of fire or the element of water but, within that range, they are stronger than any other mage. To have a completely unique manifestation is unheard of.” Sammath nodded his understanding as Erin explained everything. “Ashe, what can your power do? Do you think you can demonstrate for me?” Erin’s curiosity seemed to have been piqued and Sammath could admit that his own had been, too. If Erin was right, then Ashe would have a completely unique power.
“I… can demonstrate it for you.” Ashe replied, “But I would be too exhausted to do anything afterwards. It takes too much power to do more than one thing at a time.”
Erin nodded her understanding, “Alright. Can you just explain it to us, then?”
Ashe glanced at Sammath, who nodded his encouragement, and took a deep breath, “My power’s a bit weird. I kinda just write on the world.”
“You do what?!” Sammath exclaimed, disbelief causing him to involuntarily stand.
Ashe just shrugged, “Someone I know says that I have the ability to write on the fabric of Reality. Whatever that means.”
Erin and Sammath glanced at each other in shock, neither of them able to say anything but both of them understanding the implications of Sammath’s power. Shinia was known as the strongest of all the powers for a reason. While Shinians tended to be weak individually and without any time to prepare, no one wanted to give a Shinian even a few hours notice of an attack. When a Shinian had time on their side, they became absolutely terrifying on the battlefield. When it was then taken into consideration that they’d had decades to strengthen their defences, design new weapons, and create all manner of Enchantments to absolutely obliterate anyone on the battlefield, no power would dare to attack Shinia. Even people from the Ring, a city that housed many of the most powerful criminals and criminal organisations in the world and was located in Shinia’s borders, didn’t dare to harm even a hair on the head of a Shinian citizen who wasn’t inside of the city. If they did, dozens of Regent level weapons that had been charging and storing power for decades, if not centuries, would be fired at the city without hesitation.
But the fact was, Ashe didn’t need preparation. Shinians only needed preparation to get their materials in order. Enchanting, while it took a lot of practice, could become extremely quick and many powerful enchanters could create powerful enchantments within minutes, even if it wasn’t their best work. Gathering the materials that could hold and channel power without falling apart was the reason that it took time for Shinians to work. If Ashe could write on the very fabric of reality, without needing any materials at all, he could write an Array to conjure a typhoon in within minutes of notice, which would make him one of the strongest people in the world.
“Ashe, I’m sorry but we need you to show us the ability. Without seeing it, we can’t actually determine how to go about training you.”
Ashe sighed, “Alright. But that means I probably won’t be able to do much for the rest of the night.”
Closing his eyes, Ashe seemed to be reaching for his power. Sammath watched as his finger lit up with Ink, the energy that the Shinians used, and he began Engraving upon the fabric of the world. Initially, when Sammath looked at the Rune as it was being Engraved, it just seemed like he was writing in the air with glowing energy. When Sammath looked closely, however, he could see that wasn’t the case. Where Ashe wrote his Runes, the world seemed to shimmer and sway like air on a really hot day. When Sammath closed his eyes and used his Motion Sight, it was like nothing existed in the space where Ashe was writing; as though the world simply didn’t exist. Blacker than anything that Sammath had ever seen before, it was like staring into a true void. Sammath opened his eyes and deactivated his Motion Sight, unsettled by the complete lack of Motion in Ashe’s Runes.
“I think he’s telling the truth, Erin,” Sammath said and she acknowledged him with a nod of her head and a finger pressed to her lips. Sammath glanced at Ashe. Despite shaking and sweating with the exertion and concentration, the boy’s finger remained steady as he finished the last stroke of the Rune and slumped down in exhaustion. A small breeze blew by Sammath and Erin, ruffling their hair and shaking the leaves on the bushes by them.
“Well done, Ashe.” Sammath offered encouragement to the exhausted boy.
“Indeed,” Erin added, “I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised by the amount of control you exerted. Both over your finger and your Ink. Most Dawn stage Shinians would have wavered near the end at least, weakening or ruining the Rune. Your Rune, however, was practically flawless.”
“Practically?” Ashe panted.
“Yes, there were one or two errors but they’re something you should be fixing by the Viscount Stage. Nothing you need to worry about now.”
“I’ve had…” Ashe had to pause and take a breath in, “A lot of practice.”
“And it shows.” Erin remarked. Pausing, she seemed to take the boy in, “Do you think you’re up to show me which Runes you know? Or tell me what their names are if you can remember.”
Ashe looked up, “How would… I show you?”
“Just write them in the dirt. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just good enough that I know where to begin.”
Ashe nodded, “I can… do that… just give me… a few minutes… to catch my breath.”
Erin nodded, sitting down to wait, “That I can do. Just let me know when you’re ready.
And so began the daily routine of Erin, Ashe, and Sammath. Every day, they would travel from dawn to dusk, with Sammath carrying Ashe as he used his Concept to increase his speed and Erin running. From there, Erin would take Ashe hunting and, sometimes, have him engrave a Rune to try and startle or hurt their prey. After dinner, Erin would have Ashe Engrave a Rune on the world, if he hadn’t already, and then would work on expanding Ashe’s knowledge of Runes afterward. After about a week of travel through increasingly mountainous, forested terrain their relatively casual journey came to an end, as all good things are wont to do.