Milling

Recollection: Frein Nivan

Subject: Frein Nivan’s Training

Timeframe: Day 33rd of 300, approx. 5 months before the war

“The way you said it, I thought at first, each species on Brymeia had their own way to utilize meiyal. Like Meiyal Arts are for humans.”

Frein sat in meditation, Katherine in front of him concentrated under the same posture while Schrodie stood in the middle.

Today, they spent their training on a familiar environment. Frein dubbed it The Relativity Temples, referencing a famous painting of stairs he once saw. Only, in place of the seven confusing stairs were rainforest islands with their own orientations interlinking with each other through waterfalls.

Seven islands with seven temples. Each, as Schrodie claimed, with a specific purpose in relation to training. The second island, for example, was supposed to be the best place to train for Milling.

Frein couldn’t tell the difference.

“Did I?” the Gatekeeper contemplated. “I remember saying it has to do with the territories. Sometimes a small group branches out, but generally they fall under a category. Go, five minutes.”

“So, it won’t be surprising to find an orc or an elf Drawing Meiyal Arts?”

“You’re already reading some books?”

“A lot to catch up on.”

Frein was concentrating, he had his eyes closed.

Because he did not acquire his meiyal system from birth, his own internal meiyal were too blocky to Mill properly—according to Schrodie. He focused on the image in his mind, grinding his internal meiyal into granules, to powder, to particles, enough to bind with every bit of Gathered meiyal. It was taking too long, but he quickly realized it wasn’t as taxing as Katherine said it would be.

The Seeker had her own eyes closed, frowning.

“Interesting,” Schrodie said, she walked in a circle around the two, observing. “And yes, you’re correct Meiyal Arts aren’t strictly for humans.

“To clarify, most of today’s disciplines have nothing to do with species or race. It simply depends on which discipline the would-be practitioner starts learning first, this is heavily influenced by the circumstances of their birth or who their parents were.”

“But you gave me a meiyal system based on Katherine’s ancestral development,” Frein interjected.

“Because you don’t have the time to grow yours,” Schrodie pointed out.

“Fair enough.”

“Yes. Technically, a newborn child, no matter their species will have a dormant meiyal system. As soon as they start Drawing meiyal, their system will then adapt for Meiyal Arts. It doesn’t hinder them from transitioning to a different discipline, but it will be more difficult and generally not recommended.”

“Drawing? You mean…”

“Gathering and Milling are essentially the same across most disciplines, they simply have different names.”

Frein pondered for a while. “It feels like learning your first language.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it.”

“Which means it’s possible to learn multiple disciplines?”

“Improbable, but not impossible.”

“Now, when you mentioned technically…”

“Means there are some exceptions. Better for another time. Four minutes.” Schrodie took Frein's attention with a gesture, pointing over her wrist as if to point on a wristwatch.

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Frein finished grinding his batch of internal meiyal, now it was time to Mill them all together. The first time he had done it, it was like pressing his own batch into the Gathered meiyal. There had been resistance, it simply wasn’t the way.

The key was to maintain a consistent flow. Frein found it easy to visualize a rotating flow. His Gathered meiyal waited in a vat with a rotator in the middle, then he poured his internal meiyal over it while maintaining rotation. According to Schrodie, this was the initial process of the Mix Milling form.

“That should be good enough. Next. Two minutes,” the Gatekeeper noted.

“Right.”

Frein’s dispersion time was exactly five minutes.

After the initial mix, it was time to move to the Perpetual-Layered Milling. Frein visualized large dispersion rollers, like a dough roller but larger and mechanicalized. He started with a pair.

Slowly but surely, he ladled the mixed meiyal onto the rollers, flattening them and pressing the bond of both internal and Gathered meiyal down to their very particle.

It was easier to visualize than to actually perform the process.

“Time,” Schrodie said.

Frein broke his concentration, feeling the dispersion of unbonded meiyal from his body.

“About ten percent,” the Gatekeeper noted. “Steady improvement.”

“It was nine last time,” Frein complained, feeling a slight exhaustion. He trusted Schrodie’s interpretations. For him it felt the same, power within his grasp simply vanishing into nothing.

“A point earned is a point better than before. Just don’t lose the point.”

There was a touch of power. He felt the weight, light like water cupped in one hand. It was nothing close to the feeling compared to when he used Katherine’s gift on the night he almost died.

There was frustration in it. He longed for that same feeling, but after trying for days and nights, ten percent was all he had to show for it.

Frein calmed himself before the frustration surfaced. No point in dwelling too much into it, practice and training were his only answers.

“How come, she’s still concentrating?” Frein pointed at Katherine.

“Hmm…” Schrodie paused, trying to figure out how to explain.

Frein expected some physical trait to manifest out of the Gatekeeper. Just a few seconds later, he saw a flash of pink. Schrodie’s hair was pink and long, longer than her entire body, with waves and volumes that would be very well double her weight. He would’ve missed it if he wasn’t waiting for it.

It was getting easier to predict.

“It would be easier if you knew how to Draw an observation Art. But to put it simply, while you’re working on one Milling batch, Katherine was working on—I would guess—seven.”

“Twelve,” Katherine corrected.

“Twelve. She just started five more batches.”

“You can do that?” Frein almost shouted, realizing now why Katherine was straining herself.

“Why not?”

“Wow.” Frein relaxed, observing Katherine, admiring her until something caught his eye and jogged his memory. “Oh yeah, I meant to ask: why is Katherine’s meiyal system floating like that? In all the books I’ve read so far, they’re all supposed to be tattoo-like.”

“They’re special for two precise reasons,” Schrodie began. “They’re evidence of one’s viability as Seeker for one, and that’s because of the second reason—because of this type of meiyal system, she doesn’t have a dispersion time limit.”

Frein jumbled the information in his head, finding the right resources of what he’d learned so far. Schrodie had presented the information with a touch of gravitas, obviously projecting certain expectations from him.

He observed his own meiyal system. From the day he had successfully Milled, he unsealed his first mark. Milled meiyal was stored in that mark, not fully. He had no concrete feeling or estimate on how much of the mark was filled, only that with the way he was Milling, it would take him forever to fill up one of the two he currently had.

When he tapped into that stored power, the mark hissed a slight glow. He couldn’t help but compare himself to Katherine again. Hers was a vibrant combination of prismatic colors, elegant and eye-catching.

“Ah!” The idea clicked in the Visitor’s head. “That means you can Gather as much as you want!”

“As much as you can,” Schrodie corrected.

Frein nodded, turning to Katherine, he didn’t care if she was still meditating. “So, when you went to Earth, you filled up your meiyal system and then Gathered for spare stock, Milling as you need them.”

“Yeah,” was the Seeker’s only response. Still deep in Milling, she couldn’t even afford to open an eye.

“A deep breath enough to last her for years,” Schrodie commented rather proudly.

It was a challenging concept to grasp, but Frein got the gist of it. He understood how it made the Gatekeeper proud.

“There was nothing to Gather on Earth,” he said.

Schrodie nodded. “The day you arrived, Katherine was running on fumes, she was essentially only using her own meiyal at that point.”

“You can Draw using just your own meiyal?”

“No,” Katherine replied.

“She was holding on to scraps of power,” Schrodie explained. “Gathering what meiyal she could claim back from a Drawn Art. It’s another high-level skill she had to learn before I gave her permission to start her mission. Very inefficient and quickens Art fatigue, but still useful.”

Frein made a mental note of at least returning to that topic once he has improved. There was a rather more interesting question in his head in the meantime.

“How long does it take you to fill up all your marks?”

Katherine was silent so Schrodie took the reins. “She was already full even before you began today’s training, Frein,” she said, much to Frein’s confused look. “That’s the second part of the Perpetual-Layered Milling form at work.

“Layering over what feels to be a full mark, pressing them ever thinner and adding on layers. You’ll quickly realize, the amount of meiyal you can store has nothing to do with your meiyal marks.”

Schrodie leaned forward as if to whisper a secret. On the side, just within Frein’s peripheral view, he noticed Katherine open her eyes and move her lips along with the Gatekeeper's profound words.

“It’s never about the marks.”

End of Recollection: Returning to the Present

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