Creating a Monster

Recollection: Katherine

Subject: Frein Nivan’s Training

Timeframe: Day 98th of 300, approx. 4 months before the war

“We’re creating a monster,” Katherine said, her eyes affixed on the man that was most important to her.

Frein would’ve accepted the comment with a smile if he wasn’t too busy focusing on his Milling. The man was alone at the center of an empty floor, while Katherine observed on a platform above. The space was empty and gray, noise reduced to an eerie quiet.

After he had learned about the Layered portion of the Perpetual-Layered Milling form and the possibility of Milling multiple batches at the same time, Frein had been hellbent on mastering them. With the addition of managing his dispersion time, Katherine couldn’t help but adore how much the love of her life had improved over just a short time.

“Eight batches with fifty percent efficiency. I’d say that’s a record.” Schrodie was beside her, observing as well. “What’s with the clothes, Kat?”

Apparently, he was observing both of them.

“Hmm? What about them?” Katherine wore a pair of micro-shorts covered by a white extra-large shirt that could fit both her and Frein. While they were nothing new to Brymeia, both articles originated from Earth.

“You never wore casual clothing during your training days,” Schrodie clarified.

“You never called me Kat either.”

“I’m easily influenced.”

“Well, so am I.” Katherine gave Schrodie a glance. Frein had told her when to expect the Gatekeeper’s seemingly random trait appearances. It was usually whenever he—or she, as Frein referred to her—contemplated on a certain topic, or whenever he arrived at a certain conclusion. Katherine had been noticing masculine traits; Frein’s observations were feminine.

After a while, nothing happened, so she continued. “I didn’t bring my formal training clothes anyway, left them when I went to Earth. Besides, I don't have a battle gear anymore.”

Schrodie’s distorted head made an obvious nodding gesture. “It suits you. To tell the truth, you look pretty with whatever clothing you wear.”

Katherine saw an opportunity and took it in a heartbeat. “Are you flirting with me, Schrodie?”

A mature face of a man blinked into reality for a split second, well-defined and affixed with dark blue eyes. He was stern, slightly frowning, and stiff as though he was pressing his jaws together to keep himself from smiling. The Seeker swore she saw mild blushing, but the moment was too fleeting to discern any further details.

Include panic on the list, then.

“It was a compliment, Kat. I’m too mature for you,” Schrodie said defensively. “Besides, it’s not in my nature to spoil a blossoming relationship.”

“Well, you’re being awfully sweet this time around.”

“Consider it as development of our friendship.”

“Considered. I guess even you would crave casual conversations every now and then. Everyone else in Brymeia literally worships you.”

“I wouldn’t call it worship, Kat. Most prayers are still directed to the Forgotten Deities, or to Brymeia herself. Revered, maybe.”

Katherine frowned, confused. “How do they pray if they’ve forgotten their gods?”

“They use the collective name. It’s weird. Thankfully, Irista Nation and Vyndival Kingdom have more sense.”

“Talking about those two…”

“I promise to tell you when the battle starts, and you may choose when to make your appearance.”

“Thank you. Still won’t tell me about the Order of the Void?”

“You know I can’t, Kat. It’s against the rules of my creation. I almost endangered myself when I mentioned the war.” Schrodie crossed his arms and tilted his head a little as though to inquire something. “Rather, we should talk about your Display.”

Katherine pondered about it for a while, there really was no other solution to it besides starting over. Her Exhibit was ruined—eroded, to be precise. Nothing on the Exhibit, nothing to Display.

“I think it’s the years out of practice. Couldn’t afford to do maintenance.”

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Schrodie gave another nod. “What do you have left?”

“Samesia, Kaimera, Siffera, just the basics.”

“What about your Magnum Opus?”

Katherine exercised patience. “You know it’s not mine, Schrodie.”

“It was passed down to you.” When the Seeker ignored the comment, he relented. “Fine. What about his Magnum Opus?”

“Vantera doesn’t erode, but it refuses to settle in my Exhibit.”

There was silence for a while. It gave time for Katherine to return to monitoring Frein. A monkey from The Relativity Temples perched on the Visitor’s shoulder, seemingly whispering something to him. He nodded along and adjusted his posture.

“I suppose your only solution now is to begin from the ground up. You’ll need to look for materials again, but this time you’ll have Frein to consider and help along. It’ll be twice the work for you.”

“I don’t suppose you can just give us those?”

“And ruin the fun? Adventuring’s half of being a Visitor.”

“What about me, then?”

“No.”

“And to think I was the favorite student.”

Schrodie responded with nothing but laughter.

Katherine expected another trait appearance, but nothing happened this time. The conversation, then, gradually died down. She looked back at Frein, now suddenly surrounded by more monkeys from The Relativity Temples.

“What’s with the monkeys?” she asked Schrodie.

“He didn’t tell you about them?” The Gatekeeper had already turned his attention into something else, painting another room into reality.

“I didn’t think to ask.”

“It’s better if you ask him.”

“Cheapskate.”

Katherine turned to Frein, determined to get to the bottom of the monkey mystery, when the meiyal around the Visitor began to surge. He was no longer in a meditative posture, standing in the middle of a circle of jumping monkeys seemingly cheering him on.

She was familiar with the surge, a moment when the practitioner found their stride. Milling became effortless and the efficiency increased by tenfold. Frein was basically in the zone, his concentration undoubtedly focused entirely on that singular task.

He Gathered and Milled at an alarming rate. Katherine’s observation Meiyal Art allowed her to see the meiyal directly surrounding him being literally vacuumed into his meiyal system every time he Gathered, creating pockets completely emptied of meiyal. Frein was simply the greediest practitioner she had ever seen.

“Amazing,” Schrodie said, turning away from his work. “He reminds me of your predecessors.”

“They Milled this way?” Katherine asked, her incredulity seeping out despite the reality before her. Frein would’ve known, given his absurd obsession with books.

Schrodie shook his head. “They didn’t Mill back then, Kat. They just took. Took as much as they could without reservations.”

“Will he be alright?”

“You’ve had episodes of this before, even your friends hit their stride sometimes.”

“Not in that scale,” Katherine pointed. “The meiyal’s literally having a hard time keeping up! I know it’s not about the marks, but can he really store all that power in just two marks?”

Before Schrodie could respond, Frein grabbed their attention. The meiyal around him became still. He was done Milling.

“Hey,” he said, his tone quivering with anticipation. Despite his distance to them, his voice carried with a distinct echo; not quite an echo Meiyal Art, but filled with meiyal nonetheless. “Give me a test.”

There were thin trails of smoke coming from Frein, hints of Art fatigue. Katherine had never seen anyone reach that state just by simply Milling. If she hadn’t witnessed what had just happened, she would’ve thought his meiyal system had problems.

Instead, she knew exactly what he needed.

“Schrodie, can you give him a test he can’t pass? Something too strong for him to power through or smart his way through.” At this point, both Katherine and Schrodie conceded to be Frein’s mentors at the same time despite the Gatekeeper assigning her that job on their first day.

He shrugged. “Meteors?”

She glared at him. “We’re not trying to kill him.”

“What exactly do you think he needs?”

The amount of power Frein accumulated could not have been easy for his sanity. It was strength, energy, and other aspects of potential possibility melded into tangible form. A mere handful would be enough to become the strongest man on Earth while it lasted.

It was simply dangerous.

“He wants an ego check,” Katherine said confidently. “He needs to know there’s more beyond what he’s capable of right now, or else all that power will go to his head.”

“Then I’m sure, you can give him exactly just that, Kat.” Schrodie gestured towards Frein. “I’ll make sure you don’t accidentally kill him.”

The Seeker considered the option for a moment before ultimately decided it was the best choice. She approached Frein and he immediately understood.

“You have an hour to try and hit me.”

“I actually don’t know how to control this,” he said. “Can’t promise I won’t go easy on you.”

He took a stance, a simple orthodox form, nothing special other than the meiyal swirling around his body. The monkeys retreated behind him, goading her as a collective group, obviously thinking they were safe.

“Don’t worry,” Katherine replied, taking the same orthodox form, except she took her right hand—her dominant hand—and placed it behind her. Her hair ornament meiyal system burst to life. “I will.”

Timeframe Skip: Day 98th of 300, an hour later

Recollection: Frein

Empty.

In just an hour, Frein reached total Art fatigue. He absolutely had nothing left. Out of breath, out of meiyal, but while his entire body emitted smoke, he only felt relatively warm.

Lying on the cool floor also helped.

He had done all he could, tried every trick in his book, but he connected with nothing. His meiyal control was also out of whack, but that didn’t matter for now.

Despite it all, he smiled ear to ear. He couldn’t touch Katherine at all, not even a strand of her hair, not even her clothes. Even while she parried with one hand, it was through flicks of meiyal redirecting him away.

There was so much more to learn, no time to be content. So much to look forward to.

He heard Katherine approach. The Seeker stopped just above his head, giving Frein a suggestively inviting view. She crouched, teasing him further.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” She smiled, very much aware of what she was doing. “Too tired?”

“I’d talk dirty to you right now if Schrodie isn’t around.”

“He’s busy doing other things.”

“I’m also busy.”

“With what?”

“Looking.”

“You only want to look?”

“I think that’s the only thing we can afford right now.”

Katherine smiled and bounced to a stand. She reached out a hand, anticipation and excitement all over her face.

“Come on, it’s time for you to Draw.”

Excitement brought Frein to his feet, following after Katherine. They headed to a freshly painted room. Surprisingly, Schrodie was actually nowhere to be found.

“By the way,” Katherine asked as she turned the doorknob into another reality. “What’s with the monkeys?”

End of Recollection: Returning to the Present

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