Garnedell smiled and nodded, “Yes, it will. But when you do so, it will come to you easily enough.”
Joe smirked, chuckling a bit but without his usual zest, “I guess I’m back in the anal phase of development again. Gotta learn how to control my sphincters.”
Garnedell looked at Joe, a bit confused, but Joe waved him off and shook his head, “It doesn’t matter, just some psychology from my home world. Anyway, who was that out there?”
“Zilnek came to say Kukurnal has just arrived. Kukurnal wishes to speak with you of Mimir and your place in it.”
“Oh, Kukunral is here? OK. Let me rest a bit then we can go down and eat and chat with them. Then I’ll try some more mana stuff when I come back up here.”
Garnedell nodded easily enough, “Please be careful to do so far from where Kilniara or Zilnek may notice.”
Joe cocked his head in confusion, “Don’t all people do this? I thought you said everyone is capable of this?”
“Yes, but wildly expelling mana in every direction is… not normal. Masters and those of greater skill expel only the barest minimum in the closest area around them to make their mana last longer and give them greater gains in the cultivation of mana points.”
“So they don’t just shoot the room full of mana.”
“Or the inn,” Garnedell replied with a smile.
“The inn?”
Garnedell quickly nodded, “If someone was close to you behind this wall, or if you expelled far enough, below or above you, they would feel waves of mana coming from this room.”
“Good to know!”
Garnedell nodded, “I do not know how far your mana was escaping, but you were expelling a lot of mana! It was… intense. I was afraid that I was almost going to lose some of my points. I had to rotate them away from your mana.”
“You would lose points?”
“Yes. If you bombarded my points with enough of your mana and filled them with your mana, you could take control of them and claim them as your own.”
“Ooooh!” Joe replied with some surprise, “That sounds…bad!”
“It isn’t really painful… it is… well, it is like stealing coin. It does not harm a person, specifically, but it does take from them.”
“So they get poorer, but mana point wise.”
“Yes.”
“OK. Yeah. I don’t want to do that to you. I’ll make sure my mana doesn’t get too close to you guys.”
“We will tell you if it is so… or… I will. The other two would not understand your actions.”
“I’ll be careful of that. I’m… gonna rest a bit now.”
Joe ended the conversation, exhaustion claiming him and he just lay collapsed on his bed. Garnedell stood beside him attentively before Joe waved him out of the room.
“Go. Go. Go eat supper and tell Kukurnal I am coming soon. And, get me supper as well. I’ll be down in maybe another five minutes… maybe ten.”
Garendell nodded and took off excitedly from the room, full of energy. Joe continued gasping a little until his heart had finally calmed, although almost all his skeletal muscles continued vibrating slightly from the exhaustion of over use for another few minutes afterward. Finally, he felt a bit rested and forced himself to sit up. That almost undid him, but he remained up and leaned forward onto his knees instead until he felt well enough to stand and then stood. Once again, he swayed with this extra effort but didn’t allow himself to rest, pushing to the door and through before fumbling to lock it and stumbling down the stairs.
* * *
Zilnek quickly sought out his sister, her nod and the scent of her despair easily noticed within the confines of the room. He’d been concerned ever since the dungeon where wafts of despair and sadness seemed to have exuded from both Joe and Kilniara. It hadn’t faded and only grew ever more when they reached home, Kilniara’s despair quickly scented for all Acokzau everywhere to know. Joe proved enigmatic, his scent hardening to a firm decision despite his own sorrow and Zilnek scowled. How did she screw up now…
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He found Kilniara easily enough, following her scent out to the back yard where Joe often practiced his forms, as he called him. The rituals, whatever they may be, proved incredibly effective and he had no desire to lose access to such things. He rounded the corner to see his sister sobbing against the back wall and he came forward to stand beside her, arriving to an awkward stop and uncertain how to continue. His upset, while genuine, was quickly overwhelmed by an honest, if confused, concern for her.
“Kilniara?”
She did not turn, sobbing softly against the wall. He stood awkward for a little longer before stepping up to her and laying a soft hand on her shoulder. He remained like this for a time, and his sister did not move, but her sadness dropped until her sobbing drained to hiccups of pain which quickly evaporated to a sigh.
“Kilniara?”
She turned, “He has rejected me.”
He frowned, disappointed, but also saddened for Kilniara, “I… am … did he not accept you?”
She smiled sadly, “Yes.”
“And then… rejected? He feels guilt for his family?”
She snorted, “He is single and may seek his own mate.”
Zilnek’s eyebrows flickered at that, “His family allows him to do so?”
She nodded, “It is his people’s way. You heard it.”
“Ah… yes.”
Kilniara shook her head at him, upset that he’d forgotten yet again but Zilnek cared little for such details and continued.
“Then, could you tell me?”
Kilniara smiled sadly and nodded, “He … his people are very honorable. They do not believe masters and apprentices should be… together in such a manner.”
Zilnek’s eyebrows knit, “Why?”
“For the same reason he denies Garnedell his elder apprentices rights.”
Zilnek cocked his head, “It denies you your choice?”
“Yes.”
“But you chose.”
She snorted, “I did, and freely. But … it is still unacceptable amongst his people.”
“Masters and apprent…”
“His clan do not really have masters and apprentices. He said students and teachers.”
“Students and teachers cannot grow to love one another?”
“It seems rare amongst his clan.”
“Rare… then it does happen?”
She smiled, “It is not accepted. If a student and teacher do find… that they like one another, they cannot pursue one another until such relationship is done. From what I understand, even this can seem… concerning.”
Zilnek paused at that, staring at her, “How so?”
“I do not know. We… did not speak enough.”
“But, if a … the student is no longer a student?”
She smiled and nodded.
Zilnek shrugged, “Then do the same. Do not be his apprentice.”
“It is too late.”
Zilnek cocked his head again, “How?”
“He explained it well, but if I give up my apprenticeship, I gamble. If our relationship works out, then all is well, but if it does not, then I cannot seek apprenticeship again after. Similarly, if I see the relationship falter, I will likely become… desperate to maintain the relationship and compromise… our relationship is already poisoned.”
Zilnek paused at that consider then replied, “It is possibly poisoned.”
Her smile was soft bitterness, “Likely.”
Zilnek paused at that, “Then you must make a choice.”
Her smile fell and she became melancholic, turning from him, “Yes. A bitter choice.”
“Is it truly bitter?”
She turned to look back at him, her eyebrows falling, “How do you mean?”
“Let us play illusions.”
“Illusions? Really?”
Zilnek smiled at that and shrugged, “A child’s game, but sometimes simplicity offers powerful clarity.”
She nodded at that and gestured he should continue.
He nodded back and began, “In this illusion, you find yourself as you did before. We struggle against the debt of our parents and the machinations of… cruel men. We seek the dungeons for wealth but … you know we will likely fail. We still struggle against our fate, and as luck would have it, a young dashing man by the name of Joe saves us, once again.”
Kilniara smiled brightly at that, Zilnek returning his own smile, and continued, “He deals with the usurer in a dashing manner, protects from the man’s hired thug, then invites us to our first warm meal and bed in months. We wake the next morning and he offers to us again, a dream beyond our wildest imaginings. The path to growth… to godhood. To shatter the mortal heavens in our bid for freedom. He offers us apprenticeship.
“But, in this illusion, you know of Joe what you know now. You know his kindness. You know his honor. You know his strength and his attraction to you and willingness to pursue you with honor and truthfully … truthfully seek a relationship with you.
“Which would you choose? Do you seek apprenticeship with him or do you seek relationship?”
Kilniara chuckled and shook her head, “Of course I would pursue him. I desire such beyond any apprenticeship.”
Zilnek then shrugged, “Then how is it any different if you were to honestly choose the same now? In both, you will have lost your apprenticeship and you cannot regain it.”
Kilniara’s thoughts were plain on her face, easily revealing her confusion, then consideration, then a small hope buried beneath a mountain of fear. She stared at him once all of it came to fruition and considered. Zilnek nodded.
“Do you take the chance? It is nothing but the same.”
Kilniara stared at her brother for a moment then nodded, a soft barely shift of the head as she considered what he said. She couldn’t think of anything else, her mind now roiling once again. She turned away, lost in thought.
Zilnek saw her turn to think, and he nodded, then spoke one last time before leaving her, “Only one last thing, sister. Be honest. Utterly and completely honest in your desire and in speaking with him. If you do so, then … you will have truly respected his and his clan’s honor, similar to how his own clan does the same. They honor integrity, it seems. Honor it in the same way, and he may be willing to accept your choice.”
She said nothing, and Zilnek grinned softly to himself as he turned to walk away. She would be a fool not to take this chance.
* * *