35: maybe those hadn’t been platitudes
The shopping Cerise's mother wanted done took them until a little after mid-morning to complete, but it took nearly as long to verify the receipts for their commissions, meaning they left Va'Savine a little after high noon.
On the fifth day after that, they reached Tripshire-on-Road, a bustling new town that might soon see a Knight-Protector assigned to them to handle the affairs of the landward trading hub from the Sea Crest Dungeon Village.
They overnighted in the town and were informed by the local tavern gossips that Tripshire-on-River, a bit north of them, was trying to get their newly appointed mayor to wager against their village chief for the right to the Tripshire name. Of course, their mayor had been informed of the standing rivalry between the towns, nothing mean-spirited, mind you! But no one with any sense would wager their name! The rumored Knight-Protector might not look too kindly on them for taking such a bet!
Cerise wanted to head to Sea Crest Dungeon Village, but the diplomacy thing meant they needed to travel another day to reach Megareholm and introduce themselves to Cyr Megare Lady Solange.
The cyr's seat was a nice town. Not as nice as some they had visited, but cleaner and more orderly than most. The Lady was not at her estate so they took rooms at the inn her Aide suggested, the Pork and Pine. A messenger arrived shortly before dusk inviting Heral and Cerise to breakfast with the cyr. They, of course, accepted.
The cyr was a severe woman, thin in the way of people who can't stop moving. She had a hawk-like face, and barely any ability to smile. She refused to discuss anything more serious than the conditions of the road or the weather until everyone had eaten their fill. After the meal, she invited them into her office.
She opened serious talks by saying, "Honorable el-Terborant, I was advised of your arrival a moon or two back, but word only reached me a ten-day back to expect you, Miss ban Silverwood. Those notices were brief. Please do advise me, what interests you both in my domain?"
Heral had coached her on this possible outcome so Cerise knew it was her place to speak first. "Lady Solange, I have not been the ban Silverwood for a full moon yet. I have here letters of introduction from Hirsel Velton. Would you care to review them before I speak further?"
The Lady accepted the letters. She maintained an impassive expression as she read through them and returned the writs of residency to Cerise. "Those are most interesting circumstances. Why did you not leave the letter of introduction yesterday?"
"Lord Jedais said I was to give the letter to you. I'm of commoner stock, Lady Solange, and only begun learning formal Etiquette this month. I hoped it wiser to err on the literal interpretation of his words."
The rest of their meeting was a rehashing of the events leading Cerise's family to seek a new home in the Sea Crest Dungeon Village. Heral revealed that he was shepherding his cousins as a proving challenge which involved mentoring them into capable leaders while training them in a hopefully lower risk dungeon, as the Dungeon Covenant had yet to be reinstated.
Cerise continued to keep the second seed and its purpose a secret. She hadn't mentioned it to anyone outside her family, and even to them she had only show it that one night in the Hundred Year Stew, and never actually spoke of it again.
At the end of things, Lady Solange said, "Well, I welcome you into my domain. Stay a moment and I shall write you a letter of introduction for Sir Brais, the Knight-Protector of Sea Crest.
While the cyr was writing the letters, Cerise quietly asked Heral, "Would it be rude to ask for a [Healer's] confidential moment with the cyr? There's something tickling my senses, but I don't want to be ... indiscreet?"
The cyr spoke up from across the room. "That was already indiscreet, but forgivable given your ages. I believe I know of why you speak. It's not much of a secret that I have a voracious appetite yet gain no weight. I've suffered enough purges to be quite sure it is simply my body and not an outside influence."
Cerise bit her lip and glanced at Heral. He, smiling, said, "Lady Solange, might I step outside for a bit of wind while you write?"
The Lady looked at them, her impassive face never shifting. "By all means, please be at your comfort."
Heral rose and gave an incline bow to the Lady before stepping out the door.
Cerise asked, "Have you had a great appetite for all of your life?"
"Yes."
"May I use a diagnostic skill synergy on you? I would be happy to sign a confidentiality contract if that would make you more comfortable?"
Lady Solange quirked an eyebrow. "Let's worry at that later. Use your skill."
"Thank you, Lady Solange." Cerise rose and approached the cyr. When close enough, she laid a hand on her shoulder. It took a moment for Cerise to confirm her suspicions. "You're starving," Cerise said bluntly.
"Excuse me?" Lady Solange asked, her forehead creasing.
"You have broad mana veins, which are drawing out all the mana your body produces, leaving your flesh constantly craving more mana. You need to start eating mana rich vegetables and meats, and I think you'll find them far more satisfying meals. It may cause some gastric distress while switching over, so add the mana rich foods slowly to give your flesh time to get used to the changes. You may want to also practice physical skills within six to ten rush marks from meals. If you feel a headache or tremors in your muscles, you've eaten too rich of a mana infused meal, and need to avoid using skills until the headache passes."
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
The cyr arched an eyebrow. "And where do you suggest I get these mana-rich foods?"
"If a monster has a cryst, its flesh will hold mana for as much as a moon cycle from its death. Fresher is better. A lot of alchemical herbs make good mana-enhancing spices. A cook with Alchemy and Cooking skills at Practiced can synergize to preserve more of the mana for longer, but it will dissipate, even in a stasis pack. I would start with small cryst-bearing monsters.
"Really, what's going on is that your soul's capacity for mana exceeds what your body naturally makes. The diet will aid in increasing that production while getting your flesh used to moving that much mana through. It won't be fast. You'll need to pay attention to when discomfort turns to pain, but it will help in the long run."
The cyr arched a brow. "Are you trying to flatter me?"
Cerise tipped her head to the side. "My apologies, but what was flattering about the problems you've endured?"
Lady Solange's expression softened. "You are being genuinely sincere. How novel. I shall take your advice under consideration, and you are welcome to share our conversation and your diagnostic report high and low."
Cerise and Heral left with a new letter in hand, and they all were back in Tripshire-on-Road by that evening.
----------------------------------------
The "road" from Tripshire-on-Road to the Sea Crest Dungeon Village was rough. The caravan road might not have been paved, but it had been worn to a smoothness by the constant travel, and the caravan vanguards who came out to clear rocks and roots and fill in holes. No one was doing that for the tract -- not even a full road -- to the new dungeon village.
That meant that though the distance from Va'Savine to Tripshire-on-Road was nearly the same as from Tripshire-on-Road to the Sea Crest Dungeon Village, it took them eight days to get to the village.
Mahayan actually enjoyed this part of their journey. Her studies had helped her gain a new level, and she decided she wanted to learn earth magics. With that in mind, she took the Geomancy skill for her new skill slot, and practiced by smoothing the tract as she had the mana to spare.
In the evenings since leaving Va'Velton, Cerise and Mykhal had studied the Free Lancer Guild's Code of Conduct and Druerjan's Dungeon Laws. During the day, Cerise continued to read for her parents and the Honorables. They had finished the Etiquette book and begun upon the Tamer's Guide book, finishing that halfway to the dungeon village. Cerise gained several divisions to both Tame Monster and Animal Handling, and even one to Diplomacy despite the cap, but it was her experiments with Lend Vitality and Restoration that gained her level 17.
Thinking of Lend Vitality, it felt actually like it used her Stamina to push her own pattern of health onto someone else, rather than her mistaken impression that its use involved her taking on a patient's wounds or ailments. Cerise didn't like that idea of imposing her vital pattern onto another person, so she was experimenting with finding synergies with her General Anatomy and Diagnostic skills to form a pattern more suited to her patient's healthy body, and then push that pattern through the skill.
Her Restoration skill, they discovered, was actually detrimental to someone trying to build up their Pools, but her parents and the older horses adored the rejuvenating effects of that skill on their joints.
She also learned a general skill called Massage, which she quickly taught to her family. Her mother's Anatomy skill was better than Cerise's, and the two skills synergized so well that her mother was quickly hailed as the best giver of massages.
Also skill-wise, on that leg of their journey, Mahayan learned the Teaching skill as she finally figured out how to teach her scribing skill mutation to read and write magical text. That filled in the missing piece Cerise needed to learn how to prepare a piece of paper to receive an imprimatur, which in turn unlocked, but did not learn, the Contract skill.
Cerise finally felt comfortable enough with Heral to ask him just what skill he though she helped him with. It was, by necessity, a day when Jaxin trailed them, as Izrai had yet to earn her swords back.
She made sure to use every bit of proper Etiquette Heral had taught her, and when he answered, her Diplomacy skill gained another division awaiting her to uncap it.
"My class is [Noble Warrior Novice] and the one core skill I have been struggling with is Noblesse Oblige." He pursed his lips, as if unhappy to have said so much.
Cerise felt one of the fragments of memories she regained with leveling poke her. "Noblesse Oblige ... Noble's Obligation?"
Heral started to shake his head, but stopped. He spoke slowly, as if feeling his way through his words. "Noble Obligation is a skill conferred when one accepts a noble title. Noblesse Oblige is related, but not the same."
"Is Noble Obligation limited by the covenants the noble upholds?" Cerise asked.
"From what I have been told, yes," Heral said.
"If one is tied to title and covenant, then perhaps the other is not," she said. "After all, we have stories of nobles before covenants. Papa, you know the story of Leland the Northern Shield? Would you tell it?"
She turned to her father as she asked, and caught him exchanging that poignant, sad look of unspeakable griefs with her mother. He turned to her when he felt her attention, cleared his throat, and tried to shake off the sorrow weighing down the corners of his eyes. "Leland, huh? Oh, I think I can do that."
And he stretched a bit as he settled into his storytelling voice, and brought to life the tale of one of the first Thanes to arise along the border of human and draycon lands.
----------------------------------------
Heral listened intently to the stories that Cerise prompted her father to tell. The heroes ranged from serfs to priests to nobles, and a number of elevated freeman. They were blunt or sly, [Warriors], [Artisans], [Administrators], and [Laborers]. They found solutions to their problems in stoic determination and subtle diplomacy. What they all had in common, however, was an unyielding sense of justice and the innate understanding that humans prosper together or not at all.
Cerise also shared with him her trick of contemplating her skills with her profile open. When he lay down that night, he opened his profile and considered what he had heard.
Noblesse Oblige advances to Practiced-2
[Noble Warrior Novice] levels to 15.
He sucked in a breath and bit back tears of relief.
Progress! He had made progress! He wouldn't have to re-class! After the relief had run its course, he frowned at the ceiling of his tent. He didn't know how what he had considered today was all that different from what he had known before. The only things that stood out to him as possibly being profound were, first, the idea that his skill was an unbound version of the covenant granted skill instead of a lesser version and, second, how much importance justice held for freemen.
Heral hadn't considered justice as a unique concept before. There were laws, rules, that people followed to maintain order. Rules imposed sense upon a senseless world, and that was something he dearly appreciated. He hadn't stopped before to consider the order, the sense, being imposed.
Nobles ruled because someone had to step up and lead people, or else everyone had to worry about their neighbors deciding to just take what they wanted instead of everyone working together to prosper together. Noble heirs were trained from birth to lead, educated not just about their own domains, but those of their neighbors. Such an education required dedication and resources that simply no domain was rich enough to distribute to every child.
Heral had been told every day of his life that he had obligations attached to him by his birth, and the warning of his obligations had been attached to platitudes about his good fortune to be born Aleron Treborant's child, to be born to a noble House. For the first time, he began to wonder if maybe those hadn't been platitudes.