So, I should probably apologize to my readers for the long delay. About a month ago a friend of mine passed away from cancer. I was in no mood to write. I won't go into details, but I have been fairly busy otherwise. As always, let me know if you spot any problems, and enjoy. I will attempt to get back onto my normal schedule.
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I felt bones crack as I slammed into the side of a cliff. It wasn't the first time in the last three hours that I questioned my judgment in 'sparring' with Shen Yu. The man was an absolute monster in conflict, and it seemed like every movement he made sent my perception into bullet time...not that it helped. No matter how much speed I mustered, he always seemed to have a stronger position. No matter how much I tried to force him, he seemed to brush it aside. I managed to cause Shen Yu to pause quite a few times using Aikido, but when he returned my deflections with throws, I found myself planted in either the ground, or some other piece of the terrain.
My body was putting itself back together with painful and audible 'cracks'. Once Shen Yu found that I could 'heal' quickly, he decided that kid gloves were unnecessary. I had suffered a number of full body breaks, before I learned not to let him close on my offside. Being sloppy with him equated to horrible pain, and probably fuel for upcoming nightmares.
“That Aikido of yours is garbage.” Shen Yu said with a frown. “The joint locks are interesting, and you seem primed to disable your opponent, but it's far too passive, and won't hold up against the types of opponents you'll be facing...at least not as you're practicing it.” he said, balancing on the branch of a tree overlooking me.
I groaned and laid down while my body did it's quick repair. Shen Yu had arrived almost as soon as I had arrived at Castle Caliburn with the others. Apparently I registered as more interesting than whatever gold governor Larousse had owed him. No one was really capable of keeping him out, and Shen Yu was extremely 'insistent' that he test my strength against his.
“Hrm...” Shen Yu said as he glanced toward the city of Kisk in the distance. He had moved us out of town at least to spar...likely a blessing from the gods to the inhabitants of the city. I couldn't imagine the type of damage that Shen Yu would have done with his antics...Oh wait, I could feel it in my aching back. CRACK. And another bone set itself. Oh happy day.
“I can sense...talent, but it's untrained...And I still struggle to grasp that heavenly mark upon your ki. Something intuitive...Perhaps you absorbed a divine ki? Drank celestial wine?” Shen Yu asked dropping to the ground as light as a feather.
I groaned as I looked up at him, climbing to my feet. “I'm a god, you ass.” I spat in annoyance. A second later I hit the cliff again, causing an explosion at contact, and causing a massive crack to run up the cliff side. “Ow...” I squeaked as I fell down again.
“Manners are the mark of a learned mind.” Shen Yu said as my healing kicked in again. “...Perhaps. You're definitely an immortal...I do not believe you possess a fully divine corpus though. If I had to guess, I would say that your divinity is 'new'...your spirit is still evolving..though more than a 'heavenly' nature, it feels more primal. I can feel a primal mana...perhaps the spark of creation.” he said as I clawed my way back to my feet. The series of cracks was like gunfire, and elicited a whimper.
“I just turned divine.” I said pulling myself up to a sitting position. As I stared at him, I could hear an angry whispering in the back of my head, an echo that reminded me of the green flames in the abyss.
“Well, then it is fortunate for you that I arrived when I did.” Shen Yu said with a smile, taking a sitting position in front of me, with one leg crossing while the other was bent to mimic the position of sitting in a chair. “Your ki was like a beacon in the world. I cannot imagine your existence will have gone unnoticed for long, if it ever did.” he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out an apple.
Shen Yu took a bite of the apple, looking down at me thoughtfully. “Still, your knowledge of the divine path is lacking, and it is the duty of any disciple of the divine way, to help others in their development.” he said between bites. “Very fortunate indeed. You live in ignorant lands, full of the unenlightened and ignorant. Who knows how you might have been lead astray had I now arrived when I did.” he said, before taking another bite of his apple.
I looked down in time to notice something bent in the wrong direction, moments before it corrected itself. “ASS!” I yelled as bones reset. As the pain subsided I climbed to my feet again, in time to see Shen Yu toss the remains of his apple away. He nodded thoughtfully and stood up again.
“I need to test your understanding of the greater 'arts', Calligraphy, Weiqi, Guqin, and Painting...or whatever passes for it in these dark lands.” Shen Yu said as he glanced toward Kisk again. “I have...tasks to complete along the boarders of these lands, but I shall return in a month's time. You should prepare yourself and study, and then I can develop a plan for your 'higher education'.” Shen Yu said with a nod to himself.
“I never asked for you to educate me.” I said with growing annoyance at the martial arts master, while brushing dirt, rock dust, and plant matter off of my clothes.
“You didn't need to. Now, go prepare.” Shen Yu said, before leaping into the air with a flicker, and disappearing. My fast sight only caught him clearing the tree line before he actually got up to speed.
I made a motion and mentally called up the fabrication system to repair my clothes, before I headed back toward Kisk, to update everyone else. My mother seemed nervous when I left, but I didn't want to risk conflict with her in close proximity, and acquiesced to Shen Yu's requests.
When I finally returned Mother, Aisha, and Lily were staring at small wooden table with a 19×19 grid along the top, and two sets of bowls. Beside the knee high block of wood was a stack of scrolls and books. Off to the side of the room were what looked like some oriental stringed instrument, and a wooden box. “...What's that?” I asked wearily, more from the mental stress of the day than from physical exhaustion. My body seemed unable to actually become 'tired', but that didn't prevent headaches...for some reason.
“Oh, these appeared a little while ago. That Yu person dropped them off, and then disappeared.” Aisha said while opening one of the bowls to examine sets of black and white stones inside. “I think it's a game, but I'm not sure about the books. I can't read them.” she said with a shrug.
“The boxes have brushes, and inks.” Mother said before walking up to me and pulling me into a hug. “Are you all right baby? When you left with that man I was so scared.” she said clenching me tightly.
“I'm fine mother. I heal quickly.” I said with the same weary tone of voice, more or less just wanting to curl up in bed and wait for the day to end.
“Heal?” Mother asked confused, “Did he hurt you?” she asked, holding me at arms length to look at me, before checking me over.
“We were...sparring, he was just enthusiastic when he realized breaking every bone in my body was more of a brief, and minor inconvenience.” I said causing Mother to look at me shocked. “I'm fine. He just threw me into some cliffs outside of town.” I said.
“Was that what that was?” Lily asked confused.
“What?” I asked looking at Lily as my mother pulled me in for another hug.
“There were sounds of explosions or something north of Kisk. Apparently some local terrain collapse into debris. City forces were being sent to investigate, least that's what we heard in the market.” Aisha said, taking a seat on the wooden table game board. “People thought some wizards were experimenting or something.” she said.
“No...Just me being thrown into things.” I said, placing my hands on my temples. “I really just want to go relax. I've had too much excitement for today.” I said, looking up to see Ethan coming down the stairs dressed as a maid. I stared for a few seconds quietly. “What the hell?” I asked blinking.
“Oh, isn't he pretty? We're having him be a maid.” Lily said with a giggle. Mother bit her lip and smiled, while Aisha tilted her head and stared appreciatively. Ethan just looked nervous, fidgeting in place on the stairs, looking overly embarrassed.
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“I'm not sure if I should be upset that you're teasing him, or concerned that he went along with it.” I said calmly. He looked like a very pretty young girl, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why women did this kind of stuff. They could have their fun teasing I supposed, but then so could I. “Fine, then he can bathe and bed with you and the others.” I said, looking Lily with a smile. Lily returned my smile, and responded with “All right!” Meanwhile Ethan just looked confused and even more nervous. Honestly I was expecting smiles from him, but I guess he was only fourteen. Though he did have the whore profession...
“Stop teasing the poor boy.” Mother said, poking me in the side. “Ethan...he does look good in that.” she said and smiled, “Ethan, go clean. We'll bring you a chance of clothes in a few minutes.” she said, as Ethan began running back up the stairs, presumably to go do maid duties.
“...He's very quiet.” I said after Ethan had left, causing Aisha and Lily to break out in laughter. “What?” I asked, confused now. “Did I miss something?” I asked, causing Mother to sigh.
“They're just being silly, and we need to talk.” Mother said, taking my hand and pulling me out of the foyer.
After a few minutes of being pulled along I ended up back in the library. Mother closed the doors and locked them before motioning to the floor. “Ahh...” I said blinking, “Where's the crown?” I asked concerned.
Mother reached into her a small bag hidden beneath a fold of her dress and pulled the crown out. “Oh...wow. How's that work?” I asked glancing at the bag, and the sleight magic aura I had missed before.
“It's a spell called magic bag. I'll teach it to you later.” Mother said with a sigh, holding the crown out to me.
“Ahh, the Crown of Áine.” I said taking the crown from Mother's grasp, noting she looked startled. “Is there something wrong?” I asked, placing the crown on my head. Not that I needed it, just that the crown had some questionable effects, and I was concerned about it getting lost.
“Did you say the Crown of Áine?” Mother asked as I walked over to the mural on the library wall, and began punching in the sequence of hidden buttons to open the hidden passage. The mechanism started shifting, and the portion of the floor leading down into the substructure opened revealing the stairwell.
“Yes, that's what it's called.” I said turning back to her, “Why...have you heard of it?” I asked curiously.
“Yes...” Mother said clearing her throat, “Sorry, baby, I forget you're having memory problems. Áine was...is the sovereign goddess of summer. She was patron and protector of the sun elves.” she said looking concerned.
“Oh...did you want the crown then?” I asked, pulling it off of my head. Beyond the increase in fertility for my lands, it didn't really have much benefit for me. If mother wanted it for some religious or sentimental value, she was welcome to it. “Just don't lose it.” I said handing it out to her.
Mother stepped back nervously, staring at the crown quietly. “It has been lost for a very long time.” she said in hushed tones, her gaze stuck on the crown. “We thought it was punishment from the goddess, for the betrayal of Olmucaid.” she said staring at the crown in reverence.
“Um...No, It was taken by an invading army, and later buried when the king's son poisoned him.” I said, still holding out the crown to her. “...Were you going to take it or what?” I asked, causing mother to lift her gaze from the crown to me. She cleared her throat again, and then delicately took the crown back, placing it on her head nervously. On the one hand I found the reverence for the crown understandable given mother's explanation. On the other hand I found that I really didn't care about it beyond wanting to avoid future headaches. “Shall we?” I asked before heading down the passage.
The passage was oddly illuminated this time. The hard grey stone that made up the rest of the castle looked to be changing. Veins of white were creeping through the walls and steps and glowing warmly, as if the magic was somehow converting it. Given the fact that the stone had obviously been in its previous state for a very long time, I found the sudden change confusing, but not especially alarming. It might become a problem if it continued to spread through the rest of the castle though, if only because it was raise questions. As best I could tell the material in the substructure was immensely sturdy. When we reached the 'entrance' area, the walls and steps had already been fully converted and I could see the shift from the pale white light to the mellow greens and golds that had appeared when I had started channeling mana into the place.
The 'tree-like' pillars that had created the muted, but beautiful, architecture had taken on an inner life. Flowers of light bloomed and seemed to sway with a warm breeze that washed from the depths, a scent on the air the called to mind childhood summers, and warm lazy days. There was light everywhere now. The frozen cold from before had been completely banished, and the very walls seemed alive. As I moved to the edge of the entry hall and gazed down into the depths, I saw the network of platforms blooming with flowers and light. In the depths the frozen lake was warm with light, and the throne was...blooming. I could see the flicker of the green flames that the angelic figure holding the sword was bathed in. As I gazed at the walls of the 'tree' with my magic sight I could see the life of this place pushing upward into the castle above, and outward into the land.
“By the Goddess!” Mother called, falling to her knees behind me. The light of the place was bleeding into her, and the crown on her began to wreath her brown in golden light.
“We haven't even got to the interesting stuff.” I said, tilting my head to look at her curiously. “Does this mean you'd prefer to move your room down here?” I asked, a smile creeping across my face. She took a few minutes to bask in the energies being radiated by the place, before finally managing to get back onto her feet.
“I'm sorry...It was just overwhelming.” Mother said coming up beside me to look down into the depths. The place seemed to be responding to our presence, though it felt as if the place was generating mana instead of sucking it away.
“Yea, when I first came down here the place wanted to drain me. But it seems like a bit of mana is all it took to bring it back to life.” I said with a shrug, moving down the stairs toward the network of platforms in the depths. Mother looked at me as if she was going to say something, but just bit her lip and followed.
The two of us moved through the open hallways as I took her toward the library. I was going to show her the throne, but thought that could wait...especially as I didn't feel like trudging through water, however deep it happened to be, to the little island at the center of the lake that held the throne. When we entered the library, every surface seemed slightly illuminated. I could see some type of magic structures were rebuilding themselves around the library. They seemed to be growing like plants from seeds long buried. As I wandered across the open floor, I motioned upward. “I found the magic books a few floors up, though I didn't really search everywhere.” I said.
Mother walked over to one of the shelves and pulled off a crystal, which lit up at her touch. As I watched the image of an elven woman appeared in her hands, above the crystal. The illusionary woman sounded like she was beginning a lecture, which was cut short when mother put the crystal back. “This place is a treasure Faith...So much that was lost...” she said, a look of reverence in her eyes.
“...If you say so.” I said, scratching my head. “Well, I planned to spend some time in here reviewing the magic texts. If you want to use it, by all means.” I said causing her to glance my direction again. “I think the wards on the different sections are down, so it should be safe to explore...I guess we could go see the throne.” I suggested.
Mother paused for a moment as she considered, “The summer throne...” she said, taking a breath. “All right, lets do that.” she said, reaching out and taking my hand.
When I took her hand I heard a muffled voice from my pocket. “Oh my! What an expansive and superlative collection. I eagerly await mistress's hours of study here. I had feared I would be forced to await her matriculation, but I see I was mistaken.” the voice of my guild card said, as I groaned.