After two weeks of being back at the capital, I was back to my pre-Parnam trip form. The weather was getting colder all the while, and the thick wool tunic came in handy in keeping me warm. The fact that it was thick however, meant that I looked just about the same as I did right when we came back, and the only people who even noticed that I had noticeably shed a lot of weight were my roommates when I was changing for bed. The area for unloading supplies in the compound had a covered part, so I wasn’t particularly worried where I would be working out throughout the winter, but the fact that the well-water was so cold meant that I had to limit myself in how much I drank while outside.
Sophie wasn’t as upset as I had expected when I came back to the library for the first time, apparently the fact that Lucy had also disappeared led her to conclude that this was something I was not at fault for. We spent some time discussing benign things until I decided to inquire further in regards to the weird reaction from the arcane power once I had imagined the chemical formula for oxygen.
She didn’t visualize things in exactly the same way that I did, but in a way that she had been taught to do by the members of the Magisterium. Sophie had a very strong affinity for the arcane power that helped with earth spells, and as a result she imagined herself to be in her garden back home where apparently she spent a lot of the weekends to aid her with gathering the arcane power in her body. She said that she spent at least half an hour every morning and another half before going to sleep in the evenings. She was told that with this kind of consistency she would have no trouble reaching the first-circle within a few more months, but the difficulty increased exponentially with every ‘circle’.
That was something that was of interest to me, so I asked her to elaborate. She said that her information was only based on what she was told by other magi who were already at the first-circle, but that a second-circle magi who had sufficient control and spell evocation could outperform at least 5-6 first-circle ones, and that it was lucky if someone could even reach the second-circle by their late thirties/early forties.
This was already quite a large period of time for people on Euphelia, and while magi had a longer average life expectancy than ‘mundane’ people owing to the better financial situation they found themselves in, it still was nowhere near the seventies and eighties we considered ‘normal’. She also excitedly told us about how the Magister, Kenner, had come to give their group a personal lesson on some of the more theoretical aspects of sorcery, and how impressive his demonstration of his fine control over his spells was.
She was even more stunned that he had managed to execute a spell without saying a single word, which was apparently a very rare skill that only a few in the whole of Jenusia could accomplish. While the spell was only of the first-circle, it was still a great feat to be able to do so, and according to him it came in handy when he found himself in dangerous situations in the past.
I wasn’t inclined to tell Sophie about my own stumblings through the ‘strengthening of the mindspace’, and she still didn’t even know that I wasn't ‘mundane’. I also wanted to spend some more time trying things out by myself, in the forest of Krilos where no eyes would be present was ideal. The very next day I decided to change my previous plans of visiting the swordmaster, and instead rode out of the eastern gate towards the forest. While I didn’t have my short-sword with me as I had decided to store it at Gaspar’s home, just the longsword plus the intense practice I had with the basic Sylrift forms made me feel a lot more confident should I run into some more goblins or whatever.
I subconsciously made my way to the same clearing where Gero and I had fought the goblins a few months ago, but their corpses were nowhere to be found. This wasn’t unexpected as Gero had told me when I suggested we bury them, that it was pointless as the animals and other beasts in the forest would be drawn by the smell of blood eventually and drag them off elsewhere to eat them.
After making sure Sorok was firmly fastened to a tree branch relatively close to me, I decided to first try and recreate the wind gust I managed in Parnam. I began visualizing the two oxygen atoms, as they were conjoined together, and simultaneously imagined myself ‘zooming’ my field of view out until all I saw was clear air, and as my next step I imagined a gust of wind blowing through an open window, just like back then.
Immediately I felt a very strong gust of wind that could have knocked me over unless I had grounded myself firmly, but it didn’t last long as my surprising success made me lose focus on visualization. This had confirmed it, it seems what happened in Parnam wasn’t a fluke, and that knowing some of the science behind natural phenomena had a stark impact on the effectiveness of arcane power following your bidding.
I decided to sit at the foot of the tree that Gero was once backed up against, and try and ‘strengthen my mindspace’ with my new method. Most of the wisps of light, while trying to move in the same irregular pattern as they always did, were still swept away by the force of the wind. I managed to ‘catch’ perhaps a few-dozen times more wisps in my chest area than I normally would over a period of an hour, but when my stomach rumbled and I snapped my eyes open I noticed how sweaty and tired I had felt.
I don’t know exactly what had caused such fatigue, but it seems using this accelerated method of ‘strenghtening the mindspace’ left your physical body more sore than even the intense training I went through just as I got back from Parnam.
Even though I had planned to do some physical training on my off day, the soreness in my upper torso influenced my decision to skip today, and perhaps in the future I would either have to pace myself when I went out on my trips to ‘strengthen the mindspace’ or have to skip even more physical training sessions.
The fatigue the morning after was comparable to some of the first days I decided to become more physically fit, and even Louis and Max took notice of my pained groans as I got out of bed and did some stretches that morning. We only had lessons with Goer that day, so I wasn’t forced to immediately train my sword the day after, but the content of the lessons this time around was just as mind-boggling as the first time I saw it.
Kuvira had said on our way back to Krilos that our classes would be undergoing some changes, but when she said that I didn’t even consider that what she meant was that we would be learning medieval statecraft. Goer called the classes ‘management’, but what they were was the crucial information any noble would need to manage their lands. Detailed knowledge regarding one’s obligations, commitments, and methods. While nobles in this land held overwhelming power over a majority of the population, this was only because they at least made it look like they performed a certain function, and were able to convince a large portion of people that it was their family who were the rightful rulers of the land.
Since there was widespread illiteracy, without at least a somewhat educated class at the top, it would be easy to imagine the level of anarchy that would plague the whole country. And even though Jenusian nobles weren’t the most pleasant people to interact with, by and large, it was an undeniable fact that they were educated. In our class we would examine theoretical situations that have occurred in the past, and how the people in power dealt with them, after which Goer would ask a few questions about the discussed situation.
I did not really understand the reason for this knowledge to be taught to us, were the Jenusians going to make us administrators or something after we failed to be chosen as sorcerer or ‘guardians’? But I began to connect the dots one day when I noticed how Louis had a new expensive looking piece of clothing in his hands which was embroidered with a coat of arms.
It was a coat of arms I had seen on a brooch before, in particular it was identical in shape at least to the necklace that the noble girl Louis got along with quite well at a feast wore, Evani Freid.
House Freid’s coat of arms was blue and red, with a black thing similar in shape to a bent hammer in the middle.
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Louis, as boastful as ever, began telling Max and I about the happiness he felt after finding out that Evani would be spending some time in Krilos instead of her family’s domain, Parnam. Even though I couldn’t tell for sure, Max looked to be doing his best to match the elated emotion that was evident on Louis’ visage. I however, zoned out and began thinking why the nobility would be showing such favor to someone who wasn’t even a magi or a guardian. While we people from Earth might not be anything particularly noteworthy compared to other Americans, we were a step above intellectually compared to the people in Euphelia. We had knowledge the likes of which they could not fathom, and even getting someone like Louis to be part of a noble family would offer many opportunities past just the prestige of having the blood of a divine messenger be passed down through the generations.
So that’s their angle, they want to integrate us into ‘proper’ noble society, and for that we need to not be completely useless when it comes to the functions of the local power structures. The thought that some fat nobleman would coerce me to marry someone against my will irked me more than I would like to admit, and these unpleasant emotions fueled my motivation to become stronger.
The beginnings of a plan began forming in my head too, perhaps after I manage to become strong enough and have enough of an understanding of how to blend with normal people, I could make my own path in life. For that I would need to learn more than just the basic Sylrift forms, but Gaspar was adamant that I should first learn the basic ones to a ‘satisfactory’ level before he would teach me anything else. I would also need to spend a lot more time exploring sorcery, and begin saving up some money for traveling expenses.
I assumed that it would be at least another year before I was ready, and by that time I would already be 17 and closer to what I considered ‘adulthood’ than now. Louis droned on for a little while longer before Max and I decided with our eyes that it was probably best to shut him up, as he definitely had the energy to go on a lot more to the point our ears would bleed.
Throughout the next week I acted no different to before in the eyes of others, but I had actually intensified my own personal training regime and also put in even more effort into properly learning swordsmanship forms, now that I had a more specific goal in mind.
I even made the effort to goad Gero into doing some more commissions with me, which we managed to accomplish in record efficiency with my determination and Gero’s know-how. Unexpectedly, as we were walking to the mercenary guild with a whole bag of ‘Mirroworms’, who conveniently only came up near the surface at only this time of year, Gero invited me to go drinking with him and some of his friends.
I was originally opposed to such an idea, but when I realized that I had little contact with normal Jenusians apart from Gero and his father, I decided it might be worth ‘broadening my horizons’ and interacting with some others. The money we made that day wasn’t bad, as the damn worms were apparently some delicacy, and with full pockets I was led by my friend to a tavern that was different from the one we usually visited.
The people in the tavern differed greatly from what I was used to in the other one, the most noticeable thing was that a lot more of the patrons wore armor and the swords in their sheath were visible to me the second we walked in. Gero put a hand on my shoulder, he thought I was worried about being in here, to which he just said that this was a popular place for mercenaries so we didn’t have anything to worry about, we had just returned from a commission after all.
We weaved in between the packed tables, during which I was careful enough not to disturb any of the mean-looking men. I didn’t want to give them an excuse to cause trouble, I had read about such things in fantasy books already, and wanted to avoid such a situation. As we began nearing the part of the tavern which was furthest away from an entrance, I heard a scruff sounding voice exclaim “Gero!”, which came from the direction Gero had been leading me.
There was a semi-circular table, with five people occupying it, four of which had the appearance of formidable warriors that might even give Gaspar a run for his money. Surprisingly the one closest to us had a gleeful smile on his face, and it grew even wider as he stood up and gave Gero a bear hug. They exchanged a few words, which I missed due to the cacophony of sounds in the tavern. Maybe this was how people felt at night clubs back on Earth? I wondered. He gestured for all of us to take a seat, and even though the table looked packed as we approached, it seems they were making an effort to take up space before we showed up.
I timidly sat down first, after which Gero followed, and the last person to sit down was the one who greeted Gero.
“You didn’t tell us you’d be bringing company, who’s the twerp?” Asked the man who was sitting diagonally across from me, clearly not happy with my presence.
“His name’s Leon, he’s a friend of mine” Gero casually replied, before he shouted out an order at a scantily-clad waitress who was passing by.
“That’s not exactly what I wanted to ask, why’d you bring him here Gero?” The same man asked once more, but it didn’t seem to rustle my friend at all.
“We just came back from a commission we did together, so I didn’t see much harm in it. He’s also a fellow apprentice of my father’s so he’s not terrible company” He elaborated, with a joking smile on his face.
This comment of his resulted in stupefied expressions on the faces of the four armed men, before another man decided to clarify.
“You mean to say he’s Gaspar’s apprentice? How come no one’s heard of this?” He inquired, not believing Gero’s words.
“Oh yeah, I don’t know why dad decided to finally teach someone his closely-guarded swordsmanship after all these years, but it seems something Leon here said managed to crack his resolve” Gero answered, not entirely bothered with the reasons why he suddenly had a fellow apprentice.
“Hey Leon, would you like to spar with me sometime? I keep asking Gaspar for them but he doesn’t seem keen on testing his mettle against me.” Asked the friendlier man who greeted Gero.
“I apologize but I’m only sixteen, and if I fought someone who gives off the impression of a seasoned warrior, I am likely to get beaten down without remorse and learn nothing” I politely declined, while at the same time complimenting him.
“Look at this silver-tongued young man, I’m starting to see how your old man was swindled Gero” Commented the less-friendly man, who wasn’t entirely happy with me being here.
“Since when have you begun to hang out with nobles Gero?” Asked a serene female voice this time, the fifth person at the table with a much smaller build that was one seat away to my right asked this time.
“He may sound like a noble, but he’s too poor to be one, I mean he doesn’t even wear armor when we’re out on commissions!” Gero clarified, right as seven mugs of beer arrived.
Gero paid for all seven, which was something that wasn’t too unusual for him. He seemed to spend his money as soon as he earned it, and if the expression ‘Living in the moment’ was personified I thought it would bear a striking resemblance to him.
The alcohol managed to dampen some of the awkward mood around the table, and after the first toast was made by Gero introductions were made. The friendly man was named Carey, the unfriendly one was Pangas, and the two silent men were named Gurin and Margut respectively. The young woman, or maybe girl would be a more appropriate word, was called El. The five of them were all mercenaries, with the four men having fought together for over a decade. The girl was the daughter of the man who had taught all four of them swordsmanship, and after his passing they decided to ensure her well-being by including her in their party as an archer.
Their accents were very different from anyone I had spoken to before, and after I inquired where they were from I was told that they came from a land far to the east of here, called Westmont. The irony was not lost on me and I asked why it was called that if it was to the east, which led to a long tangent about the fact that the name came from the fact that there was an area called Eastmont even further east, which did make sense.
Their group was helped by Gero a lot in regards to adapting to mercenary life here in Krilos, it seems I wasn’t the only ‘troubled soul’ who Gero was willing to lend a hand to. I could feel in their voices as they spoke to Gero that they held some deep respect for him, which sounded very odd to me. I mean this guy helped them, and they acted so respectfully, was I also meant to be doing that?
Gero actually managed to read my thoughts somehow, and said that I shouldn’t bother as the way we have interacted so far was actually something he preferred. The conversations at the table were easy-going, and no topics of substance were really discussed apart from commissions, life as mercenaries, or some interesting tales for entertainment purposes. Even I thought it polite to tell a story in return, and the tale of the Spartans at ‘Thermopylae’, with the exact names left vague except for the site of battle, managed to impress even the least quiet person at the table, El.
Right after I ended the story with the conclusion that the people of the land united to resist a foreign invader, inspired by the bravery and sacrifice of the 300 Spartans, a barrage of follow-up questions appeared from the quiet girl. I answered what I could, and made up things for answers which I didn’t know, and by the end the mesmerized face of El made a stark contrast to the neutral expressions on the faces of her four companions.
She didn’t seem to want to let off either, and asked if I knew of any other stories to tell. Her eagerness was infectious and I was about to continue before Carey diplomatically interceded for me by changing the subject, much to the chagrin of the girl who looked to be a few years older than I am.
We parted ways after about another hour of drinking, laughter, and conversation. Right as we were about to leave, El took off her cloak which revealed clean black hair, which contrasted with her ice-blue eyes. She made Gero and I promise to drink with them again, but I thought that what she really was interested in was not good food and drink but rather another story from Earth.
As we exited the establishment Gero poked fun at me by saying that instead of learning swordsmanship and doing commissions I should devote all my time to writing, which did seem like a good idea should I need funds in the future. I wasn’t what you might call a creatively-minded person, but my memory meant that every story I had read on Earth was still lurking somewhere in my mind, and even historical events could be portrayed as fiction here in Euphelia should I need to do so.