It was two days later CJ found himself at the Guild of Arms training pit. He was waiting on Alyss there, swinging around a dulled practice sword. Compared to when he was carrying around the real sword during the battle, this felt easy. He didn’t know if that was because of his attributes increasing in this world, or because it wasn’t a normal sword. Either way, he could swing the sword around like it was a stick he found outside.
“There you are,” Mae said as she walked into the pit. Instead of some fancy looking dress, or even her ‘I just woke up and had to run for my life in my pajamas’ ensemble, she was wearing what looked to CJ like a horse riding outfit. She had on capri pants, and a green jacket with padded shoulders that buttoned one flap over the other in front. The jacket hung down in the back, a coattail.
“Here I am,” CJ said. He turned to her. “Did you have to bring up Byr to get in here too?”
She looked at him as if he was speaking nonsense. “Oh, I just told them who I am. They let me in.”
“Oh.” He put the sword down at his side. “You were looking for me?”
“Yes,” Mae said. “I wanted to talk to you about what has transpired in the courts here. I’m sure you’ve heard some of our… setbacks.”
“Unfortunately, yeah. They’ve sent a messenger to check on your father, still no word back. Are they really going to try to send you back there?”
A strange expression crossed Mae’s face, a mix of fear and anger. “There is a part of this that I haven’t explained yet, and still can’t. Just know that this may get more complicated before it gets easier.”
CJ stepped toward her and lowered his voice. “Last I heard your dad was captured. That is true, right? Because I signed up for this adventure thinking you were the duchess, that no one else was in charge of Akahi.”
She tapped her foot.
CJ could feel his chest tensing up. They really did lie to him. These people weren’t refugees at all!
“My father is dead,” Mae said. “I know that for a fact. I watched him die before my eyes. But the circumstances of his death were…”
He wanted to relax, but the more she held stuff back, the more he worried that next time he would find out he was lied to. He was playing a dangerous game, he still didn’t know these people enough to trust anyone completely.
“What was it?” He asked. “Why are you worried about this? If they go and check, your dad will be gone right? There is no way the messenger comes back having met the duke, right?”
She stepped in closer, her eyes intense. It looked like she was on the edge of tears. She whispered to him, so quiet that CJ had to pull in closer to even understand her.
“My father made a foolish mistake, one that cost us the whole duchy. I’m worried how deep his mistakes go, I’m worried he has cost us everything. But no matter what his mistakes were, he was still the duke, and he still died at the hands of a terrible villain. I know I haven’t revealed everything to you, but trust me that much.”
CJ stepped back. She was a little uptight, rude, and she had an edge of that stereotypical ‘I was born more important than you’ that you expect out of a noble character. But her situation still sounded terrible, and it benefited CJ to help her figure it out.
“Fine,” CJ said. “But I don’t know what else I can do for you right now.”
“Well, it would help if you would let me show the court that eye of yours. It sounded like the lapidary here has never seen that kind of power before. That lends a lot of credence to my story. It might help to convince them that the events here are apocalyptic. If you really are one of the four generals, people need to prepare for what is coming.”
“We don’t know that yet,” CJ said. “I know you want to believe, but right now I’m worse than some random soldier.”
“Nonsense, when we formed that bond…”
“It was a mistake!” Alyss walked into the room.
Both turned toward Alyss, as did a few of the other guild members scattered around the larger training room She wasn’t wearing her helmet, and had on active gear of her own. She had a long sleeved shirt that was dyed dark, and fit loose. She had on a long skirt that went down to her ankles, and looked to be made of thick patches of cotton. She had grey pants underneath the skirt.
“We’ve done this already,” CJ said. “I thought we were past this.”
“I never said it wasn’t a stupid move. I just said I wouldn’t try to force you to change your mind.”
Mae crossed her arms. “You’ll feel it, Alyss. I’ve heard the bond described before, that was something much stronger. It was intense. It was like in that moment, I had divine purpose.”
“Raw bonds are known to be more intense, that’s why we don’t use them on the battlefield.” Alyss said. “You need everyone to work in coordination, you don’t need to know when someone in your unit has an itch on their ass.”
Mae gasped.
Alyss tried to maintain a stern expression, but her eyes eventually turned down. “Sorry, Lady Mae. The moment got the better of me.”
“That is the only bond I’ve ever felt,” CJ said, “so I’m not going to try to be the judge of all that. Can we just focus on my training here? I’m not going to reveal myself yet, Mae. I’m sorry, I don’t need the whole world thinking I’m going to fix everything.”
Mae looked around the room, at anyone but CJ and Alyss. She was clearly frustrated, but he didn’t think it was the real solution to the problem.
“Practice time,” Alyss said. “Lady Mae, please stand to the side of the pit. This will get a little rough.”
Mae walked to the side of the pit, and grabbed a practice sword.
“Mae?” CJ said.
“I made an oath, right?” Mae said as she came back into the pit. “I should learn to fight properly. This is a long time coming.”
Alyss stepped forward. “Lady Mae, I can’t. It wouldn’t be right to prepare you for a situation you shouldn’t be put in. If you find yourself crossing blades again, that means I’ve already failed.”
CJ shrugged, “Alyss, shit happens. You can’t count on her never being in danger, right?”
“Exactly,” Mae said. “What if I’m cornered, what if that villain in the one-eyed mask comes for me next? I won’t stand there and die. Let me defend myself until you can come to my side.”
Alyss made a fist, but her face stayed passive. CJ could see her thinking it through, realizing she couldn’t fight against Mae’s wishes.
“Fine then. But I won’t go easy on either of you, understand?” Alyss said.
“I wouldn’t want you to,” Mae replied.
That day they just practiced form, with Alyss showing them how to swing their swords. It was a lot of swinging and then being told no. She adjusted their stances, adjusted their arms, wrists, grips, everything. Then they would swing again and still be wrong.
“I meant to ask, why aren’t these swords as heavy?” CJ asked.
“What?” Mae said, wiping sweat from her brow. “This thing feels heavier.”
Alyss shook her head. “That is the Iron Attunement. They didn’t tell you about the Iron Limbs?”
CJ didn’t respond, instead he focused on his field guide. His character sheet had a few new additions. His bond number went up by one, from adding Alyss. But his attunement was Iron now, which meant he had new facets if he understood correctly.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
|vFacets|
|The Iron Limbs
|Feature Facet
|Edged weapons and body armor in use are 75% lighter. Raises strength and stamina.|
He still had his mysterious eye facet, it was crystalized like he was told. Even though he changed attunements, it would stick with him. That was good, he didn’t know what would happen to him if he suddenly didn’t have that power.
“I see,” CJ said. Then he looked to Mae. “You still don’t have an attunement, right?”
“Tier 0,” Alyss answered for her. “She will have to work harder before she can even reach that first attunement. Until then, it probably isn’t safe to reestablish the bond either.”
Mae glowered at her, but didn’t argue. CJ guessed that was the result of a previous conversation.
Within days they were striking dummies. Then doing mock duels between each other. It wasn’t much more than going step by step through the swings Alyss taught them, but at least it let him feel like he was actually putting his training into action.
Occasionally Byr would stop by, though he didn’t instruct them directly. Alyss seemed tense whenever he was watching, and then visibly relaxed when he left.
Larl watched a few times, though it was often when he was escorted in by Mae.
“You don’t want to do some sparring, Larl?” CJ asked on one occasion.
He shook his head. “No, my career and swinging a sword around don’t mix very well. Besides, as you may remember, my abilities are more related to defense.”
CJ did remember, if only vaguely. He used one of Larl’s facets instinctively, and manifested that shield. It was interesting to think that was a capability Larl always had, but didn’t bother to use. He was part of the Wards Attunement, which was related to a group known as the House of Mercy.
|House of Mercy|
|Attunement Mastery Organization
|The House of Mercy are known across many different nations as a group of protectors and priests. They protect the lives of others regardless of faith. Their mastery is over the Attunement of Wards, and several others associated with it. Many of those in the Attunement of Wards are pacifists, but this is not necessarily a requirement of every sect.|
“Okay, suit yourself.” CJ said. “With Alyss helping, I think we have more than enough fighters.”
CJ got to explore the city when they weren’t doing training. It wasn’t hanging out downtown, but there were shops with delicious meats, and all sorts of goods. There were stores that sold fine jewels, and others that had leather bags and equipment. Every shop felt like entering some independent shop where everything was bespoke and wondrous. In this case, most of it was unique, it was rare that two items he found on shelves were the same.
Unfortunately, he didn’t really have money.
When he talked to Alyss about it during a training session, she told him, “go and tell the Duchess.”
Byr scoffed at him when he asked in the hall of the mayor’s manor. “What do you need money for? You should be using this time to get ready for what comes next.”
When he brought it up to Larl the priest just smiled at him and handed over a few coins. “These are from Akahi, but most places should accept them regardless. This close to the borderlands, the coins from all three are used interchangeably. Thankfully, the Merchant City’s value regulations make all of that possible.”
CJ wasn’t going to ask Mae. The last thing he wanted was for her to stick her nose into what he wanted and why. He wasn’t sure why he tried to stay distant from her observation, but it felt right.
He managed to buy a shirt and pants for himself. There were options in all sorts of colors, but he went as dark as he could get. Grey pants and a light grey top that had loose sleeves. It felt good to no longer rely on handouts from the refugees. But he kept the other clothes anyway, it wasn’t like he had a full closet he could count on.
He took some time to see some of the other Attunement Master Organizations that had buildings in Scaleback.
The busiest was without a doubt, the Trader’s Guild. The wide warehouse-like building was a hub for trade deals entering and leaving the city. Many of the merchants he saw going in or out had their bison bound like he sometimes saw on the street.
He also saw something that changed his view of the world. There were a tall set of doors on the Trader’s Guild building, and while CJ was observing people going in and out of the main building, bells went off outside of the tall doorway.The door opened through a pulley system tugging them outwards, and then a massive bison inside the door yanked with all its might. The creature dwarfed any he saw before, standing at least twice as tall as a person at the shoulder.
As the massive beast pulled, it snorted fire, and it seemed to glow from within its mouth. The beast was bonded, and a bonded man with a hook-ended spear was walking beside it. Instead of attacking the bison with the spear, it used it to pull the bison in directions it may not realize it could move on its own.
The bison pulled a massive wagon, reinforced with metal at many different places, and also mostly tall and relatively skinny. Despite all that pulling, the wagon wasn’t any wider than three people with their arms wide.
It was loaded with goods, like crates and barrels, that were reinforced with giant straps. The bison pulled until it came free from the warehouse and then started with it down the road. It was like an 18 wheeler, but built on pure bison power. He watched it until it vanished down the road, so tall that its wagon was taller than some of the buildings they passed.
CJ asked the people inside about the Trader’s Guild. He received different answers from every person he passed inside. The building worked as part market, part distribution center. But anyone selling goods inside had to be a member of the Traders. Some considered them a regulatory body, the ones who made sure that trade didn’t collapse from every single disruption. Others saw them as a trade school, the ones who made sure that the traditions weren’t lost for everything from farming to dance.
The attunement of burdens was just like he heard, focused on making people sturdy enough to survive the hard work that came with a life in the trades. It gave some physical strength, but that wasn’t as important. CJ liked the idea of an organization built on getting everyone fed, but there was clearly an element of getting a lot of people paid.
Days later he finally got a chance to visit the House of Mercy. It wasn’t like a church, not like he expected. There was a clear focus on their main god, or the main god of Emberism, Hibe. But when he was there he didn’t hear a lot of prayer. Anyone was allowed to enter, but the focus was on helping others get well. They weren’t there to charge for most services, people who were scraped up or injured would just wait at the House of Mercy until they could be seen. From what CJ gathered, that could take days depending on the severity of their problem. Only certain healers could manage really bad problems, but scrapes and wounds might be fine by the end of the day.
The last master organization from the four was the United Academia. Which turned out to be the most interesting one of all, at least to a visitor. They had a library that was available for any visitors, but it was a collection of copies of different books. Many of them were just historical records from different groups, and they were grouped together by who created them.
Then there was a second area of the United Academia that was for members only. That area could be spotted through a doorway, and had many more racks of books. He asked, and was told that it was the current arguments and theories from the different branches of the united academia. It seemed that each branch had different concepts for the nature of the world, and the powers within it. Some of these theories were considered the prevailing theory, the currently agreed upon rules for how the world worked. Others were up and coming, or theories threatening to uproot what the world currently knew.
The United Academia wasn’t a school, or even a library, it was a place for research and theory. They would house a certain number of researchers, and they would use their time in residence to try to learn all they could and create new unifying theories.
CJ wasn’t as booksmart as he wanted to be, but this place would have the most knowledge in the city. If he could open the right books, he was sure he could find out the history of this war that was brewing, or even how to get home. It just had to be something related to his world and this one, and how they were connected to each other.
But their Attunement was one of arcane power. Considered a counterpart to the Attunement of Wards, they could manifest their soul’s power to cause harm and movement. No one there said it when he asked, but they sounded like wizards. It was a shame Byr insisted he go with Iron, being a wizard sounded amazing!
It was three weeks later when CJ was sitting inside a waiting hall outside a court room. His tether was reaching from him to two people inside the room, Alyss and Mae. Larl was sitting in a seat beside him. They were waiting to see what the mayor would have to say about the results of sending a messenger to Akahi.
It only took a few days to get there and back. Anything more than that, the days beyond the three to four required, meant the messenger was likely dead. But Barune didn’t want to admit to that.
So CJ sat outside, waiting. He could hear loud talking from inside, and he could feel Mae and Alyss’s reactions to the noises. Mae was furious, overwhelmed, and confused. Meanwhile Alyss was just angry, a sort of smoldering rage that went above what came from Mae.
The doors to the court were thrown open, and Mae marched out with an escort of Akahi guards. Alyss was at her side, but men and women in uniform made a line on either side of her as they headed through the hall and to the exit. CJ spotted her face, it was red and furious.
“I don’t think it went well,” CJ said as he stood up.
They both stood and followed. They managed to find Sir Byr walking alongside the soldiers.
“Sir Byr, what happened?” CJ asked.
Byr noticed him and took a few steps away from the soldiers while motioning for them to follow. They stopped and let everyone pass by while Byr spoke in a lower voice. “Akahi has declared war on the Kingdom of Barune.”
“What!?” CJ snapped. “The Duchess declared war?”
“The Duke did,” Byr said. “They were supposedly able to get an official message from the duchy. Even though they were not allowed to meet with the Duke himself, the document looked official, was signed and stamped with his sigil. So, Scaleback has no choice but to accept it as an official declaration.”
CJ looked to Larl, who seemed lost in thought. So he looked back to Byr. “So what happens to us? What about the refugees?”
Byr nodded. “The King has given us two days to leave the city and march back to Akahi, and that is as a favor since the duchess is family. Until then, we are to stay in our quarters, and not associate with anyone else in the city. We are being sent back, and we don’t have any other move. Head back to the rooms, pack up your things. We move when the duchess is ready.”
CJ stopped following. He turned and looked at Larl. “This ain’t right. She seems sure that the duke is dead. So what is happening here?”