The warehouse required a lot of cleaning, and not just on the inside.
There was a separate entrance for the fresh fish, that arrived on the trawlers and hit the market on the same day. It turned out that the Vedan merchant had ships geared up with an etheric device that kept actual ice in the hold. That’s how he was able to sell live crabs and other delicacies from the delta and outpace the competition.
Sure enough, the fish were quickly sorted in the dock, then hauled in crates and ceramic containers through the warehouse to the market. Some were packed whole and others gutted on the spot, then carried somewhere else. The grime they left was for the cleaning crew to get rid of. Nua didn’t even take a look at the other entrances, used for different merchandise. Up to her elbows in blood and slime, with a bucket of water refilled from the river once in a while, she was fighting against the tide. Her weapons were a heavy mop and rags that she used for the more stubborn remains, already glued to the pier. Her goal was never to make the dock and the warehouse spotless, but to stop them from turning into a putrid cesspit of scales and entrails.
The rest of the crew was wary of her, and besides Erish, no one tried to get close.
Although Erish hinted at Fabia’s parentage as an insult, it was true that the lower strata of the Overlord’s Mercy were often mixed. As long as you didn’t have the telltale beast eyes with light-reflecting pupils, and your other ethnic traits weren’t too prominent, you could pass for Azurian and never admit to your cursed ancestors. The line was blurry, and it depended on how well you were liked and accepted in your social circles, so Nua’s presence stirred some fears and resentments. Her face provided a benchmark for comparisons, and that was precisely what some of the Erish’ crew were trying to avoid. Erish, herself, apparently did not mind the slightest. Although even her name was Unsaggan in origin, her heavy build and higher status was deterrent enough for anyone who’d like to mess with her.
It was a matter of time, however, before she deems Nua trained and leaves her to clean on her own, and who knows what would happen then.
That work was always a horrible idea, it came with risks attached, and on top of that, it paid only a copper a day. Nua decided that she’ll give Anki a piece of her mind when she sees him, but so far, he was conspicuously absent. She gritted her teeth. Oh just you wait, you ancient bastard.
She was in the middle of scrubbing off a very stubborn stain that had already started to congeal in the sun when she heard a familiar voice.
“Listen carefully, Nua.”
She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Anki, I'm busy.”
“You're physically occupied.”, he remarked. “Your mind does not do anything in particular.”
Until now, there were many instances when Nua was simply irritated with Anki. Right in that moment, if he wasn’t a floating blue blob, she’d try to strangle the blasted ex-monarch.
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“My mind is doing something, all right. My mind keeps me from running away. You said I’d get power. Bone-breaking work was never the deal! Shoo.” She was still aware that shooing an ancient Forsaken king is perhaps not the best idea, but at the moment, she did not care.
Anki didn’t seem to notice.
“As you wish.”, he said with a haughty sneer. “I shall retreat, then. And you will not be able to enjoy etheric reinforcement to make your work easier.”
Nua froze with the rag on the floor.
“Wait, what?”
“Oh, you were very explicit that you’re not interested.”
“No no no. Come back.”
“You’re apparently busy.”
“I can spare a while. You’re talking about actual practical sorcery, right?”
The king settled on the mop with a smug expression.
“Etheric reinforcement is not technically sorcery yet, but it’s one of the fundamentals. If you draw in about a quarter of ether that you’ve mishandled while peeling tubers, and you let it fill your limbs, you’ll notice the difference.”
“Not sure if I can do it.”, Nua hesitated. “If I make a mistake, everyone will see.”
“They’re not looking at you right now. Also, I happen to know exactly what you did when we were persuading lord merchant. No prompting, no instruction, you took just what you needed at the moment. Very impressive. I predict that you’ll have no trouble controlling the flow.”
Nua frowned. She sensed that the compliments were overdone. He really was egging her on. Perhaps he thought it’s the right way to train her.
“But… won’t my eyes shine?”
“If you don’t let it fill your eyes, they won’t. It’s not enough to produce off-target effects.”
She mulled it in her head. It seemed doable. Just in case, she’d be careful not to meet anyone’s face and keep scrubbing. “So… what do I do, exactly?”
“Draw the ether in, hold it like that, then spread along your arms. If you can, let it travel down to your legs, too, like water in the canals. When you’re done, try to keep it there for as long as you can. It will dissipate on its own, but until it does, you’ll reap the benefits.”
“Nua, no sleepin’ on a job!”, Erish called. “I can see you!”
The girl sighed. Oh great, now she had two overbearing mentors. Maybe they’ll cancel each other out. She scrubbed with renewed energy until Erish turned her back. Then she closed her eyes, just for a moment, and looked for the source.
Pulling out a small morsel of energy turned out to be instinctive. Wispy strands of ether split from the tiny sun, then coalesced into a little ball, separate from the original entity. They burned hot, as before, although Nua’s senses could not decide if it was temperature or taste. A bit of both, perhaps.
With great care, she spread the power. Anki’s image of flowing water was not working for her – deep in her mind, she had an impression, not that she knew where it came from - that the feeling should be entirely different. After a deliberate consideration, she chose the least painful of her ideas and went with red pepper sauce. Hala had pots of spices that she cultivated to supplement their meager staple, and hot peppers were one of them – she claimed they’re very easy to grow. When Nua tried it, she killed her plant.
The ether flowed, red and golden, and crackling with power. It didn’t burn as much as she was afraid of. She thought that with time, she could get used to the uncomfortable feeling in her muscles.
And it made a difference. It didn’t give her some great strength, She wasn’t expecting that anyway, and so she was not disappointed. But the weariness went away and scrubbing became slightly easier.
After a few breaths, her focus slipped away and she let go. All ether evaporated without a trace. Immediately, the mop regained its full weight, and Nua almost tripped. Now, though, she knew what to do.
“Not bad, not bad”, Anki remarked. “I’m making bets with myself on how long you’ll keep it up.”
Nua smiled inwardly. It was still drudgery. But now that she had an exercise in real sorcery she could attend to while doing all the work, she would last until the end of the day.