Vitality instantly began to flood his abdomen and provided him with a newfound level of strength he didn't quite understand. He wasn’t sure exactly what that strength went to though, other than a vague feeling that he could.. ‘hold’ more vitality. That, and he was incredibly hungry. It felt like his stomach became a bottomless pit. More and more energy was diverted into refining his stomach, which sent more and more energy back to the Aurelius Flame to refine, which then circled back to his organs. Ryke’s eyes sparkled as he realized why the scripture, unlike most, required him to go straight for the stomach. Quantity.
Gently lifting the now sleeping Fromir and wrapping him around his neck, the young Centurion left his dorm and went back to the canteen, finding it long empty. Only Lamse remained in the kitchen, slowly putting away what was left. A few minutes passed by while Ryke patiently waited to be noticed, still wearing a smile on his face that slowly turned more and more wry. He was starving, but he tried his best to be patient and polite knowing he was too late.
“Alright, alright, you havn’t left yet, what do you want?” Lamse untied his long dark hair and tossed a rag over his shoulder, leaning against the counter with a tired smile.
“I uh, didn’t collect my portions for today.”
“Your portions? From the ranking?”
Lamse raised a brow, and then made an expression of understanding as he recognized Ryke’s face. Without any further knowledge, he went back into the kitchen and came back with two more plates of food, though now cold.
“Sorry, sorry. Cold now, but Sigmar reminded me to keep them ready for you.”
“Sigmar did?”
“Aye! Came over not long after the fighting was done.” The young man grinned, holding his weight against the counter as he tapped a few fingers against the surface. “Did you not ask him to?”
“No? I lost track of time eating my first serving.”
“Oh? A breakthrough for you then lad. Congratulations! Which one was it?”
“The stomach..”
“That explains the hunger. You’re going to be needing to eat a lot more now! Most don’t do it until the end.”
“Why not?”
“Too much food.”
Ryke devoured the two extra servings of beast meat he received while listening to Lamse talk, the cook providing him with some company in the dark canteen and answering any few questions Ryke could manage to ask when he wasn’t swallowing down food. It was made abundantly clear to him that the different organs brought different advantages. The stomach would digest food faster and provide more vitality for the Aurelius Flame to refine. The liver would do similar, but would also increase overall energy reserves. The lungs helped filter out the air you breathed, while the heart brought an overall boost to everything that was fairly minor.
While refining the stomach first would help speed up the process of refining everything else, it also required you to eat a lot more, and didn’t provide much of a benefit unless you had a lot of nutrient rich food like meat from Ringed Beasts. Otherwise it was more of a detriment to the process as a whole. All that meant for Ryke though was that he’d have to stay at the top of the rankings or else he’d starve; and his first organ he was refining didn’t actually make him stronger at all.
Sure enough when Ryke woke up the next day he was starving, rushing as fast as he could to get ready and then eat his breakfast. He even got a little extra for Fromir to eat, considering the Taura seemed to have grown slightly overnight, a change he didn’t quite understand. Of all the things he asked Lamse, things about Fromir rarely had an answer. That and the questions about his Lanista. The cook barely even let out information pertaining to himself for that matter, only letting the boy know he was nineteen this year.
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Those thoughts all left him when he sat down on his cot to meditate for the day, feeling the vitality he built up drained away into the newfound Vital Path. The immense feeling of strength quickly faded as the absurd amount of energy disappeared, and he suddenly felt normal again. Hours slipped by, woken from his trance when Lycus knocked on his door at noon.
Together they made their way down to the main hall, met by the sight of a crowd of youths around the altar and several adult figures standing on top. Sigmar was there as usual, but a variety of young and old, men and women stood side by side with him. Each one seemingly held a different weapon with one old man even wielding a hammer nearly his size in stature. He didn’t even know how the man stood upright with that thing. Finally, Sigmar addressed the first years with his usual disdain, slamming the spear against the ground in a way that made Ryke feel bad for whichever smith forged it.
“Candidates!”
“Today I introduce you to my fellow instructors, the men and women who have volunteered to teach you.”
The Centurions lined up on the altar went through one by one and established themselves, though he didn’t pay much attention to that. Most simply said their name and what they’d be training them in. Some did specific styles, some taught weapons overall, while some trained more professional things like herbalism, leatherworking, forging, foraging, and..
“The name is Gaeldir. Jekan’s only Runesmith.”
A burly man stepped forth, his body covered in intricate markings and tattoos easily visible, the only clothes on him the loose fit trousers he wore. His long black hair was tied back, and he kept a wide array of hammers and chisels on his belt. His violet eyes scanned the crowd as Sigmar had done many times, and fell briefly on a few of the youth; Ryke included.
“I teach the language of runes and their implementation. Some use it for formations, some use it for weapons. I create weapons.”
Gaeldir stepped back into line, and the rest of the instructors quickly followed up, leaving Ryke to once again lose interest and fall back into his own thoughts until exactly what was happening was clarified. Most took a few minutes each to explain thoroughly what they did. By the time half an hour had gone by, Sigmar was ready to speak again.
“These instructors will each name people they deem interesting or wish to teach. You will then be given the option to find tutelage under them, or decline and find a different instructor who will teach you. You will have one combat instructor and one life skills instructor”
This started yet another boring thirty minutes of talking that mostly excluded him. The various instructors found their students, while he was trying to figure out which instructors he’d like to take. Runesmith sounded like it was related to a Runic Armament, and as such Gaeldir piqued his interest immediately. He just didn’t know which of the combat instructors to choose. He felt a push against his shoulder and turned to see Lycus, who then pointed up at the altar. Gaeldir was pointing down at him stoically, no expression on his face as he did so.
“This one. Do you accept?”
“I do, yes! I do!”
“Good. And this one.”
Gaeldir pointed at Kievra next, who quickly bowed her head and accepted, having now found both her instructors. Then a few more minutes passed and he found himself.. With no combat instructor. Not a single one wanted him, and every polearm expert he asked or volunteered for didn’t accept him, leaving him at a loss. The first years had started giving him odd looks.
“Does anyone not have an instructor?”
Ryke slowly raised his hand.
“Your weapon?”
“Glaive.”
The strange looks continued, the students long knowing that the Lanista knew what weapon Ryke used, not to mention that Sigmar definitely knew who Ryke was. Even the boy in question couldn’t help but be confused as he answered.
“Good. Then you’ll be under my tutelage for the year. Anyone else?”
Silence reigned over the main hall, no other student suffering from a missing instructor. Quickly trainees formed groups around their respective favored instructors with their companions, most groups simply being two to four people at most, with the exception of Sigmar’s one.
“You will all spend two hours each day with your instructor unless they tell you otherwise, and they will each teach you what they want every day. This is mandatory. Their residences are north of the main hall, the only hall you have all yet to go down. Any questions? No? Good. Dismissed. This starts tomorrow.”
Sigmar quickly left as usual and brought the other instructors with him, leaving the stumped and very much so confused candidates alone in the main hall to disperse on their own. Ryke wanted to talk to Kievra briefly, but she left the Ludus within seconds to go god knows where. With a sigh, he went back to pick up his food at the canteen.