The cold water barely sufficed to quench the endless waves of heat radiating from his flesh. For once, Volithur did not miss heated water. He felt as if he might catch on fire. Strangely, the heat did not bother him. Indeed, he felt strong and energetic.
The tapestry of bruises on his body were a pale yellow, as if they had been healing for days already even though many of them had been refreshed minutes ago. The blood boiling elixir managed to not only live up to its odd name, but also its hallowed reputation. The soreness that had plagued him since he began his training had vanished entirely.
He left the shower before he could use all the water, dressed in a fresh uniform, and went to wait in the dining hall. The Sergeant stopped in just a few minutes later.
“How are you feeling, Ward Harridan?”
“Hot,” Volithur said.
“It can be quite intense.”
“It healed all my aches.”
“Well… I doubt that. Your body is pumped full of cosmic energy at the moment. It’s not an inherently healing energy. A powerful master can use it like that, but a beginner like you is only able to harness motive power. Your movements become stronger, the fluids move swifter through your body, and the swelling of tissue declines for a time.” The Sergeant smiled at Volithur. “Shall we begin your private cultivation lesson?”
“You are teaching me, Sergeant?”
“One of my top priorities is shaping you into a noble’s footman. Based on the meager talents you have shown so far, that will be no minor undertaking, Ward Harridan.”
“Sorry, Sergeant.”
The Sergeant grunted. “The Lord General mostly forgets the fifth household exists. When he does remember, it is typically to exile his less promising descendants away from the first and second households. We are not a significant component of the Shaocheth estate. There is a good chance the Lord General doesn’t return for the footman he asked to be trained. But if he does remember… if he does return for you… we will have done our part. Whether you like it or not, we will also ensure that you have done your part. A lot of hard work is in your future, Ward Harridan.”
“I will do my best, Sergeant.”
“Good. Now I want you to begin cultivating the blood boiling elixir. Do just as you did with the moon water elixir. Inhale and exhale from your soul using your body aperture. Once you have that down, we can move on to more advanced methods.”
Volithur struggled to figure out the basic method for a few minutes. Always before he had exercised to draw forth energy from his soul into his body, then allowed his soul to draw back the cosmic energy in his flesh. No one had ever taught him how to do that without the exercise.
Apparently, having exchanged energy in the past had given him enough proficiency that he could manage without the exercise. No doubt his efforts were aided by the fact that his body was overflowing with cosmic energy that pushed against his soul aperture. He simply figured out how to relax the metaphysical orifice and energy poured into his soul.
He then managed to push the energy back out without much challenge, establishing an in-and-out rhythm. Volithur’s body slowly lost the intense burn sensation as he cultivated. A sense of pride filled him. He might not have achieved this through talent, but he had in fact been responsible for his current situation. Deceiving his captors and seizing their resources for his own deserved some appreciation, by his estimation.
The rhythm of body cultivation continued for a time. Volithur quickly learned that if he went too quickly his body didn’t gain enough heat for the inhalations to be worthwhile. Similarly, if he went too slowly, he would once more grow uncomfortably warm. Keeping a good pace balanced the two extremes and made his soul tingle.
“You’re doing great so far,” the Sergeant said. “But now I want you to begin directing the exhalations from your soul into individual bones. At this point I don’t expect you to have a strong grasp of your bone structure, so only focus on the big, obvious ones. The skull or one of the femurs. Exhale into the bone of your choice, then inhale from your entire body. We’re combine body cultivation, the pulling of energy into the soul from the body, with body enhancement, the permanent improvement of the body.”
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
The exercise continued, with Volithur directing the energy from his soul into his skull. He did this for perhaps an hour before the cosmic energy in his body began to drop off precipitously. The Sergeant grunted. “I was hoping that would last longer. No matter. You are off to a good start. Stay here until lunch and practice what we worked on. Use every last dreg of the elixir to accomplish something. After noon bread I will walk you over to the classroom.”
The Sergeant left for a time while Volithur continued to cultivate. Though he was no longer overflowing with cosmic energy, his body still held enough that every effort was ten times more productive than it would normally be. He forced down a twinge of regret for sharing the elixir with Thassily. He didn’t need to hoard every opportunity for himself when the household was committed to his training.
Soon enough, a runner arrived with a pack on his back stuffed full of loaves. The girl set out the bread on the serving table while making eyes at him. Volithur sat in silence, pretending not to notice the attention on him. When everything was arranged to her satisfaction, the girl strode over to where he sat.
“Are ya one of the soldier recruits, fellow?”
“I’m a ward of the Lord General,” he said.
“A ward of the Lord General,” the girl repeated. She flashed a wide smile, revealing several missing teeth in her pock-marked face. “Must be nice. When the Xian took my world, I got dragged away from me mom’s bakery to indenture at the palace kitchen here.”
Some of the stiffness in Volithur’s shoulders eased. “You lost your family to the Xian, too?”
“What was left of it. Pox came through my town and wiped out a ton of folk. About a year after, the Xian show up and take any who look useful. Me mom looked useful in a way she didn’t care to be used, if you take me meaning. They didn’t care for the word ‘no’ and that was it for her. I didn’t want to work for their type, but a kid don’t have much recourse against Xian soldiers.”
“They popped my parent’s heads like grapes right in front of me,” Volithur said, his tone strangely cavalier. He didn’t like how casual the conversation felt. He should be raging or crying when he spoke about the crimes done to his parents.
“Aye, that’s how they keep the blood from their uniforms,” the girl said. She nodded at him. “Must be hard training with the soldiers.”
Volithur shrugged. “It wouldn’t really matter if it was.”
“They don’t give many options, do they?” The girl held out her hand abruptly. “My name is Ava of Yelling. Just call me Ava. They don’t like me using the name of my town.”
“They call me Ward Harridan around here.” Volithur took the offered hand in his own. “But my birth name is Volithur.”
Ava’s eyes sparkled as she smiled down at him, gaps in her teeth evident. “It’s a pleasure meeting a fellow prisoner, Volithur who goes by Ward Harridan. They feed the soldiers well enough, but if you ever want richer fare from the kitchens, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Do they have chocolate?”
“Right for the jugular, this one,” Ava laughed. “No chocolate around here. I might be able to get you a piece of lemon cake with a dusting of powdered sugar.”
“That sounds good, but I don’t have anything to pay you back with.”
Ava waved away his complaint. “A friendly chat is more than most care to give. An indentured cook’s assistant ain’t hardly human to the palace folk. If you stay on at the barracks, might not be terrible having a soldier for a friend either.” She glanced towards the door. “I’ll be on my way now, Ward Harridan. One of these days, I’ll get you a slice of that cake.”
“See you around, Ava.” As the girl rushed off, Volithur pondered the interaction. If he looked past the pock marks and the missing teeth, Ava wasn’t entirely unappealing. Unhealthily thin, especially for someone who worked in a kitchen, but she had a defiant sparkle to her dark eyes that rooted itself in his memory. Or maybe that was just because of the appreciative looks she had sent his direction. In spite of much effort, Volithur had never been popular with the girls back home.
Volithur placed those thoughts aside as he tore into one of the loaves. Apparently the Xian rampaged across multiple worlds, slaying unempowered humans like animals and bringing back fresh orphans as slaves. The fact bothered him less than it should. Why am I so numb to everything that happened? Don’t I care what they did?
The others trickled in and devoured bread. Thassily pulled him aside with excitement in his eyes. “Harridan, my body is on fire. I swear I’ve made more progress today than in all the time we’ve been here.”
Volithur clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Good! Cultivate it while you can.”
The Sergeant stepped through the door, caught sight of him, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Get a move on, Ward Harridan. We need to get you over to the palace before the afternoon session begins.”