“Breathe in. Feel the energy flowing through you. Breathe out. Lend your strength to urge it along. Breathe in. Move your power through your limbs. Exhale and let it flow where it wants to go. Breathe in.”

Borin groaned and flopped over to the ground. “This isn’t working.”

He watched while Laurel paced back and forth in front of him. The woman was terrifying. She’d come out of the mayor’s office back in Perin and announced Borin would be coming with her. After the morning’s brutal hike he was herded towards a decrepit farmhouse and told to get to work. Any thoughts of leaving had been shattered when he saw the small woman lift half a collapsed barn wall and toss it away without any effort. But she was feeding him, and despite not being able to hear the mayor, Borin was aware enough to guess Laurel had saved him from something much worse. So he did whatever she said. Even when what she told him to do was some weird mystic nonsense.

“Miss Laurel, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling but there’s nothing there.”

“Master Laurel. And that’s fine. Cultivation can take a while to get the hang of. Get started on the rest of your chores for the day.”

So he did. The first week they had mostly cleared out the farmhouse and got it up to a livable state. Somehow Laurel always had whatever they needed to clean out the area. She had even produced beds for both of them. Or at least one bed, and one cot for him. But it was still better than anything he’d had since leaving home. The rest of the buildings were rotting and they had spent another week tearing them down and salvaging any useful wood they could find. His chores now mostly consisted of exterminating voles and other farm vermin.

Days melted by. Borin spent mornings listening to Laurel talk about mana and did his best to follow instructions for cultivating. The afternoons were spent doing labor around the property. Evenings Laurel left him to find his own ways while she wandered the area or read books she always seemed to have on hand. It was the best situation he’d found for himself since leaving home. So he just politely ignored the fact that magic was evil and illegal. And if he was apprehensive and maybe not giving the morning exercises every possible effort, Laurel didn’t need to know.

**********

“I think the issues with the ambient mana is causing you problems. We’re going to try something different today. I’ll use my own mana to try and connect and guide yours.” Laurel was suddenly looming over him and Borin couldn’t quite hide the flinch.

“Um that’s okay, let’s keep trying this way for now.”

Laurel frowned down at him. He didn’t know how such a tiny woman could look so intimidating. “It won’t hurt.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten it yet, I just want to keep trying first.”

“Fine. We’ll do the normal meditation then. Breathe in…”

Borin let Laurel’s direction fade into the background. At this point he could recite it himself, and the instructions never really made more sense, no matter how often he heard them. He was nearing a precipice. Laurel was getting impatient with him. She never said anything, but he could tell in the way she cut herself off, or frowned when he wasn’t looking. He’d seen enough would-be bosses start making the same face a few weeks before they asked him to leave.

Instead of the usual farm chores, Laurel had tasked him with heading into town and “find a cat to deal with the fucking horde of mice in this place”. He wasn’t sure how one went about getting a cat but he dutifully made his way into town. The wild grasses swayed in the wind as he trekked the few kilometers from he farmstead. He meandered down the main roads, looking for stray cats that might want a new home. Kind of like him. The townsfolk scowled when they saw him coming. He felt his shoulders migrating up towards his ears as he slumped down. Yes, he had damaged a forge, and a loom, and some buildings, and one storage silo. But really, did they need to hold it against him? He’d done his best.

Eventually he found himself at one of the town’s two taverns. Mildred, the owner, was far kinder than old Ferick, who’d run him out of the other bar when he’d destroyed a couple benches in an accident. Mildred pointed him to the Oster farm, where they were just weaning a new litter of kittens from their barn cat. A couple hours and an armful of scratches later, Borin was nursing an ale while their new cat had some cream on the seat next to him. Or maybe it was his third ale. It was hard to keep track when Mildred was so happy to keep him topped up.

“Oy. Didn’t we run you out of town after messing about in Thomas’s forge?” A hand tapping his shoulder alerted Borin that the question was meant for him.

“You did. But I’m back now, hooray! Oh sorry Mildred.” The last was said after he sloshed the ale onto the bar. A hiss and a fierce swat was the retribution of the little cat that had been inside the splash zone.

“What poor soul took you on then?”

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“Name’s Laurel. Out on the abandoned farm near the woods outside of town.”

“Oh? Working as a farmhand then? Surprised she’s trusting you with a scythe.” The man had been joined at this point by a few of the other locals at the bar and the nearby table, perking up at the hint of gossip.

“Mmm. No scythes yet. Mostly meditating. And trying to ‘feel the magic in the world around you.’ And voles. Lots of voles.”

Borin watched his new friends scoot further away. And one woman hurried out after dropping some coins on the table.

“Free advice boy, keep that to yourself. Ain’t nothing good comes from magic.”

“No, Laurel’s nice. A bit weird but it's good so far.”

The man raised his hands in surrender and turned around to strike up a conversation with someone else. Borin went back to his stew, and cuddled the kitten in close. It was soft and he didn’t mind a few little scratches.

The walk back to the farm was long enough to get him close to sober. The reaction of the townies to Laurel’s methods was a surprise. He knew people hated magic, and it was technically illegal in parts of the Empire. But so far it was just meditating and trying to feel things. What was wrong with that? Those were also people more than happy to drive him out of town after a few mistakes. Laurel had only been kind. Sharp at times, but that wasn’t really a problem. Borin came to a decision then. No more holding back. Despite what the townsfolk said, he would commit to Laurel’s plans. Next time she offered he would let her spark his own magic with her own. He was terrible at everything else he’d ever tried. But cultivation would be where he found his destiny. He would make sure of it.

***********

Another month slipped by. Laurel watched Borin where he was attempting to cultivate. When he slipped into a deep enough meditation, she sent a tendril of her own mana to jolt Borin’s into movement. Anyone could see how hard the boy had been trying in recent weeks. His actual progress was still lacking, but cultivation couldn’t be rushed. There was too much pressure on him, and it was her fault. Breaking into active cultivation could take years. The boy was a mess, but almost anyone could learn to cultivate to some degree, given enough time and resources. They didn’t have years to wait to get the sect started though. Liquid funds were running low and there were only three years before they had to pay off the land. They needed to find some ways to bring in money and recruits. With no other choices she pushed him, and watched him slump away every afternoon to escape into his chores.

Leaving Borin to his tasks, Laurel made her way back into Perin. It was time to put her dignity aside and sell her services to the mortals. It had been weeks since she stopped into town, instead spending her free time doing her best to cultivate the local Core. The ambient mana was still too weak to really connect to the spiritual construct. As a result, she spent most of her time frustrated, taking it out on Borin, and then feeling even worse. It was the lack of anything she could actually do that was wearing her down. Not enough mana to cultivate the Core. Not enough time to actually teach Borin anything useful. Her first months as Sectmaster and she was floundering.

The path to town was unremarkable. A dirt road only barely set off from the fields around it, that turned into a trough of mud in the rain. Paving stones would need to be sourced eventually, along with a thousand other things to build their sect compound up into something workable. She hadn’t even brought out the legacy stone to show Borin, too worried about having no way to defend it. Town was upon her before she could slip too deep into the self-flagellation. Her first stop was the mayor’s office and she didn’t tarry on the way.

“Tell me Mr. Mayor, is there a central hub in town that most people visit? I need to advertise some services on offer.”

The man leaned back with his customary drink. “Oh sure. The general store is the best bet. You can’t have grown anything yet though?”

It was a leading question but since she was here to spread the word it was worth it to chat before rushing off to the general store. “You’re right, not selling vegetables. But I figured I could offer my services in other things. Hunting. Healing. Investigating anything unusual.”

“I won’t stop you. But I think you’ll find it hard to get the locals to reach out to a stranger. Everyone goes to Doc Q when they need medicine. And it's quiet enough here that people don’t usually need any investigating. Maybe hunting or foraging people will come find you. We don’t have many willing to take those jobs since the Herricks moved out to the Borderlands. I’d just ask you keep things in hand. Don’t want to be called in if that charge of yours starts more trouble.”

“Don’t you worry. Borin is coming along. Hasn’t broken anything in weeks.”

The mayor snorted as she turned to leave. “As long as anything he breaks is out of town and out of sight, I’ll choose to believe you.” Chuckles followed her out of the office as she made her way towards the general store. A brief, stilted interaction with the proprietor secured her a place to hang her notice and a promise to spread the word. Now it was down to waiting on the townsfolk to come see them.

********

Borin was again running errands in town. Since the confrontation in the pub he’d been finding more reasons to stay on the farm. Now when he walked around, he was convinced there were stares and whispers. Laurel was upset that no one had shown up to the farm in the week after posting her notice. The aggravation grew until this morning when she sent him into town to ask if anyone had shown any interest. Head down, he went straight to the general store without making eye contact with anyone. He stood in the corner while others browsed the selection. When a lull in shoppers appeared, he made his way to the front to ask the owner for any news.

“Not much interest. Most folks get by without hiring someone to hunt anyone down. Doc did say he had some ingredients he’d pay for if you could find them. Going to have to go find him though.”

Borin mumbled thanks and made his way towards the building near the edge of town that served as the local doctor’s workplace and home. The short time he’d lived in town was enough for him to become well-acquainted with the area. When he entered, sounds were coming from the back room so he sat on a hard-backed chair in the empty front room to wait.

“Borin! It’s been a while since you were in, thought you must have gone back down south. What happened this time?”

He felt blood rush to his cheeks at Doc’s well-meaning comment. He thought about the stories of noble cultivators Laurel had taken to mixing into their morning sessions and pushed his shoulders back. “I’m actually with the new group on the old Rashan homestead. Deric mentioned you might have something for us.”

“Oh.” The surprise in the doctor’s voice was a sharper blow than he expected, but Borin did his best to school his face into something neutral. “Well in that case, here. I’ll pay by weight for anything on that list. The merchants don’t make their way up here often enough and I don’t have time to forage for myself.”

He took the list and hurried out, courage spent for the day. With a muttered thanks he hurried back down the road. Staring at his feet, he was unprepared for the wall of muscle he slammed into. Rushing to his feet he stammered out an apology.

“No harm done boy. You finally ditched the witch, eh?”

“What, er, no. Just doing some errands.”

“Shame. You seem like a good kid. You should be a bit more careful who you hang around. Witches are always up to something. Might be worth asking why she’s bothering with you. ”

Borin made some vague agreeing noises and all but ran back home. The larger man had unnerved him with the questions. The short exchange swirled through his thoughts for the rest of the evening. It was late before he finally stopped tossing and turning and slipped into sleep.