Break of Autumn, Week 1, Day 5
I looked up from the sheet of paper that was the plan for the rest of my days on the way to Fellan. Then I looked up at the three knights who were presenting it to me. Sir Rellar, Sir Limrick, and Dame Arella all looked really, very serious. It was almost comical. That my mana was so dangerous it required this level of scrutiny.
“Um,” I looked at the tri-folded brochure-like piece of paper, “When did you even have time to make this?”
We had just stopped thirty minutes earlier. It wasn’t even enough time for dinner to be started. Knights were still unpacking the camping supplies. But this plan looked meticulously crafted. It was broken down into hour increments, and it was color-coded.
Who made this? On the road! I swallowed my laugh.
“It’s not that difficult,” Sir Limrick defended, “We make them for squires regularly.”
So, it was Sir Limrick who made it then. Unexpected. I thought it was Dame Arella. Then again, while she was caring, she didn’t strike me as the overly organized type. Sir Limrick, on the other hand, seemed as if he lived his life meticulously structured.
I went back to examining the schedule.
Hour
Activity
0:00-6:59
Sleep
7:00-7:59
Daily Preparation
8:00-8:59
Non-Mana Skill Practice
9:00-9:59
Mana Skill Practice
10:00-10:59
Non-Mana Skill Practice
11:00-11:29
Reading
11:30-1:29
Lunch (variable)
1:30-1:59
Reading
2:00-2:59
Non-Mana Skill Practice
3:00-3:59
Mana Skill Practice
4:00-4:59
Mana Skill Practice
5:00-5:59
Non-Mana Skill Practice
6:00-6:59
Reading
7:00-9:59
Nightly Preparation
10:00-11:59
Sleep
“This seems very much like my Governess’ schedules,” I commented offhandedly.
And it was true. Lina, the Governess of the Dawn children, had often taken it upon herself to control every move little Eunora had made. So, she made strict schedules prior to my Awakening. And then she’d disappeared afterward.
No, she went on vacation. I reminded myself of what Raphael had said before I left. She simply wasn’t around while I locked myself inside.
“Well,” Sir Limrick stretched his hands out as if to take the paper back –instinctively, I pulled it closer to me and gave him an odd look, “If you don’t want it to be so structured, really as long as you just stick to the hours for the mana Skill practice we’ll be fine.”
“No,” I said slowly, a feeling of warmth blooming inside my chest, “I didn’t say that. Thank you, Sir Limrick, for the thought put into it.”
I paused, “It looks like mana Skill practice is never immediately prior to us stopping. Is that for a reason?”
Sir LImrick nodded, “Yes, we don’t want any attraction to where we’ll be staying for an extended period of time. Mid-day, we only need half an hour because we won’t be stopping for very long, but for overnight camping, we want as much time as possible to lose the mana leakage behind us.”
I nodded, holding the schedule like it was something precious –and it was. It was made for me, but not with malice like Lina often did. No, I could feel the care Sir Limrick put into the schedule. Mana Skill practice was marked in red, non-mana Skill practice was orange, reading was in blue, and any time we stopped was in black. It struck me as a warning system –for example, mana Skills were in red because they were dangerous and could attract monsters.
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“All right. I–” I took a breath, “Thank you.”
Sir Limrick gave me one of his tight-lipped smiles, “Of course, my Lady.”
Dame Arella clapped her hands, “Okay, Lady Nora, we’ll be in Wig tomorrow mid-afternoon. Do you want to hit the church as soon as we get in or the next morning?”
I thought for a second, “What’s the difference?”
“If we stop as soon as we get in, we can leave first thing in the morning. If you want to wait until the next morning, though, we can go around Wig when we get in and explore for a bit. It’ll be the last big city before we get to Fellan. It’s a series of small towns for the next six weeks as we traverse the forest.”
“So, it’ll be my last chance to grab some things for entertainment,” I nodded. Dame Arella gave me a smile and a nod in response, “Okay. Let’s do the church the morning after we get in.”
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As we settled in for the night, I grabbed one of the history books under the compartment. I had wanted to use [Shadow Animation], but I knew it was a mana Skill. I could feel the ice in my veins whenever I used it –it did seem to only use mana upon initiation, though, so I could activate it during mana Skill practice, and it would keep me entertained through the other tasks. Then again, it seemed like a risk to the knights. What if I was wrong? What if it produced mana leakage the entire time?
Best not to use it, after all, I thought disappointed. I gripped Noir in my hand. Maybe I could ask? But that would be another Skill I’d have to show to the knights. Another Skill reported back to the Dawns.
With [Mana Sense], I’d finally gotten to over half my Skills being unknown. I’d rather not show off another odd Skill if I could help it. Not that the Dawns had indicated they cared either way. Not if I was willing to cast off my duty.
Will you trust us? Will you give us some of your burden to bear? Dame Arella’s words repeated in my head.
I’ll try. I had responded.
It was time to try, I decided. So what happens if they find out I have an [Animation] Skill?
I ran through the possibilities.
What if they want to use it for fighting? Well, I wanted to get stronger anyway, and I highly doubt they’d throw a child to the wolves without training. And I want training. If I get training, does that mean I’m playing right into the Dawns’ hands? The Countess had said she wanted me to show progress in something –anything. Would I be fulfilling her request? Would it matter? I want to leave this family. I said I would use their resources to become strong enough to fend for myself.
Okay, I thought, So. I show what I can do.
I went to sleep with a sense of determination filling me—a confidence in my own decisions I hadn’t had in a while.
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When I awoke, I got changed straight away –rebraiding my hair to one side so it’d stay out of the way. As I left the carriage, I beelined directly for Dame Arella –who was still eating her breakfast. Some kind of field rations that looked a lot like gruel.
Gross, I thought.
>Get off your high horse,< Came the bitter voice of Eunora. I promptly said get lost –and kicked out little Eunora’s anxiety while I was at it.
Neither of those two had a place here this morning.
Attempting to interrupt Dame Arella casually was not working. Instead, I simply went straight up to a still-eating Dame Arella and blurted, “I have a Skill question.”
To her credit, she calmly sat her spoon down and leaned back, smoothly replying, “Feel free to ask, my Lady. I’m happy to help.”
“Ican’ttellifmySkillisamanaSkillornot,” I speedily, too speedily, said.
Dame Arella narrowed her eyes and seemed to be piecing together what I’d said and then she laughed, “Well, does it drain you? Can you feel a light prick when you activate the Skill?”
I took a breath, “Well, yes and no. I feel the mana when I start the Skill –but it almost disappears during the duration.”
“How long is the duration?” She asked thoughtfully, tapping her fingers on her leg.
“Longer than my mana Skill time blocks,” I answered cagily.
“Okay. Can you show me the Skill?”
I winced, “I’d rather not.”
“Have you reached the competency threshold for it?” Her voice was controlled, but I could hear the patience thinning.
Why had I asked if I wasn’t going to show! Stop being a chicken, Nora. I scolded myself.
With a huff, I placed Noir gently on the ground, “Wait. Hold on.”
[Shadow Animation]
As always, the shadow manifested outside of me with a shock of cold to my system. It seeped into Noir’s body. Dame Arella choked on air.
“Pirouette for me, please.”
Silently, the bunny stood up on two legs and held its two tiny little arms up. Noir began to spin gently.
“What–” Dame Arella began, but I held up my hand.
“Stop.”
Immediately, Noir froze mid-spin –but still held his position. I gingerly picked him back up. His arms remained up, and his leg stuck out as I held him.
I’d figured out two things over the past week. 1) I could break up my commands so long as I didn’t try to say anything else between them, and 2) Noir could speak even if I didn’t give him the command to. By this point, I had spoken to all five of the spirits and had them agree to a “speak when spoken to or when alone” type deal. Thus, Noir was still animated despite the command technically freezing him.
“Okay. I can talk now.” I sighed.
After a beat passed, Dame Arella stared at the knit bunny, “Is it still running?”
“Yes, it’ll keep running for a while yet, but he’ll stay frozen like this.”
She stared at Noir for another moment before nodding, ”It’s fine, so long as you start it during your mana Skill practice time slot. I can’t feel anything other than ambient mana from it now.”
I gave a bright smile, tugging Noir to my chest, “Thank you!”
That was wonderful news. Despite their limited vocabulary and phrasing, the spirits had been fun to talk to –even if they didn’t always have insightful responses. As we grew together, I knew that would change.
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I began with a mix of [Mana Sense] and [Weaving] by hand. Prior to hitting the Level 5 threshold, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and use [Mana Sense] without being overwhelmed. But the features added to the Skill at the competency threshold allowed me to alter the intensity of the Skill so I could lower it and keep it running while I crocheted a jacket. It would take me a while to make all the granny squares, but I had a stockpile of yarn in all different shades of dark, rich colors, so at the very least, it would be a nice layout.
I decided to focus mostly on the deep purple, black, and iridescent colors for the squares. I would make the edges black with a purple star lined in iridescence. It’d be within my rights as a Dawn to wear –and it’s not a mana Skill.
I got two done before I was able to flood the shadows with my Skill. However, rather than focus on [Shadow Conjuration] and [Shadow Manipulation], I decided I was going to work on Shadow: Your First Spellbook, Chapter 2: [Mana Manipulation] and You. I’d gained [Mana Sense] already, and this would be a good distraction. And it might take me a while before I actually got the Skill.
The majority of the second chapter was clearly meant to build off of [Mana Sense], and I smiled at the challenge. I was a bit reluctant to use any of my other mana Skills immediately –the memory of the bramble attack was still fresh in my mind. But I knew this I could do.
It all began with–
[Mana Sense]
I watched as the world came awash with different shades of blue. The grain of the wood lit up in a dull pastel shade, whereas the yarn in my hands was a vibrant royal blue. I’d quickly learned that was the color of a permanent mana construct –it matched when I animated Noir. As I peered at my skin, I could see the aquamarine of my mana veins in my body –not unlike a diagram of the nervous system I’d seen in elsewhere.
Now, I had to move that mana.
It had to be from my own mana veins –or the book said I’d gain a lesser version of the Skill.
I’d have to get to work.