Right, so never going to mess with ziu if I can help it.

“I can see why it is controlled so heavily,” Aarick said faintly.

Reodan nodded, his face grave, before he replied.

“It is not to be trifled with. Once someone has acquired a sense for it, however, like you, it can be refined without too much issue. Only, the initial breakthrough requires exceptional circumstances.”

At some point he had sat down. He didn’t remember exactly when, but with Reodan still standing he felt a little awkward.

“Considering how I learned it, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.” Aarick muttered.

He’s not allowed to sit unless I give him permission, right? He is in my service, so definitely some disparity in authority. Plus, I think this counts as my home… I should ask.

Before he could, Reodan answered him.

“Considering it apparently involved exposure to the Eldritch and massive amounts of ziu,” he said dryly, “I think most cultivators would rather die. Ziu is… terrible and dangerous, but the Eldritch is even worse. Survival is often worse than the alternative. Your resistance is apparently remarkable.”

“My experience…” Aarick trailed off for a moment, “was the most painful thing I could ever imagine feeling. It was so painful, but my mind was not allowed to go unconscious.” His voice was filled with honest fervency as he shivered slightly. He rubbed his right thigh absently, lost to a different memory. That pain had been bad, but this… His eyes were lost to a vague horror for a moment, before he shook himself and got back to what he had meant to ask earlier. “Do these quarters count as my home for etiquette?”

“They do, with the exception of Lady Lurona, since everything is a part of her estate. If she were to visit, you would need to treat it as her home. She could waive that, but since that is a more niche case I will let your tutors deal with it.”

“Okay, I would count as your superior anyway, I assumed, but I wanted to verify the situation in case it came up. You may sit down if you like. Give me a moment to think.”

Reodan shook his head and remained standing.

“Take some time, sir, but your tutoring will begin shortly.”

Aarick just nodded absently, poking at the sore place in his mind.

The memory of the pain was… strange. Too sharp, too present. Like he could be cut just by thinking about it. He could still feel it, the burning, the ice.

Why is the memory different? Is it because it gave me some measure of enlightenment? Or is it just what happens with cultivation? Will all my memories eventually be like this? Less memories, and more moments of the past trapped in my head?

He shook his head. There was no way to know, just yet.

Well… No. He could just ask, but he would literally have teachers soon. Might as well save the questions for them.

At least the questions that won’t give away anything.

“How much do the tutors know about my situation?” he asked.

“Just that you had an incident with cultists and lost your memory and cultivation,” Reodan said, then smiled a sharp grin. “If any of them ask for details, feel free to refer them to Lady Lurona. That will shut them up. Share whatever details you like, but…”

Reodan trailed off for a moment, before he resumed talking, his voice slightly hesitant or apologetic.

“Normally, I would expect you to know this already, but it is my job to guide you. Assume that all of your tutors will spread anything you tell them. Lady Lurona reached out to various tutors in the valley, but they were already serving various wealthy families. Otherwise they wouldn’t be here.

“For a chance to earn favor from her, the tutors were happy to serve, and the families were eager to offer them. Still, the tutors will use anything they learn to benefit themselves. Some of them will be bound by contracts to give that information to their masters. Others will trade knowledge for favors or better clients.

“Be wary.”

Aarick sighed and nodded.

Even worse than home…

He thought about social media and various scandals. The backstabbing socialites with glittering smiles had tongues sharp as razors; they were just as likely to draw blood from the careless or unwary.

No, just the same aspect of human nature. Power doesn’t corrupt, it merely magnifies.

Sadly, my ADHD made me better at the social things, rather than worse. At least while I had my medication. Without it the details scatter to the winds.

He had been trying not to think of that.

Cultivation is supposed to make you better though, right? Maybe it will fix the chemical imbalances eventually.

He rubbed his leg again.

Guessing it prevents cancer, at least. No way people are living more than five thousand years without…

“It is time, sir,” Reodan said.

He looked up, blinking.

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“Hmm? Oh, yes.”

He followed Reodan through his suite and into the study adjacent to the library.

The study was the same as he had seen on his tour, a relatively small room with a disproportionally large desk.

The desk was the same golden wood as much of the suite, and small gilt adornments highlighted the delicate carvings. The desk was about as wide as Aarick was tall, and just a touch too short for him to sit behind comfortably, his height once again proving disproportionate for the world he found himself in.

Someone, presumably Reodan, had arranged for the desk to be raised on small wooden blocks since the last time he had seen in. The too short chair had also been replaced with a slightly taller one.

In front of the desk was the same odd arrangement as before. Rather than blackboards, slate, or another surface to write on, there were three mirrors. The mirror in the middle was flush with the back wall, while the mirrors to either side were situated at a forty five degree angle.

The entire arrangement would allow him to see an instructor from every angle.

Not sure why they would use this arrangement.

Of course… I am about to learn etiquette. Maybe it is so I can see the proper positioning of every part on the body?

He supposed that could be a useful function, but it seemed a bit much to include the mirrors for every subject.

Wonder if they can be switched out for a writing surface?

He nodded to himself after a moment. Since etiquette was apparently his first subject, it would make sense if the room had been prepared in advance.

A few minutes later, Reodan ushered a woman into his suite.

If Lurona was going to design a woman, he thought she might look like this.

She seemed to be made entirely of angles, with sharp cheekbones, a narrow but utterly straight nose, and slightly slanted eyes. Even her ears had a slight point. Her entire body felt like it was pointing upwards, as though the geometry of her form was repelled by the ground below.

Her skin was normal enough, looking vaguely Mediterranean, but her blond hair occasionally refracted the light oddly, making it look like crystal.

He stood before bowing and welcoming her into his service.

Aarick’s feeling that she was made of geometry, rather than flesh and blood, was only emphasized by the absolute rigidity of her responding bow.

“I, Lamne Bruhadel, am pleased with the opportunity to serve.”

Her voice was a counterpoint to her figure, soft, delicate, and high without being shrill.

Of more interest were her clothes.

Ribbons the color of bleached bones adorned her wrists and ankles, wrapping around a layer of cloth and then weaving their way up the limbs in crisscrossing patterns. In between sections of ribbon, sea foam green puffs of heavy cloth softened the sharp outlines of her figure, even while the tightness of the ribbons emphasized it.

It made an interesting contrast.

The ribbons continued across her torso chest, highlighting her chest in a way a straight man would probably find distracting, though the cloth covering them was puffed out just like the rest.

Overall it was unlike anything he had ever seen.

Unfortunately, the lesson started immediately afterwards by critiquing every aspect of him she had seen so far.

He was moved about and various corrections made to his posture and bearing. She critiqued his stance, walk, and the inflection of his voice as he talked.

All the while, she maintained a stream of comments in a constant critique.

“Stand there. Bow again… No, not like that…”

“Obvious training, but not up to my standards…”

“Walk, no, more confidently. No, too much. I said walk, not march. We will work on when that is appropriate later…”

It dragged on, and Aarick couldn’t even blame her.

He had been trained on Earth, but while that training was mostly helpful here, in places it caused him to do the opposite of what was expected.

Finally she stopped and it was over.

She looked him up and down, and he couldn’t help feeling judged.

Finally she spoke as he returned to sitting behind the desk at her direction.

“Your training is too consistent to be an accident. However, in places it is consistently wrong.” She sighed, and her voice gained a tiny bit of sympathy. “You must have come from one of the other empires.”

She must have seen his expression of surprise, because she replied to it.

“Ah, yes. Imperial Agent Lurona was kind enough to send me information before I started. Reodan confirmed your mixed behavior as he escorted me in. Sadly, that means we will need to overwrite some of your old training…”

Hardly surprising.

She trailed off, before drawing herself up, glowing with confidence and pride.

“That means learning about every region of the Empire. Fortunately, I am more than qualified.”

She turned away to face Reodan for a moment.

“I assume another tutor will be covering history?”

“Correct.”

She nodded at the reply and turned back toward Aarick.

“Very good, that means I can focus on my specialties.

“Now, observe my outfit, I assume you have never seen anything like it?”

It was easy enough to honestly reply, “No.”

She quickly fell into a mentoring tone, and he did his best to pay attention.

“As expected.

“This method of dress is native to the capital region of the Kishar Province. The province is toward the eastern edge of the central region.

“This form of dress has been popularized by the prominent wind qi users of the area. Adjacent to the capital is Kishar Canyon, which contains a high concentration of wind qi.”

Regions can have different qi specialties?

Thinking about it, it seemed obvious that oceans and lakes would have lots of water qi, and he would expect most terrestrial places to have lots of earth qi. For that matter, he would have expected most areas to have lots of wind qi as well.

However, Lamne was implying that a region could have an unusual concentration of a particular qi.

What would even cause that…

He snorted to himself internally, but managed not to make a sound.

Right, don’t even understand anything about qi and already wondering why it doesn’t match my expectations.

His tutor had never stopped speaking.

“-this mode of dress keeps the clothes from interfering in high winds. The ribbons contrain any excess movement on the limbs, while the loose sections of the garment are still made of a stiff cloth. They only move in the strongest of winds, creating a characteristic snapping sound. Different colors have different meanings. As you can clearly see, my cloths resembled the color of parchment, indicated my status as a professional instructor.”

She moved off to one side of the room, leaving the mirrors clearly visible.

“Now the male dress, more typically looks like this-”

Whatever else she was saying was lost to Aarick’s astonishment.

A perfectly clear image of a male, dressed in similar clothes, appeared in front of the mirrors. The puffs were smaller on the male, giving a more streamlined appearance, but that detail was mostly lost on him.

Holy shit!

He hadn’t concealed his surprise particularly well, and she had paused.

“Is something the matter?”

He shook his head and quickly apologized.

“Sorry for the interruption. I… don’t know many of the things you might expect. The… projection took me off guard.

“Would it be considered rude to ask about it?”

She smiled at him.

“Not at all, mastery of light qi is highly sought after in teachers. As you can see, I am highly proficient.”

Personalized holograms as a teaching skill… Sure, why not?

In truth, beyond the glowing lines that were practically omnipresent, and the ritual to cram a language into his brain, this was his first major exposure to something magical.

My brief arrival and almost immediate unconsciousness doesn’t count.

Honestly, the very personal control excited him.

So far, what he had seen was closer to technology. It was weird technology, verging on Clark Tech, made with glowing lines, but still an obvious manifestation of a structured and systematic approach. Even the train analogue has seemed to run off that.

This was different.

He had seen Reodan move with superhuman speed and seemly pull items from thin air, but this hit differently.

This was personal magic. The direct control over an element of reality.

He wanted it.