Chapter 27: The Alternets
Sakura
Fifth day classes were over, and I had been picked up by Yu and taken back to Gamra for a short visit. And to prepare for my Sixth day class.
The giant frost bird took us high into the sky, and for the first time in a week I got a good look at the city of Vlane and the surrounding holdings. Most were rolling hills and pockets of small forest crops. Healthy trees fed by small river tributaries that dotted the land even in winter.
Interspersed between the wild parts of the land were meandering roads that ran north and south, connecting small towns, fiefdoms, and in the far distance what I imagined were a handful of larger cities and towns. All in all, the land was beautiful and largely green, despite being buried under a blanket of thick snow that rose above the average horse's shoulder.
Small cottages and tiny hovals dotted the landscape, visible under the mountains of snow, only because of the smoke that rose from the homes chimneys, and the dedicated work of those who lived there to remove the snow from their rooftops, and away from their buildings.
Far off to the west, and the east however, were massive forests as dense as any jungle I had ever visited.
The scene reminded me of a brochure I had once enjoyed reading as a child in Japan, one advertising a vacation in Sweden.
I dangled my feet over the edge of Gamera’s shell, smiling and waiting for those I had requested to arrive. The city, or really Gamera the Tortoise, stood guard along the large gap in the dense forest that ran east and west. The gap was located south of the capital, nearly in the center of the dutchies domain.
Dozens of carts filled with people and goods, even now traveled on the large stone road that ran down the gaps center.
“When we first arrived,” Gamera’s voice startled me slightly, as he sat next to me and pulled me into a soft side hug. When he released me, he finished speaking. “They refused to go down the road. The citizens of the duchy that is. The merchants carrying goods from the frontier to the central portion of the duchy, and even those using the road heading the opposite direction heading further into the central district of our new kingdom. It took unified patrols of knights and our cultivator guards to alleviate the concern and allow commerce to continue flowing.”
“Makes sense. You are . . . uh, well. Large.” Gamera chuckled. “What I find fascinating is that road. It keeps the snow away from it, without flooding. How? It keeps merchants running around doing their work for the kingdom, despite the season and snow.”
My tortoise uncle nodded. “Indeed. There is a magic about it. Something like the formations along the roads that run along the wall of the Empire. They call it an enchantment. What is most curious child, is where the road does not go.”
I followed the road, and found what he meant to be obvious almost instantly. “It doesn’t run north to Vlane. But . . . but why? The merchants headed that way are having to unload their wagons, and use slays.” I pointed towards a small exchange station that was visible in the distance. I could just make out what was going on.
The swiftness of the slays was the only thing that gave it away. I couldn’t make out that much detail, even at my rank.
“Commerce is not the only thing that can walk along a road, dear Sakura.”
“So our new Liege Lord, does not trust the other Dukes of the kingdom? His own people? Or the king?”
“Or perhaps, a mixture of all three.” He waved the entire concern away with a hand capped with long, sharp claws. “Bah, we know little of how expensive an enchantment on that scale might be. Or who built it. It could be something the king paid for. Or something that was prohibitively expensive to run all the way to every regional capital. Or perhaps an expansion is already planned, and the lords involved are saving for the expense. We don’t know enough about the politics involved.”
I cracked a smile. “I’ll leave the politics, concerns about armies, and all the scheming to my uncles, and parents. I have a class to get ready for.”
“Your friends will be here shortly. Anything you want me to say to them? Maybe, scare them a bit?” Mischief filled his eyes, and I couldn’t help but smile.
***
Tedgy beamed from ear to ear as she exited the small balloon ship that had brought her, and her siblings up from the surface onto Gamera’s shell. “Exciting isn’t it?” I asked, and gave her a quick hug. Followed by her brother Modgy. Both siblings wore the purple of their house, though Modgy’s was clearly that of a full fledged house wizard, while Tedgy had wore a simple set of fighting gear that had the color and symbol of their house emblazoned on them.
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“Yeah, being out here is . . . well it's pretty crazy.” Tedgy said, as he looked over the edge of the shell down onto the caravans heading further into the kingdom along the king's road.
“I see you graduated wizard training.” I gave Modgy a smile, and he returned it with a slight bow.
“Yes, I am now officially, in the eyes of our house, a full fledged wizard. Though still technically only silver ranked.”
“And we’re working on changing that, aren't we brother!” Regi, covered from head to foot in black and carrying a wickedly long curved blade that took two hands to properly wield, hopped down from the balloon's platform.
“It's good to see you Regi,” I said the words, but as I took him in, I could tell something was wrong. His eyes were sunken, and his aura . . . his aura fluctuated oddly. “Are you ill?”
He grinned sadly. “Caught onto that did you?”
Modgy sighed. “Our brother pushed too hard. His danchan is a bit wobbly at the moment. But it will stabilize given time, and conditioning. Once it does, all three of us will be able to ascend to Gold together.”
“My brother is right.” Regi smiled sadly. “The surgeons agree with him as well. I won’t be able to attempt to ascend for at least another five years. Perhaps shorter, if I adapt well to the medicine they’ve given me and the new cycling techniques I've been told to utilize.”
I tried to keep my face placed so as to not embarrass him further. But something of my concern must have leaked through my expression.
“It's not so bad.” Tedgy said with a smile in her voice. Though as I took a closer look at her and Modgy I could tell their brothers injury had affected them as well through their bond. Tedgy’s chie seemed to be suppressed, as if part of it was being siphoned away to reinforce Regi’s core. While Modgy’s mana didn’t leak nearly as much as it had before. His power was going to reinforce his brother's mana pool to keep it from rupturing.
Regi was filled with power, practically bursting with it. And his aura fluctuated like a toy top that was near the end of its spin and was wobbling a little too much for comfort. And the taste of that mana was . . . different.
“When did you adopt umbra mana?” I asked, having not remembered him using it before.
His bashful smile slipped, replaced just for a moment with a mixture of what I thought was fear and rage. But just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone, and it made me question if I had misread what I had just seen.
“Yeah, uh. Well.” Regi’s face burned for a moment. “You see, after you left we gave the silver tower lord another go. And . . . well we beat him.”
Tegy interjected. “It was a fair fight this time, though we had to bring three other alternates to make up for you being gone.”
“Exactly.” Modgy seemed annoyed. “Had to split the prize too.”
“Speaking of the prize,” Regi glared at his siblings who gave him apologetic looks for interrupting him. “We were each given a natural treasure. Something that the tower lord thought we were compatible with.”
“That is a mighty prize,” I said and all three of them smiled. Natural treasures were sources of both mana, and chie. Typically they were attuned to a specific element. Like fire, water, earth, or air. The rarer the mana specialty was, the rarer the natural treasure.
I had been given the use of several natural treasures during my cultivation efforts while home. But so precious were they, that I was never allowed to take them outside of the familial palace.
A noble house’s future, and how far their cultivators could reach, along with any speciality in mana type that might exist was largely based around what types of natural treasures the family either owned, or could gain regular access too. They were prized objects.
The sect schools and minor houses had to build specific cultivation rooms to mirror the effects, collecting and concentrating ambient mana and chie enough for cultivators to use effectively. There were also natural mana vents, or places in the world that contained large amounts of chie. But those were hardly common, nor mobile.
“They were small,” Modgy explained. “But the Silver lord said they’d grow if we used them appropriately.” The fact that the triplets had all gained one was a massive boon to their family, and to their standing within their family.
Tedgy got excited again. “Mine was a set of wind chimes! I think I know what affinity i’ll have once I get to the noble realm.”
“And I received a prism. The type of mana it produces changes from day to day. But it primarily produces types I am compatible with.” Modgy said, smiling proudly.
“I take it you got something suitably dark then?” I asked, smiling to try to take the awkwardness out of the conversation.
“Indeed I did. Mine was an Umber Lantern. One I used when I attempted to ascend, and . . . well, I hurt myself. It was a new mana type for me, and I hadn’t really mastered it yet. It was my mistake, and the Gods see that I have been humbled for it. I am only grateful it was not more serious.”
“Just wish the gods had left us out of it,” Modgy grumbled.
“Fighting and using his mana and chie, will help him. That’s why we’re here after all.” Tedgy gave me a hopeful look. “Right? We’re going to help you go on missions for this new realm of ours or something?”
“Exactly correct,” I said as I gave the girl my most winning smile. “I don’t know exactly how much fighting there will be at first. But, from what I understand this class is going to be dangerous and require lots of teamwork. Much like confronting the silver star lord did.”
“Sounds exciting. But school? You’re still in school?” Modgy asked, confused. “I thought you had graduated from the sect and that was why you left.”
Tedgy sighed and put a hand on her oblivious brother's shoulder. “Brother. She left at the same time as the Great Migration, and she is the scion of the house that nearly our entire region of the Empire followed into the wilderness. You’re seriously telling you you didn’t put two and two together to get four?
Modgy’s eyes went wide for a moment. “Ooooh. You left to help pave the path.”
“Exactly.” I bowed. “Though I am unsure how much help I actually was in that process. The prince of this new kingdom had to save me from certain death after all.”
The trio of siblings looked at one another with wide eyes and inquisitive expressions.
“What have you been up to?” Tegy asked as she slid an arm into mine and began walking with me towards the training yard on the other side of the field. “Tell us everything.”
I grinned and rattled the gauntlet on my right arm to show it off. “It’ll be easier to show you. And I think you’ll like what I've been learning at this western school. Particularly you Tedgy.”