Chapter 37: Side Projects 2
Sakura
Week Two, Firstday, Afternoon
I dodged the incoming arrow from Tedgi, and sent one of my own out towards her in retaliation. Her arrow exploded behind me, peppering my back with stone shrapnel. Mine would have hit dead center between her eyes, but she was a blur as her brother boosted her speed with a Haste spell. Allowing her to dodge my attack with ease.
I, Sky, have the purple one. Sky’s voice felt smug in my mind. He looked away and I struck. Now I will eat him.
No eating. This is practice. King ordered as fire bloomed behind me, a hallmark from his fight with our two resident front liners.
Then I, Sky, will pretend eat him.
I forced my attention back on what I was doing. Pulling the string back again, and imbuing the arrow with another spell. It took a lot of concentration to do, but I was getting faster and faster with both of the ones I had been using lately.
My arrow broke at Tedgi’s feet and vines grew from under the fake stone of the field. But Tedgy was already gone before they were thick enough to hold her. My scalp erupted in pain as an arrow whizzed by my head, taking a lock of my hair with it.
“Hey! What are you trying to do, turn me bald?”
“Sorry!” Tedgy shouted back, but the wicked grin on her face told me they were only words.
A fair strike, stop sulking and fight back! King demanded as he felt my emotions through our link. Another fiery explosion came from his side of the field.
Fine! I pulled my bow again, and imbued it with another spell, pouring mana into the artifact I had been given as a gift from my uncle. The arrow was red hot, and pulsed with the mana I had imbued it with.
The spell was sloppy, it wouldn’t hold long enough to reach the target. Abandoning the action I pushed the mana into the earth, grounding it and preventing the mana feedback from messing up future spells.
Calm yourself Sakura. She’s annoying, but she’s also good. If you let her distract you, she’s going to take you out.
Someone screamed in pure terror, high and loud to my right. Sky!
What? I bit him but only with paralyzing venom.
Are you pretending to eat him?
Maybe.
Don’t! You won the bout. No need to terrorize him more.
Fine. From his tone, I could tell the giant sky viper was sulking. A bell rang, indicating someone had been eliminated.
“Oh thank the gods!” Modgy, it was clearly Modgy, his voice still filled with the remnants of his terror.
“Sorry about him. He’s a bit of a dramatic soul,” Tedgy’s voice came from just over my right shoulder, and sent shivers down my spine. A moment later, a long blade followed that feeling, and the protective magic of the field encapsulated me protecting me from the razors that Tedgy kept sharpened along her bow.
“Dang it,” Sky, you did this.
You distracted yourself. I, Sky, was just doing what I was told.
That’s not even remotely—
“You would have had me, but you seem distracted. Well, better go help the others take on your turtle.” Tedgi gave me a smile filled with joy, and skipped off towards another terrible explosion as King roared in the distance.
While I was stuck here. In stasis, waiting for the match to end.
“You know, the way these westerners conceptualize spell craft is fascinating.” Mogdi’s voice sounded like it came from the crystalline spell that surrounded me. I sat on the floor, and sighed. “It's similar to how we do things, but in more detail.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, as I laid back and watched the rest of the match projected on a small cloud hovering above the field. King had been really giving Regi and Victor a hard time, but now that Tedgi had joined them the tide had turned and he was struggling to simply hold his own.
“I mean it's an odd contradiction given their fascination with will power in the enchantment side of spellcraft. They act as if they can’t trust their own wills to keep mana focused and directed towards the task they desire, and use spell circuits almost as a substitute. Providing instructions in the circuits that are far more detailed than our spellcraft taught in the east. Its as if they don’t trust themselves, which is so deeply contradictory to their general philosophy of spellcraft. Its almost as if they treat even the simplest of spells as a part of a proper formation. Which is the only thing back east I can think of that has such complexity.”
I sighed. I liked magic. I had a knack for it, and I had access to a lot of different avenues. But honestly, the theory deeply bored me past the basics.
“It only makes sense things would be different. They have a different history, and different priorities.” I said, hoping he would drop the line of inquiry as I watched King get caught in a trap the three warriors had laid for him.
Tedgi had used arrows specifically carved as spell formation plaques. They wouldn’t be as potent as a dedicated formation, but they didn’t have to be. Lines of yellow and gold ghostly chains erupted from the six formation arrows and wrapped around Kings torso.
She’s trying to bind him so the others can have an easier time getting behind him and finishing him off. Where is Sky?
“True, true. I just find the clashing philosophies to be so similar in their basic understanding of how mana is channeled and used, and yet so radically different in their emphasis. It's fascinating. Of course there is little practical difference between say, a properly carved spell formation designed for permanent function, and a self sustaining enchantment. Other then the requirement for physical circuits carved into the medium for the formation, which isn’t required for an enchantment—”
I tuned him out as the trio were getting ready to give King the final blow that would end the bout and activate the field's protective magic.
Tedgi pulled an arrow and infused it with more chie then I had ever seen her use in a single shot before. Sitting in her bow, knocked and pulled as it gathered more and more energy from her link to Regi, it glowed brighter and brighter gold.
Only . . . something was off about it. There were flickers of black, as if someone was quickly turning on and off a light switch.
I felt that feeling again. That wrongness I had felt before, and I knew it had to do with Regi’s magic. It was as if my soul rebelled against it, even looking at it mixed with the golden chie of Tegi’s growing technique as mana from Regi mixed with Tegi’s golden Chie.
“What is that?”
“What? Sorry Sakura I got on a rant there, Oh you mean my brothers mana? Remember when I said we were linked and he could share his mana with her?” Modgi asked, but before I could respond Sky lept at her from a nearby boulder. He wasn’t in his giant form, instead roughly my body length. His Cobra-like hood fully extended down the length of his body allowing him to glide towards her silently, his fangs extended, dripping what I hoped was paralyzing venom.
“Tedgi, watch out!” Regi yelled, and then suddenly the world seemed to darken completely. Almost as if someone had turned off the sun.
When the sun returned, Tedgi was standing right where she had been before. But Regi was hovering in the air for a moment almost as if he were suspended by black puppet strings. Sky was covered in solid purple crystalline magic so thick and tight to his body he couldn’t move or breath easily.
Victor finished the fight by bringing his heavy mace down on King's skull, activating the protective barrier around him and ending the match.
Once everyone was free, we gathered to discuss our weaknesses and strengths. How we worked together, and where we could have done better. Of course, the only thing anyone really wanted to know was what Regi had done there, at the very end.
I remained quiet as Victor broached the subject. “I’ve never seen umber magic do that before. Its got to be high level. What spell was it?”
“I uh, i’m not entirely sure. I did it on instinct.” Regi’s expression was either carefully calculated to make everyone there believe him, or he was being genuine. “I just saw Tegi in danger and knew that if I was there instead of her, i’d be able to save her. It might be something new we can explore about our triplet bond.”
The rest of the team were excited about the idea, but I remained quiet and watchful. I wasn’t sure what spiked my suspicion of him but for some reason I didn’t trust him. Or whatever that magic was.
It's probably just lingering effects from our mana types not getting along, I suggested to King.
Could be. But I felt it too. Strange magic, more than he should have I think.
I saw the darkness of the eclipse in that blade. Had he hit me, I am sure I would not be here. Sky’s affectation was gone, which meant he was pretty shook up about it. He is a predator, more so even then the other.
The conversation didn’t last long after that. When I got an opening to leave, I took it. Come on King, Sky. I have a spell to practice. No more missing a spell because of distractions. Once I have it though, I'm going to have to choose one of the spells I know to map as an ability.
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***
Week Two, Thirday, Afternoon
“I think I've got it.” I said out loud in my room, as Sky and King lounged in the sun beds someone on the staff had provided for them.
“Got what?” Rayce asked from where he was studying spell work next to me on the floor. His books were spread out, open to various pages of theory and spell circuits.
“I think I know what spells I want to map to meridians next. I already have the venum one from Sky.” Sky hissed happily and I smiled at him. “Thank you.”
You’re welcome.
“So, what did you choose?”
“Well, I haven’t actually chosen yet. But I have it narrowed down to one of three spells. The healing spell I've been practicing with wood magic that I got from King, the Thorn Vine spell I've been using a lot lately, or a new one I've been practicing and . . . well, I’m getting good at it but I'm not sure I've mastered it yet.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“It's uh, a variant of the Thorn Vine spell. Mixed with another type of mana I have access too. The vines lose some of their innate strength and thickness, but it's so they don’t combust and overheat. In exchange they uh . . .” I felt my face grow warm. “They light on fire.”
Rayce blinked at me for a moment. “Wait . . wait wait, you want to light a wood spell on fire? Mixing wood and fire mana into one spell? That uh . . . that doesn't last long I bet.”
“No, not really. But, it does a lot of damage in a very short period of time. And it gives me options to fight with. What do you think?”
Rayce grimaced for a moment as he contemplated. “I think . . . the vine spell’s charm is that it holds up an enemy and gives you space, while killing whoever or whatever is stupid enough to walk too closely. If you want a ranged damage spell, which it sounds like you want, why not learn other much more efficient spells specifically designed for the purpose? This just seems . . . like a bit of a waste of time.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really? A waste of time? So what spell would you choose for me, oh master of my path?” I admit I was being pretty rude, but for some reason what he said rubbed me the completely wrong way. Like petting a cat against the grain of its fur.
Usually not a smart decision.
“Oh I don’t know, fire bolt might be a solid start if you’re worried about fire as an element. Or, you know, the basic ‘control’ spell variant of any of the elements you currently have access to would also be wise. I know most elementalists decide to go with those to start off with.”
“Yeah, well I'm not an elementalist.”
“What?” He pointed at King. “Fire and Wood.” He then pointed at Sky. “Sky, Venum, and if i’m not mistaken a small amount of Earth mixed in. Yeah?”
“Yes. But I am not an elementalist.”
The wind seemed to come out of his sails for a moment as genuine confusion crossed his face. “Then uh . . . what are you then?”
“A weapons master. Or at least that’s what I want to be.”
He blinked at me like I had just spoken a foreign language and snakes were coming out of my eyes. “Why?”
I took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly bracing myself. “I’m sorry, I get where you might have misunderstood me working towards an elementalist path with me having companions for four of the basic five elements.”
“Exactly. It's a perfect fit with how our family has such easy access to new meridians and all.”
“Yes, well. Perhaps I will walk that path some day. But right now, I'm training to be a weapons master.”
“That is an honorable path,” Vaush said from the corner where he was standing still as stone and watching over the room. “I am a weapons master, as well as many other things. But weapons mastery was the first path I walked. It provided me with the discipline I needed. The solid rock and foundation upon which I built the rest of my power, and life.”
“Exactly. Also, I uh . . . well. I have been kind of aimless for a while. The one thing I enjoyed doing at the Silver Star Sectschool, was practicing with my daggers, both my fangs and the throwing ones. Well that and the silkworm enterprise.'' Speaking of which, I need to do some work there. “Everything else just kind of . . . came and went as it did. Nothing seemed to stick until we got here.”
“Hmmm.” Rayce’s expression shifted from confused, to concerned, back towards what I can only call realization. “That makes sense. This will give you a path that will be helpful regardless of what other paths you want to walk later. As your brother, I don’t see any harm in it.”
I smirked. “You're my younger brother.” I reached over and pulled him into a headlock. He squirmed out of it before I could ruffle his hair, and glared at me. I shrugged. “Uncle Raif suggested it when I purchased this with my family contribution points.” I showed off the bracer that acted as a mobile armory. “Then he gave me the bow as a gift, so it just all kinda fit together.”
Rayce’s expression soured slightly. He idolized Raif, and I had forgotten how much it irked him that Raif hadn’t just taken him under his wing.
“You know, I asked Raif why he’s been so focused on me, when you’re nipping at my heels all the time and are more advanced in cultivation now. Do you know what he said?”
Rayce sighed. “No, what.”
“That you already have your path. Rex,” I reached over to the sleeping giant hound in its much smaller form so it fit in my room, and scratched between its ears. The dog didn’t so much as move, but it radiated a sense of satisfaction. “And he was impressed by that. He didn’t want you to get side tracked with, and I'm quoting here, ‘whatever bullshit I get caught up in with the waves of refugees’. So . . . there’s that.”
“That sounds like Raif.” Rayce smiled and turned back to his studies, and I refocused on the spell circuits I was studying, trying to find a way to improve the Fire Vine spell, to make it easier to map onto a meridian. A comfortable silence fell between us as we continued to work.
“Hey Sakura?”
“Yeah?” I pulled my gaze away from a promising looking circuit that improved the efficiency of fire based spells.
“Thanks.”
***
Week Two, Fifthday, Afternoon
The arrow landed squarely where I wanted it to go, despite the rocking of the fake boat under me.
“Good, now get me a total of twenty dead center, no misses.” Marthrus Kalgar demanded from where he manipulated the obstacle testing machine.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, op,” I turned my attention back to the scene in front of me looking for targets. One was sneaking across the top of the wooden contraption. I let loose an arrow, even as the faux boat under me shifted. I adjusted without thinking, and half a heartbeat later the arrow landed square in the target's center.
“You’re going to miss them if you’re not careful! Now pay attention!”
I did as instructed, I hit the third one, then the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh all in rapid succession.
Then the wind started blowing, and I felt the water under my boat begin to boil. Hot steam erupted from under my feet, and I had to ignore the discomfort and pain as I searched for and pegged four more targets.
“Four more to go.” Kalgar’s words rang false.
“But there are nine more to go.”
“Pay attention!” He grabbed the boiling fake pond my fake boat was in and shook it, creating small waves of boiling frothing water that burned my feet. I danced from one foot to another, from one footing to another avoiding the damaging foam as much as possible. But I took more than one burn in the process.
“There, that’s eighteen. Two more!” I shouted and pulled back and knocked another arrow. “What? This is my last one. You didn’t give me enough.”
“Improvise!” Kalgar demanded, and suddenly two targets appeared at the same time. One looping above the other in a rapid almost dizzying pattern, the other moved in slow arcs up and down, varying its speed. After a few seconds I recognized its pattern and realized there would be one opportunity where the two targets would converge enough for me to pin both.
I took in a deep breath, rooted my feet ignoring the burning from the boiling water, drew the arrow and waited.
I exhaled as I loosed the arrow. It flew through the air, and struck half a heartbeat before it was supposed to. It pinned the fast moving target in place, in the path of the slower one. But I hadn’t hit both.
“Damn it! Hey, why are you still doing that? Stop, let me off!”
“Tests not over, think. Improvise!”
What did he mean, improvise? What in the world?
Then I saw it. The second target had stopped, and was caught by the arrow pinning the first in place. It was straining against the embedded arrow, and eventually it would get free. But for now, it was stationary.
Okay, he took my energy bow. And my daggers don’t have that kind of reach. And spells aren’t allowed. So . . . what do I do?
“Think student, before your feet look as scared as mine!” Kalgar laughed bitterly as he continued to rock the water around splashing my legs and even getting up now to just bellow my knees.
I had seen his feet before. It wasn’t something anyone wanted.
Thanks, adapt huh? Alright, fine! I positioned myself as far back on my small floating platform in the middle of the tub of boiling water as I could, got a running start, and took off at a run. I only got two steps before I reached the end, and had to leap.
My bow dragged in the air, it was a simple testing bow. One Kalgar had given me specifically for this test. It was small, weak, but capable of what I needed it to do. It also made it so it didn’t drag nearly as badly as any other bow would have as I threw myself through the air.
I was going to make the distance easily, but the question was if my feet and arms could hold me from touching the ground. The one condition of failure for the test other than missing a target.
My fingers gripped the top portion of the testing machine, and I held myself there by one hand. With the other I reached down, broke the target nearest the top to dust with my bare hand, then pulled the arrow out of where it had embedded itself and held the target in place.
Good now I just have to . . . oh no. My feet were a bloody mess. And my toes, while they were healing, wouldn’t heal before the pinned target broke free. I couldn’t hold myself, knock the arrow, aim it, and pull back the string enough for the arrow to have meaningful impact on the target, with just one hand.
This . . . this is going to hurt.
I let go, and fell.
Before I hit the ground two stories below, I knocked the arrow, drew the string back, aimed with the half a second I had left, and loosed the arrow.
I heard wood impact wood, as my own vision went black. The pain of my feet touching hard ground erupted through me and stole my vision, and consciousness, away.
***
“Here we go, drink this.” I felt someone open my mouth and gently massage my throat as a liquid trickled down the back of my mouth. It tasted like onions and garlic, but the pain in my legs and muscles eased almost instantly.
I opened my eyes and found Kalgar kneeling beside me with an open potion bottle. “And that, is why I tell all my students to carry extra. This was good quality too.” he tossed the empty bottle and I swallowed the last few drops.
“That was tricky. But you thought outside the box and adapted. Well done.”
“Did I pass?” I asked, unable to see the last target as he was in the way.
“Hmmm . . . what do you think?”
I gave him my strongest glare, and he laughed. “You passed. But barely. It was a near thing. Your feet touched the ground almost at the same moment as your arrow hit the target. Congrats Sqkura. That’s one more weapon you have mastered. Have you selected another?”
“Not yet. But uh . . master?” I gave me an odd look but nodded for me to continue. “I know plenty of people who are better with the bow than I am. How have I mastered something if there are those who can out shoot me?”
“Well, seeing as we have to wait here until your feet finish healing, now is as good a time as any to tell you the truth of mastery. Mastery does not mean you are perfect with every weapon. That would be grand mastery. And few beings in this world ever achieve that with even a single weapon. Master, simply put, means that you have a full awareness of the weapon, how to use it, and how to effectively use the most easily accessible variants of that weapon. You have mastered the bow, that does not mean you are THE master of the bow.”
“I . . I think I understand.”
He shook his still helmeted head. “No you don’t. But you begin to. And one day you will truly understand it. Adaptability is what a Weapons Master seeks. Adaptability to be able to use anything, even if it's not originally intended as a weapon, as one in any circumstance. We’ll get you there, I promise. Hey look at that. Your feet should be usable now. The test is over, think of the next weapon you want to master and come see me on Firstday.”
“Yes master.”
“Where will you go now? To celebrate I hope.” He said offering me a hand up. I took it and shook my head.
“No master, I have cultivation to finish. I am going to attempt to map a spell to another meridian.”
“Ah. A wizard's work is never over. Neither is a cultivator's path. Good luck.”