Chapter 23 — Goals
“How’d you know where to look for us?” Ria asked Keira, curious.
“I, um, asked the Tower Keeper,” Keira admitted.
Was the old woman that easy to find? Not wanting to risk showing her ignorance, Ria just nodded. Maybe it was an obvious method, but if Keira had asked her how to find Tower Keeper Alenna… Ria didn’t really have a clue.
“So, you brought a spy, and you’re receiving flowers from the enemy?” Aldri teased Ria with a smirk and motioned in Keira’s direction as they progressed up the two flights of stairs to get to the fifth floor rather than wait or share the elevator platforms. Ranger seemed to like running up the stairs and was already waiting at the next landing, his tail waving.
“Not just flowers,” Orlisi volunteered. “She demanded Phaelys be her escort for her debut. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard yet.”
“Oooh, so fraternizing with the enemy then,” Aldri light-heartedly accused.
“Phaelys Vesali?” Zell inquired of his fellows, sounding dubious.
“Yep!” Orlisi gleefully confirmed. “Is there any other?”
The shapeshifting boy made an impressed whistle.
Ria rolled her eyes and huffed at the tag-along second-years. “Keira is not a spy, and don’t you think calling Phaelys an enemy is a bit much?”
Orlisi meaningfully eyed Keira. “Are you saying that Keira won’t provide information to her Order’s team if asked?”
Keira suddenly looked conflicted but huffed out an “I won’t.”
Ranger barked his support of Keira as they caught up to him. Though Ranger had been frustrated about not being able to land any hits on Orlisi, his mood was much improved after being allowed to fight by Ria’s side.
“And, Ria, you do know that Phaelys is a team member of Amethyst Destiny, right?” Aldri pointed out.
Even though she had offered to provide Phaelys more of a challenge if they faced each other at the Grand Games, Ria hadn’t really thought about it in terms of him being part of another team. Was she not taking this competition seriously enough?
“Not just Phaelys, but she spent lunch with Zena Emberflow,” the troublemaking elf girl added with a mischievous smirk of her own.
“Jeria Emberflows’s youngest? With the Flaming Dragons?” Aldri groaned.
“Am I supposed to avoid any interactions with friends that are competing in the Games?” Ria objected then realized something. “Besides, isn’t it just as much an opportunity for me to gain information about them?”
“Oh?” Orlisi raised an amused eyebrow. “Unlike your friend, you’re the kind of person who would actively seek out a friend’s secrets and betray her confidence to harm her dreams and hard work so you can gain advantage for yourself and your team? Oh-ho-ho, how much I underestimated you! Hulle would be proud.”
Keira snorted at the sight of Ria turning red with embarrassment. “A noble should have pride. Duty to country, duty to family, and duty to honor. My grandfather would demand nothing less.”
Ranger also had a low opinion of disloyalty to one’s friends.
Ria nodded, chastened. As much as she hated losing, her goal wasn’t victory in the games. It was to become strong. Strong enough that she could win on her own terms. Strong enough to face the king of Revant and murder him and his entire court. To accomplish that she would need strong allies that she could trust and rely on, regardless of whether they were members of other Grand Games teams or other Orders.
“Well, that’s enough teasing,” Orlisi declared and grinned ear to ear. “Ready to see the transformed student lounge?”
Zell and Aldri were also grinning.
“You’ve finished it already?” Ria asked, surprised.
“I don’t know if I’d say finished,” Zell hedged and motioned Ria toward the lounge’s door. “Go on. You’ll be astonished at how much we got done after you left the other day.”
Ria reached for the latch and entered the room, the others following.
Floral and other scents mingled with the smell of freshly turned earth and the cooling air of early evening.
As she moved past the displays and counters of the self-service shop, Ria eagerly peered across to the sapling-anchored and moss-covered gentle slopes and stone-lined paths of the newly made meditation garden, its mysterious flowers and colorful plants carefully placed in clusters of like attunements. They must have worked hard to have completed the work to such an extent, and it was an extent that caused her eyes and magic senses to boggle.
The sights and smells weren’t the only feature of the new garden. The constant gusting of wind passing through from the repurposed elevator shaft out to the newly constructed ivy-adorned balcony with it’s view of the academy below caused strategically placed and oddly-shaped stone, metal, and crystal statues to hum sonorous tones in accompaniment to the metallic rustling of several strangely lustrous trees. With the way the sounds were harmonious and drew interest when an ear was lent, Ria could only think Orlisi had been responsible for designing that part.
An argument from a table at the far end of the room drew Ria’s attention as she continued to let her eyes discover new plants and their elemental affinities.
“But it’s not like it would change anything, and doesn’t the word ‘mana’ mean bread from the heavens?” an unfamiliar girl’s voice challenged.
“No, no,” an unfamiliar boy’s voice denied. “That has different entomology-”
“Etymology, you mean. Entomology is the study of insects,” the girl corrected.
“Ah, right. etymology. My source for the term ‘mana’ is from a somewhat isolated culture that uses it to mean magical energy present in the body.”
“Okay, but even so, you’re just looking to change what we call it because you think the current nomenclature sounds stupid.”
“Not just stupid, but imprecise,” the boy argued. “‘Energy’ is too vague a term and requires too much useless clarification and qualifiers, making it’s usage clunky. If ‘mana’ doesn’t work, I’ve heard that the elves have a word, pneuma, to mean breath of the spirit.”
“But isn’t that also imprecise as it doesn’t encompass elemental energies?”
Ria looked over to see that the arguing pair were fellow first-years and tried to wave, but they didn’t notice, engaged as they were in a passionate argument—or at least the boy was. The glasses girl sitting opposite him looked less invested and maybe a bit exasperated.
“So, what do you think?” Orlisi asked Ria, pride clear in her voice.
“It’s hard to believe that you accomplished so much in just two days!” Ria enthused. “Is it really fine for me to claim part of it for my own use?”
“Yep,” the elf girl confirmed, motioning with a wide-mouthed flask containing a spring-green liquid that swirled about with the movement, seeming pleased with Ria’s reaction. “You and Ranger helped with transporting the dirt, after all.”
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“Woof!” Ranger agreed, proud of his work.
Keira and the other two second-years had also selected flasks of liquid and were concentrating while holding odd wooden coins, each with a crystal in the middle.
“What’s that?” Ria asked.
Orlisi followed her gaze. “Energy drinks that Tallien made. They come in different element types and flavors. They’re tasty, help your attunements, and make your energy refill faster.”
Oh, that was interesting. She could use something like that about now. But… “Um, no, I mean the wood… coins?” As Ria watched, Zell and Aldri finished what they were doing and placed their wood coins in a basket next to the corked flasks of drinks.
“Oh, those!” Orlisi nodded in understanding. “Those are Elven spirit-tokens. You can fill them with attuned energy and use them for payment. Tallien will take silver marks but he prefers tokens since he can use them to more efficiently enchant items with energy types that he can’t perform the energy transformation for. It also makes sense to fill a token up before drinking something that will make your energy recover faster. So, it’s a win-win.”
Ria was about to ask where to get them when she saw the basket filled with unfilled tokens for sale. Two copper coins per token. A small write-board listed price equivalents for filled tokens. Most affinities were worth between 1 and 2 silver per token. Using Sensing Sphere on the filled tokens, Ria confirmed that the amount of energy was similar to what she could enchant a medium-quality scroll with, which seemed about right when compared with what she had asked as a fee to recharge her scrolls back in Vorshan’s Hills.
“The Golden Dawn doesn’t have anything like this,” Keira noted as she finished filling her token and placed it in the basket of filled tokens and took a still-corked wide-mouthed flask of sparkly golden liquid. “The member store at Shining Sun Hall only sells normal energy replenishment potions.”
“Told ya, the Sages are the best. It’s not too late to join,” Ria teased and paid normal coins for an inky shadow energy drink and a handful of tokens to fill up later.
“Hah, nice try.” Keira laughed. “You know my mom wants me to follow in her family’s tradition.”
“Oy, Goldie! While we’re waiting for Ria, we’re doing an attunement challenge! You heard the end of our secret strategy meeting, so you’re gonna participate too and reveal some secrets of your own,” Orlisi declared. The second years had gathered over by the attunement measuring machine, the boys and the elf girl making strongman poses while holding their drinks. They looked ridiculous.
Keira rolled her eyes and made a placating gesture toward Ria. “Go on. Plant your flowers. It’s fine.”
Ria hesitated to leave Keira alone to be teased by the second-years. “If you’re sure?”
“I am,” Keira bravely asserted.
Orlisi’s wink and the others’ creepy grins weren't particularly reassuring, but Ria doubted her fellow Order-members would do anything too rude.
“Wanna help me find a nice spot?” Ria asked Ranger and received an excited woof in reply.
Reluctantly returning her attention to the newly made meditation garden, she and Ranger wandered among the freshly planted trees, moss, and more exotic plants until they found a dark section of wall behind where a young ‘twilight willow’ had been planted. The location appeared to be already intended for shadow energy meditation and her flowers would hopefully complement the willow sapling nicely.
To Ria’s dismay, the flowers were already starting to wilt from several hours spent in the pocket dimension. Thankfully, the harvester had left the roots intact, so she only needed to perk up the rare flowers with a bit of nature magic and some shadow energy rather than attempt any complicated regrowing.
The mocking cheers and groans coming from over by the attunement measuring machine made her want to hurry, but she took her time, carefully noting how each planted flower affected the garden and adjusting her placements to maximize their effect.
After the last flower was planted, she stepped back to evaluate the results. She would need to add a shadow-attuned stone for meditating on to complete the area, but the location was already much more deeply shadowed and felt as if it was on the verge of becoming a source.
The earlier teasing sounds from the others had been replaced with laughter and the murmur of whispering voices. A discreet peek as she tried to sneak closer without alerting them showed Keira and her teammates seated at a table together with the two new first-years, all leaning close as Keira whispered to the others with a grin as if she were doling out juicy secrets. Worrisome—in a different way than expected.
“...and then she…” Keira was saying.
“No way! She didn’t!” Aldri laughed out only to get shushed by the others who were also trying to hold in their own laughter.
“Ah, Ria, are you done?” Keira asked when she noticed Ria sneaking closer to hear better. “I was just telling them about our lessons with Master Harlow and how we have a similar space set up at the manor in Vorshan’s Hills.”
Ria felt her heart jump at being caught eavesdropping and decided to play it off as admiring one of the rock sculptures. “I still need to add a few things later, but the planting is done.”
“Good work. It’s your turn, Ria,” Orlisi challenged and motioned toward the numbers on the write-board. “We’ve all already posted our results. You put up a surprisingly good fight during your evaluation, but it’s time to see what got Hulle so excited.”
Whether that was a good idea… If she refused, not only would it be suspicious, but she’d be showing that she didn’t trust her teammates, her friends.
“Evaluation?” the glasses girl asked. “Is that something all first-years are expected to do?”
“Nah, Ria and Iselyn were trying out for our Grand Games team,” Orlisi explained.
“Is it really possible for a first-year to compete in the Grand Games?” the glasses girl asked.
“Isn’t she the girl who got one-shotted in a duel with a second year?” the first-year boy added, sounding dubious.
Ria bristled. Was that going to follow her around for the rest of her time at the academy?
Zell and Aldri started drumming with their hands on the table and singing a song about courage and honor.
With her medallion on and only Order and team members watching—other than Keira—maybe it was fine?
“Alright. I’ll do it,” Ria grumbled and walked toward the crystal studded machine. The second-year boys cheered her bravery to laughter from Orlisi and an apologetic gesture from Keira.
“I bet she places on the newcomer’s board,” Orlisi offered as an opening wager, and downed the rest of her energy drink.
“There’s no way she beats my newcomer scores in bone or flesh attunement,” Zell predicted.
“Probably not,” Aldri agreed with a laugh and added, “But I bet her total scores beat Orlisi’s newcomer totals.”
“Oh-hoh, think so?” Orlisi smirked. “I’ll take that wager. I have a natural affinity for nature. That gives me quite the advantage in water, wood, wind, and earth, you know.”
“And her raw fire magic pressed your structured water magic to the limit,” Aldri pointed out. “I wouldn’t be surprised if her fire attunement is higher than your water attunement.”
“That’s a good point.” Zell nodded. “So, what’re the odds and the prize?”
“Five Elven spirit-tokens, and Zell’s prediction only gets 1:2 odds,” Orlisi declared, and the two second-year boys nodded.
The two academic-looking first-years were wide-eyed at the predictions and maybe the extent of coin being wagered.
5 silver on her results? Really? Ria couldn’t believe it either.
“What about you, Goldie?” Orlisi prompted.
Keira hesitated then sighed out. “I’ll join all three bets on Ria’s side. But, I’ll have to owe the spirit tokens until I have the chance to fill them up.”
Geh! Keira was betting 15 tokens!
Orlisi turned an evil smile Ria’s way. “How about you, Ria?”
A glance at Orlisi’s total on the board and some quick math left Ria feeling more confident. “The same as Keira, I’ll take all three bets.”
The elf girl gave Ria a wry smile. “It’s not a fair wager if you already know the outcome. Well, get on with it.”
Ria couldn’t help blushing, but the die was cast and she placed her hands against the crystals, watching as they lit up.
This time it was Aldri who whistled in appreciation. “Hooh, that’s rather more than I was expecting. All those attunements, and she actually came surprisingly close to your newcomer attunement numbers for flesh and bone, Zell. Bet you were sweating rivers there for a moment. 50 tokens and all that.”
Zell laughed nervously and made a rude gesture at Aldri.
“Okay, I got the numbers. You can let go now, Ria,” Orlisi reported. “Aww, looks like I lost on the total, but with those numbers there’s no way she isn’t joining me on the newcomer’s list.”
“Yup! That’s #9 on the all-time newcomer’s ranking,” Aldri confirmed and added with a grin and a laugh, “Our Ria is officially an elite.”
Grins and thumbs-ups were exchanged all around, except Keira, who was looking a little frustrated and a lot exasperated.
Ria was shocked. Looking at the list, #9 put her only 4 places below Luventi’s newcomer total. Their individual scores were oddly similar too, with only shadow and light reversed. Well, Luventi’s flesh and bone attunement scores were lower. Of course, hers were probably high because of her continual use of healing magic during the barbarian siege at Vorshan’s Hills, which she had to explain when, after seeing her spirit attunement, Zell asked with a raised eyebrow and hushed voice if she was a necromancer.
Zell was actually on the list for all-time highest scores for flesh and bone attunements. He proudly told her it was thanks to his proficiency with self-healing and body transformation magic. Ria hadn’t really taken the second-year boy all that seriously after he lost to Iselyn, but maybe the training match hadn’t shown off his strengths in the best light…
“You know, Ria. You need to be careful,” Orlisi cautioned after the winnings had been disbursed and Ria’s name had been added to the places where she ranked, the elf’s face more serious than usual. “It’s not as much a problem for us elves, but if you intend to climb the heights of noble society you should know that cowardice in the face of a duel is considered dishonorable conduct that can result in the loss of military and noble ranks. Whether intentionally losing would be seen as cowardice, it’s certainly not viewed as honorable.”
“She’s right, Ria,” Keira seconded. Zell and Aldri nodded their agreement.
In a way, Ria was glad that they were taking her more seriously now, and she stated that she understood and would be more careful.
“All that aside…” Orlisi’s face lit up in a bright grin as she raised her empty flask. “To this year’s team. We might actually have a shot at winning.”
The others, and even Keira, held up and clinked their flasks together. Having to summon her flask from storage, Ria was late to the toast, but her new friends all waited for her, grins on their faces.