Chapter 36 Reconciling with Pascal

The following day as we were all heading to breakfast, we found my brother already eating and talking energetically to Callem and Wynna. He was ready to get started and brought a massive backpack. His gear had clothes, training weapons, and his new blade. I was a little upset as it looked like he had used the entire block of butter on his pancakes. Who needs half a pound of butter on a stack of pancakes? I went to the larder to get more and gave Pascal a lazy welcome wave.

When I ascended the stairs from the larder, the others were eating, and Pascal’s mouth was agape, staring at the young women who had entered behind me. Yes, they were all well above average in looks my brother, but your creepy stalker stare will not win any of them over! I was laughing to myself at his misfortune but then realized my own misfortune. All the pancakes had been consumed while I was gone! My own shocked stare caused Gareth to easily swipe the butter I had laboriously claimed from below so he could lather his large stack of pancakes before him. I made a cheesy bacon and egg scramble in the kitchen and ate some fruit for breakfast. I tried to look as melancholic as possible but didn’t garner sympathy from anyone! Did these people realize who made their dinners!?

I left the conversation after eating my breakfast and headed to the yard first. Stretching was amusing. Pascal had terrible mobility compared to everyone else, but he couldn’t stop gawking at Aelyn, Cilia, and Leda as they stretched. He hadn’t even said one word to any of them yet as far as I knew! The girls, for their part, were ignoring the newcomer which was good because his roaming eyes were getting creepy. Gareth had been the same way when the girls first arrived but had mellowed out his own lusty demeanor.

After stretching, I went inside to make dinner while trying to think of a proper punishment for shorting me on pancakes this morning. I decided on a beef stroganoff with a spicy kick. Maybe Callem would like it but the others…. It was a short prep and I was soon in the basement and opened the large chest. I took out a folio of notes Callem had left. There was a broadsword for Gareth, a rapier for Aelyn, a saber for Cilia, and a longer saber for me. I knew Callem wanted two weapons for himself, but they were not included in these notes. I spent twenty minutes on the saber and ten minutes on the broadsword before putting them away. I needed coal down here to make the steel. The weapons were currently just iron. I wrote that note for Callem and then went and made 20 gold coins, storing them in the juice cask. I wondered if my ability had improved at all? I would still need to heal today so I couldn’t get a full recharge of aether to find out. I went out to join the others for conditioning.

Pascal was filthy from weeding the fields but had a sloppy grin on his face. Probably from watching the girls work in tight tees and tight pants. The pants were essentially a loose dark blue spandex that Wynna had gotten them. They were easy to clean and cool during the day’s work. As we moved to the obstacle courses I saw Callem give me a wink. If I knew Callem he was about to put Pascal in his place for staring at the girls all morning.

We were all going to run all three courses separately for personal best times on each course. Pascal would be getting his ‘baseline’ time for the courses. Callem stressed we were competing against ourselves. The person with the most improved time would get out of farm work tomorrow. This perked up all the woman’s ears. I asked Callem if that meant I just wouldn’t have to make dinner tomorrow and four sets of panicked eyes turned to Callem for an answer. Callem’s response was, “you all better not let Storme win!” Sometimes I hated the man.

I improved my time by 4 seconds on course A, 9 seconds on course B, and was 2 seconds slower on course C. This wasn’t really fair as Callem had increased the difficulty on course C and I was tired. After all, was said and done Leda won the prize by improving by 49 seconds overall. I arched an eyebrow at her when Callem announced the results hoping she would transfer the reward to me as Gareth almost always did. Nope, she ignored my suggestive eyes.

For Pascal’s part, he was still sucking wind on the ground. He had done his best but was far slower than everyone else. I think Leda was happy to no longer be at the bottom of the ladder. It was a feeling I knew well. When Cilia and Leda approached me for healing, I realized Pascal didn’t know this secret of mine. As I healed them, which required contact, Pascal was watching with wide eyes. He was probably shocked at first that they were seeking physical contact with me. Then his shock was from their bruises disappearing.

“Yeah, Pascal, I have some magic. Just healing and a personal cleaning spell.” I used the cleaning spell and his eyes popped open further as my clothes looked fresh and my skin radiant. “You need healing?” I asked. He seemed reluctant to take it at first either from pride or reluctance of having the magic cast on him. His hesitation caused me to turn and walk back to the farmhouse without healing him. It was almost lunchtime and I was thirsty and didn’t want to wait. Aelyn fell in beside me.

“Is your brother going to be ok sleeping in the loft next to me?” she asked. It took me a second to clear my thoughts. Oh, that was the only free bunk. I could just imagine his discomfort! Freya said he farted in his sleep so loud it shook the walls. Sounds like I should make some chili tomorrow!

Lunch was pasta and vegetable soup with croutons on top. I think Wynna was experimenting with a recipe. It was ok but sort of bland. We had a free hour after lunch and Pascal decided to bother me.

“So Storme you have magic? Do mother and father know?” he asked nicely. Well, nicely for Pascal.

I sighed and returned the courtesy, “No. Freya does know though. You can tell them when you go back. It is just a little magic, nothing spectacular. I am trying to learn a third new spell and it is fairly difficult. It would be my first strong utility spell.” I didn’t offer him the spell’s name and thankfully he didn’t ask. I think he was still in shock by everything today. He moved all his gear up to the open bunk in the loft. I smirked to myself as he didn’t realize the bed next to him was Aelyn’s.

In the afternoon we did some wrestling and submission holds Pascal got thoroughly trounced by the women. But it was not wasted time. Both Gareth and Callem worked with Pascal to improve and teach him. He was super attentive and his infatuation with the girls was starting to wear off. I thought that was impressive, just half a day and he was able to focus past their allure.

We moved into sword practice next and I was matched with Pascal to start. I easily parried and stuck him repeatedly. After six winning exchanges, I saw Callem look at me questionably. Fine! I started to give Pascal feedback to improve on his errors. He didn’t hesitate in making the corrections. Did he have a newfound respect for his younger brother? Where had this come from?

We had two hours after sword practice to clean up and rest before dinner. Regretfully Gareth explained the bathing situation to Pascal. Pascal seemed to think that if there were three men and three women, each should get equal bathing time. I just cast my cleanliness spell to emphasize they were on their own. When Pascal saw me in my loft and asked who I was sleeping next to with some slight jealousy in his voice, I nearly laughed. When I said Gareth, he got a puzzled look and looked at his loft. Wait…I was going about this all wrong. Why was I trying to punish Pascal for a life of ignoring me and looking down on me? I should be using this as an excuse to escape Gareth’s noisy sleeping and foul foot odors. I was cleaning his bedding every other day with my spells extended range, but could I move back to the other side with Aelyn…even if it was just for a month?

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Pascal, if you are not comfortable sleeping next to Aelyn I will switch with you,” I said. He was thinking really hard before answering, so I just went back to studying and waited for a response. The woman returned from bathing and Pascal finally spoke up.

“Storme didn’t you say you would switch beds with me?” I looked down to find all the young women in their underclothes. A look of mischief on all their faces. I would bet a platinum that Aelyn had told them about my needling of my brother since his arrival and they had just joined in, even Cilia was participating which was a huge surprise to me. I packed my clothes into my bedding and made a large bundle to transfer my things. I made sure to give Gareth an irritated look at having to move. Gareth started helping me with my books and then Pascal did as well. Soon all my belongings were in the other loft.

Aelyn was soon in her bed studying her spell as well. I was giddy when it came time for me to leave and prepare dinner. Everyone came in and sat as I placed the stroganoff on the table. Now I must say I did feel slightly guilty. The girls, for their part, had helped me tease Pascal and Wynna did nothing wrong. It was really Pascal, Gareth, and Callem who had snagged way too many pancakes this morning to their plates. Everyone was greedily spooning the gravy over the noodles and I waited. Gareth was first, he didn’t like spicy food and was downing a cup of fruit juice to cool his mouth. The girls were next to fall with Wynna following. Pascal didn’t seem to know what to think. He really had poor taste buds. Callem was just shoveling the mixture into his mouth and grinning, obviously reveling in the over-spicy taste.

I threw up the flag. “Sorry, everyone. I got a little bit miffed about not getting pancakes this morning.” This just got me death stares saying you did this to us because you didn’t get freaking pancakes! “I have a solution to help you through it…it is called a chocolate milkshake!” I went to make milkshakes. I found a sizable portion of the chocolate ice cream was missing and when I looked up a guilty Callem and Wynna looked away. Well, it was their house. There was still enough ice cream to make everyone a sizable milkshake. I made them a little thin so they could be drunk and it allowed everyone able to finish dinner. We had no study round table tonight. Wynna said it would allow Pascal could settle in.

I was the first one back in the loft and studying as everyone was on clean-up duty. Aelyn came up to the loft and whispered to me. “There is a plot afoot to put pepper juice in your shorts,” I smirked. It was a childish prank, “It was Wynna’s idea. She has a salve that she thinks should resist your cleaning magic.” Now I was a little hurt? Et tu Wynna?

It was actually nice to listen to Aelyn’s voice. It was very pleasant, especially when compared to Gareth’s deep voice which I could hear from across the room clearly. Pascal and Gareth were in a deep and loud conversation. The discussion was about which sword form is the best to counter which sword form.

“Your brother is ok,” Aelyn said. “He may have been gawking but he felt guilty about it. He has had sex already with…”

I stopped her, “I don’t need to know about that.” Aelyn was quiet for a while we both studied of magic.

“Thank you again for how you have been treating me. I can’t believe how nice you have been to me.” Before Aelyn could continue Leda screamed.

“I did it! Storme! Storme! She scrambled down her loft and up into mine and Aelyn’s then straddled my knees on my bed. “Watch Storme!” Nothing happened that I noticed. She looked disappointed, “Well, I am already clean so you can’t see but I imprinted the cleanliness spell!”

I nodded and said, “That is fantastic Leda. It looks like you forgot to return the book in your haste to show me.” She blushed and her dark skin turned darker. She slowly removed herself from above me. I was ashamed to admit my body had started to respond slightly. Any longer it might have gotten embarrassing for me. Since physical aging was quicker in the sphere I had close to a 15-year-old body. “Make sure you take some notes on the first few evolutions you want before returning the book. I tend to be rather indecisive on my own evolutions.” Leda was climbing down from the loft slowly and not making eye contact with me but nodding at my advice.

“If I learn the pocket space spell can I celebrate on top of you too?” It was a very quiet whisper from Aelyn that I wasn’t sure was intended for my ears. I blushed and actually got a little distracted in my studies as I replayed her words in my head over and over, imagining Aelyn on top of me. If I had looked over at the other loft I would have seen both Gareth and Pascal’s mouths hanging open from the series of events.

The next week of training had Pascal settling in. Gareth and Pascal were getting along famously. Gareth was working with Pascal nonstop and Pascal was no longer shy about asking for healing from me. Pascal was making good progress, according to Callem, and should be at the top of his class in the first year of his academy. Callem also talked about the Annuals. It was a massive tournament for melee combatants. Usually, the pre-academy bracket entrants came from the large cities but he thought Pascal might be able to do ok. He had been planning on having Gareth win it next year. The other two tournaments were the Academy and Post-Academy brackets. The one with the highest prestige was the post academy, and it had a sizable winner’s purse.

At the end of the week, the massive ice sculpture in Callem’s yard was finally beginning to shrink. This caused Gareth, Cilia, and Leda to chip away at the ice surrounding the bucket. This was due to the fact I said no more ice cream until I got my bucket back!

The hot pepper juice in my underwear did occur but I had been checking every time I changed so I just faked being burned and ran to the stream after casting my cleanliness spell a few times leaving a cloud of vanilla scent in my tracks. Wynna’s salve did not prevent the spell from working. I thought the women deserved a win and everyone’s laughter was worth it even if it was at my expense. I wasn’t going to retaliate because I didn’t want it to escalate.

My progress with the basement weapon crafting was going well. After Callem had gotten the coal I made rough stock weapons and then completed one weapon each day. Callem left notes on how he wanted the weight and lengths adjusted for each weapon, and I did my best to do so. The best progress came when Callem was in the basement with me, directing me in person. After the week I had all four weapons done, Callem was going to bring them to Antal for bone handles after getting everyone’s grip impressions on clay. I was only making gold coins and after some calculations, I guessed with a full aether core I could make about 30 now. So my efficiency with the ability and my aether pool were growing steadily.

My relationship with Pascal was actually pretty good. He was still envious of me but there was a strong undercurrent of respect and he knew how hard I was working. We even talked a little and I found out he was interested in Sashan, a farmer girl a year older than him and currently in the academy. He was also interested in another girl that was in his immediate circle of friends. He couldn’t decide which to pursue. I didn’t recognize the name or his description of the farm girl but I listened to him talk about her anyway. I was actually glad Gareth was here to distract Pascal. Otherwise, he might interrupt my studying nonstop with his desire to talk to his little brother.

I felt like I had made minimal progress on imprinting the spell. That was the only sore point for the week. I even spent time going to my reference books to help expedite the process but made no substantial gains in my mind.

After the week Callem said he was going to town with our grip impressions. He didn’t tell anyone why but did say he would bring back Freya and Monty for a visit. This got me excited and I wanted to get the bucket free as well! My sister needed to try ice cream for herself, her sweet tooth would love it!