"Fenne?"

Olivia looked up from her book. "Hmm?"

"How do I increase the amount of power I can hold?"

"Your reservoir? It'll grow naturally over time as you cycle and spend power. There are ways to speed it up, special exercises, foods and so on. But before you ask, I don't know any of the exercises, and they're risky if you don't know what you're doing."

"Does hunting beasts help?"

Olivia looked at her for a moment, frowning. "Yes, but it's not recommended. You have to get right up close to see any benefit, and the benefits depend on the strength of the beast. It's not worth the risk. Not even the oldest families do that anymore."

They were sitting off to the side of the campsite, inside the circled wagons. The sun was low, but it was still light enough to see clearly. The caravan-workers were moving around, preparing dinner and seeing to a variety of chores, while the passengers were scattered around the campsite in small clusters. Nobody else was nearby.

Hina felt a phantom pain in her wrist, and she rubbed it. Now that she thought about it, she'd only noticed an increase in her capacity after killing the huld, and not any of the less dangerous creatures she'd fought. And she didn't want to get into a situation like that one again any time soon. But maybe when she was stronger. "What about the foods?"

"They're generally safe, but rare. We occasionally had rosemarrow with dinner at home, but it's not something you can go out and buy—it only grows in the wildlands."

"Rosemarrow?"

"Little bitter seedpods from a plant that looks a bit like a rosebush. You make it into a kind of tea. Tastes horrible, like gnawing on an old shoe." She grimaced. "But they say that it's good for increasing the body's capacity to hold power."

"Huh. Would you know it if you saw it? The plant, I mean."

"Probably. They're not common, and they only flower under very specific conditions, but we can keep an eye out. Speaking of which, I wonder when they're going to start serving dinner."

Hina's stomach panged with hunger at the mention of food. "I don't know. I'll guess I'll go see if I can find out."

She stood, and walked across towards the fire, where something smelled savoury and delicious. Through a gap between the wagons, she could see Kai talking to some of the guards.

Two workers stood near the fire, one tall man with a thick beard who was cleaning and cutting vegetables on a folding table, and the other, a much smaller man, was tending to a bubbling pot, suspended over a cookfire.

"Hey there," Hina said, approaching. "How are you two doing?"

"Good, good. Give us a few more minutes, and we'll be ready to serve up. Joined us at the 'manch, did you?" asked the small man.

"Yeah, with my brother and a friend. I'm Lori." She gave a little wave.

"Tobin, and he's Irving." The man stirred the pot. Crinkles formed around his eyes as he gave her a friendly smile. His clean-shaven face was red from the heat of the fire. "Pleased to meet you."

"Looks like quite an interesting setup you've got here."

"We do what we can," Irving said. His lips quirked up as his knife kept up its steady rhythm. "Good tools make for good food."

"I know what you mean," Hina said. "I've been doing a lot of camp cooking lately—all of this looks like it would have been a big help. Cooking with a pot over a fire is a lot harder than I'd thought."

"Oh now, that's for sure," Tobin said. "You've gotta prep the fire and use a cookstand if you want a consistent temperature. Reasonably consistent at any rate. I wouldn't want to be making pastries out here, that's for sure. Burn two for every one that comes out right, I reckon."

"And a good table is essential for prep work," added Irving, chopping away. He paused to wipe his brow with the back of his hand and then continued chopping.

"I bet. My uncle's a baker and I help out sometimes. Can't imagine making good bread over a fire."

"Oh, bread's not so bad," Tobin said. "It just takes a little bit of practice. Closed pot over the coals. Not too hot, that's the trick. You bury it a bit, keep the heat in—and there's nothing to it."

"I'll have to try it sometime." She paused. "Are those mushrooms? They're huge." A small pile of roughly chopped brown and rubbery-looking vegetables sat on the edge of table—the pieces were almost as long as her hand.

"Hastire's Finest," Irving said with a note of pride. "All the way from the good source itself."

"He loves those fucking mushrooms," Tobin said, looking up at his fellow with a toothy grin. "Hasn't shut up about them since we picked 'em up in Tenbury."

"They were a great find, I'll have you know. And I, for one, appreciate good food," Irving said. "These little beauties add a dusty, savoury complexity to any dish. They've good cooked or raw—a meal by themselves, if you don't mind the price. And I hear they're cheap as chips in Hastire." He looked wistful. "What a treat that would be. Mushrooms every night, and for breakfast, too."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"He only gets to use a couple of those fancy mushrooms per meal, says our Yus'", Tobin said. "So we'll be hearing about 'em till the end of the leg." He shook his head. "In any case, young miss, come back in about twenty for the feast."

"Thanks! I'm looking forward to it."

Hina walked back towards where Olivia was sitting with her book, and Kai joined her on the way.

Bean gave her a two-toned whistle from Kai's shoulder in greeting.

"Hey, guess what?" Kai said.

"What?"

"I spoke to one of the guards, and they said that I could train with them in the mornings if I wanted to. You two can come too, if you want."

"Hey, that's great," Hina said. "Good for you."

"Thanks!" Kai said, "It'll be great to get some practice in with a spear." He looked at Hina. "Are you going to come?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to focus on the other stuff for now. Though I do want to keep up practice with the sling, and that seems like a good time to do it, so maybe I'll come along for that. Fenne might be interested."

Olivia looked up.

Kai gave Olivia a bright smile. "Hey, want to come train with the guards and me in the mornings?"

"Spears and hand-to-hand, that kind of thing?" she asked.

"Yeah. Maybe they'll let us use one of their crossbows too, though I haven't asked about that yet."

"It's not really my kind of thing, but I appreciate the offer," she said. "I'll think about it."

"Okay, if you decide to come, it's at dawn. H—Lori's going to come and practice with her sling. Oh, if you wanna do that, you could borrow hers."

"Thanks. I'll think about it."

"Sure. ...Lori, when's dinner?"

"Twenty minutes, I think," she said. "It's some kind of soup, with fancy mushrooms."

Bean croaked.

"Huh. It smells really good," Kai said. "I'm going to go explore a bit more. See you at dinner." He walked off.

Practice seemed like a good idea, so Hina sat herself down on the ground near Olivia. It was a good opportunity to practice her patterns. Starting with the light pattern.

The conditions weren't right for actually using it, but she could try to reconstruct the image of the sign. She closed her eyes and tried to remember it. Something that looked a little bit like the sign popped into her minds eye when she focused, but several of the details were blurred, or seemed entirely wrong. She wondered.

"Fenne, can I borrow the light card again?"

Olivia sighed. "I really shouldn't," she said. "No, I'm sorry, I can't. I will get in trouble." She paused. "Last time was an emergency, please don't push me on this."

"Sorry," Hina said. "It's just—my memory of it has faded."

"That's normal, most people can't remember patterns unless they're continually using them. And that's the only reason it was okay for me to show you that card in the first place."

"Wait, so it's normal to just forget them?"

"It's something about the patterns themselves that makes them hard to retain in memory. Most people can't hold on to more than a handful, even when they're using them daily, and it's worse if you use signs."

"Worse how?"

"Like, most sign-bearers can't use patterns at all, can't retain the images well enough to summon them, not even with a reference. Not unless they're really good at it, or the patterns are very simple, or sometimes when they're thematically related to the sign.

"Huh. That's weird."

"Think of it like there's a conflict between the two."

"Why does anyone use them, then?"

"Signs are powerful, up to something like a hundred-fold more powerful for the same amount of energy when wielded by an expert, at least... most of the time. And they are much easier to use. Most students at the academy get put into sign-track, like Humphrey was telling us at the farm."

"Before he got killed."

"Yes."

"What's the advantage of using patterns?"

"Flexibility. While most people do tend to develop affinities for specific kinds of patterns, you get access to a broader variety of workings. The best pattern-users can eventually develop a similar level of power to that of a sign-bearer—it's just a lot more work."

"Interesting. And you're angling for pattern-track?"

"Oh, very much so. My whole family works patterns. It's the only option for me, really."

"What happens if you don't get in?"

"It would be a disaster. Completely. I don't even want to think about it."

"Okay, well—sorry about the light thing, I didn't realise."

"Thank you for understanding."

"There's just so many things I don't know, you know? So having someone to ask is really helpful, even if you can't tell me everything."

"Of course, I'm happy to help where I can. I know that you'll return the favour when I need it."

"Yeah... So, hang on, is it hard to get into pattern-track at the academy?"

"Well, yes. They only take the top students, maybe ten percent of the year's intake. It's technically possible to transfer in after the first year, if you demonstrate that you're good enough. But—you want to get into patterns from day-one, if you can do it."

"Why?"

"Because of the conflict. It's a lot harder to learn patterns after you get too far into learning signs. And if you bond to your sign, which most people tend to do around the end of the first year, there's no chance of switching. So you have to decide what you want as soon as possible, and then go for it."

"What will they be testing for? For learning patterns?"

"In admissions for signs-track, they're primarily looking for people with potential—they'll take anyone who shows enough promise. But for patterns, it's a lot more involved. They'll want to see what you can do already. I've been told that they'll test my ability to use some of the basic patterns, which they'll provide during the interview," Olivia said. "Though it's best if you're already familiar with them. Using new patterns is much more difficult of course."

Hina had a sinking feeling.

"And potential, ambit strength and depth," Olivia continued, "and the strength and quality of any affinities you might have, and your ability to use them. Having advanced beyond the first stage is a big plus, but almost nobody does that before getting to the academy, so it's hardly a factor. And any trinkets and artifacts you have and can use," Olivia said, "especially ones that you've discovered yourself—the idea is that who your family is isn't supposed to be a big part of it."

Which was a relief, at least. Hina didn't have a famous practitioner family, but she did have a few trinkets. But what they had to do with anything, she wasn't sure. "Why are trinkets a part of it?"

"I believe there's supposed to be a link between advanced uses of trinkets and artifacts and the ability to use patterns. I don't know the details, however."

"Okay. What else?"

"The usual things, like reading, writing, logic and so on. Like any other school. And then when they've tested and measured all of that, they pick the best out of the available candidates." Olivia grimaced. "It's a big deal, and it's a lot of pressure. I'm pretty worried about it, to be honest."

"From what I've seen, you seem like you've got most of that covered already?"

"Yes, well. The competition can be pretty fierce, especially amongst the families. Mine's not one of the big ones, but we're still relatively well-known. Like I said, it would be a disaster if I didn't get a place. A scandal, even."

Hina felt a pang of sympathy. "I'm sorry. That sounds really tough. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Well, actually." Olivia smoothed out the fabric of her skirt. "If you really don't mind, there is one thing you could do to help."