She massaged her hand while glaring at him. He was grinning broadly at her. Damn it, she thought. What the hell is he made of? He hadn't even turned his head when she had hit him. The worst of it all was that she now knew damn well why he was being such an utter and total bastard. Because it worked. She understood that now. Wielding your mind and your spirit as a tool required your consciousness to let your subconsciousness do the work, similar to how you opened a door. You merely went to open a door and your body did it. Same with this. Don't think, instruct, do. Given the major headache she had acquired while trying to figure out how her mindscape worked, she even had to agree with him doing it that way. Didn't make his smug grin any more damned tolerable though.

"You're getting the hang of it, aren't you?"

She stuck her tongue out at him, only realising just what she did after the fact. She pondered it briefly, then shrugged. For some reason the more time she spent with him, the less she began to care about decorum and the more common sense seemed to be thrown out of the window in favour of just being able to deal with him without having a mental breakdown. Which honestly did explain why Evon had seemed so utterly, utterly mad without being actually insane. Perhaps it wasn't a consequence of learning how to wield your spirit, but more a result of having spent too much time around the teacher.

The steam was slowly returning to it's normal, impenetrable state after having been stirred up, but at the moment it was enough to vaguely see him standing there. Not all of him, thank the Lord, because seeing that would've tossed her mind into turmoil again. She saw enough, however, to see him sit down on an elevated platform in the water and both saw and felt him gesture for her to do the same. She obliged, wary of any tricks he might be up to now. It took her a few moments before she found another platform. The moment she sat down he began his lecture.

"Right then. Time for us to discuss the next part of it all. Your destiny, as I called it earlier, which honestly is a lot of grandstanding. It means that we're going to see what direction you want to take your life from here on out, what subjects you want to study and which skills you'd like to master. So really, speak your mind. I'll try and keep inappropriate jokes and madness induced rants to a minimum."

She sighed deeply. For some reason the earlier staggering amounts of respect she had for him had waned suspiciously quickly and now she was stuck between seeing him as a teacher, a very attractive person, an even more annoying person, and probably the most dangerous and capable being she'd ever get close to. And she had to obey him too, on top of everything else.

"What choices do I have?" she asked. "I don't know a lot about the world. I was a peasant girl and the only knowledge I ever gained was while I studied here or what the people that owned me gossiped about while in bed."

"Fair enough. How about we start with what you want to do then?"

"Honestly... I wouldn't mind staying here. I like it here. It's safe and comfortable and—"

"Blood and vomit!" he cursed. She nearly fell off the elevation in shock. "You listen up now, you're one of the very few people out in the world that has the talent to actually learn how to bloody wield your mind! Do you have any idea how impossibly rare that red-damned talent is? And you'd waste it while sitting here and not doing anything? You're not going to get any-bleeding-thing done that way! By the Flows! You're never going to be more than an unblooded welp if that's your take on life!"

He slid off the platform and started walking around her, hidden by the fog. His sudden outburst had taken her off-guard. He seemed sincere for a change and there was a determination to his tred that wasn't there before. His sudden change in language was strange as well. She'd have thought more about it hadn't he suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly pulled her up. Her feet were dangling beneath her, her toes barely touching the platform.

"Since you have absolutely no idea and are far too much of a damnable anaemic to stand up for yourself, I'll give you a few ideas. You like the idea of taking revenge on those who wronged you, right?"

She nearly nodded in response, but something in the back of her mind told her to wait. She thought about it. It was an old dream of her, that was true, but to take vengeance on nobles? She wasn't like her teacher, she lacked the ability. Physically, mentally, financially... It had been a dream the same way slaves sometimes dreamed of freedom. Unless.. he meant he was going to help her with it!

"Will you—"

He shushed her by placing a finger on her lips. She felt a sudden desire to lick it and cursed inwardly at the thought. Damn this steam! She quickly retreated most of her consciousness back into her fragments, severing the majority of her connections to her body, leaving just enough to remain aware but not much more than that.

"Don't think of the how." he instructed. "Think of the if. Does the idea seem interesting to you?"

She nodded. Slowly at first, but more vigorously as the horrible memories started flooding her mind. She'd sacrifice everything to get back at them and make them pay.

"Good. Let's take that as a base. Now let's move on to the how. You're not physically strong and the time it will take you to wield your spirit well enough to actually strike them and surviving would mean they'd have all died from old age before you'd have a shot at them. So, we'll use other means instead. Intrigue. Cunning. Politics. Playing them out against one another."

She mulled it over. It was, without a doubt, an attractive prospect. She could not fathom how she would take on such a task though. "How then? You might as well be speaking in tongues to me. I'm a farm girl. I know nothing of their world."

"Oh yes you do." He smiled at her in a way that made her distinctly uncomfortable.

"What do you — No! No no no no no!" she screamed, trying to back away from him, which was fairly useless given that he was still holding her by the shoulders.

"Stop," he ordered. "Sit. Think," he let go of her after she ceased her struggle. She was surprised to feel herself obey. "Do you honestly think I'm asking you to go back there, lift your skirt and let them have their way with you? Please, that'd solve nothing except that they'd have fun. No, I'm talking about seduction. Dress up as a noblewoman. Flirt a bit with them. Use that body of yours as a weapon against them. Lure them into your web like a spider, make them hunger for you, dream of you, long for you until they start thinking solely with the wrong head. Make them buy you pretty things that are so hideously expensive they'll ruin themselves just to win your favour. Establish alliances with others so that when you publicly disgrace one of them, they'll all come running to protect your honour and maybe have you graciously take the arm they'll generously offer. Bedding them is not necessarily involved in that. It's an option, but given your predisposition towards it, i'm assuming it's not an option you consider viable. And you needn't worry about that, if anything the unobtainable is far more attractive.'

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He was pacing again as he continued his lecture. She sat there and thought about what he said, but he was far from done.

"If I were you, I'd start by learning a merchant trade. I can easily outfit you with the materials required to start a trade caravan. I'll give you a letter for the guilds in Lannas when the time comes. They'll procure the basic products and an armed escort for you, as well as letters of introduction from other nobles. I'd suggest trading in small, but valuable products. Jewelry or something of the sort. Magical items as well, those things always sell for a fortune and there are very few people that can produce them. That will be your cover to get in. Add in a few herbal products that are rumoured to heal various ailments and stimulate certain functions and you'll practically have a paved route to get near your targets. Then, wearing the right clothes and using a few choice words, you'll have them wrapped around your finger in no time. Psychological warfare is a dangerous thing, and by that time you'll have figured out the basics of how to wield your mind and you can influence them any way you like."

He paused and turned to face her. She knew she must have looked childish with her mouth wide open, but she couldn't help herself. The way he summarised it all made her question once again just who she was dealing with and made her wonder just how long he had been planning this. If it hadn't been for her three fragments running parallel to one another, she'd have just been sitting there dumbfounded and utterly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and possibilities being thrown her way.

"Of course, there are other ways. You could try the merchant trade and use your looks to gain an advantage and slowly climb the ranks, eventually growing large enough until you can institute a trade embargo, but that's significantly slower, much less effective and will cause a lot more collateral damage. You could try becoming an informant of others. Believe it or not, there are nobles who would see your looks as an asset to be used outside of the bedchamber as well, and they'd pay a pretty penny to have you work for them. They would work as your shield as well, even more so if you know a few secrets of them as well. Lastly, you could go the bandit queen role, but that might require a bit more of a hands on approach and I don't think you'd be to keen on that. Of course, if you want a completely different route then you could—"

"Stop! No more! Please!" she begged. Her head felt as if it would burst and she couldn't take in any more. This was her life he was talking about and she could see all the possible roads into the future flashing by at a far too quick pace as it was. "Please. Let me think. Please?" The words were barely audible, her voice little more than a whine.

She was met with silence, but was glad for it. She let her thoughts roam freely, thinking it all through. This was the first time in her young life that she had been given the chance to decide what she'd do from here on out and she wanted to make the right decision for a change "If I don't want to do any of that, what then?" she asked, her voice soft and unsure.

"Then you can do something else. Honestly, as long as you don't waste it doing nothing, I'm fine with any direction you want to take. It's better if you pick something you are interested in though. Ability matters less in these things. Determination and perspective beat it by far."

He moved until he was behind her and gently pulled her back, until her back was laying against his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair in an innocent, tender manner. "Even if you decide you just want to learn a simple trade while training your mind. You're free to do that, you know? There's no pressure."

She nodded and let herself lean against him. Her mind and body safely separated from one another through her mental barriers, his touch hardly reached her and the few parts of it that did were pleasant without being overbearing or distracting. Letting her mind wander she thought about it all. There were many paths she could take, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Peace and safety spoke volumes to her. She wasn't really familiar with it, but knew that if she took that path then she would be safe from nobles and from twats like Feng. Part of her found that a waste, however, and agreed with the teacher. She had abilities. Connections. It would be a shame if she didn't make use of them, as her teacher had pointed out. Sure, there were risks involved with chasing after vengeance, but the rewards would be so much greater. What had he said again? Becoming a merchant? It would, after she finished the task of taking care of her captors, give her great freedom. Freedom and wealth. Power even.

She did not know how long she lay there, supported by him, surrounded by pleasantly warm water and the intoxicating steam. At one point she probably fell asleep, but if she had, then he showed no sign of it. He had been silent, patient, stroking her hair throughout it all. Slowly but surely she started forming a decision, but before she'd choose she wanted a few questions of her own answered. She didn't open her eyes. It wasn't necessary and she could feel where he was anyway. "Why do you do this?"

His fingers changed direction. They slowly slid through her hair until they found that sensitive spot behind her ears. When he started to rub it softly, she practically melted in his hands. "It's a hobby. A pleasant distraction."

"Must... be more to it... than that..." she moaned. Lord, it wasn't fair to do that to her while she was trying to think. It wasn't fair. How could anyone be so damnably good with their hands? She shuddered when she realised that her mental barriers were still up and for one fearful moment she struggled with the urge to drop them, to feel his touch properly. Luckily enough for her she never had the chance as he moved his fingers back to her hair.

When no answer came to her remark, she slowly began to realise he didn't want to elaborate on it. Which was fair, given that the entire trade was already heavily weighed in her favour. A bit too much, really. It made her suspicious.

"Will it be with a loan contract or something, that you'll give me what I need to start as a merchant?"

"No, it's a gift. The only thing you might have to do from time to time is buy some items I might need. I'll pay for those though."

"You know that doesn't make any sense, right?"

"Not for you perhaps. You've decided then, I take it?"

"Are you still in my head?" she asked, wondering how he knew.

"Not since you smacked me."

"I'm not sorry about that," she huffed. "You deserved it."

"Yes you are," he laughed. "You hurt your hand."

Okay, that was creepy. "Are you sure you're not in my head anymore?"

"You're just fairly easy to read. I don't need to be in your head to know what you're thinking half the time."

"If, if I choose to become a merchant and go after them, I'll need a lot, you know? Wares, clothes, a caravan, money..."

"You'll have that, don't you worry. Just focus on your training."

"Do you actually have that type of clothes laying around?" she asked. She wasn't talking about the clothes for merchants.

"You mean seductive clothes that show of your body? Outline your curves, bring attention to your breasts and highlight your assets?"

She blushed. Blunt bastard. "Yes," she muttered. "Those."

"No, but I can make them," he said easily, surprising her. She felt him shrug. "I make a lot of things. I'll just need to take your measurements really." Her blush got significantly worse at that but he talked straight over it. "You'll even get to decide what material, what colour. Honestly depending on what type of events you'll attend you'll need different outfits. The dances you'll partake in will dictate how the cloth will need to sway around you, and depending on how you want to seduce others, the material will matter greatly."

Her voice was barely more than a peep now, unbidden thoughts slowly eroding the barriers between her mind and body, even though two parts of her mind were fully focused on keeping them up. "But I don't know anything about dances or seduction. I'm just a peasant girl," she protested weakly.

"Don't worry," came his confidence, calming voice.

"I'll personally teach you so you'll master it."

And just like that, her barriers shattered.