Sil wasn’t sure he wanted to know what rachids were when he first heard the name, and he was far, far less sure after Kemen led them to the nest. It was a towering hill of craggy red rock that the beasts had carved a home into. Sil’s heart pounded in his chest despite Kemen’s constant reassurance that, for this venture at least, the young man was under Kemen’s complete protection.
“Well, Imelda, you know the drill!”
Kemen was particularly cheery in the trek over to the rachid nest. Sil chalked it up to internalized violent impulses.
Imelda seemed to share them, unfortunately. He caught a grin on her face as she rolled her shoulders, stretched her arms out, and then summoned twin curved swords into her hands. Sil gulped at the deadly gleam on the edge of the polished metal, and then the threatening ease with which Imelda leapt into the air fifteen feet and landed softly in a crouch in the nest.
As she yelled out a challenge - the rachids might not have understood the words, but it was hard to miss the aggression - Kemen leaned over to him and whispered.
“She’s showing off a little because of our newest, youngest member. I promise the jump is not a necessary step for a Favored readying themselves for battle.”
Sil nodded silently and Kemen put his arm around his shoulder, guiding him close enough that the sand was largely blocked by the hill. There, Sil was in a prime spot to see the havoc Imelda began to wreak.
The brown feather on her wrist glowed gently as Imelda moved with incredible speed and precision. As buglike, skittering creatures streamed out from the inside of the nest, she launched into horizontal slashes, snapping sidekicks, and the rare thrust to check a charging bug beast.
Even as they surrounded her and Sil couldn’t keep down the worry seeing her in a tide of rachids, Imelda’s face was completely passive. She whirled around and slashed downwards, straight between the mandibles of one lunging rachid to slice its head into two. It collapsed, but Imelda was already in motion again.
After a few seconds of intense combat, an astonishing wheel kick combined with her cutlasses cutting diagonally at two different targets took out three. Imelda recovered flawlessly by using her remaining momentum to hack outwards at another jumping rachid. She grinned as they backed off for a moment in a display of surprising intelligence. At least a dozen corpses surrounded her, but there were what looked like thirty more rachid hissing at her.
They recovered morale and at least ten leapt at Imelda at once. That can’t- Sil, suddenly terrified for Imelda, expected to see Kemen rush into the fray and help her. It wasn’t physically possible, not even with the astonishing agility he’d seen thus far, to respond to so many different angles of attack in less than a second.
Then, Imelda’s eyes glowed brown and her Mark shined. One moment, she was there, crouching in place, and the other, she was behind the pack, fresh green blood on her swords. The movement was so quick that the rachids crashed into each other at the same time as two in the pack collapsed, gaping wounds in their sides. Imelda didn’t miss the opportunity and launched a rapid assault at the beasts’ backs as they turned. The reorienting took a precious second, which she used to devastate their ranks even further. By the time the rachids were putting up a fight again, there were fewer than ten left.
Imelda cleaned up the stragglers and Kemen chuckled while Sil struggled to process it all.
“That was the first and only Form of the fight. Usually, you’d be able to look forward to more, but the rachids are not even first-tier. They didn’t necessitate anything more than pure brutality from one of our most promising young Favored.”
Kemen winked and strode forward. Sil hesitated, then followed him. The older man continued, “Don’t worry, she killed the rachids because they’re a unique scourge. Once their queen enters birthing season, the soldiers,” he kicked a nearby corpse with a hard thud, “will search for food in such a far radius they could go out into human settlements. And once those put up resistance… the rest of the army follows. The resulting carnage can even draw some more dangerous predators. Rachids are on the kill list.”
Sil sputtered.
“The queen? There’s a stronger one than those? But where is she?”
“Right, yes, of course.” Kemen closed his eyes and concentrated. “Found her. Disgusting, as always. No, they’re not stronger, just bigger. They also don’t leave their spots in the deepest parts of the nest, which I would not advise.” His Mark glowed again and Sil heard a loud impact from deeper underground. “The mess would not help you sleep tonight.”
Sil needed to sit down.
Thankfully, in five minutes, they were all sitting around a campfire burning off some firewood that Kemen had graciously packed. Tendrils of sand had come from the outside and dragged all the corpses where they could no longer be seen, presumably to be eaten by some lucky nocturnal desert scavengers.
Kemen started.
“Sil, combat is the majority of being a Favored for most, and I suspect you’re going to be particularly capable of it.” His eyes flickered to the two feathers on Sil’s wrist. “I realize you’re having to learn a lot tonight, but everyone that’s chosen out here goes through the same. It’s a new world for kids like you, and it was for me. Anyway, ether-enhanced combat-”
“Wait, wait, wait. It was for you? What does that mean?” Sil interjected, suddenly curious about the experienced man. Kemen just sighed.
“Alright, fair enough. I was born in the Bardenas, too. Much further in than here, which means I went a lot of time without access to any information about Heralds and Favored outside of rumors. Those, as I’m sure you’re aware, are not very helpful out here. Eventually, I made it out with a traveling merchant and hitched a ride to an Institute, where I promptly received the instruction I needed. Those first few days I finally had the answers to all my questions… well, I remember the excitement fondly even after all these years.”
When Sil didn’t respond, a little shocked by the revelation, Kemen rolled his eyes.
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“All I’m saying is that I’ve been where you are. Minus certain freak events. Now, as I was initially saying, ether-enhanced combat is very different than what you likely think of as fighting. Imelda’s display today would have been a good way to get herself killed against enemies anywhere near the same level as her. Perhaps a little less for her than others, but still.” Sil had to cut in.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Kemen’s eye twitched when Sil called him sir and he made a note to avoid it. No matter how uncomfortable using first names felt with a man that could probably take him out from a mile away with his eyes closed. “What are these levels and tiers you keep talking about? I get that you’re way stronger than Imelda, and that beasts can be stronger or weaker, too, but how do you place them? How strong are you - scratch that, how strong am I?”
Kemen nodded with a pondering expression on his face.
“I’ll start with that last question. You are, frankly, the weakest you could be for a Favored. Bottom of the bottom. You’re in the territory of losing fights to adult, mundane humans, which is not a comfortable territory for a future bastion of humankind to be in. And I am so, so glad you reminded me of that, because it sounds right to me that you get your answers while you work on your critical condition of weakness.”
Sil blinked and tilted his head as Kemen got up from the campfire.
“You stand up too, young man. It’s time for some physical training. No, ether does not mean you don’t have to work out. You, especially.” Kemen eyed Sil’s gangly limbs with some disdain. “Especially, especially. Didn’t eat much as a kid, hmm?”
Sil only grumbled in response. He was used to barbs for his skinny frame.
“Here, do this.” Kemen squatted down so his knees were at a 90-degree angle and held the stance. Sil followed. “And hold this.” Kemen produced a wristband and sent some ether into it, before handing it over to Sil. As the wristband traded hands, Sil immediately fell back onto the ground. He fumed.
“How can a little leather- where does all that weight come from?” Sil would have waved the band for emphasis, but he was having a hard enough time keeping it from crushing into his chest.
“That’s one of mine. Augury, enchanted so that you can adjust the weight. Now, get up and into position. No temporary student of mine will suffer from shoulders that are more bone than muscle.”
I’m going to have to get used to Auguries for everything, huh? From the looks of things, Favored probably have an Augury to brush their hair more effectively. Or to keep their shirt tucked in. Yeah, a super-belt sounds about right.
He tried to ignore the burning in his shoulders as he struggled into a squat once more. Only once Kemen was satisfied with the depth of his bend did he continue.
“Alright. To keep you motivated, I’ll tell you now that I’m only talking when you’re in position or in permission. To rest, that is. So I’d advise you listen.” Kemen grinned evilly. “Alright, let’s take it from the top. Ether. Energy of life. The more you have, the better you feel. As far as we understand right now, Heralds are manifestations of particular aspects of ether - that’s why my ether is distinguishable from yours is distinguishable from Imelda’s.
“Yes, every living being has ether. Vast amounts of it, actually, including you, but it isn’t really available to us. You take it - which is not easy, mind you - and the person that lost it dies. They fall apart at the seams. It’s their soul, we think, that needs so much ether, and without it… ouch. That’s why the ether we get from Heralds elevates us so much. If we could use the ether inside of us, every trained adult could probably trounce most Favored. Soul ether is incredibly potent and the pool is vast. At least, so we think. Experiments are difficult, not to mention unethical and unnecessary - you want more ether, you can get it without existential torture.
“So. Ether is the foundation of our power. We don’t really categorize people by how much ether they have, though. Quantities vary a lot. Imelda, for example, has maybe a third of the ether a Favored with her training would have, were they chosen by a Herald like the Tortoise or the Camel. That doesn’t make her weaker. So, though how much ether you have access to is often a symptom of your advancement, there’s no way to standardize that measurement across Heralds. More importantly, though, it doesn’t create that drastic of a difference between Favored. What makes up stages, insurmountable gaps, between Favored are differences in the density of their ether.”
“You can stand up, by the way. Don’t let go of the wristband, or I’ll double the length of the squat next time.”
Sil ignored the screaming of his shoulders and struggled to stand up all the way. He almost collapsed in the process, but managed to stay wisely quiet in hopes that Kemen would continue.
“Good. As you strengthen and utilize your connection with your Herald - uh, Heralds - your ether reserves will expand. You’ll probably get more proficient with your ether abilities as a byproduct of the type of practice it takes to expand your connection to your Herald. Not much else will happen, though. It’s possible, though rare, that a Favored at the bottom of a stage best a Favored at the peak of it.
“Eventually, though, your ether reserves will expand enough that they reach a sort of critical mass. No one knows why - the mechanics of ether are extensively studied, but this is a persistent mystery. The really weird part is that it’s predictable: a little over 2 and a half times your initial ether reserves, and you advance to the next stage. Your ether becomes so much more potent, so much more condensed, that you can do the same things for a fraction of the cost, and that’s just the start of it. Let’s just say you have a lot to look forward to. Ah, right, back down into squat.”
Damn it. Sil was hoping Kemen had forgotten.
“There it is! Okay, so, right now, you’re not even into the first stage. You’re a quasi-Mortal. Quasi because you haven’t Tempered yet, which means you’re not really as strong as your ether density should suggest. Mortal because you haven’t advanced yet. Psssst,” Kemen leaned in playfully and said in a stage whisper, “Imelda’s in the Mortal stage, too. As wildly impressed as you were by her performance today, if you Tempered and suddenly gained years of experience in fighting, you’d probably match her.”
Hearing that made Sil feel lightheaded. She was like battle incarnate… and she’s just in the first stage? He almost forgot about his arms.
“Yeah, that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? Well, after the Mortal stage is the River stage. We call it that because your ether gets dense enough it feels like a river in your channels. I know it feels like a liquid right now, but trust me - there’s a certain lack of substance that I can’t explain until you get there. After that, it’s the Earth stage because the ether feels almost solid. It’s not any less unwieldy for it, though, don’t you worry. Most Favored stagnate here. To progress in the Earth stage doesn’t require just time spent with your Herald and effort put into understanding them. It requires real insights, the kind of stuff you catch in the middle of a life-or-death battle or after years of study.
“If you’re lucky and talented, you move on to the Sky stage - the final stage, at least the last one I’m aware of. Ether in the Sky stage… hell, I’m in the stage, and I can’t describe it. Incomparable. This is so far into your future I don’t know why I’m talking about it, but trust me - a hundred Earth stage Favored don’t make a match for a single Sky stage.”
Kemen had said it in such an offhanded way Sil almost missed it, but- did he just say he’s in the Sky stage? Like, the last one? If Imelda’s that powerful, and she’s pretty much as weak as it gets…
Sil resisted the urge to shuffle a little away from the man he’d been treating so casually until now. He’d known Kemen must have been strong, but not strongest strong. What is a guy like that doing here?
“Yeah. Think about that the next time you cut me off.” Kemen glowered. “Alright, down on the ground. We’ll revisit lower body after we wring out your upper body next. Don’t worry, kid, it’ll just be a couple hours. Then, we can get to the fun stuff: ether manipulation. What, that doesn’t sound fun?” He asked, noticing Sil’s dubious look. “It really should. Ether manipulation is the foundational skill for your first Tempering.”
“Plus, it won’t hurt as much as the pushups you’re about to do!”