"Now, when I pull the metal from the fire, look at its color. See what color it is? Compare it to when we first started working." My Master looked down at me. I was a young artificer apprentice. He pointed while he commanded.
I kneeled at the bellows, keeping the fire at the requested temperature. Silas shifted his body away from the fire and presented the glowing orange steel to me. He laid the metal onto his anvil and worked his hammer against it. Silas added chunks of red, rock-like material to the weapon to define its shape even more.
Being an artificer was a well-respected trade. Many relied on those who could forge weapons and armor and imbue them with magical properties. They did this by using spirit cores from dead spirit beasts or inscribing them with runes. Anyone possessing the weapon could power the runes with their spiritual force, or madra, for various purposes.
"Now, make sure you're looking at the coals in the fire," he instructed, pointing to the heat source, and my gaze followed his gesture. I looked and noted how it differed from the other times he instructed me to do the same thing. I had been apprenticing for Master Silas for months, but I still made sure I knew the differences. The color of the coals represents different temperatures, which are crucial for correctly working with the metals.
I stood there taking in the image of my Master, his skin slightly pink from the heat. Master Silas was a short bear of a man, like a bulwark. He did not lack any strength. His body was solid, yet the muscle did not define his torso. My Master's arms flexed as he worked. My master was bald as opposed to the men in the village. They boasted long, black hair that stayed in a bun above their heads. The harsh southern sun left the men looking tan as opposed to his pale skin of the north.
He came from the north somewhere where it snowed a lot. He lost the pale skin of the northerners from years of working the forge and helping his wife in the fields. His wife, Himari, was the town's pride, having lived here her whole life. She became a great cultivator, even teaching at the School of the Jade Mountains, where they had met. Eventually, they moved back to Kyoto together. My Master's name was Silas Zhao. He was also a jade-level cultivator, which meant that he was the most powerful man in the village by a far margin.
His dark eyes looked down at me, and he smiled softly. He gave a wink before putting the steel into some oil and setting it on a table next to the anvil, "come, we've done this enough for today. Cool the fire and clean up." My Master took off his leather apron and hung it on a hook on the table. He then wandered to a room off the main foundry to rest. As I worked, I could hear him pouring cold water assumedly, over his head to cool his face and chest from the heat.
Once I finished cleaning, I took off my apron and stepped into the room where he was patting himself dry with a towel.
"Are we going to train my martial ability as well today?" I asked Master Silas, eyes searching for an answer hopefully as I grabbed a bucket and filled it with cold water. The water came from a barrel, which allowed it to stay cool, thanks to a script running along the bottom. I dumped it on myself to extinguish the hot coal's fiery touch on my skin.
Master Silas chuckled softly and shook his head before handing me the damp towel, "no, not today. You're not built for my sort of martial style. I could keep training you, but I want you to have a better foundation for what you'll be able to do. I have a friend coming to town, and they're going to take over that side of the training. She taught at the School with me and is an exceptional fighter."
I frowned slightly and dried myself off as well, it was true. I had an entirely different body type than he did. While he was short and squat, I was tall and thin. My body type is typical for many martial artists and cultivators. Other traits I had were opposite of my Master, like my mousy brown hair and brilliant green eyes. I eventually nodded in acceptance and put the towel on a bench nearby. I had set aside my nicer clothes to wear after we completed our work. It was a light green shirt that my mother had made me go along with brown slacks that I already had.
"Do not be discouraged, Reiko. You are going to be swift and agile, unlike myself. I am slow and clunky." Master Silas shrugged and told me before raising a hand to pat me on the back.
I caught his slight grimace as he shook his head. "Tell me, how has your channel formation come along?" As he asked, he looked at me, sensing my spirit. He was trying to sense if I was ready for him.
He really was asking if I've been following his routine of meditating in the morning and then again at night. While I meditated, I was also cultivating, trying to sense the vital aura around me and bring it inside my body, converting it to madra. I can burn channels throughout my body and spirit with that spiritual force. I can't hold it for long, however, since I do not have my core formed yet. Master said it was best to burn as many channels as possible before creating your core. This would ensure that you could not only hold more madra but also totally control and reinforce more of your body.
"It's excellent. I cultivate as much as I possibly can. I think I'm ready to form my core?" It was more of a question to his answer than an actual answer. I hoped he would agree and let me form my core. The village had little cultivators, but the other children around my age, thirteen, had already developed their cores. It was a point of contention that Master Silas hadn't let me form mine yet.
He studied me for another few moments before reaching and grabbing his sect robes. His inner robes were cream-colored, and the outer fabric was a dark brown. Master belonged to The Divine Body Sect, which paired with the Oxen. The Divine Body Sect paid tribute to the Ox, which symbolized strength, durability, patience, and endurance. In the world, there were twelve different sects, each sect ruling one region, some were bigger than others. Each sect paid homage to a different constellation that was in the sky.
In this mortal plane, other regions contained one dominant sect and some smaller ones represented throughout. Mostly, the sects played nice with each other, and the areas ruled themselves. Everything mostly, on the surface, was peaceful. The sects just had a presence everywhere. Our village, Kyoto, was in the southeastern region of Okuhama.
Once his robes were situated, he nodded and then clapped me on the shoulder, "yes, I believe you are ready to form your core. You will be on your way to becoming a true Sacred Artist when my friend arrives tomorrow. We shall do it up on the hill with the cherry blossoms overlooking the village. Meet me there at dawn. I must get things prepared. You go about your chores and see if your mother needs anything. Make sure you cultivate tonight."
With that, Master Silas turned to leave his foundry. I don't know what preparations needed to be completed, but I had faith he would set me on the right path. When my core was complete, I'll be at the bronze stage in cultivation. I'll be able to reinforce my hits with madra and strengthen them. I'll also be able to make it, so I don't need to rest as often. I will also be able to use my madra outwardly and do what non-cultivators think is magic. Once I hit the spirit realm of cultivation, I'll be truly on my way to becoming immortal. Master Silas is in the middle of the spirit realm at Jade. He could live to be hundreds of years old and still looks his age. He wasn’t immortal, however, not yet. Eventually he may still die from age.
I put away the tools in the forge area and making sure everything was tidy. I moved about with precision, putting everything away, sweeping, and mopping the area. Grabbing a cup from I'd scoop up some water and take a small drink before going back into the main room to work.
The building wasn't much more than a barn. It was a wide-open space. The forge and anvil were kept in the back corner, away from the entrance. In the front corner, opposite the forge, were extra tools and spirit stones. Spirit stones were like it sounded, stones that were like the core of an animal. They developed a core and cultivated it. The stones glowed a soft color of whatever sort of madra the animal had.
Near the simple swinging door that greeted the entryway were items that the customer rejected. It rarely happened since Master Silas was a renowned artificer, but sometimes the customer wasn't entirely clear enough, and they communicated incorrect details.
Once I was finished cleaning, I took my cup and set it back near the barrel. The sky dimmed, and different shades of the sun's beams were sprinkled through the clouds. I headed out and ensured I locked the door before walking away from the building.
My stomach growled as if it knew that dinner time was coming soon. I looked back and forth on the street and headed off toward home. His foundry was just far enough away from the village, which meant I could run through the empty streets and fields to my parent's home in the middle of the town. Luckily, the busy business area was on the opposite side. Most of my run was sloped open land with the natural landscape intact.
When I got inside, my mother was in the kitchen. She looked sternly at me, "you should have been home before now. Dinner is just about ready, go set the table. Papa will be home shortly."
She was a kind woman, who tried to portray a firmness to her, but her soft smile and goofy finger wave said otherwise. Her messy bun shook on her head as she worked on finishing dinner, loose brown hairs framed her face, and her green eyes reflected her exhaustion. Everything else about her was soft and kind.
Our home was small but quaint. The front door opened into a cozy area between the dining room and living area. Beyond the dining area, our kitchen held a metal oven with a small box of wood for the fire to burn. Over that was an open space that allowed the heat to rise and warm up the plates and contents.
The living area was where we rested as a family, where we could sit and chat or play family games together. There were a couple of comfy chairs and some pillows on the floor. Farther down the hallway were two bedrooms, and a bathroom wrapped around, forming the square area of our house.
I smiled, bowed my head, and spoke slowly, "sorry, Mama. Master Silas had me work the bellows, and I had to clean everything up."
I lifted my head and reached into the cupboards to grab some bowls and chopsticks. My family comprised only the three of us. My mother stayed home and tended to the house and her small garden in the backyard. She mended my clothes and made mine by hand when I needed new ones. My father was an intellectual who worked in the library as the village administrator, doing paperwork to send to regional offices. Because of his position, I was able to get Master Silas as my teacher.
When Master Silas and his wife left their teaching positions at the School of the Jade Mountains, they came to town to settle down and have a family. He told them he had no interest in having an apprentice and wanted to set up his shop and live a quiet life. My father, however, helped him with getting his workshop set up. Knowing that my father wanted me to become a cultivator, Master Silas agreed to teach me to repay my father's kindness. Of course, this all depended on me passing his tests.
The tests were easy enough. I stuck my hand in a bowl of cold liquid that I later found out was liquified madra. Next, I had to do something with pearls and some jade stones. I did well enough because Master Silas graciously approved of the results. I overheard my father tell my mother that Master Silas and his wife were having problems having a baby, and that's part of why he accepted me. Of course, this was rare knowledge, and I never said a word to anyone.
Once I had the table set with serving utensils and dishes, the door opened again, and I looked at it smiling. "Hello Papa." I bobbed my head and watched him come in. Mother moved over to him with a smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Go clean up. Dinner is just about ready, Papa. I made noodles and pot stickers."
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He returned the kiss with a smile and rubbed his stomach before giving me a wink. Papa was a few years older than my mother, with short black hair and a bit of a beard flaked with gray. While my mother was relatively short, my father was quite tall. His belly was soft in the middle, what people would call a "papa gut." Mother put a big bowl of noodles on the table when he returned from the washroom. She left to grab a platter of roast pork pot stickers. Steam rose from them, creating condensation to form and drip down the pot of tea next to them. We all sat down together, and mother doled out some food.
"Did you have a good day, papa?" I asked, while pouring tea for everyone. I took a sip of my tea and picked up my chopsticks.
"Same as always, Reiko, paperwork and helping people in the library. You're the young, budding cultivator. Tell us what you did today," my father grinned as he munched on a pot sticker.
"I helped Master Silas at the foundry and then cleaned. He said I am to meet him at dawn on the hill with the cherry blossoms tomorrow. We're going to develop my core finally!"
My father said, "Well, that's great. I wondered if he was ever going to let you. I was rethinking my decision to ask him to train y-OW!" There was a bang under the table, and he glared at my mother.
She shot him one back and cleared her throat before looking at me with a warm smile, saying, "that's great, Reiko. Papa and I are very proud of you. I'll leave you some crackers and meat while you walk up the hill for breakfast, since you'll have to be up early."
Master Silas's training plan had always been a point of contention between my mother and father. My father thought he knew everything there was to know and had a definite idea of how he wanted my training to go. He did not like how Master Silas was deviating from my father's own plan. My mother, however, wanted to trust in the Master Cultivator, who used to teach at a prestigious school and was in the spirit development realm of cultivation.
My father's eyes finally broke away from my mother's face to meet my own. "Yes, Reiko. It's great, you're going to be entering a whole new world of possibilities after tomorrow. I am very proud of the work you've done."
I beamed at his praise. My father did not convey these sorts of feelings often, being the kind of man he was. "Thank you, Papa and Mama. It's all because you guys could arrange this for me. Master Silas is incredible, and with his teachings, I should be able to become a great cultivator and artificer. He also has a friend from the School come down and train me to progress my martial abilities."
My father's eyes shifted from prideful to frustrated. "He will not teach-" another bang under the table, followed by a heated glare between my parents.
"He said I would do better learning from someone with a similar body type to get the most out of my agility and speed." I answered my father's question, although he wasn't able to ask it. I took a pot sticker to hide my slight smile and laughed at him getting kicked again.
He gave in and nodded. "Good, I'm sure Silas knows best." His voice came out begrudged. We spent the rest of dinner almost entirely silent. My mother and father made small talk about the garden or what they planned to do to the house to prepare for winter.
Once we had all eaten to our fill, I stood and helped mother clean the table. Father thanked her for dinner before heading into the family area and reaching onto a shelf for his pipe. He stuffed it with some tobacco and lit it. He'd then lean back in one of the overstuffed chairs with a groan and relax, puffing lightly and closing his eyes.
It didn't take long for us to have it looking untouched. I put the little bits of leftovers in the cold box to keep them from spoiling. Mama looked at me and smirked, putting her gentle hand on my shoulder. "Reiko, why don't you try to do your night meditation early and go to sleep? You'll have to be up very early in the morning. I want you to be rested. I'm sure it will be hard work to form your core."
I looked at her and bobbed my head, "yes, Mama." After kissing her on the cheek, I headed to my room. Stopping in the living area to look at my father and give him a soft bow, "good night Papa. I'm going to cultivate and go to bed."
His eyes peeled open slowly. "Yes, son. Good idea. I will see you tomorrow."
I started down the hall, but he stopped me. "Reiko, my son, I know I don't always show it, and I don't always agree with your Master, but I am very proud of you. Silas has told me you have been a fantastic apprentice and are working hard. You will be the pride of the extended family."
I gave a proud grin and bowed to Papa to thank him and leave. I turned around and started back to my bedroom. The bedroom had a small chest of drawers for my clothes and belongings. There was a bed of hay in the corner for sleep. In the other corner, a few pillows laid on the ground. I shuffled to the pads and assumed a lotus position, letting my eyes shut for my meditation.
I reached out with my spirit, sensing the surrounding aura, and pulled it into my body. The aura flowed into the madra channels I had already created, extending them and forming more when possible. Developing madra channels wasn't painful, but it made a slight burning sensation in the spirit. At the moment, I didn't have my core, so I could take in any element of aura and use it to develop my channels.
Doing this, I also meditated about tomorrow morning, wondering how big my core would be. I knew it didn't matter how big it was initially. You could always grow it and make it bigger through training. Still, I wanted to do well and prove to Master Silas that he had picked a talented student. I wasn't sure if I believed he had said those things about me to my father. Master Silas, while kind, never gave much praise.
Hours later, I awoke to my mother calling my name and knocking on my door. "Reiko, wake up. You must get dressed if you want to meet Master Silas."
I was in a clump with my pillows on the floor. I must have fallen asleep while cultivating and meditating. When I heard my mother, I came up suddenly. I jumped to my feet, wiped some drool from my face, and moved to the sliding door. The door squeaked as it moved and revealed my mother and father exhaustively smiling in my doorway.
"Your mother left some dried meat and crackers on the table, grab them and head off. From what I'm told, there isn't much point in washing up before you form your core. You will definitely need it after." My father looked down at me, with one arm wrapped around my mother's shoulders.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "I almost overslept! Thank you so much, Mama! Papa!" I grabbed this morning's food from the table and munched on them while I jogged out to the hill. The hill was a bit more south than the foundry, so I didn't have to run through the village today. The sun wouldn't be out for a bit longer, so the town was likely not busy, anyway. Morning droplets made the grass glitter as the moon's glow illuminated it.
Once I reached the top of the hill, I ate the last of my crackers. As I arrived at the meeting spot, the sun beams barely peeked through the dark sky, which meant I had time to get my thoughts in order and prepare myself. I put my hands in my pants pockets and looked down at the houses and shops below. This was my favorite place to come. It was quiet and peaceful and I could be by myself and think. Being up here, I could see the entire village. It was larger than most other villages, where all the structures were spread out between the Cherry Blossom Hills and the Jade Mountains.
Out in the opening, between the two landscapes, were fields and crops that we worked ourselves to store and feed the village. It grew enough to keep us fed year-round. This helped the village not to rely on buying anything from neighboring towns or the capital. They paid the farm workers a stipend from the village council to ensure this. Master Silas's foundry sat on the outskirts of the village proper, near the farmlands. You can see the line of homes belonging to the Village Elders at the base of the mountains. They sprinkled the homes of others that worked other jobs around the center of the shops.
Most of the shops in the center of the village were a variety of tiny shops run by locals. There was also an actual blacksmith and an apothecary. Our village needed to be more prestigious to have a true alchemist shop. Luckily, we had Himari who showed the village apothecaries some things so he could help more people. There was a small auction house where wandering cultivators would often sell expensive stuff they had picked up on their travels.
Also in the downtown area was the Elder Hall, where the Elders did their business. The Elder Hall is where my father would help them with paperwork and other menial tasks. They held weekly meetings where the public would speak of grievances. They would also hold monthly closed-door meetings to plan things for the village.
They considered my Master an Elder in the village, but it was only because he was so powerful. Silas was the village protector. He was the head of a small force of cultivators who defended the village from threatening spirit beasts, potential robbers, or whatever else might threaten us. He didn't go to the weekly meetings. Instead, Silas sent his lieutenant in his place. Master Silas had to go to the monthly ones where he'd mostly sit and offer his advice, only to be ignored. While powerful, the other elders considered him too young to provide real insight into how to run a village.
Finally, to the west were the docks. We had a decent fishing community and trade since we were on the ocean. The rough seas hardened the village anglers, men who traveled up and down the coast, fishing, selling, and trading. They brought some notoriety to the village. The sun finally broke the horizon, and I watched it rise, deeply inhaling the morning air. I admired the water, where the sun's light still had not reached yet, and hardly noticed the people coming up the hill's path.
"Reiko," my Master's voice startled me as he walked up behind me. He gave a small chuckle.
"See Kio. He is a stunning warrior already. He'll be great for your dodge and parry that you're going to teach him." Silas looked back at the person following him.
I blushed and pressed my palms together, bowing to him. "Good morning, Master Silas. You startled me."
The person behind him was small. I assumed this to be his friend from the School. Why else would he be bringing someone here to the mountaintop with him? They didn't wear the usual cultivator robes, but one like the priests would wear. Their hoods were over their heads so that I couldn't see their face.
"I'll dodge and parry your slow ass all day, Silas," she removed her hood with a teasing grin, looking over at him. I opened my eyes wider to look at her thoroughly. She was, in a word, beautiful, with long brown hair and chestnut eyes. She folded her arms across her chest and looked me over before returning her gaze to Silas. "You're right. He's a bean sprout. No wonder you couldn't teach him anything." She looked at me and winked.
I stared into her eyes before remembering I needed to compose myself and erase any thoughts I might have. Pressing my palms together once more, I bowed to her, "Master Kio, it's a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to your training."
She approached me and put her soft hand on my shoulder. "I'm not your master, Silas is. Call me…." she thought it over a moment, "... Auntie Kio, or just Auntie."
"Yes, ma…. Auntie." I grimaced, but she just smirked at me.
"Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it," she smiled, looking down at me.
"You may dodge and parry me, but he can already wipe the floor with you from what I've taught him," Silas interjected. He walked up from behind her with a package wrapped in paper and a leather roll, both in a wooden bucket.