Chapter 29: New Friendships

The next morning, there was still some tension with our new arrivals. Aelyn had taken weeks to acclimate to Gareth and me, and now we had two more young women sharing the bunkhouse with us. While Gareth was uncertain about living with two more women, it didn’t bother me. However, there were challenges. The biggest negative that morning was how loud Leda was after waking up. She was a loud talker, and I was thankful that at least Cilia's responses came softly from their loft. So far, Cilia's only positive was her quietness.

The five of us dressed in our workout clothes and moved to the farmhouse for breakfast. Callem was inside and had ham steaks, pancakes, fresh fruit, and the red juice out. He was all smiles this morning as well—Callem rarely smiled. He was probably thinking about how to torture all of us today during training. As we dug in, I learned the new daily routine they had discussed last night while Sebastian gifted me spells.

After breakfast, we would all stretch, and most of us would do farm work for two hours. During this time, I would prepare dinner with Wynna, avoiding the farm work. We would then do an abbreviated stretching routine, as, apparently, Cilia and Leda had failed to meet Callem’s minimum expectations for mobility. Then, we would work on wrestling, hand-to-hand combat, submission holds, and escapes for three hours. During this time, Wynna would prepare lunch.

After lunch, we would have a free hour. Then, we would do strength and conditioning training for two hours. Immediately after that, we would have two hours to practice sword forms, with absolutely no sparring. Following that, we would have two free hours before dinner to bathe, relax, or study. My free time might be a bit limited since I had to prepare dinner for everyone. After dinner, we would have about an hour of instruction from Wynna and Aelyn about the lowlands. When I asked when we would get a day off, Callem simply said he would give us a day off when he thought we needed it, which to me implied we would never get a day off.

Well, when we started the stretching routine, I was in heaven. Cilia and Leda were both less flexible than me, so I was no longer at the bottom of the ladder in something! I kept my face straight, not revealing my joy, and it seemed Aelyn went out of her way to show how much better she was at stretching than the two new arrivals. Watching the young woman set their hierarchy of competency in stretching was humorous. Gareth was engrossed watching all three of them for other reasons.

After stretching, I went to prep dinner and decided to go with southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, coleslaw, and cornbread. It was the first time I would be making this meal, and it really required little preparation on my part, so it gave me time to study the obfuscate spell. I prepared enough for twenty people, and I hoped it was enough to feed everyone, but I had been wrong before.

The first wrestling and hand-to-hand combat did not go well. Everyone was trying to prove that they were the best. There was really no contest, as Gareth could easily best any of us. Aelyn was slippery, quick, strong, and learned quickly. She elbowed Gareth in the sternum twice when he had wrapped an arm around her chest while they tangled their legs. I had to heal his broken sternum, broken noses and many other injuries. Cilia was also fairly aggressive against Gareth and me. I did my best not to grab anything that would cause me to get an elbow to the sternum or face, but she did not make it easy.

Leda, on the other hand, was having a blast as it was apparent she liked wrestling. She may be in love with Cilia, but she obviously also liked men, and she made an effort to put me and Gareth in compromising positions. I was glad my aether core growth was still hindering my own libido once again. Gareth wasn’t so lucky and had to break an engagement with Leda twice due to his growing embarrassment. Of course, all this did was make Cilia disgusted with Gareth and me.

Cilia and Leda were shocked as I healed everyone a few times during the training. I ignored inquiries by Leda asking how much aether I actually had but knew it wouldn’t be the last time she asked as I spammed my minor healing spell dozens of times. With revealing my endless aether to Cilia and Leda, I hoped Callem and Sebastian had a plan to keep my secrets.

I was happy for lunch, which consisted of a hearty vegetable stew and sandwiches. The sandwiches were smoked turkey, cheese, lettuce, and bacon with a mayo spread. It was a combo I had suggested to Wynna in the morning while I was cooking. I was happy to see Leda talking with Aelyn during lunch. She was offering to share some of her clothing with her so she could dress better. Cilia would have been a closer fit, but she was still tempering her interactions with Aelyn. Wynna took that as a cue to promise to go to town tomorrow to get some clothes for Aelyn.

After lunch, I was studying my spell under a tree at the edge of the fields when Leda sat beside me. Aelyn was nearby practicing her tumbling and keeping an eye on the interaction, probably reading Leda's thoughts. “So, Storme,” she started, “tell me about yourself.” I put the book down and tried not to show irritation at being interrupted. We were going to be living together for a few months, and I planned to try to be nice.

“You first,” I said, reflecting the question.

She had a bright white smile on her face, highlighted by her tanned complexion. “Well, I come from a good family. We have been enchanters for six generations. My older brothers and older sister are carrying on the legacy, but I am terrible at it. My father sent me to the Mage’s Academy, and I only had minimal space to imprint spells, so I transferred to the Naval Academy in the first month. I am in training to be an attendant. That is someone who serves as the right hand of an officer, doing their paperwork, handling meetings, and such. That is how I was paired with Cilia since she is on a captain’s track.” So, captains were not chosen because of merit in Skyholme, apparently. Finished, she asked, “And you?”

“Tell me about enchanting. I have always been interested in the craft but never had the opportunity to study it.” Once again, I deflected to make her talk and closed the book to show she had my attention.

She seemed to acquiesce and began speaking, “Well, enchanting is really about creating spell forms with metals. You need to have a steady hand and be skilled at working with metal. Silver mixed with tier three aether dust is the most common mixture for writing out the runes with an artificed stylus. Those enchantments should last longer than a human’s lifetime. The silver will degrade over time, but as I mentioned, it should last fifty to seventy years, provided the silver lines are thick enough.”

“You could use platinum, which lasts ten times as long, but that gets expensive. Then there is mithril, which doesn’t degrade at all over time. Then there are the materials you put the runic spell forms into. Certain types of wood are good insulators. Gold is a good insulator as well, but once again, it can be expensive, and the gold actually degrades over time, usually at a pace similar to platinum. Adamantine is the prime insulator; aether cannot permeate it at all, and it never degrades. My family primarily uses wood and silver to create household items such as cooling chests, freezer chests, cooking surfaces, room heaters, various lights, and sound capture boxes for recording music. These are our main products.” Leda was finally not flirting and seemed happy to talk about her family. “You have to share something about yourself, though. Come on! Cilia and I are curious, not that she would ever ask!”

“I didn’t realize how involved enchanting and artificing was. Thank you for the lesson.” I took a deep breath and then spoke about myself, “I have a younger sister and older brother. My father is a skyship guard, and my mother is a leather carver. I have been friends with Gareth since before I was allowed to go out on my own in town. As you know, I have an awakened core and you also know I have some healing magic and the cleanliness spell.” I thought that was enough.

“Yeah, I never thought I would ever be jealous of someone’s magic like I am of your cleanliness spell. What is that intoxicating smell? I can't seem to place it.” She asked, smiling.

“Vanilla,” I said.

“Vanilla,” she mumbled, committing the name to memory. “I only have one free spell slot left, and I am seriously considering that spell. Can I borrow your spell book?” She asked with big brown eyes and a grin. She actually looked kind of cute, and I could see Aelyn eyeing her interactions with me from a few yards away. Aelyn reminded me of a mother hen ready to protect her chicks. Is that what Aelyn thought of me, a chick that needed protecting? I suppose she needed to protect me since I wore her ring.

“Sure, do you have any enchanting books I could borrow in exchange?” I asked.

“Yes! I have three basic primers with me. One for the heating rune, one for the cold rune, and one for the light rune. You can borrow all three while I work to imprint the cleanliness spell.” She was actually pretty excited as she left, and Aelyn came to me and squatted to talk to me.

“She was being genuine with you. She truly wanted to know more about you,” She paused. “Can I borrow the cleanliness spell after Leda?”

This caught me off guard. She had lied to me about knowing a spell and I didn’t know if she had an awakened core. “Do you have any spells? How much space does your aether matrix have?” I asked, but she shrugged her shoulders, not knowing the answer.

“I never had money to get a spell I really wanted. I probably wouldn't have had the patience to learn it anyway. I did talk with Wynna and she said when she went to town tomorrow, she would bring her daughter back to do a joint reading on me. Apparently, they are stronger together when they do a reading together. Is that okay?”

“Aelyn, that mark on your neck means nothing to me. You can do whatever you want. There is no need to ask for my permission. I would prefer if you didn’t go around reading other's thoughts but I must admit the ability is useful.” I admitted reluctantly. “I count you a friend,” I added while making eye contact with her. She nodded, looked away quickly, not wanting to show weakness, and returned to her practice. I went back to my book.

Conditioning was actually fun for me today as well. Gareth and Aelyn had their own private competition, but I easily outclassed Leda. Even though Cilia was quite strong, I still managed to beat her on the obstacle course and during the weight training, which annoyed her to no end. I don't know if it was the fact that I was five years her junior or the fact that I was a male.

We moved on to sword forms next, and it was clear Cilia was skilled with her blade. Callem still spent a lot of time correcting her. It was the first time I noticed her putting in a tremendous amount of effort. She was probably imagining using the blade against Abaddon Bricio. She also understood the value of Callem's feedback.

Gareth, for his part, was able to perform his forms easily while still observing everyone else and occasionally voicing corrections for us. He usually directed his comments at me, as Aelyn and Cilia seemed to ignore his corrections for a moment before actually making the suggested adjustments when he looked away frustrated. With everyone sore from conditioning, the sword forms were quite challenging. ‘Not easy’ was Callem’s way. It had something to do with working through adversity.

When we were finally done, I was glad to have a few hours to study while the girls bathed in the stream. Gareth tried to talk to me, but I told him I needed to study, so he went for a walk in the woods. After he left, I hoped he didn’t get caught spying on the girls bathing because I was fairly certain that was his plan.

I was called by Callem to make dinner and prepared a massive southern fried chicken dinner for everyone. I was amazed at how famished everyone was. After I told them they were supposed to eat the chicken with their hands, I had trouble frying it fast enough to keep it stocked on the table. There wasn’t much conversation at the table other than everyone giving suggestions to Wynna on what types of clothes to get Aelyn in Solaris City. I also gave her a list of ingredients I was running low on. I planned to make mini bacon cheeseburger sliders tomorrow with a three-bean salad and roasted corn on the cob.

After dinner, Callem said I could heal everyone who needed it. I had healed myself earlier, so I just had to get everyone else. The lesson tonight was on the Sadian kingdom. Wynna had a map showing their territory in detail and the arcs that the Skyholme islands traveled over their lands. We had five outposts in the lowlands, according to the maps on the table but they were old maps. Three were near the Sadians, and the other two were by dungeon entrances. Aelyn did most of the talking tonight about the cities on the map she had visited, and we all listened intently.

After dinner, I went to my loft immediately and returned to my studying, but Leda interrupted me by climbing up to my loft with the three enchanting primer books, so I gave her my cleanliness spell book off my shelf. She was shocked by the author, Sana Velin. Apparently, she was more famous than I had known, an archmage who grew up in Skyholme, and all her spell books were quite valuable. She promised to treat it with respect.

My head rested on the wooden wall divider between Aelyn’s bed and me so that when she climbed up into the loft an hour later, we could talk quietly. “Gareth is upset. He thinks you are becoming attached to me.” I was a bit shocked by the revelation. “I think you should move over to his loft. It would solve his insecurities.” This was a bit shocking as Gareth and Aelyn butted heads daily. This showed she was concerned for him. Maybe he was rubbing off on her.

I yelled across the room to Gareth’s loft, “Gareth can I move over there tomorrow? Aelyn tosses and turns in her sleep and keeps me up.”

Gareth sat up instantly, “Yes. I will clean things up a bit. We can move you tonight!” Aelyn had been right. Gareth missed me. I didn’t miss his stinky feet, loud breathing when he slept or him constantly leaving his dirty clothes on the floor. At least I had my cleanliness spell and maybe I could make some earplugs.

“Tomorrow is fine, but clean up tonight,” I yelled back.

I was the last one asleep as I struggled to imprint the obfuscate spell. I did get some good news as I was able to feel my mend flesh spell had advanced to level four. One more level, and I could evolve the spell again. My cleanliness spell was also on the verge of level six. Even though I only had the two spells, they were advancing. I fell asleep doing aether core exercises and casting my cleanliness spell, filling the entire bunkhouse with a vanilla scent.

Chapter 30: Enchanting Primers

The next day was much like our first-day training, except I had to make lunch and dinner because Wynna was heading into the city. I gave her a note for my parents and another for Freya. I just wanted them to know I was doing well. Gareth, seeing me do this, also scribbled a short note to his parents.

Gareth was also in a much better mood. So, Aelyn had been correct in that my moving to his loft would solve a lot of his insecurities. I prepped the mini burgers as I had planned, and for lunch, I put a pea soup simmering, got rosemary bread ready to bake, and thin-sliced some smoked bear meat into a marinade to soften it up. I mixed some herbs in a creamy cheese to make a spread to go with the bear meat and bread. I didn't have any free time this morning for extra studies so I needed to plan simpler meals in the future.

After the long three-hour hand combat practice, I healed everyone, and we had lunch. It was the first time that Cilia commented on my cooking skills saying everything was delicious and even better than the academy cooks. Was that a compliment from the ice queen? Her comments had everyone, including Callem, pause to stare at her. It was like everyone was silently asking if Storme had cracked her icy exterior with just his cooking. She responded by continuing to eat and just mumbled with a full mouth, “It is true.”

Gareth moved all my things after lunch while I just studied and started to trace out the spell forms for the obfuscate spell. Conditioning seemed to come too soon for me, and Callem was feeling a little mischievous today. We had to run all three obstacle courses back to back and would all start together. The winner would get to take off from combat practice tomorrow. Ugh, I knew that it would be Gareth, and he would turn down the reward.

When we started, Leda practically tackled me while giggling. When I fell, Leda dashed ahead of me. She was trying to help Cilia get a lead on me. Gareth and Aelyn were already a few steps ahead of us, and I was a little pissed off with the skullduggery. I recovered quickly and, in less than a minute, had caught Leda and hip-checked her into some netting as revenge. She wouldn’t recover from that! I pushed myself even harder, and soon, I was coming up on Cilia. A bag-tipped arrow hit my knee, causing me to lose a few steps and develop a slight limp. I took a moment to glare at Callem while running, but he just had a big smile on his face, enjoying his arrows causing havoc.

Rather than interfere with Cilia, I just tried to pass her with my own efforts, which spurred her on. We were both well off Gareth and Aelyn’s pace, so we raced for third. After we entered the third course, I was a good ten yards in front of her and knew I had the win locked up. Callem didn’t think so and had turned from harassing Gareth and Aelyn to just focusing on me.

What the hell? A storm of arrows and swinging bags were released on me. I eventually got knocked off a beam and fell seven feet (2m) to the hard earth, knocking the wind from me. I needed to cast a heal to gather myself and climb back up, and in that time, Cilia had gotten a lead back.

Leda was cheering for her friend from way back in the course, but that just made me angry, so I put all my effort into trying to catch her. My efforts were not wasted, as just before the finish, I was on her heels. She crossed first, but not by much. I collapsed to the ground, trying to get as much air into my lungs as possible. I was wet with sweat, and more sweat poured from my pores to try to cool my overheated body.

“Well, if I was judging by just the effort today, Storme would be the winner,” Callem said. “But Gareth, you finished first by seven seconds, so you can take off from tomorrow’s hand-to-hand training.”

Gareth was breathing heavily but still standing and responded, “If Storme gave the best effort, then he deserves to get it off. Can I give him my reward?” I was on my back, wheezing, trying to get oxygen into my lungs. I saw Cilia bent over breathing heavily, too, but she eyed Gareth impishly and looked to see Callem’s response.

Callem considered and slowly nodded, “Yes, that is agreeable. Any winners in the future are free to give their rewards to someone else.” Well, it appeared I was back in Gareth’s good graces, at least. He smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up, which took some effort on my part to return.

Sword forms went by quickly, and I was happy to get to studying my spell again, but my mind kept going to ice cream. I hoped the herbalist had the vanilla beans I had asked Wynna to get. The heavy cream and milk should be easy to get for Wynna. Wynna returned a while later with Ennet helping her carry many packages. While the women opened all the clothes Wynna had gotten for Aelyn, I went to the groceries. Yes! She had gotten everything I needed to try my hand at ice cream.

I had made it from scratch a few times in my past life, and it was just going to be about getting it cold enough. For the remainder of my free time, I prepared the ice cream. If it worked, I could make chocolate ice cream and then chocolate milkshakes! Cheeseburgers, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. I was drooling, just thinking about my favorite indulgence meal.

I had the mixture chilling and stirred it at intervals while I made dinner. The bacon cheeseburger sliders were a huge hit, but when Leda mentioned that a restaurant owner in the capital had invented them, Gareth let out a huge laugh and said that was a lie, “Storme has been making them for years!” This got everyone to stare at me. When I didn’t say anything, Gareth said, “Tell them, Storme, you invented cheeseburgers.” Gareth was looking at me and I knew that look, it was ‘back me up, brother’.

“Yes, I was the first person in Skyholme to make cheeseburgers,” I said, confirming Gareth’s proclamation. How was I going to explain that I had made cheeseburgers since I was eleven?

Cilia asked, “How are you such a good cook? Do you have a high affinity for cooking skills?” All eyes were on me, and I saw Gareth was about to answer her. Not wanting my past life knowledge to be revealed accidentally by Gareth’s big mouth, I responded to her.

“Something like that, Cilia. I like food, and making it taste good is a bit of a passion of mine,” I said. “I even have a special treat for everyone tonight after lessons. I just like making food—not talking about it.” I grabbed two more sliders, leaving just ten left. This caused everyone to reach for the remainder before they were all gone. That, thankfully, killed the conversation thread.

Ennet did mention that if I was ever in Hen's Hollow, she would pay for me to come and cook for her and give me free readings. I don't think the woman in her 30s implied any innuendo with her request, but Aelyn sharply eyed the woman after the comment. I planned not to ask Aelyn what Ennet had been thinking. Some things were better left unanswered.

Tonight's lesson focused on currency in the lowlands. We discussed coins and aether crystals. While all nations generally used metal coins, aether crystals were recognized as a hard currency universal in all kingdoms. Dungeon crystals were much more prominent in the lowlands. According to Callem and Wynna, in Skyholme, they were a controlled material used to feed the Triumvirate’s war machine and control the populace. As the conversation died out, I retrieved the ice cream from the freezer box and stirred it.

It was a little soft but looked ok. I spooned the dessert out into the bowls and passed it around, and it was as big a hit as I had hoped. I think Cilia actually smiled at the taste but quickly hid her happiness. Gareth ate his portion so fast he got brain freeze by the contorted look on his face. He probably had thought he could get seconds if he finished quickly, but alas, there was no more. I had to figure out how to get chocolate next. Sweets and treats in the city were the only places I knew that had cocoa powder. Hopefully, Callem would let me spend coins freely soon.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

We all headed back to the bunkhouse except Aelyn. She was going to get her reading from Wynna and Ennet tonight.

Back in the bunkhouse, I climbed into my bed and found that Gareth’s clothes and bed linens didn’t smell great. Too tired to clean his clothes, I put my head at the far end of my bed and tried to focus on my aether core exercises and studying my spell. As it got later in the evening, Gareth climbed up to the loft and started talking.

I tried to multitask, studying and holding a conversation with Gareth. It was hard, and I didn’t get much studying done before Gareth’s heavy sleep-breathing started. Well, at least I would get some studying time back tomorrow during my time off from hand-to-hand combat. Aelyn returned much later that night from her reading. She didn’t say anything; she just climbed up to her loft, went under her covers, and turned off her aether light.

The next few days had us all working extremely hard. Aelyn’s new wardrobe made her extremely happy and she didn’t seem to mind having a loft to herself. I, on the other hand, was wishing Aelyn was my bunk mate over Gareth. I had made some beeswax earplugs, but they didn’t help as his breathing actually vibrated the entire loft. If his breathing eventually became snoring, I would have to sleep outside.

Cilia was opening up more as well, talking to us a little more each day. My extensive use of my mend flesh spell had it close to level five already. My cleanliness spell had hit levels six and then seven from me spamming it at night to combat the odors from Gareth’s side of the loft. The evolution ended up being a small range extension, not what I had wanted, but the cleaning aura now extended about 18 inches from me.

I needed to do some focusing exercises described in the texts Sebastian gave me in order to control my spell evolutions. This was not the first time I had the wrong desired spell evolution. This failure caused me to start to investigate the textbooks that Sebastian had given me.

The first text I read was the aether core book, Understanding Your Aether Core, A Newly Awakened Guide. It was much longer than the book I already had from Wigand's and contained a lot more detailed information, and I found a handful of ways to better perform my aether core exercises.

I next read the spell imprinting text, Spell Imprinting, A New Mage's Guide, and it was ten times better than my old book. I was a bit upset with myself for not reading them immediately when Sebastian had given them to me. I was now pretty sure I could imprint a tier 1 spell in less than a week of hard study after what I learned from the text.

The third book I read was about advancing, leveling, and evolving spells. It was called Spellcraft, Leveling and Evolving Your Spells. This book said casting spells under duress and in times of need advanced them quickly as it 'stimulated' your spell matrix to a greater extent. Combat was mentioned as the best way to expedite advancement. It had numerous ways to check on a spell's progress so you could prepare for evolutions as well. I was kicking myself and I read the text twice to make sure the information would stick.

I sorted the other eight books into two stacks. One pile was the books I planned to read and the rest were books I would hold off on. The pile I planned to read contained four books; Methodology to Expanding Your Aether Matrix, Utilizing Your Spell Skill Affinity, Defensive Against Magical Arts, and Utilizing Aether Crystals to Recharge Your Aether Core. The other pile had Understanding Your Responsibilities as a Mage of Skyholme, How to Choose the Best Spells to Complete Your Aether Matrix, Supportive Magics and Using Aetheric Items, and Introduction to Progressive Magical Theory.

We had been an expanded group for eight consecutive hard days of training, and we were all dragging from fatigue. I noticed we had all greatly improved. During lunch, Callem studied us and Wynna nodded to him. He sighed, “You all have tomorrow off. No stretching, no farm work, no training.” Looks of disbelief passed between us. An entire day free of training? Excitement started to ripple through us.

Cilia and Leda planned to spend their off day going on a picnic lunch which they asked me to make for them. I turned them down to their disappointment. Gareth planned to spend his day soaking in the stream as he had had limited time over the last eight days to use the spot due to the woman monopolizing it. He invited me and I was tempted but told him I needed to learn my obfuscate spell. Aelyn said she just wanted to sleep in. That was how I found myself in my bunk working on my spell and I didn’t notice Aelyn climbing the ladder until her head popped up above the ladder.

She moved into the loft and sat next to me on my bunk and pulled out a sheet of folded paper and handed it to me. “My reading from Wynna and Ennet. I want you to read it.” I took the paper and unfolded it, and looked at it. The script was deep red from the dried blood used in the reading, like mine had been. “They are excellent readers,” Aelyn added. “I wasn’t aware of my traits, skill affinities, and the size of my aether core and matrix.”

Abilities

Read Thoughts, Tier 2

Nimbleness, Tier 1

Duelist, Tier 1

Enhanced Mobility, Tier 1

Traits

Improved Sight, Tier 1

Long-lived, Tier 2

Skill Affinities

Acrobatics, Tier 3

Long Bow, Tier 2

Aether Matrix

Current 3

Maximum 6

Aether Core

Current 6

Maximum 19

There was nothing really unexpected as I read down her list. “It is impressive, Aelyn.” If this was a move by her to try to learn my secrets, it wouldn’t work. Well, she already knew most of my secrets. She smiled, and it made her face light up.

Aelyn spoke conspiratorially, “I am above average in terms of abilities. I showed you because I wanted your help.” Her big blue eyes locked to mine, and I could see her pleading to me in the depths. How could anyone resist that?

“What can I help you with?” I asked tentatively.

Aelyn hesitated for a second, “I want to get stronger and use my magic,” she said. “I mean, Callem is making me a much stronger fighter, but my potential magic…Can you teach me magic?”

It was weird being asked to teach magic when I was blindly trying to learn it myself. But Aelyn was my friend. I looked at her sheet again. Studying the sheet intently I spoke to Aelyn, “Your aether core is currently 6…I don’t know what that means in terms of size or amount of actual aether, but your maximum size is 19, so you should work on that. Your matrix is small so selecting the right spells to imprint will be important.”

I reached around her and pulled the newer text I had recently read regarding aether core exercises. “Here is the first book you should work on. Focus on learning all the exercises within to expand your aether core.” She paged through the book for a little while and I watched her. “If you have questions just ask,” I added before returning to my own studies.

Aelyn started focusing on the book. She pulled her legs under her to sit Indian style and made herself comfortable next to me. Here position mirrored mine with both of us on my bed with our backs to the wall and heads just below the long shelf. Couldn’t she study over in her loft? And wasn’t she a little too close? I mean our knees were touching. I shuffled a little away from her, turned 90 degrees, and said, “You should also think about what spells you want to learn. You can learn three tier 1 spells. You should select spells to either increase your strengths or fortify your weaknesses.”

Aelyn turned her sitting position to face me and moved closer, both her knees touching mine. “What do you suggest?”

“I would focus on your strengths Aelyn. Three spells, one to hide your mind reading ability…so you can learn the obfuscate ability spell I already have. For your other two spells? Maybe the dimensional pocket spell to store things you need. The last spell… maybe a defensive or escape spell.” She nodded as if I was bestowing some sage wisdom on her.

Aelyn started in on her book again without repositioning herself. I decided to ignore her and just studied my own book not moving. I noticed she smelled a bit earthy and sweaty, not unpleasant, but I tried to cast my extended-range cleanliness spell onto her. It didn’t work. Sentient and sapient beings had an aura that extended a few inches from their skin to prevent simple spells from violating the space. I would need to invest in additional evolutions of the cleanliness spell to break that defense barrier and extend the range of the spell to completely encompass another person. Oh well, I returned to my studies and could feel myself progressing.

Cilia and Leda barged in a few hours later. Aelyn and I had not moved from the loft. They both looked up, surprised to see us in my bed facing each other, extremely close. My back was stiff, but I just waved awkwardly to them. Cilia had a dark expression, and Leda wore a face steeped in curiosity. Gareth soon followed them, and his expression was of abhorrent shock. It wasn’t like we were kissing, although we were definitely close enough to be doing so…maybe that is what they thought?

I didn’t have time for this, so I moved off my bed and found that I was extremely stiff from sitting still for so long. I went down the ladder and into the basement for some food. I figured I would cook an early dinner for everyone, so I gathered ingredients for mac ‘n’ cheese and seared garlic and pepper steaks. While I was cooking, Aelyn had made herself at home in my bed, stretching out and continuing to study the book I had given her. This left Gareth with nowhere to go as Cilia and Leda had plopped themselves into the only two comfy chairs. He tried to help me make dinner, so I sent him to Callem’s larder for the red juice.

It got me thinking about Aelyn’s intent. To me, it appeared she was claiming me in front of the other two women, right? That was her purpose for being in my bed when the others had returned. Her being in my bed in my loft was her way of saying this one is mine, hands off? It did make me feel special if that really was her intention. But as in my last life, I never understood women, and when I assumed anything, I was usually wrong.

Dinner was a hit with everyone, and it also got Aelyn down from my loft. Leda had mentioned that she had made real progress on the cleanliness spell today, which reminded me that I had borrowed some enchanting primers from her. After dinner, I decided I should at least read them.

So, while everyone was cleaning up, I went to my loft and spread out on my bed, leaving no space for anyone else, and grabbed the three primer books. I ignored everyone’s conversation below and focused. I noted happily that at least Gareth was being allowed into the conversation of the three women.

The enchanting primer books were captivating, and I realized I could use my metal shaping skills very effectively to create these simple enchantment runes. I envisioned crafting a great ice cream churn bucket with the cold runes. I began sketching my ideas on paper, deciding where to place the runes and how to set up the controls for them. There were two ways to power a runic device: channel aether into it or embed a rechargeable aether crystal. When you channeled aether into it, the aetheric dust embedded in the silver remained active for a time before the aether fizzled out. I was puzzling over these concepts late into the night when I fell asleep, not realizing that Gareth had already been asleep for quite some time.

Chapter 31: Unfathomable Aether Core

The next morning, I was excited and up early. I had only a few hours of sleep, but if I could make a magic device to create ice cream I would be ecstatic! I was the first one at the farmhouse and was glad to see Callem had returned. Wynna was in the larder below, so Callem had a few minutes to talk to me.

“Good morning, Storme. Yesterday, we went and got supplies in the city.” He paused as if coming to a decision and continued, “Wynna has registered as your mentor and set up an account for you with the coins you created. Well, not your coins. She used her own coins and kept your shiny platinum.” Callem took a thick bracelet out and placed it on the counter. “This bracelet will let you withdraw coins from the Depository. You need to place a drop of your blood on the aether crystal embedded here to link it to you.”

He stopped talking as Wynna came up from below with a tray of food to prepare for breakfast. She saw the bracelet on the counter and gave a curt nod, not happy about something. They obviously disagreed on whether it was wise to give me access to my own coin. She forced a smile.

“Storme, how was your day off? Callem said you all needed it, she winked at Callem when it was clearly her who had forced him to give it to us. Who did you spend your time with?” Wynna said being a bit nosy. Maybe there was a gossip wheel on the farm?

“I just studied, rested, and ate. Nothing that great.” I said, then I thought of something. “Wynna, Aelyn showed me her reading,” Callem’s and Wynna’s faces expressed extreme surprise, so I paused.

“Wow, Storme. We both warned her to keep what was on that sheet a secret and to destroy it after she read it. She has shown you a large amount of trust, A LARGE AMOUNT of trust, Storme. Keep her secrets.” Wynna said with sincerity.

“Um, yes, I will. I am curious about getting my ether core size read, but none of my texts mention it in terms of actual numbers,” I said, keeping my tone low and somewhat pleading.

Wynna spoke thoughtfully, “I don’t have that ability, Storme, Ennet does. But maybe I can give you an idea? Well, Storme, an average person without an awakened core, has an aether count of 1; this is just what saturates a normal person’s body within the Sphere. They cannot control it as they need a core to manipulate the aether. But a single point can be utilized for abilities that require aether even if they do not have an aether core. As a person ages, they are able to use this minor amount of aether much more effectively, extending the use of their powers, but their total aether pool never increases without an aether core.”

Wynna started working on breakfast as she continued. “A person with an awakened core usually has between 3 to 23 times that amount of aether on awakening, so their reading score usually falls in the range of 3 to 23 as their current value. As you have probably read, as aether core matures it expands slightly in size and density to fall somewhere between 10 to 20 times its initial size on awakening. That is where the maximum range in Ennet’s reading comes in. With your enhanced aether core at tier two.”

She stopped and looked at Callem with a guilty expression because I hadn’t told her about my aether core tier, and I had told Callem it was a tier two core. It was actually a tier four core. So, I deduced that Callem had let slip my secret, but I didn’t hold it against him. He did look awfully guilty at the moment, so maybe I could get something out of him later?

Wynna’s pause ended, and she continued her lecture, “Well, each tier is three times as powerful as the last generally, so that means you should have had nine times the average on awakening—somewhere between 27 and 207 in terms of aetheric points available to you when you first awakened.” Wynna said, doing the math. Then, a manufactured shocked look passed her face. “That means when your core is fully mature, you will have between 270 and 4140 aether!”

She was shaking her head. “That is incredible, Storme. Archmages without an expanded core ability usually have somewhere in the range of 500 to 1000, I think. I am not sure about that, though. I may have read something to that effect a long time ago,” she had a distant look on her face, then returned to focus on me, “You could try casting a tier one spell over and over and count the castings. Usually, a tier 1 spell uses about 1 relative aetheric point,” she paused pulling up knowledge from memory, “Tier two about 2 aetheric points, tier three costs 4 points, and tier four costs 8 points. I assume a tier five spell costs 16, but I didn’t read that, just following the progression from a textbook I read many years ago.”

I thought for a bit while helping to prepare breakfast. Callem was silent and not making eye contact with me. Wynna was studying me. No, she realized that I might be a monster in terms of my aether core capacity. I thought for a moment that the last method didn’t work for me in my current state. My cleanliness spell varied in aether investment based on how dirty I was.

Also, every time you leveled a spell, it cost a tiny bit less aether as the mage’s efficiency increased and took a little less time to cast, and the cleanliness spell was already level seven. My mend flesh spell was sort of in the same boat as I unconsciously chained it over and over until I felt the healing was done.

Seeing my consternation, Wynna said, “I am sure Callem can bring you to visit Ennet if you really want a reading.” I looked at Callem for a second, and I sensed he would say no, but then he nodded. I was also doing some more math in my head as I had a tier four core, which meant my initial core fell between 243 and 1863! And my maximum core would be between…2,430 and 37,260! I was a monster! It now made sense how casting spells had trouble draining my aether pool, and I needed to create the coins to empty my core.

Callem spoke, breaking my inner haze of math calculations. “Yes, Storme, I can take you to Hen’s Hollow. We can visit your family and Ennet while we’re there. Your brother’s birthday is just a few days away, right?” Oh, I hadn’t planned on attending, and the fact that Callem remembered when Pascal’s birthday was, when I didn’t, made me feel guilty. However, the possibility of seeing Freya and my parents made the decision easy for me.

“That sounds good.” I paused for a second running some scenarios through my mind, trying to decide if what I was about to ask would be a good idea in the long run. “Callem, can I ask a favor?”

Callem looked defensive but nodded, so I continued, “My brother Pascal. He has a passion for the sword, and for his birthday present, I was hoping he could come out here and train with us for a while. We do have a free bunk,” I supplied hopefully.

Callem relaxed as my request was not as bad as he thought it could have been. He thought for more than a few minutes. Probably calculating how Pascal would fit into his training regimens with us. It took Wynna elbowing him not too subtly for him to agree. “Yes, that is fine. Let’s say just for a month.” Ok, I had been thinking more like a week, but a month was ok. “And Storme, this will be my apology for telling Wynna about…”

I waved away his apology, “No, it is all good, Callem. I actually don’t mind at all, as I trust Wynna completely.” This actually gave them both smiles, and we prepared breakfast in good humor. My motives for inviting Pascal were a bit more selfish. I was thinking if Pascal was stronger, then he could help protect our family better. With my wealth and Gareth’s thirst for adventure, I didn’t think I would remain on Titan’s Shield forever. There was also Sebastian’s warning about the Sadians.

The others soon came in like ravenous beasts after a long fast and devoured everything we had prepared. From the buffet, I got a stack of blueberry pancakes with butter and some summer sausage with melted cheese.

After breakfast, I realized I had four days before Callem would take me to Hen’s Hollow. The workouts were just routine for me now, as I wasn’t as focused on progressing physically as Gareth, Aelyn, or Cilia were. Leda and I shared a similar mindset; we put in a fair effort but didn’t overexert ourselves. My true focus was on studying mage craft.

With two days left before we would go to town, I finally imprinted my obfuscate spell! The spell essentially put a black unreadable haze over my entire aether soul. Wynna couldn’t read anything from me when I asked her to try so it worked! The first evolution of the spell allowed me to reveal only what I chose.

Controlling this aspect of the spell was like having a mental image of a sheet of paper and covering everything on the page except what I wanted to reveal. For my second evolution, I planned to alter what people reading me would see. Each evolution could only alter one aspect, one line on the sheet. You could turn those alterations on and off independently to either show the truth or falsify it. I was also happy to see maintaining the spell draw so little aether, so little I didn’t even notice the expenditure.

Before Callem took me to Hen’s Hollow, I managed to get the obfuscate spell up to level three by casting it non-stop for two days. My second evolution focused on the size of my aether core, which was represented as a percentage of its actual value, so I needed to get that reading from Ennet to know how to adjust it. Obtaining my precise aether core size was essential.

In my third evolution, I chose to modify what my enhanced aether core ability displayed. I decided to present it as a tier two rank instead of tier four. Since everyone already knew I had a significant amount of aether, this should give me an excuse to cast a multitude of spells in public. With those alterations completed, I kept the aether core tier two ability ‘visible’ to explain my large aether pool.

During the walk into town, Callem asked if I knew anywhere that sold chickens. Apparently, Wynna had asked him to get some as she liked fresh eggs and I used them a lot in my cooking. I told him the Gaskil farm had chicks and coops for sale. Other than that, I knew the Gyles farm had a lot of chickens as they supplied eggs to almost everyone in town who didn’t own their own chickens. I told him I liked the Gaskil’s better so Callem said we would stop there on the way into town.

The Gaskil farm was large. It had three large fields and raised sheep for milk, wool, and meat. It also had chickens and geese. I saw Monty’s parents, two massive fluffy hounds that came bounding up to us, tails wagging but not barking. I stayed in the background as the Gaskil’s came out and greeted Callem and petted the dogs.

The Gaskil twins, Meradith and Feradith were there as well. They were my age and had grown since I had last seen them. They were identical twins, blonde, blue eyes, tall and well-muscled from working on the farm. I wouldn’t call either of them cute, but they had their own allure, a sort of rough-neck cowgirl look to them, and they were always smiling, which I found extremely attractive. Something struck me…did Gareth want to get the puppy for Freya so he could see the twins? They would be in our first year of the Academy.

I was lost in thought as Callem negotiated for chickens, and the twins moved next to me to talk. They looked the same, so I wasn’t sure which one asked the question, “How is the puppy Gareth bought doing?”

“He is doing great! He is with Freya, my sister. He is extremely smart. I think you met my sister two years ago at the New Year festival. That was the last time I saw either of you! I bet I can tell who is who?” They both had wide smiles.

“Bet? What should we bet?” one of the girls asked the other. The girls seemed to communicate mentally before she looked at me and said, “Okay, Storme, how about we cook you a meal at the academy if you guess correctly? If you lose, you have to cook each of us a meal on different days.” It was well-known in town that I was a great cook, so their wager made sense. Although the stakes of the wager were not equal, I agreed. “Sure! Your Feradith, and you are Meradith.” I pointed each in turn.

Their smiles didn’t waver as they answered. “Correct! Well, I guess you had a 50-50 chance!” They said, laughing. Callem interrupted, calling me over, and I found out he had bought twenty chickens, a rooster, a large chicken coop, and a large wagon to transport everything back to his farm. The Gaskil’s would load everything and we would pick them up on the way back.

The twin's father called them back to work, and they reluctantly left me. There were about seven kids on the farm, with the addition of the parents and grandparents, and eleven people in all. I scanned the large group as they started to work on gathering the chickens into individual cages and caught the twins turning to eye me and smiling as I was leaving. I was sure once they saw Gareth, their interest in me would instantly fade. Although I had filled out and grown a few inches, I couldn’t compare to my friend.

Our next stop was Ennet’s. Callem left me there to get supplies at the general store. When I knocked, Ennet was beaming when she opened the door. “Storme! I am happy to see you! Are you here to make me dinner?” she asked teasingly.

I smiled and said, “That could be arranged. But I am also here for a reading.”

She grabbed my bicep, gently pulling me inside, “I know! My mother and I have communication stones, and she told me you were coming!” I thought she was being a little handsy, but didn’t mind. “You are getting bigger and stronger, Storme,” she complimented me, releasing her grip on my bicep.

I decided to make her something in exchange for the reading. “Let me see what you have in your kitchen,” I waved off her objections to my cooking. I needed her to do me a favor, and doing something for her in return felt natural. I quickly put together a simple pasta dish with roasted vegetables and an Alfredo sauce. After we both finished the hasty meal, we settled down for the reading, as Callem returned. Since the reading wasn’t complete yet, Callem decided to wait outside, but not before grabbing a bowl of the culinary concoction I had made.

“Storme, I know my mother has told you what to expect, so I will get right to it. Read the paper and immediately destroy it—I think I might also be able to show you what the value of your core was when it awakened, but it will be my first time trying to do that. So that might be on your paper as well.” Ennet was professional as she prepared and then did the reading.

I got that uncomfortable feeling as my blood exited my hands to write the text on the paper. Ennet left immediately when she was done. There was a candle burning on the table for me to destroy the paper after I read it.

I revealed the paper to my eyes,

Aether Core Awakening 1,153

Current Aether Core 1,384

Maximum Aether Core 23,060

I immediately burned the sheet of paper. I was a little disappointed with a few facts. First, my maximum aether was only about 23,000, short of my estimated potential of 37,000. I know I was crying over nothing. My current aether core was already slightly larger than an archmage, according to Wynna. The second thing I was unhappy with was that my core had only expanded by 231 from all the practice I had done in the last few months. Ennet returned shortly after I burned the paper.

I must have looked disappointed because she said, “Don’t worry, Storme. My readings are not completely accurate. Well, your current aether core number is accurate, but your maximum core size could be low by as much as 10%. It depends on how dedicated you are to your training in the next decade as your core cements. Aether cores are fluid by nature during development.” She came up and gave me a full hug. “You will be an amazing mage, Storme, just work hard at it.”

I left, rejoining Callem, and we headed to my home for Pascal’s birthday celebration.

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