Chapter 34: Skipping Enchanting 101

We got to the farm, and everyone came out to greet us. At first, I thought they were excited we had returned, but as they got closer, I saw that the three young women were beat up and bruised, with cuts on their arms and faces. Gareth had a black eye and a bandage on his arm. He spoke first. “Storme, heal me first!”

That had all of them voicing their persuasions for me to heal them. Only Aelyn stood back as the other three mobbed me. I started with Gareth and proceeded to Cilia, then Leda, and finally, the patient Aelyn, who smiled brightly as I healed her.

My mend flesh spell had finally progressed thanks to this work on my training companions, and the evolution to level 7 allowed me to repair poorly healed past injuries. This evolution had required the scar removal evolution. The basic spell only identified present injuries and repaired them with aether. If an injury had already healed, the spell would not react to it. Now, I could seek out old injuries and heal them.

Once things settled, Callem questioned everyone about their day and then handed out presents. Gareth got his clothes, and the girls got the massive bag of candy—after Callem pulled out a few specific sweets for himself and Wynna. Wynna got the silver jewelry box stuffed with the items Callem had selected. I handed the pocket space spell book to Aelyn as well. She was flabbergasted and unable to thank me for a good minute. Then, she gave me a short but intense hug. I didn’t say anything and ignored the others pretending not to notice the extended embrace.

Everyone contributed to unloading the cart and setting up the chicken coop on the far side of the tobacco field. Callem had gotten one rooster to protect the hens from the local foxes. We released the chickens one by one and watched as they explored. Bored, I brought my own haul to my loft. I had the enchanting materials, the ice cream buckets, the 69 plates, and the chocolate, which went to the bunk room larder.

It didn’t take long for everyone to come into the bunkhouse. Gareth climbed into our loft and began talking about what I missed. I half listened as I rearranged my shelf, setting three books on the end of the shelf along with my new aether light stone. This gave me easy access to them at night. The three books I had within easy reach were aether shield, alarm, and dimensional closet. I hadn’t decided which of these spells to learn next. Ideally, I wanted to imprint the dimensional closet spell, but since it was a tier 3 spell, I worried it would take too long.

To get Gareth to stop talking, I had him look at the stack of plates, and he quickly became engrossed in them. Each one was an artistic masterpiece, in my opinion. Meanwhile, I flipped through the alarm spell. I could possibly learn it in five or six days. It was fairly simple, but I felt I didn’t need the spell’s utility right now; however, leveling it up would make it invaluable in the future.

Next was the aether shield spell, which was complex, but I thought it might take me three weeks—maybe four.

The last spell I reviewed was the dimensional closet spell, which was incredibly complex as Sebastian had warned. It was the first tier 3 spell I had considered learning, and since I didn’t have an affinity for space magic, it felt like a migraine to peruse the spell forms. I had no idea how long it would take me. It was like a book in a foreign language, and I needed to translate each word one at a time. Then, after completing the translation, I had to memorize the book from cover to cover.

I had a few new tricks I’d learned that I could apply, but this would still take a long time. Eventually, I slid the alarm and aether shield spells back on the shelf and got to work on the dimensional closet spell. Go big or go home, my dad used to say. If I got too frustrated, I would switch to aether shield.

Gareth called me down for some food, and I jumped up. I had lost track of time. It was a beef stew, heavy on vegetables and needing just a little salt. I used some buttered bread to clean the bowl. I was distracted as flashes of the spell forms danced in my head. Leda asked me to make chicken parm for tomorrow’s dinner, and Cilia tried to talk over her friend’s request, asking for spiced ham pizza instead. Gareth bellowed over all of them, announcing I would make fried chicken.

I waved them all off. Turning to Aelyn, I asked, “What do you want?”

Without hesitation, she said, “Ice cream and mac and cheese.” The half-elf was apparently a junk food junkie. It certainly hadn’t hurt her figure with all the training we’d done. I agreed, though I would add some broccoli to the pasta and cheese. I planned on trying my hand at chocolate ice cream. No one seemed upset with Aelyn’s choices.

I allowed the group to continue talking while I climbed into my loft and put away the spell book, retrieving the buckets, stylus, and silver enchanting wire. I never intended to use the stylus; rather, I planned to use it as a cover for my metal-shaping ability. I took out the book for the cold rune primer and some parchment, then began sketching my design. It was fairly simple; I wanted the outer bucket to create an inward aura to maintain the temperature precisely at freezing. I intended to use enough silver wire to hold a charge for two days—approximately half a roll, if my quick calculations were correct. I was good at math, so I didn’t double-check my calculations.

It was late when I was ready to try my hand at inscribing the bucket. It was frustrating to use the stylus; just using my shaping skill would have made the process take moments. I fake-traced the runes, wasting over two hours, and Gareth’s loud breathing in his sleep didn’t help my focus. When I was finally satisfied, I set the bucket down and fell asleep.

Morning came too soon. I was exhausted and not able to match everyone else’s positivity this morning. Why was everyone so chipper today?

At breakfast, we had fresh eggs, bacon, fruit, and toast. My mind wandered as I was eating my buttered toast. We didn’t have jelly or peanut butter in the larder. I hadn’t actually seen any peanuts in this world, so I asked Callem and Wynna, and neither of them was familiar with the treat. We did have cashews that could be made into a sort of peanut butter. For jam, all I needed was a touch of lemon juice, sugar, and a high-sugar fruit. Mash it all together and heat it all in a pan to reduce the water, then cool. It would make a good ice cream topping.

Following breakfast, the banter during stretching was intense. Apparently, some feelings had been hurt yesterday with no one to monitor the group’s training. Gareth had tried to be in charge, which just infuriated the others. Now the injuries made sense. Callem seemed to understand as well, and I was glad I was not part of the farm work today.

My mind was focused elsewhere, though, and after stretching, I was soon in the kitchen. Prepping the macaroni was quick: three types of cheese, milk, and some spices whisked over low heat. Wynna made fresh egg noodles.

I then tried out my new ice cream bucket, my first artificed item! I put water inside the big bucket and then nested the smaller bucket within. Then, I channeled my aether into my first enchanted object. The water froze almost instantly, and the runes started to glow and smoke. I stopped channeling and prayed I didn’t ruin the bucket.

I watched it carefully for a moment, then went to try to make cashew butter and some berry jam. I had obviously channeled too much aether into the runes I had made. Did I burn them out? I wasn’t worried about the waste of silver runic wire, but lamented the possible loss of the perfect buckets for making the ice cream.

I had a large pot of jam going, and Wynna joined me as I directed her in making the cashew butter. She interrupted our normal back-and-forth inconsequential banter this morning.

“Storme, I’ve been thinking a lot about your obfuscate spell. I think instead of completely shielding your aetheric soul, you should just cover up what you don’t want others to see.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion, and she continued. “Let me explain. You see, readers can read a multitude of things. They can quantify your physical, mental, and magical attributes. They can read potentials of…” She paused. “Well, let’s just say there’s a lot there that a good reader can see. If you block everything, then a reader can tell you have access to the obfuscate spell. So don’t hide everything—just the things you don’t want others to see.”

“That makes sense. Thank you, Wynna.” I recast the spell covering the abilities, traits, and skill affinities I wanted to be hidden, with some mental effort. “Wynna, can readers see status effects? Like the fact I have the obfuscate spell active?” I asked.

“I don’t have that ability, but yes, some readers can. You might be able to hide that with your spell. Just focus on what you want hidden when you cast it, maybe?”

I recast the spell again and “felt” the active spell was now being hidden. Why hadn’t this suggestion been in the spell book? I guessed it was the Triumvirate intentionally not including this possibility. I was just thankful that Wynna had figured it out for me. My spell even advanced to level 4 for this brief effort.

I kept checking on the bucket, and it seemed I was cooling the entire farmhouse with it, like an overcharged air conditioner. A thick layer of frost was forming on the outside of the bucket, and the inner bucket seemed clear of ice. It just had a light fog hovering inside.

The enchantment seemed to have stabilized, so I got the ingredients for the chocolate ice cream together and made the largest batch I could, three gallons.

The device worked too well. I was quick with my mixing and the ice cream hardened too fast. I must have made some calculation errors, as the temperature was obviously below freezing.

Maybe the over-investment of aether affected it? I had to wait until the enchantment exhausted itself…or could my metal shaping skill get me an image of the runic workings? I sent out my metal sense to the runes.

The runes were correct…The silver was over-saturated with aether and slightly unstable. And the functionality…I saw the problem. The regulator extension of the rune that was supposed to hold the temperature at freezing was reliant on the aether content…so over-saturating just supercharged the rune. I also could sense I’d burned up about one-third of the silver! Strangely, the over-saturated silver also resisted my metal-shaping ability when I tried to disconnect the rune.

This device was supposed to last for hundreds of uses! I tried to get a sense of how much aether I put into the device, feeling out my aether core. It felt about 70% full or thereabouts. 30% of 1200 was…360! Oops! I should have felt fortunate I hadn’t blown myself up. I had a book on how to fuel magic items properly. Guess I need to read it. To charge my light stone for days, I had just used a kiss of aether, so I should have known better. I found my fingers now had frostbite, so I quickly healed myself.

It took some effort to transfer the hard ice cream to another container. I placed the finished ice cream in Callem’s freezer box after a quick, satisfying taste. Not as sweet as I had hoped, but very creamy as it melted in my mouth. The chocolate content needed some adjusting, and maybe just a tiny pinch of salt should be added to the cream before mixing and freezing

I looked at my ice cream bucket, the outer layer of ice slowly growing, and sighed. I surmised that the enchantment would last much longer than two days, and the bucket would be completely encased in ice and useless. Well, at least everyone would have ice cream tonight. My foray into enchanting was over for now.

This morning's conditioning was brutal as we all had to carry half our body weight through two obstacle courses. We were all filthy, sweaty, and miserable at the end, and I knew it was Callem’s punishment for the group beating on each other yesterday. I wasn’t sure how I got included in the punishment, but I didn’t complain, especially since cleaning off took me a few seconds while everyone else needed to bathe and wash their clothes. Lunch today was cashew butter and jelly sandwiches with cold milk and some fresh fruit. Everyone except Leda liked the lunch. She didn’t like cashews in general, so I couldn’t blame her.

During our free hour, I talked with Leda and showed her my failed ice bucket sculpture, which was now a three-foot-tall ball of ice and growing. She laughed. “I only loaned you the primer runes!” she said. “There are lots of control runes that need to be sequenced. Also, most devices like this are connected to an aether stone to regulate the aether in the runes.” She patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Storme. For a first attempt, this is quite impressive. Most enchanters’ runes fail on their first attempt. Enchanting is about finesse,” she stressed. “You’re already ten times the enchanter I ever was. If you want to study with my family in the capital, I can make it happen.” She pulled me into a side hug, clearly thinking I was sulking.

“I think I’ll just dabble in artificing. How much aether should I have invested in the runes?” I asked.

Leda considered the bucket. “At most, two aetheric units.”

Well, damn. I’d used about 360. That was 180 times as much as was needed! A little nervously, I asked, “What happens when you overcharge an item?”

Her eyes had understanding in them as she studied the large ice cube. “Tier 1 dust would quickly dissolve the silver if a device was overcharged. Tier 2 would hold the aether better, but the runes would glow white and burn the silver. Tier 3 aether dust wiring would act like a sponge to hold as much aether as possible, but it would bleed into the environment.”

I had to ask the next question. “Could I blow myself up if I overcharged something?” I had so much more aether than anyone else my age, and I had wielded it negligently. I was used to using all my aether to create silver, gold, and platinum.

Leda released me and thought about the question. “No. Well, not if the runes are properly drawn. If you made errors, you might create some feedback. That’s why you always charge new artificed items slowly.” She smirked, motioning at the ball of ice. “If the runes are perfect, overcharging runes will just bleed the excess aether into the environment.”

I thanked Leda and we went to the yard for weapons practice. We got to choose our weapon today; I picked the bow, since it would be the least physical effort on my part. That only lasted half the session before Callem pulled me away to spar with staves against Leda. I was smart enough not to complain.

Leda had gotten better, and we were equal now. I still won eleven of twelve bouts, but that was mostly due to Leda trying stupid things to get me in a compromising position. On the other side of the yard, Gareth was working with a broadsword, Aelyn a rapier, and Cilia a saber. I didn’t follow their practice too closely.

It was no surprise that dinner was a hit. The chocolate ice cream was received even better. To my shock, our group ate half of it. Gareth and Aelyn both got brain freezes from eating too fast, and when I explained what had happened to them, it just cracked me up. I then gave everyone a short lesson on portion control. Callem asked me to help him in the larder while everyone else was cleaning up and preparing for tonight’s book lesson.

In the basement, Callem had me pause at the bottom of the stairs.

“Storme, you see this brick I’m pressing here?” I stopped to see Callem pressing on a brick with a dark gray protrusion on it. I nodded. “Well, Sebastian installed it. It’s an illusion charm. Anyone scrying will see an illusion within the cellar people doing menial things.” He then walked to the far wall and trigged another stone, which opened a secret passage. “This is another new addition of Sebastian’s. I doubt we will ever need it, but this passage emerges 200 yards away from the farmhouse.”

I nodded, trying to figure out why we needed all this pretense. What was Callem worried about? Would the Sadians care about this small farm?

“You can show the others. I also think it would be good for you to practice your metal creation and shaping abilities for half an hour in the morning while you prepare dinner down here. Making weapons with your skill will be good practice.” He held up his hand, which usually meant he knew my next question. “I will extend the farm work by 30 minutes so it won’t interfere with your dinner preparation duties.”

“Well, that wasn’t my question, actually. Can I start making more platinum coins?” I asked. Callem nodded slowly, considering my request.

“Yes, you can.” He motioned to an empty juice cask. “Activate the illusion and put them in here, and ensure you don’t leave any out in the open when you turn off the illusion. Also, put the weapons you’re working on in the chest over there.” He pointed out a large chest that was a new addition to his larder. “Inside the chest are the notes on the weapons I want you to make. I will inspect them in the evening and leave you notes to make changes to them.”

“Why all this subterfuge, Callem? Is there something else going on that I should know about?” I asked.

“Sebastian thinks the Sadians are going to attack. That is the reason for the tunnel. The reason for the illusion spell is in case the Inquisition starts sniffing around the farm.” My panic must have been visible, because he said, “Don’t worry, Storme. It’s very unlikely. They have bigger things to worry about right now. But the man who brought you to the healer at the carnival was an agent of the Inquisition. Sebastian’s connections have said your name has been mentioned, but Arturo was smart enough not to draw too much attention to the incident in his official report.”

I nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. I had been unconscious, but Callem had been worried the nobles would become interested in me.

I was more than a little excited to reacquaint myself with making platinum coins. It made me feel powerful to create such wealth. I followed Callem upstairs, ending the illusion as we climbed the steps. That night, we discussed the twenty or so kingdoms that Aelyn had visited during her time with the carnival. It was interesting, and it was the most animated Aelyn had been in the two months I had known her.

Later, as I lay in bed struggling through my dimensional closet spell, I felt things were going too well. Something bad had to be on the horizon.

Chapter 35: Reconciling with Pascal

The following day, as we were heading to breakfast, we found my brother already eating and talking energetically to Callem and Wynna. He was ready to get started and had brought a massive backpack full of clothes, training weapons, and his new blade. I frowned; it looked like he had used the entire block of butter on his pancakes. Who needs half a pound of butter on a stack of pancakes? As I went to the larder to get more, I gave him a lazy welcome wave.

When I came up from the larder, the others were eating, and Pascal’s mouth was agape, staring at the young women who had entered behind me. Yes, they’re all well above average in looks, my brother, but your creepy stalker stare will not win any of them over! I laughed to myself at his misfortune, but then realized my own misfortune. All the pancakes had been consumed while I was gone!

My own shocked stare at the empty plate caused Gareth to easily swipe the butter I had laboriously claimed from below so he could lather the large stack of pancakes before him. I made myself a cheesy bacon and egg scramble in the kitchen and ate some apples for breakfast. I tried to look as melancholic as possible, but didn’t garner sympathy from anyone! Did these people realize who made their dinners? Stealing all the pancakes was not nice!

After eating breakfast, I left the farmhouse and headed to the yard. Stretching was amusing. Pascal had terrible mobility compared to everyone else, but he couldn’t stop gawking at Aelyn, Cilia, and Leda as they stretched. He hadn’t even said one word to any of them yet, as far as I knew. The young women, for their part, were ignoring the newcomer, which was good because his roaming eyes were getting creepy. Gareth had been the same way when the girls first arrived but had mellowed out his own lusty, hormone-driven demeanor.

After stretching, I went inside to make dinner while trying to think of a proper punishment for the others shorting me on pancakes this morning. I decided on a beef stroganoff with a spicy kick. Maybe Callem would like it, but the others would be in for a surprise. It was a short prep, and I was soon opening the large chest in the basement.

I took out a folio of notes Callem had left. He requested a broadsword for Gareth, a rapier for Aelyn, a saber for Cilia, and a slightly longer saber for me. I knew Callem had mentioned two weapons for himself, but they were not included in these notes. I spent twenty minutes on the saber and ten minutes on the broadsword before putting them away. I needed coal down here to make the steel. Currently, the weapons were currently just iron.

I wrote that note for Callem and then went and made twenty gold coins, storing them where he wanted. How many coins I could make if I invested all my aether now? I would still need to heal today, though, so I couldn’t find out what my saturated aether core could make. I went out to join the others for conditioning.

Pascal was filthy from weeding the fields but had a sloppy grin on his face—probably from watching the women work. Sweat had their thin shirts clinging to their torsos. Their pants were made of a tight-fitting but stretchable dark blue cotton that Wynna had gotten them for working fields. They were easy to clean and kept you cool during work. As we moved to the obstacle courses, I saw Callem give me a wink. If I knew Callem, he was about to put Pascal in his place for staring at the girls all morning.

We were all going to run all three courses separately for personal best times on each course. Pascal would be getting his “baseline” time for the courses. Callem stressed we were competing against ourselves, and the person with the most improved time would get out of farm work tomorrow. This made everyone perk up. I asked Callem if that meant I just wouldn’t have to make dinner tomorrow, and four sets of panicked eyes turned to Callem for an answer. Callem’s response was, “You all better not let Storme win!”

Sometimes, I hated the man.

I improved my time by four seconds on course A and nine seconds on course B, but ran two seconds slower on course C. This wasn’t really fair, as Callem had increased the difficulty on course C, and I was tired. After all was said and done, Leda won the prize by improving by 49 seconds overall. I arched an eyebrow at her when Callem announced the results, hoping she would transfer the reward to me, as Gareth almost always did. Nope. She ignored my suggestive eyes.

Pascal was laying on his back, sucking wind. He had done his best but was far slower than everyone else. Leda seemed happy to no longer be at the bottom of the ladder. It was a feeling I knew all too well. When Cilia and Leda approached me for healing, I realized Pascal didn’t know I had magic. As I healed them, which required contact, Pascal watched with wide eyes. He was probably shocked at first that I was touching them. Then his shock was from their bruises disappearing.

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“Yeah, Pascal, I have some magic. Just healing and a personal cleaning spell.” I used the cleaning spell, and his eyes popped further at my fresh clothes and radiant skin. “You need healing?” I asked. He seemed reluctant to take it at first, either from pride or reluctance. His hesitation caused me to turn and walk back to the farmhouse without healing him. It was almost lunchtime, and I was thirsty. Aelyn fell in beside me.

“Is your brother going to be okay sleeping in the loft next to me?” she asked. It took me a second to clear my thoughts. Oh, that was the only free bunk. I could imagine his discomfort! Freya said he farted so loud in his sleep so loud it shook the walls. Sounds like I should make some chili tomorrow!

Lunch was pasta and vegetable soup with croutons on top. Wynna was experimenting with a recipe. It was okay, but bland. We had a free hour after lunch and Pascal decided to bother me.

“So, Storme, you have magic? Do Mother and Father know?” he asked nicely. Well, nicely for Pascal. He had bullied me growing up because he was jealous that I got so much attention.

I sighed and returned the courtesy. “No. Freya does know, though. You can tell them when you go back. It’s just a little magic, nothing spectacular. I’m trying to learn a third spell and it’s fairly difficult. It would be my first strong utility spell.”

I didn’t tell him the spell, and thankfully, he didn’t ask, likely still exhausted and in shock by the day’s events. He moved all his gear up to the open bunk in the loft. I smirked to myself; he didn’t realize the bed next to him was Aelyn’s.

In the afternoon, we wrestled and practiced submission holds, and Pascal was thoroughly trounced by all the women. He was only used to fighting with a sword. However, it wasn't wasted time. Both Gareth and Callem worked with Pascal to help him improve. He was very attentive, and his infatuation with the girls was starting to fade into respect for their skill. I thought that was impressive. In just half a day, he was able to focus beyond their allure.

We moved into sword practice, and I was matched with Pascal to start. I easily parried and stuck him repeatedly. He was in disbelief, frustrated that I had managed to pass him in just over three months with Callem. After six winning exchanges, I saw Callem look at me questioningly. Fine! I started to give Pascal feedback to improve on his errors. He didn’t hesitate to make the corrections. Did he have a newfound respect for his younger brother? Where had this come from?

We had to clean up and rest for two hours before dinner. Regretfully, Gareth explained the bathing situation to Pascal. Pascal seemed to think that if there were three men and three women, each group should get equal bathing time—how little he knew! I just cast my cleanliness spell to emphasize that they were on their own. Gareth explained that the three women would get about an hour and a half of time, while they would get about half an hour in the pool.

While he waited, Pascal saw me in my loft and asked who I was sleeping next to with some jealousy in his voice. I nearly laughed. When I said, “Gareth,” a puzzled look formed on his face and he looked at his loft.

Wait…I was going about this all wrong. Why was I trying to punish Pascal for a life of ignoring me and looking down on me? I should have been using this as an excuse to escape Gareth’s noisy sleeping and foul foot odors. I was cleaning his bedding every other day with my cleanliness spell’s extended range, but I could move back to the other side with Aelyn…even if it was just for a month?

“Pascal, if you’re uncomfortable sleeping next to Aelyn, I’ll switch with you,” I said earnestly. He thought really hard before answering, so I just went back to studying and waited for a response. The women returned from bathing, and Pascal finally spoke up.

“Storme, didn’t you say you would switch beds with me?”

I looked down to find all the young women in their underclothes, looks of mischief on all their faces. I would bet a platinum that Aelyn had told them about my needling of my brother since his arrival, and they had just joined in; even Cilia was participating, which was a huge surprise to me. I packed my clothes into my bedding and made a large bundle to transfer my things. I made sure to give Gareth an irritated look at having to move. Gareth started helping me with my books, and Pascal helped as well. Soon, all my belongings were in the other loft.

Aelyn was soon in her bed, studying her spell as well. I didn’t even need to use my cleanliness spell on this side of the loft. Aelyn had a nice earthy scent. I was giddy when it came time for me to prepare dinner—and my revenge for the pancake injustice. Everyone came in and sat as I placed the stroganoff on the table.

Now, I must admit I felt guilty. The girls, for their part, had helped me tease Pascal today, and Wynna did nothing wrong. It was really Pascal, Gareth, and Callem who had piled way too many pancakes onto their plates this morning.

Everyone was greedily spooning gravy over the noodles while I waited. Gareth was first; he didn’t like spicy food and was downing a cup of fruit juice to cool his mouth. The girls were next to succumb, looking for something to soothe the burn, with Wynna following shortly after. Pascal seemed unsure of what to think. He really had poor taste buds. Callem was just shoveling the mixture into his mouth and grinning, clearly enjoying the excessive spicy taste.

I threw up the white flag, admitting to my childish prank. “Sorry, everyone. I got a little bit miffed about not getting pancakes this morning.” This just got me several death stares. “I have a solution to help you through the burn…it’s called a chocolate milkshake!”

I went to make milkshakes, though I found a sizable portion of the chocolate ice cream missing, and when I looked up, a guilty Callem and Wynna looked away. Well, it was their house. There was still enough ice cream to make everyone a sizable milkshake. I made them a little thin so they could be drank, and it allowed everyone to finish dinner. We had no study session round table tonight. Wynna said it would allow Pascal to settle in and rest. My brother did look haggard.

I was the first one back in the loft and studying, as everyone else was on clean-up duty. Aelyn came up to the loft and whispered to me, “There’s a plot afoot to put pepper juice in your shorts.” I smirked. It was a childish prank, but I deserved it. “It was Wynna’s idea. She has a salve that she thinks should resist your cleaning magic.” Now I was a little hurt. Et tu, Wynna?

It was nice to listen to Aelyn’s whispering. It was very pleasant, especially compared to Gareth’s deep voice, which I could clearly hear from across the room as Pascal and Gareth engaged in a deep and loud conversation. They discussed which sword form was the best to counter which sword form.

“Your brother is okay,” Aelyn said. “He may have been gawking, but he felt guilty about it. He has a girlfriend who he’s—”

I stopped her. “I don’t need to know about that.”

Aelyn was quiet for a while we both studied our magic. Then she whispered, “Thank you again for how you have been treating me. I can’t believe how fortunate I am to fall into this situation after—”

Before Aelyn could continue, Leda screamed. “I did it! Storme! Storme!” She scrambled down her ladder and into my loft, straddling me on the bed. “Watch, Storme!”

The compromising position might have been intentional, knowing Leda, but we had wrestled many times over the last two months. Nothing happened that I noticed. She looked disappointed.

“Well, I’m already clean, so you can’t see, but I imprinted the cleanliness spell!”

I nodded and said, “That’s fantastic, Leda. It looks like you forgot to return the book in your haste to show me.” She blushed. She slowly removed herself from her position above me, realizing what she had done. I was ashamed to admit my body had started to respond. “Make sure you take some notes on the first few evolutions you want before returning the book. I tend to be rather indecisive on my own evolutions.”

Leda slowly climbed down from the loft, not making eye contact with me but nodding at my advice.

“If I learn the pocket space spell, can I celebrate on top of you too?” It was a very quiet whisper from Aelyn that I wasn’t sure was intended for my ears. I blushed, now distracted in my studies as I replayed her words in my head over and over, imagining Aelyn in Leda’s place. If I had looked over at the other loft, I was certain I would have seen both Gareth and Pascal’s mouths hanging open.

Pascal acclimated well to the next week of training. Gareth and Pascal got along famously, which made me slightly jealous. Gareth worked with Pascal nonstop, and Pascal was no longer shy about asking for healing from me. According to Callem, Pascal was making good progress and would be at the top of his class in the first year of his Academy class. Callem also talked about the Annuals.

It was a massive tournament for melee combatants. Usually, the pre-Academy bracket entrants came from the large cities, but he thought Pascal might be able to do well. He had been planning on having Gareth win it next year. The other two tournaments were for the Academy students and Professionals. The Professional Annuals had the highest prestige, with a sizable winner’s purse from the Triumvirate.

At the end of the week, the massive ice sculpture in Callem’s yard was finally beginning to shrink, and the aether I had invested was finally expiring. This caused Gareth, Cilia, and Leda to chip away at the ice surrounding the bucket. I had told them there would be no more ice cream until I got my bucket back.

The hot pepper juice in my underwear did occur, but I had been checking every time I changed, so I just faked being burned and ran to the stream after casting my cleanliness spell a few times, leaving a cloud of vanilla scent in my tracks. Wynna’s salve did not prevent the spell from working. I thought the women deserved a win, and everyone’s laughter was worth it, even if it was at my expense. I wouldn’t retaliate because I didn’t want it to escalate.

My progress with the basement weapon crafting was going well. After Callem got the coal, I made rough stock weapons and then completed one weapon each day. Callem left notes on how he wanted the weight and lengths adjusted for each weapon, and I tried my best to do so. The best progress came when Callem was in the basement with me, directing me in person.

After I had all four weapons done, Callem was going to bring them to Antal in Hen’s Hollow for bone handles after getting everyone’s grip impressions on clay. I was only making gold coins, and after some calculations, I guessed I could make about thirty with a full aether core now. So my efficiency with the metal creation ability and my aether pool were steadily growing.

My relationship with Pascal was pretty good. He was still envious of me, but there was a strong undercurrent of respect, and he recognized how hard I was working. We even talked a little and I found out he was dating Sashan, a farmer girl who was a year older than him and was currently in the Academy. He had been interested in another girl in his immediate circle of friends, but they’d found kissing too awkward and broke up. I mostly listened to him talk while I tried to study. I was glad Gareth was here to distract him. Otherwise, he might interrupt my studying nonstop with his desire to talk to his estranged little brother.

I felt like I had made minimal progress on imprinting the spell, which was the only sore point the first week Pascal was here. I even turned to my reference books to help expedite the process, but I made no substantial gains.

At week’s end, Callem left for town with our grip impressions. He mentioned he would bring back Freya and Monty for a visit. This excited me, but it also meant I needed to get the bucket free of ice. My sister needed to try ice cream for herself; her sweet tooth would love it!

Chapter 36: Magic Weapon Crafting

After giving Pascal a week to acclimate to the training, Callem had us all run the three courses again for individual time. He’d added a few twists here and there to “improve” their difficulty and keep us on our toes. Gareth and Aelyn made minor improvements to all three times, Cilia improved on two courses, and Leda and I were a few seconds slower than our personal bests. Pascal had massive improvements on all the courses from the prior week, and of course, he was preening like a peacock even though all his times were slower than everyone else’s by a good margin.

As we finished the morning training, Callem left to go get Freya and Monty. We would have the afternoon off, and Freya would stay overnight and be brought home after breakfast.

Lunch was brown rice and vegetables, topped with a thick, sweet sauce. It was another experiment by Wynna, and during lunch, I helped her refine the recipe to more of an Asian-inspired style. It needed some spiciness to offset the sweetness.

After, we all lounged inside the bunk room on a break, with the exception of Aelyn and Gareth. They were chipping away the last bits of ice from the buckets. It was still functioning, just at a much lower power, close to what I had envisioned when I set the runes. I made the mistake of mentioning different types of ice cream and milkshakes: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, maple walnut, hot honey, cookie dough, coffee, and blueberry. At least, those were the ones I could do with the ingredients at hand. The coffee flavor would be from the coconut-like nut that Wynna liked. I also made a note to try thornberry ice cream if we could get more of them. A thornberry was a kiwi-like fruit that tasted like strawberries and bananas.

Our discussion of ice cream and milkshakes was cut short as an excited Monty burst through the door. The dog was now over a hundred pounds. He bowled over Leda without trouble, and then made a beeline for my chair. I braced myself. Monty’s momentum took him into my lap and knocked the chair backward, sending us both sprawling. The furry beast pinned me down and licked my face, making sure I was okay.

Freya entered shortly after the beast wave, and her first words were, “It stinks in here.” Well, I couldn’t disagree with her olfactory appraisal. I had taken to essentially spamming my cleanliness spell while in the bunkhouse. I even used my extended range to clean Aelyn’s bedding when she was out bathing. Aelyn herself had a pleasant earthy smell, but her bedding smelled of stale sweat and acidic body odor. I was surprised that she hadn’t commented on the improvement to her bedding. Maybe I wanted a little “thank you” from her.

Freya had a list of things she wanted to do. First, she wanted me to show her some real magic. Then she wanted to see her brothers square off against each other in a duel. She also wanted to try running the obstacle course herself as, apparently, Callem had told her during the walk back how much Pascal had improved. And finally, she wanted to try ice cream, which was a thought Callem must have put in her head. When Aelyn told her how many flavors there were, she wanted to try them all. It was looking like my afternoon off was not going to happen. Why couldn’t Freya just want to lounge by the swimming hole and lazily throw a stick for Monty?

Freya suddenly stopped her verbal onslaught and looked around the bunkhouse. “Who are all these pretty girls? And why are they in here with you?”

I wouldn’t say I liked the tone of the last sentence, because it either was said with jealousy or insinuated that I was not good enough to get a pretty girl.

“I’m Leda,” Leda said from up in her loft. “Storme is my boyfriend,” she said, grinning madly. This caused everyone to freeze, and even Leda’s light, playful laugh didn’t break the awkwardness for a good minute. It only got worse.

“I’m Aelyn.” Aelyn bowed to her. “I’m Storme’s devoted servant. I do anything he asks of me. Anything.” Her tone was soft, submissive, and alluring all in one. I couldn’t decide if they were teasing Freya or me. I saw Pascal’s mouth fall open, and I could see Gareth covering his face in quiet laughter. Not to be outdone, Cilia leaped from the upper loft and landed softly in front of us.

“I’m Cilia. I’m your brother’s faithful bodyguard. I make sure his body is clean and unmolested,” she said with her ice queen voice and stoic stature, though I could see a grin on the corner of her lips. She was no longer the ice queen she was when she arrived. Freya was slowly nodding at all this, taking it as the truth. I could just imagine her telling all of this to my parents and spreading gossip in Hen’s Hollow. I needed to correct this.

“Freya, everything they’re telling you is bullshit. I’m their servant. I cook and clean for all of them. I tend to their wounds when they’re hurt, and I serve as a training dummy when they practice swords.”

Aelyn nodded, as everything I had said was essentially the truth. Cilia nodded as well, then winked at Freya. That must be some secret female language to play along.

Freya then bowed to them. “Then mistresses, may I please ask if my poor servant of a brother can have the afternoon off to play with me? And brother, you shouldn’t use such language with your bosses.” Apparently, it was more believable to Freya that I served the pretty young women rather than vice versa.

Monty was the most confused about all the interactions. He was tilting his head and looking at each person in turn, deciding if any of them would pet him. It was Gareth who broke the stalemate by bursting into laughter. This caused a chain reaction for everyone else to follow with their own laughter.

Soon we were all outside at the obstacle course, cheering Freya on as she slowly and methodically made her way through the easiest course. After she was done, we all did our own run at a moderate pace. Aelyn did it with the most flourish, using her tumbling and acrobatic skills to show off. Gareth did his run with brute force. I took my sweet old time, as did Leda. There was no need to impress my little sister. Pascal put in the maximum effort, as he was the last to go. I was confused; how had we gotten ourselves in a position to do training today? I chuckled. It must have been Callem planting the ideas in Freya’s head—devious old man.

Next, we showed off our sword skills to Freya. She clapped and cheered everyone on equally. I let Pascal have a draw with me. He still wasn’t close to my level of competency, but I didn’t want to shatter the relationship I had mended with him by besting him in front of our sister. Gareth and Aelyn put on the best show, like a scripted duel. Maybe it was scripted, as I knew Aelyn had done that as one of her acts.

I then healed everyone to show Freya my magic, then removed a few scars on the back of Freya’s hand from when she had gotten bit by a squirrel she caught. This caused the women, who were not aware of this aspect of my ability, to ask for scar removal as well. Leda immediately pulled off her shirt. She was still wearing a chest wrap, twisting to point to some scars on her lower back. Disconcerted, I said, “This is something we should do in private.” This made the flirtatious Leda unexpectedly blush.

Aelyn quipped, “Yes, in private. Can I make an appointment for tonight?”

I threw up my hands in utter defeat and walked away. Everyone fell in behind me like I was the mother duck, and they were my ducklings. I went to Callem’s house, and they all followed me in.

I turned to them. “I’m not removing anyone’s scars!” I probably sounded a little too heated, so I followed it up with, “I’m making ice cream right now! Get my buckets!”

The comic scramble out the door could not be done justice with words. Cilia and Gareth ran into each other and bounced in the door frame, stopping their progress cold. Aelyn tried to navigate the bodies, but Gareth’s quick recovery caused her to trip, creating a stack of three people in the doorway. Monty thought it was a game and jumped on top, trying to lick everyone’s face in the tangle of limbs.

Thankfully, shortly after, I was alone in the kitchen with just Wynna. The others were entertaining Freya and Monty. Some time later, Callem came out of his room and asked me to help him move some things in the basement. So I paused in my ice cream endeavors to head below.

After initiating the illusion field, Callem spoke. “Storme, I have some news from Sebastian. Well, from a friend of Sebastian, anyway. Apparently, Callem Dregalla is alive and well and delving into dungeons these days for platinum!” He laughed at the absurdity of it all. Callem hated dungeons. “I think it’s safe to say all the attention of your sudden wealth will be attributed to me and Wynna.”

I started to speak, but stopped when he held up his hand.

“Storme, you need to be careful going forward, but you know that. I think Gareth’s excursion into the capital has also been attributed to me. Casting my motivations for bringing Aelyn here was difficult. We had to rely on a few of Wynna’s friends in the capital, and some of my old friends.” He sighed. “What few I had left think less of me for purchasing an indentured,” he said, but instead of being angry, he had a half smile. “Don’t worry. I care nothing for my reputation, and the people that know me best wouldn’t believe the dragon shit being said.” He was chuckling now, clearly enjoying the subterfuge.

Then he sighed. “Well, time to work.” He opened the large chest and pulled out his notes, two hand axes, some throwing daggers, and some long hunting knives. “You have some aether dust?” I nodded. “Good. Storme, I want you to make these”—he indicated the array of weapons—“but I want you to fold in the aether dust between the layers like a master smith. This will prep them to receive enchantments.” Callem moved everything to a table.

“I want you and Gareth to start carrying a hand axe, some knives, and throwing daggers. We will start training with them once your brother leaves. You need a permit to carry a sword in the capital and other cities, but not these.” He tapped the axes and short blades on the paper, then moved toward the stairs. “I have a new crate of coal in the corner to turn the iron into steel.”

I knew Callem had my best interests at heart, but it felt like I was being conscripted for my skills with metal.

I focused on the papers. Each set had two hand axes, one smaller and designed for throwing and the other heavier and used for cutting. There were six different throwing daggers of various weights and lengths. For the most part, throwing knives were the thrower’s preference, which was the reason for the variety. Of the six hunting knives, three were specialized for skinning and dressing a beast, and three for combat and utility. I could see Gareth becoming a walking armory, but why me?

I sighed and got to work, creating a large block of iron and retrieving the coal. Since I didn’t have the aether dust right now, I decided just to make a large block of steel and call it a day. I put everything back into the large crate and went upstairs to make ice cream. I felt like an arms dealer pretending to be an ice cream vendor.

The bucket was functioning as originally intended, and I made batches of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and cookie dough ice cream. It must have been about three hours of constant work with Wynna’s help and taste-testing. We now had four flavors of ice cream in the aether-powered freezer unit, each around two gallons.

After the ice cream, I had to prepare dinner. That morning, I’d made chicken cordon bleu with wild rice and green beans. The cheese wasn’t Swiss, but it was sharp enough to serve as a substitute, and the sauce topping was rich since I used leftover heavy cream from the ice cream. Just as I was about to finish, Wynna called everyone in.

The mass of bodies crowded the table, which was designed for six but now held nine settings. Callem brought out the good red juice, and everyone dug in. The dinner disappeared so fast that I was awe-struck. Everyone had rushed so they could get dessert. I got large stew bowls and spooned a decent scoop of each flavor into each one. Before serving, I announced, “No seconds tonight! Eat slowly with small spoons and savor the ice cream!” I felt like a mother telling her children to slow down and chew their food.

Freya’s eyes lit up with each bite, and everyone else was making contented sounds. The chocolate had been much improved this round, and I was also happy with the other flavors. I made my escape from the dishes and laughed when Freya tried to follow me. “You need to help with the dishes! Only the cook escapes cleanup!” And there were a lot of dishes…Well, that was my habit. I had never been a messy cook in my past life, but since I didn’t have to clean up…

I had thirty minutes of privacy before the bunkhouse was rowdy again. Gareth and Cilia played with Monty. They had one of Pascal’s old shirts and were in a tug-o-war with the dog. Pascal, who was trying to sleep in one of the comfy reading chairs, had gotten some of Gareth’s clothes he had outgrown, so he didn’t mind. Leda was up in her bunk, and Aelyn joined me in our loft.

“Your sister is sweet,” Aelyn said.

I paused my studies, as I could tell she wanted to talk. “Do you have any siblings, Aelyn?”

The pause made me think perhaps they no longer lived. “Two brothers. Both are older by a few decades. I met them once.” She paused, her voice strained. “They didn’t accept me. They live in Cullinbar, an elven city far from here.” She sounded hurt, but she continued, “My human father died in a dungeon when I was young. I think my mother said he had some children earlier in his life, but I never cared to search them out.”

“I’m sorry, Aelyn.” I paused, waiting to see if she wanted to talk further. When she didn’t, I returned to my studies. I heard her grab her own book off the shelf.

Cilia made a bed up in the lower area for Freya, as all the bunks were full. I was studying late into the night when I heard Freya say loudly, “Pascal, stop farting!”

Aelyn whispered to me, “He does fart a lot in his sleep.” Laughter ensued from all the lofts at Freya’s words, and Pascal, in response, just ripped a long, loud one.

After a large breakfast, Freya left, and we were back into our training routine. Wynna was tasked with escorting my sister home.

My magic smithing was going fairly well. I had to be careful not to accidentally charge any of the aether dust I was layering into the metal. If I did, the metal I was mixing it with got extremely difficult to shape. I made everyone except Wynna a set of six throwing daggers based on their preferences during practice. There were three weights and sizes, and Callem decided which size and weight everyone would get and practice with.

When the girls asked where the blades had come from, Callem said he had a good friend who was a weaponsmith. Everyone received a full set of hunting knives as well. The quality of the blades gave them high value, and Callem warned everyone against displaying them in public.

I used my tier 3 aether dust for the axes. I crafted six throwing hand axes and six cutting hand axes. Callem packaged them away to send to an enchanter in the capital. I didn’t think Callem fathomed how much control I had shaping metal, or he might have asked me to try my hand at enchanting them. But then again, my failure with the ice cream bucket was probably fresh in his mind.

My other project was working on a heavier broadsword for Gareth. As he grew in stature, he would outgrow the one I had already made him. Plus, I had promised him the best magic blade I could make. I used all my remaining aether dust on the blade for him, and it was impressive. I planned to give it to him on his 16th birthday celebration, hopefully already enchanted.

The weeks started to blur together, and soon Pascal was packing and getting ready to return. Three weeks had passed since Freya’s visit, and I was hoping Callem would bring her back soon. Pascal was extremely content with his time on the farm. His sword skills had greatly improved, and he had learned a large array of other combat skills. I was shocked when he actually hugged me before returning home with his large pack.

I’d made some progress on learning the dimensional closet spell. I felt I was over halfway to imprinting it, so maybe another month or so. I was actually quite excited about the prospect of having the space.

The day after Pascal left, I examined my creations in the larder. I had nothing to occupy myself with. All my tasks were done, and dinner was prepped upstairs. Maybe I should try something new. I extended my hand and concentrated. I had only touched this precious metal on Callem’s prized dagger. Just the edge was made of it. It took time to recall what my metal-shaping senses had felt when I held the dagger a few weeks ago. With my eyes closed, I sensed a small weight make its presence known in my hand.

It was a silvery-white mass about half the size of a regular coin. Mithril. Checking my aether core, I saw I was under 10% full, meaning this took an estimated 80% of all my current aether to create since I had already cast a fair amount of spells this morning. I placed the metal on top of everything in the large crate for Callem to discover. I hoped it would shock him, as that was hard to do!

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