We were surprisingly not all that late. Arrjee’s Master Trillet met us in front of the school. He understood what had delayed us, and it was only 10:30. We introduced Norrus, and the master welcomed him. He then led us to the back of the school, which I’m guessing was used for various apprenticeship sessions after grades were over.
“This is cool,” said Norrus. “I knew a lot of teens apprenticed here, but to me it has always been a playground.”
Arrjee replied, “Just because we’re apprenticing, doesn’t mean we don’t have fun here, too.”
Master Trillet announced that we had been delayed by the fire. He also introduced Norrus Loruste and said he was a guest apprentice. Norrus liked that, and smiled. He told everyone he was 11 but had not yet decided what field to train in.
Here today was Master Thorm, Teacher Marson, and Kossa. There was also an adult I didn’t know, and two teens I met briefly during our run “last” evening.
Quorl and Wherda?
“So, you guys would rather play with fire than train with us?” Kossa asked jokingly. “Forrest, you may not know everyone here. Master Kertos Zurrz is a carpenter/blacksmith, and he has a huge knowledge of most trades. Wherda Zurrz is his 13-year old daughter but is apprenticing with Master Trillet in swords. Quorlin Smurn just turned 16, and he is apprenticing with Master Thorm in self defense techniques and Master Zurrz in blacksmithing. You all know Arrjee and Onre, but you-all may not know this new one, Forrest Rhodes. He is 16 and a Martial Artist / Ki Healer, but very, very new.”
I should tell her.
“Kossa, we met your dad at the fire. He got hurt, but he is fine now. He is helping Werol Jorden get his jewelry shop in order after the fire there. Both of them got hurt in the explosion that started it all. Both are well now.”
“You are sure Dad is okay? How badly was the shop damaged?”
“Yes, I even commissioned him to make me a belt buckle. Most of the damage was in a back workroom. It was in good enough shape that we went in and Werol pulled my armbands out of a display case. That was why Onre and I were going there in the first place.“
She was satisfied that all was well enough to remain here. After that, we all exchanged various greetings, and Master Trillet took over. “For most of you, this afternoon will be a normal apprenticeship session. Because of Forrest’s, um, special circumstances, we have established for him a program that we have designed to be adaptable and meet his needs. As an unborn awakened, he has great knowledge in some areas, and great ignorance in others. He will only be with us once every seven days, but to him only a couple of hours will have passed since his previous day.
“Next time he is here, we have arranged for an experienced Martial Artist to help train him. His primary purpose will be to work with Forrest, but he is willing to help train any of the apprentices in town. He has agreed to stay here for both Forrest’s day and the day after. He is also considering moving to Cottages due to his interest in our adventuring school.”
“Master Trillet, if I may?” I asked. He paused so I could speak. “I greatly appreciate your preparations for me. I was so completely lost my first day, with no idea how I could possibly live my life. This is, this is too perfect.” The last came out with some tears. “Thank you all.”
I paused for a moment to get my emotions in check. “By the way, internally I call ‘Forrest’s day’ ‘Tuesday’. On Earth we had a week with seven days, and Tuesday was the name of the third day of every week. Coincidentally, I know today is Thirdday, but my next Tuesday will be Tenthday, then Seventhday, and so on. I know it sounds weird to you, but every day I am here is ‘Tuesday’ to me.”
It is a good thing I am saying ‘Tuesday’ in English. If they thought I was saying ‘Twosday’, this would get really confusing.
You mean like Jacques’ ninth month being called seventh?
With a sudden grin, “Yeah, just like that.”
“Actually that makes sense,” Teacher Dorra Marson said. “I had been wondering if there had been a basis for your seven-day rotation. No offense, but Earth is, well, unusual. Do Earth Humans have seven fingers or something?”
I laughed. “No, five, just like Humans here. And no offense taken. You speak the truth.”
Master Trillet cleared his throat. “Forrest, I am glad you are already speaking with Teacher Marson. For the next half hour, until 11:20, please continue with her about any educational and world topics you two wish. Everyone else will continue as they normally would. Norrus, you are free to remain with Forrest, or observe anyone else’s training. You may find yourself participating with whoever you choose.”
There was a shaded tree off to the side. Norrus was sticking with me for the time being and we three walked over there and sat upon the grass.
“Teacher Marson, last Tuesday,” I smiled, “I mentioned a set of techniques from my world that I might be able to teach. First Aid.”
“Yes, I remember,” she said. Allow anyone, with or without magic to often help someone who is hurt in some way.”
I was not sure whether those words were for my ears or Norrus’, but I’m glad she brought him in the loop. “Right. Let me start out by asking, do you already know of the skill? I guess it is official, because I was granted it as a nascent skill at Rank D.” Norrus interrupted; he was not familiar with the concept of nascent skills, and I quickly pointed out that they were abilities an awakened person knew well in their previous life. I told him that First Aid was an important skill for firemen on Earth, especially with no magic there.
We heard a flute begin to play a slow melody and turned to look. Just then Onre began to sing. His voice was a rich tenor; they sounded wonderful together. I wasn’t familiar with the song, but it was really nice to hear live music again.
We all listened, enjoying it for a moment. Then Teacher Marson replied, “No, I am not aware of First Aid. That does not mean it is unknown. It could simply be uncommon in the Fifth Duchy. With healers and alchemical potions being common, and violence rare, I guess we have lacked the drive to investigate such a thing. That does not mean it will not be useful, especially if young people learn it and have it ready. They would be able to act when there are no aetherial options.”
“Are you saying I could learn it, too?” asked Norrus.
“Yes,” I replied. “I first began learning it when I was 11. The abilities are something that you might find useful at any point in your life.”
She asked, “What abilities are there?”
I smiled. “There are quite a few, developed by many people over many, many years. On Earth, they were techniques we used to either directly stop someone from immediately dying, or to stabilize injuries until a doctor or other medical experts could treat them. I guess it would be just as useful here, but instead you would be waiting for a healer instead of a doctor.”
“Okay, let me list a few. If someone had just drowned or otherwise stopped breathing, there is a technique we called ‘artificial respiration’ to help them clear their lungs and start breathing again.” She had a pen and clipboard pad and started writing. “There was a related technique, I don’t know how to say it in Covargh. I’ll call it ‘start heart’. If someone’s heart has stopped beating, either due to drowning or being shocked by lightning or something, you can sometimes get it beating again.”
Norrus added, “There are magical attacks that can stop someone’s heart, too.”
“I don’t know if ‘start heart’ will work with that, but if the heart was not physically damaged, I don’t know why it would not.” I spent about 10 minutes talking generally about a number of techniques. These included setting broken bones, using slings and splints, and things I knew they were aware of, such as bandaging. That led me to direct pressure, the technique that enabled me to unlock the skill during my first day. It also fit right in with the idea of keeping a first aid kit ready in the home or while traveling. I closed my list with the Heimlich Maneuver, which I called ‘unblock breathing passage.”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
I suck at names.
“I’m sure there are more, but that is most of the basic ones I think. The skill is called First Aid, because you can do things first, before a healer or potion becomes available.”
Teacher Marson said, “I will discuss this with Rhonda and others. I hope by your next Tuesday, Tenthday, I will have a better idea of what clerics and studied experts know of this. Thank you for telling us about it, and your willingness to teach others. Now it is my turn to discuss something. What do you know about our government?”
I thought for a moment. “Well, my Dad is Mayor, and he seems to be accepted as the guy in charge of this village. I know there is a 5% duchy tax and a 1% village tax on earnings. And I know there are the Fifth and First Duchies, and a King that somehow fits into all this as head of state. Oh, there are guardsmen who work for the duchies. Aaand, um, that’s about it.”
Norrus added, “There are seven duchies total. Sort of. The Sixth Duchy had a bad duchess for a long time and fell apart a long time ago. It got eaten mostly by its neighbors, the Fifth and Seventh Duchies. It is still called the Seventh Duchy though, even though there is not a sixth one any more. I always thought that was funny.”
Teacher Marson clarified, “The Sixth Duchy duchess was not bad as in evil. Well, not very evil. She was ineffective and did not want to rule, but she did not want anyone else to take her place. Eventually its people exiled her and her family, and petitioned the King for help. He tried to re-establish a new duchess, but she turned out worse than the first, both corrupt and spending money outrageously. She bankrupted her country. That was when the King split the duchy apart, more or less following ancient tribal borders.”
I had to ask, “So duchies are always ruled by a female, and the King is male? Does he have his own country that he rules without a duchess?”
“The first part is true, female, male,” she answered. But no, the King does not have a separate country, or any fixed country. He is the husband of a duchess, which makes him also a duke. But upon the death of each King, the Duke of the next duchy becomes King. It rotates over time, one through seven, and back to one. A Duke may decline Kingship, in which case the Duchess has the option of appointing a King, or allowing Kingship to rotate to the next duchy.”
My mind was a bit boggled. “That would not have worked on Earth. People would be too jealous of power. Once they got it, very few would be willing to give it up, or not at least pass Kingship to their son.”
Teacher Marson responded, “We had that tendency at first – a duchy finding excuses to not pass kingship on. There was still a lot of distrust among the new component countries of the Kingdom But with the constant fear of a renewed Trichyan invasion, the various duchy guardsmen chose to enforce the original Kingship Edict. Now I guess we are just used to it.”
This was a very new concept of government to me. I asked, “Do I understand right? A duchess is in charge of her country even when her duke is King?”
“Yes. The King’s domain is only in matters of import to the whole nation. Occasionally that means exerting authority within a duchy, as happened with the Sixth Duchy situation. There are occasional disputes between duchies, and the King will likely get involved. But in day-to-day matters, unless there were a war, the King has little actual power and rules mostly as a figurehead. And a good King, by example.”
“I have two more questions, at least for now. First, is there an overall Kingdom tax that people pay?”
This time Norrus answered. “No. The Duke-King is supported by his duchy. Since he rotates, all the duchies eventually pay for him.”
“That’s right,” she responds. “In times of war or some other national emergency, the King can petition funds from the other duchies. But the advantage of him normally having little power means he generally needs little money.”
Well, it has apparently worked well-enough for 726 years. I guess on Earth we would be in some sort of actually functional royal confederation.
“Interface, is this sort of like Austria-Hungary, maybe?”
That sounds like a somewhat reasonable analogy. Now remove religious tensions and attenuate tribal loyalties over time, and it actually works long term. Peace and prosperity help a lot, with a vague dash of “threat of invasion” to keep things glued together.
“My last question relates to royalty. I know they exist, but I have not met any yet. Is that just because Cottages is relatively isolated?”
“Our isolation is a factor,” she responds. “The most significant reason is that there are not very many of them. Royal titles are only granted to immediate family and immediately adjacent family. Basically they are just the duchess’ children, grandchildren, spouse, parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces. Should a duchess be replaced, the titles shift to the immediate and adjacent family of the new duchess. The titles of those no longer in that sphere become solely ceremonial, with no privileges attached and will not further propagate. Misuse of title results in its loss.”
In our final ten minutes, Teacher Marson quizzed me, and sometimes Norrus, on various facts, mostly relating to ‘letters’ and ‘numbers’. She decided that I had a very good grasp on that part of basic education. My ‘world’ knowledge was superficial, though, which did not surprise or bother me. All Interface granted me was basic information to get me started.
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Masters Trillet and Thorm came over to the tree. The former told me that for the next hour I would work on beginner’s self defense with Master Thorm. We got up and followed the masters to another area on the grounds. Master Trillet conjured a “pounding wall” as he had last time I was training, then he headed back to Arrjee and Wherda. They were currently sparring with wooden swords. Onre and Kossa were doing some sort of music exercises together.
“I want you to continue stressing the skin of your hands.” Master Thorm stated. You won’t be able to fight with that baby skin there now. This wall will vanish in 20 minutes. Spend that time pounding it in various ways as you did last SixthDay. This time, though, you are going to work on your balance too. ‘Fight’ the wall while standing on one foot. Try to support yourself with that foot for a whole minute, then shift to the other foot. Alternate feet even if you can’t hold the minute. Balance is central to Martial Arts, and Master Trillet told me he observed little of it during your hunt.”
“Norrus, if you remain with Forrest, practice as he does.” The pup said he would remain, and we began. Master Thorm observed for a few minutes, and gave us, mainly me, pointers on maintaining balance on one foot. It is not easy when you are also using a lot of upper body motion punching and slapping a wall. Initially I was lucky to stay on one foot for more than 10 seconds at a time. The wall was acting as a crutch stopping me from falling almost as much as a punching bag.
Sometimes the master would support me either at my waist or just under my armpits. I think he was waiting for something to “click” in the coordination of my agility and dexterity over my entire body. Both attributes were at 17. But if there were a coordination attribute, I think it would have only been 2. Dammit, I doubted Norrus’ agility and dexterity were 9, but I swear his coordination must have been 40. He was just having fun, experiencing little difficulty punching the wall while on one foot. I was surprised he was not making fun of me, at least in a good-natured manner. His teenage “gotta be a jerk” gene must not have kicked in yet. Instead he was earnestly encouraging me.
I was slowly improving my balance, and within five minutes I was usually able to remain on one foot for half a minute. My attacks on the wall were a combination of slaps and punches with the sides of my fists, stressing as much skin area as I could. Often they were ki punches to help me rank that skill to D. As part of my balance, Master Thorm encouraged me to use different degrees of force, and at different angles, not always facing the wall head on. Altogether, this was proving to be a cardio workout, too, with me sweating and breathing deeply.
I didn’t hear an actual click, but after a dozen minutes into this session, I’m sure there was one. All of a sudden, my one-legged balance became solid. Remaining on one foot wasn’t “natural”, but I had become proficient at it. It was fun watching my clock display tick off each second of a minute, then switching feet when I wanted to, instead of dropping to two feet just to stop from falling. Both Norrus and Master Thorm noticed, and congratulated me. I thanked them, and kept on at it until the wall dissolved.
“Are you guys ready for another wall?” the master asked. Both Norrus and I indicated we could use a quick break, and also get some water to drink. We did so. During our break I noticed that Master Zurrz had apparently conjured up a magical forge for he and Quorlin to use during their session. At least, I was pretty sure the forge had not been there when we first arrived. Cool. Or Hot.
When we got back to our training area, Master Trillet was there as well. He asked, “Round two now?”
I think I surprised him by asking, “Could you make us a different kind of wall? The one with a smooth surface is great for Ki Punch, but I would also like to use some Claw Strike attacks also. That still is at Rank F. What I am imagining is a wall that feels like it has a surface like tough leather or a very sturdy rug.”
I’m not sure explaining a cat’s scratching post would be viewed favorably by Covargh.
Master Thorm seemed to like the idea. “A textured surface would add variety to the stresses he applies to his skin.” The wallmaster affirmed that he had control over texture, and a new wall appeared. It appeared to be a tough, almost hard leather surface. I slid my hand across it, and it sort of felt like one of those leathery dog chewing "bones" you could buy on Earth. Perfect.
Onre and Kossa joined us at this point. They must have completed their exercises, so they came over to our group with their master.
We greeted them. Then I said to the wallmaster, “This should be great. Thank you.” And to illustrate I gave it a forceful slash with Claw Strike. I grinned at them all and gave it sliding slaps with each hand, using Ki Punch.
Achievement: Ki Punch, D
“Nice, thanks, Interface.”
“I just reached Rank D on Ki Punch! With all your help, I might actually become dangerous some day.” They all congratulated me. Norrus and I recommenced our attacks, alternating between legs. Our two teammates joined in. Onre’s balance was already excellent and Kossa’s was better than mine. Norrus was copying me. If I slapped, so did he. If I scratched using Claw Strike, he scratched hard with his claws. Onre and Kossa began repeating the moves Norrus made, and we established a 1, 2, 3, 4 cycle. I don’t think Norrus needed to get his skin toughened, but he was having fun training with “the big guys”. Hell, I was having fun training with the little guy.
About halfway into the wall’s life, I started using Claw Strike with my free leg. During the minute it was free, I would foot-claw the wall once. Onre told me that my technique had much improved since I had clawed him with my foot. Then we needed to quickly explain why I had clawed him. After that, the foot attacks became a steady component of our 1, 2, 3, 4 cycle. Eventually the “leather” wall expired.
During the next couple of hours, they had me train in multiple ways. Wrestling, free handed sparring where I got to use Dodge a lot, running laps around the school house, and Arrjee even showed me some very basic swordsmanship. I had the chance to converse with Quorlin, Wherda, and even her dad.
Our apprenticeship session ended at 14. It had been a very productive session. Running and Dodge ranked to D, and Claw Strike to E. I was sure I was close to leveling, but I chose not to check my level and see how close. I wanted it to sort of surprise me.
What was that Carly Simon song1? “Anticipa-aytion!”
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1 Anticipation © 1971 Carly Simon. Released by Elektra.