Chapter Forty Eight
Maryam looked upon Shuka in shame, utter humiliation. She didn’t want to believe it was true, but she could not deceive her own eyes. She had been beaten by the most unlikely of people. Well, second unlikeliest, right behind Xorvos. Still, no one could have seen this coming. Shuka had gotten a tattoo before her.
“How could this have happened? I’m the punk, not you, you’re stealing my thing here.” Maryam half yelled at her friend.
“Is it really stealing your thing if you haven’t even gotten a tattoo yourself yet? And besides, I don’t think it’s even really a tattoo, more like some… magic paint stuff.”
“Oh come on, it’s totally a tattoo. In spirit if nothing else at least.”
It certainly looked like one. The smoky depiction of the murder of crows and their flame-wreathed leader certainly didn’t look like tribal war paint, it had all the designs of a real tattoo.
Didn’t she get this from some tribal shaman? I guess he adapted his art for the city.
“As for me not getting a tattoo myself, I’ve got a reason for that.” Maryam continued. “My dragon transformation messes them up. When my skin turns into scales the ink doesn’t change with it so I just lose it when I change back. Even my hair dye had to be specially made so it doesn’t get messed up if I go too far.”
Although now that I think about it, I never actually tried getting a tattoo, did I? Mom just told me it wouldn’t work and made me special hair dye, but she might’ve just lied to me so I wouldn’t get a tattoo behind her back.
“If it makes you feel any better, I will be hiding it most of the time.” Shuka told the despondent woman. “I don’t want Ralisdor to know I have it, at least not until he finds out about it himself. It is meant to track him after all.”
“That’s a shame, it’s a sick tattoo. If I got it I would never wear sleeves again.”
Shuka blushed a bit, embarrassed, and rolled her sleeve down to cover the art on her skin. She then put on a pair of practical gloves since part of the tattoo reached her hand, and finished off with a leather arm guard, a standard part of her outfit anyway as an archer. The end result was perfectly in line with what she normally wore, she didn’t even have to find any new clothing, it was all stuff she already had. Admittedly, she didn’t always wear the gloves, but it was hardly odd for her to. With all of that out of the way, Shuka, Maryam, and Xorvos were all ready to leave. Apparently, Asheli would be tailing them as well, but if any of them saw her then she wouldn’t be doing her job properly. The three friends left the guild and made their way to the monastery, following the written directions that Asheli gave them.
*
Luckily the monastery wasn’t all that far away. As much as Asheli told them that she would make sure Validus wouldn’t find them during their excursion, Maryam knew even an ordinary city guard could cause them trouble and didn’t want to push their luck. The monastery was a simple building, large, but not overly decorated. Rather than having two or more stories to it like many other of the larger buildings in Sidus, the monastery stayed a single story, expanding outwards instead of upwards. The doors of its entrance were open and men and woman entered and left the building as they pleased, implying at least that it was open to the public. The three friends took this as an open invitation to enter and wander the halls along with the rest of the building's inhabitants. Most of the people Maryam saw in the monastery didn’t even look like monks. Sure, there was the occasional bald-headed man in simple robes with a serene expression, but it was mostly just… people. And people of all sorts as well, from peasant farmers to fancy nobles, even what looked like a mage, they all mingled together in this one place. Eventually, the group wandered into a courtyard at the center of the monastery. The courtyard was a peaceful place, soft grass covered the ground interrupted only by wooden pathways and a single large tree in the center. Several groups of people were relaxing on the grass, some chatting quietly with each other, but others were content to simply lay in the grass and exist. In the courtyard, Maryam saw Arlom, sitting cross-legged alone on the grass with his eyes closed. Wasting no time at all, Maryam strode up to him and pointed down towards the meditating monk.
“You owe me a duel, fight me!”
Arlom opened his eyes and looked up towards the girl before him. Her statement had attracted attention, as it was the loudest thing that had happened in the courtyard all day, but Arlom didn’t seem too perturbed by it.
“Very well. But not here. This is a place of peace and relaxation. I will bring you to the sparring room, and we may duel there.”
“Yeah, alright. But it better be an actual duel, not that pretend fight you gave Xorvos before.”
“It will be. Ah, and speaking of Xorvos, I see he came as well. And is that the witch Shuka? Bold of you to come to the monastery, but I see you are rather apprehensive, so perhaps it was not your idea.”
Shit, he recognized Shuka that quickly? She has her illusion up, and he hasn’t even met her before. Is he gonna turn her in? Wasn’t he helping Validus or something? No, wait. Asheli wouldn’t have sent us here if he was likely to be our enemy, and she would intervene if things do go south.
“You're not going to tell Validus are you?” Maryam asked. “I came here to fight you not him.”
“Many a criminal have found themselves within these halls and never have I brought the law upon them. But neither have I granted them sanctuary. I will grant each and every one of you the advice I believe you need to grow, but if Validus finds you here you will not be protected.”
Arlom was getting up now, seemingly unworried about the wanted criminal before him. His reasoning seemed a bit weird to Maryam, but what mattered was it seemed like he wasn’t going to do anything about Shuka. The monk got up and walked out of the courtyard. Maryam followed.
“So not doing anything about criminals, I can understand for some people, but all criminals? Are you trying to redeem them or something?”
“Redeem them? No, although that does happen on occasion. I simply wish for them to become the best version of themselves that they can be. Sometimes that is an upstanding citizen, and sometimes that is a better criminal.”
Whatever answer Maryam might have expected from the kindly monk, it certainly wasn’t that.
“You help them be better criminals? How? By giving them tips on how to break the law?”
“No, of course not. Breaking the law is their expertise, not mine, I could hardly advise them on such a matter. And besides, that would be missing the point. I do not help them break the law, I help them be who they want to be. I could help a master thief by knocking out all of the guards before a heist, but then he would be less of a thief than if he had stolen it on his own. What I would do instead is give him advice so he may improve his own skills and take on such a challenge himself. Do you understand?”
“I… think so? Aren’t you buddies with Validus though? I can’t imagine he would be too happy with you giving thieves pep talks.”
“You are right, he wouldn’t be. But he doesn’t know of the worst of the people I have helped, and the more benign cases he sees as attempts at redemption. What few cases he knows about and disagrees with me on are overlooked due to the large amount of good people I help become better. Of course what counts as a good person or a bad person depends on one's perspective, but even to Validus’ rather strict sensibilities the bad people that I assist are a minority.”
Stolen story; please report.
No wonder Asheli wasn’t worried about sending us to this guy, even with the curse I doubt he would kick us out. Then again, I wonder what his limit is? It’s one thing to help out a thief, but what about a serial killer, or mass murderer? Would he help Sandrin too? Well, not directly from the sounds of it so I don’t think we have to worry too much, but still. If there is no one he won’t help, then how much can we trust him?
*
Arlom stood in the training hall of his monastery, facing off against the dragon-blooded woman called Maryam. Draconists, he believed people like her were called, but he couldn’t be sure, she was the first he had met. It was an interesting set of problems she had, a love for magic that warped her own mind.
She will need to learn to control how her mind is warped or one day she will make a mistake while not in her right mind and come to resent her own powers. Or herself. It does seem as though she has already started to learn control at least, but her journey is yet incomplete. Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself, she won’t listen to a word I say until I give her the fight she seeks. Especially since it seems my words from before put her on edge.
“Let us set down some rules of engagement first shall we?” Arlom started. “First of all, no injuries that cannot be healed by a single potion of healing.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I doubt I’ll even be able to touch you, so this is basically just a benefit for me. You gonna provide the potions?”
“Yes. Second of all, we will have three rounds of combat.”
Maryam visibly deflated at that, as if three rounds wasn’t plenty. She didn’t voice her complaints though, so Arlom continued.
“Lastly, I will limit myself to ki circulation, and not expend my ki using any techniques.”
“What? You’r gonna hold back? I thought you said you were going to fight me seriously!”
“I did and I will. But if I don’t limit myself somewhat then I fear you would be rather disappointed with your duels with me.”
“Ugh, fine. I guess it would be a bit annoying if you just took me out with a single blow every time. But you better not just let me win.”
Should I let her win? Hmm… no. It seems her love of battle is greater than her desire for victory. She is not so prideful as to let a loss against an opponent she knows is greater than her get her down.
“I won’t. Now, prepare yourself. We begin in three… two… one.”
Maryam scrambled to apply her spells to herself before the countdown finished and only managed to cast one before the match started. Arloms keen eyes saw that it was a physical enhancement spell, similar in nature to ki circulation.
Smart move. She knows I surpass her in skill, but if I surpassed her in physical ability as well then she truly would have no chance.
With Maryam still reeling from the sudden start, Arlom took the first move, dashing up to the draconist and launching a lightning-quick punch to her face. The attack landed, but his follow up attack was blocked by a circular disc of force that Maryam conjured to protect herself. The hastily made shield cracked, but held, and she quickly took a few steps back and interposed the shield spell between herself and Arlom.
She’s not bad at casting through pain, not many mages can cast a shield spell while getting punched. Let’s see how she handles feints.
Arlom approached her again, but this time she was more prepared for it. Following the trajectory of Arloms next punch, Maryam moved her shield to block while she readied an attack of her own. Her attack never landed though, as Arloms punch turned into a kick. She saw the feint before it landed, but lacked the ability to dodge or block it, so instead she continued her attack, swiping at Arlom with an open hand as she got kicked in the ribs. Her swipe was blocked with one hand, while the other smacked her across the face. Maryam took a step back in an attempt to regain her composure, but Arlom refused to relent, launching a series of four blows against her, only one of which was blocked by her shield, although it shattered from the impact. Miraculously, she was still conscious and even managed to cast a spell through the pain. A dome of force erupted out from her, causing Arlom to retreat, or be pushed away forcibly. The dome stayed, and it was solid.
A dome shield, is she looking to buy herself some time? That’s the worst thing to give a spellcaster, I will have to do something about this.
Focusing inward on himself, Arlom sensed the ki flowing through his veins. Its nature was that of wind, fast and free. But wind blew across and around obstacles, not through them. What he need now was a raging torrent of water, no, a thundering rockslide of earthen power. Pure strength and destruction is what he desired, and his ki obliged. It took but a moment to change the nature of his ki, a technique that most failed to master. Maryam was in the middle of casting a spell from inside her dome, but Arlom wasn't going to let her finish. After a small windup, the monk sent his fist straight through the barrier and into his opponent's gut. Whatever spell she was preparing fizzled out as she collapsed to the ground.
“I believe this first match goes to me.”
“Y-yup… can I have that potion now?”
“Of course.”
Arlom handed a potion to the crumpled figure on the ground. Even Maryams boundless enthusiasm for combat wasn’t enough for her to continue as she was.
Did I go too far with that last attack? I should have probably gone for the raging torrent rather than the rockslide. Well, I suppose she won’t complain about me taking it easy against her now.
Maryam had finished her potion by now and had a few things to say.
“You asshole, you were going easy on me!”
…Perhaps I have underestimated her.
“I did no such thing. I fought you to the best of my ability within the limitations I set for myself.”
“Bullshit! That last punch was way stronger than the rest. Either you were holding back until then, or you broke your rule about not doing anything more powerful than ki circulation.”
“I did neither of those things.” Arlom explained. “At the start of the fight I focused the nature of my ki circulation towards speed and agility, as was smart against an aggressive opponent. When I found you in a more defensive position, I changed my ki’s nature to power and strength. It may seem like I grew stronger with no drawbacks, but it came at the cost of my speed. That attack would have been easily dodged were you not concentrating on your casting.”
Maryam gave the monk a skeptical look, considering whether to believe him or not. Xorvos, who had been watching the match from the sidelines, was simply curious.
“You can change what your ki does for you? I thought your ki reflected yourself.”
“It does. What I did was change the self that my ki reflected, and thus, the ki changed with me.”
Maryam wasn’t particularily happy about his answer, but she let it go.
“Ahh, whatever fine. Let’s just start the next round already, I wanted an explanation, not a lesson.”
“Very well.”
Arlom got into position as Maryam did the same. The physical enhancement spell she had applied on herself before was gone, but the consequences of her spellcraft remained. Her arms were fully scaled and horns grew prominently from her skull. If one looked closely, they would also find sharpened teeth turning into fangs.
Lets see how her transformation changes her fighting style. Will it prove itself to be a benefit, or detriment?
“3… 2… 1, begin!”
The moment Arlom began counting, Maryam started to cast a spell, the very same spell she attempted to cast using the dome. Arlom didn’t know where she got the idea that the countdown was to be used for casting buffs, but he wasn’t going to stop her. She would need every advantage she could get. It took the entire three seconds for the draconist to finish her spell, but when she did the effects were obvious. Every movement Maryam made was sped up, even down to her breathing, it was a haste spell.
How troubling, a properly cast haste spell would make her faster than even me, if only by a bit. Overwhelming her with speed won't work this time, I will have to fight defensively and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.
A wide grin crossed Maryams face as she realised her spell worked, and as Arlom wasn’t coming at her this time, she went to him. Or at least, she tried to. Not used to the spell, Maryam tripped over her own feet not even two steps into her dash towards her opponent. Tumbling to the ground, and then rolling a few extra feet due to the added momentum her hast spell gave her, Maryam ended up landing flat on her face at Arloms feet. Now, Arlom only considered himself honourable while in honourable company, of which Maryam wasn’t, but striking her as she was now seemed a bit far, even for him. She didn’t even have her haste spell anymore, it disappeared halfway through the roll. Weakly, and without lifting her face from the floor, Maryam called out to Arlom.
“Can I have a redo?”
“…Yes.”
Not another word was spoken of the unfortunate mishap. Although much was thought of it, by everyone in the room.
She must have very recently learned that spell if she couldn’t even run in a straight line without tripping. This was probably the first time she used it in a combat situation. She also seemed a bit slower than I was expecting, perhaps she miscast it and that contributed to her lack of control. She also lost concentration on it from a simple tumble when before she was taking direct hits to the face while keeping her spells up. The spell is obviously not ready for a real fight yet, but then that’s what sparring is for. Every flaw I’ve stated she already knows herself, and she also knows that the solution is as simple as practice. I don’t think I need to tell her anything, at least in regards to her haste spell.
“Round two will start in three… two… one, begin!”