Shortly after training, they called it a night and slept well on the quiet farm. Four hours later, they both woke at approximately the same time. It was honestly difficult to tell who was up first. The Karmic Bond made them continually aware of each other’s surface thoughts, feelings, and location. While they both slept less in the wake of their first Attunement, they still slept enough to know that the Bond remained active during sleep.

In fact, Josh remembered several vague dreams involving an intimate liaison with a tall, Jaralon female he was pretty sure was Damni. Knowing it for the symptoms and expression of a broken heart—which the 44 year old divorce held a pro ranking in himself—Josh never mentioned it and tried to keep it from his thoughts. He’d gone through enough emotional fallout of his own to know bringing it up would only make things worse for Sen. Josh also couldn’t help but wonder if Sen had dreamt his own dreams about playing and snuggling with Sophie some nights.

The local orange sun and the body of the gas giant were still below the horizon, so it was dark when they got about the chore of fencing in another several acres of plowed land. Afterward, they repaired fencing on two other fields and penned and unpenned several herds of livestock. They finished without too much difficulty before heading into town. Still, Josh had to promulgate Gusti’s boxer-short earth-shield configuration two different times to save his last Hegemon crew-jumper from the short-tempered bovinas horns to his rear. The work was simple and repetitive. So, it allowed Sen to continue work on his Essence Efficiency skill and Josh to focus on Earth-shield propagation in full and partial expressions.

With their schedules planned in advance, Josh and Sen couldn’t help but fall into a pattern of productivity as the next several weeks passed by. Working with Jorng’a had gone as expected. Sen and Josh alternated duties in the shop and back inside the forge, hauling ore, working the bellows, and bringing water for quenching. They also learned a bit about weapons, prices, smithing, and were both able to recognize the personal signs and aspects of the various weapon users. At day’s end, they were each covered in soot and with several new burns, cuts, and bruises in different stages of healing. They cycled Essence to the wounds they hadn’t been fast enough to shield themselves from. Overall, they considered working in the smith as a good training opportunity.

Jorng’a treated them fairly. For what he called a solid work ethic, he even awarded each a mag-harness with Essence-powered stones on a back-mounted leather strip to hold their swords in place. By cutting the flow of Essence, the sword released from its hold, avoiding the difficulties of drawing the longer blades from either a belt or back-mounted sheath.

Concerning their other employers, Sen spoke little about his experiences with Bulgonto. All that came through their Bond about it were a series of nightmare images of cramped spaces filled with mandibles and splashes of insect ichor. That had been more than enough to give Josh the shivers. Sen would talk about it if he wanted to. It was different for Josh. He found a great deal of personal interest in time spent at Myrina’s shop.

At their first meeting, the Jaguar Affin had plainly informed him, “As an Inscriber, I enhance spirit beings with Essence-guiding sigils. Not inanimate objects. That is purely the domain of those stuffed-shirt Enchanters, who—as a group, lack imagination.” Her feline nose pruned up in distaste at even the thought of them. “We do real work here.” She smiled as she guided him into her place.

Myrina’s studio gave off the air of a high-end yurt that somehow had found its way to Beverly Hills. Definitely for those that slummed the posh side of the shabby chic. She had multicolored crystals hanging to augment Essence flow. Thick carpets made walking barefoot more comfortable. Myrina elaborated that comfort was absolutely necessary to get a suitable Inscription result.

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After spending several days with the casual Affin, Josh was confident that the atmosphere in her shop was due more to her personal preferences than any specific inscription requirements.

Inscribers created Essence-guiding and Enhancing Arrays on living tissue. This usually took the form of tattoos for most sapients. However, in the Clan, a large part of Myrina’s job was to brand beasts and prize animals to enhance strength, endurance, fertility, growth, etcetera. The client named the quality they wanted to improve in their beast, and Myrina would do it.

As her grunt-level labor, it was Josh’s job to sedate, if possible, and secure the beasts before their Inscription. More than once, he’d ended up with hoof-print-shaped bruises over most of his chest and face. He also had to clean up after them, but no job was perfect. He reminded himself it was the sapient side of Inscription that interested him the most. Josh had seen Myrina increase everything imaginable on the Sundai clans-people. Speed, strength, endurance, vitality, intelligence, wisdom, charm, birth control, and fertility. It was similar to her work with animals in that all the client needed to do was identify what area needed improvement and she could target that aspect with her Inscriptions. One male Shrew Affin had even arrived asking for two extra inches... which was promptly accepted and done in private along with the exchange of a large, clinking sack of coins.

When Josh started showing increased interest in what the studio offered its patrons, Myrina had been upfront and clear with him.

Leaning against the shop’s counter, she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at him. “Josh... let’s talk about the eclipse-mammoth in the room.”

Josh slowed down the movements of his mop from the previous blood-cleansing of an unhousebroken stallion and nodded his assent.

Myrina returned his nod and continued. “At your level of Attunement, you could not withstand any Inscription worth having.” Josh raised his hand and Myrina minutely shook her head in the negative to continue as if reading his mind. “–Even a couple extra inches Josh.”

Josh put his hand down. “That… wasn’t what I was about to ask!–

“–And no, giving you a small starter inscription, you ‘can handle’...” She made quotation marks with her hand in the air and then folded them over her chest again. “And then redoing it later when your power has increased is always a risky business. Some Inscriptions can’t be reversed or even removed if you change the direction of your Cultivational focus.”

Josh reached his hand up to interject again.

She cocked her eyebrow and her right feline ear perked up as she continued, again addressing his unspoken question. “I can only recommend that Cultivation-impacting Inscriptions be left for well after you are finished with the foundation of Spherical Cultivation and have your Tetrahedral Core.”

Josh’s countenance darkened and he was about to interrupt.

Myrina put both of her hands out before her. “That is the time when Cultivators combine their four Primary Attunements and prepare for their Octahedral Core. It is the true first step in narrowing your Path toward Transcendence.”

Hearing about the actual steps of Cultivation in a perfunctory manner perked Josh up and he leaned forward with a wide grin on his face with his best lawyerly manner.

Without missing a beat in the conversation, Myrina raised a warning finger with one claw extended to him, closing Josh’s mouth instantly.

“Let’s stay on topic, Josh, and think logically. There is no point in Inscribing increased Essence flow to your torso Meridians for better skill with melee arms if you’re going to become mage-focused and need increased corporeal Essence-expression through your Mind-Core junction now is there?”

Josh frowned as he considered her words. She was right. He had no idea which way he was going to go at this point, did he? Then Josh’s face brightened. She was right about the Inscriptions. sure... He needed to wait until his Path was chosen. But... Myrina could give him some insight his options by explaining the steps of Cultivational so he knew what he was supposed to be doing and looking for—

Seeing that Josh had obviously accepted her logic and wouldn’t be hounding her for placing an Inscription that could do more harm than good to his ultimate Path, Myrina’s whisker rose in a small smile, and she nodded. “Smart thinking, Josh! You have a good head on your shoulders... Now, considering that other topic, let’s not forget that I am paying the cobres for your service—not the other way around. Besides...” Myrina’s nose crinkled, and she adopted a subtle, businesslike frown. “The droppings from that stallion we just branded with running speed are ripening and you need to get them out of here. My younger cousin is going to drop by soon. She has a few questions for you about your friend... Senyak?” She raised her eyebrows with a commanding, yet crooked smile. “Is that his name?”

Josh smiled sheepishly and complied. He’d not been blind toward Myrina’s younger cousin ‘noticing’ Sen. If there was a possible love connection for Sen to be had... Josh’s questions could wait. After all, Josh and Sen had a long time before narrowing their four-primary Attunements at the Tetrahedral Cultivation level.