Chapter 2-26

Finding out who among the company wished to expand their skills to less militant pursuits was simple. Cato had already gathered them into a sort of informal cadre. Not intentionally, as it turned out, but just in the course of casual conversations around the campfires as we traveled.

I was completely unsurprised to learn that he was interested in utilizing sorcery in cultivating plants, and woodworking. That desire was exactly why I’d invited him to the meeting in the first place. I was surprised to discover that Hati had some basic knowledge of smithing, and an intense desire to expand her skills.

“My father was a smith.” She informed me when I asked about it. “He’s the one I got my size from, but he didn’t want to teach me, or see me work a forge. I learned some just to spite the stubborn ass.”

“Well, your earth affinity will assist in metalworking for certain.” I told her. “You might even be able to refine your aspect to assist you further. And I believe that smelting riversteel usually involves a combination of aspects, including earth and wood. If you learn to make and work with that, you’ll be the envy of any unawakened smith.”

Her smirk told me that she was already way ahead of me.

Beyond Hati and Cato, a handful of others were eager to learn such skills. Even more of the company was at least willing. Petad leapt at the chance to guide us into more mercantile pursuits, which at first I believed was motivated by greed. Myta corrected my assumptions, however. Her mother was attempting to push her away from danger, using the company as a proxy.

“I can’t really fault her for that, my flame.” I told her gently. “It’s natural to want to protect our loved ones, especially if we’ve failed to do so in the past. I’m not saying that it’s correct or reasonable for her to try to shelter you at this point. But you can see it as a sign of concern, so long as she doesn’t take it to the point of sabotage.”

“She might,” Myta muttered. “We’ve been camped at Seto for a week, and she keeps arranging these lessons. We need to leave soon if we want to attend the clan moot.”

“Do we want to?” I glanced at Sati, who was walking with us, and she smiled as I did so. Over the course of the week I’d made a point of asking her opinion on these sorts of political matters. Her views on such things always struck me as insightful and reasonable, which made me all the more curious about how the Pure had fooled her so thoroughly before.

“We should,” the apsara responded. “At the least we will want to take the measure of all the clan representatives and make our presence known, even if we do decide to focus on the smaller clans and the Ootrin border.”

“Alright.” I looked at Myta. “Tell Petad specifically not to schedule anything else that might delay us further. We leave in, three more days?”

“That will run close, but should give us enough time. We’ll be there for the last few days of the moot. Assuming that we’re only attacked once on the way, and the weather is kind.”

“I still don’t think we’ll be attacked again before Balrua.” I said. “Entreyu might be petty and irrational, but even he won’t throw away all his resources in Ramana just to spite us. And he can’t have enough here to think that it would be anything but throwing them away.”

“Perhaps.” Myta’s response was ****.”But if he gathered any forces to attack the moot…”

“Then he is exactly petty enough to redirect them against us. I know.” I grunted in frustration. “He’s too unpredictable. We just need to press forward and be on our guard. How is the company taking to their training?”

“Well,” Myta said, accepting my diversion. “Cato and the others with wood aspects have all focused on shaping and growing plants. A few with earth aspects have also done well with shaping. Cato and Hati have both been declared competent enough at infusing to practice on their own. Most of my fire aspected fighters are lagging behind, but I have one who can help with infusing as well.”

“I could have taught our people about infusing.” I grumbled. “I taught you already. Even if you don’t care to use it much.”

“As you say, master.” Myta was unperturbed. “But you said yourself that shaping is outside your expertise. And having you teach the combat applications and internal uses of mana has been far more valuable. You just don’t trust anyone else.”

“I can’t argue that.” I sighed. “Sometimes I feel like a sage among children in this land. So few sorcerers seem to understand how they do what they do. Other times I feel like an idiot child.” My eyes were drawn to Sati, who smirked at me.

“My father snaps up everyone who shows real talent for his court. And they either excel or die quickly there. I wonder why he left you alone for so long?” Her tone dripped with innocent curiosity, daring me to call her out for the implied jab. I felt Myta’s amusement, despite my flame’s blank expression.

Sati and I had become much more comfortable over the past week. Especially as I’d helped her and Guta develop their sorcery. Her attitude had become increasingly playful, and her confidence had become more solid as I’d consulted her. That had brought out more of a playful streak in her, deliberately insubordinate, and just short of disrespectful.

It was clear she wanted to provoke a reaction from me, but I was putting off my response until after we left Seto. We’d have plenty of time, and more privacy, while we were traveling. I wanted both, while we felt out the boundaries of our developing connection.

“Oh I’m sure I was simply beneath his notice.” I responded. “Which makes sense, as I prefer taking a more hands-on approach to dealing with issues that his court sees as beneath them.”

I imagined my hands resting heavily on her shoulders, fingers pressing into her collarbones, grazing her throat. Sati’s breath hitched, and she shivered as she felt the impact of my visualization. Myta looked over and smirked, but didn’t comment on our byplay.

“In any case,” my flame resumed the conversation. “We should be able to grow crops, construct buildings, and even create mildly enhanced gear by the time we reach the moot. Not as effectively as a specialized sorcerer, but far more effectively than the unawakened. I’ve no idea how that compares to the skills of the druids.”

“The druids evoke slower, far reaching effects.” I replied. “And they use runes to enchant items. I don’t know how the runes work, but they don’t really have an equivalent to heavily infused gear. If you give a druid time, they can summon a storm or an earthquake, but they won’t shape the ground or hurl a bolt of lightning from their hand. They can bless fields, sometimes entire regions with incredible vitality, but they can’t individually shape or grow plants.”

“It seems strange, that their abilities are so different,” Myta mused. “Convenient for us though. They do use mana don’t they, just differently?”

“They do,” I confirmed. “Some sorcerers doubt that, because they don’t seem to have a presence, but I’ve examined their spirit forms before. They still resist being directly affected by sorcery, and they leave spirits when they die. Only the awakened leave spirits behind.”

The allotted three days passed, and we left Seto ten days after we had arrived. More of the goats were pulling carts now, loaded down not just with our rations, but also with the other goods we intended to trade or utilize. I’d had Petad scour the city for any seeds of infused plants that she could find, and our quartermaster had succeeded beyond my highest expectations.

Then, loaded with food, infused gear, and other resources, we set forth for Balrua.

The trip east was pleasant, idyllic even, despite the potential for an ambush at any moment. I waited for two days to ensure that the company’s routine was set before I began to speak with Myta about the next stage of her development. I had Sati join in my lessons as well, as she’d requested.

“Your meridians are naturally formed and shaped by your body, and your actions. The more you use a particular area, the stronger your meridians in that area will be.” Myta took in my explanation with an intent gaze, while Sati affected an air of boredom.

“Then why shape them?” Myta asked. “If the meridians you use the most are already strongest, then isn’t that simply the way they should be?”

“That is fine for most sorcerers. But undirected, natural growth can often be improved upon with a little knowledge and planning. It’s the difference between someone simply picking up a spear and stabbing with it, compared to the katas of Sun’s Ray. A martial path is informed by decades or centuries of refinement to shore up weaknesses in the style, or maximize its strengths. Your meridians are the same.”

“So what are the strengths and weaknesses of meridians, master?”

“I’m familiar with this,” Sati chimed in. “Meridians strengthen the type of tissue they pass through, enhancing its strengths, and passing those strengths all throughout your body. It alters your aspect, as well.”

“Very good, little flower.” I nodded as she grinned. “Your central meridian, your trunk, is mostly the same for everyone. But the smaller meridians may be laid along the network of your bones, blood, nerves, or muscles. Each of them enhancing you in different ways.”

“But you’ve told me before that we have hundreds, or thousands of small meridians,” Myta protested. “Why not enhance everything?”

“As your spirit strengthens, your meridians will begin to consolidate. Like small streams merging into a larger river as its bed digs deeper.” I answered. “Your strongest meridians will subsume your weaker ones as they widen, and they become harder to alter the more powerful you become.”

“So how do you wish to shape them, master? What can we do with them? How did you shape yours?” I smiled at her eagerness, and Sati’s barely veiled interest.

“In general, shaping meridians to follow you bones will increase your durability and resistance, making you harder to injure or grapple. Nerves will make you faster, and more graceful, as well as more perceptive. Your muscles will make you far stronger, as well as increasing your resilience to a lesser degree. Aligning with your veins was my choice. That vastly increases your recovery, your ability to heal and restore yourself.”

“There’s no alignment that increases your intelligence?” Sati asked. “It’s probably not too late for you.”

“No.” I smirked at her provocation, but answered her question seriously. “The third eye and crown nodes can both aid with memory, focus, and quick thinking. But experience and discipline are the only cures for foolishness.”

Sati’s breath hitched at my tone, while Myta suppressed a laugh. My lips twitched a little at the apsara’s widened eyes. I’d been largely ignoring her jibes over the past ten days, but our course was set now and we had the relative privacy I’d wanted. She had been all but explicitly asking for me to take her in hand. And I had no more reason to wait.

“For both of you,” I resumed my lesson, “I would recommend a nerve alignment. That, combined with your aspects would make you nearly untouchable in combat. Myta, the muscle alignment would also work well with your combat style.”

“I would prefer the muscle alignment, master.” Myta offered, after a moment of thought. “There have been a few situations where more brute **** would have helped a great deal.”

I looked over at Sati, who had regained her composure. “I have a nerve alignment, but I would be grateful if you could review it for me, sir.”

“Then try to relax, both of you, but son’t enter a deep meditation. This will likely take a couple of hours, and you will need to be fully aware for it.”