“Thank you for intervening, but… You should really work on your tone.”
“That is not quite how one is supposed to apologize or give thanks.”
“Why is your speech so damn refined all of a sudden? You almost punched the teeth out of my mouth when we met the first time…”
“It was for the same kind of rude behavior you’re displaying now.”
“You’re the one that called me dirty without even giving me a good look…”
“Who even taught you to retort?”
“No one, it’s a natural skill that I take pride in.”
“You really shouldn’t… It lacks class and it feels dumb…” She said with a slowly fading smirk. “And annoying because you keep poking at the truth.”
“That’s why it’s fun, for me at least.”
“You’re weird.”
“Not the first time I’ve been told that… Welp, better weird than ordinary…”
“I don’t know about that…”
“Anyway, to get back on track. I’m here ‘cause I need the schedule…”
“I was headed for the medicine ward to see you actually. I knew you’d start classes soon, just wasn’t expecting you out of bed so soon.” Her eyes locked on me and seemed to evaluate me, as if she suddenly realized my presence, was an anomaly.
“What can I say… I’m tougher than I look…”
“Here is the schedule, don’t lose it. Also, make sure you correct your attitude, or you’ll suffer for it.””
“I’ll see about it. I’m going to make myself gone then. Have a nice evening…”
"Come again tomorrow, I have your uniform too, anyway… I bid you good evening, Cato. May your rest be... undisturbed."
‘Damn she really throws me off switching like that…’ I left quickly. ‘I think she’s toying with me…’ As I made my way back light reflected from a fountain pierced my eyes. The sun was setting, magnified by the atmosphere, it looked like a giant blob of molten metal that was spreading itself, rolling thickly over the horizon.
The red rays where hitting the droplets spread by the fountain, making the light disperse in all directions. The thin mist present around was as such colored in a glowing blood red. It greatly contrasted with the white fountain and its golden finishings. It all looked like a huge goblet filled with misting blood.
I sighed. In the end extravagance led to this kinds of views… ‘Can I really blame anyone for pursuing beauty?’ I stood there looking at the fountain until the shadows swallowed it snuffing out the glow. ‘It’s not the pursuit of beauty that is the problem… But the means through which it’s sustained are!’
Newfound resolution filled me as this revelation left by the setting sun sunk in. I walked faster, my feet steadier. Just like this step by step, I’ll build a flawless view of the world. Is it going to help anyone? Probably not. Yet, it will allow me to uphold my values without hypocrisy.
I reached the tower after darkness embraced the land. Stars twinkled above my head as the moon spread its soft glow. I opened the small gate again, it creaked horribly, fact I ignored earlier. ‘Should get some grease or oil to rid myself of this squeak… Should lubricate the lock too, might make it easier to twist the key…’
The damp smell of rot and mold was mostly gone by now. I went up to the attic, made my way past the abandoned nest and leaned my back against the roof. The cool night breeze brushed me as my eyes settled on the distant stars.
The same sky covered Rovandel… I reminisced about the days in that village, mostly Fjorn’s angry roars in the forge came to mind… a chuckle escaped my lips… thinking to the new floors in the tower, my fathers concern for me came to mind. ‘Look where all the stuff I learned helps me…’
A small tear trickled down my cheek, unnoticed at first. I raised my hand and touched the path the tear went down on… I looked up and chuckled again. ‘I really did become their son in the end…’
I let my hand settle over my chest, above the heart. Closing my eyes I started meditating under the gentle radiance of the moon. Slow even breaths that went deep without overexerting my lungs. I first cast my attention on my aether pool located in the lower dan tian.
After the fight the shards scattered through the pool regenerated and even grew in volume by about a fingernail. Great progress considering I saw none during over an year. I played a little with it, making it flow through the body. This was a routine I designed so I could increase my maximum instant output, no idea if it helped, but it was more than nothing and put my mind at ease.
I focused. My attention like a beam and a blanket simultaneously. The noise and excited vibration of aether faded out, soon the internal landscape as I was used to observing it came into view. Once again, I grinded out the mapping of the luo meridians. There was no way around this…
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From the heart to the yellow court. This was my current focus. After all these were meridians that would come in handy regardless of Kan Li or any other method. Slowly I probed forward. Keeping my mind clear I followed the complex paths one by one. For now, I did not focus on their complex depths. The surface layer alone twisted, curved and took countless turns.
My progress slowed down, darkness flickering over my internal sight. Clear sign of exhaustion. The whispers of the wind, glaring in my ear together with the coldness of the tiles. The outer senses that I disconnected from in order to sink my awareness came crashing back in full force.
Rapidly I slipped from the roof back inside the tower and went to the first level. There I laid myself down, in a corner by the wall, away from the broken window and from the door. Using my own hands as a pillow I put my head down to sleep.
The hardness of the floor kept me up a bit longer. Until now I still had some cover when slipping on hard surfaces. Now however… In my old leather clothes, I was lying on a hard wooden floor in an old tower with a broken roof and shattered windows…
‘I really am in the situation of a beggar… Even worse… I ate nothing since morning… Can’t believe I forgot entirely…’ My stomach growled as hunger clawed at my insides. Unfortunately, it was probably past midnight. No establishment open at this hour would receive a kid.
I closed my eyes, slowed my breathing, yet now I did not gather my focus, and I let myself drift into the sweet embrace of sleep.
Morning came and I was up to an early start. Once I was done with my usual routine I headed out, limping slightly. Once again, I went to the servant ward, this time to ask about a bath… Of course, not little was my disappointment when I found out there was no such thing. All the baths were noble exclusive.
Since that was the case I instead asked for two buckets. One empty one with water and went back to the tower. Quickly I cut more of the weeds, so I’d have more available space. Then taking one of the planks bought yesterday I propped it vertically and, with an aether powered leap, gave it a good smack.
The plank sank into the ground and remained fixed. This was the beauty of sinking something in one strike… If I were to do normally the wood would wobble and vibrate at each strike, pushing the dirt aside and weakening its foundation. There were no such worries in this case, however.
Next, I called out to one of the shards in my aether pool. I brought it above my index finger and concentrated on it. Slowly its form shifted and it turned into a thin drill bit. I spun the aether shard with my mind, drilling clean holes through the wood of the bucket.
I took some nails, the hammer and the bucket and with another leap I was back at the top. I used six nails to fix the bucket on the plank then got down. I put the hammer away, then undressed. Grabbing the full bucket, I leaped again and filled the now fixed bucket.
With all this done I could finally enjoy a shower again. I scrubbed myself as well as I could, but there was no soap, so my hygiene still had ways to go… But I knew how to make soap, that was not a concern in the long run, just an inconvenience in the present.
Using aether to dry myself I went back in. I took the papyrus from Cassia and opened it. The first class today would be on arrays… An interesting start for me… I took out my second set of clothing and got dressed.
I locked the door of my courtyard happily. Making my way to the classroom I realized that perhaps this would be the first time I touched anything that I could infer nothing on. No idea of what to expect either, novels in my past life had a talent to skip over any details related to how an array would work while I had no time to focus on Fengshui…
Any other type of array either sounded sketchy or required a big investment in gemstones… Which was still sketchy. Then came what was considered high magic arrays… Those I had no way to set up, not now or back then and as such couldn’t check their effectiveness… So, I never bothered learning them.
Needless to say, that novel arrays and esoteric or occult arrays or formations are entirely different. No relationship whatsoever between them… At most some of them were inspired by Solomonic magic, but that is as far as they go.
I reached the venue of the course. A big auditorium like room. Seats cascading down to the center. The arched lines of seats were interrupted by one central staircase that led from the podium to the back of the class. A big stone block was placed on the podium to act like a desk.
I went and sat in the front row. No phones to distract me here, might as well pay attention. After about half an hour of waiting the door opened again. A wall of muscles entered. He swept the room with his eyes then his gaze returned to me.
Long brown hair sticking out wildly, wide shoulders and thick arms. If not for his face giving away how young he was I’d say he’s an adult. His nose was big, wide and sharp, his eyes looked a bit sunken, his brows were stuffy yet ended sharply. Gem like blue eyes, shadowed by a flat, short and straight forehead. A jaw well defined and a wide chin.
His entire body screamed of raw power. The kind of physique that on Earth would attract a lot of women. He wore the sleeves of the uniform’s shirts rolled up above his elbows, his thick hands and robust forearms in full view.
“Hi!” He said. His voice had a higher pitch than expected. Not enough to be comical though, just enough for his imposing momentum to shatter.
“Hey! Are you a beastman?” I asked. In this world Dwarfs and Beastmen were just humans that evolved differently. So, I hoped my question wouldn’t be found rude. I did try to keep a low, relaxed tone too.
“Yes, I am! Problems?” ‘Ufff… Still touched a nerve…’
“No, no… I never saw one before that’s all. You look… strong…”
“Of course I do!” He said, his voice raising slightly as he pushed out his chest. “Since when are you here? Until now I was the first to arrive to the lessons. Also… I don’t remember seeing you these past two days…”
“I was in the medicine ward… Got some ugly injuries on the way here…”
“I remember I heard something like that… What’s your name?” His eyes flickered with eagerness… Come to think of it… What did the others say about me? Are they all in the same class? Are they in the same class with me?
Looking at the guy in front of me I spotted a golden thread on the pocket of his vest… It was a sign of nobility… But noble classes were supposed to be separated from commoner ones… ‘Why the hell is he here… Unless array theory is elective? But it mostly requires chest cored individuals to set up arrays from what Eld-Mother told me…’
“Cato.” I answered, feeling that something was wrong…
“Uncle Garrick told me about you! Come here in this class if anyone finds trouble with you, I’ll pummel th—” His fiery, passionate outburst was interrupted.
A loud bang was heard and the guy was thrown forward.
“Move you oversized oaf! Don’t block the door!” A sour deep voice came from the hallway. Then a pipsqueak made his way in. He also wore a golden thread. He threw me a glance then went to the back of the class.
I jumped over the bench and helped the big guy up.
“You had it coming…” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “What’s your name?” I asked while leading him to the first row.
“Magnar…” He said in a spiteful tone. Then he shouted. “Don’t let me catch you at practical training, Elian!”
“Pfff… Waiting for it.”
We all sunk into silence as we took our seats and waited. Soon more people poured in. After another half an hour the teacher came in. Finally, the juicy stuff comes.
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