The next day, as luck would have it, we had what I could only call a biology class. In short, we were taught the anatomy of monsters and how to harvest their parts. Of course, this included what to look out for when fighting them, but the focus was placed on extraction. On this occasion a carcass was even brought in.

  It caused some chaos and some of the students fainted… I and Magnar were fine, but I couldn’t say the same about the rest. I guess being nobles, it meant they never had to witness something so gory like intestines strewn around or eyes popped out of their sockets due to a smashed skull.

  “Why did you bring this in so… soon?” I asked feeling like it only created a counterproductive situation. The ones that fainted were transported out and this gave me a window to ask.

  “You see we need the students to grow used to this. Most of them were probably never told that the main reason their families are in power is to deal with these beasts. We have faced revolutions before, yet the system returned due to the stronger beasts.”

  “I guess that makes sense…” I said while looking at the corpse.

  It looked similar to a lion, yet its body was black, two white streaks went along its back and connected at the tail tip, which was a made out of a crystal shard. Its chest was sunken in on one side, sign that, together with the damage to the head, told me it was killed using brute force.

  It was a big creature, looking like it would be a bit taller than me if it stood normally on its paws. There were some more crystallized outgrowths on its legs at the joints. The mane was on ash color turning brown. And its intact teeth were pointier than what could be seen at animals on earth.

  “But I have to admit,” continued the professor. “We never quite had a carcass as mangled as this brought in on the first day… They are hurrying things up…”

  “They?”

  “Never mind, it’s not something you should worry about. Since you’re in this class, you are expected to become a noble at some point, if you don’t fall. Worry about your own growth, since only your strength can ensure you’ll be safe.”

  “I… I’ll keep that in mind” I answered, feeling the weight of that reality. I already encountered those bandits…

  I knew that freedom and survival came down to one’s own strength already. ‘And to think I found it exciting before…’ The class resumed with the few that could stay conscious. After came herbology and to top the day a unified version of the two classes that included ores: Materials and Harvesting.

  With the classes out of the way me and Magnar got to work. Up in the tower we started taking of the bad tiles. Magnar was giving me the tiles while I took of the old, cracked ones and replacing them. He couldn’t replace any himself due to his size. He might have just fallen straight through the roof.

  Then we sawed the needed pieces, and I spent a long time adjusting everything to fit perfectly. There was no rubber in this world so I had to make sure the door up here would be shut well, or my entire tower would turn into a giant side draft leaving me cold in the winter.

  We changed two of the planks making up the floor with longer ones. They extend well outside the tower and brought me a good reference for where the supports had to be. Using a wood beam slightly longer than the distance between the support beams of the roof we created a point from which the rope was tied.

  In the rope we tied a short plank that acted as a foothold, and after I went down on it, I waited for Magnar to get down. He grabbed the rope and started pulling on it while taking distance from the tower. This brought me at an angle with the tower. Using a chisel I started sculpting the grooves.

  After they were done, I descended along the rope. Down I took some dust I gathered from cutting the stones mixed it with some water, then brought it up, where I smeared the ends of the beams we were going to use as supports for the balcony.

  I descended again with one beam and fixed it in place, then Magnar handed me the next one. After Magnar brought the horizontal beam and locked it in place. Some nails after and the support was done. I descended again and Magnar threw down the other end of the rope too.

  After coiling the rope and putting it away I went up again. Together we assembled the door and put it in place. Overall, it took us three hours to get everything done, including hammering in laths to close off the space between the inclined roof and the vertical door.

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  We also worked on a window. It was larger than the open arches I had found for windows here at the tower, but I had a reason. I used some tree resin that I heated up and wings from a giant wasp monster to create a glass like material for it. The light now came in naturally during the day.

  Then together with Magnar I brought the nest out of the tower and placed in the middle of the balcony. With all this work done, both of us took a rest and sat on the edge of the balcony, watching the Academy grounds.

  “This is amazing!” Said Magnar. “I didn’t really stand to look out while we worked, but I understand why you planned this now.”

  “Well yeah, I actually spent some time lying on the roof every other night, looking at the sky. Now I won’t have to worry about slipping and falling off anymore.”

  “You worried about that and still did it?”

  “Why don’t you leave later tonight and see for yourself? It’s worth it.”

  “If you say so… I don’t see why not.”

  “I can’t wait to see the sunset from here.”

  “Cato! Magnar! Get down!”

  I looked down to see Casia waving at us. I looked at Magnar, then at the Academy grounds and looked back down at her.

  “You come up! I left the gate open just in case you appeared.”

  Cassia quickly entered and came up the stairs. Her steps were so forceful, sounding up amplified in the mostly empty tower. She came out behind us and I invited her to take a seat by tapping down. There wasn’t a lot of space so she ended up sitting on the side.

  “So what brings you here, shouting like that?”

  “I found a fourth-year student that has experience in setting arrays. He said that you must prepare the materials in advance, and he wants the pay upfront.” She said in one breath.

  “How much?”

  “Three gold coins for his work, the materials can go up to two, but I might be able to get them for one.”

  “You get the materials for me?”

  “Yes. I’d ask father to use his channels, I’m sure he wouldn’t deny this.” She said rapidly.

  “Sure. We’ll see about it. Depends on the materials. If it’s conductors I’ve seen what’s available out here, in the capital. I can do better than most.”

  “You need some gems… those are not something you can easily get and you may be scammed if you try to buy them yourself.” She answered.

  I took a gold coin and put it in her hand. “Here, see how many of them you can get. Come back if you need more. I won’t accept charity from you or your father.”

  “But…”

  “No, no buts. I don’t want to, so I won’t. If you do it and I’m not informed I’ll disregard it since it is a forced favor. I don’t want to hear about it. You are already helping by ensuring quality and a purchase bellow market value. That’s enough.”

  “Alright.” She sighed, her gaze down cast.

  I nudged Magnar, who in turn nudged Cassia making her look up. A smile formed on her lips looking at the sight before our eyes. “I see why you called me up…”

  “Yeah.” I said, feeling content. I still had to forge some more. I needed at least one more gold coin to finish everything, luckily it was not hard to get it. I would have to work hard and hurry since winter was drawing closer, but I’d manage.

  “How’s your progress?” I asked Cassia, knowing she struggled.

  “It’s hard to get the breathing smooth… Each time I focus on it to control it, I lose focus in the center of my head and vice versa… And… I don’t understand what you mean by relaxing the muscles between my legs…” Her cheeks flared as she said the last part.

  “Hm… I thought that would be a problem… Well… don’t worry about it. You might hear about it if they teach anything about the human body. I don’t guarantee it, but you might. Anyway, I’m not exactly comfortable explaining in more detail.”

  “So you can?” Asked Cassia, catching on the nuance of my words.

  “Yes. But there is no need. Just spend some time focusing on the region and tensing the muscles you can sense there. At some point you will figure it out. Your problems are entirely normal. Rather… Magnar’s progress isn’t normal… So don’t worry too much. It will all come together.”

  “If you say so…”

  “It’s meant to be something that anyone can learn. At most I will give you some exercises that you have to do without aether. They use those muscles without you realizing it. If you get some muscular fever, you will gain awareness of them faster… But it will hurt and you might end up walking strange the next day. So… you do them in a day you haven’t visited here, or strange rumors could spread.”

  “What rumors?”

  “Never mind, ask your mother if you must really know. Let’s go in, I’ll show you the exercises.”

  I showed her some lunges and the horse stance. I instructed them to hold each position for as long as possible and persist through the pain when the time comes. The effect would as such be double. Her will being strengthened and her awareness increased as the strain forces the brain to use new muscles to support the tired ones.

  Afterwards we went back to sitting together, watching the sun go down. Cassia left right after sunset, while Magnar waited some more, and we watched the stars together.

  “In Vok’Tar we say that stars are the eyes of our passed ancestors looking down at us.” He says suddenly.

  “Oh?”

  “I never really stopped myself to look up, I never felt worthy to stare back at my ancestors… But now… I’ve learned and seen a lot since leaving home, and especially from you. You really are something else.”

  “I’m just a guy working his ass for his own benefit. I’m working yours too for mine actually… You don’t need to sing me praise. Thanks for your help. It would’ve taken me much longer to do everything by myself.”

  “But you’d have managed.” He said in a flat tone. “You didn’t need me there.”

  “Mah, why are you making it all go ‘cheesy’? I’m happy I got your help! There happy?”

  “’Cheesy’?”

  “Never mind, ignore that.”

  We stood there a bit more, then left me to do my meditation. I rose up as the moon reached the top of the sky and walked inside. Little did Magnar know, his help was the only thing that allowed me to finish everything before winter hit.

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  ?? Author's Question:

  The Trio (Cato, Magnar, Cassia) is finally solidifying. Magnar brings strength, Cato brings brains, and Cassia brings... connections? Do you think she needs to bring more to the table to truly be an equal, or is her political influence enough?