“I can live with six days,” Erich said to Michelle. The otter didn’t reply, instead snoring quietly as she somehow managed to nap with her claws still dug into his chainmail.

  “Still,” he continued, walking down the road that led into Kratter, “that brings up the question of what I’m going to do. I can only go shopping so many times without going absolutely barking mad.”

  He reached up to shade his eyes. After so many days of rain, the sun was a welcome change.

  About two hundred feet away a grove of fruit trees grew near the road, surrounded by a low wooden fence. He stepped off the road, walking toward the trees and stopping about ten feet away from the edge of the orchard.

  “Come on,” Erich said, reaching up to pat Michelle gently on the cheek and wake her up. “It’s time for you to hop off. I need to get some practice in.”

  The otter stirred slightly, whimpering quietly as she flexed her paws slightly on Erich’s back, her claws gently poking through the chainmail to prick his skin. They didn’t draw any blood, yet another one of the minor benefits of having a mana enhanced physique, but it was enough to keep the sleeping otter firmly on his mind.

  Chuckling, Erich dropped to one knee reaching behind himself to pick Michelle up. She squirmed unhappily as he set her on the ground in the shade of one of the fruit trees. As Erich stepped away, the otter looked up at him yawning with a bleary look in her eyes and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “Go ahead and take another nap,” Erich said, smiling as he drew his sword. “I just need to get my daily practice in. You can sleep through that if you want, but I just can’t give you a piggy-back ride while I do it, your weight would interfere with my swings.”

  She sniffed, clearly unhappy about being woken up and circled once before finding a spot on the grass that met her standards and laying down, tail looped around to cover her eyes.

  Erich just shook his head. He was a little confused as to how ‘raising a war otter so he could ride it’ had turned into him pampering the furry malcontent, but at the same time her antics were almost a relief. If he stopped even for a moment, the reality of his situation would catch up with him. It’d already happened once back in Madla, and Erich didn’t want to suffer through a moment of emotional weakness like that again if he could help it.

  He took a deep breath, settling into the first stance of Magma Blossom. Erich closed his eyes, letting the world around him fade away. Then, he sprang forward executing a slash and a thrust one after another before transitioning into a blocking routine. His sword went high, angled slightly so that it would deflect a downward chop. Erich swung his elbow down, sweeping the blade in front of himself to parry a straightforward thrust. Finally, his wrist darted downward, blurring through the air in an arc that would stop a low slash at his knees and shins.

  Again, Erich repeated the actions, trying to focus on the precision of his strikes and blocks. Too much strength and he would lose control, overshooting his targets and preventing him from transitioning into the next move in time, too little and his sword wouldn’t arrive with enough speed or force.

  Erich stopped for a breath, sweat starting to bead on his forehead before starting his routine a third time. With his eyes closed he could almost see a shadowy figure in front of him blocking his attacks and counter attacking even as mana began to enter Erich’s sword, causing it to glow a dull red.

  He continued his routine a fourth and fifth time, speeding up his movements slightly with each iteration. By the time Erich had finished his fifth run through the stance, sweat was flowing freely down his face.

  Then, Erich began a sixth through the form. This time, once he finished the low block that signalled the end of the first stance, he adjusted his feet slightly and moved into the second stance.

  His sword slashed horizontally across where an enemy’s midriff would be before flashing upward and coming down in an overhead chop. Erich’s feet shuffled backward and his sword danced through the air in a series of short slashes that could function either as a parry, a feint, or a shallow attack.

  After completing the advanced routine five more times, Erich paused to take a breath. He opened his eyes, his muscles pleasantly warm as he reached up to wipe sweat from his forehead. Already, Michelle had managed to fall asleep.

  “Must be nice,” he muttered to himself as he settled into the first stance of Magma Blossom yet again. Mentally, he sketched out the moves of the first two forms before going over the transition from the second stance into the third.

  He took a deep breath. All he could consistently manage at the moment was Magma Blossom’s first three stances. Erich could perform the moves from the fourth, but they required too much strength and precision for him to handle them smoothly and efficiently. When standing perfectly still, he could execute, but in the midst of an actual fight the attacks would break him out of Magma Blossom, leaving him off balance and vulnerable at a critical moment. With enough practice, Erich should be able to start incorporating them into his routines.

  His sword came up into the first stance’s guard. Time and the outside world faded away as he began to move once again. Warm mana burned through his veins, erasing fatigue even as it empowered each strike, block and thrust.

  About an hour later, Erich came to a stop, sweat covering his body and leaving him as damp as he’d been during Tempest’s constant storms. He flopped onto the ground groaning as he finally started to feel the dull ache that had been growing in his arms and legs from their constant motion.

  He picked up a water skin, spraying his face down before taking a deep drink. The sun was high overhead, shining down through a number of clouds. About a quarter mile away, a trio of cinderborn worked at one of Kratter’s fisheries, one throwing rice into the water while the other harvested fish via a net. The third picked through the fish, tossing females back into the water in between storing the males for processing back in the city.

  One of them leaned down, splashing his companion with some water from the reservoir and starting a brief friendly fight.

  The world was peaceful. There were no armies vying for supremacy. No predators like garr or imps waiting just out of sight to take advantage of the civilians. Just everyday jobs and companionship. It would be beyond easy for him to lean back next to Michelle and take a nap.

  Instead he stood back up, stretching out the small amount of stiffness that had settled into his shoulders while he was sitting down.

  Erich didn’t belong in a peaceful world. As much as he’d like to go back to his days of exploring the hillsides behind Burrwood, that was the past. His path only moved forward, and that meant becoming a proper swordsman, even if he had no idea what a proper swordsman actually was.

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  He chewed on his lower lip for a second. Erich might not know what a ‘proper swordsman’ looked or acted like, but deep down he knew one thing for sure. As useful as the sword form passed down to him by Sathis was, it couldn’t be the end.

  Right now, he was walking another swordsman’s path, and that was wrong on a fundamental level. The fire that burned in his image might be as hot as the lava of Sathis’ eruption, but it wasn’t the same. Ultimately, Erich’s unique image demanded a set of techniques that were tailored to him specifically.

  With a deep breath, he raised his sword into a half guard. His body, acting on muscle memory, tried to settle into the first stance of Magma Blossom, but he fought it. There would be time to mesh his abilities together later. For now, the focus needed to be on actually developing something of his own. Everything else was secondary.

  Erich lunged forward, thrusting his sword into the empty air. The movement felt clumsy, his arm flopping needlessly and the tip of his blade wavering back and forth. He pulled his sword back and tried again, this time keeping his elbow closer to his body.

  The attack was tighter with less wasted energy. The point of Erich’s sword still vibrated back and forth as it reached the end of the thrust, but its motion triggered a sudden memory.

  For a second, he was back on one of the rain swept roads outside the rice fields, watching a bolt of lighting strike right in front of him. It split multiple times, forking through the air as it blasted into the ground.

  He thrust a third time, eyes locked on the tip of his sword as it cut through the air. It didn’t quite move in a straight line, instead curving slightly. In his mind’s eye, the lighting bolt cut through night, sharply changing directions as it charged inexorably forward toward his target.

  A tingle of mana, so faint he barely recognized it, ran up and down his arm. There was something there, some truth for Erich to capture.

  He thrust again, opening his body to the new mana. His sword seemed to move a little faster, its point swaying back and forth unpredictably. A second thrust and a third confirmed the sensation.

  Erich felt a smile grow on his face. He could feel the aether stirring deep inside his image. That bolt of lighting hung in the air, visible only to him as he pulled back his sword and thrust over and over again, trying with each attack to replicate its speed, unpredictability, and destructive force.

  He lost track of time entirely. His arms were burning and sweat was pouring down his back, soaking his armor, but Erich didn’t notice. All that mattered was the bolt of lightning and the static tingle of mana in his body that grew more and more pronounced with each sudden stab of his sword.

  Then, a paw on his calf drew Erich out of his trance. Michelle had woken up at some point, and she had decided that he wasn’t paying enough attention to her. Overhead, the Sun was already beginning its descent.

  “Are you hungry?” He asked, his voice coming out as a dry croak, his throat sore after practicing for hours on end without any pause. “I lost track of time there. We should probably get something to eat before heading back to Kratter.”

  Michelle scurried away from him, stopping about six feet away and standing up on her hind feet, her front paws clasped in front of her like she was begging. Erich rolled his eyes, walking over to his pack and pulling out a sausage, an apple and some cheese.

  As soon as Erich had the food out, Michelle sprang into motion, galloping toward him. He crossed his legs and sat down, grabbing a small knife and cutting off a slice of sausage before tossing it toward the otter.

  She leapt into the air, grabbing the meat with both of her paws before shoving it into her mouth even as she hit the ground. Erich chuckled, taking another sip from his water skin before cutting another slice off the sausage. He popped it into his mouth.

  Almost before he could start chewing, Michelle scampered over to him, hopping up onto her back feet yet again in order to beg for more food. Erich sliced another circle of meat, tossing it over to her before digging his knife into the block of cheese.

  Michelle rolled over onto her back, happily munching away at the sausage while Erich continued dicing up the rest of their food, periodically throwing some meat to the happy otter as he worked his way through the food, dicing it into chunks as he enjoyed the fresh breeze and sun overhead.

  One of the cinderborn at the retaining shouted something and all their companions started laughing. Erich couldn’t make out a single word of what they were saying, but there was something infectious about their happiness. If he closed his eyes, it felt just like a lazy summer day back home without a single care in the world.

  “Are you about ready to head back into town?” He asked, looking up at the sky as clouds lazily floated past. “Just so you know, I’m not going to care if you’re energetic and don’t want to sleep when we get back. It’s not my fault that you decided to sleep all day.”

  She ignored him, content to laze about on the grass and eat. Erich smiled. It really did feel like a lazy summer day. Unfortunately, life wasn’t that simple anymore. He needed to prepare for the journey with the caravan and make sure he had the supplies he’d need for the road. He needed to find a place to purchase a dueling blade. He needed to finish developing the new technique that he was working on.

  All of it only left him a couple stolen moments to sit back and relax.

  Something rustled in the orchard, and Erich looked up. Michelle was still munching away at her sausage, happily oblivious to everything around them, but out of the corner of his eye, Erich was pretty sure he could see a crouched shape hiding behind one of the nearby apple trees.

  He stood up, keeping his attention on the orchard. It was a person. He couldn’t tell if they were cinderborn or human, but there wasn’t the telltale eye glow of a cinderborn so his bits would be on his observer being a human.

  Of course, they could’ve been a cinderborn with their eyes ‘closed,’ but Erich was pretty sure that whoever it was, they were sneaking looks at him. Their silhouette kept moving as they shifted back and forth, peeking around the narrow tree trunk.

  “Hello,” he called out. “You can come out if you want, I can see you.”

  No response. At his feet, Michelle popped up, walking to the edge of the fence and sniffing the air.

  “Honestly,” Erich continued, “I don’t really know why you were watching me, but I don’t really mind regardless. I’m just coming out here to practice. If I can’t practice here, let me know, but beyond that if you don’t bother me I won’t bother you.”

  Again, nothing. Then, after about thirty seconds, he heard the dull gurgle of an empty stomach. The figure shuffled, huddling up into a ball behind its tree as if that would stop Erich from noticing. Whoever it was, they were short and thin, but not so thin that he couldn’t spot exactly where they were crouching.

  He pursed his lips, looking down at the remainder of his lunch. It was already the afternoon anyway, and he wasn’t terribly hungry. If he kept eating, it would only ruin the supper that came with his stay at the inn.

  “I’m going to leave now,” he said loudly. “I don’t want to bother you too much and I’ve already finished eating. I’ll leave some of my lunch behind. You can have it if you want. I’ll be back tomorrow to practice even if it’s raining and I’ll bring a bit of extra food then too. If you want to talk, we can always talk then.”

  Erich put his thumb and his index finger in his mouth and whistled, startling both Michelle and the hidden figure.

  “Come on Michelle,” he said, taking out a scrap of cloth and putting the remaining couple slices of cheese and sausage on it. “Let’s head back into town. I need a bath, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you do too. Let’s give our friend here some space.”

  With that he turned and left, over-sized otter trailing cheerfully in his wake.