When they did get back, they went right to magic training. This time, Gregory watched Victoria learn spatial magic from Leah. The redheaded instructor was demanding and pushed her, but Victoria never complained; she just pushed to do what she was told. After an hour, Gregory slipped away and sat on the porch, watching Jenn. Bishop would call out strikes and blocks, working Jenn through using smaller flares of aether to infuse her attacks and protect herself from attacks in turn.
“Gregory, come here,” Bishop called out after a few minutes.
“Yes, Bishop?” Gregory asked, coming over to them.
“Let’s train your foresight at the same time,” Bishop said with a smile. “Dodge her aether attacks, block her non-aether attacks. On top of that, you need to attack her back. Don’t use strikes she can’t block. We want her to infuse herself to take the hits.”
“Okay,” Gregory said. He squared up to Jenn. “Ready?”
Jenn nodded and set her feet. “Ready.”
Using foresight, Gregory started, landing the first hit and then ducking her return strike, which just missed his head. The two fell into a sparring rhythm that had them both breathing fast when Bishop called them to stop.
“That was much better, as she had no idea what block she’d have to make. I think she missed two, though,” Bishop said.
“Three,” Jenn admitted. “It’s frustrating to fight you,” she added to Gregory with a smile. “You were only looking a couple of seconds ahead?”
“Two seconds, just enough to avoid your attacks only,” Gregory told her. “I dropped it when we were separated by more than a few feet. Even with that, though, I’m drained.”
“Good,” Bishop said. “That was the other thing I wanted done. You need to stretch that magic every day, Gregory.”
“I’ll make an effort to do so, Bishop.”
“Good. Time for a bath and then some food.”
Gregory followed them inside, pausing to let Victoria, Daciana, William, and Leah go ahead of him. As he trailed the group, he thought about what he’d just done. With the small breaks between some exchanges and only looking ahead by two seconds, he’d held foresight far longer than he had previously. Those two seconds let him avoid or block all of her attacks, though they never gave him a clear picture of how to win.
Stepping into the dressing room, he saw the staff getting dressed. “How was your day?” he asked the group.
“Quiet with all of you gone,” Steva said.
“We had a good day,” Ravol said.
“It felt odd to not have anyone but us here,” Quilet said. “We’ve gotten used to always having people around.”
“It’s so different from last year,” Zenim added. “We used to like the quiet times when no one was around.” The others nodded with his statement. “Now, we feel sad to not hear others around.”
“Bishop is certain the clan will grow next year and beyond,” Gregory said, “so you’ll probably not have the same experience again.”
“That would be nice,” Quilet smiled. “Maybe I could get my wife added to the staff.”
The others agreed to his idea of adding their spouses and children to the staff as they left the room. Gregory watched them go, feeling a warmth in his chest at how happy they were.
“The clan certainly has a devoted following,” William said.
“I’ve noticed,” Samuel agreed, coming in behind Gregory. “Not just the magi, either. I caught a portion of the conversation as the staff left.”
“It’s all about acceptance,” Hemet added as he came into the room. “Being accepted is a powerful thing to those who felt marginalized, be that from heritage, magic type, or some other factor. Add in the belief needed to be in the clan, and it brings us all together as a family.”
“I agree,” Gregory said. “We care about each other. One of Steva’s sons moved all the way out to Alturis. He’s been accepted into my home village and has been doing well, from what I’ve heard. He thought because of how I was, it might let him live without some of the prejudice he’s known all his life.”
“Hmm… That’s true. The villages right on the edge are usually more open to all people,” William said.
Gregory started stripping down. “I’d never seen a eurtik before I was on my way to the academy. We’d only ever heard snippets of talk about people who had some animal features. It was surprising to me to see one for the first time, and they were partial-eurtiks, like you two,” he said, looking at William and Samuel. “They were just people to me. I had no idea the prejudices the empire as a whole has toward them.”
“I’ve considered moving out to the fringe just for that reason,” William said. “Retiring out on the edge, helping a village as I can, and just living a peaceful life.”
“Little young for that, aren’t you?” Samuel asked him.
“Maybe a bit,” William agreed. “I should make sure I have enough vela to never have to worry about working before I do that.”
“Or maybe go to a village that has work you could do easily?” Gregory asked.
“Hmm… I could easily help build homes,” William said.
“My village has a mine,” Gregory said. “It employs most of the village. Not that long ago, it looked like the mine was going to run dry of ore until they found a new seam. I was thinking of how an earth magi could help direct them, or perhaps help with keeping the tunnels shored up.”
“That would be doable and not as intensive as trying to extract the ore myself,” William said, placing the last of his dirty clothes into a basket. “I’ll have to give that some thought.”
“If you do, let me know,” Gregory said. “My best friend’s father is the foreman of the mine. I can write a letter to make the introduction smoother.”
“And the clan helps those who help it,” Hemet chuckled lightly.
“It does seem to be a theme,” Samuel said.
When they entered the bathroom itself, they found Gin lounging in the tub. “Good evening to you all,” he greeted them. “Excited for tomorrow, Gregory?”
“Training with Egil? Yes.”
“You might regret that,” Gin laughed. “Egil will drive you hard.”
“Hard paths make the best magi, sir,” Gregory replied. “Bishop told me that when I was tested on my age day.”
“If they survive,” Hemet added.
“She did add that, yeah,” Gregory nodded.
“It’s an old clan adage,” Hemet said. “It’s said that Lionel Lighthand used to tell that to those under his command.”
“Bishop will be there to help him during training,” Gin said, bringing the conversation back on topic. “She’ll be his helper as he works with you. He told me he’ll be getting at least three matches a day out of you.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Gregory said. “Facing more skilled opponents is a great way to learn, and Egil is an armsmaster of the naginata.”
“Naginata, su yari, and guandao,” Gin corrected Gregory. “The naginata is the one he feels most comfortable with.”
“He’s a three-time armsmaster?” Gregory asked.
“He is,” Gin nodded. “He studied the others when people started forbidding him from using the naginata in some duels.”
“Will he work with me on those weapons?” Gregory asked.
“Undoubtedly. Those will be the bulk of what he works on with you. He already knows your skill with the naginata.”
“Maybe I can beat Klim if I spar with her again, then,” Gregory said.
“Perhaps,” Gin said. “Ah, well, I’ve soaked long enough. Enjoy the bath.”
“We will,” Hemet replied.
~*~*~
Dinner was as delicious as ever, and when it was over, instead of going to the war room for the night, they retired to Gregory’s room. Taking seats at the table, Yukiko was the one to broach the topic of discussion.
“The conversation from the bath needs to be finished,” Yukiko said.
Clover, Ling, Nessa, and Daciana looked a little nervous. Victoria looked around, and was watching Yukiko while the others looked away.
“We told you what might happen in Waterrock if we’re there with you after this year,” Jenn said. “Now, we’re asking how you feel about that happening.”
“I’m fine with it,” Victoria said. “I am not ashamed of you two or Gregory seeing me naked.”
Daciana glanced at Victoria, then looked up, her eyes going to Gregory briefly before landing on Yukiko. “I’ll be fine. Not sure he wants to see me, though.”
“Oh, I’m in,” Clover said quickly. “I thought…” She trailed off and her face bloomed bright red.
“I couldn’t do that,” Ling said quickly, her own embarrassment coming up. “Bathing… bathing I can do.”
Nessa took a slow deep breath, then looked directly at Gregory. “Is this okay with you?”
Gregory met her green eyes with his own. “Makes me nervous as hell.” He took a deep breath and decided to say it plainly. “I’m not opposed to the idea. As I told Yuki and Jenn, if even one of you doesn’t want it to happen, it won’t happen. I value your friendships too much to make you uncomfortable.”
Seven sets of eyes softened at his words, all of them happy he was the man he was.
“You don’t mind us having eurtik blood at all?” Ling asked.
Gregory met her light green eyes and gave her a smile. “No. It will never bother me. You’re all special just as you are.”
Ling blinked for a few seconds before she looked away, swallowing hard. “I see.”
“But it might not happen at all,” Daciana sighed.
“We might not end up with you three in Waterrock. That is true,” Yukiko said. “We wanted to clarify with you all now, though, so we can make arrangements if it does happen.”
All of them looked at Gregory before saying they would be okay with it if he was.
Gregory’s face burned and he swallowed, his eyes darting to the five women staring at him. “I…” He broke off, licking his lips before blurting out, “I’m not against it.”
“You’re as embarrassed as we are?” Daciana asked.
“Yeah,” Gregory admitted.
That admission helped. They relaxed, seeing that he was as equally embarrassed, but interested in the idea.
“With that out of the way,” Yukiko said, “I thought we’d discuss how each of you feels you are doing on the three paths.”
“Clover and I are starting to get more comfortable with the cavern,” Ling said. “We’ve been in it most of the time during the Peaceful Fist lately.”
“We see the embers burning the channels open, too,” Clover added.
“As for the mind path, how do we tell?” Ling asked.
“Are the Magi Squares getting easier? Is your aether flame staying the same, or slowly growing in size?” Jenn asked her back.
“Yes, and possibly yes? The flame isn’t shrinking at all.”
“Then yes, it’s working,” Yukiko smiled.
“We’re the same on all three paths,” Nessa said. “We were curious when we could start trying to expand some.”
“We made these up and just hadn’t gotten them to you yet,” Yukiko said, pulling out a single page for each of them. “This is what we’ve done and when. You should not, under any circumstances, try to rush ahead.”
Daciana lowered her head slightly. “I won’t.”
“That was aimed at all of you,” Jenn said, “but you’re the one who wants to run off ahead of the others. Temper yourself and your dream can come true. If you hurt yourself trying to push too hard too fast…”
Daciana swallowed, then bowed slightly at the waist. “I will do as you say, Jenn.”
“Using the cavern for Magi Squares?” Clover asked. “How?”
“The fire will make the board and numbers for you, filling them in as you think of them,” Gregory said. “I’m not sure how it all works, but it does.”
“Larger Magi Squares,” Nessa said, looking over the sheet. “Like the ones you use?”
“Yes,” Jenn nodded.
“Resonance?” Ling asked.
“That’s a way to push the spirit path forward,” Yukiko said seriously. “It’s difficult to find, and when you do, it’s painful. That alone could take a whole study period to discuss.”
“Maybe tomorrow?” Ling asked.
“Perhaps,” Yukiko said. “We’ll have to see how we feel after Egil teaches us.”
“The Magi Squares and Empire’s Gambit replay in the cavern,” Victoria said. “Those are the spirit and mind path combining, aren’t they?”
“They are,” Gregory replied. “It’ll help them as much as the Peaceful Fist does. If you look down, you see you can combine all three. We have.”
Five sets of eyes scanned the page, which listed at what advancement levels they’d had their breakthroughs.
“You have other ideas listed here, but no tiers or ranks for them,” Clover said.
“We’ll be trying them after we reach the initiate tier,” Gregory said. “We haven’t tried, yet. We’ve been told how difficult or dangerous they are.”
“Polishing your channels by holding aether?” Daciana asked.
“That one, especially,” Jenn said. “Bishop warned us repeatedly against trying that until we’re stronger. She had me test it just once… I’ve never felt so much pain before.”
Daciana drew back slightly. “I’ll wait.”
“Good.”
“We’ll explain what we’ve done and how it worked for us tonight, and maybe be able to expand on the resonance tomorrow,” Yukiko said. “Are you ready to listen?”
