The second month of training passed, and Gregory and Yukiko kept to their routine, with a few slight differences. During physical conditioning, they fought someone other than each other every other day. Yukiko held her own against everyone but Nick, who beat her soundly, but not as badly as she had been beating Gregory. Gregory steadily improved during class, occasionally able to manage a score or two against Yukiko when they fought.
More clans contacted Yukiko, including the other three great clans; Eternal Blossoms, Yamato Shipping, and Swift Wind. Each of those invitations were accompanied by presents, but nothing as lavish as the Eternal Flame or Han Merchant Exchange had given her. She divided the gifts between herself and Gregory.
Gregory found himself picking up economics a little easier by the end of the second month. Yukiko praised him and pressed him to learn even more difficult topics. During aether introduction, Gregory glimpsed the lines of aether from time to time, but only obliquely and never for long. His magic remained a mystery, to the growing frustration of Adept John.
Settling in for the night after another satisfying, if grueling week, Gregory wondered what Yukiko had planned for tomorrow. Nick had asked them to have dinner with his group, but she had declined, explaining that she had already made other arrangements, and that they could not this coming day off. Closing his eyes, he snuggled into the blanket a little more, ready to see what tomorrow would bring.
~*~*~
Blinking, Gregory looked around. He was in an opulent room, not in his bedroom or anywhere else he had ever seen. The floor was black marble shot through with gold. The walls were covered with rich silk tapestries, showing various eurtik and humans using aether side by side. The far side of the large room was shrouded in darkness.
“Welcome home,” the silken honeyed voice that had only spoken to him a few times flowed out of the darkness. “You are growing, and growing fast. Tomorrow, when your medallion has another ring glowing, people will begin to take notice.”
Gregory looked down at his chest and saw his medallion glowing with five circles lit. The clothing he was wearing was not the white of a novice, but the indigo robes of the divine tier. He was also bulkier than he was in real life; not overly-muscled like Gunnar, but still far more than he currently was. “Why am I wearing the kimono of the emperor?”
“It suits you, or it will,” the sultry voice replied. “I look forward to you reaching that stage. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Your magic has been leaking at the edges, and I’ve noticed that the archivists haven’t figured it out yet.”
“You know what it is, and can help me?”
“After the first tournament, as I’ve said before.”
“Why not now?” Gregory asked.
“Because you aren’t ready yet. Everyone here needs to accept you as you are, not for what you can be. You’ve seen how they circle around Yukiko— they won’t just circle you. They will press any way they can find once it becomes known what your magic can do.”
“Why? What is it that would make them take such measures?”
“After the tournament we will talk about it, but for now, you need to sleep. Yukiko went through some trouble to arrange tomorrow.”
“What? How would you know?”
Sultry laughter echoed all around him as the darkness rushed forward, swallowing him whole. Gregory tried to fight off the drowsiness that assailed him, but his limbs grew heavy and his eyelids drooped.
“I’ll beat you nex—” he muttered as he tried to fight it off, but his words slurred as sleep overcame him.
~*~*~
Third bell chimed, waking Gregory abruptly. Jolting upright, he rolled out of bed and got dressed by habit. They were still following their morning schedule of breakfast and study, so once he had everything ready, he opened his door, coming face to face with Yukiko.
“Morning, Yuki.”
“Morning, Greg. Are you ready for today?”
“I don’t know, because you haven’t told me what we’re doing,” Gregory replied with a wry grin.
A soft giggle escaped her, “You’ll have to wait and see. First, we’re having breakfast and studying.”
“Let’s get to it,” Gregory said, heading for the stairs.
As they exited the dormitory, Dia greeted them. “Morning, Novices. Did my staff handle your requests?”
Yukiko bowed to Dia formally, “They did that and more. They and you have my thanks, Keeper.”
Dia smiled gently, “You’re welcome. I’m interested to know how it is received. You won’t mind if I ask later, will you?”
“No, you may ask.”
“I hope your day is full of excitement and learning.”
“Thank you, Keeper,” Yukiko said, echoed by Gregory.
As they walked toward the mess hall, Gregory chuckled, “I was wondering how you set things up without me knowing about it ahead of time. I hadn’t thought about asking the staff at the dormitory.”
“I hope you’ll like it. I know it’s early by a week, but I wanted to do something for your birthday.”
Gregory’s steps faltered, “How did—?”
“Dia. I asked her if she could find out for me.” She looked away from him, “I hope it was okay. I just wanted—”
Gregory put his hand on her shoulder gently, and she stopped speaking. “Yuki. It’s okay. I just hope you didn’t get carried away. When is your birthday? I’ll have to figure out a way to pay you back.”
“A week after the tournament,” Yukiko replied softly. Looking up, she found him waiting to meet her gaze.
“Good thing I have time, then,” Gregory smiled. “I’m going to need it to figure something out, I’m sure.” Letting go of her, he motioned with his chin toward the mess hall. “First, some food.”
“Yes,” Yukiko said happily.
The eurtiks greeted the pair with smiles, “They never fail to show,” the rat eurtik, Steva, chuckled. “Novices, your meal and snacks.”
“Thank you,” Yukiko smiled, pulling her medallion out.
“Fifth circle? You are advancing quickly,” Velma smiled as her hand hovered over the amulet for a moment.
“I have a good partner,” Yukiko replied.
“I’d say so,” Velma said when she handed Gregory his meal and passed her hand over his medallion the same way. “Both of you have reached the fifth circle. Impressive, especially since he’d been third circle and you fourth at the start of the year.”
“A partner who pushes you to learn helps,” Gregory smiled. “Have a good day.”
“You, as well,” the four cooks replied together.
Taking their seats, they dug into their meals. Silence settled over them as each concentrated on eating and fueling their aether. Gregory finished a little ahead of Yukiko and looked puzzled.
“We finished faster because we have grown in power. Our aether can adjust to the food more quickly,” Yukiko told him.
“Ah, right. That makes sense… Hm, I wonder if I’ll see the cavern today? The channels have been growing steadily, if slowly, and the fire seems to be growing in size ever so slightly, as well.”
“I was going to ask,” Yukiko replied as they handed their empty dishes off. “Have a good day,” she told the otter eurtik, Quilet.
“You both, as well,” Quilet replied, bowing to them.
“Archive?” Gregory asked as they left the mess.
“Until seventh bell, then we need to go back to the dorm to grab some things before we go into the city.”
“Mysterious, but okay,” Gregory chuckled.
Entering the archive, they were greeted by the female panther eurtik that had talked to them over a month ago. “Morning to you both,” she greeted them with a smile. “How goes your studying?”
“Slowly. We’ve been looking over how each of the paths start,” Gregory replied. “It seems there have been a number of people who started on two paths, only to have one of them fade away.”
“Indeed, that has been the case over the last few hundred years.”
“Rafiq mentioned that scrolls written by those who did attain two paths are not available to novices,” Yukiko said softly. “Are they available to apprentices?”
“If scrolls like that exist, they would likely only be available to adepts and above. If there are even any here in the archive. I feel many scrolls of that sort would be in private collectors’ hands.”
“We have scrolls waiting for us today, though we’d like to continue to look into more of these types.”
“I will make sure that it is taken care of. Have you finished with economics?”
“My partner is teaching me that subject,” Gregory said.
“Very well. Have a pleasant time,” the eurtik smiled.
“You, too,” Yukiko replied as they headed for their table.
~*~*~
Seventh bell had them both stretching as they got to their feet. “They aren’t getting any less tedious, but this one at least talks about how the fire and cavern grew in size as they advanced down the mind path. They lost the ability to see the cavern shortly after that, though,” Yukiko sighed.
“I’m still seeing the cavern, but I don’t think it’s grown any.”
“I’ll be checking next time I see it.”
“So,” Gregory said with a sardonic smile, “any hint on what we’ll be doing, and what I need to get from the dormitory?”
Yukiko’s face lit up and she shook her head with a soft giggle. “Not yet. As for what we need to pick up, it should be ready for us when we get there.”
“Still keeping it shrouded in mystery, huh?”
“It won’t last too much longer, but I want to keep it for as long as I can,” Yukiko smiled.
~*~*~
Back at the dormitory, Gregory was surprised to see one of the staff waiting with a basket, which was promptly handed to Yukiko. He raised an eyebrow, but Yukiko shook her head and walked toward the postern gate after thanking them.
Yukiko flagged down a rickshaw as soon as they left the academy. When the driver came to a stop, she stepped forward and whispered to him before handing over some vela. Nodding, the driver motioned her and Gregory to the seats. Gregory shook his head, chuckling as he took his spot beside Yukiko.
The rickshaw took them through a maze of side streets until he reached a manor. “Your destination. Do you wish me to wait?”
“We’ll be here some time, so you are free to go,” Yukiko replied.
“Good day to you both,” the driver said, leaving them standing there in the early morning light.
“Okay, so…?” Gregory asked leadingly.
“We go say hello.” With a light laugh Yukiko went up to the front door. “It’s only polite.”
Following her, he examined the structure as much as he could, his brow furrowing slightly. Not as extravagant as the other manors I’ve seen here, but in good condition. Not many windows, and the walls look surprisingly thick. I don’t think this is a manor like the others, it just uses the appearance of a manor as a disguise. What do you have up your sleeve, Yuki?
It took a few minutes for the door to open. An older man with a patchwork of scars on his left cheek and a deeper one above his eyebrow stared at them for a long moment. The glare he had been wearing slowly faded, replaced with a smile. “Yu, I thought the letter was fake,” the man’s voice was respectful, and he dipped his head to her. “What can this old man do for you?”
“Gin, you are no longer a family retainer, so I come to you as a friend. My letter explained what I was hoping,” Yukiko bowed formally to him as an equal.
Gin’s icy blue eyes went to Gregory, making the young man feel like he was being sized up. “This is your… partner?”
“My manners,” Yukiko gasped, stepping sideways so the two men could see each other with her out of the way. “Gregory Pettit, this is Gin Watashi. Gin was my father’s chief guard for many years before I was born and a number of years afterward. Gin, Greg has been my only friend and has been training me in ways other magi would be jealous of. I owe him a debt that I will never be able to repay.”
Gin’s right eyebrow went up, making his left dip and deepening the scars on that side of his face. “That is…” Gin’s frown deepened more, “Training her in ways…?”
Gregory almost took a step back at the sheer bloodlust radiating off the old man in that moment. Gin seemed more dangerous than the bane wolf that had scarred him. Instead of flinching or looking away, the novice stiffened his back and lifted his chin, meeting the icy blue eyes with a steady gaze. “We are attempting to walk all three paths. It’s supposed to be impossible,” Gregory said simply.
“Gin, stop it,” Yukiko said, stepping between them. “Greg is my dear friend, that is all.”
Gin took his eyes off Gregory at her words, missing the flicker of disappointment in Gregory’s eyes. “If you say it is so, Yu, then it is so. It has been three years since I’ve done as you’re requesting. Can you afford my prices?”
“I will make sure you are paid after the tournament, if that is acceptable.”
Gin’s lips pursed before he sighed. “I could never tell you no, but… I will test you both first. If either of you is not up to my standard or close to it, I will not accept either of you.”
Yukiko hesitated and bowed, “Armsmaster Gin, we submit ourselves as students to your training.”
Gregory blinked upon hearing the title Yukiko used, bowing quickly to him. “Armsmaster, we submit ourselves to your training.”
“First, the test,” Gin sighed. “Follow me.”
