Waking when the third bell chimed, Gregory was quickly dressed. He threw his bag over his shoulder and opened his door to see Yukiko closing hers. “Morning, Yuki.”
“Morning, Greg,” Yukiko replied, her smile uncertain. “Thank you for coming to meet my parents.”
“I’m happy to put their minds at ease,” Gregory said. “Let’s get going. Gin is going to put us through the wringer, I’m sure.”
“I’m not so sure. It is the day before the tournament starts,” Yukiko disagreed. “We’ll need everything we can bring for this coming week.”
“We’ve had more training than the others. Well, most of the others. I’m sure Nick, Hayworth, and at least a dozen others have had personalized training, as well.”
“Yes, and they’ll all have tricks of their own, like our rings.”
They exchanged slippers for outdoor shoes and left the dormitory. Dia was on the porch, smoking. “Morning, Keeper,” Gregory and Yukiko said in unison.
“Morning, Novices. Keeping to your schedule even with the tournament starting tomorrow?”
“Yes, and we’ll try to keep it even during the tournament,” Yukiko replied. “We’ll get our studying in early and avoid any needless conflict this way.”
“There is that,” Dia nodded. “My staff are doing their jobs, I hope?”
“They have gone above and beyond for me,” Yukiko replied, bowing to Dia. “I’m very grateful.”
“I’ve had no complaints,” Gregory added.
“Good. When will your parents be stopping by to see the dormitory?”
“My father won’t be here,” Gregory replied a little stiffly.
“I’m not sure, Keeper,” Yukiko replied. “I’m sure Mother will wish to see the rooms, at least.”
“I shall look forward to meeting her,” Dia smiled. “Good day to you both.”
“Good day, Keeper,” they said in unison, bowing together.
~*~*~
The cooks wished Gregory and Yukiko a pleasant day while serving them breakfast, and reminded them not to overdo anything since the tournament was tomorrow. They ate as quickly as they could and were heading for the archive before an hour had passed.
A short mouse eurtik was at the front desk when they entered. “Morning, Novices. You didn’t leave us any instructions about what topic you would like to pursue next,” he said.
“I’d like to see something on advancing the mind path, please,” Gregory told him.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Yukiko nodded.
“Very well. I shall bring what I can,” the man replied.
Gregory and Yukiko went to their table and took their seats, waiting for the books or scrolls to arrive. It was only a couple of minutes before the eurtik brought them two scrolls and left. The friends thanked him and began to read their respective scrolls.
The mind path is one of learning, growth, and advancing through intellect. Starting the path is easy; read, learn, and memorize. Continuing the path can be daunting, though, as it requires a thirst for learning. Much like a fire, it must be fed constantly. If you fail to feed it regularly, the fire will dim and possibly go out. The easiest way to make sure you are maintaining is to work on logic puzzles. This step is best done with a helper. Listed below are sample puzzles that will help keep your mind sharp. Don’t think these are where you should begin and end; you must still push to learn more, to understand how things work, and to find better ways of doing them.
Gregory looked over the puzzles, having never seen anything like it before. He was so intent on understanding how they worked and solving them that he almost missed hearing the seventh bell.
Gregory put the scroll down reluctantly, then sighed and rubbed at his eyes, suddenly feeling the strain of concentrating for so long. “This is going to take me a little while to work through.”
“Okay. I think I can understand this one,” Yukiko said as she rose to her feet.
“The scroll I’ve got is saying to use logic puzzles. The downside is that to properly use them takes two people: one to make them, then the other to solve them. The simplest is something called ‘Magi Squares,’ a three by three grid with nine squares in each grid. Each line, row, and box are to contain numbers from one to nine.”
“That’s what my scroll is saying, too. I’ve seen them before. Father used to do one every morning. He might have old ones that we can get from him. If we use charcoal pencils, we can reuse them and take turns doing the same puzzles.”
“That would be good, but it also helps if we create them ourselves and trade them. Creating them is apparently harder than solving them in some cases; you have to remove enough to make it difficult to solve, but not so much that it’s impossible.”
“Hmm, that’s a good point,” Yukiko said pensively. “We can do both. I’ll still ask him to send his old ones to us with the ink removed. He always did his in ink to make him go more carefully, so as not to make mistakes.”
“Have a good day,” the eurtik at the desk said. He smiled as they left, having overheard their conversation.
“Good day,” they replied, unaware that they had been overheard.
Gregory and Yukiko stepped out of the building, and the panther archivist appeared behind the eurtik manning the door. “They seem to have understood the scrolls and are planning on using the knowledge.”
The eurtik jumped with a squeak, “Chief, I wish you wouldn’t do that to me.”
“But it lets you know you’re alive,” Sarinia purred. “They are using the combined path scroll I gave them access to and looking to incorporate advanced mind path teachings.”
“But they can’t possibly manage that,” the eurtik said, frowning.
“This knowledge is to stay only with the eurtik staff. Understood, Simon?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the eurtik replied, bowing his head, even though his boss was behind him. “Do you really believe they are—”
“I’m not sure. Our oral histories only hint that two have ever managed it. Maybe our legend is coming true, which is why the knowledge stays with us.”
Looking at the closed door, Simon bobbed his head. “I wouldn’t believe that he…” Simon trailed off when he felt the presence behind him vanish.
~*~*~
Gregory and Yukiko arrived at Gin’s before the eighth hour chimed. Indara opened the door, welcoming them as she always did, but her normally stoic expression was replaced with a smile this day.
“The master is waiting for you. You brought bags?”
“They contain our clothes for dinner tonight,” Yukiko explained.
“You should hurry. It’s almost time to begin,” Indara replied just before the eighth bell began to ring.
“Going,” the pair said as they hurried down the hall to change.
They slowed when they entered the training room. Another older man was sitting with Gin, sipping tea. Inda stood with her back against the far wall, clearly ready to serve. Moving to their normal spots, the two novices took their seats, bowing to Gin and his guest.
“Today is a half day,” Gin said without preamble. “I understand your family is here, Yu. My son has told me they will be here for the week.”
“They plan to attend the tournament, then,” the other man nodded. “Good. Parents should watch their children aspire to greatness.”
“I’m sure they also wish to discuss her training partner and her marriage, which has been delayed due to her being a magi,” Gin added.
Yukiko’s face went blank, and Gregory struggled to keep a frown from his.
“Yu, you will be training with Inda until our usual break. I will make sure the bath is ready for you to clean up and change, as I’m sure you’ve brought clothing to change into.”
Yukiko bowed, “Thank you, Sensei.”
“Inda, take her. Make sure you work her hard today, on both counts.”
“As you wish, Master,” Inda said, crossing the room.
Yukiko rose gracefully to her feet and followed Inda, leaving the three men alone in the room. Gregory felt like a bug being examined by the man, who had not been introduced yet.
“This is my old friend, Egil. I invited him here to test you. This is selfish of me, but I want to see what you can do, Gregory. What happens next will not help you for the tournament, but I believe you will place in the top eight regardless.”
“If that is what you believe, Sensei, then I believe it as well,” Gregory said, bowing to Gin.
“Are you sure, Gin?” Egil asked. “I’d hate to harm him before the tournament. The magi place so much weight on them.”
“It’ll be with the practice naginata, but if an injury occurs, I’ve some salves and potions that will heal all but the most grievous wounds. “
“Expensive,” Egil grunted as he stood up, “but if that’s what you want.”
Gregory inhaled sharply as Egil stood up. The man was bigger than Gunther, yet moved with more fluidity than anyone he had ever seen.
“Don the masks and take up the training weapons,” Gin said as he moved out of the way. “Indara… thank you,” he finished as Indara was there to remove the tea things. “Gregory, hold nothing back. Egil will do his best to kill you, which means serious injury even with the practice weapons. You should be aiming to do the same in return.”
“I know what you said, Gin, but looking at him, I find it hard to believe.” Egil chuckled as he donned a helmet and picked up a wooden naginata.
Gregory got to his feet and went to take a helmet and blade from the racks. Crossing the room, away from Egil, he put the mask on and turned to face the large man. “Thank you for your tutelage, sir,” Gregory said, bowing from the waist.
Egil bowed slightly, “Let us see if Gin is losing his grip on reality or if you are truly talented.”
“Hold only when I call or before you deliver a finishing blow,” Gin said. “Face me, bow.” Both men turned to Gin and bowed formally. “Face each other, bow,” Gin commanded, and they did. A moment of silence stretched out, with both men adopting ready stances. “FIGHT!”
Egil dashed across the floor, intent on ending the fight quickly. Gregory held his ground, deflecting the first three attacks in quick succession before he countered with his own strike.
Egil blocked the blow and sprang back, settling into a defensive posture. “Good. You can at least follow the simplest of attacks and even know when to counter. Now let’s see if you can keep up.”
Gregory did not speak, focused entirely on the fight. His body felt like it hummed with eagerness. He darted forward, the naginata spinning as he brought it around in an advanced attack.
Egil laughed as he blocked and countered, only to be deflected in turn. The two of them clashed time and again, neither finding the opening needed to land a blow. Seconds turned into minutes as they moved back and forth across the mat. Minutes began to stretch, and Gregory felt his aether keeping him fresh, banishing the tiredness from his limbs as quickly as it came.
“Damned magi,” Egil grunted. “That’s the problem when fighting them if they’ve followed their damned body paths. It’s been fun, but I need to end this.”
Gregory was forced backward as he deflected and countered the flurry of attacks from Egil. He knew the older man was giving him everything he had. Egil managed to speed up somehow, and Gregory found himself running out of room. His foot came down off the mat, causing him to stumble. The wooden naginata slammed into his helmet hard, making his vision blur as he fell backward.
Egil backed off when Gin called for him to stop. Gregory groaned as his vision swam and multicolored lights danced before him. Pushing the mask off, Gregory rolled to the side and vomited.
“I hit him harder than intended, it seems,” Egil said pensively.
“Indara, bring him the potion, please.”
Gregory managed to get to his hands and knees, his head still swimming, as he finally stopped vomiting. Panting, he inhaled sharply when a hand was thrust under his nose, the scent from the open vial helping his head settle.
“Drink,” Indara said softly as she pressed the vial to his lips.
Gregory used a shaking hand to take the vial and, tilting his head sideways, guzzled the lilac-colored fluid. When he finished drinking, his vision cleared, and he felt shame for having vomited.
“Wipe,” Indara said, handing him a damp cloth when she took the vial from him.
Doing as instructed, Gregory wiped his mouth, removing the remnants of his disgrace. “Thank you, Indara.”
“Gregory, put your helmet and weapon away and join us,” Gin said, not unkindly.
Not looking at the two older men, he did as instructed. Taking his seat, he finally looked up to find them both waiting for him. “I’m sorry, Sensei.”
“Surprised you only vomited and didn’t pass out,” Gin said. “Egil has killed men with that blow before, though he did try to check it.”
“I got caught in the moment,” Egil admitted, looking a little ashamed. “Gin was right about you. Do you know who I am?”
“A friend of Gin. That is all I know, sir.”
“I’m retired now, but I used to be the head of the Han Merchant Exchange’s guards. I held that position against everyone who tried to replace me, including a number of magus and master tier magi.”
Gregory’s jaw dropped, and he just stared at the old man.
“If you had any combat magic and had used it, you would have won easily,” Egil said seriously. “I was pressed to the limit of my skill even to hit you. Though you would do better to remember your surroundings in the future. I only won because you tripped. Admittedly, I was aiming for that to happen, but if you had known, you might have been able to find a way out of it.”
“I think he’s either an old soul or the most gifted natural I’ve ever encountered,” Gin told Egil. “What do you think?”
“You only just gave him a naginata. That isn’t a gifted person. He is obviously a reborn soul. All souls are reborn, but few hold on to any of their old talents when they come back. If he takes a naginata into the tournament, he’ll win easily, even if they do try to stop him with magic.”
“How would I stop them?” Gregory asked, his head spinning as he tried to process what they were saying.
“Training and practice,” Egil chuckled darkly. “All magi give away that they are going to use magic. You need to watch them, know when those moments are coming and what they can do, and react accordingly.”
“Do you think he’ll be able to do what I asked you about?” Gin asked Egil.
“Yes, if he can get them to agree to use the naginata. I doubt it will work more than once or twice, unless their hubris gets the better of them.” Egil stared at Gregory hard, “He’s just average unarmed or with other weapons?”
“He learns faster than any other student I’ve trained, including my son and Inda,” Gin shrugged, “but yes. If I had three years, I could make him equal to even the emperor’s guards. I doubt I’ll get that time, though.”
“Sensei?” Gregory asked, interrupting the two old men for a moment. “Why would you not have the time? I have three more years of training here.”
“Because whatever clan you join will force you to learn from their teachers,” Gin said. “They won’t want you to learn from another, to start with.”
“If I remain without a clan—”
“Do you want a road of pain?” Egil cut him off. “Life without a clan’s backing is walking over coals while carrying a great burden.”
“The hardest paths make the best magi,” Gregory said on reflex, recalling Bishop’s words.
Egil began to laugh, “Oh, he’ll give them fits if he lives.”
“Gregory, what clan are you considering?” Gin asked seriously.
“None. I will go where my… friend goes.”
“You’re going to follow Yu?” Gin asked.
“We are partners,” Gregory replied, meeting the challenging gaze without flinching.
“What clan is she going to join?” Egil asked.
“She hasn’t told me,” Gregory replied.
“Yu…” Gin sighed, shaking his head. “Let us focus on what the tournament will require. Egil, do you wish to stay?”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Egil chuckled.
“Very well. Since Indara is done cleaning, we can continue with training.”
