Another week came and went as they followed their routine. The only thing that stood out was when the Eternal Flame apprentices insulted the Han clan on the way out of tactics class, resulting in a challenge. Nick just smiled darkly and accepted. Egil, who was on hand, agreed to adjudicate the match.
The following day, instead of going straight to class, all of the apprentices were in the stands of the blue arena. Nick’s group consisted of him, Jason, and Parks. The three Han apprentices looked unsure as they held their training weapons, clearly having thought they would have an Empire’s Gambit challenge instead of combat.
The fight was quick and brutal. The moment it started, Parks used his barriers to hem the others in while Nick threw a barrage of fire. Instead of the apprentices being burned to death as Nick had done in the past, his fire was toned down. All three opponents were screaming in pain, blistered and slightly burnt, but clearly able to act until Jason reached them. Because the apprentices were still being contained by the barriers, Jason was able to hit them all hard. Egil called the fight seconds after Jason had reached them. Jason backed off, Parks dropped the barriers, and Nick snorted in disgust.
Klim and Mindie rushed out to heal the Han members. They found the burns were bad, though not nearly as bad as they could have been. Jason had broken multiple bones on two of the three apprentices. The last one had been a physical enhancement magi like Jason, and he’d barely managed to stop Jason from doing worse.
Egil announced the winners and ordered everyone back to class, except the apprentices who’d lost— they were ordered to rest and recover. Nick looked over at Gregory and smirked, glanced back at the defeated apprentices, then back to Gregory with a wide smile. The implication was clear to any who watched the exchange.
~*~*~
Gregory stretched, then blinked when he didn’t feel either of his wives in bed with him. His lips turned up at the corners and he rolled to face the darkness. “Darkness, it’s wonderful to see you again.”
“Dear one, it is good to see you, as well. You are still growing wonderfully fast.”
“I’m being helped.”
“Yes, but not as much as you think. You had a question about your new friends— yes, I am helping them. I have only helped them with their mind path, though. They have not officially joined you and, as that is still not decided, that is all I am doing for now. Your novice friends, though, are truly learning the three paths. There are very few futures where they do not join you, so I am making sure they are advancing accordingly.”
“What about Farin?”
“I could aid him a little if you wish me to. His future is in flux, so there is no guarantee he will be an ally in the future.”
“Maybe help enough so he can feel a bit more accomplished? He’s been pleasant and is trying his best.”
“Then I will help him as you have asked me to, dear one.”
“Thank you, Darkness. Are Dia and Bishop doing alright?”
“Bishop is still firmly on her dual path, and Dia is now stable on hers,” Darkness replied.
“Can we do anything for Lightshield?”
“Unfortunately, we cannot, dear one. He is almost gone as it is. He is resigned to his fate, and welcomes it.”
Gregory lay there for a long moment before sighing. “No one lives forever…”
“Not even you, dear one,” Darkness said sadly. “You can live for a long time, but even you needed to start again.”
“How did I die?” Gregory asked.
“You forbade me telling you. That is one point I may not discuss until you do as I told you from the beginning.”
“I have to tame you first,” Gregory said.
“Yes. You will, in time, and I wait for that day, dear one.”
“I’ve grown enough to know that today isn’t going to be that day,” Gregory chuckled, thinking back to a year ago when he tried to touch her. “Even knowing that, though, I still won’t quit trying to capture you.”
Darkness’ happy laughter came as Gregory threw his aether-infused body into the corner. The inky blackness wrapped around him, smothering him and sapping the aether from him. “Thank you, dear one. Please, never give up on me. I long for the day you can reach me.”
Darkness’ words echoed around him as his consciousness faded.
~*~*~
Gregory was thinking about the book he’d been reading as they left the archive and said goodbye to the novices. As they proceeded to tactics class, he got his thoughts in order.
Looking around to make sure they weren’t near any others, he said quietly, “I’m certain the scroll Rafiq gave me isn’t for apprentices.”
“Mine, neither,” Yukiko added.
“Make that all of ours,” Jenn said. “The body path teachings say that to keep improving, we need to cycle aether through the channels, refining and improving them with the flame.”
“We’ve already been doing that,” Gregory said. “It’s a little uncomfortable at times, but we’ve been doing it.”
“That cycling is what late apprentices or initiates start doing,” Jenn told him, “but that’s just the starting point of the advancement technique.”
“Oh, okay,” Gregory said.
“The next step, is holding your aether in place for a time, but not using it.”
“That sounds dangerous,” Yukiko said.
“It can hurt if the channels are not as they should be,” Jenn replied. “If the channels have formed correctly, it will be highly uncomfortable, but still doable. The flame will polish the channel as it is held in place, perfecting it to move or hold the aether as required. I want to finish the scroll before I even consider trying it, and I should try it first, since we know my body path is a little more advanced than yours.”
“Maybe we should ask Bishop first?” Gregory suggested.
“That would give away that we’ve read the scroll,” Yukiko said.
“What if… what if Jenn ‘overheard’ an adept talking about it?” Gregory asked.
“That might work,” Jenn nodded. “I can ask about holding aether and polished channels. I’ll say that I heard two adepts talking on the way to class and that I was curious about it.”
Yukiko’s lips pursed. “Bishop isn’t dumb, but it’s plausible… she might suspect something, but I don’t think she’d press. That doesn’t even get into what I was reading.”
“What did yours say?” Gregory asked.
“We’re doing what the mind path is supposed to do to maintain our path. We’ve gone a little ahead now, actually. The scroll says that the five-by-five Magi Squares are good for initiates.”
“That’s good,” Jenn grinned.
“The next part of progressing the mind path is to visualize different scenarios and the various outcomes to them. The scroll suggests combat since it’s the most common thing to be able to start with. For instance, we’ve fought a lot. We have a good idea of how each of us reacts to each other. So, we break down a spar between us by movement and attacks— how do you normally react, how else could you react, and how do each of those choices change the flow? The difficult part is testing to see how many points of change you can hold in your mind at a time.”
“We can try that without needing to ask anyone.”
“Once you understand how it works, you can apply it to an actual fight,” Yukiko said. “At least, that’s what the scroll suggests.”
“Works better if you’ve fought the other person, obviously,” Jenn said, “but it would still work with people you haven’t. That just means that the number of possible differences goes up.”
“Yes,” Yukiko smiled.
“Reminds me of when I looked into the future before we left the academy… all the different futures splintered off each other,” Gregory said. “That drained me pretty badly.”
“This shouldn’t drain us. It isn’t using aether,” Yukiko said, “but that same idea applies, I believe.”
“Greg will have a leg up on us for that, then,” Jenn said.
“Yes, he very well might, but we can match him if we push,” Yukiko said.
“What about your scroll, Greg?” Jenn asked.
“Spirit path is different. We’ve been told it’s all about knowing yourself, and it is, but it’s also about knowing what’s around you. We all exude wisps of aether just by being magi. The scroll is dedicated to a branch of that idea. There’s an exercise that’s used to help expand your awareness of the area directly around you. The visualization is a pond with you at the center, and anything that enters the area around you would send ripples across the pond.”
“How does the exercise work?” Yukiko asked.
“Our aether is in resonance with the aether wisps we give off,” Gregory said. “We have to find the resonance of our aether, and then let that touch what we exude. The scroll is vague on how one finds that resonance, though.”
“Maybe the clan archive has something about it?” Jenn suggested. “It’s that or we ask Dia, like I’m going to ask Bishop.”
“If we ask Murium, she might be able to find something for us,” Gregory said. “We can always pass off our interest as having overheard something about it, as well, and if we can’t find anything, then we can ask Dia.”
“That sounds like the best idea. First, we have class,” she said as the building came into view.
~*~*~
Class ended early that day. Yukiko had been matched against Farin, and he’d asked her to play Buldoun. Everyone was surprised at his request, as it was well known that Yukiko was a great player with that nation. Farin didn’t complain the entire time— he just studied the board each round and did his best. He thanked her at the end, and Paul asked Farin why he’d asked for her to be Buldoun.
“By learning from someone well-versed in a subject, you can learn faster if you fully apply yourself,” Farin said. “I’m learning more here than I did with the others. I’m grateful to Yukiko and the others for accepting my slowness, but also my thirst to learn.”
Paul’s lips twitched, and he nodded. “Just because you follow the body path doesn’t mean that learning is beneath you. I’m glad you see that.”
Gregory chuckled, then froze as all eyes went to him. “I’m sorry, sir. The first time I recall seeing you was the morning before novice classes began. You were reading while eating.”
Paul nodded. “It’s one of the few times I have time to read. I read in all of my free time. I am on the body path and a physical enhancement magi, and others don’t know why I do what I do.”
“Because learning is never a worthless endeavor,” Yukiko said. “My father always said ‘only idiots refuse to learn when they are given the chance.’”
“Exactly,” Paul agreed. “I study. Now, what most don’t care to find out is what I am studying. I study combat, large and small, as that is what my life is. I read personal accounts of battles and the historical view of them. I compare the difference, trying to learn how I could do better if I were placed in such a position.”
“We still try to get our exercise in, even though we’ve committed to the mind path now,” Clover said. “It might not be optimal, but it might also help shore up a weakness.”
“Lapsing on your conditioning would only make things worse for you,” Paul said with a pointed look. “The tournament is only a little over a month away. I hope you are all prepared for it. Class is done for today— go and learn, or condition as you see fit.”
“Thank you, sir,” the class replied, each bowing to him before leaving.
~*~*~
They had finished their training when Jenn broached the subject of aether retention with Bishop. “I had a question about something I overheard some adepts talking about, Bishop.”
“What did you hear?”
“They were talking about not just cycling their aether, but holding it in their channels.”
“Yes. That’s something that body path magi can do, but only if their channels are developed to handle it. If it isn’t developed, it could permanently harm the magi by breaking the channel, rendering it useless. If it has developed enough to do so safely, there will be pain until the channel becomes accustomed to it.”
“Could I do it?”
Bishop took a moment to consider Jenn’s request. “How long have you been cycling your aether?”
“Since shortly after the solstice.”
“Hmm… I wouldn’t advise it until after this solstice.” She looked over her shoulder at Gregory and Yukiko. “I’m sure that both of you will attempt it, as well.”
“We do train together,” Yukiko replied.
A small tremor of wistfulness crossed Bishop’s face, but it was swiftly gone. “Yes, and training with others is beneficial. If it was just you,” Bishop said, addressing Jenn again, “I’d say you could try it now, due to your extensive training on just the body path before you joined them. Be warned, though, that the pain isn’t negligible.”
Jenn looked at Gregory and Yukiko, then licked her lips. “How do you manage it?”
Bishop’s lips twitched. “Just as you do with cycling, focus on it happening. With practice, it will become an afterthought. Your aether will cycle and retain as the situation dictates. Go ahead— imagine holding the aether in your left foot.”
Seeing Gregory and Yukiko nod encouragingly, Jenn took a deep breath and cycled her aether. When it reached her left foot, she tried to imagine it staying in place. Inhaling sharply, her face scrunched in pain. Jenn held her aether for a few seconds before releasing it and exhaling with panting breaths. “Aether… that burned.”
Bishop snickered. “Yes, yes it does, at least until you’ve done it enough. For you, it will become even more important. Aether can infuse all of your channels during a fight, just waiting for the moment you need it. You’ll no longer have to think about it moving and being used, as it’ll already be there. A warning— you can never hold it in place all the time. When you hold aether, you can’t cycle it or move it through the place where it’s being held.”
“I see,” Jenn said, gingerly putting her weight back on her foot. “I’ll wait until they can join me in this training.”
“Misery does love company,” Bishop chuckled. “Come. It’s time to clean up before dinner.”
~*~*~
With dinner finished, they stopped by the archive and asked Murium about texts that dealt with aether resonance. Murium looked surprised, but moved around the room, clearly thinking. It took her a while before she found a scroll and handed it to them.
Gregory took the scroll and showed it to both Jenn and Yukiko— it was the same one they’d been given in the archive. Going over to a table, they sat and looked it over before Gregory excused himself to go find Dia.
Dia was sitting on the porch smoking when he found her. “Yes, Greg? What can I do for you?”
“I had a question, and the scroll in the archive here only expanded it.”
“Hmm, what question?”
“Aether resonance.”
“Ah, that is an advanced spirit path teaching,” Dia said. “Where did you learn of it?”
“Well, I heard about it from a conversation, then I asked Murium for a scroll and there was one here, but it doesn’t say how to find your resonance.”
“We all find our resonance inside the cavern,” Dia explained. “Resonance, for all it would point to sound, isn’t about sound. It’s about being in perfect tune with your aether. It’s about knowing yourself; your strengths, weaknesses, desires, and fears.”
“But how do we find it?”
“Meditation and trying to better connect with the flame. It’s hard to do while you’re working on the Peaceful Fist, as part of you is devoted to the movements, but it isn’t impossible. If you truly wish to find your resonance, stop the Peaceful Fist for a few days and just try to find your connection. Most spirit path followers can by the time they become initiates.”
“Thank you, Dia.”
“You are welcome. I have a question of my own, if you don’t mind?” When Gregory nodded, she exhaled another smoke ring. “Do you believe that Aether will return?”
Gregory blinked, staring at her, and she turned to meet his gaze after a few seconds. “I do, Dia. I deeply believe that Aether will return.”
Dia smiled and turned away from him, looking at the moon as she blew another smoke ring. “I do, too. Many used to deride and mock the clan for our belief… then, we became what we were before you three joined us. Now, novices declare they wish to join us before the tournament, and we may even have more apprentices asking to join before the year ends. It feels like our dedication to Aether is starting to come to fruition… May he smile upon the clan and reward those who have kept faith in him.”
“I’m sure he will,” Gregory said softly.
Dia shook her head. “Here I am going on while I’m sure your wives are waiting for you. Go— tell them about resonance and sleep well.”
“Thank you, Dia.”
“You are welcome, and thank you for giving me hope that the clan will thrive again.”
Gregory bowed before going back inside. Dia truly believes… her eyes shine with hope when she speaks. Will I ever be enough to meet her expectations, or will she scorn me if I do step forward and declare myself one day? With that thought in mind, he went to find Jenn and Yukiko.
