Chương 53: Chapter 51: Feast

After wasting a couple of hours, I realised it was impractical to practise Arcane Resistance using my own essence. I'd hoped to do so in a safe environment, just what I employ for training Eran, but it turned out to be near impossible. All my training with Kinetic Force yielded lacklustre results, and I was not keen on trying it with Fire shaping. By the time Eran received ten points in the way of Arcane Resistance, I barely gained one.

Then I wondered, if my body truly became resistant to my own essence, I wasn't sure how that would affect my other abilities. Thankfully, I wasn't at a complete loss. I simply needed to teach Diana the shaping weaves so she could help me with the practice. As long as it wasn't pain tolerance, I didn't think Mum would mind too much. For now, I was doing a one-legged creep, with brick-sized blocks of stone dangling on either side, held by my essence threads.

The institution had hurdle runs and special boots designed to trip you up, even when you were paying attention, all to better train your balance. But those exercises didn't usually allow me to practise my other skills at the same time. And now, with all the legionaries and guildsmen occupying the place, I couldn't even access them. But the training must go on. I'd have to invent some clever or ridiculous tricks to make it challenging, or do two or more things at once.

Sometimes, I even employed foundational exercises with the bricks"When are you going to the feast?" Eran asked, jumping up from his momentary rest. I looked towards the mountains. The sun had already fully risen while we'd been busy practising.

"After this, I suppose," I said, pointing at myself. After the company returned from their successful expedition, they announced a feast on the institution grounds to celebrate their victory, but I was sure there was more to it than that. For one, they'd invited all the institution's pupils, along with their immediate guardians–easily over two hundred people. Organising a feast for that many people on the fly wasn't easy.

But apparently, the guild or the legion–whichever had planned it–had been prepared from the beginning. Secondly, the expedition's result wasn't as stellar as they were making out, according to Father. True, they'd emerged unharmed, which was quite rare, but that was mainly because they hadn't had to enter the rift. The problem seemed to have resolved itself, somehow, though both the guild and the legion had left a team behind to monitor for anything going awry once again.

"I think we're already late," my friend said.

"My Da mentioned the Magistratus will be there, to announce something." I nodded. It was easy to guess that someone, either the guild, the legion, or the Magistratus, had something to say, since they were gathering all the awakened folk of Karmel in one place. The question was, what did they have in mind? Maybe they wanted to restrict Candor Mountains once again? But a mere notice would have sufficed for that. I didn't cease my practice to mull over the question.

With twenty-four essence threads, I was making more than just steady progress. Since my advancement a few days ago, my progress in the shaping ways had catapulted. It would surely slow down, but not before I gained a few points. [Congratulations! Way of Telekinesis V (250/250) is complete.] [+8 Unallocated Points.] [Way of Telekinesis VI (250/500) is available.] This was the second time this week I had made progress in a Way. The first had been the fifth layer of Fire Shaping.

The fireball spell I could muster now could somewhat threaten those corpse flies, although it would take a few seconds to have an effect, and I'd have to employ a large part of my Weight into the weave. It was becoming a bit frightening when I employed the Empower weave with it, so much so that I needed a safe space even to practise. Earth Shaping was next in line for advancement, despite my preference over Kinetic Force.

The sixth layer simply needed all the time I had expended in the previous five layers, not to mention the intermediate training. The Artifact on my wrist made it easy to pull up a Kinetic Shield, but that didn't mean I should stop practising. Mum had been training me on it every other day, getting me used to applying the features of the Band of Protection. While the artifact did work autonomously, I could do so much more manipulating the shield with my essence threads.

Returning home, I bathed and changed into a fresh tunic and trousers, and finally made our way to the institution. The Stonecutters joined us shortly, as Eran and I practically raced to the foothills where the institution was located, though we waited for our parents to arrive before joining the feast. Judging by appearances, most people had already arrived. Tables were spread across our training field with ready-made gazebos sheltering them from the scorching sun.

The tables were adorned with flower vases, and plates of diced fruit, bread, pies, pastries, and scrumptious meals like roast chicken. Some people couldn't resist the delectable smells wafting in the air and were already stuffing their faces.

"Ashlyn!" Diana's mother called from a corner table, waving her arms animatedly.

"This way, here!" Their table was empty, with only Diana. Even after accommodating us, there were still a couple of empty seats.

"Good thing you lot are here," the heavy woman said, not even trying to hide her anxiety. If I wasn't mistaken, she was probably the only unawakened person there, save for a few attendants. Of course, she knew most of the people, awakened or not, working as an innkeeper for over a decade, but there were many other powerful people around. To make matters worse for her, the legionaries hadn't even bothered to change from their usual regimental dress and carried swords and spears without reserve.

The guildsmen, in contrast, were more accommodating, most of them having changed into casual clothing as they watched the young, awakened children duelling. I noticed Priam sparring in the centremost spot with a boy who was clearly a year or two older than him. Their duel lasted an unusually long time, but Priam still emerged victorious, his whole body drenched in sweat. The swells of angry red in his arms suggested it hadn't been an easy win.

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"And the victory goes to Priam Octavius," the referee announced, "by a score of 13 to 10." The blond boy straightened up amid the timid applause. Uncharacteristically, Priam didn't revel in his victory, but turned towards the long, narrow table on the other side where most of the influential figures were seated, some local, but mostly foreign awakened. Priam met his father's gaze. And only after receiving a nod of approval from him, Priam finally bowed his head.

"Bravo, Claudius," chuckled a hearty man, sitting next to the Magistratus, clapping on the man's shoulder.

"You finally have a worthy heir to accomplish what you cannot." That seemed to sour the Magistratus a bit, feeling inferior as the only Noble Class among the prestigious seating, but he hid it well with a forced laugh. Aleya, who'd been waiting on the side for the duel to finish, rescued Priam and took him to an empty table at the back, away from most of the gazes, despite her brother's objections.

"That looks like an early sign of Thaumic Scalding," Mum muttered, her eyes following Priam's back.

"Could be," Father muttered, sipping his water.

"Doesn't hurt to warn the Magistratus."

"Thaumic scalding?" Diana perked up, setting down the single chicken drumstick she'd been eating since we got there.

"An ailment that can partially cripple an awakened," Mum explained.

"It's usually caused by unregulated practice and overuse of one's gift." This time, almost everyone at the table froze when those words left Mum's lips. Even I turned towards Eran, as a thrum of worry pressed against my chest. Wasn't that what Eran had been doing since his awakening?

"No need to worry," Mum laughed.

"It's fairly treatable in the early stages, and none of our kids show any signs of it." They immediately relaxed.

"That boy," Mum said.

"On top of being awakened earlier than usual, he'd probably taken an overdose of essence tonics to get the scalding so early. The injury from the corpse fly didn't make his case any bit easier." She let out a heavy breath.

"I thought a learned man like Claudius would be prudent about these things, but I suppose he was blinded by ambition, too." I knew Priam trained rigorously every day; his abilities spoke for itself. But I didn't think Eran and I were any less dedicated to putting in relentless hours of practice, especially with Eran triggering his jumbled weave. Thankfully, my friend hadn't awakened prematurely, and nor had he taken any essence tonics as of yet.

Mum explained that the treatment for Thaumic Scalding was pretty simple, though it needed to be taken seriously. Any good healer could deal with it in the early stages, along with putting some heavy restrictions on their gift usage until they fully recovered. It could take a few months to seasons, depending on the damage.

"Ah, you lot are talking about the Scalding," a new voice interjected.

"I had it when I was younger." The newcomer was none other than Centurion Arata, my parents' old colleague. Unlike his soldiers, he was without military garments, wearing only a clean grey kaftan. It made him look somewhat out of place, and definitely not fitting of the honorary title of Centurion.

"Is this seat taken?" The shorter man asked with an easy smile, though his lips twitched when his eyes met Mum's.

"Ah, Dame Ashlyn, you look in far better shape than the last time I saw you." Mum glared at him.

"When Jinn told me about you, I didn't believe you had the guts to show your face again."

"What can I say," chortled Arata, "I live to surprise others." Mum narrowed her eyes. Their confrontation seemed to heat the air, though there was no aura contest between them. Finding he was unwelcome, Arata sighed and bid farewell to Father before returning to his official seating. Nobody at our table even asked Mum what that was about. Even though they wanted to, the dynamics between Mum and the Centurion had left them baffled and eerily confounded.

As the plates on the tables emptied, Guildsman Rowin spoke about their expedition and how they'd completely uprooted the problematic rift, before finally giving way to the Magistratus. The few times I'd seen the man, he'd looked stern, but now his expression was jovial as his slow, reassuring voice flowed through the crowd, augmented by a small fabricator on the table.

"Firstly, I would like to thank Quintus Septimus of the Serpent's Spite and our very own legionaries for dealing with the matter of the rift so promptly." It hadn't been prompt, and his own son had faced the deepest scars at the very beginning, but his tone suggested no dereliction.

"That wasn't all. The Guild has agreed to leave behind one of their full-fledged teams for the months to come to ensure our safety." Everyone applauded, with cheers in the name of the Serpent's Spite echoed. If that was all, they probably had overspent in feeding everyone, but clearly, the Magistratus wasn't finished.

"Following the Guild's proposal, the legionaries didn't want to be left behind. The Guild decided to ensure our present is without turmoil, whereas the legionaries have taken on the duty of securing our tomorrows, as they had been doing it for centuries." With that, he produced a long scroll from his coat and unfolded it.

"By the decree of the Ember Throne, and in defence of our realm, I hereby called all awakened of abled age to serve under the legionaries and their red flag, as only by training our young awakened in their ways, we can secure our future." The applause came to a rest and everyone became eerily quiet. Finally, a few voices voiced their gripe, which soon turned into a cacophony of complaints, wanting the decree to be withheld. Even our table tensed, none of them fans of conscription.

"Now, let's not assume this conscription offers no benefit," said Arata, just as Town Lord Claudius was about to quell the complaints.

"Unless you come from a wealthy or a noble house, which most of you aren't. For you common folks, it should be a privilege to be trained by the famed legionaries, on top of the stipend you'll receive, for nothing more than basic training. Of course, we'll make sure none of the recruits slacking."

"Oh, and your lord forgot to mention, the conscription is only for those who have undergone at least a year of education at the institution. So half of you can ease up. For those who are younger, we have a different plan."