Chương 54: Chapter 52: Compress

The decree of conscription was put into effect almost immediately. The very next day, legionaries rounded up all the young boys and girls who had completed at least a year of basic training at the institution and took them back to their camp in Alpeis, a hundred miles west of Klearon. Even the Magistratus's daughter, Aleya, couldn't escape conscription.

Although Equites and Patrician classes were supposed to be exempt from the shenanigans plebeians had to endure, this time the Ember Throne decreed almost no immunities on the basis of one's birth. The crown was going to face significant backlash, as this decree not only targeted plebeian children, but also all classes and ages of awakened individuals.

The last time something like this happened was during the era when the Alberan Empire united half of the realm, but somehow crumbled when it attempted to conquer Thera. Moreover, this conscription wasn't limited to Karmel Valley alone. It extended to the entirety of the western and southern regions, where the empire's control was looser than elsewhere. Centurion Arata and the Magistratus explained that this decision made sense given the increasing number of rifts in these regions.

With the difficulty of deploying legionaries swiftly to the fringes, they believed that forming a local militia was the only sensible option. My heart sank when I learned how many nameless villages and settlements had disappeared in recent months because the legionaries couldn't reach them in time. Consequently, all awakened locals, at least one per family, would join the legionaries as auxiliaries to form a militia operating exclusively in Karmel and the surrounding villages.

Only Shapers were exempt from conscription, as the training offered by the legionaries had little relevance to us. That duty was left to the guilds, who planned to provide training modules through the institution. Honestly, I was unsure if they could offer anything I hadn't already practised, but I was happy to have a chance to measure myself against others. While my own schedule didn't change much, the same couldn't be said for my parents.

I had thought that being of a higher rank than most would allow them to wiggle out of any conscriptions and unnecessary commitments, but that wasn't entirely the case. And I was certain they wouldn't even want to forgo their duties even if they could. Father had to join the militia and act as their spearhead in offence, while the legionaries secured Mum on a contract requiring her to complete a certain number of fabricators and repairs.

Of course, all this was for fair stipends, a considerable sum in Karmel Valley, though probably not much in big cities like Klearon. They even offered Father a better position, if we moved to Klearon or somewhere better, but Mum was against it for now. She had her reasons, saying that those cities had nothing to offer that she couldn't get here.

If we really wanted to move, she would choose a more neutral location, not someplace under the thumb of a monarchy, such as Nalanda, the city of stars, where the Oracle Academy was situated. With most of my upperclassmen gone, the institution should have been emptier, but that wasn't the case, since the newly formed militia was using it as their base. Still, we got to use all the facilities more freely, although it didn't change our schooling much.

As the week passed, Eran and I roped Diana into our practice, where she would use her Kinetic shaping to help us train Arcane Resistance. Teaching her the weaving had taken a long time, as she had neither the foundation nor the high attribute points to grasp it effectively as I did.

However, after a good week of practice, she became adept enough to help my Arcane Resistance practice, although it wasn't enough for Eran, whose body was accustomed to a stronger force than Diana could muster with only eight threads of essence. Diana's essence reserves also depleted too quickly. If I wasn't mistaken, she had about a tenth of my reserve, and my recovery speed was significantly faster. For now, I guessed I'd have to make do with that. Diana could advance a step into her path by spring.

For our physical practice today, I was untangling the third layer of Arcane Knot inside a cube, while being under the duress of her Kinetic Force. The intensity of her force was only strong enough to give a slight sensation of pressure on my skin. It was hardly anything uncomfortable. I could stand straight and focus entirely on the complex knot within the cube. I was curious to see what I would complete first: a new weave or the first layer of Arcane Resistance.

The first thing that happened was Diana running out of essence, and crashing down on the ground with sweat all over her face.

"What are you guys doing?" a new voice joined us, one that didn't belong to the Combat Instructor or the assistants. I tore my eyes off the knot for a split second to see Tuli, one of our new instructors. Along with Instructor Ao, she had been left behind by the Guild to train us. Both of them were Noble Class Shapers and knew their work around the paths. Still, two was a large number of instructors for Karmel, considering there were only three pupils on the path.

Well, there were a few more, but all of them had officially entered apprenticeship under either the headmaster or the local guildmaster. If there was any shaper with life affinity, they were usually recruited quickly. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. However, other than teaching in the institution, they were also taking part in the militia activities, training them in ways. Tuli was a short woman, barely five feet tall.

Her face was oval shaped, and her hair was neatly cropped to shoulder length. There were no ornaments, not even earrings, except for the amulet around her neck which looked more like a family heirloom than a fabricator. During her first class, she had brought her magical Staff, but since that, she decided it was unnecessary.

"Interesting," she muttered, noticing the cube in my palm.

"Aren't you a little young to solve something like that? Where did you even get an Arcane Cube?"

"My mum made it for me," I said, wondering if it was rude to focus on my work while she was conversing with me.

"Ah," her frown deepened.

"I haven't been here for a couple of years... who was your mum again?" Thankfully, Eran answered for me, though it didn't seem like she recognised who we were talking about. Only when we mentioned my father, the one leading the Militia and who had been on the expedition with her, did some sign of recognition dawn on her face.

"Well, if your mother can create something as complicated as an Arcane Cube, she must be a great artisan."

"She is," I said, not lifting my head.

"Instructor Tuli," Diana chimed in.

"Isn't it Instructor Ao's class?"

"What, you don't like what I have to teach?" Tuli smiled.

"No," Diana cried, "I didn't say that. I was just…"

"I know, I was just teasing you," she laughed.

"As for Teacher Ao, he's a bit under the weather, so I'll take over the class for today." That sounded like a lie, since Shapers, or even any Awakened individuals for that matter, rarely caught any common ailments. Honestly, that fellow didn't have the patience necessary to teach others. In the few classes he'd taken, he'd usually give textbook answers, and leave before the class even ended. Tuli, on the other hand, mostly trained the militia and handled odd tasks with them.

"Alright, you guys round up everyone," she said, gesturing towards the other kids practising on their own or goofing off.

"Today's class will be on resistance and endurance building." Which turned out to be exactly what we were already doing. Shaper Tuli grouped up the fifty-odd pupils in a circle around her and spread her influence. Her weight divided equally in all directions along with her essence threads to form Kinetic force as she assaulted us with the pressure. Of course, she attacked with little strength, since most of us were barely initiates on our paths.

"There will be four Resistance classes every week, in addition to your usual classes," she announced.

"Most of them will be taught by Instructor Ao, while I'll take a few if I'm free. And no, nobody will be exempted from these classes. You all might not be aware, but resistance training is obligatory in all primary institutions in the cities."

"Teacher," Eran raised his hand.

"I said there won't be any exemptions."

"No, I'm not asking for an exemption," Eran said, bowing his head.

"I... I have already undergone this training and completed the first two layers of Arcane Resistance."

"Is that so?" Shaper Tuli narrowed her eyes.

"And you are asking me to raise the intensity of the kinetic waves on you?" Eran nodded heavily. She implemented eight more threads on Eran, doubling the force on him. Eran still stood straight, no changes in hiss body language as he thanked her.

"Tell me if it becomes unbearable."

"Teacher," Priam chimed from the other side, "I can take more as well." Along with him, a few others raised their hands, including me, asking for more. Slowly, almost the entire class demanded more power in the kinetic wave. Teacher Tuli frowned a little, but obliged since she could afford the essence. Sadly, most of those who had raised their hands couldn't handle it.

The power mustered with eight threads only gave a prickling sensation, but when the force doubled, it began to strain their tender bones and muscles after a time. Half of the class had to give in and rest within a few minutes, while the rest kept on stubbornly, setting their jaw.

"Remember, this is not a competition," Teacher Tuli said.

"Resistance should only be built over a long time. Swift improvement usually isn't worth it." That caused a dozen more to cave in, while only I, Eran, Priam, Kash, Markus and a couple of others kept on with it. She had enough essence to let us practise for half an hour without rest. With that, my issue with resistance training was solved, and I wholeheartedly focused on untangling the weave.

I had already extricated the second layer a week back, unfortunately, the Weave that came out of it was Refinement, something Mum already taught me. The first layer of Arcane Resistance was completed first. [Congratulations! Way of Arcane Resistance I (10/10) is complete.] [+2 Fortitude.] [Way of Arcane Resistance II (10/25) is available.] As for untangling the knot, I had to sit down after the Resistance training was finished and work diligently, using my utmost focus and essence threads to unravel the new weave. More essence threads did make it a bit easier, but with each layer, the knot became more complex and time-consuming. Only after having a good handle on Empower did I decide to learn something new, and the new weave looked to be another interesting addition.

[A new way is accessible: Way of Compress I (0/10)] The cube thrummed in my palm as I finally released a breath I had been holding for the last minute.

"Did you really solve it?" asked the Shaper Tuli. Her class had ended a few minutes ago, but she had likely been present the whole time I was busy with the cube. Only my friends Eran and Diana were there, either meditating or waiting on me I nodded, which only made her incredulous. I wouldn't escape people's scepticism this way, so I decided to put the new weave into effect, not to mention I was seriously eager to see how effective it was.

Compress was like Empower, one of the more high-utility weaves, which could be used on its own, or with other weaves, such as compressing elemental shaping to raise thier intensity. I chose Fire shaping, since it was the easiest to observe. Forming a fireball with only eight threads, I implemented another eight to compress the fire. Instantly, the head-sized fireball condensed to fist-sized, and the blazing red and yellow flame shifted to a bluish colour.

"Wow," said the young teacher.

"I have seen many Noble Class Shapers fail to achieve what you have just shown me." But I wasn't finished yet. Using the last eight essence threads, I wove them into the Empowering weave, and the intensity of the flame essentially doubled, stunning both me and the onlookers. Unfortunately, there was nothing around to measure the intensity of the flame, so I guessed all that was left was to go back home and see if I could melt some metal with it.

Eran did bring the shield, but none of us was foolish enough to test with it. The high-intensity flame could easily be a threat to those nasty corpse flies. I wouldn't want to hurt somebody accidentally.

"That was…" Tuli muttered, somewhat speechless, before shaking her head.

"You have just shown me what we would be teaching you all year in the Shaper class."