Chương 66: Chapter 63: Body Forging

With our class suspending earlier than usual, we wasted no time in returning, already having a plan for our afternoon study. Eran and I crept down the familiar road, a narrow path that cut through the barren mountain fields. Summer was in its full splendour, with occasional ashen storms that had left the fields more desolate than they usually were.

While the ashes carried over by the storms made the land fertile for cultivation, no farmers were audacious enough to go against the natural order and plant crops during late summer and the entirety of fall, since a single ashen storm could raze all their hard work to waste in a mere night. My thoughts, however, were not on the plight of the farmers. They kept returning to the wands Shaper Ao had utilised during the duel, especially the one which helped him with levitation and weaving kinetic force.

Essentially, my bracelet dealt with similar enchantments; however, Mum had made it to be the ultimate defensive artifact. It was practically impossible to employ it for any other use. Shaper Ao's wand barely had a fraction of its complexity. Yes, its craftsmanship was different compared to conventional fabricators, but I felt like I could make something similar that would help me with levitation.

The few minutes of exercise with flying had proved exorbitant for me in my current state, whether in essence expenditure or Will. But that didn't mean I would have to wait long to have my dream of flying fulfilled. I could certainly craft something with a high essence cell, so that it wouldn't burn my own essence at all. Gradually, a rough design began to form in my mind. My feet faltered on the path, eyes adrift, though looking at nothing in particular. The rune formation should be easy to design.

The problem would be grafting it into an object. Since it would need to carry my weight—which was only going to increase from now on—I would need a large rune formation, something I couldn't carve on a small object with my current ability. Preferably, it needed to be something with a wide, flat surface of at least four or five square feet.

"... you hearing me?" My thoughts were interrupted soon enough, as I found Eran waving his palm before my eyes.

"What?" As usual, he didn't carry any belongings other than his shield and duelling cane; his notebooks and other utensils were in my bag.

"What were you thinking so deeply about that you didn't even hear me calling you a dozen times?"

"Nothing much," I said, letting out a breath.

"Just thinking of crafting myself a fabricator or two." Eran nodded and forgot to ask what kinds of fabricators, as he was too invested in his game of throwing his shield, running to pick it up, and throwing it again. Gods forbid, it seemed Instructor Delric's move had inspired him in the wrong way.

"You know," I couldn't help but say, telekinetically picking up the shield to push it to him, "throwing your weapon during battle is one of the dumbest moves in the book."

"I know," Eran said, "But it's so fun, though." I shook my head.

"Unless you can recall it instantly, it's better to try your luck with throwing knives." On that note, it should be possible to add some construct into the shield that would let the wielder recall it after throwing. I could easily see a solution for how to achieve that. The only problem was that I was unsure if it would work for an augmenter. Unless they awakened their aura, I saw no solution.

Reaching home, I found both my parents were out, which gave me enough spunk to disregard washing myself and fully engage in designing the fabricator that would help me fly. My traitorous stomach betrayed my enthusiasm, but I still followed through with a couple of schemas before shooting off to the kitchen to savour something. There was more than enough food, only waiting for me to warm it up, but I left it untouched, deciding on an apple and a couple of bananas.

Picking up the designs again, I thought deeply about which accessories would be the most efficient. The choices were pretty straightforward—either full-plated armour or a pair of combat boots. Perhaps it was possible to make some gliding boards, but it would be a pain to balance myself on them. In the end, practicality won over everything, and I decided on a pair of high combat boots, which could be worn in most places.

Before either of my parents returned, Eran showed up for our afternoon study—not just swordsmanship or other physical training, as he had been learning all the other subjects taught at the academy.

"The little devil is sleeping," he said, sighing exaggeratedly, as though a great weight had been lifted from his chest.

"I managed to sneak out before she wakes up." Despite being barely a year old, Eran's little sister, Lilia, had the liveliness of a dozen children her age and had been quite inseparable from her brother since she learned to walk. The cute little thing would bustle through the house as if she were the queen incarnate. On some days, even her unbounded cuteness couldn't make up for the devastation she caused. Unfortunately, it appeared my friend was celebrating a little too early.

Not even a quarter of an hour had passed when my parents returned, accompanied by the very familiar cheerful voice of a toddler, calling after her brother.

"Eeeeran! Bwwaadder! Come play!" Lilia wasted no breath to jump down from Mum's arms and shoot towards us.

"Ariiii, you're drawing again!" If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Lilia was at the age when she called everyone by their names, imitating others. Even my mum wasn't spared. Only Father was addressed as 'Lord', since that was how Dalin Stonecutter and his wife always addressed him. Father had given up on correcting them long ago. She picked up a couple of schemas, turning her head exuberantly to study them.

I pinched her round cheeks and coaxed carefully to recover the papers from her little hands before she decided the drawing was not to her liking and did something about it.

"Where were you guys?" I asked, noting the basket on Mum's back, filled with fresh and dried herbs.

"Joined your father on his patrols, and picked up some herbs on the way," Mum said, resting the basket, which was almost full, indicating it was more than just some herbs she happened to pass by chance. Most didn't seem like something she'd picked up from the mountains, but bought.

"Eran's parents contributed half of them," she explained, catching my inquisitive gaze. Making sure the little devil didn't get her hands on them, she began to spread the stalks on the table and organise them.

"I asked Dalin to keep a lookout for some of them, and it was only after a month that we had enough." I picked up a dried, shrivelled orange flower and sniffed it. There was no particular odour, though my high Arcane Affinity picked up on some of its essence qualities.

"What do you need them for?"

"Obviously, for you two to prepare for your body forging," Father said. Eran craned his neck, keeping the little girl from making a spectacle of herself.

"Me too?" Father nodded. Eran still looked unsure.

"Don't worry," Father patted his shoulder, "I've already talked with your parents about this." With his worry put to rest, Eran was elated, but then a look of profound confusion crossed his face.

"What is body forging?"

"It's a simple process of nourishing your physique with rigorous exercise and medicinal baths and intakes," I said, and turned to Mum to see if I'd missed anything. Mum inclined her head.

"There are ways other than medicinal baths, but it is mostly what you go through before you advance to a higher class."

"Even in its elementary success, body forging is highly beneficial," Father said, "especially to augmenters."

"Will it open a new Way?" Eran's eyes gleamed.

"It would," I said, pumped.

"Not only that, it's a ten-layer Way and grants great benefit."

"In truth," Father continued, stooping down to Lilia, who was trying her best to wiggle out from her brother's arms, "I would have liked to wait for another year before getting you started with it, but you're already putting your body through such rigorous conditioning that it would be a waste not to go through the forging. But I warn you two, only the initial few layers are comfortable. Only a genuine masochist could complete the last couple of layers." I couldn't help but smile, exchanging a look with Eran.

When had hardship ever stopped us? Not to mention, I feared my best friend might just have developed masochistic tendencies with how gruesomely he trained his enigmatic gift. Honestly, with the amount of relentless training and pain he put himself through, I wouldn't even be surprised if he managed to form his third and fourth aether root. But for reasons unknown, Eran's growth had been dreadfully slow.

Augmenters were supposed to advance as their physical capacity improved, but that hadn't been the case with him, not entirely. Hopefully, this body forging could solve, or at least alleviate, the problem somewhat for him.

"When can we begin?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning, if I can finish the preparations by then," Mum answered.

"Can I help?"

"Maybe," Mum smiled, then her eyes drifted to the schemas I'd drawn.

"But I see you have your hands full with levitation." Collecting a couple of them, I quickly held them before her eyes.

"Are they any good?"

"They can be," Mum said after a passing glance, "though not high-functioning. I fear you'll end up wasting all your earnings on something you won't have any use for a year later." If it lets me fly in the end, I wouldn't even mind losing twice my current wealth.

"I think I have some old designs somewhere in the workshop. Look for them if you need references."

Body forging wasn't as comfortable as Father had made it out to be. The process was simple enough. After going through the rigorous morning practice, Mum handed us both a glass of thick, greenish mix. A strong medicinal scent wafted from it. I watched Eran make a face while taking a sip.

"Bitter!" he cried, though he didn't need to be asked a second time before he gulped it all down. I didn't waste time either and drank mine. The green medicinal mix was as bitter as it looked. Even after finishing, the harsh taste lingered on my tongue. However, the more uncomfortable part was the rising temperature of my body. Noting Eran's flushed face, I found it wasn't just me.

"Now, onto the bath I prepared for you." Mum led us both to the stone bath, asked us to remove our clothes, and jump into the warm medicinal water. The temperature was far too warm to be comfortable, warm enough that both of us would go to the institution today with tanned skin.

"Circulate your essence," Mum said, stooping next to us.

"But not towards your core. Go the opposite way. Here, let me show you." The process wasn't exactly the opposite of essence unification. Instead of focusing on the essence seed, it centred around the whole body—from bones and tendons to all muscle tissues. She asked to leave the inner organs for now. Body forging was nothing more than letting the essence of the medicine wash over the body, letting it nourish our physique.

I picked up the circulation process in one try, having extensive experience with essence unification. For Eran, it was closer to solving a hard maths problem. Mum showed him a few times, but he couldn't imagine the circulation path the way I could.

"Don't be down on yourself," Mum said.

"Most augmenters couldn't complete their forging without the help of shapers."

"What about Master Jinn?" Eran asked, clenching his jaw.

"Did he get help, too?"

"Yes, although his process was different from yours," Mum said. The bath only got more uncomfortable from then on. It wasn't painful—more of a hot, prickling sensation on my skin. Even inside, it was no better, with the medicinal properties dispersing throughout my body, sizzling through my vessels at an excessively slow pace. If it wasn't for the presence of my essence, it would have been more than those prickly sensations.

"There are many methods of body forging, as well as fortification," Mum explained.

"Some of them are even closely guarded secrets, large organisations use them to bag all the promising augmenters. The folk of Thera practically plant the awakeneds in hot sand, neck-deep, and let their shamans handle the rest of the process. Niyesse tribesmen use various animal bloods in tandem with herbs.

"And if you can get into the Oracle Academy, there are extracts of the Tree of Life, which can advance years of progress in mere days."

"How much does it cost?" Eran asked, somewhat rejuvenated.

"Cost?" Mum laughed.

"You couldn't buy it with all the golden leafs in the world. It's reserved only for the most outstanding students." Eran sighed, crestfallen.

"You'll see when you get there. Right now, it would be a waste to use such a precious elixir on you." It took half an hour, and twelve slow cycles, and the Spell's cheering voice finally rang in my mind: [A new Way is available: Body Forging I (1/10)] Looks like the way wasn't exactly counted on the time spent on it, much to my delight. From then on, I took charge of helping Eran circulate the medicinal properties until he got the hang of it.

And just like that, the week passed, and it was time for the duel between Father and Tribune Alexis.