Chương 63: Chapter 2.1: Winterstory

Favius let loose the first of three stored breaths of pneuma yet barely evaded the snowball. It shattered against one of the trees behind him. He huddled down behind the roots of a mighty beech tree.

"You're pushing me out," hissed Marius. Favius flipped a bit of snow at his younger brother, who yelped in outrage. They shared a grin after Marius returned the attack. That done, Favius looked over to the side, where Urania lay behind a small bank of snow, partially covered by a tree. Her fur cloak was wet and powdered with snow.

"No hiding!" Caliga cried from her side. Favius was about to reply, but Marius beat him to it.

"You come out then and get snow thrown at you!" Favius held up a hand and gestured to both of his siblings. They nodded and prepared snowballs. He leaned towards Marius, trying to keep his voice loud enough for Urania to understand.

"We stay down and get ready. When Caliga gets impatient and you hear her move..." Urania and Marius nodded in agreement, and Favius mirrored the excited grin on the faces of his younger siblings. After everything that has happened here, this winter finally has given me some downtime. The last few weeks have been fun. I've been feeling good for the first time in a while. They waited. Yet clearly Caliga had learned patience and timing from her recent training. An uncomfortable minute passed.

"Boring!" cried his oldest sister in a taunting tone. Urania pointed at him, then to the front, and Favius smiled. He restored his pneuma reserves with a deep breath and nodded. Well, sometimes you yourself have to be the sacrificial lamb. He got into a low position, ready to sprint, and shot forward. The snow was nearly thirty centimeters high, so he stumbled after three steps. He heard a cry and dodged Caliga's pneuma-enhanced throw. That was pure instinct—no, probably luck, if I'm honest.

He dropped low, trying to get behind a small snowdrift. But before he could reach it, he heard cries behind him. Good. Let's hope they— Brutus stepped forward. He didn't even see the warrior move his arm. Before he could reach the snowdrift in front of him, the entire thing detonated as if a grenade had been set off. He screamed and, unable to cancel his momentum, disappeared into the white cloud.

"Show off!" he cried out loud. The Rhexioni warrior laughed. Caliga poked her head out, looking at what had happened, and was instantly nailed by Urania. And even though Marius's snowball missed, his oldest sister sputtered and gasped, trying to get the white snow out of her face.

"Unfair," she hissed, before Marius got her on his second try. She yelped and hid away. Favius rolled to the side into the cover of another tree. Marius scrambled to follow and hid behind the next tree over.

"Why do we have to go up against Brutus and Caliga? Why didn't I get at least one person good at throwing snowballs?"

"Hey," hissed Urania and Favius in unison. Marius swiveled his head from side to side, swallowed, and took cover. Yet the outraged scream suggested that Urania had managed to nail him. Brutus laughed.

"Hear that, Favius? Even your little brother thinks you're being shown up by your big sister." Favius growled, leaning against the tree that was barely thick enough to cover his body. Staying behind the trunk, he crawled forward. I think at this angle... yes. Neither Brutus nor Caliga can get me.

"All right, this isn't working," he whispered to his younger siblings, both of whom perked up yet remained in cover. He gestured to the side, where a dense thicket provided cover.

"I run and flank them. You keep them busy so they can't chase me. Then—" He barely heard a whistling sound before a snowball slammed into his head with nearly painful force.

"How?" Urania gasped as she and Marius hugged the ground. Favius too pressed himself into the snowy ground under his fur coat. Brutus laughed.

"Simple trick, kids. You don't even need pneuma to curve a snowball."

"Unfair," repeated Marius. Favius shook his head.

"No matter," he murmured. Soon he was sprinting. Urania and Marius kept throwing, but Favius grew more worried with every moment. Brutus should have hit me by now. What's going on? He stumbled through the snow, jumping over snowdrifts and dodging small bushes. After ten seconds he came around the thicket. The instant he left the cover, he dropped to the floor. But no snowball whistled over him. For a moment he just remained there in silence. Caliga might have missed me, but Brutus, he must know. So what's his plan?

He shook his head and smiled, catching his breath in the short break. This winter storm in this last week of winter was a welcome surprise. Can't even remember when I've last been in a snowball fight on Earth. He carefully advanced towards a tree he couldn't identify, its crown heavy with snow. He peeked around it and saw Caliga preparing snowballs in cover. Got you. He grabbed some snow and prepared his ammunition. One, two, three. Ready!

"Oh, Favius," he heard Brutus's voice over the screams and sounds of crunching snow. Favius froze in an instant, clutching the tree. He's seen me. But no. As long as I stay close to this thick tree, he can't curve a snowball to hit me. Favius briefly moved his head to the side and saw Brutus with a snowball that looked very compressed and nearly as big as his head. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. What the— The cultivator spun and threw it like a discus.

Favius lowered his head as warning screams erupted from his other siblings. He registered something, but before he could process it, the snowball hit. Not him, for Brutus had never aimed at him. The crown of the tree shook, shuddered, and Favius screamed, trying to bring up his cap in time as an entire avalanche of snow came down on him from the branches. But he was too slow. A wave of fluffy ice went straight down his neck and he gasped.

"This damned shit! Fuck, it's cold!" He kept cursing as his laughing siblings approached him.

"You see, Young Master, you still have much to learn of the ways of how cultivators fight," Brutus said with a grin and patted Caliga on the shoulder.

"As for you, you are still impatient."

"And me? And me?" Marius jumped up and down. Brutus grinned.

"Accuracy. You see, you have a good sense of timing, but I don't think you landed many snowballs." Marius huffed. But Brutus chuckled.

"Don't worry, you'll get there. In fact, Favius was much worse at your age." Favius pouted as his sisters laughed, but he couldn't help smiling alongside them in the end. After a little bit more banter, Brutus gave Favius, who by now had nearly rubbed or shaken all the snow out of his fur coat and wet tunic, a smile.

"So, children, shall we go inside to your little sister, or do you want me to show you how you can curve snowballs?" He grinned wolfishly. Favius suppressed a shiver and glared at Brutus.

"You know very well that my clothes are wet." Brutus widened his grin.

"My question stands."

"Curving snowballs!" Caliga jumped up, and Urania joined her, though she looked at Favius for a moment.

"Unless it's really too cold." Favius sighed at their enthusiasm.

"We can stay out for a bit. I'll manage." They continued for a little while, staying outside for nearly half an hour. In the end, Urania was the first to successfully curve a snowball. Caliga huffed in frustration while Brutus was instructing Marius on achieving better accuracy. Urania smiled at Favius.

"Just use your insight. It helped me visualize it. Use what you taught me about rotation and momentum."

"That's no fair," grumbled Caliga. But Favius smiled and grinned.

"Come on, Caliga. You've taken well to physics after all." The time has come for me to teach them that, though... He still swallowed slightly at the thought. Maybe it's not as dangerous as I first thought, but for now I'll keep Newtonian physics restricted to my inner circle. After all, I've even excluded Serran from those lessons. He looked at Brutus and recalled the first breakthrough he saw, the double insight the man had made. I'm still worried about it being too impactful for cultivators.

He sighed, and a short while later, using his insight, he too managed to get just the right spin to curve the snowball. Brutus looked over at Favius, who rubbed his arms. It's getting pretty frosty now.

"All right, if the snow is still there tomorrow, we'll try again."

"No, I think I just—" Caliga murmured and quickly threw another snowball in a perfectly straight line and growled. Urania rallied to his support.

"Come on, Caliga. We can't let Lia wait forever inside. She also wants to spend time with us." Caliga let out a breath. After a moment she grinned.

"I guess I'll sometimes have to let the two of you win as well, right?" Favius stuck out his tongue but smiled at his sister. Urania huffed and turned away. Through the snow, they went back to the estate. Marius was rushing around Brutus the entire time.

"And you promise, you promise if I can do it, you will start training me and I get to see what you've been doing?"

"Yes, yes." Brutus smirked and reassured him.

"And don't worry, we made a deal. If your reading has really gotten good enough—" Favius shook himself as they entered the building and slaves took away their snowy cloaks. They put on dry clothing, and while quickly going to his room alongside the other siblings, Favius smiled. I'm really in a weird role with Marcus and Hesnia being so passive as parents. He snorted. I feel like dangling rewards in front of Marius turns me from a brother into some sort of weird parent figure. But well...

Soon they rejoined for lunch in one of the open courtyards. Favius looked at the fire in the brazier and the cloth which had been spanned over the dead garden in the center of the room. The temperature was an odd mixture of frosty and toasty. He walked over and settled next to the nursemaid who was fussing about with Lia.

"Favius, Favius!" she babbled, and he began poking her.

"Hey, little one. How've you been doing?"

"Boring," she spat out.

"You slow. Hungry," she complained, and Favius sniffed.

"Heard you also played in the snow." She sniffed.

"Snow wyrd."

"Weird. Snow is weird," Favius corrected and tickled her. She huffed and pouted. A moment later both his sisters entered the room wearing thicker winter tunics. Brutus and Marius joined them a moment later, and the slaves brought out the dishes. Favius grinned broadly as he saw the platter. Really glad teaching them potato pancakes worked out. He looked over the condiments: various fruit mushes, sauces, and honey. The Morathi tuber they had in the end settled on wasn't quite like a potato.

It had an oddly savory note on its own. Yet all of them dug in, and soon honeyed wine and tea were brought out. Favius allowed himself a sigh as he stuck to the tea with his siblings while Brutus enjoyed the wine. Well, at least I managed to convince the kitchens that I don't want this much wine anymore. Even though... He licked his lips. I've kind of gotten used to the taste of watered-down wine. After the first few potato pancakes had been devoured, Caliga let out a sigh.

"Still don't get why your scholastic insights help you with curving snowballs." Brutus laughed.

"Don't worry, Caliga. I think you'll get it before the snow melts." She lowered her shoulders and looked at Favius.

"But still, numbers. Numbers making you better at fighting makes no sense." Favius shook his head.

"It's got nothing to do with fighting. Numbers describe the world."

"Yes, exactly. Mathematics is the language that the cosmos speaks," Urania said, quoting something that she'd grown fond of after Favius had mentioned it once.

"Language of the world," Caliga growled.

"Brutus always says violence and power are the languages of the world. Right, Marius?" Marius furrowed his eyebrows and looked between his siblings, uncertain whom to support.

"What do you think, Brutus?" The cultivator scratched his beard and looked at Favius, who gently shook his head. I'm willing to teach them physics, but after what happened with Urania and Aelia, that particular connection is probably too dangerous. Brutus inclined his head slightly, then nodded.

"Violence and power are tools of last resort, children. True power in the world is the ability to manipulate, to enforce your will onto it. And if you understand numbers well, your will can be applied more precisely." He flipped a wine-pickled cherry high into the air, closed his eyes, and caught it with his mouth.

"See?" He grinned. Caliga sniffed but grabbed one of the cherries as well. But Favius grabbed her arm.

"Can we please not do this again?" Urania murmured.

"The tunic from last time... I don't think they ever got the stains out of it." Caliga huffed.

"You're being boring." The meal continued, and Favius took Lia onto his own lap, feeding her pieces of potato pancake with different condiments. The sweet fruity smells, the savory oily tubers, and the steam from the warm drinks mixed into a comforting atmosphere. Conversations drifted around them, and Lia kept demanding different mixtures and snacks, which Urania was all too happy to supply. She sniffed and looked around.

"Urania." Urania lit up with a smile, and Favius petted his little sister.

"Hey, you finally got her name." Lia grinned broadly.

"So I get more sweets now?" Favius looked at Brutus, imploring him to take the fall. But the man's only reaction was a twitch of the side of his mouth. Favius sighed.

"Maybe a little bit more." Lia pouted, but soon Urania coaxed her into eating more, and after a few snacks her mood was restored. Favius gently patted her back and enjoyed his little sister's warmth. After a while he passed her over to Caliga, and while Brutus and his sisters were fussing over the youngest, he couldn't help but lift his satchel up from the ground. It was heavy and clinked with metal. He looked around the room and grinned ruefully. Well, a little bit of work during family time is gonna be okay.

He looked over the table. After all, Marius was curious about what we were doing. He opened the bag and couldn't help but give the various metallic sticks a disgusted glare.