Chương 83: Chapter 82 - Etiquette.

"Now Nythera, I will be the visiting nobleman from Lithland and you, the receiving lesser nobility from Varnhold. Let's try it once, from the top." Rowen puffed up his chest and adorned a large flowing cloak.

"My Lord Lithland, Good day, I hope your travels were swift and comfortable. I am honored to host you in this humble hall" she bowed with great exaggeration.

"Good day, Lord Varnhold, my family appreciates your magnanimous efforts" Rowen strutted. Nythera brought her arm down in a sweeping bow.

"It is nothing my Great Lord, for your greatness is sung through the lands, so shall we sing it greatly here, oh Great Lord" she peaked up. Rowen was glaring down at her.

"What did we say about overdone praise? They can read you like a book, you bowed too much. It should be just enough past what they did for you, exaggerated bows are an insult" Rowen hung up the cloak.

"Yes my greatness, I understand" Nythera bowed deeper.

"Alright, go run laps or I'll have you practice swordplay with the guards" Rowen barked. She shot him an angry glare. You bastard, you wouldn't! Not after last time.

"You think I am kidding around? Run laps, three around the estate or we'll put a sword in that bird hand and have you fight each guard once" Rowen was not joking. She sighed and started running. Later that day, Nythera was left in the courtyard to continue fine tuning her active skills. Aether Cannon now worked without a hitch, given her past of summoning it in strange places, even at a distance from herself, her flux control for it was top notch. In Cannon-Arm lay the problem.

Her right arm was her dominant hand, aiming from her left and even bringing the skill to activate in it was considerably harder. While her stump could probably activate the skill, removing the bindings would remove the flexibility the attachment returned to her. This is such a pain in the ass, who the fuck decided that dominant sides should affect skill application. Dumbass. Her shot arced to the side, missing the target and igniting a fire in the wooden barrier behind it as it sent wood shrapnel flying.

This log wall had been erected purely because her skill had begun damaging the rune work deep within the stone.

"I expected more than this, your Stormstep lacks the force required. Come on boy" Edric chastised his son once again. They both stepped back for another round of sparing. Nythera walked up with caution, ensuring to bow lightly when she caught his eye. He nodded approvingly at her.

"Now here is an example of proper nobility, her cannon skills both do more impact than any of your storm skills. You need more ferocity, boy" Edric spat.

"Yessir" Rowen readied his guard. The pair clashed again and again, Edric's skills punched with force, often savaging anything around them. Lightning, wind, water, three flux types made up a composite of power that was directly used in both of their fighting styles. Nythera tended to spend most of these bouts at a safe distance, only occasionally forced to dodge a stray or deflected blast of energy.

"It is the duty of nobility to be above commoners, work for it boy!" Edric shouted, unleashing a greater slash. The energy shot forwards, tearing through the ground.

"Achieve what they cannot" Edric flicked his wrist and three more slashes shout out. Rowen blocked one, but was twisted about after dealing with the major slash and took another to the chest. From the ground, he was sent sprawling as the last slash decimated him.

"You are not ready for the bigger skills yet, this technique goes much further boy" Edric sheathed his sword.

"Go back to helping the Queen, if you can." he walked away, back into the estate. What an interesting father, I am not sure I envy Rowen much.

"Rowen, shall we practice something?" she asked, as he was still pulling himself off the ground.

"Etiquette, everything else is fine, but Kronan knows you need etiquette lessons" Rowen tried to brush the dirt off his clothes to little effect.

"Come on, what about history, I think I uh, I forgot the capital of Varnhold" Nythera pleaded.

"The capital of Varnhold is Varnhold, try something larger than a city-state next time. If you learn etiquette properly, I'll teach you a light cantrip" Rowen's eyes showed a spark of anticipation. You bastard, going for the jugular are we?

"Fine, let's go practice etiquette, but you better hold to your word!" Days and weeks passed by, at one point Rowen taught his light cantrip to Nythera, who nearly clocked him over the head when she realized it was just concentrated flux. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Talvik came and went, never staying for more than a few hours. The duo was eating dinner, without Edric as usual.

"Rowen, prepare woodmancers, and some sailors, we should depart soon. I have held up my end of the bargain and more than mended in this time" Nythera broke the silence.

"And pray tell, what do we need woodmancers for?" Rowen delicately cut into the Varn-cattle steak.

"We are going back to the northern shipyard to mend the vessel" she leaned in to whisper "You saw Lance's messages, the Edge is swarming with fleeing peasants, Leo's ship isn't enough and with the forges of Waketown, the tool deficit has been largely fixed. The isles need more Greymereians, not less."

Rowen wiped his mouth carefully with a napkin "I suppose that is true, one more ship would double the rate of migration or offer a method of transporting goods faster, you could even replace the ferry with a flying vessel and complete a full rotation every day. Very well, I will ready what we need. Who is the new captain going to be?"

"Uh well, that is a good question, I figured we could take some sailor and bind them with Authority" Nythera shrugged.

"Allow me to be of assistance, I can find a good candidate" Rowen interjected. I suppose delegation is part of a lords toolset. Let's try it out on Rowen.

"If he isn't from Stormbridge, deal." Nythera gleefully downed a glass of finer spirits. I wonder if I can get stocked up with this stuff, by the barrel. A murmur came through the door, Nythera and Rowen instantly quieting their boisterous feasting.

"Construction is on time, we have had no delays" Edric said.

"And the crab trap? I gave you some finer metal to work with on that, if I find even an ounce has been pilfered, you'll have me to answer to" A familiar, almost mechanical voice said.

"My men are loyal, nothing was stolen. Just remember to uphold your end of the deal" Edric said with frustration.

"Yes yes, you'll get your tomes, if you're a good boy. I have no more time to waste here, Kravin has led a contingent of newer crustaceans up the east coast, they'll besiege my tower in precisely 4. 87 minutes. I have no idea where that bastard found giant copepods, but they are a serious problem. Good day." The Clock-keeper's voice could no longer be heard. Edric pulled open the door, his face looked like someone had left his sword in the rain. He sat down and ate in silence.

Kravin and the Clock-keeper, I know there's something weird going on there, what does Edric have to do with it all?

"Nythera, have Rowen prepare whatever you need" Edric said and continued eating. She nodded "of course." Edric coughed, "in the future, I would appreciate it if you consider Stormbridge as a potential destination for Greymereian migrants. The sea cliffs protect us from the waves of Wrath and the peninsula is properly fortified, we could host a respectable population around the estate. With such prosperity I have little doubt that Myrraval's numbers will swell."

"Of course, once I have more ships to transport people, Stormbridge Estate can also be considered as a destination. What are your plans for the area?" Nythera pulled on her recent etiquette lessons as hard as she could.

"The land here is as fertile as anywhere else on Myrraval, a respectable township could be built here with little to fear from Wrath. I only wish for the best for migrants and their attempts to settle. Of course it would also be prudent to remind people that nobles have capabilities that should not be ignored as well." Edric took a bite of the steak, but no sign of satisfaction appeared on his face. Uhuh, best for the people. If Stormbridge became a township, you'd get a council seat.

I can see right through you buddy. Fortunately you've helped me enough, so I don't really care.

"I will see what can be done, as soon as I have several new ships, perhaps classed farmers can be dropped off in Stormbridge. If you were willing to make any concessions, it would be far easier to procure them earlier" Nythera lightly suggested. Edric's face flickered with amusement.

"I forgot to mention, Stormbridge estate would be interested in supporting your colonization efforts in the interior. The settling of the interior is a just and true cause, your majesty" Edric took a slow sip of wine.

"We appreciate your support, I am sure that helping with such righteous causes is sure to see returns one day, by the favor of the gods" Nythera tried her best at noble speech. Edric genuinely smiled.

"Of course" he nodded. Rowen looked to be on the verge of tears. … At the dawn of the next day, Rowen set off to prepare the ship for departure. He shoved a bag into her hands "Here, this your part of it" Inside lay two dozen glittering embers "What's this for?" she shot him an eyebrow.

"The frackhammers, remember? I took a small cut for my services" Rowen said. Frack hammers? Oh yeah… I did give them to Rowen. FUCK I could really use them now. She glanced at the three rings of Xyrk now stuck to her fingers. Note to self: Do not sell shit that could be useful.

"I will have the ship ready by tomorrow at the latest, Milady" Rowen bowed on his way out. A second later his head popped back in "By the way, that was painful to watch, you really need to work on your etiquette. If we were in a place with anyone else, everyone in the room and maybe the next three towns over would have been able to read your intentions" Rowen sighed.

"Well you're my teacher so-" he was already gone, slamming the door shut. Welp, nothing to be done about it. I never wanted to bother with this etiquette shit in the first place. Nythera made her way to an empty meeting room, the great wooden table dominating the center. She pulled Oswin's map and the hangar map out of Boxy and overlaid them on the table. Lastly her own handdrawn map came out, coming up quite short in both detail and scope. It went right back into the box. Another time.

She began to mutter to herself "So we have sites here, here, here and here, but most of the interesting ones are too deep in Myrraval or on blasted Volkion, I believe Rowen said heading there at this low strata is death. Same for Voltherra. That leaves just a scattering of sites, not much really. Isn't much I can do with a caved-in aetherite mine either.

Very well, I need to go up a strata, and make my way to the Volkion Aetherian Refinery as soon as possible, if strata two isn't enough for that, it should be enough for the Myrraval Eastern Shipyards." Nythera scanned over the map, but could not find anything accessible that caught her eye. Even if it only has a few scout vessels it would be worth a trip, it's a lot further inland though. Given the fluxspawn get stronger as you go in, we would need to go in, get the ships, and get out.

"Alright, I've decided we shall start with Aelthyr then" Nythera proclaimed to herself. Vathrial is a known variable, and not one we are prepared to deal with in any meaningful capacity. Aelthyr is not. Ascend my class once, grab some more ships, ascend it again, grab a lot more ships, bombard all my enemies to ash and make a great and powerful kingdom. She rolled up the maps and stuffed them back in Boxy. Sounds like a plan. Time to go tie up some loose ends.