Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 144, 1/2

The day dawned red, with stillness in the air and the promise of storms on the horizon.

Ezekiel had woken early, as usual. Breakfast would be delivered soon by the proprietor’s wife, but the room had supplies enough for a few things, and he had bought more in their time in Darzallia. He made himself a nice pot of some ‘specialty blend’ lime-blossom tea that had caught his eye and his nose, then poured that tea into a cup already filled with just the right amount of crystalline rock sugar. Granulated sugar was a rarity in this part of the world with both commoners and nobles mainly using rock sugar. The sugar Ezekiel had bought was also lime-flavored. Soon enough, shimmering green tea swirled with slowly-dissolving sugar in his cup, while Ezekiel sat by the window, reading, enjoying the quiet hours of the new day.

Soon enough, Paul joined him, and made himself a cup. He deeply inhaled the smell, and said, “I like it.”

Ezekiel refilled his own cup, saying, “I could see orange and lemon blossom tea being a thing here as well.”

Paul nodded, as he grabbed his own book and sat down on the other side of the front room.

Julia and Tiffany woke after breakfast was delivered, and the smells of thick-slice fried bacon filled the room.

Ezekiel spied another ‘delivery’ walking this way, out on the road that ran beside the Sour House. Enforcer Sikali. Her skin was a pale tan color, and she looked human enough, but something about her seemed ‘demi’. She didn’t seem to have any bloodlust in her this time, or if she did, it was low-grade enough to not set off Ezekiel’s gut feeling.

He told Julia, “Your escort will be here soon. Or handler. I’m not sure.”

Julia ignored the rest of her food and rapidly grabbed another bit of bacon. She stuffed it in her mouth as she rushed away from the living room, back to her own, speaking through her full mouth, “A minute!”

Tiffany rapidly proceeded to grab up all the rest of the bacon, saying, “All mine!”

In moments, Julia came out of her room wearing working robes of a cut similar to what a peasant would wear when toiling out in the fields, but hers were a bright blue that shimmered iridescent in the sunlight. Not bad for a tunic and pants! Ezekiel had worked with Julia last night to make them out of her [Prismatic Thread], and they were only one of a dozen new outfits. Everyone got new robes and otherwise. All of the new stuff was solid colored, but shimmered like rainbows when the light caught them at the right angle.

The new clothes weren’t as physically strong as the white-thread Shadow Spider silk, but they were superbly comfortable. Julia had trouble combining her new [Prismatic Thread] with the thick thread from the Shadow Spider, but Ezekiel had confidence that she would figure it out.

They had talked a lot about a lot last night, while they were weaving in the midnight hours.

They had started talking about how they treated each other, which they both agreed was poor, sometimes, but it was only because they both worried for the other. Then the conversation moved on, and they both tried talking as though they were both capable of taking care of themselves. They spoke of threats, and concerns, and smaller things. It was a good conversation.

Ezekiel looked at his daughter, dressed up in her new iridescent blue outfit, and smiled. She would surely get ripped up just as badly as her new clothes, but she had all the tools necessary to repair all of that damage. Soon, Ezekiel would also have all the tools to repair the damage this world could do to a body, and that had made Julia happy, too.

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “You look ready.”

Julia smiled back, and said, “I feel ready. [Perfected Body] makes me feel… Better. In all ways.”

Ezekiel’s eyebrows raised. “You can adjust yourself like that?”

“Come on now, dad.” Julia said, “I can put spinnerets in my forearms; I can put [Perfected Body] in this form, too.”

“I know that, but...” Ezekiel wasn’t quite happy that his daughter called her natural-born ‘Familiar Form’, a ‘form’. But he could deal. In an attempt to meet her halfway, he asked, “How does [Perfected Body] make you feel? Any differences inside that are apparent to you?”

Julia smirked. “You can look, you know. You tell me.”

He had already, to make sure that she was doing okay, but he didn’t like the idea of her replacing parts of herself like that. He asked, “Does it feel different?”

Julia shrugged. “Eh.” She walked to the front door, saying, “It’s hard to tell— Ah. My eyes are perfectly symmetrical. Just noticed that in the mirror, actually. The vascularity in my left arm is now as great as in my right arm, and the veins are the same. It’s a bunch of small things, you know? I’m also feeling great on four hours of sleep. So that’s a little different. Usually there’s some trouble waking up in the morning after days like the one we had yesterday, but there was none this morning.” She stood by the door, saying, “And it was easier to [Polymorph] those spinnerets last night, now that I think about it.”

“I still find it odd that monster abilities just have names, and no blue boxes,” Ezekiel said.

Julia said, “They’re more biological functions than abilities.” She looked away, frowning a little, then said, “Maybe monsters are like living enchantments?” She added, “Eh. No. That's too simple.”

Ezekiel hummed, thinking about it. Living enchantments? “They’re made with [Husbandry]… People can become monsters if they form a core... I don’t know.” He said, “When you go meet Riri for lessons, or something, let me know. I’ll end up there sometime, too.”

Sikali was almost to their door.

Julia said, “Whenever that happens, I’ll let you know.” She smiled, throwing open the door, saying, “But for now, we got monsters to hunt!”

Sikali barely broke stride as she walked into view. She had a mien of professionalism upon her face and a simple, yet elegant, red and black court dress. She spied Ezekiel in the room, past Julia, and said, “Greetings, Scion Ezekiel Phoenix.”

Julia went professional, too, as she recognized a tradition of greeting the one in charge first. She stepped to the side and stood, silent.

Ezekiel stood up from his chair, saying, “Greetings, Enforcer Sikali Star Song. Won’t you come in? I can make some tea for us.” With a thought toward canceling one of the layered [Prismatic Ward]s in the room, he did so, opening a space in the hotel room for Sikali to walk inside.

Sikali bowed her head a fraction, and stepped into the room, saying, “I appreciate the courtesy, but we have a busy schedule. Some other day, perhaps? My husband Xue makes a fantastic sun tea. We would love to host you and your Clan for a meal, if you are willing.”

“I gladly accept your invitation, though I know not when I am available; it seems like something large and new is happening every day.” Ezekiel asked, “And speaking of invitations: I have appointments with the Singers of Void Song during the morning, but my afternoons are free. I’m not too sure when your husband and Elder Arilitilo wish to get together for lessons, but if you know when that will take place, then I am sure we can figure out the rest from there.”

“Star Song has many duties, but we will make time for you.” Sikali said, “Regarding the teaching promised by Elder Arilitilo and my husband Xue, I have been told that it is best to practice Blood Magic a few hours after a hearty meal, so if your mid-morning is occupied, then mid-afternoon will need to be acceptable. If this is agreed upon, then please tell me now, and I will inform them to wait for your arrival in the afternoon.”

“This is a fine timetable.” Ezekiel asked, “Would you be able to speak on the planned lessons with Loremaster Riri, as well?”

“My husband and his Elder will be able to answer this concern, but I cannot.” Sikali said, “One or the other of them will likely guide you to Loremaster Riri’s secondary offices, which are located next to Xue’s in the Lore House.”

“Ah! Good.” Ezekiel asked, “Where should I go to meet them, then? Back to your Clan mountain?”

Sikali bowed her head, saying, “This is correct, Scion Phoenix. Upon arrival, an initiate or inner disciple will be able to guide you further, but I suspect that as soon as you show, an Elder will also show. Do you have any other concerns I may answer?”

“A schedule for my daughter, so that I know when I need to be concerned.” Ezekiel said, “I am not that worried for her, but a father is never not worried.”

Sikali grinned slightly, politely, and said, “I will ensure 12 hour check-ins, but we will be venturing into the Underworld in a few locations, therefore we will not be able to maintain that schedule. You will be notified when this occurs.”

Good enough. Ezekiel gave a low gesture toward his daughter as he stepped out of the conversation, but not away.

Sikali turned to Julia, saying, “I look forward to working with you.”

“And I look forward to working with you, as well,” Julia said, professionally.

Sikali turned to Ezekiel and bowed, then rose and walked out of the room first.

Julia rushed her father and hugged him.

Ezekiel enjoyed the far-too-short embrace.

Julia broke away and rushed after Sikali. She quickly fell in beside the Enforcer, and they started talking in small voices, but soon switched to telepathic conversation. Ezekiel watched them go down the stairs, then out of the Sour House. Far too quickly, Julia and Sikali were walking along the road outside the hotel.

Ezekiel relaxed his mana sense, and the two of them fell out of sight. He turned to his remaining people, and said, “Time to visit Kaffi.”

- - - -

Paul and Tiffany sat across the way, on the other side of the large stone amphitheater.

Ezekiel sat on the same stone bench as Kaffi.

A dozen books and twice as many scrolls sat between them. Some of the scrolls were opened and stacked to the side, along with some of the books; attempted and discarded. Others sat in a halfway pile; attempted and appreciated. The Singer had brought quite a few aura control training manuals to their session. None of them had led to a sudden breakthrough, but…

Kaffi unrolled another scroll, reading it as she said, “This might be a good one for you. It’s a little unorthodox, but it has worked before for many people.”

She had said that about every method.

Kaffi said, “Sit upon your knees, this time. Hold your hands in a triangle shape above your stomach, but do not allow your fingers to touch, or allow your arms to come into contact with any other solid surface, including your legs, or your sides. Sit in such a way that no body part is directly touching another body part. As much as one can, anyway. Relax. Breathe in and out. Relax. Move your hands in and out, gently, attempting to mold your aura into a ball. Breath in and out in time to the molding. Feel the energy flow across the skin of your body. Feel the direction of the flow toward your hands. Gather your aura in your hands, and realize how it works.” Kaffi added, “This one has some demeaning wording, but it works sometimes.”

Ezekiel smirked, as he got into position, sitting on his knees. He had gotten into a lot of different positions over the last hour, but about half of them had him sitting in this way. Laying down was also popular. Cross legged was not popular.

Kaffi went silent. She watched.

Ezekiel tried this latest method for ten minutes, to no result.

Kaffi called it, “Time.” She added, “That one seemed better than some of the others. No obvious results, though. Moving right along.” She picked up one of the books that they had already gone through, and flipped to a different bookmark, saying, “For this one you have to…”

That one didn’t work either.

The next one was a failure.

“Time,” Kaffi said, breaking the silence of the room again.

Ezekiel opened his eyes.

Kaffi asked, “Did any of those seem to work better than any of the other ones?”

“I liked the visualization ones. Especially the one that combined the aura casting and canceling but with continuous attempts at moving around the aura, even when the spell was off.” Ezekiel said, “They seemed like they were working, or that they might work one day.”

“Any idea why you feel that way about those techniques?”

“The goal is to be able to interact with the world with my aura, which pairs well with actually attempting to move the world even if I have no spell effects that allow me to easily do so.”

Kaffi asked, “And you didn’t like the ones where you use lower levels of the Meditation Skill?”

“Nope.”

“You explained already, but I require a larger explanation.” Kaffi explained, “Most people like those ones.”

Ezekiel frowned a little, then said, “Meditation causes the user to vaguely see the mana all around them, which has the side effect of forcing the user to see the hallucinations that life has imbued upon the immaterial. Most of those hallucinations have gone away since I gained Scion of Focus so long ago, but they’re up front and center when I use the lower levels of Meditation; when I drop myself into that dark place. I don’t appreciate that.”

“Hmm. Fair.” Kaffi said, “Well. We’re done for now. I expected this testing to take a lot longer. This is quite a lot easier to do when you can memorize everything as fast as you do.” She said, “I will bring a larger selection of techniques that might work for you tomorrow, based on what I’ve already seen and what you’ve said.” She stood, saying, “But the Grand Elder would like to see you, if you would be amenable. We’ve many options for lunch.”

They’d been at this for three hours. This was a good stopping point. But did he want lunch with a ‘grand elder’? Eh. Sure. Why not!

Ezekiel stretched, then stood, and diplomatically said, “I would be honored.”

Kaffi smiled brightly. “Then please follow me. We shall be heading upstairs, to the fifth floor.”

Up a grand, winding staircase they went, surrounded by white walls that gently echoed with the sound of the Void Song. The Song was a heartburn in process when he listened to it out there in Eralis, but when he was inside the Void Temple, it was nice; like quiet music. He said as much to Kaffi, as they walked upward, past hallways of acolytes in their dorm rooms or classrooms, and other hallways filled with office workers.

Kaffi said, “For all the Void Song has brought prosperity to Eralis, those of us with ears to hear can barely stand it. Thus, we have some tricks in the walls of the Temple.”

“I can imagine growing up here and never knowing that the world isn’t supposed to sound like that until after Matriculation and wanting to explore the world, or after stepping out of the city for the first time for some other reason.”

Kaffi said, “Most kids are raised to know what the Song is, but if they don’t understand themselves through common knowledge, then they learn through taking a day-trip with a parent or otherwise, outside of Eralis.” She asked, “What brought you to this observation?”

“Ah. I can imagine that, too.” Ezekiel said, “It’s the idea of it that captured me for a moment there. Suddenly, they don’t hear that background sound. It’s like finally realizing that there was more to everything than what they knew possible. It’s the same thing that seems to happen to me in every place I visit, and with every new thing I learn.”

Kaffi smiled, but said nothing more as they reached the fifth floor.

The staircase ended its rise in the center of a half-open floor plan. A wall separated north from south, just a little to the south of the staircase. Beyond those southern walls and doors were industrial-level kitchens, churning out lots of nice meals. The white stone floor to the north was filled with tables, while the walls were large windows that showed the greying skies over Eralis; rain had threatened all day long, but nothing had come of it yet. To the west of the staircase, Ezekiel mana sensed, and saw, as people blipped into a designated Teleport Zone in groups. Those groups were already talking with each other as they moved into the cafeteria.

And all around, people ate food and talked and laughed and lived. Most of them were younger than Julia, but there were a few older faces here and there. Most wore grey robes, but many wore white. Ezekiel understood that grey denoted trainees and acolytes, but white robes were given when one proved themselves as dedicated to High Clan Void Song, or if they were on the path of the Singer. If there were delineations between Singer and not-Singer and otherwise, then Ezekiel did not recognize them.

A few acolytes saw Kaffi and called her over to their table, but she declined, and guided Ezekiel forward, through the room, to a set of double doors on the far end of the cafeteria space. The doors opened at her approach. Ezekiel, Paul, and Tiffany followed her into a more private area.

Several booths lined the walls on either side of the door, each of them with a grand view of the north, through tall, massive windows. Grey clouds loomed all above, ready to unleash their rains. Buildings rose all across the horizon, each of them trying to outdo each other in size or architecture, but none reaching the heights that Ezekiel had seen back on Earth. Like a hidden treasure peeking out between those tall structures, the Void Wall was a sharp white line, while the Void Gate was highly visible. It rose high into the sky, to the left, the top-most arc of ‘Rozeta’s Body’ vanishing into the lower grey clouds, and then coming back down to resume its encirclement of Eralis.

It was a nice place to eat, for sure, but only one other person was in this VIP room.

She sat in a booth to the left. She was a stately older woman of white skin, white hair, and violet eyes, wearing a violet robe which had to be one of the most expensive, and yet understated walking-around robes Ezekiel had ever seen on a person. The second thing he noticed about her was a gentleness that was probably totally false, for you didn’t become a ‘grand elder’ of anything without being the kind of person that actually went for that sort of thing.

Being a Grand Elder certainly wasn’t like being an archmage, where all it took was having a knack for magic and suddenly you had more power than you knew what to do with.

Anyway.

Meeting a Grand Elder.

Kaffi walked the woman’s way, then stepped to the side, gesturing as she said, “Scion Ezekiel Phoenix. Please meet Grand Elder Lingxing Void Song.”

Ezekiel bowed his head, then rose, saying, “A pleasure to meet you, Grand Elder Lingxing.”

Lingxing gestured to the table she sat at, and spoke softly, “Please sit with me, Scion Ezekiel. We have some of the best cuisine here, and quite a lot of it has been recently inspired by the dishes coming out from the Crystal Forest. Your daughter is from there, if I heard correctly.”

Ezekiel felt nothing untoward in Lingxing’s voice or demeanor, but she seemed nice. So either she was the world’s best liar, or she was tied for that position with Kaffi, or she was simply being pleasant.

“Thank you for the invitation.” Ezekiel sat down, saying, “And yes, you heard correctly.”

Lingxing gave a small smile, then said to Kaffi, “Some menus, Kaffi.” She asked Ezekiel, “Or we could order everything on the menu?”

“I’m up for some Blood Magic lessons after this so I have been told I should eat plenty, but maybe not the whole menu.”

Lingxing gave a polite chuckle at the small joke, then said to Kaffi, “Some of the better dishes, and also the more popular ones, if you will, along with enough for Scion Ezekiel’s people. See that we are not unduly disturbed.”

Kaffi bowed, then walked away.

Lingxing asked, “Would you prefer some privacy spells? I can craft some, or I will accept yours, if you wish. I would like to talk plainly, but not about anything too important.”

No horrific alarm bells were going off in his head, so that was an alarm right there, but… Odin was on his shoulder. His defenses were up. He was safe.

He said, “I could accept raising my own.”

Lingxing nodded.

Ezekiel shaped a [Sealed Privacy Ward] across a large portion of the room, covering their booth, a few other adjacent booths, and half of the room. He gestured for his people to take one of the other booths nearby.

Paul and Tiffany took a seat at the adjacent booth.

Lingxing glanced around, and seemed at ease with the spellwork around her, but she wasn’t interested in that. She locked eyes with Ezekiel. The kindly grandmother-type was still there in her visage, but she was serious, now. Ezekiel sat straighter.

Lingxing said, “I’m so glad to meet you, Archmage Flatt. We’ve been waiting a long time for you to show, and I am glad you showed on my watch. I hope Kaffi is treating you well. If she is not, let me know, and I can find you a replacement.”

… Maybe she wasn’t secretly furious with him, or some other untoward emotion? Maybe she wasn’t filled with plots and plans? Of course, the absence of a plot or a plan was automatically both.

But Lingxing didn’t fill Erick with dread. She seemed curious. Hopeful. Happy, even.

“Kaffi, or whoever she is, was a surprise, but she seems fine. I can appreciate someone going incognito, so I have no place to judge that.” Erick said, “And it is a pleasure to finally be here in the Highlands, Grand Elder.”

“Oh! Please call me Lingxing when we’re in private. I have heard you prefer people to call you Erick?”

Erick fought off a smile. “I do. In private.”

“You have avoided many planned events by showing up under a friendly guise, instead of as yourself.”

“Then my own plots and plans were a success.” Erick asked, “But just so I know: What did you have planned?”

“There were to be parties, for one. We have some of the nicest hotel rooms in the world waiting for you, though they do get rented out occasionally; we would have made room. Other than that, there would be a lot of meetings with important people.” Lingxing said, “Half of the powers in the High Clans would have asked for your assistance in locating some murderers and terrorists and ending threats in this part of the world, though I understand your daughter is doing some of that. Thank you for that, by the way.

“The other half would have tried to drown you in excess luxury, while asking you for the favor to be returned in whatever manner they could convince you of.

“Everyone would have wanted to open trade, and to be the ones to teach you of the Songs, and to hopefully learn from you in turn.”

“Sounds like quite a tour.”

And one he did not want to do. Not yet, anyway. Maybe not ever.

“We can still do all of that, if you want, but it is strictly unnecessary.” Lingxing said, “Your ‘Scion Ezekiel’ facade is getting drawn into quite a few whirlpools of desires and plans, but Archmage Flatt would have been a lot worse.” She added, “Just so you know: If you ever need help with any of the problems you find in the Clans of the Songli Highlands, as Scion Ezekiel, you have friends in High Clan Places.”

Erick felt wary at being called ‘friends’ already.

So he asked, “Do I? Have friends?”

Lingxing said, “A premature notion, I am sure. To tell you the truth, Erick, I wanted you to be Scion Ezekiel. The idea of someone of your power and temperament showing up out of nowhere, desiring to be friendly with the Songli Highlands? That is the stuff of dreams. Erick Flatt is tied to Spur, and we wish him well. But Scion Ezekiel! He could have gone far, here, making a strong name for himself and his Clan.” She added, “Alas, Void Song is one of many who will need to content itself with seeing the big fish get away.”

“I hoped to not get involved in any large affairs, but I cannot seem to stick to that plan.”

“Plans and reality rarely mix well.”

Erick smiled at that.

And Lingxing hadn’t mentioned the Worldly Path yet, so maybe she didn’t know? This was good.

Lingxing turned fractionally more serious, “But now I must ask something important.”

Erick lost his smile.

Tentatively, he asked, “… What is it?”

“We have been trying to understand how best to use the new foods you have created, but some of them do not fit with the usual cooking methods common to the Highlands.” Lingxing asked, “I wish to talk about food with you. For starters: these red tomatoes!” With a pleasant, excited voice, she asked, “And the ‘beefsteak’ tomatoes in particular. How do you best use those in your food?”

Uh.

Okay!

This was fine?

“Besides ketchup?” Erick went with it, saying, “Slices of tomato in a sandwich of bacon and lettuce and mayo. I know it doesn’t sound appetizing, but every time my daughter made one for me, I was reminded that I really like those flavors together.”

“You can’t have a sandwich without mayo,” Lingxing said, “It makes everything better. I doubt your tomatoes even have to be red to enjoy that sort of thing.”

Ah. He saw where she was going with this.

Red tomatoes actually were a big deal, but in a Quiet way.

“I got some pushback on the red tomatoes back in Spur, too, but I never intended to touch that cultural nuance of the Quiet War. It seems like someone would have made other colors of tomatoes long before now.”

Lingxing smiled, and bright emotions swelled from the woman, as she said, “I never liked the purple ones either, but these red tomatoes are spreading everywhere, now that the humans of this world can hold up their own version of the ‘tomato’ as ‘human-made’.” She added, “We don’t do the Quiet War here, so I was glad to see that particular food item come from a creator with a Silver Star upon his chest. I love ketchup. I love red sauces. They seem to give a dish a certain vibrancy that you don’t get with purple, and tomatoes being red now has opened a whole new street of options. We usually have to make red sauces out of peppers, and spice is not one of my favorite flavors.”

Oh? Maybe she was actually a foodie? For real?

Food and culture was a big intersection. Talking about one but actually discussing the other was an interesting tact to take. It was easier, for one. Though Erick would be happy with a simpler talk about food, without the extra layer.

“My daughter can’t get enough spice, but I can do without it as well. Have you tried the ranch dressing?” Erick said, “I was particularly proud of that one. Had to invent almost every herb that went into that thing. But now I can cut down almost any spicy food that Jane brings home.”

“I have tried that one, but I feel it was not created properly. Do you have a proper recipe?

“Yes. I’ll get the recipe to you soon. Have you tried lemons yet?”

“Oh yes. I have tried the oranges, too, and those are great! Much better than limes. A dozen varieties of lime and none of them sweet. Why just the other day, I…”

Rapidly, they left behind the political layer to the food talk.

They spoke of foods of all kinds as the first dishes were wheeled into the room by Kaffi, and deposited on the table. There were fries and ketchup. Rice and mayo. Fish and red meats and white meats. Sauces of all kinds. It was a feast, and they spoke of every single dish there, talking about where it came from and how it was made. When Kaffi came back with more dishes, she came back with a pad of paper and pens. They exchanged recipes.

Lingxing was a foodie, for real, and it showed.

Erick left the Void Temple feeling full and fine, with a list of restaurants to try in Eralis and the surrounding cities, and with an open invitation to stay for lunch in the cafeteria whenever he felt like it, after his lessons with Kaffi.

Lingxing was obviously after something, but if that ‘something’ was just... the friendship… of an… archmage. Yeah. She was after that, for sure. But whatever?

There were worse friends to have, and Ezekiel wasn’t about to become some jaded misanthrope who was constantly judging the actions of everyone around him in the most harsh possible light. Everyone needs friends, right? Friendships had to start somewhere, and mutual exchange and interest and proximity was as good of a start as any.

And anyway, it’s not like they were friends after a single lunch.

Ezekiel asked his people, “Did you two like that lunch?”

“It was good.” Tiffany said, “I liked the steak.”

Paul said, “The fish was well seasoned.”

“Did she seem honest?”

Tiffany hummed, non-committal.

Paul said, “About as much as anyone.”

Fair enough.

- - - -

Light rain misted down from the sky as Ezekiel, Paul, and Tiffany stepped out of magenta light, onto the white tiles of the Teleport Square, before the bridge to the Alluvial District. By the time they got halfway across the bridge the sky had begun to rain rather hard. Rain did not touch him, though, or any of the other people on the bridge, for many different [Weather Ward]s had been erected over the bridge.

Maybe the deflecting [Ward]s were always there? Or maybe they were just there for the event of the day, for there was certainly something going on.

People lined both sides of the bridge, in small clusters, most of them with small children. There was no one nearby who Ezekiel recognized, and they didn’t seem to care about him, though a few people did turn to look at veiled Tiffany. The kids all watched the water, eager and excited, as the rain began to pour in earnest and the adults around them began to speak of ‘It’s about to start’ and ‘There! Did you see that one!’.

Down below, the Wanzhi River Delta, stretched out over dozens of kilometers in every direction, its many sandbanks full of grasses and small, winding streams, began to rise. The rains had started far to the north, long before now, and the waters and rains were just now arriving. The river didn’t rise too much, but there was a clear difference compared to a minute before. Some of the sandbanks were now little more than tufts of green that struggled to rise above the rushing waters.

Small ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ escaped from the watching kids.

Ezekiel had slowed his walk, watching, but now he had to see with his own eyes. He went to an open section of the bridge to watch. Tiffany and Paul followed. He could already see what was happening with his Odin, flying high above, and so could Tiffany, with her mana sense, and so could Paul through the two of them and everyone else all around, but none of that was as nice as seeing in person.

Together, the three of them watched as the churning waters came alive with red glints. Here and there, like a beast was waking under a deep, frothing ocean, tiny red flits flashed their red scales in small sections, in sync with their direct neighbors.

The fish were each as large as anchovies and barely visible on their own, but they were plentiful, and a change was taking place in the massive school. The flits had been waiting for a signal, and they had received it. Small flickering red sections became large flashing red sections as the first red flits dashed above the waves, out of the water, rushing north, spurring on their neighbors to jump out of the water with them. Like a wave started in a football stadium, the flits began to cascade their jumps and their flickering of bright red scales in time with those nearby.

The dark waters, almost black without sunlight upon them, became a mix of black and flashing red.

Some critical mass occurred, all at once, and there was no more cascading wave. All the fish jumped and rushed and glittered all over the entire flooded delta, swimming north while rain crashed down from above.

And then they began to do more than glitter red in the dim light of the rainy day. They began to glow.

Crimson. Bright and shining with actual light, a billion billion red flits turned a gloomy day into a red flood that fought against the river, and won.

Ezekiel watched for a full minute.

And then, as fast as it had come, the event was over. The full crimson rush of light vanished back beneath the dark waters, though some fish couldn’t turn it off. They were red glows under the waves, like eyes, that swam north, into the storm.

It was beautiful.

Some of the kids on the bridge had been entranced, though others had opted to be extremely vocal in their surprise and joy. A few kids threw tantrums when it ended, but they had been reassured that the red flood would come again on another rainy day. All Water Season, this happened, whenever the river flooded after the rain.

Ezekiel stepped away from the bridge, happy to have witnessed such a sight. From their expressions, Tiffany and Paul had enjoyed the moment, too.

They continued on to the Alluvial District.

- - - -

Ezekiel arrived at Clan Star Song, to an understated reception that was rather formal, but short. It was not unlike the ceremony of points that Julia had undertaken yesterday, but for Ezekiel, he just had tea in a garden with Elder Arilitilo, who asked if he could call her just ‘Ari’. Ezekiel obliged.

The two of them spoke of the books she had sent him, of what he thought of them, and of the goals he wished to achieve in his pursuit of Blood Magic. This was a simple question, with a simple answer: Denying and Healing were more than good enough for him, for now, but he wanted to learn that enchanting method they talked about. With that answer in hand, Ari informed him that they likely wouldn’t get to any Blood Magic today. This was fine.

Ari gave a small tour of the Lorehouse of the Clan Mountain, where Ezekiel got to see a nice library, and the doors to the offices of Xue and Riri and a few others, but none of them were in, so they moved on, down hallways that initiates and inner disciples used to get to rooms where everything from healing to harming to protecting were taught to those deemed worthy. He saw nothing untoward yet, but there was a lot to see! He’d likely be seeing a lot of everything else at later dates, anyway.

They got to the room that Ari had chosen to start Ezekiel’s education, where they stored the tools that she would be using to teach him. They went inside, to the center, to the main teaching tool.

It was a wax cadaver of a human male. It laid upon a table in the center of the large, currently-private room. It was perhaps the most intricate sculpture of a person Ezekiel had ever seen. It had veins and arteries and goo for blood and well defined organs, muscles, nerves, and bones, each of appropriate physical strength to make them as life-like as possible. There were small simplifications in the construction, of course, as the arteries of a real heart had layers to them, and the skin had more layers than were here, but other than those details, the wax figure was rather impressive.

A similar wax sculpture sat on a different table, not too far away. It was a wax incani female. On smaller tables around the room were other subjects, all done in wax. Several large eyes, all in a corner. The bones of the ear, times two; one labeled ‘humanoid’ and the other labeled ‘avian’. There were bodies of all sorts of people, and even animals, like rats and wolves and birds and frogs, but most of those were either in storage underneath other sculptures, or off to the side. This human male was actively used, all the time, as were the other ones currently sitting out in the open.

Ari stepped to the other side of the ‘cadaver’, and said, “Healing magic is varied by effect and nuance. But [Treat Wounds], and then [Greater Treat Wounds], is little more than the application of skill and understanding alongside an Elemental Body or aura control. I know you read the books I gave you, but very little of what is written down is so easily translated into working knowledge, and very little is adequate for your learning goals, so here we are in the Wax Room. Like most learning, we will start near the beginning.” She pressed the nude sculpture’s stomach and it moved like a person’s would; not a simple indentation, but a pressure in one point that deformed all other nearby places. She removed her hand, and the stomach returned halfway back to where it had been before. She cast a [Mend], and the sculpture reformed completely. “As you can see, this sculpture is one of many that each responds in life-like ways to many external stimuli. This room is used by all, but I have requested some private time for our first lesson.

“We likely won’t come here again.

“When I can see that you know the basics of Healing Magic, then we will move on to the healing of rats and then wolves. You must achieve [Treat Wounds] before you are allowed inside a hospital, whereupon you can further cast your gained spell and perhaps gain [Greater Treat Wounds].

“Along the way, you will likely gain [Inflict Wounds], and perhaps even [Greater Inflict Wounds], as it is much easier to destroy than it is to heal, and you will be learning a great deal about how to destroy, in order to do the opposite.”

Ezekiel nodded. He wanted to ask— Nah.

Ari said, “I can see you have questions. Ask them.”

“This is a basic one that hasn’t really been covered anywhere else, and your book didn’t mention this, exactly. But how do Doctors and Healers Remake these spells, if they don’t have aura control or an Elemental Body? Or a mana sense? The vast majority of people don’t have either, and this includes doctors.”

Ari nodded, then said, “They have to do this the hard way, through practice and understanding and a great deal of bloody work with knives and sutures and directed healing.” She said, “I know this particular answer was not in the books, or in the notes, so I will have to back up a bit and explain what is also not in the books, exactly, as the books deal with education and rarely with overall pictures.

“I will start from the beginning.

“Most Healers and other types, most of whom begin with a wish to repair their own bodies or the bodies of others, begin with a healing spell. Whichever healing spell they begin with is fine; they all go in the same direction. [Healing Word] is popular, as is [Rejuvenation]. [Healing Beacon] is less popular, but it does see use in war parties and clan excursions.

“Through the use of these healing spells, people will usually encounter a small truth.

“Though the use of Health restoratives is not true healing, it is adjacent, and if the body is at high Health, then applying more healing, from any source, will speed up self-healing. Almost all orcols are blessed in that restoring Health is the exact same as true healing, but the rest of us people have to work a great deal to learn how to help the body heal itself, and thus, healers will come to the next small truth.

“Most people who actually want to succeed at being a Healer will come across a situation. They will see that the placement of a [Rejuvenation] at a wound, with the intent to heal the wound, helps to heal that wound, specifically. A thousand instant applications of [Healing Word] cast in a struggle to heal a catastrophically injured friend, might actually work if the caster knows some of what they’re trying to achieve.

“Intent matters a lot in magic, and this truth is still true when it comes to healing.

“Of course, if a person merely throws resources at a problem without attempting to understand or direct their healing, then they achieve nothing. This sort of situation happens almost all the time outside of hospitals and healing-focused instruction.

“It is this realization of the phenomena known as ‘directed healing’ that allows a person to understand enough to gain the Quests for all the other healing spells.

“For all healing spells are Base Tier. You cannot make [Treat Wounds] out of [Healing Word]; none of the generalized healing spells are achievable from making them out of another generalized healing spell. Most people will learn this, and then unlock the Quest for [Treat Wounds] by understanding this directed healing truth of [Healing Word]. And then they will go on to complete that Quest, and gain that basic tier spell.” She said, “There are three routes to these spells, and three routes only. Either the Quest, or an Elemental Body, or aura control. Most people go the first route.”

“Directed healing, eh?” Ezekiel frowned a little, but mostly at himself. “I haven’t experimented with healing spells… At all.”

“Most mages don’t.”

“How do those Quests unlock?”

Ari said, “There are three big healing spells, with many specialist combinations derived from these three, or from an offshoot of these three. They are [Greater Treat Wounds], [Regeneration], and [Restoration].

“You gain the [Treat Wounds] Quest through the understanding of the directed healing spells, meant to repair the damage from a sword strike, for example. [Healing Word] is a good spell to gain this Quest. It is harder to gain this Quest if you use the other spells.

“Starting with [Rejuvenation], one can easily unlock the Quest for [Regeneration], which is focused on the ability to regenerate lost body parts and other assorted missing parts, such as teeth. With [Regeneration] in one hand, and [Treat Wounds] in the other, one can then unlock the Quest for [Greater Treat Wounds].

“The Quest for the [Restoration] spell, which is a touch-up spell used to prolong quality of life, is unlocked when one understands a great deal of the nuance of healing the body, and how it wears down and how it can be repaired.

“In the end, a Healer can work for years in a hospital to finally heal enough people to gain any of these magics, but completing any of the Quests makes subsequent Healing Quests easier to complete.” Ari added, “There are variations to the process, but this is how it usually works.”

“Outside of a hospital setting, and outside of the Big Three healing spells, one can also try for other healing magics which are primarily focused on the simple restoration of Health, which is a different branch of Healing. This branch of healing is focused on combat healing, and usually involves large, large amounts of Health.

“The Quest for [Rejuvenation] is gained by taking a healing spell and trying to stretch it out over longer than a second.

“The Quest for [Healing Word] is gained by casting a healing spell, back to back to back, and the Quest is completed in the same way.

“The Quest for [Heal], which is a spell designed to restore a vast amount of Health to one person, is gained by ignoring all nuance and damaged flesh, and trying to restore the [Personal Ward]-like effect of Health.

“The Quest for [Healing Beacon] is gained when you have too many targets taking area of effect damage and not enough time to heal them all, but you try anyway.

“The Quest for [Soothing Light], which puts a target into Rest and removes a modicum of pain, is gained when you need to put someone to sleep, to make them Rest because there are enemies at the gates and you’re on tight watches, with little time to properly rest.” Ari said, “There are a few more spells out there, but that is most of the Basic Tier healing spells.”

Ezekiel listened, cross checking what he already knew with what Ari had just told him. He found nothing too strange in her words, besides the fact that Julia had gained [Greater Treat Wounds] without going through [Treat Wounds] or any of that other stuff first.

Eh.

The gods saw that his daughter needed help and Atunir’s Champion was in danger and all that other shit was happening…

If anyone could figure out how healing worked and what ‘overhealing’ actually did, it was Julia. But besides that; Ezekiel was 100% certain that Rozeta could fudge things on her end. [Greater Treat Wounds] had served Julia quite well. It was likely serving her well right at this very moment.

Ezekiel asked, “So how do we gain those spells?”

“The first step is practice, here and now, and then we move onto living creatures. In order to practice, I will create a wound using [Greater Air Body], instead of aura control, so that you may see the wounding in action.” Ari gestured to the wax sculpture, and the air flexed with intent and power. A laceration crossed the chest of the fake cadaver, two decimeters long, spilling red into the world, exposing muscle and bone. “Aura control is easier to use to Remake Healing Magic than the Elemental Bodies, but your lightform will still serve you well. All you need to do here is press the wax back together as best you can, ‘healing’ the wound back to the original form as best you can.”

It wasn’t a full answer as to how Ezekiel would gain these healing spells himself, and in fact, it seemed like a non-answer, but he understood that there was a flow to learning, and not everything could be answered how Ezekiel wished it to be answered.

So he controlled multiple tendrils of light to reattach red muscles to white bone, smushing ‘muscle’-type wax back into shape with expert precision. Nerves and blood vessels came together, and then skin rolled over the wound. He even shoved most of the scattered ‘blood’ back into the body.

And then he promptly realized that putting exterior blood back into the wound was probably a bad idea.

In twelve seconds he had physically repaired the wound to perfection, though he knew he had made some mistakes.

Ari’s eyes were a little wide. She cast a [Mend] over the sculpture and the little blood still outside the body vanished from the surface to reappear inside. She said, “Don’t put scattered blood back into the body.” And then she slashed halfway through the sculpture’s neck, to the bone. “Again.”

Ezekiel got to work.

Repair the parts deep inside the wound, first, putting that bone chip back where it needed to be, working outward, mushing veins and arteries back together, repairing the throat and the voice box. Layer the muscles back together, back where they needed to be. A place for everything and everything in its place.

The repair took 39 seconds this time.

Ari looked more secure in herself. She said, “The patient died due to lack of blood to the brain. Repair the arteries first, and then the veins. Critical structures before lesser structures, always.”

She [Mend]ed the patient. Scattered blood vanished.

Then she slashed the sculpture through the neck; deeper this time.

“Again.”

Ezekiel went to work.

He healed neck wounds. He reattached arms. Genital injuries. Gut wounds, leg wounds, piercing and slashing. Blunt trauma was the hardest to heal. Bones were easy enough to put back together, but he needed to individually repair burst capillaries to heal that damage, and slice into the body to where his light wasn’t able to reach, in order to repair deeper burst arteries and veins. With his mana sense and with the piercing power of his lightform, he was capable of diagnosing the problems Ari caused right away. A few times, Ari had tried to trick him, with tiny wounds that looked like nothing on the surface, but would be catastrophic for the ‘patient’ if they were a real person. None of her tricks worked; Ezekiel saw through them all.

Ari stepped back from the wax body, saying, “I expected fast results, but this is astounding.”

Ezekiel glanced around the empty room, at the other ‘bodies’. “More?”

“Yes, we shall. You should gain some familiarity with each type of person and organ and otherwise before we move on to the live subjects, which will likely happen tomorrow."

This was as good of a time as any to either find out the world was horrible, or if he was worried over nothing. So Ezekiel asked, “How do you work on the animals? Do you put them to sleep with spells or concoctions?”

“Not a spell.” Ari said, “[Sleep] would be useful, but we don’t employ Mind Mages for that. No; we use potions. The rats and wolves feel nothing, and if we find healers that relish in the causing of pain, we quietly discourage them from learning more, with as much force as necessary. Rarely does this discouragement take the form of a quiet execution, but it does happen sometimes.”

Ezekiel felt several ways about what he had just heard.

One: Good! Don’t teach healing to people who would use it to harm!

Two: So they execute people who step out of line? Eh. Yes. This happens. Terrible, but…

Three: His desires in asking his question were seen through rather thoroughly, weren't they?

Four: He almost offered up his own [Merciful Ether] to live-subject experimentation, to see how it worked as compared to their own alchemical concoctions. He decided not to.

Ezekiel said, “It is disheartening to hear that extreme discouragement needs to be done to secure the safety of all, but I understand the need. Thank you for telling me.”

Ari nodded, pleased for herself but only showing it a little. She gestured to the female incani wax body, asking, “Next?”

“Of course.”

Ezekiel moved with Ari to the female incani sculpture.

Ari slashed at the breasts and Ezekiel repaired breast tissue. Then came more lacerations that spilled blood into the air and more bludgeoning wounds that trapped blood inside, where broken arteries sealed the woman’s ‘death’ even if there were no visible problems.

Ari stopped inflicting wounds when she deemed Ezekiel had healed enough, and she asked, “Now we will deal with spell effects. This is just an oral exam, so answer as best you think. How do you deal with [Blind]?”

“Depends on what has caused it. [Dispel] is the obvious choice for me, but that would have to go up against the enemy caster’s mana, and it could be a trick to get me to waste my time and resources.” Ezekiel said, “Knowing that, I’d have an Odin throw a thousand mana at it, or ignore it entirely, depending.”

Ari smiled, and said, “The first part was enough.” She gestured to the large sculptures of eyes sitting to the other side of the room, saying, “[Blind] is a cheap spell with little use, even if you think it would work wonders; the problem is that [Blind] works based on the Health of the target. Much of Blood Magic is like that.” She started walking. “An enemy can usually Blind a lot easier with Light Altered spells designed to Blind, and there are no easy solutions to this cause of Blindness, but a directed heal at the eyes might help in those situations. Now…”

Ezekiel walked with her. He listened. She asked questions. He gave answers. She gave better answers.

The solution to most Status effects was either [Dispel], [Cleanse], a directed heal to the afflicted area, or to ignore it if you could. [Blind] and other such small spells didn’t last long, but when they were unexpected, they could have disastrous results. Such spells were usually only good when the caster made a better spell with it than the basic tier spell.

The basic tier spells were worthless for multiple reasons, and also because a good mana sense negated almost all of them.

But Decay effects were not useless. They could be extremely dangerous. On the other hand, it was usually quite easy to heal through smaller Decay effects with a [Rejuvenation], unless they were special Decay effects that caused healing spells to go bad (which could mean any number of things), and thus a [Dispel] would be better. Combating Decay effects was a whole school of study, as Decay could do many, many different things.

Ari ended the lesson by picking up a knife and holding it against the purple skin of her forearm. “You have obvious skill, but wax is not flesh, and so, we move on to this next lesson which most people consider the first.” She sliced across her flesh, parting skin and releasing blood. She set the knife down and held two glowing red fingers against the wound. When she took her fingers away, the wound had become a bumpy black scar. A [Cleanse] removed the blood. “You cannot smush together actual wounds on real people as you can with these wax cadavers, which is why we must learn the true art of healing: directed healing. What I just did was apply a [Rejuvenation] directly to the wound.” She held her scar forward for Ezekiel to see, and pulsed more red magic on the spot, saying, “You can even restore scar tissue back to normal tissue, but this requires a careful application of inflicting and restoring at the same time.” Over the course of seconds, her black scar became unmarred purple skin. “If you haven’t Remade [Inflict Wounds] by this point, then you will likely gain that spell in this stretch of your healing education.”

Ezekiel watched. He said, “I have a few questions.”

Ari nodded, and waited.

Since she hadn’t answered his previous question to his satisfaction, Ezekiel asked, “How am I supposed to attain [Treat Wounds] through the application of [Healing Word]? How does that specific Remake Quest happen?”

There were many different ways to Remake spells. Most Remakes required specific shapings and intents imbued into mana. But Ezekiel had not Remade all of his current basic spells, because many of them required more than that. [Duplicate] was different, because that required him to target the history of a specific type of item with [Mend]. [Teleport] was different, too, in that it required a whole different stretch of [Greater Lightwalk] than the usual application. Healing Magic seemed even more different than the rest.

Ari said, “Most healing magics are flexes of other healing magics. Stretches of shape or size. Condensations of intent. Weights applied in specific manners.” She held up her hand, and the air around her hand began to shift and glow red, the glow becoming a controlled spiral, then a spike, then a thin film. “These are all [Healing Word], ready to be deployed, but each in different shapes, for you can do this with healing magic; you can queue it up for release.” She relaxed her [Air Body] and the red glow became a diffuse pattern of static, spreading out in the air like a mist. “This is the standard [Healing Word], meant to heal the Health of a target, and only that.” She dispersed the glow and lowered her hand, saying, “It is possible to attain every single Healing spell through careful application of a single starting spell, but you must treat real injuries on real people.”

Ezekiel went, “Huh.” Then he said, “Ah.” He understood. And then he understood more. An oddity stood out to him. “So a Healer could end up with a great deal more Stats, simply because they don’t have to spend any points on their main suite of spellwork?”

“This is technically correct, though rare in reality.” Ari asked, “Are there any more questions?”

“How do you condense core dust into the blood?”

Ari smiled, then said, “In medicine, a little bit of directed poison is crucial to combating many systemic illnesses, but this particular knowledge can easily become poisoned treasure, and I am not going to be the one to give that to you until you know how to heal yourself, first.”

“Heh.” Ezekiel asked, “You heard about that ‘poisoned treasure’ from last night, eh?”

“Not many did, but yes; I was made aware.” Ari said, “After that event, I was given some specific instructions of my own, and I will choose to follow them. Certain lessons will most definitely come after all the rest.”

Ezekiel nodded. He asked, “Is this how everyone learns?”

“Oh my no!” Ari said, “Directed healing is usually the first lesson. From there, paths vary. The normal way to healing mastery is through hard learning, accidental deaths, and mistakes that will haunt you for the rest of your life, as well as the presence of an overseeing Doctor or Priest who becomes very cross with any student who steps even the slightest bit out of line. There’s also a fair bit of learning about specific magical and mundane diseases which are mainly of the fungoid variety, parasites, and systemic disease that won’t go away with simple healing spells or through [Cleanse].

“Occasionally, someone breaks the mold, and rapidly advances, cutting out years of hard work. The most common variation is when a Healer desires to save a life and everything they know is not good enough. Most of the time, those patients die, but sometimes, the Healer will awaken their aura and thus they are able to stretch their healing spells to accomplish what they normally cannot. If they understand what they have done, and are able to repeat the process, then they go on to Remake the other healing spells.

“And then there are the people who come to this who already have a mana sense and a Greater Elemental Body, and the skill to use them properly. This is where you are at. Eventually, and likely sooner rather than later, you will be Remaking all of the healing spells we have already discussed.” Ari said, “There will be many days of learning ahead of us, but based on what I have seen today, it might take you a week to get through all of this early stuff. Once you gain the appropriate healing spells then we can move onto some of the more nuanced healing spells, such as [Blood Regeneration]. Once that is achieved, we can get to actual Blood Magic, which includes spells such as [Body Modification]. But we are done for today.” She said, “There are others who wish to use this room.”

It had been a few hours, and by now, there were several people as well as a teacher-like person waiting outside of the wax room for their turn at the place. They had been lining up, quietly, for the last fifteen minutes.

But a different person had been there for the last hour and a half. He was a boy of pale skin, maybe seven or eight years old, without horns, wearing fine white robes with black edging. His robes marked him as important, and also odd, for while his garb was of much finer make than the grey-robed inner disciples who also walked down that same hallway, they were also clearly of a specific design that was also not present anywhere else.

And the kid had silent guards next to him that wore black.

Ari had paused in her teachings, briefly, when the kid showed up, but then she resumed like nothing odd had happened. None of the obvious-teachers who also walked the halls seemed to bother the boy, either, even though he was obviously listening in on Ari’s private lesson, with his back to the adjoining wall and his head cocked to the side. He might even be mana sensing, but that seemed crazy.

Now that the lesson was over, though, the boy stood up and walked away.

Ezekiel said, “I thank you for your lesson. Tomorrow, at the same time?”

Ari said, “I’ll have to switch off with Xue tomorrow, but he knows all of this healing magic with a similar mastery as myself. Both of us can teach this part of the path toward actual Blood Magic, but after this is learned, then there will be specific and differing lessons. I will focus on combat, both defense and attack, while he will focus on enchanting.”

“I am eager to learn.”

Ari smiled politely, then added, “Also: we have rooms for you here in the mountain, if you wish.”

Ari had said those words in an offhand way, talking as though her suggestion was something that didn’t need to happen. But that was a lie. She wanted Ezekiel to room here in the mountain. Perhaps for personal gain, or for Clan gain, or to be properly polite; Ezekiel didn’t know. All he knew was that she wanted him here.

If Ezekiel had seen a single sign of something untoward, he would have instantly said no. But he hadn’t seen anything ‘Evil’, or whatever. He still wasn’t comfortable with being here, under the roof of an unknown power…

He had been fine being under the roof of an Arbor of Treehome, though.

… Those were two totally different things. Orcol society was based around communities that surrounded a colony of tree [Familiar]s, of which Yggdrasil would likely become a part of, sooner or later. But here in Eralis it was just people, with all their messy, dangerous, plotting lives.

Still.

They didn’t seem that bad.

Being here would give him a great deal more access to Clan Star Song. It’d be easier to check up on how Tadashi’s chelation therapy was progressing. He could pop in for visits, or whatever, and he would likely gain a few visits of his own.

The only problem with rooming here was that he didn’t want to talk to the people in power all that much. He wanted to see the city for what it truly was, and that went against rooming up here in Clan Star Song. That meant staying at the Sour House.

Except.

Star Song was one of the largest powers in Eralis; he had even heard them referred to as a ‘Head Clan’, which was something of a colloquial wording, for sure. Star Song didn’t call themselves that, but the common people did. It made sense, for Star Song had hands in everything, and deeper reaches than most of the other Clans.

So if he roomed here, he could see some of those expressions of power.

And besides that, as of today, Ezekiel was less wary of outright treachery and assassination, and more looking out for his own interests.

He did not want to move to the Highlands. He did not want to live in the Highlands. He had plans for the Crystal Forest.

But if he didn’t accept this offer of hospitality, then that would make Star Song worried, and there was no telling where that could lead.

He’d get spied on if he was here.

But it’s not like he wasn’t being spied on before. And he could spy on them in turn.

Who would benefit most from that interaction? Him, or Star Song? It might be a toss-up.

And if he were here, then it would be only Star Song spying on him. Back at the Sour House, he likely had every single Clan spying on him; or at least a few.

For that reason alone, it was a good idea to room here, for now.

A few seconds had passed since Ari raised the question. Ezekiel had thought over her offer of hospitality ever since she offered it the first time, but now, here they were, and the offer seemed more genuine.

So.

Ezekiel said, “I would be delighted to accept your continued hospitality.”

Ari’s violet eyes glinted with red light as she relaxed, and said, “Please allow me to direct you and your people to your temporary residence.” She walked toward the door.

Ezekiel followed. “You’re very good at this teaching. That was much nicer to hear all of this from you, personally, than to read in those books.”

Ari gave a subdued smile as she said, “We covered a great deal of Healing Magic in the last few hours that most people would never put down in a book. Of my own journal, I know that I didn’t spend more than ten pages on these early lessons.”

The two of them walked out of the wax room, into a grand hallway, with Paul and Tiffany following at a respectable distance behind. Ezekiel nodded at the professor and his grey-robed students who waited for Ezekiel and Ari to leave the Wax Room. The professor and his students all bowed to Ezekiel to varying degrees. Elder Arilitilo glanced at the other professor and his class, but casually turned her attention forward, mostly ignoring the man.

Ari said, “We have many classrooms here in the mountain, if you are interested in taking any other lessons, Scion Phoenix. Feel free to look around.”

Ezekiel smiled, and said, “I will. Thank you.”

“As for your rooms…”

She led them upward.

They hadn’t gotten to any actual blood magic today, so the extra lunch he had had with Grand Elder Lingxing had gone to waste, but that was fine.