NOVEL NEXT 84 - En Sees the Light
"Are you alright?" Gennorina asked Div and En as their group parted with Zoe's.
"I'm torn," Div said.
En didn't know how to feel either. Zoe wasn't wrong, it was how Kheiron worked. She lived there and couldn't abandon society. She had to conform, even if it meant giving up on people she used to care about.
[Are you sure you want to return?]
(I don't know.)
There was still Seb and their parents. Even Div couldn't bring himself to think their parents had really given up on them. It wasn't possible.
Even if everything suggested otherwise.
(I know I can't abandon Seb. It may not be our fault, but we can't let him waste his life because of us.)
[That, I agree.]
(And… Even if we cannot return to the way we were, I still wish to see the sea once more.)
Div and En had learned to enjoy their life in the Wildlands, but they missed home. The chants of the cicadas, the taste of olive bread and the scent of sun-warmed pine trees blending with the sea breeze.
It was different.
"We'll be fine," En said, reassuring their friends. "She gave us some things to think about."
It took a moment for them to explain their conversation with Zoe. With the mix of Ameian and broken Lienien they spoke, it was hard for Genno, Ambi, Seg and Lug to understand.
"No offense," Seg said. "But I'm glad I wasn't born in Kheiron. Are all Ameian cities the same?"
"I don't know," Div said, using his hand gesture to prove he was the one speaking. "We've never visited one. Our closest neighbor is several days away. And it's very small."
As a relatively new colony, Kheiron was still very isolated from the rest of the Ameian world. When intercity relationships followed Ascended Rank timelines, things moved slowly. The powers of Ameia proper and the older colonies were just starting to pay attention to the region.
"Anyway," Ambi said. "You can kick their ass in the sparring matches. None of them are close to you in skill levels."
[We forgot to inspect them.]
(That's rude. We did it with Alexios and Ela, but that's only because we dropped all the polite act with them.)
"Did you inspect them?" They asked.
"Lug did," Ambisena said, shrugging.
"The two guys are nothing special," Lug said, smiling. "But your friend has sky magic at the sixth level. That's good. I'm sure you know how annoying that brand of magic can be."
There was a reason the Opheo clan had maintained the upper hand among the noble clans of Kheiron for the majority of its existence. The only exception being the few decades between the passing of Opheo herself and Leios. Div and En ancestors had been the youngest of the three founders, logically, he was the last to die.
Although, with Uncle Basil's ascension, the power structure of the city might change again.
"Let's just go back," Seg said. "The village is tiring enough, meeting those people ruined my mood for good."
"Ugh, I have to go to the representatives meeting," Genno said. "Does anyone want to come with me? I'm sure the others are not going alone, in spite of the entire concept of a representative…"
"I can come," En said, eager to spend more time with Gennorina. Since they had left Camboaci, they couldn't go on their regular outings to see the spirits. En found himself missing those times.
"I guess I'm being conscripted," Div said.
"I'll skip," Ambi said. "I'd rather do anything but join a boring meeting."
"Same," Seg said.
Lugsellos didn't say anything, he just walked to stand with Ambi and Seg, making it clear he wasn't coming either.
"Fine," Gennorina said. "Div, En, let's go."
Div and En followed her as they parted with the other three who had decided to try and find their way back.
"So…" Div said. "Where are we going?"
"To the meeting," Gennorina said. "It's supposed to happen at the village's school. You know, the place you fought Rigomaros yesterday."
"I know, but how do we get there?"
After walking around the maze-like village for the best part of the morning, their sense of direction was all over the place.
Still standing in a narrow alley where the buildings blocked the sky, Div, En and Gennorina had no idea where to go.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"We should walk," Gennorina said. "Bavacium isn't that big. Worst case scenario, we'll ask someone to point us in the right direction."
"Good idea," Div and En said. "There's only one school in the village. Surely, everyone knows how to get there."
As expected, it didn't take long for them to find someone who could guide them to the school. The locals were used to the chaotic layout of Bavacium, they knew how to navigate the village's twists and turns.
"By the way," En asked, almost tripping on his words. "I didn't ask, but did you manage to reach the Lien River's spirit?"
"No," Gennorina said.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"The chances were slim in the first place. It's fine," she said.
"Still, you spent a lot of effort trying to contact it."
Gennorina looked at Div and En. She smiled.
"Thank you. But I'm a druid, I have to accept that some spirits won't talk to me. There's only frustration waiting for me otherwise."
En wasn't sure what to answer to that. He wanted to be smooth and keep the conversation flowing. But, before he could think of something, Div spoke.
"I've been meaning to ask—you have something familiar in your nature magic. Something that feels like rot. Do you know what it is?"
Gennorina tilted her head, her eyes shifted to the side.
"I'm not sure," she said. "But rot is part of nature isn't it?"
"So?"
"Every magic is part of nature. Which means a spirit of said magic can exist."
"A rot spirit?" Div asked.
"Why not?" Genno asked.
(I'm not even going to say anything.)
But now that Div and En thought about it, it made sense. Why wouldn't rot spirit exist?
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Gennorina said. "I don't know much about rot."
"It's fine," Div said. With how rare rot-attunements seemed to be, it wasn't surprising that rot magic was underdeveloped. But over the past year, Div had seen a lot more rot-attuned mana than he was expecting.
Putting aside the miraculous healing effect he had experienced under the effect of Echoes of the Rot Heart and the dangerously destructive effect it could have on his enemies, rot permeated mundane life to a level he kept underestimating.
Creating fertilizer for the fields was one thing, but he was sure there was a trace amount of rot-attuned mana being used in the mead brewed in Camboaci. He was too young to be allowed a taste, but it was something he was looking forward to.
Once they arrived at the school, they were immediately spotted by Rigomaros. He was talking with his Bavacian friends and two people with feathered hats from Trabine.
"Diven!" Rigomaros called when he noticed the new arrivals. "And Gennorina, I must apologize for my rash behavior yesterday."
"Apologies accepted," Gennorina smiled. "Diven painted you in a better light than what we witnessed in the gymnasium."
"Ah, this is embarrassing," Rigomaros scratched the back of his head. "But I digress, let me introduce you to our friends from Trabine."
Rigomaros gestured toward the two Trabine representatives. One of them was a girl with blue eyes and a purple feather stuck on her hat while the other was a boy and his feather was blue.
Div and En didn't recognize the mana from the purple feather, but the blue one was clearly water-attuned.
"Ilmara, Seriun," Rigomaros said. "Meet Gennorina and Diven from Camboaci."
"Pleased to meet you," Seriun said. "Forgive Ilmara, she cannot speak much."
"A shame, considering she is the official representative of Trabine," Rigomaros said. "But we will manage."
Ilmara gestured her arms in an attempt to apologize.
"Once she gets a better hold on her magic, she'll be able to talk freely," Seriun explained.
"What magic?" Gennorina asked. "If I'm not being too nosy."
Ilmara shook her head and pointed to the feather on her hat.
"We show our attunement like this," Seriun translated. "So it's not exactly a secret. She has an echo-attuned bloodline."
"Echo?" Div asked. "And you found a uepi feather that matched."
He was skeptical. Echo seemed like a mana type that'd be rare in the wild.
"Of course," Seriun said. "Well, in her case, Ilmara artificially imbued it."
"But," Gennorina said, returning to her question. "Why can't she talk? Why can't you talk? Sorry Ilmara, I'm not trying to ignore you."
Ilmara gestured that it was fine.
(I get her. At some point, you have to live with it.)
It turned out that Ilmara could talk, but only if she was echoing something that had been said before. She'd figured out how to store echoes, which made things easier than when her bloodline first awakened. But she was still working on duplicating them.
Before she could do that, she had to spend an echo for every sound she made. This was why she was extremely conservative with her words.
She would only speak if it was absolutely necessary.
(And I thought Rot Heart was bad…)
[See, I told you our bloodline was great!]
(I wouldn't go that far. But seeing Ilmara does give me some perspective.)
[I can't help but think that without our split mind, we would already have taken Facet of the Rot Mage.]
(Maybe, but you're aiming for better now.)
[Right, I'm curious what skill the facet is going to give me if I already have Rot Magic when I select it.]
(Me too, actually.)
But it would have to wait a little longer.
Rigomaros invited everyone into a room where they joined the representatives of the other villages. Since everyone had come with more people than planned, the room was packed.
A round table had been placed in the middle for the representatives.
Div, En, and Gennorina had to push and squeeze to reach their spot. Of course, there was only one chair for Gennorina, but Div and En were fine standing behind her.
"Figures," someone said. "The usual suspects are absent."
"Late, I suppose," Rigomaros sighed. "The southerners seem hellbent on disrespecting us. I wonder what they are trying to achieve with this attitude."
Div and En scanned the table, there were twelve villages represented. A lot more than usual. According to the adults, the gathering usually attracted only the three direct neighbors of Bavacium.
It was just a small competition for the younger generation, there was no point in traveling too far.
But this year was different.
Even the bigger villages in the south had made the journey instead of competing locally.
"Let's just start without them," the boy sitting next to Gennorina said. "We don't have all day."
A few voices rose in agreement.
"No, Boracin," Rigomaros said. "They will come."
As he said that, the door opened. Alexios, Zoe, and a boy from the Thesios clan entered.
[They're not going to like the seating arrangement.]
(Oh… There's only one chair.)