Azyl Academy (Elemental Gatherers Book 1)

by Chris Vines

  The last meridian I found, and what should be the last openable one if my math was right, went through my thyroid up to my brain, circled through every part of it, and then came back to the center. I wonder what Aether does to the brain? I know the senses meridian made my eyesight, hearing, smell, and taste more sensitive. Maybe the brain one will help me to process all that information better. Maybe it’ll make me smarter. I spent a good thirty minutes going over everything I could sense before deciding to go talk to Counselor Sila.

  When I asked him about the meridian that came straight out of my center to my chest, he said “Ah, you’ve got a skin meridian. Those are useful, makes you tougher. The Aether will flow out to your skin, and then around your whole body to the other side, where it flows inward. What else?” The heart and blood vessels one he agreed were good, and the brain one he said would simply help me to process more information faster. “A brain meridian will be very helpful with your senses meridian. By the way, good job on the blockage on that meridian, though you should have talked to me first. Hmm, of all the meridians, prioritize the heart, right side blood vessels, left side blood vessels, kidney system, brain, then ribs, and lastly skin. Do heart today, both blood vessels tomorrow after eating extra meat, kidney and brain the next day, ribs and skin day after. No faster than that. You shouldn’t need supervision for the heart meridian. The right arm meridian made it strong enough to deal with the additional Aether provided. Ask if you have questions; find me or the Mentors if you have problems. Enjoy your day.”

  “Thank you sir, I think I’m okay for now. Have a good day, sir,” I said as I turned to leave. I’ve found all of my easily openable meridians. Once I finish opening them, it’s time to really push with advancing in levels. Hopefully, we’ll get some neat techniques that will help us grow faster tomorrow, as the easy part is done now. I left the room and headed to the Grotto, where I found what I was starting to think of as my pavilion. Getting settled on the seat, I centered myself.

  Once I located the heart meridian, I gathered my courage and some Aether in the bonds of my will. Taking a deep breath, I slowly fed the Aether into the meridian and watched as the Aether entered the right side of my heart, came out the left, looped back through and around throughout the chambers, and made several wraps around the outside before it turned back down to my center. My heart stuttered for a beat, and then resumed beating even stronger. I saw tiny bits of Aether from the meridian entering into the blood as it flowed through my heart, making the blood itself stronger and able to hold more oxygen and necessary nutrients. Whoa, that is amazing! I thought as I watched it.

  Suddenly, a small leakage of Aether flowed into the right side blood vessels meridian, where it connected to the heart meridian. I tried to stop it because I had been told to wait a day, but was unable to. More and more Aether fed itself from my center into the heart meridian, where it entered into the right and left blood vessel meridians. Crap, crap! I thought, um, you’re not supposed to open too many meridians because your body needs materials to build the strength the Aether is giving you. Food, need food.

  I took off, holding the Aether in my center as best as I could, but not able to restrain it all. Dining hall has food available. I hope. I ran, feeling the Aether pump through me with every beat of my heart. I passed several other students, including Louis who called out, asking if I was okay. I didn’t take the time to respond, pushing myself as fast as I could. I ran up to the entrance to the dining hall, to find it locked. I knocked loudly multiple times. After thirty seconds, the door opened and one of the servers was there. “Need food. Accidentally opened two meridians I wasn’t supposed to today.” I said, panting.

  “Um, you are supposed to wait until lunchtime. Uhh, you might be hurt and you were kind to us so I can make an exception. Come in, quickly.” He told me, ushering me into the room and closing the door behind me. He guided me over to the door into the kitchen, and had me sit in a table. He brought out a platter of meat and vegetables that I quickly started shoving into my mouth. I could feel the Aether pulling resources from my body, and thought I could see the little fat I had start to vanish. As I gulped the food down, I asked for juice at which he nodded and ran into the kitchen, having felt my urgency. I finished another piece of meat before he came out with a pitcher of juice and a glass. I grabbed the pitcher from his hands and chugged it.

  As I did so, I watched the Aether flowing through my digestive system meridian dissolve the juice and seemingly absorb it. It had already grabbed the meat, and seemed to be feeding them into my center. I was pushing Aether into my stomach meridian, trying to hurry it up and prevent any damage to my muscles. As I kept shoveling food into me, the servant ran off and brought another plate of meat. I finally felt the process slowing down and slowed down eating as well. “Thank you. That could have been bad.” I said before slowly getting up. Apparently, getting up was a bad idea, and I ended up falling face first onto the ground.

  A little bit later, I awoke to see the servant shaking me, and heard another servant run out of the room. “I’m okay.” I said groggily, though I realized I felt incredibly week.

  “Stay still, we sent for Counselor Sojka, the healing instructor. She will be here shortly,” the servant instructed me as I lay there.

  “Thank you. What’s your name? I’m Kupiec Aiden.” I said, wanting to stop referring to him as ‘the servant’ in my head.

  “I’m Poko Karl, nice to make your acquaintance. Now don’t move. If you end up hurt they’ll have my head.” I nodded at this and closed my eyes. The spinning had stopped, which was a good sign.

  After a few minutes, a wave of Aether swept over me as a hand gripped my upper right arm. I opened my eyes and saw the glaring face of a middle-aged woman, with bright gold hair and piercing blue eyes. “Ah, young idiot. Care to explain why you decided to open five meridians in a single morning?” I quickly explained what had happened, starting with the recommendation from Counselor Sila through the accidental opening of both blood vessel meridians.

  “Ok, maybe you aren’t as large of an idiot as I suspected. It is rare that the blood vessel meridians are easily openable, so Counselor Sila gave you incorrect advice based on the normal way of opening these meridians, with Alchemy. That way you can isolate the three connecting meridians you have, whereas you were always going to be opening all three at the same time. Hold still.” As she said this, a wave of Aether greater than I had experienced before flowed through me, moving through each part of my body. Every part of me that the Aether flooded through felt rejuvenated.

  As the Counselor finished up, she instructed me, “Go back to your dorm and eat what you will be given. You will rest there until it is time for your afternoon class, which you may attend, after which you will return to your dorm. Eat as much as you can and rest until tomorrow. I will check on you tomorrow morning after breakfast. Now go.” She turned and left as I slowly struggled to my feet. The weakness I had been feeling was reduced but not gone. Karl handed me a sack of bread and meat with a quick “Good luck” as he ushered me out of the dining hall. I saw a number of fourth tier students waiting for the dining hall to open. Huh, I guess the fourth tier eats before us, I thought. Though there are a lot less of them than us firsties.

  I slowly staggered to my dorm, feeling like someone was watching me, where I laid down on the bed and picked at the bread loaf. I’ll clean the crumbs later, too tired. I looked into my center and throughout the rest of my body. I could see the damage done in my meridians, and saw it slowly healing as the food I had eaten was processed. Well, that was not good, but it looks like I was able to get food and help fast enough to stave off the worst damage. Nap time, I guess.

  After a short nap, I got up, stumbled to the facilities, and ate the rest of the food that was packed for me. I saw that I still had about thirty minutes before class was due to start by the height of the sun. Taking advantage of this time, I centered myself and gathered for twenty minutes, trying to bring my Aether back up to what it was befor
e I opened too many meridians. The speed at which I was able to gather continued to increase as meridians were opened and higher level runes were drawn. I estimated that I was gathering at a rate of nearly two hundred and fifty times what I had been before I started modifying my runes. I wonder how fast I’ll end up gathering, and how far ahead the nobles like Ming are? I’ll catch up; I’ll just have to work as hard as I can, and harder than anyone else. With that thought, I got up from the bed and headed out to class.

  On the way to class I ran into Brett and Jon. “Hey, I didn’t see you at lunch, what happened?” Jon asked.

  “Ah, I accidentally opened too many meridians at once and had to get healed. I’ve been told to stay in my room and rest except for class for the rest of the day and will be examined again tomorrow.” I replied.

  “Okay. You let me know if you need anything.” Jon told me. Brett echoed him. I smiled and nodded in response. It’s always good to have friends. We walked together to class, with Brett telling a story about hunting a level 4 Silver furred fox with his dad and uncle. The story ended as we reached the academic building, with his dad and uncle running into each other as the fox dodged and ran off. Laughing, we ascended the stairs to the classroom and saw Counselor Sila along with two new Mentors.

  One was a third tier young woman a little taller than me, with tan skin and black hair and eyes. The other was a fourth tier young man, as tall as Louis but half as wide, with blonde hair, green eyes, and skin that looked like he had been in the sun every moment since birth. As everyone got seated, Counselor Sila started off “Welcome to introductory Herbology. I will be your herbs teacher as well as your alchemy teacher. These are Mentors Granjer Graci,” he pointed to the young woman, “and Bonde Sterk. They are advanced students in the Alchemy and Herbology track and will be assisting me.”

  “We require all students to take Herbology so that you will be able to recognize and utilize elemental plants, seeds, fungi, and other resources whenever you find them. As you advance in your studies, you will be sent on missions, with supervision, and on expeditions as teams. One of the goals of such expeditions is to find resources that can be used to enhance our school’s ability, to assist in funding the Academy, and to grow the students and faculty here. We will start by introducing the evaluation system used for these resources and discuss some of the major types.” He pulled a variety of plants out of a bag and laid them on the desk in the front of the room.

  “Elemental herbs and plants are rated similarly to Elemental Beasts, with the levels being used to identify who would benefit from the herb’s use instead of how strong they are. This is a level one Iron Grass, which is used by Metal and Earth Gatherers to gain Aether. As a level one plant, it is really only useful to those in the Aether Gathering stage. Most herbs will have a very minor effect on gathering speed if eaten raw, but can be used by Alchemists to make concoctions that increase the effects immensely.” He held a stalk of grass about a foot tall that was a silvery green color. He put it down and picked up a red flower. “This is a Firebloom Flower, a level three herb that gathers and purifies Fire Aether around it. This is useful for Fire Gatherers up through the Aether Compression stage and is often planted in gardens around their homes. The Meditation Grotto is filled with these and their equivalent for the other Elements, which is one reason we encourage all students to gather there.”

  Counselor Sila spent the next hour describing various different plants and how we can recognize them. The color was sometimes useful, but could be deceiving as well. Some types of plants were poisonous to specific affinities and would be colored to attract them. Just like Earth, plants and animals had evolved to work together or to attack each other to spread themselves. They just had a new tool with which to do so.

  At the end of class, Counselor Sila dismissed everyone with a direction to find more information about various level one plants that would be useful for us. As I was getting up, he told me to stay put for a bit. Once everyone else had left, he pulled a pouch out of his pocket. “Counselor Sojka told me what happened today. I am sorry for misleading you. As one of the alchemists on staff, I have a number of powders, potions, and pills available. Please take these Meridian Cleanser pills I made as an apology.. Take them just after you eat a large meal and they will help heal any injuries your meridians took because of today, as well as disperse some of the impurities in your center and meridians.”

  “Thank you for your concern sir.” I said with a slight bow and took the offered pouch. Inside were eight pills, enough to last one week. “I am looking forward to learning how to make these and other alchemical goods.”

  “Good. I will be more careful with advice based upon your unique talent and capabilities from now on. Take care. Counselor Sojka will find you after breakfast to check your condition again.” He told me in dismissal, so I bowed again and left. Rather than go to Physical Training, I went back to my room, where I found a loaf of hearty bread and a spread of fruit placed on my desk. I quickly ate everything and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The sound of many people rushing into the bathroom after PT woke me up. I focused into my center and evaluated my condition. It looked like I was on the mend, little cracks in the sides of the meridians were slowly sealing together. Ok, starting to heal. More food, gather for a while, then sleep. I got out of bed and stretched, then left my room.

  The hallway was empty now, with two people in the shower and the rest getting dressed. I left the building and saw the last few stragglers from the third years leaving the building as I approached. “Good evening,” I said as our paths crossed. A few mumbled greetings were returned as they hurried towards the classroom building.

  Walking into the building I saw a number of servants gathering the dishes and wiping tables down. I walked to the nearest table and stacked up the plates, with the knife and spoons on top. I carried the stack to the bin that was set out and put it inside. “Oh, you don’t have to do that sir.” A young woman told me.

  “It’s okay Lola, that’s Aiden.” Karl said as he walked over with a stack of dishes. “He’s the one who was cleaning his place and gave us the idea for the bin. I’m glad you are up and about. We hear some scary stories of people doing what you did and ending up crippled.”

  “Thanks Karl. Any chance food will be ready soon?” I ask, getting another set of dishes together.

  “Only a couple of minutes, they were finishing the Water Buffalo roast last I checked. Thank you for helping, but you still don’t look fully stable. Take a seat and I’ll bring you the roast and Watercress salad when they are ready.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I sat gratefully. The damage to the meridians translated to a large decrease in my stamina. Karl came out a minute later with a plate of food. I munched down on the buffalo and salad. I was amazed at the taste again. The Aether from the food absorbed a little, though I saw that most didn’t get absorbed. Looking closely I saw that the majority of the Aether in the meat was a dark blue color. Hah, Water Buffalo is Water Affinity. Makes sense. I wonder if they look the same.

  After a couple of minutes, my classmates began trickling in. Brett and Lucas were among the first to enter, and Brett waved at me as he went to get food. They joined me, and Lucas said “You didn’t miss much. A couple of people advanced to the next level, but we are still mostly doing individual practice. Though we were threatened that we need to get done by the end of the week or else. No one had the courage to ask what the else was.” Everyone at the table laughed at that.

  Dinner was finished quickly, and we all split up to go gather in our chosen spots. I headed into the Meditation Grotto to the pavilion I was starting to think of as mine. Finding it empty, I was a little sad, but I realized that the area probably was not as good for Jamila as it was for me. There are quite a few different plants around here that are Fire or Lightning Affinity, and none with Water. She probably found a better spot with more Water and Earth focused decorations.

  I sat down and got out the container
given to me earlier by Counselor Sila. Opening it, I smelled an herbal fragrance that reminded me of basil and thyme. I pulled a pill out and put it in my mouth. It seemed to melt up into a puddle that I swallowed down and I focused on gathering Aether into myself. I felt the pill’s liquid reach my stomach and be absorbed into my body, and watched a stream of energy flowed out of my stomach into my center and meridians. Everywhere the energy passed the cracks in my meridians healed significantly, and the edges seemed more robust. The wave of energy tapered off after a full circuit through my body, finishing in my intestines. I suddenly had a very strong need for a restroom, and I hurried back to the dorms.

  Apparently cleansing the meridian of impurities is a smelly process. I thought when I was finished. I decided that next time; I was going to take the pill in my room. I gathered in my room for the next thirty minutes, noticing a small improvement in speed from before to after the pill did it’s work. Impurities in your meridians make it harder to gather. That makes sense. I wonder how else you get rid of them besides a Meridian Cleanser pill. Also, how do they get there? There is so much to learn!