Azyl Academy (Elemental Gatherers Book 1)

by Chris Vines

  I followed my own advice and had Aether flow into the trisula from my first two fingers and out of it through my last two, maintaining my will on it as best as I could to have the Aether flow along the edge of the blade. After about thirty seconds I felt that I had it working slightly well and slashed into the dummy. I felt the dummy break my circuit, and a blast of Aether flowed into it, making the cut about half again as big and smell burnt. “Whoa!” I shouted, surprised at the effectiveness. I guess that's why it hurt Smarmy McSmarmpants so much when I hit him with the Aether-infused fist.

  I repeated this exercise about twenty times, with the last one taking my breath away. Looking inward to my center, I realized I was running on empty. I staggered to an edge of the field, sat down, and gathered for a bit. Well, magic gives me more endurance, but the crash when it runs out sure is rough. I was too tired to do the Eight by Eight techniques. After a few minutes, I was feeling better, but not enough to keep expending Aether. Let’s work on the blocking and attacking techniques. I worked on these for the next hour, with the occasional break to gather a bit and rest.

  At the end of class, everyone took off on our daily ten laps around the field. “Stupid running technique just making us run longer,” I grumbled under my breath after the fifth lap. I was running low on Aether again, so I tried to gather while running. It sort of worked. I could slowly gather only when I stopped using the Aether technique. Guess you can’t have inputs and outputs at the same time, at least with what I know so far. I alternated gathering and expending the Aether until I finished, thankfully not last, though nowhere near first. As we were dismissed the entire group staggered off the fields, headed to the shower and then food.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Dinner passed quickly, with some of the kids from the minor noble houses bragging about the cool weapons that their clan blacksmiths could produce. Ming and Vaya both smiled wryly at the group without saying anything. Discussions proceeded with more people declaring what they wanted to study, while others want to wait for the introduction to Inscription. After finishing dinner, everyone began to drift out, heading for their rooms or the Grotto.

  Jamila caught up with me just as I was walking past the dorm buildings toward the Grotto. “Good evening,” I said as she came up. She returned my greeting and walked silently next to me for a bit.

  As we entered the Grotto, she stepped forward and said “Follow me” before turning down a path I hadn’t taken yet. As we walked, the path became overgrown. “The amount of Wood Aether in the soil and air here has made the growth rate of the plants increase. I have been working on extending Aether into a plant to help it grow. Counselor Stojka instructed me that this was a good first step to being a healer,” Jamila said as we walked. A small path diverged from the one we were on, and she took it. The path curved out and ran parallel to a moderately sized pond, with some benches. She gestured at the pond and said, “This is where I have been gathering the last two days.”

  “It’s a beautiful area,” I said, looking at the flowers growing on the shores and surface of the pond. We stood there for a bit, just enjoying the night air, before I excused myself to go back to a more appropriate place to gather. As I was walking, I was thinking to myself. Do I like her for her, or because she reminds me of Jasmine? It’s been just over six months since I died and came back, and I thought I had accepted that and moved on. Now I’m not so sure. Darkness, why me? Why can’t I remember what we talked about? “Gah!” I exclaimed out loud, startling a bright blue bird off a branch. It chirped at me and flew away.

  All I remember is an admonishment to grow stronger. I will just focus on that until I can get more information. This is my life now. No more mopey introspection, at least for tonight. With this thought, I got to the Fire and Lighting pavilion and sat down. I focused on Gathering, refilling from earlier and moving close to the edge of advancing again. After an hour, I was ready to practice shooting out Aether from my weapons. I left a couple of pieces of fruit I had saved from the dining hall for the Zarorzel. Hopefully, I can see it again.

  As I jogged out of the Grotto, I looked backward and saw the Zarorzel land and start eating the fruit I brought. I laughed, then ran out and looked into the PT fields, hoping there was a dummy left out. Thankfully, it looked like the dummies were all out on the field. Not that weather would hurt them, considering how quickly they fixed themselves after being stabbed and burnt. Stopping five feet back from a dummy, I focused on setting up the circle of Aether. “Okay, I know that I can make this work by striking the dummy, but I want to be able to project the Aether, not just use it to strengthen my blows.”

  I forced the circle to pool a bit at the tip of the trisula, holding more and more Aether until I was straining to make it stay. As I reached this point, I thrust the blade towards the dummy and pushed a shot of Aether into the circle, so that it would impact the tip at the end of my thrust. I squeezed with my will, and the Aether continued straight, forming an elongated blob that hit the dummy with as much force as a light shoulder tackle. I exhaled with a groan, as that push had taken nearly a third of my total Aether pool. “Well, that kind of worked. Now to make it smaller and pointier. I won’t last long in a fight if I use that much Aether each time.”

  I gathered back up to full, and repeated my steps, making the Aether smaller and thinner at the tip, though not by much. It took me the next two hours to get the result to even a moderately acceptable state. Rather than a shoulder tackle, it looked more like I hit the dummy with a slightly pointy log. Still not enough to penetrate, but it would knock the breath out of someone. It also only used about an eighth of my Aether pool rather than a third. Yay progress, bedtime.

  Breakfast and channeling class passed quickly, with Lightning-based food this time that was amazing. I don’t think I lost any of the Aether in that meat! I thought after eating. Channeling class was just continuing to work on the Eight by Eight Gathering form, making my way nearly through the second set. By the end of class, I was struggling against advancing in level again. I rushed away from class when we were dismissed with a grimace. Just a bit longer, then I can open the Skin meridian and stop suppressing my level.

  Sitting down at my pavilion, I centered myself quickly. My center glowed brightly, with Aether pressing against some invisible barriers near the edges of my open meridians. I directed some of the excess Aether to the opening of my Skin meridian. A gush of Aether rushed out of my control down that pathway, moving straight out and then fanning across the entirety of my body. Ahh, tickles! I nearly lost focus when it started tickling, leaving me giggling and twitching while watching the Aether flow. The Aether gathered at the point directly opposite the opening to flow back through my chest into my center.

  Looking down, I saw what looked like popped blackheads covering my body. I immediately got up and jogged back to my room to take a shower. Man, advancing is a dirty business. I looked in the mirror after my shower, and saw that the little bit of acne that had been on my face had vanished. My skin had become slightly tanner, reflecting the time I had spent in the sun the last few days. Dark black hair and deep brown eyes completed the look. My body had filled out some from the intense exercise and massive amounts of food. At least I no longer look like I just got off my deathbed, I thought.

  I went to get dressed again and the wooden token I was given by Counselor Might dropped out of my pocket. “Oh yeah, I need to go get an advanced technique. I wonder what options there are?” I picked up the token and hurried out. The Armory was a four story building just past the forge. As I approached it seemed to buzz with power, presumably because the building was absolutely covered in Inscriptions. There was a guard in front of the door who waved me over as I walked up.

  “You get a token from Counselor Might?” the guard asked.

  “Yes sir, here it is.” I said, handing him the token. He took it with his left hand and waved his right hand over it. I felt a fluctuation of Aether as the guard did something, dang it, I didn’t have my Aether sight up, and
the token turned a light blue color.

  “You are clear to enter the technique library on the first floor. After you enter the door behind me, turn right and go into the library. Do not attempt to enter anywhere else. You have one hour to decide. Have fun and find Librarian Livro once you have made your choice or if you need help. Go on in,” the guard explained. I walked through the doors behind him and saw a short hallway that ran perpendicular to the door. I could see a door at both ends ended of the hallway, with the left one labeled ‘Armory’ and the right ‘Technique Library.’ Following directions, I turned and went into the Technique Library.

  The door opened onto a large room with four large bookshelves running down it. These shelves had signs on them labeled, from left to right, ‘Offensive’, ‘Defensive’, ‘Movement’, ‘Auxiliary’. There were a couple of students browsing already. A couple of third tiers were looking through the Offensive category, and a fourth tier was walking down the Movement one. I stood there thinking for a minute, trying to decide which to look at first.

  As I stood there, a very old man appeared next to me. “Good morning student. Is there anything in particular you are looking for?” I jumped when he spoke, as he quite literally appeared out of nowhere.

  “Um, no sir. I’m not sure what I should be looking for, or what I am trying to prepare for,” I told him. “Do you have any suggestions, sir?” I asked uncertainly.

  “Hmm, you should probably be getting ready for the tournament at the end of the month, I’d think. That is one of the places you earn merit points towards your rank in your year. What have you learned so far, hmm?” He asked. I described the techniques I had learned already and found myself telling him about my meridians and Affinities. He kept nodding his head, saying “hmmm”, and gesturing for me to continue for the next fifteen minutes.

  “Hmm, that is excellent. You have a good base movement technique and a so-so attack technique. Your skin meridian could use a technique to go with it for defense. Another attack technique would be good, and an agility movement technique, rather than speed. That would be best. Don’t worry about auxiliary for now. Most of those require much higher Aether levels,” he told me. He gestured for me to follow him while walking towards the Offensive aisle.

  “Five Affinities … FIVE,” the strange old man muttered to himself, “Hmm, what would be the best offensive he could use. No, no, no. Hmm, when he has moved to Condensation, oooh, hmm, no. Ah, yes, this should be good. You are a dual wielder correct?” He suddenly asked me a question while I trailed behind him looking confused. After I answered affirmatively, he pulled a memory stone off the shelf and handed it to me. “This is the Four Twin Lightning Stabs technique. It is an intermediate rank technique that is able to be learned by Aether Gatherers, though its full might cannot be appreciated until you reach Aether Condensation. Now onto defense.”

  I stared at the memory stone until a “hmmm” from the senior had me look up to see he’d walked off. I found him muttering, “Metal or Earth? Hmm, both are good, oh yeah, that one.” He grabbed another memory stone and handed it to me. “This is the Iron Bone, Granite Skin technique that will benefit greatly from your skin meridian and rib cage meridian, along with your dual Affinity for Metal and Earth. This should last you through the Condensation stage as well. Now we need an agility movement technique. Come, come.” He walked around the end of the aisle and continued down the Movement one.

  “Hmm, Air, Lightning, or Fire? Fire is good for unpredictability but can be hard to control. Lightning for pure speed, more straight line movements, not good for his weapons. Air then? Not quite as fast or unpredictable, but more controllable, yes. But which one?” The librarian continued to mumble to himself as he walked down the aisle. “This one! He seems smart enough, unlike the last kid I let have this. This is the Dancing Northern Wind technique. There are four levels to it, and it will last you through Core Creation. This is one of the very few advanced level techniques you would be able to learn at your level. It is very difficult, but I believe you can handle it. If not, come back and I will give you a different one.”

  “Thank you sir, but I was told I was only allowed one technique. Which should I take?”

  “Bah, you will take all three. I am the head librarian and get to decide who takes what. Now you will learn all of these by the end of the month. I want to see you use them all in the tournament,” he glared threateningly at me.

  “Yes sir. Will do,” I responded, too intimidated to ask the old man any more questions.

  “Good. Now go study.” He dismissed me and disappeared. Holy moly. That is teleportation or something like it. He didn’t blur away, he simply vanished! Stunned, I stood there for nearly a minute before the old man yelled at me again from somewhere to “Go study!” I quickly left the building and looked up at the sun. Okay, I’ve got about an hour until lunch. Techniques or gathering? I thought, walking away from the Armory towards the Meditation Grotto. With a laugh I thought, who am I kidding? I’m way too curious about the techniques chosen for me to not look at them first!

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  I took off at a jog, using the movement technique I knew already to move faster. Every time I used it, I refined how I moved the Aether, how I made the runes, and the timing of the movements. All of which let me use it better, though the benefits were increasing logarithmically. “Which one first?” I mused as I jogged. “Do I want a new offensive power, a new defensive one, or another movement one? Apparently, there is a tournament coming up, so I need to get proficient in all three before, then, though I don’t know what it will entail. Are we really going to fight each other with these abilities?”

  I reached my pavilion and was surprised to see Anberlin gathering in the center of it. I walked towards one of the seats, but stopped about five feet out. I could feel the Aether flowing inward from here. How much Aether is she pulling in, that I can feel it? Wait, is this strange? I didn’t feel anything from Jamila that one time, but we were on either side. I would have felt it then if the flow was this strong, but I’ve gotten stronger and better since then and I’m sure she has too. I just don't know enough. I’ll go to the other meditation spot. I turned and jogged off, trying not to disturb her. I may not like her cousin, but that doesn’t mean I should be rude to her.

  Thankfully, the benches were clear at the other spot I liked. I sat down on the lion’s back again and pulled out the three memory stones I had been given. “I still need to decide which one to look at. Let’s see. I’ve just started learning how to shoot a stab or slash of Aether from my trisula, so I think I’ll keep on that rather than starting a new technique. We haven’t practiced creating an Aether Shield since that one lesson, so I should either work on that or abandon it and focus on the new one. The last one I have is for an agility movement technique, whatever that means, versus a speed one. The technique I was taught already focuses on increasing my running speed, and I have that one down pretty well. I think that would be the best one to focus on.”

  Having decided on the next course of action, I put the other two memory stones away and concentrated on the Dancing Northern Wind. Like all the others I’ve used so far, this one put me in the head of a student learning the technique. This time, we were in a large open area, with an older woman instructing the student. “First I will demonstrate each level of the Dancing Northern Wind technique,” the instructor was saying. As she did so, she raised her hands and stepped lightly to the side before pushing off to the right again, moving slightly farther and faster than I would have expected. She seemed to drift in the air a bit before landing.

  The next time she stepped sideways, she definitely floated down, moving at least five meters before landing. Her third set had her leap upwards in a way that would shame basketball players, then drift down to the side. When she landed, she dashed sideways, moving five meters in a blink. Where she had been, a misty shape hovered for a second and then drifted away. Whoa. The fourth movement she jumped upwards like before, but halfway to her landin
g point, she acted like she pushed off the air and turned ninety degrees. In mid-air! This time when she dashed back after landing, the misty shape was more definite. All of her movements were much faster than the force she pushed off with would indicate.

  The fifth demonstration had the instructor jump upwards again, then turn sideways and start running. She ran a full circle around the student, about fifteen feet off the ground. She’s literally running on air. That… that is so cool! Looking closely, I could see condensation where she stepped, like a cloud was appearing. The instructor dashed back and forth suddenly, creating two pale white images of herself hovering in mid-air. The last demonstration had the instructor leap lightly up, and air circled around her, pushing her through the skies. She’s flying. She’s flying, like Storm from X-Men. Holy Crap, I get to learn how to fly!!! I was literally squeeing in my head.