19. Training Arc I (Patreon)

6.

She woke up the next morning.

Holy hell. I must’ve been tired.

The campus gong was still ringing, which meant it was time for her to get up and prepare. There was a shower in the infirmary that she made use of. Someone, most likely Hanks, since Miles did not think of such things, had left a fresh tunic for her.

At that point, a serious cramp in her stomach made itself known, signalling her need for sustenance. So, she quickly strapped her dagger to her waist and rushed out. The halls were deserted as always, leaving her with no one to ask for directions as she struggled outside.

No matter. She would find it. Surely there were more students on their way to the canteen.

‘A tall Qatani with black hair—Mrs. Nighthart, I presume?’

She hadn’t taken five steps when a bespectacled man approached her. He was a head shorter than Silvah. But he was broad. His thighs were thicker than hers and his shoulders were at least twice the size. It contrasted with his glasses in a funny manner, making him look like a bodybuilder nerd or something.

‘That is me…?’ she said.

‘Master Miles informed me of your coming,’ the boy said. ‘Knowing him, he probably did not explain anything practical. Come. Let us walk and speak.’

He didn’t wait for her to respond. He turned and joined the trail of students walking the campus pathways, who were like the sinuous slithering of a snake’s tail.

‘Gunther von Schwarzburg,’ he said while they passed a group of rowdy girls.

The origin of the name must be the Sovereign Realms southeast of Nikhai.

She saw Gunther lift his glasses and peek at the previous group of girls. Silvah acted as if she hadn’t seen.

‘The name doesn’t have quite the same feel when given in the common manner of the Ishwar,’ he said, ‘so my last name is at the end.’

‘Silvah Nighthart. Likewise.’ She grimaced. Thought for a second. Then asked because she couldn’t let it go. ‘Was that really the description Miles gave of me?’

Gunther smiled.

‘Nothing more, anything less, I’m afraid.’

She suppressed a sigh.

‘That guy is too laid back,’ she said.

‘Welcome to Meteora College, Mrs. Nighthart.’ Gunther smiled.

‘Thank you. So. Where are you taking me?’

‘The first place any man takes a woman,’ he said. He eyed her expectantly.

‘Which is…’

She was biting a lot these days.

They turned a corner and a one-story building appeared behind the trees. The roofs were that same curved shape of the other buildings. On the front, above the door, hung a wooden sign showcasing a knife, fork and plate. Inside was just as she expected: an array of long benches seated by students of different ages.

‘A restaurant.’ He lifted his glasses. ‘Or more appropriately—the mess hall. Remember it well. First bell rings at sunrise—yes, the one you just heard—from then on you have an hour to arrive and have breakfast. Don’t, and you miss it for the day.’

Silvah promised herself she wouldn’t. Especially when the food from the mess hall turned out the one of the best she ever had.

6.

Silvah confessed she was a little surprised she found Miles waiting for her near the school gate like he had said. She’d expected him to be late or forget.

‘So. Where are we headed?’ she said.

‘You’ll see.’

He led her down the mountain that the College was situated on, through winding forest paths and into what looked to be a small town. From the lack of shops at the forefront, people trying to sell them things, and huts for homes that were built nearly on top of each other, Silvah guessed this place wasn’t meant for tourists. Not in the least. Walking deeper into the rural village, Silvah saw both men and women dragging carts filled with…rocks? Blue rocks. Similar to the one she had seen Asher give to Rose.

‘Are those cele stones?’

‘They are. Cele energy is quite sparse out in the wild, so cele stones are a valuable commodity in the sorcerer’s community. Especially for those who travel a lot.’

‘You mean so they can absorb the energy within and power their arts?’

‘Yep. Foul energy is not an issue because it’s everywhere. You can just sit down, meditate, and absorb it from the air. But not only that. Absorbing cele is important, because if your energy balance is disrupted too heavily, you can get sick.’

‘Sick? I haven’t had to absorb cele energy yet, though.’

And now that she thought about it, hadn’t her energy regenerated by itself, enough for her to summon Asha multiple times during the night of the auction?

Miles glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

‘Most likely an innate trait. You should take note of inconsistencies and explore them. It will do you well.’

Silvah nodded.

They arrived in front of a shack, which was bigger than the other huts by a margin. Miles bonked his knuckle on the decaying wooden door.

‘Go away!’ Someone yelled from within, hard and loud enough to almost make Silvah jump.

‘Don’t be so cold,’ Miles yelled back. ‘I thought we were friends!’

Grumbling, along with the clattering of metal, came from inside. An old man in a miner’s tunic stepped out. He eyed both of them suspiciously.

‘What do you want, scum.’

‘Meet the Foreman of the mining initiative, George,’ Miles said. ‘He and I engage in a lot of business. He loves children.’

‘That sounds…wrong,’ Silvah said.

‘He sends me troublesome students,’ Foreman George clarified. ‘As a way of detention. Also, I hate children.’

He squinted at her.

‘I’m twenty-three,’ she said.

He kept squinting.

‘The problem George has,’ Miles butted in, ‘is that he lacks manpower in the mines.’

‘I do not lack manpower.’

‘The cele stones naturally forming in the mines,’ Miles continued without pause, ‘are tough, you see. Only specially trained sorcerers have enough energy to dig them up.’

Foreman George snorted.

‘A child could do it given enough time.’

‘Maybe,’ Miles said. ‘But a child can’t handle the spirits inside.’

‘Spirits?’ Silvah said. ‘Cellites?’

Miles nodded.

‘Below the mines, far under the ground, is a fountain of cele energy. The energy of this fountain rises and settles in the earth, forming cele stones that can be mined. However, due to the concentration, it also leads to cellites. Most cellites are not malignant.’

‘But they are tricksters,’ Foreman George said. ‘I regularly lose men only to find them days later, drained to the brink of turning Hollow.’

‘Turning Hollow?’ Silvah asked.

‘Something you do not need to worry about right now,’ Miles said. ‘Your job,’ Miles said, ‘is to mine one hundred kilograms of stone every day. Should you meet a struggling miner, you help rid them of their cellite problem, and carry them to safety if need be. Mind you, you cannot kill the spirits. Doing so ruins the quality of the mine in the long run.’

George shook his head.

‘You start—’ Miles glanced at his wrist. He did not carry a watch. ‘—now. After George has given you the required gear. Ah. George. Only give her a pickaxe and helmet. Nothing else.’

‘Sure thing.’

The Foreman shot Silvah a look she interpreted as pity.

‘Psycho sorcerers,’ the man murmured as he disappeared back inside the house.

Miles turned to her.

‘When you finish for the day, return to the main building, the one you woke up in, and ask for directions to the Practice rooms. I’ll be waiting for you there.’

‘Right.’

Silvah had no idea how much ten kilograms of cele stones was. So, she could not form a mental image of when she would be done. From the sounds of it, she just needed to swing a pickaxe. Nothing she hadn’t done before. ‘Saving’ miners could turn out to be tricky, though. How did you even get rid of a spirit without killing them?

The Fore returned with Miles’s exact order: a yellow helmet complete with a little light at the front, and an old, sturdy pickaxe.

Miles waved the Foreman goodbye, and the two of them followed the direction traffic of in the village.

They reached said mine, which from the outside was almost less than a big hole in the side of a mountain. Miles introduced her to a lady everyone called Big Mom. Whether that was because she was fat, Silvah did not dare to ask. Important to Silvah was that Big Mom was the head of the operations from day to day and formed the first point of contact for any and all problems.

With that, Miles left her to her devices, only asking Big Mom to give Silvah a cart of her own that she could fill. One cart came down to the required number of ore she needed to collect.

Silvah stood in front of the entrance.

Right. Let’s do this, then.

7.

There was a railroad inside the mine Silvah could use to carry her cart. Occasionally, she needed to go off the road to let a miner on the way out pass, but otherwise the ride was unimpeded.

Big Mom had told her to start in the middle of mine shaft five. That’s where the place on the first levels all newbies started out. There were no cellites, but the density of stone was enough to hammer away for hours on end.

Silvah peered down the tunnel of shaft lined with lanterns. A sign on the side read: five. Newbies start here!

So Silvah went in.

Sleeping within the grey exterior of the walls were blue outcroppings. They numbered in the thousands. In some places, lanterns weren’t even needed as the cele stones were outshining them.

The sound of metal striking a hard surface clang like a metronome in the mine shaft. Silvah wheeled her cart towards a group of miners. They all shot her looks, looking at her empty cart, then her lack of equipment.

‘Haven’t seen you before.’ An elder Ishwari spoke up.

He had even less equipment than her: he had no cap.

‘Yes, elder. I’m here for…training.’

Laughter roared through the mines.

‘That’s what they all say!’ a man yelled.

‘We know how naughty you disciples can be, dear!’ a woman said.

‘Naughty?!’ Silvah said. ‘I’m not lying! Ask Miles.’

A pause.

The roar of laughter returned fivefold.

Silvah sighed.

‘Give it up,’ the older man who had spoken to her first said. He was chuckling. ‘Miles’s students have an even worse reputation.’

‘I bet.’

‘What’s your name, granddaughter?’

‘Silvah Nighthart. The last name is second. Grandfather’s name is?’

‘The others call me Lao G.’

‘That’s what he wishes.’

The woman from before walked up to them, pick axe over her shoulder. She was tiny with a plump physique, her great breasts shaking up and down as she walked.

‘He’s just an old man,’ she said. Then offered Silvah a hand. ‘You met big Mom?’

‘I did.’ Silvah accepted the gesture. ‘She’s the one who told me to come here.’

‘That’s my aunt. Hence why I’m called Small Mom.’

‘Does everyone get their own nickname?’ Silvah said.

‘Stay around long enough and you will. Have you mined before? Do you want me to show you how?’

‘Please.’

Silvah didn’t think it amounted to more than swinging your pickaxe but she wasn’t one to turn down help when offered.

‘Watch carefully. I’m only going to show this once,’ Small Mom said.

Silvah nodded.

Small Mom picked a stone in the wall at random, lining the tip of her axe so it would enter a little to the side, where there was only earth.

‘The key—’

She breathed in. Foul energy rushed over the wooden shaft, gathering at the axe head. She swung. The weapon bore through the earth as if it was clay.

‘—is precision!’

The energy on her weapon shifted, turning from purple into a blue hue. Right after, a ringing echoed through the tunnels. The force of the swing had made strings of Silvah’s hair dance.

Wow.

Small Mom wiped her brow.

‘You need foul energy to dig through the dirt. But if you strike the stone with foul energy, you’ll ruin its quality. That’s why you swap energies right before you make contact. Get it?’

‘I think so, yes.’

‘Try it out.’

The woman made way for her and Silvah stepped up to the same spot.

‘Take your time,’ Small Mom said.

Silvah noticed the others in the room shooting her curious glances.

What an audience, she thought, focusing on the weapon in her hands. Since she wasn’t in the middle of a fight this time, she could pay attention to the flow of her energy from her arms towards the shaft of the axe. She hadn’t noticed before, but there were engravings on the handle. They pulled on the energy Silvah fed the mining tool, automatically gathering it near the head.

A purple cloud shifted over the iron.

Small Mom whistled.

‘Quite sinister feeling. You got somebody you don’t like?’

Silvah didn’t respond.

This was the first time Silvah had called on foul energy. It was..,not as smooth as calling on cele. She wouldn’t call it sluggish. But it was a near neighbour.

She measured as Small Mom had done.

At the last second, she thought, trying to image the fast swap of energies.

She breathed in and swung, stepping in with the motion and rotating at the hip so her entire weight was behind it. The earth crumbled under the force of her swing. Now. She hauled on her cele energy, snatching it by the neck and forcing it down the weapon.

The purple haze vanished, making way for blue—

A massive, shrill wave ran through the empty air. The vibration cascaded down the weapon shaft, into her arms and over her entire body, causing her to shake in place and unwillingly drop the axe.

Silvah jumped off the lingering quivers.

The entire mining group laughed, and Lao G scowled, passing Small Mom two bills worth five Celestas each.

‘I thought this one had a decent chance,’ the older man said.

‘Every time,’ Small Mom cried.

She patted Silvah’s shoulder.

‘Keep at it, newbie. You’ll learn the technique soon enough.’

Gods, she already hated mining.