~~~ Chapter 9: Blooded ~~~
Shing Jea Monastery, Shing Jea Island, Cantha
1576 (Canthan Calendar), Season of the Scion
Kasumi loosed another bolt of spirit-granted energy from her practice scepter, and managed to hold back a curse as it crackled well wide of the mantid hatching scuttling about before her. Her fellow students seemed to be faring little better, their own bolts of lightning and balls of flame and bursts of holy light zipping about the ambient background of muttered imprecations, punctuated by the occasional yelp as a mis-aimed or mis-fired spell caught a comrade instead of the carpet of diminutive vermin.
They were fast, Grenth take them, and prone to sudden changes in course and heading, not that most of the students could reliably hit a target that small to begin with. At least their new-hatched claws and mandibles were yet too soft to pierce the hardened leather of the students' boots and leggings. It didn't stop them from trying, of course, and an enterprising few had tried to swarm up the sides of these strange nest invaders and attack the vulnerable flesh of the arms or torso. Already several students had taken vicious bites and quit the field for safety behind the lines, their shouts of pain leaving the rest with an added incentive to strike the creatures down from afar.
And, of course, offering additional practice to the second-year monk students waiting behind with valuable practice healing battle injuries. Tasks at the monastery often had interlocking lessons.
Another mantid scuttled up beneath her scepter's aim, and Kasumi felt its mandibles scrabbling at her reinforced boot in its desperate hatching hunger. She brought her other boot down, hard, and grimaced at the sickening crunch. They were supposed to defeat the vermin with magic, but she'd already seen another student give himself a nasty shock trying to shoot a mantid off his leg, and nearly tumble face-down into the swarm for his troubles.
Kasumi shuddered at the thought. If any of them were to slip, the monks would have no shortage of practice.
She focused on her wand once more, trying to fight down her instinct to control and letting her own magic resonate with the wood's ambient energies. Kisai had been very patient indeed, and Kasumi made a mental note to thank the other girl once again. It still seemed unnatural, to subordinate her will to a bit of inanimate driftwood, but as difficult as she might find it harmony, not dominance, was needed to attune a focus weapon. Of course, that sort of calm was hard to find in the middle of battle. She supposed that achieving it was part of this lesson as well.
Kasumi loosed another crackling bolt and watched it catch another of the mantid hatchlings, which promptly burst with a satisfying sizzle and a splatter of ichor. The other students seemed to have their aim more or less down, as well. For that matter, the swarm itself seemed to be thinning out, the tide of chitinous black from the nests reduced to a mere trickle. Just as well; her scepter arm was starting to get tired from the unaccustomed weight. She grimaced; she'd mastered her scepter quickly enough, but even for her that was no substitute for practice. Long, dull hours of practice.
It took a few minutes more for the students to dispatch the last few stragglers from the hatchling swarm. With any luck, the vermin would be only a minor nuisance to the monastery, or the farmers in the vale below, in the coming year. "Well done, students", instructor Ng called out. "Any of you with injuries, please see the healers at once; the rest of you, we are breaking for a meal and a rest. Don't forget to tend to your equipment, and be ready to resume combat training in one hours time."
Kasumi affixed her scepter to her belt holster with a grateful sigh and took a moment to massage some of the tension from her wrist. Yes, she definitely needed more practice with the weapon. Even if she wasn't likely to need such things once she graduated, self-defense was an important skill in its own right. Besides, she would certainly need to master it during her time at the monastery, whether she chose to be a hot-blooded mercenary or a calm scholar after.
She smiled at the notion. Her, a dealer of death and destruction. She might be a bit short-tempered, and perhaps in her most honest moments over-proud, but she was far better suited for her planned life of mercantile travel and study. By the time Cantha needed her to protect it, the empire would be in serious trouble indeed.
Kasumi took her steamed bun ration from her satchel and looked around for a reasonably comfortable place to sit down that wasn't already covered in mantid ichor. The mantid nests had no shortage of jagged bits and hidden holes to catch unwary ankles, and sheltered from the worst of the weather by a convenient ridge there were few places that had eroded smooth. Just getting to the site without the mantid's penchant for climbing sheer rock had been an adventure in and of itself.
Across the field, Kisai caught her eye, and the other girl waved with a tentative smile. She seemed unhurt, not that Kasumi was surprised. The girl had an impressive amount of raw talent, if not always the confidence needed to put it to use. Once they graduated, and Kasumi had no doubt that both would do so with honours, Kasumi planned to offer her a commission as a weather wizard aboard her trade fleet. Kisai would love the travel, Kasumi was certain, and to be perfectly honest Kasumi would welcome the other girl's company on the long voyages to Lion's Arch.
And on the thought of company- Kasumi stepped carefully across the field of nests to where her friend was waiting, and smiled. It felt more natural, now, the long months of practice with Mai and Kisai making a world of difference. No, months of companionship, she reminded herself. Perhaps not enough, yet, to redeem years at sea and on her family's isolated estate, but she was determined to make up for lost time.
Assuming, of course, she could remember to treat her friends as friends. Not as allies, not as resources, not as trading partners or marks. And on that note- "Thanks," Kasumi said quietly. That, too, was getting easier, little by little.
Kisai smiled again. "Whatever for?"
"Helping me attune with my scepter."
"Oh, it was the least I could do, really." The other girl's smile was brilliant. "After all the time you spent with me on spell theory and basics of conjuration. I'm just glad I could return the favor. You're so smart, I don't know what I would do without your help."
Kasumi smiled wryly. "Of course. What are friends for?"
"All right, students, form up." Kasumi grimaced and wiped away the last traces of her steamed pork bun. This combat training was all well and good, she supposed, but instructor Ng was overdoing things just a bit. Abruptly she frowned; there were more students gathering than she remembered from before - and some of them had the shoulder insigniae of heretofore unrepresented professions. The verdant paw print of a ranger, the crossed violet blades of an assassin, the golden shield of a warrior. Come to think of it, on sheer numbers alone the group had grown to include nearly all of the monastery's first-year students.
"All of you have now had a chance to practice your skills against live opponents. But mastering your skills alone is not enough to keep you alive in real combat. You must always be prepared to fight alone to protect yourself or on behalf of Cantha, but a team of adventurers will always be stronger together than on their own. To do that, however, takes teamwork. It takes trust." The instructor looked out over the assembled students. "When that day comes, who will you be able to trust?"
An assassin student bowed in the front row. "I will trust my guild, instructor."
"Good. Who else?"
"My fellow guardsman." A woman this time, bearing a golden shield insignia.
"You plan to join the imperial guards?" The woman nodded once, with a mix of quiet pride and determination. "Good. It is a difficult road that you have chosen, but Cantha needs loyal soldiers to protect her people. I can promise you that if you are accepted, there is no cadre more loyal." He looked around once more. "Anyone else?"
Kisai bowed. "Instructor, I can trust in my friends."
Instructor Ng nodded. "Here at the monastery, yes. Just remember that outside of these walls, few will possess your talent or your training. And that is as it should be," he added, raising his voice to boom across the broken field. "The imperial guards, the graduates of the monastery, the private guilds, these help keep Cantha safe. But always remember, it is the people - farmers and merchants, ministers and craftsmen - that make Cantha strong. In the end, it is them that we serve, and the Emperor who watches over them, may his reign be long and prosperous."
The instructor gestured at the assembled students. "For now, you will learn to trust in one another. Form into groups of four. I recommend you find an appropriate balance of skills as best you can. Unless, of course, you wish to donate your time to some of our second-year monk students who have so graciously volunteered their time. I am sure they would be most appreciative."
The class bowed as one to the instructor, then began to glance at one another speculatively. Team exercises were a moment that some had awaited eagerly and others with dread. Kasumi figured she fell in between the two, although the sanctimonious lecture on trust was pushing her toward the latter. She could take care of herself, and the thought of entrusting her safety to her teammates wasn't an entirely comfortable one.
Which was the entire point, Kasumi supposed, and as the ordered rows of students dissolved into a confused sprawl she began to weave her way through the crowd toward the two people she felt she could trust.
She'd made it more than halfway to Kisai when the latter was all but bowled over by a trio of her own classmates, and Kasumi frowned. Clearly, they hadn't paid much heed to the instructor's lecture on the importance of a balanced group, even if each had chosen a different element on which to focus. And that was to say nothing of the fact that their one team had concentrated a third of the first-year elemental students.
Kasumi was debating whether to suggest that Kisai reconsider when a hand clasped her firmly on the shoulder. She spun around to see Mai standing right behind her; clearly, the latter's lessons on stealth and misdirection were being taken to heart.
"Looks like Kisai's already got a group together," Mai said with a smile. "She's been tutoring them, you know." Kasumi blinked in surprise. "Apparently she was inspired by another friend who has been helping her, although she wouldn't say who."
It was more or less clear that Mai had her suspicions, but Kasumi kept her face carefully neutral. "Good for her, then. She does seem more confident lately." The other girl nodded. "Actually, I'm surprised you didn't get to her first. I hear the two of you have been spending a lot of time together."
Mai reddened, and Kasumi enjoyed a slight smile at her friend's discomfiture. It was an open secret that Mai and Kisai had been spending a lot of late nights "studying" together. Actually, many of the other students in her year had drifted into relationships with varying degrees of stability, including several pairings of female students and at least one between two male warriors. The Kurzick students abstained from such things as a group, claiming that such activities displeased the gods, but the Luxons seemed determined that they would personally ensure that the vassal state contingent would as a whole kept up with their fellow students.
As for her- Kasumi looked at Mai for a long moment. It certainly seemed to make her friends happy. She supposed there were a handful of male students she'd like to get to know better. It never really seemed to be the right time, though, and if she sometimes had trouble relating personally with her close companions, she was even less likely to put herself forward for a stranger. No matter how he made her tingle.
Abruptly Kasumi realised she had been woolgathering again, and shook her head to clear away the errant thoughts. Mai smiled knowingly. "Thinking about a pillow friend of your own?" It was Kasumi's turn to blush. "I bet I could find someone to catch your fancy. After the exercise, of course. We need one more for our group. Care to join us?"
It looked like most of the other students had already formed up. Not, of course, that she had any objection to working with Mai. The other girl was skilled enough in her profession and had a certain ruthlessness about her that Kasumi found she could relate to. She smiled. "Of course."
Mai took a half step aside, gesturing at a woman behind her with a scepter the blue monk's ankh and a young man with a short bow and ranger's verdant insignia. "Kasumi, meet Taya and Yuun."
Kasumi recognized the young monk from the shared classes on the basics of magic. She bowed to both. "Kasumi Mizushima. I am sure that together, we will prevail."
Mai grinned widely. "That's the spirit. These mantids won't know what hit them."