Chapter Ten - Learning Limpet

The limpet-- no.

Fenfang shook her head. She was a little tired, but that was no reason to forget her own name, no matter how many times her master called her the wrong thing.

She had a great excuse for why she couldn’t focus, of course. Her arm was currently quite broken. One of the bones, the radius maybe, was poking out at an angle that she was pretty sure it wasn’t meant to.

It was quite painful, but she had had worse. Mostly over the last couple of days. Still, for all the pain she had been in lately, she knew that she was getting much better, and at a great pace. A bit of suffering was worth the lessons she was learning.

Across from her, sitting on a simple wooden chair that he had conjured from nothing at all, was her master. Fenfang sat on a very ordinary, non-conjured rock before him, legs folded under her and broken arm laying gingerly across her lap.

Her master smiled. He didn’t seem to take any malicious enjoyment from her suffering. Nor did it seem like he cared all that much.

If she had learned one thing about Harold, it was that he was infinitely fair in his apathy. He didn’t coddle her, and he expected a lot from her. When she did good, her reward was more work.

He was the best master she could ask for.

“Now, Cure Wounds is a somewhat simple spell. The results aren’t spectacular, but they are practical. The spell lacks some versatility. It has one main use, that is all it is good for, so finding new and interesting ways to apply it is difficult. Nonetheless, the thing it does makes it incredibly valuable.”

“It heals,” Fenfang said.

Harold lifted a hand, index raised. “It cures.”

“There’s a difference?” she asked.

He nodded. “There is. Small as it may be. It’s an important distinction though. To heal is to remove all ailments and ills. To return something to a state of greater health. To cure is to remove the symptoms of an ailment. Similar, but not quite the same.”

Fenfang frowned at the dusty ground between them. Harold had brought them to a spot just outside the Lava Fist sect building. Just a quiet patch where they wouldn’t be interrupted. That was great, because she had a lot of thinking to do.

“So, there are some things you can heal, but that you can’t cure?” she asked.

“Essentially, yes. Healing is a broader thing, whereas to cure is somewhat lesser.”

“Should I be learning some sort of healing spell then?” she asked.

Harold smiled a little wider. “You will be. But master this first.”

Fenfang nodded. If he said she should do things in a certain order, then he was probably right.

Then again, he did encourage her to question everything... “Um. Why?”

Her master tapped his chin. “It’s mostly a matter of application. Cure Wounds is actually better in many situations. Faster, and more effective at healing what it can. On the other hand, it is cast from touch, and mostly involves fixing physical ills. Healing Word, the simplest healing spell, is cast at range, and is somewhat more esoteric in its application.”

“So you want me to learn the easier of the two?” Fenfang asked.

“I want you to master the easier of the two,” he corrected. Reaching into the pockets of his jacket, he removed a small booklet.

She carefully grabbed it, then opened it one-handed to look at the illustrations within. She had given up on wondering why he had this kind of booklet on hand. “I need to take notes,” she said. “Ah, but I can’t hold my notebook.”

“Then learn from that, and apply the knowledge within to curing your wounds.”

Fenfang got to reading. The sun overhead beat down on her head, and after an hour or so she felt more than a little sweaty, but still she pushed on. Not just reading the text before her, but working as hard as she could to understand it.

She set the booklet down some hours later and looked up. Her master was leaning back into his seat, a position that she knew was comfortable, but that would definitely hurt after a while. Then again, he was undead, so back pain was probably not a concern.

Knowing better than to interrupt when someone was reading--it was very rude--she waited until he seemed to reach the end of a chapter before clearing her throat. “Master?”

“Hmm, yes?”

“Uh, I’m done. Also, what are you reading?”

“An old book. Fiction, I’m afraid. I am not that keen on re-reading things, but it has been a millenia or two, so I’ll allow myself the indulgence.”

Fenfang relaxed a little. “I like fiction too,” she said. “I wish I could bring my library with me wherever I go. Can you teach me how you put so many books in your jacket?”

“Hmm,” her master said. “That kind of spellwork is far above you, and not aligned with your current schools. But I suppose I could enchant a garment or bag for you. Having a large selection of books on hand is quite wonderful.”

Fenfang nodded. She wanted to learn the spell, of course, but having her master gift her such a powerful thing was a nice compromise. “I think I’m ready to cast the spell,” she said.

“Oh hoh? Well then, let’s see.”

She licked her lips, then straightened and gingerly placed her hand over her wounded arm.

The break was fairly clean, she thought. The boy who had punched her had pulled back a bit at the end. It was quite annoying to have to fight all the Lava Fist apprentices. They seemed really nice, and some of them were quite attractive, but it was hard to get along with someone who beat you up.

The spell didn’t call for many gestures, probably owing to how it needed contact with the target to work. Still, she had to wave her arm around while collecting magic into her hand in a very specific way. This spell was about as complicated as Detect Magic had been, but in entirely different ways.

“When your life is doomed

When death has bloomed

Blow on the ember

And restore every member

When your injury needs healing, Cure Wounds! “

Magic seeped into her broken arm, and with a clunk, the bones shifted and set.

Fenfang felt her eyes rolling, and for a moment she was afraid she’d lose her dinner at the sensation of things moving under her skin.

She lost her focus for a bit, and the spell came apart.

“Hmm,” Harold said. “Nearly, but not quite.”

Fenfang looked at her arm and winced. It was cured, mostly. The bone was reconnected, it was just a bit crooked still. “I lost focus,” she admitted.

“I suppose it’s easy for me to forget about pain and its impact on casting. Though learning to cast past an injury can be incredibly useful.” Harold leaned forwards and tapped Fenfang’s arm. The bone snapped into place with a dizzying wave of pain, then that faded.

“Oh,” she said as she wiggled her fingers. “You fixed it? What spell was that?”

“If spells are the application of careful and precise magic, then what I just did was the equivalent of ‘winging it’ as the youth would say. Fortunately I’m good enough that your arm didn’t...take off. Oh hoh!”

Fenfang held back a groan. If one bad pun was all she had to pay for a fixed arm, it wasn’t so bad. “I still didn’t cast the spell right,” she said.

“Then practice. There’s an entire infirmary here.’ He shooed her off. “And use some prestidigitation on yourself, you’re quite dirty. I don’t need you infecting anyone in the local clinic.”

Fenfang jumped to her feet. “Yes master!”

Reaching out and giving her master a hug would have been a huge breach of propriety, and her master was nothing if not serious about that kind of stuff. So she held back, but it was a little reluctantly.

Stretching, she suppressed a grumble from her belly and then waved to her master before heading towards the sect building. Their little party was waiting here. At least, she thought they were waiting. It had been three days now since they arrived, and her master didn’t seem ready to move on just yet.

The Lava Fist people were nice enough though, so she really couldn’t complain. As she walked into the sect building she was greeted by a few of them who recognized her on sight. She was the only person wearing a shirt within the entrance hall, which made her stand out a fair bit.

The greetings--usually ‘hey sis’ or ‘what’s up broette’ were nice though. Not nearly as formal as any other sect she’d seen, but friendly and given without any sort of malice.

She wondered if they would be staying here for long.

On her way to the infirmary, she found Alex and Rem walking across the courtyard.

Alex was smiling guilelessly at the mantis who had her arms splayed out and was balancing a stack of bricks on her head.

Fenfang moved a little closer, ignoring the apprentices watching the show to stand next to Alex. “What’s going on?” she asked.

Rem turned her head a little to glance her way, then she wobbled to keep the bricks atop her head in place.

“Rem and I are practicing how to walk,” Alex said.

“Stupid maid,” Rem muttered. “I know how to walk. This isn’t walking, it’s stupid walking.”

“Rem’s movements are well-coordinated, but she lacks some of the grace that a proper butler needs to display,” Alex said. “Are you hungry?”

Fenfang nodded, used to Alex’s sudden switches to concern. “I am, a little. But I have some work to do in the infirmary.”

“I can bring you something easy to eat while on your feet,” Alex said. “I could bake some meat and sauces into a fresh loaf of bread, perhaps?”

“That sounds a little strange,” Fenfang said. “But I’m sure it would be delicious if you make it.”

“I don’t require any flattery, but it’s appreciated,” Alex said. “I’ll feed the dog as well, if you’re too busy for that.”

Fenfang grinned. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll repay you with some advice.”

Alex blinked slowly. “Advice?”

Fenfang patted him on the back, and started off towards the infirmary. “Yup,” she said. There was a bit of a skip in her step as she opened the door into the clinic and bounced in. The--frankly terrifying--doctor women accepted Fenfang’s request to experiment on her patients/subjects without batting an eye.

She started practicing, though in reality her mind was wandering a little.

She had a lot of things to think about. Their purpose in being in the Flaming Steppes. How she could improve herself and become strong enough to murder her rival. Alex and Rem’s budding romance....

She couldn’t do much about most of those concerns, but she was determined to try her best.

Alex was such a sweet... cat...boy...maid person. He was always looking out for her, and he definitely seemed to enjoy spending time with Rem.

Rem was a bit rude, but she was pretty, in a sort of extremely exotic way.

Fenfang had to tighten the restraints on the beds as her test subjects started to squirm.

They really didn’t like it when she started to giggle before using magic on them.

***