Book 1. Shifting Winds. Chapter 1. It all began that day. (Part II)

After washing carefully, Laien slowly sank his whole body in the water of the natural hot spring. He took a deep breath and immersed himself in the surrounding liquid, attempting to connect his senses to it. Regrettably, he was still far too weak to properly use such an advanced training technique. He could as well be trying to feel the touch of one’s hand through a thick glass and achieve similar results.

“Why would you show me so much, if I am yet unable to grasp it?” Laien felt somewhat annoyed. He felt like he was being teased and could not do anything about it. He didn’t remember much from these dreams, but some things were clearly imprinted into his memory. Sometimes, even in such a way that Laien himself wasn’t quite aware of them.

Laien dove underwater and after a few seconds, surfaced and shook his head. His black hair seemed to shine unnaturally as he waved his hand, murmuring the words of a spell.

“Unique Magic, Guardian!” Laien called out silently, directing the surrounding water to circulate around him at a slow pace.

“Not bad, but I wish I could do more with it…” he sighed a little, wondering how long would it take him to become strong enough to be recognized by other people. This simple, yet very special spell was a definite proof of his talent. Only those with a very high level of elemental affinity were capable of using Guardian spell and Laien knew that, however, only that.

He never met any other spiritual practitioners to compare himself with, neither had he a proper teacher. Regrettably, Sarkcente Kingdom disdained magic to a large degree. Even in times of war, they only employed magicians as mercenaries. It was fairly reliable to say that spiritual practitioners were incredibly rare in this country; to find a true spiritual master, a Magus, to become one’s teacher? It was borderline impossible. Even in a humongous Neil City with its population of over one million Laien failed to acquire any reliable source of knowledge about magic…

Shaking his head, Laien decided to use his time in a more productive way than to worry about what he couldn’t have. He got out of the bath and leaving only his legs in the water, entered a meditative trance. Recently, Laien discovered that his power grew faster if he trained near water, so he started doing exactly that. Why did it work like this? He wasn’t too sure. He could only guess that it was like that for every spiritual practitioner who trained near the element he excelled at.

Feeling the spiritual energy slowly oozing out of his body, Laien reached out with his hand and tapped a blue spark floating above the water’s surface. He smiled, seeing how the blue spark bubbled back out after a few seconds. When meditating, he could see those strange things that from what he heard, were called ‘elemental sparks’. He liked playing with them, as he could move them, while even a strong wing couldn’t.

“Okay, I have to focus properly,” Laien reminded himself and concentrated on training, steadily depleting his Spiritual Energy. He didn’t hurry or rush the process, having long since learned that doing it slowly has much better results than simply getting rid of all his strength at once. Not only would his strength grow faster this way, he would also have time to improve his control over it and attempt to attune himself to the water element. After a few months of trial and error, he naturally came to develop train in this way, which he thought yielded best results.

After half an hour, Laien felt his reservoir of spiritual energy reaching its bottom. However, instead of leaving the meditative trance, he instead focused on recovery. Just as exhausting oneself physically, using up large amounts of spiritual energy had its consequences. Among them were dizziness, inability to concentrate, the overall feeling of being tired and alike. However, were one to continue his meditation, he would be able to recover five, six times faster than by resting normally and would quickly get rid of any side effects. That was also something Laien learned around three years ago when he started experimenting with training methods.

At first, Laien thought it would be a good idea to train in this way for longer periods of time; to deplete all of his energy, recover it and repeat the process, which would usually take him around three hours. However, he quickly discovered that his body couldn’t sustain that much. After once going through three full sessions and training for ten hours straight, he had experienced a very painful backlash of terrible pain all over his body and the sensation of his head splitting his half, he never dared to go overboard again. Currently, four or five hours of spiritual training per day were his limit.

“I wish I could know if I’m progressing well, though,” the thought crossed Laien’s mind. He was pretty sure that given ten years or so, he could reach high enough level to be viewed with importance by the Valius family, yet, he most likely had five years, at best. At worst, in just two or three years Siana’s future marriage could be set and most likely, he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Given her and his standing in the Valius family, the person she would be given to wouldn’t be anyone too important, so the likelihood of her suffering from that person’s hand was quite high…

Honestly, Laien didn’t even want to think about the future. He was giving his best to train, as he couldn’t do much more, but would that really be enough? He didn’t even know at what rank as a spiritual practitioner he was, as he had trouble telling when his strength was ‘breaking through’ to a higher level. For some reason, although it was supposed to be really apparent, he just couldn’t tell if he experienced any major increases in ‘level’ or not. At the very least, he was getting stronger, so he tried to not worry too much about this matter.

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Soon enough, three hours passed and Laien opened his eyes. Having gotten uncomfortable with his position midway through, he was now sitting cross-legged on the side of hot spring, his hips covered by a white towel. Right now, Laien’s Spiritual Energy was mostly recovered.

All in all, he used thirty minutes to deplete it, then two and a half hour to recover. At the first glance, it looked like a fairly inefficient way of training, considering that it could be done only four, maybe five hours per a day. Wouldn’t it just be better to let the spiritual energy recover naturally, then spend more time meditating?

Well, that wasn’t exactly right. Laien had been wondering about the same thing in the first months of his spiritual practice, but he quickly noticed that his strength would improve much faster if he actively worked to restore it than if he were to let it happen naturally.

“Should I train a bit longer?” Laien wondered for a second. He felt really comfortable here in the great baths and in truth, spiritual training was his favorite thing to do. He loved it much more than physical training, which he also did, as to not goof around for half of each day doing nothing.

As he was trying to decide, mainly thinking about whether he wanted to chew on something yet or if he wasn’t that hungry, he got startled by the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Did I push my luck staying here for so long?” He asked himself, not looking forward to seeing any member of the Valius family who might have come here to take a bath. Adults would be one thing, but considering the hour, it was more likely for some of the youngsters to have felt like refreshing themselves in the great baths. As for those young members of the Valius family, most of them liked to bully him in one way or another, either out of the disdain they felt towards him, or to win some favor with Jasi, whose dislike towards him was well known.

Considering that he had been beaten up just a few hours ago… Laien definitely wanted to avoid any more unpleasant meetings.

Also, now that Laien thought about it, he would probably need to start straying from adults, too. After Tei’ru’s death, they might also have had a change of heart and could start displaying their negative feelings in a more painful way than just giving him a cold stare or two. Now that Jasi’s father, Garon, became the next clan leader, everything would change… for much worse.

The reason for that was really simple. Although Jasi wasn’t Garon’s firstborn, many people believed that it would be him to inherit the position of the clan leader in the future. With that in mind, everyone would try to win Jasi’s favor early, when he was still a kid and it was relatively easy to influence him with little things. For those high-ranked nobles of the Valius Family, acting against someone of Laien’s status held no consequences whatsoever. If by making his life miserable, they could coax Jasi, they wouldn’t hesitate to do it. After all, it cost them nothing; it was a win-win situation!

Objectively speaking, those people were right to try and gain favor with Jasi, who was a very promising youth. He was very talented, brave and above everything else, arrogant. It should be understood, however, that his arrogance was not unjustified. He possessed the talents necessary to live up to his father’s expectations. Given the natural air of a leader that Jasi had to him, his personal power extended very far even at his young age.

Jasi’s only recognizable flaw was his laziness, as he never truly engaged in rigorous training or studying, with the exception of this one time when he had been punished by Tei’ru.

Sometimes, people of the clan would bring this incident up, wondering what caused the old clan leader to be so displeased with Jasi as to give out such a punishment. Yet to this very day, only a handful of those who were directly acquainted with Jasi knew that it was all because of Laien’s remark.

As for Laien, he didn’t remember too well what caused Jasi to hate him so much. At that time, when Tei’ru asked for his opinion, he had still been stricken with pain after losing his parents. He had just blurted out what he had thought at the moment without paying too much attention to what he was saying.

Regardless of all that, if Jasi wanted to make Laien’s life painful, he could accomplish it with just one word. Especially now when the only man who could protect Laien was no more. The difference in statuses between the two of them was just too huge. One youth was a future clan leader, when the other was a child adopted into the family against everyone’s will. It was clear enough that if Jasi wanted to make Laien’s life painful, he could accomplish it with one word.

And right now, in the great baths, as the footsteps were closing in, Laien was holding his breath, but finally seeing who came, he breathed out and sighed with relief.

“Again you, huh. Come on, get out! I need to clean the place, Lord Garon and his wife will be coming tonight,” the bulky woman in her forties reprimanded him with a frown, but also a wide smile.

“Right away,” replied and smiled back at Cheina. However, contrary to his words, he took his time and decided to clean himself up again. After sitting there for so long, he got all sweaty without even realizing it. Seeing him act in this manner, Cheina only shook her head. If it truly was the highest time to empty the place, she would have immediately chased him out, but since it wasn’t the case, she could as well start cleaning from a different part of the great baths.

Before she left, Cheina gave Laien a long, meaningful look and shook her head yet again. “You really should know some limits, did you force yourself into the training of Shire’s again? That man has something wrong with his head…” she complained, but no longer looked to make Laien change his mind, knowing how stubborn he could be about some strange things.

Hearing Cheina’s remark, which sure enough was about his wounded body, Laien couldn’t help but frown. At the very least people could misunderstand his current state in this way, so being Shire’s ‘disciple’ and having returned quite a few times hurt all over proved to be useful for something.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Laien said with a light smile, happy to keep the truth hidden. He didn’t want any more problems and keeping quiet about what happened was the best way to make Jasi forget about him and not incur more bullying.

“Other masters are too soft. With full regards to their skill, I do not think that I suit their style of teaching,” Laien explained himself, shrugging his shoulders. He made sure to pick his words carefully, not daring to offend anyone even in their absence. “I already have enough trouble at it is. The last thing I need now is for those various masters in the city to bear a grudge towards me,” he thought resignedly and suppressed a sigh.

Cheina only gave Laien a stern look, but then turn around and went back to work, leaving him alone to give him some time to finish washing up.

“This boy never talks with others too much and he seems way too mature for his age. Yet, when playing with my grandchildren, he is just like other kids… Well, maybe a bit like a big brother, even for the older brats,” Cheina chuckled at this thought, catching herself that she was thinking about Laien as one of her own grandchildren, even though she knew she shouldn’t. A noble was a noble, after all, no matter how familiar you were with him.

After Cheina left, Laien laughed bitterly. He didn’t expect that his random decision from two years ago would prove useful in such a strange way. He had chosen Shire as his master, for what many people called him out as crazy, but personally, he was satisfied with Shire’s ruthless methods. He didn’t enjoy physical training too much, so at the very least, he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t wasting his time and wanted to get the best results possible.

Thinking about all the martial training he had endured until now, Laien clenched his fist and felt a pleasant amount of force. After those two years with Shire, he was now a martial practitioner at the peak of the third rank. It could be said that his talent was fairly good, considering that normally, people would take about four years on average to reach this level. However, if one considered the amount of effort Laien needed to put into training each and every day… then his talent for martial arts could only be described as slightly above average.

“I want to hurry up and reach the peak of the fifth mortal realm and learn a true martial art… Then I want to quickly advance to the ninth rank and break through to the martial master level!” Laien wished quietly. He might not have been the person to enjoy martial training, but he sure enjoyed getting stronger and seeing the results of his effort. It was because of that, and because he had seen the unstoppable might of dual practitioner in one of his dreams, that he persistently pursued both paths, the paths of martial arts and magic.

“So many people were making fun of me for choosing Shire as my master two years ago, but now, they pretty much got used to it. Even Cheina did,” Lian mused, recalling those old events with some embarrassment. Although from the perspective of time his choice proved to be a good one, back then he didn’t act because of rational reasons. He had simply been frustrated that he can’t practice magic as much as he wanted and went to search for a master who could teach him martial arts in the city. He had been trying to learn at various places, but everything felt like a total waste of time to him. So, one day, he decided that if he is going to continue doing something unpleasant, he might as well push himself beyond his limits and study under a somewhat crazy teacher, like for example, Shire.

Apparently, the man called Shire had once been a powerful martial master who was greatly famous one hundred years ago, during the great war with the Ciene Kingdom to the west... but all of that ended abruptly when he declined from being a mighty person to a human wreck, after returning heavily wounded from one of the major battles towards the end of the great war. As of this day, Shire no longer possessed the might of martial master. After one hundred years, he was a popular object of ridicule and the example parents would use when telling their children to work hard so they don’t become like him in the future.

Having associated with Shire for two years, Laien now knew that during his prime, Shire managed to gather an enormous fortune. Sadly, for many decades he wasted it on women and alcohol. When the gold finally dried up, he started his own martial school. Least said it didn’t go well for him. In beginning, he got a few students thanks to his old fame, but his rough and ruthless way of teaching scared them away in just a few days. The first real pupil who didn’t run away from Shire after the first week was no other person than Laien himself.

Ruthless training, outdated training methods that modern martial masters considered savage? Laien could only laugh at those things. As long as they yielded good results, he didn’t mind suffering some pain. He didn’t like it, but for the sake of getting stronger, he could bear with it. Thankfully, after two full years of training under Shire, he had gotten more or less used to the hectic practice and the times when he would return home wounded all over decreased noticeably.

“All these bruises I got from those three still hurt… Damn. Maybe I should have retaliated after all?” Laien wondered, but after all, he was pretty sure that his decision was a correct one. He could have easily beaten the three youngsters who attacked him, he could have run away from them, too. Yet, he didn’t, because he understood how Jasi’s and his friend's minds worked.

“Eh, no point regretting it. It would all turn much worse if I tried to resist them… Jasi would just get even angrier. Several punches and kicks are not scary, but if they were to try to break my legs, splash me with boiling water, or cut with a sword… or if they actually went after Siana…” A hit of bloodlust flashed in Laien’s eyes at this thought. He could endure being Jasi’s target, but he wouldn’t forgive anyone who harmed his little sister.

“For now, I have to endure. No other choice,” Laien reminded himself, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. He wiped himself with the towel and dressed up, but as he was about to leave the great baths, a young boy rushed past the main entrance and yelled angrily.

“Granny! Big sis didn’t want to play with me at all! And then she left with some boys again!”

Seeing the familiar seven-year-old, Laien smiled happily and called out with a laugh. “Rune, don’t disturb your granny when she is working,” he chuckled, watching how Rune stopped abruptly and looked over, surprised to see him here.

“Big brother!” the youth shouted merrily and ran towards Laien, then hugged him, overjoyed. The two of them hadn’t seen each other for over a week due to various matters related to Tei’ru’s death, so he was very happy to meet Laien now when he least expected it.

“How about we play a bit, Rune?” Hearing Laien’s suggestion, the seven-year-old looked at him with an expectant look in his eyes. “Can we go play in the forest and take others with us?” he asked quickly, already looking forward to taking a dip in the lake.

“Yeah, why not?” Laien replied with a smile. Just like Rune, he also loved to play in the nearby forest. Simply said, it was an enormous, beautiful place with many small streams and even a few lakes. The only problem was that it was a restricted space. Only the nobility of the Valius family and people of a few other powerful clans were allowed to enter it. Luckily, even though Laien’s status in the Valius family wasn’t a high one, no one would complain if he went to the forest with his friends to play. As long as no hunts were going on, nobles wouldn’t care about what they are doing in there.

“Great!” Rune called out with a big smile on his face. “Come on, hurry up, big brother! Let’s go!” he urged, pulling on the sleeve of Laien’s shirt.

“Okay, okay,” Laien laughed and started walking outside with Rune. As they were leaving, he gave Cheina a quick look and nodded at her with a slight smile.

The woman appeared to be somewhat troubled, but she still nodded back. She was happy for her grandson to have a good friend, but since Laien was a noble and Rune just a son of a servant woman, she couldn’t help but feel worried about the future of their friendship.

“I just hope that it won’t bring us any trouble in the future,” Cheina thought quietly, watching the two kids leave the great baths.