« Chapter 03

The sounds of air being cut and a scarecrow being hit cracked rhythmically, like the beating of a heart. Kvothe’s ears were so accustomed to the sounds that he almost did not hear them. The sounds came from his seemingly flawless movements. Each thing he had learnt from Cain, he’d engraved in his mind and body. Yet, he felt his progress was slow and his dissatisfaction with it was pasted on his face.

His objective was to make his sword whistle at least once, but apparently he wasn’t capable of that. Despite it all, he kept training. It was all he could do to relieve his anxiety about what was to come.

The smell of recent rain and the orange light of the setting sun filled the training hall, denoting that the time had come. Kvothe put away his sword and headed outside, where Cain was already waiting. The master shifted from one feet to the other, a clear signal of anxiety. Seeing it, Kvothe had to laugh.

“Scared of a little dance, master?” He teased Cain.

“A little dance?!” The master answered glaring at him, “If it were a little dancing, I’d be okay with it. But no… It had to be the debut of the first, and most spoiled, child of Count Di Kontarr.”

Charles Di Kontarr was a count from the court of Rhodium. Owner of a huge amount of land he had conquered and protected with his own hands, he was one of the most feared men in the region. His influence was so vast that he was considered the unofficial Lord of Rhodium.

His oldest daughter had just reached marrying age and following the customs of the court, Count Di Kontarr was offering his daughter a party of introduction to society. Every noble of the continent had been invited, and most had confirmed their presence already.

The nervousness in Cain’s voice was legit, but Kvothe knew that wasn’t the real problem Cain had with the plan. At least not the only.

“Master,” Kvothe gave a small sigh, “I told you already. You don’t need to worry that much. Lorraine doesn’t bite.”

The plan involved showing off Lorraine’s clothes at the party but, since Kvothe didn’t know that many people in-game, he needed Lorraine’s presence. Unfortunately Lorraine was single and didn’t have any male friend to accompany her, so Kvothe had to use his only other contact; Cain.

Despite his misleading pauper appearance, Cain was part of the nobility. In his earlier days he had acquired the title of knighthood through famous deeds and accomplishments in the great Battle of the Tigers. Yet, he avoided the parties and festivities because of his lack of social skills.

The deadly glare Cain gave Kvothe would have been intimidating had it not been for his beet red face. Cain had tried to refuse, but Kvothe had convinced him into joining the plan. He knew how to push people’s buttons, and Cain’s were easier to find than most. Well...He was a forty years old bachelor after all.

“Okay, Grumpy.” Kvothe said laughing, “We better get going or Lorraine might bite you for real.”

Their final destination was Lorraine’s, but they went to Cain’s home for baths. Kvothe had another laughing fit when he caught Cain rehearsing a few conversation in front of a mirror. That earned him a good smacking from the master. After that they left for their destination.

When facing the familiar alleyway, Kvothe was reminded of how empty it had been the first time he saw it. Yet, the two days that followed that were filled with work for Lorraine. People crowded her shop at all times, giving her almost no rest, trying to get a chance to buy her products. She had spent most of the time the shop had closed making new clothes to sell.

Kvothe saw that a line filled the alleyway. Lorraine was frantically trying to appease the people that requested a chance of buying clothes from her. He joined her and, even together, a few minutes passed before the crowd was dispersed. Cain waited some distance away while they did that, nervously fiddling. As soon as the crowd left, Lorraine went to greet Cain. She had a suspiciously more than courteous.

“Sir Loeclos,” She said giving him a small bow, “I’m so glad you were able to make it.”

Behind her back, Kvothe was making biting and scratching motions to Cain, who went red with anger and nervousness. The same had happened two days before, when they visited the shop for Lorraine to take their measurements. Cain had been so anxious he wasn’t able to say a single word the whole time. Since then, Kvothe hadn’t given his a second’s worth of rest from the teasing.

“Erm...I...Erm...It...” Cain tried talking but nothing understandable would come out.

Lorraine turned around to see what Cain was looking at and caught Kvothe laughing at his expense. A quick glance and she understood it all.

“Kvothe!” She was angry at him, “Stop being mean to Sir Loeclos! He’s been really generous helping us out.”

Immediately Kvothe’s face changed and a perfect mask of contriteness. Of course it was all an act, after all, the jokes can never stop.

“You’re right.” He said Lorraine and then directed to Cain. “My deepest apologies...” he said giving a deep bow while making a flourish with his hands. “Sir Loeclos.”

His devilish grin sprouted at the sight of the distressed Cain and the blushing Lorraine. The master pupil relationship changed drastically whenever they weren’t training, so Kvothe didn’t feel awkward while making jokes at the master’s expense. Lorraine on the other hand, he had no reason not to tease. Especially since he could see her sparkling eyes whenever she saw Cain. Seeing the two of them blushing together and avoiding each other eyes was highly entertaining, making Kvothe laugh until his stomach hurt.

“Wait a second.” Lorraine said while looking around, “Where’s the girl?”

“Shit!”

Kvothe ran like the wind. At least he already knew Rhodium well enough to find the shortest route for his destination. He checked the clock once again and it still said he was late. How could he forget the girl that made his plan possible?! The one that had been the inspiration to it all?!

He took another left and she became visible. Her slender figure stood out amidst the crowd of players around the fountain. Her black hair flowing in a side to side motion following her shaking head. She was profusely rejecting a male player that tried holding her hand forcefully.

His vision blurred and, when he came by, he was pulling the forceful guy by the collar. Kvothe could only see as the guy flew through the air at his side and slammed into the pavement behind him. Usually he didn’t succumb to anger, but whenever he did, the best thing to do was to get out of his path. At that moment, Kvothe felt his anger all around, as if he was inside a pool filled with it. He directed all that anger at the guy on the floor, picturing many ways to make him suffer.

The guy begun cowering in fear, trying frantically to get away from Kvothe as fast as possible. As soon as he saw Kvothe wasn’t chasing him, he got up and ran the other direction.

A new skill has been created.

Imposing Fear.

Your deathly gaze instill fear on your enemies, and none shall oppose you.

Mana consumption: Target dependant.

The sudden appearance of a window made him return to his senses. He gave a quick look around and saw that most of the people were distancing themselves from him. Most of those gave him fearful looks, as if he was about to attack them. He read the skill description and looked at his status. His mana bar was completely depleted. That explained the wide range of effect. If it was a level related skill, all players that were of equal or lower level than the target would be affected. Yet, the one he was there to meet, had only a look of curiosity in her face.

Kvothe looked at her face and smiled.

“I apologize for my lateness, milady.” He gave a slight bow, “I hope you’ll forgive me.”

He felt a slight thump on the back of his head.

“Stop acting like that! You’re giving me the creeps.”

Kvothe raised his head and saw the smile he was hoping for. Undoubtedly he’d face every weirdo in Rhodium so he could see it again. Of course it was Luiza, the girl who had fallen into the puddle. The whisper Kvothe received three days ago was from her. She was inviting him to a ball, which in truth was Count Di Kontarr’s party. In few seconds, Kvothe had the basic outline of his plan traced. Such event would attract all kinds of important people, players and NPCs alike.

That kind of luck couldn’t be wasted, especially since Lady Luck and Kvothe had never been in good terms. So, as fast as he could, Kvothe begun putting the plan in motion. At first he thought he’d need to find someone to get Lorraine another invitation, but being a noble, Cain had been invited as well. After convincing everyone to participate and certifying that all the bases were covered, he went talk to Lorraine. They agreed on meeting the next day to take everyone’s measurements and explain everything.

The meeting occurred without further issues. Everyone was ok with the plan and willing to help Lorraine. After that, Kvothe and Luiza spent the day together. Well, he went back to training hall and she accompanied him. They spent all time talking about interests and hobbies while Kvothe trained. Kvothe realized they had more in common than he previously thought. She had to leave, but before she made him promise meeting her ten minutes before going to Lorraine.

“I’m sorry.” Kvothe said apologetically, “I got too excited and forgot about our arrangement.”

Luiza frowned in a way that was more mocking than angry. Kvothe looked at her, noticing how beautiful she was. Not that she wasn’t usually beautiful, but it was obvious the effort she put into looking nicer that day. Her carefully applied make-up accentuated her deep green eyes and her hairstyle framed her face in such a way that made her appear almost regal. She was wearing her usual clothes, since Lorraine said she would arrange appropriate clothing for everyone.

“How could you keep me waiting?!” She gave an embarrassed smile, “But thanks for the help. I never know how to handle pushy guys.”

Looking the way she did, it was no wonder that she would be target of such attempts. Had Kvothe not known her, he’d probably be using his charms on her.

“No problem.”

An awkward silence was threatening to fill their encounter. Despite what it looked like, Kvothe wasn’t the jealous type. He’d probably do the same for any other girl, except he wouldn’t act so impulsively. But the way it had happened, he was now the jealous guy in everyone’s eyes, including Luiza’s.

“Erm...” Kvothe felt a bit awkward with the situation, “I think we should get going. Lorraine and Cain are waiting already.”

“Sure!” Luiza said with a bright smile.

Together they walked silently towards Lorraine’s. Kvothe was trying to think of some topic to talk about when Luiza touched his shoulder.

“How did you do that?” She asked.

“Do what?” Kvothe asked confused.

“That terrifying aura you sent. Since you’re level one, your fighting spirit shouldn’t be that high.”

“Oh!” He answered, finally understanding what was the topic they were talking, “That was a skill. Imposing fear or something like that. It just appeared.”

“Never heard of it.” She answered nonchalantly, “It seems useful, especially against stronger opponents.”

“Yeah. But it used up all my mana...”

Kvothe then realized something. Luiza hadn’t even flinched at his enormous killing intent. She had been the only one that wasn’t even taken back by it. All the others had, at least, taken a step away from him. He glared at her intently.

“Wait a second.” He turned to face her, “You felt it and didn’t even flinch?! How high is your level?”

She looked at him with a devilish grin then swapped it for a innocent looking face.

“That’s” She gave him a flirtatious wink, “a secret!”

*****

The fact that Lorraine could transform low-priced materials into high quality clothing had become a commonly known fact over the last couple days. However, what she currently held had been created from uncommon materials. Each had been specifically tailored for each individual.

As soon as she heard that she was in charge of the most important part of the plan, she began working on it. She scraped all material she deemed unworthy of being worked on a piece of art. She was left with rarity items that could only be found in higher level monster's loot. Some of the loot was even boss type.. Nothing too fancy, but much better than the fox pelts. Kvothe, who had been following the process, received his first lesson.

“First thing you need to know that being a good tailor depends on your ability of identifying high quality material.” Lorraine took Kvothe by surprise when she nonchalantly started explaining her work.

She didn’t even bother raising her head from her work for the explanation.

“Erm...” Kvothe decided to ask since it was so important to her, “Why are you telling me this?”

Lorraine stopped working and looked at him, raising a puzzled eyebrow.

“You said you wanted to learn tailoring.” She said as if it was obvious, “Have you given up on it already?”

“Of course I didn’t give up!” Kvothe answered promptly, “I just thought that I’d ask again after we’d saved your shop.”

“If you’re serious about learning we might start right now.” Giving a small smile she added, “But I’m a strict teacher, so I expect you to commit yourself.”

Kvothe nodded in agreement so Lorraine returned to her work all the while explaining her process.

“As I was saying, first you need to identify the high quality materials. High quality doesn’t mean rare or pricey material. Even between fox pelts there is a huge distinction. Look at this as an example.”

She handed him two fox pelts. At Kvothe’s eyes there was no difference between them, yet he decided to take his time before answering. He was a show off after all. Reaching for both of them, he began a deeper analysis. Touch, smell and even taste, he tried it in all the ways he could imagine.

“I see...” He said giving them back to her, “They’re so different that you wouldn’t even think they’re from the same kind of animal.”

“Oh, really?!” She said with a dubious face, “Enlighten me then.”

“At first I couldn’t see the difference.” He confessed, “But as soon as I touched them, the disparities I found were huge. Be it fur softness, leather toughness, skin thickness, pelage strand size, all of them are different. I’m not saying one is bad and the other is good, but I’d probably sell that one...” He pointed at one of the pelts, “to a blacksmith. He’d probably find a better use in it than a tailor.”

“I must say...that’s a very good analysis. But as a tailor you’ve got to look for other things as well. Stains are a very important thing you overlooked...”

The lesson went on. She taught him how to identify the age of the animal, the way it was skinned and the kind of instrument that was use. He learned that if you looked closely there was an incredible amount of information written on the condition of a fox pelt. Kvothe would bet his good right hand that no player had ever cared about that stuff. In the end, he learnt all about materials in a few hours but, not wanting to bother her more, he left to return only when needed.

“So pretty!” Was Luiza’s only comment.

Her eyes sparkled as she drooled over her new dress. Looking at his clothes, Kvothe had to force his mouth shut, or he would be gaping at it. He decided that if some day he had some ultra-rare high quality material he’d ask her to turn it into clothes, just to see the piece of art it would become. She had surpassed the stage of a mere seamstress, she was a true artist.

Distributing the clothes to the appropriate person, Lorraine directed them to the dressing rooms. At first sight, Kvothe thought his new suit would be constraining. His real life experience with smokings and tuxedos was minimal a best, but he already knew he didn’t like them due to their constraint. However, the clothes Lorraine made him fit unexpectedly well, giving him complete freedom of movement.

He looked is reflection and was amazed by what he saw. Kvothe couldn’t believe the man looking at him was himself. The bonus in appearance the suit gave was so high that he looked like a perfected version of his real self. Looking like that, no lady would be safe from his charms. His thoughts wandered to the possibilities he would have by looking like that, they were infinite.

Hearing a knock on the door, he returned to reality. Laughing at his own childish thoughts, Kvothe opened the door and joined the master. He looked magnificent as well. Lorraine had really outdone herself with this clothes. The master however, looked uncomfortable, but apparently his reason wasn’t suit-related.

Distressed, Cain explained the situation to his pupil. When Kvothe left to meet Luiza, an awkward silence had taken over the shop. When Cain tried to make small talk he had fumbled and embarrassed Lorraine. Kvothe tried to comfort him, but Cain couldn’t even remember what he had said to her. All he knew was that afterwards, she wouldn’t look in his direction anymore.

He patted the master’s back and said a few consoling words. At least now he had made some sort of conversation with her, despite the apparent bad results. But a situation like this was easily solved with an apology. At least that’s what Kvothe was saying when the women came out of the changing rooms.

Since he had his back to the changing rooms, the first thing he saw was Cain’s reaction. The master’s eyes widened and his chin fell to the floor. Yet, saying that had been the correct reaction was an understatement without equal. Kvothe turned and saw himself repeating Cain’s actions. No amount of willpower would be enough to keep his mouth from hanging open.

“Wow! You are...”

Kvothe managed to speak after a few minutes of silent contemplation. Yet, he couldn’t find the right words to describe them. Pretty. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Outstanding. A ray of sun in the dark night. A oasis in the middle of the scalding desert. No words in his vocabulary, nor metaphor, could do justice to such scene.

“...Perfect.” He finally completed.

“Really?!” Luiza asked annoyed, “So many possible compliments and you choose that?!”

“I’m sorry.” Kvothe apologized, “I couldn’t think of any other compliment that would be fit for the situation. None was enough to translate into words how beautiful you are now. Hence, perfect is the best I could come up with since I can’t even imagine how someone could be more beautiful.”

Both women broke into smiles. Lorraine found some minute adjustments that were needed and was working on them. She was clearly avoiding eye contact with the still gaping Cain. Seeing that, Kvothe elbowed him in the ribs, and motioned to Lorraine.

“Compliment her, you slowpoke.” He whispered, “It works wonders.”

Cain gulped and approached the girls. Lorraine saw him approach and turned her face away from him, she was already blushing.

“Erm… Lorraine...” He said staggering a bit, “I must say… You look amazing.”

She looked at him, her face was still slightly pinker, and gave Cain a shy smile. It filled Cain with confidence, so he grew bolder.

“I really mean it. I’ve never seen such a beautiful woman, especially at your age.”

Pro tip. When attempting to compliment women, never, under any circumstances - and I mean any - approach the following topics; Weight and age. The risk of it blowing on your face is too high. Men should come with that information from birth, like an instinct. But Cain had no tact whatsoever.

Kvothe buried his face in his hands. He should have predicted as much, since the master was a brute that only knew the sword. Raising his face, he was ready to try and mend the situation when he saw Lorraine’s face. She was rose red, trying to hide her face, but a huge smile of satisfaction could be seen. Sudden realization hit Kvothe, it wasn’t an one-sided attraction. Yet…

“I’m sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but we should be leaving.” Kvothe cut them off, “We can’t be late.”

*****

His insides were all mushy, but Kvothe’s face remained impassive. He thought he had overcome his stage fright, but apparently not all of it. The mix with the anxiousness of the plan working or not, plus the situation he found himself; entering a full ballroom from higher ground, being carefully skimmed by all the nobility of the City of Artists and surroundings. It all made him feel as if he had forgotten the song lyrics in a solo performance.

“Lady Luiza from Rosenhein and Mister Kvothe from Rhodium.” The announcer proclaimed.

He anticipated it’d be a great event, but the real thing exceeded his expectations. The ballroom was absolutely huge. A crowd of noblemen was gathered there, players and NPC alike. Paintings covered the wall and ceiling, all from well known artists. Statues of all sizes and shapes were being exposed. A huge crystal chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. At least 300 candles adorned it and the huge magical light in its center filled the whole room with a blue mystical aura.

Kvothe felt a slight tremble on his right arm, but it wasn’t his. As he looked, he saw that Luiza’s hand that held his arm was shaking nervously. He put his hand over hers, and gave her a comforting smile. Despite the nervous look she had, her beauty was still awe inspiring and the blue halo that enveloped her, gave her an air of fae creature. Even Aphrodite would be envious of her looks.

She returned Kvothe’s smile, and together they descended the stairs. People openly stared at them, and the hateful looks he received from the other males, made Kvothe feel like the most envied man on the precinct. Not for who he was, but because of whom he was with.

Cain and Lorraine’s entrance had been so striking Kvothe thought his would be overlooked. The effect it had, however, was that people had been more mindful of the arrivals. So, when Kvothe and Luiza were announced, everyone was wondering who they would see after.

At the bottom of the stairs, Cain and Lorraine were exchanging words with the most influential public figure of Rhodium, Charles Di Kontarr. His build was that of a knight, tall and buff, but his facial expression told another story. He had a warm smile and his voice was soft and fatherly at all times.

“...get me your tailor’s name.” The count was talking to Cain. “I’d love to get some clothes like that for myself.”

“Actually, she’s the one behind these beautiful garments.” Cain said while showing his companion.

“Lorraine Verich, my lord.” Lorraine greeted the host with a small bow, “Thank you for the kind words.”

“No, please, call me Charlie.” The count said with a smile, “Any friend of Cain is a friend of mine.”

That took Kvothe by surprise. He didn’t know about any previous relationship between Cain and the count. Thinking back, they were both military men and both had nobility titles. Doing the math was easy, but that could be a good topic to initiate a conversation.

“Good evening, and welcome to my party!” Count Di Kontarr said as he saw Kvothe and Luiza approaching.

“Good evening Milorde.” Kvothe answered with a respectful bow, “Thank you for inviting us.”

He hadn’t been properly invited but etiquette mustn’t be forgotten, especially when dealing with nobility. The count extended a hand which Kvothe promptly took while displaying a wide grin.

“I overheard your talk.” He said to the nobleman, “Master Cain never told me you were acquaintances.”

“Master Cain?! Interesting...” Charles said in a surprised tone.

His expression changed slightly. The gentle, warm smile he had became more devilish, as if foreseeing the interesting developments that would come. That lasted only an instant and he returned to his usual fatherly image.

“Then, please, feel free to call me Charles as well.” He was back to his gentle tone, “Truth is, I am more than acquainted with your master. I owe him my life, and his advice were what made possible our victory in the last war. Truth be told, I was quite green at the time...”

*****

The free city of Rhodium had always been known as the city of arts. But until fifteen years ago, the city was ruled by a king. He was a wise and gentle regent, ruling his people with fairness. Those days no one would overlook Rhodium for it was beautiful and rich.

Unfortunately that king died young, leaving no heirs to rule over the people. For that reason, the duty to rule was passed to the royal advisors. They decided to remain without a king until a worthy candidate appeared. Until then, the city would be managed by them, with a regent chosen by the people as an authority figure. However, before an election could be arranged, the kings of the twin cities of Caelshun and Sofenheim decided they had the right to rule over Rhodium.

Caelshun and Sofenheim were both south of Rhodium. For years they were at war, until their kings made a pact of non-aggression that soon evolved into an ruling alliance. Both cities became peaceful and wealthy, so they decided to expand their influence and give the world the same things they had achieved. However, that meant conquering other kingdoms and its people.

Surrounded by double layered walls, Rhodium had only two access gates. One was the southeast gate, and the other was the west gate. Those were the points which the twin cities attacked.

At the time, Charles Di Kontarr had recently become a general in Rhodium’s army and was chosen to command the west defensive army. Expecting their arrival from the southeast gate, most of the defences were concentrated on that gate. But the twin cities commander anticipated that, and decided to have a massive attack at the west gate while sending a smaller contingent to the other gate in order to keep them busy.

The attacks on the west gate were relentless and by the third day, the defensive army was already at its limit, only one battalion retained their will to fight. That battalion was led by a young denary named Cain Loeclos. They were fighting at the front lines since day one but not a single member had died. All other battalions said they were the fiercest warriors of the front, reducing all enemies they encountered to corpses.

As a reward for their bravery, the general decided to remove them from the front for a day and invited Cain to the commander tent for a talk. That had been his luck since, that night, the commander of the enemies troops sent a group of assassins to kill him. They would would have succeeded had it not been for Cain’s appearance at the opportune moment. Charles had already been gravely wounded and rendered useless by one of the assassins when Cain arrived. In a swift battle, he overpowered the assassins and saved the general’s life.

Charles had to be removed from the battle to receive proper treatment but, before leaving, he put Cain in command of the whole army. On that single day, Cain’s leadership made his army extinguish the twin cities attackers. The combatants say that Cain was always the first to engage the enemy and each of his swords swings brought down at least three enemy soldiers.

In the end, Cain himself killed the twin cities commander in solo combat. Their army morale was so low and their ranks reduced so much, people said that battle had been the downfall of their empire.

That victory earned Cain a knighthood and the title of Tiger of the West.

*****

“...and that’s how that fella made us prevail over those bastards from the south.” Charles finally finished telling the tale of the Battle of the Tigers.

He already showed some signs of drunkenness, since during the whole story, he’d stop only to properly greet the newcomer guests or order more drinks. The count was now being overly familiar and even ended up indulging in some profanities. Nothing that Kvothe didn’t appreciate, after all, Charles was the most influential man on these lands. Having him as an ally would be a great advantage.

“That was a great story.” Kvothe complimented the storyteller, “You really have a way with words. I imagine your kids ask you bedtime tales every night.”

“They surely do.” The count answered while laughing, “It makes me thankful for having so many adventures in my youth to choose from.”

Kvothe realized he had kept Charles from attending his daughter’s guests for far too long. He wanted to hear more adventures and improve their relationship further but if he kept him longer, others might resent him.

“I would love to hear about those, but I’m afraid I have already taken too much of your time.” Kvothe said without need to feign disappointment.

“No problems there.” Charles said cheerfully, “You can come by any other day and I’ll gladly tell you those tales. I have some books that might interest you as well, being Cain’s disciple and all.”

He changed greetings with Kvothe and Luiza - who had been mostly quiet - but as soon as they turned around he called them back for one final question.

“Can you tell me where you bought such beautiful clothes?”

“Of course.” Kvothe answered with a smile on his mouth, “You’ve just met her.”

“Really?!” He asked surprised but soon realized, “Cain’s companion. Miss Lorraine Verich if I’m not mistaken. Is she some kind of exclusive tailor?”

“Not at all.” Luiza answered excitedly, “She’s just a bit hard to find, but I can assure she’s worth the search.”

“Please, tell me how do I find her then.” He asked politely.

Luiza explained the location of her shop and rambled about how awesome Lorraine was. After her excitement was contained, the couple parted with Charles. The count began socializing with other people, and the couple went after Cain and Lorraine. They found Lorraine talking to a noble couple while Cain faded in the background. By the bored look on Cain’s face, that was not the first time it happened that night.

More and more people approached them, always asking about the clothes, making compliments and requesting the name of the artist. Each time Lorraine answered politely and blushed slightly under the nice words. The majority of people inquired about how to contact her and if she was available for custom requests. None of the nobles inquired about prices nor were worried about it, such beauty was priceless.

After the thousandth group approached them about the clothes, Kvothe grew tired of it. He looked at Luiza, asking for an excuse to escape the tedious advertising job. She was quiet, eyes fixed in the dancing couples, shifting slightly under the music rhythm. That hypnotic sight put Kvothe under such trance that he asked something he had feared she’d ask him.

“Luiza, would you give me the pleasure of this dance?”

Truth be told, Kvothe did not dislike dancing, but by his accounts, he was just a level above feet stomping. All he had learnt about dancing was from his sister, who had infinite patience to teach him such things. After he got the motor skills and basic dance theory down, he would use his good rhythm to feign some dancing ability. But he usually felt ashamed to disgrace such beautiful art with his incomplete skills. Yet, looking at her, all his worries disappeared.

“I would be delighted to.” She answered with what he thought was a mocking bow.

He took her hand and joined the other couples on the dance. The music that was playing by the orchestra was a slow waltz, easy to dance. A basic one-two spin, kind of dance. Kvothe extended his left arm midway, his palm up, waiting for Luiza to rest her hand over his. As soon as she put her hand over his, he firmly put his hand on her waist. Leading can’t be done without a firm grasp had been a lesson he learned from his sister.

His eyes met Luiza’s and he began dancing. Even with his meager skills he could see her proficiency. That made him give her a bit more freedom, which she took advantage of. With slight movements she’d tip him on what she would do next and Kvothe immediately adjusted his own movement to match hers. Soon, he realized they were dancing alone, and the other couples had stopped to watch them.

He didn’t care. Dancing had always fascinated him but he had never felt it was as easy or good as this. It didn’t felt as if he was leading and she was following. The feeling he had was that they were moving as a single entity. Each step, turn or spin was made as if they were thinking all at the same time.

Sudden changes in the music made Kvothe aware that it was coming to an end. He looked at Luiza waiting for some clue on how they’d finish their espectacle. They were being watched by all of the nobility, they couldn’t simply stop dancing. But all he saw in her eyes was delight that came from dancing, so he brushed off that feeling and let it flow naturally.

At the small fade that announced the end of the waltz, Luiza put a bit more weight at Kvothe’s guiding hand and he instantly knew what it meant. He pulled her body closer and their lips almost touched. She begun arching her back, trusting Kvothe with her body as he followed her in her descending motion. The music stopped and the room grew quiet while both faces stood apart only a few centimeters. A few seconds followed before a burst of applause erupted from the crowd.

It hadn’t been an grand and unexpected finale, but sometimes the simple things are effective if properly executed. Kvothe pulled Luiza up and they bowed slightly thanking the applause and left the circle of people. For a while all they weren’t able to walk because people swarmed them with congratulating and thanking words for the spectacle.

“Wow!” Kvothe exclaimed as soon as they were left alone, “Why didn’t you tell me you danced that well?”

“You didn’t ask.” She answered with a mocking smile, “You never told me you knew how to dance either.”

“That’s cause what I do can’t be called dancing.” He answered honestly.

“Oh! Shut up! You’re almost at the level of some guys I dance with...” She stopped as she realized she had revealed aspects of her real life.

Usually people don’t reveal real life stuff inside VR, unless they trusted the other person.The two however, had just met the other day. They were not on the sharing level yet. Kvothe remained silent and impassive while she blushed slightly about the revelation. He decided to pretend he didn’t hear it so she would feel better.

“Anyway...” She began talking a few seconds later, “You’ve got good dancing instincts. Only problem is that you’re a bit too stiff. Try relaxing a little, dancing should be fun.”

Kvothe knew that already, but he was never able to relax much while dancing. He was always too mindful of his movements, worrying about every slight movement he made. The fear of hurting his partner was too great for him to relax. However, he nodded in agreement as if making note of it.

“Also...” She approached him and got into dancing position pulling his hand to her slender waist, “The guiding hand should be firm, but not locked. You’re keeping it too hard...”

A sudden realization hit Kvothe. Once again, he had been analysing things from the wrong angle. A delighted laugh left his mouth and, in an spontaneous action, he pulled Luiza closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re a genius!”

Luiza stood static without knowing what had happened.

*****

Adriano woke up eager for the day that had arrived. His bedside clock told him it was 4 am now, fifteen minutes before the appointed time. A quick bath and breakfast later, and he was already logging into his Royal Road account.

He had spent the last twelve days at an extreme training routine. He’d limited his sleeping time to 4 hours to reduce the amount of wasted time. His usual hour long gym training was changed for high intensity interval trainings that took between fifteen minutes and half an hour. Ingame he spent the days at the training hall, honing his sword skills, and nights were with Lorraine, learning the necessary skills of being a proper tailor.

Whenever he had full mana available, he casted his only skill, Imposing fear. At first for experimentation, learning how to control the mana use and flow. After understanding the nuances of it, he’d cast it for training purposes. His skill was already at beginner level eight after only twelve days, reducing mana cost for casting by 40%.

The first three days after the party were filled with interruptions on his training. Cain would use any excuse to come and see him, and tried to discreetly as an elephant, ask for informations about Lorraine. She did the same every time he began sewing, though a bit less explicit. At first it was cute, but within the three days his patience was wearing out and he decided to end it once and for all.

He told Lorraine he’d need her help in an important matter. They agreed on meeting in the training hall at noon. As on the days before that, Cain came invite him to share lunch together at noon. Lorraine arrived at that exact moment. Kvothe simply said he had solved the problem already, and apologized to Cain because he had already made plans for lunch. Both were blatant lies easily spotted by the two when Kvothe hinted Cain that he should invite Lorraine to share lunch together, but no one minded. Two hours later Kvothe returned to find the flirtatious couple in front of the training hall, which he purposefully ignored as he resumed his training.

*****

The sun was already rising in Versailles when Kvothe completed the Login sequence. He had appeared 200m from his destination, the small house at the side of a sculpting shop. Cain already waited for him at the door, seemingly anxious. He did not know how the boy had fared the last few days of training. Lately, he had spent most of his time courting Lorraine, and felt a bit guilty for that.

It was already the promised day; Cain’s first free day since Kvothe started playing. If Kvothe was able to make the sword whistle, Cain would teach him his style’s techniques and he would finally graduate from a being a mere noob to being a noob with some skills. That made a lot of difference in his mind.

He smiled with confidence as he approached the master.

“Good morning, master.” He said greeting Cain, “How are you today?”

Seeing his relaxed estate, Cain’s anxiousness vanished. Kvothe’s expression made him wonder how talented that boy was, since his confidence could only imply he had figured it out already.

“I can see you’re quite confident.” Cain said grinning, “Shall we begin?”

Kvothe nodded in agreement and took his sword from his inventory.

“Wait!” Cain stopped him, “For now you will use that sword.”

Cain pointed at the sword close to his personal scarecrow. A simple wooden sword, similar to all the others available at the training hall. Kvothe took it and was surprised. Since he had won the whistling sword, it was all he used to train. Despite being made from wood as well, the whistling sword weighed as if it was made of lead. It interfered with Kvothe’s balance and speed while swinging the sword. However, now that he held the training sword, it felt as if he was holding a stick.

“Now, show what you’ve learnt this past days.” Cain said smiling.

Kvothe faced the scarecrow and changed the grip on the training sword. He focused on his target, brought the sword up and made a vertical slash. The speed of his slash was incomparably higher than when he used the whistling sword. He twisted his torso and used the momentum to make a follow up horizontal slash. His movements that were usually hindered by the sword’s inertia, were now as fluid as possible and the decrease in stamina consumption allowed him to make thrice more consecutive hits before having to stop.

As soon as he finished the whole sequence of movements Cain had taught him, Kvothe turned to face the master. Cain nodded approvingly at his pupil.

“That was a great display of skills.” Cain took another training sword from inside the house, “Let’s see how you cope against an opponent that fights back.”

Kvothe gave Cain a grin and fell into a fighting stance, pointing the sword at him. Slowly circling him, Cain stood just outside the range of his sword, and fell into the same stance. They faced each other and the immense fighting aura from Cain begun affecting Kvothe. To counter it, he used his Imposing fear skill, draining all of his mana.Cain’s imposing aura was reduced by the unexpected use of the skill. Kvothe hadn’t told him about it, thinking such skill was not of his concern.

Using the surprise as an advantage, Kvothe reduced the distance between him and the master making a horizontal slash from the left. His movement was too wide and Cain easily dodged, but Kvothe rotated his body midair, stabbing into the master’s new position. Using his sword, Cain easily deflected the stab and returned a slash that was dodged by Kvothe with some difficulty.

“Good!” The master said as Kvothe stumbled trying to keep his balance, “Let’s see how far can you push me...”

Two minutes later Cain stood over a fallen Kvothe, his sword touching the pupil’s throat. The master removed the sword from Kvothe’s neck and offered him a hand, which was promptly accepted. Kvothe’s clothes were soaked with sweat.

“You are quite talented.” Cain told him, “I took months to reach that level of swordsmanship.”

Kvothe grinned. He was proud of receiving such compliment by his high level master. His respect for him had grown a lot since he heard the tale of his achievements.

“You flatter me.” He answered the master humbly, “I wasn’t able to hold up for more than two minutes against you.”

“Yeah, yeah… Stop trying to please me.” The annoyed master said, “You still need to pass the last test.”

Kvothe laughed at Cain’s reaction and took out the whistling sword from his inventory without waiting for an order. He positioned in front of the scarecrow, sword on his left side, it’s tip almost touching the ground. He slashed the scarecrow diagonally, yet no impact sound could be heard, only a single whistle. He slashed again, this time horizontally and, once again, only the whistle could be heard. As soon as the sword stopped moving from the horizontal slash, he made another, finishing with his sword on the opposite side of his initial pose. This time two whistles could be heard.

He let out a crazy laugh and turned to the wide-eyed master. At the same instant, the scarecrow begun to fall apart, dismantling into 4 parts and the main post. A few seconds later it returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.

Kvothe stopped laughing and looked anxiously at the astonished Cain. Apparently he wasn’t expecting such feat in such short time. One full minute was what Cain needed to return to his usual self. He looked at Kvothe suspiciously.

“Do it again!” He ordered.

“With pleasure.” Kvothe answered grinning.

Three more slashes and the scarecrow fell apart again. This time he could only produce one whistle slashes.

“It appears you are the real deal.” Cain told Kvothe after a few more scarecrows had been vanquished.

A dark expression covered Cain’s face. Kvothe had expected amazement, but he couldn’t understand what was wrong with the master. It appeared he was depressed.

“What’s wrong, master?” He decided to ask.

“How did you manage that?” Cain asked in a serious tone.

“Manage what?” Kvothe was puzzled.

“Cut the scarecrow so cleanly.” Cain explained, “I was expecting you to achieve one whistle by today, but a cut like that should have taken years to master.”

Kvothe stared blankly at Cain trying to understand what had happened. Ever since he made his breakthrough discover, every time he was able to get a whistle the scarecrow would be sliced cleanly. The tip that Luiza unknowingly gave him, was the wrist movement. Until then, he had been making the motion with his arm only. Adding the wrist to the slash amplified its speed and power, leading to the whistle. After ten days training all his slashes whistled, some even had two whistles. Those were quite more powerful than the ones with only one, slicing with almost no resistance.

Without knowing how to answer Kvothe gave Cain a pretentious smile.

“I’m just that good.”

*****

“Okay. I’ll show you once more.” Cain repeated.

He held the training sword on basic stance. It’s “blade” begun shining slightly, and Cain hit it against another of the stone dummies. The dummy was cleanly split in half, like a block of butter being sliced by a hot knife.

Kvothe looked at the cut rock with amazement.

“Okay!” He told Cain, “Teach me how to do it!”

Despite being Cain’s day off, they went to the second floor of the training hall. Avoiding curious eyes and ears was necessary to keep the technique a secret and the training hall was one of the most empty places in town.

“All right.” Cain said trying to calm the excited disciple, “I will teach you, pup.”

After a few moments of trying to contain the child within, Kvothe managed to calm himself. Cain was giving him a lecture on mana flow and its nuances, but he had most of it figured out already.

Since he first connected to Royal Road, Kvothe has had a weird sensation. At first he ignored it, thinking it was just from being in a virtual reality, an oddity of sorts. However, as soon as he used a skill for the first time, he understood what it was; It was the mana flowing inside of him. After realizing it, his curiosity made him try out all things he could imagine, learning a lot about mana itself.

As if his body was hot on a cold day, mana gave Kvothe the feeling that heat was being removed from his body. After a few seconds concentrating on it, Kvothe noticed it was not all that was. It was as if his body was breathing. Well, that might be misunderstood since there was no loss in the current mana. The in and out feeling happens constantly and all at once, so there is an equivalent exchange of mana. At the same time some mana leave your body, the same exact quantity enters, zeroing the final balance.

When focusing a bit more, he begun to perceive a small flow inside him. It was as if huge volumes of fluids were swirling under his skin. That was mana itself. With a bit of concentration he was able to increase or decrease the density of mana at places. Of course, first thing he made after that discovery was concentrate it on his feet and legs and try jumping. It was useless, his legs strength was still the same.

A few other tests told him that the place of concentration influenced skills. For concentrating the mana around the eyes made it more effective. He could also infuse objects with his mana, boosting their abilities. That is how the clean cut with swords was made, unfortunately that wasn’t a skill, only a small bonus damage was added to the slash.

“...from your cuts, it appears you’re already able to infuse the sword with mana. That’s the basic form of this technique.”

Cain had finished his lecture and was now going for the practical part of the lesson. He had brought out a few rocks from one of the training hall rooms. They were cylindrical with 50cm diameter and 120cm height. To make it a better target, they put it on a 60cm high platform, making the average height of a male human. His objective was to slice it as Cain had shown him.

“First thing is infusing your sword with mana.” Cain explained.

Kvothe begun concentrating, making his mana converge in his hand and exit his body, entering the sword. Once inside the sword, the feeling of control on that mana reduced, but it still didn’t count as used, since the mana still could return to his body while he had contact with the sword. Until he forced mana out of the sword or released the sword without making it flow back, there was no deduction from his mana.

Releasing the sword with infused mana would make the mana vanish. Apparently it tried to balance things out at all times, returning to nature as soon as the control was released. That lost mana was slowly absorbed by the body from the nature.

“Good.” Cain was glaring at the sword, trying to see the mana flow, “Now concentrate it on the edge without reducing the quantity of mana.”

That proved harder than expected. Compressing mana was always troublesome, since it was always trying to flow freely. To do it, you must engage the mana in a battle of wills, your weapon against it being your honed concentration.

At first Kvothe tried to slow the mana flow to a complete stop and then compress it. That proved a failure, since the build up pression made a complete stop impossible. Despite many attempts he wasn’t able to solve that issue, so he tried another method.

As a river flows from the source to a lake or sea, the mana flowed from the entry points to exits. It was a constant, infinite cycle, only changing if Kvothe willed so. The mana he infused the sword with, entered it from his hand and returned to it to complete its cycle. Kvothe forcefully broke that mana flow, isolating the mana inside the sword, and made it flow inside the sword itself.

He looked at Cain, and the small nod told him that was the right path to follow.

The issue at hand was now compressing it to fit the edge only. At first he tried stopping the whole cycle, but again that proved impossible. He tried many other approaches without success, until he decided to reduce the size of the mana stream. The mana begun flowing faster to compensate for the smaller flowing area, but it was possible to maintain that restriction easily.

He reduced the flow area slowly and constantly, trying to feel the limits of his ability. When he could not perceive any further reduction he was left with a hair thin stream of mana at high speed. Then, it was as simple as moving mana around, and he was good at that already.

“Impressive.” Cain said while showing a smile, “But we’re not done yet. Let’s change swords first.”

Kvothe let the flow return to his body and put the whistling sword back into his inventory. He took the training sword Cain was offering him and looked at it. It looked feeble compared to the whistling sword, making him wonder the why of the trade. Cain perceived it and promptly explained him.

“What we’re doing is quite risky for the blade. Until you’re able to perform the skill perfectly, any error could cost you your sword.”

At the time, that was one of Kvothe’s biggest fears. The blade and the clothes he used on the ball was all he had to his name.

“As I said earlier, mana can be separated in four kinds. Since their behaviour matched, someone named them after the elements. Earth, water, fire and air. People’s personality show their affinity to a certain kind of mana.”

Kvothe listened attently at the explanation Cain was giving him. That was a nuance he hadn’t perceived so far.

“For example, my affinity is earth. Stubborn and thick, is what my master called it. That affinity is so great most of my mana is composed of that.” Cain said laughingly.

“Erm...” Kvothe had a puzzled look on his face, “What do you mean by behaviour, Master?”

“It might be better if you experience it by yourself.” Cain glared at Kvothe’s body once again, scanning it up and down, “You appear to be really well balanced, mana-wise. Try shutting your eyes and concentrate on the mana. Don’t try to control it or you might miss it.”

As ordered, Kvothe closed his eyes and begun concentrating, but even after a few minutes he still couldn’t understand what the master meant. He was about to reopen his eyes and talk to Cain, when he felt it. The mana in his body wasn’t flowing evenly throughout his body. It could be divided in smaller pools, each with its own flowing direction, speed and size.

“I see...” Kvothe said.

Making an analysis of those pools, he could understand why they used the elements to refer them. Each had a distinct characteristic. The one which was obviously the earth mana, flowed slowly and steady. It occupied its own space without trying to expand, but never yielding either. Wild and greedy, fire mana tried to consume each and every space available, even if already occupied by another mana. The water mana flowed like a stream, waving its way through the others and ending in a swirling pool of itself. Lastly, the wind mana blew through any space it was given at faster speeds and lower density than the others.

Kvothe opened his eyes and stared at Cain. The master looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. Partly for drama, partly for teasing, Kvothe waited a few seconds before saying anything.

“I got it.” Kvothe said smugly, “They’re quite simple, these mana types.”

“How so?” Cain challenged him.

“Well...” Kvothe begun formulating his theories, “The behaviour they’ve shown can be utilized in many situations. What I’ve done so far appears to be a crude reinforcement using mana, but using the correct type may yield different effects, though I’m not so sure which would those be.”

“Good.” The master complimented his genius, “If you had to decide which one to use to cut this rock, which would you choose?”

“Probably Fire.” Kvothe said after pondering for a moment, “Assuming my hypothesis is correct, it’ll raise the sharpness of the blade.”

Cain looked at him with an interested face. Kvothe gave him a smug grin, assuming he had already given Cain the correct answer.

“Then do it.” Cain told him.

Kvothe smugly took the sword and concentrated. Selecting only the fire mana, he moved it to the blade forcing on it same situation as before. However, this time the wooden blade’s edge began glowing red and emit heat. Apparently fire mana acted on the molecular level, agitating it and raising the object’s temperature. Thinking of the effectiveness of hot blades for cutting things, he made the slash.

As soon as the blade touched the stone target, it broke in half. At the spot it touched only a small burn was visible. He couldn’t understand what had happened. Had he been wrong about the fire raising sharpness? Even his mana had been deduced by the system, that had been technically a skill.

“Don’t worry.” Cain said trying to reassure him, “Your trail of thought was correct, Fire raises sharpness. Now tell why wasn’t it able to cut through the stone?”

“Erm...” Kvothe had no idea, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?”

“I was wondering if you could answer.”

Kvothe tried to theorize what had happened but his knowledge failed him. Blades and mana were something out of his knowledge spectrum. All he knew about them had been learnt from the manga and anime he had read and watched. He just shook his head, denying the master an answer. Cain begun laughing at his honest answer.

“At last! Something you couldn’t figure out by yourself! I had begun thinking you were too good for me to teach you anything.”

“Don’t joke about it, master. I’ve come this far because of your tutelage.” Kvothe said with a mocking grin.

“All right Mr Smarty Pants, if you don’t want to know the reason...”

“I’m sorry.” Kvothe promptly cut him off, “I couldn’t resist such opportunity. Please, master, enlighten me.”

Cain did not yield immediately. Some further persuasion was necessary until he forgave Kvothe’s teasing.

“It’s quite simple.” The master explained, “It doesn’t matter how sharp a knife is, if it is brittle, it’ll break before cutting a stone.”

“Then I should also add Earthl?” Kvothe asked confuse.

“Not also, just earth.” Cain corrected, “If you make it thin and hard enough, you won’t need more sharpness.”

That made so much sense, Kvothe felt stupid. Also, Cain had implied he couldn’t use the other types of mana, so it was obvious that it would be Earth. Without waiting for Cain’s order, Kvothe took another training sword and begun concentrating the Earth mana on the wooden blade’s edge. He decided to make as thin as he could to amplify the sharpness. He tried cutting the stone again. This time the sword blade sunk halfway into the stone dummy and didn’t break.

Cain was again making an astounded face at Kvothe; The talent for mana handling the boy had was amazing. On the first try he had been able to cut into half the stone without making a single dent on the sword. Despite that, Kvothe’s expression showed his dissatisfaction on the progress. He had hoped to be able to cut it through on the first try.

Kvothe prepared for another slash. This time he had made the earth mana flow faster, thinking the higher motion speed would create a chainsaw effect. It worked as intended and he cleanly and easily cut the stone in half. However, those three slashes cost him 80% of his mana and he needed some time to manipulate the mana properly. Those would prove a problem in a battle so he went training manipulating mana faster.

*****