Yaaaawn
For the first ti I could rember since coming to this world, I woke up tired.
This was likely even harder to achieve now that my Endurance reached the 2nd realm, yet after spending half of yesterday's night reading in bed, I barely slept for 5 hours until I was woken up by the 6AM bell.
Yesterday, Joshua showed to my room - a tiny room with only a bed, a window, a lamp and a tall drawer cabinet.
This was one of the many rooms in the guest house, or rather, the 2nd floor above the hospital (or ‘healing hall’, as it was called here).
From what I was told, those rooms doubled as both post-healing recovery lodgings, and guest rooms for those granted temporary stay.
Despite - or rather, thanks to - their modest interior, their great numbers allowed the temple to be relatively generous with their allocation.
I also learned of the schedule – in the Sumr (and early Autumn), the morning prayers were held at 6:30, breakfast was just after the prayers, lunch served at 12:30, and dinnerti was right after the sunset prayers, which took place around 18:30 at this ti of year.
Guests didn't have to attend the prayers, but were offered three als regardless. Of course, I already heard about the humble (bland and tasteless) nature of this food from Alia, but the very act of providing it for free, in a place like this city, was comndable.
‘Well, it's not exactly free, given the offerings they receive.’
Regardless, this alone could save a significant expense, especially when compared to regular restaurant prices in Northern.
As for the book that led to my current situation, it was ‘Introduction To Arcane Energy Applications And Manipulation’.
Most of the book was unimportant, at least according to the notes Anne gave , but I decided to skim through the ‘Arcane Manipulation - Acquiring The Foundations’ section.
‘Oh, it's basically the sa. Wait, I think that page was actually taken from this very book! Well, maybe a different edition.’
The last few pages of that section described the [Arcane ditation] technique, and the way to train it. In fact, it was more extensive than what I've read on that one two-sided page, including various tips and warnings.
‘Feels like most of those are just fluff.’
Half of the extra stuff was generic ditation advice, such as faster ways to reach the focused state, tricks to avoid getting distracted and losing concentration, and so on. While this was definitely useful for so people, it was mainly solutions for problems I (or rather young Sebastian) didn't encounter.
The other half was basically encouragent. I found multiple paragraphs which amounted to “consistency is key” and “don’t get discouraged”. They even wrote that “most people will take years, so even decades, but with sufficient effort, anyone can eventually achieve success in this technique.”
‘Damn… maybe it's not Sebastian who was a slow learner, but that Blackwood fellow who was an absolute monster.’
It was no wonder there weren't wizards running around everywhere – beside the cost of this book, which, despite being described as “a few gold coins” by Anne, was at the level of generational wealth for a commoner, the sheer difficulty of learning this technique would deter nearly anyone without either major talent and sufficient discipline, or sufficient talent and ungodly discipline.
‘And this is just the first step..’
After acquiring the ability to interact with the Arcane Tides, one had to acquire the knowledge on how to interact with them.
“Unlike the Sorcerer, who possesses an innate affinity for composing spells, a Wizard must rely on his fundantals, compounding complex calculations on top of precise arcane manipulation to achieve the sa result as the forr would reach effortlessly following his feelings.”
‘Damn. Sounds like Sorcerers really have it easy.’
“However, it is important to rember that a Wizard is more that a simple spell slinging machine – a true Wizard is an architect of the arcane, a scholar who pushes the vast field of magic forward, if only by an inch, and a bright mind that serves as a beacon of knowledge, illuminating a path through the endless sea of ignorance, leading humanity itself into a brighter future.”
‘Alright, I'm not sure if this is sheer arrogance, Wizard propaganda, or just good old cope. I guess I was lucky to not et this type of Wizard so far.’
Regardless, spellcasting as a Wizard required interacting with the Arcane Tides in a precise manner – far more precise than my current level.
Luckily, Arcane ditation was the hardest part, and the manipulation exercises were right there in the book.
‘Also, turns out Arcane Sense is going to help a lot in this area.’
Arcane Sense was not taught in this book, but rather, it was ntioned by na as a core advanced technique which would make learning spells much easier in the future.
This was because being able to receive instant feedback while trying to ‘draw’ spell arrays inside the Tides, especially dynamic ones (whatever that ant), allowed for rapid experintation, at least in comparison to stumbling forward half-blindly without the proper ‘True’ Sense.
‘This book has a few basic exercises. According to the notes, the next one has the basic sigils, and even a few simple cantrips.’
Of course, cantrips were only ‘simple’ in comparison to ‘real’ spells. Even with Arcane Sense, learning a single one would likely be a significant undertaking.
Also, even drawing base sigils in the tides was strictly forbidden, unless perford in a safe and secure environnt, designed specifically for this kind of training. Practicing a cantrip required proper supervision by an experienced Wizard, except for the few exceptions, which were conveniently detailed further in this book.
‘I suppose this is what she ant when she told to co to her once I finish reading the books and learn a cantrip.’
Well, for now, I still had the simple shapes to practice, which weren't actual sigils, but rather straight and curved lines, circles, squares, and so on.
I had pretty good hand-eye coordination thanks to my sword training, but ‘seeing’ through the Arcane Tides was not sothing that was done with the eyes, and the drawing, which was done by gathering arcane energy at the tip of the fingers and performing the relevant motions in the air, had to be adjusted to the subtly shifting ‘streams’.
‘Theoretically, a more experienced wizard can simultaneously calm the “canvas” beneath his fingers and draw with multiple fingers at the sa ti. He can also subtly adjust the shapes and sizes of individual sigils for modified effects, and cast complex spells which require maintaining two or more sets of sigils at any given mont, channeling one “layer” into the next, and sotis erasing old layers and drawing new ones mid-spell. Oh, that's what dynamic spell arrays are.’
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This glimr into the potential of magic was, perhaps, ant to impress the young apprentice reading this introductory book, but when I tried to imagine doing anything close to what was described, all I felt was an encroaching migraine.
‘It’s fine. This isn't sothing to worry about right now, anyway. Oh, it's already been thirty minutes?!’
Casually opening my watch, I realized I was going to be late for breakfast. Setting the book aside, I grabbed a few things, and hastily made my way to the dining hall, which was located between the hospital, the orphanage and the clergy lodgings.
The hall was large, even more spacious than the one I saw in the village.
I looked to my right, glancing at the long, narrow table, dedicated to the temple orphans. Right behind it was a smaller table, where a dozen n and won sat, reciting the usual prayers before their al.
In the opposite corner at the sa side stood another relatively small table. Judging by the different people sitting around it, so bandaged, others clearly weak, and a few simply dressed in a different fashion from the other temple attendants and residents, this was almost certainly the visitor table.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Joshua, sitting at a table full of large and muscular n – the paladins..
..or were they? Most of them looked relatively young, and around a nearby table sat older n, most even larger than their younger peers, and their bodies often adorned with scars in visible places.
‘Ah, I'm pretty sure the high priest called him a senior apprentice. They must be in a similar position to where Alia.. was.’
As I was staring at the holy warriors (although it only lasted a couple of seconds), Joshua waved for to co over.
“May the light shine on you! Co, sit with us. After all, we depart right after this al.”
Without arguing, I nodded and sat beside him – but not before picking up a wooden tray from a large table, which contained a bowl of oatal, two boiled eggs, and a few vegetables.
I noticed a few of the paladins at the table giving strange looks. Well, they must have heard their brother, so it probably wasn't due to sitting here…
As for Joshua, he looked at with evaluating eyes.
“You look tired. Did you not sleep well?”
“I.. lost myself reading a book.”
While I didn't want to specify this book was related to magic, I didn't lie, either.
“Hmm.. Didn't take you for the reading type. But I suppose one cannot always judge a book by its cover.”
I was a bit surprised by his words. Not by the pun, which might have been unintentional, but by the fact that I heard a saying similar to Earth.
One had to rember the language of this world was different, and so were its sayings. Technically, this one was slightly different from Earth, but the similarity was apparent.
“I ant no offense, of course.”
“Oh, none taken!”
It seed my surprised silence might have been misinterpreted, so after taking yet another spoonful of gray slop, I quickly changed the subject.
“Are you sure it's ok for to sit here? The tables seem to have a certain.. hierarchy."
I could still catch a few curious gazes in the corners of my eye, with so of the strange looks being hard for to decipher.
“Oh, that is fine. After all, it probably won't be long- ehem! His Eminence invited you himself.”
The paladin caught himself after saying sothing strange. I felt no malice from his initial words – rather, a subtle sense of.. comradery?
‘Wait, I’m starting to think there might be a serious misunderstanding as to my purpose here…’
But before I could think of a way to subtly probe for any indicators to confirm my suspicion, Joshua had already changed the subject.
“So, I heard you were at that.. cultist incident."
“You know about that incident?..”
Given his hushed voice, I could only think of one incident he could be referring to.
“Do not be so surprised. Any Solar Paladin who had already received his Blessing is put on active duty, and any who steps on the Path is considered a full-fledged mber of the order.”
“Didn’t the.. His Eminence called you a senior apprentice.”
“Ahaha! He rembers each and every one of us, even the youngest of the apprentices. The sa is true for priests. Truly, it is an honor to serve under such a great man!”
“Erm.. yeah…”
Realizing he might have strayed from the subject, he decided to explain.
“The difference between senior and junior apprentices is the very fact that the forr had stepped on a Path, while the latter are still striving towards it, having only been granted the preliminary blessing.”
“Oh? There is such a thing?”
“Indeed! Also, when an existing Path-bearer decides to take on the oath, if the Lady judges his heart to be pure, she may grant him the sa blessing. If he succeeds in cultivating it to a stage where it bears fruit, he shall step on a second Path – a phenonon sotis referred to as Dual-pathing.”
Beside offering a better explanation as to the paladin’s misconception, I was genuinely intrigued by his words.
“Really? How does that even work?”
I didn't expect to learn new things about Paths during breakfast, but now, here I was.
“If I recall correctly, the core Blessing of the older Path is suppressed. Once the Paladin reaches the 2nd Realm, he gets a choice – fully commit to his Path, and discard the old one, or reignite its embers. That is, if the first Path is compatible with that of a Paladin, to begin with.”
“Hoo…”
I felt a bit bad, as his willingness to answer might have been tied to a misunderstanding, but in the end, perhaps he would have satisfied my curiosity regardless.
“Anyway, yes. I was indeed related to that incident.”
Realizing I myself had strayed from the topic, I decided to answer his initial question.
“I thought as much.”
The paladin nodded with understanding.
“...why? What kind of rumors are floating around here?”
I knew the official story might have spread this far by now, but didn't the true report require too high of a clearance for even the apprentice paladins to know?
“Nothing much!”
The young paladin (well, comparatively young, as he was around my age on Earth) waved his hands in defense, seemingly flustered.
“It’s just that we know there is more to that incident than ets the eye. The official story has an unidentified young man discover the cultists plan and warn the guards while running up ahead, only to arrive late, as the local Sheriff already finished the job. However, now, senior brother Roderick himself goes to conduct a young man's true interrogation, who is then received by His Eminence? And granted a stay in the temple?”
The paladin’s face showed skepticism, directed at no one in particular.
“This could only an two things – that you were the young man in that story, and that the role you played was much greater than described.”
I looked at him with minor disbelief – he, or perhaps the other inquisitive paladins, actually got a lot of it right.
“Do not worry! I'm certain the truth has been obscured for your safety. Given the length they went to, your contributions, in helping avenge our fallen brother and sister, must have been truly significant! None of us here will try to pry those secrets from you.”
“...thank you for understanding.”
It would seem they failed to discern or deduce the most crucial part of the story. Of course, while I felt bad, I wouldn't disclose this secret to them myself, either.
After all, paladins were people, too, and sowing the seeds of doubt today could cause their faith to falter in a critical mont in the far future. Even if one could claim it was built on a lie, it was the temple's place to decide – not mine.
“Now, with our stomachs full and our vigor renewed, let us depart! I heard you are being targeted by so vile criminals, but even the most bloodthirsty ruffians wouldn't dare try to kill a Solar Paladin, at least not within the city.”
Nodding in agreent, I set aside the empty bowl, and followed the holy warrior out of the hall.
As I walked, only one thought echoed in my mind.
‘I hope he didn't just raise a red flag.’
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