Part 5
Meishen tried very hard not to fidget. She had a strand of lose hair clinging to her nose and she wanted desperately to brush it off her face. She wanted to shift her weight, she could feel a bead of sweat rolling down her back. Her foot itched. She could not fidget. She would not.
I hate this part. The thought was ruthlessly crushed. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by her own treacherous mind than she could afford to fidget. This was important, even if the tension was excruciating.
Elder Farafiti sipped a glass of purest spring water to cleanse her palate and gave the dish on the countertop in front of her an appraising look. Whether she was using an appraisal Art was not for Meishen to know, she could no more sense the elder’s qi than an unhatched chick could see the sun. For all Meishen could tell, it really was just a focused look. Probably. Maybe. Possibly?
“Very well.” Elder Farafiti eventually proclaimed, after Meishen had waited just a little longer. “The meat is tender, and flavoursome, the stew itself is not too thick or too thin, and the vegetables are not overdone, the use of shallots over onions gives it a more even taste. You have settled on a traditional selection of herbs, the resulting seasoning is not particularly interesting or novel but it is well executed. The qi-infusion has benefited from your studies into transfer and storage with Elder Tola and is adequate for the dish, as you become more skilled you will be expected to deliver much more precise infusions however.” She took another sip, even as Meishen was mentally racing to commit every word spoken to memory in absolute perfection, right down to the elder’s tone and inflection.
“In future, qi-infusion like this will not be acceptable, and I would like to see you begin to branch out from traditional flavours and styles, but for your current capabilities, this is a good dish. The recipe is solid, but not bland or shallow.” The immortal chef continued, nonchalant to the last word. “Well done.”
Meishen flung her head down in a bow, instantly flooded with relief that she had passed her hardest assignment yet “thank you, chef. I will learn from this feedback and improve further.”
“Indeed I hope you will.” Elder Farafiti said, dryly. “I have another project for you, this one based around the upcoming winter tournament.” She waved a hand and a selection of herbs, spices and a slip of jade appeared on the counter alongside Meishen’s submitted dish. Meishen recognised a few of them, including the ubiquitous bitterstem and the telltale glow of Sungold Paprika.
“This is sometimes also called a stew, but unlike your earthy dish, with its core of seasonal vegetables and game meat, this recipe focuses on fire-infused ingredients and some metal and stone-aligned elements to form a spiced dish that speeds up qi flows and aids in the accumulation of fire qi even in colder months.” Meishen found herself suddenly speared by a sharp glare. “Goulash, as dishes of this variety are called, can be dangerously rich in fire-qi but also in yang-aligned energy overall, you should cook in small portion sizes and avoid too much tasting until you have a better idea of how to manage the infusion of qi to properly enhance the dish and have learned how to balance the ingredients' natural qi alongside this.”
“Yes chef, I will heed this advise,” Meishen gave a bow of understanding, mind already a whirl with ideas, with questions, concerns. This would be very relevant to the tournament when plenty of disciples were racing to accumulate qi to train with and not just for physical cultivation or energy. This would apply even more so for those who used fire-based Arts for whom the encroaching cold season would lower their general cultivation speed by reducing the levels of the already sparse fire-qi in the sect. It would also need, as the elder had just told her, a very careful balance of ingredient-supplied and infused qi plus, as a woman and therefore naturally yin-aligned, she would have to be careful of interfering with her own qi flows by over doing it on the yang-heavy dish. You must sometimes spend a little to reap plenty, she mused, not entirely averse to the risk even if she wasn’t keen on it either.
“The slip contains the bare bones of a goulash recipe but a mortals' recipe that does not use all of these ingredients, or involve qi-infusion. You have until the tournament in two months to develop this into a full recipe suitable for the cultivator’s table.” Farafiti told her, gesturing to the assortment of items and the slip. “I will see you for our next tutorial as normal, you will need to bring a serving of this mortal recipe, and another of what you have worked on by then.”
“Yes, Elder Farafitti,” Meishen thanked her teacher and once the elder had returned to her desk, carefully picked up each of the supplied items one-by-one to be inspected and stored. It would not do to store something that was not compatible with interspatial rings by mistake and thereby perhaps fail this assignment before she had even begun it. There was fresh, quality bitterstem, the firey paprika in its enhanced jar to keep it from igniting, Rubydust Paprika was in a separate jar without any need for enhancements as it was not fire-rich like the Sungold. There was another jar of rattling little peppercorns, likely of the Writhevine variety rather than the Ashcreeper or Sunspotted Peppercorn vines. A small bundle of broad leaves which Meishen struggled to identify for a moment as they were not native to Zelua, but she had seen them before…
Bluesteel Bay Leaves! Yes, from a region to the south of Zelua, a box of the aromatic leaves had changed hands over the desk of the Clan Head’s office while she had been in Yoltem. Clan Torrinden had made a neat profit on that purchase and subsequent sale but Meishen had not been able to catch more than a glimpse, let alone a sniff of the herbs then. Now, now she was to cook with them! But even as she carefully placed the bundle of sharp-edged leaves into her ring, she knew she would need to source a cheaper alternative for her first experiments. The bundle was small and not to be wasted on early attempts and all the failed dishes that would result.
She was mulling over potential replacements for use in her early attempts, running through all the herbs she knew would have an approximate effect at a much lower cost to her already stretched finances, even as she bade farewell to Elder Farafiti and headed out of her offices in the Tower of Inquiry over to the main gallery.
There were a few other disciples on the stairs between levels and Meishen kept her head down as she passed them on her way down into the main hall. None bothered her except two obvious artisans with their robes embroidered in quasi-talismanic characters who glared fiercely. Strangely enough it was Meishen’s fellow artisans and crafters in the Outer Sect who had the most issue with her. Combat-focused types or those dealing with intelligence and espionage rarely cared either way about her but artisans seemed to feel her Way tarnished theirs by association. Thankfully, the two others kept to glares only as they passed her on the stair into the main hall and Meishen was gone into the crowd of students in the grand foyer before anything more could occur.
“Mei-mei!” The bright voice came from behind her as Meishen was wending her way towards the immense doors of the foyer. She turned on reflex, a smile already growing on her face.
“Mifi!” Indeed, there was the diminutive girl, her straw-blonde signature twintails tied up with blue ribbons, her sect robe complimented by dainty blue slippers. A heart-shaped face, with a cute button nose, crystal-clear blue eyes and a captivating smile, it was only her piercing gaze that stopped Mifi from appearing like nothing so much as a child’s doll - small and picturesque but still full of carefree joy and delight.
“Another lesson with Elder Farafiti?” Mifi asked, but they both knew it was mere polity. Mifi knew exactly who all her friends studied with and when. It was her business to keep tabs of people, after all.
“Yes, I submitted the game stew for assessment.” Meishen explained regardless.
“Fantastic, did you get any rewards for passing?” Mifi beamed at her in congratulations, not thinking for a moment that Meishen could possibly have done anything less than pass with flying colours.
“Another recipe to work on, but the Elder has given me some rare herbs to use.”
“Ah, I bet you’re raring to try those out then!” Mifi laughed even as Meishen blushed in embarrassment. She truly was predictable to her friends, wasn’t she?
“Yes but, anyway, did you have a lesson here also?” She tried her best to bring her flushed cheeks back under control even as she distracted her friend with some questions of her own.
“No, I came to pick up a scroll from the shelves, and see who’s hanging around the alchemy corner today. Elder Nadine handed out a new assignment yesterday to the second year classes and all the best scrolls for it are in here not in the archive, it’s good market intel to know who’s already studying for it and who is putting it off for after.” Mifi waved a hand, as if her words were as airy as her voice.
“Your clients must appreciate your diligence in your work,” Meishen said, apropos of saying out loud that Mifi was obviously ahead of the game on gathering intel about who was ignoring classes to pump out equipment and elixirs for the winter tournament. The market on elixirs would shift, as would that of materials, and then there was the impact on the tournament itself and the odds of alliances and individuals performing well… Even small things could be used to foretell these greater changes. It was an open secret that half the ‘scholarly’ students were spies and intelligenciers, Mifi among them, and Meishen was both pleased and surprised to see her so ahead of the competition on this matter. Meishen wasn’t the only one improving her skills, evidently.
“I sure hope so,” Mifi laughed, reading Meishen’s meaning well enough, “I do give them my best efforts, after all.” She shrugged, “besides most of the others are too busy trying to figure out who’s working on what techniques, class assignments just aren’t a priority right now.”
“Maybe I should pay some attention too,” Meishen mused aloud, “I won’t be able to sell leafstag vines at such good prices if that assignment is finished.”
Mifi laughed, “as if you need to worry about that Mei-mei, as soon as I know the materials they’re using, I’ll tell you.” She leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially “that info from the other week paid off well, after all.”
Meishen felt her cheeks start to burn, she had rather hoped that attempt at distracting Mifi from Meishen’s new supplier hadn’t caused anyone trouble but it sounded as if it had been rather valuable intel. She held back a sigh and sent a prayer up to the great spirits that the inconvenienced disciples didn’t trace any of that rumour back to her.
“Anyway!” Mifi’s hazel eyes lit up with enthusiasm, “are you free right now? You don’t have a tutorial with Elder Tola, right? Layfon is free, Nakki is too, I was thinking we could have lunch at the tea house all of us? Maybe Nina and Felli too, they might not be training of Layfon isn’t so we can invite them too.”
Meishen mulled the idea over. She had invited Nakki and Mifi over for that meal the other week but had seen the others very little for over a month now, not since she had to pick up qi-transfer practice for Elder Tola. I should start work on this new assignment and I need to work on my meridian… There was her generally slow cultivation to work on too, she was overdue some physical cultivation time as well, unless she wished to fall even further behind in classes.
“We haven’t been able to all get together in so long,” Mifi turned a pair of immaculate puppy-dog eyes on Meishen, looking for all the world as if she was about to cry, “it’d be such a shame to waste a chance, especially when you need to celebrate a successful assignment!”
“Ah-” Meishen practically flinched under the full force of Mifi’s most pitiful expression, and most predictably, gave in to her friend’s request. As Mifi had no doubt known she would. “Okay then, but I can’t stay all day I-”
“Of course, of course! Just lunch, it will just be a little lunch,” Mifi assured her, even as she sprang forward to take Meishen’s hand and begin leading her out of the hall. “Ah, I should ask Nakki if she wants to invite anyone from the Sect Office of Justice since Layfon’s teammates will be joining us.”
A little lunch, just lunch, Meishen had not even made it to the teahouse and hearing her friend’s planning she already felt the hours left in the day slipping out of her grasp. I should get up early tomorrow, I won’t be working at all this evening. She would have sighed again but she couldn’t really begrudge Mifi the time, not when she’d just pulled off her hardest assignment yet. She really did want to celebrate even a little.
Her suspicions about the scale and duration of the spontaneous event came true even before Mieshen reached the teahouse by Blossom Hill. Mifi spent the entire walk up sending out messenger talismans to various people asking if they were free to meet up or asking those already due to be there if they wanted anyone else to join. Layfon and maybe Nina and Felli turned into Layfon, Nina, Felli and their allies Sharnid, Dalshena and Harley; Nakki became Nakki-and-any-friends-from-the-Office-of-Justice. Meishen was silently relieved that most of Mifi’s extensive network were not available or else they would have filled an entire floor in the teahouse and not just one room with all the invitees.
“Pity everyone is so busy with this tournament,” Mifi sighed, “I was hoping we could have one last big tea party before we lose people to the Inner Sect. After that we won't all be able to socialise freely for ages.”
Ah. Meishen made a quiet noise of understanding as she realised that Mifi was just dealing with the same anxiety the she had been ignoring. There was a high chance that Layfon, Nina, Felli and company would be inner sect disciples after this winter. Maybe even Naruki if her performance was good enough to catch an elder’s eye and earn her some patronage. Inner disciples could talk and interact with outer disciples of course but frequent, casual social events were frowned upon as it would give better-connected outer disciples too much of an advantage far too blatantly so. The Sect cared not to see clans pulling their own youths up into the Inner Sect through familial connections and not hard work and talent. Their resources were to grow new, skilled cultivators for the empire at large, not to simply incubate young blood for the clans. Those friends of theirs who showed well in the tournament would not be able to meet them for lunch again anytime soon.
“Anyway, there’s Nakki,” Mifi saw their taller friend first, stood at the corner where the narrow road alongside the Needle met the main thoroughfare that encircled the titular hill. Naruki was hard to miss: tall, lithe with short, lilac hair that stood out all the more for its contrast against her dark copper skin. She was one of the taller girls in the outer sect and loomed over the other disciples wandering the avenue, enough that the very average height Meishen and the diminutive Mifi could see her from a distance with ease.
Naruki had obviously seen them too, for she gave them a brief wave from her spot in the shade between the two buildings of the Archives.
“Nakki!” Mifi greeted their friend first, flinging herself at the warrior girl for a hug.
“Mifi!” Naruki laughed at Mifi’s exuberance and once she had disentangled herself from the amateur intelligencier’s grasp, gave Meishen a quick hug too in greeting. “How did your submission go, for the stew?” she asked after, even as she turned to follow Mifi up the road towards the teahouse.
“Well, I think.” Meishen replied, unsure of exactly how well things had gone, she would need to go back through the feedback properly before she figured out how happy Elder Farafiti had been, but she was fairly confident it had gone well enough. She had her bay leaves after all, surely a sign of good grace from her tutor.
'Of course it went well!" Naruki flashed her a grin, “as if you would ever do less. But did you get a reward, new tools or a new Art maybe?”
“A new assignment, but that is its own reward,” Meishen began, “I’ve been given some rare herbs to work with for it!”
Naruki laughed, “only you would consider a new assignment a reward for the last one.” She shook her head in good-natured amusement at Meishen’s approach to the typical sect expectations for assignments and missions. Nakki and Mifi often assured Meishen that anyone else would expect at least some useful trinket or material to reward good performance and facilitate further growth. Meishen just wanted more work, but was that truly so strange? “Let me know if you need more materials,” the warrior offered, “I know you have that supply deal going but I can still help you out a bit.”
“I’m counting on you, as always.” Meishen said it with a smile but it was entirely true. She relied on her friends a great deal, even if she also did her best to help them out when she could. She’d be lost without them.
“Great! Just tell me what you’ll need for this new job, once you’ve figured it out anyway.” Naruki said, as they reached the entrance to the teahouse.
The plain-looking two-storey building with its large verandas and front and rear terraces wreathed in the aromas of tea, baked goods and a busy kitchen was next to the foodhall, presumably because that afforded it a stunning view of the lakeside. Anywhere else, Meishen would have considered its location a terrible choice regardless of the scenery but in this instance the teahouse did not need to compete with the other eatery. Its proximity to the sect-subsidised foodhall did it no harm as it had the more varied menu, finer tea and nicer rooms even if it wasn’t dirt cheap like the foodhall. Disciples with stones to spare would almost always choose the teahouse over its neighbour, their cheaper dishes were still leagues beyond the plain but nutritious food to be found next door. She wondered about how it all worked commercially every time she visited, it just didn’t make sense to her that the two operations should have been built side by side.
She was re-treading the same old lines of thought on the matter even as Meishen followed Naruki and Mifi through into the building. A staff member - a permanent outer disciple of course - met them and greeted them inside the lobby. Meishen gazed idly at the tapestry hanging on the wall and the couplets on either side as Mifi negotiated a good room for their little lunch gathering. She was angling for a room overlooking the lake, and the staff member was tactfully declining all such suggestions.
“There you are, Gelni,” the voice from behind was deep, and not at all familiar to Meishen but it evidently was to Naruki, who spun around instantly to face the newcomer. She aborted a full bow and then froze on the verge of bowing her head instead. Meishen left Mifi’s bartering to turn and also greet this other disciple, or at least find out who it was, only to find herself looking at another inner disciple. More specifically, at Inner Disciple Loss’s other known associate: Formehd Guran, Assistant Disciple of the Sect Office of Justice and already earmarked to succeed the current Head Disciple of the Office.
He was a stocky man, short black hair and stubble, average looks, he appeared both amicable and unremarkable - a far cry from the ethereal Loss or the intimidating Hardy. Meishen would have wondered how he came to be a Junior Disciple of a key Sect Office were it not for the way, behind that bland façade, Guran’s gaze flickered shrewdly, taking in all before him. Meishen felt her insides twist, she had a feeling this somehow connected to her contract with Hardy. Was this a result of Naruki joining the Office of Justice as well? Some co-ordinated attempt to form a new outer disciple network to serve Loss’s interests? Meishen’s mind was whirling with possibilities, potential schemes to avoid even as she too began to bow to the inner disciple who, by rights should not be attending a social event in the outer sect, and would not be here for no reason.
Guran waved a thick-fingered hand with surprising grace, forestalling her as he likely had Naruki. “No need, I’m just here as Gelni’s fellow disciple from the Office of Justice, always good to be friendly with your colleagues, right?” He sounded eminently casual, as if he really was just here to hang out and get to know a new colleague and her social circle a little better. Meishen did not believe his nonchalant act for a heartbeat, she suspected that Naruki did not either, even as her friend stepped up to play her part in the charade nonetheless.
“Chief! I didn’t think you’d actually be able to spare the time, but I’m glad you could make it!” Naruki didn’t quite match Guran’s casual tone but came as close as any outer disciple would to treating an inner disciple as an equal. “Here, let me introduce Meishen, she’s a friend of mine studying under Elder Farafiti, and the one sorting our room out is Mifi who takes some scholarship tuition from Elder Harmut and some in music from Elder Linde.”
“Great to meet you,” Formehd said to Meishen who returned his open smile with a polite one of her own. She didn’t have the chance to say anything however, as Mifi announced at that moment that their lunch reservation was sorted, and of course it was, with an inner disciple involved.
Still, even Meishen had to admit the view was worth Mifi’s haggling, the sunlight glinted off azure lake waters glimpsed through a screen of trees and flowering shrubs and the result was as serene as it was colourful. The floor to ceiling shutters were thrown all the way open to show as much of the scene as possible and the dark wood of the window frames only served to make the bright jewel tones beyond stand out even more.
There was a little silent manouevering over seating arrangements around the large table so as not to disregard anyone’s precedence, but Guran seemed very set on not pulling rank and so the head of the table remained vacant and the seats were all moved to the sides that no-one would appear to preside over the gathering. Layfon appeared in the meantime, with his teammates right behind him.
Meishen tried hard not to wonder at how it seemed Guran already had the acquaintance of Layfon, Felli and Nina even if he needed to be introduced to Harley, Sharnid and Dalshena. It seemed the senior disciple was already in the habit of calling on Naruki’s outer sect connections. It certainly wasn’t entirely a new trend, and Mifi seemed completely unfazed by Guran’s presence as if she had half expected her ‘any of your Office friends’ invite to encompass an inner disciple. Meishen chose to put all such thoughts out of her head as she took a seat at the table. This was a purely social event, not the place for schemes and thoughts of conspiracy.
They ended up sat five to each side of the table, Meishen found herself sat between Naruki and Mifi, with Guran, Layfon and Felli opposite. She wasn’t sure which was worse, the way Guran’s obviously assessing gaze flickered over her occasionally or the way Layfon looked in the afternoon sunshine coming through the open windows. His tousled brown hair shone in the light and his blue eyes caught to light to shine just like the lake Meishen had admired earlier. He looked like a young prince, as handsome as had had the day they met.
There was some initial chatter as everyone decided on their food choices, mostly lamenting how infrequent their meetings had been due to the tournament and Layfon asked Meishen most kindly how her work with Elder Farafiti had been going. She tried not to blush and stutter like a fool whenever he spoke to her, but it seemed her cheeks just grew hotter and hotter and her tongue tied itself in ever tighter knots. She knew her friends had probably made the conscious decision to sit her opposite the young prodigy who had saved her life on their very first day as disciples, but Meishen privately wished Nakki and Mifi had been a little less considerate. The sight of her hero still turned her into a stammering fool even though he and she had long since abandoned any potential for romance to wither untended and unsought.
Once the food and tea, wine and beer arrived, Meishen settled for enjoying the lightly seared duck and noodles she had chosen for her meal, trying to work out in her head what the titular five spices were that had been used while those around her carried the conversation. She did, in a breach of good etiquette, talk down the table briefly to Sharnid who asked her about the best drinks to serve with deep-fried songbird breast - a regional specialty he apparently was fond of and wished to share with someone else - and Meishen was delighted to discuss the benefits of a dry red or perhaps a sharp cider or light, fruity beer to cut through the rich birdmeat with the lanky fighter. She had not had much occasion to talk to him before but found him much less aloof than last time she had encountered him. Perhaps the improvement had something to do with Dalshena, sat next to him and looking as if her presence at the table was some immense mistake, for such a regal looking beauty belonged in some noble parlour and not a middling teahouse.
Meishen even found Felli a little more loquacious than normal, and enjoyed a small discussion with her about the providence of the tea they had been served. It was not familiar to Felli, even Meishen had only sampled it twice in Yoltem and Yoltem had all sorts of teas available on the markets. It was a Zeluan variety but one grown within the Duchy of Corva. Certainly it tasted very different from the more common leaves from the Vale of Giving Waters, the Spiritlands. Meishen knew the slight girl preferred the subtler brews and she herself liked the crisp, cutting notes of stronger green teas. The Corvan brew was something new for both of them, with its earthy flavour but strangely sweet aftertaste. Meishen suspected that to be a product of the tea being grown on the foothills surrounding the Heartwaters, to which Felli wondered what a Spiritlands leaf might taste like if grown in the same soils.
An intriguing idea, Meishen wondered if anyone had ever tried it. Perhaps the Archives might have a book on esoteric tea varieties? She would need to check next time she browsed the stacks for study materials. She had seen at least one compendium of vintages, liquors and spirits in there before, surely there must be some equivalent for teas and tisanes.
Such thoughts kept Meishen occupied long after the dishes had been cleared away, she chimed into the conversation but rarely and largely just enjoyed the atmosphere, the company of close friends. Were it a formal event, she would have been rather more proactive in her socialising, but at an entirely informal gathering whilst sat across from one most handsome but awkward acquaintance and another most concerning and unknowable, she was happy to keep her mouth shut and avoid trouble or embarrassment.
“Do you go to lunch with all of your subordinates from the Office of Justice?” Mifi, bold as she was cunning, nearly brought the entire event to a stand still, with a single question to the newcomer in their midst. There was a breath of silence, laden with anticipation at how the almighty inner disciple being spoken to might take such an impertinent question.
Guran just laughed, “if I said ‘only with the pretty ones,’ would you believe me?” He asked Mifi in return.
Mifi launched some witty but shrewd reply and the conversation resumed swiftly. Meishen, sat between her dear friends, was not oblivious to the way Nakki flushed at the exchange. Worry for later repercussions? No, something else. What, precisely, Meishen couldn’t tell from a single oblique glance but she packed the thought away for later. What was going on in the Office of Justice to have Guran so involved here, so much so that he’d ignore such blunt queries and that Naruki would be bothered by it but stay silent?
Teas, a book on teas, and then perhaps a delicate enquiry to Disciple Hardy about Guran’s work and if it ever reached the outer sect. That was what Meishen needed to remember alongside her normal work. She had so much spare time on her hands, what was another item or two on her to-do list? At least the book wouldn’t be too hard to tick off, she consoled herself. Across the table, Felli, as if knowing what she was thinking, gave her the faintest hint of a sympathetic smile.
“Just lunch, you said.” Meishen grumbled, mostly amicably, as she wended her way through the Thicket, one mildly intoxicated Mifi in tow, Naruki bringing up the rear. Meishen was on point purely because she had stuck to very little wine and plenty of tea, she could still use Firelight Watch to see her way through the pitch-black gloom of the narrow, choked alleys at night. Naruki was at the rear to make sure Mifi stayed on her feet, and Mifi was trying not to trip over her own feet. Normally not-tripping was Meishen’s job, but Mifi was never one to admit defeat even when that just meant not keeping pace with a stout man like Guran or the inveterate Sharnid when they ordered another pitcher or two of beer for the table.
“Was just a long lunch,” Mifi grumbled straight back, “and now we know who Nakki’s boss is!” She perked up for an instant with that thought, and then went straight back to grumbling “He didn’t say why he came though, not even a hint.”
“Maybe he really did just want to get to know who he’s working with now,” Naruki consoled the whiny scholar, putting one hand out to steer her around a tight corner safely.
“Here you go,” Meishen said, relieved to see the tell-tale gleam of arrays liming the pillars supporting the eaves of the cottage in front. She knew her own work when she saw it, and that meant she had in fact found Naruki and Mifi’s cottage. She’d made their security arrays herself, being more experienced with arrays of the three of them, and it had the happy side effect of making an otherwise nondescript building recognisable even late at night. Well, to her eyes at least.
“Thanks, Mei-mei, owe you one.” Nakki led Mifi up the couple of steps into the veranda and gave Meishen a quick wave farewell even as she fumbled for her door key.
“Good job on your work thing today!” Mifi called after Meishen, as Meishen headed back into the maze to find her own cottage, deeper inside the Thicket. Had they not been the last to leave then Meishen could have followed Nina and Felli most of the way but the alliance had left first citing a need to rest up before practice on the morrow, then Guran had stayed a little longer and Naruki had been obliged to at least show good manners in seeing him off properly as her superior in the Office, and so the three girls had been the stragglers of the evening.
“I’m home,” Meishen announced her return softly, as she closed the door behind her with a quiet click. She didn’t want to wake Little Verdure if he was sleeping indoors, but she didn’t want to startle him either. She lit the lamp overhead by feel, with a spark of fire qi, and saw her companion coiled up on his cushion completely oblivious to the world outside his dreams. At least someone was up-to-sate with his beauty sleep.
Meishen left him to his rest, as she put the low table and cushions in the main room aside, saw to her ablutions and then fetched her bedding. Tomorrow, she had a class for physical cultivation, and then she would be best served by a trip to the Archives. Better to get a good night’s sleep than try and salvage an hour or two of work time out of the nigh hours left after Mifi’s ‘little lunch’. Once she was nestled amidst warm, plush covers, she focused a mote of her will to snuff out that spark of qi glowing in the lamp overhead. The darkness rushed in. She felt her eyes closing, inexorable as the setting of the sun, and tried to put all thoughts of time wasted or work yet to be done out of her head.
Strange, faceless figures in the quality robes of inner disciples chased her down dark aisles between shelves full of herbs, she had not been able to answer their questions about tea. She needed to answer their questions, they were her superiors, but she had no clues as to the right information. She could only find bundles of fragrant herbs to hurl at the pursuers, and they would stop to examine the leaves and then exclaim that she had not given them tea at all, did she not know which tea leaves were processed at Kanarkeep?
“I don’t even know if they grow any tea in the Chasm!” Meishen bolted up, and then blinked in the early dawn light filtering through the shutters. She groaned, feeling sweaty and not at all rested.
“Good morning,” Little Verdure was still on his cushion, but he had obviously woken up a while previous, he had none of his typical morning grogginess. Meishen felt that she had it all instead, there was simply no more grogginess left for anyone else.
“Morning, Little Verdure.” She leaned over to scratch the little serpent between his eye ridges for a moment, until her stomach growled and she remembered she had a class to attend shortly. Bathing helped wash away some of her fatigue and a light breakfast of clear, hale broth gave her back some energy. She stayed in her casual robe for a half hour, sat cross legged on the rear veranda as she cultivated. There was plenty of wood qi around as the Thicket’s plants woke with the the rising of the sun.
Meishen breathed it in, drawing it first into her dantian to be refined and then circulating it around her qi veins and into the heart meridian she wanted to open. Each breath brought in another strand of ambient qi that she could filter for purer wood qi, and then gently slip into the meridian. She wasn’t one for simply jamming more and more qi into a closed meridian until it opened or worse - fractured. Instead, each strand was laced into the space left open inside. It was like filling a box with sorted gem stones, each settling on top of the ones that came before, until there were only a few spaces left and the coffer was filled to the brim, ready for sale.
The minutes flew by, Meishen felt she was just beginning to reach the point of opening the meridian, the walls beginning to flex just a little much, the empty spaces vanishingly few. She would meditate again soon, and perhaps manage to push through the effort of making that packed ball of qi into an open, flowing part of her channels, a proper meridian and not just a blockage of refined qi. First, though, she had class.
She changed into her normal robes - the sect designed them to be suitable for all varieties of outer sect work - and with a farewell to Little Verdure, set off for the Quarry. It was not, thankfully, quite as far from the northern part of the Thicket as the Tower of Inquiry was, but neither was it a short stroll. The passages of the Thicket were a blur of green and brown in the morning sunlight and openings and walls appeared much the same as each other. From there, Meishen had to pass through Blossom Hill and then cross the bridge over Brightspring.
The Palace of Vigour marked the beginning of the Quarry. To her left, busy despite the morning hours, were two lines of small arenas each with a specific type of terrain where inner and outer disciples both trained and sparred. To the right, the road led up to Rootspan Square and on the way passed the largest and second-largest of the Quarry’s arenas. The largest was for organised lessons, events and matches. It would host much of the winter tournament’s combat and the gravelled expanse would be alive with clashing weapons and flashing Arts. The second arena was sparse scrubland, dirt and gravel and hardy grasses and shrubs to produce an uneven, pitted landscape.
It was here that Elder Kensei held the physical cultivation classes for second-year outer disciples. His robes were plain, his silver hair close-cropped and his attitude likewise bare of any ornamentation. Elder Kensei did not waste his time on frivolities and frippery.
“Right.” He uttered a single word and the assembled cluster of disciples fell into an immediate hush. Meishen knew Mifi would be in the crowd somewhere even if her other friends had long since left such basic lessons behind, and wondered how her normally energetic friend would handle this morning’s efforts.
“You will stretch, then perform 'Forest Greets the Dawn,” after which, ten laps of the arena." Kensei barked, his voice loud but clear. An experienced military commander, or so Mifi had once said, he certainly gave orders like one.
Meishen didn’t have time for more woolgathering after that. She loosened up as she had been taught and then worked through the poses and stances of the Sect’s basic warm-up. She had been cultivating long enough that the effort didn’t leave her a quivering pile of aches as it had when she joined the sect, but she couldn’t make it look as easy as the likes of Nina and Layfon either. The laps were enough to have her sweating again, her breath rushing in and out of her lungs, her qi circling constantly as she relied upon it to bolster her stamina and strength. This exercise too she had to focus on. Kensei used the second large arena for a reason, it wasn’t at all level and if you weren’t paying attention, you would find yourself face down in the gorse within minutes.
It was barely an hour later that Elder Kensei appraised them all again. No more idle chatter now, all the disciples were either trying to get their breath back or preparing themselves for the next half of the class. Meishen saw all the silent communication going on, all the deliberate stares and fleeting expressions as her peers arranged groups and pairs. There was some cross-play between the alchemists and those who dealt more in talismans, enhanced materials and so on. The blacksmiths and armourers, herbalists and clothiers formed their own cliques. No tailor wished to be partnered up with some muscled, hulking smithing disciple. There were no combat disciples, of course. They had all passed out of the classes for physical cultivation within their first year, as the artisans had the classes on basic arrays and symbolism.
Meishen was not included in any such organising. Even Mifi, dainty as she was, was quickly sucked into a gaggle of fellow scholars.
“You, with them. You girl, with her. Boy, there.” Kensei finally stepped in, pointing at various stragglers to finish grouping everyone up suitably. Meishen found herself stood with another girl who was busy retrieving a mundane but solid and well cared for sword from her storage ring. Theoretically, this match-up would give Meishen the advantage. In practice?
The blade hammered into Meishen’s side, knocking all the air from her lungs. She wheezed, even as she brought her staff back into position to block a follow-up shot. Not that it would help. The other girl was not especially talented for an alchemist, but she was quick enough and Meishen clumsy enough that she had landed several solid blows. If it were not training, had Elder Kensei not activated a defensive Art to stop worse damage than bruises, Meishen would already be en-route to the infirmary.
“Tch.” The girl scoffed quietly, even as she circled Meishen. She had not deigned to offer up her name, and Meishen was not so social to know all of her peers by name already. Either way, they were not to be fast friends, that much was clear. The thin-faced girl was breathing hard and covered in sweat, her sword was clearly beginning to weigh and the blade’s tip hovered ever closer to the ground, all appearances of a stance long gone. Meishen was worse, just as out of breath but also aching already, her ribs hurt and so did her knee and her shoulder. She was doing her best to keep her qi flowing and reinforcing her muscles - the whole point of these classes - but it was barely enough to take the edge off the blows and bruises. She would need a long soak in a hot bath with medicated salts after this.
Another dash in and this time there was a ringing ‘thwock’ as Meishen managed to catch the swinging blade against her hardwood stave this time. The girl leaped backwards too quickly for Meishen to bother launching a counter, but she did step forwards, creeping back towards the centre of their little sparring circle. If she let herself be forced out, it would be her loss and she would be stuck doing more laps. Her best hope was to last until the sands ran out in Elder Kensei’s match timer, and then it would be a draw.
If her opponent allowed such a thing. Meishen kept her staff before her, her qi moving, and kept her eyes fixed on the determined girl opposite. Her brows itched, she wanted desperately to wipe the sweat beading there away, but did not dare take a hand off her weapon for even an instant.
With a rush of air, the girl launched another explosive lunge, Meishen whirled to knock the blade aside with her staff, and this time did follow through with a back-hand swing of her own that the girl deflected easily, but it cost her ground, and Meishen inched back towards the centre again.
A flick of the eyes towards the Elder overseeing the many sparring matches and his time keeping talisman showed Meishen that there was barely two minutes left to go. She just had to cling on a little longer. A deep breath brought qi into her lungs, and a thin thread of energy into her body.
“Argh!” With a snarl of frustration, the alchemist she was fighting threw caution to the wind and advanced once more, weaving side-to-side as she came. Effort, but it made it so much harder for an amateur like Meishen to predict the inevitable attack.
It was not a swing, or even another lunge, the girl got close enough and instead dropped into a crouch and then sprang up and forwards like a leaping hare, blade tip heading straight up under Meishen’s guarding stave and towards her throat.
“Torriden, that’s your loss, ten laps.” Elder Kensei looked over and gave his verdict. Meishen unbent long enough to acknowledge the instructions, and then took another minute clutching her knees until she could keep her expression under control and her breakfast in her stomach. Defensive Arts may have kept the trainees from severely hurting each other, but the bruising impacts still hurt, especially when taken straight to the chin. The pain was fading rapidly, another aspect of the Elder’s protective work, but only to a more tolerable degree rather than one that could induce vomiting.
“Waste of time,” the girl hissed, half to Meishen and half to herself. Another artisan who thought themselves more worthy of sect resources than a mere cook, no doubt. She was supposed to thank Meishen for the training match, like she was supposed to have introduced herself. Meishen didn’t stir herself to say anything about the lack of etiquette, it wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last.
Once the throbbing in her face had subsided enough, she stood up again, and only then noticed the new arrivals stood with Elder Kensei. Disciple Hardy was talking quietly with another four inner disciples, all women but in unusual pale robes. They were clearly waiting to speak with the Elder. Meishen didn’t recognise the other four: a tall and broad-shouldered woman with tanned skin and blonde hair who looked so expressionless as to seem bored, another woman with dark skin and a mane of darker hair that fell in luscious curls and distracted from how tall and solidly muscled she was, then the third of the group was shorter but lean like a hunting cat with a similarly fierce expression, and the fourth woman was pale and slender, with long black hair held up in an elaborate coiffure.
And Hardy, had Meishen seen Disciple Hardy there too? Stood with the very eye-catching strangely-attired disciples and the Elder? She might not have seen him stood there, the group of inner disciples being so inconspicuous and all.
Her eyes burned with tears of frustration. She shoved that reaction, those emotions, straight down and controlled her expression.
Was it really too much to hope that Meishen’s only real contact in the Inner Sect hadn’t just watched her get knocked flat in one blow to the face? She hoped Hardy would not be around for long, at least not long enough to watch her stumble through the last of her laps.
He was. He was still there, waiting with his associates with the utmost patience for Elder Kensei to finish the class. Meishen was too exhausted to feel particularly bothered by then, but the humiliation of staggering down the path towards to Palace of Vigour and passing the unfamiliar inner disciples on the way lingered and she was certain it would haunt her for a while yet. For a mercy, Hardy seemed entirely oblivious to her presence and departure, but Meishen knew that for a farce, he could not possibly be so blind. She held back a sigh and gritted her teeth, she just had to keep going. Just keep. Going. Clean up at the Palace, then the Archives and maybe after that she’d be able to salve her bruises and her pride.
“How’s your chin?” Mifi asked from her seat on the next bathing stool, probably thinking Meishen’s long sigh was because of her bruised face and not the thought of having lost a duel in front of someone she needed to keep inclined to help her and not dismiss her for a useless weakling.
“Sore,” Meishen answered the question anyway, even as she scrubbed at the grime of those extra laps. “Did you manage alright?” She asked in turn, remembering again that Mifi was probably not… At her best.
“I lasted only a little longer than you did, but the other scholar yielded rather than beat me proper. He said he didn’t mind the laps, and this way I owed him one.” Mifi said, completely unbothered by having relied on the mercy of another.
“Do you know him, then?” Meishen asked.
“Oh, yes. We've not spoken before but he’s another scholar, lots of accounting skills.” Mifi replied, breezily, apparently getting over her hangover thanks to the crisp water of the bathing pools that they were scooping over themselves to get clean before a soak in the baths proper.
Or, in Meishen’s case, it was more of a quick dip, just long enough to help her circulated qi properly infuse her body and loosen aching muscles back up before she got on with the rest of her day. Hopefully it would be more productive. If hopes were helpful, they’d be sold by the dozen, came the idle thought as she wended her way back towards Blossom Hill and down the way to the pair of buildings housing the Archives. She would just have to make sure it was more productive.
And make sure her next Art after the appraisal one was something combat-relevant.
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