Chapter 15: Book 1-07.1: Hunted

For the next few days, Yuriko stuck to her routine. Running a league around Faron’s Crossing in the morning, flexibility, agility, or strength training right afterwards, then meditation to inlay her Facet. Lunch at home, then a class in the training hall, then maybe spend some time with Krystal and Mikel before heading home for dinner. She practised other Animus techniques after dinner until bedtime. She missed her Da, especially in the mornings; his constant presence was a fortress she could shelter in but he had his mission.

In Virgil’s absence, Kato took charge of managing the household. He was usually the flaky brother but it turned out he could be quite dependable when he needed to be. Marron, because he was stationed at the Watchtower, could only take a leave off work once every fortnight. Kato prepared the meal plans, assigned the chores and purchased the bread, though he brought home a suspicious amount of pastries one morning. 

What really changed in her routine was the presence of the Foster twins in her life. A couple of days after the walking tour, during her morning run, she was surprised to see them upon rounding the next turn. 

She was alone at that time; Krystal begged off the day before complaining of body aches and fatigue. 

“Good morning, Yuriko!” Braden said brightly when their eyes met. “Do you mind if we jog with you?” They were attired in loose pants, running shoes, and tee shirts. She felt conscious of her sweat damped face as they looked quite fresh.

“It’s a free road, do as you wish,” she shrugged noncommittally. “Keep up if you can.” 

“Our pleasure.”

She kept to a slow jog for a few minutes before sprinting as fast as she could for the next. To be fair, the twins were doing their best to keep up but after the third cycle, they began falling further and further behind. By the time she reached home, the two of them were a couple of blocks away from her, looking like they had dunked themselves in the river. 

She waited for them on the sidewalk as she performed cool-down stretches. When they arrived, Orrin bent over gasping for air while leaning on the fence. Braden wasn’t as winded but his face was flushed and he was heavily mouth-breathing with a little bit of his tongue sticking out.

“You boys want some water?” she offered, gesturing to the front door. 

“Much…appreciated…hah.”

“Thank…you…hah…hah.”

“Come inside then.” She walked up to the front door and pushed it open. The twins collapsed on the porch lounge chairs, too spent to move any further. Yuriko chuckled as she headed straight to the kitchen.

Kato was already there, preparing slices of ham. He glanced at her when she grabbed a couple of tumblers and filled them with cool water from the reservoir. She brought them outside and handed the tumblers to the twins who gulped it all down in one go. She sat on a chair across from them.

“You’ve set a hard pace,” Braden remarked after he caught his breath.

Yuriko shrugged. “That’s my usual.”

“Amazing,” Orrin murmured. “I haven’t done training this intense since…well, ever I think.”

“Hmm, that was just my warm-up,” Yuriko smiled slyly. “Care to join in my actual training?”

Both of their faces paled and Yuriko held back a snort of laughter as they scrambled to their feet and made excuses.

“Eeeh, a-another time, perhaps.” 

“Um, uncle’s expecting us for breakfast.”

“It was a nice run, we should do it again…”

Yuriko nodded, “Well I run every morning.” She arched an eyebrow, “See you tomorrow?”

“Um… sure!” but the look on their faces told her that that was unlikely. 

“Well, see you boys in class later!”

After they staggered away, Yuriko headed indoors, chuckling.

“Who are they?” Kato popped up in front of her with a pronounced frown.

“Ancestors, big bro!” Yuriko yelped. “What was that for?”

“Answer the question, bis sis,” Rami’s head popped up from behind Kato.

“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re from Cierra and they’re attending the training camp.”

“Hmmm.” Both of them hummed in unison.

“They’re too soft,” Kato muttered. “I think I’ll let big bro know to give them special attention during camp.”

“Yeah,” Rami agreed.

“Lay off, you two,” she scolded.

“Oh ho ho,” Kato smirked. “Looks like you intend to…train them yourself.”

“What, no! I’m not qualified to teach.”

“Well, let’s leave the actual teaching to the instructors then, yes?”

“Whatever you say, now excuse me, I still have the rest of my training.”

“Huh, you’ve turned into a training maniac. I suppose it's reasonable. You learned Da’s Strengthen Physique techniques, yes?”

“Just the first one.”

“Well, go on. You’ll tire of it eventually, might as well take advantage while you still have your enthusiasm.”

“You’re just lazy.”

“Shush!”

The rest of the day was the same as always except that the twins didn’t show up for Armsmaster Byrne’s class. Oh well. 

Over snacks at the Sweet Shoppe, Yuriko told Krystal what happened earlier in the day and she snickered. 

“I think I’ll join you for tomorrow’s run and see what happens. Oh, Mikel, you should build up your physique too. I’ll drag you out of bed early. That way, even if Yuri leaves us behind, I’ll still have company.”

“Leave me out of this!” Mikel groused. “I’m not built to run.”

Krystal poked Mikel’s middle with her finger which made him nearly jerk out of his seat.

“Fat.” Krystal intoned. “You don’t want to spend field time trying to get in shape. You have to keep up.”

“If it weren’t for mum, the militia wouldn’t even be on the table as far as careers go,” Mikel grumbled. 

“Well, nothing we can do about it now. Better make the most of it. You should finish your inlay already. Or are you still in denial?” Krystal said brusquely.

Mikel just sighed. “I tried, but I can’t seem to progress.”

“It’s the same Heritage as your mum’s right?” Yuriko asked.

“Yes, but the Facet is different. I asked her before she left and she showed me an approximation of her initial Facet. It’s similar but not identical.”

“What are you having trouble with?”

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“After the initial terminus, the inlay path branches several times. I’m on the third correct branch already but there are more paths to follow.”

“It’s just a matter of time for you then?” Yuriko sighed enviously. “I still can’t figure out which terminus is the first one.” 

“It’s been a week and you’re still at the starting point?” Mikel gasped. “How complicated is your Facet’s pattern?”

“It’s a tangled mess,” Yuriko admitted, “and although I’ve found a number of true terminal points, there just as many false ones.”

True terminal points accepted the initial injection of her Animus while the false ones pushed them out immediately so it was easy enough to differentiate between them. The problem was that she consumed a fair amount of lumens for every attempt. The most she could do was about five or six attempts a day while still leaving enough Animus to train her other techniques.

“Why don’t you focus on doing the inlay instead of every other technique?” Krystal asked curiously.

Yuriko shrugged. “It doesn’t feel right. Besides, even if I do that I’ll only increase my attempts by two or three. Then I’ll be too tired to do anything for the rest of the day.”

Krystal and Mikel nodded, but she could see that they didn’t really understand. For Yuriko, her Facet may not give her the ability to be what she wanted to be, so she needed all the supporting techniques and skills she could develop.

Aside from consulting with her Da, she had also spoken with Armsmaster Byrneand Spellweaver Merill about her options. 

The week before, just before Virgil left for the Tidelands, Yuriko had met with Armsmaster Byrne in the Prep School’s guidance counselling room just before the start of class. It was a small, cosy room with wide windows and painted in pastel colours. They sat on two comfortable armchairs with a low table between them. 

“Do you think that every marksman in the militia or the army has a Facet that is directly related to shooting like your dad’s Heritage?” Armsmaster asked her after they went through the niceties.  “No, your typical squad would have varied Facets that enhance one aspect needed for the team. In an ideal world, every squad member would be specialized like that: one controller, one destroyer, one warder, one scout, and one striker. But obviously, that’s never the case. Sometimes, you have two members of the squad whose Facets make them ideal destroyers, but they wouldn’t have a controller. Sometimes, you have five specialized for one role. You never know what will happen and who your teammates will be. So what do you do?”

“Train your basics?”

“Yes. Ideally, every member should be able to take any role in the squad but that won’t happen due to the limited inlays your Anima can take. So you can train for two roles, typically.” The Armsmaster gave her a huge grin. “Whatever speciality your Heritage and Facet point you to, you can always train to take on a secondary role. And I know you want to be a ranged striker like your father. So we’ll focus your training on the foundations useful for any role and some of the drills needed for a striker.”

Yuriko frowned in deep thought. “But why were we taught early on that specializing based on our Heritage is the proper path?”

“It is. But that doesn’t mean you cannot take a secondary speciality. You will always have an easier time making progress in the path your Heritage points out but there have been cases where the Awakened do not like or even want what they got. Some just coasted along in life but some chose a different path. They were successful all the same, just that what they had to go through was harder.”

Armsmaster Byrne scratched his nose while he stared at her. “You have been using Strengthen Physique, I suppose, and you’ve followed the training regimen your father left you?” When she nodded he continued. “That’s good. Keep using it.” He seemed to be lost in thought but his eyes had a weighing look while he studied her limbs. It was starting to make her feel uncomfortable.

“Armsmaster?” she coughed. 

“Oh, my apologies.” He shook his head. “Well, why don’t you consult with Spellweaver Eilis Merell next? She might have some insight into the nature of your Heritage.”

“I see, thank you.”

Eilis Merill didn’t hold office in the Prep School mainly because her duties weren’t tied to teaching students. The day before, she’d managed to secure a meeting with the august woman, though she had to skip her midmorning meditation to do so.

“Good morning, young Miss Davar.”

Spellweaver Merill was a tall woman with curly brown hair and light brown eyes. She had a patient smile on her lips as she gestured for Yuriko to sit in front of her office desk.

“Good morning, ma’am.” She took the offered seat though she hesitated on how to begin. Unlike Armsmaster Byrne, Yuriko had barely interacted with Eilis Merill during her prep school days, though her Da worked with Miss Merill closely in safeguarding Faron’s Crossing.

“I know why you’re here, of course,” Merill said, “Knight-Captain Davar has informed me of your circumstances, but that is second-hand information. Please, tell me of your difficulties with your Facet.”

“Of course, ma’am.” Yuriko took a deep breath. “The pattern is set in my head, behind the area between my eyebrows...”

“Your glabella.” 

“Yes, there. Um, it's a very complex pattern, much more than what Da showed me of his initial Facet. The lines aren’t clear and, sometimes, less than a hair’s breadth apart. I’ve identified several points where I could start the inlay but none of them worked. There are other false terminus points as well but unless I inject my Animus in them, I wouldn’t know if they are true or false points.”

“How many terminus points have you found.”

“Twelve so far.” When Spellweaver Merill just continued to look Yuriko stammered, “I--I haven’t counted all the false points, ma’am.”

“You should have an accurate count of those as well. Just because they are false points now, does not mean they will remain false points forever. Now, describe to me how you access and manipulate your Animus.”

“I envision a flame in my core and pull out tongues of that flame when I use my Animus techniques. I bring a sizable flame when I attempt to inlay my Facet.”

“Did your father teach you this method?” 

“No. Da taught me the basic meditation steps to envision my Anima and I discovered my Animus reservoir reminded me of a burning candle in the dark.”

“Hmm, I thought that he didn’t since his method is different. Well, don’t worry, everyone has their unique method, I just wanted to see if yours was similar to his. Would it surprise you that your envisioned process matches more with how your mother, that is to say, Spellweavers envision?”

“Oh, uhm yes. It does.”

“Every awakened perceives their own Anima and Animus differently. Following someone else’s methods can hamper your growth. Similarly, we don’t tell you children how to inlay your Facet or inlay any technique in a specific. Each person’s Anima is different. Any method that you use other than that which you’ve discovered for yourself will not work as well as it should have.” She smiled. “But we can still provide guidance, don’t worry. I may no be able to tell you to inlay in a specific way but I can give you a direction you can explore.”

“I see.”

A little bit of the fog that blocked her way lifted and it answered a question that she hadn’t even realised she should have asked. But she was too used to following Da's direction, especially when it came to Animus techniques, that she never thought to question assumptions that she had built up over the years. 

“But what about technique cubes?” she suddenly thought to ask. “Aren’t they a specific way to inlay a pattern? Or even the techniques Armsmaster Byrne are teaching us”

Eilis Merill gave her an approving nod. “They are more of a guide than a hard and set method. You have not inlaid a pattern yet, especially one that is not a Facet of your Heritage. When you finally get around to doing so, you will notice that, when you inlay some of the lines, you’ll get a feeling that doing it that way is wrong. Maybe it needs to be shorter, longer, a little bit to the right. Don’t ignore that feeling but don’t follow it blindly either. Think about it first, judge, and decide how you want to do it. Do remember that following your instinct will make the pattern fit you better but it may also change how the technique can be used and, more importantly, how the technique can grow.”

“But how will I know what to do?”

“You don't,” she said bluntly. “It all boils down to experience and what suits your personality better. I cannot tell you how to properly do it, nor can anyone else.” She grinned ruefully, “so I guess it sometimes comes down to luck. But remember this also: there are no bad techniques, only people who don’t know how to use what they have properly.”

Yuriko had much to think about during the rest of the day, and her distraction made her slip. That afternoon, much to her chagrin, Heron managed to disarm her, sweeping her off her feet and pinning her to the floor with his spear shaft pressed over her neck and torso. 

His surprised face was only a few inches from hers, with his breath tickling her cheek unimpeded by the helmet's protective field. He froze for too long though so she was able to kick him off her and she managed to recover her weapon to continue the spar. 

Krystal wouldn’t let her live down the slip up for the next few days. 

During her evening meditations, she pulled out Virgil’s technique cube which contained the next techniques for Strengthen Physique. She already looked it over when she first received it but hadn’t gotten deeper into the set after seeing how the first pattern, Recovery, looked like. 

The core of Recovery’s pattern was set over her heart with tendrils snaking all over her body. Only the core part was needed to be inlaid to continue with the succeeding patterns. The expanded tendrils would allow her to speed up the process of healing from minutes to a matter of seconds but at the cost of a significant investment of her Animus. Other than that, it would block other patterns from being inlaid along its length. So she could either heal fast enough to be useful mid-battle or be able to inlay Empowered Strike or other similar techniques. 

The next technique set was called Boost. It temporarily enhanced her physique, making her stronger, faster, and tougher, but only for a few seconds to start with. It would be useless if it wasn’t inlaid as the process of activating the technique would take longer than the actual effect. 

She activated the cube by channelling a little bit of her Animus into it. The golden light started at the very centre of the cube. A golden line slowly traced out a complex three-dimensional pattern that twisted around itself and formed a spherical shape. It wasn’t a perfect sphere; there were gaps in the tracing all over the surface where Yuriko assumed that the tendrils to connect to the rest of her limbs would go.

If she had let it continue, it would have built the entire set of tendrils, forming lines that looked much like roots one at a time. She commanded it to skip that process and continue with the Boost demonstration. 

At several points along the sphere, close to but not on the gaps where the root-tendrils would have formed, five lines of gold started tracing secondary patterns. They formed complex shapes, each different from the others, and each of the five lines completed the tracing at the same time. She was given the impression that if she didn’t do all five simultaneously, the inlay would fail. The difficulty of doing so, she surmised, was why few people bothered with this particular technique set.

“Ancestors, how can I do that, I can’t even…inlay…my…Facet…” Her heart skipped a beat. “Chaos!” The cube dropped onto her bed, but she barely noticed. 

Finally, there was a path she could follow.

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