Chapter 15: 11. Perception (Part 1)

No! No no no! None of it works. Rai couldn’t figure it out. “Aunt Elly, it’s been nearly a year of me trying and I still can’t get it.” He sounded defeated. After meeting with the Aspect of Deception, Kallad, and his daughter Sindyl, Rai spent time every day theorising about how to make this... augmentation through lightning work.

It was clear that Elira was stressed out over something, and she snapped at Rai, “Maybe you should spend less time with the demon girl and more time focusing on your magic studies then!” She realised how mean she was being as soon as the words came out of her mouth, “wait, no- Rai I’m sorry. Business with the clan has been draining me, I shouldn’t have let it out on you.”

Rai understood the problems that weighed on his aunt were out of his purview, and that he only got to meet Sin once a month, so it was clear his aunt wasn’t actually mad at him. “It’s alright Aunt Elly, maybe you should spend some time with mum, you two always seem to be more relaxed with each other... Also, she's not actually a demon.”

The Sage looked at the nine year old, wondering when he became so wise. She giggled, loosening up a bit, “That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.” With something of a lighter heart, she left Rai to go into the house and relax with her sister.

I wonder where Old Man Jin is. Rai got up from where he sat on the edge of the field behind the house to wander around. His hair was longer now, and he was taller than he was a year ago. He tied his hair into a ponytail, then looked over to the potato farm, only to see the suns’ light shining off the dirt field. The harvest they sold a week ago was bountiful, and they got a lot more gold than usual for it. Since Jin’s farm was one of the few farms in the area that supplied potatoes and wheat, they earned a lot of money considering that they were farmers and not adventurers. Sometimes adventurers got lucky and found magic tomes containing rare magic that could earn a fortune. One even managed to find an epic tome, which he sold to a high noble in his clan. That earned him a permanent noble status. Rai thought about how fun it would be if he was an adventurer. Going around, exploring the world, helping people, finding riches, all of the things that he learned from the adventurers at Townsend instilled those fantasies within him. It was a lifestyle he would like to try.

Rai's thoughts continued to drift as he went on his walk. He thought back to the magic lessons he had over the last year with Aunt Elly, and him learning a lot of new things in that year. His favourite one was his new ability to imbue objects with lightning. It wasn’t exactly all that useful compared to many of the other techniques, since there weren’t many objects that could withstand being imbued with lightning. Most weapons would disintegrate after a single strike if they were. But the feeling of lightning coursing through him, that electric sensation, was familiar. It made him feel comfortable.

He was initially surprised that he didn’t have to verbally cast spells like his aunt. All he had to do was envisage the mana moving how it should if the spell was cast, and the spell would be cast like that. Rai then attached that feeling to a command phrase that he would think, which would set the spell off. Almost like an internal cast. He chuckled, That made Aunt Elly’s jaw drop, I’ve never seen her with such a silly face. He couldn’t use many complicated replication spells though, simply because they required deeper understanding of their natural counterparts in order to reproduce.

Rai's aunt told him of the technique tiers, which made sense to him as a general way of knowing what level the techniques and spells he used were. They went all the way through common, rare, epic, and legendary. His aunt even told him of forbidden techniques, which were forbidden because it's believed they go against the natural order of the world. Though, Aunt Elly didn't instill the typical stigma attached to forbidden techniques into Rai, simply because of her own disposition to look at magic as a creative matter more than anything. Rai wasn't sure what tier his techniques would fall under, but he hoped that one day he would become powerful enough to use legendary techniques.

Rai was even more proud of his swordsmanship. He felt like he’d reached a point where he could almost force Jin to move from his defence position within a minute. If only I could figure out Lightning Augmentation to use alongside it. His mood dampened. No matter what he did, he couldn’t make use of Kallad’s advice. He felt so close to figuring it out when Kallad mentioned it to him too. Well, no use worrying too much about it. It’ll come to me when it feels like it.

Rai was very happy about making a friend in Sin. Even though they could only meet once a month because they lived in different regions, she was his best friend.

A voice came from his right, “Oh, hello there Rai!”

What the... How far did I walk?

The voice came again, “Zenith to Rai, are you there young man?”

Rai turned to see the chubby old elven lady sat outside her house. He waved at her, “Hey there Ms. Talvier!”

Ms. Talvier raised an eyebrow toward him, “Not Ms. T this time?”

Rai forgot about the nickname he gave her when he was younger, because he couldn’t remember her whole name. He cringed a little at his younger self, then walked over to her, “Ah no, sorry Ms. T, I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

Ms. Talvier looked at him with surprise as she continued knitting what looked like a massive sock, “What’s someone as young as you got on their mind that feels so heavy?”

Rai thought she was more talkative than usual, but took the opportunity to vent his frustrations, “I’ve been trying to figure something out. It’s a spell, kind of, that makes my body faster, but my eyes and mind can’t keep up with the speed of my body when I use it. I’ve gotten advice from a lot of people, but I still can’t figure it out.”

Ms. Talvier stopped her knitting, then indicated for Rai to sit in the seat next to her. “I don’t know all that much about magic boy, but I do know a little something about making food. You remember all those meals I’ve made for you and your mother?”

Rai nodded, “Yes, and they are always perfect. Me and mum have no idea how you always make amazing food.” He spoke with sincerity.

Ms. Talvier puffed her chest out slightly, and spoke with a hint of pride in her voice, “Yes, you see, being a cook means you learn a lot about people’s palates. I used to work in a hotel in Aurum, as the head chef. The most important part of the food making process is the balance of the customer’s palate. If the main dish is savoury, then make dessert sweet, and provide a drink that cleanses that sweetness, but leaves a satisfying aftertaste. You have to make up the weakness by lowering the other side of the scales to balance them.”

Rai pondered for a moment. If I’ve been using lightning to augment my muscles, then what would happen if I augmented my eyes at the same time? Would I be able to see everything? Hold on, what if my thoughts can’t keep up? Perception... it’s a combination. The mind has to be augmented as well!

He figured it out. Rai had a joyous expression plastered on his face. He quickly realised that now wasn’t the time to yell in ecstasy, and spoke softly in response to Ms. T, “I noticed Dorothy at Townsend prepared her meals in the same way, if you've been there.” There was a kick of happiness in his voice.

Ms. Talvier nodded profusely, “Dorothy is a great cook, she worked under me in Aurum for a time, before she left for Acies to work alongside her husband.”

Rai only just realised what Ms. Talvier told him, “Wait, you and Dorothy both worked in Aurum? What was that like, what was the city like? I’ve always wanted to go but mum and Jin say I can’t until I’m older.”

Ms. Talvier sat back in her chair, reminiscing about her time in Aurum, but she tried to keep it short, “It was beautiful. The city is beautiful, the people are beautiful, and the food was beautiful. Do let me know when you go there, I might have a few friends who could help you out if you need it.”

Rai nodded. He wasn't so prideful that he wouldn't accept any future help he could possibly get, “Of course, thank you for the offer!”

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Ms. Talvier shook her head, “My pleasure. After all, if you’re going to go to the capital region of Zenith, then you should go well prepared. Rest here a while, I’ll make you a meal before you go. Take it back for your mother, will you?”

Rai knew better than to try to refuse, the will of an old lady who wanted to feed you was impossible to deny. Raising his hand to the back of his head, he smiled awkwardly, “Yes Ms. T, I’ll rest here while I wait for you to finish, if that’s alright.”

Ms. Talvier rose from her seat with a smile, “Wonderful! One 'balanced' meal coming right up.” She giggled at her own joke as she walked into her house.

Rai smiled as she went inside. An Aspect and the greatest warrior in Zenith can’t beat a chef.

He giggled like a child in what felt like ages.

 

---

 

Click!

Elira turned from the book she was reading beside Reiki to look at the door that just closed. “You’ve been gone a while, did you sneak off to meet with your demon girlfriend?” She winked at Rai.

Reiki rolled her eyes, “He’s only nine, and so is she, leave them be you deviant.” She said as she lightly shoved her sister.

Elira chuckled, “Alright alright, I was only teasing the boy.”

Rai felt like he owed them something of an explanation, “I went for a walk and ended up at Ms. Talvier’s house. She gave me this pot of ox-hoof stew.” He looked back down at the big pot of stew he'd left at the doorway, which somehow his mother and aunt didn’t take notice of until now.

Reiki shook her head and got up from her seat, walking toward Rai, “She always makes so much, and I never know how to repay her.” She wore a vest today, which revealed her toned arms as she took the stew from Rai into the kitchen.

I’m glad she’s getting back into shape. Rai thought about the year his mother went through a weird phase that she didn’t do any work at all, and seemed somewhat disconnected from the world. Jin didn’t say anything then, but Rai felt that something was definitely wrong. Right now, however, she seemed much better.

Elira looked at Rai, “How did you open the door with that massive pot?”

Rai shrugged, “Just used magic.”

Elira continued, “But I didn’t hear any... Oh I forgot, you don’t need to cast like the rest of us 'plebians'.” She spoke with sarcasm, but there was a hint of actual envy.

Rai chuckled, “I know, I’m just so great aren’t I.” He teased back.

Elira felt something was off, “Why are you so happy? Just a few hours ago you were almost as stressed as I was.”

Rai simply smiled, “I figured it out.”

Elira’s emerald eyes shone for a moment, then she jumped from her seat, dropping the book she was holding, “What. No way! Show me!”

Rai seemed to deflate just a little bit, “Weeeellll, I only figured it out, I haven’t actually tested it yet.”

Elira looked at him with narrowing eyes, then picked up her book and fixed the creases she just caused, “Okay go test it, then call me when you’ve done it.”

Rai nodded, “Yes ma’am!”

Reiki shouted from the kitchen, “No messing up the field again please! I still haven’t fixed it up from the last time.”

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