Elemental Gatherers Book 4 - Chapter One (Patreon)

 Light filtered in the window of his room, slowly drifting across Aiden’s face. When it reached my eyes, I woke with a start. The inn was quiet. Jon’s not here, I thought. I quickly got dressed, filled with an urgency to find my friends. I nearly ran down the stairs, grumbling internally about the third floor room. Rounding the corner into the main room, I had to jump backwards with a flash of Aether to avoid running into Mlody. 

“Oh, good morning sir,” she said, startled. 

“Good morning,” I said. “How are you?”

“Elements blessed,” she said. “My family was safe. Some of your friends are eating breakfast. I can bring you some?” 

“Yes, please,” I said. “Thank you.” 

“Anything for the Savior of Craesti City!” She said cheerfully, walking past me to the kitchen. The what? I thought, stunned for a second. I hurried into the tavern to find Jon, Ming, and Xiao sitting at a table drinking tea. 

“There he is,” Jon said. “The hero of the city.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. 

“Nearly everyone knows that you were critical to saving the city, though we’re all curious about the details,” Ming said. 

“What’d you do?” Xiao asked, his normal haughty tones changed to almost hero worship. “How’d you do anything to a Beast that strong?” Mlody walked up as he asked that, setting down a plate of crepes filled with fruit and meat and a cup of tea. She expertly replaced all the other’s water and placed another container of tea leaves in the middle of the table. When she was done, she sat down at the next table, turning her chair to face us. 

“You’re welcome to join us,” Jon said. “I bet you’re just as curious.”

“I’m fine, sir, but thank you,” she said. “I can get up easier from here to assist others if needed.”

“How do you all know I did anything?” I asked, drinking some of the tea. It tasted like flowers and sunshine, and the warmth seemed to spread from my stomach and energize me better than coffee ever did. “What is this and how do I get more?” I asked before anyone could answer me.

“That is Nengyuan Tea. I can get you some more. A bundle costs two silver, so it is expensive, but many swear by it,” Mlody said. “We know you’re the hero because the criers told us you were to be Knighted for saving the city.”

“It is going to be a spectacle,” Ming said, laughter in his voice. 

I put my face in my hands. “But I really didn’t do much,” I whined. “All I did was notice it wasn’t moving on its own. The creature was being pushed by the storm. When I pointed that out, Counselor Sila is the one who made the Formation that pushed it away.”

“Come on,” Jon said. “The full story.” He gave me puppy eyes. I laughed, then told them everything from when we were separated to collapsing into the bed last night.

“That was well done,” Ming said. 

Mlody was staring at him with wide eyes. “Wow,” she said, something odd in her voice.

Xiao laughed, and said, “Better be careful, Aiden. Vaya might get upset.” I looked at him confused. He indicated Mlody with a head bob, and I saw her staring at me with stars in her eyes. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. 

“So, what were you all doing while I was being a hero?” I asked them. 

“After you left, we continued to assist others,” Ming said. “A squad of the City Guard requested our assistance in evacuating civilians from the Primordials path. We were able to empty out a few residence buildings before we had to flee ourselves.”

“It was crazy,” Jon said. “The pressure from the creature made it hard to move at times. We had to focus on expanding our auras, instead of retracting them. So many people were injured by the creature’s mere presence.”

“Thankfully, young kids without a center seem to be nearly immune to gatherer’s and Beast’s auras. There were many old folk who did not live through the impact,” Mlody said softly, tears forming in her eyes. “My grandparents died.” 

Jon got up and approached her, kneeling down in front of her chair. “I am so sorry,” he said, “Please, let us know if we can do something to help.” 

She nodded, then got up from her chair. “Thank you, but I should get back to the kitchen. Thank you for being brave and helping,” she said with a bow. She turned and scurried off. 

We finished eating in silence. Could I have done more? Noticed it sooner? I thought. I knew something wasn’t right, but how? Mlody came back and quietly placed a large jug of water down, before giving us a smile and leaving. Ming poured the water out, which is when I noticed that it was steaming. 

“Is that hot?” I asked.

“Yes. The jug is Inscribed to keep the contents hot,” he said, pointing to the side. I hadn’t noticed initially, but there were runes over part of it. 

“Huh, neat,” I said, then poured more of the tea. My caffeine addiction had died months ago, and I knew it was all mental anyway, but this stuff was the nectar of the Elements. After a few more minutes, the girls came down at nearly the same time. 

Jamila came and sat right next to me. “So much death,” she said quietly. I wrapped her shoulders with my arm, pulling her close. Vaya grabbed another chair and shoved it between Jon and me, while Bridget did the same between Jon and Xiao. Anberlin took the spot next to Ming. They all seemed to feel the mood, though, and didn’t say anything more.

Mlody came bustling out with cups of tea, then quickly left again. She seemed too embarrassed to look at Jon, which resulted in a narrow-eyed glare from Bridget at the young man. She shortly returned with plates of food and another hot water pitcher. We continued to eat in silence, taking comfort in everyone’s presence. Even Nicolai had the grace to not make any snide comments when he showed up, just taking his food and sitting off to one side. 

Ten minutes later, everyone had eaten and drank at least two cups of the tea, when Counselor Sila brushed in the door. “Good, you are all awake. Go, get dressed in the finest items you have. Aiden, put this on,” he said, tossing a package at him. Aiden stood and caught it, wavering slightly. “You need to look your best to represent Azyl City and Academy. Quickly now, we must leave in twenty minutes.” He shooed us up the stairs. 

Jon and I hurried to our room. Jon dove into his bag, trying to find the nice tunic he’d bought before coming. I opened the package to find a long tunic made of a deep blue fiber that shimmered in the morning light. A Crimson Zarorzel was depicted in brilliant color on the left breast, rising over the Water Serpent crest of Azyl City. I pulled it on, then dug out a clean pair of pants to go underneath it.

“Dude, did you look at the gifts yet?” Jon asked through his tunic.

“I opened the box,” I said. 

“You need to actually examine them before we leave. What if the King asks you about them? What would people think that you didn’t immediately look at a gift the King gave you for purportedly saving the capital?” Jon asked. 

“Uh, good point,” I said. I walked over to the desk and opened the box again. Inside sat the two memory stones that I remembered. I pulled one out to find another compartment under them. Inside it, there was a bottle with eight pills and a folded piece of paper. The paper read,

Aiden, your service to Us in our time of need has not gone unnoticed. We have gifted you these tokens to enable you to grow stronger. In Our time of need, We know you will stand with us. Your service, now and in the future, will greatly benefit all mankind. In the memory stones, you will find a new gathering technique, the Meridian Runic Spiral Technique, which builds upon the simpler Spiral Technique you already know. The other stone is a level ten Lightning, Air, and Fire Core Rune, which you should use to replace the Lightning Core Rune you already have. It will increase your gathering speed tremendously. Once you have learned these, return the stones to your Counselor. The pills are Density Focused Aether Condensation Pills. Seek out your Counselors before you take these, as they have very specific requirements that must be met, or you will not gain their benefit. I look forward to learning more about where you came from.

His Majesty,

King Markus Craesti

“Well, that’s cool,” I said, then explained what was on the stones. 

“Wow,” Jon said. “You’ll have to use those stones right away. Then try and teach us the gathering technique, like you did the Spiral one.”

“Only once you’ve all mastered the Spiral Gathering Technique,” I said. “If this one builds on it, you need to be at the top of your game to learn it. You should see about getting better Core Runes soon too, not just the new ones Counselor Whynn gave us.”

“I’ll ask Counselor Sila how we can earn those,” Jon said. “But now, we need to go. Time to go watch you get knighted!” Jon grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the door. We rushed down the stairs. As we turned the corner on the second level, we saw Ming and Xiao step out of their room. They were wearing sky-blue tunics with a stylized sword as their symbol, again above the Water Serpent crest. Ming nodded at me, and they followed us to the tavern. Nicolai and Zhin were standing next to a table, each in their house colors. Counselor Sila had changed into a black robe, with an open book in silver as his crest.

“Good,” he said as we entered. “Now we are just waiting on the girls.” Unlike on Earth, at least in my small amount of experience, we didn’t have to wait long. Anberlin led them in, wearing a gorgeous red gown that stretched to her ankles. It hugged her curves, though not indecently, and left her arms bare while covering her shoulders. The rest of the girls filed in, all wearing similar dresses in a variety of colors. Vaya and Bet were in the purple of Ice Aether, Bridget and Lea were in the same black the Counselor Sila wore, and Jamila was in the dark green of Wood Aether. I’m fairly certain my jaw wasn’t the only one to hit the floor when they walked in. 

“You all look as lovely as a sunset,” Ming said with a bow. 

“Thank you, Ming,” Bet said, then turned to Counselor Sila. “Sir, how are we to travel to the ceremony?”

“Your carriages await,” Counselor Sila said with a flourish. Outside, the same carriages we rode in on had pulled up, but they were decorated with banners for Azyl City and Azyl Academy on both sides. A footman stepped off the back of the front carriage and opened the door. 

“First tiers, into the front carriage please. The others are in the second carriage. Chop chop,” Headmaster Glav said, speaking from inside the transport. Counselor Sila waved and headed to the second carriage. Vaya not so subtly pushed me forward, so I ended up leading everyone into the vehicle. “Congratulations Aiden,” she said. “You have done us proud. Though the others will be awarded for their deeds.” 

“Thank you ma’am,” I said. Something tickled the back of my neck, and I jumped forward into the seat next to her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, unfazed with my awkward motion.

“Uh, yes ma’am,” I said. “Librarian Narwan wouldn’t perchance be here as well, would he?” Vaya, the second in line, gave me a questioning look when Headmaster Glav burst into laughter.

“Come out, old fool,” she said, still giggling slightly, “he sensed you. Are you getting senile?”

“Bah,” Librarian Narwan said, “no. He is using those techniques I gave him subconsciously now. Good.” He turned to face me. “You sensed me, even though I was not planning on actually attacking. Even I would not mess up your clothes before going in front of the king! Humph.” 

“Yes Master,” I said, bowing from my seat. “Thank you for instructing me.” Old fool, heh, I thought, smiling. 

“Wipe that smile off your face,” he said, glaring. “That just means you will have to be on your toes afterwards, hmm?” I nodded, gulping down a bad taste in my mouth. 

“Sir,” Jamila asked, taking the attention off me, “Will you be staying to watch the tournament?”

“Of course, girl, I need to be there to mentor my disciple and his team. Plus the rest of you, if I have time,” he said. 

“Do you know what the format will be?” Xiao asked excitedly. 

“Yes,” he said imperiously, “of course I do.” He then fell silent and looked out the window. 

I could see Xiao pause before he said something rash, then he asked, “Can you tell us about it?”

“No,” Librarian Narwan declared. That stopped conversation for a second. 

Xiao looked plaintively at Headmaster Glav, who shook her head. “We cannot tell you what the exact format is. You will be divided into three four-person teams to compete. Ming, Xiao, Lea, you will gain Jamila as your fourth. Aiden, Jon, Bridget, Vaya, your team will compete together. That leaves Anberlin, Nicolai, Zhin, and Bet to be the third team. After the ceremony and reception, you will be returned to the inn to change. Be ready for a training session. I will instruct Anberlin’s team. Counselor Sila will instruct Ming’s team, and Librarian Narwan will instruct Aiden’s team. Good luck with that,” she said with a grin. Librarian Narwan scowled at her, then winked at me. I wasn’t sure whether to be excited, or scared. 

“Ma’am,” Jon asked, “How many teams total are there?”

“Kyrian Academy sent two teams, and is the smallest group. Our group of three is tied for next smallest with (Name of peninsula city) Academy. (Far coast) Academy sent four teams, and the Capital has five,” she answered. “Additionally, the United Sects managed to pull together two teams, and the Union of Merchants has raised a team as well.”

“How many are going to move on?” I asked her. “You know, to Monster Island.”

“Three teams,” she said. “Each nation gets to send three teams at the Initial Condensation level to Monster Island for their tournament.”

“Do you know what the prizes are for each tournament?” Nicolai asked, the first words he’d spoken all day.

“Yes,” Headmaster Glav answered. “Though you’ll have to wait to hear them. The King would be cross with me if I stole his Aether.” Huh, that’s a saying I haven’t heard before, I thought.

We spent the next ten minutes just looking at the city, talking about seeing the king, and making guesses about what the prizes could be. Most of the area we passed had escaped damage, though I noticed several places where windows had been shattered. We took a small detour, though, and came across a path of destruction. “That Beast only used a ranged technique three times,” Headmaster Glav said. “Each time to retaliate against a Core-level gatherer who attacked it. Every one of its attacks killed hundreds, if not thousands of people. Those gatherers thought they were helping, but only got themselves and many others killed. Remember that,” Headmaster Glav cautioned. The boisterous conversation halted, and we spent the last five minutes of the ride in introspection. Thankfully, the line wasn’t enormous, but we could see where buildings had been flattened. We crossed the damaged area quickly, and returned to near-normalcy after it.

The last road leading to the Tower was a magnificent broad boulevard, with massive trees in the center between the roads. Both sides were lined with elegant manors, ornate shops, or fancy restaurants. The wealth of the kingdom was on display. We continued down it for nearly a mile before Jon pointed out a crowd of people filling the park in between the two roads. “Admirers,” he said with a laugh. “Here for you.”

We got closer and I could see hundreds of people pointing at the carriage. I stuck my arm out through the window and waved. The cheering that resulted from that action was like a wall of sound. “All that, for me?” I asked softly, not meaning to speak aloud. 

“You are a shopkeepers son about to be elevated to the nobility,” Headmaster Glav said, “and heralded as savior of the city. To the lower classes, you’ve become a symbol of hope and potential.”

“It was only a fluke,” Nicolai grumbled under his breath. “Stupid peasant.” Jon went to say something but I waved him off. Not worth it, don’t respond to the idiocy. We drew closer and closer to the Tower, the clothes on the cheering crowd gradually got nicer. The last hundred meters were empty of people, a small line of black-cloaked guards keeping everyone away. The road terminated into a large square, and where the park ended was a large stage. 

The carriages stopped, and Headmaster Glav got out first. I followed behind her at an imperious gesture, then had to hold myself back from running over. I waved at my parents, who were standing near the stairs up to the stage. “Ma, Pa!” I yelled, and they waved back. 

“Go on,” Headmaster Glav said. 

I bowed to her then ran over and enveloped Ma in a hug. “I’m so glad to see you,” I told them. 

“Us too,” Ma said. “So, you are a hero again? And who is this?”  I turned to find Vaya and Jamila walking up, while Headmaster Glav shooed everyone else to designated locations for our group. 

“Uh, Ma, Pa, this is Volkov Vaya, and Naanva Jamila,” I introduced them, deciding to go with Vaya first because she was slightly in front of Jamila. “Uh, Jamila, Vaya, this is my mother Kupiec Elena, and my father Kupiec Jordan.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Vaya said with a smile. 

Jamila echoed her and said, “we are happy to finally get a chance to meet,” finishing with a small glare at me. I shrugged sheepishly at her, before turning to see Headmaster Glav giving me a giant cheeky grin. I narrowed my eyes at her, which only caused her to laugh out loud. 

“Come on, son,” Pa said. “Let us leave your mother to get to know your friends?” He ended the sentence on a questioning note.

“Uh, maybe more, but not yet,” I said. “It’s complicated.”

“Uh huh, sure it is, son,” he said. “Heart wants what it wants. Best not to get in the way.” 

“Unfortunately, I’ve got to save the world,” I said. “No time for romance.”

“If you do not take time for yourself, you will burn out well before you can possibly grow enough to save the world,” Pa said. “And you can only grow that way with friends and family behind and beside you. Do not forget, we are on this world and want to save it too. Your inventions have let us make a huge amount of money, so we can help provide resources for you to grow. Your mentor, Librarian Narwan, asked that we spend some time in the next few days teaching you Inscriptions. He said he wants to see what you can do with more knowledge.” 

“I can’t wait,” I said. We chatted for a bit about their trip, as they’d only just arrived in the Capital. They didn't get to see the Jellyfish of Doom, as I was calling it in my head, for which I was grateful. It meant they were safe. After a few minutes of chatting, Headmaster Glav walked up.