Amelia Thornheart Seventy-Seven: Spoken Secrets

Seventy-Seven: Spoken Secrets

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Serena woke to an unfamiliar ceiling in an unfamiliar bed. What was familiar, however, was the warm body of Alia pressing against her. She was sleeping soundly, so Serena took a while to enjoy the sensation of her girlfriend’s chest rising and falling against her back. It was a comfortable pressure that brought with it a satisfying feeling of warmth and strangely enough, safety.

Her mind felt refreshed and free of burden. The layers of stress that had built up repeatedly over the last month from her military obligations, academy duties, and studying for the commodore exam had vanished entirely. Even with Alia frequently healing Serena, the ntal strain would return the sa day.

Was this newfound clarity… due to last night’s activities?

No! Surely not! What kind of indecent woman would that make Serena, if she were the type to destress through such… actions? Although she naturally rejected that, Serena could admit to herself that she felt so level of pride. After all, Alia was sleeping like a babe, exhausted and entirely satisfied by Serena’s extensive punishnt.

Is this what a man feels like, after…? Serena thought, quickly pushing the topic out of her mind and refocusing on ntal revision of fleet tactics and logistics. She remained absorbed in her thoughts while the room progressively brightened as natural light diffused through the paper windows and doors.

Not long later, the Asamaywa bell towers began their early morning cries. It was Saturday - the day of Katalin’s weekend session. While a part of Serena wanted to remain in bed, sharing warmth with her girlfriend, she knew the Northern swordmaster would be returning to the North soon, and every session was a trendous benefit to both Serena’s and Alia’s training.

With the exception of the cancelled session imdiately after the Asamaywa fire, Serena and Alia reliably attended every one. Katalin’s sessions were split into two parts; the first was a more standard training session attended by perhaps two dozen of the academy’s staff, while the second was relentless, consisting of intense dueling and simulated situations that pushed those that remained to their limits.

Along with Serena, only those with a strong yellow aura could keep up. Other than her and Alia, the only instructors reliably attending the second part of the session were Ryosuke, Nathaniel, and Joey. Alia struggled, but that was only due to her minimising the use of healing magic to keep herself going. Her girlfriend had beco quite accustod to pushing herself through difficult experiences, and while she didn’t have the mindset of a soldier, she’d matured greatly over her ti at the academy.

Not to ntion, Alia’s body had even built a little muscle, putting the sensation of her body sowhere between firm and soft in a way that Serena was secretly delighted about.

And the arms of that body were now squeezing her tight.

“Morning, Ren,” Alia mumbled before yawning loudly.

“You knew I was awake?”

“I know how you breathe when you sleep,” Alia replied, nuzzling into Serena’s back. “Wow, now I’ve said that, it sounds creepy, doesn’t it? Here…” Alia invoked her magic, healing and cleaning them both. “Katalin’s session today, right? She ntioned she would do sothing special.” Alia yawned again, likely more out of habit than any morning tiredness - the latter of which would have been obliterated by her spellwork.

Alia sat up while Serena rotated onto her back. She idly moved her hand and lightly rubbed Alia’s back, running her fingers through her silky golden hair. “No coffee here,” Alia said quietly. She turned her head down towards Serena and asked, “Should we-” Alia stopped talking, suddenly looking away. “Uh, should we get coffee on the way?”

“Yeah, and so food,” Serena replied. “We can walk slow…” She felt herself frown. “Lia?”

“Mmm?” Alia humd, looking away.

“Look at ,” Serena requested, her mouth curling with amusent. Alia was quiet for a few seconds before turning to face Serena, revealing a flushed face. Not only that, but Alia found it challenging to et Serena’s gaze. “Oh?” Serena asked. “What’s made you so timid?”

“I’m not timid!” Alia exclaid, puffing her cheeks out. “It’s just…”

“Just?”

“I rembered…” Alia chewed her lip. “Last night…” Her voice beca extrely quiet. “It was so much more than you’d done before…” Her girlfriend giggled. “You haven’t treated like that since that ti we got drunk in Kenhoro! It was overwhelming…” Alia looked away again. “But also really nice…”

“Ha!” Serena laughed. So that was all she had to do to reverse the deck against Alia!? For months she’d accepted a relationship where Alia would relentlessly try and make Serena blush with her lewd complints and requests. Only now, it was Alia on the backfoot and Serena relishing her victory!

All it took was a night-long aura-enhanced assault against her girlfriend’s senses!

“Well,” Serena couldn’t stop herself grinning. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? Have to make up for lost ti, don’t we?”

“You…” Alia rolled her eyes, “Look so smug right now.”

“I’ve been taught by a master of smugness, after all!” Serena reached out, pulling Alia into a hug. They held each other for a while before agreeing to get moving. They quickly dressed, helping each other adjust their kimonos. They would have to stop by their rooms in the academy to get into their uniforms before going to the session.

Suddenly, Serena’s enhanced ears picked up the sound of soone knocking; not at the door to the house, but at the unstaffed gate at the estate entrance. The individual knocked out, before calling out Alia’s na.

Serena sighed. She was concerned it might be a friend or an acquaintance of Lord Kanamori, but it was neither of those things.

What was he doing here, so early?

“As Head of House Thornheart, why don’t you go and greet your first ever visitor?” Serena offered. “I’ll co out in a bit.”

“Mmm! Sure!” Alia nodded happily, her golden hair rising and falling in waves. The wards surrounding the building were released as Alia bounced out of the room and down the gravel path winding through the well-kept gardens.

Serena tied her hair, only moving after she sensed Alia cast more magic.

She followed after Alia, quickly reaching the gate where she found a very annoyed-looking man knee-deep in the entryway of the estate. Alia’s earth magic had made him sink, trapping him completely.

“I rembered!” Alia declared proudly, putting her hands on her hips as she twirled to face Serena. “To put him in the ground! Rember?” Alia turned back to the trapped man, lecturing, “This is what you get when you make plans behind our backs! Hmm!? Are you sorry now, Aiden!?”

“...I wasn’t the one who made the plans…” Aiden countered, his voice exasperated. “Besides, look!” He held a suspiciously bottle-shaped gift in one hand. “I bought a house-warming gift! Ah, can you let up? I can feel dirt getting into my shoes…”

Ignoring his complaints, Alia grinned and took the gift.

“A house-warming gift?” Serena questioned.

“It’s a popular tradition in Centralis,” Aiden explained as he slowly sank further into the ground. “And I haven’t t Alia since Kenhoro so I thought it would be appropriate!” His voice sped up as the stone reached his thighs. “Alia, can we do sothing about this?”

“Oh!” Alia bead, ripping open the gift. “It’s loqua! Blue!” Alia showed the expensive bottle to Serena before turning to Aiden. “Bribe accepted! You’ll live for now, Aiden!”

“Give that,” Serena instructed, taking the bottle from Alia. There was no way that Aiden the Drunk would willingly give up a whole bottle of loqua. As it turned out, she was right. “He’s already drunk a third!” Serena exclaid, pointing out the level of liquid to Alia. “You idiot!” she said, chastising Aiden. “Who paid for this? Intelligence? Are you planning to drink all the diplomatic gifts you give? Alia…” she intoned, making herself frown and seem serious. “It’s bad luck to have your first guest be a man controlled by greed and alcohol. Better bury him completely. We’ll tell the Old Guard we never saw him.”

“Mmm!” Alia crossed her arms, nodding. “It was nice knowing you, Aiden. We’ll drink to your mory!”

“No! Wait!” Aiden cried as he sank to his waist. “I have your deploynt orders!”

He stopped sinking.

Alia looked at Serena with an expression that said, “Should we bury him anyway?”

Serena shook her head. “I suppose he can live a little longer.” She snapped her fingers. “Let’s see them, then.”

Aiden fished a thin, sealed letter from his pocket and handed it to Serena. The envelope was addressed to Captain Serena Halen and sealed with the sigil of the Imperial Navy. She tore it open. There was only one piece of paper, and it didn’t take her long to find the important part.

As she read it, she frowned. She was to take the Southern Passage west to the Southern Terra Firma and make land at Ishaq, where she would then receive information about her next destination. The orders gave no information about what she was supposed to be doing other than travelling. They only clarified she was to establish her elite team of recruits by the sester's end.

If… if Ishaq wasn’t the true destination, were they going to have to traverse the Arakian Desert? Lift engines didn’t work over the red sand of the Southern Terra Firma nor was there any rail network - the local wildlife made it impossible to maintain. The residents of the south had to either walk the sands or ride animals.

“W-what’s our destination!” Alia asked, bouncing on her toes.

“Secret,” Serena answered, folding the paper and putting it back in the envelope. “What?” she asked, seeing Alia frown. “These are military orders and you are a civilian. You’ll find out our destination when the rest of the crew does.” Despite their relationship and closeness, there were still lines she shouldn’t cross.

“Fine!” Alia pouted, but didn’t chase the matter. “Can you at least tell if it’s sowhere different?”

“Maybe,” Serena answered, giving Alia a sly smile. “On a different subject,” she said, eyeing the half-buried Intelligence officer. “How did you know she was here? No one followed us here.” Serena had been extra careful the night before, flaring her aether to make sure there wasn’t anyone lurking around any corners. With Alia’s wards of privacy they should have been invisible to the world.

“Ah,” Aiden mumbled. “You were seen walking into this area, and given Alia’s recent acquisition - congratulations by the way - it was easy to figure out where you both were. Now, if that’s all your questions…” Aiden’s voice took on a hint of annoyance. “Can you please release ! I want to die surrounded by expensive liquor and elegant won, not buried underneath so noble's estate!”

Alia giggled. “Okay!” she exclaid. Monts later, Aiden was standing on solid ground. Alia's cleaning magic took care of everything before he could complain about the state of his clothes. Before he could thank her, Alia leapt forward and hugged the man.

“Long ti no see!” Alia stepped back. “Did you hear about becoming a saint? Want to celebrate after? I doubt we’ll have a chance to drink much while sailing to wherever!”

Empress save , Serena thought. She’s worse than him!

While Alia and Aiden caught up, they walked towards the academy. They stopped at a nearby coffee shop, where Alia brought them all a cup of steaming Jimari coffee. They found a stall selling wraps and Alia was happy to see they sold a wrap filled with choco at and a tangy cream sauce.

They arrived at the academy shortly after finishing their breakfast. Aiden bade them farewell, but before he left, Alia healed him, citing how haggard he looked. Serena had to agree. Intelligence was putting Aiden through an accelerated course on fieldwork to get him up to speed before they left. He told them he was averaging four hours of sleep.

“I…” Aiden mumbled after the golden light died down. “It really is amazing… your magic I an.” He looked at Serena. “You’re blessed, to be able to access this ability whenever you want… Seven hells, now that I really look, it’s made you younger hasn’t it? You look like you’re in your mid-twenties! That’s crazy…” He shook his head. “No one would suspect that you’re really-”

“See you later, Aiden,” Serena said, clicking her tongue and guiding Alia through the academy entrance.

“B-bye!” Alia said with a wave.

“I can’t believe he’s coming with us,” Serena said once they were alone. “Hope he can adjust to life on a ship.” As she said that, she rembered sothing about Aiden. Didn’t he once tell her he got terribly airsick?

He would be okay… wouldn’t he?

“I’ll see you there,” Serena said. She returned to her quarters, changed into her instructor uniform and walked to the training hall. She lingered outside until Alia appeared before entering together.

Katalin, as usual, was there. She was warming herself up, seemingly not paying attention to them, but Serena knew the highlord’s senses were sharp. Sothing about the Northern demon made her want to be better. Feeling herself almost unconsciously straighten her posture, Serena collected her training sword and began warming up with Alia.

The first session was, as expected, intense but manageable. While a few less experienced warriors had to step out occasionally to rest, the remainder powered through. Katalin took them through exercises, one of which involved forming groups of eight, where one person would stand in the middle of a circle ford by the rest of their group.

They would then take turns attacking the defender in the middle, who would need to adapt and counter. At first, the attacks were prescribed and done sequentially in a clockwise order. Then, changes were made to slowly make things more difficult for the defender in the middle.

The first change was the requirent that they had to counter using a different strike each ti. Then, the attack order was changed to be random, forcing the defender to rely on their instincts and aura-enhanced stances. Next, the attacks were no longer prescribed, allowing the attacker full freedom on how to conduct their assault, requiring the defender to react instantaneously to a slash or stab targeting anywhere on their body. The final change was that there was no longer any restriction on how many people could attack at once.

That last rule essentially turned it into a brawl.

Serena was defending, and when Katalin barked the order to begin, she flared her aura into a bright yellow, slipping past the defense of a junior instructor's orange and throwing him at the rest of the group. She twisted out of the circle, parrying an incoming blade away before kicking sand in the faces of her attackers. She didn’t stop and give them a chance to organise themselves, she struck, kicked, punched and tripped everyone she could, striking as often as possible and only defending when necessary.

Katalin’s prior lessons on fighting groups ford the basis of her actions.

Even as Serena moved, she couldn’t help but consider how much real combat experience the highlord had. How Katalin handled herself, how she moved, how she explained martial concepts… the rumours that she lived a reclusive life in her father’s estate couldn’t be true.

Serena fought desperately for another few seconds before Ryosuke managed to overwhelm her, tripping and putting her on the floor. He wiped sand from his face while keeping his sword tip against Serena’s chest.

“That was so excellent defending, Instructor Halen,” he intoned. “It’s been a while since I’ve been punched in the face in a swordfight.” He shook his head. “If you fight like this on the battlefield… I fear the next fool to challenge you.”

Katalin called for them to stop and, after checking that no one was seriously injured, had soone else stand in the middle. This cycle of chaos, with a brief respite, continued for half an hour. Sotis, the defenders got overwheld imdiately, but other tis, they replicated Serena’s aggressiveness and focused on escaping the circle first.

Alia did alright, considering her lack of experience. She managed to block a few attacks and even counter before the group overwheld her with their yellow and bright orange auras. By now, Alia’s partners no longer held back against her red aura; they understood that the layers of wards she had backing it made her more than a match for their yellow. Even so, Alia’s footwork kept letting her down, exposing her to strikes she should have been out of range of.

As the exercise continued, everyone was tested to the limit. The repeated flaring of aether and quick rounds built up, and soon Serena, along with everyone else, was dripping with sweat and panting heavily. After the third person collapsed, Katalin called it quits.

“Second part! Five minutes!” she declared.

Despite the impolite nature of the sound, half the room groaned in relief.

“Praise the fell gods…”

“It was like I was on the battlefield again!”

“Greasy. I need to eat sothing greasy…”

“I’m going to nap before my afternoon class…”

While the majority quickly left the training hall, Serena and Alia joined up with the usual suspects; Ryosuke, Nathaniel, and Joey.

“I fear I may need to ask for healing if the second session follows the sa intensity…” Joey mumbled, rolling his shoulders. “Although, don’t you think we’ve improved?”

After a short discussion they all agreed that if Katalin had run that session early on in the sester, they wouldn’t have made it through. As difficult as it was, these sessions were making everyone involved stronger. It was a type of training that Serena didn’t have access to under her regular duties. The Vengeance wasn’t a suitable location for such intensity.

Katalin ca over, prompting Serena, along with everyone else, to straighten their backs.

“I’ve been enjoying these sessions,” Katalin mused. “It is a sha, but with the war ending I have new obligations in the North. The next session will be the last, understand?” She blinked, her purple eyes radiating sothing. Regret, perhaps?

Ryosuke recovered from the sudden declaration first. “It’s been a great honour to host you, Highlord Driss.” He bowed deeply. “Your skill has reinvigorated my competitive side. One day, we’ll cross blades again and I’ll show the result of my effort.”

The others murmured their agreent, thanking Katalin for her ti.

“I am most proud of you,” Katalin intoned, turning towards Alia. “Rarely have I seen a human grow so fast. You have talent, mmm?”

“Ah…” Alia’s posture collapsed slightly, and she twiddled her thumbs. “Thank you, but… I always lose when my opponents get serious,” she said. “But I’ll improve! I promise!”

“Don’t compare your experience against these instructors, understand?” Katalin gestured to Serena and the others. “They have the experience of the battlefield, and decades of practice, yes? You can survive against them longer than most people who have wielded the sword for ten years can. It is… a good sign.” Katalin nodded approvingly.

“Thanks!” Alia smiled, adding, “But it’s only because my wards enhance my abilities. I don’t think I could take more than a few hits if I only used my aura!”

By Serena’s estimation, while Alia’s first-circle wards were as powerful as a normal mage's third-circle wards, her red aura, despite its magnitude, was about the sa as a normal warrior's deep orange. That alone was outstanding, and Serena was certain once Alia had spent several more months refining her aura it would hold against most warriors’ yellow.

“There is nothing wrong with using one talent to help develop another,” Katalin explained. “Using your strength to develop your weakness is common sense, yes?”

“Mmm!” Alia humd. “I an, yes, Highlord Driss!”

“We’ll focus on ditation and expelling aether for the first half of the second part,” Karalin explained. “Alia, you can Speak with elegance, yes?” Seeing Alia tilt her head, Katalin rephrased. “You might know it as Speaking silently.”

“Oh! I can, yes,” Alia nodded.

“Show us,” Katalin instructed.

“N-now?”

“Yes.”

“Umm… okay,” Alia said with a nod. She took a few steps back and closed her eyes.

“Pay attention,” Katalin commanded. “The first step is to cycle your aether. By definition, a warrior’s convection of aether cannot remove it from the body, understand? Alia is heavily cloaked, but you can still sense so of her aetherflow, yes? Notice it’s thick when it leaves her body, but most of it is prevented from coming back in? This is what you must copy. Once your body is empty of aether, except what is required to keep your aura or wards running, then you can Speak.” Katalin cleared her throat. “Alia, a First-Word if you could.”

Serena internally frowned. Why had Katalin said ‘First-Word’ and not a ‘Word’. Did she already know Alia was a Second-Word Speaker? Glancing at her fellow instructors, it seed they hadn’t noticed the Northerner’s phrasing, instead their attention was focused entirely on Alia. Serena kept her eyes on her girlfriend, but her mind kept thinking. Did she know Alia Spoke Asclepius? Did she know she Spoke Suijin? No one had seen Katalin when the fire was raging, but, given her skill, was it possible she was hiding and observing?

“Aseco,” Alia Spoke, producing a small ripple in the aetherfield that kicked up a few tufts of sand. With the Word Spoken, Alia’s hair began to shine even more than normal. Her skin radiated a warming golden glow, with subtle flecks of blue dancing here and there, and her crimson eyes beca a brilliant blue, an effect that would last until Alia released her Word.

“Hells,” Ryosuke muttered. “I fought a Vatican highpriest during the battle for Gelre, and I thought they were a talented Speaker and mage… but this is sothing else…”

“I’m not sure our Lunaria could Speak so cleanly,” Nathaniel said, a hint of wonder in his voice.

“Did any of you even feel it?” Joey asked, shaking his head. “If one of our strategic aetherscopes was focused in on her, I still don’t think they would know she Spoke at all!”

At first, Serena was amused at how surprised they were by Alia before she realised that they just didn’t know. It was one thing coming to terms with Alia’s unusual talent as a mage and budding swordsmanship, but to witness her mastery over the First-Word was another thing entirely. Serena had simply adapted to how powerful and capable Alia was.

A year ago, Serena had only seen Second-Word embodints in photographs.

Now, she’d seen three of them in person. Two of them were Spoken by Alia!

She’d even ridden the first one!

“The walls here are thick,” Katalin began. “They can handle a loud Speaker, yes?” Seeing Ryosuke nod, she continued. “Spend the next thirty minutes practicing emptying yourself of aether. Afterwards, we will see if those efforts pay off. And…” Katalin trailed off, looking at Alia.

Alia was looking at Katalin, her eyes slightly wide. Serena realised Alia had been looking at Katalin since she Spoke. Had she seen sothing with her Speaker-level of perception? Had she looked at Katalin's soul through the Shimr? Perhaps the Northener possessed a blessing that Alia had noticed.

“S-sorry,” Alia stuttered. “I’ll, um, just…” Alia swallowed and released her Word, returning to her usual golden self. Alia smiled nervously at Katalin. “I’ll begin my practice now…”

“No,” Katalin shook her head. “You are experienced in this thod, yes? It’s better to assist others, providing advice where possible. You’ve been assisting the trainee officers in this manner, haven’t you?” Katalin paused montarily, adding, “Don’t share too much information. As a talented mage, you’ve had experiences these warriors have not. If you tell them all your secrets too quickly, they won’t understand. Not yet, anyway. Understand?”

Alia was silent for a few seconds, but eventually nodded in agreent.

She’s acting strange, Serena thought. She’d have to ask her about it later.

The session on aether control began and it quickly beca apparent who had experience with cycling aether. Alia, with her natural talent, was at the top of the pecking order. Ryosuke was the next best, apparently able to expel nearly ninety per cent of his aether. Nathaniel followed at eighty per cent, with Serena trailing him at a re forty per cent. Lastly, Joey could barely cycle his aether at all, expelling perhaps one or two per cent.

“As you can see,” Joey explained sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. “Becoming a warrior was the easier path for .”

“Your word is Taruna, yes?” Katalin asked. “Taruna Speakers have difficulty with this task. It’s quite normal. What you lack here, I am sure you make up for in defense, yes?”

“Yes,” Joey nodded. “Under Taruna, I never faltered no matter what struck my shield.”

“Have you invoked her in this room before?”

“Yes. The walls hold fine as long as I’m in the center.”

“We’ll do that, then.” Katalin nodded, before clapping her hands. “Gather around!”

Serena clambered to her feet, hurrying over. Katalin explained that they would each take turns stepping into the center of the room, invoking their Word, and moving to the side. Once everyone had Spoken, she would join them and the training would begin.

“I will try and reach Alia, yes?” Katalin asked, explaining the format. “If my blade touches her once, I win. You will all try to stop . We will keep our auras blue since there are so many of us, and I don’t want to deal with the hassle from the grandmaster if I break this room’s walls, understand?”

At her words, sounds of amusent rippled through the group. It hadn’t been ntioned explicitly, but everyone knew Alia and Katalin got dressed down in the grandmaster’s office.

“Question!” Alia chirped. “If I’m under Aseco, can I give them enhancents? Many wards under his branch improve a warrior's abilities!”

“Yes,” Katalin answered. “But you cannot heal the others, unless it is a serious injury. Or attack yourself,” the Northerner said with a smile. “I don’t want to be hit by any of his holy lightning, understand?”

“Understood!”

“Ryosuke, you’re up first.”

At Katalin’s order, they retreated to one side of the room, leaving Ryosuke in the centre. After taking a mont to expel his aether, he ford his Word. Unlike Alia, who could Speak almost perfectly silently, Ryosuke wasn’t quite there, causing the atmosphere to hum in quiet anticipation. Serena knew Ryosuke Yamamoto as a dual-Speaker. He was a known Speaker of Narean, but no one knew his second Word.

“Narean,” he Spoke, blasting away the air and sand within half a dozen ters, enough to plaster Serena and everyone else with a thin layer of debris, temporarily blocking their vision.

The first thing she noted was the temperature drop. Ryosuke’s Narean was not of hellfire like Serena’s. It was of frostbite. His horns were covered in a layer of blue ice that kept cracking off in large pieces, only to float up and vanish into nothing. His skin took on an ethereal sheen and, through his now-green aura, Serena could see sothing resembling mirrored scales. Unlike the hellfire variant of Narean, he had no trace of black wings, but a cool wind constantly flowed around him, subtly rippling his uniform.

“Was hoping you would surprise us,” Nathaniel said, clapping his hands. “Still, your Narean is as impressive as ever. Just the other day you were saying you were getting old!”

Serena found herself nodding. It was an impressive Narean, far beyond her own capabilities. Seeing it, she had no doubt Ryosuke was capable of the sixth aura - indigo. So gods, like Narean, had several communable forms. Narean offered a hellfire and frostbite form, but other gods varied. Serena didn’t know any martial gods that offered more than two, but knew so of the mage Words had three or more.

“Thank you, friend,” Ryosuke intoned, his voice misting with aether. “I will wait for you,” he said, bowing and walking to the side opposite them.

“Nathaniel,” Katalin commanded.

“Yes,” he answered, stepping out and into the center of the room. He stood still for a while, expelling as much aether as he could before forming and invoking his Word.

“Longinus,” he Spoke.

A pressure wave slamd into Serena, enough to make her take a step back. The room filled with sand and the crackling of lightning filled the air. Once the sand died down, she saw Nathaniel standing tall. His eyes and hair had yellowed, and his horns crackled with electricity. Like the Greatlord of Kenhoro, Lei Gong, Nathaniel was powerful enough for lightning sparks to constantly vaporise the nearby sand particles. His skin was cracked, but in those cracks she saw lightning and not blood. It didn’t seem to hurt him at all.

“Excellent!” Joey called out. “But I still know you’re hiding another Word, Nathaniel!”

“Forgive for being boring,” Nathaniel bowed and moved to the side next to the ice-cold Ryosuke.

“Serena,” Katalin intoned.

“Yes,” Serena answered. As she walked to the centre of the room, she wondered why Katalin was referring to them so informally. Perhaps the highlord felt that titles were not necessary if they were going to do sothing as personal as train their Words together.

Standing in the centre, Serena glanced at Alia, who mouthed the words "Good luck!" back. Closing her eyes, she cycled her aether, encouraging it to leave her body and trying to restrict the flow back in. Despite her original talent in earth magic when she was younger, the years of focusing on martial arts had made her rusty.

It took her five minutes, but she was eventually able to remove half her aether. Unable to do any more, she ford Narean, and, after only a mont's hesitation, she invoked her Word.

“Narean,” she Spoke.

The rush of power and fire was exhilarating. She felt the ancient, divine power of the martial god flood her body. Her horns ignited with a satisfying crackle, and the sensation of a new limb, her tail made out of hellfire, returned. Although her wings hadn’t yet fully manifested, she felt sothing was there. Not that she needed them to fly, she was becoming ever more adept at pushing against the aetherfield to manoeuvre herself in the air.

Serena opened her eyes to see the room filled with sand. A quick bit of spellwork from Alia brought the sand back down, and once she had finished, she grinned at Serena.

Serena couldn’t help but grin back.

“The fire is strong,” Katalin said approvingly. “Your wings will co through soon, I imagine. Narean is a good fit for you, Serena.”

“Thank you,” Serena replied with a bow, taking the opportunity to try and sense anything unusual about Katalin. Despite manifesting a strong green aura, she couldn’t perceive anything about her that prompted concern. Alia must have seen sothing in the Shimr.

Serena moved to the side, where she earned a few complints from the much more powerful Ryosuke and Nathaniel that made her feel a little awkward.

“This will be loud,” Joey muttered, walking to the center. He didn’t spend any ti trying to expel his aether. One or two per cent wasn’t worth waiting the twenty minutes it would take him.

“Taruna,” he Spoke, blasting the room with a violent surge of power that would likely have blown a hole in the wall if he wasn’t in the centre of the room. A wall of pressure smashed into Serena, lifting her off her feet and forcing her to flare her aether against the aetherfield to stop herself from smashing into the wall. Sand was everywhere, and if she hadn’t protected her ears with her aura, she would surely have beco deaf.

Serena sensed Alia cast a spell, and the sand was once again brought under control.

Standing in the centre of the room was Joey, and he looked solid. Serena really didn’t know the best way to put it. There was an atmosphere around him that seed weighty. She knew Taruna had an offensive form and a defensive one, and this was certainly the latter. She’d fought the offensive type in the cafe in Kenhoro, but Joey’s Word differed. The man had grown an entire foot, now rivalling the Lord Guardian in height and strength.

Other than that, he didn’t have any drastic physical changes.

Joey bowed towards Alia. “No blade will reach you while I protect you,” he intoned seriously, as if taking a sacred vow. He walked to the rack of weapons, taking a large wooden shield. The mont he touched it, his blue aura engulfed it and then hardened. It was as if his aura transford into a tal, wrapping itself tightly around the shield.

How resilient was that blue aura? Enough to withstand whatever Katalin was going to throw at them? As Serena’s mind raced, Joey walked over and joined them.

“Quite the team,” Ryosuke growled. “I respect her talent, but can she really fight all of us? Unless she’s going to surprise us with an embodint, I cannot see us being defeated.” Serena was sure he was exaggerating. There was no way Katalin, even if she could, would invoke a Second-Word for a training session.

“She only needs to touch Alia with her sword,” Nathaniel pointed out. “Maybe she’ll Speak Kanaxai and rely on trickery and illusion.”

“Alia,” Katalin coolly intoned.

“O-okay!” Alia bounced to the centre and, without any dramatic fanfare, invoked Aseco.

She beca a golden light that Serena and everyone else had to protect.

“Take your positions, and then I’ll invoke my Word,” Katalin mused. Katalin wandered to one side of the training hall, while Serena and the others ford a defensive line. Ryosuke stood at the front, with Serena and Nathaniel flanking him. Behind them and in front of Alia stood Joey, his large fra and shield ready to intercept Katalin should she make it past them.

“If you haven’t already, manifest blue,” Katalin called, her voice cheerful.

Serena gritted her teeth and pushed her green further and further until it was at the cusp of blue. The expected wall never appeared, and she found with delight she could push into it! It wasn’t the strongest blue; even if she flared she doubted there would even be a fleck of indigo in it… but it was blue! The elusive fifth-level aura that few her age had managed to achieve!

When Narean had taken over her body and forced her to manifest blue when she wasn’t yet ready it had almost killed her. Without Alia’s intervention she would surely be dead. Now, after training with Grandmaster Gu in Kenhoro, and then training back ho in Asamaywa under the gruelling sessions of the elusive Katalin of Driss…

Serena had grown stronger! Noticeably, tangibly, undeniably, stronger!

“Get ready,” Ryosuke growled from the front, brandishing his sword in both hands. “She’s about to Speak.”

Serena snapped her mind into focus. She eyed Katalin, who stood perhaps twenty tres away, looking at them with an easy expression. She seed relaxed. Too relaxed. What Word would she Speak? Narean? Longinus? Bayle? It would surely be sothing offensive, wouldn’t it?

Or… sothing fast?

Katalin closed her eyes and Serena sensed the aetherfield around the Northerner hum.

Like Alia, Katalin was highly skilled at Speaking silently.

A few seconds passed without anything happening.

Then the room began to hum with energy.

Katalin opened her eyes. Forrly purple, they were now a brilliant erald green.

“Careful,” Alia whispered from behind them. “It’s powerful.”

Then, Katalin Spoke.

It wasn’t Bayle.

Nor was it Narean.

Nor was it Longinus, or any other martial Word Serena knew.

Nor was it Kanaxai.

“Alinyah,” Katalin Spoke.

It was a Word Serena had never heard before.

It was a new Word.