Everyone had looked at Gin. He stared back at them levelly, clearly sizing them up.
“Once training is over, you will bathe. The reason why is simple— dinner is served as a clan meal, and cleanliness is mandatory. When dinner is over, the rest of the night is yours.” He turned his attention to Ling and Clover. “For you two, things will be in flux because of tactics. You will have the same schedule as your classmates, but we do our best to keep your training as steady as we can. As for paths, pick the one or ones you wish to follow. We do not dictate that to you, unlike others. Are there any questions?”
No one spoke up, but after a second, Clover raised her hand.
Lightshield gave her a fatherly smile. “Yes?”
“Since the clan is going to be represented in the Buldoun event, are Ling and I going to be able to participate?”
Lightshield’s eyes gleamed for a moment. “Did you want to join them?”
“We can’t do as well as they can, but we’d like to help,” Clover said, Ling nodding in agreement.
“Very well. You may regret that, but we will include you in their training for the fights.”
“Thank you, Elder,” Ling said. “We want to be as helpful to the clan as we can be.”
“I am sure you will be more helpful than you think,” Lightshield replied. “I will be leaving the academy after dinner this evening. Magus Samantha Bishop is the head of the clan inside the walls of the academy while I am not here. If you have any problems, bring them to her. Magus Dia Ursinda is in charge of the clan hall. Are there any other questions?” When no one else spoke up, he nodded. “Very well. Dia, you may take over from here. I shall return for dinner.”
“Yes, sir,” Dia said.
Lightshield walked slowly past the new members, leaning on his cane as he went.
Dia smiled at the five of them. “Welcome to Aether’s Guard. You’ve met everyone here already, and we’ve shown you the clan hall itself. I have only one more thing to add about your days off. Gin has offered his home for you to use during those days. My sister takes care of the building and has several children that assist her.”
Daciana, Nessa, and Victoria smiled, thinking of the kids.
“Novices, considering that you’ve been following in your senior’s footsteps, may I assume you’d wish to continue to do so?”
“Yes, Dia,” they answered quickly.
“Then you will find a few people at Gin’s home that will teach you a variety of gambling and strategy games on your days off. They have been paid for by the clan. Once you have studied the games and show proficiency with them, they will then begin to teach you Empire’s Gambit to prepare you for next year.”
“But I thought the clan didn’t teach them?” Ling said.
Dia gave Ling a nod. “We didn’t. Gregory arranged that all on his own for him, Yukiko, and Jenn. However, we thought it was a good idea, so the elder decided that it will be available for the new novices this year and beyond. You are allowed to use Gin’s residence during your day off, as well. I know that our other apprentices use it for the days we give them off.”
Ling and Clover looked at Gregory and his wives.
“Now, let’s show you to your rooms so you may settle in. Be back here at the eighth bell.”
Chapter Eighty
The knock on their door wasn’t surprising to them, and Jenn opened it to give the novices a smile. “Thought you’d be coming by. Oh, and here come Ling and Clover. Come on in.”
Everyone took seats around the table— luckily, there were enough cushions to go around. Yukiko poured the tea she’d prepared ahead of time.
“Welcome to the clan,” Yukiko greeted them.
“I have a question,” Nessa said, her eyes darting to Ling and Clover before going back to Yukiko. “It has to do with the training we’ve been doing.”
“I did say I would tell you after you joined the clan,” Yukiko smiled.
“What kind of training?” Clover asked.
“Path training,” Yukiko replied. “You two have been working on the mind path since this year, and before that you’d been working on the body path, right?”
“Yes,” Ling replied, Clover nodding along.
“We’ve been doing things differently, and the novices have been emulating us.”
“I was shocked when I saw they were already in their seventh rank,” Clover said. “That’s even more than you were, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Gregory said.
“We’ve been progressing faster since we went to the mind path, but nowhere near that fast,” Ling said.
“Would you like to advance faster?” Jenn asked.
“Of course!” Clover said eagerly.
“We want to be strong for the clan and for ourselves,” Ling nodded.
“Very well,” Yukiko smiled. “You should join us, then. We’ve been combining paths, and there’s a long history of doing so in the clan. The creator of Aether’s Guard, Lionel Lighthand, created a technique called the Peaceful Fist. The Peaceful Fist combines spirit and body paths.”
“That would mean changing paths again...” Ling said slowly. “I fear we’d fall further behind.”
“On top of following the Peaceful Fist, we also advance the mind path with Magi Squares and studying,” Yukiko said.
Clover and Ling blinked at her.
“But… isn’t that impossible?” Ling asked, clearly confused.
“We’ve been doing it,” Nessa said. “I was specifically asking Yuki how it’s possible.”
“Have any of you three seen the cavern?” Yukiko asked.
“Once or twice,” Victoria said.
“Occasionally,” Daciana said.
“Frequently,” Nessa added.
“Cavern?” Clover asked.
“If you follow the spirit path, you will see the aether cavern where your flame burns,” Yukiko explained. “If you’re following the body path, you can see channels being made in the walls
