In the courtyard they were met by a giant of a man. Erameya was taken aback, she was picturing a small lithe man not a seven foot five, four-hundred-pound juggernaut.
“Laird Tokavaig,” he bowed, “Prince Angus, Princess Erameya, I presume.”
“Master Bracken.” Laird Tokavaig acknowledged, “Thank you for taking the time to come here teach.” Master Bracken nodded in acknowledgement of Laird Tokavaig.
“When I am your teacher, I am the ruler.” He said to his students. “I will not address you by title, and you will address me as Master. You will learn to control your bodies. Control is the basis of martial arts. Let’s start by removing all footwear, weapons and any belts not needed to hold your clothing up.” They quickly followed his instructions. “To start, we will breathe. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and distribute your weight evenly. Now, clasp your hands behind your back. This is the starting position. Place your arms to your side we are going to breathe deep, seven breaths in and seven breaths out. When you breath in let your arms float up. As you breath out bring them down.”
While Master Bracken was talking to them, Laird Tokavaig had shifted into a dragon and settled onto the lawn. He watched as they went through the forms and movements Master Bracken demonstrated. After half an hour of basic martial arts they moved onto hand-to-hand combat. They started with weaponless moves and moved on to blades and gauntlets. “You need a pair of good leather bracers Erameya. You can use have them made to carry weapons or just protect your arms. If you are a magic wielder, use magical bracers that can help with defense. As a small person you need to use every advantage you can. I will teach you how to use people’s weight and size against them, but you have to use everything available to you. Your aunt has a necklace with a poison dagger in it. Her greaves have daggers and a blowpipe. Her darts are in her bracers, and there are several vials of poison on her belt. Those are just the weapons I know of. I am sure she has more.” Master Bracken bowed and left the courtyard abruptly.
“You may feel that starting at with breathing and positions is going slow but it will give you a good foundation. I am glad he didn’t so much by way of movement and just treated you both as beginners. Even with your knowledge Angus, you can learn a lot by starting again at the basics. The control that martial arts teaches will help with your other martial trainings. Now, you may both sit and meditate. You each have nodes to grind.”
Erameya found a sunny area of grass and sat in the lotus position. She began again at essence awakening. She felt the mana in the world around her. She noticed that there were areas where the mana was thicker and areas where it was thinner. She felt that mana being slowly pulled into Laird Tokavaig and to a lesser extent into Angus. She felt the wards on the tower and the keep. The more she felt the world around her, the more she felt connected to the mana rivers as well as the life energy around her. She became absorbed in the patterns of life and mana around her; how they were separate and intertwined; she realized that she was accidently weaving herself into the pattern of mana and life energy. She looked at her rivers and realized that they were taking only the smallest whisps of mana at brief intervals. She looked at her meridians and saw the life energy being shared between her and the world around her. She felt the way the oxygen, mana, and life energy passed through every cell in her body. Together they made a magical essence that was a power balance between herself and everything else. For the first time since her summoning, she felt one with the world around her. She pulled the strings of the tapestry inside of her and layered it over her pseudo-core. She used the fabric she had weaved as a means of compression. The more she compresses the pseudo-core the more layers of essence she was able to wrap around it. She pulled the essence through her nodes to heal and reinforce them. She felt the essence heal her sore muscles and reinforce her body as it flowed through her. She made sure she was still only taking sips of mana while she compressed the essence to store it. She made sparks of mana on her fingertips and dispelled them.
Erameya continued to breathe deeply and felt the mana in the world around her, she again felt the web of life energy. This time she felt how the essence of the world connected with her spirit. As she felt the world’s tapestry weave it’s self into her spirit she again felt one with this world.
“Amy,” Hilda said as they sat on the bus in the parking lot of the castle of Eilean Donan. “I wish we had time to go to the Isle of Sky, I’d like to see the fairy pools.”
“Do you think we could get the tour guide to skip some of the other castles and take us there?” Amy answered.
“I bet he would if you asked. Look there he comes. He should know the schedule for today. Just watch he is going to come and try to flirt with you.” Hilda winked.
“Nigel? Is there any way we could see the Isle of Sky while we are in this area?” Amy asked after he got back on the bus and walked down the aisle to where she was sitting.
“I just found out the next tour is not for over an hour. We can either spend it waiting around here or we could drive up to the Isle of Sky, where would you like to visit?”
“I’d like to see the Fairy Pools and any castles on the Island.”
“All in favor of a side trip to the Isle of Sky say aye.”
“Aye,” the whole group chorused.
After about an hour of amazing scenery, Nigel spoke into his microphone. “We are on our way to see the Fairy Pools, if we were to turn left, we get to the ruins of Tokavaig.”
Erameya was nearly startled out of her memory, Tokavaig? Did Lord Tokavaig’s influence bleed into her world.
They enjoyed the Fairy Pools and marveled over the views. They stopped at a small tea house for luncheon and were soon back at Eilean Donan. They walked across the bridge to Eilean Donan castle and the tour guide came out to meet them.
“Angus?” Erameya was jerked out of her memory. Their tour guide looked just like an older Angus. How much have our realities overlapped? Could the guide have actually been a descendent of a version of Angus?
“Yuck, what is that smell?”
“Child, get into the molting chamber!” Laird Tokavaig growled. “And take off your clothes. I warned you to let me know when your spiritual nodes were ninety percent open.”
Erameya ran. The smell coming out of her pores was making her gag. By the time she made it into the tower and had undressed she was seeping black goop from everywhere. The molting chamber was a dragon sized shower. It looked like a huge white marble shower. There was, as far as she could tell, a huge shower that covered the entire ceiling. There were also several different shower heads closer to human height, and what appeared to be a pressure hose.
Erameya screamed as her body felt like each cell was being pulled apart and scoured. Her pseudo-core was shredded and scrubbed again and again. She was freezing and on fire. She was broken and whole. She was nothing and everything, nowhere and everywhere. Erameya pulled in her thoughts and focused on the flow of essence in the world around her. She started her cultivation over again. With her meditation, she was able to overlook the feelings of her body and focus on patterns of the essence in and around her. After what felt like hours she stepped out of a pile of black excrement. Even though her body appeared to be clean she felt like she needed to be pressure washed. Suddenly a huge stream of high-pressured water was spraying her. She was knocked backward before she told the room to turn the pressure down. Once she felt clean and the filth was off of the floor she went into the next room. It was a giant swimming pool fed by a hot spring. With soap and drying sheets on a shelf the room felt like a big spa. She got in the shallow end of the pool and luxuriated in the hot spring’s water. She washed her hair and again scrubbed herself clean. She saw her clean clothing in a pile on a bench as she toweled off.
“M'lady? Would you like help dressing?” a servant girl asked from a doorway.
“Yes, thank you.” Erameya smiled at the girl.
The servant helped her put on and tighten her chemise. She noticed that the fit was different. She pulled on her drawers, stockings, and leggings an noticed her size change with each of them also. She was grateful her leggings were magically fitting. She pulled on her boots and put on her belt. She sat down for the servant to brush her hair. While she was waiting, she pulled up her stat sheet.
Demographics (extended)
Name Erameya
Title Princess
Class Royal
Race Human Grade 2
Gender Female
Loyalty The Northern Empire
Height 5' 8"
Weight 120 lbs.
Eye color Green
Hair color Dark Brown
Attributes
Strength 39
Agility 39
Dexterity 39
Wisdom 39
Intelligence 39
Perception 39
Available Points 8
Statistics
Health 200/200
Stamina 250/250
Mana 537/1000
Core 4
Skills
Languages Automatically be able to translate and speak any language.
Identify Identify any object or person.
Survival Acclimatize in your new environment, retrieve memories, and integrate host body skills.
Crafting Level 3 You have crafted a poultice.
Potion making Level 2 You have crafted a poultice.
Healing Level 4 You have cured a deadly infection.
Sword craft Level 5 You can now defend yourself.
Archery Level 3 You can hit a target.
Spell casting Level 2 Feed magic into an object.
Horticulture Level 1 Know your plants.
Agriculture Level 5 You care for two bonded animals.
Fan skills Level 1 Fans can be weapons.
Dancing Level 1 Don't fall on your face.
Dressing Level 2 You can choose your clothes with pride.
Hair Dressing Level 2 You know a good style when you see one.
Leadership Level 2 Example or fear, it’s your choice.
Charm Level 3 Race upgrade
Diplomacy Level 5 Make as many people leave happy as possible.
Stabbing Level 3 You can fend off a combatant close to you.
Martial Arts Level 2 Acrobatic weaponless self-defense.
Meditation Level 9 Achieve a state of clarity of mind.
Sewing Level 2 You have designed a pattern.
Cooking Level 2 You thought up something for someone else to cook.
Magical Creation Level 1 Create solid objects from mana.
Magical Push and Pull Level 3 Knock out that spy.
Magical Explosion! Level 1 Blow shit up with magic.
Self-Defense Level 3 Don't let others pick on you.
Listening Level 1 Listen and learn.
Teaching Level 2 You have passed on knowledge from your past life.
She noticed that she had grown two inches, put on ten pounds, even her breasts were a little larger. Thankfully not enough to cause back pain. She looked into a mirror on the wall and noticed that with the changes to her build she looked more like Amy. She sensed the life energy around her and noticed that the threads flowing through her seemed thicker. She looked at her mana rivers and was surprised to see that they were moving more smoothly. The valves she had placed on her intake didn’t have to held shut any longer. The mana now flowed with her instead of forcing itself inside of her. She was surprised and excited at the changes that came with the molting. Suddenly she noticed she was starving.
“Miss, will you take me to Laird Tokavaig and then get me some food?”
“Yes, M’lady. I will get you a small snack but you may want to go to the castle for dinner.”
“How long have I been in here?”
“About half a day.” The servant girl said as she led her out of the room. They walked up several flights of stairs and down the hall and into a beautiful mahogany and leather library. The servant stopped only once to pass on her instructions to a passing servant.
“Erameya, how do you feel?”
“Hungry. I have never been hungrier in either life. I also feel more powerful connections between my life energy and the life energy of this world. My mana valve is no longer hard to keep closed, and my mana rivers run more smoothly. I feel like the same persons but a new person too. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“I know the feeling. You have upgraded your race. May I see your screen while you have a bit of food then we will walk up to the keep.” Laird Tokavaig asked as a servant set down a tray of finger foods.
Demographics (extended)
Name Erameya
Title Princess
Class Royal
Race Human Grade 2
Gender Female
Loyalty The Northern Empire
Height 5' 8"
Weight 120 lbs.
Eye color Green
Hair color Dark Brown
Attributes
Strength 39
Agility 39
Dexterity 39
Wisdom 39
Intelligence 39
Perception 39
Available Points 8
Statistics
Health 200/200
Stamina 250/250
Mana 527/1000
Core 4
Skills
Languages Automatically be able to translate and speak any language.
Identify Identify any object or person.
Survival Acclimatize in your new environment, retrieve memories, and integrate host body skills.
Crafting Level 3 You have crafted a poultice.
Potion making Level 2 You have crafted a poultice.
Healing Level 4 You have cured a deadly infection.
Sword craft Level 5 You can now defend yourself.
Archery Level 3 You can hit a target.
Spell casting Level 2 Feed magic into an object.
Horticulture Level 1 Know your plants.
Agriculture Level 5 You care for two bonded animals.
Fan skills Level 1 Fans can be weapons.
Dancing Level 1 Don't fall on your face.
Dressing Level 2 You can choose your clothes with pride.
Hair Dressing Level 2 You know a good style when you see one.
Leadership Level 2 Example or fear, it’s your choice.
Charm Level 3 Race upgrade
Diplomacy Level 5 Make as many people leave happy as possible.
Stabbing Level 3 You can fend off a combatant close to you.
Martial Arts Level 2 Acrobatic weaponless self-defense.
Meditation Level 9 Achieve a state of clarity of mind.
Sewing Level 2 You have designed a pattern.
Cooking Level 2 You thought up something for someone else to cook.
Magical Creation Level 1 Create solid objects from mana.
Magical Push and Pull Level 3 Knock out that spy.
Magical Explosion! Level 1 Blow shit up with magic.
Self-Defense Level 3 Don't let others pick on you.
Listening Level 1 Listen and learn.
Teaching Level 2 You have passed on knowledge from your past life.
Life Energy Manipulation Level 4 You have used life energy to heal the sick.
“Interesting. This shows grades of race. I wonder how this will work with Angus. He has two races. We think of ourselves differently. The higher letters in the alphabet the lower the race. In the English alphabet this would be “j” for those who have not ever cultivated. “i” for those who have gone through their first molting, and so forth.”
“We have some RPGs like that. Every RPG has slightly different leveling systems. I have a question now. How connected to this reality is the reality I came from? I remembered something when I was meditating. We went passed a castle ruin called Tokavaig. Also, our tour guide at Eilean Donan looked just like an older Angus.”
“The realities are very close. Unfortunately, your old reality is lacking usable magic. I don’t know what the bleed through is. I specifically stayed away from this time when I went there.”
“If Eilean Donan is part dragon, and Angus is part dragon, how is it that the tour guide looked just like Angus?”
“Angus looks like Margaret’s first husband.” Laird Tokavaig smiled indulgently. “Now your Aunt, Angus, and Master Gareth are all waiting for us to join them for dinner.”
