Chronicles of the Exalted Sun Child

With all their luggage stored in the carriage’s compartment, Yuriko and her companions booked a ride towards the city’s docks. It was the day after her meeting with the dean of the other academy, and the chat had been pleasant and fruitful for both of them. Yuriko hadn’t spoken about everything that happened in the fight, though she did reveal that she had an exceptionally powerful tool that helped her cut through the boundary of the Chaos Fount.

Eva had been both aghast and impressed at what she did to survive and escape. At first, she spluttered about how tearing the fabric of reality was dangerous and could lead to the same calamity that created the Shattered Realm. But Yuriko had pointed out that the layers were much thinner here since they were close to the boundary, and the layers recovered quickly.

“Don’t do that again!” Eva had demanded, but Yuriko simply shrugged.

“I’d rather not get captured or die.”

Both agreed wordlessly to elide the matter and they chatted about Academy life and how Niria differed from Briarwin.

“Nirian professors and graduates are so stiff and stodgy,” Eva complained, “Just because Briarwin espouses something that they don’t understand fully, they won’t even try using the Creation or destruction cycle.”

Yuriko shrugged, “If you don’t have the right Affinities, it’s hard.”

“But if trained from youth!”

While Yuriko didn’t care one way or another, the philosophy of the Elemental Cycles was still interesting. She could also draw some parallels with the Four Phases, but she wondered that if she incorporated the other common Arcadian Elemental Affinities in the Sword Styles, she’d be able to evolve her Ennoia of Radiant Flying Swords. It was worth spending time on, and she already had some progress with the Metal Affinity. However, she only had the smallest seed of the style and she instinctively knew that she couldn’t create such a broad and all-encompassing Style since she neither had the capability nor the capacity to do so. Er…actually, she was stuck at that point, ehehe.

They arrived at the docks after half an hour, and the carriage dropped them off next to a river ship that was named the Caelan Finwhale. Ryoko presented the ticket she acquired yesterday, and they boarded quickly.

The Finwhale was a paddle wheel-propelled ferry that was about seventy-five paces long and about twenty wide. The upper deck rested five paces above the waterline, and they were led into an upper deck suite. Yuriko was curious about how the ferry worked since it didn’t have any sails or thrusters. She spread her Anima perception across the entire thing and quickly solved the mystery, though what she saw was a bit convoluted and inefficient. Essentially, they had a set of three horse Steelds running on tracks that were connected to the paddle wheels. Why they didn’t create something like the Steeld carriages into ship versions, she didn’t know. Or perhaps they were working on it? One could hope.

Anyway, ten minutes later, the ferry pulled out of the docks and began its journey downriver. They only had a couple of rooms and one of them had to hold Fluffington since he was so big. He absolutely refused to go to the hold’s kennels, and even if the quarters were rather cramped, he preferred it over the dark and musty below deck.

With little privacy, she couldn’t indulge with her lovers, so she simply spent the day in meditation and Anima Refinement. And by late afternoon, the ferry berthed in one of Briardale City’s docks.

The city that held Briarwin School of the Five Elements was built at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the Great Erithmus Lake. The isthmus was to the east, right smack in the middle of the conflict zone. That meant that the land route was heavily blockaded, while the water route was a bit less guarded. The Ishodir Empire didn’t have direct access to the Erithmus anyway, and even if they built warships along the shore, it would be patently obvious and easy to destroy their facilities. Besides, from the news she’d read, the Ishodirians had pulled back to the three border forts.

They alighted from the ferry but didn’t enter the city. A pity since she had been tempted to visit Briarwin to explore their departments. No, the tickets that Ryoko purchased were for them to get on a relay of ferries until they reached Boata Port, which was a couple of days, and about two hundred leagues south of Greyith Strip. Their ultimate destination was the city of Herrera, named after one of Xotha Matriarchy’s Prime Families. That was where the nearest Portal Gate was, and it was one that had opening requirements that were easier to purchase or find.

Yuriko reviewed the list as they boarded the next ferry, the Wild Tulip. This one was bigger than the Finwhale and had more spacious quarters. They’d be onboard for the rest of the trip, and then from Boata, they would get on a caravan headed to Herrera City.

She supposed she could fly, except it could be seen as an act of aggression. The very first thing they had to do was visit and update their registry with the Adventurers’ Guild Xotha Branch, and their IDs would act as their visas.

“Gold Essence, Cacti Flower Bud, Chaos infused En Shard, Vermillion Feather, Salt distilled from Sorrow and Joy,” Yuriko muttered.

Cacti Flower Buds were easy enough to buy or find in a desert, right? She bought an En Shard and all she had to do was infuse it with distilled Chaos just before she sacrificed it. Vermillion Feathers didn’t require a specific bird, just any kind of feather with that colour. Gold Essence… well, there were several ways to produce it, but the simplest was to melt and purify ten gold coins that had been in circulation for at least a year. Most golds were minted with the year on it, so anything before 3003 was good. She already had the golds sequestered, actually, and like the En Shard, she simply had to purify it just before she opened the portal.

The most troubling was the last bit, the salt produced from tears of two different emotions.

“They don’t have to be the same salt,” Eva said, “and they don’t have to be fresh. They could also come from yourself, though it would take a lot of tears to get a pinch needed. There’s a spell to verify the source of material components. You can get the scroll from the library.”

Hmm. She’d been forcing herself to tear up when she was happy, but uhm, the easiest way was probably right when she reached the heights of pleasure in passion. Er, a few tears sometimes leaked out then.

Salt from tears of sorrow was the problem. Where would she find it? She wasn’t about to hurt people just to get the reagent, though she might be able to buy those things in Herrera City. She was just reluctant to fuel that kind of industry. Well, she’ll find a solution when they get there, so no use scratching her head over it now.

The familiar sound of the paddle wheels striking the water broke her out of her rumination. Yuriko shrugged and walked out of the room. While it was more spacious than the Finwhale, it was still pretty cramped. There were four bunks inside, two on either side and a small porthole that was firmly closed. While they weren’t hurting for gold, Ryoko didn’t take the most luxurious cabins. Two medium-rank cabins for the trip already cost them twenty golds, though she supposed if a full party booked it, it was two and half for each person. Fluffington took the floor, while Gwendith and Heron took the other bunks. Since she needed to work on getting salt, she might as well start tonight.

Still, her lovers weren’t cooped up inside like she was. Both had gone on deck to take in the view. Departure time was at six o’clock in the evening, and their estimated arrival time was on the 77th Day of Water, noon. That was the day after tomorrow.

She walked up to the deck and took in the view, too. The Radiant Sun was just about to set, and the skies were painted orange and red. She could already see a sliver of the Crescent Moon rising from the east, and if she squinted, she could also see the tiny lights from the stars. She still wasn’t all that used to seeing those pinpricks above rather than the streaks and hues of the Chaos Flows reaching for the Firmament. Still, she appreciated the dark canvas of the night sky now, even if it made the darkness of the night more prominent.

She looked astern and observed the city disappearing behind them. The waves left a silvery trail behind the ship, and the waters were clear enough she could see several paces down. Well, her Anima perception could easily touch the bottom of the lake, as they were still quite close to shore. But as the paddle-wheel ship sailed along, she could feel the bottom falling farther and farther away.

Colourful fish, turtles, and water snakes roamed the depths, and the bottom, roughly fifty paces deep, was covered in reddish coral formations. Strands of seaweed covered most of the rocky formations, and dancing within were numerous tiny lives going about their business. Her attention was caught by a boneless, eight-limbed creature that was barely as big as her hand, stalking a crab. She wasn’t sure who to root for since the boneless thing was quite literally sneaking up on the crustacean so well that the crab didn’t even move until the predator was but a few inches away. Then it darted out of the way and avoided the lunge. The two then went around in circles until the predator cut a corner and snagged the crab. Well, it wasn’t entirely boneless since it had a beak hard enough to crack the shell. Then the predator’s skin shifted texture and colour until it looked like a coral. A moment later, a bigger predatory fish swam above it.

“What’s got you so focused?” a warm, masculine voice asked.

Yuriko smiled at Heron, whose breath hitched and he started to flush. “Just the antics of the wildlife below.”

“Ah. My perception can’t even get past the ship’s keel,” he muttered.

“Your Anima control is atrocious.” Yuriko chuckled, “You’re all brawn and little finesse.”

“It’s just…hard,” he muttered.

“I know,” Yuriko said soothingly as she reached out and caressed his forearm. “All the more reason to train your manipulation skills. At least to the point where you can distend your Anima.”

“I know. I do all my exercises every day,” he said, eyes shining with determination.

“Should we train in other things?” Yuriko asked idly.

“Hmmm, such as what?”

“Swords.” Yuriko pursed her lips. “I’m trying to form more Phases of the Sword based on the other Elemental Affinities.”

“Oh, why?”

“I want to develop my Ennoia of the Sword.”

Heron nodded. “I’ll help as much as I can, but you know my Elemental Affinity and Ennoia is of the Winds. Unless you want me to paint you while you train?”

“Precisely that, thank you, my dear.” Yuriko smiled.

“Ah, uh, anytime,” he stammered. “Should…should I call you with a pet name?”

“If you want to.” Yuriko grinned. “What term of endearment will you give me?”

“Ah! I, uh, haven’t thought of it so far. My love?”

“Hmmm.” Yuriko tapped her lips. “Maybe. I don’t really mind, but try out what you think you’ll like.”

“Alright.” He stepped closer to her and carefully opened his arms. “May I?”

Yuriko raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “You don’t have to ask if you want to hug me,” she said playfully.

“I’d rather not do it if you don’t want me to.”

“Hmm, well, go ahead.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her back against his chest. The two of them stared out into the distance, at the glimmering waves, for a long while. And while Yuriko’s Radiant Affinity meant that she barely felt the changes in temperature, she felt warm in his embrace.