Ravensdagger_Cinnamon_Bun - страница 77

Chapter One Hundred and Forty — Repetition is the Mother of All Learning

Chapter One Hundred and Forty — Repetition is the Mother of All Learning I focused as I raised my hand and narrowed my eyes at the dummy standing across from me.First, the mana. A nice big blob of it formed in my cupped hand and began to warm up. It still took a few long seconds for the mana to turn into Fire Aspect. I’d need to work on that. If I was ever in a fight again and I wanted Fire Aspect mana, then I’d probably need it in a bit of a hurry.The first part was the trickiest. I’d figured out the mix of fire and cleaning magic needed to cast sticky fireballs, but not for making it easily. I always had to make fire mana first, and then inject it full of cleaning mana. I couldn’t do it the other way around. Well, not without it kinda combusting.The second trickiest part was forming not one, but three sets of three fireballs at the same time. They were linked to each other in sets of three by a thin ‘wire’ of mana. It looked like nine water balloons tied end-on-end, each one no bigger than a lemon and glowing with the reddish-white mix of cleaning and fire aspect manas.I think having a bit of cleaning mana in the mix was helping with the control over the entire thing, otherwise there was no way I could get it all together without the complex spell bursting apart.It wasn’t that each individual spell was complicated. I could still recall Severin, my first temporary teacher in the magical arts, explaining to me that Fireball was just about the simplest spell there was.“Multi Delayed-Cast Sticky Fireball!” I called.Nine Fireballs rushed out, three tight groupings of three.The first set missed the dummy entirely, the second had one Fireball smack into the dummy’s head, and the third set had another hit. Those fireballs with the right mix of Cleaning magic in them lit up the dummy and kept the fire on it for way longer.“Two out of nine!” I cheered as I bounced up and down.“You really don’t need to shout so much,” Amaryllis said.I turned over to my friend who was sitting on a sort of lounge chair at the back of the training area. She had a tall glass of something with ice in it on a table next to her, and a harpy book about puppetry on her lap. Another, this one about nervous systems, of all things, was resting on the table.“It makes the spell cooler,” I said.She sighed. “Whatever.”Turning back to the dummy, I felt a big bubble of pride grow in my tummy, all warm and fuzzy at the sight of the fire still licking away at the wooden construct.Fire and dummies were a match made in heaven.I gasped.“What is it?” Amaryllis asked.“I got a new skill!” I said even as the prompt opened before me.Ding! For repeating a Special Action a sufficient number of times you have unlocked the general skill: Matchmaking!I stared. “What?”Amaryllis went back to her book. “When you’re ready do tell me.”“I... I am confused.”“How unusual,” Amaryllis said without looking up.I pouted at her, but she couldn’t see it. So, instead, I popped open the new skill’s description.MatchmakingRank F — 00%The ability to spark a match in othersI squinted at the description. “Amaryllis, I got a skill that doesn’t make sense.”She finally looked up. “Not Mana Manipulation or something along those lines?”I shook my head. “I got Matchmaking. It says it’s meant to spark a match in others.”Now even Amaryllis looked stumped. “That’s... interesting. I’ve heard of the skill. Some old stickybeaks who can’t mind their own business say that they have it. They try to get everyone matched up with everyone else. Ask Rose about them some day, she loves to rant.”“I don’t want to be an old gossip,” I grumbled. “I just want to light things on fire.”She tapped a feather to her chin. “The situation with Rhawrexdee, the thing with Rose and Awen.. yes I can see why you ended up with the skill. Now all you need to do is grow out some grey feathers and stoop over a bit and you’ll fit right in with the old gossips.”“Amaryllis!” I protested. She cackled. “Don’t be so mean or I’ll use my new skill on you.”“Don’t you dare,” she said. “Or I’ll start using you to practice my puppeteering skills.”I stuck my tongue out at her.In reality, my new skill didn’t sound that bad. If its Rank C was anything like Friendmaking, then it might be very handy.

Name

Broccoli Bunch

Race

Bun (Riftwalker)

First Class

Cinnamon Bun Bun

First Class Level

Second Class

Wonderlander

Second Class Level

Age

Health

135

Stamina

145

Mana

125

Resilience

Flexibility

Magic

Skills

Rank

Cinnamon Bun Bun Skills

Cleaning

A — 11%

Way of the Mystic Bun

E — 49%

Gardening

D — 24%

Adorable

D — 100%

Dancing

D — 90%

Wonderlander Skills

Tea Making

E — 93%

General Skills

Insight

C — 72%

Makeshift Weapon Proficiency

D — 100%

Archeology

F — 63%

Friendmaking

C — 29%

Matchmaking

F — 00%

Cinnamon Bun Bun Skill Points

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Wonderlander Skill Points

General Skill Points

First Class Skill Slots

Second Class Skill Slots

General Skill Slots

I had a few points I could spend across the board. Not only that, I had a few skills that were ripe for rank-ups soon, and I had the points to spend. A bit more practice and I’d be even stronger than before!According to Amaryllis, people didn’t start taking you seriously unless you were deep into your second tier, or even in the third. But at the rate I was going, that could take months.“We need to adventure more,” I said.“World no. I think I’ve done more than enough to risk my life in the last few weeks, thank you very much.”“Ah, but what about our diplomatic mission? Wouldn’t it be easier if we were stronger?”Amaryllis paused. “It would be. How about you continue with your Fireball training. I’m certain that a few hundred more hours of practice would allow you to reach basic competence.”I huffed at her, one of her own ‘I’m going to do it, but I find you silly’ huffs. Judging by the confused look that crossed her face, she knew exactly what I meant.My next multicast Fireball was still in its mana-blob state when the crunch of gravel behind me had me looking over my shoulder to see Clementine stepping into the training grounds. “Oh, don’t mind me,” she said.I nodded and refocused on my spell. I wasn’t getting faster by leaps and bounds, but I was managing to chip away a second here and there as I got used to the cast. I was sure that with a few more days of practice I’d be able to cast the entire thing in under ten seconds.This time, when the volley went off, only one of the balls hit the dummy, but it was right smack in the middle of its wooden head, so I called it a victory.“Interesting,” Clementine said. “A sort of scattershot approach. Probably good for large swarms of enemies with decent evasion.”“I’m surprised you know that much,” Amaryllis said.“I might not be a combatant, but I’m not a fool,” Clementine said. “Besides, you need to know a thing or two if you’re going to have a conversation with some of the older folks at some gatherings. You wouldn’t believe how much they can prattle on about who has the biggest spell.”“Are they all veterans?” I asked. Maybe they were like a club filled with Abraham Bristlecones.“No. Only one in ten is past their second tier. Most took decades to even get that far.” She shook her head. “They, and unfortunately, myself, are career politicians and business birds. We’re ill-suited to fighting. Not that that would stop them from dreaming.”“Maybe one day I'll deign to escort you through a dungeon,” Amaryllis said. I’d never heard her sound so smug before.Clementine harrumphed. “I’d rather hire a professional, not someone still playing with dolls.”Amaryllis just grinned. “I have plans for these dolls. You’ll see.”“Oh, I’m certain,” Clementine said. “Now, I didn’t leave off my work to come and antagonize and mock you, Amaryllis, as amusing as that is.”Amaryllis sat up straighter. “What’s wrong?”“Oh, nothing is wrong. It’s just that news of our little... mission for you and your friends has gotten out. Not to too many ears, but it did reach some important people.”“Politics?” Amaryllis asked.Clementine nodded. “Politics,” she agreed. “They seem ambivalent about our little plan, thinking it quite... quaint and unlikely to be needed. Still, they want to meet.”“Why would they think that?” I asked. The plan seemed pretty sound. If the diplomats couldn’t make it because of sabotage or something, then we’d pick up the torch. If they did make it, then we’d just be there to see how things went. It seemed... easy enough.“Clan Albatross has some history, and more importantly, we have a lot of money. But the Nesting Kingdom doesn’t run on gold, it runs on connections and favours and old ties. Until a generation ago our clan was fairly small but well-respected. We had few rivals, generally minded our own business, and were just small enough to stay out of the bigger political games.”“Don’t you guys own the biggest shipyards now?” I asked.“We own them because the older a clan is, the slower it is to move,” Clementine said. “Tradition is as much a shackle as it is a tool. When our parents saw the opportunity to start building in an entirely new industry they were some of the first to move, and they pushed it hard. We had the first mover advantage and we’ve kept it. Now we’re one of the richest families around.”“That’s good, right?” I asked.“It is for us. But some of the older clans can get jealous. It’s a good thing that we are a clan, and one that was well-respected. I can’t imagine what would have happened if the shipyards would have opened under a clanless harpy’s control. As it is, we’ve been bullied and threatened and coerced from the moment we started to rise, but we had the connections and the political clout to fend off most of that.”“That doesn’t sound very nice,” I said.“It’s politics. We’re still politically weak, but economically strong. It’s a strange position to be in, and the inverse of many other clans. With new contracts coming in from the Royal Navy, that might well change. Clans want their children to captain our ships, but they can’t do that without training that only we can provide.”I nodded slowly. I could kinda see what was going on. “So now they want favours from you?”“Yes. It’s why they’re snooping so much. This mission you, Amaryllis, and Awen are going on might very well be far more important than they’re giving it credit.”“Are you sure?” I asked.Clementine nodded. “You’re a Riftwalker.”I blinked and looked over to Amaryllis who blushed a bit. “I... might have let slip one hint too many in a letter back home.”“We’ve kept it between us,” Clementine said. “Myself, Rose, our parents. That’s all.”I shook my head. “I don’t get the connection here.”“The World tends to throw Riftwalkers into all the most interesting spots of trouble. Historically speaking, that is,” Clementine said. “I’m hoping that we can nudge things along. If the official diplomatic mission flops like a chick on its first flight, then it will be up to Amaryllis, Awen and yourself to take up the mantle. Amaryllis who is a daughter of clan Albatross. It’s a lot of... political bragging rights, let’s call it.”I crossed my arms and thought about it for a moment, which Clementine seemed happy to let me do. “I’m not sure if I like being used like that, even if it’s for a good cause. I... I just want to go on adventures and have fun.”Clementine nodded slowly. “That’s fair. It’s why we don’t mind compensating you for your troubles.”I had the impression there was more than just that going on. “Neat,” I said.

* * *

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One — Broccoli is to Ceremony as Bulls are to China Shops

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One — Broccoli is to Ceremony as Bulls are to China Shops Right after a late lunch and Rosaline’s triumphant return from work, Clementine pulled everyone into the lounge and sat us all down on a row of couches.Rosaline looked like she hadn’t hugged anyone in minutes, Awen was fiddling with her thumbs, Amaryllis was bored and Clementine looked like a doctor about to deliver some serious news.“We need to prepare you for the ball,” Clementine declared most gravely.“Can I do it?” Rosaline asked.“No,” she was immediately shot down. Clementine shook her head. “They need to be actually prepared. Not... filled with whatever fanciful ideas you come up with between now and then.”Rosaline pouted. She pouted hard.“Fine. You can help them with the dresses and such,” Clementine said, then she raised a wing to calm Rosaline down before she got too excited. “Later. Let me lay down the rules first.”“Do you really need to?” Rosaline asked. “The girls are super cute, no one will do anything bad to them!” She leaned to the side and wrapped a wing around Awen, then she reached out and pinched my cheek.“Hey! No! Awen is the cute one, not me!” I protested.“Awa!”“Nu-huh,” Rosaline said. “You’re both adorable! And you’ll be more adorable-er once I get you all dressed up!”Amaryllis sighed. “Rose, do stop molesting Broccoli.”“Aw-what about me?” Awen squeaked.“You seem to be enjoying it,” Amaryllis said.While Rosaline giggled and redoubled her hugging and Awen’s face went thermonuclear, I turned towards Clementine. I had a whole bunch of questions for her.“So, Clementine, um,” I began. “Why are we going to the ball in the first place? If we’re supposed to be some sort of secret weapon, then wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to not show up at a big public event?”Clementine nodded, then she nodded to Gen-Gen who stuck his head into the lounge. The butler pushed in a trolly a moment later, one covered in little bite-sized snacks and a big jug of some sort of juice with blocks of ice floating within it.“It would make sense to keep you hidden,” Clementine said. “If this were the kind of operation where you could show up out of the blue. Unfortunately, it won’t work out that way. For one, the other clans would protest if you just swooped in without even giving them a hint. For another, the Sylphs are... stingy when it comes to... well, anything. The last thing you need is to get arrested by an overzealous paladin because they don’t know who you are.”“How would they know if we’re at the ball?” I asked.“There will be some Sylphs in attendance, of course, and they will be sending news back via their bank.”I pointed to Amaryllis. “Like when she wrote you letters?”Clementine made an affirmative noise. “Yes. Like when my littlest sister deigned to actually write to us to tell us she wasn’t dead in some ditch somewhere.”“Okay,” I said over the sound of Amaryllis’ protesting. “So why is there even a diplomatic mission to begin with? Why not just write them a letter and explain everything that way?”Clementine shook her head. “That’s not how it works. Letters leave too big of a record, there’s less room for back and forths, they also lose part of the home field advantage. You can’t impress a diplomat with your riches and military might if you’re only communicating via letter.”I scrunched up my nose. “But does that stuff matter?”Clementine sighed. “It does to the Sylphs and it does to the bigger clans, which means we have to play along. We’re not the Snowlanders who would be more than happy to do business from afar without ever leaving their home.”In the end there wasn’t much I could say to that. “Okay. So we go to the ball and then we, uh, schmooze with the big rich people and then they’ll be okay with us showing up at the big meeting in the Sylph capital?”Clementine closed her eyes, set the cup she was in the middle of filling aside, then started to massage her head. “I don’t know how you do it, Amy.”“You would be surprised at how much endurance I had to build up to her... Broccoli-ness,” Amaryllis said.I looked between the two. “What?”“First,” Clementine began. “Never... never use the word schmooze again. I don’t know what it means, and I don’t want to. Second, while referring to the clans as the ‘big rich people’ is technically accurate, it might still insult some of them. Just call them the clans.”“Alright!” I said.“You are aware that trying to teach Broccoli here about etiquette is entirely useless, right? The last time she was at a meeting with nobles she kidnapped their daughter,” Amaryllis said. “That is, after she told a countess that her title didn’t matter.”Clementine took a long sip from her juice, then set it on the tray before turning to Gen-Gen. “Can I have something with more kick?” she asked.One of the butler’s eyebrows rose up, but he nodded. “Certainly.”“This is actually really great,” Rosaline said. “We can spend the evening dancing instead, maybe pretend that Broccoli and Awen are just family friends who don’t know any better. They’re so cute and cuddly that no one would suspect anything about them.”Clementing rubbed at her face. “Yes, I suppose hoping that we appear so stupid as to be overlooked is a stratagem. It’s a stupid stratagem, but I suppose that’s the entire point of it.”“Great!” Rosaline said. “Okay, so let’s skip straight to the important bit! How to dance!”“Awesome!” I cheered. “My dancing skill is almost ready to rank up.”Rosaline hopped up to her feet and skipped to the middle of the room before spinning around. “Okay! I can tell you about all the worst prudes and jerks you’ll want to avoid while teaching you how to dance,” she said.Clementine tossed her wings up in surrender. “I give up. Rose, do keep in mind that I can make your life a nightmare if you mess this up. But I’ll concede that you’re better at the social aspect of things than I am.”Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.Rosaline clapped. “Perfect! Okay, I’ll need a partner.”“Awen, you should go,” I said to the girl sitting next to me. “I learn better by seeing.” I could practically feel my Matchmaker skill gaining experience.“Ah? Oh, okay,” Awen said. She stood a bit stiffly, then moved towards Rosaline with small uncertain steps. She curtsied, pinching the sides of her pants as she bowed. “Pl-please be gentle.”“Only at first,” Rosaline said.“Huh?” Awen said before Rosaline grabbed her hands in hers.“We’ll start with the waltz! It’s usually what the evening starts and ends with because it’s an easy enough dance that even the old birds can participate. It’s a great way to see who’s come with who since it’s traditional to dance with the person you came with first. Sometimes boys will dance with an aunt or something too.”Rosaline asked if Awen knew the steps, which she did. The human waltz and the harpy one were pretty much the same with a few differences. The harpy waltz moved a lot more, and they had more arm flourishes, apparently.“If you’re dancing with a girl, one of you needs to take the boy’s part,” Rosaline said. “You don’t mind if I lead, do you Awen?”“N-no, of course not,” Awen said. “You can lead.”I sat on the edge of my seat as Rosaline and Awen danced in quick little circles around the room. Awen had a bit of trouble at first, but she caught on fast and was soon pressed up against Rosaline as they spun around.“You look like an idiot,” Amaryllis muttered from beside me. “Wipe that dumb grin off your face or the game will be up.”I reined in my smile a bit. “It’s not a game,” I whispered back.Amaryllis’ response was a roll of her eyes.“What isn’t a game?” Clementine asked. She’d sat herself down on Amaryllis’ other side.“You’re as blind as ever, oh eldest sister of mine,” Amaryllis shot back.Clementine glared, then she looked at the two girls dancing together, took in Awen’s blush and the way Rosaline was smiling.She reached over to the second tray Gen-Gen had brought, pulled the cork off a fancy bottle, and downed a swallow of it. “Not my problem,” she declared.The dance ended with Rosaline sweeping Awen off her feet and leaning her way, way down so that her blonde hair was touching the floor.“And that,” Rosaline said as she stood back up and helped Awen to stand. They were both quite flushed. “Was how you waltz. Ah, I was supposed to tell you about people to avoid at the same time.”“I-it’s okay,” Awen said. “I would have been, um, distracted.”“Right!” Rosaline cheered. “I think I can list out all the bad influences in the clans.”“Because you’ve dated all of them?” Amaryllis asked.“Exactly! I’ve grown to know all of them. I can tell you all about their weird and terrible habits, which ones are handsy when they really ought not, and which ones have all the personality of a rock.”“Awa, you’re very experienced,” Awen said. She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to be impressed or embarrassed, probably at her own lack of experience.“Darn right! I’ve dated just about every bachelor and most of the fun bachelorettes in the kingdom!” Rosaline declared.“Oh, wh-what stopped you from, um, finding someone... right?”Rosaline shifted from talon to talon. “Well, it wasn’t always the same reason. I got along really well with some, for a bit at least. Sometimes I had good reasons to dump people. Lord Fred I booted out because he was intimidating, for example.”“Lord Fred isn’t a very intimidating name,” I said.“Yes Broccoli, you’re right, Broccoli. It’s such an unintimidating name, Broccoli,” Amaryllis said.“Hey! My name’s not supposed to be intimidating, it’s supposed to be friendly!”Awen nodded along, but she didn’t seem satisfied with the answer. “S-so many people and you never found anyone you liked?” she asked. “I... sorry. I’m being rude. I’m just worried that... nevermind.”Rosaline pulled Awen into a sidelong hug, her head dropping to lean against Awen’s. “It’s not that. I just want to find someone that I love, and I never did. They were always after the shipyard, or my family, or my title. The worse ones are those that just dated because they wanted to conquer me for bragging rights.”“Th-that’s awful!” Awen said. She raised her hands, then lowered them. “Can. Can I give you a... hug?”I could barely hear the last word, it was so quiet, but I could see the results well enough. Rosaline picked Awen up and spun her around while squishing her close.Clementine set down her bottle and stared for a bit before leaning closer to me and Amaryllis. “I wonder how long this will last,” she said.“We’ll see,” Amaryllis said. “I actually have high hopes.”“Hrmph,” Clementine hrmphed.I clapped my hands to draw Rosaline’s attention away from squishing Awen’s cheek against hers. Awen looked like she needed a moment to breath and maybe to have her blood circulate somewhere other than in her cheeks and ears. “What else can you teach us about balls and dancing and such?” I asked.“Oh, there’s all sorts of stuff. The dresses alone will be fun to figure out,” she said. “How someone preens their feathers tells you a lot about them, but you and Awen here are a bit featherless.” She ran a talon through Awen’s long hair. “But this is a lot more fun than feathers! We’ll need to figure it out!”“There are ways for non-harpy to dress that are considered proper. Usually clothes that have very loose sleeves that simulate wings,” Amaryllis said. “And of course you’ll need to get used to wearing pants for a bit.”“Aww,” I said. Not that I really minded all that much.“This is going to be a disaster,” Clementine said.I don’t think that she understood that that was half the fun.

* * *

123 ... 7576777879 ... 297298299