Devourer Of Destiny - Chapter 141

Ebon Dirge kept his face impassive at the announcement of the sword’s name. He had asked the question merely as a test of Eloise’s newfound resolve; had she been indecisive about it, he would have known that there was that much more work to be done. Had she done something like insisting that he give it a name…

Dirge wanted Eloise under his thumb as a success story, a legend that he was a part of, but he had no intention of playing at being living forge equipment for her for the rest of her career. He would cultivate her gratitude, but if a deeper dependency developed he would need to prune that a bit as well.

There was the matter of the entire process being rather draining, as well. A lot of the drain came from holding various states to allow Eloise to provide her input, but he couldn’t very well let on that he had a direct feed of her surface thoughts that rendered such communication irrelevant. Once the young woman learned these methods for herself and could directly control things, it would be much quicker and more straightforward for her to handle it alone.

“Miss Sable?” Eloise’s voice edged in on her teacher’s musings.

“Yes, Eloise?” Dirge replied, shunting away his considerations for the moment.

“Do you really think I can do all of that?” the young smith asked. “I-I mean… the water stuff, and–”

Dirge chuckled. “You’re worried because you have the classic smithing affinities of fire and metal, aren’t you?”

Eloise’s head bobbed in a nod. “I’ve been taught to focus on those ever since my meridians were opened.”

“What affinities do you think I have?” Dirge asked, allowing himself a small wry smile as he did.

“Um, well…” Eloise’s face scrunched in concentration for a moment as she considered it. “I-I guess I really didn’t think of it, Miss Sable.”

“None,” Dirge replied. “I have no elemental affinities whatsoever. I’m a blank, a dud, as many would say. Does that surprise you?”

“I… yes, it does,” Eloise admitted. “I’ve been told how it important it was, how I was fortunate…”

“You were quite lucky, Eloise,” Dirge noted. “You were born with a metal affinity and inducing a fire affinity is one of the easiest things to do. I, however, was born with nothing and had nothing induced when I went through Meridian Circulation. Every technique and spell I use is as difficult for me to carry off as anything outside of fire and metal is for you.”

Eloise nodded and gulped. “I’m sorry if I offended by asking, Miss Sable.”

“It’s not a problem, Eloise,” Dirge replied with a smile. “If anything, it should boost your confidence in learning what I have to teach you. Yes, your affinities can be a boon in your work, but they aren’t everything. They won’t guarantee your success. Nothing can guarantee your success, but you can pave the way there with effort and perseverance.”

“So where do I begin with learning how to do things the way you do them?” Eloise asked.

Dirge smiled. “There are two assignments I have for you to complete before we next meet up. Until both are complete, there will be nothing new I have for you, is that clear?”

Eloise nodded. “Of course, Miss Sable.”

“Good,” Dirge continued as he procured a bundle of ribbons from his storage ring, pulling a ribbon from the pack before sliding the rest across the table at Eloise. “The first is to practice your basic control with these, Eloise. Observe.” He held up the ribbon he had kept and knotted it down its entire length, just as he had for Theo. “I want the entire pack done, and it must be done solely with essence and only using your internal essence.”

Dirge had to note this distinction to Eloise since she was an initial Foundation Building expert. Besides having the ability to fly under their own power, the main difference in capability between Meridian Circulation and Foundation Building was in manipulating external essence without internalizing it first and without driving it with internalized essence. For his pupils to appreciate the control they were to achieve, they had to learn it this way first.

Eloise looked at the knotted ribbon and nodded. “Is there a requirement on how many knots?”

“As many as you can muster,” Dirge replied. “And no cheating with external essence; I can tell. I imagine it seems like it’ll be easy; let me just note that you’ll revise that opinion long before you’re even halfway through the pack, Eloise. It’s necessary, though; if you want to discard all the fancy equipment and make what you can imagine into reality yourself, you need that kind of practiced control.”

Dirge wasn’t afraid that Eloise would try any shortcuts on this. The woman was far too interested in obtaining what he had demonstrated, and she was a couple degrees more intelligent than Theo so she understood the necessity of the practice.

“And the second thing?” Eloise asked.

Dirge pointed at the blade in the woman’s hand. “Have that appraised and put up for auction. You’ll be making better by yourself in almost no time, and there’s no point in sitting on it. Don’t handle it anonymously either; make sure everybody is well aware that you are the one who made it. Rebuilding your reputation starts here, Eloise.”

Eloise caressed the sword’s blade for a moment before nodding and sending it to her storage pouch. “You’re right again, of course.”

“Of course I am,” Dirge replied with a half-smile. “I’m your teacher, of course. And in fact, now there’s the matter of making that official. If I could have your token for a moment, please?”

Eloise procured her student token and Dirge produced his teacher’s token. Becoming a student’s formal teacher was as simple as a quick overlaying of the pair and verification made with spiritual sense. The Academy’s automation was truly marvelous even if it was a sign of the decay in the school’s values. At least in handling it this way he didn’t have any possible bureaucratic bottlenecks to obstruct the creation of the relationship.

Dirge handed back Eloise’s token once it was done. “Welcome to my class, Eloise,” he announced with a smile. “Together, we will soon be rising through the ranks. Nobody will be chasing you away once that starts.”

Eloise smiled as she accepted her token back. “Thank you, Miss Sable. Thank you so much.” The woman looked to be on the verge of tears yet again, but she managed to not cry. “Where will I go to meet you once I’ve completed the assignments?”

“Use the call function and we’ll meet up here in the Forging Institute, Eloise,” Dirge replied. “You have a reputation to maintain, so we’ll keep you around this area. Won’t it be fun to have so many who wouldn’t touch you now within reach but unable to?”

Eloise laughed. “You’re not one to piss off, are you Miss Sable?”

“Absolutely not, my dear,” Dirge replied with a small smile. “And as long as you remember that, we’ll have a marvelous relationship.”

——–

It was well into the afternoon when Dirge returned to his residence. The matter of investigating the most immediate oddities of the Academy had been mostly completed anyway when he had bumped into Eloise, so he had little purpose in random wandering. Instead, after that serendipitous encounter, he had an itinerary of traveling around the first tier to plan out; students may not fall from the trees, but bumping into his new pupil had reminded him of something.

When Amelia had provided him with the form of Harmony Sable, she had made care to have Dirge note that it included its own flame of destiny inside. While it was an excellent form of reassurance to see part of his payment up front, he was now considering that there was more to it than that. Having someone like Eloise virtually dropped into his lap while out on a walk was more than coincidence, he was thinking.

Dirge would not abandon his campaign of turning his current pupils into evangelists, but perhaps he was overplanning things a little when he should be allowing some things to take their course? Ever since he had lost his collaborator, he had been more inclined towards meticulous planning; millennia of having to play “the reasonable partner” had transformed into wanting to have everything under his thumb. Was that the correct way to handle thing, given the path of destiny he was pursuing?

That would bear some consideration. Dirge shrugged off the philosophical musings for the moment and pulled out his teacher’s token. With a thought, he sent a message trying to get Theo’s attention; in addition to its other features, the token allowed for remote communication between student and teacher while inside the city.

“Miss Sable?” Theo’s voice rang out in reply in Dirge’s head.

“I trust I’m not interrupting anything, Theo,” Dirge replied.

“O-of course not! Just working away at those ribbons! That’s me!” Theo replied, and Dirge almost laughed out loud. It didn’t really matter to him what the kid did and when so long as he wasn’t slacking off too hard.

“It’s not about that, Theo,” Dirge responded, “you still have plenty of time to get that handled. No, this time I’m contacting you about the possibility of making a purchase. In a couple of days, there should be a new sword by an up-and-coming smith going up for auction…”