Cultural Exchange Ch. 03

Then a cackling voice came from the trees behind us. "Don't you worry, Boss! I've got your back!" I heard a flutter of wings and Yalgir stepped back groaning curses. I dared to lower the armguard and my jaw dropped at the sight of a Stormcrow batting its wings at Yalgir's face and trying to scratch him with its claws. Finally Yalgir tried to smash the animal, but it flew away from him and perched on my left shoulder saying, "Slowpoke, I can beat you up any day of the week!"

Both of my trainers looked at me dumbfounded. Oner exclaimed, "What in the Thirteen Hells is happening here? The Stormcrow has just come to your aid and now it goes to your shoulder like a tamed animal?"

The crow tilted its head in a strange imitation of a person shrugging his shoulders and answered, "Well, that's more or less what happened. I see your eyes are not just for decoration. Boss, translate them what I say for them. Unless some conditions are met you're the only one who can understand me."

Instead of doing that, I asked the crow, "Wait, are you the same Stormcrow that attacked me yesterday?"

He did the same laugh-like sound that he had done yesterday when he perched on top of my knife, and answered, "Good guess, Boss. For a moment there I feared you might mistake me for one of those other hundreds of Stormcrows that are flocking around in this city. Duh."

The situation was getting more and more surrealistic. "But what's happened for you to start following me around and calling me 'Boss'?"

The crow tilted its head and answered, "You showed your authority over me and then you gave me a name."

Oner and Yalgir had been looking at us during the whole exchange losing their patience little by little. I don't know how I was able to do it, but I chuckled imagining how would we look. Me, talking to a bird and the bird cawing back at me. Before they would totally lose patience, I looked back at them and said, "Oner, Yalgir, this is Turak," and I spent the next minutes explaining to them how Turak had entered my room and repeated the explanation I had just received.

Yalgir frowned and said, "I have a basic understanding of what it has just said." Oner and I looked at him with a quizzical look and he went on, "My wife is a Dark Sage, She mixes Dark Magic curses and Summoning Magic. What you did with the Stormcrow is called a 'Submission Spell', a form of turning Beasts into Familiars. It is only possible when you beat certain enemies down without killing them and then use your Spirit to give them a new name."

That upset me. "But I'm not a Mage and I don't have a staff or anything!"

Yalgir crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Zirilla will have a more accurate explanation, but it seems that under circumstances like those you went through yesterday, like something you perceive as a threat to your life, people with magic potential release their abilities instinctively. Also, about the lack of a staff or another type of proper medium, that's exactly the reason why I would bet you fainted after the fight. Without having something to refine and channel your power, all of your Spirit was sucked out. It's not like you're going to die from that, but it can be very dangerous for your health. Don't forget to take good care of yourself, Cub. You serve no purpose for anyone if you die, and I would bet you don't want to make little Ralya a widow so soon."

Oner broke the gloomy atmosphere by cheering me on. He looked happy with the news. "Well that explains almost everything. Sorry, little brother, but you won't be able to become a Samurai. This proves you as a Beast Tamer, a Warrior with the magic ability to conquer and dominate Beasts and use other kinds of Summoning Magic. This means that normal curved swords won't work for you anymore. You will need synthesized weapons. These are common weapons that had been merged with wands or staves. This way, your sword will lose part of its physical combat effectiveness in exchange for a certain amount of Magical conductivity."

"I... just need to sit down a few minutes to swallow all this and rest my pained body." I sighed.

"I understand, don't worry. Also," Oner came closer and lowered his voice, "he may not admit it, but Yalgir feels ashamed for having entered Combat Frenzy during just a training match. Don't be too hard on him, please. It's something that can happen to any A'Jin if they're very tense, especially in battle. Even the timid Rabbit A'Jins can lose their self-control and become fierce opponents. It's the power they receive from their Goddess when they start to reach adulthood."

I nodded my head and went away to a nearby fountain to drink and sit down a little. That's when I noticed that the training area by my side had a series of wooden poles thicker than my thigh with the upper half covered in ropes. Unmistakably, they were training poles for close combat practice. I know because when I was a kid I used a home-made one that my father had built for me and my brothers. I looked at the people, young and not so young, that were training when I noticed something odd with the women.

I was trying to figure it out when Oner came to my side and whispered, "It's not wise to be here ogling girls knowing that your fiancée might be around here too and can catch you."

That startled me and I said, "No, it's just that even though some women have pretty big breasts, these don't sway or bounce as much as they should." Perfect. Did that make me a curious person or just a pervert?

"Ah, it's just that. Well, women are women, and they can't get rid completely of their natural coquetry. Some centuries ago, a female alchemist found a procedure that forces part of the pectoral muscle to grow inside the breasts. This way, they get additional strength and their breasts don't sag as much as they normally would, at the same time the bosom gets enough support to not go swaying and bouncing around in battle."

"Alchemy sure is something amazing, like the treatment that made me learn the seven languages in just a few hours," I pondered.

"Heh, that's not how it works, little brother. What that treatment did is alter a small percentage of your brain so our tongues would be automatically changed into something you could understand. Or don't you think it's rare that things like common expressions are similar or equal to those of your mother language? It also works the other way around. You think in your language and the changes in your head turn what you say into something akin to our common way of speaking. Oh, speak about the Devil. There is your fiancée."

Ralya was dressed in a pair of short, black trousers and a tight white shirt that left her navel exposed. She was reprimanding a young fighter out loud in front of everyone for the weakness of his punches.

Turak moved his legs to accommodate himself on my shoulder and said, "So that's your mate. Eh, Boss? I don't know the greatest thing about mammals, but she looks like a good partner. Strong hips to lay big and healthy eggs."

I told Turak to take off for some minutes and I moved to Ralya and asked her discreetly, "Do you mind if I teach him a form to put more of his body weight behind his punches?" She nodded her head with a faint smile. It was obvious she had been expecting to learn some of the Martial Arts my father had taught me.

I went to the scolded young Elf to tell him, "She's right, your mistake is that you only attack with your fists."

He looked at me like I was an idiot and retorted, "That's why you call it a punch, you idiot Human. Because you hit with your fists."

Ralya moved in to show him how to give a good punch, but I stood between them. I caressed Ralya's cheek with the tip of a finger and said, "He's just frustrated, honey, don't be so hard on him." I turned to the boy and taught him, "What I was meaning is that you punch with just the strength of your arms."

He went pale when he realized with who he had been messing with and stuttered an answer. "S-sorry for my discourtesy, Sir! I'd be deeply honored if you took it in your heart to enlighten me!"

"Then come to one of the practice poles and follow my instructions." Under Ralya's vigilant gaze as well as the other Elves who were training unarmed combat, I spent the next minutes explaining to the boy how this particular move worked, emphasizing the importance of making every body move with the right synchronization.

He started practicing when my gaze was attracted by Ralya, who was in front of a training pole in the stance I had taught her disciple. With a scream and a glow coming from her hand, she hit the pole breaking it in half among a burst of splinters. Everyone, including me, looked at her surprised. While walking to me, she shrugged her shoulders and spoke to me directly and said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear us, "I just followed your instructions and powered up the attack with my Spirit. How is this move called? It will be a great addition to the art of Tang'Shu."

I looked at the broken pole and said, "Well, its original name was 'Oi Zuki' which more or less means 'Frontal Punch'. It is the most basic fist attack in a martial art called 'Karate'. But you have taken it to a whole new level so I think that the name that fits this new version is 'Tekken'."

Ralya arched a brow and said, "And what does that mean? You are using words outside your native language, so they are not affected by the linguistic potion you took."

I grinned, knowing that she would like the answer. "The most literal meaning I know is 'Iron Fist'."

She grinned back and took my arm to guide me back to Oner and said, "Well, thank you for teaching us the 'Iron Fist', dear. While you were resting, my brother has explained to me about your new power. In case my sister Zirilla agrees, I have decided to split your evening lessons so you have time to receive Magic training from her. Also, maybe I should inform you that when our souls interlink, I will be able to understand all of your Familiars' speech as well as you."

That caught me off-guard and made me ask, "You said, 'All'? Does that mean I can have more than one?"

As usual, she controlled herself in public, so she just squeezed my arm instead of coming closer to me. It seems that she needed no sixth sense to know that physical displays of affection were important for me. "As a Beast Tamer, you can have many different Familiars. But it takes a part of your Spirit reserves to keep them tied to you as long as they live, and even if you defeat another Beast you will have no chance to Submit them without enough Spirit to make that bond. Also, Summoning Magic is not only about creating Familiars. With practice, you will be able to call powerful Beasts from another planes, and the spells to fortify your Servants or the link you have with them is also part of this branch of magic."

"Now that we're talking about magic, there's something I've noticed about yours," I told her. She just answered with a questioning look and I went on, "When you explained to me how Tang'Shu works, you told me you summon certain spirits or Totems, but you only mentioned normal animals. Why not for example call a Stormcrow Totem to use their electric powers?"

She patted my shoulder to clean some dust away and said, "Common animals produce what we call 'White Totems' because they are bond by pledge to help us. The rest of the creatures, known as Danger Beasts, produce 'Black Totems'. There is nothing that forbids us from calling upon Black Totems, but they are not bound by pledge to help us. Many times has happened that a wounded Monk has called a Troll Totem in despair to use his healing ability, only to end up completely possessed by the Totem."

We arrived back to where my training had started, and Oner came to ask me, "We have more or less an hour before lunch time, do you want to spar with me? I promise I'll be more merciful than Yalgir."

At this point, I was a bit afraid to enter again in combat with these people, but Ralya pushed my back gently to encourage me, and there I went. Oner really was better instructor: he took the fight more calmly and sometimes he even went as far as to stop the fight to correct my stance or to teach me the best ways of blocking, evading or countering some attacks. When the training leveled up and became more serious, I was rapidly overwhelmed. But at that point, people were starting to retire, so we did the same. While Oner and Yalgir guided me back to my house, we chatted about our impressions on my first day of training.

Yalgir didn't speak until we started to talk about the part where I sparred with Oner. "Why didn't you use all of your weapons?"

That surprised me and I could just say, "What?"

He pointed at Turak and said, "You just learned that you control that Stormcrow. Why didn't you use it? To have a weapon and not to use it is a mistake and a waste."

Turak answered, "Well it's also a mistake not to skin a wolf and a waste not to use that skin as a carpet. Don't go treating me like an item, dog." I was glad Yalgir could not understand him.

Luckily, the discussion didn't go any further because we arrived at my house. I invited them to come in with me, but they excused themselves saying their carriage to the fortress was already here and they needed to have a bath before lunch.

"Welcome home, Master. You have a guest waiting for you at the entrance hall. He has been served a drink, so please attend him and go have your bath while I go prepare lunch for you and the other guest that will be staying with us." Fantastic, Ralya had gotten permission from her father to share this house until our wedding. About the guest waiting for me, I had no clue until I got in and saw the things he had spread on the tea table.

"Van'Brandon, my name is Suvan and I come by orders of Yuan'Errom to prepare an order of two rings: the one that will be the ring of your Household and another ring for your fiancée... maybe your wedding gift to her?" This Elf was even older than Errom. The parts where his hair wasn't white it was gray. He had a big nose that supported small glasses in front of his amber eyes.

"That's exactly it, Van'Suvan. Where do we start?" I asked him, sitting at one side of the table and inviting him to do the same at the other side. I purposefully used a high honorific in respect of his status as a Master Artisan. He showed me a scrap of paper with several drafts of the Icon I had chosen, explaining me that it was irregular to make the ring with just the Icon without any kind of base. In the end I chose a design where the arrow tips were well defined and the tips at the diagonal branches were smaller than the others, embedded in a hexagon-shaped white crystal.

"About the ring for your betrothed, I state Yuan'Errom's words. 'It must have two spherical jewels: a blue one and a white one, the blue being the biggest one. Hells curse me if I know why'. If you excuse my boldness, such a specific order has a meaning most of the times."

"Yes, it has. It is a promise, and the first to hear it must be my future partner," I answered taking care that my voice sounded neutral.

"Of course, you have all the rights to keep your reserve. Well, with everything tied up like this, I'll move to my workshop to start working. I'll have both pieces ready for the morning of two days from now. That is the day when both of you exchange wedding gifts. Just in time, right?" he chuckled and I followed him to the door and when he left, I raced to the bath to be ready for when Ralya's arrival.

I was wearing dark green trousers and a brown shirt, all made in thin fabrics along with a type of shoe that looked very convincingly like slippers when Ralya arrived followed by a red haired maid. She left part of her luggage at the feet of the young woman and came to hug me with a big smile, but a training sword appeared out of nowhere to cut her path. Notice that the sword was positioned as a barrier, not pointing to Ralya. That would have been a very bad idea and she could have felt free to retaliate. "What do you think you are doing, maid? Put down that weapon right this instant," said Ralya without hiding her displeasure.

"Excuse my rudeness, Van'Ralya, but you both are not allowed to enter close proximity. Also, I'll be with you all the time every time you are about to be alone. Lastly, Master's bedroom will be closed with the key one hour after dinner to prevent 'night visits' hu-hu."

"Explain me why the House Maid is imposing her rules on the Master and his guest?" My fiancée put her hands on her hips. She was rapidly losing her patience.

"Your father in person ordered me to not let you two get 'too intimate' and even though it would not be a bad thing to be reunited with my Nue'He, I'd prefer my pretty head not to roll on the ground until I have the chance to meet my grandchildren, hu-hu." Again, Merita surprised me with her ability to laugh at the most discomforting situations.

"I'll abide by my father's orders, but what you just said about 'night visits' and getting 'too intimate' includes you too. I don't plan on sharing him with any other woman until we decide on his Seconds."

"You don't have to worry about that, Van'Ralya. Master hasn't ordered that kind of service and I don't think he ever will. We are in a purely platonic relationship, hu-hu. I would bet Master thinks it is near disgusting to have physical relationships just for the sake of pleasure instead of using it as a means to show a deep emotional affection. Poor me, the affection he may feel towards me isn't the one that leans towards the bed, hu-hu."

I knew Merita was just playing, but she had chosen a dangerous partner. That forced me to intervene because Ralya looked positively about to jump on her. I asked about the meal and Merita asked us to follow her to the dining room. Ralya dispatched her maid and we went back to a calm conversation. I took note to ask Ralya what she had meant with "Seconds." I had a bad feeling about it. I could almost hear the sound of problems approaching very fast.

We had soup and grilled fish for lunch. While we were eating Ralya told me that her sister would come right this evening to start my Magic lessons. I had my reserves about what I could be really able to do, but I was fairly hopeful. I thought it was obvious that my first target was to overcome my primary drawback: my lack of a deep Spirit reserve. I was feeling abnormally tired for the hour of the day, and so I told Ralya, thinking that maybe it was due to the morning training being fiercer than I could imagine.

She smiled and said, "You still haven't noticed after two days in this world, dear? Well, I think it could be hard to notice if nobody tells you. We count seconds, minutes and hours the same way as you do, in multiples of sixty. But the days here last twenty-eight hours. Right now we are in the season where the proportion between day and night is the same, but the longest day of the year has nineteen hours of light. Now that we are talking about this topic, weeks have eight days: one for each one of the seven gods and the last one for the rest of the Lesser Races. Every month consists of exactly four weeks and the year has fourteen months, because each God took two months to bring a piece of land from the depths of the sea and populate it with the race they had created."

"Interesting, we measure the years based on the time it takes the Earth to revolve around the sun. So each season always occurs on the same months. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter." I said, choosing a pragmatic approach at the fact that I would have to get accustomed to longer days and nights.

"Oh, here it happens the same. But the seasons come in a different order. Summer ends with a huge snowstorm that marks the beginning of Winter, then the snow melts and the evaporation of that water brings the rainy season, that produces the necessary changes on the soil to start the Spring."