Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) by Daniel Schinhofen (motivational books to read txt) 📕

“My heart...” Gregory murmured before turning to Jenn.

Jenn already had one of the cloth sleeves on her arm, and she gave him a smile. “If you would, please, dear one?”

“Gladly,” Gregory said, pulling a second bracer out and strapping it to her arm. “For our warrior.”

Jenn beamed as she flexed her arm, getting used to the feel of her new accessory.

Gregory turned to put his own on, only to have Yukiko take his arm. “We’ll handle this,” she told him.

Jenn and Yukiko got his on together, and he was smiling the entire time. When they finished, he kissed both of their cheeks. “Thank you.”

“I am always happy to see my work is appreciated,” Blon grinned, “moreso from champions of the academy tournaments.”

“My thanks,” Gregory told Blon. “I will return if I have more items that you can craft.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Blon said. “I wish you all a good day.”

As they left the shop, Yoo-jin examined the bracer on Yukiko’s arm. “They do good work. We should come back here before we leave the city.”

“Agreed,” Hao said. “A crafter who appreciates their customer’s reactions is one who values his work.”

Chapter Fifty-five

“Do you think she’ll do okay?” Jenn asked as they walked down the path toward the clan hall.

“Yes,” Gregory said. “She was always there when Yoo-jin needed anything. She looks even more focused on this than she has on anything else before.”

“I agree with you, dear one,” Yukiko nodded. “I expect her to succeed, and even to impress my mother.”

“I just worry that if she does fail, it will break her,” Jenn said.

“And that is a worry,” Gregory nodded, “but I don’t think she’ll fail. If she does, though, we can pick her back up.”

“Father was sad we aren’t having dinner with them tonight,” Yukiko said, switching the topic to something different. “I feel like being here for dinner is a bit more important.”

“Looks like the freaks are out tonight,” Nick’s snide voice cut across their conversation.

“Yeah, six of them,” Gregory agreed when he looked back and saw Nick and five more Eternal Flame members with him. “I’m surprised at you, Nick. You’ve been much less aggressive this year. Did the academy censure your clan?”

Jason grabbed Nick’s arm when he took a step forward. “Stop. He’s baiting us into a conflict,” Jason hissed softly.

“I’d say yes,” Yukiko smiled.

“Quiet, beast!” Michelle snapped. “You’ll get yours in a few days.”

“If you make it to the finals, you mean,” Jenn snickered. “I doubt your clan wants you facing us before then, considering your track record.”

Parks smirked at them from behind the others. “But you’ve never faced all of us at once. Besides, there’s still time for accidents to happen.”

Gregory triggered his aether sight and saw the strands of aether spinning from Parks to right behind them. He glanced back and saw the wall that they’d run into, then reached back and leaned on it. “Yeah. Accidents. Right.”

Jason turned angrily on Parks. “Stop it now, idiot!”

“What’s this?” a calm voice asked, startling all of them. “A student leaning on air doesn’t happen often.” Everyone looked to the side where Magus Marcia Han was standing with her apprentices behind her. “Is there a problem here?”

“None,” Jason said quickly.

Gregory stopped leaning a second before the wall vanished. “The Eternal Flame just wanted to talk about the upcoming tournament. We indulged them, but we should be heading back to our clan.”

“Probably a wise decision. Cost analysis is something I taught in class, after all,” Marcia said. “Good day to you.” She walked on, and the Han apprentices followed her after glancing from one group to the other.

Gregory didn’t wait for her to leave— he turned and started away with Jenn and Yukiko falling in behind him. The hatred drilling into his back made him smile, but also wonder what Nick would have in place for the tournament.

“We hurt her first. That’ll show him,” Nick’s voice was soft, but Yukiko heard it.

Once they were away from them, Yukiko mentioned what she had overheard. “I’m sure they meant me,” she added.

“They did,” Gregory said. “I don’t think they realize Jenn is married to us.”

“Facing all six of them at once will be a problem… wait, there were more than six before,” Jenn said. “Nick, Jason, Michelle, Parks, Gina, Petak, Fureno, and... uh... hell, I forget the names of the other two.”

“Looks like Fureno, Zach, and Oscar all fell out of favor,” Gregory said, “or they might just not be fighting in the tournament. Not every member of a clan has to fight. That’s how some of the bigger clans run the tournament. They use their lesser members for the easy fights to keep their better members fresher. We saw it last year.”

“And injury can keep someone out for a match or three, too,” Yukiko nodded. “Maybe they were injured in training? We know that Nick doesn’t care if he hurts people.”

“True. I half-believe what I told them— their clan will try to put them as far away from us as they can until the finals,” Jenn said.

“Since Jason seems to be taking over as the leader, I agree. If it was Nick, he’d want us in the first round,” Gregory said.

“We hadn’t heard the academy had censured them, but it seemed to hit home,” Yukiko said. “No wonder this year has been quiet... though I am surprised that no other clan has tried to challenge us, together or separately.”

“Might be worried about their own members. We did take both tournaments,” Gregory said.

“True,” Yukiko agreed as they reached the clan hall.

“Apprentices, welcome back,” Dia said, blowing out a long line of smoke. “You’re back earlier than anticipated.”

“We wanted to be here for dinner,” Yukiko replied. “We’re having guests, aren’t we?”

“Indeed, we are,”