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

moving and being used, as it’ll already be there. A warning— you can never hold it in place all the time. When you hold aether, you can’t cycle it or move it through the place where it’s being held.”

“I see,” Jenn said, gingerly putting her weight back on her foot. “I’ll wait until they can join me in this training.”

“Misery does love company,” Bishop chuckled. “Come. It’s time to clean up before dinner.”

~*~*~

With dinner finished, they stopped by the archive and asked Murium about texts that dealt with aether resonance. Murium looked surprised, but moved around the room, clearly thinking. It took her a while before she found a scroll and handed it to them.

Gregory took the scroll and showed it to both Jenn and Yukiko— it was the same one they’d been given in the archive. Going over to a table, they sat and looked it over before Gregory excused himself to go find Dia.

Dia was sitting on the porch smoking when he found her. “Yes, Greg? What can I do for you?”

“I had a question, and the scroll in the archive here only expanded it.”

“Hmm, what question?”

“Aether resonance.”

“Ah, that is an advanced spirit path teaching,” Dia said. “Where did you learn of it?”

“Well, I heard about it from a conversation, then I asked Murium for a scroll and there was one here, but it doesn’t say how to find your resonance.”

“We all find our resonance inside the cavern,” Dia explained. “Resonance, for all it would point to sound, isn’t about sound. It’s about being in perfect tune with your aether. It’s about knowing yourself; your strengths, weaknesses, desires, and fears.”

“But how do we find it?”

“Meditation and trying to better connect with the flame. It’s hard to do while you’re working on the Peaceful Fist, as part of you is devoted to the movements, but it isn’t impossible. If you truly wish to find your resonance, stop the Peaceful Fist for a few days and just try to find your connection. Most spirit path followers can by the time they become initiates.”

“Thank you, Dia.”

“You are welcome. I have a question of my own, if you don’t mind?” When Gregory nodded, she exhaled another smoke ring. “Do you believe that Aether will return?”

Gregory blinked, staring at her, and she turned to meet his gaze after a few seconds. “I do, Dia. I deeply believe that Aether will return.”

Dia smiled and turned away from him, looking at the moon as she blew another smoke ring. “I do, too. Many used to deride and mock the clan for our belief... then, we became what we were before you three joined us. Now, novices declare they wish to join us before the tournament, and we may even have more apprentices asking to join before the year ends. It feels like our dedication to Aether is starting to come to fruition... May he smile upon the clan and reward those who have kept faith in him.”

“I’m sure he will,” Gregory said softly.

Dia shook her head. “Here I am going on while I’m sure your wives are waiting for you. Go— tell them about resonance and sleep well.”

“Thank you, Dia.”

“You are welcome, and thank you for giving me hope that the clan will thrive again.”

Gregory bowed before going back inside. Dia truly believes... her eyes shine with hope when she speaks. Will I ever be enough to meet her expectations, or will she scorn me if I do step forward and declare myself one day? With that thought in mind, he went to find Jenn and Yukiko.

Chapter Forty-four

 

Weeks flowed by for them. Their routine had shifted slightly— instead of studying books as often in the archive in the mornings, they spent at least half those days dedicated to trying to expand their ability to plan for different outcomes. Mixed results came from their attempts, but each felt like they were improving. They set aside the Peaceful Fist so they could use basic meditation to try and find their resonance.

Gregory noticed that they almost never left at the same time as other groups of apprentices. Commotion in the hallway outside of their class indicated when others were leaving. That lack of interaction gave them the benefit of minimizing the chance for other students to issue challenges to them. Gregory wondered if that was intentional on Paul’s end, or if it was merely happenstance.

The late nights came more often as the games started to be more complex, with three or four of them playing a game at a time. They were never on the same side, and always had free-for-all battles that made them keep track of multiple opponents. Ling proved to be adept at quick attacks before her army would pull back and defend. Clover was more chaotic, but she always had an exit from an encounter, making it hard to pin her command unit down. Farin was slowly and steadily improving in all areas of the game, but he lacked a signature style like the other two.

Gregory won and lost as often as the others did, so no one ever complained that he might be using foresight. He did see the others frown when he had a counter for something they planned— every time that happened, Gregory would take a minute to explain how and why he had his answer for them. Most of the time, though, he didn’t have an answer for their surprises, and they wouldn’t even question it.

~*~*~

“I feel like we’re on the cusp,” Jenn said.

Yukiko nodded. “I’ve felt like I could almost feel my resonance the last two days. The mind path is getting a little easier day by day, too.”

“It’s just like when I was trying to see all the different futures for Dia,” Gregory said. “I’m not trying to hold more than two branching paths