Capítulo 6: Chapter 5 Pergola
"So, you didn't win the tournament?" Mary asked as she munched on a plate of delectable that Iris had fetched for her. Servants also brought down a comfy chair for her to sit in.
"That young kid wasn't much more than a thug at the point." Smiling softly at the memories of her younger self.
"When did you learn to cut steel?" Looking at the hole in the bars Iris had cut with a pair of ornate axes. As the day wore on it became apparent that her story companion was hungry. Offering to get her something, insisting that it was no trouble. She simply whipped up a set of axes, and lightly chopped her way through the bars. The guards saw this, shared a look, and pretended nothing happened. While the sage was imprisoned by the dukes' orders, it was a known fact that she had a special relationship with the Lady heir. They were just incompetent guards who didn't know any better, so turning a blind eye was the best way.
"I swung my first ax in beast clan alliance. I honestly don't remember learning to cut steal, it was just something I did one day." Iris was an expressive person; she tended to show or change expressions based on what she thought. Switch gears her face turned ponderous.
"My time in the beast clan alliance gave me a chance to get grounded and find my own goals in the world of cultivation. One of the things I didn't realize is that I built a flawless foundation. A large portion of time when forming a soul orb is often fixing the flaws in your foundation. Unfortunately, I did so by making it gigantic." Iris sheepishly scratched her head.
"What does that exactly mean? I really don't get it." Setting the plate aside, Mary leaned forward.
"I got lucky and unlucky." Lowering her hands, the sage continued.
"When formed my foundation, I prepared an enormous area, like something you would build for this estate. My approach was great because the size allowed for everything to be built simply. Unfortunately, that meant this old lady needed four to five times the qi and materials to advance. I built a big house, and it was expensive if that makes sense."
Mary managed comprehension on half. In short, she was a kept women leaching off her sister's wealth.
"Iris." Icy cold washed over both ladies, approaching down the corridor was the sister in question. Iris simply turned away, trying to keep her blush in check. She had never been one to shy away from skin ship, but kisses were another realm entirely.
"Good day Lady Valentine." Mary always used an honorific with her sister. Instead of a greeting back, she received a short glare before her eyes softened on the imprisoned.
"Your junior is sorry that this happened, Master Iris." It was a polite tone full of honest anguish. The formal speech seemed to calm the sage down enough for her to get her emotions in check.
"That's not needed Valentine." With that out of the way, the duchess walked to the lock bar on the prison cell. A swift chop shattered the bar, lock, and scattered tumblers about the floor.
"Come, I will see you to your actual quarters." Opening the door, she bowed lightly as the sage passed by before standing beside Iris. Mary watched the two exchange a few sentences, the literal minimum of communication, before slowly making their way out of the prison cellblock.
Forgotten, Mary stood and made her way put as well. Pausing to give her own short bow and thanks to the guards. Watching the retreating figures in front of her drove spiteful hatred in her heart. Mary had been besotted from the first glimpse of her beautiful noble sister. The quite girl was not well thought of, but her kindness had still shown through. The stepsister knew that it was a fruitless puppy love, but it didn't stop her from feeling like her world was going to collapse. Had she not seen firsthand just how taken Duchess Valentine was with Lady Iris, the younger sister would never be able to accept the two together.
It was a scene that left her both heartbroken yet caused her love for her sister to grow.
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"That's enough for today, Miss Mary." Two desks had been added to the heir study since Mart's arrival at the duchy. The elder Lockheed had placed the heir in charge of educating her new sister on the required knowledge of being a noble. The first few weeks Mary had not seen her stepsister, who was reflecting on some incident for disrespecting the crown prince. Books and texts were piled on her own desk, paper bits, other small tools and writing equipment, in short, a mess. Volume seemed to be the biggest problem; an overwhelming amount of information was required of a duchy family member. Despite her shortcomings and difficulties her sister never gave up.
Valentine demonstrated or taught, tested her on it and then repeated. No belittling and no anger. Mary wondered if she was hated given her natural distance and lack of speaking. If she didn't do well enough on the exams or the heir wasn't satisfied, she retaught and had her try again. It surprised Mary, because in short order, she herself was amazed at what she remembered and learned.
"Yes Lady Lockheed." Lessons and study were formal affairs, such that proper titles and honorifics were a requirement. Organizing a few papers and putting her writing supplies back in their drawer, she left her chair and bade her elder sibling goodbye. Iris was at the other desk struggling to stay focused, given that her writing utensil was being tossed in the air rather than writing.
"Another hour Miss Iris." Returning to her own work, Valentine ignored the maid as she whined. Leaving the room, dinner and a bath were held. Given that it was time for her to sleep, Mary returned to the study to wish her sister good night. The study doors stayed open most of the time, closing when there was a need. So, from the hallway it was plain that Iris slumped over her desk snoring. Rather than call out and wake her, Miss Mary crept closer when her sister appeared in frame, staring at the sleeping maid exasperatedly. Unexpectedly she stood quietly as if pondering something. After an eternity of debate, she gently reached down and brushed the loose hair from the sleeping women's eyes. Sand fell from the hourglass before she finally removed her hand and then reached for a blanket. Gently draping the girl, Mary felt her heart pierced.
The youngest Lockheed had run after that, unsure of exactly why she was running. While it took her time to understand her own feelings, she found that the suffering from this incident, was a far cry from when the heir of the duchy disappeared in a hail of lightning.
!@# !@# !@#
It was an ordinary day from anyone's perspective, another brilliant summer day. After being forced to retreat from the warming weather Valentine finally caved into attempting to build a foundation. Spring was perfect weather for reading books outside, and supposedly she would gain some tolerance to the heat if she built a foundation. It would be worth it if she could reclaim the summer for books as well. Despite her instance that she would never let the maid come within several feet of her again, the girl had managed to wear her down.
"You managed to come along nicely. You have a knack for this." The noble had chosen to cultivate for the meditative state it brought. It's true she preferred the quiet, but near others a wellspring of thoughts formed and she would be overwhelmed. That paired with the basic soft forms of moving meditation, Valentine was able to silence the maelstrom in her mind and focus on the simple task of moving heat and energy around her body.
"Since you're working with pure qi and you don't have elemental roots, your foundation will naturally form well." They were out in the garden under one of its many pergolas, the rest of the staff had been sent away to allow their lady to have peace and focus.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Valentine asked, a little uncomfortable seated on the wooden deck.
"Of course, this one's safe, to build a solid life and character within oneself is exactly what the heavens want." Long pauses were the norm when it came to response from the noble lady. Iris didn't mind, at several hundred years, calmness was best.
"Didn't you suffer tons of burns last winter?"
"That was a special case. There shouldn't be any problems for you." Iris reassured her, when she had regained her foundation, she hadn't expected fire to pour out, she had expected lightning. It was than she had realized that she was a true outsider. Those kind of heaven or demonic pillars were when one accomplished something decreed by the Sky Light or Earth Light Panes.
"The scorched crater that started a brush fire."
"You found out about that…I had nothing to do with it." The look Iris received made her feel a tiny bit guilty. Each realm breakthrough beyond the foundation stage was a crime against the heavens or the demonic realms. The heavens felt that renouncing your mortality was a sin, the demons didn't want competition. Whenever someone attempted to break though one would have to withstand the tribulations of their respective faction.
"I thought I would get struck by lightning." Valentine moved to stand to which Iris leapt on the noble.
Valentine borrowed the simple black base dress of the maids, which meant once again Iris was molesting her bare thighs. One arm had wrapped underneath her skirt as she clung to her lap to prevent her from standing.
"As expected of the noble duchess, these are some of the smoothest delightful gams I've ever felt." Wordlessly, Valentine locked her fist together and hammered Iris in the head. It was a solid blow, a meaningless blow since Iris had reforged her soul orb. Beyond the sizzling heat that made the nobles heartbeat faster, she could feel the qi slowly trickling in. Sighing she gently pried the cultivator off her, strongly feeling at a lost. The callused finger pads had felt treacherously good; however, Valentine was certain it was just the feeling of the qi.
Iris knew she won. Iris sat on her knees in front of the duchess heir walked her through the steps to build a foundation.
"Start by gather the qi within you. Your center point is somewhere below the heart. Find it by looking where qi naturally wants to pool within your body. Don't worry ill be here to protect you no matter what."
Internally Valentine awareness of the outside world faded. It had taken practice but since the state was so addicting for the stressed heir, she had been extra diligent in her training. The remnants of Iris hands had faded replaced by a sea of color. Her own qi flowing across the channels of her body slowly came into focus. Such paths were not defined and as a result the sloshed across her body. It was a very faint rose color and at her heart it was the darkness. From there she turned her attention to the rapids beneath her beating heart.
"Slowly look, find it and be sure."
There did appear to be a place where the qi seemed to stay still but it kept shifting.
"Slow down, let everything settle." Iris's voice seemed so dreamlike, different, and out of focus. However, she heeded the advice. The rapids slowed a small puddle formed for her to see.
"Let all your qi slowly flow to that point, and as it does build a foundation. Think about the word, it could be a stone slab, it could be a lake constrained by land, walls that box the clouds in. Even the stones that hold a fire, whatever the word means to you. As the qi flows imagine it converting to that form."
For a fleeting instance, Valentine thought of the girl siting in front of her and how quickly she had become a pillar of troublesome support. That fleeting thought was enough, and very slowly the qi began to form hands within her soul.
"Stay focused, just guide it softly." Another thing that Iris did for her. Bit by bit the flow across her body stagnated, and at the tipping point the ghost form of two hands reaching to support her solidified in her soul.
"Congrag- Move!" Fire spilled outward, and the two rolled unceremoniously out of the pergola. A raging inferno sprang forth engulfing the wood and acceding into the heavens.
"See I told you id keep you safe." Iris smirked; she lightly held the arm of the duchess who had rolled a bit father onto the grass. Suddenly Valentine was jerked aside, tossed to avoid a blade that embedded itself in the soft earth. A gauntlet grabbed the hilt of the blade joined to the rest of a burning knight. Flaming wings and ash charged armor, Valentine could only think that somehow an angel had appeared.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Quinnmare
Quinnmare It would be the luck of the fool if the good lord was a shark
Status de energia semanal
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