Chapter 8: Decisions

There were a number of different ways to prepare the Lesser Blood Lily for consumption. The most complex methods Nadran saw in the Sacred Elm Herb Compendium had involved using alchemy to craft the flower into a high-quality pill that helped to extract the maximum medicinal efficacy of the lily, but Nadran didn't have the time or skill to make something of that level. Instead, he chose the most simple and straightforward approach: he ground up the flower into a paste, and added water, making it into a soup.

Seeing his mother's confused expression, Nadran explained. "It's a healing herb; it should be able to heal dad."

His mother's eyes widened, hope warring with disbelief within her mind. Finally, she spoke in a quiet voice, "You really mean that? Are you sure?"

"Yes, this flower is quite effective at healing internal injuries and broken bones," Nadran explained as he began pouring the soup into a bowl for his father.

His mother smiled, then looked at him suspiciously. "How did you get your hands on such a valuable herb?" she asked.

Nadran avoided eye contact and said "Oh, I just found it… in the wild."

Nadran's mother shook her head, knowing he wasn't telling the whole truth, but didn't press him on it. "As long as you're safe," she said.

Nadran nodded and brought the soup into his father's room.

His father, Fyral, was lying in bed, eyes closed. He was covered in numerous bandages, each tinged with the red of blood. His arm and one of his legs were crooked, bent in a way that limbs were not supposed to be bent, his face contorted in a grimace of pain. The only clues he was still alive were the beads of sweat that covered his face and his chest, which was shallowly rising and falling.

It pained Nadran to see his kind and stalwart father in such a state. He quickly hurried over to his father's side, and, cupping his hand behind his father's head and lifting it up, he slipped a spoonful of soup into his father's mouth. Thankfully, whether his father still had a strand of consciousness within him or it was just instinct, he quickly swallowed the soup.

For a minute, nothing happened. Then, his father began coughing violently. Nadran nearly panicked, thinking that his father was dying. But then, Fyral's eyes opened and he looked at Nadran. "Nadran?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Dad!" Nadran shouted, starting to move forward to hug his father, then stopping, remembering his father's injuries. "Here, have some more soup."

His father nodded, looking a bit confused, but he accepted the spoonful of soup and drank it. After a bit, he felt a warm sensation from his stomach as the medicinal properties of the soup took effect. "This is some good soup!" he said in surprise as he felt his body slowly healing from its effects, the pain gradually lessening. Nadran smiled happily, finally able to relax now that the danger his father faced had passed.

His mother and sister ran into the room upon hearing a voice they were afraid they would never hear again, joy evident on their faces.

Fyral laughed heartily, wincing in pain at the sudden movement, but quickly began smiling again. "It looks like I made you guys worry. Don't worry, I'll be alright soon."

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Nadran traced a sigil as he sat in his bed, his fingers more sure than they had been a few days ago. While he still traced them noticeably slower than the average sigil user, he at least didn't need to hesitate every two seconds to try to remember the pattern that came next. The sigil finished, and a purple sphere of energy formed above his hand, floating silently as he stared at it. This was Energy Sphere, a low slate attacking sigil. He had learned it earlier on in the day, taking far shorter than it had taken him to learn sigils in the past.

Nadran tilted his hand back and forth, causing the sphere to move with it. He was in a pensive mood, not so much staring at the orb as through it. [This change is so drastic, it seems ridiculous that this was the kind of sigil that would have taken me over a month to learn just a few days ago. Now it's not even 5 minutes. This seems kind of unbelievable. What changed? It couldn't just be my understanding of the sigil components… could it?]

Nadran shook his head to regain his train of thought. [My primary concern should be Kalio, or, more specifically, his brother Tyval. Tyval is much more talented than Kalio, and I'm afraid that he won't just let this matter go after all this. From what little I've seen, it's clear that I am completely incapable of fighting him, at least for now. If I want to survive, at least in the short term, I will need some sort of protection.] Nadran thought for a moment before his eyes brightened. [What about Mirror Dragon Academy?] he thought, considering the possibility.

Mirror Dragon Academy was a school that was able to teach cultivators about using sigils for many different purposes, especially combat. While the public lectures Nadran 'attended' described a large variety of sigils and their main uses, this was far from enough to become a master in the art of battle, or any other specialized discipline, for that matter. For one, tactics and strategies for using sigils optimally were not something that could be so easily learned without discovering them through extensive research and years of intense battles with your life on the line. That is, unless you attended the academy. The teachers had vast amounts of knowledge about these matters, and would teach the students what they knew, causing the graduates of the academy to be far superior to those of the same rank.

Perhaps even more importantly, though, Mirror Dragon Academy had high-level sigils that would never be revealed in the public lectures Nadran had learned from. While Nadran knew of a great variety of low-level sigils, the higher level ones were only available to the richest, most powerful families and the students of academies. It is said that a single low marble combat sigil could compete against dozens of mid slate sigils and come out on top. Whether it was true or not, higher grade sigils were truly powerful.

Cultivation manuals were another major upside for students. These manuals contained techniques that were used to improve a person's all-important pool of internal energy. Without a manual, internal energy could only be naturally absorbed from the air. This, of course, was a slow process that was hundreds or even thousands of times slower than using a cultivation manual, making these manuals incredibly valuable. The higher level manuals had even been the source of wars between rival clans in the past. The word cultivator itself most directly meant 'one who uses a cultivation technique to increase their internal energy.' By this definition, Nadran was not even a cultivator, since he knew no cultivation techniques, but most people simply referred to anyone who could use sigils as a cultivator. Possibly even more frustrating than his lack of cultivation technique, though, was the fact that Nadran found himself completely unable to increase his internal energy pool with the energy that naturally flowed through the air. He never gained more internal energy, and he was only able to replenish his energy to the levels it was at before when he expended it. For this reason, he was still unable to even be ranked as a low slate cultivator.

Academies still had more to them, of course. For example, most academies had branches that specialized in different disciplines other than sigil creation, such as alchemy and forging. Right now, though, what Nadran cared about the most was a single aspect of the academy: safety.

Well, relative safety at least. People who became students of a prestigious academy were offered some degree of protection. Students were forbidden from killing each other under almost any circumstances, and the academy would also work to protect their students from external threats. After all, the academies valued their students greatly, especially those with great talent. Alumni of these academies would increase the academy's prestige, and would often return to protect it and its honor if it were ever threatened by powerful forces. Thus, students were relatively safe from external dangers, at least as long as they remained within the academy's walls. While students would certainly face danger, it was almost never at the level where they would be powerless to survive. To Nadran, this seemed to be the path with the best chances of survival. There was, however, one problem: becoming a student in the first place.

Academies like Mirror Dragon Academy were where the best of the best would gather, the greatest geniuses of the land. With their reputation, the academy would not just let in anyone who wanted to join. Without ability, even money could not buy you a spot. The base requirements for attending the academy were rather harsh: you had to either reach the mid slate sigil realm by the age of 12, the high slate realm by the age of 13, the peak slate realm by the age of 15, or the low marble realm by 18. This was irrelevant to Nadran, though, who was already 21 years of age and was at an unranked sigil realm. It was essentially impossible for him to get into the academy with this method. Besides, without a cultivation technique or even the ability to naturally increase internal energy, Nadran had no way to improve his realm in the first place.

Nadran frowned, trying to remember if there was any other way to attend the academy. If there wasn't, he needed to think of some other method to ensure his safety. Then, a thought crossed his head. [What about the specialized branches within the academy? Maybe I could get into one of those. After all, due to the relative rarity of these specialists, there is no age restriction on admission. This is usually considered far harder than getting admitted normally, since these disciplines are very difficult to train in, but at this point this seems to be the only way left for me to make it in.]

Nadran hesitated once more as he considered the next step: choosing one of the disciplines to learn, and being able to self-teach himself the basics in a short amount of time so that he could be accepted into the academy. This seemed to be an impossible task, but Nadran wouldn't let that discourage him.

[Wait, what about alchemy?] Nadran thought with some excitement. [I am already familiar with a ton of herbs due to my experience in picking and selling them. Maybe this will help me learn it easier than most people. While I lack the resources to get decent equipment, I could still learn how to make some of the more basic pills. Oh yeah, alchemy is also very profitable from what I've heard. Maybe that will let me hire guards to protect my family, or even make it so that they don't need to work at all!]

Nadran got incredibly excited at this thought, and his resolve to learn alchemy strengthened even more. He looked outside, gauging that he had enough time to visit the library again and consult the basic alchemy books. He wasn't sure if just the knowledge contained there would be enough, but at least it was something.

Nadran stepped out of his house and headed toward the library, taking another stride toward his future… and his destiny.