I woke up bright and early for my first day of training with the master. I was a little early, expecting to be able to do some warmups before he arrived, but he was there before me. “Nice of you to be prompt, boy. Put on the uniform you will find in the cabinet near the door. The one meant for you is labeled with your name. Go ahead and start going through your forms once you are dressed. I want you to start with the most basic ones, starting with the source at the top of the list on the banner, and continue with the other three. Once you have done the first forms of all four sources, start again at the top with the second form. After an hour, we will go over your strengths and weaknesses.”

“Master, how will this teach me about the fifth source?” I asked as I started moving through the forms.

“Boy, Standt is a good teacher for the earth and fire sources, but his weakness in the others shows in how you use them all. To use Will, you must use them all fluidly and with balance. To do that, you must relearn them all under my supervision,” he answered. While you work on your forms, I will observe. Make sure you keep in mind the harsh heat and fast surge of fire, as well as its inability to sustain itself if the fuel and air are not available. Earth can smother the fire by covering it and depriving it of air. Water can bore through rock with the insatiable determination of the need to flow. Fire can evaporate the water and deprive it of the power of its flow. Fire consumes air and burns hotter. Air can whip water into a vortex and steal its power and direct it in torrents of destruction.

“My point is this, all of the sources interact. They are each powerful, but a correct combination makes their combined effects undefeatable.” He sighed and continued, “What is important is the mindset. If your point of view allows you to see all of the sources together as one cohesive art of movement, offence, and defense, you are using the Will source. It encompasses all actions and movements. You are obviously still not using all of your abilities.”

“Stolath Zenash, what abilities am I not using?” I asked in confusion.

“Boy, I knew your grandfather. I am guessing that your eyes are able to see in other ways than you are using. You see, he had eyes that looked just like yours. He also had a little ‘problem’ that he learned to turn into an asset over his time here.”

I cautiously answered, “I see. And what was the nature of his problem Stolath Zenash?”

“Do not play games with me, boy. Can you discharge electrical shocks or not? Your grandfather was able to do so in a limited way, but it became a useful way to startle opponents.”

“And if I were to disclose things in our ‘remedial’ class, those would stay part of our private conversation? Maybe as a friend of my revered grandfather?”

“I do not disclose personal details about my students! We also have something in common,” the old man said with a smile as he showed Solan a pair of silver dice similar to his own sapphire ones. It seems he managed to se them when I was changing.

My face must have registered my shock. He chuckled, “Ha! See? You are not the only one who makes little moves of rebellion. Now! Stop gawking and get back to your forms! I want to see you work them hard!”

The rest of our time that day was spent by him correcting minor errors in my movements. I began to see how learning water and air moves from a fire and earth fighter may have tainted my education. I had learned a flawed idea of the flowing movements. The fire and earth movements did not require as much correction, but there was a smoothness of transition that I was working to copy once the old master showed me how it was done.

After our time was up, Stolath Zenash gave me a paper schedule that listed our remedial classes every other day. “Boy, if I see electrical burns on any ‘accident victims’ that happen to be suspected of bullying, I have no idea what could have caused them. I will suggest it is an issue with the wiring in the buildings, or maybe a damaged light. Understood?”

“Understood, Stolath Zenash!” I replied. I may have been grinning like an idiot.

---===+++===---

As I was leaving the showers after I cleaned up from my class, Greah Altose spotted me from the end of the hall. Her call of, “Solan! Let’s have lunch!” echoed down the fake stone walls of the passage. “My sisters will be here this evening to meet you!”

I could feel a pounding headache beginning. “You do remember that I have not agreed to your marriage proposals, right?” I asked as she tried to catch her breath when she reached me.

“That’s what you say now. Wait until you meet my sisters!” she replied with a beaming smile that made me doubt her sanity. “They look just like me! They will even start classes here next week!”

“If you are just old enough to enroll, how can your younger sisters enroll?” I asked with a furrowed brow. My headache ratchetting up a notch.

“Silly, my family got permission for a variance in the genetic restrictions. My sisters are from an embryo split. They just had to go through extra testing to be allowed into the Cloisters. I didn’t have to do that because I’m considered the ‘original’. That makes me the older sister!” she spouted with the boundless joy that seemed to be her default setting.

“So, you are asking to marry four identical versions of you?” This whole idea was so strange to me. My mind was immediately focused on escaping this insanity as she latched onto my arm.

“I don’t see a problem. Once we get the genetics approved, you can be responsible for expanding the legacy of your house and the merger of the two lines and their power. Add that any male child I have would be the heir of my house, while the children of my sisters would be just members of your house. We could be the saviors of both houses!”

As we strolled into the dining area, I noticed the lithe form of Sayleah Racash, I saw that her full lips formed a sneer that would be picturesque if not for the ugly sentiment it showed. I could not tell if it was more for me or Greah.

We went through the line to get our food. Greah finally had to release my arm. “Greah, why are you really so set on this plan of merging our families?” I asked point-blank as we took seats at an empty table near the waste areas for the disposal of uneaten food.

Her face underwent a subtle change. “Okay, I confess. My family is under threat. My brother has been proven sterile. Even if he can use our keystone, we need to have a chance for the next generation. You are also under threat, as an isolated house, and the legacy of a grandfather who challenged the First Prime. At the same time, his undeniable ability and control of your house’s keystone mean you may have inherited that ability. On top of that, your father was able to sire a son. Not only sire a son, but do it fast and with active military service taking up much of his time. That tells us that extreme fertility may also be a genetic inheritance you carry. We could use those things to argue for the variance of the genetic laws and build up our respective houses.” Now her eyes were less wide open and innocent. There was calculation in the smile she wore at that point.

“I see.” I replied, “And when are you thinking of doing the ‘tests’ to see if your assumptions are correct?”

“We can begin the courtship after you meet my sisters if you like. It would be best if the first child comes from one of my sisters, so that the child can be your heir, and the one I have can be the heir of House Altose.”

“What if we can’t stand each other?”

“Simple, we do what we must for our respective families and only maintain a visible union. I don’t even care if you have children with or marry other women. Just make sure our heirs happen in the right order, One of my sisters, then Me. After that, make more with us as you wish and others as you wish as well.” She stated with no smile at all as she looked directly into my eyes. “You could even have children with that snob who is glaring at us now.”

“I doubt I could stand her long enough to do that!” I could not help laughing at this point. “She is physically attractive, but I doubt I could deal with her company long enough to reach any such goal.”

As we had this conversation in our obscure area, one of Sayleah’s minions started toward us. He was much larger than I and had a heavy, but handsome face. His dark hair waved just a bit in the breeze as he stalked to me with narrowed eyes. When he reached our table, he glowered at me and said, “She would like to meet you in the west courtyard tonight. Meet her there at the eleventh hour of the evening. Don’t bring the girl or the bodyguard.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked over to join his mistress at her table. He whispered something into her right ear, and she smiled a reptilian smile that had no mirth in it.

Greah was a bit nervous about the whole thing. “Just make sure you win if a conflict starts in your little meeting!”

Once our meal was finished, I parted with the not-so-innocent, Greah, and went to my classes. I could not help but notice the whispering as I passed the other students in the halls and classes. I could not tell if it was the rumor of the attentions of Greah, or the scheduled meeting with Sayleah. I was fairly sure the meeting was a trap. Either someone else would be there to ‘teach me a lesson’ or there would be a group of them for that with her along to gloat.

---===+++===---

I went from my last class to the quad out in front of the school buildings , where I met Greah the first day.

I saw her right away. Here identical sisters were around her, standing equal distances from Greah, who I saw pointing to me across the quad. Each one had a different streak of color in their hair and each had a slightly different style to her hair. As I walked up, Greah showed a big smile that brightened the closer I got. She began introducing her sisters as soon as I was near enough to hear. “This is my sister Reah. As you can see, she has a red streak in her hair and keeps it shorter than mine. The one with the green streak is named Leah. She keeps it longer than mine and puts it in a ponytail. Neah is the one with the blue streak. As you can see, she keeps it braided.” Each girl bowed to me as they were named. I have to admit, they were all attractive, but marriage was not part of what I was considering at that time.

“Hello ladies,” I said as I bowed to them. “I was told about your plan by Greah. I am considering it, but I have other matters to consider right now.”

“Ladies, I think we may be getting let down easy,” Reah remarked.

“Not at all. I see the merits of your plan, but I have to look into the other situations it may trigger. I also have what I suspect is a duel tonight,” I replied.

“Why would you show up if you think it will be a duel?” asked Leah.

“If they kill you, considering our proposal will not matter!” was Neah’s plaintive cry.

“Avoiding this conflict will not make it go away. Only dealing with such threats can make them go away. Sayleah’s thugs will not back off until I make it clear that confronting me is a bad idea. In any case, I will see you all later.”

Greah managed a perky smile, resuming the mask she had put forth when we first met. “I know our future husband will be fine.” As I walked away, she even did a little wave. 

---===+++===---

I arrived at the practice yard, a square of packed dirt surrounded by a wall composed of the same artificial stone used in much of the construction of the school.

Haleth and two other dark-haired followers of Sayleah. They had light armor and staffs. They were swinging the staffs in a threatening way as they grinned at me.

“You set this up because Slaith blocked that metal weapon you threw in the cafeteria? How would you expect a napkin to conceal that?” I asked.

With a grin that split his heavy and poorly shaved face, Haleth laughed and said, “We were going to have this little meeting one way or another. You have no chance of survival in this school.”