Leafing back through the journal, I found multiple sections talking of subtle techniques for optimizing many of the strikes and blocks common to the fighting styles I had been learning. A slight difference in angles and rotations of joints that revealed new ideas on optimal combat. I could now clearly see how my teacher had sabotaged my ability to fight.

My grandfather had also revealed tells that revealed what moves the master was likely to use next. I also noted that the master’s bone density was not optimal, it had been an issue even at a younger age.

He described his own electrical discharges as well. It would seem that his abilities in that area were significantly weaker than my own had become. He had used storage devices to demonstrate more powerful shocks than he was actually capable of to Stolath Vitaso Zenash. With practice, I should be able to beat the master in a fair fight. I did not intend our eventual conflict to be a fair fight.

There was also a section on the Schrudt family. They were close enough to the throne to have political clout that could be problematic. Their members had dwindled over the years and their talents had not been impressive for many years. Their decline would explain a significant level of desperation.

Slatharg Schrudt would need to be watched more closely. He was going to need to meet with an accident if he crossed me. I had no desire to harm him if he did not get out of line.

On a more positive note, my grandfather had included some diagrams of glyphs he had left out of the books I discovered earlier. There were weapons described in great detail. My attention was caught by a design that would be good for infiltration and surveillance. It was built into a shell similar to an insect body. The device would be able to explore secure areas and feed me video and sound remotely. The receiver was a small device that I could hide on my person easily. I had all of my little minions start building the bugs and the receiver as soon as I understood them. I added recording capabilities to the viewer as well. I kept the insects as small as possible and added programming that would make them hard to predict when avoiding people trying to detect and disable them.

The very last part of the book described hiding places where my grandfather had hidden data storage devices. I planned to find the devices and recover what my grandfather had compiled. I now knew he was a brilliant man who had been maligned for years since his death. His legacy was now my priority. I would be a living monument to his work.

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

As soon as the new devices were ready, I sent the insects out to take positions in the Stolath’s offices and rooms. I would add other locations as needed.

That night, I did not sleep well. So many unresolved feelings and ideas. I finally fell asleep and dreamed of a brutal fight with a fighter who outclassed me in every way. In the morning, I could not remember how the dream fight ended, but I woke with a smile.

My first class that day was with the master again. I observed him carefully. With the new information from my reading, his instruction took on a new light. What I knew now, I could see how he had modified how he demonstrated the strikes and blocks he was teaching me, both to protect his weak bones and to misdirect my learning and weaken my skills.

I speculated that he had probably taught others with more effective skills. Slatharg had probably been instructed much better than how I was being taught.

After class, I cleaned up, ate and went to my next class. ‘Biology of special subjugated species and races and their uses’ was going to a building in a restricted area with tighter security than surrounded the Drakon cells. All of the doors were sealed with durable airlocks. There were electrified plates imbedded in the seals. Anything larger than an insect would be unable to get in un-noticed. I could hear the hum of the electricity in the plates. The air practically crackled with the energy of high voltage as the doors closed. I dropped ten of my new devices in a dark corner of an entryway. I had insulated them pretty well. I also had included a small writing instrument loaded with UV ink into the tails of the insect-like machines. I also had made sure they could see into the UV spectrum.

We were led into an amphitheater in a large underground stone room. The center of the room held a transparent cubical box that contained what seemed to be a scared looking male student in a grey uniform. The student was looking around with wide, frightened eyes. He kept crying out for mercy.

The instructor was a middle aged man with grey hair and a slight droop to the points of his ears wearing a purple uniform. “I am professor Harkoth. This,” he said as he gestured toward the cube, “is the subject of our class today. It is, in fact, not the fellow student that it seems. He is actually a special sample of a subjugated species. This sample responds to the name Legion.”

The figure in the box stopped his innocent act and smiled broadly. As he bowed deeply to the class, his form shifted to a perfect copy of the professor. He tipped an imaginary hat to the professor with a dramatic flourish.

“We discovered a world that had amorphous creatures. They took shapes based on their needs. Predators evolved to consume them. In response, these creatures evolved to take a shape that fit the exact form that would help them survive attempts to eat them.

“Our researchers saw potential in this gift. We managed to collect multiple samples. We even learned to cultivate them. Most of the offspring were of animal level of intelligence at most. One mutated example was smarter than the others.” The imprisoned shape shifter smiled and performed another elaborate bow to the class. “What you see here is the descendant of that sample. The unmutated examples were selectively bred and mutated to reduce their intellect. We use them to replace damaged tissues in people who don’t have time for healing pods. The creature duplicates the damaged, or missing tissues. Its body gradually merges with the patient and fully becomes part of them.”

The professor paused for us to think about the implications of such creatures. Looking to the trapped sample as it smirked at him, he continued, “The intelligent sample showed us that the creatures gained intellect as they grew larger. Getting larger allowed they to dedicate more resources and mass to their brain. We used that understanding when we made the remaining samples unable to become larger than slightly bigger than an average fist. This,” he said as he gestured toward the prisoner, “is the largest sample we have been able to grow. The researcher who grew it added some of our people’s DNA to as well. This lead to its growth and intellect. Unfortunately, it also was rather hostile to our people as well. Many died trying to capture it.

“This evening, I expect you to all read chapter ten of your class book and be prepared to write an in-class paper on what you have learned.

You may all file past the cage in an orderly fashion. You may leave the building afterward and enjoy the rest of the day.”

As my turn came to come close to the transparent prison, I took the risk of looking at the prisoner with my enhanced vision. The figure tensed up as its eyes widened. A moment later, his irises turned purple like mine and began to avidly follow my every move. The inside of the cube was coated in text that glowed in my vision. The text promised wealth, power, and servitude to anyone who would free this prisoner.

I had much food for thought on my way back to the rooms. I instructed the insect drones, when nobody was watching, to paint the message, “I will think about it.” On the outside of the cube in reverse.

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

It took me a whole day to find the first of the stashed recordings from my grandfather.

The file stored on the memory module was, thankfully, easy for the video receiver for my drones to play back for me. The video was smooth and full color as he panned the recording device through the halls of the cloisters. My grandfather’s voice came through clearly as I hid in our room while everyone else was out. He sounded so young! I realized that he had only been around my age when he recorded it. “I will include maps to my other stashes on this storage device. In one of those locations, I will include details of my own family, the Dothstaire family. It is not talked about, but one of the causes of friction between the Emperor and us is in the history we share. My own family took the symbol of the rampant Drakon to denote our significant part in the overthrow of the Drakon domination of our entire people. The royal family has often taken offense that we flaunt the symbol of our part in the liberation of our people. They have dropped the symbols of any Drakons from their own heraldry to deny that they owe their own dominance to us!”

At this point, I took the time to check on my device’s progress in infiltrating the master’s chambers.

They had penetrated his private rooms easily. I was able to see as he injected multiple liquids into his body. I was able to read the label on one of the vials. The chemical was for strengthening bone. Another vial was for adding strength to his muscles. Both vials had to be kept in a temperature controlled cabinet.

I ordered the tiny machines to install an override to the timing system for the refrigeration of the cabinet. My modifications would cause the cabinet to overheat the vials for multiple hours between the dosage times. The temperature would return to the correct setting in time to hide what was happening before it was time to take the medication. Time would be my ally.