A Soldier's Life
Chapter 222: Deep Pockets Are Fashionable

Chapter 222: Deep Pockets Are Fashionable

“What does that mean for us?” I asked.

“At most, six more weeks of training. Spring is eight weeks away. We have already cut the wilderness training in half; we will cut the city training in half as well. I expect Centurions Cornelius and Sergius to be here in a few weeks to review and select from the litter.”

Savino sat up, surprised at the news. “We haven’t completed the wild nocturnal training.”

“And you won’t,” Konstantin said harshly. “That is the most difficult training for a Hound, and we just do not have time for it.”

Savino rolled off his bed and headed for the door to tell his companions the news, leaving me alone with Konstantin. I waited until we were alone before asking, “How did they discover Zyna didn’t have the dreamscape amulet?”

“First Citizen Boris had his uncle pressure the Collegium Scholarium to force Zyna to register the dreamscape amulet in their archives. They pressured her for weeks and even showed up at her door before she was forced to admit it was not in her possession,” Konstantin said bitterly. “You should have left it with her. I am sure Castian will also be made aware of this.” It was a warning to watch my back against the other pup.

I digested the news. “Do I have to stay here?” I asked Konstantin, indicating the bunks.

Konstantin grinned. “I gave you two days off. If you want to spend the next two nights elsewhere, that is your prerogative. Just know that before sunrise on the third day, you had better be in this room.” I nodded, collected my cleaned Hound clothes and weapons into my dimensional space, shouldered my pack, nodded to Konstantin, and left.

I circled off the main street, so I wouldn’t run into the other Hounds, and headed to the upper city. It wasn’t a long walk, and I entered the first good inn I found. It was mid-afternoon, and two tired women cleared tables and cleaned the floor. Only one patron was eating a roast chicken at a table, savoring every bite.

The barkeep grunted in a raspy voice, “What can I do you for, traveler?”

“Best single room for two nights,” I replied.

He arched his eyebrow and settled his eyes on me. “Meals?”

“Just breakfast tomorrow,” I said, and one of the waitresses straightened her dress and smiled brightly at me. I was uninterested in the middle-aged woman’s flirtations as her eyes sized me up. She did have an exotic look to her, with darker skin and long silky black hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“Four large silver for the room and two large copper for breakfast,” the barkeep said, placing a key on the counter. I didn’t use dungeon coins to pay; instead, I produced Telhian-minted coins. Dungeon coins were uncommon but might have made me more memorable to the innkeeper. The room was much cheaper than I expected for the upper city, but the meal was more than twice what I had expected. The cost of food in the Empire was likely still on the rise.

The preening waitress stuck out her chest, “My name is Danielle. Follow me, sir.” I followed her up the wide stairs, and she smelled of beer, sweat, and waning sweet perfume. On the top floor, she went to the end of the hallway. She indicated the door, and I used my key. “Do you need anything else for the evening? If you want, I could draw you a bath?” She looked expectantly, and her shapely body sported a friendly smile.

“Not tonight. I am tired from work today, Danielle. I need to get some rest.” She frowned at my reply. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. This wasn’t a brothel, but from the low activity level in the city, I assumed that coin was tight and extra income was being sought by whatever means available.

“I will check on you at first light to empty your pan,” she finally said, leaving reluctantly. After Danielle left, I secured the door and window. The room smelled slightly off, like clothes that had been in storage for years. The room had a large bed with deep blue wool blankets and one massive closet for clothes. A small bathroom had a large tub with two large buckets for filling it. Two full water pitchers were in front of a mirror, and the bedpan rested under the toilet.

After searching the room, I pulled the curtains and pulled out the elven tablet reader. I was curious about what all the essences and weeks of Hound training had gained me. I was quick about it, activating the tablet, reading it, and returning it to the dimensional space.

Physical

Mental

Magical

Strength (+6/+1)

62/82

Intellect (+2/+0)

35/56

Aether Pool (+1/+0)

24/26

Power (+5/+3)

57/87

Reasoning (+0/+0)

51/61

Channeling (+6/+1)

36/61

Quickness (+4/+8)

53/62

Perception (+3/+0)

56/62

Aether Shaping (+0/+0)

8/8

Dexterity (+4/+5)

63/75

Insight (+1/+0)

37/52

Aether Tolerance (+0/+0)

50/56

Endurance (+6/+3)

76/98

Resilience (+2/+0)

54/71

Aether Resistance (+0/+0)

15/19

Constitution (+8/+1)

59/72

Empathy (+0/+2)

19/24

Prime Aether Affinity

Space

Coordination (+5/+1)

55/68

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Fortitude (+3/+0)

60/90

Minor Aether Affinity

Time

I was satisfied with only a few stats that did not meet expectations. The potential for quickness and dexterity was lower than I had hoped, and I guessed the essences were becoming less effective. Still, that was offset by my physical gains from the training.

It was easy to see why I had surpassed the other pups. A score of fifty was considered exceptional in the Legion. Generally, the men of the company didn’t talk about their tablet reader results, but the few times they did, the highest attribute mentioned was a 62. I had three stats at that mark or higher. My progress was going to be much slower without constant essence to supplement my gains.

I reviewed my magic affinities next, noting my spell forms as I went.

Elemental Magics (Common)

Fire

0

Air

0

Water

0

Earth

38

Earth Speak

Lightning (Energy)

8

Spirit (Healing)

23

Self Healing

Nature (Plant)

0

Unaffiliated Magics (Uncommon)

Charm (Mind)

5

Illusion

13

Clairvoyance

0

Protection (Guardian)

30

Air Shield

Necromancy

0

Celestial (buff)

0

Abyssal (debuff)

0

Rare Magics

Space

101

Dimensional Pocket

Time

90

Slow Aging

Displacement

80

Materialism

9

Worlds

88

Void

22

Convergence

74

Metabolize Essences

All those displacement essences had increased my affinity to 80. Still, I lacked the aether to utilize the spell forms I wanted. I also had not found any spell forms for the World affinity. My purpose in renting this room was to finish imprinting purify self.

I took more precautions in case I was disturbed while in the dreamscape. I attached the amulet to a string and the door, so it would be pulled from my grasp if the door was opened. I laid out magebane and Orc’s Torment within reach, and finished by wedging blocks into the window.

Satisfied, I entered the dreamscape in brief two-hour stints to study the spell form. I always added books to the library before beginning my study session. I knew I was close to finishing the spell form and silenced my manifestations in the dreamscape—with the exception of Oscar, who happily sat in my lap while I studied.

On my third cycle into the dreamscape, I felt the spell form lock into place on my core. Relieved, I reviewed how to use the spell form before returning to the real world. I stored the amulet and focused.

The purify self spell form was going to synergize well with my self-healing spell form. I could use self-healing to identify foreign matter and then target it. I started with the tiny tip of an arrow that had broken off from the Pathfinder encounter. I channeled the aether through the spell form, directing it to the metal chip. It vanished using a modicum of aether.

Purify self was meant to eliminate disease and poison, but it could also target larger objects, though I would have to be careful with larger volumes. I focused on my bladder next. From the text, it was important to do this purge slowly. Too fast, and you would create a painful vacuum. Over the next fifteen seconds, I slowly released the aether, targeting the urine. I felt some cramps for a few moments, and then I was fine. It had required nearly half of my aether pool, which was distressing. It was a success, but not something that I planned to do often.

I retrieved the vial of Hound paralytic poison next. This could be administered via the blood or consumed. I dipped my finger, lay down, and sucked. The bitter-tasting poison acted quickly as I felt its aether-enhanced effects spread through my body, my muscles no longer responding, and my body relaxed into the soft bed. I pulsed aether through the spell form. It took a few seconds, but I regained complete control over my body.

I realized my haste to use the spell form indiscriminately had purged other dangerous elements like viruses, toxins, and bacteria in my body that I hadn’t targeted specifically. I kept dosing myself with the poison to fine-tune my use of the spell form.

As I experimented, I got better at focusing the spell form. It would always take a few seconds to purge the specific poison unless I just purged my entire body at once with a heavy dose of aether. That would be dangerous as it would recognize my bowels and bladder in the purge, creating the vacuum effect.

Still, I was happy with the spell form. I wouldn’t have to fear disease or poison in the future. I sat up a little dizzy from expending so much of my aether. I pulled a warm burrito into my hand to munch on. I decided to repack my Hound pack as I didn’t feel the need for sleep.

I laid everything on the bed, went through each separate kit, and packed them tightly before adding the heaviest items first. When I got to the summoner’s belt, I didn’t know what I should do with it. Remembering the backlash, either this item or the robe I had given Zyna had some type of dimensional storage.

I steadied myself and tried cautiously to add just the belt to my dimensional space. The belt slammed into the far wall with a loud whack, and my mind spun from the backlash. I fell on the bed, letting my head clear, and waited for the inevitable knock on my door. The knock never came as I sipped cold blood orange juice. Maybe there was no one else in the inn, or they thought I had just fallen and didn’t care to come check on me.

At least I was certain the belt was a dimensional object. The question was, how did it work? All the pouches were empty when I had searched them. Was there a command word? If that was the case, maybe a revelation scroll would reveal it. It didn’t quite match my Hound belt, but the coloring was not too off. The summoner’s belt was definitely made of a softer, worked leather.

I stood with a migraine and tried the belt on, fastening it. I looked in the mirror and thought it didn’t look too bad. I tried to put some coins in the pouch on the left hip, but my hand kept going! I heard the coin clatter against some glass. It was a neat magic trick in the mirror as the depth of half my forearm disappeared into the pouch. I felt around and guessed the space was about a cubic foot.

I retrieved one of the vials, and it was a potion! Reading the Elvish script, it was a stamina potion. I took off the belt and tried to get another potion. Nothing; the compartment was empty and shallow again. So, all this time, all I needed to do was be wearing the belt? I wanted to kick myself for not thinking of it sooner.

I decided to empty the belt on the bed after clearing away my Hound gear. Placing the belt back on, I emptied the potions, thirteen total. When I moved to the next pouch, it was full of spoiled vegetables. Yellow carrots and something that looked like limes. They were all soft, and I guessed the summoner had collected them in the dungeon. It told me the pouches were inferior to my own space in that they didn’t arrest time. Which meant some of the potions may have spoiled as well. It had been three months since I clashed with the summoner.

The third pouch was stuffed with the cooking kit, thermal stone, spices, and four glowstones. Excited, I started pulling out different bones from the fourth pouch. My best guess was that these bones were from various creatures the summoner used in his ritual magic. That was reinforced when the fifth pouch had dozens of bags of different powders, and I had no idea what creatures they belonged to.

The last pouch had a dozen handwritten notebooks. They were all in Elvish, and the summoner’s handwriting left something to be desired. The bottom of this pouch had a lot of dungeon coins, all large silver. The summoner had obviously broken a few reward chests during his time, but where were the magic items? I searched each pouch again in futility.

The mess on the bed was extreme, and I couldn’t believe this belt had held so much. It had six cubic feet of storage and did not add any weight to the belt. Still vastly inferior to my own dimensional space but useful.

I was quickly frustrated as all the Elvish healing potions had expired a month ago. Three stamina potions seemed viable and there was one greater dungeon healing potion in the mix that would never expire and proved the summoner earned one of the reward chests.

I started packing everything up and sending it all to my dimensional space. I decided to start wearing the summoner’s belt in place of my Hound belt, but I would need to line the bottom with something so it didn’t look like my arm was disappearing whenever I grabbed something.

A knock at my door had me freeze. Danielle’s muffled voice came through. “I have your breakfast. Do you wish a bath to be drawn this morning? The cooks are heating water now, and I have scented soaps.”

I considered her offer and then looked at the mess on the bed. “No, thank you. You can leave it on the floor. I will collect it when I am ready to eat,” I said. I heard her shuffle her feet and the tray tap the floor. After she walked away, I brought it inside. I munched on the loaf, hard-boiled eggs, and jams as I packed my new utility belt.

Unfortunately, the jade chalice that turned water to elven ambrosia did not fit in the belt. It would have solved my problem of letting the artifact recharge outside my dimensional stasis. Satisfied with my packing, I hoped to spend short periods in the dreamscape during the next two days training before I had to return.

I arrived back at the barracks before sunrise on the third day. Hearne and Cato were talking quietly in the hallway, looking much refreshed. Cato noted my approach, “I like your new belt.”

“Thanks, it was just something found in my explorations of the city,” I noted, unable to hold a smile in. Konstantin’s heavy boots were thundering down the hallway, and I could hear the others stirring awake from the pre-wakeup call. It was time to continue with the Hound training.

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