The professor pointed her hand again, causing the western border of Valia to glow. “With Kelridge conquered, Edria pushed further east, all the way to the Valian border, before finally ceasing their assault.”
I knew that story all too well — my great grandfather, Alaric Cadence, had defeated one of the invading army’s officers in single combat to end the war. I was sure that duel was more of a formality — they would not have ever agreed to the duel if they hadn’t wanted an excuse to stop the military push.
Edrian forces had been encamped in the bordering mountain range for months without being able to successfully push into Valian territory, and with winter rapidly approaching, the duel was a way to end the conflict in a way that saved face for both sides.
While some took this as a sign of Valia’s impregnable defenses, most of my family believed that Edria was simply biding their time for a better opportunity to strike.
After all, they’d already obtained what they truly wanted in the push.
The professor explained that next. “During the conquest of Kelridge, Edria became the first nation to control two of the Shifting Spires. Edria was built near the Hydra Spire, home of Orochi the God Hydra, and historically that had been their primary source of attunements. Kelridge was the home to the Phoenix Spire, the seat of Suzaku, the God Phoenix.”
Another student stood up — Lei, one of the few students I knew was from East Edria. “Professor, not to be disrespectful, but we do not refer to Suzaku as a phoenix — nor would we call Orochi a hydra, or even a god among them. They are distinct creatures.”
Meltlake nodded. “Ah, I was wondering if someone would bring that up. In Valia, Miss Zhang, we refer to each of the god beasts by their closest analogue among common monsters. It is merely a categorization tool, useful for our citizens to easily visualize and remember each of the towers. I understand that in East Edria, Suzaku remains a deep part of your culture, and that conflating it with an ordinary type of monster may come across as disrespectful. Please understand that no disrespect is intended — and we do teach more detailed information about each of the god beasts and their histories during the second year.”
Lei frowned, but she simply said, “Thank you, professor,” and sat back down. It was obvious she wanted to say more, but I think she was smart to leave the issue alone — I sincerely doubted that any further argument would accomplish anything.
I probably would have been more sympathetic if I thought of the god beasts as anything other than horrifying monsters of city-shattering power. I knew that East Edria thought of Suzaku as a positive force, more like how we treated the visages, but I’d never been raised to think of the god beasts that way. It was difficult to imagine a powerful monster being anything other than terrifying.
“Now,” Professor Meltlake continued, “Some of you have asked me why we still allow people from Edria to visit, in spite of the movements of Edrian troops along the border. The answer is that we are — most definitively — not at war. Troop movements are commonplace for both of our countries, and we have been at peace with Edria for decades. While we must remain vigilant, Edria has shown no sign of overt aggression.”
I heard some murmurs of disagreement among the class, but Meltlake didn’t stop talking. “I know that many of you are concerned, but our soldiers are well-trained, and we are quite prepared for any potential attack. Perhaps more importantly, Edria is still allowing our own citizens to visit them freely, including making the treks to both of their towers. Most military experts believe that Edria would cut off our access to their towers and expel our citizens before attempting any military action — initiating a war while we had capable attuned deep inside Edrian territory would be an extremely dangerous move.”
A few nods of agreement at that, but I wasn’t one of them. How many attuned could we possibly have visiting their towers? A couple dozen, maybe, if that? I was confident that twenty or thirty attuned loose in a warring nation would be a frustration, but I sincerely doubted they would be a sufficient threat to deter a war.
Professor Meltlake was probably just trying to keep the class from worrying — and I understood that, but I didn’t necessarily agree with it. Then again, I had a tendency to overthink things. Not everyone appreciated obsessively theorizing the same way that I did.
“Now,” Professor Meltlake twisted her left hand, manifesting a silvery cloud on the far western side of her map. “Caelford is the last of the Four Powers. They are an industrious nation, famous for their mechanical engineering and scientific experimentation. We consider them our closest allies, both due to their assistance in the Six Years War and our many centuries of trade prior to that.”
She closed her hands, causing both Valia and Caelford’s clouds to glow a brighter. “Perhaps even more importantly, they border Edria on the western side of the continent, where we border Edria on the east — if either of our nations should fall, the other would be at substantial risk of being attacked next.”
Grinning, Professor Meltlake continued. “Caelford is the home to the Tiger Spire, where Byakko, the God Tiger, resides. It’s also the home of Ferras, the most active of the visages aside from Katashi. Ferras doesn’t run the government — instead, she works directly with her citizens on science and engineering projects that interest her. She’s also notoriously informal — she travels without a retinue and dresses in ordinary clothes, which has led to a few rather embarrassing mistakes over the years.”
I pictured someone trying to kick a drunken visage out of a bar — that sounded hilarious.
That’s one visage I might actually be interested in meeting. Maybe I could get her to teach me more about how attunements actually work.
Professor Meltlake lifted a finger and drew a line across the map from Caelford to Valia. “While we’ve always had robust trade with Caelford, and the cross continental railroad that has made shipping goods far easier than at any previous point in history. For this reason, the railroad is extremely well-maintained — and well-defended. We have military bases at several locations along the rail, including two small bases in the Unclaimed Lands. It is very possible that after your attunement training is completed, you could be assigned to protect one of these key locations.”
“Now, that’s it for the Four Powers…”
Another student stood up. Professor Meltlake raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
The student folded his arms. “You mentioned five of the Shifting Spires — aren’t there six?”
Professor Meltlake nodded. “Yes. The location of the Spider Spire, however, is a closely-guarded secret. Most of your fellow students will guess that it lies in the Unclaimed Lands, but I’ll say this — that’s not the case. There is a tower in the Unclaimed Lands, but not one of the six.”
Now that got my attention. I knew that the Spider Spire’s location was a secret. I’d even spent some time unsuccessfully trying to figure it when I was younger. I was curious about that, but I was even more interested in this other tower.
Could there be a seventh spire? If so, would it be possible to get different attunements there?
I was just about to stand up to ask a follow-up question…
“And that’s all the time we have for today. Class dismissed!”