[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 275 – A Day in the Life

Sam wasn’t the only one hard at work.

His fluffy golden cat was beside him more often than not, despite having her own tutors. She learned a great deal about the various unique instruments of the Alzahan Empire and their own variations on healing magic.

From perfumers to invigorating dancers, the Empire had it all. With Zahif’s many connections, Komachi was able to learn at the knee of the best and brightest.

Of course, Komachi also knew the importance of play. She regularly saw that Sam was working himself too hard and had to come up with ways to get him to take some time off.

It wasn’t that Komachi was lazy. Which she was and would be the first to admit it. It was that Komachi knew just how important a proper balance was in life.

Besides, Komachi was a free spirit. She loved the ocean. Not just for the salty surf and the bracing winds, but for the open horizons to explore. In that way, Sam and Komachi were exactly alike.

She had seen Sam far too often neglect himself for the benefit of one cause or another. He was too ready to throw away his precious time for the sake of another.

It was a noble trait, but one that Komachi didn’t want to foster in the strong man.

Life was about so much more than fighting and getting stronger! There was food to enjoy. Music to lose yourself in. Dance that stole your breath away, and a thousand different things.

And the best part? The Empire had it all.

Every type of food Komachi could imagine. Musical notes drifted out of every borough and quad. People dined, danced, laughed, and lived here. There were so many people, all of them living their lives to the fullest.

She wanted to bring it all to Sil’mara. To the kingdom they were making together.

She couldn’t wait to get back. In the meantime, Komachi soaked up everything she could from the Empire. For she loved this place too.

The Empire wasn’t perfect, but it was a melting pot the likes of which Komachi had never seen before. Not that Komachi had much prior experience. There were vague memories of being a kitten. Somewhere she suspected wasn’t Earth, but she couldn’t be sure.

She immediately saw the benefit for Sil’mara in the Empire’s willingness to fold in all cultures under its banner.

They did not impose their own will on every person. Instead, they welcomed those of different beliefs and faiths. People who might otherwise have gone at each other with swords and shields instead opened up businesses. They dined together, they danced, fell in love, and had a family.

In Komachi’s eyes, Sil’mara could be that haven where all cultures could be recognized and appreciated. Under the banner of Queen Raiko and King Sam, people from Islegard and Earth could join as one.

The future was bright and shiny to the little Bard.

Though often silly and irreverent, Komachi worked hard to learn every recipe, every song, every cultural quirk so she could bring them back to Sil’mara and enhance her home.

By prowling the streets of the twinned cities, Komachi felt the pulse of the Empire beneath her dark toe beans. She began to understand how the Empire welcomed and encouraged cooperation among once-bitter enemies.

Komachi leapt atop a market stall, getting a good view of the broad street filled with people buying and selling tons of different things. Coins flashed in the morning light. They were exchanged for sealed armors, crafting oils, and enhancing elixirs.

She learned a great deal simply watching other merchants at work. Bartering wasn’t just a big deal here. The imperials had elevated it to an art form. The quality of the goods had a significant impact on how much one elixir could sell compared to another.

She couldn’t resist the cat-like urge to find an even higher vantage point. Before Komachi knew it, she was darting across strings of lights, crooked pipes, and ever-higher buildings.

Soon enough, the whole of the twinned cities was beneath Komachi. It sprawled out in every direction, bordered by waters that shimmered silver in the light. Al Dhorna and Al Zurka were separated by the waters of the Rhan, with Al Zurka only being accessible by the Big Bridge.

One day, she promised herself, she and Sam would venture into the magical upper-class city of Al Zurka, where the noble and elite lived. The streets were said to be so clean you could eat off them.

The isle of Al Zurka was covered in glittering villas and towers that spiraled around its singular mountain, up to the pinnacle where a large imposing palace stood watch over the Empire.

It was times like this that she felt more like a cat than ever. What it truly meant to be a soul aeder still escaped Komachi.

Maybe that Haman guy could clue her in sometime. In the meantime, Komachi was alright figuring things out at her own pace.

Sam was somewhere down there, enjoying a bite to eat.

Komachi had been in love the moment she smelled the restaurant. Spicy meat wrapped in a corn shell and topped with all sorts of fresh vegetables. What wasn’t to love? Crunchy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, caramelized onions, and strange salty crumbled things she didn’t know the name of. It made her mouth water just thinking about them.

As a cat, Komachi always thought she was practically starving. She nearly went back down through the complicated warren of upper levels to swipe a plate of food from Sam.

Nearly.

She had to remember that there was a purpose to her otherwise completely cat-like behavior.

Komachi was a soul aeder. She was more than just a simple magical cat.

Confident that she had convinced Sam to take a break for once, Komachi was at peace. She let the perfumed wind of a thousand meals and exotic spices fill up her lungs as she breathed deep of the Empire.

It was good to be Komachi.

The subtle clink of a shifting roof tile alerted Komachi to the presence of another, well before they made themselves known.

Naturally, Komachi pretended not to notice. She nonchalantly groomed her paw, continuing to enjoy the amazing view.

Her [Stealth] skill had long since upgraded to E-Class. After that jump, the skill had grown greatly in effectiveness. Of course, she had picked up [Furtive Support] too, which specifically made all the magic Komachi played or sang even less likely to draw an opponent’s ire.

Despite making all sorts of noise while singing healing magic, the combo of skills worked perfectly together.

All the mean monsters hardly noticed her. They wanted nothing other than to fight the beefy armored warrior that was her Sam.

With Sam’s latest skill, she was even less worried than usual. All the monster incursions they endured over the past weeks allowed Komachi to stretch her limbs and range all over the battlefield to help as many people as she could.

Like her latest teacher, who was wheezing and struggling to catch his breath as he clambered over the tiled rooftops after Komachi.

“Sometimes,” the elf gasped. “I wonder which one of us is the student, and which the master!” He straightened up and wiped the beaded sweat from his brow. “Well then, have you found the answer to the riddle I gave you? Or have you led me on a merry chase for no reason?”

She paused mid-lick, just to make it seem like she was thinking it over.

Then continued licking her paw, just as unconcerned as ever.

Altair walked right up to the lip of the roof and sat down beside her. “You came into my college and wanted to learn from the headmaster himself,” Altair went on. “You should know that running away from me–before I finished my dinner no less!–would not get you out of answering my question.”

Komachi’s eyes slowly drifted apart.

“You forgot about the riddle.”

“Machi forgot about the riddle,” she confirmed. Then, because she was confident in her adorableness, Komachi resumed grooming her paw.

“A lesser elf would throw you off the roof,” Altair remarked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“That’s what would make him lesser.”

“Perhaps.”

“A horxnax Darren even. But Machi knows you’re better than that! And I got somethin’ to smooth it all over.” She offered him a [Jug of Silverleaf Brew].

Altair frowned, but was not stupid enough to reject the gift.

Komachi had gone through great trouble to procure such a resplendent tea for just such an occasion. It was easier to smooth things over with a gift than it was to be a dutiful student. Something that the brilliant Komachi had learned early in life.

Try as she might, she could not get Sam to understand.

To seal the deal, Komachi trotted over and rubbed against the elf’s side affectionately.

A slim hand, at home conducting orchestral recitals for the Imperial Court, petted her head and stroked alongside her tail. “Very well,” Altair said, unscrewing the top of the canister, “since you did not come up here for any specific purpose–” Altair looked at her to make sure.

Komachi’s eyes drifted further apart. “Mach…?”

Altair laughed and patted her affectionately. “Then I have a gift and a curse for you.” He reached into his flowing robes and pulled out a pair of pale wooden…cups?

That got her curious. “A curse? Sounds cool. Machi is very cool, yis.”

When he turned the joined pair over, Komachi recognized them.

They weren’t cups. They were tiny drums. The perfect size for her small furry paws.

“These are drulla, a type of drum. The greater the space, the more their sound travels. Be careful in tightly enclosed spaces, too much mana, and they will become loud enough to harm. Difficult to master, only useful as part of an ensemble, and annoying as all hell to boot, they are the perfect instrument to add to your collection.”

Ears twitching, she placed her paws on the drums and sent two threads of mana spiraling throughout the vessels. As her focus settled upon the new instruments, the distractions bouncing around in her head quieted.

Runes circling the drums began to glow with life. She felt at peace.

“Now, I want you to compose a brief musical number for me,” Altair told her, pouring some of the brew out into two chipped cups. The one for Komachi was decidedly wider and far shallower. “And while you do, ponder my question: why is the ninefold harmony only found within the Empire, when any group of people could pick up the instruments and play them? Why can it only be found here?”

Komachi didn’t like homework, but she did enjoy a riddle.

Moreover, she knew people who enjoyed riddles even more and were far smarter than she was. Trading riddles was how she got the silverleaf tea. Supposedly, the dried leaf originated from a far-off land that was instrumental in connecting multiple iterations of Earth.

Any Merchant worth their salt knew that sometimes it was better to have connections instead of answers. A lesson Komachi wanted to pass on to Sam. He shouldered too much responsibility.

Komachi knew to lean on others, often curling up in their laps to boot. The value of connections was using them to better everybody’s life. Being on your own was boring and lonely.

Komachi loved people. Often people loved her back too. Despite her short time in the Empire, she had created a vast network of friends and contacts that she could trade and learn from.

Zahif’s introductions had only widened her reach to the upper echelons of imperial society.

While Komachi might not know the answer to Altair’s riddle, she knew of a young librarian in the Grand Archives that would. So far, the woman with flowing mahogany brown locks and gentle hands had been able to answer every single question Komachi posed to her.

It didn’t hurt that she readily had a fresh spicy biscuit for Komachi whenever the cat came around.

The fact that the librarian skirted the “no food in the Archives” rule told Komachi all she needed to know about the woman’s heart.

In another life, she might have liked to stay with that librarian. Though Komachi tried, she could not convince the librarian to join Sil’mara.

In fact, nobody that Komachi had spoken to seemed willing to leave the Empire. That alone spoke volumes about the Empire.

Lapping up her mug of tea, Komachi absently played with the drums. Their resonant sound filled the air despite their small size, causing many distant faces to turn up in her direction.

Komachi soaked up the attention and began a deep thumping beat with her two paws, using her tail to soften the sound when she desired.

The confused faces turned to shouts of glee as random people across the quads began to strike up their own melody to join Komachi’s.

Horns tooted along with her baseline melody. Strings accompanied the song that slowly took shape in the air. Woodwinds weaved through the delicate rhythm, combining the disparate sounds into something sweet and tender.

As more and more instruments joined the song, Altair sipped his tea and looked at peace. “I see you already knew the answer to my little riddle. You have hidden depths, Komachi. Was that your purpose in bringing me up here?” He paused and regarded his tea. “Then that would mean you knew about the drulla I was going to gift you…”

Komachi had lost herself in the rhythm. She understood on some level that she had done a good thing in Altair’s eyes. It was in Komachi’s experience that nodding sagely was always the best way to handle such things.

As soon as she admitted to being far smarter than she actually was, the brilliance of Shardscript flooded her vision.

You learn: [Ninefold Harmony]

Komachi was happy.