The Radiant Sun was at its zenith, casting warm rays down over the lake. The rhythmic sound of the waves crashing upon the shore, the beaches, was more than soothing and Yuriko stretched her legs out on the lounge chair. This one was made out of woven, water-resistant fibres and was long enough to rest her legs on. Her feet did stick out at the end, but that was fine. 

The beaches of the Great Erithmus Lake near Greyith Fortress were used as a leisure spot for the garrison, and over the past few weeks since the start of the Troubles, so named by the Council in Bresia, soldiers and enterprising merchants and service providers converted the nearest beach west of the fortress into a resort of sorts. 

Several amenities were brought over: lounge chairs such as the one she was using, grills, games, and drinks, among other things. Several buildings had been erected too, still looking a bit raw and unfinished, but nevertheless occupied by merchants selling all sorts of necessities, luxuries, and even some recreational substances. Yuriko hadn’t tried the latter, of course, but she suspected that, just like liquor, it would prove mostly useless against her Radiant Physique. 

The beach was covered in greyish sand and stretched out over a couple of longstrides. It was filled with bathers, lounges, and more than a few children. The population of the fortress wasn’t all soldiers. Family of the staffers lived there, too, sometimes. 

The bathers were clad rather scantily, with men bare-chested and wearing short underdrawers, while the women wore brassieres and panties, though made of fabric meant for getting wet. Swimming suits, they were called. Since most of the beachgoers were active soldiers, most had relatively toned physiques. 

The lounge chair was set about a dozen paces from the water and was used by men and women to sunbathe. Yuriko still regretted that she’d lost her tan after she became an Ancient, and with her physique and Essence, it was impossible to get now. Naturally, anyway. She could use Body Transformation, but it wasn’t permanent and it wasn’t the point of the activity. 

She wore a swimsuit, too, a white set that exposed most of her skin. It allowed the Radiant energy from the Sun to reach most of her, and though she no longer needed to sunbathe to regenerate Radiant energy, it was still a good source of unaspected Radiance. That flavour of energy she stored in her hair, which was practically glowing now. 

She drew more than a few eyes with her attire. Admiring gazes, envious ones, lustful and covetous stares, and those who were simply smitten with her looks. The Mien was at Tranquility, of course, since she didn’t want to Charm anyone, and the exercise proved fortuitous to her Mien’s growth. 

At first, anyway. Most of the beachgoers already knew her and were already touched in some way by her Mien. The added feedback was still beneficial, though. 

It was already the last third of the Season of Fire, and several weeks since she accepted the contract. There were roughly four more weeks until the end of the Season as well as the start of the new academy term. And for those weeks that she was here…

It had been absolutely boring.

The Ishodirian armies never even came close to the strip. Perhaps it should have been obvious since the eastern half of Bresia was a big place, and the focal point of the conflict was more than a hundred leagues north of the passage. Perhaps she should have joined the conflict in Vallavega Pass instead, but there had been no fortress there, just small outposts and a lot of mining camps. Perhaps it was also because the pass wasn’t as broad as the strip and marching an army through it was much harder.

Instead, the Ishodirians took control of the border forts and dug in. The Republic’s army had to retreat from the Sodden Plains border, and the city was still in turmoil. Saboteurs were doing all they could to make the city unpleasant for the citizens, and Scions of Virtalla were blaming everything on the Republic rather than their own hand in the mess.

That was as far as she knew. It was a dirty war where there were no clear targets to attack and none were truly innocent. Except for the common people, probably. But she couldn’t help but think if they were truly not to blame. After all, according to the rebel propaganda, the formation of the Republic had basically robbed the Virtallans of their identity and wealth.

That wasn’t really a swamp she wanted to get into, so Yuriko didn’t try. How would she truly who was in the wrong, and more importantly, did she have the right to judge them? What she was doing now was simply spending… well, wasting time, waiting for her friends to return. 

She opened her eyes to look at the water. Fluffington was happily paddling across the shore, the pupper was oddly happy with swimming but hated being given a bath.

“Silly puppy.” She muttered affectionately. 

She felt Ryoko coming from the service building, holding a tray with a glass of fruit juices mixed in with liquor. The cocktail was bright orange but had layers of yellow and green liquids, as well as a wedge of citrus stuck on the lip. 

“Young mistress.”

Yuriko took a sip and sighed with pleasure. Her eyes wandered back to soldiers on their break. The brigades rotated them for every day, and perhaps not coincidentally, there were seven brigades for each day of the week. Yuriko didn’t have a set schedule, and she could do whatever she wanted as long as she was either in the fortress or near enough to arrive in less than five minutes. 

She’d also taken to training with the brigades stationed in the fortress. Of the seven, three were always stationed at the defences while four did patrols or assault missions. The commanders of each brigade, as well as the Fort Commander, determined the missions and assignments. The defenders rotated duties, too; every couple of weeks, three inside and four roaming. Yuriko found that strange at the beginning thinking that specialisation would be more efficient, but Bresian military doctrine actually called for versatility. 

Well, each brigade was self-sufficient and could perform different roles. Monica revealed that each one still had their own speciality, and the 7th’s was skirmishing. But they had the equipment and knowledge to use other styles of fighting. 

Well, the training wasn’t so much her teaching them her methods. There were too many of them for that, and not all of them understand the need or want to learn the Four Phases. Instead, she fought large groups, a hundred or two at a time, in war games. She was the enemy elite, and they aimed to take her out. 

It was here that she realised the Bresian military doctrine. They leaned heavily on ranged attacks, either through spells or firearms, and fought to hold their foes at a distance. The Steelds were mobile and untiring as long as the rider channelled Elemental energies into their cores, which made them ideal for mobile warfare. They were also expert geomancers who could raise fortifications. Not quite as fast as she could since she could draw the runescript nodes of the spell circles with her Anima, but almost. They could have a wall, battlements, and a ditch in less time than it took for enemy infantry to cross the field, and given the chance, they could dig in and fortify an area in less than a day. They rivalled the Earthmelders back home. 

But the Empire had far more troops than all of the Republic could put together. Just the so-called training group that invaded the Sodden Plains consisted of more than a hundred thousand soldiers, and that number was already a quarter of Bresian strength. She read the reports too, and knew that the Ishodir Empire had a hundred battalions of ten thousand soldiers each. That didn’t include their special forces, delvers, and home guard. 

Then, there was that elusive magus. Monica revealed who, or rather, what it was. It wasn’t a real person in some kind of sense, but a clone incarnation of the most powerful person in the Ishodir Empire, the Archmagus Edward Turner. 

Yuriko frowned, mood souring as her thoughts drifted there, then bounced back up when she remembered that at least he would be a challenge to fight. She probably couldn’t beat him now, but she wouldn’t be easy to defeat either. What she didn’t know was why he was bent on getting to her. She’d never met the map, barely interacted with any Ishodirian agents, and she certainly hadn’t done anything too noteworthy in the republic. Nirlith was one of the country’s four cities, yes, but she was sure she hadn’t done anything eye-catching. 

He was also a rather old man and she doubted that her Mien had any effect on him, considering his Anima strength was above hers…

So why? To the point that he was happy to sacrifice an entire battalion? After she left with the caravan, Monica’s brigade managed to whittle down another five percent of the battalion’s forces before they completely quit the field. A loss of over a thousand five hundred soldiers, each one at least Journeyman Magus wasn’t light. But then again, considering the empire’s territories and population, maybe they weren’t as averse to sending their excess to die…

No, that was a morbid thought. She couldn’t see any respectable leader doing that…

With a sigh, she took another sip of her drink, letting the liquor affect her body enough so that she felt a pleasant buzz. A few paces away, Cillian Coinoch and Adan Ortiz, the first person Yuriko actually met in the Arcadia region, were chatting. And taking what they thought were stealthy glances at her. She felt a bit of a thrill every time they did. She actually felt every gaze landing on her, so she sort of got used to it. With the way she was dressed, those gazes grew more heated by the second, until her Tranquility Mien kicked in and they calmed down considerably. It was so effective at giving clarity of mind, that Cillian said it actually made training, introspection, and studying more effective. 

So she let herself be displayed when she was at her leisure, sometimes, anyway. It helped her Mien grow and helped people too. So far, that tactic has been worth it. Her Mien was easier to control and easier to shift its focus. Not quite at her Will, but the emotional state she had to be in order to shift, was easier to get to, and more lenient to stay in. Charm was still her default Mien, but she felt that if she grew strong enough, eventually, it would cease to be the main one and just be part of the whole. 

The sun slowly crawled across the skies. She got up to head to the water an hour past noon, her skin still as pale as it normally was. Her Radiant Physique showed off only when she willed it, but sometimes, golden pinpricks grew visible underneath her skin, quite like the stars at night, come to think of it. 

The water was nice and warm. She swam towards water deep enough that her feet wouldn’t reach the bottom, then she simply floated and looked up at the clouds. Perhaps everything had been a bit too hectic, or perhaps she was used to the bustle. It had certainly taken a while for her to simply relax and take her ease. 

It was only when she heard the distant clanging of the bells that she perked up and flew out of the water. Listening intently, the bells were rung in the assemble pattern, calling all soldiers back to the fortress. It wasn’t an urgent call, so she had enough time to get back into her clothes. Still, that was also the pattern telling of imminent battle. 

She sighed and hoped that it wasn’t a false alarm again.

Wait, maybe she should be hoping that it was false, so that no lives would be lost…

Heh, whatever it was, it better be worth getting out of the beach for.

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