Valerian, The Legendary

120 Insistence.

Astillia was gazing at the young boy in front of him and when she saw him not reacting after nodding, she was about to say something, when Valerian asked, “Do I need to take off my clothes?”

Astillia smiled and understood why he was asking such a question. She said, “Yes, we do not prefer to treat all the wounds and troubles with a magic spell. It may heal you once, but in long term, magic healing has side effects.”

Valerian was surprised and after nodding he took off his tunic and shirt, and then his pants. He stood in front of Astillia covered with bruises and swelling. The lady stood up and without asking much she began to apply a mildly fragrant paste on his wounds.

When she was done she said, “Okay, this is finished, but you need to apply this paste on your body for the next two days. The swelling will go away then. Also, eat more and rest more, no extensive training.”

Valerian put on his clothes and sensed that the warmth of his clothes made the paste feel cold. He asked, “May I ask you a question?”

Astillia nodded and the boy continued, “Why is it bad to use magic to cure?”

His question was simple, he did not know the way curers worked, the knowledge they shared with public was limited. It was not only the curers, but all the magic disciplines, regardless of their attributed talent hid things.

Astillia heard this question and said, “Well say that you cast magic spell every time to deal with injuries or sickness, your body gradually develop a resistance towards it. Your injuries will heal slower in the latter period of your life. So until and unless it is an emergency, curers do not use light magic to heal the patient.”

Valerian understood and then he nodded. He said, “Thank you. Where can I buy this paste, Sister Astillia?”

.....

Astillia looked at his face and thought that he really looks like a doll to her. She gently passed the porcelain jar in his head, and said, “Here, you can take this. Just seek me when this paste is finished. It is effective in dealing with the bruises.”

Valerian accepted the small jar and left the place after thanking her. He placed the jar back in the magical pouch and made his way to the fabled Art Pavilion. This place was managed by normal people and was not visited by many people. The nobles would only come here to seek guidance when they had to brush up their skills to pretend in front of their circle.

It was a small building located at the Square, so it did not take Valerian a long time to reach the place. He found a building to be engraved with a lot of stunning patterns and had a detached vibe to it. An old man was sitting on a rocking chair outside the gates.

He sensed someone arriving and opened his eyes. The old man was surprised to see the boy with silver hair coming over, and when he saw the tunic on his shoulders, he hurriedly stood up and said, “Greetings, esteemed Battlemage, how can the pavilion of arts be of your assistance.”

Valerian was surprised but thinking that the gifted did not spare any chance to behave superior, the normal humans were always pushed to act humble. He stepped forward and said, “You may call me Valerian, Old Sir.”

His words were demanding, yet the tone was calm and serene. The old man smiled and said, “Thank you for your grace, Sir. Please call me attendant Mozard.”

Valerian nodded, he knew there was no use of telling these people to call him by his name. Everyone had their reasons and Valerian was not someone who would impose on the other people. He asked gently, “Old sir, I am here to tour the pavilion, may I?”

The old man smiled and nodded as he said, “It will be our honor to host you sire. If you would, please follow me.”

Valerian followed the old man inside, he did not ask his name, since he would address him as Old Sir. At least not until he spotted another old person. They came inside the building and the place was lingering with a pleasant fragrance. The old man said, “This is the fragrance of Cacilia. It helps calming emotions.”

Valerian was surprised, and said, “It is quite a thoughtful arrangement. I wonder if I can have it in the battlemage tower.”

The old man said, “We prepare incense sticks from the dried Cacilia flower. You can have them Sire. It will please us to see that someone else is also using it.”

The two moved and, Valerian noticed a lot of beautiful and elegant paintings hanging on the right hand side wall, while a lot of dark and satirizing paintings on the left wall. The atmosphere of the place was very interesting to the boy.

The big surprise was that the place was ten times bigger than what it seemed on the outside. Suddenly Valerian stopped in his tracks and he asked, “Old Sir, who is playing this tune?”

The old man replied with a faint slime, “That might be teacher Lilian. She is a music expert, and can play all the string instruments. Her skills is very good.”

Valerian asked, “I see, this tune is very nice. I wonder if I can play something like this.”

The old man nodded and said, “You can do it Sire. Would you like me to bring you to teacher Lilian?”

The boy nodded hurriedly as if afraid of the old man would regret his decision. After a few minutes, they were standing outside in a room as to not disturb the lady. The mellow music was so soothing that Valerian did not know when he became so engrossed in it that he did not notice the silent surroundings for a few minutes.

It was only when a slightly deep voice sounded from the room did Valerian wake up, “Mil, are you not going to invite the guest inside?”

The old man beside Valerian was not effected by the serenity of the music. He said, “Sire, would you like to go in?”

Valerian said, “I do want to learn things you teach here, but that will make you my teacher and I do not want my teachers to patronize me. So please can you just address me as Valerian?”

His tone was firm and this time the old man was hesitant, he did not reply quickly, but before he could tactfully reject Valerian, a soft voice sounded from inside the room, “I will take you as my student, Valerian. Come in, forget about that old man.”

Valerian chuckled and walked in, he did not know why, his mind was at peace at this moment. When he got inside the room, he found the place to be ten square meters big, in the center of the room sat a lady with long hair and white gown. Her face was covered with a veil.

She gave an elegant and dignified aura, in front of her lay a board with string running along its length. Valerian bowed slightly and said, “Greetings Teacher Lilian.”

The lady was surprised to see such a young boy, and that too from the battlemage faction. She returned the greeting to him and asked, “What do you want to learn?”

Valerian said, “Everything that you can teach me, teacher.”

Lilian chuckled and said, “You are an interesting child. I never thought of such an answer. Come forward, take a seat.”

She pointed at a stool laying in front of her. Valerian did not hesitate, he was eager to learn, and he sat down on the stool. Then he waited patiently for the lady to continue speaking.

Lilian asked, “Why do you wish to learn music here? Do you have spare time? Or are you forced?”

Valerian looked at her in surprised and then said, “I have no intention to hide, it was firstly my aunt, who suggested that I learn such skills, so that others do not look down on me.

Later, my master also said that if I pursued the way of power blindly, that power will be my demise.

In the end, I decided to come here, but ever since I took a step inside this place, I feel like, it is not bad to learn these skills. When I heard your song, I could imagine a garden with petals of flamingo tree scattered in the void. It was really soothing. I wonder if you can accept me as your apprentice?”

Lilian was surprised, and her eyes were gleaming, she did not expect this child to be so straight-forward. She said, “I can teach you, but I dare not take you as my apprentice.”

Valerian was surprised, and predicting his thoughts the lady slowly undid her veil for him to look at her visage. She said, “This is the cost of accepting an apprentice from the noble circle.”

Valerian was surprised to see a scar running along the side of her face, as if a red thread worm crawling on her face from her chin to the side of her eye. He said, “I would still like to insist. Give me a chance, teacher.”