A little over a month of training as an Architect... Is that a lot or a little? It depends on how you look at it. I didn't study all the subjects that a good and useful Architect really needs to know: exact sciences, the structure of outposts, and the strengthening of materials. You could say that I only took three different courses, which are given much more time at the local "universities." However, as Liya said, we cheated a little. All our training was concentrated, and every detail was tested in practice, where we could both make changes to the buildings on the fly. For Shen Guan, this was an unaffordable luxury. They were spread out over too large an area, with architects shuttling between outposts, dealing with red tape and communicating with heavy-handed squad captains, building something or other. What can I say, even Liyu, because of her communication with me, was forced to study for nine people...
She often stayed at my house, simply because she didn't have the strength to return to the military town. When she wasn't teaching me, her head was always occupied with two other books, trying to catch up on the material she had missed. Rare books on design were mixed with contour maps and data on how to strengthen important strategic positions. A special source of inspiration for her were views of castles and other magnificent buildings in beautiful places - on sheer cliffs, in the middle of mountain peaks or even under the sky.
That was when the idea began to take shape. In secret from Lya, I began to create a drawing according to all the rules she had taught me: the correct positions and angles of the walls, the ideal location of corridors and residential buildings. I managed to glean some knowledge from the books brought by Afka and to pick up bits and pieces from the architecture of other buildings. The result was a large sand fortress surrounded by walls on all sides. Inside, there was a courtyard, watchtowers, barns for food, dungeons for prisoners, and even a well with water. For the latter, I had to sweat and whine to Anubis, but the fortress, which not only I could use, was ready.
The latter, by the way, was the main requirement. I didn't plan to stay here for long, and a castle made of simple sand would be controlled by literally only me. That's why all the walls, floors and columns of this place were made of reinforced, smooth abrasive, i.e. quartz, which is why in some places, where I took particular care, such as the throne, you could see reflections. And this material is much easier to work with than large masses of sand.
"You did this in a couple of hours?" Lya gasped when she saw it. The protractor built into her own eye measured the accuracy of each wall and checked the columns. There was nothing to complain about.
"Do you think I'm some kind of superman? I spent several days preparing the material alone. But the rest was really easier, sand is ideal for construction because you can change every angle without any headaches.
Lia had to nod her head. It would be impossible to make something this beautiful with stone, unless you had an unlimited amount of time. The girl opened her mouth and spun around with her head tilted back, unable to take her eyes off the castle. But in the end... she smiled slyly.
"You built this castle in such a beautiful place, decorated it so beautifully... and you said that everything should be done without excess.
"It has its own practical use," she said, despite what he had said, and she herself was delighted. "But it would be more accurate to say that I just couldn't resist. Oops," I began to guess what kind of fun King Boomi was talking about. Destroying expectations, building something completely unimaginable that others would never even think of — it's incredibly fun.
I gave Leah a short tour to familiarise her with the real situation, and at the end I showed her a drawing that showed everything much better than I could describe. The girl looked at it closely, then touched her chin and nodded uncertainly.
"This is... excellent work. I'm sure now they won't just take you to Shen Guan — they'll tear you off your feet and make you work until the last drop of sweat soaks your favourite sand. Come on, I'll introduce you myself and show them what you've done!
"No, Liya. I'm leaving," I said, looking at her hand pulling me down from the high tower where she had led us both, and gave her a calm smile. "There are many other things I need to learn in order to continue improving. And architecture... it's not really a useful skill for me. But it was very interesting. Maybe we could stay in touch?
What's more, I felt that soon, because of all this, I would definitely open my second chakra.
"...So that's how it is," she exhaled heavily and rubbed her furrowed brow. "Don't you want to reconsider? It's a waste of such talent, and there are many things you could learn to become a better architect. Your approach is unique. You'll become famous in no time."
"I'm sure," he smiled weakly, looking at the inscription before his eyes.
"Choose:
1 - Become Shen Guan's Architect (You will learn the true skills of construction and fortification, and your experience as a blacksmith will allow you to combine these skills and achieve significant success. Your reputation will work against you, and Shen Guan will eventually direct more forces against you. The longer you stay here, the higher the risk of the military town falling).
2 - Refuse (You will continue on your path. Unique knowledge awaits you ahead)
3 - Offer to take them with you (Your relationship with Liya has been built on long mutual labour. By promising to take care of her, you can gain a partner. Please note that your partner's survival is not guaranteed; it will depend on your skills).
All of these options were obvious... but how unpleasant.
Looking into the eyes of the distraught girl, I moved closer and hugged her. Nothing more, no love or even fear, just pure, cold reason, making it perfectly clear that in the places I was going, it would be impossible for an ordinary person, even a soldier, to survive. Perhaps, to some extent, it was my excessive callousness speaking, my perfect understanding of how to survive, but letting someone get close to me now would be as naive as becoming an Architect.
"Are you upset that no one else will carry out your crazy orders?" I asked with a smile.
"Yeah.
"Then this is for you. At least some gratitude for everything," I said, taking a book out of my bag, or rather, some rewritten sheets where I had copied down my knowledge of the structures of the air nomads, their unique methods and architecture, and handed it all to her. The girl only had time to glance at the first page before her eyes focused on the letters and rejected everything else.
The air nomads had a wealth of experience in defending their fortresses, from which useful information could be gleaned. It wasn't even the fact that they built them in the middle of nowhere, in ways that were incomprehensible, and even upside down, but rather the knowledge of how to build on the most gigantic peaks, something that no Earth Mages had ever been able to achieve. And all this knowledge had been passed down and developed since, well, roughly since the appearance of the wind mages.
"Thank you..." But pressing the sheets to herself and looking up, Lya froze. Now she was alone on the tower. The only irrefutable fact was that before her stood a magician who was as strong as stone, as changeable as sand, and as stubborn as crystal — a giant castle that could greatly improve Shen Guan's defences. "And it's true, he never killed anyone... a pacifist.
***
My survival was in grave danger, death was breathing down my neck, and the risk that I would have to kill to save my life had increased exponentially. After all, I was almost out of ingredients for making ointments. All the time I had to spend learning, fighting and building, I used up my supplies for cooking, for relieving fatigue and other things. I had nothing left for ointments for burns, deep wounds, or even something to keep me warm on a cold, windy night.
That's why I had to walk along the shore, gathering the necessary ingredients. Carefully, with meticulous precision, I cut open fish and shellfish, dived for seaweed, and made sure not to forget the resin from the trees, the fireflies and worms that appeared at night.
"Af," Afka replied barely audibly, staring blankly at the ingredients preparing in dozens of crystal pots and the fish I was carefully cutting up so as not to damage the valuable parts.
"Don't stink, I'm a doctor. It wasn't for nothing that I spent two years learning how to cut and process anyone perfectly, and now the sacred writings of the library allow me to put that experience to good use. Ten jars for deep wounds and bites, to help disinfect, are ready. Don't forget the rabies medicine.
"Snort.
"I don't understand. Can you write it down? Oh, right, you have paws.
"R-r-r-r...
Having once again proven to myself that everything I do is not in vain, I applied the ointment against rabies and bites and continued on my way to the remaining places of interest. There were two left, located along the way to the settlement, which Boomi would describe with two different sentences:
"Here you will find friends" - referring to my next destination, and "given your character, you will feel at home there" - referring to the last town I needed to visit before heading to Kioshi Island.
"What did he mean by friends? - I continued to ask myself gloomily, standing with a map at the top of a large and beautiful mountain gorge, which offered a perfect view of the lake, and there was a settlement right at the foot of the mountains, right between two rivers," - ...Hey, Afka.
"Af.
"Isn't that... the place of glory of the Crystal Knight Cheng?
A small settlement, Zaofu.
I didn't remember much from the Avatar Korra canon, but for some reason this place, or rather the name of the city, had made a strong impression on me. Could it be because this is where the city of metal will be built in the future, the most protected place in the world?
But what makes it so remarkable in the current era?
***
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