A night at the Beifong mansion rarely began with peace and quiet. Little Tof heard every night how her father would start pacing the corridors of the large mansion, giving orders to the servants and his personal butler; he would send out hawks with various errands and take full command of the richest family in the city. Her mother was already fast asleep at that time, unless it had been one of those restless days, after which she usually drowned her sorrows in wine. As for the new resident of their attic... that night, the "teacher" did not sleep.
Getting out of bed in her simple pyjamas, Tof approached the window and focused on the windowsill. She was not interested in the world outside the room; she did not even look out. And to tell the truth, she wasn't looking at the windowsill, because all her attention was focused on the hard worker, whose muscles were roaring from the night's training; magic crackled strangely, as if some crystal were breaking into pieces; and the legs of the unskilled earth mage traced circles on the ground in an attempt to learn sensory perception.
"He sleeps less than the others," Beifong muttered thoughtfully, "does that mean using all your available potential? I still don't understand."
Thoughtfully turning to the tea table where the accessory given to her by one of her teachers lay, Beifong moved closer. It was Pai Sho's personal board, for "honing" her skills, as the teacher had said.
"It's as if the lady has a friend. I've never seen Mrs. Beifong play board games with anyone before," memories of days gone by and the words of the guards who loved to watch them play flashed through her mind. If she had seen such a gift before, when she didn't like to play at all, she would certainly have considered it a mockery. There were already many gifts in the house that she hadn't asked for but received anyway — that wasn't what excited or interested her. Games were far from the exciting magic she was forbidden to learn. But now something stirred within her, that very feeling of rivalry. Sitting down on a chair, tucking her legs under her, she began the game, arranging the chips as they had in their previous game.
The chips, cropped, so to speak, replaced the picture that the girl had to use as a guide in the game. She recreated past events with perfect meticulousness, with one sole desire: to finally win. And in order to play competently against an invisible opponent, she had to understand how her teacher would have played, which was only possible with a direct understanding of his personality.
***
The morning in the mansion did not start well. The servants were being scolded by the head cook, all because of a portion of food found under one of the chests of drawers in the dining room — someone had obviously dropped a plate but was afraid to admit it. At the same time, a couple of footmen were running around the other end of the estate, carrying sheets and basins of water for the teacher who was temporarily staying in the house. The master had asked not to be disturbed from his important work and not to be called for breakfast in the morning, so his food was brought directly to his bed.
Walking through the corridors, Beifong was walking slowly alongside the servants, trying to stay close to the wall so that no one would bump into her — there had never been any incidents, but only because Toph had always been careful. When she reached the room where people were milling about, she went inside and stopped to the side of the doorway. Her master was sitting at a small table, intently reading a book and calmly stroking an animal lying on his lap. Tof couldn't tell who exactly he had brought with him, but the little creature was quietly snorting and clearly enjoying the morning grooming.
Realising that he hadn't noticed her, the girl approached him discontentedly.
***
"Where did you go last night?" Tof appeared out of nowhere and started this beautiful morning with a discontented question.
"Oh, little one," he blinked and abruptly stopped petting Afka, who had returned from the library, and raised his head wearily. "I'm sure you'll appreciate this. Look how many useful ingredients I managed to find outside the compound. These worms are awesome, they're huge.
Solely to satisfy his curiosity, he picked up the bag from the floor and opened it on his desk. It was already his second bag; the first one was too full to hold any more. It was stuffed with roots, jars of worms, and even fresh fish wrapped in newspaper...
"Du... du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du
"Yes, creating something out of nothing. I do the same thing with sand, I make crystals and...
"That's not what I mean!" A shadow immediately fell over her face. "You left the house. You don't get enough training during the day, so you do it at night? Are you saying I'm not teaching you seismic sensitivity well enough?"
"Oh... - my concentration returned to normal, the morning sleepiness receded, allowing me to see the deceived person in the girl who often spent time with me. Like a friend you didn't invite to go for a walk, having fun without them - no, Tof would clearly not be bothered that I went for a walk without her. At eleven, she was already more mature than many adults; daily games of Pai Shao, which required me to thoroughly analyse her personality, helped me see this. That's why I understood that simply practising magic was as valuable to this girl as going for a walk with a friend was to an ordinary person.
The more time we spent together, the more mutual benefit we gained from this cooperation. Yes, finally, under my guidance, she began to develop rapidly, partly due to her improving magic, but also due to her adaptable nature. However, it was her sensory perception alone that took her to another level in terms of learning speed. Even with her chakras closed, she was able to rush forward and break the boundaries of earth magic, which I am only beginning to comprehend. The earth was her life... so it was easy to understand why she was progressing so rapidly and was happy to communicate with me. The girl was not interested in anything else. But unlike her, I had several areas of interest, and each one took up a lot of time.
"Night training, huh? It's the only reason I exist," I closed the book, hearing Beifong's breath catch. "Without it... I couldn't even play in the sandbox."
Taking Afka by the legs and hoisting her onto my shoulders, letting her settle in comfortably and start imitating a scarf, I got up and called Tof to go for a walk.
"If you want to come with me, let's train together," I said, and Beifong, who had been following me, nodded slightly. And while the servants continued to rush around, we went outside. Everyone around us, seeing how I was literally leading a girl by the hand, smiled innocently and whispered among themselves that the mistress had a new friend. But one glance from me was enough to abruptly end any conversation.
Unlike her previous Master, my approach was more comprehensive, based on spirituality, which made us seem closer. If it weren't for the frightening image that formed itself, we would have seemed even closer in the eyes of society. But I wasn't sure my skills were enough to really be friends with someone. I hadn't been able to interact with people normally before — there's no such thing as friendship when the whole world is against you. We were more like partners... but what's the difference between friendship and a simple obligation?
Even Anubis didn't speak. Since I had agreed to become Tof's spiritual mentor, he hadn't said a word, watching to see how I would do. No hints, just skills acquired through independent training.
"Hey, what kind of animal is that on your neck?" Tof asked curiously.
"My beast... my good partner," I had to correct myself as soon as a vicious growl sounded near my ear. "Smart, whiskered louse, and most importantly, it behaves like a human being — it asks you to pay your debts and makes you do things for it.
"...And where was she before?"
"She was running around looking for the best tea recipe," I replied honestly, but when I looked closely at Beifong's face, I saw only emptiness. To explain, I went straight to the city at lunchtime and bought the best ingredients I needed. The book I had been reading since morning told of the richest recipes for the best teas, which had the same effect on calmness and behaviour as banana and onion soup.
Before training, I made us both a cup and sent us to relax. The best possible way to achieve spiritual peace is to drink lotus tea and feel your chakras begin to vibrate on their own.
"You... - Nevertheless, Tof still didn't like something. She stood with a blank look near my deckchair by the lake and raised an eyebrow," - You take care of your body and smear yourself with all these ointments like a girl.
Hlyurb*
Taking a sip from her mug, she replied haughtily.
"Hm. It's stupid not to use medical knowledge. I spent two years fighting, finding every useful ingredient that could advance my training or make it less hellish. If I can improve the quality of my training, I do it.
The rich selection of herbs available from local vendors helps me avoid wasting time gathering them. The money from my training is enough to buy even more than I need, although last night I really had to run around to gather everything for tea.
"Um... do face ointments really have such a positive effect on training?" At that moment, interest flashed in Tof's voice. Lifting the cucumber mask from his face and glancing at the face standing opposite him in the sunlight, he nodded.
"Want me to make some for you?
Progress was evident — Tof's character was beginning to adapt. She was noticing more opportunities for her own development, which I had been persistently leading her towards during our few days of living together. How many opportunities she actually had was impossible to describe; how many she took advantage of could be counted on one hand.
It was painful to watch. But the situation was improving. Right now, I could see a picture that I couldn't have imagined even in my wildest dreams. Tof was lying on a deck chair with a cucumber mask on her face, her hands smeared with citrus-scented ointment to help relieve tension. Next to her on a stand was a cup of tea with a straw, which she slowly sipped, shivering slightly from the ice cubes between her toes, which were supposed to help her blood vessels and, accordingly, improve the conductivity of qi through her legs.
"I've never spent time like this with anyone before," she said in a surprisingly sincere tone. A smile spread across her face.
***
It was night, and Lao Beifong was sitting in his office, displaying behaviour that was rare for him: he opened a bottle of whisky. The last few days had been so eventful that it was impossible to cope with the pressure, but he was used to doing it alone. Without his wife, who would have been only too happy to have someone to drink with, and even away from his close friends. No one should see Lao like this...
When it came to his daughter, he was very careful about who he showed his emotions to. No servant or personal valet could say that he was a bad or uncaring father; if he did anything, it was only for the safety of his beloved girl. But she had been affected by strange changes that the head of the family did not know how to react to.
His daughter had a friend. Of course, this was only according to the guards and the butler, but it was impossible to ignore. Lao pondered this question for several days, continuing to observe, which made things even clearer. The Sand Mage hired to train Tof not only carefully monitored her training, without going beyond the limits set by Lao, but also closely watched her health.
The family's herbalists and doctors, who often examined Tof, said that she had become more energetic and her health was improving. This was because Dagoth was very meticulous about her health and helped his daughter even if it was not included in the tuition fee. Not only that, he played with her and taught her an amazing magic trick that had been troubling the head of the family lately. Considering these details, he could no longer be called an ordinary teacher...
For this reason, today they had to discuss this detail and decide what the two of them, as adults, should do next.
Knock knock
"Come in," Lao was not angry that they had decided to barge into his office so late at night. He just chuckled quietly when he saw Dagoth in an expensive robe and light slippers on his feet. The teacher stopped in the middle of the room and nodded respectfully, "Yes, I see you've made yourself comfortable, Mr. Dagoth.
"I just got back from the bathhouse. Don't catch a cold.
***
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