The mistress was unexpectedly, and charmingly, naive Ryoko decided. After several days and nights of service, she and her cousin Saki were both quite amused with the clan’s youngest heiress.

The two of them were also Mishalas, though of a rather obscure branch line. The clan had existed as long as the Empire had, though of course, not in its current form. Blood called to blood, and there were established Animus techniques that allowed bloodlines to resonate against each other, though in practice, those who had different Heritages were no longer considered closely related, beyond a single degree anyway. Siblings remained siblings, of course, and parents and children kept their current ties. But cousins with different Heritages? They were no longer considered related if their Heritage were of different lines.

The Mishala Clan, however, went a step further. The Mishala Mien was what made them kin. Those who had it were core members of the clan. Those who didn’t were not. Considering their habits, that was more a matter of practicality than anything else otherwise, they would probably be considered kin to all the noble clans in Realmheart, and the eight other core planes.

Sometimes, one in a hundred thousand female descendants maybe, a girl would awaken to have the Mien. Then, that girl would become part of the clan, even if that girl, or her family, protested. There was no hiding it either. The Progenitor, and the Fateweaver Loom, would know.

They were in the manor’s training room at the moment. Lady Yuriko was clad in a wonderfully revealing training outfit. Ryoko had been the one to lay it out. It was a tight tank top, that looked more like an extra large brassiere than anything else, and stretchy leggings that clung to her skin and revealed all of her curves.

Lady Yuriko was beautiful and there was no denying that fact even if she was leaner, taller, and more athletic than the average Mishala. Her figure was still a bit short of the ideal though. She didn’t quite have an hourglass figure, but her proportions were nevertheless aestheticallly pleasing. And Ryoko did admire a toned body.

“Your foundations are woefully inadequate,” Armsmaster Demina Kinohara declared. “You know and use Flowing Water and Sweeping Gale, but are ignorant of Roaring Volcano and Jade Mountain. The Four Phases of the Sword are called that because you can cycle between all four depending on the need. Specialising is a path to strength, but it also limits your options. Have you ever had a point in battle when you defaulted to Flowing Water simply because you don’t have any other options?”

Yuriko was currently going through some sword forms using a weighted wooden sword. Ryoko wasn’t a practitioner and her warrior training days were nearly a decade behind her. Still, she admired Yuriko’s grace and precision.

“I never really noticed,” Yuriko admitted. “I barely use Flowing Water as is. My Facet’s sword dances were more than adequate.”

“Ah, yes. I remember. But didn’t you say that after you learned Sweeping Gale, your Facet demonstrated different sword forms?”

“Only when using the greatsword. It’s the same dance though.”

“Interesting. In any case, knowing and familiarising yourself with the other two phases will not hurt.”

“If you say so,” Yuriko said doubtfully. “I’m, er, willing to learn.”

“Good. Observe.”

The Armsmaster demonstrated a series of sword forms using a single wooden side-blade.

Ryoko sighed as she watched the two women train. She wasn’t the only one watching them, actually. Lady Miya peeked into the room a while back, though Lady Yuriko didn’t notice her. Ryoko noted the look of envy and annoyance on the older Mishala heiress’ face, which quickly disappeared once she noticed Ryoko and the other attendants within the room.

That foreign ragamuffin prince was also in attendance. He stood at a corner and was avidly staring so much that his eyes were bulging. His attendant and bodyguard watched the two practice with appreciation.

Ah, the prince was in the Aspirant state, or maybe he was already a Supplicant. The Mishala Clan had long adopted an internal measure, and nomenclature, of how someone is affected by the Mien. For a moment, Ryoko felt a stab of pity for the boy. Clearly, Lady Yuriko wasn’t interested in him to be anything more than an Attendant. Maybe a Thrall if he was lucky, but unlikely to be a Consort.

One of the Prima’s duties for Ryoko and Saki had been to identify what Lady Yuriko’s tastes were like, and in the past couple of weeks, Attendants of all shapes and features had paraded themselves, subtly to be sure, past the newest heiress.

It was quite interesting to note that in men, Lady Yuriko responded quite well to the cute boy type, and the well-endowed muscle man type. It was subtle, Ryoko knew, nothing overt. A gaze that lasted a tad bit longer, a slight reddening of the cheeks, perhaps a hitch in her breathing, or wider smile than usual. It was also quite interesting that she responded the same way with women. Cute girls and athletic, well-toned women. At least it was uniform across both sexes.

Did she swing both ways too?

Ryoko resisted the urge to giggle. That actually was the norm with the Mishalas. Those with the Mien, anyway. As far as Ryoko understood, the stronger the emotion or attraction the wielder felt, the more effective the Mien was. She had felt the stirrings of desire almost as soon as she laid eyes on the young mistress, and only years of already being exposed to the Mishala Mien had made sure that she wouldn’t disgrace herself.

The thing was, she was sure Saki, and others who didn’t fit into what Ryoko identified, also showed signs of Aspiration. Ah, a conundrum. An untrained Mien usually exhibited strange effects, so maybe it was just that.

“...you’ve started Intent based swordsmanship a bit too early, in my opinion,” Armsmaster Kinohara continued. “It may serve you well now, but perhaps you’ll find it harder to advance it later. All I'm saying is that you should learn all of the proper sword forms as soon as you can. I don’t see too many bad habits, but no doubt some will form over the years.”

“I’m doing my best,” Yuriko answered grumpily. “It’s just that Jade Mountain and Roaring Volcano feels so off-putting.”

“Well, they should. You focused on Flowing Water too much and even Sweeping Gale is complementary to your style. If you’d learned Roaring Volcano instead, your swordsmanship would be more balanced… Hmmm, you’re not doing too badly. You’ve got excellent body control.”

That she did. Ryoko quite admired the lines presented by the young mistress’ movements. She was right to term her movements as a dance. There was an undeniable elegance there. Even now, when she moves using unfamiliar forms.

“Saki, I think you should bring Mister Nostra a wet towel,” Ryoko murmured to her second. The younger girl glanced at the boy, then choked a giggle.

“Looks like he’s about to burst a vessel. Look how red he is!”

“Just go! Hie hie!”

Toying with boys is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Why else would she have bullied the young mistress into wearing such revealing clothes?

________

“...the Colossi pieces can move forward or sideways as far as it can. If it’s next to an allied unit, it can leap over it, but that immediately ends its movement. Legionnaire pieces can only move one square forward, and can only attack diagonally forwards.” Finan said as he taught Yuriko how each piece in the game of Shatran moved.

The strategy board game looked quite simple, at least compared to Tracer and Valheim’s Game. There were merely carved pieces of wood, and painted red and black. There were no runescript lines, no control nodes, and generally didn’t need Animus to play.

The day after she met him in the Abrigo estate, she ran into Finan during the lunch rush. Back in the Rumiga campus, she would have taken her lunch in the Golden Willow’s mess hall, but since she wasn’t a resident of the dormitories here, she couldn’t enter those premises. Miya had invited her instead to a cafe, right where Mama Blu’s would have been. The Seared Wild Hog served cutlets of, well roasted pork, in unleavened bread pockets, garnished with herbs and garlic butter. It was served with a sour beverage that was mildly alcoholic, at least judging from how her body heated up after she drank.

Finan and his friends just happened to be dining there as well, and seeing as the place had been quite packed, the boys invited the two of them to share their six seater table. Finan and his friends, Draknon Filus Garderon and Aerda Noel Leon, provided entertaining conversation. Well, Miya certainly laughed and carried on. They mostly spoke of an unarmed prize fighting club. There would be a match in a couple of weeks, an up and coming challenger against the undefeated Crimson Blaze.

“Where would this even happen?” Yuriko had asked.

Draknon, who insisted on being called Drak, said in a near whisper, “In the underground arena, of course. Invitational only. Ah, you have to make a bet to enter too. Minimum’s a hundred Sovies.”

Miya seemed oddly interested going by the slight smirk she had on her face. Anyway, the rest of the meal was spent gossiping about which noble scion was marrying whom, which boy was caught sleeping with a senior’s fiance, and what the offending party did. Challenge the fiance to a duel, apparently, for besmirching his honour. He got beaten up though, since the lady in question was one of the better duelists in Aneurin.

Afterwards, Finan invited her to play one of the strategy board games that he spoke about that night, along with an apology for his rather abrupt exit. Yuriko just brushed it off, and she would have passed on the game too since she was supposed to return to the manor for lessons, but Miya reminded her that her tutor wasn’t available today.

So the five of them had moved to a different cafe, one that served tea and pastries, and they got to playing. Well, Finan was just explaining the game's basics and he was right, nothing in it required even the least amount of Animus manipulation. The pieces were moved by hand, and they took turns to move one of their pieces. The object of the game, played on a nine by nine square grid, was to capture the opposing player’s Empress piece. There were two Avos pieces, two Celebrants, two Knights, two Colossi, and nine legionnaires. Any captured piece could be brought back into play by the opposing player as long as the row nearest the player had an empty space, though it also meant forgoing moving another piece.

“Well, let’s begin. Black side moves first, take your pick.”

He showed two legionnaire pieces on either palm, then juggled them right in front of her, faster and faster until they were practically a blur. Then he concealed the pieces and held out both fists. She picked the red one since she didn’t want to go first.

Oh, his hand movements weren’t fast enough to conceal where the pieces went.

“How are you finding it here in Realmheart?” he asked as they played.

“Strangely tranquil,” Yuriko muttered. “Before I came here, I was always in danger.”

His eyes widened at that, “Are frontier planes that dangerous? You’re from Rumiga right?”

“Well, they are, but no, that’s not what I meant.” Yuriko shrugged and explained her circumstances.

“Those barbarians,” Finan hummed as he considered his next move. “They sound like Chaos Lord collaborators.”

“I don’t think there’s much doubt of that.” Yuriko said ruefully.

“No, well, it’s always best to have proof. Also, their techniques, hmmm, you mentioned that their skin was so tough that plasma bolts barely damaged them, yes? And the tribe you fought was called the Iron Skin tribe? Did they create a totemic display when they fought you?”

“I don’t think so,” Yuriko answered quickly. “Do you mean like how the beast-kin of Bella accessed their power?”

“Yes. Hmmm, well, using a Geist is one of the easiest ways to empower your Anima, but it comes at a price. It’s easy to initiate, but much more difficult to advance.”

“Isn’t it the same with our Heritages?” Yuriko remarked.

“Yes, but with ours, well, a good Heritage can bring someone to Journeyman status easily, and a powerful Heritage creates a Knights.”

“But going beyond Knight is much harder,” Yuriko smiled.

“That’s true for any systematic training method,” Finan grinned. “But ours brings our people to greater power more easily. It’s why the Empire controls so much territory.”

“Alright…”

“Ah, I’ve won.” Finan smirked as his remaining Avos piece and Colossus cornered her Empress such that no move would be safe. “Interesting, how you moved your powerful pieces beyond the protection of your legionnaires. It threw me off for a while.”

Yuriko shrugged. Of course she lost, this was her first time playing. But she felt a bit sour anyway, since it had looked like she would win several turns ago.

“Again?” she asked.

“My pleasure.”