The Call of Crows

Chapter 10: Adept

Peng had discarded his armor long ago. In addition to being too heavy for his comparatively frail form, it was simply going to cause him nothing but trouble, as it identified him as a soldier of the Nikan army. The lack of it signified his own acceptance of his desertion. But despite having left his life as a soldier behind, he still felt as though he was on the outs of the group.

He trailed behind the other four as they talked amongst themselves, their voices distinct from the noises of fauna of the surrounding Sklaveni forest. Even with the forest canopy shielding them, Peng still felt the wrath of the late spring sun.

Don't kid yourself. He thought, You're just going to go back home. And you're the only one without a spirit living inside you to give you magic powers. Stop trying to fit in. You never have.

That didn't make it feel better.

To be fair, he was due for this sort of semi-ostracization. He was a member of the very army that had tried to kill them, which also happened to serve the empire they wanted to fight against. An empire that Peng wasn't exactly intent on leaving behind.

He wasn't fit for this life. Nor the life of a soldier. But both had happened without his personal opinion being involved.

"Oi." Ruhak muttered, hanging back to walk alongside Peng. "I roasted some crickets this morning. You want some? They're packed with energy."

Ruhak held out a single cooked bug from a metal tin full of them. Peng frowned, but plucked the bug from his fingers and threw it in his mouth. It tasted a lot like...chicken.

"I hope you didn't use more energy catching these things than their worth." Peng chuckled.

"No idea. But I've felt full all day." Ruhak said. "So I'd say it was a worthwhile experiment."

Of all the others around him, Ruhak was the one he could relate to the most. The way he thought and felt was very much so in line with his own mind.

Ruhak pulled ahead to try and disgust Cecile with the insects.

Peng's mind switched to his new favorite line of thoughts: Longing for home. He was certain he wasn't the only one from among them, but Peng didn't miss home for the sake of family or other loved ones.

In fact, his family was probably happy he was gone.

No, Peng wanted his old job back. He wasn't a rebel and he wasn't a soldier. He was a Shentong. An Adept. Specifically in science and engineering.

In Nikan, Adepts were people considered highly skilled in a variety of fields and were often allowed to swap jobs as much as they wanted, so long as their abilities remained top tier. But since their work was never guaranteed, Adepts were considered...disposable.

It probably would've been wise to have gone to university and gotten a legitimate degree instead of an Adept's license. That way he could've just been assigned to the engineering corps if he had to participate in the war. And, well...he would have gone and done that. But there were all the reasons in the world not to.

Peng just didn't work that way. He could never devote his entire life to just one study. He liked smithing, chemistry, astronomy, arithmetic and arcanology as much as he enjoyed engineering.

Some part of him wished he'd just gone off on his own and decided to follow these people all the way to Koinelia. But there was nothing to do but walk and talk everyday with this group. Both things he wasn't too great at. Walking? Sure. He marched in the army. But he couldn't be bothered to fruitlessly start up conversation. He was going to split up with them once they got into Koinelia anyways.