It Ain't Much But It's Honest Work

Zhao Wen was quite interested in Axum, because of his unusual views and he reminded her of her brother quite a bit. She thought that Axum was a unique existence that always piqued her curiosity, where did he come from? Why does he believe in such a distinctive way? Why did he still have a stern expression even when he was meditating?

She thought he was trying to appease everyone, so he was always focused on making sure he didn't miss anything, and that level of care warmed her heart.

While she made a few correct assumptions, she didn't hit the nail on the head. He had a lot of time training and studying to become a strong mage, and that didn't include just physical exercise but also mental preparation.

He still has nightmares from the time when he was stranded in a maze when he was just 10, by his teacher and was also taught how to kill by similarily training his heart.

But still, after many of these lessons, he held a strong moral compass that loathed killing and thought that the pen was mightier than the sword.

. . .

"You need to push harder, please, we're so close," Zhao Wen gasped.

"I know, hold on just a few more strokes," Axum replied with a short breath.

"Make sure to push your seed deep," Zhao Wen said in a low groan.

Axum was tired because he had been doing this repetitive task for a while, and now his hips were starting to be strained.

He replied with a grunt and kept on moving, he thought that Zhao Wen looked cute with a red face and seeing her with her legs shaking made him think of a newborn deer.

"Uuhh... ok, I'm done" With a final push and a wipe of his forehead Axum stated.

Axum and Wen stood next to each other, smiling at the work they had just completed. Then they both collapsed on their butts from exhaustion.

What caused them to start this laborious exercise was an old woman who happened to be the gardener saw them and asked for some help in plowing and sowing the fields because the gardener was quite tired after a long and hot day.

Axum's legs were now mostly healed except for being unable to run; he was mostly recovered except now he was doing exercises and stretched to regain lost muscle.

Axum thought to himself that he quite enjoyed this type of work because although it was quite physically demanding and slow, the satisfaction he received at the end was comparative to learning a new spell.

He thought that since he didn't have much to do besides training that he would head over to help the gardener when he had the free time to do so.

Axum and Wen left after being served tea by the old gardener where they learned her name was Zhao Lao but preferred being called Aunt Lao, and Wen was surprised to learn that the garden was not being taken care of by someone from the village. But when Wen asked why Aunt Lao was gardening, she said that she enjoyed doing it.

Walking towards the training field, Axum noticed some of the minor details in the Manor that he didn't see before. For one, the stones that made up a majority of the outside were of durable stone but seemed mostly old and decoration. The painting style of black and green seemed to flow with the background of the rolling hills will the crests that dotted the arcs of doorways or insignias of clothing that were made of gold and silver. And the servants all wear folded black cloth as hats to indicate being servants while he saw some people with brands of chains on hands and faces when he asked he was told that these people were enslaved and made to work for the rest of their lives. He abhors slavery, so after being explained that most slaves were criminals who had been branded and then sold, he finally settled down and realized he overreacted and should've expected a logical explanation.

The men seemed quiet and brooding but held strong convictions for defending the ClanClan and nation. The women were more out-spoken towards people they knew and had a strong sense of sisterhood.

'Their sense of family, brotherhood, and hierarchies are much stronger than what I'm used to, but they seem to be happy people with honor and courage as the backbone of this Clan. I guess it makes sense coming from a military clan. But it still surprises me how strict they take hierarchies, I mean it's literally embedded in the language, and they sub-consciously enforce these hierarchies without even realizing it.' Axum mused to himself.

It was the day after Axum and Wen were gardening that someone from the Capital visited the Zhao Clan Manor. It seemed to be someone of importance because not only did the ClanClan throw a large, welcoming feast, they even had some elders walking with him to answer any questions they had.

While Axum was meditating in the training field when he got a better look at the visitor. He was dressed in a black robe with sky blue highlights and sky blue belt with the crest on his crest being made of black metal. The man seemed to be in his late 40's but in excellent shape and had a curious look in his eyes when he glanced at Axum.

From what he had heard of about the visitor, it seemed he came from what could be considered the secret police of the Zhe country. They were called many things but were mainly referred to as Peacekeepers even though their strength was unknown, whenever Peacekeepers got involved it didn't matter whether you were in the royal family or from one of the major clans, the Peacekeepers were treated with respect. And the Peacekeepers were never involved in any political dealings, they were only interested in enforcing laws and keeping the countries upper echelons struggles from exploding into commoners' lives.

Axum guessed that the Peacekeepers were here because they wanted to act as intermediaries between the Zhao and the Bai. However, because neither family had broken laws, they still seemed to want to work in anticipation rather than in reaction.

But that didn't explain why the Peacekeeper was looking at Axum with such interest. He was feeling a little worried until finally, the Peacekeeper seemed to ask one of the elders at his side about Axum before finally walking over.

"Hello, my name is Losho, and I heard your name in Axum. Do you mind if I sit with you for a second?"

"Yes, I do not mind, but may I ask why?" Axum replied, with many thoughts coming and going.

'Does he suspect I am from outside of the country? Does he think I'm a spy? Maybe he wants to know about my story? Or perhaps someone mentioned to me before?'

"Yes, when I was looking over at you, I noticed a strange Qi disturbance that I've never seen before," Losho mentioned while staring intensely in Axum's eyes.

"Well, that is because I do not have any Qi channels, but I can manipulate Qi with my mind, I was meditating and focusing on trying to increase my control over Qi," Axum replied with relief in his mind that he didn't have to explain interdimensional travel to a person who could easily change his life for the worse.

"Wow! I've never heard of an ability like that... could you possibly show me?" Losho explained with excitement showing on his face.

"Yeah, no problem," Axum replied.

Axum then demonstrated condensing Qi and folding it into different shapes and sizes.

Losho sat with his mouth slightly ajar.

After Axum finished his demonstration, Losho sat in silence for a few minutes, and as the sweat started to build in Axum's robes, the Peacekeeper closed his mouth, then stood up in silence and left.

...

"I think I should follow him" Axum was pacing around his room with Zhao Wen sitting down in a chair reading a book, seemingly not paying attention.

"I mean, I need to know if he can help me with my abilities or if he knows about something related to them." Axum kept pacing, but this time Wen actually spoke up.

"Yeah, I think it's a great idea, follow around one of the most mysterious organizations with unknown strength while suspected of being a spy, sounds like a full proof plan," Wen spoke with palpable sarcasm.

Axum and Wen's friendship had gotten closer after gardening together and spending so much time talking with each other that now they could joke together and share personal opinions on sensitive topics. This was weird for Axum because he would have usually been friendlier. Still, because of the backstabbing and being in danger, he had become more withdrawn and on edge, so only more recently had he been opening up.

"I know that it's suspicious but being able to control Qi is one of the prerequisites of defending myself, and I need to be able to do that if I want to travel this world," Axum replied, he already had thought out most of the arguments that could be made against following the Peacekeeper. Still, he seemed to have some information that could be useful to him.

"Mice that find cats interesting don't exist anymore because they are all dead, but if you want to follow around a cat, then you're dumber than I thought you were," Wen replied without looking up from her book.

Axum paused for a second before getting up and walking out of the room, because of his nerves he at first didn't notice that Wen was following behind him. But a smile grew on his face when he turned around and saw her.

"Don't look at me like that, I want to see you get arrested. If they believe you aren't a spy, then you might just become a slave like the ones you saw before." Wen answered, but this time he saw the more serious look in her face when she finished speaking, and he realized that he might've underestimated the punishment he might receive if he messes up.

Axum and Wen eventually ended up on a path walking towards a hill with a forest dotting the top. They learned from one of the servants that the Peacekeeper was seen talking with one of the elders about the area set aside for the planning ground of the Zhao family. Some leaders and heads of the family were currently making themselves hard targets for assassination while at the same time planning logistics and tactics inside this hidden and well-defended forest created initially been for one of the families old masters that enjoyed nature.

"The old master who used to live here had been apart of the followers of Sequana, the goddess of the Holy River, and had built shrines to her and her followers in the forest. After he grew old he moved back to the ClanClan and lived with his family there, he was actually one of the elders who was sitting in on your questioning" Wen gave a basic history on the background of the place they were trying to get into.

"So will they let us in or do we have to sneak in... well if they are looking out for assassins, it'd be pretty stupid to try to sneak in... hmm" Axum was half talking to Wen and half talking to himself.

'He seemed very curious to learn about me, so it shouldn't be that hard to come up with an excuse once I get in front of him, but that's the biggest problem, getting in front of him. Guess we'll have to play it by ear.' Axum finished his tangent in his head.