Yerin had to keep herself from laughing out loud.
He tore off a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Your analysis results. They will guide your own sacred arts, and while you are here I expect you will qualitatively benefit from my guidance on your techniques. Which you could have received earlier, had you cooperated.”
Now he had her attention. That was what she was here for.
When she reached for the paper, he pulled it back. “Never mind. I forgot you were uneducated. I’ll read it to you.”
Yerin snatched the paper from his hand and read it.
The Sage of the Frozen Blade had given her a basic language construct during the Uncrowned King tournament, but it wasn’t until recently that she’d really learned to use it. Lindon had taught her.
He was a more fun teacher than the Winter Sage.
“What do you mean saying I have an aspect deficiency and a madra imbalance?”
The Blood Sage gave a heavy sigh. “When something is deficient, that means it is lacking. There isn’t enough of it. An imbalance—”
“Scraped that together myself. What do you mean by saying it?”
“You’ve been neglecting your hunger madra.” The Blood Sage climbed up on a table and crouched on the edge; it was so casual that she wasn’t sure he was even conscious of doing it. “As you are aware, the Bleeding Phoenix is not pure blood madra. It is blood and hunger, which coexist as perfectly blended aspects. All other aspects it takes in from those it feeds upon are kept isolated from one another in semi-gelatinous spheres we see as drops, which gives the Dreadgod the appearance that it is bleeding.”
Yerin didn’t recall asking why the Phoenix looked the way it did.
“You have been replenishing your spirit with blood aura,” the Sage continued, “but there is no hunger element to it.”
“Monarchs themselves told me I didn’t have any more fences between me and advancing. You tell me that’s not true, and I’m calling you a liar.”
His face twisted comically, like he couldn’t swallow what she was feeding him. “Advancement? You have, of course, grown to a satisfactory degree as an Overlord Herald. You could advance to Archlord at any time, though you still need the requisite self-comprehension. This is purely about the present effectiveness of your sacred arts.”
Yerin was surprised, and a little suspicious, to hear that. “Haven’t felt my peak yet.”
“Your body and spirit are closer to perfect harmony than any other Overlord’s. The minimum required to advance is lower, but your full capacity is now higher.” He hesitated. “If you are capable, picture this flask as your spirit—”
“I’m keeping up,” she said shortly. “Work on my Path, and I’ll get stronger. How strong?”
His eyes glowed with a fervent light. “I would not dare to guess.”
Which was almost exactly what Lindon had told her. Good to know.
“So I need more hunger madra in my diet. You know where I could find hunger madra…”
“The traditional way is to intake pieces of the Phoenix that it sheds as it moves across the land. That is how Emissaries have grown since time immemorial, and now it is more accessible than ever, so long as we can be free of the Ashwind continent and return to the Dreadgod.”
The Sage chewed on his finger, but Yerin’s mind had moved ahead of him.
“There’s plenty of the Phoenix right here.”
Red Faith watched her without reaction.
“Your people and the Herald’s don’t dance to the same tune, do you?”
“As you have witnessed, Redmoon Hall is not the unified force it should be.” He gnawed a little faster on his knuckle. “I have earned the respect of those rational individuals who see the Bleeding Phoenix as it is: a readily available opportunity to earn great power. Redmoon works with those mentally deficient enough to treat the Phoenix as a genuinely divine being.”
Yerin suspected Redmoon would have used dramatically different words to answer that question. “Your people ever fight each other?”
“We allow the occasional duel. Blatantly killing and feeding on another’s Blood Shadow is too far, and grounds for expulsion from the sect. A raw Shadow from the Phoenix would be easier for you to digest as well. More expedient.”
Just as Yerin was going to continue pleading her case, he continued. “It is only too obvious what you plan to try. Redmoon will see immediately that you are targeting his people, but he will allow it while it benefits our research. Which your growth would accomplish.”