As I flip to the first page of Breath of the Petal, I feel my mana resonate with the tome. I watch how the mana reacts to each of my breaths, pulling the light, airy mana deep into my chest and exhaling it from my extremities. With a clear head, I look at what’s written on the first page—surprised to see it is an introduction written by the Serene Tea Sage.

  Hello, future sages. I began experimenting and developing this Inheritance because we have reached a very dark stage of the war against the devils. The Dupolin Kingdom burned to the ground with countless casualties last week. I haven’t heard from the Sword Saint or Spear Phoenix yet either and they were both stationed at the Dupolin portals. I understand now that my own combat capabilities are not enough to change the flow of war, but if I am able to empower those around me then the ripple effect could become enough for some of the key incursion points. This Inheritance focuses on buffing allies' stats and helping them grow their skills by decreasing the difficulty of leveling those skills. At later levels, this art will also make it possible to significantly debuff enemies as further support. This is not my first Inheritance but I’m under no delusion that this might be your first art. I will be including meditation and combat manuals in the Inheritance to better prepare you for anything the devils will throw at you.

  Sincerely,

  Serene Tea Sage

  I hold my breath as I read the introduction again. Slowly releasing it, I'm struck by how much is written here that I can barely comprehend…this is a support art designed to make it easier for allies to level their skills and stats. Nothing like that has ever been seen before in the System, meaning any party I join will see increases in their growth. This art never reached the later stages, so there's probably nothing here about debuffing—but knowing the direction its creator intended should help me progress the art further. Not to mention, most support classes struggle in combat because they lack combat magic, but it looks like the Serene Tea Sage accounted for that and included combat training compatible with these techniques.

  I flip to the next page to find a detailed explanation of the meditation technique, Blooming Breath. Unlike Three Infusions Breathing, this meditation practice doesn't have me perform tai chi movements—it instead requires me to sit completely still in lotus pose, breathing and moving my mana according to its specific patterns. Another surprise I wasn’t expecting is that there isn’t an accompanying mantra—the art instead recommends finding the void in my thoughts and practicing mindlessness for optimal results.

  Continuing through the manual, I find that teas most associated with air and earth will assist in meditation and combat training. I also found the combat manual, named the Stem and Petal Strike, which outlines multiple techniques utilizing something called a monk spade as the weapon of choice though the margin notes explain a quarterstaff can also make do as a replacement. The final section of the Inheritance, before it cuts off abruptly, describes the three core skills of the inheritance and how to earn them from the base Tea Sage class.

  Spirit of Tea is an evolved form of Tea Service. This evolution is possible once Tea Service reaches the fourth level and you are able to transfer the effects of an infused tea without the other individual consuming the tea in any way. To practice this you must be able to grab the mana fluctuating within the tea and push it into the body of your companion. Spirit of Tea will allow you to copy any buffs you have gained from drinking a tea to any companions within reach.

  Infusion Mancer is an evolved form of Tea Connoisseur. This evolution is only possible after Tea Connoisseur reaches level five and you have already acquired the Spirit of Tea skill. To evolve into Infusion Mancer you must copy a buff to a companion, use Tea Connoisseur to track the buffed mana traveling through them, and guide it into their core as they activate a skill. Once evolved, Infusion Mancer will allow you to increase the growth rate of one skill per companion for fifteen minutes per day. Warning: Evolving Tea Connoiseur to Infusion Mancer removes the ability to identify properties and potential buffs of herbs.

  Petal Dance is an evolved form of Meditation. This evolution is possible once meditation reaches the fifth level and you reach a meditative combat state for the first time. Petal Dance will buff your dexterity and strength for five minutes as well as automatically put you in a meditative combat state. Upon the deactivation of Petal Dance you will be physically weakened by about fifty percent for one hour. Warning: This should only be used with companions who can guarantee your safety or as a last resort.

  I let out a low whistle. These are the skills of a First Tier Progression and they are already incredible. Rereading the warnings surprises me, though. Although these first evolutions are entirely positive, it's not a problem—but I'll be going in blind on further progressions and won't know the consequences of evolving skills further until I do so.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  A few hours pass as I continue to familiarize myself with the tome—stretching to make sure I don't hurt myself, I try to sit in lotus pose as the directions instruct. After what seems like an extremely long time trying to get into the pose, I finally succeed. Staying in Lotus, I reread all the meditation directions and plan to attempt the technique for the first time tonight before going to bed. After about an hour I get up—the agonizing need to stretch distracting me from any further studying. I move from the ground in the library to the back door that Mallorc said was the training room.

  Awe is the first thought that comes to mind as the door swings open. Expecting a small training room to be on the other side, I am taken off guard by the complete dojo that awaits me. Every wall of the room is lined with mirrors. Along the left wall are wooden weapons of every kind—some I've never seen—and the center of the dojo is composed of training mats, with dummies and equipment along the back and right walls. I turn and just to the side of the door is an actual bubbling fountain with cups next to it for drinking. This solitary room is as big as the entire tea shop above it and I am still struggling to grasp the complete scope of power Master and his predecessors display.

  I walk to the wall and look through the weapons, finding a large variety of common weapons like swords, spears, and daggers. After a few minutes of sorting, I find the two weapons described in the combat manual—the monk spade and the quarter staff. I pick up the first weapon, surprised by the balance—expecting the weight to be evenly distributed, with the counterweight on the bottom, I struggle to swing the top-heavy staff.

  I begin moving through the combat forms—trying to get a feeling of the mana flow and trying to move into a flow state similar to Three Infusions Breathing—I immediately blunder, smacking my shin painfully with what should be the bladed side of the weapon, dropping it to the floor in shock. I reset myself and make a second attempt at the combat form, only for the hook on the bottom to get caught in my loose shirt. I shake my head at the difficulty of the weapon and hope that the newness of the weapon is what is messing me up. I switch the monk spade for the quarterstaff and begin my training—only to hit the exact same spot on my shin seconds later.

  Huh—so I’m definitely the problem here. Everything about this Inheritance has been harder than I was expecting and it’s caused me to realize the truth in Mallorc’s words—it really is for the best for me to be locked down here for a month as I refamiliarize myself with my strengths and weaknesses. I shake my head, pick up the monk spade again and continue practicing the Stem and Petal Strike until failure before resetting and restarting.

  Hours pass, and Mallorc enters the training hall with an aromatic plate of food, breaking me from my focused practice and causing me to drop the monk spade in surprise. Not realizing until now how famished I am, I grab the offered plate and start to wolf down its contents. I look up at the pale blue eyes watching me and still see the pain evident in them.

  I take a deep breath and set the food to the side as I look him in the eye. “I’m sorry, Old Man, you’ve given me no reason to doubt you in the past, but I still didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt. Practicing these combat forms, I’ve realized how right you are—I can’t control my strength and I’ll be no help to anyone until I learn these skills.”

  I bow my head in a deep apology. After a few seconds of hearing nothing I look up and see him watching me carefully. The tension between us remains taut for another minute before he clears his throat and nods thoughtfully.

  “You’re going to need to trust me through all of this, Camden. I’ve always had your best interests in mind, but there will be times I cannot explain myself either due to Class secrecy or because I just can’t put it into words. When those times come, a repeat of today could cause pain or death to yourself and those around you.”

  After he finishes speaking, he sighs deeply and turns to walk out of the training room. My head sags as I realize he hasn’t accepted my apology and I try to think of what I can do to try to repair the strain on our relationship.

  “Master, I—”

  He cuts me off before I can finish. “You remind me so much of my master, Cam. I will forgive you for this—but you need to know this is not a game. People die every day exploring portals and you need to learn responsibility for your actions.”

  With that he closes the door behind him and I am left to my thoughts. I pick up the plate before heading into the living space to finish eating at the table. I find a blend of tea in the kitchen that promotes calm and deep meditation. I activate Tea Service, brew the calming blend with steady hands, and breathe in the fennel-scented steam.

  I pick up the Inheritance and turn to the meditation directions. No more hesitation. No more doubt. Tonight, I begin to prove—both to Mallorc and to myself—that I am worthy of this Inheritance.