Mist faintly swathed the grassy clearing, mixing with the morning light. Gelland's chestnut hair glistened as she sat smiling in the middle of a ridge of stone. It was on the edge of the clearing under the shade of the trees. Acacia huffed as she hefted the pack of supplies Gelland had advised her to bring, setting it against the rock. It's a good thing we're just practicing technical things, I can hardly walk all the way out here, she thought.

This setting in the forests east of Medina Gilt would shelter them from the eyes of others. It would also allow Gelland to be more relaxed with how she trained. Scorched lines covered the stones. Acacia guessed that Gelland had probably been training here before. "Did you bring what I told you?" Acacia nodded her confirmation.

"Great. Did you end up getting that job?"

"Yes! Ferti's a really nice man. I've already started. And it's not too hard either. I work most midday shifts, so I have these mornings free."

"I'm so happy for you! I also got one in the city, at a tailor. Okay, I hope you slept well. I'm gonna need your attention span to last a long time today. Get out the book."

Getting the leather bound book out along with the metal canteens of water, taking a swig. She felt just how tired she really was. Sleep fled away during the night as her anticipation increased. But today came, and she would fight to pay attention to every detail. Acacia took a seat on the rock next to Gelland.

"First, write, 'Work with what you have.' By this, I mean that before you try to learn something new, work on what you already know and have access to."

"I'm confused. I thought that you were going to teach me something I didn't know?"

"I am, don't get ahead of me. I just mean that if you start juggling more than you're prepared for, you'll end up dropping everything. You won't know what to do in the moment, and you'll get mixed up. One ball at a time. Write under the first line, 'Priorities: 1. Physique 2. Densing 3. Tethering'." Acacia gulped in anticipation.

"We're going to get you into shape."

"I knew it," she sighed, hopping off the rock as Gelland gestured. "We'll take a run through the forest together and end back here." Gelland kicked off her boots, and immediately broke out into a sprint. Rolling her eyes, Acacia trotted after her. It became quickly apparent that Gelland hadn't been sprinting, it was just the comparison she'd made to herself. Acacia had never been one for athleticism, she instead preferred the puzzles the hoffers of Deallusrwydd in Leevio had shown her. Their addoli hoffers loved encouraging others to show off their minds with similar exercises. She had aspired to join them before it happened. She looked down at her sleeved arms that flailed across her body. The scars wrapping the wrists and hands.

Gelland slowed for her to catch up. It hadn't been two minutes yet, and Gelland could probably hear the gasping of the frail girl trailing her. She was inspecting what Acacia had been looking at. Acacia's face turned red hot, pulling her sleeves over Ytamar and Reia. Gelland had turned her eyes up to Acacia's, but she wouldn't meet them. Facing forward again, she said between breaths, "Next, I'll teach you the signs. You will practice them between sessions to keep them fresh in your mind," Acacia laughed, "I thought you wouldn't teach me a bunch of stuff at once?"

"Oh? You think that's gonna be it? There's much more to it than what's coming up next."

The next twenty minutes were excruciating, winding around and back through the clearing every few minutes. Acacia's legs felt like they would wither away. Gelland finally stopped, and Acacia staggered towards the water canteens, gulping its contents. "I don't know if I can do much more today, Gel." Gelland shook her head, "We haven't even started. Let's stretch out and then we'll move on. This won't be the last time we run, either."

Although she was wobbling, she found the stretches quite relaxing after a time. It surprised her that Gelland would lead her through these poses for almost as long as the initial workout. They both sat, tucking their feet up against themselves with their hands. Her ankles pressed down against the dew of the grass. "Breathe deeply from the stomach, pushing it outwards as you pull the air in. As opposed to breathing from the chest, which is more shallow," Gelland instructed. "It's very easy to get stuffy from the dust in the city, but try to keep your airways clear by breathing through the nose and releasing out of the mouth." She did so. With every breath, Acacia could feel her heart beat more clearly to her than when taking shallow breaths. The woman was right about the city. Its high foot traffic picked up dust during the busiest parts of the day, which wasn't helped by the high walls that fortified Medina Gilt. The walls made the dust collect inside, and crews had to collect and move it. "By breathing correctly, you will reduce the chances of getting lightheaded as well as making sure that the rest of your body gets the oxygen it needs."

Gelland had her fetch her book again, and Acacia leaned against the wall of rock, "I will now go over the most basic signs: the alphabet. Do you know any of it?"

Acacia shook her head, "When I lived in Leevio, I saw priests who would use sign language to communicate with deaf people, but I never learned it myself."

"That's probably the case for a lot of people who don't use Tethering or chips. And they would've been using full word signs, probably unrelated to what I'll teach you now. Put the book down, and do as I do."

Following every movement Gelland made, Acacia wove the letters with her right hand. Gelland paused on almost every sign to correct Acacia's finger placement. The alphabet finished with a shake of the index finger from side to side in a downwards motion. "You will become a master of this, and quickly. Universal Sign Language, or USL, will be your best friend moving forward."

"That's so much to remember at once."

"That's why you'll practice on your down time. When you read, use it. When you think of a song or poem, spell out the words from the beginning."

Acacia nodded. "I have a question. Why is it called 'Universal'? We all share the same language. Why not just call it Sign Language?"

"That's a good question. What is the ruler called in Civitas?"

"He's just called a king," Acacia shrugged.

"Right. But Veril Rissing is called Takutahn here. Same thing happens in Hazten. There are changes in signs across the world that are culturally relevant to them. The cultural signs may be different, but in USL, the signs stay a constant. The Takutahn is still called 'king' in USL. If you happened to sign fire differently, for example, the signing involving the 'whatever it is' wouldn't work. You need to know the USL relevant signs."

"Makes sense, I guess. Things are what they are, no matter how you'd like to put it."

"Well, that's not to say that your intent doesn't matter, but I'll get to that."

Gelland walked her through the alphabet again. Mixing some of the letters up with the others was a consistent flaw of Acacia's. "Alright, now make a note in your book to practice whenever possible, and set the book down. Turn around, and set both hands on the rock."

She obeyed. The sun now shone on the clearing, warming the coarse stone. "I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself. I can do so with the first two steps I gave you. I will train your physique and you will fight me with the tools you will make with Densing. Now make a sword."

Acacia turned, frowning. "I don't think you understand how solid Densing works. For the other three, you all can make the weapons from the matter you touch, but not me. We can only 'break' things. Turning stone into gas can't be a weapon, Gel."

"True, I don't understand everything about the ones besides my own. I actually haven't gotten many chances to use mine, the changes to plasma being so volatile. The only one I can use safely is this."

Gelland stretched out her hand. Flames began to flicker in a ball in her hand after she wove a sign. Taking her other hand, she reached into the flame, fingers grasping at it, and pulled out a rod of about two feet. Though it was solid the whole way through, it still flickered in a similar way as before, the colors quickly changing back and forth from yellow, orange, and red.

"I know you can't shift matter to match something like this," she said, "but you can use what you have. Mental control is key in controlling something so chaotic as fire. But the rock isn't going anywhere. Piece by piece, make the sword."

The rod's edges were rounded. But Gelland had her keep watching it, and the edges started to disintegrate. Tongues of flame came up instead, smoke rising from the surface. When she was finished, the former cylinder had turned into a double edged dagger with a hilt. Gelland approached the stone and cut in black lines, making a sharp, scraping sound. She then planted the dagger into the stone near the top, having it revert back into flames, which petered out instantly.

"You will use this as a mold," she said pointing to the burned carving in the rock. She made it resemble a crude sword. "You may only have a few things you can do with the power you were born with, but I will hone your abilities like that dagger."

Acacia understood. Turning back to the stone and placing hands over the mold, she closed her eyes. Reaching out into the solid, she could feel a slight vibration. This would happen anytime she consciously wanted to affect a solid. She could vaguely feel around the edges with her mind as if it were a part of herself. Finding the sides of the would-be sword, she slowly unbonded the particles holding it together. The mold started to slide across itself, and Acacia opened her eyes. The "sword" hung out of the rock, slowly dripping towards her. She'd been too delicate, turning the whole piece into a liquid, and it was a failure.

"Don't worry. You're allowed to fail. It's going to be delicate work, at first. But once you get the hang of it, I think you'll find that it's much less tedious than it is now."

Gelland kept setting in the carvings and Acacia kept ruining them. After around half an hour, they decided to try making a staff out of a large, fallen branch. Acacia set her hands on the wood, making note of the rough grain. Concentrating, she reached out into the wood, unbonding particles from each other. She twisted sideways, making sure not to breath the concentrated gas that drifted upwards. The inside of the branch disintegrated, letting her make a piece that her whole hand could grip around. From there, she did the same thing for about two feet on either side of the initial grip, leaving a hollow branch. Pulling out the long, wet wooden shaft, she smiled. It had taken nearly ten minutes, doing it one piece at a time, and she was soaked with sweat.

It wasn't perfect. It was crooked and uneven. However, it would work for what Gelland had asked her to do. They moved to a nearby creek, and Acacia washed her face and sipped the icy water. It would flow directly from the snow that made its way down the mountain, passing on the outside of the city. The coolness of this area on the eastern side of the city contrasted with the western area, which was more arid from the desert air.

After a break, Gelland commanded, "Raise your staff." Gelland made signs, and two rods of her own dropped into the hand. She screwed them together and she raised the staff to meet Acacia's. She was not prepared for this. "Come at me!" Gelland bellowed.

Gelland crouched, foot out behind her, staff out in front of her. The length was a good two feet longer than her own. I bet if I swing mine as hard as I can, I'll break her guard. She can't swing from that position! Acacia brought her staff over her shoulder, stepping to the side and nearly tripping over her own feet as she flung it towards her opponent. Gelland stood still. I can't stop it, I'm gonna hurt her! The butt of Acacia's staff jerked out of her hands. Gelland had barely moved in order to meet Acacia's handle. Then Gelland's second swift strike took her out at the knees.

"You told me exactly what you were going to do."

"How?" Acacia said, face reddening to the brightest it had been today.

"You can't swing a weapon around you like a swatter. You're not trying to crush something, you just need to land hits," she said, offering her hand to help Acacia up.

"So I gave you a big opening?"

"Exactly. And you angled to one side with the weapon, showing me how you would hit me. If I had wanted to, I could've moved a couple moments earlier and gotten you in the gut. A fight may be won in less than a couple seconds. Now mimic my stances."