Slow Learning

Author's Note:

Something that recently occurred to me is that readers might not have the same pronunciation for things that I do - this is really only important for one thing, which is that when Aaron is referred to as 'Blessed,' I'm not pronouncing it in my head as 'blesst,' but as 'Bless-ed.'

Also, this is going out without review - writing has been really hard lately, due to stress from work, but I'm keeping at it. I... don't really like this chapter, it was tough to write and I don't feel like I did a good job. But I'd rather have something out for you all to read that I can come back to later than keep putting it off.

The next morning, before dawn had even broken, saw a flurry of activity for me. And that's not even counting the blowjob and tits-in-the-face I had woken up to from Rhaliyah and Di'ia, who had both insisted on sharing a bed with me.

After

that

had been taken care of - with orgasms for all three of us - Di'ia rushed me over to the magical shrine room that the Kitsune had tested my crafts and flow and everything in, which she informed me was called the 'Altar of Magic.' Gladra met us there, and I was quickly brought up to speed about the plan she and Di'ia had come up with after Rhaliyah and I had gone back to dinner: every morning, I would siphon off a sizable portion of my mana into a bunch of aether crystals, which would then be used to repower the disciples as they practiced their magicraft. The only real worry about it was if I'd be able to actually control my flow.

I didn't so much 'control' it as 'splash' some randomly out of the mental pool of mana I had and into the crystals. There was no finesse to it, and I could smell some of it just evaporate into the air around me, but it didn't seem to matter too much - inside my mind, my mana pool never seemed to drop, and I managed to fill all the crystals over the course of nearly a quarter of an hour, though I was sweating from the mental exertion afterwards.

After

far

too much 'oohing' and 'aahing' from the two Priestesses (though they didn't

actually

'ooh' or 'aah'), Di'ia took me off to break our fast, where we met up with Rhaliyah, Kyuku, and Stheskiths. I caught the Naga glancing repeatedly between Kyuku and I, and her face blued with her blush when she saw me watching. She quickly looked down at her meal, and Kyuku shook slightly with silent laughter.

I turned my own attention to my breakfast, trying to ignore the occasional

look

from various women around the dining hall, but the odd sensation of an

almost

look from just across the table made me more sure that I hadn't been imagining things last night - Stheskiths

was

giving me her version of a

look

, which was to use her peripheral vision whilst looking around me.

I started to seriously consider asking if she wanted to 'spend some time' together later - she was quite pretty, and seemed nice, if extremely shy. And what Kyuku had said the night before stuck in my mind - that we'd be good for each other, not necessarily in a relationship-way, but in that our personalities would benefit each other. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, it was time to leave before I could make up my mind (and I'm sure, had I made up my mind to, it would've taken even more time to gather my confidence to dare ask). That, my third day in Xeria, was the first day of my new schedule - history and magical theory and theology classes in the mornings, then a proper lunch (no matter how tasty Rhaliyah's pussy was, it didn't

quite

fill the voids in my stomach), and then practical magic and combat training in the afternoons.

The morning lessons were a

lot

, and served as a good exposition for me, an outsider to Xeria. The whole of it was far too much to recount in brief, though most of it was just expansion on what Gladra had explained to me the day before, about the makeup of the various nations on Mheres, some of the politics, overviews of the religion of the Nine and Trine, and so on. There were a few important things worth noting. One was that in most cases, actual 'units' of mana weren't counted - it was something usually only bothered with by officials or scholars, of which Di'ia was neither, she was just an educated magic nerd. Another was that while most nations were considered to be nations of a specific race or group of races, basically every nation was home to most of the various races of Mheres to varying degrees.

Lunch was a weird meal because, much like at school, lunchtimes were staggered for everyone. Since Di'ia and Kyuku were mid-ranking priestesses with responsibilities around the Monastery, Stheskiths was in a different rotation than me, and Rhaliyah had been recruited to help teach more advanced spearwork to the Warmaids (and they often had working lunches to discuss techniques and tactics), I ended up eating lunch alone.

Well, not

alone

alone. It was me and several dozen disciples. Many of whom would

look

at me, but oddly, nobody approached me while I ate alone at my usual table. I wondered why while I ate lunch; I doubted they were afraid of me, but perhaps - unlike Di'ia or Rhaliayh (or even Kyuku and Stheskiths) who had spent quite a bit of time around me and knew me as a human and not as the Blessed of Au'rea - the disciples I ate lunch with were simply in awe of me. Misplaced, of course, but still. Or perhaps they understood how awkward I felt, and didn't want to bother me?

Regardless of which it was, the fact of the matter was that, for at least the first few days, I ate lunch alone, my mind churning through new information learned over the morning hours while I mentally prepared - and dreaded - the afternoons. Because it was the hours after lunch that saw me sweating and shaking, fatigued first from Di'ia putting through my paces magically, then Rhaliyah kicking my ass - often quite literally, with her foot connecting with my butt - in weapon practice. Neither progressed especially quickly, though it felt to me as though I got the hang of combat more readily than magic, likely because I had some experience in martial arts and the simple fact that it was something my mind could grasp without needing to learn a whole new way of thinking about things. 'Hit this with your sword' was pretty straightforward when it came down to it, even if the body mechanics and stances and everything were anything but simple. 'Bathe in a pool of your mana in your mind,' despite being something I'd done the day before, was novel.

After my mental and physical workouts, Rhaliyah and I had made a habit of going to the hot spring, where we would usually meet up with Kyuku and Stheskiths. Most days, that involved at least one person having an orgasm, if not two or three of us (possibly all four, but I avoided

watching

Stheskiths, so I was never sure), usually from getting head or being masturbated by a partner. It was a... freeing feeling. I wouldn't say that I - nor any of the other three - were much of exhibitionists, but the casual intimacy and sex that occured at the hot spring wasn't about showing off or titillating each other. It was simply an intimate time and space, safe, comfortable, and caring.

Then it was dinner, followed by another round of sex. Usually, it was with Kyuku, who informed me after that second round with her that she normally slept with Stheskiths, so she wouldn't be able to join Rhaliyah, Di'ia and I later in the evening when the three of us 'went to bed.'

"At least," she'd teased that second night post-coitus, her voice only half-joking, "not until you get Stheskiths out of her molt and comfortable around the three of you."

I'd snorted softly in response. "I feel like that'll happen eventually if we keep up those sessions at the hot spring."

She'd laughed, and then the two of us had returned to the dining hall to reconvene with our friends. I'd found my gaze lingering on Stheskiths a lot that evening, my mind continuing to turn over and over whether or not I should proposition the shy Naga.

After dinner, Rhaliyah, Di'ia and I would retire to my (now

our

) quarters, and we'd fuck like rabbits for a little bit before cuddling up and going to sleep. It was quite a change for me: I got more sex in one day on Xeria than I had my entire life prior to that freak blizzard that brought me here.

The first week was fairly unremarkable, except that my skill at channeling my overabundance of mana into the aether crystals improved rapidly. It was only the fourth day since we'd started that when I figured out how to divert the literal overflow of mana that cascaded from my 'mental pool' into the crystals, which saved a ton of time and energy. In fact, it allowed us to fill up almost twice as many crystals in the same amount of time.

Throughout that first week, I never did make up my mind on whether to approach Stheskiths or not. She did end up opening up with Rhaliyah, Di'ia and I a bit more, taking part in our conversations and engaging with us a little more, but she remained quite shy, and still kept well to the side of the hot spring during our 'sessions' there.

Midway through the second week of my new schedule, ten days after I'd first arrived on Xeria, the weather turned quite warm, and the snow started to melt rapidly. Where there were nearly waist-high drifts in the morning, only a foot or so remained when the sky began to darken. I was hardly a stranger to rapid shifts in the weather - after all, living in the United States Midwest region meant that we'd sometimes have honest-to-gods

blizzards

in

May

- but the lack of flooding did surprise me.

"There's a lake in the forest not far from the monastery, The Golden Lake," Rhaliayh explained to me during a brief break in our weapons training that afternoon. "The land all slopes slightly down towards it, so all the snow and ice that melts ends up in there, for the most part." She thought for a second, spinning her spear absent-mindedly as her head tilted. "It wouldn't surprise me if the monastery grounds also had some kind of enchantment to prevent excess groundwater from soaking in - I know they plant some small crops here during the warmer months, and likely have enchantments in place to prevent disease and parasites from afflicting their crops."

I thought about what she'd said. "Is the Lake... it's named after Au'rea, right?"

Rhaliyah nodded. "As is the forest - the Golden Forest. You'd have to ask Di'ia or Priestess Gladra for the full story, but if I remember correctly, the legends say that Au'rea once resided near here." She gave me a long look. "If true, it might explain why you appeared here, rather than anywhere else on Xeria."

I shrugged. "Maybe our worlds are... paralleled? Like, one location on Earth maps onto one location here on Xeria. If

that

was the case, it was because I was where I was on Earth that led me to appear here."

The Elfess tilted her head, nodding slightly and making a face of acquiescence. "That could be," she conceded, then twirled her spear and took up a combat stance. "Now, back to work," she said, grinning at my groan of protest.

With the turning of the weather, came a change in the 'dress code' at the monastery, especially after several days with no further snowfall and no major dips in temperature. Suddenly, all the women were running around in what were effectively tabards - single pieces of long cloth, wide enough to cover the tops of their shoulders, but were open at the sides, fell down to only mid-thigh, and were held 'together' at the waist by a thin cord. Especially on the more well-endowed disciples, little was left to the imagination, even less so than the simple robes from the week before. Di'ia informed Rhaliyah and I that the summer 'robes' had a slightly more complex, but less aether-intense (at least during the summer) enchantment embedded in them, which ensured a comfortable temperature - the winter robes' enchantment was less complex and more aether-intense, as it was a simple warming spell which was active all the time, but had no nuance or variance, and thus was far too warm once the temperature was above freezing.

After spending most of my free time begging Di'ia over the course of a day, the Kitsune acquiesced to help me make some clothes more 'appropriate' for me, but on the condition that

I

did the majority of the work, both manual and magical. Until then, I either wore a winter robe, a summer 'robe,' or nothing at all (I chose the winter robe, sweating be damned). Much to my chagrin, Di'ia ran the plan by Gladra, who further stipulated that whatever I came up with had to maintain the "essence of what it was to be a Disciple of Au'rea."

Translation: I couldn't make myself a T-shirt and pants and call it a day.

And thus was an hour of every evening spent learning how to make cloth patterns and sew, as the priestess and I drew up several designs for myself, presented the lot to Gladra to be approved, and then began to actually make them. It took almost a full month, and I eventually began stripping down during my private, sweat-intense lessons with Di'ia and Rhaliyah (much to their enjoyment and my chagrin), as the winter robe was simply too warm to be worn for such activities, and was nearly intolerable the rest of the day. Still, I wasn't going to leave my junk out for every disciple to see - I was becoming much more open about my sexuality, but I was *not* an exhibitionist, thank you very much.

The design that was eventually okayed and we worked on was basically a kilt, or more accurately, a shendyt, like what some men wore in Ancient Egypt; it was basically a wrap-around kilt that curved up in the front where the ends met and overlapped, with a 'loincloth' hanging down in front for more coverage; the design made it so that the motion of my legs while walking or running didn't completely upset the whole garment. Compared to the disciples, it covered a

lot

more of my legs than the women's tabards (as my shendyt fell a little past my knees, compared to the mid-thigh length of the tabards and complete open sides), but that was basically a trade-off for the fact that I would be wearing nothing on top, to adhere to Gladra's condition - effectively, the clothing of adherents of Au'rea had to be easy to remove or move aside for sex, and should only provide a modicum of modesty, since the body was nothing to be ashamed of.

The first few days that I wore it I felt embarrassed. Sure, it was better than the tabard, but not by

much

. But then, a few things happened. First, I became more comfortable in it, if only because it was all I wore all the time. I also noticed a sharp uptick in the number of times per day that I got

looked

at - this, in hand with point one, made me feel a bit better about myself. One of my initial concerns about wearing it (or perhaps

excuses

to not wear it) was that I didn't feel like I was particularly attractive. I was no flabby fat guy by any means, but I wasn't a muscle-bound athlete. My belly was pretty flat, and I was overall lean, and I

did

have decent musculature from the lifting-intense job I'd had at the stables on Earth, but I was no magazine coverboy, and I did have a small pouch around my waistline, probably from all the junk food I ate.

Clearly, from the

looks

I got in increasing frequency, that didn't matter - I was still attractive enough. But the third reason my perspective changed was that, during a conversation with Rhaliyah when I bemoaned the shendyt while admitting it was 'better' than the tabard, the Elfess had frowned and asked, in what way, it was 'better,' or how the tabard was 'bad.' After all, I found the tabard appealing when she, or Di'ia, or any of the other disciples wore them, right?

And she was right, and I realized what the issue was - I'd been seeing the tabard as a piece of clothing meant to objectify the disciples. And while yes, the Disciples of Au'rea were sexually forward and had no issues flaunting their bodies (or even, to some extent, objectifying their bodies purposefully), the main point

wasn't

objectification. There were a few things: a basic modicum of modesty, since the tabards mostly covered the important bits; comfort, which, hand-in-hand with the temperature-regulating enchantments, kept the disciples free of the weight of excess clothing and the accompanying constrictions without the vulnerability of true nudity; sexual liberty, which was obvious given how much the tabards

were

revealing; and humility, due to their simple, basic design. Even Priestess Gladra wore a tabard, though like her winter robe, it was translucent bordering on transparent, as a symbol of her senior office at the monastery.

Once I'd recontextualized the way I thought about the simple garment, I sat down with my own thoughts and actually

thought

about it. Why

did

I object so much to wearing it? Sure, partially it was because I wasn't used to having

my

body so revealed - for the most part, the tabards covered everything on most disciples, as the cloth was wide enough that even a side-view didn't quite show all; but with a penis hanging out, I would be much more easily exposed. There was also a bit of gender-based distaste - the tabards were designed for women, and while one could be fitted to suit me, there was a basic principle in the design that seemed to clash inherently (at least, in my mind) with a guy wearing it. Though that might just have been me being a coward about wearing what was, ostensibly, 'women's clothes.' But even that was a little silly, because similar designs were perfectly fine to me when it was a faction or guild's heraldic tabard in

World of Warcraft

, for example. And like Rhaliyah had pointed out, I certainly didn't object to the tabards on principle - I definitely liked seeing Rhaliyah and Di'ia and all the other disciples wearing them all day long. My issue was with wearing one myself.

It certainly was a strange issue to think over.

About two weeks after I started wearing the shendyt - roughly two months total after my arrival on Xeria - there was a stir among the senior priestesses. The message Gladra had sent out my second day had gotten a response. Di'ia dragged Rhaliyah and myself to Gladra's office that morning, where we found the head Priestess, along with Othri and Vlere, who I had seen occasionally around the Monastery, though I hadn't talked much with either the Orc nor the Dwarf.

Also present was a golden-brown furred girl, petite and smaller than any of the others in the room. Long floppy ears, endless legs, and a small tail put me in mind of a rabbit. Her tail was up, exposing the white underside as she stood facing Gladra - when she turned, I saw that the golden-brown fur only covered her back and sides, while most of her front was covered in white fur. Upon seeing me, she blinked rapidly, her ears twitching and brushing against her shoulders as she shrank to the side.

"Ah, Aaron," Gladra said, drawing my attention away from the bunny-girl. "Chio here has just returned from Nadrestia, the Shining City that holds the seat of power among the Disciples of Au'rea, and from where Her Radiance Kheseila leads us all."

Ah, so, the Vatican

, I thought to myself.

Just... hopefully

without

all the problematic parts.

"As you may recall," the Priestess continued, "I dispatched Chio with a message two months ago, informing Her Radiance of the developments here concerning your appearance and Au'rea's mission for you." Gladra nodded towards the rabbit-girl, indicating her to be Chio. In response, Chio's long ears twitched again, and her left leg shook, an unconscious tremor, it seemed. "Her Radiance has penned a response."