22 Searing 123
Shuai knew when a good idea was a good idea and he was not shy to admit it. It was the same with giving credit for the idea as well. Shuai was not shy to give credit for that good idea either. Making elemental lodestones so that the refugees from Zaichaer could have some cheap and easy way to get themselves warm, a 'welcome to Kalzasi' as it were? That was a pretty good idea from Novalys Jae-Seong too. That said while Shuai was not shy to admit that the idea was good nor was he shy to give credit for that good idea to Novalys Jae-Seong, the thought of actually bringing up that good idea as something the Chisuo could emulate was not something which crossed his mind and as the days went by, he had already forgotten about it. It was not like he had to bring it up anyway. It was something that other people had been talking about too- whether it was because like Shuai they had thought it was a good idea or because it was something done by a Novalys which made it an ideal to strive towards for the nobles of Kalzasi for the refugees of their neighboring city; Shuai only needed to confirm that it was indeed something which had happened as it was something he had seen at the philanthropic efforts of House Ahtivin earlier in the season, what he thought about it and the effects of.
Essentially Shuai had the idea that beggars can't be choosers and for all their disdain for all things arcane as was the common stereotype towards those from Zaichaer they still took the lodestones, gladly, and that fact in itself seemed like a good way to make some progress towards some of the issues brought by the refugees. "What do you mean it's a good step in the right direction?" Shuai asked as the idea was still unclear to him, "making them more used to magic?" It was true that there had already been some altercations between the refugees and some of the locals who displayed their arcane abilities in what the former believed was now their part of the city though fortunately nothing too serious had come of it yet but, it was only a matter of time before things got too far- that point Shuai had to agree with at least. Not the point "what do you mean I have to follow the Novalys' lead?" since Shuai did not want to be the one responsible for aggravating the situation although... it might mean he now had the chance to have the perfect chance to make some headway with his own progress in elementalism under the guise of doing some charitable acts just as it had been suggested to him all those days ago.
And to cut the long story short, at the conclusion of that exchange between Shuai and his uncle, he was going to be a part of the group of elementalists under the house, scant as they were, to churn out as much lodestones as they could which the Chisuo could distribute to the refugees of Zaichaer. The idea was simple- start the refugees on something small to get themselves used to magic in Kalzasi so that they will not cause the locals too much grief because of it. Granted just as Shuai had intimated all those days ago, it would be a lot more easier to just throw money at the problem the refugees were facing but practical? That point had now become debatable because there was now identifiable benefits and drawbacks to both simply buying some of the necessities the refugees could use and giving them a minor arcane tool the locals of Kalzasi had been taking for granted since the inception of the city. "Yeah, I don't think I can find any reason why this is a bad idea" and that was not Shuai being sarcastic, more like Shuai not wanting to lose his chance to lose out on his chance for some much needed practice under his House's own initiative instead of his own.
Just like it had been for days, Shuai was hard at work with the rest of the elementalists of the House in their task to manufacture as much lodestones as they could. Fortunately the task being so simple meant that once the elementalists, Shuai included, got into it there never was any risk to failure unless they were stupid enough about it- like rookie mistakes of overexerting themselves or working themselves without a break but that was the benefit of working in a group, it allowed each of them to keep the other in check. That said the boredom of the monotonous task was one of those things which could risk someone like Shuai making a mistake. Everyday it was the same. Focus on the aether within him. Contain it into a much more manageable amount of this one mechanical task. Draw out just about enough of that aether into a much more workable amount. Channel the aether from that point through his arm to his hand. Hands. There was no one else about for him to show off to so there was no reason to shortcut it or do it with some flair- it may be a mental crutch to do with both hands what he could simply do with just one hand in making a lodestone but using both his hands meant Shuai could better focus on his task and maybe pretty up the end product.
Continuing on, with both hands Shuai collected his aether and sculpted them together until it all formed itself into a nice, pretty little crystal but that was not all- then came the important part. Still working on the aether he tasked them to do the one thing, give out warmth. The moment the crystal lighted up was when Shuai had his task complete- for that one lodestone. Then it was on to the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one... One some other days Shuai tried to vary his task. Focus. Contain. Draw out. Channel. Hands. Collect. Sculpt. Task. Complete. On that second to last step he change the task of his aether- pushing it into another direction instead of giving out warmth, the lodestone would give out light. On a different day, on that second to last step, he would mix up his aether in a completely different way and task it to instead provide water until the lodestone was spent. There were no other necessities Shuai noticed on his outreach to the refugees with the Ahtivin but it impressed the other elementalists he was working with to follow suit although that had not been his goal- as his goal had been to practice he reasoned he should always try something different but evidently there was a small bonus to his attempt.
However even so he would still reach his limits. Not his limits in elementalism as there were still the other elementalists to watch out for him or the patience of the elements as this had been a process drawn out over days, maybe weeks as being so boring maybe he lost count of the time? The limits were his own, in his attentiveness and enthusiasm that he just... decided to something else. Did he need authorization for that? "Pfft, why would I need something like that?" He was after all Shuai Chisuo, bearing the family name. That and having been a part of the house since birth he knew some tricks he could exploit here and there, like bringing up "its for the benefit of the people." How? Shuai did not think he could have to justify it but again, another trick, any old excuse could work if it sounded convincing like "don't you think there are some refugees who can't just take the lodestones in front of their peers? We we can give them innocent looking paper instead, with another benefit that its easier to get rid of the evidence too. You know. Rock? Paper?" Scissors? Yeah the paper could be cut too but Shuai did not mean for it like that. Still he was not one to ruin another's 'good' joke like that.
But yes, just another thing for him to draw out his own patience just so he would not quit this job he was given so soon. And he gets to practice with the family's nice quality tools. Scrivening. One more step in the whole process but more of a replacement so no more effort, no less. A horizontal movement as it were if he had to describe it. Pictograph. Focus. Contain. Draw out. Channel. Hands. Collect. Task. Complete. So the pictograph was the difference, but also the elements he would be working with so he would not be exhausting the patience of the earth elements of Chisuo; now he gets to work with the fire and water elements too. Hah! That said now he could dedicate like say, a day, to churning out pictographs before having the next on tasking the elements into it- with the nice chance to call it quits for the day when he ran out of pictographs instead of saying it was the limits of his aether for the day, which could be no different from the day before that,. or the day before that, or the day before... well that was the observable difference anyway.
"You know... you slice it through your finger here. The talisman activates. It does its job. The pictographs disappear. No one's the wiser" he explained. That actually was a good idea that "I have to gather the scriveners of the House now and instruct them on this?" No that was too much work! "Please, the idea is simple enough. You don't need me to do anything else. Just tell them what I did, assign them to some of the elementalists and they'll know what to do... You know what? Bring a few of the more senior ones here too. I think I need someone to check over my work too." And with that the days continued. Pictographs. Elements. Pictographs. Elements. Pictographs. Elements.
Pictographs.
Elements; Focus. Contain. Draw out. Channel. Hands. Collect. Task. Complete.
Pictograph.
Elements; Focus. Contain. Draw out. Channel. Hands. Collect. Task. Complete.
Pictograph.
Elements; Focus. Contain. Draw out. Channel. Hands. Collect. Task. Complete.
Pictograph...
Right, the entire task was becoming too braindead that even with some variance, it was still getting too exhausting for Shuai. Was there any other thing he could do to not drive himself mad with boredom. Actually... "You know, why don't I go around and teach those refugees how to use this? No? I mean sure anyone could. But. Some may need the technical details. We do want to get them used to the idea of using magical. Tools. So they don't get scammed of course. And yeah they need to know why its limited. I mean sure. I guess... Yeah. No I'll go with the next delivery. Who's the contact? no, I better bring him along too. Fine..." Well at least that was something else Shuai could do for the next few days.