Chapter 9

  Years passed. I learned the history of this world, finances, governance, and other classes I would never have thought to have classes for. Most were just boring, some were common sense, others were esoteric. One or two were just niche classes my mother put me in to get a full schedule. You see, in order to take the Threads class, you needed to be a student for at least 3 classes every year until you hit thirteen. Once you were able to take it, though, you did not have any other requirements for other classes.

  I had continued to work out my body, as best as I could without modern gym equipment. I was toned, strong, and needed to eat a lot to keep up with my newfound muscles. Never having much in the way of muscles in my previous life, I didn't realize how much energy they required. Granted, I wasn't quite human, but I figured we were close enough to human, that energy requirements would be similar. I did get a little hand to hand training from one of our caravan guards. Not an expert, by any means, but able to take care of myself if needed.

  I also continued to meditate and learned how to accurately measure, spin, and cut Threads to the smallest precision. I wasn't trying for power, yet, just the most control I can get, to the micrometer, if I could. Eight years of practice, and I was pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. Thankfully, no issues came from the Threads Teacher knowing about my ability to see Threads, but even now, I was still on the lookout for problems. Since that day, he had pretty much left me alone. Occasionally he would look at me with a curious look, but he never tried anything else.

  My thirteenth birthday came and went. They really didn't celebrate birthdays here, your number of years around the sun was just a number to these people. I did miss having small parties with friends and family, but it really was easier not having to worry about it. What it did mean, however, was that tomorrow, new classes could be chosen. Threads was now open to me, and soon, I could learn some Patterns to Weave and do actual magic! I was so excited, I almost couldn't sleep that night, but eventually I did get some.

  The next morning, I hopped out of bed, did my exercises, cleaned up, got dressed, and almost ran ahead of my mother towards the school.

  "Jorth! Slow down! It's not like you can start Weaving today! You still have to learn a bunch of things before that. Now get back here!"

  "Yes, mom," I replied. Little did she know how much I was ahead of peers my age. They could only just now start touching the Spool, but I had been since the age of four. I also knew how to see, feel, and control Threads already. I'd be Weaving in no time. However, I did slow down and stayed with my mother until we reached school.

  Once we got there, we immediately went to the Threads teacher to get me enrolled with him. He looked at me thoughtfully for a few, then agreed. "Come back tomorrow. I only have one other student this year, and she's almost ready to go to Weaver Academy."

  "There's an Academy?" I asked.

  "Yes, and if what I suspect about you is true, you'll be there sooner rather than later. Most students take two or three years here to learn the basics, but you probably already know most, don't you?"

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  I didn't reply, just looked at him.

  "Hmm, come back tomorrow and we'll begin and see where you are. Good day."

  "I'm Jorth, by the way, you are?"

  "I know who you are, and you will call me Teacher. That's the only name you need for me. Good day."

  Rude. I thought, but I left as requested.

  The next day, I went into class and sat down at Teacher's area. A young woman a few years older than I was sitting there as well. She was glowing as she manipulated several Threads into a Pattern. I didn't know what the Pattern was, just that when she completed it, it fizzled and poofed out of existence.

  "Hmm, too much Solid, I think. You're getting there. Once you complete this Pattern, you'll be free to go to Academy, so keep working on it, Froja."

  "Thank you, Teacher, I'll keep trying. Looks like we have another student, finally. Hi, I'm Froja, you are?"

  "Jorth. Nice to meet you. I just turned thirteen."

  "Welcome to Threads! I hope you can do it, not everyone can, most who start this class, as a matter of fact."

  "Oh, I don't think that will be a problem," I said. I had learned to go into trance almost immediately, and still be able to move around, an active trance, I believe, is what they called it back on Earth. I entered the trance, touched the Spool, and pulled Gaseous. Just enough to start a breeze. I let it go near her hair and her hair blew around like it was windy.

  "That was awesome! How'd you learn to do that?"

  "Trial and error, mostly error. Ended up in the hospital once because of it."

  "Wow! Glad you're fine, then. Anyway, welcome to class."

  "Thanks, I can't wait"

  "Now, you might know this already, or you might not, but we will start from the beginning. If you've been self-studying, you probably have missed something that is required to Weave the Threads. It's not as simple as just touching the Spool, or pulling a thread out. You have to have intent, willpower, foresight. Together, we call this the Loom. With these, you pull the Threads from the Spool, and Weave them into a Pattern. Once the Pattern is complete, and you tie off the Threads, a Pattern becomes whatever Pattern you created. A fireball, a solid wall, a lightning strike, to name a few. But Patterns are much more than that. They can create almost anything your can imagine. Which is why intent is such an important part of the Loom. Your willpower is like the shuttle on a loom. It takes the Thread you pulled from the Spool, and inserts it into the Pattern you are creating. But your foresight and intent, those are the rest of the loom. The treadles to move the Threads into the proper place, the warp and weft to create the pattern, heddles to hold the Threads in place. Cloth weaving is a bit more complicated than that, and if you ever get a chance, I would suggest studying it, but we only need the basics for Thread Weaving. Now, you obviously can touch the Spool, and ever pull Threads from it. Have you ever tried to Weave a Pattern, though?" Teacher asked me.

  "No, sir, I thought I'd better wait until I had proper guidance. The time I ended up in the hospital, if I hadn't been saved by a wandering Weaver, I might have burnt my ability out. So I figured I'd better be safe."

  "Good. Trying to Weave without guidance is a bad way to die. And die you would. Even if a Weaver had been there, not that one would let you try in the first place, you wouldn't have survived. Do not try until I say you can, we have a lot to go over first."

  The rest of the day was spent learning about Weaves, Threads, the Spool, our individual Loom. Most I knew already. Some I did not. But all of it would become important later.