Farmers & Mercenaries Read Online Free PDF

extracted itself from the surrounding background. It did not change colors, nor did it take on any real shape or form. Rather, Alant saw that the colored dots of Sarlimac’s face connected, interacting in a way he did not quite understand, distinguishing themselves from the dots surrounding his teacher’s face. Soon, patterns emerged and the contents of the room took shape before him in the eerie, multi-colored Sight of the Essence.
    Finally, once Alant was certain he grasped what he saw, he was confident enough to answer. “You hold a book.” Then more details became clear. “And you are not even looking at me!”
    “Impressive.” His instructor chuckled. “You outpace your classmates by at least two turns of the seasons.”
    Alant realized that Sier Sarlimac no longer stood in front of him, although he had not noticed the old man moving away. “You have moved.”
    “Yes, I now stand by the marble lab table.” The voice came from his right. “Can you see me?”
    As Alant twisted his head toward where he assumed his instructor stood, the suddenness of his movement caused the dots that created reality as he now saw it, to shift violently. He could no longer separate the colored dots into the patterns that made up his surroundings. Everything once again became a maddened mingling of indistinguishable points of color. Out of reflex, he whipped out a hand to steady himself on the stool.
    I am like a blind man. A dizzy blind man!
    “Do not lose the Sight, Alant. Here, I will take your arm.”
    A hand grasped Alant’s elbow and helped him rise from his stool. He let the Sier guide him the few steps to the table. As they walked forward, the colored dots spun out of focus and everything blurred in a way that made his stomach queasy. If not for Sier Sarlimac holding his arm, Alant feared he would fall.
    “Easy. Easy now. There you are.”
    They stopped walking and the dots snapped back into sharp focus. One moment they were like a swarm of buzzing bees whizzing around him in an angry mass, the next frozen in midair about him.
    “Now, the marble table sits in front of you. I want you to focus on it if you can. You know what it looks like with your normal sight—now see it as it looks in the Sight of the Essence.”
    Alant let his eyes adjust once more, his mind fighting to make sense of the chaotic image before him. “Aye, Sier, large and flat.” He studied what he saw. “Nothing is on it.”
    “I will add something now. Tell me what you see.” A rustling sound permeated the room.
    “A book.” Alant was quick with his answer.
    “Look closely.”
    “Aye, Sier, not a book, not enough there to be a book—” Alant paused. The pattern appeared the same as a book, yet also somehow different. “Some parchment, then?”
    “Yes, good.” Sarlimac held the tone in his voice that made Alant feel like a happy puppy dog. “Now I will add a second piece to the right, do you see it?”
    “Aye, Sier. At first, it too looks like a book. Then I see there is not enough interaction. It is like seeing water in a large puddle and thinking it is deep—only to realize later that it is shallow.”
    “A perfect analogy.” Sarlimac chuckled. “Now, I will light one piece of parchment on fire.”
    A lantern shutter squeaked. Alant was silent as the colored dots moved about and shifted hues. “The parchment on the right has changed, Sier.” He took another moment to better understand what he saw. “It does not seem any brighter, however, only altered.”
    “Yes, the Essence shows everything at the same luminosity. It is for you to see how the Essence of the parchment is changed by the fire.”
    “It is different, Sier, like the colored dots—”
    “Spectals.” Sarlimac voice had an exasperated edge to his correction, and Alant chastised himself for the slip.
    “Aye, Sier, the Spectals move slower now, and the parchment has more blue in it.”
    “Very well done.” Off to Alant’s left he heard the leather of one of the