When the last tub was rinsed and the courtyard was restored to its previous condition, Nick invited over all those who helped him during the three months of the detox retreat. Besides Ben, that included auntie Maria, uncle Rick and the baker Bruno. All of them shared the same courtyard and helped Nick quite a bit during this time. He would've loved to invite Zia as well, but it was not that easy for the young princess to sneak out.
Maria brought stew and Bruno some of his fresh baked bread. Thus in the end there was no need for Nick to cook anything. They all ate and laughed, Ben pulled out a bottle of alcohol and men drank a bit as well.
While enjoying the warm atmosphere Nick remembered he had left four pieces of experiment in the cellar.
"Uncle Bruno, may I use your oven after you finish your work? I am not fully certain, but if it goes as planned, I might treat you to a very tasty dish you have never tried before. And I would like all of you to join as well."
Baker looked Nick, pondered a bit, "Fine, but I want to be present so you don't burn my place down. And no alchemy tricks!"
"Got it, thank you." Nick was overjoyed.
After guests left, Nick cleaned up and went down to the basement. Ben, full of curiosity, followed. He watched how Nick dismantled the rune formation and took down the three sacks that were tied to the beam. Placed them all on a piece of cloth, then brought over the bucket where the last sack was soaking already for three months.
"Please god, please! Let at least one of these turn out to be good!" Nick was praying out loud before finally making a small cut on the first sack.
A weird aroma assaulted Ben's nose. It was not unpleasant, but not exactly great.
Nick tasted the first one and his eyes lit up, 'It might just work!'
Then one after another he checked the rest and they all seemed to be 'passable', even the mozzarella type in the bucket.
"I'll invite Zia and then we can try this out. I really hope you'll like it." Nick smiled at Ben, but latter only shrugged and went upstairs. This kid was sometimes too weird, he paid eleven silvers to make such strange product. And even then he had to cook it in Bruno's oven afterwards. All of this seemed too much of a hassle considering it started with four buckets of expensive sour milk.
Ben woke Nick up before the sunrise, just like during the first days he began to stay here, and they both left for the Royal woods. Nick already saw how the spring changed Aurora's streets, but the woods in the spring were almost unrecognizable, especially in the morning when the birds celebrated the sunrise with their singing.
After going through the usual procedures, both got to the kitchen where Zia was already waiting.
"Nicky!" She shouted full of smiles.
It seemed someone already informed the princess that Nick was out of his 'retreat'. Laughing loudly they bumped their fists.
"How is your skin so white! And you have hair!" Zia was looking at his blond hair with surprise.
"Hahaha! Did you think I will remain bold for the rest of my life?" Nick laughed, "Most of the toxins have been expelled, I think, therefore my skin is more natural. It will get more bronze when I catch some sunlight though."
"Why would you do that?" Zia asked. For some reason Nick was always confusing her.
"What do you think? I will train outside. And when I run around in the sun, the skin color changes and becomes more like bronze."
Zia's eyes lit up, "When are we going?"
"Wait, wait. Let's see what's going on first. I am fresh from the ninety-days-in-a-tub. Tell me what have you been doing up until now and then we can decide on the training program."
Nick barely managed to exchange a couple of sentences with Nigel when Zia was already pulling him away. Such a long time has passed and there was a lot she wanted to tell her friend!
This time she didn't bring Nick around the palace. They entered a small garden, full of blooming flowers and sat down. Zia complained how she was still reading every day to be able to take baths and both these exercises seemed to bore her a lot.
"Did anyone teach you any Qi technique? If you are taking special baths, there should be someone to guide you." Nick was confused. His idea from the start was to 'make' some good Qi master in the palace teach Zia a technique or two and help her to clear the Qi pathways.
"No, mom only told me to take those baths. Although they smell nice, it is really boring to sit in the tub. Can't we just run outside? Let's sneak out and go to the Royal woods!"
"Before you really can do that, first you should start practicing Qi. Don't you want to become strong?" Nick knew how to trick her into anything – one only had to use the 'becoming strong' as a bait.
"How can I do that? No one taught me!" Zia complained.
'There is definitely someone watching! They know Zia wants to train and they know I support her. Do they want me to teach her? Theoretically I am eight years old now so why would they think I know what she should do?' Nick was seriously considering the possible repercussions, 'But her mother definitely knows she will hang around me as soon as I'm back. Ah, what the hell, let's try it.'
Zia was patiently waiting for him to 'wake up'.
"It's like this. I can teach you a couple of techniques, but I am not sure if you will be able to use them." Nick explained, "Let's do it step by step. First, I will explain you the Qi concepts and principles. Then I will try to take a look at your Qi pathways, but that will involve me putting my palms on your back. If your Qi pathways look fine, I will teach you the techniques and then we can start the real training."
Zia blushed all read.
"Is putting palms on my back something perverted?" She almost whispered in embarrassment.
Nick looked at her stupefied, then patted her head while laughing, "Hahaha, what 'perverted'? We are children, don't think that way! Look, I will draw you how it looks like."
He took a small branch and started to draw a simplified scheme how the Qi flowed through the pathways and how it could help Zia.
"We should begin with the theory first, then you'll understand." Nick noticed that she still looked confused, "But it will take a long time to explain and I want to tell uncle Ben to not wait for me – let's start after that."
Nick ran back to the kitchen, told Ben to not wait up and then gave a short lecture to the princess. Basically it was almost a copy of the one he heard from elder Sonor. After the lecture Zia had many questions and Nick still had to cover a lot on the subject, so they decided to continue tomorrow.
Zia treated him in 'her' royal kitchen and, before they fist bumped goodbyes, Nick said, "Remember I promised to treat you to a very special meal? I think I can now cook it. Ask your mom if she will allow you to come to my place during the next days."
Queen Hua agreed to Zia's request, but for totally different reasons.
"His theoretical knowledge of the Qi principles is better than many Qi masters have after years of practice." Ling reported, "But since the first day I saw him, he has not used any Qi at all. Even if we assume the impossible that a random child can become a Qi practitioner, it is absolutely abnormal to have such a deep knowledge."
"Since when he became a 'random child'? But what you're saying is still surprising. Go with her the day after tomorrow and pay attention to what surprise he is trying to cook. Also, just in case, grab a few palace guards with you and let them wear civilian clothes so they don't stand out too much." The queen ordered.
The next day Nick told Ben to not wait even before they entered the palace. And after meeting up with Zia the lecture resumed. He drew on the paper how Qi is circulated, answered questions and explained same things multiple times. Zia was not stupid, but she was only nine years old. On the other hand, when elder Sonor introduced him to the Qi system, Nick already had the mind of a twenty year old student.
Nick talked and they sometimes joked, then they had snacks and the cycle continued.
When Nick heard that Zia was allowed to come the next day, he was elated.
"Ok, then tomorrow I won't come to the palace. I have to buy some things in the market for our dinner. You continue your usual training today and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I will try to help you clear your Qi pathways. As I said, if everything goes well, you can start practice for real in a few days."
He was not certain how that was supposed to work, because his Qi pathways were cleaned while he was still in the womb and he was continuously infused with Qi almost every waking moment for months. But the other children most likely had to clean their pathways themselves. Be as it may, he would see how it goes soon enough.
On the next day Nick skipped the trip to the Royal woods and went to the marketplace to buy oil, vegetables and some ham made from high rank beast meat. He also got juice for him and Zia, and, what seemed to be a good beer, for the others. Then he went to the bakery and arranged everything with Bruno, the latter even offered his help in preparing the dough. Since Nick still had plenty of time, he practiced in the courtyard, washed up and started to cut the vegetables to save the time later.
The afternoon came quickly. When Zia and her two bodyguards arrived, they moved to the bakery that was closed earlier for this special occasion. To Nick's surprise few burly man with swords at their sides blocked the door after they entered. Judging by the fact that the two bodyguards ignored them, those people seemed to be from the palace therefore Nick didn't bother with them as well.
Auntie Maria and uncle Rick had already met Zia and Bruno was a very social person, thus there were no awkward moments as they laughed looking how Nick created a strange, round shaped thin 'bread' and then covered it with different vegetables, meat and in the end added strange white and yellow ingredients.
Oven was big enough and Nick wanted to sample everything himself. Therefore under many expectant eyes he first prepared eight different pizzas and only then shoved them in the oven. He made a few with different vegetable combinations, adding ham in varied proportions and made even a 'meat lover's' version thinking of Ben and a 'quattro formaggi' just to try out if it would work.
Zia was barely managing to keep herself together and seated. She never even thought about cooking or how it would be to prepare any food – she had people for that. But what Nick was doing looked exciting.
The grownups looked at the process more like at a whim of a child who wanted to play. But they still happily drank beer and chatted, Bruno even took out some fine wine for Maria. All in all it felt like a warm family gathering.
Needless to say both bodyguards were more akin to still statues, one beside Zia and the other near the entrance.
Soon a pleasant aroma filled the bakery. And not only the bakery, even the street.
Besides a random passerby, in this neighborhood most of the people knew each other, so they started to stretch their necks, trying to see what exactly was going on in Bruno's bakery. It didn't smell like a regular bread and there were unfamiliar people guarding the door.
The psychology of people is strange. When there are few interested in something, more will join. And just like that, more and more people filled the street around the bakery and soon a small crowd was formed.