"It is rare for someone to get the highest clearance. Let us celebrate this! Is there anything you want?", the younger woman asked looking at the stunned woman in front of her.
Is there anything I want?
"Weren't you interested in these statues just now?", the receptionist asked. He clearly had an idea for something.
"Hm? Oh the statues... They're really interesting and well done.", Feyra answered, and the old man nodded feeling like he had just found someone who could share his thoughts.
"Why don't we take some pictures of the statues around the building and give them to you? I know it's not a lot. We can't gift you one and on your travels pictures may be better.", the receptionist said finally bursting out with his idea.
He went to retrieve a little device that looked a little weird to Feyra. It wasn't like a block but it had something like a lens and some weird shapes on it.
"What is that?", she asked looking at it out of curiosity.
"Oh this? This is a camera. I see you're interested in it. This new invention has come from the Empire. Let me show you how this works and what you need. It's rare to see people that interested in such new inventions.", the receptionist said walking over to a table and showing everything he had on him for the camera.
There was a roll with the word 'film roll' on it as well as other items such as a stand.
"What you need for this camera to work is this film roll. Let me show you.", he opened the camera and took out the film roll that was inside the camera. "This is where the pictures are saved. However, as you can see they aren't pictures yet. You still need to develop them before you have the final result."
Feyra also took the camera in her hand and looked at it from every angle. She knew where the film roll was and also wondered about the round thing in the front. "What is that?"
"Oh that... You need to take this off and then you can start taking pictures. Let me see... Done.", he gave the camera back to Feyra. "Now this button is used to shoot the picture while these small wheels are used to sharpen the image. Try to turn them until you see no blurry lines of the things you want to photograph."
Feyra looked at the small wheels and the camera as a whole before wondering where she was supposed to see the picture she wanted to photograph.
"Looking for the picture? There is a small rectangle at the top where you can look through.", the younger woman said and showed it to Feyra.
Now Feyra knew what was needed and she tried to look through the rectangle. The picture she saw was very blurry so she tried adjusting the small wheels which should help sharpening the image. Not long after and the lines became clearer and Feyra took a picture of what was in front of her.
"Great! You are doing well. This is a newer invention so not many have a camera or even know how to use it.", the receptionist said taking it again from Feyra to check everything.
Newer invention? It must be true... I have never heard of a camera before.
Feyra learned a lot about cameras before she had to look at the time. She was surprised seeing they had spoken for hours when she had planned to still visit the knight's accomodations.
"I'm sorry, I have to go. Please send me the pictures once you took them.", she said before storming out of the building and walking as fast as she could. She didn't know if Lydia had that much time or if she even was in the knight's accomodations.
Feyra arrived out of breath at the knight's accomodations. The sun was shining bright. Summer had arrived, with the heat that was present around the afternoon time.
"Miss is there something you need?", a guard in front of the building asked Feyra who was still catching her breath and trying to cool down a bit.
"I got an invitation from Lydia here. She wanted to teach me something.", she showed the piece of paper to the guard.
The guard stepped aside and told Feyra where she needed to go.
Entering the building it got cooler. Everything was made of stone. The first thing that came in sight was a hallway with a banner hanging on a wall. To the left was the staircase and to the right was the washing room.
Feyra went to the left and down the stairs where she found two rooms. One of them was for armour and weapons while the other was labeled as the general's room. She knocked once before she heard a voice calling out. "Just a moment please!"
Feyra waited a while before Lydia opened the door and asked her in. "I'm sorry you had to wait. I just came out of the bathroom so I still needed to get dressed."
Feyra went inside and took a place on a big sofa placed in front of a table.
"I didn't think you would come so early. I was told you had been in the archive already and got a permit. Yet I had imagined you would rest some days.", Lydia said, taking a seat across from Feyra on a chair.
She had dark blue hair and deep grey eyes. In her casual linen clothes the hair felt even deeper in colour.
"I suppose you're here to learn about the Minimisation Power. Well do you have anything with you that's too bulky to carry around?", she asked.
Feyra was silent for a moment. In the city she had always only carried her small bag with her and left anything bulky at the inn. "I left it at the inn... I forgot."
"No need to worry. We can train on a few other things too. Let me get something.", Lydia said leaving the room. A few minutes later she came back with a box full of candle holders and other things that can't be stored very well.
"In this box there is a lot of difficult to pack stuff. Candle holders are one of them. I've moved quite a few times before I finally put these things all in a box big enough to hold them.", she took out one of the candle holders and placed it on the table. "Let me demonstrate it first before I explain it."
Lydia concentrated on the candle holder until it shrunk in size and fit into her palm. Now it looked more like a toy for a doll house rather than an actual candle holder.
"Wow. How is that possible?", Feyra asked. She was stunned seeing something like this exist.
"It's easy. Every child learns it even if they don't have the highest potential for learning or getting powers. All you need to do is focus on the object and letting it shrink in your mind. By focusing on it you channel a tiny fraction of your power into it that makes it possible.", Lydia said. She let the candle holder become normal sized again before shoving it to Feyra who was a little confused but tried it anyway.
Okay... Focus on the candle holder.
"I should mention that it often takes a bit of training until you have fully learned it.", Lydia said before she let Feyra concentrate again.
The candle holder should shrink... The candle holder should shrink.
While Feyra was thinking about the candle holder shrinking, the candle holder in her hand actually shrunk a little too before returning to its normal size.
Phew... That's harder than expected. I suppose it's because I still need to learn how small it's going to be.
Feyra tried again. This time the candle holder shrunk a little more but soon returned to normal size again.
Lydia was giving Feyra as much advise as she could.
Lydia said to only focus on the candle holder. Even better would be if there was a picture in my mind how the candle holder would shrink.
Feyra closed her eyes and saw a picture of the candle holder in front of her shrinking. The one in her hand actually shrunk more than before and stayed like this even longer until it returned.
After a few hours Feyra had understood how it worked and was trying to shrink the candle holder. She tried holding the size of it for a while but it often went right back to its original size.
"You're doing great. It's gonna be late soon. How about we continue another time? Or you can try with your own stuff at the inn. I have a lot of work to do from tomorrow on.", Lydia said looking at the clock. It was already evening and dinner would be soon served in many homes.
Feyra still wanted to try again and this time she shrunk the candle holder to a toy-like one. It was so small it could belong in a doll house.
"I did it! Now it just needs to stay like this.", Feyra said and Lydia clapped her hands together. She smiled and nodded, approving of Feyra's attempt.
"How about you eat with us this evening? The food isn't that bad.", Lydia offered, and Feyra nodded. They left the candle holder behind. If it stayed then Feyra had mastered the Minimisation Power but if it turned back she would still need to learn more.
The knights had all gathered and dug in their food. A lot of them spoke about the day and their duty. Some even talked about duty plans and who could switch with who.
Some others talked about their upcoming vacation while others spoke about training.
"There are a lot of different topics we speak about. Though I'm not often eating here when I have a lot of work to do.", Lydia said while walking to the cook who gave them a plate of food.
"Nice to see you're here for once, General.", the cook said. His voice was raspy and he had scars across his face. One went from the corner of his mouth across his cheek and another went over his eye.
Feyra noticed that while the scar went over his eye he wasn't blind. His eyes were deeper in his face and the injury that left this scar had missed the eye.
He was truly lucky. His anatomy saved him.
She also took a plate of food that he gave her and thanked him before following Lydia who sat down with the other generals.
"Our general Lydia finally has the time to eat with us! And don't tell me it's just because you have a guest.", a man with beard said who looked to be in his fourties.
Lydia laughed before she could finally answer, "No need to worry. I had planned eating with you anyway today."
"We see you so rarely! You could at least put your work aside when it's time to eat. Could you imagine someone learning of our great Captain General not even eating with us?", another one said who had some bread in his hand. He looked to be younger but seemed to know Lydia well.
"Now now... You don't have to paint such a picture of me.", she tried defending herself but the others just looked at her before laughing all together.
"Captain General? You didn't even mention you were in charge of everyone here.", Feyra said while eating her food.
"Ah that... When I am out I usually introduce myself as General Lydia. It's true I have a higher rank but this often just means more workload.", she said in her defense.
They finished eating and talked a bit about various topics, sharing laughter and words of advice.
Feyra and Lydia returned back to the room to look after the candle holder.
"It's still small. You have done it.", Lydia said.
"And how do I return it to normal again?", Feyra asked taking the candle holder in her hand.
"You just reverse it. Basically you imagine the picture in your head of the candle holder getting bigger. See? You already did so.", Lydia said. Feyra had tried it while she had been explaining and the candle holder had reacted to it.
Now even Feyra was able to use the Minimisation Power.