“I can only explain what I was told – I am not nearly that old, and am in fact perhaps the youngest Apex. As it was told to me, eleven-thousand years ago, an Apex emerged who was able to... supplant other minds with his own. By this own word, he sought to end conflict by making everybody... him.”

We were outside of the city by now, walking amid the endless green I had seen from the towers. The trees, which had seemed so tiny from there, were large, though much smaller in scale than those of the Black. I could hear life all around us as we made our way, which was certainly a big difference compared to that cursed place.

“For a thousand years, his influence spread across the world, and none could bar his passage, for to face him was to become him. The other Apex’s of the time were scattered and concerned with their own business – jealous of power and squabbling like children. But eventually, as the world was slowly united under one mind, they took notice. In most cases, an Apex is largely equal to any other – though there are exceptions – but to face the Multiplicitous Self was to face armies of billions, many of whom had reached the Pinnacle stage themselves. Though they each tried alone, none were strong enough to overcome the massed armies of the world, backed as they were by an Apex and yoked under a single will.”

Walker’s voice was somber and quiet, and Aella, Reff and myself crowded close, eager to catch every word. From what I had heard, this story was not known to the wider world, and it seemed not even Reff’s brother, Raaf had mentioned it.

“After many battles, and with only a small fraction of people still operating with agency, the others finally agreed to work together. Putting their differences aside, they attacked as one and the battle that ensued shook the world. I have seen maps from that time, and they bare little resemblance to anything we would recognise today. The battle lasted for weeks as the population was whittled down, but eventually that vast army lay decimated. At the centre of the massacre stood the Multiplicitous Self, laughing.”

I shuddered a little, imagining the scene in my mind and desperately hoped that insanity was not a function of being an Agent.

“’What now, morons? You have united against me, but I have divided against you! I exist in blood and marrow, in every remnant of this divided world! If you kill me, I will be reborn within another body, again and again, until the end of time! Will you wipe every last living being from this world, to end me? I think not! Impotent oafs, standing atop this world like tiny kings! I will become creation!’ These are the words I am told he spoke, from his own mouth.”

I had to wonder whether his abilities had been purely as the result of cultivation, or whether he had asked for a way more powerful ability than I had. My choices had seemed right at the time – and had saved my life many times, but it was tough to say whether other abilities would have done the same. I shook my head as I continues to listen, unwilling to live in the past any longer. Which was ironic, given the fact I was in the middle of listening to a story about the past.

“The other Apex’s did not listen, of course. They blasted him to atoms there and then and considered their jobs done. But it was not. A mere decade later, the Multiplicitous Self emerged again. This time, the others listened. Working together, they constructed a place, far from civilisation and slightly out of phase with our plane, to serve as a prison. Though they each died with the effort, they bound Anan within that prison, and bade him confess his crimes to any who visited. It was he who told me these things.”

“... How did you know he was there? If he’s so far from everyone else, and out of phase?” I hesitated to ask, afraid there would be more, but the silence had stretched out as we each digested what we had been told.

“When you become an Apex, a vision is gifted to you – part of the prison’s binding – instructing you on how to find the prison. Every Apex since that time has visited that place, and has seen the consequence of unfettered power. Every living Apex has taken an oath to stand against unfettered power, to prevent the rise of another one such as he. Any being or group found to be abusing their power is given a warning, and then destroyed if they are unable to learn.”

“That’s why you fought that army on the day I met you, rather than leaving it to the army?”

“That is correct, Hunter.”

“And... that’s why... there aren’t more super-power despots?”

“Yes. Seeing how... definitively Apexes dealt with rising tyrants, people began to police on their own. I am told that before the Multiplicitous Self, high-stage cultivators would kill even for a misplaced glance.”

“There are some still like that...” I said, thinking back to the two psychotic siblings I had fought at the Steel Splinter.

“You mean the Unceasing Squall kids? Pah, they only behave that way because they know they’ll be stopped before they manage anything serious! If people actually behaved that way, they’d get flattened.”

I thought back to those fights and realised my teacher was right – both times I almost died they had been stopped immediately. And it was not like they had promised retribution from their families. At the time, it had seemed like I was going to die, but maybe that was just basic bullying here...

“Then what about the Risen Throne?”

“With agreement, how did such an organisation arise, if such individuals are punished so severely?”

“There are only ten Apex’s in the world – we cannot be everywhere. It is inevitable that people and organisations will grow. But do not mistake me – the Risen Throne will lie shattered before it grows enough to threaten the whole world.” My dark’s mentor’s voice turned grim, and I thought back on his own childhood – I imagined that this purpose suited him perfectly, and I felt sorry for anybody inviting his ire.

“Is this guy the reason nobody talks about how to become an Apex?”

“It is part of the reason, though only a small part. The main reason is that it would be pointless – few can become an Apex, and those who can must gain the understanding of it in the act.”

I nodded, pondering. If that nutbag Agent could do it, then so could I. Maybe. There was a chance, right?

“And this crazy Apex was an Agent?”

“He told me so. I had thought it another aspect of his insanity, but with your confirmation it would seem not. He said a god had given him power and a divine mandate. Does this sound familiar?”

“Well, Xiournal wasn’t a god. She said she was as strong as a minor god, but I’m pretty sure she was an ascended? Mentioned being from the plane above this one.”

“It is most strange that an ascended being would interfere on this plane.”

“She said it was some sort of deal with the gods. They’re not allowed to interfere directly, so they give her energy in return for doing it for them. Via us, I guess.”

“In surprise, you serve the gods, Hunter?”

“Well, not really. Not directly. I guess I’m subcontracted? Honestly, it just sounded better than the alternative, though I’m wishing I’d bargained harder now...”

“And you possess no mandate to... conquer the world?”

“Nope, at least not yet. So far, I’ve been asked to stop that pill getting made and to stop this plague, as well as return the egg. If she asks me to conquer the world... well, I’ll probably say no.” And die, I thought, as much as it sucked.

“That is good to hear. I did not think you were the kind of person to make the attempt, but it is good to have it confirmed.”

“Yes, I would have hated turning you into a pile of mush. So much time training mush would have been an insult to your Teacher.”

“Teacher, that is exactly why I don’t want to get killed.”

“Good, you had better not!”

*

***

*

“Hey, Walker?”

“Yes, Hunter.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask about my cultivation. I know I haven’t been at the Core stage for very long, but... there’s almost no Praxis in my centre, and it doesn’t seem to change, regardless of how much I refine.”

It had been a couple of hours since Walker had finished his story, and we had spent most of the time in companionable silence, just taking in the world around us.

Walker came to a stop, prompting the rest of us to pause in our journey, and then reached down to place a hand flat on my stomach.

I once again had the vaguely uneasy feeling for somebody rooting around inside me, but it had happened a couple of times by then, so I just shrugged the feeling away and waited for my mentor to finish.

“Do you recall me saying that your extended energy circulation system would allow you to store more energy in your channels than an average cultivator?”

“I do, it was at the palace, right?”

“Correct. It would seem that this is true, however I did not foresee the fact that doing so makes it substantially more difficult to form your Core. All the Praxis you refine is being circulated through your body. This is good, as it will make you slightly faster and stronger than you would be otherwise, and it will allow for larger bursts of energy, however it will take you much longer to form your Core.”

That was simultaneously worrying and relieving to hear. I seemed like I had a step up over my peers, in theory, and I had to guess that being able to release more energy at once is what had saved me back in the Black. I had lost energy –or had it stolen by the Shadow Faced Guy - from my centre, but apparently had way more than that flowing through my channels. Thinking back on things, whenever I had taken a look, I had mostly only paid attention to my centre, mostly ignoring my channels. Looking now, it still felt like there was hardly anything there, but viewing it in the context of having thousands of more channels than a normal person, it made sense if I hadn’t filled them all.

On the other hand, it would hold me back. I would likely be overtaken by the same peers I had the advantage of at my level, meaning that while I was ahead then, it would likely be countered by speed of advancement.

“I see. Thanks, Walker. That was really worrying me for a while. It’s good to have an explanation.”

“You will need to work harder than others at your stage to advance, and you are already behind. I hope this does not discourage you, Hunter.”

“You’ll also need to train more. When we stop for the evening, you and I will step things up. No more slacking off!”

I winced at Aella’s words – whenever she decided to step things up, I usually ended up in pain and on the ground.

“Yes, Teacher. And no, Walker. I’m not going to let a little thing like this keep me down!”

“Reff, you should help with his training as well. You hit hard, yes?” Aella mostly ignored me, though Walker nodded.

“In hesitant agreement, I do... hit hard... Lady Aella.”

“Good!”

“There was another thing, Walker, that could maybe help with finishing my Core faster?”

“I will endeavour to be of whatever assistance I may, Hunter.”

“When I first met you, you sucked the Experience out of that army. How did you do that? I was in a bit of a tough spot in that other world, sort of running on empty, and it would have come in really useful.”

“I am afraid you are incapable of that particular feat, as helpful as it would be for your cultivation.”

That was tough to hear – it really would have come in useful, not just back in the Black, but in catching up, though it occurred to me that if everyone could do it, it would not actually be much of an advantage.

“It’s an Apex thing?”

“It is an... Apex... thing.”

“Well, hard work it is then.”

Walker smiled and started walking again, followed by the others. I trailed behind slightly, lost in thought.

*

***

*

I stepped back, narrowly avoiding a punch from Aella, my right arm coming up to push aside Reff’s own punch automatically, my left foot kicking out to block a short kick from my teacher.

Aella and Reff were both moving faster than I can see by then – they had started about as fast as me, but had been steadily raising the pace until I was operating purely on instinct. Again. Fighting with Instinctive Precognition was like fighting with Danger Sense, but with higher resolution. With Danger Sense, and incoming attack had basically just been a warning and most of my time my reaction was to jerk wildly out of the way. With Instinctive Precognition, I could both feel the attack and the response that had the best chance of saving me. There were limitations to the ability, however. The ability did not trigger at all if I could see the attack coming – if it was coming from a direction I could not see, or an attack too fast for me to see, I received the warning, but strangely, in a normal fight, it provided me very little benefit. Luckily for me, most of my fights were against people much faster than me, so far at least.

I felt a kick coming from behind and, with the knowledge provided by Instinctive Precognition, I sidestepped away from it, leaving me behind the leg. I jabbed a short punch into the side of Reff’s giant knee, spinning him about slightly, despite his relative size. A turned back to confront a series of lightning fast jabs from my teacher, attempting to push the first away from me, across her body in an effort to pre-empt the follow-up blows. Aella, it turned out, was both too fast and too skilled for that. As I pushed the first punch to the side, my teacher rolled her body back with the motion become coming back at me with a step, her elbow cracking into my hastily raised arm. Of balance, I felt another kick coming from my large friend, and reacted without thought be pushing off the ground with both feet – the only option presented by Instinctive Precognition. I did manage to avoid the kick, but it is impossible – at least for me – to change directions in mid-air. As such, when I felt a descending elbow from Reff, all I could do it place my arms in the way, which saved me from an elbow to the gut, but also smashed me into the forest floor.

The breath was knocked out of me and my body ached from the impact – this was the fifth or sixth time that I had been knocked down in the last hour and I was starting to see the gaps in Instinctive Precognition. While it always seemed to provide a solution – even when that was the best solution – it was not always a good solution. I had successfully dodged the kick, but doing so had ultimately cost me the bout. It was going to take some getting used to – I would have to try to fill in the skill gap, so that I knew when to go with the ability and when to ignore it. I was sort of glad – I thought it would be pretty boring to just counter everything effortlessly, though I knew I would probably change my mind the next time I was in a life-or-death fight...

Sucking in a breath, I sat up and climbed to me feet.

“Reff, what’s with all the kicks? You could kick me through a tree, have you seen your legs?”

“In dismissal, you are much smaller than I am, Hunter. It is much easier to kick you than to punch you.”

“Don’t think you can solve this with logic, Reff.” I grinned at him to make sure he knew I was joking and turned back to Aella.

“Am I improving? I feel like I’m improving...”

“Barely. Your reflexes are impressive, as always, but you make stupid moves and back yourself into corners. You would still likely do well enough against somebody of your level.” The assessment matched with my own thoughts, and the compliment was grudging. It was a long way to our destination, from what I had been able to gather. I would have lots of time to practice.

Aella had said we would be using Foci to practice soon. I was not looking forward to trying to punch lava.