Chapter 15

‘Can you explain this better Nocturne?’ I asked while looking at the damage to my surrounding, the once beautiful garden just shriveled up and died. I will get in trouble if I don’t fix or find a proper explanation for this.

‘When I harmonized the flame of creation to your sea of consciousness, I was hoping to accelerate the time needed for you to awaken to the book’s magic. But it seems that you did so on your own. Death, that book is the book of death, one of many but a unique on in its own. It harbors the magic that controls life and creation, used properly you can quench the lives of your foes with but a glance. Poorly and it will consume your essence of it. So don’t you dare try to use its magic now.’ Said nocturne in a warning tone.

“Then what is the use of this magic if I were not to use it?” I said as I stood up.

The world felt vaguely different, I could almost swear that my body began to suck in the particles of Qi on its own without the need for me to will it to do so. Strange…

‘You don’t need to use it at the moment, your body is still too feeble, and your mind is still immature, though you are far more intelligent than people at your age and far more talented. Handling death needs you to be more… vicious.’ He added

‘Vicious, huh… well, there is no need to dwell on things I won’t be needing for the moment. So Nocturne what will we do about this?’ I said as I was looking at my surroundings.

‘No need to worry about those things, try to use the same move set that the master swordsman showed you.’

‘Well, you are rather heartless…’ I said as I stood up.

Practicing the moves I felt the strain on my joints shift in a more comfortable way.

Now I need to reinforce my joints.

The moment I thought about that, an amazing wave of energy rushed within me. It seems that the Qi I am able to harness change in the quantity I could consume about ten times the same amount of energy that I used to do before… quite frightening.

‘Indeed, you should have reached this stage after years upon years of practice… what fate has brought such a talented and gifted youth to me, I could only be thankful.’ Said Nocturne sounding more happy than proud.

‘Now then.’ I said as force the particles to empower my joints and they did so with ease.

‘Now, do you remember the feeling of consuming the world with your body? Try that’

It was probably when my pores opened up and consumed the Qi. Though this is quite hard to do all at once I tried.

Surprisingly unlike last time where I had to suffer just to reinforce a single joint, my whole body went into a state of calmness after absorbing Qi. Nothing went to waste. The particles either reinforced my joints or reconstructed the flesh, whatever was left was sent to my Sea of consciousness to amplify it.

Looking at the situation using monochrome vision it made me feel rather… pleasant.

I was able to detach from the world and look at my body doing the once mechanical moves in a more fluent manner, it seems that it still needs some tweaks but I could handle that.

Moving around with grace my body failed to notice the passage of time.

I was oblivious to the world around me for god knows how much as I moved around unstoppable, tireless and full of vigor.

Moments became minutes became hours, hours became days and I finally collapsed.

My eyelids felt too heavy for me to even open while my body shivered, from both power and extreme exertion.

“God damn it, kid… you scared me there for a second…” said master Shen as he was nearby.

“What happened?” I asked

“What happened? How the hell would I know? You were in that state for most of the week, no one could even get close to you, you were unresponsive as you used the lotus martial art…”

‘Don’t worry about that Basara, it is a case of Inspiration, it rarely happens but it seems that you somehow managed to remain in that state for several days, not even I could stop you. If your body was stronger than what you have now I would believe that you would have remained in that state until you died.’

‘Heh… strange things are happening to me…’

‘No, for if we consider the fact that you own this book, this should be within reason, though it is still unfathomable. Your growth is too fast, I believe that you should halt it…’

‘You were the one that said we don’t have time right?’

‘Indeed we don’t but at this rate, you would die before you can reach where I need you to.’

“Well, its due to Master that I somehow managed to find inspiration. However, I feel really weak”

“Well, of course, you would, you didn’t eat drink or rest for almost a weak, no man no matter how talented can go against the limits of their body. Now you need to eat my child, you exerted so much energy that your muscles are in dire need of nutrition. Sustaining a body with just Qi is only possible if you have reached higher realms of Assimilation and have a healthy body, to begin with. Your body is like a glass of water and you are trying to fill it with the water from an ocean. Take it easy child.” Said master Shen clearly sounding worried.

“Don’t worry master I won’t try that again, I don’t think I even have the power to do it again.”

“Yes,” he said “I will ask someone to bring you some food. Don’t move from here, I don’t think that even if you wanted you won’t be able but anyway stay here and rest.”

He said as he moved outside.

I was in my room this time. The one that came in after few moments was no other Than Melinda.

“What a troublesome child you are.” She said

“Sorry to cause you any worry Melinda I know I shouldn’t.”

“No, it's not me. Lord Ling was worried sick about you. When you entered that state he couldn’t even wake you up no matter how he shouted. There was a moment when he was going to stop you by force but Master Shen asked him not to. They both remained for days watching over you.”

“Ah… I need to apologize to them.” I said as I imagined the old man waiting under the coldness of the night just for the sake of an orphan like me.

“You don’t understand do you Basara?” said Melinda

“What?” I said

“You still think yourself as an orphaned child. You are one of the servants of the House Ling, you need to have some self-esteem, don’t belittle yourself. Master Ling himself said that you are a talent amongst talent and I can vouch for that. You learn things faster than anyone and you always put your heart in them. Don’t let anyone take away your honor from you. Hold your head up high child it is not fit for one from the house of dragons to bow down and apologize to others.”

“Even if it was worrying the Lord?”

“If worrying the lord while empowering oneself to protect his daughter and his house in the future, then even if never apologize he knows and understands your dedication.”

Hmm.

“Well enough of that, here,” she said as she brought out a broth”

“Open your mouth,” she said

“I-I can eat without the need for you to bother feeding me so please,” I said as I was too embarrassed being fed by another and especially someone as beautiful as Melinda. It brought out all kinds of awkward scenes in my head. (I am 14 and not some saint)

“Can you even move your arms?” she asked

As I tried… I couldn’t

“See, your muscle fibers tore so much that you can no longer feel them. Now open your mouth or I will force this into your throat” she said smirking while sounding sinister… there is no way I can say no to her.

So I opened my mouth, thankfully I was still able to swallow.

It took me some awkward moments to finally get along with the fact that I was being fed by a lovely looking lady, and unfortunately, that small pleasure ended once the broth was finished.

“Good, I will come back later so don’t move and rest”

It took few days and some awkward moments especially when I had to do my business.. for me to fully regain control over my body.

Once I left the room. I was met with Master Shen. Who said

“It seems that I won’t be able to finish my training with you Basara. I wanted to show you the rest of the move set of the Lotus martial art but apparently, your little break took most of our time. Here” he said as he gave me a book.

“This contains all the remaining moves for the martial art, though without a mentor it should be neighed impossible for anyone to mimic or try, but you Basara…I don’t think I will be needed, you have enough power to even surpass me”

I took the book and looked at the master Swordsman then said

“Thank you, Master,” I said then deeply bowed.

“No need to thank me, you will be going to Visania, don’t slack on your training and don’t overexert yourself like that time.”

I skimmed through the book and saw something strange

“You, hmm, these moves all look very difficult to practice even more difficult than the first level, however, something is missing here…”

“What is it, Basara?” Said Master Shen. He, however, had a smirk on his face. He knew what I was going to say.

“The move set you did that day… it does not appear to be here…”

“That move is a special addition that I intend on adding to this martial tome, however, it is still incomplete I need more time to master it.”

“Ah, amazing, you want to add an original move set to the Lotus arts which like you said is derived from a demon’s martial prows, fascinating. You are indeed an amazing master, master.”

Master Shen was pleased with my reply and said

“You should go and meet Lord Ling. There are but two weeks left for you to leave to Visania, I can’t teach you anything regarding the art of the blade in that time. Not because you are not capable, but because your body still needs to mature. Perhaps your mind is different so go and learn as much as you can from the lord of fire.” He said as he took his leave.

As I left I saw Lord Ling standing at the desolated part of the garden.

Shit, I will get scolded for that.

His figure was rather imposing. He was holding both his hands behind him and even before I could say anything he spoke

“Basara my boy. You did this right?”

“Yes, I am sorry for causing trouble I will compensate the damage whenever I can”

“No need for that. I could fix this at any time however it is interesting to see this. In all my life I never once saw a place so desolated so void of life, and now it is here where a garden thrived with life, it is no so voided of it not Even Qi would gather here…”

“I am sorry,” I said

“Don’t be, this is in itself a grand achievement, it showcases your affinity with death.” He said as he turned around his eyes looked very serious.

“Do you know why though Death magic is far more fearsome and far more dangerous than Blood magic it is still not regarded as blasphemous or is treated the same way as the other.”

“It was told that the

Singularity of Jehad would resurrect from a user of blood magic.”

“Indeed, and do you know the conqueror's magic was also Death magic?”

“No, I didn’t” I lied. Nocturne clearly said that the last Conqueror wielded this book.

“I could teach you fire magic, however, I believe your affinity with death is far higher than fire. In that regard I cannot help, no. No one can, Death magicians have all perished ages ago, it Was Jehad’s own work to disseminate them and their families. But you somehow emerged and changed that. I thought about this before, it even came to me as a whimsical thought, that maybe you, you may one day reach the stage of the conqueror. But now that flimsy thought became more solid.

“…”

“I will show you the way of fire, however, not even I dare trifle with death. That is a path you must seek on your own, my child. Yet before we start I need you to know something. The lords of the other houses know well the fact that the Conqueror wielded death magic. If you ever show it, you will be hunted for its secrets and its power. So protect yourself using my flame until your magic is developed enough for you to stand without the need of fire.”

‘Basara… let me in’ said Nocturne as he took over.

The presence around my body shifted, from submissive to a domineering one.

“You…” said Lord Ling as he understood the shift instantly.

“You don’t need to worry about this Child,” said Nocturne “I will teach him how to use his talent, you just need to show him how to wield flames. For that, they are needed for me to start.”

“You said you will not interfere with that child, didn’t you say he doesn’t know you exist?”

“He is not an idiot apparently he figured it out on his own, now Lord of the dragon flame. Give me that which I seek”

“Sigh…”

Lord Ling summoned an orb of flame and said

“Shouldn’t you be able to do this on your own?” said the lord

“No, I am not able to wield that kind of pure magic.” Then Nocturne summoned the book of death

“However this child’s talent is limitless. He will figure it out so don’t worry” he said as the ball of fire was sucked in by the book and a new text was written on it.

Nocturne closed the book and he gave back my body to me.

“Basara, are you alright?” said Lord Ling.

“Yes, Yes, it's just whenever he does that my head starts to spin”

I looked at the book and depend on where the text was written and could vaguely understand the meaning of those words.

“Hmm… This will be hard to use.” I said

“What do you mean?” asked Lord Ling

“It seems that fire is a representation of pride. To use it one must have a great self-esteem and appearance, I will find it difficult to properly use for the moment…”

“How the hell did you manage to understand the secret behind the usage of fire with just that?!!!”

“Secret?” I said

“Yes! That should not be known to anyone, the reason why many fail to use fire is that they lack pride or knows not their true self’s value, we of the Dragon lineage know ourselves through and through.”

“Well if it is like that, then probably to use water one must be at peace with themselves, to use air magic one must be rather fickle and could bend around the rules, to use earth magic one must have a great comprehension of themselves with an insurmountable resolve… this is rather direct and I could understand it just by going through one of the magic…”

“Child! Those are secrets that belong to the highest order of magic, don’t you dare divulge them.”

“Don’t worry, but tell me, this should be quite understandable to anyone. So Why would someone like you Lord Ling can only use fire magic? Shouldn’t you be able to use all of the other ones?”

“It takes amazing amounts of concentration just to manage fire even if one has enough pride and self-esteem. But rare is when you find someone with great pride and is able to use wind magic. Like you said to use wind magic one must be fickle and rather an unbound by laws, as for one to use earth magic one must have strong sense of value and to remain unperturbed, having an affinity towards one element instantly removes the possibility to use the other, a user of earth magic cannot use water magic because the two of them are fundamentally different while activating.”

“So no one can bend the laws of affinity, their own self forces them to be only capable of using one type… however, I can still see people using different types of magic rather than elemental”

“Yes, for the elemental type of magic like I said one needs to be true to their self. The rest of none elemental magic is easy to use but requires high concentration from the user. To will the world to manifest what it should not. The magic that controls thoughts and forces the target to submit requires the user to be able to understand human’s nature and attack the feeble points in one’s mind. Be it by forcing the target to fear them. Or to care for them, one would find breaches in these sentiments and have a hold over their target’s mind. And such are the other types of magic, you just need to figure out the trick”

“Now I understand why houses try to procure talented people to their ranks”

“How so?” said Lord Ling

“The houses try to acquire children that just awoke to their magic and gives them this secret to enhance their comprehension over their own abilities, if left alone they might never blossom due to the fundamental lack of understanding over the nature of magic and its secrets.”

“Indeed, the houses try to monopolize the children but that in itself helps the country to grow stronger in terms of power.”

“Well now, I should start practicing this new formula.”

“it sounds like you don’t need my help,” said Lord Ling

“Well, if it is to create a magic with the true nature of fire, then I am severely lacking.”

I then pressed my hand into the book and pulled out.

“However, I can just use it like this”

A black orb of flame then rose atop my open palm. It looked vicious and sinister, filled with malice and hate, a power compromised from the heat of the flame and the coldness of death.

It swirled around my palm then vanished moments later.

“But it seems I cannot use it offensively, I will still need to have a better understanding of magic, and my self…”

Lord Ling could only stare mouth agape at what just happened in front of him.

I really am starting to feel uncomfortable with seeing so many people do this whenever I try anything new…