040 - Sky Beyond Sky

Magnus nodded dumbly. The energies from the boar flooded into him, he felt it pulsate through his skin, through his flesh and into his bones. The many blisters and black veins shrunk, becoming almost invisible.

"You paying attention Magnus?"

"Whoa. Wow, my skin, my face, my stars! Big sis! I'm cured!" Magnus jumped up, dancing around in joy.

"Easy there lad," Kujata rolled her eyes.

"Look! You can't see a single speck of black!" Magnus ran over to the well and pulled up the bucket examining his face. "No blisters . . no lines . . big sis! Ah ha ha!" He emptied the bucket over his head washing off the dirt and filth.

"Not bad. Looks like at the least you ain't the ugliest of my disciples." Kujata couldn't help but smile. "Magnus, hey Magnus! Lesson two!"

Magnus snapped to attention, a sloppy grin on his face. "Yes!"

"On lesson two, a . .",

Ring! Ring!

"Ah hells!" Kujata pointed to a corner of the yard. "Fire pit, carving knife, medium rare." she fell back from the window into the chair.

Magnus happily followed her instructions, lighting the fire pit and easily cutting the boar into several parts. With just a little force he found the blade sliced through the skin, cut through the thick boars hide smoothly. Draining blood out into the sand and snapping off the four legs with his hands, Magnus threw them all on the metal grill.

For a quarter hour Kujata peered through the telescope and took notes. "Done!" She leapt from the window and ran across the courtyard. "Meat, meat, meat!"

Nothing cute, nothing ladylike about her . . Magnus watched as she snatched up a whole leg and bit into it, chewing and swallowing and reaching for a second piece. If she didn't have two obvious mounds beneath her shirt, if he hadn't seen her delicate face and pretty dark eyes up close . . Magnus sighed. Big sis is big sis, one way or another . .

"Ok, cut us some more! And bring the whole cart over, throw on a rack of ribs. And the head! Don't leave the head there, that's just wasteful!"

Magnus hurried about following Kujata's instructions, sitting down next to her and looking on expectantly.

"Lesson two." Kujata wiped the grease from her mouth with a corner of her shirt. "The second lesson is keeping a low profile."

"..."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"You're not going to ask why?"

"Why what?"

"Why the low profile!"

"Yeah, big sis why the low profile?"

"Ye gods . . you know Magnus, it would never do any harm to be a little more curious. Ain't you got a thousand questions? A hundred things you want to ask? Like who I am, what you are, what I'm doing here - damn it, ain't you the least bit interested?"

"Uh, I guess? Kuja - big sis, I mean, I am sorta interested. But well, I'm alive! You helped me, you said I'm your disciple and that I can be real strong, right? Then, all I've gotta do is listen, right?"

"And you just accept that as fact?"

"Should I not? Is this the lesson? I've never been a disciple before . . should I not be trusting my big sis?"

Kujata stared glassy eyed at Magnus, suddenly snorting and throwing her hair back.

"Damn brat! Stinking dolt!"

"..."

"Fine! Fine, you win. I give. Stop staring at me with those puppy eyes." Kujata paced up and down. “Lesson two. Keep all this a secret, right? There are forces out there . . people who would stop at nothing to see you and I dead a thousand times over.”

“I won’t tell them! I promise!” Magnus cried out.

“Fool, you don’t need to say anything! Why do you think I’m here, hidden in this dump?” Kujata waved her hands. “Forget it. Forget all about it.” She paced up and down the courtyard, Magnus watched on quietly.

"Where to start . . okay. The beginning, from zero. Let's just get things straight between us. Magnus Lund. From this day forth you are my disciple. I do not know how long this relationship may last, my time left here ain't exactly under my control.”

“Everything has a price; I will teach and grant you an opportunity for revenge. Your repayment is to take that opportunity, right?”

“That, uh . . that seems fair?”

“And it is. So, what we're going to do here is skip a little, get to the meat of the matter."

Kujata spread the five fingers of her right hand, from each fingertip appeared a coloured thread.

"The Logos. The five underlying principles of the universe. The energy that pervades throughout all living things, the threads that connect us all together, that governs all actions in the whole of existence."

"First, the Vis - the white thread here. This is the inner force, the energy in all living things. It is what forms your core and connects to every muscle and bone. By training the Vis you strengthen your core, once it reaches a certain level the core condenses and hardens."

"But my core shattered!"

Kujata nodded. "And that would normally mean you would be dead in a month. Put your hand over your navel. Feel that? That is your core, the concentration of Vis in your body. Taking in the vital force from the boar has replenished your Vis, filled in the cracks in your core."

"So I don't have to train to improve my Vis? I can just take in the vital force of other creatures?"

"In essence, yes. What others may take a lifetime to accomplish or require countless pills and potions and secret methods, we can take, devour."

Magnus eyes blazed. Devour! An flame lit up in his mind.

"It isn't so simple, Magnus. Listen, the next thread; Animus, the blue threads. You saw the Alchemist in the swamp use these, right?"

"Yeah, he shot them at me . . and he made this weird shape he could fly on!"

"The Animus is a concentration of the mind, of inner will. Only those with a certain level of ability can focus their will into an Animus. They are used for formations, well, the Alchemists use them for their formation. Watch - "

Kujata extended the blue thread into a circle, tying both ends together and letting it fall to the ground. It sunk down and imprinted itself on the dirt, slowly fading.

"That's about as much as I can do with my level of Animus. Come, stand over it."

Magnus walked into the blue circle. The moment he crossed over he felt an enormous weight press down on his shoulders, forcing him to the ground.

Kujata flicked her finger and the blue thread faded, Magnus sat back down.

“It takes years of training, of meditating every day and following strict mental practices, remembering countless formations and complex geometric structures to become an expert in the use of Animus. But . . well, see an Alchemist and swallow him up, and all day long you’ll have good luck. Heh.” Kujata sang.

A complex look arose of Magnus on hearing her. She smiled so lightly . . said such a terrifying thing so easily . . .

"Not going too fast for you, am I? Alright, next -"

"Awooo!"

From out the night came a howl and rush of paws. Sif, the great white wolf ran into the courtyard. Its paws threw up clouds of dust and, in a single swift leap, Sif pounced on the roasting boar greedily snatching it from the flames.