Chapter 1 (part 1): Life At The Nest.
A small spark, weak but stable, kindled in the mental void. It had no identity, no sense of self. It simply was. The spark of compressed mental consciousness started to pulse slightly, and it saw what had happened to it flashing within its unidentified depths. However, the memories were without identity, without a sense of self, as if the world was telling the spark a story, objective and seeing all that is perceivable by a mortal’s eye, mental or real, but also from various points of view, as if the spark was experiencing the events from many perspectives, interchanging based on the events themselves.
Dragnoria Luminoth stood in a plane training room, facing a young boy. He was six years old, with black hair and brown eyes that looked almost translucent. The eyes were half-closed, and he was still as a rock. Then he sprang forward, shooting toward her at considerable speed for his level, and sent a punch at her. His fist impacted a scaled defending claw, even her humanoid form able to handle the strength. Although the fist carried the channeled strength of his entire bodyweight and motion, it wasn't enough to move her. Nonetheless, she acted reasonably for someone at his level and leaped back, hissing in mock pain.
“Hey, don't do that, Drags!”, he whined. “You're not hurt, so don't play hurt!”
Before she could reply, he snarled and sprang forward with even more speed, shouting “Kaaaaadedederrrr!”. He jumped in front of her and started waling on her with fist strikes, increasing the volume and intensity of the strange chanting that increased his speed. Despite the dragon's vast knowledge, she wasn't familiar with whatever it was, but she was sure it was a native inherited ability of some sort. The louder and faster his chant became, the quicker his attacks came. Then he added another layer to the chant, a more ominous set of sounds that made the attacks deal more damage. She was actually surprised this time. She had told him that she would be teaching him how to cultivate if he succeeded in surprising her, but she didn't expect this level of dedication, drive and ferocity from him. It almost seemed like a life or death battle to him, considering his contorted, comically serious expression and the ceaseless chanting. Then it started to get quieter, and he reversed the sounds he had started with. “Rrrrrrdedededdaaaaak!”.
“Whew! It worked! I've reached a new level! How'd I do, Drags?”, he asked with a smile that could have split his face in two.
“You did very well, Quello. I was honestly surprised. I didn't expect your chanting ability to be capable of this much already. It will undoubtedly improve your fighting prowess by leaps and bounds the more you use it, especially when you start building your power with cultivation.”, she said softly, pride clear in her voice. As soon as she said the word cultivation, a dense aura of anticipation, joy and what seemed to be longing billowed out from him, unable to control the output of his aura ability as he was.
“This student is ready to learn from his teacher. Hit me up with this cultivation thingy!”, Queltsom said, the abrupt shift between the formal speech she had tought him and a much more casual one very jarring.
“Come then, Queltsom Worldguest, come and step on the Grand Paths of Cultivation!”, she said, her voice morphing into a more domineering and powerful tone as she changed into her full dragon form.
With a burst of force from her body aspect, she moved Queltsom onto her back, lept into the air, and flew. She could have activated the teleportation formation to move them to her desired location, but she wanted to give him the joy of riding on her back as a reward for his performance at training. He cheered and giggled, as expected of someone at his age. She bucked and twisted about, making him wave his hands in the air and cheer even more vigorously. “But first, let's have a feast!”
After the meal, which consisted of high quality cooked tier1 spirit beast meat and an energy-rich soup of the strongest unattuned variety he could handle, and then a comfortable rest period, Dragnoria teleported them into an ornately decorated room with formations scribbled on the floor in artistic twists and turns and varried angles. Using his strange pressure sense that served as his sight, Queltsom followed her and sat opposite her on a plush chair.
“The first stage of cultivation is the foundation rank. At this rank, you will improve your body, exposing it to the weakest energy known as Kota. The contact with Kota will mutate your body into a more energy-receptive form, while also giving you increased strength and speed when you actively circulate it throughout your body.”, she said, but Queltsom froze. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he started waving his hands at the air, as if exhasperated. She wanted to remark about how he knew that that exact gesture was meant to express that particular emotion, but he muttered to himself bearly audibly.
“Curse the blasted Blight, I've got to do my own body refinement, seems like I can merge this Kota foundation with Mana absorption! By the God, Vo, you should have said that sooner! Man I'm excited, the strength I could gain with this is crazy big!”, he said, his voice rising in excitement. She didn't sense anyone besides him, so she was confused after hearing him speak like there was someone else in the room with them. Who was this ‘Vo’?
She had sometimes felt a tingle in her field of perception, as if someone was there, just out of her range, but she couldn't determine the source, which led her to disregarding it as a figment of her imagination. She figured that even if mind was her secondary affinity, that didn't make her immune to bouts of halucination. But now, she was certain that there was indeed another party, hidden from her for six years. Before she could ask him who this Vo character was, he started chanting.
“Kaaaaa.... wummmmmmwummmmmmmmmmmmmwummmmmmwummmmmmmmmmmmmmwurrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmm. Suu… too… puu… rek… aa… tsu… vuo… kea!”, he started, then it resolved into a deep, resonant humming sound that set the ground to shaking. The air shimmered, then reality tore itself apart, revealing a strange portal. It wasn't visible to the eyes nor normal energy senses, but she somehow knew that it was a link between two points of reality.
From the portal, a sparking substance emerged and fell on Queltsom, making him wince and twitch, but he didn't stop humming. His skin split in a million places, miniscule holes covering every inch of his body. The substance fell through the holes and he started screaming slightly. Although the humming stopped, the rain of the sparking matter didn't. It fell and fell and fell, then abruptly stopped with a faint utterance of “mmmmmmmrrrrrrrrrrrrrakk” from him. The portal closed, and the countless holes on his body closed with it. A deep sense of pain assaulted her perception, coming from the boy. His body's color started to change, becoming more like that of the odd substance by the second. He almost faded from sight, before a popping sound came out of his body, and it appeared again. He vomitted a black substance that disturbed the balance of energy in the room before the formations gobbled it up and took the hit meant for the dimension itself, breaking instantly but achieving their goal. He returned, looking... better than before the strange technique. His muscles looked more defined, and the growth energy coming out of him was denser, richer and somehow calmer. Unbeknownst to her, Queltsom's Mana Tempering had expelled the impurities that impeded the propper movement of his muscles and joints and leaving space for his natural energy to circulate within, passively increasing his physical power, while also having refined his body to the first stage of Mana Imbuement, called the Mana-touched stage. It meant that every single inch of his body had been touched by Mana, becoming inherently stronger.
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“Remember when I said I reached a new level?”, he asked softly, his breath a bit ragged. “I meant that I reached a threshold that required me to do what I just did. I knew it subconsciously, I just didn't realize it was Mana Tempering until Vo clarrified it for me. Vo is my friend, by the way, in case you were wondering. She's invisible right now, which is why you can't see or sense her. She says that if she reveals her physical form, anyone who looks at her will be devoured in an instant.”, he said, and Dragnoria was overwhelmed for the first time ever since she started raising him. Questions suddenly churned within her mind, escaping the barrier of patience like compressed water suddenly finding a way to flow through.
What was this chant? What even was Mana? What was Mana Tempering? Why was he speaking like he was older than his actual age? No normal six-year-old would say words like 'threshold' and 'subconscious'. Who was Vo and what was its... her... goal? Why was he friends with a creature attuned to hunger, while saying it without any hesitation? Ok, that one would be expected from a young kid, but why didn't he reveal this Vo sooner? How could she fix this? Was it even a problem in the first place? Queltsom speaking made her jump out of her impromptu revery and back into the real world.
“Woah, I can sense the confusion from you. Relax, Drags! It's not a big deal, she's more loyal to me than someone bound by a contract.”, he continued. That made her even more confused. How did he know what a contract was? He wasn’t supposed to know about any kind of contract at his age, much less a binding contract of loyalty, which is what he was hinting at.
“Ah, me and my big mouth. Why did I have to say it out loud? This was supposed to be just me explaining my new strength!", he finished, but Dragnoria felt a mental connection form between her and... an invisible creature? She couldn't sense the other party's mental location.
“My greetings, honored Dragnoria, Duchess of the Starmind River. I am Voracia, a greater hunger spirit bound to this boy by reality itself. You have nothing to fear from me. |Let the Guardians assure you that no harm has been done to him, and no harm will ever intentionally be done to him by me, directly or indirectly, in any way, shape or form, whether by word or deed.", a pleasant but professional female voice echoed within her mind, radiating much more strength than would normally be possible for a creature bonded to a boy at Queltsom’s level. Nothing violent happened for a long, tense second. Then Dragnoria sighed in relief. The Guardians would have revealed this Voracia and obliterated her if she had lied. It made the questions less urgent in her mind. She could avoid asking them, because what mattered more was that Voracia, or Vo, wasn't harmful to Queltsom. Seemingly satisfied, the still invisible creature closed the connection.
“Oh good, you spoke to her. That's nice, I don't have to hide friend from friend any longer... except for actually hiding her form, I mean.”, he said. “Now let's start this cultivation business. We've delayed it long enough.”
Two years later:
Queltsom stood in an arena-like room. Facing him was a man with draconic scales that were icy-blue, another dragon. Gelrahk Emberfrost grinned. “Show me wotcha got, Hatchlin'!”
Queltsom sprinted forward at an unnatural speed, eating up the distance quickly. His new Mana-touched speed allowed him to cross the remaining distance all at once, and with a grunt, he punched the dragon. It impacted his broad chest and made it ripple slightly. “Dragon Tail Fist!”, he spoke the move's name. They lapsed into a spar, with Queltsom trying to overwhelm Gelrahk with fast and powerful ceaseless attacks, while the latter tanked them all and barreled forward, bolling his opponent with shere toughness and bulging strength. Even though Queltsom was much stronger than his age would suggest due to the combined physical enhancement of Kota soaking and Mana Tempering, forcing Gelrahk to fight at a level two ranks higher than Queltsom in the terms of the New Path, Gelrahk was leagues above him, so it wasn't a surprise to anyone that he promptly ended the sparring session with a conjured icy fist to Queltsom's face, which made him shivver and jerk in place, followed by a swhoosh sound as Gelrahk reverted back to his true draconic form and flicked his tail forward, sending the boy flying and falling on his face with a groan. “That's a true dragon’s tail, Hatchlin', not whatever puny echo you are usin'!”, Gelrahk said with a teasing tone, letting Queltsom know that, yes, he was indeed criticizing the technique he had tought him a year ago on purpose.
“But in all seriousness, that's impressive, kid! You Managed to make the average iron ranker quail in fear of your strikes and think that they have offended a martial arts master in disguise and are going to curse their entire lineage for the next fifteen generations or so!”, Gelrahk rumbled in an approving chuckle.
“Hey, not fair! Why can't I do anything against a higher-ranked defense!", the boy complained.
“You do know that the iron rank is two ranks above your own, right? Being able to hurt an iron ranker at foundation rank is phenomenal. Just imagine what you'll be able to do when you finally reach iron yourself, and beyond. With that mysterious bloodline of yours, Mana Tempering and your combat skills, you will be a beast!”, Dragnoria chimed in from a couple meters away.
“Dragnie's right, Hatchlin'. I bet you *are* a beast, judgin' by that whole 'Kota soakin'' thing you're doin' with your cultivation.”, Gelrahk rumbled. “You still have a lot of problems in your form, come and get enlightened by my fist to fix em!”, he hollered, and Queltsom shivvered in fear, standing up and preparing for the grueling training session, ready for the torment that was about to be delivered straight to his face, courtecy of his demon of a teacher, Gelrahk.
Two years later:
Queltsom stood in the arena again, his frame a bit taller than before. An aura of poise and determination came out of him in waves. “Let's do this, teachers. Wake the Titan up, I'm ready.”, he said in a steely voice.
“Good luck!”, the two of them said. Stone rumbled as it shifted. The ground burst outward from Queltsom's other side of the room, and a humanoid construct of stone emerged. It was ten feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick frame. Its inner core spun rapidly, eliciting a sound akin to a stony roar.
“[Steel Body]! [Warstorm's Echo]!”, Queltsom intoned, and his body gained a gray hue as it became as durable as steel, and the power increase that would have been possible only through a long and continuous chant was reduced to a simple utterance of a technique name. He charged at the golem, preparing to take the initiative himself. The construct charged as well, opting to meat him half-way.
They collided, and a loud thump heralded the clash of stone and flesh as tough as steel. Queltsom's right fist, which was clenched at his side, prepared to strike, while his left strained against the construct's own in a stalemate about to break.
“[Final]...”, he uttered. But before he could do more, the golem suddenly burst forth with new strength, overwhelming the boy and making him stumble back. It advanced, and Queltsom was forced to weave and dodge in a beautiful display of agility and grace, but he was undoubtedly on the defensive. He was only reacting, not actively striking, just counter-attacking with punches and kicks of various kinds. The golem employed a fighting style that aimed for quick, overwhelming strikes. Queltsom also preferred this style of combat, but he wasn't overly specialized. He preferred it, but he could use other styles when necessary. In this case, he slowly stepped back out of the golem's range, gaining more space and time to acclimate himself to the golem's pattern by the second. He began punching the air, and the construct suddenly looked like it had actually been punched. The boy punched the air in various ways, and the construct was unsure what to defend. All parts of its body were being targetted at the same time. When it defended its head, its torso was struck. When it defended its torso, its shins and legs were hit. And then its core whirred as it spun faster, and it began throwing bolts of Kota at Queltsom.
“I'll do you one better, Rockhead!”, he said to the golem, and started summoning bolts of pure Mana to intercept the golem's Kota bolts and also hit it at the same time. The construct couldn't pursue him, as it was busy defending itself from multiple fronts. On one hand, Queltsom repeatedly pounded at its body from afar, rendering it occupied with blocking the impossible-seeming moves. On the other hand, the golem also faced Mana bolts, which disturbed the flows of energy that circulated throughout its inner matrix, making it momentarily stutter to a stop as its calculative process was halted, then when it resumed again it found itself in a different situation to the one it remembered being in only a split-second ago. However, it couldn't go on like this for long. Punching the air to hit the construct remotely consumed considerable amounts of stamina, so Queltsom resumed what he had been doing before the golem surprised him.
“[Final]...”, shimmering sparks lit his fists as he charged his technique. [Steel Body] dicipated as the energy that had been powering it was used to charge up the attack, and [Warstorm's Echo] gained more intensity as more mental space was freed for it. It stopped being continuous, as Queltsom threw a large amount of his will into it and directed it to be ready to unleash a burst of power into him to give him a large burst speed boost. The ability’s triggered burst effect ([Final Gust]) activated, and he crossed the distance between himself and the golem in an instant, as if by teleportation.
“[Fiiiiist]!”, he threw a heavy punch with both of his fists, leveraging the force of his entire body movement combined with the force from his accelerated dash, all with a layering of the Dragon Tail Fist, which increased the damage of any punch by half. The strikes hit the golem's center, right where the whirring core spun. The shimmering sparks exploded outwards into a rippling fist shape that crackled with unsteady light. It sent force rippling outwards into the construct's whole body, and the array responsible for protecting its valuable core activated, signifying the end of the match.
“Victoryyyy!”, he crowed, and a deep, reverberating roar of challenge and hostility from outside answered him.
“Curse the Blight! It's the bloody Dreadbringer herd!”, Gelrahk rumbled, his voice far more bestial as it came out from his draconic body, which he transformed into in an instant.