Chapter 16 Immortal Techniques
Back out in the fresh air, Khyree decided to get himself situated before he continued to explore the second tier. Clutching the new stone ankh in his hand he attempted to activate the guide function. Nothing happened. He tried squeezing it, and nothing. Out of frustration he vigorously shook it a bunch of times and yet the same thing happened. Nothing. “Now how am I supposed to get this abyss damned thing to work?” Khyree wondered aloud as he looked around.
He saw a few other neophyte students as they moved about the second tier on route to their own destinations. At first Khyree was tempted to stop one of them and ask for assistance, but their general facial expressions let him know that might be a bad idea. “The feel of this tier is more intense than the last one was. All of the students here look as if they are on edge,” Khyree thought to himself. While some of the students had a haunted expression on their faces, there were still others who seemed very predatory in their aggressive demeanors. Those were the ones that reminded Khyree of being back home in the Wilds.
“Well I guess I won’t be asking any of them for assistance,” said Khyree. Frustrated, he spat off to the side of the road. “Damn that elder, he could have provided me with some basic instructions. How are you just going to give the new guy a fancy new toy, and not tell him how to use it? Miserable old miser. Fine. I will just figure this out on my own.
Now these ankhs are Immortal devices, and the thing that separates Immortals from humans is their ability to manipulate essence. So the trick of it has to be with using essence somehow. But how? I’m not like a normal Immortal, I can't just freely channel essence on my own. I have to use the ring. But the ring is only spelled to channel essence directly into me.
Now I could just go into the ring and use the ankh there, but that doesn’t help me out here in this world. Of course all of this really only matters if my conjecture is correct about the ankh needing a supply of essence to operate. But wait, maybe I’m going about this all completely wrong.
If Immortals really do use the essence of the earth and the universe to fuel their transformation, then it has to be that converted energy, the Ka that should be how they use to operate their personal devices."
Khyree thought about it some more, and the more he thought about it, the more that line of reasoning made sense to him. Having reached that point in his thoughts, he reached inside of himself to locate the strands of darkness Ka, that he had successfully cultivated the night before.
He selected the thickest strand he could find and with his will he pulled it to the surface of his hand so that it could make contact with the stone ankh. At once he could tell that he did something right, because his mind was instantly flooded with information.
After studying the information contained within the ankh for a bit, Khyree found that the device truly was a very useful tool. From the map included inside Khyree was easily able to locate where his new residence was. It turned out to not be that far away.
Along the way he continued to examine the contents of the ankh. Besides the map with the handy guide function, he also learned that there was an accounting feature that tracked how many jobs he completed for the Sect, his completion rate, if and how many jobs he had left open and how many merit points he had earned. This was of course in addition to the other features that Khyree now knew to be standard with all of the ankhs, like the built-in tracking. A feature that Khyree was not exactly happy about.
Khyree finally arrived at his new residence a few minutes later. It was a small mansion made of sandstone. It was easily five times the size of the last place he had stayed back on the first tier. It was built into the wall of the surrounding mountain. There was no courtyard in sight, but the building was surrounded by a lush vibrant garden. Khyree liked the thick concentration of essence that flowed through and around the mansion.
As he went to enter the house, he felt an invisible force wrap around him. Khyree felt as if the essence itself that flowed through and around the place had suddenly taken on a hostile aspect. He hadn’t known that essence could ever feel threatening before. He felt like at any second the essence could just snuff him out of existence. Fortunately the feeling only lasted for a few seconds. Khyree felt the ankh briefly heat up right before the pressure went away.
“What was that?” Khyree said aloud to himself. “Must have been some kind of security field of some sort. Well I guess it's a good thing that I have this ankh, otherwise that could have ended badly.” After verifying that he wasn’t missing any body parts, Khyree went inside of his new house. For as spacious as it was, he was surprised that it only consisted of a few rooms. Granted the rooms were very large, but he kind of expected more. There was a single wide open reception room, a bathing room with an indwelling tub, a resting room with a simple cot and a thin mattress, and a room that seemed to be set aside strictly for cultivation.
The cultivation room itself appeared to be lined with a type of material that Khyree had never seen before. It felt like a type of wood to his touch. It was very warm and smooth. Imprinted on the wood like material were lines of imbued hieratic script that converged into a spiral pattern on the wall that was connected to the mountain. In the middle of the spiral was a large hole in the wall. Inside of the hole was a layer of rich moist and fertile loam soil.
The best thing about the cultivation room was that the free flowing essence in the room was concentrated around the hole in the wall, it was so thick that Khyree didn’t even need to scan it to know that it was much denser than it was outside of the room. He could only imagine how beneficial it would be for an Immortal to cultivate within the chamber. For as he had already discovered that with increased essence his cultivation rate would increase as well. The determining factors seemed to be the amount of essence available and how fast he could draw it into his Etheric Channel. “Definitely am going to have to investigate that later,” Khyree thought to himself. After a quick bath Khyree got dressed in his new robes and set off to explore the second tier.
Khyree took a full self-guided tour of the second tier. He saw the massive towers where the Sect Trials took place. He passed a number of packed sand dueling arenas. Some of which were currently in use. Khyree watched as Immortals battled one another with speeds that were almost too fast for him to see. He marveled at their ability to take and dish out the pain.
It was while watching the fights that Khyree was reminded that with his promotion came the reward of learning a free technique. Activating the guiding function of his new ankh, Khyree made his way over to the Hall of Merits. Khyree had never actually been to the Hall of Merits on the first tier. So he didn’t know quite what to expect.
The Hall of Merits turned out to be a towering sprawling crystal affair of a building. “Now who makes a building out of crystal?” Khyree asked himself aloud. “That’s just like advertising your wealth. Just how rich is this Sect? Hmm, now if I didn’t know any better I would swear that it was made from a single block of crystal. But that’s not possible though is it? Is it? Just how expensive would that be?” Khyree was not sure as he really did only have a minor grasp on the concept of money.
The doors wouldn’t even open until he touched them with his ankh. Then they opened with a silent swish of air. At once a concentrated blast of trapped essence flowed out from inside of the building. Khyree stepped inside and came to a sudden stop right away. What Khyree saw were rows upon rows of crystal shelves lined with countless artifacts, precious herbs, weapons, armor and manuals. The place was overflowing with dense essence. Weaving in and out of the rows were a bevy of servants, a few neophyte students and a lone elder who Khyree figured must be supervising the place.
Khyree had never before come across such an extravagant visible source of wealth. He felt like it was a sight that would have impressed the right people. But material wealth never really had an effect on him. For Khyree it was always function over form, and experience over wealth. He thought about certain Immortals he had met in the past like Varnan Covenmoon who came from wealth, for him the Hall of Merits would be a great source of joy. A source of prizes he would no doubt long to plunder.
The elder upon noticing Khyree approached with languid grace. Khyree thought the elder looked to be in his early thirties. The elder had a lean yet muscular build that was not disguised by the thick robes he wore. He had mischievous green eyes that twinkled with an inner light.
“Peace be onto you, young neophyte. You must be new, I’ve never seen you here before. My name is Kelvin Kinani, and I’m the elder in charge of this hall. What can I help you find today?”
Stolen novel; please report.
After his last encounter with an elder, Khyree was actually surprised to encounter an elder who was seemingly nice. “Peace to you as well, elder. This one is Khyree Mourntree. I was informed that upon my promotion that I was to be given access to a free technique of my choosing. Could you perhaps guide me in the direction of technique manuals?”
The elder normally wouldn’t even deign to interact with a lowly neophyte. Let alone serve as a tour guide, but there was something interesting about this young man. Kelvin Kinani had been an Immortal for many years and had a very intimate connection with essence. In all of the forty years that he had been stationed in the Hall of Merits he had never seen essence react to a neophyte the way it did with the young Mourntree.
There seemed to be a slight gravitational pull around the young man. It was almost as if the neophyte was actually cultivating. But that was a skill far beyond the level of a neophyte. Kelvin thought back to his own early days of training, he was past the meridian stage before he had mastered the skill of cultivating without focused meditation. Yet here was this young neophyte clearly new to all things cultivating and somehow he was pulling in essence. It wasn’t a lot by any means, Kelvin was pretty sure that most Immortals wouldn’t even notice it in most cases. But he had long been attuned to the enhanced essence in the Hall of Merits and could easily spot any change in its flow. His God’s Eye was flawless.
“What fortunate encounters must the heavens have bestowed on this one,” Kelvin thought to himself. Focusing his attention on the young man. “Mourntree. Ah you must be related to Daquan Mourntree, yes?” the elder asked. At Khyree’s nod he continued. “What a fortunate family, to have two Immortals born into the same generation.”
Khyree silently agreed with the elder. He had no intention of discussing his relationship to Daquan with the elder. Khyree has always been a very private person.
“Ah I see. Young Daquan Mourntree is such a promising student. You would do well to be as diligent as him when it comes to cultivating. At any rate, yes, I do believe that I may be able to assist you in your search. Walk with me,” the elder said as he calmly directed Khyree to accompany him. “Tell me, have you thought about the kind of technique you wish to acquire?”
Khyree trailed just behind the elder as they made their way deeper into the building. “Forgiveness, elder. But I do not understand your question. What do you mean by what kind of technique? Are there more than just one kind?”
Kelvin kept his expression plain as he listened to the young neophyte. It was just as he thought, the young Mourntree was indeed very new to the world of cultivation. “They both must be very new to the world of cultivation. Even Daquan Mourntree had shown a significant lack of knowledge in regards to Immortals,” Kelvin thought to himself.
“Well young Mourntree, techniques are divided into different sections based on their perceived primary use. Those sections are either utility, offensive or defensive. Utility based techniques are primarily used for things like movement and such. Offensive techniques as one might imagine are those ones that are best suitable for attacks in combat. I'm sure you can figure out what the defensive techniques are best for. Mind you these distinctions are only based on a technique's perceived use. As with most things, a flexible mind can lead to other usages. So have you given any thought to what kind of technique you would like to acquire today?" repeated the elder.
Khyree had no clue that all Immortal Techniques would be organized in such a way, though after listening to the elder it all began to make sense to him. Khyree didn't know what all techniques were available, so he decided that he would browse a bit before making a decision. "Forgiveness elder, I am new here and I am hesitant to make a rash decision due to my lack of knowledge. Would it be possible for me to see what techniques are available for my stage?"
"That is a wise decision young man," the elder said approvingly. "Hmm. Let's see you are a stage 1, rank 2 Immortal so the techniques that are best suited for you will be the ones that are stone ranked. Unfortunately, those are the lowest leveled techniques that we have available, and as such there are not that many,” Kelvin said as he made an abrupt right and led Khyree down an aisle that had shelves lined with a collection of manuals and loose papyrus scrolls encased in glass.
In only a moment they arrived at the appropriate section. “Ah here we go,” said Kelvin as he gestured to the shelves in front of them. “On the bottom shelf are stone ranked utility techniques, the middle contains defensive techniques and the top has the offensive ones. Please make your selection when ready. As you can see, the prices in merit points are clearly displayed.”
Khyree was stunned at how small the collection was for stone rank techniques. In comparison to the entire hall, this section only consisted of maybe a few meters. There were only a handful of techniques of each kind available. As he glanced around he saw that the selections for the other ranks were much greater. Clearly the emphasis was on the higher ranks.
Accepting the situation for what it was, Khyree stepped closer to examine some of the techniques on display before him. Five Finger Stone Fist. Rainbow Flash Dash. Heavenly Dance of Misty Springs. Twisted Steps of the Nightingale. Shield of the Emperor Tortoise. There were a good half a dozen more lined up on the shelves. “They all have such overbearing names,” he thought to himself. “But I wonder if the techniques are as powerful as the names themselves suggest.”
After studying the techniques for a short while, Khyree turned to the elder and addressed him. “Forgiveness, elder. As you clearly have much more experience and familiarity with techniques here, and the Sect in general, might I trouble you for some recommendations?”
Kelvin sucked in a quick breath. “Of all the nerve,” he thought to himself. “This is either truly one brave neophyte or one hopelessly clueless young man. Does he dare to think that we have some kind of master and student relationship?” But then as he thought about the situation more, he began to ask himself what he would have done if once upon a time he had been in a similar situation. He would have definitely sought out the wisdom of the elder in front of him.
“Young man, you have some gaps in your education. Fortunately for you, I am not one of the more impatient and arrogant elders. But just know that the last question you asked bordered on the impertinent. For only in such sacred relationships as a master and a student, does one from the older generation typically dispense valuable information regarding a student’s path of cultivation.
“Because you did not know any better, and because I just happen to be in a pleasant mood today I will let this one incident pass with only a word. I will give you one piece of insight. Now you can make of it what you will. But here goes. Most neophytes upon reaching their rank typically select an offensive technique as their first one to master.
This is mostly because their eyes are only then able to perceive the kind of Sect they have become a part of. The Hidden Valley Shadow Sect is not a Sect of peace. As you begin to interact with your fellow brothers and sisters in the Sect you will discover this...truth for yourself. Now have you made your selection?”
“Thank you for the insight, elder. This one appreciates your guidance,” Khyree responded in deferential tones. What the old man had said made a certain kind of peace. Already he had noticed a particular tenseness in the air when other students were about. It was a tenseness that he was intimately familiar with, for it reminded him of watching giant forest cats constantly battle for territory. With all of that information in mind, Khyree instantly pointed out three separate techniques in rapid order, one right after the other.
The elder upon seeing the selections Khyree made, blinked slowly in thought, perhaps the young man must have gotten confused at some point he wondered. “Neophyte, you seem to have selected three techniques. This is not a case of either or, as one new to your rank you have only been awarded one technique.”
“Forgiveness, elder,” Khyree said as he turned and bowed before the elder. In his outstretched hands he offered his stone ankh for the elder’s inspection. “But I would like to purchase these two others in addition to my one free technique. I assure you that I have more than enough merits available for the purchase.”
Kelvin grabbed the ankh and briefly examined its contents. He was surprised to note that the young Mourntree did have a nice amount of merit points recorded. “Just how did he manage to earn so many merit points so quickly,” Kelvin asked himself. He knew that the Mourntree children had only come to the Sect within the last two years, and that Khyree had come up from being a lowly servant.
By all rights, it should have been impossible for him to earn that many merit points within such a short period of time. Indeed the young neophyte had enough merit points to buy the two techniques and still have some change left over. He must have come across some great fortunate opportunity.
“Haha. Very good,” the elder said as touched Khyree’s ankh to his own and deducted the necessary merit points. He then touched Khyree’s ankh to the display tags under the techniques he wanted. Once he was done he handed Khyree his ankh back.”There you go, young neophyte. The knowledge of the techniques have been imprinted in your ankh. Use a bit of your Ka, and you will be able to access the information. Now do be sure to come back when you get to a higher rank, the techniques only get better from here on out.”
Khyree knew a dismissal when he heard one. He had wanted to stay and browse a bit more, but he did not wish to exhaust the elder’s patience. So he nodded his head in thanks to the elder and made his way out of the building.
He found that he was actually excited at the prospect of learning the new techniques, as he headed back to his new residence. He walked briskly past the few other neophytes that he encountered on the path, he paid them little to no attention as long as they did not appear threatening to him. In his head all he could see was all of his imaginings of the things he would be able to do once he mastered the overbearing techniques. It was in this manner that he distractedly bumped into a fellow student who was hurrying down the path in his direction.
Bump.
Khyree paused as he was shocked out of his thoughts to see that he had run into Daquan Mourntree.