Nothing had changed in Alex’s absence and the other kids began mocking him the moment he stepped in the room. Soon after Alex arrived captain Tarazi came in as well, annoyed by the very existence of everyone present. His leather jacket was gone and instead of it he wore the formal attire of the imperial army.

When he entered, everyone instantly shut up and with clenched fists and teeth captain forced himself to stay calm throughout the lesson, politely explaining the same old basics as if the saintess was looking over his shoulder.

Alex couldn’t find it amusing one bit and only felt pity for the man. Obviously he intended to give only one lecture, but for some reason was forced to babysit. Or course any Qi warrior would be humiliated by the situation and it was clear the old witch did it on purpose.

After the class was over, Alex waited for Robert and his entourage to leave.

The he approached the still annoyed captain Tarazi and asked, “Hypothetically, if someone would cultivate the technique you taught on the first lesson, what should they pay attention to?”

At first captain was annoyed by Alex’s presence, but slowly the question registered in his mind and a wide grin plastered across his face.

“Well …” He said, “First of all they should pay attention to never disclose it to anyone.”

“Mhm.” Alex seriously nodded in return, “And then?”

Captain, of course, guessed what he wanted to know, “Then they should carefully observe the Qi flow within their consciousness. The streams of Qi will have slight deviations at some points indicating their proximity to the soul particles.”

“So the soul particles don’t create a thick mass like other substances, but float chaotically around our consciousness? And we use Qi flow to locate them?” Alex asked.

“Yes and no.” Captain was earnestly surprised by Alex’s train of thought, “They don’t form a thick mass only from one perspective, but that’s not important – you’ll get it later. More importantly positions of the particles only feel chaotic, because we can only sense few at the time at most. The objective is to guide the soul particles using the attraction force of the Qi flow to form a pattern according to a person’s choice. When that pattern is formed – the cultivator has created their own unique soul brand.”

“So the cultivator modifies artificially their own soul?” Alex was confused, “Can’t they accidentally cripple themselves by carelessly moving around their own soul particles?”

“Oh?” Captain was surprised by Alex’s question again,”I’ve been pondering about that a lot, but to this day no one had any ill side effects. But it’s no wonder – the technique was created by the emperor himself.”

“Alright. Let’s assume I created a pattern … I don’t know … a bird or a fish. What are the practical applications of the created brand?” Alex asked.

“This is where it becomes really interesting!” Captain said and finally smiled. For some reason this discussion allowed him to relax, “First of all, the brand will act as a shield against the mind attacks. Saints will have to break it apart with their own Qi to take control over the person.”

“So one should create as complex brand as they could?” Alex asked.

“Yes and no.” Captain gave the familiar answer, “If you look from a defensive perspective, then yes. But if you want to create a Qi brand on an object, you’ll need a simpler brand – otherwise it might take you few days to complete it.”

“How does creating a Qi brand on an object correlate with the soul brand?” Alex immediately asked.

“Right, I didn’t explain that yet.” Captain nodded, “After cultivator creates their soul brand, created from soul particles, obviously, and then brand the same pattern with Qi on an object, they can somewhat manipulate that object since both brands resonate with each other.”

“Like branding their own coin purse and catching if they feel it falls?” Alex cheekily smiled.

Captain looked back at him, but then started to laugh heartily and said, “Ye! If they live on the soldier’s salary, it’s a must!”

“So one can brand multiple items, correct?” Alex asked.

“Yes, but it’s a long way for a practitioner who just started out.” Captain said, “In addition, I’m hungry. Let’s stop for today. If you have more ‘hypothetical’ questions, come and ask. I’ll be stuck in this dump for few more years.”

“Thank you very much!” Alex couldn’t repay the man in any way, but the teachings he provided were priceless.

But then curiosity won over him and he said, “May I ask you a personal question?”

“You want to know what the hell I’m doing here?” Captain immediately guessed Alex’s intention, “Don’t you have enough problems already? If I was you, I would run as far as I can and hope that little idiot would forget about me.”

“Thank you, I will.” Alex seriously nodded, “But first I have to figure few things out. I doubt I will find a qualified teacher elsewhere.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Then he slightly bowed and turned to leave.

“I was punished for our loss conquering the Haldenburg.” Captain suddenly said before Alex left the room.

The latter glanced back in surprise, “But Armenidians conquered Haldenburg in a very short war! What loss?”

But captain sighed and explained, “I was the general leading the empire’s forces in this region back then and the loss of two saints was so devastating, the conquering of north-east was considered a loss. Afterwards I was demoted to a captain and now … well … to a babysitter. What? Don’t believe me? Do you think saints grow like mushrooms or something? The whole empire has only couple of hundred of them! Every saint dying is basically cutting off one of empire’s arms.”

“… and the saintess is picking on you because both killed saints were her friends and she blames you, right?” Alex grinned back, “But I must say, two hundred arms doesn’t sound too shabby. It finally makes sense why lady Dalia pampers Robert so much. Still … I can’t believe such idiot could become saint …”

“Mhm.” Captain Tarazi nodded, “Our souls work in mysterious ways, young man … and the appearance of trikuta is somehow related directly to the soul of a person … but how come you’re such a clever one? Where did you come from?”

Alex scratched his head in embarrassment, but in the end told the truth, “You met my father – he was the one who killed your two saints.”

Captain gawked back at him in shock, but after a moment began to laugh hysterically. It took him few minutes to finally calm down and in the end his eyes were all teared up from laughing.

“To think I’m teaching the barbarian’s son!” He said, “No wonder that pack call you a ‘barbarian’ all the time. But I never heard of Phil having a son.”

“I was born after his death.” Alex shrugged, but the captain’s expression completely changed.

“That means you’re seven, right? And you easily knocked out a twelve year old saint candidate! Kiddo … you’ll die, you know that?” He seriously said.

“Mhm.” Alex nodded, “That is why I’m trying to gain as much knowledge as I can. But I don’t understand one thing, though. I don’t intend to go against the empire, and actually my father wouldn’t have had if you guys didn’t assassinate his friend, the governor. Why would anyone want me dead? Besides that clown, of course.”

“Sigh … big politics, my boy, big politics …” Captain shook his head, “Alright, it’s enough chatting for one day. Think about what I said. And one more thing …”

He instinctively looked around the classroom as if verifying no one was hiding somewhere and quietly said, “Check under the emperor’s statue. Slowly infuse your Qi and try to sense its flow. The brand should still be there – he was a hell of a man after all!”

Alex froze in surprise and recovered only after he was left alone in the room. It was logical his father branded his own sword, but to think the brand was still there? The Qi had the natural tendency to dissipate and it seemed unrealistic to remain imprinted in an object for so long.

Alex didn’t go to the emperor’s statue though. First he went home and spent few days cultivating, but this time trying to sense the soul particles the way captain Tarazi suggested.

At first he had no luck and the meditation went just like any other he had done in the current and past lives. After not making immediate progress, Alex decided to approach things more patiently and returned to his previous schedule. In the mornings he jogged to the beach, practiced there and afterwards returned home, helped aunt Hanna around the house and the meditated through the night.

He felt his physical and mental abilities improving and even his sense of smell improved drastically, but after another month of practice he had yet to sense a single soul particle. Alex knew he had to be patient since he didn’t have the inborn talents saints here or chosen back in the Holy empire had. What he did have was an endless amount of time that he had to use properly.

Alex didn’t intend to blindly do the same thing over and over in hopes the long awaited result would appear. After several practice sessions he analyzed the experience and tried to think of new, alternative ways to approach things.

But this time he was out of ideas. He even left his usual spot on the beach and aimlessly walked around the city deep in thoughts.

“Watch it, boy!” A shout startled Alex up from thoughts. Apparently he almost bumped into a passerby who angrily berated him, “If you continue like this, you’ll fall into the river!”

Right, the river Melbe. It was hard to call it a ‘river’ here since it was its delta and it looked more like a bay where Haldenburg was built at. But the river didn’t care and its waters slowly flowed to the sea. This winter was uncharacteristically warm and it didn’t freeze over, and Alex could clearly see the dark waters splashing over the rocks at the riverbank.

Suddenly he froze in shock. The Qi flowed just like the water in the river and the soul particles were just like the stones on the riverbed! In order to find them, he had to ‘feel’ the Qi flow, not look for particles per se!”

“Just how stupid am I!” Alex exclaimed.

The passerby from earlier turned around to agree, but only saw Alex’s back in the distance. He couldn’t wait to get home and try out the new inspiration.

Half an hour later Alex sat on his bed, cross-legged. This time he didn’t force the Qi to flow according to the emperor’s technique, but only slightly alternated its flow without disrupting the natural course. Slowly, minute after minute he sunk into his own consciousness and after unknown period of time began feeling as if he actually was inside of a deep, slow stream.

Alex had felt similar a sensation before, but this time it was somewhat different – he couldn’t even explain it to himself. He simply let the Qi flow wash over him and enjoyed the of bathing in the waters that felt warm and sweet like mother’s milk.

And there it was! The first bump on the riverbed. Alex forced himself to not get excited and tried to feel the Qi flow over that tiny protuberance. The more he observed it, the more distinct it became and soon he felt the Qi washing over it from all sides. This had to be his soul particle!

Alex observed it for a while, inwardly beaming with happiness. For some reason he felt as if he discovered a hidden treasure that would allow him to live happily ever after.

Soon he began to experiment with it. He sent a stronger stream of Qi to wash over it from one side, then from another. He observed how the little spherical object reacted to the changes. Of course, he couldn’t really see it, only feel in the stream of Qi, therefore it seemed like a round object.

Captain Tarazi was right, the soul particle did respond to the Qi flow and soon Alex was able to consciously move it around. The question was – how should he find another one now when he had to concentrate on keeping this one in place? And then, the next one? And then form a pattern creating a brand? Only now Alex began to grasp the level of difficulty of this exercise. And only now he understood why his mother refused to explain him branding techniques – she was right, it was much too early for him back then. In fact, it might be even much too early for him now!

Alex slowly shifted the focus from the soul particle and ‘returned’ to reality. He opened his eyes refreshed and full of strength, but was met with two pairs of eyes filled with worry.