The Celestial Forge
By: Schin Ka’Tharos
CHAPTER 10
(Part 1)
When peace ends, it all ends.
~
In the brief stillness prior to our conflict some of my grandfather's final words echoed in my head.
The path is only for you to forge.
My Grandfather’s last words. Before they killed him. Thinking of his death brought pain and anger.
The Jackals never got a chance to charge. I would dictate this fight on my terms.
I vaulted into their ranks and took them by surprise. Once among them their stench of decay and death swept over me. The thoughts of death enraged me even more. My right fist connected with the jaw of the death scout that still chewed upon my flesh.
As I had lunged I shifted from the Heart of Five Foundations soulforging technique into the only shaping spellforging technique I knew, Edge of the Flowing Lotus. Most sects, clans, orders, or schools have a variation of this technique, in its most basic form and application it’s a shaped vector of essence that is expelled like an arrow or thrown blade. Since I was only a 5th Apprentice and had not reached the 1st Disciple stage I was only capable of very limited spellforging through physical touch and had hoped to release the technique right when my strike landed on the jackal. Thus literally punching a hole in the creature’s head.
But my forging was too slow, too sloppy. I was too ill-practiced, too weak. No technique formed. My punch blasted into the creature's jaw and shattered it beyond use, but so too shattered was my entire hand. My body was too weak, a 4th Apprentice can't punch a high Disciple and expect a good result.
I feinted a few steps away and ducked under a swipe of a different jackal which stood on its hind legs and loomed over me with its three eyed stare. It’s fouled crimson claws trailed arcane energy as it passed over my head, no doubt containing the creature's primitive version of a technique. I thrust up into the jackals midsection, headbutting it and bowling the creature over.
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I managed to hit the ground with my feet under me and immediately shot off into a dead sprint. My shoulder and back trailed my blood as I ran. The jackal I had just toppled had managed to rake my back with its other claw as I had closed the distance. I was thankful that it seemed like a normal claw wound and not infused with any arcane attack.
My Jun’dok training and advancement was crucial to my survival and was the only reason I had lasted those few seconds. However, I had taken too much damage already and had inflicted minimum damage to my enemy.
In fact, I hadn't even critically wounded a single one of them. There was still an entire pack to fight.
The one thing I had accomplished was an improvement in my positional situation in the fight. I had managed to myself to maneuver myself outside the ring of my circling foes and placed the pack to my back. I had known that I wouldn't last if I remained completely surrounded. I also knew I couldn't outpace them for more than a few dozen yards once the shock and chaos of those first seconds wore off.
I began to turn and prepare my sole shaping technique again, confident I could succeed this time.
I remember my deep determination when spellforging the Edge of the Flowing Lotus. I remember the split second when hope turned to bitter despair as the technique began to slip away and I realized that I had stopped my Soulforging technique to process the celestial rain still bursting within me. I remember my frenzied forging that followed. At that time I had no understanding of what then transpired. Looking back now, I am aware that I unwittingly began to Nest my techniques together.
In my untethered and wild emotional, physical and situational state I layered and mixed all of the spellforging techniques together that I had learned, and created a patchwork amalgam of crafted, enforced and shaped techniques.
The floodgates opened and raw Celestial power burst forth from within me.
My unscripted and chaotic technique triggered the release of the immense amount of celestial essence that was surging within me. I say technique, but in truth I scarcely Forged or shaped at all and merely tried to guide the torrent of power as it exploded from my body.
Veins of pure celestial essence erupted out of me and writhed around like thin currents of liquid lightning. While the essence flowed out from my entire body the primary torrent was from the Voidseye on my arm. The endless deep black of the Voidseye mark now glowed a radiant blue white.
The essence flowed and formed its own natural designs around me.
The thin celestial lines shifted and moved in and out of symbols and patterns of the natural world. They are the same patterns and symbols one can find at any of the high altars of the Order of the Celestial Heavens or covering the Unbound Monoliths of Supaldra if you have been blessed to have had the chance to walk among either. If you pay attention you can find these patterns hidden amongst the leaves of your local forest, the ever-blowing sands or even in the turning in the waters of the Sunken Sea.
Externally I was covered in an intricate interlacing canvas of pure power. Internally I was infused with a burgeoning maniacal delirium . Both threatened to consume me. I could feel the unbridled overwhelming pressure overtaking me. I needed a release.
I dove back into their ranks and the massacre began.
NEXT CHAPTER...
Chapter 10: When Peace Ends (Part 2)