Chapter 10 - Before the wall
I woke to a prompt.
~Initial breakthrough success! Your auspicious start on the long road of cultivation has been noted!~
~Achievement earned! ERROR~
Ignoring that, I looked around and I noticed I wasn’t in a hospital room, but instead a sparsely furnished room. My armor was on a stand in the corner, with my sword hung by the hilt on a hook near it. An open doorway revealed a privy while other than the bed I was laying on, just a desk sat on my other side. Stirring myself I got to my feet and walked to the armor stand to get ready. With a look within I noticed my new core, full of swirling power and rotating. The meridians connecting to it and throughout my body seemed glossed and sturdy.
Holding in my excitement I finished the buckles and straps of my armor and hefted my blade, securing it to my hip. I stepped forward, my room not overly small but enough to move a bit around the bed, opening the door I saw the familiar tunnels in the coliseum. As I exited I followed the arrows etched into them and shrugged as I followed them into the arena proper. Exiting into a bright sun I saw it had to be almost noon, by old standards, anyway.
Looking across I saw the various groups in the middle of harsh drills, training as if their lives depended on it, because it did. Except for one key difference from last time. There were elemental energies being flung about everywhere. As I locked onto the group of spellblades I saw a variety of magic that surprised me, a huge change from yesterday. Healers were all along the sides of not just my fellows, but the other groups, power teeming, the air thick with essence.
As I jogged forward I noted the familiar faces and grinned as I saw them fighting the wood-elves. Something told me the wood-elves were holding back, while the force of power my compatriots were showing were incredibly impressive. Coming near A’dal split off from where he was flitting across the sparring and stopped me just outside the range of battle.
“Well, sleepy-head! Welcome back!” A’dal grinned at me as he looked me up and down and I felt the uncomfortable sensation of someone looking into my center. “You did well! If not for the time chamber we placed you in to recover you would have missed today! Worry not, it happens to everyone eventually, though not quite so drastic this early.” At the confusion on my face he chuckled. “You aren’t the only impressive standout to break-through yesterday.” He nodded to the group of spellblades, “quite a few of your peers showed impressive resolve as well, the resilience of you earthlings is heartening.”
We both looked over the scene and I immediately noticed the difference in our group compared to others. The density coming off their elemental energies were on average a higher tier from what I could tell from the distant spars of the other classes. Of course in my mind, it only made sense. A’dal had mentioned previously this path was not for everyone. Individually, we may be the strongest participants in the trial.
“Though, one of your number did die going further than his capabilities would allow him. It’s to be expected, going forward.”
I looked at him sharply, “Who?”
He just sighed, “Don’t know, used a sword and had light mail, I don’t care to learn your names before the first battles have even been fought, no point.” It actually would be a waste of time and effort. So I didn’t comment. “Come, let us have a quick bout. Your initial steps were good, even by multiverse standards. Not ground-breaking but a solid step forward on paving your foundations for the future. Come.” And with that he distanced himself and drew both blades instead of just one this time. “Start easy and we will work our way up. Today is all about learning your limits with your new powers.”
My eyebrows were raised in surprise as I drew my blade and stepped forward, setting myself. I cycled my power for the first time and the previous trickle I used to grab was viscous no longer feeling like a series of particles. I pulled for more until my meridians no longer felt completely empty. Looking at my core I noticed nothing had changed. It was still full, the amount I was now pulling able to be kept up for an extremely long period.
I tensed my legs and dashed forward. Immediately passing A’dal openly laughing right before I hit the ground shoulder first and tumbling in the sands. Laughter was clear in his voice, “Come now, oh nascent legend! I know that’s not everything! Take your time!” Getting to my feet I glared at the smiling instructor. He seemed to be having the time of his life, the prick. If that's what he wanted then, that's what he’ll get! I concentrated on my core and pulled the deep red fire in quantities I couldn't have before and let loose through my offhand, through one of my four points. Billows of fire spread outwards towards him and across the sands, and the result was underwhelming against my opponent. Through the haze I saw his shimmering blades slash apart what I wrought, as he sped towards me. “Don’t focus on only one thing!” I was shoulder checked as he came at me with speed that defied logic, bursting through the flames he looked like a god of war.
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Once more tumbling through the sand I was becoming increasingly frustrated. Funneling the light blue power into my meridians, then my body I started cautiously, one step at a time. My sudden speed increases, making everything jerk. I frowned in consternation as I looked at A’dal who actually had something productive to say. “Get a feel for it, I'll wait. With every power increase everything needs to be balanced, find it.”
Comprehension dawning on me, I stood in a pseudo meditation and guiding power through all of my meridians instead of just one. Another few steps forward and was jarred again. Looking closely at the energy flow, I noticed only the muscles I was engaging in the forward movement were receiving energy. Everything else was left behind in a way, creating the sensation of my momentum overtaking parts of my body. Another step forward and I was jarred slightly less. I realized I’d have to engage all of them at once to one degree or another. As I worked out the correct way to diffuse the energy to my different muscles the dickhead chimed in again.
“Your body hasn’t been tempered yet, but that's for the good! This will increase your skills with essence manipulation!”
Looking up at him I exclaimed, “What the fuck is body tempering?”
“Don’t worry about it! It's the next step! You’re not even close to it!”
“I hate you!”
“I’m glad!”
“Fuck you!”
“You couldn’t afford it!”
I swore right then, to one day be able to kick his snarky ass.
Going forward I actively concentrated on diffusing my energy in ever increasing outward and inward energies throughout my body, seeing how the propelled movements put the rest of my body out of equilibrium. This was, in effect, simple physics. Every action has an equal opposite reaction, with the increased power I went through it wasn’t like before where everything was diffuse and weak, my body then naturally compensated, but this was just too much. I continued experimenting with A’dal on watch. But the real show was inside my body as I created an orchestra of mingling energies going back and forth within, just to keep my movements steady.
I felt progress was quick as I went from darting around the arena to actively using attacks against A’dal in tandem. Back and forth we went, sometimes he attacked with speed to surprise me while I did my utmost to keep my speed going. My core drained slowly. Within two hours the toll it took was a third of its power, increasing as more variables were introduced. Soon our blades started ringing across the sands and the shock of meeting an equal or greater force was imposed, causing my actions to falter until I learned to keep extra energy cycling, not just for what was happening, but what might. Until suddenly, it was over.
A’dal looked at me and addressed the sparring wood elves and spellblades. “Enough, we have gleaned from this exercise today what we could.” After a trip to the mess hall where we all ate ravenously, we went to the wall again. Instructed to cycle our energy the entire way our progress was half again as fast as last time, and I quickly found myself leading the pack. Out of my peripherals I saw energy coming off the running spellblades, but if I tried to concentrate it disappeared. As we neared the wall itself I already saw a large group up top, dwarfing the size of our own. Warriors in heavy plate armor lined the walls in a row of two deep. Archers were behind them on the back railing, but now with railing behind them almost up to their waists. As we ran up the steps and encountered them they were checking their armor and making sure they had full quivers.
As a group we gathered, Druskil, the full plate wearer of the spellblades to my right and Lucas to my left, hand on his katana. I looked at both and nodded as I noticed the woman right behind me. The archer was talented and I had no doubt with her at my back. I glanced at her, “Good to have you with us still.”
“Yes sir, we are behind you, no matter what.” Her eyes gleamed with fervor as she looked at me, expecting answers I did not have.
Ignoring the implications of a zealous follower, I just nodded at her and looked forward. Another group was arriving unlike any others, dressed in all white robes, and carrying incense burners from medieval times; the smallest group came forward. The smoke wafting back and forth they came forward steadily, a hum coming from the few dozen lips. As they entered between the archers and frontline warriors they stopped as their incense, hanging from chains raised by a bar in every other hand, washed over the collective, eventually hitting us with the fumes.
The feeling was subtle but invigorating. Healers. A woman in full plate raised into the air above the wall and our attention was arrested by her, Another blue woman. “You Idiots will now experience true death.” What the fuck? “You are the so-called elites of your race in each respective war category. Do not die.” With that she floated down leaving everyone but the heavily armored front confused.
A’Dal spoke up “Ahem. What she means is,” the man shot a glare toward the storm kelpie. “If you have been helped during previous exercises, this will not happen now. As you can see we take up an entire quarter of the wall, and we have petitioned the system and it granted us an early wave due to circumstances out of your control but what should have been avoided. That’s all I’m allowed to say, you have three minutes to prepare. Survive.” With that he and all instructors present left.
Fuckin WHAT!?