Over the years I learned my name was no longer Hugh Colton but Sylus Evermore sole heir of House Evermore. My new father is Count Albis Evermore and my mother was Countess Lilleanne Evermore. My father rules over the Everhills, a vast swath of hill country filled with both forests, grasslands and a plethora of rivers. His lands have both abundant farmlands with bountiful crops and overflow with wild game. So much so that it might actually be an issue. Seeing as only the nobility can hunt and only in their own lands unless given permission. The wildlife are becoming inherently more aggressive and daring, venturing into the fields of crops, to feast upon its bounties. While the local predators chase after them into populated areas. It has grown so severe that my father regularly organizes hunts with his subordinates, often even inviting local nobility, greater and lesser to participate. I often hear my father lamenting on whether or not to allow peasants to hunt within his territory.
On one such day I suggested he put out bounties for animals that are too numerous or are predatory in his county and the surrounding baronies to see if it would bear fruit. He frowned upon hearing my proposal and said, “It is tradition that only us aristocrats be allowed to hunt, to break this tradition would make us outcasts among our fellow nobles.”
Sylus, “Why not simply make the bounties only available to the greater and lesser nobility?”
Count Evermore, “That will not work my son. There are simply to few of us and we are often preoccupied in our own lands. If I set up such bounties it would seems as if I am trying to poach the lesser nobility from my subordinate barons. Such a thing wouldn’t earn me any favors.”
Sylus, “Hmmm, what if you knight a bunch of your subordinates second, third, fourth, and so on sons then recruit them into an order whose sole purpose is to hunt the local overly populous animals, predatory animals, maybe even local monsters if the need arises? You could call them the Order of the Hunt.”
Count Evermore, “That… Is brilliant! I shall do so with post haste.” He makes to leave before turning back around and saying, “By the way you’re seven years old now… Perhaps it is time you start your education. I shall arrange a tutor on the morrow!” He then turned back around and walked away while waving at me.
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I learned much from my tutor, the local customs, and traditions, the local politics, heck I even learned magic. After about five years I was an adept mage at the 23rd stage and my education was nearing its end. It was in my final lesson I learned something shocking. Mana was not the only supernatural energy. Long ago from The Great Storm Titan Ethereal came Mystic and Arcanum. From Mystic came Mystical Mana then Mana and from Arcanum came Arcana then Arc. Then from The Mad Serpent Titan came Corruption which mixed with Mana and created Miasma. While powerful both Corruption and Miasma drove those it touched to madness and malice. Then one day the spawn of a monster and man discovered Essence. All things have Essence, whether they be Earth, Fire, Air or Water. Even Lifeforms have essence, however all Essence carries the traits of their origin. If one absorbed Earth Essence one would be able to turn Earth Essence into Earth, however the more Earth Essence they absorbed the more their body would resemble Earth, until they themselves are made of living Earth. If one did the same to a cat they would resemble a cat more and more as they absorbed Cat Essence, but they would not be able to create cats from Cat Essence only energy constructs that resembled softly glowing wispy semi transparent cats, also known as cat spirits. Eventually one would become a real furry. However absorbing essence from life forms like cats or otherwise harms them and can easily kill them if you drain too much essence from them.
It was then during that final lesson that it hit me. What if one purified the essence from life forms, would one get pure life essence and if so what could one do with it? I decided I needed to find out. After class I had some servant children catch mice for me. I then drew a magic circle with English on the ground around it designed to drain its essence. Afterwards what I ended up with was a softly glowing gray smoky crystal marble with mouse shapes appearing inside it from the gray smoke every now and then. I then created another magic circle, designed to refine the mouse essence by removing the mouse traits from it and separating it into another marble. The result was a glowing bright green marble of life force and a small gray marble with a light gray double helix pattern within it. Excited I decided to double check and attempted to infused the green marble into a wounded cat one of the servants owned. Apparently a snake had bitten its paw. When I brought the green marble close to the cat and pushed the energy within into the cat it’s paw healed. I observed the cat and found it perfectly healthy in my amateur opinion and free of any mouse traits. I then looked at the green marble and it was smaller. I had done it! I had discovered a new energy. I shall call it Prana.
With a small marble of prana in my hand I approached the dead mouse it was drained from and attempted to infused with the prana. It worked. The mouse was resurrected and seemed to be doing fine if not somewhat lethargic. Putting aside the mouse I took a different mouse and attempted to draw out its soul with another magic circle. A small gray bead surrounded by a white flame floated above the mouse. I then attempted to purify the soul with another magic circle around the one that drew out the mouse’s soul. I watched as the gray bead in the middle cracked and shatters then turned to white smoke along with the white flame. Slowly the soul energy faded as it dispersed into the air. I named it Qi.