The amount of power an individual can handle directly without harming themselves is dependent on their soul and their physical body. This also tends to relate directly to an individual’s longevity as the simple act of holding power enhances the natural recovery of a body. While in general the human and anthropomorphic species have a lower capacity to hold power than for instance the draconic races if a sufficiently powerful soul resides in them it can make up for the difference.
Which brings us to the matter of how souls accumulate power, in the most basic of terms it’s by accumulating experience. The weakest souls will have almost no memories attached to them, as it’s born, lives, and dies, only to be born again from the cycle it will accumulate experience and memories of past lives it can draw on, the longer a life last the more memories it attaches to the soul. Once it reaches a certain level of accumulated experience it becomes possible to recall past lives from that point forward. This system isn’t perfect as shorter lives can result in memories being lost, and if your mind in your current life lacks the appropriate context for memories it can forget them. In a tangible representation of a soul these experiences are represented by protective shells that encase the core of the soul. Short lifespans, particularly brutal deaths, and certain other actions taken against the soul that have been expressly forbidden by every awakened power in existence can result in these layers of protection being stripped away or broken which will also result in the loss of memories.
Consider this a warning- while those with the correct sensitivity can manipulate the energy of a soul to devastating and miraculous effect it’s strongly discouraged as permanent damage to the soul can return it’s existence to the weakest levels, or in more extreme circumstances cripple the soul and cut off it’s principle functions in more detrimental ways.
Andras Frostson “Fundamentals of Energy Work”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The area for the baptism was a barren field filled with a white haze that obscured anything past a few feet, it would have seemed almost ethereal if not for the screams of agony from the soldiers currently being tormented by their worst memories turning it into a pale imitation of the actual hells. I relied on memory to guide me through the area to the source of it’s power where Synbel had left a broad padded couch and a steaming pot of tea. Marisa gently opened the pot and sniffed it before smiling “Apple tea, seems they expected me to join you.” I nodded and settled onto the couch taking advantage of the extra space to stretch out my legs while Marisa conjured up a cup and wiggled under me so I was laying with my head and shoulders on her lap looking up. I took a deep breath mentally counting to ten before exhaling it the same way and closed my eyes as I centered myself.
“Focus on my voice, what you’re feeling is the result of your power being ruled by your emotions. The only way to make it stop is to separate them. Find your core, the thing that defines you and focus on it, feel it’s pull and push as your power moves in response to your thoughts and emotions.” My voice carried out as I released a predatory aura creating a stifling oppression for those that couldn’t muster enough power or will of their own and gradually the screaming began to die down after the initial shouts of frenzied panic. “Much better. Consider this your introduction to magic. The reason you’re training here with our best is because your souls haven’t accumulated the necessary metaphysical mass to retain memories between lifetimes. No shame in that, honestly given how rare it is on earth I was quite surprised at the number of people among Earth’s militaries that had managed it. Usually, you need to have a couple very long lives before that happens. But you can’t wield strong power without a strong soul and the only way to gain that is to live through experiences that engrave themselves into your soul’s memory. That’s why were here, over the next however long it takes till I judge your ready I will give you those experiences. There is a risk you will lose your mind, if that happens, I will personally see the memories wiped away and you will be discharged and we will find work among the civilians for you. Those that manage to retain their sense of self will continue their training with a new understanding of why you’re here. So let’s begin.” With that I settled deeper into my spot and released the barriers in my mind that kept me from bleeding my emotions and thoughts over the entire planet. “This is also so you know the sort of man that will be leading you, and as you weigh what your about to go through you should know- I would do it all again”
“War,” I began. “Has been a constant almost as long as intelligent beings have existed. I should know I was among the first. War on Earth is relatively easy and painless by comparison to those in which magic is a weapon and tool. My first fight I was disemboweled” As the words left my mouth I projected the memory out, the feel, smell, and visuals as a set of four massive claws raked across my stomach spilling vitals across the earth beneath. “It was my first experience with true pain, but that was nothing compared to the feeling of my body mending,” again another sensory flash as my intestines flowed backwards into me in a macabre mockery of a waterfall, the searing pain as they twisted and realigned to their proper place and the freezing burn as the skin stitched itself back together. And with that I began recounting every injury I could recall from a fight small and large and the feeling of the healing afterwards. I recounted countless millennia of fighting being carried on my voice. A spear piercing through feathered wings, teeth grinding on bones, the terrible agony as something with far to many teeth and an oversized muzzle bit down and ripped out everything in my abdomen to the right of my spine, a group pulling me down and beating and me till my wings were barely stubs and I didn’t have an unbroken bone, the frustration and anger of recovering from what should have been crippling injuries.
“But the wounds are not the worst part of a war, the loss and what you do in response are just as great. I have knelt and screamed my anger over a thousand corpses even as I knew I would meet those souls again in time” countless memories poured out of me and washed over the now whimpering soldiers the magic of the space we occupied warping their memories so they saw their friends, parents, children and siblings going limp as the last light faded. “But being able to manipulate the very nature of our reality also brings horror like earth has never witnessed. I have had my very soul flayed and torn” short screams echoed out as I recalled every time I’d endured the worst torture that had been conceived, the feel of your mind unraveling as something intrinsically you was beat, sliced, and stripped bare a man that was more mental than physical but hurt all the more for it. “I have watched worlds burn, and frozen entire solar systems” the memory of standing high above a planet as a visible wall of heat passed over it leaving nothing behind but molten stone and metal followed by a memory of standing in a valley as power poured out of my body in an intoxicating rush the landscape around me freezing and shattering under it’s own weight as it reached temperatures no material could endure. Then back to the memories of more intimate battles of swords piercing and slicing my body, the feel of sharp fangs ripping through flesh and the hot taste of blood in my mouth. Again and again, I kept pouring out the most brutal memories from lifetimes so long the existence of human history was barely the blink of an eye. The soldiers around us screamed and whimpered as the enchantment woven into the land around us took those memories and manifested them on their bodies making the pain real for them. Even as my memories ran dry of horrors, I let another barrier in my mind come down and embraced my connection to the cold and the memories of millions and billons of souls echoed through that connection and poured out into the world around us. Children shivering as they froze to death, a man slicing his hand on a sharp icicle as he tried to climb out of a cave, a woman bleeding out in the snow as a man pushed on barefoot through a field of ice even as his feet turned black. And also, memories of children celebrating solstice laughing with innocent cheer as they played games. The memories all across reality touched by both the destructive and preserving chill that had been frozen since before the first souls recognized the passage of time poured over me; and I barely acknowledged them as they were shunted into the spellbound soldiers who had never experienced even a fraction of what they now felt and saw with their own bodies.
Even if I was trying my best not to feel what was passed to the soldiers around us the memories and sensations were in a very real way tied to me. As the Prime Elemental of Ice I was in essence the source and anchor for all cold in existence. That also included all the memories and emotions tied to the cold by other souls which I generally kept a solid barrier in my mind to block out because it was overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact that my mind had drifted and become detached from the sensations of my physical body which I was dimly aware Marisa was holding in place as it was wracked with seizure like convulsions while she herself struggled to keep the sensations I was broadcasting from affecting her as she began to softly murmur to me.
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“That’s enough, my love. Raise your walls and come back to us. They are strong enough, set aside your burdens and come back to us.”
I focused on the steady rhythm of her voice, anchoring myself to the sound and the warm emotions she was pushing into me as I fought to rebuild the barriers in my mind. As I regained control of my body I impulsively pushed myself up and kissed her, drawing on her energy and letting it flow through me and back into her as was our normal custom and she responded in kind. The rest of the world faded away except her and I finally pulled back from the extended kiss with a grin feeling my body tingle with dense and heavily refined energy that feeding from someone that intimately always created. And saw her grinning.
“What?”
“I think you were still broadcasting when you kissed me. The boys are going to need some time to recover.” She replied and a voice echoed out of the mist in response before I could say anything.
“Ma’am, ain’t no man recovering from that. Think I speak for everyone when I ask if we can get some fresh uniforms and maybe have someone teach my wife that.” His voice had the unmistakable rough and lazy tone of orgasmic afterglow and Marisa blushed.
“Right, let’s just say that was a good memory to chase away that terror. Everyone try and group up the mist should be clearing and there are some things to say before I take you back for fresh clothes and a hearty meal.” I stood up and offered Marisa a hand her natural tan doing little to hide the bright blush as she waved it off and promptly vanished. I made a minor effort of will to rewarm the tea and poured a cup sipping it in silence as I listened to the soldiers compose themselves. By the time I had finished the cup the mist had dispersed along with the enchantments on the land and the soldiers had managed to form into ranks. Most of them looked exhausted and haggard, their uniforms soaked through with sweat.
“To start, congratulations on making it through that, believe me when I say I know exactly how brutal that is and that quite a few souls have destroyed themselves rather than deal with even a portion of those memories. As I said before we separated you out from the others we shanghaied into this because you didn’t have multiple lifetimes of memories to draw on. They have their own initiations of sorts to go through, in their cases rather than having memories and experiences shoved into their head they had all their old memories forced to the front. If you think this was bad imagine dozens or hundreds of lifetimes of your own memories being made completely fresh. Still that doesn’t make what you went through less harrowing, and it wasn’t without some unique benefits.” I stood up and walked towards where Hector was standing at the front of the row.
“I know how the rumor mill works with soldiers, so I also know all of you here are aware Hector didn’t sleep in the barracks last night. This isn’t a punishment for him, but I’m assuming his bedmate already explained the point of this.” I grabbed Hector’s shoulder and flung him into the air with a startled shriek. “What you just experienced was intended to strengthen your souls. The main perk of this is that you can handle far more energy than before without burning out your brains, that particular experience is unpleasant and messy for everyone involved. That said, holding more power has some other perks.” There was a loud thump from behind me and I pointed over my shoulder. “Case in point, Hector just fell about half a mile through open air with no preparation or safety measures.”
There was a groan followed by the shuffling of feet as Hector returned to his position.
“Shrug it off, you won’t have more than some sore muscles. As you can see, a larger energy well to draw on improves your body functions. That means increased strength, stamina, and durability among other things. It was probably hard to grasp due to the effects of the trees, but our morning run was done at about forty kilometers an hour, or for those of you still stuck on the imperial system roughly twenty-five miles an hour if you exclude the time spent standing and resting. That was thanks to Exzo and Davina rebuilding your bodies when they were patching you up, now doing three or four times that shouldn’t be beyond your abilities. On top of that you can be considered immune to nearly any disease and even without medical intervention you’ll recover even from broken bones in a few days. You’re going to put that newfound endurance to work for the rest of the training.” I paused and looked at the soldiers.
“Now some important details. Do not under any circumstances talk about what you experienced here. This was a ritual of sorts, one that can only be performed by a limited number of people and hasn’t been done in a very long time. An Elemental baptism essentially adopts you into the family of a prime element, since I’m the only one of my siblings free to act for reasons we won’t discuss that means you’ve all become Ice elementals of one sort or another. That’s going to give you a hefty boost in power, and also make it easier to do any sort of energy manipulation involving cold. It’s also going to make you more resistant to feeling the effects of extreme temperatures, which I will warn you does not make you immune to those effects. So keep in mind not feeling cold doesn’t mean you wont have to worry about frost bite, and not feeling hot also won’t make you immune to heat stroke. Make a stupid mistake and trust me the healers WILL make you regret it. Your going to get some bare bones history lessons during your training to explain why, but simply put Elementals aren’t exactly popular with everyone, and some have particularly violent responses to us.” I took a deep breath and shoved aside the unpleasant memories.
“Once we return, you’ll be spending time with the instructors. They are going to put you through exercises to learn the new limits of your body and how to control it, that means time running laps in the arena and time with weights. On top of exercises everyone will also be doing some unarmed sparing and combat training. Those of you with medical training are also going to be getting your first specialized lessons with Davina and Exzo.” I flashed a predatory grin at the troop formation, “And trust me you will be getting plenty of hands-on practice. All if you just went through a growth spurt that will make your hormone ridden teen selves loos elegant and graceful, except instead of bruised shins your going to be running the risk of dismemberment if you’re not careful.” Which was true, Marisa had adapted at an astonishing rate to her increased power but Drystan and Synbel had still spent months constantly repairing equipment and fixing the holes she’d made in the walls when she reacted to quickly to things. Even now she still occasionally got out of bed with enough speed and strength to fin herself on the other side of the wall to the small en-suite bathroom. “Just so where clear that’s going to be all you do beyond conditioning training until your instructors are confident you can get out of bed without launching yourself across the room. Once you have control of your body then we will start on how to use your power for more than punching things, till then I would prefer you avoid trying to figure it out on your own. Your squad mates will likely feel strongly if you atomize their skull or limbs by accident, to say nothing of how annoyed Davina and Exzo will be that they have to heal and reattach their soul, your all former soldiers, you should know the value of a happy medic and doc.” I raised my hand to my side and mimed opening a door and a door way shimmered into existence leading back to the training barracks. “Change your clothes, get cleaned, and then assemble in the hall. I pulled some strings so you will all be getting some of the best food you could imagine. Do good in your training and we might make your next reward a hunting trip to catch the ingredients for you.” There was a wary shuffle and with a sign I went through the doorway and gestured to Synbel as I came out.
“Give them some time to clean, they smell of fear and sweat, do some light work outs and Katas and have the others pull the makings of a feast from the deep cellars, and don’t skimp. That means Odin’s mead, Idunn’s Cyser, go ahead and roast up a lesser dragon and some luan, those herbs from Airmed, and invite Aegir and Freyr to visit us.”
“Both of them commander? We’ll be lucky if the recruits can stand tomorrow as it is, those two at a feast means we’ll be lucky if they can start training next month.” He replied cocking his head. Which was true, Both men were famous for their celebrations, but I was also hoping Aegir would bring his cauldron so I didn’t have to empty out all my wine cellars.
“That sounds very much like a them problem. One way or another they will be back to training tomorrow, even if that means I have to get Kerion to burn the alcohol out of them. Besides I’m not inviting Freyr for the soldiers. I’m inviting him in hopes his sister and Lady Saiga would come. The three of them would be perfect host to introduce the civilians to some of the neighbors without inciting a riot. If Odin shows up they can send him to the soldiers. Besides, this is the first time I ever created a frost touched, I’d say being adopted into the elementals as second generations a celebration is in order for that alone.”
“And will you be joining us?”
“No, these men aren’t used to a commander that drinks and feast with them. I’m going to be in town. I haven’t introduced myself to the citizens and me and Marisa should probably hold a relaxed court and let them air their grievances.