Karma's eyes fluttered open to unprecedented clarity. As if ushering in an age of renaissance, today's universe felt like a harbinger of inspiration, laying bare all its secrets.
Beguiled by eagerness, Karma flung his bedding aside and dropped to the wooden floor, assuming a lotus position. Feverishly, he recalled the scene of Elder Li's conjuring spirit flame.
First, there is Will, establishing communication with the ambient spiritual energy.
Invisible tendrils extended from his consciousness into reality.
Then comes Intent, imposing the shape of order, restricting myriad possibilities to one's sole vision.
An infernal tempest commandeered his mind's eye, searing reality with its plasmatic flares. Karma's intent took inspiration from the sun's celestial heat, Lord Sheng's blazing fury, and the burning of his soul upon glancing at the infinite golden network.
Last begets Mechanics, illuminating the path of evolution.
Pulling on his memories, Karma recalled the horrifying shrieking noise evoked by Elder Li's ignition. Digging deeper, he pictured the sparks manifested by his and Sister Lin's spiritual energy collision above the Disk Dueler arena.
Everything coalesced into a single, immutable concept: Friction.
SCREE.
Refocusing with ineffable joy, he watched as spiritual energy combusted into a beautiful white flame—
BOOM.
Correction, black.
**
Karma stirred to an acrid stench. Blinking away tears, he woke to soot and cinder, his former position scorched beyond recognition.
"Wait," he mumbled, looking down, "if I'm not there, where am I?"
Hsss.
His body was a mess of gore. Charred to a reddish-black, Karma's midsection had practically incinerated, a one-inch chunk just ... gone.
"My wound is cauterized. Not bleeding. Spatial pouch ... survived ... wrong ... wrong?"
Karma scrunched his nose.
"Explosion ... injured ... ash ... pain ... dying!"
Assaulted by intense vertigo, he barely summoned a vial between his teeth.
Crunch.
A river of green surged down Karma's throat, glass shards raking his tissue in passing. The world dimmed as encroaching darkness blotted his vision.
One by one, they abandoned him.
Breath, heartbeat, thought.
Helpless, he lay there, waiting for the end.
The embers of his life danced their final dance.
Flickering, waning, dying.
He begged his body to move. Pleaded for it to fight.
No response.
**
Mind and body detached, drifting asunder in a boundless abyss, severed by an ocean of emptiness. From the depths of nothingness, a voice resounded, familiar yet estranged:
To pursue the peak is to surpass all else.
In the infinite expanse, an entity exists with more.
More aptitude, more drive, more persistence.
Look past these mortal qualities; they span existence yet fail to surpass it.
They are pitiful.
Gaze upon true success, that which is eternal.
What does time chase? Time chases the end of time.
What about space? Space chases beyond space.
The pinnacle is not a game of mortals but a law of induction.
What do I chase?
My objective transcends the external and embraces the internal.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I chase myself.
Admittedly, I am biased.
Others use my traditional title, but Father always used my nickname.
Ouroboros.
**
For the third time, Karma regained awareness. The first instance was exuberant, the second was dazed, and the last:
"Are you fucking with me!? What am I, cursed?"
Karma let loose a rancorous roar. Rising from the ground, he furiously stomped the fractured vial beside him.
"Every."
Bam!
"Damn."
Bam!
"Healing."
Bam!
"Medication."
Bam!
"AAH!"
Noticing a lack of feedback, his foot stalled, uncovering silvery powder. Failing to assuage his rage, he frenziedly swiveled around for lingering detritus fit for destruction.
...
Composing himself with a deep breath, Karma murmured, "Why?"
Volume dropping to a whisper, he concluded, "Owning a remedy should be a contingency, not an invitation for abuse. Some forms of broken cannot be stitched together."
Exhaling a turbid breath, Karma fought to recapture a state of equilibrium.
Today has been nothing but beatdowns. I need a win, a consolation to balance out the negative.
Peering at the blackened floor, he couldn't help but hesitate. Interrupting his dawdling, the esoteric soliloquy from moments ago echoed in his ears:
My objective transcends the external and embraces the internal.
"I chase myself," declared Karma, aglow with renewed determination.
Probing his spatial pouch, he swiftly procured an unassuming manuscript, its cover reading: "Mechanics: A Beginner's First Slice."
Page after page fluttered by, Karma's hawklike gaze flitting past numerous lines of text.
Freezing, Karma's lips curled upwards. He found the missing piece:
Armed with newfound comprehension, you may be tempted to move on to applications. Ignore that impulse and read the passage below; only then should you begin experimenting.
The three concepts of will, intent, and mechanics are conventionally bundled together due to their shared abstraction, NOT because they represent a complete set.
To form a complete set requires a stabilizing element: Spiritual energy. The absence of this stabilizing element is commonly referred to as "undefined behavior." Or, for the average beginner, "suicidal behavior."
In short, inject spiritual energy into anything and everything or risk perishing in agony.
Readiness achieved; go forth and conquer!
**
Karma sat cross-legged atop charred wooden planks, eager to triumph where he once failed.
Will.
Semi-corporeal tendrils intruded the space opposite Karma, veins of spiritual energy coursing through their length.
Intent.
A tongue of white flame swayed within his consciousness. Unlike its overbearing predecessor, its peculiarity lay in its perplexity, as if incompatible with the natural world.
"The pinnacle is not a game of mortals but a law of induction," he mouthed.
Mechanics.
Karma flinched at a spontaneous fwoosh. Warily cracking an eyelid, a sputtering white flame came into view.
Karma opened both eyes slowly—this time on his own terms. Gently approaching the flame, a tangible heat blew against his skin, dissipating upon contact with his spiritual energy.
Stretching his hand out, Karma called out to the flame.
It responded.
**
"Greetings disciples, congratulations on summoning your spirit fires."
"Greetings, Elder Li!"
"Completing the objective, on the first day no less, presents you all with both an opportunity and a trial."
Before the disciples could digest the news, an irresistible force engulfed the lecture hall, rendering them completely immobile.
Elder Li, devoid of his usual placidity, intoned:
"The Abyssal Crow Sect subscribes to a hierarchical structure. Do not mistake this for a bureaucratic formality. Cherish your ranking as you cherish your future; for here, they are one and the same."
He paused, solemnly surveying the gallery of disciples.
"Ranks entitle privilege, but the quantity is finite. To sit here today means you—intermediate-ranked disciples—have exhausted that allowance."
The clearing sank into silence, coinciding with the domineering aura's recession.
Elder Li never acts without reason; restoring our movement has a purpose, but what?
Eyes lighting up, Karma's raised hand breached the perennial stillness, drawing the Elder's attention.
He said he likes questions … right?
"Can we have some more?"
I'm an idiot.
Enduring the looks of apathy at his front and scorn from behind, Karma considered lighting another Extermination Flame—hopeful the embarrassment might perish amid his bombastic demise.
Astonishingly, Elder Li chuckled.
"Indeed you may."
Waving his sleeve, he distributed a stack of Jade Slips to the flabbergasted disciples. Smiling in amusement, his figure became illusory before disappearing in a poof.
Standing out from his cohort, who were either lost in confusion or studying their Jade Slips, Karma dawned a strange expression.
A clone! I thought it was weird for someone so brilliant to waste time educating a group of novices.
Finally, he joined his peers in studying the Jade Slip and began reading the words inked on its surface: "Promotion Trial: Advanced Rank."
Donning a pensive visage, Karma weighed the pros and cons of advancing in the sect hierarchy.
On the one hand, Elder Li's unique teaching style and incredible profundity are invaluable.
Karma raised the Jade Slip closer to his forehead.
However, he failed to communicate the fatal details concerning the usage of spiritual energy in spirit flame conjuring.
Down it went.
Now that I think about it, Elder Li didn't give explicit instructions in his demonstration. So, it was a failure on my part.
Back up.
And I still have my information brokerage business venture, which will receive a massive boon once the Perennial O' clan fulfills their end.
Decisively placing the Jade Slip on his forehead, he circulated his spiritual energy to extract its contents.
----------------------------------------
Promotion Trial: Advanced Rank Disciple
Variety: Hunter Gatherer
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Requirements:
* The fresh corpse of a Starprowler Doe
* Three pints of Aurora Nectar
* Any head at or exceeding rank five of the Qi Formation realm (body and sentience not required, unclear anatomy evaluated on a case-by-case basis)
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Rules:
* No outside assistance. This applies to any external entity not acquired through the merits of the practitioner. Violators and their accomplices will be exterminated
* Hunting and gatherer assignments must be legitimate. Artificially procured corpses will be accepted but not recognized (extinct species evaluated on a case-by-case basis)
* Inflexible time limit of three (3) months. No exceptions will be granted, including extraordinary circumstances
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Assessment & Rewards:
* Determined based on speed and completion rate, evaluated as follows:
* A: Choice of high-grade Qi Formation artifact, successful advancement
* B: Choice of mid-grade Qi Formation artifact, successful advancement
* C: Choice of low-grade Qi Formation artifact, partial advancement
* D-F: Discuss next steps with your mentor
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