Uzman walked out of the room and sat outside thinking about what had transpired. He was alone in the compound as the other students had gone for the foundations of cultivation class. After calming down, he went back inside the house and picked up the pendant gingerly. He evened his breathing to still his roiling emotions and achieved a heightened state of mind. He allowed his awareness to fixate on the pendant and realized it was a form of storage device. He had heard stories and seen Lady Tameria with such a device even though hers was in the form of a ring. In passing, he wondered why he had been able to access the storage now. He practiced for a bit, forcing his awareness into the ring and then withdrawing it to confirm that he was not hallucinating.
Finally, he fully immersed himself in the pendant, holding it in his left hand, and looked around the big room. In the center of the room was a blue book and on top of it a letter scroll. Trembling with anticipation, he picked up the letter scroll in his hands. Immediately, the letter appeared on his right hand. Uzman placed it reverently on the bed, hoping it would provide solutions to his problems. He rose and ensured that the door was locked, checked if the windows were shuttered, and then chuckling stupidly sat back on the bed and picked up the letter.
‘Dear descendant, if you are reading this it means I am dead. Ha-ha-ha, couldn’t help it. Let me start by introducing myself since I don’t know how much time has elapsed. My names are Khalid bin Uzman, a Guardian of Seraphiel. I write this letter on my deathbed, my soul ravaged beyond redemption. However, it is not that easy to kill a Soulcrafter of the 8th rank.
I had safeguarded humanity for centuries but was betrayed for greed. My friends could not countenance that I was stronger, would always be stronger, and conspired with demons. Our duty was to close the rift, instead; my peer’s performed a séance allowing a Demon Prince through. Though I prevailed, I was mortally hurt. To add to the indignity, my sworn brothers attacked me at my weakest seeking to end my soul. I shed tears as I killed two of them wounding the third but was forced to flee.
'I realize that this is a heavy burden I lay upon you, but if humanity is to survive, the rift must be closed to restore balance. I wish the blessings of Seraphiel upon you as I charge you with this sacred duty. Know that you are capable. To ensure that you have the skills you will need, I have infused my soul and crafted a soul book to train you as a Guardian. Thus have I sacrificed to atone for my failings-'
An insistent knocking pulled Uzman from the letter. He cursed loudly and went to open the door. On second thought he picked up the pendant and wore it on his neck and then returned the letter to the pendant before opening the door.
Outside, Uzman found Kenzo, Jurdur, and Fatima.
“We came to see how you are faring cousin. We were informed that you were fully healed- “were you expelled?” Jurdur cut off Fatima impatiently.
“What?” Uzman looked at his friends puzzled.
Kenzo interjected pulling Uzman’s arm “Let us go for Lunch as we share the news.” We sat in the kitchen in awkward silence with none of us volunteering information.
Uzman cleared his throat and said, “I have been fully healed, but I have been stopped from taking part in any lessons that involve the use of Chi until I can form my core.”
“Wait, you were not expelled, Prazard has been crowing about having you expelled and promising us ‘Northerners’ similar retribution,” Kenzo stated.
"No, I have been given a grace period of two weeks by the Headmaster to awaken my core or leave the Academy,” Uzman answered.
“Don’t worry, even if you are expelled, I will write my father and request him to train you,” Kenzo said placatingly.
What remained unsaid was that it would not be possible to train him without first attuning my core. Remembering the letter, Uzman quickly finished the meal, excused himself, and rushed back to his room. After ensuring that the door was locked, he retrieved the letter and continued reading.
'Thus have I atoned for my failure to close the rift by forfeiting my chance at rebirth by binding the remainder of my soul to this realm. To ensure that this legacy will only be accessed by a worthy descendant, I have enchanted it to always revert to one of my blood. Thus it cannot be lost. Additionally, it will only be unlocked by a person with the capacity to be the next wizard of Seraphiel. Use the red feather quill to write in the soul book to commune with my spirit.” The letter ended.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Brimming with questions, Uzman retrieved the book and the quill and stored the letter scroll back into the pendant. He opened the book and wrote a greeting to see the reaction. Letters started appearing in the book written in a beautiful cursive style.
‘Ha, I thought I would never converse with another soul. When is today?’
'Today is Monday, the year of the dragon 3046.' Uzman answered.
‘That makes it slightly more than 700 years since I died. Tell me about yourself and my line.’ The book commanded.
'My name is Uzman bin Vitara. I am currently in the Unification Academy trying to learn about cultivation.'
'In my time it was customary to identify yourself with your clan name.’ Has my clan fallen so far that you are ashamed of it?’
'No, I have never known of my clan, I was raised by my grandfather in a secluded village in the South hiding from Imperials.’
'What do you mean by Imperials, I am not acquainted with their clan. Why hide instead of fight?’
Uzman realized that he was ill-equipped to answer questions about the world of Tanga. The most important question in his mind involved forming his core.
‘Like I had indicated I am not knowledgeable about the world. I only came to the academy when my village was razed to the ground and my grandfather murdered by the Imperials,’ Uzman wrote.
The book did not respond for a few minutes. Just when Uzman was about to write,- ‘The Academy will not help you if you are who I expect. Fowls cannot teach eagles to fly, and neither can a toad teach a fish how to swim. How far along are you on the martial path? Never mind, don’t answer. Lie on your back and place a drop of your blood on the back cover of this book, then place it on your skin on the navel, the blood touching the navel. This will facilitate my spirit to assess your body.’
Uzman struggled with the request, his natural caution warring with the need to learn. Finally, he remembered that the pendant was his family heritage, a link with the past, and decided to trust the book spirit. He pieced his forearm and let the blood fall on the cover and then placed the book as instructed. Immediately he felt a warm tingle develop gradually spreading from his navel across his whole body covering every inch from the head to the soles of his feet. When the warmth dissipated, Uzman sat up and opened the book.
‘THIS IS PATHETIC!, apart from your Chi you have neglected your body. You are weak to the point that a strong breeze or a Rank 0 beast would kill you.’
Uzman almost chuckled, he could somehow feel rage and contempt emanating in waves from the book.
‘If you are a representation of my clan, I fear for its future. No wonder you have to hide. Why have you neglected the Martial Forms? I painstakingly developed them over 50 years to give my clan an edge.’
‘Respectfully, I do not understand most of what you have written. Let me reiterate, I do not know my clan and was raised in hiding. I do not know any forms, have not been trained in the martial path, and would appreciate your guidance,’ Uzman countered.
‘I guess it can also be an advantage and I can consider you a blank canvas. Now, I want to ask you this and take your time to think carefully. I will train you, but it will at times be painful, I will have to break you to build you up. I will make sure you are strong enough to succeed where I failed. I can only promise you it will not be easy.'
Uzman did not have to think about it. ‘I would rather die than remain weak. I do not have any kith or kin that I know of, my father died in the Imperial Army, and my mother was sold to servitude before I knew her. My grandfather was killed along with my entire village. Do you want to talk about PAIN? I accept you as my master gladly,’ Uzman wrote furiously.
‘I accept you as my student since that was the reason I bound myself to this realm.’
‘Master Khalid, I have been given one week to awaken my core or be expelled, my main problem is that I do not have an affinity and cannot cultivate without one,’
‘What kind of moronic question is that? You should then allow yourself to be expelled, as those are not fit to be teachers with such an attitude. First of all your core is awakened, that is why it is roiling, what you don’t have is control. Secondly, you are not a mage to require an affinity. You are a wizard and by definition, you must have a core that is unaspected.’
Uzman was flabbergasted and did not know what to say next. Many questions warred in his head only to fail when he tried to write them down. Finally, he asked.
'What does that mean?' He could feel amusement from the book.
‘It means that you cultivate the ambient energy and then disassemble it to its primal form. Unaspected Chi is the building block of affinities, some have considered it to be the energy of creation. Mages must attune their cores and meridians to a specific element. As a result, they can only control that element. However, Wizards control the power of creation itself, thus their mastery of all elements. How don’t your teachers know this?’
‘I think they do not have experience with wizards,’ Uzman guessed.
'The first issue will be to select a cultivation technique for you. I had prepared one for this eventuality and stored it as a memory tablet. The pendant you hold contains the entire legacy of the Dragon Fire Clan. Should you find them, it will boost their strength significantly. As the patriarch of the clan, it was my duty to safeguard the items. There are many memory tablets and weapons that will be of use to you and your allies. It seems that the world has changed a lot and you will need a lot of friends to fulfill your destiny.
'The tablets are arranged by color, the rainbow-colored ones are for your use; the rest are for mages depending on affinity. Once you pick the memory tablet, imbue it with a drop of your blood and place it on your forehead to learn its secrets. We will talk after you have learned the Rainbow cultivation method. Please find out more about my clan before we talk again.’