Om

I wasn't regaining consciousness I realised as I came to, no I had been conscious whatever amount of time I had been in here. And I knew it had been a very great amount of time. I blink my eyes slowly as I get up from the floor I've been lying on. My body crackles and strains tightly as I move like an old tree twisting from a position it has held for thousands of years.

Sensation or at least awareness of sensation comes to me slowly, sound coming like a dull 'gong' that is slowly getting louder before becoming audible surprised voices though interpretation is yet to come.

Light shines behind my eyes the memories of the glimpses I'd seen of the dark beyond of realms outside eternity. There is a primordial roar at the back of my throat as I remember the Truth that a scream is so primal that even children do it as they come into the world.

My joints squeak to my own ears and my sockets release tension I wasn't aware it was possible to have in places I didn't know had muscle to be tense. It could be tendons though, my tendons are comparable to cords of malleable elemental steel fibres holding objects of great weight and substance together.

I come back to awareness slowly and with deep pondering stumbling approach like a humongous turtle surfacing from the ocean, at least that's the image my awakening takes as I slowly became aware of myself. I get another image of a sleeping mountain shaped like a man standing up again for the first time in eons with the falling of dust and accumulate lose stones and something clicks in me.

I have Awakened to Images I suddenly realise profoundly and with a deep satisfaction which's origin, I don't understand. The realisation comes again in empathic communication that after a scream there is silence, after which there is laughter thus almost all sapient humanoid creatures are birth from their soul homes repeating that cycle of primordial sounds according to their depth and power.

I notice my bones are different almost immediately after the first seconds of moving my body. Bones are not usually something one is aware of or even feels unless there is discomfort or some other complaint but I feel mine and they seem to have... aged? Yes, my bones seem to have aged in a way that increases their affinity and density on a spiritual level.

Like fine wine, they have gained substance through the passage of time and like long cultivated alchemy ingredients they are ready for harvesting now. They feel strange and a bit sluggish but not to the extent that they would slow me down.

I fully stand with both feet bare and planted on the ground, I take a deep breath with my eyes closed and sigh to release the tension that has built within me. I stretch my arms and neck and immediately the Image of an old tree twisting into better alignment fills my mind. That Awakening was a rough ride I instinctively know without remembering everything.

I do remember having to choose a state of being, a state to strive towards and try to maintain within myself. Not necessarily a state to be always within but one that will be pure when I'm within and its purity will solidify my Images further and be an Aspect of Law in itself one day as my state of being gets powerful enough to affect the world around me.

I have chosen the present in every moment, to be within myself in every moment, to deeply use and appreciate the now I have to live through of every moment, I have chosen to be in the now.

I knew Awakening would take a long time but the age I feel my soul has accumulated is more than I think reasonable so I look to the stunned servants standing at the door still with a bit of worry that I have spent centuries Awakening in this room.

"What year is it?" I ask with a hoarse voice the seems to rumble and shake things causing one of the servants to fall on his knees on the pile of piss he has created. The other just stares at me wide eyed and open-mouthed, both are clearly human and both too easily intimidated to have worked for the sidhe Namid long.

Standing here in an old pair of pants and a tunic I find myself in a slight predicament. I feel I am almost done Awakening but not yet there and I also feel like I've been in here close to a millennia or more. How much time will have passed outside the chamber for millennia to have passed within, is that even n possible?

To spend so many years Awakening sounds absurd to me but what do we truly know about Awakening? I vaguely remember letting the unfathomable depth of the ether as I let it direct me forward before choosing a direction in all the options it presented to me. The going further forward in said path and again choosing a path narrowing my focus, specializing.

From the many options of body types I think I chose the body of stone, and from the options of blood types I chose the blood of a Titan, from the weight of ages available for one who had already narrowed so much I chose age of tree and was pleasantly surprised to be likened to a Suntree as I gained knowledge of what that is.

From there I remembered Sachi's many drunken nights as he spoke of one day Awakening like it was a sure thing. How he hoped he would be able to resist the need to direct the path himself but let the ether which knows best what is needed do as it so chooses. So from there I let go of the reigns trusting that the friend I look up to most knows what the fuck he was talking about.

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I fell then into a void, I fell and it was very very painful, excruciatingly so as though my soul was being rendered again in a forging for the longest of time. Awareness of the paths I had missed out on by making the few choices I had made came to me and I almost regret not letting go from the start.

Since I had already chosen to body cultivation path I had missed out on any form of magic Awakening but I did still have a smidgen of psionic potential. Just an increase in intelligence and not actually any power, I Awakened further in the path of body mana building becoming a true Awakened warrior but it is the path the ether took with my soul that truly astounded me.

There is a power to every soul, a deep pure power that at some levels can eventually be unlocked. Levels of power we may call celestial or tier 7 power unlocking the use of the soul as a weapon or the natural formation of a soul weapon as though from nothing. Not every tier 7 or 8 creature chooses this path but those that do eventually discover something called a Soul Art, a power of the specific soul that can be used both for creation and destruction.

In my Awakening something within my soul was stirred though my stone hammer and I are yet to be whole I already have a soul weapon. And my soul weapon has an art, an art that the uninitiated may even mistake for magic in their ignorance but the soul in general is a very dangerous thing when used correctly for it is almost indestructible.

Remembering all that causes me to remember that my stone hammer is in this room and I turn and looking directly at it without even a though. Yes, I feel I will always be able to find this part of myself no matter how far from me it ends up.

I walk to the hammer and the two servants take the time to flee the chamber as my back is turned from them. It is such a beautifully done hammer, the iron-stone head looking heavy and dangerous, the shaft beautifully decorated spirit iron but simple. I feel whole in a way I didn't realise I was lacking as I hold my hammer in my hand.

I heft it easily and with great satisfaction, it has missed me these many years it seems to convey. But its solitude has increased its affinity with itself as well, it has a deeper personality and it has Awakened in some way as I have Awakened.

I slowly walk towards the exit, I feel so heavy that I can hear every single step I take inside my head. I exit the chamber and walk the corridor and up the stairs. A servant brings me a chalice of water on a tray. I gulp it down and realise its water from Hilton. Energy suffices me and I thank him with a bow.

I walk through another passage and am met by the Sidhe Namid standing there and looking me over. I look back.

"You feel bigger, heavier." He says then indicates to the lounge area for me to take a seat. I notice no immediate threats and this is a sidhe so I'm not sure how well I could hold my own if he became a threat anyways. I walk and take the indicated seat.

We watch each other for a while and it isn't long before a feast of the richest of fair is placed before me and we are joined by 2 other sidhe and 5 fae. "Eat, you have gone without for a long time considering your human constitution."

I nod and drink from a chalice of wine but I take nothing else before the others do. He nods at me and smiles and puts grapes in his mouth followed by the rest and I do likewise. Before I know it we are all eating and the food is very very ether rich and potent.

The meal is finished and I feel rejuvenated, fresh, whole and very very powerful. It's a power that's been building up from the pit of my stomach but there is a molten core somewhere within me that is slowly simmering up to blow. I don't know how long I was in there either by the chambers perspective or the real world perspective.

"How do you feel?" Carmela asks casually looking me over.

"I feel fine, thank you for asking. How have things been in my absence?" I ask and she smiles and me with the predatory smile women sometimes have.

"I think its best you get rid of that excess maelstrom brewing within you before you see your mates and child yes?" She says placing a hand on my arm.

"You will need a very good fight and very strong sex or else you will blow a casket." She says. "I am happy to offer my services, my descendant Ororis will make a worthy opponent and of course the sex drive I can relieve myself."

"I thank you but I am sure other Awakened at the Arena will more than be able to manage me if I go to them for aid in this." I say, Gorr doesn't trust these too beautiful creatures and neither do I. I wonder how I will be paying for the time I spent in that time chamber even, conniving sidhe, always have an agenda.

"You have no idea what your capabilities are as of yet and the danger of facing a mortal opponent not knowing the limits of your own strength are something all you tribesmen are aware of."

"I would be more comfortable amongst my people."

"Ahh.. I see, in that case let us invite Sachihiro, Damage, Divina, Chief Stom, and your mother Tabita to the exhibition yes? You should feel less threatened by us in such a setting." She says with a smile.

I think about that a moment and I give a nod of ascent. "That would be acceptable to me."

"Excellent! I have never before heard of a human Awakening for so long before, and the power I see in you is intriguing. Namid, prepare for guests." She says standing smoothly.

I clear my throat. "Excuse me, how long was I in there?"

They all look at me and Carmella smiles that predatory smile of hers. "From our perspective you have spent a year away from your family Awakening. From your perspective it has been nearly 30 years since you entered the chamber.

"Congratulations, you are now 30 years older than you were last year." She says with a smile as I digest that information.