There she was. As gloomy and determined as always and yet she is so young. It’s funny really. I know I went back in time but, knowing that and understanding that are two different things. Still out of all the deaths I witnessed not that long ago, Ebony’s death hurt me the most. She was the most immortal, immortal ever. When she took the mantle as the Daughter of Death, her study of necromancy went far beyond anything anyone had ever known. In the future, she didn’t just become those cheap knock-off liches. She was the real deal, a complete ancient lich. The kind that rivaled the gods themselves.

Despite what I said before I’m not here for some petty revenge. I know Ebony and the methods she created. If I borrowed something that only made me spit out blood when the person herself has used techniques to disintegrate her body and then reassemble it from scratch, I got lucky. No, I’m here to help set her on the right path.

In total there are 8 of us. The oldest being Ebony, then Aubrey, followed by Scott, then me, Justin, Song, Jade, then Vane. Unlike most schools, sects, or cults we don’t follow the same path. We all discovered our paths under Teachers’ tutelage. By finding the way that had the most fate with us we were able to reach the zenith. Sadly, it was only at the final step towards divinity that most of us discovered our real path.

Ebony was great with necromancy, to the point many in the realm cursed her as a necrophiliac. However, she was an even better doctor. She only used necromancy as a springboard to better understand anatomy without experimenting on the living. When that wasn’t enough she tore her own body and soul apart. When she was ready to become a doctor she awoke to find herself as a lich due to her own negligence.

She turned to me, the apathy seeping from her face but, the joy in her eyes was self-evident. It took a while but, then I could her voice, “Ah, little bro. What do you need?”

Why does she take all the fun away from giving her a hard time? “Your no fun. Can I get a soul amethyst? I’ll pay you with this,” I reply and toss her a folder.

The folder contained a small part of her life’s greatest work. The one she was unable to use because it was too late, the “Life Death Sutra”. It was only a single passage but it was enough. I can’t give her the full thing as it would arise too many questions. Still, it didn’t matter. Ebony was a prodigy. Even if I just left her with one word she could recreate and improve it. It was enough to increase her future strength and ability by a lot. Besides, I owe it to her to help achieve her dream.

“This, this, this is incredible. There seem to be some inaccuracies in this paragraph but, if fix it up I can make new necromantic art. This was just the inspiration I needed for completing my 3rd circle,” her excitement was overwhelming.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her express so much emotion that it leaked onto her face. I can pick up the soul amethyst later. For now, it would be best to leave her alone. Besides she’s not much of a conversation partner even if I had her full attention. For the next part of my plan, I leave folders for the others in key locations. It would be weird if I just went to all of them face to face. That and I’m not quite sure how to face all of them. Seeing Ebony made me feel uneasy, to say the least. I’m gonna need a bit more time before I can talk with them all.

Well, that was the plan. However, life is what happens when your busy making other plans. Before I could even put down my last folder I hear a voice call out to me, “Yo, Shane what are you doin’. I told you not to mess around here. You still haven’t become a novice or attained your first circle. I don’t want your death to be in my own home.”

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I love it when a plan falls apart. Operation Secret Santa is a no-go.

I take a deep breath and respond, “Sorry, I found some notes in the ruins and thought I would share them with you.”

“You expect me to believe that crap? You the weakest one here went into the deadly ruins and conveniently found notes that I would be interested in, “ As expected the voice didn’t buy it.

I try to explain further, “Well. You. . see. . I . . .” however, he cuts me off.

“Look man, I don’t care about all that. What’s with you? You’ve been acting weird ever since whatever happened in class,” You can hear the concern dripping from him.

I didn’t reply. It’s been way too long since someone has scolded me like this. If anyone else tried to do this I’d just leave. However, I just can think of what to say or how to respond to that. No, just looking at him I see his body being cut by his own creations. Scott, I’m so sorry. Ebony made it easy by looking so different from her future self. Scott however, looks only a couple of years younger.

Scott scratches his head for a bit before continuing, “I guess I do. I’ll look at those later. However, you have to promise me you’ll give me a proper answer later. I know we aren’t family but, no matter what anyone says your my little brother. I don’t want to see you silent suffer in the dark. It might be a bit early but, here.”

Going over to one of his racks he pulls off a sword. I know that sword. It was the one He gave me for my seventeenth birthday. Back then I’d been obsessed with becoming a sword saint. I didn’t have any talent for swords or even martial arts. So, over time it only collected dust. Yet it was still one of my prized possessions even after thousands of years. I never went anywhere without it.

Last time I made a promise to myself, that I would become worthy of it. I failed to meet up to those expectations. This time I promise I will not let them die to that freak of nature. I won’t fail another promise made on this sword. I thank him for it and simply leave.

For now, I’ve planted the seeds, it not much but it is a start. The next step is to sense “qi”. No matter what path one follows it always starts with sensing energy or awaking innate energy. Doing so grants the bare minimum qualifications to call yourself a novice of the first step or a first circle of the first step. After that comes moving the energy, then increasing the energy. Those first three steps describe the neophyte stage. Steps 4, 5, and 6 are energy flooding, energy overflow, then source forming. That covers the adept stage. Lastly, steps 7, 8, and 9 cover body cleansing, body refining, then body reforging. That is the master stage.

I can’t form a source just yet. Forming a source requires the practicing of a technique and If I practice one it would make it impossible to form a sage art. Once I get the deciphered “Loli Transformation Technique” from Teacher I can combine that with the “Dragon Heart Rebirth” to form a unique unranked sage art.

Sensing energy is pretty easy. Within a single breathe I can vividly see the colors of the universe around me. Moving the energy whether it is “qi” or “mana” qualifies me as someone of the second step. Next to increasing the quantities. Increasing the innate energy in my body is a slow and grueling process. Luckily I already have a Mana Heart so it shouldn’t be long till I hit the 4th and 5th step. However, since I don’t plan on being a pure mage or martial artist I can cheat this a little.

Gathering the energy around me I can easily jump to the 5th step when I combine it with my innate energy. Not that I really need to anyways. By entering a state of overflowing energy it will just evaporate anyway. The true goal of the 4th and 5th steps is to increase the mental control over a large quantity of energy to form a source. As the once Legendary Sage who controlled vast oceans of both innate and acquired energy, why would I need to train to control such a small amount of energy.

With that all sorted I can rest easy. Tomorrow I will step onto the sage path at least 20 years ahead of when I did it the last time. This time, I won’t be hunted by the monster, I’ll be the monster.