Most of the Guan provinces’ land, inside or outside the main family’s area, were forested and beautiful. There was, obviously, a need to clear some areas. The buildings that they did make rarely disturbed the nature of the areas where they could help it. Monsters could appear anywhere technically, but they tended to arrive from the shadowed and unexplored places of the world.

Dan had only ever seen the captured creatures that were paraded around during new year or other special occasions. They looked wrong somehow, separating monsters from normal animals. Dan had been particularly frightened of a caged monstrosity that howled horrifically when it wasn’t smashing into the sturdy, mana-coated wood of its cage. It looked like a wolf, but larger than a bull. It sported horns and a jagged exposed spine of bone. Red “fur” dripped away from it, a constantly refreshing mess of blood and viscera that made a mocking facsimile of the real animal’s down.

Monsters were, apparently, variations on animals. Whatever a monster truly is before they take shape is unknown but due to their nature, it is assumed that a monster exists first as a spirit. That spirit will watch for a form it likes, and eventually learn to create a body for itself. In their body’s making, they feel pain, fear and all the other sensations that only come with life for the first time. It breaks something in the spirit, and a monster is formed.

Keeping the land forested was a specific choice to allow a certain influx of monsters to exist in the Guan lands at all times. Monsters were hunted for their mana stones, a valuable resource wherever you are. Most of the Guan family’s wealth came from the sale of these mana stones.

Dan hadn’t known any of this. Shen had talked a lot during their walk from the smithy. It was quite a distance to their destination, so their pace was not slow. By keeping to the middle of the thoroughfare, they were able to travel at a high speed without any obstacles. To casual onlookers, they would be moving very fast, but such were the benefits of reaching higher and higher levels of mana control. Even at their velocity, Shen was able to brief Dan on some of the more important minutia as they travelled.

After a certain point, less and less people had been wandering the large road until all the other people dried up just as the rain did. Dan was glad for both, the cacophony of crowds still a problem for him. Once they had passed the general traffic, leaving only those also heading to the main household of the Guan family, they stopped.

“If we start running, can you keep up, little brother?” Shen asked.

Dan bristled slightly. He’d never had a brother, and had always wanted one, but this didn’t feel like how he had imagined it would. “I cannot say for sure, young master, I-”

“If you call me ‘young master’ one more time, I’ll start to get very sad. You’re my newest little brother! At least call me Shen.”

Dan felt a shift in Guan Yo Shen’s presence as he spoke. Instinctively, Dan retracted his mana in a show of submission. If one were weaker than Dan, they wouldn’t be able to tell his mana was clinging around them, but if they were like Shen, they were simply allowing it. As Dan felt Shen’s own mana start to ripple, he yanked his own away like a hand on a hot piece of metal.

Startling Dan was clearly Shen’s intention as, when the mana pulled away, he calmed down quickly and laughed. It was laughter with no scorn, no ill will. Just an older brother playing a trick. “Your mana feels very… soft. It’s subtle, I almost wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t seen your movements against that lout earlier. Definitely keep it to yourself in the house though, someone might think it rude.”

Dan tried to shift perspective, to trust that this is what a sibling might feel like. It was all too alien for him, and far too fast. Maybe Shen had just had more practice with this feeling than Dan had. He didn’t like being as unaware of his surroundings as his retracted senses made him feel. He needed to get more refined with his mana control so that even people as strong as Guan Yo Shen couldn’t feel his touch.

Shen turned to Dan. “I ask again, can you keep up?”

Dan shifted his own mana, keeping an area around himself covered. It was nowhere near as effective as a wider ranging net but he would be able to inspect his footing before he landed, at least. “I shall try… Shen.” Dan’s would-be brother smiled at the concession, happy at least not to be called young master. Then he disappeared. Dan had to use his actual eyesight to follow the blur that Guan Yo Shen had become.

He tore off in response.

————————————————————————

Guan Ah Dan, if asked, would describe the training yards of the main family as “impressive”. Depending on his mood, he might have used “stringent”. A perfectly mirrored distance existed between students. Their moves were in sync, each form and stance multiplied twenty fold by the collections of bodies.

The blood relation of the main branch was important but their private schools taught any with enough potential, or the right connections. Dan didn’t actually know how many members of the main branch there were, or their ages. Dan’s mana was moving, but he kept it close to his body. It was a bit like muffling his ears and squinting at the same time, but when it came to powerful practitioners, keeping your mana to yourself was considered polite. Using his mana here would be like insulting his new benefactors.

If he simply threw his perception over the household, Dan would be able to give an exact number of the people in the yards. He would have been able to tell you how many of the students in the yard were holding staves, and how many of the staff in the halls were holding brooms. If he focused on a specific lesson, he would even be able to learn the movements.

He didn’t do that, and instead followed behind Shen quietly, feeling blind and deaf.

Shen continued deep into the complex. What had looked simply like a large building was actually one of many entrances to the absolutely gargantuan complex which made up the main family’s property. In actuality, over two hundred thousand square miles of land were private and kept specifically for the main family, with around another six hundred thousand square miles for the rest of the Guan province to share. Dan had only recently learned about the scale of Jaia, their planet, and it still refused to sit in his head right. He, and nearly everyone, lived in a single few miles most of their lives. The idea that there were millions of miles that he would never see made him feel slightly morose.

Still, with all the incredible sights to see in “just” the small area of Jaia that made up the Guan lands, Dan thought it would take more than one lifetime to experience the whole world. He would have to be content with just what was in front of him. Dan smiled. That was something Park Man-Shik might have said.

“So, Man-Shik told you nothing?”

There was a feeling of uncanniness, as Dan both thought of his master and heard his name at the same time. “Pardon? Told me nothing… about what?” Shen’s question had caught Dan off-guard, pulled his head down from the clouds and confused him. “What was he supposed to tell me?”

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter,” Shen seemed unbothered by Dan’s lack of an answer and took it for the confirmation it was. “Everything will become clear with time.” The way Shen said the line, he seemed to be quoting someone else’s words. Someone much older, with a deeper tone.

“Do you not know?” After the initial stardom had passed, and with the Guan family heir’s insistence on calling Dan “little brother”, Dan had become slightly more comfortable. Comfortable enough to tease, at least.

“Of course I know,” Shen said unconvincingly, “but it’s all about the surprise.”

“I am sure it is as you say, o’ Wise One.”

“You’re getting entirely too friendly. Sun-Wo,” one of the two bodyguards looked over at Shen. Dan had been calling “Leftie” in his mind, as opposed to “Rightie” due to the positions they took whenever Shen stopped moving. “Can you ensure that my new brother’s room has a draught? Maybe cover it in dung?”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I am afraid, Young Master,” Sun-Wo said, both he and Rightie had smirks on their faces, “that there are no such quarters in the household. It may be possible to have some built.”

“Oh you don’t need to go through that trouble for me,” Dan interjected, “I’m sure I’ll be fine with one of the normal, incredibly luxurious rooms.”

“Yes, I’m sure you would.” Shen’s tone was jovial, and the walk had actually become pleasant. Dan was feeling better. He wouldn’t say he was happy, that might come in time, but he could say that he felt content. If nothing else, Dan’s emotions had cleared enough to see this for the incredible opportunity that it could be.

Even without his mana giving him the deeper insight into movements or speech, Dan was still witnessing immaculate technique and grace everywhere. A set of students were all learning water nature movements, and Dan looked on in envy. They were dancing with their mana, letting it flow around them like a river before casting it out. Dan’s own mana was not made for that, unfortunately. Some of the students were around Dan’s age, but most were slightly older. None of them would have the same limitations that Dan did though.

Quelling a rise of anxiety that began forming in his throat, Dan instead looked at the instructors. The groups were of around twenty students and each had one elder to lead the lessons. For the most part, they sat comfortably and watched. A fair few didn’t have their eyes open, which amazed Dan because each and every student performed dazzling displays of prowess. When you’ve seen it a thousand times, Dan thought, maybe the shine goes away.

It had been around four hours since the small group left Park Man-Shik’s smithy, and they had been walking through an assortment of Guan family holdings for at least half of that. They travelled through hall after hall of deep, brown wood. The hallways were carved with reliefs and graphics, though none of them seemed specific in any way. Here was a bull, over there a dragon, on this pillar a man and a spear. Truly, everywhere Dan had looked for the past two hours was a complete marvel.

That was especially true when he saw the grand doors of the royal meeting room. In a time long passed, each of the ten families was actually a kingdom. Under the iron fist of the Shin family, and its connections to the Empty Church, the kingdoms were brought under a semblance of control. These grand doors held a scene from the time before the empire. Even having it would be a sign of some rebellion, but removing these doors would be sacrilege.

The carvings upon them were so lifelike they seemed to move as your eyes looked it over. A king of old laying waste to another’s land in one scene, being brought low in another. Both looking, to Dan, as though he were in the room as it happened. A beautiful woman with twintails rode a griffon, a massive beast with wings and feline features, into battle against a horde of shadows. The huge, intricate stone doors were closed, and Dan was surprised to see the ease with which Shen opened them. They were either incredibly well oiled, or Shen was able to casually move around tonnes of weight. Probably both, Dan decided.

“Ready?” Shen asked before Dan entered.

“I think so?” Dan made his answer a question.

“That probably means no, either way, to the tigers with you.” He gave Dan a firm shove which confirmed that his strength was true. Dan slid, soft soled shoes on lacquered and waxed wood, for metres and metres before he stopped. Glad he didn’t lose his balance, he smiled and began to ask Shen what he was doing.

Not having his mana spread was making him sloppy. It wasn’t until he actually looked around the room that the depth of the situation became clear.

Eight seats were placed on podiums of varying heights. Seven of these seats were filled, but they were somehow hidden. The room was lit well, and if it were not for the ominous aura emanating from the shadowed areas, Dan would have had yet another thing to gawk at. For the first time since arriving in the main branch’s complex, Dan was more interested in what he couldn’t see.

“Guan Ah Dan.” The voice that said Dan’s name was gravity itself. Deep, bassy and somehow all-encompassing. It was said with neutrality, but somehow it felt like an admonishment. “Welcome to the Jaioduo.” While this room was clearly a place of importance, the surrounding buildings and lands made up the Jaioduo, the training area of the Guan elite.

Dan hesitated slightly before bowing. He didn’t actually know where the voice was coming from, and he didn’t dare cast his web of mana out in this room. Who knew what might be snared and snap back at him? Still, he kept his back straight and his bow proper in spite of the pressure intensifying upon him.

“This most gracious student is eternally grateful for that which he has already been given.” Dan tried to project his voice, wincing as it trembled. Dan had spent a long time talking to others who were above him in station, he knew the right words for these situations, and when to stop talking. He waited, still bowed. He had simply chosen to bow forward with confidence, aiming himself randomly. All he could do was desperately hope he wasn’t aiming his rear anywhere untoward.

“Ha, he hasn’t lost an ounce of that charm, has he Baba?”

Dan felt as though someone had poured frozen water down his back. He knew that voice, the one that sounded like the crumbling of antique paper beneath your fingers. That voice wasn’t cast around the room as though from everywhere, and Dan couldn’t help but look towards Elder Yaya’s seat - or rather, the shadow that covered it. He couldn’t stop his look, but he was able to stop himself from speaking.

There was an almighty crack. The whole world spun around again and again, rotating as though Dan was now the axis. It took him hitting the ground, and inspecting the mana around himself, to realise what had happened. He had been struck as he turned his head to view the elder. Even with his veil of mana, Dan had been unable to see the attack coming. Which meant that whoever did it was likely stronger than Park Man-Shik. Dan shuddered, but pulled himself to his feet. This time he kept his eyes down.

Due to his downcast eyes, Dan did not see what happened next either. He could only try to track it with his ears. The chair directly to Dan’s right seemed to explode, or someone exploded out of it. At the same time, so did one to Dan’s left. He ducked a little, though he tried not to react for fear of having the wrong reaction. Then a new explosion sounded, the roar of two unstoppable forces meeting. It was as though a thundercloud had appeared over Dan’s head and was growling at him.

“Enough.”

The voice that seemed to have physical weight cut through the chaos, and the storm of force above Dan ceased. Two chairs creaked as they were once again filled. Dan waited, still staggered.

“The boy can look around, Po Shang.” Elder Yaya’s voice appeared again. Had she been the one defending him in that clash a moment ago? She received no retort, the booming voice that was everywhere spoke instead.

“Accept my apology, Guan Ah Dan,” the voice said. “That was unneeded. You were not brought here to be beaten, but there is a reason you stand before us today.” Dan did not reply, afraid to even move though the assault seemed to be over. “Cycle your mana as fiercely as you can.”

Dan didn’t hesitate, more than happy to oblige. His mana had felt sluggish for hours, restrained as he had kept it. Dan closed his eyes and churned the dense mass of energy within. Starting from his core, he traced the pathways of his mana channels.

First, front to back. The slow ball of energy was lethargic, but it gained speed. Second, top to bottom. The shape of his core became outlined. Third, In. As though a lake were suddenly dropped into a reservoir, Dan’s mana filled his core. It felt better than a quenching drink, better than a full night’s sleep. Finally… out.

Keeping delicate control of the spread, Dan finished cycling his mana for the first time. Repeating the process, he continued building up the pressure within. As he pushed the mana outside of himself, he completed the triangle stage cycling that felt most natural to Dan to this point. For years, he had perfected this flow of power and mastered the effects of it on himself.

Except, this wasn’t “As fiercely as you can.” Dan had not done that for years. There was an inclination to hold himself back, but Park Man-Shik was no longer here. He was no longer Dan’s master. No longer his home.

This was his home now. New rules, and new benchmarks.

The ball of energy had gone from stream, to river, to a cataclysmic tempest. The chaotic vibrations of energy within were familiar to Dan now, but had nearly torn him apart the first time his mana had reached this level. He was different now.

Spin it. Spin the whole core. It wasn’t just the mana that rotated, it was himself. It was his core, the centre of his spiritual being. Like it had over two years ago, Dan’s mana warped with the speed of it. The world became grey to his senses, even improved as they were by the mana continuing to spread. Holding the mana close for so long today had actually helped. He was no longer letting the torrent of energy flow within as it wanted to, but slowly decreasing the space it had to run.

I felt like the centre of something. A hot sun from which an uncountable amount of energy poured. Condense it. Tighten it and shape it. It’s not random, I can aim it. I can see-

Dan could see them. If he was a sun, they were supernovas. Nine orbs of the most intense power that Dan had ever imagined. Dan’s concentration slipped as his mana brushed against the shadowed elders in the room. He could not stop the yell of fright, nor the painful snap of his mana.

He had been a moment away from breaching into square stage, the fourth and penultimate step of a practitioner.

“I believe we have taken enough of your valuable time.”

The air in the room seemed to take a few moments to calm down after he spoke. It held some of Dan’s energy, he noticed. An effect that Dan would need to study when he could. As the magic dissipated, the massive stone doors opened once more. Guan Yo Shen’s theatrical timing was impeccable. With a jolt of sudden realisation, Dan put a name to the disembodied voice finally when he thought of Shen’s father. Elder Yaya had chastised one called “Po Shang”. That could only be the patriarch’s brother, and if that was the case, the only person who could have stopped that fight would be-

“Gratitude, esteemed elders. This one truly was not worthy.” Dan bowed his head and left the room as quickly as was polite. Guan Po Shang was the brother of the current family patriarch, Guan Po Dia. Dan never expected to be anything more than a blacksmith before today, and with his new realisation was desperate to get out of this insane situation.

Luckily, Shen also seemed to have no desire to stay. “Come, little brother. Let’s leave our wonderful family to their scheming, shall we?” Dan obviously could not answer to that and imply he thought the elders were schemers, so he didn’t know what to do. Shen simply laughed, as well as a rocky chortle which Dan thought was probably Elder Baba. Then he grabbed Dan’s arm and “dragged” him out, though Dan was receptive within moments.

Shen had laughed, but when the massive doors closed behind the two of them, his face was as stony as the huge carved slabs themselves. They walked away from the ominous room full of absolutely immense souls, and Dan was happy to walk in silence.

That was power. Dan could become that strong… couldn’t he?

More than that, Dan had sensed something incredible. There were nine immense powers in that circle of eight elders. The two largest pools of power were entwined and could only have belonged to the patriarch. Dan’s quietude was because he could not stop thinking about that feeling.

Dan could only describe it in one way. The patriarch’s core - his soul - was strangling the other core, feeding on it. It felt wrong. Not evil, but incorrect, as though the technique behind the impossible situation was flawed.

Dan needed to know more. Not just because he was desperate for that power. The power to never be told what to do again.

He needed to know more because the orb of power that was being choked felt exactly like his own.