Chapter 22: The Magic of Ascension

Sakura

I felt my skin hum as mana and chie swirled in me to a degree I had never felt before. Instead of rushing into me all at once, the chamber had done exactly what Gamera had said it would, controlling that massive influx of chie and mana, and slowly allowing it to seep into my body. The problem was, I had no idea how to manage that much energy, and my body felt like it was about to burst!

My teeth were rattling, my bones ached, and my head spun. A few times it nearly overwhelmed me, but Gamera’s words re-centered me and allowed me to focus. I kept my attention on cycling my chie and reabsorbing the mana and chie that cleansing my fifth meridian had created.

“You’re nearly finished absorbing the new mana and chie. Once you have done so, begin pushing the mana into your muscles, and down deep into your bone marrow. It must come directly from your mana pool, so it is as pure as you can make it.”

“Mana isn’t pure,” I forced out through gritted teeth.

“There is mana aligned with your body and spiritual signature, and then there is mana aligned with an element or ideal. Mana straight from your pool is aligned with your signature. That signature will change as your body is purified. That mana has yet to be diluted with outside elements or impurities, only your own. This is referred to as pure mana. Though it is not nearly as refined as chie. Now focus, and do as I say.”

I refocused and did as I was told, but Gamera continued talking. “If you did this with aligned mana, it could cause changes in your personality, physical appearance, or it might have no effect whatsoever. Aligned mana being directly applied to the muscles and bones tends to be unpredictable.” He chuckled, as if thinking of some joke.

I refocused on his instructions, drowning out his rambling story telling to focus on what he had told me to do. When I was finished, my mana pool felt like it was straining, and my danchan was on the verge of breaking apart from the violent vibrations.

“Now?” I asked.

“Now. Move slowly, let the mana seep into your bones first, then from your bones into your muscles.”

“Why that order?” I could tell my voice was higher pitched. I felt on the verge of panic, though my emotions were in check. It was a physiological reaction, not an emotional one.

“Your bones are closer to your mana lines than most of your muscles. It’s just easier that way.”

I did as instructed, and my bones began to ache and itch. I had felt this way before, as a young girl going through growing pains. But never this severe. Bone deep itching and aching came from the bones I was actively infusing with mana until eventually, I felt something give. The bone couldn’t hold anymore, and the mana slipped off of it and seeped into the muscles around the bone. Pressure slowly built until my muscles felt feverish. Then I moved onto the next bone.

It took hours, and I could still smell and feel the filth from the meridian in my left leg getting cleansed in my body. The sludge wasn’t nearly as acidic as the first time, but it still burned.

“Why isn’t the sludge burning me?”

“That’s the work of the chamber. The reason the sludge is acidic is because it’s trying to force your body back into a lower state of being. The chamber absorbs its energy, taking away that effect least partially. Now focus, little mouse. This is a very dangerous method to use to advance, if you can not stay focused.”

Method? So this isn’t the only way. Good to know.

The cultivation chamber itself was a circular room with reed mats at its center, and along the outside wall to allow for group sessions. It was a dome shape and had a low ceiling. It wasn’t intended for anything but cultivation, after all.

Finally, after what felt like days of bone deep pain, I infused the last bone in my pinky toe, and allowed the mana to spill over into the muscles. When that was finished, I felt a pressure all throughout my body steadily increasing.

“You’re almost there. Don’t stop.”

Pain racked my bones and muscles, and weakness washed over me. I felt like I was in the midst of the worst fever I had ever experienced, and I was about to give up. Biting my tongue to help me focus, I pushed on and endured.

Finally, reality shifted. Something blocking the pressure of my mana and chie gave way, and I Advanced.

I had to fight to open my eyes. I was caked in black tar from head to toe. The robes Gamera had given me were indistinguishable from the mess I had become. “Well done, little mouse.”

I nearly screamed as he dumped ice cold water over my head, washing away the semi-acidic muck. He did it again, and again, until finally I was in a position to hold the bucket and finish the job myself.

When I walked out of the chamber, Gamera was beaming. I was fighting to keep my eyes open. “See what a little perseverance and familiarity with pain can accomplish? Welcome to Steel little mouse. Now lets test out this new body of yours.”

Gamera escorted me to the sandpit in the back of the main building, where a servant had set up several targets. “I think you know what to do. Let’s start just trying to hit the target.”

I was in new clothes, a set of breaches, and a comfortable shirt designed for labor. I tied the ropes to my belt, and almost immediately, the ropes disappeared. When I felt for them, I found the knots. But the ropes were gone.

Okay, that’s interesting. I wonder how it does that.

“Focus mouse. Throw the daggers, stop playing with them.” I felt my face grow slightly red and I threw the first knife. It sped right past the target and bounced off a stone pillar behind it. “Now will the dagger back into your hand, or the sheath.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I had placed the three knife holders on my hip, so I would just try that first. Return, I thought, and nothing happened. Get back here, I thought, and again, nothing happened.

“How am I supposed to do that, exactly?”

“What are you doing? Just thinking of words?” I fought another blush. That was exactly what I had been doing. “You need to put some will behind it. It’s a command, not a suggestion.”

“Return!” I said it out loud, and the knife reappeared in its holder. “Ha! I did it!”

“Yes. Very good. Now your opponent will know that you’re defenseless and will have to waste time taking a knife out of your belt. Giving them a window to get close and break your nose. You should always have a knife in each hand. One for defense, one for throwing. Understood?”

I nodded. It had been one of the things the weapons had shown me, but I hadn’t really paid attention up until now.

“Now try that again, but this time without shouting it for everyone and the gods to hear.”

I let loose another knife, this time holding another in my free hand as I did. The knife nicked the top of the target before speeding back into the same stone pillar as before. Then I willed the knife back. It took a moment, but after about thirty seconds of glaring at the thing, it eventually reappeared, almost reluctantly, in its carrier.

“Ha! See? I’m already getting better. I hit the target, and I made them come back without saying anything.”

“Yes. Very good. Now do it a hundred times successfully, in a row. I have to go help your brother. I’ll come check on your progress soon.”

I sighed and got to work.

***

“Ninety nine. One more. Come on Sakura, you can do it.” Sweat was pouring down my brow. My body was tired, and my mind was nearly as much so. I could still smell myself, despite the cold water bucket shower, and every muscle and bone in my body still rang with a faint echo of the pain I had put myself through just a few hours before.

“And —” I threw the knife. It hit the target, then bounced off, again hitting the stone pillar. Return! I shouted in my head, and the knife flickered, but remained where it was. Return, damn it, that was an order! It flickered again, this time faster. Return! I shouted in my head almost desperately, squeezing my eyes shut as I did.

I felt the knife’s weight return to its carrier. “I did it!” I raised my hands above my head and fell backwards into the soft, warm sand.

“Yes, you did, little mouse. Well done.” Gamera entered my vision and stood over me. A grin on his face. “Now, go get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll see if the little mouse can roar.”

***

I was at my door when I heard something fall in the room across from mine. From Rayce’s room. Sighing, I went to his door and knocked.

“Rayce? Are you okay? I heard something fall.”

I heard some shuffling from the other side of the door. “Rayce? Hello?” I knocked, and I swear I heard a low and muffled woof. “Do you have a dog? I didn’t know we had dogs.”

The door to Rayces room opened suddenly, and I took an instinctive step back. Rayce filled the doorframe, so I couldn’t see what was happening inside. “What do you want, Sakura?”

“I, I heard something fall. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh. Yes, I just dropped a book.” Rayce was anything but the studious type if Sakura’s memories were to be relied on. He was more the doing type. I gave him a skeptical look. “I read,” he said defensively.

“Are you sure everything is alright? I thought I heard a dog woof.”

Rayce turned bright red, and I knew something was going on. “Rayce. What’s going on?”

He looked one way, then the other down the hall, checking for people. “Fine, come in. Just promise me you won’t tell anyone?”

His expression was desperate. “Alright. But if it’s anything dangerous, I’m not being held to that.”

“Fine, just get in here.”

He pulled me into his room and slammed the door shut behind me. Inside was complete chaos. His bed had been shredded, the pillows torn apart, and the stuffing thrown everywhere. On the bed were three glowing, massive golden dogs. They looked intently at me, their tongues lulling out of their mouths in a display of trust and a complete lack of understanding of what they had done to poor Rayce’s room.

“Dogs.”

“Yes.”

“Three dogs.” I stared at him. “Why?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “I ran away.”

“What? Wait. How do dogs connect with you running away?”

He gave a long, defeated sigh. “When mom and dad took you to the healers, I felt alone. Really alone. All I had was Gamera, and he was — well, he was really distracted just figuring out how to be an avatar rather than a tortoise. You know?” I didn’t, but I nodded anyway. “Well, I was lonely. And it was really stupid. I know that now. But at the time, it felt like the only thing I could do to change my situation. So, I ran away up the mountain. Before anyone else was allowed up there, I broke out and ran for it. I just wanted to get away, to be alone, and, well, I don’t really know. I just wanted something to change.”

“Okay. I’m still confused about what this has to do with dogs, but I’m listening.”

“Thank you. Well, I was up there, and a blizzard appeared out of nowhere. I searched for shelter, and I found this cave. I went into the cave and found it wasn’t a cave at all. But a tunnel to this little valley. It’s beautiful up there Sakura, I should show you sometime. It was like walking into summer when you were just in the worst winter you’d ever seen. And, well, I met these guys up there. They saved me, and guided me back down the mountain. Then they just kind of never left my side after that. I’m bonded with them I think. I can feel them. Kind of.”

One of them came up to me and pushed against my leg. While a second shining golden dog reached a paw out and put it on my shoulder, before leveraging that hold to reach out and lick my ear.

“Ack. Hey, personal space, please.” The dog just woofed at me and sat back down on the bed. “So what are they? They’re clearly not normal dogs. Are they a spirit beast? Or just a spirit?”

“I don’t know. They act kind of like both. I’ve been trying to figure out what they are. But no one seems to know. And I really don’t want to ask mom, dad, or Gamera about it.”

“Because you’d have to explain that you ran away?” He nodded. “Alright. Well, how about this? Tomorrow, I’ll distract Gamera for a little. You can go topside before the tournament and then return with them. Explain what happened to Gamera and ask for his help.”

The third dog, the one who hadn’t yet accepted me as a friend, growled slightly. Not in threat, but in warning. He was by far the largest of the three. “I don’t think I can.”

“Why?”

“They don’t like it when I lie. It hurts them. I think.”

“Then we’ll have to explain things to Gamera first. I doubt he’d cause much of a fuss about it.”

“But I can’t! He’ll tell mom and dad, and things will get awkward. They’ll insist on keeping me with them while they work for the next month, so we can have ‘quality time’ and I’ll die of boredom.”

Sounds like a fitting punishment for trying to run away to me, I thought as I considered the situation. “Well, this isn’t sustainable. Look at what they did to your room. The maids are going to have a heart attack when they see this.”

“I know!” he groaned and buried his head into the fur of one of the spirit dogs. Who affectionately licked his face, trying to cheer him up.

“Well. If your new friends are all about honesty, then it sounds like if you want to keep them? You’re going to have to be honest. And accept the consequences.” As soon as I finished speaking, the large dog woofed in clear agreement. “See? He’s on board with it.”

“Ugh.” He exhaled. “Fine. But you have to help me.”

“I promise. Now, get some sleep. Maybe teach them to stay off the bed? That might at least make the maids happy.”