I had found myself in more strange portions of space and zones than most people who lived several hundred years in just a few short days. This however, was the most beautiful space of them all. I was surrounded by galaxies full of heavenly objects. It was as though I stood in space as a star myself and these were my peers, vast and all unique and glorious. The longer I looked and marveled at all of the incredibly beautiful stars and planets surrounding me, the more I got a feel of personality of each of them. It was like standing in the middle of the village square and watching the people around me go about their lives. Yet still, every individual piece around me made a vast quilt on the face of the universe, no true pattern visible, but beauty pervading the entirety of the work.
“THERE YOU ARE, WHELP.” The same sudden voice shook the space around me, and I spun around to try and locate its source.
“I KNEW YOUR SOUL WOULD FLEE HERE AFTER I RENT THEIR PALTRY TRAP ASUNDER. YOU MUST BE ELEVATED AND QUICKLY. YOU ARE FAR TOO WEAK AND VULNERABLE TO THEM AS YOU ARE NOW.”
I was thoroughly sick of these encounters with Gods and Godlike beings. Every time they showed up, terrible things happened. I had never had a say in any of these conversations before. I knew they looked down upon me like I was an ant, and the fact that from their perspective I may as well be one only made me angrier. This wrath had been stewing beneath the surface for too long, with too few opportunities for expression, and now it boiled over.
“I’m tired of all of you throwing me in any direction you wish and watching me struggle to keep moving! I’m not your plaything or your tool!” I screamed at the newest unwelcome voice of a God prodding at me.
“I’m going to kill all of you for this! I’ll climb up to your thrones and topple them one by one, staining the heavens with your blood!”
The silence that answered me was almost a balm against my anger. Clearly the voice had been shocked by this outburst. It probably expected me to be thankful for its help and heap it with praise. I was done with all of that. I would choose my own path and face it. I would turn it into a ladder to ascend to their heavenly thrones and destroy them utterly. I seethed with the memory of my families faces, with the years I should have had with them. Just as I was truly working myself into a rage to burn planets and kill gods, the wind was taken out of my sails completely. The voice started laughing, a deep, true, belly laugh.
“OH, WHELP!” The voice continued as its laughter subsided a few moments later, getting closer and lower in tone at the same time.
“I would never have known that a kitten could hiss and bear its fangs so fiercely! I haven’t seen spine like that in millenia! Well, at least you’ll have the grit for it then. I thought I had simply given you a reprieve, but if you can maintain something close to that level of defiance and determination you might actually be able to face them in a few thousand years!”
“Who are you to say such things? You must be more powerful than Varyk and Trakaris to be able to meddle in their affairs so directly, but they are the king and queen of the Gods!” I shouted back at the voice, confused and still very angry.
“Show yourself and explain!”
“Ahhh, whelp,” the voice sighed, and I heard sadness and remorse in his voice. He spoke like a mountain, even though he had lowered his volume. Like the very earth had taken form enough to speak.
“This is their realm, I don’t have the power to tear them from their thrones here. Luckily for you, they tried to eat you in your dreams. That is a shared space, so while I still cannot vanquish them I can save you. As you are now, if you were to see me in this space you would be destroyed utterly. Now. One of my kin has helped you against them before, I can feel her touch in your aura. Unfortunately, it has also damaged you beyond mortal repair. For you to regain your mana, you must reforge your body. When you wake you must find a ki cultivator to restart your path to ascension. This is your only hope to climb high enough to topple their thrones, whelp. I will make your dreams safe, but you must be wary of their mortal agents and tools. If we meet again, I hope you have managed to truly climb high enough to see me.”
“Who are you? Why are you helping me?” I demanded, still casting my gaze all around this space while trying to locate him.
“What is ki, and wha—”
“No, whelp, we don’t have time for me to answer your questions.” He cut me off, and his presence felt closer than ever before, yet still I couldn’t find him anywhere around me.
“I can tell you I am called Baek, the Tiger God. My people are too far for you to travel in your lifetime. Ki is an energy that you must cultivate, but you must find out how first. Our time is up, whelp. Make sure you are at least a cub before you find me again.”
Suddenly, I saw what I assumed must be Baek, but only because of the distortion around him. He was a black hole of a soul, tightly packed with so much power that he warped the space around him. I found myself pulled towards him with such speed that everything else became a blur, and then suddenly I was jolted out of this space.
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When I awoke, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and clenching my fists for a long time. It was dark out, and the only noise I could hear was the wind passing over the house. I knew for sure now who was responsible for the horrific deaths my family had suffered. I knew now who I needed to kill. It is no small thing to resolve to kill a god when you were still so recently a child. Perhaps, though, it is a resolve only a child could think possible. I finally fell back asleep repeating my new tasks over and over again. Find a ki cultivator. Reforge my body. Kill the Gods.
The next morning I rang the bell as I had been instructed to do. A young maid with silver hair came and led me to the bathing room. She told me a fresh set of clothes would be waiting for me when I finished and left. I entered the room and froze. There was a fountain in the middle of the room. I had been expecting a wooden tub, but it seemed the city was rich enough to have mana stones even in their bathing chambers to provide an infinite water source.
I held my hand under the water and discovered that it was heated as well. Two mana stones for one room, just for bathing. I shook my head at the sheer cost of upkeep that this building must have. I disrobed and placed my tattered clothes in the basket that already had a few sets inside of it. I stepped under the water and couldn’t bring myself to leave for quite a while.
Finally, someone outside must have gotten impatient waiting for me, and rapped loudly on the door. I stepped out of the deluge of water and noticed that there were now a set of clothes and a towel lying on a bench that had been empty when I entered the room. Had they teleported the clothes and towel into the room while I bathed? I shrugged it off after a second round of knocking came at the door and quickly dried off and changed into the new clothes, which fit me like a glove. I hurried to the door and opened it, just in time it seemed.
Naomi stood there with her fist raised, poised to knock again. She raised an eyebrow at me and I blushed and opened my mouth to try to explain, but she was already walking away. I snapped my mouth shut and hurried to follow her. A few moments later we were at the dining room, and she spoke for the second time since I had met her.
“Communal meal times are at sunrise, noon, and sunset. If you want food outside of those time periods, you are welcome to ask the cook to make you something. You are permitted to dine in your room if you wish, just summon a staff member and ask them to bring you something. Remember please to summon them again to take back the dishes and silverware once you are finished. Do you have any questions?” She asked me. I was a little overwhelmed by all of the privileges they were extending to me, but I just shook my head no, and she resumed.
“Here is your pass to get into the library, as well as any of the city’s research departments. There is also a map of the city, though if you do get lost any guard would be happy to help you find your way. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“Wait, please, ma’am,” I pleaded, before she could walk away.
“Why are you all doing this for me? I can’t possibly ever pay you back, and you’ve made no demands of me. I don’t understand.”
She arched her cerulean eyebrow at me again and seemed to weigh something before she responded. I wasn’t sure if she was deciding whether or not to tell me a secret, or just whether it was worth the effort to put into words. After a moment, she nodded to herself and then gingerly placed a hand on my shoulder before answering my question.
“You don’t know it yet, but it is almost impossible to live without mana in our society, Zakai,” she gently patted my shoulder while telling me.
“Left on your own, you would be reduced to begging in the streets, or hunting beasts in the nearby forests. All of our jobs revolve around using mana to perform some task, and while a few of the tasks are possible without mana, you could never compete with even the most meager copper talent. Furthermore, your condition is so rare that there are no known treatments, let alone cures. Mayor Fram houses the most unfortunate of the city’s orphans here, and like it or not, that includes you. We will take care of you here.”
I hadn’t really stopped to think of how I would survive while I looked for a way to get revenge on the Gods who had sent devastation to my door. While it was true that I could hunt by myself, I would be limited to the weakest of creatures in an effort to avoid manabeasts. Even the weakest manabeast had required my father or mother to battle or suppress with their own spells. If I encountered one while trying to hunt smaller prey… I shook the thought off and looked back at Naomi.
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She had a bit of compassion in her eyes, but mostly I could see a frank expression. She knew that what she was telling me was a hard truth, and she wasn’t trying to act like it wasn’t. Luckily, I still had hope from Baek’s words to me. I would find a way to “cultivate ki” and reforge my body. I would not let this be my end, I would not live as a burden. My resolve must have shown in my eyes because Naomi nodded and then patted me on the shoulder one last time before she left.
I took a deep breath and entered the dining room. There was a long banquet table in the middle of the room that looked like it could seat a small army, draped with a tablecloth that could clothe said army. Along one side of the room a serving table rested against the wall, and it was piled with platters and platters of food. I saw all manners of different kinds of meats, eggs, breads, and cheeses. My stomach loudly rumbled immediately, and I had to contain myself not to run to the table.
It was a little late in the morning at this point, but there were several children still eating their breakfast. A couple turned and looked at me, but most just went back to eating after a quick glance. One girl with crimson hair however, did a double take and then stared at me like she was seeing a ghost. I tried to ignore it and went to the side table, grabbing a plate and set of utensils from a dwindling stack at one end. I proceeded to pile that plate with a slightly obscene amount of food, with extra helpings of fried ham and scrambled eggs, my favorites.
When I turned back to find a seat, she was staring still. I shivered a bit at the intensity of her gaze and chose a seat at the total opposite end of the room from her, stuffing my face as soon as I sat down and put her out of my mind. For the next few minutes, the world faded into static as I ate a portion that could probably feed three people my age.
When I finished, I sighed deeply in satisfaction and sat back in the chair. I was trying to decide whether or not it would be considered rude to grab a couple more rolls when I felt a presence behind me. I whirled around and muffled a shout when I realized it was the same girl who had been staring at me. She also let out a muffled yell at my sudden spin and jerked back from me. My anger boiled up, paired with confusion, as she had been the one to sneak up on me. Then I noticed she was blushing and her hands came up to her mouth.
“Oh-my-Gods, I’m so sorry!” She blurted out, muffled slightly by her hands.
“It’s just— I just— I’m sorry—”
“No no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” I spoke over the top of her, now blushing myself though unsure why I was so embarrassed.
“I just didn’t hear you coming and you startled me.”
We stood in awkward silence for a moment while we both tried to get ourselves under control, when she suddenly stuck out her hand to me.
“Riga.” She said, still slightly blushing. After a moment’s hesitation, I shook her hand and introduced myself as well.
“Zakai.”
“It’s just— I’ve never met anyone without any mana…” Riga explained, shrugging slightly as she said it.
“I didn’t mean to be rude or sneak up on you, honest. Were you born like that? Are you from around here? Are the people in you—”
“No, I wasn’t born like this,” I interrupted her bitterly. I might have hope for my future, but this wound was still open and raw.
“They said that I must have cast a spell too powerful for my mana system to handle and it burned me out like a candle. I’m from… I was from Kvivik.”
“What do you mean you were from Kvivik?” She tilted her head, confused at my change in phrasing. Then she seemed to realize what else I said and her eyes went wide.
“You can cast a spell too big and burn yourself out?!”
“Riga, I might have known you’d start badgering our newest guest as soon as you saw them!” Just then, a maid appeared seemingly from nowhere next to both of us, admonishing Riga.
“Give the boy time to settle in and eat his first meal in the house for Runa’s sake! I’m sorry, Zakai, she gets too curious for her own good, please forgive her.”
Riga shot the maid a dirty look, but the saw me looking and stared at the carpet. I reassured the maid that it was fine while slowly edging myself away from the two of them. The maid turned back to Riga to scold her again and I rapidly made my escape. My grief loomed large, threatening to overwhelm me again, but I powered through it and made my way back to my room.
When I got there, I quickly pulled the rope and grabbed my makeshift rucksack. I double checked the contents while I waited, though it contained nothing other than my waterskin, a small wooden carving of a tiger, a few small tallow candles, and my comb. I added the passes and the map, and then counted them several times while waiting for someone to answer the bell pull.
After an eternity, there came a knock at the door and I opened it as quickly as I could cross the space. This time it was a footman at the door, an older man with gray hair and a full beard.
“Could I please have a packed lunch? I’d like to go to the library as soon as I can.” I blurted out as soon as I met his eyes, then winced. “I’m sorry, I—”
“It’s okay, lad” He chuckled. “I remember what it was to think that an hour was an eternity and ten minutes was too short. I’ll have the cook prepare you a lunch and deliver it to you momentarily.”
He nodded at me and moved on through the house. I felt terrible asking for someone to do such a small thing like this for me, but I desperately didn’t want to hash out another conversation like the one with Riga. Unfortunately, this left me with time to do nothing but think. My mind scattered and quaked, as I searched for something, anything else to think about other than my family and the village.
I eventually settled on trying my mana channeling meditation again, both as a way to clear my head and to try one last time to feel something in my mana pool again. I delved into my consciousness, pushing past the layers of emotions and thoughts, compartmentalizing each and packing them away for later. I visualized a dark space and let my thoughts drift slowly until I was no longer focused on anything at all. Once here, I visualized my own silhouette and outlines of my mana channels running through me. I imagined drawing the energy of the universe around me down into my core, squeezing it until it condensed into drops of pure mana.
Nothing. No droplets, not even the gaseous universal energy. I kept trying for a few moments, until suddenly a spark from deep in the core of my chest, something that was inherently ME, jolted me out of my meditation.
My eyebrows climbed to the roof. What had that been?! It definitely wasn’t mana, yet it felt so… familiar. I wasn’t given time to ponder or try again, as the butler knocked at the door with my packed lunch. I didn’t have time to pursue strange feelings I couldn’t comprehend, I needed to find out more about ki. I made a mental note to try this again at some point in the future, grabbed my rucksack and opened the door to my room.
The butler from before gave me a kindly smile and handed me a small wooden box and bade me good luck in my search. It seemed every staff member knew about my circumstances. I shrugged it off and thanked him for getting it for me and shoved it in my rucksack. He left and I made my way to the front of the house, then through the garden and to the guard house. I pulled out the map and noticed that it was nicely annotated and labeled, even including routes to and from the manor, library, and various research buildings. I thought it over for a moment and decided to head towards the library first. I didn’t even have an idea of what research department could help me, and all I knew to look for right now was a single word.
Half an hour later I was at the library. It rose above me a full three stories, but it was much more artistic in its implementation. It completely lacked the utilitarian feel of the City Hall. They had used red clay bricks for the walls, and each window and doorway was recessed and surrounded by white stone archways. Steeply sloped roofs led to a flat topped peak with guard rails edging it, and a minaret topped the front at the highest point. I idly wondered if I would be allowed to take any tomes I found to the roof for study, since it seemed to be accessible.
I entered the building and was enthralled once more, surrounded on all sides by books stacked in shelves fully to the ceiling. Long ladders hung from the shelves, enabling access to the highest reaches of the shelves. There were people studying in various corners, and even a few practicing spell forms and condensing mana into stones. The room itself was an open atrium, and the second floor seemed to consist entirely of a balcony on every wall of the building. I spotted stairs leading up to that balcony, and yet more stairs on the second floor that must lead to the roof. A large darkened copper chandelier hung in the middle of the room, and it was lit with more of the light mana stones that were present seemingly in every building in the city.
Surely, they must have found a way to harness light mana more stably, or a better stone formation to keep them from decaying so quickly. Such stones made in the village would scant last a day before burning out and crumbling. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to examine a light source while it is shining directly in your eyes, but I burned with curiosity and a desire to make such stones myself. The feeling quickly twisted into a strange burning sensation in my chest as I remembered I may never be able to make mana stones of any kind ever again.
A deep basso rumbling of someone clearing their throat brought me back to myself. I looked to the source of the noise and saw a hulking, burly man with deep azure hair and a well-manicured beard standing behind a partitioned desk area. He was looking at me from over the top of a pair of glasses hung low on his nose, and had an expectant expression. I was confused for a moment until I realized he must be waiting to see my pass from the mayor, and I promptly scrambled to pull it out of my rucksack. Sheepishly I walked over and handed it across the desk to his waiting hand. I couldn’t read his expression behind the beard, but his eyes seemed to have a sprinkle of mischief that painfully reminded me of my father for a brief second.
“Ah, a full-access pass from Mayor Fram, herself,” he stated with a note of surprise. He looked back at me, slightly perplexed, and then handed the pass back to me.
“Well then, my name is Mikael, and I am the head librarian here. Here, take a brochure about the organization of the library. It even has a little map as you see. If you have any questions or you need access to the restricted sections, please come tell me personally, or ask a librarian to find me. Now, what’s your name, child?”
“Zakai, sir, and I’m not a child.” I answered, suppressing a flash of irritation as I accepted the brochure and quickly glanced through it. It even had colored ink highlighting sections of the library and denoting genres and categories of the books stored there. I knew I still looked too young to be a man, but I had passed my damned Trial. If I still had mana…
“I passed my Trial this year.”
“Apologies then, Zakai,” he said, actually looking embarrassed for a moment.
“Let me make it up to you by helping you get started on whatever it is you need to find, eh?”
“Yes, please,” I replied, bowing slightly to him to thank him.
“Could you tell me if you’ve ever heard of ‘ki’, sir?”
“’Ki’ you say?” He stroked his beard and eyed me with a speculative look.
“I have, though it is mostly considered a fantasy or fairy tale. They say it is an entirely separate energy from mana, invisible to those who don’t train to harness it. I can’t recall many details beyond that, though.”
“Could you tell me if you are aware of a book or research scroll that you may have on the subject?” I asked excitedly, trying to contain myself. It really existed! My path may be easier than I had expected, after all.
“Certainly, I’ll check, though I fear you may be disappointed.” He replied, moving his hands as he casted what appeared to be a complex tracking spell. It was significantly harder to tell without manasense. A wash of jealousy tinged me as he performed the spell effortlessly.
“While I know the word, I daresay I may be the only one in the city. As I said, it is mostly considered a fairy tale. Though, apparently we do have one book on it. If you would follow me, please.”
He led me through the library to a corner of the first floor, in what appeared to be the children’s section. It seemed he really meant it when he called it a fairy tale idea. A slim green book was highlighted by a red glow from his tracking spell, and he drew it down off the shelf. It looked… distinctly unlike a scholarly tome.
It was called ‘Immortality and YOU: Beginner’s Guide to Ki Cultivation’. I frowned, thinking it sounded like the occasional immoral merchant trying to prey on ‘backwater yokels’ who visited the village promising the stars and delivering nothing. I shrugged and accepted the book from Mikael, opening to a random page. My heart continued to drop as I read on. The entire book seemed to be couched in the same kinds of terms that those merchants used. Phrases like ‘through fire ki you can melt through the strongest steel with ease!’ and ‘earth ki can be used to level mountains!’ echoed throughout the book. Such things were possible for skilled mana users, but only with immense amounts of mana stones or truly ancient and extremely advanced practitioners.
“Am I permitted to use the roof while I study this, sir?” I asked Mikael, who nodded and gestured towards the nearest set of stairs. “Thank you then. I’ll be sure to find you in I need anything else.
I headed up the stairs to the roof, determined to find something of value in this book that seemed to be written by a snake-oil salesman.