"I have provided what you desire, Mr Everett." Breath looks steadily at me, "Now, I need to ask for something in return."

"I hope its not a donation." I cough from all the dust in the storeroom, "Your holy of holies is no different from a car with no steering wheel."

Breath makes a wan smile at my comment, "I'm aware of that. What I want will not cost you anything."

I narrow my eyes as Breath quietly shifts his gait. He's still friendly and affable, but I can't help but notice the way Breath parks himself right in front of the storeroom's door. As if I might bolt at any moment. I feel mildly insulted in fact at this total lack of faith in my character.

"Shoot." I shrug easily, "What's the price for the tour?"

"Just some honesty." Breath says, clasping both hands together, "Who guided you to the Holy of Holies? What do you want with it?"

"What makes you think someone guided me?" I narrow my eyes and try staring the emaciated monk down. Breath doesn't miss a beat however.

"For one, you clearly didn't know what the voucher was used for." Breath sighs patronizingly, "You were blundering about in the market until I came to pick you up."

"I don't see how that's a problem." I rebut, "This is my first time in the Sensorium. I even admitted as much to your guys at the front door."

"True enough." Breath agrees, "But that admission of yours gives rise to complications of its own. For instance, it means that it was an outsider that provided you with the voucher, not one of the brethren."

"Uh." I mutter, caught flat footed by Breath's conclusion. Got to admit, the man's good. I'm letting information slip even when trying to evade Breath's questioning.

"So you can see why I need to ask you this question." Breath continues, "And there's the second matter concerning you, Mr Everett."

"Which is?" I lean against the wall before immediately regretting it thanks to the dirt smearing all over my jacket.

"Ever since you entered the Sensorium," Breath explains, "someone has been watching you from the shadows."

"I see." I nod slowly. I expected something like this ever since leaving Bar Boggs, but why didn't the watcher confront or make contact with me? That's the whole reason I was lured to the Sensorium, isn't it?

"Wait." I quickly interrupt, my hackles rising, "How could you know about the observer? My senses are pretty sharp about hidden things and I didn't feel anything amiss."

"As I said earlier, I'm an ascended." Breath patiently elaborates, "And my senses are uniquely tuned to the environment of the Sensorium. Even then, I couldn't pierce the veil of your stalker's identity, though I managed to shake him when guiding you here."

So it was a matter of power level then? Someone hidden who could escape my notice. Just like he could pass on the voucher under my nose at the bar. The conclusion make sense, but its troubling nonetheless.

How long have I been under observation?

"I don't know." I finally answer Breath, "The voucher was an anonymous gift."

I didn't owe this mystery person anything. And Breath has been nothing but helpful so far. So I suppose he's earned some cooperation from me.

"Indeed?" Breath hums, his eyes closed in meditation. I feel an invisible pressure weigh down on me, silently urging me to tell Breath everything I know. This isn't magic or a class skill, at least I don't think it is. More like how Breath carries himself, the way his words wield a mountain of meaning behind them.

"What were you hoping to find using the Holy of Holies?" Breath asks after a few moments of contemplation.

"To be honest? Nothing in particular." I reluctantly admit, "It was just hinted to me that something in the Sensorium could help with my, uh, problem. I didn't even know about your busted relic."

"Your problem?" Breath's voice becomes unexpectedly kind, "Perhaps the Sensorium might still be able to help, if we knew what it is."

"That's private, sorry." I shake my head resolutely.

"Very well, I won't impose." Breath nods calmly, "There is no coercion in the Sensorium, Mr Everett. Though if you want my advice, forget about the Holy of Holies. Whomever sent you the voucher meant it as a joke, possibly a fatal one."

"I don't think I understand." I question the monk, "Your relic doesn't seem dangerous."

"When a monk of our order first starts his training, he learns the mundane forms of enlightenment." Breath speaks as he leads me out of the storeroom, "Then that knowledge is put the test in the market, where the acolyte guides our guests in finding enlightenment of their own."

"Meaning he starts doing drugs and slinging it to your customers." I roll my eyes, "Don't make it sound more dramatic than it is, Breath."

"The human mind only uses a small fraction of its potential." Breath lectures mildly, "Drugs help unlock undiscovered capability and broaden our perspective."

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"Sure. Whatever you say." I affably nod along, leaving my thoughts on the matter unsaid. Look, if you want to get high, just say so. I'm not here to judge.

Breath takes my silence as agreement and continues his speech.

"Once the acolyte has experienced enlightenment to the limit of mundane human endurance, he learns how to merge with the cosmos. The same way you and I do."

"Alright, I get that the sensorium train its members in 'the power of the cosmos', as you call it." I resist the urge to add air quotes for emphasis, "Still don't see what it has to do with your holy relic being potentially deadly."

Breath stops at the wooden door leading to the Cathedral's main hall and beyond it, I hear the voices of multiple people gabbing. My guide for the first time looks unsure, as if Breath's not confident of the next step he's about to take.

"Mr Everett, you are the first person in decades to ask about the Holy of Holies." Breath speaks after a pause, "That means you have some destiny with the sensorium as a Seeker."

"I'm certainly not one of those junkies in your market looking for their fix." I scoff.

"Yes. That's obvious." Breath gratifyingly agrees, "And the Sensorium is bound to assist all who come seeking enlightenment."

"How are you going to do that?" I challenge, "I'm not going to give up my private life to a stranger I just met, by the way."

"The purpose of the Holy of Holies." my guide shuts his eyes again, looking away, "Do you what is its purpose?"

"No." I freely admit, "But it has something to do with being 'awake'?"

"Awakening is the term we use to denote an ascension." Breath explains, "Once an acolyte gains enough experience, he undergoes an awakening ritual to ascend."

"But your relic is broken," I point out, "And you're an ascended."

"There were originally two ascensions." Breath smooths his cassock, calming himself, "The first ascension is awakening by tribulation lightning. The sensorium still carries that ritual out. But the Grand Ascension requires the Holy of Holies, making it out of our reach."

I rub my chin in thought. So whomever sent me the voucher wanted me to attempt the Grand Ascension? But for what purpose?

"What does ascension do anyway?" I question my guide urgently.

"It brings you closer to the cosmos." Breath explains after some thought, "We are bound to this mundane world by our birth, Mr Everett. The ascensions remove those bindings, one by one."

"So the person who sent me the voucher wants me to get stronger?" I comment, "That doesn't sound too bad at all."

"I knew you would say that." Breath sighs, "That's why I brought you here. Would you like to witness an ascension ritual? Then you can decide matters for yourself."

"Sure. Why not." I heartily accept the proposal and Breath leads me into the main hall.

A large number of monks have already gathered inside, each of them as skinny and unhealthy looking as my guide. There's an atmosphere of anticipation, focused on a chubby, solemn looking acolyte standing in the corner.

"An outsider?" one of the monks asks disinterestedly.

"He seeks enlightenment, Brother Stomach." Breath answers.

"Be well, Seeker." Stomach bows to me, "I sincerely hope you find what you seek today."

"Remember this, Mr Everett." Breath tugs at my sleeve, "You mustn't interfere in the ritual. The Sensorium will not spare you if this rule is broken."

"Respect our customs," Stomach affirms, "And you will remain an honored guest."

"Is everyone ready?" one of the monks asks as a large object covered in cloth is wheeled out and placed next to the Hall's podium.

"I am!" the squeaky voice of the acolyte answers as he waddles up to the podium. The monks nod and throw off the sheet of cloth, revealing the sinister contraption underneath.

"Is that an electric chair?" I exclaim in surprise. Breath grips my arm with surprising strength in response.

"Calm, Mr Everett."

"Acolyte Lucas challenges the lightning tribulation today." Stomach intones, "We must respect his dignity."

Lucas plops himself down on the electric chair and one of the monks affixes the metal skull cap on his head. The Acolyte's right leg is then dipped into a bucket of water.

"Are you ready, Acolyte?" the monk operating the electric chair booms.

"I am!" Lucas yells back, his voice almost cracking from nerves.

"Then let the lightning tribulation begin!" a large lever is pushed and the electric chair begins to hum ominously.

Then the fat acolyte screams horrifically, thrashing about on the seat, smoke rising from his skin.

"What the hell are you all doing?" I demand, utterly shocked.

"Let us pray for Acolyte Lucas's success!" Stomach announces and right on cue, all the monks clasp their hands in prayer. Lucas squirms, his skin rapidly blackening. As his body is cooked inside out, it shrivels as well, quickly resembling a raisin.

And in the background, is the Acolyte's never ending screams.

"Damn it." I push my way through the monks, heading for the electric chair. Someone has to put a stop to this madness. I feel a slight breeze brush past me and -

"I said calm, Mr Everett." Breath notes as I literally bump into him, "You cannot interfere."

"Speed enhancing skills, huh?" I snort, "Nice try, but you're not strong enough to stop me from pushing past."

Breath shakes his head as his hand shoots out, grabbing me by the shoulder. Before I can shake the monk off, his arm begins to bulk up with rock hard muscle, holding me fast.

"No way." I mutter in disbelief, "You're using Gunslinger and Warrior class skills at the same time. That's not possible!"

"Not when you see the cosmos as a singular entity, Mr Everett." Breath demurs, "We've been through this already."

"Let me go!" I demand, "Can't you see you're killing that guy?"

"Yes." Breath looks away regretfully, "To ascend, one must cut his bonds to the mundane world."

"Life, the strongest bond of all," Stomach joins us leisurely, "that's the first to go in Lightning Tribulation."

"My god." I murmur as Lucas spasms one more time before finally going still. The Acolyte's entire body has been ravaged. He looks no different from the other monks around me. Emaciated to the bone. A pregnant silence descends upon the hall.

And then the fresh corpse emits a low groan.

"Success!" Stomach cheers as the shriveled up body of Lucas staggers back to its feet.

No. None of this can even be possible!

"I passed?" the corpse asks almost wonderingly, "But I can't feel, my skin, its numb."

"Merely the price you paid during the tribulation." Stomach claps his hands, "Welcome back, Brother Touch!"

"The price he paid?" I say to myself, head spinning.

"Tribulation leaves its scars." Breath smiles sadly, "Our names are to remember what we lost."

"You didn't sneeze in the storeroom, because -" my mind is blasted open by the revelation.

"I no longer can physically breathe." Breath confirms, "Instead I breathe the cosmos and live."

I pull away from Breath as he releases his grip on me, panic all over my face.

"You're all ghouls!" I shriek in fear, "Fucking monsters!"

"Its a lot to take in at once." Breath nods, "We understand."

"Understand? You want me to fucking understand?" I begin babbling incoherently.

"Yes. Isn't that what a Seeker ultimately wants?" Breath confirms as he whips out a casting focus, "But in the meantime we must swear you to silence."

The focus lightly touches my lips, and I feel a torrent of sorcerous power blast right through my mental defenses. Breath's spell settles into my mind, forming a concrete, unchallengeable order.

I was never to tell an outsider about what happened today.

"Is awakening what you still wish for, Seeker?" Stomach asks imperiously. I have no answers for him. I just flee the Sensorium as fast as my feet can carry me.

Into the night.