Braxon was nowhere. He sensed nothing. He felt nothing at all, heard nothing at all. He had no sense that could be labeled a sense. No feelings, no sight, nor smell, and yet he still had an awareness. Inexplicable and undeniable he had an awareness of self and somehow, though he could not comprehend it, he was aware that he was expansive. Not physically large, because that would require a spacial awareness, no he just felt as though he was spread out over a large expanse, perhaps even the cosmos, and that somehow, that state was correct. He was fine.
But I’m falling. No, not falling, because that would imply direction, no I’m condensing. I’m shrinking.
He was aware that he was somehow losing his former expansiveness and becoming, not less, but smaller somehow, as though he were falling into himself over and over, a never-ending receding of his self into perpetually smaller and smaller selves. This continued for longer than he thought was possible. His mind struggled against the awareness, thoughts coming through from a previous life.
I’ve got to be sub-atomic by now. And yet he still receded. Smaller than even the smallest particle he thought as the, now sensation, the humming buzzing, the loud and silent sensation of shrinking perpetually inwards locked him into a neverending cycle that threatened to destabilize his sanity.
Though there was no sound whatsoever Braxon still felt the loudness overwhelm him, the awareness driving him to the edge of sanity. And then there was silence; silence, and pain, and light.
He raised his hand, his frail, pasty, thin hand to block the light. He opened his eyes. He could see again. He could move again. A blur of rings, wires, and glowing lights combined in his sight like a million golden spiderwebs studded with gems, surrounded by concentric rings, held in place by dark chains stretching further into the shadows, and beyond that some vast distance away the moon shone down, its light inescapable.
He felt his lips, the dryness, he took a deep breath. The air tasted of acrid smoke and spice.
He closed his eyes.
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“Kai!” the word startled him awake. His eyes came into focus on the ceiling overhead, wooden beams, with flaking green paint.
“Kai, are you sleeping in again? Master Kelas will be displeased.” Braxton turned towards the door. A girl stood there, not yet 10 he guessed, and dressed in some formal robes of a kind unfamiliar to him.
He just stared at her for a moment, not moving, not saying anything.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong with your eyes?” She asked. Her small pink lips moved in ways dissimilar to what he was accustomed to, and yet he understood her perfectly well. The sounds unusual, the meaning clear.
“I’m not, I don’t feel right,” he said or tried to say. The words came out slurred. He moved to sit upright in his bed but the room started to spin. He closed his eyes but that made it worse. He opened them long enough to see the dirty tile floor closing on his face before darkness took him again.
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Kai came to, the subdued moans and cries of the injured and dying, rousing him from slumber.
“He hasn’t a fever,” an elderly voice came from around a green curtain, “a small head injury nothing serious, but he is still in poor health.”
Kai turned his head to better hear.
“Spiritually, however, that’s more interesting.” the voice paused. There was a quiet shuffle of feet before the curtain was pulled aside. From his vantage in the hospital bed, Kai saw several other patients being attended to, some with quite serious injuries. The whole was so very foreign, the robes, the colors, the lighting. It was unfamiliar.
“Ah Sun Kai, you’re awake.” a man dressed in nicer robes entered, long black hair fell down over his shoulders. “You gave Mei quite the scare.” Another elderly man entered behind the first and bent to feel Kai’s forehead. Kai felt the man’s cold touch, but then warmth spread from the place where he touched, pushing through his veins - reaching his entire body, before retreating just as quickly before he removed his hand.
“My name is Braxon Ahja. I am an engineer first-class and head-of-station at the Natuli forward operating post. I was attacked by unidentified assailants and had to flee. I require assistance contacting the Unified Republic.” Kai replied, forcing himself to sit up. The room threatened to start spinning, but Kai focused on a single point until the sensation receded.
“Yes, you were muttering something similar in your sleep,” the younger man replied, his eyebrows rising as he glanced toward the doctor. “I’m Master Rhi Tat, I supervise all first-year residents here.”
“Delirum wouldn’t explain the increase in spiritual energy,” The doctor stood looking down. For the first time, Kai became aware of his size, he was much smaller than them. “Could be a deviation from soul-forging? I recommend you consult with a soul-forger, but there’s nothing I can do for him.”
Kai examined his hands - his small hands; pale, thin with small pink nail beds. His arms were thin. He explored his face, his hair - his long hair. He stood up from the bed with a start, barely rising to the waist of the doctor.
“I’m…” he looked up at the two men, he felt his cheeks warm, and he turned around, and inspected himself, sneaking a quick peak down there. Well, that’s a relief. Kai turned back around with a sigh. “I… seem to be a child. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
The doctor took one more look at him, before glancing at Rhi Tat, his expression inscrutable. “You’re fine to leave, try dodging the floor next time you get in an argument with it.”
“Well Braxon, did you say?” Master Rhi Tat looked down at Kai, “I’m sure things are quite confusing. What say we go find an expert to sort this out for us? Can you walk?”
Kai wanted to explain further or to inquire further, but when he looked into the Rhi Tat’s eyes he found there not compassion, nor care, but merely the semblance of such. So he stayed quiet and nodded his head.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Something clearly isn’t right here, but these people may not be my friends, I must tread carefully.
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From where he waited Kai watched the others walking by. Robes. They all wore robes, in different colors, and from what he could observe, each robe indicated a level or perhaps the year with the youngest wearing green like his own, but there were blue, orange, yellow, red, and purple - and there were other’s that wore black and white, though those seemed to all be adults.
All of the women had long hair, mostly black, with fair skin and unique facial features that would have made them beautiful where he was from, but here seemed rather common. Most of the men had long black hair - with only an occasional short hairstyle to break up the monotony.
Kai tried listening but conversations were so quiet and the people walked so quickly, that he understood nothing. That wasn’t to say that he hadn’t learned anything, he watched as the younger people deferred to the older, and the oldest deferred to the adults - and he counted. He counted the different colors. The younger colors were by far the largest group, with each older group seemingly smaller than the one before it.
If this is school, then it must be extremely difficult. He thought back to the hospital, to the injured and dying. A meritocracy then, and perhaps a brutal one. That doesn’t bode well for me - one who is in poor health the doctor said. I need to tread carefully here.
“Sun Kai, the elder will see you now.” Rhi Tat returned to the door where he left him standing, “come.” Kai followed after him as they walked down a small hall to a chamber. “She is waiting for you, do as she bids.” Kai nodded and entered alone.
The room was small but the entire outside wall opened onto a large balcony. There on the balcony, a beautiful woman sat, her posture straight, as she looked out over a mountain range that fell down and away, a vast vista of clouds and forest moving out below.
Kai schooled his expression, though his eyes darted over the mountain range, the distant valley, and the blue expanse of sky beyond, and back to the elder - who didn’t look much like an elder in his estimation.
“Master Rhi Tat explained your situation to me,” she started, “come over here and let me have a look at you.” Kai stepped where she indicated taking his place opposite of her, kneeling in a position similar to her. "I understand your name is Braxton and you are an engineer?”
“I don’t know. It all seems like a dream now.” He replied tentatively. He had stood in the hall long enough to consider that this entire situation, everything since his desperate attempt to use the drive, might be a simulation designed to elicit information about the technology they were researching. What if the drive failed and they recovered nothing, perhaps this whole ploy is just to get me to divulge my secrets.
“A dream?” her perfect eyebrows arched up over her jade-green eyes. Her eyes glowed with a kind of energy, as though reflecting light when there was no light to reflect. It wasn’t the first time today he’d seen this. Twice in the hall, once with the one wearing a purple robe, once with an adult - the same sort of glow.
“Apologies, I don’t know how to better describe it. This here, sitting across from you. This feels like a dream. I struggle to remember anything about this place, even my name sounds unfamiliar to me. I find it difficult to trust my thoughts.”
“I am Elder Tai Mu, but most people call me Elder Tai. You feel as though you are dreaming now?”
Kai said nothing, he just nodded and looked over toward the grand mountain range. A flock of white cranes circled a neighboring peak before disappearing into a cloud.
“Well allow me to dispel some of the mystery.” Elder Tai smiled, “Your name is Sun Kai, son of Sun La, of the Sun branch family. This is the Celestial Temple, and you are an initiate here, though only just. We brought you here after an assessment indicated a high affinity with soul-forging. Do you know what soul-forging is?”
“I do not,” Kai said with a sigh.
“Do you know what cultivation is? What spiritual energy is?” she asked incredulity spreading over her face.
“Apologies elder, I am ignorant of these things,” Kai replied honestly.
“Come closer, let me see what ailment afflicts you.” The elder pulled back the sleeve of her white robe, exposing her flawless skin. When Kai moved closer she placed her palm on his head; warmth spread through his body again.
Kai watched as a puzzled crease pushed her forehead together, her eyes tightening at what she was able to sense. After a moment the warmth receded and she withdrew her hand. She said nothing, just looking into Kai’s eyes for a long moment.
“I am unsure how to proceed,” she said before exhaling a long sigh. She turned from Kai and looked towards the receding mountains. “On one hand I am tempted to tell you little, which may help to encourage your further growth. Experience has taught me that this path often breeds mistrust as children mature. On the other hand, I could be forthright with you. Experience has taught me that this often makes it harder for young ones in their early cultivation.” She refocused her eyes on Kai.
“Which would you prefer?” she asked.
Kai opened his mouth to reply but paused - Is this a test? He briefly considered the implications behind the question. She testing me about something, but I don’t know what. “I may not understand the ramifications of my answer, but I’ve always preferred to know the truth. I would like you to be as forthright as you can.”
“Sun Kai, your affinity with soul-forging is truly exceptional.” Tai Mu flashed a quick smile, her perfect white teeth briefly visible between her lips. “At seven years of age, you have already created a soul space and completed your first fusion. It’s remarkable.”
For a moment she seemed pleased but that moment passed. Her lips turned down in displeasure. “Unfortunately, you,” the powerful emerald glow of her gaze suddenly felt menacing, “or more accurately, the previous owner of this body, the former Sun Kai, overreached and is no more.”
“You are all that’s left of his abject failure and now it falls to me to decide if you live or die.”