Ikrei P.O.V.

Placing the body of the ketar on my right thigh I ran my hands over the strings and the fingerboard. I was operating by reflexes, with shock visible on my face.

“It’s perfectly tuned, don’t worry about it. Let me demonstrate.” Kuyun sat herself up with the instrument.

She began playing an upbeat melodic tune. It was very pleasing to my ears, I must admit. A few sand grains later, a wave of energy enveloped the room. That’s what it felt like to me. Awakened energy. The notes she was playing came alive, I could feel the joy she was feeling while she played. A very similar phenomenon to the one that happened in the gathering but in a much smaller scale.

“See?” She placed the ketar to the side.

“Playing instruments can help us in our awakening?” Puri asked.

“It is one path, in the field of soul connection, the instrument is just a medium. It is one of the hardest disciplines the Andurin practice, soul music. And it requires precise control.” She explained.

“So there are other ways to acquire this control of the core energy?” I probed.

“Yes but not with the same level of mastery. You are to learn this art just as the leadership has determined. Let’s start by playing properly, follow my lead.”

She slowly showed us how to play the basic notes and a few chords. Nothing major, just casual play. I strung the ketar as instructed. Eventually she stood behind us, correcting our posture, finger placement and other details. She taught us a Kotarian children song, just four chords, the ‘Star in the Sky’.

“Puri, teach him the words of the Andurian tongue.” He readily agreed.

“Ikrei, in the coming days, you will teach your brother the first ten forms of the Reika. He is not a fighter, do it slowly and meticulously.” I nodded in agreement.

“As you receive, so shall you give. Reciprocity, book of the first precept. Choose to always be better brothers.” Sister Kuyun told us.

We continued our practice of the song and the study of the Andurian tongue until dusk. Some of the parchments on the table were there to help us study the ancient tongue. Puri was enthralled with some sigils that I could not figure out. The training session had taken all the hours of sunlight.

“My first ever secret training was learning a children song on a ketar. Unbelievable.”

“Puri will stay with me to continue his learning. Ikrei, sister Freslia should be waiting for you outside the door. We will see each other in the morning.” The thick eyebrow beauty said with a smile.

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Well below the underground undercroft, I was standing in a training circle facing my usual instructor. He had a very unfriendly look in his eye.

Gulp.

‘This is going to get rough.’ I inwardly lamented.

“The purpose of this exercise is for you to master the basic twenty forms of the Reika. We will keep going until I deem your performance acceptable.”

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There was a shining white crystal orb in the hand of the merciless taskmaster. She was watching from the side, outside the circle. The orb vibrated, expelling a dazzling white light. Everything went back to normal a few breaths later.

“The needles will help you sense the flow of energy within you. Krigsain will be on the defensive, just focus on executing. Begin!” She ordered while doing hand sigils, her eyes shining.

I began attacking following the pattern of the forms. One, two, three, four and finishing blow. Rinse and repeat with my other hand. The needles on my back were ticklish, they weren’t helping. Nevertheless, I could feel the awakened energy flow from my mind, through my body and into my extremities. It was an extremely subdued version of the exercises on the Zurian ship. Freslia wasn’t imbuing her power into my body, this time around.

‘Feel the flow, feel the flow. Breath in, breath out.’

I charged at Krigsain going through the forms. He was blocking according to the teachings. My strikes were slightly faster and stronger than a professional hunter. Not something that could even begin to trouble the redhead muscle mass.

“Your right punch is off, center yourself properly. Start again.” Krigsain instructed.

A new charge, repeating the twelfth form, punch, block, half turn with a grab, retreat dash pulling the target’s wrist and a kick to the knee plus a punch to the head as a double finishing blow. Krigsain wasn’t even fazed.

“Intuitive, instinctive, execute without thinking. One mind and no mind, I know it is hard to wrap yourself around the concept. The moment you think it, it happens and it happens without thinking any further. Again from the beginning.” He motioned me forward.

Another rush. I put all my weight and momentum on each blow, stronger yet slower.

“Faster, hit the joints and the openings with proper force. Your enemies will know these arts. Learn properly and it won’t matter. Not because you know it’s coming, will you be able to stop it. The Reika is a whirlpool. An endless loop to trap your foe.”

The rest of our sparring session was spent under these conditions. Whenever I felt like breaking down, Krigsain gave me an orgon dilution. Time seemed to flow endlessly. My entire body was aching; I couldn’t breathe correctly, even walking straight was a problem.

“Time.” The Clamere’s voice filled the air.

She didn’t look too good. She was perspiring.

“How long did we go for?” I asked gasping heavily.

“Technically three hours, in reality thirty hours.” She said.

“What?!?” I couldn’t believe it.

Lady Freslia showed me the crystal orb I saw before we started training. A finger over her lips, signaling her intent to keep this a secret.

‘Secret training alright. These people are dangerous, way too dangerous.’

“Krigsain, take your brother to his new lodgings. Thank you.” She gave the word.

“Let’s go pub, let us talk technique and endurance while we are at it.” The redhead brute gave me his signature sly smile.

With a trembling gait, we slowly made our way through the security checks and the castle corridors.

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My new room was spacious although aesthetically pleasing its design was tilted towards functionality. In a table inside the room, there were a couple of pills and a note written in an obviously energy infused parchment. I unfolded the papyrus.

—Ikrei these alchemical pills will help you recover mentally and physically. Take them before you sleep. They will be here every night when you return. Keep everything that happens to yourself. Sorry for placing a protective ward around your room, I know this will cause you headaches but we can never be too careful. I am watching, be strong. Akathos—

The papyrus dissolved in my hands, as I finished reading.

“These level of precautions border on insanity. Then again, artifacts that change time aren’t something to humor about.”

There was also a ketar next to my bed. I decided to string a few chords for a while and play the ‘Star in the Sky’. When you are exhausted sometimes you crash and can do no more, other times like today, you find a ‘second wind’. Moments, ideas and feelings blazed through my mind, fights, blood, death, fear, rage. Looking at it conspicuously, it has been very hard and negative. I was driven mostly by the instinct of survival.

“I wonder how the Zurians are training Teng.”

The melody resonated around me, my little, trivial concert began. I changed the words of the song and repeated my friend’s name instead.

“♪Teng, Teng, Teng, Teng.♪”

“I could use a friend right now.”