Ikrei P.O.V.
I was waiting for the processing of my credentials to enter the mapped rift. My remaining money was 1500 Ucra, all expenses paid for, including orgon crystals for mediation. Following big guy’s writings, there were a few considerations.
* The runic ring was for control and disabling, power transfer was now better through the contract.
* The new power of my core needed stabilizing. Fighting, lots of fighting and sex, lots of sex. There will be downsides, they are expected. Power through.
* Yun Hee was going to have headaches from overuse. Use the ring for added compulsion in case she becomes rebellious, if overuse makes her bleed again.
* Malgrun was fully present within me, test things out, be careful.
* One day for sex, the rest for my training regimen. Meditation, arts, music and languages.
* Keep writing music. Krigsain will teach me otherworldly music soon.
* Keep records of everything, chance of memory lapses possible.
“I’ll hand the contract to Krigs for revision when I see him.”
“You have your clearance, first core. Good luck out there, Andurin.”
The kingdom official handed me the sigil, the coordinates, the map and all else related to this hunt. I went directly to the rift. My gait faltered a little.
‘I am still a little sore from the last couple of days.’
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The thing about this hunt is the entry pass. One time only. Want to reentry, pay again. Brutal. So, I have to hunt these guys in one go.
“Time to test the limits of a fully formed not yet peak state first core.”
I headed to where the map indications signaled. The ground in these parts was black, black as charcoal yet vibrant with energy. Plants, caves and mountains had an eerie feeling. The consequences of the battle of the gods, so they say.
My core resonated with some of the energy in the place, rejected some of it.
“Different gods, no stable base.”
Mana was the unifying power of all gods that sustained the world. A self-sufficient impersonal source of power. This is why Magi like to remain independent. Few have the chance to harness the full extent of the available power.
‘The Dogran guy is different. The empire must be filled with monsters.’
I reached the cave system where the bears lived. I stayed away from their immediate detection range. I just watched carefully. Huge mana trees growing on top of the caves. Very strange birds resting on them.
“There should be about twenty, here. As expected I need to lure them out of the caves and watch out for those birds.”
I setup camp nearby and took out my ketar, I was going to wait a while and see how the bears live around this place.
I started working on a new song, but not too dissimilar from the one I had written. Themes of war again.
Like this, following the bears, meditating, playing and reading Zurian scriptures every now and then. A week had gone by.
Day of Musa, fourth day of the week. Third week of the tenth month.
‘Oh, fuck, I missed the sacred day again!’
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The bears here are not only stronger but also smarter. So, I had to use a long term strategy of the typical “baiting” procedure for the bears. This time, using extremely expensive, herbs, fruits and even the premium version of a Thruskan brew bottle mixed in.
‘I haven’t even tasted it yet. Enjoy your last meal “little” ones.’
Using the bait for the last days, the hungry, selfish beasts got used to following the food and the aroma. The selfish bastards grabbed the food and went to eat on their own far away from each other.
Their cores are in their hearts.
‘Can’t use the ring, ancient rift interference. But with the soul contract that doesn’t matter! Ha, Ha, Ha! Still I need to run tests first.’
So, until further testing this was not an option. The problems of having more power.
I moved in close to the first lonely bear. In his eyes, I was nothing more than the little woffer rabbit that always comes over. Kletay’s artifact working its wonders.
SWISH!
One fully charged surprise attack to the brain, no time to react. My new mastercraft long blade inserted right between the eyes. A couple of twitches and the bear was no more, just a very valuable piece of meat.
A complicated situation resolved through trickery.
‘Am I turning Unothodox as Ciel said?’
Rinse and repeat. Before long I had my three cores plus all the bears’ body parts.
“Kletay’s artifact, Veil of the Heart, is going to be invaluable for the last hunt.”
Since I was already late, I stayed for the remainder of the days before going for a report.
‘First hunting small game with cores. Second, testing my new limits.’
“Going to spank that ass plenty when I get back. You must be in the pool right about now.”
I could feel Yun Hee even this far way. no thoughts, just feelings. But If I can feel her, she can feel me too. An open heart to a woman is dangerous, an open heart to a succubus is irresponsible and deathly. Soul music is my safety net. Control, absolute control.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
‘That is why she is training in something similar too.’
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Day of Ioƛl, sixth day of the week. Third week of the tenth month. Lord Sarkan’s sealed space.
“Again?” Sarkan was not happy.
“Forgive Lord Sarkan. I am trying my best. I am almost done with my hunts!” I was going to play the expressive little dog angle.
Another one of Krigsain’s tips. Still, Lord Sarkan was seriously displeased.
‘He is not going to pop a vein, is he? Am I getting banged against the wall?’
“You bunch are quite something. And very lucky too.”
I wasn’t following what he was saying.
‘Luck? Luck is good, right?!’
“You have been reassigned for a week of special training. The orders of the eldership. So, punishment will have to wait until your next return before your final hunt, do not execute the hunt before reporting to me.”
I just nodded not quite understanding what was going on.
“Just wait a moment.” Lord Sarkan pressed something on his desk.
“Lukia, is everything ready?”
“Yes sage, please keep the rift open, he will be arriving in three breaths.”
“We are not sealed yet?” I was perplexed.
“We are waiting for your ringleader; he will be training with you for the next week.”
Before anything l could even come out of my shock, Krigsain was sitting next to me.
“I don’t know what you said to her but your little plot has been approved for testing. Show us that you can plan something that can give us a real edge without fighting. You get one shot, unruly one.”
‘Her? What? Explain.’
“Hello there, sir. Ikrei.” Krigsain just padded me on the shoulder.
“As you requested, this fellow of yours will be going with you. Train him in the specifics of core absorption, consider his circumstances.”
‘Wait. What?’
“Sure thing, sir. I’ll ingrain them into him better than the taskmaster herself.”
They both laughed heartily.
“If you fail you will follow orders without complain. If you succeed you will get most of the liberty of action you desire. Regardless of the outcome, you will still undergo the procedure. Understood?” Lord Sarkan was firm.
Krigsain was clearly a little uncomfortable but still nodded.
“Ikrei, the only reason you are allowed to hear this conversation is because of this troublemaker’s request. You are to follow his orders for the next week. I will personally review your gains when you return before your next hunt. You will spar with me. This is an honor.”
His last words sounded like a warning.
“Yes, Lord Sarkan.” I wasn’t following the line of reasoning, I just bowed reflexively.
“Show me your ability to teach properly rebellious one. Show me the wisdom of a great one with your plan. Fail and I’ll punish you severely. I have been granted the authority by the Council of Elders.”
For the first since I meet muscle mass, he gulped. Still, his eyes were resolute.
You could hear the minute reverberations of the rift. It was that quiet.
“Show us what you got, both of you. You are dismissed.” Lord Sarkan gave the final command.
“By your order.”
We left like our asses were being grabbed by Yun Hee’s hair, tickly, tickly.
On the corridor outside, we were walking together hastily. I was just following.
“What’s going on? What plan? Who’s her?” I asked.
“Extreme hunting, support department version. The plan? Tell you later. Who? Freslia.”
The mental message had a feeling of eagerness.
“There’s plenty to take care of, let’s go.”
Krigsain just moved ahead of me while I struggled to keep up.
‘Taskmaster? What?’
“Wait. Wait, chosen one!”
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Half a week later…
GRAWL! GRAWL! GRAWL!
“Concentrate!”
The Musky Bear paw was perfectly blocked. With just one arm. I was using Krigsain’s personal technique. Will infused body armor, my version, adjusted to my core energy.
“Now!”
One breath. First core full power dash. Two steps later, my left hand’s index and middle finger inserted into the beast’s body. Perfectly piercing its heart. Destroying its core. Something regrettable but that wasn’t the point of this exercise.
The bear fell, lifelessly. This was the hundredth kill. We were inside and unmapped ancient rift.
“Let’s go to the cave, your combat training is done.”
Deep inside the cave where Krigsain had made a tunnel down. His artifacts activated surrounding us in a dome. In reality a sphere. Full protection from outside influence and the ultimate kicker, time dilation.
Before us, lay close to sixty beasts cores of all kinds. Mostly small game.
“Identify them. You have ten breaths. Start!”
I used all my energy to scan over the different cores and felt them. Ten breaths later I had a rough idea.
“Four cores infused by the Will, twenty cores by Malgrun, four cores are pure mana. The rest are different; I can’t sense it properly.”
“Good, left hand. Remember everything on how to use them. Now let’s get down to the real thing.”
We sat in a lotus position in front of each other. We were going to soul commune.
“ANAM KALIM DES GLAOH!” We chanted.
About an hour later. Our connection was finished.
“What was that muscle mass?”
“What do you think this war is, Ikrei?” He was probing my understanding.
“A conflict that has already been fought and won. We are in a different temporal timeline.” I answered.
“Exactly. The Malgrunians have regressors on their side and who knows what else. There are other worlds, my man. And if they are going to bring them in. So are we!”
‘This thing is way, way over my head. Both of my heads!’
“Whatever was offered to the cultivators is great. But we cannot allow them to keep amassing more accomplices. What do you offer people that seemingly have everything this world can offer?”
“Beats me chosen. That’s a hard one.” I was waiting for an explanation.
“There is a small little world that is almost inaccessible. And the few that do know, don’t care about it. The people there are weak, their knowledge is forbidden here, so they are of no use to most of the powerhouses. They are not monsters like many from other planes of existence. But—”
The images and visions I was shown now started to make sense.
“You want to use their music!” I stated.
“Something the powerful crave is to feel. Monotony makes you dulled, anything new is always welcomed. The more special it is, the better. Let’s give this world something special. The other hidden ones of our world will come to us, this is our calling card. You will be the lightning rod.”
“Music will do the trick?” I questioned.
“It will with the common people. To the powerful, this will reveal that we have access to other worlds, ones they are not used to. They will come.”
“Curiosity killed the cat works both ways, wicked heart.” I made a slashed throat sign on my neck.
“You are dying unless you fulfill that contract of yours and they want to turn me into a marrying man, not happening, right? Resources and fiancées will have to do. As long as the promise of marriage is real, I will be fine.”
He was laughing delightfully.
‘You are still getting married big guy. He must have found something.’
“Let’s throw a controlled explosive charge into the mix. You become famous, make the money you need. I get to pick from the bests music loving women in the world. And we get to screw the Malgrunian Kolga on the side. A win-win, right?”
After a while.
“I get it big guy but what about Ciel, marriage material, right?”
“What do think happens when a pure soul is surrounded by impure ones?”
“She will eventually become impure or absolutely rejected by the others.”
“Yeah, exactly. Once this war is over, I’ll deal with that. You are forbidden to tell her anything, you got that, left hand?” Krigsain’s eyes were deadly.
I gulped really hard.
“Yeah, no worries here, you got it Knickertwister.”
We took out our ketars and we began playing.
“So, Kletay will become your fiancée?” I asked as I strung the instrument.
“Nope. She is a big girl. I’ll deal with the consequences. Let’s get started.”
Shoving away my curiosity we carried on.
“You are good with stories, I saw that Andurian, Malgrunian couple. Write about them. I’ll do the music.”
The simple yet genius level chord progression that Krigsain displayed gave me the happy melody. I wrote and wrote until I felt it was good.
My new original work, “Me.” was penned.
Krigsain began building strange artifacts and designs.
I wrote another song with a happy tune in memory of a fellow troubadour I met at the bar. Thanks to Krigsain’s chord progressions. He was so busy that he didn’t notice.
“Here’s to you my pal.”
And then, I just practiced over and over the strange new music from another world with a funny name.
Rock.