Karma signifies the universal law of cause and effect, where every action, thought, and intent we project into the world shapes our future experiences. It is the cosmic ledger that meticulously records our deeds, ensuring balance in the grand tapestry of existence. It is a sad thing that despite how large and important the law of karma is, not many know of its existence, and those who do rarely believe in it, so they inadvertently end up sowing bad karma, a shadow that manifests as obstacles, suffering, and misfortune, not as punishment but as a natural consequence, urging us to reflect and realign our paths.
Renowned Karmic awakened and scholar.
Liandros Frostfire.
Unoros, year 2095.
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It took them another hour to select the remaining three outfits for Aodhán, and after Kieran took his measurements, Synové guided him upstairs to his assigned room. The room was almost as large as the one in the academy, excluding the training area, but it was completely bare, save for a rickety-looking bed and an antique table.
“I thought you might want to decorate it yourself.” Synové smiled and gestured at the bare walls. “You know, add your own artistic touch.”
“I would love to.” Aodhán responded, and Synové smacked him lightly on the back. “Good. This was a bribe to keep your scrubby little fingers away from my living room. Don't think I don't see how you keep looking at it, and I just know you can't wait to mess it all up."
“That's because it's terrible.” Aodhán exclaimed, laughing, and Synové smacked him again.
“Unfortunately for you, your father doesn't see my decorating skills that way, which means it stays!”
“Synové, I just want—
“Shhh. You either decorate your room and leave the living room as it is, or I let you have a go at the living room while I decorate yours.”
Aodhán groaned. Obviously, there was no way he was letting Synové decorate his room, but the living room could definitely use his help, and he wouldn't give up on them so easily. “Synové, the colors are clashing; at the very least, let me offer you some pointers.”
Synové shook her head resolutely, unmoved by his argument. “Clashing colors are so much better than the shades of black and gray you're sure to come up with.”
He gasped. “Touche, mom. Touche.” Aodhán shook his head. It was true that gray and black were his favorite colors, but now that Synové mentioned it, he decided that this time would be different. Perhaps he could add a touch of blue or red to spice things up.
“Are you taking the deal or not?” Synové asked with a victorious smile, and he shook his head in defeat. “Fine. I won't touch anything in the living room.”
“Perfect.” Synové's smile widened. “Everything you need for your room is in the basement.”
“Thank you, Synové; I really appreciate it.”
“Awwn, we are the ones who should be thanking you.” She rumpled his hair fondly, scattering tiny, harmless arcs of electricity in all directions. “You are the reason we're here, after all.”
Aodhán just smiled in response, and she patted his cheeks gently before turning around to leave, but after only a few steps, she turned back and asked. “Do you mind decorating Aldric's room too? He should be arriving on Sunday.”
Aodhán frowned. “Wouldn't he prefer to decorate himself?”
“One would think so, but sadly, neither he nor Daruk inherited my love for decorating and knowing Aldric, he'll most likely sleep in that room without decorating.”
Aodhán chuckled. “I'll see to it once I'm done with mine.”
“Thank you, honey. Also, dinner will be ready soon, so hurry up.”
After Synové left, Aodhán immediately texted Rahim, asking to speak with him urgently. When he received no response after almost a minute, he texted him again and again, and after another minute of silence, he texted again.
Two minutes later, a portal appeared within his room, and Rahim stepped out, looking very frustrated and disheveled. In a clipped tone, he said. “You just interrupted the end of a very romantic dinner. In case you don't understand, I was just about to get laid.”
“Ugh.” Aodhán grimaced as the unwanted image appeared in his mind. “I didn't need to know that.”
“You didn't need to text me a dozen times either.”
“You could have just told me you were busy.” Aodhán argued.
“You should have realized I was busy.” Rahim glared at him, but after a short moment, he shut his eyes, massaged his temples, and sighed. “I'm here now; what do you want?”
“I wanted to inform you of how my day went and all that has happened since I arrived.”
Rahim cocked an eyebrow. “I assume it has been eventful.”
“Try traumatizing.” Aodhán shook his head. “First, we were ambushed by a dozen reporters, and then Ludacris showed up.”
“Oh.” Rahim paused, his frustrated expression now tinged with curiosity. He pulled out a wooden chair from his spatial storage and sat down. “We weren't expecting any of the emissaries to show up this early.”
“Well, this one did.”
Rahim chuckled, leaned forward, and clasped his hands. “So, what did he offer you?”
“Credits.” Aodhán spat, unable to contain his anger and pain. “He fucking offered me credits—about a dozen!”
Rahim's eyes widened, and after a beat of astonished silence, he whispered. “I know I'm supposed to be on the side of the 5th academy, but for the love of the ascendants, please tell me you accepted the offer.”
Aodhán shook his head and muttered. “I didn't. I…couldn't.”
“Are you insane?!” Rahim hissed. “That's enough money to set up generations if spent wisely. The 5th Academy can't offer you that. The highest we can give is platinum.”
“I know how much money it was, Rahim; I just couldn't accept the offer.”
“Why the fuck not?”
Aodhán sputtered, opening and closing his mouth as he searched for what to say. When he found no easy answers, he asked instead. “Aren't you supposed to be glad I stayed?”
Rahim glared at him for a moment. “Don't get me wrong; I am glad you stayed. I just think it's foolish to turn down such an amount of money. The academy would be reimbursed for however much we spent relocating your family here.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I don't care about the money.” Aodhán lied, and Rahim laughed. “That's a lie, and we both know it. You care; in fact, you care so much that it's obvious you regret not taking the offer, which leads me to believe there's a reason why you turned it down. There’s something that held you back, something I don't know about.” Rahim’s expression sobered and he asked. “What have you gotten yourself into with the principal? I know something's up.”
Aodhán didn't respond, and Rahim walked closer. “Aodhán, I'm your mentor. You can tell me.”
“I can't tell you.”
“Can't or won't?”
“Both.”
Rahim frowned. “You know, keeping secrets from your mentor is a very terrible idea.”
“Telling you this secret is also a very terrible idea.” Aodhán responded quietly, and after a long period of silence, Rahim relented. “Fine, keep your secret. Can I go now, or is there something else you would like to discuss?”
“There's something else.” He took out the elemental lightning pill from his storage, but this time when it appeared in his palms, he had enough control to keep himself from popping the pill. “Ludacris gave me a gift.”
Rahim paused once more, his gaze fixed on the pill, and in a surprised tone, he asked. “He gave you... this as a gift?”
“He said it was a reward for my integrity at first, and then he called it a karmic seed, so I'm not quite sure what it is exactly.”
Rahim sighed. “It's a karmic seed, which isn't exactly a bad thing, but it's not a good thing either.” He moved back to his chair, dusted invisible dust from his hair, and continued. “Karmic seeds are essentially debts with no stipulated payback time, but it's important to note that they're still debts, and one day, you'll have to repay them.”
“Will I be forced? Like a core oath? Aodhán asked worriedly, but Rahim dispelled his worries. “Not at all, but if you fail to repay it when the time comes, you'll be sowing bad karma, which, from what I've heard, is not something you want to do.”
Aodhán's excitement concerning the pill diminished slightly, and he stared at it cautiously. Being indebted to a Mythic wasn't always a bad thing, but this early into his advancement, Aodhán wasn't sure he was ready to start owing favors. Still, from what Ludacris had said, he was likely to gain a seal from using the pill, which would also come with a new skill. Those were power boosts he couldn't simply reject.
During the past few weeks, he had tried to gain a seal, going so far as to open up his spirit to the origin plane, yet his efforts had been futile. His ideals and temperament weren't fully aligned with those of the storm yet, and from what he'd garnered from his failures, he was still too kind and merciful to be imprinted with the mark of the storm.
A storm was brutal, unforgiving, overwhelming, and loud. Aodhán was none of those things yet, but with the elemental lightning pill, he might stand a chance. Perhaps he could bypass the personality requirements.
It wasn't a sure thing, but it was something, and Aodhán didn't want to lose it. He wanted to take the pill, even with the threat of bad karma hanging over him.
“Do you have any suggestions?” He asked, but Rahim shrugged. “Like I said earlier, a karmic debt isn't necessarily a bad thing. I suggest you take it. You've accepted it anyway, so it isn't like you can give it back. Besides, that is a high-grade pill, which is sure to at least give you a chance at a seal, but considering your unaligned ideals and personality, the compulsion of the twisted effect will be much worse.”
Aodhán frowned as Rahim mentioned the twisted effect. That was one of the main reasons he'd texted Rahim in the first place. If he used the pill and gained a seal, he wanted to be as far away from his family as possible. He observed the pill for a moment before deciding to use it. “Is there somewhere in the academy I can do this without hurting anyone?”
Rahim smiled. “I've got a better idea. Come with me. He created another portal, and Aodhán sent a quick text to Daruk before following Rahim into the portal.
The world blurred, and the next instant, they arrived within a tastefully decorated building, crafted from rich brown wood and ornate glass that seemed to glow with an inner warmth.
Each piece of furniture was highlighted with delicate gold accents, from the intricate scrollwork on the armchairs to the elegant trim on the large, central table.
The house had a sophisticated feel that screamed nobility, and everywhere Aodhán turned, golden runes shimmered.
“This is one of my family's homes." Rahim said with a proud wink and gestured for Aodhán to follow him up the artfully designed stairs at the edge of the living room. “We've got a time chamber upstairs for a situation like this.”
“A time chamber!” Aodhán exclaimed, surprised. When he'd asked for a safe place to gain his seal, he hadn't pictured anything quite as grand as a time chamber. He hurried up the stairs after Rahim and asked. “I've never used a time chamber before; will it have any adverse effects on me?”
“Not really,” Rahim shrugged. “I doubt you'll be spending up to a week within it, so at most you'll experience a temporary detachment from reality as your mind tries to sync up with reality.”
They arrived at the chamber a few minutes later, and Aodhán's eyes widened as he took in the marvel of magical architecture. Essentially, it was a rune covered glass box, several meters long, and densely packed with time essence. A straw mat lay at the center, and in one corner stood an ornate table upon which rested an hourglass, its sand, a shimmering mix of gold and silver grains, which flowed at an unnatural pace.
A wooden bucket of water stood at the opposite corner, along with a pack of consumables that Aodhán didn't recognize.
“Are you ready?” Rahim asked, and Aodhán nodded. He wasn't exactly sure what 'ready' entailed, but he was willing, and that was all that mattered.
Rahim moved to a panel on the chamber walls and began tapping it. "I'm raising the time ratio to its maximum setting, which is six to one. This means that for every hour in reality, you'll experience six inside the chamber.”
“So essentially, 16 hours on the inside equals 4 days in reality. Will I need up to that?”
“I doubt it.” Rahim shrugged again. “But I'll keep your parents updated if things go that far.”
Aodhán swallowed nervously and walked to the chamber's entrance. Before stepping inside, though, he asked. “Will this chamber hold me when I turn into a mindless killing machine?”
Rahim smiled. “It has held much stronger people, including myself; I think it'll be just fine.”
“Okay.” Aodhán nodded, firmed his resolve, and finally stepped inside the chamber. The door shut behind him, and he was immediately struck by the profound silence. The air was thick with an almost tangible sense of timelessness, as if every second stretched to eternity.
Tentatively, he moved to sit on the mat and took out the. elemental lightning pill. Just like the last time, a feeling of overwhelming hunger rose within him, but this time he didn't resist it. He swallowed the pill, closed his eyes, and, after a calming breath, opened his spirit to the origin plane of storm.
Chaos rushed in, and he found himself once again surrounded by an infinite amount of stormclouds. The wind howled, thunder rumbled, and lightning rippled ceaselessly. Rain poured down into a bottomless abyss of storm clouds.
His necklace glowed, repelling the murmurs of chaos that tried to invade his mind, but it did nothing to prevent the all-encompassing consciousness of the origin plane that had rejected him several times now.
Unlike the unfeeling and cold invasion of the mind that Daruk had experienced, the consciousness of the storm ravaged through his mind like a rabid animal, brutal and violent as it rifled through his thoughts, scrutinizing his memories and once more declaring him unfit for a seal.
Just as the consciousness began to pull away, though, the elemental pill that had now settled within his core exploded, and lightning of various hues surged into his spirit.
The consciousness paused, curious, and deciding not to waste this opportunity, Aodhán took a risk. He pushed every vision of Az'marthon he had to the forefront of his mind. He'd never done it before for fear of offending the consciousness, but he'd never been this close to gaining a seal either.
Surprisingly, approval flared from the consciousness, and suddenly, heat exploded on his chest as the origin plane imprinted its mark.
Aodhán only had a moment to sigh in relief before his mindset and emotions suddenly twisted and violent urges overrode his mind. The necklace flared as it tried to resist the compulsion of the twisted effect, but its efforts were futile, and Aodhán's mind was soon overtaken by an overwhelming need to destroy, conquer, and subjugate.
….
Rahim watched impassively as Aodhán's visage twisted. One moment he was seated peacefully, and the next, a storm hammer as tall as he was smashed against the chamber walls. Runes flared in response, tearing apart the force of the attack and causing Aodhán to recoil violently.
Rahim sighed and turned to Principal Zatya, who was watching her pet transform into a mindless killing machine with glee. A loud rattle echoed out once more, and Rahim turned his attention back to Aodhán. There was neither fear nor hesitation in his eyes; only a savage needed to destroy, and when he realized that the storm hammer was having no effect, he destroyed the construct and massive black wings, rippling with electricity burst out of his back.
His arms rippled with gleaming scales, and his fingers transformed into long, black claws as sharp as blades. His crackling white hair elongated, and sharp fangs grew out of his mouth.
“Finally, a merge.” Principal Zatya chuckled. “I suspected it would come with a seal. I might just have to thank Ludacris for this.”
“It wasn't a gift; there's no need to thank him.” Rahim muttered, but principal Zatya waved dismissively.
“Oh, you know it's always the principle of the thing with Ludacris; besides, it's only polite.”
Rahim sighed once more, his gaze still fixed on Aodhán's beastial form as he attacked the chamber relentlessly. His long claws raked against the glass at such speeds that Rahim shamefully had to increase his perception all the way to the Advanced class to follow him.
“How long do you think this will take?” Principal Zatya asked a moment later, and Rahim shrugged. “Two or three days. He's completely out of control.”
Rather than worry, the principal's smile widened further. “Very good. You should inform his parents that he won't be home for dinner tonight.”