Loric had an epic class hangover. Perhaps legendary? He’d been drinking all the previous day. He had to get a coach ride back home where he had collapsed in the great hall. To hell with it all. Let the others do what they want. His eldest daughter was dead. He didn’t really give a shit about anything right now.
“Father,” Elise said wrinkling her nose at him. “You reek. I believe you have more ale on you, than in you.”
Loric chuckled. He didn’t drink like this often. Almost never in fact but he couldn’t deny that she was right. Loric sat up and appraised his daughter. She had grown a lot in these past few years. She already casting tier three spells.
“Sorry Pumpkin. I had some bad news yesterday. I… didn’t handle it well.”
“What happened?” She asked sitting down next to him.
Loric hesitated. His father and wife had forced him to keep silent about his other daughter. Hell with it. She was dead. It didn’t matter anymore.
“Well Pumpkin. I’m going to tell you something. Something I probably shouldn’t but it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“You had a half-sister,” Loric said. Elise gasped.
“I have a sister… Why haven’t I met her? Wait. You cheated on mother and had a bastard.” Elise looked rather angry.
“No. Nothing like that. This was a year before I married your mother.”
“Oh… So I have an older sister then. Why haven’t met her? Is she at a mage training school?”
“Uh no. She was a half-kin.”
Elise looked at him. He had tried to teach her to treat kin as people but her mother’s influence was stronger.
She finally spoke. “You said ‘was’.”
“There was a fire at their home yesterday. She died.”
“Oh…” Elise said.
Before anyone could say anything else their front door slammed open. Loric looked up to see his father there his face contorted in fury.
“WHAT YOU HAVE DONE YOU FOOL!?”
Elise was confused. She had or did have a sister. A kin sister. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. That was why she was sneaking up on her father and grandfather. This would prove a most excellent distraction.
“MUFFLE,” Elise chanted softly. Her steps already light became completely noiseless.
As she neared the door to her father’s study she quietly cast another spell.
“IMPROVE SENSES.”
Their voice, once indistinct, became clear.
“Stop yelling. You’re giving me a headache,” her father mumbled.
“Like I care if you head hurts. I asked you where that half breed brat is.”
“I told you I went to pick her up yesterday and her home was burned down. She died in the fire.”
“You complete moron!” Her grandfather snapped. “She’s not dead!”
“What!? But they said there were two bodies.”
“Yes, Yes.” Came her grandfather’s dismissive tone. “But neither were hers.”
“Are you sure?”
Her grandfather laughed darkly. “Oh they’re sure alright. The mages of Dageth and the elves are very sure indeed. Soon the entire fucking city will be very fucking sure.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, now you wonder? You would’ve known if you’ve been out there helping out instead of passed out drunk. It just so happened that a blue hair half cat-kin made quite the spectacle. Sound familiar?”
“Azura…” Her father said.
“Well apparently she is also known as Azure Magebane.”
“Magebane?”
“Yes that half breed brat of yours killed over twenty mages last night along with two elite elves!” Her grandfather snapped.
Elise gasped. Her half-blood sister did what?
“That can’t be. She can’t use any magic. Her pool is too small!” Loric argued.
“Well she did something. I saw the memory. She definitely was your bastard. She showed up at the bowl and slaughtered mage after mage. Her powers were unlike anything I’ve seen before. Which is why I ask you, what have you done? Did you find some way to give her power?”
“I don’t know anything…” Loric said weakly.
“Bah! You’re completely useless. I should have killed that filthy kin the moment she was born. Damn your perversions boy! I’m only lucky that the council didn’t try to offer up our family to settle the debt.” A moment of silence stretched between the two.
“What? Can’t think of anything to say?” Her grandfather went on his tone livid. “Well thanks to your mess the entire city will be talking about it. The tale of the Azure Magebane will spread like fire. If they find out that she is your bastard things could get difficult for us. All because you couldn’t keep your cock out of some furry pussy.”
Again the silence stretched between them.
“What do we do?” Her father asked.
“The city will be offering a reward for her. The mages will scout the city and the surrounding villages. She’ll be found. Well if she finds the mage she will probably just kill them. I can think of only one way you could possibly be useful for a change. Find your bastard. Then get the secrets of her power from her. If our family could use it then we could rule Deepmere. Otherwise stay out of the way.”
Foots steps approached the door. Elise backed quickly away hiding behind a large vase. Her grandfather slammed the doors opened. He thundered out, a storm wrecking all in its wake. He continued onward till he left the manse. Elise looked from her hiding place to her father through the now opened door. He sat behind his desk his face in his hands.
“What have I done?” He asked no one.
Elise snuck away, more confused than ever.
It was evening when Azura finished awakening all the kin’s mana pools. As the last kin wandered off dazed she looked at the piece of ki. The color change had been small at first. Then, with each successive entry into a kin’s body, the color became stronger. Now it glowed the color of fresh blood. It spoke to her. Not in words or anything tangible. But it seemed to ask, ‘Do you accept this? Is this who you are?’
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Azura gave a mental shrug and agreed. Instantly there was a click. The crimson speck became more real. It went from a possibility to an acceptance, or perhaps… attunement? Suddenly the pull from crimson speck was too much to restrain. It wanted… NEEDED, to return. It slipped from Azura’s control flowing back to her core. There a single speck of crimson stood out among its brethren. The color then seeped from the crimson speck into the others without losing any of its own intensity. In seconds all the pieces of her core were the color of blood.
Nothing ominous there… Azura thought as she stretched. No doubt she would figure out this new function of ki later.
She yawned and then smiled as her mother dropped a big plate of food in front of her.
“You’re the best!” Azura dug in vigorously. She hadn’t eaten all day. As she ate she slowed as she noticed the flurry of activity around her.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re moving out tomorrow morning.”
“Why are we leaving?” Azura asked.
“This cave will be found. We need to go somewhere else.”
“Another safe house?”
“No,” Coralline said. “We want a place the mages won’t ever think to look for us. Fatania suggested the mana forest.”
“What!? But kin can’t go…” Azura stopped because that was no longer true. Kin couldn’t go there because they couldn’t control their mana. They would end up with mana poisoning from the dense mana. Now that they all had awakened pools, that was no longer true. The awaken pool would act automatically stabilize their mana levels.
“That’s a good idea,” Azura said. “It would be dangerous, but if we could make a home there the mages would never find us.”
Their conversation was interrupted as Tabatha rushed over.
“Master can we start our training?”
Azura blinked at her. Did, did she just call her master? Azura wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“Oh yes master, please teach us your wisdom, oh great master,” her mother cooed.
Okay, that was more in line with what she expected.
“Be careful my disciple,” Azura said darkly. “Wait till we get to the weight training. You know the kind you had Burton put us through.” That shut her mother up. Tabatha on the other hand looked excited.
“Alright gather everyone up,” Azura said. “It’s time for the first lesson.”
Hamal’s focus was sharper than the edge of his favorite dagger as he watched Azura pace in front of the group. They had setup outside the cave entrance as the sun began to set. Finally he would have power. When Azura had awoken his mana pool her ki had been glorious. He couldn’t wait to be like that. As the last kin sat down on the grass Azura began.
“Mages use mana to cast their spells. The amount of spells they can cast depends on their mana pool. The bigger the pool, the more spells they can cast or the more powerful. You don’t have that luxury. Your pools are too small. Even a simple light spell will leave you exhausted. So instead you will improve your mana. That is the basics of what a cultivator is. I will show you how to increase the density of your mana and thus its power. However there is a restriction. You should never cast a spell.”
Hamal was confused as was many of the other kin. Azura raised a hand at their looks.
“I see you don’t understand. That’s fine. I’ll explain. When you cast a spell you use up the mana that was stored in your pool. That gap is then filled from the ambient mana. So if you increase the density of your mana pool then use it in casting, all your work will be gone. You will each learn a single magical technique. It isn’t even a proper spell. It is called body magic. In involves inverting your mana pool forcing the mana out and into the surrounding tissue. It will make you stronger, tougher and faster. It can even be used for healing. Unfortunately the effect is far less than a normal spell. The reason this will be the only technique is that it does not use up your mana. Instead your mana will be exhausted but not consumed. After rest your mana will return to normal.”
Azura paced as she continued speaking.
“I think we must begin with the stages of cultivation and how to cultivate. You can all start tonight if you want. Some of this is from my experience. The other bits are speculation.”
“The first stage of cultivation is the gaseous phase. This is where you are all at now. This is the stage all mages are at. Through constant cultivation you will increase the density of your gaseous mana. As your mana thickens the effect on your body will increase. However, whenever possible you should avoid using any magic at all. It will only slow your growth as you have to recover before cultivating again. The second stage is the liquid phase. This is where I’m at. My mana had become so density that it changed from a gas to a liquid. I call this liquid, ki. When this change happens your mana pool will collapse into a few specks of solid ki. So your pool size doesn’t matter.” Azura meet their eyes and Hamal shuddered in excitement.
“In the end your pool will become a mere particles. In the liquid phase you will automatically draw on ambient mana. The drawn in mana will condense to liquid ki or it will refreshing your exhausted ki. Right now there is no mana near us. My ki has consumed it all. It takes massive amounts of gaseous mana to produce even a tiniest amount of liquid ki. The ki swirls in your body ever flowing. At the center of this ki spiral is the remains of your mana pool, your core. I believe this is the solid stage of ki. I’m far from there myself, but I guess that once your liquid ki is full then solid ki will begin to grow. I took a single piece of that solid ki and used it on each of you. That is the power you felt. That is your goal. Now,” Azura said sharply clapping her hands. “Let’s start folding laundry.”
Huh? Hamal thought. He couldn’t have heard that right.
Laundry. It had to be laundry. Coralline thought as she huffed in annoyance as her mana slipped from her control. That damn stuff was so slippery! Only her daughter would take her punishments and turn it into a practical magical technique. She had been folding her mana just like when Coralline made her fold the laundry. It was rather amusing. She would have laughed but instead snarled as the slippery substance slid through her mental fingers once again.
Azura walked around giving pointers on the fine details of mana control. Coralline had to admit she was a good teacher, but this was so hard! Had Azura been doing this all these years?! No wonder no one had ever done this before. It was a pain in the ass. It was also pointless if you could cast spells.
“Good job Hamal,” Azura said studying him closely. “You seem to have a knack for it.”
Stupid rat-kin, Coralline thought. She knew it was an unfair thought, but she was frustrated!
“Having trouble disciple,” Azura said sitting down next to her.
“Yes master,” Coralline said giving her daughter the same pitiful look she had so often received.
Azura smiled and a crimson glow appeared on her finger tip. “Let me show you.”
Coralline nodded as she opened her mouth. The drop of ki was just as glorious as she remembered. She was swept up by the sensation until a mental poke from Azura focused her thoughts.
“Watch and feel,” came a voice. “Let me guide you.” It was spoken out loud but somehow inside her as well. The ki swept over her mana but left Coralline in control.
“Now fold,” the voice commanded. Coralline did so. As the mana began to slip away the ki took over showing her how to handle it. Her grip had been too loose. The mana had been leaking through gaps she didn’t know existed. Her mental grip corrected she folded and began to let go when the ki once again asserted itself. Instead of letting go it fold again. Coralline followed the motion. Together they folded a third time with Coralline now directing most of the action.
“Now squeeze,” the voice commanded. Coralline did so. The effort took far more willpower than she expected.
“Good,” the voice said again. “Now repeat.” The ki began to leave and Coralline reached for it desperately wanting it to stay.
“Sorry that’s mine,” Azura said as Coralline came back to herself. “You’ll have to make your own.”
“I’m… sorry I didn’t mean too…” Coralline said feeling ashamed.
Azura shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. It would return to me anyways. Keep going as long as you can. It gets easier the more you do it but at the same time more difficult as the mana thickens. This is critical as it builds your control and willpower.”
Coralline re-centered herself.
Fold.
Fold.
Fold.
Squeeze.
She repeated the cycle twenty times before a splitting headache forced her to stop. That had been the single most mentally exhausting exercise she had ever done. Getting to her feet she stumbled over to Fatania and Alenina. Their fur damp with sweat. She sat down next to the pair.
“How’s it going?”
“This is hard,” Alenina complained. “Here I thought raising twelve kids was difficult.” She paused thoughtfully. “Actually that was still harder, but at least it was fun at times. This is just plain hard.”
“True,” Fatania said as she gasped. “I just got through twenty-three cycles. I don’t think I can do anymore. I’ll never fold laundry again.”
They laughed.
“Do you feel it?” Coralline whispered.
“Yes,” Alenina said. “It feels so much stronger than it did before.”
“Okay!” Azura shouted and the three women looked up. “I think that’s enough for tonight. This isn’t a race. It will take years. Oh and I’m going away for a while.”
“Why!” Coralline shouted getting to her feet.
“Because I’m soaking up all the ambient mana,” Azura said with a shrug. “You should all have more free space in your pools but as long as I’m here you can’t refill them. If things weren’t so dangerous I would suggest a long run to train your bodies then you could get the mana at that time. For today this will do. I won’t go far. In the morning I believe the plan is to reach the mana forest?”
“That’s right. Most things are packed already,” Fatania said.
“That’s great. The dense mana there will considerably speed your cultivations,” Azura said.
“Rest well,” Azura called with a wave and was gone.
Coralline watched the spot where her daughter had been. She was worried. It was stupid. She was the safest of all of them, but she couldn’t help it.
“She’ll be fine,” Alenina said patting Coralline on the back. “I’m getting a bite to eat then bed. I can’t believe how tired I am.”
Coralline joined her friends as they gathered at the cook pot. Some of the younger kin like Tabatha and Hamal were still cultivating. She shook her head. There was no way she could keep up with these kids.