The same day, in the evening, Gangzhi sat on a meditation mat, in front of him were three lanterns of a gold-copper alloy, the glass on the lantern had an orange tint, there were patterns of coiling sunflowers on the corners, inside each one was a candle made out of a sunsheep’s tallow, his breathing was intense, but methodical. The wick on the first candle combusted spontaneously. In the material world, the glow they produced was equal, if not weaker to a regular lantern, but if the world was viewed through the spiritual senses…
“It’s beautiful.” Kaixue was at awe. He was blind in both the physical and spiritual sense, but he was not denied the ability to feel the Forces. And right now, in the lantern, the Fire Force and the Light Force were gathering, and slowly growing. As the energies were very pure, they felt much more real than the walls of his home.
Gangzhi addressed his guest: “It may be so, but you know the real purpose of these, don’t you?”
Kaixue recited: “For cultivators under the Core Formation stage, it is quite difficult to store enough Force to use it effectively, usually only having what little Force they generate by breathing, thus were invented the Force Cells, in which Force builds up over time, and turns into the specific Aspects based on the construction of the Cell.”
“That’s absolutely correct, can you make a Cell for every Force Aspect?” he tested his brother.
“In theory, but for example a Sword Cell was never made, because every Sword that is relative to a cultivator’s level generates enough Sword Force to not have to be stored.” Yet again, he had memorised the answer.
Gangzhi chuckled: “For a little guy who can’t see, you read a lot.”
Kaixue stayed silent, appearing to think.
“What is it?”
Kaixue looked at his brother’s head’s general direction: “Can I keep one of them, I know you will always need at least one ready and one reserve, but can I have the third one?”
Kaixue’s spiritual growth was stunted, because of a lack of ability to visualise, and a general consensus that it wasn’t worth it for him to be taught shared by their Mother and her advisors, and even if he overcame that, he would never be taught the family’s Thread ‘Cockcrow Radiance’, their set of techniques requiring a 17:23:20 Light Force to Fire Force to Sword Force ratio, the one invented by the founder of the Main family, Zhiomei Main. From a rational standpoint, there was no reason to give it to him, a lantern was by its nature fragile, and it wouldn’t be just fire pouring out of it.
“What do you need it for, Kaixue?”
“I want a memento of my big brother who’ll be gone for a really long time.” He was a child, after all. Theoretically, the flame would burn forever, or at least, for decades. It will take a few days to fully charge, after which, excess Force will need to be vented out three or four times per week, otherwise the Cell will become damaged, or worse, overload and release all the energy, in a short time, most likely turning anyone unfortunate enough to be near it, and near it in this case meant around two hundred steps, to be turned into ash. The light energy would probably blind weaker cultivators in a radius of five hundred steps. The flame burning forever would always remind Kaixue of his brother, especially since it was Gangzhi’s Force.
Gangzhi sighed: “Do you know how to take care of it?”
Kaixue just nodded. And admittedly, unlike any of Gangzhi’s pets, Kaixue’s canary he got for his sixth birthday was still alive.
Gangzhi handed him the only lit lantern.
Stolen story; please report.
“Go to sleep now, you don’t want to miss Sister’s celebration.”
“The celebration starts at mid-day, how would I sleep through that?” Kaixue protested
“I remember times where you slept twenty hours straight, little brother.”
“I don’t!”
“Of course you don’t, you slept through it.” Gangzhi replied calmly. Also, because Kaixue was less than a year old at that time.
Carrying the surprisingly heavy lantern, Kaixue made way to his room off memory, and went to sleep.
When he woke up, he felt strange. His body was aching, and wet with sweat on his back, chest, forehead, and limbs. His breathing was uneven, and his clothes felt heavier than anything he wore, even the very hot winter coats that felt like he wrapped a whole mattress around his body. Speaking of his body, it was heavier, longer, it was in fact more spacious in all dimensions.
He heard a voice, it spoke in a very archaic fashion, and it fell heavy, heavier than a voice of a normal person would sound at this volume. “This means NOTHING!” Followed by coughing so loud it launched pieces of the wet mud around. Despite the loudness of it and the power behind the voice, something told Kaixue to regard the voice and words with the same significance as one would treat a child’s tantrum.
“Disciple! What do you think your deeds bring upon you, and I demand candour of you!” Kaixue was not able to determine anything about this, second voice, neither the gender nor age of the speaker. Kaixue was beyond confused, as he was used to being able to judge a person’s distance from him and their height, as well as many other things just by their voice, the voice felt like it came from every speck of dust on the ground, every direction, even from the inside of his own head.
An unpleasant vibration travelled through his throat, he was speaking, rather, his body was, he had no intention to speak, his bewilderment prevented him from thinking of it at all. The vibration forced itself out of his throat, he felt himself articulating syllables, but it took great focus to know what he was actually saying, he was quick enough to catch about half of it.
“…………… Bring upon me? …. a taste of Freedom, of Victory.”
“The correct answer was dishonour… and punishment.” He felt a pain on a level he never experienced before, his back bent under it, it spread throughout his nerves all over his back, even feeling like his shoulders were being beat with sticks from the inside, like the back of his ribs was being forcefully pulled up through his skin. He screamed, this time in unison with the body. There were tears in his eyes. Instead of fading unconscious, it seemed he was rising to consciousness, as the nightmare was being left behind. It felt like rising to the surface of a lake, but his leg was caught by something once more.
It spoke to him, it had a level of urgency and impatience. It shook his leg as it talked, but the language was not one he understood. Then came more familiar words.
“Did you understand that?”
It felt horrible, he was confused and scared. “I don’t! Please leave me be!”
He was left to rise out of his dream.
“What a damn shame.” Cursed the voice, but Kaixue didn’t hear.
He snapped awake, his back still echoing the pain he was dealt. He felt the Light Force of the Sun falling through his window, he really did oversleep. He jumped up, and scrambled to find a set of robes, in his haste, he nearly crashed into his wardrobe, which also had Gangzhi’s lantern resting on it. He couldn’t discern his robes from another, so he picked one, re-tied his blindfold, and dashed out of his room.
“Where are you going, young Master?” Asked Depai, who he met in a hallway, from his steps it was evident he was carrying something, scrolls perhaps. Kaixue stopped himself to not crash into the older man.
“I had a horrible dream, and now I’ve overslept.” He explained, taking a few breaths between the words. He slammed his palms into the sides of his face. “I’m going to be late for sister’s Celebration!”
He changed directions, now running away from Depai, to a different wing of their estate.
“Wait, young master! Where are you even going?!”
“To the gardens! I hid my gift for her there!” Even if it was a day late, this sort of gift for her 11th birthday would surely earn him some forgiveness. Something was strange, he was expecting to hear servants getting out of his way, as they brought dishes to and from the kitchens, which were the same way, yet there were no servants in the halls during, or just before, such a major event.
He heard heavier steps behind him. His brother shouted: “Kaixue!”
“I’m sorry!” He apologised, as he made the turn towards the stone stairs that lead into the slightly lowered gardens. Something was even stranger there. Water Force was gathered all around the spots he remembered the flowers were, morning dew, the smell of wet grass filled the air. What time was it, really? He pondered it in the middle of his step, he also pondered he forgot to put on sandals, his foot touched the wet stone, and slipped. The stairs that led from the Palace to the Gardens were not tall or long, only eight steps, just enough for Kaixue to fully turn in the air once, and fall head-first on the equally as stone pathway.