A/N: Shout out to Wraith for PRing this chp. This chp will help explain more about who the Templars exactly were. Hope you all enjoy!
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“Ugh, my head…..”
As Jung raised his upper body off of the floor, he saw that he was still in the cavern. A ray of sunlight beamed into the cave through the hole in the ceiling and brightened the surroundings. The cave was as empty as ever, with only the alien corpse beside him.
When he tried to stand up, sharp pain exploded throughout his body. It felt as though every muscle in his body was protesting at the same time. After he took a few moments to brace himself, he forced his body to stand up.
“Damn… why are my muscles so stiff?!”
’It is not that surprising as you’ve been laying on the ground for a week.’
“!! Who’s there?!’
Jung became guarded and inspected the cave for any other being. If he had been in his original state, he would have noticed that the voice came from inside his head. Alas, how could someone recover from sleeping that long in such a short amount of time? When the voice spoke again, there was a hint of amusement in his tone.
’Relax child. I am speaking to you through thoughts. Try to remember what happened right before you lost consciousness…’
‘Right before I lost consciousness huh…’
As the voice said, he brought back his memory of the events that occurred before he passed out.
’I remember that I was examining an alien corpse and then saw a crystal. When I reached out and touched it….Ah! Right before I passed out, you were the one who spoke in my mind!’
‘Very good child.’
‘Wait, does that mean you came into my body when I touched that crystal?!’
‘Yes I did.’
‘How did you get inside that crystal?’
‘There is a unique technique within the upper echelons of the Templars that allows us to transfer our consciousness into objects in order to preserve our knowledge. It was created as a desperate last measure in the face of death. After our mind is transferred, it will go into a comatose state. It will stay in that state until it comes into contact with another mind and deems it to not be an enemy. At that time, it will merge into that being’s mind.’
‘Wait a second, how does a consciousness in a comatose state know that someone isn’t an enemy? Also, you are basically saying that you’ve entered my mind aren't you?!’
‘When a being touches the object, the consciousness will automatically scan through their memories and determine whether they are a foe or not. As to how it works, even I do not know. It has been lost with the original Templars who created the spell.
As to your second question, yes I have. Our minds have merged and I am able to see, hear, feel and taste what you do now.’
‘...Wait you read ALL of my memories?! That’s an invasion of privacy!’
‘I’m sorry child, there was no other choice…’
‘…Is there a way for you to not listen to my thoughts?’
‘Yes child, there is.’
‘Please stop listening to my thoughts for now then. I need some time alone to think through this.’
‘I understand.’
The thought had a hint of bemusement in his tone at the word ‘alone’. Still, he understood that the whole ordeal must be a shock to Jung. Who wouldn’t be shocked to find that another mind was now in their body? It was best to give him some time to ponder and wrap his mind around what had happened.
Jung’s thoughts were a mess. There was so many things he needed to contemplate. An alien mind inside his head? He knew that humans were still very far from understanding the brain, much less the soul, but how was this possible? Does that mean that he has to live with the alien inside of him from then on? These were only a few of the thoughts that were racing through his brain. After thirty minutes, Jung felt as though he went over all he could and spoke to the Templar.
’Is there any way for you to leave my mind?’
‘At the current moment, no. The only method will be to reach my race, the Xena’ga, and have them transfer my consciousness to another object.’
‘Haa… Also, why did I become unconscious when I touched the crystal?’
‘There were some…unexpected results when my consciousness merged with yours child.’
‘Unexpected results? What does that mean?!’
‘Well child… the technique wasn’t meant to work with a difference race. It should have only reacted to the mind of a Xena’ga. The reason for this is because all the races have different biologies, especially in the brain. For some reason though, my consciousness reacted to yours and merged. Your brain, however, was not built to house another consciousness and when I entered…. Well it underwent a change…’
‘WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BRAIN?!’
At the words that his brain went through a change, Jung couldn’t help but feel shock and fear. If his brain got damaged, then he could easily die after all. He became relieved, however, at the next words the alien spoke.
‘Don’t worry child, there are no damages. When I entered your brain, it went through a transformation. The inner portion of your brain that had been dormant has, in the words of you humans, been ignited.’
‘…What does that portion of the brain do?’
‘Child, have you ever heard of psionic energy?’
‘Psionic energy? Like telekinesis and telepathy stuff?’
‘Well… those are some of the things you can do with psionic energy but there is so much more. Let me start off with an introduction. Psionic energy is something that exists in all the universes. It’s an energy source that is used for the creation of planets and life. The problem is that almost no races are able to feel it, let alone make use of it.
We Xena’ga, however, are blessed as we can feel it from birth. Our brains have the function of sensing it within an area and with enough training, we are able to use psionic energy to perform supernatural feats.’
‘..So what you’re saying is that my brain has mutated and I’m supposed to feel this psionic energy now?’
Jung felt as though what the Templar said was ridiculous. His brain had mutated? He was now able to feel this mysterious “psionic energy”?
‘Child, didn’t you wonder why my body doesn’t have a mouth?’
‘Eh? Now that you mention it…’
‘Also, you were unconscious for a week. Even if you’re not sure if you believe me about that, your muscle’s stiffness should be proof enough that you were unconscious for a long period of time. How then do you think you survived without nourishment? Do you think some being came and took care of you?’
‘….’
He couldn’t find a way to refute anything the Templar said. When he thought about it, what the alien said was right. The human body couldn’t survive without water for over three days.
Also, he began to notice that his resident alien neighbor was quite the sarcastic being. Jung might have found it amusing during another time, but he really didn’t appreciate it at the moment.
‘We Xena’ga nourish our bodies by absorbing psionic energy. While you were asleep, your brain began to subconsciously gather the energy also. Well I had to help at the beginning since your brain didn’t know what to do with it but after I made the body absorb it the first time, your brain took over.’
Jung still wasn’t sure whether to believe the alien or not. What the alien told him was simply too unusual and seemed like something that one of those crazy cult people from his planet would say. He wanted to just scoff at all of it and say it was a hoax, but the alien was already inside his mind and he could sense the truth in his words. For now, he would take the alien’s words as truth until he found out what happened to his body.
’I see. Thank you. Anyways what made you so desperate to live on that you would put your consciousness into a crystal?’
‘Let me tell you a little about the Xena’ga. Among our race, there are a select few who are more naturally gifted with the use of psionic energy and become practitioners of the path of Ein’Zul. The path of Ein’Zul is not an easy one. Many who attempt to follow this path have utterly failed. Talent alone is not enough as you must also have the will and patience. Those who succeed, however, earn the right to be called a Templar.
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Templars are an elite warrior society within the Xena’ga. We swear to become the sword and shield for our people. Using psionic energy to become our weapon and armor, we smite any of those who try to harm the Xena’ga.
For centuries, we were successful in our mission. Without any foe, our race was able to focus on improving our own livelihood, and we became a technologically advanced race. Our Armada truly was a breathtaking sight to behold. Our mighty ships and weaponry were so strong that we believed ourselves the superior race and undefeatable. Just as we reached the peak of our advancement though, the Zvirek appeared. Even with our air superiority and mighty land force, there were simply too many of them. You must know, my people are not a very fertile race like yours. Wedded couples tended to usually only have one child. It is thought of as a blessing from the Gods if you were able to lay birth to two or more.
Even though tens of Zvirek went down for every Xena’ga, they swept over us like a tidal wave. Luckily, the elders of our race created a portal to a distant planet similar to ours in case of an emergency. As the citizens were gathered, our forces desperately fought to stall the oncoming Zvirek rush.
The Templars, of course, stood in the forefront. Many courageous souls lost their lives that day. The brethren that I had trained, slept, and fought with for many centuries fell one by one. We, however, stood our ground and held back the swarm. As the last of the civilians and military forces passed through, we remained and cut off the route so that no Zvirek could pass through.
Even though we were stranded on the wrong side of the portal with billions of Zvirek, our hearts were content. We had succeeded in being the shield that deflected away those with malicious intent toward our people, after all. Our lives in exchange for the safety of our people was a price any Templar would gladly pay.’
Jung couldn’t help but feel deep respect toward these Templars. It took a certain type of man, well actually alien here, to be so willing to throw their lives away for the safety of his people. Some may call those people crazy while others might say they’re delusional, but from his experience he knew those type of people were generally good people.
’So how did you end up surviving? From what you said it seemed like those of you left behind were doomed to die there.’
‘…After the gate was sealed, we began to retreat. The Templar elders decided that they should try to save at least a few of themselves to continue the path of Ein’Zul. With the obligation of defending the portal now complete, we began to move toward our headquarters. It was one of the few locations that the Zvirek did not occupy and housed a few spacecraft that were still operational.
Even with the use of psionic energy to conceal ourselves, the Zvirek kept coming at us. The majority of the survivors perished along the way. If it hadn’t been for our arts in concealment and our familiarity with the terrain, none of us would have survived.
By the time we reached our headquarters, only five of us remained. The Zvirek, however, continued to hound us. By the time we reached the hanger, only three of us remained with the foul creatures right on our tail. At that time I felt it was hopeless. There simply wasn’t enough time for us to start up the spacecraft and leave.
My brethren, however, had a different plan. The two of them decided that if anyone was to survive and carry on our legacy, it should be me. When they told me that they’d hold the Zvirek long enough for me to escape, I was furious. How could I let my fellow Templars sacrifice themselves while I escaped? I would rather die while fighting by their side.
Their argument of how at least one of us needed to survive and carry on the Templar’s legacy convinced me in the end. One of them was fatally wounded and would not survive for long even if he escaped. The other was his brother and wouldn’t leave him to die alone. In the end, much to my own anguish, I agreed.
Thanks to my brethren’s sacrifices, I was able to escape. My destination was the planet where the remnants of my people had fled to. As I was about to warp, however, Nightmares appeared and attacked my ship. Even though I was able to escape, the Nightmares damaged my navigation system and warped to the space near this planet.
During the warp, my wounds worsened and added to that,one of the loose pipes pierced my abdomen when I warped. Even as I pulled the pipe out my body and tried to staunch the blood, I knew I wouldn’t be able to survive it.
As I grew frantic, the ship picked up a large amount of psionic energy gathered on this planet. The sheer volume shocked me. I had never seen so much psionic energy condensed into one area. I pondered for a moment whether I should go down or not. If I rested in that psionic energy condensed area, my body just may heal itself with the energy’s aid. Without another option, I flew my aircraft down.
As I flew around the planet, I finally found the source of psionic energy underground. After I searched for a while, I found an entrance here. Once I confirmed that it led underground, I landed my ship nearby and walked in. I didn’t have much longer to live back then, only a day or two. With that knowledge, I frantically searched here for the psionic energy source. The underground caverns, however, were too large and I never found it.
As I felt death grasp my body, I finally used that final technique and sealed my soul into the crystal. I wasn’t left with any other options as I still had to complete my mission to pass on our legacy.’
As the Templar finished his story, Jung couldn’t help but to feel pity for him. He had survived so much only to fail at the end. Who wouldn’t feel regret at such a situation?
‘So what do you want from me? You wouldn’t have told me that story for no reason.’
‘Child, Lead the rebirth of the Templar. Become the foundation and help return the Templars to my people.’
When he heard the Templar’s request, Jung was shocked. He thought he might be asked to return the alien back to his people but to rebuild the Templars? How could he, who knew nothing about the Templars, rebuild an ancient organization?
’Child do not fear, I will be there to lead you step by step.’
‘Why do you want me to rebuild the Templars? Wouldn’t it better if you taught another Xena’ga?’
‘After your brain was restructured, your body has an outstanding talent for sensing and manipulating psionic energy now. You don’t know since you were unconscious at the time, but after I made your body familiar with psionic energy, it absorbed an enormous amount. Even when I was in my original body, I wasn’t able to sense psionic energy so clearly nor absorb so much. If you were born during the time the Templars were prominent and was a Xena’ga, you’d be considered a prodigy.’
Jung was shocked at the news he was told. He was a prodigy? He was more sensitive toward psionic energy and could absorb more of it than a Templar? How was that even possible when he couldn’t even sense it now?
’It’s not that you can’t sense it, it’s that you just don’t know you’re sensing it right now. After you have trained, you will recognize it immediately, child.’
After the alien spoke, he stayed silent. Jung had many things to think about, after all. Inside of Jung’s head, many different thoughts were swirling around. He debated whether what the Templar said was the truth or not. He thought about what it meant if he really was able to sense and absorb the psionic energy. After several minutes, Jung let out a sigh. He made the decision to help the alien out.
The Templar had saved his life, after all. That alone was reason enough to help him. Another reason was that Jung didn’t feel like returning to the people who betrayed and left him for dead. Even though he understood the thought process of why they would, that didn’t mean he liked it.
Also, he was very interested in this psionic energy. Just what was it and what could he do with the use of psionic energy?
’Alright, I’ll help you out. When do we start the lessons?’
‘We will begin you lessons tomorrow. There must be a lot on your mind at the moment. Rest and clear your thoughts today child.’
‘Stop calling me a child. It feels creepy hearing that when i’m twenty seven. My name’s Jung. Just call me that. Oh yeah, now that I think about it, I never heard your name.’
‘I am called Tas’zul.’