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JULES
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> [Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Progress Conjuration to Level 25.]
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> [Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Master your meditation training with Rukia.]
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> [Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective ADDED: Meet with Kaizen.]
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> [Paint It Black — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Level Up your preferred Skills to Level 20.]
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> [Paint It Black — Quest Objective ADDED: Continue Leveling Up while you learn the Inked Arts.]
Jules measured his fists against the sun and horizon.
Two to three hours of sunlight left.
It was only the second time he’d left The Painter’s art supply shop in his two-year stay, and a year-and-a-half since his last excursion. He checked out his wrist before putting down his hand; it had certainly gotten thicker in that time. As Jules walked past a Blacksmith's shop, he studied the unfamiliar figure he saw in the glass’ reflection. Not only had Jules grown stronger, more confident, and a little taller, he had really matured into his young adulthood. Kat and I turn 18 in a few weeks. Crazy how time flies sometimes.
His chin had dropped to a sharper point, and he had distinct jaw and cheek lines now. He messed with his hair on the way to his destination. Somehow my hairstyle evolved, which is sick because I suddenly really care about what it looks like—
Jules, Rukia interrupted, focus. Jules nodded in response. A large crowd had gathered around the Fountain of the Virtues this early evening.
Must be a weekend, Jules thought. Should have paid attention.
He closed his eyes before they lit up alongside the Seal on his chest.
> « Muffle »
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> « Conceal »
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> [₹8,400 // ₹10,000]
Jules hid himself to the surrounding world, though he still felt a pair of watchful eyes hiding nearby. “The Painter must be nearby. I sure hope this is the last time I have to come here.”
“Me too, Jules,” Kaizen said from behind. “I’m running out of things to do in these Kami-forsaken pillars, so it’s good for all of us to move on.”
“What do you mean, these pillars? Aren't you confined to just Patience?"
The ghost glared at him.
"Been a while, Jules. Eight months since you last let me in. You shut me out for too long."
“Training got…difficult, Kaizen. I figured you could still commune with Rukia, and she could fill you in and let me know when it was time to come.”
Kaizen crossed his arms and grunted. Guess you expect an apology.
“Theory paid off, it seems. My communication with Rukia is still strained, mostly limited to an emotional level. I felt your joint hardship, kiddo, but also the camaraderie with Envy and Cyrus. Everything else was a mystery, so I’d like to hear about this training.”
Jules broke eye contact, staring blindly at the people walking about. “I’ll tell you about it some other time… This is about the gist of it.” Jules rolled up his sleeve and exposed his forearm. A new marking glistened on his skin. Jules hid his arm again, despite Kaizen still clearly studying it. “I have a much better idea of who The Painter is now, though I haven’t shared my theory with the others yet.”
“And why is that?” Kaizen asked after a long pause.
“He’s always listening, even now,” Rukia said in a low grumble.
“I don’t think you whispering will help,” Kaizen shouted.
“And what about you yelling, you loaf?” she cried back.
“He can’t hear me because I’m a ghost.” Veins popped from his head. “And it’s oaf, not loaf—”
“No, Kaizen, you're a loaf of bread.” Rukia’s pupils grew to the size of her irises. “And I eat loafs of bread for breakfast.”
“It’s loaves…” Kaizen shook his head and became serious again. “Hmm, I see. An intriguing strategy, Rukia.” Kaizen rubbed his stubbly chin. He gave Rukia a thumbs up, and she winked back.
What in the actual fuck did I just witness?
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I'm going to pretend none of that happened." Jules grounded them again. "The Inked Arts truly are incredible. It was worth two years of my life. I actually trust him more, ironically. With his position and all.”
Kaizen leveled his gaze and scratched his chin again. "His position, huh?"
“That story will also have to wait."
"Hm. Well, does Envy's cooking still suck?"
"Oh Salvos, yes. It's dreadful, but we need to get started—Wait, are you trying to grow a beard?" Jules asked incredulously. “I figured you were stuck how you—uh…”
“Say it," Kaizen said.
No.
"Say it, you pussy!"
Nope.
“How I died? Is that what you wanted to ask me!?"
Yep.
Kaizen smiled devilishly. "Time works very differently for me. I may act like I’m dead—I certainly think I’m dead—but my body is around somewhere nearby. I guess my appearance mirrors my body."
That’s a serious problem. “So like… What happens if your body is destroyed?”
“Good vibes only, Jules. Good vibes only. I try not to think about that, though it has crossed my mind. I’m locked down for now, so worrying does me no good. When the day comes that I can do something about it, then I’ll make it a priority. Until then—”
“Yeah, yeah. Focus on the current challenge. Let’s find the Sound.”
“I beg your pardon. Let’s get Kaizen first, then find the Sound, is what you meant to say. We begin by tuning your spirit. Start by feeling out your own frequency and progress from there.”
Jules sat down with legs crossed, back mostly straight. Rukia taught him to place his elbows on his knees and, with each hand, form a circle with his index finger and thumb, while extending the other three fingers out, a stereotypical pose. But Jules had spent years progressing his Skills, and had to show off just how much he'd improved the technique.
He clenched his hands tightly into fists, and then slowly, gently, in a supple movement of grace and extreme poise, extended both middle fingers. Jules opened an eye, only one, just his left eye, slightly, to gauge their reactions.
Rukia looked like she would cry tears of joy, like a mother watching her child achieve their dreams; Kaizen’s mouth dropped in shock and awe. Jules closed his eye and smiled. Amateurs.
As he repeated his personal meditation chant, Fuck this, fuck that, fuck you, over and over in his mind, he quickly tuned into the frequency of his own spirit. Then he progressed to finding Rukia’s, whose waves were loopy like a shoestring, and then to Kaizen’s, which felt like a relentlessly uniform zig-zagging line. Jules’ was steadier, like a smooth and spread-out sinusoidal wave.
Thump. Thump. Thump—
The fourth wave surged, a pattern that ebbed and flowed, stronger than it'd ever been when he'd practiced over the past few years. Its patterns rose sharply and turned back into itself, only to fall gently, then rise again quickly, and fall dramatically back down.
“Pay attention. What do you see?” Kaizen asked.
Jules tried to imagine the wave in his mind, like on a graph from that day Isolda had attempted to teach math. When he finally transposed it, he laughed and shook his head. “Should have seen that coming. It’s the shape of fire. Must be Wrath.”
“Yes. He will always be there. If he isn’t," Kaizen said, "well, you should probably worry about it. You need to focus on these wavelengths more. You must attain these meditative states instantly in the future if you want to Integrate on command.”
“Meditative states, Integrate—What are you talking about?”
“Heh heh, I’d love to show you how big I can get,” Rukia said.
“Shame on you, fox, for not teaching him the basics—”
“That’s your job." Rukia leered at the ghost. "Master Kaizen.”
“Jules, who told you to break your meditation?”
“Right. Always testing my concentration.” And ignoring my questions.
“Concentration, yes, and Patience.” Fuck patience. “Another goal of yours should be to reach a constant meditative state.”
“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of meditation?" Jules asked. "Isn’t it supposed to be a break from reality? A type of rest?”
“To deal with Patience, you must be one with it.”
Jules sighed. “You stopped making sense a while ago, old geezer.”
“Don’t be redundant. It doesn’t suit you to repeat yourself.” But you just…
Jules opened one eye again and saw Kaizen grinning like a dad who just uttered the funniest joke in the world, to himself, and only himself.
“You can use possessed objects to help you amplify your meditative state, but don’t rely on them.”
Jules felt a vein on his forehead twitch. Oh Salvos no, please, don’t let me be like him. “You’re going too fast, Kaizen.”
“Keep up! You will Integrate spirits either into yourself or into objects. Some of those objects will be more capable of hosting than others, so experi—”
“The marble that makes up Patience’s altar must be shit-grade, then, if you can keep coming out and babbling like this.”
Really Rukia, no laugh? Jules turned to the fox, just to find her meditating as well. At least she adopted my new meditation technique. Two tiny middle claws rose into the air. Jules received no response from Kaizen either, so he focused on all three of their wavelengths. Wrath’s crept up over and over again. Jules tried to ignore it at first, then suppress it. An uneasy feeling in his gut steadily grew.
“Good. Now that you’re done dicking around, we can start the lesson: Integrating spirits into objects. First, we try your dagger.”
> [Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective ADDED: Master Object Integration.]
This training is going to take forever. All I do is sit here. “Why would I want to do this if I would just Integrate you into my body during a fight? What would even happen if I put you in this dagger—It’d grow a crappy goatee?”
“Quiet. First of all, you can’t control the Spirit Integration process yet. You’ve seen Wrath both in your nightmares and in Coralhaven. You know he’s waiting to burst out of Hell and claim you. If you accidentally summon him instead of me…" Kaizen scratched his scraggly beard stubs. "Well, we can work around that as long as the bastard’s in an inanimate object. Second of all, you’ll put me in your blade tonight so I can escape my own form of Hell here.” Kaizen looked back at the pillar. “I can feel this vermin judging me constantly. And third of all, at least I can grow facial hair.”
“You’re like forty, I’d hope so—”
“I am thirty-five!”
Jules grinned; Kaizen balked.
“Oh shit," Kaizen said. "Shit shit shit. I should stop underestimating you.”
“See? I can concentrate while annoyed. But I hope you didn’t break another rule for that info.” Jules' smile faded with the sudden revelation. So I’m probably halfway through my life already. “Let’s get started then. The sooner I can sleep without nightmares, the better.”
Kaizen hesitated. “How often do you dream?”
“Every night, now that The Painter allows us to sleep again.”
“Hm. Have you seen the sword yet?”
“I feel like there’s more to it, but I can only remember one that’s on fire.”
“That’s Wrath’s sword, the Sound of Fury.” Ahh, that’s why I can’t look away from it.
“So what happens if I cram your ass in that sword?”
“You’ll be unstoppable—so long as you don’t do it the other way around.” They all shared a laugh. “There’s some motivation for you.”
“I’m already motivated enough, Sensei. Let’s go.”
Kaizen straightened up at the honor. “Practice tuning that dagger to your frequency. Then we move to Rukia before attempting with me.”
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