Chapter 10:

28 Days After Winter’s Beginning

234 Days After The Ra’tok Attack Amia Village

The Valley of Ivory, Tarna

Talri Clan, Medical Wing

I wake with a start, bringing my hands up ready to fight.

I am no longer in the wagon, but in a bed. It takes a minute, but my mind clears of it’s fog.

I am in a large room, beds lining both walls. Large skylights stream light in from above. A few other people lay in the beds, many sleeping or groaning in pain.

A few nurses move about, tending to patients.

I’m in the medical hall.

My muscles ache and feel stiff. I look at my arms, my left arm is bandaged with blood stained white cloth. My right bicep and shoulder his bandaged as well, where I took a slash from one of the monsters.

I look at my right arm and flex my fingers, the black cloth rustles and three tentacles come off. I retract them again.

Why am I here?

I throw the blanket covering my legs off and stand up, groaning.

I have to tell someone about the forest!

My bag is laid next to my bed, but my weapons are missing. I grab my bag and hobble on sore legs to the door of the large hall, none of the nurses stop me. I open the door into a corridor.

Before I can move out, a familiar voice says, “Kardin! Good to see you’re awake.”

Vicar says as he walks down the hallway. He is wearing armor again, but the sheath at his hip is empty.

The one of the big policies about the medical wing of the Talri clan is no weapons.

I open my mouth to tell him about the forest, but he holds up a armored hand, “Both Armsmaster Taras and Luran gave a report of events in the forest. Let's get you back to your room first, then we can talk.”

I bow and nod my head.

He takes my arm and leads me through the halls of the medical wing and into the living quarters. We walk slowly and in silence.

I can’t help but remembering the horrid creatures. And my dream.

I can’t deny it anymore. I’m connected with these creatures somehow, and I know for sure that they will attack us.

We reach my room and I open the door with my key, letting Vicar in. He pulls the chair out from my table and I sit on my bed.

Looking at him I say, “Those monsters, they’re going to attack Tarna.”

Vicar nods, looking at the floor. “We are already preparing if that comes to fruition. Can you tell me what exactly happened?”

I think for a second, then decide to tell him everything that happened. Telling him about the Taras’s trial and how everything went sideways after that. About the strange monsters and the giant blob. At the thought of the cores, I open my bag. They are still there.

I take out the large one from the frog monster. It swirls with color, it’s bumpy surface dully shining.

Handing it to Vicar, I watch as his eyes glow neon blue. He frowns at the sight of the core, moving it in his hands.

“This is… interesting.” He says puzzled. Then he looks closely at it. “Something’s holding all of it together, but I can’t see it…”

I sigh, “I think it’s Gray Katra.”

Vicar nods slowly, “How?”

I shake my head, “I don’t know. But it looks like Gray Katra. I… I think I’m responsible for the monsters, somehow.”

Vicar looks at me, keeping his expresion schooled. “Why do you think that?”

I explain to him about my dreams. How I thought they were just dreams, till I went into the forest myself.

He nods, thinking. I remember when I first got here, he had said he would look into my Gray katra. “Did you figure out anything about my katra?”

Vicar shakes his head and he scrunches his brow, placing the rainbow core on the table. “No. In all the records and books about katra I could find, there is nothing about a “Gray” katra. But I did find something else.”

He pauses for a second, then points at my right, black bandaged arm. “There are stories of people finding objects, Artifacts if you can call them that, which have given them either a power or an entirely new katra aspect. One of the funny things was, they were all given to them, not found.” Vicar looks at me with an accusing eye.

He knows.

I can feel my pulse quicken. What do I do?

I suddenly feel trapped. My dagger and spear are on the desk he sits at. He’s closer to the door than me, and I can’t get through the window in time, before he could grab me. Plus, he’s also faster than me, and stronger too.

Do I tell him about the strange man, and Inik? About the weird place inside the artifact?

I decide.

Taking in a deep breath, I say, “I was given the artifact by a man before my village was burned down. At the time, I didn’t know what it was, but bought it from a Sacred Arts cart. I thought it was a Beast core, but I went back latter because I thought he swindled me. When I went back to the cart, there was a different man claiming to be the owner. After my village was attacked, the core changed and grafted itself onto my arm, while I was in the jungle.” Taking in a deep breath, I let it out.

Vicar is quiet, and I can see he is in deep thought. After a bit of silence he asks, “What did the man look like?”

I describe the strange man. His glowing eyes and weird sword. How, for only a second, I saw him as a skeleton.

“Are you sure of what you saw?” Vicar asks, looking me into the eyes. He wears a serious expression.

I slowly shake my head, “No. It might have just been me, maybe the light. I’m not sure.”

Vicar falls silent.

I tense, ready to try and run.

He shakes his head back and forth, “Don’t worry, I do not plan to share this with anyone. It would only make them want you gone more. But this man, I don’t think he is human. Something more akin to, well I am hesitant to even say it, god.”

“A god?” I say, confused. For a second, I let my guard down, but I bring it back up.

Vicar nods, “From what I have read, he is just about every story. Even some of our history. There are tales about how the first Emperor came to be, and how he founded the Traezar Empire. Supposedly, he was given a unique katra aspect by the gods, and he went on to conquer Auren. Even to this day, his lineage are feared for it, able to bend space to their desire.” He shifts in his seat, looking at me with a critical eye.

If that’s true, then why give me this? I’m a cripple, a village boy who knows little about the world.

My head spins with questions. How am I connected to the monsters in the forest? Who was the man that gave me my Artifact? Is the man a god?

Vicar shakes his head, “I still don’t understand it. But this is for another time. The Elders are evacuating the surrounding farms and gearing up for defense against both the monsters, and Tulnar, when they come.”

He stands up, his armor jingling. “You have passed Taras’s trial, and he tells me you have proven your worth in the forest. Not backing down against sure death, standing and fighting the monsters. Tomorrow, your training with Ayria starts, I suggest you rest today.

Now, I must be going, I have many thing to attend to. I truly hope you finish your training before we are attacked. I fear that you may be sent to our front lines.” With those words, Vicar exits my room, leaving me with my spiraling thoughts.

I need to distract myself for a bit.

I close my eyes and move to my core. The dead, crust of Gray katra still surrounds it. I move closer to the surface, and project my mind there.

Standing on the jagged, dusty surface of my core, I pull some Gray katra from it. I form a ball in my imaginary hand.

The sphere is round and smooth.

Over the past month, when I wasn’t exhausted, I have been learning how to shape my katra. I can now manipulate it rather well, but I still don’t have the finesse required to make anything complex.

I can shape it into objects like balls and knives, but I still can’t figure anything else out about it. I have to both relax and concentrate my mind to imprint my will on the katra, forming it into what I want.

Clearing my mind of my thoughts, I relax myself. Focusing on the ball of katra, I slowly manipulate it into various shapes.

***

I watch as my guide vanishes into the crowd, the boy going off to who knows where.

Looking at the house in front of me, there is a high cobble wall I can’t see over. I can see the medium sized houses clay roofs though.

I open the gate and go to the front door.

Grabbing the knocker, I bang three times loudly.

Ayria sent a messenger to come grab me when I showed up at the training grounds. The boy led me to what I believe is her house.

The door opens and Ayria stands there in leather armor. She stares in my general direct, “Hello, Kardin. Come in.”

Opening the door, she moves to the side, letting me in.

I walk into the house, taking off my shoes. The interior is modestly furnished, with a small table next to the door. The floorboards creak under my steps.

“Follow me,” Ayria says, as she leads me through the house. Now she isn’t holding her staff, and I can’t feel the bursts of katra she uses to see.

She leads me to the back, where there is a open yard. A sand pit with a wrack of weapons off to the side takes up most of the yard.

She stands in the center of the sand pit. “Leave your bag and weapons.”

I leave my bag off to the side and face her.

“My way of fighting is mainly unarmed, but I can eventually teach you how to use weapons with it,” She punches were someone’s stomach would be, then twists around and hits where A person’s head would be.

“Alright, so we start now?” I ask, eager to learn.

Ayria smiles, “Come at me.”

I hesitate, and she gives an exasperated sigh. With a burst of speed, she races at me.

I block her first strike, pain shooting up my arm. I bring my left fist back and aim for her stomach.

Ayria twists around the punch, grabbing my arm. She twists my arm painfully around my back. I struggle, aiming for her to try and get her to let go.

She kicks the back of my knees, forcing me to the ground. My head is driven to the ground, and she grabs my hair, pulling back and twisting, she also wrenches my arm, driving her knee into my lower spine.

I let out a gasp of pain, and try to get out of her hold.

My right arm hits futility against her.

“Now, I have you on the ground, where I have both the weight and leverage advantage. You can’t escape, and I can easily kill you. This probably will be harder against a Steel, you might have to hit them a few times in the head.” She lets go, getting off me.

I test my arm, moving it as I get up. I bow to her.

I don’t think Taras was exaggerating.

“Do you get how I fight?” Ayria asks, standing across from me.

I nod, “You move around your opponent and incapacitate them.”

She hums, “Close. Now, how good are you at hand ot hand?” She doesn’t wait for me to answer, but instead punches at me.

My reflexes kick in and I flinch back, bringing my arm up to block. Her fist connects with my forearm with a meaty thud. Pain digs its claws into my arm, and I grimace.

I continue to block her attacks, not having a chance to attack.

She stops after a few hits that will probably leave bruises. Shaking her head, she sighs, “You don’t know anything, do you?”

I cradle my aching arms and say, “I’ve never fought hand to hand.”

Ayria brings her fists up and give a example punch, “You’re blocking.”

I look at her in confusion. She looks at me with her unseeing eyes. “Don’t block, hit the punch.” She brings her fist and and hits the air, then swings around in a feat of agility with a kick where a person’s head would be.

What? But that’d leave me open to being attacked.

“I-I don’t understand,” I say, standing up straight. It's only been a few minutes and I’m already hurting!

“You are blocking the attacks, Kardin. Don’t do that, attack the attacks, and if you can’t hit it, then deflect it, then attack. Hit the punch, don’t block it.” She says, giving a few more mock punches.

“But won’t that leave me open to being attacked again?” I say, looking at her skeptically.

She rolls her honey colored eyes and shakes her head. “Your opponent won’t be able to attack you if you counter his every strike, hitting him in turn. Now, again.” She rushes me, and I bring up to block instinctively.

When she brings up another attack, I whip my fist out and strike her forearm, moving her strike away from my head. “Better,” She cooes, sending a flurry of punches at me.

Pain roots itself deep in me, throbbing.

When she is done beating me up, I lay in the sand, groaning.

She stands over me.

I didn’t even get a solid hit on her.

“Your opponents are going to be Lowsteel and up, which means they can take more hits. But there are places where they are weak, like say the jaw and ear,” She punches in the air, mock fighting a invisible opponent. “You can leverage certain body parts, to cause max pain, even cripple them. It doesn’t matter if you have a body as hard as steel, you can’t shrug off a blow to the kidneys, nose, jaw, etceteria.”

I nod my head.

It makes sense. I could still kill a steel ranked boar by hitting artery in the neck.

Looking down at me with her unseeing eyes, she puts her hands on her hips. “You can have five minutes to recuperate. And put on the padded leather armor.” She points to two armor stands, one with armor on it.

Following her finger, I can’t help but let out something between a pained chuckle and a groan. She purposefully hit me hard.

I pull myself to my feet and stumble over to the armor.

Strapping it on, I can’t help but feel like I am willingly walking into a meat grinder.

Taking in a deep breath, I walk back onto the field where Ayria is waiting.

***

Limping back from my training from Ayria, I can’t help but look out where the forest is.

It’s been about two weeks since I started learning Ayria’s brutal fighting style. In that time, nothing had come out of the forest. The Elder’s had evacuated all the farms and had the families running them come into the town, providing board for them.

My dreams have continued. I talk to Vicar about them every two days about them, telling of what I have seen.

I can’t help but shudder at the thought of them.

The Gray katra monster, as I have started calling them, have been amassing a horde. It is hidden somewhere in the forest, and I don’t know where. I watched as just about every animal in the valley has been killed and absorbed, fueling the growth of the horde.

The giant Gray katra slime seems to require material to make monsters, specifically more mass. As it’s minions grow in strength, it reabsorbs them and then makes several more.

From the one glimpse I caught of this horde in my dreams, it is at least a thousand strong.

All communication with the outside world has been cut off, the monsters stalking along the roads leading to Tarna.

I’m not sure which is worse. The fact that the Tulnar have free reign to attack the north side of the empire, or the monster horde that is growing right outside our walls.

As I near the clan, I see something that makes me blink.

A large, gray furred gorilla in an expensive, custom sized suit, walks down the street. It walks on all fours, people avoiding It. What really catches my attention is that it has four arms.

Two smaller ones hide under its massive first set, looking far more dexterous than the first.

It vanishes in the crowd, and I’m forced to ask if it was real or not.

Shaking my head, I walk through the gates and into the the Talri Clan main facility, moving through it to my room.

Groaning, I lay on my bed.

My body aches with bruises, but Ayria is careful to make sure that none of them impare my training ability. She is brutal and unforgiving.

He fighting style focuses on using her opponent's strength against them, while also moving around attacks, stopping them and making sure your opponent is never going to get back up.

She even brought a diagram on the human body, pointing out specific weak points and places that you can leverage. Where you can break a bone and stop your opponent dead in their tracks, how to make someone let go of you, etc.

Her teaching method is merciless, but I can’t complain about the results. It has motivated me to learn her fighting style, to make her stop beating me to a pulp.

The pain isn’t anything compared to having a spear go through my shoulder though. Or when the Artifact grafted itself to my arm, or it might have just eaten my arm, I’m still not sure.

With a sigh, I groan and grab the large, multicolored core off my night stand. I hold it above me in both my hands.

I have been hesitant to try and absorb any of the katra from inside, both for the fact that it seems to be many different types, and it has foreign Gray katra.

Sighing, I think, I don’t see why it would harm me. If I understood Sol right, my Gray katra can absorb any aspect. It shouldn’t harm me.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes. Sending my awareness to the core in my hand, I pull some of the katra from inside.

I guide it through my channels, some of it leaking into my body and being absorbed by the Gray katra crystals. As it reaches my core, I startup my cycling technique.

The katra is absorbed into the tornado, slowly turning gray.

That's when I notice some not being absorbed how I like. It’s a darker Gray.

Is this the stuff from the core?

I feel it cautiously. I can control it like my other Gray katra. But this one seems far more… dense.

Like it is a purified version of the Gray katra.

But I tried refining my own, and couldn’t do it.

I try and feel out the nature of the katra. It has the same neutral feeling as my own, but with something else. Delving deeper, I find something.

This is how the monsters are created.

This katra is what is used to create them. I can sense it and I just know. It seems to have been imprinted with the purpose of binding together, and manipulating life.

I shudder at the thought. I know I don’t have enough here to do anything with it.

Where do I put it? SHould I just try and break it down, or do I leave it in my core?

I want to keep some around to see if I can figure out how it has been imprinted. If I can do that, I think I might be able to figure out how to imprint my katra with fire, maybe even manipulate Gray Fire katra.

The idea excites me.

The crust of my core should be safe enough.

Moving it to the outer layer of my core, I watch surprised as the outside crust absorbs it eagerly.

I start draining the core, separating out the Gray katra from the other types, storing it in the jagged outside of my core.

After what feels like hours, I can feel sleep tugging at my eyes. But I ignore the urge, I don’t want more visions of the monsters.

***

I wake up with a start, my eyes darting around.

They’re coming.

I’m in my room. The moonlight dimly illuminates it, throwing shadows on my desk.

Instantly, I jump from my bed.

Not even stopping to put on shoes, I slam open my door and start running down the corridor.

I have to find Vicar.

Moving throw the halls, my bare feet slapping against the cold stone, I move to where I know the Elder’s chambers are.

As I approach the hall, two guards in armor stop me.

“Sorry kid. You can’t go any further.” The one on the left of the door says, holding up his hand.

I bow my head, “I have a urgent message for Elder Vicar, it is of the utmost importance.” I am panicking on the inside, but I calm myself. It won’t help right now.

The guard shakes his armored head, his face obscured by the helmet. “I’m sorry, but the Elders are sleeping.”

“It can’t wait, I need to talk to Elder Vicar. If you would only tell him Kardin is here to see him,” I say, looking at the guard.

He glances at his pal. The other guard nods, and opens the door, walking through.

After a few minutes, the guard comes back. He nods to the first guard and leads me to another door further down the hall, pastissing 4 doors. He knocks on the last door and opens it, standing to the side.

I walk in slowly, “Elder Vicar?”

“Yes, Kardin. What is it?” Vicar lays in his bed, he rests against the headboard, looking at me.

His room is larger than mine, but not by much. A armor stand with his metal armor is in the corner, and lavish furnishing decorate the space.

I walk near the bed, my bare feet getting relief from the cold stone on swof carpet.

The door closes, but I can see by the shadow, that the guard is still standing outside.

Bowing my head, I say, “I had another dream. The monsters are coming.”

Vicar jumps from his bed, showing surprising agility for his age. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I say worried, I can feel fear rising in me.

Vicar claps me on the shoulder, “I will talk to the Elders now, but you should go back to your room. Don't worry, I’ll come up with something. Now go.” He pushes me to the door, and moves over to his dresser.

I open the door and am escorted out of the Elders’ living quarters.

What do I do now?

I slowly make my way back to my room, worry gnawing at my insides.

My training has progressed nicely after these last 3 weeks, but I am far from proficient in unarmed combat.

Sitting on my bed, I shift my minds eye into myself.

I check to see if I can access the space in my gauntlet, but still hit a wall.

Looking through my body, the tumors are still not there, the crystals still cover every inch of it. With absorbing vital aura, many of them now glow dimly, but I have yet to figure out why, or how to extract energy from them.

Moving to my core, I start up my cycling technique.

I grab a nearly fully drained core from my bedside and start extracting katra from it.

I can feel the my core is near full, but not quite.

If I can just get from Highcopepr to Truecopper, I’d feel better about my chance. But I know I’m no where near that.

I spend a portion of my night cycling. Trying to not worry about what will come.

When I can’t stop the thoughts anymore, I stop cycling and take a deep breath.

What do I know about these monsters that will help me?

They are individually weak, but have numbers on their side.

They seem to be made of Gray katra, maybe I can use that?

The monsters take time to be created. There might be a way to stop them from being created if the large slime is killed.

They’ll be here within a day, so I have a little bit.

Focusing back inwards, I look at the darker, imprinted gray katra.

I delve deep into its makeup, trying to figure out how to imprint my Gray katra like this stuff is.

It’s like an image was forced into it… Not all the different from my cycling technique.

Grabbing a ribbon of Gray katra from my core, I hold it in an imaginary hand.

What do I know about fire?

I focus on the blob of katra. Fire is hot. It burns. It can both destroy, and provide light.

I try to push all my knowledge of fire into the Gray katra, but the image doesn’t stick. I keep trying, thinking about flame.

I start think back to the flames that consumed my village. The people screaming. Karla’s pleas. The embers flowing through the night air, the choking smoke and the terrified screams.

I shake my head, forcing my anger and guilt into the katra without thinking.

To my surprise, it grows hot, then seemingly curls up, forming a mock flame. It glows gray at the tips of the small flame, but the center burns a bright, angry red.

It… It worked!

I feel elation at the thought.

With the Gray Flame in my hand, I start to make more. Before I know it, I have a burning bonfire on the surface of my core.

Now what?

I take a bit of the katra and force it through my channels. Surprisingly, I have perfect control over it, none escapes into my body.

Pushing it into my hand, I project it outwards.

Opening my eyes, a Gray Flame sits hovering over my palm.

I grin, I can’t help it. So I need strong emotions to imprint my katra?

Closing my hand, I snuff out the flame and return it to the bonfire.

Where do I put this Fire imprinted Gray katra?

I look around the surface of my core. Then I push it into the earth much like I did before, but this layer is deeper than the first of the manipulation katra. It is only a small patch, but I draw on it incase I can’t, the katra bend to my command easily.

Opening my eyes, I draw some of it from around my core, pushing it into my hand. I push an open palm forward, but only a few sparks of fire form.

Okay, so no fireball. I’ll have to figure out how to use this, and soon.

The rest of the night, I slowly figure out the intricacies of using my brand of Fire aspect katra.