Chapter 5

He floated in inky blackness. At first Jason thought he was blind but when he raised his hand he could see it. In fact he could see his entire body. He just couldn't see anything else. He couldn't hear anything as well. He shouted but .... nothing.

He was shocked and worried about his current condition. It was unreal and vivid. Every crease in his hand was perfectly represented. Every pore and hair was perfectly detailed. He pinched himself and was surprised when he actually felt pain. It was not hot or cold in this world of darkness.

He floated there in that abyss for who knows how long. After what seemed a millennium he started to hear whispering at the edge of his hearing. Unfurling from the fetal position he was in he tried to strain his ears to hear the voice.

Over time the voice grew louder and louder. He knew who the owner of that voice was. How could he not? It was the voice of the man who raised him. It was his grandfather. As his grandfather's voice grew louder and louder he could make out the words.

Shocked Jason realized what his grandfather was saying. "Four mortal element cores. Fire, water, earth and wind. You are the fire. You are the water. You are the earth and you are the wind. The four mortal elements form a dan core. The first step to immortality."

Jason had heard this all before. His grandfather had drilled this into his head since he was but a small child. He may not have taken the words seriously but in his love for his grandfather and at his grandfather's persistence he dedicated the words to heart. But this was different. It was more then words. He could...... FEEL the meaning now. Understanding on many levels dawned on him.

"The 3 Dan cores are lightning, light and darkness. Only an immortal can truly master these elements." His grandfather's voice droned on. Information far beyond the simple words was streaming into his skull. It was a lot to take in. It strained him. But the worst had yet to come.

His grandfather's voice grew louder and louder. Seeming to shake him to the very fiber of his being. He felt pain. So much pain. Oddly enough there was some relief hidden in that pain. As if the pain was cleansing his soul and body.

"Three Dan cores form a heavenly core. The two heavenly cores are life and death." His grandfather's voice was no longer just loud and painfull. It shook the universe and Jason's soul threatened to capsize under the weight of that voice. He felt like he could shatter or snap. Like the bow string drawn far too tight.

"A master who forms 2 heavenly cores can be considered an immortal at the very peak of all creation......" His grandfather's voice paused and silence reigned in the darkness. Jason felt sweet release from the pain and suffering but it didnt last long.

A new voice overlapped his grandfather's and began speaking with him. The voice was dreadful and terrifying. It was no human voice. The voice seemed to tear asunder all before it. It's destructive force did not spare Jason as it screamed.

"But the heaven defying chaos dragon disdains all of creation. For creation is but food for it. The universe but a pebble. All shake at its passing. All bow before it. Make yourself the chaos dragon and consume all the cores to pass beyond immortality. Beyond life and death. Beyond all of existence." He had never heard this part before.

The voices grew to a crescendo that Jason couldn't take anymore. But suddenly the terrible voice was gone and all that was left was his grandfather voice. It spoke soft and gentle. "Become the chaos dragon. Form the chaos dragon core. Obtain your birthright. Pierce the heavens. Trample hell. Unlock your destiny.".......

Another pause "I believe in you. I love you Jason." The final words where barely more then a whisper but they struck Jason the hardest. His heart seemed to burst and he felt like weeping his soul away.

He screamed , his own voice finally ringing and breaking through the infinite darkness. "I love you too grandfather! I love you too! I will. I will become a chaos dragon. I will see you again" He could feel tears streaming down his face.

Light burst from his chest. No it wasn't light. It was something else. It was darkness too. It was life as well as death, lightning, fire, water, earth and wind. Jason suddenly realized what it was. It was the smallest tiniest little fragment of chaos. And even that small infinitesimal bit of chaos power blew away the darkness like it didnt even exist.

Jason shot up from laying down. He was screaming. He was weeping pathetically. His lungs were in pain. His eyes stung. Tears streamed down his face. He sucked in a massive breath of air and finally the world was at peace.

He could hear the wind and leaves and the birds calling out to one another. He could smell grass and trees and smoke. He could feel the wind. He could taste blood in his mouth. His senses where beyond what they ever were before. Acute and sharp.

He looked around himself. He was in a metal cage. Iron wrapped his ankles and wrists. He noticed the rest of his group were in cages all around him. All their eyes open wide as can be. All eyes staring at him in shock.

He looked outside the cage and noticed all of the slavers eyes where on him too. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU BOY??!!" a man roared and kicked his cage. "Screaming like a God damned lunatic as you sleep! Are you crazy?" The gnarled bearded man scowled at him and then walked away.

"What?!" Jason was confused for a second. "Was I dreaming? No. I wasn't." Jason thought back on his memories of that black space. He remembered his grandfather's voice and that terrible other voice. "It was too vivid. It's seared into my head. Not just the words. The techniques. The knowledge!" It was so much more then just the words spoken in that dreamlike plain of existence. Medical knowledge. Pills. Martial arts. Soul techniques. Arrays. It was all there.

He knew now what he had to do. He had the knowledge but he hadn't mastered it yet. He hadn't made it his own. Just as you can explain how to ride a bike to a child. Until the child got on a bike and rode, the child could never begin to master that knowledge or the bike. Jason would have to master this knowledge one step at a time. He would have to master his own body and soul. Knowing what you should do is different then doing it. He knew what he must do now. He knew the path before him.

He thought back on his days with his grandfather. "I'm the fool. Not my grandfather. Every word he said was true. It's just that there was no heaven and earth power on earth. No qi. But this world overflows with it. I can feel it now so vividly. Thank you again grandfather."

He looked around him and his sight rested on the woven bearded man's figure. He was sitting by the camp fire spinning a dagger in his hands happily. Quite pleased with the small dagger. Not a care in the world. Jason's eyes became cold. Almost murderous. It was his own dagger the man was playing with.

"Have your fun for now. Play with my dagger all you want. One day I will take it back and make you eat it!" He made a solemn pledge in his heart as he glared at the man.

He meant every word.