Om

Crisply I sign to Esuas my need for us to move urgently and we are off at a run. With the coming of this silence there has been a huge evolution in my communication abilities using Images, conveying meaning without words. One would be surprised at how much meaning is lost when communicating using words instead of learning direct communication mind to mind and the nuances that comes with.

Little children look up to us and mimic the use of words as a form of communication in order to adopt and survive in this world of ours but their primary communication has never been in words. There are many supplies in nature that we forget; it is us that should look to children and watch a group of children learn to communicate to each other the way humanoids truly were meant to communicate. Most humanoids have the ability to learn true empathetic communication at a young age naturally even before Awakening to mana or any such energies.

The natural development of extra sensory perception instead of the easy lazy way we have adopted through the ages because of convenience. It is from watching children interact that I grasped this and many topics I have been working on with the arrival of my new training master some five months back. I enjoy learning skills I have discovered about myself. Almost anyone can learn any skill so long as they have all the faculties they were born with, bloodline or heritage or awakened it doesn't matter. I like that, I am empowered knowing I am improving myself unreliant on some external force of magic I do not understand.

In the world I am still used to if you want someone dead you take a spear and shove it through their chest until they're dead. Nine times out of ten your enemy sees you coming this has a reasonable amount of time to respond, not this thing of killing someone from halfway across the territory just because you have a piece of their hair.

Five months ago I went through an Alderman cleansing and strengthening ritual with my family done by the strange ‘witchdoctor’ with his intense gaze. We visited the strange man three days in a row and I remember thinking the water at Kiera’s feet was writhing like snakes as the man that sees too much poured a bucket over her head that last day. Since then things have been calm, honestly we have never been stronger as a family which made me realised how vulnerable Kiera is to spiritual attacks, more so than either Vuyo or I.

I never considered myself a man with living enemies that can do me harm but apparently I do since my family has been directly attacked at a spiritual level by someone or numerous someones with the intentions to destroy. Why anyone would care what I have I’m not sure but according to Vuyo it isn’t uncommon for jealous, covetous or envious people, women generally, to bewitch or call down curses upon those they feel are doing better than they themselves in these lands. I miss home, these people are fucked up and petty, I don't like this place but life has conspired to bring me here. My people are here.

Vuyo’s spirit has been strengthened against casual attack periodically since she was a child; I’m a cursed Barbarian and have a naturally dense spirit body compared to most human peoples, so I hear, but highlanders are an isolated lot, or at least they were and have not had much in the way of spirit based attacks to worry about making Kiera easily susceptible to the subtle influence of spirit based curses. Now that we know we have taken steps to keep her healthy and spiritually strong regardless of her non-combatant status. The worries and realities of my life now that I have a household, is all this really what I want for myself though?

But today isn’t about that as Esuas and I rush through the foliage trying to stay ahead of the other team competing against us. We should be at a disadvantage because dwarves aren’t known for being stealthy but with my Image of condensed air I muffle most sound within my small area of influence without the tell tale signs associated with using mana.

I sign for him to stop as the team of Shadow and Leaf seem to be following us through the gloomy woods somehow despite the darkness of night. Then almost out of nowhere Leaf is besides us and tagging me with the charm. "Shit.’’ I exclaim giving chase, Esuas in hot pursuit beside me connected to me by the length of rope we all have connecting the teams together.

It’s another four hours of team tag in the forest before the new master lets us relax and collect ourselves for a rest. "You alright?’’ I ask Esuas as we disconnect.

He grunts but doesn’t otherwise respond. I like the dwarf man, he has a good head on his shoulders and it really wasn’t my intention to drag him through that jump down the cliff, how was I to know he has a problem with heights and can’t stick a landing?

There are ten of us under the tutelage of this new master from Celest, a member of the Celestian Royal Guard apparently and every one of us chosen as his disciples is here under recommendation. There are five of us from Sandaria; Esuas, Brian, Leaf, Shadow and me. The rest of my fellow disciples being from all over the world and different peoples. I’ve personally never heard of this Celest but apparently it’s very powerful empire and the Conclave is proud to be associated with them.

These games of tag we’ve had every night since this Master Acamar’s arrival and I’m glad to admit I’m starting to enjoy them some. The man is a genius to be able to train so many people with so many different specialisations and he seems to be making it work, and of course all the Conclave Masters seem to be saddled with a large number of disciples lately. Yet we all still have other larger recommended classes which help keep the community inclusive of as per it's diversity.

Whooopsh..

Whoooppsshh..

Whoooppsshhh...

There is an explosion of air and concussive force with every punch I throw and every knee I launch as my opponents circle me. We are all in a bubble of my making where somehow the force of my Images has taken physical form that very tangibly affects the surroundings around me in a way visible for all to see. Air and trees are still my most powerful images and the Volvocane siblings push through the influence with aura and spirit energies, brute force and subtlety.

I swerve and hit Gonium hard with a fist to the teeth before pulling my forearm out to smash it against the side of Pandorina’s head. A honed palm strike stops a centimetre from my skin as only the concussive force of the blow connects pushing me back but our skin not meeting and the subdermal venom in Chlomadomina’s body. Eudorina’s kick impacts into my back given more force by the momentum of Chloma’s attack but also helping stabilise me and I block a strike to the side of the head and lift a knee to block a kick that manages to cut through the thick dense air to impact directly against my shin.

I punch my head forward and my head butt reinforced with the Image of a Cracking Egg and the impact is blocked by Pleo who quickly counters with one of his own. I’m forced to use my arms to block and Gonium to my left takes the chance and is in my guard punching into my side connecting with the first but my left foot stomps onto the ground with a Image of falling rocks disturbing his footing enough for me to use an elbow to block the next one but I take impact from out of nowhere at the back of my head and I stumble forward a step before being rooted by the Image of Roots shooting from my feet finding purchase deep in the ground.

I block a devastating aura enhanced downward kick that rattles my entire body before the impact passes through me and into the ground through my Body of Wood Image. I kick out and my leg meets the one that was coming for me and again my bones are strained by taking the force of an aura enhanced strike directly but my foot touches the floor grounding the force as I duck under another strike coming out under it.

The Volvocanes flow around each other as they fight like dancers following a choreographed script. They are never in each other’s way and they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses intimately. Every opening there is in my defence is always open for one of them to take and even though we know each other’s fighting styles well they still take me by surprise sometimes. My Will and the strain on my mind is taking its toll and the force of my Images is fading slowly as the fight continues.

For the siblings these matches started as just another chore their grandda put on Pleodominas’ and Pandoria’s plate. But after that first defeat it became a matter of pride to maintain their reputation in the unofficial gossip about young talents around the Den. Then the others joined and it became both about pride and testing themselves against what they all agreed is an unreasonably overpowered ability.

Nowadays though we fight for fun, and we fight because it becomes increasingly more dangerous for a wide range of people to know all your abilities the more powerful one gets. At least according to my current Master and he prefers I retain the same training partners I had before he came into the picture. I block a punch left the one on my right at my periphery impacts into my ribs I block a punch right and step over the low kick left only for the one at my back to impact behind my knee folding me in.

I’m on the back foot now as I always am when my mind starts protesting and my grasp on my Images gets hazy from the strain of over use. Maintaining the Dense Air Image around myself is the most difficult and what depletes my ability to retain Images, also being what their own wills actively fight against most. That is the great weakness in my seemingly unlimitedly versatile ability I’ve Awakened to.

I learnt quickly with the arrival of Master Acamar that though I may be able to influence myself and my surroundings according to my imagination and visualisation. If a being with a greater force of will and the insight to use it efficiently goes up against me my Images scatter live windblown leaves as the insubstancous energy within me finds no purchase as it usually does.

"Time." Master Acamar calls and we separate from our sparing my Image disappearing with the wind. I’m standing up panting trying to catch my breath with the siblings doing likewise as we all prepare for the coming round, there is always an extra round with this sadist of a trainer.

‘’Okay Om, I want you up against Pandorina both of you only using aura this time around, no other abilities. The rest of you can leave, we are done for the day.’’

With those words my aura flares up as I enhance and hone myself taking a fighting stance, glad to be free from image training for the day.