Sachihiro

The Elder-Creature shows me around its domain, we move seemingly from world to world visiting the many different terrains inhabited by a myriad of different creatures and seemingly in the perfect conditions for them to thrive. I’m introduced to some of the humanoids in passing, people that make their homes here seemingly at random. Horned, red, black and white-skinned demi-humans of lean athletic build scattered about the different terrains.

They walk around with black rags wrapped around them as skirts dresses or cloaks but mostly they are naked. Yet even looking I can’t tell their genders on sight, not easily, not with all of them having such shapely hips and no breasts or bulge.

The Elder-Creature speaks to me about manna evolutions, cultivation levels, chakra and how any meaningful gesture can be turned into a mudra. It speaks of wizardry and general growth in power, growth of self.

At tier 1 a person usually just gets access to mana. Their body can absorb it from the ether, can feel it around them and shape it into different tools. At tier 2 manna gets refined, it gets more potent more thoroughly pulled into the direction of the individual’s unique utilization. A narrowing of the much broader path tier 1 opened a person that makes it easier to manipulate. Tier 3 is the full maturity of a path, the realisation of a path into being. Tier 3 is the first completion of a manna path, tier 3 is sometimes called 'completion of the first evolution'. In a lot of cultures this is the stage in which they switch to cultivation.

‘’How does one become a cultivator?’’

‘’You have to build a Core to be a cultivator. Core formation is a manna evolutionary path a person can take, they’ll direct their first few manna evolutions towards it. Following a cultivation manual is another way but such cores are usually limited in their scope if powerful in their specificity.’’

‘’So instead of evolving towards being a mage or psion or sorcery and such they’ll form and improve their Cores with every mana Awakening?’’

‘’Many do it this way yes. They will use manna in preparation for cultivation but this is a risky thing for many creatures as they don’t get stronger from forming a Core, thus will remain vulnerable until completion of core formation. Hence creature that pursues cultivation in this manner are usually protected until tier 3 when they’ve completed tier Cores and can start cultivating chi.’’

‘’Which is anathema to manna?’’

‘’In a manner of speaking. Manna is power from the heavens, it comes naturally to all living creatures enhancing them and encouraging them towards growth and edification of themselves potentially leading to immortality through harmony with nature and apotheosis. Chi is not energy allotted to beings from the heavens; to be a cultivator is to be in defiance of heaven's mandate by trying to grasp immortality with your own hands. There has been a continuous war in the higher worlds and planes between the Apotheo and cultivators for as long as they have existed, they don’t even share the same heavenly planes anymore.’’

‘’So cultivators are cut off from manna and manna users cut off from chi?’’

‘’Once you cultivate the first mote of chi into your Core you are cut off from the gift of manna, you can’t even feel it anymore. In turn, heaven’s manna can’t affect you either, any ability that is purely manna based unravels as it comes in contact with you. For all intents and purposes, you’re immune to manna damage from any being below the 7th tier.’’

‘’What happens at the 7th tier?’’

‘’At 7th tier, you no longer rely on manna from the heaven but produce your own, this personal manna is effective against cultivators. Also, all 7th-tier spells have a life of their own that powers them.’’

I nod my understanding having already read a lot of sources that give a foundation through which I easily understand what the Elder-Creature is explaining. I’m anxious for the Draug to come so I get out of here but whilst I am here I take full advantage of the teachings of this creature before me, seemingly freely given. There is much I’d like to know, there is much I could probably learn here but I have to focus on immediate growth right now. Practical things.

‘’How do I evolve into tier 4, how do I become Imperium?’’

‘’I’ve seen you studying through that crystal ball of yours, I know you know the theory behind it. How did you evolve into 3rd Tier? How does that tie in with being a 4th tier?’’

‘’To become an Awakened King (3rd tier) one has to know who they are in a profound sense and achieve an honest and profound sense of self-discovery that awakens within them the solidity necessary to have that much more weight in the world. Which is weighed by how much more manna you can bear and channel through yourself,’’ I share my understanding of the process I went through.

‘’To become an Awakened Imperium (4th tier) one has to realise who they are in the greater world at large, and this self-realisation in the greater scheme of things cannot contradict with who you realised yourself to be at Awakened King,’’ that's the theory I've put together from all I've heard read and experienced.

‘’In a grundshell, yes.’’

‘’And it is necessary to be an Imperium before one can practice wizardry?''

‘’It is necessary to recognise yourself as a sovereign to achieve Manna Monarch (3rd tier) but being a monarch doesn’t mean you’re suddenly going to get everything you want. At Manna Imperium you test your sovereignty against the reality of the world and reality mustn’t shatter the foundation of self-knowledge of your royalty for that will mean you were not really a king or you don’t know what it means to be king but deluding yourself and you won’t progress into a Manna Imperium.’’

''What if I think of myself as a thing but no one else treats me as that thing, does that mean I'm not what I think I am?''

''Is your being that thing based on the acknowledgements of others?''

‘’So if I know myself to be a king, feel myself to be a king and present myself as a king I am one even if no one acknowledges me as one.’’

‘’Yes, if you are a king you are a king.’’

‘’But if no one else treating me like the king I know myself to be makes me doubt my kingship then I won’t progress further in terms of mana awakening.’’

‘’Ultimately yes.’’

‘’How can one become an emperor if they don’t see themselves as such? They can only pretend at it but they’ll never really be.’’

‘’Until they are.’’

‘’Yes, until they are. Which is one of the reasons you’re so interesting in your manna evolutionary path. You’ve gone through your monarch realisation with the conviction that you’re a god, but you’re clearly mortal so you’re delusional. But then you’re growing, I can feel the potential for more depth in you still so it means you’re not on a dead-end path even though by now you should be.

‘’Despite being mortal, despite the harsh realities I’m sure you’ve faced that show you that you’re not a god, you’re not in control of your fate or reality you still believe yourself to be one so much that you’re somehow realising that delusion. It’s quite exciting for one as long-lived as I am, many exciting things seem to be occurring all at the same time this cycle.’’

Is that why you’re teaching me so freely, or is it not freely at all? ‘’I am curious what it is you see in me and how exactly you see it.’’

‘’I see your path, you wear it proudly like all new Kings do. You know yourself to be a ruler of self, you know yourself to be a god. That is the banner with which you present yourself.’’

‘’That is a lot more than I am comfortable sharing with anyone I don’t know just as intimately.’’

‘’Then you must learn to hide it better, or learn to see more in others.’’

‘’How?’’

‘’You see quite a lot already. You can detect when mana is being used by those below your tier, you can perceive chakra images, you perceive spiritual energy and you can see touch taste hear. Use all your senses altogether and get a greater whole of who a person or a thing is from their culmination.’’

That sounds nice and all but it isn’t that straightforward in reality.

‘’You hide much as well. You keep your mana density suppressed to hide your tier of power, you don’t talk about your peripheral awareness sense even though I know you have one. You divert or change subjects when we get to topics you don’t want to talk about.’’

‘’Those are private things, my family are irrelevant when it comes to how you see what you see when you look at me.’’

‘’Everything is relevant when I look at any being. In any case, the same way you hide parts of yourself you can learn to hide your path from strangers.’’

‘’That’s a riddle you gave me not an answer.’’

‘’Some answers seem like riddles until you understand them.’’

*

King Sanderson's Council

‘’What do you think?’’

‘’He won’t have anything for us in a month that will make much of a difference, not unless he’s carrying some phenomenal weapon in his knickers.’’

‘’What benefits could we weasel out of him?

‘’He wants our spells, let's get some of his.’’

‘’Do you think the House Lords will relinquish their house spells to some strangers so easily?’’

‘’Write a royal writ compelling them, we’re facing an existential crisis here.’’

Pffff, ‘’I maintain the dignity of royal writs because I don’t use them for things I know will be disobeyed.’’ The archmages behind the house lords will not give up their best spells so easily without tangible gain even though technically the king should have access to all magic in the kingdom.

‘’The archmages came out of their towers in obedience of the writ.’’

‘’They came out of their towers because their way of life is threatened. We’ve never had to directly use them in our battles before and now it seems the few dozen we have won’t even be enough.’’

‘’I’m sure the archmages are salivating at the mouth at a chance to get more tier-4 spells to experiment with. If this Zero could exchange some of his spells for our own we may spark a new spell trade.’’

‘’He holds us by the balls. There is no motivation for him to trade anything with us while we need him if we are to have a chance of coming out of this on top.’’

‘’What is the word from the Maori?’’

‘’They aren’t joining us in this one, apparently, they took the barbarian aggression a year ago and our silence on the matter to heart.’’

‘’That army didn’t even get to them.’’

‘’In any case, we have no direct allies in this, the Highlands are amassing with the Barbarians at the Tundra.’’

‘’Not long ago the Highlands wouldn’t even stretch their asses without asking our opinion, now they just ally themselves with a foreign power.’’

‘’Yes well Paradisum has changed the dynamic of power on the continent and we really need to step up if we want a seat at this new table being formed.’’

‘’I heard the stone Dwarves are moving in a train 30 000 strong and should the Tundra in 30 days.’’

‘’How has Paradisum received our commitment of 50 000 warriors?’’ the King asks.

‘’Coolly, it’s almost as though they don’t care whether or not we participate.’’

‘’And why should they, we are hardly bringing anything to the table they don’t already have.’’

...

‘’What could this Zero do for us?’’

‘’Information on our enemies and how they think, how they fight, how to counter them. Consultation on how to best use our available resources to best effect,’’ Lord General Zuko recites from the top of his head.

‘’We’d have to show him everything we have, everything we can do. How could we justify opening ourselves that much to a stranger that could turn around and sell our secrets to the highest bidder?’’ Princess Rosellet protests displeased by the whole affair.

‘’Or worse yet use them against us himself, let’s not forget just how powerful a being we are dealing with. There has to be a better way,’’ Lord General Zuko grumbles considering the security risks.

‘’All intelligence indicates we have no counter for the invaders so unless you want us to go there and twiddle our thumbs we need to find a different way of doing things. For that we need an outsider’s perspective,’’ Lord Minister Izan insists. Looking at all the others in the War Room to dispute his point.

No one does.

‘’I can’t believe it’s come to this,’’ Minister Rowan says to no one in particular.

‘’What would we even pay him with, we have gold aplenty but I doubt gold is what this man values,’’ Archmage Goodman asks.

‘’Lord Izan, go find out what he wants. See if we can get it for him or get him on the way to getting it, be transparent for once but don’t sell us cheaply,’’ king Magnus Sanderson directs.

The lord minister immediately leaves the others to continue their discussion without him.

*

Lord Izan (Minister of Info)

Izan finds his target walking through the city streets with his large companions going about stall to stall sniffing and tasting different kinds of foods with royal attendants paying the vendors in his wake.

‘’Lord Zero, how are you finding our Capital city?’’

‘’Its quaint, my servant like the food.’’

Quaint. Not how Izan has ever heard the city of nearly 8 million inhabitants described.

‘’I’m glad he likes it, we have many delicacies found nowhere else in all of Sandoria.’’

‘’I have no doubt you do.’’

‘’Have you tried those snake rolls, they go down nicely in kwazay venom source.’’

‘’No, I don’t indulge myself with unknown foods.’’

‘’What do you indulge yourself with?’’

‘’Here to bribe me, Lord Izan wasn’t it?’’

‘’I’m here to enquire what you want and to ensure that you get it.’’

‘’I don’t you want I want for redding you of the Amarok, the spells I’ve come across in your world are well-founded and unique. It will be interesting to see what I could do with them.’’

‘’For help with the creature, you will be given 7 of our most powerful tier 4 spells, 16 tier 3 spells and 24 tier 2 spells you’ll never get anywhere else. That is a great cost for merely delaying the problem we have to deal with but we hope to buy your friendship as well.’’

‘’I very much doubt you have a spell worth my friendship in your whole country.’’

‘’You’d be surprised. Our people have been mages for generations beyond counting. Some of the spells are unique only to the certain House, passed down and improved upon generation after generation. A true spell master could do wonders with them I’m sure.’’

"I’ll wait till I see them before I judge they're worth them. Was there anything else Lord Izan?’’ There is a zone around them undisturbed by the hustle and bustle of the city Izan finally notices, even the guards around them seemingly outside this zone of intimacy he finds himself in.

‘’You have seen some of our kingdom you will see our spells and judge them yourself but we require from you means of dealing with these off-worlders ourselves. How would you advise we face the invaders from the north?’’

‘’I’d advise you flee from their path and hope they find no interest in you, otherwise they’ll squish you underfoot.’’

‘’Unfortunately, that is not an option for us. An army is being assembled in the neighbouring territory getting ready to face them, we’d appreciate your expertise in advising our experts in helping to prepare for them.’’

‘’I don’t know what else to tell you, they are cultivators you aren’t. The outcome of any exchange is a foregone conclusion no matter how skilled or powerful you are in wielding manna. But,’’ he conjures a beautifully made curve single-edged sword with a rounded ornate guard and beautifully wrapped handle in his hand, ‘’these types of weapons are somewhat effective against them.’’

Izan takes the offered sword casting evaluation spells that tell him nothing about it’s inner workings, but the design and craftsmanship are unmistakable.

‘’A Hito soul-sword,’’ he whispers under his breath but the off-worlder catches his words easily.

‘’A soul weapon you say?’’

‘’Yes,’’ Izan confirms giving the weapon back. ‘’The Hito are said to be one of only a few forces up north said to have delayed the invaders' progress.’’

‘’Is it, do you know how these weapons work?’’

‘’No, but I know enough to know it won’t respond to you.’’ Izan says sensing an opening finally having found something that may interest this person.

‘’Why’s that?’’

‘’Each weapon is specially forged from part of the wielder’s soul, at least that’s the legend whispered amongst the peasants.’’

Mhmmm, ‘’in any case these are the only weapons I can think of that might give you a chance.’’

‘’The Hito have thousands of these weapons but they did badly themselves from what I hear, even if we’d get some of our most promising warriors such weapons they wouldn’t progress fast enough in their use to make a difference.’’

‘’You can get these forged?’’

‘’We are negotiating an alliance with our neighbours, amongst the discussion is how many of our warriors get such weapons forged and how much are we going to pay per weapon forged.’’

Lord Zero nods, his expression cool but his heart racing as his mind works. Could he get himself one of these weapons through these mortals? Could he use such a weapon to cultivate in place of his shattered Core?

‘’What would it be worth to you, being listed amongst the first of our warriors to get a soul-weapon forged? What would you do for us in turn?’’

Anything, everything.

Zero smiles a sly smile, his eyes sharpening piercing through Izan’s protections to pin him on the spot. ‘’It’s tempting magic, this soul-weapon. But do not presume too much from my appetite for exotic magics.’’ He tries to play it off as interest for interest’s sake but Izan can tell just how hungry the off-worlder is for this type of weapon.

‘’Come into a mana contract in which you assist us in fighting off these invaders to your best capacity and I will ensure you’re the first Sandersorian mage to get a soul weapon forged.’’