by Bruce Sentar
Apparently, he’d been good at it back when they’d both fought side by side and he’d died the first time.
He felt a purpose swell in him for the first time in a long while. Lily had given him a future, but this felt different. This felt like a natural calling he’d missed in his previous life. Maybe there was something to the destiny that Lilith had envisioned for him. Maybe this was his purpose.
Dar walked over, seeing the old potter dragging far more than he could carry. The sled looked like it was a door with a cord tightly wrapped around it.
“Here,” Dar offered, grabbing the cord and easily dragging the sled. The old man raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised he could pull it so easily. It reminded Dar that he had more to figure out about these enchantments on his body.
As he pulled the cart past other villagers, they gave him weary looks, some outright asking if he could come back to help them. They were all tired and worn, carrying more than they could handle but unwilling to leave more behind.
He nodded to a few, but there were just too many. There was no way he could help them all. It was like throwing dirt on fires back in town; it didn’t fix the actual problem, just slowed the progress. He needed to deal with the devils and the chaos they caused.
As he dragged the man’s sled further into the throng of people, up alongside Sasha and Cherry, the count stepped up on top of a large stone, projecting his voice out.
“I know we all lost our homes but fear not. We can make our way to Bellhaven and recover what we’ve lost. And then we will come back to rebuild our town! I’m a personal friend of the duke, and I’m sure the city will help us in this time of need, as we would do for them.”
The man wasn’t a soft bureaucrat. Dar saw the weathered skin and the tears on his clothing, rich as it may be. The count had worked to establish the town that was now burning behind them.
There were nods all around the group. They needed a bit of hope.
“What about the devils? How will we survive the trip?” one man asked.
Dar realized these people were used to living off the land and making their way. They were more than capable, but the devils posed a large danger.
“Well, we have a demon and her bodyguard with us.” The count gestured to Dar’s group. His eyes wandered distastefully over the tree and cart for a moment before he returned to smiling.
Dar resisted rolling his eyes. The townspeople had seemed about ready to run them out of town just after the troll fight. Now the same people were more than happy to have Dar and Sasha around to keep them safe.
The politician was a smart man; he’d use any leverage he had to keep the peace. Part of Dar wanted to defy the man’s assertion of what he would or wouldn’t do, but he knew he’d stay and help. These people did need them.
“Don’t worry,” Sasha said to his side. “Do you realize how much I’m going to charge him for our support?”
The witch at his side just smiled, no doubt thinking of the coinage she was going to get.
“Why do you do that? If you are so much stronger than all of them, why are you trying to make money?” he asked.
“Because, even if humans are relatively new to the world, they are so numerous they can still overpower me. So I’m forced to either live among them or be a hermit in the woods. Money makes things easier.” Sasha frowned and ruffled her dress.
“Besides,” she continued, “even if humans don’t understand dao, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t present around them. They are very creative. Demons and spirits lack their creativity; humans are changing the world and it’s exciting.”
He could sense there was something she wasn’t telling him in that comment, but she clearly wasn’t going to continue on. Dar decided she’d tell him when she was ready. They had more important things to worry about.
“Hello.” The count came over, having finished his speech. He had a sheepish stance to him, likely from when he’d insulted Sasha earlier that same day, and now he needed a favor.
Sasha was loving it.
“Two gold a day,” Sasha said, smiling as she cut straight to the point.
“You can’t!” the count yelled but hushed himself down. “You can’t expect me to pay that.”
“It seems you have very few options, and I know you have the coin. I suppose you could just pray to the Drasil that the devils leave you alone. Not sure how all these people around us would feel about that though. Especially when they know you’re a wealthy man.” She paused, a vengeful smile on her face.
“It’s what... a week’s trip? Maybe a week and a half with everyone pulling their wares?” She nodded to herself. “Yes, you can afford that.” Her gaze flipped back to him, waiting on his answer.
The count looked to Dar for help, clearly flustered.
“Just the bodyguard.” Dar shrugged, not interested in helping the man. But he also knew that no matter what they got paid, he’d be helping these people however he could. He wasn’t about to leave them all to the devils. That just didn’t sit right with him.
Dar’s mind wandered to his destiny that Lilith spoke of. He wondered if he was getting away from it by helping these people, or if staying with them was a part of his path.
A few days ago, he hadn’t even believed in all that celestial mumbo jumbo, then he got pulled from the River of Souls and stuffed into his body from a previous life. Now here he was trying to figure out his fate. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and looking around.
The best he could do was follow his gut, and it was saying to travel with the village. He’d just have to figure out the rest later.
The count stomped away, his negotiation with Sasha apparently done.
Dar left his thoughts behind him, realizing he’d missed the outcome. “How much did you get him for?”
“Twenty-five gold. You could buy a decent manor in Bellhaven for that. But I’m sure he has it; Count Tint has a wealthy family back in Bellhaven that can support it.”
Dar gave her a curious look. She seemed to know quite a bit about the count for someone who had just arrived in town.
“What? I offer expensive enchanted garments. I do my homework before I go around offering them. I have to make sure the person can pay. I’m not about to waste my time.”
“So, now that we have the time, I have questions,” Dar said, pulling the wagon behind him while they talked. The sun still had a few hours in the sky, so the town had started the trek forward, hoping to make some space between them and where the devils had been.
Sasha sighed. “Where to start?... Okay, so, dao,” she began, “is the laws of the world. Some say that they are both the laws of life and being, as well as infinite in their ability and uses.”
“That sounds like a long-winded way of saying it is everything,” Dar stopped her.
“It is very esoteric. But all demons, spirits and devils study their own dao, their own path toward understanding the complete dao. The divine dao.”
Dar was curious more than anything. This unknown world had not only magic, but magic that could be controlled and used.
“Hold up, before we go too far down that path, you said greater dao before and lesser dao. What’s the difference?” Dar asked.
“A lesser dao is a simple concept. Take me for instance. I learned the dao of softness as my first lesser dao. I then combined it with flexibility and fiber to make it into a greater dao of silk.” As Sasha explained the principles, a ribbon snaked out of her dress and danced in front of her for a moment.
“So, you can control cloth?” Dar asked.
“I’ve accepted that you might not be from this world, Lug, but I still don’t understand how you come from a world without these principles.” She shook her head.
Thinking back to Earth, he tried to think about what this could translate into.
There were atoms and how they formed greater objects, but this seemed more like being able to build your own superpower. He couldn’t think of a way to do what she did without some sort of genetic
mutation, but the crux was there seemed to be an energy here that was missing back on Earth.
Looking down at his larger body, Dar couldn’t help but wonder if this body could do the same. If he could sense mana, maybe he could form his own dao.
Breaking him from his thoughts, Sasha continued, “I can control silk and adjust an object’s flexibility and softness. Even make something that shouldn’t be into a fibrous material. You’ve seen some of it. When the trolls attacked, I used my ribbons to absorb an impact. However, if I used that same cloth to try to strangle someone, it would be very difficult. I’d need to make the ribbon hard enough to choke them, and that’s not within the dao I follow.”
Dar nodded along, the attribute she had control of only seemed to go one way. It would also explain why she had little to no offensive abilities against the trolls.
Pulling the ribbon back to her, she held out her arms. “I am also able to apply these attributes to my body, since it is also formed from my dao.”
“Wait. Your body is formed from your dao?” Dar repeated it, eyes wide. She looked perfectly normal. He really wanted to touch her arm and see what it felt like, but that seemed rude.
“Again, your… naivety is so genuine on things that even a babe knows.” She studied him.
“Demons are born from something physical that naturally accumulates large quantities of mana. Eventually, a dao is imprinted on the creature or object, and it becomes able to manipulate the world using their dao. It is also able to create a body, which is usually more human in appearance nowadays. Long ago, many formed themselves into large creatures, and their descendants became the monsters of today.”
Trying to absorb what she’d just said, Dar was struggling to wrap his head around it. She looked so human, but from what she was saying, she wasn’t originally. “And... you came from?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll forgive it once, but that is a personal question.”
“Got it.” Dar held up a hand in surrender. “Like asking a woman’s age.”
“Why would asking someone’s age be rude?” Sasha gave him a confused look.
Another world, another culture. Dar sighed internally; he’d continue to adjust. He didn’t have much choice.
Looking around for a mental breather, Dar watched the train of refugees flowing past. Remembering his role, he looked around the moving procession, trying to identify any threats, and desperately hoping he didn’t find any.
Sasha had bought his services as a bodyguard, but he had a feeling she wanted to stick with him as well. She’d been ready to ditch him at a moment’s notice before she saw the enchantments on his body. Now she seemed to be taking the time to tutor him.
They continued moving forward, and he decided he might as well learn more while they walked.
“Okay, so that explains your dao. But then how did you make those rocks explosive?” If he was following what she was saying, the explosion didn’t make sense with softness and flexibility.
“I enchanted the stone with combustion.” Sasha held up her hand to stop him from asking the next question. “Enchanting is done through making a dao character on an item. It can be more complex than that, but the rock was a simple enchantment.”
As she stooped down to pick up a nearby rock, Dar’s eyes wandered over her curvy form. With what she’d said, he was curious what having her body literally infused with softness would feel like. He tried to focus, managing to avert his eyes before she turned around.
“Here.” She held up the rock, and with her wand, she quickly inscribed a symbol on the rock. “Try to read it. Actually, why don’t you try to copy it.”
The stone felt fuzzy, like it was covered in a soft layer of fur, but every time he looked, it still was just a smooth stone. What he was seeing and what he was feeling in his hand broke what he understood about the world. Or at least, broke what he remembered from his previous world.
Looking at the character Sasha had drawn, he frowned. It seemed to wiggle and escape his focus. Every time he tried to understand the character, it just escaped his grasp, but he was too stubborn to quit. Even if he was dyslexic in this life, he was going to read the damn character.
“Stop it, Lug, or you are actually going to hurt yourself.” Her eyes wandered over his face again. “Even a kid knows not to try to forcefully understand a character.”
She held out a handkerchief, and Dar looked at it in confusion.
“Your nose is bleeding.”
Wiping at his face, Dar realized she was right. There was a blot of blood spreading across the soft cloth.
He’d have to be more careful.
“To read or write a dao character requires someone to at least have touched upon that particular dao being expressed. It is a simple representation of the dao in physical shape. Within it is also the meaning of that dao.”
Dar pinched his nose to stop the bleeding. “And trying to forcefully read it?”
“It can harm your body, even your soul, if you push too hard.”
A thought occurred to Dar. “If you said enchanting is writing dao, then…” He looked down at his chest.
“Yes. Your body is like a library of dao, and I hope to glean some insight from it,” Sasha answered his unasked question. “Though, I won’t force myself like you just did.”
She studied his chest. “It can be done in shorter, less focused efforts. But that’s part of why whoever did that enchantment on your body is terrifying. I could feel dozens, maybe even a hundred, of dao represented on your body.”
“Can I study them too?” he asked, hungry to build up some power that he could use in this world to go towards his destiny, and just keep him alive.
“Possibly. I’ve never seen a human actually learn a dao. There are those that call themselves wizards that might have some…” She stopped that line of thought. “That’s another topic, but essentially, they are humans that try and manipulate the dao without any understanding, but a human has never walked their own dao path.”
Nodding, Dar already had it in his mind to try anyway. After getting into the fight with the trolls, he knew he wasn’t strong enough to take on the devils as a whole if a small band in the countryside were that hard for him.
“Any hints for how to start?” It was worth asking.
Sasha shook her head. “You have to walk your own path to the complete dao. If three lesser dao combine to form a greater dao, three greater dao combine to form a grand dao. It continues like that until someone forms the divine
dao, the origin of everything.”
“Has anyone gotten that far?” Dar couldn’t help but ask. A being like that would be terrifying.
“The Drasil are said to be close, the Mo as well. But some believe both are fictitious. The witch you said that brought you here, the First Witch, was considered the strongest demon and the closest to the complete dao,” Sasha explained, looking wistfully into the stars.
“May the universe protect her,” she whispered softly, staring into the distance before shaking it off and continuing.
“But back to your question. Some start off by not looking for a lesser dao but thinking of a grand dao. Take, for example, those trolls. They had aspects that mostly lead to the dao path of earth. The big one likely had something like the greater dao of stone. Aspects like hard, solid, and heavy can lead to a path of a particular stone and eventually to the grand dao of earth.”
She looked ahead, but smirked as she stated, “I think you tend more towards a path of force.”
Thinking about that, Dar didn’t hate the idea if it were true. The ability to manipulate something as basic as force could lead to something like telepathy. He continued running through various superheroes he knew and realized that at least half of them seemed to have power with some sort of backing of force. That didn’t seem so bad.
“What about metal?” he asked, thinking of nice metal claws growing out of his skin or his skin turning into steel.
“Another grand dao. It’s feasible, as all
of them are. But what path calls to you is important, as once you start on the dao path, you don’t step off. You can only change the path by adding new lesser dao to your understanding and eventually combining them in pairs of three.”
“Do you regret your path of silk?” Dar asked, sensing some bitterness.
Sasha shrugged. “I started with a lesser dao of softness, and given what I once was, it made sense. Now? There are much stronger dao out there, and mine is often at a disadvantage.”
Dar nodded along with her. It seemed like a big decision had been made for her with her first dao. It had to seem somewhat limiting to not have any say in it.
“What about you, Cherry?” Dar called over his shoulder. “How do you like your dao?”
“I love it! I couldn’t imagine wanting another dao. Do you want a cherry?” she asked, already plucking one off the tree and scooting up the cart to hand it to him.
“Thank you,” Dar popped the sweet treat in his mouth and felt another wave of mana from it. “Why do I keep feeling mana when I eat your cherries?”
Both of them looked confused at his question.
“Even if you can feel mana, you shouldn’t feel it from the fruit.” Sasha paused. “I suppose there is a chance that her tree has traces of her dao in it, and possibly in her fruit. There are stories of very old and powerful dryads jealously guarding their trees for that reason.”
“Meaning it becomes naturally enchanted?” Dar asked.
Sasha gave a slow nod. “Yes… I think that might be correct, but I’ve never studied such an example to confirm it.”
There was a strange moment where Sasha looked back at the tree with hunger.
“Cherry, what level is your dao?” Dar asked, wanting to know where they all stood.
But the beautiful woman just shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Spirits are often born outside of any schooling and grow up alone, for the most part. They aren’t concerned with hierarchy or progress. Spirits are often born into a greater dao or even a grand dao,” Sasha said.
Caught by surprise at that, Dar’s brow shot up. The cute, bubbly girl behind him might wield a grand dao?
