“Okay, this right here,” I said, pointing at the book, “How do you know these things? It’s like you don’t even know what you do know.”
That I don’t know. The book grew quiet and then began humming before continuing. Well, that didn’t work. All I can figure now is that I am supposed to aid you, whatever that even means.
“So you are a talking book that can explain things to me,” I said, letting the idea sink in, “So if I write something inside of you, will you be able to remember it, or can I just tell you? Like everything we’ve learned so far, should I start writing things down?”
You write inside of me, and I will write inside of you! The nerve, you don’t see me trying to crack you open so I can write on the inside of YOUR body.
I grinned at the mental image of a book trying to peel my skin off and write things. Wait that is morbid, I shook my head and decided I should try to talk to something other than the talking book.
Hurrying forward, I put a hand on Ah’can’s shoulder to get his attention. He stopped abruptly and turned to me with his eyes wide. I withdrew my hand.
“How can I be of service, Erusha?”
“No service needed,” I said, wiping some of the wet paint flecks off my hand and regretting touching him. “I just wanted to talk.”
“About what?” He asked, continuing to walk.
“The elders told me that I’d be in charge of beating back the danger that threatens to overtake the Ki’darthians,” I paused as a cold chill ran up my spine, “What exactly does that mean?”
My eyes took in our surroundings as I waited for Ah’can to respond. Deep green and blue vegetation filled the side of the road we walked on, and the sound of cheerful birds peeped in the distant trees. Bright orange fields of flowers could be seen not far off with large black and white four-legged things roaming slowly further out. Everything, even the smooth dirt road they walked on, seemed so peaceful and serene. I had a hard time imagining what kind of danger they could expect in this garden paradise.
“Aetex will train you in the needed skills,” Ah’can said, stopping and turning towards me, I peered into his bright red eyes and finally, he continued, “We live as a fragmented people. Small villages where the planets Sri is infused, but out in the blighted lands dangers beyond anything any Ki’darthian can hope to stand against lurks. That is where you come in, we have only two main roads between the major villages, and you are charged with the defense of the roads. But as I have said, Aetex will instruct you on your skills and duty. We are nearly there.”
Ah’can motioned down the road, and in the distance, I saw a small cluster of spherical buildings half-buried into the ground. Beyond the small homes, I caught my first sight of the blighted lands.
It was as if someone had drawn a line on the ground not far from the cluster of houses. The brightest of greens butted against the blackened brush of the blighted lands. Even the road looked dead on the other side of the line. Healthy light brown transitioned to a dark, sickly-looking brown. The closer we got to the edge, the quieter the wildlife became. The peaceful chirping of the birds was replaced by a dead silence that made my skin tingle. The cool breeze that had been so light and pleasantly warm was replaced by stillness in the air. It felt like we were approaching death itself.
Oh, gross, can you feel that? It’s like the life has been sucked out of this planet ahead. I’m going to need a thicker cover, the air here is giving me the heebie-jeebies.
I ignored Sumahon, but I couldn’t agree with him more. I found myself wrapping my arms around my chest and wondering how Ah’can could stand it wearing no clothing at all. I wanted several more robes to hide from the filth of death ahead.
“We are here,” Ah’can’s familiar voice said. It was hard to pull my eyes from the blighted lands ahead. It was like the lands themselves might attack me, and I needed to keep an eye on them to make sure I was ready.
***
I’m not sure what I expected Aetex to look like, but it wasn’t what was standing before me. Where I was a foot shorter than the elders I met previously, Aetex was at least a foot taller than them and twice as wide. He stared straight into my eyes as we approached, his eyes burned orange with a spattering of bright sapphire. Where my skin was smooth all over except for my thick skin points, all of the visible flesh on Aetex looked worn and rough. His muscles bulged and pressed tightly to his cloth vest and knee-length shorts. A single cord was tied around his waist, and the excess from the jacket fluttered in a sudden dry, dead wind.
“I don’t believe it,” Aetex said when Ah’can stopped us in front of him. His voice was like gravel being smashed under a rock, “They told me you had a book as your Seinkah, but truly…” The graveled voice let out several long low chuckles.
Ok, you can use me as a club just this once. Put me right upside this guy’s face.
I stifled a laugh of my own and glanced down at Sumahon. I might be imagining it, but it looked as if his leather cover had grown thicker.
“I will leave you to your training,” Ah’can sneered. In all their short conversation, he had appeared mostly calm, if not slightly annoyed. Now he sounded upset, and his eyes furrowed as he glared in Aetex’s direction.
“Thanks,” I said to Ah’can, but he ignored me and stomped down the road towards the inner village, back to the greens, blues, and orange garden of serenity.
“Don’t mind him,” Aetex said, walking forward and holding his hand out flat with large rough knuckles facing up. I stared at his hand in confusion, not really wanting to touch anyone but also afraid to offend him. After a few moments of quiet staring, I reached out my hand and tapped it on his. He immediately began laughing.
“Well, what was I supposed to do?” I asked, taking a step back from the laughing muscle-bound man.
It is tradition when master first meets student in Ki’darth culture for the master to offer his hand and the student to do the same sign. It shows that they are equal in their responsibility to train and learn from each other...Okay, I really need to learn to turn that off.
I stifled a laugh while shooting a glance at Sumahon. Seeing Aetex put his hand out again, I mimicked his motion.
“Good, good,” Aetex said, lowering his hand, “Your ancestral knowledge isn’t completely lost. I was worried when I saw your casual walk down the road towards the edge of the blight.”
“Ancestral knowledge?” I asked, is that what the book was supposed to be?
“Don’t worry about it for now. We have much to do and little time to do it. Do you know what a Seinkah is?” He asked, folding his massive arms across his chest.
I raised Sumahon up and jester towards the book. “This?” I asked.
“Not specifically that, but yes, that is your Seinkah. And this,” he reached behind himself and pulled a long ornately decorated bow staff off the nearby wall, “is mine.”
“Wait,” I said, squinting my eyes, “I got a snarky book, and you got a big stick? How is that fair?”
“You are the first that I have ever seen to be born with such a unique Seinkah. Don’t underestimate the power of knowledge, boy. If my guess is right, you and that book could be a force to be reckoned with.”
“A book?” I half asked/half repeated in confusion.
You have a personal problem with books, you big flesh bag? Here I am helping you with all sorts of useful facts, and you are ready to trade me in for a long hunk of wood with a few shiny bobbles on it.
“I’m not trading you in,” I hissed at the book while tucking it up between my armpit. Maybe that’ll muffle his ability to talk.
“I didn’t catch that,” Aetex said, “Speak up, boy!”
“It’s nothing,” I said quickly, “What now?”
“Now, we get a handle on your Sri awareness and get your access to the Sri system going.”
“Ah’can mentioned Sri,” I said, “He made it soun
d like some kind of special energy that was responsible for keeping this village alive.”
“Sri is more than that; it is the energy of all life. It binds us together and gives the Erusha the strength and power needed to overcome their challenges.”
“If Sri is life, does that mean that out there is death?” I asked, pointing to the blighted lands not far from where they stood.
“In a way,” Aetex replied, “Our planet was once a center point of the entire galaxy. But times have changed, and now it takes all our efforts to survive here, but it can be no other way.”
I nodded along, not sure what to say and very sure I didn’t know what he meant.
“Sri is a power that I will teach you to channel. As you grow, you will deepen your connection with your Seinkah. It will allow you to push beyond your physical limits. What it won’t do is heal you, so don’t get yourself beat to hell.”
The sudden shift from almost reverent speech to a rough comment followed by a chuckle from Aetex took me off guard, and I wasn’t sure if he meant me to laugh with him or perhaps, he just enjoyed making people feel awkward.
“Sri is life, but it cannot restore life. In the right hands, it can be used to reinforce a body from harm, but it cannot heal you from injuries already received. You must remember this point if you are going to survive the blighted lands.”
The mention of the blighted lands not far away made me suddenly aware of them again, and I shifted my standing position to have Aetex more fully blocking me from them.
“I can tell you are smart already,” Aetex said with his usual chuckle not far behind, “You should fear those lands. They have been stripped of Sri, and the things that live out there now aren’t as they should be. We lost vast nations of people to the blight, and if you are smart and stay afraid of them, you might be able to keep from being one of those.”
“Ah’can said something about guarding roads out there?” I asked, my eyes traced the road that winded off into the distant horizon.
“We will get to that,” Aetex said, letting out a long deep breath while his arms fell to his side, “For now we need you to focus on Sri and feeling your connection. I will ignite your connection point to the system, and I want you to focus on what you will feel.”
I was about to tell him that if he meant the gem on my head, I had tried to touch it before, and I didn’t feel anything. His giant finger tapped on the gem, and something inside of me flared to life. There was a vast pit inside of me. Inside of that pit, bright energy surged.
System connection…
Points of power aligning…
Alignment Success, welcome to the Sri Blessed Specialization System.
I blinked and tried to process what had just been said into my head. It was Sumahon speaking, but he sounded different. All the snark and attitude gone. Then it happened, my mind was filled with sudden purpose, and I knew what to do.
Faster than thought, I grabbed hold of the golden energy and began to force it through tunnels of power. I watched it with my mind’s eye as it spread throughout my body.
The moment that the messages had finished, I was able to connect the power that flowed out of me and pressed it firmly into the gem, my hands, a few places in my gut, chest, and then my feet. It was like multiple small streams connected my body to an endless well of power flowing forth from the void.
“Whoa,” I said, staggering backward. I felt different. Stronger, faster, but somehow weaker. I dropped to one knee and struggled to breathe. Washes of black filled my vision with spots.
“By the Great Ones,” Aetex said, standing over me, blocking the suns that sat high in the sky, “Not even Mesh’el made a connection on the first surge, but you…you made all of your connections! You could have died; I didn’t think to warn you. No one makes a connection their first surge.”
“Am I dying,” I asked weakly and coughed blood onto the ground. All feelings of strength and speed had faded, and now I just felt so weak. I must be dying.
“What?” Aetex asked, letting out a loud, bellowing laugh. “Of course not, you are just tired. Let’s go inside and get some food, then we can start your real training. As I struggled to stand, Sumahon’s voice, robotic and cold, spoke in my mind.
You have locked in the lines of power and become a Sri Blessed.
Name: Neak’o
Current Path: Unchosen. Level 1, 0/100 Experience, Sri Energy 140/140, Spiritual 40, Physical 10, 1 Ability Point
Congratulations! Your body and spirit have undergone extreme hardship. You have unlocked a Racial Passive Ability, Lesser Sturdy. You gain 1% resistance to physical and spiritual damage per level.
Abilities:
Lesser Sturdy ( Racial Passive )
Skills:
None
Chapter Six
I know it’s weird to say, as I was just born hours before, but I have never eaten so much food before in my life. Mounds of food, and no matter how much I ate or drank, it wasn’t enough. Eventually, Aetex had to cut me off, but I still hungered for more. I finished a melon larger than my head that I had snatched from a tray of food before Aetex could remove it.
“Can you stand?” Aetex asked between mouthfuls of food. Despite him telling me that I needed to slow down and eat less, he had consumed almost as much as I had, if only a little slower. “Find the trough and wash up, then meet me in the back.”
“I’m still hungry,” I complained while standing. “But, I guess I can take a nap under the warm sun before we eat again.”
Aetex turned with a tray of food in his hands and raised an eye at me. I watched as he grabbed a small red fruit that was attached to a dozen others by small branches and threw it into his mouth. He wasn’t smiling or chuckling now, just staring me down with his intense, fiery eyes.
“The Great One’s sent me lazy bones, have they?” I wasn’t sure if he was asking me a question or meant it as a statement. “Let me ask you something, boy. Do you want to live for more than a day or two?”
“Yes,” I answered as I took a slow and steady step backward.
“Then listen closely,” Aetex took three large steps forward while tossing the tray of food onto the dark thick wooden table, “You may have the potential to be the most gifted pupil I’ve ever had, but you know what good that will do you if you are dead?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but he pressed one of his large fingers to my lips before I could. He moved with incredible speed, and the force of his finger made my lip pulse with pain, but I stared back at him, defiance reflected in my eyes. I refuse to be pushed around.
“You will die on your first assignment unless you follow every single command I give you. You will not nap in the sun, you will not lazy around my home, and you will never disrespect me again.”
How had I disrespected him, I thought as he removed his sausage sized finger from my pulsing lip.
According to Ki’darth culture, requesting additional food after the host has ended the meal is considered highly disrespectful. You also told the guy that you were going to take a nap in the sun when he told you that you would be doing additional training.
“Are you able to read my mind?” I thought while eyeing the book. It had spoken in the same cold robotic voice.
“Oh. Well, that’s new, I thought you had spoken aloud. This should come in handy! Also, did you want me to turn on the visual overlay now, or did you want to wait? I’ve been tweaking the placement and information worth showing for a while now, and I think it’s ready.”
“Visual overlay?” I asked in my head, relieved that he was speaking as himself again.
“Yeah, after you pulled huge amounts of Sri and set your prime connections, we have had access to ridiculous amounts of information.”
“Okay,” I thought, shrugging while Aetex busied himself with cleaning the table. I turned and walked out the door and followed the curv
e of the house until I found a large round trough of water. My sleeves had gotten dirty and smeared with food, it was practically impossible to keep them up. Looking over my shoulder towards the village in the distance, I shrugged and pulled hard on the sleeve. It came off surprisingly easy just below the elbow, where the lowest tie on my arm sat. After another quick tug, I had two clean rags to wash my face, hands, and feet with. Feeling refreshed, I looked up to see Aetex standing over me, and I jumped.
Not because Aetex was there, I had heard him approach. I jumped because several floating colored boxes filled my sight in various locations. None of it was directly in the way of me seeing anything. When my eyes passed over items without focusing, they faded out to be barely readable, but still, it was disorienting.
“So, do you like it? Let me give you a quick tour.”
I nodded my head, but Aetex must have mistaken my nod because he took that opportunity to signal for me to follow him. I did so, but Sumahon started talking anyway.
“Let’s start with the base information we can see from targets. Focus on Aetex and see if any information shows up.”
I did so and was rewarded by a colored prompt, followed by some details.
Congratulations! You’ve learned the skill Inspect.
Inspect allows you to glean information from a target by focusing on them with your inner eye. As you level this skill, you will gain access to more detailed information.
Inspect Level 1, 0% Experience.
Name: Aetex, Level 15
I stopped following Aetex, and my jaw dropped. “He is 14 levels higher than me? Is that a lot?”
“I didn’t know you could count! Maybe we aren’t as different as I first believed. Do you also prefer dark navy blue ink? Oh wait, never mind. Anyways back on topic, see the color of his Level? It is a very dark red, which means he is much stronger than you, and you have zero chance of defeating him. Notice that cow over in the distance? Focus really hard, and you will see a number.”
Reincarnation Page 3
