"My father gave his life for all of us? What's that supposed to mean? I deserve to know the whole story."
"I and Liu-Ken will tell you what happened the day you can lift one of these bodies and get it to protect you or fight you," the divinity replied, "You have a whole week to do it and then we need to get out of here. If the boy tells about the death smell in your village, Zen-Lao himself, leader of the Kaji School, will trek through these lands. Even I can't stop him if he does. He also has a divinity on his side, Amaterasu, the incarnation of the sun. And as much as I thank Liu for offering his body in this mission, I can't reach my full potential alongside him. His chi is strong, but it wasn't made for me, it's not with him that I can reach my full potential," he replied.
It was all happening too fast. Aurora wanted to escape. She wanted to go back to her village and place herself in a fetal position, crying as she grabbed the white and bluish sheets of her bed and hide in the comfort and safety of her home. She didn't want that power, that story, and that future. She had not trained for it and that world of divinities, martial arts, cultivation, was just a dream she had had. She never thought it would ever happen and had learned to appreciate the beauty of a quiet life, away from the violence that plagued the whole world, alongside the smiles and laughter of those who saw her grow up. She now fondly remembered the violet horizons reflected in the crystalline sea, the fish swimming under waves, and that shoulder touch that Bardolph always gave her when it was time for dinner. She looked at her hands and arms. The black letters that were embedded in the body and that she had tried to take off, scratching until she had blood sliding down her arms. Liu-Ken didn't mention it. The sky opened. The sun was above them. The creek ran normally again and the birds, with their wings wet, flew into the forest. The smell of sulfur lingered in the air.
"Isn't there anyone else who can do this?" Aurora asked, almost as if she already knew the answer, and yet she needed to hear it.
"No. This is your destiny," Liu replied. Kagu and he didn’t seem to be able to talk at the same time.
"I will avenge all those who died so that I could be here now. I'll fight for those in need. I'll face the world if I must, to punish those who've plastered my village with blood, but that's it. I will not fight for your cause,"
"Our motives are not so different. You'll understand it," Liu, the real one, replied. "It's time to finish this.” He snapped his fingers.
His and Kagu chi's wove through the sky. The trees in the forest rocked, plants loosening from the most fragile trunks. Birds fled toward the warm horizon at the same time as there, in that tiny garden, one of the strongest beings to tread on the mortal world, snaked through a human's body, returning to the purple ring. As soon as his presence vanished, Liu-Ken fell on his knees. The chi within him was a mess, the meridian lines clashing with each other, his dantian becoming a bubble about to burst. He heaved.
"Come here. Your lessons begin now," he said, as soon as he got up, moving to sit on one of the stones and crossing his legs. "Do the same. Sit in front of me."
Aurora looked at the three charred bodies behind Liu-Ken but did not utter a word. She sat down, mimicking every movement of the instructor, although without the same proficiency and agility. Liu brought his hands together at chest level and took a deep breath. Aurora repeated.
"Breathing exercises are essential for a cultivator. Just calm down. Try to feel the mana around you. You must learn how to release the already rotten chi and replace it with clean energy. Renew your meridians instead of clogging them."
“I’m trying and nothing is happening. It’s also quite hard to concentrate with this burning flesh odor,” Aurora replied. "What if I'm just not good at it?"
"Hard. Never was a necromancer born without natural talent for martial arts and the art of cultivation. Never forget; you are nature and Dao’s forces fighting back," Liu replied, still with eyes closed, “Now, focus, what do you hear around you?” he asked sharply.
"Birds in the distance, the wind, the water, my breathing. This is too much. I'm getting hungry."
"If you don't focus, we'll never get out of the starting point, you know? If it weren't for your father being as stubborn and foolish as you and I would ask who you get that from," Ken-Liu said. He yawned and held back the tear that was seconds away from exiting his left eye. He fondly remembered the moments he had spent there with Aurora's father. There would come a time when he would have to tell the girl the whole story; the beginning and the end, hoping that she would understand why.
"I just need to get something to eat first," Aurora told him. "My belly's grumbling."
"Kitchen is on the first door on the left," Kiu told her, "I'll meet you there later. Lunch should be ready by now. If it is cold, wait for me. Don't touch anything."
Aurora got up. She held her hands together and bowed down. Only then did she climb the little staircases leading into the living room. She looked back one last time. Liu-Ken took a deep breath in, his hands waving through the air; slowly, precise movements, the surrounding flowers blossoming.
Even though Aurora couldn't feel the mana being absorbed, the girl could sense the changes in the air. A hurricane of vibrations that shattered the moment, that deregulated the place's natural state of being, but that soothed the new tutor's breathing.
She had no idea what she had gotten herself into or what awaited her from now on. And yet, even if she wasn't going to admit it to Liu, she looked forward to it. The thirst for revenge increased within her. The inner demons badgered her with psychotic thoughts; the mutilated and bloody bodies, rising and kneeling before her, waiting for new orders. Bardolph had taught her peace, but Aurora had now seen the world for what it really was. A place where peace had its time counted.
Chapter 10
When the girl woke up, her mentor was already practicing outside. Light as a feather, he swung from right to left, spinning around himself, flipping back and forth, brandishing a rusty metal sword. It was now 4:22 PM. The west sun blazed over the sword’s sharpened edge. The camellia incense scent had spread throughout the house.
Aurora put on her boots and headed for the living room. She wondered if any of those objects, the drawers in the right corner, or the pillows on the floor, were demons. After a moment of contemplation, she shifted the shoji to one side and came down the steps that led her to the garden. The soldiers' bodies had been covered with a white sheet. It was still possible to see what was left of their features; twisted noses and broken jaws. Liu-Ken's sword sliced the air, the mana waving around him. Aurora stood still, watching Liu's robe swinging from side to side, his sleeves climbing up to his elbow and down to his fingers as he changed his weapon of hand.
"Come closer," Liu-Ken said, though he didn’t even look back. "And take this." He added and threw another sword at Aurora.
Aurora's fingers brushed the sword's handle, but it fell to the ground making an overly opaque clank. The steel had a lot of scratches, a couple thicker than others, and the tip didn't look sharp enough to cut someone. Aurora stooped down to pick it up.
"Get up!" Liu-Ken shouted, gliding through the air toward her.
Aurora only had time to stand up before she was hit by Liu's shoulder. The girl fell to the ground. Instead of getting up, she stared above; to the clouds, white foam cushions of different sizes, and the sky, soft waves sweeping them across the world, slumbered in peace.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Liu said, following her gaze. "if you don't learn to fight, you'll only have a few more days to see all of this before Kaji soldiers stain the ground with your blood."
"Did you have to attack me out of nowhere and be so negative? I told you I was going to avenge my adoptive parents and friends, and I will. I will not watch anybody else die in front of me and be unable to protect them. I don't want to be useless again, okay? I want you to teach me," Aurora said resolutely, clenching her fist until the veins on her wrist and right hand stood out.
"Your enemies won't wait for you to be ready. Get
up. Take the sword. Let's see what you can do with it.”
"I've never used a sword before," Aurora told him, clutching it. She glanced at his fingers around the handle and wondered how many times that sword had already been covered in fresh blood.
"Feel the mana around you. Focus on your opponent's chi. Follow both. Understand the differences between them. See where they gather and where they split up. You will be able to predict your opponent's movements. It won't be easy. I won't lie to you. But you'll get there," Liu-Ken said, taking a step back. "When you can tell where I'm going, we'll move on to something more demanding.”
"But what if I attack first? I don't need to worry about where my enemy might be going if I don't give him time to move," Aurora told him. The girl was already standing still and had her sword held at a straight angle.
"There are various styles of fighting, boy. I understand that you want to start with a harder style, but first, you'll have to learn the most delicate one. You'll need to know how to dodge and return the attacks before trying to headbutt the problem. The Kaji School’s soldiers thought the same thing you did, and you saw what happened to them. You can't let emotions overwhelm you. Stay calm, stay focused, and try to follow the fluctuations of chi in the air," he said.
"I'll try," Aurora told him and half-closed her eyes.
The girl took a deep breath. She followed Liu-Ken's footsteps; first, the right one, then the left one, turned around and laid down the left one. Aurora's chi flowed slowly throughout the meridians, reaching all corners.
"I can..." she thought to herself, trying to feel the mana in the environment.
The mentor drew closer to her, swapping the sword from one hand to the other as he moved forward like an apparition. His feet once again did not touch the ground. Aurora sensed a shift on the right side and raised her sword against it. Liu-Ken braked, tapped by the stone that preceded the one Aurora was on, and slid like a mist on a dark night across the girl's left side. Aurora's left eye followed Liu's angelic motions.
"You anticipated it very early," his mentor warned her, before pushing his head forward. Aurora jumped two stones forward and swung, almost falling before regaining her stability.
"At least I could tell where you were going," Aurora replied, turning to him.
"Yes, but it won't be enough to survive out of here," Liu-Ken replied. "Again, get ready."
"We still have a week to train. I'll surprise you,"
"Surprise me now," Liu told her and once again he glided across the floor, this time using his sword to stab the air.
Air bubbles were thrown at the girl's body, acting as punches that focused on his pressure points located along the meridians. Liu was still halfway there, and Aurora already had a knee on the ground, a string of saliva running down her chin, and the sword upright, the tip nailed in the stone.
I won't give up that easily… Bardolph taught me that when I have something that I want, I can't let it go unless I've lost a taste for it. I must caress it, enjoy it and value it, Aurora thought to herself. The girl closed her eyes and clasped her hand around the sword’s handle, one finger at a time.
Aurora could hear the birds chirping and the water from the creek chuckled in its streambed. There were her breathing and another one over it, a stronger and puffier, a few meters ahead of her. She focused on it, hearing it drift to the right and then to the left, as subtle as a leaf twirling through the air after loosening from a tree. The air punches no longer affected her. She didn't need her chi to use the sword. She knew exactly which way Liu-Ken was heading—right. Using the sword as a lever, she moved it to the right side and lowered her head. From the outside, it seemed as if she was kneeling before her mentor, but they both knew that she was using the odds to her advantage. Aurora was evolving despite the meager training she had.
Liu-Ken coughed, interrupting the girl's concentration. When she opened her eyes, a sharp blade was already rubbing against her neck. Three strands of hair had been sliced and fell on her shoulders. Aurora punched the ground in frustration, her teeth gnashing, her eyebrows bowed as she squinted her eyes. Liu-Ken stretched out his hand to help her get up.
"You have an innate talent, girl. Don't feel bad. You've learned something in two attempts that most people take a month," Liu-Ken told her, retaining a serious facade, even though he was proud of her. She was the daughter of his former companion. And so, perhaps their promise would not be broken. Perhaps they really would see each other again in another reincarnation.
"Those soldiers were able to fuse chi into their weapons," Aurora replied. She took her hand away from the mentor and stood up alone.
"Yes, and do you know how many years they've been training to do that? Not everyone has had your life, kid. The Kaji School has been recruiting boys since they were twelve. Many of them spend a lifetime just being able to unite their chi with weapons and feel the mana around them. No matter how much they train and improve their skills, many of them will not be able to do more than that. Natural talent is needed too. The Dao doesn't bless everyone," he said.
Chapter 11
"Let's try again then," Aurora said, “by the way, only boys? What about us, girls?”
"No. Now, you’re going to learn how to unlock your meridians. The targeted attack I used blocked them. An opposing soldier will do worse and will atrophy your muscles too. I won’t always be able to protect you," Liu-Ken told her. "Follow me. You can leave the weapon on the ground. We'll come back to it later," Liu-Ken added before making a short pause, “Good question. Only boys, yes. Actually, you’re a double anomaly, but, I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised. Your father and mother were always quite different than everyone else. And, that’s enough of ancient history for today,”
Aurora followed Liu to the riverside. The densely wooded forest that kept them apart from civilization sparkled, yellow and orange irises swarming in every possible way.
"There. Sit, and don't leave until you feel your chi flowing all over your body," Liu-Ken said and pointed to the rock under the waterfall.
"But up there I'll be hit by the water," Aurora said, looking at Liu as if he had lost his mind, "If I can't do it without distractions, how will I do it with the water soaking me?"
"We don't have time to wait. We must force you. You have to improve your intuition, Aurora. It's all up to you," Liu-Ken told her, "Now, go. I'll be here watching.”
"When do we get to handling corpses and absorbing the mana around us? If I'm a necromancer, won't it be easier doing that kind of technique?"
"Being a natural at something doesn't mean that you will be able to do it the first time. You have to overcome several stages before you can climb to the podium."
"I've never been very patient."
"A cultivator must be patient. It is in our blood."
"I guess I wasn't born to be a cultivator then."
"You're much more like your father than you might think. He was like that too. Impulsive, brave, willing to toss himself at the world with no second thought, wanting to save everyone even when we were in hiding," Liu-Ken said, lowering his defenses and being sloppy.
"Hidden? Why were you hiding? I don't think you're the kind of person that would break the rules," she replied.
Liu-Ken laughed. "I told you before. I'll tell you all about it when you get one of the corpses up. I'll know there that you're ready for what awaits us," he answered.
"I don't think I have any other choice, do I?" Aurora said and headed for the stone, jumping from rock to rock, wetting her clothes.
The first three times she tried to climb to the stone didn't go well. The moment she laid her hands on the top, the water shoved her back. The fourth time she stumbled, her foot slipping as she climbed, and fell sideways, diving. She was now soaking wet, her damp brown hair all over her face.
"Haste is an enemy of perfection, kid. You won't even be able to achieve the simplest tasks if you're always trying to do them as if you're running late. Life is a train for which you have a lifetime ticket
. Take a deep breath. Follow the water threads. Let the chi flow into your hands and cling to the rock. Find a way to perch on top."
"You knew I was going to fail, didn't you?" Aurora asked him, shaking off the water as best as she could, "I thought I was supposed to go to the rock to feel the chi, now you're saying I have to do it now?"
"I had that idea, yes. You also need to make mistakes. Mistakes are the foundation of learning," Liu-Ken told her and smiled, "one more lesson. Neither the world nor anyone else will expect you to get better. You have a moment to do it. What are you going to do about it?"
"Always with different catchphrases," Aurora replied, with a sarcastic smile on her lips, "I'll prove to you that I can do it."
She stared at the stone, the current of water crashing down on the top and splitting into two thick threads. That rock was on the path to her revenge. It was an obstacle to be overcome, no matter how hard it had proven to be.
I have to feel my chi then... she thought to herself.
She was on the second stone counting from the rock. She closed her eyes and held her hands together. Liu-Ken put the book he was reading down and watched the girl; Aurora's chi sprang from her dantian, flowing throughout the meridians, slowly, gathering in both hands, her fingers darkening. Gradually, the blue veins turned black, rising from her neck to her face. Putrid lines stretched across Aurora's forehead and slid down her cheeks like acid rain. The girl had not yet taken a step forward when a tornado broke out underwater. It spun, taking in the entire creek, all the way up to the girl's side without her even realizing it.
Awakening: (The Necromancer's Legacy Book 1) Page 4
