Hatchling

by Lupine King

  That day was etched into his memory. Even now, he wondered what would have happened if his grandmother had not taken him aside and spoken to him. When his grandfather woke up, he did not remember the incident and no one was in a hurry to tell him. Nevertheless, from that day forth, Valerian kept a tight rein on his strength, never unleashing it again, till now. Today, he had poured out everything he had and even that was unable to so much as move the elder.

  The elder's view of things was completely different. He and the others had suspected Valerian's strength and decided to test it. However, even prepared, he had totally underestimated how much of it there was. If not for some swift last-minute adjustments, he might have been humiliated. What would people think if they found out that an eight-year-old had actually struck his palm away? Sadly, he was not entirely successful as was proved by his failure to completely neutralise the force behind the punch.

  The other two were the same. They had a clear idea of what happened thanks to their heightened senses. Thus, they saw plainly how powerful Valerian's punch was and what it took to stop it. Their assessment of his worth shot up even more. Dual force, double dual innate attributes, an essence level forty-one times average and now this frightening degree of strength. Even a daft, blind, ignoramus could see that this boy was going to be a major talent in the future.

  Quickly, they dismissed him and got down to business.

  "ELDER FORESON, JUST how strong is Valerian?" Valan asked curiously. In this gathering, his position as magistrate and lord of the manor accounted for nothing. The elders were all older and more powerful; physically and politically. No one was going to call him Lord or master here. Just plain old Valan.

  "The boy possesses at least four tonnes of force behind his punches," Foreson admitted.

  "Four tonnes..." Valan mumbled in astonishment.

  "I know", Foreson stated. "He definitely inherited the first legacy. In fact, his inheritance is probably comparable to the patriarch's. Even though it has not fully awakened, his strength outstrips many of his peers who have full access to it. My guess is that it will reveal itself in full when he reaches the qi gathering stage like it does for most late bloomers.”

  Valan nodded mutely for a second stroking his chin as was his fashion. Then a thought struck him. "Then my request..?"

  Foreson nodded in acknowledgement, his eyes unusually bright. "Rest assured. It will surely be accepted. Even if it is not, I will do everything in my power to make it so. The boy will receive the full support of the clan and the top-secret manuals will be made available to him. It is just... are you sure that you want Richard and Jonas to take charge of his training? You can move back into the clan compound. That way, access will be even easier and he will have the best tutors on hand.”

  "I'm sure!" Valan stated firmly. "The two have looked forward to the role from the moment he was born and their current level is more than enough to drill him for now. We will focus on the basics and if he needs any specialised or advanced training I guarantee that we'll seek the aid of the clan".

  The elder wanted to protest the decision, but he reflected on Valan's resolute stance and the hard set of his jaw and thought better of it. In its place, he sighed and shook his head slightly. Perhaps it was best. Given the issues Valan had in the past, his presence could upset the current balance of powers especially given how gifted his grandson was. Looking the frail man over he could not help but think, ‘It truly is a pity'.

  VALERIAN SAT IN HIS favourite courtyard with one of the manor's hounds at his feet. He reflected on the events of the last few days and had to admit that even he was a bit dazed. Three days ago he had been a student of Fang's Grammar School. Now, he was a soon-to-be cultivator with the highest ever measured potential in the city of DaleGuard. He had overheard some of the servants speak and knew that many were already referring to him as a Heaven warping talent.

  He had to admit that he liked the sound of that.

  Lost in thought, he nearly did not notice the elders leaving. His grandfather tried to see them off but they declined, unwilling to trouble him, so he ended up leaving them not far from the entrance of his courtyard. However, they did not immediately leave. Rather, they watched his grandfather hurry back into the main building. Then, one of the elders opened his mouth.

  "Looking at him, it is hard to imagine that his father, mother, son and now, grandson were all the most outstanding geniuses of their generations. What went wrong?"

  "I know”, another assented. “It's so unfair. How did a wastrel like him come from such a great bloodline? Remembering all the resources that were wasted on him when he was younger still hurts my heart. If even one of my sons had half the opportunities he had growing up, he would be stronger than me by now."

  "Enough!" Elder Foreson barked at them. "Remember, Valan is still the son of the patriarch."

  "That doesn't excuse him nor does it explain how he wound up being such trash," the first to speak pointed out.

  Even Foreson had to admit he had a point. "No, it does not. I guess Heaven has to even things out somehow".

  The three elders continued their talk as they left. Neither of them spared a thought for the young boy in the courtyard not too far away. It was not that they did not notice him there. They just dismissed him. He was a child and they kept their voices low. The distance between them was also significant. There was no way that he would hear anything. How could they possibly know that Valerian was blessed with incredibly sharp senses?

  Counting the legs of a centipede from a hundred meters away was nothing to him. Neither was listening to a conversation carried out less than seventy meters away. Thus, the elders left not sparing him a glance, thereby missing the sharp, wrathful look that existed in those same eyes as they watched them go.

  FIVE

  Essence Theory

  FINALLY, VALERIAN'S education was about to begin. Following the test, the household became very hectic, taking four days to settle down. His grandfather was always away, either at work or at the clan compound dealing with the elders. His grandmother was mostly the same except she dealt instead with the well-wishers who came round the manor. The bottom line was, no one had any time to train or teach Valerian anything even after they had promised him too.

  He fully understood the reason why things happened that way. The clan was interested in his talent and so his grandfather had to make nice, especially since they were going to foot most of his training costs. Additionally, news of his talent had leaked, and so many people were trying to befriend them and establish connections. These people might be fair weather opportunists but they had to be handled with tact.

  Not to mention the fact that they had work to do. His grandfather was a city magistrate. He could not neglect his work just because of his grandson. His grandmother had an even more trying job as a beast tamer, and a highly respected one at that. They were trying as hard they could as is. It did not mean he had to like it though. He did not complain but he did not like it either.

  Thus, he was understandably relieved and happy when things began to settle down around the household and his grandfather announced that he would be having the first lesson today, with him. He was so excited that he could barely sit still and finish his dinner. He kept asking about the lesson plans and what he was going to be studying. The whole spectacle made his grandmother happy. She loved it when he acted his age.

  Valerian rushed to the study as soon as he was able. From the moment he received the announcement, his mind had been working non-stop trying to figure out what he was going to learn. Was it going to be some secret art, family cultivation secrets, or even one of those cultivation methods that he had heard so many rumours about? Given that he was now about to start cultivating, it was probably the last. But which one? Which kind even? Alas, he met something quite different.

  MAGISTRATE VALAN STOOD before a chalkboard, pointing rod in hand. After having had the servants rearrange the study a bit to accommodate Valerian's lessons, there was now a new, smal
l desk in addition to the chalkboard. Teaching his grandson was something he had been looking forward to for a long time and he knew just what to start with. In fact, the topic was written in bold, beautiful script on the board.

  ESSENCE THEORY

  "Most cultivators know absurdly little about the process of cultivating itself, much less the energies and forces they are using and the theory behind them,” Valan began. “Their minds are completely focused on techniques, methods, and skills; constantly fighting for secret arts they use but do not understand. It is honestly quite pitiful.

  "How can you hope to make any stable progress when you do not understand the fundamentals? It is important to correctly grasp the truth behind the forces to use them properly. Only a fool will take a weapon into battle without knowing what it's made from, how to use it and what it's capable of."

  "Right!" Valerian answered emphatically. He wholly agreed with his grandfather. It was obviously stupid to use something you had no true knowledge of. Mentally, he ignored the fact that understanding the fundamentals never crossed his mind. He too had expected to jump right to cultivating methods and secret arts. He blamed this fact on the wrong impression he had gotten from listening to the kids at Fang's. That, and the seductive power of secret techniques.

  "The basis of cultivation lies with essence. Have you ever asked yourself why we use the word cultivate? Why use a word that means ‘to foster growth’, ‘to refine’? There are many theories but amongst the foremost of these is that what cultivators cultivate is their essence", Valan expounded. As he did so, his gaze burned hotter and his speech grew more impassioned.

  "Essence is the lifeblood of the universe, of Verre and of everything in it. It permeates everything. The air, the earth, the oceans and rivers, all are filled with the essence of the world. All living things contain essence as well. It is in no way an exaggeration to say that essence is life because that is what it is to living creatures and indeed to the world itself. Without essence, all the creatures of Verre will die and the world itself would become desolate".

  Valerian nodded dumbly. He could not remember a time when he saw his grandfather like this. It was a side of him he had never seen. Despite this, or rather because of it, he did not let himself be distracted. He focused his mind on what the old magistrate was saying.

  "Essence is not just life. It is energy. It is power. That is why when cultivators cultivate they increase their essence and grow more powerful. It is the source of all the extraordinary things in the world. There is nothing it cannot do if applied properly and there are no shortages of uses for it. Why even Erasmus the Sage once..." here the magistrate realised that he was getting carried away. With a sheepish smile, he cleared his throat and started over.

  "There is no need to go too much into depth right now. This is only the first lesson after all. We will cover this and more in our subsequent ones. Your grandmother might even join us. Right now, what you should be concerned with is the relationship between essence, humans and cultivation".

  "Yes, grandfather", Valerian assented softly. It did not matter much to him either way. He was more than ready to learn whatever the old man had to teach. He had known he was a scholar but now that he was confronted with the depth of the man's knowledge, he could not help but be a bit overwhelmed.

  "Good! The first thing to understand about this is the essence cycle. An abundance of essence exists in the world. It is the essence that exists in the elements, in the land, sky and sea. We call this the world essence. World essence is different from the essence contained within living things. How different? We will come to that later.

  "What's important is that living things take in world essence every moment of our lives in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the earth we trod, and in all our other daily processes. However, we also release the essence we contain into the world through our emissions such as exhalation and when we die, our forms decompose and our essence becomes part of the world essence.

  "Cultivation requires the increment of the scale of this cycle. Cultivators take in large amounts of essence which they use to not only improve their essence but also their bodies. That is why cultivators are so much stronger than normal people, and why they live for so much longer. Essence is life, thus having more essence, basically ensures that you have more life. However, working with essence requires essence which is why cultivators need to have large essence pools. At least five times the essence pool of the average person is needed to cultivate.

  "The thing you must note is that humans are unable to directly cultivate their essence. Rather, the essence of humans gives rise to one of two forces in the body. These two are; vital force or qi and spiritual force also known as arcane energy. What we actually cultivate is these forces but in doing so we improve and increase our base essence.

  "Vital force or qi is a physical energy. It enhances the body and as its name implies, improves vitality and body function. It is capable of truly great things but it is primarily centred on the body and nothing can change that. Spiritual force or arcane energy can extend according to the user's capabilities. It deals more with the world than the body. It can manipulate the natural world to an enviable degree, but its benefits to the body are rather lacking.

  "Here in Bathar, people who train or cultivate their qi are known as tellurians whilst people who cultivate arcane energy are called arcanists. Your grandmother, Uncle Jonas and I are all arcanists whilst your Uncle Richard and Avery are tellurians. Do you understand what I've said so far?"

  Valerian nodded, his mind heavy with what he had learnt. "Essence is life and power. It permeates the world and every living thing exists in a cycle of essence. It is the basis for the powers and abilities of cultivators, however, they are unable to train it directly. Rather, they train its constituents. Those who are blessed with its physical aspect are the tellurians whilst those who cultivate the spiritual aspect are the arcanists."

  Valan gave a proud smile. "Excellent! A bit short and sparse but you got the primary things down. Next, we will go over the two forces in more detail".

  "Wait! I have a few questions", Valerian interrupted.

  "Ask away."

  "You emphasised the fact that tellurians focus on their bodies whilst arcanists focus on the world. Does this mean that arcanists are physically weak or that tellurians are unable to affect the natural world?" Valerian inquired. His eyes had a pensive look in them as his fingers incessantly stroked his chin in thought.

  Valan's smile grew even wider. His own hand unconsciously rose to stroke his immaculate beard as if showing Valerian how it was done. "That is a very good question. It shows that you are capable of thinking outside of the parameters you have been given. Keep that attitude and improve on it. It will help you greatly in the future.

  "To answer your question, traditionally, yes. Traditionally, a tellurian would be a spiritually inept physical powerhouse who employed his or her powers through feats of strength, speed and whatever abilities he or she has cultivated in the physical self whilst an arcanist would be a frail combatant who made use of his or her spiritual might to control the natural world to attack an opponent. Fortunately or unfortunately, the real world is not so easily defined.

  "It is perfectly plausible for a tellurian to find a way to use his or her body to control the world and for an arcanist to use the world to strengthen his or her body. So in truth, it will depend on which arcanist or tellurian you meet. Some may truly follow that archetype but there are undoubtedly some who follow other paths. The thing to bear in mind is not to let your guard down. Do you understand? Any other questions?"

  "So, I shouldn't sit and think that I know what my opponent is capable of simply because the person is an arcanist or a tellurian?" Valerian summed up.

  "Yes! Any other questions?"

  "Ah! Yes. I get why arcanists are called arcanists since they use arcane energy but why are tellurians called tellurians? Also, what are people like me, who are both, called?"


  His grandfather continued to stroke his beard. "Those are just titles, my boy. Different people call them different things. That is why I specifically said that in Bathar the terms used are tellurian and arcanist. Elsewhere, it's different. For example, warriors and mages, physics and psychics, knights and warlocks, etc. there are many names and different reasons for those names. As for why we in Bathar call qi cultivators tellurians? That has to do with old world philosophy."

  "Old world philosophy?" Valerian questioned with a puzzled look on his face.

  "That is something we might discuss when you are older. Just know that some of the ancients felt the arcane path was the way of heaven and the other that of the earth. As for people with dual force, there are a few names for them as well but due to the fact that they so rare there are no general names for them. You will be probably be referred to by one or both titles. Any more questions before we continue?" Valan clarified.

  "Just one more. You mentioned which paths you and grandmother belong to but you didn't mention my parents. Were they tellurians or arcanists?" Valerian probed softly.

  Immediately the question was voiced, the atmosphere in the room changed. Valerian quickly wished he had kept his mouth shut. No one in the manor ever talked about his parents. It was pretty much a taboo. Even he with his vaunted memory could barely remember anything about them. Thus, he could not help but be curious about the pair who sired him. Hearing about the rest of the family stirred those feelings up especially since he knew his father was a genius cultivator. He was just about to tell his grandfather to forget about it when the answer came.