by Dante King
The monks of Dying Sun were almost impossible to tell apart. The shaven heads, snow-white beards, and gaunt features marked them as ancient ascetics. They didn’t speak as they laid the meal before us. I thanked them before they retreated to the other side of the table to join Tymo. They bowed their heads and moved their mouths in a wordless prayer of thanks to the spirits.
Faryn poured out cups of tea. The sound of rapid eating drifted across the table to us, and Tymo smiled at me as I watched the monks devour their food like starving dogs.
“We always eat rather quickly,” Tymo explained. “My brothers and I have lessons to prepare and many tasks to attend to throughout the monastery. To sit back and relish food is to take away the time given to us to fulfill our duty to the gods.”
“We are grateful for your hospitality,” Kumi said.
“Please, eat at your own pace. You are our honored guests.” Tymo joined his brethren in wolfing down a plate of rice.
I sipped at the tea, and fresh Vigor surged through my veins at the taste of it. My eyes widened. Faryn laughed at my expression, sipped at her own cup, and fished a bundle of noodles out of a nearby bowl of soup.
“It’s brewed from a special strand of herb only found in the mountains,” Faryn explained. “I’ve heard tell of it before but never had the pleasure of tasting such a potion. It’s called thimbleleaf, and among the Augmenters of old, it was quite a common drink.”
“Why don’t they have it at Radiant Dragon?” Kegohr asked.
My mind flashed back to one of my first missions as an initiate. Hamon Wysaro had used a potion with similar properties to restore his Vigor while I raced him toward a fiery den of lava-blooded monsters.
“It’s likely rare and difficult to source,” Kumi pointed out. “It’s dangerous to obtain, and exposing guild members to danger just to recover Vigor faster is not a worthwhile endeavor. At least, not often. Perhaps if Radiant Dragon was restored to its former prominence, then it would be worthwhile.” She hummed in pleasure as she set down her cup. “It is delicious though.”
Mahrai and Vesma didn’t waste time with talking, both chowing down like they hadn’t eaten for months.
The steamed rice was lightly salted, sprinkled with an herb I didn’t recognize, and tasted delicious. The noodle soup beside it carried a pleasant tang of spice and filled my stomach with a comforting warmth as I used it to wash down the rice.
The monks finished their meal, bowed their heads again in silent prayer, then left the table without a word.
Tymo finished the last of his tea, sighed in deep appreciation, and stood. “The Hierophant has extended his wishes that each of you train with one of our brothers while you stay here at the monastery, with the exception of Master Faryn.” He smiled warmly at her. “You are free to pursue your own interests throughout the monastery’s gardens or in our library, if you choose. As for the rest of you, you’ll be given tailored training depending on your Augmentation level.”
“Where’s the Hierophant?” I asked.
“He consults the spirits as we speak,” Tymo informed me. “They guide him toward the best paths for the future of our monastery and for your training. Swordslinger, you will join me in the hall. Do you have any further questions?”
The others looked to me, and I shook my head. “That’s all.”
“Then see to the needs of your bellies, and we shall see to the needs of your learning.”
Tymo bowed to us and left the room in a sweeping whirl of scarlet robes.
We ate for a while longer in silence, until Kumi swept her gaze over the table and frowned.
“It’s a large table for a small number of monks, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kegohr agreed, around a mouthful of rice. “I’ve only seen 10 of them. Doesn’t make much sense for a place this big.”
“They have room enough for a hundred,” Vesma observed.
“Could there be others elsewhere?” I asked.
“No,” Mahrai said. “But there are more monks living here. Or at least there were until a few days ago.”
Everyone turned to look at her.
“How do you know that?” Faryn asked sharply.
“I picked the locks on some of the cells,” Mahrai said with a shrug. “Plenty of bedding, a few sets of sandals, and small mementos that you’d expect from a religious order. There were more monks here until very recently. Many more. Perhaps a hundred.”
“You picked the locks?” Faryn asked in disbelief.
Mahrai rolled her eyes. “I’ve been through my fair share of locked rooms looking for food in the aftermath of a war, Faryn. You learn a thing or two here and there.”
“So, that’s where you went after you left,” I said, recalling how Mahrai had left my room after we’d made love. “Any reason why you didn’t ask me to join?”
“I figured you needed your rest.” She jabbed me in the side. “After all, I would have left you exhausted.”
The other women chuckled, and I shook my head at how accepting they were of our arrangement.
“So, the monastery suddenly appears,” I said. “It opens its doors, scares Guildmaster Xilarion, and we’re sent here to train. But a majority of the monks are missing. Anyone else thinking that there’s something strange going on here?”
“They could be on pilgrimage,” Kumi suggested. “It was the role of the monks to travel and preach to believers. Perhaps they are reminding Wysaro City of their guardian spirits and the forgotten rituals of the gods.”
The conversation drifted off from there. I ate my fill, made sure to fortify my Vigor with as much of the thimbleleaf tea as I could, and excused myself from the table. I strolled down a few of the corridors and entered the main hall of the monastery. I brushed my fingers against the Sundered Heart as I approached the main altar.
“Are you awake?” I asked her.
“For you, my sweet man? Always. What do you require of me?”
“I want to know what you feel about the monastery.”
“It is a place of true power, and its inhabitants seek to teach you the paths to greater power. I feel no nefarious intentions within these hermits, Master. They will show you the key to great strength. It would be foolish of you to obstruct them in their task.”
“I appreciate the heads-up.”
“I will always be here to watch over you,” Nydarth purred.
Archpriest Tymo appeared from a side door and strode to the altar with a flowing step. He bowed to the graven images of the dragon and lion with the peculiar reverence of his order and turned to face me with a pleasant smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“The Hierophant might have been the one to train you initially,” he said, “but the burden now falls upon me. He’s regrettably occupied with running the monastery. I will instruct you until he returns to us. Unless you would prefer someone else?”
I leveled my gaze at him, and Tymo met it without flinching.
I shrugged. “You seem more conversational than he does.”
“Indeed, I am.” Tymo chuckled. “A fact I’m sure he finds irritating.”
“What does it mean when you talk about him ‘consulting the spirits’? It sounds as if he can actually talk to higher beings, who give him snatches of the future.”
“It is the greatest, and perhaps most dangerous, form of Augmentation,” Tymo said. “Physical and Environmental Augmentation are by no means simple, but to Augment one’s spirit through meditation is something else entirely. It does, however, provide answers to questions that are difficult to come by on this mortal plane.”
“Will you teach me Spiritual Augmentation?” I asked.
Tymo clicked his tongue in reply. “Ah, the impatience of the young. The Hierophant made it clear that I was to teach you Physical Augmentation before anything else.”
“Then let’s get started,” I said.
I settled into a routine over the next three weeks. Each day would begin with an early breakfast. My friends and I
were forbidden from meeting with each other, and I took our training seriously, so I refused even Mahrai’s attempt at nocturnal visits. I saw them pass in the corridors, and they all looked exhausted. Nevertheless, we remained silent while we ate, devouring our food quickly so that we could get to our lessons faster.
I strengthened my newly formed fire pathways to boost my strength and durability to near-superhuman levels while I sparred against Tymo. The Archpriest had all of the Hierophant’s speed and none of his restraint. But with each match, my grasp on Physical Augmentation grew stronger. It took me five days to be able to access a burst of strength fierce enough to punch a hole in a thick stone pillar and about 14 to finally get an understanding of how to control the power at will.
My mind was never far from learning the full extent of Flight, however, and I continued practicing the technique whenever I had a chance. Slowly but surely, I was gaining mastery over it. By the end of the three weeks, I could float for a few minutes at a time, but actually moving proved a far more difficult task than I could have ever imagined.
Tymo was tireless and had a kind, if firm, method of training. For the first time in months, I didn’t really have an opportunity to use traditional techniques. I worked on controlling minute movements of my body instead. Tymo was also an accomplished weaponsmaster, and we spent hours going over the smallest details of bladecraft. I knew my way around the Sundered Heart, but the Depthless Dream and Demure Rebirth were more difficult weapons to wield. My new bursts of strength and speed accelerated my ability to use the trident and hammer in new ways, teaching me to match them against swords, spears, maces, and axes.
Tymo insisted on a firm schedule of meditation after training. The system was designed to boost my Vigor’s recovery time, strengthen my pathways at a faster rate, and give me more control over just how much Vigor I needed to pour through my channels to achieve my desired goal.
Toward the end of our training, Tymo showed me yet another application of Physical Augmenting. He pushed me to open up new pathways from my water channels and allow Vigor to bleed through them into my muscles. In contrast to fire, the water element gifted me with heightened reflexes and faster movement speed at the cost of more Vigor. Before long, I was able to switch from water to fire to aid my physical form and give myself a burst of speed or strength as I needed it. I asked Tymo if it was possible to combine both at once, but he counseled me against it.
“Mastery over one path is better than being an apprentice to two,” he told me.
“But I’m an elementalist,” I said with a smile. “And I plan on mastering all the elements.”
“Let’s see if you live that long. The Swordslinger’s Path is one that often ends abruptly.”
Chapter Twelve
“Your focus is commendable, Ethan,” Tymo told me. “Twenty-four days, and yet you still begin each day as if it is the first. Xilarion spoke highly of you, and now, I see why. He was our greatest student. A truly gifted Augmenter.” He chuckled at a memory. “A hotheaded young buck, to be sure, but time brought him experience and wisdom. It is a shame that he left the Wandering Path to purse that of Peace.”
“Why did he leave it?” I asked. I knew almost nothing about the Guildmaster other than that he had once served as a general in the Emperor’s army, and that his great-grandfather had once led Radiant Dragon as he now did.
“Perhaps Xilarion felt guilt for his conquests in war. Perhaps he believed that it was time to lay aside his own quest for power in order to pass it on to the next generation.” Tymo lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “The Wandering Path takes us in many different directions, Ethan, and few of them lead to where we’d expect.”
I stood, fastened the Sundered Heart to my belt, and fell into a fighting stance for our usual match of blades. Tymo shook his head, smiled, and nodded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Kegohr and Vesma appear at the main entrance to the hall. They grinned when they saw me, and I turned back to Tymo.
“You may go,” he said.
“You’re giving me the day off?” I asked with a laugh. “That seems out of character.”
“Rest and recuperation are important. But I hardly expect you to ‘take a day off,’ as you put it. My brother monks tell me that you managed to slay three spinedrakes on your journey here. An impressive feat.”
I shrugged. “They were following us, and it was going to come to a fight sooner or later. I figured it was better to take the initiative than to let them pick us off one by one.”
“And, of course, you wanted the power that they held within,” Tymo said. “Flight. The most sought-after, and rare, of the techniques found in what is called ‘traditional Augmenting.’ Tell me, have you made any progress with it?”
“A little.”
“Then perhaps you should turn your hand to it again with your newfound knowledge,” Tymo suggested. “You are dismissed for the day. Once again, it is a pleasure to train with such a keen-minded student.”
“Thank you,” I said before he retreated to a side door leading back to the monks’ living quarters.
Vesma and Kegohr came to me with energetic grins, and I couldn’t help but notice the new confidence in their movements. Kegohr’s shoulders were straighter, rather than the hunched stance he usually adopted to distract from his towering height. Vesma moved across the floor like a weightless dancer and leaped onto me. She hugged me tight, then planted a kiss on my lips.
“It feels like it’s been months,” she said as I held her. “Sure, we’ve eaten together, but not being able to speak was absolute torture.”
“I agree,” I said before I kissed her again. “So, what have you both learned?”
Vesma let go of me and nodded for Kegohr to speak first.
“Almost more than my thick skull can handle,” he said. “They told me that the Spirit of the Wildfire is actually a form of Augmentation in and of itself and that anyone could learn it. But since I’ve already had it for years, they showed me how to use it better.”
“You’ve punched golems to pieces with it before,” I said. “How does it get any better than that?”
“I’ll show you soon,” Kegohr promised. “Tell him, Ves. Tell him what you’ve learned.”
“I think,” Vesma said with a wide grin, “that I have figured out how to get better at Flight. It’s not perfect levitation, like what Yo Hin can do, but it’s close. And I think it’ll work better for us in combat anyway.”
“I’ve been learning a little with Flight too,” I said. “But I want to see what you can do.”
Vesma squatted down low before she jumped into the air. Fiery ribbons laced into footholds under her feet as she ran atop them. They progressively appeared higher and higher, taking her up to the ceiling. My jaw dropped as Vesma soared above our heads with a series of bounding leaps on fiery platforms, and she landed above us on a ceremonial pillar. She sat on its edge, smiled at me, and gave me a wave.
“You look like you’re using Untamed Torch,” I called up to her. “Not Flight.”
“It’s a similar principle,” Vesma replied. “The monks taught me a little Physical Augmentation too. You know that weightless feeling you get when you charge yourself up with fire?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kegohr said. “You feel like you’re a cloud.”
I thought about the principles I’d learned with Tymo in the last few weeks. “You’re switching from Physical Augmentation and Flight Augmentation with each step. Staying almost weightless the whole way. That’s how you’re managing to keep yourself from falling.”
Vesma’s eyes twinkled. “Exactly. Come on, try it.”
I glanced at Kegohr. “You’re up, big guy. Show me how it’s done.”
He bared his tusks at me in a grin and took a few lumbering steps before he leapt into the air. The Spirit of the Wildfire washed over him for an instant before the tell-tale streamers of Flight encircled him and created a fiery burst under his huge foot. He propelled himself through the air with huge leaps,
sprang off a pillar, and activated Flight to glide down beside me in a mass of blue-gray, flaming fur.
“How did you like that?” he asked.
“That was pretty damn awesome,” I said with a smile.
“See, Ethan? It’s not so hard,” Vesma said.
“Let me try it,” I said.
I reached within myself and jolted my body with fiery strength. The floor shrank away as I jumped into the air, switched pathways, and activated Flight. Flame washed through my clothes, hardened into a platform below my right foot, and held me aloft for a half-second. I repeated the process, applying the newest training I’d learned from Tymo.
The absolute minimum amount of Vigor instinctively flowed through my channels as I leapt through the air. A laugh burst from my mouth as I propelled myself forward, fully activating Flight. The magic held me aloft as I glided a few yards above the floor in a long arc. My gut churned, and my head spun with excitement. I stretched my hands out to either side and coasted above the ground like a paper plane.
I pulled a backflip in the air, landed on my feet, and grinned up at Vesma.
“How’d I do?” I asked her.
“Very well. Why is it that you find Augmenting so simple? You’re not even from this world!” She huffed.
“You were the one who figured it out. I’m just good at mimicking.” I shrugged. “When I was practicing by myself over the last few weeks, I only managed to float a little above the ground. A few minutes at most.”
“That’s not bad,” she said, although it was clear she was only trying to be nice.
“I’ve got a few other new tricks,” I said.
“Yeah?” Kegohr said. “What kinds?”
“Hate to say this, big guy, but show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”
He spread his feet apart in a fighting stance. “So, it’s like that, Effin? You challenging me?”