by Tim Kaiver
*Mission to get Emmit and Adi to safety – Complete.*
+15 XP.
Cullen gained a level! Now Level 5 Bounty Hunter. XP 10/200. 15% power boost to future class first ability use. Level-up bonus repeated as prior expired without use.
A weight sat on Cullen's chest, along with an awareness to not follow the boys.
"That is not your way."
As he turned to face the voice, his dad appeared on the far side of the garage, leading the group from Ehli to Jolnes.
"Nor that."
Cullen spun. The rumbling ground continued moving away from the gorge, which was now about fifty meters wide, Cullen thought. Wood snapped inside the frame of the house as it collapsed and slid into the darkness.
"Windwalker."
The voice spoke from the air like a whisper without a body. It didn't sound like one of the telepaths. The crashing and rumbling around him dulled in the invisible bubble connecting him to the speaker.
"Who's there?" The ground broke off and fell into the hole like an inverted wave. Cullen couldn't move. "Can I help you?"
"Your initiation awaits."
"Initiation? Into what? Who are you?"
"I am Jesse." At the words, a spark of white light expanded to reveal the face and form of a man. The glow within his skin, and his white apparel, gave him an aura of inhuman power. The sword handle sticking out over his shoulder matched his dress for war.
History told of the Ancient, Jesse who had led Star General Verily to discover the first pullspace ship off the shore of her home. He'd been her guardian, then had disappeared after her death two hundred forty years ago.
"The Ancient who helped Verily?"
He smiled. "The same."
Cullen looked around. Torek shouted from the road, but Cullen didn't hear.
"Keep an eye on him," Jesse said.
Cullen spun. The gorge widened, creeping closer to Cullen. He tried backing up, but resistance allowed him only a few steps. He wanted to ask why he needed to keep an eye on Torek, but more so… "What are you doing?"
The grip within him allowed another few steps backward. They weren't enough.
Jesse walked forward. "Congratulations on your successful quest." He stopped and extended a hand to the chasm as though it were dinner served and he didn't realize snakes waited on the plate. "Your new class awaits."
Cullen almost laughed. Were the Ancient not facing him, he might have. "Was it Shephka who saved me on Saemera?"
Jesse smiled at him in a way that made Cullen feel as small as a child. "You know the answer. Faith is not a one-time event. Shephka tests daily. The good news is, faith is always rewarded."
He did not lower his hand from the invitation to the chasm, which continued tugging on the ground beneath Cullen's feet. The next-door house buckled and lost its bottom floors.
What kind of reward is this? he thought, and watched as the top floors collapsed with the rest. This was the frightening grip of Shephka on the world.
"Shephka's power, or your life," the Ancient said. "Which do you choose?"
Wow. He's not playing around. The smile on his sun-like face hardened into immortal consequence. Decisions beyond adulthood took place there. Cullen had come here for the Cipher. It waited in his greatest fear, but it was there.
"Never forget," Jesse said, his form fading back into the realm hidden within the seen, "Shephka will be there, too. In your fear, and in the unknown."
*Task to achieve new class – Activated.*
The remaining ground between where he stood and the gorge left room for a running start. If he were to do this, he would do it like a warrior—at full speed.
He lowered into a sprint, and was amazed at the tracking power of each step, uninterrupted despite the shaking world around him. I will become the Windwalker.
The world he refused to fear flexed in the width of its gorge and the bottomless darkness beyond its ledge.
Power or life. He chose power. And leapt.
The first two groundless strides felt like flying. Then the weight of gravity took hold and fear rose anew.
As he fell toward the darkness, a gust of sulfurous hot air blew into his lungs. His eyes squint and watered at the heat. Windwalker. Windwalker.
"Wait!" It sounded like Torek shouting.
Cullen's stomach dropped as his body sank, arms and legs swinging, into the gorge—very much not like a windwalker, more like a heavy stone. His momentum carried him into a front flip. His nerves were so tense, he could barely think straight. Power. Power. Power. Shephka's power, he recited in desperate prayers. I choose You over life.
The hot air forced his eyes shut. Every open-mouthed inhale burned his throat.
"My beloved son, Cullen Re." The voice spoke through him like a wind slowing his fall, cooling his face. The power did not stop his fall, but erased his fear, replacing it with love. "Will you use my power to spread my light?"
Cullen found himself unable to lie. Exposed and unable to hide, he only spoke what this source knew to be. "I will."
"Good."
The single word forced a pleasure so great his face ached. In response, he could only cry with joy.
"It won't just be you, but you will lead them."
He'd longed to be a leader, but in the face of the task, and such an ambiguous request, it felt too great. The texts he'd brought had said the ultras would follow the windwalker to tragedy….
"Remember. This is My power inside you. It will be more than enough, and always available."
Cullen received every syllable in immense reflection and gratitude. He would remember the nature and grace of Shephka's power in him.
"I am blessing the whole world with my power. Encourage others to receive it with the same heart you have now, and they will be rewarded."
I will tell them, he thought, knowing Shephka heard those just as easily as spoken words. Thank you.
The strength holding him up, protecting him from the intensity of the fall, evaporated, sending him into the pitch-black belly of terror. The wind intensified, and his body flipped. He screamed. Did I say something wrong?
Hot air dried his throat like cracking cinder. He swung his arms and legs out in vibrating resistance against the cheek-filling wind. He growled through the torture.
Is this another test? he thought, exhausted but resilient.
His blindness turned to a view of his group at the top of the cliff. Someone leapt into the gorge.
"Torek just jumped in after you!" Ehli 'pathed.
That was dumb.
"Save him, Windwalker."
Cullen continued to fall, his body a roiling engine of heated air waiting to explode in a geyser of steam. If he was the windwalker, could he use this wind to rise and save his friend?
On instinct, he lowered his hands to his sides and straightened his legs as he rotated forward. In a burst of action, he arched his chest backward. A gust of wind slung him upward like a snapped rubber band.
*Task to achieve new class – Complete.*
New class: Windwalker – Unlocked.
How? he thought in wonder as the power within shot him upward when he should have been falling. Cells opened to breathe as adrenaline surged from chest to head and out to his hands and feet.
In the light of the sun, he saw the silhouette of his falling friend. Cullen's body coiled heated energy into his hands, feet, and lungs. Ricochet came to mind.
Could he expel the heat from his feet? An instinct as natural as coughing told him to flex his toes in response to the heat.
He tried it.
Ricochet. A jolt of power shot from his heels, pushing him toward his target.
Skill learned: Ricochet.
+5 XP.
My first skill!
Torek spread his arms and legs to help Cullen catch him around the waist. "Don't miss," Torek shouted.
On impact, Cullen wrapped his arms around Torek's waist and locked his hands. His upward momentum slowed with Torek's weight, and they started
to sink back toward the darkness.
"Cap!" Torek said. "What's the plan now?"
Cullen had more heat in his hands than his feet, so he locked his legs around one of Torek's and said, "Hold on."
Torek did, and he extended his palms. As he stretched his fingers out, a new surge of wind threw them upward and backwards like a rocket.
"How are you doing this?" Torek asked as they closed within reach of the other side of the cliff.
Cullen's hands and feet had exhausted most of their strength, but a storehouse remained ready in his lungs. He tilted their bodies forward so that his head would impact first. As they rotated and started to sink, he inhaled deeply. Without another gust, they would fall short of the cliff. Cullen shouted from the bottom of his lungs, expelling every molecule of breath he had. As the gust propelled them upward, he ducked his head and rolled.
"Are you kidding me?" Torek shouted into the wind.
Cullen almost laughed with him, except he couldn't see their landing. As they rolled, relief spread through him at the sight of land. Only his hands and feet had a little air power left. He took a deep breath. Broken soil and upturned grass spread out before him. At the last second, he spread his hands and feet, releasing his last bit of air. Their momentum slowed enough for him to roll over his shoulder and slide on his back. Torek's weight punched him in the gut and slammed the back of his head into the hard ground.
As they slowed to a stop, he knew they'd survived, which helped him endure the momentary pain of their landing.
+40 XP – used new class and skill to save Torek.
Cullen Re, Level 1 Windwalker. XP 45/90. Level 5 Bounty Hunter. XP 10/200.
Skills: Ricochet, Lv. 1 XP 45/90.
Open tutorial and character stats for full-Cipher additions?
Cullen dismissed the notification as he fought through head-to-toe soreness to sit up. Soon….
"You madman." Torek brushed the dust off his sleeves and rolled over, smiling. "Where did that come from?" He shook his head and looked away, chuckling.
Cullen followed his gaze to the hundred-meter-wide canyon that separated them from his parents and the rest of the group. The earthquake had thankfully quieted.
"That is not your way," Jesse had told him.
"Our quest is taking us on a different path," Ehli 'pathed. "Stay safe until we meet again."
"You okay?" Torek asked, watching him.
Cullen had a hand on his head, subconsciously rubbing at the soreness in his skull. His headache had returned as the medication wore off and exhaustion set in. "Yeah. As confused as an ant flicked into space, but you know, other than that…."
He smiled as Torek offered a hand. He took it and pulled up to stand. "I'm mad? An Ancient told me to jump. What's your excuse?"
Torek shrugged, keeping a playful grin. "Jealousy? I missed the last jump, and didn't want you having all the fun?"
Cullen studied him for the real answer.
"Maybe a little voice said jump, too."
"A little voice, huh?"
Torek shrugged. "Could'a just been my own thoughts. What else did the Ancient say."
"He said come this way." Jesse stood behind them, as sudden as a snake bite, but wearing the gentle grin of a friend. "He has something to show you both. Don't worry about them. The Father has plans and a path for them, too."
Cullen checked on Torek, whose mouth was prepped to catch flies. He extended a hand toward their new friend. "Torek, meet Jesse the Ancient."
Torek squinted in suspicion, seemingly lost for words.
"Come." Jesse reached a hand to Torek's shoulder. "You don't have time to rest. The council of eleven is already attracting darkness, and you need friends."
Cullen followed the Ancient away from the canyon, a hundred questions buzzing around his head. He couldn’t argue with the plan to gather friends, and opened the tutorial to see what he'd earned already.
Health points (HP): 90/100.
If health points reach zero, you will die.
Cullen was glad to read that. Cipher, you so crazy.
Spirit points (SP): 0/0.
You do not have a magic class or skill that requires Spirit Points (SP).
Character points (CP): Dexterity 3. Agility 6. Speed 4. Mele attack 8. Wind strength 2. Dungeon master 1. Alignment: 3.
New CPs granted with each class level gained. Dungeon master points earned with successful dungeon raids. Alignment points increase or decrease based on actions on the path of light or darkness. Bonuses, new skills, item use, quests and more will unlock when opportunity and alignment point requirements are met.
Cullen scrolled down to the next quest:
*Quest to restore Resurrection City – Activated.*
Okay, Cullen thought. Here we go again.
End of Cipher's Quest, Ciphercraft Book One.
Thank you for reading! If you would, please leave an honest review. It will help the series reach more readers and support me as I strive to write more. Book two, Windwalker is being edited, and book three, Resurrection City is not far from being completed. Support me on Patreon for exclusive updates and early access to new work.
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