“The beasts never attacked when I was close to you. I should’ve used that to learn more about my prey, learning their behavior,” Vir admitted. “I know. That’s exactly what I normally do, but…”
“Discipline. ’Tis simple to navigate a calm sea, but our mettle is tested only when the storms arrive. Remember this going forward.”
So this is what a proper instructor looks like, Vir thought. He didn’t mind the criticism. In fact, he welcomed it. Every bit helped him improve. Wasn’t that all that mattered?
“You’ll learn these lessons in time. I can advise you to hasten the process, but there truly is no substitute for experience. Fight, fight some more, and then keep fighting. The more battles you accrue during your time here, the stronger—and wiser—you will be for it.”
“I will. And I’ll get strong enough to do it without your assistance.”
“Good! There are plenty of enemies in this realm. Now if you like, you can listen to me ramble about what I know of the Akh Nara while we travel.”
“Are you kidding? Tell me everything!” Vir rose and together, they resumed their bounding gait, jumping dozens of steps at a time.
Lightning cracked in the distance and a stiff breeze blew past, as if to accompany the opening of Cirayus’ tale.
“I know as much about the Akh Nara as anyone, and yet, I’m afraid I’ve uncovered only bits and pieces,” Cirayus began. “My findings have shown that they share only a single unifying trait.”
“Which is?”
“All were supremely powerful beings. Some stronger than others. The first Akh Nara is rumored to have lived around three millennia ago, just after the fall of the Gods.”
“Parai the Ancient,” Vir said, half-guessing based on his ancestor’s name.
“Aye. I take it you’ve met?”
“We have. The Prana Channeling technique I use came from Parai, actually. I also modified it slightly to deal with the prana poisoning, though that’s more of a crutch for now. Cirayus, what exactly are the primordials? Why do they exist?”
“Wish I could tell you, lad. All I can say for sure is all the Akh Nara have had that same eight-pronged tattoo you bear on your chest, and that there have been five of them since the fall of the gods.”
“Five? Not six?” Vir asked. “Are you sure?”
“Quite certain, lad, or else I’d have read about it. Why do you ask?”
“At Daha, I stumbled upon the lost ruins of an ancient Prime Imperium outpost, Valaka Amara.”
Cirayus’ eyes went wide.
“It was intact, too. Lit up when I entered it.”
“Not just a single building, but an entire outpost? And an active one? Astounding. I’m not sure you grasp the full weight of this experience. Apart from the Vimana in the Human Realm, that may be the only place of its kind! Oh, what our thaumaturges would do to get their hands on something like that,” Cirayus said with a wry smile. “What was it like? Tell me everything.”
Despite his terrifying appearance, Cirayus reminded Vir of an eager child at that moment, desperate to hear more.
“Magnificent,” Vir replied honestly. “The way they baked prana into their architecture was… It was beautiful on a level I can’t even begin to describe. That’s not all. I met an avatar of Lord Janak.”
Cirayus had been enthusiastic before, but now he regarded Vir with religious fervor.
“A living god? How?”
Maiya had had a similar reaction, though not quite to this degree. Cirayus seemed almost possessed by his reverence. Something deeper than mere awe and surprise drove those feelings, but what?
“He said the real Janak died millennia ago. That he was just a copy, or something like that. And that what I was seeing was a projection of that copy. Seems he has a real body, buried somewhere deep in the Ash.”
“Mahādi,” Cirayus whispered. “It has to be.”
“That’s right! You know of it?”
“Aye,” the demon replied, his words coming slowly. “Only rumors, though. There is said to be a place buried so deeply within the Ashen Realm, only your ancestors ventured there. A place where many Ash Beasts dare not tread. Where the prana is so dense, it becomes visible to the naked eye. A realm where nightmares become reality. The core.”
And Janak wants me to go there… Perfect.
“This confirms it. Mahādi is real!” Cirayus said, his voice full of awe. “I never knew. Never could have known! Demons will have a field day with this!”
Vir contemplated telling Cirayus that Janak told him to go there, but the look in the demon’s eye told him that might be ill-advised, at least for now. Vir wouldn’t put it past the giant to change their destination and plot a course for that place. That was something he wanted to avoid until he was strong. Truly strong.
“The reason I mention it is that Janak said I was the seventh of my line. I never understood what that meant, but I think he was referring to my previous incarnations.”
“Hmm. Reaper Ekanai, Shardul the Vicious, Narak the Destroyer, Jalendra the Wise, and Parai the Ancient. I’ve never heard of another, but if Lord Janak said so, it must be true.”
All the names were familiar to Vir, except one.
“Jalendra the Wise?”
“One of our great philosopher kings. Jalendra single-handedly brought demons out of centuries of warring and infighting, uniting the Demon Realm for the first time in recorded history. He rose to power a few hundred years after Parai’s death. A lover of arts and culture, and a genius at military strategy, he was feared by his enemies and was loved by nearly everyone else.”
“I see,” Vir replied. He hoped to meet this ancestor one day. Given how he’d seen a memory from Parai, who was even older, he remained hopeful. “Anyway, I don’t think Lord Janak would misspeak.”
The identity of the sixth ancestor was a mystery, but not one that would be solved now. Perhaps he’d find clues in the Demon Realm.
“How about you put your newly learned lesson to practice?” Cirayus said, pointing to a lone Phantomblade that stalked in the distance.
Vir drew within two hundred paces of the beast, then halted. This was an enemy he’d fought and barely defeated in the Human Realm. It had been a tough fight, and while he had some idea of the creature’s attacks, he couldn’t be sure it didn’t have access to stronger ones here.
He waited, observing. To attack, he’d need the element of surprise. The scales on its back launched with terrifying speed, and so he’d have to close the distance without being noticed.
Easier said than done; the beast kept its head on a swivel, continuously scanning its surroundings. Even with Leap and Blink, Vir doubted he could close the distance in time.
So he went prone, lying flat on the ash. Five minutes passed, then ten, but the Phantomblade made no movement.
“I’ll start you on learning chakras right now if you can defeat that beast.”
This again. He’s tempting me.
Vir settled in as he watched, but there was no reason to watch in silence.
“Tell me more about the primordials,” he said. “You mentioned they all possessed the same tattoo. What else?”
“No harm chatting, I suppose.” Cirayus stroked his tattoo. “We know the Akh Nara can inscribe multiple Ultimate Bloodline tattoos. Records from Shardul, Reaper Ekanai, and Jalendra’s time all prove this. The other oddity lies in how these tattoos are formed.” Cirayus pointed to his bare chest. “On normal demons, Ultimate tattoos are inscribed in specific places upon their body.”
“They can’t be put just anywhere?” Vir asked.
“Correct. The proximity of a tattoo to its area of influence determines its efficacy. Balancer of Scales affects my entire body, and so it may be inscribed upon either the chest or back. This holds true for all tattoos. An Iksana Sight tattoo must be applied near the eyes, or it will be weak.”