“Aye, that would be its mouth beam.”
“Sorry? Mouth beam?”
“Never seen it myself, but tales tell of angered Mahakurma firing red beams brighter than the sun itself. Anything in its path simply ceases to be. No one’s ever seen it up close… But well, our records show entire mountain ranges that have gone missing in their wake. Just a flat, level field of molten rock where they used to be.”
That would do it, Vir thought. The thought of a single attack destroying Daha in moments sent shivers up his spine. Only the knowledge that these beasts didn’t exist in places sentient beings called home gave him a measure of solace.
If they had, there wouldn’t be any cities left.
“Why are we here, though? I’m guessing you have a reason?”
“Aye, though I must admit I’m surprised you’re asking. Can’t you feel it?”
Vir thought for a moment. “The prana? It’s denser in the shell, but—”
No, not just the shell. What is this?
“The air. The prana in the air’s denser, too!”
It wasn’t by all that much, so he’d missed it earlier. But there was no doubt both the air and the ground had denser prana than the surroundings.
“Walk with me,” Cirayus said, motioning Vir to follow through the forest.
They didn’t travel far—despite the Mahakurma’s size, it wasn’t nearly large enough to host an actual forest. They soon arrived at the edge and looked down a saddle in the turtle’s shell. A sort of shallow valley, which several beasts had occupied.
Vir saw it in an instant. The prana density that had been barely noticeable before now flooded Prana Vision, clouding it even more than normal, growing denser and denser toward the center of the valley.
“The ultimate training ground,” Cirayus announced, spreading all four arms. “The denser prana will train your body, and with more prana comes stronger monsters against which you can test your mettle. Monsters representative of the ones we’ll find later, once we’re deeper. Monsters you will need to learn to vanquish.”
“How long do I have?”
“As long as it takes. Weeks, months, even years. Consider this your new home, and by the time we leave, you will be transformed.”
“By fighting a few monsters?”
“Not just any monsters. Lad, to best these creatures, it won’t be enough to hone your prana manipulation. Not even a new Talent or two will help you. Reforge yourself. Only by unlocking your true potential,” Cirayus touched Vir’s chestplate. “Only by tapping into the true power of your predecessors, will you emerge victorious. Brace yourself, for the way forth will be fraught with hardship.”
Vir regarded the terrifying creatures that roamed the valley. Even from here, even with all the ambient prana occluding his eyes, he could tell.
The beasts below were in another league entirely.
“It’s never been easy, Cirayus,” Vir said, cracking his neck. “That’s never stopped me before, and it’s not about to stop me now. Where do I start?”
16PRIMORDIAL NATURE
The world shook again, but this time, Vir expected it. He flexed his knees and kept his balance as the oversized turtle took another gargantuan step.
“So that’s my goal, then?” Vir asked. “The center of this little valley?”
The prana grew denser the closer one neared the center of the dip in the turtle’s shell, which in turn strengthened the beasts more than those at the periphery. It wasn’t a slight change, either. The prana in the outermost domain was easily triple what it was where Vir stood, with deeper domains continuing the pattern.
Cirayus laughed. “No, lad. See the hole there?” he said, pointing at the very center of the valley.
In fact, Vir hadn’t seen it. The cloud of prana was so thick it was visible with the naked eye, but Prana Vision, even dormant as it was, turned the cloud into an opaque black mass, essentially blinding Vir.
Still need to deal with that, he thought. It stood as his last hurdle to true acclimatization.
That wasn’t the only reason, though. An ominous Ash Tear hovered in the distance, some twenty paces off the turtle’s back. Like a looking glass into some other part of the Ash. It was too far to be a threat, so Vir ignored it for now.
“It leads into the Mahakurma’s shell,” Cirayus continued. “The center of the valley is nothing but an entrance to the final beast’s lair, but to get there, you’ll have to deal with the others, first. Each beast here has claimed its domain. They will not let anyone pass.”
“What happens at the center?”
“Not at, but below. Beneath the surface, your greatest challenge awaits. You must journey down into the depths of the shell, where your final foe remains. The beasts up here cannot compare to the one who dwells below, so brace yourself. And pace yourself. We shall remain here as long as it remains safe.”
“Why wouldn’t it be safe? I thought you said we were protected here?”
“Aye, but the Mahakurma’s on the move. It may well wander into more dangerous parts of the Ash, where graver threats lurk. Trust me, you do not want to be caught in a fight between a Mahakurma and a Wyrm.”
Vir didn’t need any convincing. Merely imagining that clash of world-ending beasts sent shivers down his back. That wouldn’t be a battle… It’d be a natural disaster.
Cirayus paused, regarding the deadly beasts with a pensive expression Vir couldn’t quite place.
Vir was about to sit down to meditate when the demon spoke,
“This training is designed to teach you one thing, and one thing only.”
“Which is?”
“I cannot say.”
“You… don’t know?” Vir echoed. This might very well have been the first time the giant admitted to not knowing something.
“One of your ancestors was said to possess an ability so powerful, it turned him practically immortal within the ash.”
“The Ultimate Bloodline tattoos, you mean?”
“Nay. Something else. Something related to their prana circulation. Jalendra the Wise mastered it for certain. Whether the others did, I cannot say. However, it is my belief that you must master this ability if you are to realize your true potential. You have seen Parai’s memory, have you not? Did you ever encounter such a thing?”
Vir thought for a moment, recalling all the patterns Parai used to cycle his prana. Patterns that gave him armor, boosted his vitality and likely did a slew of other things Vir wasn’t aware of.
“Possibly. But if you asked me to copy it, I couldn’t.”
“Pity. I’m afraid I cannot help you there, lad, other than telling you of the feats they accomplished.”
“That… might actually help.” If Vir understood the kinds of things Parai could do, he might reverse engineer the techniques.
The giant then spoke at length about Parai’s feats of combat, but in the end, all Vir understood was that Parai was unfairly powerful. The demon could shrug off lethal attacks and burst the blood of his enemies through prana manipulation alone.
“Cirayus, do you know why Prana Channeling works the way it does?” Vir asked. “I copied Parai’s technique, but I still have no idea why it works the way it does. Even modifying it slightly messes everything up.”
Vir still remembered the debilitating pain from when he’d tried.
“The basics, yes. Our thaumaturges have several theories on the matter. It has to do with harmonizing the 144 chakra—the centers of energy—that run through the body. It’s by no means an exact science, and research continues on it to this day. Suffice it to say, experimenting with new cycling techniques is strictly the domain of the foolish and the highly experienced. You’d best stay away from it for now, lad.”