“Sir, thank you for seeing me. I finally get a chance to thank you properly for saving my life.” Seric bowed out of appreciation and respect.
“Thank, Eris here. She was the one who healed your broken ribcage.” Seric grabbed hold of her hands.
“Thank you so much for saving my life! I’ll never forget my debt.” It was the first time I’d seen Eris puzzled on how to react.
“I was only following orders. No need to thank me.” Eris pulled her hands away and I knew that was a stupid excuse since she would have saved him anyway.
“Even so! Thank you both again.” Seric didn’t relent on the matter until Eris nodded her head as a no problem.
“How did you find me? Are we famous?” The number of visits and surprises today was never-ending.
“It was my sister. We were celebrating Regulus day and saw you on the gravity field.” Seric was guided to have a seat by Tessa but declined.
“How does your sister know where we live?” It didn’t explain anything.
“She remembered you from last night. She was one of the food delivery workers and mentioned how it was one of the best tips she got in a long time.” Seric took a final bow. “I just wanted to properly say thank you again for saving my life. I can’t let my sister wait outside for too long.”
“You’re welcome, Seric.” I stood up to say farewell and had someone see him out.
“He seems around the same age as you. Maybe your first possible friend?” The appreciation must have put Eris in a good mood for her to joke around.
“Don’t be silly, you're my very first true friend!” The white of my teeth showed through my smile.
“Yes, true friend that you’ve killed twice so far.” Eris rebuked.
“Hey, dropping you as we fell down the abyss doesn’t count.” Eris’s head twisted in my direction in a say what manner.
“Uh…, nothing.” I didn’t know she counted dying against the ape as my fault! Eris slapped me enough to run away, out of reach. She stopped chasing after me once I profusely apologized to her several times over.
It was only midday and we had some spare time. Now was the perfect chance to go over the training book. I flipped pages in hopes that more sections were revealed. Last time I was at ki absorption level three and now to my delight had skipped the fourth level entirely and entered into the fifth.
I read the next set of notes that were revealed on the pages. My uncle’s handwriting was neat and easy to understand, though the content became increasingly tense. It changed from his own personal notes to a direct message for me.
“Each beast core absorbed has diminishing returns, becoming less effective until they did nothing at all. To advance any further my only option is to focus on refining existing ki through the breathing technique.” These were his level four notes and where it started getting weird.
“These notes were always updated and if you’ve reached level five without my presence then I am away in Avalon or perhaps even dead. I will refrain from guessing how old or what you may be doing at this point in time. The seal that I maintained on your body must be disappearing. I’m sure you have many questions right now, but those along with your memories will return once the seal is completely erased. You must not be captured until then. Be safe, Volatis.” I had a feeling that was the end of his notes even if I advanced to higher levels.
Too many questions was right. The big one being, why was I sealed in the first place? Why did I have to live my entire life without magic? I remembered all the abuse, torment, and bullying that I’d gone through growing up. Memories that would always be there in the back of my mind. I questioned my ability to be able to handle the collection of memories from all my reincarnations. I could see how much torment it brought about on Eris.
I took deep in and out breaths until I stopped stressing about the future. The last piece of useful guidance my uncle gave was to focus on ki refinement through breathing techniques. I sighed at the irony of the situation.
I placed a notebook beside the training manual and wrote a summarized version for the others to use. To start their process of ki development. Rhea happened to be the nearest victim of my next assignment. I had her make copies of the plan to pass out to everyone for personal use as I made a list of names. These were the people that qualified for live training with monster hunts tomorrow. It came out to a group of twenty-four not including myself or any tagalongs.
I felt comfortable enough to ensure their safety so long as we stayed away from danger zones. I had a helper notify everyone on the list and make sure they were prepared with the equipment they needed for battle.
Then I found a comfy spot in bed to sit cross-legged to focus on my ki breathing technique until dinner time. I was going to try and delay finding the Aurisavem for as long as possible. I first wanted our new dojo members to become stronger and our network to spread throughout Avalon.
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Melkord· Mar 21, 2021
