I marked August 17th on the 2880 calendar.
Atom PL 2623
Jason PL 3980
More runes filled Jason’s aura than the day before; a few Egyptian were mixed with the Nordic belonging to the new age embalming priests. An Obelisk ran down his spine along with vulture-like wings made of aura. The Djed for Stability and Ouroboros were the only two symbols yet on the feathers. They somewhat resembled a perverse version of manifestation, one of two techniques to master after concealment.
Was Jason meant to fly, borrowing the power of a mage subculture? Each of the symbols shown gold in his blue aura. Flecks of green appeared in places, spreading spidery tendrils through his aura. While it was difficult to sense through the Nordic runes, Jason was far from invisible to my senses.
“You already committed blaspheme; why not compound your sins,” I said.
Jason snorted.
“It’s not as bad as you imagine. Emily helped a lot with the research. When my wings are finished, I will have several spells I can fire off without wasting mental energy.” Jason said.
“Mental energy is a concept from Mother’s culture. Will you cultivate next?” I asked.
“It exists even if we no longer have a method to improve it,” Jason said.
This was madness. Jason showed a cultivator's temperament but used a mage's tools. Father would have tanned my brother’s backside, and Mother might approve if she was ignorant of the extent of the foolishness.
“I’m having second thoughts about the operation.” My brother froze. “You seem to have everything well in hand. I’m not growing quickly enough to remain competitive.” I said.
“Yeah, I’ve nearly doubled your power if the recordings are accurate. I can’t believe you’re still going with Father’s old teachings. I half expected you to adopt vampire techniques or is your lover stingy with them. What could you expect from a corpse?” Jason said.
“Don’t call her that,” I said.
Jason smiled like it was all in good fun.
“Is Emily a honey trap?” I asked.
“No, but Ember has to be; she’s a royal. What would a girl like that want with you? No offense, little brother, but we both know of the two of us. I’m better looking.” Jason said.
“So you do have pride but not in what matters. I could understand if you wanted to try your hand at cultivation but mage craftsmanship. Not to mention you’re working with permanent ink.” I said.
“To win, sacrifices must be made. We could take over the Megacity and establish laws to help our people.” I closed my eyes and counted to ten. “You should have Emily help you as well,” Jason said.
Was there ever saving my brother from that witch?
“Is her asshole that good brother.” A blow nearly took my head off and blasted me through the house into the air. I landed hard and stared up at the blue sky, dazed. I didn’t see the hit coming. Jason was right; he nearly doubled my power. I felt the ground crunch with his every step. “You can’t talk about her that way. I don’t care if you are my brother.” Jason said.
Blue wings covered in green splotches surrounded him as I controlled my energy tightly. Multiculturalism can cause mutations to the body, enlarged organs, brain tumors, and a shortened life expectancy. Didn’t he care at all about his own life?
“I’m worried about you,” I said.
Some of Jason’s anger bled away, but mine was here to stay. My brother had hit me full force through our house over a woman. She convinced him to strip away his potential to reach his new lower limit sooner.
A glance at the house revealed a smirking Emily. Ember still slept, leaving me alone with my brother. He had never raised a hand to me in anger before. What happened to Jason and his love of seals and building the farm?
“I’m worried about Emily’s parents and siblings. This isn’t about us. The people need representation. We can be that by adopting the cultures onto ourselves and stopping the madness.” Jason said.
This wasn’t Emily. I’ve never heard her say a word about taking over a megacity. The Meisters, Borgs, and cybernetically enhanced mutants would bleed any army dry. We might be able to invade, but holding 20 miles of the city with a population of three hundred million wasn’t viable. Even if we made it to the city, we wouldn’t know how to grasp the power structure.
Then there were his runes.
My brother invited mutation and health problems. Two different cultures was a risk more shaved years off his life. Mana isn’t energy, Ki, or mantra. Contesting energies often had violent reactions. Mana and Ki were examples of the dangers.
“You have read the medical records from Father, Mother, and our ancestors. This path you’re on will only end in your early death.” I said.
“They were all racists, and so are you,” Jason said.
I slapped his hand away and stood on my own. “What’s next? Will you chase after the old blood of Louisiana or the dragon spirit of the Everglades? I know you can feel how close to the edge you already stand. Which one will tip you over?” I asked.
“Good, you learned your lesson. Emily is off limits; I don’t want to hear her name leave your mouth. Your vampire is on notice another word from her, and she’s out.” Jason said.
“If she leaves, then so will I,” I said.
“You would betray me,” Jason said.
His wings expanded to make himself appear larger. Jason reminded me of a crow trying to look intimidating.
I held my aura so tight that it was invisible and raised my power. Nothing moved as I silently grew my power to full strength. At that moment, something clicked into place. My concealment felt so easy. The whole of my aura had reached full control. Jason hadn’t sensed the change like we couldn’t sense the subtle shifts in father’s power.
A feeling of accomplishment swelled in my chest; after so long, I reached the point where I could leave. No vampire, detector, or mage would sense me even at full strength. I could make myself appear no more powerful than a normal human.
My aura felt so much sharper and under control. I flexed it, causing a gust of wind but no burns. Still, Jason hadn’t noticed. Two techniques opened and branched off from concealment and aura. Manifestation and construct application were within reach. I had options to pursue and could train without worrying about losing my concealment.
I came to a new understanding of obtaining my new level of control. Jason hadn’t kept up with his concealment training at all. Why didn’t he put in the effort, or was he drowning, and I hadn’t noticed? I remembered he punched me stronger than I was but powerless to use his strength.
“No, we will stay the course,” I said.
My brother nodded slowly in acceptance and folded his wings.
Jason had a smile on his face like he had won something. Couldn’t he sense my power, my control? Had that slipped, too?
We entered the training room, and Jason increased the gravity to 10k. My eyes widened as the full force of 10x Earth’s gravity hit me. This time, my energy reacted instantly, battling the intense force and adapting faster than before. Control was important. Before, there were so many useless movements.
I hopped on my toes, getting a feel for the training room. The mental energy needed to do things with my aura had dropped by what felt like 80%. Mastering concealment was a massive boon.
“Now that we’re finally at a man’s level, let's see what you can do,” Jason said.
I punched him in his smug face, kicked the side of his knee, and punched him in the gut. Jason hadn’t reacted; no flashes of uncontrolled aura were barely flickering. Jason couldn’t sense me move or react in time. He moved, and I ducked under his attack and returned with an uppercut before he could react.
“It's not too late; you can always pull those tumors out of your aura and return to the path,” I said.
“Your racism knows no limits. People need to know I am of them. Mages will not follow men like Father or you. They want a wizard with ties to the Norse. The voodoo witch doctors want a man of old Kamet so they can feel like they are a part of something.” Jason said.
“They will call you a thief of their culture, using pieces of them. You are a chimera, and they will see it.” Several blue spears tipped with green blades came at me from Jason’s aura. He neglected his greatest powers for idealism. Jason spat on our Father and Mother for magic. A powerful combination of attacks followed, telegraphed with uncontrolled energy. “You wanted to take the mantle of a mage; maybe you should fight like one. Go hide behind a pillar and attack me while my back is turned.” I said.
I shoulder-checked him, and he lost track of me just long enough to dash behind him. Jason was suddenly airborne as I took him into a German Supplex. He could have one of their techniques if he liked the Nordic cultures so much.
Jason threw himself off the ground and flapped his wings. Frigid winds and small tornadoes rushed around him in a display of wasted power. Nordic runes were never designed to control aura neither were Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Father would beat us both if he found out. Me for letting him get away with it, and Jason for letting a mage girl talk him into it.
There was something I wanted to try. Freshly after mastering concealment, I released only the energy I wanted to through my aura. Through two fingers, I concentrated a white ball of my aura. I extended it into the shape of a sword before pouring my aura into the shape, turning it pink and then red.
I moved in and sliced down.
Jason screamed as one of his wings fell to the ground along with many of his Nordic runes and Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Tendrils of Jason’s aura reached out to reclaim the fallen pieces of itself, clearly out of Jason’s control.
I kicked him into a wall and kicked his wing back to him. We were going to get this out of our systems.
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