Chương 35: Chapter 1.35: Grasp the Lightning

Another bucket of water splashed Favius, and for a moment, he was back at the beginning. How he woke up drenched on the first day in this world. How he had chased Marius. How— He retched out a choking cough. That was then. This is now. He groaned as he ran his tongue through his parched mouth. He took a deep breath, but the air was hot and rich with smoke. This fucking fire. If Brutus makes us move one more time so we sit downwind of it… Before his thoughts could spiral again, Brutus's voice cut through it.

"Focus on your body. Focus on how it has been enduring and how you will continue to endure." Favius grit his teeth, then ran his attention through his body. From the fingers up to the head. Then down to the toes. The body scan the cultivator had taught him. Funny how that technique exists in this world and on Earth. He cracked one eye open and shook his head slightly. Nothing had changed. The smoking bonfire, buried under herbs and leafy branches, kept emitting its hateful vapors.

The warm light of afternoon felt like mockery. Three days. For three days we've been doing this. Time passed in a fugue state. Every ten minutes or so, Brutus threw cold water and gave them instructions or questions. His answers were short and resigned. Caliga's were loud and cheerful. Is she trying to be boisterous to sustain herself? But Urania— He glanced over at his younger sister. Somewhere around the second day, she had cried from dawn till dusk. Now her words were brittle, the answers filled with sniffling.

But no matter. Endurance. If this makes me a cultivator, makes all of us cultivators, it is worth it. He grit his teeth and took a slow breath of the scorched air. The sound of another splash of water broke his concentration. It hit to his right. Urania gasped, and before Brutus could speak, she croaked out, "No." She retched.

"I've had it with this. You're starving us, except for wine and spirit jerky." She enunciated her words carefully, as if afraid they would slip away if she didn't hold on to them.

"I haven't slept in three accursed days. And all of you act as if this is normal. No one cultivates before their first majority. This—" She tried to get up, but her legs, strained from kneeling all day, gave out. She collapsed. Brutus held her shoulders. Her dry sniffling turned into crying again. Favius rolled his teary and smoke-stained eyes and looked into the flames. She is so childish. His lips moved, but he didn't say it out loud. A moment later, he pressed his eyes shut. No, she's right. This…

this is closer to military training, and some shit like conduct after capture at that. And for my sisters… this is plain child abuse. He turned his head to speak to Brutus, who was holding but not comforting Urania. At that moment, Caliga interjected.

"Stop crying like an infant. You have to take this seriously." Urania snapped.

"Seriously? Seriously? Are you serious right now?" Caliga stood up as well. She stumbled, but braced her hands on her knees.

"You, out of all of us—you should know what my mother is doing with your baby siblings. This—" she threw her hands wide, and Favius dodged her unsteady gesture "—this is the price of finally being free, of finally doing what we want. And you are crying because it hurts a little bit?" Favius raised his voice, surprised that it sounded as if he had been chain-smoking his entire life.

"Caliga, enough," he rasped. She glared at him, which was oddly terrifying through the smoke. Favius turned his head to Brutus, but the man's face remained the same stoic mask he had put on ever since this began. No enjoyment. No support. He exhaled and let out a long, painful breath. Brutus knows that this is on me. If my siblings are crying, that's one thing. But I… God damn it, if I tell him to stop, he will stop. But— He turned to Caliga, to Urania.

"Urania, please. Let us try for one more day. Then… then we will stop." She looked at him, her face a mask of outrage and exhaustion. Caliga harrumphed behind him, but Urania sighed and settled down. Nothing but quiet sobbing could be heard for a while. The tightness in his chest was crushing his heart as slaves stepped forward and handed them each a small cup of spiritual berry wine and a piece of energy-rich mystery meat. Sunset turned day into night, and Favius let himself get lost in the rhythm again.

Cold water. Questions. Smoke. The shadows stretched and were filled with odd colors. Somewhere in the distance, he heard voices laugh. At some point, he noticed that all four moons—Father, Daughter, Messenger, and Chaos, the last associated with the goddess of emptiness and absence—were in the sky above them. He found himself joining in the distant laughter before replying to another question, following another meditation practice.

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from beside him, and static electricity tingled across his skin. His eyes shot open, and he spun around. For a moment, he smiled. Finally, my breakthrough. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Then he realized it was a woman screaming. Caliga writhed on the ground. Brutus knelt on her arms, forcing a cloth-wrapped piece of wood into her mouth while bracing her head. Three other people held her body down.

She writhed and spat blood around the bracer protecting her teeth. Her eyes were entirely white, rolled up, and sheets of lightning danced between her body and the ground. Everyone's hair danced as if underwater.

"Caliga," he coughed. A spike of anger shot through him.

"Why?" he grumbled. His thoughts raced. Why does she get a breakthrough before I do? The entity, the system, told me that I have talent. How does she get to cultivate before me? He took a deep breath. No. He let the smoke, the screams, and the electricity wash over him. Wash away his misplaced anger. I'm tired. Emotionally walking on scraps. This… this is good. Caliga made it. I will do so too. The strange non-time on the mountaintop continued, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Caliga.

Despite his resolve, envy pulsed through him, staining everything. Why her? And not me? Water hit him, and Brutus's voice cut through the darkness.

"Don't let your attention drift. Reflect on endurance. Why does it make a man superior?" Favius ground his teeth.

"Superior? That's fucking rich."

"These emotions…" he murmured out loud.

"Emotions…" He felt a tingling sensation. My emotions. On Earth they were never truly tested. Nothing compared to what I've seen here. But Caliga… He moved his head, then forced himself to look back at the fire. She has suffered this horrible family her entire life. The strange feeling intensified. It was as if a glowing comet of understanding approached the black hole that was his mind. Burning, breaking apart, yet within grasp. The insight hit him. It fell into orbit, and slowly he pulled it in.

He saw it: Endurance. Understanding knowledge through participation and perspective.

"It's beautiful," he murmured. Piece by piece, it fell into a lower orbit until it nearly skimmed the surface of his mind. A smile spread across his face. Just as a talon ripped out his heart. He screamed, but the pain paralyzed him. The talon rooted around, tearing his lung to shreds. He spat blood. Cold rock. Something was forced into his mouth. Hands held him down. No. No. My insight. They want to— Suddenly, the talon was gone. Instantly, he wished it was back.

Roots of liquid lead grew in his chest, piercing his solar plexus. Waves of pain flooded through his body. It was as if a tree was growing in his torso, forcing its roots along nerves and blood vessels.

"Shhh. Relax. It will be over soon." A voice. Brutus. What is he doing?

"Breathe. Focus." He whimpered as something hot and metallic bubbled out of his mouth and nose, but he followed the instruction. In and out. Ten breaths. A hundred. At some point, the pain was gone, faded like a nightmare in the morning. Only a distant tingling remained. He opened his eyes. Caliga and Brutus smiled down at him. He tried to speak, but spat blood. He turned his head and was handed a cup of water. After he cleaned his mouth, he lay there. Never known rock feels this nice. He closed his eyes.

The comet was still there. Except it was no longer a comet. It was a pearl. No—a point of energy. Beautiful, though he could not tell its color.

"The insight," he murmured. Caliga dragged him up and hugged him.

"We got it. We are cultivators. We finally did it." He groaned as she squeezed him. Distantly, he noticed he was bleeding onto her dirt-grey robes, but she didn't seem to notice. Brutus picked both of them up and spun them around.

"Well done, children. You ought to be very proud of this."

"Have you noticed it yet?" Caliga babbled.

"The tiredness? It's almost gone. There was pain, but now I feel… we could stay up three more days." Favius focused. Yes. The pain, the sore throat, the exhaustion—it was all still there, but distant. Dimmed. As if everything that challenged his endurance was happening in the next room over. Brutus squeezed their shoulders and gestured aside.

"Get some food and drink. I will help Urania." Favius finally noticed his younger sister staring—no, glaring—at them. She closed her eyes, took long, deliberate breaths, and focused on the fire, on the smoke. Caliga kept talking, but her words washed over him as he enjoyed the wine and food. Before he could eat it all, a slave approached.

"Young master, it would be unwise to eat too much after your fast. The same for the young miss." Caliga grumbled, but Favius nodded mechanically and ate a quarter of what he wanted. Soon black night turned into the blue of morning. Dawn rose in the distance. Brutus sat beside Urania, whispering words and instructions. Both he and Caliga drifted off to sleep on a prepared cot. He woke to another round of shouting.

"I've had it! This is too much! I'm not feeling anything!" Favius rolled off the cot and blinked owlishly. He smirked. Well, I am partly an owl. He focused on Urania and Brutus. His sister met his eyes for a moment before looking away. Brutus stared at him and shook his head gently. Favius sighed.

"Urania, it's okay. You don't have to—""That's easy for you to say!" she snapped.

"Both of you got an insight. But I… I just got all this pain and exhaustion for nothing."

"Urania, that's not—" She turned and stumbled down the mountain path. Brutus gestured for two slaves to follow. Behind him, Caliga muttered, "She's such a crybaby." The warrior cleared his throat and glared at her. Caliga flinched.

"She is well within her rights." The man's serious voice made Favius's elation crumble into bitter ash. I'm just pushing on. Trying to protect my family. But have I hurt Urania? Brutus stepped up and took a bite of food before studying them.

"You know, there is another reason why children don't cultivate before their first majority." He nodded at both of them.

"The two of you—you are mature beyond your years. For better or worse. But Urania…" Favius exhaled.

"She's had a normal childhood."

"And she's younger," Brutus added. Caliga scrunched her nose, but Favius grasped her shoulder before she could speak. They left the mountain and headed back toward the estate. Caliga giddy. Brutus unreadable. Favius dissatisfied. I've been trying to keep my family safe, but this… this game, this system… even if I succeed, they will be caught in it. He looked over the plains of Cindrath, where slaves were leaving the estates to harvest grain in the distance. A determined smile settled over his face.

I'll just have to make sure we all rise with the tide of change. And I have to talk to Urania. Once they reached the estate, they stumbled into their rooms. Tiro was waiting. The manservant bowed.

"Young master, congratulations are in order." Favius gave him a tired smile.

"Can we do congratulations after I've slept for a few days?" Tiro chuckled. It might even have been genuine.

"Very well, young master. I only wished to inform you that tomorrow there will be a feast celebrating you and your sister becoming cultivators. Both the Dominus and the Lady will be present." Favius didn't respond immediately. He dropped his clothes and flopped into bed.

"Well, that sure sounds like a lot of fun," he muttered. He closed his eyes and drifted into darkness.