"It took some time to figure everything out and get your classmate's equipment to an acceptable condition, but I've finally gotten a look at what we can do for you." Reven walked out from the back of the Forgeheart to greet an early Shynerai who was cleaning up the workshop and readying it for a new day.
For the last four days, Reven had been working on their gear while Ketsuiko put them through extra training in the afternoon, which meant heading home by the time it was already dark.
The main aim of the training was for them to practice and focus on any problem already, since they had no information on the challenges that would be in the Carnival, all they could do is make sure they were in peak condition.
Working with Shynerai, who spent his nights working in Reven's Workshop, tending to tasks that the old man would rather have the Daumier handle than himself, while the old man was dedicating the free time offered by his presence to work on his quotas.
Though unknown to Shynerai, he would also take every chance that the young boy wasn't paying attention to study him.
Eventually, he would finish and approach Shynerai as he was opening up the Forgeheart.
"White-hair, you're early."
"Master Reven." He let out a yawn as he opened the shop's shutters.
"Good, I managed to finish my quotas for the week, so that means we can finally take a look at that request of yours."
"Really? Thank you, sir. So are you going to give it to me now or should I come back later?" Shynerai thanked the old man with more than enough enthusiasm to start the day.
"No, you idiot. You're just as loud as the other idiot. I said it before, I can't be sure that you'll be able to handle its power but I did say that I would whip you into decent shape to handle something like that."
"Hmph, there's less than three weeks before the Carnival, and you only just want to start training me? At least Uncle Shadow put me in the grinder the day after I asked." Shynerai remarked in a disappointed tone.
"And he's the same 'uncle that sent you into battle unarmed'? I swear your dad would have a fit if he knew." The old man ruffled through his coarse mane.
"Shynerai! Just make sure you get back here after school. There are a few things we need to talk about." Reven's voice was steely while remaining low and calm, an unusually serious tone for him.
While the rest of the day passed in a vague blur for Shynerai whose thoughts remained steadfast on the Warsmith's words and his sudden change in attitude.
Taking the sight of an aimless Shynerai to mean that he wouldn't be very focused on training, he let him off so that he would return to his after school duties. The rest of his classmates gained the day off thanks to Torren's protest.
By the time class ended, the young man burst out of the class, in a rush to visit the Forgeheart.
"Master Reven, I'm here!"
"Settle down boy, I'll be out in a minute, now grab yourself a seat." Shynerai sat down before he was joined by Reven as he poured him a drink. The old man picked up a stick of chalk from the desk nearby, he took to drawing symbols on the ground, reminding him of his time with Shadow.
"Since you don't have any real idea of what a SoulArm is, I'll just give you a summary."
"So, to put it simply, when battling incredible dangerous foes like demons, and beasts...there are two main ways of doing it, with Magic and Soul Arms"
"Wouldn't normal weapons be enough to take them down?" Shynerai raised his hand and asked.
The Warsmith noticed the scars running down his arm and realized what he was saying. Grasping his arm and giving him another quick look, he sat back down as he drew out his own Notebook. Paging through the leather-bound text until getting a series of worn-out pages.
"Here, take a look. The enemies of our existence are very old and very powerful, see..." The old man began to explain,
After FAE created the First World and the Heavens above it, he realized that to protect it, he would need to create protectors that would inhabit the paradise while he resided above. So from His firm judgment, He crafted beings that would prevent any harm from coming to his creations or their paradise, and He called them Lumenborne.
All of these races grew and flourished and after a hundred generations, the world was teeming with co-existing beings, but paradise would soon be short-lived.
A war would break out in Heaven, wherein a figure whose name has been forgotten, known only by the title they took during the war, the Light-Bringer would spark a rebellion against FAE, he realized that he could use FAE's precious creations to support his regime to overthrow Him.
So the Light-Bringer decided that to form an army strong enough to defeat Him, he would not only need the assistance of his fallen brethren, but he would have to exploit another source of power and very few things in the First World fit the description better than the Lumenborne since they were formed from FAE's own judgment.
Unfortunately, the Light-Bringer did not need to persuade them since the majority of them had begun to feel that as powerful as they were, being reduced to playing guard dog to the other races had made them a laughing stock.
So when they were approached, most if not all of them joined the Light-Bringer and from that day onwards, the first of what would be many corrupt initiates would rise, no longer as the Lumenborne of Paradise, instead they were all under the name of the Nycerii, Devils of the Root World.
"Now when looking at the options you have as a Guardian, the SoulArm is the easiest and obvious choice. See each person has a particular affinity for the kind of magic that makes them more suited, whether it's commanding the power of fire or even to raise the dead."
"But for SoulArms, things are a lot simpler, since these are weapons infused with a portion of the wielder's soul. Making the weapon attuned to the wielder and their abilities, because of this, a Guardian that has a SoulArm gains an absurd level of strength."
"That makes sense, I fought against someone that had a powerful weapon on their side, coupled with their magic, I really had no idea how difficult it would be!" Shynerai's memories of his battle against Vetmier Raon came to mind and were not so easy to ignore.
"Hmm, they probably had a SoulArm that complemented their magic. Though you aren't so different..."
Shynerai sat up as he mentioned him, he pointed to the diagram in front of him and he continued to explain.
"Your arms, they didn't just end up like that on their own...you were probably using the Atash that Shadow taught you?"
"Mmm, Words of Power, yes, but not Atash. Uncle taught me how to harness Physical Energy to strengthen myself and Words of Power when destructive power was needed–"
Flicking his forehead as he interrupted.
"If you let me finish, I'll tell you. That Physical Energy you mentioned, its real name is Atash, it is the Fire of Creation and Breath of the Soul."
Though since Shynerai only knew of Physical Energy he asked him to explain. The old man paged to an entry in the Notebook where he pointed out an entry that was an excerpt from Shadow's own Notebook.
In it, he detailed how he had learned Atash from the Adhao that don't forget, and as such rarely write things down. Shadow wanted to figure out a way of studying it.
His notes were added to the book that Erai read about them and their exploits, however Reven was quick to stop Shynerai from reading his father's adventures,
"Those are for when you're much older, perhaps after graduation."
The Fire of Creation, refers to the flame that burns within all living beings from the first moment of their existence, and acting as the spark for this flame is the Breath of the Soul. When the Breath sparks into existence, life comes into being, which gives rise to the Flame.
The entirety of their system, wherein life is preceded by the soul, this flow of Physical Energy, is known as the Atash, and it is ever-present within all creatures, with the exception of Divine beings, Demons, Devils and the Undead.
Divine beings are fueled by the Grace of the Heavens, while Demons and Devils alike are empowered by the Abyss. The Undead can only exist in the First World by feeding off the Atash of living creatures, however monsters and beasts have been known to do the same, only requiring the magical energy more than the Atash to survive.
The Originals, the First World protectors and the predecessors of all Guardians learned how to harness the Breath of their Souls to empower their Flames and strengthen their bodies from the Adhao.
"Who were the Adhao to have learned such a power?" Shynerai asked.
"I've already told you, though I used a different name, a much older one. They are or were angelic beings that were tasked with guarding all of Mortalkind against the evils that sought its ruin."
"Are…are you saying that they were related to the Lumenborne?" Watching Reven as he nodded to his question, before sitting back in his chair at the revelation.
Despite being known as the Incomplete Magic, Atash doesn't rely on the might of magic that is internal or external, rather using the Breath of the Soul and one's Flame to empower and strengthen the being's body.
It's for this reason that a user of Atash can draw from the Breaths of other living beings, absorbing their Physical energy from the surrounding living beings to strengthen themselves far beyond the might they could only from their own Soul.
"It's a lot to take-in, I know…"
"I never knew, well I never really knew what any of this, about my father, about Shadow or even what this power actually was.."
"That shouldn't be all that surprising. The Adhao are open with all their secrets so few of its practitioners even knew the truth."
"And as far as Astral and Shadow were concerned, when they stopped being Guardians it was for an even more important mission. For them, never having their children forced into this world was worth leaving everything behind, you were worth it for him."
"..."
Reven sought to close the Notebook, but Shynerai stopped him. In a shaky voice he reiterated that while his father probably never wanted this for him, he did one thing really well, he taught him to cherish his connections and the people he made with them. His father may not have trained him into a Guardians. He raised him with the same ideals.
"Thundering Knight, the Physician of Glynnfoldt or just my father, all I've ever known is that he raised me to be a good person. And that kind of person wouldn't abandon his duty."
"Duty is not a child's obligation, know that you are a Guardian prospect and not a slave. There are other ways of saving the world."
"You're right, Master. But it is the obligation of a Hero."
Reven's eyes widen beneath the sweep of hair, seeing the spitting image of his late friend after hearing his resolve. Clearing his throat and collecting his thoughts by summoning a thumb-sized flame sigil and burning the back of his hand.
"I'm sorry, dear boy. I should've known better than to question your resolve. When you're ready, we can continue."
The young Daumier nodded.
Reven went on to state that there was a body of learning when it came to mastery of the Atash, and involves a great number of techniques, some known and others are only ever achievable by the masters.
Technique 1: Atash Manifestation
This is achieved when the user is capable of manipulating their own physical energy, by using it to empower themselves, the energy can take on one of three forms: Will Force, Wrath Force, God Force.
The strength of the manifestation varies between the types.
Use of the technique wears the user out as the Breath of the Soul is meant to flow in and out of the body and soul, since the body was never designed to handle such a build-up of power, it forcefully expels it all upon the deactivation of the technique, to prevent the power from growing out of control.
This leaves the user fatigued and in extreme cases unconscious until the levels of the Breath have normalized. By training and practice, the amount of Atash one can draw from safely can steadily increase.
Technique 2: Atash Repression
This technique marks the user's ability to absorb the Breath of the Soul from other living creatures to enhance their own Atash, usually done by the user meditating or clearing their mind and focusing on their Atash, which creates a well that draws in the Breath from all around, the longer the user wields this technique, the greater the strength of their Atash.
Technique 3: Atash Singularity
This technique is only available when the user understands and has mastered the previous, Atash Repression.
Through its mastery, they become capable of avoiding the pitfalls of the previous technique, allowing the user to passively absorb the Breath of the Soul from around them, without the need for intense focus or meditation, it can also allow them to absorb the Breath while in combat or moving.
This technique even goes as far as intuitively balancing the Atash within the user, letting them use it multiple times a day before feeling the effects of using Atash.
Technique 4: Atash Persona
This type of technique has been noted by the Adhao as an "unorthodox" skill due to its operation and its creation.
This was because the technique basically allowed the user to manifest their Atash separately from their own body...as you can see, this was very strange as Atash was used to empower oneself, while this technique lets the user manifest the energy outside the body.
With only a few users having been known to use the technique.
Reading from the book he began explaining the concept behind it, and that he might have something for him. Opting to teach him swordsmanship and delighting him at the thought, they got ready.
"So are you telling me about this Atash...Is there a way for me to use it and the Words of Power like a Soul Arm?"
"Haha. Don't be ridiculous. You can't replace the value of a SoulArm like that. However, with your fighting style, we might be able to do something a bit more interesting with a sword..."
Presenting Shynerai with Shadow's Notebook, he opened it up while a flurry of pages and diagrams rained out and covered his lap, the old man picked a few out and handed them over:
"This...if you can pull this off, I'll let you borrow something special and after that, your dad's sword will be on the table. So, you think you can handle that?" Reven asked him.
"I can, or I'll figure something out." The young boy smiled with the pages in hand and a heart full of excitement.