"On the long and narrow road, every step requires sacrifice. For on this path, every gain one makes is a loss for another. There will always be those who step upon the heads of brethren, or pull them down from below, to rise above the common man. To walk forward one must take each step with measured grace, not forgetting the sacrifices of those who push you further along the path."
- Excerpt by the Ninth Chronicler from The Path
As Runt and Mr. Li slowly walked away from the burning buildings; both book covers were carefully studied by Runt. Their spins bent, edges torn, and letters faded showed how these aged books had been passed down to many before. One had pale gold letters over a midnight black cover reading 'The Art of Sacrifice'. The other had deep red words over a dusty white background written in bold letters 'The Path'.
As they approached the towering trees Mr. Li, with blood dripping down his beard and ribs still showing exclaimed, "Brat! The Art of Sacrifice is my technique, every gain you make in the arts of the Magicae will require a similar price. The world is our temple, the body is the altar, and our souls are our gods." He paused in the shade of a tree to let out a cough filled with blood and sat down. Runt quickly scurried up the tree and fetched water rushing down to fill Mr. Li's lips. Mr. Li took a long drag of the water to ease his parched lips and continued, "The Path will grant you no physical power, but it sharpens something much more important. Your mind. I have seen you grow since you were a babe and I can only show you the viciousness of the world in this way. The book chronicles the challenges and trials you must face from others if you embrace the Magicae."
Runt had listened carefully, but his expression still showed confusion as he asked, "Mr. Li, who were those men and why have they been searching for you? Why are you teaching me about the mysteries of the Magicae now? You have never taught any of your arts to the other brothers and sisters when they ventured into the world." Mr. Li let out another cough filled with blood and sighed, "I have never taught my arts in hopes that the brothers and sisters I raised could live peaceful lives. I had believed that those that do not seek power would not be dragged into the cycle of violence that surrounds the Magicae. Foolishness! I will explain my story and those men as we continue our journey, for now we must hurry deep into the forest. Those men will only be the first that seek me."
Runt helped Mr. Li to his feet and the journey into the forest began once again. Silence filled the first few hours of the journey only with Mr. Li's coughs as an interlude to their shuffling feet. Runt didn't know how to ask what he wished to know, Mr. Li had always been invincible to him. Now with his death looming the shadows on Runts face could only become deeper as he didn't dare to speak. The trees became taller and taller as the two continued, the numerous coiling branches now resembling a twisted canopy high above their heads. At this point, Runt noticed Mr. Li began to look more and more pale and scooped him onto his back. For once, Mr. Li did not complain, shout out, or bark orders. The trek continued in silence until darkness approached and Runt began to slow down.
"Brat! Stop here and we will rest for the night. It is time for you to hear my foolishness in my youth." grunted Mr. Li. With the last hint of sunlight trickling through the forest Runt sat opposite of Mr. Li and stared deep into his eyes waiting. A long pause filled the air as Mr. Li lit his large pipe and with a cough began to speak, "You probably noticed the heart on the right breasts of the armor the men wore. That symbolizes the Killing Heart sect, a major power here east of the Domingue forest. In my youth I had found 'The Art of Sacrifice' on a dead man on the edges of the forest here. To gain power as a lone Magicae I stole, swindled, and robbed throughout the entirety of the east." A large puff was dragged in from the pipe before he continued, "I stayed away from killing in the beginning, but as my power grew, so did my violence. In a battle over a rare fruit that could nurture the soul and ease the body I killed the grandson of an elder in the sect. This began our private war as his disciples flocked from near and afar chasing me to exhaustion."
"They chased me deep into the Domingue forest and I slew them one by one. Every kill brought me greater power and one less enemy, so I persisted. After nearly one hundred disciples and followers had fallen to my staff in the months they chased me, I met my final enemy beneath a thousand year old Doming tree." narrated Mr. Li. Runt was silent up to this point but Mr. Li could see from his fidgeting he had a burning question. Mr. Li waved his hand and Runt quickly asked, "This elder must have been very powerful to have so many disciples seek revenge for him, why did he not seek revenge himself?" Mr. Li sighed and said, "Boy the more powerful one becomes the more eyes seek you out. He was tied to his sect due to his obligations and I was merely lucky that the Killing Heart sect was at war elsewhere."
Mr Li continued his story, "The last enemy was the first boy's father, the son of the elder. We fought under the thousand year old tree, our blood spattering against its bark and roots. In the end I won a pyrrhic victory. On the edge of death as a last hope of sanctuary, I climbed as high as I could and fell into the highest abscess. There I found the heart of the tree. I performed the art of sacrifice on the heart and with the power I gained I could match the elder in battle." Pausing to take a breath of his pipe Mr. Li asked with his eyes if Runt had more questions. Runt asked confusedly, "Even if after that battle you were as powerful as the elder would he still not seek revenge? You have been at the edge of the green grass sea for almost a hundred years. Why now?" Mr. Li had a slight smirk and replied, "The elder did not care that his kin and disciples were slain as he has many of both. Also, the killing heart sect cuts off feelings of empathy and love as their mantra. He only sought revenge as he felt the slaying of his grandson was an insult to him, but he is a coward who only has the courage to dominate the weak. Him sending these weak disciples means he has broken through and gained more power. Or he knows I am already close to death due to my age. Probably both, as I have been regressing for nearly two hundred years now." Runt continued listening to Mr. Li narrating his battles against great beasts, encounters with beautiful ladies, views of imposing mountains, and meditations near great waters that stretched into the horizon until he nodded off to sleep.
"Brat! Wake up!" hollered Mr. Li causing Runt to hop off the ground like a frightened rabbit. "Today is my last day alive so I refuse to talk about myself. We will finish our journey to a thousand year old doming tree today and I will teach you the basics of Magicae along the way." ordered Mr. Li while flapping his arms excitedly. Mr. Li was surprisingly fully healed with not even a scar showing from yesterday. The only signs of his bloody battle were his torn clothes and blood soaked beard. Runt looked at Mr. Li with wide eyes and exclaimed, "Mr. Li, it looks like you are fine now, why must you say you are dying?" A quick but light tap from the large pipe to the top of Runts head made him stumble backwards onto the ground as Mr. Li grumpily proclaimed "Nonsense! Preposterous! Listen along quietly or I will leave you to fend for yourself."
Mr. Li quickly took off towards the forest depths as Runt pondered for a second before quickly following along. When Runt caught up Mr. Li instructed, "Our technique, The Art of Sacrifice, was originally derived from these very doming trees that surround us. When stepping on the path of the Magicae you must expand your roots and harden your body. Build reservoirs of energy just like the doming trees do so with water." Runt quickly nodded his head, although he didn't really understand what these words meant. "There is energy in everything, even the air we breathe, although we cannot feel it. For the lower levels of Magicae we gather our energy from the environment. The main sources are great beasts, rare plants, and other Magicae." spouted Mr. Li as he looked towards Runt out of the corner of his eyes. Runt nodded dutifully, but then asked, "Mr. Li you taught us all that life is precious and that we should honor it above all else. If I take energy from other Magicae will I not be disappointing your teachings?" Mr. Li gave a snort lightly tapping Runt on the head with his pipe once again. "I can tell you wish for vengeance boy, you cannot fool me! Those teachings were for the mortal world, in the world of Magicae, there is no good or evil. Only power matters and justice is a falsehood that laughs in your face." spoke Mr. Li.
"We are almost there, Runt. I marked this tree ages ago when I first settled at the edge of the forest. I wish for silence until we reach it." spoke Mr. Li as his smile faded and his eyes seemed to drift to the past. Runt quieted down and followed along gazing towards the treetops. Tears threatened to fall from his face once again as he reminisced in the silence about those who he lost yesterday. Before they could fall, a tree ten times the thickness of all the others came into view in the distance between the blood red trunks. Mr. Li sighed and stretched out his hand caressing the trunk softly before turning around to look Runt in the eyes.
"The hardest part of the Magicae path is entering it. Doing so with our Art of Sacrifice is even tougher, although it is much stronger than most other methods. Sit I will teach you how to perform the most basic sacrifice, called building the altar." stated Mr. Li gently as he sat with his legs crossed. Runt followed suit and watched Mr. Li hold his palms upwards towards the sky, his fingers moving in a strange and mysterious pattern. Copying Mr. Li, Runts hands began following the same patterns. At first he could feel nothing, but slowly he got the feeling that he was almost tugging on ethereal strings that were just out of reach. After a couple of hours Mr. Li clapped his hands and proclaimed "Very good you now have the most basic method of grabbing energy to move to your body. Once you officially become a Magicae you can do this to incrementally increase your strength wherever you are, even if you don't have a sacrifice."
Mr. Li then began going off on a tangent explaining how in his life those he saved in the compound over his hundred years of hiding have been his greatest accomplishment. He spilled all of his greatest memories of raising little brats and watching them grow. As the sky grew dim he sighed and stood up, turning around to face the tree. Placing his palm against it once again and said "The world belongs to the young and now it is my time to feed the forest. I will soon join this friend here in death." Runt's eyes opened wide as he couldn't understand how such a lively Mr. Li could be on death's door anymore.
Facing Runt once again, Mr. Li took out Brian's curved knife and handed it to Runt speaking, "Use this as a memento to remember your past, be kind when you can and merciless when you cannot. Follow your heart as it is the most important thing to a Magicae." He then pierced his own chest with his hand drawing out his still beating heart saying with a smile, "Quickly sacrifice this old thing to embark on your journey. Afterwards, you must climb to the top of the tree and sacrifice its heart too. Bury us together and let these old bones finally rest in peace. This is all I can do for you." Tears streaked down Runts faces as his mouth was elongated by surprise. He quickly sat down and began moving his fingers in a mystical way, not daring to defy Mr. Li.