The Artifact is You, You are the Artifact
Once the commander washed away Razier by the garden of trees he walked up to Cyrus who was fiddling with the star on his necklace. He slapped Cyrus' hand off his artifact causing Cyrus's head to shoot up. " Stop messing with it and listen" the commander commanded, as Cyrus almost reflexively sat in his lotus position.
The commander snickered as he said, " You didn't have to get into your cultivation position but it's fine if you want to try and put into practice what I will explain on your first try" The commander said the last part with an almost cynical grin, as Cyrus nodded.
" I am guessing you listened to me when I spoke to Razier about the state of cultivation? Clearing your mind, and spirit?" Cyrus nodded as he sat in the lotus position, his right leg over his left eyes closed. " Since you already have your artifact, you can use it to discover and feel for your Qi. Close your eyes! Good, as I was saying if you know anything it should be that your artifact is a part of you, you create the artifact from your Qi' The commander took a breath.
" You should feel your necklace burn, feel the heat from your necklace and guide it through your throat" As the commander said this Cyrus began burning, as he coughed up a thick blockage of bronze liquid. Razier came up next to the commander, yet the commander's eyes were transfixed on Cyrus, a look of wonder across his face. Razier stared at the commander, so much so was the commander's expression that Razier watched him, and not the cultivator.
As Cyrus opened his eyes he looked in wonder, then disgust like some foul stench assaulted his nostrils. The commander came up seemingly unbothered by the stench, " I have to thank you Cyrus" he said.
Cyrus looked up surprised to see an easy smile across the commander's lips, "You will not know this as you were asleep in the hospital, but almost everyone in the hospital you were in had the same illness you did Qi exhaustion" the commander told Cyrus.
"I know commander, I didn't get a chance to say something earlier but you know what happened to me right? You called it force cultivation"
The commander nodded, "Yes, for the most part, it's exactly as it sounds you forced yourself to use Qi, and if you paid attention today you should know that you need to remove your valves that regulate your Qi to do that and you forced open a valve."
The commander saw a question came to mind as Cyrus opened his mouth, "I can't explain it as well as others who have dealt with an artifact, so I won't explain but to quench your thirst for answers I will tell you that your heart valve is connected to your artifact" this seemed to work as Cyrus eased back for the commander to continue.
" Well as you can guess it's quite rare for people to make full recoveries from this, let alone actually recover enough to cultivate. Neither of you will realize this but what Cyrus just did is unheard of, he opened his throat valve in barely five minutes."
Neither of the two seemed to think much of it, " Commander it took Razier only about thirty to forty minutes"
The commander looked at Razier, "How old are you kid' Razier arched an eyebrow as he answered, " Eighteen"
The commander grinned, " He's about three to four years older than you, and you would be considered somewhat old to first open a valve. It is normally recommended to open a valve every year from ten until fourteen"
' what about fifteen asked Razier"
The commander laughed a big throaty laugh like one who had just told a joke, while Razier just shook his head as he said, " Don't you know about the Aadhya Ceremony?"
Cyrus looked like he was seeing double as Razier looked to the commander for help who shrugged his shoulders as he said, " You will see, though you're lucky to be"
Cyrus looked at the commander bewildered, " You only just made me more confused" he yelled. The commander chuckled at the young teen as he shooed him away towards the garden of Trees. Cyrus looked towards the direction noticing a pond, he looked back at the commander who was too busy with his humming weed. Luckily, Razier was there who kindly told him he stunk by covering his nose towards Cyrus, who followed his direction to wash in the pond.
The commander looked at both of his pupils with an excited grin, Razier was finished cleaning off his arms and hands from the blockage of his valve, while Cyrus was cleaning off his eyes with water, getting acclimated with his improved senses with the sun.
"I know you want to clean off, but I must get this out while you are still feeling fresh and excited." the commander told the two as they finished washing themselves off.
As his two students returned to their cultivation area the commander began explaining, "As you will have noticed your bodies will undergo changes some will be unnoticeable, while others more so. Your senses will be the first thing you will notice." The commander looked at Razier, still with his nose covered.
He looked at Cyrus now, " You may notice more differences since you have an artifact" he told him, confusing the young teen without an explanation as he spoke to them both now. " As I said your throat valve being opened helps enhance your senses, however, what you won't notice is your brain now circulates Qi"
Cyrus and Razier looked around, closing and opening their eyes as looking around at each other. " I don't feel any different" Cyrus said moving his arms around.
" I do feel refreshed, like an unidentified fog has cleared from my brain but that might just be because my eyesight has increased," Razier said.
The commander seemed to agree, "That is probably true but it also has to do with Qi circulating through your brain. Your brain is one of the more unnoticeable improvements that you can't identify until it's right in front of you." Both of his students didn't seem to understand as they looked at each other.
The commander sighed, " If you were to get into a fight right now your movements would be more swift, your thoughts clear, and you would have less fear. Most importantly, when you cultivate again you will find your mind easier to calm and meditate, as well as identify and circulate your QI"
Both Razier and Cyrus wasted no time as they both tried to sit, " What do you two think you're doing" the commander yelled as his face went red. Cyrus and Razier both froze, noticing the terror on the commander's face, He shook his head, " Do you think I told you this so you could cultivate again" he asked perplexed, " If I wanted you to open your other valves I would have told you too, why don't you ask Cyrus here how that feels"
Cyrus looked at his chest, feeling at his heart as his breath was caught. His eyes were far away like he was remembering something terrible and his breath shivered. " That's what I thought, I told you about these changes so you notice them. Maybe the next book you read you understand it more, retain more information"
Both teens nodded as they stood back up, looking at the commander with a new respect. "I thought you both were smart enough not to force your cultivation along" The commander shook his head, "Well I'm glad you were stupid enough to do it in front of me".
The commander was laughing to himself when Cyrus noticed something with his improved eyesight, "So I'm seeing your gray hair right now" Razier laughed at this while the commander rolled his eyes as he blew air from his nose in an exaggerated manner, "If your eyes weren't good enough to see that than I'd think you failed." Razier snickered at this, covering his mouth quickly when Cyrus looked back
The commander brought the conversation back as the sun began to set, "Besides your senses how do you feel" he asked.
Razier spoke, "I feel the same overall, I don't feel like night is beginning though, I think I could go a full day without sleep right now" Cyrus nodded at this, " I feel the same," he said.
The commander smiled at this as he told them. "It sounds like you both opened your valves, though I wouldn't recommend staying up. Your body may have more energy now but that's only because it has another source of energy besides food. Like food Qi needs to be replenished, if you stopped sleeping, you'd have to cultivate at night instead of sleeping"
Razier interrupted, " In other words Cyrus you'd cultivate instead of sleeping, it's redundant". The commander glared at Razier but didn't disagree as Cyrus watched on.