Cyrus woke to see Alexander sitting on a chair reading a
book bound in green leather.
"If you weren't reading a different book, I would think the
past three days were a dream" quipped Cyrus with a grin.
Alexander didn't smile nor remove his eyes from his book,
"Didn't the commander explain to you not to try and open more than one valve?
Especially since you have your artifact, you are more prone to Qi exhaustion"
Cyrus looked away, as he said to Alexander, "I wanna go
home, and even if you haven't said it yet, I know I can't go home until I open
all my valves." Cyrus finally looked at Alexander, who was now gripping the
chair in his right hand, and the book in his left.
" Isn't that the truth" Cyrus screamed, his voice hoarse as
Alexander wouldn't take an eye off his book, " I don't belong here, yet I can't
leave can I?" His voice lowered to almost a whisper as he asked.
Alexander finally looked at Cyrus who was begging for
answers. Alexander's glance went soft as he said, " I thought so" Alexander
shook his head as he closed his book.
" You seem to think I'm trapping you here" Cyrus tried to
get up but was waved down by Alexander.
Cyrus looked at Alexander triumphantly,
" You didn't prove anything," Alexander said through
laughter, "I'm protecting you from yourself" Cyrus looked bewildered and then
offended.
Quickly, Alexander asked Cyrus, " Tell me what happened
when you tried to open your second valve."
Cyrus seemed to want to argue but quickly forgot as his
face went pale.
" As I'm sure you know three days ago and Razier both
suffered holy opened are first valve"
Alexander nodded, " Yes, Razier told me, you opened the
valve toward your brain"
Cyrus nodded, " Well, the commander said it would take us
about a week to get used to our new senses"
Alexander interrupted, "And you thought that it would be a
good idea to try and open another valve before you were even used to your first
valve being opened"
Cyrus looked ashamed but quickly interjected, "The
commander only said we couldn't cultivate on the same day, and it wasn't like I
did it alone. How else would I have gotten into the bed"
Alexander glared at Cyrus, " I already dealt with Razier,
and I'm glad you weren't completely stupid to try and open a valve without
anyone there" said Alexander sarcastically.
" Tell me what you felt when you tried to open your valve"
" Well, I followed the sensation of Qi with my mind. It's
hard to explain how I did it but I just saw brightness like an orange light was
somehow right in front of me burning bright" he shook his head.
" That sounds about right, though it's a different color or
sight for everyone but it's your Qi. It's quite exhilarating when you can see
it the first time"
Cyrus looked amazed as his right hand went to his heart,
and he said with a grin " I tried to reach out to it because I felt like I
needed to bathe in the light sit and become the core of it"
Alexander nodded his head, "It seems you found more than
just your own Qi. This is why I said it's dangerous for you, it seems you ended
up finding and trying to cultivate your Artifacts Qi" he stood up again pacing
the room.
"of course, everyone's artifact is different, but
everyone describes a similar feeling of overwhelming Qi that they want to
almost bathe in" he shook his head, "How did you end up resisting? There are
five people in the capital's hospital with Qi exhaustion from their Artifacts
Qi where they sit in a coma"
Cyrus shot up out of bed falling in the process, "Why
didn't you tell me that" he yelled. Alexander looked perplexed, "Why would that
matter? Did you forget what happened in your village? It's as you already know,
you are a danger to yourself and everyone else if you can't control your
artifact" Cyrus looked down, a couple of times he looked like he was gonna say
something but didn't.
"So how did you resist the feeling of your artifact's
Qi. ?"
"Because it didn't feel right it didn't feel how it did
when I opened my first valve. That was a nice sensation. However, this time it
felt like I was in a state of bliss that hurt but in a good way" he didn't
realize but he was smiling as he said the last part.
"It seems I was right about you, or I guess about
myself it doesn't matter but you have a strong sensitivity to Qi."
Cyrus stated to him in confusion" Your Artifact is just Qi
but it's much more concentrated Qi normally with a specific purpose like
manipulating lighting. The reason it's so concentrated is because your artifact
is pure Qi like anything natural in the world such as the moon, sun, and water.
People don't have pure Qi because we have cells and blood mixed with Qi from
our parents."
Cyrus looked with wonder at Alexander, as he continued, "So
I guess you wouldn't say Qi exhaustion is a coma but some kind of addiction to
pure Qi in your system. That feeling you felt can only be replicated by putting
yourself in a constant state of cultivation where you circulate your artifacts
Qi"
Cyrus turned pale as he said, "You mean those patients in
the hospitals are cultivating"
Alexander nodded, " if you can call it that but they
aren't getting stronger they just want the sensation "
Alexander shook his head, "It's really rare but a
shame nonetheless. The only good thing that came out of it was people stopped
being called cultivation addicts because there are some now"
Cyrus seemed to enjoy the last part getting him to laugh
but quickly cut short as Cyrus winced. Alexander seeing this stood up, "You
should get some rest, tomorrow you will see how much your senses have improved,
you only have two months to open your valves."
Cyrus' head shot up, " what do you mean I have two
months" he yelled, " will I get to go home by then" Cyrus asked again his
excitement evident.
Alexander waved his left hand, "Relax, it usually
takes a week for each valve to open and you will get another month to get used
to your new senses that's plenty of time." Alexander shut the door as he saw
Cyrus still waiting for more answers.
. Something loud slammed into the door as Alexander walked
down the hall with an amused look across his face
The following month the commander came to the garden to
guide his two new pupils. Razier as the commander expected opened his valves
quicker than Cyrus, however, he was having more trouble than Cyrus getting used
to his improved physical capabilities and senses.
Cyrus struggled with concentration, every time he felt the
warm sensation of Qi he would constantly break the flow of his Qi, breaking the
flow before it opened his valves.
After watching this a couple of times the commander
interrupted, "Why are you losing focus so much? Razier has already opened his
valve for his legs"
Cyrus opened his eyes and said without making eye
contact, " I don't want to use my artifacts Qi again"
The commander shook his head, "Well how about you think of
this then, once you open up all five valves you won't have to worry about
mistaking your artifacts Qi anymore"
Cyrus' eyes scrunched and he stared at the commander, "
what are you talking about"
The commander laughed, then told the young teen with
a maniacal glint in his eyes "When all five of your valves are opened your Qi
becomes just as concentrated, or pure as your artifacts. How did you think you
would be able to use your artifact?"
Cyrus nodded and said, "Alexander told me about
artifacts being pure Qi like what the world is since it's not diluted by our
blood"
The commander shook his head a little, "That's true
but it doesn't seem like he told you the best way, or else you would know that
opening all your valves is your best option"
"What happened was you allowed too much Qi from your
artifact to enter your veins and your body responded to it by trying to open
all your valves. The issue is that your body can't handle the pure Qi as
Alexander explained causing people to become catatonic cultivators."
The commander wasn't finished but Cyrus no longer
seemed to worry about cultivating seemingly motivated by not having to worry
about being catatonic when all his valves were open.
The commander shook his head, returning to his
position in front of both his pupils, watching as they both cultivated.
The newfound motivation allowed Cyrus to open his pelvis
valve the next day, testing out his newfound physical capabilities as he ran
around the chateau, a ten-mile run he completed in ten minutes.
By the beginning of the next week, both students had opened
two valves and were now capable of hearing and seeing the town from the chateau
with their improved senses.
Alexander would stop by each day never actually speaking
just watching as his two battle mates improved physical capabilities improved.
The second week Razier opened both of his arm valves, which
commonly happens. Cyrus wasn't able to open even one of his arm valves, but he
was able to improve his sense of sight, smell, and hearing again, as well as
improve his time of running around the Chateau to nine minutes.
. On the third week, Razier had only to open his heart
valve, however for some reason, Alexander and the commander both told him he
should and can't open his heart valve. Razier seemed to understand,
unfortunately for Cyrus, he seemed to care why that was.
Cyrus's struggle ended on the third week when he was
able to open both his arm valves. He was surprised to notice that his sense of
touch improved, unlike with his legs and feet. Similar to the legs, he found
that he was much stronger in his arms now, which he found out when he broke his
bedroom door. This seemed to be expected as similar to Alexander's room he now
had an oak wood door.
" I could cut off my arm if I had to, " said Cyrus
with a laugh, "Razier how did you deal with the prickling sensation up your
arm" he yelled, as Razier just laughed without any explanation.
In the past month, both Cyrus and Razier had not only
improved their physical and mental capabilities but also their physical bodies.
Their hair grew, Cyrus's past his shoulders, and Razier's down to the nape of
his neck.
Razier's age also seemed to affect how much his body could
physically change as he grew an inch while Cyrus grew 5 inches, just one inch
shorter now than his 6'3" companion. Both students were bowing to their teacher
when with their new senses they heard an unnatural whistling of the wind.
Using their sense of hearing they turned around, where they
saw a wooden dagger hurling at them. At a hundred yards they could easily
identify the dagger, seeing it was made out of wood both of them relaxed.
However, the dagger was still coming at them, gaining
momentum as they could hear the whistling of the wind coming off it as it went
slightly above Razier's head. The dagger was going so fast it cut some of his
hair like it was a razor, as the dagger stuck into a green moss-filled tree
trunk
. "Good, it seems you were a successful commander."
The commander grinned and said, "We still have one
more test to make sure, but I think you will be happy with your payment
Alexander" the commander said as he turned toward the direction the dagger came
from.