Warriors Of Kagolania

"Yes," he replied calmly.

"But... this is my life energy! I will die when you take it away from me."

"You won"t die, though you will feel a bit different. The energy you are talking about can be compared to water in a vessel. When you pour too much, a thin layer protrudes beyond the walls. Enchanters are people who have too much energy in their body, so it flows out and connects to what is outside. I would only take this part. It would not affect your life span in any way, you only won"t be able to echant anymore.

The voice stuck in her throat for a moment. She did not want to agree to this condition. If it were any other matter, she would not agree, but she knew that she had no choice.

"Good," she said with a heavy heart. "Since that"s the only way to save him, I agree. Galaspiael"s life is more valuable than my gift."

Wan-Shi suddenly seemed much taller than before. And older. Like immortal being. She even wanted to ask him if he knew Gyeul personally or if he was such a creature himself, but she refrained.

"Come with me. This is not a good place for exercise, it is full of distractions, and you will need extremely strong focus. What have you learned about Washar so far?

"Not much. He is the prince of Madegald. I know his brother, Seth."

They entered the room from which they could go out onto the terrace in front of the house. Bright rays of sunlight fell in through thin curtains. Kalena sat down slightly narrowing her eyes.

"Washar was an extremely ruthless man from the beginning, but you will easily understand why." Wan-Shi stood upright above her. "His abilities allow him to enchant something that even ancient people could not control. This something is nothingness."

Kalena could not remain serious and laughed loudly.

"So he controls... nothing? He"s not so dangerous as he seems?"

"You didn"t understand me. He controls nothingness. He can enchant the lack of any energy, death in itself. Unlike you and Galaspiael, he is fully aware of his power and has used it many times."

The smile quickly disappeared from her face. She clenched her fists, feeling the growing desire to move on as soon as possible.

"So he can kill Galaspiael anytime..."

"Well, no. He probably already felt the extreme difficulty in killing the king and was angry that he couldn"t do it. You said you met a woman who could enchant water. You probably couldn"t beat her, nor could she beat you. Opposites can fight each other, but they will never win. Washar can hurt him, even very much. But kill no."

"And Galaspiael can"t beat Washar," she finished.

"Exactly. Galaspiael has the ability to enchant a clean life energy. The creation. Their energies are opposite and equal. Same with energy of fire and water. However, these are not the only things people could enchant. Galaspiael the third, called Gyeul, was born with the gift of enchanting the wind."

"Are there people who can still enchant something else?"

"There were some, that"s for sure."

"Can you learn how to enchant several things at once?" she asked "For example, fire and wind? I would beat Washar without a problem."

"Galaspiael called Gyeul developed a technique by which one can induce a second force, which was usually much more powerful than the first. This method was explored by His Imperial Highness Naimoor." He paused and nodded. "This is not the right way, Kalena. One emperor has already paid the highest price for his curiosity, and the other is yet to pay. Such power will destroy everyone, even those with the purest and most n.o.ble heart. You can beat Washar without it. You have even more chances than if you had, like Galaspiael, a very powerful but opposing power."

"Let"s get started." She clapped her hands and took a deep breath. "I will learn it quickly and move on."

"Be patient or you will be lost again," he admonished. "Handle fire carefully."

Kalena watched carefully as Wan Shi stood up and opened a long cabinet from which he took out a well-known weapon.

"I don"t have to tell you what it is."

"Am-shen," she said immediately, "only the longer ones. Different kind."

Wan-Shi sighed heavily. She began to get the impression that he was annoyed by her ignorance. He smoothed his dark hair and went on;

"No different kind, just real pre-war am-shen. Weapon of the Scribes" a.s.sociation, the organization established to develop and guard the art of enchantment. Before the war, another, similar to Scribes group was working on a more precise use of power. They wanted to save as much energy as possible. Their work led to the invention of this art. You may have noticed that even when you send a stream with your hands, it disperses very quickly and it costs you a lot of strength. These people have discovered how to counteract this. Shen allowed to aim more precisely."

"I understand! That"s why the hilt of the one I once saw was so worn! So these swords from Velikania were used to fight. He also had them..."

"Gyeul," he finished for her. "Yes Many people after the war wanted to find his am-shen. There were even special groups that earned money this way. They called themselves Searchers, and sold to the Righteous Conspiracy every relic of the past, reminiscent of how great Kagolania was. The emperor"s weapon was made according to his design, from metal that fell from the sky. Many Searchers would give their lives for such treasure."

"How do you know about things that are secret even for the best-educated Scribes?"

"I"ll tell you later. Anyway, I"ll try to teach you that. If you master the technique of fighting by enchanting, you will be one step ahead with am-shen. Washar has not learned from anyone, he does not know this method."

"I wish Galaspiael knew it." The girl suddenly realized something. "I won"t be able to curse when I find him, but to pa.s.s on what I have learned, I think?"

"If you want to. First, however, I would advise you to focus on mastering what you will later pa.s.s on to someone. All enchantments is nothing more than the flow of energy from body to body. Shen gives you the ability to direct the stream in a certain direction and increase its power. However, to use the sword as an energy channel, you must ensure that the energy in your body flows smoothly. Have you ever learned to meditate?"

"Galaspiael taught me, but I didn"t pay much attention to it." We were too busy to..." Kalena paused. She wanted to say "waste time" and Wan-Shi guessed it."

"You have to start. The more you want to speed up this process, the longer it will take, so give yourself as much time as your body deems necessary. Focus on energy. Acc.u.mulate it and steer it up and down. When you encounter a blockage, we will work to remove it."

*

"I don"t understand this recipe," said Zarkin when Mei read aloud the fragment she had managed to decipher. "Why didn"t the king write the proportion of the ingredients?"

"Is that so important?"

"It"s the half of success. Poisons, are easier to prepare. Here, one mistake is enough and you can fly into the air. Galaspiael must have fallen on his head if he brought it to Yagn-Sho."

"He didn"t bring it here. Only paper capsules were made here, the rest he did in his home." The girl put the paper on the desk. "His Highness probably underestimated his life that he undertook such dangerous experiments himself."

"Certainly His Highness had the money to undertake this experiments."

"Maybe we"ll look for some cheaper subst.i.tutes for your poison?" She suggested seeing how tired he was of the problem that arose when they were ready to work. "They certainly exist."

"With what will you replace the golden scorpion venom? Flour? Zarkin shook his head." I don"t know another, more effective ingredient, and even if it exists, we won"t find it here. We can find other ingredients, by trials and errors, but it will be even more expensive than buying this venom already. Remember that it is to be poisoned for soaking the arrows. A drop should be enough to knock down an adult man. We don"t need the mixture, which will work the same way, but only when you inject the contents of the entire bottle into your opponent."

"I remember you sent me to get poison ingredients before your Scribe exam and it wasn"t that expensive at the time ..."

"Because there wasn"t a war in the Sekania at the time," he sighed. "Anyway, until we get the money or catch the scorpion, we won"t do anything. Unless you will decipher dynamite recipe."

Mei slipped into his arms.

""I"m funny. Did I really think I could recreate something that the king himself was working on? He"s so smart, and I"m... I"m not even Scribe."

"Don"t worry, I am a Scribe and I don"t understand this recipe either. You won"t be able to recreate it right away, but it"s good that you are trying. Many people wouldn"t even try."

"What if I fail? If I can"t build even one stick of dynamite and you don"t have the money for the poison ingredients?"

"Then we"ll worry. But Rikken said that Aymon is gathering allies. The conspiration is not yet set, we are not going to fight now."

Girl winced.

"I don"t like calling us conspirators. We are not plotting. We want the real king to regain the crown, we act in the name of justice."

"We"re plotting against Samin."

"So let the Golden Guard call us that. According to them, we are bad, but we should have a better opinion about ourselves."

Zarkin straightened up and pushed her away from him, wanting to get up.

"So what do you want to call us?"

"How about Warriors from Kagolania?" she asked. "That sounds better."