Solo Of Body & Spirit Pt III

[Alric Lysane]

60th Winter 521 AV - Alric & Taz's Apartments The book Taz had found had been invaluable for his explorations with Flux, not to mention his own sense of self. He had found himself wondering whether, in some intuitive way, she had thought it would help him with his tumultuous emotions. He hadn’t had the chance to ask her but if so then she had been wise, he had found that with daily repetition he was reaping benefits beyond that physical, or magical. He felt calmer much of the time, even when dealing with drunks and vicious thugs. Before he had managed to plaster on a smile, pretend that he was jovial, but within had been angry…seething almost. Since discovering his origins there had been a deep knot inside, twisted and tender to touch. This Yoga practise, along with the focused need to learn difficult things, had helped tease that out into a less severe, tender thing. “She never brought up that day again, but I doubt it was forgotten,” he mused to himself in his chair, leg crooked over the arm and slouching as he read through his notes upon Flux and the Yoga book interchangeably, searching for clues, “perhaps she just wanted to give me the chance to solve it myself…or perhaps I’m just overthinking. The world is too complicated these days, isn’t that right Twilight?” he asked the snake that was draped over him, its tongue flicking out the only answer. He snorted and kept reading, knowing there were no clues as he had done so several times before, but still ever hopeful. If anything, it served to ground the knowledge already gained more deeply into his mind. He had also learned a few more poses for the Yoga that seemed an interesting progression from what he had already practised. He had out together a routine, much like his own version of Tai Chi, and had been doing it every day, folding it into his normal flexibility training. He had yet to put together a proper physical training regime, but his life had a way of doing that for him a lot of the time so he was less concerned with that, for now. He knew well he could only juggle so many things before they started to fall, and magic was something he couldn’t afford to lose control of. Reflecting upon how much he had changed, his fingers tracing the pages delicately, he closed his eyes and focused upon that deep, calm place within. Clearing his mind, the sounds dulling and the world falling away, he retreated ever inwards as he sought to call up the images, to read the Djed of the book she had found. Images began to flash as his Lykata worked, images of dozens of owners and a small sense of them all. Some were young, some old but all held curiosity, that much he could discern. Time seemed to…thin and pull…a sense of age tapped at his consciousness…then nothing…no, wait…copying? Yes, that it, the book had been copied from an older book, diligently and with much care, the Djed trail for the new copy Alric had beginning but unable to extend into the one before, the line broken. He sighed, coming out of his meditative state and opening his eyes, blinking a few times to bring the world back into focus. “Looks like everything has a long journey, no?” he said, looking at the Mussurana as his fingers scratched gently at the creature’s head and he seemed to butt into them appreciatingly. He closed both the book upon Yoga and his journal, pinching the bridge of his nose for a few moments before easing himself up without disturbing Twilight overly much. He chuckled as the snake took up his spot in the chair, warm from where he had been sitting, as he placed the books aside and stretched slightly. It was time to get back to his own studying. Taz had said she would be ready for the Reimancy by Spring, which gave him precious time left to become, at least, competent in his own ones. Moving to the second floor he paced to the centre of the room and settled into the now familiar Mountain Pose. He spent a few chimes there, doing nothing except feeling the familiar strength, the balancing of his weight and the relaxed calmness of his mind. It was becoming a familiar friend, one which he was grateful for being introduced to. After a few chimes had passed he let himself retreat to his ‘well’ and simply hung there, observing the lake, mountains and forests from the floating void above, his mind easing further and relaxing into a meditative state. This time, however, he spent longer thre without purpose, simply being and feeling his body as it shifted slightly, no muscle ever able to hold the exact same position forever. That had been one of his realisations for the Flux, that though it was necessary to keep his Djed flowing through him, or risk being at danger of Overgiving, his body was never truly absolutely still. Even when sitting with legs crossed there were almost imperceptible shifts of position. Breathing still continued, his heart still beat, and his organs did whatever they were designed to do. He hadn’t explored that internal side of things just yet, he wanted a firm control of the basics first, but he felt sure there were other possibilities. Either way, though, it meant that he had learned his Djed would move of its own accord so long as he let it do so – trying to wrestle with it too much was just as dangerous as letting it get too out of control…it was a blade’s edge that he walked each time, he knew that now. He spent some time, trickling his Djed into his body and letting it seep into the energy pathways, the nervous system taking it in greedily as it soaked it up, sending it this way and that within. He did nothing but feel it out, letting it move and crackle about as his breathing deepened and his heartbeat slowed perceptibly, just a little bit as he relaxed and kept the Mountain Pose for a goof ten chimes or so. Words: 1033

[Alric Lysane]

Shifting into the Tree Pose he felt his Djed ripple, then crackle and flow to the moving limbs as his arms and left leg shifted, settling into their new positions. Djed continued to crackle and ripple around for a few moments longer than the movement of his body, echoes of its use perhaps, before settling back into a steady rhythm of shifting along with his breathing and heartbeat. A portion stayed within his lower body, though, shifting and bouncing around as his muscles strove to hold their positions and the calf of his supporting leg tensed and shifted, holding his body upright. Once settled he closed his eyes and slipped into another meditative state as he had grown used to do with this routine. There was still something about the shifting of his Djed that tickled at his consciousness, as if something were trying to prod him into realisation. He had discovered many things already but there was always the sense that he had overlooked something fundamental, that it lurked just out of his vision and taunted him with its existence. His concentration rattle for a moment before he breathed deeply once more and settled his mind and spirit. His control upon his self was still basic, though he could feel it growing stronger with practise, much as his magic and swordsmanship were. Yet he knew, deep down, that his true weaknesses were emotional in nature – anger, frustration, distraction. And that wasn’t even going into his feelings for others, each bond another thing that could be exploited against him, though he prayed to the gods they were not. He sighed and went back to concentrating upon his Djed and how it shifted, his mind now clearer and his body relaxing into the pose. After a few more chimes he switched legs. He did this slowly, having learned that it helped him to notice the more subtle shifts of his body, and thus his Djed, as his limbs moved. He had added a circling of his arms to the leg movement for just this reason – to expand the fields of sensation that might lead him to further discoveries of his Djed, how it moved and why it moved…as well as how the Flux worked as a whole. With each thing added he garnered more nodes of use, feeling his Djed now split and part ways with itself, diverting and crackling through his entire body from where it had been concentrated in his torso. He had started to notice the splits more easily now, being able to keep track of them better with routine practise. The fours groups of Djed moved, the nervous system of all four limbs lighting up, almost feeling like lightning rippling through them as energy suffused the muscles, ready to be used at his desire. He acknowledged the feeling of being mighty, invulnerable and invincible as it did so. It was becoming almost a tiresome thing now, though he knew the dangers of its seduction would likely always hold sway over him and so resisted it, making the practise of refusing the call an ingrained mechanism, a reflex that would be created over time he hoped. It took a good portion of his mental energy and his concentration switched to that instead of the movement of his Djed for a few chimes pushing back the greedy need of his body to do something. That had been something he had not expected as he had started to tentatively explore his Yoga alongside his Tai Chi, though in hindsight it was something he should have been able to predict. The Flux was, after all a physical magic and he already knew that things such as Res seemed to have urges of their own – though how this worked was still somewhat unclear. So, it made sense that his Djed – at least when using the Flux – seemed to almost want to be put to use. It made him wonder whether the true masters of that art, or perhaps just the survivors, were actually the ones who were able to master that instead of mastering the techniques of the magic. Mastery of themselves grating them power beyond the technically capable was an appealing idea, though he had no proof if it beyond his own intuition, and he was willing to admit he may be a unique case given his lack of background in magic in comparison to those from before the Valterrian. Words: 739

[Alric Lysane]

He moved slowly into the Standing Forward Bend pose, his legs shifting and the Djed surging through them, released somewhat from the tense muscles that had held the Tree Pose and, instead, finding their homes down his spine as it curled forwards. His arms got a brief series of pulses as they moved, dangled and them locked together, hands holding forearms, and then settled. His breathing was more difficult in this pose, his head inverted and blood rushing there. He could feel his Djed thrumming stronger in his torso and head, keeping his body working stronger against gravity as the backs of his legs began to stretch and complain. Some Djed split and headed there, for some reason that was beyond him, as the muscles were not tensed, but instead relaxing gradually. He frowned slightly, his serenity disturbed, as he thought he had the flicker of an answer materializing. Breathing deeply, relaxing into the pose, he acknowledged that thought before letting it slide away, knowing from previous experience that by fretting upon it he would lose the ability to try to notice it once more. He would have smiled had he not been trying to maintain his meditative state and keep mental track of the Djed crackling through him. That was progress of a sorts. He had never thought of himself as particularly patient, at least outside of the usual larceny and stealth applications. The fact that he was learning at least some modicum of patience, whether through changed purpose or repeated practise, was a large step in many ways. Forcibly keeping control of his emotions wasn’t that same as being able to simply be unconcerned with them. It felt strange, alien in ways that had depths he wasn’t ready to probe just yet. He supposed it made sense, though. After all the Nymkarta must have been emotive enough to garner the love of Ivak. Kova, at the very least, must have been a passionate woman as well as beautiful, he suspected. Perhaps, for whatever reason, it was a bloodline trait that they had difficulty keeping control of their emotions. Or perhaps they could only do so for some time, before erupting into something destructive. He could remember both of those times happening to himself, though he had no memory of his mother in that regard. Had she been different, he wondered? Or perhaps he would remember the odd spiteful rage or two if he ever regained all of his memories. Either way it didn’t really matter, but it was a curiosity to acknowledge and meditate upon as he finished the pose and opted to move once more, this time purposefully focusing on the part he had felt something before. Moving into the Garland Pose, he used the longer shift of position to confirm what he had suspected. He felt it, or rather the echo of it, as he began to settle into the squat downwards. As he finally settled, he felt it again – his Djed didn’t just move partially. It borrowed. That was the only way that he could describe the sensation that he thought he was capturing, and only because he was growing more aware of it through consistent practise and exploration. It was true that some parts of his nervous system remained crackling with energy, no matter what he did. He suspected he might be able to change that through mastery, though he wasn’t sure why he would want to considering it was what kept his heart, lungs and the rest of his vital requirements going. But the rest of him? It was unimportant and, as such, as certain body parts moved there wasn’t just a shift of Djed – there was the complete absence of Djed in some place. Just for a few moments, which was why he had only noticed it subliminally until searching for it, but it was there. The ‘echo’ he had picked up on was the moment it rushed back, pretending as if nothing had happened. That was perplexing for him but he acknowledged the fact that he had felt it and settled into the Garland Pose, squatted fully down, feet flat and slightly angled and with elbows on the inside of his knees, pushing them out with hands pressed palm together. He took a few moments to settle, feel his Djed move back to shifting around within him ‘naturally’ and then set about repeating the process. He increased the amount of Djed he had within him, letting more trickle in and then directing it to move, shift and then settle with the rest that pulsed and thrummed. He moved between the Garland Pose and the Standing Forward Bend several times until he was absolutely certain he had been right in his thinking. Words: 790

[Alric Lysane]

He stopped switching poses and returned to the Mountain Pose, as he usually did as a way of ending. He found that it provided a nice closing as well as an opening, and though he wanted to move straight into something else he had at least learned the value of finishing things properly, rather than cutting them off roughly. Another change that he had not expected, though he was grateful for. It had been a strange kind of season, he reflected to himself as he closed his eyes and relaxed into the grounding pose and he felt his body respond by relaxing. His mind eased and he felt somewhat purged of the shadows that dogged his steps daily, even if they could never fully be banished – at least not yet. He spent another ten chimes there, feeling his Djed move and knowing now that with each shift and crackle of energy there was something else, an absence. Now that he knew it existed, he could feel it all over, small little bubbles of void between the nerve nodes that seemed to act as the occasional nexus for the channels. It was a revelation of sorts, he knew, that on the basest of levels his body was somehow able to be that intuitive without much direction, as if it were almost instinctual. He wondered, briefly, whether that was true or whether he was somehow subconsciously controlling things on a deeper level. It was a question for another time, and he acknowledged his curiosity before taking one last deep breath and ending the routine. “Strange how the more knowledge you have, the more you realise you know nothing at all,” he mused aloud as he took a few chimes to rest before the next set of experimentation, “I suppose that was what Eyris meant when she spoke of such things” He settled into his Tai Chi routine soon after, going through all of the motions for it three times before he felt he was grounded and ready enough to try what he had planned in the back of his mind. He made sure, as he moved and felt his Djed shift, that he was now consciously seeking to manipulate it. His meditative state deepened as he moved, his eyes closed as he knew the routine by heart and could repeat it in his sleep, he felt sure. He didn’t force the Djed to make a strong move, to force out its use, but instead merely mentally manipulated it, as best as he could do so far, into each limb as it moved. It was difficult, especially when it came to using two limbs at once, but with much effort and repetition he had managed to get a rudimentary control at least. It would likely take many seasons, he knew, before he could be called a master – but he’d settle for competent and alive, for now. Once he felt he was ready he began to put his hypothesis to test by using the Flux for more than a meditative exercise. He started slowly with small jabs, nothing fully extended just in case, and carefully conservative with the amount of Djed he willed into his upper body. It didn’t take long to realise that he had been correct, as his Djed shifted up into his upper body to power his jabs he felt it start to be ‘borrowed’ from his lower body, after a while his legs even started to feel ‘empty’…or at least that was the closest he could come to explaining it. He stopped and instead shifted his Djed down to his legs, using the Djed to power a few jumps, darting this way and that as he tested out his enhanced acrobatic skills at both jumping, hopping and then landing, at the end with a half-roll due to the fact he had used a bit more Djed than intended. He came to his feet awkwardly and then sighed, shaking his head at his exuberance and the fact he had lost sight of the first lesson of the day – measured control. Settling back into Mountain Pose he sought it out once more, breathing deeply and closing his eyes, seeking out that meditative state once more. Words: 703

[Alric Lysane]

He took some time in Mountain Pose, this time running through all of what had happened so far with the day’s experimentations. It was strange how a settled mind, the practise of Yoga causing a mild form of distant dispassion, could consider things at a distance. He had found that, with effort, he could remove himself from the equation and consider things more accurately. Or, at least, in a way that was as unbiased as was possible. He had thought upon that and had come to the conclusion that that was not always desirable, but when it came to magic it was becoming ever more necessary as he delved deeper into things. The truth was that he had confirmed the ’borrowing’ of Djed for the physical techniques. It had felt even more pronounced when actively using the Djed, trying to enhance his attacks and movements, as if the more he tried to use and focus things the more had to be shifted around to make it possible. As he felt his Djed moving, once more passively after a fashion, he wondered whether that was because he only had a finite amount of Djed to begin with. If that were true, which everything seemed to say and confirm, then that meant he could only used Flux up to a certain point before it would have to get the Djed from…somewhere – if that were even possible. Did that mean that if he pushed himself too far then he’d drain his Djed far enough that it’d be depleted into the negative? Was that how Overgiving worked with the Flux? He had thought it was more about overcharging from what the book had stated, though perhaps there was more than one way, he reasoned. He placed those thoughts aside for future consideration, instead relaxing into his stance and then moving back into his tai Chi routine. He pulled further upon his Djed, putting his theory to the test and letting his body become flooded with Djed. He drew until he thought there was an average amount crackling throughout his entire body, all of it moving and thrumming. The feeling of power intensified almost instantly, whispers of greatness tickling at the edges of his mind. So much so that he had to close his eyes and spend a full ten chimes or more simply running through the routine, over and over again, settling himself and centering his emotions with repetition. It had been a surprise and so his concentration had wavered slightly, the wall of emotion crashing over him until he had all but wrestled himself atop it once more. Taking a deep breath he martialled his Djed, sharpening his concentration into as fine an edge as he could, before he went back into the jabbing routines and feeling out how the Djed worked. This time it felt slightly different, the time it took to begin feeling the ‘borrowing’ was longer and he could feel the Djed he had taken into himself deplete, bit by bit, as he performed each action. It was a strange feeling, as if he were being drained by a long day’s labours but over a handful of chimes. His punching routine expanded, and he shifted into kicks and rolls as well. His Djed kept depleting and eventually the ‘borrowing’ felt larger and his Djed was almost finished. As the last vestiges loomed large, he tried for a jumping kick once more, using the last of his Djed before landing with some momentum. He was forced to roll forwards to absorb the momentum, ending up one his feet and squatted to the floor, breathing deeply and sweat staining his body. He took a good few chimes to breathe, recovering his breath and feeling the ache of his muscles begin to set in, the sign that he had pushed himself just a little bit further than he had been ready for. It didn’t feel as bad as before, he felt like a day had passed lifting sandbags again so he felt hopeful that he’d recover after a few days. Still he made his way down to his chair, picking up Twilight and letting him curl himself around him as he rested and recovered, his eyes closed and slumber soon taking him. Words: 709

[Alric Lysane]

Your Grades Alric Lysane Skills Acrobatics – 2 Animal Husbandry: Snake – 2 Flux – 5 Meditation – 5 Lores Flux: Djed ‘Borrowing’ Yoga: Basic Standing Poses