The training session had ended hours ago and it was night, but even here, in the vast and empty expanse of his Spirit Domain, Elias felt the phantom ache of his muscles. He floated in a space of pure stillness, a place where time and matter held no sway, and yet the physical soreness from his father's relentless drills was a deep, lingering throb. He found a strange kind of comfort in the pain. It was a tangible reminder of his progress in getting a grasp on the world.
He thought of his father, the Lord of a thousand knights, and the story of his youth. It was hard to imagine the man as anything other than a pillar of strength, but the truth was, he had suffered. He had been weak, helpless, and through that suffering, he had forged a weapon from pure philosophy. The Still Sword. Elias was finding the style difficult; the idea of adaptation without a thought was as alien to him as a fish living on land. But he was sure that in time, he would master it.
He pushed the soreness aside and focused on his evening ritual. With a simple thought, his Velvet Archive materialised in his hands, its cover a soft, shimmering in hues of purple and crimson. He opened it, and as he began to read, words streamed from its pages like shimmering smoke, hanging in the air around him. He walked through the glowing text, a silent scholar in his own private library.
He was revising his notes on 'Resonants', the higher understanding a person gained as they ascended the Ascension ladder. It was an odd concept, but he was starting to grasp it. It was like a video game, really. The higher your level, the more new abilities and skills you unlocked. A person with a basic Trait might only be able to perform simple feats, but an ascended master could manipulate their Trait in ways others couldn't even dream of.
He pondered how one attained such a state of enlightenment. Everyone was different; how could there be a single path to a higher consciousness? The thought brought him back to his original question.
'What method did the Thoth Order at Fazhan University use to achieve ascension in just two years? Was it some sort of secret technique, or did they simply have a better understanding of what Traits were and how to manipulate them?'
He looked at the diagram of the twenty-two traits. He had noticed it before, but now, he realised just how strange it was. They referenced the Tarot cards back on his previous world. Was it a coincidence and they were just names, or had some other reincarnated soul left their mark on this world?
He shook his head, pushing the wild thought aside. It was best to stick to what he knew. And what he knew was that each of these Traits presided over an essential law that dictated the very workings of existence.
He began to read his notes, the names and authorities of each trait flowing through his mind.
He started with the Cosmic Class, the traits that governed physical laws, fusion, acceleration, deceleration, distance, force, mass, and weight.
'The Magician' presided over the law of Vectors, Direction and Distance.
'The Chariot', with its resourceful and focused personality, had authority over Acceleration and Deceleration.
'The Wheel Of Fortune' governed Time, a concept that still fascinated him.
'The Star' governed Forces of Attraction, the force that drew all things together.
And finally, 'The Sun' , with its joyful and vibrant personality, presided over Energy, the transformation and flow of power between and into states.
He moved on to the Cognitive Class, the traits that governed dreams, thoughts, memories, empathy, emotions, and perception.
'The High Priestess', secretive by nature, had authority over Memories and hidden truths.
'The Justice', objective and analytical, had authority over Empathy and emotions.
'The Hermit' ,introspective and wise, presided over Thoughts and the inner self. 'The Moon' , with its mysterious nature, governed Dreams and illusions.
And 'The Tower', disruptive and revelatory, had authority over Perceptual Change, forcing new truths onto people's minds.
Next came the Existential Class, the traits that governed fate, destiny, entropy, chaos, and causality.
'The Empress' , had authority over Order and Permanence.
'The Emperor ' , inversely had authority over Disorder and Change.
Elias wondered a bit. These abilities weren't explicitly stated but were merely his deductions from the various texts he had been studying and referencing. He had initially wondered how Aina,whose secondary trait was The Emperor ended up with electromanetism. But then again, electromagnetism was as a result of the disorder between charged particles so it was fine.
Moving on,'The Hanged Man', philosophical and accepting, governed Fate and Destiny. 'Death', with its transformative nature, had authority over Causality, the cause and effect of all actions.
'Temperance', balanced and harmonious, governed Equilibrium, Harmony and Balance.
Finally, he came to the Soulfire Class, the traits that governed souls, life, death, decay, rebirth, and oblivion.
'The Hierophant', traditional and spiritual, had authority over Souls and Spiritual energy.
'The Lovers', connective and passionate, presided over Bonds.
The Strenght' ,with its courageous nature, had authority over Integration and power.
'TheDevil', manipulative and controlling, had authority over Decay and Degeneration.
And 'The Judgement' , with its reflective personality, had authority over Transfiguration.
He noted that two traits, The Fool and The World, were anomalies and not part of the system.
Elias closed the Velvet Archive with a snap. The words that surrounded him dissolved into nothingness. He was done with his revision and it was now time to move on tothe next agenda. He would further understand the laws of Traits and use them to break his immortality.
As the book disappeared, his Jade Fang materialised in his hand. He pulled out the leaf blade dagger,it's white blade glittering .
A thought had occurred to him as he practiced with his father that morning. He was in his Spirit Domain, a place where the rules of the outside world didn't apply. What if he could manipulate time here? Not time as in time but the duration of his stay.
With a surge of concentration, he tried. He felt the air around him thicken, the flow of time within his domain slow down and stretch.
The next morning, Elias woke up feeling utterly exhausted, just as he had predicted. He had managed to compress a whole day's worth of training into just six hours of real-world time.His body felt heavy as he rose and sat up looking out the window. The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon.
"It's too early." He muttered with a yawn and was about to lie back down when his door burst open.
"Rise and shine, lazy bones." Aina announced, her face as unreadable as ever. "Time for action!"
Elias wanted to scream. He knew his cousin would take no excuses and would drag him out if the bed so there was no point in trying to act stubborn. He groaned and forced himself out of bed.
As he did so, he remembered that Aina's birthday was the following week. He was going to need to get her something, and that meant he would have to sneak into town. He smiled though his tired expression made the gesture look weird.
Aina glanced at him with concern.