4 Bora of the Karinga Tribe

As years turned into decades and decades into a century, Lux's repository of mundane knowledge, magic, and Ki techniques accrued to such a terrifying number that he found it difficult to keep track of everything.

Helpless by the predicament of his creation, he invented a database-like artefact with a combination of his mundane and magical knowledge and expertise. It was in the shape of a cube and was connected to him spiritually. He could retrieve and store new information with a simple mental command.

It made recording and retrieval of information more convenient, which in turn increased his progress.

But, his curiously and drive to invent new kinds of stuff and investigate the nature of reality, began to dwindle over time.

So, in the year 715, Lux finally decided to stop his endeavour to figure out the nature of reality and take a short vacation.

He was also curious about how much the world had changed after he started living on the Korin tower. Although he had invented the magical technique to observe any place he wanted to, he rarely used it due to him being busy making new techniques or inventing new gadgets.

...

After a quiet and peaceful night sleep, Lux was ready to start his vacation-cum-journey. Although he didn't require sleep it was a sort of habit and also a necessary one to keep himself sane.

In the early morning, as the sun was glaring with all its might from the horizon, Lux freshened up and got ready for his journey.

He didn't wear anything fancy though, just his usual attire. A piece of loose, full-sleeved pharmacist coat, white in colour, that reached down to his knees. Under his coat was a black t-shirt that hugged his body tightly. As for his lower body, he had a simple cotton trouser, dark, moss-green in colour. And, on his feet was pair of black boots.

"Take care, Korin," Lux said as he slowly levitated and hovered outside the balcony. "I will be back in a year or two."

Then he skillfully glided through the air and started descending, maintaining a constant distance from the cylindrical tower.

"Hmm, goodbye Lux." Said Korin, looking down at Lux who gradually disappeared into the clouds.

...

Lux flew down, neither fast nor slow, but looking at his descending figure, any discerning eye would find something very unusual.

The loose, lab coat that he was wearing, wasn't fluttering in the wind as much as it was supposed to. Even his hairs weren't affected by the wind. It was like, there was a thin, invisible force field protecting him.

Indeed, Lux didn't like the feeling of getting hit by dust particles in the air. It wasn't lethal, but very irritating and for a clean freak like Lux, it was a nightmare. So, whenever he flies, he erects a force field around him.

As he got near the ground, Lux saw a conic tent a few meters away from the base of the tower, and on one side of the tent, a dark-skinned, robust man was chopping some firewood. He had a small, colourful vest around his bare, tattoo-riddled upper body. On his lower body, he had simple, loose pants and above it was a colourful, tribal skirt that was fastened around the waist. The man stopped his work and looked up at Lux.

'What was it again? Ah, yes! The Karinga that Korin told me about,' Lux thought and remembered what Korin told him. 'They are supposed to be the guardians of the Korin tower.'

Lux surveyed the surrounding and noticed that around a hundred meters toward the west from the tower, there was a small village. The residents of the village had similar attire and complexion as the man in front.

Lux landed gently on the ground, smiled at the man looking at him, and greeted, "Hello there."

"Hello stranger, I am Bora from the Karinga tribe," The man introduced himself and asked, "Are you here to challenge Korin tower?"

"No mister Bora, I live in that tower," Lux replied politely under Bora's incredulous gaze.

"Then, you are–?"

"No, I am not immortal Korin. But I know him. He is my friend." Lux corrected Bora before he could finish speaking. It was not difficult to guess what he was going to ask.

After getting his answer, Bora remained silent, but Lux could see that Bora was hesitating over something.

"What are you hesitating about?" asked Lux.

Bora took a deep boy and requested, "Will you please guide me to become stronger, a friend of Immortal Korin?"

"Haha," Lux burst into laughter by Bora's strange way of addressing him, but looking at Bora's sincere eyes, he stopped and wiping his tears, he apologised, "sorry about that. My name is Lux, don't call me 'friend of immortal Korin', it sounds weird."

"As for training you...," Lux pondered for a moment and then suddenly he exclaimed out loud in realisation, "Ah yes, that might work!"

Bora, on the other hand, was puzzled, but also a little excited.

"Which pocket was it...?" Lux muttered as he searched for something in his lab coat's left pocket, and then his right pocket when he again cried out, "Yes, got it."

He took out a metal bracelet. It had a glossy silvery-white surface with a red button in the middle.

Lux pressed the button, and in the next moment, the bracelet expanded to become double its initial size. It could even fit into a person's waist.

"Take it," Lux threw the expanded bracelet to Bora and said, "Put any one of your hand through the bracelet and press the red button."

Seeing Bora's hesitation, Lux reassured, "Don't be afraid. It is something that'll assist you in your training."

After a moment's pause, Bora put his right hand through the bracelet and pressed the red button. The bracelet shrank down and adjusted itself around his wrist.

"Now, wait for a moment," Lux said to a puzzled Bora, who didn't know what to expect.

[LIFE SIGNATURE REGISTERED..... COMMENCE SEQUENCE GRAVITY IN 4...3...2...1...0... START]

Bora was startled by the mechanical, female voice coming from the metal bracelet. Lux smiled with a hint of playfulness in his eyes as in the next moment, the same mechanical voice again rang from the bracelet and said –

[BODY'S CURRENT TOLERANCE CALCULATED... GRAVITY ADJUSTED TO 1.1 TIMES]

Bora wasn't ready for the sudden change as he felt a huge pull downward, making it difficult for him to keep standing. His knees were bent and he had to support himself with his hand on the ground. But, Bora, as strong as he was, quickly adjusted himself and stood up without the prior difficulty which was because his body was relaxed and he was caught off guard.

"The bracelet will gradually increase the gravity your body experiences. As for times when you're ill, your life's in danger, or you're fighting with someone, the bracelet will automatically turn off and remain inactive until your body is again ready." Lux explained the function of the bracelet.

"What is gravity?" Bora asked, embarrassed by his lack of understanding.

"Well, in simple terms, gravity is your weight," Lux answered calmly. "What bracelet does is to artificially increase your weight. That pull you experienced a while ago was due to a sudden increase in your weight."

Bora listened carefully and nodded in understanding.

"And, remember. You can also manually switch off the bracelet by pressing the red button five times in quick succession. But don't casually switch it off," Lux reminded. "And remember, after the bracelet reached reads twenty times the normal gravity, you can climb the Korin tower."