Koh - (3)

Dane didn't sense anything nearby. He had been moving for the better part of the day. Something in his instincts told him he couldn't sit still for long.. especially if he didn't want to run into the person from before...

"Right.. here's a good spot.." he plopped down the book and threw together a fire. It was a tiny dry patch nestled between some trees. The perfect spot to hide a fire.

After a short while he was sitting around the warm flames, and opened the book to read again.

He flipped through until he reached where he left off yesterday, and began,

"Fundamentals of Koh..." the page said. He looked up and didn't see any magical lights drawing diagrams like before, so he continued,

"Fundamentals of Koh...

Having gone over the categories of Koh users, from here it is best we cover the Athar, Koh in general, and the basic skills one needs to practice to become a Koh user...

You have awakened your Athar. That is the first step to becoming a Koh user.. It means you can use your Athar now to effect Koh.

The Athar, as I've said, is a kind of 'will power' that you can use to control Koh...

To do so, you have to follow the basic fundamental principles of Koh:

Mazak and Sulta.

Let's start with Mazak:

Mazak is one of the two basic techniques all Koh users learn when they first begin.

Mazak is using one's will, or Athar, to allow Koh to pass through your body. The stronger one's Athar, the more Koh that can pass through and circulate in the body. Overtime, The passing Koh will increase longevity, grant strength and toughness, and increased mental fortitude etc.

To practice Mazak, you simply open your Athar and forcefully draw in Koh to both pass through your Athar and linger in the body.. This will strengthen your body a lot, and only very slightly your Athar...

The second principle of Koh use is Sulta:

Sulta is one of the two basic techniques all Koh users learn when they first begin.

Sulta is using one's will, or Athar, to control the Koh in the surrounding area. The stronger one's Athar, and the more they practice with Sulta, the better they can control the Koh in the surrounding area.. Typically, this involves moving Koh to and away from the body, and Sulta is the basis for all Koh use outside the body..

To practice Sulta, you simply open your Athar and focus it outside your body.. this can be difficult at first, and the time you can keep your Athar outside your body to control Koh, and the strength and efficiency of it, is all dependent on how strong your Athar is and your skill in Sulta..

Training in Sulta is the only real way to both strengthen one's Athar and to increase one's skill at controlling Koh outside the body..

The training regimen for a basic, just starting Koh user looks like this:

Start with Sulta.. focus on using your Athar to effect Koh in the surrounding area. Do this until you can keep your Athar open for 1 hour or more.. then you want to divide your time into practicing both Mazak and Sulta daily, for as long as you can..

The time it will take for you to develop your Athar is dependent on your talent and determination... How long it will take you to figure out how to do and efficiently use Mazak and Sulta is also dependent on your talent and determination...

Now brat, don't turn the page until you can do Mazak for 1 hour then Sulta for 1 hour consecutively.. Only then are you ready to practice Koh skills..."

Dane shut the book. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he felt it: "This is it.. I can get stronger.. I can fight and return to my friends..."

But deep down he knew it was a lie.. It wasn't about his friends in that moment, or doing it for the old man.. He selfishly wanted to be stronger..

...

"Ow.." a young woman said. She slowly opened her eyes as her head pounded painfully.

She lay looking up at the trees above... Rather, at what should have been the normal grey canopy overhead... Instead, she was taken aback by the pure white of snow falling overhead.

She noticed how her breath fogged up in the extreme cold, and it took her three whole breaths to remember what happened before she passed out..

"Floor guardian!" Her mind shouted as she shot to her feet. Liza rubbed her arms and looked around. Her jaw dropped as she looked at the landscape.. all around, as far as she could see, the ground was covered in ice and snow.. Not only that, snow was falling in thick blankets from above.

Turning, she jumped back as she noticed it: the floor guardian... Only... it was frozen solid. Carefully she walked forward and tapped on the massive block of transparent blue, seeing no life underneath the hood of the beast..

Looking around though, she didn't see Ward...

"Ward! Ward!..." she yelled out. Her voice was quickly muted by the snow, and she began to grow frantic..

"What happened?? Where is Ward?? Is he dead? Did he run??"

Walking around, she made her way in the direction she had last seen Ward.. Nothing.. there was no sound, no sight of him..

"Where did you go?" She thought..

"Where did you go?"

...

Meanwhile, a regally dressed person sat practicing a monologue in the middle of a dark forest. The air was ripe with blood.. Several bodies lay scattered around, almost delicately murdered...

A single cut to the throat from a small blade.. The same was true for all three of the corpses.

Halfway through their monologue the person shot up and looked overhead into the grey sky.

"Oh?..." they said, a smirk crossing their face. Moments later a snowflake fell and they caught it on their fingertip, watching it melt..

Seconds later more and more snow started to come down.

"Ha Ha... things will be getting fun soon..." they said, turning away from the bodies as they moved steadily through the woods...

...

"Commander..."

"Commander....."

A voice called out. They wore a simple robe with the hood pulled well over their face. They stood anxiously at the entrance of a large tent.

"What is it Rold?"

A short woman in a similar robe exited the tent, a soft expression on their face. Quickly they looked up at the sky and nodded, saying,

"I understand... gather the others.. we have work to do"

The woman extended her hand and watched as the snow fell in her open palm. The snowflakes melted one by one and she stood there for a moment before turning and re entering the tent.

...

"What in the world???" A young boy said, shooting to his feet. He looked around, confused.. He had gone to sleep next to a warm fire, yet now..

White...

He was in the heart of winter, or so it seemed..

"What happened?? It can snow here?" Dane asked, looking at the steady fall of pure white from overhead.

Most of it was blocked by the trees, but there was plenty of billows beginning to form already.. It had certainly been enough to quiet the dying fire.

Shivering, he lurched forward and gathered some stray firewood he had laying nearby. With a deft hand and cold lungs he breathed life into the dying coals and got the fire going..

Looking around, he hoped that the snow would let up...

"It was cold enough already.. now it's snowing too???"

"Rumbleee..." his stomach began to protest and he sighed,

"Time to go find some food soon..."

He wasn't looking forward to that at all...