4 Vitality Bestowal

Seven Years Ago...

In the middle of a large forest was a group of trees which branched out and over creating a dome. The dome was magically reinforced and it was nigh impossible to look within it. Inside was a large area filled with training equipment and cages.

The cages were filled with a variety of magical beasts and creatures.

They growled and roared occasionally but the cages had an energy which calmed them, a typical spell that many Tamers used on their cages.

A tall man and a small boy walked through the area, walking calmly by the cages. They finally stopped in front of a certain cage. The man the turned around to face the boy.

"You're four years old today. Thus starts your training in your first Sacred Art."

Azrail stood in front of the little four year old boy and talked to him like he was a grown adult. The young boy was shaking nervously as he stared back at his father.

The little boy was obviously Arata.

"When you turn 11, you will enter the Royal Institute, as I did. There you will carry on my legacy. You will learn, grow stronger and one day surpass me. But your training doesn't start at the Institute. It starts here. You have been learning about martial techniques and nobility since you were born. After you turned 3, you began training your body. You have surpassed my expectations and your body is now strong enough to begin learning your first Sacred Art."

Arata had a look of confusion on his face as he spoke.

"Father, what is a Sacred Art?"

Azrail looked into Arata's eyes.

"What are the Grade's and Masteries of Physical Enhancing?"

Arata straightened up and answered in a uniformed manner.

"The grade's of every spell is ranked as either a Mortal Grade, Earth Grade or Heaven Grade spell. Each grade having three levels. Mortal Grade being divided into Copper, Bronze and then Silver. Earth Grade divided into Gold, White Gold and then Black Gold. And Heaven Grade divided into Platinum, Crystal and then Diamond."

Azrail nodded approvingly.

"And what are the Masteries?"

Arata continued to recite as if he were reading a textbook.

"Mastery is the level at which you understand and grasp the essence of the spell. As your Mastery in the spell increases, so does the potency and level of power which you can draw out. Masteries are classified feom Minor Accomplishment Mastery, Major Accomplishment Mastery, Peak Mastery and finally Perfection Mastery."

Azrail grinned.

"Very good. As you know, Physical Enhancements are one of the avenues in which you can use a spell to empower and fight. Sacred Art's are a special branch of Physical Enhancing. Unlike normal Physical Enhancements, Sacred Art's are not applied to your body, instead, they are cultivated from within. They are a lot more powerful then regular Physical Enhancements. Even the lowest and weakest Sacred Art would still be on the Earth Grade level, so they are naturally powerful skills. However, to use these higher levels of power, they require more from those who use it. If your body is not able to handle the energy and properly compress it, it will become unstable, chaotic and then turn outwards. In other words, you will explode."

Azrail spoke as if the idea of spontaneously exploding was nothing but a passing thought. Like the color of the sky. Arata however was hit with an overwhelming sense of fear.

'I don't want to explode.'

"Most Sacred Art's are rare. They are passed down through families, clans, from student to teacher or, in the rare case, are inherited through your bloodline. They are the pinnacle of Physical Enhancing as they do not need to be verbally cast on to yourself, but are instead a constant within that you can activate freely. And so I am planning to teach you a Sacred Art."

Arata looked at his father like the man was crazy. Isn't this dangerous? You know I'm 4, right?

Worry and anxiety was written all over his face, clear for Azrail to see.

He just chuckled at his son's worry.

"You are an extremely bright and talented kid. You were able to understand things at such a quick age. You were able to jump into training since you were able to walk. I never expected you to be so much of a genius. I actually planned to train you when you were older, but you have been able to reach a point that I was expecting you to reach in a few years from now. Although the risk is large, I feel that you are ready, so I'm starting to teach you now."

Azrail walked in front of the small boy and knelt down so they were on the same eye level.

"I learnt my first Sacred Art when I was 9, back then I was hailed as a genius. But you can do what I couldn't. You can surpass me. You can be better. Reach levels I have only dreamed of."

There was a gentleness in the man's eyes as he looked at his son.

Arata could feel the weight of Azrails words. He could tell how much this meant for him. He had trained so much because of the love this man had shown. He was blessed to grow up with such a loving father, and he wanted to please him and make him happy, but he was still a four year old boy and was scared.

Azrail put his hand on his shoulder.

"Your body's condition is even better than some 10 year olds. I have faith and believe you can do it."

Seeing the belief in his father's eyes, Arata nodded his head, mustering up all the courage his little body had. Azrail smiled proudly.

"That's my boy. The Sacred Art I'm going to teach you is one of the Nine Sempiternal Art's: Vitality Bestowal."

The courage left the young boy's face. Even though he was an extremely intelligent young boy, he was only four.

And that was a lot of syllables.

Sempuwhat? Vitiliturly bes.....huh?

Was his father still speaking the same language?

As Arata stared confused at the foreign words, Azrail laughed at the little boy's scrunched up face.

"Maybe it will be easier if I demonstrate."

Azrail put his hands over Arata's eyes. After a moment there was a sharp pain in the forefront of Arata's head and in his eyes.

Azrail removed his hand and Arata rubbed his eyes and head, feeling a little weird.

Azrail stood up and walked to the cage door.

"Now I want you to watch and remember everything you see. Focus and do your best to catch everything."

Azrail made a few hand signals before touching the cage. The magical energy that was on it vanished. He grabbed the cage door and opened it before stepping back a few paces.

Arata looked at the huge Mountain Ape that was inside the cage.

Mountain Apes were an extremely aggressive beast that were overly territorial. They had an average speed, but they had a monstrously high defense and powerful strength. They were natural brawlers, using brute force to overwhelm their enemies.

Although Azrail was a large man, the Mountain Ape was easily the size of 5 of him, towering over him.

Azrail casually taunted the beast, making gestures and calling to it. Although the magic cage had calmed it, Mountain Apes were easily provoked and was enraged when looking at Azrail and it charged out of the cage. The instant it was outside of the cage, it leaped high into the air, bringing it's huge arms above its head. As it came down, it began to slam it's giant arms down towards Azrail.

Arata had seen his father fight multiple times; he had even faced him a couple times before. His father was a brutal fighter that seized every advantage and never let up, always taking the initiative in a battle. But now, he simply stood there as the Ape descended.

Even though he knew how powerful his father was, Arata still worried for his father, but just as the Mountain Ape was about to reach Azrail, he raised his hand above him.

"Watch carefully, boy."

As Azrail shouted, the Mountain Apes fist collided with Azrails hand. The instant they made contact, Arata felt a sting in his eyes.

Suddenly everything had come to a stand still, as if time had stopped. And yet Arata could see every detail of everything in front of him. Although he couldn't move, his eyes and his brain seemed to be operating at an outrageous speed.

He then noticed something strange happening with the Mountain Ape. What looked like vibrations of some kind rippled from the Mountain Ape, from all over its body, and travelled down its arms to its fists. From there they travelled into and through Azrail. They seemed to flow and circulate within his stomach. They looked chaotic at first but the energy slowly came into order. And a strand of what looked like black energy appeared within the swirling pool of waves and ripples around Azrails stomach.

Arata felt a familiar feeling coming from the black aura; he knew it was his father's. The energy then flowed to Azrails left hand which was still by his side. As the energy coalesced in his palms, Azrail lifted his hand. Although things had slowed down, Arata could tell that his father was moving incredibly fast in real time. Azrail then placed his palm on the chest of the Mountain Ape.

Time seemed to go back to normal as the Mountain Ape was flung backwards, flying back into the cage, colliding with the bars with a loud crash. Azrail moved forward and closed the cage and reactivated the spell.

Arata was rubbing his head. Whatever just happened had hurt his head a lot.

"It is just a side effect; I forcefully transferred a portion of my powers to you so you could watch what I was doing."

Understanding why he was in pain, his next question was obvious.

"What did you do? What were those weird ripples?"

Azrail got his son to sit down into a meditative stance and then gave him a black crystal.

"Meditate and try to feel the energy in the crystal. I will help guide you."

He didn't answer his question, but Arata obeyed and started trying to pull the energy out.

"The Third Sempiternal Art: Vitality Bestowal. A cultivation technique that involves taking the energy, aura and force of an outside power, restraining and controlling that energy, bestowing your Vitality and authority on it, and then sending it back."

As he spoke, he put his hand on Arata's shoulder. The energy felt strange to Arata, he could feel that he could draw it out, but there was something blocking its path. Then Azrail's energy appeared within him. It started softening his pathways, opening up the meridians in Arata's body.

After an hour, Arata was able to move the energy up his arm and then down the other arm, back into the crystal.

Two hours later, he found the most comfortable path for the energy to flow through him, one that made him feel a lot stronger.

Azrail was shocked to see that he was already able to find the most suitable pathway in regards to strengthening his meridians.

'He really is a genius.'

A warm smile filled with pride covered Azrails face. This face, however, quickly turned to pain and hesitation.

He sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry son. Endure it. Survive."

His hand glowed as he pressed his palm into the young boy's chest. An indescribable pain entered his body. It felt like every piece of him wanted to explode, energy flooded him and it felt like it was too much. But he had to endure it. He remembered how the energy moved through his father, and tried to get the energy to move the same. But as he started, the pain increased.

Arata screamed in pain.