Chapter 17 - First Open Meridian

Nerun stared at the Serpent's Eyes. At that moment he couldn't help but remember the image of the guard being swallowed by the snake, and his whole body began to tremble. While he had been quite brave and showed nothing at the moment of the guard's death, the truth was that he had never seen such a horrific scene before. However, having been trained by Maikal, and being aware of the existence of many of the dark things in the world, he knew that if he wanted to be a member of the truly powerful people of the continent, he had to get used to such situations.

Elijah saw him shivering, and immediately knew what his brother was going through, but did nothing to comfort him. He knew this was something Nerun would have to overcome on his own. Nerun did not disappoint him, however, within a few minutes he was able to calm his nerves and with a steady gaze took the items Elijah offered him. Elijah was smiling seeing the resolve in Nerun's eyes.

"The Serpent's Eyes are a typically used product in Alchemy. Pill Masters can mix it with other Medicinal Plants and various other ingredients to create pills from them, going from rank 2 to rank 3. However, Maikal told me a secret about them, in case I ever found some. The Serpent's Eyes are usually reddish in colour like these when taken from the carcass of a viper. However, on some rare occasions, a small golden line can be seen around it. This means that the Eyes have undergone a mutation, increasing their rank to grade 4 or even rank 5 material. These mutated eyes are given another name, they are called the Eyes of the World. They are so called, because they can be used without the need to be processed by Alchemical methods, by both Warriors and Adepts to stimulate the opening of the Ocular Meridian, with a 5 and 15% greater chance respectively. Do not underestimate this small percentage; hardly any other treasure in the world has such an incredible effect. Even if it were a smaller percentage, it would be something that would be in very high demand but with no chance of acquiring it. As soon as I noticed the thin golden line in these eyes, I picked them out for you". Elijah said smiling.

Nerun was astonished by his brother's explanation but immediately refused the gift. " Big Brother, you need this treasure more than I do. You know that all my meridians are half open, I just can't control them at the moment. In the future, it is quite likely that I will open my eyes' meridians, even without this item. It is better that you use it and open your own ocular meridians. Besides, it was you who managed to wound the Viper, you earnt them", Nerun said sincerely. Elijah knew that Nerun was not making false modesty gestures and was glad in his heart for his little brother's character.

Yet Elijah insisted on giving him the Eyes of the World and placed them directly into Nerun's hands. "I know you want to give them to me Nerun, but even if I were to use them, it is not certain that I would be able to open these meridians, because we Warriors have a much smaller chance of opening them. The auxiliary meridians in the head are special, for while they offer certain advantages to Warriors, they are absolutely necessary for Adepts. These meridians facilitate communication between the Mana User and the Natural World. Each person is unique and the powers granted by each meridian and each combination are also unique.

While it is true that your meridians are half-opened, neither Father nor I are sure whether you will be able to link them to your Central Meridians or to the Celestial Gates, or even whether you will be able to open them all in the future, or if they will close themselves. You have not yet decided your future route, but the fact that your Mana has increased so much that you can feel it just after eating the serpent's flesh means that your body could be especially attuned to feel the natural world. You could be an innate Mana user. In that case, if we manage to open your eye meridians in a permanent and controlled way, it is possible that instead of accumulating Qi, you will accumulate Mana. The Mana will not affect your developing body but will help to stimulate your mind. If you were later to become a Mana adept this would be an invaluable advantage. Even if you later become a great warrior, the meridian can then be fused to a central meridian when your body is ready for it."

Nerun, upon hearing his brother, did not continue to refuse him but engraved this favour deep in his heart. He knew that his brother was only downplaying the importance of the auxiliary meridians of the head for the warriors because he wanted to give him the treasure and stabilise the opening of the ocular meridians. At this time, Nerun was using his Qi to stimulate a slight opening of the meridians which was causing great stress on his small developing body. He had not said anything to Elijah, but his head was hurting badly and he knew that Elijah wanted the best for him. Without further ado, Nerun took the Eyes of the World and stood looking at Elijah waiting for his instructions.

"Just put them near your eyes. No matter what happens, it is important that you hold on without question. I will protect you. Right now nobody is watching us, so this is the best chance we'll get".

Nerun brought the Eyes of the World close to his two closed eyes. No sooner had he brought them nearer, when a blood-like thread detached itself from the Eyes of the World and began to penetrate both his eyes. Nerun started to grunt and began to feel a severe headache. However, Nerun did not scream but began to grit his teeth. He knew that without effort he could never become successful in his life. His brother had rejected this great treasure for him, the least he could do was to endure. Before long, tears of blood welled up in the corners of Nerun's eyes. The Eyes of the World grew smaller and smaller in volume as the trickle of blood continued to penetrate Nerun's eyes. In his head, he felt how the meridian that he could faintly feel opened before, was widening more and more. The energy of the treasure was acting like a jackhammer, destroying all the obstructions that closed the meridian, as well as the temporary Seal that Maikal had placed on them. While the opening rate could be as low as 15%, as Nerun had the meridians half opened, he only needed one more small push to stabilise the opening of the meridian. All this can take a long time to describe, but it only took about 10 seconds, after which Nerun stopped shaking and the headache disappeared altogether, replaced by an incredible coolness in his head as if he had slept all night and felt refreshed and clear.

The meridian had opened completely, however, it had no central Meridian to join, so following the most natural path for it, it instinctively communicated with an indistinct area in Nerun's Mind and Spirit, which although also not open, allowed the meridian to stabilise. In fact, Nerun had not used all the energy of the Eyes of the World to open his meridians, a part of the energy approached this indistinct area, outlining what appeared to be a gate and the rest extended into Nerun's eyes lodging in his irises and retinas.

Nerun opened his eyes at that moment. The irises of his eyes were a deep golden colour, as they began to turn multicoloured. Eventually, they became their natural ochre colour, but with a golden halo surrounding the pupil, which if one did not pay enough attention could go completely unnoticed. The world around Nerun became completely different to his eyes. All colours were more vivid, and even though it was deep into the night, his night vision had increased dramatically. Not enough to see in completely dark spaces, but any amount of light would be enough for Nerun's eyes to see everything around him. Not only that, Nerun felt that the oppression he felt whenever he opened his meridians with Qi did not currently exist. Moreover, he clearly understood that the energy flowing through the meridian was not Qi, but something else, a little more ethereal but certainly just as real as Qi. This energy was Mana.

Nerun did not know it yet, but the outline of the gate that had appeared in his mind was actually the outline of a Celestial Gate. This meant that if Nerun could find a way to keep increasing his Mana level, he could become an Adept. Nerun stopped circulating Mana in his eyes and the small golden halo disappeared.

"Did it work?" asked Elijah, a little worried. He knew that in theory, it should work, but he didn't know if Nerun had managed to open his first meridian. He didn't want his younger brother to keep taking risks every time he used them.

"Yes, Big Brother. It worked perfectly, even better than I thought it would. Not only has it opened fully, but I can stimulate its opening with ease, just by the thought of it. Also, some of the energy from the Eyes of the World seems to have lodged in my eyes and has given me a special ability. On top of that, I feel that the Mana that had been slowly developing in my head in the past has stabilised in the meridian and my Mind, so at least in the short term, there is no risk of it disappearing. What's more, I feel that my Mana level has risen to 5," said Nerun feeling blissful.

Elijah was also sincerely happy for his little brother and without anyone noticing, they tested the ability Nerun had acquired. When they tried it, they were amazed at its usefulness and power, as well as its cost, as it used up half of Nerun's accumulated Mana in a single use. So it became one of Nerun's life-saving skills.

The next morning Nerun got up early. He climbed down from the tree and began to practice Qi Revolution. Although he did not yet know whether he would become a Warrior or an Adept in the future, at this moment his powers were very dependent on his use of Qi, and he did not have a Meditation Technique to cultivate Mana. So again and again, he kept moving his arms in a spiral, linking them together and pushing towards one of the trees. He did it slowly, over and over again. Curiously, Nerun this time did not feel as tired as on other occasions. Slowly and subconsciously he began to regulate his breathing with the movements he made, which became more and more natural. Suddenly, a faint vibration was felt in the air as Nerun moved his hands and energy was beginning to move and accumulate. Nerun felt that at this moment he was about to succeed for the first time in using the technique. However, at that precise instant, a voice brought him out of his epiphany.

"What's with all the weird moves, squirt?"

Julieth's voice was heard behind Nerun. She was in a new dress, quite elegant, but much more comfortable, allowing her to walk with ease in the Forest. It was made of a special material, silk from the Shadow Sleepless Worm, a rank 7 beast, which was only found in a portion of Lutzomya's territory. It was considered one of the best materials for making clothing, as it could adapt to any temperature and was almost as strong as light leather and metal armour. Moreover, some armour was not as good as clothing made from this material. Therefore, this material was quite expensive, with the dress alone costing tens of thousands of gold coins.

Julieth had dark circles under her eyes, and her eyes were a little red. It was obvious that she had not had a very good night, and that she had been crying. She had never experienced anything like what she had gone through the day before.

"Good morning ugly girl, are you alright? Why were you crying?" asked Nerun in turn. He was a little upset that he had been interrupted during his training, especially when he was on the verge of mastering the technique he was struggling so hard to learn. It is taboo to interrupt someone while training. Nevertheless, he didn't yell at the young girl when he saw her so low-spirited.

"Don't call me an ugly girl. Haven't you seen in a mirror how filthy you look?" said Julieth. Starting to argue with Nerun actually cheered her up a bit. She was very stressed about the trip. But seeing Nerun smiling and relaxed somehow made her feel calm and collected, and being the closest person to her age, she wanted to go and talk to him. After all, this was a new experience for both of them and she wanted to unburden herself to someone.

She crouched down close to Nerun while looking at the ground. A small tear came to her eyes. "The truth is, I don't feel quite right. I honestly didn't want to come. But my dad's birthday is coming up and I really wanted to get him something special. They told me my dad was desperately looking for a Green Crystal Flower, and apparently one of the guards knew it grew around here. When they told me I thought about running to tell dad, but they convinced me to come and do it myself. That way I could surprise dad, but I don't know if it was the right decision. Now we've lost one of the guards, and I'm afraid the journey is getting more and more dangerous. It is my fault. I should have listened to your brother but Mariuz insisted that everything was under control and that there would be no danger."

As Julieth unburdened herself to Nerun, and shed small tears, her façade of maturity faded and increasingly reflected her true age. Nerun didn't know what to do as he watched her crying and was a little flustered.

"Calm down ug.. I mean, Miss Julieth. I'm sure everything will be all right. I've lived near the Woods all my life and I know it quite well and so does my brother Elijah. Today we will reach the lake where the Green Crystal Flower grows. I promise you that I will protect you and everything will be OK." Nerun told her hastily, trying to calm her down.