Chapter 10: The Senses
"Young master... Young master!"
Luna’s insistent voice pierced Daemon’s eardrums. He groaned, buried his head under the pillow, and turned to the other side of the bed. He gave his back to Luna, hoping she would give up.
"Daemon!" Luna put her hands on her hips.
"What?" He opened one eye, saw the daylight coming through the window, and immediately closed his eyelid.
"It is nearly eight o’clock and you are still asleep?" Luna approached the bed. "I thought you were going to be diligent?"
"Ah, yes." Daemon turned halfway. "I had an extremely tiring day yesterday. Wake me up in a few..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Luna grabbed a ceramic pot placed on the dresser. The pot was filled with fresh water she had prepared for his morning wash and threw it on his face.
He jumped up.
"You have the nerve to say you are tired? While since yesterday, I am the one working like a beast of burden?"
Daemon wiped his face with his sleeve.
"OK, OK, I am up." He shivered. "Couldn’t you have found a gentler method?"
"I found the perfect method." Luna pivoted on her heels. "Now, get dressed. I need to recover my sword. You are coming with me."
"Yeah."
He got up from the bed and started to remove his damp nightshirt. Luna did not move. She stayed there, leaning against the wall watching him.
Daemon hesitated, the shirt half removed. "Aren’t you ashamed to stare at me like that?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "There is not much to look at."
Daemon raised an eyebrow, but he continued to change. He removed his shirt, revealing his torso. Luna, despite her disdainful words, could not help but glance.
For a lazy person, Daemon had a surprisingly athletic figure. His shoulders were broad, his arms firm, and one could guess the muscles under his skin. He was not bulky, but he was far from being frail.
’Probably thanks to his good genetics,’ thought Luna.
’The Dagon blood flowed in his veins after all. Lancelot had been a formidable warrior, and even Persephone was very powerful according to the rumors. Daemon had probably inherited the best of both.’
’That made things easier. If he had been overweight or too fragile, the endurance training would have been torture.’ Luna nodded silently. "Good. We will check all that in a moment."
...
One hour later, Luna and Daemon were walking along the docks of the Thirteenth District. They were both wearing long hooded cloaks, wide enough to hide their faces. Luna had insisted that they not take any guards.
They first stopped in front of the merchants’ shops. Luna made a few purchases, some nice clothes and even jewelry. Daemon watched her, amused.
"Are you planning to spend all my fortune?" he asked upon seeing the pile of packages carried by a seller.
"It is not your fortune." Luna took the packages. "It is your servant who needs a decent uniform. Steward Mallory said I must be presentable."
Daemon chuckled. "You never had nice clothes before?"
Luna paused. Her red eyes darkened for a moment. "My previous condition did not allow it."
Daemon understood that it was better not to ask questions. Being an assassin left little room for shopping.
They left the docks and plunged into the narrow alleys of the district. Luna walked with a sure step. She guided Daemon to a dark dead end.
"This is it." said Luna while kneeling near a plank against the wall.
She lifted the plank and plunged her hand into the damp hole. When she pulled her hand out, she was holding a short sword in a black sheath.
Daemon reached out to touch the guard. "Can I see?"
"No." Luna slapped his hand away. "You are not even at the First Sense and you want to draw a master’s weapon?" She slipped the sword into her belt, under her cloak. "Anyway, I do not know if you would understand anything related to the senses."
Daemon crossed his arms. "You really look down on me. Of course I know what the Senses are."
Luna raised an eyebrow. She leaned against the wall, pulled a cigarette from her pocket, and lit it without taking him seriously at all. "You don’t say."
"The Senses are divided into two types." he began. "First, what we call the Primary Senses. These are stages that every chi user must go through. He must first perceive the ambient chi. When he succeeds, he has reached Sight, The First Sense. Then, when the user can feel his own chi core, and can use chi to boost his physique. He has then reached Smell, the Second Sense. Then..."
Luna raised a hand to stop him. "That is not quite it."
Luna crushed her cigarette against the wall. "There is a difference between a chi user who has reached The First Sense and one who has mastered it. One cannot reach the next Primary Sense without having mastered the previous one. And mastery is done through the second type of Senses: the Ancestral Senses." She paused. "The Ancestral Senses are the specific manifestation of a Primary Sense. Each clan has its own Ancestral Senses."
Daemon narrowed his eyes, assimilating the information. "So, if I want to reach the Second Sense, I must first see the ambient chi. Then, I must learn my clan’s Ancestral Sense, the Sword Sense. After mastering the First Sense of the Sword: Blade Perception, I then have a chance to reach the second stage."
Luna nodded. "At least you are not deaf in addition to being an idiot."
Daemon remained silent, he did not know if he should be offended or flattered.
"But how did you manage to become a Master at such a young age? How old are you, twenty?"
"I am twenty-two. And I have only reached the Fourth Sense. I had not mastered it yet. Otherwise, I would never have been injured by your uncle."
"It is still impressive." Daemon whistled. "The youngest master person I had ever seen was in their forties."
Luna shrugged nonchalantly. "What do you want, I am talented... And besides, my master had quite... particular learning methods."
"So, I am also going to learn your Ancestral Sense." said Daemon.
"My Ancestral Sense, the Wyrm, is what identifies me as Blood Moon. If you perform a technique like that, you can be sure you will be killed within the week." She looked him straight in the eyes. "You will practice the Ancestral Sense: Sword, like all your peers."
Daemon grimaced. "But how are you going to teach it to me? You are not even from the Sword Clan."
Luna lit a new cigarette. "My master, apart from being a psychopath. He mastered at least five Ancestral Senses..."
Daemon almost choked. "Five?"
"Developing a single Ancestral Sense requires a lifetime of effort and sacrifices. Developing two is impossible..."
"Not impossible for him apparently..." Luna blew out the smoke.
"And so, he taught me the techniques of the most powerful clans. So that I could counter them easily." She gave Daemon a sideways glance. "I do not master the Sword Sense, but I can probably teach it to you. Enough for you to reach the First Sense, at least."
Daemon nodded. "That is... reassuring." He looked around him. The alley was dark. They had been walking for several minutes without him realizing it.
"Say, where have we been heading all this time?"
They emerged into a small square surrounded by dilapidated buildings. It was a poor neighborhood, a not very recommendable corner of the Thirteenth District.
It was at that moment that three men came out of an adjacent alley.
"Give us everything you have!"