Chapter 15: A strange sensation
Training was going well except that the chest pains were returning more often than before, and they were more violent. Daemon could run for hours, but as soon as he pushed a little too hard, a sharp pain shot through his chest.
Luna observed him without saying anything, but she noted each time the duration of the crisis, its intensity, and what had triggered it.
To address this problem, she taught him meditation.
Every evening, before dinner, Daemon sat cross-legged. Luna sat in front of him and guided him.
"Close your eyes." she said in a calm voice. "Feel your heart beating... Observe it."
Daemon closed his eyes.
"Now, look for the foreign chi." Luna continued.
"I feel nothing." he said after several minutes.
"Try again."
"I am telling you I feel nothing."
Luna opened her eyes. "You feel nothing because you are forcing yourself to feel. Chi cannot be forced. It is something natural."
Daemon sighed. "It is easier said than done."
Every evening, they tried. And every evening, Daemon failed. He could not feel his mother’s chi because he did not know what he was looking for. It was like asking a person blind from birth to imagine a color.
Meanwhile, Luna took advantage of the nights to repair her own chi core.
But Daemon was not making any progress.
So Luna changed her method again.
"Tonight, you are going hunting." she said, handing him a hunting knife.
Daemon took the knife, puzzled. "Hunting what?"
"Your meal." Luna crossed her arms. "But there is one condition."
"Which?"
"You will not have any light."
Daemon stared at her. "No light? It is six o’clock, it will be pitch black in an hour."
"That is the principle." Luna smiled. "You have until midnight to catch something. If you come back empty-handed, you will sleep without dinner."
Daemon gripped the knife tightly. "And breakfast?"
"You will get that. But if you have to hurry, sleeping on an empty stomach is quite harsh..."
Daemon grumbled and went out into the falling night.
Luna watched him walk away into the forest, then she took out a cigarette and lit it. She sat on the windowsill, her eyes fixed on the forest.
***
While training continued on the slopes of Mount Sandalphon, very different events were unfolding in the Thirteenth District. It was late at night, and most of the inhabitants were already asleep. Only one light still shone on the second floor of the Dagon manor, in Steward Mallory’s office.
Mallory was seated behind her large desk. In front of her, a crystal ball.
It was a communication device, a rare artifact that Mallory only used in cases of extreme necessity. She had no choice. The person on the other end of the line tolerated neither delays nor excuses.
"I heard that young Lord Daemon has left the district?" said a voice that was difficult to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
Mallory swallowed. "Indeed... It is just a vacation. I think it will do him good."
"Has he tried to find a master lately?"
Mallory shook her head firmly. "The young master is simply taking time for himself. He is resting. He is going for walks. He is not looking for anything else."
"Make sure he does not try to unblock his chi core... I was quite clear with Patriarch Dorian. I hope you will do your part, Steward Mallory. Otherwise..."
"It will not be necessary, my Lord. All these years, I have always done my best to discourage him. And now that he knows he could die at any moment because of his heart problems... he has completely given up on the idea of becoming a chi User."
"Then I will not need to intervene." he said finally.
The crystal ball darkened.
Mallory remained seated for a long moment, her hands sweaty, her heart pounding. Then she let out a deep sigh.
All these years, she had done everything to discourage him. Every time Daemon had talked about finding a master, she had found an excuse. Every time he had shown interest in martial arts, she had redirected him toward more ordinary activities. She had bought him books, chess sets, musical instruments. Everything except swords.
She felt really bad about betraying him like this. Daemon was like a son to her. She had watched him grow up, she had protected him, she had looked after him when his own mother did not even look at him. And yet, she betrayed him a little more every day.
But it was for his own good.
Many people who knew he possessed the mark of the beast already wanted him dead. By keeping him weak and ignorant, she was protecting him. She had no choice.
"I am sorry, young master. But it is for your own good."
***
Meanwhile, on Mount Sandalphon, training had already lasted four months.
Four months of exhausting runs on steep trails. Four months of unsuccessful meditations in front of identical sunsets. Four months of nights spent hunting in the darkness, on an empty stomach.
Daemon was walking in the forest, his sword in hand. It was dark. Not a single star pierced the dense canopy of black pines. He tripped over roots, swore between his teeth, got up, and continued.
In front of him, about twenty meters away, a wild boar was rooting in the ground in search of roots. Daemon had spotted it by the noise. But tonight, he could not concentrate. Hunger twisted his stomach.
’It has been almost a week since I had a proper dinner,’ he thought. ’If Mallory knew how she is mistreating me, she would be whipped a hundred times.’
He shook his head. The thought of Mallory reminded him of something else. For the past few weeks, when he meditated or rather when he tried, he felt a slight discomfort in his heart. A kind of warmth that made him uneasy.
Daemon sat down on the ground.
He closed his eyes.
’The warmth,’ he thought. ’Everything that lives gives off heat. And at the same time, everything that lives possesses chi.’
He focused on that warmth in his heart. He simply observed it, as Luna had taught him.
Then he expanded his attention. He tried to feel the same warmth in the environment. In the air, the ground, and the trees around him.
At first, nothing happened. He stayed seated there, in the cold, feeling the wind on his skin. He remained like that for one minute, then five... then ten.
Suddenly, his heart began to beat violently.
*Boum. Boum. Boum*
The beats were so strong that he could hear them in his ears. Blood rose to his mouth.
He continued...
Then, all of a sudden, a gentle warmth spread over his skin like a wave. It came from outside, from everywhere at once. It bathed his arms, his face, his torso, his legs. "It is really a strange sensation."
He opened his eyes.