Chapter 11

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Darkness, all encompassing, all consuming. And yet there was light. Not a big one that would challenge the darknesses supremacy but still resisting its dominion as was just natural. After all, fire has no master and follows no orders but its own.

Until one day, the fire could hear something. At first it was a whispering, not really audible. Soon the whispering grew into murmuring and the flame tried to understand what was said, maybe finally having found fuel to lift it to new heights so it would finally be able to challenge the darkness around it. Once the fire had been great, unchallenged even. But over the millenia more and more of it was siphoned away into the mortal realm where it could grow independently from its origin fire into an inferno of its own and trascend by merging with a mortal. Not all managed to transcend if at all, after all nobody really knew what came after death. It had always wondered, if nobody knew then where did the legends come from?

And now after all this time it was the last of its embers, still standing strong, never bowing to anyone, and it would keep doing so until the darkness took it as well.

As if mocking it the murmurs increased in intensity and the fire grew excited, possibly having found its chance to grow after centuries of silence. Soon it came about a small light, so small that it was barely perceivable and yet it stayed strong. 'What a spirit this ember has! Truly worthy to call itself a kindling.' The flame thought to itself. Having witnessed lights like this from time to time in the past millenia the flame made its decision to embark on its last journey and set the world on flames!

And so the flame embraced the kindling, igniting and fueling it until they became one never to be quenched again!

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West blue, Ishiria island, roku town

On top of the mountain in the middle of the island called Ishiria sat a lone figure, eyes closed and unbothered by the pouring rain that had started minutes ago. So deep was he in his trance that he didn't register the slow humming that started to, at some point while meditating, to fill the air. At first it was like a vibration in the air but soon it grew into something more understandable. Whispers of times long past, murmurs of story telling of the ages of old. Warning, advising, motivating. The whispers grew to such intensity that people started to wake up in the town at the foot of the mountain wondering what the hell was happening.

One man that was sitting on top of his roof, who had a long beard and quite a few wrinkles on his face, was drinking his medicine, not that he would tell anyone that, after all his pride didn't allow it to show weakness, was looking at the top of the mountain where he had left his precious disciple on his own. Once the whispers started to reach his ears a smile broke out on his face which grew into a fullblown laughter that sounded across the street in happiness at his disciples achievement.

It had been such a long time since old man Bai had been a witness to 'the calling' as it was refered to. It was the process of an elemental spirit of the acient world fusing with a soul to serve as medium and fuel to breach the rank of a Sanga member from apprentice to journeyman. In the process the spirit would fuse with the individuum and strengthen its soul to hights only a Sanga could reach at its full potential. Truly a day to celebrate with his best sake. F.u.c.k the medicine! We all die anyways.

And with that old man Bai took out a bottle of his best sake and lifted it into the air as gesture of salute before throwing his head back to take a big gulp of the stuff.

As Azul was sitting on top of the mountain he felt a warmth enter his c.h.e.s.t. He had let the flame inside of him grow as it wished in his meditation, just like his master had told him, and kept his calm, only serving as observer. Then at some point in time his flame didn't grow any stronger and Azul had thought he had reached the limit for the night but suddenly an influx of heat had started to emenate from the center of his flame. It grew and grew to hights he didn't think would be possible. As he was observing this, his flame started to integrate the heats origin and the fusions result was a very thick and heavy flame which billowed in all directions. As he kept his calm the flame seemed to calm down as well and started to spread to every fiber of his being until with a sudden jerking motion something broke between his body and soul. The result was obvious for any observer. Heat started to emenate from Azuls body, so much so that the rain that touched him evaporated into steam. Soon some kind of pressure started to form around Azul in a circle and began to slightly crack the earth around the stone platform he was currently sitting on. Minutes kept passing by that in turn turned into hours until finally the heat that was emenating from Azul receeded back into his core and the pressure lessened.