EGBERI

Chapter Three - Growing Up

The spirit temples were very big and spacious with huge candles hanging from the walls. The walls were inked with writings of basic spirit spells. The temple was a very disciplined place and very expensive so Tarja had to seek aids from relatives in a combined effort to afford the tuition.

They ranked from level one to six after which they're sent to job valleys where they seek specialized mastery of the kind of job they tend to use their spirituality for. They all had personal rooms and were only allowed outside at specific times. Well fed with food brought to their door step dragged in from under. When they were out of their rooms, their laundries and supplies were replaced. At times some ancestry try to posses a person and the spiritual masters drives it off with spells.

Things eventually got better for Razan, he started feeling more alive, navigating the spirit plane with surprisingly high spirit energy. Only problem was he was behind schedule on so many things he was supposed to be aware of as a child. So despite his high spirit energy, he hardly stood a chance against the brightests of them. And he was underaged.

Years passed and he moved to level 3 at 13 years of age. Soon he became familiar with the basics and began to prove outstanding in mastery taking advantage of his high energy. Finally a feeling of self worth filled within him.
Level 4 however was a new phase, learning to fight and defend against other spirits, using spirit plane for hunting beasts, using spirit plane for battle advantage, possession, healing and so on. Mostly purposes where the spirit plane could be used for benefits.

It involved learning scrolls of spells and practicing with their body at a single spot while they roam the spirit plane. So within the walls of the spirit temples are sections mimicking the actual appearance of places in reality where the spirituals are meant to practice under the supervision of a spirit masters working in the temple.

There was also the introduction to spirit dust and the kings flower. Coupled with teenage romance and youthful exuberance. Spirit dust was used to drift to the spirit plane, a brown powdered dust usually sniffed with the nose. The kings flower is meant for people with high energy, it's leaves were dried crushed and smoked on wood constructed pipes.

Unknown to all, of the lost knowledge of the spirit link, the king spirit link; a combination of the spirit of a priest and a king, had the ability to learn and master all skills in a single person. The record for highest amount of skill a spirit master has reached was 4. There was also difference in strength between a Sense; someone advanced in one skill and a Betrine; a person with more than one skill. Only the king could exist in both the spirit plane and reality at same time

At level 5, 17 of age the regular meals could not sustain his energy revival and he was courted with Riya for sex revival. She was 23, blonde with brown eyes. Very beautiful with thick eyebrows. She was a very calm and timid person, not very smart but cautious with actions and choices.

Within the temple ceremonial hall, at dusk the level 5's were courted by the temple priest after which they're meant to have a unifying ceremonial sex. Soon the ceremony was over and they were locked in a room to be opened at dawn. She seemed very nervous, it was her first time. Razan on the other hand was looking forward to practicing sexual experiences described on scrolls. He was hardly a romantic and more of a practical person.

Walking close to her she got more tensed, he reached for his pocket and brought out a small potion, it was the emba helix; it causes a single touch on the skin to be sensed 2 times more than the normal and causes arousal. They both drank it and in a dizzy state, he reached for her cheeks caressing her. He undressed her silk white gown, she lied down with her back on the bed of white sheets.

He undressed and joined her on the bed, caressing her body with kisses and touches, deep into the intercourse his body became overwhelmed with energy so much that he moved beyond the spirit plane to the Yiba threshold. A spirit plane where only the King Spirit was permitted to enter and he existed in both reality and spirit plane. His eyes turned grey with no pupils, for the first time he was in the presence of the mighty Yiba. Riya saw his eyes and jerked off in fear beating the door and crying out for help.

He tried to talk to her making efforts to calm her down but as he drew closer she screamed even more beating the door heavily. While the priests were trying to open the door, his eyes became normal and he left Yiba's threshold.
They opened the door and she ran into their arms pointing at him screaming demon!. The priests assessed him finding no demon within, carried her away to address the issue at dawn.

The temple leaders found no fault with Razan and he also refused to admit that such a thing happened in fear that he would end up without a partner to revive with. They blamed the emba saying it made her hallucinate. He sat for days wondering what really happened, if he was possessed as impossible as it sounded since he had protection spells tatted on his body. Besides that, his mastery was strong enough to repel any spirit from the spirit plane.

A week later, circumstances demanded revival of spirit energy and they both saw fit for an intercourse. Again, he crossed the threshold with grey coloured eyes. She got up and ran off to get a witness, while he was alone he heard the voice of Yiba.... "Who dares enter my court?". Confused and scared he replied "Razan, I am Razan" in a stutter.
And Yiba said to him " Seek Trivan, he'll show you the way"..... after which the threshold closed off.

Riya returned with a group of priests and some other spirituals returning from the evening rounds followed as well. They met Razan sitting on the bed looking dumbfounded, he refused to respond to all the questions thrown at him so the priests took him to a confined room. They monitored and casted cleansing spells for days letting him out on probationary basis. News of what happened had already spread like wildfire among the rest spirituals who now saw him as a freak. Before now he was teased about his skinny structure and sluggish movement, now he was written off as an evil spirit and had no chance of being courted by anyone.

Hence he was deprived of practical instances that could demand sexual revival. Mopping in frustration of how it dropped his value in a job valley he left for home.