The Whisper of the Nightingale

Chapter 2: Spirit Essence

Lady Besra, with the infant Raven in her arms, reached the top of the stairs and entered a dimly lit chamber. The chamber had nine walls made of a semi-translucent stone that allowed the starlight outside to slightly shine through. In the center of the room sat father and son on either side of a large symbol that glistened on the floor.

Maleo lifted his head and looked quizzically at the Raven.

"She protested when I tried to leave her with I'iwi. Don't worry she is a quiet child, she won't disturb her brother. Right little Raven?"

The infant blinked, an innocent smile on her face.

"Very well. She is too young to be affected anyway," laughed Maleo. "Take your seat."

Without hesitation, Besra elegantly sank to the floor next to the glistening symbol. As Raven came closer she noticed that symbol consisted of three overlapped and interlocked triangles that created a complex star-like pattern. Each triangle-side had been made by different colored stones inserted into the floor. The segments were made of what looked like white jade, red jasper, orange amber, yellow serpentine, green jade, light blue amazonite, indigo lapis lazuli, violet charoite, and deep, black onyx. Raven's thoughts immediately went to the rainbows of her old world, that embodied every aspect of light.

Once Besra, with Raven, had taken her place on the floor, Maleo turned his attention back to his very nervous son. Hoatzin tried is best to hide this nervousness, but his eyes darted from the symbol on the floor to his two parents, out through the translucent walls and then back again to the floor. His hands were tightly clenched in his lap.

"Hoatzin." Maleo spoke with a steady and serious voice. "Son, this year you will turn six years old. With two spiritualist parents this means that your soul should be crystallized and strong enough to start walking the path of spirit cultivation."

By now not only Hoatzin looked on his father with deep interest; Raven also stared at her father expectantly. 'Finally some insight to this spirit-business!'

"As you know, leading Spiritualists throughout the ages have accomplished astonishing deeds. They are capable of defeating horrendous magical beasts and single-handedly defeating great armies. Fights between true masters can shake the entire world. But how can they do all this?" He gave Hoatzin a look, encouraging him to continue the explanation.

"By cultivating spirit essence!" answered Hoatzin eagerly.

"Indeed. But how?"

"Ah! By . . ." Hoatzin faltered.

Maleo hid a smile. "It is done by establishing spirit connections between your soul and the spirit energies that flow throughout the very fabric of the world" He explained. "Once a connection has been made, you can start cultivating your own spirit core. With your spirit core established you can use collected spirit essence to strengthen yourself, both passively and actively during battles." He studied his son for a moment then asked. "So, what are the different levels of cultivation spiritualists are separated into?"

This time Hoatzin didn't hesitate. "There are three levels of spiritualists. Spirit Novice, Spirit Adept and Spirit Champion."

"Right. And beyond that are the true masters, Spirit Masters. Each level is divided into low, mid and high. As you advance the differences in these levels grow larger, with the biggest leaps between title changes. It might not be entirely impossible for a low level Spirit Novice to defeat a high level Novice, but a low level Adept will wipe out both without any problems. Then again a high level Champion will always crush a low level Champion despite them both being 'champions'. So ber that in mind!"