The Dou-Jin Apprentice of Monsters and Men In the Beginning

Chapter 2 The Journey to the Dou-Jin Temple

Chapter 2

The Journey to the Dou-Jin Temple

J.D. rode at the lead of the group a kept a steady pace that the horses could keep up for hours and still gain many miles while Michale rode towards the tail end of the party to ensure that Stephanous was well protected on the journey on the way to the Dou-Jin Temple. Both the Dou-Jin Master's were taking Brady's threat seriously that he would try to kill Stephanous or at the very least try to kidnap him before he arrived at the Dou-Jin temple.

J.D. took in a deep breath of the fresh air and exhaled at the enjoyment of being out in the wild. He was a plains dwarf and was use to being out in the open air. He spied the area before them making sure that Brady didn't surprise them and didn't bring along any friends to help him kidnap Stephanous.

Just before dark the party set up for camp. Michale scouted the area surrounding the camp with not only his exterior senses but also his Dou-Jin senses as well for any trouble. He focused his mind on the Spirit the strongest of the five powers of the elements that powered the Dou-Jin. He also used the other elements as well fire, air, earth, and water. It took nearly an hour of in-depth probing of the surrounding area before Michale was satisfied that the campsite was safe.

J.D. prepared the evening meal He had a pot of stew over the cook fire on a tripod. He added spices into the stew to add flavor and gave the dinner a scrumptious aroma. J.D. besides being a dedicated Dou-Jin Master was a fine cook and he took the wooden spoon and tasted the stew and smiled as he was pleased with the way the stew tasted.

J.D. had thinning strawberry gray hair, a broad face, a large bulbous nose with hairs bushing out of each nostril and each ear had a crop of hair as well, thick lips, fiery orange eyes, large ears, and stood five feet tall stocky frame. He wore purple hewn metal armor and the battleaxe that was strapped to his back was the same color. The armor and weapon were made of tensonite. J.D. wore a double horned helmet with tufts of fur at the base of the horns and around the brim of the helmet. The fur was dirty and matted as J.D. didn't keep his armor up as well as he should have.

Tensonite was mined in various mines most abundantly in the dwarven kingdom of Thails'bane. Other kingdoms had deposits of Tensonite but Thails'bane was the richest. One tenson coin was worth one hundred thousand silver pieces and tensonite had natural magical properties. All Dou-Jin Master armors and weapons were made of the precious metal, even the leather was laced with tenson. It gave the wearer extra protection and better chances of striking and opponent or deflection a blow from an opponent.

Michale was quite different since he was human. He was a six foot six black man, and with one inch thick dreadlocks with strips of leather woven into his hair that were about half an inch wide each and hung down to his shoulders. It was nothing Stephanous had ever seen before in his short life. Michale had a bold hawk-like nose, thin lips, and light blue-green irises with pure white pupils, and large ears. The white pupils were what made Stephanous wonder about the man, but he never asked because he thought it would have been rude and awkward.

Stephanous had never been that far away from home as he had that day. Stephanous couldn't help but wonder what his family was doing right at that moment. They had probably finished dinner and his mother was probably reading to the children from one of the book the owned and then from the Dou-Jin bible before they said their prayers, cleaned up, and went to bed.

"Steph?" Michale started in his deep voice. "It is time to start your training."

"Okay." Steph said not quite sure what to expect.

"I'm going to guide you through this." Michale informed the young zepher in a gentle but firm tone. "It won't be easy since you not quite sure what you'll be doing, but just try and follow my voice and my mind will touch your mind and I will try and guide your mind in what it's supposed to be doing."

"More than likely nothing will happen except that you'll become extremely relaxed and feel a little light headed. It's okay it's your first time. Normally a first grade Dou-Jin doesn't sense the Spirit until the end of the first year or the beginning of their second. So don't get your expectations too high."

"Okay." Steph replied.

"Close your eyes." Michale instructed calmly his voice was almost a soft whisper as he began to hypnotically calm Stephanous down to try and touch the Spirit.. "As a beginner this will help you concentrate on what you're supposed to be doing. "

Stephanous closed his eyes.

"Now I want you to clear you mind and think of nothing, but the light of the Creator. I want you to clear your mind of everything but the Creator. Think of pure but the light and nothing else." Michale directed in his calm tone. "I want you to breathe in deep slowly and let you breath out slowly and keep your mind clear the entire time. Concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in deep...breathe out deep."

Stephanous did so for about five minutes until he was totally relaxed. He kept his mind on the light of the Creator and his breathing. It was tough at first thing like home kept interfering and intruding but after five minutes he had most of it under control.

"Now I want you to picture what you think The Spirit looks like in your mind. Don't force it just let it come to you naturally."

Stephanous's cleared his mind and he began to form a shapeless cloud of light blue and grey. It never took any true form but it was just a billowing cloud. However he did feel at peace and the cloud did feel friendly, comforting, and peaceful. His entire body went limp with relaxation and was at total peace. He felt like he could float into the cloud that had formed in his head.

"Have you seen The Spirit?" Michale asked knowing that no first year except Stephanous "The Great" had ever seen the Spirit their very first time.

"I see a light blue and grey cloud and it is very comforting and peaceful. It's reaching out to me like a person trying to hug me and engulf me. It's just so wonderful!" Stephanous answered getting excited at what he was experiencing. His face shown with a light of the enlightened. A smile creased his face as though he were the happiest man alive.

Michale and J.D. glanced at each other in sheer surprise. Students couldn't sense, see, or feel the Spirit until after their first year of the Dou-Jin training and then it was just a trickle of the sense of the presence not any sort of manifestation. Manifestations didn't appear until after the fourth year.

"Now I want you to picture in your mind the surrounding campground." Michale suggested trying to keep his voice calm, but finding it difficult after listening to Stephanous explain what he was feeling and experiencing.. "Reach out with your mind and try to picture and feel each object. This is the hardest part of the lesson. If you can't do it it's okay."

Stephanous wrinkled his forehead and concentrated. The cloud in his mind grew to fill his vision and enveloped him. He felt so magnificent as the Spirit took him over. He felt as though he could fly within the cloud. The Spirit felt so comforting it was more encouraging than his mother arms could have ever been and it made him feel full of life and excitement.

Michale and J.D. watched Stephanous and then they witnessed something they never thought they would never would see out of anyone not of the Dou-Jim Temple. First a fist sized rock levitated off the ground, then another, and another. The fire flared up and blazed with intense heat. The log that J.D. was sitting on drifted up off the ground that caused J.D. to leap off of to save himself from falling. The entire campsite was floating except for the fire and the two Dou-Jin Masters.

Michale in shock nearly forgot what he was doing. "Okay Steph I want you to gradually let The Spirit leave your mind and let the items in your head vanish. Go back to concentrating on your breathing. Breathe in and breathe out." Michale could barely contain himself. He tried to remain calm until the exercise was over but he had to really restrain himself to do so.