Sersen at last

  Chu spent nearly five minutes contemplating whether to sit or stand to receive the talisman. In the end, he had Ming drag across the bench in the event he fainted. Sitting on the edge with a ramrod straight back, he watched Miki prepare the mixture.

  "Measure them well Miki, do it the same as when you mixed it for Redflower. Leave some blood if we need to use normal talismans."

  "Take the talisman from the table. I placed only the ones with nine circles but use the lamp and make sure for me."

  "Ming, do you think these little strands of hair will make a difference? Should I shave them off to ensure the talisman sticks firmly?"

  He questioned every action from the bench to quell his nerves.

  Equal spoons of heart blood entered a bowl from the nine lifestones resting on the table. Unaware, he fidgeted at their every move during the preparation. His body stiffened when the girls approached after what seemed like hours. Lucy held the life-changing talisman in her hand while Miki clutched the large liquid-filled bowl.

  The blood mixture from nine lifestones practically guaranteed he would never run out of the critical ingredient.

  The first talisman they stuck on his arm using the smeared blood, tore in half. The thinness of the paper provided a quality writing material but poor resistance to liquids. Frowning, he instructed Miki to daub a thin layer of blood on his skin and then on the paper.

  "Nice and easy, that's it. Take your time but don't take too long."

  Ming slapped him on the head in response.

  "Stop acting like a little rookie. We've done this before, remember? You're making me edgy."

  The talisman only required the rear to be completely coated and not soaked in the heart's blood. With this issue solved Lucy finally pasted the cold, sticky talisman onto his arm.

  Since they had practiced a dry run on Redflower, finding a suitable location around Chu to touch the lifestones proved easy. Hands, shaking slightly, assaulted him from above, below, front, and sides. Nine bluish lifestones connected to the crowded talisman.

  Nothing.

  "There is a smear of blood on the talisman. I think this deactivated it."

  Lucy said as she raised the nearby oil lamp closer to his arm for inspection. Chu nodded while muttering a string of curses in his mind against this sequence of bad luck. When Dyna wiped his arm in preparation for the next try, he turned his head and gazed to the front.

  "Count it as one chance lost."

  He decided to just let luck take its course instead of scrutinizing their every move. The stickiness of the talisman raised his pores again followed by the slight pressure of the lifestones making contact. Hearing a sharp intake at his arm caused him to turn his head. He glanced down at his arm at the same time to hear Ming exclaim in delight.

  "It's working! Ahaha, soon I'll become a mighty Sersen. Huh? Aaah Lucy, hurry and grab him, Chu's fainting... Bring the ax, bring me the ax!"

  Those were the last words he heard as a normal human in this world.

  Dizziness swept over him as his eyelids struggled to remain open. Witnessing the nine stones and the talisman sinking into the flesh of his arm, his eyes lost focus and rolled up into the back of his head. Chu lay engrossed in experiencing some rather realistic pleasures.

  A chill, deeper than the coldest night of winter, seeped into his veins while flowing to his heart. The icy flow entered his heart and accumulated before one beat pumped it coursing along arteries, washing over his cells. A numbing sense dulled his body as if floating on a tranquil lake.

  Then purgatory.

  Immersing in the waters of serenity, stabbing pain as if from a minute needle pierced his body. Before he could identify or register its locality, another similar injection joined the first. Chu screamed within his mind as the attacks increased exponentially. Reaching the threshold of suffering, his mind collapsed.

  If he had to describe it, he perceived it as if millions of microscopic needles punctured into every cell in his body. The torture formed a crescendo and then vanished. Chu lay comatose while hearing the faint echoes of screams around his paralyzed body.

  An eternity later, another wave engulfed him in torment which sobered him back to reality. He blanked out into the darkness.

  Pitch blackness.

  Adrift in the starless sea, a synapse sparked.

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  A sound reaching him in the void of nothingness initiating further activity from his dormant brain cells. He recognized the voice and understood the name.

  Chu struggled to blink his eyes open. A soft and warm pillow lay beneath his head, emanating a sweet, agreeable smell. He twisted his head as if wanted to snuggle but then a deluge of information flooded his mind. His eyelids shot open as he focused on the world.

  He found himself gazing into the face of an angel. In the flickering light from the torches, he spotted the tinge of blue within those worried eyes.

  Relief washed over his face.

  "As much as I want to remain in this position, can you help me sit up Lucy?"

  Chu said while displaying a sheepish smile. He struggled to a meditating position from the comfortable lap and then scanned the warehouse.

  "How long, how long have I been out?"

  "The entire evening, the sun just went down. All of you were screaming, howling, and flaying about so much that Ms. May rushed out from the farm with some of the others and kept banging on the door. She refused to leave when she witnessed the state of you and the others. Shine and Stavia demanded that the entire farm be placed on alert. Toll posted a watch in the mill and guards standing ready outside and by the gates."

  Chu nodded as he glanced at his stirring companions. Ms, May, and Stavia sat near the girls with Clod tending to Rose. The three wolves lay resting in the hay with their tired, yellow eyes locked onto their master. Chu motioned for Lucy to come closer before whispering in her ear.

  "Lucy, I'm sorry for the pain you had to bear. I won't let you suffer the pain of activating a second talisman if you don't want to"

  "The pain is worth it if I can follow you, Chu. Which girl in the empire, can dream of claiming the title of Sersen and more?"

  Chu nodded to her as his eyes fell on the stirring redhead. Satisfied his companions survived the ordeal he twisted his arm while trying to glimpse his tattoo. An aggrieved voice sounded from a nearby unhappy Sersen.

  "Wait, how come everyone is paired off better than me? Even Clod is holding Rose. How come I have to settle with the oldest grandfather in the world? We have over a dozen girls here on this farm! Didn't nobody inform them of my condition?"

  Ming complained.

  Old Hodge promptly twisted the nose of the complainant before leaving.

  "Boss, I can confirm this brat is ok."

  Lucy tapped Chu on the shoulder as Old Hodge rambled off.

  "Rose made a slight error when securing the lifestones and blood. We have one more remaining. It's the halfstones recovered from the large Bitzers."

  "Ah, yes. Thank the Heavens you didn't mix it with the others, I also forgot about it. Send for Toll. He doesn't mingle in the village and he is either out hunting, working the mill, or handling the guard roster with Rose. Better to increase the farm defense until we find a suitable lifestone for Clod."

  ***

  After the painful ordeal, Chu recommended they all eat a light meal and rest until morning. The logic proved sound but the implementation was useless.

  Chu spent his entire time soaking in the warm bathtub, gazing under the lamp at his tattoo. He caressed the skin, pulled it, tugged it, and eyed it from any angle he could muster a view. During the late supper of thin soup, he willed and tried to force an expectant ability. The excitement and anticipation followed him to the bedroom.

  "Hehehe..."

  A low, evil chuckle originated from the middle bunk bed.

  "Ming, stop waving around your arms as if swatting mosquitoes. Everyone is trying to sleep."

  Chu ordered. Ming cast a quick response,

  "Heh, don't think I haven't seen you flashing your hands around as if to double their speed, Chu. I know you said to rest but my mind doesn't want to. I can't wait..."

  Early in the morning, Chu guzzled down a large breakfast and then trotted to the warehouse. Since Bitzers possessed an ability related to speed and electrical inclination, he based his training on awakening the powers along those lines.

  Last night he ended up climbing inside the crow's nest above the barn while straining his eyes.

  All in the hopes of activating a night vision skill. Since he couldn't rest, he called Toll to help him prepare the warehouse.

  His bloodshot eyes this morning confirmed failure as he concluded a beast with one eye lacked certain visionary skills. Rubbing his left shoulder while whistling Chu opened and closed the door to the warehouse. Currently, the empty interior hosted a track and field meet. On the open fields opposite the lane, three wolves romped around playing in the snow.

  "Chu, how long do we have to do this? I have been at it since dawn. Where are my powers? Wait, is that horse smarter than me?"

  "Keep running this hundred-foot distance from the doors to the pile of haystacks at the back. Hopefully, the acceleration ability will kick in. Think, burst of speed like a lightning bolt crashing down from the sky. Remember, Lucy also worked hard to awaken her abilities."

  Chu prepared a simple testing method to unlock speed. Halfway down the tracks, he placed small side pickets holding the easily seen white paper. When the runner moving at maximum speed passed the markers, they needed to reach inside to will out that burst of extra effort. Hopefully, this might trigger an ability.

  The words work and hard in the same sentence, however, drenched the listener's zeal while inciting opposition.

  "What do you mean Lucy worked hard? Did you forget, she nearly frightened me to death with those yellow eyes in the cellar? How come I have to work hard? Can't you do something? I think you're holding out on me. You know an easier way, I know you do. Tell me, tell meee!"

  Chu removed his cloak while ignoring him as he placed his words into action. Huffing and heavy breathing filled the warehouse, along with the sounds of running boots clattering on the hard ground. For the entire morning, they practiced this training and then broke for lunch.

  He found himself eating an extra helping of piping hot stew to sate his hunger. His time as a Sersen didn't cross a full day yet he felt his body changing. Not a remarkable or eye-catching mutation but a subtle development. For instance, his hunger required more food to satisfy his stomach.

  Another noticeable change to him lay in the fact that his body now moved similar to how he felt when under an adrenaline rush. The constant state of additional power impressed him and also had him anticipating what a new adrenaline rush would feel like.

  If he had to describe his muscles, he might think they stretched taut as a loaded crossbow or tensioned like a coiled spring.

  Waiting...

  Anticipating...

  His brain had certainly undergone some sort of change. His processing speed from information gleaned from the senses increased. What acted before like a calculator had been overhauled into an old mainframe computer. Chu suspected the reaction time between collecting information and sending a suitable output to the body would only decrease with practice.

  Maybe his processing speed would increase once again, jump to like that of a desktop computer.

  His fingers clenched together in a fist.

  'Baby steps Chu, baby steps...'