A Stroke Of Originality

Grand Master Amon meditated to channel all of his spiritual energy.

“How can you be so calm after such a big battle master,” Aleta asked. “You guys were at each other’s throats just a moment ago,” she added. “Wish I could just calmly meditate after kicking somebody’s butt all over the place.”

Amon opened his eyes. “The battle was great, indeed, but that battle was his win. The war between us has just begun, but you will understand that when your eyes aren’t so young,” he assured her. “Also, today, we will perform the Harnessing Ritual.”

“What? No!” Aleta interjected. “My ritual isn’t for another few weeks. I’m not ready right now.”

Amon stood from his pillar, jumping down and landing in front of his student.

“You are ready, you’ve trained for this moment for years, and a few more weeks aren’t going to prepare you any more than you are now.” The Grand Master reassured Aleta, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Aleta looked at her master with worry in her eyes as he walked away from her. To her surprise, he turned around and launched a powerful magic orb at her. Instinctively, Aleta’s arms reached out to stop the sphere. Its power drove her backward, towards the corner of the temple.

“Aleta, dig deep! You can do this!” Amon avowed.

“I—I… I— can’t,” Aleta replied as she tried to stop the orb.

Amon gestured his hand, and the orb retreated towards him. Aleta, panting profusely, tried to gather herself, but her master had other plans. Again, Amon thrusted the powerful sphere towards his student. Quickly, she jumped out of the way, but to her surprise, it promptly rerouted itself and pursued her again.

“We don’t have time for this.” The master declared as he watched his student flee.

Amon swiftly leaped behind Aleta and firmly grabbed her shoulder with one hand, and gestured for his orb to come back with the other.

“Sorry, but this needs to be done. You will understand soon enough.” He assured her with a smile as he thrust the orb into her chest.

A light emitted from Aleta’s body as she drifted into a trance. She opened her eyes and didn’t know where she was. Surrounded by a body of water and circled by dark figures. Where am I, and what the hell is this place, she thought.

“Who are you people?” she asked aloud.

No one replied. The dark figures started to converge on Aleta quickly.

“Master?” She called out in a panic.

Nothing.

Aleta took up a defensive stance and prepared herself for the worst. One by one, the dark figures attacked, but she dodged as they came. Aleta returned a few attacks of her own, but they all seemed to do no apparent damage to the beings. What are they… she thought as she threw a barrage of spells at them. Still, not even a scratch. Aleta jumped back towards the water to gather her thoughts.

Think Aleta, think… She thought back to all of her lessons from Amon about the ritual. Then it dawned on her. You don’t fight your demons with force. You fight them in other ways. Your demons can’t physically harm you, but they can tire you out. They are there to remind you that you can fear, but what you do with that fear is entirely up to you. Aleta remembered her master’s words. A smile slowly creased the corners of her mouth as an idea formed in her head.  She sat down near the water and slowly began to channel her energy as she entered a meditative state. She was calmly embracing the dark figures around her. Before Aleta knew it, she was back in the temple, resting on the floor while her master sat next to her.

“I knew you could do it, Aleta.” Amon smiled. “Now, there’s no time to waste. You have to leave the temple to complete the ritual.”

“Wait, you never said anything about leaving the temple before.” She argued.

Amon let out a light chuckle, “As always, you have to debate. Just trust me this one time.” he pled. “You have to leave the temple grounds and travel the world with new eyes. That will complete the ritual.”

“But… Do I have to leave now?”

Amon stood with a grim look on his face. “Leave at once, Aleta, so the sacred ritual is complete!” he demanded.

Aleta was stunned at the tone he used. She stood up and quickly made her way towards the exit as tears rolled down her eyes.

Amon smiled as his student left the temple, her Harnessing Ritual complete. His breathing slowed as he gazed down at his chest to observe the wound his enemy had placed on him earlier. Dropping down to one knee, he let out a sigh. With my lifeforce, she’s going to be one of the most powerful Grand Masters this world has ever seen, he thought to himself as he slowly drifted away.

“Be great… Aleta,”

This one threw me for a loop, there was so much to say, but it was hard to condense it. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you need an explanation of what happened, read below.

 

The Grand Master Amon had a big battle with an enemy of the temple. Although he was able to get the enemy out of the temple, he suffered a fatal blow. Forcing him to do his student’s ritual early. He also added his lifeforce into the power of the orb to make Aleta even more powerful, and he forced her to leave so that she wouldn’t see him die.