Arnimos breathed in and readied himself. He held the wooden sword out in a defensive stance and watched Shil-Kas as they circled each other, each waiting for the right moment. Shil-Kas took a step forward and his sword flashed out, Arnimos moved to parry but then Shil-Kas feinted him and struck his arm. It made a resounding crack and his arm stung, Arnimos attacked back swinging his sword in an upward arc, Shil-Kas parried the blow and drew his own sword back. He thrust it forward but Arnimos slapped it away with the flat of his sword. Arnimos delivered a quick slash but it was blocked, their swords clashed for a moment before both stepped back and readied themselves for the next bout.
Arnimos took in a deep breath and focused his mind, driving away the faint stinging on his arm. Arnimos switched his stance to a more offensive one. He stood across from Shil-Kas for a second before stepping forward.
Two quick slashes each parried, a third was narrowly dodged but threw off Shil-Kas''s footing. A fourth strike, a quick thrust, flashed out but was slapped away, Shil-Kas tried to counter attack and bring his blade up in a threatening arc. Arnimos tried to step back but was too slow, it made a loud thud as it struck his jaw. He stumbled back and became disoriented from the strike. He tried to steady his footing and raise his blade but he saw Shil-Kas step forward. He raised his blade high ready to strike down Arnimos.
The world seemed to slow down, his breath caught in his throat as his mind focused. He felt his Dichotomies within him, one''s who even after his awakening had been docile, flared to life. They intensified his fear of being hit then ate it. He felt the pain and injuries he had suffered fade away and his body felt lighter. Strength he never had before flowed into him.
Arnimos brought his blade up with blinding speed and parried Shil-Kas''s blow, the speed and force threw off his footing and left him stunned. Arnimos brought in three quick strikes, the first was narrowly avoided but the second and third hit. The second strike hit Shil-Kas with such force that air was driven from his lungs and the third hit him hard enough to drive him to his knees. Arnimos swung his blade towards Shil-Kas''s neck but stopped it a few inches away, he had won a duel.
Arnimos dropped the blade as he felt his Dichotomies receding, they had gotten all they could. He offered a hand and Shil-Kas took it as he rose.
"Good effort," Shil-Kas said. "It appears your Dichotomies are beginning to reinforce your physical abilities,"
"Yeah, they are," Arnimos said. "It feels weird,"
"You''ll get used to it," Shil-Kas said. "Now that they are fully Awakened however we''ll start training in how to combine your Dichotomies with swordsmanship, got that?"
"I understand," Arnimos said.
"All right," Shil-Kas said. "We won''t have training tomorrow as i prep some better lessons, get going to Tages now,"
"Thank you," Arnimos said.
Arnimos gave a small bow then walked through the palace. He hadn''t spoken to Tages in a few days, not after the incident with the Personification. He took his time walking through the halls shortly considering even skipping his lessons with Tages but decided against it, his parents had likely paid much for such a tutor.
Arnimos entered the training yard where Tages stood, there were still dummies set up but also a chalkboard, a desk and a strange box. Tages also had something new, on his hip was a sword. It was strange looking like it was made of obsidian yet not in any shape you could ever get it to be, a Fear-Made weapon.
"You have arrived, Archon," Tages said.
Arnimos tensed as he looked around to make sure there was no one else.
"No Personification this time?" Arnimos said. "Good,"
"I am sorry for what happened last time," Tages said. "I believed it to be the proper path,"
"Let''s just get on with this," Arnimos said.
Arnimos sat at the desk.
"So what''s the lesson today?" Arnimos said.
"We shall be going over the basics of Dichotomy," Tages said. "To ensure you have a good enough base for training,"
"I know the basics already," Arnimos said. "There are the 4 great races and a bunch of sub-races and some people manifest powers based on their greatest fear, is that good enough?"
"No," Tages said. "We shall go over the basics of each race, the base function of Dichotomy and crafting,"
Arnimos raised an eyebrow.
"How are we going to craft?" Arnimos asked. "We are too far from the Barrens for any of the ash to be usable,"
"If it was only carried by the wind," Tages said. "But within this box,"
Tages lightly nudged the strange box which popped open to reveal a pile of ash. It looked just like the ash you might see from a campfire but it was different, lighter than it should be and almost begging to be changed.
"Is enough ash to make things," Tages said. "It was crafted for the purpose of carrying ash from the Barrens,"
Tages flipped the lid back down.
"Any more questions?" Tages said.
Arnimos sat silent for a moment, he had just one.
"What did it mean then?" Arnimos said. "When you said my Dichotomies didn''t Imprint?"
Tages sighed then picked up a piece of chalk.
"We will get to that," Tages said. "Now let us start with the races,"
Tages drew 4 circles with the names Tyross, Arbeross, Taniberas and Luxicon, the 4 great races.
"You already know the 4 races," Tages said. "But what does each race do?"
"They have different manifestations of their powers," Arnimos said.
"And how is it determined which race one will be?" Tages said.
"Your parents," Arnimos said. "You inherit the Dichotomies of your parents,"
"In many cases, yes," Tages said. "But what about the Reborn?"
"They are given the choice by the Author, if I remember correctly," Arnimos said. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
"Correct again," Tages said. "Respectively the choice are to Change, to Embrace, to Understand and to Overcome,"
Tages write each choice next to the race names.
"We know them as they manifest," Tages said. "To Usurp, to Become, to Create/Control and to Destroy,"
Tages then wrote those next to the respective names.
"Each race also holds their own physical characteristics," Tages said. "Tyross have color changing eyes, Arbeross look like their fear, Taniberas have crimson eyes and dark earthen skin and Luxicon have smooth petrified skin and what some Reborn describe as an "elf-like" look,"
Tages listed that as well next to each race.
"Originally in Shale, when I was young," Tages said. "Tyross had not come into the world yet and so there were only 3 races and 3 sub-races, today I will only discuss the great four and the three that existed in my time,"
Tages made a small list for Arbeross and listed a few details about them.
"First I shall begin with Arbeross," Tages said. "They "Become" their fear, taking on physical or mental aspects of it,"
Tages made another list, this time for Taniberas.
"Taniberas Create/Control their fear," Tages said. "They may create or control phenomena related to it and some can even conjure Fragments of their fears Personification,"
Tages made a list for Luxicon.
"Luxicon Destroy their fear," Tages said. "Their powers damage or negate things related to it,"
Tages then made the list for Tyross.
"Tyross Usurp their fear though most times it would be better to say they Change it," Tages said. "They take their fear and change things about it, for example a Tyross of Fire might change how hot a fire is or other aspects of it,"
Tages then made another list this time labelled Blanks.
"When Arbeross and Luxicon Dichotomies combine they create a strange tear," Tages said. "This tear does one simple thing, it sucks their fear out of the environment around them. An example, a Blank of Fire would suck fire into themselves extinguishing them from the environment around it, they can not project or otherwise use it just absorb it,"
Tages made a list labelled Truth.
"Arbeross and Taniberas Dichotomies left alone are strange, they merge together but due to the nature of the Arbeross Dichotomy they also merge with the body," Tages said. "As such, unlike other races, Truths use their bodies as fuel for their abilities rather than the raw energy of their Dichotomies. Their abilities are typically weighted towards one or the other but will still show signs of the merging between Dichotomies,"
Tages hesitated for a moment before making a list labelled Oracle.
"Before the Tyross and their children, Oracles were considered the strongest race of Shale," Tages said. "This is because of our nature, you see our Twin Dichotomies of Taniberas and Luxicon hate each other. Every moment they attempt to destroy the other waging an invisible war inside our bodies, they only can be suppressed by wearing rings of Fearstone which suck away a Dichotomies energy,"
Tages flashed the ten rings he wore, they were all made of a strange purplish stone though one was also banded in gold.
"Would I not suffer the same thing then?" Arnimos said. "Do I not possess all Dichotomies?"
"It is the fact that you hold all four that makes it so," Tages said. "Well, in truth, it is your Tyross Dichotomy that does it, it acts as a stabilizing force to prevent your Dichotomies from trying to annihilate each other,"
"I see," Arnimos said.
"But back to the lesson," Tages said. "With both Dichotomies separate Oracles are capable of awakening 3 separate lines of manifestation, one for each and one for combining them once you have the control over them to do so,"
"What do you mean "lines of manifestation"?" Arnimos said.
Tages chose a small clear section of the board and made an empty list, it had 4 items.
"Each Dichotomy manifests differently, even those with the same fear can have vastly different abilities," Tages said. "This is because all users of Dichotomy have 4 distinct ways to use their abilities, there are dozens of names for them but typically the Reborn call them the three Skills and the Ultimate,"
"How specific are these "Skills"?" Arnimos said. "Do they have anything that should be noted?"
"Every Skill is different, some are broad and allow wide-ranging effects while some are hyper-specific," Tages said. "It depends upon the individual. They can even only be tangentially with the fear, for example a Luxicon of Fire could have an ability that allows them to drive the air from a place to extinguish a fire,"
"Why do you use the Fear of Fire as an example?" Arnimos said. "Surely there are other fears you could use,"
"Simplicity," Tages said. "For example, explaining my abilities as the Oracle of Dichotomy would take a much longer lesson,"
"What about Ultimate''s?" Arnimos said. "Why are they separate?"
"That is because they are taxing upon a Dichotomy that they may only be used once a day," Tages said. "And they are exceptionally powerful. For example an Arbeross of Fi-"
Arnimos shot Tages a glare, he stopped talking and stared Arnimos down for a second before sighing.
"Fine, I''ll tell you one of mine," Tages said. "My Taniberas Ultimate is Dichotomy Creation, it allows me to create a single temporary Dichotomy of any race and put it in someone. There is more about it but i will not reveal that here,"
"Could you not create an artificial Archon with that?" Arnimos said. "Could you not make yourself an Archon with that?"
"There are some things you do not test," Tages said. "The Author''s mercy is one of them,"
As Tages spoke the name of God The Author the room went silent, as though it was holding its breath. Tense seconds passed until sound returned.
"Now that we have the basics of the races, let us go to the basic uses of Dichotomy," Tages said.
"Why doesn''t everyone use their Dichotomy?" Arnimos said. "Everyone has one so why don''t they use it?"
"For normal Shaleborn it would take years to decades of practice and training to awaken just their first Skill," Tages said. "The exception is Arbeross, their first Skill typically changes their biology or mind and is always active, but even then most don''t have the strength of mind to use it too much. They are left with the choice between madness or normalcy, many would choose the latter. Is that all?"
"For now," Arnimos said.
"Dichotomies feed off of fear, that you already know," Tages said. "They produce Dichotomy Essence when doing so but without control it is consumed by the Dichotomies soon after to power their abilities or-"
Tages drew the sword from his hip and drew its blade along his hand, it seemed to create a cut far shallower than a blade of that size should.
"To repair the body," Tages continued. "It is the simplest use of it that you do reflexively, your mind creates nightmares while you sleep which your Dichotomies feed off of to produce energy to heal you,"
His wound closed a moment later. Tages then tossed the Fear-Made weapon and it stuck into the stone in front of Arnimos.
"Cut your hand upon its edge," Tages said. "We shall see how your Dichotomies react,"
"I don''t want to do that," Arnimos said. "Isn''t there another way?"
"I suppose," Tages said.
Tages picked up the blade and took a good few steps away from Arnimos. He held the blade out in front of him then rapidly slashed it towards Arnimos. Arnimos was too far away for the blade to hit him normally but yet somehow a shallow cut appeared on his chest.
Pain flared in his body and his mind raced, it took only a moment for his Dichotomies to explode. In a flash the wound closed and Arnimos felt energy lingering in his body. Tages put the sword back on his hip.
"It appears you can reflexively do it while awake," Tages said. "A good start, it will be much easier for you to learn it consciously,"
"What was that for?" Arnimos said. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"I am trying to teach you-" Tages said.
"Maybe you could teach me in a better way then!" Arnimos said. "First you risk my life with a Personification and now you hit me with a Fear-Made weapon, you are a terrible teacher!"
"Archon," Tages said. "I am teaching you in the way which is best, fear is needed for-"
"Shut it, I don''t care!" Arnimos said. "I am leaving and going somewhere better where I won''t be attacked!"
Arnimos stormed out of the room, Tages watched him as he left. Had he been too harsh? Should he have taken more care? Such thoughts were driven from his mind, they could have been had in better days but he did not have the time he needed to enact them. Perhaps he was driving the Archon too far but that was what he needed. Whatever was coming for him was not something he could face in his current state.