System Break

Reluctantly the Master of the Black Cloaks allowed us to leave. He didn't threaten or bar Shade from leaving, he just kept giving advice, asking questions, and offering treats like food, pipeweed, alcohol or hallucinogenic drugs.

She led me through a maze of narrow, unused corridors and through a couple of secret doors before finally arriving at a barren room with a translucent green wall. The wall moved like the surface of a pond or a portal and I could not discern much through it because it was like looking at a picture through a tank of murky water.

"This is a test," she said. "Beyond that wall is my place of rest and solitude. No black cloak has found this place. The most powerful black cloaks would struggle to pass through the curtain."

She was going to show me behind the curtain literally, I just had to pass through.

"It is a test of strength and determination to pass through." Go pointed. "Go. I will watch." Her voice was low in volume, but it had a hard edge to it. Her husky tones cut through the air and I could hear her well despite being softly spoken.

She sat crossed legged and placed her hands on her knees. Even in this position her face, hands and feet were hidden. 

I approached the curtain and touched it. It felt cool like a portal and it was unforgiving, my hand could not push through.

I imagined a battle to the death with a Titan and my qi flowed from my core flooding my streams. It was taxing but once I was through I could rest, and I had the artifact if I needed to replenish.

I stepped up to the curtain, so my nose was touched it and I placed a hand on it before applying pressure. It bent like a rubber surface, but it did not allow a fingernail to break through let alone my hand or body.

I thought there was no point in using force, but I would give it a try just to rule it out. Qi strength patterns formed in my muscles throughout my body, and I strained against the surface. It buckled no further than a simple push despite the physical pressure. I could have pushed a 747 but I couldn't break the seal.

Physical pressure was not required, it was spiritual pressure. I allowed my streams to settle back to a non-war setting and when my flow was regular I imagined them vibrating like a guitar string being plucked.

It was not hard to start but it was hard to master. My aura was uncontrolled and wonky. There was no beauty, rhythm or consistency that made Shade's powerful. I drifted and imagined a song, an enjoyable beat that gave me joy 212 by Azealia Banks. It was fast before it was slow, and it was one that I'd listened to since I was young, so I knew every beat off by heart.

My streams strummed at a fast pace and my pressure built up to a crescendo, it wasn't perfect far from it but it was working. My field battered against the green curtain and it wobbled, it shook like jello. It was taxing but I could see progress within myself at least.

My aura pushed and I worked through the song and then another. I felt exhilarated because I had created my first aura, but I was tiring and the green wall which separated me from my goal shook but did not break. When I pressed my hand it still did not yield.

I fought with it for an hour, and I was beat. Although my streams weren't flushed with qi it was still tiring to activate them to form the aura. I was working a muscle I had never worked before and it screamed at me to stop.

I relaxed and let my aura drop. My shoulders slumped and I turned to see Shade sitting with her legs crossed, hands on her knees and she was unmoving. For all I knew she could be asleep within the dark folds of her cowl.

My feet carried me to her while I considered using the artifact to restore my qi there was not much point and I'd be exposing the object for no good reason other than continue with a strategy that wasn't working. Not to mention it was my qi which was exhausted it was the act of vibrating my streams to create the waves.

A sat in front of her facing her. "Do you admit defeat?" she asked.

"No, not yet. I need time to think of another way."

She remained silent and stock still, but I could feel her attention on me. 

A dozen ideas ran through my mind, but none felt like a good idea. If I got desperate I would try but for I remained for a time thinking. It was quiet in the room and the only thing I could hear was my breathing and my heart beating – I couldn't hear hers.

"You do not ask questions," she said.

"Oh, is that allowed? You said it was a test."

"A test does not exclude questions unless it's a rule of the test and this one has no such rule. It is a test of your skill not knowledge."

"Great then what am I missing?"

"This is a terrible question. You are missing a million things."

"Is my aura too weak or ill defined?"

"Your aura is not the cause. It is very good for a beginner."

So if it wasn't my aura then it had to be another technique. It wasn't my strength, even if for some reason I wasn't strong enough I should at least be able to break the seal. No I was missing something. 

I suddenly realised that her core was gone. She was sitting in front of me, but I could not see her with my sight. Wait. I could see a shadow of her core; it was a smoky substitute. The curtain wasn't the only thing in the test, she said she was testing my skill and she sat there hiding her core somehow. Which meant she wanted me to notice her hiding her core, which meant she knew I could sense it at least. 

"How are you hiding your core?" I asked.

"I am nobody," she said.

Fuck. Riddles.

I racked my brain. Okay, nobody, which meant she made herself disappear because she was nobody and her core disappeared. Wait. I remember the proverbs from Lao Tzu. It was in there, in the ancient Chinese texts. It was about letting go of everything. Fuck. I couldn't let go of my goals, my mission.

I agonised over it and had to ask, "In order to achieve my goals do I need to let go?"

"You cannot force. You must wait and then flow."

I was getting frustrated. "What? More riddles. How can I get through if I don't force?"

"Water repels oil, but does water repel water?"

"Fuck!" I stood. "Okay." And I stomped towards the green barrier and qi struck it again, and again. I wailed on it like a lunatic with the most massive punches I could summon at least until my anger subsided, and I was exhausted. Deep down I knew it wouldn't work but I felt better. Much better.

I lay down next to the curtain. I was exhausted, my qi reserve was now close to empty, but my frustration and anger were gone. I relaxed. I would achieve my goal; I didn't need to force it I just needed to imagine it and it would come just like my qi did.

I let go. I didn't need Shade, she was nice an all, but if I failed this test it didn't matter. One day I would be back in the forest, I would reclaim my body and cut the strings which controlled me. They couldn't twist me luck a puppet if I was no one.

If I was nobody I could go where I pleased. I had no strings and no inhibitions. Good and bad things did not happen to me, things just happened and there were no setbacks. It was a journey, and the journey did not move forward or backward, it just moved.

Water does not repel water. Fuck. My arm flopped out to my side and I looked up. I had no idea what it was made out of. Was it even made out of anything. Her clues began to link together. While they made perfect sense to her it took me ages to get it.

Water does not repel water. The curtain was nothing. I am nobody - No Body. And then I realised my flopped out arm was through the barrier.

I rolled through and jumped to my feet. My arm rocketed to the air in celebration and through the green haze I saw her slowly stand and walk towards me.

The bitch walked through the barrier like it wasn't there.