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Book: Genesis - the Battle Within (Pillars of Creation Book 1) by David Tucker
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Authors: David Tucker
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compete with multiple users anyway? He deliberated again angrily, not wanting to dwell on his prior brooding thoughts. Sure he was an amazing fighter, and the way he utilised stealth and darkness was truly uncanny considering he was broken. Zeal unwittingly rubbed his arm where it still ached from the boy almost slicing it through in their last sparring exercise. But still he was just a well-trained human – not an Immortal.
No , the boy didn’t know why, he decided, answering his prior question … how could he? Zeal had to be careful of this, and he’d ensured the boy only knew what he had to, he couldn’t be revealed, not when he was so close, not with so much still left to chance.
Zeal began muttering to himself, a sure sign he was nervous. The boy noticed it too; he looked up, concerned. He could sense his Master’s mood and had spent more than enough time around him to realise that if his Master was nervous, so should he be.
They continued towards the Temple training grounds in silence as the sun crested between the trees and brought the surreal reality of a dappled dreamland. The leaves fluttered through the glowing orange hues, floating serenely around them as they bathed in possibly the boy’s last sunrise ever.
They walked together in this way for another kilometre, through the cloned synthetic oaks, with little sign of their passing and barely a sound being made as they passed beneath the giant trees of the expansive forest.
The boy’s foot made no more sound than that of a rustling of each leaf hitting its resting place. They were both trained to almost combat perfection … and yet the difference between them was still vast. The boy’s feet made almost no sound, while his Master’s made none at all. Which in the world of an Immortal, Zeal reflected thoughtfully, meant the world of difference, life or death in fact.
So what will it be boy? I’ve given you enough to choose now, Zeal thought definitively; life or death?
Finally, Zeal led his student to the edge of the Temple training grounds, which looked more ominous than usual. The Master looked into the wide pit, disappearing far beneath them with only the tip of the tallest Temple visible through the gloomy darkness. The Master turned towards his student, measuring him one last time.
Zeal contemplated the boy’s body, which was becoming lean and carved from all the training and impossible exhortations he had put him through. Zeal even noticed, with a smile, that some of the boy’s scars – with his newly infused internal nanos healing him – were beginning to finally disappear.
But still, the boy looked as he had when he first found him, pitiful. He could feel the pain the boy’s life had inflicted, and what was yet to come. Zeal had never allowed himself to get close to a student, knowing the pain himself far too well. He knew this boy had saved him from a fate worse than death, but for it to be passed on to this young pupil … well it was more than Zeal could come to terms with, ever .
They had all thought he , Zeal, was the prophesied Trinity, but now, terribly, they weren’t sure. For the boy’s sake Zeal hoped it was not him … the Master had always distanced himself from others knowing what these trials might be and what he might become, but for this now to be passed on to his fractured student, how could there be a Sacred that would allow such a thing?
But this is exactly why my plans are needed , Zeal thought bitterly.
Zeal realised that for the first time in many decades he’d grown close to, and fond of, another human. For the first time in over a thousand years he cared for another again; and it hurt, something he’d thought forgotten.
Uncomfortable with the feeling, Zeal’s face quickly hardened, losing all emotion with barely any physical effort; his words became hollow and wooden, even though he meant them as he brushed off the strange feeling.
“Boy, good luck, and remember what I have taught you. Someday we
No , the boy didn’t know why, he decided, answering his prior question … how could he? Zeal had to be careful of this, and he’d ensured the boy only knew what he had to, he couldn’t be revealed, not when he was so close, not with so much still left to chance.
Zeal began muttering to himself, a sure sign he was nervous. The boy noticed it too; he looked up, concerned. He could sense his Master’s mood and had spent more than enough time around him to realise that if his Master was nervous, so should he be.
They continued towards the Temple training grounds in silence as the sun crested between the trees and brought the surreal reality of a dappled dreamland. The leaves fluttered through the glowing orange hues, floating serenely around them as they bathed in possibly the boy’s last sunrise ever.
They walked together in this way for another kilometre, through the cloned synthetic oaks, with little sign of their passing and barely a sound being made as they passed beneath the giant trees of the expansive forest.
The boy’s foot made no more sound than that of a rustling of each leaf hitting its resting place. They were both trained to almost combat perfection … and yet the difference between them was still vast. The boy’s feet made almost no sound, while his Master’s made none at all. Which in the world of an Immortal, Zeal reflected thoughtfully, meant the world of difference, life or death in fact.
So what will it be boy? I’ve given you enough to choose now, Zeal thought definitively; life or death?
Finally, Zeal led his student to the edge of the Temple training grounds, which looked more ominous than usual. The Master looked into the wide pit, disappearing far beneath them with only the tip of the tallest Temple visible through the gloomy darkness. The Master turned towards his student, measuring him one last time.
Zeal contemplated the boy’s body, which was becoming lean and carved from all the training and impossible exhortations he had put him through. Zeal even noticed, with a smile, that some of the boy’s scars – with his newly infused internal nanos healing him – were beginning to finally disappear.
But still, the boy looked as he had when he first found him, pitiful. He could feel the pain the boy’s life had inflicted, and what was yet to come. Zeal had never allowed himself to get close to a student, knowing the pain himself far too well. He knew this boy had saved him from a fate worse than death, but for it to be passed on to this young pupil … well it was more than Zeal could come to terms with, ever .
They had all thought he , Zeal, was the prophesied Trinity, but now, terribly, they weren’t sure. For the boy’s sake Zeal hoped it was not him … the Master had always distanced himself from others knowing what these trials might be and what he might become, but for this now to be passed on to his fractured student, how could there be a Sacred that would allow such a thing?
But this is exactly why my plans are needed , Zeal thought bitterly.
Zeal realised that for the first time in many decades he’d grown close to, and fond of, another human. For the first time in over a thousand years he cared for another again; and it hurt, something he’d thought forgotten.
Uncomfortable with the feeling, Zeal’s face quickly hardened, losing all emotion with barely any physical effort; his words became hollow and wooden, even though he meant them as he brushed off the strange feeling.
“Boy, good luck, and remember what I have taught you. Someday we
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