Chapter 55 - Ego Sum*

Nerun found himself staring in admiration at the bush. He did not understand in his mind what he was seeing, how it was possible that the bush was burning with an almost infernal fire, but at the same time seemed to dance with the wind in joy, as if the fire was really nothing but a gentle caress, touching the different branches of the bush.

At times, Nerun himself thought that at the same time he saw an intense fire, even more intense than that of an erupting volcano, as if the whole of creation was to be completely consumed in flames and ashes, but at the same time, the fire was calm and still, like the light of a candle.

In the midst of this sense of contradictions, the fire began to move while a voice was heard that seemed to come from the whole dimension.

"Hello Nerun.

Nerun fell backwards in surprise as the burning bush spoke to him. "Who, who, who are you?" Nerun could not help but stammer. The voice replied calmly, however,

"I Am."

Nerun kept quiet for a minute waiting for a continuation to the answer, but no other sound came out.

"Yes, exactly. Who are you? That was the question," said Nerun as he recovered a little from his surprise and stood up.

"I already answered you. I Am."

"Eeeeeh. Is that really a valid answer. Normally after the 'I Am' would come a name. I mean, it's weird to say, hello I Am, and then not say anything else. I Am, how have you been? I am, how was the training?" said Nerun trying to explain the difficulties of having a name like I Am.

"Hehehehehe. Wow, it's certainly different when you're talking to a child. I guess it can get complicated for some. Since you want to communicate with me by a name, how about Ego Sum?" said the voice, clearly in good humour at Nerun's witticisms.

"Well... If I'm honest, it's still a weird name, but I guess it's better than nothing. Hello Ego." Then Nerun got a bit nervous again, as if he was afraid of what he wanted to ask next, but finally seemed determined enough and asked "Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?".

"No. You are not dead yet, nor is this the Hereafter. Though I'll be the first to admit that you went to great lengths to achieve it. You destroyed all your auxiliary meridians, your chance of recovery is almost nil. Even if you were to live, it is possible that your new life will be that of a cripple. Having told you this, do you wish to stay alive?" said the voice of Ego.

"Of course I do. Even if I ended up paralysed I wish I was alive. If I died my brothers and father would be very sad. It's true that I have dreams and desires that I wanted to achieve in the future, but in the end, this is the life my parents gave me. Even if I were to achieve nothing else, for that alone, I wish I were still alive, because I am proof that they both lived and loved each other," said Nerun without even hesitation.

The answer seemed to please Ego Sum, because the fire in the bush became more animated, and changed from a yellow-orange colour, to a whitish-blue colour, while Ego's voice did not wait,

"Well said. Since you have so expressed it, then you will not die."

"Wow, can you confirm that I won't die. After all, I received a lot of wounds," said Nerun in a hesitant tone.

"I don't want you to die, so you won't die," said the voice in an authoritative tone that left no doubt that whatever he wished to happen would happen.

"If so, thank you very much," said Nerun with a sincere smile on his face. "But I still don't understand, where do I stand then?".

"You are inside the Genesis Stone," replied Ego.

"The Genesis Stone? You mean the stone my parents passed on to me? Father Maikal hasn't been able to use this stone despite the years, and from what he told me, my parents couldn't use it in the past either. Why was it activated now?" wondered Nerun.

"It's actually very simple. The stone requires two things to activate. On the one hand it requires the blood of the user. Without the shedding of blood, a pact is impossible to carry out, because blood carries the life of the person. A pact with the genesis stone requires a life pact, so blood is important. Next, you require Supreme Energy. Qi and Mana are part of the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth, Supreme Energy is the energy that comes from the union within a person of Qi and Mana at the same time. This energy requires the perfect union between the two to be of the same purity, quality and quantity. You didn't actually use Supreme Energy, but you did manage to mobilise Qi and Mana at the same time while you were fighting the mercenary. So I decided to make an exception and at least talk to you."

"Wow. Looks like I'm a genius then," said Nerun, feeling somewhat complacent.

"Actually no. I won't deny that you have some talent, but it's nowhere near what your father or mother had. Your father was a true genius when it came to the Way of Qi, and your mother to the Way of Mana. If they had not died, they would be among the most powerful experts on the entire continent today. If I were to compare you, your talent would at most be somewhat above average. That is not to say you have no good points whatsoever. Your ingenuity, and thw way you look at things is quite refreshing and most admirable.

In fact, that special body of yours, with all the meridians open, for others may be something wonderful and full of potential, but the truth is that for you it is nothing but a burden. You can hardly make proper use of your meridians, and in reality every time you used your techniques, you were destroying your body little by little. Well, it is not that having all meridians open does not give you unlimited potential, but your body could not resist it and there was no one to help you control the growth of your potential. It was the ancestral spell of Rakna-EON, which your parents used to send you to Maikal, that gave you those characteristics, and it can be both a blessing and a curse."

Nerun was a little startled. Not because of the things he told him about his body, but because the person who claimed to be called Ego seemed to know everything about his life.

"Who are you really, how do you know all that, are you the spirit of the Genesis Stone?" asked Nerun quickly, one question after another.

"I told you. I Am. There is nothing I do not know. As for the Genesis Stone, it may be the most valuable and at the same time the most useless object in all creation. I am not the Spirit of the Stone. Can a small stone contain the Infinite? But I will be the first to admit that it is a useful tool to communicate when I wish to do so. In this case, with you," said Ego in a nonchalant manner.

"Don't you think that's a bit self-centred, or do you think you're EON? So, you can tell me who is the one who killed my parents, for example," said Nerun trying to test the stone.

"Don't try to test me Nerun. It does you no good to know. It would only bring you pain, sorrow and misery at this time. For the knowledge of something you are not prepared to bear will only crush you and all those you love. When you are ready to know, you will know. After all, there is nothing hidden under heaven that will not be revealed in due time.

As for me, you might say that I am towering, mighty, sapient, everlasting, stable, incomprehensible, immutable and all that mutates, never new and never old, always in action and always still, zealous and fully secure, humble and absolutely sovereign," replied Ego, as the bush fire rose several feet high, changing its colour to a sublime golden one.

Nerun fell silent for a moment, as if trying to take in everything he heard. Eventually he said, "Eeeeeh, several of the things you mentioned seem contradictory. What I understand is that you are someone who is very powerful and knows a lot of things... I really want to know what happened to my parents. I want to be able to do something about it. I know that my strength is insufficient now, but in the future I know that I will be able to do it. That's why I also want to stay alive. As long as I have life, I'll never lose faith that I'll achieve whatever I set my mind to, even if I'm crippled."

"Hehehehehe. Maybe it's that attitude of yours that I like about you Nerun. So I would like to make a deal with you. I would like to make a covenant with you," said Ego.

"A Covenant? What kind of pact?" said Nerun hesitantly. Maikal had warned them on many occasions that spirits could exist on the continent, perhaps remnants of ancient experts who, violating the Law of EON, remain in the world waiting to take over the bodies of others and thus return in a state that is neither dead nor alive. This is one of the vilest things in existence and one of the crimes most pursued by the Temple.

"A Covenant, Nerun. An agreement between you and me. You used your blood and some of your Energy, which allowed you to enter the space within the Genesis Stone and speak with me. For that alone, I have held your spirit so that it does not disperse and you do not die in the real world. But I will do little more, after all, what you have given alone is enough for that. I want to make a different pact with you. I only want something in return."

"What do you desire?" asked Nerun with caution.

"Everything. I want everything from you," said the voice, as the fire in the bush turned multicoloured. "I want your complete dedication to the mission I will give you. I want a soldier who will carry out orders, for obedience is better than any sacrifice. If you do as I ask, I will give you what you ask."

Nerun had the intention of running away at that very moment. He was sure that the person who called himself Ego might be a demon or something similar who wanted to trick him. But thinking that he had just now destroyed his body, and that Ego had previously saved his life, he stopped and began to think. Ego seemed to have enough power to get whatever he wanted and Nerun wasn't even a Qi Master. If he wanted to harm him, he would have done so already, besides Nerun was practically dead and if he was still alive, perhaps this would be a life worse than death. And if this really was a chance to get what he wanted he wondered. Finally he said:

"If you wish to take over my body, I don't think I have a chance of resisting you. I only ask you to take care of my family and help me get revenge. Help me to make my parents proud." Nerun looked ready to sacrifice himself completely.

"Hahahahahahahaha... Kid, you have a great imagination. I don't need your body or anything similar, I don't know what kind of person you think I am. You are nothing in front of me. I just need you to accomplish a mission that I will set for you in the future. Simple, right? What do you want in return?"

Nerun was about to say that he wanted enough power to avenge his parents, but restrained himself. He was silent for several minutes that seemed endless, yet Ego fell silent and let Nerun think about what he wished to do.

"If you can truly grant me what I ask, then I want wisdom. Today by my foolishness, by my ignorance and haughtiness, I endangered my brothers. Eventually one person lost his life, my brother is on the verge of death and Ailan has lost his leg. I know it was not a mistake to try to save Big Sister Arbak, but I know I could have made a better decision. In the future, if as you say I find out what happened to my parents, it is very possible that I will do something crazy and put all my loved ones in danger. Therefore, even if you cannot restore me, I want wisdom to face whatever comes my way in the future. I accept the Pact you propose to me. If you give me what I ask, all the little I have and I am, belongs to you."

The flames of the bush grew again and became pure white, almost blinding Nerun's sight. Ego's voice then sounded quite happy.

"Hehehehehehehe. Good, very good. Since you have asked me for wisdom and not power to put all your enemies under your feet, talent to outshine the whole world, nor money to end your poverty, but wisdom to know right from wrong, to make wise decisions, then I will grant you what you have asked for. I will give you wisdom to understand the mysteries of this world, to know and to understand creation. And even more I will give you what you have not asked for, helping you to gain the power you need to fulfil the mission I have given you."

The fire from the Bush then turned towards Nerun and engulfed him, surrounding him in a cocoon of fire, directly putting his spirit on fire. Nerun started feeling a lot of pain in the innermost part of his soul. Yet at the same time, he somehow felt that he was right where he belonged from the beginning.

"I promise you pain. I promise you sorrow and tears. I promise you betrayal and danger in this world. I promise you effort and hard work. I promise to test you again and again. I will refine you as gold is refined in the crucible, until you are free of impurities. And even when you feel the deepest despair, you must remember that you are my soldier. I promise you that I will always be with you and accompany you on your journeys. Until you accomplish the mission I have given you, I will be sure to shower grace upon you. You will find friends and also many who will want the worst for you. And at the end of your journey, you will understand that everything you have been through has served to make you unequalled under heaven. This is my promise and covenant to you.

{ברית} - /Berit/"**

The last words sounded as a Mandate of Heaven, and thunder sounded in all the space. When Ego said these final words, Nerun lost consciousness and disappeared from the space inside the stone, and the bush vanished as well. The space resumed its silence and darkness as if nothing had happened at all.

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* Ego Sum: I Am, in Latin

** ברית: Covenant or Pact, in Hebrew