His heart skip a beat
He made sure Cal was lying comfortably and, after locating the scroll on the floor, he asked the old man to repeat after him and began to read aloud.
From the first words, Cal felt a strange tingling vibration in his body. Every cell in his body seemed to tremble and worry.
When they reached the end, the Fifth and the Abbot stared at him in astonishment and disbelief. The silence went on and on...
«Don't tell me you're a bunch of amateurs and I've grown donkey ears now!»
Raising his hands to his head, he found nothing of the sort and stared at them. The Fifth and the Abbot helped Cal up, led him out into the sun, and, pointing to a lake far, far below, commanded him to bathe in it.
«What? How am I supposed to get there? It's a long way! I've got arthritis, and I'm missing a kidney,» Cal wailed.
But the Abbot shoved him on the back and yelled after him:
«You have two kidneys and no arthritis, run like the wind!»
Cal rolled down the hill, cursing the Elder, but instead of breaking all his bones as expected, Cal landed deftly on his sturdy feet.
He then jumped up and touched the ground only twenty yards later! «How's that?» «he puzzled and soared through the air again. Now he was able to linger in weightlessness for a few seconds before he plunged.
Jumping up again, he saw two figures in the distance on a knoll, watching intently as the old man became a grasshopper. The fifth waved his hands and gestured as if she were floating.
«The lake! That's right!» Cal remembered, and in two leaps reached the shore. Throwing off his clothes, he dove into the calm blue waters and enjoyed swimming for the first time in years.
There was so much vivacity, strength, and vitality in his body that it pulsed. A long-forgotten, incredible feeling drove him crazy and made his heart flutter with joy.
He swam to the shore, grabbed his clothes, and ran for his life. My gods! He almost hit a hill, because he ran so fast. Even his hair and clothes had time to dry.
When he was dressed, he jumped onto the hill. The wind blew his beautiful hair, his broad shoulders, and his confident posture, nothing to remind him of decrepitude or death.
«How old do I look now?» Cal asked excitedly.
«About twenty-eight, I wouldn't say exactly,» the Guardian answered. «Shall we go on?»
«Yeah,» said Cal, as if he'd been taken to an amusement park.
Over the next few days, he mastered many techniques and developed unique abilities. The Abbot was heartily happy for his apprentice. He had amused his ego by introducing him to ancient knowledge and the new unknown world.
One day Cal asked him about the blood oath, which was the only thing that gave him access to knowledge.
«Blood oaths are taken so that the student cannot harm the teacher. But we have been ordered not to take such an oath from you.»
«But why?»
«Perhaps it has something to do with the Ancient Spirit. If he kills me or the Fifth and takes our form, then you can't kill him.»
«Can I kill him?» Cal asked a counter-question. The two of them looked at each other.
«That's the point,» the Guardian said.
«The Ancient Spirit will not rest until he has taken the life and power of the Source. But...»
«But what?»
«The Fourth has forbidden us to guard Liam, and he takes his safety very lightly. As a result, he often takes risks, and it is your job to become his protector...»
«But...» Cal wanted to protest, but the Abbot spoke for him.
«I know, I know, there's nothing you can do, and you were already one foot in the grave. Look, we're not just anyone. We're Elders, I'm 384 years old, and don't you think I've learned anything useful by now?»
«Don't worry, we'll manage, and we'll have helpers,» the Fifth said.
Cal fell asleep late at night. He tossed and turned for a long time because his favorite pillow was gone and his knees no longer hurt.
At dawn, he was dragged out of bed and sent out to train. He carried logs, swam, ran, and soon proved fully healthy and full of strength.
His renewed body responded happily to exertion, and it seemed to Cal that he was witnessing the most abnormally rapid muscle growth. Surprisingly, he didn't even want to eat, but his vigilant mentor force-fed his student.
After lunch, he was seated to read the history of the universe. Entering a world that was new to him, he simply had to understand things he hadn't known before.
He learned from the ancient scrolls that the earth is the cradle, the only place in the universe where people endowed with powers can be born.
Powers are of two types: protective, like his, and creative. It is also very rare that mankind is given a valuable gift - the «true source».
These great extraordinary people are capable of creating perfect worlds with their thoughts and of resisting the most powerful evil.
However, they are very fragile and need the support of someone who sincerely... It was impossible to read any further, the scroll had once been torn and glued back together again.
Cal read on:
«At the frontier of the universe, creators and protectors are constantly needed. As they unite, they expand our universe and push the spirits of chaos and death as far away from the cradle as possible. The creators create beautiful new worlds under the protection of the protectors, and often they form pairs.»
Cal snorted, «So these weirdos are capable of thinking about mating? I wonder how Liam lived all those three years while I managed to grow old and almost die?»
«Finished reading?» The mentor asked him.
«'Aye.»
«Then come here. Remember, it's a «hiding» technique, you'll need it first. It's how you change your appearance.»
The Abbot demonstrated the technique and turned it into the Fifth.
«Now you, become me.»
Of course, it didn't work right away. It took Cal nearly two weeks to learn the technique. The Abbot wouldn't let go of his neck until he got the result. One day, Cal couldn't take it anymore.
«Why is it so important for me to master the technique of concealment?»
"First, the Fourth Elder won't be happy to see you, and second, Liam, he shouldn't recognize you, because-"
«The Fourth wants my blood,» Cal finished.
«That's right. That will be the main deception: you will enter the Academy as another person, and you will have to hide your real face as long as it is necessary.»
Cal was confused. Did it mean not being able to get close to Liam and being at best his bodyguard?
On the other hand, to see him, talk to him, and protect him» wasn't that happiness he could only dream of?
As if to answer his thoughts, the Guardian said:
«The disguise is temporary. Act according to the circumstances. As soon as things have improved around the Head, or our friends in the Aether confirm that the danger is over, you can reveal your identity. It still depends on your diligence and dedication.»
Cal began to try with redoubled vigor. Three days later, the company left the sunny hills and moved to Shaolin.
Here Cal was constantly beaten mercilessly. From morning till night the stern monks with an unwavering smile showed him the basics of kung fu and Taijiquan, forcing him to practice the techniques and practice the basics of martial arts.
By the evening of each day, there was not a living thing left on him. It came in handy to learn healing and recovery techniques. The Abbot carefully explained to him how to use the technique and Cal's life became a little less difficult.
Beaten during the day, he healed his wounds at night, and so without rest for weeks. Neither did the Abbot rest. He went to the Aether Library from time to time to his friend, the Twelfth Elder, and brought from him a variety of scrolls with useful techniques and information.
The training and education of the clandestine agent had to be accelerated because his allotted time was running out. One of the last techniques the man learned was «detection».
It allowed him to detect falsity in any manifestation: feelings, words, changes in appearance like his, poisons, and hostile attitudes.
His teachers gave him only the knowledge that would enable him to react to danger before anyone else, skipping general academic knowledge.
Cal's main goal was to protect Liam, and in two months he absorbed and mastered the many ways of doing so. Leaving the Mountain of Buddhist Monks, Cal had one last challenge ahead of him.
And, in truth, it proved to be the toughest. All the people who bet on him knew in one way or another that he had a soft spot for Liam and had pined for him all his life.
Seeing a loved one resurrected from oblivion, he could naturally let all the effort go to waste by revealing himself.
The elders decided to «give the wolf meat. Turning Cal into an invisible spirit, they secretly led him into the Aether.
Within seven days he was to study the schedule and habits of the Head of the Academy. And also to have seen enough of him, to suffer him if he wanted to, and to become an adequate student at the Academy by the end of the stipulated period.
But that was easier said than done.
It must be said that Aether is an incredible place, simply fantastic! Filled with energy, it just wants someone's imagination and will to give it shape, size, and color.
Once in the Aether space, everyone created a world to their liking. That's why, once in Liam's territory, Cal was surprised to see first the high city wall and then the *** city where they had spent so many beautiful days together.
Liam was homesick, and so he recreated his favorite places from his memory with pinpoint accuracy. Cal entered the north gate with a shiver in his heart.
Before he did so, he received final instructions and a crystal for communication.
It was barely dawn in the city, and Cal went in search of Liam. His feet carried him straight to the castle, but it was only a prop and no one was there.
«How strange,» thought Cal. He was convinced that Liam's parents' home was the dearest place on earth.
After looking around the castle, he went on his way. He had to remember that Liam had once lived in an ordinary house on Flower Street. After checking the place out, Cal was again disappointed.
«Where are you hiding?» He pondered, and to the familiar path to the bridge. It looked new, had no moss on it, and the rushing deep-water River Mez flowed below.
It was as if Cal had gone back in time.
For a moment he stopped halfway and thought they were standing on this bridge just like that, only in different dimensions.
Suddenly there were sounds of battle coming from the other side of the bridge. Cal became alarmed and darted toward the noise, lurking behind a large tree.
What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Liam was standing in the rising sun. He was dressed in a simple canvas shirt tucked into his pants and tall boots.
In his hands, he held a sword, which he had just thrown into his left hand, and lunged at two dozen opponents.
Liam was confronted by the guards of the city. They began to attack, and the man pounded away at them left and right, pushing his enemies to the ground and defeating them.