Chapter 15 - A Crusader

There were only three days left to reach the Order, and Pan was still in the supply wagon studying his new discoveries. Now, not only was he able to heal with the green, but he also found that after it rested, the sphere returned to the original size of a pinhead. This allows him to alleviate the phantom pain by directing some of the essence to the shoulder.

 He was still very confused about what happened. And when Thorin asked him how he went about using the essence he only said that he followed in his footsteps in detail, which of course, left the crazed crusader in a state of endless pride, leaving Pan to be forced to listen for hours and hours about how Thorin could be one of the best teachers in the Order if he wanted to.

 As for why hide what happened.  It was simple, Pan didn't know much about the Order, even though he'd read a lot, most of what he'd read was just fantasies and novels to pass the time. He didn't know whether or not stealing the essence of the green to death could be considered blasphemy, as the Order was on a never-ending crusade to reclaim the lands taken by the fallen and make them fertile again.

 'What a headache.' Tought Pan worried about his future prospects.

 However, even though he was confused about many aspects, he was still able to understand and learn some crucial things.  Now he could heal as Thorin did, taking just enough not to endanger the green's life, which was a disappointing and joyous discovery for him at the same time.

 Why is it disappointing? Because it means that Thorin was just a bad teacher, who wasn't teaching Pan how an apprentice should heal using green, but how a crusader should heal using green!

 He must have been able to heal using the external essence of green only after he graduated. Thought Pan.

 That was the most logical explanation he could think of.

 After having the small sphere formed, Pan noticed that when he was trying to get the essence of the plants using the vortex, small tendrils of essence like veins emerged from the core and directed towards the plant. Which was pretty much what Thorin had described to him as doing.

 Which of course saddened Pan to know he wasn't anything special, but it also made him happy to no end.  After all, he was a graduate!  A crusader now in his own right, not that he was going to tell anyone, of course. That was the only logical conclusion Pan could think of, but it would still be absurd to hear.

'But it still has it.' Thought Pan as he made the vortex again, it was no longer at his fingertips as he no longer had the etheric body covering his physical body. The vortex now came from the small sphere that greedily sucked everything Pan touched with his hand and with the intention of taking.

 He was even able to take all the essence of a living plant and take it for himself. He also noticed that the sphere itself seemed to "breathe" along with him and grow in power with each feeding and sleeping cycle he did. He thought that the part of growing with feeding and breathing must be common among crusaders. But he still doubted that they could just keep stealing energy for themselves.

 'I must use this carefully and take it slowly.' Thought Pan.

 When extracting essence through the tendrils that came out of what he now calls the essence core, Pan noticed that the amount of energy that came was negligible and also had the requested purpose, and what was left was returned to the plant. Already when he used the vortex, he took everything and gave nothing back, making part of the energy permanently his.

 He continued training and trying to find plausible explanations, while doing tests until he noticed a horizontal silhouette in the distance.

 "Finally the walls of the Order," said an apprentice who was walking beside Pan's wagon joyfully.

 To the relief of Pan and everyone else, nothing bad happened in the caravan before they arrived at the Order. Except, of course, the first attack that cost him an arm. But being outside the walls has been mental torture for many, so finally being able to see their fate with their eyes has brought endless relief.

 The Order walls didn't seem to be bigger than Lark's walls, which disappointed Pan, who had expected a magnificent and gigantic structure. But thinking rationally, the forty meter standard was already something, being taller could allow the fallen to simply manage to dig a hole unnoticed in the guard gaps.

 But what was disappointing about the walls, the Order itself was spectacular. All the apprentices looked with admiration when they arrived at the Order, for they had never seen such beautiful architecture, the entire city of the Order was white, from the foundations to the great tower that seemed to be the center and the pinnacle of everything around.

 There was a great moat beyond the walls, which extended and separated the city into five districts.

 Large bridges connect the city districts to the gates and slightly smaller bridges also connect the districts to each other.  At the center of it all was the tower with five bridges connected to its structure, it towered dazzlingly in white that gleamed in the sunlight.