Tarous, стр. 10
I had gone for a walk around the school with Nyxra, but now I was rushing back up the stairs to my dorm. I wanted to get back to my room and grab a quick shower. I was so excited I was careless and I was running up the school steps. I lost my balance and tripped. I tried to grab for the railing but missed. I fell backwards, hitting my back hard on the stone stairs, then I rolled down several more stairs landing awkwardly. Luckily my skull broke my fall.
Strangely, I was fine. No scratches, no bruises, no caved in skull. I had felt different after dying, but I still didn’t know the full extent of those changes. I needed to talk to someone more experienced in these kinds of things, but no one was really experienced in something like this.
The school had different areas of study. Elementalists, necromancers, support magic, psychics, and even body refinement. There is also a section of the school that is dedicated to those that don’t fit into any of these areas called “others”. We don’t talk about “others”.
I needed to talk to someone about the changes in my body and I decided a body refinement master would probably be the best choice. Body refinement was basically focused on using magic to strengthen one’s body. I could think of nowhere better to learn about the changes in my body. I decided not to mention that I had died though. Even in a world of magic that would freak people out. I had no plans with anyone on Sunday, so I decided to go ahead and start my research into my new body that morning.
The training ground was outside of the school, near the south side of the school. It was a large field with equipment to train in. Half of the people on the field were fighting each other and the other half were either running laps around the field or lifting boulders. The sight was rather intimidating. I watched one of the more impressive fights.
“Flame Fist!” yelled a man as his entire hand became engulfed with flames. He punched towards his opponent, but moments before his fist connected with the opponent’s palm his opponent could be heard yelling “Stone Palm.” His entire hand became grey right before my eyes. The punch appeared to have been rendered ineffective. Both men then leaped backwards. One had his feet surrounded in lightning and his movements were fierce and quick. The other man’s feet were surrounded in shadow and his movements were dark and shrouded.
I was distracted by the fight so I didn’t realize someone had walked up behind me. Before I knew what was happening this person punched me in the back of the head. If my body hadn’t undergone its recent changes the force of that blow would have probably knocked me unconscious and possibly killed me. As I was now it only caused me slight pain, and great annoyance.
“What are you doing on my training ground, punk?”
I turned and ended up looking down at a student I had never met before. He was shorter than me by at least a foot and he didn’t look all that bright either. Before I could give my perfectly sarcastic reply I felt a gust of wind and an older gentleman appeared behind the boy.
“Causing trouble again I see,” mumbled the old man as he punched the boy in the back of his head. The boy’s eyes dimmed as he was knocked unconscious. A fitting punishment in my opinion. The old man turned and looked at me questioningly.
“My name is Tarous, honorable sir, and I was looking for someone that might be able to tell me a little about recent changes in my body.”
The old man looked at me and grinned. “Boy, it’s not my job to teach students about puberty.”
Despite his comment he leaned over and began examining me. He pinched my arm and started examining my fingers.
“You are different. Your body looks like it belongs to someone who has spent several years training in body refinement. Your skin is tough enough to turn blades and your bones are as hard as steel. Interesting.”
He continued to study me. “With body refinement, first you train your body to a high level. The process strengthens your bones, skin, muscles, and even your tendons. Then you learn special fighting techniques that are different from the spells the other students learn. We use these specialized techniques to harness the energy inside and outside of our bodies to fight with.”
I reflected on his words as he continued to examine me by poking and prodding different places on my torso. He squinted as he looked into my eyes like he was trying to find something in them.
“Your entire body, including your organs, have all been refined. Your body is currently similar to a body refining expert who has spent decades refining his body. No matter the technique there are always imperfections. Whatever method you’ve used is strange, as I can detect no impurities within your body. It’s almost like you were born with this body instead of having to train for it.”
I was startled by how close to the truth this man was. The old man paused and continued to watch me before he started talking again.
“In fact, we train in qi instead of magic. It is simply a different kind of energy and your entire body is saturated with qi, specifically life and death qi. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.”
“I have been watching what I eat lately,” I replied with a smile. I even sucked in my stomach a little. The man raised an eyebrow but motioned me over to a shady spot and told me the basics of body refining. I found it interesting how much body refining