A Banner Torn (Book 1 Complete)

Kaelid:

He woke to the feeling that someone had drained all the strength from his bones during the night. His limbs felt heavy and unresponsive, and when he tried to activate his enhanced perception, the familiar tingle of energy barely responded to his will. Even the simple act of sitting up in bed required more effort than it should have.

Across the village, Rannek was experiencing similar difficulties. When his mother Julid called him for morning chores, his response was sluggish and confused, as if he were fighting through a thick fog that clouded his thoughts and slowed his reactions.

"Are you feeling well?" Maerwen asked when he finally made his way to the kitchen, moving with the careful deliberation of someone much older. "You look like you haven't slept in days."

He studied his reflection in the polished metal surface of a pot, noting the dark circles under his eyes and the pallor of his skin. He looked exactly like someone recovering from a serious illness, though he felt no symptoms of fever or infection.

"I'm just tired," he said, though the explanation felt inadequate. This wasn't normal fatigue from physical exertion or lack of sleep. This was something deeper, more fundamental, as if some essential part of himself had been depleted.

"Perhaps you should rest today," Maerwen suggested, her maternal concern evident in her voice. "The Collegium tutor will understand if you need to postpone your lessons."

But he knew that rest alone wouldn't solve this problem. Whatever had happened during their skill transfer experiment the previous day had consequences they hadn't anticipated, and he needed to understand what those consequences were before they could address them.

He made his way to the village square, where he found Rannek sitting on the edge of the fountain with his head in his hands. His friend looked up at his approach, and he saw his own exhaustion reflected in Rannek's expression.

"You feel it too," Rannek said. It wasn't a question.

"Like something vital has been drained out of me," he confirmed, settling beside his friend. "The skill transfer, it cost us more than we realized."

"We need to understand what happened," Rannek said, struggling to his feet. "And we need to figure out how to fix it."

They made their way toward the forest, moving more slowly than usual and taking frequent breaks to rest. The journey that normally took them twenty minutes stretched to nearly an hour, and by the time they reached the clearing, both boys were breathing heavily from the exertion.

Curio was waiting for them, its translucent form rippling with what appeared to be concern. The slime's usual vibrant blue-green coloration seemed muted, as if it too had been affected by the previous day's experiments.

"You are diminished," Curio observed, its surface vibrating to produce words that carried undertones of worry. "The energy transfer has depleted your internal reserves more severely than anticipated."

He pulled Lexicon from his satchel and placed the journal on a fallen log. The mimic immediately shifted from its disguised form to its natural shape, its large eye blinking rapidly as it projected patterns of light that showed the boys' current energy states, both significantly lower than their normal baseline levels.

"How bad is it?" Kaelid asked, studying the mimic's display with growing concern.

Lexicon's projection shifted to show a comparison between their current energy levels and their normal states. The difference was dramatic, they were operating at perhaps thirty percent of their usual capacity, which explained their physical and mental exhaustion.

"Energy is the foundation of all enhanced abilities," Curio explained, its tone taking on the quality of a teacher delivering an important lesson. "Every use of your capabilities draws from this internal reservoir. Skill transfer is particularly costly because it requires not just energy expenditure, but the temporary merging of consciousness patterns."

"So we overdid it," Rannek said, slumping against a tree trunk. "How long will it take to recover?"

"That depends on several factors," Curio replied. "Natural regeneration occurs slowly over time, but the process can be accelerated through rest, proper nutrition, and avoiding further energy expenditure."

Lexicon chittered softly and projected a new display showing various activities and their associated energy costs. Simple enhanced perception required minimal energy, while complex abilities like status display projection demanded significantly more. Skill transfer, as they had discovered, was among the most expensive abilities they possessed.

"We need to be more careful," he said, studying the energy cost breakdown with new understanding. "If we can monitor our energy levels in real-time, we can avoid depleting ourselves like this again."

They spent the next hour working with Lexicon to modify their status displays, adding more detailed energy monitoring that would warn them before they reached dangerous depletion levels. The work was slow and difficult in their current state, but eventually they managed to create a system that would help prevent future incidents.

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As they prepared to return to the village, Curio offered one final piece of advice. "Energy management is a skill like any other," the slime said. "With practice and understanding, you will learn to use your abilities more efficiently and recover more quickly from expenditure."

The journey back to the village was even more exhausting than the trip out, and by the time they reached the square, both boys were struggling to maintain their composure. It was there that they encountered Theron, who was making his way toward Elder Myra's cottage for their scheduled afternoon lesson.

The young tutor took one look at them and immediately shifted into what appeared to be a diagnostic mode. He pulled out a small crystalline device and began taking readings, his expression growing increasingly concerned as he worked.

"What exactly have you been practicing on your own?" he asked, his voice carrying a sharp edge of worry. "Your energy signatures are severely depleted, I've never seen readings this low in functional enhanced individuals."

He and Rannek exchanged glances, both of them struggling to come up with an explanation that wouldn't reveal their secret activities in the forest.

"We were experimenting with skill sharing," he said carefully. "Trying to understand how our abilities work together."

"Skill sharing?" Theron's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's an advanced technique that typically requires months of preparation and careful supervision. The energy costs alone..."

He trailed off, studying his readings with growing amazement. "You actually succeeded in transferring skills between yourselves? Without proper training or safety protocols?"

"It seemed to work," Rannek admitted. "But we didn't realize how much it would drain us."

Theron shook his head in a mixture of admiration and exasperation. "The Collegium has protocols for energy depletion, but nothing this severe in individuals your age. You could have seriously injured yourselves, or worse."

He guided them toward Elder Myra's cottage, continuing to take readings as they walked. "We need to understand exactly what you did and how you did it. This level of capability shouldn't be possible without years of training."

The afternoon lesson became an impromptu investigation into their energy systems and the mechanics of skill transfer. Theron was fascinated by their ability to share knowledge directly, but also deeply concerned about the risks they had taken.

"Energy depletion can have serious long-term consequences," he explained as he continued his examinations. "Severe cases can result in permanent reduction of enhancement capabilities, or even complete loss of enhanced abilities."

The warning sent a chill through both boys. The thought of losing their connection to the core shards, of returning to normal human limitations, was almost unbearable.

"How do we prevent that?"

"Careful monitoring, gradual recovery, and absolutely no further energy expenditure until your levels return to normal," Theron replied firmly. "I'm suspending all practical training until you've recovered."

It was during this discussion that Marta arrived at the cottage, having finished her duties at the bakery. She took one look at the boys and immediately moved to Kaelid's side, her expression filled with concern.

"You both look terrible," she said, reaching out to touch his forehead as if checking for fever. "What happened?"

"Energy depletion from overusing their abilities," Theron explained, consulting his crystalline device. "They attempted skill transfer without proper preparation or safety protocols."

Marta's eyes widened with worry. "Is it serious?"

"Potentially," Theron replied. "But they're recovering. The readings show gradual improvement, though it will take time."

Kaelid pulled Lexicon from his satchel and set it on the table, where it remained in journal form but projected a subtle display that only he and Rannek could see clearly. The mimic's assessment matched Theron's readings, confirming that their energy levels were critically low but slowly improving.

They spent the remainder of the afternoon conducting careful experiments to understand the energy system better. Theron guided them through controlled tests of different abilities, measuring the energy costs and recovery rates while Lexicon provided additional detailed analysis through its scanning capabilities.

The results were both enlightening and concerning. Their enhanced abilities drew from a finite internal reservoir that regenerated slowly over time. Different abilities had different costs, with more complex or powerful techniques requiring proportionally more energy. And most importantly, severe depletion could have lasting consequences if not properly managed.

"We need to develop better energy management protocols," Theron said as the lesson concluded. "And we need to understand why your energy systems are so much more developed than typical enhanced individuals your age."

As evening approached and they prepared to end the session, Theron suggested one final test to establish their current baseline energy levels. It was meant to be a simple diagnostic scan, nothing that should have required significant energy expenditure.

But as he concentrated on maintaining his status display for the measurement, something went wrong. The projection flickered and wavered, becoming increasingly unstable as his already depleted energy reserves struggled to maintain the complex visualization.

"Stop," Theron said urgently, but it was too late.

His energy levels plummeted to zero, and he collapsed to the floor as his consciousness briefly disconnected from the core shard. His status display flickered one final time, showing his energy reading flashing red before disappearing entirely.

Rannek and Marta rushed to his side as Theron frantically checked his readings, his face pale with concern. "I've never seen anything like this," the tutor said, his voice tight with worry. "His energy levels have dropped to absolute zero."

Lexicon immediately shifted to its natural form, extending pseudopods toward his unconscious body and projecting urgent diagnostic displays that showed his core shard's connection flickering like a dying flame.

"What happens when it reaches that point?" Marta asked, her voice filled with fear.

But none of them knew the answer to that question, and as he lay unconscious on the cottage floor, they could only wait and hope that his enhanced systems would find a way to recover from complete energy depletion.

The core shard within his chest pulsed weakly, like a dying ember struggling to maintain its light, while his friends watched helplessly and wondered if they had pushed too far, too fast, in their eagerness to understand their abilities.