Tread Lightly

Augur - Gains a sixth sense that is sensitive to danger. Increases the ability to make predictions based on situational clues. Excellent hearing and eyesight. Rarely found in beasts or demons of any type, commonly found in Otherplanars.

Abbot - Increases sense of self. Increased understanding of what is heard, allowing a nascent sight without eyes. Access to Vigor. Commonly found in Rougarou.

-Excerpt from the Prime Sigils Manual.

The next day, Edmund begins to, for the first time, actually teach me. Instead of just giving me a paper to read or a little advice here and there, He is teaching me how to fight. Or in his words.

"You need to learn how not to die. Fortunately and unfortunately, in some ways, you appear to have no fear of death. I've only seen you fight a handful of times by now, but every time you bleed more than yur' enemy. Yur' a natural fighter, but you fight like a man condemned to the gallows."

And he does so by having me line up against him within the cellar and restrained by the bounds of a circle drawn on the floor with mud. So I stand against Edmund with my rapier drawn while lit by lanterns and candles he found within the cellar.

The second he signals to start, a wave in the air, I move towards him. I see Edmund raise his dagger-wielding hand, and I dash straight for him. My legs go out from under me, and I feel steel against my throat.

Gritting my teeth, I push against his arms just precisely enough to get the knife from above my throat to above my head as I slide out of his grip. I feel a vice-like hand on my ankle barely a second after I escape. Edmund grabs me and pulls me directly to him. I feel the concrete under me as I'm ripped away and the debris on the floor that grinds against me.

Before I even get close, however, I feel a massive force in my stomach. Gasping and coughing, I try my best not to puke my recent breakfast of jerky and bread on the ground immediately.

I look up before I even catch my breath. Edmund is standing with his foot on my stomach and a smirk on his face. Heat rises within my skull, anger overflowing. He's not even teaching me. I gather my strength and try to push his foot off me, but the pressure only grows.

Edmund asks, behind his sly grin.

"You give up?"

I growl in anger. Then I pull the Lily and point it at him. He retreats at this, obviously anxious about it, but still laughs.

"That only works as long as you have bullets left in it. You need to learn how to dodge Wyatt. How to evade when you cannot block. And most importantly, how to run when you are outmatched."

Still on the ground, covered in dirt and sweat, I ask him to teach me how to.

"Okay then, teach me. And show me how to use Ether then. Is this not a waste of time to just beat my ass?"

Edmund replies as he reaches out and pulls me to my feet.

"No, it's not a waste of time."

He then continues once I'm standing up in front of him.

"I'm showing you that sometimes you are simply outmatched. A Hunter needs to know when to run and when to stand their ground. An easy example for you to understand is when I forced us to run from the cabin because of the breach. It'd be suicide for both of us to remain. Even if we hid in the vault, eventually, it would be broken into, and we'd be left inside starving. So, I'm going to first teach you how to run and how to dodge. Then and only then will I teach you how to manipulate Ether."

Annoyed by his long explanations and lack of action, I just agree.

"Okay, then, let's do it already."

Edmund nods, reaches down to his boot, and draws another small dagger to match his first.

"I'm going to go fast, Wyatt. So, just focus on dodging and blocking."

And as soon as he finishes his warning, he's on me again, this time with two daggers instead of one. He swings at my hip sideways in a reverse grip, and I retreat backward to get out of the way. I think I make it before a drop of blood reaches the end of the dagger and juts out, causing a thin line of blood to appear as it cuts through my pants.

I grimace from the pain, but I have no time to ponder as he continues pressing me. Front stab, I sidestep, then a second comes from the side and grazes me. Side slash, I retreat again, further this time, but then I trip and fall backward on a mound of congealed blood. Then he goes for a grapple as I fall to the ground. I just barely get out before he cuts me again.

I continue to dodge and move backward and sideways as he tries to impede and injure me. I faintly feel the increased precision in most movements, guiding my feet and hands into stable actions.

I especially notice it when I go to parry his dagger with my rapier, and I can feel and sense how to accurately deflect it. Yet, despite my perfect deflection, my blade doesn't even graze Edmund on the counter.

This onslaught continues for what feels like hours. The whole time he teaches me more and more about fighting. Well, less about actually fighting and more about surviving. Plus a bunch of other little phrases and tidbits that might help me later, like he spoke about how harmful overconfidence is nearly ten times.

And after a long time of fighting with a lot of lost blood, just as my vision begins to waver, Edmund notices my weakness. He then waves his hand as all the blood I spilled flows into his hand and walks towards me.

"Come, let me restore yur' lost' blood. Despite the blood loss, you did well for the first drill and improved considerably towards the end. That precision yur' Sigil gives you seems to work wonders. Let's eat lunch, then I'll tell you more about the Hunters while you rest."

It's only lunchtime? It felt like he was attacking me all day long. Panting and stumbling, I walk over to him in disbelief of everything. I've gotten my ass kicked several times, but I always felt there was a chance at victory. Against Edmund, though, I never even put a speck of dust on him. I was always on the back foot, under his control.

My internal impression of him raises significantly, which I wasn't sure was possible as he places his hand covered in an orb of blood on my shoulder near my most extensive wound. Then I watch, transfixed, as the blood flows back into my body. And within just a moment, I feel so much better. My vision is no longer wavering, and while still tired, it no longer feels like I'm about to pass out.

I feel so much better after he performs his ability on me. However, my wounds are still open despite the ability performed on them, so they still bleed a bit. To rectify this, Edmund helps me wrap up my cuts and put salve on my bruises.

At this point, I am pretty used to being injured just enough to feel it throughout my day.

We both go over to our packs, and Edmund pulls out some rations. Together we eat the rations that Edmund had prepared in case of emergency. More tough jerky and stiff bread. While we eat, though, Edmund tells me more about the Hunters and their structure.

"There are nine ranks within the Hunters. Each is normally given to an individual with either the Sigil of the corresponding rank or the proven strength of one. They go in order from weakest to strongest, Agent, Deputy, and Sheriff, which are all Base Realm ranks. Then there are Captain, Major, and Colonel for the Wonderous Realm ranks. And finally, the Angelic Realm is a bit different, but they are General, Marshal, and Prime."

I interrupt his explanation while eating to ask a question.

"I thought the Prime was the strongest, not a rank?"

He nods and explains.

"Yes, it is both. The Prime is the strongest human, but simultaneously, it is scarce for there to be two or more humans at the 9th Sigil. In fact, it has only ever occurred once in history. And when it does happen, they share the position. But amongst these ranks, there are more divisions. Each rank has the distinction of New, Simple, and Old, with Old having the most commanding power. This allows for more obvious rank and coordination among teams."

I say when he takes a breath from his explanation, curious but already somewhat sure what rank I'd be.

"That makes sense. So what rank am I? And what rank are you?"

He points to himself and then to me while explaining it all.

"I'm an Old Sheriff. You'd be a New Agent had I successfully registered you. As it is, yur' just a trainee."

Knowing the various ranks, I ask about all the other Hunters and where they are. Like why are we all alone here?

"Yeah, that's about what I thought. What else, though? Like, where are all the other Hunters right now?"

With a wave above us, Edmund details where they may be.

"Right now? They've likely all head further eastward, beyond where the breach will reach. Few Hunters live in Tornridge because of your father. When the rest of the world learned of yur father being missing, a great change began. He may not have been one, but he had the strength of a Pillar, the twelve most powerful humans. Who are each 7th or 8th Sigiled. Whenever one of these men or women falls, we lose the area they are meant to defend. Or at least normally. If the Prime moves, it can be fortified for a while as we try to get a replacement, for his presence alone is enough."

Amazed at my father's strength but frustrated, I ask more about him.

"Why was he not a Pillar? And where could he have gone if he had the strength of one?"

Edmund shakes his head before he responds.

"I dunno, kid. That stuff is way above my pay grade. All I know is he left the Hunters shortly after becoming a Colonel. I used to know him before he even reached my rank. When he was just a lad like you. Barely any power, a bit unique, though. But now? And with his strength? Especially his ability to be nigh unkillable? I don't know where he went. Could've gone just about anywhere. From the deeps of the Borderlands to the fiery depths of Hell itself, I'm fairly sure someone like him could survive just about anywhere. After all, it's said that he is the only human to have ever entered the deepest and most dangerous reaches of the Borderlands, the Badlands, and came back alive."

So my father was mighty, huh? Strong enough to keep Ma and me safe without being present. Strong enough to protect a whole region. Strong enough to survive just about anything.

Then where the hell has he been?

Edmund takes my silence for boredom as he claps his hands and stands up after his meal. Then he walks over to his backpack and pulls out a small grey cylindrical piece of metal before walking back to me.

He then sits and hands the item to me. I take it. Before I can ask him anything, he speaks in his essay-like speech.

"This is an Ether Receiver. A device to help newbies train how to control Ether. Once you learn how to stably output Ether into the Receiver, you can learn how to manipulate it within yur' body. First, you learn to crawl, then walk, then run. You can fiddle with it for a while and try it out. I will scout around and see if we need to move out and, if so, how soon."

He just keeps giving me things to do with little actual direction on how to do it, just a bunch of explanations about other things. Finally, I ask, somewhat annoyed, if he'll show me how to use it.

"Okay, so are you not going to show me how to use it?"

Edmund replies while walking towards the hatch and waves his hand toward me in denial.

"Nah, you can figure it out."

Then I watch as he opens the hatch and climbs out, dumbfounded. Did he just leave me here alone? Yup. He did.

I look at the device in my hand with zero idea of how to use it. So, after a few minutes of thinking, I just try a few things with little faith in them actually working.

First, I try to do something similar to how I sensed the Sigils within my rapier and the Loperd. It kind of works, but I don't feel any Ether in the device. I just sort of sense a lack thereof, like it could fit Ether.

Of course, dumbass. That's precisely what Edmund said it would do. Receive Ether.

Next, I try something different. I activate Chain Eyes trying to get the same flow-like feel to understand how it triggers. Doing so, I can feel that same flowing sensation in my eyes. I try to follow to see where it originates.

I focus intensely and slowly trace where the feeling is coming from. It's pretty ethereal and hard to follow, but eventually, I track it to the base of my skull on the back of my head. That's where the feeling stops moving.

Then I deactivate Chain Eyes, and the flow stops abruptly. This must be where my Ether is stored. Close to the top of my spine. Is it in my brain stem? Or my cerebellum? I'm not very good at anatomy, but I think it might be my cerebellum.

After discovering where my Ether is stored in my body, I focus again on the location. It feels like a bubble that I cannot quite peer within. Observing the outside of this bubble, I try to imagine a small flow like a newly born stream. Unlike the last time dabbling in Ether using threads, the flow from Chain Eyes reminds me of water, so I try replicating that.

I try to force this reservoir of Ether to follow my directions and flow down from my neck. Then to my shoulder, then slowly along my arm towards my hand. And finally, from my hand into the Receiver. Only once I imagine the destination do I feel a slightly cool sensation flow from the base of my skull near the bubble toward my imagined target.

I do this for about thirty seconds before I feel a slight tinge of tiredness. Stopping the flow slowly, I open my eyes to the Receiver. Nothing is noticeably different to my naked eye. Unwilling to immediately believe I failed, I try to sense if there is any Ether within the Receiver.

And there is! It's a small amount, barely enough to sense, and nowhere near the Receiver's max, but there it is.

I got it to work without any help. I feel a sense of self-satisfaction and pride flow through me as I imagine Edmund seeing me succeed at filling the Receiver. Then the feeling passes and is followed by a want to improve. What if I show Edmund a full Receiver? Would he be blown away?

And so, almost until Edmund walked back into the cellar over four hours later, I practiced filling the Receiver.

Toward the end, I started to get a pounding headache and slowed down. I filled roughly half of it. At least, I think it's about a third. It is pretty hard to tell precisely.

The tome from The Cabin said that as a Philosopher, I have increased Ether limits, right? So, I must have filled it much more than should be possible by other 1st Sigils.

Curious to the limits of what most can usually use of Ether, I finally read more of the Hunter Manuals.

And within, they state how all 1st Sigils are given the same amount of Ether in their body, and the only difference in how much they can use is their resonance with their Sigils. The higher the resonance, the higher their Ether Saturation, and so, the more Ether they can output. Running out of Ether to actually use is near-impossible; what most actually reach is Ether Saturation. A state where one's body cannot withstand the energy flowing through them and begins to collapse.

Resonance is how in tune a person is with their Sigil. One in fifty would have a high resonance. One in a thousand with a perfect. This is a gradient, though, so there is variation. This can increase over time or if one performs an Absolution. What an Absolution is, though, the manual doesn't say. It's the second time I've read the phrase, though.

Then it continues and says that a basic Ether Receiver would take around twenty 1st Sigil individuals with normal resonance to fill within four hours, rotating when they hit their saturation limit. Or approximately ten high-resonance individuals in the same amount of time. It could also take three to five perfect resonance individuals to do the same in an equivalent period.

After I digest that load of information, I realize that I can output nearly twice the amount of Ether from a perfect resonance individual. How much that truly is, I don't know. But I'm sure it'll surprise Edmund.

I read further, curious about what Receivers are used for and what the manual touches on them. It says that they are used to save Ether for later by powering items or defenses only usable by inputting Ether into them. Examples given are particular kinds of bullets, creations from a Craftsman of some sort, or some variety of antiques from old ruins.

So, they can be used instead of a person's actual Ether, saving their internal saturation for later or if they are already reaching their limit. So then, as Edmund has told me multiple times, I read a few more of the Base Sigils until I hear footsteps above me.

Excited for Edmund to return, I get off the ground with a grunt and walk closer to the hatch. Once in front of the hatch, I hold the Receiver out before me, waiting for him to walk in.