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My body passes through the purple light of the portal feeling set adrift by the expanding waves of its warmth. The feeling of warmth recedes as a sensation of flowing ice water makes my skin feel cool. It feels like being completely naked and covered in some sort of menthol muscle rub. I can only summarize it as an overall feeling of being comfortably uncomfortable, a feeling I am beginning to become very familiar with. The final waves of light recedes from my body marking the arrival at my next destination.
Stepping out of the portal the smell of wet dirt and copper fills my nostrils. The wind whips rain into my eyes with specks of soil loosened from its aggressiveness. The ground is soft from drinking in the water from the storm, but the rain must not have started not too long ago because the ground did not appear muddy yet. The portal has brought me into a clearing in the middle of a forest. The clearing is at least ten acres of open space before meeting a ridge line of dense forest. The forest is a dark green with unusual pops of color. I want to take a closer look because I have never seen such a thing in my life. Judging by my surroundings I’m still in the Land of Nod for the sky looks the same as it did at the mages school.
I have grown fond of the sky in the Land of Nod. There isn't a sun in the Land of Nod, just a sky that grew bright in the day and darkened at night. The colors in the sky of the Land of Nod are amazing. Colors I have never seen appear in the sky back home. During the day the sky appears cloudy in hues of gray with highlights of red and orange wisping through it like a breeze of color. The clouds always look like they’re glowing, that the day comes from their presence and that the sky around them just reflects it. At night the clouds dim themselves down to act like a gentle night light. The night sky highlights with wisps of purple and blue weaving throughout the clouds dancing in the pale light. I have grown fond of the Land of Nod which stirs something inside me. Am I admiring the devil’s work?
“Boy, are you ever going to stop looking at the sky like a dimwit?” A rough voice speaks from behind me, startling me.
I turn to face the voice to see who’s addressing me, but before I can see who it is I feel a large fist ram itself into my gut knocking the air out of my lungs. I fall to my knees gasping, clutching at my chest. I use my mind to call to my cane, clutching it tightly as it appears in my grasp. I turn the ring on the cane to change its form, but as soon as I touch the ring it flies out of my hands, into the hand of the stranger who attacked me.
“Boy, you don't even know how to fight yet and you draw a weapon on me? You have a lot to learn, David.” The man smiles looking at my cane with a look that leaves me thinking he’s admiring the craftsmanship.
Still gasping for air I struggle to get to my feet just to feel a hammer fist blow land on the top of my head knocking me back to the ground. The earth pulls my body into it slightly from the force of the blow. The ground has now become muddy creating a kind of suction I have to break when lifting my body back up. Feeling like I’m going to pass out from the ringing in my ears and the lack of oxygen, I can only get to my hands and knees. I look up to see my attacker. He’s tall and unusually thick and muscular. He’s blonde with his hair pulled back and beard braided. He looks like a viking in his appearance.
“Oh I think you're getting it now boy. I am Thor god of thunder and your teacher for however long it takes for you to get with the program and at least know how to hold yourself when you're being attacked. Like a sack of shit you went right for your weapon before even knowing what was going on. You must assess your surroundings whenever you enter them but most importantly you must assess your attacker so you can respond appropriately.”
Thor walks over to me as I struggle to catch my breath and lifts me up off the ground by my hair with one power tug of his left hand. Feet dangling I grab his wrist with both of my hands to try to lessen the pain in my ringing skull. Thor looks at me and smiles. With another powerful movement of his left arm I find myself in mid air. The distance I travel through the air feels like it lasts forever because all I can feel is the pain in my head accompanied by the thought of hitting the ground again. My body eventually finds its way back to the ground renewing the pain I’m experiencing.
“Oh I forgot how tiny you are David. You really caught some air there that was unexpected. I'm sure you are also curious on why I’m able to take your cane from you in the first place. Why it just flew into my hand? Well It isn't magic David, the cane came to me. You’re here to learn how to fight and the mantle within you knows that. The mantle gave me the cane because you need to learn how to use the mantle before using the cane David. Get to your feet on your own and I promise next time before I hit you I will tell you that I am going to before I do.”
I can taste blood in my mouth from my teeth being jostled from landing like a rag doll. I’m angry from the pain still rattling inside my head. The growing sense of fear creeping up from within me pushes aside the pain. I was handled so easily it makes me feel powerless. I want to fight back and show him some hospitality of my own but I feel like I have no chance of even putting a scratch on him. I want to use magic but that's not what I’m here for. Besides he is the god of thunder so I am sure he has some magical aspects of his own that would prove to be just as challenging.
“Now pull your head out of your ass boy. I know you have been noticing the effects of the mantle changing you. Your mind has sharpened but all you have used it for is to think. Did you ever think of using it to feel? If the mantle can heighten your mind then it most definitely can heighten your physical awareness of your surroundings. All those little nerve endings all answer to your brain and if your brains changed wouldn't everything attached to it change? Just focus on feeling everything around you for a bit David.”
I close my eyes and just try to empty my mind, ignoring everything around me until it’s just myself existing within the silence. I first notice the wind swirling around me. I can feel it change direction and after following it for some time I notice patterns within the wind changing direction. The wind becomes somewhat predictable and when it isn't I can feel the changes in the air with just my skin within seconds. I begin to notice the rain drops landing on my skin as well. I focus on them until I can see the winds in greater detail because the water gives away the winds' intentions. I’m starting to be able to build a picture within my mind of what everything looks like around me through the movement of the wind and rain.
My ears stinging from the cold begin to feel more sensitive than usual. At first I thought it’s just the pain in my ears messing with my hearing but there is something more to it. I start to notice the depth of the noises within the storm. I can judge the distances of the noises I hear, be it rain or the breathing of another living being. I’m able to see the world just through my other senses, and the more I do it the less overwhelming it feels.
I open my eyes and the world before me no longer looks the same. Everything vibrates with energy. The wind looks like it’s colored because of all the energy I can see within it. The rain drops look like little comets with a tail of energy following the tiny body of water through the air. I look at Thor standing in place holding still, but nothing about him is still. I can see the blood moving beneath his skin and hear the sliding of muscle fibers within his body. I can hear his very existence and in a way see a miniature universe within his body. Cells multiplying, blood flowing, and a whole world just trying to maintain an existence as it knows it.
I hear shuffling in the wind and follow the source of the sound with all my senses. Thor is closing the distance between us fast, his fist only inches away from my face, so I just simply step out of the way. The momentum behind his punch carries his body some distance past where I stand. He turns around quickly and smiles at me. It leaves me with the feeling that he knows what I’m experiencing and that he put all his weight behind his punch to see if I can read his movements.
“Ah, you're learning boy! Now I can take the training wheels off. You have learned to trust your senses but what do you do when your senses can't be trusted?” Thor raises his hand in the air calling thunder and lighting to rapidly strike near us. The thunder is defining and the lightning is blinding making it hard to sense anything.
I close my eyes just to be met with another blow from Thor’s bulky fist to my face. I can't sense him through the chaos of sound and energy. The energy and sound of the wind and rain mingles with the thunder and lightning. Thunder and lightning keeps striking every few seconds making it hard to see anything with my eyes open. I’m on my back holding one hand to my face. My glimmer of hope is taken away from me as fast as I found it. I feel I haven't even come close to understanding the power a god has. I’m supposed to be the horseman of death and I can't even stop a punch.
I struggle to get up to my hands and knees again just to be met with a kick to my ribs from Thor. The kick launches me high into the air as my body spins. The pain causes me to lose connection with everything I’m experiencing before returning me to a harsh reality that meets me upon hitting the ground. Is Thor’s goal to crush all my hopes? How is this learning how to fight? I’m just taking a beating from a being I’m no match for. I spit up some blood, coughing to get air. I think Thor may kill me if I dont figure something out soon.
All I can think of is to surrender to the moment and just experience it. Not fearing death or the outcome, but to just flow with my breath in the moment. To let everything fall away and just exist. I close my eyes again and simply just stop caring about the outcome and just live in the present. The world of energies comes back to me once again but something is different. The energies now all have a distinct color to them and I can tell them apart. I can make out the difference between energy from wind, rain, and thunder. But the most important part is I can see Thor’s energy as he comes at me.
Thor swings at my face again but I didn't think of dodging. I simply just thought of it as changing outcomes and the path changes. Thor’s punch misses and my body reacts to what I want to create. I’m learning to create from my intentions and my body follows because my mind is there leading it through what it can’t experience on its own.
Thor swings at me faster and I just step out of the way. Thor goes to sweep my leg out from under me and I just leap up clearing his kick. I open my eyes and now I can see the world I saw with my eyes closed along with the physical world. They blend together smoothly and appear very natural to me. I feel like this is the world I was always meant to see but someone had replaced the lenses of my perspective with dirty discolored lenses. My brain burns with new information combining with all my previous experiences. If I can change my perception of the world I know and see it in new ways. If I can change the sensations I experience through the presence of the mantle, I’m sure my body can muster enough strength and speed from these same changes. I too can possess a power that will rival the gods.
Thor throws another punch aimed at my face but without thinking I catch it at his wrist and stop him in his tracks. I didnt think about being strong enough. I just enter some sort of flow state. I just decided I want to stop him and it happened. I twist Thor’s wrist to the side opening his chest to receive a side kick. Thor takes flight for some distance and lands on his feet sliding across the mud. Thor smiles and comes at me faster with a new level of aggression. I dodge again left, right, left, and a knee meant for my mid body. Thor can't touch me. Thor leaps high over my head and puts his two hands together to bring them down upon me. This time I decide I don't want to move and hold one hand above my head. I feel the force of Thor’s blow stop in the palm of my hand and I push his body away from mine, sending him sliding across the mud once more. Thor’s power feels like a leaf in the wind landing within my hand. I’m not sure what’s going on but I don't want it to end.
“David. David. David. I see you have found your flow state, your zen. You can become quite powerful in a flow state, but they are hard to maintain as they take a great deal of energy, and your thought process must remain uninterrupted. I’m sure the extreme pain helped knock you into the right mind set but it will be easy to beat you David. After I beat you I'm going to find your boy and I'll make sure to bury him beside you.” Thor says while chuckling with a devious smile on his face.
The anger within me boils to the surface, phasing me back into the reality I had known previously. Flow state or not that fucker is going no where near my boy. I run at Thor with all my aggression ready to strike him in his fat fucking face. Thor throws a right straight punch and I slip it. I pull back my right hand to ring his bell and he snatches it out of the air in mid swing. He raises me by my hand until my face is even with his
“You thought you had me, boy. I knew you couldn't keep it up forever. You can't depend on the flow state to save your ass if you can't live long enough to use it.” Thor headbutts me. The world spins around me. Darkness closes in and then there’s nothing.
I come to, finding myself on a pile of animal furs at the base of a tree. The storm has stopped but the air is still frigid. Thor had lit a fire to help keep me warm as I slept. He had cut branches and leaned them against a large low hanging branch protruding from the tree creating a kind of open faced branch hut. Thor sits next to the fire roasting some sort of animal, a rabbit I think. My body throbs with pain each time I try to move. I'm sure Thor broke one of my ribs with his kick and gave me a concussion.
“David, you fought in a focused state in the heat of battle because you let go of what you thought you knew for a brief moment, but then you just reacted to the stimulus in the moment. Autopilot is never something you want to find yourself doing because nothing good will come from it in any situation. You must learn to fight David! You attacked me without thinking. You must think and continue to learn of your opponent even in combat. I was able to attack your emotions and your own ego pulled you out of your flow state because you used it like a reflex when you should use it like a skill, an extension of yourself. When I’m cornered and feel I may not survive the battle I focus on my ancestors and they guide me in combat. I stay in my flow state because I would rather die than give up on fighting the battle. You didn't even experience me in my flow state David.”
Thor tosses me a piece of the roasted animal meat but I can't bring myself to eat it. I’m afraid of eating an animal I’m uncertain of, but my stomach is so bruised I can't imagine putting anything into it. For having a body that’s supposed to be affected by the mantle, it didn't seem to be healing fast, but I did just take a beating from a god so there is something to be said by that let alone.
“Thor, I possess no ancestral spirits to call on. I have only ever called on God in my times of need.” It has been some time since I last thought of calling out to god.
“Well isn't that the problem David? It's been some time since your god has ever shown himself. Not even his horse lackeys know where he is at. What do you do David if your god has abandoned you to fend for yourself?”
“I find a way. Even if he is not here, his way is still here. The paths he made still stand. He has not left us here helpless.”
“And how would you suppose he left you anything to follow? I too was once a man but your god didnt lift me up unto being a god myself. I fought for it myself. I took his natural disaster that would have ended me and made it more. Your god struck me with lightning and I made that lightning my life blood. David, no matter what happens in life you and you alone choose how you walk away in the end. Lightning kills victims, but gives birth to gods.”
How would I continue? What path did I have to follow? Thor has a strong will to live and that made him a god. I'm supposed to save humanity and God as I know him keeps changing with each experience. I’m starting to feel hopeless, that I was the wrong choice. I caught onto the mage stuff pretty fast but combat was never anything I really knew much about.
“Thor, will you teach me how to fight?” Hopelessness carries in my voice.
“No David. We will fight again soon and if you don't find what you need to beat me I will kill you. Beat me with your fists and then you will get to truly rest and we will move on to the next step, but I will give you one piece of advice. The person who wins a fight tends to be the one who is willing to attack ruthlessly first and without thought of what is proper in combat. In the end you fight to win. Nothing more, nothing less. Finish your meat for we fight soon. You have until my storm puts out that fire to prepare yourself.” Thor stands up and walks back to the middle of the clearing.
I need to trust myself. I found the flow state by letting go in the moment and I have to trust it's always working to some extent even when I dont give into it completely. Thor has a connection he uses to focus his combat skills through connecting with his ancestral spirits. I have to have a way of doing the same. Think David fucking think! I can feel the sweat dripping from my forehead because of how nervous I feel. If I don't figure this out I’m going to die and... THAT'S IT! I’m connected to the book of death through the mantle and the mantle is part of me. That book knows all things spoken out loud which means any teachings about combat ever verbally passed on the book knows. I must be able to use my connection through the mantle to connect with the book's knowledge in the heat of combat. If this idea fails, I’m fucking dead.
I get up off the furs and start walking towards the center of the clearing. The fire is still burning but I’m not going to wait for it to burn out to face a situation I can't escape if I wanted to. If I’m going to die I want to do it standing on my feet facing my fear. This isn't about being a man, or being brave. For me this is about standing beside my beliefs no matter what I’m faced with. If I’m to abandon my beliefs in the face of fear, what did I truly believe in to start with?
“Alright David, we are not playing around this time. No rain, or heavy winds. Just me trying to kill you and I will if you don't stop me. If you start using your flow state mindlessly again I'll enter into mine with complete control and end you. Show me you deserve to live and I won't beat your ass so bad. Show me that shit like before and we will be done.” Thor clenches his fist signaling It’s time.
Thor rushes me with speed so fast that if I blink It will be too late to respond. His fist shoots at my chest like a cannonball, but I feel calm. Time seems to slow down for me as the feeling of the flow state comes to me with little effort. I step out of the way of Thor's punch then jump backward to create distance for I’m sure he will follow it up with another attack. When I jump backwards I clear a distance I wasn't expecting. I clear about forty feet without really even thinking about it. If I can do that out of reflex I'm sure I can jump even further if I focus. The mantle is enhancing my body and I just need to trust it. I put my hands up mimicking a boxer's stance and prepare myself for Thor’s response.
“I told you David if you just used the flow state I would kill you!” Thor's body begins to give off an aura that’s repressive, making my body feel heavier.
Thor dashes in closing the gap even faster than before. He throws a straight punch for my face and I side step it. I throw a straight punch of my own, victory is mine!
Crunch.
Thor throws a hook right over the top of my straight punch countering it with ease. The pain in my face is immense. Thor’s no longer holding back and hitting me with almost all his strength. I cant keep taking hits from him like this. An uppercut or another hit to my ribs and I don't think I can recover. I need to hit and then keep moving until I see another opening in Thor’s defenses. I put my hands back up but this time I keep my feet not so flat footed so I can move in response to Thor's movements faster. Maybe I can out maneuver him since he is larger.
Thor comes running at me again then slides into a sweeping kick to try to take my legs out from under me. I jump up clearing the kick and try to land a kind of heel kick of my own on the way down. Thor grabs my leg by the ankle and tosses me to the side with force. My body just feels like it's drifting through the air and it feels kind of pleasant until I realize I’m on a collision course with a tree on the outer part of the clearing. I can't believe Thor threw me so hard I’m going to clear the clearing and head straight into the tree line.
My back strikes the tree first making my spine feel like flames bursted out of it. With a heavy thud I hit the ground exhaling hard. I just want to lay there with how intense the pain feels. I know If I stay put for too long Thor will just beat the living shit out of me So I have to keep going. I cough up blood forming a small pool in the dirt as I struggle to get back to my feet. I can see Thor walking towards me from the clearing with a smile on his face. Every step he takes, his confidence becomes more blinding but I have no choice but to face him.
“Alright mantle, I am as much part of you as you’re part of me but I need to call some of the shots. I know you know everything that has ever been spoken out loud and you’re directly connected to my brain, my whole being. You have seen the teachings of swordsmen, monks, barbarians, and pugilists. You will give me that knowledge and implant into the very soul of what I am or we will both cease to be in about ten seconds. DO IT NOW!”
I can feel the fire in my back subside, but a new sensation starts to come over me. I close my eyes and images start to flash before me. An image of a shaolin monk practicing his styles as a young student in a courtyard first fills my mind. That student practices and time speeds up in the images in my mind. I watch the student practice until he becomes a master old in age teaching other students what now comes to him naturally. A blue light flashes in my mind's eye and I’m now watching a boxer take his first fight all the way to his last champion fight in just seconds. The light flashes again and now I see a Japanese swordsmen fighting on horseback. Then I see a greek wrestler, a spartan, a medieval archer, gladiator, gunslinger, ninja assassin, aztek hunter, world war two soldier, cave man with a spear, a member Irish republican army, duelist, ‘AND FUCKING STOP!’
It feels like the mantle is punishing me for commanding it. My skull feels like it’s being split in two but it’s all there. All the movements, knowledge, and skill. The mantle has the power to change me passively and I can seem to influence how it affects me, but with backlash. I will have to explore its possibilities but now it's time to show Thor that I am a literal quick study. Judging how Thor is fighting he will be weakest defending his center line. I will use a wing chun approach to attack him first until he realizes I have noticed his bad habit. After that I will use a muay thai barrage of kicks to daze him. The next step will be determined by his response. I put my hands up in a boxing stance again to goad him into attacking me like he did before.
Thor breaks out into a full sprint dashing back and forth to try to confuse me on which angle he is going to attack from. Thor throws a hook which I side step easily but the hook was a faint to set up a backwards striking elbow that I block easily with the palm of my hand following it up with driving my knee into the bottom of Thor’s ribcage. Thor pulls his body back while coughing slightly. I can see the anger in his eyes as he rubs his ribs. Glaring at me, Thor raises his hand and comes at me. Now is my time to put my plan into action. Thor throws a straight punch aiming to take my head off my shoulders. I shift my stance with wing chun footing throwing an angled center line punch striking Thor in his face. Before he can react I keep throwing centerline punches striking him in the face. Then striking him in the body whenever he tried to defend his face and vice versa. Thor starts to give up ground stepping backwards and I just keep striking, only getting faster with each successful blow. I see a look in Thor’s eyes as he notices what is going on. He shifts his body to change stance but at that moment I start assaulting him with a barrage of kicks as planned. Again, I have Thor on the run and I'm only getting faster the more I experience combat.
Thor leaps backwards to get away from me still looking determined to fight me. He yells at the top of his lungs as his eyes begin to glow with blue sparks. Thor is entering a flow state that he draws from his connection to his ancestors. It’s like I have seen it before or at least the mantle has. Thor charges at me so fast it looks like teleportation. Attacking me from every angle I can barely dodge and block Thor’s attacks. In a sort of movement meditation I retreat into my mind as my body defends itself from Thor. He is using the knowledge of his ancestors to increase his skills but he is also using a flow state that allows him to move faster and increases his strength. When I went into my flow state I went into autopilot but I think that's because I didn't know how to fight back. With the mantle feeding my mind information allowing me to draw combat skill from history itself. I can put my body into the flow state and let my mind and body work together so I may attack Thor with skill and power.
I come back to the surface from my mind as Thor continues to attack. I'm not worried about dying anymore and don’t fear Thor. Thor can't stop me from learning or even growing as an individual. This thought brings me into the flow state once again, relaxing my muscles as they move but not at the cost of power or speed. Time feels like it's slowing down as Thor’s movements begin to look sluggish to me. I catch his fist in my bare hand twisting it, dropping Thor to his knees. I punch him in the face but it’s so fast I can't believe it happened so I do it again, and again, and again feeling each time like it’s the first time. Something feels different this time, because I feel like there’s no difference between my body, mind, and spirit. That at this moment I’m not David the bearer of the mantle. I’m just me and that encompasses everything.
I must have been in a bit of a daze because out of the corner of my eye I see a large piece of metal. It’s Thor's hammer in mid swing. I barely manage to move out of the way even while being in the flow state. If Thor is going to bring a hammer to a fist fight then the rules must have changed. I hold out my hand and black liquid mass appears in it, then solidifying into the shape of my cane.
I look at the ring on my cane that I have to twist to change its forms but I don't touch it. I just think about it like I can talk to it with my mind. ‘Change from a cane to your larger scythe form.’ The cane bursts into black smoke swirling around until it shapes itself into my large scythe. The scythe feels like an extension of my own body. I can kill Thor with this scythe. I'm not sure how I know it but I know it can kill him, and I’m not afraid to end his life if it’s what is needed.
Thor throws his hammer at me and I prepare to deflect it with my scythe. I pull my scythe over my head to hit the oncoming hammer like a baseball. Lightning strikes me from all angles blasting me backward, landing flat on my back. That wasn't from his hammer, that asshole used magic! I look up to see Thor standing over me with his hammer raised high in the air. This asshole has to cheat to beat me.
“And now David you learn your final lesson. It ain't cheating if it means you're winning. Don't ever expect your opponent to honor any rules when life and death are on the line.” Thor drops his hammer and sticks his hand out to help me up.
Just like that it’s over. No more intent to kill even though I'm sure he meant it when he said it. Regardless, I am thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow, and I will surely be motivated by the bruises I will take with me from this experience.
“David, you will find a small hut on the ridgeline to the south of here. You will find food and a place to sleep. Eat, rest, then fuck off. In the morning you will find a portal waiting for you”.
Thor appears to be just as happy as I’m that it’s over. I nod to him and I start heading to the ridgeline to the south where I can see the light from within the hut in the distance. I have a lot on my mind not just from all I learned from fighting, but how my body, no, how my existence is changing. Again I can't tell where I end and where the mantle starts. Maybe it’s meant to be seamless but if I’m seamless with the mantle, would I be a better version of myself, or a living version of the mantle? I need to sleep and just move on to the next step because I'm sure the only way I will get any answers is to go further down the rabbit hole.