The Dao of Magic

87 - Absence

One thing I did not really impress upon them is that anything can become an intent. The way a plant grows can change the shape of qi when put into perspective. The way a tree grows would be different from the way a shrub, animal or bacteria colony grows.

Another example would a nuclear bomb qi. Narrowing it further down, it would be nuclear explosion qi intent. Keep repeating that until you get to 'a nanosecond after all the nuclear material has fissioned qi intent'.

I had three examples of this qi intent in my secret ring compartment. Now I have only two.

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A small figure runs across the waves, his feet touching each wave tip with light pressure. He keeps an eye out on his surroundings, swivelling his head now and then. Behind him, massive clouds of smoke and an enormous earthen tower shrink in the distance. The only direction he is not looking at seems to be directly in front of him.

After a while of running across the sea, an island becomes visible over the horizon. Instead of smoke, towering structures or plants, this island is covered in a dark gloom. A spherical, dark haze surrounds the black buildings and rocks bare of any life.

The man slows down as his figure shimmers even more, the cloaking effect on his body increasing. A few hundred meters away, he stops. He then closes his eyes and a different kind of shimmer burst from him.

The moment this shimmer touches the fog, things appear to go wrong. His bearded face twists into a grimace of pain and a single foot sinks through the water surface. The look of pain intensifies as he sinks under the water surface, not moving an inch as he is embraced by the sea.

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Please imagine the following scenario.

You are a person, living in a small village. You have happy days, sad days, maybe someone you secretly like or love. All kinds of shenanigans are happening, giving the village a lively feel.

Then, people you've never seen before come and kill most of your friends and family. You are then clapped in chains and, along with the few surviving members of your community, are stacked like firewood in the back of a cart.

What follows is an endless procession of being locked up in all kinds of new dark cells, little food or water and no chances to clean yourself. Maybe you watch that kind of grandma from down the road being beaten to death. Maybe that kind older sister figure gets dragged out of the cage, only to reappear a few days later with dull, lifeless eyes.

This is then followed by an eternity in a cramped, overpopulated hold of a boat. Now and then the drudgery gets interrupted by new prisoners being thrown down the stairs or the corpse guy carrying the dead out of there.

You don't get enough food to live, but too much to die. The same for water. Nobody talks anymore.

Then you are hauled out of the boat by a big human in black armour. Any remaining will to resist is expertly beaten out of you by the stick the man wields. You see black buildings and grey streets. Even the sun has lost its life in the port you have arrived.

Now follows another stay in an underground cell. Another unknown time later you are once again manhandled as you are dragged outside. You are placed at the back of a queue in front of a big, black pyramid. You see the people in front being hauled upstairs, placed on a black altar and killed.

The terror in your guts prevents you from walking, but the people working there are used to that, so you are carried upstairs when your turn comes. The knife slits your throat the moment you are placed on the glistening black altar and you feel your consciousness slipping.