The morning bell had finished ringing, but the sound still hung in the ribs of the mountain. Rat woke to it like to a punch, not alarmed, just resigned. The stone above his cot leaked cold, and the air tasted faintly of iron. Every breath carried the memory of height.
He sat up slow. His arms ached as if he'd wrestled the wind again in his sleep. The other initiates stirred in the shadows of the cavern dormitory. Most didn't talk. Those that did whispered about dreams that felt too close to real.
Rat stretched, joints popping. "Dreams are for people who can afford them," he muttered.
No one laughed.
He tied his sash, grabbed his copper badge, and stepped out into the courtyard. Dawn painted the terraces in thin gold. A line of new recruits already waited before a raised stone platform where a disciple stood, a woman in silver-threaded robes whose expression made the air straighten. Her name carried on every whisper: Instructor Zhen.
"Outer Sect candidates," she said, voice sharp as bamboo. "The Open Sky Sect measures worth not by talk, but by breath, blood, and will. Today, you learn to hold all three."
She gestured to the horizon. The clouds below glowed like crushed pearl. Beyond them, the upper peaks vanished into blue distance. "The air you breathe here is not the same as what you knew below. The mountain gives it as a gift and a weapon. Learn to take it properly, or it will take you."
Her Qi flared, a pulse that pressed against their lungs. Several recruits gasped. One dropped to his knees. Rat steadied himself and forced his breath to pour, not gulp. Horizon in, horizon out. The ember behind his navel steadied.
Zhen's eyes flicked toward him once, unreadable. "Good. You, at least, understand the shape of breath. What is your name?"
"Rat."
A murmur ran through the line. Someone snickered. Zhen didn't. "Every name is earned. Let us see if yours keeps living long enough to mean something."
She turned, motioning them to follow. They wound through narrow stairways carved along the mountain's inner face. Wind combed through their robes. The higher they climbed, the thinner the air grew until it felt like breathing through cloth.
At the end of the path, a small plateau opened, stone ringed by runes that pulsed faint blue. In the center stood an old bronze basin filled with water clear enough to see the sky reflected inside.
"This," Zhen said, "is a Breath Basin. The sect's foundation art begins here. You will circulate Qi from air to marrow. Fail, and you will cough blood until the mountain forgets your name."
Rat eyed the basin. "Nice to meet you too."
Zhen ignored him. "Sit."
They formed a rough circle. The cold stone bit through their robes. Zhen began the lesson: how Qi seeped from the air, how it moved through channels, how the meridians followed the spine like threads in a loom. Rat listened, half-focused, the other half arguing with the Codex that shimmered faintly in his mind's eye.
[Ambient Qi detected.]
[Pattern resonance: low.]
[Recommendation: Adjust breathing cycle. Match inner horizon to external rhythm.]
He inhaled through his teeth, letting her words blur. The sound of the wind blended with the hum beneath his skin. When he exhaled, it felt heavier, like the air had texture.
Something tugged in his gut. The Codex flickered again.
[Qi Sensitivity threshold rising.]
[New interaction: External Qi threads visible under strain.]
Threads. For an instant, Rat saw faint silver filaments woven through the air above the basin, like cobwebs glinting in sun. They shimmered each time someone exhaled, trembling toward his own breath as if curious.
He blinked. Gone.
Instructor Zhen's voice cut through. "Circulate! The horizon is your teacher. Let the breath climb and fall like the sun!"
Qi pulsed across the circle. One recruit gagged. Another's nose bled. Rat let his breath slide along the river he'd built inside himself. The threads returned, faint but clear. He reached, not with hands, but with intent, and one brushed against him.
Cold flooded his chest. The Codex flared.
[Foreign thread contact detected.]
[Fate Entanglement increasing.]
[System adaptation pending.]
He almost lost his rhythm. The world tilted sideways. The basin's water rippled though no wind touched it. Rat's lungs burned, and his vision filled with ghostlight.
Then a voice, not Zhen's, not his own, echoed inside.
"Little thief of threads. You tug what you do not weave."
Rat hissed through his teeth. "If you're the owner, maybe patch your net."
The voice laughed. The basin stilled. The Codex flashed one final time.
[New Appendix: Qi Sense and Perception – Thread Visibility]
Description: Qi perception extends beyond energy awareness. Threads represent intent flows within living systems. Excessive observation increases Entanglement.
He gasped. The glow faded. The mountain returned.
Zhen's gaze had locked on him. "You saw something."
Rat blinked. "A headache?"
"Do not lie to the mountain." Her tone softened, though her eyes didn't. "What you glimpse, it glances back. Learn that quickly, Rat, or the next time it answers, you won't survive hearing it."
He opened his mouth, thought better of it, and nodded.
Zhen straightened. "Lesson complete. You will continue practice here each morning until your veins stop acting like frightened worms. Dismissed."
The others stumbled to their feet, pale and sweating. Rat lingered by the basin. The reflection of the sky shifted, and for a heartbeat he saw a shape, like a thread looping upward, vanishing into cloud. His pulse matched it.
The Codex whispered one last line.
[Appendix Addendum: Entanglement is attraction between threads that refuse to die alone.]
He stared until the water stilled. "Yeah," he muttered. "Story of my life."
[Codex of Strands of Fate - Status Update]
Vitality: 4
Qi Sense: 4
Comprehension: 3
Fate Entanglement: 12
Realm: Foundation Establishment
New Appendix Unlocked: Qi Sense and Perception – Thread Visibility
New Passive Effect: Partial Thread Awareness (Unstable)
Allows limited visualization of Qi threads within range. Risk: Entanglement feedback.
The wind rose from the peaks again, whispering across the terraces like an invitation….or a warning.
Rat watched it tug at his sleeves and smiled thinly. "You don't need to whisper. I'm already listening."
The mountain didn't answer. It only waited.