Chapter 62: Interlude: Travelling Soothsayer

What is immortality? Is it to transcend mortality as an idea - an unwavering will and resolve? Or is it to literally transcend the bonds of mortality, and live for an eternity?

Both concepts are achievable in this world of magic. A mage can immortalise their sense of existence as an abstract thought through Ascension, or become unaging and eternal by reaching the Tesseract Transformation realm.

The Tesseract Transformation realm is the pinnacle achieved by any mage on their paths. To reach it, they need to advance through Foundation Establishment into Core Formation, then to Core Condensation, which leads into Tesseract Transformation. In reaching the realm, the mage essentially transcends the bounds of their mortal coils and are immortalised. This is because they fuse their souls, their tether to their mortal self, into their will, becoming one with their cultivated path.

Yet, this does not mean that the mage is truly free from death. To maintain their immortality, the mage must periodically absorb new insights and keep their soul from stagnating. Because what difference is there between an idle soul and a corpse? Those that fail to maintain a dynamic soul slowly cease to exist and disperse. The mage may also voluntarily Ascend, and immortalise their will into an artefact known as inheritance artefacts. Once they go through with that irreversible process, though, their soul and cultivation solidify and become eternal.

Krish Nara was at that crossroads in his life. He had lived for over 2000 years and had personally witnessed the world move past him. Every year, he could feel his soul dimming by a smidgen as he failed to ignite a spark of inspiration. He knew that maybe in 5 more years, he would cease to exist.

Thus, after drowning his sorrows and regrets in strong alcohol, of which he had to consume multiple barrels due to his superior constitution as a Tesseract Transformation mage, he decided that it was time for him to Ascend.

'Maybe my cultivation could be of use to someone else?' He thought.

His master before him had also Ascended and left him with a single cowrie shell, an inheritance artefact. In fact, his master had also suffered from the same problem as he himself was facing. Lack of stimulation!

Fortunately, his master found some stimulation in training a disciple and eked out an additional 1000 years in the process. Unfortunately, Krish was unable to benefit from this as he had thoroughly failed to find a suitable disciple in the last 1000 years.

That's right! He could not find a single suitable soul to carry forward his school's legacy in the last 10 mortal lifetimes.

With no other solution left, Krish decided to travel the world one last time by foot, like a mortal, and absorb the sights for one final time.

This was easier said than done because over the years he had overlooked the fact that he had a crippled right leg.

One must wonder: "How can a Tesseract Transformation mage be a cripple?"

True. How could a being at the pinnacle of existence have such an idiotic deficiency? The answer to that was closely attached to Krish's cultivation method and unique skill that was derived from it.

Krish Nara was the last student from an ancient school of cultivation called "The Heavenly Eye". The cultivation method did not offer any martial benefits, it was purely auxiliary. Yet, the potential it possessed trumped all the powers in the world. Because a cultivator of The Heavenly Eye had insight into one of the most elusive and abstract aspects in existence - Fortune!

Fortune, or luck, is a condition inherent to all things. Even non-sentient and inanimate objects have luck attached to them. Many may argue this, but The Heavenly Eye school affirm that the entire world is held together by this key metric. Once a mage is sufficiently advanced in The Heavenly Eye, they gain a special power that allows them to observe the fortune around them and predict future outcomes through extrapolation.

One can already imagine the sheer magnitude of such a power. To be able to predict the future! That is invariably the single most common wish of any mortal.

However, the world is fair. Everything has a consequence, and so does the use of such a power. A person has a natural and predetermined trajectory in their life. If someone moves them off that trajectory after observing what lies ahead, they are interfering with the natural flow of time and they must bear the consequences. Yet, if they can offset the shift by taking something from the subject that creates a ripple of equal magnitude, then the balance can be restored.

Back on Earth, this behaviour is known as karma offsetting.

Krish learned of these consequences the hard way. When he started off, he still held connections to the mortal world in the form of his family. After using his powers to save his family from a few crises, he began to bear the scars of his actions, ergo his crippled right leg.

There is no way to treat these damages, no amount of elixirs or forbidden magic can alleviate them. Therefore, Krish was forced to limp his way around the world, like a common hobo. Quite literally! His appearance had solidified to resemble an old man with long facial hair following his breakthrough into Core Formation. It was another side-effect of his cultivation...

Through his travels, he'd been wearing the same set of clothes and had inevitably worn them down significantly. His entire ensemble truly had a wanderer's aura: with a long and uneven walking stick to support him and a worn-out sack sagging over his back.

His travels brought him to a village secluded in the Green-Sky Forests, and under the purview of one of the taller mountains in the Serrated-Peaks Mountain Range.

It was a quaint old place, Twilight Village it was called. To him though, it didn't appear any different from all the other villages he'd passed in his lifetime. Mortals going about their daily trivial lives: waking up, going to work, eating, sleeping, rinse, repeat.

After glancing through his Heavenly Eyes, he observed that this particular place was shrouded in a greyish cloud. Danger lurked in the distant future. Nothing he'd have to worry about though - he'd be long gone by then.

"'scuse me, can I help ya?" A local called out to him with an accented drawl.

"Good day! I'm a travelling soothsayer; is there a place of lodging in this village?" Krish asked courteously.

The local scratched his head and narrowed his eyes with suspicion, "A soothsayer...?"

His vigilance was warranted, of course. Even though magic made a lot of impossible things possible, one could never be too cautious against conmen and huxters. Krish recognised this from looking at the local's eyes and added, "I highly advise that you take greater care of your health in the upcoming days. Avoid unnecessary travels after dark, especially into the woods. Your pregnant wife will need a lot of support from you, after all."

The local's eyes widened in surprise, "How... How did you-?"

"Aren't you a lucky one! Twins - A son and a daughter!" Krish didn't let the man finish his question. He rattled on with a monotonous tone, yet held a tranquil and inviting gaze.

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"Great master!" The local exclaimed and hopped over excitedly. "The village doesn't have an inn, but there is an additional room at our house. My mother-in-law will be arriving in a few days though."

Krish waved his hand and assuaged him, "Don't worry. I'll be gone by then. You should probably remind your mother-in-law to bring in some of those seasonal fruits from their town. Nourishment is important for a pregnant woman."

The local nodded vigorously and carefully led the limping Krish towards his house. Along the way, a few of the neighbours called out and inquired about Krish, and the local respectfully introduced him to the villagers. The village was fairly small in size, and so the ambience was like a large family. Neighbours knew what was going on in other's houses, so it would have been impossible to hide Krish's existence.

Unavoidably, Krish's identity as a soothsayer sparked a lot of interest from the crowd, which led to him fielding a range of questions.

"Great master, do you think my harvest this year will be good?"

"Great master, my daughter is coming of age soon. Will I be able to find a nice husband for her?"

"Great master.... I... ummm... My husband and I have been... trying regularly. But we aren't facing any... success..."

Krish was used to this. In fact, he was undertaking such an arduous trip for this very purpose. Over the last 1000 years, he found that he had become estranged from the mortal world. Having transcended the limits of his species, he had become numb to worldly affairs. This travel was his attempt to connect once again with his species before his passing.

"Everyone, please calm down. I will take a short rest and set up by the village centre. I can answer your questions at that time."

The crowd dispersed after Krish's assurance.

____

The local was quick to act. After Krish had his rest, the man quickly prepared a desk and seat near the large tree at the village centre.

Krish assumed his position and unloaded his tools from his sack. He first laid a clean mat over the table to protect his items, he then took out a few almanacks listing historic heavenly body states, and then he retrieved his container of cowrie shells.

Once he was ready, the villagers filed in one at a time.

One thing Krish found over his travels amongst average mortals, that is those without an obsession with power, was that their preoccupations seldom required him to exercise his cultivation.

The first person to meet him was a woman struggling to get pregnant. She had tried many folk alternatives to improve her chance, yet failed at all turns. To this, Krish didn't need to activate his powers. A cursory inspection with his magic provided more than enough information regarding her condition. He reached into his sack, which happened to be a space artefact, and pulled out a pot of herbs.

"Water this plant once every two days with exactly one cup of lukewarm water. After lunch, pluck one leaf and boil it in water and drink the concoction. Don't worry, there are a lot of kids in your future. You just need to be patient, and remain stressfree," Krish instructed calmly.

The woman burst into tears and held Krish's hands in gratitude, "Thank you so much, great master. I'll try..."

He patted the back of her palms and spoke in a gentle tone, "It's your mother-in-law, isn't it?"

The woman nodded along and explained her woes in great detail while sobbing. Krish was conscientious of this and had already set up a noise-cancelling barrier around them to occlude her voice.

A large portion of the consultations he'd had to take on during his travels was like this. To most people, these problems appeared mundane, yet for these folk, they were monumental and insurmountable. Why? It was all because they had to suffer through it in silence, without support.

For this woman, overcoming her tyrannical mother-in-law was an impossible task. That stress in and of itself had eaten away at her psyche. How could she expect to get pregnant under such pressure? Even if she did, wouldn't she just damage her body further once she conceived?

In fact, the woman was already a week along into her pregnancy, she just didn't know it yet. Once she realised it, she would have regained her confidence, yet she would have ultimately accumulated a lot of emotional trauma through stress and would suffer in the future.

Krish didn't need an all-seeing eye to predict her future. So his intervention right now, to help her vent and regain her frame of mind, wouldn't return to bite him back. However, the woman didn't skimp out in showing her gratitude. She gifted him with a basket of fruits as she left in a jolly manner.

After she left, the next person in line walked in and unloaded his own problems.

Krish happily went along with the set-up and met every single person in line. The villagers were grateful and respectful and didn't push their luck. Most of their questions could easily be solved through his inspection and a few deductions. Others, that required a bit of prediction could be determined through the use of his cowrie shells and by referencing his almanacks. Not once did Krish have to activate his Heavenly Eye.

At sunset, Krish stood up from his seat and walked back to his host's house. The man had reserved the room that was slightly detached from the house for him; it was supposed to be for his mother-in-law who was travelling in to support her pregnant daughter.

As a Tesseract Transformation realm mage, Krish didn't need sleep. As usual, he entered a deep meditative state and let time progress.

His meditation was interrupted by the sound of a rooster's crow, which indicated dawn break. Krish exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. Following his usual routine, he activated his Heavenly Eye and initiated his daily cultivation.

Unexpectedly, the moment he looked through the Heavenly Eye, his eyes widened in shock and nearly popped out of their sockets. If not for the fact that his body didn't produce any waste, Krish feared he would have soiled his trousers too!

"What the heck just happened?"

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