A familiar landscape, deep in his memories, a landscape that he may have already forgotten. A landscape that brought a smile to his face. A landscape that made him think about taking a walk in this strangely pleasant dream. In this dream where everything was so perfect, until he heard the sound of movement behind him.
"Tapló boss, shove that lazy ass of yours over here! The fragrant ass-face is already looking for you everywhere!" He heard the unmistakable voice that he could identify anywhere. Displeasure immediately appeared on his face and he closed his eyes.
"I was starting to think I could relax a little." He pressed his forehead. "Let me out!" As he opened his eyes, he found himself in the place where he started, in the big cave.
"Congratulations, son." At the sudden sound, he immediately turned around, only to find himself face to face with the chán master, Mo Ching.
"Master Mo, what are you doing here?" The leader of the Athamanas asked seriously.
"Follow me and you'll find out." The man said, turning around and walking away. And Razvan, although he was a little worried about the situation, could do nothing but follow the man into the unknown. He's learned so much about the chán man over the years that he doesn't do anything without a reason, so if he's going to lead him somewhere, Razvan better go after him.
"Where are we master?" Razvan inquired suspiciously, when their journey ended in a much smaller cave room that the boy did not know.
"At my observation post." The chán man declared.
"An observation post? Ah, so I have the master to thank for that obstacle course?" The boy asked the question, which made Mo Ching smile.
"Very good! Yes, it was my work, as was the dream after it. I have to admit you really surprised me. You solved the obstacle course much faster than I expected. Congratulations!" The chán man nodded, and Razvan started to chuckle softly.
"It wasn't such a big deal, master. I've done the course so many times that I've learned it. It's just practice and experience and a little special ability." He explained, which only made the chá clan leader roll his eyes, knowing that even though the boy was looking towards him, he didn't see anything from the movement.
"Yes, very good." The man said with a grimace, while Razvan shrugged his shoulders.
"By the way, it wasn't a big deal, master, since..." The boy grinned. "I saw the field." The chán man's eyes widened at this statement.
"That cannot be." The man shook his head. "I blocked the flow of qi in there." He said in a serious voice.
"You don't understand, master." Razvan objected, then pointed to the man's face. "I see that you are rolling your eyes and that the irises of that particular eye are black." The boy lowered his hand. And the chán man opened his mouth.
"But, you... But the... The Zaukán family is all completely blind if there are no things with qi around them." The man blinked and tried to understand what the boy's words meant. However, Razvan just folded his hands in front of him and turned towards the rock wall, on which several images alternated. He saw a different friend of his in each of them, in situations he didn't even know about.
"Yes, this is true for my family. You are the only one who knows." The boy explained. "How could I have told anyone, in the end they'll think my mother slept with someone other than my father. I can't bring shame on them just because I was born this way." He muttered under his breath.
"A real clan leader is lost in you, my son." The chán man smiled faintly.
"Master, what are these?" Razvan finally pointed to the wall.
"These? Oh, it's a little nothing, I learned this little trick from one of my over-enthusiastic clan leader friends. It is called the Innermost Desire Mantra. If the subject is clever enough, he can break out of it, but if he is overwhelmed by desire, he gets stuck inside. Like the rehearsals before it, this is also a test for your little team. If they want to be my students, I need to know where to develop them." The man explained as he stopped the alternating images.
"It's not a bad idea, it doesn't hurt them to train a little anyway." Razvan agreed, then side by side in the hegin from Madüjawr and the chá cultivator began to observe the events taking place in the innermost desire mantras.
"However, since you didn't immediately slap me and beat me blue-green pulp, this means that, contrary to what I thought until now, this is not one of my perfect dreams." Suk, the last Athamana to remain in the Innermost Desire Mantra, spoke, and the chán man grimaced.
"What the heavens?" He scratched his head.
"You haven't earned it yet." Said the head of the Athamanas with a faint smile on his lips, which caused the person standing next to him to look at him in horror.
"What?" He repeated the question, and Razvan started to giggle.
"He is a Zovárd. It's not strange for them to want to kill each other. It is common for them to attack eachother. If you survive their assassination attempt, you will gain their trust. I've passed through more than one such test." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.
"What test?" The chán master wondered, and Razvan answered thoughtfully.
"He poisoned my drink the night I recruited him. I noticed it when I picked it up from the table. I remember asking him: Is this spotted marsh frog poison? You should have seen the sparkle in his eyes, especially when I drank it straight away." He giggled.
"The poison?" Mo Ching's eyes widened.
"Naturally. I knew it wasn't deadly. Suk always carries poisons with him. It's kind of a Zovárd thing. He usually poisons two people at a children's council." Razvan waved. "He was in punishment that day, so he didn't have very dangerous poisons with him. However, since he tried to poison three people, I knew that something big had happened. Usually he's only trying to get two people off there feet." He shrugged.
"And don't you find that strange? Won't it be a war crime?" The chán man asked.
"No. The Zovárds are all like this, and their chief always does this. Unlike his son, maybe that's why everyone is aware that the current chief prefers his nephew to his own son, his son never once dared to poison anyone." Razvan explained, then tilted his head to the side. "They all came out of the dream, did they pass?" He asked, and Master Mo nodded.
"Yes, definitely..." Here the man's eyes widened, the image of the large cave where the Athamanas gathered on the rock wall faded. Instead, a smaller cave appeared, where a boy was lying on the ground.
"Rahul." Razvan blinked, but the chán man next to him frowned.
"It's not right! He shouldn't be falling still, he has not yet come to terms with his fear." The man said with grumpy features, when the image faded and they only saw a rock wall.
"What happened Master?" Razvan asked in a nervous voice.
"I lost him!" Mo Ching's eyes widened at the sight of the thought-impossible event.
"What?!" Razvan shouted next to him, not hiding his anger mixed with concern.