Primordial Sage: Plight of Immortality

In the next few days, both Kaoran and Degres were busy and didn't have much free time so Stone used most of the time to meditate as if to have a glimpse of inspiration to make a breakthrough. Yet it was for naught and he didn't sense anything. He doesn't even know 'what' he should feel. 

Unfortunately, that is something only for him to find out.

The only good thing was that he was able thanks to this experience have a longer deep meditation as he had long, unirupted training for those few days.

But time passed, all tribe members settled down properly in the valley and all the preparations for the baptism were done. 

The day when the ceremony will start has come.

It was scheduled to be in the evening but Stone was sharp even before the rise of the sun that day.Since all conditions for the ceremony have been met it means that the ice in the rivulet already melted and he could go take the bath as per the tradition.

As mentioned before it was part of the ceremony in the tribe to not taint the lake. Other kids who were not baptized by the lake yet will also bathe today so Stone woke up early to use the rivulet first as he didn't really want to meet others.

Once he found it he went by the flow of the water. The rivulet was also a good source of water for the tribesmen here so the bathing was done down the stream farther from the camp.

Once he stopped he was blankly looking at the flowing water. 

He has never had a bath ever before. Even back in the village, he didn't have the opportunity to bathe like this since there was no river around. There was just well so they washed with wet clothes once a time.

After a while, he finally took off his clothes and went towards the water. But when he came closer to the water he stiffened as he feared to touch it. In the end, while he never bathed in 'water' he was bathing in different kinds of liquid. The liquid caused him several traumas over the years. One of them was a mild fear of water.

The fear of pain was the least it reminded him of. But after taking a few deep breaths he thankfully managed to overcome it somehow. The reason for that was that instead of his eyes which he closed he focused on hearing, smelling, and tasting the water. He slowly entered the stream butt naked while listening to the calming sound of flowing water and the surroundings that had the scent of fresh water and nature in the air. The reason he focused on those senses so much was for the other trauma he got. His disgust to vomit.

Or in this case, it wasn't vomit as it was still in the stomach with him. The smell, the taste, the hearing of bubbling and cries of those still alive... He was absolutely horrified from imagining it. That is why this rivulet was so calming to him if he didn't look at it.

He continued going into the rivulet and the next thing he felt was the extreme coldness that made him stiffen once again this time for a different reason. After he got used he went to the deepest part. It was only to his waist so there was no chance for him to drown so he just submerged himself. The cold sensation was chilling but then it started to be comfortable as he started to scrub off the grime.

You would expect more grime on Stone who didn't bathe and was in a very dirty environment the entire time but in truth, the only grim on him was from the time he almost got sacrificed to the time he was with the tribe. Why? Well, simply every time his skin got destroyed only the clean pale skin would regrow before he got out.

Once Stone finished he just lay there calming his mind and resting. After who knows how long there was sound from the distance so Stone knew it was time to leave. He came out, dried himself up, clothed himself with new clothing, and left in another direction from the sound.

........

The same day in the evening.

The ceremony began. In the center of the camp, there was a gathering of small children who hadn't been baptized in the last time the tribe was here. They were either too young or weren't even born back then. The youngest here were around ten years old and the oldest were only around fifteen years old, all waiting for the Grand Shaman to make his speech.

Stone who was also among the kids stood alone farther from others. He was feeling uncomfortable as some looked at him with strange gazes but he persisted as he waited for Kaoran's speech. He was a little excited as today would be the day when most of the problems, his body accumulated, would be and he would be finally free of burden.

The time passed and the children slowly became nervous as they waited. Their parents are in the distance looking at them with concern, joy, pride, or even sternness. It seemed that this baptism would have much more impact on one's future than Stone thought.

Suddenly steps with tapping sounds were heard from the distance. The person wasn't seen through the dense mist, which was created when the weather finally became a little warmer but was recognized immediately. Children who became already impatient started to whisper for themselves as the excitement in their eyes was visible.

Kaoran who finally came to the crowd came before them. He looked at every child here as his face radiated seriousness. When his gaze stopped on Stone for a second his mouth twitched a little into a small smile before he continued. When he finished he nodded to himself, took a deep breath, and started his speech.

*Cough*

"My children, the future of our tribe. As you already know today is the day that will change your future forever. Every generation of the Bakur Tribe uses this baptism of Kennera's Cold Energy to become proud warriors, to become something more. Every generation has access to stronger Cold Energy for unknown reasons and has better genetics thanks to their baptized ancestors. Our tribe grows with every generation. And now it is your turn.

Everyone here will get the chance to stay in Kennera Lake for however long they manage to. Since the process is very painful and can be hurtful to the body after a longer period it is important to know when to stop. I believe that you were already informed about this. But as long as you can manage you shouldn't give up as there is only one chance. The energy is not limitless so only after a big merit you could have a second chance. What I want to say with this is simple. Be prudent and gain the most out of this as your future depends on it. We are a warrior tribe who has many enemies so we can't allow for weakness to invade ourselves! For the Bakur Tribe!" yelled Kaoran at the end. And he was met with a passionate crowd.

"For the Bakur Tribe!" echoed throughout the camp as every child and adult joined in the chant.

Only Stone wasn't very enthusiastic. But despite that, he chanted too. In his native village, he cared for very few people. Actually, outside of the family, it was only Granny Meddie he cared for. On the other hand here Stone wasn't indifferent only to Kaoran and Degres who showered him with affection albeit a little weird. Others he still didn't know enough to care about. 

So Stone never felt the feeling of patriotism. And now when he expressionlessly watched others he concluded that he wasn't the person who would feel those feelings without any strong reason.

After a few seconds of cheering the crowd became silent once again when they saw that Kaoran wanted to speak again.

"Let's not waste the time. It is already dark so we need to hurry. Follow me and don't squeeze each other! There will be a place for everyone." After saying this he left towards the waterfall.

Children went after him while most of the adults stayed. Only a few others followed as they uniformly guided the kids. They went slowly through the entire valley since the waterfall was farther from the camp. It was also the source of the rivulet in which Stoned bathed that day.

The path, which seemed to be reclaimed by nature after years of not using it, was filled once again with youthful energy as the energetic children were excited. But despite that, they were obedient as they revered their shaman and also feared losing the opportunity to go through baptism.

After a while while they went farther and farther from the camp they suddenly bumped into some kind of invisible film. It was easily recognizable since once they passed through it the temperature plummeted. While most children were surprised, some tried to touch the invisible film as if they felt it while the oldest children were calm since they saw it several times in their lives already.

Stone wondered what happened and why some were trying to touch the 'air' until he heard Kaoran saying with a toothy smile.

"That's the boundary from the Totem! The older ones already know but the Totem keeps the camp safe from the outside weather and danger. Now we got outside of it and need to continue. Now hurry up!" then he turned around and left. Young children panicked and hurried after him.

Stone who heard this was sulky. The fact that he didn't even realize that the boundary was there was another indicator of his poor talent. The only way he realized something was wrong was the change of temperature. But while he was in a bad mood the time would not stop because of him so he still went after Kaoran with others in a hurry.

Soon they finally came to the waterfall they saw that the entire waterfall was fully frozen! The waterfall was showing no signs of melting, the ice was still and solid looking like an indestructible wall. The small lake under it was also still frozen, only a little rivulet going under the ice. Once everything melts the little rivulet will turn into a deep river connecting to the one Stone bathed in the morning.

They got before the lake and watched adults taking their axes, hammers, ice saws, and other tools while going on the lake's ice. They came right before the waterfall and started to climb it up! They used the tools to slowly climb the ice while being careful. The most common way was to use an axe with a sharp tip at the other side to hold on.

They were very careful as being careless could be lethal. They needed to chip the ice piece by piece but had to be careful to not collapse the entire waterfall since the mass alone could be dangerous once it fell down. It happened several times in the past generations so they were already prepared but still being careful doesn't hurt.

Actually, the ice in this place was much more colder and sturdier than the natural one outside of the valley. That means that the chance of it suddenly collapsing was much smaller.

Of course, they didn't have a death wish. When the collapse became for the first time it was suggested by many to wait for the ice to melt before going in. The problem was that the Cold Energy would dissipate by that time and there would be almost no benefit for the children. So they needed to risk it. 

Because their tribe depended on it.

The best and safest way to solve this was to systematically dismantle this waterfall from the top. There was no need to fear that the ice from the river above would lose its support and collapse as the ice here was so solid that it never happened until it melted.

Since the baptism usually takes several days then once they take down the entire waterfall they seal it once again with the chunks of the ice they throw down from the waterfall. Those chunks are then processed with ice saws into cubes and stacked together to seal the cave. Then it is watered and in a few minutes, the ice wall is complete. The rest of the ice is cleared away. All of this is to maintain the temperature in the cave in the same way as the igloo.

But in this case, it is to keep the old inside! In the cave is the Kennera Lake with cold energy and obviously it has a much lower temperature than outside despite still ongoing winter.

For the same reason they can't wait for the waterfall to melt nor can they destroy the waterfall before the preparations for the baptism are done.

The ice chunks fell once in a while from the height at the empty place at the side. The trembles caused by it scared some children a little as they backed as far as they could from that place. But as for any other incidents, there were none. Tribesmen were already experienced and knew how to cut the ice effectively while making sure it wouldn't suddenly collapse. 

Throwing it down is also down with care as there are few adults down there yelling for the workers above when to throw it at the designated place so the chance that some accidents happen was minimal.

When they finally finished the entire cave was exposed and the wall above was without any ice while on the left side of the cave was a 'mountain' of the ice. Then adults who had big bags on their backs took them down and threw them through the narrow entrance of the cave. Inside it were supplies like food, water, furs, and torches.

Since they will stay there for a long time everything can happen.

"Now then, I will go first, just follow after me. One after another carefully without squeezing each other or causing problems."

Kaoran said as he slowly went through the hole. He was the only adult who would go inside as that was his job. In the blink of an eye he disappeared from children's eyes and the only thing they saw in the hole was darkness.

"You can go now. Be careful and good luck." said the other adults as they watched the children who started to squeeze inside. Some were scared some excited.

Stone who didn't want to squeeze with them waited until he was the last one. He looked around at the adults who were also looking at him waiting for him to enter.

And so he did. He entered the ice lake's surface, which surprisingly didn't break from all that shaking, and held his balance to not fall. Then he slowly ventured inside the darkness...