Molting the Mortal Coil

His consciousness scattered, he didn’t know where he was, who he was, or even when he was. Memories flashed by. Travelling as a caravan guard for years, never staying on one place for more than a few weeks. Opening presents under the Christmas Tree back on earth as a boy. The decades spent training in the Holy Flame Sect with little progress. Slithering through grass that seemed to stretch up to the sky as he followed the trail of a mouse. His eyes lit up by the screen of a computer monitor as he spent long hours working towards a deadline. Crying on a set of wooden steps after learning that his Dad was never coming back. Crowding around a hospital bed and listening to the rhythmic machines playing like a song to send off the last few minutes of his Grandma’s life. His soul squeezing out to escape as his scaly body was bitten in half by a wolf. Punching and kicking for endless hours in an empty courtyard, working hard so he could find a place in the clan and repay Uncle Zhang.

Sage was drifting through the memories of three different lives. His mind had integrated the lives of the original Lang Sheng, and the Twin Ringed Soul Serpent along with his own. The touch of the old man seemed to have broken away all the barriers and systems that his mind used to keep them organized. The minds they came from and even the time they happened all seemed to muddle together.

Sage even saw himself sitting on the bench with the old man. A smile on the old man’s face as he watched Sage struggling. The next instant he was swimming in memories again. Trying out for the high school baseball team and getting hit on the shoulder with a fastball. Kneeling in front of a shrine and lighting incense for the plaque of his mother that he had never met. His scales disappearing and his tail separating into a pair of legs. Coiling up underneath a hot rock while the sun slipped below the horizon and a big meal digested in his stomach.

Wait, what was that… that one wasn’t a memory!

The old man spoke to him, “Keep going. Don’t resist it.”

More memories flashed past, faster and faster now. Staring at a computer monitor in a dorm room with a huge book open in front of him, cramming for a test. He swung a halberd down upon a huge quill covered oxen, buying time for a trio of old women to climb into a carriage and escape the demonic beast. He held a vertical handle with a trigger and looked down the length of a long barrel that suddenly lit up with array formation symbols. A ground squirrel was chased out of its hole so he could claim it as his own. Pushing a joystick back and forth to avoid descending aliens, the arcade blasting loud music around him.

He saw it again. Some of those memories were things he’d never done before. What the hell is going on?

Sage saw more and more things that were never in his memories before. Eventually he was able to recover some semblance of control. The memories were still flashing by, but he knew who he was and where he was. With a bit more experience he even started to control the pace of the memories, experiencing them again rather than just being a spectator trapped in a flood. He saw the old man again and this time he tapped his forehead once more.

Everything stopped.

Sage was sitting on the bench, his head turned towards the old man and trying to lean away to avoid the touch of his finger. The world of memories had dissolved away, leaving him back where he sat before upon the bench and unsure of what had just happened.

“It’s over now. You have received the gift. Once you calm down you’ll find a technique in your memories. Master used it to help him rise to power long ago. It will take you some time to decipher it. Come now, you need to rest.”

The old man indicated for him to rise, but Sage was still disoriented. After not responding for a few seconds the old man snapped his fingers and the sound was like thunder in Sage’s mind. The confusion cleared away instantly and Sage rose back up and immediately followed the old man to one of the other doors on the courtyard.

“Rest now. Tomorrow I’ll give you the last gift.”

Sage entered the room, passing by a desk and wardrobe before he reached an ornate four post bed. The clarity the old man brought him only lasted long enough for him to climb into the bed before he instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Sage’s dreams that night were more varied and vivid than ever before. By the time he woke he had no recollection of what he saw while asleep, but he felt that he’d experienced multiple lifetimes over the course of one night. With no memories of his dreams, he was forced to move on. He had the habit of carefully dissecting his experiences to try and get the most gain out of them, but in this situation there was nothing he could do. After he woke he washed his hands and face in a water basin, feeling jealous of the simple comfort of a shower, something nobody in this world knew anything about. The closest anyone here would know of would be the rain or a waterfall.

Hah… I should put that on my list of money making schemes.

Just as he started to fantasize about becoming a rich tycoon, the door opened up and the old man walked in.

“Time for the third and final gift. Come along.”

As abrupt as usual, the old man turned around and walked out. Sage had stopped being surprised at this point and just wiped his hands dry before following quickly to try and catch up. The old man was already at the corner of the walkway when Sage stepped out and he ran quickly to avoid getting reprimanded. The view around the corner was obstructed by a large bush, so it was only after Sage rushed around the corner to catch up that he saw the old man was standing in front of a door. The distance wasn’t even fifty feet from the door to the room he had stayed in, yet here he was running around like an overeager child. At least, that’s how Sage felt. In reality, he was slithering rapidly like he was trying to escape a disaster. All the while, the old man was standing there with a mischievous expression on his face.

“Why the hurry, lad?”

Sage was taken on a little thrillride by the old codger, getting interrupted. Anxiety not to be left behind, embarrassment for trying too hard, and now a little bit of annoyance at being teased. It was like he’d heard them say in this world ‘The older the ginger, the spicier it gets’.

“Alright, come inside. With this final gift you could be considered as half a disciple to my Master. Of course, this doesn’t even give you the privilege of knowing Master’s name, let alone claiming such a thing to others. On the plus side, you have free access to this library.”

As the old man spoke, Sage had walked in and got the chance to look around. At first he was unsure of what was going on. The room looked simple, there was a large table in the center of the room with a few chairs and a bright reading lamp. One wall of the room was dominated from floor to ceiling by a huge stone bookshelf. As the old man said ‘library’, Sage took notice that the stone shelves were stacked full of stone tablets.

“When Master returned here and put me in charge he was already thinking in the long term. Stone Tablets are the longest lasting method of storing information. If you take a closer look, they’re just like the bamboo slips or scrolls people use now. The difference is that the imprints of mental energy and information are inscribed into stone instead of bamboo or paper.”

Of course it made sense to Sage. It was just like when crafting a magic tool or weapon. The stronger the base material the better the end result would be. Certainly the skill and power of the craftsman were what determined the quality of the goods, but they were limited by the tools and resources they were provided.

“You may browse the library as you wish, practice in the training grounds, and stay in the room you used last night. You have been given three months of time to study and train. Afterwards, you shall have to leave. If in the future you reach True Immortality, you may return again and have a chance to meet Master.”

True Immortality… what does that mean?