Chapter 10

  “When the term cultivation is used to refer to people and their mana, it involves the act of Soul-Breathing, and past that, the addition of mana to our cores, and our very being.” Emma clenched her fist, and then unclenched it. “When we Soul-Breathe, we are actively drawing in mana and storing it within ourselves.”

  “That’s what I said, ain’t it?” I asked, confused by where she was going with this. “When we Soul-Breathe, we take in the mana from the air and make it our own.”

  “Yes, and no. It’s not instantaneous. The mana doesn’t instantly become a part of you, even though its within your core.” She paused, thinking. “When I was taught, they told us the process was similar to creating bread. Your body is the mixing bowl. Your core contains everything needed to make the bread, save for one very important thing. The water. Each time you Soul-Breathe, you’re drawing in water, adding it to the mix. However, until everything’s been stirred together, and given the proper time to mix, to combine, and then bake, you don’t get bread.” She let out a laugh as she looked at me, “don’t give me that look either. They taught us girls separately from the guys. Only analogies they ever gave us were cooking sorts, for proper ladies.”

  “Bet your teachers would be surprised to know that Clint’s the one who does all the cooking then.” I laughed, “you know, when Clint was teaching me, he used a tobacco pipe, and clay.”

  “Whatever helps visualize and better understand the process works for teaching.” She shrugged, “everyone learns differently. And I’m sure there are better explanations about cultivation than baking bread. But, I’m sure you get where I was going with it. When its first in your core, its just water. It’s pure mana. It takes time for it to properly mix within your body, and become an actual part of your core.”

  “And yet, from the moment it enters my body, I can use it?” I thought about that for a second, “so, the mana doesn’t have to be a part of my core, in order to be able to use it.”

  “As long as its inside of you, you can use it. Just, as you yourself observed, fresh mana isn’t easy to use until it’s properly mixed. Same as the water in a mixing bowl. It’s there, and it can start to blend with the flour. But until it’s been properly mixed in, getting it to do anything substantial takes a whole lot more work.”

  I thought about, my mind working through what she’d just been said, and past it, the implications. Most importantly, my mind was drifting back to the stories Randal told me about his time among the indigenous people. The stories about what they’d been able to do. I looked down at my hand, and willed the fire mana forth once more, watching the flames flicker to life across my fingers. Emma watched me, the light of my flames reflected in her eyes.

  “You’re thinking about something,” she said after a moment.

  I closed my hand, and the flames dissipated. “Just thinking.” I said, “but it’s something that can wait. For now, let’s get back to cultivation. I need to know how to refine my core. The sooner I reach Copper, the better.”

  “We’ll get there, but as I told you, it’s going to take time.” She held her hand to her stomach. “Soul-Breathing, taking in mana, adding it to your core, and mixing it together until it’s become a part of you, is the first step in refining your core. You take raw mana, you draw it into yourself, and with the mana mixing within you, you create something more. You grow stronger, faster, more powerful. However,” she looked at me, “everyone’s cores have a natural limit. Without the proper refining technique, without proper cultivation, every person has an innate limit to how much mana they can take within themselves, and harness, and effectively use, before they plateau.”

  “According to the government,” I said, somewhat snidely. Emma wasn’t a see-er. She couldn’t see cores like I could, like Holiday could.”

  “I know you distrust the government, and I’ve no reason to fully trust them. But that lesson seemed pretty straight forward. And it makes sense too, when you think about how the government handles schooling individuals. There’s a prime range for when people can learn, and grow, their cores. Those who can make it to Copper, far outweigh those who can make it past that. Do you really think, with your cynical view of the government, that they’d purposefully lie and miss out on a chance to have as many powerful people in their service as possible.”

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  She had me there. Ninety percent of all Marshal’s were in the Copper range. Gold individuals like Holiday made up the top 3percent of all US Marshal’s. I had no doubt if the government could, they’d spare no expense or effort in maximizing their strength. After all, an army of Holiday’s would surely be able keep everyone in line with no problem. Especially considering they kept the knowledge of how to refine your core and grow into the next levels of power secret. So, in that way at least, Emma had a point. There was no reason to lie. Meaning, either I was special, or I had done something that hadn’t been done before.

  Knowing my curse, it was probably a mixture of both. Still, if I was special, so be it. I was done running from my power. I would take every extra advantage I had, to ensure I had the power to avenge Randal.

  “Alright,” I said, feeling Emma’s gaze on me, “let’s move past that. So Soul-Breathing is the first part of this cultivation process. And we both know I’ve got that down. How does this tie into refining my core? What’s the next step, in proper cultivation?” I paused, my mind grasping an additional thing she’d said, “and wait. This process makes people stronger and faster? Is that why…”

  “Why you’re as tough as you are?” she asked with a grin. “It is indeed. Even without being able to see your core, it’s no secret, for those in the know, that you’ve a good bit of mana. You and Clint both. Your cores may be Iron but going off just how strong and resilient and stubborn you are, I’ve no doubt you’ve quite a bit of mana at your disposal. Though,” she smiled coyly, “considering your dual affinity, I’m not surprised.”

  “Huh,” I wondered at that. Would I get even stronger then, when I refined my core? And how strong was Holiday than, with his core at Gold? Perhaps that had been part of why he’d been able to survive essentially unscathed during our assault on the fort. Everything I was learning just filled me with more questions, and anger. Pickam and the others had stolen so much from me. How much would Randal have taught me? How many secrets would he have shown me. How strong could I have been by now; had he not been killed back then?

  “Huh indeed Mr. Jones.” Emma laughed. “As for your question, Soul-Breathing involves drawing in raw mana, and mixing it into your core. You then infuse that mana throughout your body, and slowly and surely, push your core to its limit. In order to refine your core though, and grow to copper, you’ve got to do even more. It’s not a manner of simply drawing in as much mana as you can. Nor of focusing on your core, and wishing yourself stronger.”

  “So what is it” I asked expectantly. “What do I have to do?”

  “You have to Soul-Breathe to a degree that your very core is filled with nothing but pure, fresh, raw mana. You have to focus on pushing every ounce of mana you can through your core, through your pores and body, until it’s completely filled with the purest forms of mana.”

  I grimaced. That would take a while. I was constantly Soul-Breathing as a habit, working to ensure I had proper ranges of fresh mana for stronger mana bullets, as well as older mana that could be used to craft rounds on the fly, or more intricate bullets. Replacing everything in my body with just pure mana… would severely impact my abilities as a gunslinger. And beyond that… how long would it take, to fill my body like that?

  “So, to go back to your baking example, I’ve got to flood the bowl with water?” I asked.

  “Yes, but that’s just the first step.” She said softly. “That’s the easy step.”

  “What do you mean, that’s just the easy step?” I asked, not liking her tone.

  “Once you’ve flooded the bowl, as you put it,” she said, her voice going soft, “you have to compress every single bit of the mana within your body, until it forms a new core within you. All while still Soul-Breathing, still drawing in new mana. The process is slow, it is painful, and in some cases, its fatal.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “Of course it is.” I shook my head. “Nothing in my life is ever simple or easy.” I chuckled dryly. “Is there anything else I need to know, before I start this process?”

  Emma looked at me, and I could see fear in her eyes. Uncertainty. Hesitation.

  “Out with it.” I said softly, “I can tell there’s more.”

  “Once you start the process,” she began slowly, “you can’t stop. The moment you begin compressing all of the pure mana within your body… the moment you start forming your new core, your old core will shatter. If you can’t ascend to copper, you’ll be stuck in iron forever, and your ability to use mana will be greatly reduced.”

  “Well,” another heavy sigh, “fuck.”