The Sinful Young Master - Chapter 290
290: The Chaos elves – 6 290: The Chaos elves – 6 “Now, reach inward,” Ekatarina’s voice guided him.
“Find the place where the chaos dwells within you.” She continued, “As far as I can tell and sense, you have only wielded the chaos power using the sword, which is your ancestor, and it has affected you in ways you can’t imagine, and it is the reason you are now sitting here.
So search for the chaos inside you which had taken root inside you.” Her words seemed to resonate directly within his mind, directing his awareness to places he had never fully explored.
He found the familiar well of his voidwrath power, silver and cold and precise.
Nearby lay the primal energy of the beast king, green and vital and fierce.
But between them, around them, flowing through them like water through sand, was the violet energy of chaos-not contained in its own separate well, but permeating his entire being.
“I can’t isolate it,” he said after several minutes of concentration.
“It’s everywhere within me.” He was startled by the discovery.
It wasn’t harming him, but he stayed holed up, like it was dormant.
“Yes,” Ekatarina replied, and he could hear a smile in her voice.
“That is the nature of chaos-it exists not as a separate force but as the space between all things, the potential for change within what seems fixed and certain.” She placed her cool fingers against his temples.
“Do not try to grasp chaos directly.
Instead, feel where it is not.
Define it by its absence, not its presence.” The concept was alien to Jolthar’s understanding, trained as he had been in the direct manipulation of energy.
Yet he tried, focusing not on the violet energy itself but on the boundaries where it met the silver and green.
To his surprise, he began to sense a pattern-places where the chaos seemed thinner, where it flowed around rather than through his other powers.
Following these patterns, he gradually formed a mental map of the chaos within him.
“Good,” Ekatarina said softly.
“You begin to understand the first principle of chaos-craft: Chaos cannot be controlled directly, only guided through the paths of least resistance.” When he opened his eyes, he found her watching him with those strange silver-flecked violet eyes.
“You learn quickly for a human,” she observed.
“Perhaps there is hope for you yet.” The afternoons were spent in practical application of the morning’s lessons, with both Vareth and Ekatarina observing as Jolthar attempted increasingly complex manipulations of his chaos energy.
“Hold it separate,” Vareth commanded as Jolthar summoned a sphere of violet flame above his palm.
“Do not allow it to draw upon your other powers.” Sweat beaded on Jolthar’s forehead as he struggled to maintain the distinction between his energies.
The violet flame wavered, threads of silver and green occasionally flickering through it before he forced them back.
“Better,” Ekatarina acknowledged when he managed to hold pure chaos energy for almost a minute.
“But not yet sufficient.” It was becoming difficult for Jolthar to focus on chaos with Voidwrath and beast power; they were moving in like a protective mechanism whenever he sought control of chaos and, in turn, clashed against chaos.
The evenings were his own-though “own” was a relative term, as he was still viewed with suspicion by most of the Ael’koryna.
He spent these hours exploring the settlement, observing the daily life of these strange elves, and attempting to understand their culture.
The Ael’koryna, he learned, were not merely chaos-touched elves-they were a distinct branch of elvenkind who had deliberately exposed themselves to chaos energies millennia ago, seeking to transcend the limitations of their original nature.
Their society was structured around the management and utilization of chaos, with distinct castes dedicated to different aspects of chaos-craft.
The Shapers worked with physical matter, using chaos to create the crystalline structures that housed most of the population.
The Seers used chaos to perceive possibilities across time and space.
The Weavers, like Ekatarina, specialised in the direct manipulation of chaos energy itself.
And the Guardians, like Vareth, defended the community against both external threats and the dangers of uncontrolled chaos within.
On the fourth evening, as Jolthar sat alone outside his dwelling, a small group of elf children gathered at a distance, watching him with undisguised curiosity.
Unlike the adults, they made little attempt to hide their interest in the strange human visitor.
“Is it true you have chaos inside you?” one child finally called out, bolder than the rest.
“It is,” Jolthar replied.
“Show us,” another demanded.
Against his better judgment-knowing that interacting with the children would likely not improve his standing with the adults-Jolthar extended his hand and summoned a small sphere of violet energy.
With careful concentration, he shaped it into the form of a butterfly that fluttered above his palm.
The children gasped in delight, edging closer to see.
“Can you make it fly?” a small female child asked, her eyes wide with wonder.
Jolthar smiled and sent the chaos butterfly fluttering in gentle circles around the children.
They laughed and reached for it, though careful not to touch it directly-even young, they understood the dangers of raw chaos energy.
He was so focused on maintaining the delicate construct that he didn’t notice Ekatarina’s approach until she spoke.
“Having fun, are we now?” she commented, causing the children to scatter immediately.
Jolthar allowed the butterfly to dissolve back into formless energy before extinguishing it completely.
“Just satisfying the curious young minds.” “Is that so?” she said, sitting gracefully on a crystal formation near his dwelling.
“The children must learn about chaos in all its forms-including how it manifests in outsiders.” For a moment, they sat in silence, watching as the settlement prepared for nightfall.
Luminescent crystals began to glow throughout the area, casting a soft light that complemented the ever-present violet haze.
“May I ask you something?” Jolthar finally said.
Ekatarina inclined her head.
“You may ask.
I may choose not to answer.” “Why does Vareth hate me so much?
Is it simply because I’m human, or is there more to it?” A shadow passed across her features.
“Vareth’s hatred is not personal, though it may seem so.
A few years ago, humans discovered one of our smaller settlements.
They feared what they did not understand and attacked without provocation.” Her voice remained level, but Jolthar could sense the old pain beneath her words.
“Vareth’s mate was among those killed.
She was with child.” Jolthar absorbed this information silently.