<center><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold"><big><big>'''Jena Year 2474'''</big></big></span></center>

<center><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold"><big><big>'''Jena Year 2474'''</big></big></span></center>

{{Quotation|''Belenor Nebius, narrator'' • ''Cheng Lai'SuKi, illustrator''|

{{Quotation|''Belenor Nebius, narrator'' • ''Cheng Lai'SuKi, illustrator''|

:"Ma-Duk offers us the ultimate pain so that no pain in the world can ever reach his soldiers."

:"Ma-Duk offers us the ultimate pain so that no pain in the world can ever reach his soldiers."

With these words, the child opened the small satchel that flanked his left thigh. It contained two thin, long instruments which he carefully retrieved. The first was a stem of [[taleng]], twenty centimetres long and one centimetre in diameter, one end of which had been cut to a point. The taleng, characterised by its green stems formed by a fast-growing, lignified hollow thatch, was found in abundance in the Jungle The Zorais commonly used it as a material for the crafting of utensils. The second tool, also made from taleng, was a thin, long pliers. Pü stepped over the general's chest and lifted his head with his left hand. With his amputated hand, he laboriously pushed the rod into the Matis's right nostril until he could no longer advance it. Then, with a well-felt palm strike, he perforated his skull. Blood began to flow around and inside the rigid rod, and the child closed his eyes. Although he knew roughly its location, if he wanted to detect his target accurately, he had to silence his other senses. It took him only a few seconds then to discern the imperceptible echo pulsing from within the Matis' skull, reverberating subtly in the surrounding spirit particles. '''Meditative, Pü gradually pushed the tube into the Matis' brain'''. Finally, as the taleng rod reached its destination, he opened his eyes again. Letting the general's head rest on the ground, he retrieved the thin pliers from his able hand and slipped them into the nasal tube. Although he had to concentrate again to make sure he didn't overshoot his target, a pulsation that was much more prominent than the others confirmed his success. Cautiously, the handle got back, and a small, surprisingly firm piece of flesh emerged from the tube clamped between the two prongs of the pliers. Pü looked at the cocoon of flesh to make sure it wasn't damaged. Inside it was the seed of life, said to be the seat of the human soul. The soul of Sirgio di Rolo. Pü had already been able to observe this fragile treasure, which really looked like a small grayish seed, only slightly longer than a few millimeters. Sirgio di Rolo was well and truly dead, yet he could still make out the echo of his seed of life. Pü had wondered a lot about this echo during his exile. He had even wondered if it could be a signal. A signal from the soul. But a signal to whom? To Ma-Duk, inevitably.

With these words, the child opened the small satchel that flanked his left thigh. It contained two thin, long instruments which he carefully retrieved. The first was a stem of [[taleng]], twenty centimetres long and one centimetre in diameter, one end of which had been cut to a point. The taleng, characterised by its green stems formed by a fast-growing, lignified hollow thatch, was found in abundance in the Jungle The Zorais commonly used it as a material for the crafting of utensils. The second tool, also made from taleng, was a thin, long pliers. Pü stepped over the general's chest and lifted his head with his left hand. With his amputated hand, he laboriously pushed the rod into the Matis's right nostril until he could no longer advance it. Then, with a well-felt palm strike, he perforated his skull. Blood began to flow around and inside the rigid rod, and the child closed his eyes. Although he knew roughly its location, if he wanted to detect his target accurately, he had to silence his other senses. It took him only a few seconds then to discern the imperceptible echo pulsing from within the Matis' skull, reverberating subtly in the surrounding spirit particles. '''Meditative, Pü gradually pushed the tube into the Matis' brain'''. Finally, as the taleng rod reached its destination, he opened his eyes again. Letting the general's head rest on the ground, he retrieved the thin pliers from his able hand and slipped them into the nasal tube. Although he had to concentrate again to make sure he didn't overshoot his target, a pulsation that was much more prominent than the others confirmed his success. Cautiously, the handle got back, and a small, surprisingly firm piece of flesh emerged from the tube clamped between the two prongs of the pliers. Pü looked at the cocoon of flesh to make sure it wasn't damaged. Inside it was the seed of life, said to be the seat of the human soul. The soul of Sirgio di Rolo. Pü had already been able to observe this fragile treasure, which really looked like a small grayish seed, only slightly longer than a few millimeters. Sirgio di Rolo was well and truly dead, yet he could still make out the echo of his seed of life. Pü had wondered a lot about this echo during his exile. He had even wondered if it could be a signal. A signal from the soul. But a signal to whom? To Ma-Duk, inevitably.

[[file:Meditative.png|right|400px|alt=… Meditative, Pü gradually pushed…|Meditative, Pü gradually pushed]]

[[file:Meditative.png|right|400px|alt=… Meditative, Pü gradually pushed…|Meditative, Pü gradually pushed]]

Once the Matis was treated, he walked to the bush where he had hidden his cubic basket. Pü gently extracted it out of the leaves and placed it on the ground. Satisfied with the location, he cautiously opened the lid, as if it sheltered a treasure. The basket contained an amber cube perfectly embedded in the wicker receptacle, which itself seemed to contain several dozen shapes. He meticulously retrieved one of the pieces of flesh that he had stored in the pockets of his belt, and placed it on the only visible face of the cube. He then had only to imprint his will on the Sap that irrigated it, while pronouncing the famous Stance of Daïsha, so that the bloody mass sinks into the amber altered by the enchantment and freezes there. The use of amber cubes as a storage system had been invented, more than a century earlier, by the famous Hari Daïsha. Now widespread in the Jungle, it was used to preserve objects, but also to store knowledge, magically. Pü reiterated the operation three times and took care to finish with the general's fragment. He carved the amber over the position of the latter so that he could easily distinguish it from the other pieces of flesh. When he closed the lid of the basket, he let out a sincere sigh of relief. For the first time in weeks, his next day would not be soiled with blood. After that, he patiently watched over the body of the survivor while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. He took advantage of this moment of respite to rest and dress his wounds. Although he repaired his broken ribs and closed his wounds, he gave up trying to regenerate his missing fingers: the mutilation left in evidence ensured him that this day would remain forever engraved in his memory. And when he heard the tumult of the Matis riders echoing in the distance, he disappeared into the darkness of the hundred-year-old trees.

Once the Matis was treated, he walked to the bush where he had hidden his cubic basket. Pü gently extracted it out of the leaves and placed it on the ground. Satisfied with the location, he cautiously opened the lid, as if it sheltered a treasure. The basket contained an amber cube perfectly embedded in the wicker receptacle, which itself seemed to contain several dozen shapes. He meticulously retrieved one of the pieces of flesh that he had stored in the pockets of his belt, and placed it on the only visible face of the cube. He then had only to imprint his will on the Sap that irrigated it, while pronouncing the famous Stance of Daïsha, so that the bloody mass sinks into the amber altered by the enchantment and freezes there. The use of amber cubes as a storage system had been invented, more than a century earlier, by the famous Hari Daïsha. Now widespread in the Jungle, it was used to preserve objects, but also to store knowledge, magically. Pü reiterated the operation three times and took care to finish with the general's fragment. He carved the amber over the position of the latter so that he could easily distinguish it from the other pieces of flesh. When he closed the lid of the basket, he let out a sincere sigh of relief. For the first time in weeks, his next day would not be soiled with blood. After that, he patiently watched over the body of the survivor while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. He took advantage of this moment of respite to rest and dress his wounds. Although he repaired his broken ribs and closed his wounds, he gave up trying to regenerate his missing fingers: the mutilation left in evidence ensured him that this day would remain forever engraved in his memory. And when he heard the tumult of the Matis riders echoing in the distance, he disappeared into the darkness of the hundred-year-old trees.