In her mind Amy had to think about many things.There are thousands of members in the osprey faction from the lowest of members and their families to the upper echelons. The lowest of members and their families would not be listed in the priority. To be classed to priority, only one thing mattered.

Talent.

Some would say you would still need connections to do so but without talent, you would not be even within the radar of the faction. Amy was priority 7 at her best and Joyce is a rank higher at priority 6 due to her ability as a spirit master. Saying that Marcus is priority 5 only meant one thing. Talent. Even so, it was a gamble. He is still too young and giving him that ranking so young could spell trouble. Being a fainter mean he has talent. Many factions would pay attention to him and may approach him in the future. That would be fine. However he is also a spirit master and a young one at that. He is only five and he is able to do a simplified version of spirit echolocation that belongs to the realm of a tier three spirit master.

Hiding him would protect him. He is just a commoner and if a royal family member finds out they might kill him as he will be a threat if he does not take their side. She herself did not gain priority ranking until she was 15 and it took her 4 years to get to priority 7. Not only that, competition is tough and if things stay the same for her, she would be falling back to priority 8. There is nothing to complain about in terms of priority but her level of say in decision-making would fall. Bringing Marcus to light would push herself and Joyce to possibly priority 5 as well. They may have stumbled onto a diamond in the rough and they have to polish it in secret as it may be too big for the world to see it so soon.

should she adopt him into her house as a protege? he has promise but it may tie him down instead. the youngest spirit master was 8 when he discovered his abilities and was adopted into a house only to die by the age of 15 from assassination. the risk is too great. he is only 5 and if he is discovered before the age of 10 he is most likely to die before he is 15.

many things about Marcus kept running in her head and she could not decide. if she followed what joyce said, he may get all the resources that he will need. priority 5 in the faction would do wonders for him. adopting him as protege would give him protection as well. the scale of protection would defer accordingly but the risk is also true. having daniel and Joyce as instructors may be more than enough for him for now. but how about one year down the road? what if his teachers discover his talents that would mean they get that fame instead for the discovery. discovery by school may be safer for now and we can prep him for that. we just need him to hide his talents for now. it is like building a castle, build the foundation big and sturdy so that when it grows it can end up as big as a mountain and still will not collapse like a single

lone tree against flood.

contemplation was not her strong suit. her talent lies in the midst of battle. in combat. it was not an easy place to be in but she thrives in it.it is peace time right now. the occasional outbreaks of bandits and monster invasions were the only major battles in the recent years.

she looked at Joyce and was wondering what she should do next when it dawned on her. joint custody. by having her and Joyce share resources with Marcus, he would have been able to gain more resources while not being tied down by the house and faction turmoils. it is a gamble but the risk to him would be much lower than having him join right upfront at such a young age. we have too many spies running amok.

connecting back on Joyce's spirit connection, she shared her idea. Joyce frowned on the idea but slowly warmed up to it. she enjoyed her status as a priority 6 and she longed to climb to priority 5. not only was she not able to climb to priority 5 she now even has to share resources with this small boy. however, the more she thought about it the more she found the idea more viable. he could be her ticket to priority 4 even. With such a big unpolished gem, if they shape him well, they could even bring him to higher level or even him bringing them to higher level. with that in mind, she agreed to it.

i sat next to Joyce until the day ended. sitting there i have slowly and steadily consumed all of the original spirit energy that Joyce had placed in me to wake me up. with nothing else to do i learned the basics of a spirit master from joyce.

when spirit is formless it is known as spirit energy. when it acts on an object it is known as spirit force. when we bring about our tree, we call it manifesting as it is it went from formless to gaining a shape. it is also the reason why some of us still have incorporeal tree, there is not enough spirit force in it to make it corporeal.

our mind is like a container for spirit energy. we can build and expand the size of this container. there are said to be many ways to cultivate spirit energy. one way would be the most basic of ways, the normal cultivation method that everyone uses. other than that method, spirit masters techniques are classified into different fields. container, purity and density. if you imagine them as an attack, one who expands the container would usually be attacking with tens of swords. trying to overwhelm with quantity. as for the one who focuses on purity it would be attacking with a quality sword, quality over quantity, and one who focus on density would be a dense sword, just raw power.

a fainter is special existence. it seems fainter usually has higher purity or density than others. however the main reason they faint is their container. it can't keep up with the purity or density. it also meant that they have a starting point higher than others.

as for me, it seems that i am even more a special existence. my tree is a vine. it is one of the lowest of manifestations and yet i was a fainter. it usually meant that the person has a small container if he faints for manifesting an incorporeal tree even when assisted with that orb and that would not pass the test to be brought to the school. however, in my case, i brought out a corporeal tree at first try when existed. it meant that i had either higher purity or high density for my age and that the container aspect is unable to handle it. it was this unusual situation that got me into the school. i am a big unknown. full of potential and yet a big gamble. even i myself agree that i am an oddity and that i need all the help i can get.

as i listened to the teaching of Joyce. i came to a better understanding of what it meant by container. the container is the capacity of the soul. the stronger the soul the more it can store. my soul is many times stronger than those of a five year old. it can’t be helped unlike most five years old, i was already fully aware since birth. guess i got a good head start at that. however, it seemed that i also pack high density to my spirit energy. I have no idea ass to why that is, but i can only account it as just my luck and fortune to be ‘greater’ than others in this aspect. Joyce did not understand why i am higher in these 2 aspects either but i think i know why. I seemed to be a reincarnated soul of some sort but just missing my past life memories. Not sure why or how that happened but i can only think of it as my good fortune for now.

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“Are you listening to me Marcus?”

“Eh what? Sorry. I was thinking about the 3 types and did not notice.”

“As i was saying,it is irrelevant that you think about the 3 types for now. the heavier aspects of things involved are just theories anyway. We have researchers for that. You only have to understand the basics of it and make use of it.”

“Ehhhhh….”

“You do not need to think about it too much for now.”

“Ok”

For now, i will teach you how to focus your energy. It will improve the quality of your spirit. Hopefully it will stabilize your spirit consumption and allow u to use your tree normally. Listen carefully.”

“Ready”

“You remember the feeling when you first drew spirit energy from the orb? This time round imagine the world as if it was orb and draw spirit energy from the world. Don’t do that yet. Listen. I know you are eager to try but u have to listen to everything before you try. Now back to it, after you draw the spirit into yourself you need to store it. But as you know, this energy is different from what you have in you so you have to refine it. Imagine it as a grindstone and push your spirit energy against it. It will be painful so do not draw too much of this natural energy. This works for you and those like you who have nature and spirit affinity. Now try it. I will be on vigil.”

After listening to that, i started trying it. Pain. all i remembered for the next 3 hours or so was just pain. Nothing more but also nothing less. It was like scratching a chalkboard inside one’s head. Nerve wrecking pain that does not end. The worse part was that it does not weaken. The pain was constant and true.

Outside, Joyce kept watch. She knew it would hurt. But she forgot. Marcus was only five. For such a young mind, this pain would be of a totally different level. Marcus had not yet experienced the strifes of life so his will is not yet strong. Most who practiced this method are already in their 20s and would have a fairly steeled mind. It was her fault and she could not stop it. This energy can only be removed by Marcus himself and she can’t interfere. Not that she would not but she cannot. If she send in her spirit energy into Marcus mind to remove that little b of nature energy right now, his spirit energy would be wiped out by her’s in an instant and he may never wake up again.

Joyce started tearing up as she watch Marcus's face contort in pain. It was her fault that he was in this much pain. After the first hour, Marcus slowly began to twitch and spasm. By the second hour, Marcus had gone from the original lotus sitting position to a repeated tonic and clonic seizure. By the third hour, Marcus had lost all bodily control and his limbs would flail about uncontrolled. Blood, sweat, poop, urine and vomit was everywhere. he was soon about to go into arrest but there was nothing she could do. All she could do now was cradle him in her arms and hold his arms and legs close so that no one would get hurt. It was her fault that he was in this pain and it is her fault that he might die. She could feel the turmoil in his spirit energy and there was no way for her to help him. All she could do was just watch him as he slowly grind that spirit energy away.

I wanted to scream. This pain just would not go away. I knew that there would pain but i never knew it would hurt so much. This grating pain did not end. What seemed like seconds slowly felt like hours. It felt like time was just never ending pain. It just does not stop. As long as that bit of spirit energy was there there was no way this pain would go away. I have to grind it away. I must grind it away. It was the only thing in my mind pain and grind.

If it were a normal spirit master doing this, they would have just finished grinding this energy in one hour. However for Marcus, his spirit energy was still too weak. Most who started this exercise were at least tier 1 spirit master or had that level of spirit energy. Marcus had higher level of spirit than his peers but that was all. He did not have that level of spirit energy yet. He could only do it slowly and steadily.

Slowly, i could feel that the end of this pain was coming. In the midst of this pain what felt like hundreds of nails scratching the chalkboard slowly felt like reducing in number. It did not mean that the pain was any lesser. It was like slowly pinching grains out from a bag of grains. You do not notice it. I had to endure. Deep down it felt like if i stop enduring i would die. I could only endure this pain as i kept grinding away. It was a mind twisting pain. An agony. But i endured. That was all i could do. Then finally, it ended. The pain finally ended. I felt that warm pair of arms i was in but i could not move. I was just too tired. All i managed was just a slight jerk before i blanked out.

3 hours. He endured for 3 hours! He managed to endure all that for that long! Holding that frail figure in her arms, she went to the nearest water source to clean him and herself up before heading to the healer’s ward. Upon reaching the ward, the healers almost had a hard time trying to peel Marcus from Joyce. She wanted to see this through. No. she had to see this through. It was her fault that Marcus had become like this. He was battered and bruised and dehydrated. It was because of her that he suffered from all that for 3 hours. It was her fault. She was wrought with self-blame. The healers finally had some leeway after they managed to compromise with her just some hands away so that they could do their job. It was only the next day when Marcus finally woke up.

my whole body feels so dense and heavy.i can barely lift my eyelids even. So thirsty and hungry, my mind feels so foggy and clouded. I feel sick. One thing is for sure though it felt like 2 steps forward 3 steps back. Ahh… but such warm and soft pillow… just want to snuggle in it…. Snuggle….

Joyce tensed up as she held that frail figure lying on her chest. For the whole night she laid next to him watching him. When he woke up she lifted him up and let him rest there thinking that he would be awake and she would apologize. Then the small little unexpected situation happened. Like a kid missing his mother’s embrace, Marcus snuggled into her bosoms and fell back asleep. There was little she could do but hold him there as he rested. At least he woke up. The worst did not happen so that was a relief. With that, her tense mind finally relaxed and nodded off into her own dreamland. The healers who came in to check saw them both resting in that mannerism could only smile in amusement and left them to their devices. They had plenty of rooms anyway.

It was around evening when i “properly” woke up.

It was all hazy in my head, i felt the soft warm pillow under my head, it felt so comfortable so without thinking i was snuggling into it rubbing my face into it. The next thing i knew was a sharp pain in the glabella (space between the eyes) that got me awake.

“Awake now little man?”