In this life Alex never traveled further than an hour or two from the Morales castle, thus the current trip was quite refreshing from the mental point of view. Physically though he was exhausted already after half an hour.

While he had always been in a good shape, this was the first time he rode a horse. And as it turns out it’s not as ‘cool’ as it was displayed in movies. His bottom hurt and he felt dizzy from all the shaking, but luckily practicing few simple Qi techniques helped a lot.

After glancing to his side at the mysterious travel buddy, Alex once again shook his head in disapproval. With him being Qi warrior and his companion a Qi master it should’ve been easier to quickly walk or even run while letting the horses carry their luggage. They were not galloping after all, otherwise the horses would be dead in twenty minutes or even faster.

Noticing Alex looking at him, the ‘governor’s assistant’ grinned back and said, “I can’t believe a noble like yourself has never ridden a horse. Was it because your father was afraid you would run away?”

Alex made a grimace full of pain instead of answering and only sighed. How he missed the Lord’s seeds – probably the best healing steroids in the world! But the ‘governor’s assistant’ didn’t take offense from Alex’s attitude – just laughed and ignored him again.

When they finally stopped for the night, Alex spent a good hour sitting in a chilly brook butt naked while practicing Qi. This actually helped a lot and soon could join the other guy for dinner. Somehow he managed to hunt a couple of rabbits in the forest they were passing through and was currently roasting them on a small bonfire.

Alex dropped next to him and expectantly stared at the roasts while openly salivating. They traveled the whole day and before he didn’t even have a breakfast, so his stomach furiously grumbled at the pleasant smell.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re a country boy.” The man said with a grin.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re a governor’s assistant.” Alex mimicked him trying to make similar face, but then smiled and said, “I can’t call you that way, right? So, what is your name?”

The man looked back for few seconds and then said, “You can call me Jacobo.”

“Ok.” Alex nodded, “You can call me Alex.”

Jacobo raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Is that your real name?”

“Hahaha!” Alex actually did find it funny.

Theoretically one could think he was some kind of a spy, planted by another country, except this was a body of eleven year old girl, born and raised in the Morales castle.

“That’s my new name. Who the hell would want them to be called Ramona Esmeralda Angelina Valentina Cassandra? That’s just stupid.” He explained.

“Mhm.” Jacobo nodded in agreement and they sat in silence for a while. Only the sound of fire crackling from the fat dripping from the roasts disturbed the silence.

“What do you plan to do after we reach the capital?” Jacobo was the first to break the silence.

“Probably find a place to stay.” Alex said, but then realized his companion was asking about something else, and continued, “I want to get access to the biggest library possible. I love reading.”

“Oh? Do you have a weak spot for libraries?” Jacobo widely grinned.

“Don’t you?” Alex mimicked him again and grinned back.

“Sigh … when did you recognize me?” Jacobo asked focusing his attention on the roasts again.

“When you killed Alvaro.” Alex replied, “When did you recognize me?”

“When you used the same footwork arriving in front of the governor. You have a particular style I noticed in the castle’s library.” Jacobo explained.

“Seriously?” Alex whistled in surprise, “From the three steps I took back then? Maaaan … you’re good! No wonder you’re her majesty’s right hand man.”

Now was time for Jacobo to look at him in shock, “How did you know?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Alex shrugged, “While it looked like you were part of Ortega’s, I mean, governor’s, entourage, in fact he listened to your orders. You already knew Morales family had dealings with the rebels – that is why you sneaked in the castle in the first place – you were looking for a proof. You personally executing the two families meant you didn’t actually need the ruling of the court – you had … hahaha … license to kill issued directly by her majesty!”

Jacobo watched how Alex for some reason began to hysterically laugh. It took him a couple of minutes to calm down, but even then he still had tears in his eyes.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Sorry, my bad!” Alex waved apologetically, “And to think that I dared to call myself James Bond … you’re the friggin James Bond! In her majesty’s secret service and with a license to kill! I’m a peasant compared to you!”

“What’s a ‘James Bond’?” Jacobo furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Don’t worry, if anything – it’s a compliment.” Alex said, “Anyway … Morales library was very … basic. I barely could grasp the political situation from it, much less gain advanced knowledge. Is there a good academy or school in the capital?”

“If you are still talking about libraries, then there is only one noteworthy – the royal library.” Jacobo said.

“F*ck!” Alex’s shout echoed in the quiet forest ‘f*ck … f*ck … f*ck’, almost as if he continuously cursed.

“What?” Jacobo was caught by surprise by his sudden change of mood.

“What do you mean, ‘what’?!” Alex answered in a bitter voice, “There is no way I would be allowed near the palace, much less in the royal library.”

Jacobo silently nodded. Indeed, Alex was from a family of traitors and a weird young genius at that. Obviously Jacobo escorted him to the capital in order to decide what to do with him, but there was no way they would let a poisonous snake in the house – this kid gave up on her own family without batting an eye. Even if she was super smart and talented – she would always remain a potential threat.

“This sucks!” Alex punched ground in annoyance, “It’s always so tedious! I have to start weak, practice a lot and even then I can’t be free. Not sure if it would’ve been easier if you executed me alongside them … f*****ck … I hate the early life! And I’m starting to get tired of ‘restarting’ over so often!”

Jacobo threw a glance at him. He was not sure what the girl in the boy’s clothing actually spoke of, but he never had a kid so didn’t know how to treat them.

“Maybe, if you work hard and prove your loyalty … some day …” He tried to give this girl a hope.

“Come on! You can’t mean that seriously!” Alex glared back angrily. Somehow this ‘move’ from a female repertoire came naturally, “You can’t expect me to enslave myself for the whole life so I could just read a couple of books! It would be easier to just move to another … f*ck! I probably won’t be allowed to leave either! This sucks!”

They sat in silence until the dinner was ready. Alex mostly inwardly cursed – he hoped it would calm him down a bit, but Jacobo meanwhile nonchalantly stared at the flames.

“So, what do you plan to do after we reach the capital?” He asked passing Alex one of the roasted rabbits.

Their conversation had looped three hundred and sixty degrees.

“Sigh.” Alex sighed and shook his head thinking aloud, “Since there is no real educational facility, I’ll have to learn something practical – like becoming an apprentice to … a doctor?”

“No!” He immediately scratched this possibility.

Alex still got goosebumps every time he remembered assisting doctor-highpriest Galen in the college. Those penises covered in pus still gave him nightmares.

“Maybe ... hmm … maybe I could become apprentice of someone who deals with the processing of cultivation resources.” He pondered, but then noticed Jacobo’s glare, “Don’t look at me like that! I don’t intend to steal for a personal use – I’m interested in learning the principles on how to properly use them. Castle’s library was really poor, you know …”

What Alex said was actually true. Since the force of nature or Qi, or holy power – no matter how it was called, existed in the whole universe, he had to acquire more knowledge on how to ‘properly’ cultivate. He already knew he was able to practice in this world techniques taught by headmaster and his former brother Bill. That only meant the universe had some kind of common laws under which the Qi worked – basically ‘Qi physics’. And this was the science he was most interested in since it held the most powerful knowledge.

Yes, back in the modern world people invented airplanes and guns, and what not, but those ‘toys’ were of no use if you were against the real ‘James Bond’ who currently was wolfing down the rabbit next to him. Alex’s intuition almost screamed that the cultivation of Qi was the route of finding out the secrets behind the reincarnation and there was no reason for him to not trust it.

After finishing his roast, Jacobo went over to the brook, washed up and then came back and sat next to Alex. He watched the blond kid for a minute slowly savoring the rabbit as if it was her last meal and then finally spoke.

“You are correct – you won’t be allowed to leave, but I doubt the queen will decide to terminate you.” He said, “I know a guy. He lives in the outskirts, but it’s still the capital so it would fit the … limitations you’ll have. He was a doctor, but nowadays he mostly does research. Of course, he’s completely loyal to her majesty, thus at the same time he could keep an eye on you, if he agrees, obviously.”

“Sounds like a start.” Alex nodded. Then thought for a bit and asked, “What is she like?”

“She?” Jacobo was confused.

“Ye, her majesty. I know king died and she is the second woman in the history to lead this country. Is she really a Qi master?” Alex said while looking at Jacobo curiously.

“Hmmm… “ For some reason the man fell deep in thought. It was not like he considered what he was ‘allowed’ to tell – probably more something along the lines of ‘how to’.

“She’s a remarkable woman. Twenty five years ago when our king Alejandro was assassinated, she somehow survived the attack and even managed to kill the six remaining assassins while being badly wounded herself. Afterwards, she suppressed the rebellion and ever since we can have peace … relatively speaking, of course.”

“So she is a Qi master.” Alex nodded, “But it can’t be she was stronger than the king, right?”

“Of course, not!” Jacobo straightened up while answering in an angry voice as if Alex insulted his family, “Our king was the strongest man on the continent! Maybe even in the world!”

It didn’t sound like an empty praise and Alex nodded again, considered the implications of someone as strong and talented as the previous king being reborn – the guy obviously had to be some kind of a prodigy, right? In comparison Alex was a piece of furniture at best.

Meanwhile Jacobo realized he lost his cool and scratched his head in embarrassment.

“If you work really hard, you might meet her some day.” He said.

But Alex only smiled back and said, “I’m not interested in admiring elderly women. I want to learn stuff.”

Then he brushed off non existent dust from his trousers, got up and said, “I’m gonna wash up and then go to bed. You did go easy on me today, right?”

Jacobo nodded. He immediately noticed the girl had no clue on how to ride a horse and didn’t push at all. To his great surprise the blond kid didn’t go to sleep – she washed up and then sat cross-legged on the previous spot near the bonfire and began to cultivate Qi. After giving an inwardly praise, Jacobo did the same and the two cultivated through the night.