Maddox was walking through the academy grounds towards his next class at the Alchemy labs. He was still elated by the conversation he had with Instructor Von’Pebble after class was dismissed.

“How much did you have to eat to bulk up like that Instructor?”

Von’Pebble was delighted by the boy’s prying question and soon what started as a simple question had turned into a lengthy conversation about getting Swole. I’n Maddox’s previous life he was always more concerned about cutting fat, but he still loved lifting weights. He wouldn’t even skip leg day…well at least not all the time. The whole conversation culminated in Instructor Von’Pebble offering to help him with his own strength training later that day.

“I’m not gonna be stuck in this puny body forever. I’m gonna bulk up.” He flexed his puny arm playfully when he collided with a larger figure.

“Watch where you’re going you stupid kid,” A girl spoke with her nose in the air. Maddox was picking himself up off the ground when the girl shoved him back down. There was laughter coming from the two girls on either side of her, one was tall and skinny while the other was short and round. The girl in the middle was average in every way but standing in between the two girls made her look like a real beauty.

‘Of Course you look cuter standing next to these two.’ Maddox smirked as he stood up.

“It’s that brat Instructor Sha’Carri likes to give extra training too,” The tall girl said.

“So this the brat that gets to start training academy even though he’s ten huh.” The girl in the middle eyed Maddox with contempt, but in the end she just elbowed him in the shoulder walking past him. “Let’s go girls. Let's leave the little baby alone.” They walked away while laughing at him.

“Seriously, what is everyone’s problem here!” he finally screamed, or rather squeaked in frustration. There was no one else around to hear him, as the bell rang for the last time. At that moment Maddox didn’t care about his next class. He just started walking in a random direction.

‘Anywhere is better than here.’ He stomped away, his rage fueling every step that took him further into a nearby forest. If he wasn’t so angry he would’ve noticed the signs that warned of entering the forest without proper precautions.

“Stupid kids, stupid world, stupid school!” He was a bundle of anger and negativity. Kicking small rocks as he went deeper into the forest until the loud cry of ‘Gobble,Gobble’ broke him out of his rumination. Surprised by the cry he put too much ‘umph’ behind his kick and the stone collided with the head of a wild turkey staring up at something in a large tree.

The rock dazed the turkey, causing it to stumble away from the tree. Maddox watched as a squirrel the size of a small house cat tossed acorns at the stunned turkey.

“Where the hell is this squirrel getting all of these acorns from?” The squirrel seemed to be pulling them out of thin air almost as it pelted the turkey from up above. The turkey looked like it was taking further damage from the squirrel’s barrage of acorns as it limped around. Maddox couldn’t help but feel like the squirrel was feeling victorious as it stood on its hind legs with its front paws on its hips as though it had vanquished some great beast, its foot thumping against the branch it stood on. To the squirrel's dismay the branch couldn’t handle the thumping and soon the branch broke, falling to the ground along with the squirrel. For some reason Maddox was compelled to run after the falling creature. His tiny legs took him as fast as they could, but it just wasn’t enough.

‘I’m not gonna get to that squirrel in time.’ Maddox’s worry was for not as the squirrel landed on the ground like superman. He was so taken aback by the scene that he barreled right into the dazed turkey. He slowly tried to pry himself from the turkey he was on top of, but with a gobble, that sounded as shocked as Maddox felt. He was staring right at the wild turkey whose eyes were fixed on him.

“Good turkey, nice turkey,” Maddox slowly tried crawling backwards away from the turkey. “You won’t peck my eyes out won’t you you beautiful turkey,” With another gobble filled with malice the turkey charged after him. Maddox looked around frantically for something to defend himself with. Several feet away from him was the branch that had broken off of the tree, but it was just out of reach while the enraged turkey was quickly closing in on him.

‘It's too far away!’ He thought, only to be surprised when another acorn collided with the head of the turkey, with just enough force to slow the turkey’s mad sprint towards Maddox. Precious extra seconds granted he frantically grabbed the branch and with a swing knocked the turkey in the head. The enraged turkey spun around twice before collapsing onto the ground with a mighty thud.

“Let’s fucking go!” Maddox leapt from his knees to his feet, fueled by adrenaline and excitement, swinging the branch like it was a baseball bat.

Maddox didn’t want to admit it, but he was lost. It felt like he had been wandering around this forest for hours now with only an unconscious turkey and a back seat driving squirrel to keep him company. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to you.” The squirrel was perched on the back of Maddox’s neck and would periodically tug on his ear or hair to get his attention, then point in a direction. In the beginning Maddox hadn’t mind- he was lost anyway and welcomed the help, but now he was even more lost. With frustration he shouted again. He realized at that moment that he had been shouting more in these few hours of his new life than he ever had in his old one. He was sick of it. Maddox sat down at the base of a tree. The large branch he had walloped the turkey with had made a nice impromptu walking stick. He sat it down next to the turkey he had carried over his shoulder this whole time, still unconscious. The squirrel climbed on top of his head and looked into his face upside down. Maddox was a little surprised by what he felt was a worried gaze coming from the squirrel.

“I used to have such a simple life,” he stroked the turkey’s head absentmindedly. “I got my bachelors a year ago, and had been at this job for a few months. Yeah I still lived with my sister and her family, but that was for convenience's sake.” He spoke, attempting to justify mooching off his older sister to a squirrel and an unresponsive turkey. “Well none of that matters now. I’ll never see them again.” The realization finally hit him, and the only thing he could do was cry. “God I don’t even know how I died or what brought me here.” Maddox cried into his hand when he felt a tiny paw on his forehead. When he looked up the squirrel was holding an acorn out for him. “Thanks. I guess.” Was his only response to the chirping of the squirrel as it stroked his messy top of bright orange hair. Laughter rang through the forest. Maddox couldn’t believe how utterly silly this was, but being consoled by a squirrel had gotten his mind off of some of his sorrows, even if for a moment.

He stood up, dusted off his green and orange robes now covered in leaves and dirt. He struggled putting the heavy bird over his shoulder in a standard fireman carry, but got it done anyway. With his opposite hand he gripped the makeshift, bat-slash-walking stick, “Time to pick myself up by my bootstraps.” and he took a step forward.

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He hadn’t gotten far when he caught the sight of a familiar bird, its tweeting halted his steps. Then seconds later a shadow was above him. It got smaller as it descended, revealing a small woman wearing similar green and orange robes just with more frills and decorations on it. She hovered off the ground, standing on thin air. Her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

“You mind telling me why you skipped Alchemy class and you’re now late for Homeroom?” Instructor Sha’Carri looked pissed, and was getting even more annoyed by him not answering, until he cried, wrapping his arms around her.

“I’m so happy you found me! I thought I would be stuck in this forest forever Mother!” The instructor wasn’t prepared for such emotions coming from him, or for the tight grip he would have on her robes. She was so used to him looking like he needed to use the bathroom every time she stood in front of him that her anger somewhat dissipated…but only somewhat.

“Calm down boy,” she used her monstrous strength to pry him off of her. Then she noticed the stick on the ground alongside a Rock Turkey that was slowly beginning to stir. “What are you doing with the branch from an ancient oak tree and a Rock Turkey?” Her anger was nowhere in sight as she was just confused at this point.

What followed on their walk back to the academy buildings was a story that was just too silly to comprehend. “Why would you interfere with a spirit beast hunting for food,” She asked him after he was finished regaling his mother with his feats of daring do.

“The turkey was trying to hurt the squirrel just trying to live its life.” Maddox spoke with a shrug of his shoulder. The rock turkey was mostly awake, but after Sha’Carri restrained it Maddox was still forced to carry it over his shoulder all the way back to the academy.

She stopped to look at him with the squirrel still perched on the back of his head. “Boy, that's the circle of life. That squirrel is a low grade spirit beast. Its body and what little spirit energy it can hold is supposed to feed and nourish a larger spirit beast, like that Rock Turkey that you got slung over your shoulder like some sort of luggage. Then that turkey would be devoured by a mightier spirit beast. The fact that you intervened and stopped any of this from happening is stupid.” The turkey must’ve understood her along with the squirrel because the look of horror on both creatures' faces were very life-like to Maddox’s eyes.

“Buffy nothing is eating you,” Maddox said while petting the squirrel on the head. “The turkey is another matter if it doesn’t start behaving though.” He said the second part a little louder so the turkey could hear him.

“By the Immortals before me, did you honestly just give that damn squirrel a name!” The look of shock and dismay on her face didn’t seem to match the severity of the situation.

‘So what if I named the squirrel.’ It was a simple thing to do. In his old life his sister was a veterinarian, and an avid lover of animals big and small. Many summers or long weekends were spent helping her as she made house calls to local farms or filled in at random clinics. Giving a name to a little furry friend made sense to Maddox.

Now what didn’t make sense to him was the pain of being burned from the inside out. He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The pain was so excruciating that he lost his senses immediately, but luckily the instructor was there to lower him to the ground as he began to seize uncontrollably. In and out of his stupor he glanced down at the little squirrel, worried that he might’ve landed on it as he fell. The good news was he hadn’t squished the poor little creature, but it was also seizing up right next to him.

“If I kill the blasted rodent I can stop this from happening.” Sha’Carri uttered. Her hand reaching out towards the helpless creature, but with a weak hand on hers Maddox could only shake his head. “Foolish boy you’ll die if I don’t stop this” She gritted her teeth and was about to take his hand off of hers when he gripped it with what little strength he had.

“Please mother.” Maddox was shaking in her arms, his skin on fire and these were the words he chose.

“You foolish boy!” she said once more with a scowl. Wiping a tear from her cheek. “This is going to ruin your cultivation, and for what a stupid rodent.” It wasn’t a yell or rebuking. It was just sorrow. Sha’Carri was sad. The fact that she was even considering his words was ridiculous to her, but what could she do? ‘Please mother.’ kept playing in her head each time she thought about just killing to stupid squirrel and it was enough to stay her hand. Her son would get his wish. He would have to suffer the consequences of his actions, for a stupid choice but it was a choice he had made, but he wouldn't have to deal with it alone. Sha'Carri, no his mother, had resolved herself to help him in any way she could.

Maddox once again woke up staring at his own ceiling. His head hurt and he felt worse than he did after his 21st birthday.

"And I never drank tequila again."

"What's tequila," Sha'Carri's voice rang out to him, spooking him from his haze.

"Mo…I mean instructor what happened, where did Buffy go?" Maddox began looking around frantically for the small creature only to have Sha'Carri place a hand on his shoulder to keep him in bed.

"Calm down boy," she snarled at him. "Your rodent is fine." She pointed to a basket on the floor beside his bed where a squirrel the size of a medium sized house cat was sleeping. Maddox was confused by what happened and looked towards Sha’Carri for answers. “You gave a spirit beast a name you foolish child."

"I don't know what that means!"

"You don't?" Now Sha'Carri was the one left confused. "This should be basic knowledge. I thought you were just trying to be defiant, you really don't know?" After he gave a slow nod, all she could do was sigh, scoot his feet over and sit at the edge of the bed. "I'm also to blame, boy. I figured your father would have been preparing you for your life as a Chidi trainer, but instead it seemed like he was all too happy to let you live your life as a simple child.

"Can we both just assume that I know nothing about what's going on here." He said in a whisper. His right hand reached out to her when he saw the strange image of a stylized acorn on the back of his hand. It gave off a dull green glow. "What's this?"

In her long lived life she couldn't recall ever sighing so much. "That is your command Crest. Congratulations, you're a Chidi trainer now." She gave her son a defeated smile. "When you named that rodent and it acknowledged you the heavens saw it as a declaration of a bond. When you name a spirit beast you also give it some of your power. You hadn't even lit your Dantian yet, and so the bond looked to take the only energy you have, and that's your life force. So to stop that from happening I had two options. Either kill the rodent or forcefully light your 'Spiritual Way' your Dantian. Since you were so adamant about me not harming the stupid creature here we are."

Suddenly he realized something he should have. From the instructor floating in the air. The strange robes at the academy. The talk of realms. Now his mother spoke about his Dantian or Spiritual Way. It could all mean one thing.

'Am I in "Crouching tiger hidden dragon?" ' He was stunned by this realization.

"Even though you were barely in the beginning stages of the Initiate realm to save your life I used my own Chidi to force open your Spiritual Way and so not only did you skip the Initiate realm you also skipped the Forged Breath realm to get to the Ignition realm. Your growth is stunted, but we won't know how badly this has impacted you until we start opening your paths and acupoints."

"What are paths?" Maddox was trying to keep up with everything she said but was finding it a bit difficult.

"We are in for a tiring journey aren't we." Sha'Carri responded in defeat. "Your pathways are your Meridians boy "

Maddox was about to ask more questions when a load gobble, gobble interrupted their conversation. He looked past his mother to see the turkey in a cage at the opposite side of his dorm room.

"Oh you brought Sweet pea too?" Maddox said with excitement, then with another gobble the dull green glow of his right hand slowly encompassed his arm then crept up his torso. The glow was also covering the turkey.

Again Sha'Carri sighed, but this was one that came from the depths of her soul along with a face palm. "Do you not listen, you stupid boy!" She screamed at him, but he couldn't quite hear it as he once again passed out.