The Wise One sensed Lug coming long before he left Primont.

He put down his notes, lit his pipe and stood facing the entrance to his crypt.

He quickly felt the marble steps that led to his lair vibrate under the vigorous footsteps of a man who had crossed boundaries - he had come to believe - were immutable.

"The Wise One, I did it!"

The young looking ghost looked at him with his usual proud smile.

"I thought it would take you a month and a half, maybe two... I even factored in the possibility of you dying of exhaustion. But less than three weeks... I'm impressed." he said, in a voice that didn't come from a man who sounded – at all - impressed.

"Now what?" said Lug eagerly, he seemed to have taken a liking to developing his abilities.

"Now? I advise you to experiment with your energy centers, see what level best suits your needs. If you don't use them they will atrophy, if you use them too much you will burn out. The first advice I would give you is to reduce the density of your psychic body in order to stop touching ghosts, it will do you good."

Lug walked over to the Wise One and put his arm through him.

The ghost looked surprised.

"I didn't think you had developed such a mastery..." the ghost seemed thoughtful, glancing to the side as he flicked his pipe.

"Why didn't you tell me right away how to reduce the density of my psychic body?" Lug asked suddenly, pulling his arm back.

"Ah, yes. Because it wouldn't have done you any favors."

"What do you mean?" Lug inquired as he sat down on the coffin that was behind him.

"Any man who is taught is only half a man. And this is even more true when it comes to the world of the unseen. You had to lose yourself. Be filled with pain to experience emptiness and death; you would not have found it by chasing after my teachings. I'm not going to lie to you, you almost died and that was needed."

Lug rubbed his arm and looked at the coffins lined up on the sides of the crypt.

He had realized this, he had felt himself dying.

"All right, I understand. I think..."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The Wise One then took a deep breath into his pipe, spat out a thick smoke, and began to speak again.

"The next step will be a little more interesting, now that you have the foundations you will finally be able to move beyond your human status. Do you want to get stronger?"

The Wise One's eyes glowed, it looked like he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Sure." Lug's answer fell short.

One part of him was intrigued, the other part - the one that hated change - wanted to stop.

That part had achieved its goal: to get Lug’s metabolism back to normal and find a way to stop being touched by ghosts.

But the internal conflict did not happen.

For a very clear and central reason.

That reason was the explanation behind Lug going through so much trouble.

Why he came so close to death.

That reason - that did not suffer any doubt - had been given to him a little less than three weeks before all this.

The time when Lug had gone to see the Wise One alone.

Lug had declined to go and clean up Primont.

The Wise One had then said:

"You have two choices. Train yourself to the point of puking your guts out, so you can live free. Or wait quietly for someone to come and kill you, or worse: to take you away and use you as a guinea pig in some dark military laboratory. It's up to you."

Lug froze, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Why should I believe you?" he replied with a tremor in his voice.

The Wise One had taken on his professorial tone.

"Lug, you're like a light bulb that glows in the night. You attract all kinds of insects. The energy you've been letting off for months, it hasn't gone unnoticed. You've attracted the attention of some people... Starting with the old lady who hangs out in the cemetery. You're lucky, she doesn't want to hurt you. But the next person might not be of the same temperament."

"The old lady..." Lug knew it, she was dangerous.

At that moment, he understood that the Wise One was not bluffing.

"But... Why didn't you tell me all this as soon as my powers appeared, we could have avoided this!" Lug raised his voice, more out of desperation than anger.

"You weren't ready, and anyway the damage was already done. Everyone with a modicum of perception felt you from a mile away as soon as the rock hit."

"Not ready, what do you mean?"

"Yes, not mature enough. And your psychic body wasn’t either, you needed time. You are not an object; if you break, you can’t be fixed."

Lug didn't know the Wise One for very long, but if there was one thing he knew for sure about him, it’s that he wasn't a joker.

When he said something, he meant it.

Lug didn't even venture to ask who were the people who had tracked him down.

Deep down, he didn't want to know.

Ignorance seemed to him the best refuge.

As he recalled these memories of the discussion he had with the Wise One at the beginning of his training, a question came to his mind.

"Who is the old woman?"

Perfect synchronicity, for at the same time the Wise One was announcing the next step in his training.

"You are going to develop the strengthening technique with the old woman who hangs out in the cemetery. Once that's done, come back to me."