“Wait, you’re actually telling me that Cultivators can put energy on their weapons and make them sharper?” a young boy of about 10 years asked the girl sitting beside him.

“No Kai, that’s not what I said,” the girl, who was about the same age, answered, some exasperation clear in her voice. “I said that some Cultivators can use the energy from the world and mix it with their knowledge of weapons and…”

“Mera,” Kai said, cutting her off, either not noting or not caring about the rising anger clear on his friends face. “This changes everything. If I can add some energy to my sword…”

“Idiot you can’t do that,” it was Mera’s turn to cut Kai off. “First of all, we don’t form a Connection until we turn 14. And even then, my father said that without a Master in our weapons teaching us, there is a high chance of injuring yourself.”

Kai huffed, annoyed at the fact that he couldn’t Connect to the Heavenly Energies yet. His age was the only thing holding him back. A breeze pushed his hair to the front of his face, and he reached a hand up, clearing the dark locks away. He then heard the faint ringing of a bell.

“This is interesting stuff Mera,” Kai said, standing up. “I think that’s the sixth bell but I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll ask Hunter about the weapon stuff tonight.”

“Don’t forget Kai,” Mera said, standing up and brushing the pieces of dirt and grass off her skirt. “Same place, 4 bells after noon tomorrow. You better tell me what Hunter says.”

She then gave Kai a quick hug, her cheeks tinged with pink, and ran out of the clearing, heading towards town. Kai looked in the direction she had disappeared in for a few seconds before shrugging and turning towards the exact opposite side of the trail that led to Brasbury.

He walked towards the edge of the clearing and found another trail that led further into the forest. As he started the half a bell walk to Hunter’s house, he mused about Mera’s strangeness.

Mera had been acting a little weird lately, sitting closer to him than he was comfortable with and doing random things like hugging him. Yet when he’d ask about it, a blush would creep up on her face and she’d change the subject. Even the faded memories of an old life, one that seemed like a false dream didn’t help him with Mera. He’d learned to just accept her eccentricities.

Kai then turned his thoughts to the topics he and Mera had covered today. For as long as he could remember, Kai had always been intrigued by the topic of Cultivation. As he’d grown up, Kai had seen Hunter do some unexplainable things, and when he finally turned six, he’d finally asked him about those things.

The only answer he’d been given was, “Don’t worry about it boy. You’ll know when you’re ready.”

So of course Kai had kept pestering him until Hunter had decided to give him a sliver of information.

“In its simplest form, Cultivation is the process of infusing oneself with Heavenly Energy and harnessing it for other uses, strengthening yourself in the process.”

Kai perked up at the word strengthen.

“I can become powerful through Cultivation?”

Hunter looked at Kai for a second, an ancient pain flashing across his eyes before he finally said in a low voice, “It isn’t worth it, boy. Sure, Cultivation will give you a measure of power, but once you are on that path, there will always be someone with the desire to take that power away. Never forget that there is only one rule in this world. Might makes right. Just know that if you ever choose to start on that path, peace will never be an option.”

But even after that, after the warnings that Hunter had given Kai, he could see that the child wasn’t swayed. For a six-year-old, Kai was surprisingly mature and at times, Hunter could catch glimpses of an older soul, not a child but someone who had experienced much more.

Kai remembered the question he’d been asked that day very clearly.

“Why do you desire this power, Mordekai?” Hunter had asked him.

So that I never have to feel helpless again, he’d thought to himself but instead said some gibberish about superpowers that Hunter hadn’t understood anyways.

Yet, Kai’s curiosity had never faded and every single interesting thing he found, he would pester Hunter about until he got answers. This curiosity is also what led him to Mera.

Hunter would always take Kai into Brasbury every couple weeks for supplies. And obviously, since Hunter lived alone, Kai would always have to go with him. This was how he not only learned more about the world, but also about his caretaker.

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Through the years, he’d learned that the townsfolk respected and slightly feared the one they called the Hunter. It was only years later that Kai found out about Hunter’s solo attack on the caravan. The survivors of that attack had chosen to live in Brasbury and Hunter’s legend had spread.

No one from the town knew exactly when he had appeared. All they knew is that many years ago, he’d one day appeared from the forest, bought supplies and left, and then done the exact same thing every other week.

Kai even asked Hunter why he had Kai call him Hunter instead of father or something else and the only answer he’d been given was, “I haven’t done anything to deserve to raise the gift of life.”

Through these visits to the town, Kai had gotten to know some of the community. So when an eight-year-old Kai chanced upon Mera while he was out exploring the surrounding areas of Hunter’s cottage in the woods, he recognized her from his visits.

He watched her for a minute, as she picked different plants that were growing in the area. She was wearing a long white dress and her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. As he finally was about to turn around and leave, he must’ve made some sort of noise because Mera’s head snapped around to exactly where he was standing, arms raised as if about to ward off an attack.

However, when she caught sight of his face, Mera lowered her arms and huffed in annoyance.

“You scared me,” she said, glaring at him. “If you wanted to help, you could’ve just asked.”

And of course there was no doubt in her mind that Kai had been there to help and so she put him to work, showing him which plants to pick and which ones were poisonous or unimportant. He’d found out later that Mera’s mother was a healer who used herbs to create healing creams and other medicinal powders.

Mera had been the more talkative of the two at first, having also recognized him from his trips to town. She’d asked him all sorts of questions and seeing the opportunity, Kai had made a deal with her. He would answer her questions in exchange for her answering his.

And so the first thing he asked about was the central topic that had been omnipresent in his mind since he’d been six. He’d asked her about Cultivation.

Being the daughter of the mayor of Brasbury meant that she had access to knowledge that no one else did. And for some strange reason, she’d decided to share all of it with Kai. They met from that point on every day to talk mainly about cultivation. Any information about the practice of cultivation, Mera would share with Kai and that’s also how he realized his caretaker was also a fountain of knowledge.

It had only taken a few more weeks of pestering after he met Mera for Hunter to give in and teach Kai what he wanted to know. Hunter had an even larger change of heart and decided to actively ready Kai for when he gained a Connection at 14 years old.

Hunter had explained that Cultivation was impossible until you turned 14 because that’s when the world realized that you were ready to start harnessing its energy. However, there were things you could do earlier to make the process easier and help you Cultivate better when you finally reached the correct age.

Hunter had started with the physical body. Kai had been forced through a series of extreme exercises that would strengthen his body. And even though he’d thrown up and passed out many times from the exercises, Kai had never once asked to stop or even slow down. And as time went on, these exercises became much easier for him to complete. So of course, the Hunter made them harder.

The other thing that they worked on was his brain. Hunter had explained that the mind was even more important for a Cultivator than the physical body. They’d worked through general education: arithmetic, reading, writing, etc. before they moved onto hypothetical scenarios and more advanced concepts.

Of course, he passed everything he learned to Mera and in turn, he received more information and even more questions to ask Hunter. For the last two years, Kai had practiced this routine, and even though it was extremely difficult, he was content with his new life.

Kai shook himself out of his thoughts as he finally approached the clearing that marked the entrance to Hunter’s abode. As he stepped through the last of the trees, a gruff voice stopped him.

“You’re late, Disciple,” Hunter’s voice came from his right. “You know what that means.”

“Yes Master,” Kai answered him with a sigh of annoyance. “10 extra laps around the clearing.”

“Good. Get started. And after this, more weapons training.”

Kai gave a smile at that, because even though he would have to run harder today and go to bed extra sore, he knew that if he worked hard and learned everything he could, in this world so different from his old one, he would never have to feel helpless again.

***

Kai panted at the end of his run, sweat rolling down his forehead, hands positioned on his knees. He wiped the sweat off his face with the leather shirt he’d taken off in the middle of his run, but it was fruitless, as seconds later, there was even more sweat covering him. He tried to slow his breathing down but was also unsuccessful at that. Then, a couple of minutes later, he finally heard the dreaded sound of Hunter’s voice.

“That’s five minutes boy. Break time’s over.”

He then tossed a wooden practice sword at Kai’s feet. Kai stumbled towards the blunt wooden instrument and picked it up.

For the rest of the day, Hunter showed Kai the perfect stances for his feet and how to grip the sword so that it wouldn’t be too loose or too tight, the same thing they’d done for the last month. A couple bells later, back inside Hunter’s cottage, after Kai had washed himself in the nearby river and eaten dinner, the Hunter taught him more about the Way of the Sword.

“Every weapon has ten basic Forms that weapon users must learn. A Form is a set of movements that entails swings, thrusts, parries, and blocks. The Way of Sword has many paths to it, but they always branch out from the Forms. Someone who has more mastery over their weapon normally has a greater foundation that stems from their understanding of the Forms.”

Excited at the prospect of training with the sword, Kai asked, “How quickly do you think I can learn the Forms, Hunter?”

Hunter snorted at the question before saying, “Boy, do you think it’s so easy to learn the Forms? Any fool can swing a weapon, but the Forms take such patience and precision that most choose to give up on the way. True Mastery over the Forms takes years of practice.”

Kai pouted at that and after seeing his face, Hunter’s expression softened and he patted the young boy’s head.

“Don’t worry, Mordekai. I have a feeling you’ll learn them quicker than most.”