Chapter 32: Close Friends

Trint confirmed he didn’t want to see that message in the future as his attention was drawn to the appearance of Jung behind him.

“Sovereign,” Jung exclaimed, “I never imagined meeting a children’s fantasy come to life. I hoped it meant something else. But you have twice proven, and the system confirmed that you are a Sovereign. If I had doubts, they are gone. So that you know, this is not how others’ personal spirit space looks. For one, your internal makeup is extraordinary and hard to look at. Second, you are surrounded by a dome of interconnected shapes. Third, I’ve never seen the markings on some of them before. I also don’t know what they mean. I do promise to help you, though. I believe you can still cultivate. There are still some signs that you are not ready for Soul expansion.”

“Well, if you have questions, you can only imagine how many I have,” Trint confessed. “It’s my Spirit, but I know next to nothing. You should have seen it when I first showed up here.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jung wondered.

Trint described his love for puzzles and how that translated to connecting, unraveling, and the current placement of the shapes around him. But he couldn’t explain the why or how he knew what to do. Jung listened intently, asking questions whenever Trint paused. They also discussed his interaction with Iliana, formerly a subsystem resident.

“That is fascinating,” Jung exclaimed. “You just shared a secret the entire system population is unaware of. Sure there have been theories and studies, but no one with proof of communication with the instance beasts. And now you are just walking around with one in human form?”

“Will you give me permission to discuss this with Iliana?” Jung asked.

“I will want to ask her if she wants to discuss this with you first,” Trint said, wanting to allow it but deciding to leave it to her decision. “If she agrees, then I would like that. But as with everything else, it must remain between us. You may share with Befiny if she agrees to the same contract. Is that fair?” Trint asked, more confident than he felt. Maybe it was to protect someone he had freed and now cared for.

“I think the first thing I should do while we are here; is to teach you to control your spirit,” Jung suggested. “To keep your Spirit within the bounds of your flesh unless you allow it out. You will still be able to sense with your Spirit sense, but it will be like a soft wind to those listening instead of a glass jar breaking every time your sense nears them. I can feel it every time you reach out to test your surroundings. You are like an infant from where I am from.

“You will learn, and for my benefit, we can start now.” Jung smiled. “Return to your Spirit body point of view and sit down. I want you to spend a while sensing the outside world and keeping your focus here. Split the focus and then consciously restrain your internal flow of Spirit. It will feel like you are first trying to stop a river with your hands. It will also increase pressure inside your Spirit form. This is normal and should not hurt you. But this is the opposite of cultivation, but it helps mask you in the real world. Focus on this for now. I will observe from here.”

“That was good for your first attempts. Continue practicing this every day. Next, stand in a ready stance.” Jung mimicked his request and stood in an athletic stance like he was ready for a fight.

“Like this?” Trint asked as he faced Jung and mirrored his stance.

“Yes, that is a good start. I see a few things that indicate you are an amateur fighter, but we will correct those. For now, you will do some things you will repeat physically later. I will teach you here because it is a good place to learn. Time moves much slower, and pain is different. You will learn more quickly, but your physical body will need to learn too. So plan on this becoming a routine.”

“First step, we bow to one another,” Jung said and demonstrated. Right palm facing away towards Trint, thumbs pointed down to the ground, and his left palm behind the right. He held his hands like that up below his eyes, so his mouth was covered. Then after a couple of seconds, his hands moved, right wrist turning and hand forming a fist over his sternum, over the center of his chest, and left-hand wrapping over the top, so the bottom sides of both hands were facing Trint. The second position reminded Trint of a martial arts movie.

“The first part of the bow is ancient.” Jung began. “It dates back to the founding members of our family. It was said that one of the founders and his brother were able to form weapons from their palms. To show your palm to those you face is to show you have integrity and will honor the spirit of the battle. The second position is a prayer for victory. Many pray, but no prayer is the same. You will find your own words and your recipient for them. Most in our family pray to the system. Some have gods or a God they follow, predating their integration. Others do not believe in what is unseen. They admit there is a possibility. To deny the possible even when improbable is an absolute no one should embrace.”

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“So honor or truth, followed by communion with something greater,” Jung stated thoughtfully. “It is the spirit of all that our family stands for. With Truth, you can become greater. With Truth, we rule. For knowledge in truth is power. For deception had no part in truth. Knowledge will guide you, and when it is true, then you can trust it. So trust me and say a prayer,” Jung held his bow, eyes open. Trint mirrored him and said a silent prayer to nothing in particular.

“Now we fight,” Jung commanded.

“What?” Trint had been listening and absorbing the instruction. But he was caught off guard when a punch came flying at his face. Jung had been far enough away that Trint was surprised he was inches from him before he noticed. Trint took the hit like a champ. A champ that just got knocked down. But he immediately sprang to his feet.

“Felt like a cheap shot, there, Jung.” Trint snarked at Jung. “If that happened before my integration, I’d be out cold. But it seems you don’t hit quite as hard as I imagined. Let’s go.”

Trint and Jung circled each other like panthers. Each was hoping to strike upon an opening. Unfortunately for Trint, he only looked the part. Jung gave him plenty of time, but eventually, after Trint circled a couple of times, Jung struck. He knocked Trint down.

Again and again, Trint was hit, kicked, thrown, and slapped around. The slaps hurt Trint’s pride more than anything. He was masculine enough to feel it was personal and confident and sensitive enough to know he was being silly. The whole thing sucked.

He didn’t know any martial arts. But he was hoping he could learn quickly. Being a Sovereign would potentially allow him to download the skills like he was in a computer or become like a movie star who entered a dragon and could fight any style, he hoped. He even promptly asked the system and then Pneuma.

Trint was greeted with silence. Not even crickets chirped. After a lot of Trint getting knocked down and popping back up, Jung called for a stop.

“That was helpful,” Jung smiled. “You haven’t fought other people before. You would have stopped at least one of my attacks if you had. I wasn’t even fighting at speed. I was intentionally slowing down and telegraphing my attacks.”

“It is true, I never really fought before, and since integration, I haven’t fought as many monsters when in my human….” Trint stopped himself from saying ‘form.’

“What? Human what?” Jung was curious.

Uh, I meant to say the human style of fighting. I never learned any martial arts or anything where I fought with more than my hands. In the instances, I would use my fists and kicks and a sword, but I’m not an expert yet.”

“Yes, I can see you have some room to improve.” Jung chuckled and agreed. “Now I suggest we stop. You are durable but incapable of fighting me this way. I suppose if I told you what to do or let you do whatever you’ve been doing to get here, it would change things. But I sense you have some things you are unwilling to share yet.”

“I do have some things I wish to keep to myself for now,” Trint confirmed. “But surely you can still train me to fight as you did. Is there a system shortcut to learn quickly?”

“Sure, there are many advantages the system can provide,” Jung admitted. “But the best way takes hard work and time. Both of which I think you can give towards this. I believe that in a year or two, you will be able to grasp what fighting here and with your body should look like.”

“I also expect you can begin to firm your Spirit foundation during that same time,” Jung encouraged. “It will take time, concentration, and sacrifice. Will you commit to those things?”

“So far, I have been running as fast as I can to reach my family,” Trint explained. “There is no way I can predict if I will stay here a year or two. A time to focus and not run for my life sounds great, but I have my wife and kids to get to.”

“You never mentioned family other than the one we share,” Jung acknowledged. “I apologize. I assumed you meant our shared bloodline. How are you from a new integration and pursuing your family higher in the integrations?” Jung finished not asking Trint but thinking out loud to himself.

“Well, that is something I need you to keep between us also.” Trint pleaded. “I have family, a wife, Cara, and two kids. They died and are now with my benefactor and adoptive father in a higher iteration.”

“Trint, I am sorry.” Jung was gentle in his apology. “I couldn’t imagine losing my wife. And children are never meant to die before their parents. So, I am sorry.” After a solemn pause, he continued. “That being said, how are they now in a higher iteration? Does it have something to do with your Sovereign status?”

“Maybe. But I don’t know.” Trint confessed. “I wish I did. But I’m just trying to do everything possible to get to them. Even if it takes hundreds of years or longer, I will fight to get to them.” Trint’s conviction and emotion rose.

“Your love and commitment to family are good,” Jung stated, seeing the certainty in Trint and feeling the pressure of the Spirit Space become constricting like gravity increased several times. The temperature turned way up while the air got thin. “Trint, please relax. I will do everything I can to help you get there and not waste time. I will sacrifice my time and resources to help. You have my word.” He had started with the request as a gasping plea, but Trint saw that Jung was under pressure; he was not feeling. Trint calmed himself, and Jung finished his offer of sacrifice with a deep breath.

“Sorry, Jung,” Trint apologized, “I don’t know what I just did. I just felt my conviction and longing to see my family.”

“Trint, that is fine,” Jung assured, “I don’t fault you. I respect that determination and love. We will work on your control over that soon. For now, let us return and share a meal, it is already dinner, and I can tell they are waiting for us to join. We should not make them wait much longer,” Jung finished with a smile and popped out of Trint’s personal Spirit space.

‘Well, what do you think, Pneuma?’ Trint thought to his silent friend. ‘Am I hopeless?’

‘Do not begin to doubt yourself, Trint!’ Pneuma rebuked, “The road is long, and we are just beginning. Get your head out of the sand and remember, I won’t leave you to wallow here. I will drag you if I have to.’

‘Thanks,’ Trint smirked, ‘I forget I’m not alone in this. Any feedback you have for the fight I just lost?”

“That was more than a fight. That was 67 fights that you lost and didn’t land a counterattack once.’ Pneuma’s recounting triggered Trint’s embarrassment, but then he remembered Pneuma was trying to help.

‘Ok, I get it. Any help in getting better?’ Trint asked, ‘I don’t want to suck for two years and only learn the basics. On Earth, it took decades to get any good at fighting. And I need to be better than good. I can’t end up dead.’

‘Trint, you continue to doubt yourself and forget, I am no pet tiger. You have seen what we are capable of. You need to focus on more basics and trust that it will translate to you utilizing the stats you already have, like adaptability, agility, wisdom, and memory. Those will translate well to Spirit usage and our style of fighting. Plus, you need to be able to fight when not in our forms. It draws less attention to who you are if there are witnesses.’ Pneuma growled a bit at his last comment.

‘Yeah, I suppose it would be wise not to kill everyone who stands in our way.” Trint thought to himself.

‘I didn’t say that!’ Pneuma disagreed with that detail, slightly too sinisterly in Trint’s opinion.