One-

Before I can even finish my standard routine, I can feel a strong pressure on my jaw, and my body is thrown backward by the force of some invisible impact. My eyes open to take in my surroundings, I get to see a group of people outdoors, they all look pretty fit-

I don't get to see the rest as my body collides with a wall; I can feel rocks pierce my skin and a pain I'm not used to feeling. My body instinctually jolts upwards, a fist grazes my cheek; I kick the attacker away; I hear a pained heave as my opponent stumbles backward.

Deep breaths. I create a clone for Hotel in a hurry, at least I can still use my skills--small mercies. I finally get to see where I ended up; it looks like a gym...no, a dojo? Yeah, a dojo sounds right, training dummies that people are meant to punch; there's also a temple like structure behind me that I'm sure people meditate in or something. We're pretty high up if the clouds in the distance are anything to go by, at the top of a mountain perhaps?

I don't have time to concentrate on what's around me too much; I'm still in a hostile environment and I can't afford to die here. Unfortunately there's a lot of them, and I don't know if I can fight them properly without increased stats--wait, there's another solution.

I raise my arms up in the air. "I didn't want to intrude, I got lost and ended up here. Sorry for...interrupting whatever you were doing." It's a half-baked excuse, but hopefully it's enough to stop the needless fighting; it's not a lie either, I really am lost in a way.

A young man shouts among the crowd, "You expect us to believe that? No one ends up here on accident! And when did this kid get here? State your intentions!"

"I just told you, I'm LOST!" I'm starting to lose my cool, but I don't think antagonizing them is the right course of action. Shit, I didn't even do anything bad this time.

Hotel is getting acquainted with their body again; it usually takes a few minutes for them to control it properly--but I don't know if we have that time. Am I really going to have to fight my way out? I'm not good at fighting on the spot like this, but I might need to improvise without my stats to back me up.

Thankfully, it doesn't come to this, as a gray haired, middle-aged man steps out of the temple, and everything becomes quiet, as if time stopped the moment he came into view. I don't move either--this person is clearly important, and if I disrespect them, I'll only be making things worse.

His walk is slow and composed; he doesn't look afraid of me--good, people do stupid things when they are scared; if he isn't afraid of me, maybe we can have a proper conversation.

"You are sick," he says, furrowing his eyebrows. "I do not know what happened to you, but this sect's purpose is to help people reach the peak of their natural state--which includes healing those that need it. Come inside. " He turns around, motioning me to follow him.

A young girl protests, "But master! This intruder showed up uninvi-"

The man raises his hand towards the girl, and she shrinks back, muttering an apology I cannot hear. People are still glaring at me, but they don't say anything else. I help Hotel walk with me--no one hurt Hotel; at least they are nice enough to not hurt a kid that can barely stand up.

The temple is basically sculpted within the mountain; if I had to describe the architecture, it would be uneven stone squares stacked on top of each other--honestly it feels like it's going to crumble at any moment, but maybe I'm just being paranoid since I'm quite more vulnerable than usual. I can see a few other people training inside the temple, their outfits are different, so I guess they are advanced students; I wonder if all students are suspicious of outsiders, the ones inside aren't even sparing a glance in my direction, they are all too focused on obstacle courses and meditations.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Eventually, I'm led to an empty room made of the same stone that encompass the entire temple. The man--who I'm going to call the master from now on--strokes his chin thoughtfully, and after an uncomfortably long silence, he stomps the ground with one of his foot. I can feel his soul extend into the stone floor and reshape the rocks into what could be considered chairs. He sits down in one of the chairs, and I do the same; Hotel just stands there, holding their hands up as if they were bracing themselves for a fall.

"I've seen many things in my time, but nothing quite like your soul." the master states. "May I ask who...or what, did this to you?"

"Some of it is my own fault, some of it is accidental." I take a glance at Hotel, who is slowly but surely sitting down--I think the repeated death and cloning have made a number on their ability to control their body properly. "As I'm sure you've noticed, that kid is also sick. I doubt you have a way to fix this but-"

"As a matter of fact, I do have a way to heal both your souls."

I stare at the man blankly. For some reason, it never occurred to me that someone else could be proficient enough in soul surgery to solve that problem for me. Even gods don't bother with manipulating souls the same way I do, changing their universe is like moving an arm to them--it's barely a conscious effort to them. This makes mortals ironically better at understanding how to modify souls, since they don't have control over their souls like most gods do.

"Are you sure?" I ask. "I feel like what's wrong with me is a little beyond your scope."

He smiles. "I wish to learn all that I can, if that means overcoming challenges 'beyond my scope', then that is what I will do." I can feel his soul poke me here and there, and Hotel whimpers every time our soul is prodded; it might be more harmful to them than to me. The more time passes, the more his smile fades into what can only be described as a confused frown.

After what feels like an eternity, he finally stops and declares his verdict, "My sect specializes in shaping the base form of the soul into something strong and powerful, but your ki is corrupted by something that is definitely not...native to your soul--in other words, this is not my field of expertise."

I sigh, I really got my hopes up that he could find an easy solution-

"But I know someone who can help you. She is a little bit...eccentric, but I'm sure she will be interested in your condition." I swear I can feel a little bit of disgust on his face, but he quickly hides it with another smile.

He leads us outside; Hotel apparently has enough control now that they can walk mostly fine by themselves. The outside of the dojo is exactly what I expected: the top of a mountain with no easy way to get back down.

There is only one student outside the dojo, he throws rocks into the air and smashes them with his soul--a pretty inefficient method, but I don't think rock smashing is the point of this training as much as it is training your soul to do what you want.

The master addresses the student, "You are still here? Quite persistent, aren't you?"

"Yes!" The student answers, twinkle in his eyes. "You said you didn't take any more students, so I decided I'll train here until someone else's fails your training, then I'll replace them!"

"I may have a mission for you, if you complete it, I'll consider your training." The master pulls out a purple stone from who knows where and presents it to the student. "Are you familiar with the snake-turtle caves?"

The student nods enthusiastically, "My pa used to take me here for medicine."

"Can you take them to the head of the Valkyrie sect, then? This stone should be enough to give you passage, even though you are all men."

"It's a long walk, but...sure! I can get 'em here!"

The master throws the pearl his way, and the student almost stumbles over trying to catch it. "Make sure to tell her to mark you when you come back, to prove you got them here safely," the master turns back to the dojo. "Good luck."

The student jumps up and down like an excited child. "Yes! Finally! My first mission!" He raises his fist into the air dramatically. "I'll protect you two, and I'll show em all how strong I got!"

I let out a sigh--this one is going to be a handful. "Yeah, I'm counting on you," I lie.