Multiple things happened in the span of time that it took to go from the fight yesterday, to me feeling the cold air that was brushing across my face the next morning. Omnikia and I went back to what was quickly becoming our home in my eyes, for some more lessons and planning. Lessons and planning being about my three pathways.

Omnikia spent an hour studying my pathways with me, even having to get his references to make sure what he remembered of the pathways was correct before he told me what he found. There was nothing wrong with them. Yet, somehow my two Ki pathways didn't work right. He told me that ‘It was as if [my] body is physically incapable of generating either type of Ki.’ and told me that it was quite possible that I was an anomaly in that aspect.

Of course when he said that… It made a lot of sense to me. I was from another universe. Of course my body couldn't generate the energies that were in this universe, it just wouldn't have made any sense otherwise.

But he did tell me that it was also likely that my situation could be overcome in some way, and that I should keep the two partially functioning pathways in case that should ever happen.

Then we moved on to the next topic that I needed to learn. Forming Ki pathways in my summons. We spent the rest of the day on that, talking about finding out what pathways my summons are compatible with, the importance of the very first pathway and how it shapes how they will grow in power and change its very being over time, and then we moved on to actually designing the pathways that I would give them.

Designing pathways was actually a lot easier than I thought that it would be, it was like coding when one actually understood the language and knew how to convert your intent to a line of code. Except you don't really have to account for a comma in the wrong place. Pathways just seemed to come easily to me like that.

So me and Omnikia spent the rest of the evening designing a pathway for all my summons, that should be compatible with the spirits and minds of all my individual summons. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be, but it did come with a few interesting thoughts that came my way here and there. Like for example, for some reason I didn't really personify any of my other summons like I think I had been doing with Alpha. I didn't even give them names! I had just been referring them to members of The Pack, which was interesting in itself.

Why did I call us The Pack? Was there something going on in my mind that I didn't realize? Was this a sign something in my subconsciousness was affecting me this way? Maybe… deep inside my mind I was lonely and wanted some kind of connection to something? Nah, that can't be right.

Well, after my first realization I decided to do something about the way I had kind of been ignoring my other summons and I got to know them a bit better with a little one on one time while I gave them a scan to see what Ki Pathways they were compatible with.

It was honestly a fun experience, all of it.

I started with a scan of Alpha, and his personality was pretty much exactly like the impression he gave off. He was a leader, true and simple. Noble, patent and disciplined, but also savage and decisive. But his ability really showed that he cared about his pack. He healed and comforted when he had to, all the while defending them with his flame. I just needed to amplify the ability to embody those aspects of his with his pathways, and so that is what I planned for him.

Then I moved on to the next wolf in the original wolf pack, who was the oldest and largest of Alphas family. I named him Rocky. He was a tough and stoic wolf who wouldn't back down for anything, so I choose his name to reflect that. This was the type of defender that a pack needed to keep them together, and so the Ki Pathway that I chose for him would reflect him following down that path.

Next was a similar wolf, who I named Steely. The name was all I could think of, allright? He was one of the younger wolves in the pack, and he seemed to be like the type of person that copied and wanted to be just like his father or parental figure when he grew up. He seemed to follow the path of Rocky in this case, and so I chose this name. The younger wolf hasn't yet grown into the older wolf's tough and stoic personality yet, and I could see that he had an almost childlike and curious personality. This wolf followed in his older brother’s footsteps, and I designed a pathway that reflected that.

Then came the second youngest of the family, Flash. He was a hyperactive and cheerful boy, through and through. Very happy and enthusiastic, and seemed like he couldn't get enough of anything. He was no cub though, make no mistake, as he had grown up to be a fierce and quick fighter. His path was clear when I spent a little time with him, the quickest I had understood what I should do and what they wanted.

Then there was the youngest in the family, who I named Kera. She was a bit different from the rest of her family, and was only what I could describe as the rebellious goth type with her black fur and the way that she stalked around as she explored around. She was still a good girl though, and I could feel that she loved her family, but she also seemed like the introverted type and enjoyed her alone time. It was a bit difficult to decide what her Pathway should be, but I settled on one that she seemed to agree with.

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That was it for the wolf pack, so I moved onto the next summon on my list. The deer that was by the pond inside the woods where I made my camp. I named her Charger, because of her opening move to that fight. She was definitely the type that did not care about her own personal safety at all, and gave zero fucks about anything that happened around her as long as she wasnt annoyed by anything. I swear, she would try to charge at a moving car instead of standing in its headlights. Honestly as funny as that was, I wanted to curb that aspect of her just a little bit, so I decided to make a pathway that nudged her towards that direction.

The bear was next, and I called her Ursula. No, not because of an evil sea witch, but because the actual name meant ‘little she-bear’. I don't remember exactly why I remembered that, but it just seemed to stick in my mind. The name was a bit of a misnomer in this case, but it was kind of why I named her that way and because it sounds kind of badass. She was like a barbarian in a fight, as I saw when I got her as a summon, and she was definitely a little bull headed. Though she was a bit cute when she was not fighting things. She was a big bear who knew what she wanted, so I decided to go with it and help her along that path.

Then we got our resident monkey, Grodd. I was a bit of a nerd, and I couldn't think of anything that fit the big guy any better so yes. Grodd. He was a clever monkey dude, a little hyperactive and loud, but he was honestly great at using his natural dexterity in a fight as I knew from fighting him in the forest. His personality seemed to reflect that, with him seeming to be a little manic and easy to anger at times but he could also be cool as he pleased when he decided it wasn't worth it to do anything. He was honestly a bit like Alpha in terms of personality as well, but definitely a bit more brutish when he wants something done. I just decided to just help along his grit in his fighting, so he could take a bit more then he dished out.

Next I spent some time with the giant lizard, who I named after his main ability to shoot a jet of paracid. He was honestly pretty chill most of the time, but was practically the embodiment of territorial. He really liked his boundaries, and seemed to have a bit of a vicious temper when he didn't like things. But the reptile had no problem with just sitting around all day. He seemed to have the attitude of ‘mess around and I will mess back harder’. So I just decided to give him a bit of a boost for when he needed to mess back.

Then came the behemoth of a Nemean Lion that was Lenard. No, I was not going to be naming him Leo, that was way too overused. His personality was pretty clear to me once I spent a few minutes with him. While Alpha might be a leader, Lenard was a king. He was brave and decisive for sure, and while seemed rather imperious most of the time he had the presence of a twenty feet tall lion and fur that could break most normal weapons to back it up.

Though through his exterior he was definitely energetic at heart and seemed pretty playful at times. So I naturally created a pathway to boost his energetic side, like I did for Flash. If there was something worse to an enemy than a hyperactive and speedy twenty foot tall lion then I have not seen it yet.

So with all the first pathways designed, I just had to spend the time to actually form them inside my summons spirits. But by that time it was already almost sunset, so I decided to do it the next morning before the battle in the late afternoon that Omnikia told me was going to happen.

So with that in mind I slept peacefully through the night, and I woke up early this morning to get to work. I decided to start off work by forming all my wolves pathways in the early morning darkness and cool wind, and I quickly got busy on my platform in the trees.

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Omnikia P.O.V.

It was in the early hours of the morning that I sat up in my bed and got dressed for the day, feeling the dredges of sleep cling onto my body. “Oh how I miss my younger body… I could wake up hours before dawn and stay awake so easily…” I said, realizing as I did that these thoughts were coming to my mind a bit more often lately at the presence of the young man that I took to be my disciple. He reminded me of my past, which was having an effect on my mind. I started to feel like I was turning into a creature of habit in my old age, stuck in my ways. Even if those ways were just that of an ordinary life at this point.

Teaching an apprentice that was quickly showing themselves to be a unique talent was a lesson to me as well as him. I understand my old masters now, even if I don't agree even now about some of their methods. If I was in their shoes during those terrible times, I would do the same. Oh how far I have come. Or perhaps how far I have fallen.

I know all that matters now is what I am doing now, so I let these thoughts fall from my mind as I walked out into the bright morning sun and around to the side of my house from where I could see the tree that my apprentice chose to sleep on. He did seem ready to form yet more pathways, and so I was surprised when I saw Young Arnold sitting up on his tree with one of his wolf summons and forming its first pathway.

Yesterday's lesson on creating and forming ones summons first pathways was an enlightening evening indeed. He understood forming the simple baser pathways of animals more than he did on even his own pathways, especially after his revelation that he should get to know all his summons individually and even name them like they were human themselves.

I couldn't not understand that boy, one does not talk to animals, they are lesser beings and they do not understand speech. But that day him and his Pack as he calls them, played in the dirt like children and I could see the joy and emotions of these lesser beings and I could see for the first time that they were just as happy as my young apprentice.

And to my astonishment, through his interactions with his summons he gained an understanding of what Pathways would work best for them better then even the most advanced scanning spell that I knew of.

His methods were… unusual, but they were not without merit. It goes against all my teachings, but I started to suspect that these monsters in this world were not all that lesser than ourselves. They could feel greater emotion, they could understand one another, and they could grow.

It was truly incredible to see such work in front of my own eyes.

As for the Ki Pathways that he has spent this morning to form… we will see if he is as talented in Pathway formation for his summons as for his own Pathways when he finishes.