Their time around the fire ended shortly after Liam had non-consensually signed Jack up for training with Toflann. Jack wanted to reject the idea of being under the tutelage of an Annoid, but he would have to use him for his knowledge if he wanted to somehow make it back home.

  “With pride comes arrogance. And with arrogance must come with power to back it up.” His father would tell him with a knowing smirk on his face.

  Jack took great pride in himself and his family, but lacked the power to back up the arrogance he held. He knew that down to his core, but the respect and fear that others in his clan had for him made him forget just how weak he was. A simple Spiker was taken down by a Komo in a single blow, while that same Komo was taken down in a single blow, and then an Annoid that no doubt could have killed that Komo in a single blow was killed in a single blow itself.

  Jack, however, could not match to a Spiker, let alone an Annoid. He was powerless. By his father’s words, he should have no arrogance to begin with. In a new perspective where no one respects or fears him, he never knew how true his father’s words were. But he would have to gain that power now. He would have to swallow his pride and use this Annoid till he gains enough power to command it to his will.

  “If his actions alone does not warrant your belief in his generosity, what would?” Liam’s question rang through his head shortly after the thought.

  Toflann has done nothing but help him and asked nothing in return. His family has told him stories of how Annoids would use humans and trick them like serpents. This had to be a ploy of some type. His generosity has a hidden agenda.

  “Forget Toflann is an Annoid. What if he were a human? What difference would it make?” Liam’s questions rang through his mind once more. If Toflann was a human then.. Jack’s thoughts drifted off as he again struggled to put together a sound argument.

  Jack wasn’t so blind to human nature that he wouldn’t think a human would go to such lengths to gain his trust. He has experienced a modicum of this tactic before. So nothing would change if Toflann were a human. Maybe Jack would lower his defenses more, but in hindsight, that seemed very unwise.

  “To trust is to put your lives in the hands of those you trust.” His mother always told him.

  So why was he willing to put his life in Liam’s hands more than Toflann? Was it because he was human? Of course it was. Human nature was not perfect, but it was much better than Annoid nature. At least from what he was told. His thoughts framed a perfect struggle between comprehension and confusion until he drifted off asleep in the large cushioned chair in front of the brick fireplace.

  Liam laid on the patch of fur he makeshift into a small bed for himself. It was more comfortable than the cold, hard floor that he was used to. He would have been scolded and beaten just for having the thought of wanting a blanket, let alone a cushion for his back.

  Liam sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in silent frustration. The situation has grown out of control. His task was a simple one. He was to intercept Jack, disguised as one of the guards, and capture Jack. Freedom was within his grasp. Grant gave Jack to Liam, and all he had to do was run away and deliver him, but that all changed when Grant opened a portal to the Animal Realm.

  If Liam tried to run away from the portal, he had no doubt Grant would have annihilated him on the spot. Liam couldn’t have afforded to break his cover. A guard of the Flygon Clan would follow his instructions explicitly. So that was what Liam did.

  Liam figured that going through the Animal Realm portal would just delay his mission, but that was an understatement. As soon as he passed through the portal, he felt a change in his soul. He felt weaker. He felt like iron bands wrapped around parts of his soul. He couldn’t figure out what it was, and he didn’t want to risk trying anything in front of Toflann. Though as soon as he left to hunt some boar, he tested his virya manipulation as Jack was distracted by the enormous cabin.

  He had been reduced to a Low Forged soul. He didn’t let the panic show on his face when he found out, but the deviation from the original plan may have been the final nail in his coffin. It most likely was. Now that Liam learned he was inside a near-inescapable prison only meant he would take longer on his mission. But considering the situation back in the Human Realm, he would only be seen as a traitor. Nothing would convince them otherwise. Unless he explains the situation at hand and turns Jack in?

  Liam turned over on his side to look at Jack. Maybe then that would show his dedication to them and he would be accepted. To be a part of his family finally. Liam’s eyes steeled.

  Jack was an insufferable noble from a tyrannic clan. He would have no trouble betraying him for what his family has done. He would play along until they escaped this prison. But once they escape from here and make it back to the human realm, he would achieve his dream.

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  To be a part of a family.

  They started lessons as soon as everyone woke up. Thankfully, it was still the blue moon. But as soon as they started, Jack nodded off as Toflann explained the basics of cultivation, starting with the cycles, but his attention was short-lived. What sounded like broken glass filled Jack’s ears, and a spear of ice landed right in between Jack’s crossed legs. Jack woke from his daze, screaming.

  “Pay attention or next time I won’t be so generous.” Toflann growled. Jack slowly moved over to the side, avoiding the ice spear entirely.

  “I don’t need to pay attention! I already know this stuff.” Jack groaned.

  Liam was next to Jack on the floor, also cross-legged and unamused by Jack’s whining. “If you know this stuff, then you should repeat to Toflann the Cycles of Cultivation.”

  Jack frowned at Liam. “I know them! Why don’t you repeat it? Perhaps you don’t know!”

  Without missing a beat, Liam listed them. “Null, Seed, Forged, Awaken, Enlightened, and Sage.”

  Jack was really hoping he didn’t know.

  Toflann grunted in approval at Liam, then turned to Jack. “Since it is apparent that Liam was listening, could you tell us what the key differences between each Cycle entails?”

  Jack gave Toflann a sheepish smile. “More power?”

  Steam - no, frost Jack was sure of it now, billowed out of Toflann’s nose, dropping the temperature down to cause Jack to shiver.

  “Okay! I was not paying attention. You have it now.” Jack angrily looked to the side but panically gave Toflann his rapt attention after feeling ice shards poke him slightly from seemingly out of nowhere.

  “As I was saying. Each step in the cycle is an increase in power, but that is broad. There are key moments in each step of the cycle that signify your mastery of the cycle. For Seedling, it would be to forge your body and learn a technique, along with expanding your soul to advance. Forged souls would need to learn a second technique and create a soul space. Those are the only two we will focus on until you become stronger.”

  Jack raised his hand.

  Toflann gave Jack a confused look. “Why are you raising your hand?”

  “To ask a question?” Jack answered.

  “You don’t need to raise your hand to ask a question. There are only two of you, and one of whom I suspect already is familiar with what I am teaching currently. Just ask it.”

  Jack coughed into his hands. “Right. Uh, what’s a technique?”

  Toflann frowned. “Are you not from some prestigious human clan that you do not know something as basic as a technique?”

  Thoughts of Jack sleeping while his tutors taught and him silently disappearing from his lessons creeped back on him. Jack gave Toflann another sheepish grin.

  Toflann only sighed and started drawing on the dirt with an ice staff he conjured.

  Jack nearly face-palmed himself. How could he forget what techniques were? He was a Controller himself! Though he vaguely remembered other techniques and what they did. The chart consisted of four words placed at the top, bottom, and sides. The top word is Controller, with Armament being on the left of Controller and Weaver to the right. Enhancer was under Controller, but there was an empty space in between.

  “This is the technique chart that every soul follows. Through each step of the cycle, you will learn how to use a new technique until Enlightened. Then, if you are fortunate enough to reach Sage, you would learn your final 4th technique. However, as a Seedling, you only have one technique, and when you reach Forged, you can only learn one other technique that is adjacent to your original technique.” Toflann used his ice spear to point at the chart as he talked.

  “So,” Jack interrupted. “Since I am a Controller, when I reach Forged, I would learn either Armament or Weaver?”

  Toflann nodded his head.

  “So why not Enhancer? There’s just a space in between Controller and it.” Jack asked.

  Toflann wrote another word in the empty space. Tamer. Jack has never heard of that technique before. But to be fair, he barely remembers the other techniques.

  “Tamer is what generally fills this space, but Tamers are so rare and unique, no one really cares any mind to mention the technique. Tamers have the ability to tame beasts and take them into their soul space to allow themselves to use their powers. Beasts also fall under different technique categories, which would allow a Tamer to tame beasts and use any techniques at any step in the cycle for as long as they are powerful enough.”

  Jack scratched his head in confusion. “So why can’t I just go for Tamer instead?”

  Liam answered Jack this time. “Well, Tamers have a big advantage with their beasts, but they are powerless without them, and so they cannot use any other technique until they tame a beast to use their technique. In turn, no other technique can learn the Tamer technique. No one, to my knowledge, has found a way to learn that technique, so for now that is how it is.”

  Toflann nodded his head at Liam. “He is correct. Tamers are 1 in many millions. Research in that field has dwindled due to a lack of Tamers, and no progress has been made to tame a beast in a way that Tamers can. Though you’ll find many who tried and are still trying, no new advancement will be made. It’s an old question that stumped scholars for years.”

  “Honestly, people think Tamers are a myth.” Liam added.

  Jack nodded his head in understanding. “Well, since we got the basics out of the way, why don’t we start practicing? I am already skilled in my technique. I have no doubt I’ll hit Forged soon.”

  Toflann and Liam both laughed at Jack like he made a hilarious joke. The sudden spike in emotion in Liam and the deep laugh of Toflann unnerved Jack. But not enough for him not to get angry.

  “This is no time to laugh at my humility!”

  The two laughed even louder.