Wolf’s unexpected plight obviously amused the old man to no end. Wolf wasn’t amused one bit. He interrupted the old man’s coughing or laughing fit with a frantic voice.

“Is there any way of fixing it?!” Wolf blurted out, as if the answer could make any difference at this point in time.

“Well, naturally. There are many ways one can change their appearance. For instance if you use the Third Order spell Alter Form you will be able to increase your height to one-sixty and change the way you look for a couple of minutes. After some research if you cast it as a ninth Order spell the effect would last a day or so.”

“You could also use the tenth Order spell called Myriad Shapes. The effect would be somewhat shorter when compared with a full day of Alter Form. On the flip side if you use that spell you can instantly change the way you look at any given time. You could look like a dragon or a chair on whim.” Hearing what the old man said, Wolf didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Was the old man taunting him, or trying to help him?

“You could also use a number of illusions to just change the way people perceive you, with no need of altering your physical body. Naturally the best solution would be to reach the ninth level of Star Body Body Refining art. Then you can freely change the shape and structure of your body. All you need to do is focus a bit and you can take the appearance of any creature or object. You could even become a body of fire or water. The downside is you will no longer be an organic life form at that point. Then again, since you already started walking down this path you might as well take it all the way…”

“Is there a way to do it now? And solve the problem permanently?”

The old man stopped his jovial speech. Someone like him wasn’t used to being interrupted. While Wolf couldn’t see his face the silence was enough to show the old man’s displeasure.

“I apologize for interrupting you, Senior. Please go on.” Wolf was nervous, but tried his best not to show it. Instead he spoke with as much formality as he possibly could.

“Sure there is. Find a True-Namer at the level of World Power and ask him to do you a favor. I believe races of man call a person that fits the bill an Edict-Maker.” The old man responded flatly. He was no longer in the mood to throw comical proposals, even though he appeared to be the only one that understood the joke.

“Does such a person even exist in this world?” Wolf muttered to himself. Unexpectedly, he got an answer.

“The last one departed from this world some several thousand millennia ago. If you can’t find one than you have two ways of moving forward. Either make one, or become one. Both options should solve your problem.” The displeasure at being interrupted was still obvious both in the words and the old man’s tone of voice.

Wolf looked at the back of the oversized armchair completely stunned by the suggestion. You said that so matter of factly. It’s as if I’m picking up a stone by the side of the road. You’re talking about making the most powerful person in the world!

“Don’t look at me with your eyes wide like that. You’re not an idiot. Solve your own problems. Anyway, this is just aesthetics. The only functional issue you will face is that your body’s development is basically stunted and can’t go any further. Meaning that your reach in combat is somewhat shorter and that you’ll be as sterile as a mule when the time comes to have offspring.”

“Wait. That shouldn’t be true. I think that I had a bunch of children in my past life. Didn’t Lonely Eagle also practice the Star Body Body Refining art? How did he have children then?” Wolf was confused about this. If Lonely Eagle had truly practiced this Body Refining art then that would mean he shouldn’t have had a single descendant, let alone thousands of offspring.

“How would I know what your past self did? Maybe the man left the art as a sort of a joke he wished to play on his disciples, while never practicing it himself? Maybe someone screwed his harem behind his back? Or maybe he started practicing Star Body after giving up on worldly matters and becoming a eunuch? As I’ve already said before, I completely avoided the remnants of that persona’s memories and have no information of your past life.”

“I can tell that you have inherited some of his tendencies towards being what you people call a Sword-Sage. I can also infer that he had a fairly powerful soul. Considering that he was most likely practicing a Body Refining art to boot, that almost certainly means that he understood the concept of the Trinity of Man.”

Feeling Wolf’s confusion the ancient voice continued after a sigh.

“This is not considered me teaching you anything, since this is something your past self had figured out a long time ago. The Trinity of Man is a misnamed concept that refers to the relationship of three forces within every living creature, not just the races of man. The three forces this term refers to are Vitality, Internal Energy and Soul Force.”

“Vitality is the force that determines the sturdiness and regenerative properties of a living creature. Ki or Internal Energy, as races of man call it, is the driving force of every creature. It’s what facilitates any motion. Lastly we have Soul Force. Soul Force determines mental capabilities of a creature. Their ability to see or perceive with any of their senses, as well as process information and comprehend that which they do not already understand.”

“As I’ve already said, words are an extremely clumsy and inferior way of describing anything, but you can take this as a rough overview of these three forces. They can be interchanged to some extent, one can use Soul Force or Internal Energy to heal for instance. Overwhelming Vitality can also drive the body and so on and so forth.”

“Now back to the Trinity of Man. This theory states that as long as there is some semblance of a balance between the three forces they will promote each other. On the other hand, when there is an imbalance, the attributes that are too far ahead experience an inhibition in growth. This lasts until the ones lagging behind catch up. In short, if you wish to reach the peak of this world you have to pay attention to all three aspects of your being. This isn’t exactly true, but for an approximation it will do the trick for now. Besides, being well rounded is a good thing.”

“Let us take your father, who’s waiting for you outside, as an example of this rule. Despite his age and the fact that his soul is damaged, he still has a relatively powerful body. This is especially true when compared with regular humans or other Mages. This, combined with his enhanced senses is the reason why he was called a great hunter by the other villagers, despite losing the base of his true power. If his senses were lacking he wouldn’t be a good hunter and having senses without power is useless, other than seeing the blow coming.”

“What you should take home from the Trinity of Man is simple. When pitted against any opponent, you should carefully probe them. Check the state of their Internal Energy, the sturdiness of their body and the quality of their soul. In general one of these will be a weakness. That’s because people have a limited amount of time and each of these three requires a great investment of effort.”

“Funnily enough the higher you climb, the greater the disparity between a person’s strongest and their weakest point. That is because everyone has a preference and an affinity towards one of these types of growth. So they practice the one or two that they find the easiest and use that to climb up to the top without ever looking back. People do this without even realizing that it is exactly this approach that is the greatest shackle that’s weighing them down and preventing them from reaching the peak.”

As Wolf listened he was thinking. It was very obvious that his strong point was his soul. Especially after this trial he had just passed. That means he should somehow have his body and Internal Energy catch up. Either that, or pretend that his weakest point was his strongest. That way even though his power isn’t balanced it will appear so on the outside. But, how does that fit in with being a Mage? Mages from the stories are notoriously well known for being frail. Why is his father so strong then?

Wolf’s mind was racing. This was a very tough, yet equally exciting day for him. For now he remained seated as he thought about what he had just heard.

With the mysterious old man’s help the knowledge and applicable experience from various dreamscapes was digested and internalized. Unfortunately, other than experiences as a Mage and Sword-Sage, what he got from each of those lifetimes was very slim pickings.

So, what this old man wants to say is that every creature has a weak point. If I become a well rounded person, I can exploit those weak points despite my overall strength being lower. If that’s true, then an allrounder is unbeatable amongst his peers.

“Oh, don’t look so smug and proud of yourself. This only applies to raw attributes, without taking abilities or external aides into account. Not to mention that races of man are at a disadvantage when compared with some of the more powerful Monster Beasts.” The old man grumbled from his armchair.

“For example the descendants of dragons, the children of wisdom, are born powerful and well rounded. As a matter of fact, most Monster Beast races just have to age and their overall power will grow. For the more powerful ones there is seemingly no limit. That is a blessing and at the same time a curse. I’m certain you will encounter plenty of these creatures during your future adventures and you will realize the flaw of their way of advancing in power.”

“So I should aspire to be like a dragon?” Wolf asked after some pondering.

“No. You should strive to be a dragon slayer until you leave the confines of this world. Your prowess should be comparable with theirs, but unlike them you have to put in effort so as to become strong. Your future is unknown.”

“It’s quite possible that there will be plenty of people coming after your head. In general, the more power you wield, the greater the number of hidden blades that wish to end your life and take your secrets for their own. However, once you reach a certain point, very few will dare come after you in an open manner. Mostly they will use traps, poison and such. They will watch you suffer from a safe distance, while you’re completely unaware of their identities. Such is the fate of those struggling for power.”

Wolf was silent the while now. Everything he heard today the boy committed to memory. When the old man stopped talking Wolf also remained quiet for a while before a thought struck him.

Wait... I got so caught up in all of this that I forgot the most important thing. None of these help solve the problem of me being a midget when I grow up!

Realizing this, Wolf spent several minutes trying to pry out the solution for his Body Refining error from the ancient man. Unexpectedly, he was forcibly kicked out of the small room. After a momentary blackout Wolf found himself back in the small hollow. While silently cursing the old man for being stingy.

Archibald's lessons:

World Energy is a resource that exists in the environment. Any environment. It can be considered the world's Internal Energy. When manlings refine World Energy they create Internal Energy. Most likely Monster Beasts are the same.