A woman sat cross-legged in meditation, her breathing steady as she imagined absorbing everything in the world, with every intake of air she was taking something more as she tried to grasp at the everything around her.

And the bits of energy flowed inside her, gathered and coursed across her whole body in a complete circle, changing themselves and changing her body too. Then the small streams of energy gathered again and she let them out, for she could not contain them.

But some part of it remained in her, and with each breathing repetition, that accumulation grew up a bit.

Maria finished her session of breathing exercises and stood up in a nimble movement. Her body felt relaxed, stronger and healthier after each session.

Out of habit, she stretched her arms and legs, then walked down the small mound where she had been sitting for the past hour.

Standing with her back to the setting sun and the sea, her daughter was still training; Aina had both hands stretched in front of her side by side with the palms facing each other, a chain of lightning danced there, running from one hand to the other and reflecting right back in a constant and fluid movement.

The lightning fluctuated constantly, changing intensity, size, and speed with every passing moment.

It still amazed Maria what her own daughter looked like when she used her lightning abilities; the dark purple luster on her hair, the regal aura around her that gave her an air of solemnity, the mighty presence Aina exuded in that state was something truly marvelous.

Lord Navin had said that it was an extraordinary phenomenon and that Aina’s potential was limitless. Maria had no doubt that it was true; the solemn air around Aina could not be underestimated nor ignored, to describe that sheer power with lesser words than majestic would feel to Maria like she was insulting it.

The chain of dancing lightning between Aina’s hands reached a peak point in strength and twisted to gather in the form of a small sphere, brighter and brighter as it absorbed all the lightning and condensed it into a tiny shape no larger than a pebble.

Then the little sphere of light floated into Aina’s mouth and she swallowed it.

The majestic feeling receded and Aina’s figure returned to her usual appearance, her eyes barely opened, like she was awakening from slumber.

She closed her eyes again, took a deep breath and slowly let it out, relaxing her posture as she finished her session of training for now.

Maria approached and Aina turned to look at her with a big smile.

“How was your training, sweetie?”

“Mom!”

Aina sprung into motion, reached her mother in a split second, and hugged her.

“Great! I figured how to store lightning for later use, Master said it was a really useful thing and that learning it would be a mark of improvement!”

Aina cheerfully replied while in her mother’s arms. She had learned how to do this by herself, following her instincts and what felt natural for her. The idea had come from a comment her Master had made about how storing energy for emergencies was a clever precaution that almost everyone made, like packing food and water for when one goes on a trip, or having a bolt loaded on a crossbow, ready to be shot at a moment’s notice.

“That’s amazing, Aina. Congratulations.”

Maria softly kissed her daughter’s head and raised her up from the ground, she was a lot stronger than before, carrying Aina was no longer any effort at all.

“Let’s tell the good news to Lord Navin. And you, little missy, are going to teach me your secret of how to do that, deal?”

“Alright!”

Mother and daughter kept giggling as they walked over the beach sand, cheerfully feeling the cold breeze and smelling the salt in the air, the setting sun cast a warm orange light over them as they approached the most important person in their current life.

A fluffy and small white tiger cub was staring at a strange figure that floated in the air in front of him.

The figure was like a big cone made from many interconnected lines of different colors and shades, with multiple sparkling lights and many smaller figures of different shapes moving within it.

Navin was looking at it with a pensive expression on his feline face, it always surprised Maria how he could do that, if such a thing was possible for actual tigers was entirely out of either female’s scope of knowledge, but at least he was capable of conveying emotions in that way; Navin’s head tilted slightly to the left, then raised a little paw and in a casual motion made the conical structure vanish softly as if it was mist dispersed by the Sun.

“What are you doing, Master?”

Aina asked curiously. Maria put her down and they both sat down in front of Navin.

“Just checking up something, and thinking about where we should go from now on.”

“Are we leaving this beach, Lord Navin?”

Maria thought they would be staying more time, they didn’t have any problems right now and Navin had said there was no rush for anything. Still, if he wished to move to another location, none of them would have any complaints.

“Either tomorrow morning or tonight. It’s good to travel, a journey of exploration is a great experience, especially when one is young like you two.”

“Master, Master, will we enter a Dungeon?”

Aina asked excitedly from where she sat cross-legged, her feet were twitching slightly, as if she was holding back her impulse of jumping around.

“Aina, you are too young for that, those places are dangerous.”

Maria admonished her. Dungeons were places around the world where danger and glory abound; everyone coveted their treasures, but not anyone could survive a trip inside.

“But I’m strong, Mom. And Master will be there with us, there’s no danger!”

Aina patted her own chest with pride and gave her mother a reassuring smile. However, Maria and Navin had already had a conversation about such places, and Maria knew already that while he would protect them from any harm, Navin had no intention of taking them to a dangerous place until they had the strength to defend themselves.

“Your mother is right, Aina. We will enter Dungeons, but not now. You both have lots of things to learn and will grow stronger before entering there, but you are also right that I will be there with you and protect you. However, the most important thing is your own capacity for self-defense, ok?”

“Ok.”

Aina looked a little down; ever since starting her training, she had been getting more adventurous, the incident with the Firestone Direbear was proof that her mentality was changing.

According to Navin, the reason for this was the lightning within her, it was giving her an ‘impulse’ that drove her to activities where she could spend her energy. Maria’s only concern was that Aina should learn to be cautious and moderate her actions so she would not get hurt.

Navin had promised to Maria immediately that he would make sure she wouldn’t be hurt and that they would both teach Aina to be responsible and careful in her actions.

The white tiger’s ears twitched a bit, and Navin turned his head to look at Maria; she nodded, indicating that she would accept his decision if he decided that they should go into a Dungeon, she trusted him to keep them all safe.

Navin turned to Aina and gave her a comforting smile.

“We will be able to enter one in about a week, wait until then and focus on your training, that way you’ll be able to explore more in there.”

“Ok!”

Aina visibly cheered up, small bits of electricity dancing within her eyes.

“Which reminds me, did you succeed in storing a prepared lightning?”

“Yes, Master! I was just telling Mom about it.”

Aina proceeded to explain how she had managed the feat. After hearing her Master’s comment on the utility of having a ready-to-use energy, spell or skill, Aina had thought of storing her lightning, and tried to follow her cultivation art’s instructions on how to store power within arrays, but she still didn’t have any understanding on formations nor runes; besides, the electricity moved too much and it liked to run across her body instead of staying put in one place different than her own Cultivation Core.

Then she got an idea from a book inside the house, that book showed a picture of electricity moving from one sphere of metal to another, it was one of the many books about Science that were in different languages within the Traveler’s Cabin.

Neither Aina nor Maria knew those languages but Navin had waved his hand and after a spark of light had entered each of them, they had been able to understand the languages in the books though they couldn't speak those languages, it seemed to be translating any language they read into Likian, the language spoken in Likia Kingdom, which had evolved from an old language named Liankth, that was inherited from a civilization from centuries ago.

So after reading a bit in the book, Aina got her idea: she used her own hands as the spheres of metal and made the lightning flow in the air between them, then she focused on it, trying to understand it more and transmitting her commands to it.

It had taken time, but she managed to make her lightning listen to her and arrange itself in the way that the Mysterious Rune inside her had showed it should be done.

The result had been a small sphere of compressed lightning that was ready to be used when she needed it, though the amount of energy in there was small and the sphere would dissipate inside her after a few hours, it was still a feat of skill.

Navin changed into his human form and looked at Aina with pride in his eyes.

“Excellent work, Aina.”

He extended a finger and touched the tip of Aina’s nose, then moved it quickly up and down, tickling her nose and making her laugh.

“How about you, Maria?”

“All is going well, Lord Navin. Though I don’t know if I’ll be able to form my Core today or tomorrow, I don’t feel that much different yet.”

“You will know when you are ready. Trust me, you will succeed soon.”

Navin’s reassuring words filled her with warmth, she wanted to hurry up and form a Cultivation Core so she would be able to do amazing stuff like Aina, so far she hadn’t managed to do it.

Navin had given her a different cultivation method for her to practice, it was an art specialized in ‘the Element of Metal’, although Maria didn’t understand much of it.

Still, she would work hard and improve. Navin had told her that this cultivation art was very powerful and she would start to notice her strength growing very soon, she only needed to be diligent in her practice.

“I will work hard, Lord Navin. I will succeed.”

Her eyes were resolute and her voice was firm. Navin nodded.

“I know you will. As long as you have that unwavering resolve, you will overcome any obstacle on your path.”

Navin smiled at both of them and spread his arms, as if showing them the whole world around them, presenting them endless choices.

“So, what do you girls want to do now?”

Kar strode in the forest without a real purpose in mind.

There was much to do in the tribe, but he had finished all his duties. He knew that the people from Buri City would be going out soon to hunt Goblins after they had attacked their walls, but he was far from there, besides, he was confident in being able to escape or at least hide from danger, it would soon be night, and Goblins had better night vision than Humans, Elves, and even most Beastkins.

Overall, it had been a victory for the Goblins, they had obtained many things from the looted adventurers and knights, however, many Goblins had died. Friends, family, comrades in arms. Many were mourning in the middle of the joy of the victory.

So Kar had decided that he would simply go for a walk to have some time alone and think.

There wasn’t actually much to do right now, as all they had to do to avoid trouble was keep away from the Human settlements, gathering the tribe in a safe location until the rage of Buri City had passed.

But there was a lot to think about and a lot to prepare.

Kar would return soon, after maybe an hour of peace and private mourning for his dead friends, especially Tur, who had died to protect him.

Kar would have liked to retrieve the spear of the Guardsman from the wall, but after clashing against Chieftain Feneh’s flaming fists the spear had lodged in the trunk of a tree and he hadn’t been able to get it out before retreating under the smoke screens.

And only a foolish Goblin would get anywhere near that city after the battle.

Kar reached a clearing in the forest, but stopped before getting out in the open. Looking onwards, there was a pair of deer grazing.

One of them was close to Kar’s position, the other was on the other side of the clearing, but neither had noticed him.

He considered leaving them alone, but a bit of delicious food was good for grief and sadness; he was mourning, not fasting, as no Goblin had the luxury in refusing meals voluntarily, each day could be the last for them, so they tried to live them in what little joys they could find.

Kar quickly climbed a tree and jumped to another that was closer to his chosen prey, but upon landing on the branch it cracked a bit and the noise made both deer raise their heads in alarm.

Cursing internally, Kar jumped from the tree branch, leaping on the deer closest to him as he unsheathed his sword.

As he did it in a hurry, the leap wasn’t as precise as he would have liked it, but he managed to land on the deer before it jumped off, and stabbed it on the side with his sword

Kar pushed the sword deeper into the deer’s body and then yanked it out, making the deer collapse on the ground, bleeding to death.

The sound of a soft intake of breath near him made Kar jump in alarm, he hadn’t noticed anyone nearby.

On the other side of the clearing, a human child was standing next to the other collapsed deer, a look on surprise on her face, so she was the one to let out the noise of surprise, she hadn’t noticed Kar either.

The girl was almost as tall as him, since normal Goblins weren’t much taller than a child from other sentient races except for Dwarves and the Smallfolk related to the Fays.

Kar’s eyes shined for a moment as he looked at her and the black short sword in her hand.

Danger.

He had to avert his gaze due to the pain that assaulted his eyes. Looking at her was like getting out of a cave and instantly look at the afternoon Sun; her sword was extremely sharp, an enchanted weapon of great quality, definitely. He couldn’t notice anything else, but that was quite enough for him to decide to get away from that girl.

The girl raised her weapon while she silently appraised Kar, an older woman wearing soft leather armor ran from the woods behind the girl and stood in front of her with two silver knives in her hands, placing herself as if to protect the girl from any harm.

Kar didn’t try to appraise that woman, he didn’t want to risk hurting his eyes again, and he didn’t have the luxury of averting his eyes from an armed adult who almost certainly would be stronger and more dangerous than the girl.

Kar turned to run away, though he made a mental note to watch his back in case the woman might chase him or launch some long-distance attack.

He didn’t get to take a single step. Kar very nearly let out a shrill cry when he turned his head.

A man in elegant clothes was standing right behind him, very close and without any sign of wariness or weapon in sight, and that made Kar very alarmed. No one could sneak silently behind him and without having some skill, and if the man didn’t seem to have his guard raised it was merely that he already was vigilant and could attack without an obvious stance.

The man was looking at Kar with a strange expression, as if appraising him but looking beyond him, making silent decisions as he had a hand on his chin.

Kar stood there, not daring to make any sudden moves, but rapidly thinking of ways to get away, his mind raced with numerous possibilities and he made mental simulations of how they could play out, nothing really looked good.

The man turned his head to look at the females.

“It’s ok, girls. He’s a good Goblin.”

Chance!

Kar decided to start a sprint the moment the man looked somewhere else; it was risky, but to stay longer near them was even more dangerous, so long as Kar did not attack them he might have a chance of running away and hopefully they would not think to waste time chasing him without any provocation.

Wait, did he say ‘he’s a good Goblin’? No, doesn’t matter, let’s run!

Kar disregarded such thoughts and prioritized escape. Kar was sure that the man had spoken in Likia Kingdom’s language, and yet, it felt like he was speaking in the Cave Tongue of the Goblins, which was probably Kar being panicked and his mind racing with adrenaline that allowed him to understand more clearly the Human’s words.

Kar’s feet left the ground as he started to run, but he didn’t make any advancement. Kar was suspended in the air, caught by some strange magic.

He panicked, and turned to look at the man while he kept writhing in the air, futilely trying to get out of the invisible grip that held him prisoner. The man hadn’t even returned his gaze to Kar.

“It’s ok, he won’t hurt you. He simply tried to run because he thought he was in danger, he’s a smart kid.”

The females slowly walked over, but they put away their weapons.

Kar stopped struggling, realizing he was at the mercy of these people, maybe he could be able to leave a scar on the man’s face as a last act of battle, but killing any of them was out of question. And he didn’t think there was any Human who would spare a Goblin’s life merely because of begging, Humans had no pity nor mercy for Goblins.

He was unwilling, he didn’t want to die, he didn’t want it to end here, in a meaningless night with a crushing defeat by the hands of some strangers against whom Kar was as helpless and defenseless as a baby.

He didn’t want this! He refused to accept death! Not when he was so close to advancing, not when Feneh’s ambition was close to being achieved. His tribe needed him, without Kar, they would be lacking in organization and strategy when fighting other tribes. They couldn’t just depend only on Feneh’s strength, they needed to fight smart.

But what could he do? Hating fate or cursing the decisions that took him here would do nothing, he had to think, think of a way to survive, to escape and hide, then return to the tribe.

He had to do it or everything would be for nothing.

The man turned his head and looked back at Kar, deep blue eyes piercing into the red eyes of the Goblin.

“You do not need to be afraid of me, Child of Gobbel. I mean you no harm, and my family won’t hurt you without provocation.”

Kar dropped his sword. The man had spoken in the language of Goblins, the Cave Tongue, Kobe!

That was impossible, no one but Goblins could speak it, yet the man in front of Kar had done so in a clear voice, fluently and perfectly, he sounded… sophisticated, like someone with a higher level of culture and better mastery of the language than Kar, only the Shamans were capable of such.

Yet this man had done it, and he had called him ‘Child of Gobbel’, so he was familiar with Goblin culture, Gobbel was a forefather, said to be an ancestor of the entire race, his name was taught by the Shamans that acquired knowledge in dreams and visions.

Had this man captured a Shaman and tortured him to extract information? Kar didn’t know such thing was within the interest of Humans, but they were well capable of torture and cruelty, and the spells of magic wielded by other races were leagues above the Goblin’s magic.

The man looked at Kar with a smirk, or what Kar wished was a smirk, because he must be crazy already for thinking that the smile on the man’s face was kind and genuine.

“Hmm, you have good eyes, trained for more than just combat.”

The man’s eyes narrowed and the grin grew wider.

“I got a question for you, kid. You are free to go after you answer me.”

Kar could only nod his head in agreement, there was nothing else that he could do while he was caught in mid-air by the invisible force.

The man spoke, still in Goblin language, his piercing eyes looking directly at Kar, feeling like they were capable of seeing through Kar, it seemed there was nothing in existence that could hide from that gaze.

“Are you familiar with the term ‘Cultivation’, little Goblin?”