Kyle took a deep breath as he stood outside Durin’s home leaning against the wall, he was waiting for Karnage to get cleaned up as apparently even spirits required bathing areas and so they had made use of it. He couldn’t help but notice that his nervousness and anxiety had died down since a few hours earlier, not that he wasn’t presently nervous that is.

“Well.” began Karnage as she pushed through the crystal door “That was refreshing?” she said questioningly, mainly at the device they had found within said bathing space.

“At least we figured out how it worked without involving someone else, that would have been awkward.” added Kyle with a half-smile as he turned towards her.

Karnage snorted and leaned in resting herself in his arms as he held her, she whispered “No, what was awkward was that I had to take the lead.” she said with a mischievous smirk causing Kyle to blush in embarrassment.

“That didn’t last long, did it?” he asked with a raised brow, causing her to blush next. This caused them to both laugh briefly, before turning back to each other. “So…what now?” he asked, it had been over half a day since he last woke up and Durin was waiting for him at the library.

Karnage slowly moved out of his hold “I guess…I’ll be leaving for Chaoz…” she was glancing away seemingly bothered by the thought.

“About that…how exactly? I don’t think I ever asked but…you’re not human either are you?” Kyle asked curiously.

She flinched at that question “I…I’m not entirely sure of that either…I don’t know what I am exactly, just that there’s some things I can do that others cannot.”

Kyle scratched his head at her uninformative explanation “Like?”

She sighed then looked up at him with a smile “Like this.” She suddenly leaned in and kissed him, before suddenly disappearing.

Kyle was too surprised to react for a few moments, when he saw that she did not reappear he shrugged “Well…can’t say I expected that?...” he glanced around the grassy street, seeing nobody up and around he walked forward heading for the staircase. Climbing up took him a bit, due to the sheer length of it and with how many steps were involved.

When he did reach the top he didn’t see Durin anywhere at first but “Now, you’re ready.” He quickly appeared out of nowhere blocking his path to the library “To start that is.”

“What exactly will I be doing?” asked Kyle nervously.

Durin met his eyes with his own, he was at best expressionless “First, we will prepare you to begin your healing. This will not be like anything you’ve ever faced before, your soul is required to be in a certain state for the healing to begin.”

“Luckily for you.” Began another founder as she suddenly appeared, Kyle recognised her to be Aina of the Tiger clan. “Every creature required for this, exists here within the Spirit Realm.”

Suddenly all the founders appeared, each one standing in front of Kyle and looking at him. His anxiety did not falter. “So…what do I do?” he asked while glancing at each Ancient.

Terrance smiled as he took a step ahead of the others “All you have to do child, is listen and survive.”

Suddenly reality melted before Kyle.

Author: I couldn’t help myself than listening to this as I wrote…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWx7J0zhB48

Day 1

Kyle’s rehabilitation, Early Morning.

Spirit Realm, The Howling Forest.

Kyle opened his eyes to see darkness ahead, not the usual black void but instead a dark unlit night with a heavy mist surrounding him. He glanced down to see that there was no ground below him, what he was standing on couldn’t be categorised as ground.

Kyle stood over a massive spike of stone, it’s point mildly flat for him to stand on albeit barely able to keep both feet over it. He glanced around in a panic, squinting through the mist he could barely make out large trees around him. The trees were too massive to be normal, anything of that size would of fallen on itself long ago. Yet a whole forest of these trees stood all around him, massive trunks reaching way higher than even the mountain of a spike he stood on.

The tree’s branches and leaves stopped whatever light was shining over their the forest, leaving below dark and damp. All around him fell thin vines of a blackish colour, seemingly part of the trees. Along with the mist, the darkness and the vines, Kyle could barely make out his surroundings.

Suddenly Kyle saw vines ahead swaying towards him as a strong breeze rushed through, it hit him in full force forcing him to slide down the spike and hold onto it’s tip with both arms and legs as to not be thrown off. The breeze lasted for a few moments, his hair and tails being blown back as he held on.

“Are you prepared child?” asked Terrance, suddenly appearing into Kyle’s view as the breeze ended. He was also standing on a spike like Kyle’s if slightly taller, he however was standing on one leg while his left was held up and angled with his straight right. His arms were crossed on his chest with his long moustache falling over them.

All around engulfing Terrance was a shimmering green energy, taking the shape of a spiky tortoise around him that stood in the same stance he did but losing it’s form on the bottom and becoming several tendrils that coiled around the spike holding him steady.

“Stand up boy.” Terrance told him, his tone that of an instructor “Balance yourself not with your body but with your Spirit.”

Kyle nodded and pulled himself back up, as he did so another breeze blew through making him stop mid-way to just hold on. After the second breeze passed, he pulled himself up and tried to balance himself. Watching Terrance, Kyle tried to copy his stance and balance on one leg.

Terrance spoke as he did so “The stance is not for balance of body but for balance of mind, make yourself comfortable, relax but not too much mind you. Find your centre, empty your mind from trivialities, concentrate on your being and bring out your spirit.”

Kyle took a similar stance to Terrance’s, finding himself unable to be comfortable with crossed arms he held them ahead of himself with the right fist within his left palm. Kyle did not close his eyes but he concentrated, he reached deep inside for the cold flame and brought it out.

Kyle was engulfed in white-blue fire, it raged around him as several tendrils before some entangled themselves around the spike below him. Terrance said nothing, his expression remaining impassive as he stared at Kyle.

Slowly, Kyle grew accustomed to his stance, it wasn’t entirely comfortable but having no real other way to stand he forced himself to retain it.

Suddenly a breeze blew through, to Kyle’s surprise it scattered his flames and dissipated the tendrils causing him to be blown back and off the spike. The powerful wind carried him a few feet into the air before dropping him down into the darkness below.

Kyle fell rapidly approaching the ground, mist rushing around him as he did so when suddenly he felt something grab him. Opening his eyes after having the wind blown out of his chest Kyle found several long tendrils of green energy had grabbed him right before he hit the ground.

The energy pulled him up and quickly set him back to the spike, to Kyle’s surprise the tendrils were Terrance’s.

“Reach inside, find your spirit and then bring it out boy. Spirit, not fire.” Terrance explained as the tendrils he used to bring him back up reformed into the arms of his tortoise aura. Kyle pulled himself back up onto the spike, taking his stance again he calmed his nerves and reached inside as Terrance spoke again “There is a difference between the Spirit and the Element child. I did not tell you to bring out power, I told you to bring out energy. Raw, unchanged, Spirit.”

Kyle now understanding his task, reached deep inside locating the resource within his Soul. It took Kyle several tries to pull it out unchanged, several blasts of Frostfire later he finally managed. Slowly it oozed out of his arms and shoulders, a light blue see-through mass of energy closely similar to aura but seemingly more solid than ethereal.

The energy he managed to create was a very miniscule amount, barely enough to cover his hand.

“Focus child. The bending and usage of raw energy does not come with force, it does not come with skill but, instead, it comes with practice, it comes with concentration. You must concentrate, you must locate it, you must feel it.” Terrance explained as he watched “Feel it as it is, part of you. As another limb, you must control it, you must move it.”

Kyle took a deep breath as the small amount of Spirit had had conjured continued to ooze around his arms and shoulders, he concentrated, reaching within for the energy he knew was there. He ignored knowing, he didn’t need to know, he needed to feel it. He searched and found the energy, a feeling of fullness within him. This time Kyle did not reach out for it, he did not grasp it to move it but instead continued to feel it.

“Part of me…” Kyle murmured to himself as he concentrated.

“Yes, a part of you. Not just a resource within, not simply a sheathed weapon or a suit of armour. Like your flesh, like your blood, like your bones. It is, essentially. You.” Kyle heard him speak in the background of his concentration.

Suddenly a breeze rushed through, the wind blew stronger than even before threatening to carry Kyle with it. Kyle lost concentration as panic took over, he felt himself being lifted off the spike as he reached out to hold on.

The wind continued to blow, it pulled and pushed at him but he remained centred over the spike’s tip. Kyle was engulfed in the light blue energy now, it was formless unlike Terrance’s but makeshift tendrils had gripped around the spike below Kyle keeping him steady even as the powerful wind blew through.

Kyle was confused, he had lost concentration but still managed “How did I…”

“As I said, child.” Terrance began regaining his attention “It is not a sheathed blade you must grasp, not a suit of armour that will passively protect you. It is you. Another arm, another leg, even another tail. Will it to be and it shall be.”

Another breeze passed by. Kyle withstood it, holding onto the spike with the unstable energy that surrounded him for a few moments but suddenly the spirit dissipated. Kyle was caught unprepared, unable to fully withstand the breeze he fell back but this time he was ready.

Kyle surged down slightly and grabbed hold onto the spike’s tip, withstanding the rest of the breeze. Once it passed he climbed back up and retook his stance. Terrance watched in contentment as Kyle regained his concentration and tried again, preparing for the next wind as his spirit slowly formed out and grasped the spike below.

It took Kyle several tries, finally having grasped how to control his spirit yet finding it hard to withstand the strong winds of this place. Hours passed by, with failure after failure. Kyle fell many a time but did not whine or comment about it, instead he only tried again.

Kyle did not question this training, he put his faith solely on those that just as much believed in him. He withstood through, not wasting any time he listened to Terrance’s words carefully and did as instructed until finally…

The wind blew through, a powerful breath of air that pushed against his entire body. Kyle stood steady, his spirit firmly grasping the spike. He retained his concentration, keeping his spirit under control.

“Tell me child, what is a Spirit Beast to you?” Terrance suddenly asked as the wind continued to blow, and unending torrent of force unlike the previous short breezes.

Kyle couldn’t answer him, less he loses concentration and gets blown away. He looked at him questioningly, unable and unsure as to how to answer his question.

“A Spirit Beast, essentially a being who’s soul is capable of corporeal and incorporeal shape shifting. We as beings of the soul are capable of not only expressing our emotions through corporeal change but also incorporeal change. In simple terms, our emotions can change our bodies and power. But to fully understand a Spirit Beast you must first understand what Spirit even is.” Terrance motioned to the area around them and suddenly the blowing wind grew stronger, Kyle was struggling to hold on.

“Spirit is the energy that makes up our emotions, which looking at it in another way, our emotions are what make up us. Expressing emotion is the expression of one’s personality, one’s personality is what controls what and how much of a certain emotion is expressed. Spirit Beasts are beings who’s personalities are expressed much more strongly than other creatures. Our anger, our sadness, our happiness. Our emotions are expressed into our physical form and into our spiritual form, simply more than others.” Terrance explained as Kyle fought against the wind, a half-smirk growing on his face as he watched the young Spirit Beast struggle.

“Before we learned to be what we are, before we learned how to control what we are. We were monsters.” His expression grew dark as he continued his telling “Creatures who dwelled in the hatred of others to benefit ourselves, demons who pleasured others simply to grow stronger. We were regarded as ones to be hunted, as abominations to be feared. We were the ones that began the word, Monster.”

Terrance watched Kyle, attentively he stared at his face for his reaction and comprehension “Do you know why we changed? Do you know why we began to ignore the beast within? As I said we were hunted, the beings we preyed on turned around and started to fight back. There were too many of them and not enough of us.”

Terrance sighed “So we changed, we reined in our demons, took control of our hunger. Over many centuries we pushed for improvement, we starved ourselves, punishing those that went out to hunt. Change is a slow process, a painful and dreadful thing but change is what we required to survive. That is why we needed, not wanted but needed to change. Because we needed to survive.”

Terrance brought in his arms and the wind suddenly stopped “I was the first chief to push for this change, I was the first founder of our laws and the first pillar to hold up what would continue to be our goal to the betterment of our race.”

Kyle relaxed after the torrent of wind ended it’s assault, re-balancing himself as he continued to listen carefully. Now actually able to reply.

“Many generations later and…here we stand.” said Terrance as he sighed deeply “I was not alive at the time, so I had watched the entire thing transpire. Tell me child, what do you think we did wrong? Where did our mistakes lay? In our trust with our allies and neighbours? In our passive nature towards aggression on other nations? What lead us to extinction?”

Kyle met Terrance’s calculative gaze “I’m not…sure…”

“Hhmm. I’ve had many, many centuries to meditate over that question. But I can only come to a single conclusion, one answer for it. Our mistake…was to try and change at all.” exclaimed Terrance as suddenly his spirit tortoise form rushed forward and at Kyle. The green energy clashed with Kyle’s unstable blue, it tore through his defences and smashed right into his body.

Kyle was sent flying off the spike, he was thrown off and down through the mist and vines. Kyle grasped left and right trying to grab hold of the vines but they only held him briefly before tearing under his weight. It took him several moments of panicked falling, but he did in the end hit the ground below.

The collision with the hard earth squashed the air out of Kyle’s lungs, it sent his bones shaking and his vision blurred into darkness.

Day 1

Kyle’s rehabilitation, Mid-day.

Spirit Realm, The Howling Forest.

Kyle groaned as he regained consciousness “The hell…was that about…” opening his eyes he spent a few moments rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes before he could take in his surroundings. He was currently laying on the ground surrounded by mountain massive trees, up above him where the ends of vines that ended a dozen feet away the ground and taking into a thick mist that stopped him from seeing further than twenty feet.

“Stand up.” Growled a mildly feminine but animalistic voice from behind him, Kyle glanced up to find a massive tiger glaring down at him. He quickly turned over and stood up, taking in the tiger’s size and appearance.

The tiger was coated in ember coloured fur that seemed to flow like flames, black stripes spread out through the fur while the bottom chest part and inside of the limbs and chin was entirely white fur. The tiger’s eyes were feline but crimson red and glowing a menacing hue, it’s size was also about four times an actual tiger’s.

“Aina?” guessed Kyle as he stared up at the beast.

Aina nodded and spoke “Our people’s mistake was trying to change, as master Terrance said. We ignored our inner beast, we sealed away the animal within. In essence, we threw away half of ourselves. Instead of learning to control the beast half of us like our cousins the Beastmen have, we chained it away.” She turned and gestured for him to follow, Kyle did so.

“You, Kyle, are an exception. You not only received our people’s state of mind from your mother but also your father’s bloodline, which ingrained into you to accept your emotions as they are and not ignore them.” Aina explained as she prowled through the misty forest, Kyle following close by “We cannot and shall not fully teach you our ways as they are…in fact…wrong. What we can and will do is guide you through learning your power, we will teach you about the Spirit within you but not how to chain the Beast.”

As they moved through the misty forest Kyle could hear the wind blow around him, it was a calming and quiet howl that echoed through the landscape. The howling echoed back and forth as if coming from several directions at once, surrounding Kyle completely.

They moved for what felt like over an hour, passing by several large tree trunks until they came to what seemed to be an opening in the forest. As they approached out of the opening Kyle noticed that the ground turned to water, when they reached it’s edge Aina stopped. The water seemed to span the entire opening which Kyle could not tell how big it exactly was due to the mist.

“You’ve learned to express your Spirit, now you’ll learn to control it.” said the tigress as she glanced down at him before looking ahead, carefully she stepped forward and onto the water. Literally the massive tiger‘s paw did not go below the water’s surface as it stepped over it, it did however gain a reddish hue around it’s paws.

Aina stepped over the water, walking further and further away until she disappeared into the mist. Kyle looked down at the water, it began shallow but got deeper by the foot. He focused his mind and reached out with his Spirit, engulfing his feet and legs with it. Kyle stepped forward to find that the water seemed to mildly push his leg up, but it still was sinking.

He stepped back and thought for a moment, remembering that Aina’s paws were only covered on the bottom side not the entire leg. He willed the Spirit around his legs to disperse then carefully he moved out as little as he could, forming it below his feet took great concentration and it’s form still seemed unstable.

Kyle tried again, stepping onto the water he was met with the same problem. His foot was not entirely sinking but it still sunk and he doubted it could withstand his entire weight. He stepped back again and gazed down at his feet deep in thought.

“Amount is not the issue Kyle, control is what you’re here to learn.” explained Aina from the distance “You have plenty of Spirit to work with, yet you lack sufficient control over it.”

Kyle looked up and stared off into the mist, clenching his fists he closed his eyes and focused.

“You have power Kyle, you have strength. But power alone accomplishes nothing. Strength alone will never accomplish anything.” Aina’s voice flowed through from ahead “Power requires a focus. Strength requires a point. That focus, that point is control.”

Kyle willed Spirit to cover his feet, he focused on it “It is not a weapon…It is not armour…” he recited “It is me” he refined it and took control. The energy around his feet dimmed but remained there, it’s unstable form declining back and becoming smooth.

Opening his eyes Kyle tempted a step forward, without looking down he took another, then another. Before he knew it Kyle was walking forward, his feet laying right above the water’s surface without sinking an inch.

He walked out into the pool of water, the mist growing thicker as he did. He glanced around looking for his tutor “Well done, you’ve learned to refine your Spirit. Now that you know control, just how much can you control?” she asked still nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly a resounding roar shook the air blasting the mist aside and revealing Aina still in her beast form, the roar shook the water’s surface sending wave after wave towards Kyle. He stood his ground as the waves passed under him, swaying with and over the waves for a few moments before Aina snarled out of her roar.

He continued to struggle through the aftershock but remained standing, having only sunk a few inches which he regained after the last wave. He sighed in relief before looking back up at Aina, the tigress staring down at him with an animalistic grin.

“So you can withstand child’s play, can you withstand a storm though?” she asked as her form suddenly rose, the tigress rose on her back legs and snarled before slamming down her front paws as Spirit engulfed them. The resulting shockwave sent waves crashing into Kyle larger than even himself, so much so that at the third wave he was suddenly thrown up into the air.

Kyle fell down towards the water as suddenly he sensed movement from ahead, glancing up he watched as Aina’s form shook and changed becoming ethereal and transparent. Like an aura in the form of a tigress she charged at him, maw open and claws ready she pounced at him.

Kyle stopped thinking, his mind went blank and instead instinct took over. Kyle acted on those instincts. Spirit rushed out of his body and engulfed him as he prepared to clash, he pushed away at every direction at once. Kyle pushed away at the water, allowing him to stop his fall. He also pushed away at Aina, ending her charge.

But the tigress only snarled in amusement as suddenly she bit down, “Power alone is useless! Control your strength! Rein in your energy! Give it form!” she tore away at his formless mass of Spirit and pushed further digging into his energy and enclosing on him.

Kyle watched as the tigress ripped through the front of his formless and unsteady barrier, she crashed in suddenly dissipating the energy and swiped at his body that lay falling. Kyle was thrown aside like a sack of potatoes, he flew for several meters before hitting the water with a large splash.

Kyle slowly sank, the darkness of the pool spread around him as he slowly recovered from the sudden attack. He opened his eyes fully and looked around, seeing Aina’s form still standing over the pool she made no move to help him.

“If you cannot grasp this child, you might as well keep sinking.” Aina’s voice echoed through the water.

Kyle frowned at her words, he wasn’t done just yet. Willing it out, Spirit rushed to engulf him and further, he pictured the form, he pictured the shape. Not like his Frostfire, not like any other mana, he moved the Spirit as if it was part of himself, as if he was controlling a golem and expanding it.

Kyle crafted, carefully and accurately he gave it form as suddenly his own body melted along with the Spirit. His form expanded and took shape, two long furry tails, a long snout full of fangs, four legs ending in clawed paws.

Kyle rose out of the water, his form that of an ethereal two-tailed lightblue fox. Setting his front paws on the water’s surface he pushed down and pulled himself out, water splashed all around him as he did so. He looked up and met Aina’s gaze, she grinned in her own way.

“You’ve learned how to refine your form, you’ve also learned how to meld with it. Well done, now for how long can you keep it up?” she asked then yet again pounced.

The tigress and the fox clashed over the water, fang on fang and claw on claw for several hours. Aina was more resilient, physically stronger than Kyle and even though of a bulkier build capable of impossible agility but Kyle was just faster. He evaded by bending his very flexible and thin form, leaping around with small leaps and making use of his smaller frame to encircle her.

Aina found it very difficult to land a hit but when she did Kyle’s entire form shimmered, as if struggling to hold together. Kyle used hit and run tactics, sticking close but far enough to give himself time to escape as he encircled her. Seeing an opening he would attack, dealing little damage but altogether he was landing many more hits than she was which began to tally up.

Aina’s form was riddled with deep scars but she carefully continued to watch Kyle as he prowled ahead of her, he walked circles around her position, his calculative gaze sizing her up like a predator watching prey.

Suddenly Kyle lunged forward, pouncing to her side as she turned quickly to respond in kind. Kyle quickly clawed at her back leg when she suddenly bit down on his left tail, but before she could pull on it he even more suddenly dispersed his form.

Kyle’s Spirit lost it’s shape and flowed quickly over the tigress then reformed behind her, making use of the surprise and positioning he pounced again this time onto her back and forcing her down into the water as he bit down on the back of her neck.

Aina snarled in surprise as she rolled around to get Kyle off her back, but Kyle pushed off to the opposite way making use of her own movement to throw her aside as he leapt away. As Kyle landed on his feet a dozen or so meters away Aina rolled herself back to standing.

She chuckled with a growling, beast-like tone “I believe this is far enough for me, rather enough for you as well. Rest up child, tomorrow we continue.” She said before her form regained colour, looking less like a ghost and more like a physical creature again. She turned around and walked away, disappearing into the mist that was still reforming from their ruckus.

Kyle’s form shimmered before quickly shrinking, he returned to his normal form and watched as she left. He pondered something as he glanced around “Where exactly…do I rest up at?”

She gave no further answer.