Four years ago

“What just happened?” Shocked beyond belief Karim who was in the middle of a run quickly stopped, looking at his body in bewilderment.

Just a minute ago he was on the verge of giving up, his joints were crying out in pain and his mind fading on the brink of passing out however, Lark had taught him that the only way to grow stronger was to surpass his limits.

Thus, any thoughts about stopping or undoing the weights attached to his ankles, chest and arms were quickly thrown out of the window.

‘I don’t want to ever feel that again.’ Karim told himself.

The fear of the force within him and the fact that it had the power to end him at any time drove him to try harder. The force had a grasp on his soul, or at least that was what it felt like, and at any moment like a bomb it could choose to detonate and he would cease to exist.

However, as these thoughts were running through his head Karim felt a sudden change in his body. His breathing suddenly got less taxing, the burning pain also disappeared and his exhaustion like a desert mirage, abruptly disappeared.

“I’ve broken through.” He exclaimed, pumping his fist in excitement but before he could get too happy the force all of a sudden reacted. Bracing himself for one its threats, Karim closed his eyes. The threats were never painful yet given the choice, he would prefer to experience pain. Instead, what he got was a feeling akin to having your soul plunged into endless void, with no sound, no life, no existence. It was like being cut off from the Universe, abandoned to nothingness for all time.

That would be his fate should he refuse to comply with the force’s wishes. And so, he prepared himself but what happened was not what he expected. Instead of the threats the force sent out a wave of blue energy so faint it was almost unnoticeable disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared.

“What just happened?” He could feel no effect from that wave but for some reason, to Karim it felt like a signal of some kind.

“Is this praise?” He wondered. However, before he could process these thoughts Lark appeared suddenly from the shadows.

“Not bad. You persevered, exceeded your limits and you got rewarded. Your capacity should have increased.”

……….

Present day

“Not bad. A few more weeks of this and you’ll directly graduate from the genius title to the monster title.” Said Lark, looking at a worn-out Karim, splayed out on the floor of one of the castle training grounds.

He then moved towards a corner of the grounds and picked up a metallic device that looked like the miniature statue of an elephant. There were exquisite gold carvings on the surface of the elephant with two glowing red gems where there should be eyes releasing a beastly pressure to the surrounding area.

He then flipped a switch on the device and the elephant’s eyes ceased glowing, the pressure it was releasing receding like the ocean tide.

“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d be able to train whilst withstanding the pressure from a level four spirit beast for as long as you did. It was supposed to be only ten minutes, but you seemed fine, so I forgot to tell you until just now. Anyway, this can only help you. Although this spirit tool only mimics the aura and pressure of the level four flame elephant and is only about halfway accurate in doing so, it still makes for some nice, intensive work outs.”

Unable to speak and lacking the energy to glare Karim chose to ignore his ever-talkative uncle, saving his energy to recover.

That signal from four years ago after his physical body broke through and his capacity increased to being able to digest the energy in level two spirit food, had been on his mind more and more lately.

At the time he thought the signal did nothing other than serve as the force acknowledging his breakthrough, but the next time Kufu visited him after that incident, Karim noticed something. The intentions as well as feelings of envy and pity that one of Kufu’s car drivers would always project, he found for the first time ever that he could shut them off. The force no longer notifying him of those feelings.

Before that with help from meditation and breathing techniques taught to him by Lark, he could suppress the bad intentions and feelings of others to an extent but never once was he able to shut it off completely.

So, was this caused by the force? Was that wave of energy the reason for his sudden ability to control what intentions the force transmitted to him? Karim did not know, perhaps his breakthrough was what allowed him to do so but to find out definitively he would need to breakthrough again and with his current training, the spirit medicine and spirit food he was getting closer to answers.

“Here are some recovery pills, take them and in five minutes we’ll get back to it.” Said Lark, helping Karim up.

…….

Watching from the balcony of his chambers that sat on the highest floor of the largest tower overlooking the entire castle grounds, the old master slightly frowned.

Snapping his fingers, a black door made entirely of shadow appeared behind him. A few seconds later, Karim’s father Nazil walked through the door.

“You called father.”

“How goes the little one’s studies?” The old master asked.

“He’s progressing rapidly. Lark estimates that before he leaves for the Academy, Karim will be able to digest spirit food of the third level but…you already knew that.” Replied a curious Nazil.

“What I want to know is not the boy’s progress, I can see that from here. How goes his studies into matters of the House?”

“Lark has declined to teach him. I’m in the process of finding him a suitable teacher.” Said Nazil, sighing.

“Why?” The old master asked, turning to face his son.

“He says he doesn’t know enough to teach him but I suspect he just doesn’t want their relationship to change. All these years the child has known little to nothing about us, to be the one to bring him into this life, I don’t think Lark wants to be the one to do it.”

“I see.” Said the old master, lost in thought. “There’s no need to find a teacher, I’ll do it. Go ahead and make the necessary arrangements. Two hours, every day from now on.”

“Father, you don’t have to bother yourself. You should be resting after...”

“Enough.” Said the old master, stopping Nazil. “I’m aware of my condition. However, this is something I need to do. We teach him well and he will become a pillar. We don’t, and he might end up like them.”

The chamber fell into silence with the old master looking at his son and Nazil hesitating to speak.

“Even in a joke of a world such as this one… Never mind, you may leave.”