"Focus on your breathing. Clear your mind of everything but your sense of yourself. Your qi is a part of you. It is you. You have always been capable of feeling and moving it." The first thing that Zachias had them do was to meditate and attempt to sense their qi.

Matt and Arthur sat beside each other facing the same direction and Jack knelt in between them. He placed one hand on each of their chests.

At Zachias' instruction, Jack focused on sending his qi into their bodies and using it to move their own. He said that this would make it much easier for them to sense their own energy for the first time.

Jack closed his eyes and willed his qi to move down his arms. It was very strange learning to move a part of himself. No one needs to be taught how to move their arms and legs. They have instincts for that. Apparently, there were no instincts for moving qi.

He could feel his energy moving down his arms and pooling inside his hands. Jack tried sending it out of his fingertips and palms, but he was struggling to eject it from his skin. It was like trying to step outside of his own body. He looked to Zachias for advice.

"Do not try and force it out of your body. Just imagine you are reaching out with your arm. It is still a part of you even when you stretch it out."

Jack followed his instruction and stopped trying to shove the qi out of his skin, and instead imagined stretching out with a limb of energy. This time, he succeeded in sending it out of his hands and into his friends' chests. As soon as his qi entered their bodies, Matt and Arthur both flinched and gasped.

"Do you feel it?" Jack asked excited.

"No I only felt a jolt. I'm not sensing any energy yet." Arthur answered and Matt nodded with his eyes closed, refusing to lose focus.

Jack returned to sensing the qi that he had extended into his friends, and tried to use it to move theirs. Arthur's energy was warmer than Matt's and somehow more substantial. It was easier to move, and probably to sense. After a few minutes of intense meditation, his face lit up with enlightenment.

"I feel it!" Arthur shouted with a smile.

"Take hold of it with your mind and create a vortex around your ribcage that funnels down to a point just below your navel" Zachias ordered and Arthur closed his eyes and immediately began to comply.

Jack moved over to kneel directly in front of Matt and placed both hands over his heart. He reached out with his qi and attempted to use it to move Matt's energy, but it was much more difficult than Arthur's. It was like trying to grab a handful of smoke and hold onto it. He pushed more qi into Matt's body, but he still wasn't able to get a grip.

Because of this, it took Matt much longer to feel his energy. Jack just couldn't get a grip on it and was only ever able to waft it slightly. However, once he did finally sense it, he found it much easier to move and control than Arthur had or Jack for that matter. Matt was able to achieve the vortex motion before Arthur despite starting so much later.

The three friends sat in the lotus position meditating on spinning their qi faster and faster for hours.

Eventually, Matt opened his eyes and spoke flatly. "As thrilling as this is, we should talk. We need more information before we can come up with a plan."

Zachias appeared next to them looking bored. "This is the plan" he opined. "Before you have a chance of accomplishing anything, you need to train every minute of every day. Learning how to sense and move your qi is but the first and smallest step on the endless path to power."

"You said that the factions would be here soon. What are they?" Matt inquired.

Zachias looked like a man ready to swat a mosquito for a moment, but he eventually acquiesced.

"The Universe is dominated by dozens of different groups. Every once in a while, one Empire or another seizes absolute power for a time, but for the most part, it is a constant struggle. There are sects, pantheons, alliances, and coalitions all over that are constantly at war." Zachias explained.

"Soon, that everlasting war will spill into this world. They will come here and consume whatever resources they can find, including the people. Even if they do not find anything worth fighting over, they will still send their representatives here to conquer just for the status of dominating another planet in this sector."

"Why are you helping us?" Jack asked wearily. This question had been burning his tongue for hours, and he finally gave voice to it.

Zachias smirked and responded with a question of his own. "Why do you think?"

"I think you're a celestial-grade douchebag" Jack grunted angrily. "You wouldn't be doing this if you didn't get something out of it."

"You are not wrong” Zachias admitted. “I need you to survive long enough to find me a new body. I am hoping we can make a deal. I help you and your friends to survive, and you find me a new vessel. Preferably one with a strong body and a weaker will."

Zachias crossed his arms over his white armor. His silver eyes gleamed as he smiled.

"So you want me to help you mind-rape some other poor bastard?" Jack asked, absolutely horrified.

"I am not going to mind-" Zachias started and then interrupted himself. "It does not matter. We can worry about that later. As of now, you just need to worry about training. Qi is a good place to start, but having a stronger body is useless if you do not know how to use it."

“Is it finally time for a training montage?” Jack asked cheekily.

Matt added his own opinion. "Okay Mr. Miyagi, how are you going to teach us to fight if you can't even touch us?"

Zachias took a long moment to bring his rage from boiling down to a simmer before answering.

"I can create a mental simulation to give you a place to train" he declared. "As you progress, you will even be able to keep absorbing qi while simulated, but for now, I will take the three of you in and get a sense of your skill. Close your eyes, and allow me to show you our new training center."

"You want me to let you into my head?" Jack was not about to give Zachias another chance to take over his mind and body.

"I am already in your head. I want to give you a place to train. This is a resource that most in the Universe would kill for by the way, especially those at your level.”

Jack thought about this for a moment, then nodded his head and closed his eyes. He felt a mental pull and allowed his mind to be carried to an unfamiliar place.

When he opened his eyes, Jack was standing in the middle of a strange grassy field. The blades of grass were blue-green, and wider than any type of grass that Jack had ever seen.

Zachias must have modeled this simulation after another planet's environment. This belief was affirmed when Jack looked up and found a sunny sky with five moons scattered across it, casting giant shadows on the ground. The heavenly bodies orbiting the simulated planet were all colored in bright reds, blues, and greens.

His friends stood around him with slack-jawed amazement. In front of them, the bald, blue skinned warrior looked more substantial than he had as a mental projection. He turned to face the three little humans and crossed his arms.

"Now, try to kill me" he said simply. Observing the taken aback expressions on their faces, he decided to elaborate. "Remember, this is just a mental simulation. You cannot hurt me nor I you."

That was all the invitation that Jack needed. He had been wanting to punch this smug meathead in the face since he had tried to save his life and been rewarded with an attempted body snatching.

Jack used his new athleticism to the fullest, jumping high into the air and aiming a superman punch down at Zachias' massive forehead. Matt took the opportunity to aim low and Arthur, true to form, leapt straight at him, attempting to tackle him for the second time that day.

When Zachias smirked, Jack knew he was in trouble. The big guy grabbed his fist out of the air and used him like a club to smash Arthur into the ground face first.

He stepped back, avoiding Matt's pathetic attempt to grapple his right leg, and push kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. Jack and Arthur lay in a groaning heap while Matt rolled across the ground.

Jack had the sickening premonition that this would become a very common occurrence in his daily life for the foreseeable future.