"Why do you fight Jack?" Zachias asked him in between bouts of sparring.

"You taking a poll?"

Jack could never get a read on Zachias. The big inscrutable bastard was just too different than anyone he had ever met. Plus, his vision was clouded by the intense hatred he felt for the body snatching titan.

"I mean why did you fight me? Why did you not accept my offer of absolute personal satisfaction?" Zachias clarified. "I have had plenty of time to go through your memories now. I have witnessed how much you hate yourself. So why? Why put yourself through all of this when you do not have to?"

Jack looked around and saw that, yes, his friends were listening to this conversation. Embarrassed, and royally pissed, he looked to the ground, clenched his jaw, and refused to respond to Zachias.

"Very well" Zachias said with a sigh. "Now that you have all learned to manifest your qi, you have reached a point in your paths where I cannot guide you directly. I can only give you a vague idea of where to go from here.

“You must continue to absorb and practice manipulating qi. Also, you should attempt to deepen your understanding of both personal and ambient qi. This will always be beneficial to your advancement."

Zachias took a moment to look around and make sure they were all paying attention.

"However, now that you are nearing the end of what you can accomplish with qi alone, it is time for your next lesson. It is time for you to learn to use your soul."

He took a moment to let that sink in as the humans shared a look between them.

"Souls are real?" Matt asked, interested. "What are they made of?"

As always, Zachias face flashed with annoyance before answering Matt.

"That depends on what you mean by real. When I refer to your soul, I mean the power of consciousness. Every conscious mind has the power to alter the world around it. What we expect to happen is more likely to happen because we expect it.

“Quantum particles even behave differently when they are observed by conscious minds. We call the power of consciousness chakra, and if you learn to become one with yours, you will have taken the next step on your path."

He finished speaking and waited for them to ask their inevitably idiotic questions but they just stared at him until Jack finally spoke up.

"You already said you couldn't teach us anymore. So are you going to give us some vague directions or what?"

"One day, when I find a suitable new body, I will give you a blood-curdling lesson in respect" Zachias promised as the proud warrior shook with rage. "But for now... The key to accessing your chakra for the first time, is perfect self-understanding. You must know yourself."

"Sounds like this is going to be an easy one for you Jack" Matt said with a snicker. You spend more time than anyone knowing yourself."

"Not since I got an ancient alien asshole stuck in my head." Jack replied without missing a beat. "That actually might be a great way to drive him crazy though. Good idea."

"I feel that this is not a productive discussion." Zachias interrupted. "Many warriors in the Universe never take a single step out of the Mortal Realm because they refuse to look at themselves honestly. If you do not master this power, you will be easy to dominate. That is why I asked you why you fight. You will need to understand your central motivation to find your chakra."

"What does chakra do when we are able to access it?" Jack asked.

"Unlike qi, chakra is not a physical substance. It is more of a mental phenomenon. You will be able to manipulate the world around you. Not to mention it will make wielding your own qi much easier."

"Okay Kakashi Sensei" Jack quipped. "But before we start knowing ourselves all over the place, we need to talk about our next move."

"Jack is right" Matt agreed. "We've been training non-stop for a week now, but we can't live like a bunch of warrior hermits forever. Now that we don't need a teacher holding our hand for this next step, it is time to start making some moves."

"No" Zachias insisted. "Until you reach a certain threshold, you are better off staying hidden."

"I'm not sure that's the best plan" Jack argued. "We are just waiting for something to happen. As things stand, we have no way to manipulate events in our favor."

"So what do you think we should do?" Arthur inquired.

"Well for starters, we need to find a way to gather information" Matt proposed. "We need to know what is happening in the world as soon as possible. If we wait to see something on the news, then the story will already be written. We want to be the ones writing the story."

"Do we even know what we want that story to look like?" Arthur asked seriously. "We don't have enough information about the rest of the Universe to make a plan for the future."

"And that is why it is time for a certain blue skinned meathead to crack an egg of knowledge on the subject" Jack demanded.

Zachias could tell that they would not be put off this time.

"Fine" he said. "But you might as well meditate while we go into the simulation. Training is still the highest priority."

They agreed and focused on drawing in qi by spinning theirs faster, and allowed Zachias to bring their minds into the simulated world. This time, instead of a strange alien field, they were standing on the desolate ground of a dead world or moon with a clear sky full of so many bright stars, it may as well have been before sunset for all the light that was cast on them.

"What is it that you want to know?" he asked.

"What do we need to know?" Jack countered. "You have barely told us anything about the greater universe other than in the most broad strokes. You said that there are different factions constantly at war that will come to consume our planet and pick its bones clean. But what do the different factions look like? Who should we be aiming to work with?"

Zachias took a moment to think about what he should tell them.

"There are many different factions and no way to know which ones will come. The first thing that you should know is that your world is already changing. When my body died, a massive amount of qi was released into the world. Already, those on your planet who were naturally aligned with their energy will be noticeably stronger."

"Okay, so Giannis is about to have one hell of a season" Jack joked. "What factions are the most likely to make their way out to our neck of the Milky Way? And how do we know they aren't already here? You said that Rafael is a real angel, but I'm pretty sure he's been part of our mythology on Earth for thousands of years."

"I found that strange as well" Zachias agreed. "When I was going through your memories, I saw that many of your world's myths and legends are eerily similar to real figures in the Universe. It may be that I am not the first visitor that your world has seen."

Jack absolutely hated to hear that the unwelcome visitor in his head was sifting through his memories.

"What about your faction?" Arthur asked. "Should we try to work with them?"

"No. They would kill or enslave you on sight." Zachias responded casually.

"What a surprise" Jack chimed in sarcastically. "The asshole that tried to steal my body comes from a whole clan of assholes." Zachias rolled his eyes.

"There is no faction out there that will provide you a hot meal and sanctuary out of the goodness of their hearts. Every powerful group becomes powerful by looking out for their own interests first. You do not stand a chance of surviving unless you wake up to this reality." Zachias insisted. "Will you be the predator, or will you be the prey."

He stared them down until they all looked away.

"So what do you think we should do?" Jack asked softly after a few moments of tense silence.

"What you have been doing. If you are able to master chakra, you will have a chance, however small, of surviving. For an insignificant and weak world such as this, the representatives that they send here will likely be insignificant and weak. Though you do have a point about gathering information."

He looked Jack in the eyes and pointed to Matt with a huge blue thumb.

"Send the shadow blade out to spy on your realm’s halls of power."

Matt narrowed his eyes.

"You're just trying to get rid of me because you don't like me aren't you?" he accused.

Zachias smiled at the thought of getting rid of Matt.

"I think we should also keep an eye on the woods where Zachias landed. Someone is bound to come looking for him eventually." Jack said, interrupting their argument. "And while we are on the subject, we should talk about how you came to land on Earth with a hole in your chest."

Zachias' silver eyes widened in outraged surprise.

"I will not discuss it other than to say that my revenge will be excruciatingly terrible to behold" he said with a snarl.

"Will they come looking for you to finish the job?" Matt asked and Zachias considered his answer for a moment.

"He would never come to this world himself" Zachias declared. "He would see it as beneath him."

Jack put his face in his hands and massaged his temples with his fingertips.

"What's wrong Jack?" Arthur asked, concerned.

"You know that I would do absolutely anything to save my family" Jack responded sounding exhausted. "But it just seems like everything is a half-step away from falling apart. Do you really think the three of us can hold it all together?"