At least, Carnail didn't lie. The day after his ordeal, he stumbled out of the hut provided for him, not used to his new body yet... or his blindness. Thankfully, Escar waited for him just outside, and guided him at his master's behest. Avo hoped for the training to be adjusted to his new challenges... However, Carnail had other ideas.

“Good, You're here ! As before, the warriors will give you a head start...” Avo didn't move. Carnail asked puzzled : “You should go, you know ? They'll beat you up otherwise !”

The young namekian was left speechless : he wanted to protest, but he feared the pitiful head start would then come to an end... Carnail wasn't one to be lenient. Or he didn't appear to be. With a sigh, Avo started running towards what he assumed was the direction of the forest. He stumbled, hit himself against low hanging branches, and even a tree... Still he kept going. Because he could already hear the sinister laughs of his pursuers...

Avo didn't know it was possible but he did even worth than the day before ! At the end of the day, he was exhausted, covered in bruises and scratches he was mentally too weak to heal. He couldn't recall anything from his theoretical classes, and he couldn't even change onehair from his new form... Needless to say, the young namekian felt a little discouraged, right now. As he crashed in front of his hut after his last session, he distinctly heard his master's voice :

“Take heart, kid ! You weren't as bad as some of my other students... Not the best, but... Not the worst either. Think of your goal for coming here. Do you think this sorcerer you mentioned learned his magic in a day or two ?”

Then, the weight of Carnail's mind on his lifted and he was alone, contemplating. Although it was the first time a mental connection like this one didn't make him feel as if someone had taken a hammer to his head, Avo thought about his master's words. The namekian wanted a power sufficient to save his planet, if the need ever arose... Did he think he could just ask for it and be instantly rewarded ? No ! That's why he didn't wishfor it in the first place ! So, there was only one thing for him to do...

His thoughts filled with his torments to come, Avo sighed and got up again, dragging his foreign body to the comfort of his shack. He tried to think positive... He was finally meeting his people, getting to know them. The image of their savage grins and seemingly sadist nature gave him pause... He really wondered if Bana wasn't wrong in his assessment of their race. The only other namekian on earth had turned bad and although these ones weren't, per say, they were far from the peaceful and welcoming people his genitor described !

Thankfully, his own mental torture ended as soon as his head touched the itchy hay that served as his bed (or hay-like plant rather). His night went by almost instantly it seemed and he was dragged to the field again. Apparently, even though his race didn't normally require much sleep, his current training regiment was too much for him... A night's sleep every day still wasn't enough !

In spite of that, it continued. Every day, he exercised in the spartan way Carnail prescribed. Little by little, Avo was starting to get better control over his magic power (otherwise called mana, according to his master).

First, he learned to see. It was so weird for him the first time, he managed it ! To see without eyes... It meant he wasn't limited by his field of vision. Everything around him appeared clearly ! At least, until a few meters away that is... The rocks, trees, animals and insects... He could even see the wind ! And the air displaced by his pursuers spears...

As soon as Avo found his sight, Carnail increased the difficulty of his exercise (again !). Now, the warriors attacked him with weapons ! Aiming to really hurt him. After the first few claws lost, he had to find a way to urge his cells on, force them to regrow his limbs... It was, as his master said, a gruesome task. One that didn't come by easy, either ! Even after the warriors demonstrated how they did it... Although they didn't use magic, Avo could feel their power gather near their torn part, charging them with power. Avo did the same thing... without success.

For a long while at least. One day, his theoretical classes finally came in handy ! As he was running while manipulating his mana, he had the brilliant idea of changing its elemental alignment from neutral to life. Idly, he thought how despite what Carnail and Escar said, this element just didn't mean life to him. More like... body enhancement or manipulation. Even if it did have the added effect of healing him of injuries and thereby, granting him a new life... In the end, it worked and Avo experienced for the first time the regrowth of a limb. It was exhausting and painful ! Like millions of ants coursed his yet non-existent parts...

There was one upside to his progress ! Once Carnail judged him ready, the stretching hell ended ! When he heard that, he almost did a little joy dance. Only now, he had to learn to do it on his own...

“I almost wished I'd learn about weapons instead...” he uttered one day.

Carnail rounded up on him right away :

“Because you think this would be different ? Ah ! Warriors train their body for years before truly learning to use weapons ! A clumsy warrior is a warrior who will stab himself or his allies. It's a little different but... their training bears much resemblance to yours in this instance. Now, shut up and get to stretching !”

“How is it any different then ?” Avo asked weary.

“Well, warriors are most limited in their transformations. They can use their arms and legs like whips, grab someone or something from afar, grow to be as tall as giants. However, once I'm through with you, you'll also be able to survive in the vacuum of space, pass unnoticed on any world and face true behemoths ! What you'll do with what I teach you though... is up to you.”

Avo stopped complaining and continued training. Just like the rest, his nature magic (now thatseemed more likelifemagic) improved tremendously. Soon, he was left an entire field to manage on his own. He had to weed, use them to plow it, plant and grow vegetables, trees, vines and many other things. Living with them, he finally got an answer for all this food. In fact, they were not really eating them. They harvested and used the parts in their crafts. Mainly, their clothes and magic concoctions... Apparently, there also was another race of beings they traded the unused meat with (albeit with caution since they were just as fierce as anything else on this rock).

When his exhaustion wasn't too severe and his brain worked, even if slower than normal, he questioned the peculiarities of his race. For instance, they had teeth but didn't eat... What was the point ? Even if it was a question of evolution... That they lost their digestive systems after countless generations, why didn't they lose them, too ?

During their younger days, Sala and he studied on their own by breaking and entering into libraries at night and borrowing a few books. Of course, they had different interests... Sala was interested in technology, sciences like physics and chemistry. He, on the other hand, cared about biology because most of his powers affected it on some level... Even though he learned a lot about how to heal better, optimize the growth of a plant, they were things he didn't understand about his body... Indeed, according to the books, human bodies needed a number of things they got from their sustenance : vitamins, sugar and salt... A few other things, too. As for namekians, he presumed they had needs too but he still didn't understand how they sated them. Even though he learned way more in the past few... days ? Weeks ? Months ?

His training was so crazy he couldn't correctly recall the passage of time. Still, that didn't matter as long as he felt himself grow stronger ! The only thing giving him pause from time to time, was how he missed his human friend. He would ask himself how she was faring, what she was doing at the time and generally, worry about her safety. He had to ease his worry by reminding himself how capable the young woman was, how she grew up homeless and parentless in a world that apparently didn't want her... The best part of her was that she didn't seem bitter about her rough childhood ! On the contrary, her liveliness and positive outlook was one of the things he held onto during his training. It gave him strength and hope, but also resolve. If he had anything to say about it, Avo wouldn't let her die a second time !

Mental magic came by easier once he realized that his flight spell was fueled by this particular element. Carnail talked about many applications about this magic : telepathy, telekinesis (which he'd used unknowingly on himself ever since he was little), but also illusions and the creation of dreamscapes... There were others too, but his mystical arts master wasn't as well versed in those, and he encouraged him to continue his training on his own after he left their world... The dreamscape thingy seemed pretty interesting. The warriors and apprentices had sometimes used it to test his mind's power. Apparently, they also often used it between themselves to train when their energy reserves were low... Contrary to regular spars, dreamscape spars were only taxing on their mind, not on their bodies energy.

Over time, he managed to understand the intricacies of shamanism. According to Carnail, it had several other names... Spirit magic, witchcraft or wicca being the main ones. Basically, it was the use of knowledge, the essenceof things' manipulation in order to make a new ones. Symbolism and the possibility for mages to draw upon the energies of the world were its main points. For example, theoretically, he could create a staff using the properties of a specific wood and add gems and other trinkets containing essence of power. Escar's staff for instance. If he was correct, the Dragon Balls were another byproduct of this branch of magic. Seven gems of powers with stars to link them together, assembled to harness their respective energies and manifest a symbol of their combined power. Once their magic was exhausted, they'd become regular rocks until their cool down time had reset (or they charged up again enough energies rather). And it was all dependent on the caster's life : if he died, the ritual would come to an end and the magic inside the gems would dissipate.

The village's totem, another such manifestation of shamanism, served to ward off most of the predators from their village. Despite his hands' limitations, he managed to carve himself a few warding sculptures he could carry on himself using this knowledge. They were still pretty raw... but just like everything else, he would improve with repeated practice !

The same was true of his shape-shifting abilities. Truth was, for a long time, he was terrified of the pain he went through during the transformation process and that acted as a blockage on his mind. After the time spent in the eight circles of hell, Avo was less afraid. On the contrary, he dreaded having to spend more time with his people, going through even worse training ! So, he applied himself fully during his down time on this particular magic art...

It was true that to shape-shift meant to hurt... But, as he learned, pain was easy enough to ignore (well, maybe not exactly easy : it was doable...). Not to mention that his master told him that, when he truly mastered the ability, he'd be able to numb his nerves, or even shut them off completely. Besides, he'd learned of a much more excruciating pain : the mind's. Once or twice, his mental exhaustion had let him experience it... A splitting and blinding headache, preventing him from thinking and making him wish for it all to end. A pain seemingly without end or respite. And apparently, this was also one thing mental mages could inflict upon someone...

So, he worked very hard on his shape-shifting abilities ! At first, he could barely change his skin tone. Gradually however, the hairs on his body disappeared, his eyes grew back, as well as his antennae, his missing fingers... In a few months, he managed to get his body back ! And he was now working on changing it according to his will. On his master's advice, he decided on a limited number of forms : a battle form, one to blend in and his original. It was to prevent him from losing his identity and also so that he could truly use those forms to their utmost ! Still, his master allowed him to alter these forms according to the situation...

For example, his camouflaged version made him a clay-like person. In this form, he could shape his appearance manually, then modify his skin's composition and tone to suit a particular race in the universe... The problem was that he couldn't fight at all with it. He could cast magic, of course ! However, at the moment Avo still didn't learn much offensive magic so it was kind of pointless...

In his battle form, he was limited to changing the shape of his arms and feet with the allowance to grow a few more limbs, if need be. In this way, he trained to reduce the time of his localized transformation, giving himself a blade for an arm, a hammer, claws...

At this phase of his training, he felt it all coming together, as his time spent sparring or fleeing the warriors in the forest extended. He would now have to use everything he learned to survive and fight back against his attackers ! Healing magic for his injuries and enhancing his body to stand against trained warriors. Nature magic to hinder them. Mental magic to divert their attacks or push them back, create illusion or befuddle them. And of course, shape-shifting in order to rival their weapons...

One night at the end of his training, Carnail came to him :

“You've made a lot of progress, Avo Cado of Earth. Although you are still a fledging of the Arcane arts, your foundations are solid now. I am still not satisfied with your limited uses of what I've taught on shamanism. But I understand that its practice takes time and resources, something you're lacking at the moment... You final training will hopefully help with that. If you survive that is...”

The sadistic smile Avo was now very familiar with was back... A chill crept up his spine as his forehead was coated with sweat.