Jack watched as Turrel turned and jogged back to the opposite side of the campus. Turrel’s movement caused thoughts to flash in his mind about people with physiques that would lead one to assume a level of athleticism that simply wasn’t there.

  He opened the doors in front of him and continued through the labyrinth of hallways on autopilot. He tried to absorb everything that had been happening to him.

  For now, his takeaway was that, while he might explode due to his body's unique composition, if he could get control of everything, then he was essentially some sort of mana money-printing machine made human and that was probably not a good thing.

  Flopping down onto the unnecessarily uncomfortable bed, he laid back and did what he did best when things got confusing. He emptied his mind of all thoughts and put all of the responsibility onto future Jack. His eyes closed and everything faded to black as sleep took him away from his worries.

  Jack woke up feeling well-rested and started his daily routine. Well, as much as possible in his new environment. After finishing up he waited on his bed for a few minutes; every time he had woken in the past few days, Turrel had appeared at his door shortly after.

  Getting bored with waiting, he ventured out on his own to get food while he waited. Wandering the halls again, his mind drifted to what sort of practical training was going to happen, what induction did he mean? Wasn’t this whole thing the induction?

  Jack walked up to one of the fancy self-serving vending machines and picked his breakfast option. As he listened to the machine whizz and whirr, he heard the door leading out onto the grounds open and a voice call out.

  “Ahh, Jack, sorry I was busy with our guest, I want to introduce you to Lord Montarg,” Turrel gestured to the tall man beside him.

  “He will be assisting with your induction and training over the next few days. He is a very important man, being a newly raised Shardlord, so try to show a little bit of respect please.” Turrel said as he walked toward Jack with a stern look in his eyes.

  “Ohhh a Shardlord, that sounds pretty important, right? Anything with Lord in the title sounds fancy. Actually I think I read a story about Shardlords or something similar. Do you have like a cool sentient sword that changes shape? It’s not like royalty, right? Should I bow?” Jack rambled as he walked towards the men and stuck out his hand towards Lord Montarg.

  Lord Montarg was a tall man, standing a little taller than Turrel and having a very similar look about him. However, where Turrel almost looked like his muscular physique was unearned, Montarg’s seemed well-deserved. His gait as he walked and even his posture as he stood screamed of athleticism and danger. His hair was a darker brown colour cropped much shorter than Turrel's.

  His face was clean-shaven but showed signs of stubble matching the hair on his head. His features were much more angular than Jack would have expected, looking almost sharp in some places; his chin almost came to a point with only a small curve to it, giving him an almost cartoonesque feel to his otherwise extremely masculine appearance.

  He looked at Jack’s outstretched hand and glanced at Turrel for a moment who gave a slight nod and motioned with his head. Lord Montarg then reached out and clasped Jack’s hand and shook it vigorously. His grip was strong, and as he let go, Jack's hand throbbed.

  Already feeling a little insecure standing between the two tall and unfairly muscular men, there was no way he could let it show. Lord Montarg looked down at Jack and compounded his insecurities as his deep voice sounded.

  “It is nice to meet you, Jack. Turrel has told me a bit about you. You seem to have intrigued him and, well, catching his attention means you have caught mine.” He winked at Jack. Jack wondered if that attention was going to be all positive.

  “Also, while it is just the three of us, please forget the title. I personally am not a fan of them. While it affords me a level of respect and lets me get away with doing what I want most of the time, I come from humble roots and like to escape the pomp whenever possible.” Lord Montarg said.

  “Some things are hard to turn off once you practise for long enough. I understand your people tend to have a fascination with shortened names, please feel free to just call me Monty for now.” He finished with a smile.

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  Jack looked at the man, still trying to get a feel for him but he seemed genuine at first glance. Turrel had a cheeky grin plastered on his face while Monty was introducing himself, so Jack just nodded.

  “Okay, Monty. Nice to meet you. I’m Jack, but you can call me Jacko if you want,” Jack said with a smile, as a brief look of confusion passed over Monty’s face and he glanced at Turrel whose smile did not change.

  “Mind if I eat before we start or are we in a bit of a rush?” Jack asked, grabbing his now prepared meal and walking towards a table.

  “Of course please go ahead,” Monty said. Turrel looked like he was about to object but let it pass.

  After the men awkwardly watched him eat his breakfast he eventually asked.

  “So what’s the plan? What is Monty here for?”

  “Lord Montarg or Monty here is one of my previous inductees, as well as being a friend I have kept in contact with since he has been out in the world closing rifts left and right.” Monty shook his head a little but didn’t speak up.

  “He is here because like you, he also has a prime frequency. His is different but it will be very useful to keep you safe while we begin our training. He is also much, much, much more powerful than me or the machines here so if something were to go wrong with your amplification he will be able to deal with it.”

  Jack seemed intrigued, Turrel mentioned he was at like Tier One or Two. Jack didn't know if a low number was good or bad so he didn’t pay it much attention at the time. He just assumed that Turrel must be strong if he was teaching everyone.

  To have him emphasize how much stronger Monty was sparked a curiosity inside him, something that had been building since all of this talk of mana began. He kept hearing about it, but the fact he might get to actually use it soon made his heart race.

  “So what can you do, Mont...” Jack started to ask before Turrel put his finger in front of Jack's mouth to shush him.

  “Not yet, Jack, let's keep this quick and simple, okay? We have a lot to do. Monty will be here to syphon the mana away from you if it looks like the buildup is too strong. I am sorry to seem blunt about this, Jack, but we are on a bit of a timer sadly." Turrel bobbed his head as he considered what to say.

  “Your test yesterday is not yet completed. When we start the test, the machine begins recording the results. When the test is completed it sends the information back to a home base in the Centre. From there it is reviewed and the information is processed and then we get sent the materials and equipment we need to conduct the ‘Induction’.” Turrel continued in an uncharacteristic rush.

  “Each facility has an emergency kit and some very strict guidelines on how and when to use them. In that kit is an induction orb. I am planning on using that kit to conduct your Induction now and get your first body modification before continuing your test.”

  Turrel glanced over at Monty who for the first time since they had been walking seemed to have lost the smile on his face as the seriousness of the situation became apparent.

  “I have to finish your test within three days of starting it. That leaves us with two days left. Normally the induction takes a bit out of people. They need time to rest and let their body heal properly.” Turrel made an apologetic face as he looked at Jack and continued.

  “This is another place where Montarg will be helping as well. Like you he is able to manipulate the Life frequency and is an accomplished healer in his own right. We are going to try to give you a bit of a jump start to get you back up on your feet.”

  “We have two priorities here, Jack.” Turrel held up one finger. “The first is to keep you safe so you can finish your test. To do that we are going to need to connect you to the Origin. That will begin your body's modification process, allowing your body to better deal with mana.”

  Turrel held up a second finger.

  “The second priority is to come up with some way to keep the level of your amplification a secret until we have a plan for how to handle that. In this facility it isn't a big deal, it’s just us. But in the outside world, very powerful people will be very interested in you.”

  Jack looked back at the two men next to him, taking in their serious expressions as he considered Turrel’s words.

  Jack was normally pretty laid back, but any situation where he didn't have to go boom boom or get disappeared was preferable to one where he did.

  This was one of those situations where there was really only an illusion of choice. He had to do whatever it was that Turrel and Monty suggested; he wasn’t in a position to make demands, and if he decided to do nothing this would just happen again in two years.

  This all seemed a little rushed and clandestine but it seemed like Turrel was putting himself at risk to do this. Whether that was for his own personal gain or out of a sense of duty, it didn’t really matter to Jack. So, even knowing it might seem a little nonchalant, he just decided to go with the flow.

  “That’s fine Turtie, seems like a bit of a hassle, but I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. Let's get about it; wasting daylight and all that.” Jack replied.

  Tilting his head a little, Turrel looked down at Jack. He seemed like he wanted to say more but Jack kept on walking and Turrel just shook his head and followed.