“In the vast history, not once has an appointment been denied.” Member of the Court of the Beyond.

  Hugh stood there, dumbfounded. He wondered, “Did Diosk leave? Was that it? Do I just have to train?”

  His thoughts weren’t left to dwell too long though as he heard Heron cough before saying, “It looks like you have a powerful master…”

  Hugh voiced out his first thought, “Did he leave?”

  Heron wondered what Hugh had been through, or rather, hadn’t been through since that was his first question.

  “He left. I guess everything now falls on your shoulders and you have to train your energy. Did he say anything about the inheritance?”

  Hugh shook his head and said, “No. He just asked where I got it, which gave me the chance to mention you…”

  Heron was relieved that Hugh had said something, as he was taking a risk by refusing to complete tasks as a slave. Another week and he would have just been executed. He wouldn’t let it get that far and had already decided to just do what was asked on the 5th day out from reaching that point. Nonetheless, he was still relieved Hugh didn’t leave him there as every day of refusal after the term of work was decided would add more to his plate.

  Heron said, “Thanks, kid.”

  As he plopped himself into a chair in the living area they were standing in, Hugh asked, “What do we do now?”

  Heron took a deep breath and said, “Find something in the pantry to cook and let’s eat. Then you have to keep training.”

  Hugh asked, “What will you do?”

  Heron shrugged and looked to be contemplating before he said, “I don’t think I have much of anything to do here since it relies on you so just improve, and I’ll think of something.”

  Hugh felt Heron’s reaction to the situation was a little odd, but he had no problems with it since he wanted to improve his strength to begin with. Deciding to take a look around the house they were in, Hugh first walked to the cooking area and found it stocked with several dry foods.

  He was glad there wasn’t anything to worry about on that side, though he didn’t see any dried meats and wondered if he would have to hunt himself. He carried on and walked into several other rooms. Three of which were obviously bedrooms, one a bathroom, and the last and largest room he entered felt different as he stepped through the entryway.

  Hugh could almost taste the energy in the room, a flavor unknown to him. It was like the room left his mouth watering for a sumptuous dinner and his body yearned to absorb the ambient energies. The feeling was wholly opposite to what he felt after being teleported as he felt more energetic the longer he stood there wondering about the change.

  Hugh looked around to find a weapon rack along one wall, that seemed to hold several wooden weapons. There was nothing else in the large room, making the rack seem a little out of place. The floor had some design Hugh had never seen before as he brought his attention toward it. There were lines and shapes all seeming to congregate into a whole that drew attention to the very center of the room. The center itself was blank by several paces except for a partially raised pad Hugh was curious about.

  He had never seen a room like this before and as he stood there trying to figure it all out, he jumped up in surprise after a voice came from behind.

  Heron said, “Looks like you have a nice room to train in. Even has a formation.”

  Heron noticed Hugh jump at his words, but didn’t pay it too much mind.

  Hugh said inquisitively, “Formation?”

  Heron grunted for his initial response before offering a slight explanation, “Yeah. Those markings on the ground are part of a formation that makes the energy in the room more abundant. Don’t tell me you can’t feel the difference in here?”

  Hugh didn’t really get it but understood the most general sense. He said, “I feel a difference… I just didn’t know that was what it was.”

  Heron’s curiosity about the kid finally got the better of him so he asked, “Don’t even know what a formation is. Where are you from exactly?”

  Hugh was uncertain if he wanted to explain but amidst his hesitation, realized he really couldn’t explain it in great detail anyway.

  Slowly at first, Hugh began to put words together, “I’m from a village… In the middle of forested lands. There was, is no ambient energy there and everybody is a mortal.”

  Heron understood quite a lot about Hugh with that bit of info and thought before saying, “Now that you’ve been found to have talent, your life will be very different from whatever you knew in that unblessed land you are from.”

  Finally feeling a situation where he could ask more questions after holding his tongue for so long, Hugh asked, “Do you know where we are?”

  Heron shook his head, “I only know that we are no longer in the Cowr kingdom. I’ve been to all the towns with teleporters and have not seen this one before.”

  Hugh quickly asked a couple of questions without breath, “Which one are we in? How far away are we? Can I pay somebody to send a message to my parents? I know the closest town is Belford.”

  The rapid-fire words Hugh spoke made Heron frown, “Whoa, kid. I don’t know where we are since I hadn’t been outside of the Cowr kingdom before, but even the town we were in, Kippur, was pretty far from Belford. Belford’s a town on the outskirts anyways, so I guess that makes sense if you are from around there and have never been tested.”

  Hugh asked, “On the outskirts?”

  Heron replied, “Yeah. It’s near the eastern edge of the kingdom close to the unblessed lands between Gardath and Cowr. And, from what I saw on the walk here, I think we are somewhere in Gardath. Though, I don’t know which town. Never heard of Diosk before either since mortals don’t really get to mingle with cultivators. At least not in any meaningful way except doing what they say.”

  Hugh already understood that for the most part from the little bit he had seen so far. He was about to ask another question when the sound of the front door being closed caught both of their attention.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  A female voice immediately followed, “Hello? I’m looking for Hugh.”

  Both Heron and Hugh walked out of the training room and back into the main room. Hugh saw a woman standing near the door with her arms crossed with a demeanor of not quite impatience, but definitely gave off the feeling that she felt there were better things to do.

  The woman, spotting the two walk into view unfolded her arms and said, “There you are.”

  She immediately walked up toward Hugh and said, “Come on. I’m here to show you around.”

  Hugh was a little hesitant since he had no idea who the lady was, but he didn’t really have much of a say as he barely saw her hand reach out, grasping his arm and yanking him over to her side. His only reaction was to try and stay on his feet as he was jolted from one position to the next, only managing to get out a short, “Who are you?”

  The lady stopped for a moment and said, “Oh. Right. I’m Hatia. Now lets go, I have other things I need to do.”

  Hugh half hopped along as they left through the door, somehow making it smoothly through without trouble while Hatia spoke again before closing it, “Don’t wander around and maintain the place for Hugh. We’ll be back shortly.”

  As soon as the door closed, Hatia let go of Hugh’s arm and spoke to him, “Follow me.”

  With that, Hatia began walking away with seemingly slow steps that defied Hugh’s understanding of walking. With each step looking as normal as the last, they still obviously carried her further than they should have. The incongruence left Hugh in a slight daze watching from behind as even the cultivators he saw in Kippur and Diosks steps never had such an odd effect.

  Hatia had only taken five steps, though it had carried her about 30 feet before she turned around. “Hey. Snap out of it and catch up.”

  Attention drawn, he quickly began to move his legs to attempt to catch up as Hatia turned once again, stepping carrying her farther away.

  Hugh struggled to follow, almost running behind her as they made their way toward a structure in the distance. Hatia waited outside the door, staring at Hugh the whole way as he stopped near her trying to catch his breath.

  After a few moments, she said, “Alright. You really have just barely started and have a long way to go. Luckily, you are not too late to start or else you probably wouldn’t even be here. There aren’t really many rules here and you’re not really strong enough to break too much anyways, so I’ll just give you the short version.”

  Hugh gulped as Hatia’s tone carried a more stern tone in contrast to earlier.

  Hatia continued, “The first rule is that while here, your only concern shall be to cultivate. At the bare minimum, you must reach Condensation before even thinking about doing anything else. This is as much for your safety as it is to keep you from annoying or bothering anybody else. Though…”

  Hatia tapped her index finger to her chin lightly as if in thought.

  Hugh wondered how it would be for his safety and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander while Hatia was obviously thinking of something. Of course, the first thing his mind jumped to was how he had died in his previous life in just an instant.

  He was brought back to reality as Hatia spoke again, “Since you aren’t being bratty, I’ll give you a tip. You really should try to reach the Liquid stage before seeking anybody else out. Since you are here and master Diosk brought you back himself, I assume your talent isn’t bad and it won’t take too long. Plus, if you do that, then you won’t be looked down on by the others. Either way, that’s your only task. The second rule and all that doesn’t really matter right now since the energy density is plenty high at your level but that still brings me to this building.”

  Hatia turned halfway away from Hugh and opened her palm as if to present the building much larger than the place he was given to stay in.

  Hugh looked back over to the building with its pale walls and crimson roof. It was two stories tall and strangely had no windows on any of the walls that he could see. There was only a single step leading to the entryway, which was a door larger and more grand than any he had walked through before. The only comparison he could think of was the entrance to the auction house he was sold in.

  Hugh wondered how grand the main structure off in the distance would be.

  Would it have similar intricate designs laid across the door?

  Would the frame itself shine more brilliantly than the subtle red glow that already made this entrance seem so magical?

  Hugh wasn’t wholly enthralled by it though as the materials itself were not gaudy like the gem-encrusted structures and objects detailed in so many stories he had heard of the rich and powerful. No, this gave off a presence that seemed to establish itself above things that were just shiny.

  Perhaps it was the obvious attention he had given the entrance, or just that Hatia would speak on it next, but she continued speaking.

  “You will be able to enter the Nexus when you reach Condensation to find out more. It’s actually the Inner Sector Nexus, but there’s no need to say all that since you’ll be stuck here until then, and probably longer. That is, unless you don’t progress at all and are instead kicked out or something.”

  Hugh noticed she carried on talking though it seemed to be more inner thoughts than information as she was speaking a little more quietly as she went.

  “Then you would probably be sent somewhere as a slave to pay for however much you cost him. But, that shouldn’t happen since he was brought here and he probably has really good talent. Too bad he wasn’t able to get that pill instead. Now I’ll probably have to…”

  It was at this point that Hugh could no longer hear the words Hatia was speaking so softly. He wasn’t in a rush either, hoping he could get more information if he wasn’t rude.

  Hugh had found long ago, that if he let people finish their thoughts before continuing the conversation, he was much more likely to have questions answered than if he interrupted right away.

  Unfortunately for Hugh, Hatia seemed to come back to herself quickly and said, “Alright. So once you reach Condensation, but preferably the Liquid stage. You can enter the Nexus and things will be picked up from there. Until then, everywhere else is restricted and you’ll probably die, so I’ll see you when you are stronger.”

  Hatia then walked up to the entrance and opened it before stepping inside and disappearing from Hugh’s sight.

  Hugh tried to see what was inside out of sheer curiosity, but all he could see was another door, which reminded him of the small waiting area in the village heads house.

  Hugh didn’t think too much of it and stood there to think for a moment before he began slowly walking back to where his designated house was.

  Hugh didn’t know how to take any of what was really going on except for being partially thankful that he didn’t end up in a situation where he would be killed again.

  All he really knew was that he had to at least make it to the Condensation stage, and though he was already at mist, he had no idea how long it would take to get to the next as he had not even tried to seriously take in energy again.

  There was also the sensation he had in the back of his mind that seemed to lightly tug at him to try and somehow, look, at the seed again. Hugh wasn’t 100% sure of how to do this yet but he couldn’t complain for whatever this place was and that he was taken here.

  As he reached his new home, he stepped through the door with a thought in his mind.

  At least I have the chance to get stronger.

  -

  Inside the building, Hatia walked over to the wall nearest the front as she watched Hugh with her energy. He was just standing there at the moment obviously thinking of something and Hatia frowned.

  From behind her, an aged voice spoke, “It is rude to take a gift away from the receiver.”

  Hatia clenched her teeth and took a deep breath to calm herself before replying.

  “It’s just being held until he proves he is worth it.”

  Hatia turned around to face the elder man. He was always here, always calm, and always commenting on one thing or another.

  “If he can’t even make it to condensation on his own, he doesn’t deserve it.”

  The man asked, “And liquid?”

  Hatia almost left right there and then turned to see Hugh still right outside.

  “He needs to know he can’t frolic around thinking he’s something special just because he was brought here. I mean look, even with the warning, he’s just standing outside like he owns the place.”

  The man raised his eyebrows and then shook his head left and right, deciding to leave it alone.

  Hatia saw that and reacted, “What? If he was at least halfway competent, he would at least walk and think at the same time. Even mortals can do that. He doesn’t deserve it!”

  The man knew there was no point arguing at the moment but he also knew that she would think back to the moment sooner or later and remember with a clearer mind.

  Hatia noticed Hugh finally turn and begin to slowly walk back toward the house he was staying in as quiet filled the room.

  Once Hugh got out of sight, Hatia said, “Finally. I can’t believe he took so long.”

  She started for the door to get back to her own training room. As she was about to leave she heard the old man speak again.

  “The world is wide, Hatia. You saw what he was doing but not how he was doing it. Not all are what they seem.”

  The man watched as Hatia paused for a brief moment before quickly leaving.

  “It’s a pity she can’t discern it yet.”