19th of Late Noon. 10 201st year of the Golden Dragon.

  "Now, you are allowed to swallow the beast core. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

  "Okay wait, let's go through it really quick again. I swallow it… somehow. Then it moves into my stomach. I then grab a small bit if it-"

  "Through essence manipulation." Guanji said with purpose.

  "With essence manipulation. I then grab a small part of it and spread it over my digestive lining until it’s full of essence." Gaunji’s notes had been very thorough and he knew exactly what he had to do…in principle.

  "That is the gist of it. You will first be meditating, which will get you into the right headspace so as to access your inner eye, which you will use to visualise the process."

  "What happens if I lose control of my essence? Or what if I'm not fast enough and the core moves past my stomach and into my intestines?"

  "The stomach serves the same purpose as the Dantian does for core users. It safely separates the foreign energy from the fragile internal organs, the skin serves the same purpose but that is another lesson. Remember that when I say ‘stomach’ I truly mean your entire digestive tract, from oesophagus to anus. You will feel the essence move from one part of the digestive track to another. Now remember, your body is passively dissolving the essence on the outer layer of the core and attuning it to your own mana, like a sugar sweet. All you need to do is take hold of a small part of that outside layer, which is the only part you could actually control, and guide it to your throat, stomach, intestines and so forth. That one core should be enough for the entire first level, but your body is starved of essence, so might require more. Let me know if it runs out.”

  “Thank you, master.”

  “Of course. First, you must smoke some spiritual herbs.” Guanji said and held out what appeared to all intents and purposes like...a pipe.

  Never one to say no to some ‘spiritual herbs’, he took a pull and settled in to meditate.

  Taking a deep breath Gareth admitted mentally that he was worried, but that he was also fascinated at the prospect of doing something like cultivation. It was basically magic, and he was getting to do it. Every kid dreamed of doing magic, and while he had long since been forced to accept reality on Terra, here was the prospect of making a childhood wish come true.

  He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the tip of his nose. Over a period of a few seconds, aided by his First and Second principle in meditation: Awareness and Stillness, respectively, he consciously relaxed it, then to the top of his head, then the next body part, and the next and the next. He went through his entire body, allowing his mind to go blank and only focus on awareness and the relaxation of his body.

  After as subtle a nod as possible to Guanji, Gareth felt his arm move and reflexively opened his mouth and hand.

  The core hit his tongue and tasted simultaneously like ozone, cold ice, and the colour blue. He tried to swallow, and was fascinatedly surprised that it went down easily, like swallowing an egg yolk, just with a different flavour.

  Fuck, that was actually a horrible visual -- Gareth shuddered and refocused.

  Focusing on where he knew the oesophagus was, he followed the lump down and could weirdly 'feel' and 'see' when it hit his stomach. It was a weird sensation, similar to controlling your dream during lucid dreaming, but different. He could sense the core of essense like one knows where one's foot is even if you don't look at it.

  Using this weird sensation he had of feeling and sight, he tried to pinch off a slice of essence. It worked for a second but slipped through his mental fingers and the orb just oozed out of the way, like trying to pinch an egg yolk. His lessons had included that mental aspects were also needed to cultivate, so he enacted his will while mentally pinching. Like when he had lucid dreams, it was similar to willing something to happen or trying to fly.

  He persevered, and soon figured out the correct method. He had to make contact, expand, then rapidly contract a specific spot and pull.

  Once he had a sliver of mana, he visualised it like a string of hot sugar.

  "That is a bit too much." He heard a quiet whisper, but Gareth was so focussed he kept his concentration.

  He tried to slice the filament in two but, the moment he did it broke into thousands of microscopic spheres, and it became impossible to hold.

  "You tried to break it into too small a part, and like a water droplet losing surface tension, it fell apart." He wasn't sure that made sense in physics terms, but the analogy was close enough, along with his own experience, for Gareth to understand what went wrong.

  He tried again and pulled a smaller piece, which managed to keep surface tension. Finding the start of his stomach lining by sensing that the essence had, all of a sudden, ran into a mental obstacle, something that physically stopped him from pushing the essence forward any more. He then ‘smeared’ the essence across it.

  What did it feel like? Kind of like a spicy, pop-rock sensation, but it somehow gave that easily breathy sensation of eucalyptus. It’s refreshing and hot at the same time. Weird -- but nothing 'bad' seemed to be happening, so he spread it out as thinly as possible.

  "Good, now do that all around your digestive tract until the essence of the core runs out."

  Sounds easy enough. Gareth thought and set to work.

  Once he had figured out the ideal amount of essence to grab, the process became rather repetitive. Grab a piece, gently smear it across the inside of the stomach, not that he could feel his actual stomach, but he could feel the essence making a small layer where his stomach was. He would then wait for the tingling to stop and grab a bit more to smear on a new spot. It seemed a combination of the patience you needed for painting, and the specificity required for cooking.

  Or should I switch those analogies? Oh well, patience and specifics are key.

  It was strange sensing, if only partially, organs that had been part of him for his entire life, yet could never feel. Especially so when he came to the winding nature of the intestines. It wasn't yucky, like he could feel the poop or anything, just...new.

  He became engrossed in the process and before he knew it, the core of essence was finished. He could now feel his entire digestive tract, purely because the essence allowed for a mental image. He slowly opened his eyes and found Guanji patiently sitting in front of him.

  "How did I do?" He asked, needing some sort of approval, something he was starved of, not that he would ever admit it to anyone.

  "You did well…for your first time." He smiled and chuckled slightly to take the sting out of the jab.

  "Whooo…" Gareth took a deep breath, threw his arms into the air and fell onto his back to stretch out. "That was pretty fun."

  "Good. Find enjoyment in what you do, a job that feels like play will never be work."

  "What do you mean?" He asked while lying on his back. He had used up most of the essence in the core, but a small marble sized chunk of hot essence was still chilling in his stomach.

  “I mean; those who progress furthest down the dao of cultivation do so because they enjoy it. Those who master skills do so because they have found a passion for the art. If you enjoyed this process, actively encourage that enjoyment.” He smiled softly, wisely, and then continued on to the next topic once Gareth had shown he understood.

  "Once your stomach is fully covered with a light dusting of essence you will have to gather more and force as much essence into the organ as possible. Of course some cells will fail, which is your indication to go slower, because it will be painful."

  "I guess if it were easy, people would do it all the time."

  He chuckled once again, there was a lot of chuckling going around, "People do do it all of the time. This is the literal first step, it is going to be easy. Complexity comes later levels."

  "Oh joy, thanks for making me look forward to this whole cultivation thing."

  "I do not want you to expect an easy ride and then get thrown off because it becomes rough. It will gradually escalate in difficulty and complexity, but it will all be worth it. Now, you must finish the last little bit by feeling where the centre of your stomach is, and causing ‘the cascade’ as we like to think of it.”

  “Where is the centre?”

  “Wherever you want it to be, it is just important for you to visualise wherever you do choose as the centre.”

  “Why?”

  “Because.”

  “Okay, sure.” Gareth shrugged and rolled his eyes.

  He felt around, not really sure what he was doing but he'd barely started when he could feel a faint tugging sensation. He followed it and soon found what he would call the centre of his stomach…somehow. It was weird magic fuckery. But he completely understood what Guanji meant by a ‘cascade’ as he felt a wave of mana sweep over his entire digestive tract.

  Gareth doubled over in horrific pain as the essence in his stomach ignited. His stomach burned with the world's worst reflux, and when he looked in the mirrors lining the walls he could see a literal glow coming from his lower torso! Like the world's first biological Chinese lantern, he glowed and screamed as his entire digestive tract was seared and cleared of all filth.

  It didn't kill him, and blessedly only lasted for ten minutes, but those ten minutes might as well have been an eternity. Still not on the level of pain the Doctor had inflicted, but close.

  When it finally stopped, he lay sweating on the ground. He could tell it wasn't finished, like when you knew there was just another hiccup coming, but at least he somewhat gained control of himself. Suckily enough, Guanji didn't let him think for too long.

  Congratulations!

  You have successfully levelled up!

  You have awakened the stomach of Agni Bloodline!

  Trait: Purifying fire

  As the divine personification of the fire of sacrifice, he is the mouth of the gods, the carrier of the oblation, and the messenger between the human and the divine orders.

  Purifying fire: Poison resistance and Essence digestion.

  Poison resistance: The fires of Agni will purge most toxins directly affecting the digestive tract.

  Essence digestion: The fires of Agni will increase the integration of beast core essence by 30%.

  Congratulations!

  You have successfully cured the {Nutrients Deficiency} affliction!

  [Blessed by life]’s regeneration buff activating, regeneration rate increased from -100% to +15%.

  Higher levels in body cultivation will improve the above percentage.

  Blessed by life: As an extra-dimensional traveler, the Elder gods have granted you the [Blessed by Life] trait. You are physically immortal and will regenerate from all physical injuries, age, and diseases given enough time and resources. Regeneration rate: +15%.

  “The next step is to further cull the weak cells in your body. Here, drink this.” He leaned forward and handed Gareth a small green vial, about the size of a pill bottle.

  “What is it?” Gareth asked tiredly, his stomach was still burning, he'd been concentrating for hours now.

  “Body forging potion. Just drink it.”

  Through narrowed eyes, Gareth unstopped it and took a whiff. It didn't smell like anything.

  Fuck it, I can't exactly die -- He tipped it back and chugged it in less than a mouthful.

  “To truly have the poiso- Potion,” He looked at Gareth with raised brows as if Gareth was forcing him to lie badly, “Potion takes effect, you will have to exercise. Stand."

  “What poison did I just drink?!” Gareth exclaimed and joined Guanji in standing.

  He eyed Gareth critically before handing him a wooden sword about 1.4 metres long. "This should be a good length for you." He grabbed his own sword, slightly longer than Gareth's, which made sense because he was taller.

  “Master?!”

  He moved to the sand covered floor and Guanji said, "Follow my movements exactly."

  He lifted his sword into a guard position, Gareth just shook his head and mimicked him. Guanji gracefully shifted into a horizontal, above-head guard, Gareth mimicked. He finished with a slow but purposeful chop, and reset to a guard, Gareth mimicked.

  They continued on, Guanji showing Gareth all sorts of combos that slowly but surely started to strain his arms, his core, and his legs. It was similar to yoga in how it wasn’t strenuous through fast movements, but through long, extended poses that would tense and tire the body.

  This continued for a few hours. Just when Gareth thought they would be done, Guanji would hand him something new, like a dagger, a spear, or a bow. Every time Gareth faltered, which happened more and more towards the end, Guanji would tell him to slow down and focus on doing the movements perfectly. He would then have to start the sequence again.

  Gareth wouldn't say Guanji was a cruel taskmaster, because he never took pleasure in Gareth's pain, he never pushed him extremely hard. Just hard enough to collapse, then he could take a small break. Now, while he wasn't cruel, he was certainly exacting.

  "Come, one more." Or "Your elbow was too far away from your body, again." He didn't even raise his voice. It was actually pretty nice because Gareth could see that the goal was becoming stronger and familiarised with weapons, not out of some malicious desire to humiliate him.

  It also wasn’t like the dispassionate government teachers I’d had, who were underqualified and underpaid. At least Guanji showed interest.

  At some point Guanji took him out into the rain and continued. Gareth actually enjoyed the rain because it cooled the literal fire in his stomach, and the figurative fire in his muscles. At long last, after what felt like hours and hours of training, Guanji called a halt.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "You may stop." Gareth was about to collapse onto the sopping wet grass, but Guanji stopped him.

  "Post-battle maintenance is essential to a healthy lifestyle. Replace all the equipment we have used, mop the mat, rake the sand, and take a bath. Only then, only after everything is clean, are you allowed to collapse."

  Gareth genuinely struggled not to burst into tears, but he realised the quality of his instruction, and if the price was to clean up everything afterwards, then he would pay it. Not gladly, but he would pay.

  So he set about replacing all the wooden swords, daggers, and spears in their stands. He unstrung the two bows, and only got whacked in the face once…The other time he was whacked on his inner thigh.

  After which he grabbed a mop and bucket from a broom closet, filled it with water, and mopped the mat. He then grabbed the rake and raked the sand until it was nice and even again. It almost looked like a Japanese stone garden, so Gareth went the extra mile and added one or two twirls and lines to make it look even fancier.

  Master Guanji had long since moved to some other part of the house, but when Gareth finished Guanji somehow appeared, standing in the centre of the mat.

  "Good job. I like what you did with the sand. Feel free to have a bath.

  “Thank you master, that sounds heavenly.”

  "It might be. On another note, I have noticed you are not used to our customs as of yet. I will therefore throw in an etiquette lesson every now and again. When you are dismissed, as you are about to be, you bow. The depth of the bow is based on their social ranking relative to yours, and you greet them with their title. When you leave, you will therefore bow deeply, as I am both a city Elder, Protector, and your master, and you will say a crisp and simple 'master', or whatever title they have. Then you leave. It is simple."

  "Very well, thank you master." Gareth said and bowed as deeply as his trembling body would allow, "Master."

  "A little shallow, but I will excuse it due to your fatigue. Go bath, you stink." He said and waved in front of his nose as if to blow away the stink. The burn of it was taken out by his impish smile, so Gareth smiled as well and went to go take a bath.

  -

  Gareth splashed awake in the bath to a wretched and foul stench.

  “What-the-” Gareth sputtered back and hurried to climb out of the bath he had fallen asleep in. He wanted to focus on getting out of the foul sludge it had become, so he unconsciously willed the system window away, and it vanished as quickly as it had come.

  Gareth tried to vomit as the oily gunk clung to his skin but nothing would come up, his stomach was scorched clear.

  Through tears caused by the awful fumes, he saw someone enter the bathroom and very quickly step out again. From the hallway he heard Guanji call out, “For all that is holy, please do not track that into my house! Stay there and brace yourself, I am going to flush the place out!”

  Gareth didn't know what that meant but he had very quickly learned Guanji would move forward whether he wanted him to or not, so he fell onto all fours, retching, and braced.

  Good thing he had, because a wall of icy cold water surged into the room from the doorway. It didn't just push at him though; Guanji must have been manipulating it because he felt it swirling around him like a giant clothes washer. He was enveloped from head to toe, but nothing forced itself into his mouth and it passed so briefly he didn't run out of breath either.

  Ultimately, he was power-washed, and when he looked around he saw the trailing end of black water streaming out of the large bathroom window.

  “What the hell happened?” He asked while lying on his back and panting in the deliciously fresh rainy air.

  A very dignified and well trimmed head poked into the open door, “I controlled the water to cleanse you and the bathroom.”

  “Yeah I know that, thank you by the way.” He said and threw up a thumb as thanks, “But why was the bath so fucked in the first place?”

  He couldn't see Guanji from where he was, but heard him close the door for Gareth's modesty, and talked through the door, “It sometimes happens during the initial levels, but it shouldn't have been that severe. Clothe yourself so that I may examine you.”

  Gareth frowned as there was still another blue dot blinking in his vision.

  “I got a notification!” He called as he stood and dressed in the clothes that Guanji had left for him in front of the door.

  “What does it say?” his voice sounded curious.

  “I don't know, I haven't looked at it yet.” He said, pulling on his loosely fitting pants that he had to fold tightly and secure at the ankles.

  A long-suffering sigh, slightly muffled through the paper door, yet still very evident, was his reply, “Well, if you're willing to share I would love to hear what it says.”

  “Give me a second, I can barely tie these fucking pants.” He grumbled as he had to undo and try redoing them.

  Another long-suffering sigh followed before Guanji burst in with a fatherly mutter of “Lets see here.” and quickly showed Gareth the proper way of tying the insufferably shitty pants.

  “Now...what does the message say?” Guanji could barely disguise his intense curiosity. This was the first time someone had purged that many impurities, that Guanji knew of, and he had had many students over the cycles.

  “It says,” Gareth read aloud as he went through it, “Congratulations!- Why does it always sound so excited for you?” He wondered absently. “Your new trait, and then in bold ‘Purifying Fire’,” he started reading quickly, “So, it looks like I got poison resistance?” He looked excitedly at Guanji, both of them weirdly still kneeling on the bamboo bathroom floor.

  “Likely the effect of the poi-potion I gave you. Continue.” He excitedly waved his hand, it seemed he enjoyed this part of the process.

  “It also lets me digest foreign essence,” to which Guanji raised his eyebrows in surprise, “and lets me assimilate beast core quicker by 30%. It also cured my nutrient deficiency debuff."

  “That is a very peculiar Trait indeed. It specifically mentions beast cores?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then it is entirely possible that you might be able to ‘eat’ essence as a form of sustenance, which would be ridiculously wasteful, but is certainly interesting.”

  “So I got two Traits basically, Poison resistance and this digestive ability? Doesn’t that seem kinda powerful, for just a few hours of work?”

  “I think it could have happened because you awoke a bloodline while not in a system temple.”

  Gareth's eyes widened with outrage, “You mean the thing that's super dangerous to not do in a temple?”

  Guanji tensely smiled at him, “Finish getting dressed and meet me in the tea room, I will answer your questions.” With that he stood up and left.

  In many ways, Ian and the Doctor had fucked Gareth up emotionally, but there were some aspects that had forced Gareth to accept his immortality. They had put him through every test under the fucking sun, and he knew, for a fact - he could, not...die.

  So he didn't hold it against Gaunji for not telling him, but he was still pissed at the fact that he’d been deceived.

  Soon he was dressed and sitting quietly at the knee-height tea table, as Guanji had indicated with a head flick.

  Guanji boiled water in a jade and copper kettle over a small stove. He then removed a tray with a ceramic kettle, imprinted with images of green clouds and floating islands with bonsais, as well as six cups from a cupboard - which he gently placed in the centre of the small tea table. He carefully removed a small bag of tea leaves from another cupboard, along with a silver knife and a cutting board.

  His actions were all so deliberate, slow, and with unspoken purpose that Gareth would have been blind to miss it being anything other than some sort of cultural ceremony. Now, Gareth was not so impolite, so bereft of civilisation and maturity that he would disrespect someone's traditions. So, he remained quiet as Guanji started chopping tea leaves with smooth, slow, and deliberate motions.

  As he watched the slow and meticulous process, the hot ball of anger in his stomach gradually cooled. For the first time, in the forced silence, he heard the pattering of water on the roof, the crickets chirping. He smelled the boiled water, he felt the humidity in the air. This silence forced him into the present and out of his head. It was nice.

  As if sensing that Gareth had calmed down, Gaunji spoke, still enacting the process of making tea, “Making tea is a sacred and culturally complex tradition within the Empire…” he carefully placed some chopped tea leaves in a strainer. “Formalities rely heavily on the context of the event, which you could discern by the movements of the tea maker. If they are flippant and quick, the tea maker is indicating informality; a person could also show disrespect or anger through their hasty actions.

  By taking my time, I have indicated a degree of formality; yet notice that I am not dragging the process out: showing that I would like to deal with business in a respectful manner. The subcontext of drawn-out tea making is vitally important. If there is nothing on the docket for the day, and both of us feel at peace, slow and steady can indicate companionship. But if an aura of unease is present, it could indicate an avoidance of a topic due to fear or uncertainty…”

  Gareth read between the lines and realised that Guanji was slowly but deliberately making the tea, which should mean he was being formal and wanted to talk about something.

  Guanji did the first pour, and while they waited, he looked Gareth in the eye with solemnity, “I must apologise for not warning you of the dangers. I hid it from you because I did not want you to be preoccupied during your first awakening. The prospect of your possible death could have caused a fatal mistake, like so many students before you. Many view the first ten levels as a formality, something you have to quickly get through so that you can truly cultivate, but they miss essential opportunities. After each growth in level, you must forge your body; be that through exercise, alchemy, or elemental tempering. Yet, until they are used to the process, many students complete their first ten levels poorly because they are distracted. I wished to spare you of this…” There was a long silence as Guanji did the second pour and filled a cup for each of them.

  “I also wanted to verify if your bloodline might override your immortality. It was cruel and calculated, and for that I apologise. I was afraid you would choose to tier up within a System temple without even trying more dangerous, yet rewarding, methods. You have the potential for greatness, and I did not want to see it squandered. If you awaken in a System temple your bloodline will be weaker than it could have been…forever. It is a permanent loss in power, that you will never get back. Even now I am regretting not taking you to one of the temples to cultivate, because those two Traits could have been three or four.”

  For a long time they sat in silence. Gareth enjoyed the tea as he looked over the small pond in the central courtyard. Various fish that were only brief flashes of gold, black, and white, told Gareth the pond was occupied. A small tree or massive bonsai was planted in a bed of moss, and hung gracefully over the pond. A lantern hung in its lower branches and cast rippling orange waves across the water's surface.

  Gareth took a deep breath through his nose and felt a vitality infused in it that he had never experienced before. He could feel a comforting heat in his stomach. Like the warm feeling a shot of Old Brown Sherry had caused in winters on Terra.

  “I think I understand why you did it. Ellisandra is the daughter of lord Margrave, your charge, and you want the best Protector you can get for her. Contrary to how it might seem, I don't hold grudges that often. If I wanted to get back at each person that ever wronged me, I would never move on. I just wish you'd told me.” He laughed hollowly and smirked, “Ian and the Doctor made sure to test my immortality, so I'm not afraid of death. And after what those cunts put me through you'll not find a more motivated bloke to progress. I'll take all the risks I can grab onto, every ounce of potential my body can squeeze out, don't you worry about that.”

  He aggressively pointed at the open sky, which somehow stopped the ever-pouring rain without a ceiling present, his face now a rictus of anger, hate, and resentment, “Somewhere out there my quarry awaits, and I will not leave them waiting.”

  Guanji carefully watched the young man. He held an intense hatred, a need for vengeance that he couldn't quench. I will need to watch him carefully, so that anger does not turn against him.

  "But..." Gareth lowered his arm, a calmness settling over the aggrieved young man, "I do not want to live my life in hate. I do not want to give them more of my emotional capacity than they deserve. I'm here to build a better future for myself. I don't want to find a way back to Terra because that place has no future. I want to make a life here that I can be proud of, and to do that I'll take hold of every opportunity I'm given." He took a sip of his refreshing jasmine tea. Guanji did not interrupt him because he could see Gareth was not yet done speaking.

  "I agree. We should have likely done this in a Temple, so as to get the most benefit out of it. I don't blame you, because you did warn me of the dangers of cultivating outside of a temple, and it was my short sightedness that rushed forward to swallow the beast core right then and there. We are both to blame."

  -

  The next morning, after Guanji had shown him where to find all the things he needed to make food because “I am not your mother”, as Guanji had made clear. Gareth sat across from Guanji in the training room.

  “Gareth, the next lesson is focused on the subject of extremes. How far are you willing to go in the pursuit of something, or someone? I can see from your interaction with others that you do not believe true friendship exists.” Gareth tried to interject but Guanji waved him to silence.

  “Do not deny it, these old eyes can see your heart. Instead, let this one tell you a tale of friendship that will perhaps change your views and stance. Because that is ultimately the belief held by the people of Volun.

  It starts with a young man, his name Alerion, who stood to inherit the throne from his father.

  “He was a legend on and off the battlefield, the awe of swordsmen, and the bane of dancers on the floor. Able to both woo and intimidate, he was the perfect fit to inherit the throne…”

  Guanji paused to slightly reminisce, “But his younger brother was jealous of his raw natural talent. Decades passed as Alerion studied to inherit the throne, until one day he met a beautiful woman from a distant kingdom that set his heart ablaze. They soon married but had trouble conceiving, so there were no heirs apparent, but they were happy nonetheless. They ignored the questions of the nobility or clergy, did not listen to warnings from friends as his father ascended…and he was left in charge of a throne he was not nearly cunning enough to control.

  “Within a decade, his wife had wrested control of the household guard, his brother had successfully advocated for impeachment due to incontinence, and he was a shell of his former self, from constant mental weariness.” Guanji sighed. “For the next few decades there were many disasters, but those two were the catalysts. Within 50 years, Alerion was run out of an office that had lasted for more than five thousand.”

  From his spatial ring Guanji then removed a steaming pot of tea, and two tea cups. He filled them with a fruity smelling tea.

  “Yet, when he was at his lowest, he decided to search for a fresh start. On the day when his brother rose to power, he disappeared.”

  “Wow, that really inspires me, I totally believe friendship and loyalty exist.” Gareth said dryly.

  “Har har.” Guanji gave him a flat stare, “Just sit back and listen.”

  “When he left his kingdom he set out as a much lighter man, his shoulders unburdened by responsibility. For the first time in centuries he felt free, because no one expected anything from him. He felt alive. He roamed past the kingdom's known lands and into the hinterlands, perhaps to start a farm, perhaps to just explore what his kingdom had to offer. Unfortunately, once a king, always a king.

  “He discovered a city in trouble. Its governors corrupt, its people starved of resources, and a festering pestilence growing within the sewers. He then showcased why he would have made an excellent king, had he been given the time to grow into his role. Or perhaps leaving his role had been the catalyst for awakening his potential. Across the entirety of history a great leader has one characteristic that is essential to their reign…problem solving.

  Alerion felt alive as he organised the citizens, undermined the governors, cleansed the sewers, and placed the right people in power. After a very brief civil war....the city was stable. He did not stay, he knew that that was not his destiny. So, he left the city in a better condition than when he'd found it. In the doing of his deeds he'd found his purpose, a light within himself that he'd never seen before: Potential.

  “He went from village to village, city to city, kingdom to kingdom, fixing problems and using his noble training to improve the lives of others. For decades he traveled, and for decades more he made a positive change in the world." Guanji brought out some crumpets and cookies for them to snack on while he told the story.

  "Of course, one cannot bring that amount of change into the world without building a reputation. One cannot overthrow that many corrupt governments without making serious enemies. But the people protected him. Armies have soldiers, who had benefited from his intervention, assassins needed to eat as well, so they became reluctant to take contracts for his head, mercenaries looked at him in awe and mothers would do anything for their daughters to marry the 'wandering hero'. When he heard that his own kingdom, the one he had forsaken centuries before, who had forsaken him, was in need…he acted.

  It was a brutal battle, a tedious and drawn out negotiation, and an even more strenuous healing process, but he regained his title. He did not want the throne, he did not yearn for the power of ruling, all he wanted was to solve problems and leave the world a better place than as he'd found it. He realised that he would be able to make the most positive change in the seat of office.

  Yet, as he worked to fix his kingdom he heard of places he had once helped falling back into old patterns, destabilising.

  “Then, contrary to what all the court snakes had expected, contrary to what even his brother had expected, Alerion forgave his brother for his treachery. You see, in the years after his disappearance Gagan had grown to come to know the burden of leadership. He came to know that treachery only begot more treachery. He finally realised the importance of valuing family, the only people in the world that you shared your birth with.

  Alerion saw this change, and while it did not happen overnight, each time he visited Gagan in prison, he regained a sliver of trust. Alerion also possessed the second greatest belief a leader should have: The belief in second chances. Fast forward three thousand years,” Guanji said as he could see Gareth fading.

  “Alerion is now known as Galain, Gagan as his military general of much renown, and the Empire of Avrrest has taken shape. Each nation within the empire owes Galain their allegiance because he had earned it.”

  He took a sip of his tea, the pot nearly finished, “This is the lesson which I wish to impart unto thee, Gareth Elson: Find enjoyment in the complex. Trust that is shattered can be reforged in the sands of time. Kindness over the span of centuries, would bear more fruit than seeking petty revenge.”

  Gareth lay in bed that night and reflected on the warm feeling in his stomach.

  It was strange but he had grown up nearly perpetually hungry, and had spent his entire life with a near constant ache eating away at his spine.

  Yet now, a constant feeling of fullness and comfort pulsed through his body.

  He tenderly put his hand on his tight and malnourished belly and felt hope for the future. It was tangible proof that he had grown stronger. One step closer to independence and freedom.

  He sighed and smiled wistfully.

  That night he dreamed of flying through the air, his body untethered and light. Constellations depicting graceful archer centaurs, raging hydras in a world untamed, lazy rivers that teemed with life, and fighting…lots and lots of fun fighting.

  Between each massive celestial constellation floated wispy nebulae and stormy clouds that peppered his body with drops of rain. Yet, he was an unbothered star arcing through the sky, as he observed the world below in all its splendour...and beauty.