Chapter 3: Martial Father's Teachings

Kartius left the Krikitory village with Zax right as he finished saying his goodbye for the next three years.

They went back on the path from the village and when the path split into the forest or the cave's entrance, Kartius chose the former.

Past the forest was the mountain range, there, Kartius forced Zax to climb relaying on his own strength. At most, he showed him a bear claws sign that marked a couple of rocks and told him to look for more signs.

"They were made by the Krikitory village that resides on the mountains and take care of the various hot springs. The bear claws signs indicate the paths that they use to climb down or up the mountain. I'll be climbing ahead of you, so search for the signs that lead to my direction".

It was two and a half weeks' worth of a journey. In it, apart from the advice that Zax received from his Master, Kartius only helped Zax with food and water and the Krikitory's path that he followed supplied him the rest. Warm places within the mountains to sleep at nights, hot spring pools to clean himself and enjoy for the first time in his life; Zax even met a few adult Krikitories, some of the caretakers, who were suspicious of him at first but once he mentioned the name of his Master, turned gracious.

The Krikitories showed him the edible plant that grew around the hot springs. They told him which ones were testier after boiling in the hot springs and, after taking a look at his bruises from the climbing, which, if mushed, were good for making ointment for small injuries.

When he reached the flat peak of the mountain Kartius led him to, Zax discovered an unbelievable spectacle. Atop of the highest mountain in the mountain range, a mountain couple of hundred meters higher than the other mountains and probably under the tallest cave's ceiling in all of New Earth, was a tower made out from sparkling blue stones.

Kartius did not say anything about the tower. From the top of the flat mountain he simply created a mantle from his mist energy around Zax and jumped crushed at the other side of the flat peak mountain's valley.

"Use your Soul Sense!" Kartius told Zax and formed a fist above his head that contained his Core Master's might.

"BOOM!"

The ground shook.

"BOOM!"

Rocks spread all over.

"BOOM!"

A clear path appeared beneath the ground.

"Ah?!" Zax was stunned. He listened to his Master and used his Soul Sense but still could not detect the underground path.

"Do not be surprised. This place is one of the secret wonders of New Earth and cannot be detected by Soul Sense. Now brace yourself!" Kartius said. His mantle around Zax intensified and in his full speed he dashed into the path.

...

Within the mantle Zax was not affected by the extreme speed, but until Kartius stopped he could not perceive anything of the surrounding, at best he saw flashes of reddish colors.

The mantle around Zax fades a second before he came to himself and the duo of Master and apprentice arrived to the inside a spacious cabin.

The interior of the cabin was mediocre. A large beast fur carpet, a square box around a meter tall and wide and two gigantic clay jars that Zax himself could fit in several times. From the two jars, through their wooden sealing, a sweet herbal fragrance arose and filled the cabin.

"Sit down". Kartius instructed Zax and sat first on the carpet.

"Yes, Master". Zax joined obediently.

"Good. First, let us have a proper introduction. My name is Kartius, a Black Stag beast formerly from the Black Horns tribe". It was a short introduction, but it covered all that Kartius wished to share with his Martial son in this moment in time.

"My name is Zax Zel, human. From El-Eden". Zax copied his Master. However it seemed too short, so he thought more for a bit and then said on the verge of lowering his head. "I thank Master for saving my life when I ventured and was lost in the beasts' territory!"

"Do you remember or Martial niece Zetsa told you that I saved you?" Kartius asked.

"I remember my experience in the beast's territory, but not Master saving me. Big sis was the one who told me".

"I see..." Kartius nodded. "You should stop naming the place besides your 'Kingdom Earth', 'the beasts' territory. Our three hundred and seventeen caves also have a name. Here we call our territory 'Valgarel'; it means 'Beasts'". The first thing Zax learned from his Master, the name of the place he will stay in for the next three years, at the very least. "Repeat it".

"Valgarel".

"From now on, if something has a name and you know it, use it instead of referring to it with something else. If you don't know the name of a person or a place, seek the opportunity and ask for the name. Knowing the right names is the minimal commodity to preserve one's life on the Martial path. Do you understand why?"

Zax did not answer right away. He thought of what his Master said and then remembered a certain event couple of years back. He reminisced the day of the Young Mist Users Conference. Back then he was saved by Habul Majid. If he ever met the man again or get into a conflict with someone like those from the Martinez family, will it not be useful to have the reputable name that supported him once in the past at his disposal?

"Yes, Master".

"Then I won't dwell on the subject". If Zax answered promptly, Kartius would have asked him to clarify his answer. Since he did not, Kartius preferred to study his Martial son by watching rather than probing him.

"Zax, tell me about what happened to you in Valgarel, your experience from the moment that you encountered the Brown Digger". Kartius frowned when he recalled the beasts, the vermin. The topic may also seem like he probed into his Martial son's business in contrast to his decision, but it was a matter that was correlated to Zax's condition and as his Martial father, it would be negligent for him to not inquire.

Zax did not hide anything from his Master. He began reciting from the very start, the first moment of craziness in which he spent his Qi trying to penetrate a rock for imaginary Earth's Cores. He finished with revealing its relations to his practice in Adraak Meditation.

Kartius heard the story and receded to telling his part just about when Zax fainted near the Brown Digger.

"For now forget the Black Core. You have my approval to continue meditating as you usually do. For now it should suffice as the only soul refining technique that you should practice. The day you'll breakthrough with your soul to the level of Mist Master, we will reevaluate your soul and what it requires for further growth". Thus, Kartius put aside his Martial son's earlier experience in Valgarel and proceeded to prep him for his big brother's test in three years.

"Let me see now, how well is you basic knowledge. Tell me all you know about the three aspects of a living being in order of their importance to a living being. Start with the least important."

'The least important of the three aspects... ' Zax thought for a short while. "The least important should be the body". He said confidently. "I think so, because of the three aspects, in normal cases, the body is the only one that can be harmed to the extent that even if half of it is lost, a person can still stay alive with the help of medical instruments. With regards to Qi or mist, they both flow in the body through Qi or mist channels. Although my case is too odd, there is still no better example than what happened to my Qi channels. They are clogged, still in perfect shape, but with just being clogged, if it wasn't a special case, big sis told me that I should have died. So in my opinion, in terms of importance, Qi or mist is in the middle".

"The most important I say is the soul. To my knowledge, if the soul will get even a light damage the person still would die. I don't believe that special cases exist with the soul. It is the aspect I cultivate every day for the past year. Big sis says that my soul is unique, that it can accomplish things beyond its level. Well, I say, knowing my soul better than anyone else, that if something were to happen to my soul I will die. And if what I read online has a hint of truth in it, than I won't get to reincarnate either! Oh ... Does Master know about Going Online?"

"You mean seeking information using your Computers and Screens?"

"So you do know, Master!" Zax was relieved. What good would be his reasoning if his Master could not understand the idioms he used?