Chapter 10

“So, tell us, David, are you ready to accept our proposition so that we can guide you to someday take over the mantle of the leader of the council?”

How are you supposed to answer that question, especially when you are being asked by twenty of the most powerful beings on the planet kind enough to provide you with tutelage? If I refused their offer, I would only come off as an arrogant, idiotic boy who hadn’t yet earned his place in the world.

On the other hand, I could only see advantages in accepting the offer. Training by the strongest Untethered? Check. Access to knowledge about the history of this world and others? Check. The only drawback was what this could lead to. A place on this council may seem like a position of glory to most but it also came with a load of responsibility. A responsibility I didn’t think I was quite ready for. For goodness’ sake, I had been an Untethered for only a month. That’s like a minute compared to the lifetime of these council members.

But the expectant looks on the faces of the council members had me relenting. I finally broke down and accepted. It wasn’t like I would be devoid of responsibility if I refused their offer. After all, being a third-slotter seemed like a big enough responsibility on its own.

It was finally decided I would train with a select group of the council members for the foreseeable future, leaving my home for at least a month. I would get training in combat, both hand-to-hand and weapons. I would also get to learn the history of the Untethered world and the Dimension and the war against the miasma monsters. But the part I was most excited about was the training to gain control over my abilities so that I could use it whenever I saw fit.

It was with these things in my mind that I reached home to set my affairs in order so that I could go back to the council for training. The hardest thing to do would be trying to come up with a reason to get away from my parents for a moment. My parents are very protective when it comes to me, refusing to let me even have sleepovers, the very few times I have been asked that is.

I needed help to try and convince them to let me stay away from my home for what would basically be the entire break. The long and short of it was I needed Frank. A familiar face who my parents knew to be an upstanding member of society.

With that in mind, I set off towards the direction of the club, knowing I would find him there. When I finally reached the club, I saw Frank conversing with Frost. It was Frost who saw me first and smiled at me. My mind went back to the conversation I had with Frost last night before leaving the council chambers.

“David, I would very much appreciate it if you didn’t tell Frank about the existence of this council.”

I asked him, “Why?”

Frost had replied in a tone that had brokered no argument, “He is not ready to know about the council’s existence and purpose yet. Even you are too inexperienced to know about this. If it were not for your special circumstances, you would not have been aware of the existence for at least decades. So, I ask you to keep this from Frank so that I can inform him when I deem that he is ready.”

I nodded, convinced by his logic. I also remembered what I had been told about the process of finding and nurturing successors. Frank was probably Frost’s chosen successor and it didn’t seem right for me to interfere with this process and its sanctity.

I was brought back from the thoughts of the previous night by someone clasping my shoulder. Looking up, I saw that it was Frank, who was looking at me with a lot of concern.

He asked me, “Are you alright? I heard about your battle against the griffin. That’s a battle even most veterans would struggle in.”

So, it seemed like everything before my confrontation with the grim reaper was fair game when it came to telling Frank about last night. I nodded subtly at Frost, letting him know that I understood. He nodded back at me and went back to his bartender duties.

Looking back at Frank I said, “Don’t worry, man, I am fine. Just a little shaken up, you know. A lot of stuff to take in in just one night.”

Frank released a sigh of relief and said, “I am glad, man. I was really worried there for a second, even though Frost had told me that you were okay. How’s Samuel doing by the way? I heard that he was heavily wounded last night.”

I shuddered mentally, thinking about what had really happened to Samuel last night. But keeping my emotions in check as much as I could, I said, “He’s doing okay now, don’t worry. Nothing a little rest won’t cure.” ‘If only you knew!’, I mentally added to myself.

I brought things back to my current predicament. “Hey, man. I need your help with something. I was wondering if you could help me out.”

He looked at me with a curious look on his face, “Something to do with last night?”

I nodded, “You could say that. Yesterday made me realise how weak I really am, how unprepared I am to survive, let alone thrive in this world. Being a third-slotter is all well and good, but it’s all potential. I just unlocked my ability last night and a complete novice in its use. Now, I have got an opportunity to train myself, to learn more about this world. And I need to take this opportunity.”

Frank looked flabbergasted. “You are going away to train? Why? Why can’t you train here? I and Frost can help you.”

I looked at him imploringly, saying, “It wouldn’t be the same, mate. I have got a chance to learn under a veteran. I can’t let this opportunity go. Please help me here, man.”

Frank seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before agreeing with my point of view. We decided that we would say something about an internship we had been offered and we would have to be away for a month. We anticipated some difficulty in getting through to my parents.

We were wrong, so, so wrong. Once Frank had worked his magic, they seemed to be enthusiastic about their lazy son getting an internship. Some nonsense about me ‘growing up’ and ‘finally becoming a good person’. I didn’t know whether to be glad that our plan had worked or insulted why our plan had worked. I decided to let it go, not needing another battering to my confidence, especially when I was going somewhere where I needed all my self-belief and confidence.

I had my bags packed in an hour and after a heartfelt hug with Frank, I set off towards the council headquarters. I reached it without encountering any trouble. I was immediately met by Shadow just as I entered the door in the shed. She took me to what was supposed to be my room for my stay there.

As soon as I had set up my belongings, Shadow asked me to follow her. She led me to a large room which had a huge arena in the centre of it. I followed her to the centre of the arena, where she proceeded to tell me the plan the council had prepared for my one-month stay over here.

“For the time being, I, along with Light and Nova will be taking care of your training. The other members of the council will be busy taking care of their respective territories for the time being. We need to focus on your combat skills and ability and miasma manipulation for the foreseeable future. I will be teaching you the various methods of manipulating miasma,” Shadow said, sitting down on her knees and expecting me to follow her.

I proceeded to sit down on my knees as well before asking, “When I, you know, brought Samuel back to life, I felt a massive drain within me, as if I could wilt and die like a flower which hadn’t had water for a few days.”

Shadow nodded at me as if expecting me to ask that question. “It’s quite a common phenomenon among inexperienced Untethered who don’t have much semblance of control over their own cores. I remember, in my younger days, I once made the shadows of the miasma-monsters explode, killing the monsters themselves. I have had to train for over two millennia but I still haven’t been able to unlock that power.”