They walk further into the dark forest. An ominous name to Will, but he can’t think of anything else to call it.

  His anxiety seems to be kept at bay by the shock of this situation. Which he’s glad for. There’s to much going on for him to be over come by emotion right now. He’s trying to his best to understand and grasp the situation he’s somehow gotten himself into.

  As they walk, Will finally takes stock of Amos. He’s about 6 feet tall. He has dark grey eyes and shorter dark brown hair. His build isn’t lean, but he isn’t massive either. He’s wearing a long cloak (cloaks are a thing here?) so it’s hard to tell, but it seems he’s still decently built. A stubbly beard and a permanent frown make up the rest of him. It’s hard to get a read on his personality. So far he’s come off like this is all a hassle to him.

  A few minutes in, Amos grabs a canteen out of seemingly no where and tosses it to Will. “Drink slowly. But feel free to hold on to it and sip it as the day goes on.” Will does just that.

  They walk and walk and walk. The day passes in silence and walking. As night finally falls and Will is on his last leg and about to beg Amos for a break, Amos finally stops.

  “We’ll stop here for the night.”

  “Thank God.” Will whispers to himself. “Just how far is where we’re going?”

  “At these speeds?” Amos looks up, thinking. “Probably a little over a month.”

  “What?! We have a month of walking ahead of us??”

  “Walking? No of course not. That would be ridiculous.” Will sighed in relief. Amos must have a car or something ready for them somewhere close to take them the rest of the way. “I was giving you a break by allowing you to walk this first day, considering everything you’ve been through. We’ll be mostly running the rest of the way.”

  He says it with such a straight face and straight forward tone that Will immediately knows that he’s not joking. And to think Will used to dread gym class. “Of course, going by the state of your physical conditioning, I would say it’ll probably take longer than a month. Can’t be helped I suppose.”

  Will just stands there, wide eyed, not knowing what to say. Before he has a chance to say anything, Amos pulls out a tent…from under his cloak. How?!

  “This is also the only time I’ll make this concession. You can use this tent tonight. After tonight, I’ll teach you how to make a proper shelter. Which you will do every night.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll keep watch tonight and every night until we make it to where we’re going.”

  Doesn’t he need to sleep? He doesn’t comment on it though and honestly Will is too tired to either.

  “I suggest you get some sleep. You’ll have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”

  Normally Will would argue about going to sleep right at sunset, but he’s so dead tired that he doesn’t argue. He simply crawls into the tent, wraps the surprisingly warm blanket inside around himself, and promptly fall right asleep.

  He is woken up at dawn the next day with Amos pulling Will out of the tent by one of his legs. He would have been angry, but Amos had two fat rabbits cooking over a large fire and they looked and smelled delicious. “Dig in kid. They’re both for you.”

  Surprising himself, Will ate every single shred of meat from both rabbits and washed it down with some water. He probably could have eaten more. By the time he was done, the tent was put away and Amos was waiting for him.

  “Put out the fire using dirt and then let’s go. We’ll start at a light jog, then a run, then walk, then repeat.”

  They did just that, all the while Amos had a running explanation of how to build a shelter in all sorts of environments, how to track, find, catch, clean and prepare all kinds of prey that are found in this world. He also explained the best ways to find water and keep warm. He explained the shapes of various constellations on this world and where they are at various times of the year. He explained them in relation to the cardinal directions so Will would always be able to find his way. Turns out, even if he is in a different universe, things seem to work the same way.

  The next two months were two of the longest, most grueling..and rewarding of Will’s life.

  It seems Will’s lack of physical fitness slowed them down more than Amos thought. Both in his running speed and endurance, and also his ability to make shelters and catch food quickly.

  As the two months goes by however he’s able to run farther for longer and faster. His outdoor skills get better as well.

  At the end of the two months, Will suddenly and unexpectedly stumbles out of the trees and into a large clearing. It’s perfectly circular and is about the length of a football field. Square in the center is a cabin.

  “Your new home for the foreseeable future.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Over the course of the two months Will had gotten used to the idea of being in a different world. It seemed odd to him, but the physical exertion helped him to process his situation, thoughts and his feelings about all of it.

  He’s come to terms that he’s far from home. But during Amos’s explanations he took note of the fact that Amos said that getting home was almost an impossibility. Will latched on to the hope that that meant there was still a chance.

  “No disrespect sir but is there room for me in there? It seems small and I don’t want to crowd you.”

  Amos smirks. “Oh don’t worry. Now that your stamina is up to a deplorable level instead of just a horrendous one, we’ll be able to start your training in full. Once that happens you’ll only be around in the cabin to eat and sleep. I won’t feel crowded at all.” Amos chuckle’s to himself. “Before that though, I have to explain a few things. Follow me into the cabin; we need to talk.”

  As they walked Amos pointed to the back of the cabin.

  “Around back is an outhouse for when you have to go to the bathroom. Not the most comfortable, but that’s part of the price you pay for living as isolated as I do. Don’t worry about digging trenches or anything. I bought the outhouse years ago and it has an enchantment on it that disposes of the waste after you go.”

  ”Noted. Thank you.”

  ”There’s a stream about half a mile south of the cabin and I have a good deal of soap stored in the house. You can bathe and wash and clean your clothes there.” Will nodded and thanked Amos for letting him know.

  In a few more minutes the two are sitting across from one another at a small kitchen table.

  “You heard me mention that this world has different rules than yours correct?”

  “It would be a lie to say I haven’t been extremely curious about that.”

  Amos nods. “This world is ruled by the powerful. The term might makes right holds particular truth here. That power is centralized in cultivators. Politics, war, economics, all of it revolve around cultivators.”

  “What’s a cultivator?”

  “I’m getting to it.”

  Will winces. “Sorry.”

  “A cultivator is someone who is able to absorb the ambient Qi in the atmosphere. Absorbing enough of it allows one to gain power. The more you have the more powerful you are. Pretty straight forward. Absorbing the Qi in the first place isn’t that difficult. A child could do it, although they are cautioned against it until they’re about 8 years old. For an other worlder like you, I still don’t expect any issues. You just need to meditate and try to feel the Qi around you. Once you can feel it, you are to absorb it into your body. This is done by engaging a specific breathing technique. The technique activates the process in your body. You naturally absorb Qi regardless, but only a minuscule amount. This is the only way to do it to achieve a greater influx of Qi.”

  “People must grow equally strong here if that’s the case.”

  Amos looked confused for a second before realization dawned on him about what Will meant.

  “Not exactly. Every clan and sect out there has their own version of the ‘correct’ breathing technique. Some are more effective than others. Also, every persons inherent ability to absorb a certain quantity of Qi is different. Besides in very rare and specific instances, each and every person on this world is born with a unique ability to absorb Qi in a quantity specific to them. It’s like a person’s eventual height or foot size. What you were born with is what you got. Of course this drastically changes the speed in which someone ascends the realms of cultivation.”

  “Realms?”

  “We’ll get to that later. While you stay with me you’ll learn to fight. First hand to hand, and then we’ll find a weapon that you’re suited to.”

  Will starts. “Is that really necessary?”

  “Trust me,” Amos grunts. “If you knew anything about this world, you would understand how necessary this is.”

  Will just shrugs. Learning how to defend himself does not sound like a terrible idea. Will is actually extremely excited. Never again will a bully be able to make him feel like Brad did. His eyes firm in determination.

  “I like that look in your eye. Hold to it. As I was saying. After learning hand to hand combat, you’ll learn to use weapons. Many weapons. I expect at least basic proficiency in most, decent skill in some, and then specialize in one to two. Before any of that though, we need to find out what your body’s natural attunement is.”

  Will raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me sir. What exactly can a body attune to?”

  “Elements. Everyone is born attuned to one or the another. The strength of that attunement and a cultivators skill in utilizing it properly in battle is one of the things that may determine his or her over all strength. Now first things first. Pay close attention to the way I breathe.”

  Will focused his eyes on Amos’s chest and his ears on the sounds of his breathing.

  “Did you get that?”

  “I think so.” Amos raised an eyebrow. “May I try it?”

  “Not yet. Next, close your eyes.”

  Years of bullying made Will skeptical, but he followed the instructions.

  “Now just breathe deeply. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Nice and even. Calm and slow.” Will does so. “Focus on the area around you. Focus on every part of your body that is exposed to the air. Feel the power around you.”

  Will does as he’s told. After 2 minutes or so he is about to apologize to Amos, that he doesn’t feel a thing. All of a sudden, right before he was about to open his mouth, he feels something. I light tingle. Just barely within his perception to feel. It is like feeling static electricity along your skin but sharper in a way that doesn’t hurt.

  “I think I feel something!” Will tells Amos the sensation that he is feeling.

  Will couldn’t see it, but Amos’s eyes opens wide. The boy can sense it already? And so acutely?

  Amos gets himself under control.

  “Ok, you can stop.” Will opens his eyes. Amos gets up and goes into one of the two rooms in the cabin. A couple minutes later he comes back out with a piece of paper. “About a twenty minute walk east from here there’s a small clearing just a few feet wider than a massive stump that’s sitting in the middle of it. Go to it. Strive to feel the Qi around you as you did here, and then perform the breathing exercise I showed you to start absorbing the Qi. When you do you will feel the Qi start to flow into you channels in your body that you didn’t know where there. They remain dormant in people until they start to actively absorb Qi. When you begin to absorb it, use this technique.”

  Amos slides the paper over for Will to see. It looks like a diagram for how blood flows through the body but in a completely different way than what Will thought it was supposed to. Not that he really knows the correct way for blood to flow. All the same, this diagram showed a pattern that is hard to describe. It has a flowing pattern that cycles in a specific way inside his center, before having it flow out, seemingly all at once, to have it reach every cell in his body, just to come back and be recycled and moved in that same way in his center again before starting the process all over.

  Will takes a second to memorize it and then looks back up at Amos and nods. “Got it.” He said. “How long do you want me to stay out there?”

  “I’ll come get you when I want you to finish.”

  Will shrugs. “Ok. See you soon I guess.”