We eventually made it back to the camp and Gwyn began cleaning our fish. He instructed me to get the fire going, so I added more logs and tenderly blew air into the coals that were still smoldering from the night before. Eventually the fire burst forth and began dancing in the pit. Gwyn set up a rack of some kind that was fashioned from wood. He had tied the tails of the cleaned fish into the rack and placed them over the fire. We both sat back onto the ground with a thud and looked at eachother. For some reason we both began laughing once again. I thought to myself then, "I wonder if my parents were like Gwyn?" What a strange thing to come to mind... That thought soon passed as Gwyn asked me a question, "Sid, please tell me what happened before you got here? And don't leave out any information. Every detail counts if we want to figure this out." "I understand, I'll do my best to give you my full account." So we sat there for some odd hours as I explained to Gwyn about Ivan and Oli, about the events that happened at the gate and how I lost consciousness and ended up here. Many times during my story, Gwynn's eyes became wide and it seemed as though he was holding something in, but he intently listened to me, never once interrupting. After a while, I finished my story and was sure not to leave anything out, even the part about the strange woman whose voice I could hear speaking to me at the gate. Gwyn looked at me with a very serious look, and he took a deep inhale and closed his eyes. "Sid, I have some rather unfortunate news for you… and you're going to need to prepare yourself to hear this. So please steel yourself and remember, this doesn't change anything, you're still going to see your friends again." I became increasingly concerned by Gwyns words, but in response I simply nodded and tried to prepare myself for what he was about to say. "The truth is son, that the gate incident you are speaking of that occurred in the kingdom of Bane… did not just stop after you opened it. The fact is, that seven other gates opened across the world one by one each releasing something different that would have immense and drastic effects to this world. Now, you may be confused with this answer and may be wondering how it is that I know all of this. The reason I know this information… is because the incident at the arch of Bane was recorded to have happened 3 years ago." "WAIT!" I yelled out, "3 YEARS?!! That's not possible Gwyn!" I was in complete disbelief. "Hold on Sid, let me explain further before you say anything else." Gwyn stated, with his hands gesturing to me to calm down. "You see, when the arch of Bane opened, this caused a chain reaction with the seven other gates across the world. All of these gates or rather arches, are considered relics of a bygone age. Namely the age of contact, also referred to by many as the Grande Cradle. A spectacular time when the gods became deeply intertwined with the mortals of this world. However, although this was a prosperous time for the world when gods and men befriended one another, this was also a time when great catastrophes began to take root within this world leading to the ages of War and Demise that is considered the most tragic of times in history. This is also when these great magic Arches were created across the world. Their purpose at first was to act as conduits or pathways for the gods to channel their powers or enter into this world, but eventually they became the prisons for many different catastrophes that had befallen the world of Gaian. It is very important for you to hear this, because after the first gate was opened, it triggered the other gates like dominoes allowing them to open. I'm sure you can guess what has come next.. with these gates opening, the catastrophes from the past have made their way back into the world. This may seem terrifying, and I assure you that this is not your fault. So don't even remotely think of trying to take any type of blame for this. Whatever led you to that arch, was nothing more than fate that is out of any of our control. So far the walking disasters that have been released from the gates have not been able to fully take hold within the world. The reason for this is because there are already many transcendental beings within the world with blessed abilities. This has allowed for many of the kingdoms within the world to sustain their safety so far. Unfortunately this has also caused great upheaval within the world and many of the kingdoms have come to great disagreements on how to solve these urgent matters. On the flip side, one of the gates that opened actually gave way to certain gods entering the world once again. So, not only have the catastrophes entered the world.. but some gods have begun weaving their own powers throughout the world once again. Whether this is good or bad has yet to be seen, but it has led to thousands of new people within the world gaining new blessings just like the past when the gods first entered this world's mortal domain. Not all is lost young man, and you'd do well to remember that and know that things can be changed and your actions could have a drastic effect on the outcome of this world, seeing as you are clearly a blessed child as well. So, 3 years have passed since you opened that gate. There is nothing that is going to change that. What is important is for us to figure out why it is that you ended up here 3 years later. To start with, your ability is clearly related to some kind of travel or teleportation ability. Seeing as this power stems from your hands, my guess is that the beam of light from the gate that you had tried to shield yourself from, was in fact a blessing from a god meant to help you. Now, I cannot speak to which god was trying to help you… but seeing as you heard a woman's voice and you ended up here, that leads me to believe that you were meant to find me here for a specific reason. My guess is that I may be able to help you understand this ability further. As I seem to have become your ward so to speak, I promise to help you as much as I can. I will teach you about this world and what you have missed in the last three years, and I will train you to become stronger. As you've said, you have two friends that are waiting for you. So, is there anything you would like to ask me now Sid?"
This was so much information to take in.. and I felt like I was about to go into a state of shock. 3 years had gone by and I don't even know where I was or how I had ended up within this mystical forest. 3 years have gone by and I don't even know where my friends are or if they are okay. I mean seriously, you're telling me I was 10 years old a mere 4 days ago… and now I'm 13! F***K!!! I was so frustrated. I covered my face with my hands to hide my angry tears from Gwyn. I know Gwyn said I'm not allowed to take any blame for this, but how could I possibly do that? This was clearly my fault. For some reason or another I opened that gate and caused all of this to happen. I must take responsibility for this. I have to do something, I have to find my friends and close those gates. This is the only way I can ever make up for the mistakes I've made. I looked up at Gwyn with tears welled in my eyes, and I said with pure determination, "Gwyn… my only question right now, is more of a request. Please… Please take me as your disciple! I will do whatever it takes, so please help me become strong enough to go out and find my friends. I will hone this strange new power, I will help this world, and I will make you proud!!" Gwyn looked at me with what also seemed to be tears welling up (I swear I saw his eyes start to glow once again), and he roared into the sky, "OF COURSE I'LL TAKE YOU UNDER MY WING! DON'T BE STUPID!!!" He looked back down at me with a huge smile and he knelt down beside me with his hand on my shoulder. He said, "Sid, I will make you stronger, much stronger than anyone. And together we will help change this world." Suddenly, Gwyn's eyes started to glow even more golden, I was right! "I Gwyn, the first brother, fisherman of the wild waters, as one piece of three, we take this blessed child as our one and only disciple and recognize him as a child of the God of hunting. With my divine right within this world, I grant thee a second blessing. The Hunter's heart. I welcome thee Sid, child of the hunt, into my household." A flash of Golden light shot out from all around Gwyn. I felt a warm and endearing energy flow into my body. The energy seemed to gather around my heart, and as if the power itself became my blood, I could feel it starting to pump into my veins. What a wonderful feeling this was. Soon the light around Gwyn faded. And he collapsed onto the ground. I quickly grabbed hold of him, and tried to help him off of the ground. "Gwyn!! Are you okay!?" Gwyn looked very pale, but he just chuckled and with a raspy voice replied, "hehe don't worry about me kiddo, I'll be fine. I just need a little bit of rest. That took a bit more out of me than expected. Can you drag me over a log to lean on?" "Of course!" I yelled. I ran over and quickly dragged a log over to him. He propped himself up, and snatched a fish off of the rack and casually started eating as if nothing just happened. "Uhh Gwyn…Who are you really?" I asked with complete and utter confusion. "Do ya really need to ask that Sid?" He said as he started laughing. "I kinda just told you who I was with the whole shpeel y'know? Hahaha." "Gwyn.. are you.. a god?!" I asked incredulously. "Well, sorta" he responded. "Technically I am only a fraction of myself currently, which is why it took so much out of me to bestow you that blessing." "Gwyn this is absolutely insane, how are you here, no why are you here? And why me?" "Sheeeeeesh kiddo," Gwyn groaned. "I chose you for pretty obvious reasons, but to be honest with you I couldn't give you a true blessing, so you have my apologies. There's a couple reasons for this, one being that you already have a blessing and if I gave you another you'd probably die from the conflict of powers. The second being that I am merely a third of who I actually am. My other two selves, or my brothers rather, hold the rest of our power. Splitting myself into three was really the only way I could enter the mortal plane. And yes, as you may have guessed, this is why I know so much about this world. However, the blessing I gave you is more of a protection. The Hunter's Heart, is a divine protection that will grant you immunity to poisons, mental ailments, and sickness. Making you a part of my household will allow me to watch over you from afar. So know that wherever you may end up in the world, you can know that we are watching over you. The Blessing you currently have seems to be pretty powerful seeing as you were able to steal something from me, a god, without my know how. That was all I needed to know for me to take you under my wing." Gwyn continued eating his fish nonchalantly. "Wait so was all of this just a test?? Did you know from the beginning that I had a blessing?" I asked desperately. "The answer is yes and no. I knew that there was something peculiar going on, but as I said I do not have access to all of my powers of divinity. As such, I am unable to discern what your powers are or where they came from. I came to the mortal world because of the opening of the gates. I came here to not only investigate them but to also find one of the calamities that were let out. Seeing as you ended up here, and had all of the answers to why the gates opened tells me that whoever the god was that gave you your first blessing, must also trust me and desire for me to help you." "Can I ask you something Gwyn?" "Yes, go right ahead." Gwyn replied. "Who or what is the thing that you are looking for from the gate? And why are you searching this area?" A flash of guilt seemed to overcome Gwyn's face. "Tha-t is somewhat hard to explain. You see, the calamity is actually my brother. Not just a part of me, but my true sibling. In fact, he is my older brother. His name is Fritz and he was an incredibly powerful being and one of the only gods permitted to stay within the mortal world indefinitely. He is the first Son of Gaian, and he was born to this world with the purpose of preserving nature and its inhabitants. He has been called many things throughout history, but most referred to him as the monkey king, as this is what his appearance most reflected. As the king of beasts he was meant to protect nature and help it thrive alongside the mortals that were growing ever more powerful and expanding their territories. The way in which he approached this challenge granted to him from our mother Gaian, was with his incredible power called Love Bite. This power allowed him to share his own beastly nature with other living creatures, the species of man included. By doing this, he was able to create wardens of certain territories across the world which allowed him to protect nature even at a distance. These wardens were also incredibly powerful beings, some even called them nature deities and had become revered by many cultures. However, each time Fritz shared his power and influence he naturally became weaker. During a certain incident, one of Fritz's most beloved friends was murdered. At the time it was unclear how this happened, but ultimately Fritz ended up blaming the people of this world and inevitably went on a rampage destroying everything in his path. Unfortunately that is when I had to step in, as the god of hunting and friend of man I had to point my sword at my own brother." Gwyn's face had become solemn and the strength in his voice began to waver. "You see, I was born to this world by mother Gaian as a fail safe against Fritz. It may seem cruel, but my mother knew how strong and temperamental he could be especially when it came to those he cared about. As his younger brother, who grew up chasing after him it was a horrifying ordeal to try and subdue him. I was no longer chasing after him as his little brother, but rather as his executioner." Gwyn stated, with a grave tone. "Alas, my mother knew I could not kill my brother, as I loved him to dearly. So as my only other option, I sealed him within one of the gates. I hunted him down for weeks until we met in a great clash. As his literal antithesis, I managed to subdue him. When Fritz became imprisoned within the gate, many of his wardens began neglecting their duties and had forsaken him. Some of which even started calling themselves kings, which in the image of Fritz could be considered blasphemous. However, after all of this time Fritz has now been released from his confinement. I know that I should be more worried, but a part of me is also happy that my brother is now free. I am sure he must be very angry with me. But something has deeply troubled me. For as he was released, all of the neglectful wardens should have been swiftly dealt with. Knowing Fritz, there is absolutely no way he would abide by the way they have handled their respective territories granted to them. The only other possibility is that something has happened to Fritz that I am unaware of. I have also been unable to locate him. However, this mystical forest was once his home. He governed this area for a great deal of time and had protected it from virtually any outside influence. I am unsure if he is truly here, but there may be a way to locate him."
"What! Really? Then we have to go find him Gwyn. If you know of a way I'll do anything to help! He's your brother. No matter what may have happened between the two of you, I can tell how much you care about him. A really wise person once told me, the past is the past, but the future is just the beginning !"
I saw Gwyn crack a small smile as he was looking towards the ground, "aye, those are some wise words indeed kiddo. Actually, the method I was talking about in order to find him may actually help you find your friends as well."
"Seriously?? Then what are we waiting for Gwyn?? We gotta go now!"
"Just relax for a second kiddo, this method isn't going anywhere. We have plenty of time. I understand your frustrations and eagerness to find your friends. But rushing will do us no good. There is only one opportunity that will allow us to use the method I am speaking of, and that is for us to wait for a full moon. Unfortunately the last full moon was just 5 nights ago. Thus, we have at least 24 days to prepare."
"Why do we have to wait for a full moon?" I asked Gwyn with a hint of desperation.
"The reason we need to wait for a full moon is because the method we are going to use in order to locate Fritz and possibly your friends is by consulting the moonlight altar located in Fritz's old domain. This altar is considered a holy relic of a certain being. It will allow us to ask certain questions and possibly gain knowledge on the whereabouts of who we are looking for. Unfortunately, it is only accessible on full moons and also requires a specific type of sacrifice to activate it. This sacrifice is the blood of the user. Doing this means you are basically forming a temporary contract with the moonlight altar for the time you are using it. This can be incredibly dangerous, because once the altar is activated it will emit a powerful energy around it and can possibly overwhelm you. Unfortunately it will have to be you who uses it. If I try to use it, it will create even more complications. However, at this time you are nowhere near strong enough to be able to withstand its influence over you. I really don't want to make you do this, but I feel like this may be our only chance. Until the full moon comes, I'm going to prepare you and strengthen your spirit. The first thing we'll do is try and figure out your blessing. I feel that this would be the best course of action before I start teaching you any type of skills."
"Okay, I think I understand Gwyn. But when you do start teaching me skills, can you please show me how you throw your spear?? When you felled that serpent, that was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!"
"Hahaha, of course I'm going to teach you that, it's my specialty after all." Gwyn said with a wink.
And so that is how we proceeded.
Throughout the next few weeks, Gwyn trained me vigorously. Each day we would start by trekking to the stream we first fished at. While there Gwyn would have me focus on using my ability. I have never concentrated so much in my life. We first started by throwing my spear at a tree while using the same method of focus. Each time I activated my blessing my spear would disappear into nothing and when I would pull the line, my spear would reappear with different things attached to the end. A few times it came back with fish even though I was only throwing it at a tree. Then eventually I began obtaining very peculiar items I had never seen before. One of these items was an interesting looking hat that seemed to have a strange bill on the back of it with a clasp on the front. Gwyn thought it suited me, so I began wearing it every day. During this time of acquiring strange items, Gwyn also displayed his pouch that seemed to be entirely bottomless, the pouch he stored the white serpent inside. Apparently this magical pouch was not all that special, and Gwyn stated that the world is filled with incredible enchanted items. He was sure that I would encounter many more exciting things like his pouch if I traveled. Most of the strange things I had revived from throwing my spear ended up inside his pouch.
After much trial and error, Gwyn finally decided that I should stop using the spear. He explained that his belief was that my blessing stemmed from the use of my hands, and that by using the spear I was simply transferring my blessing onto another item. Due to this belief, I began focusing on just reaching out my hand. I would sit in a state of complete focus until I reached complete tranquility. Then I would reach out my hand into the air, and it would seemingly disappear. When doing this, my hands would feel a number of different things. I would feel different sensations like extreme heat, or severe cold. My hands had been shocked, submerged in sticky substances, and at one point… when my hand retracted from the nothingness a substance far too similar to blood had coated my hand. After this occurrence, Gwyn suggested rather than focusing on thinking of nothing, it would be more wise to try and focus on something in front of me, so that we may be able to see my hand reappear. So we tried this a few times and at the third attempt as I focused on a stone on the ground in front of me, my hand disappeared and then reappeared only a yard in front of me allowing me to grab the stone. When I retracted my hand, I was also to pull the stone through with it. This made Gwyn incredibly excited and he shouted that this was amazing progress. Soon enough as I practiced this same technique, I was able to catch fish straight out of the water by using my blessing. I needed not move from the spot I was standing at the edge of the stream. I could simply reach out my hand and snatch the fish out of moving currents from a distance. As I kept catching fish my speed had become faster and faster. While doing this Gwyn would cheerily say that I may have the quickest hands he's ever seen. That sentiment made me really happy, and reminded me of the times I would play with my friends in the forest catching leaves. After using this blessing for two weeks now, I could easily activate it as it was a part of myself since birth. It felt incredibly natural. I soon came to realize the potential of my blessing, and that it could become a fearsome power against foes I may face in the future. Gwyn and I started calling my blessing by a name, and thus it was dubbed: the Traveling Hands. I wasn't able to just make my hands disappear and reappear. I could control the angle, the speed, and the distance that my hand could reappear. This also applies to when I would throw my spear. I could easily thrust my spear straight forwards and then have it strike a tree behind me. There was no possible way someone could predict where my hands would travel. I may only be 13 years old now, but whoever granted me this power must have had great plans for me. This was the belief I chose to put my faith in. This must be fate and there must be meaning. Gwyn told me that among the blessings that have been cataloged throughout history, mine is entirely unique. This has puzzled him even further as to who the god may be that gave this to me. During that last and final week of my preparation period, Gwyn began teaching me his spear throwing technique.
"Alright Sid, first I am going to give you another demonstration of the technique I call Hunters Boon. Logically it would make sense to think that the prize for a hunter would be what we catch, but truly it is the means in which we do it that matters the most. That is why this technique is my boon. It is something I have developed over my entire existence, so pay close attention."
I focused deeply on Gwyn's body movements as he lifted his spear. He placed one hand forward, and pulled his spear back with his hand reaching far behind his head. He firmly planted his back foot into the ground, so firm that the ground itself seemed to crack beneath his feet. He then lifted his front leg as if he was ready to take a large step. In a single moment, I could see all of the muscles in Gwyn's body condense themselves. He looked incredibly powerful. He then bounded forward, boosting himself off with his back leg in a mighty burst of strength. Within the same motion, he threw his arm holding the spear forward with tremendous speed. The Spear spiraled and twisted, causing waves of wind to swirl through the air. This throw was far stronger than the first time I had seen it. The spear seemed to explode from his hand and pierced through the land before him completely decimating the forest ahead of us. The trail left from the spear looked as if a meteor had crashed into the planet. Gwyn had bared his strength in full force. "So this is the strength of a God…" I said with awe in my voice. "HAHA c'mon now kid, this is only a third of my true power. The true strength of the gods is really a site to behold. Alas, this is the best I can show you. Now, I'm sure you were very focused on my throwing form, correct?" Gwyn nodded knowingly. "Yes," I responded. "I watched your body movements very closely, although your form didn't seem too complicated, I still am unable to figure out how you twist the spear like that! When you let go of it, it's like the Spear becomes a vortex of wind itself."
"Yes, it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to understand that part of the technique. Realistically, at this point in time you should be able to replicate all of it up until the point of release. That is because really the trick to that spin I add to the spear comes from both my hand, and by imbuing my life energy into the spear. As I've told you before, life energy is something that exists within all things of this world. While some are born with far more than others, what really matters is how you are able to effectively control it. This life energy stems from your heart. The best way I can describe it, is like that of a small flame. As you grow more capable of recognizing this flame within you, you'll be able to stoke its flames and turn it into a raging fire. This life energy is also vitaly important to those who possess blessed abilities. With more power and control to your life energy, you will also be able to amplify your own blessing. As a matter of fact, you've already begun to stoke the flame of your own life energy Sid." "Huh?" I responded, "Do you mean like when we were fishing?"
"Yes! That is exactly right." Gwyn explained, "When you first began to focus intently while we were fishing… and you were able to sense the presence of the fish within the water, you were actually utilizing your own life energy as a means to spread your consciousness. So by utilizing that same level of focus, you should be able to sense the source of energy within yourself. As you are able to sense it, it is extremely important that you visualize what it is to you. By fully visualizing your life energy, you will be able to innately sense just how much life energy you actually have. If you are able to do this and understand what your capacity is, it will definitely inform me how much potential you'll have in terms of life energy techniques. It will also tell me if you can actually perform my spear throwing technique or not."
"Wow, I didn't know that life energy could be so important. But if this source of energy within me can help me become stronger, then I will do my best to find it!" I said earnestly.
Gwyn cracked another smile and said, "Now that's what I'm talking about kiddo, give it your best shot! I will be here, but you need to concentrate even further then you have before. So much so that everything else around you disappears and all that is left is the window that allows you to see within yourself. I'm expecting great things from you Sid."
I smiled and gave Gwyn a nod. I then sat down into a meditative stance, and allowed myself to focus solely on my inner life force. As I sat there with my eyes closed, it truly felt as if hours were passing by. Within my mind, I envisioned many things like fire as stated by Gwyn, or even lightning, but none of those things truly felt like it was mine. I searched and searched within myself, looking for what belonged to me. Eventually, the image of something formed within my mind. Although it seemed rather unusual in regards to Gwyn's comparison of life energy to fire, this object felt familiar and seemed to be what I was looking for. It was a well. At first I was very confused, as this object was not directly a source of energy like fire. Instead, I envisioned a well that was built from what appeared to be cobblestone. There was a wooden bucket affixed to its old weather worn roofing that hung from a rope. I imagined myself approaching the well, and I touched the edge of its opening. Immediately upon touching it, I knew that this was the origin of my life force. Within my mind, I hesitantly began to peer down into its depths. At first it truly appeared as if this well was bottomless, and that is exactly what it felt like. All I could see was complete darkness, there was no water and no sign of any type of bottom. As I was confused and curious, I instinctively grabbed the bucket, and I dropped it into the well. I watched as it descended and the rope attached simply spun and spun reaching lengths I couldn't believe was possible. However even as the bucket continued to descend, falling so far that I could no longer see it and no signs of it hitting any type of bottom I saw something. Out of nowhere, a small dim light appeared within the darkness of the wells depths. The light was very faint at first, but it began to grow brighter and brighter. The light seemed to travel upwards through the well, until it became powerful and blinding. The light completely encompassed the darkness of the well and sent a powerful wave straight up to the top. I stumbled backwards from the well and watched as the light burst out of the top of the well and completely illuminated everything within my mind. I opened my eyes inhaling a deep breath and immediately stood to my feet. It took me a moment to take in my surroundings again after having my eyes closed for so long and I felt completely out of breath after the experience. "j-just what was that?" I murmured to myself. "Whoa there Sid, are you alright!" Exclaimed Gwyn. "I've never seen anything like that before, just what did you see kiddo?"
I looked over at Gwyn as I felt a bead of sweat run down my forehead. "Gwyn, what happened?" I asked him as I continued to breathe deeply. "Well for one thing your aura around you seemed to start glowing all of a sudden. Usually only someone who has a deep understanding of their life energy would be able to emit it like that. It's definitely not something that is normal. And on top of that, the color of your Aura was white. It was beautiful!" Gwyn shouted out. "What is an Aura?" I asked him. "Oh that's easy, an aura is basically the formation of your life energy. It's something that is naturally given off of your body, usually the color can tell you many different things about a person's energy. It's not exactly uncommon to be able to perceive someone's aura, especially if they are a strong willed person. But yours was different and seemed to completely shoot out of your body as if it was forcing its way out. Now tell me boy, what did you see!"
"It was pretty different from what I expected, and honestly I'm unsure if I did it correctly." "What makes you say that?" Gwyn inquired. "Well… I didn't exactly see fire like you described." I responded, "In fact I'm unsure if I could really say that it appeared as any specific type of energy. Rather, I saw what seemed to be just an ordinary wishing well. At least I thought it was ordinary at first." "Wow!" Gwyn said with vigor, "go ahead and explain further. Did you look in the well? And tell me what you felt."
"Yes I did look in the well…" I said hesitantly. Gwyn leaned a little closer and was looking at me intently, so I continued. "When I looked in the well, I didn't see anything at first. There was nothing inside and honestly it felt bottomless and possibly empty. There was a bucket, so I just tossed it in and let it fall. I was sure that it would hit the bottom at some point, but that didn't happen. Instead the bucket just continued to descend and even the rope continued to unwind ceaselessly. Then suddenly I saw a light deep inside the well. It looked really small when I first saw it but in a matter of seconds it was as if the light had exploded from the well. Is that normal??" I asked Gwyn. When I looked at him, Gwyn's eyes were wide and his jaw was wide open. He was clearly shocked by what he had just heard, and that really made me feel uneasy. "Sid… I think I need to help explain this for you a little bit." Gwyn said with a sudden and serious tone. "You see… Although it might seem a bit strange that you saw a wishing well of some sorts, I believe I can explain why. This well that you saw, it was your container." "Wha-? I'm confused Gwyn, what exactly do you mean by container?"
"By container, I mean exactly that. The well that you saw Is what your subconscious mind is perceiving to hold your life force. The light that you saw… That was your inner life energy." Gwyn said with an ominous tone. "Gwyn you're kind of scaring me…" I said nervously. "What does this all mean?" Suddenly, Gwyn cracked another huge smile and began laughing loudly. "HAHAHA, KID! You don't get it do you?? You said you saw a bottomless well. And that well was holding your inner life energy. That means that for some reason, your vitality is absolutely out of this world! Now I'm not saying you're immortal or anything, but by the gods your life force is certainly something not to be reckoned with. I have been around for a very long time… And I've never heard of anyone envisioning their life force as a bottomless well. You really are such an interesting kid!" Gwyn said with a huge smile and a glimmer in his eyes. "With this, we can be certain that you'll be able to accomplish my spear throwing technique, and much, much more than that!"
"Wow, I don't know what to say. I'm still unsure of what this truly means for me. But if my life force is really that great, then I plan to use every last ounce of it to get back to my friends. I have to become strong enough so I can truly make a difference. That's what we have always wanted."
Gwyn looked at me and put his hand on my shoulder. "That is an admirable desire kiddo. And I promise you that we're going to make that happen. We are approaching closer and closer to the next full moon. Let's be sure to utilize all the time we have left to truly strengthen your skills with your newfound ability. And I will teach you how to harness the life energy within you. That way you'll be able to amplify your blessing if need be." "It's a deal Gwyn, let's do this!" I said with confidence. I was determined to become stronger. It seemed that fate was providing me with all of the tools I would need in the future. I may have lost my friends, but I am certain they must be looking for me too. I met Gwyn, an actual god who has treated me like his own family. I gained this ability Traveling Hands and now it seems I also have plenty of life energy to spare. All that is left is the hard work to piece it all together.
The next week leading up to the full moon, we did nothing but train and exercise. Gwyn had me on a strict regime. Everyday I would run the tunnels of the Forest trees, and as the leaves fell I would catch each one using my blessing. It was just like the game that the three of us would used to play, except I had elevated it to a new extreme. I wouldn't let a single leaf touch the ground as I ran. Over the next week I would capture thousands of leaves. I would focus deeply and intently on my surroundings while spreading my consciousness. By utilizing my life energy, I was able to sense the movement of every single thing around me. I could feel the movement of the leaves, and snatch them out of the air no matter where they fell. According to Gwyn, the technique I was performing was called "presence of mind." He considered me incredibly proficient in this method. By using this and my blessing in conjunction, I learned that I could perform sleight of hand that not even Gwyn was able to sense. My hands could travel and return in the blink of an eye. I also practiced throwing punches with my blessing. I could strike a tree at 360 degree angles. I eventually struck the tree so many times that I had not only bloodied my knuckles, but also created cracks among the tree's trunk that was unable to withstand so many impacts. I was becoming stronger by the day. Near the end of the week, Gwyn taught me the method of imbuing my life energy into the spear. So not only was I able to replicate the entire motion of his throw, but I was not able to completely re-create the swirling winds as I threw a spiraling spear. Though it was not nearly as strong as Gwyn in comparison, I had effectively learned his technique. I was even able to apply the same principles of his technique to other objects as I threw them. I once picked up a stone along the stream of the forest and threw it at the flowing water using Gwyn's technique. The stone skipped across the surface of the water and moved in a spiraling motion until it finally sank into the stream. Upon the stone sinking, the flowing water itself had begun to form a small whirlpool. It was only for a brief moment, but I had been able to impart a momentous spin onto the river rock as I threw it. The technique will surely come in handy in the future. It seems that there is immense potential when it comes to life energy.