The Sealed Sovereign.

First Lesson...

The next morning...

Ben woke before sunrise.

This was unusual.

Very unusual.

Mira had to shake him awake most mornings.

But today...

He jumped out of bed before she even called his name.

"Mother!"

Mira nearly dropped the bowl she was carrying.

"What happened?"

"Old Wen said he'd answer my questions!"

Mira stared at him.

Then laughed.

"That was enough to wake you?"

Ben nodded seriously.

"Of course."

Old Wen's small hut stood near the eastern edge of the village.

It was little more than a wooden room surrounded by herbs.

Some hung from the roof.

Others grew in small clay pots.

The air always smelled of leaves, roots, and medicine.

When Ben arrived...

Old Wen was already waiting.

"I knew you'd come."

Ben sat down immediately.

"Why do some plants heal people?"

Old Wen smiled.

"Because the world contains things that can influence the body."

"Why?"

"Because..."

He paused.

"That is a question for a cultivator."

Ben tilted his head.

"A cultivator?"

Old Wen studied him.

"You don't know what cultivation is?"

Ben shook his head.

"Not really."

The old man pointed toward the distant mountains.

"Beyond those mountains..."

"There are people who can train their bodies and absorb the energy of the world."

"They are called cultivators."

Ben's eyes widened.

"They can fly?"

Old Wen laughed.

"Not immediately."

"Many young children believe that."

"At the beginning, cultivators are no different from ordinary people."

"They must first build a foundation."

Ben leaned forward.

"How?"

Old Wen picked up a small stone.

"Every living thing has a body."

"But cultivators learn to strengthen theirs."

"They temper their flesh."

"Their bones."

"Their organs."

"Then they learn to sense the energy that exists throughout the world."

"What energy?"

"Spiritual Qi."

Old Wen placed the stone in his palm.

"Imagine the world is filled with invisible water."

"Most people live inside it without knowing."

"A cultivator learns how to breathe it in."

Ben stared at the stone.

"Can I do it?"

Old Wen chuckled.

"Perhaps."

"But it is not easy."

Ben closed his eyes.

He sat cross-legged.

Old Wen watched with amusement.

"Don't force it."

"Just breathe."

Ben inhaled.

Slowly.

Then exhaled.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Again.

Still nothing.

After ten minutes...

Ben opened one eye.

"Is it working?"

Old Wen burst into laughter.

"No."

Ben frowned.

"Why not?"

"Because you are trying too hard."

Ben thought about that.

Then closed his eyes again.

This time...

He stopped trying.

He simply breathed.

The wind moved through the trees.

Leaves rustled.

A bird called somewhere in the distance.

For a brief moment...

Ben felt something.

A warmth.

So faint...

He almost dismissed it.

Then it vanished.

Ben opened his eyes.

"Old Wen..."

The old man's smile had disappeared.

"What did you feel?"

Ben described it.

Old Wen listened carefully.

Then shook his head.

"It may have been nothing."

"Or it may have been the beginning of something."

Old Wen did not know...

That the warmth Ben had felt wasn't spiritual Qi.

It was a tiny ripple from the seal within his soul.

The power of I remained completely dormant.

But the seal had recognized something.

Ben's desire to understand.

His willingness to try.

For the first time...

A fragment of the ordinary world's energy had brushed against something far greater.

Nothing came of it.

Not yet.

That afternoon...

Ben returned home.

Garrick was already there.

A bottle stood beside him.

Ben stopped at the doorway.

He looked at the bottle.

Then at his father.

Garrick noticed.

"What?"

Ben shook his head.

"Nothing."

He walked past.

But for some reason...

The sight stayed in his mind.

That night...

Ben asked his mother,

"Why does Father drink?"

Mira's hands paused.

She looked toward the closed door.

"Your father has many troubles."

"What troubles?"

She smiled sadly.

"Some troubles are difficult to explain to children."

Ben frowned.

"I'm not a child."

Mira looked down at him.

"You are three."

Ben folded his arms.

"That's almost four."

Mira laughed despite herself.

"Go to sleep."

Outside...

Garrick sat alone.

The village was quiet.

He stared at the bottle.

Then at the distant mountains.

He remembered Elena leaving.

He remembered the men demanding money.

He remembered every mistake.

He took another drink.

Inside the house...

Ben slept peacefully.

Unaware that his father's life would one day change completely.

But not yet.

The time for that change...

Was still far away.