At the village stream, everyone has chosen their spots and set up the fishing tools. Old Man Basse sat under a tree cover a few meters away from the kids. There was a rock there that he lay on. No one knows if he's the one who placed it there or not. It's just been there always, and the old man liked fishing on that spot. He lay facing upwards with his legs crossed and his grey hat placed on his knees.
The kids, on the other hand, chose another position that had a lot of rubble on the bank. This was most likely Shandha's idea, cause she didn't like Old Man Basse's spot. According to her, there's a lot of mud there.
"Big Sis Shandha, is this where I was found?" Ewan asked his elder sister, who was becoming impatient because no fish had bitten her bait.
She looked like she could throw away her fishing tool at any time because of frustration.
"Remove it from there, little girl, place it somewhere that the water is flowing steadily, not that kind of high current area." The voice of Old Man Basse sounded in their ears.
"Ehn"
Ewan looked at the old man who was seated far away. He was surprised cause Old Man Basse was sitting very far, but he heard his voice as if he was just close by.
Shandha looked over her shoulder and answered him,
"Yes, Ewan, we found you floating here."
Ewan looked at the stream for a long time and didn't see his sister catch any fish. He quickly became bored and sat on the ground. Shandha, on the other hand, wasn't any better, as she had already run out of patience due to the lack of fish even after she had done what her Old Man Basse told her to do. She kept the stick she was holding earlier with great enthusiasm and joined Ewan to sit on the ground.
"Do you know that if you keep going upstream from here, this stream keeps getting bigger. Grandpa says that if you reach the area around the stream source, it's almost as big as a river."
Shandha started telling Ewan, who looked like his curiosity had been aroused about the stream. The stream was not very wide, as it was just about 3 metres wide, and the further one went downstream.
"If you really go farther downwards, it gets bigger," Old Man Basse's voice sounded again.
"Grandpa, can we go and see it?" Ewan asked expectantly.
"No," Ewan was instantly rejected.
"Ewan, forget about it, Grandpa won't even let us go upstream a little bit, talk more of going downstream." Shandha chipped in.
Ewan let it go. He looked out at the stream once again, but Shandha seemed to feel like something was up with him this time.
She asked him softly, "Ewan, what are you thinking?"
"Big Sis, I had a dream."
Old Man Basse's ear pricked up a little as he listened carefully. He has always felt like the dreams that this little child is always talking about are not simple.
"In the dream, my Father talked to me about many things. He said that I should train and become stronger. Big Sis, do you train?"
Shandha looked at him with surprise in her eyes. Granpa Basse, on the other hand, wasn't surprised. This is because the day he brought the little child out of the water, he felt a wave of consciousness scan him before letting him take the kid away. He was genuinely frightened by that wave of consciousness, but he still needed to get the kid out of the water, so he braved it; fortunately, it was just for a split second. It didn't last long, but to Old Man Basse, it was more like an hour.
The old man continued listening to the conversation quietly.
"You know about training?" Shandha asked him in a surprised tone.
"Yes, Big Sis, I even know that you have to train the body, soul, and spirit."
Shandha was surprised again. How does he know so much, and who taught him all this?
Could it be the dream he is talking about?
Is there really someone talking to him in a dream?
I thought it was just some rambling from him and Grandpa. Is it really true?
"Ewan did Granpa teach you that?" she asked, just to be sure.
"No, he didn't. I just told you, it's my Father who told me in the dream."
Shandha looked at him speechlessly for a while before nodding her head. "Yes, I train," she said.
Ewan became excited as he quickly turned to her, held a piece of her clothing, and shouted, "Quick, Big Sis, tell me, how do you train. My father just told me to train, but didn't tell me how. He said I should create my own training technique, but I don't even know what a training technique looks like. Can you show me yours?"
"What!"
Again, Shandha was surprised by what the little kid said, and this time around, even Old Man Basse was surprised. What did he mean by create a training technique? Even for a Spirit Realm Being, that might be impossible, and a little brat was expected to create his own training technique? That should've sounded like a huge joke to the old man, but for some reason, it didn't. Perhaps it is because of all the strange things that have been going on around the little boy that made him feel like this might be something the father actually required his son to do. He kept on listening quietly.
"Your father asked you to create your own training technique?" Shandha asked Ewan with a surprised expression.
"Yes!" Ewan nodded repeatedly.
"That is nonsense. How can you create a training technique? Even my father cannot create a training technique, and you want to create your own technique. You have to know what you're looking for because it is impossible for you to create a technique."
Ewan was a bit shocked by Shandha's reaction. He knew that she always supported him whenever he wanted something, but this time she reacted so strongly against it. Could it be that it is really impossible? And why was she reacting like this?
"Big Sis, I just want to see how you train. Not to talk of creating a technique, I don't even know what a training technique looks like." Ewan tried to ease his sister's worry.
"Ewan, I'm not trying to discourage you, but it is not something that you can do. If you insist on doing that, you'll end up wasting the best years of your life, and you can't regain them at all. I just don't want you to do that to yourself." Shandha looked at him with concern on her face.
"Ok, I understand, Big Sis," little Ewan nodded slowly.
"Alright, don't be sad about it, Ewan. Before you learn any training technique, you need to learn how to read and write first."
"Ehhn?" Ewan looked up, confused.
Shandha looked at him playfully, "What? You think you can read and write?"
"Can't I?" Ewan asked with a skeptical expression.
"Hahahahaha!! Ewan, you can't. You'll have to learn how to read and write. And honestly, you're not old enough to go to school. But you don't have to worry, you have me. I will teach you how to read and write, okay."
"Sis, your fishing pole is shaking." Ewan pointed at the fishing pole lying on the ground near the stream.
"It's fish!" Shandha screamed out.
Old Man Basse smiled a bit, but couldn't help but think more about what the little child had just said. Why would his parents not pass down their techniques to him? Except if he's one of those legendary beings who have bloodline memories. But then that is weird, cause if they anticipated him to get power from bloodline memories, they wouldn't ask him to create techniques. One may not know, but creating techniques is really difficult. Besides, when navigating the world, one would need an inventory of techniques, not just one; this is because different situations require different skills to maneuver. While that is the case, Old Man Basse couldn't help but think about how good it would be for a young person to have a technique that was made just for them. Plenty of times, techniques clash and result in either injury or, even worse, death. This is why having a technique alone is not enough; instead, one should have a suitable technique so as not to hinder their progress to the Spirit level.
Meanwhile, far away from the Ascii village was a snowy mountain, where a family of three bears and a human boy lived. This day, on the Eastern side of the mountain, something interesting was going on. Little Elwyn was hiding and peeking behind a caved-in earth, while the big Grund was slowly creeping towards a wolf who was eating a meal. When the big bear got a few meters closer, the grey-furred wolf stood up and called out,
"Stop sneaking around like that, big guy, you're too huge to be sneaking around. Have you tried looking at your reflection before?"
"What!" Big Grund stood up straight, surprised.
"Being this huge and still trying to sneak up on someone is just weird, kikiki." The wolf didn't stop dissing Big Grund.