The clearing around the Tree of purple leaves was quiet.

  More so than it’d ever been, at least in Corin’s mind.

  She blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up.

  Vrakhu sat motionless on the edge of the clearing.

  Almost exactly as he had been the last time she’d looked at him.

  Only one thing was different between then and now.

  He was looking right at her.

  “Wake him up.”

  She watched him for a few seconds before she moved.

  Her curiosity momentarily overriding the fear his eyes always instilled in her.

  Whatever she expected to find in his face, it wasn’t there.

  Vrakhu’s face was expressionless and his eyes gave nothing away.

  Corin flinched as the remnants of sleep fled her mind.

  She nodded and crawled across the hollow to Corvin’s side.

  “Hey. Wake up.” She shoved his right shoulder; he mumbled but didn’t wake.

  “Hey! Come on.” She grabbed his arm and shook him; he pulled his arm away and rolled away from her.

  She glanced over at Vrakhu; he continued to stare at them.

  His gaze sent shivers down her spine.

  She didn't know what he wanted.

  She crawled over him to leave the hollow and kneel beside the tree.

  After a few more failed attempts to wake her log-like brother. She finally gave in and slapped her palm against his gut. “Wake. up!”

  Corvin came to with a gasp and a cough.

  He rolled onto his stomach and curled into a ball, protecting his stomach with his hands and knees.

  He turned his head to face her. “What is wrong with you!?” He groaned and glared at her.

  Corin purposefully glanced away, and Corvin followed her eyes to Vrakhu. Who was silently watching the scene with his usual expression.

  “Oh…” Corvin sat up to properly face him. “Good morning.”

  “If you wish me to train you, I will.” He saw their faces immediately brighten and raised a palm to stop them.

  “I expect you both to wake with the sun from tomorrow onwards.”

  He watched their expressions falter and said nothing.

  It was easy to see Corvin was dissatisfied with something, but he was able to hold it in.

  A sign of how seriously the two were taking this conversation.

  Corvin wasn’t immediately complaining and Corin wasn’t attempting to stop him even if he did.

  Both children were fully focused on the next words Vrakhu spoke.

  “You will be responsible for your own meals. You will tend to your own and each other’s injuries. You will do as I say, for as long as I say.” With each directive the twins’ faces grew darker, more concerned.

  “In return, I will guide you both to the path of a cultivator.”

  That brought them back.

  They smiled as excitement filled their small bodies.

  They couldn’t help but celebrate.

  They took hold of each others’ arms and jumped for joy.

  Cheers rolled off their tongues and filled the air… For a moment.

  Then something occurred to Corin.

  Something Corvin had reminded her of just last night.

  They were always told a cultivator had a reason for everything they do.

  So… What was his reason?

  While Corvin continued to leap with overflowing joy, oblivious to the thoughts running through his sister’s mind.

  Corin stood still and turned towards Vrakhu.

  “What do you want in return?”

  Hearing her voice; Corvin slowed and tugged on her hand.

  “What did you say?” Corvin stopped moving altogether and started watching his sister’s face.

  Her eyes were focused, serious.

  Her hand, which he still held, was trembling from nervous excitement.

  But she wasn’t allowing it to show on her face.

  Vrakhu watched her face for a few seconds.

  Then he nodded.

  “Do not worship me. Do not fear me. Do not betray yourselves or your ideals. Do not take this life lightly. Live by these tenets, and I will be satisfied. Refuse or fail any of these and your training will end.”

  Corin and Corvin looked askance at each other.

  They’d barely begun and he was already talking of failing?

  A small smile appeared on Corvin’s face that quickly spread to Corin’s.

  “He doesn’t know how Stubborn/Pigheaded She/He is.”

  Their inner voices were unknowingly in sync; a fact that didn’t escape Vrakhu’s notice.

  He nodded and stood up, his jacket flapping from a quick movement of his arms.

  The motion immediately drew the twins’ eyes to him as he walked towards the edge of the clearing.

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  “Follow me.”

  The twins didn’t hesitate.

  They sprinted after his back and followed him into the forest.

  The first thing they noticed was how quiet it was. Corin had assumed the clearing was oddly quiet when she’d first awoke. But this? There was something… eerie about this silence.

  The forest was a place teeming with life.

  Yet for the half-hour they followed Vrakhu’s back, they saw neither hide nor hair of any living thing.

  Not even an insect.

  The only thing to see was the morning’s light filtering through the trees, dying the world orange, gold, green, and black.

  The only thing to hear was the rustling of leaves and the low hum of the wind.

  Vrakhu led them to a small field of flowers in the middle of nowhere. Then he stepped to the side and watched the twins look at their new training grounds.

  The field was about ten meters across and twenty meters long.

  Which Corin thought to be about twice the size of the clearing around the tree of purple leaves.

  Why had he led them here?

  Sure, the field was nice to look at. But there was nothing here… Was there?

  She looked around once more and tried to really look at everything.

  The field was a natural ring; large trees with needle leaves and dark trunks encircled it entirely.

  The flowers came in every shape, size and color she could imagine; from small daisies to massive sun flowers and everything in between.

  But aside from the colorful sights. This place was perfectly normal; not the kind of place she ever envisioned a cultivator would train in, but…

  She stopped moving her eyes across the field and shifted them back a ways.

  Turns out she was wrong the first time and there was something here, three somethings, in fact.

  A trio of large rocks formed a triangle near the center of the field, nearly obscured by the height of the flowers.

  While Corin puzzled how the stones could’ve naturally ended up in that position.

  Corvin watched the sky; already bored of waiting for his training to begin.

  Corin glanced at Vrakhu, who was watching the two of them without a word.

  Was he waiting for something?

  Were they supposed to see something here?

  Danger?

  A Sign?

  Something only a cultivator would know?

  Corvin looked at Vrakhu and pointed towards the center of the field, “Can I go look at those rocks?”

  Vrakhu blinked.

  And Corin flinched at his reaction.

  He blinked?

  He never blinks.

  Why did he blink now?

  “Yes.”

  “Woo!” Corvin sprinted ahead of them.

  He held his arms out to either side as he ran, letting his hands brush against the flowers and tall grass.

  He enjoyed the feeling.

  It reminded him of those bird cultivators he’d seen at the settlement-day festival.

  “So… We can walk around as we please?” Corin watched Vrakhu’s face for a reaction.

  Would he get angry at being questioned?

  Was she about to be punished?

  “So long as you don’t leave the field.”

  Corin felt her heart skip a beat; then immediately sink.

  She was happy he allowed them to wander.

  But…

  Why did he blink when Corvin asked a question?

  He remained as expressionless as ever when she asked.

  What was the difference?

  Corin nodded at his condition and wandered off to look at some flowers near the western edge that’d caught her eye.

  The moment she stepped fully into the field, she felt a shift in temperature on her skin and wind playing in her hair.

  The field was warm, comforting, especially compared to the chill of the forest.

  Every day in there she felt like she’d freeze if she didn’t stick close to the fire. But here…

  Out here it was somehow comfortable, if not a little too warm.

  And that confused her.

  Vrakhu split his attention between the two, observing the manner in which they interacted with the field.

  Corvin was still playing; he raced through the field like a rampaging beast. Arms at the side, head down, smacking the flowers like they were his own personal toys.

  Vrakhu blinked after looking at Corin.

  She crouched low amidst a crowd of Yin favored flowers.

  Their pale color and dull stems made them stand out against the vibrant hues and greens of their neighbors.

  She favored Yin over Yang.

  It made sense.

  Corin felt his eyes on her and looked up, but Vrakhu had already turned away.

  He made his way over to the trio of stones in the center of the field. They formed a triangle with one point facing north, one facing southeast, and the other southwest.

  Vrakhu sat on the northern stone and placed both hands behind his back, grabbing his left wrist with his right hand.

  Corvin made his way over a minute after Vrakhu sat down, his eagerness to begin shown in his eyes. He plopped onto the southeastern stone without a thought. His body practically vibrated with excitement.

  Vrakhu glanced at the stone beneath Corvin, then at the sun rising in the eastern sky.

  And the boy favored Yang over Yin.

  If he’d chosen to settle on the southwestern stone, then perhaps both children favored Yin. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

  Corin meandered over after another minute and settled on the only available stone left.

  She held a faded white flower in her left hand and was sniffing at its petals.

  The scent pleased her.

  It reminded her of the perfume her grandmother used to wear.

  Since she made it herself, her hands always smelled like that perfume.

  Once the two settled in and properly focused on him. Vrakhu motioned over his head, at a point far in the distance.

  The twins followed his direction and their eyes landed on the world’s tallest mountain. With a peak so high it bisected the sky and a base so wide it passed the horizon.

  Corin remembered their father talking about the mountain before. He’d said it was the reason the Kusal Empire was able to exist.

  She didn’t know what he meant by that. But assumed it meant the mountain was pretty important.

  “At mid-day; the sun and the peak should be in perfect alignment with each other. If the sun is on Corvin’s side of the mountain, it’s morning. If it’s on Corin’s side, it’s evening. Keep that in mind.”

  “Okay!”

  “Yes, Master!”

  Vrakhu blinked and Corvin’s head whipped around to look at his sister.

  “Master?”

  Corin tilted her head and gave him a confused look.

  “If we’re going to be his disciples, then that makes him our master- right? Isn’t that what Da—Er— Lord Dryden called Grandpa Olvo?”

  Corvin looked similarly confused for a second or two. Then he caught on to what she was saying.

  “Hey, you’re right.”

  He turned back to Vrakhu and bowed his head in apology.

  “Sorry, Master.”

  Vrakhu blinked at Corvin next.

  He stared at the two children for several moments before his eyes slid skyward.

  The sound of distant thunder tickled at his ears, though neither child seemed to notice.

  “There will be no training today. That begins tomorrow.” He saw their expressions falter at the reveal. “The only thing you must do today is answer a question.”

  He met both of their eyes in turn.

  “Can you describe your core?”

  The twins stared at him and he stared back.

  “Well… Um… The core is the most vital part of a cultivator’s life. It’s ball shaped, and…” Corin looked to Corvin for help.

  He tried to recall what their dad used to say about his core.

  “It’s filled with some kind of orange gas; right?”

  Corin nodded and pointed at him.

  “Yeah, that’s it. It holds energy that looks like gas!”

  The two turned back to Vrakhu; both feeling rather proud of themselves.

  “No.”

  His voice felt like ice water dumped over their heads.

  “What? No, but… I’m sure that’s what it looks like. I remember seeing the pictures in dad’s book.”

  “Maybe this is some kind of test?” Corvin poked Corin’s side and motioned to Vrakhu. “Maybe we’re right and he’s just being mean.”

  “Like Grandpa Olvo!” Corin nodded; a smile playing on her lips.

  They both looked at him… And simultaneously came to the same conclusion.

  Their master didn’t seem like the type to think it was funny.

  So, if their dad’s textbooks were wrong. What answer is he looking for?

  Vrakhu looked between the two once again before standing and brushing dust off of his pants.

  “Stay inside the field and think on it. I’ll return when the sun enters Corin’s part of the sky.”

  “Where are you going — Er— Master?”

  “Take care!”

  Vrakhu responded to neither child and left the field, and the twins, behind.

  The children would be fine, so long as they didn’t leave the field.

  And he had something that pricked his curiosity.