“Hmm... ” Jianmen had his fingers on Josephine Wong’s wrist for a while, but he still did not say anything, but his facial expressions indicated that he was both confused and a little bit alarmed.

“What is it? You’re not gonna tell me that I have some terminal disease right?” Josephine Wong asked jokingly: “Or are you gonna tell me that I am actually pregnant?”

“Well, are you?” Jianmen looked at Josephine Wong with a side eye: “If you are it’s pretty reckless to be here. Chaotic energy fields, baaad for the baby.”

“Mhm, I’d think so. So what did you feel? And why the face?” Josephine Wong chuckled and shook her head: “The suspense is kinda killing me here.”

“Let me ask you something first.” Jianmen scratched his jaw with a frown: “Have any of these things happened to you before - first, being struck by a lightning and then when you woke up, your body was either filled with explosive energy or you’re completely drained but when you recovered you felt that your power had greatly increased; second, you fell into a weird dream where everything felt incredibly real but there was still something feeling off, and when you woke up, that feeling just followed you to reality; and third, you felt a crazy headache and you were seeing all kinds of strange colors, your body felt like burning, and when you recovered, you felt that your entire body felt lighter and your eyesight and hearing became much better than they used to be?”

“Hmm...” Josephine Wong narrowed her eyes and thought for a while: “I… I don’t think so, what do these mean?”

“You’re gifted.” Jianmen answered simply: “You are quite gifted. Did no one tell you this before?”

“Well, I am one of the youngest researchers in the Grant Academy, THE Grant Academy, where I graduated Summa Cum Laude.” Josephine Wong giggled and said with her head held high: “So yeah, I’ve never heard anyone say that to me.”

“Very good, cute.” Jianmen smiled: “But no, I was talking about a different kind of gift. Let me try something else, and let me know if it has happened to you but don’t worry about the details: have you ever gone through a really long sleep, throughout which people could even have thought that you were dead?”

This time, Josephine Wong went silent, and her body started trembling.

“So I’m right.” Jianmen sighed: “And when you woke up, what happened?”

“My parents were dead.” Josephine Wong answered with a shaking voice.

Jianmen sighed and looked at Josephine Wong in the eye: “...I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, it’s fine. ” Josephine Wong wiped her eyes and smiled: “I was born in a relatively okay family of wizards and mages. And when I was around the age of 17 and a half, I went to sleep one night and did not wake up the next morning. In fact, I didn’t even wake up until almost eighty years later. I was the smallest kid in my family, we mages and wizards have long expectancy, but still, my eldest brother was already around 100 years of age, and my parents - they would have to be somewhere around 150 years old to see me for the last time. But yeah, I think I understand what you meant. There were a few people in the history that had fallen into that kind of slumber - all four of five of them either died shortly after, or went on becoming incredibly powerful power wielders.”

“Yeah.” Jianmen shook his head and lied back on his back, a stone backrest appeared behind him and he just rested like sitting on a stone chair: “And I assume your abilities to understand magical powers and energies were not what they once were before your long slumber?”

“I don’t remember much from before I went to sleep.” Josephine Wong stared at the fire and answered: “But yeah, neither do I remember learning and casting spells this easily. And I was able to - I mean I became extremely good at this new kind of magic.” Then she raised her hand, and a small dark purple ball of energy appeared in the air above her palm: “They called this magic ‘Xen’, relatively newly discovered, but not officially recognized as an official magical element yet.”

“And… please don’t take this the wrong way. Do you know what caused the few of the people who fell into this kind of slumber before to die?” Jianmen asked.

“Two died of uncontrolled energy burst from inside of their bodies; one died of a faulty time and space spell; one died from a quite meaningless fight.” Josephine Wong counted her fingers and answered: “Why? As someone that used to have godhood, do you know something about this kind of slumber?”

“It’s - It’s - I’m not sure how to put it.” Jianmen scratched his neck: “Well, I’m not sure I could tell you what I know now, since you are still recovering and this knowledge is quite weighted. But I could tell you this - be very careful in fights, especially when against those that wield dark, foul and vile forces. The gift you were given, they’re gifts, but they are also curses, and orders of conscription.”

“Orders of conscription.” Josephine Wong nodded and looked into the fire. Memories from the past few decades flashed before her eyes, her unfortunate adventures, her close encounters with different people, creatures and dangerous and even forbidden knowledge. And a strange feeling, an intuition and somewhat troubling thoughts occured in her mind - that there was a shadow war going on, and she, being a “chosen one”, became a soldier in it the night she went into her decades long sleep.

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it either.” Jianmen stretched and said: “I may just die of a horrible food poisoning one day if you just give up your power and retreat into a life of mediocrity and docile peace because of what I told you.”

“I’d like some of those spider legs now, if you still have some.” Josephine Wong let out a long exhale and said with a wry smile: “I guess - if what I am thinking is right, I’d better get used to it right?”

“The stone box behind you.” Jianmen laughed out loud and said.

“Mmm, never thought that the day would come that I munch on a giant spider leg.” Josephine Wong took one leg from the stone box and broke it into two pieces: “Cheers, Jianmen. If this tastes like shit I’m gonna slap you so hard.”

Jianmen laughed out loud and Josephine Wong bit down on the meat from the spider leg.