Lamrud led Armad into an open field fenced by a cliff. From the top of the cliff, water flowed down to the ground forming a small stream. The place gave a cool air that made Armad doubted whether he was taken to a training ground or a park. But then Lamrud put his hands on a rock to reveal some seals surrounding the rock. A hidden door opened beneath the rock.

A large forest that looked like a gathering of beasts waited ahead. Huge trees standing a hundred feet tall with massive thorns for leaves line the entrance into the forest.

"This is our training ground, my King," Lamrud said. "This will take you out when you're done." He handed them a paper bearing a seal.

"The ground is divided into three parts. The first part contains beasts ranging from one thousand to five thousand years strong. The second part contains beasts between five thousand and ten thousand years strong. And the third part has beasts above ten thousand years strong. We don't go beyond the second part. Never. Even the first part is full of dordor and carnivorous plants and we don't allow any child who can't feel pol come here."

He left Armad and Babara there after explaining everything to them.

"Have you seen the way these people are looking at you?" Babara asked after Lamrud was out of earshot.

Armad nodded. "Yes."

Babara was silent for a moment, debating on whether to say it or not. "They believe in you and look to you to save them. That is why they showed you the old empire. They want you to go in and save their parents. They are imprisoned here because they served your ancestors. Saving them is a salvation for every Wilberforce. I think... you should enter the old empire."

Babara wanted him to enter the old empire for all the benefits he might get. He could now see through the old man even when he was beating around the bush.

"I agree," Armad said. "But I'm on a mission. I won't stay in this prison while my mother is sick. So just drop it and teach me how to control my eyes."

Babara didn't object. He drew three seals around Armad before instructing him to sit at the center while he recited incantations.

An hour later, Babara frowned and stopped reciting the incantations. He ran to Armad and took some of his blood into a bottle. Armad felt something, an awkward sensation in his chest, but he waited patiently thinking it was all part of the ritual.

After a while, Babara looked at him with a grave expression. "I thought this would happen but I was praying that it didn't."

Armad narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"What you told me about losing your miyura," Babara said. "The thing is you didn't just lose your miyura, you also lost a part of your soul. As a result, you won't be able to use your eyes until you find the missing part of your soul."

Armad rolled his eyes. "Is this some joke? How can I miss a part of my soul?"

"Let's see if I can find out where it's," Babara said, ignoring him.

The old man took some more of his blood and poured it on the ground, drawing some complicated tattoo-like runes with it. The blood glowed and then caught fire and exploded.

"Your soul is trapped in a land masked by a power beyond even my own," Babara said, looking at him with a dire expression. "My fortune-telling has failed to locate it or the island."

Armad didn't get it. Sure, he lost his miyura but he wasn't so sure about his soul. A broken soul would cause certain death. He was alive and well. So what happened?

"I know what you are thinking about," Babara said. "And it isn't just you, I haven't seen anything like this before. And I still don't how you managed to survive."

Babara stared at him as if expecting an answer from him.

"I don't know how either," Armad said.

"Yes, you don't," Babara said, nodding to himself. "But that means you can't use your eyes, at least not until you find your soul fragments."

Armad looked at the ring on his finger where he kept his mother. The cure always seemed to be so close and yet it always slipped through his fingers when he was about to grab it. "If my story is to be told, it will begin with finding my miyura. Our stay in this prison has come to an end. We came here to control my eyes and now that it's no longer an option, we must leave. I have my mother to take care of and I will not stay here playing to be a hero."

Babara nodded in understanding. "But, my lord, there is another way to save your mother besides using your eyes. It's more dangerous and carries a great risk of exposure, that's why I didn't tell you about it before."

Armad grabbed him with shaking hands. "What is it? Tell me."

Babara sighed, already regretting it. "Benders undergo initiation to get their first longevity and pol. And they will get more when they awaken. Just like you when you jumped from 51 to 1000 years. For many, that's the only way they know to increase their pol. But for a selected few, there are two more ways known to do just that.

"The first way is to use the power in the eyes of Wilberforce, as I told you earlier. The second way, which I didn't tell you about, is something called CONTRACT."