“Damnit” Jack groaned as he began to peel himself off the ground. He was tired of waking up with a sore everything.

There were splinters sticking out of his face and neck. The front of his body felt like it was one big bruise from getting hit by the shockwave of the druid’s powerful attack. Right after he had been struck by that, he had slammed back first into the ground.

Jack was pretty sure that some of his ribs were fractured if not broken. His elbows were deeply bruised at the very least and he could feel a trickle of blood running down his neck from the back of his head.

All things considered, however, he was much more hale than he should have been. He had thought that the enormous stone cleaver was going to tear him apart for sure.

Jack felt a significant drain on his qi reserves as his healing physique went to work restoring the damage. The healing began with his bones and worked its way out to repairing his skin last. He grimaced in pain and grit his teeth. The accelerated healing was not comfortable. Sometimes it was more painful to repair an injury than to receive one.

Jack looked down at his bare chest and saw that there was a large, dark bruise on the right side. He struggled to remember how that had happened. If he had been hit by the cleaver, he was sure that there would have been nothing left of him but tiny little pieces.

As his senses returned to him, Jack remembered that his life was being threatened. That huge animal had come to kill him. He struggled to rise, his head on a swivel, scanning for more threats.

There was nothing in his immediate vicinity. He looked towards where he thought the druid and beast had fought. He had been knocked unconscious when he was in the air and he didn’t know how far he had been thrown.

Jack couldn’t see the combatants, but there was a section of forest a few dozen yards away where the canopy was mostly stripped of leaves. The wide leaves of the oak-like trees were steadily falling to the ground like snow. He assumed that was where the battle had taken place.

The hot, humid air was almost stifling as Jack tried to take deep breaths. He turned his focus to his mental passenger.

“Any idea what that was about?” Jack asked Zachias in his head.

The big warrior’s response was frustratingly calm to Jack as if being attacked by monsters was the most trivial occurrence. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Jack looked towards where the battle had taken place. The bare and broken branches looked like a scar in the forest while the healthy green leaves covered the ground.

“How did a big wooden fist do all of this? It looks like a bomb went off.” Jack was stunned by the level of destruction caused by one physical blow.

Zachias projected his form in front of Jack and looked down on him with his arms crossed. His white armored chest plate always seemed to gleam in the light. Jack suspected that it was an intentional choice that Zachias made out of vanity.

“It was not the actual punch that caused most of this damage” Zachias said gesturing behind him to the wrecked forest. “The druid’s path obviously combines wood qi and force.”

“The Path of Crushing Timber Emrys called it.” Jack decided not to speak out loud to Zachias as he usually did when he was projected in front of him. The druids were still around and he did not want them to know about Zachias, or think he talked to himself like a crazy person.

“Yes” Zachias said. “It is right there in the name. You have already seen that people in the Spirit Realm can release kinetic energy at will.”

Jack nodded his head. Janus had used this ability against him to deliver blows with bone-shaking force. Every strike of his cane had seemed to carry so much more power than their speed would have suggested.

“This is something that you will have to learn after you advance” Zachias continued. “It is an extension of chakra. This manipulation of kinetic energy is commonly called kinesis, and it can be used in myriad ways. The beast, for example, used its kinesis to counter the druid’s. It wrapped its kinetic energy around the exterior of its rock armor to deflect the force of enemy attacks.”

The idea that he would soon have to learn an entirely new subject was unwelcome news to Jack, who was already overwhelmed with his studies. He was curious about the different ways to use this kinesis though.

“Is there a type of kinesis that goes well with lightning? Or wood?” Jack added, remembering that he was a wood bender now thanks to the beautiful tree witch that had branded him.

Zachias smiled slightly, approving of Jack’s line of questioning. “There are many ways to use kinesis. It depends on your style. You could use the kinesis of cutting or piercing if you used a sharp weapon. If your style focused on casting your lightning, you might focus on the burning or destruction.”

“Or I could use them all” Jack projected, excited to learn something new after all.

Zachias tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes as if to slightly disagree. “While it is true that you can acquire as many as you like, it is always better to specialize. The people who reach the peak of power are always those who do one thing better than anyone else.”

Jack could see some wisdom in this. After all, he had never met anyone who was a brain surgeon, a tech CEO, and a professional athlete. He would have to take his time and consider what would work best for him before he would commit to a kinesis major.

The pain of his healing was beginning to fade as Jack’s body restored itself completely. He looked down to the bruise on his chest as it was the last injury being repaired by his physique. This brought his train of thought back to how he had received it.

Thinking back to the end of the fight, Jack remembered the monster throwing the enormous stone cleaver at him with everything it had. He had leapt backwards to dodge but it had still seemed destined to hit him. Then he woke up on his back sore and pissed off.

There was only one theory that Jack could come up with. Emrys had been standing just to his right when he threw himself from the tree limb. It was possible that the young druid had done something to push him out of the cleaver’s path. Judging from the size and depth of the bruise, it had not been a gentle nudge.

Jack started walking back towards the semi-destroyed section of forest. The trees still stood, but they were missing most of their bark and leaves. The bare trees looked out of place in the hot summer air. He approached the affected area and saw that it was about thirty yards in diameter. As he slowly approached the middle, he looked around awed.

“Will I be able to do shit like this after I advance to the Spirit Realm?” he projected to Zachias.

Surprisingly, he could feel the blue skinned warrior’s contempt at the destruction. “Hopefully you will be able to do much better than this.” Jack’s confusion must have been felt by Zachias because he explained without any prompting. “This technique was powerful, but it was also extraordinarily wasteful. Think about how much more effective it would have been if all of this force had been channeled into one small point instead of released in every direction like an explosion. The ability to condense the power of techniques into a smaller area, this is the true measure of a warrior’s control.”

Jack considered this for a moment as he surveyed the damage. He realized that Zachias had a good point. As this concept began to sink in, Jack had a stunning realization and his head turned on a swivel.

“Are you saying that monster might still be alive?” There was nothing in his immediate vicinity, but the enormous beast had somehow managed to sneak up on him last time.

“It is possible, but even if it is alive, it will be in no shape to fight right now.” If Zachias was trying to reassure him, he had failed. Jack knew that even if that monster was fatally wounded, it would still be able to end him effortlessly.

Jack was approaching the middle of the section of the forest affected by the technique. He still had not spotted the old druid that had caused so much damage. Even though the trees were bare with no bark or leaves, they were still thicker than any tree he had seen on Earth.

Just as he was rounding one of the wooden behemoths, he heard a loud thump from just behind him and he turned around in a burst of lightning expecting to find that the beast had come back for his life.

Instead, he turned to see Emrys rising from a crouch. Jack had failed to look up into the canopy so focused was he on the potential threats around him. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw the friendly face of the druid.

“You about scared the shit out of me” Jack projected to Emrys with his mind’s eye.

The smooth faced being tilted his head slightly and considered the human for a moment. “I apologize. It was not my intention to frighten your shit.”

Jack lifted a finger and began to correct Emrys, but quickly decided to let it go. Instead, he asked something that he had been wondering.

“What was that giant beast that attacked us? Are there more of them in this forest?” Jack had been picturing entire tribes of the massive bears on steroids, or maybe bearoids.

For some reason, this question appeared to confound Emrys. His wooden eyebrows drew together as he considered.

“What do you mean? Of course there are more beasts in the forest. You have already seen more than that one.” Emrys replied confusing Jack all the more.

Fortunately, Zachias decided to clarify to Jack in his mind.

“Jack that was not a beast it was a beastkin. A beastkin is an animal that has evolved itself until it becomes sentient and intelligent. That large beast or even the powerful wolf man that gave you the tattoo on your neck could have begun their lives as any animal. This is a universe where even the smallest, frailest mouse can rise to divinity.”

Since he was having a secret conversation inside his head, Jack tried not to let the skepticism show on his face. “Evolution happens over generations and populations. It doesn’t happen during a single animal’s lifespan.”

“That may be how it worked on your qi deprived world” Zachias replied. “But not on this one. Animals absorb the qi of whatever they eat. With every meal they become more powerful and more intelligent until they finally break through. This is why most of the beastkin you will see will be evolved from predators.”

“So every beastkin is just an animal that has used qi to change their form and become intelligent?” Jack inquired.

“They can also be descended from those who are already evolved” Zachias explained.

Jack had assumed the beastkin were just a species of people with animal features. The fact that they came from actual animals was surprising.

“Wait,” Jack said when he was struck by another thought. “What about fishkin? Are they a thing?”

“Focus Jack. You are not alone.”

He realized that Zachias was right. Emrys was still looking at him in confusion. Jack and Zachias had been communicating at the speed of thought but he could tell that the pause had gone on too long.

“Nevermind Emrys. I just misspoke. Is your companion okay?” Jack asked, trying to redirect the conversation to cover for his strange behavior.

Emrys nodded and smiled. “What did you think of the fight? Was it like one of your action movies?”

Jack had told Emrys much about human culture on Earth during their long conversations. He had been fascinated by the idea of movies but Jack had trouble explaining the appeal of action movies. Emrys simply could not understand what humans found so gratifying about gratuitous violence and Jack wasn’t introspective enough to explain it to him.

Jack shrugged “Sure. I could see the next Fast movie having a tree fighting a giant beast. I’m pretty sure the last one had super suits.”

He noticed that Emrys was studying his bare torso closely for a moment. He probably expected him to have some kind of injury. Jack fidgeted uncomfortably.

While he liked the druid, and even trusted him to some extent, he was not ready to divulge the existence of his healing physique quite yet.

Emrys tilted his head in what looked like curiosity, but he did not ask for an explanation for his lack of bruises. One thing Jack liked about Emrys, was that out of the hundreds of questions the druid had asked him during their conversations, not once had he inquired about something that Jack didn’t want to talk about.

The young druid with the wooden antlers was simply fascinated by human culture on Earth. It made a certain sense to Jack after learning about how the druids lived.

He had expected them to live in trees that grew in the shape of houses and mansions. Jack had imagined bioluminescent plants used in place of street lights. He had thought they would have great cities made entirely of living trees.

The truth of druid culture was nothing like that. Apparently, Jack could travel the entire forest and not find a single village, or even one house shaped tree.

Druids we’re born with the ability to switch between two forms. Much like the powerful and beautiful woman who had given Jack the tattoo on his side, every druid could take the form of a tree as well as a person.

Jack was slightly disappointed to learn that they spent the vast majority of their time in tree form. There were no druid cities or structures because they didn’t need them. They could plant their roots in the ground and get everything they needed from a little sunlight and rain.

While this ruined his vision of magical cities of tree people, Jack supposed that there was something beautiful about the simplicity of their lives. Left undisturbed, they would live their entire long lives in quiet meditation.

At first, Jack had assumed that this would make the tree folk incredibly strong. The idea that they spent almost one hundred percent of their time absorbing qi and refining chakra seemed like an unfair advantage.

However, Zachias had informed him that while druids did tend to ascend through the Mortal and Spirit Realms quickly, there were very few who would ever rise beyond them and achieve real power. When Jack asked why this was, Zachias told him that only pressure made diamonds, never comfort.

Emrys turned and surveyed the damage around them, bringing Jack back to the present. For once, the usually calm and cheerful druid seemed shaken. It was as if seeing the flayed and broken trees was causing Emrys pain.

Jack remembered that unlike himself, the druid could hear the voices of the trees. They would likely be crying out in anguish right now. For the first time, Jack was glad he was deaf to them.

He followed Emrys around the wide tree between them and the scene of the fight. The older druid was sitting beside the massive crater that had been left in the dirt by its final attack. The druid, who’s name Jack still didn’t know, was meditating with its eyes closed. Emrys had regained most of his composure although his face still seemed to have a slight wince.

“You should make yourself comfortable” Emrys projected to Jack. “We will not move forward until the forest is healed.”

Looking at the damage, Jack privately thought that they had their work cut out, but he kept that to himself. He dropped into the lotus position and attempted to begin his own meditation. Unfortunately, he was unable to sink into contemplation because of the small matter of the giant monsters that were actively trying to kill him.

Every time he tried to clear his mind, the noises of the woods would distract him with thoughts of being attacked again. Jack wasn’t accustomed to being the hunted. As a human from Earth, he was used to being the apex predator. Now, he was a mouse running from lions.

And just like the mouse, Jack had no clue why any of this was happening. He couldn’t fathom why powerful beastkin were coming for his blood.

Instead of meditating, Jack decided to watch the druids. He found their presence somewhat comforting as they had both likely saved his life.

He watched as Emrys approached the nearest wooden giant. The massive evergreens of the mountainous forest had been replaced by shorter, oak like trees. They were still enormous by the standards of Earth, just not nearly as tall as the the evergreens of the mountain range that Jack had been stuck in.

The young, antler headed druid stood before the bare, white wood of the damaged tree that had been stripped by the shockwave. Emrys lifted his long right arm and held his open palm to the trunk of the tree.

Jack looked on in amazement when Emrys moved his hand and the bark in the spot he touched had been completely restored. It looked like he was spray painting life back onto the tree. Everywhere he touched was healed.

It wasn’t long before the other druid stood up from his meditation and added his own hands to the cause. They each stood before their own tree and worked. Jack wished he could help them before looking down at the green tattoo on his side and remembering that he probably could.

Still, Zachias had told him not to activate his tattoo until he had a firm idea about how he would incorporate it into his path. Before that, he needed a better understanding of techniques and he had to break through to the next realm to use them.

Jack looked around to the diligently working druids and to the sprawling canopy of broken sticks above them and bare trunks planted in the dirt. He saw that they had barely made any progress in the grand scheme and realized how long this process would take.

Standing up and brushing himself off, Jack decided to take a walk and get the lay of the land. He briefly considered leaving the druids behind, but quickly dismissed the idea. Without a guide, he could be lost in this forest forever, not to mention the hostile beastkin. The memory of the giant beast’s fang filled maw flying towards him in slow motion was haunting Jack’s mind.

Still, if they were to stay here long enough to fix the trees, Jack would need to find a suitable water source. He kept the canopy of broken, leafless branches within sight as he circled what would become their camp. It didn’t take him long to find a small creek.

One thing that Jack had noticed in his travels of the mountain range, was that even though it almost never rained, there was always a constant flow of the watershed in the area for some reason. He had often wondered where it came from, especially since the mountains weren’t even capped with snow.

Jack drank his fill of the crystal clear water and then walked in and tried his best to wash himself off. If only he had thought to bring shampoo.

In hindsight, it was pretty impulsive to just jump through a hole in the world with absolutely no plan or supplies. The fact that he was still alive was a small miracle.

Sighing, Jack reached for the small shard of metal hanging from his neck and connected his mind to it. He had scoured the contents many times so he quickly found the item he was looking for.

Suddenly, an ornate gold dagger appeared in Jack’s hand as if by magic. It was one of the most mundane items inside the pocket dimension, but every time Jack wanted to use something more interesting, Zachias had adamantly warned against it.

“Any one of those elixirs or pills would kill you” he had promised. “They were not made for mortals.”

He suspected that Zachias was lying to save the good stuff for himself, but Jack was not quite ready to call his bluff.

He pulled the gold dagger from the fractal key and proceeded to give himself the worst haircut he had ever had. It took him a relatively long time to hold each clump of hair up and saw through it with the dagger. He was sure that it would be hideous on Earth, but short, uneven hair was better than the one unwashed lock that it was becoming.

After his head was done, Jack went to work on the patchy beard that had been growing on his face. He could only grow a mustache, a soul patch and a goatee as well as some neck beard.

Jack thought with some amusement that he was like Joe Dirt. His facial hair really did grow in all trashy like that naturally.

When he was finally done, Jack walked out of the creek and saw Emrys coming out to find him. Jack nodded to the druid in greeting. “I know this is probably a long shot” Jack said out loud since the other druid was not around. “But you don’t have any extra clothes do you?” He was tired of walking around with no shirt on like a Chad.

“Clothes?” Emrys asked. Jack realized with some discomfort that the druid had been naked this whole time.

“Yeah like this” Jack gestured to his pants. “It’s plant fibers woven together, I think.”

“Why do you wear plants?” Emrys asked confused.

Jack considered for a second. “To protect us from the elements? Or our modesty? To have pockets to put stuff in maybe. Look, I don’t know why but humans wear clothes. We just do.” He was enjoying using his voice again for a conversation. Of course, Emrys didn’t understand English. The words were automatically translated by their mind’s eyes.

The smooth faced, wooden man stepped closer and crouched down to study Jack’s jeans. He rubbed a fold of the material between his long, slender fingers. Jack wondered how his sense of touch was different having bark instead of skin.

After letting him feel the fabric of his pants, Jack turned and sat next to Emrys facing the stream and holding his knees to his chest.

“How long do you think it will take you and… your friend to heal the forest?”

Emrys shrugged and looked at the ground in front of him. He was busy with something that Jack couldn’t see.

“You know that beastkin came to kill me right?” Jack continued.

The druid nodded, his wooden antlers swaying back and forth. “The trees will warn us if we are to be attacked again. Just as they did before.”

Jack remembered that the druids had known about their pursuer for hours before they were assaulted last time. This made him feel slightly more safe, although it could have been the presence of Emrys that calmed him.

The druid had such a slow, casual air about him. As if he was completely unconcerned with what the future might hold. Jack wanted that for himself.

He couldn’t go a full minute without thinking about his family back home. He worried about them constantly.

However, the simple truth was that they didn’t really need him. They could take care of themselves better than Jack ever could. It comforted him and made him feel powerless at the same time.

He thought that his sister, Maggie, was probably stronger than him already. He wondered what her aspect was. Did she have a healing physique like him?

Jack brought his thoughts back from Earth to Olympus. “This village that we are going to” he said to Emrys. “You called them fomorians.” The druid nodded but did not look up so Jack continued. “What are they like?”

Emrys shrugged, still focused on something else. “I have never seen them. The only knowledge of them that I have is from the matriarch.”

It hit Jack that this druid had spent almost all of his life as a tree. He tried to imagine what that would be like. To exist in one place, unmoving except to sway in the wind. Doing nothing but reaching for the sun and breathing. The life that Jack dreamed up was actually quite beautiful.

“Had you ever taken human form before?” Jack imagined that peaceful life being interrupted by a dumb guy stomping unwelcome through the forest and felt a little guilty. He wondered if Emrys harbored any dislike for him like his nameless companion obviously did.

“Of course I have. We all do. How do you think we practice our paths and techniques? We just never travel far because we do not need anything that the forest does not provide.”

Jack felt like a fool for a moment. Of course they would have to take humanoid forms for practical training. He stared quietly at the stream watching the clear water run over the light grey rocks that lined the bottom.

After a few minutes of silence, Emrys turned to Jack and unceremoniously handed him a bundle of fabric. It took Jack a few seconds of unfurling to realize that he was holding a new shirt. It was grey with long sleeves. The first thing that Jack noticed about it was the dark grey fractal pattern that covered it front and back. It was an interesting pattern of swirls and spirals that branched out in every direction.

Zachias, who was watching like always, jumped in to explain. “That script enforces the material. It is not like wearing armor, but it will hold better than your last flimsy shirt.”

“How did he make this?” Jack asked Zachias, baffled.

It felt like Zachias was mentally rolling his eyes. “With his wood qi of course.”

He had no idea that wood qi could be used to create something like a cotton shirt. Privately, Jack wondered if the druid could force grow him a big bag of weed. Then he glanced at his green tattoo and considered whether he could do that for himself.

Jack pulled the article over his head to try it on. It was stretchy and comfortable as well as strong, much like his jeans. He thanked the druid sincerely and admired the craftsmanship.

As the sun was setting, the two unlikely friends walked back to their camp together unaware that they were being watched.