"Insolent brat!" The Sovereign's insult made Chiwenga spit and cough. Once he calmed down, he sighed heavily, looking up with renewed vigor. "Okay brat, what is the first assignment?"

The Sovereign raised a finger and said, " The boy is qualified but I need you to do me a favor old man." Chiwenga nodded, "What is it?"

"I need you to help my disciple through cultivation. Although I can teach her many things when it comes to zesa you are far more knowledgeable than I. It is best to have her learn from you.

Chiwenga nodded his head. He had long since discerned Kuda's monstrous talent. He was annoyed by the fact that she was a foreigner's disciple but he could do nothing about it. She already had chosen her master. One can have many teachers, but one can only have one master.

"You foreigners are always stealing our people! Look at her! She is at least a silver level talent but she knows next to nothing about using zesa! It's such a shame, such a shame." Chiwenga shook his head in sadness.

The Gutu were feared for their powerful bodies and gifts, but they were also the most valued slaves for the same reason. A Gutu slave was incredibly valuable because they had many applications. The current royal family believed that those weak enough to be captured should be left alone to die, so once caught, a Gutu and their future generations were destined to live a life of bondage.

Outsiders had little to no understanding of Gutu magic, all they knew was what the Gutu allowed them to know, such as the effect of the Netherflame.

The most popular use for Gutu slaves was to be used in brothels or as bodyguards. Plenty a perverse man would pay a hefty coin to lay with a Gutu woman. That would have most likely been Kuda's fate, had she not been saved by the Sovereign. She had been found by him at a slave trader's market in foreign lands. Many days of malnutrition and poor nutrition had resulted in her being extremely weak. She had only been a child back then, but she remembered the day she had been saved clearly.

The use of the Gutu as bodyguards was unquestionable. Their strong bodies and powerful abilities made them the most effective warriors. Anyone who had a significant identity had to have a Gutu bodyguard.

If Kuda's talents had been discovered by her captors, then that would have been her fate. Granted it was better than being in a brothel, but it would have been a disastrous outcome for the empire as they would have lost an incredible talent.

The Sovereign once again raised his hands defensively and said, "Hey, I found this girl abroad as a slave, if I had not met her she would be wasted in a brothel somewhere. Besides, she is a cough, gold level talent, cough." The sovereign feigned coughing twice, but there was no hiding the pride in his eyes.

Chiwenga was stunned by the news. A gold-level talent was one in a billion, yet she was a slave in foreign lands. He shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to her if she had not been discovered by the Sovereign.

"All gold level talents all have noble blood, how did she end up as a slave?" Chiwenga held his chin in thought. There was something wrong about this story.

"You think my disciple has issues? Your disciple can't even be graded by Saru's standards, yet he was in a village in the middle of nowhere."

Chiwenga couldn't help but smile wryly to the Sovereign's words. Taku's potential was immense, far more than he could have ever imagined. Not to mention Chiwenga had his own objectives.

Chiwenga could not help but agree to the Sovereigns words. Chiwenga meeting Taku was pure luck. "Alright brat, I will guide your disciple as best as I can, tell me what my disciple's first test is?"

The Sovereign clapped his hands in delight, "Excellent. Okay here is what he has to do..."

…

While this discussion was taking place, Taku was asleep up in a plain room. It was one of many rooms in a mansion that had a large yard in the back. Maidservants ran around doing chores while gardeners worked hard at the park.

The boy was asleep for a long time, having plenty of dreams. More often than not, he would wake up startled, then blackout again immediately. But one dream stood out from the rest

Taku vaguely remembered his master's voice, back when Kufa was about to attack him. Taku was not sure why, but he was confident his master would take care of Kufa and her army. As he was about to get saved by his master, the world around him collapsed into nothingness. Taku's own mind was taken over by a strange force, almost as if he was becoming someone else entirely.

In dreams, it is not rare for someone to become someone else, but rarely do we know that we are dreaming. The Gutu believed that dreams were a connection between the corporeal and the metaphysical. A phantasmal realm with many applications, such as soul magic and prophecy. A person who had dream magic at their grasp was feared far more than the average muroyi, and rightly so.

As Taku felt himself change, the world changed around him to match. Gone was the Gutu empire, gone were his childhood memories of growing up in the royal family, gone was his trauma of events past, gone was his sense of self. No, he was no longer Taku, he was now Tyrone King, the world's foremost programmer, more commonly known by those close to him simply as TK.

Today was a simple day, and TK was about to partake in his favorite activity. One which many a man has taken on. Today was hunting day!