As the days passed, Rei, Eugene, and Bart continued their training. However, after three days, some unexpected guests arrived: an old man with a thick beard and several men who appeared to be fighters.
"Everyone, come out!" Eugene called. Rei and Bart emerged from their shelters.
"What is it, Eugene?" Bart asked, then seeing the visitors, "Who are you?"
"They are just tribes who have come here to see who we are and what we are doing. What's there to be alarmed about?" Rei said calmly.
"They are what?" Bart whispered, confused.
Rei then spoke in another language, one unfamiliar to Eugene and Bart. "Why did you come here?"
The old man looked surprised. "You know our language?"
"Sure," Rei replied. "I read about you in one of the books and about your language too."
"We want to know what you are doing in this forest," the old man stated.
"I am Rei, and these two are Eugene and Bart," Rei introduced. "We just came here to train and practice." Rei then proceeded to explain their goals and what they had been doing in the forest. While Rei spoke with the old man, Bart and Eugene remained confused, never having heard this language before.
"I see," the old man said. "My name is Han. If you want to train, why don't you come to our camp? You might find it better to practice there."
"Really? Then please excuse us," Rei replied.
A middle-aged man standing beside the old man spoke in Zeltrise, a language Bart and Eugene understood. "I am Ganes. Do you want to train at our camp?"
Bart and Eugene exchanged a glance, then both eagerly responded, "Sure!" and "Yes!"
"So you too had an interpreter?" Rei asked Han.
"What is an interpreter?" Han inquired.
"It's a word that is used to describe people who change the language of two people who speak in different languages, helping them communicate," Rei explained.
"Interpreter? Hmm, I see. I guess I do have one," Han said, looking at Ganes.
As Han led Rei, Eugene, and Bart to the camp, they saw many men, women, and even children. Rei, Bart, and Eugene themselves were children, aged 12 and 13. Han left, and Ganes spoke with them. "So, what are your specialties?"
"Sorcery!" Bart immediately blurted out.
"What is sorcery?" Ganes asked, confused by Bart's reply.
"Sorry, he meant to say spirit arts," Rei interjected. Rei was the one who created sorcery, and its influence hadn't spread much yet. Spirit arts were what Rei used to derive sorcery; spirit arts manipulated their environment to either increase speed, cut through magic, or strengthen the body. Sorcery, however, was used to manipulate the environment to create effects that seemed like magic, such as using centrifugal force to create a tornado or scattering dust to create a dust screen. "Bart and I use spirit arts," Rei clarified.
"I use magic," Eugene added.
"Okay then, Bart and Rei, you go to the kids' section of the warrior stage, and Eugene, you will go to the kids' section of the meditation stage," Ganes instructed.
"Sure," Eugene agreed. Another man, who spoke Zeltrise, took Eugene with him while Rei and Bart followed Ganes. Rei observed the atmosphere. On a stage, many children were fighting, while others watched or cheered. Ganes took them to the side of a stage as he said, "This fight is going to finish."
The boy on the stage defeated his opponent and declared, "Who has the strength? Come face me!"
"I can't understand him, but it looks like he is challenging," Bart muttered.
"Yeah, he is challenging," Rei confirmed.
"Why don't you go ahead and fight him, Bart?" Ganes suggested.
"Sure," Bart said, stepping onto the stadium. The boy on the stage smiled ferociously and attacked Bart. Bart, however, met his attack with his own fist, stopping him.
"Bart should easily handle a few of them," Rei commented.
"Don't be so sure," Ganes replied.
The boy attacked again, his force doubled. But Bart simply caught his attack and used its momentum to throw him back. The boy quickly stood up, but Bart, with his fist already aimed at the boy's stomach, said, "Look who came to get more!" He used his fist and sent the boy flying back. The boy stood up again. "Don't underestimate me!" he declared, attacking. Bart dodged and, with his fist, sent him flying again. The boy became unconscious. The next opponent, who was even stronger than the previous boy, stepped up. As that fight ended, Bart again won. Then the next boy, even stronger, came forward.
"Bart sure is strong," Ganes remarked. "With better training, he would become one of the strongest."
"However, the training you and I are talking about are very different," Rei pointed out.
In Bart's fourth match, he fought with all his strength. The fists of both Bart and his opponent collided, their speed and strength increasing with each blow, giving neither any room to maneuver. However, Bart was already very tired, and eventually, the strength of his fists weakened considerably, allowing his opponent to stop his punch and, with a fist to the stomach, send Bart flying. Bart became unconscious. Ganes took Bart to a shadowy area for him to rest.
"Rei, now it's your turn," Ganes said.
"Are you sure you want me to fight these children?" Rei asked, a hint of dismissal in his voice.
"Rei, you too are a child," Ganes stated.
"Sure, sure," Rei said nonchalantly. As Rei stepped onto the stage and looked at the children surrounding him, the faces and bodies of the children were quickly replaced by the people in prison, and the stage and lush garden transformed into a prison cell. Rei had just remembered a fragment of his past life. In his past life, when he was falsely accused and sent to prison, Rei spent all his time studying. However, there were three hours each day where he had to go and face the other prisoners. In prison, it was the survival of the fittest; the weak would be bullied, and the strong would be respected. When Rei first experienced this, he was bullied. However, Rei fought back; the hard days in prison made him push back even harder. He fought and fought, and after many years, he finally became the leader of the prisoners. However, after just three years, as he was getting old and weak, the prisoners started challenging him more and more. Yet he kept fighting until he lost again. But Rei gained something during that time that no one else had.
The boy standing on the stage and the children surrounding him all shivered. Even some of the people above their twenties shivered. Rei now exuded an intimidation that no one could bear to handle.